On the shrieking ship of Shriekpot...
Kevin decides to let Morton take the initiative on this one, since his charades skill is terribly out of whack for a jester today. Fortunately, Morton takes the hint.
"Mage in a box? I say, that sounds quite like the lead in to a joke. I'd like to hear that one if you wouldn't mind, good Captain, unless you'd like to hear a different of the three, Master Artiste."
"The mage in a box does sound pretty interesting, what's it about?"
"THE MAGE IN THE BOX? Well, LET ME TELL YOU. You SEE, occasionally you don't GET A CONTRACT TO SHIP GOODS. Rather, it is PEOPLE THAT YOU SHIP INSTEAD. And RUDOLPH RASMUSSEN, MYSTIC OF THE FORSAKEN ISLE, was ONE SUCH PERSON. You see, ONE DAY a friend of mine, HENRY, told me that there was AN INCREDIBLY LUCRATIVE CONTRACT that required going RATHER FAR INTO the DERELICT SEA. It's not THE MOST PLEASANT PLACE, not to mention ABOMINABLY FAR AWAY FROM HERE, to tell the truth, but it WAS A LOT OF MONEY - 200 GOLD COINS, I TELL YOU! 200!"
"Now, before you ask, WE WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO KIDNAP HIM. In FACT, HE HIMSELF asked to be SHIPPED to the SEA OF PLEASANT SCENTS - STAFFORD'S ISLE, to be exact. So we WENT THERE - the DERELICT SEA, though RATHER CREEPY with all the ABANDONED SHIPS floating around, is LARGELY HARMLESS. Unless you RUN INTO THE WINDSNATCHER."
"What's the windsnatcher?"
"I BELIEVE it is the reason for ALL THOSE ABANDONED SHIPS. Well, FORTUNATELY WE DIDN'T RUN INTO IT and reached the ISLE WHERE RASMUSSEN LIVED in THREE MONTHS. Once we were THERE - it's ONE OF THE MORE MENACING ISLES I'VE SEEN, all JAGGED ROCKS and FAINTLY BONE-LIKE OUTCROPPINGS, not to MENTION all the FLOATING EYES. Now, WE WERE GIVEN THREE DIFFERENT PASSWORDS. Well, not PASSWORDS. More like ENCRYPTION KEYS to DECIPHER THE TRUE PASSWORDS from what RASMUSSEN TELLS US. Also, WE HAD TO SHOW PROOF OF OUR IDENTITY no less than THREE TIMES. When RASMUSSEN was SATISFIED, he SHOWED HIMSELF. Looked like a WILD MOUNTAIN MAN stuck in a MAGE'S ROBE, I tell you. BEARD RAN DOWN TO HIS KNEES," the captain says, indicating the sheer length and size of the fellow's beard with his hands.
"NOW, he DEMANDED to inspect our SHIP IMMEDIATELY. He ran THROUGH IT, checking EVERYTHING. TWELVE HOURS LATER, he comes out and PRODUCES A LIST OF NO FEWER than SEVENTY-SIX STRUCTURAL FLAWS and ISSUES. This WOULD HAVE WORRIED ME MORE if they had not been mostly things like 'CARGO HOLD ISN'T MAGICALLY SHIELDED AGAINST FIRE, OCEANIC THIEVES AND WILD ANIMALS'."
"Oceanic thieves?"
"That was ONE OF THE BETTER POINTS - some parts of the ocean have FISH THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT SHAMELESS THAT WAY. I once LOST A VALUABLE SET OF MY MOTHER'S JEWELRY THAT WAY. Anyway, when I SAID that this was HARDLY THE TIME AND PLACE TO ADDRESS SUCH CONCERNS, RASMUSSEN nodded, then DISAPPEARED INTO A ROCK. When I TRIED TO FOLLOW HIM, the thing was SOLID AGAIN. We SAW HIM AGAIN A DAY LATER when HE CALLED UPON US. Now, THIS IS WHERE IT GETS PRETTY WEIRD. He had A BOX with him - a GIANT METAL CUBE it was, SEVEN METERS on EACH SIDE! RASMUSSEN looked REAL PROUD OF IT. He EXPLAINED TO US that THESE would be HIS QUARTERS FOR THE TRIP. He then TALKED AT LENGTH how this was THE SAFEST BOX he could MAKE, with ABJURATIVE ENCHANTMENTS the REST OF THE WORLD HAD HARDLY EVEN THOUGHT OF THEN. So he HAD US BRING THAT THING into the CARGO HOLD, then SECURED IT HIMSELF with some sort of MAGIC. When we WERE ABOUT TO LEAVE, he SEALED HIMSELF IN THE BOX and TOLD US NOT TO BOTHER HIM until we WERE THERE unless WE BROUGHT FOOD. There was a SPECIAL SLOT FOR IT on the BOX, you see."
"After THAT was done, WE SET OFF! The FIRST WEEK, all was WELL! RASMUSSEN seemed RATHER HAPPY, well, as much as HE COULD BE, and WE MOSTLY LEFT HIM ALONE. He COMPLIMENTED THE FOOD, too, and THE COOK SURE LOVED THAT. Though it WAS A BIT OFF-PUTTING that he SAW FIT TO INSTALL A POISON SCREEN on the FOOD SLOT. And a PROFANITY CENSOR on the VERBAL EXCHANGE UNIT. But STILL, IT WAS PRETTY QUIET. The SECOND WEEK, the HOWLING BEGAN. NOBODY KNEW WHAT IT WAS, but it was a BIT TERRIFYING, though ULTIMATELY HARMLESS. THIRD WEEK, though, that's WHEN THINGS WENT DOWN. The WIND BECAME A SHREDDING GALE, blew our NAVIGATOR STRAIGHT OFF THE DECK! Didn't see HIM ever again! And then THINGS GOT WORSE! STORMS, HOMICIDAL FISH, YOU NAME IT! It all CAME TO A HEAD at the END OF THE THIRD WEEK when A GIANT WHIRLWIND HIT US STRAIGHT-ON - DANG THING WAS FOLLOWING US, I TELL YOU! The ENTIRE SHIP was LIFTED UP into the AIR and THRASHED AROUND AT THE WHIM of this UNNATURAL ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENON! WHOOSH it WENT, and we were WHOOSHED UP BY IT!"
The captain's mouth forms a perfect O as he makes the whooshing sound. To amplify the effect, he spins around in the air, looking wild-eyed.
"WE WENT DOWN TO RASMUSSEN TO ASK FOR HELP! He said HE EXPECTED THIS! He HAD SHIELDED THE CARGO HOLD against ALL MAGICAL INTERVENTION! When we ASKED HOW THAT HELPS US, he said it PROBABLY DOESN'T UNLESS WE HIDE IN THE CARGO HOLD. So we DID! THE SHIP FLEW TO AND FRO AS WE COWERED, its STRUCTURE SHAKING AND GROANING AS IT TRIED TO WITHSTAND THINGS NO SHIP WAS EVER MEANT TO! Rather EXHILIRATING IN RETROSPECT. Well, THE ASSAULT continued FOR TWO MORE HOURS, AND WE WERE SAFE IN THAT TIME, IF CONSUMED BY TERROR!"
"And what then?"
"Then MOTHER NATURE STOPPED SCREWING AROUND. THE WHIRLWIND STOPPED SUDDENLY, and THE SHIP FELL! IT FELL RIGHT ONTO A BUNCH OF JAGGED ROCKS! FORTUNATELY, nobody got HURT! PROBABLY because the SHIP APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN ALIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR THE ROCKS TO HIT THE BOX! And that thing was RATHER IMPENETRABLE. SHIP GOT COMPLETELY TORN TO BITS, though. WE LANDED SAFELY IN THE WATER! And THEN A STRANGE THING HAPPENED - the BOX DIDN'T FALL INTO THE WATER! INSTEAD, a GIANT WAVE CAME OUT OF NOWHERE, nearly KILLING US ALL! IT SWEPT THE BOX UPWARDS, RIGHT INTO THE SKY! AND THEN THERE WAS THIS STRANGE FLASH, and THEN THE BOX WAS HANGING IN THE AIR! And WHAT'S MORE, there was SOMEBODY NEXT TO IT! A WOMAN, SEEMED LIKE, just FLOATING ABOUT LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS! She TALKED TO THE BOX, I THINK, but it was DIFFICULT TO HEAR over the REPEATED LOUD BLEEPING coming from the BOX! SHE RAISED HER HANDS, THERE WAS A HUGE FLASH, then... NOTHING! Both the BOX AND THE WOMAN remained in the AIR, COMPLETELY STILL! Now, I WOULD HAVE STAYED and WATCHED, but I HAD SURVIVAL ON MY MIND, so I SWAM AWAY WITH MY SURVIVING CREW. MOST OF US REACHED ANOTHER SHIP before anything TERRIBLE HAPPENED, but I REMEMBER THIS - those two NEVER MOVED ONCE when I LOOKED BACK."
"Now, I CAN'T SAY I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED, but I BET MAGIC SOMEHOW IMMOBILIZED THEM BOTH. For ALL I KNOW, they may STILL BE THERE, FROZEN IN TIME. I and MORE THAN HALF of my crew made it back to CIVILIZATION, and, though I HAD TO REBUILD MY SHIPPING COMPANY, I was GLAD TO BE ALIVE. And I HAVEN'T BEEN TO THE DERELICT SEA SINCE."
As the captain finishes his tale, a silence settles on the deck that is broken when the three magic minions emerge onto the deck.
"Right, so we took a good look at everything now, so I guess we can get to work!"
"You will have to vacate the deck for now."
"Oh, CERTAINLY!"
The captain begins to move away from the ship, stopping at the gangplank.
"Here GOES!"
He floats over the gangplank and leaves the ship easily.
"Thought it would be MORE DRAMATIC, to be honest."
"Well, at least you aren't exactly tied to the ship in a physical or magical way. That's good, right?"
"I SUPPOSE so."
The Artiste follows the captain off the deck.
"Alright, Evelyn! Magic me up!"
"Of course."
[Evelyn magic roll: 4]
Evelyn points her finger at Erin, and a thin stream of energy hits the transmuter, making her glow a little bit.
"What, that's it?"
"Metamagic abuse hurts the body and mind in equal measure."
"Hey, did I get into magic because it was healthy? Hell no! I'm doin' large scale transmuting here, I need some real power!"
"You will live."
At the Ulubelle...
Niklas explains what he needs that Herbert or Gilroy or whatever guy for.
"No, we just need to talk to him. Could you bring him out for us?"
"I'm afraid not. Usually when people want to talk to Herbert this means he leaves for a while. It's rather unfortunate in most cases. I will have to ask you to leave."
Scott, hardly surprised by such an attitude, charges right past the middle-aged strange woman and tries to get into the deeper workings of the place.
The large double doors that lead deeper inside are a bit locked, however. This stymies his efforts sufficiently to throw him into a bit of an indecisive mood. Niklas' mob are equally puzzled on what to do, not being the resourceful or particularly violent sort. Even Mark stops in line behind the mob.
"Ah. Well now. Guards!"
Four guards outfitted in mail and armed with heavy-looking clubs quickly run out of a side room.
"Yes, madam?"
"These people seem to be troublemakers. Would you mind escorting them out?"
At the Center of Shriekpot...
Sigmund, realizing his dire circumstances, tries to find a butcher! He gets up, closes his eyes once more and tries to get by merely by trying to catch the scent of blood.
He walks around for a bit, but fails to find a butcher shop nearby. However, as he opens his eyes he realizes he's not at the giant crossroads anymore, so it's quite good regardless.
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 562313 times)