You elect to send two men on a boat to the cliff. They bump up against the rocky shore, where the waves splash against the sharp jags and crevices. One of the men, after a minute or two of trying, manages to start the climb up. The other, more portly crewman slips and falls before getting far at all, and decides to stay in the boat rather than risk climbing. After about an hour, he has made his way up to the top, where he ties a rope around a tree and waves an 'ok' signal. Your helmsman brings the ship up close to the side of the cliff. When you look down over the railing, the little rowboat is empty- the portly crewman is nowhere to be seen, though he was only out of your sight for a minute. Something stirs in the water. Another crewman ties a rope to himself and dives into the water, but emerges a minute later having seen nothing but sharp rocks and a sea of kelp ("soft, chewy and sweet kelp, it was, by the way.") There is nothing to do but begin raising crates and men ashore. Another hour later, a couple dozen men are up the cliff, and more goods and men are being raised with ropes slung over the branches. The sun sinks in the sky, turning the sea orange and red, torches are lit on the deck. The ship bucks suddenly in the water- not a wave in sight, only ripples from the hull. The crew redoubles their efforts to raise everything out of the ship as quickly as possible. Nonetheless, it falls dark before the last of the men and crates are off deck. The ship mysteriously bucks a few more times. Ropes raise up the cliff and men tie knots by lamplight.
Suddenly, out of the water, an enormous green tentacle rises and smashes across the deck, gleaming wet under the torches! It's thicker than the main mast, and rocks the ship about. Another one rises, blue this time, and another bright red! The three of them reach completely around the hull. The ship bends with a deafening groan, and snaps in half. Half a dozen men and all the goods on board are thrown into the sea, all the lamps and torches are quenched. From the clifftop, you can't see a thing in the pale moonlight, but you can clearly hear the men scream in the water. They shout and beg for help, for ropes, and one is yelling prayers at the top of his lungs. From above you throw ropes, but to no avail, their screams are cut off one by one. It's too dark to do anything, you can barely set up camp. The ground at the top of the cliff is grassy and soft, but sleep does not come easily.
In the morning, you take a tally of supplies, and fry bacon for breakfast. The area you're in looks sort of like an orchard- the grass is neat, and stumpy trees with purple fruits are spaced well apart in rows, but there's not sign of civilization anywhere. The sun is yellow and bright in the blue sky. Some of the crew clearly haven't slept all night, and they claim to have heard strange howls. Before you can stop them, some of them also try eating the fruits on the trees- they're sweet plums. Well, they haven't turned into candy sculptures yet, but you'll keep an eye on them. Perhaps it's for the better that they sample the fruits, a good deal of food was still on the ship last night when that... thing, struck. Your supplies follow:
-93 Men (oh yeah, and women too)
-Food enough for a week, maybe?
-Climbing tools
-Swords, axes, shields, bows etc
-30 Tents (two men to a tent... or three. It's going to be cramped.)
-Firewood, with flint and steel
-Compasses
-Carts and mules
-Hand tools (saws, hammers and nails)
-Waterskins
-Clothes for hot weather only
-1 Telescope
-1 Mirror
-A crude map
You consult your map and start the long march towards King Kandy's palace as soon as you can.
You make excellent time. A full day's travel leads you to here:
You're apparently now in the demesne of someone, or something, known as "Lord Licorice". The grassy fields and orchards have given way to brown and rocky mountains. The path narrows into a valley with steep walls on either side. The stones are seemingly made of some crumbly nut brittle, and crackle underfoot. The group has spread into a long caravan on the narrow path, with people walking two abreast, in line with mule carts that carry you precious supplies. One of the men at the back of the line lets out a yell- a "rock" about knee-tall has revealed itself to have two eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth, and bitten him in the leg. He kicks it, and it howls in pain. In a moment, dozens of "rocks" awaken, and snarl from the valley above. One on the ground has hopped into a cart and started gnawing on a crate of jerky- it seems they crave flesh. Three more are encircling a man who's fumbling for his axe.
What do you do?
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Topic: Bay 12 Plays Candyland (Read 2326 times)