no man's sea

[groundrules]

Avast ye — sprawling til 18 June is part I of the Storm at Sea travel arc, which doubles as a test drive. Participants don’t need an invite to reserve or apply over 10-17 June.

Try to label if you’re a test drive tourist or an old timer — and don’t hesitate to leave an OOC note to opt out of random NPC piraaaaaaaargh interaction. Test drivers can post both log and network prompts. Have fun!

NO MAN’S SEA

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DEEP WATERS | SON OF A BISCUIT EATER | MOLLYWICK | | THE CROSSING | NOTES

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AHOY! SCALLYWAGS

Departing Ke-Waihu, the existing party joins paranoid pirate king, turned stalwart saint Samuel Vane — the feared Quicksilver Sam — aboard the Pariah.

Test drivers awaken anguishing at sea, floating on rafts, or on minuscule patches of deserted land. They are collected by two pirates and the recalcitrant sorceress Karsa — who supplies translation and communication devices. She explains the newcomers were summoned into the land of Akhuras by warring undead factions. Karsa’s master, the elusive Merchant, ferries newcomers east to beacons hoped to return them home. He has secured them passage on the pirate vessel Queen Zanyra of ’Wet Rope’ Caladan Kreil, an associate of Quicksilver Sam.

The Pariah and Zanyra meet at sea, a day’s travel away from Ke-Waihu:

■ Characters overhear that Quicksilver Sam seeks to reach the haunted Crossing Seas and ‘settle an old score.’ Long-term ally Caladan Kreil supports his cause.

■ The two vessels make daily supply and crew exchanges by rowboat. The Pariah’s passengers must give the passcode: flaunted like gold to board the Queen Zanyra. Staff of the Queen Zanyra must speak the words before the blind man to access the Pariah. Forget your passcode and fall at the mercy of whoever patrols the decks!

■ Tasks await all passengers: diligently clean and polish decks, climb tall masts to sew torn sails, banish a preposterous number of seagulls, fish, read post or… dubious novels to sailors, count loot, guard the decks, clean cannons or serve as boat lure for shark fishing. Medics and cooks can practise their natural trades, while musicians and entertainers should amuse the crew.

■ By all means, grab thematic garments from crew coffers. Also available: daggers, swords and rare pistols.

■ Characters may notice both ship crews are spirited, but grow weary when Quicksilver Sam fitfully orders his five on-call priests to carry out protection rites, or to ‘exorcise’ evil from random staff — through ineffective bitter potions, shrill chants and requests to sit in unusual luck-incurring poses, or to commit some mundane, repetitive task. Let’s bore the devil away.

■ Treat senior crew with respect: some pirates are equally drunk on rum and fleetingly authority and reward perceived slights with a 24h-stay in the brig. These fine accommodations fit two and annul powers while there. No dinner.


■ Sleep where you can: hammocks and rotting mattresses can be found in great common halls beneath decks. The sick and women (naturally, ill omens at sea) can share the four private cabins of each ship. Sumeragi Subaru has his own cabin aboard the Pariah.

■ Each night, expect drinking beneath the halls and a pirate’s greatest hobby: gambling. Conmen might lure you into an ‘innocent game’ that sinks you deep into debt, winning your valuables, favours, or kidney!

■ Ladies are afforded a wide, begrudging berth and some authority over the crew.

■ Accommodations: fresh potions are readily available to ward off sea sickness, and magically resilient oranges are on hand to counter scurvy. As woe would have it, the long-serving Mr. Ishmael has passed, and his earthly remains have been retained aboard the Pariah for Kaneki Ken. Viktor receives a leashed emotional support albatross — a large, loud but docile bird that flies above him counter-current to balance him, whenever the ship’s sway threatens his footing.

OBJECTIVES

■ Discover why good Quicksilver Sam is intent on his haunted travels. The captain declines audiences, but try to get information from the two crews.

■ Please share the information gained via network…!

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THAT SON OF A BISCUIT EATER

Trouble starts to brew, within days at sea:

■ Be on the lookout while on watch duty: on a handful of occasions, new faces appear aboard. They fail to offer the passcode — and attempt to injure characters, throw them overboard, or to enter the captains’ lodgings. Sound the alarm or seize intruders!

■ After interrogating an infiltrator, Caladan Kreil sends word that the assailants hail from the Concord, a war vessel of the Dawns’ Reach Trade Company that is pursuing the pirate ships at distance under the command of Maximilian Hawk. A credit to his name, Wet Rope Caladan has the spy hanged.

■ Prepare to get drafted for double watch duty, as both Caladan Kreil and Quicksilver Sam bolster defences. Tensions escalate, with pirate crew questioning the loyalties of newer recruits.

■ A few days later, at dawns, the silent, swift and massive Concord approaches close enough to fire its cannons at both ships and send vicious militia to climb aboard. Defend your ship!

■ The Concord withdraws by midday, after lightly damaging its opponents. Help with repairs and enjoy some rum — you’ve survived your first sea scuffle!

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MOLLYWICK

Just short of entering the Crossing, where the seas are dark and highly opaque, the Queen Zanyra and Pariah encounter a stretch of vibrant, lushly forested land.

■ Both vessels send crew over for a few hours, with captains urging quick incursions. Pair up to collect berries, scant mushrooms and sweet water. Curiously, no animals are found.

■ Veteran sailors say this is the Neverflight isle of myth, where sea kings have buried their treasures. Pirates share legendary coordinates of long lost loot, archived as riddles or poems. Grab a shovel and a-digging you go!

■ …ah, but don’t linger too long. What pranksters your sailor friends are. Within hours of the island’s appearance, the earth beneath your feet crumbles and quakes, and the land starts to sink. Evacuate or call for help to get out of here — as the great white whale Mollywick submerges in the waters with the Neverflight island it carries on its back. Hopefully, you don’t go under with them.

■ If you’ve threaded out a treasure dig, drop a line to receive some especially deplorable loot. You deserve it.

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THE CROSSING

The Pariah and Queen Zanyra — frequently chained together to avoid separation — creep into the Crossing : a stretch of eerily silent waters, dark and volatile.

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■ Slowly, a thick, nearly impregnable fog dawns during the day, covering the sun and leaving the skies a desolate slate. Dreadful storms spark at night.

■ Strange, talking carps jump on board, offering to tell you your future. Caution: they only make bad luck readings (request yours) that turn true. They appear wherever their target flees and are exceptionally annoying, until either the moon rises, or you apply the superstitious cure of throwing salt on them.

■ Nightmares haunt you — your own, or glimpsed memories of ships crashing, sinking, falling to storm. Note: only your character suffers these memories/nightmares, but everyone else can experience their exhausted grumpiness, come morning.

■ Be wary, when pairing to cross over to the other pirate ship: you may find another rowboat beside yours, its sailor begging for an oar or ladle. If you give him one, he shovels water into your boat with inhuman speed — desert your vessel and swim quickly to a pirate ship, before undead hands pull you into the sea.

■ While alone on deck, characters might hear sweet, coaxing voices that urge them to walk the plank into the water. Break your brethren from this spell, or watch them fall into the arms of man-eating mermaids.

■ Now and then, the ships are shaken by long, whips of something lashing from the depths.

■ Pirates become increasingly skittish and on edge. Priests perform countless protection rites and exorcisms on both ships.

■ At night, a handful of undead men climb aboard. They lack awareness and are in a clear state of discomposure, looking to catch the living and drown them. With toothless, rotting mouths, some rasp, This is kinder.

■ As you officially enter the Crossing, beams of light erupt in the horizon, showing the distant silhouettes of several ghost ships.

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NOTES

TEST DRIVE QUESTIONS

OLD-TIMER QUESTIONS

Comments

[somebadnews]

A briefcase.

[unas]

( what the shit )

Seriously?

[somebadnews]

[ He is dead serious. ]

Luckily the failsafe hasn't activated on it, but it's useless as it is. I've kept it on the off chance that parts of it could be salvaged.

[unas]

( wait-- is her universal translator not working and what she thought was briefcase was something else? #nonhumanproblems )

What was this thing's purpose?

[somebadnews]

[ She obviously doesn't know about them, but he doesn't feel bad for her if the Commission isn't active in the future. ]

Time travel.

[unas]

( this time she just groans.

a briefcase?? that can time travel? )

I'm going to need to see it.

[somebadnews]

[ Well it can't time travel now. It's been busted for a year, but the parts are all still there. ]

...If it sets off an explosion I don't have another one, but if you think you can handle it you can take a look.

[unas]

That sounds like a lot of the things I work with.

( not that quickly but if you did the wrong thing they could cause catastrophic meltdowns or explosions. starships needed gentle care )

It might need to wait a couple of days. I've not really got room where I am.

[somebadnews]

[ That sounds promising until it doesn't. It'll probably be more than a couple of days until they reach wherever they're going. ]

Where are you?

[unas]

The brig. Of the Queen.

[somebadnews]

[ ...Confidence falling. ]

What did you do?

[unas]

I asked questions, insisted on seeing the Captain. Apparently females don't get far with them.

[somebadnews]

[ Oh. Sexism. Well, that's idiotic, he's got important things to do here. ]

Are you comfortable in there, or do you want out?

[unas]

I wouldn't mind getting out of here.

( her and her fever. that she doesn't know why she's not kicked out of her system by now )

[somebadnews]

[ He doesn't know where the Queen's brig is, but it shouldn't be hard to find. ]

Right. I'll be there in a few minutes.

[unas]

( shutting off the feed she lies herself back down on the bed that she'd been sat on just in case it was more than a few minutes. she feels worse than she looks, being overdramatic from never having been ill or feverish before. the distraction helped.

until the next one )

[somebadnews]

[ Five finds the brig easily enough, and if she's not paying attention she might not see how he blinks past anyone guarding the room. There he spots the cramped little cage and the woman he can only assume he was talking to behind the bars.

It's been ten minutes and she's already taking a nap. He frowns and clears his throat. ]

Sorry to keep you waiting.

[unas]

( she definitely misses what he does. she's only been tangentially paying attention to the footfalls since she knows she won't be getting out of here without any intervention.

which is apparently here.

and a lot younger than expected. the video feeds aren't that great )

You think you can get the lock?

[somebadnews]

[ He stares at her for a moment, sizing up the cell, then nods. It's a small space, but luckily he doesn't take up much room in this body. He balls his fists and takes a step forward like he's just going to walk through — and nearly goes face-first into the bars.

He catches himself before he hits his head, but that's an embarrassing setback. When he tries it again from where he stands, nothing happens. ]

What the fuck? [ He's perplexed as he touches the metal and looks up and around it for whatever is blocking him. It looks like an ordinary metal cage. ] Why would a bunch of pirates need something like this?

[unas]

( she only looks up when she hears the crash against the bars, pushing herself up slightly at the second one.

she frowns, confused )

A cage? That's obvious.

[somebadnews]

[ He glares at her way more than she deserves for that fair assessment. This isn't the first time something has messed with his abilities, and it's starting to feel personal. ]

It's not just a cage. They've got something on it that's keeping me from getting through.

[unas]

( that really doesn't clear anything up for her.

if she weren't feeling so terrible she'd probably be a little sharper on the ball )

A lock? Do you know how to pick them or not?

[somebadnews]

[ He exhales sharply. She's not getting it, but he can't expect her to. Sure, he probably could with the right tools, but who needs to pick locks when you can teleport?

Grumbling, he tuns a hand through his hair and looks at the rest of the room. ]

Do you remember seeing someone with a key? I don't suppose they leave them hanging up somewhere.

[unas]

Most guards tend not to keep the keys where someone could see them.

( and it's starting to sound like her hopes of escape are getting dashed )

[somebadnews]

[ That gets a look. This is stupid. Why can't he just blink in? Now he has to either fight off the guards for a key, or ask to borrow Diego to pick the lock or Allison to rumor their way in, and he'd rather not do that for something he can handle. ]

Well there's some kind of barrier keeping me out. [ Like she'll get it if he says the same thing using slightly different words. ] Apparently they think you have powers they need to contain.