westwhere | no man's sea

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no man's sea

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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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.

■

■ 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

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[ Five has jumped in tandem with enough people to know that it isn't pleasant, but once she wasn't throwing up he's satisfied that she could handle it. He only looks back to see that she's following, then leads her around the corner to where... another barrel the size of him sits on top of the latch.

That wasn't there before. Stupid pirates too lazy to put their supplies in the right place. He groans inwardly, but he's not up for another jump so he points to the other side. ]

It's under here. Help me lift it.

[ The trouble he's going through for all this better be leading somewhere. ]

( she's really starting to dislike pirates and after being caged and attacked she can't be blamed. but there's no complaint, una moving to help him lift it, letting him be part of the effort even though she could do it alone. but she doesn't plan on letting him know that.

so she gets one side of it as he gets the other, the barrel sliding easily away from the door, sitting in a much easier place even if it had nicely hidden the door )

You chose somewhere hard to find.

( when barrels are on it )

[ Five had some doubts they'd be able to get it off once he grabs his end, but remarkably the two of them barely struggle with whatever was in it. Probably fish, from the smell. ]

I'd say that was the idea, but that wasn't there an hour ago.

[ That's just his luck at work. Once it's off he opens the latch and quickly moves down the ladder into the (thankfully unoccupied) storage room. It's also darker than he remembers. But if nothing else, he has an excellent sense of space, and he easily locates where he left it.

He's completely focused on his task as he moves some things out of the way to eventually drag out an enchanted box. Hopefully he can bypass any explanation of why he has an enchanted box, or where he got it from, because there is more than a briefcase inside it. He just works on getting it out and barely glances behind him. ]

If you can find a lantern. I think there was one down here before.

[ Or just do her glowing thing, but he keeps that part to himself. Doubts something that useful would be something she could just turn on, but he's open to being surprised. ]

( the glowing thing is definitely out of the question and she's glad that he doesn't say it. her attention on him disappears for a moment as she looks for the lantern he mentions, letting him sort his box out unnoticed )

It's likely they were moving it.

( before they caused a distraction.

after a little longer the lantern search is a success! though she has no idea how to actually turn it on )

[ Five is already onto the next thing, so he doesn't make the connection to an obstacle they've already overcome. He'd have something to say if he knew she was mentally blaming it on their jailbreak. ]

Moving what?

[ He walks up to her side and looks at the lantern, briefcase in his other hand. And it... definitely just looks like a big, if dented, briefcase. ]

Good, you found it. [ The lantern. The lantern that has gone out. He rubs his eyes. ] Should have taken one that was still lit from the brig.

[ He could try to jump back and get one, but instead he just sighs and sets the briefcase on top of one of the crates. At least things should die down for as long as it's going to take to get started. ]

...I'm going to see if they have any flint around here.

Is that it?

( she gestures to the briefcase as he steps away to find flint. she's confused again as apparently when he'd said briefcase he actually meant it. which meant that the device was small enough to be inside it rather than the briefcase itself. so she assumed )

[ He's not surprised she doesn't recognize it. If she had, it would have meant she was a part of the Commission, and he likely would have had to kill her. Hence the way he pauses in his search to judge her reaction before he responds. ]

That's it. [ He goes about checking the shelves, still keeping her in his periphery as he searches. ] ...It broke after it brought me and my siblings here. Probably because it wasn't supposed to work that way.

How did you use it?

( and how was it supposed to be used?

her hands run over the outside of it, feeling first for anything strange before then looking to the latches to open it )

Usually they set them up to be idiot-proof. They lock down a specific time and place, sometimes even the duration they can stay there, so all you have to do is open them.

[ He continues browsing the shelves and finally settles on what he's looking for. When he returns, he has a rock and a piece of steel in hand. ]

It's possible to change that. I modified the date on that one, but in the real world they were tracked so... [ he stops himself there, backtracks ] ...it wasn't designed to be user friendly in that regard. They're typically reliable, but obviously I was too trusting when I took that one.

[ Taking the lamp, he gets to work on his fire project. Lucky for them, he's had a lifetime of experience without electricity to work with. ]

If I had tools I could do more with it.

( but she'd certainly take a look.

though having it programmed for a specific time? clearly something in his world, or some specific time had created these and they didn't play with time in this way.

but she'll open it, trying to examine what function she can of it without any tools )

I might need to spend more time with it. ( in his presence obviously )

[ After some more fiddling and banging as he strikes the iron against the steel, the wick manages to catch a spark. A minute later and lo, they have a functional lantern. When he sees her opening it, he finally mentions: ]

Careful with it. That one isn't working, but there's still a chance it'll combust. And like I said, it's my only one.

[ The fact that he's trusting her to look at it is an uncharacteristic leap of faith. But after a year of not getting anywhere with it, he doesn't have a whole lot to lose. ]

...What kind of tools? [ He can get tools. ]

( you know she wishes she'd had that warning before she'd open it but at least now she knows she needs to be careful.

and looks back down at it, examining before touches anything )

I doubt the diagnostic equipment I'm used to would be here. ( in a pirate ship which is very anachronistic given the barrier he'd saved her from ) A blade at the least... a spanner?

( she really means hyperspanner but oops )

[ Five narrows his eyes, but doesn't immediately move to dig around for them. She's really just going to dive in. ]

Do you know what you're doing?

[ He means to ask if she's familiar with the technology, but that's how it comes out. ]

Many alien systems can be built in configurations that are unknown, though often the concepts between them are shared.

( engineering had a way of being figure-out-able, common and right. and even if something wasn't the same it was easy to understand )

I'm looking for that.

[ He flexes his jaw, if only because he's been stuck on this for a year without luck and he should be the authority on time travel. But he can admit that he'd been putting it aside to focus on his own abilities for most of that time, and there's a possibility... he needs help.

Hesitatingly, he pulls out a dagger concealed in his waistband and sets it beside her. No need to ask where it came from. The he sniffs and looks back to the dimly lit supplies behind them. ]

I doubt they keep more than rudimentary carpentry tools down here. [ He could ask around, but he doesn't want to leave while she's got that open. And also... he's a little stuck on the first thing she said. ] You ran across a lot of technologically advanced aliens?

It's a mixture of technological development, some planets exceed what we've so far discovered, others are... less advanced.

( and left alone, they have rules.

the dagger's slowly picked up, una using it to lift something for the moment to look behind it )

[ Five crosses his arms, silent as he considers that. Of all the things he's studied, life on other planets was never his focus. It's easier to get his head around than some of the things he's seen here that are diametrically opposed to logic, but it still seems awfully convenient.

He leans in to see what she's poking at. ]

Any of them figure out time travel?

That's a complicated answer. But yes.

( she doubts the words 'it's classified' will do anything for him considering he's not starfleet. but complicated works )

Some of the species we've met we've formed alliances with. The crew I serve with aren't all human.

( she isn't either )

[ He's silent for a long time after that, and he shifts uncomfortably where he stands. It isn't so shocking to hear. Five isn't the only one to figure it out, considering he had nothing to do with the invention of the briefcases, but it still makes him wonder what they used it for.

Part of him wants to ask if she's heard of the Commission. Or if she'd tell the truth if he did. Instead he throws out something obvious, just to keep her talking. ]

You're military?

[ Judging by her language and everything he's seen from her. That she isn't simply a human with powers hasn't crossed his mind, but to be fair, as far as he knows he's a human who just happens to be able to manipulate space and time. ]

( she pauses herself for a moment, studying the mechanism that she's managed to reveal. it's only one part of it, it doesn't make sense alone but--

honestly, for her engineering skills she's never studied a time travel device before, she's flying blind but learning a lot. it's more than just theory now )

No. Not the 21st century military. ( because whilst yes they were trained for combat they weren't military really ) We're explorers.

[ Her wording sticks with him, and he sits with it as his mind wanders. He tries to imagine a technologically advanced group of space explorers, but when he blinks all he can see is a wasteland and it floors him for a moment. ]

Ah. [ It only lasts a second, and then he's back in the storage room. He rubs at the back of his neck and keeps his expression carefully neutral. ]

Did you get a good enough look, or are you going to keep poking at it?

( she's an engineer, poking's her job, especially when you're trying to figure something new out )

For now, I've had a look. But another day when if we find tools I want to look again.

( or if she comes up with a theory )

[ Five stands still for a few more seconds, then nods. The first time he's let someone else touch the briefcase and it didn't explode. He should count that as a win. ]

That's fine. [ He steps forward and holds his hand out, expecting the dagger back when he meets her gaze. ] Just let me know.

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