Murder on the Island

[Vulpix]

Dec 8, 2023 10:19:07 GMT -6 ⋆⋅ Sage ⋅⋆ said:

“Ah, it’s amazing! Never got the chance to do anything like this back home,” says Psychic. “Say, Sam, you’re just a kid, aren’t you? What made you decide to join this, uh, crew?”

 Sam shrugs, and some colour rises in his cheeks. "I'm 15, mister. I haven't been a kid since my father took ill. When he died, I had to start earning money for me sisters. At first I tried through more traditional means, but that was no life fer me. I'd rather be sailing the seas than stuck in service of some king who's never done nothin' fer me."

---

Dec 8, 2023 11:01:57 GMT -6 crazynuto said:

Our dear Captain...Howell was it? Seemed a bit irate, so I elected to get myself busy. While I can't say I know the difference between a yam and a sweet potato, I'm certainly good at following directions! How can I help?

Defective salutes, as he's not sure what a pirate is supposed to do to a commanding officer. Spit in their face? Shine their shoes? Batten their...hatches? Who knows. But he's eager to help nonetheless.

The quartermaster chuckles. "Sounds like you'll fit right in, here. Come along, I'll show you what to do."

Edward passes Defective a large knife. "Chop up this meat, we're makin' stew." He throws Defective some large slabs of salted mystery meat. "So, you know about the treasure we're after?"

---

Dec 8, 2023 13:11:52 GMT -6 Sorin Poe said:

Enemy will back off, not because he’s intimidated or anything. He’s not owned right now. Not at all.



He supposes he’ll go check out what the surgeon is doing manning the cannons instead of committing modern malpractice. At least, until this ship gets Wrecked.

The captain glowers after Enemy as he leaves.

Crazy Pete, without saying a word, throws a filthy rag in Enemy's direction. When Enemy doesn't immediately react, Pete gets up and spits on Enemy's rag. "Go on now, get to polishing. Unless you'd like to be as useless as this scallywag, jus' watchin' as I do all the work." Crazy Pete glares at Phantom Arm. Phantom Arm glares back, but his cheeks begin to flush. Crazy Pete adds, "Only reason I haven't thrown 'im to the sharks yet is I reckon the captain deserves the honour of doin' that 'imself."

"Crazy Worm makes empty threats," says Phantom Arm. He does, however, grab a rag, spit on it, and begin polishing one of the cannons.

[⋆⋅ Sage ⋅⋆]

Psychic nods solemnly as Sam talks. For a guy in his late twenties, he knows a lot of kids around Sam’s age, and a lot of them have been forced to grow up too fast, just as Sam has.

He reaches out and ruffles Sam’s hair. “Well, you’re doing a great job. Your dad would be proud of you.”

After a moment, he adds, “so, need any more help up here or should I go make myself busy below deck?”

[Sorin Poe]

"Sharks? Blood in these rocky waters?" thinks Enemy to himself.

Nothing else to do but clean, huh? Enemy grabs a rag with mild disgust and gets to polishing a cannon like a Machine. While at it, he'll try to make some small talk.

"Don't you think five is a bit small for a pirate crew?"

[crazynuto]

Dec 8, 2023 17:56:13 GMT -6 Vulpix said:

Edward passes Defective a large knife. "Chop up this meat, we're makin' stew." He throws Defective some large slabs of salted mystery meat. "So, you know about the treasure we're after?"

Defective chops with the dexterity of a particularly knife-inclined person.

Ah, treasure you say? No I can't say I know that. Tell me more!

[Vulpix]

Dec 8, 2023 18:52:51 GMT -6 Sorin Poe said:

"Sharks? Blood in these rocky waters?" thinks Enemy to himself.

Nothing else to do but clean, huh? Enemy grabs a rag with mild disgust and gets to polishing a cannon like a Machine. While at it, he'll try to make some small talk.

"Don't you think five is a bit small for a pirate crew?"

"Used to be more of us before the last battle. We won, but it hardly feels like a victory when only five of us can celebrate it." Enemy notices that Crazy Pete is missing his left arm, which is instead replaced with a hook. Before Enemy can say anything else, he hears the captain hollering:

"Drop the anchor, Graves! Crazy Pete, lower the rowboat. Sam, fetch Mr. Morgan! Everybody else, get to the main deck!"

---

"Well, I guess that sort of answers your question. C'mon, we best not keep 'em waiting!" Sam clambers down from the crow's nest. He goes below deck to the kitchen, interrupting Edward Morgan before he can reply to Defective. The three of them go back to the main deck together.

Everyone has gathered in front of the captain except Crazy Pete who is holding a rope by the side of the ship. The rope is attached to a system of pulleys holding up a respectably-sized rowboat. Captain Howell ushers the ten of them into the boat before Pete lowers it to the water.

"Today, crew, we make history. On that island is the famed treasure of Captain Bluebeard, full of untold wealth! Legend has it that Bluebeard's ghost guards the treasure. But what match is one ghost for the best buccaneers on the sea?" The captain laughs, and his crew joins in. He pulls from his coat pocket a tattered roll of paper. "This 'ere's the map. I'll be holdin' onto it."

The boat settles on the sandy island beach, and the ten sailors step out. The island is covered in jungle foliage. The group walks clockwise the perimeter together to get a lay of the land. The first notable landmark they come across is saltwater stream. Water rushes in from the ocean onto the island. The stream abruptly divides a few meters inland. A huge, old tree parts the waters, which continue in two smaller streams on either side of it. Continuing along the shore, the group finds a massive orange flower. It produces a dreadful stench, like rotting meat. The group hurries along past it. They travel up a rocky hill. At the top, they can see the whole island. Most of the island is a mass of tropical trees. The group has traveled about a third of the way around the island. Up ahead, a small distance off the coast, are some sharp rocks poking through the water. The ruins of a shipwreck can be seen among them. The captain and quartermaster remove their hats when they look at it.

The group continues their journey. Part way down the hill, Defective slips on some loose rocks and slides a few meters down the hill towards the ocean. Sam, the smallest of the pirate crew, carefully picks his way down to him. He helps Defective to his feet. "Aye, look, you've found a cave!" he says. "Ah, but we've no time to explore it right now. They're all waitin' fer us. Come on, now." They climb back onto the ridge with the others, and continue making their way down.

Looking towards the ocean, you can see the far edge of the field of sharp rocks which sunk that unfortunate ship. It looks kind of like this:  Except with no random barge or watermark. (Author's note: this part is hard guys. ive never been good at prose so stfu  ). This is located roughly three quarters of the way around the island from where they began.

Once they're back at the rowboat, the captain launches into a speech which he has clearly spent time coming up with:

"Avast! Want treasure? Here's the advice I've got:

Same as all treasure hunts, X marks the spot!

Find a split flower which grows a great tree,

A bird's nest that somehow emerged from the sea,

A mouth full of shells,

Twins playing in the swell,

Then forty times richer a pirate you'll be!"

"Everyone, split up and get to looking! I'll be here at the rowboat with the map if any of you scurvy curs find yerselves stuck. We meet back here when someone's found the treasure, are we clear?" He passes a shovel out to eight of the nine crewmates; Crazy Pete and Graves seem to have come to a silent agreement that the two of them will work as a pair to accommodate Pete's missing hand.

[peterparker]

"Well, everyone, I suppose we should follow the captain's riddle to find the treasure. Shall we?"



"It sounds like the natural starting location is that tree we found that splits the two streams. I want to get a closer look at that flower that we saw near there. You all are welcome to join me, if you'd like to."

Virgilia walks back to where the tree split the streams, and has a good look at that flower. She also examines the surroundings for anything with an "X" marking. Considering the next line of the riddle, she also looks for any bird's nests that are visible, either in the big tree or the surroundings. 

[crazynuto]

Defective immediately goes into the cave he found, hoping the treasure just happens to be in there.

[⋆⋅ Sage ⋅⋆]

Psychic heads out to investigate the shipwreck.

[Vulpix]

Dec 8, 2023 21:14:02 GMT -6 crazynuto said:

Defective immediately goes into the cave he found, hoping the treasure just happens to be in there.

Bluebeard's treasure is not in the cave. However, there is indeed a treasure in the cave! A colony of little turtles amble about. A few of them are huddled together, asleep. Some are entering the cave, others are leaving. None of them seem particularly bothered by Defective's presence.

---

Dec 8, 2023 21:33:41 GMT -6 ⋆⋅ Sage ⋅⋆ said:

Psychic heads out to investigate the shipwreck.

Psychic gets as close to the shipwreck as he can. It is some distance away from the island, among the jagged rocks. The sails are in tatters. The mast is bent at an awkward angle, with the crow's nest being licked by the waves. The bow of the ship is caved in. The figurehead at the front of the ship was difficult to make out, as barnacles had grown all over it.

---

Dec 8, 2023 21:00:06 GMT -6 peterparker said:

"Well, everyone, I suppose we should follow the captain's riddle to find the treasure. Shall we?"







"It sounds like the natural starting location is that tree we found that splits the two streams. I want to get a closer look at that flower that we saw near there. You all are welcome to join me, if you'd like to."



Virgilia walks back to where the tree split the streams, and has a good look at that flower. She also examines the surroundings for anything with an "X" marking. Considering the next line of the riddle, she also looks for any bird's nests that are visible, either in the big tree or the surroundings. 

When Virgilia stands at the mouth of the stream, the flower that she had seen earlier is not in site. It is a way's away from here. She first investigates the tree that divides the stream. As she peers up, she sees something moving on a branch above her. It looks like a huge crab. Then, she walks the rest of the way to the massive, stinky flower. It's about a meter in diameter, and covered in light spots. The smell is overpowering. She looks up at the trees in the area between the flower and the stream. There are lots of fruits, and some birds, but nothing that she can identify as a nest. She thinks for a second she sees a nest, but on closer inspection, it's just coconuts.

[⋆⋅ Sage ⋅⋆]

Psychic heads over to where Virgilia is and attempts to climb the tree to get a better look both at the things in the tree, and a good birds’ eye view over the island.

[Vulpix]

Dec 8, 2023 22:24:47 GMT -6 ⋆⋅ Sage ⋅⋆ said:

Psychic heads over to where Virgilia is and attempts to climb the tree to get a better look both at the things in the tree, and a good birds’ eye view over the island.

 Psychic tries very hard to climb the tree, but it is quite wide around and he can't reach the lowest branch. If he could just reach that first branch...

[Sorin Poe]

Considering The River, Enemy is going to examine where each of the split streams goes, and then probably just randomly pick one to follow to its end.

[crazynuto]

Defective will like to pet one of the turtles, and "borrow" one for a bit. He's got an idea.

He takes the turtle to the stinky flower and places it nearby, wondering if it'll eat it.

Ah the Rafflesia (probably), a delightfully pungent aroma. It's no wonder they call it "The Flower of Death". Yet if I recall correctly, it is native to Indonesia. Pirates usually sail in the Caribbean. Ah I'll have to have a chat with Demi about that little inaccuracy later.

Now go little Turters! Eat the flower!

[Vulpix]

Dec 8, 2023 22:49:18 GMT -6 Sorin Poe said:

Considering The River, Enemy is going to examine where each of the split streams goes, and then probably just randomly pick one to follow to its end.

With a decent amount of time on his hands, Enemy actually manages to follow both streams all the way down. The one on the left ends in an inviting-looking pool. Its crystalline waters are full of anemones and cute little fish and baby crabs and all sorts of other life typical to a tide pool. The stream on the right also ends in a pool, but this one is kinda gross-looking. It's got an overgrowth of algae, and Enemy thinks he sees a little hermit crab picking at the remains of a dead fish.

[Vulpix]

Dec 8, 2023 22:56:08 GMT -6 crazynuto said:

Defective will like to pet one of the turtles, and "borrow" one for a bit. He's got an idea.

He takes the turtle to the stinky flower and places it nearby, wondering if it'll eat it.

Ah the Rafflesia (probably), a delightfully pungent aroma. It's no wonder they call it "The Flower of Death". Yet if I recall correctly, it is native to Indonesia. Pirates usually sail in the Caribbean. Ah I'll have to have a chat with Demi about that little inaccuracy later.

Now go little Turters! Eat the flower!

Defective picks up a turtle. The startled critter retreats into its shell. He climbs back down the hill and puts the turtle beside the flower. He takes a couple steps back. After a minute, the turtle bravely pokes his head out and looks around. He walks away from the flower and towards the shoreline.