Welcome to the Jungle (Open Prompt)

[Aegis]

Ash 25, 122

A whistle called out from the crow's nest. Land had been sighted. They had arrived. As they drew closer, the entirety of the crew appeared to come up to the deck, a couple hundred people, elongating the ship to dizzying proportions. Huge, rocky cliffs edged the land mass they approached, towering ten times higher than the mainmast. As they drew closer, the spotters and navigators communicated through a series of whistles, to allow for the avoidance of shoals, coral, rocks and the like.

Eventually, the Duck came around a cliff and found herself entering a large, horseshoe shaped bay. The two branches of the horseshoe sloped down to meet in a sandy beach, protected by the cliffs. A ways off from the beach, a tree line, palms and mangroves according to the spotters. The waters were deep, crystal clear, showing off a wide variety of brightly colored fish, plant life and coral below. The Duck entered the bay and dropped anchor. Captain Kynne walked down to the main deck, and over to the rail, calling to the newcomers that had come through the Doors earlier in the season.

"We have arrived."

He was smirking slightly, for he knew that meant different things to each person here.

"Well, let's get on with it."

Suddenly everyone could see objects appear on the distant beach, still a few hundred yards away.

"The Duck has delivered your trunks to the beach."

He turned to look at the group and winked. And everyone would find themselves in the exact same position they were in during said wink. Only now, they were ten yards closer to the beach and no longer upon the deck of the Duck. And gravity was taking hold, some twenty feet over the waters of the bay. Captain Kynne was among the group, shouting to the ship as they all began to fall. "See you in a year!"

And with that, the Duck picked up anchor, and began to leave.

Captain Kynne's body straightened into an arrow, his arms leading the way into a dive. He broke through the surface with barely a splash, zipping through the depths of the water. He made it almost a third of the way to the beach, far ahead of the rest of the arrivals when he breached the surface. He flipped over onto his back, lazily floating now, the gentle waves rocking him back and forth, his laughter could be heard by those that paid attention.

!

Message from: Aegis

This is an Open Prompt for the expedition. It is not mandatory for any participants. If you wish to utilize it as an Open Thread, go ahead and post here. I will not be moderating anything other than replies from Kynne if need be. There is no posting order for any PCs that post here. You can also choose to solo the arrival, do it in a collaboration, or simply skip it and reference it. It is up to you. From here on out, the Expedition is entirely up to the direction of PCs. The decisions made will matter. Every finished thread will create changes. And it should be noted that beyond the shape of the bay and the visible beach and tree line, I'm not directing what the rest of the area looks like. Instead, that will be determined by you, the PCs. What you find while exploring will be added to the map coming soon. Have fun!

[Kaiko Marina]

Kaiko was sitting in the fighting top of the foremast. It resembled a crows nest as it was a circle with railing on a mast but it was only about half way up. She was writing down different concepts about the ship so she could use them in a song later. But her thoughts had been cut short by a loud piercing note of a whistle. If she was not mistaken then that would mean either another ship or land. She closed her writing book and stood up to look towards the front of the ship. She pulled her spyglass out and looked towards the horizon line. Yes, that whistle ment land. And with land usually came chaos. Controlled and important but still chaos. That also meant she was in the way or would be soon. She immediately put her book in her mouth and began the climb down the rigging. On deck she quickly walked to the stairs and down them then down the hall to her room where she packed her writing book and went back up out. She excitedly knocked on doors as she went back topside. She also yelled "land ho" and "you'll want to see this" as she went.

Topside she ran over to the railing and gazed at the water as it went from beep blue to almost invisible. She saw the first coral reef and immediately remembered that they had a very curious person aboard. One who would want to see this. Where was Norani anyway she would begin her search for the girl. Upon finding her she would excitedly explain "you want to see this" and lead her over to the side of the boat one way or another.

"Look, you can see the coral." She would point and start naming random things. She would only stop when they were gathered by the Captain and told of their arrival. And that their stuff was already at the beach. She had expected the normal, grab your sea bag and paddle. Jump in the boat and row ashore but it seemed the duck and captain were not going to stray from their unusual ways.

Suddenly they were falling, fortunately over clear water that was much deeper than appeared. Immediately she crossed her ankles and straightened with her hands to the side. This was an emergency dive as she did not have the time to try and flip in mid air for a proper dive.

Once in the water she took on her lycan form. And began to swim around the group to make sure that all were able to swim and went to help anyone that was struggling to the surface. She would then turn onto her back and inflate so that she could effortlessly float with the extra weight as ahead slithered twords shore.

[Imogen]

The arrival of the Duck at the shoreline meant nothing to Imogen, at first. They had arrived? Was this the land from which The Duck originated? What strange and fantastical place might this be? It was beyond her ken, anyway; each beach looked much the same as another to someone who had only ever seen two shorelines.

When she first found her way up to the deck, the orkhan woman avoided pushing her way to the side, opting instead to clamber up the stairway to the aftcastle and get more height. The flora upon the far shore was lush and green, and the salty wind was warm. Warmer than she'd ever felt it, in fact- just how far south had the ship sailed?

Imogen surveyed the swath of coastline as Kynne made his fateful announcement, the trunks of the passengers manifesting without fanfare on the sands. Well, that was convenient, if they were meant to disembark! She wondered if The Duck had stashed away a set of rowboats to ferry them ashore somewhere, or perhaps they would see a return of the mysterious door system the ship had exhibited. If not, well, it was no issue, she could simply ask Carina to-

And then she was in the air, and she was falling.

She wasted precious seconds observing, internally, how strange the ship's magic was. It was nothing like Traversion; she'd been Ferried many times, or run through Railways, and was quite familiar with the sight of the strange un-reality of Slipspace consuming the horizon between steps. This was as if she had not moved at all, and yet everything had changed. Truly, it should not be possible.

But then, she observed, she was still falling. Her instinct, of course, was to summon the shape of the Albatross from the depths of her being- but she could never complete a shift so instantly, and the idea of hurtling into the ocean as a chimeric ball of limbs and feathers did not appeal much. Furthermore, it would mean yet another lost set of clothes and, more importantly, a lost set of boots. Extra clothes she had, or could work around; shoes were tricky to replace in the wilderness.

Thankfully, as she hurtled belly-first towards the water, one very stupid option remained.

Imogen tumbled towards the water, and summoned aether from the depths of her spirit. Silver flame washed throughout her hand, then rapidly lengthened, materializing into a long wooden staff. Another tumble sent it from her grasp, but the staff woke to life at her will, sidling over to its falling master and hooking the neckline of her shirt. Immediately it began to pull upwards, dragging her by the back of her shirt and leaving her hanging.

Though the weapon's force slowed her descent, it lacked the power to lift her; she smacked into the surface of the ocean moving less quickly than before, but still with enough force to push the air out of her lungs and make her wheeze and sputter in the saltwater foam. Undeterred, the staff followed her mental directions, dragging her face-first through the ocean and towards the shoreline in a style truly reminiscent of the mythic heroes of old.

[Charlie]

Charlie was out of bed once the knock came at the door, though his progress afterward was stalled by his vain need to have his hair perfectly styled and his clothes wholly wrinkle-free before he left his room. So they had arrived. Arrived where exactly? Charlie wasn't sure, but understood it was important if someone was trying to rouse the entire crew.

Charlie made his way to the main deck, and looked out across the island. He whistled in appreciation. Now this was the sort of thing he could get used to. The sun shining down, crystal clear water, a perfect bay for easy fishing. He wasn't sure how long they would be on shore leave, but he was excited to get to the only important part of this excursion, relaxation. Well, until the call to disembark came, Charlie was happy to simply lean against the taffrail and feel the breeze and admire the view.

Suddenly, and quite rudely, the view changed! Charlie looked down and no longer saw the solid floor of the Duck beneath him, but instead clear saltwater.

As he fell, Charlie bemoaned the fact that he was wearing silk. It was going to be absolutely ruined by the seawater. There was no saving it now, so Charlie instead plugged his nose and closed his eyes before he met the water with a sizable splash. He was under the water for a few seconds, but emerged without incident except a few jabs to his pride. His hair took ages to look so perfectly unkempt, and now he'd need to do it all over again!

Charlie first swam, then waded to shore. Once he was safely on the beach, he shed his cloak, button down shirt, and shoes then tossed them on a nearby rock to dry. He might be able to save the shirt if he could dry it quickly enough, but this was one area where he wasn't a relentless optimist.

"Did he say a year?" Charlie asked to no one in particular. Then he shrugged, not letting the duration of his stay weigh on him. "Well anyway, we should probably get shelter set up before nightfall." Charlie was already removing the pegs and tentpoles from his trunk for an oversized pavilion-style shelter complete with insect-screen windows.

[Destyn]

Welcome to the Jungle

25 Ash, 122

► Show Spoiler

Destyn padded up from the hold to the main deck, stretching his arms and wings out to the sides as he yawned. Just having been woken from a nap by all the whistling and hooting, he was wearing naught but some knee-high breeches and the amulet gifted by Torin in advance of the trip that enabled him to intermittently pop between the Duck and his homestead in the North.

His bare torso was slender and sunkissed, appearing mostly human save for the bark-like protrusion of his spine that bisected his back out of which two sets of translucent wings extended- reminiscent of those one might see on a dragonfly.

Wending his lazy way through the crowd gathering on the deck, he looked to Kynne as he addressed them. He smiled, excitedly at the news of their arrival and upon hearing their belongings had already been deposited ashore, he exclaimed,

"Thank you, The Duck!"

And moments after his gratitude was expressed, The Duck was no more. He felt frozen in mid-air for a moment, time enough to blink and then he was falling. He heard shouts of alarm all around him, but his instincts kicked in after he'd only fallen a few feet, and his wings sprung to action- Beating rapidly and quite loudly as they sent heavy gusts down toward the water below. He hovered fifteen feet or so above his erstwhile shipmates now in lieu of their ship.

He looked to where Kynne was floating and giggled at the whimsical prelude to whatever adventures awaited them. Suddenly aware that some of the shouts from below seemed more garbled and desperate than others, Destyn set about to finding and helping those of his companions who might not be as capable swimmers. He wasn't sure he could carry anyone unless they were relatively small, but he could certainly deliver substantial pieces of driftwood that might serve as life-saving rafts. Sometimes whimsy waxed precarious!

Welcome to the Jungle

[Avamande]

Four weeks aboard the Duck had not been nearly enough time to get to know her, and Avamande was rather upset when it became obvious that they would be making landfall already. That would mean less time examining the ship, learning from her, and in general advancing their knowledge of seamanship which had, despite their expectations, become a shockingly relevant and important skill to hone over the past two seasons.

Any further rumination on the situation at hand was abruptly cut short when the deck beneath their feet simply wasn't, and they found themselves above the waters of the coastal bay. Three thoughts flashed through their mind in rapid succession, first relieved confirmation that their trunks - which were very much not water proofed and had some rather important equipment - were in fact already upon dry land, and second annoyed at the realization that they had absolutely no idea where they were, and finally wonder at the ship had transported them. A year was a long time after all, and their assumption of being able to simply use Traversion to return to Kalzasi was now in doubt.

Still, they could work with this. Despite all of the Duck's magic, they had traveled physically to this land, and therefore a suitable exercise of Traversion should see them returned. It would simply require more effort than they had previously assumed, but that was no concern of theirs. They would manage it, one way or another.

As an afterthought, Avamande arrested their descent with a brush of Kinetics, their feet skimming above the water as they flew towards shore. With a more subtle exertion of their power, they assisted those who lacked magic or wings, buoying them in the water with a constant upward force. It would not do to inaugurate their first day on this new land with any deaths, but they also knew that there were those who would take offense at unasked for assistance.

[Kayleigh]

Kay had been curled on her bed enraptured in another one of the tomes she'd found aboard the Duck, the massive library's selection barely even covered in just the month she'd been aboard. After having met interesting people and trying to grasp what the Duck was as a whole, the signal finally came from above when a whistle was heard out her porthole window. The bookworm looked up at the planks above her as she closed the leather tome and tilted herself just enough to the side to slip a leg out from underneath her.

A bare foot rested on the wooden plank when she moved off to stand next to her bedframe, when the fabric of her peach-colored dress rolled to cover just above her knees. Her gaze fell back on the Three Little Ducks book she left on the mattress before she reached out to handle its relocation to atop her trunk at the foot of the bed. Whatever was going on topside she felt it essential to attend, and before long she was out amongst the crowd that amassed on deck for Captain Kynne. Just beyond the ship's bow, there was a spot of land waiting for them, and no sooner when Kayleigh's eyes laid on it, had she realized it had suddenly grown closer.

And that the deck wasn't beneath her feet any longer. At that moment before gravity took hold her eyes widened, and the scholar might've even yelped when she felt her form tumble down to the water beneath her. The brush of warm wind didn't take long before she felt waters of the same temperature embrace her, before she briefly sunk below the surface into a crisp clear world of aquatic life. She had never seen such a beautiful landscape in her life, nature here looked untouched compared to the bustling life of the cities she'd dwelled in. Remembering that she needed air to breathe though, the bookworm peddled her feet as she went for the surface.

She had never actually done anything swimming-related before, and yet somehow, the gentle pull around the water's surface kept her afloat when she broke through. Fucking magic. How on Ailizane she was to grow accustomed to such unusual phenomenons still trumped her at times. Still, Kayleigh noticed the direction of the beach everyone swam for, while Captain Kynne himself seemed to just relax within the waters they swam through. The Zaichaeri waded, sluggishly, through the depths as she kicked and paddled her way through. It wasn't before long she started to realize that a few broader strokes would carry her across the water, and she could gently pull herself along with the waves that carried everyone to shore.

Their belongings looked to have been stashed altogether in one location or cache, and when Kayleigh finally felt the mush of wet sand beneath her toes, she carefully waded her way out of the water with a corner of her dress in her left hand. That would be the end of it for her there, no more simple dresses on nice warm days. Not when she had to consider their point of arrival and how such events liked to play out in the future... "Thank you!" She might've told anyone who helped brought her further inland so that she would seat herself near the cache, her trunk already located by the very book she'd left sitting atop it just minutes prior to their arrival.

"A year." The bookworm confirmed aloud without even noticing who it was that brought up the question. Admittedly it felt like it would be a long time to be gone, but then heroes from the books she'd read had gone on journeys that lasted just as long. Some even longer. Despite how overwhelmed she felt by it all now, somehow, Kayleigh knew her time spent here would fly by just as quickly as the trip here had been. At the mention of shelter and nightfall, she couldn't help but eye the sky for the location of the sun, and then realize that the blonde boy Charlie already seemed set on that.

"I'd like to help," she offered after wringing the water out of her dress, "is there anything I can do?" When she released the wrinkled cotton from her grasp, Kayleigh wiped the creases down her dress before focusing on her hair, the soaked clumps pulled back past her ears so their lengths would rest behind her shoulders. It wasn't like she could do much else with her own stuff at this point, especially since she didn't want to risk the Three Little Ducks book getting wet from her touch.

"Dialogue" Thought
"Common" "Kathalan"

[Aegis]

REVIEW TIME

Kaiko

Lores: 3 Skill Lores

Loot: None
Injuries: None

Points: 4, may not be used for magic

Comments: With roughly 1/3rd of a solo written here, I award 1/3 of the exp and lores, rounded up, +1 being a special type of prompt scenario.


Imogen

Lores: 3 Skill Lores

Loot: None
Injuries: None

Points: 4, may not be used for magic

Comments: With roughly 1/3rd of a solo written here, I award 1/3 of the exp and lores, rounded up, +1 being a special type of prompt scenario.


Charlie

Lores: 3 Skill Lores

Loot: None
Injuries: None

Points: 4, may not be used for magic

Comments: With roughly 1/3rd of a solo written here, I award 1/3 of the exp and lores, rounded up, +1 being a special type of prompt scenario.


Destyn

Lores: 3 Skill Lores

Loot: None
Injuries: None

Points: 4, may not be used for magic

Comments: With roughly 1/3rd of a solo written here, I award 1/3 of the exp and lores, rounded up, +1 being a special type of prompt scenario.


Avamande

Lores: 3 Skill Lores

Loot: None
Injuries: None

Points: 4, may not be used for magic

Comments: With roughly 1/3rd of a solo written here, I award 1/3 of the exp and lores, rounded up, +1 being a special type of prompt scenario.


Kayleigh

Lores: 4 Skill Lores

Loot: None
Injuries: None

Points: 5, may not be used for magic

Comments: With roughly 1/2 of a solo written here, I award 1/2 of the exp and lores, rounded up, +1 being a special type of prompt scenario.

Aegis - 1 post = 2 points granted to Norani