JungleBook/Prelude

JungleBook log 3 (prelude)

Our pregame planning turned into a prelude session.

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<Ikselam> THE NEXT DAY...

<Domino> "My, what strange-looking creatures these are...."

<BigPat> don't touch my stuff! Wait, where am I?

<Ikselam> This beach is bright, sunny, and appears to be composed of glass.

<Domino> By the way, I probably only speak Old Realm. Hmmm....

<BigPat> I'd wager good odds that's not natural

<Ikselam> Many nuggets of brown sea glass tumble litter the area.

<Ikselam> strike that tumble.

<dissolvegirl> "Owww.. I have glass nuggets in uncomfortable places."

<BigPat> boots, don't fail me now

<Ikselam> Not too far away, Vaschir sees the waterlogged form of... the accursed woman who brought doom to his crew... and more importantly, his SHIP!

<Ikselam> Plus there's a tattooed guy with a loincloth poking him curiously with a wooden spear.

<BigPat> Maybe a little friendly punching will cheer me uo

<BigPat> *up

<Ikselam> Heh, this is where the Brawl Charms would come in for humorous effect.

<Domino> "Why are you sleeping on this shore? It is most uncomfortable."

<Ikselam> (He punches her! She kicks him! They both fly 30 yards and are knocked unconscious.)

<BigPat> you're telling me! I've got sharp glass protrusions in places I don't even want to think about!

<dissolvegirl> "Why are you speaking the ancient language of knowledge? Aren't you a barbarian?"

<BigPat> umm, no pants, wooden spear, I'd say it's pretty obvious he is

<Domino> "I don't think so. Father tells me I am Exalted."

<BigPat> "Son. Of A. Bitch."

<Domino> "Pardon?"

<BigPat> "I've been having a rough day, although things are looking up from yesterday"

<Ikselam> (No, of a bear!)

<dissolvegirl> "I've seen Dragon-Blooded in less, but this is just silly."

<Domino> Omabwa helps the oddly-clothed man to his feet, then the oddly-clothed woman.

<Ikselam> Both Ana and Vaschir feel surprisingly good for shipwreck survivors. None of that characteristic half-drowned feeling...

<BigPat> Is my precious, precious loot on hand?

<Ikselam> In fact, both of them feel more alive than ever!

<Domino> "I have not seen you on the island before. Did you swim here?"

<Ikselam> The bright tropical sun comes out from behind a cloud; its rays glint off the golden astrolabe, where it is tipping lazily back and forth in the gentle surf.

<dissolvegirl> "He tried to kill me, and was apparently pretty bad at it."

<BigPat> "Sort of, although I remember sailing through the air a couple of times as well"

<BigPat> "You can't kill luck as bad as you, lady"

<Ikselam> Omabwa notices that Ana is wearing a golden pendant just like the one he has!

<Domino> "Where did you get that?"

<dissolvegirl> "I have no idea. I've had it as long as I can remember."

<BigPat> I'm a grabbin' the astrolabe

<dissolvegirl> "You should give me that big golden thing as payment for trying to kill me. It's the polite thing to do."

<Ikselam> The artifact seems to hum happily as Vaschir's greedy hands snatch it up.

<BigPat> "you're lucky I don't do something gratuitously violent, considering what a kraken magnet you are and all"

<Domino> Omabwa curiously observes the social interactions of these two entities.

<BigPat> "So do you or loincloth know where the hell we are?"

<Ikselam> Vaschir notices that neither of these people are speaking the bastardized Wavetongue dialect he is used to, and that neither is he.

<BigPat> "...

<Domino> Omabwa gives the odd man a look. "My name is Omabwa, and we are on the island."

<dissolvegirl> "Which island?"

<Ikselam> (We'll just say that Vas got some First Age flashback knowledge that gave him a dot of Linguistics for Old Realm.)

<BigPat> "he's going to say THE island again"

<Domino> Omabwa does so.

<BigPat> "see?"

<dissolvegirl> "So you're presciemt AND ugly. Wow."

<dissolvegirl> *prescient

<BigPat> "And if I can find any of my charts in all this kindling that used to be my ship, I might be the one chance of getting off this rock we've got"

<Domino> "Come. This shore is bright, and the sun will soon be high in the sky. It will be a hot day."

<Domino> Omabwa begins to walk toward the nearby jungle.

<dissolvegirl> "Go swim if you want, Pirate. I'm following the barbarian."

<BigPat> Vaschir scans over the wreckage, looking for any charts that might have survived

<Ikselam> Brightly-colored crabs scuttle sideways across the beach, their legs making clik-clik sounds on the cracked and pitted glass.

<Domino> Omabwa stops and looks at the man. Quietly, to the woman: "He is a pirate?"

<Ikselam> They seem particularly interested in picking through the various pieces of flotsam and jetsam which litter the shore.

<BigPat> "Dammit, mosquito time" Vaschir gives up and follows they other two towards the sweltering jungle

<Ikselam> A large group fo them is intently dismantling a crate of mush, which Vaschir's trained pirate eye identifies as once having been hard tack.

<Ikselam> It's not so hard now.

<dissolvegirl> "He's a pirate and he tried to kill me, so he's obviously the very WORST kind of pirate," she whispers.

<Ikselam> This is the most intact piece of wreckage he finds.

<Domino> "Pirates are not to be trusted," Omabwa confides.

<dissolvegirl> "You can say that again, Ombaw-- Obawan- Oma."

<Ikselam> The trio makes their way over the oddly-crusted sand dunes.

<BigPat> "don't stand too close to her, tribal, you'll likely get brained by a falling coconut or something"

<Domino> "O-ma-bwa," says Omabwa, as they make their way toward the shelter of the jungle.

<Ikselam> The dunes only seem to be glass on the side which faces the bay, and the enormous, slender spire which leans at a 30 degree angle in its center.

<Domino> "Don't be silly. It is not coconut season."

<BigPat> "Doesn't matter. She's bad luck of the worst kind"

<Ikselam> The dunes soon give way to grass, and then to shrub. The dark forest comes into view through the tropical haze.

<Ikselam> The shrieking and chittering of jungle animals rings out, below the incessant buzz of the cicadas.

<dissolvegirl> "Just because you are a bumbler does not mean I am unlucky. See this green eye? I've been blessed by the Elemental Dragon of Wood."

<Ikselam> One of her eyes is, in fact green.

<Ikselam> Which makes it different from the other, which is brown.

<Domino> "You had best speak with more consideration to the masters of this island, or they will be hard on you, er-"

<dissolvegirl> "The ship I was on was jealous of my good fortune. You're the trouble-magnet."

<Domino> "How are you called, sir?"

<BigPat> "Captain Qara Vaschir, formerly of the Relentless."

<Ikselam> Omabwa pushes aside some frondy undergrowth, revealing a rough path into the forest.

<BigPat> "I'M not the one that drew that Kraken. I'm always careful to avoid pissing off wrathful sea gods."

<Ikselam> (Argh, why the hell did I put Lenny Kravitz in my playlist?!)

<dissolvegirl> "Really? I never would have guessed."

<Domino> "And you, madam? How are you called?"

<dissolvegirl> "Nellens Ananoraia, but you can call me Ana."

<Ikselam> As they follow the wildman into the forest, the blazing heat of the glass beach is replaced by the soggy heat of the jungle.

<Domino> "Very well. You may address me as Omabwa, especially before Father, whom you must address as Ombalu."

<Ikselam> The cicada hum has segued into a much more complex mix of insect sounds.

<BigPat> "so these masters, they overly fond of devouring human flesh?"

<Ikselam> Something crashes through the branches high overhead, screeching.

<dissolvegirl> (BRB, Gwendaissues)

<Domino> "They profess to be, but I have evaded that fate for several years."

<BigPat> "great."

<Ikselam> The group falls silent, wending their way around ancient, vine-wreathed trees and through ferns of all descriptions.

<Ikselam> A stand of vivid pink flowers close up as they pass.

<BigPat> Is the astrolabe still happily humming along in my coat?

<Ikselam> Scurrying and chittering noises abound, but the animals producing them always seem to scamper away just as anyone turns to look at them.

<Ikselam> Vaschir unconsciously pats the astrolabe hanging from his baldric.

<Ikselam> It is still there, and still does not weigh 100 pounds.

<dissolvegirl> "So, um, how far are we from your village?"

<Ikselam> In fact, he now finds it difficult to believe that it ever did seem to weigh that much, given its relatively small size.

<BigPat> wonder what this thing's made of, and how much it retails for per ounce?

<Ikselam> Omabwa pauses before a curtain of dense hanging vines.

<BigPat> "nice timing"

<Ikselam> (quick, do the dramatic reveal of your secret base!)

<Ikselam> Bloodthirsty insects buzz around Ana's and Vaschir's heads.

<Domino> "I do not have a village. I live alone." Omabwa sweeps aside the vines to reveal a large network of ancient, interwoven trees, pleasantly shaded.

<BigPat> Vaschir swats at them ineffectively

<Domino> "You are welcome to enter."

<Ikselam> Somewhere in the near distance, running water can be heard.

<Ikselam> A crystal-clear pool swirls near the middle of Omabwa's tranquil glen.

<dissolvegirl> "That water looks nice."

<BigPat> thinking how ironic it would be to get jumped by a tiger just as he enteres the glen, Vaschir walks over to the pool

<Ikselam> It looks like someone -- presumably the barbarian himself, or perhaps his tribesmen -- has woven together some woody vines to form something similar to the rigging of a ship.

<Ikselam> This... net... is fastened to the trunk of the largest tree, a fat baobab.

<Ikselam> It's purpose is apparently to provide handholds for climbing up the big barrel-trees trunk, into its sprawling branches.

<Ikselam> (is it mangroves or baobab that have like roots coming down from their branches?)

<Domino> (mangroves float on water and create new land; must be baobab.)

<Ikselam> Ana and Vaschir approach the pool simultaneously, eyeing one another mistrustfully.

<Domino> "The water is clean, and often refreshing." Omabwa leaps up into the net and climbs to a branch not many man-heights off the ground. He dives into the pool.

<Ikselam> Clean water splashes Ana and Vaschir.

<Domino> (On second thought, it may be mangrove. (Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove)

<dissolvegirl> "Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to try to DROWN you or anything." She cups her hands and drinks some of the water.

<Ikselam> The water is cold and refreshing.

<BigPat> "and don't think I'm idly fantasizing about throttling you with those vines, either"

<Domino> Omabwa climbs out and begins to climb into the trees.

<BigPat> Vaschir proceeds to wash sea salt off his face and arms

<Ikselam> The pool looks like it is about eight feet deep at its deepest point. A large mossy boulder, big enough for two people to lie on comfortably, sits in its center.

<dissolvegirl> Ana tries to make herself look vaguely presentable, and does not have resounding success.

<Ikselam> Fresh water flows into it from below the trunk of a felled tree.

<Ikselam> Any excess water is probably sucked up by the baobab's thirsty roots, which are visible in the shallower end of the pool.

<BigPat> "

<BigPat> "so just you and your father live here?"

<Ikselam> He calls up into the tree in the direction he thought Omabwa vanished to.

<Domino> Omabwa swings into view from the opposite direction, hanging from a branch by his feet. "No, Father lives elsewhere. Once I was no longer a helpless cub, he suggested that I find my own place."

<Domino> "Though I do suggest we visit him once the two of you are ready."

<BigPat> "I'm as ready as I'm likely to get"

<Domino> "Ana?"

<dissolvegirl> "Same here."

<Domino> "Very well." Omabwa lets go of the branch and does a lazy spin in the air, landing on his feet. "First, you should follow me up."

<Domino> Omabwa begins to climb again.

<dissolvegirl> "Sure. I can do this."

<BigPat> Vaschir follows, without apparent difficulty

<dissolvegirl> Ana begins climbing up after him-- far more slowly, and with more glances down.

<Domino> Omabwa leads them several hundred yards up, though the climb is not a hard one. At the top, they burst through the canopy of the jungle.

<BigPat> "well we just ran out of tree, now where to?

<Ikselam> A flock of multicolored butteflies flutter drunkenly past on an errant breeze.

<Ikselam> The golden sun blazes down overhead.

<Domino> He points toward a heavily-forested hill on one side of the island. "I thought you might like to see where we are going. Father lives there." Omabwa begins to climb down.

<Ikselam> Ana and Vaschir notice a faint shimmer on Omabwa's forehead.

<Ikselam> The direction he points is toward the west.

<BigPat> "shhhhit" Vaschir mutters under his breath

<dissolvegirl> Ana laughs and starts climbing down. "Okay. Great. Fantastic."

<BigPat> Vaschir climbs down

<Ikselam> In that direction, the island becomes hilly; the largest hill appears to be a smoking volcano.

<Ikselam> Beyond it, something enormous glitters in the sun.

<Ikselam> A white wall, pierced by enormous arches, curves around the western quadrant of the island.

<Ikselam> From its top, enormous, jagged shards of what appears to be glass extend into the sky, easily exceeding the height of the island's tallest point.

<Ikselam> The shards are curved in such a way that it is easy to imagine that they are the remains of a huge dome which once covered the island like an egg.

<dissolvegirl> (I need to go pretty soon.. It's cinco de mayo, and we're going to go celebrate mexican independance and cheap margaritas.)

<Ikselam> To the east, the sunlight refracts blinding rainbows from the glass beach; the leaning spire is visible as a black line in the middle of the aquamarine water.

<Ikselam> Okay, then I guess we can call it quits for today.

<BigPat> works for me

<Domino> Sure. More time for work.

<dissolvegirl> This was fun!

<Ikselam> And when we start back up, everyone will be on their way to visit Omabwa's poppa bear.

<Domino> Before the movie tonight.

<Domino> Father!

<Ikselam> I'll be wanting character sheets at some point.

<Domino> P-shawwww!

<dissolvegirl> Any particular instructions vis-a-vis character creation?

<BigPat> One character sheet, coming up eventually.

<Ikselam> If you want, Pat, I can make one up for you (which you can alter later of course).

<Ikselam> Regular rules.

<Domino> No Art or Man

<Ikselam> No merits and flaws unless one seems like a reeeealy good idea, and even then expect me to say no.

<dissolvegirl> Alas!

<BigPat> Let me take a look over the creation rules and whatnot and if I can't figure it out I'll let you know.

<Ikselam> Ana and Oma both have one dot of Artifact.

<Domino> I want to be a one-legged barbarian!

<Ikselam> Vaschir has between one and three, depending on what all his astrolabe does.

<Ikselam> No Manse for anyone, yet.

<Domino> Isla del Muerte!

<Ikselam> That's later on, further to the north.

<dissolvegirl> Heh.

<Domino> First, our Twilight can rebuild the Island Defense Dome.

<BigPat> It leads the way to Puerto Pollo, a port menanced by the terrible el Pollo Diablo!

<dissolvegirl> We have a Twilight?

<Ikselam> You all have the map; there haven't been any changes to it worth noting.

<Domino> Um... it's invisible.

<BigPat> that would be why I didn't see it

<Domino> Or I got confused. =)

<Ikselam> I don't believe we've firmly established Cap'n Vaschir's caste.

<BigPat> Nope, although I'm leaning towards Eclipse at the moment

<Ikselam> What I thought.

<Domino> Well, he's kind of gruff for a diplomat. ;)

<Ikselam> Eclipse have the greatest anima power, but kind of a weak ability selection. Socialize, Linguistics, Ride, Sail, and...

<BigPat> It worked for Kissinger

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