[IC] Treasure in the sands 2.0

[Mysticsage]

[spoiler]If anyone else wants to join this is the time to run up to the group before they leave.[/spoiler]
Once you  have all prepared for the journey ahead and gathered the group. The ship sets sail the next day from the harbor and began the long journey along the southern coast. The seas were relatively calm the week or so ship ride, but it was far from comfortable journey. To call the ship cramped was the understatement of the year It appears as if Reginald had chartered the group a rather small cargo vessel to make the trip. It was crammed with all kinds of goods on board and made barely enough room for the four of you and the crew. What's worse the smell of fish in the open sun quickly permeated everything you owned. For the first few days until you crossed some border or another they even had kept you all downstairs in the hold for some reason or another.

Any time you ask any questions about the crew's activities they avoid your questions at all costs giving you a slightly uneasy feeling. What some might find humorous they even have to stuff Kin in a barrel of fish when he left the hold unannounced. Despite his yelling they refused to explain why though he still couldn't get the oil out of his hair.

Finally after the week of travel you all pull sluggishly into the harbor in the middle of the market rush where people easily get lost and are unceremoniously dumped before the ship disappears. You are thrown off so quickly that you are not even sure that you were able to collect all of your things on time.

[spoiler]Roll 1d20

on a 1-5 you lost one thing from your inventory
roll a with the number of items and that is the thing you lost.

1 being your weapon

[/spoiler]

The market stalls that line the docks are loud as the endless number of shoppers jocky for positions. Screaming and waving money you are assaulted by two things. The brilliant colors of the stalls and people from royal blues and bright yellows of the veiled peoples, and the other thing everyone notices is the burning sun that would be a killer if not for the ocean breeze. It's time to start exploring the city known as the Azure Jewel of the empire. If you manage to look around a little it looks like there is a main road into some kind of square into the distance, as well as a number of side alleyways where you could turn off into.

[Ella]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 8, total 8[/blockquote]

[Linwelin]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 11, total 11[/blockquote]

[Ella]

... This was not desert! This was open water! What if the ship capsized! They would all drown. Even if Callista was lucky enough to escape and fly before the ship sank, she would not be able to rescue her friends because she simply could not swim. As the boat continued on through fairly calm waters, the faerie's worries dissipated. Soon enough, she was exploring every nook and cranny of the boat, making sure to avoid getting too close to the railing.

For some reason, the crew told the whole group they had to stay below. Curious as to why, the faerie went invisible and snuck out. She thought it was hysterical that the short man had been unable to avoid recapture and was stuffed into the barrel of fish.

"Hey! You can't just toss people like that!" Callista shouted, flying up above the crowd to toss her tiny fists at the ship as it sailed away. They hadn't even warned the party that they were approaching land! How did the party even know that they were at their target destination instead of some random place?! Not to mention, she barely had enough time to make sure she had all of her stuff. Luckily, she had most of her stuff in her bag of holding, so that was easy to grab.

Giving up on the ship, the faerie realized one very important thing. It was hot. Very hot. Why was it so hot? This must be the wrong place, all the desserts that make up a desert would melt away in this heat. Turning to her guild mates, Callista spoke up. "Guys! Those people are liars! This can't be the desert! Its too hot and all the yummy desserts would melt away! The ice cream capped cake mountains would be all soggy and gross!"

"Oh! Look at all the pretty colors!" She suddenly noticed the scene before her. "WOW!" Maybe they had special desserts here, that didn't melt in the heat! And they used special dessert-like fruits to make the beautiful colors all around! She had to redefine her idea of a desert, taking out things like the ice cream and pudding. Chocolate rivers still made sense, since chocolate melted in warm temperatures. That meant all their rivers and ponds and lakes had to be chocolate! Except for the ocean they had just sailed in from. That was still salty water.

[Ella]

[spoiler=For when she explores the ship.]Stealth: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+13 : 3 + 13, total 16[/blockquote]
Disguise (If needed): [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+8 : 4 + 8, total 12[/blockquote]
Perception: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+5 : 7 + 5, total 12[/blockquote]

[Alti]

[spoiler=...did she grab everything?][blockquote]...surely she grabbed everything belonging to her... right? 1d20 : 8, total 8[/blockquote][/spoiler]

[Anastasia Sheel]

[spoiler=Losing stuff?][blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 10, total 10[/blockquote][/spoiler]

[Mysticsage]

As you all collect your things from where you were unceremoniously dumped on the dock you notice that most of the locals don't even seem to look in your direction. They are to busy shopping or call out for service to pay you any mind. Those that do have to cross your path make a point of giving you a wide berth, and avoid eye contact at all cost. You notice however that a man that stands a full head higher then the crowd seems to be making his way towards you. The crowd parted way for him like they did for you,

He was a near bear of a man and if he didn't look human you'd swear he must have some kind of outsider blood in him. He stopped on fron of you with his arms crossed in front of his massive chest. Tribal tattoos of some variety scrawl across his entire form, which gave him an almost feral appearance. His black hair is buzzed close to his scalp   in the same patterns as those on his body which maid his fiery red eyes even more apparent. His tanned skin was completely bare except for the thin cotton woven vest, and  that highlighted his physique. As he drew closer he simply quirked an eyebrow.

He otherwise had no other weapon aside from a crystal pendant sitting between his pecks shaped something like a sun.

"Papers." He had a gravely baritone voice that boomed as he looked at you expectantly. 

[Linwelin]

Recovered after site crash. I'll do the formatting later....maybe. Haha.

Alti's post

She slightly nudged Kin forward as they were asked for papers.

Taty was covered from head to toe. She had newly purchased flowing sky blue with gold brocqued in thick laces around the wrists and along the hem. Her hair was pulled back and held bound by a net, she wore none of the jewelry that she had back the guild hall. She had barely managed to grab all her belongings before being nearly pushed off the boat. As it turned out, she had things in order and was guffawing at the statements that were coming out of the faeries mouth. She couldn't even believe that a creature such as Callista would think such a thing.

She looked around at the city before her, it was as Callista stated, breathtaking. The view of the city, even from the docks, was impressive to say the least. And the there was a lot of foot traffic.

She breathed deeply of the arid salt air. "Wow is right little one. This place is even more beautiful than I imagined." 

Tatyanna waited for Kin to proceed while plucking at the brass buckle on the pouch that held her prized harrowing cards. She wanted to get lost in the city, and take everything in. There must be exotic wares merchants abound, to haggle with. She would have to find something of craft here from the jewelry merchants here, a small trinket to commemorate the visit. Before she left of course.

Linwelin's post

At Tatyanna's nudge, Kin was snapped out of his shock over a giant asking for their paperwork. He had almost been ready to pull out his sword in defense had it not spoken common. "...Right...papers..." Kin dug out the appropriate paperwork, stretching his utmost to reach the giant's outstretched hand. He had to bend over anyways. Why was I the one with the paperwork? You know, the short guy? bah, whatever. He thought, and muttered, to himself.

He took the moment that the giant looked over their documents to tear his gaze from him to the rest of the town. "...Huh, not bad." He 'praised' as his eyes wandered over the shops. There were still no weapon stalls in sight, so only the colors really struck him. He was certainly glad he'd purchased that crystal, though. He could hardly feel the heat, and looking to Anastasia he noticed the same. Her eyes also seemed to be observing a little more than usual, in obvious fascination. Well, that was fair, it was probably the first time she'd seen anything like this.

Not that it wasn't Kin's first time, but he had been in a desert before, so around half the awe was missing compared to the others. If there was one thing that Kin knew about busy streets like these, though, it was to watch his valuables. Pickpocketing was a common occurrence in markets like these, and being far from home, he didn't want to suffer from it.

Anastasia's post:

The little girl didn't have many possessions, except for the things that she wore, at the very least, when they were quickly hustled off the boat, Anastasia managed to keep track of her things, following just slightly behind Kin.

She wondered what Callista meant about ice cream capped cake mountains, and she couldn't help but be curious if there was really some sort of mountain just as Callista described. Her eyes looked towards the fairy, her eyes questioning and pleading.

I hope Callista shares when she finds it. Anastasia thought.

Eyes filled with awe and wonder, Anastasia continued to peer out from behind Kin, soaking up as much of the port she was able to. Determined to find out more about this new land through her eyes.

Perception roll of 18

Mysticsage's post

Both Kin and Ana are looking around the crowd for anything that might catch their attention however, you both keep getting distracted by the mammoth standing in front of you both. He flips through the papers you have given him and stops for a split second longer on one rather then all the others. He frowns slightly before the look completely disappears back behind his stern mask. Because of your height and that you were not looking to study him specifically, but mostly the crowd, the two of you were unable to tell what piece of the packet he was looking at leaving you both to only speculate as to what he could have noticed.

As for the crowd, the general flow seemed to be following some kind of small canal of fresh water no more then five or six feet across that led from somewhere deeper in the city to the sea. The throngs of people seemed to be heading down the bisected main through fair to some location. Based off of how much fresh water they were simply throwing away you could only imagine where it was all coming from. Otherwise everything seemed peaceful, busy yes but peaceful.

There were seemingly a number of smaller side streets that you could also choose to head down if the crowd becomes to much.

---

"Here, Everything seems in order." said the man after a few moments squatting down to hand back Kin the papers. "Stay out of trouble outsiders and conclude your business quickly otherwise your papers will expire then you'll have a problem."

Linwelin's post:

"Callista, that's what we've been saying. It's a 'desert', which has nothing in common with 'dessert'. A desert is a barren area where little grows and water is scarce. I'm not saying there AREN'T sweets here, but it's no candy land." Kin says with exasperation, still surprised someone would confuse the two. "Though with all that about 'water being scarce', you'd think it wouldn't be so plentiful...is it magical like my mug?" It certainly surprised the halfling that water wasn't treated as a precious commodity here. Suspicious.

A moment later, once offered, Kin snatches the papers back, absent-minded for a second. With a crowd like this, I'll need to keep a good hold of Ana. Wouldn't be good to lose her here...maybe sit her on my shoulders?

The halfling finally realized the big guy had actually SAID something. "Ah, yea, we'll be quick. But so I know, how long have we got with this papers? Want to make sure everything checks out." He looks up inquisitively. "And where should we be going for our business, I've not been here before."

[Ella]

Callista Fae

"Eh?!" Callista cried. "What do you mean they have nothing in common?!" It was obvious she had ignored your previous attempts to correct her thinking. "The way you say it, it sounds like the same thing! And you can have a barren sweets land! It just won't have lollipops and stuff. A true dessert desert wouldn't have water, anyways, it would have melted chocolate! Maybe its actually melted chocolate ice cream from the cake mountains! I bet these people are just hiding it for themselves behind all their colorfulness! What do you think, Ana?"

The faerie turned her attention to the girl, flying low so Anastasia could look at her more easily. "You think we should find where they are hiding the sweet foods?"

All this time, it seemed as though the dark-skinned, leaf-clad faerie was so lost in her own world that she had not noticed the brute of a man walk up demanding papers, file through them, and act all tough. This assumption, however, would be false, if only partially. Immediately after King asked where they should go, Callista flew up to the guy's face.

"And where are you hiding the desserts?! I came here for desserts!"

[Mysticsage]

The man simply raised a quizzical eyebrow at the halflings question, but made no comment other then, "It says on your own papers that you are to leave the country in a fortnight on a ship named the HS Leviathian." He seems to pause on the ships name for a moment,

At that moment a lean boy maybe the age of 19 or so dressed similarly to the giant with red hair runs up to the group and addresses the other man with a salute, "Captain Galus, we have a situation that needs your attention back at headquarters!"

Galus captain Of the city guards, simply nods at the boy, "I'll be right there." He seems to look down at your group for a moment obviously struggling with the wether he should detain you further. However seeing the look on his subordinates face he seems to think better of it.

"I trust you foreigners know what  you are doing ." He said making a decelaritive state that also functioned as a non to sudtle threat of, "if you make trouble I'll hunt you down" as he turns and leaves with the other man.

[Ella]

Callista Fae

The man did not seem to so much as flinch as the three inch tall faerie suddenly flew in front of his face. In fact, it seemed as though he had not noticed her at all, for he continued talking only to Kin and the others. What?! She wasn't in invisible mode right now, was she?! Quickly, she looked at her hands. She could see them just fine. Kind has seen her just fine not long ago, could he still see her? WAIT. The guy hadn't even noticed her speaking! Could she still be heard?! Was she winking out of existence now in this moment of cruelty, lost in a world of deception, without all those precious sweets?

"Noooooooo!" Callista cried, flying up to Kin and tugging on his hair. "Kin! Kin! Can you see me?! Can you hear me?! I'm not invisible, right?! I'm not transparent or winking out of existence?"

[Anastasia Sheel]

The little girl watched as Callista came up to Kin, asking him if she was invisible. She was more comfortable with the fairy than other guild members. For one, she was small like her, if not smaller, and unlike some other guild members who towered above the rest, she at least felt more calm around the fairy.

"I can see you." Anastasia said softly eyeing the excitable fairy, nodding in agreement to her question. The little girl then turned her attention to the red-headed giant. She didn't like how he was so large, and the tone of his voice in his last words. Anastasia decided then that she didn't like the man. When he proceeded to start turning away from them, Anastasia decided too that she didn't care what sort of trouble seemed to worry the man either!

But there was something he was forgetting, and it was something Anastasia was also curious about.

"Desserts..."

[Linwelin]

As the man ran away for his own business, Kin grunted in frustration. "That damned oaf never said where we were supposed to go!" As the halfling gritted his teeth, he suddenly felt a tugging on his hair. "Gah! What the-" The fairy was frantic, something about being invisible. "No, you're not invisible, just as Ana here said, why would you think that?" He recalled that the giant straight-up ignored her, "Oh, him? No, he just ignored you. Possibly not even on purpose. For such a high-ranking guard, he really lacks attention to detail and listening skills. Now would you stop yanking on my hair!?" Kin said as he waved his hand toward the fairy.

"Now then, where to go...maybe I should actually read through these papers?" Kin quickly began skimming through the stack, hoping to find anything odd or important, as well as where they were supposed to obtain the cargo.

[blockquote]Perception for reading through the documents:  1d20+12 : 6 + 12, total 18[/blockquote]

[Mysticsage]

Kin noticed that there were no real further instructions given within the papers, no map of the city, no names of people or places. The only thing that stands out aside from the travel papers that allowed you to be in the empire for a week, was:

A letter addressed to the captain of the Leviathan sealed with wax

A single charcoal sketch of an intricate lotus flower design.

And a signed customed note from the Shadar internal affairs for some unspecified amount of cargo to leave the country with the group.


Otherwise all that Kin is able to remember is all the way back at the guild house before the journey began was that their employer mentioned some kind of meeting at the Dancing Winds Tavern somewhere in town. But without making note of the exact time frame of the meeting Kin was now at a loss except for the fact that someone was to appear some time within the week to give them their cargo. For all he knew they may be waiting at the tavern now for them to arrive without remembering the exact details of what their employer had told them days before.