Tales From Algernon's Amazing Archmagical Academy!

[Gray Shade]

Suspecting the shovel-lever controlls the speed, Clipper turns it all the way opposite whatever way it is turned now, then adjusts to get going at a good, comfortable speed. He also turns the other levers with an arrows on them to test what they do.

 

[Lazlow]

As soon as Jem yanks the lantern lever, two bright orbs of light come alive on the end of the eyestalks of the crab, illuminating the area in front of you for a good 20 yards or so (in a cone). You can see the ocean floor here now, it continues to head downward. However, as you move forward, you can make out some faintly glowing lights ahead: What you first thought had been relflections of torches on the surface of the water are actually some kind of luminescent algae that has been shaped on the cavern walls to make arrow signs pointing the way in and out of the cavern. There is one up ahead that points upward, to the right.

 

[Lazlow]

Suspecting the shovel-lever controlls the speed, Clipper turns it all the way opposite whatever way it is turned now, then adjusts to get going at a good, comfortable speed. He also turns the other levers with an arrows on them to test what they do.

Twisting the shovel-handle control the opposite direction slows the crab down more, so you twist it even more in the other direction, and it speeds up. The left-right lever turns the crab in the corresponding direction; the remaining forward-back lever causes the crab to start swimming up or down (as opposed to just walking on the ocean floor). The swimming motion is exceptionally smooth, as all the legs twist in circular motions perfectly timed with each other to keep the whole vehicle balanced.

(I'm assuming you don't mean to include the lever marked DO NOT PULL in your lever testing, right?)

 

[Guest 11456]

Judyth Longbottom : Female Half-Orc Apprentice 3

Aeryl will take advantage of the dark and the position (back-seat) to whipser some sweet-nothings in Judyth's ear.

Judyth slaps Aeryl, gets up, moves forward to the seat next to Kieran and sits down in a huff with her arms crossed. If any of the others look at her she will reply with.

"What are you looking at?"

After a while she glances back at Aeryl with a wink and a slight smile. Then she giggles. If any of the others look at her she speaks the same phase as above.

 

[Fenris]

Judyth slaps Aeryl, gets up, moves forward to the seat next to Kieran and sits down in a huff with her arms crossed. If any of the others look at her she will reply with.

"What are you looking at?"

After a while she glances back at Aeryl with a wink and a slight smile. Then she giggles. If any of the others look at her she speaks the same phase as above.

OOC: Better than the punch I was expecting

Aeryl sits in the back seat, rubbing his sore cheek, trying to figure out why his sure-fire line didn't work. He then notices Judyth's wink back at him and he winks back with a broad grin. "Sorry Judyth, the rough ride tossed me about back here, my apologies" he says with a grin and another wink.

 

[Gray Shade]

At the sound of the sharp *smack!* Clipper will turn around and let the crab steer itself for a few seconds.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing!" Clipper gets back to driving, easing the "up" lever forward until they are swimming along at a comfortable height and twising the "speed" shovel to the side to get the fastest possible speed. He looks at Jem and grins wide. "Now we're cooking!" He looks back at everyone over his shoulder and says, "Okay, where to?"

 

[Eluvan]

Jem stares enraptured out into the murk hemming in the cone of light sent out by the crab's lights, thrilling at the feeling of actually operating the thing. He grins back at Clipper, and then sets to experimenting with the two lower levers that have so far gone untouched, moving them around and clicking the buttons.

 

[Lazlow]

Grabbing the two levers, Jem discovers that they move around quite easily in all directions. Out in front of the crab, its two large claws mirror every movement of the lever, and pressing the buttons triggers a vicious snapping action from the mechanical claws.

Clipper adjusts the speed to max, and the crab moves along at a fairly decent pace, although it isn't much faster than a horse's gallop. Following the algae arrows, you can see the cavern opening up ahead, sunlight brightening the ocean water, casting a greenish hue over the rocky ocean floor.

 

[Gray Shade]

Clipper knows they're trying to get to Cruikshank's island home, which is just around the cape in Boulder Bay. He'll try to remember which way that is (left, right, or straight) from where they will hit the ocean. If he can't remember, he asks everyone else aboard.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Kieran watches as the crab's claws open and shut, the vehicle swims along the path out to see, and all the rigamarole going on inside the cabin between Judyth and Aeryl. His eyes glaze over and he leans back in the seat. Apparently the several knocks to the skull thus far today have finally taken their toll, and he mumbles something just as he falls asleep.

'Wake me... when... we... get... th--... --ere...

ZZZZZZZZ-ZZZZZZZ...'