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The Chronicle of Burne, and Some Others of Lesser Importance *Updated May 17th, 2009*
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<blockquote data-quote="Rolzup" data-source="post: 2822992" data-attributes="member: 10105"><p><strong>Of Why the Sea is Boiling Hot</strong></p><p></p><p>I shall be honest: I don’t entirely like this Mallus fellow. Far too flippant for my liking, and doesn’t show a man of my learning the proper respect.</p><p></p><p>OH, YES HE DOES.</p><p></p><p>Additionally, with the amount of oil he uses in his hair, he’s likely more than usually flammable...and that can be a liability, when it comes to an ally.</p><p></p><p>Nevertheless, he’s proven quite useful over the past months. True to his word, he was able to obtain Delphine’s release within the space of a single day. Mallus's ability to wield half-truths, it seemes, rivals that of Kenji's. His swordsmanship, however, does not. And, once able to make physical contact with the woman -- a process that he enjoyed rather more than I thought seemly -- he was able to determine, albeit roughly, Joachim’s location.</p><p></p><p>The pieces were, in fact, falling rapidly into place. Through his contacts among the dock-workers and the Naval offices, Daikon had managed to obtain the name of Joachim’s ship: the Windsprint. What’s more, he was also able to provide us with a copy of the ship’s itinerary, so that we knew roughly where and when the ship could be found.</p><p></p><p>And at the moment, that was in the Straights of Narayan, between the Sea of Storms and the Swollen Ocean.</p><p></p><p>Clearly, we needed to hire a ship. Fortunately, Daikon had a recommendation to make....</p><p></p><p>The ship was called "The Wretched Excess". I never thought to inquire as to the history of this name, but no doubt it was a colorful sort of tale that involves copious amounts of sodomy and grog.</p><p></p><p>The commander of the ship was one Captain Jaton "L.L. Salty J." Spar, and the crew appeared to consist entirely of his various bastards. Literally, mind -- the good captain must have had an admirably misspent youth. This was to be his last voyage, and after we returned in triumph he would be retiring to...well, do something else. To be honest, I really wasn’t listening.</p><p></p><p>I am, as I have noted, a Naval officer. And as such, despite my dislike of sea-travel, I am an expert on sailing vessels of all kinds. The "Wretched Excess", I'm afraid, is the sort of ship generally classified as a "scow".</p><p></p><p>BURNE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT BOATS. WHEN ASKED WHAT KIND OF SHIP THE "EXCESS" WAS, HIS ACTUAL ANSWER WAS, "THE FLAMMABLE KIND". </p><p></p><p>My cabin was a tiny, cramped affair that boasted none of the usual amenities a man of my station comes to expect. Fortunately, I'd had the foresight to bring reading material along with me, and the salt air was, I must admit, rather invigorating once I had my sea-legs again.</p><p></p><p>FIRST THREE DAYS OF THE VOYAGE WERE SPENT WITH BURNE LEANING OVER THE RAIL BEING VIOLENTLY ILL. BEST THREE DAYS OF MY EXISTENCE, TOO.</p><p></p><p>We were some six weeks out of port when we stumbled across the Windsprint. The ship had seemingly been abandoned, and was floating free in the waters a day or so away from the ship's next scheduled stop: The Island of St. Tarte.</p><p></p><p>Naturally, we had to investigate the matter. Mallus was certain that Joachim was not on board, and was in fact in the same direction as the aforementioned island, but I insisted that we examine the ship for clues.</p><p></p><p>AND SALVAGE.</p><p></p><p>We found rather more than we'd expected. Corpses, for one. Quite a number; many of them in naval uniforms, while others were dressed...oddly. After a moment's consideration, however, I recognized where I had seen this peculiar style of dress before: The representatives of the Yellow Lotus Society, who we had dealt with in Yu's do-jo.</p><p></p><p>Ping raiders, as Captain Spar later identified them. Savage Polyneecheean pirates, well-known slave-takers. Their presence so close to St. Tarte’s boded very ill indeed....</p><p></p><p>Another pair of corpses were seemingly Worldkeep Knights; one fully dressed in alchemically treated plate-mail, and the other torn apart while still half-dressed. What business did they have about a Naval vessel, I wondered?</p><p></p><p>And there was a dead ape or two, I recall. The four-armed variety, rather more efficient than the normal sort.</p><p></p><p>But not everything was dead, fortunately. Rackhir was lucky enough to stumble upon a <em>Rast</em>, a monster originally Gated from some squalid little plane. Rast can be looked upon as a sort of living weapon, and have often been employed by the CITY military in years past.</p><p></p><p>A fascinating beast, by the way. Entirely alien in appearance, and oddly beautiful in its own fashion. Like a large spider, with a sort of dog-like head, hovering in mid-air. Its flesh looked similar to red pumice-stone, and the light of its internal furnace shone clearly through small cracks in the carparice. Really, quite a marvelous killing machine.</p><p></p><p>The beast was hiding in the crow's-nest, feeding on the corpse of a crewman. Rackhir must have offended it somehow -- I surmise that the Rast, seeing the archer's red garb, had hoped to find a mate, and was deeply disappointed to discover the truth of the matter -- and it floated down to attack him.</p><p></p><p>Things went hilariously badly over the next few minutes. The madman, Kenji and Rackhir took turns hitting the beast, until one or both of the foreigners managed to be paralyzed by its gaze...proving, once again, their weakness of will.</p><p></p><p>OR THEIR WILLINGNESS TO GET CLOSE TO A THREAT, INSTEAD OF TAKING COVER BEHIND A LIFEBOAT.</p><p></p><p>For my part, I used the Engine to generate Burne's Inerring Forceful Projectiles, with which I peppered the beast.</p><p></p><p>Rackhir ended up in the crow's-nest with the Rast astride him, busily sucking his blood. Kenji scaled the mast, and began beating the unfortunate beast, inflicting no small number of bruises upon the archer in the process.</p><p></p><p>The battle ended with Rackhir weak from blood-loss, and myself weak from laughter.</p><p></p><p>But! Now I had the corpse of a Rast available to me! And my goodness, the possibilities were endless!</p><p></p><p>Oh, yes. We ransacked the ship as well, and the news only got better. We discovered medical supplies, a magical gate-lantern, some curiously carved gems, a rather odd cylindrical rod of some sort...and...and....</p><p></p><p>Forgive me. I always grow a little emotional at these memories.</p><p></p><p>REALLY. HE WAS ACTUALLY TEARING UP JUST THEN. HE'S A SICK, SICK MAN.</p><p></p><p>We found a box labeled "Munitions". Oh, yes.... It contained four IOUs, enticingly enough, two each for "Cussive Elixir Grade B" and for "Comflamatory Elixir Grade A". That alone was enough to start my heart to racing! But what else did the box contain?</p><p></p><p>A thick glass vial, with a green cloth band around it marked "Nebulotoxum".</p><p></p><p>Two more vials, more slender than the first, with a paper wrapping, upon which had been scrawled "Balls of a Lazy Devil".</p><p></p><p>Not much, one might think. If, of course, he was an ignorant fool. Munitions in the proper hands -- <em>my</em> hands, to be specific -- possess a power all out of proportion to their size.</p><p></p><p>And so, after putting a skeleton crew upon the Windsprint, we set a course for St. Tarte’s. Rackhir was still lamentably weak from the Rast's predations, but I had ways of dealing with that....</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rolzup, post: 2822992, member: 10105"] [b]Of Why the Sea is Boiling Hot[/b] I shall be honest: I don’t entirely like this Mallus fellow. Far too flippant for my liking, and doesn’t show a man of my learning the proper respect. OH, YES HE DOES. Additionally, with the amount of oil he uses in his hair, he’s likely more than usually flammable...and that can be a liability, when it comes to an ally. Nevertheless, he’s proven quite useful over the past months. True to his word, he was able to obtain Delphine’s release within the space of a single day. Mallus's ability to wield half-truths, it seemes, rivals that of Kenji's. His swordsmanship, however, does not. And, once able to make physical contact with the woman -- a process that he enjoyed rather more than I thought seemly -- he was able to determine, albeit roughly, Joachim’s location. The pieces were, in fact, falling rapidly into place. Through his contacts among the dock-workers and the Naval offices, Daikon had managed to obtain the name of Joachim’s ship: the Windsprint. What’s more, he was also able to provide us with a copy of the ship’s itinerary, so that we knew roughly where and when the ship could be found. And at the moment, that was in the Straights of Narayan, between the Sea of Storms and the Swollen Ocean. Clearly, we needed to hire a ship. Fortunately, Daikon had a recommendation to make.... The ship was called "The Wretched Excess". I never thought to inquire as to the history of this name, but no doubt it was a colorful sort of tale that involves copious amounts of sodomy and grog. The commander of the ship was one Captain Jaton "L.L. Salty J." Spar, and the crew appeared to consist entirely of his various bastards. Literally, mind -- the good captain must have had an admirably misspent youth. This was to be his last voyage, and after we returned in triumph he would be retiring to...well, do something else. To be honest, I really wasn’t listening. I am, as I have noted, a Naval officer. And as such, despite my dislike of sea-travel, I am an expert on sailing vessels of all kinds. The "Wretched Excess", I'm afraid, is the sort of ship generally classified as a "scow". BURNE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT BOATS. WHEN ASKED WHAT KIND OF SHIP THE "EXCESS" WAS, HIS ACTUAL ANSWER WAS, "THE FLAMMABLE KIND". My cabin was a tiny, cramped affair that boasted none of the usual amenities a man of my station comes to expect. Fortunately, I'd had the foresight to bring reading material along with me, and the salt air was, I must admit, rather invigorating once I had my sea-legs again. FIRST THREE DAYS OF THE VOYAGE WERE SPENT WITH BURNE LEANING OVER THE RAIL BEING VIOLENTLY ILL. BEST THREE DAYS OF MY EXISTENCE, TOO. We were some six weeks out of port when we stumbled across the Windsprint. The ship had seemingly been abandoned, and was floating free in the waters a day or so away from the ship's next scheduled stop: The Island of St. Tarte. Naturally, we had to investigate the matter. Mallus was certain that Joachim was not on board, and was in fact in the same direction as the aforementioned island, but I insisted that we examine the ship for clues. AND SALVAGE. We found rather more than we'd expected. Corpses, for one. Quite a number; many of them in naval uniforms, while others were dressed...oddly. After a moment's consideration, however, I recognized where I had seen this peculiar style of dress before: The representatives of the Yellow Lotus Society, who we had dealt with in Yu's do-jo. Ping raiders, as Captain Spar later identified them. Savage Polyneecheean pirates, well-known slave-takers. Their presence so close to St. Tarte’s boded very ill indeed.... Another pair of corpses were seemingly Worldkeep Knights; one fully dressed in alchemically treated plate-mail, and the other torn apart while still half-dressed. What business did they have about a Naval vessel, I wondered? And there was a dead ape or two, I recall. The four-armed variety, rather more efficient than the normal sort. But not everything was dead, fortunately. Rackhir was lucky enough to stumble upon a [i]Rast[/i], a monster originally Gated from some squalid little plane. Rast can be looked upon as a sort of living weapon, and have often been employed by the CITY military in years past. A fascinating beast, by the way. Entirely alien in appearance, and oddly beautiful in its own fashion. Like a large spider, with a sort of dog-like head, hovering in mid-air. Its flesh looked similar to red pumice-stone, and the light of its internal furnace shone clearly through small cracks in the carparice. Really, quite a marvelous killing machine. The beast was hiding in the crow's-nest, feeding on the corpse of a crewman. Rackhir must have offended it somehow -- I surmise that the Rast, seeing the archer's red garb, had hoped to find a mate, and was deeply disappointed to discover the truth of the matter -- and it floated down to attack him. Things went hilariously badly over the next few minutes. The madman, Kenji and Rackhir took turns hitting the beast, until one or both of the foreigners managed to be paralyzed by its gaze...proving, once again, their weakness of will. OR THEIR WILLINGNESS TO GET CLOSE TO A THREAT, INSTEAD OF TAKING COVER BEHIND A LIFEBOAT. For my part, I used the Engine to generate Burne's Inerring Forceful Projectiles, with which I peppered the beast. Rackhir ended up in the crow's-nest with the Rast astride him, busily sucking his blood. Kenji scaled the mast, and began beating the unfortunate beast, inflicting no small number of bruises upon the archer in the process. The battle ended with Rackhir weak from blood-loss, and myself weak from laughter. But! Now I had the corpse of a Rast available to me! And my goodness, the possibilities were endless! Oh, yes. We ransacked the ship as well, and the news only got better. We discovered medical supplies, a magical gate-lantern, some curiously carved gems, a rather odd cylindrical rod of some sort...and...and.... Forgive me. I always grow a little emotional at these memories. REALLY. HE WAS ACTUALLY TEARING UP JUST THEN. HE'S A SICK, SICK MAN. We found a box labeled "Munitions". Oh, yes.... It contained four IOUs, enticingly enough, two each for "Cussive Elixir Grade B" and for "Comflamatory Elixir Grade A". That alone was enough to start my heart to racing! But what else did the box contain? A thick glass vial, with a green cloth band around it marked "Nebulotoxum". Two more vials, more slender than the first, with a paper wrapping, upon which had been scrawled "Balls of a Lazy Devil". Not much, one might think. If, of course, he was an ignorant fool. Munitions in the proper hands -- [i]my[/i] hands, to be specific -- possess a power all out of proportion to their size. And so, after putting a skeleton crew upon the Windsprint, we set a course for St. Tarte’s. Rackhir was still lamentably weak from the Rast's predations, but I had ways of dealing with that.... [/QUOTE]
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