[Nexus] GLoG 84: Goblins and catgirls and dryads, oh my!

[Morty]

Grounds

Natalie nods. She's still too winded to speak as she has run since she reached the bottom of the tree in which she had stored her rucksack.

"You didn't have to run so fast, you know," Brinika says.

[Earl of Purple]

Grounds

"Probably not. But, it was fun." Which is one way Natalie differs from me. I am not a fan of running.

[Morty]

[Grounds]

"If you say so. What do we do now?" Brinika asks, reverting to her enthusiasm.

[Earl of Purple]

Grounds

"We go find some sticks, nuts and things under the trees. When we get bored of that, we go glue them together somewhere." Natalie will turn to walk back to the forest.

[Dimonite]

Infirmary

"If you eat the wrong types of fish, the Ocean Mother will get upset and stop directing the sea-spirits to divert kraken and sea serpents from the ship." The Ocean Mother is one of the more powerful spirits, as she represents an entire ocean so all of its attendant spirits, those representing the currents, the fish, the whales, the sea monsters and to a lesser extent the islands, sea birds, mangrove forests and the ocean winds.

Infirmary
"Hang on," Lume says, finally catching on a bit. "You're talking like this is something we're actually going to do. I'm just saying I can do it, but I'm needed for healing work here.

[Morty]

Grounds

"We go find some sticks, nuts and things under the trees. When we get bored of that, we go glue them together somewhere." Natalie will turn to walk back to the forest.

"Cool! Let's go!" Brinika will follow Natalie enthusiastically. Ultimately, Natalie will do most of the thinking, as Brinika doesn't know a whole lot about forests.

[Earl of Purple]

Grounds

Natalie doesn't know as much as she likes to think she knows about forests, but she does know enough not to even touch any mushrooms, and will warn Brinika away from them too. Although since mushrooms are pretty much the only thing that grows in stereotypical fantasy caves, Brinika may know not to touch strange mushrooms already, especially if, like that ring of large toadstools over there, they have had windows and doors hacked into them.

[McBish]

[Infirmary]

Yuki sits and continues to watch the conversation quietly.

((Feel free to skip me as you want.))

[Earl of Purple]

Infirmary

"Oh! Sorry, I got overenthusiastic. I shouldn't have; I'm duty bound to do my best to do my best to rebuild the ship using as much of the original materials as possible. I... I don't know what I'm supposed to do as the only surviving crew, but rebuilding the ship is the duty of her survivors. That way the ship never dies and her history is carried on. I'ck Tack n'A has sunk fourteen times before, and each time her crew repaired and rebuilt her and set off again." He sounds proud of how often she's sunk, or more accurately, how many times his ancestors were in the same position and managed to return to their traditional lifestyle. This time is different, however; his family is dead and his ship sunk and it's impossible to crew a ship of her size with just a sole person, especially when said person was the cabin boy and has little practical experience doing the necessary jobs aboard the ship. Besides gut the fish ready for supper, any way.

[Morty]

[Grounds]

The caves goblins dwell in have a rich variety of fungi, lichens and other such things. Brinika knows better than to touch unfamiliar mushrooms. She'll pick up any interesting acorns, branches, leaves and twigs.

[Earl of Purple]

Grounds

So she doesn't notice the little doors and windows?

Natalie will also pick up acorns, chestnuts, sticks, twigs and some leaves.

[Morty]

[Grounds]

She doesn't have a very good attention span at the best of times - it's both a goblin thing and a little girl thing - and now she's also excited. So she doesn't.
Soon enough, Brinika is holding a big bundle of the things she's found interesting.
"I think that's enough. Let's go back and try to make something out of them!"

[Earl of Purple]

Grounds

"OK. Come on!" Natalie's taken out a plastic bag from her rucksack and is carrying her collection within. If Brinika asked, she'd have been provided one too.

[Morty]

[Grounds]

Brinika would accept the plastic bag, meaning that she also carries her stuff in one. She follows Natalie happily.

[Earl of Purple]

Grounds --> Main Cabin

Natalie's headed for the Main Cabin, and when she arrives she'll take the glue out of her rucksack and put it on a table, along with her plastic bag of forest detritus.

[Morty]

[Main Cabin]

Brinika empties her bag of assorted forest junk and peers at it.
"Alright, so what do we do with it? Maybe we could build little figurines. I've seen them somewhere."

[Earl of Purple]

Main Cabin

"Yes, I think I've seen them too. Or we could make ladders, chairs and furniture for them." I've never made them though.

[Dimonite]

Infirmary

"Oh! Sorry, I got overenthusiastic. I shouldn't have; I'm duty bound to do my best to do my best to rebuild the ship using as much of the original materials as possible. I... I don't know what I'm supposed to do as the only surviving crew, but rebuilding the ship is the duty of her survivors. That way the ship never dies and her history is carried on. I'ck Tack n'A has sunk fourteen times before, and each time her crew repaired and rebuilt her and set off again." He sounds proud of how often she's sunk, or more accurately, how many times his ancestors were in the same position and managed to return to their traditional lifestyle. This time is different, however; his family is dead and his ship sunk and it's impossible to crew a ship of her size with just a sole person, especially when said person was the cabin boy and has little practical experience doing the necessary jobs aboard the ship. Besides gut the fish ready for supper, any way.

"Well," Lume says, trying to be comforting, "Once you're feeling rested, we can certainly help you build a new ship - there were some pieces of her left, that we could use to start with. Or, if you find you prefer it here, you will naturally be welcome to stay. Now, for official nursing duties: I need your name."

[Earl of Purple]

Infirmary

"How am I supposed to crew a ship? You need people to climb the rigging, clip the sails, elf the crow's nest, anglers, cooks, quartermasters, a captain, an Aquamancer for certain, an Aeromancer, maybe an Alchemist, a first mate, engineers, a shipwright, carpenters, people who speak as many other languages as possible and a keen business sense. I'm the cabin boy! I cleaned the bunks, gutted the fish, repaired the nets, fetched and carried, and rowed the boats ashore. My name is Mackerel I'ck Tack n'A." Doubtless that's not all the jobs listed; I have only a vague idea of what happens on a sailing ship and Mackerel knows much more than I.

[Dimonite]

Infirmary

"How am I supposed to crew a ship? You need people to climb the rigging, clip the sails, elf the crow's nest, anglers, cooks, quartermasters, a captain, an Aquamancer for certain, an Aeromancer, maybe an Alchemist, a first mate, engineers, a shipwright, carpenters, people who speak as many other languages as possible and a keen business sense. I'm the cabin boy! I cleaned the bunks, gutted the fish, repaired the nets, fetched and carried, and rowed the boats ashore. My name is Mackerel I'ck Tack n'A." Doubtless that's not all the jobs listed; I have only a vague idea of what happens on a sailing ship and Mackerel knows much more than I.

Lume writes down the name, then thinks for a time.
"Well, I'm sure there are places in this world where you could hire a crew. Money wouldn't be a problem; I could finance it. But really, you should simply do whatever you need to do to find peace. That's what I'm trying to do.

[Earl of Purple]

Infirmary

"A good ship's crew isn't hired. If they're hired they have no attachment to the ship. Sea Elf crews are family. If they lose the ship, they lose everything. Friends, family, home. That way they betray family if they betray the ship. The captain is the head of the family, and chosen through merit. Every one aboard is a relative, through blood or marriage." Sea Elves mingle when they're in port as that's one of the few times they can meet people who aren't cousins. Usually they flip a coin to decide upon whose ship they crew, as it means likely never seeing their family again, or very rarely, and trying to integrate with a new family. Occasionally, if one ship has had a disaster, the couple will choose that one as it has the most need for crew.

[Dimonite]

Infirmary

"A good ship's crew isn't hired. If they're hired they have no attachment to the ship. Sea Elf crews are family. If they lose the ship, they lose everything. Friends, family, home. That way they betray family if they betray the ship. The captain is the head of the family, and chosen through merit. Every one aboard is a relative, through blood or marriage." Sea Elves mingle when they're in port as that's one of the few times they can meet people who aren't cousins. Usually they flip a coin to decide upon whose ship they crew, as it means likely never seeing their family again, or very rarely, and trying to integrate with a new family. Occasionally, if one ship has had a disaster, the couple will choose that one as it has the most need for crew.

"Then the question is," Lume says pensively, "How will you find peace? Whatever your solution may be, know that I will help you - whether it be financially or physically.

[Earl of Purple]

Infirmary

"I... I don't know." Mackerel does have no idea. His culture is centuries old, and has rules dealing for nearly every eventuality. His life has been governed by them since he was born, and now he's out of rules.

[Dimonite]

Infirmary

"I... I don't know." Mackerel does have no idea. His culture is centuries old, and has rules dealing for nearly every eventuality. His life has been governed by them since he was born, and now he's out of rules.

"Well, for now get some rest. Perhaps you can contemplate the matter, and figure something out. I'll be here if you require my assistance. Lume does seem genuinely concerned, and sits back where he sat for hours while Mackerel slept.

[The Alexandrian]

Alyca and Miriah's Cabin - Catching Some Gamma Ray

Is that pirates thing a Monkey Island reference?

"Nuka Cola, it's just a soda where I'm from. It's got a little bit of active isotope in it, but it's mostly harmless, the caffeine is way worse," Justin explains.

"So aside from businessy things, what have you two been doing with your time? Has living at GLoG been nice?"

[Alyca and Miriah's Cabin - A Pirate I Was Meant To Be!]

Trim the sails and roam the seas!

Verily, yo!

Radiation. Yuck! Gamma, beta, or alpha waves, if an emitter is on the interior of someone's body, they will bombard essential organs. Alyca had better add scanning Justin for cancer one of these days while he's k.o.ed to her list of stuff to do before they're blissfully wed.

"Living at GLoG has been more than nice! It's been awesome! I haven't officially met anyone living here yet, but there's the sun and the lake and the forest. It's peaceful dwelling here. And the seamless integration of people with nature is refreshingly positive and inspiring! I'd take this over life in a cage any day! Wouldn't you?"

"When we're not working, we're exercising or mapping the woods for amateur cartography or playing interactive movies or shopping or studying academics! We also climb cliff faces and fly planes!"

They are permitted and can afford to do pretty much anything that they want after they've finished their assignments. It rocks!

[OrchestraHc]

Alyca and Miriah's Cabin - Hobbies Galore

K.O.ed implies unconcious via unnatural causes. Should Justin avoid drinks?

"Wow, you girls have been keeping busy. I'm glad you like living here so much. You should definitely introduce yourselves to the Applehills, though. You already met Brand, the little guy who was with me. If they like you, you're set on food for life."

[Morty]

Main Cabin

"Yes, I think I've seen them too. Or we could make ladders, chairs and furniture for them." I've never made them though.

"We'll see how much stuff we can make out of what we have," Brinika says as she begins gluing a few acorns and twigs into a shape of a humanoid person.

[Earl of Purple]

Infirmary

Mackerel nods and turns to Yuki. "Is there anything you can think of?" Mackerel has never had to think for himself, and has therefore avoided doing anything which wasn't set out clearly in tradition or custom or he wasn't ordered to do.

Main Cabin

"Yes, let's." Natalie will follow suit, sort of; her first construction is a chair made of sticks with a seat made from a leaf she picked up.

[McBish]

Infirmary

"I'm not sure. Sometimes the path that lays before us isn't clear. If you want to rebuild your boat you will need to rebuild your family. It may take time and be very hard. But it sounds to me that if you want to follow the path of those before you, then you don't have much choice. Find people you can trust. Work hard and save. But your life here will never be like your life before, maybe it would make more sense to try and return to your world."

[The Alexandrian]

[Alyca and Miriah's Cabin - Knocking Justin Out]

That'd be a swell start, yes. He should also avoid food that he didn't cook and serve himself, questionable pockets of air, and any and all physical contact with Alyca, Miriah, their car, their clothes, and, most critically, their many compeers.

"Oh! Really? That'd be nice, I guess!"

Brand is trustworthy at a glance, but Alyca and Miriah are a little more than paranoid about what they eat and drink what with most people being able to be bought and sold and all. Alyca's already got her hooks in Justin, so they're safe around him, but...

Nah! Brand was a good person! He helped free them from the evil, dark Mistress Azurelle before they were super secret agents so he's trustworthy too! For now, that is. Everyone has the potential for corruption on some level. One would only need keep a bargaining chip...

Protect Brand's family from the enemy agents, and you're as good as gold, Alyca. ... If there are any enemy agents... There may not be... You girls have been involved, like, one mission so far and all you did was change a license plate so...