Quest: Slight Navigational Error [Ended]

[The Jenn]

As Minh slowly went down the stack, tapping each barrel to test its resonance, she could hear that the barrels she tried were full. The dim light of her glowstick would reveal a faint carving on the side of one when her hand dislodged a layer of caked-on dust, the emblem of a small, stylized 'D' with a spade at the end of its curve.

Near the bottom of the stack, one above the lowest row of casks, her ears would finally pick up a different sound. This one, indeed, sounded hollow. It would be an absolute bitch to get at the cask without sending most of the ones on top of it tumbling down onto her head, making a horrible racket. She would have to either be creative or take her sweet, tedious time moving each and every cask above it to prevent a disaster.

The sounds from upstairs changed slightly and a shadow appeared before the crack in the door, voices clearer now than an indistinct hum and tumble in the background. Someone stood right in front of the cellar door, shouting something about rum and keeping one's shirt on.

[Dark]

Minh had a split second to decide her next course of action--there was no quick way to unstack the barrels to reach the one she wanted short of knocking the entire stack over, and that wasn't quite the brand of stealthy she was trying for--and while she could try and hide in the long shadows the cellar amply provided, there was no guarantee that the busboy wouldn't need into the exact cranny she choose to squirrel herself away in or, for that matter, that he wouldn't notice that the bars on the window had been removed.

Minh was moving before she registered actually having come to a decision, securing her glowstick in a deep pocket while her other hand fished for the chloroform handkerchief she carried around habitually--one never knew when one might stumble across a promising test subject.

She slunk into the shadows under the stairs to wait; she would have a slim window of opportunity, and though she didn't see any other way to get around the encounter--no one could know she was down here--she would have rather avoided leaving drugged bodies in her wake.

[The Jenn]

The fluffy little mouse-boy who opened the door to the cellar brought a small lantern down with him, the light turned to a moderate glow so as not to waste oil. Noise increased hugely until the wooden door closed behind him and he let out a long, aggravated sigh before beginning down the stairs. "Fuckin' 'ell," he muttered, his animal form having to take each step carefully while balancing the lantern so that he didn't topple forward and land on his face at the bottom of the stairs. He continued to grumble quiet, unintelligible words until he reached the bottom of the stairs.

From where he stood, he couldn't see Minh hidden in the small space beneath the staircase, nor could he see the window she had entered by unless he moved in that direction... which he started to. "Get the bloody rum yerself next time if yer gonna drop it."

[Dark]

Sweat itched its way between her shoulder blades while she waited, the dust coming loose from the stairs lodging itself firmly up her nose. Minh resisted the urge to sneeze.

For a moment at least she thought that the boy would go about his business and stay clear of the danger zone, but then he started moving towards the window and she couldn’t afford to take chances. Feeling only the slightest twinge of conscience over the trouble the boy would be in, Minh morphed to bipedal and lunged.

She was glad for the multiple limbs as she barreled into the boy’s smaller frame, wrapping herself around the boy in her best impression of an octopus. Her left hand snatched the lantern from him while her other hand clamped over his muzzle, shoving the handkerchief up his nose; her tentacles and body mass did the rest, pinning him down while she waited for the chloroform to take effect.

[The Jenn]

*summarized, with apologies and permission*

The boy went down with a muffled shout as the chloroform took effect, only not killing him because of Minh's familiarity with the stuff. No one else came down looking for him as long as she was there, probably assuming they'd get more of a hassle by fetching him than they would by simply bitching when he finally came back up. Her search continued undisturbed.

After Minh finally managed to free up the hollow casket, either by taking her sweet as time or through devious Minhly means, she found an old key inside about the side of her own forearm. A biggun! It looked as though the metal had seen better days, but the work on the decorative end was the standard of the pirate Pinkbeard himself. Jackpot!

When the ship set sail from port, she was left a kitty on a mission, key in hand and traveling on to the next destination on the map.

[Dark]

There was a small fishing village on the next island, luckily enough, and the ship Minh had gained passage with just happened to be the one commissioned with bringing its bimonthly supplies. Minh wasn’t sure what she would have done if they hadn’t been making a stop--jump overboard? And then swim to the next island? Or perhaps fashion a raft out of driftwood? It was probably in her best interest that she didn’t have to find out.

While the sailors were unloading Minh slipped down into the village with the vague excuse of gathering local flora for a scientific study, and began her search for the next clue. She ignored the speculative looks she received.

After studying her map the night before, she felt fairly confident that she was looking for a grave--and what better place to look for a grave than the graveyard? Sometimes the most obvious answer was the best, after all.

[The Jenn]

The villagers mostly left the odd Corvie alone, some intimidated by her foreign ways and others unnerved by the seeming simplicity of her research. Local flora for a scientific study? What sort of study was she running? There were all sorts of tropical plants that might have interested her, especially the local fields of Midori fingers waving lazily in the sluggish breezes.

Dragging on, the day seemed ridiculously long and uneventful. The graveyard revealed no headstones or planks of wood with the name she searched for, but a sign in the village just to the west of the tombstones led to a place marked 'Farrows Cove'. Exploration revealed a small, winding trail partly overgrown by leafy plants and stubbornly thick underbrush, but it eventually took her to a section of beach sheltered from wind and waves. It was a lovely place, remarkably scenic... and unreleting in its boredom. The light of the moon revealed no further secrets. Only when she visited the area by the light of the coming dawn did something strange catch her eye.

The rocky western edge of the cove began to glisten in one particular area, possibly the affect of a lingering spell for how strangely noticeable it suddenly was in the correct lighting. Upon investigation, Minh discovered a small, square slat of shining stone near the bottom of a larger rock that might have merited the designation of boulder. With a little prying and determination, she could remove the cut stone to reveal a tiny alcove. Inside was a glass bottle that contained a note written on some sort of hide in faded ink and a small, unassuming stone with the mark of Pinkbeard scratched into it. The note read thus:

Enter the gullet of the Turtle's Maw without fear or hesitation. Caution is wise and predators are many. When the hinge of the island's jaw is firmly within sight, hold up the Stone and speak the word 'booty'. Follow the tug and find the door, hidden by rock and time. Use the Devil's Key, but only to the left. The right brings death.

[The Jenn]

((I've sent the pirate booty to your inbox. <3 I'm closing this, since I think we've just about concluded it. The loot is fun. Right and proper swag! She also found a bunch if in-character moneys and whatnot, gold coins and non-enchanted gemstones and other fun trinkets to sell.))

[carcinoGeneticist]

Dark and Jenn receive 1 token each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe. This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe. Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!