come_sailaway | SEPTEMBER EVENT: SKULLY'S ANGELS

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SEPTEMBER EVENT: SKULLY'S ANGELS

[around 10:30PM, after Friday has returned from bringing all the other guests back to the ship, she parks the tender just off the shore, idling. she sticks her head out of the door.]

Good luck! Just come get me if you need anything! [beat] But, only if it’s something I can do without stepping outside! [beat] Have fun!

[she then pops back inside. they’re on their own, for now.

the salamander villagers have returned to their homes for the night, it seems… all but one, a smaller one, bedecked in leather armor and carrying a spear. they watch the group as they leave the beach, eyes fixed… and then, slowly but distinctly, they toss their head in the direction of inland, and turn away from them to begin a sort of watch.

perhaps that was salamander for good luck. you’ll need it.]

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[ As soon as Ava ends the invisibility, Max becomes the most visible thing around, his eyes and the lights in his head a piercing red in the darkness. Fortunately he can see in the dark and gets a good view of Izzy about to take a machete to the face, which he should... probably do something about. But apparently it's time to chat? And reminisce?

Max throws his free hand up because sure, let's talk it out with the literal storm god who tried to sink the ship or whatever she did, Sarge wasn't super specific. Back home he's the negotiator, but here, where he has zero leverage and generally has no idea what's going on, he'd much rather shoot his problems.Can they just put the Captain and her in a room to solve their issues with violence and leave the rest of them out of it?

He moves to stand next to Jade, since he's closest, gun at his side but ready to fill their surprise cameo guest with bullets at a moments notice.

Twenty foot tall anger sounds impressive.]

[the corner of her mouth twitches.]

No idea. Clearly something he actually wants... Ay, but that does change things! I bet he'd be willing to part with more to keep it intact than he would...

[she trails off, and her gaze falls on Skulduggery.]

But, maybe I should wait for an answer to my question before I say anything else.

[Three variations on the truth come up at once, but he leans into the first one to make it into speech.]

There was an excursion. I think we're the last ones left, besides the sorry idiots who tried to raft over the edge of the world. [literally shaking his head in disappointment] There was a lot of drinking, swimming, eating... I'm a bit surprised you didn't notice us. We're a fairly rowdy group.

[She leapt so immediately to escape that he assumes excursions to uncontrolled realities must be rare, if not unheard of. That makes sense; the Captain's a possessive and controlling man, and giving the passengers so much freedom goes against the entire premise of the experiment. Hell, it feels almost like bending the rules to let Friday man the tender, giving her a glimpse of a real world for once. What would Jenny do, if she knew Friday was only a mile and a half away...?]

[Well now. The news that the Dioscuri's efforts actually did somehow reach Jenny--to the point of pulling her away from some sort of death, even--is a distinct surprise to say the least. There are many implications here, though Jade's mentally tabling them for later review. In the meantime...relief maybe isn't entirely the right word for it, but Jade does also feel as if a very small bit of tension is loosened, when Ava finally chips in to garner some recognition from Jenny of her own, and then Skulduggery and Max emerge to respectively bolster negotiations or at least keep a weather eye on things. Paired alongside the additional light provided by another flame...both literally and metaphorically, things grow at least slightly clearer to view.

Ava's decision to evade directly answering Jenny's question, and Skulduggery's prudently careful supplement afterwards, are both understandable choices. Jenny may very well react rather poorly to the implication that they're actually running something of a request, for the captain. But, if they were...to perhaps angle the truth in a slightly different way, instead...listening in turn, Jade's opting to add an additional supplement of his own at length.]

This reality appears to be entirely outside the captain's jurisdiction--it's not one of his creations at all, is it? Between the presence of animals and proper plants...it's quite an odd variation from the usual excursions he sets us on. So, naturally, we've been trying to learn more about this place--though it's only with the onset of evening that we've been able to investigate things further inland, here, at the apparent grace of the local villagers. And now, well--here we are.

[Still not all necessarily outright lies, any of this. Just, omitting finer details, so to speak. Jade's even tone and outward demeanor betray nothing in the way of particular unease; mild as the urge might be the glance Skulduggery's way for a gauge of reaction, he instead keeps his attention focused upon Jenny with a speculative air.]

If there's indeed something actually here that the captain wants, it'd be very relevant to our interests as well. Moving against him in direct combat has proven entirely futile...so we've been seeking any sort of bargaining chip that might be of true value to him. Our meeting might be entirely a fluke of luck...but perhaps, our goals here are actually rather aligned?

[The captain certainly still has something that Jenny has been seeking to take back this entire time, after all--the custody of her brothers. She might have cut herself off at the pass earlier, there, but Jade can take a guess at where her thoughts might be leading in this way, and it feels prudent to at least attempt encouraging that track if possible. To engage her in violence would be a nigh-guaranteed disaster, so simply dispelling this encounter would be well enough--but if they could perhaps even recruit her aid, at least temporarily...?

Well, it might be nice. Make their mission here a little easier, and all.]

Edited 2022-09-18 15:18 (UTC)

[ Jade and Skulduggery are carefully diffusing the situation, and doing a fine job of it so far. Which means Max can focus on the minutiae, especially her last mention of "I bet he'd be willing to part with more to keep it intact than he would..."

Well now. That's an interesting revelation.]

Since we're all calmly discussing our motivations for being here and not violently destroying each other. [ An unspoken yet hanging in the air. ] Who would be more willing to part with things than whoever else?

[ That sounds like leverage. ]

I was going to simply trade whatever it was to the Captain directly. Now that I know he wants it... He'll be a much more generous bargainer if I tell him I'll destroy it...

[a small smile.

she raises a hand, electricity crackling around her fingers.]

I'm not stupid. He doesn't leave passengers behind. Start telling the truth about why you're here, or I'll send you back to him.

[ Lying to Jenny seemed like a bad idea to Darcy but she was willing to let the others go through with it. Even though 'oh yeah he just forgot we were here' was a terrible lie. Honestly, it's like these people have never had to bullshit to their parents about what they're doing and where they've been before. Jenny isn't an idiot, but she is angry, and maybe... well, if she's just going to kill them anyway- ]

Okay- no more lying to the fucking goddess, guys. That asshole sent us here. Obviously. You probably worked that out already- but- but- we were planning on bargaining with it ourselves. Look- none of us are that dumb that we'd actually want to help that motherfucker, and... you know what he's like. The second you start bringing threats into it, he'll just act like he doesn't want it anymore. And... he's still kind of got you by the balls, ehn? 'You destroy the thing I want, I destroy your brothers'...

[ Darcy folds her arms, tilting her head a little. ]

You want him to hurt, right? You want that fucker to pay for all he's put you through? Way easier to hurt him from inside the house, and way way easier if it's people he's at least pretending to trust, ehn? You help us get the thing- or at least stay out of our way- and we keep working on our end to stop him for good. I know you'd want to see his dumb fucking face when we play him over it, but I'll do my best impression of it for you later.

Easier still if said people know where your brother's souls are.

[Says the man propped up on the foot of a tree nursing the bump on the back of his head and praying to the god of sinners his eyes will work again in a minute, god damn, woman.]

Kill us now and you'll never know.

[there is an extended journey of emotions on her face: rage turning into smugness melting into shock, an almost stricken expression... until she's able to regain some control over it, her voice steady.]

There is a temple of gold in the center of the island. I was too weak to make the journey, before... Whatever it is, it's in there.

A temple of gold. Of course. Why wouldn't we be heading towards some version of El Dorado, full of traps and puzzles. That's so absolutely typical.

[His sigh is palpable, and he nudges Jade with the butt of his gun, time for puzzles buddy. Isn't that exciting? Isn't that great?]

And you don't know what this thing is either?

[shakes head] No, no traps or puzzles. The natives told me that there's nothing stopping you from entering the temple.

[Hey, look, if they were liable to get killed for being honest to start with, lying had felt moderately worth a shot at the very least...!

But even if that particular angle had fallen through in the end, both Darcy and Izzy interject--and, quite clearly, they manage to hit a very sensitive chord where Jenny's concerned. Jade's composure very nearly breaks to cast a surprised glance Izzy's way, at his claim that the location of her brothers is actually known--a bluff, or dangling of some actual information, possibly recently-discovered? ...No time to get into that right now, though.

The main thing is that it's working, and Jenny's promptly divulging several interesting things in rapid succession. Jade frowns slightly, trying very valiantly to ignore that Very Rude nudging from Max (yes, he knows, he can't believe it either) as Jenny answers his question. That's...surprising.]

Yet you couldn't reach it when you tried before...then, is it a matter of there being some sort of obstacle before reaching the temple? Or was there something else, that you were too weak to overcome at that time?

[beat]

There's stairs.

[ew.]

I'll just wait at the bottom.

[mostly you lost her at no traps or puzzles]

[Snort.

What's that, Ava. Scared of a little hard work?]

[...Goodness, quite literally at the brink of death, wasn't she? Not the answer Jade was expecting himself, but there's a resignation in the shortness that might yet very nearly garner some sort of sympathy. --Or a response like Ava's, which prompts a wry look from Jade in her direction.]

Suppose we could want somebody remaining outside as lookout, if you're volunteering... [Anyway!! Back to Jenny ~~and casually also ignoring that distinctly derisive snort from somewhere in Izzy's vicinity~~:] At any rate, you certainly seem as if you could now actually handle some flights of stairs after all! If you're planning to make a second visit, I'm sure we'd appreciate a guide on the shortest route there. [Considering her interest in getting a bargaining chip against the captain for herself, Jade's assuming Jenny would likely want to follow them there regardless. But here, he's looking to the rest of the party, in case anyone else has objections or questions on the matter too...]

[not even going to dignify Izzy with a glance, though her fingers curl into fists. offering to wait outside is at least a compromise of her desire to instead just head back to the ferry and be done with it.]

Right, lookout. Sounds like it's going to be overly crowded, I'd just be in the way. And if the temple starts collapsing in on you, just toss me the thing.

[see, being antisocial is a valid strategy. a small glance at Jenny, concerned.]

What happened to you...?

It's not very far. Another half-mile, at most.

[a pause. she glances at Ava.]

The thing about doing magic under your own power is that, eventually, it starts to run out. There's only so much one soul has.

[The questions are immediate: does she also use the erda flow to maintain her ship? What has she given up to it, and what else is she willing to give? Has she constructed her own servitor yet, maybe to safeguard her brothers' memories? Has she resorted to unwilling passengers? But he manages to stuff them back at the last moment. There'll be time for interrogations later, maybe, but not right now.]

It sounds like hell. [Genuinely sympathetic, but only for a moment. They certainly don't have time for sentiment right now.] The natives said there was no trouble entering... but did they say the same about exiting?

They just smiled when I asked that.

[...]

So, you know. A bit concerning.

Yeah, we've all watched Aladdin. [except obviously all the ones that haven't, whatever]

[Tilts his head briefly backward. UGH. Of course, they smiled. He bets it was a creepily serene one. The sort with sinister intent.]

At least he got a flying rug... [so bitter about not being able to fly right now] Well, good on you for volunteering to help Friday with our bodies after we die horrible, agonizing deaths, Ava. Would anybody else like to join her guaranteed safety?

I did not come on this ridiculous mission to not shoot anything.

You think this is about my safety? I'd have better odds of getting out of somewhere than the rest of you while you talk about it.

[Skulduggery tilts his head.] Yes, you would. And yet you've said you'd rather wait outside because of some stairs and bad company. [Ooooh that's an icy bit of tone there.] That choice is yours.

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