Fantasy The Devil's Meridian (Closed)

[Emperor Sagan]

"We'll be doing a little sightseeing, Commodore," Anastasia remarked, looking out over some of the land from the trail. Lieutenant Williams eyed her, surprised, but said nothing. He had been curious about the light mechanism at the top but it seemed the captain had other things in mind. Accompanying them were four marines and two sailors, armed with rifles or shotguns with pistols as additions. Sokrovian shore parties were adept raiders, and given last nights encounter with the strange creatures in the dark, they were a little more on edge than when they arrived.

"I suppose we'll be off, down that ways." Anastasia pointed off a good point to leave the path and into an inoffensive area. "We won't be going too far, and caves... we'll avoid. A Sokrovian habit, you must understand."

 

[joshuadim]

"I believe Lonstray mentioned earlier getting some readings, so he and some of his assistants will be joined by a few of our crewmen while the rest of my men and I follow you, Commodore." Dobbs spoke.

 

[EdwardDewey98]

After a few hours, Dos Santos and Alvarado found themselves talking in the Platine side of the camp. The captain still couldn't wrap his head around the doctors current state, while Dos Santos was still quite thrilled about it. After giving some samples to Dr. Lonstray, she had been testing her hand reflexes and abilities. "...what do you want to do with that hand?" asked Alvarado while taking a sip of mate. Dos Santos looked at him a bit confused by the question. "I... well, I really doubt it is... a spreading mutation. I see no signs on the rest of my arm just yet and I woke up fine. Luckily this is nothing." Alvarado leaned a bit forward. "...The crew is already saying you are a bruja..." Dos Santos looked at the captain a bit puzzled. "...A w-witch? really?" Alvarado sighed and nodded before taking another sip of his mate. "...I'll tell them to stop saying nonsense, but you know the northerner kind... We are a superstitious people. We still believe in our versions of goblins and werewolves. Don't let it affect you though." The captain then tried to reassure the scientist that the crew won't interfere in her research, but Dos Santos paranoia continued growing. Afraid that one of the men might actually harm her over accusations of witchcraft. What nonsense.

Around 10AM...

Eventually, it was time to start exploring the island. The Commodore seemed happy about the weather conditions in the island and expressed desire to explore an specific area of the island. Dos Santos was lost looking at her hand, before being poked in the arm by Alvarado. She snapped out of it to look at the Commodore. "A-ah! uhm... I... we will explore the caves and lower regions of the island if that is not much trouble." Along with Dos Santos were the two researchers, a lady of pale complexion and a short man with a pencil mustache. Alvarado brought along three of his people, two women and one man. The trio armed with rifles and with some combat experience.

 

[K0mori]

The leaders made their preferences known. Dobbs, Warren, Flint, and Alvarado would all climb the plateau with Meinhardt, while Kortova, Lonstray, and Dos Santos would all conduct independent searches of the island. As they prepared to part ways, Kuromaki surprised the Commodore with an offhand comment: "[Sir, while my official duty is to observe your behavior, I don't wish to spend this entire historic voyage recording the minutia.]"

"[Then what would you rather do?]" Meinhardt replied.

Kuromaki gave a sly look. "[I, too, have had interesting dreams. Like the others, I want to seek answers.]"

---

Kuromaki - The Previous Night
​

The Ensign tossed and turned in her tent, uncomfortable and cold. She groaned, running her hands through her inky black hair. Sitting up, she fumbled blindly in the dark until she found her pocket watch, and flipped the cover open with disdain. Carefully, she tipped the face until it caught a glimpse of moonlight.

3AM.

Disgusted, she tossed the timepiece aside and pulled her boots on, unzipping the tent door for a late night stroll to stretch her legs, never straying far from the camp's edge. The wind outside was still bitterly cold, and she shivered as she walked past the night watch to the tree line.

[Stupid, stupid, stupid!] she thought to herself as she found a secluded, shadowy spot to silk a bit. She kept her eyes on the treetops, watching for howlers. [Why did I agree to this assignment. I can't promote if I'm dead... And even if I survive, I won't get the glory; that'll belong to this Alamannian pig and his subordinates!]

She huffed, putting her head in her hands, when an eerie glow from the trees behind her snapped her out of her mood. She turned, and found herself staring down a beautiful and alluring nude figure with red skin and horns.

"[You look cold,]" the mysterious woman said.

"[Are... What are you?]" Kuromaki stammered. She had nearly asked, are you a demon? It seemed obvious, but she was afraid of offending her.

The woman smiled. "[I can warm you up,]" she added. "[Come here, why don't you? I know what you like...]"

Kuromaki felt transfixed as she took one step, and then another. As she stepped close enough to touch the visitor, the reddish glow had painted everything the same shade of crimson. She froze as the succubus lifted her hand, touching her on the cheek. Everything felt pleasantly warm now, and involuntarily, Kuromaki leaned in for a kiss. But instead, her lips met a pane of glass, nothing more than a black mirror in a dark cave, a pillar of moonlight shining down from up above. Her head spun even as she rested her forehead against the glass. Whatever spell the creature had placed on her was gone, and yet she wished so earnestly to break the plane and join the one who summoned her here.

She would eventually curl up and sleep there, at the foot of the mirror. In the morning, however, she had mysteriously returned to her tent. Had she really gone anywhere? It was hard to say, but she certainly wished it were so. More than anything else, Kuromaki was lonely, so far away from home, so isolated on a crew which suspected or even hated her. Although her post entitled her to make demands of the Commodore, the reality of the situation was that in this cursed sea, the Alamannians could make her disappear if she were to truly upset them, and so she would be quiet and cooperative as much as possible.

She wanted a friend. Even a monster would do. A lover would be even better.

---
​

"[...If that's what you want, then take someone with you to translate,]" the Commodore insisted. "[Get someone who speaks Albionian.]"

Kuromaki nodded and set about finding an appropriate partner for her excursion while Meinhardt rounded up the entire group which would ascend to the plateau ruins. The latter group picked up its bags and, after a bit of surveying, began to climb the long and steep trail up the rise. As he walked along, the Commodore identified a few useful plants which were growing along the pathway to help pass the time.

First, he pointed to a large, oblong fruit with a greenish husk and explained that it was similar to a coconut, in that there was a large, edible seed within. "We call it a meridian coconut, although the flesh is a lot softer than the traditional kind. It tastes a little different, too, more like a piña colada. Personally, I love the stuff, but the ship's doctor on our first trip out told me that it's not as nutritious..." Later, they came upon some tall palm grass, which Meinhardt warned them about. "Watch out for this. We call it stinging pitpit. The edges of the leaves contain a strong irritant that can give you a bad rash. The seeds are poisonous, too..."

By around 11AM, the group reached the top of the trail, where the slope suddenly leveled off and there was much greater evidence of a stone-paved road leading directly to the ruins, which sat atop a final, rocky rise above the surrounding grassy hilltop. Its architecture was now easy to see, and from appearances alone it was clear that the Altanic society was quite advanced. The stone which made up the pillars and walls of the ruins was not the same type of stone that was found on the island. They were likely crafted elsewhere by skilled stone cutters and then delivered there by boat, whereupon master architects took over the job of hoisting them to the top of the plateau and seeing to their assembly.

Meinhardt prepped his SMG as they approached, which alerted the other captains, but when no threat presented itself, he reset the safety and let the gun dangle from its strap, looking both relieved and a little disappointed. A few marine birds flew out of the building as they reached its entrance, bronze-clad doors with intricate geometric designs on the front. They were pushed inward, leaning against the inner walls and twisted on broken or long-frozen hinges. Still, the magnificence of this ancient structure was still vaguely present, and the captains were awed by the evident history. The floors were covered with an incredible mosaic that depicted Ancient Altanic mariners sailing by the light of the ley lines in the sky.

In the middle of the room, the crystal ball mentioned by the Commodore earlier on stood on a pedestal in the exact center of a spotlight formed by the central opening of the ruin's dome. Around the chamber, also described, were a set of tablets with engravings on them which resembled the inscription on the Stele found by Riddle the previous night, as well as a unique pictograph on each stone.

Lt. Detlev, who had been typically quiet during the entire stay on the island thus far, finally felt the need to speak up despite not being addressed. "If I may," he said, pulling a large parchment out of his bag. Rather than a traditional map, it looked more like a flow chart, with nodes connected by lines which had travel times and hazards listed in hand-written ink. "Let me show you what we know of this assembly so far. This is us, here at the beginning, this circle here," he said, pointing to the upper left corner of the map. These diverging paths show known safe routes, as well as anecdotes from previous expeditions."

Meinhardt leaned in. "This red line here is Admiral Stock's voyage. The green line shows what scholars and veterans of this sea seem to think is the safest route. You can see how close Stock got to it. The man was rich with luck, that's for sure. But his route wasn't perfect, either."

Detlev nodded. "We obviously won't be following either route exactly, but you can see what happened to a few of the others that, ahem, disappeared over the years. I drew their intended paths on the map, although we can't be certain that they actually followed their plans. Nonetheless, we have three choices here on which direction we'll go, and at the very least we can be sure that we won't get lost before the first way point if we take any one of them."

Meinhardt spoke up. "First, we have Lesser Altanis, which is rife with unexplored ruins but is also absolutely crawling with dangerous creatures. It's also dripping with shadow mass. We can see that there's another ley line ruin which might allow us to access totally uncharted islands, but nobody's had the guts to try to get up there, so they just sail on to Greater Altanis, which would be the stop after that. If we go, though, we're stopping and braving the risks. We didn't come here to not explore.

"Second, we have The Ossuary Islands. Commodore Logan's Expedition in 1899 passed through there and called the waters especially treacherous. There is a massive temple and mortuary complex on the largest island in the chain, which is where it gets its name from, but the other islands appear to have been uninhabited. We aren't fully sure about that, since nobody bothered to land on the smaller ones at all. For all we know, there could be major mineral deposits or even aetherite, the key ingredient for making aetherine. So far, the only deposits we've found of the raw mineral are those found under the ley line ruins, and there's an international agreement not to mine it out for fear of disturbing whatever mechanism is allowing this thing to function. One thing we do know is that the Ossuary Islands' ley line ruin has at least five connecting routes, and only two of them have ever been explored.

"Finally, there's Sapphire Trench Island, which is named for the very deep and blue rift in the sea which surrounds it. There are ruins of a major city on this island, but they're safer than Lesser Altanis and have therefore been thoroughly explored and plundered. This was the path Gehrig's Expedition took. Oddly, this is also where he and his men began having wild dreams and hallucinations, which is why his log became such a resource for us. The problem is that the ley line ruin there doesn't seem to function properly. Gehrig's fleet lost the line midway to their next destination and wound up finding Greater Altanis by luck about a week later. We'll have to see about it if we choose that route."

Detlev nodded. "We have many options. Gentlemen, ladies, what thoughts do we have?"

---
​

Down below, Kortova and her men romped through the lightly-wooded terrain in search of anything unnatural-looking. This land had been uninhabited for many years, and most signs of human presence had long been wiped out or overgrown. At one point, they stumbled on what appeared to be a metal tool, but on closer inspection, they realized it had come from a previous expedition, decades prior, and was not ancient by any means. Dejected, they stopped at a stream of water which was trickling from the side of the plateau down towards the sea. The water was cold and very pure-tasting, as it was made up mainly of snow which had fallen into a shady bowl on the side of the upland that was melting much slower than the snow that fell elsewhere on the island.

As Kortova stooped to refill her cup, however, the rocks beneath the water shifted. By reflex, Kortova jumped backwards just before a large snake burst from the muddy rocks and snapped its huge jaw at her, a flash of fangs whipping through the air in a blur of purple scales. An alert marine with a shotgun had the right angle to shoot at the snake without endangering the captain, and did so. The neck of the beast was blown open, scattering blood and flesh across the stream to the opposite side as the python collapsed in a twitching pile. It writhed around on the ground and slowly bled to death. They would be able to recover the corpse for study. A victory for the Sokrovians!

---
​

Elsewhere, Lonstray had found a steep trench in the terrain which did not appear to be a natural formation. Him and his cohort began to set up their equipment, taking geological samples, atmospheric data, and trying to detect any unusual energies, such as x-rays, which might affect the health and well-being of the crew. Upon seeing largely normal results, they turned their attention to the trench itself and began to dig the plants out of the way. There was a particularly square stone in the ground which was mostly hidden by a shrub. Lonstray straddled the plant and grabbed with both hands, and, with the help of some others, began to work it loose from the stone gently so that they could study what lay beneath it.

Shortly after grabbing it, however, Lonstray felt an unsettling tingle, and when he pulled out his arms, he found himself covered in dozens of small arachnids which were skittering aggressively on his arms! The man shouted, flying backwards and swatting at himself, trying to get them off. Several others who had been working on the plant had also gotten a few spiders, but the men who hadn't been touching it flew into motion, helping the others swat away the bugs before they could get the chance to bite. Miraculously, they managed to prevent any harm from coming to the lead researcher. One of the other men was bitten, however, and became ill almost immediately, vomiting elsewhere in the bushes.

After attending to their wounded man, the research party concluded that his condition was improving rapidly, and the exploration could continue.

---

In a cave she discovered about a third of the way up the plateau on the only side of the island the expedition had yet to explore, Dos Santos and her company crawled through a narrow opening into a chamber which was lightly-flooded with stale and dirty water. The smell was very unpleasant here, as there were hints of mold on the wall which sent chills down their spines. Was it really mold, or shadow mass? Just then, there was a splash behind them, and they wheeled around in fear, ready to strike.

"Easy now!" the Alamannian said, holding his hands up.

Behind him, Kuromaki dropped into the chamber and splashed the dirty water as well. "Eeeeh!" she yelped as she brushed the water off the hem of her uniform top. "[Disgusting! ...Tell them why we're here, please.]"

"The ensign wanted to do a bit of exploring as well. I hope you don't mind if we join you."

The group used its flashlights and lanterns to explore the chamber, finding an elevated area above the water which rounded a slight corner. There, they found the skeletal remains of someone who had previously explored the cave, whose body had apparently become stuck while trying to wriggle into another connected chamber. From the looks of their tattered uniform, they were probably from one of the Expeditions which immediately followed Admiral Stock, but this person was not Albionian. They were, in fact, Alleghenian. The gathered explorers paused for a moment as they considered what to do with this grim discovery.

 

[joshuadim]

With that perilous incident out of the way, Lonstray remained oddly calm as he opened his pocketbook to write down a few things while his group recollected themselves.

Immediate vomiting upon bite. Unknown cause. Theory: fast-acting toxin. Effects seem to be very short-term. Multiple bites can be lethal? Evidence currently inconclusive. Require specimen for further analysis.

Upon finishing his writing, he closed his book and spoke up: "Get me one of those spiders as a sample."

----------------

Dobbs pondered the choices presented for a few moments, considering both the exploratory value of each path as well as the risks towards his men presented on each on. The safest choice seemed to be the best choice at first, as Dobbs did not want any unneeded risks causing unneeded casualties on the voyage. However, he also considered the potential compromise that could allow for both.

"I believe our vessels will be capable enough to brave such waters." Dobbs remarked at first before continuing. "Perhaps the best choice, in my opinion, ought to be the Ossuary Islands."

 

[Infab]

After listening to the potential routes that they could take, Warren spoke up. "I say we venture to Lesser Altanis." said the Alleghenian commander, looking to the Commodore. "We're explorers, so lets explore where no one else has before. As for the risks, if we keep a level head and remain cautious, we can deal with the local wildlife. Either through avoiding them altogether, through tactics, or through proper application of firepower." Riddle spoke up afterwards. "Shoot it till it's dead." he said, with a hint of a chuckle at the end.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Is it dead? Is it really dead? Shoot it again!" Anastasia said, pointing furiously at the motionless snake as she hid beside Lieutenant Williams, who was clutching his revolver while the other sailors and marines inspected the area carefully. One of the sailors armed with a typical Sokrovian bolt action rifle took aim at the creature's head and put another shot into it, blowing out more blood and scales with a high caliber bullet.

"If it wasn't, it is now," Williams added. He stepped a little closer to the bank of the stream and eyed the water. "Looks like we know some big snakes can hide around here. I was worried about those damn wolf things. Didn't expect snakes like this in such a chilly place. Way bigger than anything back home." He directed a few men to pick up rocks and pelt the stream with small stones while some others used bayonets to spear and move the snake. "Don't touch it, either. Wrap a few jackets around it," he cautioned. Anastasia eyed the purple scales from a distance and considered that she could get a nice belt, or perhaps some boots, from this thing. Maybe little badges for the officers to really spiff the uniforms up. Snakeskin boots were a little more common south across the border in the warmer lands, but they had some some common garter snakes in the region, and at least one breed of coldwater rattlesnake. Bit of an anomaly, that one.

"Shall we head back to camp, Captain Kortova?"

Anastasia considered their surroundings before nodding. They hadn't found much and she disliked snakes - rather, living snakes. They already had one specimen to utilize. Hopefully the Commodore would be able to clear this beast safely so that they could get something out of it.

The Sokrovian's carried the dead python in a jacket, tied up around the end of a rifle so that no one had to physically touch it as they made their way back to the trail and then down to the camp.

 

[K0mori]

The researchers accompanying Lonstray grimaced when the researcher ordered them to catch a spider, not because it was an unexpected or unreasonable request, but more so because none of them wanted to get bitten when they still didn't know the long-term effects. The man who had already been bitten seemed alright, but there was no way of telling, currently, if he was truly safe. Nonetheless, one of the researchers volunteered, and after getting a specimen container from one of their bags, she crept up to the infested shrub and spotted a spider hanging onto one of the lower branches. With extremely careful hands and steady movements, she positioned herself, placed the container at the right angle, and then, using the lid of the container itself, she knocked the spider off the branch and quickly closed the top before it could skitter its way out.

Backing away quickly, she smiled with a sigh of relief before handing the live specimen over to Lonstray. He held the glass container up to get a better look. The creature appeared to be a type of funnel web spider, but without spinnerets, that clearly wasn't the case. It was mottled black and gray, and had large, threatening fangs. With that out of the way, the researchers now stood around discussing whether it would be better to continue trying to unearth the stone block or to leave it in place and search elsewhere.

 

[Radley]

Flint inspected the map as Meinhardt presented their options in continuing their journey. Lesser Altanis sounded like a high risk high reward situation, but were there anything other than terrible beasts and the dreaded shadow mass on those islands? It seemed like a stretch, and Flint didn't like having to make that kind of gamble. Furthermore, once they were on the lesser Altanis route they had to be fully committed to it, without the option to reconsider. "I'm not quite sure I share my compatriots lust for bravado." Flint began whilst glancing at Warren and Riddle. "I cast my vote with Captain Dobbs. You say there are three unexplored routes connecting to the Ossuary islands and a possibly large deposit of this aetherine mineral? If we arrive at the main island, we can anchor for a prolonged stay whilst we systematically explore the minor islands surrounding it. And when we're finished, we can decide which of the unexplored routes to pursue."

 

[joshuadim]

"Excellent work." Lonstray remarked as he observed the spider. He would need to do a full look-over on the specimen back on the ship when the time came, but in the meantime he would need to focus on the task at hand. Understanding that the spiders weren't going anywhere, and the general hesitance of the assistants and sailors with him, Lonstray opted to move elsewhere to find something else worth of note.

"Let's keep on moving then. See if we can't find anything else."

 

[EdwardDewey98]

Dos Santos felt like a child in a candy store, constantly moving around and taking notes of everything she saw in these caves. From the mundane, such as seemingly common moss, to the strange, such as small strange bugs. This was met with some annoyance from the rest of her crew. The three armed sailors seemed to be growing frustrated with the scientist as they entered the cave. It was a terrifying sight for the men, but Dos Santos looked at it like an opportunity for discovery! What awaited beyond those cavernous walls?

With intrepid vigor, Dos Santos lighted a lamp and walked first into the damp cave, the rest of the crew soon followed the scientist, with one of the sailors feeling responsible enough to walk to the front just in case there were cave dwelling monsters in the dark. "[The mold... i-it's not what I think it is right?]" asked Dos Santos while looking at the dark mold around the caverns walls. "[I dunno, I take whatever that kid that calls himself a commodore says with a grain of salt.]" said the older female sailor. Suddenly, the sudden noises coming from the back startled the crew. The sailors aimed their guns at the rear but noticed it was a small group of Alammanians and that strange lady.

"The ensign wanted to do a bit of exploring as well. I hope you don't mind if we join you."

The Platine crew looked at each other confused when both the ensign and the Alammanian talked to them, since none of them actually spoke the language of Albion. Even the two other researchers in the group were clueless at what the man had said. All of them depended on Captain Alvarado for translation, but luckily for them, Dr. Dos Santos not only knew Albionan but also understood the language of Shenju perfectly. "Hello there! Of course you can join us. We were about to head deeper into the cave." She then looked at Kuromaki and began to speak in her language. "[I'm sorry if my accent is too thick, but we can talk like this if you want.]" Dos Santos gave the ensign a friendly smile, but the conversation was cut short as one of the Platine sailors had delved a bit deeper into the cave and made a grim discovery.

"[Uhh... Doctor Maria! venga a ver esto!]" shouted the sailor, calling for Dos Santos attention, she quickly went ahead with the others and saw the skeletal remains of an Alleghenian sailor. "Dear God..." said Dos Santos as she looked at the body. "...we must tell the Commodore about this, but... for now lets respectfully move these remains and move forward."

 

[K0mori]

Lonstray's assistants were a bit confused at the head researcher's decision. The block they had found in the trench had been their original objective while trying to uproot the shrub, and now it was being abandoned? Still, they hadn't seen any evidence of complex tool work, and so the square stone block was probably just that- just an ancient brick. They walked further down the trench, carefully watching for anything else they could spot out of the ordinary, when they found a dirty leather satchel with a broken strap halfway buried in the weeds. It had been left behind by an earlier research party, most likely the Logan Expedition. Dusting it off, they opened up the flap to find a small case inside which was well-sealed against the elements. It had two compartments within, one with dental tools and the other with a few containers of long-expired and possibly discredited medicine. The tools, on closer inspection, were made of copper.

Along with the dental tools, there was a small felt bag inside the satchel which contained a handheld micro-scoping device. With a quick glance through the eyepiece, Lonstray confirmed that it was still in great shape and functioning as intended as he looked over the pores of his hand. It wasn't a very exciting find, but it could still be useful.

"Wait a minute, what's this?" one of the assistants said as he held one of the medicine bottles up. Unlike the others, which were clearly labeled, commercial products from roughly two decades prior, the bottle in his hand was unlabeled, and contained a number of small clusters of a white, crystalline substance. "It looks kind of like sugar, doesn't it?" he said as he handed it to Lonstray.

---​

Kuromaki was so surprised to hear her native language spoken that she couldn't help herself but smile, even if Dos Santos' accent made it slightly difficult to understand. "[I didn't know you spoke Shinjuku, how lovely!]"

The group then worked together to remove the remains from the narrow opening, placing it carefully on a damp shelf of rock slightly above the waterline. There was nothing holding the bones together anymore aside from the fabric of the uniform, and just from this placement, they shifted about uneasily and threatened to come apart. Surprisingly, despite her prim and proper appearance, Kuromaki didn't shy away from handling the bones with the other crew, and even reset the jaw to a more dignified position once the skull was safely positioned on the shelf.

Dos Santos looked through the opening the dead sailor had been trying to crawl through. It was too dark to see with a lantern, so she swapped for a flashlight and held it down the tunnel a bit. Something gold seemed to flash in the darkness, and after some careful angling, she saw it: there was a wooden chest deep in the long and narrow passage, and a single gold coin was positioned in such a way as to reflect the light. Could it really be a buried treasure?

Meanwhile, Kuromaki and her companion were conversing in Alamannian, unaware of the potential discovery.

"[I'm worried about all this black gunk on the rocks,]" he said to her. "[It's too dark to tell if it's mold or not.]"

Kuromaki shook her head. "[Don't be paranoid,]" she replied. "[Shadow mass tends to collect in settlement ruins, not underground. And moreover, look at that skeleton. Whoever that was, they were laying in the water for days before they probably starved to death. There's no mutations in the bones, though. This cave is safe.]"

"[Ah, good point,]" the man replied.

Kuromaki looked over the skeleton once again, and noticed something strange about the uniform- there seemed to be a round lump in one section, and, gently, she reached in to find a hidden pocket just under the left arm. "[Look here,]" she said, pulling the item out. It was a small wooden ball with a simple hinge on one side and a rotating clasp on the other. She opened it to find a carefully-positioned piece of aetherine glass which obviously held no charge at the moment due to its lack of glow, compared to the one Dos Santos had presented earlier that morning. Some kind of metal apparatus accompanied it within the ball, with a needle hanging over the device loosely in a way which resembled a compass or even a dousing rod. Thankfully, the whole object had been watertight all these years.

"[I should give this to Detlev-]" she began to say when Dos Santos let out an excited shout. With some help, she pulled the wooden case out of the tunnel and presented it to the others. Opening it revealed a cache of silver and gold coins, neatly stacked into rolls. There was probably several thousand dollars' worth of precious metals there.

---
​

Meinhardt nodded. "So we're in agreement then. We'll go for the Ossuary Islands and make a serious effort at exploring them. I'm a bit glad, to be honest. I didn't really want to step foot on Lesser Altanis until we had faced some real adversity as a fleet. I don't think some of the others are really aware of just how bad things can get out here, like that Kortova woman... Anyway, help me move those tablets. Let me show you how it works."

The Commodore and the others worked together to place the tablets in the correct position, and after a long and awkward silence, the silvery beam of light from the crystal ball faded away. Then, a moment later, there was a deep blue glow from within the ball. The men felt the hairs on the neck stand up as a new ley line appeared, snaking out of a different opening in the wall to shoot out over the horizing, pointing the way to their next destination.

 

[joshuadim]

Lonstray took the vial from the assistant and observed it for a moment, remarking upon the strangeness of such a find. "Indeed. Although, this could be something much more." the scientist spoke before realizing he had the opportunity to examine it right now. The handheld micro-scope now showed its true value as he brought it over the vial to see if he could get a closer look at the crystals inside and discern anything from them.

---

Dobbs felt a bit uneasy as the ley line shot out towards their next destination, yet he could also feel a bit of relief at knowing where to navigate next properly. At least they would not be sailing blind as some other expeditions had before them.

"This is certainly an easier way of navigation than what we had to rely on in the past." Dobbs remarked jokingly.

 

[Infab]

Warren rolled his eyes as the decision was made by the Commodore. It wasn't a matter of seeking attention. It was the challenge of it all. Apparently the rest of them didn't feel as though they were up to meeting whatever awaited them in the unknown. He cut a look to Flint, as they waited for the tablets to be moved into place. And after the pause, their path was lit up. He rubbed the back of his neck to settle the hairs that were standing on end.

"This is certainly an easier way of navigation than what we had to rely on in the past." Dobbs remarked jokingly.

"An interesting light show." Warren muttered in response. He glanced back to Slater, whom was wandering around the room. Inspecting carvings and stonework, before jotting things down into a small notepad she was carrying.

 

[EdwardDewey98]

After struggling for a bit, Dos Santos emerged from the crevice with the coffer. Seemingly unaware of the talk between Kuromaki and her translator. She placed the heavy item on the ground and quickly opened it. The crew around her looked shocked at the discovery. Gold and silver, worth thousands of dollars and pesos. Dos Santos was slightly disappointed though, hoping for a more scientific discovery. But still, she was smiling at the sight of so much coinage. "[What do you think of this, Ms. Kuromaki?]" she said in Shinjuku. "[This is an interesting discovery however. Are these ancient coins from the old world, or perhaps a treasure forgotten by the ancient Altanians?]" One the sailors attempted to grab one of the coins, and then showed it to Dos Santos. "This is a sailors dream, we could all just leave this ocean now and return home rich men!" said the older female sailor while studying the coin. "Don't be silly, we don't use gold and silver coins anymore. Not even in the Platine Republic. But this is still worth a lot of money!" Dos Santos crossed her arms and looked at the chest, before looking back at Kuromaki. "[What do we do Miss? And... what is that item in your hands...] Dos Santos interest grew as she noticed the little ball item in the ensign's hand.

 

[Radley]

Flint stood and watched beam of light escaped the ball and now guided their way. Magical, or perhaps it was technology so advanced that it seemed like magic to them? Like the natives of the Manongheeda valley had told stories of pale men that had arrived in great canoes, and carried sticks that could summon lightning itself. There were great things to be discovered in this sea, and Flint had slowly become more intrigued as evidence began appearing.

Having pondered for a while, he turned to the commodore, "Mr. Meinhardt. There was something I was going to ask you earlier." He began, "Last night, my dreams seemed to foreshadow some worrisome events". Flint strolled about with his hands behind his back as he inspected the people present. "You spoke of the dreams working in similar fashion to premonitions. Now, can you tell me anything about pitch black aetherine, Commodore?

 

[K0mori]

Kuromaki stared at the gold and silver, the glimmer of the precious metals dancing in her wide eyes. "[So... I wonder if the coins were stashed here to keep them safe, or if this fallen sailor stole them from their ship. Let's... Let's see,]" she said, and with a trembling hand, she lifted one of the gold coins up in front of her lantern. It was stamped with the great seal of Alleghenia, proving that they weren't quite ancient, but instead dated to around the same era as the dead sailor. "[Alleghenia, nineteenth century,]" she said after a moment. "[This should be redeemable...]" she said, placing the coin back into the box. She seemed reluctant to return the gold, but after a moment, she snapped out of it. "[Oh, this. I found this in the pocket of our deceased forerunner, here. It seems to be powered by aetherine, but this piece seems dull. I have no idea what it would do with a fresh shard.]"

---
​

Meinhardt raised an eyebrow. "Black aetherine glass? Yes, I've seen that mentioned in the logs of earlier expeditions, and it's not a sign you want to see in your sleep. I'm assuming you saw some kind of walking dead or necromancy happening? It's a common theme in the Zone... There's a lot of references to it but I've never seen anything remotely resembling it in real life. I suppose I'm lucky. The Stock Expedition supposedly encountered the undead on Greater Altanis, but the veracity of that report has always been in question. Tell me immediately if you have more dreams involving black aetherine glass or necromancy."

The Commodore then checked his pocket watch and nodded. "We should be heading back now."

 

[Infab]

Warren nodded, before looking to Riddle and Slater and motioning them over. "We're ready when you are, Commodore." said Warren, as the soldiers and his subordinates moved back over to where the commander was standing.

 

[EdwardDewey98]

Dos Santos took the marked aetherine stone in her pocket. She looked at it for a while before offering it to Kuromaki. "[Maybe we can use this to test it? Although I don't think it might fit and I don't wish to damage it without further studying it]" The doctor smiled while her men closed the chest and prepared to get it out of the cave.

 

[K0mori]

Lonstray held the bottle sideways so that he could examine the crystals through the side of the glass rather than taking an oblique angle. Through the lens, the crystals seemed to be of an almost uniform shape, all being roughly cubic. To Lonstray, this ruled out sugar and suggested that he was looking at salt cubes. Without opening the container and running additional tests, which risked exposure to an unknown substance, there was little else he could tell at the moment. As he lifted the microscope away, however, and went to place the bottle in his own bag, he noticed that, as the cubes rolled around inside the bottle, they gave off a very faint blue glow. He took a second look and this time intentionally moved the crystals around, observing small flashes of blueish energy rippling across them. This was clearly something very important.

---
​

Kuromaki compared the two stones and the way the one in her device was mounted before popping the depleted glass out and slipping it into her coat pocket. "[We can certainly give it a try,]" she said, taking Dos Santos' marked stone. With a bit of effort, she managed to get the stone to sit in the pincers of the device's mounting point, and then turned it to see if the floating needle would do anything interesting. However, the needle just seemed to drift and bob with the subtle motions of the Ensign's hand. "[So much for that,]" she grumbled, taking the stone back out and offering it up to Dos Santos again.

"EEEEH!" Kuromaki yelled as she dropped the glass into the doctor's outstretched hand, and at the same time, Dos Santos caught a glimpse of her hands as well, but they disappeared into shadow as the Shinjuku woman stumbled backwards and out of the immediate light of the lantern. There was something wrong with her hand. Just like the Commodore had warned her, the marked aetherine seemed to be capable of causing physical mutations. Dos Santos had so far always held it in the same hand, and hadn't handed it to anyone else until Kuromaki took it moments earlier. Now, she was yelping, apparently in shock instead of pain, as Dos Santos and the various sailors looked on in horror.

"[My hands! My hands...]" Kuromaki lamented as she turned around. "[Look what happened!]" Now they all had a decent look as she thrust her hands back into the light, revealing their similar webbed and clawed appearance. She had handled the stone with both hands while trying to mount it in the mysterious device. The bleakness in her expression melted away in favor of vitriol. "[You... This is your fault! You've been carrying around that stone without knowing what it does to people, and then you offer it up to me like you knew it was safe! Maybe you don't care about being a freak, but I do, dammit!]"

She stormed over to the chest and kicked the lid open before grabbing an entire roll of gold coins. "[Compensation,]" she declared, and although the Platense didn't speak her language, they could easily surmise what was happening. There were shouts of objection, but the Alamannians stepped in and prevented them from mobbing the Shinjuku woman. "Lass uns gehen!" she ordered, and her two confused companions complied, expecting an explanation outside.

---
​

Ahead of schedule, the Commodore's party arrived back at the base camp to find the Sokrovy team resting, drinking and smoking in high spirits. The Albionians seemed a bit more tense, and one of them was sweating profusely, but Lonstray had his prize and a reason to hold his head up. The Platense and Alamannian group, on the other hand, could be heard arguing loudly with each other in various languages from beyond the treeline, until Kuromaki burst through the brush with a murderously dark expression on her face. Dos Santos and her group appeared right behind, holding the case of coins between two men.

"Hold it, what's the matter?" Meinhardt demanded.

 

[EdwardDewey98]

Dos Santos was horrified to see that the stone was indeed the source of her mutation. She tried to apologize to the ensign, but the woman, in her state of shock and anger, left and tried to take away the chest from the Platine crew. Dos Santos continued to try to apologize to Kuromaki until she left the cave with her companions, and she soon followed her outside until the group met with the Commodore and his crew. Who then asked what happened.

"I... I am so sorry Commodore... I am so sorry Ms. Kuromaki. I... I just thought... the effects of the mutations they didn't grow on me past my hand. I figured the stone was safe for others to touch it but... h-her hands... oh god I am... s...so..." As everyone around her looked at her, Dos Santos began to cry out of regret and shame. She should have known better, she shouldn't have done that. "I... I'm so sorry! I..."

Alvarado looked at the scene confused, until he noticed the crewmen that went along Dos Santos shouting at the others. "[Estos Alamañes se creen que son reyes, nos querian robar toda la plata!]" The shouting among the Platine crew grew as some of them began to insult the Alammanians, until Alvarado stepped in.

"Shut the hell up! it's not the time nor the moment to start screaming like animals. Dr. Dos Santos, what happened?" He asked while putting a hand on the doctor's shoulder. Ana looked at the captain and began to talk. "I... w-we... went to a nearby cave. The ensign and her men joined us shortly after. We were doing fine until we noticed the skeletal remains of an Alleghenian crewman, probably from the first expedition. There was a chest with silver and gold coins and Kuromaki found an odd trinket in the mans pocket. I...it used an aetherine stone, it was already used... I thought maybe w-we could use the one I had? It was fresh... and... like I said, the effects haven't spread through my arm, I thought it was safe! I... I didn't mean for her hands to change I swear!"

Dos Santos began to cry again, Alvarado sighed and patted the scientist in the shoulder. Soon one of the Platine sailors shouted. "If the ensign thinks we are giving the coins to her, over our dead body." Many of the Platine crew agreed. Alvarado just sighed, telling them to shut up and then waiting for the commodores words.

 

[Infab]

As Warren's group arrived with the Commodore to the infighting between Dos Santos and Kuromaki's groups, some of them overheard Dos Santos' explanation. Especially the part about the Alleghenian corpse being found with a chest full of silver and gold coins.

"If the ensign thinks we are giving the coins to her, over our dead body."

Riddle spoke up in response to the Platine sailor, voicing exactly what the Alleghenian soldiers they had brought with them were thinking. "If you found it with an Alleghenian corpse, then the chest and its contents belong to us." he said. Warren and Slater both cut him a look, before looking back to Dos Santos and the others. "My Master Chief is getting a bit ahead of himself." stated Warren, before looking immediately to Meinhardt. "Let's let the Commodore sort things out first."

 

[joshuadim]

Lonstray was quite pleased with his discoveries and was eager to return to the ship to properly start investigating both the spider and the crystals that were collected. However, what did intrigue the man now was that the sailor that had previously been bitten by the spiders they had come across now looked rather... unwell. He would need to keep a close eye on him but in the time being, Lonstray only wrote down what the man was going through now: Profuse sweating. New symptoms emerge post bite? Further observation required.

Dobbs on the other hand looked concerned at the rising tensions between the Platine and Alammanian group. He stood nearby to observe what was going on exactly, discerning that there was a feud between Kuromaki and Dos Santos. "Let's all calm down for a moment." Dobbs spoke towards the Platine crew. "We can all discuss what had happened in an orderly fashion, yes?"

 

[EdwardDewey98]

"W-wait..." Dos Santos cleared her face, seeing the crew become more angrier at the Alammanian crew. "W-we don't need to do this! T-they can keep the gold, or the Alleghenians. P-please we don't need to fight over something so trivial!" She wanted to calm everyone down, and while some of the sailors began to quiet down having been told to calm down by both the doctor and the captain, others continued to insult the Alammanians.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

It was customary in Sokrovy to share the contents of a large hunt with all camp members. However, since the snake wasn't much of a hunt nor especially edible, an extra vodka and rum ration was passed around to the shore party. The Sokrovian's were gathered around their campfire resting, chatting, and drinking, with the large snake laying motionless on the jacket it was carried on nearby. A man with a shotgun sat beside it for good measure, though a bayonet had been driven through the corpse to pin it to the ground.

Grand Captain Anastasia was sat beside Lieutenant Williams, both sitting in stout little campaign chairs, though Anastasia's had a back and arms, and she sat with her legs crossed as if presiding in her own little court. The commotion from the returning parties caught their attention and they watched from their campsite. The peasants are arguing, Anastasia thought with a humored smirk, but she glanced towards Williams. ["What are they going on about, lieutenant?"] She asked in Old Sokrovian, an altered dialect of Ruthenian that was closer to said language than their typical mix of Albion-Ruthenian language. There had been attempts to forge a national identity around it, and it was often used among the privileged, but general Albionian was far easier and widespread.

["I do not know, captain."] Williams motioned towards one of their sailors who was walking by from that direction, flagging the man down and asking him what he heard. This was done in Low Sokrovian as that was all the sailor knew.

"Something about some found coins, sir. Or gold. And the Platine doctor and the commissar are upset over some aetherine that caused a mutation again. Sorry, sir, I wasn't listening in much."

"Arguing over coins," Anastasia mused aloud as the sailor moved along. The others at the campsite weren't sure if they were supposed to pretend to listen or not. "Amusing. Leave it to us to have done an honorable hunt while the others squawk over petty coins," she giggled, covering her mouth with her white gloves. Williams busied himself with a sip from his mug. He seemed to have remembered their ordeal with the snake differently, and it was much less a hunt than the captain thought.

"When they're done, we need to ask about this snake," she added, glancing at it. "The scales are so pretty...."