Pandora's Chest [closed]

[Ryndra]

Lady Braklin had told Ryndra the story of Niall’s episode with the two Squires. Ryndra was typically unfazed by the story. Lady Braklin knew Ryndra better than she knew herself though and she knew Ryndra would still keep her wits about her. The Knight gave her Squire a lot of credit, she was trying to push her from the bonds of a Squire and into that of a Knight. Niall and Ryndra were alike in the sense that they had a side that was far more brutal than that they normally showed, Ryndra’s was far more controlled as she would never try and kill anyone who did not deserve it.

Still, that was a story. She needed her mind of this dreary day and her duties to the Knights and Syliras. “Well someone has to watch your back and I wanted to take my leave of the walls for a while on this glorious day,” Ryndra replied nonchalantly. She of the honour that the Akalak’s held dear, she herself took to those ideals. She knew he was foolish enough to send her back to Syliras but she would not get in the way of him if that were what he wanted. She was, in fact, glad he had taken charge of the situation and while she was not any less diligent, she was no real leader.

Ryndra took in the scene much as Niall did. Taking note of each of those at the scene and assessing the relevant threat each could pose. Although she picked out more intricate details as she followed behind him. Curiously, the other female seemed to stay away from the water at a safe distance. It was odd but Ryn thought nothing more of it. She turned her gaze completely away from both Akalak to look at the warrior. The dull grey of a breastplate could be seen and his hand rested on a weapon of some kind. Despite his movements, he was armed and could still present a danger.

While Niall searched for bodies, Ryndra kept her eyes on the others primarily. Safety was key here. They had no idea what had happened to the boat or if anyone or thing had survived. She paid no real attention to the flotsam washed ashore or less looked vaguely like a body of some kind.

[Vaine]

The butterfly drew the one eye of Vaine. He picked it up between a slope of wet palms, watching the light catch it's color then discarded the item to move deeper into cool tide. Hearing the murmur of voices only distracted a thought then he just kept digging.. cracking open crates to discard their ruins neck deep in sand. He bashed through drowned wood using the pliant skull of a sculpture, leaving the somber object hanging from splintered remains.

Moving toward the ship, the Akalak brushed dark wet hair from his forehead. He watched the warpath of the vessel's journey, looking for any sign at all. Origins of port or designation. Symbols on the goods, shattered hull pieces indicating how or why she berthed here now. The warrior's inspection skimmed along the cusp of shoreline, pushing a buoyant barrel out of the way with a tilt of the arm.

Diving into the depths of the sea his body moved casually toward the two masts, in rhythm and time with his breathing. Memories of Owehlai Falls and it's goddess brought to bear the image of tanned Myrian lips reciting a prayer. He ignored it, but the haunting worship for something that meant nothing to him surrounded the Assassin's body and mind, soaking his skin. The rhythmic words became waves and crashed upon the shore.

[Tarot]

The gathered adventurers could not spot any immediate danger, but that was little reason to let one's guard down. Kebdl advanced towards the beach, and Niall and Ryndra were soon within close distance of him. Malia stood farther away, whereas Vaine inspected a couple more barrels, but then decided to take a swim and check out the shipwreck itself.

The crates seemed to contain assorted wares ranging from pottery to spices. Most of the cargo was probably ruined, but there were no visible bodies washed on the shore. This in itself was somewhat strange, as most of the cargo had ended up here. By the look of things, the wreck was pretty recent. It must have been a thing of two, three days at most. What edible food they could see scattered on the beach had not yet been devoured by the local fauna.

There was something about the crates, though... anyone looking intently would notice it after a while - that some of them had double bottoms. They could have fooled the average person, but as they lay torn and shattered, their little secret had been exposed for everyone to see. The very nature of the cargo was fishy - too many different wares, and too small an amount of each to justify serious trade.

Of course, whether those double bottoms had actually been used remained to be seen.

There was a single, smallish crate that stood out in the very middle of the litter. It mostly stood out because it wasn't broken at all - that and it was painted with black patterns reminding of magical glyphs. Perhaps it was those glyphs that had protected the wooden thing from damage.

As for Vaine, he had little trouble swimming to the ship; the sea was calm for the time being. Climbing the rocks and getting into the schooner's carcass without it falling apart was the more challenging part of the task. Old planks creaked under the Akalak's weight; thankfully, the main deck had managed to stay out of the water even during the high tide. Something immediately felt very wrong to the warrior.

Of course, the skeletons littering the deck had a lot to do with it. The wreck may have been recent, but the bodies - ten or so - looked like they had seen the dance of centuries. Completely defleshed. One had tried to hide in a barrel, and that was where Vaine found the skeletal body, crouched with its arms fruitlessly covering the face... and clutching a dead butterfly in its hand, identical to the one on the beach.

Below deck, through a hatch, there was a ladder leading to the crew's quarters, though they were partly submerged. The captain's cabin, located in the stern of the ship, had its own door and was accessible from the deck.

[Kebdl Amradji]

Kebdl watched as the Akalak swam out to the ship, waiting until the man had reached a few strokes distance before removing his hand from the hilt of his sword. He returned his attention to the crates. He dumped out a mostly intact crate that seemed to have little of value in it, and began filling it with whatever he could find that he thought might interest his merchant employer. A few small bags of spice that hadn't been water logged yet; an intact stone figurine; a plate with a painted design.

It was while he was rummaging through these items that he came across the first broken crate, and noticed the extra space beneath it. His curiosity piqued, he tilted the crate on its side to peer down into the darkness, hoping for something more valuable than the meager findings so far.

While he was doing this, he heard a voice and spun in that direction, hand moving to his sword hilt, though he didn't draw. He was frozen in a stance of readiness until the knight had finished speaking, at which point he grunted, shrugged, and continued rummaging.

[Malia]

While she was browsing through the crates, Malia kept watching the others with curiosity as well as suspicion. One could never know what they were up to, and if they suddenly realized what she was and decided that they didn’t want an undead in close proximity to them, they could as well chase her away with weapons and fire. Not that there was any fire available at such a wet day, but the danger remained.

To be honest, she had experienced many similar happenings during the journeys with her ‘Master’, and they had always either fled or hidden. It was then that she had learned to use the environment for her own advantage.

However, soon the objects she was inspecting proved to be much more interesting than the rest of the strangers. She noticed that most things weren’t severely damaged, thus still usable – the fact that the other man started to collect them in an empty crate proved it.

But Malia hoped to discover more than the usual stuff. She intended to discover information about the ship’s history through the exposed objects. They had already revealed that the purpose of it’s journey was an economic one: trade. Malia didn’t know much about geography (or economy), but she supposed that a few islands in the south could provide opportunities for trading and exchanging goods.

Then she noticed the first double bottom, and immediately started to inspect it. And then ... the ship couldn’t have been a trading one. Too little amounts of wares, right? She still wasn’t sure though. Perhaps she had missed an important part of the puzzle.

Anyway, after picking up whatever was hidden under the first bottom and examining a few of the other false bottoms too, she continued to stroll south, coming closer to the human merchant guy.

Her fingers brushed the surface of the painted crate, caressing the black glyphs on it. And what’s that, for Ukalas’ sake? Some kind of magical artefact? Her eyes started to glow – there was a secret ready to be deciphered and discovered. Carefully she started to round the crate, looking at it from every possible perspective.

Perhaps there’s a lock, an opening to peek in, anything to open it at all? If not, she would try to lift it and take a look at the bottom.

[Ryndra]

Ryndra watched the others move between the wreckage, scavenging as they would. It wasn’t in her to take anything. While the true owners may now be dead, she would rather see the items given to those who needed it more. Assuming it could be, at least. Her gaze travelled across the shore, nobody seemed to have an aggressive stance about them, more focused on the items covered in sand. Her gaze finally rested on the only other woman there.

The squire watched with curiosity as Malia circled one of the crates. This one was strange. She seemed slightly different to all the others. Ryndra couldn’t put her finger on what exactly but there was just something about her that was out of the ordinary. Ryndra was usually right about these things. The last time she had gotten such a feeling, it had saved her life. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that again but danger was unfortunately part of her life now.

Ryndra looked down to the object that seemed to have fascinated Malia. It was unique amongst all the others. It sent chills down her spine in fact. She moved forward attempting to intercept Malia before she touched it.

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” there was no threatening tone in her voice. The Stormwulf’s eyes held concern more than anything. Ryndra’s knowledge of magic was almost nothing but if there was even the slightest possibility that whatever was in that chest could have caused the wreckage then it proved a threat.