Sunfall - Tropical Island Fantasy RP

~1722~

A world of uncharted ocean. Not much of the world has been discovered. A treaty of nations has left many low-paid workers of several countries left completely unemployed. Many of them turned to Piracy. And when you wanted to turn to Piracy, there was no better place to set sail, than the Isles.

The Isles, the largest and most expansive group of islands in the entire world. Bunches of gigantic islands, surrounded by many little mystery ones, some never explored by a living soul. The magical races have long since populated these islands. Humans setting up port towns, Orcs and Elves with their villages. The Avians have their temples, and the Merfolk have long since erected gigantic underwater cities. But there have existed many ancient civilizations of these islands. And there are few men who don't know about the legends of grand treasure and ancient magical artifacts waiting to be uncovered. They also know about the legends of some of the scariest, most dangerous beasts in the world. The stuff of nightmares.

Still, thousands and thousands have flocked to these islands in hopes of reaching their dreams. There is no place in the Isles that is a better testament to that than Caracol. The Isles are known to be divided into 5 main sections, and Caracol is the largest town in the most northern section. The island this large port town was built on is almost completely devoted to the city.

Groups of all races make their claim here, most of all humans, who were the first to start building these huge trading and living zones on the islands. People come here to eat, drink, trade, look for work, or a cheap thrill. Many a man first became pirates in Caracol, and many a man lost all their coin.

Right in the middle plaza of town, where the great Snail Fountain stood, a tall, bespectacled women pushed past a beggar, and once more past a group of children playing marbles. She stood up on top of the fountain, looking out at all the people, smirking.

She put up a giant poster-board for all to see:

LOOKING FOR A CREW?

SIGN-UP HERE

GRAND ADVENTURE, AND GRAND TREASURE FOR ALL

MEETING HERE AT MIDNIGHT

People knew who this woman was. Everyone did. Known for discovering how to open the long-lost tomb of Baron Cole. Infamous for orchestrating the mass worker's revolt against the Isles' Fishing Company. Adventure and Journalist Extraordinare. But no one knew her name. She was only known by one name, Mom, for her dominating, scolding tongue, thick-rimmed black glasses, and womanly, stylish frame.

Whatever this new adventure she had planned, it was guaranteed to be an action-packed thrill ride full of glory for those men and women brave enough to join her.

"Nngh..." A hulking Sharkin plodded up to the fountain and eyed the offer there. He rubbed his huge doxie's head. "Huh, this looks neat..." He swung himself ponderously over to the red light district and reached into his coin pouch, counting his money...

Well, that settled that. He'd have to get some work, then. He patted his dog's head again and jerked his head over at the kids playing marbles. "Go on, Oscar."

The enormous dachsund looked up at his master, wagged his tail, and plopped down next to the kids, presenting his belly expectantly.

"Oh stop bein' such a little baby. Actually wit' the way you actin' that's an insult to babies." Mary commented with some small irritation to the patient squirming on the table.

The man let out a moan. "I just asked for something to make this smaller."

"It's a boil ya daft bastard. If I lance it now It will be gone in a few weeks." She replied sternly. "Now sit back and let me work.

Later

Mary walked through the town plaza on her way to collect more supplies and saw the offer being posted. Hmm...Well isn't that interesting? Might make me enough money to go home, pay off all my debts. Tempting, very tempting.

The doctor walked off to finish her errands. After all she'd need to finish them quickly so she could gather her things and be back by midnight.

Soaring high through the skies above the plaza, Itzpapalotl's hawk-like eyesight made out the sign below and immediately homed in on the word treasure, "I wonder if this captain has a lead on anything I may be able to take back to the temple? May as well sign up," he muttered to himself as he dove towards a mostly clear spot in the plaza somewhat close to a Sharkin who was also eyeing the poster.

A wooden man stood in the plaza, frozen, arms held out wide for children to hang from and birds to perch on if they so wished. Not a statue, as he might seem, for he could move if he so desired. He simply chose not to. So many interesting things revealed themselves to those who simply observed.

Children playing marbles.

Adults playing their own games, but with cards and with coins between them.

The impoverished begging for the very same coins.

Merchants offering other shiny things for the coins.

A woman putting up a sign promising adventure and more shiny things.

He did not need the coins. There was nothing for him to buy. All he needed was the sun.

But adventure? Adventure was a wonderful word. It meant going places he had not gone, seeing things he had not seen. It meant experiencing many new and wonderful things. It meant connecting with things other than the trees and animals. He smiled as he stared at the sign, but he remained frozen. He fell into slumber, still standing, still smiling, his eyes open. Wooden eyes need not blink, after all.

He would sleep here until midnight.

edited 26th Oct '14 5:32:34 PM by kagescorpionakki

"Dismissed!"

A voice sounded from a deserted sandbank nearby the ocean. Two mermen in full orichalcum armor stood at salute, while Glaukon stood between them and saluted as well, startled. The three were saluting at a large merman, the praetor of their regiment. "Yes, sir!" Glaukon stated. The praetor and the two other mermen proceeded to dive back into the water, their legs transforming into fishy tails. Before Glaukon dived in however, he wanted to take a look around. He ran up the bank (running was so strange, how did humans do it for so long?) and ended up on a dock, leading down to a bustling city. A human city! Perhaps he could find some work here while he waited for his next assignment.

He sighed. They always waited the longest to assign Glaukon anything. He was getting rather sick of getting the bottom-of-the-barrel jobs. Oh well. Day in the life of a hoplite. When he reached the center of town, his eyes were drawn to a Sharkin and a bird-man reading a sign in the plaza. He ran up and poked his head out to read the sign.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked, rather suddenly.

"Avian! Mer... person, yeah, hey!" Dio flashed a smile and pointed at the both of them. He looked back and nodded in approval as the children descended on Oscar with glee, then returned to the Avian and Merperson. "Hey, yeah, I see you guys are interested in that job offer too, always great to have new connection." He held out an enormous hand to shake and smiled at the both of them. "Dio Galeo. You guys do mercenary work too?"

On an island very close to Caracol, a certain night stalker waited upon the tree branches, her heart beating to a rhythm her tense, ready body couldn't follow right now. She barely breathed, barely allowed her tongue to moisten her dry lips.

Her keen eyes parted through the darkness, catching the barest of movements... She would need such attention, for once the moment came it would be a measure of instant whenever she was victorious or not. She had come to this island to hunt a particular kind of giant lizard... not a croc but something similar. She had found this spot, near their territory yet not exactly deep on it to lay her trap... a snare with spikes on the bottom, covered by thin branches and foliage to hide... and on top, their favorite meal a sort of giant rodent.

Finally, after much waiting, her keen, long ears caught the sound of a snapping branch, of feet moving slowly and carefully through the jungle ground... even the soft slithering of a tongue tasting the air.

The small huntress smiled, increasing the grip of her hands on her spear and of her feet onto the branch she was crouching on... and the surprised hiss coming from below served as the indication that battle was to begin.

It was a few hours later that Sylfarina sat on the beach of the island, on a little base camp made in improvisation. A few burning coals heated a bit of the meat of the lizard, which she nommed every once in a while as she skinned the beast and searched every for every usable bit. Sharp fangs would be of use in weapons, the skin was nice and resistant... may make a good coat or fetch a neat prize if she wanted to barter for it. All in all a good night... certainly worth the wounds she now treated all around her body. A few scratches would not kill her.

"I am no mercenary, Sharkin. I am a priest on a holy quest from Her Divinity, the Obsidian Butterfly, to recover a relic for the temple. I am considering joining this endeavour to advance along the path my Goddess has laid before me though." replied the priest, "And what of you Sharkin, have you faith in the Goddess to guide you?"

It was noisy. Very noisy indeed as he made his way through the crowd in broad day light. This crowd was disgusting to him, well, just this society in general. Any society really, it was all too loud, too cramped...too many people. The number could have been able to be counted on one hand, and it still would have been too many people. Still...he needed a job, cartography and hunting could only feed two stomachs for so long after all. Hungry and tired, he looked up to see the sign and advertisements. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he signed his name up on the line, she'd have to come in his stead, of course. She would understand, she always did.

He saw something peculiar as he began to leave, a Sharkin and an Avian chatting together, almost peacefully. He stood off to the side, watching them silently, as if examining them.

Taras Ruk moved through the crowd for more gracefully than his bulk would imply. It helped that many took one look at his bulk and moved out of the way. He could not read the human scribblings but all he had to do was listen to the crowd to know what they said.

He had little use for money but if they were going to be delving into ancient artifacts it would be wise to keep an eye on them. The humans had far more greed than sense.

edited 29th Oct '14 7:16:08 AM by tricksterson

Glaukon glanced over at the Sharkin. "I'm a soldier," he explained. "Glaukon of Critias. Hoplite of the 27th Legion. I don't really do mercenary work... at least, I haven't done mercenary work before." He thought for a moment. It would be a good opportunity to explore the surface. And he did have such a curiosity about the surface world...

"Well, that's what that ad's for." Dio said with a point to the board. "Who knows, Glaukon, maybe you'll like it. Pleasure to meet you." He then turned his head to the Avian. "Now, uh, did you see what I did there? Like, he introduced himself by name, and then I addressed him by name. You understand?"

"I am Itzpapalotl, of the Tecpatl clan, born on the 25th day of Coatl under the domain of the Goddess, Dio Galeo. I apologize for any affront I may have caused." the avian priest offered bowing his head towards the massive Sharkin.

Glaukon raised an eyebrow. He'd heard of the Avians and their devotion to their religion. "Well, nice to meet you, Itz... zapa... Itza... Poseidon below, that's hard to say. You have a nickname or something?" Perhaps he shouldn't have said that. Oh well. He shrugged, then looked back at Galeo, shaking his hand. His eyes then went right back to the board. "Y'know, I don't really have much of a use for the pay, but it'd be an interesting experience."