Author Topic: Voyage of the Empress (Read 26158 times)

Scrasamax · « **Reply #100 on:** June 16, 2006, 08:17:19 AM »

Abelard eyed Ed closely, his breath reeking of strange spices. "Put into port for strange illnesses? I think no. We are making small detour, and what makes you think we are close to shore?" Abelard asked pointedly. "Maybe you should go back to infirmary and give aspirins and gin to the sick people..."

Ancient Gamer · « **Reply #101 on:** June 16, 2006, 01:29:22 PM »

Ed nodded as the first mate spoke. "Yes, sir!" he replied and then he started escorting the passengers away from the first mate.

So this is what is has come to, eh? A small detour in the Atlantic Ocean and the Captain conveniently indisposed. Whatever for, I wonder? Oh, well, I have seen what Abelard does to sailors who don't listen the first time 'round. I need to get us away from him

Had it been five years ago, Ed could have snapped his fingers and a throng of men would have seized Abelard and put him in chains. Not so today; fortunes change and his was ebbing into nothingness. Still there was something very strange going on here, and Ed did not like it the least.

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #102 on:** June 17, 2006, 01:27:25 AM »

As Ed started shooing them back the way the had came, Ellie sighed slightly. She had been worried that that Abelard wouldn't let them go. Once they had gotten out of the hearing range of the armed crewmen, she said in a low voice. "I might could use a glass of gin, for real, Monsieur." They couldn't talk to the captian, and unless her fellow passengers had an unsuspected fondness for weapons, they couldn't do anything about it. She was starting to get a horrible feeling. Hopefully, it was just smuggling or some such thing, and once they had done what they meant to do, they would go back on course. But she could not forget that the ocean was a big place, and sometimes people... went missing.

Scrasamax · « **Reply #103 on:** June 20, 2006, 11:28:02 AM »

Abelard walked into the captain's quarters, Saisong looked livid with the gag in his mouth. The wall safe was exposed, the trite painting covering it on the floor and broken into pieces. The mongrel glared at the captain, at the swelling that had started to close the man's left eye, the split lip, and the blood that had already dried on his shirt and face.

"I have the map, Chang." Abelard said. "We are already on new course and heading, full speed." The captain didnt try to speak, the strip of fabric cut into his cheeks as it was without trying to force sounds around the cloth. "Give me the combination to the safe." The captain shook his head in denial.

"Is it worth dying for?" Abelard asked, pulled the gun from the waistband of his pants. Saisong was silent, staring at his former second with an intensity that would have blistered paint from steel. "Or do you think that dead you will not be able to open the safe, and you will keep your secret?"

(sorry for the delay ya'll)

Ancient Gamer · « **Reply #104 on:** June 20, 2006, 01:58:23 PM »

The scared passengers had been escorted to the restaurant where they were whispering fervently. Ed stood alone in the crew cabin, his chest now open and his father's revolver in his hand. Slowly he put golden bullet after golden bullet in the chamber. Hopefully there would not be any reason to use the gun, but from the latest experience he wasn't taking any chances. With the safety on he put the revolver into the doctor's bag, then he left the cabin, heading back to the passengers.

Murometz · « **Reply #105 on:** June 20, 2006, 02:15:30 PM »

To say that Henri had a sinking feeling would be like saying the Ocean was quite deep. He was glad however to be out of range of Abelard's pig-like eyes, as he was gently prodded along with the others by this seemingly sensible crewman, Wainright, who had taken it upon himself to get them in front of the captain, and now seemed to be their last line of defense from Abelard and his cronies. As the 'companions-by-necessity' filtered into the restaurant, Henri looked from Ilsa to Brandford. He spoke in a low voice.

"I think it is quite clear by now, that we should have all waited for the Paris-bound Marie Antoinette and boarded her instead." Despite his own fears and concerns, Henri tried to sound light-hearted.

"So what do we do now? Pretend nothing is happening and try our hand at cribbage?"

Scrasamax · « **Reply #106 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:16:42 PM »

Time passed as the new party found themselves with a variety of topics to discuss and very little that they could do about it. In the meantime the ship churned on, though with no more rammings. A little after 6PM, a strange fog was seen on the horizon. It was a menacing cloud that at first seemed like a storm, but laced with absinthian vapors, and a vague yet repellant odor reminiscent of freshly turned earth and wind dried salt.

Mr. Abelard and associates were later seen on the open bridge navigating with an antique astrolabe, though it was not being measured against sun or unseen moon.

Ancient Gamer · « **Reply #107 on:** June 22, 2006, 01:33:50 PM »

"The first mate reeked of strange spices" Ed said as he pondered their predicament. He had noted that several of the on duty sailors walked around dazedly, unsure as to what they were doing and where the ship was going. This seemed so foreboding, like a giant wheel set in motion. A wheel they could not do anything about, but that carried them along against their will. Looking at the passengers he took another swig of beer.

"I smelled the same when we loaded the cargo. There are some spices, some strange herbs... Perhaps they could explain this. I... I visited a relative in an asylum once and that place reeked of such spices..." His voice trailed off as thoughts of his mother came haunting him. Devoid of their fortune, they also lost all social grace and one by one his mother's friends stopped visiting. She had been active in charity and involved in the Senate elections, but suddenly she had become a nobody and her world fell apart. She took their ruin hard and after a while she refused to move from her chair, neither washing nor eating. She began drinking heavily, but unlike the expensive licquor of her past, she now gulped down bottle after bottle of cheap whisky. In the end they called Hawkesby, their doctor of old; a kind man that was favoured by the wealthy, yet he had pity on them and came visiting one last time. Doctor Hawkesby had not been able to help mother, and in the end he had her committed to Lecheuvre Asylum for the Poor. When Ed came visiting she had been like a ghost ranting about hidden enemies that tormented her and did things to her.

The staff even restrained you mother, when you leapt at me and screamed that I must rescue you. But I did not recognize you, and I never visited you again

A sailor shook Ed trying to make contact, but Ed was too deep in thoughts to recognize his words.

"I beg your pardon. What did you say?" Ed had not heard so the young sailor repeated the question. Ed nodded in return and the young sailor then left in a hurry.

Scrasamax · « **Reply #108 on:** June 26, 2006, 12:57:16 PM »

"Thorneapple has reckoned our course, and we are heading into pretty much uncharted waters. Moving way out of the shipping lanes. If the engines give out, who knows when or even if we will be rescued." The sailor said to Ed with a note of worry. "Worse still is you know how tight the boss is with fuel. If we head to far off course there is nothing that says we have enough coal in the bunkers to get anywhere besides Amsterdam. What in the bleeding hell is going on?"

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #109 on:** June 27, 2006, 10:33:24 PM »

Ellie frowned. She was getting increasingly nervous, and the news that they were heading for uncharted waters wasn't comforting. For a fleeting moment, she remembered some of the wild stories her grandmother used to tell her, when her father wasn't around to put a stop to it. "There are things in this world, girl, that can send a sane man mad. Always listen to your instincts, and stay away from the unknown places. Don't go lookin' for more trouble than you've already got." Ellie shook her head. Nonsense. This was probably just something to do with smuggling, opium or something more exotic. Hopefully, if they laid low and didn't come to that horrible Abelard's attention, everything would be all right.

Murometz · « **Reply #110 on:** June 27, 2006, 10:51:09 PM »

Henri saw a chance and wordlessly glided out of the restaurant, returning quickly to door which led to the Captain's Quarters. Henri assumed that Wainright had left with Pig-Eyes and his lackeys, and there was now no one around. Ilsa watched him leave, but Brandford seemed lost in thought, still twirling that unlit cigarette in his thick banker fingers.

Henri neared the door. it was locked. he glanced around nervously. Still no one. Some spark of mischief had revived inside Henri. Whatever was going on he lectured himself, it all must have an explanation. After all, this was not the Seventeenth Century, and this was not the Barbary Coast. Everything would be explained eventually. Could be all kinds of reasons a ship would take a detour. Maybe we're taking on water, Henri thought. I certainly wouldnt want to be in the middle of the ocean if that ws happening. In the meantime, Henri got to the point with himself, chaos reigned and as 'Deadfinger' Ballard always said to him at the Five Points whorehouse, 'When pigeons run amok...is when yaz pick em' off. If yaz rob em' whilst them be feeding, the other pigeons will see yaz.'

Henri withdrew a long dull gray pick from inside his sleeve. One more looksee around, and he went to work on the door. "Open Sesame" he whispered. He had read that in a book. He didnt know what a "sesame" was, but he liked the phrase anyway.

Ancient Gamer · « **Reply #111 on:** June 28, 2006, 06:59:57 AM »

That is it, I am going to get some answers

Ed rose abruptly and left the restaurant, bringing his loaded gun with him. He removed the safety but kept the revolver inside his bag, though still in his hand. Outside an odd mist had formed and he thanked the Lord that he had provided such convenient cover. Cocking his gun he started searching for a lone specimen of Abelard's goons.

[OOC: Tell me how Ed's search goes Scras. Are there any lone goons he can caress with his gun?]

Scrasamax · « **Reply #112 on:** June 28, 2006, 08:35:56 AM »

The pick slid silently into the lock, and it was not quite a simple matter, but Henri was able to nudge each of the tumbler into alignment. With a click the lock opened and he was able to open the door. He was immediantly assaulted by the stench of blood and feces. There was gore scattered across the room, there were even sprays of blood across the ceiling. Saisong sat slumped back in the chair, his throat slashed deep enough that from his vantage point Henri could see the pale gleam of the spinal column. The man had been split open from the bottom of the sternum down, and there was a pile of viscera and organs spread across the room. For a sickening moment, Henri knew that this had been done while he was alive, before Abelard and his goons had slashed the man's throat.

"Alas, alas for the living..." Saisong said in a bloody whisper, his cold dead eyes fixed on Henri...

The wall safe was open, nothing inside...

*****
"Ah, Ed, there you are." One of Abelard's bodyguards said, "I was looking for you, need some stitches you see." The man, a shifty chinese named Han, held up his hand, a deep cut slicing through the meat of his palm and across the base of his thumb.

Ancient Gamer · « **Reply #113 on:** June 28, 2006, 09:05:16 AM »

Ed smiled and nodded to the bodyguard. "Of course Han, I can help you" Ed looked at the wound then his eyes widened and he quickly said "That looks nasty Han, luckily I have access to new medicine. Here, let me inject this to relieve you of pain and stop any infections" Ed looked grim as he pulled forth a hypodermic needle from the bag. After a short moment of preparations he had the hypo filled with morphine. A quick sting in the arm and the small dose had been injected.

Charles Edward stepped away from the chinese and watched as he began swooning. "You have been granted an audience with Morpheus, God of Dreams, my friend. We will meet again soon enough. Give the arrogant bastard my best wishes!" After Han had fallen, Ed began pulling him towards the doctor's cabin. He met a passenger and requested help, telling him that a sailor had taken ill after a nasty cut. The nice passenger gladly obliged, lifting the blubbering Han by his legs, and after the passenger left, Ed bound and gagged Han and put him behind the doctor's desk.

"No one can hear you now, no one can help you" Ed said. It had been so long since he last had any power over others, Ed had forgotten how good it felt. There was a rushing sensation in his body and suddenly he was feeling aroused. "Bloody d**n" he whispered and went to the doorway for a few minutes, waiting for the small dose to wear off.

******************

After having spent a few minutes on the floor, Han came to his senses. Ed pulled the gun from his bag, pointing it between Han's eyes, then he removed the gag. "Scream and it will be the last thing you ever do! Now tell me: Where are we going and what the bloody hell is going on with Abelard and the captain?"

Scrasamax · « **Reply #114 on:** June 28, 2006, 10:46:45 AM »

Still half dazed by the morphine, Han stared at the barrel pointed into his face, it was the lingering effect of the drug that kept him calm, instead of running and screaming as he had the last time a gun had been pointed at him. Han sniffed, wishing he could wipe his nose. "Ugh...treasure...he said there was gold..."

"The Captain knew about it, but he wasnt going to share it with anyone. Abelard wanted all of us loyal crewmen to have a share. We didn't know about you...we don't trust you white people very much...railroads.." he mumbled, probably a reference to the number of chinese who were working out in the American west laying rails and telegraph lines. "Some place called Rill-Yay, a hidden and forgotten place..."

manfred · « **Reply #115 on:** June 28, 2006, 04:01:20 PM »

They have all turned to madness. Another page of his diary was crumpled and thrown away.

The crew of this ship is clearly out of control. The captain is nowhere to be seen, his first mate is running the ship in a clear display of power. The sailors look like drunk or drugged, it seems they will obey any command. When they threatened us, ... Frederic breathed heavily for a while. It has to be written.

When they threatened us, I have withdrawn. Retreated. Escaped.

It was a reasonable choice against the odds, but also a cowardly one. Now they have the ship, and I am only one of many scared passangers, hiding in their cabin, awaiting what happens. But that will stop. It is time to act, not only react.
Another short break, Frederic threw a determined look outside of his small round window. A fog can hide many things.
They cannot simply become pirates of the tales of the past. They cannot sell the ship, without drawing attention to themselves. There must be a reason for their unusual behaviour, a profit for their little greedy souls. Treasures are stories for children, smuggling was always good business on the sea.
He smiled grimly.
And what happens to passangers, that know too much? They accidentally drown on the sea.

Stand, inhale, and move out. It is time to learn a bit more, and stop hiding... well, maybe a bit secrecy will not hurt.

*****

Not finding Henry in his cabin (Where is that man anyway?), Frederic carefully strode across the ship, finding surprisingly little activity. I should see after the doctor... he has a better contact to the crew.

Approaching the cabin, he heard some voices from inside, and slowed down... See how low you have fallen, eavesdropping like a criminal... gold? What naivete. Perhaps black gold, as opium is called by some. Smuggling. I knew it.
A board creaked slightly below his feet.
I sure hope the doctor won't sell us out.

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #116 on:** June 28, 2006, 04:10:39 PM »

Ellie had followed Henri shortly after he'd left, catching up just as he was getting the door open. For a moment she was too horrified to react. Then she turned around, refusing to look at the bloody scene any more. "We have to get out of here, off this boat, away from this place. If we don't, we are going to die." She wasn't bothering with her accent any more, and her voice bordered on quiet hysteria. A piece of paper found it's way into her hands, and she started twisting and untwisting it. She needed something to do with her hands. If she was honest with herself, it was because she was afraid of what she would write if they weren't occupied.

Ancient Gamer · « **Reply #117 on:** June 28, 2006, 04:24:58 PM »

"Oh, Han!" Ed sighed. "Oh, Han. Look where your addiction got you" The doctor put the gag back in Han's mouth and pulled up the chinaman's sleeves. He quickly prepared another dose, a much larger one this time. Noticing the drugged fear in the chinaman, he soothed him "Ssssh, sssh, have no fear. You will survive. But I am afraid Abelard and the Captain will be very disappointed with you"

Ed injected the dose into the vein of the chinaman who quickly fell asleep.

A treasure. These chinamen found themselves a genuine treasure map. I heard about those sunken galleons that sometimes can be found in the Bermuda Triangle. So it is a mutiny then. Abelard captured the Captain so he could get his dirty little hands on the treasure.

For a few mere seconds Charles Edward Dainty Wainwright fell into daydreams of power reclaimed and women fainting at the mention of the fabled treasure hunter, then reality called and he lifted the chinaman onto the patients' bed. Quickly treating the wound he then opened the cabin door, peeking outside. Han's career as a morphinist had come to an end, and Ed sincerely doubted that Saisong or Abelard would appreciate a severe addiction in one of their crewmembers.

d**n, I am good!

[OOC: Okay, it is up to you Scras and manfred to decide what happens now]

Murometz · « **Reply #118 on:** June 29, 2006, 09:45:31 AM »

Henri was a fearful fellow, but he had seen gore before. Growing up next to the butcher shop, Henri had witnessed both pigs and people trussed up on hooks. This scene before him was surreal however. The captain mumbled and stared. The stare was the most unnerving, more so than the blood, stench and viscera. Saisong stared at Henri with the eyes of a destroyed man who was aware of his own doom, but not quite dead.

Ilsa looked disgusted and shaken. Henri gave her a knowing look. It was too late to "run away". Whatever happened from here on out, they were deeply involved now.

Henri quickly scanned the room, as the bile slowly rose in his throat. He could not help noticing the open empty safe. A moment of indecision and finally Henri approached the captain with some trepidation, while taking in every detail of the room at once.

(OCC- roll my "perception" check if there is anything to see or be found)

"I --I --er.." Henri froze in mid-word, as a new horrifying realization dawned on him. The captain wasnt dying...he was already DEAD!

"Ilsa! he's dead...HE'S DEAD BUT HE JUST SPOKE!!" Henri was wild-eyed but frozen in place. He felt a trickle of piss on his leg.

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #119 on:** June 29, 2006, 03:48:42 PM »

Ellie still refused to turn around. "I didn't hear anything. It's probably... just the shock. I think... I think we need to go now. Hush up, or they'll hear you, and then we'll really be in for it." She glanced down at the paper wadded up in her hands. There was something written on it. She'd grabbed a used bit. But it looked unfamiliar. With a feeling of growing fear, she untwisted it and smoothed it out. In fine, delicate handwriting she'd never seen before was written two lines.

Alas, alas for the living
For their time is Nigh.

She dropped the note like it had burned her, and stifled a shriek with difficulty. Violence and blood she could handle. But this worked on her already badly frayed nerves. "W-we need to g-go find the others." For the first time in her life, she felt like she might faint. Her voice trembled, and she absently noticed her hands were shaking. She needed to get out of here.

Murometz · « **Reply #120 on:** June 29, 2006, 10:40:47 PM »

Rommy Ferrell, the cardshark of Water Street, had once told Henri about witnessing a voodoo ritual somewhere among the dark, dank alleyways of Port-au-Prince. Rommy had claimed to have seen with his own eyes, chalk-white zombies, their mouths filled with earthworms, clawing their way through the muck of the graveyard to rise and struggle forward on bent limbs. Henri had laughed at that, telling Rommy something about having too much rum in Haiti and the consequences thereof.

Now years later, standing in the Captain's sanguine burial chamber, having just witnessed a nearly bloodless corpse speak, Henri believed Rommy's story.

These thoughts came involuntarily to Henri, as he proceeded to stare at Saisong. He had calmed down a bit from his initial shock, but barely so. Scrutinizing the corpse and the room once more, Henri turned to Ilsa and nodded.

"Yes, we'll go, let us go", Henri winced at his own stupid words as he heard them spoken. "We shouldnt be seen here!"

He followed Ilsa out the door, but not before swiping the crumbled piece of paper off the floor...Alas, for the-- "Oh merciful gods!", he whispered, and tossed the note again.

Several corridors later, having turned a corner way to quickly, Henri smashed directly into Frederick Brandford, who was seemingly standing, crouching even, next to a familiar door. The graceful Ilsa had deftly avoided the portly banker, but Henri barreled into him full steam. For a moment they were both sprawled on the floor.

Brandford is sensible. He will have some answers. Henri thought as he extended a hand to help Frederick regain his feet.

As they both rose, he glanced to Ilsa, who was not amused by the clumsy crash. She had a peculiar look on her face, as if her fear was coupled with slowly coalescing deductions.

Ria Hawk · « **Reply #121 on:** June 29, 2006, 11:04:50 PM »

As Henri helped Brandford up, Ellie shook her head. She must look a sight, pale and shaking like a scared rabbit. "You don't want to go the way we just came," she said in a low voice. She was trying, unsuccessfully, to not draw some inferences that were forming in her mind. Just little bits of information, bad enough by themselves, were forming a terrifying picture. "I think the both of us need a drink, now, and we should find the doctor. Assuming we can trust him." She paused and frowned. "Did anyone stay with that Vivica woman?"

(OOC: 'Ilsa' has totally dropped her psuedo-European accent, and it's pretty obvious she's a native New Englander.)

Scrasamax · « **Reply #122 on:** June 30, 2006, 08:24:34 AM »

"Have you procured the other instruments?" The shadowy figure asked.

"Chang only had one of them..." The asian said. He placed the strange colored astrolabe on the counter, its lenses hues of green and purple not associated with the normal greens and blues of Earth. "The safe only had money in it..." The shadowy figure struck the man across the face, spliting his bottom lip and bringing up a weal of blood.

The shadowy figure pulled out a brass bowl, in its sides vile things were carved, acts of cannibalism and incest. The figure used a well manicured hand to pour water into the bowl, filling it half way full. "ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" The figure said, pricking a finger to drip a drop of blood into the basin. "Is the Sword on this ship?" The water burbled, the blood turning a hypnotic green. "So it is...but where."

"We've not found a single sword on this ship, we've searched the holds once already..." The asian said. "Besides, you have the wand and the cup, isnt that enough?"

"No, I need all four before I can open the way, before you get your just reward. Search the holds again, and it might be in one of the passenger's cabins...do be a bit more discrete about that search." The figure said.

manfred · « **Reply #123 on:** June 30, 2006, 05:45:06 PM »

During his short life, Frederic has seen human vices, crime and violence, however protected and safe life it was. But this time, he sensed it was different. Truly, he had little imagination and was proud of it. Reason would explain everything. Lately though, it seems as reason itself was him him abandoning.
What is going on with me? Why am I so slow in the last few days? It is as if... as if my mind was clouded.

It was only a split of a second. One moment, you are crouching next to the doctor's cabin, thinking about how to address him, and how he will behave when facing a treasure hunt (obviously a fake) and a mutiny, genuine enough. Then, you just consider the general order of things, as they are now, and look at the annoying fog, that clings to the ship.

And then... then you are overrun by Henry, almost knocked out. You must shake yourself awake.

"What is it, Henry? Why are you throwing me of my feet?" the banker tried to sound cheerful, but keeping the voice quiet made it sound dubiously. It is time to stop pretending they are all just by accident here. Geting up, he made the necessary step towards the doctor. If he was deaf and blind until now, and failed to notice them, now he would.
"Doctor, we really need to have a little drink now. We would be pleased if you join us."

The running duo looked quite shaken, like... scared. He offered his arm and a gentle bow with an encouraging smile to Lady Ilsa, that looked worse; then, a slight nudge with his hand to Henry, as to an old friend that you want not to miss the fun on a social event. There is never a wrong time to be a gentlemen.

Thinking again of what Miss Ilsa said, he added.
"But, we should first make sure Lady Vivica is safe."

Murometz · « **Reply #124 on:** July 07, 2006, 06:39:45 PM »

"Screw Vivica with a ramrod! Lets have that drink!", Henri blurted much louder than he had intended.

"Whatever is wrong with Vivica is going to be wrong with us...real soon...I have a feeling", trying to lower his voice to make up for his outburst, Henri ended up whispering dramatically, which he also had not intended.