Ancient Ruins

[Solivagus]

Richard frowned at the message he had just recieved from his Masters via Infolink. "Improve your status within this group. Make them need you." Clear, brief and to the point, as always. And as always they left it to him to find a way. He flicked through the records made on his Infolink. He seemed to remember...ah, yes! When he had entered the Keep a strange reptile had approached him with a copy of the rules of the Keep, while also trying to sell him a strange metal object that seemed a cross between a hair dryer and egg whisk. It was supposed to keep hair both dry and curly. Richard had declined, politely. Included within the rules were instructions on how to improve his rank. It hadn't interested him before, but now...Quickly Richard prepared the RRU.

 

***

 

High, high in the air the Remote Reconnissance Unit swept across the landscape surrounding the Pen Keep, obidient to the commands sent by Richard. It noted topological information, interesting mineral samples, strategic vantage points and places for ambush, yet no sign of what he was searching for, an item or artifact that might benifit the people of this strange Keep. He had a feeling that anything of value would gain him acceptance in the eyes of the lizard-creature, and if all the inhabitants were like that...

 

Unfortunatly the RRU had been unable to find any source of power that such an artifact might produce as yet. Streching the aircraft to the outtermost limits of its range, he began to make the final sweep, frustration etched upon his face. The plane left the rolling plains behind and made a pass over a sandy beach before continuing across a broad strip of ocean.

 

As Richard prepared to give up the search and think up another plan he spotted something strange in the corner of the image that was being broadcast to him. It appeared to be a series of islands, relitivly small but still large enough to have registered on the aircrafts scans. The readouts reported traces of some form of element not shown anywhere else within the area he had searched. The elements seemed to be....before the information could be transmitted there was a bright flash of light from the island. It seemed to hit the aircraft, blinding the camera. The readouts that had been being transmitted up until now suddenly ceased.

 

Thoughts ran through Richards mind, a mixture of anticipation, eagerness to start his journey, and curiosity as to just what he would face. The more he thought about it, the more troubled he became. This was a new dimension to the one he was used to, filled with strange creatures and beings with powers he couldn't begin to understand. though there was no question of whether or not he would go, it was possible that he would need help. He wouldn't be able to tell them the true reason for his mission, obviously, the secrecy of his Masters was paramount, but perhaps some from the Keep could be persauded to join him?

 

Pondering the problem, Richard left his rooms and made his way to the courtyard.

 

***

 

A poster later appeared upon the walls aroound the Keep. The poster declared that Richard Caelestis was soon to embark on a voyage to a series of remote islands where he believed an object or objects of rare power might be found. Any volunteers would be welome, and should feel fre to drop by his rooms. He would be leaving in one week.

 

[edited by Gwai (at Solivagus's request) to change the title description now that this is an offical Quill Quest.]

Edited April 15, 2006 by Gwaihir

[Patrick]

Christopher Malcolm, it seemed, was the first to knock on Richard's door. His camera was hanging around his neck, and his notepads and pens were tightly packed in the backpack on his back.

 

"Hello there, I'm Christopher. I'd be interested in joining this voyage of your's so as to document a real treasure hunt!" he said, putting his bag down next to the wall.

[Solivagus]

Richards usual aversion to apparent members of the press took a backseat for this mission. He had had few enough volunteers for the quest and besides, company policy must be expected to adapt when journeying to new worlds. Nodding a greeting to Christopher, he proceeded to gear up, talking over his shoulder as he did so.

 

"As you may or may not know, recent reconissance that I have performed suggests an object of great power stored on islands a fair distance from here. I was unable to determine the exact nature of this artefact, but readings from my remote aircraft suggest that this artefact is guarded my immense power. I have been supplied by my company with an air ship to enable faster travel, along with a crew to pilot it. Currently there are only two of us going, but it is my hope that others will join us later."

 

Christopher looked curiously at Richard. "How are they supposed to do that when we're so far away?"

 

Holding up a strange blue circular device that seemed to be generating a strange, erie glow, Richard explained.

 

" This is a teleportation device. It is linked to my biological enhancements. In theory, people will be able to activate the item by taking hold of it and be transported to my current location."

 

Having geared up, Richard turned and left his quarters, Christopher in tow. On the way he picked up the girl known as Sweet, explaining the quest as he had to Christopher. He detoured to the Great Hall and placed the blue objects on the table along with instructions on thier use. He then made his way to the Courtyard, where the airship awaited them.

[Sweetcherrie]

Sweet was all excited. Never before had she been in a spaceship, and this was a special place as well. They would probably meet dragons and trolls and other scary beasties. Sweet was just trying to seduce her roaming marbles into her suitcase when Daryl sauntered by. The fox slipped in between her legs to look inside the suitcase.

 

“Yes, I’m going on a trip, with beasties and nasties.” Sweet said seriously, and continued packing, “It will be very scary, but there is a biiiig power there, and we need to get it.”

 

Daryl sat back and looked up seriously, yerfing as a marble circled his muzzle, "Are you going into danger, Sweet?"

 

She stuffed her pogo stick onto the side of the suitcase, and neatly arranged her pens in a side pocket. Then she put some clean underwear in with her toys, and an extra pair of socks.

 

Again she nodded seriously, “I think it will be veeeeery dangerous.”

 

Daryl yerfed as he tucked a polishing cloth into the suitcase, the marbles coming to rest on it, then critically looked inside and added a small blanket.

 

With a sigh, Daryl jumped into the suitcase and curled up "Well, I hope you can carry me in here then, because I'm going with you."

 

The little girl blinked, “Would you do that for me? My very own personal foxy protector, yay!”

 

Sweet huggled Daryl, and it was that moment that Richard decided to drop by. Sweet stepped in front of the suitcase and Daryl, and with a hand behind her back she pressed the suitcase closed.

 

“Ready?” Richard asked.

 

She nodded, “Just need to get this suitcase on board, could you help me?”

 

Richard smiled and picked up her suitcase. “Ooff…what have you got in here?”

 

Sweet thought of how much Daryl liked his goodies, and figured that she would have to find something for him once they would be far out into space, once Richard would not be able to send them back anymore.

 

If Richard had listened a bit closer, he might have heard a foxy curse or two as the marbles bapped Daryl on the top of his head and then helpless, muffled giggling as the marbles polished themselves on his soft fur in ticklish spots.

 

Richard neatly put her suitcase in one of the bedrooms, and Sweet managed to click the suitcase open before Richard took her back to the cockpit to explain the mission to her.

 

Daryl popped his head out and then wiggled free of the suitcase, closing it swiftly to trap the marbles before he scuttled under the nearest tablecloth, peering out and waiting for Sweet to return.

[Tamaranis]

Inside the airship, a marvel of engineering, there was virtually no turbulence with lift off. A slight “thrum” that was felt more than heard, then nothing but the sensation of acceleration. It was like being in a perfectly normal building situated on the ground and not in a hurry to get anywhere.

 

Outside the airship. Grazlt was experiencing something the term “turbulence” didn’t do justice to. Because he could fly, it hadn’t seemed cause for alarm when the ship took off without him. He should have worked harder to catch it before it started building up speed, though. It seemed the airship could fly rather faster than Grazlt could.

 

He was caught in the slipstream now, and pumping his wings as hard as possible to stay there. If he lost it now he’d never catch up with the ship again. They were already going much, much faster than he could ever fly entirely under his own power. The air currents were both powerful and chaotic, more than was appropriate for a slipstream, and it was complicating things. There was really no such thing as really being in control anymore. Instead there were brief moments where he stopped tumbling and could make sure he was still struggling in the direction of the airship. A lesser being would have puked at least twice already.

 

He was getting much closer again, but things were worse when he got very close. The ship was sending gusts backward in an attempt to dislodge pursuit. He was pretty sure he could gauge exactly where things got really messy, though.

 

Cool weakness was spreading through his wings. He couldn’t keep up much longer. One last try. One good lunge.

 

Crystal claws found purchase on the ship’s metal hide.

 

***

 

“I just saw something on the side of the ship.” Christopher suddenly commented.

 

“What?” Richard doubled checked the instrumentation in the cockpit. Nothing indicating anything had approached the ship in the air.

 

“On the side of the ship, some kind of imp or something.”

 

Suddenly Sweet pointed at the window across the cockpit from the one Christopher was warily staring out of. “A Beastie!” she happily declared.

 

Beasties and imps definitely didn’t come standard with this model of aircraft. Richard would have liked to be able to just believe that Christopher and Sweet had gotten carried away with the experience of travelling via airship and were imagining things, but it was perfectly possible something in this strange place would have the capability to reach them undetected. They’d only just set out, it might be wise to just return to the courtyard and double check that nothing dangerous was afoot.

 

Just then the beastie in question scrambled across the main view port of the cockpit. It started out at the top and almost made it to the bottom before the wind started pulling it back toward the top. It’s claws fruitlessly cut through glass until it reached a halfway point, where it screeched to a stop.

 

It was five feet tall and mostly humanoid, but was crawling on all fours. It’s body was made of mottled white and grey crystalline material. Both its hands and its prehensile feet were clawed and it was desperately hanging on with all four limbs. It also sported a pair of wings and an ugly, elongated head, like various goblins and trolls are often depicted as possessing. It was upside down at the moment, and flashed the occupants of the craft a grin full of tiny, crystal teeth.

 

It began changing its grip and shifting its position, and managed to perform a half turn so that it was now facing the occupants of the airship right side up. Then it released the glass with one hand, waited to make sure it was still secure, and reached into the many-pouched belt it was wearing, and produced a sheet of parchment which was immediately torn free of its grasp by the wind.

 

It said something totally inaudible that Sweet probably shouldn’t have been allowed to hear anyway and made a hopeless grab for the parchment. It lost it’s grip as it did so and went scrambling out of view once more.

 

((He had one of Richard's posters))

Edited June 4, 2006 by Tamaranis

[Gyrfalcon]

Daryl thumped his tail slowly, his initial excitement fast having turned to boredom. Sweet hadn't come back nearly as quickly as he expected, so he resolved to go find her! Wagging his tail once more in excitement, he quickly trotted to the door to her room, jumping up and hooking his paws around the door handle, letting his weight pull it down and using his back paws to push backwards, letting his weight drag the door inward. With a foxy grin he slipped between the door and the frame, turning around and tugging it closed once more.

 

Giving a satisfied nod, he snuffled and sniffed, finding the smell of Sweet, that of a small girl and of some form of candy mixed together, leading off in one direction. Grinning, he followed the smell, trotting rapidly, keeping close to the wall as he followed her scent towards the bridge of the airship.

 

Daryl finds the open door to the cockpit and peered inside carefully, blinking in surprise as he watches the crystalline gargoyle scrabble at the glass of the main viewport and slowly slide out of sight. Creeping close to Sweet, Daryl pressed against her legs, and Sweet bounced forward just a little, looking over her shoulder. A pleased smile grew on her face as she wrapped her arms around Daryl's neck, huggling him happily as he waved his tail in friendly fashion. "Daryl!?!"

 

Richard blinked in surprise at his vulpine stowaway.