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[center][u][b]Location:
[/b][/u][/center][center][b]North of 2Fort / Tselinoyarsk
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[center][u][b]Mentions:
[/b][/u][/center][center][b][@Eventua] [@DracoLunaris] [@redbaron1234]
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[quote=@Eventua][b]"It was unwise for some of you to come,"[/b] he gestured to the worst of them - the loud-mouthed Elsen in the ridiculous suit, the young Elsen girl, and the cattle rustler - and slowly shook his head side to side, [b]"But I may be able to salvage this opportunity."[/b][/quote]
John gave slight pause at the Batter’s words. His ominous, otherworldly voice had masked his comment as a portent, but Marston also saw it as an unwarranted observation.

[color=a0410d]“Well, like it or not, I’m here now. You’ll have to excuse me, I didn’t realize that having a strange look and a love of crypticism was a requirement of being part of this. I’ll be out of your hair soon.”
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John turned back to the new area ahead. Atop the fallen tree, the cowboy beheld the quiet scene before him. It was unnaturally quiet, fully untouched, and more reminiscent of a passage that Jack may have shared in his many readings than any place the cowboy had ever traversed. The large tree was unlike anything he had ever seen; the closest was that of the great, old oak that sat in the field outside of McFarlane’s ranch, but its dead branches paled in comparison to the palette that the tree before them boasted.

As his eyes moved towards the root of the tree, he noticed some plants that stood out from the grasses that carpeted most of the enclosed area. Marston would need a closer look to see what they were, or if they could even be remotely useful.

As John continued to scan the enclosed area, he noticed the chest, untouched as its surroundings, sitting neatly in the field. A bit of excitement rose in his chest as he saw the chest; memories of finding stashes of old general’s gold amidst desert plateaus, all right under the noses of the Treasure Hunter gangs, rose up in his mind.

[quote=@DracoLunaris][color=#92B3DB]”If you two gentlemen want to go see if the chest and plants might be useful, I’ll stay up here to give you a hand climbing back out again”[/color][/quote]
[color=a0410d]“Sure. Anything for you, Ms. Shen.”
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A hint of sarcasm could be heard, but in reality, he couldn’t blame her for not wanting to jump into what looked like an enclosed arena. John hopped off the tree into the serene area and took a look around. He could overhear Lily transferring command of Julian over to Cedar.

[color=a0410d]“...I’m gonna trust you know what you’re doing, Ms. Shen. Can’t say I trust that thing of yours, much less under command of many of the others out there. And you’ll have to forgive me for asking, seeing as I’ve never assumed control of some giant... walking... death machine, but can that thing really be trusted to stay under the command of that girl?”[/color]

The cowboy eyed the chest again, his thoughts set on what could be stowed away inside the chest. Despite his riled imagination, his excitement was tempered by the state of the chest. It was clearly an old chest, oldest he’s ever seen, and even though it did seem dirtied by the environment around them, it was otherwise in quite a healthy shape. No chest worth plundering didn’t at least have a few dings or scratches from being moved, transported, dropped, or whatever happens to anything containing valuables, much less an antique looking one like this. 

[color=a0410d]“You guys think this chest looks a little strange? I’ve never seen such a perfect looking chest before. Reminds me of some simple roadside traps set up by bandits.”[/color]

He eyed around the enclosed area, hoping to catch any possible ambush points.Marston had seen stranger things in this crazy world, though; hell, he had even seen stranger things in New Austin. He could have been overthinking it. Sometimes a chest is just a chest. And he certainly didn’t want to miss out on what was inside.

[color=a0410d]“Think I’ll start simple and check out some of those plants over there. Might be something filling.”[/color]

After all, he came along with Ms. Shen and Mr. Payne to help identify some plants. The travellers were in a tired way, so it would probably be best to see what could be scrounged. 

John approached the base of the tree and looked over the plants. The improvised herbalist plucked some in his gloved hand, doing his best to identify the specimen. [b][Roll to identify / see what I get][/b]

As John looked over the local fauna, the cowboy looked to Max.

[color=a0410d]“Think you can check out that chest, Mr. Payne? I might just be paranoid on account of the long travel here, but I think you’d still best be careful.”
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