DruSM157

In Search of Gaea: A Seafaring Fantasy Adventure

Marlowe Vallis

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• Windward Island, The Sunken Shepard. Southern Seas •

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The moment the skimpily dressed girl suggested he should join her crew. “Y-you’d really take me on?” His brown eyes seemed to widen into large rounded pools. “Wow-I mean, wow! I won’t let you guys down!” His grin erupted into a large tooth smile, “I know these waters like the back of my hand! And I have my own weapon-“ He pointed at the oddly shaped blade on his back. “Plus, I can swim really fast! And I can hold my breath for longer than six minu-“ The violet haired girls stare finally brought him back to reality. “R-Right. The contract.”

He walked over behind Terhikki to point out specific passages. “See, here it talks about payment. Every diver that takes on the job gets 500 shelma. I know that’s not too great, but see here…” he pointed to other words that she couldn’t read, “This states that you get to take ANY treasure you find on this job. It’s a great deal! Most divers have to give up a share of treasure they find to the contract holder. But because we can’t pay that much, you get all the treasure you can grab!” If there WAS any treasure to find.

“Down here,” he pointed to the lower paragraph, “it’s just stating that if you die, you don’t get payment. So…yeah. Be careful!” He stepped back after explaining the whole contract, and looked at the two. “So…how long have you guys been divers? Have you gotten to explore a lot of ruins? Have you seen one of the six leviathans?!” Marlowe seemed like an excitable child given too many sweets.

In Search of Gaea: A Seafaring Fantasy Adventure

Jesus, one week in and we’re sitting at over 200 posts. Keep up the hard work everyone!

In Search of Gaea: A Seafaring Fantasy Adventure

@Fading Memory

it's all good. I need to get off my butt and grade tests since grades are due tomorrow. Blugh

In Search of Gaea: A Seafaring Fantasy Adventure

Marlowe Vallis

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• Windward Island, Chief’s Estate. Southern Seas •

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Hut

Music

Marlowe remained silent as they approached the Meeting Hut. It was a large, circular hut next to the Chief’s house, where the three lived. The hut was simple, with a large pallet in the far corner for Talu to sit, and places for up to twenty to sit around the room. It was usually for monthly meetings of the tribe; for those to discuss the health of crops, the best fishing spots, and to settle disputes from families. Marlowe and Marea, since they still lived with the Chief, were only permitted to bring things to the meetings, but never allowed to actually sit in or bring their own grievances.

“When you get your own home and start providing for the village, that’s when you get to participate,” Talu’s words echoed in Marlowe’s ears as he walked over to the Chief’s pallet to find a large stack of handwritten papers. Carefully and meticulously worded in the Chief’s own hand, Talu had spent sleepless nights writing them out for any divers who would arrive. One woman had already arrived, and Marlowe wanted to meet her, but Talu had approached her himself, going over the contract.

“Well…” Marlowe muttered, turning to Marea with a mischievous grin. Talu said to get the contracts, so that means he must need someone to give them to the Divers as well, right?” His mind was racing with Marea’s words as well. “This is my chance!” He exclaimed to her. “Maybe I can impress some divers with my knowledge about Gullspire rock, and they’ll want to bring me along on this mission. Then I can prove myself by fighting monsters, overcoming dangers and helping them find incredible lost treasure!” He was now too excited and too far into his fantasy.

He haphazardly stuffed the papers under an arm and dashed past the girl. “Come on! Talu’s probably talking to some of the villagers right now, plus he’s got to get dressed in his goofy outfit! Now’s the time to make our mark!”

Marlowe dashed back into the town, dodging pods of people standing around talking about the merchants and divers, and finally ducked his way into The Sunken Shepard. He started handing out the contracts to some of the strangers, knowing they had to be divers. He finally made his way to the table with two women talking closely, handing one to the girl dressed in…barely anything. He did his best to keep his eyes on the level, his mind constantly reminding him to stay on course. He turned to the violet-haired girl sitting across, nearly handing her a contract. “Wait-“ he stopped. “You’ve already got a contract, right?” Even if he was forbidden to try and hop on board with these divers, he’d still snuck around the tavern and scoped out anyone new for the past few days.

In Search of Gaea: A Seafaring Fantasy Adventure

... I am not sure what I just walked into the OOC chat to, but it's definitely a thing, I can tell you that much

@AGenericUser

It's okay, I'm the darn GM and I barely know what's going on in the OOC.

In Search of Gaea: A Seafaring Fantasy Adventure

Marlowe Vallis

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• Windward Island, Port. Southern Seas •

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“Do you really think they'll be able to fix it, though? I don't think any of these Divers come from the area, so they won't know what all to look out for, especially with their thoughts occupied by treasure.”

Marea’s words struck true to Marlowe, as they usually did. She was terse but to the point and that was something Marlowe needed in his life. She was a grounding force that he didn’t have when it was just him and Chief Talu. Still, it was hard to truly gauge her feelings—beyond what she explicitly stated. Marlowe did not believe that any one person could truly be so calm and neutral always. The irony was lost to him, of course.

“It’s Chief Talu’s request, though. He won’t let anyone from the village sail out to Gullspire in a skiff.” Not that anyone besides Marlowe had requested to sail into the storm. He’d called it suicidal. Marlowe simply thought it would be dangerous. He never expected to die from such an endeavor.

“For good reason as well. ” The stern chilly voice was deep and well-known to everyone in the village. Chief Talu stood behind Marlowe and Marea, his arms crossed. “Marlowe, I thought I told you earlier to get the contracts from the meeting hut and to bring them to the tavern.” Even though Marlowe was fully grown, Talu still stood a head taller than the young man, his skin dark tan and his hair neatly shaven. He was not wearing his ceremonial garb; there would be time for that later; for now, he simply dressed nicer than most of the fishermen. “Marea, thank you for delivering the food.” He smiled at the girl, and turned to walk towards the tavern. “You should strive to learn from her, Marlowe. Marea works hard and is well respected. She’s like your mother.”

Marlowe sighed, kneeling to let Mala down, and started walking towards the meeting hut, his attitude now sullen. Whatever excitement that was building in his chest was now deflated by Talu’s words.

In Search of Gaea: A Seafaring Fantasy Adventure

wh-what

In Search of Gaea: A Seafaring Fantasy Adventure

I'm fairly sure Marlowe won't do any slapping, but may be kicked, slapped, or fussed at before adventure's end

In Search of Gaea: A Seafaring Fantasy Adventure

<Snipped quote by DruSM157>

just a little. A teeny tiny amount. just a smidge.

@Fading Memory

What's a real adventure without a huge undersea monster trying to swallow your ship whole?

In Search of Gaea: A Seafaring Fantasy Adventure

Speaking of Leviathans.

Are we talking giant water dragon of biblical proportions.

or..

comically sized whale.

Not saying I have a preference, but one is clearly funnier than the other.

[my actual assumption is that they are all different to some capacity from one another]

@Fading Memory

Leviathans are just the titles given to these huge monsters that live in 6 of the 7 seas. There are 6 known leviathans and they have existed as long as the seas have been recorded. Each one is a different creature. One, for example, is a squid the size of a small mountain. One is similar to a Megalodon. These are creatures that can destroy entire fleets of ships easily, but they have very specific nests in the ocean that sailors know to avoid.

This journey to find Gaea might force us to go into those dangerous waters. After all, those who truly want to find this place need to be a little suicidal in their drive.