(157) Demiurge: Anyway, GM insecurity time: (hehe) Any comment on the game so far?
(156) Imhotep: It's been fun, I like figuring out mysterious bits.
(159) Sarpedon: I have my theories. Waiting to see if they turn out to be true. :) Had he known Lauga (or whatever) was so fine, Sarpedon would have treated her a little better.
(157) Demiurge: I chalk that up to everyone being scared the first day and dealing with it their own way. Loghu didn't want to be alone. Sarpedon was being the super practical and efficient guy. :)
** (156) Imhotep was being his slightly arrogant self. **
(157) Demiurge: I am still trying to imagine the boat you made. What is a good description of it?
(159) Sarpedon: Hmm, I think I have an idea. Let me get on the web.
(156) Imhotep: About 30 feet long, 20 feet wide, no real shelter on it, walled sides, extra timbers underneath for floatation... Not much more than a floating open box.
(157) Demiurge: Anything for drainage? Like when it rains?
(156) Imhotep: Hopefully, we've improvised a bucket.
(157) Demiurge: Yeah, buckets are easy to make with some of the larger bamboo plants.
(159) Sarpedon: http://drervin.com/DSCN3143.JPG Try that.
(156) Imhotep: A mast in the middle, with a sail made of many fantail leaves, with the fantail bits woven together.
(156) Imhotep: Yep, similar to that, but boxier.
(157) Demiurge: Darn it. I can't get it to show.
(157) Demiurge: Wait. Got it.
(157) Demiurge: Ah, well that is a little better than I was picturing. :)
(156) Imhotep: Yeah, mine's not quite that nice, having been put together quickly.
(159) Sarpedon: Traditional Egyptian boat. You could weave them out of reeds--seriously.
(157) Demiurge: And by unskilled labor. :)
(156) Imhotep: A LOT of weeds...
(157) Demiurge: Well there is a lot of tall grass on the Riverworld, but luckily you have strong wood as well.
(157) Demiurge: Anyway, we can start off the night before the big launch. :)
(156) Imhotep: (Launching the boat, you mean?)
(157) Demiurge: Sure. Sound okay?
(156) Imhotep: (Yep, good with me!)
(157) Demiurge: We starting?
(159) Sarpedon: (Ready when you are.)
** (159) Sarpedon stands ready. **
(157) Demiurge: ------------------------
(157) Demiurge: Okay, the crew has been saving the alcohol from their grails and are having a bit of a bash before shipping off.
(159) Sarpedon: (Egyptian thick beer. Yum.)
** (157) Loghu is playing the crew's favorite game, which is to say something embarrassingly direct to make Alice turn beet red like the somewhat uptight Victorian woman she is. **
(159) Sarpedon: (Lol.)
(157) Loghu: In this case, Loghu's grail gave her some mayonnaise, and she keeps waving it in Alice's face, saying, "Does this look like come to you? I think it looks like come."
** (156) Imhotep finds quiet amusement in Loghu's behavior. **
(157) Demiurge: So did you decide on a name for the ship? I forget.
(156) Imhotep: Spear, scratched onto the hull in Hieroglyphs, and below that in Greek.
(157) Demiurge: So it's called The Spear?
(156) Imhotep: Yep.
** (157) Martin Bixby scratches an english version of it underneath. **
** (156) Imhotep tried for Spear of Amun but the others might not have liked that. **
(157) Alice: "So, just to make it official. Who shall be the captain of this vessel?"
** (159) Sarpedon still wants to know what Kazz wrote on the hull earlier. That particular mystery puzzles him more than their strange surroundings (which he believes is just part of the afterlife). **
(157) Demiurge: (Well, Kazz's english and yours is improving, so you could ask him again soon.)
(156) Imhotep: "I have chosen Sarpedon as the captain of this vessel."
(159) Sarpedon: "Does it need a captain? It is only going up a river."
(157) Alice: "Well, if we should meet people, or heaven forbid, get into a fight, we need someone to represent the ship, or give orders."
** (159) Sarpedon bows his head at the honor. "Very well, but I am better suited to leading warriors." **
(156) Imhotep: "Then the rowing will strengthen them, and warriors they will be."
(157) Alice: "Well, I suppose you have trained us for that as well."
(159) Sarpedon: "Then I shall do so, Alice. Have you practiced?" He arches his brow at the Englishwoman.
** (157) Alice looks affronted. "Of course I have, sir. I would never be one to shirk my duties." **
(157) Demiurge: Everyone's hair is starting to grow in. Alice is dark-haired. Loghu is blonde. Gwenefra has light brown hair. Martin, Bill and Kazz are various shades of brown.
(159) Sarpedon: "Good. We'll need strong arms."
(156) Imhotep: "Is there one here who shapes metal?"
** (159) Sarpedon has jet black hair. He wishes he could grow a beard. **
** (157) Gwenefra sneaks up and sits next to Imhotep. "I have something to show you. Something we can take with us." **
(156) Imhotep: "What is that, child?"
(157) Gwenefra: "I don't want to say in front of people. I have it in the hut.
(156) Imhotep: "Very well, I shall return to the boat in a moment."
** (156) Imhotep follows Gwenefra to the hut. **
** (157) Gwenefra scampers off to the hut area. **
(156) Imhotep: "Now child, what have you to bring?"
(157) Gwenefra: "I kept the free grail. People have been asking about it, but I kept it hidden, because I thought we could take it with us."
(156) Imhotep: "The free grail?"
** (159) Sarpedon stares at Imhotep as he follows the child. He goes back to attending to the boat's steering paddle, making sure it is lashed to the side properly. **
(157) Gwenefra: "The one we found in the grailstone that showed us what to do. The one anyone can use."
(156) Imhotep: "That is wise, perhaps we will need it."
(157) Demiurge: (It occurs to you that in a world where little can be considered property, that would be considered valuable.)
(157) Gwenefra: "Cool beans!" (A phrase she picked up from Bill.) "We can sneak it on board before dawn. I have it wrapped in some kilt-cloths."
(156) Imhotep: "I leave you in charge of it, then. Keep it hidden, and tell no one but myself and Sarpedon about its whereabouts."
** (159) Sarpedon sets about thinking of how to manage this unlikely bunch of misfits. **
** (157) Gwenefra smiles, proud of herself. **
(157) Gwenefra: "I'm going to see if there is any more booze!" She runs back to the party area.
** (156) Imhotep returns to the boat, looking it over for possible leaky areas. **
(157) Demiurge: The boat looks solid.
** (156) Imhotep smiles at the crude boat. **
** (157) Loghu is sitting with Martin, and they are both drunk. She calls to Imhotep, "Saluton, Sinjoro Imhotep!" and laughs. **
** (156) Imhotep has no idea what Loghu has said. **
(159) Sarpedon: If Sarpedon knew Esperanto, he would.
(159) Sarpedon: Instead, he sits in the stern thinking about the futility of the siege of Troy and his death there.
(157) Demiurge: Some of the people are running around in the distance, probably having taken the dreamgum.
** (156) Imhotep walks over to Sarpedon. "She is a good ship. Good enough." **
(159) Sarpedon: "Agreed. It shall take us far enough. Why do you wish to go upstream? Downstream would take less time and effort? You seem to have some end in mind."
** (156) Imhotep looks around, to see if anyone is listening. **
(156) Imhotep: "Yes, I have an end in mind."
(156) Imhotep: "Perhaps it is wisest to discuss that later."
(159) Sarpedon: "As you wish, but tell me before we go far. I would like time to prepare, if need be."
(156) Imhotep: "I will tell you. Do you wish to know why you are captain?"
(159) Sarpedon: "The man who came last. He said he was killed by savages, then reborn. There are dangers ahead, though not permanent ones."
(156) Imhotep: "That is part of it."
(159) Sarpedon: "Beyond the fact that I am king of Lycea and a leader of men in battle?" Sarpedon smiles.
(159) Sarpedon: "Was king."
(156) Imhotep: "A King, now you have touched the heart of it."
** (159) Sarpedon 's face clouds over. **
(159) Sarpedon: "The gods are fickle and so I am here."
(156) Imhotep: "I was chief architect to Pharoah Djosser. The Pharoah is not a man, but a god born in a man's body."
(156) Imhotep: "There is an air that such a one carries. You carry yourself like a god. I would have known you were a king, a pharoah, or a general just from seeing you walk."
(156) Imhotep: "That is why you are captain. It is not a kingdom, but it is a start."
(159) Sarpedon: "I am a son of Zeus, so only half-immortal. Little good it has done me, eh? Slain in battle by another half-immortal and sent here. As I said, gods are fickle. Perhaps we can make something of this place. Is that your idea, builder?"
(156) Imhotep: "It is my wish to see what the river holds. The journey will tell me. Perhaps other people have been here longer, built more."
** (159) Sarpedon looks around. "Perhaps, but from what we have seen, I have doubts." **
(159) Sarpedon: "There is no metal aside from these jars we have. It is difficult to make anything grand and lasting without metal."
** (156) Imhotep scratches his head. "If there is one who shapes metal, perhaps they have a decent knife." **
(159) Sarpedon: "I have some skill at that."
(159) Sarpedon: "Mostly to repair arms and armor. It is a necessary skill in my life."
(156) Imhotep: "First, we must find some metal then. Have you skill to find metal?"
(159) Sarpedon: "Some. I know what stone carries copper and what stone carries tin. Should we find that, I can make bronze."
(156) Imhotep: "We will look for such rocks, then."
(156) Imhotep: "We should celebrate with those who will row for us tomorrow."
(157) Demiurge: You notice that the laughter at the fire has died down some. The atmosphere seems a little more solemn.
** (156) Imhotep drinks deeply from his beer in full view of the crew. **
(159) Sarpedon: "You are right, but I do not drink heavily before such a venture. They will regret this tomorrow when they pull on their oars. Hah! Let us join the revelry."
** (159) Sarpedon leaves the boat and drinks his Macedonian wine. **
(157) Bill: "Hey guys. Alice decided to be a buzz kill and started wondering why we're all here."
(159) Sarpedon: "We all wonder that."
(156) Imhotep: "And did she propose answers to the question?"
** (157) Alice huffs. "I merely conjectured that this world may be a form of purgatory, and we were placed here to repent for our sins, before moving on to our reward." **
(157) Alice: "I'm sorry if that makes me a 'buzz kill', but I think the question has been on all our minds."
(157) Alice: "All right. Let's talk about something else. What have you done in your life that was noteworthy?"
(156) Imhotep: "Sometimes we wonder at what the gods have done to us."
(159) Sarpedon: "This is the underworld, the realm of Hades, the Elysian Fields where the dead dwell forever. At least that is what I was taught. I was a king of a strong and noble people. We fought our enemies and tneded our flocks and vines. I am a son of Zeus. To my folly, I went to the aid of Priam, king of Ilium, and there died upon the spear of Patroclus, fellow of Achilles and Agamemnon, cursed Greek invaders."
(157) Bill: "Not much. I worked some jobs, made some friends. I was about 70 when the big rock hit the planet, so I can't complain too much."
(159) Sarpedon: "All for a woman who was nothing but a toy between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. What a waste of men who were more noble than gods."
** (157) Loghu nods at Bill. "I understand. I was nothing more than an ornament for a fat merchant. I am looking forward to my new life." **
(156) Imhotep: "I designed and caused to be built the finest memorial that was ever produced, the tomb of Pharoah Djosser. When he dies, his body will occupy that tomb, and he will ascend to godhood, as is his destiny. It is my fate, to have been born a mortal, to come here to the underworld, and seek the blessing of Osiris."
(157) Gwenefra: "I never got a chance to do anything."
(157) Kazz: "I slew the cat with the long white teeth. It is how I got my name."
(157) Alice: "I achieved a small measure of fame in my time, though not for anything that I did."
(157) Alice: "When I was a child, I had very vivid and fanciful dreams. A family friend, a Reverend Dodgson, wrote them into tales that he published for children. The stories became quite famous."
(157) Bill: "Wait. Alice, what is your full name?"
(157) Alice: "Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves."
(156) Imhotep: (Alice Pleasance Liddel?)
(156) Imhotep: (Ha!)
(157) Bill: "Wow. You're Alice Alice? Cool."
** (159) Sarpedon stares blankly at Alice's accomplishment. He finds Kazz and Imhotep to be the most worldly and practical of the bunch, even if some of the others come from the "future." **
(157) Demiurge: Anyway, you all have a good time at the party, and then try and get some sleep.
(156) Imhotep: "I paid the priests of the temple a large sum of money for the spells that would send me to the presence of Osiris, so that I may speak of my works to him directly. I can see that my money was wasted on them and their jealous natures."
** (156) Imhotep decides to sleep lightly. **
(157) Bill: "Well, you may be happy to know, Imhotep, that your pyramid lasted until the end of the world."
** (156) Imhotep takes comfort in that. **
(157) Demiurge: That night, when the storms come, Imhotep receives another visit from his cloaked and hooded friend.
** (159) Sarpedon takes no comfort in the fact that no one seems to recall his name. Still, no one seemed to recall the names of his enemies, either. **
(157) Mysterious Stranger: "Imhotep. Wake up."
(156) Imhotep: "I am awake. What is your bidding?"
(157) Mysterious Stranger: "I am here to give you some parting words. I will not be able to contact you for some time. It is risky."
(157) Mysterious Stranger: "You have a long journey ahead. The River is... millions of miles long. I am considering ways to speed your journey, but for now, you are on your own."
(156) Imhotep: "I will do my best. We have strong oarsmen, and a sail when the winds are awake."
(157) Mysterious Stranger: "The ones who rule this world are unworthy. I would see the rule of this world placed in the hands of the Valleydwellers. I have contacted perhaps a dozen or so people who I believe can succeed."
(156) Imhotep: "You have told me Osiris does not rule this world, I will help to restore him."
(157) Mysterious Stranger: A smile creeps into his voice. "Of course, in a world of 36,600,900,637 people, a dozen or so isn't many. There is only a small chance of success. But it's a chance I am willing to take."
(159) Sarpedon: (We don't have any concept of "millions." Thousands of thousands, maybe.)
(157) Mysterious Stranger: "Your comrade, Sarpedon. Is he trustworthy?"
(156) Imhotep: "He carries himself like a Pharoah. A man who is not trustworthy is seldom Pharoah for long."
** (157) Mysterious Stranger seems to nod. "You may take him into your confidence. But in private. The rulers of this world have agents among the population." **
(156) Imhotep: "I will do so."
(157) Mysterious Stranger: "I would see the world run by the humans, neanderthals and titanthrops who dwell here. Not by strangers, distant and arrogant. I believe I have chosen wisely. Farewell."
(156) Imhotep: "Farewell..."
(157) Mysterious Stranger: (He leaves.)
** (159) Sarpedon dreams of the storm above as a manifestation of his father, Zeus. **
(157) Demiurge: The next morning, the grailstone noisily provide breakfast, as always.
(159) Sarpedon: His dream is not pleasant--he is judged and found wanting.
(157) Demiurge: (As a curiousity, what would be a normal breakfast for each of you, from your time and place.)
(156) Imhotep: (Flatbread and goat cheese, with dates after.)
(159) Sarpedon: (Hmm, bread, figs, boiled oats, oranges (in season), maybe some goat's milk.)
(157) Demiurge: (Well, that is what you normally get. There are some variations, but it is always excellent, and plentiful.)
(156) Imhotep: "Come, let us launch the boat and be off."
(157) Alice: "It's a shame we don't have a bottle of champagne."
(157) Demiurge: The various british, egyptians, and others, have arrived to cheer you off.
(159) Sarpedon: "At least with glass we would have better tools to cut and shape," mutters Sarpedon as he puts his shoulder to the keel of the boat. "Push!"
(157) Demiurge: The boat shows a little resistance, then slides easily into the water.
** (156) Imhotep follows the boat into the water, carrying his grail and his fish spear. **
** (156) Imhotep climbs aboard the Spear and motions for the rest to follow. **
(157) Demiurge: Everyone gets aboard.
** (156) Imhotep officially defers to Sarpedon once aboard. "The ship is yours, captain." **
** (159) Sarpedon clambers aboard with his collection of spears. He moves to the steering oar and readies himself. "Take your positions. We seek new horizons! Farewell, fellow exiles." **
(159) Sarpedon: "Imhotep, you are our navigator. Set our course."
** (156) Imhotep smiles and points upriver. **
(157) Demiurge: The first day is mostly final training to those who have never sailed before. They have all been trained, but have no experience. :)
(156) Imhotep: "Oars in the shallow water, sails in the deep."
(159) Sarpedon: "We go upriver. Man your oars. Steady. We have a long day and we will all row in turn should the wind fail us."
** (159) Sarpedon steers them out into the middle of the river heading upstream. **
(157) Demiurge: (Just so you know. The part of the River you awakened on is a little atypical. The map above shows what most of the River is like. A mile across, in the middle of a ten-mile wide valley.)
** (156) Imhotep observes the boat carefully, looking for leaks or possible improvements. **
(157) Demiurge: (It seems to be pretty solid for now. Though maybe you could make a sort of canopy for the night rains.
(157) Demiurge: (As it stands, you will get rained on once a night.)
** (156) Imhotep thinks about that, and possibly using the sail. **
(157) Demiurge: (Of course, you can set a watch and a small crew to continue sailing at night, when the rest are sleeping.)
(159) Sarpedon: (It'll save us bailing it out every morning.)
(159) Sarpedon: "We'll have to charge the jars before nightfall. No one wants to sail hungry."
(157) Bill: "I don't know ship design, but can we poke some drainage holes in the side of the deck or something?"
(156) Imhotep: "Only if we poke them above the water line, and have something to plug them up with."
(157) Demiurge: (Interestingly, anyone who had motion sickness in life doesn't have it anymore.)
(157) Demiurge: Anyway, you make minor modifications to the ship as you go. You travel upriver and life settles into a routine.
(157) Demiurge: Sometimes, in friendly areas, you schedule a day or two of "shore leave" as Bill calls it.
** (156) Imhotep tells Sarpedon quietly one night about the Pharoah in the night, and about Osiris not being the rightful ruler of this place. **
(157) Demiurge: (You probably talk during a shore leave, when you can wander off and have privacy.)
(156) Imhotep: (Yep.)
(157) Demiurge: (Do you ever ask Kazz about the forehead symbols?)
(156) Imhotep: (Yep, next on the list.)
(157) Demiurge: (As the months pass, you notice something happening in a couple of places.)
(157) Demiurge: (Basically, it's called grail slavery. Man gets a bunch of thugs and seizes power. Local population is locked up. Their grails are charged, and the people are forced to open them. They are given enough food to live, and the luxuries and spare food are used to make the people in power fat and happy.)
(159) Sarpedon: (Sarpedon has wondered, but only asked Imhotep. That's next.)
(156) Imhotep: "This is the way of power."
(157) Demiurge: (You can't help but feel that the people in charge of these places are not true pharoahs or kings, just greedy opportunists.)
(157) Demiurge: (In Egypt, you had slavery, but usually for a grand purpose. Not to make some power-grubbing would-be phaorah fat.)
(159) Sarpedon: "Undeserving louts. The people should rise up and overthrow these puppet masters."
(156) Imhotep: "It is not wise to keep your own people enslaved."
(159) Sarpedon: "You'll last for a while, but die at their hands. I have seen it before."
(157) Demiurge: (Some of them escape using the Suicide Express. But there is a difference between talking about suicide, and actually being able to do it. The survival instincts are strong, even if you know death isn't permanent.)
(157) Demiurge: (You heard of one place that controlled the slaves by chopping their feet off. But that was a continual process, as the feet grew back after a month or two.)
(157) Demiurge: (By the way, everyone has the Regrowth advantage. FWI.)
(159) Sarpedon: "There is a way to make a great kingdom if we had enough warriors and luck. Overthrow them, free the prisoners, train the willing, arm them, and repeat. Soon you would have a kingdom of willing people."
(156) Imhotep: "You are a leader of men, Sarpedon. Such a kingdom could serve our purpose well. Shall we do this thing?"
(157) Demiurge: (Sounds good. But a kingdom like that is not very mobile. You might be able to build a larger, more combat worthy vessel using freed slaves as workers. Then you would have a crew of loyal warriors.)
(156) Imhotep: "Come then, I have a plan, Sarpedon."
** (157) Alice smiles at the idea of a larger ship. "Perhaps, the senior crew, meaning us, could have our own staterooms." **
(156) Imhotep: "A small luxury we can afford, but I will not become like the savages we have seen. Nor will I let others degenerate so."
(157) Alice: "Of course not. I was not suggesting we stoop to their barbaric level."
(156) Imhotep: "Then let us see how well you have learned the spear."
(157) Demiurge: (You notice Alice carries herself with a sort of elegance and grace that suggests a sort of nobility. When pointed out, she laughs and says that she was no aristocrat, but her family was fairly well-to-do.)
** (156) Imhotep inventories the spears and other weapons aboard. **
(157) Demiurge: (When tested, Alice does well at the spear, but you wonder how she would do in actual combat.)
(156) Imhotep: "This is what we will do, when the rains come tonight, we will capture the savage leaders, and hand their possessions over to the ones enslaved."
** (159) Sarpedon reminds them that they cannot really die. When that fear is removed, combat becomes less fearsome. **
(156) Imhotep: "There is something in a man which fears a sharpened blade pointed at him."
(157) Demiurge: (Well, I pointed out that you have seen a few of these states. But you will doubtless find one further up the River. You usually hear about them from the local gossip.)
(159) Sarpedon: "I said less fearsome, not free of fear. If you think that will gain us an advantage, I would like to see the unworthy removed from their perches."
(157) Demiurge: (You find that there is usually a 20th or 21st century person in each group. Not always with english language abilities, but often enough to get local gossip.)
(159) Sarpedon: "And a second or third boat with trained crews would be very useful. Food is not a concern, as was the case when we were alive."
(156) Imhotep: "This is so. The grails of the would-be overlords must be captured, however."
(157) Demiurge: (Odd fact. Most of the people died before 2015. Ones who lived up to 2041, like Bill are rare. You think you maybe met one person from after 2015. Bill thinks this is odd.)
(156) Imhotep: "That is the thing which will cause fear, something they hold dear."
(159) Sarpedon: When there is a quiet moment, Sarpedon asks Kazz how he killed the cat with long teeth. After that, he tries to learn how Kazz saw the runes and no one else did.
(157) Demiurge: (Bear in mind, that each grail can only be opened by it's owner. That's why the slaves are kept alive.
(159) Sarpedon: (Forgot that part.)
(157) Demiurge: (That's why the freebie grails are so valuable.)
(159) Sarpedon: (Heh, you can still chuck their grails into the river. "You want to eat, dildo? Go get it.")
(157) Demiurge: (A person's grail is their most important possession. Lose it, and you are S.O.L. People tend to be a little paranoid about them, and not like to let them out of sight.)
(156) Imhotep: "That is the fear to exploit."
(157) Demiurge: (The only way to get a new grail is the Suicide Express. Then you wake up with one strapped to your wrist, and a pile of kilt-cloths next to you.)
** (159) Sarpedon straps his to his left forearm like a shield. He uses a brassiere as a bungee cord. It looks silly, but it'll probably stop a cut. **
(157) Demiurge: (Well, bear in mind that it's 2 feet by 1 foot. You could use it as a simple chair.)
(157) Demiurge: (They are feather-light, but as far as you've been able to determine, they are indestructable.)
(159) Sarpedon: (Again, sounds like it would make a great shield.
(159) Sarpedon: We continue upriver.
(157) Demiurge: (Fair enough. But be warned, it's fairly clunky.)
(157) Demiurge: (Do you want to have that converation with Kazz? Or do you want to wait till next week?)
(159) Sarpedon: (Do we notice any patterns in the people present? Anyone from certain countries, regions, ethnicities, etc.?)
** (159) Sarpedon talks to Kazz, making sure Imhotep is within earshot. **
(156) Imhotep: (Let's talk to Kazz first, then break till next week.)
(159) Sarpedon: (This one's been nagging at me since we began playing!)
(157) Demiurge: (Not really. There are clusters from one set of groups for a stretch. Then it changes to another grouping. The people on opposite sides of the river seem to always be from different times and places.)
(157) Demiurge: Okay, during a shore leave, you talk to Kazz.
(157) Demiurge: (What do you ask?)
(157) Demiurge: (Kazz is growing a lot of hair, all over his body. Except for his face. It's a little odd-looking.)
(159) Sarpedon: "Kazz, how did you kill the long-toothed cat? I have hunted lions and know how dangerous they can be. Also, you seem to see symbols. Can you teach me?"
** (156) Imhotep looks interested. **
(157) Demiurge: "I was lucky. The cat was attacking the tribe. I was coming back from a hunt, and got it from behind when it was distracted with some other people. I was young, and still learning, but they all respected me after that."
(159) Sarpedon: "Do your people all look as you do. You have ... longer hair than most men."
(159) Sarpedon: (That first sentence should have a ?)
(157) Kazz: "And I don't know why I can see them. On a shore leave, I met another Neanderthal. We couldn't speak well, since he was from a faraway tribe, but I learned that he could see them too."
(157) Kazz: "At first, I thought everyone could see them. I was trying to get you to draw mine."
(157) Kazz: "I was curious to see what they looked like. Still am."
(159) Sarpedon: "Then I know you will do well with a spear. You see these symbols? What are they? Do you know?"
(157) Kazz: "No. They are hard to see, even for me. Only in good light."
(159) Sarpedon: "Next time we stop and you see one of your people, call for Imhotep and me. This is the work of the gods, surely. Perhaps it holds a clue to this realm."
** (157) Kazz smiles. "At first, I thought Bill didn't have them. I pointed that out to him, and he got a little freaked. I didn't know he didn't know about the symbols. But then I saw him a few days later, in better light, and he had them." **
(156) Imhotep: "That is possible. I would like to know what these things mean."
(159) Sarpedon: (Thanks. I have a feeling about them. Anyone into Wayne Barlowe's Inferno?)
(157) Kazz: (Never heard of it.)
(159) Sarpedon: (Barlowe's an artist. He did some illustrations for Dante's Inferno. They're CREEPY.)
(157) Kazz: (I think I know them now.)
(159) Sarpedon: "Perhaps you could write these symbols down for us. Perhaps there is an answer in them that we do not yet perceive."
(157) Kazz: (Maybe, if we can find something to write on. There isn't much sand. And we don't want to mark up the boat too much.)
(157) Kazz: (That should have been in quotes.)
(156) Imhotep: "Surely, there is some reed, like papyrus."
(157) Demiurge: (You don't any readily available writing materials.)
(159) Sarpedon: (http://www.artsforge.com/agallery/barlowe3.html)
** (156) Imhotep keeps a sharp eye out for papyrus-like reeds. **
(159) Sarpedon: "Soot mixed with water for ink. If we had--the kilts! Write on some of the kilts."
(157) Demiurge: (Ooh! Good idea!)
(156) Imhotep: "That is a good idea, Sarpedon. We will use some of the kilts."
** (157) Kazz writes down some of the symbols. They seem to be pretty meaningless, unfortunately. You don't know if they represent letters or numbers or somethine else.. **
(156) Imhotep: "We will keep them for now, perhaps we will see something similar."
(159) Sarpedon: "My thought. Perhaps they are a language known to someone."
(157) Demiurge: (By the way, if you want to add it to your character sheets, you guys all have, free, Immunity to Sickness, Very Rapid Healing, Regrowth, and Unaging.)
(157) Demiurge: (Also, you will have to keep the kilts out of the rain. They don't hold your ink well, and will wash clean very easily.)
(159) Sarpedon: "Perhaps they are our names. Such things have great power. Even the gods revere names."
(157) Demiurge: "I was talking to Bill. He was telling me about agriculture and stuff. He said that they put brands on cattle to show ownership."
(157) Demiurge: (That was Kazz.)
(156) Imhotep: "Have you seen two symbols that are the same on different people?"
** (157) Kazz shakes his head. "No. But I haven't seen that many people. I have to look close to really read them." **
(157) Kazz: "Like I said, I thought Bill didn't have them. You have to see them in good light, at the right.... what's the word... angle."
(156) Imhotep: "You must tell us if you see two different people with the same symbol. Then perhaps we can guess the meaning."
(157) Kazz: "Okay."
(159) Sarpedon: "Yes. There may be people with the same name. If two are the same, then that might answer the question."
(159) Sarpedon: (Heh, interesting.)
(157) Kazz: (By the way, I think the date is about 6 months A. R. now. You call get one character point in the History skill. If you don't have the history skill, that starts you off at IQ-2.)
(157) Demiurge: (You now have a fairly vague knowledge of the world timeline.)