EDIT: Forgot to change the inventory. New item added.

Knick said...

They should inquire about the mage, a place to stay, the dark, heroic trenchcoat to flap dramatically in the breeze, and the computer.

second_clone said...

They should attempt to take a rubbing of the door carving.

second_clone said...

They should also inquire about the identity of the silhouetted figure.

Corious, Bryan, and Grandpa Charlie entered into the shop. It had grown dark enough outside that their eyes needed no time to adjust to the dimly lit room. Their host was dressed in a robe as if he was about to go to bed, and he had turned his back on them when they came in. Walking over to a table, back still turned, he began to light a lantern as he spoke, "What brings you here at this time of night, good sirs?" "My name is Corious Millerson," Corious replied, "My friends and I just arrived in town and need a place to stay the night. Somebody said you could help. We were also told we might find a mage here to aid us in our quest, and finally, I'd like to access a computer if I can, and my friend would like to get a trench coat if you sell those here." The man got the lantern burning, and lifted it up off the table, "You seek the mage?" "Yes, we'd like to speak with him." "Well," The man turned to face them, "You're talking to the right guy!" he grinned, whipping up a pair of jazz hands; the lantern flicking from the motion. Corious, Bryan, and Grandpa Charlie stared at him. "Well you sure got here fast!" Corious said, "Where's the mage?" "That's me!" "You're the mage?" "I'm the mage." "A musical mage?" Bryan smirked. "Don't forget the juggling!" The mage replied. There was silence for a moment. Bryan was still smirking, Grandpa Charlie was starting to doze off, and Corious finally laughed and said, "Well, Mr. Odious, we need to talk." After a while, they had given a run through of their story and how they were trying to retrieve Corious' grandmother. Mel the Musical Mage sat back at the end and paused to think for a moment. His face was solemn. His humorous joking manner was gone as he sat and stared at the floor, his chin resting between his thumb and index finger. "Well," he said quietly, "You're talking to the right guy." He glanced up and quickly shook a couple of pathetically sober jazz hands before going back to his thoughtful pose. "You're not very encouraging." Bryan said. Grandpa Charlie was asleep by this time, so he didn't have anything to say. "I'm sorry," Mel replied, "But I myself haven't had the best encounters with the kidnappers you're after." He leaned forward in his chair and clasped his hands together, "They came into our village one night, silent as ghosts. Somebody spotted them and began to make a ruckus for reasons I don't know, but it must have been obvious that the invaders were up to no good. Anyway, by the time I awoke, my wife as gone from our room, along with various other people from the village. The invaders scattered instantly and were gone without a trace like vapor into the air. All that was left were markings on our doors." "We saw those on the door of my grandparent's house too!" Corious stated, "But there were two monsters. I only saw one on your door." "Hmmm," Mel went on, "I don't understand any of it, myself. I've searched for my wife for months, but we have nothing to go off of. No trace of the invaders. Search parties have gone out countless times and retrieved nothing. I've about given up hope. Only my songs keep my spirits up now." They sat in silence for a bit until Mel finally said he was tired and needed to sleep. He showed them to the guest rooms and then went to his own room for the night. Before going to bed, however, Corious found a sheet of paper (hoping it wasn't some weird mage's cursed magical sheet of paper that would eventually bring doom upon them), whipped out their writing utensils (from their inventory, silly!) and went outside to get a rubbing of the carving on the door for future reference. Afterwards, he shoved it into one of their folders (from their inventory, silly!) and was about to shut the door when he noticed something move outside across the street. It spotted him staring and dashed into the black alleyway.

Inventory:

Mr. Jimbo

Mood Ring of Illumination

Corious' Staff

Writing Utensils

Folders (click for contents)

Risico Leaf

Knick said...

They should casually question strangers about the whereabouts of this mage...after Bryan finds a trenchcoat to purchase.

bobby said...
They should try to avoid any shady dealers in the streets.

Father Cory said...
Also, Corious should find a laptop and update his blog. He is, after all, keeping a log of his journey!

second_clone said...

They should play a quick game of duck duck goose to unwind a bit.

The three adventurers entered into the town streets, illuminated by the colorful glows of shop lanterns and street lights, and made their way along, brushing past people and trying to keep an eye out for any sign of this mage guy. ...and Brian kept his other eye out for any place that might sell coats. As they moved along, Corious spotted three people approaching, out of the corner of his eye. "Hey," He nudged his companions, "We've got company." They all looked over their shoulders and saw the on-comers, each cloaked in a black robe, darkness overshadowing their faces, moving ominously forward like a cloud of black fog rising against a night sky. "Characters don't get much shadier than that!" Bryan said. The cloaked people arrived and asked, "Hey buddies--Wanna buy some WEAPONS!?" as they suddenly flung open their cloaks, revealing first of all, the fact that they all had on really ugly red and yellow pinstriped pants, and also that their coats were full of some disastrous homemade axes, swords, and pikes thrown together with things like broom handles, shovel heads, and wheat cutting blades. "Finely crafted to perfection by ancient masters in the arts of fighting. You can't get this stuff in stores, man!" Corious, Bryan, and Grandpa Charlie stared. Finally Bryan spoke up, "Isn't that stuff heavy?" "Aye," said the slimmest shady, "That's why we want to hurry up and sell them. You try lugging this junk...I mean fine merchandise around town all night!" Corious interrupted, "Listen fellas, we'd love to make you an offer, but we're ummm...trying to listen to our friend here play his songs." He motioned over to a minstrel playing his guitar a short distance in front of them. "So, if you'll please excuse us, this is my favorite song." The shady characters walked away shrouded in a dark gloom of black darkness, as Corious, Bryan, and Grandpa Charlie joined the small group of people gathered around the street performer. He was quite talented, and once, he even began juggling some rubber balls with his feet while playing his guitar, singing, and keeping beat with little tiny cymbals on sticks protruding from his waist as he rocked his body from side to side. The group lost track of time as they watched him, and the shop lights began to go out one by one. The streets began to clear and grow emptier as people headed home, and finally when the minstrel's audience had decided to leave as well, he began packing up his things. Corious realized then, that they hadn't yet found a mage, a coat, nor arranged for a place to stay the night, and this minstrel was the only one who wasn't yet making his way home. Corious approached him, "You're a fine guitarist!" He started in. "Thank you, sir." the musician replied, looking up from his guitar packing, "And who might you be?" "Corious Millerson; I've just arrived here with a couple friends of mine." The minstrel bounced up and shook his hand, "Good to know ya, Corious! Odious is my name, Mel Odious." "Ha!" Bryan laughed from behind. "Well anyway," Corious went on, "We were informed there's a mage here who could help us with something, and also, we kind of need a place to stay the night. And ALSO, my friend wants a trench coat, and I'd like to access a computer if you have those here." "You're talking to the right guy!" Mel grinned, whipping up a pair of jazz hands, "I know just how to help! Go five shops down this street and knock this rhythm on the door with the picture carved on it." He tapped out a rhythm with one of the cymbals. "That's his off duty knock so he'll answer the door, and I'm sure he won't mind if you stay the night at his place. Furthermore, he might even be able to meet your requests as far as a coat and a computer are concerned!" Corious expressed his gratitude and was about to leave when Mel stopped him, "Say! Would you mind playing a quick game of duck duck goose with me? I've got a bet made with a friend; he doesn't believe I can get some random people off the street to play with me." The three guys stared at him. "Alright, never mind, just thought I'd ask." They made their way on down the cobblestone road until they came to the shop. It was the only one with a light still on. They walked up and Corious suddenly froze, "Bryan--look at the door." They all stopped and gazed at the carving on the door. It was the snake monster with the party hat, which the two lads had found on the door of Corious' grandparents house earlier. They hesitated but Corious finally stepped forward, "Maybe we'll finally get some answers here." he said and knocked the rhythm on the door. Not but a moment later, it creaked open and a figure peaked his head out, silhouetted by the dim lights inside the shop. "Come on in, gentlemen."

Inventory:
Unchanged. (Click here to view their inventory)

The admin lacks the discipline to keep this thing updated, but hopes to press on even if it takes 2-3 weeks for one lousy update.

Knick said...

perhaps they should seek this mage in the southerly direction. and they should skip to his house while holding hands.

bobby said...

Or take the teleporter to the village.

Father Cory said...

And Bryan should check his pockets again for anything useful. Then put on a trench coat.

Knick said...

yes, a long, dark trench coat, perhaps one that would flap heroically in the breeze.

After eating, they decided to plan out the next course of action as they remained seated around the table. Monique began, "Outside of trip wires and buried traps, I've got a lot of trained animals living in the forest. When traveling in groups, the code to get by undevoured is to skip through while holding hands." The three travelers stared at her in silence until Corious asked the question on all their minds, ".....what?" "Look, it's the first thing that came to me at the time, and I knew it would be something nobody would think to do." "...Or," Vladimir started in, and the three guys immediately turned and fixed their gaze on him, hoping desperately that he would have better plan. "You could teleport to the town. My only concern would be--when warping to another teleport, there's nothing to it, but when you're teleporting to a location that doesn't have a receiving teleport, you have to enter the longitude and latitude, as well as the distance above sea level perfectly or else you could end up hundreds of feet in the air, below the ground, or even somewhere on the Cannibal Islands for all we know! And seeing as how we're trying to get into a busy city, who knows if we'd end up teleporting into a person or a wall or a tree or something. Lastly, once we teleport over, we cannot teleport back." "It's a risk we'll have to take! Anything beats skipping together!" Corious said. "I know what we'll do," Grandpa Charlie said, standing up and reaching awkwardly behind himself. He suddenly whipped out what looked like a small rocket, "We'll send one person through the teleport first, just outside of town. If he survives the trip, he can send this flair up into the sky to let the rest of us know he's okay! If yes, then we'll use those same coordinates for everyone else; if no, then we'll skip through the forest and hope the teleported person hasn't become Siamese twins with a stranger." "Grandpa, where did you get that flair?" Corious asked. "I had it in my left pant leg. Wizards are supposed to carry stuff like this, you know?" "I don't call dibs on going first." Bryan said. "I'll go," Corious volunteered. "We'll need something with which to light the flair." Grandpa Charlie pointed out. "I have matches," Bryan said and began to search his pockets. As he pulled out the matchbook, a large wadded up leaf fell out onto the floor. "Oh hey," Bryan picked it up, "I forgot I found this Risico Leaf!" Grandpa Charlie suddenly started in, eager to brag about his knowledge gained from the books in his study, "Aww, a Risico Leaf! Dutch for the word Risk! It's said that such a leaf can cure nearly any known poisons, but with a possible side effect of instant death." "Well, everything dies eventually," Bryan replied, "It's like they say, 'risicome, risico!" Corious audibly groanded and said, "We're losing daylight, you knob! Lets go do this teleport thing!" "Hold on, I need a trench coat!" Bryan interjected. "Whyyy do you need a trech coat?" Corious rolled his eyes, expecting another pun. No pun came. Bryan simply stated that he wanted to look cool. "Maybe we can get one in town." Corious said, "Now lets get this over with while I'm psyched about risking my life!" "RISICO!" Bryan cheered and headed for the door. To sum up the following events, things went rather smoothly as they readied the teleport, plotted out the desired destination, and sent Corious on his way. Then they hustled out the door, waited for a couple minutes, and sure enough in the distance, a flair appeared streaming over the treetops against the darkening blue sky. "That's it!" said Vladimir, "You're good to go!" With that, Bryan and Grandpa Charlie hopped into the machine and were warped out of sight. ... The three adventurers found themselves by a main road, just outside a busy town. It was surprisingly crowded for that time of night but it seemed nobody had noticed them appear out of thin air. They could smell food from nearby cafés, animals walking about; they could hear the clangs of a blacksmith or two, the chatter of crowds, and the music of street performers. "Ready for a game of Mingle?" Corious asked.

Inventory:

Mr. Jimbo

Mood Ring of Illumination

Corious' Staff

Writing Utensils

Folders

Risico Leaf

The admin apologizes for being lazy...

Father Cory said...

They should ask the old man's name and story. Then ask for some food or a Dr. Pepper.

Knick said...

they should also ask if there is an accomplished mage nearby that they might be able to hire.

second_clone said...

Grandpa Charlie should try to summon a bloodhound to aid them in the search.

Knick said...

Perhaps Bryan should ask for some deodorant so he can freshen up a bit.

Knick said...

And perhaps they should not sit there in the living room for too much longer. Just a thought.

"Perhaps you could help us out," Corious said, "It'd help to first get some background information about yourself." "Of course," The old man began, "My name is Vladimir. I'm an inventor. My daughter and I have lived here peacefully for a long time. I built this house just before my wife died some years ago. Anyway, not but a year ago, I succeeded in what is probably my most fantastic invention to date! The Quantum Displacement Machine! The very teleporter that brought you here." "What's a quantum?" Bryan interrupted. "I don't know, but it's a catchy word!" Vladimir replied, "Now then--I was originally going to get rich off of my invention, in hopes that my daughter and I could move to some fancy estate and stop living lower than peasants, but over time, as word spread about my machine, it's been sought after for nothing but selfish evil means. We've tried to keep people away; my daughter has set countless traps in the forest, but even that has been to no avail." The room was silent except for the clock ticking, and Vladimir looked up. Bryan was daydreaming as he stared at the girl, Grandpa Charlie was dozing off, and Corious was deep in thought. "Hey," Corious finally looked up, "Have you got anything to eat around here?" "Yeah!" Bryan snapped out of his daydream, "Have you got any Dr. Pepper??" "What's a Doctor Pepper?" Vladimir asked. "I don't know, but it's a catchy word!" Bryan beamed. Corious rolled his eyes and the Vladimir motioned for his daughter to get some food. "Also," Corious spoke again, "Do you know where we might find an experienced mage nearby?" Grandpa Charlie was suddenly wide awake, "Hey!" He protested, "I'm an experienced--" "NOT that we need to replace my grandpa the wizard here," Corious cut him off, "But it might be nice to have TWO people savvy in the arts." Grandpa Charlie settled and began to rock in his chair. "Your grandpa is skilled in the arts of magic?" Vladimir asked. "Well, actually he's just--" Corious was interrupted by his grandpa this time. "Let me demonstrate!" Grandpa Charlie leaned forward in his chair, "It seems to me that a bloodhound would be very handy in our search for my wife!" Grandpa Charlie stood up and waved his arms about, "Aykmay Eemay Anmay Igbay Oodhoundblay!" There was a flash of light and a small pink and black hog fell from the air. It squealed when it hit the floorboards and then it dashed off towards the kitchen. "Not the bloodhound I'd had in mind..." Grandpa Charlie said, lowering his arms. "Maybe if you'd said the spell in Bloodhound Latin instead of Pig Latin?" Corious suggested. "Have you got any deodorant!?" Bryan suddenly said out of nowhere. The group stared at him. "Because uhhh..." He glanced at each of them, "Somebody smells like a pig?" Vladimir cleared his throat and said, "In answer to your mage question, there is a village about 10 miles south from here. You might find one there." "That reminds me, what did the elf say to the wizard after telling him his shoe was untied?" Bryan said. Everybody stared at him again in silence. "Mage'ja look!" ... At last, Monique came in with the food and not a moment too soon. She was carrying a platter of meat and bread, and a pitcher of water. "That's not pork, is it?" Bryan asked as they all sat down to eat. "Eat fast, guys, we need to get moving." Said Corious.

Inventory:
Unchanged. (Click here to view their inventory)

Knick said...

Yeah, pretty much the only thing that happens here is Bryan hitting on the girl. Not much else is possible.

Father Cory said...

Twice.

Again :P

They sat there in awkward silence for just a moment until Bryan (who was grinning at the girl the entire time) finally broke--nay shattered it, "So is it hot in here or is it just you?" The girl stared at him. "err...Just kidding." He hesitantly laughed. "Oh thanks!" "I mean...not that you're not, I just...uhhh...So you said your name's Jennifer?" "I never told you my name." "Oh. Is it Jennifer?" "No." "Oh. I figured. You're prettier than all the Jennifers I know." Corious expected the girl to shoot Bryan in the foot any minute now--not that he hadn't shot himself there enough already--but to his surprise, the girl half smiled almost amusedly and the gun lowered just a tad. "My name is Monique," she said, "Monique Sharma." "Aww, Monique. That was my next guess." Bryan replied nodding. Suddenly they heard footsteps, and a moment later, her father walked into the room wielding a gun of his own. "I've had it up to here with you people!" He shouted, "Always sneaking onto my land trying to get your slimy hands on my inventions! I oughtta just..." He stopped suddenly when he saw the three sitting there. He was staring at Grandpa Charlie. "Hey," He said, "You look awfully familiar..." Grandpa Charlie looked up at him and said, "Can't say the feeling's mutual." The man raised a finger up to his own eyes and from his perspective, he held it across Grandpa Charlie's eyes like a visor or a mask. "Yes," He said, "I've seen you. You were blindfolded. They were taking you somewhere!" The seated fellows' faces all brightened with relief as the man lowered his gun. "Are these two with you?" he asked. Grandpa Charlie nodded. "Well any enemy of my enemies is a friend of mine. Come into the living room and tell me how you got here." ... A while later, seated in the living room, they finally finished explaining their story. The man was very approving and asked if there was anything he could do to help them out.

Inventory:
Unchanged. (Click here to view their inventory)

Knick said...Corius should ask Grandpa Charlie if he meant that his GRANDMA was always amazing at pinochle.

Jason said...He should also take a look at the books and see what they are. They may have useful information.

Corious spoke over his shoulder to his grandpa as he quickly perused the book collection, "So ummm...you just said 'my grandpa' was amazing at Pinochle, but I'm going to assume you meant Grandma." "Huh?" His grandpa continued to stare at the floor, "Yes, she was quite amazing." Bryan began to snicker, "So you guys have tried a lotta Pinochle, but have you ever tried a Pinochle-lotta?" Corious groaned as Bryan burst into laughter and grandpa sat, paying no attention. Corious had just enough time to scan the books and vaguely read off some titles. Most of them were history books about lands and people, and there were also a few that looked like they might be journals. That was all he saw before the girl arrived at the top of the stairs and swung the gun barrel right at his face. "In the chair, NOW!!" Corious obeyed and hastily retreated to the others, where he had a seat. "Not a movement now," she approached the three of them, gun still raised, "My father will be up soon."

Inventory:
Unchanged. (Click here to view their inventory)

bobby said...

Corious should ask Grandpa Charlie why he has been so suspiciously quiet.

Knick said...

then look around for helpful items.

Father Cory said...

And Bryan should have a muffin.

They all sat down and Corious looked over at his grandpa. He was staring at the wall. "Grandpa Charlie," Corious said, "You haven't said much--what are you thinking about?" Grandpa Charlie snapped out of his daze and looked over at his inquirer, "Pinochle!" he replied. "...what?" "Your grandpa was always amazing at Pinochle. It seemed like she'd shoot the moon 2 or 3 times every game, even if she didn't have a great hand. She'd always....shoot the moon..." Bryan and Corious stared at Grandpa Charlie as he gazed down wistfully at the floor. Finally Corious spoke up again, "Well! I'm going to have a look around." and he raised to his feet and walked towards the back of the house. "Hey," Bryan called to him, "If you find any muffins, let me know, I'm starving!" "You like muffins?" Corious called back. "Muffins!" "I'll uhhh.....let you know." In the dimly lit part of the house, Corious quietly roamed around, shifting his eyes from place to place. Scanning the area, he found some candles, some books, a pair of glasses, a couple kitchen knives, a green hat, two swords mounted on the wall, and a broom. The broom probably hadn't been used much because there was a lot of dust on everything and the floor wasn't all that clean. Suddenly they heard footsteps tromping up the stairs.

Inventory:
Unchanged. (Click here to view their inventory)

Elyse said...

Corious and company should march to the house, while looking for escape routes.

bobby said...

With Bryan being terribly distracted by the good looks of the girl.

Knick said...

corious should hide the mood ring inside mr. jimbo so that it doesn't get taken from them

Everybody walked out of the shed and squinted in the light of the sun. To their left was a small blue house partially built into the side of a steep hill. They began walking and Corious leaned over to Bryan and whispered, "Keep an eye out for an escape route. Give me a nudge if you see one." "Huh? Oh uhh...sure thing." Bryan replied, gazing over his shoulder at the girl behind them. She was quite stunning, with dark hair and dark features. She looked like the type of girl who could conquer the world someday. Corious pulled the ring off his finger and his glow faded away, though no one could tell in the bright sunlight. Then he looked for a place to hide it in Mr. Jimbo, but there were no openings. He tied it to Jimbo's neck ribbon instead, and tucked it in so it couldn't be seen. Then he glanced around for a getaway. They were in a grassy meadow surrounded by enormous tree on all sides. Some of the trees must have been about 70 to 100 feet tall. There were no paths leading anywhere, but the forest was open enough that you could run through it in any direction. From deeper within the woods, Corious could faintly hear the sound of moving water, and oddly enough, that's all he heard. There were no birds, no crickets, no other noises at all. They got to the house and went inside. There was light coming in the windows at the front, but in the back where the house was swallowed up by the hillside, it was dark and hard to make things out until their eyes could adjust. For now, they could see that it was just an ordinary looking house. "Have a seat." The girl said commandingly to the guys, "I'll be right back. Don't bother trying to run away, I've got traps set all over the forest. You won't make it past them all." And with that, she walked into the darkness, headed down some stairs and the three fellows were left alone.

Inventory:
Unchanged. (Click here to view their inventory)

bobby said...

Bryan should use a cheesy pick-up line on the girl while Grandpa Charlie attempts some kind of defensive spell.

The fellows were all taken aback by the girl before them, swaying the gun barrel to and fro between the three of them. She looked very serious, and her trigger finger twitched. "I've had quite enough of you fiends," she shouted, "Coming in here and using my father's inventions as you please!" The girl, though her expression was very hard and set to kill, was quite lovely. As a result, Bryan was the first to blurt anything out, "Wowza, did we teleport to heaven, 'cause I think I see an angel!" There was an ear-splitting bang and Bryan fell over backwards. Corious and Grandpa Charlie about jumped out of their skin. Bryan raised his head and looked down at the steaming hole in his pant leg. It was just a warning shot. Grandpa Charlie suddenly felt a need to protect the "youngin's" and decided to activate his defensive maneuvers against the gun. "By the forces of nature," He began to wave his arms around awkwardly, "I summon my spell of bullet repelling energy fields!" There was a bizarre vorpal sound and four pumpkins suddenly fell from the ceiling. "Hmmm," Charlie scratched his head, "I must've done the motions wrong." "All of you!" The girl shouted and motioned with her gun, "Come out of there! To the house! March!"

Inventory:
Unchanged

Father Cory said...

Corious should flip the lever...you never know what might jump out of the electricity.

Knick said...

Then he should look for instructions for the machine.

bobby said...

Bryan should try to convince Corious that it is really unnecessary to read instructions.
Then ask Grandpa Charlie if he knows what's going on.

"What about the lever?" Corious stepped forward and flipped it down. The machine began to hum louder and light up, until the entire room was pitch white. ..err snow white that is. Then, silent blackness again as their eyes readjusted to the dark and the dim glow of the machine's orb. "There have got to be instructions around here somewhere..." Bryan coughed, "ummm...girls read instructions, Corious." "Do you always pretend to be manly?" Bryan coughed again and turned to the old man in the doorway, "What do you make of this, Mr. Charlie sir?" The old man stroked his beard, squinted, and raised a hand as if speculating about great and profound thoughts, "It's either a moose executer or a transportation device. The first time I was brought through here, I was blindfolded. When I came back I was nearly unconscious. However, I remember those familiar humming sounds. I suggest one of you lads get it going, pull the lever, and step inside." "I vote the all manly Bryan." Corious pointed. Bryan rolled his eyes and reluctantly accepted. The button was pressed, Bryan entered the ring, and the lever was flipped. A growing hum. A flash of light. Eyes refocused in the darkness. Bryan was gone. ... About two minutes later, the machine began to hum again, on its own, and there was another flash of light. Suddenly Bryan reappeared on the platform. His face was bleeding and his front side was covered in dirt. Corious' face lit up with excitement, "What happened!? Did you get in a fight? Are there enemies on the other side??" "No, I fell off the platform." Corious groaned and Charlie suppressed his wise old laughter. Bryan ignored his own agitation and suggested they all step in. Another button, another lever, another flash. When their eyes refocused, they found themselves in another dirt room, this time with walls and a ceiling of wood. There were gardening tools strewn about, and some old paint cans in the corner. "Are we in a shed?" All of a sudden the front door was ripped open and a girl stood silhouetted with a gun in her hands, pointed straight at the Grandmother Rescue Society™.

Inventory:
Unchanged

bobby said...

Bryan should push the red button.

The three of them stood, gazing at the machine. Grandpa Charlie stroked his beard and Hmmmm'd to himself. Finally Bryan stepped forward, "Well, lets see what it does!" He pressed the red button and suddenly the machine lit up with what looked like blue electricity. The three went back to their gazing.

Inventory:
Unchanged

bobby said...

I guess there isn't anything left to do except go down the hole.

Father Cory said...

And discard the f*repoker.

Knick said...

Cor[ious] should throw Mr. Jimbo down first as a test.

"Well, lets go down, eh!" Bryan said and moved toward the hole. "Wait..." Corious motioned him to stop. Then he set down his f*re poker and got out his stuffed green man, "We'll send down Mr. Jimbo first to see if it's safe." Bryan gave him a weird look but went along with it. He stood back as Corious leaned over the hole and held out Mr. Jimbo for a moment. Then Corious dropped him in and waited a couple seconds.. ... ... "AAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Corious screamed and jumped back! "WHAT!??" Bryan shouted after having a near heart attack. "Heh, nothing, I'm just kidding. It's fine." Corious mused and jumped into the hole. Inside, Bryan dropped down after him, muttering something under his breath, and they looked around by the light of Corious' mood ring's illumination. Further into the tunnel, they could faintly make out that the dirt and rocks turned into a more structured hall of wooden beams and a stone tiled walkway. "Your grandpa didn't waste any time, did he?" "We'd better hurry." Corious dashed down the tunnel, lighting the way before them. Bryan followed close behind. After a few minutes of running, which Corious guessed put them underneath the forest area just past where he hurt his knee as a kid, the finally ran into Grandpa Charlie. He was standing at the opening of a room, staring into the blackness. "Can he see in the dark?" Bryan asked, panting. "He thinks he can." Corious replied and then called out to the old man, "Grandpa, what's in there?" Charlie beckoned them forward with a wave. They walked up and peered into the room. Bryan, trying to come up with something witty to say, uttered the most profound thing he could think of, "...dude." Corious replied, staring blankly ahead, "...yeah." Grandpa Charlie stepped into the round room and walked up to the machine in the center. It was a circle of railings, surrounding a metal platform on the floor. Above that in the ceiling was a long metallic stalag tight shape coming down with a faintly glowing orb attached to the end. Nearby was a console with a few buttons and a lever on its slanted top.

Inventory:

Mr. Jimbo

Mood Ring of Illumination

Corious' Staff

Writing Utensils

Folders

Father Cory said...

They should follow Grandpa Chuck, but be wary about the spiral stairs.

bobby said...

and take the pens and empty files from the desk.

"Come on," Corious and Bryan dashed out the door and followed Charlie, taking care not to fall down the stairs (although Bryan slid down the banister.) Before following him into the living room, Bryan stopped Corious, "I'm going to grab some pens and files from the drawer in there real fast." Corious gave him a quizzical glance, "uhh...why?" "I don't know, maybe I'll need to write a letter to my mom and tell her why I was late for dinner tonight." Corious shook his head and walked into the living room. Grandpa Charlie was moving furniture and lifting up the rug in the middle of the room. "Grandpa, it'd sure be nice if you'd explain what it is we're doing." "Don't be silly, lad!" Charlie said, throwing the heavy carpet aside, "They've got my wife! We have to rescue her!" "Yes, but who are 'they'?" Bryan suddenly appeared around the corner with the contents from the drawer, and then stopped and stared as Grandpa began to knock on the wooden floor. "Hideous creatures like you've never seen!" Grandpa found a hollow spot and began to rip the floorboards out, throwing them aside. Not but a moment later, the boards were gone, revealing a tunnel beneath the house. "Follow me!" Grandpa Charlie exclaimed, jumping into the hole. Bryan and Corious looked up at each other and sighed once again.

Inventory:

Mr. Jimbo

Mood Ring of Illumination

Corious' Staff

F*repoker

Writing Utensils

Folders

New member has been added to the Characters List!

Bobby said...

Corious should find out the source of the laughter with Bryan cowardly following behind.

Father Cory said...

...with a f*replace poker.

I'LL be the one deciding who's cowardly thank you very much!! *scowl*

"Sshhhh...hang on while I go grab a f*replace poker from the living room..." Corious instructed as he began to sneak around the corner. "Hey, I can't see!" Bryan exclaimed in a whisper and followed him in. Once the poker was in hand, Bryan made a lame joke about Corious having a nice poker hand, and the two walked stealthily to the stair case. Then up, up, up, with Corious leading and Bryan following coweringly behind. As they proceeded cautiously, they could hear the laughter growing louder as the distance decreased. Finally they could tell it was coming from inside Corious' grandmother's room. Corious slowly peeked around the corner for just a moment, and then jumped back with a fright. "Who is it!?" Bryan whispered. "I don't believe it..." Corious was wide-eyed and breathing heavy. "What!?" Corious looked again and then stepped into the open doorway to face the person inside, "Grandpa Charlie!?" "Well hello, my boy!" Grandfather said cheerfully once Corious and Bryan had stepped into the room. He was swaying two and fro in his rocking chair. "I thought you were dead, how is this possible?" Corious inquired, "Where's grandma? What's going on?" "She didn't believe me," Grandpa Charlie replied, "I tried many times to tell her, but she didn't believe me." "Believe what?" "That I wasn't seeing visions! I told her it was all real!" "WHAT was real?? Where is she?" "She's gone now, they took her away." "WHO!?" "Those vermin from the underground tunnels. The same ones who took me all those years ago. But I escaped! They couldn't keep me down once I got a hold of my Wizard's Bag of Tricks™!" "Grandpa, you're not a wizard." Corious groaned as if he had argued the matter over many times before. "No time to argue, lad, we'd best be on our way to save your old grandma!" Grandpa Charlie stood up out of the rocking chair, grabbed his staff and scurried out of the room. Bryan pointed to the swaying chair, "Look," he said, "It appears as though your grandpa's off his rocker." Corious didn't laugh. "So," Bryan coughed, "What should we do?"

Inventory:

Mr. Jimbo

Mood Ring of Illumination

Corious' Staff

F*repoker

Bobby said...

Corious should look for his Grandma while Bryan looks in the closed drawer.

"Check out that drawer," Corious pointed at the desk, "I'm going to have a look around out here." Bryan opened the drawer as Corious opened the door (open drawer, open door!). "Hey!" Bryan exclaimed. Corious stopped and turned. "I can't see a thing when you leave!" "Blimey...that is a problem." Corious returned to the desk, "What's in there?" They gazed into the drawer and saw some pens, a pair of scissors, paste, some empty folders, and a homemade knife. "We can come back for any of this if we need it, I guess." Corious stated, "Come on, lets see if grandmother's home." The two stepped cautiously out of the room into the main entryway of the house. There was a large staircase going up, a door on each side of the open hallway, and to their right was what looked like a living room. "My grandmother's room is upstairs," Corious said, "Those two doors lead to a kitchen and storage closet, and that living room is where grandmother visits guests." Suddenly they heard some faint laughter coming from above. "Somebody's upstairs..."

Inventory:
Unchanged

bobby said...

Corious should put the mood ring on to better determine how he is feeling about the current situation.

Father Cory said...

And then find a light, because it's probably dark.

"I think I'll use the mood ring to decide our next move!" Corious suddenly blurted out. "...uhhh...what?" Bryan o_O'd him. "It'll let me know how I'm feeling about everything, so I can make a decision based on that." "..." Corious slid his left-hand ring finger into the mood ring. He felt a slight tingling sensation, the ring instantly turned a shade of yellow/green, and the room began to come into focus. "Whoa, it's getting lighter in here!" Corious said, looking over at Bryan. Bryan's eyes were wide and he was staring at Corious. "What?" "Dude," Bryan stammered, "You're glowing." Corious looked down at himself. Sure enough, he was emitting light enough to fill the room like a lantern. "Oh my grandma, that's cool!!" he exclaimed, beaming. (Get it? Beaming?) The two looked around the room. There were two floor to ceiling bookshelves loaded with books about the magic arts and computer programming (probably belonging to Corious' grandfather when he was alive.) In the middle of the room was an empty desk with a closed drawer, a wooden chair, and a large woven oval rug. The place was dusty, and there was only one door leading out.

Inventory:

Mr. Jimbo

Mood Ring of Illumination

Corious' Staff

Bobby said...

Corious should try to find another way in.

Corious paused and thought for a moment. Finally he spoke up, "Lets just check the windows first." "Brilliant." Bryan replied semi-sarcastically. The two guys began to check the windows, Corious on one side of the house and Bryan on the opposite side. "These windows are all as old as 3.1, I don't think any of them can open!" Corious called out. "Hang on....dude, come here, look at this!" Bryan called back. Corious dashed around the house and found Bryan looking at what used to be a window. "Did you break my grandmother's window!?" "No, I found it this way, you knob." "Is there some way to cover the glass so we can crawl through?" "Use your coat." Corious quickly took off his coat and covered the bottom of the window opening. Then, carefully, they both crawled through, into the house. The wind was blowing rain in through the opening, but the house was still fairly warm inside. "Maybe a burglar was here before us." Bryan suggested as Corious put his coat back on, "What should we do now?"

Inventory:
Unchanged

Elyse said...

Corious should find a battering ram.

"We need to smash the door in or something!" Corious exclaimed! "Oh for the love..." Bryan groaned as Corious began scanning the area for something large and smashing. On the porch were two rocking chairs, and in the gardens by the house were lots of withered plants and weeds. In the grassy yard was a tree stump, and beyond that in the forest were lots of trees, some fallen, some burned, and most of them still in tact. Corious also had his staff, Mr. Jimbo, and the unidentified mood ring. Around the side of the house was an old rusty wheelbarrow, a rake, a hoe, and two shovels, and further on was a statue of a lady whose robes were falling off. Corious covered his eyes. Bryan peeked. "Wouldn't it be easier to smash a window?" Bryan tried to point out, but Corious replied, "Grandmother likes her windows, and this door is an impostor!" Bryan sighed, "Well I'm getting cold. What are you going to do?"

Inventory:
Unchanged

Father Cory said...

Corious should check the door.

Corious wiggled the door handle but it was locked and the door wouldn't budge. "Maybe she's on vacation." Bryan decided, "Too bad. Oh well, lets go." "Wait, hoser, I'm not done yet." Corious denied his idea and wiggled the handle some more. It was a large solid oak door, with some weird designs imprinted into it, which appeared to be some monsters battling it out. One of the monster's eyes was the glass peep-hole which allowed the inside person to see out, but not vice versa. Another thing Corious found odd was that one of the monsters appeared to be wearing a party hat. "My grandma doesn't go on vacations, and I don't ever remember seeing these engravings on the door. I think something's up. We need to get inside." Corious stated as he ran his hand across the door's engravings. "So, she got a new door, no big deal. Maybe she's just sleeping. Lets just go." Bryan motioned back towards the forest. What does Corious do?

Inventory:

Unchanged

Knick said...

Corius should accept quest.

Father Cory said...

Twice.

"Oh very well, I'll escort you." Corious said. It wasn't like he had anything to do anyway and secretly he was excited that his life now had a purpose. "Oh very well, I'll escort you." Corious said again. "You already said that." Bryan replied confusedly. "Oh yeah. Just making sure you ummm...caught it the first time." After gathering up his things (Mr. Jimbo, his new unidentified mood ring, and a staff he'd made himself), Corious and Sir Bryan headed out the door and into the woods to grandmother's house. ...I mean Mosius Lake. Suddenly Corious turned and asked, "Do you mind if we stop at my grandmother's house first?" "Grandmother? I didn't see her house on the map." "I have it listed as 'Scary house! =('" "..." "I just think it'd be nice to have some of her cookies for our journey." "Fine, we'll stop at your grandmother's house." The two walked on until finally they broke out of the woods into a clearing. Looking up, Bryan noticed the sun was gone and now it was dark and stormy. There was rain and thunder and lightning too! Suddenly, the lightning cracked above them and in the flash, Bryan saw the haunting silhouette of a tremendous house standing before them. "Well, here we are!" Corious stated cheerfully. They walked up to the door... What does Corious do?

Inventory:

Mr. Jimbo

Unidentified Mood Ring

Corious' Staff

New member has been added to the Characters List!

Bethany said...

corious should consult a map

"Lets see, Mosius Lake. I might have a map in the house." Corious said, opening the door and going inside. "I'm not so good with maps..." Bryan pointed out. "Oh it's easy, I made it myself!" Corious opened a drawer and took out a large roll of paper. Then he laid it on a table and unrolled it, revealing a poorly drawn map done with color crayons. "See, we're here, and Mosius Lake is over here..." Corious pointed at his crude drawing. "Uhhh...You know, it'd sure be a lot easier if you'd just take me there yourself." Bryan replied. What does Corious do?

Inventory:
Unchanged

Father Cory said...

Corious should say hello, then check the yard for other items.

"Hello!" Corious said as he began scanning his yard. He usually kept it fairly clean, seeing as how there wasn't a lot else to do when he wasn't playing Joust. "So umm...My name is Sir Bryan," The guy at the door said, "I was wandering through the forest pretending to be chasing a gang of hosers, but I seem to have gotten lost. I was wondering if you might direct me back to the village of Mosius Lake? ...What are you doing?" He stared as Corious roamed around gazing down at the grass. Suddenly Corious gasped, bent down, and picked up something that glistened in the sunlight. "Cool, a mood ring!" Corious exclaimed, and then instantly, he burst into an inferno of blue flames. Sir Bryan jumped, "You're on f*re!!" "Oh yeah, I ate that gumstick of poning 'cause I thought you might be one of my mortal enemies." Corious stated. "It's pronounced pwn." Bryan corrected him. "No, it's pon." "It's pwn." "I once new a wise old Gryphon who told me it was pon." Corious was adamant. "Well, he was wrong." Bryan was adamant too. "The gum wrapper even said 'pon' on it. I'd show you but I ate that too." "The wrapper was wrong." The argument ended when the blue flames turned white and Corious began to hover in midair. "I should probably do something about this before I burn the entire forest down." Corious said, and proceeded to spin in a circle and then fling his arm up towards the horizon. The entirety of the flames f*red (lol) off into the distance, heading for a large mountain, and in just a moment, the two could make out a faint explosion at its peak. Corious thumped back to the ground. "So," Bryan reverted back, "Mosius Lake?" What does Corious do?

Inventory:

Mr. Jimbo

Unidentified Mood Ring

Charhead said...

Shove Gumstick of Pwning™ in mouth (without removing wrapper) and run wildly out an open window, turning in mid-air to behold whatever might have knocked on the door.

Without hesitating, Corious quickly shoves the piece of wrapped up gum into his mouth and bites down. There's a minty fresh pwning sensation as he flings open his front window and leaps out with cat-like grace (for a cat with 2 legs perhaps). Spinning around in the air, Corious notices a tall awkward guy with dark hair and sideburns standing at the front door. After crashing to the ground, Corious stands up painfully and notices that the guy (who is now gazing in Corious' direction) is wearing some ridiculous form of superhero outfit. "Uhhh....Hey!" The guy waves a hand. What does Corious do!?

Inventory:


Mr. Jimbo