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)