log:Gilligans AQ
GM: Annie

Players: Annie & Slinger.

Synopsis: Annie and Slinger take a 3 hour tour in order to gain a R5 Aid Study for a F6 Physical Barrier spell.

Date: DATE HERE, remember to add 60 years to the year to get the timing right :)

+ Statement of Purpose.

In preparation for some of the tasks underway, there are a few spells that need to be learned. And, of course, a chance to talk and work together
with Annie again. After a brief call with the other Hermetic mage, Slinger agrees to meet with her in the metaplanes at the appointed time and place.
He has his traditional before-quest smoke — lies back in his bed — and projects.

Annie takes a nice leisurely bubble bath to start the evening, putting on a nice soft chiffon robe and taking a half hour to dry her hair. She then
walks into her workshop, spends a few quiet moments in meditation, then places the little sticky biomonitors on the appropriate places of her anatomy.
Once that is complete she links the mage tank to the McCaffrey tower security net and shunts in the feeds from her biomonitors.

"Frankie?", Annie speaks softly into the security commlink.

Frankie replies, "Yes, Miss Medaron?"

Annie chuckles and responds, "I'm going out again…keep an eye on my feeds for me.", she pauses until the security guard answers in the affirmative and
then adds, "Thanks!"

The body temperature gel bath that fills the tank is a welcoming embrace and Annie sighs softly as she makes her self comfortable. The lid slides closed
with a soft hiss of pressurized air and the gentle sounds of waves crashing into the beach on Maui fill the tank, interspersed with the occasional soft
cries of sandpipers and seagulls. She closes her eyes and exhales slowly, then inhales, then exhales again as she puts her mind into the semblance of a
zen state.

She finally lets herself go, her astral presence rising up and out of the tank. She hovers over the coffin-like mage tank for a few moments, then takes
the 'sideways' step to the threshold of the metaplanes. She waits for the scene to resolve itself and begin her usual opening banter with the Dweller.

Slinger arrives just a few moments after Annie. He has a warm waterbed, himself. Nice. Warm. And a decent place to stay nice and secure. The elf
smiles as he recognizes the astral signature of the other elf. "Hoy. Any sign of our mutual friend?" he asks, with a glance around this space. "Last
time he was a no-show."

The scene instantly resolves itself, finding the two elves standing on what appears to be a dock in some tropical location. The powerful aroma of sea
salt and the cries of seagulls floating overhead fill the air.

A burly looking fellow in a blue shirt and white pants is standing on the dock nearby looking over a clipboard and checking off a few items,
while a member of his able-bodied crew is busily loading some boxes on what appears to be a thirty foot motor yacht.

Annie shakes her head, turning slightly to look at the fellow with the clipboard. "Hello?", she calls questioningly, "What's going on?"

Slinger reaches for his pack of smokes, which are usually present on any astral quest. He glances down to see how he, himself, is dressed. After
all, if this is part of the Quest proper, he may very well have appropriate local attire, and some clue to the role he is to play in what comes.

The burly fellow looks up as Annie calls to him and smiles brightly, "Hello there!", he takes a moment to look at Breeze and then consults his
clipboard once more, "Ah, you must be Ginger…the Movie Star.", he frowns slightly as he tries to remember some details, "Wasn't one of your films
about how you murdered a four year old child for money. That was a good one. Brought some tears to my eyes.". The second he finishes speaking Breeze
seems to shimmer; her hair turning a rich burnished copper color, her clothes changing into a curve hugging white sequined dress complete with stiletto
pumps.

The man turns to look at Slinger, then consults his clipboard once more. "You must be the Professor. No last name listed. Sort of like 'Cher' or
'Sinbad' I reckon.", he purses his lips once more as he dredges up a juicy detail, "Ah yah…it was in the scientific journal down at the Barber shop.
Apparently you made some megalomaniac decision to deliberately kill millions of people. That's quite a bit of responsibility. Almost makes smothering a
four year old with a pillow seem downright Mother Goose."

"Anyway…the others are already on board, so go ahead and introduce yourself. It's just going to be a standard three hour tour.", the man
states after a moment, "You can call me the Skipper, and that there is my first mate Gilligan."

As soon as the Skipper finishes addressing Slinger, the young elf shimmers as well. His clothing changes to a tan pair of slacks and a white
shirt with a pair of glasses perched on his nose.

Slinger reaches up to push his glasses up on his nose, and then flicks ash from his cigarette — if he has it. He exhales a cloud of smoke upward,
shivering. He always hates it when people say that. He glances over at Annie, just to see what kind of reaction she's giving him. "The worst part is,
the Dweller always puts the worst possible slant on things," he comments. "Right. I think I know how /this/ story goes." He grins and considers.
"Tempting to pick up a satphone or something we can use to call for help."

Over the years Annie has learned to take whatever the Dweller says with a grain of salt. Usually it's taken totally out of context with the sole
intent of sowing dissent and distrust among people who nominally trust each other. She looks over at Slinger and chuckles, "I'm impressed then…this is
an oldie even for me.", she starts walking toward the SS Minnow and continues talking with Slinger as she goes, "For some reason the damned Dweller
likes hitting me with sitcoms and cartoons I enjoyed in my youth. At least this is better than the South Park quest I had last month."

The tiny ship has the expected complement on board: Thurston Howell and his Wife and Maryann. They all look up with questioning expressions as
Ginger and the Professor step aboard.

«Plot» Annie says, "Dweller Test: Slinger roll Intelligence vs tn 5, then pose something intellectual to impress the other passengers. Annie roll
charisma vs tn 5 and pose something Gingerish."

+ Dweller Test

Slinger tilts his head. "South Park?" He has no idea on that one. "I saw one or two of these, one time. My mentor really didn't like me watching
much trid. Or even two-dee." He draws on his cigarette, considering what is coming. "I think you told me about the child you had to take out, though."

Once the other passengers are nearby, though, the professor smiles and then stretches. "Is everyone else as excited as I am to see the barrier
reefs up close? The aquatic life is amazing in this season. This is the year when the yellow-tipped anemones are especially plentiful!"

"Hmm, may have. That's a job that sticks with me to this day. I hope that sort of decision never comes again.", Annie replies soberly. Once she
spots the other passengers she smiles brightly and somehow manages to glide forward on those heels, greeting each of the other passengers and somehow
making them feel as if THEY were the most important person on board.

The socializing doesn't last long however and soon the Skipper arrives. "Alright, we will be underway in a few minutes. The tour should take
approximately three hours and the weather reports indicate that we will have clear sailing." He and Gilligan disappear up to the top of the ship and
soon the Minnow is chugging out of the harbor.

At the beginning, the tour goes pretty much how the Skipper called it. You see dolphins and whales, and reefs filled with colonies of yellow
tipped anemones. Two and a half hours into the tour and the weather seems to abruptly become rough. The tiny ship is tossed. The fearless crew is
courageous, but it soon becomes obvious that the tiny ship will be lost.

Massive waves are slamming over the decks, cold foamy seawater seeming to drench you to your bones. The other passengers are screaming, holding
on for their lives, and in some cases even vomiting. Suddenly the ship drops, leaving your stomachs twenty feet above, above the ship the mighty bow of
what appears to be a fifty foot wave prepares to slam downward.

+ Place of Fear Rolls

Slinger knew this was coming. But this all happened in the intro! The 'professor' struggles to hang on, and to position himself in the most stable
part of the ship, to avoid the worst of the waves and give himself the greatest chance of surviving. "Over here!" he calls to the others. "Stay away
from the edges, hold on to the rigging here!" He has to shout to be heard over the fury of the storm.

Annie ditches the heels down below and frantically scrambles across the pitching deck toward the sound of Slingers voice. The sequined dress
doesn't do much for repelling sea-water and her elegantly coifed red hair is now more a vision blocking impediment than the glamorous mane of a
hollywood starlet. She latches onto the rigging just as the wave crests overhead. and barely manages to suppress the Ginger-like scream that was
impressed on her when she took on the persona.

The wave crests, then slams down on the Minnow like the fist of Poseidon. For a few seconds it seems that the boat was sunk in that one fell
blow, but suddenly pops back up above the surface with seawater rolling off the decks and taking supplies with it.

The storm continues to rage for what seems like hours, then slowly begins to abate. Gilligan barely has time to shout 'Land Ho!", then the ship
shudders once more as it strikes a reef sending all of you flying to the deck. This seems to have been too much for the Minnow and she starts to go
down. "Abandon Ship!", the Skipper cries as he forgoes the whole 'going down with the ship' thing and launches himself overboard.

Abandon ship, indeed! Slinger in his role as professor has to be the practical one, so he starts scavenging for anything that might be useful. He
heads up to the bow, desperately looking for a radio or anything like that that would enable us to call out. Signal flares. Anything like that that
could come in handy and isn't already soaked beyond usefulness…

The professor, ever the practical one, manages to secure a drenched portable radio, a half dozen flares, and a pretty cool multitool.

+ Place of Destiny Rolls

Annie flees below decks, wading through the now waist deep water to retrieve her shoes. They ARE Italian, and quite expensive. Once important matters
are taken care of she climbs back onto the deck, takes a moment to prepare herself, then pitches herself over the side. The water is still turbulent and
tosses her slender form mercilessly. But somehow she seems to make it and crawls up onto the sandy beach well above the waterline before collapsing from
the strain of the effort.

The Professor spends as long as he can searching for useable items, then wraps them up as swiftly as he can. He almost has delayed too long — it
takes immense effort to swim through the turbulent water, fighting the current, struggling to reach land even when his arms are intent on giving out.
This is a pure test of his ability to survive, the essential nature of his spirit, and the elf-Professor finally pulls himself onto the sandy beach,
gasping for breath, struggling to regain his energy before turning to see if anyone else needs help.

It seems that the other passengers have made it as well, most of whom are lying exhausted and soaked to the bone on the sandy beach around you.
The storm seems to be abating however and the powerful squall continues moving to the south and away from the island.

The other passengers are notably disheartened however…Maryann and Lovey are softly weeping, while the men are content to just lay on the
beach, gasping for breath.

+ Place of Charisma Rolls

Slinger slowly sits up, and begins taking inventory. His cigarettes and lighter were in the bag with the rest, so maybe they avoided being soaked.
Unfortunately, he doesn't have that huge a supply of them. He breathes hard and deep, every muscle aching.

"All right. We're stuck here, but hopefully not for long," Slinger says encouragingly. "Once everybody's recovered, we need a few things, before
anything else. We need some kind of shelter… we need a fire… we need fresh water. Those are the first things we need. Come on, if we work together
on this, then we'll be able to hold out until we're rescued.

Ginger gets to her feet and puts on her shoes that she went to so much trouble to save. They aren't really all that practical for beach use however and
the stiletto heels sink down into the wet sand making walking a bit more difficult. But they look good Damnit.

She begins making her rounds among the distraught female members of the party, hugging and comforting where appropriate to get the morale back
up to where the castaways are a bit more functional. Once that is accomplished she stands up next to Slinger and reinforces the things he proposed.

Thurston and Lovey begin gathering driftwood to form a fire, while Gilligan and Maryann head off along the beach looking for streams emptying
down into the ocean. The Skipper helps direct a few things, then starts working on a chart he salvaged in an attempt to figure out where you might be.

+ Place of Knowledge Rolls

Shelter can wait, especially if the storm is clearing. Slinger heads over to the Skipper's location, peering over his shoulder at the map. "What
was our last known position?" he wonders. "And did you manage to get a distress call out on the radio?" He glances toward where the SS Minnow went down.
The radio might still be salvageable. Maybe.

Ginger heads into the trees, using her knowledge of Talismongering to discern which plants are possibly edible or have medicinal properties that
may be useable by the castaways.

The Skipper looks over at the Professor as he arrives and nods, "I tried, but I have no idea if anyone received the distress signal. For all I
know the electrical storm may have affected transmission.

A few parts of the Minnow are still visible above the rolling waves, but for the most part the ship is submerged and locked on the reef.

All thoughts about possibly swimming out to the wrecked boat are banished from your minds as Gilligan and Maryann come screaming toward you down
the beach. Running at their heels with spears at the ready are six headhunters, who are shouting gibberish and gesticulating wildly. The Headhunters
slow and spread out as they notice the other castaways on the beach, then begin advancing a bit more cautiously with spears at the ready.

This, is definitely not good. There are natives, and they look angry. The Professor grabs the first thing he really has to use as a weapon — the
flare gun. That, and his martial-arts training might serve him well.

+ Initiative Rolls

Initiative Order: Annie @ 31, Slinger @ 11, Skipper @ 10, Natives @ 8, Gilligan @ 5"

Annie stops as she notices the headhunters swarming down the beach. Her first instinct is to cast an area of effect spell, but for some wierd
reason the magic simply does not come to her bidding. Drat. It's one of THOSE quests. She drops the gathered fruits and root plants that she had managed
to scrounge and grabs a likely looking stick from the ground, twirling it between her hands as she tests it's weight and heft. "This isn't going to be
fun", she mutters to herself as she begins heading on an intercept path with the headhunters.

Well, maybe awe and fear will work and save some precious ammo. Slinger stands and squares his stance, then begins speaking in an arcane language
that some might recognize as Latin, gesturing with the flare gun, then points it toward the one of the Headhunters who most appears to be in charge.
"Deus Ex Machina!" he yells, then pulls the trigger.

+ Slinger Shoots

There was no question we were under attack, and The Professor took the initiative, sending out a round from the flare gun toward the chieftain.
That done, he brandishes the thing menacingly, hoping this display of force and power will impress the other primitives. At least, that is the plan.
Maybe it will work!

The other passengers seem to be terrified by this turn of events, Thurston and Lovey clutching each other and screaming incoherently. Maryann
continues running past the Professor and the Skipper, also screaming for help. Gilligan turns and tries to hide behind the Skipper, repeating 'What we
gonna do Skipper?' over and over again.

The Skipper pulls out a small weighted club, most likely used for clubbing troublesome fish once they were landed on the deck. He steps up
behind the Professor and waits to see what the Natives are going to do at this point.

The five remaining natives are visibly shaken as their party leader goes down in what appeared to be a fireball cast by the geeky looking fellow
in the glasses. They still have numbers however, and a sizeable portion of the enemy force seems to be routing or screaming in terror. Natives one to
four hurl their spears at the Professor and the Skipper, and native five throws his spear at the charging hollywood starlet.

+ Natives Chuck Spears

A horde of spears whistle through the air toward the castaways. The Professor manages to sidestep the first spear, but the second one manages to
slice into him and draws blood. The Skipper is hit by both spears coming his way, going down hard and heavy with two spears sticking in him. Ginger
manages to sidestep as the whistles past her, quivering in the dirt a few paces from her.

Gilligan yells, "Skipper!", then reaches over and grabs one of the spears that missed the Professor and begins charging toward the natives.

New Pass: Annie @ 21, Slinger @ 1

Annie looks at the rough stick in her hands, then back at the obsidian bladed spear that narrowly missed her. She tosses the stick aside and grabs the
spear, then continues moving toward the group of natives.

The one who attacked the skipper is next in line, but Slinger holds his fire for the moment, waiting for a better chance. He has to conserve his
precious ammunition for right now.

New Pass: Annie @ 11

+ Annie Slices

New Pass: Annie @ 1

+ Annie Slices & Inits

New Initiative: Annie @ 40, Slinger @ 16, Gilligan @ 9, Natives @ 7, Wounded Native @ 5

Ginger flows across the beach in a near blur, hardly even noticing the stiletto heels at this point. She arrives in the proximity of one of the
natives and swings the obsidian point of her spear at him. She's not really all that strong, relying more on finesse than sheer brute strength and the
native shrugs the first strike off.

The spear continues blurring as the slender starlet continues her assault and the second attack manages to draw some blood from the shrieking
native.

Annie continues her assault on her wounded native, deciding to take down a potential weapons system rather than moving to a new target.

The spear manages to draw blood once more and Annie holds it with one hand in a fending posture, waiting to see what the other natives are going
to do.

Slinger takes aim at one of the other natives, then squeezes the trigger, sending the next flare right at the nearest of the two natives. "Nil
carborundum illegitimi!" he shouts, sending the round into the native's body. It's a shame. They're probably kind of hawt. But they're trying to kill
us.

Another flare of light, of fire, as the flame explodes on the native's chest, and Slinger turns the gun toward the other one threateningly.

They are kind of hot actually. Glistening sweat on their muscles and washboard abs. The Rue Paul warpaint sort of detracts a bit, but it's their
culture.

+ Gilligan Attacks

Gilligan lumbers forward in his odd shuffling gait and launches the spear. Apparently all those years in dockside taverns playing darts has paid
off, and the native goes down in a spray of blood with the spear in his chest.

+ Morale

The two unwounded natives shriek in fear and turn to run away from the pale faced gods. The one that was engaged by Annie is simply far to
enraged by being damaged by a Woman, and draws a knife from his belt and attacks.

Ginger brings her blade up to counter and inflicts another moderate wound on the hapless native. "Goddamit, Run!", she growls menacingly as the
obsidian spear point makes a crimson dripping line across his wrist.

New Initiative: Annie @ 30, Slinger @ 6

Ginger flickers the spear blade in front of the Native, her eyes indicating that perhaps he should leave.

As the Natives turn to flee, Slinger rushes toward the skipper, crouching down beside the man. Hopefully he has enough constitution to have
survived, and he immediately begins working to staunch bleeding and, at the very least, stabilize the man.

The final Native suddenly seems to realize that he is alone and turns to flee, screeching incoherently as he goes.

+ Slinger saves Skipper

It takes a lot of effort, as Slinger swiftly pulls items from the first aid kit, then gestures to Gilligan and Maryann to grab… there! Some of
that plant there! He works tirelessly, rapidly, using alcohol from the kit to prevent infection, while he starts working to stitch up wounds and
stabilize the large man.

It's a close thing, but finally, 'The Professor' sits back up straight, exhaling a sigh of relief. "I think he's going to make it."

Annie plants her spear point down into the beach sand and rushes over to help Slinger, placing her hands to provide pressure on the still oozing wounds
and offering mumbles of support as the Professor does his thing. When it is announced that the Skipper will make it, she sighs in relief and leans back
to take in what the others are doing.

The others are gathered around and watching, while Gilligan is blubbering about losing his best buddy.

It's quite a touching moment, then the ground begins shaking. The sand on the beach swirls into a towering dust devil then collapses inward as
it forms a 12 foot tall native 'God' that stalks toward the Castaways. "YOU HARMED MY CHILDREN! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL", the powerful being roars.

«Plot» Annie says, "Place of Spirits."

Slinger eyes Gilligan, then reaches out to take that silly, floppy hat, and whap him with it. He puts the thing back on Gilligan's head, then
whirls around at the sound of the ground shaking. No, this is Not Good <tm>. Slinger stands up, staring back at the spirit with his own willpower
blazing. "Your children attacked us! Which is bad because they are hawt!" Slinger announces. "We just defended ourselves!"

Slinger strides forward toward the spirit, unabashed. "We don't want any killing! We want a truce!" the elf demands. And we will fight to get it,
if we have to! Those words are unspoken as he fearlessly strides up to the spirit.

Annie stands up and looks up at the Sandy God. "We had no interest in harming your children. Leave us alone, and we will leave them alone." She mentally
prepares herself for battle. For some reason negotiations with Spirits in an astral quest rarely work out well for her.

"THERE IS NO CHOICE. YOU ARE ON MY ISLAND AND YOU WILL DIE!", the Spirit roars as it prepares to attack, Sand on the beach whips up and begins
rising in a physical wall, stray particulates stinging and getting in your eyes.

The other castaways flee once more, though Gilligan throws himself over the Skipper in an effort to protect him.

Slinger continues forward, at a quicker pace now, bringing the attack /to/ the spirit as best he can, moving as fast as he can to deliver the force
of his will to the spirit, arms outstretched. "You. Will. YIELD!"

+ Inits

New Initiative: Annie @ 26, Island God @ 19, Slinger @ 11

Annie raises a hand and etches a banishing pentagram that flares with nearly blinding blue-white intensity between herself and the spirit. She steels
her will and throws it toward the spirit in a banishing attempt.

+ Banishing

The spirit screeches in agony and begins to fade as Annie begins the process of banishing.

+ Slinger administers the coup de grace.

Slinger strides up to the spirit and lashes out with the sheer Force of his will. "Your Children will be free, and after this…
misunderstanding… your children should live in harmony with us!" the Professor intones. "Nothing is served by more death!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!", the Island God wails. A moment later his massive form folds in on itself, leaving a mound of sand where once the mighty Island
God stood.

The other castaways come out of hiding. Thurston approaching Slinger, and Lovey approaching Annie. The two elderly humans pull out some scrolls
and offer them to their respective questers. "All we can offer is knowledge to thank you for protecting and helping us", they intone in almost
mechanical unison. It's actually kind of eerie the way they abruptly drop out of character. "Accept this knowledge and return home", they continue.

Slowly the other castaways fade from view and finally the island as well.

The two of you are back to your normal appearance and standing in the dark featureless environment of the threshold once more…the scrolls
dissolve in your hands, forming glittering motes of energy that slowly absorb into your skin and filling you with knowledge about your objective.

"Damn," Slinger says, once the motes are finished being absorbed. "I was hopin' to snuggle myself a hot Native guy." The elf grins, clearly joking.
Then, he turns his gaze back to Annie. "Well… if you ever decide you want to know the whole truth behind the situation the Dweller spoke of… I have
told very few people. But I think I can trust you with it. But it'll take a good bit of time, and probably a beer or two."

Annie nods to Slinger, "I would like to hear it. Sounds like it would be quite the story." She rubs her hands as she waits for the final motes of energy
to absorb and then looks at you once more, "We can talk over dinner.", she grins slightly, "I will buy."

The elf chuckles. "Somewhere very private and discreet. Let's just say that based on what happened, I would have a large number of enemies if it
ever got discovered that I was the one responsible, shall we say.

Annie nods soberly and places a hand gently on the younger elfs shoulder, "Very well. You pick the spot.", she grins, "I could even modify my physical
mask to maintain your reputation on the dating circuit."

Slinger laughs. "Yeah. More fun if you really were a guy, but… well, Orpheus might get jealous." He can't suppress a grin. "Anyway. Back to my
body. I bet Orpheus is pining for me or something. Probably stomping around and cursing in Spanish. He's cute when he does that."

Annie offers a final smile and fades from view with a wave.
page revision: 3, last edited: 27 Feb 2010 02:34
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