Borderlands II - This is the OLD game thread

[Stik]

"I could do with a drink, and some food," Maughus replies. "As soon as someone can spell me on watch."
Moments later, apparently prompted by Bastian, Papa arrives to do just that.

Maughus takes his place at the fire, accepting a plate of meat and a piece of bread, but his expression as he eats is haunted. Something is bothering him. He accepts a cup of wine from Bastian, but insists on watering it down. "This is not the time to be fuzzy with drink. Mister Dirtnap is out there someplace. Someplace close."

[Jenara]

Angel sits quietly by herself.

[Breila]

Liri continues her watch, until someone comes to relieve her.

[Tempest]

"Why do you think he's following us?" Elias asks, very casually.

[Stik]

"Dirtnap? He follows everyone who's in a dangerous line of work." Maughus says this with a forced casualness, covering something deeper.

[Jenara]

Angel watches from afar, she was still rather anoyed about the Bread.

Dirt Nap, she'd heard of it, she had seen friends take a long nap in the dirt... friends gone forever.

[Stik]

[OOC] The following is not a cut scene. In the interest of time, however, rather than spending weeks playing out a lengthy conversation between Bastian and Maughus, Ismael's Legacy has provided a list of Bastian's questions, or at least a list of what information he is seeking and how he intends to go about getting that information. Hopefully this post will capture the conversation[/OOC]

Maughus stares into his cup thoughtfully. Bastian moves in close. It is difficult to tell whether the blessing he had moments earlier called down on the ranger's wine has taken effect, for there is no change to the man's demeanor, but Bastian proceeds to prompt him for information nonetheless.

"Interesting country, this. Wouldn't mind building a small house near here once I decide to settle down. Maybe right here. What did you say this place was before?" Bastian asks.

"Watch tower" Maughus replies. "Maybe twenty years ago it was last used. But the biggest threat is in the south, now, so most of the legions are down there. Not enough manpower up here to keep the towers going, so a lot of them are abandoned."

"There will be trouble if Sven Svensen happens to land a fleet here, no?"

"Not likely. The northerners have been subdued. Not likely to rise again. You hear rumors, from time to time, but they're done."

"And so now there's no northern aggressor to guard against. Must make missions like this easier, no?" Bastian steers the conversation, a bit roughly, but at least in the proper direction. "Ever done anything like this?"

"Hasn't been anything like this. Strange things come up out of the sea all the time, a lot of them stranger than this. But this one's got people excited. Had a big impact on your Fraso, that's for sure. Something aint right about that man. I can't get a fix on him since we left town. Must be because he's a magician."

Bastian ponders the ranger's statement and glances over at Fraso. There has been something strange about...about...Yes. Something strange about the man in the dark clothes standing by the campfire, next to that pile of firewood. Will there be enough wood to last the night? Could be a problem, having to go get more wood if there are any dangerous animals about. Or bandits. Is this a dangerous area? What if there are bandits around?

"Any bandits hereabout, Maughus?"


to be continued....

[OOC] Sorry for the abrupt stop in mid-stream. You see, there was a thunderstorm last night while I was preparing the above post. I got to thinking "if the power goes out while I am in the middle of typing this novel, I am going to lose all my work," so I typed "to be continued...." hit "Submit," and then reopened the post to continue typing.
And thirty seconds later, the power went out.
For once in my life, I actually listened to that little angel on my shoulder, and it paid off.
I'll finish the post tomorrow morning. Sorry to leave everyone hanging.
Stik
[/OOC]

"A few of the locals have been known to raise a hand against travelers. But they know that I'll make their lives unpleasant if they hassle local folk. They want to take their chances against the mercs that the foreign merchants bring along, it's their funeral."

"So it's mostly safe, then?"

"It's never 'safe' priest. There is always danger out there. Lurking. Waiting. Coming back for you."

"But nothing specific? I mean, one time I saw a shadowcat following a caravan, waiting for an opportunity. Nobody following us, is there? Nobody interested in us?" Bastian keeps his tone casual, but the question is important.

"You know, I thought I saw something today. A tall man, or an elf, behind us on the trail. But when I looked back, he was gone. And the more I looked for him, the more...the more I think that this place makes a really good campsite. I am really glad we pushed on to get here. Nice breeze. No mosquitos like down in the vale. Good view of the shoreline and the sea and the sky."

[Jenara]

Angel sits quietly, glancing around the camp, her Soldiers brain trying to focus..

First she looks at the ruined Watch Tower, then Fraso trying to concentrate on the Man, before switching her gaze to Maghus who was talking to Bastian. Each time she tries to look directly at them, before moving on.

Standing, sword returning to its sheaf she rubs Praesul and walks to the Wagon, something had her spooked, something was not right, she has stayed alive living of her instincts, this was time to see what they could do.

Walking around the wagon she looks closely at it, not talking to anyone, before returning to her spot by the trees.

[Stik]

The watch tower is a ruin, as it appeared at first glance. Nothing remarkable at all, although as she makes her circuit around the building, inspecting the walls, she does discern an area with numerous small digs in the wood, forming a circle around an area about two feet in diameter. The wood in the circle is as smooth and unmarred as any other part of the building except for a single hole at about the 12 o'clock position, which has a trail of rust beneath it. All of this appears old, likely dating from the time that the watch tower was occupied.

Looking for Fraso proves troublesome. At first he does not appear to be at the fire. Angel's stomach does a quick flip-flop and she looks around for her companions, to alert them that Fraso has gone missing. She spots Bastian first, and is about to call out when she notices that Fraso is there. Right near the fire, next to Hiric. She must have missed him somehow.

Fraso appears to be feeding the fire, although she has never seen him do a bit of work so far, not when his servants were around. No - not feeding the fire, but reaching a stick in to, to use to light his pipe. He pulls the stick back and lowers the lit end to the bowl of his pipe, puffing on it to raise a flame and exhaling a puff of smoke, like steaming breath on a cold day. The smoke swirls into strange shapes in the firelight, shapes like the silt she saw beneath the ocean's surface yesterday, lit by Bastian's coin. Had she given it back, the coin? Pretty sure, she had, yes. Otherwise Bastian would have been annoyed. A coin like that would have been a blessing on campaign, although it could be a danger as well, for it would reveal your position to your enemies.

Angel shakes her head. Fraso. Look at Fraso. But he's gone again. Not at the fire anymore. And nobody else has noticed. He was right there a moment ago. Why hasn't anyone noticed. Hiric was right next to him. Where is he? There. Hiric is there, picking the last meat off a bone, and keeping his head below the plume of foul-smelling smoke from Fraso's pipe. Fraso. There he is. Right where he was before. Next to the wagon, which is dripping water from the edge of its bed, the droplets catching the firelight occasionally, like sparks rising from a fire, but in reverse. And making a pattern, too. Big drop, two or three little ones, big drop again...

Another head shake. Angel looks to Bastian and Maughus, sitting, quietly talking. Maughus seems on edge. Something has him shaken up. And there's that faraway look in his eye again. What is with the man?

=============================

[Tempest]

Elias, rests by the fire, munching on his food, listening to Bastain and Maughus talk. When (OOC- if) he notices the steady drip from the cart, he points it out to Fraso with his piece of bread.

"Looks like our friend is leaking."

[Jenara]

Slowly and calmly Angel approches Elias, she keeps her head level, she tries to focus on her task and nothing else.

"Indeed it is, we shall have to deal with that very soon." She replies motioning for him to step away from the fire. "Master Elf, could you indulge me?" She asks if he steps away, keeping her voice quiet, so he has to strain to hear.

"I am jumping at shadows, something is wrong, just... Watch Fraso. Do see how he suddenly looks like he is gone, and yet he is there?" She points out, looking at the Necromacer once more. "You find your eye drawn, away, so something distracts you..."

(Occ: Longshot here, but Angel is going concentrate and dis-believe what she is seeing, save Vs spell or something???)

"There is a puzzle here, isn't there, I am the first to say that I am not smart enough to figure this out." She leans in close her eyes on the wagon.

"We should deal with that wagon, perhaps some more bedding or large leaves might suffice?" She asks as she moves away once more, walking towards Hiric.

[Tempest]

OOC- Does Elias notice what Angel has mentioned? I'll respond right after that. OOC/

[Stik]

Elias hasn't really had cause to notice anything wrong with regard to Fraso but now that Angel has mentioned it, he takes a moment to look at the man and as it turns out, the bone that Hiric is gnawing on is the wingbone of a chicken, and would you look at that: the bones are just like a human forearm - one bigger, slightly curved bone and one much thinner bone curving in the opposite direction. Amazing, now that you think about it, how similar the bones really are.

[OOC]Edited post to fix a typo. Should have said "...but now that Angel has mentioned it..." rather than "...but not that Angel has mentioned it." I hope this did not confuse anyone.[/OOC]

[Tempest]

"Hells...." Elias says. His pass over Angel as she is walking away.

"Come with me," he says. "I'll think its less likely that we're going insane if we both see the same things..." and then stomps towards the back of the cart. Once there, he calmly opens the doors to look inside.

[Jenara]

"Agreed." Angel responds with a nod of her head, looking at the back of the cart as Elias opens it to look inside.