Borderlands II - This is the OLD game thread

[Stik]

The wagon has wooden sides about three feet high. The wooden tailgate has been nailed shut, turning the wagon into something resembling an open-topped box on wheels. Vertical wooden posts support a tent-like canvas cover.
Elias unties the lacings on the back to reveal the contents of the wagon. The wooden box has been lined with tarpaulins, forming something resembling a tub. The tub is packed with block ice, although enough has melted that the water between the blocks is a few inches deep. In the midst of the ice-pack is the long wooden crate containing the body. Under the circumstances, the ice seems to be holding up fairly well - not much has melted.

Above the level of the ice a wooden platform holds various supplies, luggage and provisions.

The interior of the wagon looks to be in order, with all as it was when you set out.

[Jenara]

"Thus.. It is not the Wagon." She keeps her gaze fixed on the elf. "Lets get some firewood." She motions to the wood, assuming he follows she talks quietly.

"Its like something surrounds Fraso, that stops you really seeing him.. She lets out a little laugh, "And Maghus, he is a few beers short of a tavern. The man is not stable..."

Grabbing a pile of wood she smiles, "Look, Bastian is mostly ok, Liri... She seems trustworthy, but then you never know..." She looks to the wagon, "There is something out there, you know that. I will stop chasing shadows. We need to deal with this.."

[Stik]

[OOC] Waiting on Ismael's Legacy right now.
And does anyone else have anything in particular they want to accomplish during this night? [/OOC]

[Jenara]

[Ooc: Angel wants to stay sane... does that count? I'll poke Ish hard in a minute, threaten to insult his facial hair once more! Lol.]

[Ismaels-Legacy]

{OOC: No need to poke. I'm paying attention!}

[Tempest]

OOC- Elias is going to be paranoid about the body. He's going to start watching the wagon and checking on it a bit more than may seem entirely healthy. Other than that, I'm good. /OOC

"We do," Elias says. "But I don't know what exactly we can do. I'm simply not seeing some of the thing you or the others have seen. Now, don't take that the wrong way," he says, patting Angel on the shoulder. "I believe you. I just don't know how to help. Its just that I've lived out here, in this region for a very long time. I've never had problems like this until we found that body. Something about it rubs me wrong. I've not seen anything, but part of the reason I believe you is that I've felt... a bit off... since we found that thing. I don't like it. I'm going to keep an eye on it, for whatever good that might do me," he says, rolling his eyes. Then, smiling he turns away and heads back towards the campfire.

"Master Fraso, would you mind if I checked the body? I've noticed that the ice is beginning to melt, and I just wanted to make sure that it is .... keeping." Elias says.

[Stik]

When Elias turns to address Fraso he does not spot him immediately. It actually takes him a moment to see the man, although when he finally does, it turns out that Fraso hasn't moved more than a few feet from his prior location.

In response to Elias' question, Fraso says: "It would probably be best to leave him undistrubed, but if you think it necessary, you may check on our passenger. But take care not to handle him. We've packed the ice in fairly tightly and it's best it not be disrupted. You see..." The following explanation is long-winded as usual. It would no doubt be of great interest to another necromancer, but the lines Maughus has painted on his face...The lines painted on his face look a lot like a map of the riverlands surrounding the town of Knurl, north of the Adri Forest. Not bad for a job done with fingerpaints and without a mirror. Which is a handy thing to have out here, a mirror. Have to get one when we next stop in town, Elias thinks. I wonder how much a mirror costs?

Angel nudges Elias, disturbing his reverie, and sets him to the task at hand. Climbing into the wagon, slipping on the slick but uneven surface of the ice blocks and working by light of a candle lamp held by Angel, Elias uses a small hand ax to pry off one of the boards of the makeshift casket. He is rewarded with a remarkably unpleasant scent - the decay has been slowed by the ice, but not stopped, and the box has concentrated the effluent.
Otherwise, the body is as it was when placed in the box, showing no significant signs of additional decay.

It fails to flinch when the the light hits it. Nor does it reach out of the casket to grab Elias by the throat. It remains undeniably and certainly deceased.
Although glad not to be in a fight for his life, Elias finds himself vaguely disappointed to have found nothing more exotic than a rotting, unidentified corpse.

[Tempest]

Elias glances at Angel as he returns the lid.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm starting to see things too." He gives her a rather fragile looking grin.

[Jenara]

Choking back the bile in her throat, Angel holds back the sense to vomit, it wasn't the body, it was dead.

"At least I am not the only one." She laughs nervously, stepping off the wagon. "I had considered it was him, his Ghost, following us. Imagine that, a Ghost following us."

She glances at Elias, to Bastian then back to Elias, "He will ask the right questions."

Leaning in to whisper she gets far to close. "Now, our constant is Fraso, he's always here, every time I was looking.. Fraso is somehow involved.. He sees it." She looks to Maghus, blushing at the closeness "He told me he did."

Laughing quietly Angel watches the group, "I wish I knew what I was doing here. This isn't what signed up for."

[Stik]

[OOC]Does Bastian have anything else he wants to discuss with Fraso, or shall we move on?[/OOC]

[Ismaels-Legacy]

{{OOC: No, sir, I am content! I'm wondering if Angel actually returned my coin, though. I think she may have, but I'm not sure. If she hasn't I'd like Bastian to seek it out.}}

[Jenara]

One of those. I just assumed she did situations! Lol

[Stik]

The night's watch passes quietly, for the most part. Near dawn there is a bit of a commotion as a group or racoons who usually nest in the ruins run into a group of strangers in their territory, but the matter is resolved quickly by Elias and Maughus.

The team is hitched to the wagon and after a quick breakfast of fried bread (Salia is turning out to be a wizard when it comes to campfire cooking) the group gets onto the trail. The sun is shining, there are few clouds in the sky, and there is a pleasant breeze coming in from the sea, which gradually dies down and changes direction towards noon. The only damper on a pleasant day's travel is the small flock of buzzards circling high above the wagon, and a brief but uncertain glimpse of a pair of tall, cloaked figures in the far distance.

[Tempest]

"Nine hells," Elias mutters and saunters his horse over to Maughus. "Do you see them?" Elias asks, pointing.

[Stik]

"See who?" Maughus replies. His voice is even and quiet, and his words are enunciated carefully. But the look in his eyes belies the calm in his voice.

When Elias tries to point out who he is asking about, there is nobody to be seen. He turns back to Maughus, and finds the ranger is right next to him, so close that Elias' stirrups are close enough to touch Maughus' knee. Maughus grabs Elias by the elbow and pulls him close, then by the neck of his tunic, pulling him even closer. The difference in the height of their respective mounts means that Elias is yanked down and half out of his saddle.

Maughus leans in, his face close enough that Elias can smell his breakfast. Eyes blazing, Maughus speaks: "Oh, they're out there. Two of them, maybe three. I just can't see them all the time. It's some kind of trick. But I know some tricks of my own. I haven't managed to stay ahead of Mister Dirtnap this long without knowing some tricks. We're going to have to take steps. We're going to have to take steps..." As his voice trails off, he releases his hold on Elias, who spends an uncertain second wondering whether he'll manage to regain his seat.