[Horizon's Key] Job 01: Shakedown (Chapter 2)

[MissingNo]

Once everyone was on board, the Horizon's Key detached from the Imhotep and settled into orbit to wait until it was just past midnight at their destination. The Key would enter the atmosphere and hopefully land without drawing any attention.

As they waited, Gem didn't say much. The communication problem with the station administrator was on her mind, but finally she pushed it aside and went to go check on their supplies. The Imhotep had provided a few packs of equipment and clothing for the Key's crew, to help them better fit in with the locals. She distributed the packs to the others and picked out one of the bags for herself, then went to her quarters to change, leaving Eliot and Nicholi to do what they needed and Kassiopea to prep herself for a planetwalk.

A few hours later, the drop time was near.

After checking the coordinates given for their landing destination, the transport ship descended toward Kohana's surface. The landing was without incident. Gem went to the rear door of the lower cargo hold and lowered the ramp.

"Okay...let's do this."

 

[AoK]

As the loading ramp slowly slid to the ground, the crew of the Horizon's Key would be treated to a wonderful Kohanian evening. The cloud cover was light, so the silvery streams of moonlight streamed down through the treetops to cast strangely beautiful shadows across the open area that the ship rested in.

The trees that surrounded the ship were mostly pines, alders, and a few fruit trees scattered here or there, heavy with their payloads of apples, cherries, and a few of the knobby fenapples. The brush was not heavy, but had definite paths worn through it showing that someone or something came through this way somewhat frequently.

Down one path, the one that the back of the Key now faced, there could be seen the flickering of torches, showing they were near a small village or maybe just a single house.

"Aha, welcome to our planet. The Sky Minister has sent word that you would need the use of my field to hide your ship in...Do not worry, I will make it so that not even the deer will know that your ship rests where it is." A figure, bent over a heavy cane, spoke to the ship. "And you need not worry about me, as soon as I hide your ship, the Sky Minister has already arranged for me to forget all about it. He has many here on the surface who obey his commands."

The figure, it's gender totally unable to be detected from the distance it spoke from, then raised the staff, and the tip began to glow with violet light.

"Before I cast the incantation, I will tell you to seek out a village to the north, in that village you will find the first clue to the mystery you have been sent to solve."

And with that, a bright flash lanced out from the staff, and the Horizon's Key shimmered, wavered, and then disappeared. Those still in it would be able to walk from the ship and look as if they were walking from the shadowy brush on the far side of the field, and other than a person walking directly into the metal, there would be no way to detect that in this kind farmer's field, a starship was resting.

The farmer canted his head to the side, looking at Gem from where she stood, then grinned.

"Can I help you folks with somethin'? You must be travellers of some importance to be out at this time of night, wearing clothes like them."

He pointed his staff at Gem, and then turned and waved a thin bony paw to get them to follow.

"You can stay with me tonight, then get on your way in the mornin'." And then he disappeared down the shadowed path heading for the torches in the distance.

 

[TeslaTornado]

Eliot walked down the exit ramp, slowly drawing the Liberator out of his pocket and carefully holding it in a gauntleted hand.

"Gem?" He asked cautiously. "You mind refreshing my memory as to the mission?"

 

[MissingNo]

"We're 'ere to find some missin' supplies." Gem frowned at the gun. "Ya call that bein' discreet? We're suppos'd t' be fittin' in wi' them, tha's why we're not wearin' our own clothes. They don' like outsiders. We've got equipment, weapons, and whatnot in our packs. An' th' armor'll 'ave to go too. Pack it with ya if ya want, but wearin' it aroun's jus' like askin' for a fight."

Looking back at the Key, Gem was a bit surprised at the farmer's...well, she wasn't exactly sure what that farmer did, but it was mighty impressive. And here she thought they didn't have high technology...but a mere cropgrower has a holographic system able to cloak a space ship?

"A'right, I didn' get aroun' to a proper description, but 'ere's th' deal: The 'Sky Master' gets his supplies from th' surface 'ere. They 'aven't been makin' it to his paws. We're 'ere to figure out where they are and what's keepin' 'em. There's a side mission, but he was pretty close-mouth'd 'bout it."

Gem made sure she knew where the ship was, finding that if she walked beyond the range of the illusion (whatever it was caused by), she found herself inside the doorway. This required some feeling around to find said doorway, however. Once satisfied, she checked on Nicholai and Kassiopea to see how they were doing.

 

[zephyrite]

First donning a voidwalker suit in order to keep herself free from the diseases she would be normally quite vulnerable to planetside diseases, then taking a radiation pill to keep herself alive, Kassiopea walked out of the ship a little after Gem and the others, mainly wondering what would happen to this ship in their absence, as the illusion meant to disguise it also made for an interesting search afterwards when they needed to return. Hopefully they kept the location in their minds. She knew she would. She just liked the ship too much. Touching her markings on her cheek, Kassi walked after the group, keeping her eyes open and watchful.

 

[TeslaTornado]

Eliot sighed. Having had a hard enough time getting the breastplate and greaves on in the first place, he now had to get out of them again. Trying to remember the process Mud had went through in affixing the plates to his torso, Eliot attempted to reverse them. However, he only succeeded in tangling the straps on his left side while the ones on the right remained untouched.

Not to be thwarted by rawhide, Eliot picked the tangles out and then carefully tried the process again. This time the breastplate clanked apart in two pieces and fell to the ground with a dull thud. Picking up the two parts of the platemail, he deftly placed them in his pack, then just pulled the greaves off and placed them in the pack as well. Finally, he ejected the clip on his Liberator and placed both pistol and clip in his pack.

"Alright then." He said, half to himself as he flexed an empty hand. "Let's get started."

 

[mizunoyoroko]

Nicholai was rather surprised at the whole event. He had listened with understanding when told about the things he would see, but to a certain extent he didn't expect them to be real. Nicholai wasn't a man that believed in magic, after all, magic was just tricks with technology. Naturally he searched around with his eyes once he exited the ship for a projector or something. Something troubled the large ID-SOL though, he knew that anything with enough power to hide an entire ship would need multiple points, and as far as he knew the Key didn't have any stealth technology. Shaking his head he followed the old man, taking a look at the suit Kassi was wearing as well as taking measure of how Elliot and Gem were taking the situation. We're on their planet now, I just have to trust them. Nicholai thought as he mentally went over the previously conversations he had with the Kohanian mare.

 

[AoK]

With his hunched, staff aided, gait, the farmer was easy to keep up with. He led the crew through the trees into a smaller opening where a house had been constructed with stone and mortar for a foundation, and then logs stacked atop that.

Opening the door, the warmth from within escaped with the sound of a lively fire. Stepping in, the crew would notice that while not much, the house was very livable. To their rights would be a staircase leading up to a sort of loft where hammocks were hung between support beams. To their left was a table and chairs, and a tall wooden cupboard containing crude metal eating utensils.

In front of them, however, was the source of the crackling sounds and wavering golden light, but accompanied by that, was the scent of stew being cooked in a large, heavy cauldron hanging from a metal hook within the flames. The smell of meat, carrots, onions, and spices filled the small house, and the farmer shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not much, but it's home. When all ya got is nothing, there is plenty to share." Their host joked, taking the cloak off to reveal the hunched and boney figure of a very aged male Nagual. His fur was patchy in places, and a long beard clung to the lower lip of his muzzle. He moved towards the cupboard and took out place settings for everyone, leaving plates stacked on the table, and setting mugs near them, while a small cup like container full of spoons, knives, and forks rested at the table's edge.

As he moved, the sound of his worn paws shuffling over the wooden plank flooring swished as he moved to a small door in the floor by the fire, pulling it open and descending within. Moments later he returned with a container in both arms. Though he looked weak, the strength shown by their host was near supernatural. He set one, a barrel, on it's side on the table, while the other, more of a stoneware jug, was rested on a small shelf by the cupboard. Turnign back to the cask, he tapped it with a metal spigot, and then turned to the fire, lifting the lid from the cauldron to let out even more of the scent from within.

"Stew's just about ready if you want any, and I didn't know what y'all outsiders like with your meals so I brought up a little wine, and some of the local brew. It's no Ambrosia, but it will wet a tired and dry whistle." The host said, then moved to grab a bowl from the table, turned the spigot to fill a mug with deep amber liquid from within, and then moved to ladle himself some of the stew, sitting in a large chair by the fire, and began to enjoy his dinner.

 

[zephyrite]

Kassi marveled at how strong the man was to be able to lift a barrel full of liquid and set it on the table with such ease. It seemed quite beyond anything any of them could do; maybe the two Neplesians could, but perhaps not with such ease and grace as this man presented. Kassi looked sadly at the food; it looked delicious, but she couldn't partake in it with the suit on, and she didn't especially want to die of a local disease. Staying back, she watched to see what the others would do.

 

[MissingNo]

Gem looked around as she followed the feline farmer into his home.

Her initial reaction was confusion. A cloaking device (she still didn't consider the possibility of another way to hide her ship), and he lives in this? No conveniences of any kind? This was as bad as any slum on Nepleslia, though significantly more...well, she had to admit, it was significantly more homelike and comfortable-looking than many of those slums, despite its lack of technology. A nice, rustic air. Though, having been raised on a ship, then living in a large city, she was a little unnerved.

None of that showed on her face, however. Instead, she just stepped inside after him, then remained standing until a seat was offered, watching their host. His age caught her a little off-guard, like his home, but as he carried the barrel and the jug up from the cellar, she got the impression he was more than the sum of his weathered appearance. She glanced back at Eliot, Nicolai, and Kassi. The diminutive 'Spacer was watching the farmer but making no other move, and the two men were oddly quiet.

"Um...sure, Ah'll 'ave s'm." Best to try it before her crew, she supposed. That, and she'd neglected to eat anything since they left the station. "An'...got any water?"

 

[TeslaTornado]

Meanwhile, Eliot stepped nervously towards the cauldron, along the way picking up a large, earthenware bowl. He moved towards the cauldron and pulled up a large ladel full of the stew. Catching the scent, he began dumping ladels of the stew into his bowl and moved back to the table.

"Thank you," he stated gruffly to the Kohanian as he began to consume the meal.

 

[AoK]

Nodding to both Eliot, and Gem's statements at the same time, the old looking feline began to head into the kitchen, where he pumped a handle over a deep basin and filled a large mug with clear, cool water and offered it to the ship captain.

It's been sitting a while, but it should still be cool. Thank goodness for the Reach's advances in technology that brings us water whenever we need it. It was getting hard to walk all the way down to the stream every time I needed a glass." He said, walking back into the room with the others, and retook up his meal and drink, rocking slowly in his chair.

"Well, don't just stand there like a bunch of rock golems, make yourself at home. For the evening, my house is your house...If you need anything, even information, just you ask ol' Blood Sky, that's me. I used to be a huntsmaster for this area. Ain't no corner I don't know...or, well, before the accident there was no corner I didn't know. Now I just mostly point weary travellers for the nearest town, and let the true trackers help them from there."

And then, he fell into silence, sipping at the thick broth of his stew, mixing with it a swig of home made alcohol every now and again.

 

[MissingNo]

Gem smiled a bit at the former huntsmaster's (whatever a "huntsmaster was...) comment on the plumbing, accepting the mug when he offered it to her. She set it down at an open spot on the table and took a bowl to the cauldron for some of the stew after Eliot was finished as Blood Sky made formal the offer of his house to these strangers. As she sat down, Gem found herself wondering as she tasted the stew at this society that allowed the people to be so trusting. "D'ya 'ave many visitors?" she asked, meanwhile being pleasantly surprised at the food's taste...wonderfully mixed spices, fresh ingredients, something she had never really had. Most of her mother's cooking had ingredients that needed stored for long voyages, and Nepleslia had hardly any fresh meat of the wild variety left, since cities covered most of the planet's surface making meat something raised in pens. "Th' soup's terrific," she said as an aside, her eyebrows rising.

Smiling, the male nodded his thanks, and then joined the ship's captain at the table. "Naw, we don't get many visitors around these parts. This is Mokoi territory, so when evening starts to roll around, people tend to seek out the thick walls of a temple city, or some other established fort, not the wide open forests like where I live. And before you ask, no, I am not a servant of the Dark One, or even The Lady Laughing Rain...You are safe here, and that should be all that you think about at this stage. That, and thoughts on the food and drink here."

Mokoi? Gem almost asked, but stopped. Someone on the station had mentioned them. And it seemed like everyone knew what they were, here, so asking would make her not a local. Same went for asking who these "Laughing Rain" and "Dark One" people were. She just hoped the others in her group didn't ask; they could ask those questions of someone who knew that the Key's crew wasn't from that area. After another spoon of the stew, she went for the next logical question: "Why do y'live out 'ere if i's dang'rous?"

With a sharp laugh, the man took a large swallow of his drink, setting the mug off to one side. "Well, someone has to, don't they? The towns will need a watchman to keep an eye out for the armies of darkness. There is, after all, nothing to stop The Dark One from rising again, or from the Boogywalkers that follow the Voodoo Queen Mistwalker from trying to take over more land than just the swamps to the south." He shrugged his shoulders. "I swore an oath to protect and provide for the people, and I will honor that until my last dying breath."

[JP'd. Just trying something that might get my post frequency up.]

 

[TeslaTornado]

"Laughing Ones? Boogywalkers?" Eliot scratched his head as he put another spoonful of the surprisingly good stew into his mouth. The formerly cheerfully new culture was now beginning to take its toll on the bedraggled crewman, whose brain was being raked over the coals in the process of catching up to the sprawling progression of culture that was being laid out before him.

"What are they, exactly? They sound like funk bands to me."

 

[AoK]

Coming down from the upper sleeping area, a tall powerfully built cougar stepped into the firelight and took up a bowl to ladel some stew into, and then helped himself to a mug of the wine.

"Boogeywalkers are nothing more than legends the old ones pass around to keep the kids in line. It is said that they are the students of the spirit realm, and the only group to be able to imprison the souls of the dead within armors and weapons. If you ask me, it's all a load of shit." He said without looking up from his dinner as he pinched salt over it and then mixed it into the broth.

"As for Laughing Rain, she was empress of our people at one time, but has now been sent into exile after she was exposed as being in collaboration with Off Worlders like yourselves to try and sell our people into slavery and servitude again. She tried to stand up the Avatar, our liason between the Pantheon and the People, and for that she and all her minions have been cursed to never be able to see through the many disguises of the Supreme One."

He did not introduce himself, just leaving his statements at that, before returning to the loft without another word. The crew's host however, smoothed over the edges that were left by the other person's descriptions.

"Please forgive him, his brother murdered his father in the name of the Walkers. They are a group that believes whole heartedly in the spirit realm, and some believe they hold dominance there and are able to pull souls back from the Eternal Void, to store in special stones. Then when the stones are socketed into armors and weapons, the soul takes over and can influence the world around it. Let me show you what I mean..."

Turning from the rest of the group, the man walked up to the loft only to return with a large sack, which he dumped out onto the table to reveal it was full of perfect thumb sized gems. Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, all colors were on display. He picked up two gems in particular both diamonds.

"See this one is perfectly clear, some would argue it is perfect in every way. What they do not know, is that to my people, the clear gem is not worth much, because it is nothing but a rock. The other gem, that looks like it is full of cream is the more expensive, for it contains the soul of a famous warrior who fought in the war against the furless ones. Or so I have been told."

With that explained, the crew could see that many of the gems were cloudy, but the majority were clear, almost like colored glass, but they were gemstones to be sure.

"The Walkers are the sole practitioners of the soul binding techniques. Not even the Kee'Awloo monks in charge of magic recognize what the Walkers do as being legitimate. They may not acknowledge it, but they have recognized the effects. The temples are guarded by golems made from the very stones they refuse to believe contain souls. They are wise in many things, but those that seem not to fit their beliefs of what should be allowed they do not recognize. It is because of this that the Boogeywalkers are allowed to work without supervision..."

With a shrug, the host went back to his stew, tipping the bowl up to drink down the broth, before just sitting back by the fire to sip at his alcohol.

 

[TeslaTornado]

"Ooh!" Eliot's eyes danced across an exceptionally well-formed topaz crystal that was lightly speckled with the aforementioned clouding without being completely obscured. The molten-gold color of the gem caught the light of the fire and made it glow from within. Eliot swept his hand across the table in a split-second and, as a cartoon character would say- Yoink! The topaz stone dissappeared from the table.

 

[MissingNo]

Gem was briefly startled by the cougar, having thought that the huntsmaster was living alone. But in the interest of time for rest, and the fact that it was the...er..."man's" home and he could invite who he wished, she stayed silent after the cougar returned to the loft. She took another spoonful of soup and sipped it.
As Blood Sky explained the cougar's little speech, Gem made her own explanation. There were two major political powers on this world. One was bad one was good...or so the people believed, she reminded herself. Propaganda could do a lot, so she resolved to get more information about this "Great One" before making any further judgments.
However, Laughing Rain was rather cut-and-dried not the type of person Keira would want to do business...and who cared about investigating -those- claims. While there could be possibilities, Rain came with some bad press that wouldn't reflect well on Gem if she got involved.

Then the old feline brought out the gemstones. Gem did her best to look uninterested in the stones themselves and paid attention to what was being said about them, watching Blood Sky as he spoke...especially the part about the cloudy ones being more valuable. "If no one believes that they hold souls, why're they more valuable? Sentiment?" asked Gem, glancing down at the stones.

Taking a deep breath, the feline canted his head and got an odd smile. "Ya know? I don't know why those that don't believe they hold souls find them more valuable. Best I can figure, if they are wrong, they don't want their customers coming back to them demanding the fair price for the stones. Also, I am sure there is a little sentiment attached to them as well." He grinned and just watched the crew, pondering over each face, committing them to his limited memory in case he ran into them again later.

"Mm." Gem finished off her stew, moving the empty bowl toward the center of the table when she was done. "Nice. So 'ow much y' know 'bout why we're 'ere? An' is there an'thing y' can do t' 'elp us?"

The cougar canted his head again, staring with slightly narrowed eyes at the Key's captain. "Well, I don't know what you're talkin' about miss. I have no idea why you are here, but when the dusk rolls in, it is common practice for people to open their homes if they have an extra bed. The Mokoi do not play around when it comes to attacking unwary travelers."

Gem blinked once, a distinct moment of silence passing before she spoke again. "Oh. Ah'm sorry, we're...nah very familiar with th' customs 'ere. Thank ya for th' 'ospital'ty..." she drew out the last word, mentally registering the number of stones on the table. Was one missing? She looked up at Blood Sky again and smiled. "If y'ave d'rections t' th' nearest city, we'd be in y'r debt."

Blood Sky tapped his pipe on the his leg for a moment, weighing just how much information to give these oddly acting strangers. "You furless ones aren't planning to take down the temple again, are you? We barely got the reconstruction back up..." he commented, eying Gem and her crew slowly. Something internal told him he was being paranoid, and his stern expression turned to a smile. "The nearest town would be An'Kyrett. It's about a full day's journey, but you have nothing to worry about, the entire way is wide paths, and very few rogues and bandits. It is patrolled by the Knights of the Silver Fang, so you have nothing to fear if you get into trouble." He grinned and leaned forward to draw a crude map with the stem of his pipe on the table top. "Whatcha want to do, is leave here, and when you get to the end of the garden path, take a left. You'll follow that road for about, oh I don't know you look pretty healthy so I am going to say 2 hours, and you will come to a fork in the path. Take the right hand path, and it will lead you into a wooded area, this is where you will need to be on your guard because the Kapua love to hide in the trees and ambush unwary travelers. Also, there is talk that Blood Paw has returned to those woods after his time in a Templar prison...Be wary of his band of thugs and you should be fine."

Great. Bandits, an' we're left w' nah even a pistol b'tween us, thought Gem. She studied the imaginary lines on the table and then closed her eyes, committing them to memory before looking back up at the huntsmaster with a polite smile. "Thanks for th' warnin'. Ah think we'll be fine now."

[[JP'd. AoK = Blood Sky. Gem = Myself.]]

 

[TeslaTornado]

((You're still alive! Squee~))

Eliot listened patiently to the conversation that Gem carried out with Blood Sky, the whole conversation being comitted to memory as it went. As the conversation came to an end, he shuddered involuntarily.

"Yeah, up against beasts that can consume people twice my size without weapons or armor... Odds are definitely in my favor today..." He muttered to himself.

 

[AoK]

Blood Sky turned to look at Eliot and smiled.

"You have nothing to worry about, Son. So long as you walk in the light, the Mokoi will not get you. The problem lies in the fact that light does not remain long in these woods. Things...happen."

He put his pipe to his lips and chewed a bit on the stem before continuing.

"I don't mean to frighten you with these stories, it is just warnings that I have found most travelers wanting to know. As I said, you have nothing to worry about, though. Just get some rest here, and in the morning your guides will be here to take you to the city. Once you get there, I am sure you will find whatever it is that you are looking for. Just be careful. Something about you seems a bit off...like you're not from around these parts..."

And with that, the cougar stuffed some tobbacco into his pipe and lit it, getting lost in thought, and the blue haze that slowly rose from the corners of his mouth to fill the room with a sickly sweet aroma as the blue grey wisps danced along the ceiling.

 

[TeslaTornado]

"Scared? I'm not scared..." Eliot scratched his head. "I just don't appreciate the fact that I have weapons I can't use."

He looked over his shoulder at the rough leather rucksack on his back. Inside were pretty much all the belongings he would pack onto a foreign world- jacket, some dry food, his pistol and the armor Mud had given to him- and sighed. Maintaining his innocence while on the world was a bit annoying- without cargo to load or unload he was pretty much without a job until the shit hit the fan or Gem called end of mission.