[Audio/Visual] Dude where's our map? [Date TBD?]

[naturaltwohands]

[Drizzt's human hands are holding up some paper, his eyes focused on a note in neat Imperial Calligraphy:

I have your charts. If you want a chance of ever leaving this benighted island, bring me the Bando rebels’ box and give me safe passage back to the Empire.

K

Drizzt's gaze continues to linger on it as he speaks out loud, voice even but laced with anger. Yes, he's got a young teenager's voice. And yes, it doesn't do anger very well. Also yes, shut up.]

As the note says, our sea charts have been stolen. [You know, the ones Drizzt found after they didn't need them anymore?] I found this ransom note on the back of our charter.

Does anyone possess clues that might lead to the identity of the traitor? What course of action should we take? And where exactly would we meet this individual? They've neglected to mention a location with which to meet.

Comments

[loyalrebel]

Our maps matter less than the other ship's.

If someone does get their hands on the box, I can rig an unpleasant surprise for the thief instead of whatever contents they did not mention in their note.

[naturaltwohands]

I agree. Still, it's the spirit of the matter!

Whatever the contents, he or she must not get them. A trap would be far better for his or her troubles, although he or she likely intend to only tell us the maps if they get what he or she desires.

[Someone please teach Drizzt they as a third person pronoun.]

[loyalrebel]

I doubt they thought their plan through very well anyway.

Which is why we should give them a box with false contents, they will think they got what they wanted and give back the charts. Then when they open the box it will quite literally blow up in their face.

I have little sympathy for thieves and traitorous spies.

[naturaltwohands]

And if they wish to check inside the box with one of us present?

[loyalrebel]

Be far enough back so that you do not get hit.

[naturaltwohands]

As if one could do that without causing suspicion.

... The entire plan seems disproportionate in force, do you not think? The thief has only stolen a map. There is little need to kill for such an offense.

[Remember, this kid was picked by Justice for a reason.]

[loyalrebel]

You do not effectively hold an entire island population hostage for something harmless.

[naturaltwohands]

[Drizzt is quiet as he digests that idea.]

It still does not sit well with me. None of our people were slain or even injured. Why should we be the ones to strike the first blow--a fatal one, no less?

[Mostly because he's an idealist to a fault.]

[claudiometer]

From the sound of the shouting, the Pulao's charts are gone too. I can pretty much guarantee those weren't the only copy, but anyone close enough to Helena for her to overlay is going to want her stolen property back because it's her property.

The box part is... worrisome.

[naturaltwohands]

It seems the thief has a contingency plan in place.

... I am not certain I wish to know what is in the box. Does anyone know already?

[claudiometer]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say 'an Imperial dragon.'

[naturaltwohands]

A dragon?

[You can almost see his jaw drop with the way he thinks that.]

How big is this box, exactly? [A beat, that makes no sense.] Or is it only a hatchling?

[loyalrebel]

People have been injured, turned to madness, terrorized and even killed.

Just because they are not investigators does not mean their lives are worth less than our own.

[fruitknife]

There was somebody skulking around the boat the other day. I'd guess a woman but I'm not sure. Dark hair, looked... Polynesian-ish if I had to put it in Earth terms.

Whoever it was, they ain't been on the boat with us before.

[claudiometer]

Imperial dragons hang out in scrolls when they're not active. Open it a little and you can talk to 'em, but I really don't recommend it.

The Empire used to have ten of 'em handy, two of each element. One ended up in the Sun Temple's basement at the end of the last jaunt and I think another one got co-opted by another arm of the rebellion. This one's either the Sun Temple's or another, I'd guess.

If it's been on Helena's ship, she probably doesn't know what she's been carrying, or if she does she just found out. There's dangerous cargo and then there's something that could literally tear her home to shreds if given the chance.

[naturaltwohands]

That is not what I meant! What has happened to people here is heinous and unforgivable.

[Now Drizzt is taking offense.]

But how do we know this individual is responsible for any of that? Is there proof that violence is the best course?

[memoryandtheft]

We have at least one murder victim who wasn't attacked by hungry cannibals. I'd put the odds of that being unrelated to this at slightly south of zero.

[memoryandtheft]

If they didn't mention a meeting place, it's because they're watching - either closely enough to see what we're doing, or for any signal we might send up.

If we know what the box looks like, we might be able to create a decoy to lure them out.

[loyalrebel]

They want something that will cause untold destruction and are willing to hold dozens of people hostage on an island to get what they want.

Are you willing to strand everyone's overlays here and risk their lives and the home others of them have built here when we can stop this individual and protect them all?

[naturaltwohands]

[A very long pause because Drizzt is reeling that there's another in agreement with this idea.]

But what if we strike wrongly?

[naturaltwohands]

[Hold on, Drizzt is finding someplace to sit down. Not that you can see. But there's a delay in his reply as he drops into the chair.]

By the gods... And this individual wants the dragon.

[naturaltwohands]

[Drizzt could ask why he didn't stop her, but he's not going to scold at the moment.]

Do you think you could recognize her if you caught sight of her again?

[claudiometer]

Going by the 'and passage back to the Empire' business, they were sent to return it.

...Hey Thorne? That leader powwow you guys had, did Helena happen to say anything about the Bando Mystery Box?

[memoryandtheft]

That's why we strike non-lethally, in case they're smart enough to use a proxy - either to get the box in the first place, or to open it once they have it. Setting a trap is a good idea. Setting a trap with dynamite is best left to Wile E. Coyote.

But approaching this with the assumption that they're planning on acting in anything like good faith, or that they don't already have a body count...that's just going to get more people killed

[naturaltwohands]

That is very disconcerting.

Does anyone know? I certainly have not set sight on it.