[IC] Strait Up Theft

[olopi]

Moving onwards, the streets were mostly empty, only a few people still walking around at this time of night. A few small dockyard buildings lined the water beyond the area for ships to dock, while on the other side of the street running almost parallel to the shore, it was a few smaller stores, and a pub or two, all similar in appearance to many the travelled Captain had seen in many places. Truly, something that existed everywhere on the planet.

 

Not a whole lot of action was happening now. Flintlock passed into the more passenger focused area of the harbour district soon after, which had a cruise-liner, a rather large model at that, docked, taking up all the space, as could be observed by smaller ships being anchored not far off the shore. A few tourists were still walking around the street, visiting some other, more modern and wealthy looking establishments. The rest of the street in this area was lined with stores – all targeted to tourists, once again selling the strange snow globe. A large building, renovated to be a tourist information hotspot stood in the middle, a few streets went inwards, into the city.

 

Recalling the city map she had previously seen, the rest of this street led down towards more tourist focused streets, a big part of the city was in fact relying on tourism, so a big part of it was completely marketed towards them. Inwards, away from the shore, she would soon pass into a more commercial district. Some shopping centres, some offices. And, if she felt like walking back some distance, there also was the Industrial area.

Edited August 9, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

The presence of more snow globes was interesting. Odd. Interesting. Flintlock decided she would certainly by one. Maybe two. One she was here in her more solid form. 

 

The thing was, she was struggling where to go; her astral form could sweep through the city in a blink of an eye, but it was still an city. Much to see. It was beginning to look like a needle in a haystack. 

 

But the industrial area held out hope. Slavery was, after all, a form of industry - horrible as it might be. The biggest problem would be subtle transporting of poor souls, the prisons. And highly populated areas would not always be the most attractive...

 

Off, her astral form flew!

[olopi]

The Captain’s ghostly form continued to float down roads. She passed by the sailors unloading a boat again, most of whom appeared to now be taking a cigarette break, with all the cargo that had been on their ship loaded off, some of it into a van, the rest was standing at their feet for now. The rest of the journey was rather uneventful, she did not come across anymore people, the streets were as empty as they had been before.

 

The part of the Industrial district she had now travelled into was where various warehouses were located, making it look similar to the one back in Singapore. Once again, not a lot of people were here at this late time, a variety of fences doing their best to keep trespassers and thieves out. She floated around the area for some time, before coming across a group of people. Five men, all wearing dark outfits which wouldn’t stand out even in a crowd. They were speaking, but from this distance, Flintlock could not tell what.

 

Moving closer, she heard Spanish. Fortunately, she knew Spanish, so listening in was possible. Something about a new shipment. Something about fish. Something about People buying their way out. Something about wages. And something about a next batch of workers.

Edited August 11, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

GM

 

Spanish!

 

She had a brief flashback to her torrid love affair with Lt. Fernando of the Spanish fleet. He had been sent to arrest her, and they ended up stranded on a desert island for two passionate weeks. Her Spanish had improved considerably. 

 

Quite why Spanish was being spoken by Singapore sailors was quite the peculiarity. Not to mention their rather shifty countenance, or, most pertinently, their highly suspicious chatter. Next batch of workers? People buying there way out?...most suspicious. For a moment, she wished she could step out of the Astral plane and confront them. But, alas, her pysical body was many miles away, in a trance on the Black Flag. 

 

She took a good look at the men, trying her best to memorise their faces, their stances, and exactly where they were standing - or had come from - or would go to. All the while, listening...

[olopi]

Flintlock continued to listen in, the discussion unfortunately not offering much more information. It appeared she had arrived towards the end of the discussion, as soon after she had started to listen in, the men walked away. Flintlock followed them all the way to one of the residential districts, where they split up. She decided to follow the one looking most experienced, who walked around some more, before entering into a house, not far away from the harbour. There, he went to sleep almost immediately. Flintlock spent some time searching the house, whatever she could in her ghostly form.

 

A few naval charts, of the area north of Malaysia, were lying on a table. A variety of technology accompanied them, as well as a few books, with which the Sorceress could not interact at the moment due to her distinct lack of a corporeal form.  

 

She continued until, sometime later, she woke up again on her ship, which was now sitting in the water, the crew waiting for their captain’s orders before moving any closer to the city.

Edited August 11, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

Consciousness slipping back to earthly body was always something of a relief. The Astral plane was mind bending, and she had heard tales, tales she could well believe, of people losing their mind there. 

 

She rand hands through hair. She slapped her face a few times just to check it was indeed her own cheeks that stung. She gritted her teeth and stuck out her tongue. 

 

Yes, all present and accounted for. 

 

She took to deck to take a lie of the land, and drummed her fingers against the trustyworthy black wood of her ship. The Black Flag sometimes felt alive. She judged it sometimes felt alive because it probably was; imbued with some half sentience. 

 

No, it wouldn't do to sail into Singapore on a Pirate Ship. 

 

"Jack! You have the Flag! Keep her a distance. Don't want to attract too much attention" she said to her first mate, who gave a quick salute. 

 

"Lash, Pete, Rose, Billy" she said, indicating the four crewmembers, "Get the rowing boat out. Time for some exercise!" she told them. 

 

And so, Cik and co included, the rowing boat was gently lowered, and four mildly grumbling undead (with, it must be said, some strength and vigour to said undead limbs) started making for the shore. 

[olopi]

The rowing boat was quite packed, with everyone on it. Yet, that did not matter much, the crew’s undead strength being enough to make the boat travel at an acceptable pace regardless. As the boat made its way across the waves, towards the city, it was rather quiet, the only sounds being the water, wind and the paddles pushing the water.

 

Soon after, the first lights of the city came into view. The hotels did not care much for things like the silence of night, a light was burning in at least one window at all times. The boat approached the shore, not far off from where Flintlock had first entered the city in her astral form. As the boat got closer, Cik fumbled around her backpack, pulling out what looked like a Flashlight, judging by it’s appearance probably water-proof too.

 

As the boat set down on shore and the skeleton crew left the boat, in order to take a few steps and then drag the boat further inland so it would not get dragged away, Cik’s attention went towards Flintlock.

 

“So, where do we go? “

Edited August 12, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

"Lash, Billy, keep watch by the boat" she told the respective members of the Skeleton Crew. 

 

One Eyed Pete and Ginger Rose would accompany Cik and her friends into town. For this merry Jaunt, Pete and Rose appeared as regular sailors, complete with the odd tattoo and calloused hands. Hardly a trace of zombie or pirate about them. 

 

Flintlock, on the other hand, wore her normal pirate garb, with knife and pistol tucked away where she hoped nobody could see them. Nobody decent, that is. 

 

"To the harbour! By foot! Aye, a merry jaunt by land, makes a change from the sea, me hearties!" she said, swaggering off to that very part of the city, with Pete and Rose behind her. 

 

"Keep an eye on the shift ones!" she whispered to her undead crewmates. She was growing to trust Cik, but that was a far step from trusting them...

[olopi]

The journey was quiet. At this late time, not many things were happening in the city of Dunggun. The tourists kept to their own hotels during the night, out of fear. The natives generally slept in order to be rested the next day. A few stray animals ran around the streets, but other than that, the group of six, did not come across anybody.

 

Perhaps nobody was around, perhaps it had to do with them looking rather intimidating, Flintlock in her pirate outfit leading the way, Cik and her friends moving behind, Cik and Ahmad holding Flashlights while Joyo was scanning the area with her eyes, and behind them, two sailors, not as intimidating as their actual form, but not looking harmless regardless.

 

And then, a walk of about half an hour later, Flintlock and Company arrived at the destination Flintlock had planned on going to, nothing along their way making it difficult to get there.

Edited August 12, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

So, the light was not to their favour. Or perhaps it was. Not in the favour to search, but in their favour to be found. 

 

The Skeleton Crew, thanks to their differently-alive status had no problem seeing in the Dark. Flintlock, her heart still beating, had more of a problem. She was most thankful for those new-fangled torch beams. 

 

"Spread out! Not too far!" she half suggested, half ordered. "I heard some sailors - well, maybe not sailors, for they where mightly' suspicious - talk with words most suggestive. Like they knew something about the poor souls being taken here. Maybe it was just idle gossip. But maybe not! And if there be people smugglin' to be a - doin' then me guess is, middle of the night would the time most oppurtune!" she explained. 

 

With that, and with neither a flashlight nor undead eyes to guide her, she bolted on to Cik and her flashlight...

[olopi]

The group spread out. Each of the skeleton crew accompanied one of Cik’s friends, heading off into opposite directions down the same road, from where they would just wander around and look for what they could find. As they headed out, Cik swung her flashlight around the area, looking at the walls of the nearby buildings. Seemingly content, she then moved up to Flintlock, from where the two set out, to also look around, and try to find something.

 

They wandered for a few minutes. It was quiet, only occasionally a noise made by one of the many animals was heard. Not having found anything so far, Cik seemed to swing her flashlight around just slightly faster. Not hugely noticeably so, but enough for Flintlock’s eyes to realize it. After a few more minutes of walking down streets and not finding anything worth of mention, she turned towards Flintlock.

“It’ll take a while to find anything this way. Did you find ou anything more precise? Or do you have some trick up your sleeve?”

[Supercape]

"I have plenty 'o tricks up me sleeves!" said Flintlock, confidently. Inside, her confidence was eroding somewhat. 

 

It was, however, time to refine the search. 

 

"There was a house, near here. Short of it burnin' down, and that is a possibility with thieves, it should still be standing. I saw...well, yes, I saw...it's one of me tricks, y'see, well I saw some charts there. Some books. Couldn't seem em all, couldn't read em. But me guess is they would be worth readin'!" she explained. 

 

"Some mighty no good sailors were talking, right here. Followed one of them to the house. Well, it ain't too solid, I grant you, but we can but hope me nose was right!" she said with a wink and a tap of her nose. 

 

"Leave me crew searchin', and ye friends to. Might be they even find something. Meantimes, lets have a look at that house..."

[olopi]

“Works with me. There has to be something in those charts that we can use.  “

 

Flintlock retraced her steps from before, this time having to take a few alternative routes due to a distinct lack of flying or the ability to phase throuhg objects. Nevertheless, there was no trouble to be found still, and not long after, the two women arrived at the house Flintlock had observed earlier on.

 

The house still lookde the same as before. The windows suggested that the man was still asleep, as no light was seen and Flintlock had not seen anybody else in the house when she’d been there. It would take some effort  to get into the room with the charts however. The entrance was hidden behind a bookcase (most classic!) , which stood in the office, the only ways into which were either throuhg the man’s bedroom, or through a window on the second floor.

 

Cik had turned her Flashlight’s strenght down, just enough to still see, but not more. As she looked at the surrounding buildings, she spoke, quietly, whispering her remarks.

“Rich area. No wonder. “

 

 

Edited August 14, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

"Well, it be like climbing up a mast, to sort out the sails!" said Flintlock, admiring the second floor window. 

 

"I'm sure you won't have any trouble, being as quick on your feet as you are" she said to Cik, Despite her outward confidence, she was not so sure. The drainpipe, maybe....

 

Well, 'twas surely a better bet than sneaking through a mans bedroom. Aye, she had done that a few times, with lovers and husbands and wives in various parts of the drama. But seemed impolite, somehow, if the fire of romance was not involved. 

 

"Well, then, ladies first. I'm no lady..." she said, offering Cik the first climb. 

 

And neither are you...she added to herself. 

 

"I'm sure a quick fingered lady like yourself can wiggle that window open?"

[olopi]

The light coming from Cik went upwards, moving up the wall. She was looking for something to climb, the darkness would’ve hidden any small details. After having it move up and down the wall a few times, she dimmed the light again, and put the Flashlight into a pocket on her cargo pants. She took a look at the Captain while stepping towards the wall, stretching in the meatime.

 

“Easy enough. See if you can follow. “

 

One small leap, and Cik had grabbed onto a misaligned brick in the wall with both her hands. From there, her hands wandered to another one, while pulling her feet upwards. There, she stopped just a second, readjusting her grip. Another brick was just above her, but out of arm’s reach. She took an audible breath, before pushing her foot off the brick, her hand following as well, propelling her upwards. And just into range of the next one, which she grabbed. From there, she swung towards the side, her other hand grabbing onto the indent the window was placed in. Her other hand followed, her foot placed where she had jumped to.

 

Her right hand went upwards, touching the window, and swallowing in in the same glow as the crate when Cik had first demonstrated her powers. She slipped through the hole in the wall which now existed, before throwing the end of a rope downwards. At the same time, the glow was visible again, creating a crate, onto which Cik tied the other end of the rope. Then, she used her hands to tell Flintlock to climb up, not speaking for obvious reasons.  

Edited August 15, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

Well, that saved a lot of climbing. A rope, now a rope she could manage!

 

"I'll manage!" she whispered back, grabbing the rope carefully and hoping Cik would summon some giant pair of scissors or something. She did not know exactly what the thief could do, after all, other than make cargo disappear. 

 

She was not a strong woman, but neither was she a weak one. And her calloused hands could still hall her tall spindly frame up a rope, and into...

 

Into, well hopefully some clues!

 

"Wait for me!" she hissed as she ascended. 

[olopi]

Flintlock ascended the rope with little ton o difficulty, climbing it was not much different from other ropes she had climbed, and Cik did not summon any scissors. Once Flintlock ahd entered the room too, the crate got unsummoned, while the rope wandered back into Cik’s bag. She grabbed the Flashlight and scouted out the room. Fllintlock had been here before. A desk stood, facing out towards the room’s other window, on the desk, the strange machine known as computer had taken a place. Two other tables, various things stacken on them and a variety of bookshelves finished off the room’s simple, but cozy design.

 

Flintlock knew that the access to the room was behind one of the bookcases, but she did not know which mechanism would activate the door. And, the houes’s owner was most likely still sleeping, just on the other side of the office’s more official door. The two women would have to be quiet, but also somehow communicate.

 

Cik simply looked at Flintlock and shrugged with a questioning expression, while continuing to let her Flashlight’s light wander across the room, maybe there was still more to find in here.

Edited August 17, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

 

"Shhhh!" whispered Flintlock, needlessly. 

 

They would have to whisper. Remaining silent was not an option. 

 

"There is a hidden room, behind one of these bookcases...don't ask me how I know" she hissed as quietly as possible, using gesticulation to augment her words. 

 

"Must be a secret level or button, or something, methinks" she suggested, gazing around the room. Of course, she could just send her spirit through the bookcase, but that had limitations, not least leaving her physical body on the floor and vulnerable. And with Cik. Which was, despite her growing confidence and trust, still something of a gamble. 

 

Or, she could just summon something horrible to rip the bookcases to splinters and dust. 

 

But, simple solutions first. It was time to search the office. Maybe even take a look at this new fangled computer thing, if it came to it...

[olopi]

The first thing Flintlock looked at were the bookcases. They seemed to be neatly organized, one was focused around a variety of languages, offering dictionaries primarily. English, Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Malaysian, and a few more. The closest something came to standing out was a few books on traditional African languages being stored here too. The topic of the next shelf was Geography. Here, there were various books, mostly on the south-east Asian region. Of note were books on nautical navigation, detailing currents and known sandbanks, which Flintlock had taken out and quickly flicked through.  The other books covered everything from the exact stones found in the ground to economical maps, most of them seemed to not be read as much however.

 

Meanwhile, from Cik, who had sat down at the Computer in order to figure out more, came a sentence Flintlock did not understand, but judging by its tone it was a swear, whispered quietly, just loud enough for Flintlock to pick it up.

 

“It’s protected. I’m not getting in without Ahmad’s help. “

 

Flintlock, in the meantime, continued going through the books. The third shelf, a variety of fiction. Ranging from Adventure Novels, to criminal stories, to wat appeared to be books on the horrors from beyond, but written as stories. Something stood out to the Captain’s senses. One of these books looked a lot less used than the others, showing no signs of wear on its back, compared to all the other books paced next to it and also facing towards her.

Edited August 18, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

Cap'n Flintlock could speak many tongues, but generally she had sailed the seas of the America's. European languages mainly, plus, naturally, the languages beneath the seas. The noble Atlantis, the hideous Lemurian. 

 

But African and eastern languages were, by and large, unspoken. What would African language books be doing in Singapore? Not implausibly, but notable, perhaps. 

 

"Ahmed?" she asked, perhaps a bit too pointedly. True, she would not be able to help with computers. She could use them. Just. But defetaing their electronic locks would be quite beyond her. "Who is he?"

 

"And what is this?" she mused, spying the book. Perhaps this book would be the key they needed. She reached forward, gently pulling and twisting the book from its shelf. She had an inclination that a secret door would open...

[olopi]

Cik, somewhat frustrated by the security of the PC, turned her head over towards Flintlock, before replying, still whispering, barely enough for Flintlock to hear it.

“He’s …-“

 

Just then, her whispering got cut short, as Flintlock pulled downwards on the book, and it responded with a clacking noise of significant loudness, compared to the whispering that had happened so far. The book, as one could’ve expected, had been a hidden lever, and as Flintlock released her grip, she saw the inside of the book being cut out and replaced with a variety of metal parts, some of whom looked like they’d be able to move.

 

The bookcase slid towards the side, before quickly snapping back a few centimetres, folding in behind the bookcase next to it, and revealing a pathway towards the room Flintlock had spotted before, in her more arcane form. The noise of the bookcases moving, much like that of the lever, was fairly loud, and had the unpleasant sound of metal grinding along metal.

 

Before the bookcase had even fully moved into a position revealing the next room, Cik had already stood up and walked towards Flintlock. She stood about a metre behind the Captain, looking at the parts moving and slowly revealing something behind.

 

“Nice one. “

 

 

Edited August 22, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

 

The good Captain Flintlock was not best pleased with grinding metal. Just the sort of screech she never liked in the first place, and, she judged, a very respectable pitch and tone if one was designing a sound to wake up people who would best not be woken up. 

 

Still. 

 

"Aye, its a secret door! I always wanted to find one of those!" 

 

It had been a long life, but secret doors had not, to date, been part of her life's tapestry. 

 

"Ladies first!" she winked to Cik, as she let herself enter the passageway first. No time like the present, especially with sleeping (or possibly not sleeping) persons nearby. 

 

Out of habit, she drew her Flintlock Pistol. It seemed appropriate, even if summoning the dread talons of Weng-Gnarloc would be much more effective...

[olopi]

Cik went ahead and through the passage between the books, almost slamming her foot into the metal railing the secret door had slid along, but noticing it and stepping over it at the last second. Immediately, Cik started looking around, her flashlight’s light darting around the small room’s walls.

 

As Flintlock knew already, the room was rather small, just enough space to store various books and maps, and a spot for a desk with a chair, a small lightbulb hanging above. It probably was a modified storage closet, or small space that had been turned into a room after the original building process.

 

The light wandered around the room, the stopped on a few nautical maps, the coast of northern Malaysia, the gulf of Thailand, the south china sea. All of them, detailed with a variety of maps. Most of them showed currents, some of them had writing on them, a few had things noted down with coloured markers.

 

“Oh, something’s down here. “

 

Cik then stuck her head under the desk, where a few closed carton boxes had been placed. From a small opening in the topmost, it was easy to tell that they contained some kind of folders, and Cik lifted the first one onto the desk, before taking out the topmost folder and starting to leaf through.

 

“So, what now? There’s far too many of these to go through all. Should we just take them with us?”

Edited August 23, 2016 by olopi

[Supercape]

"Aye, that is a good question, so, to balance things out, I will give a bad answer" laughed Cap'n Flintlock. 

 

'Twas unfortunate that Flintlock did not have one of those cameras. Especially the new ones that ran on bottled lightning. Electricity. Would have been most handy, she conceded. But she preferred old fashioned. 

 

"Take the boxes under the desk. They most probably hidden there for a reason. Anything that is placed away from eyes is the very thing that 'tis most interesting to see" she opined. 

 

She reached out to grab the maps she had seen. 

 

"And for these maps. Some have been marked. Interesting, I should bet..." she explained, scrunching them up as best she could. 

 

"If they not be sufficient, then we may need to return" she added. "But there may be a perilous thing yet. A little look at the sleeping man..." she suggested. 

 

If they could sneak back out, then creep into his room...well, what was to be lost? even if he awoke, his reaction might be interesting. And besides, summoning some spectre might be even more productive...man, woman, and child would often gable secrets to some ghost or horror...

 

 

[olopi]

Upon Flintlock’s response, Cik put down the folder she had been holding, and looked under the desk again, extending her hand. A familiar glow, and then all the boxes had disappeared. The only thing left were a few loose folders and pieces of paper, which Cik instead grabbed and put in her backpack. Then, she turned around, to look at the various methods of storage behind her, where clearly more would be found.

 

Meanwhile, Flintlock had been grabbing various maps, still on the desk. Once the desk had been cleared it revealed a stone plate, a rather fancy way of doing a work desk, but hardly anything that had further meaning.

 

She took a step outwards, and something felt just slightly off, but she could not tell exactly what. Then, just a moment after, she realized just what it was.

 

As the sound of a gun being fired, and the sound of the impact of a bullet in wood, happening almost simultaneously, ringed in her ear, she realized that the room was more lit up than before, the light’s source being the now opened door leading into the sleeping man’s room, a dark silhouette, a rather tall one at that, standing inside the frame.

Edited August 23, 2016 by olopi