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Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Pattertwigs Pal » Jul 29, 2018 6:42 pm

Alone again Pittersticks retrieved his luggage from its hiding place. He checked the map and the roster looking for an empty cabin. Perfect! The cabin next to Mr. Waters was empty. Pittersticks slowly opened the door and check the hallway. Finding it safe, if slipped out and headed toward his new cabin. He paused at the plant next to his fine picture of a squirrel* and put a small camera in the branches. Now he would be able to see Mr. Waters’ reaction. He entered his new cabin and set up his laptop. The camera was live.

Out of Charactrer: *Original artwork by Meltintalle. Pittersticks did not include the caption on the wall.
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Lady Arwen » Jul 29, 2018 11:02 pm

"Same applies to you, Kaelin," Maeve called before turning back to Angie and the others. They continued to chat until it was time to call the girls out, and then everyone headed to their separate cabins to clean up.

"That was sooooo much fun," Kaelin giggled, flopping on her bed, still wrapped in a wet towel.

"Oy, don't get my bed wet, ya goob," Maeve countered. Kaelin giggled again.

"Honestly, I could take a nap here," she said, then sat up. "Guess I have to shower, first, though?"

"Good guess," Maeve replied.

"Shower it is, then!"
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Delia Death » Jul 31, 2018 12:13 am

It had been several days since the cruise had embarked, and it seemed that everything was going quite swimmingly. Nothing too treacherous had occurred, and, while Mr. Waters might definitely be odd, Delia had determined he was essentially harmless. She had spent most of her time curled up with a book (well, several book). Here, there were no ghosts worth chasing or catching, no escaped monsters, no other weirdnesses.

Then the chandelier started swinging.

"Really?" Delia grumbled. "If you're a ghost, go away. I'm on vacation."

It stopped.

"Thank you," Delia said, not looking up from her book.

The chandelier started swinging again.

"No, no, no, no, no," Delia grumbled, setting her book in her lap and looking up.

There was no ghost disturbing the lighting. Delia stood to investigate, only to find the ship was pitching under her. Grumbling, she began to head down to talk to the crew, but the ship continued to pitch, and seemed to break apart underneath her. A few minutes later, she found herself in the water, struggling to figure out which way was up. She eventually found her way onto a sandy beach.

"So much for a nice, slow, pleasant vacation," she grumbled.

You are welcome to wrap up any conversations your points of interest you want before you experience the crash, but please, join us on the island at your earliest convenience.
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby aileth » Jul 31, 2018 12:01 pm

Waters lay on his berth, a cold compress on his forehead; though his body was still, his mind was charging around restlessly. So far, there had been no overt plot or crime that he had been able to trace down. Several suspicious occurrences, but no definite leads.

As soon as he had run into that young guy in the white suit--what was his name, anyway? Disraeli, Chamberlain, Thatcher, something of the sort--all his mental bells began whirring. A kidnap plot? A jewelry heist? A rich young heir of millions was always a certain mark for opportunistic criminals. On the other hand, maybe Jr was the one to watch--his name had been connected by rumour to various dodgy forays in the past. Must keep an eye on him!

With a groan, IC Waters pulled himself to his feet. He would find nothing here. Perhaps there would be something dubious happening at the buffet. Stepping out into the hall, he was confronted by the leering image of a squirrel. He tottered backwards into his cabin, his eyes rolling wildly. Gasps of whimpering sound emanated from his lips. Somebody knew!

In a frenzy, he dashed out again and reached up to tear the picture off the wall. A sound in the hall made him vacillate. Was somebody coming? Without further warning, the deck beneath him began to shake violently; the next instant it crumpled, and he was plunged into a swelter of waves.
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Ryadian » Jul 31, 2018 12:53 pm

Faye gasped and panted for breath as she pulled herself onto the shore. She had been making a quick sketch of the clouds over the sea, and had vaguely debated actually turning it into a painting when she got home. Before any of those thoughts could be realized, however, the seat beneath her suddenly lurched, and she was flung into the window. Just as she recovered from that, then she suddenly found herself submerged in water. Thankfully, even though it had been years since the last time she'd been swimming, her instincts kicked back in, and she was able to find the surface.

By the time she surfaced, however, she barely knew up from down, let alone where the ship was. After some frantic searching, she at least found a shore within swimming distance. There was a current and, oddly enough, it was actually pulling her towards land. She was grateful for the time being, though she had to fight to keep it from pulling her under.

Once Faye made the beach, she took a moment or two to breathe, before looking around to examine her surroundings. She could see the beginnings of a jungle a ways up the beach, a jungle which grew too thick to see through. The shore to her left extended as far as she could see, though to her right she saw that it was beginning to curve away. So, if this was an island, it seemed to be at least decently sized.

Along the beach, she could see a few pieces of luggage washed up, which led her to believe that if there were other survivors, they would also likely be nearby. She got up and started walking slowly in that direction, until she noticed a couple of other forms - humanoid forms. She dashed over to the closest and called out, "Hello? Are you all right?" Faye was no medic, but she'd learned CPR a long time ago, and would have to hope that that was all that she would need.
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Pattertwigs Pal » Jul 31, 2018 2:03 pm

Pittersticks had patched himself into the cruises ship’s security cameras, so he could monitor what was going on aboard ship. He saw chandeliers shaking on his screen. Was someone else causing mischief on this ship? That was his job! Then he noticed the pitching. This was not good. He saw some movement at Mr. Water’s door. He watched with relish Mr. Water’s horror at the picture on the wall. Unfortunately, he could not enjoy the show any longer because the floor fell out from underneath him. Pittersticks did not like the water but that did not mean that he panicked. He swam to the surface looked around and swam to the nearby beach. Once he reached the shore he ran up the beach and scurried up a coconut tree. Then, he settled into watch the action below. “Rats,” he muttered, “I lost my binoculars in the crash.”
Twig’s was lounging by the pool with a book. She had already been swimming and was drying off a little in the sun. Suddenly, the boat pitched. “What in the world?” she muttered. Quickly, she packed up her swim bag and slipped the strap over her head and nestled the bag at her side. Twig’s slipped into her flip-flops and made her way to the railing to see if she could figure out what was going on. The ship pitched again flinging her into the railing. Before she could regain her footing, the pitching of ship caused some of the water from pools to splash out on top of Twig’s. Either the railing fell away from under her or the swimming pool water swept her off the ship because she found herself in the ocean. She fought her way to the surface and half swam, half was washed up on a sandy beach. She crawled a little farther up and collapsed on the beach, coughing and trying to catch her breath.
Twig's was still laying on the beach when she heard Faye call out. Struggling up to sitting position she said, “I think I'm okay. Just shaken and bruised.”
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby stargazer » Jul 31, 2018 5:02 pm

The Baxter family was thoroughly enjoying their cruise experience. Not only was it a long overdue vacation, but it was full of new experiences. In addition to the buffet - which lived up to its advance billing - there were a variety of ethnic and five-star restaurants that Dan and Angie had already tried.

The ship also had a number of high-end shops that Angie had visited, and the couple had renewed some friendships and acquaintances from the previous year's Christmas party. They'd had lunch one day with Faye Brixton and on another they ran into Mel.

They hadn't seen much of Mssrs. Waters or Gladstone, but then again, it was a big ship.

Grace probably would have been content to spend the whole trip in one or another of the ship's eighteen swimming pools, especially if Kaelin was around to swim with. One day she told her parents that she'd seen a squirrel running around causing mischief. Normally they might have found that hard to believe, but after all they knew a talking dog, so certainly anything was possible.

It happened shortly after they'd left the buffet, Dan thinking to himself that he'd over-eaten, once again, and that a diet might be in order when they returned home. Grace was talking nonstop about swimming once again and hoping Kaelin was there.

The ship began pitching violently. Grace screamed and grabbed on to the nearest handrail.

Dan's first thought was for his wife and daughter as the deck vanished below him and he was plunged into dark, cold water. Glad we're all good swimmers, he thought, but I can't see a thing in this, or even know which way is up.

He fought the waves for what seemed like eternity but was probably only minutes, until he felt sand under his feet. He crawled onto a sandy shore and was content to sit until his strength came back. He scanned around, surveying the beach, looking for his family and other survivors among the luggage and other items washing up on the shore.

He heard a woman call out and decided to start there. As luck would have it, he wasn't far from where Faye had come ashore, and as he arrived he saw her tending to Twig's.

"Hi," he began. "Are you all right? Have you seen anyone else?"

"Daddy!" came a shout from farther up the shore. He was relieved to see Grace running as best she could in the sand; she seemed uninjured.

But where was Angie?
But all night, Aslan and the Moon gazed upon each other with joyful and unblinking eyes.
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Lady Arwen » Jul 31, 2018 5:04 pm

Xandria walked stiffly down the beach, and over toward the voices she heard. They belonged to two women and a gentleman she had not previously met, but, judging by their state of overall wetness and checking-on-each-other-ness, she assumed they too had been on the cruise.

"Hello?" Xandria called, pulling her hoodie as far over her bum and legs as she could. "Do any of you happen to have any spare clothes? It seems my pants got--ah--lost during our unexpected swim."

~~

Maeve and Kaelin's cabin happened to be farther away from the center of the capsize, so they had a little bit more time to work through things. Ever tactical, Maeve made sure they both dove as far away from the ship as possible, then towed Kaelin until she was sure they were no longer at risk of being pulled under by the ship's decent. After that, she made Kaelin swim on her own, reasoning that if the waters turned rough, she would much rather have her own strength and an exhausted Kaelin, than be exhausted herself, with a strong Kaelin. The sisters made fairly good time through the water, stopping now and then to float and rest. It was during one such float that Kaelin noticed the water seemed to be bringing them toward land, so the two agreed to float for the time being, and see just exactly how close the current would bring them.
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Ryadian » Jul 31, 2018 6:58 pm

"Okay, good to hear." Faye quickly glanced over Twig's and didn't see any obvious injury or bleeding, and since her medical knowledge basically stopped at CPR and the most obvious signs of a concussion, she decided to press no further.

Short after, Dan Baxter came up and asked if they'd seen anyone else. Just as she was about to answer negatively, a fourth person - a young woman Faye didn't recognize, but suspected she'd seen on the ship - approached and asked about a pair of pants. Busy, busy.

She turned to Dan and quickly said, "We're all the people I've seen thus far, but I expect more will show up. I think there's a current that dragged us here." She glanced at the unidentified woman and added, "That includes some luggage. I haven't had a chance to look through it yet, but it seems everyone's okay, so...."

Faye turned to a large suitcase that had washed up nearby. It was still in decent shape - one of the latches had broken off, but apparently recently enough that it was held shut. She opened it and, of course, it was apparently a man's suitcase, and she was guessing this man was taller than the other woman. But, in lieu of anything else, she found a pair with belt loops. No belt, of course, but they could make something work.

She handed them off to the woman, doing her best to keep her eyes up without making too much eye contact awkward. She thought it best not to ask for her name just yet - she'd wait until after she'd had a chance to get dressed. Until then, it would just feel intrusive.

Once she'd handed them off, she turned back to the others and said, "If we're all all right, we should start coordinating a search for the others. I'll admit, I never got a good count of how many people were on board, but certainly more than are here. I'm hesitant to split up since we have no way of coming back together, though if anyone has a reliable way of finding our way back at a synchronized time, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I vote we pick a direction and all head that way together, trying to find anyone we can, and spreading out no farther than hearing distance. Any objections?"
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Meltintalle » Jul 31, 2018 8:20 pm

Mel was sunbathing (napping, actually, but with an enormous pair of complimentary sunglasses who could tell?) on an upper deck when the Titan IC gave a shuddering lurch and spilled her off the deck chair. Cushions and other loose items came flying across the deck as the ship pitched to one side and then another.

Dazed and bruised, Mel yelped in alarm as she was flipped over the railing by the wallowing ship. It was a long, long way down to the ocean below, and the mass of a St. Bernard--even one who had been making extra trips through the buffet line--meant she hit the water hard.

Mel didn't remember sinking beneath the surface, or how she found herself doing the doggy-paddle toward the shore, but she was waterlogged, exhausted (so long, buffet line), and longing for sand between her paws.

"Dog overboard," she grumbled. "Latest technology--shouldn't there have been stabilizers to prevent that sort of accident? And where did the ship go?"
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Lady Arwen » Jul 31, 2018 11:28 pm

"Thanks," Xandria said, hurriedly pulling the pants on. She thought for a moment, then pulled the drawstring out of her hoodie and looped it through the pants.

"Um, if we're searching, maybe someone should like, I don't know, mark where we're coming from? So we can like get back to the same place?"
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Pattertwigs Pal » Aug 01, 2018 8:39 am

Twig's scrambled to her feet as Dan approached. She was brushing sand off of her swims shirt and swim skirt or was it a skort? When the woman came up in search of pants. After the woman was fully clothed, Twig's said, “I think we should stay together. It seems that characters in hooks often make the mistake of splitting up. We could drag some of the luggage up and make a pile as a marker? And does anyone know how many hours of daylight we have left? I think we should be back here and hopefully have a fire lit by then.
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby aileth » Aug 01, 2018 9:54 am

In spite of his name, Waters had an aversion for the stuff; he had never learned to swim and never wanted to. Weighted down by his bag of pills, there is no telling what would have happened to him (though one could guess) if he hadn't reached out his hand and grasped a handful of fur. Desperation made from necessity caused him to retain his hold, even when he realized that it was a dreaded dog that was towing him to safety.

When they reached a sandy shore, he dragged himself up to a drier spot, and looked at his rescuer. "Ah--hrrrummph!" he began. "I suppose a measure of thanks is in order...." His grudging gratitude evapourated as the large dog shook herself with great enthusiasm.

"Well now, they said that wouldn't happen ever again," came a familiar voice at his elbow. "Come, Mr Walters, let's go join that group of castaways over there. Hey, everyone," the stewardess called brightly. "Glad you all made it safely. Welcome to...well, wherever we are. By the way, my name is Molly Brown--the unsinkable, you know."
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby stargazer » Aug 01, 2018 11:50 am

Grace leaped into Dan's arms and for a brief moment his daughter was his world. She was safe!

But then his mind was awhirl with questions even as the girl refused to let him go. Where was Angie? Was she all right? How could the ship just fall apart like that? Where was this island, and would they have food and water until rescue came?

That last gave him something to focus on. He had some experience in the wilderness even though after Grace was born the outdoor activity tended to be car camping in local parks.

"That's a good point, Twig's, about splitting up the party. Piling luggage here as a marker is a good idea. But I think we can safely send people out as long as they follow the shore because then they can always get back. We can wait to explore inland."

"We'll also need fresh water." He gestured to the jungle that seemed to cover the interior of the island. "There must be something watering those trees. Maybe we will find a stream or river running to the ocean."

He reached for his back pocket where his phone was. Not surprisingly, he'd lost it in the frantic swim toward shore. "Oh well, that would have made it too easy," he said with a groan.

He glanced at his watch and then the sun. "We should have a little time to check for survivors close by, and to gather driftwood for that fire. Right now, I've got to look for my wife. I'll be back in about half an hour. Any of you are welcome to join us. I'll send any survivors this direction."

Just then Mr. Waters and the stewardess, who'd introduced herself as the unsinkable Molly Brown, arrived, and Dan delayed his departure just long enough to see what news they might have.
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Ryadian » Aug 01, 2018 1:39 pm

As soon as Dan Baxter mentioned his missing wife, Faye knew that there was no more time for planning. She briefly acknowledged Molly and Mr. Waters - such chipperness and sullenness did not belong in such close proximity to each other - before saying, mostly to Dan, "Having one person go off alone seems dangerous. First rule of a rescue is to not become a victim yourself. Given how many people are showing up here - possibly due to the currents - I think it might be best after all to split up. A contingent can stay here to meet other survivors and start prepping camp, and the rest of us go searching."

Faye glanced at the group at large, but focusing on Molly as the most likely candidate. "Does anyone else know CPR or have any other medical training? If we have more than one, having one in each group would be useful in case we run into anyone who needs medical attention. Otherwise, I'm planning to go with Dan. All of us got here with little more than bruises, so this seems to be a relatively safe part of the island. I think I'd be more valuable in the search party." She glanced at the St. Bernard that joined with Molly and Mr. Waters, and added dryly, "A dog in the search party seems like a good idea, too."
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Re: Mansion: Cruise on the Titan IC!

Postby Meltintalle » Aug 01, 2018 5:20 pm

Arriving on shore, seeing that Mr. Waters could move about on his own, Mel shed as many pounds as she could be giving herself a thorough shake. Water flew everywhere in a satisfying whirlwind and then ran down the beach and back into the sea in miniature rivers.

Some splashed the fastidious gentleman--not that it would have mattered, since he hadn't even tried to dry himself out--and Mel was a little sorry she'd made him (more) uncomfortable. It never failed to astonish her how few people understood the simple pleasure of vigorous movement.

She wriggled again, a little less enthusiastically this time so that there was only a light shower of water droplets, and attended to what was being said in the larger group. Mel barked in response to Faye's suggestion. "I'd be happy to help! Back home I did search and rescue all the time; some of it is bound to be applicable."
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