COMMENCE VOYAGE

[bathymetric]

Fun Fact: Did you know the Atlantic Ocean has a surface area of 41.1 million square miles? No reason.

...

There's something uneasy in the air as you come to.

Well, "come to" is an interesting word in this case. It implies waking up, which is not exactly what happens. None of you are in beds, nor are you really asleep in the traditional sense. One moment you're somewhere else, doing something else with your time, and the next? You're somewhere on board a massive cruise ship - maybe lounging on a deck chair by the pool, maybe getting some Gains in the exercise room, maybe enjoying the tasteful décor in the buffet - and you have no idea how you got here or how you might get back. This is not your beautiful house. If you have a beautiful wife, she isn't here.

What you do have, apart from 25 other unlucky souls, is a small smartphone-like device in your pocket with only a handful of things on it: a clock reading 11PM, a pdf of a ticket in your name on a special Atlantic Liners New Year's Eve Cruise, an app labeled Passenger Profiles with some basic information on your traveling companions, and a message:

Welcome aboard, passenger! Please feel free to partake of any of the facilities while you wait for the big event! Remember: when midnight comes, you better make your way to the theatre at the back of Level 1 for the main event! The Captain and the First Mate will be there to take care of you all personally, and to help you ring in the new year in style!

Well, that's a start. But what you do until then, it seems, is up to you!

Comments

[magycks]

[ She glowers upwards, evaluating... something, before snapping back into motion and speech. ]

Oh, I don't know. Purple, cracked, might be glowing with the malevolence of eons?

[guffawsungraciously]

[...

OKAY, LIKE]

Sadly, I have not seen any amulets of that sort, specifically.

[...orbs and swords, yes, amulets, no.]

I suppose I am glad it will not be terribly difficult to miss, anyway.

[magycks]

If it's here to be found. [ She exhales at length, like she's trying to calm herself down, but then sounds exactly as tense and agitated as before once she's done. ] Whoever got their grubby little hands on it probably has it well out of sight. Unless...
[ ...

She sniffs the margarita. It's very purple! This is a valid line of thought! ]

No. No, this is boysenberry.

[guffawsungraciously]

You overestimate the intelligence of the average person. If someone here has it, I would put more money on them parading around wearing it around their neck without a care for how unbelievably cursed they might be for doing so.

[...]

...is it any good, by the way. The margarita.

[magycks]

Don't know, haven't tried, don't really care. Plus, there's always the chance it's been laced with a subtle poison.

... Want a sip? I mean, relative size and all, you'll probably be fine.

[guffawsungraciously]

...

[He hesitates just long enough to suggest he’s actually considering it...]

You know, I believe I will pass on that.

[magycks]

Ah well, your loss.

[ It is not! They both know that it is not! ]

What's your interest in acting as the lost and found, anyway?

[guffawsungraciously]

Well, it seems preferable to do you a favor than to make things more difficult for you. That is all.

[like, he’s not expecting anything in return. Except maybe not being the first against the wall.]

[magycks]

Huh. Well, thank you for noticing. The way most people are reacting, you'd think this was a comedy act — like being tall makes you immune to the slaughter. Chumps.

[guffawsungraciously]

Well, it is not as though magical ability is limited by size.

[and like. Anthropomorphic ducks aren’t nearly as weird as, say, cruelcumbers.]

Unfortunately, I have not been able to use any magic myself. I presume the same is true for you, then?

[magycks]

You presume correctly.

[ She, like, forces this out from between her teeth. She could not be having less of a fun time admitting this information! ]

What's your usual deal? Just for the greater context, you know.

[guffawsungraciously]

I am a general in the Heliodorian army, which I presume you have not heard of. I am fairly knowledgeable about magic of various disciplines, though I must confess to being fairly useless at magical mending.