WEEK 1

[bathymetric]

Happy New Year! ... You're still here. Looks like The Captain wasn't lying when he said the murdering is now up to you. That, or you can all live here on your own. Regardless, it's time to settle in. The days start passing much less eventfully after that first one, and, well... on it goes, huh?

There might not be a whole cruise ship to explore just yet, but there are a variety of amenities available to all of you! Who ever heard of a boring cruise ship, anyway? As the week goes on, you might even start to see some of those strange coins appear for you!

Better buckle down and get to know your fellow passengers, though, if you want to stand a chance of weathering this storm.



MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to peace week! Feel free to mingle (and investigate, if you like) to your hearts' content! Please ensure all investigation toplevels are marked accordingly, and otherwise enjoy! If you wish to talk to The Captain or Davy Jones, look here for the former and here for the latter! ]

Comments

[ahelpingpaw]

I know, right? If only we had better drinks. I never have been able to figure out how to make strong ones myself, and nobody here needs what little I can do about that.

[He doubts people would have welcomed water with pieces of fruit floating in it. Not that they have raw fruit in the first place, so moot point]

I sure do! But it's fine. Just this once.

[Anything so the party goes well, and also because managing to take all that confetti away will be pointless when later more is thrown around. May as well embrace his confetti-y night and have to spend half an hour picking paper bits off his fur once it's all over]

[scouserer]

[Well, that'd at least be on its way to becoming La Croix....

...is scurvy going to become a concern later in the cruise????]

Well, maybe if we ask our captain nicely, he'll provide us with a drink-making kit. Y'know, with a shaker and everything.

[He tilts his head to the side, casting a look towards the others gathered and mingling.]

Y'know, I can't remember the last time I went to a party on my own volition and I wasn't tryin' to get information.

[ahelpingpaw]

I dunno, he didn't seem that eager to make things easy. I asked him for lemons, and he gave me a single one even after I made up an excuse with scurvy. I doubt he's looking forward to giving us nice things.

[Well, not that Filbo can complain. He received something at all, that's more than he expected]

Never had time to relax or something?

cw: alcoholism jokes?

[scouserer]

[Constantine lets out a small snort.]

Not really, no. Most of the parties I attend either end with it getting interrupted with some horrific incident, or me having to leave early, or me getting blackout drunk, or all of the above. Either way, the morning after isn't usually pleasant.

[He tucks his hands into his pockets, looking a bit unsure of himself.]

I dunno--it keeps feeling like I should be anticipating something by the end of the night.

[ahelpingpaw]

[Hahahahaha, something happening by the end of the night during a fun party? It better not, Filbo would like a party to end decently for once]

Please don't jinx us, John.

[maybe your parties end so badly because you jinx it all with your attitude john come on be more festive!!!]

[scouserer]

Don't worry--I don't have all my magic on hand anymore.

[That's a joke. He's making a joke. He'd never intentionally jinx a party...would he?]

Besides, if anything did happen, we'd have all these witnesses around to attest to it. [He gestures to the other party-goers.] Not to mention we have people who've readily dealt with other crises in their own worlds.

[ahelpingpaw]

You know, you probably are right! Nobody would dare to attack during such a time and risk getting caught.

[The rules do say everyone gets a chance to find out who the culprit is. It'd be so easy, if that happened. No killer would dare to if they intend to get away with it]

ReallY? Others have dealt with crises in their worlds too?

[scouserer]

Well, I know at least a few.

[He scans the crowd for a bit, then points out Chloe.]

I dunno her entire deal, but before she came here, she was dealin' with some shit back in her town. Something with space and time being bitches--her words, not mine.

[Constantine then points towards Lalli.]

Him? His entire world was almost wiped out by some magical disease. Nothing left 'cept a few countries. Seemed to be doing alright, given everything.

[A shrug.]

Ask around. You're sure to find some interesting stories.

[ahelpingpaw]

Wow...

[He'd have never guessed at all Chloe was in such a troublesome situation -- space and time aren't easy things to deal with, he imagines. And Lalli...almost everyone is gone? Does that mean he's one of the last few humans in his homeland? He seemed so normal...magic aside.

Looks like you truly can't know what kind of huge adventures a person has been through just by looking at them. Well, not that Filbo is one to talk, really]

I dunno...that kinda thing seems like the sorta thing you'd wanna keep quiet about.

[He's so tempted to ask, he really is! But this kind of adventures aren't really something you talk about with just anyone, no? For one reason or another. Who is Filbo to ask about potentially painful things?]

[scouserer]

[Constantine shrugs.]

What can I say? Different people have different attitudes towards their own shit.

[Like, immediately after telling John about what happened to his home, Lalli asked him what Ikea was.]

Though, that's fair. You might be better off askin' about other stories. I'd offer, but...most of them end poorly one way or another.

[ahelpingpaw]

I mean, if you wanna tell I sure would like to listen!

[Even if they end poorly, really]

[scouserer]

Hmm.

[Constantine's brow furrows, scratching the stubble on his chin. What exactly can he tell that won't immediately result in Filbo becoming depressed or sad? That time with the Swamp Thing? No, that's kind of adult. The unicorn? That's depressing, too.

Ah. Wait. He's got it. But how does one explain Margaret Thatcher to a fuzzy, blue Muppet? Does he even want to subject Filbo to that?

(Probably not. He'll just glide over that part....)

Eventually, he decides to start with something simple.]

Do you know what the stock market is?

[ahelpingpaw]

Well, yes. Of course.

[Probably never took part of it, but yup, it'd be hard to have lived this long without having at least a passable knowledge of what it is, yup]

[scouserer]

Well, turns out demons have their own form of it--the supernatural stock exchange, where the main commodity being traded is souls. A few demonic yuppies were takin' the opportunity to inflate the market by egging on more people to sell their souls to 'em, get in good regards with their boss.

[As he speaks, he makes vague gestures with his hands.]

Their boss--Blathoxi, lord of flatulence--figures that he's secure. With the Conservative party in power and slated to win the upcoming election, he's got nowhere to go but up as more humans become desperate enough to cash in their souls. But me? I'm not exactly keen on seeing that happen.

[A pause. A wicked grin appears on his face.]

So I ring up ol' Blathoxi and tell him I'm gunning to sell my soul.

[ahelpingpaw]

[Demons having a stock market with souls being the main commodity is so, so out there...yet somehow Filbo finds it grounded enough to be believable. Well, it probably he's in no state to be skeptical about anything, really. The situation he literally is in right now pretty much says nothing is impossible]

I see! Trying to get into the mess by offering them what they'd want. They wouldn't think twice about adding one more soul to the pile, if they have a whole system with trading them!

[Surprisingly, Filbo seems to be taking it all in stride. Looks like good ol' Fiddlepie is far more levelheaded than you'd expect from someone like him]

Didn't think it'd be as easy as just calling them and saying you wanted in.

[scouserer]

Smart lad.

[Is it appropriate to call Filbo a lad when he's an adult? Who knows.]

I tell Blathoxi that I want the best deal I can get for my soul--everything attached. At first, he's pretty keen on the exchange, but then he starts suspecting somethin'.

See, ol' Blathoxi's had a run-in with me in the past, and he didn't like the fact I cheated him. And I'm not usually so eager to let go of my soul. So he starts thinking that I must have some sort of insider knowledge--that maybe, just maybe the Conservative party won't win and he'll be left with nothing while I'll still have my soul intact.

[Constantine tilts his head to the side, a smug grin upon his face.]

So he rejects the deal, throws me out, and his yuppies to sell everything. Upsets the whole market, demons selling left and right in a panic. Come election night, the Conservative party sweeps everything and he's left with nothing. He's raving mad, but of course he can't admit that I cheated him again.

[He taps a finger against the side of his head.]

Didn't even need to resort to any magic. Just good ol' psychological warfare.

[ahelpingpaw]

[He probably is younger than Constantine by at least two decades, anyway, hah!

Still, Filbo listens, pretty intrigued. This human is...that sounded really impressive! To make someone who very obviously is not somebody to be messed with bend to John's plans without even that much difficulty is quite impressive. He had never met somebody who could do that!]

You. Are. Amazing. Anyone who's against you should learn to be careful.

[Hahahaha...hah...say, a little thing now it's got Filbo wondering because seriously:]

Why would the Captain bring you here? Clearly he must know about what you can do. Does he really think he can bend you to his will? Because, uh, nothing so far makes it seem like he's above this Balthoxi demon boss you already defeated at least twice.

[The Captain can't be better than Balthoxi neither in cunning nor fearsome status nor anything else, really. That much is clear and deserves to be said]

[scouserer]

You've got that right.

[Constantine winks. His smug expression drops from his face, however, once Filbo brings up the captain. After a bit of hesitation, he continues to speak.]

You can't exactly con a man who never shows his face or reveals his motives. As stupid as he seems, he seems careful to curate exactly what he says and not give us too much information.

[And as much as he hates to admit it--]

I mean, beyond the fact that we know he's somehow gotten Davy Jones on his side and that he's kidnapped all of us across time and space, how much do we really know about the Captain?

[ahelpingpaw]

Well I know he's not taking this very seriously. When I tried to talk to him he said he was working on a tan, whatever that's supposed to mean. Unless that involves scheming something against us he's just...waiting to see what happens.

[Maybe it is for the better the Captain isn't taking it too seriously]

Other than that I tried to ask him why he hasn't shown his face around, but he didn't really give me an answer to that.

[scouserer]

You think it might be a front?

[Hm! Constantine doesn't Like That.]

Ought to call up the Captain, meself, but I don't want him gettin' any ideas. We don't know when he's going to make the next move, after all.

[ahelpingpaw]

I really thought he'd come here to try to do something because if this works then we get along better. It'd be in his plans to try to sow discord around here, but he didn't try to stop the party.

Does he not care about what we do if it isn't murder?

[scouserer]

I s'ppose he doesn't want to step in unless he really has to. Give people a sense of false hope, maybe.

[Constantine shrugs.]

We'll just have to see what his next move is, hm?

[It'll come sooner than they might think....]