January 11th, 1890 — At Sea

You stare at the chest, puzzled. You're quite sure that you have never seen it before, and more certain still that it is not on the ship's manifest—a fact you find particularly troubling.

The chest itself is smaller than most, with ornate carvings inlaid into the wood. It looks like someone took the time to burn them in, too, but you pay that very little mind. The patterns are not somehting you can quite discern, but spark further uneasiness in you.

"What do you want us to do with it?" a sailor asks.

WHAT DO YOU DO?
a. Attempt to open it
b. Set a course back to England
c. Jettison the chest overboard #NotMyProblem [Graceful Exit]

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— J. Alfred Darrow —

  

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Are your characters stuck in the smalltalk loop?
Does your imagination feel like it just can't perform as it used to?
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Unable to get that post up?
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Known side-effects include: chronic ridiculousness, immense satisfaction, itching, uncontrollable laughter, burning, deep regret, despair, shock, horror, incidental dismemberment, joy, and death. Use at your own risk!

Setting sail for long journeys with unanticipated cargo was becoming something of a habit of his, it seemed. Alfred wasn't too keen on that, and was rather annoyed to have found this thing at all. If someone was going to use his ship to smuggle something, the least they could have done would have been to hide it a bit better. They were barely out of sight of the English coastline, and here this thing was.

Why his ship, though? They were escorting two other ships that had hulls full of cargo, which would have been likelier choices if someone just wanted to get something from point a to point b. The Voyager, being relatively heavier on crew and lighter on things, was the ship where it would have been most likely to have been found. It followed, then, that it was one of the men on his ship who had brought it onboard — and that, for whatever reason, they wanted to ensure it stayed close on the upcoming journey of several months.

What a headache. This meant he'd have to deal not only with the illicit cargo itself, but also with whomever had smuggled it.

"Let's see what's in it," he told the sailor beside him a bit wearily, hoping that it was something simple that could be dealt with onboard — not a pair of French children, like last time. Not that the chest looked big enough to hold two French children.

The following 1 user Likes J. Alfred Darrow's post:1 user Likes J. Alfred Darrow's post
   Fitzroy Prewett

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

You try to open the chest, but while there is clearly a crease where lid meets body, there are no discernible hinges, nor lock, nor anything to try to grip on to in your efforts. You stare at it, puzzled, for a moment before making your next move.

WHAT DO YOU DO?
a. Try to force it with a knife
b. Use wingardium leviosa to remove the lid
c. Use alohamora open the chest
d. Jettison the chest overboard #NotMyProblem [Graceful Exit]
e. Decide to return to port

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— J. Alfred Darrow —

  

---

Are your characters stuck in the smalltalk loop?
Does your imagination feel like it just can't perform as it used to?
Mid-thread crisis getting you down?
Unable to get that post up?
Is your relationship suffering because of your inability to satisfy your partner?
SUFFER NO MORE!
With a little intervention from The Suggestionizer your RP life could be back on track in no time!

--> Click here for more details <--

Known side-effects include: chronic ridiculousness, immense satisfaction, itching, uncontrollable laughter, burning, deep regret, despair, shock, horror, incidental dismemberment, joy, and death. Use at your own risk!

Alfred had indicated for the sailor conducting the inventory with him to open it, but the man was having no luck. Feeling a little exasperated (what could be so hard about opening a chest?), Alfred approached it himself — only to feel quite sheepish when he realized that he was having the same problem. There was nothing to hold on to, and it was too smooth to get a good grip on otherwise... and maybe particularly heavy? It was hard to tell, from this perspective.

Unwilling to be defeated by a piece of cargo, Alfred removed the knife from a holster on his belt and slid it into the opening at the front of the chest. "If this doesn't work, we'll get a crowbar," he told the sailor still lingering nearby.

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

A vibration, soft at first, begins moving its way along the blade and grip of the knife, then your arm, as a hum grows louder and louder. You cannot tell if the hum fills the cargo hold or merely fills your head, but it threatens to become deafening. You feel some give in the lid of the chest, but find it more and more difficult to hold onto the knife and maintain leverage.

WHAT DO YOU DO?
a. Keep trying to force it with the knife—you're so close!
b. Drop the knife and come up with a new tactic.
c. Give up and jettison the chest overboard #NotMyProblem [Graceful Exit]
d. Drop the knife and decide to return to port

---

— J. Alfred Darrow —

  

---

Are your characters stuck in the smalltalk loop?
Does your imagination feel like it just can't perform as it used to?
Mid-thread crisis getting you down?
Unable to get that post up?
Is your relationship suffering because of your inability to satisfy your partner?
SUFFER NO MORE!
With a little intervention from The Suggestionizer your RP life could be back on track in no time!

--> Click here for more details <--

Known side-effects include: chronic ridiculousness, immense satisfaction, itching, uncontrollable laughter, burning, deep regret, despair, shock, horror, incidental dismemberment, joy, and death. Use at your own risk!

Oh, fuck that. Alfred had enough experience in the wider world to know he didn't want to go messing around with magic he didn't understand. That was what had caused the whole Irvingly fog thing, wasn't it? People went mucking around with foreign magic and ended up dead, and then the damage spilled out into the streets. Like hell was he about to risk his own life and possibly set off something like that within the confines of his ship, surrounded by men who were trusting him to keep them from getting killed.

He let go of the knife right where it was, awkwardly sticking out of the crack between the chest and its lid, and slid back along the deck until he was several feet away from it. He eyed it for a moment, waiting for it to do something else, though he wasn't sure what. After a very uneasy few seconds where he and the sailor waited warily, Alfred rose to his feet.

"We'll have it moved to my cabin. Magically — I don't want anyone else to touch it. And..." he sighed, already thinking of the logistical nightmare this would cause with the two ships he was accompanying. It couldn't be avoided, though... or at least, it couldn't be avoided if he wanted to keep his ship and sailors safe. "And we'll set a course back to London."

The following 1 user Likes J. Alfred Darrow's post:1 user Likes J. Alfred Darrow's post
   Melody Crouch

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER