Raiders of the Crypt [Tyrin/Francis]

[tyrin]

[fang]

The crypt had been abandoned for years upon years. It was seemingly a relic that had been left at the wayside for those brave and foolish enough to venture inside. Hardly anyone had ever whispered about the crypt. Some had camped outside, only to have nightmares of chilling ghosts and odd apparitions appearing during their restless nights. Whatever would possess someone to even venture inside was simply madness...or perhaps greed. There was a treasure there which nobody had laid claim to. Some say it is from the city of Atlantis. To obtain such an artifact from the mysterious city would prove to be worth more than your life.

There were two who had decided to make the brave or stupid decision to seek the crypt's treasure. A light fog lingered across the forest outcropping that surrounded the crypt's entrance. A strange wind seemed to howl across its landscape, however leaves did not bend nor crinkle before it. The air seemed to pass through one's body, with a soul filling chill.

This was the crypt of deceased individuals who were sworn to protect the hidden treasure. As the two neared the crypt's entrance, a rusty gate creaked open. It had seemingly been moved by the mysterious wind. The stone structure that housed the stairwell was lit by torches which seemed immune to the odd wind. A ghastly figure began to take form as the lingering fog swirled into a blue mist. The blue mist soon took form of a figure adorned in armor.

The spectral figure stood at the step's entrance as if to block the travelers. Its whispy blue hand rose with a sword and pointed at them. "What do you seek?" As the figure spoke its words, the air froze with each breath. Crystal flakes of snow escaped from the armored ghost's mouth.

Choose an option and RP your decision. Most decisions will have a significant impact determining whether you succeed or fail.

Your choices...

• "Treasure."
  
• "Just exploring."
  
• "A family member."
  
• "I don't know."
  
• Say nothing.

[/b][/li][/ul]
[/blockquote]

[francisschiller]

For all that he was the first mate to the bravest pirate in the world, and considered himself (at least nowadays) to be a fairly brave pirate himself, Francis was more than a little bit shocked at the sudden appearance of the armored ghost. Sure, he had known the old crypt would be guarded—it was some sort of Quest to find some Important Lost Artifact that would help them locate Atlantis, after all, and such a Quest could never be easy—but he had never thought the guards would be weird icy ghosts asking them strange questions.

However, Francis had raised himself on a steady diet of fantasy and adventure stories, so he knew right away that the seemingly innocuous question would have some sort of impact on their progress. For all he knew, the wrong answer could mean that the weird (and still kind of creepy) ghost thing would kick them out of the crypt, declaring them failures before they had even started the adventure.

So Francis Schiller did what he always did when presented with such difficult, dangerous, and potentially life-threatening (or at least mission-impairing) decisions. He looked to the man beside him, the only man he would ever trust by his side during a dangerous quest such as this one—his beloved husband and the world’s bravest pirate, Tyrin Schiller.
He didn’t need to ask Tyrin to make the decision for them. The two of them had been together long enough, that, while they hadn’t developed any sort of weird couples’ telepathy or anything like that (everyone knew that kind of stuff only existed in cheesy books, even a hopeless romantic like Francis Schiller) they were often able to communicate their words or intentions to the other without speaking. Instead, he merely took his husband’s hand wordlessly, looking Tyrin directly in the eye with a calm expression betraying none of his earlier fear or nervousness. The words behind the gesture were clear: Your answer will be very important, but I trust you to choose correctly. This was why he was glad that it was Tyrin beside him on this dangerous journey. Though he had worked with most of the crew members on the Leonine for years, and considered them to be his family, he would not be able to implicitly trust any of them in a situation like this one. That wasn’t the case with Tyrin. And, though Francis knew the still extremely prideful pirate captain would probably never admit it, that was probably also the reason why the Captain had chosen Francis to accompany him into the crypt.

He faced the ghost now, all traces of his earlier fear gone, as he waited for Tyrin to answer the crypt guardian’s question.

[tyrin]

Tyrin had never been the sort to chase down rumors of mysterious buried treasure. Even if whatever treasure trove she caught wind of occasionally did exist, it was far too much effort to track them down for not enough of a payoff. He could make more money, more often than not, with his usual method of raiding merchant ships and the ships of other pirates. They generally had a lot more treasure to be won, especially the former, and encounters like that could happen on an almost daily basis. It was a hell of a lot more sensible than chasing legends and rumors.

But now that this whole thing with the gods had happened, Tyrin had had to reconsider. If he was going to follow through on his decision to help the gods regain their power and bring things back to how they had been before, he needed to get working on it. And, at the moment, the best lead he had on how he might do that was to find Atlantis, and the only way to do that was to chase down exactly the kind of rumors he’d always dismissed as stupid wastes of time.

Which was what had brought him here, to this crypt. He didn’t know who was supposedly buried there, or what their importance might have been. All he knew was some of the rumors surrounding the spooky old place. That it was haunted was more or less accepted as truth, particularly among the more superstitious folk who lived relatively near to it. That didn’t interest Tyrin, and didn’t have much of an effect on his decision whether or not to come here. What he was interested in were the more elusive, less conclusive rumors. He’d heard that there was a treasure hidden in the depths of the crypt somewhere; more importantly, he had also heard that said treasure may have a clue leading to Atlantis. And seeing as finding the sunken city was an important part of his ultimate goal, he had come to find out whether or not that particular rumor was true.

Tyrin approached the crypt with a healthy sense of caution, though he didn’t let the biting wind or the eerie howling get to him. He wasn’t the sort to be bothered by that sort of thing. Besides, any apprehension he might have felt had he come here alone was, if not banished, at least hidden deep down where even Tyrin himself was not aware of it by the presence of the one person Tyrin trusted above all others to watch his back: his first mate and husband Francis. He’d known better than to come alone, especially since Francis himself had recently given Tyrin a rude awakening about how much of a prideful idiot he was being by going off on his own all the time. So he’d brought Francis, because he trusted him more than anyone else in the world.

The appearance of some large, ghostly specter in front of them did not particularly startle the pirate captain. He hadn’t expected to just waltz in unchallenged, after all, not after all of the rumors he’d heard about this place. The spirit posed its question - a loaded question if ever Tyrin had heard one. It clearly had some bearing on whether they would even be allowed to enter, not that he believed the specter would be able to stop them if it came to that. He felt Francis take his hand after a moment and glanced at the other, meeting his eyes for a few seconds. Looked like it was up to him to answer this one.

He gave it some thought. His first instinct was to lie; most guardians like this would have the intention of blocking tomb raiders and the like. But then again, it would probably recognize a lie. And Tyrin wasn’t all that inclined to lie without a good reason. On the other hand, to outright say treasure wasn’t the smartest idea either, not to mention that it wasn’t entirely true. He wasn’t so much after material wealth as he was information, which may or may not involve some piece of treasure, as the rumors claimed it would. So, after a moment, the pirate captain looked coolly up at where the specter’s eyes would be beneath the helmet. ”Just exploring,” he said calmly, strong voice ringing through the eerie surroundings. ”Looking for answers.”

---

Words: 736
Tagged: Fang/Francis

[/blockquote]

[fang]

The ghastly figure held its weapon towards the travelers, poised to strike if their answer was not befitting. Cold mist continued to pour from its body. A low and gut filled moan escaped the ghost's mouth. Its own breath seemed to seethe the afterlife's cold embrace. "Just exploring...Looking for answerssssssss..." The voice hissed as it contemplated what to do.

Truth and lies. This was the game. The guardian had seen it for years and years. The sword continued to point towards the travelers without a moment of wavering. "Then...if you would...I would like some insuranceeeeeee." The ethereal blade vanished as the hand outstretched. Its palm awaiting an offer to appease it.

"I will only accept...an equal...sacrifice in return for...curiosityyyyyy. What will you offer...in...returnnnnn?" The ghost seemed to grow impatient as another low moan uttered from its spectral body. Its armor creaked as its whirling blue energy revolved across its body.

The guardian awaited an answer, knowing how to draw the truth from would be grave robbers. Too many had fallen before the first test to even consider obtaining the hidden treasure. The spectral guardian had defended the crypt for ages. It knew things that many mortals had taken to their graves. Its fallen breathren from battles long ago could atest to the guardian's resolve.

Choose an option and RP your decision. Most decisions will have a significant impact determining whether you succeed or fail.

Your choices...

• "Offer for Tyrin to stay."
  
• "Offer for Francis to stay."
  
• "Offer Gold."
  
• "Offer a trade of knowledge."
  
• "Offer to pay respects to the ancestors."

[/b][/li][/ul]
[/blockquote]

[tyrin]

The spectral guardian didn’t immediately react to Tyrin’s answer. Its large sword remained pointed straight at the two pirates, unwavering. Tyrin didn’t let it intimidate him; he wasn’t the type to be afraid of ghosts. And even if he had been, he wouldn’t have shown it. He was too proud to show when he was nervous, to show fear in the face of an enemy. Hell, he was too much of a prideful git to show it even in front of people who cared about him. It was one of the things he’d been working on for Francis’ sake since they got together. He would never show it in front of a foe, though, even a potential one.

But in this case, Tyrin wasn’t hiding anything. He suspected that, if his answer had been the absolute wrong one (which he seriously doubted), the ghost would have chased them away already. So he waited calmly, sea-green eyes watching as the specter deliberated with itself for a moment. He quelled his natural impatience, born of an overdeveloped sense of time passing by. Being impatient would only cause problems, and possibly ruin their chances at this quest before it had even really begun. So, with the iron will he was famous for, Tyrin forced his growing impatience down and waited without a word.

Then, the guardian seemed to make its decision. The sword vanished from its hand as it asked for insurance, extending a hand towards them. Insurance? What the hell did that mean? Did it want them to leave something, to ensure that they wouldn’t damage the inside of the tomb? But then it went on, speaking of a sacrifice. Sounded like whatever it was, they wouldn’t be getting it back. A trade, then. Something of theirs, for what they sought inside the tomb.

He might be a pirate, but Tyrin Schiller had a very strong sense of what he considered fair and unfair. It might not exactly line up with most people’s, seeing as it was based mostly on what was practical and not necessarily on what was morally right or wrong, but it was strong and had remained the same for much of his life. Whether or not it made sense to others was irrelevant, at least in his mind. And to Tyrin, the guardian’s demand seemed… fair. It made sense that they would have to give something up in order to get what they wanted. That was the way the world worked: always had, and probably always would. Nothing in life ever came free. That was something Tyrin had learned very early on in his life.

So, then, what was ‘fair’ to give up? Something equal to what they sought, right? It was like bartering in the market place, giving the amount in gold that something was worth in order to get the object one wanted to buy. Or like favors, trading one now for one to be given back later. That was the answer that made the most sense to Tyrin.

He looked at Francis for a moment. They were after information. So, it made sense to give some form of information in return, right? Still, he didn’t want to make the decision without asking his first mate’s opinion first. He’d brought the kid along because he trusted his judgment, after all, and because he was the only one Tyrin wanted telling him when he was being stupid or being a prideful ass. He stepped a bit closer to Francis and spoke low into the other’s ear, so that the guardian wouldn’t think he was answering. ”Maybe we should offer it information. Seems like a fair trade to me.” What kind of information, Tyrin didn’t know. But it seemed like a sound idea, at least to him.

---

Words: 629
Tagged: Fang/Francis

[/blockquote]

[francisschiller]

Francis nodded, agreeing with his Captain’s choice. That had been exactly what he had been thinking. He didn’t think that the two of them splitting up would be beneficial. They worked effectively as a team, Tyrin’s superior fighting skills and Francis’s intellect and intuition combining to help them out of many a nasty situation. That—and no other reason, no matter what some grumblers aboard the Leonine might say—was why Francis Schiller had been chosen as the ship’s first mate.

“I agree,” he affirmed, “Knowledge is what we want, so knowledge is what we should give it. I can’t see anything good coming from one of us staying behind, and why should we offer it gold if we desire no treasure of our own.” In the stories he had read as a child, whenever the hero and sidekick split up, it was usual a signal that the sidekick would be tragically killed pretty shortly thereafter. He had no delusions about the fact that he was the sidekick in this situation, and he didn’t plan on kicking it anytime soon. No, they would go on together.

He turned to face the spectral guardian, trying not to let the thing see his fear. It had put the sword away, but it was still extremely imposing, towering over both pirates, its voice echoing off every wall of the eerie crypt.

He was proud of himself for managing to keep the nervous waver out of his voice as he addressed the creature. “Knowledge is what we seek, answers to many questions. So we offer you knowledge in return. We have much, but we are aware that you do as well. We would thus request that you tell us what sort of knowledge you would like in trade, so that we do not bore you with things you already know.” He hoped that sounded respectful enough. He was pretty sure this crypt guardian was immensely powerful, and could destroy either of them on the spot. And that was DEFINITELY what his childhood storybooks would refer to as ‘not happily ever after’.