[Taocow PBEM] Chapter V: A Stranger And His Knowledge

[Aaron Clausen]

> > [Bongo]
> > Bongo nods in agreement.  "You and I both.  Perhaps it's our training and
> > our upbringing, but I confess this all sends shivers up my spine.
> > [/Bongo] 

> [Alex]
> Alex things for a moment before shaking her head, "I suppose you are 
> right, in part that is. Still, I have seen some of the things that 
> supernatural creates can do and they scare me. Who I truly feel sorry 
> for are the creatures, dee-bees as normally they are called, who are no 
> more powerful than me or you, yet are prosecuted like they are demons."
> [/Alex]

[Bongo]
"I know only too well." Bongo says wistfully.
[/Bongo]

[...]

> > [Bongo]
> > "You would have made a great dog boy!" Bongo quips.
> > [/Bongo] 

> [Alex]
> Alex smiles back, knowing the compliment for what it is. She states,  "I 
> have had that said to me before, Davros for one said that to me  before. 
> Still, our team was a scout team and had a much higher level of 
> informality than would be allowed in a Chi-town unit."
> [/Alex]

[Bongo]
"I was given a lot of latitude." Bongo says.  "Of course, that also means
that by now, in our own time, I'd probably be shot on sight for what I've
done since."
[/Bongo]

[...]

> [Bongo]
> Bongo gently opens the book, which, in daylight, looks old and brittle.  The
> first page has a sketch of a young woman, no more than twenty years old. 
> Beneath it is written the name "Lovely S'talza."
> 
> "Name mean anything?" Bongo asks before flipping to the next page.  At the
> top is the date, February 3, 2150.  "Hmmm, in the old dating calendar."
> Bongo muses.  "That would put this journal at over two hundred years old."
> [/Bongo]

> [Amanda Connors]
> "What!!??  I know that name.  I had a dream that I was her.  Finish 
> what you're saying, then I'll tell you about it."
> [/Amanda Connors]

> > [Bongo]
> > "So apparently this temple must be somewhere back in North America." 
> > Bongo
> > sighs.  "We ended up a lot farther away than we should have.  Maybe we
> > should get back on that ship!"
> > [/Bongo]

> [Alex]
> Alex just shakes her head with her greens eyes flashing something close 
> to anger, maybe annoyance would be a better word. She states after a 
> moment, "If the year is what they say it is, it will not do any good but 
> if it was our time, we might be able to catch a ride on a Triax transport."
> [/Alex]

> [Amanda Connors]
> "That's a good possibility.  Since what I remember from my dream had 
> me still back home in the US.  The first part anyways."
> 
> She pauses, trying to collect herself enough to relate what she knows.
> 
> "My dream had two clear pieces to it.  One was of my old friends.  
> They were talking, but the only word I heard was my name.  There 
> wasn't any other sound.  Then we were standing at a map.  I couldn't 
> tell what it was a map of but had a name on it.   Rath-Iren."  
> She spells the name out to make sure she's pronouncing it correctly.
> [/Amanda Connors]

[GM]
Phaeton nods grimly, but says nothing.
[/GM]

> [Amanda Connors]
> Amanda stands up and moves to the plates of food, examining things 
> slightly to make sure she recognises it before taking anything.
> 
> "Then the dream got weird.  And I mean that with the last few weeks in
>  mind.  I was with a man, he was calling me S'talza and he had a ring 
> with that emblem on it.  Nice big ring, Ivana Trump'd have choked on
> it.  He wanted to get pictures of a temple and a ritual back to Lazlo 
> and had a digital camera, maybe that one."
> 
> "Then we were tied up being sacrificed to some dark force.  A man, 
> that pale guy from the ship, called him Quinton Barnabas.   Quinton 
> told S'talza to remember the box.  Quote: 'Just beyond the altar, 
> beneath the grey paving stone.'
> 
> Then they killed him and I was running, but I don't know how I got 
> loose.  Next thing I know, I'm being woken up by you."
> 
> She turns to Bongo.  "One, any idea who that woman was a decendant of?
> And two, what do you need a map for when you have me?"
> 
> She reaches into her purse and pulls out her PDA.  Starting it up she 
> begins searching through it's files for the old Encarta encyclopedia 
> program.
> [/Amanda Connors]

[Bongo]
Bongo shrugs.  "The name S'talza doesn't ring any bells with me, but
at least we now know of one place to ask; Lazlo.  It's a little out of
our way, though, and I didn't think that Lazlo even existed that far
back in time."

When Bongo catches site of of the PDA he lets out an "Oooh, that's
really old!  Look up these co-ordinates."
[/Bongo]

[GM]
Phaeton sits down for a moment, then gets up again, seeming quite
agitated.  "Clearly you have had a vision of Rath-Iren, and these
people, S'talza and Barnabas, whoever they may be, are important as
well, if for no other reason than that is how you got that metal box."
[/GM]

> [Kyle]
> "It seems we have a problem then. I am no expert but being on the other 
> side of the planet poses a problem.  It seems the answers to our 
> problems are in America and returning there should be our first priority".
> 
> Kyle then grabs a plate of food and begins eating and continuing to 
> take in as much of the conversation as possible.
> [/Kyle]

[GM]
As Kyle digs in, Amanda's PDA with its archaic software (which Bongo is 
noticably drooling over) pops up information on Ashe County, North 
Carolina.  The area is in the Appalachians, and was one of the more lightly
populated areas of North Carolina.

Phaeton finally grabs a plate and a small amount of food.  "I agree." he
says to Kyle.  "I don't have any idea, other than getting back on the ship.
The problem is that the Harbor Master, kindly fellow that he is, may not
want us coming back."
[/GM]