From: Paul, Brett Subject: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades Admin stuff: Basically, this whole post is admin stuff... Since we've been off schedule all week, I figured I'd post #10 today (Thursday), since I'm not going to be here tomorrow. I had asked if anyone recognized where I got the title to post number 9 (turn me on, dead man). Nobody gave me the correct answer, so I'll just go ahead and tell you. It comes from the Beatles' white album. On it is a song called "Revolution 9" (this is not the song where they sing, "You say you want a revolution, well, you know, we all wanna change the world." - that is Revolution 1). In Revolution 9, you hear a voice saying, "Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, Number 9..." If you play this backwards and listen closely, you hear the words, "Turn me on dead man" repeated over and over. I just thought it was appropriate, considering the particular encounter you faced. Sorry, I couldn't find anything as cool for post #10. All I could come up with is 10 years = a decade. Decisions and Blades -> DECisions and blADES. It was suggested to me that I may have assumed too much on the last move when I had you set sail and go straight out to where you got grounded on the sandbar. If I did, I apologize. I noticed that right after I commented on liking the "chattiness" of the group, you all shut up. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves... it helps the game move along better. Unlike earlier when you were facing the sailors, you have a lot of time right now to discuss whatever you fancy talking about. The light of the lighthouse is not entirely visible, though you have a general idea where it is. The breeze that took you out away from the docks has dissipated, and the air is now still. The sandbar that the boat is grounded on sticks up out of the water to form a small island here, measuring about 30 feet across and maybe 60 feet wide. It is made up of white sand, like that which was on the beach. In the time you are sitting here, water begins to cover the sandbar up slowly. You don't notice any rocks on the sandbar suitable for use in a sling. With the application of pressure, cloth and first-aid stuff that you threw together from the house, Brady stops bleeding. Dana's wounds look okay. The canteen that Brady has does have water in it, as do some of the jars you have with you. Dana wrote: "I don't think we have anything that can act as suture material if it needs stitching, but I could probably do that if we had." You do have stuff from the sewing kit (how else would you be able to fix the sail?) but thread isn't exactly an absorbable suture. Looking into the water, you cannot see a thing. It is black. After sitting on the sandbar for a little while, you can see the light of the lighthouse beaming outward with no interruption. The fog must be starting to lift. Soon after this, the boat shifts as water begins to make the sandbar disappear. Now, the question still exists about what to do now. Here are some samples: Saif says, "When it is light I think we should return and look for Cassandra. We can't just leave Cassandra on the island without knowing what happened to her. At first light I would still like to head back." Brady says, "I think we should get to other land and then go back for Cassandra" John says, "It might not be a bad idea to stay right where we are for the night [...] If morning arrives uneventfully, we should go back to the island and check on Cassandra, then head for shore." Dana says, "I still say we should go back for her as soon as the tide gets us off this sandbar and we can see where we're going." Obviously, it won't be possible to stay where you are all night, as the tide is beginning to come in. Everyone is at least somewhat tired, though I know it is not difficult to stay up all night, having done it a few times myself. You just tend to babble a lot and crash early the next day. :) Let me know what consensus you find, if any. You do have some time right now to think and talk, as the night passes quietly. Every so often, a very light breeze picks up, though it is not much, and would not propel the sailboat much if you were to try to set sail. The breeze is from the east to the west mostly, though sometimes it reverses itself. The breeze that got you where you are now came out of the southwest. If you have any questions, let me know and I will try to answer them as quickly as possible. Also, please include theicemage@aol.com on your replies so I can receive e-mail at home. Thanks! - Brett ---------- From: gdinkelm@ccs.lmco.com[SMTP:gdinkelm@ccs.lmco.com] Subject: Re: Bamf[10] "If the tide's coming in, I suggest we wait until the last minute and head back to the island. The later in the night, the easier time we're going to have of it if those ghosts are still around. And hey, if they are, maybe we'll get another sword from them. :) "Anyway, there's no reason for us all to stay awake. Say 2 people to watch the tide come up and warn the rest if anything happens. Then they can sleep on the way tomorrow when we're sailing." Greg takes a deep breath of the salt air and smiles broadly. ---------- From: Saif[SMTP:saif@xmission.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades > It was suggested to me that I may have assumed too much on the last > move when I had you set sail and go straight out to where you got > grounded on the sandbar. If I did, I apologize. OOC: I disagree, probably because I run a PBEM myself and know that at times the DM has to take some liberties to keep things moving. For my part, feel free to make some assumptions. Of course if I die due to one I might take issue with it. BIC: As we are waiting Saif feels the urge to start talking again. "So have any of you given thought at to "why" we are all here? I have. It _might_ just have been an accident, some kind of random super-natural phenomena. However, the fact that we were all from the same time frame, all from the same reality, and all showed up at the same place kind of makes me wonder if there wasn't a reason for the shift. Or, to be more precise, an intelligence and purpose behind it. When we get to the mainland I am interested in doing some research into this. Perhaps this reality has strange events like this happening all the time. The undead ship kind of supports that theory. If so, I want to find out why. I don't know about you all, but the number one thing on my mind is figuring out how to reverse the shift and get back home! Until we learn how we got here we can't figure out how to go home." Saif sits back, lost in thoughts about home. ---------- From: Animalz@aol.com[SMTP:Animalz@aol.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades - response to Saif's musings "Well, Saif, I don't know why we're here any more than you do. I suppose there could be some intelligent reason behind it but I don't know if we'll ever really know even when we get back to our real world, assuming we eventually do that which I really hope happens since I have a great life I'd like to get back to, not the least of which is a wonderful fiance who must be wondering what happened. Have you ever seen the TV show 'Sliders'? The people on the show would go to different parallel Earths, each with its own peculiar alternate history and curent state of existance. It was a great show, I thought, but got cancelled. Maybe we've 'slid' (or been 'dragged into') into an alternate Earth. Or maybe its kinda like "Quantum Leap" where we have to fix something wrong in this world before we can go back to our own. I wonder how common ghost ships, or any supernatural things, are if it scared the previous inhabitants of the island away. Maybe they left to go get this world's equivalent of the 'Ghostbusters' unless that 'intelligent force' thinks we are them." >grin< "So, Saif, Marshall, Greg, Jeff, John - what did you guys leave behind that you want to go back to?? Brady - I *know* what you're anxious about... When was Kelly supposed to get into town anyway?" Dana ---------- From: Saif[SMTP:saif@xmission.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades - response to Saif's musings > "So, Saif, Marshall, Greg, Jeff, John - what did you guys leave behind that > you want to go back to?? Brady - I *know* what you're anxious about... When > was Kelly supposed to get into town anyway?" Saif smiles. "A wife and little three year old girl. And a Dalmatian." He stops there, as if thinking about home is a little to painful to dwell on at the current time. "Well, if we're supposed to be the Ghostbusters, then where are our unlicensed nuclear accelerators?" :) Saif ---------- From: Jeff Willis[SMTP:thor@bji.net] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades - response to Saif's musings >"So, Saif, Marshall, Greg, Jeff, John - what did you guys leave behind that >you want to go back to?? Brady - I *know* what you're anxious about... When >was Kelly supposed to get into town anyway?" Well for me... not much... I don't know... but if it is a Quantum leap type thing... I've always wished I could do something like that... but I'd like an al... :) For those of you who have watched the show. or a ziggy. :) ---------- From: gdinkelm@ccs.lmco.com[SMTP:gdinkelm@ccs.lmco.com] Subject: Fwd: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades > "So, Saif, Marshall, Greg, Jeff, John - what did you guys leave behind that > you want to go back to?? Brady - I *know* what you're anxious about... When > was Kelly supposed to get into town anyway?" "Nothing right now. I just got home from 6 long months in North Carolina. Haven't even had any time to look for someone worth dating, and now guess what. I think I'm back in North Carolina. Every once in a while you just got to feel like a bit player in a divine comedy." :) Greg ---------- From: John D. Proulx[SMTP:dewelar@ix.netcom.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades - response to Saif's musings "I have a wife at home as well. If there is a rhyme or reason to why we're here, I haven't seen any evidence of them. Still, I believe there is a reason for everything that happens -- otherwise I'd be raging against the great unknown with every waking moment regarding why life sucks :). I can only hope that such things are revealed to us. After all, I must assume that the only way home is the way we got here, and who/whatever caused it is presently inaccessible to us." Re: our situation on the boat... If indeed the tide will indeed carry us off the sandbar, I would suggest returning to the island immediately. Whatever forces may have reason to cause us to leave Cassandra behind, I cannot bring myself to do so of my own free will, and the sooner we return to discover her fate, the better. John Proulx ---------- From: Adequis@aol.com[SMTP:Adequis@aol.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades Kelli was, is or will be if we are just back in time on Earth Arriving, July 11th, 1997. I wonder if she is getting missing persons reports when she calls to try finding me? Crap I have been busy out here I haven't even thought of the familia impact of this little adventure. I mean I didn't have a choice on being here, but I have to say the adrenaline and excitement gets me a little caught up in the moment. I am a firm believer in God and I believe he can do anything... did anyone read Perelandra (Second book in the Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis?) God basically sent a man from earth to mars to help protect the innocence of a new culture. Maybe this could be the same of maybe God just sometimes takes people and puts them where he needs them to be, and returns them in the end. Oh since I have very little desire for Theological debates at the present (The future is uncertain isn't it...) You can substitutes little 'g' god or 'Higher Being' in place of God. We probably will be okay if we head straight back to the island, and then go for supplies, information and regrouping. I will also take the sword since nobody jumped at it. I have a little experience, and climbing uses quite a bit of the same muscle groups (forearms/tensers, shoulders, triceps, biceps etc.) So I might be able to last a while in swinging it too. I always wanted to be a paladin, taking an aggresive stance against evil, i.e. hacking it apart with a sword. Since evil never seems to materialize into a physical form... until now... never had the chance. Anyway, I will bless a bunch of water and start praying about some protecting and turning stuff. ::At this Brady turns to the water and starts to pray. He seems sad in a way... he turns to the others... The only problem is I don't understand undead. I mean where is the soul. Those sailors were once humans and destroying humans sits pretty wrong with me, but really it is the soul that I would hate to destroy... Where is it? ::Brady continues to pray ---------- From: John D. Proulx[SMTP:dewelar@ix.netcom.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades Adequis@aol.com wrote: > > The only problem is I don't understand undead. I mean where is the soul. > Those sailors were once humans and destroying humans sits pretty wrong with > me, but really it is the soul that I would hate to destroy... Where is it? > I suppose we really can't know, can we? It depends on what source material upon which you draw. _Something_ certainly inhabits the body of the red-sashed fellow. Whether it is his own immortal soul, the mind of some (to use a D&D term) spell-casting creature, or a demon of some sort which possesses it is open to debate. As to my own religious beliefs, I believe in God as well and I believe that there is no way for mortal man to know His mind. If indeed we are on some religious crusade, then it is likely to end only when He decides that it is ended. Let me add, however, that I do have a strong sense of justice. It may not be within our rights to destroy these undead, but they must in some way answer for their actions, especially if they have injured or killed the original inhabitants of this island and/or Cassandra. If we are to be instruments of God, perhaps that is our mission: to bring them to justice or, if they are indeed demons, to destroy them. On the other hand, I am _not_ a believer in the idea of man being the instrument of God (John Denver notwithstanding). Has He no followers here worthy of such a task? Also, while Brady may be a logical choice for such a mission given his conduct and the beliefs he has expressed, can the same be said for the rest of us? What of our own families on Earth? Are they to be made to suffer? Brady may not want to get into a theological debate, but I don't think it can be avoided when dealing with the question of undead and souls. For the moment, however, I am willing to wait for more evidence. I may believe in God, but I am also a scientist by nature and therefore a skeptic. If this _is_ a religious crusade, then you can just call me Thomas (which was, after all, my confirmation name :) ). -- John Proulx ---------- From: Animalz@aol.com[SMTP:Animalz@aol.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades In a message dated 97-07-07 16:54:12 EDT, Adequis writes: > The only problem is I don't understand undead. I mean where is the soul. > Those sailors were once humans and destroying humans sits pretty wrong with > me, but really it is the soul that I would hate to destroy... Where is it? "I'd like to belive that the souls that once animated these guys are safely wherever they went when the sailors died. Something else is usually animating the undead, isn't it? I mean, from our experience with undead from AD&D and cult movies, etc (if you can call it 'experience') there's usually some evil force behind it all, causing the bodies to act, without there being a soul present. I wonder if that red sashed dude may be the controlling force. He seemed to be leading them and seemed to act on his own, spoke to us and threatened us. Or else there's someone else behind the curtain calling the shots, a la Wizard of Oz. As far as us all getting back to the real world goes, maybe we could click our heels together three times and repeat 'there's no place like home...'. :) Who knows, if we concentrate hard enough, we may be able to bring back that white light that transported us. Of course there still remains the question of why we were brought here...." ---------- From: Adequis@aol.com[SMTP:Adequis@aol.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades I don't in general think this is a religious crusade I was just hypothesizing on how we got here, and to what method is needed to 'put the souls to rest', or if the souls is not present make the body remember that and stop moving. I don't have too many qualms with beating a dead body if it won't lie down. It could be that we were all sent here because of the differences in us. I mean maybe because I am the way I am and have innate abilities (like blassing water) that brought me here and each of you have similar abilities or mental process, experiences, that make you an essential part of this travelling circus? Brady ---------- From: Saif[SMTP:saif@xmission.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades > It could be that we were all sent here because of the differences in us. I > mean maybe because I am the way I am and have innate abilities (like blassing > water) that brought me here and each of you have similar abilities or mental > process, experiences, that make you an essential part of this travelling > circus? "If the "intelligence behind all this" theory is correct, that could very well be the case. That theory would receive my vote, but probably just because I want there to be a intelligence behind our presence here. If it was just some random fluctuation that brought us here, well, I don't think our chances of getting home will be very good. After seeing your ability to bless water, and Marshall's (ooc: I think it was him) summoning of the wind, I can't help but wonder what new skills or talents the rest of us might have." Saif ---------- From: Dinkeldog@aol.com[SMTP:Dinkeldog@aol.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades In a message dated 7/7/97 3:54:12 PM, Adequis wrote: <> "Yeah, Brady, I've read it. Actually in Perelandra God sends him to Venus. The first one is about Mars, _Out of the Silent Planet_, but he goes there in a mad scientist's rocket." ---------- From: Animalz@aol.com[SMTP:Animalz@aol.com] Subject: Re: Bamf [10] Decisions and Blades - time warps In a message dated 97-07-07 16:54:12 EDT, Adequis writes: > Kelli was, is or will be if we are just back in time on Earth Arriving, > July 11th, 1997. "You know, Brady, that brings up an interesting and vital point.... What was the date when you left? For me it was Sunday June 8th. For you it's apparently sometime after July 11th. So.... do you remember me being around towards the middle of June or do you remember me being missing or something happening to me at work??? Makes you wonder what the date will be for us when we get back to our own world. If I *wasn't* around, that would be a good indication of whether or not we ever *do* get back home......"