Secondary Game Thread

[j0lt]

"Si.  We're coming up on a small fishing village, Santa Boca is just beyond it."  Loder looks back to check if the others heard him.

[BowenSilverclaw]

John puts his Colt back in it's holster.

"Ah, that's good news. Let's hope there are less gnats there." he says as he swats at some gnats in front of his face.

[jacemachine]

The trail widened, eventually joining a dirt road. A little farther, and sounds of people and animals could be heard. Sight soon followed sound, and you find yourselves walking towards a series of structures. Little more than shacks, these single room buildings lay to either side of the road. It wasn’t a very big community; one could easily see the other side of its boundaries from opposite ends of the dirt road.

Men were loading up a series of carts with fish, packing individual layers with copious amounts of fresh seaweed. The women helped by tending to the excited children. Dogs ran in and around the villagers. Barking.

With Market being that day, you could feel the excitement of the people. Men and Women exchanged broad, shameless smiles. They talked amongst each other, laughing at jokes while they worked,

As the group entered the town, most people looked their way and gave them a friendly nod.

An older woman stopped to speak with Paco. She spoke in low tones, but Loder was reasonably sure that he had heard.

“Mantengas hermano seguro. Guarde Esteban del daño. Él es un muchacho especial.” She looks quickly in the party’s direction, then back to Paco. “Te amo. Usted ha venido un hombre. Tu padre sería orgulloso.

“Dios tiene misericordia para usted. No tengo gusto del aspecto de estos hombres. No veo nada bueno aquí. Me preocupo para usted, mis dos niños. Si sucede cualquier mala cosa, consigas lejos con Esteban. ¿Comprendas?”

“Si.” He nods. As the group walks passed the older woman, she gives the party a hard stare. Esteban follows behind leading the horse. “¡Tengo el caballo, mi madre! ¡Mire!” He says to her in passing. The horse gives a whiney.

Men can be seen carrying baskets of fish up a long trail that leads down to the communities wharf. They have fully filled two carts and are nearly finished with a third. A group of women come up behind the men carrying more seaweed. The smell of fish is heavy in this town.

A group of children sit in a half-circle around a graying old man. He sits on a stump, and holds his wooden cane in his gnarled hands. “¿Usted desea de oír la historia cómo mi padre y yo vinimos ser buscados por El Abuelo?” he asks the children.

He looks up to notice your group and laughs warmly. “Story time señores. For the children, but I won’t try to stop you if you wish to listen as well.”

[j0lt]

Dr. Loder stops at the old man's words.  "¿El Abuelo?"

Turning to the others, he rummages through his bag and pulls out his journal.  "Let's take a rest for a moment, I want to hear this.

[BowenSilverclaw]

"You sure we got the time for that, Doc? I don't want to keep the others waiting."

[j0lt]

"This shouldn't take long, anyways, these old stories and legends tend to provide insight into the local area.

[BowenSilverclaw]

"If you say so..."

[jacemachine]

As the old man begins his story, he speaks rapidly in Spanish and occasional word or phrase in English. Giving grand motions to his words in a way that would excite a child. He makes a 'clawing motion' with both of his hands at the mention of 'The Grandfather'. El Abuelo.

[[ and take it away translator! ]]

[j0lt]

"He says that when he was a young man he would go on regular hunting trips with his father. These trips would take them far into the jungle, past forgotten ruins, of places his people have long forgotten.

His father and he had been tracking a wild boar, and had managed to wound it with an arrow. But the boar was tough and ran into a dark cavern. After a few moments, they heard it squeal and then was silent. Certainly it must have fallen into a pit and broken its back.

His dad wanted to give up on it, but the young man insisted that they could get it. They had rope and they had made some torches with which to safely navigate the cave.

So the two men went into the mouth of the cave. There was a terrible smell coming from it, and they decided that there was likely a pit inside that all these animals would stumble into and die. They almost decided to back out, but at this point the son was too excited and wanted to go. So they went deeper, and deeper still. They began to snap dry twigs and sticks under their feet as they went deeper. The two men lowered the torches down to see, and they found the bones of hundreds of animals spread about.

Raising their torches, they found themselves face to face with the legendary creature that these people call 'El Abuelo - The Grandfather'-- It was like a bear in form, but its fur was a grey or tan. Fresh blood stained its muzzle and it chomped down on the wild pig. It’s eyes glowed in the torchlight as it fixed onto the Father and Son.

Then they ran out of the cave. Tripping over bones, they were nearly out of the cave when the creature let out a monstrous scream.

They understood exactly what El Abuelo had said. 'Stay out.'"

Quickly thanking the old man for his tale, Loder turns back to the others.  "I've heard stories of this beast before, but never told by one who claims to have seen it himself.  This El Abuelo is something of a local boogeyman.  A spook story to keep the children from wandering away, and all that.  Still, stories like this always have their root in fact.  If we had more time, I'd like to explore the area that the old man was talking about."

[Neull//]

Max finds the whole story pretty interesting and totally agrees with what Dr Loder commented about stories having their roots in fact. Besides, this was not the first time he was hearing the story about El Abuelo…
Knowledge (arcane lore): 22
Knowledge (history): 16
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2004534/

[BowenSilverclaw]

Yeah, that's a pretty good story, but I doubt it's more than that." John says sceptically.

"Think we can continue on our way, Doc?"

[Neull//]

“Yep I say we move on…the others should have arrived by now ”

[j0lt]

"Good idea...  Paco, vamos!"

[jacemachine]

“Sí, Sr. Loder. Sí. Santa Boca no es distante. La gente de esta aldea está viajando el mismo camino que somos. Nos mezclaremos fácilmente..." Even as he says this, your group sees that the fish carts are completely filled, and a large group of the villagers begin to escort the carts from their village.

Some of the women take up a chorus of song. Some sort of local tune. The men join in, harmonizing their part.

Soon you find yourself arriving at Santa Boca from the north.



The town looks haphazard, with paved roads and buildings at odd angles with one another. The majority of roofs appear to be the red clay Spanish shingles. But every so after thatched huts rise up amongst the crumbling colonial style buildings.

The streets and paths in the city are filled with travelers. Men, women, and children in bright colors and patterns. Horses, mules, and carts of all sizes and shapes move through the congested streets.

The villagers move along, presumably towards to the town square where the Market would most likely be held.

Paco and Etseban hang back a bit, along with your group.

"Hemos llegado, señores. Éste es ' Puerta de Santa Boca'. ¿Usted necesitó ayuda adicional? Eteban y yo estamos disponibles."

[Neull//]

"What are they saying Dr Loder?"

[j0lt]

"He's saying that if we need additional help, they're available.  We need to find the others, but first, I think we need a place to stay.  Let's find a hotel, shall we?"

[BowenSilverclaw]

"Perhaps the brothers know of a good hotel? Could you ask them, Doc?"

[jacemachine]

The two brothers stand with the group looking at them, but not comprehending the conversation topic. Occasionally Esteban will wave enthusiastically at a local he was familiar with. Paco shot him a chiding look, muttering, "No hoy pequeño hermano. Éste no es un buen día para traer la atención a nosotros."

A flock of seagulls glided overheard on thermal currents of air. Calling mournfully to the people milling about in the streets of Puerta de Santa Boca. Here the gnats had eased off, in fact you realized that they more or less vanished after passing through that fishermen's colony. It was still hot and humid-- both factors were certain to only get worse as the day grew longer. Then there was the heavy aroma of the jungles: jungle vegetation rotting overlayed with the wild scents of living creatures and plant life.

[j0lt]

Turning to Paco, Loder quickly inquires about a safe place to wait for the others.  "¿Hay un lugar que podemos esperar con seguridad los otros?"

[jacemachine]

Paco scratches his scalp under his cowboy hat. After a moment he responds, "Hay dos hoteles en la ciudad. 'el Jaguar y el Wolf' y el 'Hideaway del Caribe Inn'. Sin embargo, los alemanes han estado permaneciendo en 'el Jaguar y el Wolf'."