[OPENING] exploration log

[spellbindmods]

Who: Explorers and Co.
Where: Around the island and at the newly discovered house
When: Day 10
Open/Closed: Open to All
Note: Feel free to create your own logs for individual island explorations. A prompt is for house exploring, and you can list off multiple A prompts like A1, A2, etc. for more than one prompt within the house. B prompts (B1, B2, etc) are for exploring the island and may be open to all OR select friends who your character is exploring with.

[It's tough to live on an island that doesn't have many resources outside of the limited food sources and running streams. While Brie is aware of some other minor sources of food, like fish and frogs, one person exploring an island on their own means there are a lot of secret spots left to uncover. Despite adventuring for three years, her time on the hub itself has been much shorter, only staying for days or weeks at a time. Now that there are more people on this journey, covering ground is a lot easier.

Recently she's discovered another large estate -- much larger than her current shared mansion, which might also mean it has some supplies inside. On the morning of Day #, she's called together those who are hankering for more supplies in order to bring as much back as possible. Congrats, you get first dibs.

A. Upon approaching the house, the first thing that's noticeable is its size. It's all one story, but very flat and spacious. There are gardens in both the front and the rear, and upon entering (Brie might have enlisted you to help break the door down, oops) the inside is also quite vast. There are tons of rooms, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, two kitchens and other rooms that aren't even explorable because they need keys to be entered. Unless you can find these keys, that is?

B. Alternatively, or maybe even aside from exploring the house, Brie's also suggested that you do some exploring on your own. Again, she's one woman with limited time to scout the island herself. What can you find? What resources are there to be harvested? Will you share in this bounty, or keep it to yourself?]

Comments

[rebells]

A1.

[Locks have always been more of an invitation to Jay than anything else; he makes a thorough search of the open rooms, but you're more likely to find him at the locked doors, with his ear against the door as he twists the knob, or carefully trying to force it open.]

If only I had a set of lockpicks on me . . . .


A2.

[Or perhaps you've come upon him sitting on what looks to be a mini fridge, flipping idly through a magazine in a strange language. There's a box of fishing tackle open on his lap.]

Ah, hello, there. You don't happen to have any experience with fishing, do you?


B.

[Jay and company have already been out exploring, and the fruits of that are tacked to the door of one of the purple shacks: a sketched out map of the southeast corner of the island, including several landmarks as well as arrows pointing in the direction of the boar grounds and nearest water source. A note on the door reads,

MAP IN PROGRESS
Have information? Ask for Jay.

Oddly enough, the whole thing seems to be in glitter gel pen.

If you're not the outgoing sort, he may also be knocking on doors in the evenings, a small leather-bound journal in hand.]

Good evening. Do you have a minute to talk? I'm trying to compile some information about the island.

[p_mortem]

[ 'When Minato explores the house, he'll find a case of water bottles unopened in the kitchen and a backpack filled with the following items: crayons, two spiral notebooks, two toy cars and a elementary school level math textbook.'

It's as if rng knows him best.

Minato's exploration only goes as far as the kitchen and one of the bedrooms, whereupon he leaves to camp out in the hall right in front of the entrance, glancing up past his bangs at anybody who enters or leaves the house, and then down between the textbook on the floor and notebook on his lap where he's... doing math problems. In crayon. Long division is very zen.

There's also a sign next to him, though, a piece of notebook paper weighed down by overturned toy cars on opposite corners so it doesn't get blown away, written in purple crayon:

Anything you find too troublesome to carry, I can hold for you and return later.

Will also trade water for string. ]

A1

[p_mortem]

Do you know how to pick locks? With... paperclips?

[ Minato looks impressed, watching Jay mess with the handle. He could very easily just magic away the door to remove it completely, but watching somebody expertly unlock a door would be cool to see. ]

[rebells]

That depends on what those are. I don't think we have them in my world.

[But he can pick locks, yes.]

[p_mortem]

Bent pieces of metal wire.

[ Which he hopes Jay knows what it is. But not paperclips? ...Paper? ]

How do you keep stacks of paper together?

[rebells]

. . . Paperweights? Folders?

[Oh, is that what paperclips are for.]

In any case, probably, if they're sturdy enough. Why, do you have some . . . paper clips?

[p_mortem]

No. But I have spiral notebooks. You can have some spiral.

[ He imagines it'd work out the same; he turns to dig through his tiny new kid's backpack and pulls out one of the notebooks and starts undoing the wire to... bend back and forth until it snaps or something idk, but it's reasonably sturdy and he hands it over ]

[rebells]

[He watches Minato maneuver the spiral with some interest--they likely don't have spiral notebooks in Melfes, either. In any case, he takes the wire and straightens it out, then snaps it in two.

He frowns at it thoughtfully, then starts forming it into one straight piece and one hooked piece of wire.]

Did you find this here?

[parodeity]

a. house explorations

[ in one of the kitchens, dave manages to find in one of the cupboards a vintage metal lunchbox from some sort of alien cartoon series. he opens it, stares for a moment, and then just. closes it gently. then he stares at the lunchbox proper. ]

Guess I can go dump it out and then wash it. [ it's to himself and not anyone else, muttered nearly inaudible, tracing the curve of one of the faded but still stupid colorful designs on the front. ]

b. quiet lagoon

[ when he wanders off on his own away from the house, however, dave will eventually be able to be run to ground next to a small lagoon near the mountain closest the base camp. he'll hang out there for the later half of the day without giving much warning to anyone as to where he disappeared to, and will likely linger until evening.

the lagoon is small and picturesque, with apparently farmable resources and beauty. there's fish swimming in the water and some turtles, frogs, and other pond creatures.

there's also a large stone bench off to the side of the lagoon itself, and dave's perched on it crosslegged, the now-clean lunchbox off to the side along with his backpack and his sword. he's got his sketchbook open on his lap and is doodling. however, he has more or less given up art practice for the day and is just drawing some terrible mini comics featuring the linked characters and styles and then occasional bouts of meaningless geometric designs or a collection of shapes that don't seem to make much sense pieced together.

he's listening to the mp3 player he acquired and apparently has found some way to charge (...presumably magical with the help of friends), but he'll look up when anyone approaches and give them a kind of nod. ]

[actus]

a1 - actual thief akira

[ if there's anything that feels familiar about this entire ordeal, it's exploring. rather, it's mentally mapping out the twisting hallways and rooms of an unfamiliar place, using context clues to discern how to proceed. he feels in his element even without his flattering trench coat and gaudy red gloves. still, it doesn't feel quite right. he doesn't have morgana or futaba giving him guidance, nor are there shadows lurking. it's oddly quiet and the moment the group is inside, akira is likely wandering around, on edge, almost sneaking between doorways. he's on high-alert, half-expecting a creature to lunge out at any moment.

which probably explains why when someone approaches him, completely innocently, he tenses up and proceeds to jump half an inch off the ground. ]

-- Oh. Hi.

[ that was embarrassing. oops. ]

a2 - flowers and misfortunes

[ he's looking for the keys to the locked rooms. there haven't been any clues and that's frustrating! usually these places have some sort of mechanism or trick to them. this just seems random. and by random, it's probably normal, all things considered.

so he's taken to looking in one of gardens, curiously poking at random flowers to see if there are keys within their petals. he probably looks kind of suspicious. or, just like he's goofing off. feel free to bother him. ]

[ closed to ann & haru ]

[ for the other phantom thieves, he's going to be on the lookout for them, with a blank sheet of paper and pen he's somehow managed to find? listen, this is an infiltration and friends stick together, okay? ]

a1

[actus]

[ -- lock picks. he's very familiar with those. akira laughs, rubbing sheepishly at the back of his neck as he watches jay. ]

I was just thinking the same thing, actually.

a2

[introspects]

[ akira's not the only one who looks like he's goofing off. orihime's also in the garden while on the quest for looking for keys, but she appears to be admiring the scenery more than actually searching for anything. she's squatting next to one of the brushes, looking at the little purple flowers that are growing along its edges. ]

Wah... They're pretty, aren't they?

[ akira happens to be poking at some of the flowers in the brush right next to her, so! hello friend! ]

[rebells]

[He's got a bit of spiral from one of Minato's spiral notebooks now and is making it into vaguely lockpick-shaped tools.]

Oh, really? Are you a thief, an explorer, or a hobbyist?

[introspects]

[ Upon exploring the house, Orihime will discover a small felt bag tucked away in a drawer. Inside will be a small ball of yarn, a small piece of folded fabric (about 3' by 2') and a plastic box filled with needles and pushpins. There is also a comb and a bunch of different hair ties in this same drawer.

conveniently, orihime does have string! well. some kind of string, anyway. she's leaving the house to explore outside when she encounters minato on the floor.

it's the sign that grabs her attention next. ]

Oh, do you need string? I have some yarn we can trade, if that works for you?

[actus]

A thief. A Phantom Thief.

[ he says it calmly, cooly, hands in his pockets as he continues to watch. ]

[windeity]

A.) The House

[Eventually he gets his whimsical ass inside the house and trailing behind the rest of the group, immediately splitting off once more.

His exploring gets cut short as he practically trips over a milkcrate, gracefully settling on the ground and pulling the blanket off.

...enough time passes that he finds himself engrossed in what looks like a comic book and judging by the pile he is three issues in. The blanket is bunched off to the side and he seems to be concentrating, tilting his head this way and that.]

Are all aliens into this? [Should he notice anybody nearby, he'll speak without looking up.] I can't even read this.

B.) Outside

[On his own, John has a tendency to wander. Wandering often leads to being separated from his friends and other people but he doesn't mind. Eventually his wandering leads him to an open field of mushrooms, allowing him to crouch down and examine them.

Anyone who happens upon him will find him sitting in the middle of a fairyring formation of mushrooms, contemplating the cluster for a moment.]

So how do you tell if they're edible?

[rebells]

[Jay smiles more widely, seemingly unfazed by the attention.]

You say it so easily. Should I be watching my pockets?

[He finishes shaping the makeshift lockpicks--one hooked, one straight--and slides the hooked one into the door, turning it. He's very obviously done things like this before.]

[actus]

No. I'd never steal from a teammate.

[ is he joking? about any of that? who knows. either way, akira tilts his head more to the side. ]

So that's how you're doing it. I see.

B

[andsobelow]

[ She approaches to add to the map, she motions to the north of the camp. ]

There's a host of unmarked graves to the north, embedded in a copse.

[andsobelow]

A THE HOUSE
[ an unopened bottle of red wine in a cupboard, a large stone ashtray and various crumpled up receipts written in a foreign language, though the numbers they contain add up to very large sums.

The wine she is pleased to find, it's something she considers as necessary ration for when clean water is unavailable. The chances of her trading it, or even sharing it, are slim but you're certainly welcome to try. ]

B THE FOREST
[ She's collecting bugs into empty jars, she's going to eat them :) ]

[rebells]

Ah, how considerate of you.

[He turns his attention back to the lock, sliding in the straight piece and listening carefully at the knob. Rattle, rattle. He does this a couple more times--it takes him a while to catch the pins in exactly the right way . . . .]

This is a bit crude, but it should work--ah.

[but then he does . . . and the door clicks open.]

closed

[mapsio]

[Haru seems to be just adventuring around a small area, taking in the scenary before deciding to go out any further.

Any company is more than welcome if Akira would like to approach!]

[actus]

[ it worked. ]

...Cool.

[ akira hasn't really had any practice with picking locks in the real world, apart from that one time with yusuke, but that had taken far too many guts. he isn't sure he's ready to start picking locks of a house he knows nothing about. ]

You'll have to teach me that.

[rebells]

Ah, thank you. Was there some other indication it was a gravesite, or did you dig?

[There's no judgment--at least not evident judgment--in that question. He adds a mark where she's indicated.]

[rebells]

I'd be happy to show you later. [That seems sincere, at least.] Shall we go in?

[Inside is . . . let's say, what looks like a storage room, with lots of crates and boxes. They're stacked sort of haphazardly on top of one another.]