To seek out new life... - Chyril 23rd TT - Quinlan and Guido

[Guido Cercatoro]

A gasp escaped from Guido’s mouth as the airship cleared the mountains and he caught his first sight of the valley. How beautiful. A hidden land. They will be envious at the library. I am the first scholar to see this place.

As he listened to Quinlan’s words, the curator nodded. It was, indeed, as if the land had been designed rather than grown naturally. Perhaps the owners of this land had some power over the landscape to erect such a “wall” and lay out such a perfect circle of land.

"Well now, what do you think, mister Cercatoro? Miss Serafini?" Quinlan asked excitedly, still gazing below. "Doesn't appear to be a very large city." He scanned the area from their bird's eye view, not spotting any other villages within the walls of mountains. "Just a single settlement, with this land all to themselves?" he said wryly.

“It is strange,” replied Guido. “We should be wary here, for I suspect all is not as it seems. Everything is drawing us to the village but…” The curator’s sentence was interrupted as he heard the howling from the forest. He took a deep gulp. “As I was saying, we should proceed with caution.”

[Brytan]

Carlotta Serafini had taken out a piece of parchment and a sliver of charcoal when the Tal'Fea slowed to climb over the mountain range. She stood at the port side of the skiff, sketching the scene below her. A magnificent bird's eye view of an uncharted land.

"This land is thoroughly cultivated. The mountains seem to be cut quite unnaturally, a strange formation, so slim yet rigid." She jotted down measurements and estimates along with her sketch of the isle. "It's rather small, I'd say a tenth of Pan's Isle so more settlements would not be viable in my opinion." The words came out rather businesslike, without much emotion. She put the piece of charcoal down for a flicker. "It is quite beautiful though."

LeForestier was steering them across the mountains, directing the skiff towards the north. After a few burns they passed a large gash in the mountains, where the rock had broken away and apparently had toppled over to the east, where a large bridge of rock connected the isle of Pan and this new isle. In between the mountains, a wall made out of wood had been built, with a gate of some sort in the middle. Obviously the inhabitants of the isle had discovered this breach in their defenses and taken measures to assure no one would just walk in across the bridge of rock.

"There be a flat slab a'rock to tha north, by them falls ahead." Leforestier pointed to the plateau of rock which lay north and west of their current position, almost due north of the settlement. It seemed quite smooth. "Methinks we should set 'er down there, give us a good spot to watch fer oncomers, aswell as a smooth place to set down."

Some of the men around him, including Donelli, nodded as the Warrant officer started to adjust course towards the slab of stone.

[Quinlan Corodin]

Quinlan only nodded approval at the selection of a landing site. It sounded reasonable enough; he was preoccupied with what would take place once the group was already on the ground, and stepped closer to Carlotta.

"Even the very mountains, hewn by mortal hands?" he said, leaning over to steal a glance at her sketch. "I suppose you are right about the settlement, but if the whole island has been worked, why only build that gate in the mountains and the one village? Unless that's simply all we can make out from the air." He gazed over the island once again, thinking on the question.

"Any speculation on what these villagers might be like?" he asked, looking between the two professional scholars. "Noone seemed to have any knowledge of them, so it's reasonable to assume their knowledge of the rest of the world is just as limited."

"Perhaps they can explain where they and their land have been all this time." Eyebrows perked, he continued to gaze out over the land, the brisk wind blowing through his hair and revealing a widow's peak.

[Guido Cercatoro]

Guido listened intently to Carlotta’s words, impressed at the woman’s ability to quickly size up the island environment. In response to Quinlan’s questions, the curator could only shrug.

“I cannot really speculate on what these people are like. However, the cultivated nature of the land suggests a fair degree of civilisation. The village walls, unnatural mountains and defensive gate all imply that they are concerned for their security. They may be a very isolationalist people, particularly if they have been long cut off from the rest of civilisation.” Pausing for moment, Guido ran his hand across his stubbled chin. “If this analysis is correct then they may be wary, if not downright hostile to strangers. We should do nothing to provoke them.”

[Brytan]

The Tal'Fea started it's descent along the mountains, floating smoothly north and west, following the steep wall of rock down to the surface.
Coming down from high above, the forest and fields came into view with quite a bit more detail. The forest seemed broken, dark and destroyed. As if a massive fist had struck down and crushed half of it in utter destructive insanity. Large spikes of stone rose from between the trees, jutting outward like pins from a pincushion, as if defending the forest which lay broken at the base of a large pinnacle, rising menacingly into the sky.

The outer borders of the forest seemed pretty much unscathed, aswell as the fields. Large piles of rock lined the borders of the fields, which showed neatly divided rows of seedlings, sprouting in the early warmth of spring.

Lowering further, the plateau of rock came into sight, leaning over a cliff looking into the depths of the lake, behind it a magnificent waterfall plummeting down from the heights of the mountains. Where the water came from was unassertainable.

"I'll be sett'n her down! Lads, get ta work!"

LeForestier sent his men up the rigging to start hoisting the sails, slowing their descent as his first mate adjusted some levers on the control panel. The Tal'Fea, now free of the harsh winds that reigned over the high mountains, dove smoothly and gently to the surface. Once it had attained a suitable height, some of the men jumped overboard, dragging along ends of rope. They rushed to secure the mooring ropes to some large rocks which lay about the plateau.

"Drop anchor! Prepare the landing struts!" More movement on deck as Leforestier's sailors got to work on unlatching several large wooden poles which had been secured underneath the railing. Once they had been placed in a vertical position, secured by large iron pegs, Leforestier lowered down the Tal'Fea the final few centimeters, before the creaking of wood on stone could be heard. A few rapid movements from hands over the control panel and the sound of machinery down below stopped.

A plank was lowered from the port side of the skiff, giving those on board a means of getting off.

The Tal'Fea had landed...

[Quinlan Corodin]

"I agree, that's wise, mister Cercatoro. I wouldn't expect a warm welcome, exactly. Let's hope they do have a fair degree of civilization."

The airskiff descended, and Quinlan pondered the damage as it became visible.

Is it damage, necessarily? Some natural disaster? What is normal for this place?

Terra Nova seemed a greater puzzle all the time. It made great the temptation to march down the ramp and start investigating straight away. But, the lieutenant stopped at the top of the ramp. As much as he wanted to lead a posse in discovering Terra Nova's secrets, that was secondary at most. It was not his mission to lead, and if the Condotierre did their job, so it would remain.

He looked over the deck for the eyes of the three he had tasked with guarding the Tal'Fea and her perch.

"Secure the landing site," he ordered once again. For the moment it seemed almost like a formality; most any threat should've been spotted during the ship's landing. But he had every intention of starting things off right.

"Everyone has their instructions. Envoy Donelli," he began, smiling and eyes wide. "The expedition sets out at your pleasure." The lieutenant waited for Este to take the lead, though Quinlan still intended to precede him down the ramp. In the name of security, of course.

On the ground, Quinlan made a quick check to see that all the members and materials had made it off as intended.

"Miss Serafini, were you able to keep our bearings as we landed?" he asked as he went. "Have a suggestion as to how we should travel?" Shielding his hazel eyes with his hand, he looked in the sky for the position of the sun. "Is it too optimistic to think we might make that settlement before dusk?"

[Guido Cercatoro]

Marvelling at the skill of the men who landed the airskiff, Guido momentarily forgot the qualms he felt at the prospect of venturing into the new land. However, as soon as the ship had settled down and the plank lowered, his nervousness began to return. There are so many puzzles here – the unnatural features, the destruction of the forest, the thus far unseen race who inhabit the land – still, it is idle to speculate, for all these questions will soon be answered one way or another….

The curator waited for words from the envoy and Serafini as to how they were to proceed. Just keep quiet and calm, Guido. That’s the best. Wait until you can contribute, otherwise let those better placed than yourself make the decisions. The young historian’s hand wavered uncertainly above the hilt of his sword. Such an action was a waste of time, of course, but it somehow offered him a little comfort.

[Brytan]

Este Donelli disembarked with a great feeling of satisfaction. Not a few marks passed and they had already set foot on land where no one but it's inhabitants had gone before. This would prove to be an interesting mission, one with great potential for the Mouth, if not in trade then perhaps in allies to strengthen their position among the Isles.

Pleased with the adequate actions of Quinlan, he nodded to the man as he surveyed the landscape. As beautiful as it was, it struck him that it seemed disturbed somehow. The plateau on which they had landed was all rock, with several large beams, possibly pillars, standing on the edges of it, some broken off, other toppled over. The sky was darkening already as the sun was sinking below the mountain ridge slowly. "This island must see a shorter day than the rest of the world, with the large wall of rock surrounding it."

Meanwhile the cartographer had also left the skiff after the envoy, taking in the same sights and perhaps drawing some of the same conclusions as Donelli. "Considering the large mountains encircling the island, we will see the fall of evening a lot sooner than we would normally. I gather the village is not more than a mark on foot, but the walls indicated a secured settlement and I doubt arriving at nightfall will do our image much good."

Donelli interjected. "I would agree. I think it would be best to make camp here for the night, then wait for the morning before we set out to meet the locals. Who knows what that forest holds for us, and if they are hostile we will not be able to defend ourselves adequately in the confines of the woods."

Meanwhile, Leforestier and his men were checking the skiff, making sure the lift globes were all in order on the outside, checking the wings and sails and doing random tasks while the soldiers secured the perimeter.

Meanwhile, in the shadow of the forest, not twenty meters away from them, a shadow skulked through the foliage, observing the newcomers.

"They will join us soon..."

OOC: The game is afoot, feel free to join in this thread when you're done here; http://www.tazlure.nl/board/viewtopic.php?t=14582

[Brytan]

Locked for skilling.