462 ❀

[ino]

[Filtered from First Gens, their allies, anyone who would inform them, and anyone who would use this information for evil]

[dictated in a businesslike tone!]

So! We've arrived at Totem Coast, for anyone who's back at the castle. It's very pretty, lots of sand and water, I'm sure we'll have pictures to show you all later.

But more importantly, we did find some interesting information in a little cave by the beach. There's what looks to be some kind of office or study in here, but it hasn't been used in a long time -- big surprise, right? Anyways, someone in here was taking notes. It'd be too easy if they were all legible, naturally, so there's a ton of ink spilled all over most of them. But here's what we can decipher:

[She'll carefully write out what can be read from these two pages on the journal]

The rest of the trip's been relatively undisturbed, so I guess it's about time we ran into some problems. Everyone on the expedition, this means we're camping close and increasing watch, as well as keeping an eye out for any of those symptoms listed there. [why yes, she just ordered you all around, deal with it /shades] Any whiners or loners will be dragged kicking and screaming.

As for the rest of you, we'll keep you updated if anything else happens.

Comments

Dictation

[cyan_maid]

[Oh. Oh. That's not pleasant to hear. Jane would rather talk to Ino in person, but she's not sure where she is right now, so dictation would have to do.]

Was that in the right passageway of the cave? I saw nothing like a study in the one on the left.

[ino]

Yeah. That room is all there is, on the right ... unless there's some kind of secret passageway in there, I guess.

[cyan_maid]

Ooh! Do you think there might be a secret passageway somewhere-

Wait, no, I should really focus on what's at hand! Those notes are really quite ominous...could those who were here before us have died from this mystery illness?

[ino]

It's possible. We haven't found any bodies, but that doesn't mean much, other than someone probably did a cleanup job at some point.

[cyan_maid]

That doesn't mean we know what kind of cleanup job, though! Someone else could have disposed of the bodies, or animals could have dragged off the carcasses...

Eugh, as viable as it might be, I do NOT want to think about that last one.

Dictated

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

You'll get no whining from me. [He sighs, concerned as he looks over the text]

Any way to tell how long the pages have been here?

[ino]

Glad to hear it!

I couldn't give you an exact time. But the room looked like it hadn't been entered in years, and the ink on the pages is completely dry.

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

If that's the case it's entirely possible that whatever disease that may be referring to could have gone the way of whoever used to live here.

[ino]

Maybe. But something caused the "infection". So it's best to be extra careful.

Dictated & Filtered!

[hard_talker]

Shit! ... Not to be Captain Obvious, but that doesn't look good. ... Have you tried holding the pages up to a light? Sometimes you can see the pressure marks from the pen through the ink.

[ino]

Yeah, no kidding. But we've got a lot of capable people out here, so I wouldn't worry too much.

I tried that, actually. I can't make anything out. There were lots of pages just completely soaked through with ink, so it's kind of annoying that it doesn't work ...

[hard_talker]

Well, that sucks. About the pages, I mean. ... Should I let you get back to lookin' around and stuff?

[ino]

No, you're alright. I'm just looking for a good place to camp, nothing dire.

How are things back at the castle?

[workaphilic]

Oh, excellent.

[Somebody sounds way happier than is probably necessary about this turn of events.]

Anything else you can tell us about the room? Titles of books, size, upkeep, layout, design.

[ino]

[and someone else is staring at the page, wondering why this guy is so damn cheerful. but!]

It's just a room in a cave, pretty much -- like, they made use of one of the natural openings. It's not very big at all, and it's gross and obviously hasn't been cleaned or anything in a long time.

There aren't any books left in here, though. There's a bunch of ripped pages covered in ink -- the only salvageable ones are the ones I just transcribed. Other than that, there's a few odd objects here and there ... a rusty sword, a coin, a magnifying glass, a feather ... some rope, a blanket ... yeah, that's about it.

[workaphilic]

Not exactly a permanent space, then. A refuge?

[ino]

Possibly. There was a giant stash of treasure in the other passage of the cave, too, but not much notable about that. Just a ton of gold.

Whatever this place was, though, it's been long abandoned.

written

[mom_to_us_all]

[Ah! This girl's voice... What was her name... Oh yes! She told her not to laugh at her name after all!]

Sounds ominous. Thanks for the update, though!

How are you, Ino?

[ino]

[lmao. yes. thank you for not laughing at piggy-chan, amaterasu]

Yeah. You're welcome.

I'm pretty good! The trip here, at least, has mostly been fantastic. How are things back at the castle?

[mom_to_us_all]

Not going to lie... BORING! Come back already!

[ino]

[a little laugh] Aww, really? There must be something there to do.

dictated from...... probably ten feet away sdafsdj

[psych0p0mps]

Oh wow, what? I didn't get a chance to look in that other room... Ino, if we just unwittingly unleashed a zombie apocalypse I'm going to be very upset.

LMAO

[ino]

I ... don't think we have to worry about zombies. Or an apocalypse.

[psych0p0mps]

[Scoots over and flops across her backpack because why not.]

Okay, well, zombies at least. Look at this, doesn't this smudge look kind of like "virus"? The whole thing is classic zombie movie.

[ino]

[she raises an eyebrow] Movies aren't usually true.