Around the Folf

[Nick22]

" marita gaped " Hold on, theres someone else going after this loot? Well that would have been info that we could have used some time ago Kojurro.'  first though, we need to get some clothes for everyone then I'll call Kora.  Do you have any idea where this guy is ? Ok, hes rich, and connected, but that doesn't help us in countering him, if we dont have an idea of where he is.  Plus we have to have a good look at your map, in order to know where to start. Otherwise, its the definition of a wild goose chase." she said.  Emma had found the maternity section and found a nice billowing blue dress that covered her belly bulge in a taseful manner.  Rose and Marie also  found nice dresses, in light green and orange colors.  Marita for her part , picked out a bright red dress with ruffles. ' Feel almost like a Southern Belle in in Gone with the wind ' She smirked.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"You look good, Marita!" Flora congratulated, donning her new jogging outfit.

Sharal'tar clicked her tongue, glancing cringingly at the yellow and white aesthetic of Flora's polyester. "Not to be rude, Flora, but your fur clashes brilliantly with that color scheme."

"Perhaps, but I swear you're all delusional if you think you're hiking through this heat wearing those suits and dresses." Flora adjusted her waist strap. "You all look like you stepped out of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure."

"I didn't know Presley August survived until the tontine box reactivated his signal," Kojurro apologized to Marita, flipping the device upside down and reactivating the map. "The cryonics facility he works for is in Montreal, so he's on the other side of the planet. He's probably recovering from his artificial slumber as we speak."

"OK, so how soon until you think he flies here to Sudan?" Flora asked. "Also, is he just gonna fly directly to the treasure?"

"Can't, it's more complicated than that," Kojurro explained. The map generated itself into a hologram, and he moved his finger to trace the route. "You can't just hike directly to the treasure because it's underground. First we need to cross the Sahara Desert until we reach the tiny city Thumarsus. We'll need to collect additional supplies from there, then hike through the blastlands until we reach the ancient ruins of Prusea. From there, we'll need to enter the ruins."

Sharal'tar manipulated the map herself. "It doesn't seem to 'zoom in' to show the ruins as more than an X. How do we use this map once we're inside?" she asked.

"We can't," Kojurro admitted. "Whoever made the map either knew the route from memory or had a separate one for the interior of the ruins. And my squad never found it if there  was one. You're going to have to trust my navigational skills and Kora's knowledge of Prusean architecture once we go inside."

"Well, that's just great..." Sharal'tar sighed.

"You're welcome to drop out if you don't want to go anymore," Flora reminded, sliding over the store counter and trying to force the cash register open.

[Nick22]

so, you are telling us that we're going to travel hundreds of miles to find this place?" emma said. We're gonna need  different clothes then. as while this drreess is nice, it will make me seat something fioerce..' andf the Sahara can  get  up to 130 degrees in places.' Marita said ' i'll call kora once we get out of here. knowing her like I do, She'll be on the first flight to Khartoum.  It'll take about a full day and cost her about 2000 bucks, but frankly she can afford it. ' She smirked. " How long do we have before your old chum finishes his recuperation? I'd like to know so we can make the most of our head start."

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

(OOC: Should we do a time skip to when Kora arrives and they can head out?)

"Well, you should have seen a bit of a hike coming, fabulous treasures don't tend to hang around the backyard," Kojurro noted jokingly. "And I have no clue; I'm not an expert in cryonics."

Flora glanced at Emma. "Did they ever cover cryonics in your nurse training? You're the only one here who has a chance of knowing this."

Sharal'tar returned with some backpacks from a back-to-school store. "Here, in case you find any supplies you'll want to bring on the trip," she informed everyone, tossing Flora, Marita, and Rose her extra packs. "Honestly, I suggest we spend the night here, gather supplies, and meet Kora at the airport tomorrow. As much as I'd like to do traditional shopping during the day it takes Kora to arrive, everything within walking or driving distance will still be recovering from the storm and I doubt any shops are open."

"There's a hiking shop near the escalator, right?" Flora mentioned. "It's called 'Alpine Ventures' or something like that. That'd be a good place to get specialized traveling gear and good boots."

[Nick22]

(sure we can do that)
 Cryonics, a little bit. the longer you are frozen, the longer it takes to fully awaken. rule of thumb was for every year frozen, it took a week to recover. 20 years, 20 weeks.  a year is 52 weeks, so 20 weeks would be 5 months or so. How long was he frozen?" Emma asked Kojurro. I agree with Sharal'tar that we get our stuff done before Kora gets here.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"He couldn't have been asleep for more than 24 hours; his light had gone out yesterday night and reactivated in the morning," Kojurro answered.

"So I didn't major in math, but that sounds like it'd be a ludicrously small recovery time by that ratio," Sharal'tar chimed in.

[Nick22]

 About 27.7 minutes' marita said ' Under a half hour. so the bloke, is been awake for hours already. . You made it sound like he froze himself months or years ago Kojuuro!" she said. ' ah well. it was it is. lets just get some stuff, get some sleep and go and fetch Kora in the morning. "

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

(24 hours later)

"Flora, stop sticking your tongue out at the TSA," Sharal'tar chastised.

"They deserve it! I get stopped and searched every time I board a plane!" Flora flipped off a blonde uniformed bunny who resolutely ignored her. "Once I was smuggling narcotics, do you realize how quickly and how deep I had to stuff them up my--"

"Ah-hem." Kojurro cleared his throat and checked his pocket watch; an overly-fancy fashion statement he could never have afforded if he hadn't stolen it from a ruined mall. "That should be the 1:10 arrival from San Diego," he reported as the latest plane ground to a halt and passengers started disembarking into the terminal. "Marita, have you heard from your friend that she made the flight and arrived safely?"

"She better; I paid triple for this caramel ribbon latte." Flora glanced at the only coffee place that wasn't under construction in the aftermath of the airport's reparations. "Prices in airports are outrageous even before everything's only halfway rebuilt."

[Nick22]

 Yes ' Marita replied, as she held a ' Welcome Kora' handmade sign, from a large piece of cardboard she had swiped from the mall. " she was in the middle part of the plane, seat 60B. she brought her notes on ruins of the region, which are quite extensive.  one look at your map piece kojuuro and she'll have a pretty ggood idea of whee to start looking.  ah, here she is now!Kora! over here!' Marita beamed as Kora came up to them wearing attire suitable for the hot desert. ' hi everyone. sorry I'm a hour late. Layover in Milan took a lot longer than first anticipated.. anyway lets see this map of yours Kojuuro I should have a good idea of where to start after getting a good look. " Kora said setting her suitcase and knapsack down.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Not out here," Kopurro glanced around suspiciously. "The map is a hologram projected by this black box; it'll draw too much attention to itself in public. Follow me."

"Hi Kora!" Flora extended a hand excitedly. "Nice to finally meet you in person. Let me carry your bag!"

He led the group out of the airport and to their transportation; a pair of covered wagons driven by two camels each. Leading Kora into the closer wagon, he tapped the activation button and the map materialized into form in front of him. "You can move around the map by tracing your finger, and zoom in or out by pinching your fingers like this," he demonstrated.

"I hope she knows anything about the extinct Prusean civilization," Sharal'tar muttered, folding her arms. "Cause I grew up out here and I've never even heard of them before."

[Nick22]

thats not surprising. the Purseans existed over  2000 years ago ' Kora said  "their kingdom was taken over by neighboring kingdoms and their temples and pyramids repurposed, the average person wouldnt know that  a previous kingdom had built them.' she said taking in the map..' this is only the exterior of these areas. i take it that the other part shows the interiors?" she said her eyes twinkling with excitement.  We are going first to a ruin  called Mur Alshul, it was a major Pursean city, built 2200 years  ago, like  with other great cities of antiquity, it was built on the banks of a river. In the desert, water means life, especially since the desert receives so little of it"

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"There is no other part, sadly," Kojurro admitted. "This map was found in America by a team of Scorched Earth scavengers. We're going to have to puzzle our way through interiors to locate whatever we need to find at each location."

"Is there anything you need to purchase in the city before we head out, Kora?" Sharal'tar asked, mounting a camel. "I dont know if Marita told you, but there's another group racing us for the treasure. They're flying in from America just like you, so we should be neck and neck right now."

[Nick22]

no, i've got all i need packed away in my luggage. spelunking equipment, notebooks for record taking, and an camera to record the ruin interior.  you  know fellas this sounds like something straight out of Indiana jones" kora laughed ' now what is important for everyone to know is this: the purseans were moon worshippers. they believed the light from the moon was a gift from the divines.  you'll find crescent, half and full moons in the  glyphs, the full moon meant that area was extremely favored by the gods, half moon meant there was some favor, crescent moon was little favor and the black or new moon meant disfavor. you did not want to anger the gods as they would punish you both in this life and the after life as well. ' Kora said " Lets get going then. the quicker we get to  Mur Ashul the better. . "

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

The camels acquiescently started trotting off.

Sharal'tar glanced over at Marie, who was driving the second wagon. "Hey Marie, is everything sticking mentally from last night?" Sharal'tar had spent a good part of their evening in the mall training Marie on controlling her new plant powers. "We covered a lot of ground quickly, so it's okay if you've forgotten some of it. But we're heading into arid desert, and our plant powers become super useful since we won't find many real plants out there. Growing food, creating rope out of vines, creating shade..."

"What sort of gods did the Pruseans worship?" Flora asked Kora. "Did they worship part-animal beings, like the Egyptians?"

[Nick22]

No, they worshiped the heavens, the moon, most prominently." Kora said " you'll see lots of carving showing them with their faces towards the moon in a reverential manner. as i said before, the place that wre most favored by the gods will show a full moon, the places that were considered as cursed will show a new moon or black moon. "
_
 I'm  doing ok" marie said ' i think i have the rope and shade parts down, the growing food will be a bit tricky. particularly since in the desert most plants require deep roots to reach what water there is.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

It wasn't too many hours before the last vestiges of civilization disappeared over the horizon behind them.

"Now, we need to all be vigilant in rationing our supplies!" Kojurro reminded everyone. "This is a long initial hike through the desert, and we don't want to run out of water or food because it will be very hard to find more. Stay in the wagons whenever possible, because it's going to get very hot."

"Hotter than it is now?" Flora panted. "I'm missing that rainstorm from before already..."

"You say that now, but the night cold will likely be even worse than the daytime heat," Kojurro chuckled. "The desert is one of the most unforgiving biomes, behind the tundra. Which yes, I know, is by definition still a desert."

Outside on the horses, Sharal'tar nodded at what Marie said. "Even I don't know how to procure food out of nowhere," she admitted. "I need to have a few seeds beforehand so I can grow them into a full plant. But with how precious water is out here, it's more likely we'll be using it for combat or exploration purposes more than survival."

[Nick22]

hours passed and soon the ruins of  Mur ashur appeared on the horizon and Kora pointed at them' we'll stop at that central . the skies were turning darker and forboding' I suggest we hurry as it looks like a sandstorm is headed our way. Sandstorms in this region are both massive and deadly.  Marita and Rose folowed quickly behind her. " we need to find shelter before we get hit" Martita said , turning and looking the others in tthe group..

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Flora went pale at the mention of a sandstorm. Her arrival in this region was marked by a terrifying sandstorm that nearly killed her before her adventures even began. "Let's get those puppies moving!" she gasped. "Mush!"

"They're camels!" Sharal'tar snapped back, clapping the reins to no effect. "They move at the exact speed they want!"

Luckily, even the camels noticed the sandstorm and kicked it up a notch. As the caravan crossed the border into the ruins, Kourro gasped in amazement at the wonderful stone structures towering above them, collections of bricks and stones that had been eroded through generations of wear.

"I'm taking us straight into the big entrance!" Sharal'tar yelled into her wagon as sand started peppering her face. They were bearing down on the most impressive structure, a towering ziggurat whose mouth instantly sloped downwards into the earth. "And we're gonna be stuck in there until this blows over!"

"That's perfect!" Kojurro exclaimed. "We're looking for a golden urn! It'll be deep within the temple, and inscribed on it is a map showing where we need to travel after this!"

Flora covered her mouth with her shirt and climbed out of the wagon once it ground to a halt. She squinted into the darkness. "We're going to need light sources if we're going in there," she noted. "Kora, do you have the torches?"

[Nick22]

of course i do" kora said " i have lighter fluid for them as well. This central room, is going to be deep in the center of the pyramid, well underground. plus, theres likely to be intact traps, designed to foil looters. The sands have kept the thing intact, which is a good thing. better watch your step,  handrails were not a thing in those days.' She said as they reached the entrance. sands whipped around them, driving visibility down to a handful of feet.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

The interior of the pyramid was musty. Torches lined the wall, but they’d burnt out millenia ago.

“This is incredible,” Kojurro breathed, holding his torch closely to the walls so he could observe the intricate reliefs showcasing moments in Prusean history. “They really respected the moon, it appears in almost every mural.” He stopped when he witnessed an unusual one showing what appeared to be the sun being eaten by the moon. “Kora, can you read these hieroglyphics? What’s happening in this one?”

Sharal’tar used her vines to brush cobwebs aside as she led the way deeper into the recesses of the pyramid. “It’s getting steep, watch your step,” she advised as the route abruptly tilted downwards.

Before long, they reached a large stone door. “Anyone see a switch, or maybe a puzzle to solve?” Flora asked.

Kojurro shook his head. “There is window up there,” he pointed above the door. “We brought rope, right?”

“Yeah, but Marie and I have something better.” Sharal’tar shrank down to a miniscule size and scaled the wall. It was slow going, but she reached the window and shot her vines down into the beyond room. “I’m detecting floor,” she reported, growing back up to her normal size. “We can keep going. Marie, shoot me a vine, then everyone think they can climb up here?”

“...Maybe?” Flora bit her lip as she gathered Sharal’tar’s abandoned clothes and stuffed them into her backpack.