piratejournal | [voice]

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gan ning

[voice]

So, uh. Kind of a weird question. For everybody.

Any of you other crews that placed in the race and got prizes...did any o' you guys get half a map, by any chance? Figured I'd check with the others before I start huntin' the locals down.

Tell me somethin' interesting. I got a lot on my mind and a hell of a lot of open ocean between me an' a state of complete inebriation on Deesuko Ballia. Be better to fill it with stupid chatter, eh?

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Huh.

So the kid cheated by letting the traveler kill it. Sounds kinda dumb. But, I guess if the tribe don't care as long as the thing's dead, what's a little cheating?

All barbarian tribes got some kinda tradition like that, don't they? Sounds like the Nanman a little.

I don't know about other tribes, I haven't been everywhere yet but the tribe didn't care. Hinahoho did though. He rejected the honour by setting out on a really foolish quest. Hinahoho is an honourable guy.

Ohhh, so it was you who did the deed, eh?

If you say so. Honor is as honor does, or somethin' like that.

What makes you think I did that?

Well the way he chose to prove himself was stupid, it was lucky he made it out alive.

Somethin' about the details. You know too much for your own good.

I ain't judgin'. People feel like they gotta prove themselves in all kinds of ways. Dumb or not, creatures bigger and tougher'n you is always a favorite.

[Sinbad laughs.] Well you caught me. Aside from helping him, the fisherman's blood within me was screaming for a chance to conquer a beast like that.

[He hums a bit.] He would have been better off with a big creature as his choice. He chose to challenge a dungeon though. There's nothing more dangerous in the world than that. Only a handful of people have walked into a dungeon and come out alive.

Damn, how bad are dungeons where you are that they're the most dangerous thing ever?

Before the first one was conquered, Parthevia sent ten thousand men into the dungeon never to be seen or heard from again. After the first one was conquered, more appeared.

...holy crap.

[suitably impressed. Moving maze walls is nothing compared to that.]

They're dangerous. They're not all the same either, the risks are different. It would be easy to get lost and you lose track of time...

What's the point, then? Some kinda big treasure inside or somethin'?

Isn't it always the point? Power and treasure beyond what you can imagine. You get to keep the djinn that lives in the dungeon. All kinds of magical items relating to the djinn. If you can make it out alive, it makes it worth your while in some ways.

It wouldn't be a great story otherwise.

Oho, well now you're talkin'! I'd take the challenge that ten thousand men couldn't handle for somethin' like that.

Would you? It really is a foolhardy quest. Besides the djinn don't just walk out with whoever shows up, you need to show them you're the person they need to attach themselves to.

The hell's a djinn, then?

The rest don't bother me, I've been called a fool enough that it's probably right up my alley.

Ha! [Sinbad gives a laugh. Well far be it for him to complain about someone who wants to take a quest for certain death, knowing the risks.]

A djinn is like a guardian spirit of the dungeon. It seems they are different from dungeon to dungeon.

Huh. So you'd get a spirit attached to you? That doesn't sound as fun as the rest.

Those spirits are incredibly powerful and allow the user to use magic. As far as I can tell they are all specialized in one thing, but I can't be sure about that.

Yeeeaaahh no thanks. I'll leave the sorcery to the sorcerers, or the Sleeping Dragon. Me and my River Master can handle things just fine without magic.

Doesn't hurt to have a back up. I'm not sure if you can leave the dungeon with all the treasure and not the djinn. There haven't been that many conquered, as far as I know.

Probably a good thing there ain't dungeons like that around here, huh?

That was pretty interesting, though, kid. You definitely got my attention.

There's no point in having a story if it isn't interesting.

I suppose that depends on if you want power and more wealth than you can even imagine.

Nah, see, even bein' a pirate? My goals ain't so lofty. Power and wealth would just put me in the same seat as all the snobby nobles vying to be the next one to depose the emperor. No way.

[He laughs.]

Nothing wrong with being a pirate or anything else for that matter. We have different goals though, I'm going to be King.

King, eh? That's right. Well, more power to ya! Kings got a whole other set of worries.

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borntochangetheworld - 2014-08-25 17:54 (UTC) - Expand

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