It has been a couple weeks since the victory of the Weather Station. Michael has been extremely busy running Channelwood, ever since Katy got bed-ridden sick.

A deer named Autumn is wandering around, seemingly aimlessly, as if looking for someone.

http://timothius.deviantart.com/art/Autumn-468170286
This message was last edited by the player at 05:14, Tue 15 July 2014.

  Joe has been doing everything Katy asks... More than usual, anyways.  Does Sally ever get the flu nooooo.

  Though when he sees Autumn wandering around, he asks "Anything I could help you with?"  Insert adding her name to the end of that if he's met her already, Joe's past kind of blurs together at times.

Lucky of course has been doting over Katy, making sure she has plenty of flowers, get well notes, and reading materials besides the essentials like water, food, comfort, and medicine.

When he notices the deer he pauses from flower sniffing to smile and wave.

"I'm guessing she could use some help with finding someone."

Autumn is a regular member of Channelwood. When she spots the two helpful people she gives a nervous smile. "I... was actually looking for Miss Haynsworth. She said she would help me with my basket weaving and, well... I just can't find her anywhere."

Her use of "Miss" betrays Autumn's young age. She's about 14.

 Hmm, Emerald was one of those people who was more sneaky than he was (Deliberately, he still seems to have a slight edge in incidental 'I was here the whole time though' obscurity).  "Well, we can try to help you find her then.  I'm assuming you already checked her room then?"

Lucky smiles endearingly at the adorable girl and offers her the flower he's holding.

"I'm happy to help, Autumn.  I'm sure it's something simple like a small emergency she's helping with.  Like a kitchen spill or something.  Let's ask around."

He approaches to stand nest to her to indicate he's ready to follow her.

The deer smiles and takes the flower. She nods to Joe. "Yeah. Checked her room."

When the group asks around, it seems nobody knows where Emerald went to. She's nowhere to be found. Michael indicates that Emerald was going to be part of the breakfast team, but when the group checks the kitchen, they sound concerned because Emmy never showed up for breakfast.

  "Well, that's probably bad.  I suppose we should check the various not in plain view bits of channelwood to be sure before trying to think 'where is the closest crazy thing that isn't Middletown' and looking there."

Lucky is in a panic, worried for Emerald's safety.  "This is terrible!  Something must have happened to her.  It's not like her to miss several appointments in a row without warning.  You go ahead and check those places in case she fell into a ditch or something, Joe.  I'll run over to Michael to have him make a search party.  Maybe someone can track her by scent.  Be careful!"

He'll hurry off to do as he said he would should Joe agree to the plan.

A thorough searching later and it is discovered there is no sign of Emerald anywhere in Channelwood.

Michael decides it best not to inform Katy since the girl is sick. Soon, several search parties are assembled (Joe and Lucky's players choose who to play and those two will be going in the same search party)

  Joe's player chooses alternate timeline Matt Darkthorne... Nah, he uses Joe (surprise!).

  "Hey, do you think this will be serious dangerous, or stupid dangerous?" He asks of *insert Chris Alt Here*  "Or not dangerous at all and just her taking a nap somewhere."

Lucky winds up in joe's team.  He's so sure the worst has happened, that he's been crying.

To Joe's question he answers, "It's never not dangerous.  Poor Emerald.  She deserved better...

"I'm sorry, Emerald!  I know you wouldn't want people to cry, but I can't help it!  I'm gunna miss you!"

For the convenience of the GM, team Joe and Lucky is composed only of those two.

After hours of searching and yelling out Emerald's name, the two find a cave. Not far inside, they can see a light in the distance. Once they get to the light, they find a door made of rocks, but it is opened.... otherwise, it would be invisible. The door was clearly meant to be a hidden door that blended with the cave wall.

Inside the room with the left-open door is a cot on the right side of the room, a desk with drawers on the left side of the room, a chair in front of the desk, and some odd pedestal at the center-back of the room.

The desk has a framed photo of Emerald and an overlander man standing beside each other with bright smiles. There is also an opened book laying on the desk. It seems to be some kind of journal. The last entry is about a week ago and has what look like little water droplet stains on it.

"The shift in the plates is disturbing. It could mean the end for the people of Marook. Not if I can help it. I had hoped to be further along in the development of the getaway, but even in its unstable condition, what I currently have is likely better than what will become of Marook. My visits have become less frequent; it is becoming harder to keep secrets from my dear family in Channelwood. How I long to tell them. How I wish you were here, Hunter."

The book has plenty of earlier entries. Most of them about things that don't make sense on their own, but together, it is clear Emerald has been doing something that involved helping people in far away places.

Inside the drawers are equations and drawings of odd contraptions. One drawing, though, shows a diagram of the legendary chaos emeralds. The diagram is detailed, as though Emerald was sure these things were real.

  Lucky is making Joe look wildly optimistic by comparison again, that's bad.

  Unfortunately, they seem to have stumbled upon something almost, but not quite, as bad as Emerald dying to ElK Bears in the woods.

  "Well.  ****"  He looks to Lucky and says, "Right. Looks like it is 'hidden civilization baggage' time Lucky.  Only this kind is more annoying to deal with than where Tim comes.  People may glow and explode scenery with their mind."

Lucky lovingly caresses the tearstained pages, shedding tears of his own, gently closes the book, and hugs it.

"Poor Emerald!  Carrying so many cares all by herself.  If only I could have know to share her burdens.  But this is good news, isn't it?  It means there's a chance she wasn't eaten by a wild animal or turned into a robot.  Maybe she's just twisted an ankle in this other zone she was trying to help.  Let's hurry and figure out how she was getting there!"

He sets the book down and begins searching for clues with renewed hope.

There doesn't seem to by much else in the room than the desk, cot and pedestal.

But upon looking at the pedestal, there is a book on it. When the book is opened, there is a moving image in it of some rocky place with storm clouds. The clouds light up with lightning. But the ocean waters and even the cracks in the ground occasionally flash with some kind of light from below.

  Joe's normal instincts suggest looking for a page of a less lame place.  Joe's less normal yet more practical instincts suggest 'screw it, just touch the page expecting transport'.  He listens to the second set of instincts.

Lucky is amazed and uneasy about the magical book.  Most of the stories he's heard about magic items didn't end well.

"Woah.  Must be magic.  Probably best that we don't touch it.NO!"

He lunges forward to try and stop Joe from getting himself vaporized or something for touching an unknown arcane relic...

OOC: but if it's convenient to plot he'll trip over himself in the attempt and wind up touching the book.

That place they just saw in the book? Yup; Joe and Lucky wind up there. The feeling of disorientation doesn't include a shift or woosh. Just suddenly being somewhere they weren't just a second ago. The winds here are violent, whipping Joe and Lucky's clothes, hair and fur around. The lightning flashes now have rumbles of thunder to accompany them. The distant sound of twisting metal mixed with a sad whale moan can be heard coming from both the sky and the sea.

Now that Joe and Lucky are in this place, though, they can see the water a lot better; it seems to sparkle, as if liquid crystal.

The rocks seem to just be normal rocks of various kinds. Mostly grey stone, but with some black rocks and brown rocks mixed in.

What looks like some kind of badger mobian is clinging to a nearby rock, his lower half submerged in the crystalline waters.

  Crazy storms, stuff breaking, and whale noises?  Oh no, the have been transported into Star Trek 4: The Voyage home!  Lucky was right they really shouldn't have used the book.

  But, on to other more immediate problems than Spock in am 80's headband.  "Right, despite old advertisements sparkling water probably is not very good for your body Lucky."   That said, he uses what his player almost forgot about after all this time.

  "Don't worry, this is pretty safe if you don't flail around." He tries to yell to the badger over the storm, and Mr robo claw pops out, then launches over to attempt a grab and drag.

"Aaah!" Lucky yelps when suddenly translocated.

"Oh no!  Now we're stuck here, I just know it!  OH NO!  Someone in trouble!"

Since Joe is doing the bat-grapple-hook thing, Lucky imagines the victim thrashing, or getting grabbed by a giant sea monster, or some other reason for Joe to be yanked into the deadly water.  So he reaches to hug Joe round the chest from behind, saying "I'll help brace you!"

The claw grabs the badger, who doesn't flail at all. No sea monsters either. When the badger is dragged to the duo, they can see the badger is literally paralyzed with a look of terror in his face. Any checking of pulse will reveal he's dead.

 Oh, "Well, that-" guy was such a wuus "'s terrible."

 Since Lucky is already grabbing him, he uses this position to enable faster hugs if the kid freaks out at the sight of a dead body.

  "Okay, one less thing to worry about I guess."  Hmm, check them for-wait, no guys wears pants outside of Channelwood no pockets to check.

  He glances around for any thing in the scenery of note in all the rocks and sparkle water.

Lucky staggers back with a gasp interrupted by a dry heave.

"He...   W-what could be so t-terrible...  That a man would d-die of fright?!"

He readies his bow and also searches the area...  for any horrifying child-eating vulturedactles that might be lurking in the nearby shadows.