"Woah!  Like, that's way feweer than I was expecting!  Hah.  But so many Grenu compared to the others makes ya wonder if Murphey's gunning for 'em, hah.  Though so long without any goats in the numbers makes me wonder if I'm like, higher on the hit list, hahahah.  Dude!  We should like, read those fatality reports to like, find out what happened, hahah."

  Hakkof does some basic math and comes out with, "I wonder what it is that has caused as many Grenu to die as the rest put together known?"  Maybe the buddy system had always included a Grenu, and the buddy system didn't work out.

Guncor listens to the others and says, "It actually all started with the death of Darook, the deksharr who decided it was time to fully explore this jungle. It had been considered a taboo to enter, but he had to know why and try to expose the secrets of the jungle. He explored a great deal. The parts that are currently explored are mostly to Darook's credit."

Guncor shows a map to reveal what Darook had explored. 20 of the 30 explored acres are credited to Darook. "However, he and his team were attacked by wildlife. In their panic, the group fell off a waterfall edge. Darook never resurfaced and his team waited for him for a day. Eventually, Darook's team returned home, never to go back to the jungle. Between the taboo, superstitions, and the fact Darook died, it then became illegal to enter the jungle. And well... our kind is pretty strict about obeying the law. So there hasn't been a deksharr known to go in there since. That was almost 1,000 years ago. Our law forbids deksharr from entering, but aliens are free to enter. Since then, the other lives I mentioned were claimed. The two neplusultrans were experienced explorers who figured they would touch down in the middle of the jungle in their ship and start exploring the jungle by ship. Their ship and they disappeared with no trace, never to be heard from again. After that, the Barrakians and Grenu both saw this jungle as a challenge; something they had to prove to all other races that they were able to conquer the jungle. But most barrakians have better things to do than explore a jungle, so only 3 actually made the commitment to come. And even then, it was 1 barrakian at a time over the course of 200 years. The first two barrakians that came believed in going in with just the bare basic survival gear and no electronic devices. The third one came with his own personal exo-suit. None of them ever returned and nobody went for them. During that time, about six grenu, also individually, came and tried to tackle the jungle their own ways and none returned. Now the Tharians are a superstitious bunch and so it's little surprise that after they heard about this and thought opposite of barrakians and grenu. But some incentives are irresistible. 600 years after Darook, one Grenu managed to explore a couple acres and found gold. This drew attention from all over the place. We call it "The Darook Gathering" because thousands of aliens of all kinds showed up, but it was weird.. nobody dared enter even though they had come that far. However, after the crowds died down, a team of 5 tharians went and explored the jungle. They got a couple more acres discovered, but then disappeared. The grenu were relentless and kept at it, having shown they had succeeded before. But their corpses started showing up outside the jungle as if someone inside was sending a message. The deksharr government took it as a sign someone lives there and considers the place their own sovereign nation. However, one grenu was furious when he found out. What was once just a relative dying of natural causes became murder and a cause for revenge. He came here under the pretense of a visitor, but then suddenly dropped multiple bombs across the entire jungle. Our satellites lost track of the jungle briefly and he was arrested when he was done, but eventually, we could see the jungle was unharmed. Then, about 200 years back, one brave blissian came after hearing about yet another dead grenu explorer. He set out to find the bodies and try to get closure to the whole thing, whether it meant exploring or not. He ironically wound up exploring 6 acres, told some amazing stories, then vanished. Then two more grenu have gone there and died since."

Juros looks at the jungle's direction like he's facing an enemy.

Nivi oh-my's. "Why such a low price tag then? Why pay explorers so little?"

Guncor says, "To lower the death toll. Most just come here for challenge."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:32, Tue 16 Apr 2013.

"Wooooooah!!!"  Kevin says in some awe.

"Dude.  So like, Hahahahah.  No way!  That's like.  Totally!   Hahahahah."

Clearly his brain is broken.

"Dude.  It's almost like this could totally be Murphey's home base!   Hahahaha!  I mean, like, seriously?  A jungle that's like, immune to explosives?  Woah!  I wonder what sorts of amazing stories that Blissian dude told.  Like, 'Dude!  There's like, magical unicorns and stuff in that jungle!'  And like, then we're all, 'No way!' and go to see for ourselves.  And before we all die horrible gruisome deaths we'll see a unicorn and it'll be all, 'Dude.  You should have take that Blissian dude's word for it and stayed out.'  'Dude!  Use your magic to like, teleport us out of this meat grinder trap!'  'Sorry, dudes.  My magic ain't more powerful than Murphey's.'  'Dude!  Murphey's a Magician?!  I shoulda guessed!  No way!  Hahahaharglegurglegurglechoppedtobits!'"

  "Nature has a tendency to be passive aggressive here then, it seems."  Hakkof wondered if they would be lucky enough that whatever dropped the bodies off were simply idiots who forgot to leave a 'totally natural causes did it' note giving a false impression, as opposed to something like invisible headhunting killers lurking through the jungle.

  Hakkoff couldn't tell a difference in Kevin until that last bit where he forgot to use the spacebar.  "The bodies were left behind intact, Kevin.  Though I suppose the missing ones could have been chopped to bits."  He looks over to Nivi, "You are the one running this show.  Do you wish to proceed?"

Nivi stares forward. "...The last people to have died here was more than a generation ago. We would be no good to any of the deceased. I am calling off this job. I have no reason to put you 3 into this kind of danger for so little money. Still, maybe while we are here on Sharr, they may have jobs for us that aren't listed on the network."

Juros sighs. Whether in relief or disappointment is anyone's guess. Could be both.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:37, Fri 19 Apr 2013.

"Bummer, hahah.  Here I was all stoked to die some horrific death, like, my remains in one piece afterward or otherwise, doing a job that like, intentionally underpays!  Hahahah."

Kevin could work on his sarcasm skills.  Unless he means what he just said.

"Yeah, like, fall-back jobs are like, better than nothing and all, hah.  Though I am curious enough to like, look over the maps of the areas that were successfully explored at least, hah."

  Hakkof didn't exactly disagree with Kevin when it came to the poor pay grade for services rendered.  His player tended to share that blurry zone of Sarchonesty.

  "Yes, it would be worth looking up what so many have lost their lives to discover at the very least."  If only so they didn't just retread already paid for ground if they did end up coming back.

As the group looks over the maps, it becomes evident that the discovered areas are simply dense jungle; the photos showing mostly trees, streams, some swamp, and various flora. According to reports, people still die when they enter those areas, so an area being explored does not make it any safer.

The tour guide seems relieved as the group heads back the way they came. "If it makes you all feel better, I will personally see to it you get a job of some kind before you leave."

Nivi smiles at Guncor. "Thank you... I really appreciate that."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:41, Tue 23 Apr 2013.

"Hah, like, me too!" Kevin agrees, "Anything to do with extreme sports would like, be totally up my alley, hah.  Woah!  Like, big surprise, right?"

  "I suspect we will not all be fortunate enough to get paid for jumping off a cliff."  Wait, safety gear?  That wasn't very extreme.

Guncor says, "...well there is a ski slope about 100 miles from here that is holding a competition. But you would have to win to get that money."

"What's the prize?" Nivi asks.

"5,000 creds." Guncor answers.

Nivi looks at the others as if to see if they think it's worth trying.

"Hahah, like we'll end up having to pay to jump off a cliff, hahah," Kevin agrees.

He lights up at the mention of a ski competition.

"Dude!  I'm like, all over that, hahahah!  There's like, no chance I'll win it if the competition's today, but, it'll be totally fun to jump in completely unprepared!  Hahahah!"

  "While I do not shy away from athleticism, most <airquotes>Xtreme</airquotes> sports I stay away from for practical reasons."  Bungee jumping staff not bothering to adjust for his greater height, fool him twice, etc.

  Also, it is apparently frowned upon to land your BMX on the competition off of Barrak, go figure.

  He looks to Kevin,  "I was under the impression you have been laid off for financial reasons, not an inability to perform."  He considers for a moment, then adds "Of course, if it is due to a lack of ready ski equipment that would be understandable."

Guncor says, "The competition's in a couple days. Come on... let's get to town."

Juros considers joining the competition himself.

Fast forwarding a bit, the group is in town and Guncor even showed them a place to stay. "Let me be the first to say; I'm glad you didn't go in that jungle. It's good to see you four alive."

Nivi nodnods and goes to give Juros, Hakkof and Kevin each a hug.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:14, Tue 18 June 2013.

"Your impression was correctamundo dude," Kevin answered, "And like, having to use rental skis would be just the start of the reasons even a top athlete would like, lose the competition he like, didn't have a chance to practice for that's like, on a slope he'd never been to, and like, uses regional rules he hasn't had a chance to learn, and like..."

He gives a long list.  To the hug he just smiles and giggles.

  "I appreciate you not looking forward to our unfortunate deaths." Is there any way to make that sound good?  Probably, but not one Hakkof can think of at the moment.

  "Good points Kevin, at least you have a few days to see if you can not do a triple backflip with twist using the available resources."

  The Barrakian isn't quite sure how to react to the bunny hug.  Most physical contact in his life had been either attempts to harm him, or beg him not to step on them by counterproductively clutching at his feet. "Uh, thank you?"

Juros smiles from the hug. Free hug from a girl, after all. And a blissian at that.

Nivi says, "Does that mean you don't wanna compete, Kevin? You said extreme sports is one thing you do real well, right?"

Juros says, "He's just pointing out that in an official event like this, there are people who do nothing but ski and they are so into it that they have custom skis just to have a few extra seconds of an edge on their opponents. His chances of winning aren't high..." he smirks at Kevin. "Not too low either, though, I'd like to think."

Nivi pulls up some data on the competition. "Well for the prize money, it probably does attract all the pros in Sharr and maybe even a few off-worlders who enjoy skiing on Sharr."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:22, Wed 03 July 2013.

"Dude!  I'm like, all over it!  Hah.  My winning would most likely be like, Murphey punishing all the other competitors for bragging how well they'll do.  But like, I'd totally love  to compete, win or lose!  Hahah.  Dude!  Like, imagine how fun it'll be if it's a team competition, hahahahah!"

  Hakkof somehow doubts he'd be allowed to hurl Kevin down the hill for a head start in speed.  Then again, he may have meant something more reasonable when it came to team competitions.  "Things may turn out better if it was not winner take all, though I would be surprised of placing would make up for the entry fees even if that were the case."

Fast-forwarding a bit, Kevin is entered into the competition. Juros comments about how he wants to learn to ski, but until he actually LEARNS, he's not competing.

Kevin is lined up against the competitors and most of them are Deksharr. Two others besides Kevin are off-worlders. A human male and a badger female. The human is wearing Pirace's colors while the badger is wearing Tharia's.

Nivi is in the crowd with Hakkof and Juros, cheering Kevin on, fists in the air. "Woooowooo! You can do it!"

Kevin had similar expectations about the entrance fee but didn't say anything lest his team decide against looking into the competition.  And he would totally jump at the chance to be thrown by a Barakian who wasn't out to kill him.  Dude!  You ever been like, thrown by a Barakian?  Hah.  I have!  It was awesome!  Hahahah!

Kevin takes note of the other competitors.  "Woah!  Like, this is like, interplanetary and stuff, hahah.  Dude!  That's like, seven syllables!  Epic!  Hahahah!"

He smiles at Nivi's encouragement and does a half cartwheel sideways hand-plant to wave back upside-down.  He returns rightside-up and start laughing when it dawns on him...

"Hahahahahah!   Dude!   Hahahah.  Like...  Snow bunny!   Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

  Silly Kevin, every Barrakian is out to kill you, most just never get around to it.  Or are we thinking of Bears?

  "Break them.  Metaphorically."

The human laughs. "I'm here for kicks; Normally, I compete in the multiworld championships. You bunch of rookies don't stand a chance."

The badger girl seems kind of hyper, hopping in place while shivering and says, "Yeah! Yeah! Championships! HEEEHEHEHEHEEE!!!"

The deksharr competitors mostly eyeroll, but soon the competition begins! The other skiers take off and all seem to have a good start. Levi-cams follow the competitors and the audience gets to see any competitor they want at any time.

Obviously, this is something Kevin would know about / be used to. So the fact a hovering camera is following him around is not only unsurprising, but something he would know about and what it's there for. What extreme sports guy hasn't watched at least a few competitions themselves?

Meanwhile, Nivi switches to the "most of them" camera to watch who all is ahead of who for now. Not that the monitors don't give a placing.

Kevin grins and gives a thumbs-up to Hakkof with a nod.  the badger girl gets him all kins of psyched up for the race and the human has him giggling.

"Dude!  Like, real honor to race with such a big champ, hahahah!"

He gives the aloha handsign and a wink to the camera before tucking back into the low-drag speed posture.