Steampunk Expeditions: The Lost Jungle Temple (RP)

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Dinann took a moment to nod approvingly as he admired the size of the vessel before continuing his search for a bolt-hole without a screw.
 
A warning siren sounds below-deck, while steam screeches through whistles all around the sky-port and the ship proper. From electroacoustic transducers here and there could be heard the ship's announcer:

"Attention. All hands to the launch bay. Final loading in progress. Ship will depart in ten minutes."

Another voice took over, this time clearly authoritative.

"This is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard HMS Fortune. I am Captain Roderick Whitmore, and on behalf of the crew, I wish to thank you for joining us on this voyage. I would ask that all guests please proceed to the bridge within twenty minutes' time; it will be located at the front of the ship two storeys below deck. Please ask any crewmember if you require assistance or directions. I will be making important safety announcements from that location, and attendance is required both for your safety and the safety of your fellow passengers for the duration of the journey. All crew, prepare to cast off lines."

*****

"Prepare to cast off lines!"

"Aye-aye, Chief!"

"All engineers, to stations!"

Captain Whitmore, a tall, heavily muscled man in his mid-fourties, in his crisp new uniform smiled to himself as officers and engineers all about the bridge prepared for launch. The enormous engines in the back could almost be heard through the hull of the ship as the vessle warmed up.

"Captain, the vessle is prepped for launch. We may start when ready."

"Understood, First Officer. Sound the warning."

A loud buzz is heard throughout the ship and around the sky-port.
 
Dinann sighed and looked at the screw in his hand. "Later, then... I'll find your place once we're underway--" he looked closer at the blunt end for the first time, having been looking for something to fit the smaller tip. "--is that blood...?" He grimaced a little, but decided it was probably just a bit of rust on the screw's head, and he put it in his pocket for later.

Dinann made his way to the bridge to see what everyone was up to.
 
Rorik watched the German boy stomp off to go pout in his room. He felt his decision not to trust him was spot-on, though he would never admit otherwise. Looking over the heads of the crowd, he caught sight of a busy doorway, almost clogged with pastries moving to and fro. If there were to be a medical facility, it would be near those faint-hearted sugar-apples. Wiggling his nose slightly at an unreachable itch, he began his journey anew to relieve himself of the lady engineer.
Above the din, a flurry of whistles nearly made him drop the girl and whip out his pistol. He stopped himself just in time to hear the captain begin issuing orders to the passengers and crew. It would certainly take a while to adjust to this new jungle. As he entered the room, he could feel the occasional glance aimed in their direction. He would not ask for directions from these shallow-minded truffles… though perhaps he could find a suitably grounded individual to point him in the right direction.
 
Vrach had just finished securing his luggage when an sirens wailing echoed down the corridor, static sounded from a nearby transducer just before a voice boomed out.

"Attention. All hands to the launch bay. Final loading in progress. Ship will depart in ten minutes."

"Ah finally time to leave." Vrach though grateful the ship was ready to depart.

A new voice came over the electroacoustic transducers, introducing himself as the captain he directed everyone to the bridge for a safety brief.

"Well guess I had better go, this will also give me a chance to see the other passengers and make sure I was not followed."

Vrach closed and locked the door then removed a match from the inside of his vest, he placed the match very carefully balanced in the hinge of the door. Should he return to find the match broken or missing he would be able to tell if someone had entered his room. Vrach made no attempt to hurry hoping to arrive unnoticed and able to scan the crowd from a distance.
 
There happened to be signs on the wall, thankfully, along with small maps that indicated current position within the ship and important locations. The familiar red cross was prominently displayed, as well as the imposing BRIDGE stamped on the grey area towards the bow of the ship.

There were all manner of travelers here, from tired third-class passengers just looking to get back to their research stations in the Dark Continent to the proud second and first class passengers in their immaculate suits and dresses walking with effected dignity.
 
Finally taking a moment to look at the finer details of the room, he noted a red splotch on the far wall, along with several other colorful marks. Though the artists of the time were coming up with strange new styles, he doubted this was, indeed, a painting. As he approached, looking over the heads of the absentminded, the blots became symbols and the picture became a map. The medical bay looked to be just a few corridors down; he let out a grunt of relief. Now, he didn't mind so much carrying the load of both the woman and his gear, he just liked to think he had better things to do than trudge up and down the blasted ship all day.
"Ouch! You oaf, that's my foot!"
Rorik looked down at a beautiful young thing impersonating an angry lollipop, though markedly less sweet. He furrowed his eyebrows, murmuring something that could have been interpreted as some sort of apology, and deftly escaped through to the passageway.
He had to admit the ship was quite comfortable, with its carpeted floors and near lack of airsickening bob. Someone had put quite a bit of thought into the vessel. Even the medical cross on the entrance to the office was crisp and almost elegant, in its own way. Not even a squeak as he managed his way in. "Doctor. Got a patient."
 
The doctor turned as soon as the door opened, nodded and quickly pulled on examination gloves and signalled his intern to bring the clipboard and writing supplies. He motioned for Rorik to lay the woman on the padded table while he opened a cabinet of medical supplies and got out some smelling salts and other tools.

"I feared zomesing like zis vould happen, during ze safety briefing too. Ah vell. Do zou know her name, sir?"
 
Rorik grunted a negative. "Steam pipe blew." He gently set her down on the table and watched the doctor do his work. He much preferred the trained German over the bothersome one. The large man set down his rucksack on the floor and leaned against the wall. Surely after a few formalities he would be free to roam once more.
 
The doctor shook his head as he put on a pair of brass goggle-like optical lenses and examined her wound. "Zey put too much confidence in zis machine. Zey rushed itz completion und overlook ze safety."

As he spoke, he soaked a small cotton ball with some sort of gel-like substance and wrapped it in gauze before gently placing it on the swelling. He unplugged a bottle of smelling salts and waved it under the woman's nose. The lack of response made the doctor arch his eyebrows as he plugged the bottle and carefully opened up the woman's eyes and looked closely. He sighed in relief at whatever he saw.

"It iz not very zerious, but zhe may be unconscious fur a vhile. I zuspect a bolt ov zome zort iz rezponzible fur ze trauma; unfortunate zat zhe happened to be standing in ze wrong place at ze wrong time. I zink zhe vill be all right, besides a pounding headache und blurry vizion, in a few days."
 
((...sometimes I wish things moved faster on these threads x3...))
 
Dinann looked about the bridge, wondering what everyone had been called there for.
 
Captain Whitmore stood impassively upon the bridge, staring out the enormous glass dome as if trying to pierce the horizon with his gaze while the crowds bustled about behind. Several of his crew began shouting orders at the massed passengers, trying to get them to sit down or otherwise calm themselves and file into rows so that all could see and hear what the man said. Far beneath, technicians, engineers and all sorts of other workers sat at their stations, jotting notes, pushing buttons, pulling levers or simply standing at attention if they had nothing else to do at the moment.

"Everyone, please, we need your full and undivided attention!" said a nearby crew-member. "Please order yourselves into rows facing this way, shoulder to shoulder. Come on, like this. That's it. All the way. All the way to the end over there. Come on, line up."
 
Dinann caught on to the pattern and helped to spread the order to those within a few meters of himself, endeavoring to make the organization effort a bit more efficient. Once himself and those around him were in position, all that was left to be done was look up at the captain and await his message to the passengers.
 
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