The White Apple Campaign 2 - The Creeping Vines

Jr. woke with a nasty headache. You’d think if it was magical they could magic the hangover out of it, she thought to herself rolling out of bed. It was made for a normal sized person, so it took a few rolls to reach the edge. Being tiny had its perks. Like all beds being king-sized. When her feet hit the hard wood floor, however, more than just her head felt off. The boat was moving differently this morning and she could feel it vividly once she sat up straight. Maybe it isn’t a hangover, maybe there’s something more going on. Keeping her usual slow determined pace, Jr. rose from her bed to make her way to the top deck of the ship.

Jr. didn’t even pause to glance in the mirror or dress before heading out. Having been on the highway for so long, Jr. kept her brown hair short to prevent needed maintenance and slept in her leathers. That’s where all her knives were after all. People were most vulnerable when they were asleep so it made perfect sense to her that sleep was the best time to be armed. Being alive was far better than being cozy. This morning, the habit was paying off yet again. Making her way through the hallway, it was clear she was the first passenger up on the ship. This gave her an idea.

That Uru sure was acting strange yesterday, she thought coming upon his door. Without moment’s pause, she quickly shot her hand out and tested the lock. The knob turned. No one home? With no witnesses around, Jr. decided to lean into her impulse and darted into the room, closing the door silently behind her.

Inside, the room was as if no one had ever been in it. No trinkets on the counters. Not a single ripple on the bed. Not surprising, Jr. thought as she meandered around the room, strange appearing quarters for a strange man. Only when she had exhausted all her rouglely whiles discreetly ransacking the place, did she begin to truly feel uncomfortable. Nothing?! No one actually has nothing to hide! Confusion clear on her dark tan face, Jr. decided to look out the porthole before exiting the room. Beyond the thick glass, the ocean raced by like she had never seen it before. No wonder things felt wrong. No ship this big was built to move this fast. Regaining her composure, Jr. then headed straight to the upper decks through the still abandoned galley.

When Jr. made it to the deck, her face was buffeted by racing winds and spray. Now able to take in the entirety of the situation, she couldn’t help but feel a spark of anxiety in her chest. Almost forgot that feeling, she thought with a shred of a smile, and started scanning the horizon for the storm that certainly was driving the boat. But the sky was still clear all around, just as it had been the day before. Looking up, the sails snapped loosely on the mast against wind blowing the wrong direction. Something other than wind was deciding the fate of the ship and its passengers.

Now Jr. was well and truly excited. Sneaking in rooms, phantom forces, no reason to stop the fun now! So, following instincts like always, she decided to head towards the captain’s quarters. She’d never been in there after all. When she jostled the brass knob, however, it didn’t budge. So, on instinct again, she knocked hard on the door.

After a moment, First Mate Nobuo, of course, popped his grizzly dwarven head out the cracked open door. Voices of the entire crew could be heard hushing each other as he looked down at Jr., narrowed his eyes, and simply closed the door in her face. I’m starting to notice a pattern with that one. She mused to herself as she shrugged off the brief encounter and made her way up to the wheel of the ship. Normally, no one could get close to the wheel, as it was the territory of the Captain and First Mate. Today, Jr. could play as she pleased. Her first impulse was to get her hands on the wheel.

It was a beautiful wheel. Just like the rest of the ship. The wood was hard and old like the stuff they made temple beams out of. Maybe even the nicest wood she had ever seen, though she really didn’t know much about such things. Oddly, it seemed that two of the pegs on the wheel had been broken clean off. This might be the first damage to the ship I have found, she thought as she ran her hands along the curve of the wheel. Just as she was about to see exactly how hard she could spin the wheel, and if it would even do anything, Jr. heard a cough from beneath her feet. If I can hear that, I bet I can hear more. In an instant, she was flat on the floor with her ear pressed into a space between the floor boards.

“You boys need to get down and check the rudder.” Came the Captains unfamiliar voice. Having never heard him speak before, Jr. had to guess it was him, but she knew she was right, hearing orders like that.

“Aye sir!” Came the voices of the Brikbat twins. They always seemed to get all the dirty jobs. How would one check a rudder anyway? Would they have to dive under the moving boat?

Not able to make out anymore, Jr. sat up from her eavesdropping just in time to see Lenny charge up the stairs from the galley. Her rapier was drawn and her green eyes were wild as she scanned the deck for something she clearly wasn’t finding. Guess she is having a fun morning too, Jr. though with a grin. Then she gave a quick whistle and wave to get Lenny’s attention. In moments, her friend had joined her by the wheel.

“Have you seen Uru?” Lenny asked before even sheathing her blade.

“No, but I’ve seen his room.” Jr. Replied looking up at her looming companion. I wonder what it would be like to talk down at someone instead of up?

“You what?” Lenny asked, finally sheathing her rapier.

“His room. I saw it. This morning. It was like no one had ever been in there. Not even any hidden trinkets.”

“I need to tell you something then.” Lenny said with a rare tone of seriousness. She then went on to fill Jr. in with what happened while she had been sleeping. A story of dark trees, and blackouts. Apparently, there was more than meets the eye to this Uru character. So, day getting better and better, Jr. decided to commit the rest of her energy to tracking down Uru with Lenny.

Upper decks clearly empty, the first step was to head back below for further searching. Cornelius was the only crew member not in the captain’s quarters and he had already laid out breakfast for the morning, though he was looking morose. Johnathan was busy scribbling at a table as usual and Vasher was at the counter, snacking on finger food one bite at a time. Jr. only had eyes for the storage padlock after the events of the morning, but when Lenny saw Vasher, she quickly ran over to him. I guess he’s part of the team now, Jr. thought, he seems useful enough. We’ll see what Lenny can get out of him. Just annoying to see a gnome that’s even taller than me. Everyone’s always taller than me.

“Good morning you two!” Vasher said polishing off his breakfast. He seemed to be the only person this morning with any semblance of cheer. Suspicious, but he was a performer after all.

“Have you been up-deck yet?” Lenny asked, right out the gate. She never was one for tact. Jr. was working on that. Maybe this Vasher could help balance out that whole dynamic.

“I can’t say I have.” Vasher replied. “Any reason I should rush up there?”

“Go on up, and I’ll tell you the rest when you get back.”

Vasher threw Lenny the briefest of concerned glances, then shrugged and tromped upstairs. It wasn’t long before he was right back down.

“Well then. That is very strange.” Vasher said when he returned, face grave. “Given that fire behind your eyes, I get the feeling you both know something about the situation we find ourselves in.”

“That’s not the half of it!” Lenny barked back. “I think Uru is behind this. I found him alone on the deck last night. Oh yeah, before that he gave me this strange apple, but that was just random. Anyway, I saw this black tree in the dark and then I blacked out, and now the ship itself has mutinied against us!”

Eloquent as usual, Jr. thought to herself as Lenny caught Vasher up to speed. Luckily he seemed to have no trouble following her and was nodding to himself as she went. Something Jr. appreciated about this bard was his discretion. Today it manifested in the way he would subtly glance around the room anytime Lenny rose her voice a bit too much. Just to be sure no one was overhearing her. It was in one of these glances that Jr. noticed Vasher do a tiny double take. Following the direction of his glance, she too noticed that Johnathan had something special this morning. Not just notes, an actual something on the table next to them. It had him so absorbed that he hadn’t even noticed their intense conversation.

“What do you suppose he is so fascinated by.” Vasher finally said as Lenny was wrapping up. This got her to recalibrate and she started eyeing Johnathan with them - though the now three-person stare down was a little bit too obvious for Jr.’s liking. With everyone on the same page, finally, Jr. walked over to Johnathan’s table. The other two following her side by side.

On the table, Johnathan had placed what looked like a jade carving of a vine. Upon closer inspection, however, it was far too detailed to be just a carving. The grain spiraled towards the core and smaller patterns could be seen between the swirls. I’ve heard of petrified wood, Jr. thought, eyeing the curio, but it was Lenny who beat her to saying anything.

“What’s that?!” Lenny asked, pointing at the item.

“Oh!” Johnathan said in surprise, just now taking in the team of people that had surrounded him at the table. “Isn’t it fascinating? I found it growing up from my floorboards this morning. I’ve never seen anything like it! It seems to have grown very fast to only show up this morning, but it is hard and brittle like shale. Broke right off when I inspected it!”

“You, Mr. I-Know-All-About-Plants, have no idea what this is?” Vasher pointed out from his place at the table. “I saw your rooms yesterday. I haven’t seen so many plant books ever, even in a library!”

“Yes, exciting isn’t it!” Johnathan replied - the thrill in his old eyes magnified by his thick glasses.

“Well that’s right special then!” Vasher said taking the time to get off his stool for a closer, nose level, look. As he picked up the vine fragment Vasher continued, “While we take a look at this, I think it might be wise if you take a look up top Johnathan. We promise we will keep your stuff safe while you take a look. What you see might just have something to do with your find this morning.”

Johnathan looked concerned for a moment. Then he looked at each of his table mates one by one, nodded firmly, and made his way to the stairs.

As Vasher inspected the green oddity and Lenny made her own sketches of it, Jr. took the time to scan the galley to be sure no one could see what she was planning. No Constable to be seen, no crew. The only eyes to worry about were Cornelius’ and they were downcast and far off. This was the time.

Like a mouse sliding under a door, Jr. flowed smoothly from her seat to be flush with the ground. The galley bar a perfect obstruction for her tiny body. It was easy crawling from there to get to the cellar padlock and get to work.

Then Cornelius spoke.

Jr. froze just as she was going to pop the lock and readied herself to take out the large man if necessary. He was alone after all. But when she listened to what he was saying, she relaxed.

“Now that you have all had your breakfast, I need to consult with the rest of the crew. I won’t be back down till lunch so please remain calm until then. We just need to figure a few things out.”

His footsteps began to sound as he made his way around the bar and Jr. readied to bolt from her spot until Lenny, with perfect timing, provided a distraction.

“Do you know what’s going on with the boat and sails?” She asked in the most convincing innocent tone Jr. had ever heard. Using the precious time, she effortlessly popped the lock as Cornelius began to reply.

Using the sound of his voice as cover, Jr. slid the pad lock free and tested the trap door. It wouldn’t budge. In fact, it was almost as if something had locked it from the opposite side. Irritated, but satisfied for now. Jr. slinked back to her spot at the table. Noticing that Cornelius was more or less saying he knew nothing at all as he began to make his sad way up the stairs. Johnathan was just returning as Cornelius departed, and they did an awkward shuffle on the narrow stairs before the thin greying man could rejoin the party at the table.

Sitting down in silence. Johnathan took a moment to remove his glasses and clean them on the sleeve of his robes. Then, putting them back on, he simply said, “I see what you mean.”

“Do you think that speed out there could have something to do with how fast this grew?” Vasher asked, returning the item to Johnathan.

“I don’t believe so.” He replied, pocketing the vine. “It seems to be a fully woody plant. Not new growth at all, no matter how fast it grew.”

Vasher nodded at this and then looked up at Lenny who was still sketching.

“This man knows a lot about plants aye?”

“Yeah!” Lenny replied excitedly. “He’s super smart.”

“Agreed. I bet if we found any strange plants, he would be very helpful.”

“Oh yeah, super helpful.” Lenny said looking wistfully at the patterns in her sketchbook, her voice trailing off.

“I bet,” Vasher went on, sharing a knowing grin with Jr. across the table “I bet he could even identify strange fruits as well.”

Then a light went off.

“Oh!” Lenny said with a snap of the fingers. “Hey Johnathan, I found this strange apple yesterday. Look familiar?”

Then, she rummaged around in her sack, produced the unnaturally white apple, and set it on the table for Johnathan to see.

“Fascinating!” He said, clearly having one of the most wonder-filled days of his life.

“So, it’s not just a normal apple turned white? I knew it!” Lenny said crossing her arms in pride.

“Oh, no, this is not normal to be sure. Where ever did you find it?”

“Well I didn’t really find it.” Lenny said looking back and forth at Jr. and Vasher.

She’s learning! Jr. thought with satisfaction. When she and Vasher nodded to Lenny in confirmation and she continued.

“That elf Uru gave it to me.” Lenny said quieter this time.

“What was it that he said when he gave it to you?” Asked Vasher. “All is love in the green glen or something like that?”

“Green wood.” Lenny corrected. “All is love in the greenwood.”

“Well look at this!” Vasher pointed at the vine. “Green wood! And an apple. Fruit is pretty lovely after all.”

“You don’t think they are connected do you?” Johnathan asked in his reedy voice.

“I have an idea!” Lenny said and then picked up the apple and kissed it.

Nothing happened.

“Now I have an idea!” Vasher said this time, extending his hand to Lenny to take the apple.

As Lenny offered it to him, however, on yet another instinct, Jr. jumped onto the table and stabbed the apple from Lenny’s hand before it could reach Vasher. The instant Jr.’s knife punctured the apple, a foul smell erupted from it and it began to melt, congealing into a white ichor and leaving a trail of slime from Lenny’s hand to the now dripping mass on the end of Jr.’s knife.

Everyone at the table recoiled from the odor of foul milk and pickled sea things as they watched the mass ooze from the dagger and pool on the table. Dispersed through it seemed to be small black seeds that spread with the liquid across the table. Once the shock of the smell had passed, the entire table sprung into action. Johnathan rescued his book from the spreading ichor and began taking notes immediately. Vasher ran over to the bar and returned with a small corked bottle, catching some of the substance that had started to dribble from the table edge. Then, with horror, Jr. noticed Lenny dip her finger in the substance, and taste it.

It seemed to Jr. that the stuff tasted about how it smelled, because Lenny’s cute half-elf face scrunched up as if she had a mouthful of sour milk. Then she wiped her tongue on her sleeve and said, “Yeah, that’s all I need of that.”

“Fascinating” was all Johnathan seemed to be able to say at the display.

With nothing sufficient to clean up the table, Jr. picked a new table to head towards and the rest of the group followed behind. When they were settled, each was lost in thought for a good while. No crew to pepper with questions and Jr. was still frustrated that the cellar door still wouldn’t open. It seemed to her there was nothing to do but think of new places to break into. Then, from the quiet, Vasher perked up.

“Why don’t we look for more of these vines our friend found. Check the floorboards for more growing through.”

“This was the only one in my room.” Johnathan added. “There are a few empty rooms we could all check. No one would have seen them this morning.”

“Good point!” Lenny jumped in. “I’ll check Uru’s room. I still need to investigate for myself.”

“And I’ll check on the Constable. We still haven’t seen him this morning.” Vasher said, standing.

“I’ll take the other half of the unoccupied rooms.” Jr. said, happy for some more snooping, and bolted off to the first open room she could find.

Soon the hallway was echoing with people ransacking rooms. Music to Jr’s ears. The first room was a bust, but as soon as she walked in the second room, Jr. spotted a line of emerald green trailing up the wall behind a dresser. Heart thumping delightedly, she walked over to the dresser and began to whistle as she pried the nails out from its feet one by one. It was to keep the thing from tipping over on a rough sea, but it made the whole experience so much more satisfying to Jr. Like it was extra valuable or something.

Her nail prying finished, Jr. heaved the dresser aside. It toppled like a tree beside her small form and exposed the source of the climbing vine. Just as Johnathan had said, it was coming from between the floor boards. I wonder if his would have been this long by now if he didn’t break it off she thought to herself and then heard Vasher cough politely from the doorway behind her.

“Find something did you?” He asked when she turned to face him.

“Yeah. This thing right here.” Jr. replied gesturing along the path of the vine.

“I see that.” He said without stepping into the room. “Hey, can you pick a lock for me?”

This day keeps getting better and better! Jr thought as she wordlessly joined him in the hall. Soon Lenny emerged from Uru’s room to join them as well at the Constable’s door.

“I told you it was spotless.” Jr. said to Lenny’s frustrated face.

“Yeah, I just wanted to be nosy in the end.” Lenny replied. “What are you guys up to?”

“Constable’s door’s locked.” Vasher said standing next to Jr. “Your friend here is going to help us get in.”

Just like the padlock, this door was nothing for Jr. to pop open. In her experience, most public living spaces were pretty easy on the door locks. Made for cheep sleeping at the right inn. Today, this door was just another present to open. So, with a quick flick to slip the lock, the door swung smoothly inward.

Inside, the room was a catastrophe. The bed had been thrown against the wall, knocking over other furniture along the way. Emerald vines grew thick on the walls. When Jr. followed them to their source, she found a gaping hole in the floorboards. It seemed the Constable had taken matters into his own hands before the rest of them and torn up the very floor to follow the vines.

Lenny pushed passed Jr. and strode over to the hole in the floor, letting out a low whistle. Vasher seemed a bit more concerned with the state of the room and made his way over to the wash basin to pull a golden chain down to his level to investigate. It looked like a locket. It wasn’t long, however, before all three of them were gathered, staring into the hole. With a nudge from Lenny, Jr. and her friend jumped into the darkness. Vasher following shortly behind.

“Do either of you have a rope?” Vasher asked as they landed, looking up at the hole they had just gone down.

“I thought you had a grappling hook.” Lenny said in reply.

Looking irritated, Vasher rummaged in his belt packs and produced a single grappling hook. No rope on the other end.

“When I ordered it for this adventure, I thought it came with a rope…” He said, defeated.

Lenny laughed at this and pulled a spool of rope from her pack, handing it to Vasher who took it obligingly, saying “Thanks to you, we have a way out of here should that cellar door not work.”

As the group moved on, the storage cellar was full of shifting candle light, but now that she knew what to look for, Jr. could see the shapes of countless vine on the dark walls. They crisscrossed the ceiling and crept through floorboards. Following their path, they all seemed to be coming from the passenger storage section. A small room within the cellar for private storage. And there, in front of the door, ghastly in the shifting light, was Constable Hemswick.

His sword was drawn and he was dripping sweat. The door in front of him was scoured in cuts though it showed no sign of giving way. His head rolled as he groaned to himself in the dark, still unaware of Jr. and her team. Slowly, they made their way forward.

Hearing their footsteps, Hemswick spun wildly to face them. Sword held brazenly forward though the nights hacking made his arm waver.

“Stand back!” He yelled. Now that Jr. could see his blood shot brown eyes, it didn’t look like he had slept at all the previous night.

“I’ll gut you if you get to close!” He went on, pointing his sword from person to person.

With no pause, Vasher stepped forward, holding out the golden locket Jr. had seen him grab above.

“Remember your wife and child Constable.” Vasher said slowly. “We know what happened now, no reason not to trust us.”

Wavering a bit more, the constable lowered his sword and snatched the trinket with his free hand. Taking a moment to gaze at it before sheathing his weapon.

“What have you been doing down here all night?” Lenny asked, tension fading.

“I found these vines growing up from my bed last night.” The Constable replied in his gruff deep voice. “I tore up the floor boards with my own hands.” He went on, displaying bloody fingers to prove his point. “I followed the vines here and have been hacking at the door ever since. Some foul magic is afoot and I won’t be stopped by it.”

That’s familiar. Jr. thought hearing the news of yet another stuck door. Sure enough, when she turned to look for the trap door to the galley, it was overgrown with vines.

“Hey you.” Jr. said at the Constable, who started at hearing her voice for the first time. “Can you hack off those vines on the trap door? I want a quick way out of here if we need it.”

“But then the crew will know we know!” The Constable said with paranoia plain in his bloodshot eyes.

“I think we are way beyond that Constable. And besides, the lass has a point.” Vasher retorted.

“Fine”

Then the Constable was drawing his sword and up the ladder, hacking away. As he did his work, Vasher sidled up to Jr.

“Which room is above that storage closet?” he whispered through the noise.

“One of the empty ones.” Jr. replied waving Lenny over to join them. “What are you thinking?”

“Well, once he is done with his business, why don’t we take a page from his book and go in through the floorboards above the room?”

“That’s a great idea!” said Lenny, “And I’ll go get Johnathan to see if he knows about all this plant stuff!”

“Perfect” Vasher agreed.

With a final clatter of brittle vines to the floor, Hemswick was done and the group made their way into the galley where a perfectly startled Johnathan watched them emerge from a door he never saw them enter. Before he could say anything to them, Jr. was dashing ahead of Vasher and Hemswick to the appropriate room. Leaving Lenny to catch up poor Johnathan.

This morning of breaking and entering had Jr. well oiled for the task ahead and the nails in the floor seemed to jump from her knife as she pried them lose. Hemswick and Vasher watched nervously behind as she worker her way through three square boards worth. When the planks were totally loose, each of them lifted one in turn and gazed at what they had found.

In the space the boards left behind writhed the thickest mass of vines yet. That’s pretty stinking interesting. Jr. had to think at the mesmerizing sight. But her captivation was short lived. From her peripheral vision, Jr. saw a sword stab deeply into the mass and heard Hemswick curse. As he tried to pull his sword back, the handle was sucked powerfully from his grasp as the sword was swallowed by the mass below.

“Back to the door!” Vasher proclaimed as the mass of vines pulsed harder and faster beneath them and they all bolted for the door. In the hallway, Vasher made a mad dash for his quarters as Jr. continued to lead Hemswick back down into the storage chamber where Lenny was already watching Johnathan observe the vines. Suddenly, Jr. was shoved roughly aside as Hemswick surged past her – straight for the private storage door.

The frayed man immediately began to throw all of his weight against the door over and over again. Lenny approached to try to calm him and, in his fury, he spun only to slam his fist into Lennys raised gauntleted arm. That was the last straw.

Jr. drew her daggers and readied her legs to leap upon this bastard of a Constable but before she could reach him, Johnathan was suddenly there. As Hemswick cried out from the pain in his hand, the bespectacled wizard blew a purple dust into his open mouth. Then Hemswick’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the floor.

“He was getting to be a liability, don’t you think?” Johnathan said, squinting at the body. “Don’t worry he’s only asleep and we don’t have all that long.”

Jr. discreetly slid her knives away and joined Lenny to smirk at the unconscious man. Then she heard Johnathan speak again.

“Is that all really necessary?” His reedy voice spoke up towards the trap door.

When Jr. looked up she saw Vasher brandishing a full sized human spear. He may have been tall for a gnome, but the wild contrast made her laugh out loud for the first time in days.

“That man just got his fucking sword eaten by a plant!” Vasher said thumping his spear on the floorboards. “I intend to take this seriously from now on.” With that, he strode over to join Jr., Johnathan, and Lenny as they moved the Constables unconscious form away from the door. With the perfect excuse to have her hands on him, Jr. took this chance to pick every pocket Hemswick had. She found the locket again, some pennies, and a potential new dagger he had hidden in his coat, but she decided to leave it all as they set his body to the side.

“Should we all just take turns trying to break the door?” Lenny asked when they were finished.

“The elf said all is love in the Green Wood.” Vasher replied.

“We already tried that.” Lenny shot back. “And I don’t want to kiss these vines.”

“Well maybe we got it wrong.” Vasher mused. “Plants love water, not kisses.”

“I can just get us in there.” Came Johnathan’s voice over the repartee, silencing them.

“How?” They asked in unison.

“Well, I can teleport us so long as you are all touching me. So, all of you hold hands in a circle… That’s right, good! Now get ready to find out what’s on the other side of this door.

As Jr. took Johnathan’s hand, she could just barely hear Vasher singing something while Johnathan started to concentrate. Something about it seemed oddly familiar. Like she was someplace safe from a long time ago. Before she could put her finger on the melody, her ears popped, the world snapped, and suddenly she was somewhere very dark.

Credits:

Matt Holden - World Builder and Head of Story, Cornelius, Johnathan, Hemswick, Crew

Gabriel Durham - Author and Historian, Vasher, dialog polisher

Sarah Durham - Ashlyn "Lenny"

Ruth Tully - Jr.