Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 22:09:06 -0500 From: Jason C Marshall Subject: [7thSea] Mysterious Island Contest Entry Greetings all My entry for the Mysterious Island The Island of Ice From the journal of Sir Morgan St. John Marshall, Avalonian Swordsmen and Sorcerer, onboard the Storm Warden out of Carleon, Avalon. It is hard to put into words the lands I saw while the Storm Warden was last out at sea. The captain, my estranged wife Katherine, always likes to have me aboard for the occasionally journey into the unknown, trusting my swordsman skills and sorcerous talents. We were some five months out of port, travelling northwards across the Trade Sea into unknown regions. The days have become cold and frequently their has been ice on the ropes in the mornings. The look outs have twice spotted massive white chunks of ice floating serenely in the ocean. Packs of black and white colored whales, known as orca, have swam beside the ship several times, which the crew have taken as a good omen because where these orca swim, fish are abound. It was early in the morning that we spotted the island, a cry from the look out bringing us to the fore deck. The island was covered in ice and snow, and we could see massive cliffs of ice as we approached. Most amazing was what looked like a huge castle of ice that towered into the sky in the island's center. Katherine decided to attempt a landing, and so we circumnavigated the island, looking for a place to moor. Many times we had veer abruptly to avoid spars of ice that were only just only under the water, jutting like reefs. Once we even had to sailed an hour back out into sea as a huge section of ice dropped into the water, forming one of those ice islands we'd spotted many days earlier. But in the end all we found was sheer cliffs of ice, easily three times the hieght of our main mast. We had given up hope of being able to gain entry when a small cave was spotted near the waterline of the island. We moored the ship near a jutting spar of ice and lowered the long boat. We waited and watched. The long boat vanished into the cavern and never returned. We waited a full day and nothing. No screams, no wreckage and no sight of the long boat. At night we saw lights in the castle windows and through the spy glass saw dark shadows pass in front of those same lights. We left the next day, sailing southwards and giving up prayers for our lost comrades. Description The Island of Ice is a floating island that is located some three months north of Avalon. It is surrounding by sheer cliffs of ice, with the only way into the interior being a small cave. In the center of the island is a massive castle of pure ice and stone. Who lives within this castle is unknown, but it is inhabited, perhaps by a lost colony of sidhe, or maybe a race not even known by man. Truly a place to visit in order to discover who is within the castle. The cave that leads inwards follows a winding path till it reaches a small lagoon with a set of stairs that lead up to the surface. Explorers will find themselves leaving a large, ornate entrance that overlooks a plain of snow and ice and a walled city of ice with a massive ice castle in the center. A single gate leads into the city and there within, the castle. -- JCMarshall aka Hachisuka Zenko, last LoreKeeper of the Tiger, Keeper of the Abyss aka Sir Morgan StJohn Marshall, Avalonian Swordsmen and Sorcerer Come and check out The Abyss homepage at: http://www3.sympatico.ca/jcmarshall/HOME.HTM L5R RPG CODE L5R(R1.3) GM+++ [PR++ CC++] RP+ GT:! P NG S++ G++ R+ Y- C++ CG++ U++ L5R Code L5R(1.1b)NG++ S+ G+ R+ Y+ C+ E++ !M T-- D+ K--- U++ 7thSea(R1.0) GM+++ [PR++ CC++] RP+ GT:! P+ AV ES S++ G+++ C++ CG++ -- Contents Copyright (C) 1997,98,99 by ALDERAC ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC.