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The Little Adventurer Who Couldn't
Grenian
Posts: 14Member Beginner
This is not a complaint or a whining session first off. I want to congratulate all those who did win the top 10 in the adventurer's race because however you did it it deserves every bit of recognition and prize that Papaya is willing to give. This is just a silly little story that is more of a tribute to those of us who tried, got close, and ended up coming up short.
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There was once a great adventurer named Malan who had discovered most-if not all-of the wonderous things in the world. He had vaults upon vaults of treasures from excavations and nobles alike. Malan found himself rather dissatified with his life, however, for what were the riches of the world compared to the rush of sailing along at the helm of his 6 mast schooner with the air flapping by on the way to some new land or discovery? He longed for the days when he could leave his home in Lisbon without saying, 'Seen it.' When he could report a discovery to the King or another noble and have them be impressed instead of give him a look that said, 'You did that last month.'
One day Malan awoke and walked to the docks as he did every morning to see the massive schooner he had built with his own two hands to find a little Barca anchored in its place. Confused, Malan marched over to the Port Official who he had long been friends with for many years to ask if his ship had been commissioned by the Palace. The Official stares blankly at Malan for a moment before asking a question that Malan never would have expected, 'I'm sorry sir... but do we happen to know one another?'
Malan was speechless, he finally asks the Port Official to check the records so he could find his ship and the Port Official points Malan to the little Barca anchored just off shore. 'The King put you up to this didn't he? I should have known!' Malan laughs and heads to the palace to congratulate the King on his fine joke.
As Malan approaches the palace the guard moves to stop him, 'What business do you have with the King?' Malan simply laughs and pats the man on the shoulder, 'Good one Fredrick.' Once Malan meets with the King he claims not to know Malan, but believes that perhaps Malan can bring Portugal fame and offers him riches beyond anything any adventurer could ever know to bring discoveries and charts of the known world.
Malan still assuming this is some kind of joke wanders around town for awhile and finds a few others who seem just as bewildered as he is. As they talk they attract others and it seems that all of them remember life the same but somehow nobody remembers them. One of the sailors suggest suddenly, 'Does this have something to do perhaps with the World Clock?' Malan groans, is it possible some kind of time travel has occurred and only a select few were unaffected?
Still, this presented quite the possibility for Malan, who was already bored with his life to begin with. The opportunity to be noticed and receive the fame and glory he once had all over again. He instantly knew what he wanted to do to accomplish his riches, he was going to create the most detailed land and sea charts the world had known. The King had promised to reward those who brought fame to the country the fastest and Malan knew he could do it!
As the days wore on Malan had moved up from his modest Barca beginnings and had commissioned a clipper. It wasn't even comparable to the 6 masted monster he owned before but it was a fine step up from what most were capable of handling. Malan *knew* that this commission would win him the fame and glory of the country. Sea after sea was charted, Europe, Carribean, Africa, The Red Sea, India, so on and so forth. After the seas came the lands, from the spice islands to the lands of the New World, and Europe and everything between. The entire known lands and seas were charted with nothing left out. Detailed charts that would change history, who is Magellan? It was the great Malan who charted that!
Malan sets a course for Lisbon and catches wind in his massive sails to the point that the wood of the masts that held them started to groan in protest. Every turn of the ship splinters would fly off of the hull. As he looked down he noticed he was moving so fast the mist of the water seemed as though water vapor from the friction of his hull against the waves. He pulls into Lisbon and runs to the palace, his crew cheering him on. As he gets to the throne room he presents his mountain of detailed charts to the King who simply looks at them and tosses them to the side like they're nothing!
'Malan, this is fine work but you have taken too long. Others before you have come to me with many different descriptions of the exact same discovery and they are so detailed I can see it in my sleep. That's the kind of work that Portugal expects from its adventurers son, these charts, what are these even going to be good for? Wouldn't you rather have done what they had?' Malan bows, and walks out. He immediately gets back in his clipper and sails for nearby Seville and has his men change the flag from that of Portugal to that of Spain. Seeing the exact same thing over and over is exactly why he was bored in his old life, maybe Spain will appreciate his efforts in the future.
End.
Again this wasn't written to belittle anything anyone did and I know not everyone did the grind the same. This is just a neat little story I thought up and I thought it would be funny to have others see from a perspective that was more roleplayish? The deal with Portugal to Spain is just to kinda explain that I defected, though obviously not because of what was in the story lol. Again congratulations to the top 10 and anyone else who comes into the top 20. I hope you guys enjoyed the race at least no matter how you won or didn't win it-getting to 60 in adventure fast is rough and deserves credit!
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