The puzzle box isn't gushing blood or sprouting legs or doing anything interesting at the moment. The ghost of Silv (or Silver or Silvia) P-something is still sitting on the ceiling with a big grin, and Linyala and Trilup are stuck with the floor (although Trilup did try standing on her head for a bit).
"An I'm sure yer not tellin us everythin ya know Silv." Linyala grumbles from the floor. She's now got the box sitting on her chest and is seeing if moving all of the piecec out of an area does anything more reasonable. "What's all this about only bein' able to make it do one thing a day or somethin' terrible happens?"
"Oh, well.. just that," Silv says. "It's to prevent someone from just trying and trying. So there are the harmless effects you've seen, and then the horrible blood-curdling curses.."
"What's curdling?" Trilup asks Lin. "Is it like pudding?"
Linyala pauses mid-slide, picks up the box, and gently sets it to the side. "Alrightey then! One surprise illusion's enough for now. An it's what 'appens when it gets really cold an' ya chuck big 'old stones down a frozen stretch 'o water."
"That sounds kinda fun actually," Trilup notes.
"So, you two are okay with surprises, right?" Silv asks from the ceiling.
Lyn puts the box on the table and peers at it from as many angles as possible. "I think it's got summin' to do with cleanin' though. Ya need brooms ta play it- Hmmwha?"
"Surprises. Like.. stuff you aren't expecting that can come as a shock," Silv clarifies.
"Sure!" Lyn chirps, "The kind of ones we've been gettin' from tha box're mostly harmless. Seems more like stuff ta scare little kids an I'm a big 'Quavi!"
"I was a little scared," Trilup admits.
Amazing timing, that! The front door comes crashing inward and in strides ... an adult akwai? Well, he has to be given his size. He's currently wearing a battered old hat and a pair of boxer shorts emblazoned with 'Love one an otter!" In one hand he holds a whip and in the other an oddly shaped horn carved from bone! Said horn lets out a rather rude-sounding noise ... along with an even worse smell! "Aha! I thought there was ghost shenanigans about!" the akwavi declares. Oh great, it's Jack, the 'famed' adventurer from a few cabins down.
"Alright. A little." Lyn pouts, "But it got a lot less scary once ya could see tha blood wasn't ours. Ghiyeep!" She twists around, grabs the box, and flings herself behind the overturned table.
"Mister Jack!" Trilup yelps. "I was gonna come tell you about not finding Swampy's lair, honest!"
"You aqua-kavi are a strange lot," Silv remarks from the ceiling. "I like the shorts though, and the hat is pretty dashing. You can tell a lot about someone from their hat."
Braaap! goes the oddly-shaped horn. "Aha, so there you are!" Jack says, ignoring the younger otters and proceeding to wave his whip at the ceiling. "Do you have any idea what problems you're causing? My cabin smells like a horde of Rhugrats have invaded and proceeded to eat boiled cabbage," he claims. "And you must also be the one keeping this lot from their duty to me."
"Are you their father?" Silv asks.
Lin unwinds her belt, leaving the heaving knot tied at the end, and prepares to make a daring escape.
"Where'd you get that horn, anyway?" the ghost asks Jack. "You a collector?"
"Old barrow some ways north of here. Handy little device for warning about about spirit shenanigans," Jack says and continues to wave the whip around. "That's not the point. Why are you haunting this place, hmm? Did these girls steal your precious'es or something?"
Silv points to the overturned table, and says, "Well, the girl hiding behind there took my hat. That's definitely justification for haunting. The little one took my blessed shelwhal horn. And.. oh, right, the bunny ran off and is taking a nap. He's got my watch. I'm Silv.. Pandersnatch. Maybe. Shouldn't you introduce yourself?"
Jack doffs his hat. "Sylvania Jack, archeologist extraordinare," he introduces himself. "Why ... wait a moment. Silv? As in the famous pirate? You died some time ago, you know. I think I have a book about you somewhere. Well, book is being generous; it is mostly a bunch of sketches in ... er, nevermind that."
Lin stops messing with her daring escape plan and stands up. "You two know each other?"
"Smuggler, not pirate," the ghost huffs.
"Jack is a grave robber.. er.. treasure hunter," Trilup notes. "That what arkolologist means. I bet he's been looking for Silv's airship.. oops."
"Given the booty you were rumored to plunder, pirate," Jack counters. The mention of a ship gives him pause. "Oh? Ship? You found her ship? Where?"
"Well 'ee can't have it!" Lin siddles out from behind the table, "An not a word about where the ship is, if we found one."
"But it sunk.." Trilup notes.
Linyala gestures at the three of them. "Aquavi?"
"Braap!" goes the horn. "Sunk, not stunk," Jack complains at his trinket. "Sooo ... sunk where, exactly?"
"Nobody be pillaging my booty unless they gets me drunk first!" Silv claims, then stands up and drops to the floor. "I'll haunt ye if you do! Besides, these two.. three.. have to fulfill my mortal oath so I can go to my rest, and such!"
"Or you can be dispelled," Jack counters simply. "I'm sure I have something back in the cabin for that ... somewhere. Oath-B-Gone?"
"I'm not tellin' ya." Lin says and crosses her arms, covering the box with them in the same motion. "An' she's our ghost! You leave 'er alone!"
"Ha, banish me and you'll never get me to sign those.. artistic figure studies.." Silv claims.
This gives Jack pause. "Okay, well, that is a point," the akwavi has to concede. "Of course if they tell me where the ship is, I can be forever known as the last otter to ever 'bone' you." And thus he cracks up at his own joke! "Get it? You have to be all bones now and ... eh, maybe it was funnier in my head."
"Think I could aim one o' the terrible, terrible curses in this box?" Lin murmurs to her hat.
"It's just a bunch of old ivory now, probably rotten," Silv notes. "So, are you the reason these kids were out in the swamp looking for trouble in the first place?"
"Yes!" Trilup claims. "He sent us out to find Ol' Swampy's lair! And Lin followed to spy on us for Emmett!"
"Maaaaybe," Jack answers a bit non-committal.
"Ah come on Jackie! Y'll ain't exactly been quiet 'bout it." Lin says.
"Braaap!" the horn agrees.
"So.. there's other treasure out there in the swamp?" Silv asks, grinning as only a ghost can grin. "You're a treasure hunter, so there must be something you're looking for, right?"
"There are digs and historical artifacts all over the swamp. I do this for research and history, not some mere treasure collecting. I'm on the trail of the Chalice, after all," Jack claims. He also most goes to tug the non-existent suspenders then thinks better of it.
"The what-now?" Silv asks. She looks to the otter girls, and asks, "What's he on about?"
"It's a magic cup from when the Champion traveled with the Akwavi, right Mr. Jack?" Trilup asks.
"Put in pedestrian terms, yes," Jack agrees.
"An I'm here ta spy on 'em an repport my findings to Emmett. We're a bit haunted together though so it's a bit closer than I'm used to." Lyn says quietly.
"So, did you find the magic cup before you found me?" Silv asks. "And what's this about the Champion coming this way?"
Linyala says, "Aviri didn't want ta go down."
"Alright.. uh.. just tell me about the Champion then," Silv asks.
"You didn't find it? Bah, I expect a full refund, then! Or just tell me where her ship was," Jack says.
"Keep yer pants on Jackie." Lyn chirps, "They're gonna make another trip inta the caves. Found a good coupla holes in there too. Need more lanterns an rope though."
Jack throws up his hands. "Amateurs!" he laments.
"We're going back?" Trilup asks. "All we found were old mummies and the Frog Prince's lair."
"Ahem... TELL ME ABOUT THE CHAMPION, please," Silv says, shrieking part of the request like.. well like a shrieking ghost.
Lin opens her mouth then shuts it again and sits down.
Trilup hides behind Jack.. on the side opposite the farting-horn.
"What? The black cat? He has been dead for years," Jack explains as the horn toots away. "Some descendent of his lives in the old towers now."
"But he came through here?" Silv asks, looking a bit more cadaverous as she gets impatient. "Here? This place? He came through the swamp with this aqua-kavi?"
"Yes? It was a long time ago," Jack says and shrugs.
Lin scooches over to the table and rolls her notes under her arm with the box.
The ghost begins tugging at her ears, and stomping around. "He came through here! Here! Where I was waiting! And he didn't find me! He could have taken the box and it'd have been all over! Oath fulfilled! Which deity did I offend to have that happen!"
"Do you really need a list? I'm pretty sure one of my books lists the dozens you offended during your lifetime," Jack offers helpfully.
"T'be fair, your ship wasn't crashed in tha most findable spot." Lin supplies, "Could jus' be bad luck an' poor locationin?"
"Well.. you say there are descendants though?" Silv asks, calming down a bit.
"Aye. That is the story. I haven't hit them up for funding yet," Jack admits.
"Right.. that makes it easy then," Silv claims, then turns away from Jack to point to Lin. "You.. and the other two.. will take the Puzzle Box to the current descendants of the Champion of Light in Blackshire, and collect the 1,000 shekels I was promised on delivery. Then you can bring the money back and recover my bones and bury them together. And there should be deathtraps and the like too, to make it harder for grave robbers."
"Or we could dispel her, and sell the bones for even more shekels," Jack suggests. "To museums! In the name of history."
"What good is a pile of sheleks anyways?" Lyn asks.
"Shekels, not Shelaks," Jack corrects. "Shelaks are workless. Shekels can buy lots of booze."
"Don't teach her the value of money!" Silv barks, aghast (which since she is a ghast is pretty gruesome). "I want that money for myself!"
"Okay. I think I've got this. We all need ta go to Blakshire an' deliver whatever's inside the puzzle box but first we've gotta know what's in it or work it out on the way. Then we get Silver outta the sunken ship an' burry her with her reward an set up some kinda deathtrap. After that I kin go back to spyin' on you lot while you find this cup thingey?" Lin goes holds out a finger for each point then looks quite proud of herself.
"You can't take it with you," Jack points out.
"I can try," Silv points out. "And if not for folks thinking like me on this, you would be out of a job, wouldn't you Jack?"
"Hah, hardly!" Jack barks his retort. "And you are going to let me search your ship, yes? Otherwise I might have to take drastic measures..."
Silv grins again. "You can swim, I suppose. Aqua-kavi do that," she says. "I've never met any while I was alive, but now I'm curious as to why you wear shorts."
"Plundering pockets?" Lin sugests.
"Well, I can hardly prance about with ol' willie dangling about now can I? It is hardly proper," Jack notes, "I did go to University."
"And if you do find my ship.. you can look, but taking anything could be bothersome," Silv says. "I'm already stretched a bit thin haunting these three when they aren't all in one place. Wait.. University? Did they have a Drinking Team?"
"Bah, you wouldn't dare haunt me! You would have to watch me drink the finest rum and grog ... without being able to EVER TASTE IT," Jack points out.
Lin looks at Trilup, "What's Universe Sity? It sounds big."
"You've got rum and grog in your cabin?" Trilup asks Jack. "I bet Emmett would like to know about that.."
"University is a place where the children of nobles go when they're too old to be children but too young to be good for anything else," Silv claims. "It's like a prison where the inmates just learn how to carouse and drink and have sex without having to pay for it."
"Hardly all that! You learn stuff too," Jack claims.
"What'd you learn then?" Silv asks. "I used to have fun with University lads. I taught them a few things!"
"History! Archeology! How to locate and find ruins. How to disarm traps. How to disarm chastity belts!" Jack croons.
"Weird. But why're you here Jack? Assides the stink-horn?" Lyn asks.
"Because all my stuff is bloody hard to move and there is still things to find here," Jack points out.
"And of course I have rum and grog in my cabin," Jack tells Trilup. "And Emmett won't go near it!"
"But you didn't offer me any," Trilup notes. "Don't you offer stuff to all the girls?"
"Only girls old enough to do ... things," Jack says vaguely.
Silv drifts over to Lin, and asks her, "So.. is this guy crazy? Cute by aqua-kavi standards? Rich?"
Lin thinks for a second, "Cluttered, extravagrant, snooty, an' overdressed."
"Oh, a dandy," Silv says, and rubs her hands together as if washing them.
"I'm old enough to do lots of things," Trilup pouts. "If not booze, how about candy?" she then tries to bargain.
Jack rolls his eyes. "I see when I'm not wanted," the akwavi remarks rather dryly. "See if I loan any of you anything again. Or worry about your safety! Hah, I'll just go back and rub my own horn. Er, wait."
"Don't you mean 'toot your own horn'?" Lyn winks.
"He didn't even ask to look at the box," Trilup whispers to Lin. "I guess we didn't have to worry!"
Linyala nods, "Not drawin' attention to the curses part was prolly a good idea."
"You also might want to be careful with the cursed box of yours," Jack says on his way out of the door, "Lest the town witch come knocking. She has no sense of humor at all."
"There's another witch?" Silv asks the girls.
"See ya in your dreams, Sylvania Jack," Silv says, and blows a ghostly kiss. "Bring those drawings next time."
Jack waves his horn over his shoulder. It lets out a final rude noise in his wake.
Lin blanches, and looks at the box under her arm. "He noticed an' didn't want it?"
"I'm sure he heard, but is willing to let you guys brave the curses to get it open," Silv says. "Or he is a gentlemen and doesn't want to interfere with your fulfilling my oath for me and all."
"Yay! So where's this Blackthingey castle we've gotta get to? If we can't make the box do more things today without it getting mad at us then should we grab snacks, Aviri, an' a bucket o' shellfish an' hit the road? Or swamps." Lin bounces areound in excitement.
"It's to the south.. I guess maybe a few days on foot. Or a month. Sylvania is pretty big.." Silv notes.
Trilup suggests, "Maybe we should find a map. One that's recent."
Linyala ties her belt back around her waist and secures the box and roll of papers. "Then that're we waitin' for? Let's get some travelin' gear an' mister grumpy pants and get goin'! Right, maps. D'ya think Fimble could 'elp us on that front?"
"I dunno, do we want any of our kin knowin' about this?" Trilup asks. "I figgered we could ask the madwoman, Dr. Pike. She travels a lot."
"Good point that. An' I should prolly let my family know I'm leavin' the swamp for a month or two at least. Wouldn't want them thinkin' I'm off dead somewhere." Lyn adds.
"But if they think we're dead, they won't be expecting us to bring back gifts," Trilup notes, looking thoughtful. "Uh.. what's our story gonna be about why we're gone then?"
Linyala says, "Well I'm still on my spying assignment so we kin get away with callin' it a Scout operation!"
"So.. we're gonna be spying on someone for a month?" Trilup asks. Then blinks. "Oh, riiiiight.. we're following after Aviri who is going on some suspicious.. something-or-other!"
Lin nods and grins. "I oughtta be able ta clear it with Emmett even for the most coverstoribility. Aviri's known to talk to witches an' go collectin' weird plants. Now 'ee suddenly has to go halfway 'cross Sylvania? We've gotta send spies!"
"Do you think they'll equip us?" Trilup asks. "We need more than a boat. We probably have to have clothes and stuff. Everyone says things are weird outside of Stonebarrow."
Lin gives her hat a poke. "Hey Silv. How's Aviri? If He's gonna be a while we oughtta go see if we kin get some travellin' kit from the Scouts."
"He's talking to Parsley and seems to have had a strange dream," Silv says. "There's a castle nearby.. a really downtrodden one."
"That's where Dr. Pike is! Tell him to meet us there after we get our stuff ready," Trilup says.
Linyala checks her things and sets off to find Emmett. "All spies ahead!" She calls.