Travel Guide to the Old Sinking Island (repost request)

[Kingsmythe]

This is likely a bit dated now as it involves a role play area in the old Sinking Island that some of the newer ones here may never have seen, and, if memory serves, has some people we don't see much of any more. But, I was flattered by the request, so here it is:

Please note the sounds of John Phillips Sousa's "The Liberty Belle" playing during the credits.


Dramates Personae:

Dramatis Personai:

The Players:

Reginald Stokes-Kettleworth: The Host, 6'6", thin, short dark hair, slightly receding, small
moustache, distinct British accent
Kenneth: the Sound Man 6', brown hair, well muscled, good looking
Barbie: Script Girl, very attractive with Hollywood starlet figure, blonde with blue eyes, 5'6", 117
Phil: Camera Man, 5'9" short red hair, green eyes
Dawn: Production Assistant, brown hair worn up, glasses, oversize clothes, 5'9", 145
Cire: A Viking, carrying equipment, tall and well built

and with Special Guest Appearances by many of the Dezinens , Denisines People who spend
time in Deep Sinking R/T

Those who directly appear used by permission. Those mentioned but not actually appearing
included because of their various contributions to the community. Those I should have
mentioned, but didn't, please be patient, this would have ended up being a novel otherwise, and I
don't think anyone wants to read that, at least in this form. Void where prohibited by law, some
settling may occur during shipping.

The R/T Travelogue

Reginald paces back and forth in front of the camera, looking at his crew. "Right, then.
We need to get this shot as quick as we can, so we can stay on schedule. Camera ready?
Good..." Reginald clears his throat, then makes a rolling motion with his hand. "Hello, good
evening, and welcome to Net Setters. Those of you familiar with our programme know we visit
various spots on the net to do small documentaries. Why? Because its cheaper than doing it in
the real world, and we're on a budget, or so the managers say whenever I put in for an increase.
Those of you not familiar with our programme... well, you are now if you've been paying
attention."

He pauses, catching sight of Cire. "Dawn...." he beckoned with his hand.

"Yes, Reginald?" asked Dawn.

"Why do we have a Viking with us? And what happened to uhh Thingy... um.. Todd?"

"Ted. Do you remember when we were in the super hero RPG?" asked Dawn.

"Yes, of course, the Perils of Paragon, one of our highest rated shows," said Reginald.

"Well, Ted got hit by a lightning bolt while we were there, and gained powers. He had to
make a costume and fight crime. I think he's called Boltastic or Eddie Electron or something
now." (Don't worry, if you don't play City of Heroes, this bit probably doesn't make sense.)

"Had to stay? Yes, of course.. I'm sure he did. Perfectly reasonable, I suppose. But the
Viking?" asked Reginald.

"Well, he was looking for work," said Dawn.

"Looking for work? He's a Viking!!! He pillages and such, doesn't he?"

"Well, his horde had been branching out, and doing advertisements," explained Dawn.

"Branching out? Branching out???" said Reginald. "I see... and what happened?"

"Well, people began using different credit cards, and you can only say 'What's in your'--"
Dawn began.

"Stop that! This isn't a commercial!" interrupted Reginald. He regards Cire a moment.
"All right, we need someone to carry all this vaguely important looking equipment. But keep up,
don't pillage, its bad for public relations, and don't start singing about Spam. Not only has it
been done, but its a bad thing here on the net."

Cire mumbled something, the only part of which that could be discerned was "never
wanted to be a Viking, I wanted to be..." Reginald interrupted again with "No you don't, that's
been done, too. And before anyone starts it, no dead parrot jokes, either!"

"No, no of course not.. Not at all.. . wouldn't dream of it" there were general sounds of
agreement, and a small, blue, feathered object was hastily disposed of in the bushes.

Reginald sighs. "I am never going to hear the end of that one, it seems." He looked
around. "Right, Barbie, where were we? Oh yes, did the intro... rolling... and... Tonight's episode
features Deep Sinking R/T, the resort where those in the know about sinking go. We're
supposed to met by a guide, and hopefully even interview the legendary Jiminy Thicket himself,
founder of this unique vacation spot and social club."

There was a rustling in the bushes, and suddenly, a woman emerged. She had brown,
shoulder length hair, an athletic looking body, which was covered by what appeared to be a
bikini made of snake skin. She also wore moccasins of the same material. Reginald looked
pleased at her appearance.

"Excellent, this must be our guide. Errr.... We here to see island. You guide?" he
asked loudly, with exaggerated hand gestures. The woman arced an eyebrow and give him a
withering look. She then looked at Dawn.

"Is English his second language, or is he drunk?" the new arrival asked.

Dawn choked off a laugh, but was unable to keep the smile off her face. "Ummm neither,
really. I think he was expecting, you know, a native guide? There are so many stereotypes on
the net."

The woman glanced at Reginald again, who seemed somewhat taken aback by all this.
"Well, I'm not a native guide or a stereotype. Jiminy asked me to drop this off." She held up a
thick book, tan in color, which Reginald had missed while looking...elsewhere.

"Um.. yes.. Thank you." said Reginald. He took the proffered book, and looked at the
cover. "A Guide To The Sinking Island, And Its People" it was titled. Edited by Fred588 and
Jiminy Thicket.

"Thank you. Sorry for Reginald," said Dawn, extending her hand. "I'm Dawn."

"Danger Girl. Good luck. You'll need it." With a final glance at the now sputtering
Reginald, Danger Girl turned back toward the bushes. As she did, a large brown, spined creature
emerged.

It looked over at her, and said "Dimsda-"

"WRONG SKETCH!!" Danger Girl interrupted.

"Oh, sorry mum." it said, and withdrew. Danger Girl faded into the bushes, shaking her
head at the incorrectly placed animation.

"Right then...." Reginald passed the book to Dawn. "This way, I think." Reginald led his
group down the path, soon coming to a forbidding looking ruined temple. The Temple was made
of carefully shaped stone, and towered over them.

"Wow.... looks like something out of an old movie," said Kenneth.

"Did you hear something from in there?" asked Phil.

Dawn was lagging behind the group a bit by this point, leafing through the book Danger
Girl had dropped off.

"Sounds like....bubbling?" said Barbie.

Exchanging confused looks, the group moved along the path, climbing up to the top of
the temple wall. Below them, in the bowl created by the walls, was a flat expanse of dirt, with a
much darker looking area to one side of it. Standing near this was a young woman with dark
hair, who seemed to be wearing a white robe over a nurse's outfit.

Dawn, using the index of the guide book, was murmuring to herself, "Minako?" while the
others began going down towards the ground. As they approached, things changed drastically.
Tentacles erupted from the dark bog, and wrapped around Minako's ankles, dragging her into the
dark mud.

"About time," murmured the nurse, who Kenneth, running forward to try and help her,
now saw had pointed ears. She let out a sigh which seemed to not match her dire situation as she
sank past her knees in the mud, tentacles working their way up her body. She glanced up from
watching the tentacles entwine her, and shouted "Don't come any closer!" to Kenneth.

He skidded to a halt, looking confused. "Umm... you... don't want help?"

"No-oooohhhhhh. I'm fine here." Minako replied. "And if you come closer, they'll get
you, too."

"What should I do?" asked the confused Kenneth, as the others caught up with him.

"Just stay there, and watch if you like," Minako said as she sank down to her thighs. The
tentacles seemed to be working their way up her body as she sank, winding around her legs.

Dawn caught up to the group, her finger marking a place in the Guide. "She's fine, guys.
This is what she likes." This drew confused looks from her companions. Dawn passed the
Guide to Reginald, who stuck his microphone under his arm to take it.

"Minako.... elf-nurse..... enjoys sinking.... tentacles....," Reginald looked up.
"Errrmmmm.. Well then. This seems... well in hand, I suppose."

Minako sank deeper, her waist just starting to disappear into the morass. She groaned
again, arcing her back, her eyes narrowed to slits. Then, they flew open as she gasped deeply. A
tentacle slowly came into view, coming out the top of her nurse's outfit from inside. Minako
slowly disappeared into the mud, gasping and moaning as she did.

Barbie leaned in close to Kenneth. "I'm not sure about the tentacles, but that looked like
it could be... fun. The sinking part, I mean."

Kenneth nodded. "I know what you mean."

A tentacle emerged from the muck, creeping towards Barbie's ankle. Cire, without
dropping any of his burden, leaned forward and chopped it off with his axe. "Eeeek! Let's get
out of here." said Barbie, backing away quickly.

Kenneth looked over at Cire. "Thanks, man." The Viking nodded, sliding his axe back
into his belt. As they left, the white robe surfaced from the muck, and blew away.

Quickly abandoning the Temple, the party found themselves on a jungle trail. Soon, they
came to a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a square formed by several beams laying on
the ground. The ground inside the square seemed somehow damper than the rest. Barbie was
staring at the area fixedly, and put her script down on the ground.

"What are you doing? Is this in our script?" asked Reginald.

"Of course it is," said Barbie. "Remember, I'm the script girl."

Barbie began moving towards the damp earth in the square, kicking off her shoes.
Kenneth watched, fascinated, as Phil kept the camera on her. Dawn picked up the script, flipped
through a few pages, and smiled to herself. Reginald looked thoroughly confused, which wasn't
all that unusual. Barbie, seemingly ignoring all the others, or not caring, sat on the beams that
framed the square, removed her socks and tan pants, and then deliberately stepped into the moist
earth. As Phil kept his camera focused on her, Barbie began pumping her legs and sinking into
soft ground. She quickly sank to her waist, her black panties vanishing, as she reached up and
unbuttoned her shirt, revealing even more of her stunning body. Obviously enjoying herself, she
tossed her bra off, and in short order was consumed by the mire, orgasming her way out of sight.
Reginald blinked, trying to regain his composure.

"I... don't think we can use that. Phillip, you can stop filming, she's gone. Kenneth, how
did the sound turn out? Kenneth?" Reginald looked around. "What's become of Kenneth?"

Dawn shook her head at him. "I guess you were... preoccupied. You remember last
scene, when Ken said the sinking looked like fun?"

"Did he? All right, and what of it?" asked Reginald.

"Well, apparently there are a lot of people who think there is a lack of males who want to
sink. So while you were distracted by Barbie there, someone I think is called Nessie, if I am
reading this right," here, she gestured at the guide again, "came by and sort of... ran off with
him."

"I see. And this happened off screen why?" asked Reginald.

"Well, our advance man didn't talk with her, so we didn't know if she actually wanted to
be in the story." answered Dawn.

"I see. Isn't that rather his job? To talk to these people?" Reginald asked in a voice that
sounded barely calm, but rising.

"I think he got... distracted by some of the people and places here." Dawn answered.

"All right then, Bar err.... Dawn, I suppose, where are we going next?" sighed
Reginald.

"Follow me, Reginald." Dawn shook her head, leading the group off to the next scene.
Unnoticed, high over head, a powerful form flew by at great speed, leaving a blur of red and
blue, with might have been blonde hair. It was almost as if both, she was traveling faster than a
speeding bullet, and including her more fully would have caused copyright issues.

Eventually, the group, somewhat reduced in size, ended up on a dark, forbidding moor.
The ground seemed unstable here; the earth beneath the grass quivering in response to any
movement. The trail followed the thickest mats of grass here, winding from one grassy hillock to
another without venturing into the moist-looking open areas of black earth. Tendrils of thick
white fog snaked through the entire area, clinging to the ground and pooling in some of the open
areas like a liquid.

"Oh, look" said Dawn, pointing to a lovely flower.

"A rose? On a moor? And why is it being drawn to my attention in such a blatant
manner?" asked Reginald.

"I think its called Pamela" supplied Phil.

"A Pamela Rose? And we have such a cheap visual joke as a representation, why?"
asked Reginald.

"Well, our advance-" began Dawn.

"Didn't talk to her, either, did he? Not very good, is he?" Reginald interrupted.
"Remind to fire him later."

Phil, who had been scanning around for more interesting footage, gazes through his view
finder. Suddenly, he halted, and turned back. He had just seen a flash of pink further out on the
moor.

"What was that?" Phil began moving in the direction of whatever it was he had seen.
Dawn and Reginald, embroiled in an argument over who actually could fire the apparently-not-
very-effective-advance-man, didn't notice him go.

Phil carefully crept forward, trying to watch his footing, and still find the pink he had
seen that seemed so out of place here. Parting some reeds, he saw a short young lady with pink
hair, wearing a black leather jacket, who seemed to have her arms bound behind her and a piece
of tape over her mouth. Short was a relative term as she was also waist deep in the mire.

"What the....? Hang on, I'll try and get you out of there." Phil glanced around on the
ground for a branch or something to pull her out, but couldn't find anything. He also didn't hear
stealthy footsteps approach from behind. Suddenly, Phil felt strong hands shoving him in the
back. He helplessly fell into the mire, splashing more mud on the pink haired woman, who
bobbed up and down from the shockwaves. Desperately, she twisted to try and be free as Phil
quickly sank from sight, only his camera lying where he had dropped it. The woman said
something that could have been "Eeep!"

"Well now... this could make things even more interesting. A souvenir for me." Hands
reached out of the shadows, as a man in dark clothing picked up the camera, pointing it at the
bobbing and sinking woman. "I almost thought he would manage to save you, Amazo. Beg for
the camera..."

Although she was clearly scared, Amazo's eyes flashed defiance. She resolutely shook
her head, even this slight motion causing her to sink deeper. She said something, but it was lost
against the tape as she sank to her ribs.

The man shook his head. "All you have to do is beg, and I'll probably even pull you out."
More muffled protests emerged, which could have said "No, James, never!" He shook his head
again, almost seeming regretful. "Well, then, I guess I don't need to keep you around, do I?" He
leaned forward, and with a booted foot on her shoulder, began pushing Amazo down into the
mud. Slowly, her body disappeared.... her chest and shoulders vanishing in the muck. It climbed
to her neck.

Fear showed in her eyes, but fire flashed as James taunted her. "Just say the word, and
I'll stop." He shoved again with his foot, and she slowly vanished, a few stray strands of pink
hair slowly vanishing. James wandered off with his new found camera.

Reginald and Dawn's argument finally drew to a close. Reginald snapped "Fine, talk to
the producers if you must, but if I see this 'Smythe, or whatever his name is, he's on the dole
line!! Phillip, roll tape... Phillip?" Reginald looked around, seeking in vain for his camera man.
"Is everyone just going to wander off? Jobs not interesting anymore? Fine, then, Dawn, where
to now?"

Eventually, Reginald, Dawn, and Cire end up walking down a path to a set of doors, with
the sign "Psychic World" over them. In the lobby, a portrait can be seen of Fred588 with the
label "Our Founder" under it. As they approach the doors, they swing outward, revealing two
women coming out. One is a 5'10" beauty in red latex, who seems to be checking on various
weapons in her holsters. The other is significantly shorter, not quite 5', wearing what seems to be
a pink bunny outfit, which was rather revealing. Dawn began paging through the Guide again,
murmuring to herself.

"Sorry we had to cut that short, but apparently they need help on the Beaches." said the
woman in red.

"No problem, Sakura, I should probably be getting to the Cantina anyway, " replied the
short bunny. She stopped as she saw Reginald and Dawn. "Hi, new here? I'm japficracker, but
you can call me Krystal." She extended her hand to Dawn.

"I'm Dawn, and that's Reginald. We're actually looking for Fred588 for an interview.
Do you know where he might be?"

"Well, he's probably in the Cantina, which is where I am going anyway. Let me show
you the way." Dawn and Krystal set off, while Reginald hung back a bit, fuming.

"This place is preposterous!!! Quicksand everywhere? People who WANT to sink? Elf
nurses and bunny girls? Why did they send me here?" Reginald paced a bit, and Cire stepped
out of his way. Cire noticed the white robe blow in to the area. Something struck him as odd
about it, and he stepped back further. Reginald, in the throes of his tantrum, didn't notice.

The robe swirled in the wind, and then suddenly seemed to leap on Reginald, who
screamed. "Yarrgh!!! What is this?" The robe made several odd movements, and seemed to
expand briefly. Cire almost drew his axe again, but then hung back. In a matter of moments,
Reginald vanished, seemingly consumed by the robe. It blew lazily away. Cire shook his head,
and moved along in the direction of the departed women.

Dawn and Krystal chatted as the arrived at a sunny outdoor patio, with tables and chairs
seemingly placed at random. There was a nice bar, well stocked, with various blenders and
mixers. Krystal was saying "I'm not sure who will be here. We had a good crowd earlier, but
apparently there was a Gimmie invasion on the beaches, and Danger Girl called in Sakura and
silentzorah to deal with them. Those three ought to be able to handle it just fine."

At one table a man was seated, jotting ideas down on a sketch pad. He wore shorts and a
red t-shirt. Seated across from him was another man, some six feet tall, with brown hair and blue
eyes. He wore a button up shirt, and seemed to have a coil of rope on one shoulder. He was
polishing a pair of glasses.

"Hi Zebrafan. Fred, this woman was looking for you." Krystal moved off towards the
bar, picking up a tray and looking over orders.

"Hello, I'm Dawn, and this is...." she trailed off, looking over her shoulder, realizing
Reginald was not there. "Now where...." Cire walked in, setting down the equipment he had
been carrying for no apparent purpose for the whole story. Dawn glanced at him, and he shook
his head, moving off to speak with Krystal.

Suddenly, people began arriving. Amazo and Minako walked in, bringing with them the
rest of the film crew, who seemed confused, and a bit messy. Kenneth was conspicuous by his
absence. Most of them seemed damp, as if they had just come from a shower. There was also no
sign of Reginald. Dawn glanced around, and put the Guide down on a table.

"So... this is a place where people can come and act out their fantasies about sinking in
things, and talk with others who are interested in that kind of thing?" Dawn asked Fred.

He smiled up at her. "That's about the size of it. I see you've met some of our regulars
already." He and Dawn talked about the different areas of the Island, and different interests for a
time, and finally she stood up.

"Ok then, I think I get it. I only have one more question, for Zebra there."

Zebrafan looked up, slightly startled. "Yes?"

"I read that you're a rescuer... I think I might need that in a few moments. Interested?"
Suddenly, in a fit of cliches the like of which had not been seen since the last time anyone
watched network television, Dawn unpinned her hair and tossed away her glasses, unbuttoning
the top two buttons on her shirt, accomplishing the stereotypical mousy-to-sexy transformation in
record time. Zebrafan, not being a foolish man, happily accompanied her out the door up the
jungle path, while the mostly reunited film crew talked over their experiences.

"Eep!" Amazo said, rubbing her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" asked Minako, reaching for her first aid kit.

"I'm fine, I just got hit by some cliche shrapnel from that last part." Amazo rubbed her
shoulder a final time, and muttered to herself, "C'mon, Kings, you can do better than that, cliche
central."

"Sometimes something becomes a cliche because it has become an accepted, even
anticipated, part of story telling, in whatever form it is taking." a voice said.

Everyone looked confused, except Amazo, who seemed amused, as Cire the Viking
leaned against the bar, drinking the beer Krystal had brought him. "Besides, the story was
running long, and I think he was trying to wrap it up.

"So you think cliches become accepted because they are used so much?" asked Amazo,
as she went to talk aesthetics with the startlingly well spoken Viking, who explained he had been
forced into pillaging to pay off his student loans from his philosophy degree.

At this point, Sakura and Danger Girl returned, accompanied by a swordsman with
brown hair and an average build, cleaning off a three foot katana. "Well, that should take care of
that batch of Gimmies," said Sakura, as she finished putting a new magazine in her automatic.
"Thanks for the help, Danger Girl, silentzorah." They both nodded, moving off to chat with
friends and order drinks.

A few moments later, a rather ordinary looking man dressed as a cowboy with a gunbelt
carrying paired holsters, with his hat tilted down and black sunglasses, strode into the Cantina.

"Hi, Commodore, can I get you anything?" asked Krystal.

"Sure, a whiskey sounds good. Does anyone know why there's a dead parrot out by the
Temple?"



The scene goes black as again, the sounds of The Liberty Bell March play over the closing
credits.


Thanks to everyone who graciously allowed me to borrow their online personas.
Anything construed as out of character for them is my fault. No characters were harmed during
the writing of this story except Reginald, and he was a pain in the ass anyway, especially since I
kept misspelling his name. If I ever mention to anyone I am trying to include a lot people from
the Island in a story, someone please sit on me until the urge passes, as now I am hoping I didn't
offend or irritate anyone. This has been a Kingsmythe production, who promises that if he
manages to write another story for the forums, it will be shorter.

The Liberty Bell is replaced by the Warner Brothers theme...


THAT'S ALL FOLKS

[Northerner]

Sinking Island was great. No, beyond great. It was one of those things that is so cool, you cannot believe it exists in this world. I also remember Minako and Sakura wrote a lot of wonderfully hot quicksand stories!

I just tried to go to Sinking Island, and it gave me an error message, so I guess something finally broke the place>?