Young Writers Society

You were just going about your day, doing whatever it is you're character is doing, with one specific detail. Your character was near a body of water...anything from a kiddie pool to an actual ocean works.

Out of nowhere a whirpool, looking just about big enough for your character to fit into opens up on the banks of said body of water and a very cold, very ghostly hand pulls you by the legs right into the water and you're engulfed in dark cold void. There's a feeling of falling endlessly for a few minutes before you then proceed to land with a thump on the deck of what looks to be a carrack that's straight out of the 1700's, if you're from Earth that is. If your character comes from different world, its just a massive four masted sailboat.

The ship looks old. Very old. Its clearly in a state of disrepair with the most of the deck rotten and overgrown with all kinds of sea life. The sails are torn in so many places that there are more holes than there is sail. Then you notice a pirate flag flying from its main mast, looking like it had only been put there hours ago. There's also no visible crew to be seen and yet the ship is definitely moving forward, in fact its going unnaturally fast for a sail boat especially because of another detail you notice. There is no wind.

Then on top of all of these questionable detail, four beings land in front of you...



Welcome aboard the HDFS Skipping Stone, one of the world's first sailboats. I know that carracks are far from the first type of sailboat to sail the seven seas but this ship is not made in Earth, and on that planet, carracks were the first type of sailboat It, along with its crew vanished millions of years ago, but it has now surfaced on the unsuspecting seas of Vantaxia 42. It flies a pirate flag instead of the logo of the HDF (Hydranian Defense Force) that it once had. The ship has been terrorizing local towns for some time, firing its many canons at various docks before valuables then vanish from those towns. Many have tried to hunt it down in the past few years but nothing has happened, mostly because the ship doesn't appear to have any crew and no ship that ever tries to sink it survives the battle.

Now the people of Vantaxia leave it alone, calling it a sentient ghost ship, the ghost of a literal ship arisen from its watery grave to pillage this unsuspecting world. It is in at this point that the four of your characters arrive on the dock of said ship, pulled in by the ghosts aboard the ship for some unknown reason.

At the same time, a team arrives to fix this massive anachronism in time, trying to get to the bottom of it. It features the original captain of the ship, one Harrison H. Hardy, and his friends, Stean Stakes, Vankous Frostification and James Bonlark. They arrive seconds after the four characters.

Your characters have to work together to help them solve this mystery, try very hard to not get murdered or worse by the ghosts on board and the ship itself, and then help the four agents return the boat to its rightful place in time....after which you will be allowed to return home. Until then, you have officially been bound to the HDFS Skipping Stone, the universe's first ghost ship.



Feel free to chose pretty much any characters, with of course two important caveats. They can't be capable of warping reality or travelling through time. Being able to see or control ghosts is totally fine and any other powers are also totally fine. If there's a power that doesn't fall under the two categories above but is a little to plot breaking, I'll let you know, but considering how OP Harry happens to be, I don't think there should be any issues.

More on that in the OOC thread. This one is well...as you can probably tell, going to require a ton of planning so that will come in handy. You can announce your intentions to join over there and please don't post until I give you the go ahead.



1. HarryHardy
2. Magebird
3. GrandWild
4. ChesTacos
5. winterwolf0100

The two of them were standing by the seemingly endless lake on the edge of the palace's grounds. Reggie was in the middle of eating a pastry he had definitely gotten from the kitchens. Max tried not to think too much about it. It wasn't like he had the focus to right now. He stared down at the ground, watching as the very tip of his toes touched the very edge of the water.

"We should go to that party," Reggie decided.

Max looked up, startled. "The...the royal ball?"

Reggie nodded and took another bite of his pastry. "That one."

"But we're..." Max faltered. Reggie was practically undetectable compared to him. The last time they had walked by a church in the other realm, Max had been the one the priest started yelling was a threat. "We don't even have invitations."

"That's what forgery is for," Reggie said, grinning. "I'll be some foreign duke and you'll be my trusty advisor I don't want to go anywhere without. You want to see Emilia, I want to support you, and the food there has to be good. It's meant to be-"

A whirlpool suddenly opened up in the water next to them. Before either one of them could even register it being there, ghostly hands reached out to pull them in. Reggie didn't even have the time to prepare his magic.

It was so cold and dark. Panic shot through him. Was he going to die again? He was only just now getting a grasp on what it meant to be Max instead of-

There was a thump as he went crashing into wood. There was another as Reggie crashed down beside him.

"Whoa," Reggie said, eyes going up towards the mast, "this ship is old-Oh, hey. Max. Are you okay?"

Max faltered.

Reggie got to his feet, pulling Max up with him. "You're still here with me. I'm still here with you. Just do one of your breathing exercises and you'll better. Then we could check out this creepy ghost ship."

Max gave a tiny, strained laugh. He tried breathing more, too. "I don't think it's a ghost ship. Ghost ships don't exist."

Reggie crossed his arms.

"I don't know," he said. "Creepy ghost hands brought us here, so I think it counts as a creepy ghost ship."

A long cigar shaped spaceship barreled through the vast expanse of space that seperated The Red Galaxy for the Milky Way. It was about the size of school bus, with two stubby wings sticking out of its rounded body at the middle. At the back four top of the line engines produced a stream of electric blue exhaust, with lightning occasionally crackling between the four streams.

The name "The Antiquark" shone is brilliant white letters against the dark grey hull. The ship entered the Milky Way with a burst of speed, flying past the eternally orbiting welcome sign. It read "EL MI WA".

"They really need to replace that ancient sign," said Harry, who was currently at the controls of said ship. He was sitting behind an array of gauges and meters that told him everything from the temperature of his seat cushion to the escape velocity of the nearest planet.

"No one reads that," said James, from the seat behind him. He, along with Stean and Vankous were both squished into one large couch that had been jerry rigged onto the rig that was supposed to hold two small seats. "The entry speed for the milky way is way too fast. You're like the only one who can even see it, okay."

"Well it's hilarious," said Harry, chuckling as he punched in some numbers on the console. "It says "El mi wa"."

"Some good ol' fashioned gibberish," said Vankous, "its suits this place."

"Hey, the Milky Way is great," protested James, "besides that's spanish for "he goes". That does actually fit."

"Your Milky Way, agreed, the one in this dimension, don't get me started," said Vankous.

"On principle I try not to agree with most of the statements Vankous makes, but I'm with him on that one," said Harry, "besides, "El mi va" is also Strototoxian for "I kiss ducks."

At that one everyone burst into laughter.

"So how far out are we?" asked Stean.

"Uhh, well we're going to Andromeda, so not too far, now, just a hop from here," said Harry, "we'll be there in like ten minutes, which reminds me."

He turned to the console. "George, I'm taking over for the deceleration, disengage autopilot."

"Yes Captain Hardy," came the voice of the ship's AuI (Authentic Intelligence).

"This early?" asked Vankous.

"The speed limit in Andromeda is shamefully low," said Harry, "gotta start slowing down now, or we can't reach it."

"Well, the entire Vansorian System is too isolated for them to allow for any faster speeds," said Stean, speaking up, "didn't you like...write that rule?"

"I regret it every day," said Harry, solemnly. He slowly started to reduce the power on the ship's throttle, allowing it to decelerate.

As he did that, he swivelled around in his chair to face the other three.

"So did you guys read the memo about what we're doing today?" he asked.

Vankous and James exchanged a look. Harry narrowed his eyes. James was the only who tried for an apologetic look.

"Of course I read it," proclaimed Vankous,"there was some kind of beach party rescue thingamajig."

Harry shook his head with a sigh. "Yes, it was definitely part. I see you've forgotten your party shorts. This is very disappointing."

"I do NOT have party shorts," declared Vankous, with a huff.

All three of them gave him an incredulous look.

"I have ONE pair, that I wore ONE time," said Vankous, crossing his arms and giving them a challenging look.

"Keep telling yourself that," said Harry, before turning to Stean. "Uhh, Stean, you did read it write?"

"Ghost ship, anachronism. Terrorizing towns. Yada Yada. The one part that concerns me is our mode of entry. I do not want to be jumping from two thousand kilometers in the air."

"I'll catch you don't worry," said Harry, with a smile.

"WAIT WHAT?" came Vankous' expected reaction seconds later and Harry couldn't help but smirk. He'd left that detail in specifically to catch the two of them off guard.

"You read it didn't you?" said Harry, innocent look firmly in place. "I specifically wrote that if you didn't like it, we could change, but it had to be a majority. Since only Stean said no, I assumed both of you wanted to do it. So, yeah, get ready."

"Klashvorta,' said Vankous.

"Language," chorused Stean and Harry.

"I really need to learn a few more languages," said James, before narrowing his eyes at something in front of them, "Also Harry, you might want to turn around."

"Huh," said Harry, spinning the chair back into position to find that they were barreling headfirst towards Kluvorka, one of Vantaxia's three moons.

"Whoops," he said, as he yanked the control column, sending The Antiquark into a dive. He pressed the OET's (Orbital Escape Thrusters) and the ship tore away from the gravity of the moon before he then guided in gently into orbit around Vantaxia. "I totally forgot that was there. I haven't been here in a few thousand years."

"Let's face it, no one has," said Vankous, "nothing ever happens here."

Harry nodded. "Anyway, the drop zone coordinates are coming up shortly, I suggest you all get ready to jump. You can take off....well nevermind, no one besides Stean wore their seatbelts did they?"

There was a click from behind and Harry didn't have to look to see that James had just put his on now. Shaking his head once again, Harry turned back to the console to take to George.

"George, stop at the coordinates I typed in at the start, and hover in place. Once we jump out, go back to the Tachyon. I'll let you know when we're ready to leave. This might take a while."

"Yes, Captain Hardy. Best of luck on your mission."

"Thank you, George. Hopefully Jason doesn't bore you too much."

"The probability of that happening is rather low."

Harry chuckled along with the AuI. Only Jason could stick to the rules strictly enough that a computer would agree he was boring.

The Antiquark soon hovered to a stop in geostationary orbit, maintaining just enough speed that they'd remain in the same spot relative to the point they wanted to jump down into. It made for an uncomfortable jump out, considering the speed the ship had to maintain, but it was a lot more convenient that entering the atmosphere and jumping out of the ship when it was stationary.

Harry stepped out of his chair and moved towards the door of the ship. Everyone was soon inside the airlock.

Vankous proceeded to erect a bright purple shield around him as James tapped the collar of his suit, transforming it into outer space mode. A thin sheet of transparent material spread out from the fibres of the suit, expanding until it covered him completely and slowly puffing out as it was pumped full of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen.

Stean covered his nostrils and gave Harry the thumbs up. Harry tapped the control panel next to the outer door and the air quickly leached away, leaving them in a vacuum.

The outer door opened into the vast expanse of space. The blue and red Vantaxia stood proudly beneath them. Harry allowed his eyes to focus, and expand, zooming in to focus on a solitary sailboat thousands of kilometres below them. If they jumped now, they'd be able to land just about perfectly. He smiled to himself, before telepathically reaching out to the other three.

"Vankous, jump out now, you're the slowest."

There was surprisingly no complaint and the Zenomian sorcerer punched his hand forward, sending the bubble of purple energy flying out of the side of the ship, just fast enough to avoid hitting the stubby wings.

James jumped out next, the twin thrusters on his dress shoes activating once he was clear of the ship.

"You better catch me," thought Stean, knowing Harry was listening.

With that last statement, he was through the door, arms tucked into his sides and legs clasped firmly together as he dived into the atmosphere. Harry took one last look at their target, before angling himself in the direction the ship was flying in.

On one burst of energy, he was flung through the vacuum at the angular velocity of Vantaxia. He concentrated as his lungs retracted into their cavities allowing the elecrongs to take over. He dived down after Stean, gently spreading out his wings to their full length, and letting out a quick yawn. He'd been far too cramped in that seat for the past thirty minutes.

He took a quick glance around. Vankous' purple bubble was already through the atmosphere and he could see James flying alongside it. Stean was still free falling, drifting further and further off target, unable to counter the effects of his momentum until he reached the atmosphere.

Angling himself in the same direction as Stean, Harry let out a burst of icy air from his hands, propelling him downward towards the falling Notpyrkian. This was going to be an interesting landing.

Reggie peered over the ship's railings.

"The water sure looks dark," he commented.

"Please don't do that," Max weakly said. Reggie, seemingly oblivious to the request, just peered over a little more. A little voice in the back of Max's mind reminded him that Reggie could handle himself when the situation called for it, but that little voice was easily overwhelmed by the remnants of his earlier anxiety.

"I don't think I've ever seen so much water before," Reggie said, cupping a hand over his eyes. "Do you think we're on Earth?"

Max stiffened. "Why would we be on Earth?"

Reggie leaned back. "We're not supposed to have creepy ghost hands on creepy ghost ships and Earth has oceans, soooo-" He made a sweeping gesture with his hands. "Earth."

"Earth's not supposed to have that, either," Max said. He scooted a little closer to Reggie, but didn't dare peer over the edge of the ship.

"Oceans?"

Max blinked. He turned and stared at Reggie in disbelief.

"Huh," Reggie said. "I could have sworn Earth was supposed to have those."

"Earth does have oceans," Max hesitantly replied. "We don't have the first parts."

"Oooh. That makes more sense."

Harry rapidly approached the surface of the plane as he find himself accelerating with each passing second. Down below, James and Vankous, both flying in unison vanished beneath the many clouds of Vantaxia. Stean was just about on the edge of the atmosphere and probably rather cranky from falling so long.

Once he was completely confident that he would hit Stean on the way down, he blasted a shower of ice backwards, propelling him down even faster, slowly starting to gain on the other three.

Vankous and James had managed to cancel out most of their initial acceleration from falling and they were drifting gently downward. Stean had already fallen past them, yelling something that Harry couldn't quite make it out just yet while still in the vacuum of space.

Harry gave himself another boost, and finally he could feel the familiar heat of entering an atmosphere at ridiculously fast speeds. It had been a while since he'd felt the oddly comforting feeling of a friction burn. He decided they should jump from outer space more often.

Soon, his wings started to catch the air and he started to slow down. He checked the ground once again. Vankous and James were not too far off now, they'd slowed down quite a bit by this point. Stean on the other hand had fallen almost a quarter of the way towards the ground. He was most likely going to have to hurry up.

He took a deep breath and let his lungs slowly switch back into air breathing mode. Then he folded in his wings and let himself fall, gaining a bit of speed before he flapped his wings upwards at supersonic speeds, catapulting him right past the sound barrier. He just about managed to hear a cut of "Serio..." from Vankous as he blasted past them, making sure to time it so that the vapor cone formed right as he passed them, potentially drenching James in condensed water, although Vankous was probably safe inside his little bubble.

In about ten seconds flat, Harry passed right by Stean and he blasted ice downwards this time as he spread his wings, slowing himself down so that he was going about the same speed as Stean and right beside him.

As he glided peacefully downward, he flashed a thumbs up at Stean, giving him a bright smile.

Stean looked to have just stopped screaming rather recently and looked rather ruffled, the air having completely destroyed his neatly combed hair. He frowned back at him, not looking impressed by the smile.

"Are you going to watch me fall to the ground or catch me?" yelled Stean over the sound of the rushing air.

"You realize I can still hear you even if you whisper," said Harry, yelling right back, fully aware of the irony of his words.

This day could have gone better.

Quite a few days seem that way to Torgga now; she's been in the field for close to fifteen years now and while there's certainly never a dull day, protecting the interests of Kelemvor has led her to some grim moments.

Torgga slides off her mule with a heavy sigh and tosses her pack to the ground; this ought to be far enough from the town to be a safe sleeping spot. There's a brook nearby for fresh water as well.

"Help me with my armor, Noruld?" she says wryly, but the mule simply meanders over to the brook and begins to drink. Torgga shrugs and begins to fiddle with the clasps of her silver plate armor. She couldn't complain that she was lonely, at least. And the beast carried her weight everywhere she went. That was loyalty, right?

The left side of the chest piece gave her trouble today; it had been caved in slightly by one of the club-wielding orcs earlier and the clasp was damaged. Torgga got it off alright, though, and as she removed her tunic to check the damage she found a nasty purple bruise forming under her dark skin. She rested a hand over it carefully and muttered a quick Cure Wounds spell, then replaced her tunic and set about preparing dinner.

"Stew again," Torgga says to Noruld, who brays from where he stands tethered loosely to a nearby tree. "Couldn't find any onions in the village before the attack; we'll make do with jerky and potatoes, right?" She gathers the little crock pot from her mess kit and dips it into the brook. It's a clear stream, at least, and she can see little minnows darting under the rocks to avoid the pot. The water swirls gently as the pot sinks below the surface, but it picks up speed as Torgga watches. Her brow furrows. What manner of magic is this? Has she stumbled on fae territory? With that thought in mind she backs away, leaving the pot where it is. The water goes faster and faster, and suddenly it is a winding portal gaping in the brook. Torgga draws her greatsword and puts out her shield, approaching warily. Her foot slips on one of the mossy rocks, and she stumbles forward. The mule brays in terror and bolts, tearing the loose rope from the tree.

A hand shoots out of the portal as Torgga regains her bearings--a skeletal hand. Torgga bats at it as it latches onto her mail-clad foot, but it's already pulling her through to portal. She has the good sense to keep tight hold of her sword but reaches for her pack in vain before the portal closes around her and her sight is swallowed by darkness.

The pit of Torgga's stomach drops as she falls, and she is reminded terribly of the time she and her little brother went adventuring in the mineshafts below her father's halls. She had slipped and fallen several feet down to another ledge, breaking her arm on impact. She had known to orient herself so her head wouldn't hit the ground first, but in this darkness she cannot orient herself and so she falls in terror, clutching her sword and shield tightly. Kelemvor, Lord of the Dead and Master of Ending, if I have served you well I pray I find myself in your feasting hall when this is done. The dwarf paladin prays until at last there is a woody thud. Torgga screws her eyes shut, expecting to feel broken bones and ruptured organs. But there is no such pain, only a dull ache where her sword buckle had jammed into her shoulder. The air smells salty, and she can hear waves crashing against whatever she's just landed on.

Torgga's eyes snap open, and she clambers to her feet. She's on a ship. Definitely on a ship. Oh, gods, oh, Kelemvor...
"No," she says sharply, and sits back down. "No, no. If this is what messing with an orcish necromancer gets me, that bastard's getting twice the punch when I find him. Very funny!" She raises her voice here. "Put me back now, thank you!"

"...Does Earth have dwarves?" Reggie asked, his tone genuinely innocent. "We don't."

Max scooted a little closer to Reggie. He wasn't exactly scared, but he hadn't had much positive human (people?) contact lately and hadn't entirely been prepared for it. The dwarf was ranting about a necromancer. Max didn't know necromancy, but that was a little too close to home.

"We don't have dwarves, either," Max commented.

Reggie crossed his arms. "So if we're not in my home and we're not in yours, then where could we be?"

Max bit his lip as he thought, wincing his lip as he accidentally drew some blood. He had always thought there was just Earth, but there had been another world on top of that. If there was a third or maybe even a fourth, would that be all that bizarre? It would explain the ghosts and a dwarf-

Reggie was strolling over to the dwarf.

Max's eyes widened.

"Reggie!" he hissed, voice quiet and frantic. Reggie didn't seem to hear him. He just kept walking. And when he finally did finish (accidentally) sneaking up on the dwarf from behind, Reggie grabbed said dwarf by an armor-plated shoulder.

"Hi," Reggie said.

Torgga whirls, sweeping her sword arm in a wide arc before she can even see who's speaking. She misses, thank the gods, and stares in bewilderment at the Human male who had touched her. Another Human stands to the side, eyes wide and frightened. Torgga narrows her eyes and considers sheathing her sword, then thinks better of it.
"Who the devils are you?" she growls, leveling the sword at the first Human. "What is this place? What hellish masters do you serve? Why have I been brought here? Was it that blasted shaman?" If it was, she'll have words with him upon her return--very stern words aided by a blade through his throat.

The last few thousand feet came quickly. As the atmosphere became denser, the air became the familiar weight that most planets in this area shared, and the world below came into view, Harry finally gave thought to their landing.

Down below them stood the ship that had caused this whole situation in the first place. It looked oddly familiar although Harry found he was unable to quite place where that familiarity came from. It was a fairly old looking ship, one of the original designs invented much further back in time. It was certainly not a ship meant to be roaming around in this particular timeline, to say nothing of just how much death it seemed to contain. There were clear indicators to suggest that there were a lot of ghosts on board, and not the particularly nice ones either. This was going to be quite a doozy.

As they came in for the final landing, Harry could've sworn he could also see three other lifeforms but he didn't have too long to think of that as the deck of the ship rushed up at them.

He proceeded to gently grab Stean, who at that point let out a hmph of annoyance at being left to free fall for so long. Propping Stean in a rather awkward bear hug, Harry flared out his wings, righting himself and letting himself gently glide towards the deck.

Vankous and James also approached from up above, gliding down much slower than the two of them.

"Vankous get thine self down here at the same time as the two of us, or this landing is going to look terribly uncoordinated. It looks like there are potentially some lifeforms on this ship that are not dead, and we need to make an appropriately cool entrance."

"On it, Captain," responded the sorcerer promptly as the two falling bodies accelerated just a touch until the four of them were falling somewhat in tandem.

With practice born from a few thousand years, Harry promptly released two five feet off the deck. He landed on his feet, looking slightly out of sorts, but alert. James landed on one knee with a painful sounding crunch. That man had never quite learnt that superhero landings were terrible for your legs. It a miracle he still had knees.

Vankous landed gently seconds later, his bubble dispelling as he struck a dramatic pose behind James and a now more alert Stean.

Harry landed last, flaring his wings out to their full extent, head faced down as he himself landed on one knee, mirroring James. Standing up quickly, he sized up the lifeforms he'd detected earlier.

"7.8/10," declared Vankous, completely throwing off the dramatic greeting Harry was about to make.

He huffed, both offended at the score for his landing, it was definitely at least a 8.5, and also at losing his line of thought.

"Heyy," he managed, rather weakly, in his opinion. It was going to completely ruin their image.

Reggie stared at the group that had just landed from the sky. The last time he checked, that wasn't a kind of magic over in his world.

"Is that an Earth thing?" he asked Max, the dwarf's sword still pointed near his neck. If he hadn't been so surprised by the newcomers, he would have grinned at the dwarf's questions. They were ironic questions to be directed at a demon.

"Nothing here is an Earth thing," Max said, both nervous and exasperated.

"Are you sure?" Reggie asked. "It's not a my world thing, either."

Too much was happening. Torgga stared between what could only be a group of celestials and the humans, unsure of who might be more of a threat. Celestials weren't all good, certainly, so she had to remain cautious.
"Who do you serve?" she repeated, keeping her sword leveled at one of the humans. Might as well look like she was confident in this situation. Worst case scenarios were looking pretty bad, and she wanted to go down swinging if she was to go down.

Harry took a moment to study the people on the ship as he tried to get himself back into a more tactical position for this moment. There were two of what seemed to rather clearly be human or at least close to human ish people hanging standing there clearly a bit surprised. It was an interesting combination, one looked like a junior professor while the other one was decidedly the opposite at least in appearance. The third one of the deck was clearly a different species entirely..and looked like a retired general that had gotten off the wrong side of the bed. This was certainly interesting.

He exchanged a look with Stean, who shrugged.

Turning back to the three people on deck, Harry tried for a somewhat dramatic look. "Greetings Mortals."

"Hi," Reggie said to the group from the sky. Max didn't know how he could be so nonchalant about this whole thing; Max could barely open his mouth looking at that group, much less stammer out such a calm greeting.

Reggie looked down at the sword at his neck. He had probably forgotten it was there.

"It depends on who you ask," he said. He took a step back, putting distance between himself and the blade in a way that made it seem like he wasn't actually afraid of it. He probably wasn't, knowing Reggie. "Not anyone dangerous."

"What brings you to these lands?" asked Harry. He was 200% sure neither of them were here on purpose, that would be impossible, but he wanted to know what they would say.

"Magic ghost hands," Reggie matter-of-factually said. Max looked so nervous nearby. He moved over next to him and casually slung his arm over his shoulder to make him feel better, but he wasn't really sure it was working. It was hard to break Max out of his introvert funks. "What about you? Are there any ghost hands up there?"

He gestured at the sky.