To the Top of the World (Temple Quest Pt. 1)

[Stygg Whitefeather]

An anxious griffon paced back and forth on the forecastle of the Golden Ursa, gaze focused on the docks for any sign of the team hired on for this trek to the north. Perhaps, in their better judgment, they thought better then to leave on some foals errand for a bureaucratic cat-bird, when able bodied griffons wouldn't. Even Shoal doubted the expedition, since the Council at Royal Rocks denied any assistance, most of his promises of compensation were, at best, white lies. If they could produce results, however, he believed the Court would compensate accordingly. He dismissed those thoughts, now wasn't the time to worry. He had to project a proper disposition as a representative of the Griffon Council.

The ship itself was a well maintained three-mast frigate with an iron lined hull, old as it were, it still was quite sea-worthy. Her gun deck appeared limited, with a puny sixteen gun armament, but it was a merchant vessel at heart, trading goods between Trottingham and the Hippocampi villages. Which made her a perfect vessel for Shoal's liaison with the sea-ponies of north. It also was one of the few vessels still with a functioning dive-bell.

Shoal Whitecap slipped a watch from under his sash, checking the time. “They're late, why are they late!?” He said, turning to the vessel's wooden railing. He rested his talons on the rail and dug his nails into its polished surface. ”You daft grass eaters, don't make me a fool!”

The crew of the Golden Ursa paid the griffon official little mind, going about their business, all except the a golden earth stallion in a bicorn hat and adorned with a button coat with golden epaulets. The captain, from standing in the aft, beside the wheel, curiously watched Shoal between his observations of his crew and the dock. He too was growing impatient with the griffon's promises. “Sir Whitecap!” He called, “Can we expect your party before the tide goes out?”

“Yes, no need to worry, Captain Birch! The docks are crowded and these ships all look alike to the laypony!” Shoal called back in reassurance, hoping that would get the captain off his back for a little longer. “They'll be here, rest assured.”

On the docks, a chestnut earth-pony with a coat caked in salt and grime, with a turtle on its back for a cutie-mark waited impatiently beside a simple wooden sign pointing towards the Golden Ursa. He sat atop a a crate, spouting a horse call to any pony or creature passing close, “Ursa here. Ye' with the party? How about ye'? Ye? Any of ye...? Argh... Crusty is bad at this.” He pointed a hoof to another pony. "Ye, ye look like one wanting adventure, signed up for the trek to north!? This is the vessel for ye'!"

[Lucky Charm]

Lucky Charm stared blankly at the earth pony pointing straight at his face. An overpowering smell of old fish, salt and something else he wasn't sure he wanted to pin down assaulted his nose and kept him from replying for a couple of moments. "Uh," he said eventually, "I'm kind of signed up for an adventure as it is. For which I'm kind of late. You wouldn't happen to know where Shoal of the Whitecaps is, would you?"

The Pegasus was newly-arrived in Trottingham, and while he always enjoyed his visits to the port right now he was in too much of a hurry to wander like he usually did. After finding his way through Stone Valley, he had made a beeline for the quickest route to Trottingham, pausing only to get his stab wounds stitched and to drop off a tip with the guard at Royal Rocks about the arsonist from the library fire. With any luck they'd do what he couldn't.

Between the travel time and his own adventure he'd just managed to get to Trottingham on the right day. Unfortunately he wasn't much of an authority on ships. While he could pitch in as a deckhoof if need be, telling one from the next without some pretty obvious signs was challenging. Hence why he'd been wandering the docks for an hour trying to find a ship he didn't know the name of. If it got much worse he'd have to just fly over the ships and hope he spotted his employer in griffon.

[Julius Softpaw]

Julius, having already been in Trottingham few a couple of weeks, was quick to find the docks. He was even quicker to find the earth pony, presumably named Crusty, shouting for adventures. Not one to waste energy where he needn't, He silently slipped through the crowd, quickly reaching the earth pony and the Pegasus pony standing before him. He directed his attention to the earth pony.

"I, too, am looking for this 'Shoal Whitecap'. It would be most appreciated if you could lead us to him."

[Dusk Wing]

Dusk Wing was rushing towards the docks of Trottingham. He was panicking a bit, as he had never been later with meeting an employer. The whole time he was hoping that the ship didn't set off without him. He also wondered how he was going to tell which ship was the one he needed to be at.

Dusk had arrived in Trottingham the previous day from Manehattan. He left right after repaying his debt with the unicorn that saved his bacon. He thought that by arriving the day before he would have plenty of time to get to the docks. Obviously that wasn't the case.

He managed to make his way to the docks rather quickly. He saw the amount of ponies and griffons crowding the docks, and took to the air to find his employer faster. Looking around he managed to spot an anxious looking griffon standing near a ship.  Dusk hoped this was the griffon he was looking for flew in his direction.

Once the purple pegasus got close enough he landed and walked the rest of the way. Pushing through the crowd he managed to walk up behind the griffon. Who had just finished talking to the captain of the ship he was standing in front of.
 
"Please tell me you're Shoal Whitecap. I would hate to have missed out on the fun." Dusk says with a grin. His worry about being left behind being forgotten rather quickly.

[Kelp Cutter]

"No... no... no... nope..." Kelp Cutter trotted casually along the Trottingham docks, scanning the sides of ships for the name Golden Ursa. "No... not this one... also not that one..." The kelpie had a red bandanna keeping his mane up, as well as a saddlebag and scabbard resting on his back.

To some he may have looked like a fish out of water. Well, he was technically. But he had been out his natural domain for a long while. A hippocampus didn't make a name for himself exploring the ocean. He had to venture forth, find adventure across dry land. That was a way to become a legend.

Finally he spotted the words he was looking for. Golden Ursa. Bingo. Standing in front of the ship was a gaggle of confused-looking ponies and griffon standing in front of a grimy, sign-carrying earth pony. "Tourists."

"Snack shop's on th' other side-a town, kids," the Kelpie said as he passed the trio. He quickly made his way up the gangplank, spotting a small griffon digging his talons into the railing. "Hey, you're th' Whitecap guy, right? Bird in charge? Then I think you should know that the Kelp Cutter has arrived, ready to valiantly partake in this mission of exploration and investigation." Kelp made it a point to dramatically point his hoof at himself, emphasizing the importance of his arrival.

The adventuring hippocampus took a look around the deck of the ship, slowly putting his hoof back down. "Am I th' first one here? Was kinda hopin' we could leave before th' tide went out."

[Stygg Whitefeather]

Crusty wiped sweat from his brow with his hoof. Finally, the fodder- team arrived. Least two of them. He clapped his hooves together and dropped down from the crate. “Aye, ye' two at the right ship. Speak to the nervous little sparrow on the bow!” Crusty pointed a hoof to the Osprey griffon on the Golden Ursa's forecastle, who was just getting pestered by two others, a Pegasus and Kelpie.

“Whitecap? Yes, yes that's me!” Startled, the griffon turned to face the two already on the ship's deck. “I- well yes, great. Just you two... I was hoping for more...” The griffon's eyes shot to gaze over the railing and spying the other two on the dock below. “Tartarus, there they are!” The griffon waved a talon, “Let them on deck, Crusty.” Pointing to the green Pegasus and Peregrine griffon. “That's them.”
He wringed his talons together, “Perfect, absolutely perfect. Come, let's meet the others.” He motioned for them to follow him to the gangway to meet the others. “Hope you packed for the cold.”

Shoal waited at the top of the gangway for the other two to join, greeting them with a shake of their hoof and talon.”Excellent, excellent, welcome aboard. And great to see you again, Lucky. Feel right as rain now?” He paused momentary to let him reply, “I've secured some space down below for you all. The hoof-lockers even have some cold weather clothes for you all to take. If anything doesn't fit, let the crew know, I've brought extra – just in case.”

“Is that all of them, Ambassador Whitecap?” Asked Captain Birch, standing atop the steps to the poopdeck. “Are we clear to depart?”

“Yes, yes. Everyone has their bags? Yes? Excellent!” Shoal looked to the captain, “All ready!”

“Aye-aye,” Said the captain, “Loose the sails and catch the wind!” He called. The deck crew responding immediately – Crusty rusing the gangway as it was being drawn on board. Ponies scurried by, tugging on rigging, raising anchor and untying from the dock. They, the crew, went about their business pushing off the dock, while Shoal smiled a most unsettling smile at the four new-comers.

“Great, just great. Get situated and acquainted, all of you, you're going to be spending the next few days together after all.” Shoal insisted. “I plan to go over everything again at dinner. Have a few more papers for you all to sign – ah, let's not talk business. That can be sorted out later. Get situated, I'll be down below soon.”

[Lucky Charm]

Before the Earth Pony could answer a Griffon showed up right next to Lucky and asked pretty much the same question. The Pegasus guessed this was another crewmate, just as late as he was, but before he could speculate any further another Pegasus and a Kelpie had gone by, making a beeline for the nearest ship. The Kelpie also said something about a snack shop, but Lucky wasn't sure who he was talking to.

Just as he was about to write that off as another couple of tourists passing by, the Earth Pony pointed up at the same ship and told them Shoal could be found there. Squinting against the inopportune placement of the sun, Lucky saw he was right: That was definitely probably Shoal talking to the two newcomers. "Thanks-" He began to reply, but before he could continue Shoal seemed to spot them.

As they were being ushered onto the ship, Lucky grinned up at the Griffon and said "Stop me if you've heard this one, but a Griffon, two Pegasi and a Kelpie all show up for the same job at the same time, and we're all late. Destiny's got a sense of humor, y'know?"

The Pegasus smiled (more so than usual) at meeting Shoal again. "Good to see you too," he answered cheerfully. "Don't wory, it'll take more than a bottle of liquid sugar to keep me down. That doctor's medicine almost did it, though." He opted not to mention the stitched stab wounds in his sides - his saddlebags or his wings usually covered them anyway, and they really weren't so bad.

Once Shoal was done explaining Lucky nodded his agreement. "I'd better get some of this stuff below decks," he answered, gesturing at his saddlebags. "See you then, yeah?" Flashing a final smile, he trotted off toward the nearest entrance, pausing a bit for the others to follow. Once they caught up he spoke amiably to the nearest of them. "So this is how our story starts," he said. "You looking forward to it as much as I am?"

[Julius Softpaw]

Julius nodded to the chestnut earth pony and looked down at the Pegasus who had spoken to him.
"She sure does, and I look forward to making the best of it."
With that, he turned to speak with Shoal with a shallow bow.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ser Whitecap. I am Julius Softpaw. And, seeing as how I carry all the equipment I need on me," he said, gesturing to the various items around his person, including the 15 feet of rope coiled across his torso, "I would like to speak of business before pleasure. As you may or may not already know, I am a mercenary, and as such I require payment for a job such as this. However, seeing as how this is for a government official, I would be willing to accept a suitable form of compensation. If this temple does turn out to be hostile, I would like to be able to claim what I find, as long as it bares no major importance to you."

[Dusk Wing]

When the griffon in the group started to talk to Shoal about business, Dusk decided it would be a good time to see where they would be sleeping. So he made his way below deck while doing his best to stay out of the way of the crew. Once below deck, it didn't take him too long to find where they would be sleeping. It helped that the other pegasus was also looking.

"I believe I am." Dusk relied to said pegasus's question, offering to shake hooves. "Name's Dusk Wing by the way. I haven't had a job in months, and certainly none like this."

Dusk chose a bed and set his saddle bags on it. Soon after the other members of the group came below deck as well. Trying to be friendly, Dusk does his best to break the ice. "If we're going to be working together, we should probably get to know a little about each other. How about you start us off Green?"

[Kelp Cutter]

Kelp looked over the railing as the pegasus and griffon made their way up the gangplank. Oh. So they weren't tourists. They were going to be his auxiliaries. Huh.

In any case, Shoal was greeting them all aboard, as well as giving them the short of the lowdown. Soon after, the ship had begun departing, leaving the four of them to "get" "acquainted". "Anyone else think our employer's a bit on th' creepy side?" he asked as they descended below the deck. "Wasn't th' only one who saw th' way he was smilin' at us, right?"

Following the others into the sleeping quarters, the hippocampus tossed his saddlebag onto one of the hammocks to mark it as his own. "Yeah, and by Green I think he means th' one of us with feathers. You start," Kelp said to the green pegasus. "Sounded like you and th' osprey knew each-other."

[Lucky Charm]

Lucky drew his wing across his forehead dramatically. "My manners," he said, "they have deserted me." Then he broke into a grin. He couldn't keep a straight face for long doing drama. "I'll forget my own head next. I'm Lucky Charm, and Lucky to be here." Name puns were a weakness of his. "I'm a traveller, explorer, storyteller and professional jack-of-trades.

"As for Shoal," he continued, "I met him in Royal Rocks a few days ago. Don't worry, he's on the level. Helped me get to the hospital when I sugar crashed and faceplanted in the street. That's actually how I got the job: He said anypony who'll drink a random tonic they have no idea the contents of, taking it on faith that it won't kill them, just for the sake of curiosity- well, that's a brave pony, and he needed bravery for this job."

Lucky rubbed the back of his head, grinning awkwardly. "Personally I'm thinking it was more stupid than brave, but I had fun, and the headache went away eventually. At first I thought that was a one-shot, but it looks like it was only the first chapter in a new story for me."

He seemed about to say more, but apparently changed his mind. "Sorry, I ramble when I'm excited." He pointed to the other Pegasus, Dusk Wing. "Your turn. Tell us something about you."

[Dusk Wing]

A smirk emerged on Dusk's face when Lucky asked him to introduce himself. He adjusted his fedora before beginning to speak. "I myself, am named Dusk Wing. I was born in Canterlot, eventually I left and moved to Manehattan. I lived there for three years. Due to some... unforeseen complications, I had to leave in a bit of a hurry.

"As for what I do, I am a thief and genius. Picking locks, sneaking past security, planning, and getting out of bad situations are what I'm best at. In fact, not too long ago, I managed to trick a large group of thugs into drawing the attention of Rainlock's pets. Needless to say, it didn't end well for the thugs."

"But enough about me. What about you?" He asks the kelpie. "We told our stories. Now it's your turn to do the same."

[Kelp Cutter]

Kelp raised a skeptical eyebrow at the purple pegasus. "A thief, huh? Don't know about you, but admittin' you're a thief doesn't sound very 'genius' to me. Soon as somethin' goes missin' on th' boat, we know who to throw overboard."

"Regardless," the kelpie spoke, stepping out into the middle of the room and turning to face the two, "I am Kelp Cutter, famed adventurer of th' hippocampi city of Lyonesse. You've likely heard of me. And if not, you have now. I've traveled from th' forests of th' Griffon Kingdom to th' metropolises of Equestria, venturin' with merchants, mercenaries, inventors, and alchemists. I've scoured th' world for treasures of kingdoms past and fought many a fierce foe. Consider yourself honored to be accompanyin' an individual of such renown."

[Stygg Whitefeather]

Shoal had been too busy watching the others leave, failing at first to notice the griffon was still beside him – he appeared lost in thought for a moment, perhaps merely absent minded, but he stared blankly either way. He was a curious griffon, certainly. Perhaps why he was the ambassador to the Hippocampi, it was the furthest place from the Kingdom that no one else wanted to go to.

“Huh? Oh – yes, yes, what were you talking about?” Shoal curiously asked the other griffon, pausing for a moment to process his request. “Oh, right, all that mercenary business and what-not. Fear not, my fellow brethren, this may not be a officially sanctioned endeavor, but everyone will be compensated fully. And this is suppose to just be an investigation – we don't know who or what has built that temple and I rather we not provoke them if it can be avoid... that being said, if they do turn out to be hostile, pillage away! Speaking of.” Shoal wrapped his talon around the other griffon's neck and leaned in close so that others may not hear. “You appear to be a trustworthy bird with a thirst to protect the homeland, specially if some extra bits are involved, perhaps? Yes? Maybe a little something special on the side? If so, I want you to speak with me in right private before you and others depart to the temple. I have a very special task for a fellow bird – one that I can only trust to another griffon. That sound good?” He patted him on the back, just above his wings. “Best stow your gear below before a rogue wave catches us and tosses everything overboard! I'll be down to check in on you all in a few.”

Shoal left Softpaw behind as he scurried up the stairs to the stern deck where Captain Birch and Crusty were, “How fair the seas, Captain? Not expecting any problems, nothing that might delay us?”

The Captain, with his forehooves at the helm, gently turned to port as the Golden Ursa slipped past other vessels entering and exiting the harbor. “Aye, Ambassador, should be smooth sailing. Though the marine forecast has report a mighty terrible nip in the air in the north. Colder then usual for this time of year, they say. Suspect we may have to be on the watch for ice, and that team of yours is in for a bit of frostbite.”

“They'll be fine, I'm sure. It's a quick assignment, they'll be there and back before the sun sets. That is, assuming this temple rumor turns out to be nothing more than some Kelpies letting their imagination get the better of them.”

“If you say so, Ambassador. So long as you are paying the right price, we'll go to the ends of the world. Don't really care for the details, specially those on land.”

Shoal laughed as he begun down the stairs to the upperdeck, “Ah, that is why I like you Captain. Don't care to ask too many questions. I'll let my team know we're to arrive on time.” Shoal maid his way to the berth deck, just below the weather deck, to check on his team. As he made his way to them, he caught the last gist of their conversations which elicited a certain, smug smile upon his beak. Good to know they were confident. “A'hoy!” He called, “Everypony, kelpie, and griffon getting acquainted, I hope. Just spoke with the Captain and it's fair seas ahead, but should any of you find yourself a little green and needing something, theirs ginger and other herbs aboard to help with the seasickness – aside from that, relax, it'll be a solid day before we arrive at Bay Lachance, so get comfortable. And once we arrive, I'll go over the plan for this excursion. Know some of you haven't been as briefed as others,” Looking to Lucky, “I don't want any confusion, this may prove to be a delicate matter, diplomatically, and the last thing any of us need is the Royal Council slamming down the hammer on us.”

”Now when I was a little colt, and so my mother told me, that if I did not kiss the fillies, my lips would grow all moldy... Way, haul away, we'll haul-”

Shoal perked his head up and cocked an ear towards the singing. “Oh, shanties. We're sailing now! I'll see you all around deck – it is amazing watching these ponies work. Impressive what you all can do without a hallux,” Gesturing with his talon to the the two ponies and Kelpie in assembly, flexing the digits. “Fascinating.”

[Lucky Charm]

Lucky found himself grinning at Kelp Cutter's charmingly egotistical introduction. "Afraid I haven't heard your stories yet," he admitted, which did interest him as he'd spent most of the last eight years collecting stories on his travels. "You'll have to tell me a few on the trip. I look forward to spreading your legend." When Kelp wasn't looking he cast a sideways glance at Dusk, trying to convey with his expression 'Let's just play along.' Who knew? Maybe Kelp Cutter really was some kind of great adventurer he'd somehow never heard of. But probably not.

Kelp Cutter's response was cut short around then by the arrival of the two griffons, Shoal and... he hadn't actually gotten the other one's name. One more introduction to be made, it seemed. He listened through the explanation, waving cheerfully when Shoal looked directly at him, until he was done, then spoke up on the matter of digits and the lack thereof. "Something I've noticed on my travels," he said thoughtfully, "is that when folks of any race don't have something, they usually find a way to do without by using what they do have, and they get good at that. By the end of it they can do stuff others can barely imagine because they have whatever-it-was to fall back on. Amazing how skills like that develop."

Then Lucky looked at the other Griffon, the one who had arrived at the same time he had. "We were just introducing ourselves," he said. "My name's Lucky Charm, I'm a travelling storyteller. Kelp Cutter here is a famous adventurer, and that's Dusk Wing, who has a nice hat." He pointed to each of his companions as he introduced them, then turned to the Griffon he was addressing. "How about you? What's your story?"