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 Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 5:25 pm
Myrtle's brow knitted in confusion, this was a new concept to her. "How would one do that?" She could tell by the look on his face that he was bored and unwilling to offer much help, she felt sorry for bothering him but she would rather that than smudge any chance she got to cross.
{{lol I'm sure if they could they'd steal the idea. mrgreen }}
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 2:59 pm
 Now, let's see, how did one go about doing that? Charon had to think for a minute, so he pretended he was examining part of his boat. Things were so much easier back when he was allowed to deny passage.[[Let's see, how to go about making up a rule for Greek Mythology... AAAA! Um... um... um... {thinking hard} ... BRAIN SPURT! biggrin ]] Finally he remembered, and he straightened up. "Sometimes coins are thrown into the waters of the world by family members who never found the bodies of their loved ones. If you don't think you'll get a coin with your body in future, and if you're willing, you can risk the waters of the underworld and go fishing for these coins."He stopped a yawn of boredom then continued. "It's not exactly pleasant. It's pretty risky to fish in the waters of the dead, particularly if you're a restless soul. But you might find a coin or two after a while. And," he added reluctantly, "I would take you in my boat."Like he had nothing better to do with his time.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 7:43 pm
Myrtle let out a small gasp and gave him a quick hug before she could stop herself. Once she realized how rude this was, she stepped back, apologized and thanked him. She didn't particularly like the idea of accepting her death but the only other option was to wait on the shore in hopes of someone respectful finding her body. Slim to none. She decided. "I'd like to go searching for the fare."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:28 pm
Charon stiffened, stretching to his full height, his back as straight as a board and his arms tucked tight to his sides. There was an expression of extreme distaste on his face, and after a moment he shuddered. "Bllllllerrreabbbbbb! That feels weird."Still repulsed by the hugging situation and cringing at the feeling it left behind - combine being hugged, which to Charon was bad enough, with being hugged by an unburied soul - he picked up his oar and stepped in the boat. "Well, come on then. We've got all eternity, but I don't think you'd like that. And besides, there're other souls that need ferrying."He firmly guided Myrtle into the boat, giving her no other option for fear that she'd start to loose heart and dwadle on the shore crying with uncertainty. He'd seen souls do it before. Putting her in a seat on the boat, he started to steer out to water."We'll hit Acheron first," he said."It's nearest."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:23 pm
[[lol love the reaction]]
"Alright, Mr. Grumpy." She chuckled, trying to remain opptomistic as she looked out at the water. "How often do you do this?" She wondered curiously, returning her attention to him. "And how did you come about being the ferryman?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 4:52 pm
[[ biggrin I like the reaction too. First thing that came to mind. By the way, I just looked up "punting," which is what Charon really does. And they don't actually have a special name for their poles, which is what I thought they did and which is why I had stuck to the word "oar." So from now I'm just using "pole" for the thing he steers his boat with. Sorry for any confusion.]] Charon rested his forehead briefly against his pole and sighed. "Look, lady, I don't know if you realize this, but you're dead. You don't have to keep up with the social rules or whatever. Silence is perfectly okay. In fact, it's encouraged."He resumed punting as he continued. "But since you asked, I don't actually have to forage very often. People who don't put coins on the tongues of the dead know that won't look well for them when they have to go up to be judged in the afterlife. It's only rare cases like yourself that don't have coins. As for being a ferryman, I've done this so long I don't care to remember how it started. It's the purpose of my existence; I didn't have to go trying out other occupations to know this was mine."He moved his pole to the other side of the boat to steer them in the right direction. "Watch the shore to your right. The first river you see flowing into this water will be the Acheron. Let me know if you see it before I do - and if you see anything else."
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:04 pm
[[haha no confusion at all ^_^ Like a gondola?]]
Myrtle frowned a bit, for whatever reason slightly hurt by his lack of willing to speak with her. "It's Myrtle. And perhaps I like speaking because it doesn't give me time to think about what happened." With that, she turned quite and focused her attention to the shore on her right. She had never had the chance to love, or be loved. She had never had the freedom of running along a river side or through the woods. She had never had the ability to speak her mind while shackled away in her prison. What it all boiled down to was she had never had the chance to live as a free spirit should. Stubbornly, she bit her lip and turned her head so he could not see the fresh tears in her eyes. Maybe your occupation wouldn't be so miserable if you weren't so grumpy.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 2:16 pm
[[Sorry. Charon's a static character.]] Charon kept punting, avoiding swirls of water that looked dangerous and sailing the smoothest waters he could. Finally he paused and pointed ahead. "There. See? The mouth over there."About twenty-five yards ahead the mouth of the Acheron could be spotted. Charon started punting in that direction, moving his pole from side to side of the boat to keep on course. "Move to the front - carefully, mind - and look for a net. You'll be using it to drag the current for coins."
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 5:48 pm
[[lol it's all good ^_^]]
Myrtle nodded quietly and stood, carefully making her way to the front and searching for the net. When she found it, she picked it up and inched towards the edge of the boat, looking down at the water. "What should happen if I were to fall in?" She asked him, glancing over her shoulder.
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 10:54 am
"Oh, the water won't hurt you,"Charon said as they entered the river. Punting became a bit harder now because he was pushing against the current, but he only had to go a little ways. His speech was punctuated by odd grunts of effort as he explained. "It's not the water you have to look out for. It's what might be in the water. Restless souls that never found coins, you know. I can't be your personal boatman for eternity, you realize. I'll have to go back to ferry the dead. And if souls that I leave behind don't ever find a coin, they sometimes get a bit aggressive."After a moment he decided they had gone far enough up the river, and he beached the boat, with the stern dug into the sand so the boat wouldn't move and the prow floating in the shallows."Right. Just stay in the front of the boat and drag the current for coins. Think you can make it work? I've never gone fishing, myself."
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 3:09 pm
"Oh, I see." She dipped the net into the water moving it around slowly to hunt for coins. "Fishing isn't difficult. Fish can swim so they're on multiple levels of the water. I imagine the coins will sink to the bottom." She continued fishing silently for a while before glancing back at him. "Are you always indifferent to the souls you help?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 3:40 pm
"If you want to call it that," Charon yawned. "Personally, I don't think about it much. My job is to ferry people. I don't judge them. I don't reward or punish them. I just get them across. If they can pay me."When he thought about it, it was a pretty simple life, and he was glad for it. Eternity was less complicated when you didn't make friends you'd never see again or enemies you'd spend loads of time brooding about. Treat each soul like what they were - a temporary customer - and learn to be happy with just yourself, and eternity wasn't too bad.
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 5:10 pm
"But don't you get lonely?" She asked, turning her attention away from the net to face him. She couldn't imagine spending an internity alone with no one to talk with or no friends. It was bad enough when she was seperated from her family for a short amount of time, let alone for forever.
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Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 3:36 pm
"Nah," Charon said, waving a lazy hand dismissively. "Loneliness is for sociable creatures, who have a curiosity and a need to learn more. I'm content with what I know. And what I know is ferrying. Think about it. If the gods had created a ferryman for the dead with curiosity, companionship, and a desire to know others, he wouldn't have a very happy eternity down here, would he? The gods knew what they were doing when they made me."He squinted up the river. "Better keep your eye on your net. Something's caught in the current up there."His eyes were following a swirl in the river that seemed unnatural. There was just a thin trail on the surface there...
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:59 pm
Her lips formed a small 'o' as she returned her attention to the net, hoisting it up to see what she had caught. "Still. . . It seems like an unpleasant occupation. You have no yearn to know anyone?" The idea was incomprehensible to her and made her pitty him, which was clear from her expression.
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