Marco DeVanderlay's Journal
February 16, 2010
Mmmm, can you smell that? I sure can! A scent so sweet and alluring that you can't help but want to dive right in and soak it all up. And the feeling, oh, the feeling! Cold against your skin like an icy drink on a hot summer's day. Too bad it's all at the bottom of this infernal, dark, and endless ocean.
I'm here for one thing and one thing only: treasure.
I've been around the world too many times to count, and I've had adventures that not even George Lucas could dream of. Yet here I am, stuck on an island smaller than my closet relying on a small company that offers tours and diving lessons in order to locate my next big find.
I suppose it's not all bad, though. Everyone around here seems to be preoccupied with some Dragon Song thing, I'm not entirely sure what that's all about, but they seem to think it's pretty significant. Lucky for me, it has them so busy and distracted that it will let me come and go as I please, meeting up with other drifters looking to explore these waters.
Today, I met an ocean cartographer named Klaus. From what he's told me, he makes his living mapping the ocean floor and searching for new wrecks and other uncommon phenomenon. He's a quirky German fellow with an extremely heavy accent. Don't ask me how to pronounce his last name, because I'm not even sure he knows how. This guy is a weird one... he's always got his camera out taking pictures of everything, but I think he's covering up for something much more interesting, because he's not very good at it.
I asked Klaus to take a photo of me, and the print he gave me only solidifies my beliefs: there's something more to this guy than he's leading on.
When I asked him about the photo he took, he rambled on about selective focus and leading lines, depth of field and what I'm sure was thirty other photography related catchphrases in order to fill in whatever back story he needs to keep up.
But, for being such a weird fellow, Klaus certainly knows his way around these waters. He took me out into the Aegean Sea in search of a structure the locals call the Valka Castle, which is allegedly an ancient sunken castle that has yet to be discovered... it sounds mighty familiar, if you ask me, Mr. Journal.
Even though the water got too rough for us to continue on towards the supposed location of the castle, and our radios kept cutting out while underwater, we found a string of shipwrecks that had a lot of treasure. And I do mean a lot.
Unfortunately for me, I came a little under-prepared. I really didn't know what to expect on my first dive in this area, but much to my surprise, scan after scan found giant crates, boxes and chests that remained full of mystery as my loot bag was too small to carry any of the items up to the surface for inspection and appraisal.
There is a bright side to all of this, though. Klaus was so busy taking photos of everything under the sea he didn't have any time to catch what I was up to. I was able to rebury all the treasure I couldn't carry; when I get my hands on a bigger bag, I will return to collect my finds.
This place seems pretty interesting so far. There is a very high amount of ship wrecks in these waters. It's a wonder anything ever got in or out of this place in the days before technology.
Anyway, Mr. Journal, it's time for me to go find a bigger bag, so why don't you keep yourself busy and let me know if you get any more leads on where some treasure might be?
Klaus Daimler's Journal
February 16, 2010
Seventeen years. Seventeen long years I spent on that wretched vessel. But now I am finally free of the Koordinierungsverbund Küstenwache and its ageing fleet! My friends, this is where Klaus Daimler begins anew.
Yes, that would be me and my toque—quite possibly the only sentimental token I wish to retain of my years spent with the German coastguard. Having grown quite tired with the routine patrols and lack of adventure, I took a diving job with a private company known simply as the Rügen Research Group. They told me that I would be sent to a place called Nineball Island, where my task would be to map out underwater points of interest, such as ancient ruins, shipwrecks and any uncharted natural formations.
Upon arriving at the Island, the Rügen Research Group contacted me and requested that I make the most of my skills in order to "offset some of the costs." I learned what that meant when I received my first paycheck. I quickly set out to find a couple of customers. The first was L&L Diving, who seemed very happy to invest in my cartography skills. The second was a character by the name of Marco DeVanderlay, who I had met earlier on the beach.
Marco said he had interest in old coins and other artifacts. Instantly, I knew he would be the perfect diver to bring along on my little excursions. It made perfect sense! Someone looking for shipwrecks paired with someone looking for things inside shipwrecks. He also had just enough money to make the trip worth it.
We set out from the North Canyon of the Ciceros Straight in the Aegean Sea. I had come across some information that there might be a few uncharted shipwrecks in the area, so I figured it was a good place to start. There was also some local talk of the lost Valka Castle, which made it an even more enticing location. Shortly after setting out, we made our way through a narrow tunnel and came across a small rock outcropping. Coming over that outcropping, I was stunned at the sight before my eyes.
I later learned that this was the wreck of the Pride of the Athens. I was unfamiliar with that particular ship, but from its appearances, it was certainly quite old. I snapped up a few good shots and marked the location for possible further investigation. Meanwhile, Marco was going crazy scouring the entire ship. It was like every little glimmer was a beacon to him. I'm also pretty sure he spent more time looking around with that scanning device than he did breathing.
Not that I'm opposed to in-depth exploration, but I did have a job to do there. Thankfully, it seemed as if Marco became disinterested with a lot of the treasure once he realized that he couldn't carry most of it. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of him running off with trinkets from these historical sites, but that's the cost of taking people along for the ride. And besides, I'm only here to mark the locations, study them a little and report back to HQ with my findings. Moving on from that wreck, we came across another which I recognized as the Flamingo. I managed to snap a shot of her mangled bow:
We made our way westward, trying to see what else we could uncover before our oxygen ran out. I was hoping we would find more as we got closer to land, but I wasn't expecting what was to come. Below is a picture of what appears to be the remains of some ancient Mediterranean architecture. You can also see Marco in his natural habitat, probing the depths with his glorified underwater metal detector.
These little ruins are indicative of something much greater, I'm sure. If I'm lucky, they might point to the lost Valka Castle. Unfortunately, our oxygen did eventually run out and some rough waters prevented us from chancing any deeper diving. Another day, I suppose. So, despite Marco being distracted by every little shiny thing in the area, we actually managed to uncover a decent number of sites. I can't wait to see what else there is to find.
February 16, 2010
Mmmm, can you smell that? I sure can! A scent so sweet and alluring that you can't help but want to dive right in and soak it all up. And the feeling, oh, the feeling! Cold against your skin like an icy drink on a hot summer's day. Too bad it's all at the bottom of this infernal, dark, and endless ocean.
I'm here for one thing and one thing only: treasure.
I've been around the world too many times to count, and I've had adventures that not even George Lucas could dream of. Yet here I am, stuck on an island smaller than my closet relying on a small company that offers tours and diving lessons in order to locate my next big find.
I suppose it's not all bad, though. Everyone around here seems to be preoccupied with some Dragon Song thing, I'm not entirely sure what that's all about, but they seem to think it's pretty significant. Lucky for me, it has them so busy and distracted that it will let me come and go as I please, meeting up with other drifters looking to explore these waters.
Today, I met an ocean cartographer named Klaus. From what he's told me, he makes his living mapping the ocean floor and searching for new wrecks and other uncommon phenomenon. He's a quirky German fellow with an extremely heavy accent. Don't ask me how to pronounce his last name, because I'm not even sure he knows how. This guy is a weird one... he's always got his camera out taking pictures of everything, but I think he's covering up for something much more interesting, because he's not very good at it.
I asked Klaus to take a photo of me, and the print he gave me only solidifies my beliefs: there's something more to this guy than he's leading on.
When I asked him about the photo he took, he rambled on about selective focus and leading lines, depth of field and what I'm sure was thirty other photography related catchphrases in order to fill in whatever back story he needs to keep up.
But, for being such a weird fellow, Klaus certainly knows his way around these waters. He took me out into the Aegean Sea in search of a structure the locals call the Valka Castle, which is allegedly an ancient sunken castle that has yet to be discovered... it sounds mighty familiar, if you ask me, Mr. Journal.
Even though the water got too rough for us to continue on towards the supposed location of the castle, and our radios kept cutting out while underwater, we found a string of shipwrecks that had a lot of treasure. And I do mean a lot.
Unfortunately for me, I came a little under-prepared. I really didn't know what to expect on my first dive in this area, but much to my surprise, scan after scan found giant crates, boxes and chests that remained full of mystery as my loot bag was too small to carry any of the items up to the surface for inspection and appraisal.
There is a bright side to all of this, though. Klaus was so busy taking photos of everything under the sea he didn't have any time to catch what I was up to. I was able to rebury all the treasure I couldn't carry; when I get my hands on a bigger bag, I will return to collect my finds.
This place seems pretty interesting so far. There is a very high amount of ship wrecks in these waters. It's a wonder anything ever got in or out of this place in the days before technology.
Anyway, Mr. Journal, it's time for me to go find a bigger bag, so why don't you keep yourself busy and let me know if you get any more leads on where some treasure might be?
Klaus Daimler's Journal
February 16, 2010
Seventeen years. Seventeen long years I spent on that wretched vessel. But now I am finally free of the Koordinierungsverbund Küstenwache and its ageing fleet! My friends, this is where Klaus Daimler begins anew.
Yes, that would be me and my toque—quite possibly the only sentimental token I wish to retain of my years spent with the German coastguard. Having grown quite tired with the routine patrols and lack of adventure, I took a diving job with a private company known simply as the Rügen Research Group. They told me that I would be sent to a place called Nineball Island, where my task would be to map out underwater points of interest, such as ancient ruins, shipwrecks and any uncharted natural formations.
Upon arriving at the Island, the Rügen Research Group contacted me and requested that I make the most of my skills in order to "offset some of the costs." I learned what that meant when I received my first paycheck. I quickly set out to find a couple of customers. The first was L&L Diving, who seemed very happy to invest in my cartography skills. The second was a character by the name of Marco DeVanderlay, who I had met earlier on the beach.
Marco said he had interest in old coins and other artifacts. Instantly, I knew he would be the perfect diver to bring along on my little excursions. It made perfect sense! Someone looking for shipwrecks paired with someone looking for things inside shipwrecks. He also had just enough money to make the trip worth it.
We set out from the North Canyon of the Ciceros Straight in the Aegean Sea. I had come across some information that there might be a few uncharted shipwrecks in the area, so I figured it was a good place to start. There was also some local talk of the lost Valka Castle, which made it an even more enticing location. Shortly after setting out, we made our way through a narrow tunnel and came across a small rock outcropping. Coming over that outcropping, I was stunned at the sight before my eyes.
I later learned that this was the wreck of the Pride of the Athens. I was unfamiliar with that particular ship, but from its appearances, it was certainly quite old. I snapped up a few good shots and marked the location for possible further investigation. Meanwhile, Marco was going crazy scouring the entire ship. It was like every little glimmer was a beacon to him. I'm also pretty sure he spent more time looking around with that scanning device than he did breathing.
Not that I'm opposed to in-depth exploration, but I did have a job to do there. Thankfully, it seemed as if Marco became disinterested with a lot of the treasure once he realized that he couldn't carry most of it. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of him running off with trinkets from these historical sites, but that's the cost of taking people along for the ride. And besides, I'm only here to mark the locations, study them a little and report back to HQ with my findings. Moving on from that wreck, we came across another which I recognized as the Flamingo. I managed to snap a shot of her mangled bow:
We made our way westward, trying to see what else we could uncover before our oxygen ran out. I was hoping we would find more as we got closer to land, but I wasn't expecting what was to come. Below is a picture of what appears to be the remains of some ancient Mediterranean architecture. You can also see Marco in his natural habitat, probing the depths with his glorified underwater metal detector.
These little ruins are indicative of something much greater, I'm sure. If I'm lucky, they might point to the lost Valka Castle. Unfortunately, our oxygen did eventually run out and some rough waters prevented us from chancing any deeper diving. Another day, I suppose. So, despite Marco being distracted by every little shiny thing in the area, we actually managed to uncover a decent number of sites. I can't wait to see what else there is to find.