Inado Island

The ocean is deathly still this evening, the steady Pacific Ocean currents gently rocking your boat to-and-fro. You lounge atop the stern of your boat, looking through binoculars at your target.

Like a tiny spec on the ocean horizon, illuminated by the orange light of the evening sun, rests Inado Island - a cordoned isle shrouded in unsolved mystery. Today, you plan on solving that mystery. Slipping past the cordon was easily enough, as the authorities have relied mainly on the urban legends surrounding the place to scare off any would-be explorers. Despite it all, that hasn't stopped you. Whether for scientific curiosity, the latest hit news report, or a genuine desire to unravel the mystery of the long-abandoned Inado Island, you are just moments from arriving on shore.

You review the notes from your readings on the place:

- 1914: Inado Island discovered
- 1934: Inado Trench Discovered - depth unknown to this day
- 1936: Inado expedition begins - research base established
- 1936: Research officially begins on Inado Trench
- 1937-1939: Research progresses, island grows into small colony - strange purple lights noted glimmering from within the trench - too deep for diving tech to safely reach
- 1940: All communication goes silent. Authorities investigate. 5 officers sent.
- 1941: Only 1 officer returns, completely mad - admitted to asylum. Commits suicide in 1942.
- 1941-Present: Local gov't cordons off Inado Island. Sailors report 'gurgling' and 'strong fish stench' from Inado at night.

Your boat drifts ever-closer to the island - now within naked eyesight. You steel yourself, believing yourself ready for whatever you may find on this strange island. What happened to those researchers that day in 1940? You hope to leave this island with that truth, but only time will tell. For now, the shores of Inado approach.

Your boat lands softly upon the small, white sandy beach of the island - once a thriving colony, now a complete ghost town. Just a few feet off the beach begins what were once the inhabited colony buildings, lining a cobblestone street that's now washed out and ridden with crumbling debris. On the island's lowest points, buildings are half-flooded out from the rising tides. At it's highest point lies the research station, on the small upward slope just beyond the rows of old Imperial buildings. Perhaps that would be a good place to start your investigation.

You double-check your watch. Just about 6PM - the sun will be going down soon, so best to make use of the light while you can.

The trip was planned out perfectly - of course that's what you all thought when you first set out for Inado Island. What you'd find there would be enough to throw off even the best laid plans. Passing the cordon was the easy part. You and your crew arrived on a locally-rented boat, obviously lying to the rental company about the group's 'fishing trip' with it. Everybody read all the tall tales about this place, and took some precautions... just in case there is some credibility to those sailors' claims of 'gurgling'.

You've just touched down on the shores of Inado while the crew tethers the boat tightly. Whether for science, exploration, or the curiosity to unravel this urban legend, you're here now with your crew. Looking inward, you can see the once inhabited colony buildings, lining a waterlogged cobblestone street that's ridden with crumbling debris. On the island's lowest points, buildings are half-flooded out from the rising tides. At it's highest point lies the research station, on the small upward slope just beyond the rows of old Imperial buildings.

The group assembles, ready to decide what their first course of action is. You check your watch - 3PM, roughly. You've got a few hours of daylight to kill. After that is when the 'fun' should start - according to those sailors' tales, of course.

The grey waves wash upon the shores on this overcast evening, rocking your shipwrecked boat to-and-fro as you sit with your back against a rock. Your stomach rumbles as the desperate realization sets in that you may have to hunker down here for a while. The very tropical storm that beached you and your boat on this accursed island is blocking any access to the nearby waters, so all you can do is wait for it to pass. You've been making due with the little food that you managed to save from your ship, and you doubt there's much more to be found inland on this abandoned island.

The storm formed so suddenly - clear, blue skies one moment, then an unescapable torrent and violent, crashing waves the next. And of all the places to shipwreck, it had to be Inado Island. You were passing by the cordon (less a barrier and more a loose, rickety line of buoys) when the storm hit and sent you far off course.

You'd heard sailors' tales about this place, and confirmed it all - the gurgling at night, the smell of decaying fish wafting through the air. It's all true. You haven't dared travel further inland off the beach, amidst the crumbling ruins of this once thriving colony. However, you're starting to get desperate. As you're lost in thought, weighing your next move - you swear that you can spot something waddling onto the beach opposite where you're seated. It's a humanoid silhoutte standing atop a rocky outcrop on the beach, but... something is off about it. You see what look like fins jutting out from its back, its form hunched and gangly - and you can swear it's looking straight at you.

Bright, orange eyes lock with yours from across the beach - two small specks from where you're seated, but it's clear this thing can see you. And then you hear the gurgling. As the overcast sky starts to turn even darker with night setting in, more figures emerge behind the first one - fish eyes glowing with equal intensity. The silhouette you first saw moves. It extends something... its arm? The silhouette is holding out its arm to you - beckoning you inward, towards where that gurgling emanates. The others simply watch and wait. You can't quite tell if its malice, or something else. A greeting, maybe? There's a curiosity behind those monstrous-looking eyes that seems surprisingly human.

You feel something cool and wet against your back as your vision slowly returns to you. Your eyes dart open, vision blurry and narrow for the moment. You feel groggy as hell, but - alive. You're naked, and in some kind of slime-coated cove that smells of saltwater and fish. The cool slime coating the wet rocky surface below you acts as a squishy mattress, cold and soft against your bare back and ass. You try to move your arms as you sit up, but you feel a resistance against your wrists - they've been bound tightly with silken rope, tied off to rusted old shackles bored into the stone walls of this cove.

With limited movement, you take a second to get your bearings. You recall... a boating accident around the Inado Trench. Your boat capsized as a particularly harsh wave struck suddenly, sending you overboard before you could even reach your life vest. Your vision went black, and the next thing you knew... you were here. Inside this strange, fishy-smelling cave. Realizing there is sunlight illuminating the cave, you spot a hole in the ceiling - at least you know you're not too deep underground. A pool of murky water rests nearby, and you're unable to see beneath the surface.

As if sensing your awakened presence - a gurgling sound echoes from that pool. The surface bubbles for a moment, before revealing a sight that makes you do a double-take. A humanoid creature with dim yellow eyes and slick, slimy blue scales for skin emerges from the water. It wears an old, stained white fundoshi, and some kind of old tattered robe. In place of hair or ears, the creature has fins, and its hands and feet are webbed with shimmering blue scales. The sight sends a shiver down your spine as your mind makes you question if you're actually dead, or just going insane.

The blue fish creature climbs atop your bound form, smelling strongly of... well, saltwater fish. It straddles your thighs, staring into your eyes with intensity. It's lipless mouth parts as if trying to speak to you... but only a wet, faint gurgle comes out. You feel its cold, clammy hand on your bare stomach - wet and slimy like fish scales. It's hard to tell what this thing wants to do with you, but your bound wrists suggest it may not be anything good. Those shackles are quite rusted, though. Maybe all it would take is one good tug...