Over the next several days of investigation Yuu inquires after a number of courier options to transport a sample to Daedalum. The prices vary considerably dependent on the speed, discretion and safeguards of the transit, but at least there are options. The more difficult obstacle becomes finding the right place to analyze it, and finding a person to trust. Unfortunately Yuu makes little progress in the few days; using his contacts at the Academy he receives the names of several professors or scholars of scientific pursuits, but contacting them would only get his foot in the door. He simply doesn't have the network of contacts there that he feels is necessary to access the facilities or personnel needed, especially as a foreigner. There may be alternative routes though, which he begins to ponder while waiting for Vanyra's and Zelpuz's investigations to conclude.

The Mespah and Freyan split up with Vanyra inquiring to the local Freelancer chapter about the Cor-Suun Trading company, and Zelpuz hitting the streets of the more prestigious wine vendors to inquire after a few rare bottles form Lu'Zan. At the Freelancers Vanyra ascertains that the Cor-Suun have been around for at least 60 cycles, at least that's the earliest contract they have with the Freelancers for some protection on overland cargo trains. Over the years the activities fluxed and waned, eventually shifting away from local operations to safeguarding high value shipments from foreign ports or providing protection for trade missions and negotiators. Their account is in good standing and they pay respectable amounts, nothing special, but they do pay for quality. There is no record of a contract operating against them, even from rival companies, which either attest to their strength or their relative anonymity. With some time to spare she decides to head down to the docks and take a gander at the various vessels in port and their cargoes; you never know when one could get lucky.

Zelpuz meanders through the harbor and neighboring merchant and residential districts, especially around the noble quarter, visiting a number of wine merchants. The first 3 disappointingly provide no new information, but the four does recognize the winery in question and confirms it as a quite difficult to obtain. The merchant says they only get such bottles in at special request, usually from some noble, and it often takes upwards of 50 days to come in, if they are even in stock. Only a couple trading companies operate in such a niche market, one is the Cor-Suun which operates mostly in the Kahl-Cor continent (Ossylia, Dalloni Baronies and Lu'Zan), and the Renaki who deal mostly with goods from the World Gate in Arghos. When asked about how the Cor-Suun get the particular wine of interest from Lu'Zan, the merchant admits he has limited knowledge, but they have some sort of contacts on Lu'Zan and there is a vessel that brings shipments in from there every 20 days. For the sake of curiosity Zelpuz places an order with the man for the same vintage if possible, and at the man's recommendation another wine of similar taste from the same region. Zelpuz asks that they be delivered to Yuu's household and pays a deposit on the delivery.

The next time the group meets it is decided that they should swap the current bottle they have with another to compare. Refilling the original bottle with water to the proper amount Zelpuz sets off the next night to make the exchange. Entry is as easy as before, but this time he notes that a almost half of the bottles are gone. Either the Chapter Master really enjoys his wine, had quite a dinner party, or has provided bottles to others. Not dallying on that line of inquiry he makes the trade and heads out.

The next day the examinations begin, with preliminary results confirming that the original bottle was not unique. The more advanced chemical analysis will take a few extra days as Marcus is presently busy practicing medicine. Zelpuz informs Vanyra and Yuu of the current inventory situation in the Chapter Master's office and they decide it is too early to draw any conclusions; though they've not seen people leaving the Chapter House with bottles of wine, neither were they on the lookout for it. It is entirely possible for someone to conceal a bottle while leaving if they so wanted. While presenting more of the picture they are still far from piecing together the puzzle of this wine.

While waiting for more results Qwe and ZhuLi arrive from Hasheli, much to the delight and relief of Yuu and his parents. The entry process into Ossylia is certainly more controlled now with the new customs agency in place, but being of noble status ensured there were no hiccups for them. Also having minimal baggage helped. The next day a feast is held in the Jin family garden. With summer winding down into autumn it is a comfortable setting and seasonal favorites are served. During the dinner most of the discussion involves tales of the flight from Ossylia and what happened in the capital at that time. Qwe, despite just getting home, is quite excited at the opportunity to study in Daedalumn next semester, and Yuu also expresses an interest in visiting the city state. ZhuLi and Vanyra strike up an engrossing discussion on unarmed combat styles and techniques. Yuu's cousin, though claiming to be more of a dancer than a fighter, certainly knows a thing or two. The two decide to meet up for practice in the coming days.

Over the next couple of weeks as they investigate the second bottle of wine Zelpuz and Yuu also engage lengthy discussion on nether manipulation theory and execution, which gives Zelpuz a number of ideas on how to better channel some energies. His first test is a simple flight spell, which works quite well to his surprise. The results of the wine analysis match the original samples, or at least within an acceptable margin of error and variance. It seems that whatever the exact nature of the wine it is consistent across the batches in the Chapter Master's collection.

Inspired by his progress with nether manipulation Zelpuz spends some time meditating on his innate telepathic abilities. Using his mental sight link as a base, and working with Vanyra during some of her spare time, he reverses the connection so as to push his perceptions to a recipient. With further practice he is able to project not only his senses but mental imagines, illusions to a target. Vanyra, on the receiving end, of these mental transmissions begins to realize better the internal connections between her own mental abilities; senses she thought were disparate and distinct were actually just different sides of the same ability. With some additional mental fortitude and discipline exercises from Zelpuz, Vanyra is able to realize a much sharper control over her mental powers.

When not running jobs for the Freelancers or training her mental capacities Vanyra spends many hours practicing unarmed and armed combat with ZhuLi. Despite being a Midian she displays a very high degree of body awareness and agility, with movements much akin to Freyans. When asked ZhuLi states that she's studied under Water Dancers for over a decade. Upon reading Vanyra's blank stare at the mention of Water Dancers she explains them as decentralized group of dancers, martial artists, philosophers. The Water Dance is both a dance, a fighting style and a philosophy revolved around the movements and nature of water. Naturally they are more prevalent in coastal areas, like Hasheli, and ZhuLi originally got involved because she really liked the dances. She explains some of the tenets of the Water Dancers to Vanyra and provides active demonstrations by teaching her some techniques that leverage fluid momentum over strength with striking and grappling with an opponent. Vanyra finds such a combat style much more suited to her talents than the raw power-based styles she learned as a child.

Over the next few weeks Zelpuz keeps tabs on the local Order Chapter occasionally, but in general keeps a low profile. The same visitor, who went into the Cor-Suun Trading Company, is seen a couple more times. Each time he brings the same few bottles of wine and so other random items. His attention wanders back to Myria and if she made it back to the Order headquarters or got some message to them from Arghos. It would definitely be a good idea to get a message to her or the Order once outside of Ossylia.

Yuu is kept busy running between his analysis of the wine, family duties and his own nearly neglected research projects at the Royal Academy. He figured it best to close out anything he was working on as soon as possible in case there was a sudden need to flee once more; the thought of some misshapen undergrad stumbling across one or two of his ideas both worried and amused him. Eventually Zelpuz's ordered bottle of wine arrives, and after running the first battery of tests he and Marcus find it is notably absent of those dead cell-like entities in the two bottles that were taken from the Order Chapter Master. What that means is still up in there, but there is certainly a chance that either the wine is altered after it leaves the winery or maybe there is a special vintage that only the Cor-Suun can get.

Vanyra continues with the odd job now and then, cleaning the riff-raff out of the seedier side of Ossylia life. She also continues her training and sparring sessions with ZhuLi. Eventually  Yuu comes calling and asks is she would accompany him to the Freelancer's guild office to look for a contract. Vanyra wasn't sure if she was more surprised that Yuu would ask her or from that fact that he was already a member of the Freelancer guild. Yuu assures her that it was his mother's idea to toughen him up a bit, before they met, and not some sudden crisis of character. With any luck though the right contract could solve a lot of problems; if they could find a Freelancer contract with the right people in Daedulum they may be able to uncover more about the mysterious wine, and get paid and away from the city while they're at it.

Once at the Guildhouse of the Freelancers Yuu and Vanyra ask about any contracts coming out of Daedalum. As they somewhat expected there were not many; Daedalum was a somewhat reclusive nation that dealt primarily with their own affairs internally. While most were simple bounty work against wanted criminals or cargo escort missions, two asked for security personnel on expeditions outside of Daedalum territory. The first one from the Geological Institute seeking some protection as they surveyed an area south of Lake Harshad just beyond the southern borders of Assada; the pay was decent and it seemed like a relatively easy job. The second one came from the Daedalum Academy of Science and Technology, similarly asking for a security detail with familiarity with wilderness environments and nether. Apparently this group was going to a remote site far from Daedalum on an archaeological dig, though Yuu notes that it may not be the usual old settlement type archaeology if they're asking for people with nether skills. The pay for the second is not quite as good, but it is over a longer period (estimated 60~80 days), and there is an offer of possible technological gifts and even limited profit sharing depending on what is found at the site.

Vanyra and Yuu note down the details of the two contracts for discussion with Zelpuz, who has broadened his surveillance and begun to monitor the movements of the Cor-Suun man and his visits. Turns out the local Order of Ashes chapter is not the only place he frequents. He has stopped at the offices of a few local politicians and city assemblymen, which Yuu confirms after some digging are either directly affiliated with the Novian faction or supporters of it to some degree. The man also visits a few bars and taverns on a fairly regular business, though it may have been just a place to meet people half the time. Lastly a number of businesses along the harbor area are also called upon, mostly shipping companies. In some cases he brings bottles of wine, though Zelpuz cannot determine if it's the same type, but in others he brings other various nicknacks or souvenir-type gifts. Over the course of a few weeks Zelpuz observed him bringing at least one bottle of wine to any establishment he went to more than once, but not with the frequency with which he went to the Order chapter house.

When the trio have a chance to meet up and discuss the available contracts at the Freelancer's guild that could possibly get them access to research facilities in Daedalum the archaeological expedition was unanimously agreed upon as the way to go; in spite of being a longer and more remote job the contacts made and opportunities for profit sharing appeared too good to pass up. The next day they went back to the Freelancer's guild and signed-up for the job. The clerk informed them the job was expected to start in 3 weeks, and he would forward their details to the client for final approval, and they should hear back by the end of the week, leaving them more than enough time to get to Daedalum.

Yuu is able to secure a trio of tickets on an airship leaving a week before the expedition from Daedalum begins. The ship makes a couple of stops along the way, but still gives them in the city state with a few days to spare. The later departure also provides enough time for the bottle of wine Zelpuz ordered to arrive. Since they do not have time to run the full battery of the usual tests they bring it to Marcus to answer the most pressing question; whether it has the odd microscopic dead cells in it?

Turns out this particular bottle of wine does not have any of the odd cells in it, unlike the previous two taken from the Chapter Master of the Order of Ashes. There are some minor differences to the vintage and bottling season, but otherwise they are the same in varietal, bottle, label and vineyard. It is not definitive evidence but it does raise questions as to the wine being provided by Cor-Suun, and now they have two comparative samples to take to Daedalum.

Finally the day arrives and the trio boards the airship bound the Daedalum, though their first stop is Escarmina far to the south. The flight take the entirety of a day during which they are able to view the coastline of the continent from several thousand feet, which oddly distorts the perception of the actual distance they are travelling. Their seats are comfortable enough and the food is adequate, but after a full day of flight they are more than ready to disembark.

The airship descends gracefully through the cloud layer, though it presents a moment of unease due to the lack of vision to those unaccustomed to air travel. Finally it pierces the lower clouds the the city of Escarmina can be seen in the distance. The ship makes a series of s-turns as it descends before finally resting on the waters a few miles from the city port. From there it uses a more traditional propulsion to traverse the remaining distance.

Escarmina is at once comfortingly similar and disconcertingly different from Ossylia. It is a port city, with a large harbor and a small flotilla of ships at berth. The architecture is quite distinct, with the buildings being more narrow and taller with aggressively angled roofs. From what Yuu has read in his guidebook the area sees quite a bit of precipitation and violent storms, and surmises the building style is designed to help with that.

It takes about 20 minutes for the airship to be properly moored to the docks, after which the announcement is made the passengers may disembark. Upon exiting the craft the higher population of Atherians and Exodi here, relative to Ossylia, is notable. One such Atherian is standing on the pier towards the city wearing the formal uniform of the Freelancers and surveying the passengers as they step off the gangplank. His eyes pass over each of Yuu, Zelpuz and Vanyra before meeting the later's eyes with a look of curiosity.

After being in an enclosed space for so long, even with the wonderful vistas, Vanyra is ready to stretch her legs.  When leaving the ship, the outdoor air and open space causes her to visibly brighten from a dull, almost pallid coloration to a subtle angelic glow.  Wearing a big grin, she looks around at the new place, intrigued by the different races and architecture.

While wondering about the best way to run around on the steeper rooftops, she notices the Freelancer standing to the side and meets his gaze.  She half sarcastically comments out loud so Yuu and Zelpuz can hear, "Hey, the Freelancers are here to meet us! I can't remember, do I have to register?"

Yuu is grinning wildly from cheek to cheek, eyes wide as saucers trying to fill in all the new sights. He’s following the Freyan, bag in hand, when her question catches him. He turns to her, slightly concerned. “Err..... I don’t know. Do we?” He looks back to the Mespah.

Zelpuz, still stretching his legs, looks at his two companions and shrugs his shoulders. "I would assume that you two are the experts? I don't see any registration procedures though, quite a welcoming change to Ossylia."

The heat of the midday sun and the humidity of the harbor strike you as you walk down the gangplank. Though not that different than Ossylia, after being in the cool, dry confines of the airship it seems much like stepping into a sauna. The Atherian makes his way towards you after once you're on the pier proper. The Atherian is about 1.8m tall and average build, with crimson hue to his scaled skin that appears to bear the climate much better than most on the docks. "Excuse me, but would any of you happen to be Freelancers? I mean no offense, it's just you do look like the usual tourists or merchant types we get around here."

Yuu nods to his companions towards the approaching Atherian, squaring himself up. Yuu smiles amiably, “Hi. We take no offence. May we inquire first who is asking?”

"My apologies. First Lance Harrel Nashun, contracts specialist, with the local chapter of the Freelancers," the Atherian replies, and reaches into a breast pocket of his jacket to produce a business card, presenting it to Yuu. The card confirms in introduction.

Yuu looks at the card, acting the part of some deep specialist himself in all manners of Freelancer protocol. Upon his satisfied inspection, he returns the card to Harrel. "You are an astute observer. My companions and I are Freelancers. I'm Yuu, this is Zelpuz and Vanyra. How can we help you?"

Harrel breathes a sigh of relief, "That's the first good news I've heard all day. We've got ourselves in a bit of a bind in regards to a recent contract, and I'm really hoping your can help. The pay in considerable relative to the job itself. How much do you know about politics and great houses of the Equatorial States?"

"Are we in the equatorial states?" Vanyra replies with some sardonic teenage sarcasm.

Yuu's face scrunches in thought, "I have a bit of knowledge, but nothing very deep. And... we don't have a lot of time in the city, either, I'm afraid. We need to be back on an airship by tomorrow morning."

Since Zelpuz is not a Freelancer, he quietly stands behind the others, observing the stranger and the surrounding, looking for something out of place in this new city and this unusual greeting.

"Why are you asking?" Vanyra inquires.

"Well it's exactly your imminent departure that makes this fortuitous. Essentially the ruling houses have a old tradition of holding grand parties, like most places, but here all attendees are required to bring a gift or have one of sent in their stead. Naturally if one does not actually attend the gift must be sufficiently prestigious or the reputation of the house is slighted. As a result of this practice though all the houses try to sabotage the delivery of said gifts to gain the advantage over each other. Normally this has nothing to do with the Freelancers, until someone contracts us to deliver one of these gifts. Unfortunately none of the local agents will take the job for fear that the houses may cause them trouble, and this is where you come in. You're not from here and you're leaving tomorrow for the very city the delivery is to be made. And the fee is quite generous, a total of 100 Marks. Interested?" the Atherian explains quickly, his tone showing obvious fatigue with the politicking of the local governments.

"That sounds fun!  100 Marks each right?"

The Atherian laughs, "For a delivery run? No, 100 Marks total."

"Even if we want to deliver multiple gifts?"

"Just out of curiosity, what sort of gift are we talking about? And how do you know what city we are leaving for tomorrow?"

"You can deliver all the gifts you want, but you'll only get paid 100 Marks from the guild for this one gift. As for the gift...I don't know what it is. None of our business when someone is paying that much; that's the deal and it's supposed to be a secret," the Atherian shrugs. "As for the route, this airship always stays one evening here and then goes to Byzantier the following day for a short stop before proceeding to Daedalum. That's the regular, published route. So unless you were planning on staying here for some time you'd be heading to Byzantier next, but even then this would be a good opportunity for you."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:36, Tue 14 May 2019.

"Where does this 'gift' need to go?"