In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 19):

Ioelenna walks down the street with a hand casually resting on her sword hilt.

As you walk down the dock and approach the greeting committee, they hold out their hands, palms facing you, fingers spread.

The leader speaks.

"May the sun always be in your sky, Strangers from the Land Beyond the Sea! I am Nerok the High, Zendar of Rish. This is Vela the Wise, Keeper of the Law. This is Atuk the Grim, Advisor of Custom."

"I do not wish to pry, but we are curious as to why you have stopped here at Rish? We are a fishing community. We have no goods to trade."


Strangely, you understand what he is saying, but it quickly becomes obvious that the words you are hearing are not the sounds that the man's mouth seems to be making.

Tealon watches and waits trying to figure out what derivative of a comprehend languages spell this could be and how he could get his hands on it.

13:29, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 28 using 1d20+12. Spellcraft.

Danyka slowed and then stopped as they were hailed by the greeting committee.  She stood for a moment, gauging their gesture and then bowed slightly, assuming - or perhaps hoping - that the open palm was a greeting and not a warning.  "Well met, Nerok the High." the Rynnish brunette intoned rather formally to one who had spoken.  She inclined her head towards the other two, repeating their names.

Then she introduced herself, "I am Danyka."  She pointed in turn to Rrger, Marco and Tealon offering their names as well.

"Nerok the High, Zendar of Rish.  You are right, we are strangers in Rish.  But we hope that you can help us." Dany noted simply, wondering by what mechanism her words were being translated, "We need information.  We come seeking others of our kind, others who came from the Land Beyond the Sea.  We are trying to follow and must find them.  Did they pass through Rish?"

She held back any offer to trade for the information initially, but Danyka was more than willing to make such an offer.  If the chance presented itself.  She wasn't above attempting to barter for what they needed.  Still, the Llaelese gun mage kept things formal - one of the greeting party was the Advisor of Custom and the other Keeper of the Law.  She'd hate to commit any major faux pas right off the bat...

Tealon nodded at the mention of his name so those being addressed were aware which person was which.

Danyka had spoken so much more eloquently that he would have. Keeping a eye on the proceedings, Tealon was ready for what ever came next.

Amazed by the communication, Tealon tries to figure out how it's being done. It's the end result that appears amazing, but once he breaks it down into what has to be at work, it's not so amazing after all. Impressive, yes; amazing, no longer.

Normally, Comprehend Languages works only on the person it is cast on, and it only lets you comprehend languages, not speak it. So, in this case, they aren't actually speaking Tealon's language, but he is able to comprehend what they say.

There are metamagic feats that enable spells to be cast with expanded parameters, such as increased range and effect. In essence the Comprehend Languages has been cast as a widened community spell that affects all within range, including the party from the ship and the rest of the greeting committee. Presumably, it is a magically enchanted item. Any one of them could be wearing the item.


"You speak of the Great Ship that came to our shores three moons ago, though it was not the first time that it visited Zu," Nerok replies to Danyka. "Although the Great Ship did not stop here in Rish, a few of its crew visited the island during one of the tours that the Zutara arranged. The fishing here is quite good, and the crew wished to fish for the kre'taga."

He frowns for a moment as he pauses, and then continues.

"It does not translate... most peculiar. Perhaps you would call it... a tiger-fish."

At this point, you realize that Nerok is not smiling any more. He seems to have become rather stoic. Atuk looks annoyed, but Vela seems a bit agitated.

Once he had worked it out, it seemed so simple. It HAD to be Metamagics. He then got to wondering what else they had at their disposal.

Tealons natural caution became heightened as he searched for more signs of magicical ability. He turns around looking 360 degrees, whilst facing away he casts detect magic, then continues turning and scanning.

Dany's head quirked to the side for a moment, when the leader spoke of the other 'Great Ship'.  She nodded slowly, "You honor us, your Highness, Nerok, with your words.  We thank you."  They'd have to think of a suitable gift for these people who offered information freely to them.

"You speak of the Zutara.  Who, or what, are they?" the Rynnish brunette asked Nerok; she suspected that they were another people on a nearby island since the word didn't translate but that fact didn't perturb the Rish.  And their relationship to the Rish mattered as well, it gave some insight into the local politics.

Another thing also mattered to her.  Dany paused for a thoughtful moment, then asked quietly, "The other crew men that arrived three months ago, what colors - what flag - did they fly?  Were they like ours? ..." and she pointed out the sails and symbols on the Resolute as well as pulling the silver symbol of Morrow that she kept around her neck.  She contrasted those symbols and colors with the ones that would have been carried and displayed by the followers of Menoth.

The Llaelese gun mage pursed her lips when she realized that the Rish envoy had ventured into more perilous conversational territory; the mood of Rish present souring slightly at the mention of the 'tiger-fish'.  It also surprised her that the word "kre'taga" didn't translate properly, but more so that Nerok felt the need to point it out.  It must have had strong inherent connotations - perhaps religious or natural.  Danyka logged the fact and lowered her eyes solemnly for a moment as she contemplated.  Since it seemingly had significance, she tried to use the actual word.  "Did.. did the others find the kre'taga?" Danyka prompted, "Did they take from the Rish what they should not have?"

[OOC:  Rolling, rolling, rolling... just in case:

  03:19, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 10 using 1d20+6. Knowledge (Religion)/Int Check - as necessary.
  03:19, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 10 using 1d20+6. Knowledge (Nature)/Int Check - as necessary.

*sigh*  Just awesome...]
This message was last edited by the player at 10:20, Mon 06 July 2015.

"The Zutara are the advisory council to the Zukar," replies Nerok.

"The Great Ship flew the same flag that you do. We do not know of this other symbol you are showing us."

"Oh, yes, the crew of the Great Ship were brave warriors pursuing the kre'taga for many hours before killing one with their harpoons."

"You are our guests! We would be remiss if we did not offer you refreshments after your long journey! Please accompany us to the banquet room! We can continue our discourse there."

Tealon liked the idea of being on land eating, his stomach would remain in one place. He would still be cautious about his intake though.

Looking over at Danyka, he nodded.

At the group's concensus, the welcome committee turns around and leads the group down the street and up a hill to a white washed building.

As you walk, you see a few more details that weren't obvious at first. You did notice the uniformed guards... about a dozen of them trying to stay out of sight yet close enough to intervene if something went wrong. They were carrying some sort of firearm, but now as you pass them, you can see that some of them have pistols and some have rifles. However, they all have some kind of tube off the back that connects to a container strapped to their backs.

Nerok leads you up to the door of the large building, opens the door and leads you inside. There is a single long trestle-style table set up with several chairs around it... chairs big enough to hold even a trollkin.

The room is large enough to hold maybe 100 people.

The table has settings for ten people, and there is fruit in a bowl on the table. There are also two bottles of wine.

Once in the building, the door is closed.

Nerok takes a place at the table, but gesture to Danyka to take the place of honor at the head of the table.

"Even here in Rish it is not always safe to talk in the street, particularly about... certain subjects. The banquet hall is secure from eavesdropping, though."

"Please, be seated. Help yourself to some fruit. Would you like some wine?"

"We weren't sure if you'd stop in Rish, so the meal isn't quite ready, but it will be out shortly."

As he has been keeping his eye on the surroundings and the 'hidden' guards in particular, Tealon found the weapons they were carrying rather intriguing and tried to see as much detail as he could to see if his time as a gunsmith brings any thoughts to their functioning.

01:20, Mon 13 July 2015: Tealon Holdron rolled 26 using 1d20+15 ((11)).
or 01:21, Mon 13 July 2015: Tealon Holdron rolled 13 using 1d20+12 ((1)). oooopps

Walking into the feasting hall, Tealon looked for alternate ways out, for bolt holes and if they were actually safer here.

01:24, Mon 13 July 2015: Tealon Holdron rolled 27 using 1d20+10 ((17)).

Yep, Tealon has specialised.

Observing the guards and their weapons, Tealon spotted what appeared to be a wisp of steam coming out of the top of one of the cannisters. It could have been something else but he's fairly safe in assuming it was steam, which means the guards are wielding steam-guns! The guns use steam to fire the bullets, rather than powder.


Sure, there are ways out of the banquet room. Tealon didn't notice anyone locking the front door, but there are a number of windows, closed at the moment, and two other doors leading out of the back.

Tealon makes a mental note to get a closer look at these seemingly steam powered guns.  That would also mean that there is a means to generate steam, which in his mind meant COAL.

Escape route one, front doors. Escape route two, one of the doors to the back, trying to remember if the building had a second floor or a tower and if either of these doors didn't go that way.  He'd rather not have to jump out of a window, all that nice glass and the noise of it shattering would bring undue attention.

He quietly passed on these latter thoughts to the nearest of the Iron Fists.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:58, Mon 13 July 2015.

Danyka nodded and allowed herself and her companions to be lead away.  She also looked with more than a passing interest at the 'steam' gun technology that the Rish seemed to utilize.

The tall Rynnish brunette watched the doors close and took her place at the head of the table when the seat was offered by Nerok.  She glanced at Tealon who seemed ill at ease in the enclosed space; nodding to his assessment of the room's potential egress.  Of course, it could be a trap.  And, of course, she could be sitting in the obvious seat to be targeted first.  But Dany trusted in Morrow and that if the Rish really wanted them dead there would have been much easier ways.

Not that they weren't in potential danger.  No, her paranoia didn't extend that far; it was simply that she couldn't live that way.  Or was that she wouldn't mind dying that way ...

"Thank you, Nerok the High." Danyka responded when the subject of food came up; it was only now that she realized just how hungry she was.  The young Llaelese woman took what seemed to be the closest thing to an apple that she could find.  Accepting the offered wine glass, Dany took a moment to take in the bouquet of the libation, to see just what flavors might be present.  She wondered idly, if the Rish paired white wine with the fish.

But then she came back to reality when Nerok mentioned the necessity for discretion.  "You must forgive us," Danyka apologized to the counsel members, "We did not wish to place you in a difficult position with our questions.  Especially in public."  It was an invitation to speak more freely from her, since she honestly didn't know which topic was the touchy one (or perhaps the most touchy one out of all the touchy topics she had broached).

Tealon watched Danyka taste the fruit and wine, saw her drift a moment and the tension reduce in her shoulders so followed her lead.

Took in into some fruit, he nodded his approval of the tastes and of the decision for discression. This didn't reduce his awareness by much.

Listening to what Danyka and Neuron were speaking of whilst trying to appear nonchalant conversing with fellows from the ship.

"Good fruit!" Rrger said after he selected a fruit and popped the whole thing in his mouth at once. It was gone in just two 'bites'.

"Wine is okay, but prefer ale, if you have it. If not, water would be nice."

"I let Danyka and Marco do the talking. I just work machines."

He wasn't that specialized, but no point in giving away any advantage he might have.

Until now, Marco had been content to let Danyka do the talking while he just observed expressions and body language, and listened to what was said as well as what wasn't said.

He felt he was putting two and two together and coming up with five... or seven... or twelve! His brain was leaping ahead of the information he had.

"Oh, it's quite simple to deduce," he said as he, too, sampled one of the fruits.

"The only reason to be so discrete in public is if what they wanted to talk about was something that bothered them morally but was... shall we say, against the law? More specifically, something that criticized the military or the government. Perhaps not strictly against the law, but if word of the... indiscretion got back to those in power, something bad was likely to happen."

"It clearly had something to do with our missing ship. Nerok here would be more angst-ridden if the ship had been destroyed or confiscated and the crew killed or imprisoned. So that clearly hasn't happened yet, or at least not that Nerok is aware."

"But something was done to the ship or crew... that would have put them in danger."

He didn't need Nerok's following words to confirm his hypothesis; Nerok's expression said it all.

In reply to Marco Fiero (msg # 37):

Ioelenna walks in strict military fashion to the table and sits. After watching some of the others sample the food, she begins to sample as well.


Maybe, they really do not want to purden the populace unnecessarily.

Tealon was glad that Marco had expressed his thoughts so blatantly, it gave him a few seconds of detraction to 'drop something' under the table and ensure there were no spring traps or hidden steam guns aiming at them.

The tall Rynnish brunette watched her equally slight, but smaller, companion with goatee.  Marco had a good head on his shoulders, which she could definitely appreciate.  And which was very helpful in situations like this.  She nodded at his assessment, watching the gears turn in Fiero's dark-coiffed head and then switching her gaze to their hosts.'

Nerok's expression confirmed the situation.  Insofar as the hypothesizing went.  Dany pursed her lips and used the tip of one of her long fingers to trace the edge of her wine glass.  "So..." the Llaelese gun mage ventured slowly, "where was the other ship led to?  What predicament can we lend our hand to help them get out of?"

Danyka figured that she would offer first, that way, nothing Nerok said would be unsolicited.  It could perhaps be construed as 'under duress' as necessary.  It was starting to look to her like the steam gun wielding contingent weren't necessarily Rish at all.  "Does Rish pay tribute to the Zutana?" Dany prompted the elders.  If so, it seemed to her that potentially more than the other Great Ship and its crew may require liberation...

Nerok insists everyone eat something before he confirms or pointlessly denies Marco's words, as if a full stomach will make his reply more... palatable.

Danyka found the white wine to have distinct taste of pears; probably it was made from pears.

"Tribute?" Nerok picks up on Danyka's comment. "We pay our share of taxes, but we have always been a part of the nation of Zu. Why should it be any other way? We on this island all came from the mainland... or at least our ancestors did. This was a more peaceful way of life. There has never been any reason for interest in Rish... not politically, not economically, not militarily. We have nothing to trade except the fish we catch, which our people trade on the mainland for things like tools and food and clothing and decorations."

"We do not have a military, just a few guards and police who grow fat from inactivity. A few steam-powered weapons could not possibly stop any advance."

"Few citizens of the mainland desire our way of life. The few that do are welcome, so our population grows little by little. We've been considering expanding to another island for several years now, but there is no pressing need, so we only make plans for now."

"It is the political situation on the mainland that causes problems."

"The Kreon... how would you say that? Warlord? Yes, I believe that is it. The Kreon, as you can probably surmise, is a powerful warrior. How else would he maintain command and control over the army? As he has gotten more powerful with victories and wealth and allies, he is now convinced that he should be Zukar. However, he dare not say this outright for he is not yet strong enough to challenge the current Zukar openly."

"He saw the Great Ship as a way to tip the balance. He offered it as a sacrifice to the Azultec Empire for its support when he moves against the Zukar. He convinced the Zukar that this was intended as a temporary appeasement of the Azultecs until he could build up the army more."

"He fears the Great Ship. We do not have a navy; even the concept was anathema to us until your Great Ship showed up. He feared it was the vanguard to an invasion by what appeared to be a far superior force. He was relieved when it sailed away, though he feared it would return with a vast fleet."

"When it returned, without a fleet, I might add, he was now convinced that it was scouting us... determining targets and such."

"It is what he would do, so he believes that others would do the same."

"I do not know how he will react to your ship. Although your ship is smaller, it is better armed, and it has a battle crew. I realize you are looking for your countrymen, but I fear he will see you as a revenge squad."

"My cousin Malok is on the Zutara. He keeps me apprized of what transpires at court, though I fear he talks too much and often does not know what he says."

Nerok confirm Tealon's suspicions and implied it was safer here than the mainland should this Warlord perceive a greater threat.

The understanding that Zu had no navy gave realisation that if it did have, maybe they would have been sunk by now.

And what of this other nation, the Azultec Empire! If the Warlord got his wish with their backing, could they invade our lands? In one respect it was good that they thought the other ship had far superior weaponry, in the other, what would they think of our Jacks, would they try and take them?

So much information in one go, this man was scared, maybe there were a couple of spies and if word got back!!!

Tealon waited, he was exceptionally good at that.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:06, Fri 17 July 2015.

Dany pursed her lips as she listened intently to Nerok's description of Kreon the General and his actions.  Her eyes narrowed slightly as she spoke when she finally found her voice, "I... I do not care much for this Kreon.  He bargains with that which is not his: our comrades lives."  Her jaw quivered slightly, Kreon had seemingly sold out the previous crew and ship simply out of fear and for his own personal gain.

And he would potentially do the same with the Resolute and the Iron Fisters aboard.  There would have to be a reckoning; Kreon would not be allowed to get away with his machinations.  Perhaps it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, but the Warlord had made a potential enemy of the peoples of Western Immoren when he started to treat them like chattel; and a personal enemy in Danyka and the Iron Fist, if he proved to be as deceitful and false as rumored.

But to other matters first which were more pressing then potential revenge.  "Nerok," the Rynnish gun mage asked of their hosts, "What can you tell us of route of the other ship?  And what can you tell us of this Azultec Empire?  If we are to have any chance to rescue our comrades, then we need to know all that we can..."

"I cannot vouch for the veracity of all that I've told you," Nerok replies to Danyka, "but that is the belief of much of the Zutara. What makes it... difficult is that the Zutara exists to advise the Zukar, but their loyalty is supposed to be to the position, not to the person who holds it."

"I do not think your ship has to worry about attack by sea, as we have only fishing boats. That's not to say they may not try to board you when you are at anchor."

"I would say you are less likely to be... bothered when docked simply because there are people around. It would not be in Kreon's best interests to anger the populace."

"The Azultecs were once just a bunch of scattered primitive tribesmen. We traded with them and tried to bring them civilization. I suppose it partly succeeded, for as their population grew, they began expanding, clashing with each other until eventually a single government came about."

"Now they are an empire. Zu is situated on a peninsula. If the Azultecs move to conquer us, we have nowhere to flee. At the same time, we do not wish to go to war with them, even if we think we will be victorious."

"As for where your ship went, it was sent south on a trade mission because Kreon was able to convince them that the Azultecs had this coal rock you use. On the first two trips, the Zukar arranged to have some brought over the mountains for your ship."

"This time, it was reported that it would be easier if they sailed down the coast to Azultec and picked up the coal from a wharf. Also, they could establish additional trade connections."

"That's the last we saw or heard of the ship."