It isn't likely that anyone on the ship saw your ship; they'd have had to be up on the mast to do that. If they had a watch up on the island's peak, yes, but that does not appear to be the case. Tealon certainly hasn't spotted anyone in such a position.

Approaching the ship in the boat would surely get you spotted, given the nature of the watch. You could conceivably approach the ship in the water without being spotted.

All things considered now, the buildings on the island probably house the rest of the guards... assuming an 8-hour rotation. There might not be as many guards on duty in the daytime, though.

It seems likely that the missing crew are on the mainland, probably in a gaol or prison. Keeping the ship out here at the island would be additional security to keep the crew from regaining the ship.

Tealon doesn't spot a ship's bell, but he does see a place where one might have been hung. If so, it's been removed.

The guards on the ship are all within sight of each other, but aren't always looking at each other. Most of their attention is out to sea or to the shore. Sometimes they keep tabs on the two guards that are moving about.

Tealon keeps watch on both the ship along with guard movements and on his comrades at arms slowly rowing towards the captured vessel.

Looking to see any patterns to guard movements, the flying vanguard patrolled the scene watching to see if and when opportunities to strike repeated themselves. Ah, is that a moment lost that will return? The guards turned away from each other and leaned over the side! If that happens again I may swoop down and knock them both over the side!

After a pregnant, thoughtful moment, Danyka motioned towards the shore.  "We need to find the crew to have any chance of retrieving and sailing away with the ship." she noted quietly.  The thin Rynnish brunette could only hope that Tealon had some idea of where to start.  Otherwise, it could be a long night of searching - with little guarantee of success.

With any luck, they should be able to make shore undetected and get into the town under the cover of darkness to do some reconnaissance and maybe even get away with the crew undiscovered.

The alternative would be that they would have to fight their way in and out.  Neither of which was all that desirable.

From his vantage point in the sky, a curious frown spread across the Mechanik's brow, the little boat seemed to be changing direction from the ship to the edge of the town.

Tealon could only guess that either something had come up like they had seen a problem or they were going to search the town while it was quiet, the buildings do give more cover than the sea.

He could wait no longer, he needed to sweep and find anything that could help, even if it means telling Danyka that he couldn't see the crew on land or anywhere they could be.

Souring high, swooping not too low, trying to stay in a position that wouldn't highlight him in the moonlight, the winged scout searched the hillside for cave entrances, the town for stone buildings, barred windows, guards on doors, anything that would help before his band of Fisters made landfall.

12:22, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 19 using 1d20+5.  Search.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:24, Mon 01 Feb 2016.

As with all vessels, there's always a moral dilemma between saving the ship and saving the crew. In general, the owner of the vessel wants the ship saved, because that cost him money. He can always get more crew. To the captain (as long as he isn't also the owner), he's more interested in saving the crew and to hell with the ship and the cargo.

In the current situation, there aren't enough of the Iron Fist to crew the ship, so you need to free the crew. The fact that the ship is sequestered out here on this lonely island would seem to indicate that the crew (at least most of them) are still alive.


That means they are being held somewhere on the mainland.

There are a couple of possibilities: government gaol, some sort of private dungeon, or somewhere out of the city. It would depend on who has imprisoned them.


You can easily row the boat into shore in the darkness, probably without being seen. Whether you can locate them quickly enough to row back to the ship before dawn is problematical, but probably not likely.

"What I really need is to find that building which the crew could be in, it's difficult to spot anything but at least I can get a layout of the streets while I'm waiting for the others." Tealon thought to himself, at which, he decided to give one more sweep of the place then land on the highest, safe building, safe for when he tries to take off again and not be seen doing that nor landing.

Having made a mental note of the general Street layout and significant buildings, he found what he was looking for then checked his inventory for what he could use, maybe cause a small rock slide behind the town could divert any troops and towns people.

Glancing toward the shore and then back to the ship, Jheridan shook his head.
"Not much for it, I'm afraid... We're going to have to recanoiter and find the crew.  What's worse is that we'll stick out like a sore thumb while doing it."

"None of you will stick out as much as I will," the Winter Elf adds.

"It may not be as bad as you think, though. These Azultec have darker skins than we do, and what I've been told are swarthier features, so mingling in the streets, especially in the daytime, is not going to work."

"However, that doesn't mean we can't reconnoiter in a more discreet manner. If they have a criminal element, then lurking in a pub and listening while we stay hooded probably won't attract any undue attention."

"The other approach, which is the one I lean toward, is simply capturing someone in authority and questioning them discreetly. I don't advocate just killing them afterwards, but if can't knock them out for several hours or tie them up until we're gone, well, then that may be our only recourse.".

She'd surprised herself with this sudden loquacious outburst. She was usually a woman of few words. The tension must be getting to her. Dancing around in shadows on a tiny little boat didn't help, nor did the heat and humidity. They might be taking a greater toll on her than she realized.

"One last thing to remind you all... I don't like these people, because they've captured our people. I don't want to think all of them are like that... perhaps just a few in power. If we rain down death and destruction on them, they'll probably make the same assumption about us."

"I'm not real keen on that, but if that's the way it goes down, I can live with it."

"The odds are against us, the situation hopeless," Nicollo whispered in the dark. "Someone once told me that. I think he was describing this very situation."

"I have no desire to go out in a blaze of glory, even if we had enough ammunition to take on an entire city."

"So, I like the way you think, Ioelenna. A stealth operation it is."

"My recommendation is to head for the center there. Those look like important buildings. And my experience is that those on the periphery are more apt to be early risers. They aren't usually slaves to the bureaucracy yet."

In reply to Nicollo Baldino (msg # 154):


Ioelenna sighs.

" I have no choice but be stealthy. As a Nyss, my skin is white and I am on the verge of heat stroke. "

Taking out his spyglass, the 'scout' went to the edge of the building and used the item to get a much closer look up and down the streets and into as many windows he could to ascertain occupancy and type of building. From this lower vantage point he hoped to find a sign, any signs of crew, guards or gaol.

Wearing the medallion given him by the official at Rish, Tealon also hoped to pick up some conversations.

If guards were spotted, he was determined to try and read their thoughts, maybe the translation disk would also work on that too!

From his vantage point and knowing of his companions new course, he kept checking on their progress, hoping they would get close for him to signal them in some way, possibly using the disk to reflect the moons light in their direction.

It's the middle of the night, so very few buildings show any lights in them. Tealon does realize, though, that there are no towers in the city. The buildings tend to be wide and long, but squat. Many seem to be built on top of others.

The single largest building is the step pyramid, which, from his aerial reconnaissance, he was able to deduce had once been the center of the city. It is still probably the cultural center, possibly the political center, maybe even the business center, but it's just no longer the physical center as buildings have sprung up in both directions along the shores and up the hillsides.

Clearly, though, the step pyramid doesn't have any windows.

Tealon can find no windows with bars on them. If there are any, he suspects the windows to be small and at ground level.

With him perched atop one of the higher buildings, those in the boat are able to see him, and he is able to point them in the correct direction to avoid being seen by the few people that are wandering about at night, and guide them to where he is.

The problem is going to be the boat itself. There is no other boat like that among the native boats. The solution is to cover it with native tarps (ostensibly to keep the water out when it rains) and tuck it half under a dock. Garnished with some other 'borrowed' native accoutrements, it more or less blends in.


It takes about 15 minutes for the rest to wend their way through the alleys to Tealon's building and then climb up. They've managed to pick up some native garments... shawls, burnooses, etc. The construction is flat roofed, with a two-foot high wall around the whole roof. There is a hatch leading down into the interior, but there's no indication that it gets used very much.

Other roofs show signs of usage... carpets, chairs, tables, gardens... but not this one.

Nicollo estimates you've got about 2 hours yet before dawn. Maybe an hour before the fisherman start getting boats and nets ready to head out with the tide.

When the rest of the group arrive, Tealon gives a situational update."I have a feeling that any prisoners may be being kept inside here" points the the building they are all stood on. "There's a hatch over there" indicating where it is with a nod, "We should have some time before we are spotted. I saw no buildings or officials around that would indicate that the could be used as a gaol, this seems a likely candidate as it appears to be the centre of the city proper."

"Could be," Nicollo almost agreed with Tealon, "but I wouldn't count on it."

"We just don't know enough about these people. We don't know what kind of political factions are in operation here, so we don't know which one of them might be holding the crew prisoners."

"I'm kind of leaning toward a secondary political group. If the main government had them, they wouldn't need to have hidden the ship offshore. But then, that would be true back where we come from. Who the frack knows how these people think."

"Anyway, this might be a government building, but it might be the grand poobah's residence, or the world's largest brothel for all we know."

"If the hatch isn't locked, I'd say do a quick reconnoiter below... try to find out what the building is used for."

"Whoever goes down, though, you can't be spotted. If you are, I'd recommend not coming back to the roof. If you have to flee, head out the back or front. There's no reason for anyone inside to think that there are more of us lurking up here on the roof."

Anyone still here? Tealon and Ioelenna seem to be here still. How about Jheridan and Danyka?

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 160):

Always

Danyka had been quiet for most of the reconnoiter into the city; the tall Rynnish brunette seemed ill at ease with sneaking about in silence - perhaps it was just a lack of experience.  She could only be thankful that her current outfit was basic black.

She nodded in agreement with Nicollo's assessment; the stark lack of furniture on this roof was far to suspect.  The thin Llaelese gun mage looked out over the rooftops once more.

"Let's take a quick look then." Dany prompted the others quietly, reiterating with a slightly crooked smile, "And let's not be seen."  She motioned to Tealon, "Keep an eye out up high."  Then she looked to Nicollo and Ioelenna, "Which of you wants to stay up here?"  Making it patently obvious that she and one other should likely go in to take a look.

Moving towards the hatch, Dany offered, "Should be back in ten minutes or less.  If not, presume that there is trouble..."

Tealon was glad that Danyka's tone was confident, he could not imagine the amount of calculations and possibilities playing in her head as they came towards the shore, the change in direction being one of those possibilities rationalised.

Nodding at the orders and without a word, the winged scout aimed his steps towards the length of flat roof and attempted to take flight, aware that any mis-step would mean still being on the roof rather than falling from a height. He was getting the hang of this flying and enjoyed the freedom, a stark change from the air sickness of the buffeted air balloon journey to get to his new companies in the first place.

12:21, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 14 using 1d20+3.  Fly check.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 163):

Ioelenna does some quick calculations about temperature in her head.

"as it is most likely cooler up here and if I am spotted I am most likely to be noticed, I think I should stay up here. If you don't mind Command."

It wasn't his place to comment on splitting up the recon group, but then again, there was the old adage about putting all your eggs in one basket.

"You have a valid point, Ioelenna," Nicollo comments. "As long as it's dark and there's a breeze coming off the mountains, it'll be cooler up here. Once the sun comes up, though, I don't think that'll be the case."

"We'll look for a place to hole up inside. It might stay cooler down there."

"Okay, Jheridan, let's go see what kind of trouble we can get into. Lead on, Dany."

Jheridan smiled in the dim light.
"Two foreign gunmagi in a big rotting temple to gods knows who filled with gods knows what... What possible trouble could we find? Lead on m'lady."

Tealon hears the last few comments as he takes off and finds them interesting and entertaining. Keeping his mind on the job assigned him, the Arcane Mechanik looks out for anything that may mean trouble.

Not surprisingly, there was no latch or lock on the hatch in the roof. It was highly unlikely that anyone could or would climb up to the roof to get into the building. In fact, it was uncertain just why there was a hatch to the room in the first place.

Lifting the hatch reveals a ladder fastened to the wall, leading down to a small room. Actually, it was small even for a closet. There was barely enough room for one person to stand there.

With Danyka at the bottom, Jheridan on the ladder and Nicollo waiting to descend, all could see the only door.

More oddly, the door did not seem to be locked. Danyka, after listening at it and hearing nothing, cautiously eases it open. There is dark hallway beyond, heading off to the left and right. Moonlight is coming in through a window at one end of the hallway. This matches what they observed when they flew toward the building. There's a second window at the opposite end of the hallway, but only a little bit of moonlight is coming through it, reflected off the other nearby buildings.

In the hallway, six doors can be seen. They are all closed. Also, at the dimly lit end of the hallway, you can see a set of stairs on the left.

There is no sound, no indication of anyone around.

Dany moved quickly away from the bottom of the stairs; trying to give those following her clearance.  She moved to the nearest door and pressed her ear to it to listen for any noises, fully intending to open the thing, if nothing sounded amiss or presented itself immediately.

It was only one of six; so, they would probably have to check them all out.  It wouldn't do to be surprised from behind just because they didn't do their due diligence.  Only once the checks were completed would they head down the stairs.

---

OOC:  Let's see what we can hear and see...

  23:40, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 21 using 1d20+6.  Move Silently/Dex Check - as necessary.
  23:41, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 11 using 1d20+8.  Listen/Wis check - (at first door and beyond) as necessary.

GM, let me know if you want more rolls (or feel free to roll, as pacing requires).
This message was last edited by the player at 06:43, Mon 28 Mar 2016.