It can't hurt to sit there at sea for a bit and just observe. There are two island towns close enough that the inhabitants could row out to the ship, but the main city is still a bit far away for that.

It's also hard to tell from this distance, but it does not look like the Land of Zu has any idea what technology is. The pall of industry that hangs over most towns and cities doesn't seem to be here.

The ships that you can see near the mainland all appear to be single-masted junk-rigged coasters, or single-masted lateen-rigged fishing boats. None of them are particularly seaworthy.

"The captain has done his job and duty by delivering us here," Katrin said. "Now it's our turn."

"He as much as said that the strategy is up to us now. My thought is that we should make contact with one of these outlying island towns first. One of two things should be in effect: they are either independent or isolationist. The former seems the more likely, which means they will be more accepting of outsiders."

"Even if the other ship didn't stop there, they will have heard tales of it by now. And we can a sense of the culture, perhaps pick up a bit of the language, and find out what we might trade."

"However, if they don't have guns and gunpowder, we should keep that a secret unless we have to defend ourselves. I'm sure you imagine what home would be without all that smog-belching industry."

Being unable to cope anymore with the nausea, Tealon started coughing and retching. Knowing that nobody could see him, the Arcane Mechanik attacked the stairs on neck with his fist to break the invisibility spell. The thought in his head "I hope Bosh and Rogrr don't see me, I have a reputation to uphold".

Seeing the crew looking around and noticing the Captain, the tall Thurian held his dark waving hair out of his face, nodded to the captain and ran to the rail to help his stomach feel better.

Wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his greatcoat, eyeing those around him with steely eyes that shielded "don't you dare laugh", he walked confidently to the gathering of the Iron Fists.

"Greetings, I'm Tealon Holden, those who know me call me 'Blaster'" {stroking the grenades on his Bandolier as if to emphasise}…

"I stayed as I were in case of additional attacks so as to hide our numbers for tactical advantage". "Bosh, Roger, good to see you again, how's the arm and servitors going with all this salt water around" hoping Roger remembers him from the start of training and Bosh from his test mission and the airship. On thinking of the airship, Tealon stated "excuse me" and ran to the side rail again.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Thu 18 June 2015.

Dany listened to Katrin and what the young pistoleer had to say.  She nodded slowly, "Making contact on the outer islands makes sense.  It will likely not tell us everything we need to know, but it is likely to be a reasonable and reasonably controllable place to start."

The Rynnish brunette pursed her lips when the topic of hiding their guns came up.  But, since the suggestion had come from another who relied heavily on firearms as their weapon of choice, Danyka knew that the matter was to be taken seriously.  After a thoughtful pause and a slightly plaintive sigh, the Llaelese gun mage was forced to agree.  "We should likely keep out firearms and other mechanikal artifacts in reserve." she agreed, looking to all of the mechanics, bodger and warcasters amongst her companions as well as the other gun mages, "There is little to be gained by tipping our hand too early..."

When Tealon appeared - quite literally - Dany looked slightly askance at the mechanik; she was more than slightly surprised that he hadn't gotten his sea legs already for it had been a couple of days since the arrival (and subsequent departure) of the airship.  Still, it mattered very little at this point.  Likely in a matter of hours, the Iron Fist would be back on dry land (and hot land, if the temperature held) doing reconnaissance.

She didn't really concern herself with the Thurian, especially as he seemed to have a prior history with Rrger and Bosh.  So, Danyka figured that those two would take the lead on making sure that Tealon was prepped and ready.

Dany looked to others gathered on the deck.  "Is there anything else?" the tall, raven-haired gun mage prompted her companions, "If not, there are plenty of preparations to be made before landfall.  Let's get to it..."  She clapped her hands together and rubbed them eagerly.

In reply to Danyka Ydrasyl (msg # 4):

Once he had gained his composure and rinsed his mouth, the clean shaven Thurian turned and muttered "If only the boat had been rocking more, I'd got used to that".

"I know I have only just appeared, literally, but if I may" he piped up "Find a bag or chest that you can fit your non-magical items into and I can make sure you have them to hand later when needed.  If we intend to make landfall today, the sooner they can be collected the better".  He the nonchalantly called to the captain: "Captain, I believe you may be in need of some coal, where would you like it putting?".  He then paused for thought and realised that nobody would realise that he had it on his person "ah well, they will find out soon enough" he thought to himself.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:05, Thu 11 June 2015.

"That's a tough call," the captain replies to Tealon once the situation with the patches is explained to him. "We don't really need it right now. We've decided to stick with sails for the time being. On the other hand, if something happens to you, we lose that coal."

"I think I'd rather hold off on right now... keep it in reserve. We'll see what we can acquire here in Zu."

"Thanks for the offer. Nice piece of thinking there, Tealon. I have to say, it may not sound like much, but I think that just increased the chances of this mission being a success."

After Tealon walked away from his meeting with the captain, Rrger approached.

"Say, Tealon, we've got a bit of time before we make landfall," Rrger says to the newbie on board, "I was thinking maybe we could go over a few things... like what to take with us, what we can conceal, what the natives can find that wouldn't make that big of a difference, and what we can keep in preparation on board and anything maybe we should trap so that the mech doesn't fall into their hands."

"We're not enemies with these people yet, but neither are we allies."

"Whatcha think?"

In reply to Capt Milo Grant (msg # 6):

In response to the Captain "I understand Captain, If I was able to just leave a patch for you to activate, I would but alas, as soon as I remove them, they become the item.  I was going to keep at least one of the three for Rrger if possible."

In reply to Rrger (msg # 7)
With his composure returned, the cheery smile reappears on Tealon's face, he doffs his hat in greating to Rrger. "Nice idea Rrger, nice to see you well, how are you toys?" Realising this may cause offence "I mean your Jacks!"

Opening his greatcoat to show his waistcoat "I have this waistcoat, you can't see them but it has patches on" pointing to what looks like random places "this one is my x-bow, my wagon and forge, coal, large tent, a very long coil of rope and a few other things." Closing his greatcoat again "Thats why I mentioned the pile of equipment, I can make a new patch but it can not be an item that is magical or living. I can only make one a day thought so thought needs to be made on usefulness, like the large tent!.

Thinking for a short time. "You know what Rrger, as much as I love the idea of just walking through town showing our creations off, like you say, concealable things.  I can not see a problem walking through the populated places with staves and swords though.  Perhaps keep some things under our hats so to speak" as he removed his hat and turned it so Rrger could see the concealed folding knife secreted there.

It wasn't that Marco didn't have his own thoughts on the matter, but he knew everyone talking at once would wind up being counterproductive. When he finally spoke up, it was more to show his agreement rather than any additional thoughts on the subject.

"It'd be nearly pointless trying to blend in with these people," Marco added. "We'd stand out like a sore thumb."

"We don't want to appear threatening, either, but a sword or staff would merely be prudent defense. Even if these people are relatively friendly, I can't imagine that there is no crime here."

"We need to know if the ship actually stopped here, like we did, and whether that was arriving or leaving. After that, gossip and rumors would probably be informative if not necessarily helpful."

In reply to Marco Fiero (msg # 9):

"I noticed you had found some red powder, do you have the black too?  I could be mixing some stock up for you if we have time.  You don't want to be using that on it's own, well," he rubs his hands together "not without proper preparation anyway".

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Tealon" he says again to the others behind Rrger after the last person spoke up. "Any friend of Rrger's is a friend of mine.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Thu 18 June 2015.

What what I've heard, Danyka is in charge of this outfit. Danyka, I hope I can fill a role you need, otherwise, just give me a shout and I'll see what I can do."  He smiles and then gets to helping anyone who needs it, waiting for the next step.  "I think Marco has a point"

The captain was waiting for the group to decide where to go, and when it finally decided that they'd head for one of these small outlying island communities, he raised the anchor and set sail for the nearest one.

It seems, too, that once again Danyka has been thrust into the role of leader, probably because she's the most outspoken. If anything, though, it showed one of the shortcomings of their training--no one had been given any sort of rank to show that they were 'in charge'. Apparently, Captain Flagg had thought it best for the group to determine their own leader. More often than not, it had been between Nicollo and Danyka anyway.


The ship eased across the water at quarter sail to the community they'd spotted. This served a two-fold purpose: it not only gave the people on the island a chance to prepare and respond both mentally and physically, but it let the crew keep an out for hidden shoals or even an unexpected attack from underwater.

Fortunately, there were no shoals, nor was there any attack. There were a number of rocky pillars that jutted up out of the sea. There were a lot more going south along the mainland, though.

Reaching the island, there were two floating piers that extended out from the rocky shore. That was a bit of good news; it meant the water was deep enough to accommodate the ship.

As the captain and his small crew adroitly maneuver the ship up to the pier, the rest of the crew, smartly staying out of the way, can see that there's a small reception committee waiting for them. Two men and one woman stand in the middle of the pier, dressed in loosely draped white tunics that have some ribbon and embroidery for decoration. No weapons are visible, but you can also see that there are some armed guards not far away, attempting to keep out of sight around corners and in doorways. You can count 6 of them, though there are possibly more that you can't see.

There are also a couple dozen people on the shore that are watching the ship. They don't appear to be a crowd, just people going about their business that happened to be on the shore and have stopped to watch.

Do you guys see what I see? A welcoming committee and a not so welcoming committee!
Look around for any type of industry (knowledge: Tactics) to see if can find a common ground and see how organised/prepared the 'unwelcoming' committee actually are.


OOC:
22:44, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 16 using 1d20. Knowledge:Tactics (+10) Total = 26
To GM: is it the same day as Tealon introduced himself or the next day?

It is the same day that as Tealon introduced himself, just several hours later.

Based on the tactics that Tealon sees displayed, he's guessing that the 'guards' are probably just the city watch. They aren't skilled enough nor trained enough to hide well, and a military presence would want you to know they are there.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 14):
OOC: Thank you GM

Tealon studies the crowd a while.  "The don't seem to be a threat, as expected, they are a little wary.  I'm sure one of you lot are better skilled at this diplomacy stuff than I am although if it goes a bit squiffy, I could always try my 'sales' technique, hopefully it won't come to that though!"

Tealon things to himself "maybe if I take these grenades off my bandoleer before they see them...Yes...uuummmm!!

"Well met, Mr. Tealon." Danyka noted rather distantly to the newcomer.  The fact that he'd not announced himself early seemed to be affecting her mood.  Either that or now that Zu was a fact and imminent, the Llaelese gun mage was focusing on the job at hand.  Since Tealon had glommed onto Rrger, the tall Rynnish brunette glance in the direction of the more familiar trollkin mechanik; her raised eyebrow was a query as to the newcomer's trustworthiness as well as his skill.

The man seemed helpful and useful enough, and pretty well-equipped.  All of which was a good thing, if he could be relied on.  Presumably, only time would tell.

She nodded in agreement to Marco's assessment.  "Are you volunteering as diplomatic envoy, Mr. Fiero?" Danyka prompted the knife-wielding rogue with a slightly crooked smile.  It was one thing to talk about such objectives and quite another to accomplish them.  She gave the assembled Iron Fisters an appraising look.  "Best behavior.  No travelling alone." she noted with deadpan seriousness; it seemed that she wasn't taking any chances with respect to the natives.

And she apparently wasn't joking about the envoy, as her expression and tone became quite serious, "Marco, you and Rrger are with me in the landing party."  Reliable observational skills as well as technical expertise would be valuable to her.  The thin Rynnish noblewoman brushed back a lock of hair, tucking it under her tricorne hat.  Then after a thoughtful pause, she added, "And you as well, Tealon."  Best to keep his obvious, youthful enthusiasm within sight, presumably - even if he was a bit of a wild card.

As they steamed ahead and made their approach, Dany had been meticulous and careful to stow all of her firearms and ammunition that she'd been carrying in her haversack before making landfall - they'd be accessible, simply not visible for the time being.  And much as it pained her, she'd leave Argus on board for the time being.  The large, black destrier had been getting antsy on the long journey, but nothing could be done about it yet - he just couldn't come out yet.

She nodded to Tealon's remark about the armed guards.  For herself, Danyka kept an eye out for items of significance, whether they were technological, religious or otherwise repeated or seemingly symbolic.  To her, more information was good - as it could give them an advantage in negotiating.  Or perhaps simply keep them alive...

Tealon nodded at Danyka's comment and unavailed himself of his obvious weaponry, removing the bandoleers, moving the metal sticks to his belt.  Unfolding and setting his crossbow, box attached but leaving it hanging at his side ready to be armed.

"I'm ready when you are" he said, straightening his bowler hat again then resting on his walking stick nonchalantly, still looking out at the waiting crowd.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:47, Tue 23 June 2015.

As you prepare to disembark, you notice that the three people apparently there to greet you are wearing shoulder sashes; they are the only people wearing such. The leader has a purple sash, the woman is wearing a red sash, and the other man is wearing a blue sash.

You also notice now that not everyone is wearing the toga-style outfits. Others are wearing a off-white muslin blouse and culottes with bracers. Admittedly, most of them wearing this outfit are children, a few of which also wear hempen belts. The adults wearing culottes have beadwork belts, and some of their blouses appear to be colorful pastel silk.

A few people wear head coverings of some sort of cowl with an extension down the back held in place with a headband. Oddly, these people seem to have darker skin than the rest of the populace.

Once the newness of the ship's arrival wears off, the children that you can see go back to playing. Among their entertainments, you see stick ball, tag, hide and seek, and two strange ones: spinning some sort of hoop around their waist and dropping a cylinder with a string tied around the middle and somehow making it go back up to their hand.

"Looks like Katrin may well be right if these three are the leaders of the island"

Tealon casts Mage Armour on himself, you never know if its safe or not when guards are trying to remain hidden, then double checks his crossbow is locked ready.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:43, Wed 24 June 2015.

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."

Tealon listened carefully to what was being said, all the while watching for trouble behind pillars, for tapestries moving, for the door bursting open.

He knew he had to relax but something was going on here, more than was being said.

Nerok's words were more unsettling than Marco's had been, enough so to make the trollkin speak up.

"So, Danyka, what do we do? Do we sail after the other ship?" he asked. "In lieu of anyone else stepping up, Danyka, you've become the leader."

"The other ship didn't know what it was sailing into, but we will. If we sail now and fast, we may get there ahead of any warning."

Tealon understood Rrger's words and the meaning behind the urgency in the big trollkins voice.

"I fear I must agree with Rrger," Marco speaks up again. "Leadership does not suit my temperament. I would find myself disobeying my own orders!"

"I'm not sure anyone in the Iron Fist is leadership material... kind of goes with the territory, you know."

"But if anyone is, my bet is on you."

In reply to Marco Fiero (msg # 48):

She could be leader. I don't see that anyone could be better.

Danyka had taken off her hat, when she sat down at the table.  She sat for a long moment, staring at the tricorne hat as it sat unmoving on the table as her companions expressed their (varying, though generally positive) views of her (at least in her own opinion, meager and unwarranted) leadership capabilities.  Marco had the right of it; likely none of them were all that well-suited for the job.  The Rynnish gun mage pulled off her black suede glove from her right hand and ran her long, thin fingers through her hair for a moment, pulling the ribbon that tied the ponytail out to reset it.

As she worked, the scarring on her right wrist peeked out from under the long sleeves of her great coat and dark tunic.  The top of the ornate and stylized "M" brand that had been placed there by the Llaelese authorities showed briefly, along with the burns from where the hot iron manacles had obviously been shackled around the young woman's thin wrists at some point in the not-so-distant past.

That simple task completed, Dany slipped the long black glove back on over her right hand and forearm and then looked about the table at her fellow Iron Fisters and the Rish leaders.  "We are committed in this matter," she noted, for there was little doubt in her mind that they needed to complete the task that they'd been given - in part, it was the only way to get back to the Immoren, really, "We pursue.  We will have to find, and if necessary rescue, the other Great Ship and its crew."  She took in a deep breath, which caused her light, lithe frame to shudder slightly.  "You have been very helpful," the Rynnish brunette thanked the Rish Counsel members, even though she suspected that there might be more to the story - there always was, "My Trollkin companion is right..." and she gestured towards Rrger, "speed is our ally since time is not on our side; we must leave as soon as possible, if what you say is right."

However, they could not be seen to be rushing by the guards or the populace.  So, Dany remained cordial and calm, allowing the meal to complete as was required by protocol for appearances sake.  She bartered for more foodstuffs and pressed the Rish for any information that they might have about coal and anything more that might help them find the other Great Ship.  The Llaelese brunette assured them that no detail was inconsequential; and for her part tried to be forthcoming and was more than willing to trade for goods that they might have on-board the Resolute.  Except for any gunpowder or firearms, of course.  And her horse...

You spend about an hour eating and drinking and conversing. That seems like a suitable amount of time without being wasteful. However, if there are any more details, these people do not know them. They can give you some general idea of the personalities involved, but it's mostly just gossip and opinion, and they can give you descriptions.

There was a one-ton crate of trade goods on the ship... just in case. It's mostly small manufactured goods: buckles, boots, belts, jewelry, tools, and such.

You can negotiate some trade with them. In exchange, Nerok gives you a few crates of the islands quality pear wine and a few crates of artifacts--small carvings and pottery and native beadwork.

"Perhaps these things will help bridge the gap between our two cultures," Nerok says at the exchange.

"The premier wines are on the bottom of the crate... best for celebrations," he adds, and gives Danyka a 'conspiratorial' wink. He's quite careful to make sure that no one else is in a position to see the wink.

Watching and figuring how they worked from this distance was hard when new technology presented itself, so Tealon asked the question. Mr Nerok sir, the steam weapons, do you have a schematic or allow me access to one of them? I have worked on steam mechanics before but not a gun

Waiting hopefully, Tealon  wondered what projectile was used and had they the range or power to affect a ship such as the Resolute or the bigger ship before them!

"If it was up to me, I would share that information with you willingly," Nerok replies. "That would be close to treason, unfortunately. We have laws against giving our military secrets to the enemy. Yes, yes, you are not the enemy... in my eyes, but in the military's eyes... you are still an unknown factor."

I understand this predicament master Nerok, I was hoping to at least be able to witness the effects, especially since we may end up on the bad end of the barrel.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Danyka formally acknowledged Nerok and the people of Rish's largess, "Will you accompany us back to our ship?  There you may peruse the goods that we have brought.  I am sure that you find something there to your liking; something useful for you and your people ..."  She gave a barely perceptible nod to the Rish counsel leader's wink as well.

She also wanted the counsel to meet with the Captain of the Resolute; in many ways, Dany figured that the more the Rish related to the Iron Fist and crew of the great ships as people, the more vested they might be in their well-being.  It was simple grass-roots diplomacy to her.

The thin Rynnish brunette pushed back from the table and brushed the pleats of her great coat for a moment.  Then she motioned to her trollkin companion, delegating the logistics of working with any Rish stevedores to ensure that any trade goods were properly transferred between the two groups.

She smiled slightly when Tealon asked about the steam guns.  The Llaelese gun mage was glad that the outspoken arcane mechanik had asked.  Her interest was also piqued, however, Danyka could not ask directly about them.  Her position effectively didn't allow it - the authorities might interpret that as a more aggressive act coming from the ostensible 'leader' of the group.

Seeing Danyka rise and the way she spoke, not just the works, gave Tealon hope that they may at least get their hands on the schematics in an "oh, I thought I'd taken that out" type 'mishap'.

He waited for Rrger to rise then followed, he didn't want to miss anything. Maybe he could even strike up s deal somehow, he didn't run a successful enterprise in the seedy areas without knowing a thing or three.

OOC: Sorry for the delay. It's been a busy week--RL just ate up my time. The good news is we've now got a new player (I hope).


After everyone has eaten and drank their fill--or as much as they dared, the group adjourns and Nerok and the others accompany Dany and party back to the ship.

When you explain how you generate steam with coal, Nerok doesn't look impressed, but has an odd expression on his face, as do the others. At least with the others, it seems like an expression of amusement. You can't quite say that Nerok is amused, though.

He does seem suitably impressed with the small trade goods. The quality of the tools is better than what his people can produce. He's willing to trade for half of the trade goods you brought, suggesting that you might want to keep the rest for further trade, perhaps with the Azultecs.

When he meets with Captain Grant, he hands the captain a map of Zu... or at least the lands they know of. Captain Grant, in turn, gives Nerok a map of the Iron Kingdoms, with a few suitable notations of friendly areas and areas to be avoided.

"We have been most honored by your visit," Nerok says upon parting. "I hope you can top by Rish on your return voyage."

He bows to Danyka and Ioelenna, and shakes hands with the others.


Unless there's something else you want to do, the captain casts off, and the ship heads back out to sea.

"Where to now?" he asks Danyka.

OOC as its an easy shake, Teal on will double grip Nerok's hand and take the disk with the addition using bluff rather than slight of hand.

Teal on energetically shakes Enrols hand when he feels the disk against his palm and thanks him for what he could say.

Thank you master Nerok. You gave a strange look about the steam engine, do you have a more efficient method? Maybe on our return things would be different and we could discuss it further…

With than, Tealon pockets the disk to check it out in private.


20:02, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 19 using 1d20+7. Bluff.

Walking up from below deck, Jheridan has his kit slung over his shoulder and his greatcoat with armored mantle on his back.  Stepping up to the Captain he hands the man a slip of paper.

"With no regret a'tall, Cap'n I hereby resign my post on your ship.  You'll find Thackers mark there."

Stepping past the somewhat bewildered man, Jheridan steps toward Danyka.

"Corpr..."  He pauses with a slightly embarrassed smile before continuing with crisp nod and doffing of his hat.  "Ahem, not anymore.. just Jheridan reporting for duty.  I'm to be assigned to your team."

To Danyka he hands another, more detailed, sheet of paper with Jheridans particular orders.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:15, Sun 16 Aug 2015.

In reply to Jheridan (msg # 59):

Ioelenna shrugs at the assumed acceptance of Danyka as leader but being as she is not the assigned leader and leadership isn't much of an issue right now Ioelenna won't argue.

Danyka was about to answer the Captain of the Resolute, since they now had much more information and an immediate goal.

However, she was interrupted by Jheridan.  The thin Llaelese woman took the proffered letter in a gloved hand and popped the wax seal upon it.  Dany took a moment to peruse the contents, reading them carefully.  Her brow furrowed slightly and she pursed her lips for a brief second before turning to face their new companion.  Danyka regarded the dark-haired Idrian man with a rather critical eye.  "Jheridan is it?" she asked semi-rhetorically.  After a thoughtful pause, she mused, "I remember seeing you on the first day."  Her shimmering black hair bobbed to and fro as she shook her head, "I'd wondered where you went."

Given Dany's understanding of the membership to the Iron Fist, she was pretty sure that such membership was hardly optional.  "Fall in, Mr. Jheridan." she noted with a gesture.  Then the thin Rynnish gun mage address the entire team, "We seem to have a concrete goal."  She reiterated the away team's findings, that the Rish head counsel claimed that the ship they were pursuing had been there and at the behest of some rather unscrupulous warlords were now headed towards a people known as the Azultec.  "Our task is now clear." Danyka concluded, "to follow and probably rescue the members of the previous expedition...."

She let that sink in, before continuing, "Everyone should make sure they are ready."  And then with a glance towards each team member, finally settling upon the new guy, Dany added, "And then make yourselves useful."  There was plenty to do.  They were far from home and the Resolute had a minimal crew; which meant that everyone needed to pull their weight and continue to help.  So, in her opinion, neither Jheridan nor anyone else in the Iron Fist was getting off that easily...

Danyka strode over to the Captain, maps and information in hand to see if they could chart a course that would follow their quarry.  With any luck they would be faster.  And they would find their sister ship still intact.  The last thing they needed was to have try and conduct a salvage operation...

Once on his own, Tealon checks out the disk he had secretly been, then put it on his person, ensuring it was covered by the lapel of his greatcoat.

Danyka, Rrogr, anyone, do you have anything which is overwieldy that you would like shrinking, nothing too big but that you would like to hide? I can do one item today.

ooc: disk added to character sheet
This message was last edited by the player at 23:53, Wed 19 Aug 2015.

With a wry smile and a raised eyebrow, Jheridan nods to Danyka.

"As you say."

Turning back to the captain, he smiles genially at the man.

"It seems, Cap'n, that I find myself once again at your disposal.  What would you have of me?"

Glancing at Tealon, Jheridan pats the satchel at his side.  "Everything I'm not wearing fits in my kit, thank you, but I'll keep it in mind."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 04:21, Thu 20 Aug 2015.

"As you saw on the voyage here, the normal crew is short-handed due to lack of space because of all the cargo and supplies, so the Iron Fist needs to help out when they can," Captain Grant tells Jheridan.

"We're all one big unhappy family. I suppose you can start by stowing that case of wine the Rishan's gave us. I believe it's all for our consumption, rather something we'd be taking back for trade, though I suppose a bottle or two for the commander might be in order."

"Oh, and make sure there aren't any surprises in the crate. I like these Rishan's, but I'm not sure I trust them just yet. They aren't smooth talkers by any means, but their culture is just different enough to... well, to make me uneasy."

"For all we know, the ship could blow up out in the sea, and they'd all be rolling on the floor laughing!"

Captain Grant. I still have 3 loads of coal on me and if something is getting in the way, maybe turning that the same as the coal could ease some of the space issues, especially if its a light but large consignment!

I'm going to guess that we are more than a day away from, where ever. If you have spaces somewhere I can set up my alchemy equipment, its OK, its compartmentised. I believe you have some stuff that needs making safe. Here are my credentials; at which point Tealon raised his hand and showed the captain his signet ring marking him as an Aurum Ominus Alchemist.

"I have no problem keeping you as a reserve, but I do not wish to rely on you for anything," Captain Grant replies. "It isn't a question of trust so much as common sense. If you get... killed, or lost, then how would we access any of these marvelously stored items?"

"The issue isn't space now, but it was when we sailed. The Iron Fist needed room to live and train and maneuver, and we had to take as many supplies with as we could since we didn't know how long we'd be at sea or what sort of... trouble we'd run into."

"We've used up nearly half of our initial coal and many supplies, so we have room now. But unless you have extra crew members in your pockets, there's not a lot you can do right now."

"So you're an alchemist. I doubt if you can make more crew, so I'm not overly impressed. If you want to set up some sort of lab on the ship, that's okay by me. It'll take two days to reach this Azultec Empire, so you have that long to... do whatever it is you do."

I understand your concerns Captain, the item can be access by you by just throwing it on the ground or on the table with a single word I would give you.

Regarding the alchemy, we are going into unknown lands where there may be danger for the Iron Fists and the crew. I will brew some healing balms with the resources I have. I can also look at making something a big more...well, more that could be used should we be attacked at see that may be fired from a crossbow. The ingredients from the bandit hoard may come in handy…

With that Tealon smiled and went off looking for space to get his wagon onboard.

Danyka smiled slightly, turning to face Tealon briefly, when he made his offer.  "Thank you, Mr. Holdron." the Rynnish brunette noted simply and directly, "but, at this point it is unnecessary to shrink anything for me."  She patted her bag, which had already been demonstrated to be much larger on the inside than it was on the outside.

She returned to confer with Captain Grant, "I understand your trepidation, Captain.  But, it is our most solid lead."  The Llaelese gun mage shrugged slightly and readily conceded, "I know that it may be trap," and Dany knew in her heart of hearts that she hoped it wasn't so, but that she could be quite gullible in that way (even if, she was unwilling to admit it publicly), "yet, I believe that even if the Rish, the Zutara Warlord, or the Azultec mean us ill and ambush us, we will be ready for them..."

Her smile was slightly sardonic, and probably showed just a touch too much teeth to be entirely friendly.  Danyka was a survivor, of sorts.  She trusted in Morrow and the Sun Lord had delivered her before - but only after she'd been willing to exercise her powers to the limit.  But then again, Morrow had never promised that life in this mortal coil was meant to be easy...

Tealon nodded at the words of his companies leader. It intrigued him how anyone could work with a bag you couldn't see to the bottom off

Other than through magical means, of which you haven't seen all that much blatant use, the ship is likely to get to the Azultec before any message could be sent overland, and, as you've already seen, the Zu don't have any ships of the capabilities and certainly not the speed of your ship.

Thus, an ambush at some point isn't too likely, but it's still a remote possibility.

As the ship sails away from Rish, it occurs to you that you've just increased Rish's importance and stature, since you aren't planning on visiting the mainland. No doubt someone will be dispatched to Rish to find out what happened.

And there probably will be some disappointed people on the mainland, too.


Within two hours, you are out of sight of Zu again. Captain Grant suggested heading away from Zu as if you'd received bad news, and then doubling back southward to head for Azultec.

The next couple of days will be routine life aboard ship.

The rest of the day passes uneventfully, and the captain posts an extra watch at night, mostly because the seas your sailing through are known, so unknown shoals and reefs, unknown threats and foes.

With some relief, the night also passes without incident. As dawn begins creeping over the eastern horizon, you can see that the land has undergone a bit of transformation. It has risen up from rocky hills to dark craggy mountains. A few of the peaks appear to have snow on them.

Also, whereas the rocky hills went right down to the water, the mountains have a narrow coastal plain before reaching the sea.

The captain has kept the ship far enough out that it might not be readily spotted from the land, but, through the spyglass, you can see a number of small communities dotting the plains. They appear to be villages of herders, ranchers and some farming. There is nothing that appears to be a city, and no fortresses are visible.

Tealon has been trying to make some healing balms with his alchemy, when lady is once again spotted, he will transform his workshop/wagon back to cloth.

15:13, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 35 using 1d20+15.  Craft Alchemy- Ansleigh's Wound Seal (Healing Balms) & Corben’s Curative Elixirs.
Wow, natural 20, there's a first time for everything. Also have Maximised Alchemy Feat.

Maybe it's the fresh sea air that promotes his efforts, but he is able to produce twice as many items.

Bosh and Marco were sampling the case of wine that was given to you by the Rishans when Marco realized that the case seemed rather heavy for just some bottles of wine. A sober investigation indicated that the case was deeper than it needed to be, though it was possible that there was a second layer of bottles.

Under the straw that protected the bottles was a 'false' bottom. It wasn't really meant to be secret, and could easily have been intended to hold more bottles, but that's not what is down there.

What is down there is one of the steam guns!

Tealon is below deck having just put his wagon away. Otherwise he would jump at the opportunity to investigate.

Stays out of the way cleaning weapons and checking gear.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 74):

Ioelenna doesn't care about the ship she wants to continue her mission.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Wed 09 Sept 2015.

Lounging in the rigging while oiling his pistols, Jheridan glances below as he hears a bit of a murmur begin.  Reordering his kit, he moves quickly to the deck and makes his way toward the sound.  Glancing over the shoulder of a fellow onlooker, Jheridan raises an amused eyebrow.

"Now that probably isn't supposed to be there, I would think."

The normal clamour of the ship seems to change and congregate, as though a sighting of some creature or a ship. This brings Tealon back into the world at large and gets him curious. No shouts to the rigging or guns!

He makes his way to the commotion and presses forward to glimpse what everyone el.... Wow, how did that get passed the guards? he thought to himself.

"How did that get onboard?" the questioned seemed almost rhetorical as it was with the wine bottles. It seems Corben is looking favourably on us this journey."

Once Marco and Bosh had summoned her to take a look at wine case, Danyka had come immediately.  Having seen what was in there, she took her tricorne hat off and ran her suede-covered fingers through her hair for a moment.  Once she had reset her ponytail, Tealon had already wandered by.  It looked like the young man would get his wish.

"Mr. Holdron." the Rynnish brunette called out after a thoughtful pause, "Please take this artefact below for study.  We need to know what makes it tick.  Potential strengths and weaknesses."  She gave the arcane mechanik a serious, if slightly grim, expression, "Nothing destructive.  I want it to remain intact and in working order."  Her tone seemed adamant, making her implied meaning apparent: that if was going to take it apart, he'd better be good enough to put it back together.

"If you need assistance," the Llaelese gun mage offered, "let me know."  While Danyka wasn't a slouch when it came to small arms, but she suspected that her knowledge likely paled in comparison to the likes of Tealon.

Tealon bows gracefully and takes the stream gun in hand. I shall take great care of this and ensure it works as good or better when I have finished.

With that said, Tealon goes back to the space he found to do his alchemy, once more brought forth his wagon and tools, then set about understanding the new equipment.

Searching through his notes and knowledge of Mechanika, Tealon set about examining this strange device.
19:29, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 18 using 1d20+12.  Knowledge (Mechanika).

On examination he could see the similarities for Mechanika stopped with steam and continued with those most precious of commodities, guns.


19:33, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 30 using 1d20+15.  Craft (Gun smithing) [using his tools, this becomes a 32 as they give a +2 bonus]

Figuring out how the steam gun works it relatively easy. What's not easy is determining the materials being used.

The gun is a standard gun like any normal handgun, with the exception of the front grip and the cylinder.

The front grip is there for stability, since the gun is probably capable of rapid fire.

The cylinder is compartmentalized such that each chamber can hold 3 standard bullets. When the cylinder is rotated, one of the chambers aligns with the barrel and a burst of steam is sent through the chamber, launching the bullet down the barrel just like the explosive in a normal gun.

The steam comes from the pack worn on the back. It is fed through a flexible tube that connects the pack to the gun.

The pack appears to be made of a strong, thin, reasonably-lightweight metal, probably a steel of some sort. The pack has three compartments--top, middle and bottom. The bottom is the smallest, and seems to be made of thicker steel. At least, that's where the most weight is.

The middle chamber holds water. Once you place water in it through a valve, another valve can be manually activated that releases the water into the bottom chamber where it is converted to steam. The steam then rises upward and is stored in the top chamber. It is then released down the hose to the gun.

Considering how small the bottom compartment is, and other tests Tealon and Bosh are to conduct, they are convinced that there is a quantity of celebur in there. They have no idea how much, as the exact properties of celebur are not known.

A wild guess indicates that there is a tube running from the water chamber into the bottom and forms a coil. As the water passes through this coil, the celebur heats it up and turns it  into steam. The celebur would work best if it was in the shape of a rod and the coil was wrapped around it. Five ounces of celebur would probably do the trick.

The entire device does not come apart in any way. All the seams are welded together.

With the information gleaned from his study of the steam gun and conferring with Bosh, Tealon sets about drawing the schematics and preparing notes for the potential of making one of these, or a better one.

Tealon has found a purpose and feels he must continue to experiment and design. Being completely aware of the implications in Danyka's words, he sets the original aside to work on a new one.

Tealon and Bosh, with some assistance from Gorren, study the steam gun mechanism. There's not too much to learn without taking it apart, but some knowledge is learned. The tank is welded together so that there's nowhere for the steam to leak out. There's a ribbed interior bracing to increase the strength of the tank.

Adding water is easy to do. The valve on the gun end can be studied, so that you have a good idea of how to make one.

The only thing you can't figure out is what the internal valve is like.

It'll take about a week to build one of  your own, and then you'd have to come up with some sort of valve, plus a heating source.


It's two days at sea now, and everyone is starting to get more wary, as you should be approaching Azultec lands at any time. Perhaps that's why someone spots the birds.

They are getting larger, which means they are approaching. They are coming from the land, and there are a dozen of them. It doesn't take long for them to get close enough to see through a spyglass that they are people... warriors by the look of them.... with wings. They have to get even closer to realize they are artificial wings.

They carry a quiver with javelins, a crossbow, and a longsword.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 82):

Ioelenna looks at the artificially winged enemy and smiles evilly.


As cold as Nyssar and her season is, my heart is warmed at the thought of target practice.

This message was deleted by the player at 15:30, Tue 22 Sept 2015.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 82):

Tealon thought long and hard, then inspiration arrived on his shoulder, the little clockwork mite he made during his training, that could check the inside of the container, hopefully! Maybe, he said, more to himself than the mite, I should name you one day…

When the call went up about the incoming 'birds men', he considered his options and bidding his fellows excuse him, he mumbled a few words, then vanished.

"I shall have your backs my friends, be assured of that". He then went up on deck, crossbow in hand, the attached box ready with normal bolt but the one loaded was, as he had come to carry since this threat of an attack from another ship, an incendiary bolt. Seems perfect for a winged beast!

Walking over to the Iron Fists leader, he stood over an arms length from the Gun Mage, coughed slighted and spoke "Tealon ready for your orders. I shall watch out ready, just in case."

"That," the thin Rynnish gun mage stated ominously, as she watched the cadre of armed, winged men approach, "looks ominous."  Her brow was furrowed slightly and her lips were pressed into a thin, tight moue as she peered through her extended spyglass at the flying figures.

Part of her was impressed, she'd love to have had the ability to fly.  Part of her dreaded such a meeting, for if it turned violent, the dozen with the third degree of freedom in their movement would have a distinct advantage.  She checked to see the demeanor and disposition of the dozen that were flying towards them.

Hearing the eagerness of some of her other teammates with respect to an armed conflict, Danyka grimaced slightly.  The lithe Llaelese woman held out a gloved hand, palm downwards - a gesture for the others to stand down until she could make her assessment better, "Don't draw until we know they are aggressive.  They could simply be an envoy...."

But she had to concede.  "However," Dany noted with a slight sigh, "if they are out for blood - I want one or more sets of those wings for study."  It was a simple and direct order ... with implications.  Like the battle with the Sahuagin, prisoners were preferable.  And like the interaction with the Rish, intact new tech to study was always a bonus.  She motioned for her fellow Fisters to disperse around the deck and not clump, though she kept close to Rrger, Marco, and the Captain of the Resolute to present group for their counterparts to approach (or target) easily.

Honestly, Danyka hoped that it would not come to blows, but the pit in her gut told her otherwise.  As an Initiate of Morrow, she'd abhored violence; and yet, she found herself consigned to the Iron Fist, all of whose members were chosen for that 'special' duty assignment not for their gentle natures...

"Understood" was the only word 'Blaster' needed to utter. He was of like mind regarding having a set of what ever it was these 'people' were using to be in the air with.

Having figured out the strange guns, he was looking forward to diving into another project of strange , alien technology.

From where he was tending some rope near the mast, Jheridan watches intently as the flyers come closer.  Drawing his pistols and doing a quick inspection before returning them to their holsters was a somewhat redundant gesture as the magelock pistols were connected to his mind and he knew every piece and weld by heart... But it made him feel better.

Marco was also of mixed thoughts towards the flyers. On the one hand, if they were merely envoys, one or two would have been sufficient. A dozen flyers might be justified if the tech behind the wings was at risk, but it looked like a raiding party to Marco.

It would mark him as a target, but he decided to climb the mast to the crow's nest and give himself a better vantage point.

"Perhaps one of them will be foolish enough to fly close enough to get captured," he calls out as he begins to climb. He was mildly glad that this new enemy did not wield firearms.

Once the winged flyers get within striking range, they peel off into three groups of 4 and swerve off in different directions. The central group flies up again to get more elevation and to give the other two groups time to get into position.

Then the leftmost group dives on the ship, followed closely by the right group. They never dive close enough to get within melee range.

The first group sweeps over the ship, but doesn't attack. The second group sweeps over the ship half a minute later, but also doesn't attack. The third, central, group is still hovering out of range.

Watching the aerial display, Jheridan tries to imagine a similar tactic on land.

"Trying to gauge our range...or possibly our intent, I'd wager."

"Aye," Katrin agreed with Jheridan. "And close scouting... to see what we have worth stealing, to estimate our numbers and evaluate our weapons."

"I'm not sure they are familiar with firearms. I would think they'd have at least one if they were. Then again, it may be a weight issue. Guns and ammo are heavy, and it might be hard to reload while flying."

I voice as though coming from the air itself but a familiar voice, Tealon observes "If the only firearms they have are steam, then yes, definitely a weight issue. I've seen predatory birds swoop like that in the hills. They won't know our true number."

Danyka nodded grimly to the others assessment of the potential motives of the birdmen.  But the tall Rynnish brunette held her ground, remaining 'on display' for the flying men to approach.

Her hands were held casually at her side, but her reinforced buff coat remained draped over the pistols at her hips.  She could do nothing - and did nothing - to hide the fact that the thin curved, elvish blade remained at her side as well, the scabbard and hilt of the sword peeking out from that same greatcoat.

She continued to monitor the three groups in the air with the naked eye having returned her collapsible spyglass to her leather pack slung over her shoulder.

In reply to Danyka Ydrasyl (msg # 94):

The Pale Nyssan Warwytch watches the birdmen for any sign of hostility. So far this mission has been boring and Ioelenna would rather it stay boring.

Whatever the recon bird-men saw was apparently positive, for they circle once more and then dive on the ship, letting out some sort of war scream as they do.

The first three fire their crossbows downward.

06:37, Today: GM StarMaster rolled 18,24,6 using 1d20+4,1d20+4,1d20+4 ((14,20,2)).

One sticks in Bosh's great coat, one hits Marco, and the third one bounces off Rrger.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 96):

Ioelenna seems to be off her game as an elemental Ray of frost goes wild.


attack: 9

Teal on holds back, his loaded crossbow taking aim, the bolt, specially chosen for these 'enemies'. Choosing to wait for the leader to be identified. Even a non-penetrating hit will help.

He grins menacingly, just as well no one can see him. He likes these games.

The second group of aerial attackers swoops in repeating the same attack pattern--the first three fire their crossbows.

This group targets Ioelenna, Creswick and Nicollo.

03:13, Today: GM StarMaster rolled 14,16,13 using 1d20+4,1d20+4,1d20+4 ((10,12,9)).

Only Creswick gets hit, for 5 points of damage.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 99):

Ioelenna aims and shoots again.


Elemental Ray: attack: 15, damage:6

"Damn it!" escaped her lips, before being cut off and regaining her composure.

Danyka frowned as the mini-barrage of crossbow bolts rained down.  With a slight sigh, she moved to take cover.  The Rynnish brunette seemed slightly crestfallen, as she muttered, "Why are they always trying to kill us?"  Dany knew that it wasn't strictly true.  At least, the Rish didn't seem to want them dead, but almost everyone else from Zu back to Immoren seemed to mean them harm.

She executed a neat tuck and roll towards a nearby barrel to try and throw off the next volley and not give the enemy as easy a time.

"Return fire at will." the Llaelese gun mage called out to her fellow Iron Fisters.  Not that her companions really needed that much instruction.  Danyka figured that if they were taking fire, some would already be giving as good as they got.  But she might as well make it official; ballistic diplomacy appeared to be the order of the day...

---

[OOC:  Danyka will spend a Move Action to run to cover and draw a magelock pistol from her hip holster, then cast Shield upon herself (AC: 22) as a Standard Action.]

Standard Action: Casts Mage Armour. AC now 18.

Move Action: Reload crossbow with a Grapple Bolt.

From behind the edge of the stairs,rest crossbow again the rail to steady aim and for cover.

Next round: fire at nearest flying man.

The aim is to hit the flying person somewhere for the grapple to connect, then pull them down. May make it easier for someone else to hit them and we may get ourselves a set of wings

11:25, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 10 using 1d20+5.  Crossbow attack.
Looks like he missed unless he's getting a bonus from somewhere. Tie cord off to not loose the bold and try again round after.

Stepping to the side, nearer the mast, Jheridan slides a Magelock free and takes aim.  "Which one of them is Will?" he says with what hunor he can summon while under attack.
With a thunderous report he fires at one of the winged bowmen.
"There, that one.  That one is Will..."


To hit = 20
Damage = 6
13:56, Today: Jheridan rolled 6 using 2d6+1.  Damage.
13:55, Today: Jheridan rolled 20 using 1d20+11.  ToHit.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 102):

Ioelenna tries to hit them again this time with a lesser orb of Frost and I guess misses there extremely great ability to Dodge.



yet another ranged Touch attack:
Would hit touch AC 14
Which means they have a Dex mod+ deflection bonus higher then four
Which means possible TPK

He still wasn't comfortable wearing his armor at sea, but the extra flexibility without it let him get his rifle loaded and aimed by the time their second attack happened.

He noticed that they were trying to keep their distance... or at least out of range of regular weapons. The fact that they didn't have firearms probably meant they weren't familiar with them. He was about to introduce them to Buster.


06:46, Today: Gorren Stonefist rolled 14 using 1d20+6 ((8)). Attack with Serricsteel Military Rifle.

06:58, Today: Gorren Stonefist rolled 8 using 2d8 ((6,2)). Damage if it hits.

The birdmen aren't wearing any armor, so defensively it's just their nimbleness in the air and their elevation.

Ioelenna missed with her Ray of Frost, but easily hits one with her Orb of Frost.
Jheridan hits one of them that flew a bit too close, and the winged man tumbles from the sky.


Tealon misses with his grapple bolt.

The rest of the crew fires at will, too.

Bosh doesn't have a range weapon, other his knack for throwing things, but the birdmen are out of range.

Creswick misses with his crossbow.

Captain Grant misses with his pistol.

Gorren hits his target, but the birdman is still flying.

Katrin misses with her pistol.

Marco hits with his pistol, but the birdman is still flying.

Nicollo hits with both his pistols; he doesn't quite kill the birdman, but he's out of action, and weakly flies back the way he came.

Rrgr fires his long bow at one of the birdmen, and manages to hit.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 106):

Lesser Orb of Cold, actually not of Frost, is a 1st level spell in the Complete Arcane that is on the Warmage list at this level it just does 1d8 it is still a ranged touch attack. At 3rd it does 2d8, 5th does 3d8 and so on
This message was last edited by the player at 15:48, Sun 18 Oct 2015.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 106):



Tealon readies the second Grapple bolt and fires at a retreating flier.

11:34, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 24 using 1d20+5.  To hit with Grapple Bolt.

11:36, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 25 using 1d20+5.  To confirm Critical Hit.
Wow, what a way to confirm a critical hit.
ooc: Looking up damage and effect, my PDF won't open
Edit: pull on grapple bolt and draw in the flier.
"Can someone give me a hand here"
<orange>Edit:15:14, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 7 using 2d6.  Grapple bolt damage (Crit).
This message was last edited by the player at 14:16, Thu 22 Oct 2015.

Hearing the sounds of a battle joined, a deep frown crossed Danyka's lips for a moment and she drew one of her magelock pistols from its hip holster; a slight, resigned sigh escaped her lips.  Pressing the arcane symbol inscribed barrel to her forehead for a moment, she closed her eyes and whispered a quiet prayer to the Prophet and Lord of Light, Morrow.

Then tall Rynnish brunette pushed out of her crouch and popped into a ready stance with her pistol arm extended.  Dany rolled her shoulders to relieve a touch of tension as she lined up her shot, gauging the distance and taking aim at the center figure of the farther watcher group.  By her estimation, they should be just in range.  So, drawing a bead on the one she figured must be the leader she could feel the arcane energies within her coalesce and crackle.  "Elissim Cagim..." escaped the Llaelese gun mage's burgundy lips and a pair of glowing projectiles shot forth from the glowing blue barrel of the pistol in her hand.  The two missiles shot forth twisting and twirling around each other, while drawing inexorably closer to their target.

[OOC:  Here goes nothing...

  Move Action:      Stand up and draw magelock pistol
  Standard Action:  Cast Magic Missile at what she hopes is the leader...

  22:24, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 2,4 using 1d4+1,1d4+1.  Damage: Magic Missile (Middle figure in leader group).

*shrug* could have been worse...]

With a snap, Jheridan moves his left wrist and a small magelock pops into his other hand.  Raising it to his lips for a moment he whispers quickly to the small magical machine that is one of his best friends and once again takes aim at one of the fliers, this time the one that is caught in the grapple.

With a bellowing laugh he adds, "I shall call that one Will now!"



Casting Chill Touch through the magelock link & bullet.

Ranged Touch = 26
Bullet Damage = 9
Spell Damage = 6 +1 strength (DC 14 to negate strength damage)

Rolls:
21:09, Today: Jheridan rolled 26 using 1d20+11.  To-Hit.
21:09, Today: Jheridan rolled 9 using 2d4+5.  Bullet damage.
21:09, Today: Jheridan rolled 6 using 1d6.  Spell Damage.

This message was lightly edited by the player at 13:17, Thu 22 Oct 2015.

In reply to Jheridan (msg # 110):

Ioelenna shoots again.


Lesser Orb of Cold attack: 13, damage: 10

The third group of aerial attackers swoop down now, targets Jheridan, Tealon, Ioelenna and Captain Grant.

01:39, Today: GM StarMaster rolled 20,6,23,21 using 1d20+4,1d20+4,1d20+4,1d20+4 ((16,2,19,17)).

One just misses Jheridan, the second one misses Tealon by a wide margin, the third one hits Ioelenna for 6 points of damage, and the fourth one hits the captain with a javelin for 5 points of damage.

As the 1st and 2nd groups turn and swoop for their next attack, the crew has plenty of time to attack first.

Having missed with his first grapple bolt and having only one left, Tealon takes better aim this time... and hits! [7 pts.]

Finally realizing that the aerial assaulters are raiders, Danyka 'shoot's a Magic Missile at the perceived leader. [6 pts.] It's not enough to take him out, but he now knows that he's not out of range.

Jheridan hits the grappled one, and kills him. [15 pts.]

Ioelenna targets the same one she hit before with her Lesser Orb of Cold. The previous one did 8 points of damage; this one does 10. It's not enough to kill him, but takes him out of the action.

The rest of the crew again fires at the attackers.

Since Bosh doesn't have a range weapon, he moves to provide protection for the captain.

Creswick is able to rapid reload and manages to hit one with his crossbow. [6 pts.]

Captain Grant is injured, and also has to reload.

Gorren is reloading.

Katrin is reloading.

Marco is reloading.

Nicollo pulls out his third pistol and fires again. He's quite aware that the others have to reload, but the feels keeping up the attack could drive them off.

Rrgr fires his long bow at one of the birdmen, and manages to hit [9 pts].

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 112):

Ioelenna points at the one she thinks is going after her.

I hope this ends soon or I am going to need a ranged weapon.


Lesser orb of cold
Attack: 14
Damage: 8

Teal on see the one he grappled fall from the sky so starts to pull it in , trying to get as much of the strong cord in before it hits the water and then keeps pulling.

"Good hit Jheridan". thanking his fellow Iron Fister for taking up his request.

I may not be fighting for a short while but I got me a birdman as requested. I can always tie the cord off if these come back for more attacks.. Thinking of what has been achieved, the black market seller also thanks Carbon for guiding his aim.

Stopping for a moment, Blaster by name, blaster by action. Reattaches and cocks his repeating crossbow, now loaded again with exploding x-bow bolts. Then carries on pulling at the cord.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:49, Sat 24 Oct 2015.

Jheridan nods to Tealon at hearing the compliment.  Staying low and allowing the small pistol to retract back up his sleeve, the Gunmage quickly reloads the larger of his magelock pistols.  This time he loads one of his few remaining Runecarved rounds.  Turning quickly and taking aim at the nearest flier he smiles as he focuses the most powerful spell he knows into the spell wrought projectile and can tell by the report and feel of the recoil that it will be a hit.

"Will, it seems, is having a bad day!"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:45, Mon 26 Oct 2015.

Ioelenna hits her target and does enough damage to kill him.


Rrgr fires his bow again and hits and kills that one.


Cresswick also hits his target, but the crossbow bolt doesn't do enough damage to take that flyer out. However, he's apparently had enough and flies off.


Nicollo also hits a flyer but it hasn't been hit yet, so it isn't killed.


Jheridan manages to critical hit another flyer with a spell-charged rune bullet, killing yet another flyer.



The flyers that are killed in the air can no longer stay aloft, and fall into the ocean in a slow slumping spiral.

At the end of the round, there are 5 dead flyers and 2 of the remaining are injured enough to fly away.

The remaining 5 take a moment to reassess the situation, and then decide that the firepower of the Iron Fist is too much for them. They turn and start to fly off.

You'll have one more round to shoot at them before they are out of range.

Tealon keeps bowling in his catch and if any fliers are still floating on the water top because of the wings, he'll shout "Try and get that one (or "Those") in, the more we get the better".

Anyone close to him he'll wave over to help full the "hooked" flier on to the ship.

With the attack having been thwarted, Rrger and Bosh help Tealon haul in the dead flyer.

Marco, up in the crow's nest, easily spots the other dead flyers afloat in the water and points them out to everyone else.

With Danyka, Gorren and Nicollo all reloaded, Katrin drops her gun and gun belt to the deck and dives over the side to start dragging the bodies to the ship.

Reluctant to waste ammunition that may be a long time in getting replaced, Nicollo holds off shooting at the retreating raiders. He looks over at Dany.

"Do we let them go?" he asked her. All things considered, Dany seemed to be the most level-headed of the Iron Fist, which is why they'd defaulted to her as the leader.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:43, Wed 04 Nov 2015.

Jheridan watches as the fliers turn and begin to make their way back to land.  With precise movements, reloads both if his magelock pistols while watching for any of the enemy to change their mind and seek revenge.

Once they are far enough out that risking a shot would be improbable he turns to look over his companions.
"Well, that was an adventure.  Anyone need help to the medic?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 22:30, Fri 30 Oct 2015.

Hauling the hooked flier onboard, Tealon can't help but marvel at the wings and searches for if they are grown or machinery and if the latter, how to separate from the body.

With others helping Katrin get the remaining floaters out of the water, the inquisitive Thurian sets about his studying. Now, let's see how these work! Danyka, I'll be downstairs if you need me. I'll try and keep them intact, or at least the others whilst I see how these work. Anyone joining me?

He waits a moment then after unhooking his grapple bolt and sorting the line out to dry, he drags the wings down to his lab, the wagon.

14:24, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 13 using 1d20.  Research of the wings from a flying attacker.
Unsure which plus to use. This is basic score.
(Knowldge Mechanica +12, Knowledge Engineering +6, Disable Device +3)
(Craft Mechanica +11)
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:45, Wed 04 Nov 2015.

Only Creswick and the captain were injured.


Tealon's engineering skill is the one that comes into play as he studies the flyers' wings. They are, indeed, mechanical attachments. It's clear enough that the wings are powered by the flyers' own arms, but they can also be fixed for gliding... or hovering? Learning any more detail will require a lot more study.

Danyka frowned slightly as she watched the remaining winged men fly away.  Eyes downcast, the Rynnish brunette noted simply, "Let them go.  We can't catch them all... especially if they split up."  Likely the enemy already knew of their presence.  She knew full well that if the birdmen weren't allies of Azultec then they would likely just head home to lick their wounds.  If they were associated with the Azultec, then the Azultec already knew they were coming (and now just had better intelligence with respect to their position).

She pursed her lips for a moment and then gave no one in particular a slight shake of the head as she had once again likely failed tactically.  But that was par for the course for her.

Then Dany nodded to Tealon, as the Arcane Mechanik moved to retrieve some of the fallen enemy, presumably for study.  Even has he headed down below decks, the Llaelese initiate of Morrow moved to see to the wounded.  Both Creswick and the Captain of the Resolute were injured and needed to be tended to.

---

OOC:  Dany will cast CLW for those that need it (either from her spells or from her wand), as necessary.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:27, Tue 17 Nov 2015.

Spending so much time on researching, first the steam gun and then the wings, Blaster almost misses mixing powder and making ammunition, almost he thought to himself.

Without practicing and testing, which would mean on deck with a rope or on land, the Thurian Mechanik felt it was time to take a break from the wings. Having thought of sending his tiny mite servitor up the grapple cord, he had an idea. Was it possible to have the tiny mite go into the original steam chamber tand then have it draw the insides! Then he remembered how small the hole was and that he'd already used mirrors and lights to look inside, it was the sealed chamber he needed to check.

Having decided not to mess, Tealon got hold of his 'improved' prototype steam gun, ready to test it up on deck. First he went through the drawings and reviewed all the seals and valves. Grabbing the contraption, he went for permission from the Captain to play practise test the gun, giving it a tweak or two in the process.

{Private to GM: the roll is in case you want a roll against anything if want another, let me know}
22:41, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 12 using 1d20.  In case its required.
(Craft Steam is my lowest at +6, the rest that are relevant are >+10

Both the captain and Creswick need a shot from the wand. Their injuries weren't life threatening, but it would have slightly handicapped them to go about their tasks.


No one needs Jheridan's help to the medic as the medic goes to the injured.


Tealon begins his studies of the wings that the attackers wore. He quickly ascertains that they are mechanical in nature, confirming his prior evaluation. However, there is nothing about them that he can find that should enable the wearer to fly!

He has to be joined by Gorren and Rrger before the three of them can figure out what is going on. It appears as if the wings are made of bamboo and silk, of rather amateur construction. There's not a lot of skill put into them; certainly no design or embellishments. They are very... functional.

It isn't until the entanglements are removed and the harness that held the wings on the body is removed that some small enlightenment occurs. Setting the wings on a table, everyone is surprised to see the wings float up to the ceiling!

Unless the effect is caused by magic, then the wings shouldn't be doing that. Since there are several sets of wings to examine, pulling the wings off of the harness seems like a reasonable course of experimentation. And the harness promptly floats up to the ceiling.

The harness is composed of straps that go around the chest and over the shoulders, firmly fastening the wings in place. The straps go through simple buckles on the wings.

The straps are then fastened together on the chest with a buckle arrangement.

Examining the straps more closely, it can be determined that they are made of some sort of metal. It's a metal unfamiliar to everyone.


Meanwhile, the ship has resumed its course. It isn't long before sights of the Azultec begin to appear in earnest--step pyramids that stand higher than any other building in the town. Towns are small, perhaps just above village, and the step pyramids get larger as the towns get larger.

Teal on casts Detect Magic on the harness and wings to confirm the supposition that magic is involved. Nodding at the outcome, he smiles at his fellow researches.

Neither the wings nor the harness detect as full-blown magical! However, the harness seems to have a trace of magic to it, which precludes it being masked by magic.

He doesn't think it's residual magic that occurs when the magic finally wears off on an enchanted item. That pretty much leaves some sort of extra-planar material.

"So that's what it looks like!" Gorren said after Tealon indicated it might be extra-planar. "I mean, I'm just guessing here, but this floating business... well, I think that might be Nth metal. Lessee... that's what the Dwarves call it, though I don't know why. What was the other word someone used? Nether-something... oh, yeah, got it. Netheranium. Does that ring a bell with either of you?"

"If I recall correctly, it was supposed to have anti-gravity properties. With it floating that way, that's what made me think of it."

"Doesn't ring a bell to me although my studies only briefly touched on Planar things. I need to pay more attention to teachings. Maybe its hidden somewhere in the back of my mind but that does sound plausible Gorren."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:12, Sat 28 Nov 2015.

<orange>Now that the first of the holiday madness is behind us...<orange>


As the ship continues on, you start to see more and more 'civilization' of the Azultecs. Observing them from a distance, it quickly becomes obvious that the flying men that attacked may not be Azultec. Or at least of a different clan.

The flying men had lighter skin and wore different clothing and had strange tattoos. Of course, that might have also been some sort of special 'para-military' cadre.

Getting nearer to the center of Azultec civilization, you start seeing boats... no ships... just, apparently, fishing boats, though there are also boat shops, boat houses, and boat transports.

Keeping your distance, you sail past the main city without realizing it... and have to sail back to it. It isn't until you sail back, getting a bit closer due to the incoming tide, that you spot the ship. It's anchored in a cove in an island.

Danyka watched the Azultec coastline with keen interest.  She kept her spyglass handy (well, more handy than even stowed simply in her haversack) by keeping it in hand as the ship sailed.

When the finally spotted the other ship, their actually quarry, the thin Rynnish gun mage pursed her lips.  She made her way up to Captain and pointed out the island, the cove, and then noted, "Could be a trap..."  But then she seemed to come to a decision internally, "But those that never dare, never win."

"How quickly can we make it over there?" Dany prompted Grant, even as she scanned the island for other places that might allow a boarding party to approach from a different direction; a two-pronged assault option was never a bad thing.  It split the Iron Fist up, but all of them had been trained to operate with a certain amount of autonomy.  Or in the Llaelese gentlewoman's case, had been co-opted into the regiment due to such displays of autonomy (and the rather unfortunate circumstances that might have resulted because of those willfully independent-minded choices)...

Then Danyka called down to Tealon, "Mr. Holdron, what about those flying harnesses?  Care to try and make use of them?  And how many of them were we able to salvage?"  She'd obviously leave it up to the discretion of the Arcane Mechanik and whatever he was comfortable with - though a three-pronged assault option was even better...

Hearing the Gun Mage shout down to him, he searched around his wagon for pieces and completed equipment.

"We salvaged three harnesses although two are certainly still working, the third just needs a little work to put back together". Thinking on, he added "We have an improved steam gun too, lighter and more powerful, plus it works. The original also works.

Are we going to test them out? I've practiced a little with a harness, unsure how well anyone would perform without more time. Willing to give it a go though. How about you guys?" Tealon didn't even think to mention their names as the other mechaniks were next to him.

"I'll be up shortly".

Fixing a harness onto his back, the inquizitive mechanik tested it out again before heading up on deck with the other set('s) and the newer steam gun. He wanted to see if it would take his weight and the equipment. He'd have to be outside for that to happen. Failing that trial, at least they'd know what they could take.

Whom ever had a wingman harness on couldn't be as agile in the air as those they had gotten them from, but an advantage is an advantage after all. He took his trusty crossbow, loaded it and took a spare box. He wasn't going to be caught off guard.

"Danyka, I am ready. The harnesses seem to have a levitation effect, allowing us to float, the wings are for creating propulsion like oars on a boat. Let me demonstrate"

Francis was confident in his own abilities but he was still wary of being caught but a gust of wind. He has always been one for 'just doing it' and let the outcome justify the experiments, hence the explosion at the monastery, in the manor house, the barn catching fire etc. He always succeeded though in discovering 'something'.

Francis, being the salesman that he was made a big show of it. "Stand back, I don't want to catch anyone off guard and knock them in the drink"… He spread the wings and kept. Uuummm he thought. Try again. "That was to make you aware, now for real"…

He kept upwards, no weapons, just the winged harness and flapped the wings as he had tried when testing the apparatus. Unsteadily he rose but barely. He tried a third time, this time rising quickly into the air, astounding himself, he wove around the ship and enjoyed the freedom from the bucking, rolling motion of the ship, then went back down to the desk again. The landing could have been better but he was safe.

12:27, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Fly.
12:27, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Fly.
12:29, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  Fly

Danyka watched with more than a modicum of skepticism as Tealon claimed to understand the harness and wings enough to use them.  And that pessimism seemed to be have been borne out initially as there appeared to be more than one abortive attempt by the arcane mechanik to fly.

But, her fears appeared to be unfounded as the man appeared to actually get the hang of it.  And on the third attempt, Tealon both took off and landed without too much incident.  "Well done, Mr. Holdron." Dany gave the tall, thin Thurian his due.  She shrugged slightly, "If you feel up to it, then by all means, be our eyes in the sky."

The raven-haired Rynnish gun mage would likely have to try a pair of the wings out herself at some point.  But, there wasn't time right now, in her opinion.  Her gaze drifted back to what she could only assume was the borders of the Azultec Empire.  And the lost Cygnaran ship.

With a deep breath and slight sigh, the thin Llaelese woman informed the Captain of the Resolute, "It's now or never.  We'd best on our way.  Make landfall on the island with our boat.  Near, but not in the cove, if possible...  The sea looked so calm for the moment...

The calm before the storm Danyka mused silently to herself.

Blaster my new, blaster by trade. The now winged eager Mechanik only nodded and smiled at his accepted leader, noting the totally unnecessary (in his mind) concern on her face.

Folding the wings in and with a confident step, Tealon went to get his granades, exploding bolts, repeating crossbow and the new steam gun then headed back on desk. He then tested the levitation effort with the different weapons, his own, the improved Rish gun and the wings. Truly an international configuration.

Watching the landmass looming before them, Jheridan checks and rechecks his pistols.  Murmuring to them under his breath be smiles as if having a friendly conversation with friends.  That done he grips the rail and waits calmly for the order to disembark.

You saw some islands like this in the sea around Zu; Rish was one of them. Here, though, the islands are far more numerous. Even the nature of them is a bit different.

The northern islands weren't as high and were usually greater in circumference, but they were still rocky.

These islands in the south are higher, smaller around, but equally as rocky... perhaps more so.

The island where the ship is anchored is tight crescent shaped with a small harbor. You only spotted a dozen houses on the shore of the harbor, probably because there isn't much beach/shore to begin with. The rest of the island juts up out of the water almost shear, though the appearance from a distance is misleading. Under the spyglass, it looks like it wouldn't be two hard of a climb up the backside of the island.

So you have a few approaches: anchor off the backside of the island, take a boat to one of the horns of the crescent, and climb up and over. Or you can try approaching the ship from the sea in a boat... in the dark.

You did spot a watch on the ship; they looked like local warriors/soldiers.

"Danyka, those cliff seem really steep, if we go around the back, maybe there will be a shallower gradient or once aloft, I could take a rope and grapple up after checking for guards, what say you?"

The winged 'lookout' as gunmage had named him, well the second bit anyway, was ready for this.

Tealon's thoughts went back to the cliffs. "Danyka, I'm going right now, I have a feeling the locals are not confined to that island. I shall check and report.". Immediately calling forth the words, having already gathered and attached his weaponry, he went Invisible then Mage Armour as the Arcane Mechanik felt it wise to leave the great cloak in favour of weaponry, then attempted to take flight before leaving the ship.

00:35, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  Fly.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 00:40, Sun 27 Dec 2015.

No, the locals aren't confined to that island. There's a huge sprawling city on the mainland, about two miles away. You'd passed the back side of the island on your way past the city. The edges of the crescents aren't as steep as the back.

The city has grown up the side of the mountains a bit. This close to the sea, they aren't really mountains--just steep craggy hills.

The city has also sprawled out into the sea in the form of a boat city. 500 or more boats are anchored in the bay of the city, all interconnected by walkways and ropes.

When you passed by the island the first time, you were far enough out to sea that you hope the people in the city might not have spotted you.

It was only when you were coming back that you spotted the missing ship. That's because the south side of the crescent isn't quite as tall as the north side, so the tops of the ship's masts were visible from the south.

Being cautious of the unknown yet flying straight into it with gusto and eagerness, Tealon's usual brashness drives him to rise high, to fly high with weapons filling his duffle bag that swang tightly at his side.

The freedom of the sky and the potential threat from ahead, the anticipation of recovering the lost ship and maybe even rescuing the crew, if they need rescuing, lifted his spirit.  What could affect him, his unflappable nature supporting him, he was hidden from sight and could detect the thoughts of those around him, could even understand the language thanks to the gift bestowed upon him by the leader of the Rish peoples.

Remembering what he was capable of and what responsibility he has had placed on his shoulders, The tall slim Thurian searched the rocks ahead, the rising land and looked high to reach a spot where he could circle and use his spyglass.

By Angellia & Corben, I shall not let you down Iron Fist members, I shall do all that I can for you and the mission.  He knew they couldn't hear him but the thoughts still went through his head.

The captain puts the ship's boat into the water, and Danyka, Jheridan, Ioelenna and Nicollo climb down into the boat. Unfortunately, Bosh and Rrger are too large to fit in the boat, but they are better at defending the ship if necessary any way.

Katrin is left in charge, as she seems to be the one that understands the defense and the mission the best.


Tealon soars into the night sky with relative ease if not quite experience yet, and discovers two things that he didn't realize before: moon and night breeze.

At the moment, the moon is on the horizon but rising. He has to make sure he doesn't fly between the moon and the ship, or else he's likely to be spotted.

There's a slight breeze coming off the island, which makes it just a little bit harder to approach. But he's able to fly high enough to avoid them.

The best he can see is that there might be a villa or perhaps just a farmstead or fishing huts on the island--three buildings all about the size of a cottage. There's no activity in or around them that he can see.

On the ship, he counts six guards on watch. There are four stations, and there are two always on the move, going from one station to the next and relieving the guard there, who then moves on to the next station. There doesn't seem to be any set timing for this. When there are two guards together, they stop and chat for a minute or two.

The stations are two aft and two fore, two port and two starboard.

The guards do not appear to be wearing any serious armor... maybe hide vests. They carry a curved sword tucked into a belt (no sheath) and a hand axe. Plus they have short bows.

"I am so glad I am invisible, otherwise that moon could give away my position. Best not get too close to the boat, not sure these wings are quiet enough, but I am closer to them than the ship guards are." Tealon observed with his inner monologue.

Flying back down to the ship and the launch boat the Iron Fist had taken, Tealon tried to stead himself to be beside the smaller boat.

"Danyka, there are 8 guards split evenly over 4 compass points of the ship. No armour, axe, curved blade and shortbows, don't seem to be the proper crew.

On land there are a few farm cabins, unable to get more details. Will take your lead. Do you want a distraction on the top of the hill?"

The winged Mechanik voiced as quietly as he thought the breeze would allow without his words carrying across the bay.

Circling the small craft waiting for a response, ready to repeat louder if no reaction to his words was seen, the invisible scout tried to slow to only fight against the wind and thus then be steady-ish beside the leader of the band of rescuers as he now believed them to be.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:30, Wed 06 Jan 2016.

Danyka listened to Tealon's situation report and pondered for a moment as the invisible flyer circled, a pensive expression crossed her features in the flicking shadows from the moonlight upon the shifting water.  She knew that this group wouldn't be able to sail the ship necessarily, if they took it without the original crew.  Which meant that they really needed to find out where their countrymen were being held.  "The ship is useless to us without anyone to man it." the Llaelese brunette mused quietly.  From what she'd seen, more than the four of them were going to be needed to crew the ship - and that was assuming that they all knew what they were doing.  And Dany knew that she wasn't a sailor; far from it.

Which meant that ship might not be the first objective.  Unless they could determine if the crew were being held captive aboard.  Hopefully, they were still alive.

Danyka kept her eyes scanning forward trying to make out the details in the moonlight.  "No." the Rynnish gun mage finally noted curtly to Tealon's query about a distraction on the hill, "I need you to do another pass over the village and the ship.  See if you can determine where the crew might be being held."

"Then I want you back here.  Swooping." Dany ordered Tealon, "Your mobility better serves us as local sniper.  The night will still give you decent concealment, moonlight or lack of invisibility be damned."  They could split the enemy force or catch it in a two-pronged attack more effectively than if one of them were far away.  Besides once the fighting started, there would be more than enough distractions.  She figured that Tealon would be the least vulnerable target at that point.

As Tealon received his instructions from his leader, the thought of how long was left of his invisibility spell's duration, should be long enough to rise high again or a quick pass near the ship, may have to wait for a cloud to cover the moon, if there are any. At that moment he looked up and around, hope in his heart as always.

"Danyka, remember that I have grenades that burn and that explode. I also have bolts of similar measure. I can quickly return to the ship and get smoke granades for myself or one of you!". He left the last thought hanging. "My invisibility will be lost within a few moments, by Corben's grace cloud could develop or move soon and cover the moon for us, they are bound to have seen our ship when we saw them."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:19, Wed 06 Jan 2016.

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.

Soaring over the town, Tealon kept sweeping his gaze for signs of life,  danger and the sun starting to come up. The watchful aerial scout also glanced grow time to time towards the ships, his own far out around the edge of the rocks and the one in the harbour, checking for signs of disturbance.

OOC 03:42, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 19 using 1d20+1.  Spot Check.

Tealon keeps up his aerial patrol, and also keeps an eye on the ships. Nothing seems to be happening out there. He can't help feeling, though, that when the sun comes up, their ship will be easily seen. However, he quickly realizes that it only stands out from his high vantage point.

There was no sign of the locals being able to fly, though, so they wouldn't see the ship except by sea. He had no way of knowing how far out the fishing boats would go. They might not spot the ship going out, but would certainly see it coming back in.


Meanwhile, down in the hallway, Danyka listens at the first door. She doesn't hear any sound from beyond it. There's a symbol on the outside of the door, but the door doesn't seem to have any kind of lock on it, so it swings open easily enough.

It's unclear exactly what the purpose of the room is, but it has the rough appearance of an office. There is a desk and chair, a large brass brazier, a couple cabinets and shelves on every wall. The shelves are mostly stuffed with an assortment of books and scrolls.

There is a window in the outside wall, and a door in each of the side walls.

On the desk is a potted plant and a 3-pronged candelabra with half-burnt candles in them.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 171):

Ioelenna watches the ground below looking for a cool place to hide during the day.

Tealon has an ideal but unsure if it will be played on. Returning to the roof, he approaches Ioelenna.

"Would it be possible for you to get to the fishing boats unseen and tangle their nets? If the boats get out there" (pointing to the bay) "they may see our ship, so the longer their delay, the more time we have and the sun won't be too long before cresting the horizon, just hopefully long enough"

Watching for an acknowledgement,  the winged Mechanik then takes to the sky again to continue his watch. His takeoff felt perfect and the impression his was getting used to this took hold. He didn't however lax on his duties.

ooc: 1:14, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 23 using 1d20+3.  Fly check.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:24, Mon 18 Apr 2016.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 173):

Ioelenna pauses as she thinks it out.
" Maybe, seems like closer to the water maybe cooler during the day.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:16, Mon 18 Apr 2016.

In reply to Ioelenna Winterspire (msg # 174):

Tealon nods in acknowledgement as he takes to the sky. "I'll keep watch anyway and drop a a stone should anyway be close." checking he had a couple of small stones as he went.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 175):

Ioelenna takes the balloon down to the best hiding spot she can and then runs for a boat with nets or tarps in it.

Although Ioelenna had a good view from the roof, it wasn't until she was actually down among the boats that she realized how daunting a task it was that Tealon had asked of her. There were literally hundreds of boats.

Of course, now that she's near the boats, she also realizes that not all of them are fishing boats. Off to her left, for instance, there are maybe 30 boats tied together to form a small boat village. While those boats, at least those on the perimeter, could be cut loose and sent out, scuttling all the boats is the harder effort, and nastier. She has no way of knowing if all these people are 'evil', or just a few of the powerful and important people that seized the missing ship.

Some of the boats have nets folded up on them, but other nets are either laid out on the sand or hung up on racks. The folded up nets she can simply dump overboard. The floats on them will keep them from sinking, but it will take some effort to get them back aboard.

Then it occurs to her to take several of them, tangle them up, and push them out in front of the boats. The nets will then have to be retrieved and untangled before any of the boats can leave.

Unless she has magic that will help her, it will take about three hours to do all that.


Tealon continues his aerial reconnaissance over the area. It seems as if there are always people up and about even in the dead of night. He spots a few lurkers in alleyways, a couple of drunks that stagger down the street a ways before collapsing in a heap to sleep it off, and three others that are acting quite suspicious. There is a lone individual that suddenly appeared on a rooftop, and begins running across the roofs in order to jump the intervening street gaps between buildings.

The other two he spots are attempting to climb up to a third story window.


Danyka and Jheridan and Nicollo have examined the first room, and found nothing of significance, though the books and scrolls could be of interest.

Checking the doors on either side wall shows that they just go to a closet, but there's a connecting door presumably to the next room. Opening those doors confirms that.

The closets contain an assortment of odds and ends: brooms, buckets, mops, crates, a shelf that wraps around most of the closet on which are an assortment of bric-a-brac--some vases, statues, figurines, pots. Underneath the shelf are hooks for hanging coats and scarves on, as there is one light coat hanging on one such hook, and a thin fringed scarf on another.

You now know that all the rooms interconnect by way of the closets. You still find it odd that there are no locks on the doors.

Mentally numbering that room as #1, you find similar appearances in Rooms #2, #3, and #4. Only rooms #5 and #6 are different. Both of these rooms are corner rooms at opposite ends of the floor.

#5 does not have as much clutter. There aren't even as many shelves. One wall is completely shelf-free, and has a painting hanging on  it--very vibrant colors on black velvet. It's a painting of a man in fancy regalia. Back home, this would probably be a picture of the king.

The desk is of better quality: larger, more opulent wood, detailed carvings, several drawers. An inkpot and quill sit on desk, there is a small open wooden box on the left and the right. The left has blank parchment sheets in it. The right one has parchments with writing on them. There are half a dozen parchments sitting in front of that box. You can clearly see that the ones in the box have a signature at the bottom, while those not in the box do not have a signature.

Room #6 is a mystery. It would appear to be the same size as the other rooms, and even though there is no lock on the door, the door does not open when you try it. Instead, a rune on the center of the door suddenly springs to light!

Danyka's furrowed brow grew as she, Jheridan and Nicollo swept through the first five rooms.  She had quietly stowed a couple of books and scrolls from the first room in her kit bag for inspection later, but didn't touch anything on the opulent desk in the fifth room.

The young Llaelese gun mage did pause for pregnant moment to assess and memorize the face depicted on the velvet painting.  In scrutinizing the figure, she tried to see if there was any resemblance to any of the Rish at all.

When the rune light up on the sixth door, Dany jumped back a step and had to stifle a startled cry.  She'd gotten soft, lulled into a sense of false security when the first five rooms and doors hadn't been booby-trapped.  The Rynnish gun mage grimaced at her own folly; a single, curt expletive that could only have been learned in suburbs of the Llaelese city of Merywyn escaped her lips.  Immediately, her left hand went to draw one of the magelock pistols at her belt, while the other hand grabbed for the hilt of the elven thinblade.

The raven-haired Llaelese woman pressed herself up against the wall and waited to see who or what might now be alerted to their presence.  Her eyes darted back and forth at doorways and down the hall, looking for both escape routes as well as listening for anyone that might be coming.

Souring above the city, Tealon kept a watch, showing small interest in those partaking in nefarious activities."If they were in my city, they'd have been reprimanded for obvious working of the buildings, they should know better, maybe there wasn't a guild!"he thought to himself.

From his high vantage point, he was glad that those out at night were concentrating more at eye level than to the sky. Thanking Corben for the quietness of the flight.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:12, Sat 07 May 2016.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 179):

Ioelenna thinks. What if I get closer and dive into the water. It should be cool and I would remain unseen. Is there a roof close to the water that would serve that purpose?


Spot: 16, Search: 13
This message was last edited by the player at 17:20, Sat 07 May 2016.

The image on the painting does not look like the Rish in manner of dress, but there could be a racial resemblance. It's hard to tell.

Danyka and the others go on alert when the rune lights up, but after a few minutes, there is no sound of anyone coming. The light of the rune wasn't too bright; it'd be hard to even see in the day time with sunlight coming through the window. After a few minutes, it fades away.


Ioelenna has no problem spotting a building built on the water. It appears as if poles were driven into the ground beneath the water to support the house and keep it above the water.

It's a bit tricky for her to get to it. On the other hand, since there is no one out on the docks this hour of the night, she could easily walk to it out in the open and would not likely be seen.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 181):

Ioelenna looks for a building near the water from which she can dive into the water stealthily.

In reply to Ioelenna Winterspire (msg # 182):

Tealon watched on with quiet interest as his pale skinned companion went about her sabotaging of the boats in the harbour. Ever watchful, he kept a watch out for nefarious inhabitants climbing the complex Danyka et al had gone into.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 183):

She looks for a building she can stealthy climb down from and then heads to the water trying to stay in the shadows.

Ioelenna has no problem moving to a building where she can climb down to the street, near the water. Slipping into the water is easy and refreshing, though the water is warmer than she expected. It's quite unlike the chilly northern waters.

There's still a few hours before dawn, so Ioelenna has plenty of time to sabotage the boats.

"Supervisor's office is my guess," Nicollo whispers, even though there isn't anyone around. "Though, I suppose it could be the treasure vault."

"Based on the layout of the windows, there should be a window there. We might be able to climb in through that window... unless it's also protected... or locked."

"Do you have any way to get around the rune?"

"How about you, Jheridan?"

"Is it worth trying to get Ioelenna and Tealon back here to help?"

Seeing loelenna enter the water without incident and with no one around, Tealon did a circuit of the city and the building his colleagues are in, he took close attention to movement on the edge where people may get up earlier to work the land or go fishing.

Spotting nothing out of the ordinary, the flying Mechanik took a rest atop the Administration building, sticking his head through the roof portal briefly to see if he could see or hear his friends, then sat for a few moments before taking flight again.

11:57, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 18 using 1d20+3.  Fly check.
11:57, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 12 using 1d20+6.  Listen Check.
11:56, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 7 using 1d20+1.  Spot Check.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 187):

I swim out to tangle up the nets.

Ioelenna tangles up many of the nets. She's not quite sure she's managed to get all of them, but certainly the outermost line of boats will keep the inner boats from getting out until the nets are untangled.


Tealon is able to fly around the town, keeping away from the few lights below. As with the previous hour, there is no one stirring... until he spots what he thinks are guards on patrol. They appear to be casually strolling through the streets of the town. He thinks they are guards because they are wearing the same uniform.

Every now and then they try to open a door... apparently just making sure it is locked.

Nicollo was still waiting to get an answer from Jheridan and Danyka.

He went over to the window and examined it to see if it could be opened.

"We're looking for the crew, right? I don't think they'd be behind this rune-protected door," he says, still whispering.

"Even if we could read any of these papers, it could take forever to wade through them to find what we want to know."

"I think it's clear now that the building is empty. We should head straight down to the lower levels. If the crew is here, that's where they'd be."

Tealon makes a sweep of the Admin building, luckily his crew went through the roof, so the guards won't find an unlocked door.

If the guards get too curious around the building, Tealon feels a few choice stones dropped or thrown down the start of a close by alley wouldn't go amiss.

Keeps watch and checks on Ioelenna

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 191):

Ioelenna looks for a place she can hide in the water and swims there.

From his vantage point, Tealon notices Ioelenna moving to hide "I will need to be wary of her getting caught out there when the sun starts to appear" he thought to himself.

Danyka finally allowed herself a chance exhale after a long moment.  She glanced furtively at the exit then back to the rune on the door.  "I..." the raven-haired gun mage admitted with a touch of chagrin, "have no Knock spell or its equivalent in my repertoire.  My magicks are more ... directly destructive."  And she left it at that.

As for contacting the others, Dany shook her head which made her dark black shimmering mass of hair bob, "I don't believe that we could really find them in time - even if Tealon might be more adept at bypassing this than any of us."  She shrugged slightly, "I do have tools and the some facility with mundane locks, though, if that might be any help."  Holstering her pistol and sheathing her sword with a slight flourish, the lithe, Llaelese woman reached into her pack and drew out a small well-worn leather pouch.

"Otherwise," Danyka agreed with her fellow gun mage's assessment, "the window might be the best option."  She glanced at the window and noted, "I do have some rope for that instead, as well."

"If we wanted to get in." she added.

But then Dany quickly agreed with Nicollo.  "Absolutely.  Our priority is the crew."  She motioned towards the exit, "We sweep downwards..."

As Tealon continues to provide aerial surveillance, he spots movement at one point. Looking in that direction, though, he can't see anything that would have caused it. However, because he's changing position as he flies, he puts himself into an angle where the starlight is more direct... and he sees a shadow move.

Observing it longer, he realizes that there are five shadows... seemingly men dressed in black and moving through the deeper shadows of the buildings. It's the dog-creature that concerns him. It looks somewhat like a dog... the shadow of a dog... or possibly a wolf... but it doesn't quite move like a dog. It moves more like a cat.

He has to watch it for a bit before he realizes that it is being controlled by one of the man-shadows, and even a bit longer before he thinks that it might be tracking Ioelenna!

The man-shadows occasionally glance up at the surrounding roofs, so Tealon has to be careful they don't spot him as a moving shadow in the sky.

=====================================================================================

Inside the building, the three of them move out of the room. While it seems possible that the warded room might hold prisoners, it doesn't seem reasonable, particularly with no guard posted. Then again, this is a strange culture; who knows what is reasonable here.

There didn't seem to be any significant difference between the two sets of stairs leading downward, so you take the stairs closest to that end.

The second floor seems almost like a copy of the upper floor. A few doors down here, though, have been left open. The rooms are less cluttered, more sparsely furnished and most seem to have an odd smell to it. In one room, the smell seems stronger, and you are able to track the source to some sort of hookah on the floor behind one of the desks. The smell is coming from some sort of substance in the hookah.

Quickly searching through the rooms just to make sure you don't miss anything, or that there might be someone there, you find some papers on one desk that catch your interest. On them are actual sketches of people. While you don't know any of the crew of the ship personally, these sketches don't look like any of the local inhabitants you've seen. There is some writing above and below each sketch, but it's not readable.

Swoopingawayand around to where he lastsawhis Elven companion, Tealon stays low and behind buildings where he can.

On arriving near the area Ioelenna was, Tealon speaks in a loud whisper "Are you there? Ere are figures coming this way and I think they have a tracking animal, how is your swimming as I suggest you head out and maybe around or close to that ship? Maybe find something under the jetty you can hide under but stay safe out passed the boats!

I'll try cause a noise for the to follow away."

Picking a couple small stones off the beach, Tealon tries to take off again running to gain speed and height quickly.

Once airborne he circles up and round again to be able to see near where the figures may be now and if spots then, throws a couple small stones near buildings in alleys heading away.

00:29, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 23 using 1d20+3.  Fly Check. critical success, just at the right time
00:32, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 20 using 1d20+1.  Spot Check. <I these dice rolls are on fire tonight</I>
This message was last edited by the player at 23:33, Fri 01 July 2016.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 196):

Considering I am not swimming to a place close to land and I am swimming out in the water trying to hide by the boats or a jetty. Ioelenna would just look for another boat or jetty or something else further from land. Using the water to keep her cool and to hide her scent from dogs.

Although Tealon makes some noise, the guards look in that direction, but unless they spot Tealon, they continue with what they were doing.

The hounds reach the edge of a pier and just stand there gazing in what appears to be Ioelenna's direction. When she moves silently through the water, they seem to be able to track her somehow, as their gaze continues to follow her.

Jheridan continued to stare at the papers, as if he could make them talk just by willing it.

"Well, we already knew that the crew had been captured. The ship told us that," he whispered.

"We guessed that this was some sort of administrative building, so it's not unreasonable that records of the prisoners might be here. It still doesn't confirm that they are being held here."

"It's a step in the right direction, though. We should continue down."

He glanced out one of the windows.

"It'll start getting light in another two hours. We're facing east, so the sun will rise early."

He was getting a bit antsy. Creeping through an empty building was just weird.

He led the way back to the stairs and down them... to the 1st floor.

Tealon watches as the dogs and 'guards' walk to the pier and seem to be watching Ioelenna's ever move.  They were not calling out or even appear to have actually seen her though, so the winged scout heads back to the Administration Building, willing those inside to have found their quarry by now and be heading back to the roof or out the front door.

Doing a quick sweep of the local area of the Administration Building, the tall Thurian ensures that the roof top climbers were no where close, nor any guards, then takes a rest for a few minutes, still being mindful of the surrounding roof tops.

Danyka followed Jheridan down to the first floor, lingering only for a moment longer at the vault door, the desk papers and then the hallway.  She seemed pensive, especially as they got closer to the ground floor.

"Unless there is a basement," she hissed quietly to her companions, "this is the wrong building..."  It seemed extremely unlikely that any holding cells would be on the first floor.  The thin Rynnish brunette cast another quick glance around at their surroundings.  The lack of patrols had her worried.

Less than two hours until daylight meant that they need to get a move on.  The timing left them very little chance to investigate any more buildings - even one's close by.  They needed more information; skulking around didn't seem to be getting them anywhere.

Tealon hopes the others inside the building won't be too much longer as he looks at the sky trying to work out how long before it starts getting lighter, this far south he knew the sun came up faster but not sure how fast or when. He also had concerns for his compatriot in the water.

The ground floor has the same layout, but there is clearly a difference here. At either end of the hallway, where the stairs are, there is a double door leading out. These wooden doors have a large glass pane in the top... for visibility.

The stairs at this end of the building stop at the ground floor; they don't go any deeper.

The hallway also has several benches in it, placed against the right-hand wall as you are facing rearward (you came down the front stairs).

Most of the doors on this level are open. Only two are closed.

The offices on this level have benches in them, and counters. One of the central room has a door along the side wall. It is locked.

One of the closed doors opens into a room that is decidedly different. The narrow room has a desk and a chair, and peg hooks on the wall opposite the desk. There is no window in this room. There is a door on that same wall at the end. It is also unlocked, but you realize that it kind of lines up with the locked door in the other room, but would be on opposite sides of the room that should be on the other side of the wall. There was no doorway from the hall that would give access to this inner room. The desk is mostly uncluttered.

As you approach this unlocked door, you hear faint voices. Opening the door as quietly as possible, you see that beyond is a 'room' about half the width you were expecting. This is because it is not a room, but a stairwell, with stairs leading down to the left. The door, of course, only opened onto the landing.

The voices are a bit louder, but still not enough to really understand them, even if you could speak the language.

==============================================================================

Outside, Tealon realizes that the creatures are not tracking Ioelenna by scent, since she is in the water, but via some other sense. At the same time, they aren't quite certain where she is, and they are either reluctant to go into the water, or else their masters aren't permitting them to.

As for masters themselves, they don't seem like they know what to do. They are whisper to each other.

Tealon works on how to dispatch the seekers of Ioelenna in quick succession without alerting the general populace.

It's been a while now with Ioelenna in the water and those with her stopping her movements, Tealon is not happy. So he swoops to a nearby building, keeping said building between him and his prey.

Once landed he creeps to the closer side of the building to get as close as he can. Tealon tries to see if at least one of these people is close enough for him to detect their thoughts. He also strains himself to hear what they are saying if anything.

OOC: Use a charge from his Ring of Detect Thoughts - target is the closest or if all close, which ever seems to be in charge.
Have translation disk

The creatures are the issue. They might be some sort of dog, but they seem to have an extrasensory perception ability. Since there is one handler for each creature, they might be a bit hard to handle, particularly when they are 'on the hunt'.

On the other hand, they seem reluctant to enter the water, though they are on leashes and the handlers haven't turned them 'loose'.

Tealon's 'Detect Thoughts' has no problem picking up the one handler's thoughts. He's wondering what could have gotten the vranks' attention, as they are usually only riled up by criminals. Since he can't see any signs of a criminal in the water, he's wondering if it's some sort of large fish... perhaps a dread or a mola mola, maybe even a conger.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 206):

Prepare self. If the creatures are still there when the sun starts to come up, either an Incendiary Grenade here or a fire on the further side of the town.

Danyka pursed her lips for a moment.  Wrong damned building... she cursed silently to herself.  From what she could gather from the sounds and spacial layout, this would be not a holding cell or guard room but a reception or sergeant's desk.

For a moment, anger flared in the raven-haired gun mage's eyes and her hand darted to the waiting hilt of the long Elven blade at her hip.  She couldn't hear more than a couple of distinct voices and they didn't contain urgency.  The three of them could get the jump on them.  The Llaelese maiden's fingers clenched reflexively and her gaze darted from the door and the voices beyond to her companions and back.

But then her hand relaxed and she held out an open palm downwards for them to hold fast.  Dany then held a finger up and motioned for them to retreat back up the stairs.  She started back on her way out.  As she passed Jheridan and Nicollo on her way, the thin Rynnish gun mage hissed quietly through gritted teeth - obviously frustrated with herself more than anything, "We've wasted enough time here.  This is not where they are holding the crew..."  She intended to leave the building and make her way back to the others and the Resolute to regroup.  They'd have to pick another spot again tomorrow night or some such.

Unless by some miracle (and she did believe in them as a devout follower of Morrow) the location of the crew magically presented itself to them immediately, they needed to get gone from this place and without being discovered.  Killing anyone unnecessarily seemed too great a risk, no matter how good it might make her feel in the short term.

Dany knew all too well how much trouble a rash decision like that could get her into.  The scar on her jaw throbbed lightly, the pink skin prickling as she tried to make her way back to the roof where they had come from.

Just as Dany is about to leave the room, a loud yell from down the stairs gets her attention.

"Morrow curse your heathen souls!"


It was in Llaelese!

Danyka pursed her lips and a single, plaintive (and specifically Llaelese) expletive escaped her lips.  She took a deep breath, let the silence and stillness hang in the air for a moment.  Then immediately, turned on her heel and started back down the stairs.  She slipped by the two other gun mages accompanying her, even as the wickedly curved Elven blade made it into her right hand with a flick of the wrist while simultaneously, a magelock pistol appeared in her left hand.

Her hand had been tipped, both figuratively and literally, it seemed.  Lady Fortune was fickle today, it would likely seem to the casual observer.  But, lithe Rynnish initiate of Morrow knew better; divine providence had brought them here.  And they would make it count; here they would make their stand with her countryman.  If her Fate was to meet Morrow in the Shining Lands of the afterlife being slain in distant land for her beloved Llael, then so be it.

She'd not announce her presence, however.  An open door was invitation enough.  She pushed her way through and into what she hoped would not be an automatic disadvantage, like a ready-made ambush or killing zone.  But, Dany wasn't about to ask either Jheridan or Nicollo to do something that she wasn't willing to do.  Someone had to act; so, it might as well be her to enter first.  She intended to push forward enough to give her compatriots the chance to enter and act as well, if possible.

The raven-haired Rynnish gun mage didn't know what to expect, but she had some preconceived notions.  And the likelihood that the Llaelese was being spoken by someone that wasn't part of the crew they were looking for seemed low.  Any obvious assailants would be targeted first - and, of course, bullets weren't the only currency that Dany had in her arsenal ...

Tealon could not help but wonder if his companions in the building were OK, if they needed any help.

One thing for certain in the Tall Thurian mind was, if they hadn't started to surface soon and the sky started to lighten, then his hand would be forced and a fire on the far side of the town would need to be started to take people, early risers, from discovering not only the crew but the ship as well, after all, both ships were to be saved.

OOC: Bleh. Another lousy week. Seems like I went on vacation for a few days and somebody forgot to tell me.


The door was about halfway open, so Danyka pushes into the room beyond and immediately sees two guards sitting at a table more or less in the center of the room. They appear to be playing some sort of card game that requires intense concentration.

On the other side of the room, she can see the doors to what are probably three cells, since there is a small barred window in each door.

There are also hallways going down to the left and right in front of the cells.

In the center cell door window, she can see a bearded man, hands on the bars.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, you shrapheads! I... need... some... water!"

It seems right about then that he notices Danyka, even as the guards look up. They seem a bit slow on the uptake to recognize Danyka as 'one of the prisoners'.

The man in the cell suddenly lets out a blood-curdling scream, which further grabs the guards' attention.

==================================================================================

Outside, the men patrolling with the creatures seem to be stumped for a moment, as they contemplate what's out in or on the water that would grab the creatures' attention.

Finally, one pulls out some device from a pocket, puts it to his mouth and seems to blow on it. Nothing seems to happen.

But his thought is that he's 'summoning the boss'.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 212):

Whilst still watching the men and creatures, Tealon notices the whistle and decides it's time to start a distraction.

Taking to the air on the back side of the building, the winged Mechanik decides to live up to his nickname, 'Blaster'.

Taking wing, the figure aims for a suitably out of the way but close-in place to start a fire, then realises that, there are only 5 guards and two creatures. to GM {this is what I think you said reading back}.

Flying back and around, Tealon decides to use a distraction, in this instance, an Exploding Crossbow bolt fired hit to get distance.

Landing first to unfold his Crossbow and view the ships guards, he also decides to send an 'exploding' bolt whirring off to as far to other side of town back away from the waters edge, then whilst that catches as a distraction.

Collecting his thoughts, takes off to get the best aim for a Cone he can ready for Gear Barrage, normal bolt to the guard with the whistle when in sight "I've got to get Ioelenna safe and out of the water.


12:31, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 22 using 1d20+3 ((19))

Hoping to get a hit as far as he can as they fly half normal range (1d4 damage but I'm guessing would either hit a structure or floor and therefore haven't rolled).

12:34, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 11 using 1d20+5 ((6)).

To take out guard
12:35, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 10 using 1d20+5.  Crossbow Attack. {probably a miss although surprise and stationary?}

12:37, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 22 using 1d20+5.  Crossbow Attack.


12:38, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 6 using 1d8.  Crossbow Damage.
12:39, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 8 using 1d8.  Crossbow Damage.

Ooc: Edited to reflect actions after more accurate details having been received
This message was last edited by the player at 15:44, Sat 20 Aug 2016.

The ship is out at the island while Tealon and Ioelenna and the others are on the mainland. He's going to abandon Ioelenna and fly back out to the ship and try to take on everyone there?

How do you send Alchemical fire across town? I'm not aware of any spell that has that kind of range.

My bad, I thought the jetty with the ship was close by, no map to reflect this, sorry. No, no abandoning Ioelenna.


The Alchemical bolts, sorry, I must be getting Incendiary Grenades and flaming Bolts mixed up although I'm sure I read about them.

Editing post as new details mean wouldn't have occurred as said.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 215):

Ioelenna stares at one of the dogs and points. She casts her frost Ray power.

" The Cold never bothered me anyway. "

Ranged Touch Attack: 15, Damage: 11

Jheridan followed Danyka down the stairs as quietly as he could. He really had nothing on him that would make noise, and as long as he stepped carefully, he shouldn't be pretty quiet.

They had had no contact with the crew of the missing ship, so they had no idea what had happened. The ship didn't have any damage, which wasn't surprising since they had yet to see any large ships that could threaten a large ship, so it seemed likely that the ship had been boarded and the crew surprised. The real question was why?

Customs were the hardest thing to understand. Perhaps the captain had insulted the local ruler, and, by the local customs/laws, everyone on the ship was equally guilty. Or it could be more prosaic than that. Maybe someone on the ship killed a local... and again, the whole ship was accountable.

Those seemed more likely than the obvious one--someone here just wanted power, and saw the ship as a means to get that. That he could understand, though.

The three of them were all gunmages, so that was a likely course of action for them. Still, he doubted the efficacy of threatening the guards with a pistol that they probably had never seen before.

Danyka seemed reluctant to shoot as well, but when the prisoner screamed and drew the guards attention, it was the best distraction he could have hoped for. He pushed past Danyka quickly and stepped up behind the nearest guard and slammed the butt of his pistol against his head.


03:47, Today: Jheridan rolled 20 using 1d20+5 ((15)). Okay! That should hit.

03:49, Today: Jheridan rolled 6 using 1d6+1 ((5)). Damage

Tealon doesn't want to fire the exploding bolt too far away; it's only got a limited area of effect, and if it's out of sight of the guards, they may not even hear it, or be interested in investigating it.

He fires it off, up into the air to get a good arc, and is able to reload and fire a second bolt at the guard with the whistle by the time the first one lands with an explosion on the board walk.

The second bolt does hit the guard with the whistle because he is flat-footed (so no Dex bonus to his AC), and the explosion distracts him.

A quick third bolt also hits the guard, and he topples forward into the water.


Ioelenna contributes to the mayhem and chaos by firing a frost ray at one of the dog creatures. It's a little tougher than the guard, though, and doesn't lay down, but it whimpers and backs up a bit.


Although the guard in the jail isn't surprised, he is still flat-footed by the distraction, and Jheridan's tactic has the desired effect. He easily hits the guard on the back of the head as he's not wearing any kind of helmet, and the guard slumps to the ground.

The other one draws the strange sword at his belt and looks to attack Jheridan.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 218):

Ioelenna looks at the other dog and casts again.

Let the Storm Rage on.



Ranged Touch Attack:14, Damage: 8

Watching the whistle blower drop and the cold from Ioelenna's spell affect one of the dog things, Tealon aimed his hand at what the Arcane Mechanik hoped would be the most effective use of his spell.

Casts Gear Barrage at group for maximum effect
15:05, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 8 using 1d4+4.  Gear Barrage Damage. (Max. Damage in cone shape, Ref save for half Damage)

Dany pushed in, clearing enough space for the others to get by if they needed, but then hesitated.  There is always a moment like that.  At least when it came to the Llaelese gun mage.  Perhaps it was that she was at war with herself.  Perhaps it was just her cautious nature.  Whatever the cause, despite her naturally quick reflexes, Jheridan pushed in and engaged one of the guards first.

The thin Rynnish brunette's first instinct was to spray the room with dazzling lights.  But her companion's quick actions made her rethink her options.  Options which pretty much consisted of using her pistol (not as a spell focus, but as an actually incinderary device) , her pistol as a spell focus for a more directed dweomer than Color Spray, or use the pigsticker in her right hand.  Yes, the elven thinblade was an elegantly balanced and curved pigsticker, but a pigsticker nonetheless.

Danyka chose the simplest option.  Not as adept with the butt end of the pistol, she simply extended her arm and threatened the other guard.  Of course, much to her chagrin since the young Llealese woman didn't speak the language, 'a threat' ultimately had to lead to physical violence as the most expedient and convincing way.  Not that she was that convincing; really she was just trying to coerce the guard to submit.  So, Dany did a quick flick of the wrist to draw blood and nothing more.  She honestly hoped that he would yield, rather than having her actually try to run him through.  "Yield." she stated flatly even though she knew the man wouldn't understand.

She did try to see how the doors might be secured.  And if keys to any locking mechanisms might be divined...

---

OOC:  Here goes nothing...

  15:17, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 18 using 1d20+9.  Attack: Elven Thinblade.
  15:17, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 1 using 1d8.  Damage: Elven Thinblade - if necessary.
  15:20, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 14 using 1d20+10.  Intimidate/CHA check - if necessary/possible.

*sigh* no love from the dice today...

Ioelenna's rays of frost do affect the two dog-creatures because she can see them visibly shiver, but its not enough to knock them out or kill them. And since they can't tell where it is coming from, they have no way of knowing that they are actually being attacked.

Tealon's subsequent Gear Barrage isn't enough to kill any of these guards--they are a little tougher than that. But the damage is enough to drive them forward, and they topple into the water... along with the dogs.



Jheridan's hit to the back of the first guard's head did the trick, knocking him out.

The second guard drew his sword and was about to attack when Danyka brandished her gun and blade at him. Naturally he didn't understand what she said, and her actions weren't quite obvious. But when Jheridan pointed his gun at him, and then Nicollo stepped around from behind her with his gun levelled at him, the guard didn't figure the odds were much in his favor.

Coupled with the time of day (the middle of the night) so there would be no assistance from elsewhere in the building, he dropped his sword to the floor.

[Language <Zuan> "Who are you? What do you want? You'll never get away with this! The Archon will punish you!"] the guard says to her.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 222):

Iolenna aims her Ray at A guard in the water  and shoots wildly.

attack: 7
This message was last edited by the player at 05:39, Mon 19 Sept 2016.

The guard that's speaking is inside the building with the other characters...

Aiming once again with Crossbow, Tealon takes advantage of the floundering guards hitting one squarely in the torso, he's unsure if it's the back, side or front with all the splashing though and does little Damage.

ooc: 17:50, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 15 using 1d20+5.  Crossbow Attack. (yay)
17:51, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 1 using 1d8.  Crossbow Damage. (boo)

Danyka listen to the guard nonsensical words impassively, then nodded curtly.  His tone was obvious enough, and his actions clear.  The tall Rynnish gun mage continued to threaten the man with her cunningly, curved thinblade, the tip flicking in the direction of the door and away from the man's dropped weapons.  She hoped that the gesture was clear enough.  Her smile was a touch feral, showing just a bit more tooth than was likely reasonable for a proper Llaelese gentlewoman.

"Keep him covered." Dany motioned for Nicollo to continue covering her actions.  She stooped to scoop up the weapons on the ground (for safekeeping, of course) and deftly dropped them into her kit bag, where they promptly disappeared.  Then the young Llaelese woman moved to secure the unconscious guard's weapons (and deposit them in her haversack) before closing the distance to the cell door.

"The door.  Keys." the thin Rynnish brunette prompted in clear, crisp Llaelese.  The language she used was more for the prisoner's benefit than his captors.  She hoped that the prisoner might have some idea about any locking mechanisms as well as any keys that might be necessary and where they were located.  If she had her way, the guards and the prisoner would be switching places...

Keep firing Bolts.

ooc: 21:18, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 21 using 1d20+5.  Crossbow Attack.

21:19, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 7 using 1d8.  Crossbow Damage.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 227):

Ioelenna tries to find a way to swim near the building undetected.

Tealon has no problem hitting one of the watchmen with his crossbow. The shot topples him into the water, though it's uncertain if it killed him.


It's still dark, so Ioelenna easily swims over to the building without being detected, particularly by the dog-creatures that seem to have other concerns at the moment.


Back in the government building, searches the two guards, coming up with a set of keys. He then goes over to the cell and unlocks the door. Two of the crew exit.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes, ma'am!" the first man out of the cell says to Danyka.

"I'm Del Zarian, 1st mate on the Seacutter. This here's Liam Nall, gunner. Most of the rest of the crew is in the cells here, but they took the captain and Koss Murchins somewhere else. Koss was our trader. It didn't take him long to learn the local language."

"I don't know how you found us, but we was startin' to go stir-crazy."

"I gather this is a jail-break? Not that you ain't got the charm to get them to release us, but that pig-sticker you're wieldin' ain't all that charmin'."

"So what's the plan? You got a ship?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:41, Mon 24 Oct 2016.

Those in the water are no longer the targets unless they make too much noise.

Move to another building and fire again. Try to confuse them.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 230):

Taking aim at any of the guards still on land and those attempting to call for help, the winged protector fired fired the last of his Crossbow Bolts from the current repeater box.

The first shot just winging one, maybe deterring them from calling out, the other a solid hit.

11:53, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 13 using 1d20+5. Crossbow Attack.
11:54, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 1 using 1d8. Crossbow Damage.

11:54, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 20 using 1d20+5. Crossbow Attack.
11:54, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 6 using 1d8. Crossbow Damage.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 231):

Ioelenna thinking she is sufficiently wet to hold of the heat for now, climbs up on the deck and tries to enter the building to rejoin her group.

Danyka tipped her hat slightly, as she unlocked the door and opened it for her (formerly) captive countryman.  "I bet that you say that to all the Rynnish girls." she noted with a touch of playfulness in her voice.  Then her tone got more serious as the thin Llaelese gun mage prompted her companions, "Help me get them..." and she motioned towards the disarmed guards, "...into the cell."

Only once that was done, did the raven-haired Rynnish woman appear to relax a touch.  "Pleased to meet you, Del.  Danyka Ydrasyl," Dany introduced herself, "at your service."  She then gestured towards Nicollo and Jheridan naming them as well.  "We were sent from Immoren to find you, once your ship was officially overdue." Danyka explained quickly, before asking the two men, "Let's start freeing the rest of the crew.  And find your gear ... any idea where it is being held?"

As she moved to start free any more of the crew that she could find, "Our orders are to recover as much of the crew as possible."  Dany paused for effect, though she knew that Del already suspected, "Our ship is not far off outside the harbor.  The Seacutter is actually in the harbor... Though it is guarded."

Dany also started to try and formulate a plan to get everyone back to the Resolute.  But, of course, they needed to regroup with the others.  And find the Seacutter's captain.  As she contemplated, the tall Rynnish brunnette asked Liam and Del, "Mr. Zarian, what do Murchins and your captain look like?"

Scanning for his companion, he noted her in relative safety exiting the water and heading back to what they had decided was the main Administrative building.

Tealon kept watch on those in the water. Reloading the spare cartridge box and occasionally firing warning shots from different locations, Tealon kept them pinned down, extending and shortening the duration of the gap between shots but overall making it so at some point he could disengage and not be noticed for some time.

ooc: 6/20 Bolts used beforehand. Use another 8 bolts in the above manner; Total used 14/20 (full box cartridge of 5 + 1 loaded remaining - plus specials)
This message was last edited by the player at 09:11, Thu 20 Oct 2016.

"Don't rightly know where our gear be," Del replies, "but probably upstairs in the vault. They had some kind of court or something when we were brought in. Murchins said we was being detained as spies, but we just wanted to trade!"

"Ain't seen Murchins or the captain in a couple of months, but Murchins was tall and thin, with red bushy hair. He's probably even skinnier now, and his hair is most likely gray... if he has any left! And blue eyes! Ain't seen anyone here with blue eyes."

"The captain is... was... a bit heavyset, brown hair and bushy beard but no mustache. He has green eyes... a rarity here but we've seen at least one woman with green eyes."

"How many guards are on the Seacutter? We can probably take it back. They caught us by surprise. We wasn't expectin' no trouble. Killed out two men on watch with arrows."

"We owe them some payback."

=====================================================================

Ioelenna has no problem making it back to the building where the others are. After all, it's the tallest building in the area, probably in the entire city. It's still pre-dawn, she starts to see signs of people stirring... a light goes on in a few places, mostly down by the docks as the fishermen go out with the morning tide.

When she reaches the door, however, she finds it is locked. The others had entered through a roof hatch.

Once people start coming out to the fishing boats, the game is up, so as the first signs of life, the cat and mouse tactics being used by Tealon to pin the  guards down, will stop, he's been increasing time between shot, now at a few minutes.

The rest of the company seem to be taking an excessive amount of time, there won't be much more available to retake the ship if the group don't get back together soon.

Tealon, now a way off, takes to the sky in order to still fire a bolt and see both the top and front of the administration building.

"This will take some concentration" he thinks to himself.

"Are you up to swimming?" he asks the men.

"We can probably take a boat out close to the ship, but they have more guards. Which makes me kind of wonder. Clearly they aren't guarding the ship from you men, so who are they guarding it against?"

"I'm starting to smell politics here. Competing factions maybe?"

"You can't help us with that, though, can you? You wouldn't have understood anything they said."

"These people still don't know we're here, Danyka. I'm thinking it'd be a great idea if we could make them think it was the other faction. Damn. Except for the guards that were here. We certainly don't look like natives. It still might work..."

When Tealon sees the others coming out of the Administrative building, he will circle around to a building at the water front near the guards and fishing boats and drop an Incendiary Grenade onto the top of a building to cause a fire away from harms way as it spreads 10ft.

This should distract everyone and show the rest of the party where NOT to go.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 238):

" anything is better then this heat. "
She says as she begins to sweat in her wet clothes.

Tealon's incendiary grenade produces far more than he anticipated as the alarm of fire is soon waking up everyone in the area. This will probably also alert the men out on the ship and island.


Danyka and Nicollo usher the crew out the back door, as the front door would be too visible even in the dark. There's no moon, but it's a cloudless sky, and the starlight can still reveal things. It just won't penetrate the shadows.


Once near the main street, the group sees the fire and heads the other way, skirting the docks along back streets until they feel they are clear of the alarm.

Taking a fishing boat would be awkward, even though it would hold all of them. The better plan is to take two smaller boats. They may not be missed as easily as a fishing boat, plus it could easily be attributed to teenagers.


The best approach is to head out to the south of the island, letting the dark and the island keep the boats out of sight. You can probably find some place on the island to hide. If the local authorities have a brain, they'll expect you to try and take the ship again, so it'd be better to do it quickly.

As they head up out of the dungeon, Nicollo pulls Danyka aside.

"Their gear might be up on that vault we found," he says to her. "Do we want to try and open it? Will we need Tealon's help with that?"

"If nothing else, I'd rather not leave any of our gear behind so that they can learn how to make it themselves."

"Also, how do you want to proceed to find the captain and the merchant?"


He waits for a reply from her before his next action.

He'll go to the front door, and look around for Ioelenna and Tealon and see if there is any other activity. He spots Ioelenna, opens the door and gestures for her to come in, even if he has to call out her name.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 240):

"Again with too much, then again...at least it won't go out too quickly either!" Tealon whispers to himself then wheels around and heads for the Administration building.

Seeing Ioelenna entering the door, he's certain the others will be there about to leave too.

Danyka had been quiet for a long moment.  She addressed Jheridan first.  "There could be rival factions," the Rynnish brunette agreed, "but that is not the only reason to continue to guard the ship.  Pure paranoia also might reign.  They don't know that there aren't other similarly foreign ships on the horizon."  A rueful smile crossed her lips as she ventured, "It is not so outlandish..."  As they were obviously living proof of that.

"Still," Dany noted, pulling on her ponytail for a moment, "we now have the numeric advantage, as well as surprise.  We'll need to press it."  Time was not on their side, now that they had acted more overtly.  Dany hardly regretted freeing the crew.  Far from it.  But, such an action caused a necessary cascade of consequences.

Then she turned to Nicollo and the upstairs vault, "Absolutely.  My thoughts exactly."  Danyka shrugged slightly regarding the topic of picking the lock, causing her silky black locks to bob slightly, "Let me try first... it is most expedient.  Then we'll call in the arcane mechanik, if I fail."  She made it sound like the latter was a distinct possibility.

"I am not sure about finding either of the other two.  In case you hadn't noticed... I'm making this up as I go..." she brainstormed, "Even if they stick out like sore thumbs, that would still take time and a safe place to observe from.  Unless Tealon can, or already has, spotted them in his flyovers, we may have to come back.  They could be in any of the buildings here.  Even their dispositions are unknown."  Hell, she thought to herself, they could have even gone 'native' at this point.  Which would make extracting them all that more difficult.  "We'd need to find them fast, though - it won't take the authorities here long to discover that the rest of the crew has been liberated."

"Which means that ship will need to be taken pronto..."  Otherwise, they would lose the element of surprise.  Dany pursed her lips and started towards the stairs back up to the office and vault above.

From his vantage point, the flier could see the fire getting bigger, the people rushing towards it, some rushing away from it; out away from the fire the ship resting on the dark waters with desk lights showing small specks that are the guards; he saw the Administration building and yet no sign of his companions... "yet" he told himself.

Attempting something different, the controlled Mechanic loosened one of his contraptions, lengthened it and put it to his eye while gliding, an intricate maneuver but one he felt he could risk at this height whilst moving in a straight line.

He put the Spyglass to his eye and scanned first the ship, then the area around the Administration building, then the top of the building itself.

ooc: In case I needed to roll for these. Spy glass is x2. I doubt I'd need to roll for Roof as I'd be flying that way but did anyway, trust that one to go not so well, at least it wasn't a complete fluff. Crit pass just before it.

17:52, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 12 using 1d20+3.  Fly-Ship.
17:51, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 23 using 1d20+3.  Fly-Area.
17:48, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 6 using 1d20+3.  Fly-Roof.
17:46, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 16 using 1d20+1.  Spot-Roof.
17:46, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 18 using 1d20+1.  Spot-Area.
17:46, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 10 using 1d20+1.  Spot-Ship.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:56, Mon 28 Nov 2016.

Tealon can't see anything different about the ship. It's still anchored in the harbor out at the island. He can vaguely make out the guards, but can't be sure how many.

He spots someone at the back door of the administration building, but no one on the roof. In the dark and shadows, the person at the back is somewhat obscured, but Tealon doesn't think it's one of his group.

She'd only half believed the tales of the strangers... that someone would come looking for them. She was pretty sure they only half-believed it, too. Still, she'd been keeping an eye out on the Hall of Law fairly regularly, especially at night. It'd helped that her sortes castings had warned her something would happen today.

They had come. She'd been able to tell by their manner of dress. No one here could have dressed in that manner.

She'd been prepared to help them find their missing crewmembers, but somehow they'd found them just the same. They didn't know about the other two, though. She could help them with that still.

She slid through the darkness to the back door of the Hall, pausing to listen. Had they gone yet? The locked door was no impediment to her, twisting the lock mechanism with a simple cantrip.

She cautiously stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She was worried that they might attack her before she could explain.

She was easing down the hall to the dungeon door just as the new strangers came up from the dungeon. She stopped then, and raised her hands in front of her, palms outward to show that she was not holding a weapon.

She waited until someone noticed her.

"Greetings, strangers from across the Great Sea," she said in perfect Llaelese. "I am Khuno Manco... a shaman. I am here to help you free the rest of your crew."

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 245):

Tealon wasn't happy that someone had gotten that close to the building without him seeing, maybe it was the one he gad seen on the roof some way off.

Swooping over to the back of the building, he didn't see the person, maybe it was just a shadow he had seen. To be sure, he swooped around the building to be sure, then landed on the top, making sure he couldn't be seen. Taking a chance, he then opened the trapdoor and leaned in to see if he could make out the rest of his crew.

Tealon opens the trap door on the room, and peers in, but there is not sign of the rest of his companions. Then again, it's a 3-story building, and they were probably looking on the lower floors. Even after listening for a bit, he can hear no sound... at first.

A moment later, though, a faint sound reaches his ears. It's too faint and too indistinct to identify, but it is soon followed by voices that sound very far away, not very loud and distorted by echoes.

No one is more surprised than Jheridan to not only see this new person but to hear her speak in what sounded like native Llaelese. He could detect no trace of an accent, which, considering the person also appeared to be a native of this region, was most peculiar. Either this person was an uncanny natural linguist who had learned Llaelese from one of the missing crew, or else she was using the Tongues spell.

He guessed the latter. He had the spell in his repertoire, but did not currently have it in his mental queue.

"Greetings, Khuno Manco," Jheridan said as he stepped forward to greet this person. He kept his hand at his side, but did not put it on his gun. Spells could easily be cast from open hands like she was displaying, so he wasn't taking any chances.

"Your assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated, but why would you wish to do this for us? Have not your people captured and imprisoned them?"

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 248):

With a watchman's concentration, Tealon tried to focus on the words and the rough location, we're they this native tongue or that of his group?

What of the shadow too? After a few moments, he walked carefully towards the edge where he saw Ioelanna enter to see if anyone had exited or was going in that direction.

Danyka had whirled to face the newcomer, a touch dumbstruck.  Twice in one day, she'd heard her native tongue spoken in this distant land.  She eyed the woman in the doorway suspiciously, still brandishing her thinblade in her right hand.

More than content to let Jheridan take the lead with 'negotiations', Dany couldn't help but ask a single question.  "Llaelese..." the thin Rynnish brunette muttered to no one in particular - though Del was probably closest, "how is it that everyone here speaks Llaelese?"  It was almost too convenient.  Or not convenient (or coincidental) at all.

Yet after that vocalization, Danyka fell silent.  Khuno Manco needed to say more before they'd blindly follow her into the street.  They may not have many other options - but, as Jheridan had noted; they were pretty much ignorant of the political factions involved here.  It would be all too easy to be duped; if they hadn't already been ...

"You must have political factions where you come from," Khuno replied. "It is that way here as well. Not all of us thought it was a good idea to... restrain your people and your ship."

"The Thergal faction are greedy and power-hungry. They wish to send the country to war."

"I represent the Chasca faction. We desire peace. We were excited and pleased to engage in trade with you."

"Up till the arrival of your Seacutter, we had tales of northern lands, but we thought they were all myths."

"We have been on the watch for someone looking for the Seacutter and its crew. We did not realize that you would be so... discrete. That is why it took so long for me to find you."

Whilst looking into the hole in the roof, utilising his magical item, Tealon tries to detect thoughts of anyone nearby (if it works like that) and calls down as loudly as he thinks he can without being overhear by anyone in the street..

"If you can hear me, we need to get moving right now. I've started a distraction as people were starting to move around. The Seacutter may also be less guarded right now if you hurry."

Danyka regarded the foreign woman for a pregnant moment after she'd finished speaking.  Then the tall Rynnish brunette simply shrugged.  "Touché." she acknowledged simply, when the woman asked her semi-rhetorical question about differing political factions in Immoren; the fact was that pretty much all of the Iron Fist was forcibly conscripted into services - a reality that was directly a consequence of the political realities and scheming of the Iron Kingdoms and their divisive ideologies.

Unfortunately, they were still at the mercy of the warring factions here as well, it seemed.  The Llaelese gun mage took a deep breath, the tip of her blade lowering, though it was still held firmly in her hand, while she gave her name, "Well, met Khuno Manco of the Chasca Faction.  I am Danyka."  She introduced her companions (or allowed then to introduce themselves as they preferred), as well.

Dany whirled once more to face the doorway when they were addressed from teh outside.  Danyka paused at the door when their flying arcane mechanik's whisper emanated from the side then she tapped on the door in a light rhythmic beat that was distinctly Llaelese knowing that Tealon would recognize that an Immoren native was likely on the other side before she opened it.

Holstering her pistol for a moment and then grasping the handle firmly, she pushed and opened the door.  "Tealon." she simultaneous acknowledged and introduced him. "Lead on, Khuno Manco of the Chasca Faction.  Show us where the rest of the Seacutter crew and her captain are..."  Dany fell in behind her hoping that they were being lead into a trap and that she hadn't just signed everyone's death warrant.

In reply to Danyka Ydrasyl (msg # 254):

Recognising the signal Danyka had used in training and on ship, Tealon kept himself ready yet at ease.

"Danyka, the diversion I have had to set is working well but they may have it under control before the sun crests the hills. Time is running out.

Here, take this translator disk in case you come across any more natives, I meant to hand it you when we landed at this building but worry of the locals finding up superceded my thoughts.

Ah, the shadow I watch criss the roofs and streets, I take it you speak our tongue since I heard accented speech which could only be you Khuno Manco. Well met.

I shall keep look out, please hurry."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:50, Fri 06 Jan 2017.

Khuno lead you out of the building, and down some of the darker side streets. When you come to a wide avenue, she stopped and pointed down the avenue in the direction away from the sea.

"That is the Promaxim's estate. Verlo Granex is holding your captain and trader there. He wants to learn all the secrets that they have. He believes he can use these machines of yours to take over this country and then conquer Zu as well."

"Learning these secrets has been a slow process because there is not only the language barrier but the lack of understanding of basic concepts."

"Verlo, however, is a patient man."


Looking down the avenue, you can see a cliff with a large villa-style structure perched atop it.

In reply to Khuno Manco (msg # 256):

"If we take the ship now, the guards at the estate will be increased, if we go to the villa and take back the ships crew and captain, we should be able to take back the ship by force rather than stealth. We have to be careful that they don't spot our own ship.

Unless anyone has any other suggestions, I'll let our captain know what's going on and that he has to go further out to sea and we'll get back to him with the Seacutter."

Tealon takes to the sky once more to keep watch, report, then head back to his ship. Reports to the Captain, eats, drinks, restocks crossbow bolts and heads back to the others (15mins max with any luck)

23:49, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 15 using 1d20+3.  Fly-After Leaving Admin Building.
23:49, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 17 using 1d20+3.  Fly-Ship.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:50, Tue 10 Jan 2017.

Dany nodded curtly to Tealon and his plan to update the Resolute.  She suspected that there were other motives at play, but let it go.  "Make sure that you reconnoiter the target on the way back." the thin Rynnish brunette ordered ... or rather suggested strongly ... to flying mechanik.

She turned to their local guide, "Thank you, Khuno Manco.  Will you wait here?  Or do you wish to accompany us?"  Danyka knew that she could do no more or less than offer.  "Is there anything else that you can tell us that might help us on our rescue mission?" the Llaelese gun mage prompted the Chasca faction representative, "Anything that might be able to use as leverage against the Promaxim?"

Lastly, Dany turned to Jheriman, Del and Nicollo.  "Okay," she noted thoughtfully and quietly, "Let's do some of our own reconnoitering.  We need to know as much as we can about who and what is guarding that compound, if anything.  Don't do anything stupid, but the more information we have the better.  Pair up." and she gestured to the four of them, "Meet back here in 10 minutes."

---

OOC:  Dany also has Profession: Scout, if that is appropriate.

  14:51, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 11 using 1d20+6.  Hide/Move Silently Check:  As needed.
  14:51, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 13 using 1d20+7.  Spot Check: as needed.

Not stellar.  Hopefully, someone can roll better than I can...]

In reply to Danyka Ydrasyl (msg # 258):

As a Mechanik, he didn't always notice the subtle changes in human tone, different it it was the tension in metals or the crackle of energy along a conduit, he took the curtness as just an order from his leader and why not!

Arriving at the Resolute he quickly located his targets. "Captain, I know the sun is about to rise but we've got some if the crew back, a local faction Representative who is on our side is helping locate the rest. Danyka agreed with me to ask that you go further out as the people are waking. We'll get back with the Seacutter and crew...or I'll get back to you.!"

First awaiting a response from the Captain, the Crossbowman restocked his ammunition as he was low on standard bolts, got a quick bite in the shape of fruit whilst restocking then took back to the sky and did his job, to make sure all was safe for the Iron Fists.

12:22, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 9 using 1d20+1.  Spot Check.
12:22, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Fly-Ship.

At least he got into the air and back to the group, could probably only see the crowd

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 259):

Seeing the distraction he had caused starting to be controlled, even if the fires were still causing issues and not stopped, Tealon could still see that all around the admin building, nobody was any the wiser of their presence. Landing, thw high flying Mechanik reported back to Danyka for the next move, rescuing the rest of the crew and the Captain.

On seeing Ioelenna, a smile and nod was sent her direction, he was glad she got away unscathed.

"Danyka, the Captain is moving away and awaiting further contact from us. Are we away?"

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 260):

Remembering something said previously...

"Ioelenna, hows the temperature doing for you, still bearable for now?"

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 261):

Iolenna shrugs.

" I am still wet, which helps but as soon as I dry it will be unbearable quickly. But, I will do my duty. "
This message was last edited by the player at 03:34, Sun 05 Feb 2017.

In reply to Ioelenna Winterspire (msg # 262):

Tealon, ever dutiful nods to Ioelenna "maybe we should hurry then" and takes to the air as soon as Danyka suggests they are off.

Danyka nodded in agreement that they should get moving.  However, she does want to make one more reconnaissance sweep.  She can't help the niggling feeling that going in guns ablazing with out just a little more intel isn't just a little to reckless (even for her).

She pauses in a tree just to watch the grounds of the target mansion with the intent of making sure that an ambush isn't just around the corner...

---

OOC:  Dany still has Profession: Scout, if that is appropriate/helpful.

  00:28, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 10 using 1d20+6.  Hide/Move Silently Check:  As necessary.
  00:29, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 34 using 1d20+17.  Spot Check: as necessary (+1 Grit Point).

Danyka will burn a Grit Point to enhance her spot check, just in case.]

In reply to Danyka Ydrasyl (msg # 264):

From his high vantage point, he barely notices the group stop to check out the premises with it still being relatively dark, he was acutely aware that the sky was getting lighter though, maybe a hour or two before sun up, which would also explain why the city fishermen were starting to rise.

Circling lower just to ensure he did see right, that the group had stopped for a moment, then swooping high to get a clearer over view of the location they were going to, Tealon felt it was almost time to just let the wings carry him in a glide, moving forward needed the use of arms and they were a little tired from all the climbing.  Once high enough, the flying Mechanik soared high around the mansion and relied on circling to get some rest.  "It was very peaceful up here" he thought to himself.

The cliff face is more intimidating up close, even though it is only around 100 feet high. A compound/villa has been built at the top, which Tealon estimate holds about 200 people. Maybe half of them are soldiers or guards, based on the size of the barracks he spots. At this hour of the night, however, there is almost no activity in the compound.

There are two guards on the upper wall (20 feet higher than the top of the cliff).


Danyka spots the two lower guards. The ramp up to the clifftop is clearly manmade, and goes up about halfway before it becomes a series of four switchbacks. This was done to reduce the incline; if it went straight up, it'd have to be so steep no one could climb it.

About 20 feet from the cliff top, the ramp ends at a portcullis. Access to the upper level appears to be internal.

While climbing the cliff in the night is possible, there simply isn't enough time.

The guards on the upper wall are 'patrolling'--that is, they don't stand in one place, but walk the length of the front wall, turn and walk back the other way.

The lower guards also don't stay stationary, but pace back and forth in front of the portcullis... no doubt to keep from going to sleep.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 266):

Seeing how, if this would have been a trap, there would be a welcoming party hidden behind those walls and Tealon could see no one except the two pairs of guards, Tealon felt it time to land and give his observations.

"Danyka, I don't know about you but are you sure about this? Doesn't seem to be a welcoming party, so I cant't see an ambush coming, not that once caught on this path, we wouldn't be sitting ducks anyway."

Speaking to their 'guide', "Khuno, are we expected and is the welcome likely to be amicable?"


The Mechanik wasn't always good at sensing the mood of others but he watched Khuno intently while she replied, for signs of subterfuge.

17:39, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 17 using 1d20.  Sense Motive.

"I don't see how we could be expected," Khuno replies to Tealon. "While there are a few of us that half-expected another ship to show up, as far as I know, I am the only one that actually knows you are here."

"Even then, it was also half-expected that you would just sail in like the other ship, and make enquiries."

"Those in the Highgate might act amicable at first, but would seize the first opportunity to take you prisoners. You, in particular, would be interrogated harshly to learn the secret of your wings."

"To rescue your friends, we will need to take out those four guards quietly and then sneak in."


Tealon feels Khuno is sincere and being truthful.

In reply to Khuno Manco (msg # 268):

"Then knocking them off the wall is a reasonable course of action" said without a second thought, after all, his life would be threatened too.

"Danyka, your orders please"

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 269):

" Or peppering them with hail. Yes, Captain, what shall we do. "

Ioelenna holds back her laughter but her face seems to me alight with Fey mischief.

"You have such magic that you can kill those four guards from here? Without making a sound?" Khuno responded, clearly astounded at your claims.

"I know of this hail of which you speak, but I have never seen it. It occurs only in the higher mountains. Is it noisy? Noise will certainly alert any others inside."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:25, Wed 12 Apr 2017.

In reply to Khuno Manco (msg # 271):

" Not yet, I don't. I meant hail as in hail of missiles. "

"Hail of missiles is likely not quiet enough." Dany noted with a slight moue playing upon her burgundy lips, "Ideally, we'll need to get closer and take them out without a sound."  Of course, the saying and doing were two different things.  She knew from the layout that causing a commotion in taking out the lower set of guards would immediately alert the upper set making scaling the wall virtually impossible.

"How's our sneaking?" the thin Rynnish gun mage prompted her companions, "I've some natural dexterity, but not much more."  The Iron Fist crash course be damned, she not had that much time to work on such things.  And she suspected that they were going to need more than just natural talent to get by here.

"If we can't take those lower guards out quickly and quietly," Danyka brainstormed for a moment out loud, "then we are going to need a distraction; something to keep eyes off the ground."  Her dark, black hair swished slightly as she turned to regard the mechanik with the wings, before continuing,  "I would think that any commotion like that is probably going to put the compound on general alert and negate most any effects of surprise..."  Dany knew that she would be on heightened alert if someone was flying overhead in an obvious manner and she was on guard duty - whether or not they attacked.

Assuming that the winged arcane mechanik could or even should attack.  "Can you take both of the upper guards out on your own?" Danyka prompted Tealon, "And how quietly?"  And she knew that it was still not ideal as even when falling from the wall, it gave one plenty of opportunity to alert others - no matter that the fall itself was fatal...

Her expression darkened for a moment, "And timing will be essential, we won't have much margin for error and even less leeway to take many prisoners."  The thin Llaelese brunette seemed to find the thought of dispatching men just doing their job as a touch distasteful.  She pursed her lips in frustration at all of the unknowns, no matter what it seemed like they were in for an ugly fight.

In reply to Danyka Ydrasyl (msg # 273):

Considering his options and the available equipment he had brought with him, he laid out the choices.

"I can drop a 10 man tent on them, if both together, that should muffle sounds and potentially knock them out or off the wall.

Any knocking off the wall has the prispect of a yell or scream eminating from one or both.

I dont have my staff but I have my crossbow. Depending how close they are to each other at the time, I could either knock one over at a time, fire crossbow bolts into them or drop something really heavy on them.

If they are close together, a long staff or an attached line could knock them both over."

He tried to recall how clise to each other they were, if they could see each other from some light source or if they were above those below. If the latter, two birds with one stone.

"Depending on which way you choose will decide on how much noise is created. I have few in the way of spells I can access at the moment, we haven't had time to revise new ones."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:29, Tue 07 Mar 2017.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 274):

" I am fairly dexterous my self. We could make this work. "
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 16:01, Thu 09 Mar 2017.