The daughter looks a little disappointed when she sees Frank return alongside another man, but their money is good and she needs the business. The journey is uneventful; the old man silently takes the helm of the ship, not moving except to light another cigarette. His daughter tries to make conversation at one point, but quickly understands that Frank and Tobias aren't in a chatty mood.
They arrive at Rhodes deep in the evening, and the city is winding down. They grab some food from a street vendor who is about to close up shop for the night and find an out of the way, ask-no-questions type hotel. When they get to their room, they take inventory. Frank's pistol only has a few rounds in it, and Toby's ancient revolver is completely spent.
Frank pulls out the steel bowl and places it reverently on the night stand. Tobias mutters a few ancient words and purple light extends from his fingers in several thin beams, arcing sporadically to different points of the room, much like Tobias is the center of one of those lightning globes they sell in novelty stores. Much to the men's surprise, none of the strands land on the bowl, seemingly indicating it possesses no magical power. One of the strands does, however, land on Tobias.
"Uh, Toby," says Frank.
"How long have you been carrying that?!" Toby looks down to see he still somehow has the Crusader sword attached to his hip, where just seconds before he could have sworn there was nothing. After a mild freakout then some thorough examinations, the boys realize that the sword only becomes visible if you are both actively looking at it and thinking about it. Once it loses your attention, it completely disappears.
Next, one of his purple strands of light lands on the alien computer Tobias concealed. It still operates outside of the ship, and seemingly is fully functional. Tobias figures if he spends some time studying it he might learn something from it.
Several of the arcs land on different points on Frank's body. He inspects a few of his bumps and bruises and notices that a few of them are in distinct patterns. When he wipes his hand over them they form into intricate black tattoos! One on his right hand forms an ornate, six-point snowflake; on his neck is an entwining plume of fire; his right eye houses concentric circles, and over his heart is a symbol that looks like the cross between an X and an elongated P -- it has six evenly spaced legs, and on the top is a rounded head. Frank feels a power emanating from each of the tattoos, and finds that if he concentrates on any one, he can understand its nature. Furthermore, he can will them to conceal or reveal themselves.
Just when they think they've run out of magical items to investigate, the magic strands start to go haywire. They spiral around the room, hitting everything in sight, until every last one of them converges on the hotel phone. The spell ends (though Tobias thinks it should have lasted longer than it did), and the phone rings.
It rings again.
It rings a third time.
Before it can ring again a stunned Frank picks up the phone.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end of the phone is a nasally British upperclass accent.
Frank. Don't hang up. It's me -- the one you know as Bacco?
Frank slams down the phone and starts grabbing the items they've laid out on the bed.
"We've got to go out of here, Toby, he's found us. I don't know how, but he's found us."
Before Tobias can react, the TV turns on, and Bacco's face takes up the screen. He still has the familiar bushy eyebrows but he's combed his wild hair and switched out his thick framed glasses for more conservative ones, pushed down to the end of his nose. He's wearing a pressed, collared shirt, making this the first time either of the men have seen him in anything other than a robe.
Gentlemen, he says, humble and serious.
Fear not. This magic is powerful, but it's more of a one-way communication.
I'm afraid we got off on the wrong foot. My name isn't actually 'Bacco Milanesi', it's Reginald P. Terrel. Yes, the same Reginald P. Terrel that co-founded Terrel-Hoyte industries, your very employer. I didn't mean for everything to come out this way, but things went a little sideways back there. I was hoping your little mission would go unnoticed, but The Order has a stronger foothold than I realized. I can't believe they infiltrated THE Company right under my nose... well two can play at that game, but I'll need your help. I just sent coordinates to your mobiles. If you trust me -- and I know you have no reason to at this point, so take me on faith -- meet me tomorrow at noon.
Terrel/Bacco gives a quick nod and the screen goes black.
[
Private to Tobias Byrne: The crusader sword is a +1 holy longsword. It is imperceptible by anyone who doesn't know to look for it -- man, and machine. Furthermore, if wielded along side Possenti's revolver (and only alongside that gun), you can make two attacks as if you had the Two-Weapon fighting feat (despite that feat not normally allowing a mix of melee and ranged weapons). Since both weapons are medium, each attack is at -4 to hit.
If the alien computer is connected to your glasses, it provides +4 to any trained Knowledge or Computer Use check involving something you can actively see or hear, or Research checks on alien subject matter. It provides passive +2 bonus to any Spot, Listen, or Search check to detect a specified source (in other words, anything you can tell the computer about in advance), and a +1 passive bonus to all Intelligence-based skills not mentioned above (including untrained skill checks). Your Smart level is doubled when making any Linguist check to decipher an ancient or alien language (from this universe). Lastly, you can enter "combat mode", which allows you to add your smart level as a bonus a Dodge bonus to AC, Reflex saves, and attacks, though your passive skill bonuses disappear for the duration. You can switch between skill mode and combat mode as a move action.
Despite your detect magic spell not pickup up the bowl, you feel its energy deep within your soul. You think that with enough research and the proper equipment, it can be used as the basis of a powerful incantation. One more powerful than anything that has been seen in thousands of years.
Lastly, your experiences on the ship give you a +1 bonus on Will saves against any effect that would make you act against your will.]
[
Private to Francis 'Frank' Decourcey: Each tattoo represents a spell-like ability you can now perform (unless otherwise noted, using a tattoo is a standard action) Activating any tattoo causes it to become visible and slightly glow with a theme-appropriate color. You can hide or reveal the tattoos at will (except while using it, when it is always visible -- however mundanes may not see it for what it is), and the skin on which the tattoo is etched does not need to be visible to use its ability.
Neck (fire): Mode A -- you breath fire in a 15-ft cone. All affected creatures must make a DC (12+CON) saving throw or be dealt 1d6 fire damage for every 2 character levels, rounded up. Creatures who make their save take half damage. Generally speaking, the fire breath does not ignite unattended flammable materials.
Mode B -- in a social situation where Frank is especially heated or emotional, you may make a fiery statement as free action along side a social check, to give the check a +10 bonus. Furthermore, you can choose to have the statement affect everyone within hearing distance, even if the social skill would normally only be applicable to one person. In this case, the bonus is reduced to +2.
In mode A, the tattoo becomes inactive for 1d4 rounds after use. In mode B, the tattoo becomes usable immediately after use, but is ineffective against the same target(s) for another hour.
Hand (snowflake): Activating this tattoo is a free action as part of an attack. You can choose to have any attack imbued with cold energy, which causes the attack to be treated as magical and deals an additional +1d6 cold damage. This tattoo can only be applied to one attack per round, even if you have the ability to make more than one attack.
Eye (Bullseye): Activating this tattoo is a Standard action. The next attack roll you make gets a +20 bonus and ignores any miss chance due to concealment. If the attack misses, the ability to use the tattoo immediately refreshes; otherwise it becomes unavailable for one hour.
Heart (chi-rho): Mode A -- you can heal 3d6 hit points OR apply a +7 bonus to your next Fortitude save against poison or disease OR heal 2 points of temporary ability damage. Any of these effects can be used against yourself or another target, and no target can receive an effect from Mode A more than once per minute.
Mode B -- immediately ends any and all of the following adverse conditions affecting the target: temporary ability damage (but not permanent ability drain), blindness (including dazzled effects), confusion or insanity, daze, deafness, fatigue, exhaustion, feeblemindedness, nausea, and poison. It also cures up to 150 points of damage and removes negative levels, but it does not restore permanently drained levels. Every time it is used in Mode B after the first in a 24-hour period, there is a 5% cumulative chance that the tattoo becomes permanently inactive.
The Bowl: ???????
Other: Your experiences on the ship give you a +2 bonus on Will saves against any effect that would make you act against your will.]