The Rosh Estate is a large house surrounded by several smaller buildings in the Gardens district. Numerous greenhouses, storage sheds and a large Carriage house set behind and to the side of the three story stone and brick Main House. The style and landscaping Is of a definite Avalonii Style the sculpted lawns decorated with small flower beds, tasteful sculpture, and peacocks and Frilled Scailmanders parading in stately dignity as the Gate man open the wrought Iron main gate for the arrivals.
  The guests are shown into a small sitting room off the large Oak and white granite main hall, on the patio outside tables have been set with fruit, breads and cheeses for a light breakfast as well as several decanters of steaming coffee and tea.
  Several individuals sit or stand in a loose circle around the table dressed in travelers gear, although of finer material and cut than most travelers wear. Some sporting obvious blades or sidearms. but all looking more like scholars more than adventurers. Ink stained fingers, spectacles,and the scholarly nature of their conversations marking them as most likely students or Experts in various fields rather than hardened travelers.

   At odds with the group a Pair of young women set aside from the group. One wearing a leather flyers Jacket and scarf, the other dressed in a simple dress carrying a small satchel and note book looking uncomfortable among the older associates.

Zi'ha'na walks in and scans the reception area and considers the refreshments offered.  He considers the coffee, sniffs at it, and then makes a clicking sound before pouring a cup of tea.  Sipping the tea he scans the assembled people.  He has come bearing more of his gear, unsure of the exact nature of the next step, but prudence was warranted so he had his small pistol and blade in his belt designed for the purpose of holding them.  It gave him no ease to have them, it just seemed appropriate given the company.  He deduced he would not draw attention amongst this group.  He had yet to see the others, so he took some of the smaller fruits and a piece of bread and began to walk the grounds inspecting the work and listening in on the conversations, asking several leading questions where his interests intersected.  He turns over the proposed conversations for value before moving towards the ladies to see if there was any interesting conversation.
[Private to The Creator:
As always Zi is listening for information regarding the expedition and in particular for information about any artifacts.  You rolled 19 using 1d20+5 ((14)) for gather info.
]

Alisdair walked into the room, his heavy, steel toe-capped army boots rapping loudly on the marble floor, and he winced a little inside at every step. He should have bought more formal shoes for this, but he had spent almost all of his remaining savings on his bed for the night. As he almost gave a sigh of relief as he reached the patio, his feet made mush less noise on the wood. He had all of his equipment with him, and his rifle was slung over his shoulder, with the remaining ammunition on a bandoleer around his waist. His revolver and trench knife were on his belt, each in their respective holsters, along with a small whet stone and a few revolver rounds. He had used up almost all his ammunition on his last job, and was relying almost entirely on Rosh's promise to provide them with bullets.

Looking around, he felt immediately out of place. His clothes were considerably more ragged than all of the other attendees, and he was clearly the only one with any real combat experience. Thought the food all looked good, and Al was once again starving, having not eaten anything since his meal the afternoon before, it was surrounded by scholars, who seemed completely engaged in a discussion, of what he couldn't tell. Looking around, and seeing neither Rosh nor Stark in the vicinity, he retreated to the grass, and, setting down his pack, sat down to wait for either of them to arrive.

The vanship landed smoothly outside the estate gates. Stark spent several minutes shutting and checking the airship before he hopped down and headed for the gates.

He was only a few minutes late, but it seemed that many folks had already arrived. Rosh had quite a gathering put together here. He headed right for the table, smelling the coffee. Good coffee was hard to get and this had a rich, strong scent. He squeezed in between two separate conversations and grabbed himself a cup of coffee. He looked around the room and the young lady in flight gear caught his eye. He headed over to them, gave them a shallow bow, and asked, "Good morning... couldn't help but notice the flight jacket. So what do you fly?"

  As the trio slip in at different times they are greeted with curious glances and a few polite introductions. The scholarly types seem to be unsure how to speak with adventurers. The obvious differences in stance, manner and dress making it easy to see who is seasoned and who is at best an occasional travelers.
   Zi'na'ha's inquiries are rewarded with a few comments on artifacts recovered by the Academy or the travelers. But nothing of major importance.  Scrolls, bits of ancient machinery. a Klank that no one has been able to activate or discover the power source that had once ran it.
  Any inquiry about the masks results in a polite changing of the subject due to the "Difficulties" the lady of the house is having.

  As Alistair Sat under a tree he feels something hit him in the head. the pit of a cherry that seems to have been picked clean. A second later another pit followed by a soft giggle. He glances up and a small dragon fly winged girl no taller than a foot hides among the cherry trees branches caught in the act of aiming another cherry pit as she chews on a mouth full of cherry looking as if she were eating them as fast as she could to provide her with ammunition for her prank.

  The two young ladies looked up the younger of the two shying away slightly as Stark Approached. The older woman Smiled as he asked about her aircraft. A fosch 430, it's not as new as the others but she handles like a bird. I'm flying the barge on this run though. Seems they don't think I have the experience to handle my fathers Fighter."

[Private to Zi'ha'na:     As Zi'na'ha approaches he over hears a whispered conversation between the two young ladies.

" He's not going to let it go...." the younger girl says.
" Of course he's not that mask would have made fathers name" The older woman replied looking as if she were slightly frustrated.
" But they will..." The girl stopped looking as if she were near to tears.
"Not with these new people around. they look like they can handle themselves." The older woman replied putting her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "he'll get the masks back and he'll make sure Romis pays for what he did."]

"A 430, you say? Nice bird... a bit newer then my Dornier 120. She's old but she's a classic," he replied, "I think I flew a Fosch back in the day. It tended to drift left slightly when the rudder cable started to age and loosen. Did they correct that in the later models, like yours? Oh... how rude of me... I'm Stark, Stark Sanderson. Guess I'm the bloke your dad hired to fly the fighter... sorry about that."

Zi stops and considers the area one more time.  Seeing that Stark and Alisdair have arrived here as well he considers the implications.  He moves closer to Stark since they seem to have made it to the same location, and studies the two women during the conversation, but otherwise remains silent unless addressed.

Al rolled the pip briefly through his fingers, and looked up at the tiny female again.
"Reasonably efficient ammunition, given you choices, almost circular, so it flies better from a low velocity throw. Your technique lacks power though, have you considered using a blow pipe? It could considerably improve your range, power and accuracy."
The girl didn't seem too daunting physically, although he knew that the winged folk could be a real bugger to draw a bead on, and she had the cover of branches; all in all, she had a damned good position, should she choose to use it.

 " Ella Rosch." The woman stood up giving Stark a solid handshake instead of the dainty touch of fingertips normal for the ladies.I didn't know anyone was still flying those, they are good for long hauls and handy in a turning match, but most people can't keep them in the air now that they don't make parts for them anymore."
   And, Yeah they still want to slew left if you don't keep an eye on the cables.. It can be a pain when you are fifty hours from landfall when they decide to start acting up."

  This is my sister and, my best back seater, Dora."

  " I thought you said he'd be some red nosed pot gut, who smelled like old socks and whiskey?" Dora asked innocently as she sized Stark up and down.

---

" huh? bri na shido?" The sylph tilted her head looking at him curiously the grinned beaming with mischief as she aimed the pip and let it fly her tongue sticking out of one side of her mouth as she aimed at a nearby server and the ducked for cover leaving Alistair setting with the pip still in his hand when the servant turned around and shot him a hard look but didn't say anything.

---

  Sir, Master Rosch wished for you to join him in the study." A steward spoke up politely as he approached Zi'na'ha. then lead him to a small private study off from the patio. the room was small and tidy, but the shelves and bookcases were packed with small artifacts, trinkets and notebooks which would take a life time to assemble for most archeologists.

When Zi enters the room he starts to look over the bookcases and shelves and then stops and turns to the attendant.  "Thank you.  Will Master Rosch be long?"  He then turns back and scans the shelves, cataloging the long list of items as he moves.

[Private to The Creator: Zi will be scanning for any power signatures as he moves.]

Stark chuckled and ran his left hand through his hair. "Pleasure to meet you, Ella... and Dora. I don't believe I've quite ever smelled of socks before," he grinned, pointedly ignoring the whiskey part, "It can be a love-hate relationship with her, but I manage to keep 'er in the air. She does handle nicely if you keep a firm grip on her."

  " I apologize," Ella glared at her sister


   "well you did say that...he doesn't look like...." Dora stopped as her sister glared at her again and teased her by picking up a rock to throw at her. Then laughed at her own slip

." I was expecting some Taproom Baron. I'm glad they found someone who at least Knows a good ship when they get their hands on one." Ella shifted back the subject of aircraft with great relief it seemed.Motioning ot a low chair near their bench.
   " I Like the older designs, You can carry the tools you need to work on them in one bag. The new Hunters need someone from the Academy just replaced the catalyzer. I hope you don't mind flying one of the new birds Dad was a big fan of the Vohn Boche ships...It's bigger and tougher than the Hienkels and has a backseat gun. But they stagger like a drunken sow at low speeds."

---

 " Not long at all." Lord Rosch replied as he stepped in from the side room. Handing a small stack of parework to his assistant who nodded and headed off to handle some detail. "It's a small portion of the collection My favorite pieces. A few of them are fairly mundane but they all have a few traits I found fascinateing. "He picked up a small ceramic disc the stark white surface untouched by time and inscribed with complex formulae and odd inter twined geometric patterns. anding it to Zi'Na'Ha he offered him a magnifying glass. "Third Era Myconii, It is a disc from one of the Incantae Sichosii,"

[Private to Zi'ha'na: The piece is a portion of a religeous/arcane text. A DC 15  knowledge check will get you more details.

Several pieces of the collection are Ashantii, most are pieces of porcilien or jewelry only one has any energy signiture and it is a dormant low energy signature...but the item has some properties if properly activated.]

Stark chuckled and sat down, "Well, I was only expecting to find stodgey academics and trigger-happy armsmen on this trip... I am pleasantly surprised to find two interesting and attractive women involved and fliers no less."

As Ella steered the conversation towards matters flying, Stark participated with gusto listening and commenting. He mentioned his preference for the maneuverability of pure vanships but had flown other types too.

Al's eyes never left the tiny winged girl as she flitted between the tree's branches. The server's look of annoyance was totally lost on him. Slyphs were naturally good at hiding, and he hoped to learn something from watching the way she utilised the cover of the foliage.

Cutting just though this though process came Stark's voice, and glancing over he noticed that he was in conversation with the two women sitting by the tables, who looked considerably more prepared than the vast majority of the men. He would have to question them on their weapon choices later, but he was reasonably confident that they would be able to at least pull their own weight.

Zi reviews the information he knows.  Frowning at the text he considers other implications of the disc and hands it back while processing the information.  Turning to one of the items he addresses Lord Rosch. "May I axamine this peice?  It seems to be unique amonst this collection."

[Private to The Creator: 16:35, Today: Zi'ha'na rolled 23 using 1d20+10. history.
16:34, Today: Zi'ha'na rolled 7 using 1d20+4. Int roll.

Since Zi is not trained in religion I wasn't sure if a straight intel check would reveal anything.  I followed up that with a history for any relevant connections.  Ancient cultures could be subsituted if that is appropriate since the roll would be the same.  He then is making an inquiry rgarding the one item that seems to have a signature. ]

  " Well one of us is a bit trigger happy." Ella shot a teasing glance at the young girl who grinned impishly." I've flown a few older craft, my father always had a soft spot for the older models, and most of his friends in the Air Guard have an older vanship or Fliegers they fly."
  Ella went into a list of models she had flown, their quirks, and what she liked or disliked about them. Her preference did seem to be for lighter more nimble models with a slight roll of the eyes for the heavy armored Fliegers being flown by most militaries in the past few years.

  As Alistair watched and listened the sylph flitted down and landed next to him staring at the weapons and ammo he wore. She giggled and fluttered a shower of sparkles encasing her and then she stood there in full safari garb with an oversized pith helmet and comically large illusionary rifle over her shoulder. she shouldered the rifle and a flash of purple spoke and glitter erupted from the rifle a phantom cork bouncing off a nearby drinking glass which sent a shower of wine onto Stark's sleeve and leg.
Eep! The sylph yelped and hid behind Alistair arm, as she pointed at Him.

---

  In deed it is. Lord Rosch nodded setting down a piece he was looking at." It is part of a collection that was sadly broken up several years ago when it's owner came on bad times and had to sell off his collection"

  "I believe it was at one time a protective item though I can not for the life of me determine the exact nature of it's abilities, or the manner in which it was enchanted. But this is the norm for Ashantii artifacts.

He enjoyed speaking with the noble's daughters. They were an unexpected surprise both knowledgable and approachable. Quite unlike many nobles daughters he run across that were very full of their parents positions.

Stark raised an eyebrow and chuckled sadly at the pixie. "My daughter befriended a pixie long ago... They're like three year olds that never grow up. Mostly harmless," he said then looked down at himself, "but they can be hard on clothing."