I'd say we take a look at the tech here and try to find useful gadgets for the job, for staying in touch (walkie talkie like), maybe some nice tagging/following devices, bugs to listen in on people, etc. Where's the next spy shop?

Vanyra would be interested in checking out the Freelancer Guild office as stated.

Funny thing about spy shops is they don't advertise. You have no idea where to find surveillance equipment in a city like this.

What? They don't advertise?
Well, a typical toy shop or outdoor sports shop should feature a couple of items of interest. And maybe the Freelancers would know be willing to give us a hint.
I'd also like to drop by the Order's building, just to check in, and maybe they have some information on the town, the area, the spy shops...
And maybe a Streetwise roll might help? I rolled a 23.

I think it makes sense to check in with the Freelancers first, confirm timings and itinerary, then go shopping for bits and bobs. They can give guidance on what and where. Same if we visit the Order after the Freelancers.

So you you know where to go for the mission check-in. You also have the names of some shops for tech devices. If you're looking for weapons and armor the Freelancers have a selection you can peruse, unless you're looking for something really odd.

Zelpuz can go to the Order office whenever he likes.

So just as a brief recap, we are here because the Order Master (or was who was it?) was getting strange bottles of wine from a winery here somewhere, right? And then we accepted this mission to have a mission and get paid. And our 'side' mission starts tomorrow morning (with the primary being to figure out what was happening with the wine).

Did I miss something or remember things wrong?

Oh yeah, I'd totally forgotten the wine bottle thing. Exactly why we'd signed up for this...

Well the wine did not come from here. The wine is Lu'Zan, a large nation to the southwest of Ossylia. It was from a small, distinguished winery there. It appeared and tasted like a regular wine, a nice one but that is it. You did find some very odd bacertial/cellular structures, at the microscopic scale, with the help of Yuu's friend Marcus. Unfortunately, the limitations of the technology in Ossylia prevented further investigation into the wine, which lead you to Daedalum. Daedalum has the most powerful research technology on the planet so you were hoping to find someone to assist in checking out those cellular structures in the wine. The mission was just a way to get someone to partially pay for it and to curry favor with those in a position to grant access to the devices needed to examine the wine more thoroughly.

The actual mission you're on will take you far from Daedalum though.

Reading back - the only place we could get two comparative samples of the wine analyzed properly was in Deadulum.  We (Yuu) needed their advanced technology to analyze the molecules or cells in it.

We also wanted to get out and about and the job seemed good, with a longer time frame and profit/technology sharing from the rewards.

To quote Mike:
"You've got most of the information about that wine that you can uncover in Ossylia done. There's a chance someone in Daedalum, with the correct equipment, could tell you guys more about the odd molecules or cells floating about in it, but you'd need to a) find such a device or someone with access to it, and b) gather enough influence to actually get it done.

Yuu has considered a plan to that end that should strike off many of his family-related check boxes. First will be to check-in with the local Freelancers about jobs coming out of Daedalum, particularly ones involving the research institutes or academies there. This would give them direct access to some well funded researchers, provide money, and satisfy his mother's desire for him to put his learning to some practical use.

Secondly, if they can find such a job, then he could escort Qwe to Daedalum and provide a measure of assurance for her safety and getting her properly setup in the foreign city state.

Lastly, once in Daedalum they may discover any number of other investigation avenues that could shed light on the wine."

Ah, right, Qwe was with us the whole time, I sat next to her on the flight...

OK, so I'll check in at the Order, asking if they know any good scientists to analyze molecular or cell samples. We can ask the same of the Freelancers, and then we head out to do our mission.

Right after we setup Qwe.

Thanks for checking. I know it's all somewhere in our pages of game, but often get distracted before I can find what I am looking for.

Qwe was never with you guys. The quote was just me summarizing the situation at the time, you guys proceeded on your own once you put in for the contract.

The Order does not keep up with current trends in science in Daedalum; their interests reside in other areas, so they cannot help you there.

If you as the Freelancer's they'll simply tell you to go to the Daedalum University or one of the technical institutes in the city state.

If you have a particular item of information you want to uncover you'll need to make Gather Information checks, unless it's part of the underworld, then Streetwise.

Should we check in with the people leading the expedition?  The Freelancer Chapter pretty much said we should.

I'll clarify my previous statement, the Freelancer's said go the university if you want to learn about molecular biology or whatever you were asking about. They're essential a private military company, so they do have a much expertise in scientific research.

It just so happens you did take a contract for a university funded expedition with the dual purpose of a) getting contacts at a place that could help you and b) making some money while doing it. So going to the university makes sense, you can meet your employers and also ask about where and how to get the wine analyzed.

Sounds great. If they need time to analyze, we can get the sample analyzed while we have fun on the expedition and when we get back we get the results. But now it was late, right? So we should go there early in the morning so we still have some time.

Morning now, Mike already has us get a night's sleep.

For Zelpuz is there anything in particular he'd like to know about Daedalum?

For Yuu and Vanyra they can go to either contact, but they are on different floors so unless you want to split up pick the one you want to go to first. Also let me know if there's anything in particular you want to know from either of the professors about the expedition.

Not really, he'll ask about how people react to using Nether-manipulation and if there are any restrictions on it. Other than that, he'll inquire about general affairs of the Order and if he heard any news from any of the other Chapters. Then he'll start heading back and looking for the others.

OK. I'll just update the response to answer these questions.

IS there a particular contract contact you're going to see or just try to find the one that's closest?

One that is closest.

If you had any questions pertaining to what was said you can ask, otherwise the doctor will continue with this abridged explanation.

She'll probably mention these things in the briefing, but nice having this overview before hand.

Not sure if there was a misreading somewhere in her description of the mission, or if I'm misunderstanding Yuu's question, but seems a bit odd that Yuu would be asking about the state of a place that no one has been to yet. She cannot answer what state the place is in because she's never been there, nor has anyone else that she knows of. I reckon he'd infer that it's derelict, but the level of preservation would greatly depend on a LOT of factors over the centuries.

For clarification when she stated that no one has been there for some time, that 'some' was in an archaeological time frame, so hundreds of years. So you'd be the first people there in a long time... in theory.