As Karnu talks with Danyka and Tealon, Khuno thinks this might be a good time to seek out the herbalist for Ioelenna.

"If you don't mind me asking, Karnu," she asks the apparent leader, "how soon will the meal be ready? I would not like to miss it, but I have an errand to run. Ioelenna here is from a much cooler country and the heat takes its toll on her."

When she is informed that it will be ready in about an hour, she then turns to Ioelenna.

"Do you wish to go with me, Ioelenna? Or would you rather stay here?"

In reply to Khuno Manco (msg # 420):

Ioelenna smiles at Khuno.

" I would like to go with you. "
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 01:11, Thu 02 Aug 2018.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 419):

Tealon notices the construction and how, given enough expertise, the whole building could be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere should the need arise.

"The meal can be ready in only a few minutes," Karnu replies to Khuno, "but if your errand will not be long, it will give us time to prepare a more fitting meal for our honored guests."

"Shall we say, in about half an hour?"


Khuno acknowledges that would be sufficient, and then leads Ioelenna out of the building and down the streets to an herbalist.

"We would like some coolveo," Khuno requests. "Do you have any in stock?"

"Greetings, Visitors From Afar," the woman replies. "I am Turalinda, and, yes, I keep some in stock for the few merchants that venture up into the high mountains. I have six doses; each is good for a week. I also have some sun-salve for your friend's skin. It will keep the sun from harming her skin."

"No, no, there is no charge," she protests when Khuno offers to pay her. "It is a gift. I will gain much prestige because you visited my humble shop. That is sufficient payment."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:19, Mon 17 Dec 2018.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 423):

" Thank you and may Nyss make your winters survivable. "

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 423):

I'm looking forward to this welcome yet as before, I have a feeling of being watched Tealon whispers to those close by.

((OOC: Gak! Apologies--once again--for the delay. I was sort of waiting/hoping for someone to start negotiations, because, frankly, I had no idea where I was going! Been busy, as well, and didn't have much brain power left to work on it... until yesterday.))


Once Khuno and Ioelenna return from their errand, the feast begins. For a spontaneous feast, it is quite sumptuous, but not as grand as it could be with a day or two of preparation.

The group does find it a bit strange that some things are available right away since it usually takes several hours to cook, such as a roast beast. Even some of the side dishes should take longer, yet they are hot and ready almost on demand.

When the meal is all done and the dishes are removed from the table, several sheets of parchment along with an ink vial and ink pen are placed in front of Karnu.

"Shall we get down to business?" he begins.

"Not that we need to expedite matters, but, perhaps if you tell us what you might be interested in for trade, we can give you an idea of whether we have any of those items, or perhaps a suitable substitute?"

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 426):

This is lovely food, how did you make it so fast? It's as though you'd been waiting for us, expecting us for the whole day!

"While it's not unreasonable to have known you were coming, at least if you ask the seers," Karnu responds to Tealon's question. "We make a number of foods here ahead of time and keep them in preservation cabinets. That way, if we have an emergency meeting or even a regular meeting, we don't have to fret about preparing food."

"Our local seer did say we should be prepared, though, as it would be needed. We had no idea what we needed to be prepared for."

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 428):

"Preservation Cabinets"? Interesting. May I see?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:22, Fri 02 Nov 2018.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 429):

" Captain, any specific things our superiors would be interested in trade wise. Preservation Cabinets remind me of Bags of Colding. "

In reply to Ioelenna Winterspire (msg # 430):

"Bags of Colding?" Uuummm.

Ever the inventor, creator, Blaster, Tealon was facinated by these new things, any fears he had were short lived.  He then heard footsteps close on as a serving person walked by, bringing him back to tge now.

If I may or is it a topic for later, what is your standing with the nations, islands and mainland with your fine land? I ask as we look for Trading allies. You seem prepared to be able to create and move quickly if I eye's don't deceive me.

Ever the salesman but had he given anything away? He watched the others and guessed not.

"Well, we're all one big happy family," Karnu replies to Tealon.

"But, like any family, there are bound to be squabbles among family members."

"We sit on the periphery of the country and we have few resources or products that anyone else wants. The one we do have is people, so it was requested that we send a number of men--and sometimes women--to join the army. Although it wasn't issued as an ultimatum, and there was no implied threat, we sort of understood it as such."

"Rather than try to form our own army and train the men, we thought this was a good alternative. And we had a number of young men that wanted to get away from their ordinary job."

"It also brings us a bit of trade and money."

"We have representatives in Council, but that's mostly a token presence. We primarily vote for whichever side makes the most sense."

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 432):

No organised army, a family!

So you are all one big, erm, Clan them? Tealon struggled for the right world to describe this 'group'. He looks and addresses the party member he considers his group leader.

If I may Danyka, Karnu, you do seem happy as do your people, we ask of trade and mention you have few resources, maybe this could be something we could help with, what are your needs? What materials do you use for heat if not wood?

He hoped that coal or another substance would be names. With the new engine in the ship, it makes coal less needed but it would help future trading ships. In some ways these people appear more advanced, in others very much less so. If their foundaries and factories had some way to not produce smoke, that would explain why he didn't see smoke stacks all over, not just hear but other places too.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 433):

The Arcane Mechanik looked around at the crew and the towns people, he could see itchy fingers and tired eyes.  He also wanted to find a base and do some searching, maybe they could find a place, build and grow, then adventure and protect, an outpost of sorts.

"Are there any small islands around that are not claimed?  I feel that we may need to find some place that we could use as a base without interfering with other nations, of course this would mean we could trade with you, the things we produce and get shipped in!"

"I'm not sure what you mean by 'unclaimed'," Karnu replies to Tealon.

"All the land belongs to the country. Who else would claim it? If you mean is there an island that is uninhabited, then, yes, there are several of those. No one wishes to be that isolated from the rest of us. Getting supplies to the island would be problematical. For us. For you... that I could not say."

Just then, Katrin entered the room. By her manner of dress, it was clear to the locals that she was from the ship.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Katrin."

"Back on the ship, me and the guys were discussing the situation and we came up with a few thoughts and ideas on the matter. For some reason, they appointed me their spokesperson."

"While it seems reasonably within the scope of our mandate as Iron Fists to assassinate the Promaxim, we do not think that is something we should do. It would set a really bad precedent for dealing with these fine people. They would probably think that is something we would do if they disagreed with us. That is not the kind of impression we should be making."

"Nearly everyone here is aware that they impounded the trade ship, so, for revenge, anything short of assassination would probably impress the locals."

"What we need to do, then, is to remove him from power... eliminate his authority and power base... eliminate his allies and his resources."

"We have come up with a plan."

She pauses then to gauge the reaction of the others.

In reply to Katrin Eason (msg # 436):

Listening intently to the words Katrin had to say, Tealon was curious to know more, maybe it involved discrediting him, maybe it involved emptying a warehouse, then blowing it up. He could think of many things.

He nodded his accent.

Danyka had sat quietly eating very little.  And drinking even less.  She’d said a quiet prayer to Morrow when they’d been served and had listened with an observant intensity as various topic such as local technologies, trade, geography, and the clan’s diviners were discussed.  She had little to add in most cases, since many of those things were not her forte.

But Dany was nothing if not a conversationalist; as a healer, the young Rynnish woman had a fairly good bedside manner.  She seemed interested in whatever the natives were willing to talk about.  As though anything said might prove useful at this point.

She raised an eyebrow when Katrin made her entrance.  It had been some time since Danyka had seen her fellow Iron Fister, though the girl had been on board and with them on their ill-fated (or at least extremely dangerous) training mission.  Yet, the Llaelese gentlewoman was glad enough to see comely Cygnarian start the strategic talk.

“With our limited personnel and supplies,” she mused aloud, “we are going to need more intelligence concerning the proper facilities to hit.”  Danyka leaned back in her chair, causing the wood to creak slightly as she steepled her fingers, “It’s a dangerous game to start a guerilla war.”  Yet, the raven-haired gunmage was well aware that they might have little choice.  A ship full of men - even one as large as the Resolute was no match against an entire empire in a straight up fight.

But then again, the personnel drawn for the Iron Fist weren’t known for fighting fair anyways; they’d not been conscripted for being upright citizens.

She looked at Khuno, then Karnu and the other natives gathered around the table, “We are going to need to know more.  Much more...  About pretty much anything, really.”   Danyka had always considered herself to be a pretty quick study.  But, this was going to be more than any simple or purely theoretical academic exercise.  They were strangers in a strange land; and it (and they) needed to become less strange quickly, if they were going to accomplish their new mission...

"Yes, we need to know more about each other," Katrin agreed with Danyka, "but for trade purposes. We don't need that to stop the Promaxim."

"If you remember what Sgt. Thrasher told us during one of the classes on tactics, he told us about a strategy that he called the 'tactics of mistake'. I believe we can use this because the Promaxim knows so little about us. He's going to think we'll do what he'd do in a given situation."

"Oh, sure, he's going to try thinking we'd do something he's not expecting, but he's going to be limited by his own hubris. If he had that capability, he'd already be ruling this land."

"I'm not saying it's going to be as easy as I may have made it sound, but the idea is to give him a small opportunity at first, and keep escalating until he's completely overextended himself."

In reply to Katrin Eason (msg # 439):

The conversation in the Salesman's opinion had turned serious, he weighed up all the options, the tactics.

"There is one thing that could work in our favour, or more to the poibt, against the Promaxim"... He didn't want to sound superior or narcissistic, but his words would be true.... "Me". He thouggt some more..."All the Fire Fist who use or know how to use a particular Red and Blaxk powder mix."

He was hoping the others understood his vague description of Gunpowder, Blastibg Powder, he didn't want to give it away, especially since no one down in the area, these lands, know of it or how to use it, with the exception of the traitor and the interigators from the island they had escaped from. That which had been taken from the other ship, if there was any left after he had tried to use it.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:59, Thu 20 Dec 2018.

Danyka frowned slightly, but then shrugged as Katrin seemed confident enough, "Okay, fair enough.  So where do we strike first?  And how many people and what type of supplies will we need to do the job?"  The Rynnish gun mage had no real idea - given that she didn't have a lay of the land, any idea of the full resources that the Promaxim had their disposal, the level of technology involved, or the actual basis of their economy.

Personally, she didn't have any idea where to start or how to infiltrate the local culture, since she'd experienced only a limited amount of it (and most of that was slinking around in the dark).  Dany was uncertain if they shook with the right or left hand in greeting.  Or if they shook hands in greeting, at all.  And perhaps all of that was really unnecessary (as Katrin had espoused).

But, if they really wanted to undermine the powerbase of an unknown enemy - it would seem that more information was required.  They had to make the unknown part of the enemy more known.  Ultimately, the enemy wasn't unknowable.  Just unknown.

And they needed to know what resources and allies they had available.  Danyka made a mental note to speak more in depth with Khuno and her people as soon as possible.  Their actions and goals would need to align (and remain aligned) to get anything accomplished.

She nodded to Tealon, "You are an asset, indeed, my mechanikally-minded friend.  But any technological advantage that we possess needs to be guarded carefully.  The more we use it, the less shocking it becomes."  Which was the corollary to Thrasher's maxim, in her opinion: the more you fight an enemy the more familiar you become to each other - i.e. the less surprising any potential actions can be.  They could only count on remaining a wild card for a limited amount of time.  Plus, the more they used anything like gunpowder, the more likely the Promaxim was to come up with a counter for it (either offensively or defensively).

I refur to that which was stolen previously, they are bound to try and test it, I would.

I had the steam gun ready but utilised some bits to power the ship. We still have a few sets of wings too."

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 442):

" And when guns don't work, I can always apply the cold. "

"We don't need to know as much about the enemy as you might think," Katrin responds.

"As for the powder, I would suggest we save that until the final move. Even if the Promaxim has discovered the secret, it's going to take a while before he masters its use."

"What we have to do is not underestimate him. We have to expect him to use the powder the same way we would. Our advantage is that he doesn't know what we are doing. Until we make an open move, he's going to think we left with our ship as well as the trade ship."

"Also, we don't need a lot of people--we just need to make him think we have a lot."