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