The walk from the Old Quarter had been relatively uneventful, in the warm afternoon air the trip was actually quite pleasant. A rare chance to escape the office, archives and libraries of Nedán mansion and get a breath of fresh air. Around him the noise and sights of the city was comforting as he made his way towards the Docks. The tall, opulent, white buildings of the wealthy Old Quarter made way to the more utilitarian architecture of warehouses and tradinghouses. His destination visible down at the waterfront, the brown paper package in his hands felt a little heavier.

Sat writing within the Nedán family library, Napoleon was lost in a world of his own as he worked. One of the family had requested a report. Annual increases in coal imports, the lands origin of said imports and the stability of deliveries. Though a little dry this was the kind of thing that was expected from the young gnome as a junior clerk in Merchant Prince's household. A low cough tore Napoleon from his comfortable meditative state, 'Napoleon I need you to deliver something for me'. Philo Nedán, one of the Merchant Prince's nephews stood in front of the desk with a polite smile, a bundle of paperwork in his arms. 'Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, but I have something that can't wait unfortunately', he set the stack of paper down, 'I need this delivered to the Sea Towers before sundown'.

Napoleon looked up at the naval headquarters, with a flutter of trepidation. A couple of marines, in their dark blue uniforms, stood guarding the main entrance, and leaned against their halberds. The nearest one, a youngish half-elf supressed a yawn with commendable effort, before looking over at Napoleon with raised eyebrows and a smile, 'You lost?'.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:45, Sat 16 Apr 2022.

In reply to GM (msg # 1):

Napoleon smiles at the friendly greeting. He gathers his wits and forces any anxiety from his mind. "Beautiful afternoon! he replies. "A bit lost in thought is all, just running an errand. My name is Napoleon" he says as he extends his empty hand to the half elf.

The guard's eyebrows rose a bit more in surprise then his smile widened. Looking around for a second he shook Napoleons hand, 'Jaz'. He glanced at the sunny sky, 'Yeah... I guess it is'.

Looking back down at Napoleon, he straightend back up, 'So you got business inside?'.

In reply to GM (msg # 3):

Napoleon smiled and lifted the packet of papers, checking it for the first time for a more personal address. "Right, well let me see, I've been tasked with delivering these to the Sea Towers before the sun sets. I really should have asked Philo if there was a specific person to deliver them to." He looked up at Jaz. "Is there a specific location inside for delivering time sensitive paperwork?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:33, Sun 17 Apr 2022.

The parcel itself was just a a plain brown paper package, but on it Napoleon could see the name Lt. Klarius Jasper, written in neat letters.

Jaz nodded towards the mainentrance with a shrug, 'Problably, there should still be someone at the desk inside that'll know'.

Napoleoln smiled agreeably, "Certainly, of course, I will check inside the main entrance. Thank you Jaz, Have a great day!"  He hustled through the doors and looked for a desk that would hopefully be obviously situated for greeting people and arranging for important deliveries.

'You too...uh Napoleon!', Jaz gave a small wave before returning to his post. Making your way to the main entrance the door seemed to loom over you, a heavy bronze plaque on bearing the anchor and coins symbol of the Port Azure Navy. Pushing it open, Napoleon walked into a reception area. The floor and walls were made from bluish white, green veined marble. On the walls hung paintings of ships, each with a small metal card at the bottom of the frame explaining the ship, its captain, and a date. Furnished with wooden furniture carved with images of sea beasts and vegetation, the main focus of the room was a large desk behind which a young female half-elf, clad in the lighter blue uniform of a navy officer, looked up from a stack of papers as Napoleon entered, 'Yes?'

The gnome smiled as he made eye contact."Yes, hello, I am Napoleon Nackle sent by Philo Nedán to deliver this packet of papers to Lt. Klarius Jasper. I believe it may be time sensitive as I was asked to deliver it prior to the setting of the sun."

The half-elf nodded, recognizing the last name of Napoleons patron. 'Ah... uh yes. I believe the lieutenant is still here, though he may be about to leave... I can take the package of course, but I'm afraid I cannot guarantee he'd get it tonight", she looked down at her paperwork with a pensive look, 'Tell you what', she pointed at one of the hallways out of the reception area, 'Third door, on the right'.

The hallway mirrored the reception in its decor, and Napoleon's steps echoed off the marble floor as walked. Just as he was about to knock, the door opened with a jerk, 'Argh! Gods above... You surprised me'. A middleaged half orc, the lieutenant struck a less than impressive figure. Slight tufts of grey hair stuck out behind his ears and he had a slight combover. Looking out from under some thick eyebrows, a pair of watery grey eyes gave you a inquisitive look, until settling on the package. 'Ah, finally! I was beginning to fear you wouldn't arrive'. He turned walked back into the office, dumping his coat, hat and satchel into a chair by the door, 'Come in, come in'.

Napoleon followed the officer into his office. He was careful not to jump to conclusions based on appearance. The Navy was an outstanding organization. Anyone with an officer's rank must have some merit especially if they were corresponding with the Nedáns. "I am glad I arrived in time sir.", he responded as he took a quick look around the office.

The small office, was decidedly less grand than the rest of the building Napoleon had seen so far, but it did have a more familiar feel to it. Papers littered a plain oak desk and book cases lined the walls filled with books, scrolls and even more paper. On the walls above Napoleon could see what looked like building schematics and technical drawings. Working for the Nédan family, the head of which was the guildmaster of the Clockwork Guild, as well as the Merchant Prince, meant that he had seen more than a few engineering plans. These however, were unfamiliar to him. 'Quite fortuitous indeed', the half orc nodded excitedly, 'Are those the replacement plans? I didn't mean to rush mr. Nédan, but I did need these for my presentation to the commitee tomorrow, and since the last messenger failed to appear, I was getting rather nervous'.

Napoleon listened carefully. "I am not sure of the details of the contents. I looked through to determine who to deliver them to. You say there was another messenger who failed to deliver the packet?"This raised concerns. It seemed very odd for a trusted member of the Nedán household to not show up when attending to an official task.

The rotund, officer tore off the brown paper packaging with gusto and began looking through the papers within, placing them in piles in front of him as he did, "What? Oh indeed, a messenger was supposed to have delivered these yesterday'. As he spoke Napoleon began looking over some of the plans on the desk. Glancing over he could see Dock schematics from the Builders Guild, maps of the underground tunnels systems sourced from the Sanitation Guild. 'I waited the entire day for him to arrive. Even sent word to the Gilded Watch, but never heard back. A new drydock would be a major undertaking in a district as busy as the Docks so I would need the... Oh', he looked over at Napoleon, with a pensive look, 'I don't think that I was supposed to share that information yet... Still in commitee you see'.

It was very odd, most of the clerks and messengers that worked for the Nédan household were trusted individuals, not won't to simply ignore a task or to disappear for unspecified lengths of time.

Napoloeon offered a reassuring smile. "No worries sir, I know how important it can be to remain descreet when conducting official business. It is always best to have everything well thought out before annoucing the details of a plan to the public." He paused for a moment.

"The missing messenger is very concerning for me. Do you know who was supposed to deliver the packet yesterday. Is there anything you might offer to aid me in finding the messenger that won't jeopardize your project? It might be important for you as well since the messenger may know more details than I do about the project and might be forced to divulge sensitive information before you want it made public."

Klarius looked up from his papers with a frown, 'Uh... Let me think'. He plucked a handkerchief from his pocket and ran it over his thinning scalp to wipe away a thin layer of sweat. "I was told the messenger was an elven man, one of the senior clerks from your employer's household', he retrieved a folded piece of paper from the desk, 'A Verlyn Strongbough. I believe the watchman I spoke to said that he had last been seen by the gate to the Warrens, though why he would go that way I don't know". The name sparked recognation within Napoleon. Though he had not worked with the elf directly, Verlyn Strongbough was definitely one of the senior Nédan clerks. Friendly, if a little curt at times.

The lieutenant seemed to consider the implications to the project that Napoleon had brought up, 'I agree, it might be prudent to find him, if the plans for the dock were made public too soon, it could reflect very poorly on us'.

Napoleon nodded, "You seem to be very busy. Would you mind if I followed up with the watchman on your behalf to see if they have made any progress in finding him? If you can recall the watchman's name or station I could look into this for you."

'Oh', the man scratched his head again, 'Uhmmm... Keld I think. Senior Watchman Keld. He was at the watch station, near the gate to the Warrens'.

"Thank you sir, I will start straight away. If I learn anything I think you might find useful I will be back with an update. If you have no reply for Philo, I will take my leave."

Napoleon hoped he could go stright to the warrens but he had to make sure his work for Philo was complete.