The Vorox rose and turned a kindly (read: no teeth) smile on the inebriated youth, "peace, young man," he said gently, "we are here to speak with the reverend father on a mission of compassion for one of his flock who is in danger. We mean no harm, but as any rough-and-tumble young man would know, assuaging old hurts is never without pain of its own." That said, he turned back to the mad priest. "Father," he said, still speaking in the uncharacteristic - at least for a Vorox - gentle voice of which he was rather fond, "as you entered this town, I was inspired to sketch things, and I wished to present you with my work as a gift of friendship." He held out the two pages extracted from his sketchbook so the priest could see them.

Wolfhard eyes the boy and says in a calm, but cool voice, "Willum, I appreciate you wanting to protect the good Father here. He's been through a lot and you should look out for him. As the others have said, we mean him no harm and Brother Malcolm here may even be able to exorcise some of his demons. Just put the cudgel away and go with your friend. Maybe drink some coffee.

As he speaks, he casually maneuvers himself so he can block if the boy is drunk enough to take a swing.

The young boy takes a few steps back as he is confronted. "Very well," he mutters. "Father Jack, call on me if you need help." With that, he turns and walks away, supported by the young girl.

Howling Jack takes a look at Sir Von's sketches and gives a gap-toothed smile. "These are really good. You have my thanks. I would ask that you display them somewhere where a lot of people can see them, so they can recognize the life of these brave villagers."

He shakily gets up and gestures to the Vorox. "I would offer you a benediction that might aid you later."

The vorox tucked the sketches back into his book. He would find a way to display them once they returned to civilization. Then he nodded to the priest. "I would be honored to receive such a benediction, reverend father."

Empty post for later dialogue

Howling Jack bids Sir Von to kneel so he can touch the vorox's head and then he intones a short prayer, too soft to hear.

The priest then looks around at the group. "I wish I could help more but I will pray for the Pancreator to watch over you all. I would sleep now."

With that, his eyes close and he slumps back into the primitive shelter, and starts to snore loudly.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:18, Sat 22 Oct 2022.

Oddmund wanders over and looks at the snoozing priest. "Did you all learn anything useful? Night is coming. This would be a good chance for you all to check out the comfort of the bunk beds in the Ulfberht," he grins. "Or we can fly back to Hakkonen tonight."

Malcolm looks up at them all.  "A decent account of what happened, Goodman Oddmund, but I don't think much hard information.  I think I'm about to pass out.  Can somebody carry me back to my bunk?"

"I will do so, Holy Brother," the Vorox said.

In reply to Sir Vongangekan (msg # 284):

Malcolm practically passes out once the Vorox's arm is around him.

The alien knight gently carries the priest back to the ship.

Sir Von carefully lifts up Brother Malcolm and you all walk through the now quiet mining town, the bonfire still smouldering behind you.

You board the Ulfberht and are met by Ali who is holding a printout in his hand. "Got a call from that Golem character while you were all gallivanting around outside," he says. "Which must be nice for some, eh?" This last bit said with a glare at Oddmund, who grins sheepishly.

"Still working on that," says Oddmund, taking the printout and studying it. "Ah, it appears that Jarvis managed to contact the Hawkwood captain who picked up the lifepods and got a statement from him. That'll save us some time."

He clears his throat and starts reading out loud; “This is Captain Nathaniel Kyme of the Hawk’s Honor. We received a report of an overdue liner and set out to search the last known coordinates of the ship. The area of space was divided into a standard search grid, and we commenced a diligent search operation. After six days, we had detected no signals, nor recovered any debris from the Obsidian Maiden. At this time, I ordered that the search grid be moved further in-system. After a further two days searching, we located a weak transponder signal corresponding to one of the life pods of said ship. As we closed in to inspect the vessel, we recovered a further two signals and proceeded to recover all three pods.

Our continuous search over a period of a further five days failed to recover further life pods nor any wreckage. The survivors were all suffering from nervous exhaustion and shock, and my crew and I extended every courtesy and comfort that we could provide. Alas, one lost soul took his own life before we made Leminkainen orbit.

I reported the incident as an unexplained disappearance, possibly due to technical failure or navigational error that led the ship into the dark beyond. As for the idea that a Void Kraken might have destroyed the Obsidian Maiden, that is absurd! I am not a fool, and I have served throughout Known Space. Krakens are the stuff of spacers’ tales, conjured from imaginations steeped too deeply in ale. Nor does the evidence support such a notion; we all know that a Kraken is reputed to be a creature of the Dark, and that such things cannot cross the threshold of a sacred Jumpgate.

Besides, the Obsidian Maiden was just about to cross the orbital path of Bilgo when the life pods were launched. That’s about 6 AU from the Jumpgate. Whatever happened to them was the result of something more mundane, I’m afraid. Pirates and barbarians are all too common in this system.”
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:15, Tue 25 Oct 2022.

"I suggest we head back to Hakkonen and inform the Baroness of what we've learned so far," says Zsofika. "From what I can see, we should be ready to head to Hargard next."

"Perhaps Brother Malcolm can share what Sister Tersa wrote to him in the convent when he wakes up again?" she adds.

"I have admit, I'm happier with the idea of fighting pirates than Space Kraken, but I've never heard of pirates causing the kind of mental fracturing we've seen in these witnesses."

Wolfhard nods in agreement to Zso's suggestion, "I agree, let's head back to Hakkonen"

Oddmund nods and flicks on his God Box. "Okay, everyone! We're heading back to Hakkonen. Please return to your quarters. The flight will take a few hours so there's time for some rest."

After you're all settled, the engines of the Ulfberht roar and the ship takes off. The journey back to the capital is smooth and the ship is soon docked at the spaceport again. It is near midnight.

"Right so. We should meet up at the Baroness' mansion tomorrow at noon, so we can report our findings and then continue with our journey to Hargard," says Zsofika. "Personally I will be happy to spend one last night in a good bed before having to sleep on the ship."

"Yeah, yeah, lady," scoffs Ali. "You'll be glad enough of the ship when we're being chased by mutant undead killer sharks!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:56, Fri 28 Oct 2022.

"I agree"

Wolfhard raises an incredulous eyebrow at Ali, but says nothing.

OOC: Does anyone wish to do anything, buy anything, or talk to anyone before the meeting with the Baroness at noon?

Nope

In reply to The Management (msg # 292):

I figure its taking Malcolm that long to be able to sit upright again.

Sir Vongangekan is is good to head in to see the Baroness.

The next day, you all meet up at the Hawkwood mansion. The golem servant, Jarvis, meets you at the gate and escorts you to the penthouse suit, where the Lady Keswick has arranged for a lunch for you all. Servants fuss around you and provide you with the finest food and drink Leminkainen has to offer.

After a short while, the Baroness arrives, this time wearing a long blue dress, with her hair set in an elegant bun. She sits down at the end of the table and accepts a glass of wine.

"I am glad to see you all again. I had a talk with Associate Griffin-Chabon here earlier, and she filled me in on your progress. It seems your inquiries so far have not been too fruitful but everything helps."

She looks at Servus, who is busy demolishing a large portion of pork and potatoes. "Mr. Wolframsson, can you give us any further details on the location of the merchant who sold you my dear Anderton's blaster?"

Servus pauses and picks at his teeth. "Aye, I can. He's at the market at Achiharta. I can lead this lot right to him. Just remember our deal; my ship and stuff back, and a chance to fight that whoreson jailor of yours!"

The Baroness nods. "You shall have those things, and a reward as well, if my cousin and his ring is found."

She takes a small sip of wine. "Well then, unless there is anything else, you have my blessing to venture into Barbarian Space and continue your search."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:58, Tue 01 Nov 2022.

OOC: will move on to scene 4 tomorrow then, unless there is any further business  :)

The Vorox bowed deeply to the Baroness as the group approached and he listened to what she had to say. At the end of it all, he spoke up, "your excellency, your appearance brings us into the presence of such radiance as to approach that of the Holy Flame. I thank you kindly for seeing us today. I have a small favor to request, if you would be willing? In the course of our brief travels, I have been visited by the artistic muses, driven to record several of the things we observed. These works are precious to me and, in truth belong to my Lord and Patron. I would find myself inconsolable if some ill befell my Lord's property. Might I request that you kindly keep them safe while we travel?"

“Of course, Sir Vongangkegan,” replied the Baroness. “Your artwork will be safe here.”

As Sir Von hands over the art, she exclaims in delight. “Oh, these are marvellous! Such vivid strokes and interesting subjects! I can only hope that your portrait of me will be even half as good.”

You make small talk for a while longer and then leave the mansion. Oddmund gives you a couple of hours for any last-minute purchases and preparations, and then meets you all at the spaceport. You board the Ulfberht and wait for permission to take off.

The pre-flight checks and squawker chatter with the Hawkwood space traffic control tower occur without a hitch. When Ali uses the internal comms to inform him that the engine's ready, Oddmund slaps the ship-wide speaker button. “Alright, new crewmen and ladies and Voroxi, I hope you're all strapped in. We’re taking off now. Six days to the jumpgate. Say goodbye to Leminkainen!”

Oddmund intones a short prayer to St. Paulus for a successful voyage and then engages the engines. The Ulfberht shudders as she accelerates skyward, but the inertial dampers and gravity systems hold.

Looking back at Leminkainen, it appears to have all the hallmarks of a lush and verdant world. Vast blue oceans cover most of the planet; mighty green forests carpet much of the land, interrupted by large red deserts on two of its continents. Looking ahead, and even from this distance, the majestic sight of the Hawkwood fleet can been seen, surrounded by a flotilla of small support ships. After some course corrections, the engines go on full burn, heading towards the jumpgate.

The journey has begun.


OOC: thus ends Scene 3. Moving to Scene 4 tomorrow.

Empty post for further dialogue