story thread The Island at the Axis of the World | Act One: The Coaltongue

[ariel]

Josephine Stevenson  application

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AC: 15 | HP: 35/35 | Initiative: +2 | Passive Perception5: 10 | Rages: 3/3 

Jospehine listened with intent, noting a couple of the master engineer's statements. One, the repeated message that the boilers were a critical system and two, that the "The Brand" capacitor it stored energy into was relatively new and untested. Further, while no one could teleport in to do harm, it didn't contradict that someone intending harm was already here.

She drifted toward Major Trakand (and Albert if he was available) and gestured that she wanted a quiet word to one side. She spoke to him in a soft directed manner. "Major, Miss Dane, one of Master Trassard's assistants also thought the boilers were potential point of failure... that they could be overloaded and potentially taken down for a short period of time. If so, the ship would be disabled, at least for that short spell.

I am wondering if it might merit having someone on watch here. Thoughts? I volunteer to stay, at least until we reach the island." She nodded, succinct. 

"Miss Dane also mentioned a coal room where a fire could be set, but it seemed a secondary concern due to their tools for fire supression."

 

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Mechanics Main Hand: Walking stick Off Hand: Empty Action: Your action goes here. Bonus Action: Your bonus action goes here. Move: Your movement goes here. Manipulate: Your one free object interaction goes here.

[AvalonR]

Marianna (Deva Cleric)

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AC: 18 | HP: 24/24 | Initiative: +0 | Passive Perception: 15 | Spell Slots: 1st 4/4, 2nd 2/2 | DM Inspiration: 0/1

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The perfunctory smile quickly gave way to curiosity and a glimmer of interest as Marianna ate up the information given out by the duchess. Until she mentioned her memories of old Flint. It was an odd mix of intense curiosity, wondering what role it had been that Marianna herself had played at the times mentioned, and a faltering gut of disappointment.

 

She should also remember those times. She had certainly lived through them. She just couldn't remember them at all. 

 

"Oh, nothing specific. Duchess." The response jumped quickly to her lips, almost ashamed at how caught up in the info she'd been. "But I did find your words enlightening. Perhaps it would be possible to create some areas the smog doesn't muddy?" It took mere moments for her line to get distracted into thinking again of the words that the Duchess had spoke of. 

A touch distracted now, Marianna continued to be on look out while attempting her best to engage the lady in conversation

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Mechanics Main Hand: Morningstar Off Hand: Shield Action: Your action goes here. Bonus Action: Your bonus action goes here. Move: Your movement goes here. Manipulate: Your one free object interaction goes here.

 

 

 

 

 

[Hades-666]

Major Edwyrd Trakand (Retd.) 

(Old Human Fighter) application

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AC: 12 | HP: 31/31| Initiative: +2 | Passive Perception: 14 | Second Wind: 1/1 S/LR|  Action Surge: 1/1 S/LR | Superiority Dice: 4/4 S/LR | DM Inspiration: 1/1 |

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Edwyrd absently nods in agreement with Albert’s questions, understanding the line he was taking. 

 

Looking at all the cannons his eyes takes in the view of the gun deck. He walks round one of the closer guns looking it over in detail. “This is a significant amount of armament, I’m impressed, please tell me how efficient does the artillery crew operate rounds of fire? Have any improvements been made on these cannons, targeting, rifling, explosive shells…? I wonder if you could create cannons which channel this captured energy? That would avoid the need for a mage…”

 

Following the tour around the deck and listening to the information, a flash like shell-shock suddenly froze him in his tracks, the tour group leaving him behind in their wake. A number of the comments were nagging at him; ‘…you would lose steerage and handling as well as propulsion… I suppose that someone could force their way onto the ship during a battle and then teleport in… I suppose smaller, faster vessels could outmaneuver her…’ looking around the Major tries to identify the crew from guests and assess their numbers and readiness. ‘If they were attacked and boarded while on this pleasure cruise, would they be able to repel the attack? Especially when the ships chaperon was currently missing its captain and possibly not ready for such an engagement.’ A grave feeling, as cold as the icy depths, crept over his skin as he thought this. 

 

Catching up to the group “Albert a quick moment if you don’t mind” nodding to the side, while also agreeing with Ms Stevenson. 

 

“Yes I agree with your concerns Ms Stevenson, this seems a perfect target. I agree keeping watch here would be a good idea, thank you.”

 

Edwyrd explains his fears and mentions he intends to inform Assistant Chief Delft of their concerns as soon as they finish the tour. That not only may there be a potential for ship sabotage but also a possible external attack and boarding, and for the enemy to pull off the same stunt our king did and is famous for in the war, steal this ship from us! “I’m keen to see the security of the munitions store next as that would also be a target to cripple the ship, either through igniting it or preventing its access in any defensive action.” 
 

 

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Mechanics Main Hand: Hawk-headed Sword Cane Off Hand: Empty Action: Your action goes here. Bonus Action: Your bonus action goes here. Move: Your movement goes here. Manipulate: Your one free object interaction goes here.

 

 

[bwatford]

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The Island at the Axis of the World

Act One: The Coaltongue

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ON DECK

Inspector Valentine Wollstonecraft
Inspector Marianna

 

Inspector Wollstonecraft said goodbye to the Govenor....

NPC - Roland Stanfield, Male Aasimar, Govenor 

"It does seem like we are in very capable hands this evening." he remarked.

 

"But I did find your words enlightening. Perhaps it would be possible to create some areas the smog doesn't muddy?" Marianna replied back to the Duchess.

NPC - Ethelyn of Shale, Female Human, Noble

"At the very least. Things such as this rust bucket we are standing on will be our downfall, our people are slowly turning their backs on the old ways, the smoke clouds the skies, and the seers can no longer see the planetary movements clearly." she simply stated before taking another sip of her glass.

"It was power hungry people that started this entire thing in the first place, we must advance ourselves, with every new invention declaring themselves more powerful than their enemy. All a bunch of evil plays on a chess board with no victor." she said before turning to Marianna and looking at her directly "and Inspector Marianna, let me ask you this. Where does the power struggle end?"

 

THE TOUR CONTINUES
(The Berthdeck)

Inspector Stevenson
Major Trakand
Inspector Montilla

 

NPC - Geoff Massarde, Male Tiefling, Engineer

Turning to Inspector Montilla as he asked the question "So what you are saying is that the boiler would be the point of failure if there were to be one. Where are the relief valves if one needed to operate them?"

"Those work largely automatic, with the other safety features, but could be opened manually if need be. They are on the Engine Deck; the tour is not quite there yet." he said with a practiced proffesionalism.

Major Trakand then added his own questions. “This is a significant amount of armament, I’m impressed, please tell me how efficient does the artillery crew operate rounds of fire? Have any improvements been made on these cannons, targeting, rifling, explosive shells…? I wonder if you could create cannons which channel this captured energy? That would avoid the need for a mage…”

"Now, now, major. Some of that is information that we don't spread around. But your idea of channeling energy through the cannons is an interesting one, once the technology for the Brand is fully tested, then perhaps the next step is to make such a thing work with smaller cannons someday." he explained.

The Major accessed the current 'crew' compliment and found it far lacking for anything battle ready. An untested Brand, unmanned cannons, mostly diplomats onboard with a skeletal crew of naval officers and crewman.

 

The tour then continued to The Berthdeck......

Taking the same ladderwell down that runs through the middle of the ship the rating gestures to long poles that run from the top to bottom of the deck. "When the Coaltongue is fully manned, this serves as the crew's berthing area. The total crew compliment for the ship is eighty nine. This does not include a contingent of marines, but when one considers that a sail ship requires nearly double the complement, its quite impressive. For those unfamiliar with the rigors of sea life a sailor would rig his hammock between the two poles here." The man smacks a pole that has an eyelet screwed into either side. "And he can turn in for the night. Now, as you may have guessed, there's not enough room here for a crew of this size, however because a ship runs twenty four hours a day, and the crew stands a twelve hour watch, when half the crew is up working, the other half is sleeping. This allows us to double the size, without sacrificing space."

Leading the crew back aft, the man takes the group into a large room with a freestanding table. "This is the ships operating theater. In days past, the crew might be lucky to get treatment at the hands of a carpenter. But not now! No, only the finest for our sailors. As part of the ship's complement the Coaltongue has her own surgeon who has been trained both in the physical and magical arts of healing."

Taking the group forward he points towards three doors. "Ahead is where you would find the ships magazines. I believe Gunners Mate Athel is currently on watch and she will explain the area better than I." Walking up to the door with the tour guests in tow the man knocks at the door before a young woman with powered blackened hands opens up and gives a small smile. Glancing at the others, she nods to Aughtbrook "Tour then?" Aughtbrook nods, "Right then, I'm Divianne Athel, one of the gunners mates assigned to the Coaltongue. What you see before you is the ships magazines. Now in times past magazines have been one of the most dangerous areas aboard a ship, either from a random spark or from the damage that occurs during battle, more ships have been lost to an explosion then any other cause of sinking. With that in mind, we developed these." The woman points to a charm that hangs against a wall and causes small puffs of cold air to issue out from the woman. "There's a fancy name for them, but the crew calls them fire wards. The range is limited, but it protects the firedust from reaching excessive heat. Trust me, the rest of the ship may be burning up, but with these little guys you will stay cool even in the worst summer days along the Yerasol archipelag. Any questions? No? Well when you go down onto the engine deck you will see what I mean. A ship like this runs hot." Nodding back to Aughtbrook, the man points back towards the central ladderwell. "Follow me if you please I'll be taking you down to the bottom deck."

 

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All Aboard
1846 local - Moonday, April the 1st, 501 AOV

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ALL ABOARD
Exposition. Montage.
Over the next hour, people wine, dine, and take tours of the fantastic warship.

Wolves, at this point the guests are onboard the R.N.S. Coaltongue for the maiden voyage. You know that the event is expected to last about three hours as it journeys to an outlaying island about an hour away where the king is going to give some sort of speech. In the time leading up to this you have several options. You can remain on the main deck and interact with the various NPC's there or you can take a tour of the ship as several industrialists and naval officers are doing. Please make your individual decisions now, stay on the main deck or take the tour.

The following NPC's are available on the main deck.
Principal Minister Harkover Lee
Duchess Ethelyn of Shale
Handmaiden Sokana Rell
Flint City Governor Roland Stanfield
King Aodhan

The following NPC's are available on the tour of the ship.
Benedict Pemberton
Geoff Massarde
Captain Rutger Smith

 

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PASSIVE PERCEPTION SCORES

Fletcher 17 | Marianna 15 | Montilla 15 | Trakand 14 | Wollstonecraft 11 | Stevenson 10

INITIATIVE

Not in Use!!

MECHANICS

Not in Use!!

CONDITIONS

Not in Use!!

DESCRIPTIONS

Not in Use!!

ALBERT MONTILLA

Hit Points: 24/24  Hit Dice: 3/3 DM Inspiration: 1/1

JOSEPHINE STEVENSON

Hit Points: 35/35  Hit Dice: 3/3 Rage: 3/3 *L DM Inspiration: 1/1

MARIANNA

Hit Points: 24/24  Resistances: necrotic, radiant (cannot be blinded by bright light) Hit Dice: 3/3 Channel Divinity:  1/1 *S Eyes of Night: 1/1 *L Hand of Retribution: 6/6 *L Memory of Past Lifetimes: 1/1 *L Spell Slots (ATK +5, DC 13) *L 1st Level: 4/4 2nd Level: 2/2 DM Inspiration: 1/1

MAJOR EDWYRD TRAKAND

Hit Points: 31/31  Hit Dice: 3/3 Action Surge: 1/1 *S Second Wind: 1/1 *S Superiority Dice: 4/4 *S DM Inspiration: 1/1

MARGUERITE FLETCHER

Hit Points: 28/28  Hit Dice: 3/3 Spell Slots (ATK +5, DC 13) *L 1st Level: 3/3 DM Inspiration: 1/1

VALENTINE WOLLSTONECRAFT

Hit Points: 20/20  Resistances: charmed (magic can't put you to sleep) Hit Dice: 3/3 Sorcery Points: 3/3 *L Unfinished: 1/1 *L Spell Slots (ATK +5, DC 13) *L 1st Level: 4/4 2nd Level: 2/2 DM Inspiration: 1/1

 

 

[BobtheWizard]

Valentine Wollstonecraft - Half-elf Sorcerer application

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AC: 12 (15 Mage Armor) | HP: 20/20 | Initiative: +2 | Passive Perception: 11 | Spell Slots: 1st 4/4, 2nd 2/2 | Sorcery Points: 3/3 LR Unfinished: 1/1 LR

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Val leaves his conversation with the mayor gracefully, and with all of his social understanding, introduces himself to the king. Being raised in an upper class family, he knows how to make the presentation. He waits for the correct moment, follows the correct customs, and then starts with a simple introduction and some small talk.

“Good evening, your majesty. Inspector Valentine Wollstonecraft, at your service, sir. This is a fine ship they've made in your honor, sir. Are you enjoying the evening?" 

He waits for the king to say something before pursuing the conversation any further.

 

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Mechanics Main Hand: Empty Off Hand: Empty Action: none Bonus Action: none Move: none Manipulate: none

Notes

Stover Delft, Asst. Chief Inspector, Royal Homeland Constabulary, Flint branch
Margaret Saxby, Lady Inspectress, RHC, Flint branch
Ravissant Wolf Cell "The Wolves"

Skyseer Wrethu saw the wolf, while a symbolically dubious character, bringing the helpless lamb to succor in the only manner it could

Minister Harkover Lee. Most powerful mage in Risur

Geoff Masserde. Danoran Tiefling helping us build ships. Likes to drink.

Captain Rutger Smith. Captain of RNS Impossible. Likes philosophy.

Duchess Ethelyn of Shale. King's sister. Dislikes industry and supports Unseen Court.

Handmaiden Sokana Rel - Elven handmaiden of Duchess Ethelyn of Shale

Flint Governor Roland Stanfield. 5 centuries old after reincarnation.

King Aodhan. Old warrior. Has magic since he's king. 

Benedict Pemberton. Eccentric Industrialist. 

[ariel]

Josephine Stevenson  application

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AC: 15 | HP: 35/35 | Initiative: +2 | Passive Perception5: 10 | Rages: 3/3 

Josephine continued with the tour, feeling the quick introduction to the ships levels and systems might help more than standing watch over the single room with the boilers in the interim. She planned to return as soon as she could. 

She examined each new room with a critical eye. On the outside, she perhaps looked like a competent investigator. On the inside, she began to feel the walls push in. She couldn't live on a ship like this for a long time. Too cramped, too many people.

Focus, focus. The "fire wards" were interesting. These must be the tools Miss Dane had praised. 

As the tour moved along, she asked another question. "I've not a great background in magic, but the Brand and these fire wards seem quite unique... who is responsible for their crafting?" She couldn't recall reading in the dossier that Massarde was capable of such wizardry and he'd expressed some concern over the Brand's configuration, so she suspected other, or at least more, hands at work. 

 

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Mechanics Main Hand: Walking stick Off Hand: Empty Action: Your action goes here. Bonus Action: Your bonus action goes here. Move: Your movement goes here. Manipulate: Your one free object interaction goes here.