Drowned Rats (Late Evening, 11 Hend Moon 1352)

[e.callahan]

On 4/23/2024 at 9:47 PM, tectonomancer said:

"I'm also of the opinion that, as I am most suited to posing as a person of means, likely the daughter of a smaller merchant family, and that as Tégla's best cover option is to pose as my bodyguard," she glances at the other disgraced spiker a moment, hoping to gauge Tégla's reaction, "that our mission is best served by the two of us, B and I, rooming privately and with each other."

Tégla nods. By now, her trust in the Guild to do their jobs and do them well is strong, but her trust in Liv's ability to lie goes beyond that. While the rest of the room could certainly live undercover just as well, Tégla doubted anyone would relish the job the way Liv would, or talk them out of potential scrapes with the same panache.

On 4/23/2024 at 9:47 PM, tectonomancer said:

"The daughter of even a small merchant family would not be traveling abroad without escort, and a cover as my bodyguard is a reasonable way for me to speak on B's behalf, and it explains why she must be so extremely well armed while we travel."

Tégla nods again, considers leaving it at that, and then decides to break her silence. "An excellent plan. If you lot run into any trouble, or anybody needs quick silencing, I would prefer to be conventionally armed." And I can't think of anybody better to speak for me than Loquacious Liv, she thinks, a slight smile threatening to disrupt her bearing. She clears her throat, replaces her scowl. "Just tell me whose back needs covering, and I'll do it."

[tectonomancer]

Liv did her best to keep her face on a neutral, bordering-on-smug expression, but she was relieved by Tégla's approval of her plan. Tégla had talents Liv lacked, but she also lacked some of the talents Liv had entered this world with. Lying, mainly. She wasn't great at it. They didn't call her the Brick after some canny knack for blending into crowds or feigning conformity. Valivia suspected the other woman found it tedious.

She fell into step with Tégla as they left the room and spoke softly. "Did you see the passenger list? There's an Arish hel Ilphalssem in the Port Suite. Will this pose a problem?"

[tectonomancer]

Preparations, Day 1

Valivia reaches out to her connections in the Six Colleges to investigate the artifact, hoping to ascertain its nature, or at least, the preboreal experts Hold Sorulien brought it to and their particular specialties. Her Deception DC to evade drawing Hold Sorulien's attention is 27 (or 29 if I can use Stealth instead of Deception).

Research the Artifact with Society

[chezident]

Preparation, Day 1

The Ilphassem scion could be a problem, depending on whether or not they had any hand in the salvaging operation. Song-in-Strings did his best to cover his tracks, but there was no surer path to a swift end than being certain of your own thoroughness.

His first day was spent gathering what he could on this Arish - who they were, what reason they had to be on the ship, and how closely connected with the Ilphalssem salvage business they were. Song asked after Arish via his usual channels, doing his best to cover his tracks by saying he might have an item that would spark the Ilphalssem's interest.

His Deception DC is 28.

Roll

Edited April 30 by chezident (see edit history)

[UncleNiamat]

Preparation, Day 1
Gulichd

Everyone called it Red Tree, the little gathering place by the Arsenal's long haul docks. The patch of soil and its veilflower tree were the product of some long-dead spiker's fascination with westerships. You could smell the ocean salt, hear the peeps of glittering axissave fisherbird begging for fish. The breeze tousled the tree's feathery leaves, casting dappled shadow on the half dozen or so faded rugs and cushions below.
The Compass, the mosaic at the base of the trunk once said; all but the last three letters were chipped away long ago.

It was a the best kind of park, comfortable, calm, and lively. It was an informal club of sorts, the social circle of those who frequented Red Tree, mostly old cutter crew there to play a round of plagues or swap stories. Gulichd was one of the youngest attendees, but he shared their romantic fascination with the great vessels. It was a rasp against his heart, an approximation of justice.

They echoed with her.

That mostly stayed below the surface, now, and Gulichd genuinely enjoyed his occasional mornings at Red Tree. There was enough distance from that life to smooth the rough edges. Memories of creaking wood, clouds, the low song of distant celray. Of the askew, almost vertiginous sense of a harmonic engine stutter. shifting fluids.

<><><><><>

There was always a crowd when a new engine came in. It was only once or twice during the post-monsoon season, but inevitably the reopening of continental traffic would flood the Cloudyards with ring-twisting merchants and others willing to enter a bidding war for the first births. It was easy for Gulichd to move in the crowd, just another small Blood in worker's darks.

It was similarly easy to rope in Iphi. Beryl was a miserable prick of an ashpelt, but she adored Iphi, and she was smart. Iphi liked Gulichd. They'd drink and play plagues every so often, and the younger man would let Gulichd play in silence when he was in a black mood. Gulich said he would bring a bottle of the good stuff next time. Iphi and Beryl would cause some chaos during the next day's harmonics transfer, and Gulichd would find an opportunity.

At the appointed hour, Beryl landed, chattering and sparking with spellcraft, putting the full fear of Wrath in the stevedores' hearts. Two bolted, their stave abandoned, the whole engine frame tilting dangerously to one side. A flicker of breath, a focusing of will, and Iphi frayed the bindings of the main ichor coupling.

One daring component rescue later, and Gulichd was shaking hands with one of the engineers aboard the _St. Kelszei's Mercy_. ((and through conversation Gulichd tells them his name is xxName and he's actually aboard the next voyage, and he knows how hard those long hauls can be, if he can lend a hand and lighten the load he'd be happy to hooray I have the aspiring engineer identity thing I'll edit this later))

Cloudcutter Lore

Edited April 30 by UncleNiamat
made the actual post (see edit history)

[virsamajor]

Preparations, Day 1

Zef spends the first day learning everything she can about the ship. Whether this ends up playing into their egress or not, a good getaway driver needs to know what they might be working with.

Research the vessel with Driving Lore:

Roll / Hero Point

Edited April 30 by virsamajor (see edit history)

[e.callahan]

The first and most important thing to Tégla is, of course, getting her axe on board with her. A sensible choice for a sensible bodyguard.

Obtain a weapon license with Deception:

Roll

[NeoTiamat]

Tégla

"There. Some of my finer work, I think," Nine-Fingers said. The old forger had lost the little finger on his left hand in a polite dispute with a previous iteration of the Broken Guild's management, but he remained one of the best in the business. With a few quick movements, he carefully blotted out the ink and passed the scribbled looking document to Tegla. "Your discharge papers, ma'am."

 

Zef

Finding information on the Mercy wasn't the easiest task in the world, but if you knew the right taverns and bought drinks for the right folks, you could learn quite a bit. And since Zef did know the right taverns and did buy drinks for the right folks, she learned a lot. Among them, that her tolerance for alcohol was not what it could be, sometimes.

The St. Kelzsei's Mercy was about twenty years old, a veteran ship but hardly aged or battle-scarred. Like many Westerships, it followed a three-level body plan. The top level of the ship (below the balloon, that is), was for the crew. This was mostly organized around the three major chambers. At the very back was the harmonic engine, with its supplies of ichor and glass. This would pull the ship forward. Amidships, the single largest part chamber of the vessel was the mossery, where trays and trays of skymoss grew and produced the vital cloudblood gas that kept the ship flying. This was also easily the most dangerous part of the ship--a little cloudblood was disorienting, but in large concentrations it would push the safe air out of your own lungs, causing unconsciousness and death in very short order. It also, unlike ichor fumes, tended to get through most mask filters. And as if that was not enough, it could ignite. Only the lift crew went into the mossery, and they did so with scrupulous care. Finally, at the prow of the ship was the bridge, where the captain and her officers actually directed the vessel.

Everything else on the crew level was shoved in wherever it fit. Dormitories, officer quarters, kitchens, supply closets... there was a perch at the very back for the two celray, just behind the harmonic engine. Interestingly, the Mercy was also armed, with eight cannons, four to a side.

Below the crew chamber was the passenger deck. The front room, just below the bridge, was the observation deck, which also doubled as the lounge and dining room and basically was the only place for anyone to socialize. Immediately behind it were the two suites, then the private rooms, then the steerage compartments at the back.

Finally, the lowest deck was for cargo. The Mercy could carry an enormous amount of cargo due to its vast lift capacity, and would be loaded to the brim on this trip. Mostly dried fruit from Dobrolchur, though chests of tea and spices were also there.

As you got a Critical Success, if you have any questions about the configuration of the Mercy, you can simply ask.

 

 

Gulichd

Masza Ulgiphen had been duly grateful for Gulichd's help, and with any luck this'd help his disguise later on. Curiously, aside from Masza, none of the other assistant engineers had been too eager to help out with the engines. Slackers, the lot of them.

 

Valivia

In science, a negative result was still a result. By those standards, Liv had been vastly successful. By most other standards...

The one thing that was proving clear was that the Soruliens had played this close to their chest. A few scholars had been asked to opine, in very theoretical ways, on sketches or designs or possible questions, but no seemed to have actually seen the object directly.

 

Song

"She's one of the survivors. Too young to get caught up in the purge back in '46, so they've been grooming her for bigger things since then. Probably going to end up running the Ilphalssem investment in the Six Colleges--she's been around there pretty regularly, especially Morainhall and Elderhall, and I think she studied at Elderhall. Well educated in science, philosophy, rhetoric, magic, the works. Pretty good musician too."

"Also a regular on the social circuit. I think she's got a fiance in Hold Falchesse, but it's one of those Spiker things where it's more contract than marriage, and doesn't stop either one. Puts on some salons, goes to others. You'll know her if you spot her--she's tall, pale white-blue, got some expensive tattoowork, pretty like a knife's a pretty."

"Personality's like a cat. She likes you, she's all fluff and cuddles, but she'll scratch you when she feels like it. Cat's sense of humor."

"Nothing to do with the salvage business, though I don't think there's any Ilphalssem that doesn't know at least a little about it. Don't know why she's going to the Continent either, but it's not unusual. The Hold has a lot of business dealings there, they sell cannons to half the armies in the Iron War, and sometimes you want a Spiker handy to seal the deal. Makes the customer feel important, you know?"

[UncleNiamat]

Stealth for Artifact Research

xxPlaceholder

[tectonomancer]

Mercantile Lore to get a crate aboard

Mercantile Lore

[chezident]

There's Angelites on the ship, which marks the second risk point for perpetual mocker and serial identity thief Song-in-Strings. The silk makes a point of preparing a second, more thoroughly considered Angelite identity for the purposes of moving about the ship freely and giving him some insulation during any planned distractions.

(Rolling Underworld Lore, which is +13. Song's Deception DC for avoiding detection is 28.)

Roll

Edited May 4 by chezident (see edit history)

[e.callahan]

Tégla is curious about the captain of this ship, Chorishara. She chooses to keep her questioning subtle, not being too pushy, trying to avoid drawing too much attention to herself.

Rolling Society at a +10, -1 for going quiet, for a total of +9, to research Alicha Chorishara.

Society

[virsamajor]

 Unaware of Tégla's quiet plans, Zef uses her own resources to investigate the bridge crew. When you spend most of your time behind the metaphorical wheel, you make it your business to know the other pilots out there.

 

Driving Lore

[NeoTiamat]

Gulichd

One can get further with a kind word and a lockpick than with a kind word alone. Actually, with a good enough lockpick, you don't even need the kind word.

Using the target list from Liv, Gulichd quietly broke into St. Belzsein College, rooting around the offices for half the night. It was in the office of Dr. Hariche that Gulichd hit paydirt. The scholar in question was an old client of the Soruliens, and had kept the notes she'd taken on the artifact she'd been called in to examine.

According to Dr. Hariche, the Soruliens appeared to have their hands on an old nodal engine, or part of one at least. The nodal engines, as best Gulichd could figure out, were a central component of most Preboreal facilities and the larger constructs. Their purpose was somewhat obscure, but references suggested that they acted as the 'brains' of Preboreal facilities, physical shells in which the ethereal ghostminds could reside. Without a nodal engine to anchor itself, a ghostmind had no independent existence, much as a human's mind could not exist without a casing of meat and blood.

Few nodal engines survived to the present--they were a fragile piece of machinery, and most of the ones that survived were host to ghostminds that would object to their homes being ransacked in very harsh terms. They could also be quite large, some as wide as fifteen or twenty feet across.

This one was smaller. Dr. Hariche had included a rough sketch, of a capsule-like object about a foot and a half long and half that in diameter. Cables and ports were scattered around its surface, and Dr. Hariche theorized that it might have originally been part of a larger whole, perhaps containing just some key part of a ghostmind's psyche.

Dr. Hariche had also made a few notes on the security system that surrounded the capsule. She hadn't gotten that good a look at it, but she'd been intrigued at how Velche hel Sorulien had integrated a galvanic coil into the casing, along with a 'blood marker' test. There was also a reference to magic, but no details.

In any case, one thing was very clear. A nodal engine, especially one that didn't appear (?) to have an active ghostmind inside, was an incalculable scientific prize. It also went up to the absolute limit of the Church's tolerance with regards to the Fourth Profane Mechanism. Not over it, but one could easily understand Sorulien's desire for both secrecy and security.

Liv

That evening, a crate full of carefully packed mandarins from Dobrolchur arrived at the Mercy, to be loaded the next day. Inside the crate was a false bottom, itself lined further with more mandarins and, rather more pragmatically, a very slender layer of lead. The wood had been shaved here and there to reduce the weight, and reinforced by unobtrusive metal strips to give it strength. Overall, Liv was really quite proud of herself.

You have care that can contain 5 Bulk worth of items, and which will require a DC 30 Perception check to find.

 

Song

The hardest part was getting the pectoral. The other pieces of the vestments, Song assembled through trawling second hand shops and clothiers, even finding a dusty old veil. But the pectoral chest piece, the thing which really marked one as an Angelite cleric, that took a little theft. Hopefully the old priest had extras.

Tegla

"Great news everybody! Turns out that Captain Chorizze has a gambling problem!"
"Captain who?"

Zef

Zef spent most of her day haunting the pilot's pubs again. If anyone from the Guild asked, she was working. This may even have been true.

Uchladmag Magochladmurkir, it seemed, was a fairly typical exemplar of his kind. A well-fed Clay man in his fifties, Uchladmag was from a family of Ourianized Dobrolchurians, whose family had come over some two or three generations ago. He was, by all accounts, a faithful if not exemplary Angelite, and had been making trading runs between Ourichor and the Votive Lands since he was a teenager, mostly on Sorulien ships. He joined the Mercy about a decade ago, and was well known to Captain Chorishara. Nowadays, Uchladmag was a respectable member of society, with a wife running a small trader's shop in the Cathedral Derrick and two adult children plying the sailor's trade on other craft.

Overall, a fellow distressingly free of exploitable vices.

One interesting point, though. Somewhere around three months ago, a neighbor recalled Uchladmag being very agitated about something work-related. Might have just been boredom--not much call for a pilot during the rainy season, even if Uchladmag was paid enough that money wasn't an issue--but it sounded more like something specific.

[UncleNiamat]

xxRoll result for scene direction

Roll Stealth to investigate Velche

Edited May 7 by UncleNiamat (see edit history)