Steam and Sorcery (IC)

[Thatguyoverther]

The Daedalus left Trarrant with much fanfare. The massive airship is the first of it's kind. At over a thousand feet long and a hundred feet wide it is the largest ship in recorded history.

The ship has a crew of 83 and 211 passengers. Diversions include gambling, live music, observation areas, five star quality food and even a small pool.

The Daedalus is still 28 hours away from making a berth in Hetford, Albonia, where it will make a two day stop before continuing on to the Empire of Man.

Tonight's entertainment will be a troop of trained halfling Acrobats.


The C.S. Daedalus

http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac171/Daniel_Comeau/b_hindenburg.jpg?t=1283116627

Floor Plan

http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac171/Daniel_Comeau/deckplanlarge.jpg?t=1283115523

[Wargor]

Charles sat reclined in a comfortable chair in the Explorer Bar, a glass of fine brandy in hand, watching the other patrons mingle and laugh. He surveyed them with the practised eye of a hunter, idly wondering about the story of each of these peoples lives. He had thought that this little endeavour might have given him some excitement, but so far the experience had been rather dull; sumptuously decorated and, all in all, an extraordinary feat of engineering, but still dull.

He tugged at the collar of his stiff new shirt for the fifth time in as many minutes and sighed. After so long in the steaming jungles of the Dark Continent he was unused to wearing a suit for any real period of time. Some nice tough trousers, a sturdy pair of boots and a light shirt and vest would be so much nicer, but no, I had to try and fit in didn't I? he thought sardonically, wondering once again just why he had decided to come on this trip. Oh well, might as well enjoy the free bar! he thought smirking, downing the remainder of his glass and hailing a waiter to bring him another.

[Blind Venetian]

Several gasps from those near the door announced Ugghra's arrival in the Explorer's Bar. She glanced down at the men who looked at her, some in disgust, others in fear. Her response was a dismissive snort before striding purposefully into the bar, clad only in what amounted to a breastplate, animal skin bracers and breechcloth, and some old boots that she had fished out of a rubbish bin one day.

Standing beside the bar, she ordered a drink, sipping it idly and minding her own business, for the time being. Instead, she did her best to be commanding and intimidating, a combination that would keep people from asking how a half-orc, a female half-orc no less, had managed to purchase a ticket on this very extravagant airship. At the very least, it would keep them from asking her.

[Thatguyoverther]

Explorer Bar, CS Daedalus

The waiter walks over to Charles, taking care to give the half-orc a wide birth. He places two of Charles drink on the table, before bending closer to the big game hunter and saying "Complements of the young lady." and gesturing to an attractive blond woman at the other end of the bar.

Charles doesn't recognize the woman, but has seen her type before. Undoubtedly, this cruise is a perfect place for such a lady to find a suitably wealthy husband.

Ugghra notices special attention as well. The looks of distaste, and muffled racially charged comments are all par for the course.

What is out of place however is the look of one man. It's not a disapproving stare so much as an appraising look, like a gaze one predator might give another.

The man doesn't look like any Ugghra remembers seeing with Ambrose, but then again Ambrose is a man with a large number of connections...

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey enters the Explorer's Bar and walks towards Ugghra put's on his welding goggles examines her closely and asks "Who made you?" Moves his head around a bit and says"Amazing craftsmanship everything down to the muscle's look natural"

[Wargor]

Charles immediately takes note of the change of atmosphere in the room and looks round to see what caused it. His eyes fall upon the half-orc woman, slightly shocked to see one of her kind in a place like this, but then he takes note of her clothes and the way she carries herself. A warrior, for sure, a bodyguard off duty perhaps?.

The waiters arrival drives this thought from his head and he glances over to the woman that the man indicated. Looking for a wealthy husband no doubt, what a shock she'd have upon finding out my not to honourable past. Oh well, no chance in wasting an opportunity for some fun.

Charles stands gracefully, and drinks in hand makes his way over to the attractive blonde, slipping into a seat next to her and placing one of the brandies on the bar. "My thanks for the drink dear lady, It is much appreciated. My name is Charles Beaufort, may I enquire as to what yours might be?" Charles asked with a charming smile.

[Blind Venetian]

Ugghra downed her drink in no time, setting the glass back down on the bar and just about to demand another before she realized she had gathered more attention. Her focus drifted over towards the other man who was watching her from across the room, sizing him up briefly before being distracted by a much more annoying human, one with bad eyesight apparently. A low growl rolled out of her, muscles flexing and tensing as she briefly considered crushing him.

"No one made me, human. I was born."

She dismissed him then, turning around and walking away. With the strange human's questions answered, she made her way over to the other man who had been watching. Her stride was confident, but wary, prepared for anything if this man had been sent to kill her. As she reached him she stopped, crossing her arms, "Who are you, human?"

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey mumbles "oh" shrugs his shoulders and wanders off.

[sciencepanda]

Mihai, having taken on the appearance of a a short, darkhaired young man, enters the Daedalus and looks around in mild dismay. Everything is so fancy. He had been hoping to be somewhat inconspicuous on his trip, but in his simple cleric's robe he would very likely stand out amongst all the glamor.

He spots the Explorer's bar and wanders over with a look of interest. Well, I better make the best of it. he thinks, Perhaps these people have some interesting stories to share.

Shortly after ordering a far too large glass of brandy, he witnesses what looks like might be a fight about to break out between a human and an orc. He walks over and puts a sympathetic hand on the half-orc's shoulder.

"Do not worry, my friend," he says to Ugghra in a light accent that is indistinguishable, as he had invented it himself, "These things are not worth worrying over."

[GodGoblin]

As Shift-Scale wanders the halls he starts to wonder if he is the only non humanoid on the ship, during his walk he notices a large colourful mural upon a wall. "A map.. yes thats what the halflings called it. Now to decipher it"

After a short time Shift-Scale gets the hang of the map and makes his way to the so called 'Swimming-pool'. Once there he gently slips into the water curiously wondering why so many people are leaving the water. "Strange, doesnt the water feel as good against there scales as it does mine?"

After casually swimming a few laps of the pool he comes to a stop in the centre and sits crossed legged on the bottom of the pool, closes his eyes and hopes for a vision to come to him about what to do next now he is aboard the ship.

[Hat-Trick]

Logan marches into the bar, his heavy boots causing a rhythmic "thump, thump, thump" as he approaches one of the guards. He walks along the wall, as to not disturb the passengers, but takes note of the female half-orc staring down some random gentleman while a drunkard cleric either attempts to dissuade her from causing trouble or possibly hit on her, he was too far away to tell. When he got next to the intended guard he taps the guy with his left hand and says quickly, "Shift change."

He takes the guard's position and crosses his arms in his unique way, with his left arm wrapped around his lower chest and his large, mechanical, iron right hand on his shoulder. This was done for two reasons. One, his arm was now too bulky to complete the gesture as any one else probably would. Two, it gave quicker access to his longsword if there was trouble, like if the encounter with the half-orc has a less than jovial outcome.

[Thatguyoverther]

Explorer Bar

The blond smiles. "I'm Rosemina" She takes a sip of her drink before continuing. "You must excuse me for being so forward..." She stops, unwilling to continue. Charles notices tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "It just... Oh God... my Henry, he's gone." Rosemina starts to sob in earnest.

The man who was evaluating Ugghra smiles. It's one of those wide toothy smiles, the kind that don't quite reach the eyes. "My name is Clem, Clem Johnson." He glances about the room making a small show of how many potential listeners there are. "Would you care to take a walk?"

The man stands up and makes a polite gesture towards the bar's door. "It you'd excuse us Brother?"

Logan (Hat-tricks eyes only)

Before boarding Logan was briefed on the guard detail. There were only to be six active CWS guards on board the vessel.

The Owner a Cornelius Van Sutton, also hired a a dozen of Phishkertons (Pinkertons) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_National_Detective_Agency). They are undercover, scattered throughout the staff and passengers.

The nondescript man talking to the Half-orc is one of them.



Leto Deck Pool

The lizardman meditates serenely at the bottom of the pool. Inside the water the vibrations of the ships engines are more pronounced.

The engine hammers like a titanic heart. It's easy to imagine being inside a titanic beast, either in the womb or the gullet.

Maybe even in the heart of the world itself. Shift-Scale quickly falls into a deep trance, reading himself to hear the voices of the spirits, when a stick jabs him gently in the ribs.

A man dressed in a suit standing outside the pool waves cheerily at him, holding a pool net in his other hand.

[Wargor]

Charles knew an opportunity when he saw one and placed a comforting hand upon the woman's arm, schooling his face into an expression of concern. "You poor thing, you must tell me all about it! Perhaps another drink?" He clicks his fingers to gain the waiters attention and motions for another drink for her. The hunt is on he thinks, inwardly smirking.

[Blind Venetian]

There was a brief moment that Ugghra tensed, a sharp intake of breath as a human hand touched her shoulder. It was a bold move on their part, whoever they were, one she was willing to offer some respect for even as she considered breaking their arm. She turned, brow furrowing, teeth bared.

And then the other man spoke. Ugghra turned her attention back to him, reaching up to pull the priests hand off of her, "Yes. I will walk with you, human."

[GodGoblin]

Shift-Scale awakens from his trance to insistent prodding, he allows himself to float up to the surface of the pool.

"Greeting human, could you please cease prodding me with that stick. I find it very distracting."

Not waiting for a reply Shift-Scale sinks back to the bottom and attempts to resume his meditation. "What a curious humanoid" He thinks to himself before clearing his mind and attempting to trance once more.

[Sucrose]

In one of the observation areas near the bar, a dirty-blond young man with the bearing of a gentleman and the suit of a Commonwealth businessman has taken a seat with a mid-sized novel. He turns the pages, occasionally looking up to take in the view outside.

...I'll be home soon, Mother and Father. Please be ready to listen...

[sciencepanda]

Mihai nods politely. "Very well sir, a pleasant day to you."

He turns again and gives a small bow towards Ugghra. Suddenly speaking flawessly in the orc tongue, he states, "Well, it was nice to meet you miss, do enjoy your flight."

Mihai scampers off, looking for other interesting conversation.

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey wanders around the ship and by "Accident" ends up near the engine room door

[Sucrose]

Faster than most would think possible, the businessman has concluded his book. He shuts it, takes one more look out the viewing window, and walks to the bar to get a snack.

As he moseys to the bar, he gives the wandering priest a friendly nod, and a faint smile.

"Good day, father. I trust the voyage has treated you well?"

[sciencepanda]

Mihai chuckles.

"Oh heavens, if only I was so high ranking. I'm afraid I am but a simple monk." he offers to shake hands, continuing to lie with a straight face, "Call me Brother Reyes." Mihai chuckles again and adds, "It's...an interesting experience. Certainly more upscale then I am used to."

[Hat-Trick]

Logan has tuned out the rest of the room now, the excitement over. He is still watching the room, but he isn't attempting to probe for troublemakers. He has fallen out of his previous stance and holds his arms at his side, flexing his right arm to check its operation. He isn't worried about it, he just finished inspecting and maintaining it before taking his shift, but it was something to entertain him. He should be paying closer attention, but he didn't necessarily need to.

If there's one thing he knows it's that trouble would wait until the Daedalus was far from any port that could accommodate it. If it didn't, it wouldn't be serious trouble. Well, at least not intelligent trouble. Still, he heard a story about a man named Murphy, and if that tale taught him anything it was that anything that can go wrong will.

[Sucrose]

Mihai chuckles.

"Oh heavens, if only I was so high ranking. I'm afraid I am but a simple monk." he offers to shake hands, continuing to lie with a straight face, "Call me Brother Reyes." Mihai chuckles again and adds, "It's...an interesting experience. Certainly more upscale then I am used to."

Leon takes the hand, and gives it a firm shake. His eyes do not leave Mihai's, and his smile grows slightly.

"I suppose this is a somewhat high-class cruise, Brother Reyes. Do you have any recommendations for drinks?"

[sciencepanda]

With a loud chugging noise, Mihai drains the rest of his brandy and with a mad grin leads Leon up to the bar.

"A pal of mine from the convent showed me how to make this. Apparently he learned it when he was off on mission in the depths of the Dark Continent."

Mihai begins ordering up bottles of gin, vodka, beer, toothpaste, rubbing alcohol, grape juice, a packet of nuts, and several other dusty bottles of suspicious origin. He starts mixing them together haphazardly, talking all the time.

"So friend, what brings you here? I am always up for a good tale."

[Sucrose]

With a loud chugging noise, Mihai drains the rest of his brandy and with a mad grin leads Leon up to the bar.

"A pal of mine from the convent showed me how to make this. Apparently he learned it when he was off on mission in the depths of the Dark Continent."

Mihai begins ordering up bottles of gin, vodka, beer, toothpaste, rubbing alcohol, grape juice, a packet of nuts, and several other dusty bottles of suspicious origin. He starts mixing them together haphazardly, talking all the time.

"So friend, what brings you hear? I am always up for a good tale."

A look of mild interest passes over Leon's face at the most un-monastic demeanor of this monk, as well as the precise alcoholic concoction being brewed, presumably for his own consumption.

"Well, Brother Reyes, I have come to speak with some family members in the old country, in hopes of taking them back to the Commonwealth, where they will have greater freedom, and a part in Alfons's business. I admit, though, that the opportunity to travel all the countries that this ship will be taking us to is also most enticing. For what reason have you come aboard the Daedalus?"

[Connington]

A very faint, muffled thumping escape the notice of most patrons as Lord Zhengshi walks towards the Explorer bar, ducking under the low-hanging doorframe as he steps in. A few people mutter at the sight of him, green, ten feet tall, and dressed like a Tarrantian dandy.

The ogre ignores their mumbling mistrust, although it pained him to do so. Even five months ago, he probably would have ordered a round for everyone in the bar, but times had changed. Clever eyes peeked out from his beetle brow, scanning the room. The half-orc savage interested him, but she was clearly engaged. Now, on the other end of the bar were two men, and if he could tell them by their clothing, a wealthy man and a priest. Just the two that he could strike up a conversation with!

His lanky stride propels him across the bar quickly, only for him to abruptly sit himself down next to the other two before launching into a well-rehearsed introduction with practiced charm. "I do hope you chaps won't mind if I butt in on you so terribly rudely like this, but I'm simply dying for company. The name's Edward, and who would you two be?"

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey hears a thumping sound and runs into the explorers bar shouting
"I heard a sound anything wrong?" while turning his head left and right.Stares at the ogre and says "An ogre in a monkey suit?What next a sentient reptile?"

[sciencepanda]

Mihai, having just produced two glasses of a horrifyingly purple and steaming beverage, looks up at the ogre and grins.

"Well sure, have a seat!" he says cheerfully, "I'm Brother Reyes, and if you don't mind me saying, this scene is starting to look like the opening of a bad joke!"

He chuckles, "I was just explaining to my friend here just what I'm doing here. I'm a representative of the Great Eastern Church of Anansi. Me and another member of the clergy, we're off for our first official meeting with the Church of the Old Gods, up north you see. Meet with the elves, discuss politics, negotiations, that sort of stuff."

He takes a swig from the gurgling mug, and for a second you can swear that steam was bursting out of his ears. Face a little bit more flushed then before, Mihai continues.

"But I'm excited! I've never been so far from Tarant, before, and it'll be fun to get out of the city. Maybe I'll learn a new language or something!"

[Hat-Trick]

Logan returns his full attention to the room again with the arrival of the Gentleogre. At least the trip will be interesting if this keeps up. I might even have some stories to tell. He has fallen back into his crossed armed stance, even if the ogre wasn't inclined to cause problems, others might. Humanoids had a wierd way of showing their superiority over 'savage' and 'brutal' races. Savagely brutal beatings were not uncommon. It depended on the crowd though.

Surrounded by lords and wealth, the chances of a beating, let alone a successful one, were quite slim. He relaxed a bit then remembered Murphy again and scanned the room for any tells of violence.

[Sucrose]

Leon watches Brother Reyes with a combination of interest, amusement, and, as the priest actually drinks the foul concoction in his mug, mild alarm. He then nods amiably to Edward. A few months ago, he would've been alarmed by such a creature accosting him, but seeing a few around one of Alfons's shops has increased his tolerance a bit.

"Well, Edward, it's good to meet you. I am Leon Schulz, of Schulz Textiles. I'm traveling for pleasure, and to deliver a business proposal to some significant investors in the Empire. I don't suppose you would be in need of a fabric supplier?"

He smiles gently at the last sentence, to indicate that it is more jest than honest salesmanship.

[Thatguyoverther]

Leto Deck Pool
The human tries to say something to Shift-Scale but the lizard man's head is already underwater and his words are lost.

The man pulls the pool cleaner out of the pool. A few seconds latter there's a small splash. The man has rolled his pants up and is currently dangling his feet in the water.

Shift-Scale can hear his feat swish through the pool water, feel the humans eyes on his back.

Despite being trained to ignore distractions Shift-Scale is having problems even falling into the first levels of meditation, let alone the deeper trances necessary to commune with the spirits.

The Explorer Bar

Clem walks out of the bar, walking down the halls of the Daedalus he remains silent. After a couple minutes he ducks into a door marked "Staff Only", motioning Ugghra to follow.

Rosemina continues to ball, and downs the drink in a decidedly unladylike manner. In between tears she conveys her story. Her fiance Henry, had purchased two tickets. The trip was meant to be their honeymoon. In a cruel twist of fate, Henry fell of a platform and was hit by a train a few days before their wedding. Rosemina sold the other ticket, but knew that the trip was her fiance's dream, and wanted to go, for him.

She produces a handkerchief and wipes away the tears, doing her best to straighten her makeup. "I'm so sorry for gushing like this, you just remind me of my Henry." She smiles at him, patting his arm affectionately. "You're such a kind man." She bites her lip for a second before continuing. "Do you think you could walk me to my room?"

[Blind Venetian]

Ugghra followed the human Clem from the Explorer's Bar, walking down the hall beside him. She glanced over at him, idly examining him and finding him as unimpressive as most other humans. Still, if it was possible that he might have work for her, then she was willing to listen. She understood that to survive in the city required money, but she never let it compromise her or the teachings of her tribe. She might have worked for humans in the past, but she was never a slave, and never would be one as far as she was concerned.

The sign on the door made her pause, but only briefly, before she entered and closed the door behind them. The half-orc let out a low growl, "Say what you have to say, human."

[Thatguyoverther]

Storage Room
Clem turns to face Ugghra, in a flash there are two objects in his hands. One, is a pistol, the other a small leather wallet.

Calmly he announces "I'm a phiskerston. I've been hired to make sure this voyage goes smoothly." He flips the wallet open revealing a badge, he waits for her to examine it before continuing. "May I see your ticket?"

[Blind Venetian]

Ugghra narrows her eyes and furrows her brow as she is confronted by this man. A slow smile forming on her lips at the way this man held himself with such confidence, assuming his superiority because he possessed a weapon and a badge? One was dangerous yes, but the other useless except for the meaning placed upon it by other humans. Still, it wouldn't do to kill him now, with no means of escape.

She turned a little, motioning to her choice of 'clothing', what little of it there was, "I do not have pockets, human. My ticket is in my room."

The barbarian leaned in, staring him down, "Do you treat all guests this way, or simply those with Orcish blood?"

I'll roll Intimidation if necessary.

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey walks to Leon,Brother Reyes and the Ogre and says"is there an empty seat?"

[GodGoblin]

Shift-Scale lets out a long sigh that sends a trail of bubbles rising to the surface of the pool "Very persistent, perhaps I should listen. He may lead me to where the spirits require me, or at the very least I can find some peace"

Once again Shift-Scale lets himself float towards the surface but with a powerful flick of his tail he sends himself upwards and out of the water, he lands on the poolside with a thump. Water runs off of his scales and clothing like it would a ducks back and within seconds he is almost dry.

"You continue to be an annoyance human, what is it you want from me?"

[Connington]

The ogre frowns slightly as Brother Reyes introduces himself. "The Great Eastern Church of Anansi you say? Oh dear, I don't think I've heard of them before. Most unsettling. Are they new?" he says, curiosity mixed with concern.

He lets his worry fade away, to g grin at Leon's jest, exposing a row of shiny black teeth. Ha! You're calling my clothes sub-par? We must fight a duel then. Alas, those blighted guards took away my pistol. So instead, a contest. If the good Brother here can whip up two more of his concoctions as he talks, I wager you I can drink it first, and probably stand up afterwards."

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey stares at the priest and says "Father what are those two fighting over?"pointing at Leon and the Ogre

[Sucrose]

Leon's eyes widen in mock fear.

"Ah, of course not, friend Edward! I thought, in fact, that the stitching on the suit you wear is so exquisite that you may yourself be a tailor."

He then sighs, and sets his jaw in grim determination.

"Nevertheless, for the sake of your injured honor, I accept your challenge. Brother Reyes, if you would be so good?"

[sciencepanda]

Mihai, who is both thoroughly drunk and quite enjoying himself at this point nods readily and begins fixing more of the drinks.

As he is working on them, he explains, "Oh, we're" *hick* "relelelative new, for a chuch. I guess. I suppose. Father Okiro founded founded it just about...twenty years ago. That's pretty new for a church, I think?"

He finishes making the drinks, and slams them on the counter quite loudly.

[Hat-Trick]

Now that Logan is paying full attention, he can't help stifle a gag at the mixing process the priest is going through. He removes himself from his static condition and sets into motion towards the small pack. He steps up behind the priest and taps him on the should with his left arm. "I'm going to have to ask you if that concoction of yours isn't poisonous, explosive, corrosive, radioactive, or toxic in anyway I can't think to name at the moment."

[sciencepanda]

"Only slightly." says Mihai, sipping from his mug.

[Hat-Trick]

Logan pauses as he watches the priest sip the 'only slightly' toxic drink. "I have no problem with you poisoning yourself, or what ever adverse effects that brew had, but I'd advise against distributing it," he finally said. "I'm no medic and I'm not going to be the one to try to revive anyone who starts dying from that... Does it even have a name?"

[Wargor]

Charles listen to Rosemina's story and a hint of guilt enters his mind before she lets her offer slip, the guilt is immediately over-ridden by a feeling of triumph. "Oh you poor girl, I'm so sorry for your loss. Of course I'll walk you to your room, you shouldn't be alone at a time like this."

Charles rises from his chair, downing the last of his brandy as he stands before patting his suit back into perfect form. He then offers his arm for Rosemina to take. "Lead the way my dear" he tells her, offering her a brilliant smile.

[sciencepanda]

Mihai lets out a loud laugh and slaps Logan on the back.

"I'm only joking! This is..is called Brzhktcha. It's it's it's an Orcish drink. Originally. From the Dark Continent. I think I said that before, I think."

[Rebis]

Keyn Li's knuckles thud slightly against the deckplates as he lopes down the accessway on all fours. His circuit nearly complete, he stops as he hears the scrape of metal on metal and straightens, looking up.
"What are you doing here? This area is off limi-"
"Excuse, please," Keyn Li intones, purposely dumbing down his Mannish to appear more out of place. "Am to find, ah, da da da... Ek- Explora Bah?" Looking down, the engineer stares at the near-albino goblin. Keyn Li's startlingly blue eyes stare right back up at him. His white skin contrasts starkly against the black of his immaculate suit and top hat. His arms reach the ground, the knuckles of his large hands barely touching the floor. Barefoot, his bone-white feet almost look like the feet of the mighty apes that the engineer has seen in the Tarrant Zoo.
"I'll need to see your ticket," he finally says, frowning.
"Of a certainty," Keyn Li snaps, pulling it from his breast pocket.

Satisfied, the engineer points him towards a forward bulkhead and then scratches his head, grinning, as Keyn Li leaps up to overhead pipes and hand-over-hands his way down the hall.

Coming in to Explorer Bar, his eyes instantly lock on to the Ogre Mage dominating conversation at the table. He knuckles over, swings his way up the chair and stops, making eye contact with his master.
He waits for the nod before climbing to his master's shoulder to whisper in his ear while eyeing the room.
His Cathay is whispered on the off-chance that others in the room might understand.
"Master Edward, it is done."

[Hat-Trick]

"Poison ain't a joking matter, Brother," Logan reprimanded. "I could have easily tossed you out the window just watching you make that." He pauses as he has an inner battle with himself. "Is it any good?" On shift or not, this was supposed to be a relaxing assignment, and I can stand guard here as well as anywhere, not to mention it's just a sip.

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey shrugs his shoulders at being ignored and walks out of the Explorers Bar but not before grabbing a beer.
He drinks the beer while wandering around the ship and walks in on the confrontation between Shift Scale and a man

[Rebis]

Keyn Li uses his perch at his master's shoulder to survey the room.

_____________________________________


For Thatguyoverther and Connington only:

OOC: When Keyn Li said, "Master Edward, It is done," what he was telling his master is that he had explored the length and breadth of the ship, checking for dangers within and without, and had tried to find the best escape points in case Master Edward needs to get away suddenly.

I personally love dirigibles and have quite a bit of knowledge about them, and so this setting interests me a lot. Is there a way that I could spend a skill point to have memorized the floorplan and some of the various things about the ship?
I understand that in the end I will probably be throwing my point away (I DID note the "Hindenburg" logo on the side of the ship in the pic), but Keyn Li is the type of person who takes his bodyguarding seriously. He takes his time to think about ways assassins could target his master, and does what he can to cut that off early.
Oh, also, the other meaning of what he said was that he had successfully gotten his pair of Tantos (Daggers) aboard.

- Rebis

[sciencepanda]

Mihai smirks.

"Is it good? Is it good?! Saying this drink is 'good' is the grossest understatement I have ever heard. Drinking this is..." Mihai wracks his alcohol-riddled brain for a proper analogy, "Is like a dragon breathing precious gems strait through your eyes and into your brain."

...And suddenly my character has turned into a drug pusher. :smalleek:

[Sucrose]

Leon eyes the drinks with a few more misgivings.

"...I could do without such an idea..."

With a shrug, he draws his glass, and glances to Edward.

"So, we start at the same moment, for fairness's sake, yes? On the count of three?"

[Hat-Trick]

"Brew me a batch there, Brother?" Logan asks, quietly. "Just a bit to taste."

[Connington]

Edward nods curtly at Keyn Li's statement, responding in Cathayan "Good. You do well. Fill me in on the details later, but relax for now.". Switching back to the human tongue, he introduces the ape-like humanoid to the little group. "Ah yes, this is Keyn Li, my manservant and bodyguard. I'd probably be dead a couple times over without him." he speaks warmly, clearly regarding Keyn Li as more than just another servant.

Turning his attention back to Leon, he roars in a good natured fashion "Now, you son of a tailor, we will drink, on the count of three as you say. One. Two. Three. GO!"

With Go, Edward takes short swill of the drink, followed by a quick series of gulps. The ogre seems to suffer no ill affects, aside from the fact that his cheeks and throat appear to be turning slightly blue.

Here's a Fort save. I'm not sure if it's necessary, but thought I'd throw it in there.

[roll0]

[sciencepanda]

Mihai finishes the drinks and hands them out.

[Hat-Trick]

"Thanks," Logan mutters as he takes the shot. He doesn't swallow right away, but lets it set to get the flavor before swallowing. He lets out a sound easily confused for disgust, but more along the lines of confusion and smacks his lips. "Got an aftertaste, don't it?" He watches as the other two start their drinking contest.

[Thatguyoverther]

Storage Room
Clem smiles back. "Good Phos no! Only those suspected of being a stowaways." He clears his throat before continuing. "Now, I can have a runner go to your room to check for a ticket, or we can cut the crap and get down to business. Before you protest anymore, you should know that I've studied the passenger list and there are only three people on board or the orcish persuasion. One of them's a man and the other two are cleaning staff."

"Now, do you want me to send that runner or are you willing to get down to brass tacks?"

(You can roll an intimidate if you'd like, but Clem's holding a gun so even if he doesn't have the advantage, he sure thinks he does.)


Leto Deck Pool

The powerful jump from the pool startles the man. For a moment he's at a loss for words, but the moment passes.

"I, uh just wanted to get your picture. I'm a photographer, and I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't manage to get a picture of you. It won't take but a minute, and I tell you what if I can't get your picture in the Tarrant Times, I'll eat my hat."

"Name's Theodore Hestburg, but you can call me Teddy." The man extends his hand in greeting.

Explorer Bar
A finger taps Logan on the flesh and blood shoulder. It's the guard he just relieved. The guard takes a cursory glance at the drink in Logan's hand and whispers, "We have a situation." He gestures for Logan to follow before hurrying out of the bar.

Rosemina smiles at Charles. "You're so kind." She takes the proffered arm, clinging to it as if it were a life line, and leads Charles down a flight of stairs and a short hallway to her room. Once there she once again smiles at Charles. In an impulsive gesture she plants a kiss on his cheek. In an instant she looks ashamed and averts her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Kenye Li studies the room, quickly taking stock of all the passengers. Other then the bartender, the recent exoduses have left only two groups. On the far side of the bar an elderly dwarven couple sits by a window. The man is reading and the woman is knitting occasionally glancing out the window at the sea below. The other is a quartet of halflings, playing some sort of card game.

[Blind Venetian]

Ugghra furrowed her brow again, the right edge of her lip curling back to show some of her sharp orcish teeth. He'd called her bluff, though she should have expected as much. When they had their guns they thought themselves invincible. She let out a slow breath, crossing her arms again, finding herself in an uncomfortable position, but she had learned in her time with the tribe that sometimes it is better to move with the current rather than fighting against it.

She let out a resigned huff, narrowing her green eyes at Clem. She could always deal with him later if it came to that.

"Fine. What is it you want, human?"

[Wargor]

Charles grins inwardly at the kiss, placing a look of surprise on his face before smiling gently, "Why are you sorry my dear Rosemina? There is nothing you should feel sorry about" he exclaims, taking her hand and placing a kiss on the back of it.

"Now if you have no more need for me, I bid you adieu my dear, that is, unless you want some more company?" As he says this he shifts closer to her, an attentive look settling over his features.

[GodGoblin]

"I, uh just wanted to get your picture. I'm a photographer, and I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't manage to get a picture of you. It won't take but a minute, and I tell you what if I can't get your picture in the Tarrant Times, I'll eat my hat."

"Name's Theodore Hestburg, but you can call me Teddy." The man extends his hand in greeting.

Curiously Shift-Scale looks at the man for a time long enough to be described as awkward. Eventually he grasps Teddy's hand and methodically moves it up, then down and finally up again before letting go.

"Ah the human 'handshake' very well my name is RrrcckkraaAAAcktq't But in the common tongue I am known as Shift-Scale"

Shift-Scale stops for a moment lost in thought before he continues speaking-

"Many of my people believe that a contraption such as that can steal a creatures soul but I have traveled for a long time and met many people who I would describe as 'soulless' and I do not believe your contraption is to blame. Very well Human known as Teddy, you may have your picture"

[Hat-Trick]

At the guard's sudden appearance, Logan glanced at the cup in his hand and sighed. Caught red handed. It's not like their going to fire me, so it's no big deal. When he was told of a situation, he became a bit more down-to-business. He followed the guard out of the bar and almost overtook his guide, except he wouldn't know where to go.

[Thatguyoverther]

Storage Room
Clem smiles. "See, that wasn't so bad. As far as I can see things it boils down to this. You're disturbing other paying passengers, I'm paid to make disturbances disappear.

Now I can either disappear you," Clem motions with the pistol. "or, I can help you disappear. If you choose the second option you'll either have to stay away from the other passengers in the crew section or you'll have to tone down the whole," he gestures with the gun at Ugghra's apparel, "thing."

"I think we've got some spare maid outfits." Clem smiles wider.

Leto Deck Pool

"Wowie. 'Rikrakqut', 'Human known as Teddy', you really are something. Have you ever considered writing for one of those penny-dreadfuls?" He nods to Geoffrey, "Get a load of this guy."

Teddy points towards a corner of the Leto Deck. It bears a banner that just says "The Daedalus." "If'n you'd stand right there. It'll take me a minute to get set up." Teddy begins taking equipment out of a large suitcase and begins assembling a device.

[Blind Venetian]

Ugghra half snarled at this very amused man, her hands squeezing into tight, angry fists, just begging to be used. It took every single bit of her willpower to not just try and strangle him right there, but she made no effort to hide the strain that she was now under.

"You will not make me your slave, human. If I am to work, I will be paid."

[GodGoblin]

Shift-Scale nods and walks over to the banner.

"Ready" He croaks to Teddy as he stands more upright and proud with a sense of command you would expect from a general or king. Well in fact Shift-Scale was both those things.

"Perhaps the other humanoid would like to join me?" He motions over to Geoffrey with a swing of his tail.

[Rebis]

A "couple" of times? I believe it was three or four times over with just the Hopping Vampires of Lo Peng incident alone, Master Edward, thinks Keyn Li.

Keyn Li growls low in his throat, watching the halflings. Most likely tonight's entertainment, but still, they will need to be watched.

They will not be the first, nor likely the last, pack of halflings I've had to disembowel.

He eyes the dwarf couple, a study in contrasts. The male is truly reading, and not using the book as cover, unless I have taken complete leave of my senses. But the old dwarven female... I do NOT like those knitting needles. He estimates the steps needed to get to her and back into position alongside his master.

Checks the drunkard to see if there is any sign that this is an act. This could all, ALL of this, be a ruse.

He frowns, and looks to Master Edward. Son of a tailor? I have not heard THAT one lately.

Watches him closely for signs of any ill effects. Reaches into his hip pouch to reassure himself that the antidote and healing draught are still in place. And watches his master's face for any signs of distress.

[Sucrose]

Edward nods curtly at Keyn Li's statement, responding in Cathayan "Good. You do well. Fill me in on the details later, but relax for now.". Switching back to the human tongue, he introduces the ape-like humanoid to the little group. "Ah yes, this is Keyn Li, my manservant and bodyguard. I'd probably be dead a couple times over without him." he speaks warmly, clearly regarding Keyn Li as more than just another servant.

Turning his attention back to Leon, he roars in a good natured fashion "Now, you son of a tailor, we will drink, on the count of three as you say. One. Two. Three. GO!"

With Go, Edward takes short swill of the drink, followed by a quick series of gulps. The ogre seems to suffer no ill affects, aside from the fact that his cheeks and throat appear to be turning slightly blue.

Here's a Fort save. I'm not sure if it's necessary, but thought I'd throw it in there.

[roll0]

Leon begins at the instant that Edward does, but his human throat cannot keep up with the volumetric flow through an ogre's digestive tract. He's barely two-thirds of the way finished before Edward completes his drink. He nevertheless perseveres, and finishes his drink before setting it aside. To his credit, he seems no worse off than Edward.

"Alas, I am defeated..."

Apologies for the delay; had to begin statting Leon up before I could determine his Fortitude save. For the time being, I'm assuming he'll be a Ranger2/Fighter1.
[roll0]

[Connington]

Coughing vigorously, Edward gently thumps Leon's back. "Well, I think that satisfies everyone's honor." he says, thoroughly amused.

Noticing that Logan has stepped away, he grins again."So, what emergency did you think the guard had?

[sciencepanda]

Mihai laughs uproariously at the spectacle, but soon becomes distracted by what appear to be flying turnips dancing around everyone's heads.

"Well, that's new." he says in a discombobulated tone.

[Rebis]

Coughing vigorously, Edward gently thumps Leon's back. "Well, I think that satisfies everyone's honor." he says, thoroughly amused.

Keyn Li visibly eases, his hand leaving his pocket. He looks to the human standing alongside Master Edward.

It appears you are to live another day, "Leon," - if that IS your real name.

His eyes tighten to stare sidelong at the knitting old dwarven female.

But YOU... You don't know how close you just came.

He settles back into position on his master's shoulder.

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey says "Sure why not?" rolls his eyes with a grin on his face and joins Shift-Scale in the camera range

[Thatguyoverther]

Storage Room

"Room, board and a free trip to Albonia isn't enough?" Clem smiles, "I tell you what. I'll personally make sure you get paid the standard fee. I'll even do it out of pocket if I have to."

Clem puts the gun away and ducks his head out of the door making sure the hallway is empty before exiting. "If madam would be so kind as to follow me to the crew section? Speaking of which, I didn't catch your name."


If you've got a sheet ready, go ahead and take a listen check.

Halls of the Daedalus

The guard leads Logan down to the second floor. Upon exiting the stair case it becomes apparent the gravity of the issue. An armed guard stands at either end of the hall, turning back passengers.

While passing one guard, Logan overhears him telling a couple that "There's nothing to worry about. Just a leaky pipe, should be fixed in no time." Then going on to suggest that the passengers take advantage of the free buffet up on the Leto deck.

In the middle of the hall another guard stands in front of one of the passenger cabins. Counting himself and the guard who retrieved him, there was only one more guard unaccounted for. By all rights at least two of them should have been asleep.

The smell of blood is the first thing Logan notices upon entering the room. The next is that Captain DeGaul, Lt. Dan (Logan's superior), Mr. Van Sutton, and half a dozen of the phiskertons are all crammed into the room. There is a seventh phiskerton in the room, but he's face down on the floor, bled out from a dozen plus knife wounds.

Outside of Room 311

Rosemina bites her lip, and looks both ways down the hall, as if she's afraid someone might hear what she says next. "Would you like to come in? For a drink?"

Charles hears a faint scream from a floor above them.

Explorer Bar

@Rebis

Sorry I didn't answer earlier, I missed the message.

It's fine for Keyn Li to have explore red the length and breadth of the passenger section, but unless he sneaks in the crew aren't going to let him go any further. The vessel is still new and they are under orders to protect industry secrets.

The tantos are fine. Finding likely exits is fine too, don't worry about spending a skill point.

Also wik, good eye on the Hindenburg thing. Although most Arcanum players probably have a good guess what happens to airships.

Also also wik, the dwarven couple is within a single move of Keyn Li.

The elderly dwarf drops his book and rises to his feet. His face has begun reddening, and he's clutching his throat, but not making any noise. A second latter he falls to the floor convulsing. The dwarfess, presumably his wife, discards her knitting and rushes to his side.

She screams, "Yessi! Yess! Somebody help him!"

Leto Deck Pool


Teddy smiles at the pair. "Wow, this is golden. Now just hold still for a few seconds. I'm just about ready." He pours some black grains in a pan and ducks under a tarp attached to a mechanism on a tri-pod.

Teddy begins counting down, "Five, four, three." His count down is interrupted by a pair of incomprehensible screams coming from further down the Leto Deck, then the screamed words, "Somebody help him!"

[sciencepanda]

Upon hearing the scream, Mihai snaps to attention. His first action is to take a tall glass of water and splash it across his face, taking some of the edge off from the alcohol and getting him a bit more awake.

He stumbles his way over to the fallen dwarf and addresses his wife. "Excuse me ma'am. I'm a healer. I will see what I can do."

Heal Check: [roll0]

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey runs towards the source of the sound forgetting about the picture

[sciencepanda]

I swear, the dice roller is out to get me sometimes.

Assuming his initial attempts at first aid fail, Mihai switches tactics. He pulls what seems to be a small drum out of his robe and places it on the floor. At once, he raps lightly on it and begins muttering a slow chant.

Cure Light Wounds: [roll0]

[Hat-Trick]

Logan pauses long enough to salute (with his left hand, as his right would half near knock him unconscious if he wasn't carefull) Lt. Dan and say, "Lt. Dan, what the hell?" in a flat, serious tone. Seems he was wrong, trouble wouldn't wait until it was far from port. He had to buy Murphy a drink, if he ever met the actual Murphy.

[Thatguyoverther]

Explorer Bar

Maybe the alcohol is causing Mihai, to slip, but he can't seem to find the root of the dwarf's problem. Whatever is causeing the problem isn't a normal wound either, since Anansi's healing power isn't clearing up the problem either.

The dwarf continues to writhe holding his throat. His wife looks on helplessly.

Geofrey arrives, taking in the scene for the first time.

Murder Scene

Lt. Dan nods at Logan. "What you see is basically what we've got. A passenger in a neighboring cabin reported the noise, but didn't see an attacker. From the number of stab wounds I think we can rule out suicide.

He was one of the undercover phiskertons. We can only guess as to why he was killed, but whoever it was probably knows who or what he was.

We we're just discussing what to do."

Van Sutton speaks up. "We can't make this public, it would be a public relations disaster. A murder on the Daedalus' first voyage! Before you know it people would be screaming about a cursed airship!"

Lt. Dan rounds on Van Sutton. "With all due respect, that decision isn't yours to make."

Van Sutton's face begins to redden. "Don't tell me what is and isn't my decision on my own damn ship! You might have authority in the Commonwealth, but we aren't there, we're currently a thousand feet above the open sea. You, the ambassador and your men are all guests aboard this vessel. My vessel."

[Rebis]

@thatguyoverther



It's fine for Keyn Li to have explore red the length and breadth of the passenger section, but unless he sneaks in the crew aren't going to let him go any further. The vessel is still new and they are under orders to protect industry secrets.

Keyn Li would absolutely have snuck into the non-passenger areas. My Hide and Move Silently are both at +15, and I can hide and travel by overhead pipes. Keyn Li feels like there are very few places he can't get into on this airship. Also, when I read the part about a Phiskerton having multiple knifewounds, my first thought was, "Did I do that?"

The tantos are fine. Finding likely exits is fine too, don't worry about spending a skill point.

Nice. I'll put that point to good use elsewhere.

Also wik, good eye on the Hindenburg thing. Although most Arcanum players probably have a good guess what happens to airships.

Yeah, it's the curse of hydrogen lift systems, or their Trarrant equivalent.

Also also wik, the dwarven couple is within a single move of Keyn Li.

-- The elderly dwarf drops his book and rises to his feet. His face has begun reddening, and he's clutching his throat, but not making any noise. A second latter he falls to the floor convulsing. The dwarfess, presumably his wife, discards her knitting and rushes to his side.

She screams, "Yessi! Yess! Somebody help him!" --

Keyn Li frowns, and instantly looks for the actual attack.

Nice distraction, he thinks.

When he doesn't see anything instantly coming, and when the human drunkard sprints over and starts babbling about being a healer, He makes his move. Leaping through the air towards them (JUMP: [roll0] ), he lands near the woman, throws out some platitude, "The dwarf male will be just fine, old she," and does his best to look concerned...

... while nabbing her knitting needles mid-move and stowing them in his left sleeve. (Sleight-of-Hand: [roll1].

[Rebis]

"There, there," says Keyn Li, patting the old dwarven she on the shoulder. "There there, I say."
Comforting... (Diplomacy: [roll0] )
With that, the Goblin leaps through the air...
(Jump: [roll1] )
...To land at the bar near his master.
"One less thing to worry you, Master Edward."

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey walks back to the pool and tells Teddy and Shift-Scale "There is already a healer tending to the dwarf that fainted"

[GodGoblin]

"Very well but I will still go perhaps my skills can still be of service"

With that Shift-Scale's form morphs into that of a large yellow hued reptilian wolf and he bounds out of the pool deck towards the explorer bar, following the sounds of commotion.

Once into the room Shift-Scale turns back into Lizardfolk form seamlessly mid step.

"Greetings humanoids, I believe there is already a healer present but please let me assist"

Shift-Scale leans over to the dwarf and emits a low hum and a few gurgling noises as he places his hand over his chest.

Casting detect poison

And the DC 20 Wisdom check to determine what kind of poison [roll]1d20+2

[GodGoblin]

OOC
Oops messed up on that roll
[roll0]

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey follows Shift-Scales towards the fainted dwarf and twiddles his fingers nervously watching Shift-Scale and Mihai tend to the dwarf

[Hat-Trick]

"Van Sutton, you're thinking too much about profit and business and not enough about reality and the well-being of your customers," Logan says. He doesn't try to be persuasive, or charismatic, he never succeeded well with that. "A man is dead, one of your employees. One of your Security detail. If you don't want to find the killer, we might arrive in the next port fighting our lives. Do you want that, or are you going to search for the culprit and throw him overboard? On second thought you find him and let me throw him overboard." He emphasizes his sentence with a flex of his right arm, the whirling and cranking an angry roar.

[Blind Venetian]

Listen Roll: [roll0]

Ugghra followed Clem out, glowering a little as she moved with him from the storage room into the hallway. The idea of being a.. servant on board this vessel was truly distasteful, working for the humans, getting their food, cleaning their rooms. No orcess deserved this treatment.

She made a small 'hrmph' noise as she lowered her head to pass under the door, looking down both ends of the hallway, "I am Ugghra Red Talon, human."

[sciencepanda]

"Damn it all!" shouts Mihai, pounding the floor with his fist in frustration.

He stands up, and with his head down he states matter of factly, a slight tremble in his voice, "He is gone."

[Thatguyoverther]

Explorer Bar

@Rebis

Make a couple of search checks, and I'll tell you if Keyn Li noticed anything noteworthy on his rounds.

He also got the needles without indecent.


The woman, shocked by the antics of the leaping albino goblin, and the sudden appearance of a shape changing lizard, becomes hysterical. Clinging to her still convulsing husband.

Shift-scale detects poison in the dwarf's body, but cannot discern what type.

The other patrons in the bar begin reacting to the event. The halflings quickly stuff their winnings into their pockets before gawking at the spectacle helplessly. One of them mumbles something that sounds like "He was one of us." to which the others murmur agreement and bow their heads.

The bartender, previously dumbstruck, remembers his training in a flash. "There's a doctor's office two floors down!" He fumbles over the bar. "Somebody help me move him!" He makes an attempt to grab hold of the dwarf but his wife claws at his face.

Murder Scene

Van Sutton continues to redden. "Of course I want the murderer found! But making it public is precisely what the murderer would want! Announcing the murder would cause panic, precisely what the murder would want, we'd be playing into his hands."

"Besides, what good would making it public do? We don't have any leads and we won't be able to question 200 passengers before we arrive at Albonia."

One of the phiskerton's, a halfling, speaks up. "The guards could do random room searches, while the rest of us try to investigate covertly."

"Finally someone is talking talking sense!"

Lt. Dan turns to Logan. "Take Ensign Ricky (the guard who relieved Logan) with you. Start searching rooms, start at the bottom and go up. Make up an excuse that sounds plausible. I'll take two of the others and we'll start searching the crew section."

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey pulls the dead dwarf's wife away from the bartender and says "Can somebody help this man carry this corpse to the doctors office?"pointing at the bartender.

[Wargor]

Charles smiles charmingly at the offer of a drink, but his head snaps toward the direction of the scream as soon as he hears it. "Perhaps another time my dear, I think something is wrong." He frowns whilst saying this, genuinely upset at the interruption. "I'll be back soon, I must investigate!" Saying this he takes her hand in his and plants a kiss on the back of it, before racing of to the scene of the commotion.

[Halna LeGavilk]

A younger man, clothes askew, hastily stepped into the bar as he buckled up a belt holding two holsters on it. He quickly takes in the situation, and steps over to the dwarf. "Anyone know what's wrong with him?"

[Rebis]

For Thatguyoverther:

Make a couple of search checks, and I'll tell you if Keyn Li noticed anything noteworthy on his rounds.

He also got the needles without indecent.

Hide: [roll0]
Hide: [roll1]
Move Silently: [roll2]
Move Silently: [roll3]
Spot: [roll4]
Spot: [roll5]
Search: [roll6]
Search: [roll7]
Listen: [roll8]
Listen: [roll9]

Hopefully, that'll cover everything.

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey still holding the dwarf women from the bartender says "I dont know now can somebody help bring this corpse to the doctors office?"pointing at the Dwarf corpse

[Rebis]

Keyn Li looks on as the human asks for help, and says nothing. His place is at his master's side.

[GodGoblin]

"Poison.." he ponders on this for a short time and then he kneels down closes the dwarfs eyelids.

"I would suggest not drinking anything else for the remainder of the journey if you can help it as it may have been the source of poisoning, Geoffrey would you bring the Dwarf's glass?"

With that Shift-Scale picks him up and carrying him out the door towards the medical station.

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey releases the dwarfs wife and says "Somebody comfort her"picks up the dwarfs cup and runs after Shift-Scale

[sciencepanda]

At Shift-Scale's comment, Mihai looks at the glass he has been absentmindedly sipping, and spits it's contents all over the floor. He gently places the glass down, and inquires to the group.

"Hmm, perhaps it might be more efficient if we can decide as to whether a select group of passengers would be trustworthy or not. That way they might be able to aid in the questioning of the rest. If there really is a murderer here, we must decide who we can trust most quickly. It would be unwise to let our paranoia turn us against each other."

[Halna LeGavilk]

EDIT: My post before this edit was lies. Filthy, filthy lies. :smallredface:

IC: Johnny sits down at the bar, watching the commotion. "Seems like you guys got this pretty well handled" He says, signaling for a drink.

[Hat-Trick]

"Checking for dire rats?" Logan suggested, looking at Ricky questioningly. "I'm not a manipulative bastard, that's the best I got."

[Thatguyoverther]

Explorer Bar

Charles arrives just as a lizard man and a human exit the bar carrying the limp body of an elderly dwarf.

The dwarf's elderly wife sits in the middle of the floor, holding her legs and rocking back and forth.

The halflings are murmur among themselves.

The bartender looks around the room for a couple of seconds before exclaiming, "Where's a guard when you need one?" and exiting the room, presumably to find a guard.

The four halflings, begin to follow him out.

Murder Scene

Ricky shrugs. "Works for me."

The search begins but the duo fails to turn up any leads. A few indignant passengers squawk at the pair, but don't do anything else to hinder the armed men's progress.

A locked door stops their progress. Ricky asks, "I don't suppose they remembered to give us a key?". Logan can hear hushed voices on the other side of the door.

Infirmary
Following the clearly displayed signs the pair quickly arrives at the Infirmary, brushing aside concerned passengers in their path.

When they arrive a bored looking doctor with a name tag reading 'Holiday', is reading a newspaper. Looking up from his paper a startled expression jumps to his mustachioed face.

He leaps to his feat grabbing a stethoscope and motioning to a table. "Auhsey H. Phosson! What happened?"

[sciencepanda]

Not seeing himself of help in the immediate area, Mihai goes over to the Dwarf widow and puts a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"Ma'am, I just wish to show my sympathies. Is there anything I can do for you for the time being?"

[Hat-Trick]

Logan listens in at the door, seeing if he can get any information. He was going to bash it open, but he'd probably have more success with the subtle route.

[GodGoblin]

Infirmary
He leaps to his feat grabbing a stethoscope and motioning to a table. "Auhsey H. Phosson! What happened?"

"Fatal Poisoning. The source is unknown but we have brought his drink as it could be used to administer the poison."

Shift-Scale looks around the room as he says this and lays the dwarf down upon a bed if there is one.

"The sooner we find how he got it into his system and specifically what poison was used the sooner we can make sure it doesn't happen again"

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey walks over and hands the cup to the doctor and says "Hope this helps"

[Wargor]

Explorers Bar

The presumably dead dwarf shocks Charles momentarily but he soon gathers his wits. He stands in the doorway not letting anyone move past him. "Right, no one's to leave! You!" He exclaims pointing to the bartender, "Tell me what happened here, now!" He puts on his best commanding tone of voice and glares at everyone around him.

[Halna LeGavilk]

Johnny stands up. "Sir, what authority do you have here to be ordering this man around? If I recall correctly, this ship is CWA grounds."

[Wargor]

Charles glares at the young man coldly, looking him straight in the eye. "And if I re-call correctly a man is dead! Or are you simply overlooking that because he was a Dwarf? A racist perhaps?" His voice is like ice, cold and sharp. "I'll order around whoever I want sir, for I am Inspector Charles Beaufort, and I will get to the bottom of this matter!" he exclaims, bringing to his voice and stance all the haughtiness that came from his noble birthright.

Bluff Check -

[roll0]

[Thatguyoverther]

Infirmary

"Fatal my ass, no one is dead on this ship till I say so." Holiday takes the cup, runs a finger against the inside and places it on the tip of his tongue. He makes a confused face and tosses the cup onto his desk.

Reaching into a black bag he starts pulling out medical equipment. "How long ago?" Without waiting for an answer he begins examining the corps with deft sure hands. He murmurs something to himself about a blocked passage and injects the dead dwarf with a syringe full of a strange liquid.

Walking over to a sink he begins washing his hands. He nods to Shift-Scale, "Start stripping the body for surgery." Turning to Geofrey, he points at a device in a corner, from the looks of it a fairly simple crank generator, "Start cranking that, as hard as you can, don't stop until I tell you to."


Explorer Bar
The dwarf woman continues to sob, she grabs Mihia in an embrace, clinging to him like a downing sailor clings to a piece of driftwood.

The halflings look surprised at Beaufort's "confession". They look angrily at one of their number for a second, to which the halfling throws up his hands in placation. "I guess I missed one."

Another halfling, presumably the leader of the group, turns back to Beaufort. "Inspector, I believe we may have information that will help your investigation. It's a rather... sensitive, could we discuss it in private?" The leader looks at the others, making eye contact, they nod agreement.

Edward nods to Keyne Li, switching to Cathayan "It seems the Inspector has matters in hand. Perhaps you'd like to conduct your own investigation? I'll be fine, I'll simply avoid drinking until you return." He discreetly puts his empty glass down on the bar.

Outside the Locked Door

Listening quietly, Logan picks up voices.

"With this one and the other two, that leaves what five? Eight including ours?"

"Nine. Is everybody aware of the new time table?"

"Far as I know. Not my department."

"Make it your department Phos dammit! You know how..."

Ricky coughs involuntarily.

The voices inside stop. Logan might be mistaken, but he's fairly sure he heard the soft click of a hammer being pulled back on a gun.

[sciencepanda]

Mihai puts on a melancholic half-smile as he comforts the widow.

"Tell me about your husband. What kind of man was he?"

[Wargor]

Explorers Bar

Charles looks the Halfling group over, face blank, trying to decide what his gut feeling is. "And who might you gentlemen be? And what kind of information are you offering? In a situation like this it is hard to trust strange groups offering information."

He glances back at Johnny "If I'm to accompany these fellows then in the spirit of international co-operation why don't you join us? I'd hate for it to look like it was trying to hide anything from the good citizens of the CWS."

Sense motive at the halflings

[roll0]

[GodGoblin]

Shift-Scale simply nods in agreement before ripping the dwarf's clothes off rather haphazardly.

Once done he turns back to the doctor "I am unsure of the exact time of death but it was fairly recent judging from the screams, so tell what is it you are planning on doing?"

[Hat-Trick]

Logan shoves Ricky to the left side of the door and takes position to the right. With a few wide arcs of his mechanical arm, he bashes the door in.

[roll0] strength check
[roll1]
[roll2] Damage rolls if the strength check fails

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey says "yes sir" runs to the generator and starts cranking it.
He looks at Shift-Scale and says "I think he is going to try some form of electroshock therapy"

[GodGoblin]

"Electro shock therapy? Intriguing, I have never come across such a thing in my travels. A non magical healing technique perhaps?" Directing the question at the Doctor

[Halna LeGavilk]

Johnny narrows his eyes and rests his hands by his pistols. "See, the reason I ask, your majesty, is that for all I know, you are the perpetrator of this murder, and are just looking to do something else bad. It's called common sense, and that's why you-" Johnny looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled. He stood up and stretched his arms, and walked over to the man. "I'll take up your offer, sir. Let's go."

[Thatguyoverther]

Explorer Bar
@Wargor

The halflings are a little harder to read then you'd expect. It might be the fact that they are trained performers. If Charles had to guess, most of them seem to be nervous, but about what he doesn't know.


@Halna LeGavilk

Johnny won't actually be able to have his pistols on him. All the overt weapons were confiscated when the passengers boarded.

I didn't correct you earlier, because I thought that when you said he was wearing holsters, I immediately thought empty holsters.


The woman continues to weep into Mihia's shoulder. She tries to speak, but the only intelligible words are "My husband" and "Anniversary".

The halfling shakes his head. "With all due respect Inspector, what I have to say is rather... how should I say... need to know only? I'd prefer if it didn't leave official channels just yet." He glances at the others. "Once I've told you, you can make a decision whether the information should be disseminated."

The other halflings once again move towards the exit. "If you'd please excuse them, all the excitement has made them a little anxious, and they need to practice for tonight's performance."


Infirmary

Holiday nods. "Electric revivification. The jolt restarts the heart, sometimes. Right now his airway is closed from the poison." He cuts a small incision in the dwarf's throat and inserts the tube.

He grabs a pair of paddles connected to the generator, places them on the dwarf's chest and shouts "Clear!" before depressing a button. The dwarf convulses, spasming on the table, a slight smell of burnt meat wafts into the air.

Holiday checks his breathing before exclaiming, "Damn!" repeating the process, still with no success. The smell of burning flesh increases, burns appearing where the paddles touched the corpses flesh. Holiday stops and eyes the dead dwarf for a second, before shrugging. "Well, he isn't getting any more dead."

He tries the paddles a final time. This time the dwarf jumps like last time, but his eyelids flutter open, and a faint hiss from the tube in his neck announces that he's breathing.


Inside the shattered door.

The, surprisingly light, door splinters inward with a crash. Two halflings holding pistols stand over a corpse. Both of the pistols are leveled at the doorway.

One fire's but the shot goes wide. The other, the Phiskerton from the other murder scene, leaps towards the other and forces his gun towards the ceiling.

"Holly Phos! Dear God, we almost shot you! Why didn't you knock?!"

[Wargor]

Explorers Bar

Charles narrows his eyes at the halfling, not truly sure if he can trust him. "Fine then, we can talk in private, but just the two of us." He glances at Johnny with a look of apology. "If you wait here I'll be sure to brief you of the situation directly afterwards sir."

He gestures to the doorway and looks at the halfling, "Lead on then."

[Hat-Trick]

Logan glances back at the crumpled remains and said, "I did." He crosses his arms in his personal style and asks, "What's the new time table? Five? Eight including yours? Nine?" His suspicion has not abated just by the sight of the phiskerton, but he was less likely to throw someone off the ship for the moment.

[sciencepanda]

Oh dear, thinks Mihai to himself.

"Ma'am, I cannot fully express my sympathies. I'm sure your husband was a great man, but all we can do now is to sit back and remember the goodness in him." He puts his hand on hers. "I'll help, if you are not yet ready."

Mihai pulls out his drum again, and begins to lightly rap on it, producing a slow, mournful rhythm.

"Now, where I'm from, we celebrate a person's good traits with stories. They can be stories of the person's life, or stories that fit his personality, or even just stories to lighten the mood, or ones that he would have liked. If that's alright with you, I will start. It is a good way to remember him the way he was."

Mihai begans to chant in the same slow rhythm as the drum, until the two sounds seem to blend together. He begins to tell a story:

How Anansi Came to Have Eight Legs:
Now in the old days, before people roamed the world, all the animals walked and talked like people. And Anansi was the spider. He was not simply A spider, but rather The Spider. He was the first spider, and parent all all spiders before him. And like most of the animals at that time, he walked around on two legs, same as any of us. So this is how he came to have eight instead.

Now, Anansi was a bit of a glutton in those days, and so he was always walking around looking for a good meal.

One day, he stopped by Rabbit's house. Rabbit was his good friend.

"There are greens in your pot," cried Anansi excitedly. Anansi loved greens.

"They are not quite done," said Rabbit. "But they will be soon. Stay and eat with me."

"I would love to, Rabbit, but I have some things to do," Anansi said hurriedly. If he waited at Rabbit's house, Rabbit would certainly give him jobs to do. "I know," said Anansi. "I'll spin a web. I'll tie one end around my leg and one end to your pot. When the greens are done, tug on the web, and I'll come running!"

Rabbit thought that was a great idea. And so it was done.

"I smell beans," Anansi sniffed excitedly as he ambled along. "Delicious beans, cooking in a pot."

"Come eat our beans with us," cried the monkeys. "They are almost done."

"I would love to Father Monkey," said Anansi. And again, Anansi suggested he spin a web, with one end tied around his leg, and one end tied to the big bean pot.

Father Monkey thought that was a great idea. All his children thought so, too. And so it was done.

"I smell sweet potatoes," Anansi sniffed happily as he ambled along. "Sweet potatoes and honey, I do believe!"

"Anansi," called his friend Hog. "My pot is full of sweet potatoes and honey! Come share my food with me."

"I would love to," said Anansi. And again, Anansi suggested he spin a web, with one end tied around his leg, and one end tied to the sweet potato pot.

His friend Hog thought that was a great idea. And so it was done.

By the time Anansi arrived at the river, he had one web tied to each of his eight legs.

"This was a wonderful idea," Anansi told himself proudly. "I wonder whose pot will be ready first?"

Just then, Anansi felt a tug at his leg. "Ah," said Anansi. "That is the web string tied to Rabbit's greens." He felt another. And another. Anansi was pulled three ways at once.

"Oh dear," said Anansi as he felt the fourth web string pull.

Just then, he felt the fifth web string tug. And the sixth. And the seventh. And the eighth. Anansi was pulled this way and that way, as everyone pulled on the web strings at once. His legs were pulled thinner and thinner. Anansi rolled quickly into the river. When all the webs had washed away, Anansi pulled himself painfully up on shore.

"Oh my, oh my," sighed Anansi. "Perhaps that was not such a good idea after all."

To this day, Anansi the Spider has eight very thin legs. And he never got any food that day at all.

[Thatguyoverther]

Explorer Bar

The woman ceases sobbing about half-way through the song. She begins to compose herself, wiping away the tears. "Thank you..., I think I'd like to see my husband now."

The halfling nods. "I know a place where we can discuss things in private." He walks out of the bar and down the hall. "My name is Hortio." Without saying anything more he continues to lead Charles onward, to a small observation deck, through the glass the sea is visible, a great distance below.

Turning to Charles, he puts his hand in a pocket and produces a small container. "Cigarette?"

Second Murder Scene
The phiskerton nods. "You heard that?" He pauses for a second taking a breath. "How unfortunate." He levels the gun to point at Logan.

((Roll initiative.))

[Wargor]

"No thank-you, I do not know if I can trust you yet." Charles crosses his arms and stares hard at the halfling, scrutinising him. "Now, what information do you have that needed to be imparted in secret Hortio?" Charles makes sure to keep himself out of the Hortio's reach, just in case he proves himself to be dangerous.

[Hat-Trick]

[roll0] Initiative

And if I go first
[roll1] To hit with Longsword, -2 for power attack calculated in
[roll2] damage with said attack, +4 for power attack calculated in


Figured as much. Logan for his sword from his shoulder and moved forward to deliver a two handed swing.

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey asks "May i stop now?"

[Thatguyoverther]

Observation Deck

Hortio lights his one cigarette, inhaling slowly, he walks to the window and watches the sea below.

He slowly puts away the case and takes a few puffs before continuing. "Earlier you accused a man of being a racist." He arches an eyebrow and stares at Charles, sizing him up. "What would you classify yourself as Inspector?"

Second Murder scene

The phiskerton fire's first but misses. The gun makes a faint phht as the bullet leaves the barrel instead of the normal raucous noise of a gunshot. Logan didn't notice it at the time but neither did the other halflings.

Ricky jumps forward, swings and hits the second halfling, the force of the blow snapping the halfling's collar bone and traveling deeper into the halfling's chest. The injured man drops to the floor, next to the corpse.

Logan's titanic swing also misses, biting into the wood of a nearby bed.

Infirmary

Holiday nods to Geoffrey. "Yeah. Congratulations you've just helped save a lie. There are cigars and whiskey in the desk if you'd like to celebrate."

Holiday walks over the the bewildered dwarf. The dwarf is moving his lips but no sound is coming out. "Don't try to talk you're airway is still blocked. I've given you broad spectrum anti-toxin, but it's going to be a while before we can take the tube out."

At the doctor's words the dwarf, reaches for the tube in his throat, feeling it in disbelief. Not speaking he gestures to his torn pants on the floor.

[Wargor]

Observation Deck

Charles joins the halfling at the window, gazing out at the ocean far below, a thoughtful look upon his face. "What would I classify myself as? I suppose I'm a man who has seen just how good other races can be at the tasks they specialise in. I was bought up to believe that humans were the superior race, but after you've seen the skill of a Dwarven smith, or the prowess of an Orc hunter, well, discriminating based upon the race a fellow is just seems damned silly. And you? How would you classify yourself? Charles asks, looking sidelong at the halfling and raising his eyebrow questioningly.

[Thatguyoverther]

Observation Deck

Horatio smiles back, his eyes practically twinkle. "As a freedom fighter. I like you, so I'm going to give it to you straight. I got you alone so that I could kill you." He lets that sink in for a second before continuing. "As you're still alive you can see I've had a change of heart."

He lets out a sigh. "Let me put all my cards on the table. First off, I haven't the foggiest as to who would kill the dwarf, I don't even know him. The second is that my troop of acrobats, along with a few other halfling passengers and staff are all members of the Equal Rights Army. We've come to take this ship, and it's passenger's hostage. There's currently a bill in the Commonwealth Senate, that would make it illegal to pay halflings, orcs, dwarves or any other humanoid less then the standard going wage for human employees. Unless something changes it's not going to pass."

He takes another drag of his cigarette. "There's quite a few wealthy and influential men on board this vessel, I'm sure the can persuade a few senators to change their minds."

"That brings me to you. I don't want to hurt you, but I can't have you or any other lawmen interfering. Recent events, including the dwarfs death have brought about unwanted investigations, and we've had to move our timetable up. Doing so means that there will be more chaos and more people will get hurt. If we had a few more men, right minded men like yourself, we could make sure things go more peaceably."

The halfling pulls out his cigarette case. Carefully he selects one. "The fumes in the cigarette will knock you out, but you'll live." He holds out the cigarette to Charles. "The cause could use you, if not, it's just a few puffs and you'll wake up when this whole thing is over." He locks eyes with the taller man, trying to read his face. "So, are you in or out?"

[GodGoblin]

"Incredible! Technology never ceases to amaze me"
Shift-Scale looks overt to the machine before remembering the dwarf

"Oh I see you are naked, would you like to borrow my loincloth? I have no external genitalia so you may have more need to wear it."

[Thatguyoverther]

Infirmary

The dwarf glances down, apparently realizing he's naked for the first time. He shakes his head, making a small wheezing sound, and points once more to the pants.

Holiday smiles genially. "In hind sight you probably could have kept the pants." He grabs a near by blanket and covers the man. "You're alright for now, but you'll have to stay in the bed for at least the next couple of days."

[Wargor]

The shock of the truth sunk in quickly, Charles had been half expecting a death threat all along, but the true depth of the situation was far more shocking. If, that is, it was the truth. Charles scrutinised Hortio intently; he doubted it was a lie, there would be no need to come up with such an in depth fabrication, but he still didn't know how far he could trust the self confessed freedom fighter.

Chalres reached out and took the offered Cigarette, thinking deeply, before slipping it into his pocket, "Might be useful for later on." he tells Hortio with a wink. His face turns serious suddenly, and he locked his eyes onto the other man, gazing at his intently. "Your cause intrigues me sir, I believe that we're all equal and I would like to help you. I do have a confession however, I'm no lawman. My name is Charles Beaufort and I am a hunter. Give me a target, and I can hunt it, I assure you. Take into consideration however, that you and I are the only ones who know this fact, If you still trust me we can use this to our advantage. What do you say?"

[Thatguyoverther]

Observation Deck

Horatio smiles back. "I knew I was a good judge of character. The boys are retrieving their weapons now, if we move now we can meet them and get you a gun as well. The only armed men on the vessel should be us, the guards and a hand full of phiskertons."

"We we're planning to wait until tonight's performance, so a large number of the passengers would be there. Unfortunately we've had to move things up. And we need a way to get all the passengers in one place."

"Our current plan was to force the Captain to make some sort of announcement, any ideas 'Inspector'?"

[Wargor]

Charles grins broadly, a feeling of excitement welling up in his chest at the thought of getting his hands on a gun again. "I think it sounds like a good plan, if we can get the Captain to announce a wonderful surprise for all passengers they will be sure to flock together. Make sure he mentions free drinks and we're set" he adds with a smirk.

"Alternatively, if we could procure a full passenger list it might be possible to select our targets more carefully, and only invite the most influential of passengers, which may be far more manageable. What do you think?" Charles asks, turning his eyes back to the ocean below. "Oh, and I'll take that cigarette now, a normal one if you don't mind" He chuckles.

[GodGoblin]

"Well now that you safe there is more work for me to do, we wouldn't want this to happen again."

Shift-Scale then leaves the infirmary ands heads back towards the explorer bar, once there he approaches the dwarf's wife.

"You will be pleased to hear that your mate is alive, he is resting in the infirmary"

He then addresses the rest of the room-
"Would you all please place your glasses and any food on the bar and I will determine if it is safe to consume, even though the dwarf is safe it is best to make sure this does not happen again"

If they comply Ill cast detect poison again as it works in a 5 foot area

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey collapses on the floor in exaustion

[Thatguyoverther]

Kaboom!


Second Murder Scene
The phiskerton draws a bead on Ricky ready to return the favor the guard did for his friend.

A deafening explosion interferes with his aim, and the bullet goes wide. It might be a trick of the mind but it feels like the vessel is listing to one side.

Infirmary
Holiday looks down at the prostrate Geoffrey. "You'll be fine, a little hard work never hurt anyone." He pauses for a second. "You don't have a heart condition do you?"

Before Geoffrey has a chance to respond there's a loud boom from elsewhere on the vessel. Unless Geoffrey misses his guess, the sound came from somewhere near the engine room door he surveyed earlier.

Without comment, Holiday scoops up his bag and begins heading in the direction of the sound.


Observation Deck

Horatio leads Charles towards the crew section of the vessel. In a small storage area they meet up with a little less then 20 halflings.

The halflings, mostly performers Charles had seen around the vessel earlier, are all arming themselves. There are several open gun safes in the room, each one containing the confiscated weapons of the ship's passengers.

Horatio hands Charles a gun and asks "Are you ready for this?"

There is a titanic explosion, throwing everyone in the room to the floor. A loud ringing fills Charles' ears. A few of the halflings are mouthing words, but now sounds seem to come out. It takes a second for Charles to realize that the volume of the explosion has deafened him.

The corner of the ceiling is bowed inward. Whatever caused the explosion, it wasn't far away.

Explorer Bar

The dwarf woman stares at the Lizardman in astonishment, and begins running for the Infirmary.

People are just beginning to place drinks on the bar when there is a massive noise. The vessel shakes, spilling drinks onto the floor. Glass shatters, and several holes are torn in the walls, as bits of metal and shrapnel tears through the vessels interior.

As everyone begins taking stock of themselves, Edward lets out a faint gurgle. A large chunk of steel is embedded in his throat, and his life's blood is quickly spurting from the wound. He falls to his knees the large man fights to stand but fails, falling to the floor.

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey gets up and runs towards the engine room wondering what form of fuel mixture was used to power this "Safe" airship

[Wargor]

Charles is momentarily stunned by the explosion, the disorientation and temporary deafness leaving him stupefied. His ears begin to ring, signalling a return of his hearing and he shakes himself out of his stupor. What in blazes was that? An explosion? Here? Now?

He grips his gun tightly and turns to Horatio, his heart pounding hard from the adrenaline streaming through him. "Whatever just happened happened close, and I fear it is going to interfere with our plans, we should probably investigate." Charles strides to the door and opens it a crack, peering out in both directions, looking for anything suspicious.

Spot check just in case.

[roll0]

[GodGoblin]

Shift-Scale staggers backward as the explosion takes him by suprise.

"By the spirits!"

He manages to catch himself on the bar before he falls.
"This must be what my visions have led me too, Oh spirits guide me!"

He exclaims before shifting to wolf form and bounding out the door

[sciencepanda]

Mihai does a spit take upon hearing that the dwarf is still alive. "Wow," he says, a tad baffled by this, "Mysterious ways indeed."

He begins to make his way towards the infirmary to check on the dwarf, but stops short when he hears the explosion. He instead runs to attend to the injured, hoping he will have better luck here.

Heal Check: [roll0]

[Hat-Trick]

Logan readjusts his balance as the ship tilts. Taking advantage of the distraction, Logan takes a grab at the halfling. Having a living witness might be a good idea.

[roll0] Touch attack to initiate grapple, armed with a ranged weapon, he doesn't really get an AoO
[roll1] Grapple check

[Thatguyoverther]

Engine Room Door

Geoffrey arrives quickly at the Engine Room, passing wounded passengers along the way. Wracking his brain to remember what fuels the ship is powered by a coal-powered steam engine, and even if a boiler ruptured it wouldn't cause this level of damage. Shift-Scale arrives at the same time, speed, or maybe the will of the spirits, making up for a lack of direction.

The door to the engine room is embedded in a nearby wall, ripped off it's hinges and thrown outward by the force of the explosion. The guard who stood watch at the door is lying face down unmoving in the hallway.

The other side of the doorways is hidden by smoke and dust. Small fires can be seen dimly through the haze. The rushing of wind and the faint moans of injured men can also be

In the handful of seconds it takes to survey the scene, the pair can feel that the ship is already listing bowwards and to stern.

Crew Section

Peering through the crack in the door, Charles sees the carnage first hand, smelling smoke and hearing, even through his deafness, the whistling of wind through the holes in the ship's hull. The explosion clearly originated from a floor above. A great gap has appeared in the ceiling, and Charles can see that the hole continues upwards, making smaller holes in decks still higher up.

A look at the floor reveals another wagon sized hole in the floor and the ocean below. Several smaller holes dot the floor and walls where shrapnel pierced through wood and steal.

Second Murder Scene
The halfling dodges out of the way of Logan's grab. He places his free hand in a pocket, he produces a small grenade that he then tosses between the two guards.

There's a small bang, followed by a blinding flash. ((Make a reflex save.))

[GodGoblin]

As Shift-Scale encounters Geoffrey he returns to Lizardfolk form. "Greetings friend what possibly could have happened here? Quickly help the wounded!"

Shift-Scale enters the room looking around him for signs of danger before tending to the closest injured person and moving on once administering first aid
A few heal checks for first aiding of as many people I can
[roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3]

Also a spot check for the room scan [roll4]

[Wargor]

The sheer destruction brought upon the ship shocks Charles into silence as he stares at the Ocean far below. He shakes himself out it and turns back to the crowd of halflings. "Something just tore straight through the ship! This is bad, very bad. I think the plan might have to wait for now, we probably won't be in the air for much longer at this rate." Charles' face is grim as he delivers the news.

"We should probably try and find the source of it, think how grateful the CWS will be if a group of Halflings are instrumental in saving the ships maiden voyage! It can only help your cause. We should probably check the engines still running first!" With these words Charles strides to the door, carefully navigates the hole in the floor before setting off at a jog.

[Halna LeGavilk]

Johnny braces himself against the counter as the ship rocks and tilts. "My gods, what the hell-" he stops short as he spies Edward. Johnny quickly runs over and looks around. "Is anyone here a doctor?" he shouts as he rattles his brain, thinking of something to do.


Int check instead of any sort of knowledge check
[roll0]

Heal check
[roll1]

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey rushes up to Shift-Scale and says"Someone blew up the engine room" looks at the blasted door and concludes aloud "and whoever did this might still be here!"and rushes into the door

[Hat-Trick]

Logan rushes to get to safety as the grenade lands.

What the hell kind of AC do these halflings have anyway? No matter. Reflex save:
[roll0]

[sciencepanda]

"This is not the best day to be traveling, is it?" Mihai snarks as he dives for cover.

Reflex: [roll0]

[Rebis]

"Get AWAY from him!"
Keyn Li interposes himself between Master Edward and the human, snapping the healing draught lid open and forcefeeding it down his throat, splashing some onto the neck wound itself for good measure.
"Master, you can regenerate from this," he whispers down at the ogre mage, "I've seen you come back from far worse than this."

He attempts a HEAL skill check. [roll0]

The chaos going on around him doesn't phase him in the least. "You shall to come back from this, stronger than before, Master Edward. With who else shall I trade my pithy quips and wry observations?"
He bends his head down to check on the wound, and puts his ear to Master Edward's lips.

LISTEN check: [roll1]

He whispers, "Please be alright, Master Edward."

[Rebis]

Let's try those again.

Heal: [roll0]

Listen: [roll1]

[Halna LeGavilk]

Johnny quickly backs off. "Sorry. Jeez."

[Thatguyoverther]

Engine Room

Shift-Scale darts into the room, looking for survivors. From the mangled bodies it becomes apparent that there will be few if any survivors.

A pair of bodies send a shiver up the saurian's spine, an orc woman, some sort of servant based on her dress and a man. Inspection of the bodies shows that they both have small bullet sized puncture holes in their heads. None of the other damage from the explosion seems to have been sufficient to kill them, at least not quickly.

Both Shift-Scale and Geoffrey notice a slender figure moving through the smoke and haze. Water begins falling from pipes overhead, Geoffrey would guess some sort of automated fire system. The fires begin to abate and the smokey haze begins to lift.

The figure does something, and the sprinkler system shuts off.

((If you want to go deeper into the engine room, make a couple of reflex saves.))

Crew Compartment

Horatio stares at Charles, then at his men, pained indecision on his face. Charles can practically see the gears grinding in his head, weighing the safety of his men against the advancement of the cause.

One of the halflings offers a single plaintive word, "Boss?"

((Make a diplomacy check if you want Horatio and his men to do anything other then look for a means to abandon ship.))

Second Murder Scene

Logan manages to avert his eyes in time. Ricky isn't so lucky.
Making a rookie mistake he drops his weapon and cover's his eyes.

The phiskerton looks like he's drawing a bead on Ricky's head, intent on a killing blow.

Hey, I didn't say it was a level appropriate encounter

Explorer Bar

The color fades rapidly from Edward's face as the blood drains from his body.

Edward's faithful manservant does everything in his power to save him. The potion is used to expert effect, a trained doctor could hardly have done better.

Unfortunately it's all for not. The wound is too grievous, and the ogre has lost too much.

Keyn Li leans over his master, listening for his last precious words. Only a faint gurgle escapes Edward's lips. It's hard to tell with all of the blood, but it looks like Edward mouths the Cathayan word for freedom.

With a strained effort Edward reaches into a coat pocket and pulls out a small object. A pained expression covers his blood soaked face as he hands the object to his faithful servant, uncurling a fist that is as large as Keyn Li's chest.

A content expression crosses over the gentle ogre's face. It reminds Keyn Li of the faces of Cathayan Monk's as they approach enlightenment. A few more seconds and he's gone.

[GodGoblin]

Engine Room

Shift-Scale lets out a hiss in disgust before noticing the figure in the mist.
"You there! Humanoid!" He exclaims before pressing further into the room after the figure.

Reflex saves-
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Wargor]

Ok, lets try some Diplomacy!

[roll0]

EDIT: Ah crap...

If they don't agree I'll do what I did before and carry on to the engine room.

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey shouts "Wait for me!!" puts on his goggles and runs after Shift-Scale
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Rebis]

Keyn Li stares for a long time at his master's face, memorizing every detail so that he may describe it later. Ignoring what is going on around him, he gets up, hops up onto the bar and looks for as many good bottles of sake as he can find.
He begins to pour them over the body of his master, and reaching deep within himself, his right fist bursts into incandescent blue flame. He reaches down to take Master Edward's hand for the last time.

Burning Blade power [roll0] damage plus burning sake.

He is going to reduce Master Edward's body to ashes and take them with him to return them to his daimyo, Edward's father.

And then, as he watches the body burn, only then does he think to look into his left hand to see what his master gave him.

[Halna LeGavilk]

Johnny stumbles back in surprise as the goblin lights the ogre on fire. "Put that out! Do you know where we are? We are several thousand feet in the air! Think man! Would he have wanted everybody aboard to die?"

[Thatguyoverther]

Engine Room

Rather then holding the figure moves deeper into the engine room, becoming increasingly obscured by the haze.

Shift-Scale darts into the room, after just a few feet a jagged hole appears in the floor in front of him, damage to the ship cause by the explosion. With ease he darts around it and several others like it in his pursuit of the figure.

Geoffrey follows the lizard man in, avoiding the holes in the floor. Pushing onward there is a groan of tortured metal as the supports holding up the section of the floor Geoffrey is standing on buckle. Geoffrey tries to scramble to safety but the floor gives way before he can reach the edge.

Geoffrey disappears into the chasm falling, with a thump to the floor below.

((Geoffrey takes [roll0] bludgeoning damage from the fall, and falling debris.))

Crew Section

Horatio frowns and turns his head unwilling to meet Charles gaze. "Come on boys, lets look for a way off this ship. It's only a matter of time before it flounders."

He starts directing his men to gather supplies as Charles leaves the room.

Charles is in the process of examining the hole when there is a groan from the floor above. ((Make a reflex save to avoid being hit with a falling Geoffrey.))

Explorer Bar

The fire of Edward's immolation sets of hidden sensors in the ship. Recessed devices in the ceiling spring out and begin dousing the bar with water in an effort to suppress the fire. A second later and the devices shut off before putting much more then dampening the flames momentarily.

The carpet around Edwards body burns revealing a steal floor, the ogre's flesh quickly begins burning away, unfortunately the flames don't appear to be hot enough to disintegrate the corpse's bones.

((@rebis
Could you send me another character sheet? I seem to have lost the last one.))

[Wargor]

Reflex!

[roll0]

[Hat-Trick]

Logan takes another grab for the halfling.

[roll0] Touch attack
[roll1] Grapple

[GodGoblin]

"Gah! Geoffery!" For a moment Shift-Scale is torn between checking on Geoffrey or continuing the chase, but yet again becomes the lizard-wolf and continues the chase

OOC
(he new form gives me land speed 50, in case that factors into this

[Thatguyoverther]

Engine Room

Leaving Geoffrey behind Shift-Scale closes the gap between himself and the figure. As the distance closes the haze obscures less and less of the figure, revealing a pale slender humanoid. A handkerchief covers his face, filtering the air and concealing his identity.

As Shift-Scale approaches he gracefully turns to face the reptile and pulls a revolver.

((Roll initiative.))

Murder Scene

The halfling bounces out of the way of Logan's grasp but looses his bead on the still blind Ricky. He fires, the shot buries into the meat of Ricky's arm, but is a far cry from the head shot the halfling was aiming for.

The halfling gives Logan an unpleasant smile, before shouting. "Help! Help! Guards! Somebody help!" in a particularly pathetic, hearth-wrenching tone.

The vessel's listing increases.

Crew Section

Charles manages to sidestep the falling Geoffrey.

Behind him the halflings begin filing out of the room, guns in hand.

The vessel's listing increases, tilting forward and away from the holes in the vessels rear.

[GodGoblin]

Shift-Scale lets out a loud hiss before leaping forwards to strike
Init [roll0]
Also in predator form I have (AC24 DR1/-) its all written in the notes but I put it here in case you didnt see it.

[Wargor]

Charles steps swiftly out of the way, a sharp intake of breath the only indication of his surprise at the situation. He steps up to Geoffery and offers him a hand up. "By Phos! What happened man, are you alright? Where did you fall from?"

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey gets up with Charles help and said panting "Saboteur someone blew the engine and I think my friend and I found him"

[Wargor]

Charles narrows his eyes, his blood pumping faster now he had a target in sight. "Right then, we better get back to your friend and help them! Lead the way."

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey shouts "Follow me!" and runs up to the engine room door

[Hat-Trick]

"You got two guards right here, short stack," Logan snapped, lunging for the halfling for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. "Now hold still."

[roll0] Touch
[roll1] Grapple

[Halna LeGavilk]

Johnny finds a nice piece of wood to make an improvised bat. "Well, I'm off. I'm gonna go see what's going on." He quickly walks out of the bar, then begins to move cautiously towards the crew cabin.

[Wargor]

Here's initiative.

[roll0]

EDIT: Seriously? :smallfrown:

[Thatguyoverther]

Engine Room
Initative

Saboteur
Shift-scale

Charles when he arrives.




The man gets two shots off with his pistol before Shift-Scale can close. The first one grazes Shift-Scale, barely even drawing blood (it does a measly 1pt of damage after damage reduction.)

Second Murder Scene

Logan grams the diminutive phiskerton, but the surprisingly strong halfling manages to break free of his grasp, bouncing away and towards the cabins window. With a flick of his wrist, he detaches the device on the pistol.

He screams, "Dear God! The Guard is the Sabatuer! Somebody Help!" then unloads his pistol into the window, shattering it outwards, and letting in a howling wind from outside.

Logan can hear running footsteps from the outside corridor.

[Hat-Trick]

Bastard... Logan contorts his face in disgust before calming down and simply crosses his arms in his special way and glares at the halfling. If he's too strong to subdue, however unlikely that is, and he's going to twist the situation like this, I will simply stop playing his perverse game of cat and mouse.

[The_Admiral]

Initiative[roll0]

[GodGoblin]

Shift-Scale was already moving to pounce when the bullet grazed him, barley feeling the wound he leaps at the saboteur jaw stretched wide showing a row of razor teeth.

Shift will keep attacking until the saboteur until he surrenders or dies. If Shift-Scale's HP drops to 10 or below he will return to Lizard-folk form and cast cure light wounds.

First turn
Bite attack
Hit-[roll0] Damage-[roll1]

Second turn
Bite attack
Hit-[roll2] Damage-[roll3]

Third turn
Bite attack
Hit-[roll4] Damage-[roll5]

CLW if necessary
[roll6]

[GodGoblin]

Extra damage for third rounds critical
[roll0]

[Rebis]

Keyn Li stares down at the ash-covered bones of his former master for a long while, not noticing the chaos swirling around him. He slides his hand into his belt, tucking thatever Master Edward gave him there.
"Barkee--" He stops, realizing that the bartender hasn't returned to the room. There is no way he will be able to take his master's bones along with him. He sighs, opens one of his many belt pouches hidden under his double breasted jacket, and empties its contents into another pouch. He begins to reverently scoop ashes into the pouch, as much as it will hold.
With that, he picks up his master's skull. massive in his hands, and speaks into its' empty eyesockets.
"I swear to you, Master Edward, I shall do everything in my power to see that your bones are interred with honor. And I vow that I will end the lives of those responsible for your death."
He tucks the enormous skull under his left arm, reaches back to his belt, and opens his hand to see what Master Edward left him.

[Thatguyoverther]

Explorer Bar

The ship continues to list bow ward, chairs tables and anything that hasn't been bolted down begins to slide forward towards the front of the ship. Glasses shatter and people scream, a few of the injured let out piteous yelps as the begin to slide along with the furniture.

((make a reflex save to avoid being hit by tumbling furniture.))

Engine Room
Initiative

Saboteur
Shift-Scale
Geoffrey
Charles


Seeing that Shift-Scale didn't fall with the first salvo, the gunman pulls a second pistol and continues firing at the lizard. Two more bullets impact flesh, but it's not enough to stop the lizard. ((Shift-Scale takes 8 more points of damage.))

Shift-Scale attacks back, but misses.

Geoffrey and Charles arrive just as the Saboteur dodges Shift-Scale's teeth. Not liking the change in odds he tosses a grenade into the midst of the group, and prepares to make his escape.

((Everybody make reflex saves.))

Second Murder Scene

The halfling yells "Oh God! He's killing everyone!" before shooting Ricky, dropping the pistol and making an acrobatic jump up and out of the window.

Ricky, who had just recovered his vision, now lies on the ground, gurgling through a bullet hole in his neck. Blood begins pooling at an alarming rate.

Less then a handful of seconds after the halfling dives from the airship, two passengers arrive and take in the carnage of the scene. Logan stands alone, sword drawn in a room with two dead bodies and a dying man.

[Wargor]

Charles, seeing the explosive device arching towards him, curses and tries to throw himself out of its blast radius.

Reflex - [roll0]

[Hat-Trick]

Logan sheaths his sword slowly and kneels next to Ricky, ignoring the new arrivals. Unfortunately, he had no paramedic skills what so ever and can't save his ally. Rather than try and risk making it worse, he instead sits quietly, humming a dirge until the fallen takes his last breath.

[GodGoblin]

Relex-
[roll0]
And to think i get a +10to fort saves :smallannoyed:

Shift-Scale definitely felt those shots as he lets out an almost deafening yelp. Upon seeing the reaction of the other humans to the bouncing object Shift-Scale's instincts told him to find cover.

[Rebis]

As the deck begins to lurch towards the bow, Keyn Li grips Master Edwards' skull under his arm and charges the furniture coming his way, hoping too get enough momentum to flip into a position of safety.

Reflex save:
[roll0]

[Rebis]

Geoffry: There isn't any furniture in the engine room for you to dodge. That's in the Explorer Bar, where I am. Hopefully you will avoid that grenade, thought.

[Halna LeGavilk]

Johnny ceases his march towards the exit and attempts to avoid the furniture.


reflex save: [roll0]

[The_Admiral]

Geoffrey dives for cover
[roll0]