Unraveling the Tapestry IC: Beyond the Prison

[Callos_DeTerran]

Hajoth Hakados is one of the largest cities to occupy the wasted land that is Numeria as well as a major center of trade from crusaders on their way towards the vile Worldwound and traders seeking to escape the oppressive tariffs and taxes from the Technic League-dominated Chesed to the north. The Sellen River flows through the middle of city to carry traffic through and it is far from difficult to find passage into the city without looking suspicious considering how welcoming the city's occupants are. Unlike most Kellid settlements, Hajoth Hakados bears the influences of other races, some of them very...extraordinary in origin, and seems to freely welcome any moral trade. Humans, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, and even the odd ratfolk are common sights in the city and explains why the citizens are so accepting of new visitors who don't advertise any sort of allegiance to the League.

However while getting into the city for the previously arranged meeting with the mysterious Nerra who promised having a ship capable of traveling to the stars is easy, actually finding the meeting spot proves to be a fair bit more difficult. The sender of the message seems to have gone to great lengths to conceal where their base of operations is located, perhaps in an effort to deter the faint of heart who only wanted to come by to see if the notice was true. Those who followed the cryptic and often confusing instructions would find themselves at a large, dilapidated warehouse positioned up against the wall of the city with a slanted roof of waxed leather stretched over top of what seems to be a single large room with a smaller adjacent building of stone and thatch. The door was left open and a small table is set out with chairs and food, a simple, meaty stew with bread while the noises of work comes from within the warehouse, muffled by the thick wooden door with a sign nailed to the front of it...

Please wait, will be out shortly

-Nerra

...reads the sign.

[Khosan]

Rissi

First to arrive on the scene was Rissi. Second to arrive on the scene was also Rissi, who'd left, checked a map and came back to make certain she was in the right place. She wasn't expecting fanfare and a parade, but she was a little disappointed that all she was greeted by was an open door, a sign and food that had been sitting out for who the hell knows how long.

She shook her hip flask. Empty. She swore at the empty room. Should've refilled somewhere along the way. No point in leaving again though.

Taking a seat at the table, she wastes no time getting comfortable. She kicks back, puts her feet up on the table and shoves a handful of bread into her mouth to idly chew as she waits for any others to show up.

[Illogictree]

Priss Vincent had never been so acutely aware of being the only catfolk north of... well, Kaer Maga, probably... as she was now. Up until a few days ago, this had been a great adventure, seeing new lands and taking in all the exotic flavor of northern Avistan. But ever since she'd received the fateful orders from her superiors far to the south in Alkenstar, she'd been on edge.

"Infiltrate the expedition," they'd told her.

Priss didn't do infiltration; she was probably the least suited person to the mission possible. Heck, even her race made her stand out. But she'd been in Mendev when word of the missive from the enigmatic Nerra had come through, and she'd been the only one close enough.

So now, here she was, outside a run-down looking warehouse she had followed the clues to find, trying to be inconspicuous and feeling like everyone and their dog was staring at her, trying to work up the courage to enter.

With a drawn breath, she carefully dusted off her long duster jacket, gave her wide-brimmed hat one final adjustment, and walked in.

[carnivoroustofu]

Rak had intended to stake out the meeting point a few days before hand but slow traffic along the Sellen had thrown quite the pickle into his plans. He would have to make do with less, the opportunity was too big to give it a miss. Peering from the rooftop of an adjacent building, Rak watches as a ratfolk enters and leaves the building, only to return again, with a catfolk approaching not long after. If it was a trap, it certainly wasn't ran by the Technic League. Those marked by the League never get second chances and certainly not one to walk back into the same trap.

With a wide but quiet stride, Rak catches up with the catfolk and follows her into room without a word.

stealth [roll0]
whoops, guess Rak doesn't get to do the whoa-when-did-you-get-here appearance

[Khosan]

Rissi

Her mouth stuffed with bread to the point of her cheeks bulging, Rissi waves a hand and offers a friendly but muffled, "Heya," to the newcomers, spewing a few crumbs in the process. She gestures to the other seats around the table while she finishes up the mass of food.

Swallowing hard, she takes a deep breath in. That might've been more than she could chew, but she doesn't seem bothered by it. With a grin, she offers Priss and Rak a small salute, "Name's - *cough* - Rissi. Nice to meet ya." She wipes a tear from her eye and gestures to some of the other chairs around the table, "Go ahead and sit down where ever the hell you feel like. They left some food for us. I think it's for us anyway. I'd kinda feel like a **** if it wasn't for us."

[Illogictree]

Despite the friendly greeting, Priss was still a bit put out by Rissi's poor table manners and the presence of the strange, intimidating man who had followed her. Doing her best to not let the ratfolk's grubby appearance upset her further, she tried a friendly smile herself and blurted out,

"I'm Priss Vincent. It's nice to mess you, I'm sure we'll get along squalidly."

She realized what she'd said about 2 seconds after she'd said it.

"I mean, it's nice to meet you, I didn't mean to comment on your unkempt state, I mean, uh I'll shut up now."

Hurriedly, she located the cleanest seat, distractedly dusted it off and sat down, laying her haversack and the long firearm strapped to it at her feet. She avoided looking at Rissi by keeping a cautious eye on the other stranger

[Rokku]

"S'cuse me there, fella."

The voice came from beside Rak as a figure squeezed through the doorway past him and into the little hut. Anyone else squeezing past a barbarian in a doorway would look awkward, but she made it look like dance steps. The stranger was careful to brush the sword on her hip out of the way as she smoothly took a seat at the table, crossing one leg neatly over the other. She brushes shimmering silver hair away from sparkling violet eyes and flashes a bright smile.

"Ahoy all! I'm Claire, nice to meet you. So space, eh?"

[carnivoroustofu]

Rak grabs a hunk of bread and dunks it into the stew with one hand while retracting his half mask with the other. Poison and disease were the least of his worries. Plonking down on a seat, he replied after a bite "Rak will do. Now as for the promises of where we'll go, that remains to be seen..."

[Illogictree]

Priss was relieved to have another thread of conversation. The appearance of the fourth member of their group was a bit of a relief as well; Claire at least seemed normal.

She frowned. "What makes you say that, uh, Rak? I mean, aside from the fact nobody has ever done it before?"

Is Claire talking with a... Canadian accent?

[Callos_DeTerran]

"It certainly has been done before," comes a soft, feminine voice coming from the door leading in towards the warehouse which had opened quietly while the four had begun to talk with one another. Standing in the doorway is a dusky-skinned elven woman with dark brunette hair and piece of cloth used to tie back the unruly mane of hair back from her dirt-smudged face. Despite the practical, heavy clothes and apron she wears that are similar to what a carpenter or blacksmith might use, it is almost impossible to deny that she would be a beauty if 'cleaned up' and smiled rather than the dour expression on her face. A large hammer hangs loosely in one hand as she strides over to the table and rips a hunk of bread off the load that she greedily eats. "It is no great secret that the ruins across Numeria come from beyond the stars, as do the androids one might find in areas the League's grip is looser. Nor would I have sent out a message like I did if I was not certain that my ship can perform as expected."

Nerra, presumably, pulls over a free chair to sit down as she ravenously downs a bowl of stew before looking over the people that have answered her call to action. "I had expected a better turn-out, but a smaller group might be better I think. Draws less attention, less likely to cause a massive mess that will draw unwelcome eyes. Welcome to my little expedition."

"There has been...a problem though, but before we get to that, lets introduce ourselves properly. I am Nerra, the creator of the ship that we will be embarking on. What about you lot? Why do you want to leave Golarion for the stars?" There is a hint of suspicion to the woman's voice, but this is hardly unusual considering the situation. If she could really do what her letter had suggested, that sort of invention would be of great interest to many people and few of them in Numeria would have good intentions about what to do with it. The League had eyes everywhere after all.

[Rokku]

Claire laughs: a lilting, melodic sound.

"What kind of ass would turn the opportunity down? Travelling the stars, seeing places no one from Golarion has ever seen. And if we find a way to break those Technic League bastards, even better!"

[Khosan]

Rissi

Rissi's eyebrow immediately cocked itself as Nerra entered the room. It felt like one of her coworkers taking the piss, but with fewer nasally impersonations. "Nerra?" The ratfolk holds up a hand, "Rissi, mechanical engineer and all around tech-savant." She sits up in her chair and pulls her jumpsuit up, trying to look at least a little professional. At best, she just looks more disheveled, as she neglects to actually button it up or even put her arms in the sleeves. "I've been working with technology for more than half my life. Love the stuff. But frankly, I'm bored of working with all the salvaged **** that gets dug up around here. Can't get anything new out of it and most of what I could is snatched up by those Technic *******s."

With a sigh, she leans back in her chair and idly reaches for her hip flask, only to be reminded by its lightness that it's completely empty. "That's why I'm here. I'm bored. I'm bored and I think having new stuff to deal with in my areas of expertise will cure that."

[carnivoroustofu]

Rak's placid expression did not appear to waver in the face of Nerra's words. "Rak will do," he said as the half mask slid itself back into place. Covering himself up whenever possible was pure habit by now, with only portions of his face being the only areas with exposed skin. "I have my own personal reasons to look beyond Golarian. Though I wonder, how is this place not crawling with League agents already."

[Illogictree]

"I'm Priss Vincent, gunsmith and siege engineer. And I have to echo Rak's sentiment; I mean, we found this place, what's keeping the Technic League from doing the same? It was a bold move announcing this publicly; it's almost like you're daring them to do something about it."

She glanced towards her pack and the gun strapped to it, wondering if the 'problem' Nerra had mentioned was going to necessitate its use.

[Khosan]

Rissi

"I wouldn't worry about it," Rissi takes this moment to pick at something stuck in her teeth, "There's three possibilities. Either they're here already, they're on their way or they don't have a goddamn clue about this." She digs out whatever it was and flicks it away, lounging back in her seat. "I doubt they're here. They wouldn't let us have this nice little chat if they were. That just leaves the other two. If they're coming for us, we don't have time to waste talking. And if they don't know, they don't ****in' know and we're in the clear."

[Rokku]

"They make good points, Lady Nessa," says Claire, gesturing around the table.

"We should get moving sooner, rather than later."

[Illogictree]

"Hold on, not so fast," interrupted Priss. "Yeah, time might be short, but maybe we ought to know a little more about our patron here before we go running all over the Dark Tapestry with her? I mean, if I beg your pardon, ma'am, we don't have any real reason to put our confidence in you just yet." She narrowed her green eyes, trying to size up the strange elf. "All we've got to go on is, you're probably some sort of engineer or magic-type, and you seem to have got some beef with the technocrats running this country."

[Callos_DeTerran]

"I agree that we should not move quickly, but for a very different reason than anything to do with the League," Nerra finally responds after giving all of the people who have come to join the crew a chance to speak their piece about the current situation and themselves. "That is because, at this moment, we currently do not have the means to actually power the ship. Hajoth Hakados is lightly ruled by the League because of its distance from Starfall and its relative prosperity and the public face of no resistance to the League's demands, hence why my ship has so far gone unnoticed. This...will not last for long though."

The woman leans forward and rests her hands atop the table-top and gives each of the assembled adventurers a tired look in turn. "Even if the ship was ready to leave, which it is but for some minor adjustments still to be made, the engine that I have built for it was stolen by those damnable river bandits!"

"If they knew the purpose of the engine they were stealing or not is, frankly, irrelevant at this point as well because they know what it does...and who to sell it to," Nerra says ominously as she pulls off her gloves and leaves them atop the table, leaning back to kick her boots up atop it. "My attempts to track them down have revealed that they plan to sell it to a representative of the League and if they succeed, this venture is over before it even begins. I can finish up the final preparations on the ship while the four of you get the engine back, hopefully before whomever they are selling the engine too realizes it isn't going to show up and try to track the source down. If we need to build trust then I suppose this is the best way to go about doing it. After all, you'll either return with my engine or you won't."

[carnivoroustofu]

"River bandits," repeats Rak. "Could you tell us more; numbers, abilities, locations will ease the work to be done."

[Illogictree]

"Also, do we know how much time we have to track them down?" asked Priss. "I was sort of hoping for at least a little downtime. I mean, I just got in from a long trek from Mendev, and I'm running low on black powder. Not to mention," and here she sniffed at her outfit, "I'm in need of a bath."

[Khosan]

Rissi

"One more question to add to the pile," Rissi cracks a grin while she sets up her alchemical equipment, "How d'you guys feel like handling 'em? Quiet or loud?" A full rack of test tubes emerges from her pack, a few of them filled with some faintly glowing liquids, "Personally, I'm a fan of goin' real ****in' loud. They're bandits, so no one's gonna miss 'em." The rack is quickly joined by a mortar and pestle, a few filters stained by coffee and a small iron crucible. "I ask because I've got just enough magic left in me to make a couple more of these," she picks up one of the liquid-filled tubes and gives it a shake to draw attention to it. The liquid, in return, bubbles vigorously and briefly turns red. "And I'd like to tailor them to how we're doing this." With those last few words, the ratfolk pulls her goggles down and sets to work.

Though her working doesn't last particularly long. Her jaw drops when Priss finishes speaking, "A...a bath?" From her tone, it's clear Rissi can hardly believe what was just said. Whether that's because of prioritizing personal hygiene or just questioning the timing is anyone's guess. "Can it wait, princess? They're ****in' river bandits. River bandits. They gotta be on a river to call themselves that and I'm pretty sure you can bathe in a river."

[Illogictree]

"Loud, of course," says Priss with a smirk. She's having trouble deciding if she's going to like Rissi or if she's going to drive her up the wall. "And yeah, a bath. Look, just because you never take one, cheese breath..."

[carnivoroustofu]

"Loud is fine. Loud is usually faster" chips in Rak, who looks ready to separate the ratfolk and catfolk should they come to blows.

[Callos_DeTerran]

"These bandits may be missed actually," Nerra says softly in a lull between the teasing insults being bandied back and forth between the catfolk and ratfolk. "They have been working the Sellen River for many years now and conduct quite a bit of business along it, including in Hajoth Hakados itself. There are rumors that they do work for the mayor in return for safety to prowl on river traffic and I also know quite a few androids who were smuggled into the city by them."

"How to handle them I will, of course, leave up to you lot but I will point out that we may now be working on a timer that we don't even know we have and we have a grander design then dealing with Kellid scoundrels who stole the wrong piece of technology." the architect of the mission says gravely as she rises to her feet and tugs off her gloves. "As for time span, I would say that a week at the most. After that, even if the bandits didn't go directly to them to sell it, the League will have heard about what was stolen and will move into the area to find out more. If we aren't gone before that point we might not be able to leave at all. I don't have much information on them to be honest though, I only have the location of where the robbery took place."

The elven woman pulls a scroll from her belt and unfurls a map (http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/186889/numeriamap.jpg) of Numeria before stabbing a finger down at Hajoth Hakados where it lies at the junction of several parts of the Sellen River. "My engine was constructed outside of the city, just outside the woods that border the tributary to the west and was meant to be shipped down river to the city where I would meet it at a rendezvous point to smuggle it in after I greased the path. The bandits actually were waiting at the rendezvous point, which is...here."

Nerra points to a spot several miles up the tributary by an almost L-shaped bend in the river. "With as much business as they apparently conduct in the area, I imagine they must have a base of operations of some kind close by."

[Rokku]

Claire looks over the map and nods.

"Well, lets go wallop these malcontents and get to bloody space!"

[carnivoroustofu]

Rak makes a few quick mental notes after examining the map and gets up. "Let us leave immediately then. Transport via boat maybe the fastest option."

[Khosan]

Rissi

Though she's a little pre-occupied with her alchemical projects, Rissi's grin widens all the same when Priss retorts, "Cheese breath, huh? That's adorable, princess."

While Nerra speaks, the ratfolk continues concocting her extracts. It doesn't take her long to finish, but the results appear...questionable at best. One of the vials contains a small amount of white liquid that reacts violently to noise and motion. Another contains a brown and yellow pellet that, prior to its containment, almost ate Rissi's hands. Yet one more is apparently empty, in spite of all the work that went into its creation. The final two contain what looks like a pair of oozes, rapidly shifting in color, size, shape and presumably a number of other non-visual factors.

Once Nerra's finished, Rissi grabs up all of her filled vials. "A'right, here's what I got for ya," she rolls one vial of the white liquid each to Rak and Claire, "So this milky ****'ll kinda make you feel a bit paranoid for a couple minutes. Tastes kinda like milk that's about to turn. Puts you on edge enough to react a bit quicker but not enough to make you go bat**** crazy, I've found." She then tosses Rak the vial holding the pellet, followed by the empty one, "Big boy, that first one, real important thing to remember. Put it in your mouth, bite down hard and keep your goddamn mouth shut. It's gonna expand real ****in' fast and you want it to go down the throat, not out your mouth. Once you got it down, it's gonna make you and all your stuff grow. A lot. Like double size. The other one you just need to open up and pour it somewhere on you. It's gonna feel real cold and then harden up. Should help keep you safe." Rissi clears her throat, holding one vial holding the rapidly shifting blob to her chest and sliding the last one to Claire, "Finally, this handy little number'll let you change your shape a bit. You can get a little bigger or a little smaller. Don't worry about it moving around, once you have an idea of what you wanna be it'll settle down. Its flavor, texture, smell and all that is all partly based on what you're thinking, far as I know. Most of the ones I've tried end up tasting like a roast beef sandwich with bacon, pepperjack..." a little drool collects at the side of her mouth as she recalls the flavors, "and hot peppers..."

After a moment of silence, the rat shakes herself out of her food reverie and wipes the drool from her chin, "Anyway, don't use 'em all at once. I got a couple healing ones stuffed away for a bloody day, but other than them, whachya got is all yer getting." She collects her alchemy supplies and unceremoniously drops them back in her pack. "They'll last forever, but I can't make any more until they're used or tomorrow. Whichever comes last. Magic's gotta recollect and all."

[carnivoroustofu]

Rak gives them a swirl and peers at them carefully under the lights before tucking them into his pockets, taking care to remember which was which. "Handy. Be sure to keep some for yourself."

[Illogictree]

"Well, if we're done messing around with weird stuff," says Priss, "I think we should head out and see if we can find out more about these bandits. At least we'll find more asking around town than by sitting around here talking about it." She stands and hefts her backpack again, slipping it around her shoulders. "Besides, I have a few things I need to pick up. I envision a lot of explosions in the near future." She gives a catty grin.

[carnivoroustofu]

"Indeed. There is a need to secure transport to and likely from our point of interest as well. Let us get to work swiftly" adds Rak as he gets up.

[Callos_DeTerran]

The fiver confer with one another for close to another half hour to figure out what their plan was for finding the engine and retrieving it from the bandits that had stolen it in the first place. In the end, it is decided that Claire, Priss, and Rak will ask around the city for any sort of information about the thugs while Rissi would see about securing a barge to take them along the river.

Of the two groups, Rissi has an easier time in finding a man willing to rent out his barge for a few days travel for the price of five silver a day, along with the option of picking up any cargo he can to cover the other expenses. He doesn't seem particularly worried about the thought of encountering the river bandits and, if mentioned, will just pat the well-worn iron-shod club that he wears on his belt. He does mention that he won't be able to leave until tomorrow night though, after he's unloaded his current shipment. Plenty of time to pick up any gear that might be needed or arrange for a large wagon to fit the dimensions that Nerra had given!

On the other hand, the trio seems to be getting conflicting information about the river rats that have stolen the most vital component of the space-faring vessel. On the one hand, merchants griped to no end about how the no good thieves preyed upon their river trade with utterly no fear of reprisal from any local authorities. Stories about how if one didn't bring their own guards then they might as well not have any protection on the river, which was bad considering the bandits were getting worse rather then better! On the other hand, mostly from the small communities of people mutated by Numeria's strange energies and fluids and androids speak of the bandits almost fondly. It wasn't easy to sneak past Technic patrols or bands of technophobic Kellid tribes, but the river rats had managed to smuggle in these outsiders for almost criminally small payments for the danger involved... They do discover that the bandits always go after soft looking targets or ones that don't fly the flags of the Black Sovereign or the crusaders passing through to the Worldwound, likely because the passengers on such boats would put up far fiercer resistance than the local merchants. Die-hard opportunists in other words that have fled from marks that put up stiffer fights than expected. The biggest problem is that the bandits have struck all along this section of Sellen which has made tracking them down particularly problematic...

Just finalize anything you want to do before heading out with this new information, supplies bought, alcohols crafted, and we'll head on out!

[carnivoroustofu]

"The conflicting information and lack of details is problematic. We may need to capture one and extract information, by force if necessary." Rak returned with a roll of rope.

I'll get some 50' hemp rope I guess. Never hurts to have rope and we may need to tie up a prisoner.

[Khosan]

Rissi

Not exactly subtle in her entrance, Rissi dances back into the warehouse atop a rolling barrel. She takes the barrel for a lap around the table, humming something that sound suspiciously like a bar song. "Sounds like somebody didn't have a good time!" she exclaims, her voice taking on singsong tones from the tune she continues to hum, "I had a great time. I got us a boat for cheap and..." she pauses and, through some bizarre acrobatics, manages to tilt the barrel into an upright position while staying on top of it, "...I got me some booze!" Plopping herself down on the barrel she continues, "'s not a high proof, but best I could do on short notice. Made a deal with a local brewer, so it's good and ready to drink. No sitting around waiting for it to ferment."

[carnivoroustofu]

Rissi

Not exactly subtle in her entrance, Rissi dances back into the warehouse atop a rolling barrel. She takes the barrel for a lap around the table, humming something that sound suspiciously like a bar song. "Sounds like somebody didn't have a good time!" she exclaims, her voice taking on singsong tones from the tune she continues to hum, "I had a great time. I got us a boat for cheap and..." she pauses and, through some bizarre acrobatics, manages to tilt the barrel into an upright position while staying on top of it, "...I got me some booze!" Plopping herself down on the barrel she continues, "'s not a high proof, but best I could do on short notice. Made a deal with a local brewer, so it's good and ready to drink. No sitting around waiting for it to ferment."

"We may be in need of the alcohol sooner than expected, Rissi. Our targets appear to be sighted all along the river, with a preference for easy targets. Perhaps if we feigned affluence and intoxication with that barrel we could draw them out."

[Khosan]

Rissi

"Yeah, I figured we'd wanna bait 'em." She takes a swig from her now-filled hip flask, "Even if you guys got some news for us, we could make ourselves a guide out of one of 'em."

[Illogictree]

"No dice on that end," says Priss. "Nobody seems to know where they have their base." The catfolk is sitting at the table with some equipment she removed from a pouch on her belt, a couple of bags of powdered substances, and a trio of small empty kegs arranged carefully in front of her. Her tail swishes slowly back and forth as she mixes a precisely measured amount of the powders in a ceramic bowl in front of her, then gently wets it with a spot of liquid from a flask and grinds it with a pestle into a fine paste. As she works, she glances up again. "Are you sure just one barrel of booze will be enough to entice them to attack us?"

[Khosan]

Rissi

"**** no. This is just for me. 'Sides, they can't see into the cargo hold anyway." Finally hopping off the barrel, Rissi slides back into a seat at the table. "The thing about baiting crummy little pricks like them," she explains, waving her flask around, "is to look like we're the sort of guards just cheap and incompetent enough to fall into their target range. We look too good and they think they don't stand a chance. Look too grubby and they think we don't have **** worth taking." Taking another small sip from her flask, she winks, "Good news for us is we should fit right in there. 'Specially if we're all a little drunk."

Rissi reclines in her chair for a moment before suddenly bolting upright, "And before I ****in' forget: we're leaving tomorrow night. Gives us a day to dig up an appropriately sized wagon and any other toys we may want." An impish smile creeps across her face, "Heheh...Like manacles...Maybe a whip too..."

[carnivoroustofu]

Rak notices Rissi and Priss' curious penchant for mixing things. "Good rope can do both with a little training. Would either of you, by any chance, have a cheap alchemical means of coating object to look like they are made of gold and silver? Counterfeit jewellery may go a long ways to drawing their attention as well."

[Illogictree]

Priss' tail stops in mid-swing. She looks up from where she's filling a small vise-like press with the black paste she's just been working on, one eyebrow raised.

"You two just leave me out of whatever kinky stuff you've got going on, please? I'm going to be pretty busy here for the rest of the day, anyway, so you're going to have to take care of it yourselves. Also," she gives the press a twist, squeezing a trickle of liquid out into a small basin, "I'd recommend keeping any open flames away from this general area while I'm working. It shouldn't be too hazardous, but better safe than sorry, right?" She opens the press again and turns out what looks like a charcoal-gray brick, placing it on a folding rack to dry. She gives her equipment a quick cleaning, then begins measuring out more of the powders.

[Callos_DeTerran]

With a plan, the various people who had heeded the call of action head off to slumber before leaving to gather supplies in the morning such as a wagon to transport the engine as well as supplies they might need for the trip ahead. By the time that they reconvene at the barge's dock in time to leave, they have accomplished most of their gals though it seemed Claire opted out of the mission at the last moment. It takes a few moments to load up the boatman's barge, but Priss, Rak, and Rissi soon find themselves drifting down this muddy branch of the Sellen River with the sun still high in the sky above. There's little shade on the river and it soon gets warm despite the uncomfortable chill in the air from being so far north that normally keeps people bundled up more warmly with the sound of water against the hull enough to make many people drift off to sleep. The three quickly decide to keep watch in shifts of two while the third gets a chance to rest and pursue their own interests until they were called up to keep an eye on the banks of the river once more.

Luckily the first stretch of the river has been remarkably 'civilized' by the inhabitants of Hajoth Hakados and there is no trouble with the many infamous denizens of the Sellen River aside from the droves of mosquitoes that seem to take a particular liking to Priss and Rissi. Like much of Numeria though there isn't a lot of varied terrain to look at along the way, just the blasted earth and occasional batches of scrub grass and stunted tree to break up the monotony of the rolling hills of this section of Numeria. It was easy to fall into the mindset that it would be a simple matter to spy anyone on the banks of the river who might be approaching, a fact reinforced by the sight of a few other merchant barges traveling the the river themselves. Despite this, it was Rissi that caught the glint of sunlight off of something on the right side of the bank before the stealthy motions of someone or something quickly scurrying off and out of sight. Despite telling the others and keeping an eye out for additional glints of light, no other signs of the mysterious watchers are spotted throughout the rest of the day and as the light begins to dwindle, the barge captain drops the heavy stones tied to ropes to keep from drifting before lighting the smokey lanterns to light up the deck before going to the only separate room below decks that he sleeps in.

I need Perception checks and an order of which of two watches is first

Priss/Rak
Rak/Rissi

since Rak doesn't sleep, it made sense for him to take two watches.

[carnivoroustofu]

Rak spent most of the day laying about on the front of the barge with a bottle of beer, as though he was drunk while clad in counterfeit jewelry. In truth he was in an energy saving mode in anticipation of the long night ahead. Their adversaries were thieves afterall, they would most likely come after dark. Pretending to sleep in a dark corner of the deck, Rak keeps an eye out on the vegetation on both banks of the river.

stealth [roll0]
perception [roll1]
perception [roll2]

[Illogictree]

Priss spent her day carefully breaking the stack of dried bricks into small even grains, filling the small kegs with the results. She seemed pleased with her efforts.

After that, she cleaned all her equipment carefully before putting it away, then cleaned both her blunderbuss and the small backup pistol she carried. And then took a bath herself, in the process revealing she carries a collapsible bathtub and a ridiculous amount of soap somewhere in the depths of her handy haversack.

Smelling faintly of soap and gunpowder, Priss spends the remainder of the day lounging on a convenient place in the sun where she could surreptitiously keep an eye and ears out, in the manner that cats can seem to be asleep but are in fact still alert to anything unusual.

When Rak and Rissi came to discuss their watch order, Priss volunteered to take the first shift. She proceeded to do so without moving from her spot into the evening.

Perception: [roll0]

[Khosan]

Rissi

The trip had put Rissi in a bad mood. Between the mosquitoes forcing her to button up and the lack of action, she'd drifted into a kind of frustrated, sweaty malaise. She spent much of her time pacing angrily up and down the deck, only stopping every now and again to swear profusely as she flails her wrench around in the general direction of the swarms of insects assaulting her. It was during one of these that she spotted the shiny something on the riverbank, her response at the time being a half-triumphant, half-agonized "Mother ****ER!"

When nightfall came, the rat opted for the later shift. Her primary reasoning was, of course, that there would be fewer mosquitoes making a meal of her. With fewer bugs making her life a living hell, she wasn't nearly as snappy and somewhat violent as she was during daylight hours. Instead, she spent most of her time staving off boredom, dancing lazily around the deck to her own out-of-tune humming.

Perception - [roll0]

[Callos_DeTerran]

Night on the river is surprisingly peaceful with the swaying of the boat from side to side before it reaches the end of the slack that the heavy stone anchors allow for and begins to drift in the opposite. With the smoke-filled light of the laterns, here is a hazy and almost surreal feel to the watches that would make it is to stop paying attention to what was going on but the three remain vigilant and it is only Rissi that misses the activity on the banks of the Sellen. They move quietly but there is no hiding the two groups of three on the opposite sides of the river hauling on ropes to hoist something out of the water to the point where it would rest just above water level. 'It' turns out to be a thick iron chain that would prevent passage further down the river away from Hajoth Hakados.

They quickly begin moving in the opposite direction on the other side of the barge, presumably to raise another chain but they've unknowingly lost the element of surprise to those they would otherwise entrap...

[Illogictree]

>Priss: Do something stupid awesome

Priss springs into action. Dropping her haversack and drawing her blunderbuss, she gives a loud stage whisper. "Rak! Back me up! Watch this, this is going to be awesome!"

Without waiting for a reply from the other two, the catfolk sprints across the deck of the ship and takes a great leap, clearing the 20 feet of river and landing on the east bank. Barely breaking her stride, she races around the bandits, putting them between herself and the river. She whispers the command word for her belt, loading her gun with a single round. Breathlessly, she points the weapon into the air and discharges a single thunderous shot. As the thunder dies away, she whispers the command word again, this time loading the weapon with pellets.

"OK, listen up, you pusillanimous picaroons!" she bellows, baring her teeth in her best attempt to look frightening, "THIS... is my BOOMSTICK! It's a hand-built custom flintlock .75 calibre blunderbuss. Designed by me, built by me, and you'd BETTER believe it's pointed in your direction!" She adjusts her aim, trying to put all three within what her best estimate would be the cone of the pellet spray. "You three are welcome to surrender before you get hurt."

Intimidate roll: [roll0]

[carnivoroustofu]

Rak leaps up to his feet following Priss' lead with a bloodcurdling shout and runs after her, yelling all the way. The yell continues as he misses the bank by a long shot and lands with a loud splash in the water and can be faintly heard as a stream of bubbles signal Rak's charge along the river bottom. A second loud splash announces Rak's return to dry land as he bursts out of the water at the bank, still yelling as he stops beside Priss with sword in hand.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

And continues yelling all the way to the next turn.

[Khosan]

Rissi

Unaware of the bandits, Rissi stays behind. "The **** are you guys doing?" she shouts after them, her voice saturated with equal parts exasperation and confusion, "I wanna go swimming too, but goddamn is this not the time."

It isn't until Priss starts shouting about her gun that Rissi finally picks up on the bandits. With a heavily exaggerated sigh, Rissi stands at the edge of the ship and shouts down at her colleagues, "You ****s coulda said something before you jumped off the damn boat. I mean, damn, I had no ****in' clue about these *******s." Her grumbling continues while she checks over her bow and wrench, making sure they're combat ready.