Thunderscape: Flight of the Intrepid, IC Thread 2

[shawncarman]

[Starting a new thread to mark the end of that brief but unpleasant hiatus.]

After the skirmish in the burned-out peat warehouse, the rest of the evening follows in a bit of a blur. Thankfully, Balaquim is among the largest cities in the world and there are always shops and other establishments open. Quickly disposing of any spoils of war that you did not wish to keep proved pretty simple, and within an hour or two you returned to the Cartographer's Society with the liberated hostages in tow.

Being freed from the mercenaries' custody certainly seems to have sweetened Seymon's attitude toward you by a significant degree! After arriving back at the house, he quickly retires to his chambers for a change of clothing and a bit of freshening up, then returns and offers you his gratitude as well as a matched set of pocketwatchs, one for each of you. "My great-grandfather was a clockmaker before he ascended to the nobility. The men of my line have always enjoyed it as a hobby. I finished this set a few months ago but have had no one to make a gift of them! Please, take them with my thanks and know you always have a friend here in Balaquim!"

Iritis, too, is grateful, but more timid about expressing it. He quietly mumbles something about never being able to thank you enough and if you need anything while on the voyage, he will be happy to help, then goes off to secure his bags.

The hurried launch at dawn appears to have brought the entire Cartographer's Society out into the night, and there are dozens or even hundreds of people swarming all over the Chapter House. Carrying crates and boxes onto carts, driving carts into the night, bringing new carts back to be loaded, checking lists... it's a symphony of chaos. "The materials for the voyage were stationed in a number of holdings throughout the city," Seymon explains. "Covert holdings, of course... Sir Roderick is a bit of a stickler for operational security!" He frowns. "Although I suppose that was called for, given everything that's happened this evening."

"I've been informed where the old girl is being loaded. Happy to drive you there myself, if you like. Anything in the city you chaps need to pick up or acquire before preparing for your grand adventure, hmm?"

[Omega13]

Brace's first priority is to make good on his promises to Terris. He lets the Cartographer's Society know that this man is just a mercenary who has been forced into a terrible situation, and that his family could be in danger from the Sons of Terrotaxus unless they take some action to protect them. If necessary, Brace will personally pay for whatever communications or spells need to be used to send word to the Society in Terris' family's home. Just let me know how much I need to pay.

He'll also try to make good on his promise to get Terris a job on the airship, stressing that a defector from the Sons could be very useful if the mercenaries attack again, and that he's less dangerous where they can keep an eye on him (and where he'll have difficulty contacting his former brothers) until they are certain he's really trustworthy.

[shawncarman]

Seymon frowns slightly. "Well, truth be told, I can't say as I'm particularly keen on helping one of these cads, but if it's a favor for you, then I will see to it personally. I'll have one of my valets get the information about the young man's family and we'll have them moved to a safehouse outside the Rhanate. Should improve their lot in life quite a bit, I imagine. As for finding a place on the Intrepid..." the nobleman shrugs slightly. "That will be a call for Sir Roderick to make, not a simple logistics officer like myself."

[Omega13]

Brace turns to Terris. "Well, there you are," he says. "Your family should be safe. If I were you, I'd think about making my case to Sir Roderick. Consider what skills you have that may be of use to us on a long airship voyage. It may be the only way for you to get out of town before your brethren find you. Roderick is a good man, from what I know of him. Not everyone gets a second chance to turn their life around. Don't waste this one, friend."

He speaks to Seymon as soon as he gets a chance, away from Terris. "Thank you, Seymon," Brace says. "I know you must not think very highly of Terris right now. I wouldn't blame you if you turned him away, but I respect that you aren't the sort to hold a grudge. At the same time, I want to reassure you that I don't plan to trust this man foolishly. This is a chance for us to learn more about our enemies - one way or the other. We need to make sure he's watched closely."

[Rokku]

"Can't think of anything I need," says Leo, weighing his coin purse, "least not anything I can afford. I'm ready to blow this town."

[captainswift]

Qismah has spent most of the hustle n bustle time maintenancing her cycle, when she hasn't been catching catnaps. she's also been keeping a keen eye on how each person has been handling the various supplies they've been moving, so she knows who isn't going to be helping her transport her transport.

"Yeah, you ain't even touchin' this thing, Fumbles."

[DanMonster]

"Wow. Thanks. No one has ever giving me one of these before." Cern says to his new boss. "This means a lot."

...

Later on Cern will find Brace, "Um, Brace, will you show me how this watch works?"

[shawncarman]

"Very good, then," Seymon says after a few minutes. "Your requested gear from the quartermaster, those portions that you did not take with you already, have been sent to the Intrepid. Let's join them, shall we? Lovely Ms. Qismah, if you could be so kind as to follow us on your extraordinary cycle?"

Seymon moves out front where a servant is awaiting with a much nicer steamwagon than the ones that have been moving through like clockwork to pick up crates and scatter throughout the city. "Lots of false trails being sewn, you know," Seymon says. "We know there are people watching the chapter house so we cannot very well simply carry everything straight away. Many of those crates are just full of trash, but the damnable Eye will have a merry time chasing them through the city, I'd say."

The Arastinian nobleman proceeds to drive you at along a seemingly random course that covers much of the merchant and warehouse districts, doubling back over your trail numerous times. By the time you're done, you're so confused you're not entirely sure where you are, and anyone following you is probably nauseous at the very least. "Smashing!" Seymon says, shutting down the engine and hopping out. "Let's have a go, shall we?"

You've arrived at one of the largest, and seemingly oldest, warehouses in the district. It's made of stone, with some newer (relatively) construction near the top in wood. There's moss growing on some of the exterior, but there are plenty of workmen moving crates from various steamwagons and hustling them inside. You follow along, and are promptly frozen in your tracks.

The entire interior of this massive warehouse is empty. It appears to have been complete, and very precisely, excavated. The warehouse is nothing more than a shell that conceals a massive airship, larger even than you thought based on the image that you saw from Shivara's spellgem image. The suspended ship itself is the size of a large merchant's galleon, and the huge mechamagical harness that surrounds the gas balloon barely fits inside. It seems as though it may have been constructed inside here, and you're not sure how in the world it will get out, but someone probably thought of that already. Right?

First Mate Shivara, the steward of the Intrepid, glances up from her clipboard and smiles. "Welcome," she says warmly. "I'm pleased you made it. We have less than an hour to launch, and much to do. Is there anything you require? I can have someone show you to your quarters if you wish. But don't tarry, Sir Roderick will wish to address the crew en masse before we conduct final boarding."

[Omega13]

Brace is too occupied with the technological wonders to realize he's been introduced to someone important. He steps away from helping Uros learn to set his watch (and possibly teaching him how to tell time while he does so) to look at the ship and the warehouse ceiling.

"I don't even see any mechanisms to open the roof!" he says, ethused by the workmanship. "I suppose the counterweights and hinges would be obvious from the outside, though. Are they just so well made that they blend in with the architecture?" He considers running back outside to look, for a moment, then thinks better of it. "Or some sort of purely magical illusion, perhaps? That would probably be the most economical method. Or maybe the ship just bursts through the roof." He makes a dramatic exploding gesture and spins around with a grin. "That would be the most spectacular, though dangerous, I imagine. And is she kept in midair purely by lighter than air gases or do the mechamagical propulsion systems supplement her lift with some sort of levitation? Whatever it is, she's amazing. I can't wait to see how she works!"

He realizes, belatedly, that he has been introduced.

"Oh, hello, Ma'am," he says, holding out his hand with a sheepish smile. "I'm Brace. I've been hired to help with security and repairs."

[Rokku]

"Leo," says the metalheart, offering a little wave.

"Security too. Probably morale also. Wouldn't mind seeing where I'm crashing."

[captainswift]

Qismah nods along with Brace's talk of mechamagical propulsion systems with a wide-eyed acknowledgment, then introduces herself with "When do I get to drive?"

[DanMonster]

"Whoa." Cern says taking in the sights.

"Hello Boss." Cern forgetfully offers his giant golem hand to shake with the First Mate.

[shawncarman]

Shivara calls out to one of the others scrambling around in every direction. "Zalika, can you show the new members to the bonus quarters, please?" She frowns at Terris and begins flipping through her sheets as if searching for something.

Zalika is a human woman of indeterminate age, perhaps in her thirties, with a weathered countenance and muscled build. "Zalika," she says with a nod. "Steamrigger." Then she gestures for you to follow and scurries up the rope ladder to the suspended body of the [I]Intrepid faster than you would have thought possible. By the time the last of you have made your way up, she's clearly impatient and perhaps annoyed, waiting on the gun deck of the mid-deck, tapping her foot impatiently. "Come on," she admonishes.

The section of the ship that you have previously seen labeled only as "Storage / Bonus Quarters" is at the rear of the mid-deck, and is apparently the largest unenchanted room on the ship. It's roughly trapezoidal in shape, wider toward the front and narrowing as it proceeds backwards. It's slightly more than forty feet wide at the front, roughly twenty feet wide at the rear, and twenty-five feet wide. There are no internal walls, but there is a large amount of cargo that's been bolted and netted to the ground, and it has been thoughtfully arranged to provide at least cubicle style privacy for six independent "rooms" that are obscured from one another. Each contains a cot (even one large enough for Uros), a footlocker, and a small desk with a chair, everything having been bolted down to prevent problems. One of these is clearly intended for Qismah because it is next to an open cargo section, complete with high strength cords for strapping down, that's just the right size for a thunder cycle.

Other than the large amount of cargo, which, based on the labels on all the crates, consists of everything from mechamagical components to trade goods to spare tools and everything imaginable in between, there's little else in the room. There's an impromptu work table against the left wall, with some basic crafting tools of varying sorts held against the wall by a large magnet. There's a rope ladder leading up to the top deck, exiting in the proper workshop, which is a steamwright or mechamage's dream. There's a small lavatory as well, which is the only thing in the entire region that's been walled off.

Interestingly, each of the footlockers appears to have been enchanted with something similar to a bag of holding, because it's more than sufficient to hold all your belongings at once. Those of you who requisitioned items from the quartermaster that you aren't already carrying find that they have been neatly placed in your footlocker already.

"Good enough?" Zalika demands. She glances around and shrugs. "Roomier than the barracks, but if one of those straps breaks or bolts shears, you wake up with a crate of metal on your face. Not so good for posture."

[Omega13]

"Do you know what time we launch?" Brace asks politely. "I'd like to explore the ship a bit, but my equipment could use some adjustments. And I can't speak for my friends, but I for one am exhausted after all of that running and fighting." He sniffs and grimaces as Uros walks past; he realizes they've barely had time to compose themselves since the battle in the sewers. "And perhaps we might have time for some baths?"

[shawncarman]

"First Mate said about an hour until we take off," Zalika says flatly. "Won't have a lot of water on board before then. Once we're in the air, one of the doctor's systems collects all the conden... the condo... all that water that forms on the ship's bag, so there'll be plenty of water. Boilers will keep it nice and warm too, so plenty of showers to go around. You gotta do your own laundry."

The surly Yzeemite woman turns to leave. "I got stuff to do, no time to babysit. Show yourself around if you want."

[Omega13]

Brace frowns, annoyed at Zalkia's curtness. He can't abide rude people. He doesn't say anything until she turns to leave, at which time he coughs politely.

"So you won't be, ah, needing the ship's power source, or whatever that glowing orb is that we recovered from those thieves earlier?" he asks. "We fought the assailants and retrieved it from the sewer while you were... you know... doing whatever is is you do here." He gestures vaguely. "My friend Mortimer's been keeping the orb safe in his golem's extradimensional space cavity all this time. I thought - since you were launching and all - that you might need it back? But if you'd rather we just spend the evening being rude to one another until the ship fails to launch, I'm happy to oblige. I grew up in Smult, after all, where being rude to one another is the national pastime. Seems wasteful, though."

He smiles disarmingly. Diplomacy: [roll0]

[shawncarman]

Zalika stops, but does not turn around. She pauses for a moment, then sighs. "Look, I have nothing against you, okay? I'm sure you're fine people. But I have the most dangerous job on the ship, and word is that you lot are the captain's new favorites or something. What I don't need is to get caught up in some kind of onboard politics, because... and this is fair warning... when the Second Mate comes on board and finds new crew members that aren't under his immediate supervision, he's going to be unbearable. The last thing I need is for him to think you and I are big buddies so he can make my life miserable until he gets over his wounded pride. Okay? That's all. Nothing complicated."

"Oh, and I have no idea what you're talking about with the power source or whatever. My job is to scale the suspension cables and maintain the engine ring. I have no idea how all that stuff works, I just do what the Arcanist and the Engineer tell me."

"Is there anything else you need?"

[Omega13]

"Listen, we're just here to help, not disrupt the chain of command," Brace says. "I understand you don't like having dead weight on the ship, and the idea of being dead weight sounds terribly dull. Some of us are mechanics. Navigators. Uros is, to be blunt, ridiculously strong. Leo is... well I'm not sure what he does, but he's enthusiastic. We don't want to be treated special; we'll work for our place. And I think that might be the best way to keep the crew from resenting us, right?"

"In the meantime, maybe you could point us toward the ship's engineers so we can return this... whatever it is to them?"

[shawncarman]

Zalika chuckles at the mention of Uros. "Yes, about that... have you met Grumps yet? He's going to be delighted to have such a strapping specimen on board."

"As for the engineers, there are three. The Chief Engineer and his two apprentices. The apprentices we're picking up in Strangemont, but you've probably met the main engineer. An odd dwarf named Rockhammer? Most call him Doc. Just... just don't talk to him about music. He gets sort of... carried away."

As if speaking his name somehow summoned him, the striking figure of Dr. Dugwell Rockhammer, Chief Engineer of the Intrepid and music enthusiast extraordinaire, appears in the doorway. "Saints' balls, look at this place!" he exclaims loudly. "Looks like the sort of place I would have crashed during my years following the Three Minstrels around the Known Lands a few decades ago. Now those lads, they knew how to put on a show." Here the doctor pantomimes some sort of lute-playing activity. "Master Brace!" he all but shouts as he continues. "As I believe I just heard Zalika mention, I am short a couple of apprentices. I wonder if I could have your assistance ensuring that everything is ship shape and ready for departure in a few moments. Science!"

He does the strange air-lute thing again.

[captainswift]

"I like this guy," Qismah says of the dwarf. "You seriously just followed some musicians around for a livin'? What's the payoff for somethin' like that?" She tilts her head toward Leo. "I been followin' this guy around for half a day. Should I be expectin' something?"

She shrugs, then says, "Hey, can I assist with this power source thing? I'm curious to know how it fits in the grander scheme of this ship. Which I am totally willing to drive if anybody gets tired."

[Rokku]

"You follow musicians 'cause you love the music, baby," says Leo, "the payoff is the effort and the effort is the payoff. Life on the road is wild, especially since the big D.

Leo picks a bunk seemingly at random and tosses his bag down.

"Hey Doc, there any other musicians on the boat? I could put a band together, keep things from getting boring around here."

[Omega13]

Brace will return the artifact to the ship's engineers and spend the hour maintaining his inventions so he's prepared for whatever might happen next.

[shawncarman]

"A ship band, you say?" Doc strokes his chin. "Now that's a hell of an idea, lad. Hell of an idea! I was in a band in my youth. A dwarven anvil band, naturally. Subterranean Cacophony, we were called. Our most popular song was 'Your Love Is An Unshaped Ingot.' Moved people to tears, it did. We'll have to see about that later."

Doc takes the power sources from Brace when offered. "Splendid, thank you lad. There are two of these things already in place above. This is one of only three spares we're carrying. Dreadful idea to keep so few but they're dashed expensive, from what I understand." He pauses, then raises his eyebrows. "You lot want to see how they work? Won't get another chance once we're underway, you know!"

From somewhere down on the warehouse floor below, a melodic voice calls out: "Liftoff in fifty minutes! Fifty minutes! The captain will address the crew in thirty minutes! Be assembled on the warehouse floor in thirty minutes!"

[Rokku]

"Precussionist, cool," says Leo, wonder if we've got any string players on board, definitely gotta get someone who can shred."

Leo ***** an eyebrow at the announcement.

"Anything we gotta do before the captain rallies the troops?"

[DanMonster]

Cern feeling particularly out of steam, goes to the galley, eats an entire adult pig in the span of 5 minutes. Then goes to sleep in his new fantastic bunk.

[shawncarman]

Uros's visit to the galley is interesting, to say the least. It's on the front end of the lowest deck, and the room has been divided in half, but not lengthwise. There's a complete functional kitchen on the floor, and then, halfway up the room, all the cooking apparatus has been duplicated. A short, rotund goreaux works the bottom, casting a suspicious look at Cern and introducing himself as "Grumps." The upper set of appliances is the domain of a flitting faerkin woman who introduces herself as Odette Lefleur, formerly of Le'Ciel. It seems the former was an army cook with Urbana and the latter a restaurateur in Le'Ciel. Odd people, this ship has.

[Prepping a big post, give me a bit to polish it.]

[shawncarman]

A short time later, the entirety of the crew is assembled on the floor of the warehouse. Many others, members or hirelings of the Society, continue the prep and loading, but there is less and less of that as the Intrepid rapidly approaches readiness.

Sir Roderick looks over the assembled crew, meeting the eyes of many and nodding almost to himself. "I have reviewed everything there is to know about the people who are about to take this voyage with me," he says, his voice somehow soft and firm at the same time. "You are fine men and women, and it will be my great honor to serve as your captain. You know, for I have never held it in secrecy, that there is a very real chance that this voyage is a fool's errand. We may perish. We may be lost. But I believe, deep within my old explorer's heart, that there is majesty out there somewhere, beyond the horizon, and I want to find it. I want to experience that joy one last time, and I want to know if there is a realm that has not been cursed by the Darkfall. Perhaps not, but if we do not look, we will never know for certain, and while I can live with disappointment, I cannot go to my grave filled with uncertainty."

The old knight pauses for a moment. "We had intended to launch a few days later than this, but circumstances have forced our hand. Many of you have associations of one form or another, people that you are leaving behind. I am sorry, more sorry than I can say, to rob you of these precious last few moments, but the choice is out of our hands. Were it not for our most recent additions, I fear we might have been thwarted altogether." Here he nods respectfully to your group. "Now we must set sail for Strangemount and claim the last of our crew and supplies. It will be difficult, but a shakedown cruise is never an easy thing. I know that we have chosen well. I know that you can do it."

Raitha Rockhammer, Chief Arcanist of the Intrepid, who stands near the captain, has a look of alarm and concern flash across her face. "Captain," she says calmly. "The alarm spells I put in place have been triggered. The Eye is here."

Sir Roderick nods once. "All hands on the ship. Master Brace," he glances at your group, "can we call upon your most skilled associates to hold our enemy at bay until the ropes are cast off? We won't leave without you, you have my word." He smiles slightly at these last words, and draws his rapier.

Raitha looks at the captain, then you. "I have multiple beings approaching from Scarab Avenue to the east. Nothing from the west."

The Doc scoffs. "That's because the Eye knows how to circumvent arcane measures, my love. My Proximaklaxon indicates someone approaching from the west as well, obviously arcanists themselves but ignorant in the ways of technology."

The captain nods and turns to walk toward the open cargo ramp. "Gentlemen, Lady, you have command. Protect my ship."

[Omega13]

Brace glances around the room for any maps or charts that seem to be of little value. He rolls one tightly around an alchemist fire, another around a smokestick.

"All right, I've got no illusions that this isn't going to dissolve into violence, but I have a feeling the Eye are going to bring their numbers. Captain, my humble suggestion is that we can try to delay them while the ship readies for takeoff," he says. "Let's hurry down there and get to cover and see if we can trick them into talking. They want the Intrepid, right?" He holds up his improvised chart bombs. "Maybe we can convince them we're willing to give them a copy of the plans. I'm sure they won't go for it, but maybe we can stall them then throw these for a distraction. Then we can fight our way back to the ship if we need to."

He hands the plans to the bard. "No offense, but you're a more convincing liar than I am, Leo," he says. "But I've got your back."

"Qis, Uros, maybe you could take some of the crew and surprise those mages trying to sneak in the back door?"

[Rokku]

"You want me to buffalo the Eye? **** man, you're cooler than I thought."

Leo tosses the plans up lets them drop back into his hand.

"Lets go meet our party crashers."

[captainswift]

Qismah is a bit annoyed that her cycle is already packed and strapped up, but she nods at Brace's request. She glances around the area for a steam wagon or somesuch that she can borrow. Commandeer. Borrow.

Steal.

Wreck, probably.

[shawncarman]

Iritis shouts something in a very rural dialect of Eastern Common, and one of the porters looks at him quizzically, then shrugs and throws him the key to one of the only steamwagons remaining. He nods and tosses it to Qismah.

The crew quickly boards the vessel, but most of the porters and the other Society hirelings have nowhere to go but outside, and somehow that option seems less attractive than the alternative. They quickly ransack the warehouse floor and take up various implements, tools, boards, whatever they can get their hands on, and stand ready, looking to the lot of you for some kind of instruction. Doc stands by as well, a large hammer having come from somewhere in his hand, blithely ignoring the entreaties from his wife to board the ship.

A quick glance out the front reveals that the streets are largely empty, an oddity in the dawn light when there were so many scurrying a bout when it was still the dim grey of pre-dawn. Several hundred yards down the street, you can make out the swiftly moving forms of more than a dozen men moving forward, their cloaks open to reveal black armor beneath.

In the rear, there is no one immediately apparent, but again, the streets are empty. If there are spellcasters approaching, as Doc seems confident there are, there's no sign of them.

You have seventeen men and women, armed with various melee weapons, a few of them sporting pistols as well, and one steamwagon. How will you array your forces?

Behind and above you, the engines of the Intrepid begin to whine loudly as they power up.

[Omega13]

Brace looks confused when he realizes some of the workers are being abandoned here without any real weapons. He exchanges a look with Leo, annoyed but not entirely surprised.

"Abandoning your old workers to almost certain kidnapping and torture isn't the best impression a new employer can make, is it?" he asks the bard ruefully. "We need to have a talk with Roderick later."

He scowls back at the ship momentarily and then turns to the ill-armed workers. "Anyone that isn't planning on boarding the Intrepid, get in that steamwagon right now," he orders. "Keep your heads down and don't let them see your faces. As soon as you hear my signal whistle, you need to drive the hell out of here and don't stop until you're absolutely sure you aren't being followed. Get clear of the city if you have to. Once you're safe, abandon the steamwagon and lay low somewhere for at least a week. Don't tell anyone that you were here. If anyone knows you're here, then you need to get them and get out of town, tonight. I'm really sorry about this."

He then looks at whoever isn't headed for the wagon. "Rest of you, same plan as before. Half of you come with me and Leo and try to stay out of sight. The rest of you, take care of those mages. Melee stay with Uros, ranged stay with Qismah. They'll know what to do. Doc, I have a feeling we may need your hammer up in front."

[Rokku]

"**** happens, kid," says Leo, "it's not like any of this was the plan. Now excuse me while I dazzle these guys with bull****."

Leo strides toward the approaching figures with a bright smile and pure confidence.

"Gentlemen, hello! Can we help you?"

[captainswift]

"Yeah, but you... and I was supposed to..." Qismah growls, then tosses the keys to the wagon to the wagon-bound civilians. "Sure. Ranged stick with me." She unshoulders her rifle and starts... ugh... walking.

"Keep some distance from each other, try not to be obvious, and find some cover. We don't want a tight target for mages, an' we don't want an obvious target for mages, for that matter."

[Omega13]

"Sorry, Qis, I'll try to make it up to you," Brace says. "You could drive them out of here if it makes you feel better. I'm sure they'd be safer with you, at any rate?"

He tries to drop his turret somewhere near the door where it has a clear view of the street, then strides out behind Leo, ready to cover the faerkin with his shield at a moment's notice.

[shawncarman]

"Hold on with the wagon a moment!" Doc shouts, then paces around the floor for a moment before nodding. "Here we go." He hefts his hammer up and brings it down with considerable force onto the cobblestone floor. The report is louder than it should be for some reason, and the stones collapse, revealing a tunnel beneath. "Old sewer tunnel, not currently used! Anyone what doesn't want to be shot at while they make their exit, I recommend it." He grins then glances over Brace's shoulder toward the advancing Shadow Army regulars. "Captain told me to get back on board once I opened up the tunnel for the porters. Think I might stay a bit, though. Haven't seen any combat up close in a while, other than that little fracas at the chapter house. Not sure that counted."

Most of the porters consider the wagon and the tunnel, then head into the tunnel. About half a dozen stay, nodding to one another and holding their weapons at the read. "We're with you," one of them says, a foreman by the look of him. "I escaped Urbana four years ago, but not before my wife died. I think I might like a little reunion with those bastards."



As Lightning Leo approaches and calls out to the advancing men, they stop in the middle of the street. They immediately fan out to cover all directions, obviously wary of an ambush. One of them steps forward.

"I'm Sergeant Gregor with the Shadow Army of Urbana, operating under the legal and binding authority of Inquisitor Iytera of the Eye. We have reason to believe that the airship concealed in that building behind you includes stolen components taken from government officials and facilities in Urbana. I will ask you once and once only: stand aside and allow us to inspect the ship and recover those materials, as well as the parties responsible for their theft. This likely has nothing to do with you. Do not make it your affair."

[Rokku]

Leo pulls himself up to his full height and locks eyes with Sergeant Gregor. When he speaks, his tone is haughty and imperious, as if the Sargeant were something to be wiped off his boot.

"Well as the duly appointed representative of the Council of Seven on what they consider a very crucial mission, I dare say this is of significant concern to me," he says. "Of course I'm sure you have all the proper papers on hand indicating that the Council has approved this action by a foreign intelligence agency on sovereign soil? If so, we would be happy to hand over a copy of the plans for the ship for your engineers to inspect - we simply cannot delay our departure for a full inspection. If not, well. Even if the vessel were to contain proprietary Urbanan technology -- which I can assure you it does not -- any aggressive action would almost certainly cause an international incident. I daresay even Lord Urbane would have diffuclty recovering from such a political black Eye."

Spending two steam points to activate his Distraction Module (Will DC 14 or take -4 Sense Motive) and Vox Changer (+5 Bluff). Bluff [roll0]

[captainswift]

As the fleeing civilians take the tunnel and leave the wagon behind, Qismah stifles a squeal of glee and caresses the key. She gives the machine a quick look as she climbs in. Presumably, the transport wagon isn't armed, but she double checks. They were being all secretive and all.

Regardless, everything's a weapon if you get momentum behind it. "Just give me the go," she whispers to Brace.

[shawncarman]

[Divorce + Holidays + Work Drama yaaaaaaaaaay]

Sergeant Gregor stands stock-still, blinking a few times as if to try and clear his eyes, then cuts his gaze sideways to the two men immediately to his left, unsure how to proceed.

"If you... have... credentials?" the soldier stammers somewhat, "then I would be happy to... ah... review them?" He fiddles with his swordbelt slightly. "My orders were given verbally. I don't... have anything to show you. But this is a matter of great importance!" His tone is somewhere between insistence and pleading. "I have my orders."

The other men in the squadron are, for the most part, younger, and seem to share their sergeant's consternation. One among them, an older, scarred man, clearly a veteran, bears the mark of a corporal, and scowls both at his sergeant and at you, his hand hovering near his weapons.


MEANWHILE, AROUND THE REAR...

[I am a little unclear about who went to the rear versus the front.]

The street stretching out before the warehouse's rear entrance is surprisingly devoid of activity, given the normal hustle and bustle of the warehouse district. A flock of about half a dozen ravens is in the street a few hundred feet down, picking at some organic debris that was left there overnight and cawing at one another obnoxiously. They all look up suddenly, although you can't tell why, and take to the sky with a raucous chorus of squawks.