Blades in the Dark: Gangs of Duskovol IC thread

[LimSindull]

Cricket

Cricket shudders at the Crack of the rifle. The others seem to be holding up well in the deviation of their plan, but he feels nauseous from all of the excitement.

He holds the rope tight and try's to remember the illustrations from the manual he studied to get ready for this trip. He tries to remember the drawing's muscle position and the calmness of the man's face.

Spoiler: remain calm

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Group prowl [rollv]2d6[/rollv]

[dojango]

Once freed from the glare of the spotlight, the crew maneuvers the wherry into the lines of traffic criss-crossing the river channel from Charhollow to Coalridge. They cautiously rig up the lights again, just another boat in the traffic. Either because of the dense fog, or the narrowness of this channel, the steamship does not follow, as far as you can tell. The wherry heads into the channel that passes between Charterhall and Coalridge. For a moment everything is clear; and then you see that the few boats in front of you have come to a complete stop. There is a Bluecoat river launch blocking a portion of the channel, and the bluecoats appear to be inspecting the traffic. There are three boats ahead of you, and the channel is somewhat narrow. You can turn around if you choose, but it would be tricky. And it might attract just as much attention from the Bluecoats in their steam launch...

[Feirgon]

Lucren Novida, aka Smoke

"I say we just play it cool."

Lucren was half talking to the team and half talking to himself as he stared at the patrol ahead.

"Plus, I did go through all that trouble to get these outfits. It would almost be a shame not to see them needed."

He gives a slight smirk as he looks around.

Spoiler

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If it isn't apparent, I am in favor of going through the patrol in as much an unassuming manner as possible.

[Ramsus]

"Yeah. Pressing on and acting like you are who you're supposed to be is one of the main ways a pirate ship gets its job done, the same can be said for this enterprise." Pepper remarks agreeing with Smoke.

Ifriti shrugs as if to say "this isn't my area of expertise, lead on".

[dojango]

It's a tricky maneuver to stop the boat in the crowded canal. The sail has to be furled, the barge poles broken out, and the mast lowered, all while trying not to crash into other boats... there is a flurry of activity on the ship as the crew brings the ship to a halt without incident. The Bluecoats hop on the boat in front of you, flash lights in the faces of the sailors, and rummage through the hold. Then they wave it on. The boat poles forward under the bridge, and the bluecoats wave your ship forwards. When you stop next to their ship, three bluecoats jump on. Their leader shines his light on you and says, "Cargo and destination?"

[Ramsus]

"Eels. For the orphanarium in Six Towers sir." Ifriti answers while casually pondering what will become of the eels. She imagines the others insisting on taking the eels back to their ship, not wanting to pass up on so many free meals.

Spoiler

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Consort: (2d6)[4][4](8)
Controlled/Great Effect

[dojango]

One of the Bluecoats drops into the hold of the ship with his light. He climbs back out a minute later, gives a thumbs up sign to the leader. The leader shines his light at Ifriti and the others, who are holding the barge in place. He gives Ifriti a searching look, trying to figure out if it's worth trying to extort a bribe. He decides it isn't. After all, the Guild has its own deal with the Bluecoats, the bribes go directly to the precinct captains, and it's not worth his arse to be shaking down a few laborers for a few coppers. He grunts, says, "move along," and they clamber off the barge. The crew poles the barge underneath the bridge ahead and raises the mast again. The wind is a little unreliable in the narrower canals, you'll have to use the poles to move the barge deeper into Six Towers.

[Ramsus]

At the watery crossroads, Pepper suggests, "Let's follow the river east. It's a lot wider so they should have a harder time finding us out there in this fog without a spotlight."

After a moment Ifrit suggests, "It is difficult for us to see as well. Perhaps those of us who know how should look into the ghost veil and see what we can see that way."
Pepper gives a nod at that.

Spoiler

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Using Attune to Gather Information
Ifriti: (2d6)[5][6](11)
Pepper: (1d6)[5]

[Feirgon]

Lucren Novida, aka Smoke

This wasn't the first time Smoke has reached out to the ethereal for some insight. He learned early on, if he hoped to use the shadows to full effect, he needed to learn to speak with them.

Lucren nodded at Ifriti as he began to focus his spirit on the unseen.

Spoiler: Gather Information, Attune

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(1d6)[1](1)

[Ramsus]

After attuning, Pepper has Salt assist her as looks around the area both above and below water to get a sense for anything noteworthy. Then the pair begins tracking a few passing ships so they might know or at least be able to guess their routes if they want to try and avoid them or do fancy stunts like getting them between their ship and a pursuing one.

Spoiler

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Pepper Survey: (2d6)[3][2](5)
Salt Survey: (1d6)[2]

Pepper Hunt: (2d6)[6][1](7)
Salt Hunt: (1d6)[4]

[dojango]

Attuning themselves to the ghost field on the edge of Six Towers is always an interesting experience. Smoke is nearly overcome by a dizzying jumble of lost memories and sensations, although the distant roar of the lightning field is a source of comfort. Pepper and Salt both get the sense that there is a lost spirit up ahead. Salt seems to be looking forward to eating it. Ifriti, on the other hand, gets a whiff of shock and sorrow, the usual traces that one finds when seeing the ghost echo of someone that died suddenly.

Pepper scans the area, noting that the canals have become fairly crowded with other boats. It would be difficult for a pursuer to catch up, even if they did have some way of identifying their ship. There does to be a snarl of masts on the smaller canal that branches off to the north, some sort of jam, perhaps? Certainly the boats entering that canal have slowed to a crawl.

[Ramsus]

"Well we should probably stick to the main river for now to avoid that snarl. How about we go get Salt a tasty ghost snack?" Pepper suggests with a hint of viciousness in her eyes.

"Um..." Ifriti responds, rather unsure about going out of the way to mess with ghosts with nothing to gain from it.

[Feirgon]

Lucren Novida, aka Smoke

Lucren's eyes slowly come back into focus as he gathers Pepper's words in his mind.

"We should probably stick to the task at hand." His speech is slow at first but it eventually returns to its normal pace.

"But, I do agree that we should stay in lanes where we have more freedom for maneuvering."

[dojango]

The boat continues down the channel. Gondoliers flit through traffic, braving the channel with flagrant disregard for life and limb. Other barges move ponderously along, poled along by cursing bargemen. Once through the channel, the open river awaits. The thick fog has thinned a bit, and in the gloom it is hard to see if their are lurking ships. Although you can dimly sense the nearby presence of the lost soul, the reassuring hum of the distant lightning field overpowers much of your aethyric senses. The boat slips out into the east river channel. A short dash along the shoreline takes you to the nearby side canal. The ship heels as it turns into the canal. The warehouses on this canal seem abandoned. Ahead of you is a low bridge. As you lower your mast to slide under it, you see several smaller boats shove off from a quay. A few Bluecoats wave you down. "Stand by to be boarded," they shout. "Routine inspection!"

[Ramsus]

Ifriti and Pepper both simultaneously have the same thought, that it's a bit unlikely for their ship to have been stopped from random Bluecoat inspections twice in one trip. They both separately attempt to gauge things like if the Bluecoat uniforms are correct, anything weird about their behavior, or if there's anything else in the immediate area that stands out as suspicious.

Spoiler

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I assume Controlled and Standard
Pepper Survey: (2d6)[3][2](5)
Ifriti Study: (2d6)[3][1](4)

[Feirgon]

Lucren Novida, aka Smoke

What is going on?

Lucren surveys the area to see exactly what is going on, perhaps even see how many Bluecoats are around.

Then he gives a second look at the Bluecoats, perhaps they weren't who they seemed to be.

Could we really have come across two of these in one trip?

Spoiler

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Survey (1d6)[1]
Study (1d6)[5]

[dojango]

There are four Bluecoats on the quay. The canal is narrow here, normally wide enough for two wherries to squeeze by as long as they are scraping the sides. The boat has just passed below a low bridge, you haven't had time to raise the mast and the sail. The canal is deserted now, and the Bluecoats are shoving off in a skiff to intercept you.

Spoiler: Pepper & Ifriti

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Damn Bluecoats, harassing innocent travelers. Didn't they hear about that crazy boat? Do they really have nothing better to do than lurk in a deserted canal stopping passing ships?

Spoiler: Smoke

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The Bluecoats are just thugs in uniforms. Nice uniforms, with lots of polished brass and tall, pointed hats. The better to intimidate their vic... er, the citizens of the city. Smoke gets a closer look at these men as they prepare to clamber onto the wherry. Their uniforms are somewhat threadbare, they don't seem to have visible badges. And... they're not wearing hats.

[Feirgon]

Lucren Novida, aka Smoke

Smoke makes eye contact with his boatmates.

"Keep pushing don't stop! They aren't Bluecoats." He speaks in a loud whisper, hoping not to inform the approaching skiff.

He prepares to push the ship forward past the "Bluecoats".

Spoiler: Leading Group Finesse

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Finesse (1d6)[4]

[Ramsus]

Pepper narrows her eyes and sees the signs Smoke picked up on that she missed and feels a bit dumb for having missed them for a fraction of a second before racing to raise the sails quickly.

Spoiler

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Pushing for +1 die, Finesse: (2d6)[5][4](9)

[dojango]

The boat's mast is pushed back up, and you shove forward with the poles. Haste and inexperience take their toll, and for a moment, the ship's boom swings free, sweeping across the deck as the ship heels to the side. The crew bring it under control after a moment, and the ship moves past the "Bluecoats". The three men in the skiff shove off as you pass them by, while the one remaining on the quay shouts, "Stop! In the name of the Bluecoats!" They draw their pistols. Up ahead, you see two men struggling to lower a boom across the canal, while behind you, atop the bridge, three men draw their pistols. The men atop the bridge are not wearing uniforms.

Spoiler

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Everyone who participated in the group action gets a Level 1 harm, bruised!, from being hit by the boom.

[Ramsus]

Looking around with alarm and a bit of confusion Iriti says to the others as much as herself, "What is going on here? Why are there so many men here to stop us and how did they know we would be going this way when we only decided to take this canal moments ago?"

Frustrated over the very same question, Pepper decides to take action rather than ask questions and decides to do not one, but two, things about their situation. She coordinates with Salt and at about the same moment she shoots at one of the men lowering the boom, only aiming to force him back away from the mechanism, Salt rams into the skiff chasing them from below, attempting to capsize it.

Spoiler

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Pepper Hunt, Risky Standard: (2d6)[4][4](8)

Salt, Risky Great: (1d6)[6]

[Feirgon]

Lucren Novida, aka Smoke

Smoke winces as he takes the bruise from the boom. As the number of enemies increases, it is obvious these guys are looking for more than thug money.

Looking to avoid being caught in an ambush, Smoke redoubles his efforts and attempts to push their ship past the canal boom.

Not today!

Spoiler: Finesse

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taking 2 stress for +1 die
gaining +1 die from Ifriti

(3d6)[4][5][1](10)

[Ramsus]

Noticing what's going on, Ifriti does her best to help out with the sailing, though this is hardly her area of expertise.

[dojango]

Smoke shifts the sails and the ship heels to the side, continuing past the boom, as Pepper fires a warning shot at the men operating it. Down in the canal, you hear the outraged shouts and splashes as the skiff overturns. As the boat sails into the down the canal, there is a shout, "He's got a gun! ****!" A few pistol shots ring out, but splash harmlessly into the water. You are past the ambush.

The rest of the journey is fairly simple. You come out of the deserted canal, back into the steady stream of traffic. There is a small quay, where several men are lounging by a wagon. "Oy, you lot have the eels for the kiddos?"

Spoiler

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Abandon Ship! 2/8. Also, you feel that you may have attracted some notice. +1 Heat

[Ramsus]

"Could be. We were told a certain person would be the one to drop off the cargo with. Care to share your name?" Pepper asks, knowing better than to just hand the crates over without checking they're being given to the right person. Her old crew had pulled a few scams where they were on the opposite side of things.

[dojango]

The oldest of the men looks at you funny for a moment. Eventually he says, "Tamaroff n' Son drayage at yer service. Here's our work order." He hands you scrap of paper that says "Pick up 4 crates Eels at Paolo's Quay. Deliver to Helene's Orphanarium. Paid for by the Iruvian Embassy."

[Ramsus]

Pepper looks at the paper and nods and hands it off to anyone else in the group who also wants to check. "Looks good. Vannen Tamaroff I presume?"

Spoiler

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Yes, that's the wrong name. She's being extra careful and hoping that provokes a correction on the name with the correct name.

[Feirgon]

Lucren Novida, aka Smoke

Smoke looks over the work order and eyes Pepper as she asks for the wrong person. Though he is sure she mentioned the wrong name, he isn't willing to shake-up the conversation if she's working some angle.

[dojango]

"Arlan Tamaroff. Been in the business for near on thirty years. Got me own cart and everything. Now I reckon them orphans are getting hungry, if you lot'll open up yer ship we'll get them crates hoisted for ya." He gestures to the crane stowed by the dock. One of his men ambles over and starts meddling with the controls.

[Ramsus]

Pepper smiles, happy that she's as sure she can be this is the right person for the pick up, and gives Smoke the nod of approval to do as the man asked.