Seaside 6: Six at the Beach

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

It's a good trick to be taught by Lapis!

It only works with empyreans who have the Information Sphere, though.

Either sending or receiving.

So just fine with Zee!

Arukhael, though, wouldn't pick up on it at all. But he's got different tricks.

All the spheres have different tricks, honestly.

Anway!

Zee gives a little nod, as if to say.

Someone's in there. Going to try knocking harder.

...Zee just kicked the door in.

"GOOD AFTERNOON I HAVE AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR YOU ABOUT YOUR CAR'S EXTENDED WARRANTY."

That's probably just Zee being weird. But if they DO ask what the message is Zee will tell them that those calls are scams and they definitely shouldn't answer them.

[Vahnavoi]

[Shore of a distant island]

Calm Reed is still approaching. She can see a young woman and a monster on the beach... which means she should hurry. She was already pushing the boat as fast as it will go... on its own. But now it starts going faster still. The water it kicks up glows a deeper shade of blue that seems to emanate from the woman steering the boat.

[Shore of a Distant Island]

Rachel takes a wary step back as the monster starts to reach for her, but she can feel her heart squeeze a little. She shakes her head. "No, I'm not your mother. Are you lost?" Rachel asks the creature close to twice her size.

A sudden distraction! Rachel turns to look, taking both eyes off the monster, either too trusting or too inexperienced to realize her mistake. Seeing the boat, the catgirl starts to wave it down. Over here! Maybe the person in the boat was this creature's mother. That would explain her presence.

The monster forgets Rachel is there when she turns around. It is too fixated on the skiff, not really understanding what it is looking at, but alarmed by its sudden acceleration. It draws its lungs full of air, and then:

"AroooOOOooo! AroooOOOooo!"

Its howl is like a storm warning siren suddenly blaring right next to Rachel. When the creature stops to draw breath, another more distant howl can be heard.

"Awooo! Awooo!"

It sounds like someone on the island has dogs. They are responding to the monster.

When the monster hears this, it turns towards the sound, descends on its knuckles and begins running towards it on all fours. It probably thinks there is another of its kind nearby.

[Ironsmith]

Elster
"Good to hear." Diablo's face fell when he noticed that Duffle doesn't like the music, but he's not going to comment on it. "How long until we make port?"

[Elster]

"Good question." Duffle taps a button on his wristband. "Hey, forty-seven! How long until we make port?"

"Estimated arrival in thirty-five minutes, captain." Come the smooth reply.

Duffle shrugs and turns back to Diablo. "There you go. Thirty-five minutes."

Not long at all. At least, not under most circumstances. On a cargo ship with nothing else to do, it might seem like quite a bit of time.

Duffle apparently intends to weather it by taking a nap, if the cap pulled over his eyes and leaned-back posture in his chair is any indication.

Codebreaker's Home

"Nothing." Codebreaker insists.
"Just running the numbers on how much it would cost to make that public land not public anymore, and how long you'd need to get it on your and Owena's salary." he says nonchalantly.
Of course even avoiding it, the reality is obvious. He's thinking about just buying the land to make the problem go away, and isn't saying so because he knows Kyrie will stop him.

[Codebreaker's Home]

A quick run through of the numbers puts that somewhere on the order of not happening. Kyrie makes pocket change, and unless Codebreaker's making a point of paying her a premium, Owena's wages are also fairly unimpressive. It's also unlikely that they'll collaborate on this; Owena's more interested in getting a place of her own, and Kyrie would likely take objection at the idea of relying on his niece to pay off his debts. Left to his own devices, Kyrie's more likely to get the land through squatter's rights than buying it, barring a sudden windfall.

"...Codebreaker, please. You've done more than enough for my family already. I can handle our living situation." Kyrie attempts to reassure him.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
There is indeed a round wooden door for Zee to crash through. "What in blazes are you twicelings up... To..." The speaker is one of a pair of halflings near the door, somewhere between incensed and terrified. "What are you..."

The room is cozy and rather well furnished, it looks like a small house, except underground. "Hi, uh, what's going on?" Selekhael asks, walking in just behind Zee. "You, uh, have a nice place here. Sorry about your door."

Elster
Diablo nods, gives some grunt of assent, and goes off to check over his 'Mech before they arrive. He wants to be sure it will be fully operational as soon as he disembarks.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Zee is not sorry about the door.

That joke was important and there should never be shame about terrible jokes.

Especially when you happen to be in possession of the Shape and Matter Spheres, which makes door repairs pretty easy.

Strictly speaking, Selekhael might be able to rewind the door, as well.

"BANDITS!" Zee announces suddenly, pounding one fist in her palm.

A beat.

"I mean, we're not bandits. We're looking for bandits. Who have been perpetrating banditry near here. The intention is to give them a stern talking to about respecting the property of others."

Says Zee.

Who just kicked someone's door in.

[Morty]

[Shore of a Distant Island]

The skiff reaches the shore and the woman steering it seems to expertly ground it so it won't be swept away by the wave, then leaps out and lands with a heavy thud. She heads towards Rachel first, after brief consideration.

"Do you know what this creature is?" she asks.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
"No burglars around here, ma'am." The halfling woman says, "It's right peaceful around these parts," The man adds. "We've got plenty of food, want to come in for a bite to eat?" "Tilda..." "They're visitors, and angels. We don't have company nearly often enough." Unlike her... Husband(?), The female halfling doesn't seem taken aback or frightened by the two angels at all.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

"Which is weird," Zee says. "Since the folks in Redcliff were talking about how hard it is to get food out here. The caravans keep getting robbed, right? And they were saying it was happening right around here."

In retrospect it probably would have been a good idea to ask a little more about the robbers.

Did anyone see them?

Did they steal anything other than food?

Did they have hairy feet while being under four feet tall?

All very important questions that probably should have been investigated.

Oh well!

Having no idea what is going on has never stopped Zee before.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
"My crops failed last season, true, but my lovely wife is an expert at making a little bit go a long way, and we're not as big as twicelings. Speaking of, about that crop failure..." Hint hint nudge nudge, you're angels, do something. "Harold, we shouldn't put them to work on the farm until they've eaten something."
Something fishy is definitely going on here. The quest tracker currently reads "question the halfling farmers," so they must know something.

[Reinholdt]

[Shore of a distant island]

"Hmm? No. No idea," Rachel tells the monk, rubbing her ears to get some hearing back in them after that stupid loud howl. They got bigger problems than what it is! The bikini-clad catgirl is much more interested in where the creature is going.

"Hey! Wait up! Don't go that way!" Rachel shouts after it, chasing after the monster. If there are dogs in that direction, there's probably also people in that direction and she really can't imagine an exchange going well.

[Romantic Dinner]

"Hmm... If that's the case, I might know a few roofs that are holy," Reinholdt teases, having spent more peaceful times up on those than in secluded natural wonders. Nothing beats a laying on a hot roof on a sunny day and sleeping it all away. "I'd be happy to try out your... rituals with you," Rein says with a smirk, definitely having absolutely no idea what exactly he's agreeing to here. That's ok. It's more fun that way.

There's a raised eyebrow at Ukry's reaction to the use of girlfriend. What exactly were they suggesting? Ok so if Pyrhra was a... form or persona or what have you of Ukry's, then... hmm, maybe Ukry's suggesting they have more male than female personas? But they did seem genuinely interested in bearing their own children. Maybe it was the term itself. Ukry was ancient so anything suggesting they were a girl instead of a woman might be culturally insensitive? Insulting? Ugghhh, Rein has no idea now. There's too many different things it could be, narrowing it down with just this wouldn't be very effective. So he just averts his eyes for a moment and clears his throat. "Right." He'll just refrain from the word until it can be figured out. It was a bit of a stretch using it to begin with, it just fit with the timing.

Ukry's physical touch draws his eyes back in and averts any further mental scrambling for hidden meanings. It was a soft moment that brooked none of Rein's incessant levity. Just a warm connection to another person. And an invitation. He already knew from experience that any kids he had in this body were too far removed to be an Alikil. That his people were well and truly gone with no one but himself to blame. That didn't change the offer, open and gregarious, to have a new home, a new community. It was far more than he deserved. Perhaps too much so, but that didn't stop the yearning. "I'll... keep that in mind," Reinholdt replies softly, a smile trying to tug at his lips.

He's thankful the reprieve, however short. "Ah. Well, we have glazed carrots, dauphinoise potatoes, there's a roasted pepper salad with pine nuts and basil, and some sweet potato fries. Honestly suspect it's the most vegetables I've ever had in this house, hah." Rein tends to be more carnivorous in general, but thought he should have more options for a potential herbivore in case Ukry didn't have interest in the duck. "We can certainly get something nice and stiff for you." A smirk grows on Rein's face and he reaches over to gently rub Ukry's leg. "I really have all sorts of choices. I'm not much of a bartender, but I can at least mix together a martini or something."

There's a pat as Rein pulls his hand away and leans back. "Gosh, me? I wouldn't even know where to begin. It's all terribly convoluted and none is flattering or fun." Rein frowns in thought, wondering how much of what he should share without making the whole dinner a downer. Just start at the beginning? Nah, Ukry asked particularly about his talents. "A few of my skills were self-taught in the field through trial and error, mostly error. But much of what I can claim was... enforced upon me by a demon lich warlock who was my mentor slash master slash kinda father. Alikil like me have a notoriously low propensity for magical talents, otherwise I think he would have outright made me his familiar. As it was, I just had to learn other ways to retrieve the relic he was after this week or whatever. Amongst other things I helped him with." Rein bites his lip and glances away before also knocking back the last of his wine. "But it does mean that I can probably read your sigils for some of the basic stuff you got going on without you needing to hold my hand. Unless you want to hold my hand..." That would be lewd.

[Deathkeeper]

[Codebreaker's Home]

A quick run through of the numbers puts that somewhere on the order of not happening. Kyrie makes pocket change, and unless Codebreaker's making a point of paying her a premium, Owena's wages are also fairly unimpressive. It's also unlikely that they'll collaborate on this; Owena's more interested in getting a place of her own, and Kyrie would likely take objection at the idea of relying on his niece to pay off his debts. Left to his own devices, Kyrie's more likely to get the land through squatter's rights than buying it, barring a sudden windfall.

"...Codebreaker, please. You've done more than enough for my family already. I can handle our living situation." Kyrie attempts to reassure him.

Codebreaker's Home

"Oh, I'm sure you can. Your family's abilities make for good treasure hunters. I hear Owena even has done a little bit of it."
Unfortunately, Owena's delve into archaeology netted her with nothing and her friend with a chatty weapon and several hundred pounds of muscle.
"But I'm not sure your patron wants you to do that. He hasn't exactly encouraged you with a treasure-hunter's physique. I-"
He stares off to the side, as if suddenly realizing something.
"Hey Kyrie, you have a gold coin on you?" Kyrie isn't exactly loaded but he might have one on his person.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

"We actually ate before we swung on by," Zee says, which is one hundred percent true. Devouring the landscape on the trip over is definitely eating. It isn't as filling as siphoning off the hopes and dreams of people who have decided to devote themselves to an empyrean's path but it is arguably a little less ethically questionable.

Sure they could eat some regular person food but that's definitely not needed at the moment and also they're looking to make the food shortages better not worse.

Anyway!

There's something fishy going on here.

And not fishy like having a supply of fish unless these hobbits have a bunch of those hidden away somewhere which is technically possible and also kind of what they're trying to figure out.

"The innkeeper said that the crops and the fishing have BOTH been really bad lately," Zee mentions, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "If it was just one or the other I suppose you could chalk that up to just a bad year but both at the same time is kind of suspicious. What happened with your crops? Bugs? Blight? Not enough rain? Too much hail?"

Lots of things could have gone wrong!

Whilst chatting Zee idly imposes her Will upon the Shape of all the little splinters of door spread around, binding the Matter back together again.

Hey look an unexploded door! Watching it fly back together again in reverse is pretty neat to watch.

[bc56]

Lunch Time
"The humans' crops and fish are always bad. It's because their machines are killing their land, I'm sure. We're far enough away that it usually doesn't matter." The farmer says. His wife adds, "It was a flood. Our fields got washed out and our plants drowned. We still have a few goats though, we can get milk and cheese."

[Vahnavoi]

[Shore of a Distant Island]

The skiff reaches the shore and the woman steering it seems to expertly ground it so it won't be swept away by the wave, then leaps out and lands with a heavy thud. She heads towards Rachel first, after brief consideration.

"Do you know what this creature is?" she asks.

[Shore of a distant island]

"Hmm? No. No idea," Rachel tells the monk, rubbing her ears to get some hearing back in them after that stupid loud howl. They got bigger problems than what it is! The bikini-clad catgirl is much more interested in where the creature is going.

"Hey! Wait up! Don't go that way!" Rachel shouts after it, chasing after the monster. If there are dogs in that direction, there's probably also people in that direction and she really can't imagine an exchange going well.

The monster ignores Rachel's shouts and keeps on running. It is faster than her and disappears from view a few times once they're past the treeline, but she does catch up to it when it eventually stops.

Where it stops, is next to a chicken link fence around the yard of a small house. The fence keeps in the household's dog. The monsters is squatting next to the fence, its hands wrapped around the top, staring at the dog with a sort of half grimace on its face. The dog, a small, fluffy, pointy-eared thing, is wagging its tail and barking frantically at it. Neither of the creatures really seems to comprehend what they are looking at.

"Arf! Arf! Grrr! Arf! Arf! Grrr!" The dog darts back and forth, moving closer to the fence and then jumping back when the monster so much as twitches. The monster's orange, slit-pupil eyes observe it, a low rumbling sound coming from its massive chest as it breathes in and out.

[Ironsmith]

Elster
Diablo nods, gives some grunt of assent, and goes off to check over his 'Mech before they arrive. He wants to be sure it will be fully operational as soon as he disembarks.

[Elster]

As Diablo approaches the mech, he'll see one of the crew jump down from the open cockpit and start walking away briskly. Curiously, she's completely empty-handed; if she were here for maintenance, she'd probably have a tool of some kind. For that matter, if she wanted to steal or vandalize the mech under the guise of maintenance, a tool would still be appropriate. But nothing. Huh.


Of course, if she was doing something shady, it might be prudent to find out what. And even if she wasn't, she might still have messed up the mech just by trying to "help". Should he go and fix it up instead of trying to chase down one of several identical-looking members of the crew?

Decisions, decisions.

Codebreaker's Home

"Oh, I'm sure you can. Your family's abilities make for good treasure hunters. I hear Owena even has done a little bit of it."
Unfortunately, Owena's delve into archaeology netted her with nothing and her friend with a chatty weapon and several hundred pounds of muscle.
"But I'm not sure your patron wants you to do that. He hasn't exactly encouraged you with a treasure-hunter's physique. I-"
He stares off to the side, as if suddenly realizing something.
"Hey Kyrie, you have a gold coin on you?" Kyrie isn't exactly loaded but he might have one on his person.

[Codebreaker's Home]

"As it happens..." Kyrie pulls a luminous gold coin from his pocket, holding it out for Codebreaker. "Careful with that. It's the last bit of Maesdan gold I have."

It might not be worth much in the grand scheme of things, but the glowing coin has decidedly high sentimental value to him. He's going to watch carefully to see what Codebreaker does with it.

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker's Home

CB shakes his head. "Do you have a coin you'd actually spend? I can lend you one, if you want and you can pay me later. It just has to be worth something material-wise." he insists. He could just give Kyrie a coin but that would defeat the purpose of trying to use something Kyrie earned himself.

[Morty]

[Shore of a distant island]

Calm Reed wasn't really expecting Rachel to know anything, but it was worth asking. She takes off after both of them without hesitation.

"This could end very poorly," she says once they arrive and she surveys the situation. "This creature seems confused." She steps forward, hands raised in a conciliatory gesture. "Can you understand me?"

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Zero reaction to fixing the door?

Really?

They didn't even blink at it?

Okay there's definitely something weird going on here but Zee can't quite put her finger on it.

Mostly because there just isn't much to put her finger on; there's not much here. Or at least nothing that's standing out to her. Nothing important. This is probably one of those times when actually being able to see things would be kind of handy. What's in here? Nicely furnished home. Two hobbits. Aaaaand-?

A shovel outside.

Some signs of digging. She doesn't recall any goats or signs of cropland, though. Usually land worked for crops is pretty expansive.

"Yeah, I can see that," Zee reasons, her chin stroking continuing. "The mercury process probably isn't great for anything nearby. Floods are definitely a pain, though."

...wait.

A flood?

On a hillside?

"Like a landslide sort of thing?"

Those could definitely sweep crops away. Maybe it's one of those tiered farms like what rice is grown in?

"Are you SURE there hasn't been any bandit activity? The folks back in town seemed pretty certain of it. Do the caravans into and from town pass by here? They've gotta if they're shipping the metals they mine somewhere since there's no bay for big ships."

Must go out in the road.

Perfect sort of place for bandits to hit, really.

[bc56]

Elster
"Hey, what were you doing in there!?" Diablo shouts at the retreating crew. If she runs, well, he has a pistol for a reason, and it's not for show. He doesn't need Duffle to get back to shore, and Duffle made the bots out to be rather inexpensive, so if they are sabotaging his beautiful Spider, he doesn't see the problem with violating a few warranties.

Lunch Time
"Took the whole hillside with it." Harold confirms. "Our root vegetables were completely gone, and the grain got waterlogged and caught fungus." Tilda adds, "There's no bandits around here. I haven't even seen any bandits since my adventuring days, but that was years ago."

What's your, uh, class? Can you do a detailed scan? Selekhael stretches her wings.

[Reinholdt]

[Shore of a Distant Island]

"It's looking for its mother," Rachel says as she catches up and catches her breath. This is going to be one of those leg days, isn't it? She'll hang back a little bit to see if the monk can keep any of this from escalating. Don't want the monster to feel cornered.

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Zee rolls her shoulders a bit as she thinks.

Sorry, I can't. I'm a Lancer. Can try just a basic one, though? That should at least supply names and jobs.

Which she does!

Before turning back to the door.

"Well, my friend and I will go out and see what can be done with the crop land. I might be able to help a little with the top soil since it sounds like most of it got washed away. You guys should really think about some buttressing on the hillside to help out when there are heavy rains," she says as she heads back outside.

Once out and a decent distance away from the door she'll continue talking to Selekhael while making a show of investigating the surrounding(?) cropland.

"Okay there's a definitely something up but I'm not sure what. Usually I'm pretty good on picking up important little details but it feels like I'm smacking nose-first into a blank canvas."

[Ironsmith]

Codebreaker's Home

CB shakes his head. "Do you have a coin you'd actually spend? I can lend you one, if you want and you can pay me later. It just has to be worth something material-wise." he insists. He could just give Kyrie a coin but that would defeat the purpose of trying to use something Kyrie earned himself.

[Codebreaker's Home]

"In my defense, you did specify 'gold'..." Kyrie points out, pocketing the glowing coin and producing a silvery piece in its stead, with some old guy's face minted onto its sides. "Not quite as valuable as it looks, apparently... my niece says these are made from something called speculum. A mix of copper and tin. Still, people exchange these for goods and services around here, so would that do that job?"

Elster
"Hey, what were you doing in there!?" Diablo shouts at the retreating crew. If she runs, well, he has a pistol for a reason, and it's not for show. He doesn't need Duffle to get back to shore, and Duffle made the bots out to be rather inexpensive, so if they are sabotaging his beautiful Spider, he doesn't see the problem with violating a few warranties.

[Elster]

At first, it doesn't look like she heard him; she doesn't respond to the question, or the implicit command to stop and explain herself. However, the moment he makes another move- trying to approach her, for instance, or pulling out his pistol- she bolts, sprinting as quickly as she can manage for a hatch leading belowdecks.

Diablo's also going to find out, if he shoots at her, that his pistol is almost comically ineffective here. The industrial plastics that make up these automated drones are easily durable enough to resist small arms fire, so unless he's an amazing shot and somehow knows where the actual vital components are, he might as well be using spitballs for all the actual damage he'd do.

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker's Home

"Kyrie." CB says simply. "That is valued based on issued currency, not its material. It needs to be something worth something based on its material, like a silver or gold piece. Or even a copper piece if it was pure copper, actually."
The price of pure copper is surprisingly high.

[bc56]

Lunch Time

Harold: Halfling Farmer

Tilda: Halfling Thief (retired)

The cropland does indeed look washed-out. There's only a thin layer of loose soil on the surface. Here and there are places where the ground has been dug up and put back in a little mound. A couple goats roam around the area nearby. "You're right. They're our, uh, only lead. They kept insisting they, uh, had enough food, but they also want us to fix their, uh, unproductive land. (I, uh, don't think I can do much with this. All the, uh, good soil is gone, blessing the Growth of, uh, these plants will only give them one harvest)."

Elster
Diablo issues a command to his 'Mech through his communicator. Lock down the cockpit, nobody gets in or out until he gives the all-clear.
Then he's going to storm back in to Duffle's office. If it's locked, he'll be banging on the door very loudly and insistently.
Otherwise he'll let himself in, looking very angry, and an angry mercenary with a gun is not someone you want to displease.

[Ironsmith]

Codebreaker's Home

"Kyrie." CB says simply. "That is valued based on issued currency, not its material. It needs to be something worth something based on its material, like a silver or gold piece. Or even a copper piece if it was pure copper, actually."
The price of pure copper is surprisingly high.

[Codebreaker's Home]

"Those are the options." Kyrie replies with an annoyed little rumble in his throat. "I don't normally carry large coinage around with me. Certainly not to game night." Really, it's fortunate he's carrying any money at all.

"Speculum's two-thirds copper, if that helps!" Owena calls back from the kitchen.

Elster
Diablo issues a command to his 'Mech through his communicator. Lock down the cockpit, nobody gets in or out until he gives the all-clear.
Then he's going to storm back in to Duffle's office. If it's locked, he'll be banging on the door very loudly and insistently.
Otherwise he'll let himself in, looking very angry, and an angry mercenary with a gun is not someone you want to displease.

[Elster]

There's a quick series of electronic tones from Diablo's communicator, confirming that the command was received and obeyed.

When he gets back to Duffle's office, he's going to hear him in the middle of a conversation on the other side of the door.

"...mate, as close to actual pirates as we can really get these days.

...Yeah. Yeah, I know. Not as exciting as the alternative, is it?

...Ha! Yeah, I probably could use an eye pat-

oh, damn it all. I'll call you back."

Duffle appears at the door, adjusting his cap. "Something you need, mate?" He asks innocently, not seeming to notice at first that Diablo's got a gun.

[bc56]

Elster
Diablo's had a gun the whole time.
The difference is, now it's out of its holster.
"One of your drones was crawling around inside my 'Mech. Don't suppose you know anything about that?" He'll play coy for now, not even threatening Duffle yet. But he's certainly on the edge of doing so. He's suspicious, he overheard part of the conversation where Duffle claimed to be a pirate, and his employer has a long-standing feud with one of the biggest pirate organizations in his home universe. He's very ready to use violence to get what he needs.

[Ironsmith]

[Elster]

Duffle raises an eyebrow. "Was there, now?" He asks. "Must have fallen in somehow, or something. No reason why they should be messing around with your property." He taps a button on his wrist communicator. "Forty-seven, get me a systems check on GT drones twenty through eighty-nine."

"Confirmed. Systems check on drones twenty through eighty-nine. Report to follow in approximately three minutes."

Duffle switches off the communicator and turns his attention back to Diablo, finally noticing the gun. "...No need to get jumpy, mate." He says, a note of apprehension in his voice. "I'm sure it was just a technical glitch or something."

[Rebonack]

[Lunch Time]

Hmm.

"So it looks like Tilda is a retired thief," Zee muses as she inspects the soil. "I have the uncanny feeling she's been doing clandestine raids on the shipments to supplement their food supply. This is feeling like a crime of desperation to me, though."

Don't despise the thief that steals bread to eat, or so the proverb says.

No one mentioned the gold on the way out being stolen. Just food on the way in.

Zee eyes the goats nearby. "You guys had better not be contributing to this soil erosion!"

"Maaaaaaaan!" replies the goat.

That gets the goat a suspicious look. "Anyway, I can run a pretty simple Matter evocation on this sandy garbage dirt. Rearrange the atoms a bit? I bet if you hit it with Growth afterwards they should be set. Assuming another storm doesn't send all the topsoil sliding into the ocean again."

One of the major downsides of building on hillsides.

Zee shoves her fingers into the earth and calls forth Matter, splitting and rearranging the atoms and molecules within the ground. The rusty, sandy ground is transformed, tendrils of dark loamy soil spreading through it until a wide patch of rich farm-worthy dirt stretches all around her. She stands up, smiling, and brushes the dirt off her hands onto her pants. Much better!

[bc56]

Elster
"Sure, it 'fell in'" The sarcasm is obvious. "It it's a bug, you won't mind finding it for me? It's the one that's taken some small arms fire" There's the threat. The pistol is now leveled at Duffle. "I don't have a problem with shooting an unarmed man, so you'd better start talking about this piracy you're committing and how my stuff is involved."

Lunch Time
Selekhael invokes Growth and worms power into the ground. The next harvest should be especially bountiful, and after that, harvests planted here should also be good, but never quite as successful as the first. "I think that's right. Should we confront them about it? If she's been stealing enough to cause a shortage in town, they must have quite a stockpile by now."

[Ironsmith]

[Elster]

"Easy there, mate." Duffle puts his hands up, confirming that he himself is unarmed. "Forty-seven's already on it. We'll find the one that's acting wonky. Come on, put the gun down." He glances over at the storage device Diablo used to bring the music to him. "You know how we make a buck? My mates and I are in the salvage game. Nothin' much for materials down here- even gold's not worth the time- but we'll come across intact data cores every now and then. Sell whatever's on them; nav data, fabfiles, music, art, you name it, we've found and sold some." He shuffles a bit in his seat. "Course, the most valuable data we find is stuff generated by humans. We're not in a position to be payin' back royalties or anything, though, so we sell art we didn't make as if it were our own. How would you describe that, Diablo?"