DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 3H - Second night in Yartar

Jaliera

"I don't have 100 gold since buying those potions but maybe Davroar and I can go halves as I doubt pets will need to pay. And I'd like a dagger just in case. Be happy if Davroar carries it."

She has a better idea now of what might be expected. She just needs to change and open her gift to be ready.

[OOC Happy with a GM handwave. ]

[Handwavium fine by me too, aye. I made some stuff up about the canoes but it seemed reasonable for a river town and should keep Bern in the action. Cool with you, Neptune?]

Zindra

She giggles and then simply smiles.

"They're going to know if you're carrying any magic. They're pretty adamant about that because of the gold they must protect for their customers. You can't wear armor or anything. It makes sense, really. Do you want to sit at a gambling table and play against someone who can cast magic? It's strictly prohibited. And as for pets, they'll assume he's a familiar, so be prepared to deal with that."

"I'm curious. It seems like you're planning or preparing for some sort of attack - without weapons or armor against several dozen of the best paid guards around. Are you sure you can handle them? If you go anywhere on that ship that you shouldn't, it would be a criminal act. That is, unless you are there on some sort of 'official' business, I can't imagine that anyone would give you that authority, but maybe I'm wrong. You just don't want to get embroiled in the Yartar justice system. It's very harsh and not always fair. Aren't you were just going to try and get information about that kid. And maybe you just need to find this woman that Arus was told to look for and ask her some questions? "

She turns to Bern, "It would be suicide to get in a row boat and follow the ship. They have people that keep an eye on the water and would be in their rights to launch a fireball at us. I'm not getting into a rowboat. I know neither of us likes the idea of mingling with the rich folk on that boat, but I'm willing to call it research and endure. We buy the chips," she looks at Jaliera, "I've got a few extra gold to help with your buy-in," then looks back to Bern, "We try our hands a couple of times but bet small amounts so we limit losses, and then we can buy dinner and enjoy the cruise from the deck, looking at the stars. That would be normal behavior on the ship. I would need to change out of my armor and put on my ladylike clothes. You should be fine as long as you're not wearing armor or carrying weapons."

<Bern>

He sighed at Zindra's explanation of the ship's 'security. And ... to be honest ... he hadn't really liked the idea of trying to keep up by rowing. It would mean he couldn't have his bow 'at the ready'. His brows furrowed a bit as he considered.

"I would not want to be on the ship ... weaponless. Depending on the ship's route, any chance I might be able to keep up with you on the shore? If so ... you could stay on deck on the correct side of the ship." He looked at the group. "Anyone have an idea of how fast the ship moves", he asked.

Zhu

"Rowing speed would be less than a man on horseback. On foot", she shrugs, "probably depends on the speed of the current. But it's highly likely they'll spot somebody riding along on shore who is keeping the ship in sight. Besides, what would you do from shore? Fire arrows at people on deck? They'll just duck behind a wall and blow you up with magic."

She shakes her head. "Its either come along unarmed and plan to do nothing but talk to people, or don't come I'd think."

<Bern>

"Riding a horse would be a bit obvious", he agreed. "But ... unless they are suspicious =and= have a lot of =really= good 'spotters' ... I doubt anyone aboard would see me", he said. "In the end, though, the problem is ... I really don't know a lot about boats ... especially boats like that. So the =real= question is ... 'could I keep up' easily enough that I wouldn't be obvious."

Zhu

"Even if you can keep up, my earlier question still applies. What do you expect to be able to do from shore? Firing arrows at a huge boat like that seems a bit pointless. Did you have other plans?"

<Bern>

"Well ... I =thought= I might actually target 'bad guys' rather than the ship's hull", he said sounding a bit put off.

Zhu

"I understand that, but this is not a canoe. The bad guys will almost all be inside, where you can't see them to shoot at." She shrugs. Each person will do as they wish.

<Bern>

"And without =any= weapons ... how do we/you defend against an attack", he asked seriously.

Zindra

"Hopefully ship security would take care of any rabble rousers or troublemakers. What makes you think there are bad guys on that boat?"

Sindar

"Let's look at what can we learn? We can identify the players so to speak, but it is unlikely that will matter, as we can do that without being on the ship. If we can't sneak about and learn where things might have happened, we won't learn very much. Yet we suspect that the floating casino is involved. How do we prove it?" He didn't add without getting ensnared in the justice system, as they don't wish to do that.

Kriv

"Discretion is the order of the day. Not getting caught is essential, but there are those among us who excel at that. As for defending ourselves, in extremis my weapons are always with me, even if they're back in my room. It is to be hoped that won't be necessary."

<Bern>

"Because there are =ALWAYS= 'bad guys'", he told Zindra.

He shrugged. Clearly the others wanted a 'sea cruise'. "Well if you don't want to get caught, leaving me 'ashore' will increase your chances on that front. I'll do my best to follow. I can meet you at the ship's destination if you want to go that route ... or wait for the ship to come back here if that seems better."

Zhu

Leaving someone behind to effect a rescue, if needed, is not a terrible idea. But again, they are not assaulting this ship. They are only going there to find the woman in purple and talk to her, or others about her. That is it. If there's a chance to look around for other hints, fine, but it is not a situation for fighting.

"We are not expecting to fight." She says to Bern. "But if we run into trouble, having you here to mount a rescue might be useful."

<Bern>

"Besides ... I would =NOT= fit in as a 'customer'", he said with a wink and a grin.

Davroar

Hearing that they will suspect him immediately as a familiar rather than a pet he will say, "I should not go at all then. If anyone can see 'me' then that will ruin any chance for Jaliera, or at least make them overly suspicious."

If they agree he will just hang out with Bern and be close by just in case anything does go awry.

Jaliera

"I agree Davroar. Safer for us all if you keep Bern company."

She smiles at him.

"Shame, I would have liked you as a pet."

There is a twinkle in her eye.

"And thanks Zindra."

Their guide is definitely proving her worth.

<Bern>

He nodded, accepting the arrangements.

DM

Arrangements having been made, those in the group returns to their respective inns, make arrangements to stay another night, and head to their rooms to change if they need to. About a half hour later, the group reassembles in the agreed upon location before heading to the Grand Dame. Some emerge looking nothing like they did earlier. Zindra will stay with Bern too, but repeats her offer to loan Jaliera some gold until she returns from the Grand Dame. "I'll hold Davroar as collateral until you get back. If you don't, I'll keep him as a pet," she says, smiling.

OOC: I'll let you describe yourselves and your reactions. Also, I will try to make the scene on the Grand Dame as rushed as possible

Zhu

She shrugs. Since they don't plan to fight here having everyone come along may not be necessary. However, following alongside the boat as it travels along the river may or may not be useful.

She looks at Zindra. "You know this area better than I. How wide is the river the boat will travel along?" If the river is fairly narrow, say a hundred yards or less, it could be possible for someone on shore to see, and possibly act in an emergency. It would also be possible for Zhu to contact them with a Message, presuming magic isn't completely blocked on board.

If the river is much wider than that, then it might be better to see if there is another task those staying behind can accomplish rather than watching a boat that is too far away for them to do anything with.

[[ How wide is the boat ... can we see how wide the river is? ]]

Kriv

Noble finery is his stock in trade, his pedigree unquestionable, Norixius signet ring gleaming. He's ready to go waste some money in an effort to provide cover for their investigations.

[[ nope ... that'll work for now <g> Thanks!! ]]