Angus
Boone on his way out says, "What exactly do you mean by that? You are an elf itn't you.... Not a high one though. I like the world the way it is actually. If anything, imagine the world if people were left alone and to live by their wits." He then continues forward, the two ladies he was with seem distraught that he has left them.
"OH fascinating, they're some kind of tourists?" Jotting and scribbling notes.
Bree says, "Yes, or scavengers. My employer was a bit vague but he was supposed to meet me in Beaumont but he also said his plans might change and that he would meet me tonight."
Isaac has a pleasant conversation with the Dwarf and in the early afternoon, the dwarf excuses himself and moves toward the first class lounge and sits there.
Sense Motive DC 24
Elanor invites Gauthier back to her suite and once they cross the threshold and her ward goes off to the other room in her suite, Elanor throws herself at Falko/Gauthier.
"All good games, though there is a little too much luck in craps for me. Are you meeting up with friends for your gambling or out on your own? I know a man who meets with his childhood friends once a year to play cards."
GM Rolls
Falko
Isaac Before the dwarf leaves to the front of the train, he says changing his demeanor to excitement, "The casinos in Nalaam are world famous, I don't plan on meeting anyone there. for me it is scientific research to test my new gambling strategy. Craps is infinite chance, whereas cards, as you know, there is a limited amount of cards in a deck and the key is to have a keen mind to remember what has already been played."
He checks his pocket watch and says, "I have an appointment in First Class, please excuse me."
Isaac stands up and says to the dwarf, "I'll walk back with you. I need to rejoin the rest of my team. It was good to talk to you."
Falko
Elanor says, "That is a secret, I would only trust with a confidante."
The dwarf says, "Fair enough" as he moves to the first class lounger.
Fifteen minutes outside of Cherage, at 5.23pm, the train guard Malia asks everyone to please return to their seats to keep an eye on their personal effects. The enclaves are always busy, she says, and it’s easy for thieves to hop on board in the commotion and nick unattended valuables.
The majestic city looms on the hills around the station, casting deep purple shadows in the light of the setting sun. Already lights are beginning to turn the city into a shining wonder of wealth and prosperity. The hills shield the city proper from the smoke of its inland industries, but you can still smell soot on the wind.
The conductor and various security staff have repeatedly reminded you of Cherage’s curfew for visitors, often pointing out tall buildings that show the scars of old fires. Because the Workers’ Riots a generation ago nearly burned the city to the ground, now only those few citizens with proper passes are allowed to travel between city districts after sunset. But you are welcome to enjoy the fine dining and entertainments of the rail enclave.
The train arrives in Cherage at 5:38 pm. A few minutes later another train, heading west from Orithea, pulls up. Both park for the night, and everyone prepares to get off and enter the enclave.
Chretien + Isaac or (due to your previous undercover work) or Knowledge Local DC 12
architecture than by actual walls or gates. Police have the authority to
ask for identity papers of anyone, and if you’re found outside your ‘home
district’ at night, they’ll arrest you. The party’s train tickets count as a
permit for the railroad enclave, which consists of a few city blocks ringed
by a 20-ft. wall. The wall is more of a reminder than a blockade: it has
many gaps, holes, and unlocked gates that those determined to break
curfew can use to get into the rest of the city.
The enclave itself has one cheap hotel for coach passengers and a fancier
hotel the party will stay in, located on opposite sides of the train tracks. A
handful of cheap bars, one fancy bar, two theaters, four restaurants, and a
somewhat conservative dance hall cater to passengers, staying open well
past midnight. Other buildings of note include a police station, the office
of the city’s transportation authority, and a few touristy museums.
Isaac speaks up, "I'll follow the dwarf but I'm going to need some help from some of our people here as I'm not the best at stealth. I can disguise myself though and will."
Cherage is the capital of Danor, built on several hills around a bay. Streets are lit by gas lamps that reflect off the high windows Cheragans are fond of. Districts are separated more by elevation and architecture than by walls or gates. Police have the authority to ask for identity papers; anyone found outside their ‘home district’ at night is arrested.
Your train tickets count as a permit for the railroad enclave, a few city blocks ringed by a 20-ft. wall, as well as rail tracks that intersect with the city’s main railyard. The wall is more of a reminder than a blockade: it has many gaps, holes, and unlocked gates that anyone determined to break curfew can use to reach the rest of the city.
The enclave itself has one cheap hotel and one fancier hotel (where you guys will stay), located on opposite sides of the train tracks. A handful of cheap bars, one fancy bar, two theatres, four restaurants, and a somewhat conservative dance hall cater to passengers, staying open well past midnight. Other buildings of note include a police station, the office of the city’s transportation authority, and a few touristy museums.
All the people you’ve interacted with so far get off the train with wobbly legs and make their way to the hotel. Eleanor and her ward stop to meet two Cherage town guards and they talk – you see them later in the hotel.
Once everyone has checked in at the hotel, Isaac keeps an eye on their movements out of it: The Grientos family head off to a view buildings in the enclave, with Damata listing off interesting factoids about construction, engineering, and mathematics to educate his children (“these arches are fascinating constructs, each one using only gravity, placed on a single keystone to keep the entire building erect! very audible in the hotel lobby, Eleanor and her captive/slave leave an hour later.
Boone leaves at 8 pm, flamboyantly, flirting with women in the hotel lobby. Bree leaves briskly at 8.05 and insists on not being accompanied. Verzubak then leaves at about half past eight alone to get some stuff done.
Angus, Isaac, Johnathan, you are up.
Isaac lets the dwarf leave and the walks outside to see where he goes, hoping that if he is spotted his disguise will help him.
GM Rolls
Cretien
Falko
Isaac
Johnathan
Angus
to a cheap hotel, where he convinces a 16-year-old woman to come
with him to the enclave’s fanciest bar, L’Wabe du Fonne.
Isaac, John, Angus
in the same town twice. Or at least not the same bed!”
Isaac takes a few minutes while the dwarf is gambling to change his disguise some and then tries to stealthily follow the dwarf as he leaves.
John
GM Rolls
John, Angus, Isaac
right after his toast and buys him a drink first, then suggests they play
some dice.Boone suggests he and his young
lady friend should find some place private very loudly. Boone offers some high-spirited shouts to the other beautiful women around the room, but then he and his friend leave the bar. Perhaps ten minutes later, Bree finishes her drink and leaves discreetly. Johnathan attempts to follow her but gets lost in the attempt. Angus under pressure from the dwarf isn't able to break away and follow his mark. Isaac watches all of this happen(minus Johnathan getting lost) and follows the dwarf back to the hotel without being observed.
Cretien
runs straight at them (in orcish culture, girl’s temper tantrums tend to be aggressive).
Falko
upon a hill. She is greeted warmly at the door, and is welcomed inside.
Falko
Cretien
"Boys, boys, wouldn't you rather spend the night in another bar or brothel rather than hassling foreigners you need not concern yourself with? You're likely to end up in the drunk tank if you continue this course. The constabulary is more likely to side with me than you, being that I am sober."
Falko
Cretien
You walk with Damata and his family back to the enclave hotel.
"I forget, was your business here? Perhaps you wouldn't mind a local guide?"
Falko
Cretien
Cretien
Falko
Elanor and adores her ward Isobel, hoping to curry favor so some day he might
benefit from the woman’s fleshmongering. A few more guests arrive and
share a small banquet. You find out that Elanor is a woman who accompanies high elf slaves go from one master to another across the Avery Coast Railroad. Isobel, is one such slave and will be delivered to an auction in Nalaam. The reason why she is so wrapped is the inherent value of high elf girls of breeding age. The slave trade is completely legal but to cover up Isobel is a security precaution, to avoid theft.
Isaac
On Falko's way back into the hotel in the wee hours of the morning, a man darts past Isaac playing solitaire and Falko, grinning like he’s enjoying himself. The shabby-looking gentleman wears nothing but a long coat with patches and holes, and he smells rather pungently of bath oils. The man is followed by four wheezing enclave guards, shouting as they chase after him, but the man runs much faster. It only takes a few moments for the stranger to sprint to the bridge over the train tracks and jump down onto the train, not even breaking stride. He tumbles and rolls to the far side of the train, out of sight of the guards. Elanor seeing the half naked man giggles like a schoolgirl and cuts a somewhat inebriated joke about giving that man a ride.
You wake up early in the morning knowing that the train leaves at 7:30 sharp, Angus, Falko and Johnathan are excited because by the end of the day, they expect their orisons or cantrips to come back upon leaving the dead magic zone and entering the wild magic zone of the Malice Lands.
While waiting in the lobby for the train porters to take you baggage onto the train. The staff is somewhat excitable because there has been news of some sort of murder that occurred last night in the enclave.
Some of the ladies are talking about that half naked scoundrel who had supposedly snuck into one of the hotel rooms of a guest on their way to Beaumont(the other direction).
As the party gets back aboard, you notice Malia the train guard followed by a pair of men carrying a huge chest marked with the logo of a prominent gun manufacturer "Gerard Lampineau et les armes à feu de fils de Cherage E.V.". These are the rifles she’s acquired for the safari. She orders the men to load them into the first class lounge car’s supply room.
Just then a tall handsome man with a briefcase strapped to his wrist by a leather cord pushes through the crowd, grabs
Malia by the arm, and drags her aside for a private conversation. She shakes free of his grasp, but remains professional as she quietly tells him something. He then walks off to Car 14 without a word.
A bit later, a very unusual pair arrives in first class: a flat-faced tiefling man with an air of boredom about him walks arm-in-arm with a sternly beautiful elf woman. Geometric tattoos are visible along her hands and neck, which the party might recognize (Knowledge (Religion) DC 15)
mark her as an oracle of the Clergy.
Falko's girl;Elanor Yanette recognizes Luc Jierre, and gossips loudly that he has a reputation as something of a shut-in, since he hasn’t been seen in town for a few years. The woman she guesses is a bought bride, and she laments that she wasn’t able to be one who enabled the pairing.
Just before they get on the train, the woman waves her hands in very precise gestures. Linguistics DC 30
Luc pauses, responds with a few gestures
of his own, and the woman laughs. She makes one more volley of
hand signals, and then Luc thanks the porters, stuttering, “Th-th-the lady
s-s-says th-th-thank you.” Then they head for their suite in Car 18.
As the train moves forward ‘We’ll reach the border of Danor in the afternoon’, Malia explains to everyone. ‘Please feel free to mingle and relax until then. We can begin the safari once we reach the Malice lands.’
Malia says, "I heard there was a murder in the enclave but I don't know anything about that. Which guy? Oh him, he is a passenger who has been on this route a few times before and had asked me about the safari this afternoon. Are you or your principle interested in taking part?"