Moegan drives the steamwagon along the dirt cul-de-sac around to behind the tavern. You see light in the windows - maybe one or two rooms in the tavern.
In the back there are a few cabins within a couple hundred feet of the tavern. A branch off the cul-de-sac leads a few hundred feet further away. Each cabin has the silhouette of an animal - each a specific color.
Once you reach a cabin (on the edge of a ravine as advertised) with the yellow silhouette of a dog, Moegan states, "Here we are..."
He takes a look in Ommka's satchel as he's unloading. "Gah! You didn't!" and after a moment he seems to realize he doesn't really care that much, "Naw. No idea. One-eyed Lizard Chicken's as good a name as any I'd say."
The cabin is a common room with bunks, kitchenette, and nearby outhouse. There is also a little sitting area skirting the front door which looks over the parking spot and ravine.
Once Bovis is carried inside, Moegan tucks a book inside his vest and says, "Anyone comin? I'm going to the tavern... see if I can scrounge up another worthy recruit or two... and a med kit." He says this last part quietly with a tinge of guilt for his lack of preparation.
"I'll pop over in a bit. Need to get the golem in fighting shape again."
Once Bovis is carried inside, Moegan tucks a book inside his vest and says, "Anyone comin? I'm going to the tavern... see if I can scrounge up another worthy recruit or two... and a med kit." He says this last part quietly with a tinge of guilt for his lack of preparation.
Yatin put his things away in the cabin and followed Moegan to the tavern.
He told the 'leader', "Aye I can heal Bovis once we are set for the night. I'll recoup my magic after a good night sleep and be ready for action. Sorry to be so stingy but healing magic does not flow freely in me."
Ommka sets the makeshift nest down carefully in a corner, and after divesting bags, sheathes and satchels, watches Korbinian work with some interest.
Then lies down to rest and meditate upon the morrow...
Yatin and Moegan head to the back entrance of the tavern. A couple a men are hanging out nearby - a half-elf in an apron and tam opens the screen door, and follows them in. "Heylo. In need of some grub? Main dining's closed, but on in there's our nighttime eatery." He points to a doorway down the hall while he ducks in the near door to the kitchen.
There are five other diners and drinkers within... a group of three and two alone. The cook appears on the other side of a counter. "Potatoes however you'd like, have dried beef gravy, bread, green beans and carrots. Have a bit of sliced beef if you're not one for gravy. Ale, wine, cider, tea, water...?"
Jimara a light blue drow with spiky navy blue colored hair has a strange kite shield with a large brass hook attached to the left side on her back covering her musket. She sits with her legs crossed with a quill in her left hand and a journal book on the table. A blotter of ink is being liberally used as she takes notes or sketches things on the paper.
Beside her is a large frosty cup of perry.
Korbinian wanders in, his clothes stained with grease and oil. He walks directly to the counter and addresses the cook. "What's available to eat?" When the cook repeats the menu to him, he replies, "I'll take some beef, bread, gravy on all of it. Carrots too, please, and some tea."
Realizing his appearance, he pulls out a manite wand and wipes down his clothing, the dirt and grime disappearing. He climbs onto a stool next to the counter and eagerly awaits his food.
Got another hour of work, then bedtime. But first, this food.
Yatin also ordered some food and asked Moegan, "So, what's the plan, boss?"
He then loudly munched on his food while quietly but efficiently asking the man questions...
Leaning on the counter between Korbinian and Yatin, Moegan responds while scanning the other diners. "Plan right now... I'll prob'ly skip the gravy. Head out in eight... ten hours or so... camp out near the old mine entrance, and hit our target the day after." Moegan catches Korb and Yatin's attention with a deliberate "ahem", then looks sidelong to the dark elf. "She's looking pretty geared up. Gonna try'n recruit." He tugs his vest, and rolls his shoulders... wipes the hint of concern from his face. He asks Korb and Yatin, "How do I look? Would you take a job from me?" before making a move to approach the drow.
"I'm here, ain't I?" Korbinian quips with a toothy smile.
Jimara eyeballs the human resources representative out of the corner of her eye, quickly filling in the job application as she knows its her turn to go and sit down to see if she can get the job as Vice President of Marketing she softly puts the pen behind her ear, and hands her application to the man with a naturally manicured hand as she stands up and smooths out her skirt.
Jimara eyeballs the human resources representative out of the corner of her eye, slowly taking a sip from her pear cider. The soft fruitiness of pear crosses her lips. She casts a quick glance, shrugs and continues in her journal.
As the person comes closer she says, "Salve! E'm Mistress Simultina methinks oosa wants to speak with'e."
You can tell that her primary tongue is the regionalism of Undercommon, on Aden they are not wholly unintelligible.
Moegan keeps a fair distance at first "'Scuse us. Looking to hire on a freelancer if you're up for a job, Ma'am.", then steps up.
"Got a mission which'll require us to hold a position for minute or two. Kinda thing you look well-suited for. Pay's good... stand to make twelve hundred for one day of travel, and one day of work. Good pay and helpin some innocent folks in trouble... best kind of work."
"Can't go into too much yet... still hush-hush as't stands. If you've got interest at all, we'll meet back here in the morning... 10 AM, and hammer out the details."
He asks Korb and Yatin, "How do I look? Would you take a job from me?" before making a move to approach the drow.
Yatin smiled, "You'd look a lot of better with a bag of gold dangling from your belt."
He then turned to Korbinian, "How bad was your minion? Were you able to repair him fully?"
The entomancer discreetly called his fly; the insect soon posed on the man's ear. Yatin then directed the fly to go near the tables to try and gain some knowledge of what these people were talking about.
To Yatin, Korbinian replied, "No, not yet. Another hour's work ought to see it nearly fully repaired. Still, it can be rebuilt a lot easier than we can, so it's good that it was damaged instead of us."
Jimara listens to the human resources agent and jots down the information.
She then says, "E's cooold use to be less boared. E'll see use there." as she returns the stopper to her ink bottle and closes her book. She uncrosses her legs in a sultry manner and then stands up and presents her hand palm down to the green man as a farewell.
She then walks to the bar and pays for drink.
Ommka meditates, reenergizing, travelling the paths of causality and traverses the tapestries of interwoven and unraveling am-can-have-will-has-beens...
"Sounds good." Not sure what to do with her offered hand, he grasps it and shakes. Moegan takes out a book from his vest pocket (which appears to be a manual on industrial water pumps), and sits studying at the counter for a while.
There was one of the three which had seemed suspicious somehow - deliberately turning his head from the group. But with your wasp's scouting (and a few blurbs you overhear yourself), you determine that he is merely upset, and the other two are trying to cheer him up.
Korbinian eats his food greedily, before turning to Yatin. "Well, I had better be off to repair my golem, otherwise the noise'll keep everyone up."
He then steps down off of his stool and heads to their cabin. To the side of the entrance, the area is monopolized with rags laid out and covered with parts. He puts the final pieces in and reattaches the shell as the group mills into the cabin to sleep.
Morning comes without incident.
You hear the screen door of the cabin bang, and Moegan's voice trailing off as he heads to the tavern. "Getting some breakfast... we meet up at ten. Li'l before eight right now. Sleep a couple more hours if you need...."
A few moments later Bovis lets out an exaggerated groaning yawn. "Eh thought I'd b'feelin a fair sight worse off this morn." He looks at his wound - or where it should be. "Ha! Was it then a dream after all? Ah no.. there.. I see bit of a mark. Whose debt is it I'm in for me sorry but unrended skin?" He sits up - scans around with a quizzical look, then wiggles a finger in his ear. "Would that be nature chirping right up upon us I hear or has me head gone batty again?"
Korbinian gets up, throws on his gear, and heads to the tavern to get some food, eager to get this day underway.
Korbinian eats his food greedily, before turning to Yatin. "Well, I had better be off to repair my golem, otherwise the noise'll keep everyone up."
He then steps down off of his stool and heads to their cabin. To the side of the entrance, the area is monopolized with rags laid out and covered with parts. He puts the final pieces in and reattaches the shell as the group mills into the cabin to sleep.
[dice=repair]1d10+5
After checking on the orphaned creatures, Ommka accompanies Korbinian to the inn proper to see what "society" looks like...
The late night lounge where most of you had eaten last night is now closed off. Moegan sits alone - apparently having requested the side area for privacy.
While munching on forkfuls of meaty omelets, the other diners in the main room stare unabashedly at Ommka and Korb as they pass. A pert-faced husky serving girl moves to place herself in the path of the pair - Moegan grumbles "They're with me...", and she moves with a nod - forgetting to don her "server's smile" as she looks Ommka over. She snaps out of it in time to save the plates from sliding off the tray she'd let droop.
Korbinian climbs up onto the seat, sitting next to the wall if possible.
"Are we going to see our destination today, boss?"
After favoring the serving girl with the "wolf-smile" Ommka tries to sit, but finds the physical form somewhat hard to fit, integrated armor, spines etc. Ommka decides to stand nearby. Watching the inn and it's wondrous "society".
"I am ready to arrive also. Perhaps we can redeploy ourselves to avoid Bovis gaining new openings for blood to pour out of?"
Ommka thinks for a moment.
"Do you have intelligence of what lies between ourselves and said destination? Do you think we risk identification/discovery on the periphery of our objective?"
Jimara walks into the aforementioned meeting place with a flourish a purpose filled stride and grace in spite of her armor and nods her head towards Moegan and says, "E've arriveed as agreed. What is zhe Job?"
"We'll get to the abandoned entrance of the mine, and hit our destination in the mornin."
He spreads the map onto the table. "Here's what we got. This facility was built to forge a partnership with a new ruler in the Rhanate, Rhan Hassashar. The Dust Lord's been getting harder and harder to deal with, but he's got a soft spot for this kid... even though Hassashar is more progressive than we've ever seen from a Rhan."
"Rhan Hassashar gave the best work and lodgings to families of Outriders - a smart move to curry favor, but only if he can protect'em. I've a mind there's someone behind these bandits... I said as much to Madame Balash, but she said all I need worry over is who's on the battlefield... smart woman. Keep it simple."
"We're just there to pull their pants to their ankles and poke'em in the eye, then... the Rhan's forces sweep in like.. jumpkickin' dervishes packin' heat."
"Alright... by the numbers...." >map<
Moegan points to 1. "We're comin in through the mines... the main line ends right here. We blast through to the main line of the mining facility here."
2 "We come out and take command of the freight elevator."
3 "Then... one team heads here - where I sabotage the pumps."
B "B-team... that's Bovis, heads up the villa and locks down this path here."
4 "Once he sees steam, he's hitting the release that'll let us pass through the tunnel here to the secluded airfield where we get picked up."
R "Rhan Hassashar's forces - who've got nothing to go up against gliders, and hafta go through a real "bomber's alley" - will move in once the runway and tower are compromised."
1 "If our egress becomes not an option, we leave the way we came in. Problem is, we're likely to have thundercycles after us which we can't outrun too easily."
"If we take the tunnel back, can we use bombs to seal the tunnel after us?"
Moegan shrugs... "Other'n the fact I've got no bombs, I don't see why not."
"Then how are we going to 'blast our way' into the mining facility?" the goreaux asks, pointing at #1 on the map.
"Workin' on that... Lemme ask you - just outta curiosity. How long d'you think it'd take you to gank a light cannon from a steamtank?"
He appears at least half-serious...
"We've gotta little hiccup with Schultz."
Jimara writes all of this information down and a bit confused and says, "E's don't understands mei roles in this."
Yatin nodded as the plan was once more laid bare. "Before we burst through at location 1 perhaps we can rig a trap, falling rocks or something, in case we need to leave the same way we came in."
He looked around, "Anyone any good at setting traps?"
"I could probably engineer something, but that would take time. I'm not a trap expert per se, just good at building things, so if we have an actual trap expert that would be better."
Moegan sees Korb thinking on the cannon issue. "Meh... lets table that for now."
He points to Yatin, and nods. "That's sounds like a good idea... we should have time to work something out if it's doable."
In response to Jimara... "There'll be some resistance. We're hoping to be outta there before they all get savvy, but we'll need to hold the freight elevator. And this area between 2 and 3 - the freight elevator and the water pumps as clear as possible. It'll take me a little less than two minutes to do what I need to do."
Jimara nods her head pulls out an hourglass points the amount of time with her well manicured finger, lets two minutes go by and then pulls out her pen knife to etch the mark on the glass. This is not the first mark on said glass.
"E'm happy to help."
Ommka studies the map again for a long time, though the inscrutable botanical shows no clear understanding or confusion.
"I'm good to provide cover with my bow or hold a position with my blade. Or jump and stomp adversaries."
Moegan shrugs casually as if he'd been only half-listening... "Yeah however you're able to that little area clear until I get done monkeying with the pumps is fine. Happy to be on the good guys side here, but I'm just short'a willin' to die for it."
"Next on the agenda... Met with my contact last night. Said Schultz and his tank team uh... " His eyes roll back a bit - reciting from memory... "are unwittingly giving aid to the enemy.
Remove them from the mission without arousing any suspicion you are aware of this. Permanent injury to Schultz would be considered an overreach. The other two are expendable."
"Schultz'll be on his way here shortly for a briefing. I can keep him stalled here for a bit while you head to their cabin. If his tank team spots you...." He slides a coiled rope, and a couple pairs of handcuffs onto the table. "Take em out into the woods and restrain em. Their cabin's the next one over on the ravine... Brown Badger. Get the cannon, couple explosive rounds, slice the main gasket on the boiler, and get back to our cabin - fast as you can. Leave this at the scene.. somewhere he'll be sure to see it."
He pulls a ransom note from his vest. It reads...
"Leave 500 gold by Lesko's silo tonight at midnight or you'll never see your friends again."
He bridges his fingers behind his head, and leans back smiling - clearly impressed with his plan. "Whaddya think?" He nods to Yatin - the questioning of his leadership still on Moegan's mind.
"I'll focus on the cannon, that'll be a time-consuming job. Someone else can gash the boiler and grab rounds with someone else afterward."
He pulls a ransom note from his vest. It reads...
"Leave 500 gold by Lesko's silo tonight at midnight or you'll never see your friends again."He bridges his fingers behind his head, and leans back smiling - clearly impressed with his plan. "Whaddya think?" He nods to Yatin - the questioning of his leadership still on Moegan's mind.
Yatin nodded, "I would have been more 'direct' with traitors but your method will do. Without his tank, he's hardly a threat but we must make sure to disable it well enough so he won;t be able to repair it anytime soon. I would hate to have to deal with extra complications on our way in or out."
He looked at Korbinian, "I'll go with you and take care of things." he grabbed the note from Moegan and stepped out towards the cabin.
Ommka is clearly confused.
"Schultz in now the enemy? Perhaps merely disabling his airway permanently would resolve the issue?" The botanical looks from ally to ally, then shrugs. Ommka heads out after Yatin, drawing the leaflblade from its leather harness. Once outside, Ommka can be heard asking Yatin questions as they stalk toward the cabin...
"Yatin, I do not completely understand. Would not the emergence of new information regarding Captain Schultz shifted allegiance to our enemy not jeopardize our mission and thus require us to interrogate him...."
"Meh... more complicated than I understand... politics or something. Alright... here he comes."
You leave the tavern, and travel along the ravine - which looks like a huge drainage ditch. A narrow and nearly still creek runs along the center, and it is about a 45 degree slope from creek to the edge.
You see no one outside the cabin when peering from a distance, but during your approach along the ravine you hear the screen door bang shut.
Ommka's head tilts. The botanical ducks low, unslinging the powerful thunderbow quickly.
"Three came through the door..."
"Can any of you sneak and get eyes-on?" Korbinian whispers.
"Can any of you sneak and get eyes-on?" Korbinian whispers.
"I can or rather my scout can."
Yatin sends his fly ahead and asks it to communicate what it sees telepathically.