The ship's computer searches, then pulls up a stellar map labeled as showing the Domain of Aranath. It then zooms into a system named 'Kulas', and then further in to the third planet in the system, designated 'Kulas III'.
"As soon as I realized that he could see me I sent him a bad headache and cut the link. I've got a detect magic diagnostic running to make sure he didn't attach anything to me before I got away.""Kulas III....Computer? Find matches for a 'Kulas III': Star systems, planets, known space stations, whatever you can find. Feed results to the Mess terminal."
"Are you alright, Ryleh? He didn't do anything before you cut the link, did he?"
"Gotcha. I guess it was too much to hope for that we could spy on him completely undetected. As long as you're okay, though, we'll deal with it."
"Okay, it looks like he's in the Domain of Aranath, which is ruled by the Brass dragons. They're the leaders in information technologies in the Empire - and, consequently, home to some of the best spies and knowledge brokers as well. The Kulas system is a mixed-industry system. Some computer manufacturing, some software and code creation, and some think tanks."
"This could be a decidedly less pleasant trip than our first one..."
"Who wants to test out the starcasters and bypass any nasty security checkpoints?" ^.^
"Who wants to test out the starcasters and bypass any nasty security checkpoints?" ^.^
"Now might be a good time to test them, yeah...but leaving the Prism here unattended could be an invitation to other bad things," Tam replies while furrowing his brow.
"Alright - let me talk to Luigi real quick and see if he can keep an eye on her, and we'll see if we can give this guy another surprise!" ;)
Tam makes a quick trip back to see Luigi, then comes back and locks down the Prism.
"Okay - Luigi will have some of his folks keep an eye on her, and I've left him the funds to pay for the berth for the next month. That should keep the dock authorities happy for a while."
"The question now is where to go on Kulas III. Without a ship, it's gonna be a long haul if we get it wrong..."
"Should we wait for him to stop so we can study the location first? I know knowledge of the location is important to teleportation magics."
"Should we wait for him to stop so we can study the location first? I know knowledge of the location is important to teleportation magics."
"This isn't quite the same as your standard teleport spell. And I don't think we have that option. He's already aware he's being scried on." She sighed. "But it would be nice if we had some basic idea of where he was going."
"Should we wait for him to stop so we can study the location first? I know knowledge of the location is important to teleportation magics."
Tam nods.
"I primed these things with greater teleport, just like a ship-grade Starcaster, but we'll still need a relatively stationary location to teleport to. Small craft like his have enough relative acceleration to make teleporting onboard pretty dicey. Big ships like the Harbinger don't go as fast, so it's not usually a problem, but we should wait for him to land or dock. Now that he knows somebody's watching him, though, he could just bolt on us too..."
"Or, possibly worse, come after us."
Ryo is silent for a moment, thinking.
"I wish I knew more about him..."
"Should we wait for him to stop so we can study the location first? I know knowledge of the location is important to teleportation magics."Tam nods.
"I primed these things with greater teleport, just like a ship-grade Starcaster, but we'll still need a relatively stationary location to teleport to. Small craft like his have enough relative acceleration to make teleporting onboard pretty dicey. Big ships like the Harbinger don't go as fast, so it's not usually a problem, but we should wait for him to land or dock. Now that he knows somebody's watching him, though, he could just bolt on us too..."
"Wait....we can't teleport onboard...but what about onto the ship itself? We'll have at least a couple of hours of artificial gravity and atmosphere...that's got to be enough time to find a way in, right?"
"Wait....we can't teleport onboard...but what about onto the ship itself? We'll have at least a couple of hours of artificial gravity and atmosphere...that's got to be enough time to find a way in, right?"
"Or punch through, if his survival isn't an issue. I have to say I don't like the idea of being outside of a ship though, I'm just starting to get used to the notion of floating through nothing inside one."
"Wait....we can't teleport onboard...but what about onto the ship itself? We'll have at least a couple of hours of artificial gravity and atmosphere...that's got to be enough time to find a way in, right?""Should we wait for him to stop so we can study the location first? I know knowledge of the location is important to teleportation magics."Tam nods.
"I primed these things with greater teleport, just like a ship-grade Starcaster, but we'll still need a relatively stationary location to teleport to. Small craft like his have enough relative acceleration to make teleporting onboard pretty dicey. Big ships like the Harbinger don't go as fast, so it's not usually a problem, but we should wait for him to land or dock. Now that he knows somebody's watching him, though, he could just bolt on us too..."
"Depends on if he's starting or in the middle of atmospheric reentry. If he's doing either of those when we teleport to the outside of the ship, we die horrible, burning deaths in a matter of seconds."
Hands Ryo a bag for the hyperventilation. :)
"Yeah, I definitely didn't build these things to protect someone through that. Remind me to add that to the upgrade."
"Yeah, I definitely didn't build these things to protect someone through that. Remind me to add that to the upgrade."
"Wait a minute....let me see if that spell would - Hang on."
"Well, Total Protection would cover all the elemental sources, plus radiation (VERY important benefit), and would give us air for about 17 hours. The only problem is that each elemental type has a damage threshold - once that is reached, that particular protection is gone. The fire protection would give us a few seconds to teleport back if we hit atmo..."
"My Shield probably wouldn't last longer that that either, so I think we should wait for him to land or dock. As far as we know, he has no way to know we have a way to get to him."
"...but if we all had magical flight, we could just take off from the ship without burning. Hmmm...."
"...but if we all had magical flight, we could just take off from the ship without burning. Hmmm...."
"Flight would be good. Also, I can't do it now because we're in a hurry, but I think later we can adjust the starcasters to do that spell you mentioned on a renewing basis. But that would take some serious reworking."
"Hmmm. Yes, a Shield.....well, like I said, that's for the upgrade. We've got to figure out how to deal with this now."
"Hmmm. Yes, a Shield.....well, like I said, that's for the upgrade. We've got to figure out how to deal with this now."
"...but if we all had magical flight, we could just take off from the ship without burning. Hmmm....""Flight would be good. Also, I can't do it now because we're in a hurry, but I think later we can adjust the starcasters to do that spell you mentioned on a renewing basis. But that would take some serious reworking."
"Hmmm. Yes, a Shield.....well, like I said, that's for the upgrade. We've got to figure out how to deal with this now."
"Well, it's a moot point anyway. If Ryleh said he was arriving in fifteen minutes, then he's already there. If we teleported in now, we'd be going in blind, and if he's already docked, we get to be on the wrong side of a security breach for not coming in through the proper channels."
"The best thing we can try to do is have Ryleh try to scry for his ship instead of him. If he's landed and disembarked, it should be a piece of cake to find it."
"Okay," she nodded.
"Mom?" she said, turning the comm back on. "Can you try to locate his ship? Is that possible without tipping him off? We're trying to figure out our jump coordinates, and the more info we have the better."
There was a long pause. "It may take a little longer. There may be added protections on his end, and I know I have to take added precautions on mine. Hold on."
Taking the time to add a few layers of misdirection to her scrying, Ryleh attempts to locate the ship.
There was a long pause. "It may take a little longer. There may be added protections on his end, and I know I have to take added precautions on mine. Hold on."
Taking the time to add a few layers of misdirection to her scrying, Ryleh attempts to locate the ship.
Ryleh slowly reaches out again, this time for the ship instead of its occupant. Her vision retraces its prior path, and then continues toward a dusty, yellow-orange orb floating in the dark. She gets the rather unnerving sensation of diving straight for the planet's surface, whipping by clouds at breakneck speed...
The last of the clouds then part, and the ship is seen landing at a spaceport on the surface. Located at the top of a huge mesa, it overlooks a dry, mottled landscape. The Garnet is on a suspended landing platform, the number '42' emblazoned in various places around it...
"The ship appears to be on some sort of landing pad. There is a large number 42 on it. The port appears to be located on a large mesa. Is that enough for you to work with?"
"The ship appears to be on some sort of landing pad. There is a large number 42 on it. The port appears to be located on a large mesa. Is that enough for you to work with?"
"Is there anyplace on that mesa where we could come in and not get spotted immediately?"
"Is there anyplace on that mesa where we could come in and not get spotted immediately?"
"The ship appears to be on some sort of landing pad. There is a large number 42 on it. The port appears to be located on a large mesa. Is that enough for you to work with?"
"It's hard to tell...."
"Is there anyplace on that mesa where we could come in and not get spotted immediately?"
"The ship appears to be on some sort of landing pad. There is a large number 42 on it. The port appears to be located on a large mesa. Is that enough for you to work with?"
"It's hard to tell...."
Quickly casting her vision about the mesa, she notes a set of large ventilation ports on the side, about one hundred feet down from the top. An access elevator and stairs are visible as well.
"Okay, I see something...." She describes what she sees as thoroughly as possible.
"Okay, I see something...." She describes what she sees as thoroughly as possible.
"Sounds about as good as we're going to get - thanks Ryleh! Go ahead and pull out before you get detected."
Tam turns to the others.
"Ryo - do you have any illusory cards that can make us look like someone (or something) else? Most of the video security systems can still be fooled by visual illusion magic, as long as it's not something too outlandish..."
"Ryo - do you have any illusory cards that can make us look like someone (or something) else? Most of the video security systems can still be fooled by visual illusion magic, as long as it's not something too outlandish..."
"You both should rmemeber my Illusion Card, representing bold lies and false truths. What do you want to look like? Hair highlights, tattoos, height, weight, gnome perhaps?" Ryo says with a wink.
"Ryo - do you have any illusory cards that can make us look like someone (or something) else? Most of the video security systems can still be fooled by visual illusion magic, as long as it's not something too outlandish...""You both should rmemeber my Illusion Card, representing bold lies and false truths. What do you want to look like? Hair highlights, tattoos, height, weight, gnome perhaps?" Ryo says with a wink.
Tam just smiles.
"No sir...drow." ;)
"Well, I don't care what illusion you use. Although gnome might be tricky. Something that's close to our approximate real height would be easier to pull off. You don't want to make it too easy to see through the illusion," she said, cheerfully, totally oblivious to the joke, as usual.
"Well, I don't care what illusion you use. Although gnome might be tricky. Something that's close to our approximate real height would be easier to pull off. You don't want to make it too easy to see through the illusion," she said, cheerfully, totally oblivious to the joke, as usual.
When he gets no response from either of them, Tam turns to the wall panel's monitor and pulls up an image of some ebon-skinned elves in black uniforms. Emblazoned on the left breast of the uniform shirt are the letters ISPD in silver. They look rather unpleasant, even though they do not appear to be armed...
"What's ISPD? And what ARE those? I've never seen elves that look like that before."
"What's ISPD? And what ARE those? I've never seen elves that look like that before."
"Those," Tam replies, pointing at the figures, "are drow. Dark elves of the deep earth. Usually the polar opposite of surface-dwelling elves. Their hearts and souls are pretty much as black as their skin and as mean as their scowls."
"And the ISPD is Emperor Mezzenbone's Imperial Special Police Directorate, of which most are drow. They are the people officially tasked with rooting out and 'resolving' any external and internal threats to the Empire. Which roughly means that they're Mezzenbone's personal police force that doesn't answer to anybody but him and their own leadership. Commoner or noble, it doesn't matter what you are if they come knocking on your door," he says, shaking his head.
"All of which makes for a great potential disguise that won't get too many questions asked until after the fact, since everybody is scared of these folks. It's not my first choice, as impersonating an ISPD member is an executable offense. But it might give us just enough time to get to the Silver and go someplace less public. And he might even think it was them spying on him instead of your mom..."
"Sounds like a good plan. Hopefully he didn't realize who my mom really was since she's wearing a new form. It would be quite helpful if he thought she was just one of those people."
"And as for it being an executable offense, well, last time I checked, for me breathing is considered an executable offense in the Empire, so I think I'll risk it," she said with a grin.
"Sounds like a good plan. Hopefully he didn't realize who my mom really was since she's wearing a new form. It would be quite helpful if he thought she was just one of those people."
"And as for it being an executable offense, well, last time I checked, for me breathing is considered an executable offense in the Empire, so I think I'll risk it," she said with a grin.
"Partners in crime, hun," he says as he gives her a kiss. "Partners in crime." ;D
"Well, dark elves it is then."
He goes through his Cards, wondering just how long it has been since he was called to perform a simple reading, until he finds the the one he needs.
"Let's see.. uniforms, badge, skin color, hair length and color... I'm not going to make us look exactly like the ones you showed us of course, jusr like we would have had we been born drow."
"Well, dark elves it is then."
He goes through his Cards, wondering just how long it has been since he was called to perform a simple reading, until he finds the the one he needs.
"Let's see.. uniforms, badge, skin color, hair length and color... I'm not going to make us look exactly like the ones you showed us of course, jusr like we would have had we been born drow."
"That's fine - we probably don't want to give their facial recognition software an easy time of it if they do get a good look at us."
Tam pulls up other images of ISPD agents to give Ryo plenty of visual info to craft the illusions from.
Aananda watches with interest, curious to see how they would all look as drow.
Aananda watches with interest, curious to see how they would all look as drow.