Erick hitches a thumb at Thirrion. "Said he was supposed to be meeting you, and was running late. Figured we should check with you, see if he was telling the truth. If not, then we can find out who sent him and why. If so, then he's yours to deal with, sir."
Sedik purses his lips and says, ”Hmm, I was looking for a sixth escort anyway.” He nods curtly and says while looking at Thirrion, ”Very well. Young man, you are in. The rest can fill you in as to the details. If there is nothing else, I must get back to business.”
Zyrel, once more becoated, watches patiently. "Welcome to the team." he says to Thirrion, in response to Sedik's offer.
Kristleifur visibly relaxes and brushes his hands against each other.
"Right so! That's all sorted and we can go find that house!"
Elsa sniffs at Erick's response. Typical bigfoot.
You can't help some people.
"Indeed. Chevalier?" Zyrel turns to Erick.
Erick nods, and leads the menagerie through town to the Order of the Tome Chapter House. It is a truly odd compound, one half is a massive library and office building, with a large central compound with exercise rings and then stables for dozens of horses. As they enter the central area, young squires can be seen exercising horses in dirt rings. Other, older boys, are practicing riding over obstacles. To one side, multiple older teens are sparing with wooden swords and armor under the eye of a grizzled old vet.
Leading the lot into the main building, Erick nods at the Knight behind the desk. "Draken, need the use of a conference room, big enough for this lot." He jerks his head back to one side, at the rest of the group.
Within 10 minutes, the group is sitting in a comfortable 2nd floor room with an oval table, a dozen chairs, and black chalk boards on two walls. Outside the windows, the inner yard can be seen with the squires and trainees sparring. "Ok, not going to get much more secure than this." Erick says, hanging his hat on a hook on the wall. He also hangs his coat up next to it. Under that, a flintlock pistol can be seen, along with an outlandish sword with 9 heavy rings through it's length. Both of these he hangs from his chair as he takes a seat at the head of the table.
Kristleifur gawks as he walks, drinking in the sights and sounds. It is all fascinating to him.
Once in the room, he plonks himself down on a seat, two down on the right from Erick.
"For those of you not in the know, someone passed me a note just after our briefing. It reads -", he pulls out the note with dramatic effect, -"Lockbox fourteen. Sedik isn’t telling all."
"Sedik was slow to tell us what the job was about or even how much we'd get for it, so I'm left thinking this is serious. We really need to find that lockbox and get the full picture."
Well, I suppose that is reason enough to be suspicious of me. However I ensure you gentlemen, and ladies, I mean no harm. So, what is our next course of action?
The steam golem stands silently behind Thirrion, letting out a hiss every so often.
Zyrel follows Erick's lead, hanging his enormous coat and backpack from the hooks.
Zyrel's eyebrows raise as the letter's contents are shared. "Where is 'lockbox 14'? Is there a standard repository we should check? In Sedik's possessions? On the ship, perhaps?"
"It could be that the letter is intended to turn us against Sedik. Is there a reason to do that?" Zyrel considers "I think that unlikely, and we may need to investigate anyway."
"Best to assume it's a trap for now. I don't know of any lockbox 14, but it does sound like something one might expect on a cargo ship. Lockboxes for carrying secure cargo. If there's a lockbox on the ship, we can check it out, assuming anyone can fiddle with locks." Erick says. "Without making it obvious, like smashing it. If there's something illegal or immoral in the lockbox, we can decide what to do at that point. For all we know, this is just someone's idea of a joke. We were somewhat obvious and vocal in the tavern. Seriously, I really didn't understand why the man didn't hire a private room. Doing business in public seems.. like an amateur move at best. Or intentional at worst, it could be Sedik is hiring us as decoys while others take something valuable another route. Which means, we're disposable bait."
A lockbox can be in a bank, or courier service as well. It's a very common term. And It could be said to be immoral to break into someones property in the first place.
Elsa looks are the hissing steam golem.
Is that thing safe. I saw a boiler explode once. Wasn't pretty.
She refocuses.
If you are suspicious of our employer, why take the job?
Kristleifur keeps turning his head around to face the current speaker, his legs swinging from the seat designed for one much larger than him. If there were any seats suitable for his size, he either didn't see them or ignored them.
He pipes up when Erick mentions "fiddle with locks", and excitedly interjects:
"Oooh! I can! I'm good at fiddling with things! Decoys would be smart for Sedik. I don't know if he's that smart though."
"It did seem... rushed. I assumed that was just his humanity." Zyrel answers Erick.
He then turns to Elsa "Frankly, my major reason for taking the job is transit to Alkenstar. I suspect Erick is suspicious of everything. A useful trait in certain careers. Law enforcement, for instance."
Erick shrugs. "It pays money. I'm paid to be suspicious, of everyone. Even you. It's my job. And if Sedik is smart enough to hire decoys, he's smart enough to pretend to be dumb."
Armanus nods at Erick's flawless logic.
Erick chuckles. "You may be fooled by a genius pretending to be a moron, but you'll never be fooled by a moron pretending to be a genius."
Kristleifur is listening intently.
He *thinks* he gets what Erick means.
"So after all that, what are we going to do? Do the job and hope for the best? That seems, well, not quite enough!"
"We do the job, unless you choose not to, we just keep our eyes and ears open, and watch for any daggers aimed at our back, or kidneys, or balls."
"Well, watching is doing something more. So I'm still in."
"As am I. I believe we are now in accord. So, shall we discuss roles and skillsets?" Zyrel looks askance at Thirrion's golem.
Erick humphs. "Well, I can shoot some, build and repair guns, I'm pretty fast in my armor, I know a good bit about arcane stuff, not a spell caster though, I know one end of a horse from the other end, I've been trained on dealing with nobles and merchants and other folks without pissing them off, I've had training in fighting both with and without weapons, and I'm pretty good at reading people."
"I am a sorcerer, but my passions are arcane knowledge, magical item identification, and painting. Also since living in Egorian, I have learned the more subtle arts of diplomacy..and intimidation", sniffed Armanus.
Kristleifur stands up on the chair, pulling himself up to his full height - which is still isn't a lot. And his list of expertise comes out in a breathless rush.
"I've travelled mostly by myself from the Darklands and not gotten eaten. I can find food, open locks, break traps, *find* them first, have tutoring in engineering, and I put together my own musket and powder. Oh, and I can shoot this *really* well!"
I am also a Sorcerer, with an innate ability with lightning. And I can certainly assist with intimidation. Also I can help with identifying magic items and such. I can also sneak at need.
Armanus puts his hand over his heart and gives Elsa a small bow .
Elsa bows back.
"I am a Warden - a border guard - from Kyonin. My speciality is sniping, but I have full military training and I can hold a line if needed." Zyrel considers "I was the medical officer for my unit as well, if anyone gets hurt."
A few days pass, and the day of the departure comes. The party finds their way to the dock and finds a large ship at the dock. While it does have sails as with the ships of hold. However, a large paddle sits on either side near the center of the ship, and a smokestack comes out from the center. Heading onto the deck, the party sees a small ratfolk man sitting on a crate, conferring with a few burly humans and half-orcs. Upon noticing the party, the ratfolk jumps off the crate and walks somewhat furtively toward the group. He says in a surprisingly deep voice, tinged with the rough accent of the Shackles, "Ahoy there. The name is Whissik, captain of the Trade Wind. What brings ya' here?"
Zyrel, once more covered in thick coat, waits with elven patience for one of the diplomats to step forward with the paper Sedik gave them. For a moment it seems as if he might say something, but the moment passes.
Sedik has hired us. The letter says that.
"We've been hired by Sedik, as she says, to guard his shipment. You should have been informed of this." He takes out the message Sedik wrote to them, and hands it to the ratman.
"Yup, guarding the cargo. That's why we're here!"
Kristleifur is clearly excited to be boarding a ship on the huge lake again.
Whissik nods curtly, ”Ah, shoulda’ guessed you were shipment guards given the automaton and the general weirdness. Any case, I’ll get someone to show you the layout of the ship and your cabin and such.” He looks around the deck and spies an older Ulfen woman and beckons her over. He then says to the party, ”Alright, this is Utta. She’ll give you all the tour.” He turns back to the group he was conferring with before without another word.
"No problem, Whissik! And hello Utta!"
Erick doffs his hat to the woman. "Greetings, Erick Bonestihl. This is Kristleifur Ehrenskold, Elsa Swiftfoot, Zyrel, Armanus Jerax Hellfire and Thirrion Velding. It was not stated, but is Whissik Captain or First Mate?" He asks politely, returning his hat to his head.
Zyrel's becloaked figure bows slightly.
Elsa bobs her head, looking at the ulfen woman.
i wonder if she has killed lots of people. Ulfen barbarians, brrr.
Thirrion nods to the captain. Well, the Winds obviously,
He rubs his nose before giving a smile
With me and Alfred here, you won't have to worry about it. Alfred doesn't need sleep afterall. heheh.
The woman smiles and says with a slight Ulfen lilt, ”Well hello there. Whissik is Captain. I’m the quartermaster. He probably just got me because I was nearby. No matter. Follow me then.” She leads the party into the building at the center of the boat. There is a small hallway with a few doors along the length of it and a stairway at the end. Walking through the hallway she says, ”These are the senior crew’s quarters, helm, and galley.” The group heads downstairs and another hallway runs along the length of the ship with a stairway at the far end. She points out the first door on the right and indicates that’s the party’s cabin. Finally, the lowest level of the ship is the cargo hold. There are crates and boxes stacked around, along with barrels of food, water, and alcohol. At the farthest end of the cargo hold stands a wall of lockboxes, with two rows of five lockboxes stacked on top of each other.
Kristleifur soaks in everything.
Including how sturdy the lockboxes and their locks appear to be.
"So when's grub?", he asks Utta with a smile.
"Thank you, and where is the cargo we are to guard? We'll want someone on duty near it at all times."
"Thank you, and where is the cargo we are to guard? We'll want someone on duty near it at all times."
"I agree", added Armanus. "I, for one, will be taking this task very seriously."
Studying the lockboxes, Kristleifur notices something strange. There are only ten lockboxes, numbered one through ten. Utta smiles at Kristleifur and says, "There will be a bell that will ring when it is meal time. We'll have dinner a few hours after we set off." She then turns to Erick and Armanus, "I think this entire hold is what you're to guard. I'm not quite sure the specifics of your job. You could talk to Captain Whissik or Jeu the first mate. Unless you all have questions about the ship, I've got to go start getting supper prepared"
"Cheers Utta! It's hard to guard much on an empty stomach!"
"Well, if that's the case, then we'll just sleep here in the hold. That way, we're always here if someone wants to sneak in and steal something." It would also give them time to look around more. He takes his pack off and tosses it on a pile of coiled ropes.