Draegar shook his head, deciding not to wait for conversation.
"Look, I'm going to take a risk here. Don't make me regret it, eh?" he said to the knight, his deep voice sounding concerned but hopeful.
"Your ship has a rat. There's a guy named Forg. He traffics in child slavery, among other awful stuff. He's here using a false name and we're trying to find him."
"I can see where your head's going, but this is personal for a friend of ours, so we aren't going to get turned away from tracking him down. I'm trusting you, not looking for an argument."
"We're planning on giving Forg a chance to turn himself in, but he's probably not going to come quietly. My guess is he isn't here alone, so it's best if we keep this quiet until we can get some answers out of him. If we drum up a few other Knights and go in weapons hot, whoever he's working with is going to notice and go into hiding. Our best bet for taking down as many links of this chain as possible is to keep it quiet for as long as we can."
"I don't know what your orders are, but we'd appreciate your help, or at least your eyes on the situation so when we get hauled in front of your boss later you can back up our answers."
"What can we call you?" Draegar asked the knight as they started walking.
"Ronius Apelles, it is my honor to serve."
"Look, I'm going to take a risk here. Don't make me regret it, eh?" he said to the knight, his deep voice sounding concerned but hopeful...
The knight cocks his head in curiosity as Draegar begins, but this quickly transitions to a stoic stare as he continues. He listens to the entirety of Draegar's request silently, eyes riveted. At the end he takes a breath, clearly not expecting this kind of trouble to be stirred up today.
Ronius looks at Esdras, then Cass and Topaz, seeing the same serious gaze on all of their faces. He looks back to Draegar, his face setting hard as if he's come to a decision. "Alright." He nods, dropping the overly formal tone in his voice. He brings the group to the side where it would be harder to overhear them. "I'll help however I can. We have the entire day before we hit land, so I'm not worried about taking time to handle this quietly. We need to have a plan though."
The man's entire attitude has shifted. Although before he seemed like an over-glorified servant in armor whose purpose was to coddle nobles, it becomes clear that the Knights of Theveste are well-trained soldiers. "Taking the tour route in reverse is still probably the quickest way to find them. There are two other potential exits; the entrance they came in, and a technologist exit up a hatch."
Topaz chimes in. "We need ta make sure he can' slip away. I'll cover tha hatch. Cass, can you cover tha entrance?" Cass nods in agreement. Ronius quickly communicates where the exits are and directions to get there. Topaz looks at Draegar and Esdras with a hard look. "Don' let that bastard get away." Caspain smiles. "And nobody die either, got it? You and I have some experimenting to do Draegar." The two split from the group, heading to different areas of the ship to prevent Forg's escape.
Ronius waves for Draegar and Esdras to follow him, leaving the main room and into the much quieter and more ship-like side corridor. He sets a brisk pace, quickly moving to their destination. "So, what should I know about this Forg scum? Appearance, abilities? Anything I should watch out for?" He glances back. "And how'd you two get wrapped up in this?"
Esdras remains silent as Draegar explains to the knight all that is going on. He prefers to hold his tongue, waiting for the knight's reaction while still corroborating Draegar when needed. He then bids good luck to both Topaz and Cass as they leave.
When asked for, he also retells to the knight everything Topaz has told them about Forg, including the name he is currently using. When asked about how he got into this, he smiles once more. "The same way as you just did. We were told about this no more than an hour ago. To be honest, and I believe you agree with us, there is nothing else we could do but to help. This is the moral path to follow."
After a couple more feet walking the side corridor, Esdras adds a bit concerned. "I just hope we can take care of this matter with the least amount of bloodshed as possible. My tongue is not as sharp as my blade."
"I agree. There should be no haven for that kind of man in this world, and the fact he is aboard the Lord's Refuge is a crime against Azgaar himself." He leads the group down a side corridor, where a spiral staircase starts to descend into the lower levels of the ship. "This is a holy place graced by His light, I will avoid bloodshed if at all possible. But if Forg is willing to commit worse abominations to avoid capture, I will risk the disgrace." He says with a hard frown on his face.
As the group heads lower the temperature starts rising, beads of sweat appearing on your foreheads. Ronius continues. "What is our plan once we find him? Shall we try to approach with subtlety, or immediately surround and demand his surrender?" The group reaches a flat platform, immediately going to another set of stairs. This one goes further down into the bowels of the ship.
The heat continues to rise, feeling like you're baking inside the small staircase. Ronius starts to breath more heavily, his heavy armor obviously taking a toll on him in the heat. "By...by all Five, I don't remember the bowels being this hot."
Show me your steam governor and the pressure gauge panel," Draegar said eyeing the pipes and how they were layed out. "Should be somewhere nearby, right over there, maybe?"
As Draegar says "steam governor" and "pressure gauge panel", Ronius turns to face him with a look that clearly states "I have absolutely no idea what you just said".
"Nevermind, I'll figure it out." He does a quick scan of the pipes again and starts following them.
"You're right about it being too hot down here. I'd bet money that something's wrong with the system."
Ronius, breathing heavily, gives a concerned look to Draegar. "That...can't be good." The Knight comes down off the final step, showing Draegar and Esdras a heavy metal door that leads into the bowels of the ship. "Here...here we are. By the Five." The knight takes out a waterskin, drinking half before pouring the rest over his head. Indeed, it's so hot that even the others are starting to feel it.
"Why don't you go wait by the door, Sir Knight? Draegar recommended. "Metal armor in this heat is a bad combination. This shouldn't take me long."
Draegar tapped a large red emblem on the metal backpack he wore and it dropped off his shoulders and caught itself like a cat, falling onto four extending legs.
"Mechanical Diagnostic. Heat and pressure," he said. The spider-bot started scuttling around nearby, following pipes.
Ronius waves a hand dismissively, even as he gasps for air. "No, no. I am here to serve and protect..." He blinks a couple times, opening his eyes wide. He waves a hand in front of his face, then slumps against the wall. "I suppose...guarding the door does make me useful." He says, accepting his limitations.
It was indeed hot and even if they were moving towards something potentially dangerous, Esdras was actually happy to have left his armor behind in his room. Noticing something weird, Esdras puts his hand on Draegar's shoulder and pointed to the door handle. "Not wanting to appear ignorant in front of an actual engineer's eyes, but does that wire on the handle is supposed to be there?"
Draegar blinked. "On the... door?" He could think of a half dozen reasons a door might be wired, and about half of them were very bad.
Draegar walked over and took a better look.
With Esdras's tip, Draegar examines the door handle and indeed finds some wiring...open wiring. On a metal door. Right on the handle. If somebody tried to open that door, they would receive a nasty shock. It's a bit of a janky trap, but the intent is clear; somebody wants to keep people out of the bowels of the ship.
Draegar puts on a rubber glove, then cuts the exposed wire off and pulls the insulation over it, rendering the makeshift trap harmless. While doing so he notes the heat of the door. Not only did it have a current running through it, the heat is enough to burn your hand. Draegar keeps his rubber glove on and opens the door, swinging it open as a blast of hot, acrid steam pours out.
"Someone wants to keep people out," Draegar said. He kept the glove on and wound the wires around his hand.
The initial blast of hot steam is acrid and chocking. Draegar starts coughing to clear his lungs, reflexively waving an arm to clear the air in front of him. After a few moments Draegar and Esdras begin to make out what's beyond the door. A room far less decorated and pompous than the levels above. Metal grated walkways cross through the room with metal handrails along the sides. The engine and machinery that makes the ship run is on full display, moving with mechanical piston and gear sounds, steam pouring from a hundred different exhausts at desynchronized times. The acrid smell of burnt chemicals is overpowering as it invades the lungs, nose, and eyes of anybody within the steam. Sounds echo half a dozen times off the metal structure of the room, bombarding the ears with noises that seem to come from three directions at once. Even the taste of the air is noticeable, putting a discomforting film on the tongue. Overall it is a veritable assault on the senses.
The metal walkway extends into the center of the ship, then disappears out of view to the left (towards the stern, or rear of the ship) with three paths and to the right (towards the bow, or front of the ship) with two paths.
Draegar examines the electrical trap and sees that somebody cut open the machinery of the ship in order to rig it, which confirms that damage is being done down here.
Between all the mechanical and steam noises, you can hear voices. They seem to be talking to each other quickly and in an urgent manner. There is definitely somebody else down here. But the sounds echo so many times and can be carried so far, which direction could they possibly be?
"I hear voices..." Esdras whispers as he moves closer to the door and tries to listen to what the voices are talking about. With a bit of concentration, he summons Gideon to his side by touching the Sword. The spirit appears, not affected at all by the warmth of the ambient.
"Gideon, I'd like to hear what these voices are saying... please come closer to them." Gideon nods before phasing through the walls. The link between himself and the ghosts was far from perfect, and many times the spirits simply winked out of existence and back to his mind before completing a given task, specially when the spirit was unwilling. From trial and error, Esdras also imagined that physical barriers, like walls, also hampered his attempts, but he could at least try...
"The voices come from the stern... too distant for me to hear about what they are talking about." He sighs, thinking about the best course of action. "Draegar, do you believe to be capable of fixing whatever is wrong with the machinery? Even if we are not sure if these voices come from friends or foes, there is no denying that something must be done about this heat, for the sake of all of the passengers."
He then turns to the knight. "Sir Ronius, I'd like to call the engineers responsible for the maintenance of these machines. The safety of everyone aboard is far more important than our current mission. We'll try to fix it, but if we can't, it if of uttermost importance that those who can are on their way. Then, I'd like for you to report to your superiors... if the worst happens, an evacuation might be necessary."
Ronius looks up from his slumped position, blinking at Esdras as if he's trying to make out what he's saying. "Urghh...engineer, right. Head engineer...near bow..." He grabs the railing of the stairs, laboriously hauling himself to a standing position. "Right, report back. Good luck." Using the handrails heavily, he starts making his way back up the stairs.
"I think I can fix it, but not from here. This is all consequential. The real problem is at the back end, where the vital systems are." Draegar said, still puzzling out the intricacies of the ship's engineering. [b]"We're going to be short on time if this keeps up. Lets move."
Draegar started moving towards the stern. Out of the case on his thigh he pulled one of his brutal throwing irons. He briefly lamented not bringing his sword, but down here it would be too big to use well anyway.
Esdras notices the knight's state and quickly moves to his aid."Sir Ronius is suffering from a heatstroke. Go ahead, Draeger... I'll help him out of his heavy armor and will soon join you. If I do not do this, there is a good chance he will not be able to reach the end of the stairs and get some help."
He then proceeds to remove the knight's armor, while voicing some encouraging words. Before Draegar leaves, however, Esdras whisper to him once more, having an idea. "If you need, whisper and I'll hear you... I know this is strange, but I have no time to explain this to you now. Just trust me that it will work."
Summoning Gideon once more, his most trusted friend and spirit, he asks him to follow Draegar and transmit his words.
Draegar nodded and started moving slowly ahead.
Draegar goes into a crouch, drawing his throwing weapons and moving quietly into the steam-filled room.
CREEEEEEEEE....Clang! Clang! Clang!
A loud series of sounds echo through the bowels, sounding like metal being twisted before getting banged multiple times against the walls!
Draegar continues to catch snippets of the voices but can't make out what they're saying, although he can tell he's getting closer. At least two voices...perhaps a third? Maybe if he gets a bit closer he cou-
CREEEEEEEEEEE
The metal walkway suddenly gives way beneath Draegar's feet! Too slow to get out of the way in time, he reflexively shoots out his arms to catch himself on anything he can. His arms slam into the metal grate, painfully shocking his shoulders as they suddenly catch his entire body weight. Clang! Clang! Clang! The section of walkway echoes loudly against the walls as Draegar glances and quickly realizes what has happened; somebody very hastily cut a square most of the way through the metal walkway; enough that the section would still be in place but that it would certainly break if somebody walked over it. Another makeshift trap by the looks of it.
Then comes the burning as Draegar realizes his arms are resting directly on the hot metal that has been getting bathed in the boiling steam!
Draegar quickly yanked himself back up, trying to move quickly so he wouldn't get too badly singed.
Realizing how much noise that made, he hopped the makeshift pit trap and looked for a better place to hide and move. Someone might come looking.
Esdras was about to sneak behind Draegar, but gives up on the thought after the loud echoing noises, figuring that the time for subterfuge was gone. He drew his greatsword and moved in, trying to communicate with Draegar once more, hoping that now that he was inside the bowels, he would be able to check on his companion. "Draeger... where are you? Are you alright?"
He then tried to figure out the direction Draegar took, based on possible footprints (if there is oil or water in the ground) or the sound of the noises.
Draegar realizes Esdras is running right at the noise, and if somebody else is coming to investigate they are likely to run right into each other. Of course, Esdras's loud footsteps have already revealed him to anybody in the bowels that's not deaf. However you do know that you're still not quite halfway back the ship yet, so if there are troublemakers at the far rear of the ship as you suspect, Esdras will get to you before they do, especially running as he is.
It takes him only a few moments to identify that the metal walkways themselves are likely hot enough to the touch to burn and he avoids using them for support. He quickly realizes after zig-zagging a little that the metal walkways of the bowels are two parallel paths running along the length of the ship with horizontal paths between them, almost like a ladder. There are mechanisms between the walkways as well as on the exterior.
Esdras looks at the ground and sees nothing that can help him; metal walkways make poor terrain for tracking. However based on the echoes of noise, the sound came from the starboard side, closer to where their entrance to the bowels is. Esdras begins moving quickly, careful not to touch the guard rails.
Draegar cursed under his breath and moved quietly in the direction of Esdras' voice, hoping to catch him before he gave the whole game away.
As Esdras sprints a hulking form, bent low to the ground, suddenly appears out of the mist. He balks and comes to a stop, then quickly realizes it's Draegar who is crouched and appears to be doing his best to remain stealthy. He waves Esdras over, finger to his lip to tell him be quiet.
Draegar gently but firmly pulled Esdras back into the acrid steam, heading away from where he'd made the noise.
Esdras is surprised by Draegar's sudden appearance but manages to keep his calm. He tried to nove as quietly as he could, hoping that the general noise level of the bowels would help him.
To Draeger, he whispered. "Draeger, I have no knowledge of engineering, so I believe I'll be of little help here... however, if we find any opposition, I'll guard your back as you work."
Draegar moves Esdras to the left side of the ship, hoping to avoid anybody else who may be heading to the source of the noise. But once he gets over to the other length of the walkway, he sees another trap of the same design, parallel to the one he fell victim to. It's easy enough to avoid by stepping around it, which he silently points out to Esdras. They continue on their way, crouched and keeping their eyes peeled. For a minute and a half they skulk along, the acrid steam invading their pores and the angry sounds of machinery filling their ears. The heat seems to be getting worse as sweat begins to pour down their faces, and Draegar feels his breathing start to get labored. But he suddenly comes to a a stop, holding up a hand to halt Esdras.
"Ow! You stepped on my foot!"
"Quiet! You want the whole ship to hear us?"
"They would anyways with your stomping around!"
"You shut yo-wait. What was that?"
"What was wha-"
The voices suddenly go quiet.
Esdras: 6 non-lethal damage
Draegar pointed to Esdras, then to the intersection of catwalk right in front of them. Then he slipped quietly into the smoke.
Draegar quietly slips forward, staying just barely within visibility of Esdras, while the older noble quietly moves forward to help surround anybody that crosses the catwalk. For a few moments they wait in silence...the dripping of condensed steam falling off the machines, the venting of heat, the whir of machinery...waiting.
Pap...pap...pap
Both Draegar and Esdras hear the very faint sound of somebody sneaking towards them, right into their trap. Then suddenly a man lunges out from the corner, facing Esdras! "Hah! Gotcha!" He cries, brandishing a very long and thin knife. It's evident he isn't aware of Draegar and has left himself completely open.
With his greatsword in hand, Esdras faced the enemy coldly. "You are misguided in your actions boy, but there is still time left for you to surrender... you do not want to face a war veteran in combat... even an old one..."
Draegar stepped in and grabbed the man's mask.
Draegar looms up behind the man, then reaches around and goes for the mask! With one arm around his chest to keep him from creating any distance, he wrestles at the mask and pulls it off with the other hand. "Hey! S!*&, we're under attack!" He shouts. He turns and wildly swings his blade at Draegar's neck, but the half-skive sees his arm twist and jumps away as the man slices at his stomach.
From behind Draegar, towards the rear of the ship, Draegar and Esdras both hear the hurried footsteps of another person approaching. Draegar half-turns and sees a man with a hood on, wearing the same kind of mask and brandishing a wickedly curved looking dagger with a pair of notches near the tip.
"So be it..." Esdras laments before stepping forward and swinging his sword, taking advantage of the enemy being flanked.
"Don't have time for this s+@&." Draegar muttered. He grabbed at the knife in the man's hand and gave it a contemptuous sideways flick of his wrist.
[dice=Impelling Disarm, rage, flank]1d20+9+2+2
[dice=Ranged Attack (if disarm is successful), rage]1d20+11
[dice=Damage]1d4+7
Ranged Attack (if disarm is successful), rage: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27
Damage: 1d4 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Esdras bears down on the man with a grim look, taking his massive weapon and swinging it down at the knife-wielding man. He almost twists away, but Draegar's arm around his chest is his downfall as the heavy blade falls on his shoulder. The bone and sinew gives way, crumbling under Esdras's blow as the man screams.
Draegar fearlessly clutches onto the man as blood begins to flow over his arm, snarling and gripping his wrist. With a twist he feels a snap, the wrist bones giving way. As the dagger falls from his now-useless hand Draegar hammers it down, impaling the man's thigh.
The man who was viciously caught between Draegar and Esdras goes white as the sudden blood loss catches up to him almost instantly. He grasps awkwardly at his belt with his left hand, drawing out a much more ordinary looking dagger, although it still looks like its seen its fair share of use. He slashes wildly, managing to catch Draegar with a light cut across his shoulder. The wound stings, but it's not very deep. He stumbles down and crashes onto the metal walkway, the wounds too much for his body to sustain more than a few moments.
The second man snarls, moving up behind Draegar and going for a cut down the back. But this time his armor protects him, the intricate dagger cutting through cloth but rattling harmlessly against the the metal links of his chain shirt. The man has a mix of annoyance and fear as he looks between his downed ally and the two standing enemies.