"Yes, of course. Ian Palmer," He holds out a hand, slipping a business card into the man's hand when they shake. "Apologies for dropping in early. We arrived a little earlier than anticipated, and were excited to get started." He grins. "Are things in order, then? We'd like to see her."
"Of course," says the man. "I can show you to the ship; the virgin's in port. When your client delivers her end of the bargain and has the package delivered to Okham, Tiagara and La Vierge are hers. Can we expect the package to be delivered today? By 4:00 perhaps? That gives you about 7 hours to make a 1 hour drive."
"We would like to inspect the cargo first to verify that we are getting what we're paying for." says Arianna in as matter-of-fact way as possible.
"We would like to inspect the cargo first to verify that we are getting what we're paying for." says Arianna in as matter-of-fact way as possible.
"What you're paying for? You're the ones being paid." The man is clearly becoming suspicious. "Who did you say you were working for again?"
"My apologies. English is not my first language, so I sometimes make mistakes speaking it."
"Ah. Well, I thought I detected an accent. You mean 'paid with' and you can inspect the ship anytime. Hands off the cargo." He gestures hands being off, as if Arianna might need visuals to support comprehension. "We will be unloading it within the hour. My client has sent a driver to transport it. Her people provide passage and protection only; the package will not be touched in any way other than by our men. Once your client has ensured safe transport of the package to Okham, the ship is hers."
He tells you this as he walks you right back to where you came from, the dock near La Vierge. "You're welcome to look it over. This is as close to the sea as I like to get."
"Thank you for your assistance. I will be sure to relay how helpful you were!" says Arianna with a smile.
The man nods and remains on the dock.
You're welcome to board the ship and look around. This lawyer has apparently mistaken Ian for the lawyer he was supposed to meet and, after two successful Bluff checks, is giving you free reign to look over your payment.
Perception checks for anyone looking for things. If you're attempting to be stealthy about it--walking quietly and whatnot--a Stealth check would be appropriate.
Arianna starts wandering around taking everything in like one would inspect something they were considering purchasing; as soon as she broke line of sight with the other lawyer, however, she would quickly and quietly make her way into the hold, trying to verify information about the cargo.
Meanwhile, in Jolene's:
One of the two customers, bored, drags himself over to the aging jukebox beside the vending machine and begins to pump coins into it.
A balding man wearing a t-shirt that says "bikini inspector" enters the restaurant. He nods to the man behind the counter and then goes over to only customer besides Jack. "We got trouble, Mike," he says quietly, but not so quietly Jack can't overhear. Mike stands, adjusts his 'World's Greatest Dad' t-shirt and heads for the door. He jerks his thumb at the customer by the jukebox who punches a random number and follows.
The jukebox begins to play 'I'm Going to Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home'.
Arianna starts wandering around taking everything in like one would inspect something they were considering purchasing; as soon as she broke line of sight with the other lawyer, however, she would quickly and quietly make her way into the hold, trying to verify information about the cargo.
[dice=Perception]1d20+8
[dice=Stealth]1d20+3
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Valeria takes a walk around, looking for anything that might be worthy of interest.
Nothing catches her eye, but even she is capable of hearing Arianna step on the creaky floor.
She quickly beckons Arianna to come back.
"Not this way. That's past limits," she says in her best imitation of a teacher calling back a stray student on a class trip.
Jack sees the men start to exit and the hairs on his neck begin to prickle. He places a hand on his hip and the concealed firearm on it. He then says to the man, ”Afternoon fellas. Know you might get it some, but I’m looking for Jolene.”
Arianna, Valeria, and Ian get fairly far along before they encounter anyone. They start to descend onto a lower deck and can see a room through an open door. There are at least three men in the room, maybe more, all bald and wearing black turtlenecks and blue jeans.
They are in the process of opening a crate when they hear the step squeak as Arianna descends. The men turn, see the intruders, but don't engage with them; one glares at you and then shuts the door.
Jack sees the men start to exit and the hairs on his neck begin to prickle. He places a hand on his hip and the concealed firearm on it. He then says to the man, ”Afternoon fellas. Know you might get it some, but I’m looking for Jolene.”
The one who had been playing with the jukebox and the Bikini Inspector looks dumb. The World's Greatest Dad sneers, "I figure she'll find you you if she wants you."
They attempt to continue out the door.
Shit. He is heading to the same place. Not likely something else brought him all the way out to bumblef$*@-nowhere. I guess the Coin's trail is more tempting than I thought if Miller's all the way out here too.
Still, can't let him get too far ahead...
Jerry slid in after him, taking a quiet seat towards the corner, and keeping her ears peeled for what questions he was asking.
Jerry finds herself in Jolene's as Jack is confronting some locals.
Valeria tiptoes towards the door. Maybe there's some way to take a peek at what's going on inside the room?
The door is closed but enough light is coming over the door that Valerie could probably get a peak through with a Stealth check and if she had a way to get up there.
Arianna shrugged, and there was a ripple of light that was only visible to those attuned to the supernatural that radiated from her.
When the light had subsided, Arianna was again clad in the armor of a Roman Centurion, with a gladius sheathed at her side.
She then said something in Latin:
"Subtlety has never been my strong suit."
before opening the door again and saying "Hi, sorry to interrupt you pulling drugs out of these boxes, but I'm not here for that."
Jack shrugs, ”Eh, whatever. I’ll find her myself.” He had these clowns right where he wanted. He lingered in the diner for a bit, making no attempt to stop them from leaving.
Jack shrugs, ”Eh, whatever. I’ll find her myself.” He had these clowns right where he wanted. He lingered in the diner for a bit, making no attempt to stop them from leaving.
The clowns leave the diner and head down to the docks. There's a beautiful boat there and some men are standing around pointing at it.
One of the clowns shouts a snide remark to a pair of mohawk sporting younger people loitering on the corner.
before opening the door again and saying "Hi, sorry to interrupt you pulling drugs out of these boxes, but I'm not here for that."
There are four men in the room, in total. They have just popped the long wooden crate open. A black coffin sits within.
"La drogue?" says the man closest the door. He's holding a crowbar in his hand--the type you open crates with. He turns on Arianna, pointing the crowbar at her, and says, "Foutre le camp d'ici."
At the man's remark, Arianna says something in French...
"Good, you do understand a civilized tongue. Leave now, and don't come back; If you don't, I can't guarantee your safety."
...and then draws her sword for emphasis.
The men seem a little surprised by the sudden appearance of a sword, but not intimidates.
One of them speaks mostly in English but with a Swiss German accent, "Really? You are breaking and entering on this ship and attempting to steal a precious artifact from a group of devout, religious men. We are charged with delivering this artifact safely and will risk our lives to do so. We would rather not engage in violence, but I believe the law is on our side here, as long as we do not hurt you too badly."
"That 'religious artifact' was stolen from the Royal Museum of Monaco. We are here on behalf of the Royal family to reclaim it." counters Arianna.
"That 'religious artifact' was stolen from the Royal Museum of Monaco. We are here on behalf of the Royal family to reclaim it." counters Arianna.
[dice=Bluff]1d20+1
The men laugh. By now the four of them have moved between the coffin and the door, despite the sword being waved at them.
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Valeria is torn between wariness and curiosity. As threatening as these men may be, they obviously have some knowledge of what is inside that coffin, and are therefore frustratingly ahead of them.
"As a matter of fact, we do have the law on our side," Valeria interferes, nodding at Ian. "But such things tend to happen when priceless bones are smuggled out of the country to be sold on the black market. Unless you can prove that your great-aunt Hilda is in that casket, you're done."
One man whispers before being elbowed in the ribs, "She is some kind of psychic! She knows my great aunt's-"
One of the men says angrily with French-accented English, "I've seen zee American movies. Show me a warrant or get off zis ship!"
Two others roll up the sleeves and prepare to fight. There are four men; one has a crowbar; one, a knife.
The closest of the men in black turtlenecks punches Arianna twice, quickly. Another slides in and grabs Arianna from behind, grappling her. "Get off of zis ship!" says the one holding her.
The ones with the crowbar and the knife hold their actions, waiting to see in Valeria or Ian attack them.
"I heard America was dangerous, but I thought we had not to get mugged until we leave the ship!" says one trying to make a joke.
They push Arianna towards the door. "Now, get off of here now!" says another man.
As Arianna was being held by the men, she might have noticed that each of them had a stylized roman numeral X tattooed on his left forearm.
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As the group hurries out of the room, Valeria bites down the frustration of such an easy defeat to check on her student:
"Are you alright? You took some serious hits."
Though Valeria tries to think of a solution to spy on the men, there isn't much the group can do, being outnumbered and with their cover blown. They'd have to seriously rethink their strategy to get closer to the coffin.
"Unless you think we'd better keep exploring the ship, I'd suggest we get out and think about our options," she says once she's sure they're out of earshot. "As much as it pains me to say it, this task may be too great for us. We're going to need help."
"I will live. There is something else I want to check out anyway." Arianna will move further into the ship, towards the engine room.
With this large hold with the men in it blocked to you, to get to the ship's engines requires you to go up to the top deck and go back down a different set of steps closer to the back of the ship.
When you go up to the top deck you see that the lawyer who brought you here is now joined by three other men, one of whom looks as much like a lawyer as Ian does and is probably the lawyer he actually intended to meet this morning. They're gesturing towards the ship and arguing.
The jig is up.
"That's not good." Arianna said before making her way back into the hold.
"That's not good." Arianna said before making her way back into the hold.
For a working ship, the engine room is surprisingly clean. Other than being one of the cleanest ships you've seen, there is nothing remarkable in the engine room.
As Arianna, Ian, and Valerie return, eventually, from the engine room, they see the lawyer who brought them there has one nervous foot on the gangplank. "I don't know what you're game is, but you're getting me in trouble. Get off of there right now or I will call the police."