Seeing no better options, Jack heads towards the ship.
"World's Best Dad" and "Bikini Inspector" are yelling at a man in a business suit with a briefcase for being late. As they yell, they're keeping an eye on another man who seems afraid to board a ship but intent on yelling at some people on the ship.
There's lots of yelling and angry people about, and it all seems centered on a trio who are standing on the deck of a very lovely ship.
"You have stolen from my family, assaulted me, and then have the temerity to attempt to impune my honor?" asked Arianna.
"Do you even know what it is you're talking to, or what I can have done to you?" Arianna glared daggers at the man.
"Your crew of graverobbers has been caught. I would suggest that you surrender quietly, but common criminals such as yourselves would never do so."
As Arianna talks her aura shimmers and those who can see the supernatural see that she is now covered in the Lorica Segementata and helm of a Roman centurion.
"So, what have you to say for yourselves?"
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Hoping that Arian's ecchymoses will make her story more believable, Valeria plays along with her student's lie:
"You obviously don't realize who you're talking to, and in what circumstances,, and intends to press " she tells the lawyer. "My charge and was violently attacked on this ship while she was leading an investigation on behalf on Monaco's royal family, and is entirely in her right to sue for assault and battery." She briefly pauses, letting the implications sinking in. "She has enough ties to create a big scandal, and unless you want to be part of it, I'd suggest you step aside and let us go."
Hoping that Arian's ecchymoses will make her story more believable, Valeria plays along with her student's lie:
"You obviously don't realize who you're talking to, and in what circumstances,, and intends to press " she tells the lawyer. "My charge and was violently attacked on this ship while she was leading an investigation on behalf on Monaco's royal family, and is entirely in her right to sue for assault and battery." She briefly pauses, letting the implications sinking in. "She has enough ties to create a big scandal, and unless you want to be part of it, I'd suggest you step aside and let us go."
[dice=Bluff (Aid Another)]1d20
Ian hears World's Best Dad say to Bikini Inspector, "I don't know who the f$@+ these chicks are, they better get out of the way or we'll have to move them; that British ponce with the coin wants to unload the cargo into that stupid hearse of his."
"And, then, we get to go sailing with Jolene?" asks Bikini Inspector.
"No, you moron, Jolene only gets the ship once the goods are in Okham," says WBD. "We got a 2 hour ride ahead of us and I don't trust these weirdos"
"And, then, we get to go sailing with Jolene?" asks Bikini Inspector again.
"Yeah, she gets the ship, once we escort this British ponce to Okham," repeats WBD, who turns out to be the smart one.
"What's a ponce?"
"It's what they call them over there," explains WBD. "Go get your bike and get the rest of the Dads. It's time to earn our keep."
The lawyer knows for a fact that the contents of this ship were not stolen and he knows that the criminals on the ship are anything but common. So, despite the unbelievability of those lies, he is confused and messes up.
"Miss, I don't know what's going on, but I can assure you my master has completed all the relevant paperwork for those items. Importing unique treasures is what we do. If those men on board were over-enthusiastic in their duties, we can go to the authorities ... you will have to explain to them why you lied about who you were to me and broke into this ship and, then, you will have to prove that the weapon does indeed belong to you."
He steps off of the gangplank and gestures for you to leave the ship, stepping back further to show that no one is stopping the Princess of Monaco from getting off this ship.
"Yeah, she gets the ship, once we escort this British ponce to Okham," repeats WBD, who turns out to be the smart one.
Arianna seemed to falter a bit, as if she was uncertain, and then said "Well, how about this then: let us look in the coffin, and if we can see that it is not the body of one of my ancestors, we'll leave quietly. If it is, however, we'll have bigger issues."
Jack hears World's Best Dad say to Bikini Inspector, "I don't know who the f+#! these chicks are, they better get out of the way or we'll have to move them; that British ponce with the coin wants to unload the cargo into that stupid hearse of his."
"And, then, we get to go sailing with Jolene?" asks Bikini Inspector.
"No, you moron, Jolene only gets the ship once the goods are in Ogden," says WBD. "We got a 2 hour ride ahead of us and I don't trust these weirdos"
"And, then, we get to go sailing with Jolene?" asks Bikini Inspector again.
"Yeah, she gets the ship, once we escort this British ponce to the college," repeats WBD, who turns out to be the smart one.
"What's a ponce?"
"It's what they call them over there," explains WBD. "Go get your bike and get the rest of the Dads. It's time to earn our keep."
Arianna seemed to falter a bit, as if she was uncertain, and then said "Well, how about this then: let us look in the coffin, and if we can see that it is not the body of one of my ancestors, we'll leave quietly. If it is, however, we'll have bigger issues."
The man looks resigned. He turns to the other two men, the first of whom wears a shirt that says 'Bikini Inspector' and the second a shirt that says 'World's Best Dad,' and says "I think you are going to need to call Jolene. Protecting the delivery was her job."
He says this loud enough for Arianna to hear. He then says something more quietly to the men.
"Well, f~*!," says WBD. Turning to the Bikini Inspector, he says "Tell Jolene we've got trouble, and then get ALL the Dads and tell them to bring their bikes."
The Bikini Inspector leaves quickly on foot.
Arianna said, in the quietest voice possible, "Something's wrong here. They're Aware."
The last part was said to get Valeria's attention.
Though the situation seems to be escalating, Jack smiles. There’s something deeper afoot here. He wanted to be part of it.
Bikini Inspector leaves to get Jolene. As he departs, he jerks a thumb to another man who is walking down the street with a woman and a dog. Bikini Inspector says something to the man and he hands his leash to the woman and heads over to join WBD. The woman looks pissed.
Meanwhile, Jerry, who is still back in Jolene's can see more of the Boston crowd gathering. Some furry faced toughs with spiked gloves who call themselves Lycans and claim a werewolf bloodline. Others have described them as "nothing but a bunch of LARPers."
They're watching the going-ons on the boat, but seem mostly to be waiting for something else to happen.
An angry woman carrying a small dog pokes her head into Jolene's glares at the customers as she looks around for someone, and then storms down the street.
Jack, with that Perception check, also notices the Lycans and other Bostonians who seem to be gathering, loitering or wandering, seemingly looking for someone or something.
"Snoopy, snoopy," says a woman showing up on the street beside Jack. She looks somewhere between 50 and 70, but her face is so weathered its hard to tell if those were 50 really bloody hard years or 70 kinda tough ones. Her appearance suggests she is 'down on her luck.' "I see you snooping, Snoopy."
Bikini Inspector returns with a group of men on pricey, shiny motorbikes. They park their bikes outside of Jolene's and cross the street to the peer where La Vierge is docked.
"Jolene said to move them," Bikini Inspector yells to World's Best Dad. The men advance armed with wrenches, bats, and tire irons.
They gather on the peer and prepare to climb on board the ship and fight with Ian, Valeria, and the Princess of Monaco.
Arianna, fully in Centurion mode, drew her sword and said "Stay behind me. We can use the narrow space to our advantage."
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Resigned, Valeria draws her baton, and mutters a few words of power, surrounding herself with a magical barrier. She can hear footsteps from below deck, and has no doubt Ariana heard them too.
"I say we try to take them down quickly," she whispers to her student and Ian. "Before our former friends pay us another visit."