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Kaul creeps forward ever so softly as a thin voice calls from the debris ahead. "Hey, who's there? This is our claim." Kaul thinks this was in response to the light, not his approach.
Corliss follows Kaul while Dingus prepares his lantern. Most of this makes little to no sound other than the subtle hiss as the lantern ignites and a slight scraping as Dingus messes with the hood. The activity however incites a rapid scurrying and chittering within the old wood of the ruined ships and Richard's head darts excitedly as he lets Dingus know that there are a lot of tasty rats about. The indirect light from the hole in the larger chamber where the crew now crouch is enough to reveal Kaul's scowl as he points to the far end behind a half-wall of debris where he earlier heard voices.
Kaul elbows his mates to let them know his intentions as he pushes onward toward the dim light. The bulky shadow that eclipses the passage further directs his darkness-challenged companions as to where he's bound.
The cover has long rotted off the hatch leaving it open so Kaul quietly pulls up to peer about the chamber above. He sees a narrow passage heading left and right with a dim light to the right. He thinks this is likely the chamber he spotted from the upper hole previously.
Swimming is nothing new for this crew except maybe Little Richard and in a moment two snakes and two humanoids surface soundlessly in the dark interior of a rotting boat. Richard the Hungry-hearted flicks his tongue repidly and hisses at Dingus Parseltongue:
Rats! Lots of rats! yummm! Kaul's inherited cave-adapted vision reveals that they are in a hold compartment full of brackish water with a hatch in the bulkhead about three feet overhead.
The skinny but very brightly colored snake resurfaces and hisses at Richard then circles Kaul making weird twitches befor ediving under the ship again with a little 'come along' gesture with its tail. Richard drops in the water and follows unceremoniously, then Corliss, then Kaul. It is dark but all can follow the disturbance in the water from the swimmer ahead. Corliss hits a fallen beam and can feel a narrow gap where the snakes passed.
Leaving his familiar chastened but safe above the murky water, Dingus-snake finds a nice gap between the ships and slips below them. He does find a passage that might be a bit tight for Kaul but allows entry into a dark chamber that smells of rotting vegetation somewhere low in the pile up of ruined ships.
The crew see a large hold hatch on a slanted deck above where Kaul stopped them. It appears that the hatch could be busted open quite easily but not quietly. There is also the hole in the hull where Kaul slipped in and out. There could also be a submerged entrance somewhere among the wreckage.
Kaul makes sure to squeeze out a noxious fart before slipping away unseen. The commotion caused by the Dibbets-level assault causes an argument about who dealt that malodorous bomb among the inhabitants of the ruined ships which is overheard by the old lady and her son and/or guardian who circle around the shipwrecks until they are interrupted by the invisible Kaul.
Waiting patiently outside, Dingus and Corliss hear a sudden commotion within the wreckage!
looks like Kaul is still busy so if there's no post today, I'll move this along for Dingus and Corliss.
Jim: Jaravo chuckles. "Are you getting restless already? We will leave before the sun sets. Three hours or so, yes? Winter days are short this far north. Are you worried about what we're carrying? Maybe I should make sure the smugglers aren't playing any trips, huh?" He chuckles again and heads for the cabin where the others are playing cards. In a moment he locates a case on an old barrel. Jaravo heads over and smiling at the two smugglers at the card table, turns the back of the case to the room and clicks it open. A shimmering golden light shines from the case up onto his face. The trainer smiles broadly in an almost idiotic grin and clicks the case closed. "That looks like it. The boss will be very happy."
With uncanny agility, Kaul climbs up a slimy hull and pulls himself through a hole in the hull. Kaul: Inside Kaul's cleft lip curls at the stink of rat piss and he stealthily and invisibly moves across the slanted floor of a compartment to a hatch. Beyond, he sees a larger chamber has been formed from the joined ships and a dry level floor formed. He hears the whispered voices of humanoid forms hidden among the piles of old crates and gear in this hidden warehouse.
Kaul's not sure that the pair they were tracking went into the pile up of wrecked ships but taking cover to maybe get a different vantage isn't a bad idea.
hey mates. Yeah, busy couple of weeks on this end, too. I'll try and get something up this weekend.
Right on! Look at all those GM stars, JW. I feel like I should salute.
Those were some pretty bad rolls all around. I don't feel that tracking has ever been the crews strong point though Kaul's sniffer is pretty useful for short bursts. So what next- keep wandering toward the water, explore the boats, find another way to get a look over the area? That tree Ricard climbed was pretty shrubby.
Jim: Jim's good-natured response gets nothing but a sneer from Svetesky who heads into the ship's cabin to join the card game. Jaravo gives Jim a knowing grin as passes by on his rounds moving from bow to stern on his watch.
Richard drops onto Dingus and disappears into the old lady's shawl to hide. Her chaperone is definitely not hidden as he guides her through the marshes but he plays his role well. They eventually reach the first ruined boat still seeing no sign of either the pair of gladiators they were following or Kaul. Apparently Kaul is still nearby because they hear his low whisper directing them toward a pile of ruined ships and random flotsam about 50 yards ahead. By the time they reach it, Kaul's sniffer has been snuffed but he remains invisible for the moment and Dingus and Corliss maintain their disguises.
Jim: Jim spots the second wave of mercs about the same time that he hears Svetesky's muttering. He doesn't seem happy about the locations of the meetup and seems less happy when he sees Jim. Jaravo chuckles good naturedly. "Cheer up, Svetesky. You got all afternoon to dry out and play cards and you're getting paid just the same for this little vacation." Svetesky and Crixus haul themselves up the rope ladder dangling over the rotted rail and join the others on the deck. Svetesky heads over to the cabin to look at the card game inside and then pries off his boots letting them drain. "Why didn't we at least have a raft to pole out here?" he gripes. Jaravo just smiles and shrugs and goes back to keeping a watch. Svetesky snorts and turns his annoyance toward Jim. "You don't play cards? I thought you were supposed to be the friendly pirate."
Corliss volunteers Little Richard to scout the swamp but the familiar wants nothing to do with that and just glares down at the sailor with an unblinking and quite venomous stare. Meanwhile, Kaul proceeds forward at a stealthy and very slow rate that would deceive even the sharpest lookout. The displaced water around his legs is barely differentiated from the other gaps in the algal mat floating on the still waters. Kaul eventually makes his way to the first bottomed boat and sniffs to locate the mercenaries.
His nose is directed slightly to the east and south where the men must have gone into a pile of wreckage that rises above the water and muck about 50 yards off.
Richard slithers up a sickly looking tree to keep a lookout, but does nothing to diminish Dingus' unease as every driftwood log or vegetative mound appears vaguely threatening to the familiar.
Corliss can see some breaks in the algae creating an intermittent trail of dark water among the green scum. The spots lead deeper into the marshland and around the jagged timbers of a crumbling hull. Kaul sniffs and mostly smells rotting vegetation, but a drifting vapor of sweat and oiled metal and leather lead him on. Weird pits in the water's surface mark Kaul's presence as he wades forward.
Jim: Straid smiles as he pulls out a deck of cards. "Sounds like you have a bit of disposable income then with bounties coming and all. A bit of cards to pass the time then, huh?" The mercenaries move into the dilapidated boat's cabin and settle around a table to gamble. Jaravo waves them off and keeps a lookout leaving Jim to decide how he wishes to entertain himself.
For anyone looking, two figures- Granny and her guide- shuffle down a steep trail away from the road and toward the coastal marsh. The trail levels out after some time and then disappears into the marsh, first appearing as broken reeds and then knee-deep water interrupted by floating algae and the rotting remains of ships and driftwood lodged in the mud. The pair of mercs have wandered off out of view.
Dingus doesn't seem interested in dropping his grandmotherly charade and Kaul seems happy to play along. The main road continues eastward though the pair mercenaries that the crew was following have now disappeared down the steep trail and into a march of sickly looking trees and rotting ships. Nearby, at the top of a cliff is a hut near a smoldering trash pile that is providing the stink and smog that lingers near the pass. Kaul thinks that the hut might provide a good stake out location to watch for when Zincher's gang passes back by on their way to the tenement.
Waiting on something from the
As Corliss and Kaul ponder their next moves, they notice a granny with a basket on her head coming up the road behind them.
Jim: Jim thinks it would be very difficult if not impossible to track the group through the marsh. Jaravo smiles, "Did you cut the tails off? Zincher pays a bounty for tails." He chuckles and gazes at the sun. "Nothing to do now but wait until the sun gets lower." He looks back toward the pass. "Svetesky and Crixus should be along soon."
Once through the Bone Gate, Kaul and Corliss find a steep trail leading up over the eastern ridge. The trail is rutted by the wheels of carts that appear to travel the pass with regularity. Although the pass is somewhat narrow and exposed, the two mercenaries ahead appear to be arguing and never bother looking back. It is not too far to the crest and beyond, the trail continues east, but mercenaries head south on a narrower track around a hovel and burn pit about 100 yards away and down into the marshlands along the coast just east of the ridge. The rotting hulks of many shipwrecks support the mounds of vegetation that dot the brackish water.
Hey Kaul, Corliss, (Dingus), you all heading after Jim and the rest through the gate? You would be outside the city so specify any new precautions.
Jim: The sun is likely better protection than a fire flask would be and no rats or cockroaches are seen at this time of day. This fact is somewhat heartening as the group carefully sloshes deeper into the murky, brackish water. This still leaves the swamp barracudas though. Fortunately, nothing dangerous shows up and Jaravo signals the group to clamber up onto a half-submerged fishing boat. A pair of raggedy smugglers peer from the ruined cabin of the boat and come out into the light as they seem to recognize Jaravo. The old gladiator gives a grim smile, "So how's the Boneyard been treating you two?" One of the smugglers gives a tight grin back, "Just a rat or two to clear out. Nothing we couldn't handle." He points to a pile of nets with a bloody arm and leg poking out.
I'm about to have one of those lovely medical procedures that they like to do every five years or so, once you're Of A Certain Age, so I'll be unconscious for a while later today. Wish me luck--at least the prep for this one has gone better than the last couple of times I had to do this. Good times. I'm higher risk so I've been getting probed since i was like 15. Woohoo! The prep is MUCH easier than it used to be. At this point I don't bother with the anesthesia so I can watch the show. :) Good luck and Enjoy!
Corliss leaves Kaul at the Golden Goblin as he means to keep a close eye on Jim. He reaches the eastern edge of the city near Zincher's tenement just in time to see Jim exit through the Bone Gate with a pair of gladiator looking follows. He's about to follow when Kaul grabs his arm.
Corliss sees another pair of suspicious gladiator-types look around before also exiting out the gate.
A plan! Thank you. I'll retcon a bit, but yeah, Jim is leaving the city.
Yeah... ok, this is totally on me. You all can't really have much of plan when my own plan has been so half-arsed. I can usually twist published material I filch to fit what I'm going for pretty well but this was too much of a stretch so no wonder you all are a bit confused. The booby trapped ship thing wasn't really fitting at all so I tried to roll that off as a red herring and just point yall toward the Bone Gate. Long story short- the Orchid has no immediate payoff or bearing on the current situation though it just might have a payoff someday... SO maybe give me a better idea of what is meant by "follow Jim" knowing that any undue attention is likely to tip off Zincher's mercs.
Kaul squints at the cluster of activity in front of the Zincher's tenement and doesn't see Jim among the guards so he figures that this is the distraction and the delivery is elsewhere. Then he notices a pair of guards amble away from the group in what seems to Kaul an performatively casual manner. They head for the Bone Gate and pass through which seems a bit odd if the delivery was supposed to be in town.
Hello. So I feel like we're all muddled again. Given Jim's direction below, I have had him go out on his own to meet up with the mercs. Jim's going to show up to guard the next morning and be ready to turn coat when the time is right. Jim is no longer around Kaul and Corliss. Jim has left town. Anyone tagging along with Jim would blow his cover so Kaul and Corlis are doing their own thing with maybe Dingus spying on them, I guess. I will take it from that point, but no long distance communication was specified.
Jim: Once through the Bone Gate, you find a steep trail leading up over the eastern ridge. The trail is rutted by the wheels of carts that appear to travel the pass with regularity. You soon ascertain what the purpose of the cart trips are as you crest the ridge and are struck by the stench of burning garbage. The trail continues east, but Jaravo leads your group south on a narrower track around a hovel and burn pit about 100 yards away and down into the marshlands along the coast just east of the ridge. The rotting hulks of many shipwrecks support the mounds of vegetation that dot the brackish water. Jaravo mumbles a warning to keep an eye out for roach swarms, giant rats, and swamp barracudas.
Jim heads out by himself to meet at the gate around noon as he was instructed. Jaravo, Svetesky and the other two mercenaries, Straid and Crixus, are nearby. Jaravo tells Svetesky and Crixus to follow in about an hour and then leads Jim and Straid through the gate and out of town with a nod to the guards at the gate. After a stop to glower at the the Golden Goblin, Corliss and Kaul head over to Zincher's tenement to find things a bit busier than usual for the midday hour. A couple wagons are being loaded and there is a number of arena veterans with the guards protecting the wagons, generally looking surly.
Kaul and Corliss wander away from the docks without a plan until they near the Golden Goblin and Kaul stops to glare at it from a little ways down the street. Corliss isn't sure if this alone is enough to break his contract, but he is fairly certain that his participation in any direct aggression toward the establishment would lead to some unhappy repercussions for him despite his weak attempt to fudge his signature on the magical contract.
You all may remember when I visited my brother earlier this year and left my computer at security. Well this time I just left the powercord. So Woo-hoo. I've been conserving the battery so not posting much, but figure I need to experience the pain of a long text on a phone. Hopefully cord is arriving tomorrow. Thanks for the invite, Kaul. Sounds fun, but I've got no bandwidth for new systems currently. I dud finally read some Abercrombie though- Half a King - and thoroughly enjoyed it. So sounds like the plan is to have no plan. I don't think following Jim would be a good idea so could yall at least give me a destination?
The day of the event arrives cold and clear. The crew meet in the galley for a hearty breakfast of creamy gravy scooped up with spongy bread and find that Dingus has slithered off again. Jim prepares to follow up on his undercover position as one of Zincher's mercenaries who are meeting at the Bone Gate. With Corliss undecided on the best course, Kaul is left to decide whether to follow up on Jim's lead or just start directly attacking popular Riddleport establishments. |