Fharalkakhad stares at the beautiful woman, grateful for Fineals hurried greeting, which gave him those few seconds to put his stoic mask on. Her beauty is a powerful weapon, and judging by the look in her eyes, she is well-trained in its use. He must be cautious, she would be a deadly foe.
"Excuse me ma'am,, but you have not given us your...title." He leaves the obvious question unasked, for now.
"As our honest friend says," Illmanthonil says, turning towards the door with his murky eyes, "I would prefer to avoid the dying aspect of that job description as much as is feasible."
Masking his surprise that she had managed to enter the room without him hearing her approach, he gives her a short bow, "I am Illmanthonil Moorvare."
Rhiannon looked up at the elven woman with a combination of surprise and appraisal. Reaching down, she lays a hand on Bull's neck as the mastiff growls low in his throat at the woman's sudden appearance.
"Down boy. Well it's nice to know there's a plan, although if it's all right with you, nobody on this team dies on my watch."
She takes a few steps across the room, extending a salute.
Rhiannon looked up at the elven woman with a combination of surprise and appraisal. Reaching down, she lays a hand on Bull's neck as the mastiff growls low in his throat at the woman's sudden appearance.
"Down boy. Well it's nice to know there's a plan, although if it's all right with you, nobody on this team dies on my watch."
She takes a few steps across the room, extending a salute.
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Fineal springs off of the bed and moves to greet the woman. "A pleasure to meet you miss, I'm Honest Fineal but you can call me Fin. It'll be a pleasure working for you, although I for one hope we don't do much dying. Now, what did you say your name was again?"
1d20+12
"I didn't. You are funny little man, aren't you?"
Reth stands up and bows to the newcomer. From within his cowl Reth asks, "Greetings commander I am Reth Kaskin of the Silver Flame and I am pleased to make your acquaintence. You speak of away missions but leave out the detail. What is the purpose of these excursions into Xen'drik?"
"I didn't. You are funny little man, aren't you?"
"Yes I am. Still, the point remains that our morale would be slightly better if we had something to call you other than Commander, don't you agree?"
"Yes, Honest Fineal is correct, troop morale is important,especially when going into potentially hazardous situations. It would be a possible roadblock keeping us from completing our mission."
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"I didn't. You are funny little man, aren't you?""Yes I am. Still, the point remains that our morale would be slightly better if we had something to call you other than Commander, don't you agree?"
1d20+12
"To my people it is an insult to ask someone higher than you his or hers name. But I like, so I won't take your head - at least right now. All of you, know this - I am Antaria of the House of Morn. And I will kill you if you look at me wrong. This is Darkstar Company, boys and girls, and all of us have runaway here for a reason."
"To my people it is an insult to ask someone higher than you his or hers name. But I like, so I won't take your head - at least right now. All of you, know this - I am Antaria of the House of Morn. And I will kill you if you look at me wrong. This is Darkstar Company, boys and girls, and all of us have runaway here for a reason."
"Forgive me, I meant no offence. We all have our secrets to hide. If we are to be a team, trust between its members is crucial."
Rhiannon raises an eyebrow at the woman's threat, her back straightening. "The name is Rhiannon d'Deinith," she says quietly, allowing the ring of her last name to resonante in the small room.
"In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I take my unit mates safety personally."
Her words do not quite carry a tone of menace, but there is a definite implication within them.
Amihan is startled by white-haired elf's frankness. Dying certainly wasn't part of the plan. But between this and the Tyrants, she'd rather risk it here. Besides, there should be plenty of opportunities to escape in Xen'drik..
"If we are to fight on the surface, should we not know who or what we are up against?"
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The ship slightly shudders. "We have detached from the dock", says the drow. "Yes, in answer to your questions - you should know the detail of your, our, assignments. And you will be informed when the time is right. Now, I need to go and see the captain. Take some time. You will be allowed to leave your quarters in an hour or two."
Rhiannon begins stowing her non essential gear in the trunk at the foot of one of the bunks.
"Well that was a less than pleasant start."
Rhiannon begins stowing her non essential gear in the trunk at the foot of one of the bunks.
"Well that was a less than pleasant start."
Fharalkakhad finishes stowing his gear, including his weapons. He straightens up and looks over at Rhiannon. "Be cautious with that one, Rhiannon. She has the smile of a cobra, and the bite of a viper".
"Has anyone ever seen an elf quite like the ones on this ship before?" Perhaps they are simply not a pleasent lot, they certainly do not seem that way thus far."
Daedal finally seems to locate his preferred spot, and turns to stare at a point slightly above Reth's shoulder. "Never an elf, but I have observed many humans like that. In my experience, they consider all ways of looking at them wrong."
"She was a little... abrasive," Illmanthonil confirms tactfully, "I am sure though, that we will learn to get along quickly once the combat she mentioned begins. I have found that differences can be put aside quite readily when your life is on the line."
Fharalkakhad glances over at the visually impaired elf, "It appears her view of us is less charitable than you give her credit for. I believe the correct term is..." he searches his memory for a moment, and then finishes, "Cannon fodder."
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Once again, someone enters the room without you noticing. This person is small gnome - small even for a gnome - with long pointy nose, that seems to be norm for those gnomes working for Darkstar. This one carries small notebook with him and long goose feather. "Ah, there you are. It is time for you to sign your contracts! Have you be informed of the terms of your employment? I see that Lady Mourn was here! Hee-hee, Lady Mourn, get it? Hee-hee!"
"Yes Master Moorvare so long as she is a competent fighter her social interactions should not concern us overmuch". Reth looks to the newcomer and bows stiffly. "No I have not been informed of the terms of employment though I cannot speak for everyone else in the group. What exactly do these away team duties conist of?"
"To my people it is an insult to ask someone higher than you his or hers name. But I like, so I won't take your head - at least right now. All of you, know this - I am Antaria of the House of Morn. And I will kill you if you look at me wrong. This is Darkstar Company, boys and girls, and all of us have runaway here for a reason."
Run away.. Run away! I am running to! The moment I heard about this... this new advance in magecraft, I knew that I would have to be one of the pioneers in testing this thing out. New things, new facts, new vistas! that's the credo of my people! So do not presume to speak for me madam, and I shall not do so for you."
Liriel goes to the door and casually tests to see if it's locked. If it is, she'll casually start picking it after a check for traps. For this test her Perception and her Disable Device are both at +9
"No, we haven't. Now, hand over that contract, will you?" Fineal grabs whatever the gnome offers and begins to read it over for any interesting clauses. "Large print giveth, small print taketh away...
Fharalkakhad takes his copy of the contract and looks it over silently, looking for anything unusual in the terms.
Smiling at Liriel's actions and shaking her head at Fineal's, Rhiannon accepts a copy of the contract and sits on the chest she selected, scanning through it, her hand absently running her fingers throught Bull's fur.
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"As you can see", says the gnome, "you are considered to be employees of the Darkstar Company. Your obligations are to respect the authority of the commander appointed by DC, that's Lady Mourn, and to do what she tells you, essentially. Now, your job will be to follow here on the ground assignments on Xen'drik and to recover certain artifacts. You will be provided with basic equipment and food etc. Your pay will be the loot gathered during your assignments, minus Lady Mourn's share - of course. She gets fifty percent of all loot gathered during missions. You will also be provided with employee discount when purchasing goods from DC. Any questions?"
Fharalkakhad looks over the contract, thinking This elf lady has a lot to do to earn my trust. These terms will cause issues with the rest of the group, i fear. The Quori will provide for me, as always.
Fharalkakhad signs the contract without comment.
Reth reads through the contract considering his past escapades this seems to be reasonable to him. He recites a prayer to seal the favor of the Gods in this endeavor, "Guide myself and my newfound allies through the dangers of Xen'drik, may your light shine upon our darkest moments." Reth signs the contract and hands it back to the gnome with no further comments.
Daedal examines his contract, committing it to memory and making sure it says what it was supposed to and nothing more. He pauses for a moment when it comes time to sign his name, wondering if his actually has any legal meaning, but then decides that given the behavior exhibited so far by Darkstar employees that the contract is just a formality anyway - any serious enforcement likely wouldn't come from legal channels.
He addresses the rest of the away team after he turns in his contract "Since we are to be paid in the form of what we collect on our missions, I should inform you that I am quite fond of spare parts - if you ever find yourselves in possession of something you do not want I may be able to put it to good use."
Fineal frowns. "Well, the pay's certainly a bit sub-par. Still, a tad late to turn back now, right?" Fineal puts on a fake smile as he signs the papers.
"Yes Fineal I would imagine being let go at this point would be most... unpleasant", Reth responds as he smiles under his cloak.
"I can already tell I'm going to like you guys. Funny they show us where are room is but not where , well.. y'know"
Fharalkakhad stares at Rhiannon with an uncertain look on his face. Is she looking for a place to eat?. "I am sure they will show us the rest of the vessel, once we leave Sharn."
Invar scans the contract rapidly before signing it and handing it back to the gnome. The seemingly low pay did not overly worry him as he had very little use for the money anyway. It did not seem like something that should be mentioned around employers and colleagues so he quietly took a seat in between two bunks and set allowed his glowing eyes to dim as he looked inward and began meditating.
Liriel takes her copy of the contract and after giving it a pass, looking for unplesant clauses in areas not mentioned by the gnome, signs it. "No big surprise, we're folks with no prior standing or rep, it stands that we'd get crap jobs for crap pay. Hopefully the loot and the lore will be worth it."
Reth approaches close to Rhiannon and whispers, "Are you sure something suspicious did not happen to the last crew?" I mean that gnome hinted at something odd and now we are bascially prisoners here."
"I'm thinking that we're dealing with a more....classified level of mission here. We're just going to have to look out for each other."
"I must admit," Illmanthonil says to the others in the room, "all this secrecy has piqued my curiosity. I can't help but wonder what it is the Darkstar company is up to in Xen'dric... and what it is they are hiding from us on this ship."
Fharalkakhad leans in and whispers to the visually impaired elf, "Caution is warranted here, do not show it on your face. This...commander...thinks us complete tools for her cause. Let her continue the charade, and we can allow her to grow careless.
"Indeed," the elf whispers back, "it is often easier to learn secrets when you are ignored."
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The door opens and one of the warforged steps in. "Greetings", he says with obviously masculine voice. "I am Sickle, Lady Morn's second in command. We have cleared the sky above Sharn. The Lady has delegated me to answer all question that you may have. We have some time till we reach the Vortex of Syberis. Ask away."
"First off, what's the Vortex of Syberis? We ought to know where we're going, right?"
Reth clears his throat and speaks. "Greetings Sickle, I am Reth. My first question is what exactly do these away team duties consist of? My second what types of creatures are encountered this knowledge will be helpful to me in preparing for potential battle".
Invar stands and stretches with a few satisfying popping noises from his joints.
"How long will this expedition be? And if we do not meet the same fate the gnome indicated that our predecessors met and return from the expedition will further employment be available?"
"What is expected of us? What can we expect to encounter?" Rhiannon asks from her seat on the chest.
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"Vortex of Syberis is sort of fixed storm cloud some miles from Sharn. Inside it is a gate connected to the certain site above the coast of Xen'drik. That allows very short travel between the continents. This ship will use it quite often in the next few months. Darkstar scouts have found rich archeological site in the mountains at the central Xen'drik. We are going there to search for giant-made artifacts that can be used in warforged production. Your mission will be to assist the search teams and to defend them from the dangers on the ground."
"Understandable that such a mission would require security. My specific question is what type of dangers can we expect? Preperations for fighting Goblins differ from preperations for fighting Elementals. I want to be as prepared as I can be." Reth responds in a calm tone.
Fharalkakhad watches the exchanges silently and showing no emotion on his face. Inwardly, he is filled with excitement, and a little fear. May the Quori protect this faithful servant.