Czlaplon Quest

[arcomniflash]

Without saying a word, I'll just grimace and pull my hat down low at the comment. It's unlikely I'll be doing any dancing anyway. "I think I'll just keep to the back, I don't particularly relish the thought of making a fool of myself, but I understand the necessity of all this."

[TarlimanJoppos]

Fortunately, Mekhitar does most of the work. He strides up to the foot of the gangplank, loudly declaiming that the adepts have arrived. He doffs his hat in an extravagant bow, and waves the rest of you aboard, then brings up the rear. "Let the festivities begin!" he calls out.

Athenar's Fancy is large for a t'skrang riverboat, a sidewheeler, meaning it has a paddlewheel on each side amidships instead of one big wheel astern, and four decks. Much of the boardwork is painted brilliant white, must be a pain to keep clean, with gingerbreading and frippery in purple and red and blue. There's more brasswork than is really necessary. They probably have a half dozen crewmen just to keep the brightwork polished. The main deck, where you board, is given over mostly to cargo space, crew quarters, and the engine room. When you turn your mounts over to a crewman, she'll put them in stalls on this deck.

You are directed by a saluting crewman in fancy uniform up a narrow stairway to the next deck, which is the second-class cabins, the galley, and the junior officers' quarters. Gudrun grumbles a bit about the close quarters. She has to watch her head so she doesn't catch her horns on the decorative work or tangle in a swing line. Here, you meet some of the passengers, a mix generally representative of Barsaive - mostly dwarves, with a sprinkling of humans, elves, t'skrang, and orks, two windlings (husband and wife) and their four children, no obsidimen or trolls for obvious reasons. There's a flurry of introductions, far too many Names to remember, again with Mekhitar doing most of the talking. He lets Garsevan show off a bit, assures people that Shaliko isn't angry, he's just Vorst, deflects people from Gudrun - she's a Nethermancer, after all, can see right into your soul -- and plays up Isaac the Dark, the dreaded Horror Stalker. He's safe enough to be around, just don't get too close and you'll understand why he doesn't shake hands, you've all heard of Chantrel after all. Mekhitar gets you past this quickly, assuring everyone that you'll be up for the departure festivities in a short while, once you've had a chance to put down your luggage and settle into your cabins.

You get to your cabins with some minor effort. There's a couple of crewmen helping clear the way. One of them, a young man who can't be more than a year out of kaissa, introduces himself as Issytho, ship's steward, well, one of them, anyway. "I'm assigned to you for the duration," he says, in a tone of voice that really hopes this furthers his career and doesn't get him killed. Or worse. "If there's anything you need, bedding changed, fresh timecandles or lamp refills, writing supplies, let me know. The galley closes down after the evening meal, but a couple of coppers in the right palm will get you food during the night. Cook always puts up meals for the night watches before she quenches the stove."

Issytho makes sure you get settled in your cabins, points out a few minor details like the location of the head, and the safety covers on the view ports, and the tie-downs for your luggage, then tells you, "Next deck above is the passengers' mess and the lounge, you're supposed to be up there when we cast off. Top deck is first class cabins, the card parlor and the senior officers' cabins. You're allowed up to the parlor, but don't go aft of the rope, that's officers' country. Stay off the cargo deck likewise, unless you've got a serious reason to be down there. If you want to see to your own mounts, let me know and I'll get the animal handlers to escort you." Unless one of you has an immediate request, Issytho makes himself scarce, pausing to tell the people out on the walkway to let the adepts get settled and meet them up on the next deck, please.

[Kasbak]

I'll do what I can to keep up with the flurry of activity and introductions. Though I'll be flying around, I will try to stick near Kolbeinn just in case he needs anything translated while Mekhitar is otherwise occupied. I'll also make the attempt at First Impression where appropriate. (will roll later, don't have my character sheet at the moment - posting on my phone at work. If I need more than one roll, let me know)

I'm guessing we'll have similar rooming arrangements as the Inn. I'll make sure to stash my gear and get it properly secured first (I've been on a riverboat before, so I should be okay on that protocol) before giving my bedding a test and letting my wings rest a moment. A little bit of social shock too, but that's not a huge concern. Just more people than I've ever had to deal with directly all at once.

I don't think I'll be wandering away from our cabins until it's time to head up for the departure. If there's a lot of idle time between now and then, I'll occupy myself with a bit of carving. I'll make sure to put a spare cloth over myself so I won't have to worry about wood shavings on my good clothes.

[arcomniflash]

The boat really looks like the kind of boat you would see someone like Mekhitar on. I'm not much for introductions, but I'll give people slight bows and tips of the hat where appropriate. Since Shaliko intimated that whoever was watching us before might be on the ship, I'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious, but I'll be subtle about it and won't expect to see anything at this time.

Much like everyone else I'll be going to stash my gear immediately afterwards, and while Issytho is attending to us I'll inquire about the schedule. This will let me know if I've got time to get anything done before I have to stand up on deck and interact with the passengers. Hopefully there will be some time for quiet repose, if not an actual meditation.

[TarlimanJoppos]

Alston, make three First Impression tests.
Isaac, make a Streetwise test. If you don't have Streetwise, make a Perception test. Also make a First Impression test. If you don't have First Impression, make a Charisma test.

[arcomniflash]

I'll have to make Perception and Charisma tests. I'll spend a point of karma on the Perception test. For that I rolled a 12, a 10 and a 4 on the karma die for a total of 26. I rolled a 6 on the Charisma test, not my strong suite.

[Kasbak]

First Impressions, rolling 2d6

First: 5+6+6+5=22
Second: 5+6+1=12
Third: 5+6+6+3=20

(I had one die that just kept rolling up. No, I have not baked them. I am apparently channeling Brendan today.)

[TarlimanJoppos]

Isaac: There's a woman, a bit tall for a human, who's hanging back at the rear of the crowd. She doesn't try to get up to the front to meet your group, but seems very attentive. Something about her just doesn't seem quite right. She departs before you go into your cabin. And then you realize that when she went up the steps to the lounge deck, she ducked, despite not apparently being tall enough to need to. However, you don't have the opportunity to follow her at the time, or to notify any of your compatriots, as you're suffering from a bout of foot-in-mouth disease, and have to be rescued from social awkwardness by Mekhitar. You don't have time for a meditation. There's a formal reception on the lounge deck at sunset, which is only three candlemarks away.

Alston: You do quite well impressing the small crowd. Mekhitar gives you a thumbs-up when he catches your eye, and a ship's officer, one you haven't been introduced to, who was standing off and watching the proceedings, nods approvingly.

[arcomniflash]

With a little sigh, I'll try to distance myself from the crowd as much as possible - although with the reception that'll likely be quite difficult. I'll settle for staring out at the river and acting all mysterious - that doesn't really require me to talk to anyone. That aside, it'll be important to find an opportunity to talk with Shaliko about the suspicious woman I saw, as he's already semi-aware of what's going on, and an extra pair of eyes will help. Since pulling him to one side and telling him about it in public would obviously reveal that we know, I'll simply settle for approaching him when he gets a free moment and asking. "I've got something to ask you, mind if we talk later?"

If push comes to shove, I can just act naturally paranoid. I tend to be a little like that anyway, so it shouldn't be hard. That way, if the woman sees us talking, she may just assume that I'm trying to get out of the limelight - which isn't so far removed from the truth considering our current position.

[Kasbak]

As much as I'm used to keeping to the sidelines to snipe, this flashy business seems to be coming to me quite naturally. It must be apealing to my race, since it has been kind of fun getting to play up the new experience.

Anyway, as I noted, I'll spend the idle time left to me doing some wood carving before getting ready to head up for the formal ceremony. I'll probably leave myself a candle mark to clean up my mess and myself, as well as go over any other preparations with the group. Once I'm set, I'll try to make it obvious that I'm available.