Malvoisin's Savage Tide, Act 1 - There Is No Honor

Lavinia says, "Are you hungry? I know I am! Let's continue our conversation over dinner." She gives Col a strange look as he has already seated himself and begun eating a roll; but, she offers a very pleased smile to Anar at his chivalry and charm.

Lavinia seats herself at the head of the long table, and invites the rest of the dinner party to do the same. Moments later, a pair of servants begin bustling in and out of the room, laying tray after tray of succulent smelling food on the table. Fresh boiled crabs, broiled ans teamed fish, roast turkey, and smoked venison are supplemented with yams and numerous other vegetables, fresh fruit, and warm sweetbread. The wine and ale flow freely and everything is beyond delicious. Everyone enjoys the meal for several minutes until, at last, Lavinia gets to the business at hand. Wiping her mouth with a cloth napkin, she begins to speak.

"As you may have heard, I recently inherited my parents' estate. Along with this fine house, unfortunately, came a fine amount of debt owed the Dawn Council, the harbor-master, and quite a few guildhalls. It seems my parents, for all their success as adventurers, were not as skilled at finance as one might expect. If I'm to get these taxes paid, I'll need to access my family's vault under Castle Teraknian.

"And that's the problem, you see. The vaults are magically locked - keyed to special signet rings. Both of my parents had these rings, at least, until recently. My mother lost hers a few months ago. She arranged for a replacement, but it won't be done for another month or so, too late for me. Which leaves my father's ring. He never wore it - he had a thing about men wearing jewelry. He kept it hidden somewhere on his ship, the Blue Nixie. The problem there is that the harbormaster's seized the ship until someone pays for the last four months of mooring. I've paid the fines to the man the harbormaster's put in charge of my ship, a brute named Soller Vark. Yet when I went to claim my ship, Vark's men wouldn't let me board, claiming that I hadn't yet paid the fines. I spoke to Vark again and he denied ever receiving my payment. My complaints to the harbormaster have fallen on deaf ears - he's a doddering old fool who trusts his man and won't relent.

"Vark and his men are up to something on my ship, I know it. What I need is to find out exactly what they're up to. Unfortunately, Vark's not the type to react well to diplomacy or logic. I need someone who speaks his language...which is where you come in. If you can find out what he's using my ship for, or even better, recover the money I paid him, I'll pay each of you 200 gold in return once I've access to my vault."

OOC: Your responses and questions?

Around a succulent crab leg, Col mutters, "So ya want us to see what's agoin' on, maybe get yer money, but leave the ring there? What you gonna do, go back to the harbormaster with our report? I don't believe he'd take that tale from you if he no trust you that first time." He chases the leg down with a swig of ale, and wipes his mouth on something convenient. "Where be this accouterment o' the sea and be there a sketch of its design?"

OOC: Knowledge (local/nobility) on what Col knows on the harbormaster, similar for this Vark fellow. Take 10 on the first (as the harbormaster is probably well known), roll for the second.

Anar eats lightly, ensuring that there is room in his belly for a sampling of each of the flavorful dishes served at the repast, and sipping slowly at the fine wine. All charm and smiles, the dashing young man is full of complements for the host, gracious thank yous to the servants, and good-natured joking with his newfound companions.

After hearing the business proposition, he is quiet for several moments, until he hears Col's mutterings. "I believe our most excellent host hopes us to recover any valuables from the ship that might belong to her family, including the ring, should we not be able to secure the release of the ship." After a few moments though, he continues. "Perhaps this "Vark" fellow has somehow learned that Lady Lavinia's ring is somewhere upon the ship, and is hoping to find it himself while the vessel is in his hands?"

Damash had not seen such a bounty of food since his arrival on the surface lands, and his stomach growled in appreciation of the prospects as well. Focusing on the seafood, as his system still found itself uneasy with some surface dweller dishes, he listened to the side conversations and although he wanted to join in with them for the sake of etiquette, he could not bring himself to do so.

'What am I to say? When was the last time you were by the Reef of Shalimar? The turtles are moving to the warmer waters earlier this year than last, I fear the sharks will not be far behind them. Did you know Goodwife Ingrim has a new stew with redrag from the silt?'

As he glanced down at his calloused hands, Damash knew that for better or worse, it was best to present himself as nothing more than what he was at the moment; a skilled worker.

Resuming his meal for a moment, he stopped for good when the Lady Vanderboren began discussing with them their reasons for being called tonight. Although he could not recall ever working on the Blue Nixie, a ship was a ship and he was quite familiar with the common floorplans of those in the dock.

'So it is for our knowledge of the sea she needs us, as well as our willingness to get our hands dirty.'

The tenets of his faith spoke of letting things take their natural course and only choosing a side if there was no other option. This belief was what had trapped his people under the seas for centuries, but Damash felt that there were times the water had to be guided by more than just time.

'I would not be here if that was not the case...'

Leaning forward to hear the discussion around him better, Damash listened to see if there was something he could add to the talks.

[sblock=ooc]Not sure if you allow untrained knowledge checks, but if you do then I would like to try my luck at local (for the dockmaster), local for the Blue Nixie (trying to recall what type of ship and if he remembers the basic floorplan), local (for a shipwright who might have those plans if his memory fails him), local (for anything on Vark he might have heard), and a random check to see if he ever worked for her folks before the accident and perhaps that is why Kora remembered him.[/sblock]

Keoni lay down the fruit at which he was nibbling when Lavinia starts speaking. He stares thoughtfully at the ceiling while she describes her problem. Once she is finished, he glances around at the others, gauging their reactions, listening to Anar and Col before responding for himself.

"I cannot say I like the sound of this Vark fellow, but it seems like information and proof are the most important things here. If the harbor master will not listen, presumably he has a superior to whom we could speak if we had proof of our claims. The money he claims not to have and a small ring could probably be taken, but if we try and remove too much from the ship, it would attract unwanted attention, no?"

Kalen enjoys the fruit and fish, a touch of the venison, and the small talk, bantering with Anar.

Kalen agrees with Anar's assessment. "A true cad, trying to take advantage of a woman in a tight spot. If he knows of the vault and ring then it sounds like he is trying to gain it all himself as well as your craft. I'm sure there will be weak willed lackeys willing to talk about what they are doing aboard the ship. However there are two key rings to the vault you say, how was your mother's ring lost? Do you fear it has fallen into foul hands as well?

Voadam said:

"However there are two key rings to the vault you say, how was your mother's ring lost? Do you fear it has fallen into foul hands as well?

Click to expand...

As he picks out bits of fish with his pinky, Col adds to no one in particular, "Lost? Hrm. I recall that the Rituals of Shulak Klur should be able to bind a fiend of the Lost Plane for the purposing of finding what was lost. Though I doubt we have sixty six virgin sheep and the black heart of a traitor for it!" He chuckles softly to himself at this last bit.

stonegod said:

Around a succulent crab leg, Col mutters, "So ya want us to see what's agoin' on, maybe get yer money, but leave the ring there? What you gonna do, go back to the harbormaster with our report? I don't believe he'd take that tale from you if he no trust you that first time." He chases the leg down with a swig of ale, and wipes his mouth on something convenient. "Where be this accouterment o' the sea and be there a sketch of its design?"

OOC: Knowledge (local/nobility) on what Col knows on the harbormaster, similar for this Vark fellow. Take 10 on the first (as the harbormaster is probably well known), roll for the second.

Click to expand...

Lavinia responds with a very serious tone, "Do not misapprehend me, Mister Tobison. I wish to recover all of my property from Vark...the money, the ring, and the ship. Trying to involve the harbormaster has not borne fruit thus far, and if he won't listen to me, I doubt seriously he will listen to you. No, I want the six of you to persuade Vark and his men to relinquish that which does not belong to him, by any means necessary. If words fail you, I trust you have other means at your disposal..." she trails off leaving the unspoken meaning of her statement to hang in the air.

She then continues, "The Blue Nixie is docked at pier five here in the Merchant District - that's the long pier between the Merchant's Guildhall and the Smith's Guildhall. I don't have a floorplan handy, but I understand that several of you have experienced life aboard ships...if so, you'll find no surprises in the layout of the 'Nixie."

[sblock=Col's Knowledge Check]
Col has heard that Lord Keltar Isalaran, the aging harbormaster and representative for the Azure District on the Dawn Council, has been struggling to find a suitable replacement for his position as his health begins to fail. His children are either disinterested or absent, and the leading family in contention for the position, the Kellanis, are bitter opponents of old Isalaran. It may be that this distraction has caused Keltar to be less vigilant in his everyday duties than he ought. Col has never heard of Soller Vark.[/sblock]

Rhun said:

Anar eats lightly, ensuring that there is room in his belly for a sampling of each of the flavorful dishes served at the repast, and sipping slowly at the fine wine. All charm and smiles, the dashing young man is full of complements for the host, gracious thank yous to the servants, and good-natured joking with his newfound companions.

After hearing the business proposition, he is quiet for several moments, until he hears Col's mutterings. "I believe our most excellent host hopes us to recover any valuables from the ship that might belong to her family, including the ring, should we not be able to secure the release of the ship." After a few moments though, he continues. "Perhaps this "Vark" fellow has somehow learned that Lady Lavinia's ring is somewhere upon the ship, and is hoping to find it himself while the vessel is in his hands?"

Click to expand...

"It may be so," answers Lavinia, leaning in closer to Anar as she sips her wine, "but I don't know what he thinks he could accomplish with it. Only a member of my family would be granted access to the vault. In any case, it certainly seems that Vark is using my ship for some purpose, and I doubt seriously he has any good intentions."

Tonks said:

[sblock=ooc]Not sure if you allow untrained knowledge checks, but if you do then I would like to try my luck at local (for the dockmaster), local for the Blue Nixie (trying to recall what type of ship and if he remembers the basic floorplan), local (for a shipwright who might have those plans if his memory fails him), local (for anything on Vark he might have heard), and a random check to see if he ever worked for her folks before the accident and perhaps that is why Kora remembered him.[/sblock]

Click to expand...

[sblock=Tonks]Sorry, Tonks, no untrained knowledge checks in my game, because then where's the incentive to put any skill points therein? However, I like your last question, so let's explore that tie. Let's say that, in fact, Damash did serve for a few weeks as a dock hand in the employ of the Vanderboren family. He has helped unload cargo for them on several occasions, quite possibly from the Blue Nixie itself.[/sblock]