Prepping with Burton
As we all don't have any experiences in foreign missions and spy operations, he already contacted Burton, the sole survivor of the original Team 3 who's an expert on this field. As we know, he's moved to Slate though, so we'd need to take a train to visit him there.
We get the impression that Delft would surely love to help the mentally traumatized Goblin and get him back to business. So this mission with Flint's new “top team” might just be the right way to help Burton overcome his grief. We applaud our new Chief Inspector on this clever plan and add that while we've unsuccessfully tried to help Burton before, this one might actually work.
(Delft's developing emotional awareness? Times and wonders... but maybe it's just the relationship with Margit leaving its mark on him)
We decide to travel to Slate as fast as possible, so we take the next best train to the capital and then head to a tavern which also functions as a secret operation and training center for the RHC. Burton is already present and it seems like he's actually eager to go on a mission with us. We hand him the key information of our mission and ask him for his expertise.
Burton begins with the most basic tip of all: Preparing an escape route. He suggests to maybe have a ship travel in parallel to the railway, so we have a safe escape in every port city. Escape might be necessary if, for example, our cover gets blown. We add that this boat should be rather inconspicuous, maybe camouflaged as a trade ship. We'd also prefer small but fast escape boats in the port cities which may then bring us to the seaworthy vessel.
He then goes on to discuss our cover identities. This is where he advises us to do lots and lots of research about the identities we'd like to display. There will be lots of people in the train and chances are high that someone would actually come from the area we'd claim to stem from. So it would probably be a good idea to at least visit our “home town” and pick up some details, names and news to make our stories believable.
We discuss some basic options and come to the conclusion that we'd better avoid sticking out of the crowd too much. On the other hand, our covers should not diverge too much from who we are or we'd not be able to make a realistic impression. Magical disguises are also problematic as good parts of Danor are dead magic and we'll also be crossing the Malice Lands. Mr. Carlyle explains that he got this covered (heh) as his alchemy skills are also useful to create disguises, make-up, fake body odors and hair dyes. We also agree that forming a four-to-five person team would be rather suspicious, so it'd be better to form smaller teams which can then observe all of the train.
Auryn muses a bit about playing a traveling singer who's about to go on a grand tour, but rejects the idea as soon as she realizes that she'd have to do actual concerts and lose too much time for observation. However, this brings us to the idea of inviting an actual “Rock Star” to our journey. After all, Rock said he wanted to go on an adventure with us, so here's his chance to prove that he's trustworthy. We agree to not tell him about the Obscurati but would rather explain that we're trying to catch a dangerous serial killer who's trying to escape. Flying Spark could then play Rock's pet dragon and we all know that Rock' is prone to causing lots and lots of commotion.
Carlyle is a bit skeptical at first, but Burton convinces him that this is actually a sound plan. He then suggests using a rookie agent to play an actual RHC agent who's trying to catch said serial killer and who could then blow his cover due to a mistake. All this planning really incites Burton's imagination and so he agrees to join their espionage mission in his favorite role as professional (cheating) card player/wannabe pirate.
Auryn then jokingly suggests that she and Carlyle could play a married couple. She's more than surprised when Carlyle actually agrees to this plan as long as she's a good agent and not trying to do anything funny with him. Which makes her raise an eyebrow in return before giving him a heartfelt laugh. We agree that it would be wise to maybe not all impersonate Risuri citizens, so Carlyle and Auryn decide to play a couple from Ber who are on their honeymoon world trip. As it would be hard to disguise Auryn as anything else but an Elf, Half-Elf or Eladrin, we settle on the latter which would kind of make sense as Ber has been traditionally friendly towards Elfaivaran refugees and could explain why the couple would end their trip in Vendricce, the gate to the lost Empire. Plus we actually have friends in the Beran embassy who could help us out with acquiring genuine papers.
We then talk to Margit about the perfect opportunity to go on a romantic trip with her dear Delft. We quickly realize though that the new head of the RHC in Flint would surely have his hands full with work in these troubled times, so bringing him with her wouldn't be an option. We agree to have her impersonate a Doctor from Flint who's traveling to a scientific congress in Vendricce to present her research papers. Margit has the medical background after all and Auryn is kind of proficient with presenting scientific results from her prep time with Nymeia.
(and so suddenly all that happened in our first “Get together” adventure turns out to play into our hands. Wolmi Heffanita is currently working at the embassy and Nymeia's presentation gave us some basic ideas. Also helps that I am used to attend to such conferences and yeah, that involves a lot of traveling by train)
Once Burton is satisfied with our rough sketches, he invites us to stay in the inn for the night.
This night both Auryn and Carlyle dream of floating over the swamp of the High Bayou. After a while they notice the presence of the Voice of Rot who is curious whether they have forgotten her. The Titan says that she clearly felt that presence from beyond vanishing but got no message that the deed was done from either of them.
Both answer in their respective dreams that they have surely not forgotten their promise, but didn't want to disturb the mighty Titan who most certainly wants to go back to sleep again. Also, such a magnificent creature would probably be able to sense the fading presence anyway. The Voice says she understands our reasoning. She also senses a great power within us and that we've been already claimed by “someone else” with great power. The Titan doesn't say who this someone is, but we both kind of understand that she's thinking of Srasama. The Voice then adds that fortunately there is still some space left for her to leave her mark on us and gives us her blessing.
(So that was pretty scary and neither of us is really sure what this whole “marked by a Titan” means besides some mechanical goodies. Hope that doesn't come back at us someday. Now for the whole Srasama part, we kind of expected her or whatever might be left of her to be our connection to each other. Auryn knows that the Goddess died but she still adheres to her faith and tradition while Carlyle carries a sliver of her divine essence)
The next morning, Auryn is finally able to convince Carlyle to do some one on one training with her. In the end she's satisfied as she knows no other person would be able to pose a real challenge for her in combat
(well, besides Jack and she didn't use magic on him while impersonating Aubron).
After the training she unsuccessfully tries to get him to address her in a less formal way. Citing a proper etiquette manual, Auryn says that it would be usually up to the person of higher rank to switch means of address and as both of them are equals, the honor then falls upon the elder person – who he clearly is. He answers by smiling and saying that he knows that rule. He pauses for a moment and then adds that he isn't really used to be called Gabriel anyway, so using his first name would sound weird, if not wrong to him. Auryn shrugs off the rebuff and says she's simply getting confused by the ever increasing group of people named Carlyle.
(Regarding names and means of address:
First, Carlyle's player told me that Mr. Carlyle wasn't that honest with “no one calling him Gabriel” as the homeless people and one old comrade he cares for do call him by that name. Auryn had no reason to doubt that statement though.
Second, we do put a bit of a thought on who to address by which name. For example, we always include titles when addressing or talking about people who have one, like Dr. Meredith and Dr. von Recklinghausen as long as they are only acquaintances. Or Carlyle's using “the Rear Admiral” when talking about Dawkins while Auryn speaks of “dear Morris” within her team - her peers who know of their relationship.
Within the team, Carlyle goes by Mr. Carlyle and we all address him formally (There is this difference between informal “Du” and formal “Sie” or oldschool “Ihr” in the German language and it can be quite a big deal). Auryn on the other hand insists to be called by her first name, even if she's addressed formally (Ms. Auryn) as her “family name” is actually her mother's name which she used as last name when registering in Risur. This can come in quite handy when someone asked for a “Ms. Galadin” as she instantly knows that this person isn't her acquaintance. Margit and Auryn use first names and informal address while Carlyle stays formal (even if Carlyle's player has this habit of avoiding to call people by their names, so we've yet to hear a “Ms. Stenz” from him). Flying Spark is simply Flying Spark, although we use a formal address for him to get him used to Risuri customs.)
We say goodbye to Burton and he mentions that he got lots of preparations to do as well, so we will most certainly only meet again when we get on the train in winter.
We arrive back in Flint the next day and start our own preparation work. Auryn and Carlyle plan to make it seem like they were asked to accompany an archaeological follow-up expedition to Ber to explain why we'd be absent from Flint for such a long time. So we head to various cartography and book shops and get material on Ber. We then meet up with Delft and inform him about our plan to which he has no objections.
Our first step is to go to the embassy of Ber to ask for a chat with Wolmi Heffanita. We tell her that we have to go to a secret undercover mission soon and would like to impersonate a married couple from Ber. Meanwhile, we'd like to make it seem like the two of us are sent to an official mission in Ber. We add that this information has to be handled confidentially, but we also trust her in this matter and hope that she can help us. Once we swear that this “secret mission” won't go against the interests of the nation of Ber, and that we consider her country a close ally and friend of Risur, she warms up to the idea as this might just lead to some joint ventures in the future.
She sends us to a military attache who's working in the embassy. After some back and forth, he agrees to support our plan as well. The minotaur explains that he'd get us official identity documents. Constables Auryn Galadin and Gabriel Carlyle will then go on a follow up mission to a remote region in Ber to dig for more artifacts of the Ancients and protect their fellow archaeologists from possible curses. Once they arrive Reo Pedresco they'll meet up with their contact, Stella, who hands them their documents. The constables then “continue their mission” while a newlywed couple from Reo Pedresco can go on their long planned honeymoon. In return, the constables Auryn Galadin and Gabriel Carlyle will owe the nation of Ber a favor, so they'll come to their aid should the need arise. This seems like a plan we both can agree on.
Next we head to the military command post in Flint harbor where we ask Rear Admiral Dawkins for a ship. We don't goo too much into the details of our mission, but explain that the ship has to be fast and inconspicuous. He recommends a seaworthy steam supported schooner (the Roscommon I guess). We also discuss using a second ship as backup should our original ship be discovered or get into a sea battle. After all, the inner sea is pirate ridden, Auryn is quite nervous when it comes to pirates and the Dracon de Mer was pretty heavily armed as well.
Last but not least, we search for our Rock Star. Turns out that he's out of prison on parole and spent his first night of freedom partying in the Golden Sawfish. Where he celebrated Rock style and had quite an orgy afterward with some of his groupies. Once we are in Rock's suite, Margit and Mr. Carlyle don't really seem to be comfortable with the sight of so many naked people, so Auryn sneaks in, wakes up Rock and asks him to get dressed and talk to us in a more modest appearance.
Once we are sure Rock can actually understand what we are trying to say, we tell him that there's a way for him to get rid of his sentence altogether. Thing is that he'd have to assist us in a tricky case as we're on the hunt for a dangerous criminal and he could help us by creating a bombastic distraction. All he'd have to do is to go on a Rock World Tour. Rock is totally enthusiastic about this prospect and we kindly remind him to discuss this matters with his manager so he'd make sure to catch the right train even if he's busy rocking the groupies. We also magically remind him that his “dear friend Bergeron” also talked about a trip with the Avery Coast Railroad, so that has to be en vogue right now.
