Iron Heroes - Dark Harbor

[Ambrus]

"It shouldn't take anywhere as long as it did with Tremance if they aren't too busy; it's only a few blocks away." Damien heads off down the street with his new companions in tow. They pass a handful of tall wooden three-storey buildings before turning left through a busy intersection with countless fishmongers' stalls and a bustling crowd. "Here. This is the place." Damien points to the entryway of the Wharves Office before leading the group inside.

 

[Dalamar]

As you close the door, you hear something bang against it on the inside, followed by a clattering sound.

As you make your way to the Wharves office, a crier passes you. "Come see the many fabulous marvels," he exclaims as he rings a bell, "at the Lost Angel Theatre!
Tonight's main performances: the eye-catching performance of Serpentia, the Queen of Snakes! Also, an amazing duel by the swordmasters Brothers Maletti!
These and many more, only at the Lost Angel!"

When you get to the the Office itself, you find it quite packed. The smallish building is currently holding over twenty people, quite a few of them sailors by looks, though over half look more like adventurers. A couple of kids are playing tag among the crowd, bumping on people pretty often.
It would seem that you'll have to wait to get yourselves registered.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

"Ah, bureaucracy." Grendel grins.

 

[Erekose13]

"While we wont be able to set out on any endeavours quite yet, we may want to hold off on getting our permits and see if we can get that drink and information now. Perhaps not having permits will help us find some of the more seedy captains among whom this Covis seems to belong." replies Ghuntomas.

 

[Ambrus]

Damien sighs and looks apologetically up at Gregghor. "I know a few of the clerks here; I'll see if I can get us access to the registry so I can sign us in without having to wait in line. Wait here a moment."

Damien stands straight and takes on the airs of a fellow clerk (which he is) and purposefully makes his way around the crowd. He tries to spy a clerk he knows personally and makes his way over to him, trying to appear as if he's on official business and not part of the crowd of sailors in the room. He'll greet his friend, inquire how he's doing and how the work is today and then explain his situation briefly; he's on official business and has been ordered to escort a group who need to be signed up. As a personal favor he'd appreciate it if he could register them quickly so that he can get back to the Excise House.

OOC: Damien is using his diplomacy skill (+5, taking 10 if possible) and calling upon his familiarity with the people and process for an added circumstance bonus if possible. If the DC is too high for taking 10 then I'll roll. So do I roll or do you Dalamar?

 

[Dalamar]

Damien
It takes a moment for Damien to get past the crowd, and he gets quite a few unappreciative glares from other people as they, rightly so, consider him to be skipping the line. He also almost trips over as one of the kids runs right in front of him, seemingly unaffected by the mass of people all around.
Chatting with his friends as they handle their work for a minute, Damien manages to get them added in before they otherwise would, though he didn't really end up saving too much time.

Non-Damien
The scribe leaves through the people, though he has some trouble on the way, and almost falls flat on his face once. He spends a good minute just chitchatting before what appears to be him succeeding in getting you in before your time. Not that there was anymore many people before you.

Ghuntomas
While most talk you hear around you is pretty uninteresting, you do catch one intriguing piece of a conversation.
"I hear this whole thing with the Borati Envoy is a trick; King Daraggan-or-something just wants war, not a treaty."
"Really? My cousin's nephew said that the whole thing's a scam. It's just the council trying to shake our nerves so they can raise taxes without too many complaints."

 

[Ambrus]

Damien walks calmly back over to the group. "It's not as bad as it looks. Most of these people are ship officers here to get docking permits or departure waivers; only a few of them are here to register for salvage expeditions. I've managed to get us bumped ahead a bit; we shouldn't have to wait too long. I think it'd be a good idea to get the list of available ferrymen before we start asking around. Without it we won't know all of the captains we have to ask about."

 

[Old Fezziwig]

"Good call. I might be able to dig up some information, too, should I know anyone here." Grendel takes a quick look around to see if he knows anyone standing in line from his days fishing, although given his shaky memory and history of concussions, he's a little skeptical that he would.

 

[Dalamar]

Clarifier: There isn't a queue on who gets to go to the Towers, you just need to register at the Wharves (and since people going/coming back from fishing need to register at the same place, it gets crowded during morning and evening). Once you're done with that, you can go arranging your transport with any of the boat owners with a policy of the fastest and/or the ones with the most money getting there first.
So what Damien succeeded in doing was getting them ahead of the queue to get registered. And thanks for reminding that I forgot something:
Damien got a list of all the officially sanctioned boat owners, though only four of those are currently available for business (others having their boats being repaired, or already out at the Towers): Dereol Philten, Covis Elassyn, Leyra Nowell, and Stamett Ruun.

 

[Ambrus]

Damien simply nods to Grendel in answer. The young scribe looks around the room while waiting to be ushered over by the clerk he'd spoken to.