Jammers Summary: Chapter 2, Turn 5

----------- = Meanwhile, elsewhere...
*********** = Later...

Holland emerges from below deck, stretching his arms above his head and rubbing his tired eyes. Looking over the STAR, Holland smiles.

His smile fades when he sees the two men headed for the STAR. With a deep sigh Holland straightens his tunic and says in a loud voice, "Kain, Seguld would you two please come here with the manifests."

"Certainly...duty calls," Kain says as he makes to retrieve the company records.

Holland leans against the railing, stifling a yawn, and as he waits for the men to arrive and announce themselves, he examines the galleon that is docked next to them.

Deigatt joins Holland and stands silently with his axe head on the deck, his eyes on the dark-clothed strangers approaching.

Holland looks up at Deigatt and says, "Probably the local taxmen. Nothing to worry about."

With papers in hand, Kain stands slightly behind Holland as he also examines the galleon. "Looks like there's... ah... quite a few groups already looking for the Chalice," he sighs. "At least, I assume that'd be why they're here," Kain shrugs.

Frowning Holland says quietly, "Or to follow and take the Chalice from whomever finds it.."

A pair of human males, sailors by their garb, lean against the rail next to the galleon's gangplank. They wave in greeting but don't appear threatening. The vessel's name, R'LYEH is painted on the bow in block red letters using the common runes.

The two men turn out to be tax collectors, as Holland expected. Neither is especially friendly nor rude. They do a cursory inspection of the ship, assess 20sp for dock space for the day, and a 15gp tax on the axe heads (Seguld is charged a few silver for his cargo as well). They indicate that the Longshoreman's guild is absent here, so the party will have to find labor for unloading themselves. Also, the 20sp a day tax for wharf space should be paid in advance at the Harbormaster's office (#2). Holland is polite to the men and gets their names (Ryth and Yaru). He asks if they have any suggestions as to where to find bodies to do the unloading and they suggest some willing workers might be found in Tent City down by the rivers. Collecting their payment, the two then return to their shaded seats at the end of the dock.

Watching the tax collectors leave, Holland says to the Company, "Let's get things taken care of, shall we? Italapate, Ferric; would you two please see to selling our cargo and picking up lumber for sale on Bral? Hopefully you can find some laborers to unload our cargo and load up our purchases as well."

Turning to Jamila and Leera, Holland smiles and says, "Would you two ladies please visit the Temple of Ptah and find out what you can about the Chalice?"

Leera glances over at Jamila before replying. "Sure...."

Stifling another yawn Holland says, "Talus, Kain, Billy, Raken; would you gentlemen please check out the taverns about rumors of the Chalice and rumors in general? Perhaps see if anyone knows anything about this Laocoon character."

"Alright," Kain nods.

Talus grins as Holland spits out a series of orders, the half-elf comments to Kain standing nearby, "For someone who claimed we didn't need a captain, Holland is doing a good imitation of one!"

"Maybe he's served under a hard-case captain or two," Kain says as the corners of his mouth twitch into a slight smile.

Holland grimaces, "I actually thought we could use one," and then gives a weak grin saying, "But in this case, I am merely offering suggestions in order to coordinate our efforts."

Kain smiles a bit more, brings his right fist up to his chest and says sharply, "Aye, aye sir!"

Holland looks away visibly uncomfortable but his grin widens and he looks back at Kain, "What? Are you still here?!? Move it sailor!"

Holland then says, "Nilaroo, Grigree; would you two please stay aboard the STAR for the time being as security until some of the others return? Nilaroo, it might be a good idea to see if the ship took any damage from the winds, and to see if the ship is seaworthy."

Grigree grunts and bobs his head up and down.

"Hoom, not a bad idea." Nilaroo replies.

Turning to the last member of the Company, Holland says, "Deigatt, would you accompany me to the Harbormasters and to the local Mages' Guild? We'll check for information on the Chalice as well."

The minotaur nods affirmatively.

As if by afterthought Holland looks around until he finds him and says, "Seguld, we will be expecting payment upon sale of your merchandise."

"Yes, yes, yes. I'll see that it is delivered myself." responds Seguld, as if he had an entire staff working for him. As Seguld marches off the ship he turns to Italapate, "Now, if you are going to sell those axe heads stay away from the Market Square. No good prices there. Sure you'll get a bite or two, but if you want to turn any kind of profit you need to deal with the big boys - the guildmen." As Seguld speaks to Italapate he is constantly hopping about. "If you want to come with me for a bit I'll introduce you. First I need to see an old friend at Picks and Pans. I expect he'll be buying my axes at a good mark up for me." Seguld skips to Italapate's right and then spins to face him and holds forth the pick axe. Throwing it on his shoulder he then swaggers past Italapate to finish on his left. "Then we can visit my lady friend Mandy. If we get to her place right after lunch time we can get a nice little meal and possibly rub some elbows with the big guild boys. You in?" The image is somewhat comical as the axe is easily a foot or more taller than Seguld, but nevertheless he swings it from shoulder to shoulder with no hindrance.

Italapate watches the small gnome with a smile, watching his antics intently. He leans on the gunwale of the eelship, cutting off the excited merchant from walking, or hopping, behind him. "Sounds all right. I just want to get this stuff sold, and get on with my life. There's a reason I didn't want to take over the family business."

Redirecting his attention, he addresses the group, "We'll all meet back here after completing our 'chores', sound good to everyone?" Holland ends with a grin.

"Agreed," Raken says with a nod. "However, once we're done with the taverns, I will be heading into the woods for a while. I need to search to medical herbs to better fulfill my role as a healer. Unless I am needed, I will probably be gone for a few hours."

Holland warns, "Just be careful. This is not a tamed planet.."

"Hey, when have I not been careful?" Raken replies with a smile. "Still, I might need someone to help guard my back and help with collecting certain plants. Grigree and Jamila, would you care to join me?"

Holland says to Raken, "How about you come back to the STAR after you are done tavern-hopping and then you and I will go out herb-hunting. I could use a bit of restocking myself."

"Come back first," Grigree says to Raken. "I, hrr, need to go in forest too. And help keep you safe from, grr, /jetatin/ locals," he continues, showing his teeth.

"Sure," Raken replies, "you're always welcome. Numbers will help if we run into natives." Raken smiles at the ape. "Don't worry. While I dislike cities, and I'm not exactly a 'forest warrior,' I am still a druid. The wilderness is my home; even if it isn't the beauty of nebula, stars, or cosmic dust."

"If we have returned from the Ptah ma'bad, I'd be willing to come and watch your back" says Jamila with a large grin, "I can watch your back all day." she continues with an even larger grin.

Raken takes a quick look over his shoulder at his backside. "Hmmmm, I didn't think my back was by better side," he says with a grin. "Though I've been told by some women that I have a cute butt," he says with a broad grin.

Shaking his head, Holland asks Kain, "Hmm. Do you think we should try to sell all of those weapons we have here? Probably get a better price.."

Kain glances down at his inventory list, nodding as he does so. "Well, ah, since no one's expressed any interest in them, that... ah... sounds like a good idea to me. A good blade should fetch a decent price here, I'd have to agree there. Though we.. uh.. might want to keep the daggers." Kain shrugs, "they're a fairly common weapon for most of us."

Holland says to Kain, "Good point." He adds to Italapate, "Would you please take the weapons that we have, except the daggers, as well and try to sell them," Holland looks around the group, "Unless anyone objects that is."

Seguld shakes his finger in a "no-no" fashion towards Holland. "First of all, you didn't pay tax on them so you can't take them off the ship to sell them; second, if you tell the collectors that you are selling weapons you had better have a buyer present or else you'll find yourself making a name for yourself pretty quick - and I don't think that is the way you wish to make a name for yourself. There was once a honest captain who brought a load of weapons with a planned buyer. Well, once he docked and they showed their invoice to the collector the watch was called in and the Bralian guard followed quickly behind. Only one person from that ship survived, and that was only because of his amazing ingenuity and wits - and the fact that he wasn't on board at the time of the battle."

"Nope, if you ask me the weapons would be more trouble then they are worth. Of course, if you are determined to make the sale, I'll act as an agent for you and help smooth the transaction over with hopefully a minimum amount of problems, and I will only charge you 10% of your gross on the deal. But," Seguld wipes his little hands together as if wiping them clean, "if you are going to try it yourself just let me get my gear off the ship first - last time I lost almost everything." Seguld suddenly makes a sour face and softly mumbles "oops". "I mean, the last time someone sold weapons here everything on board was lost, so if it happens again I want to make sure I have my stuff and not have it confiscated like what happened to the last merchant guy."

"Surely the guard will not board hus without just cause," Deigatt booms angrily.

"In case you didn't know Big Guy, selling weapons to the 'natives' is against the law and carries a pretty hefty penalty. If you plan to sell the weapons, you have to declare them. If you declare weapons then they are going to be very interested in who you are selling them to. If you don't have a buyer up front then you run the risk of attracting a lot of attention. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the watch is going to board you for that. Actually they'd probably just jail you until the whole deal is sorted out, but I don't think anyone here would enjoy that - so if you want to avoid the unpleasant experience of being jailed while this whole thing is sorted out, I suggest the weapons stay on board until there is a definitive and legitimate buyer and the details are worked out. As I said, if you want I am sure I can work the deal pretty smooth for you, but if you are planning on doing it yourselves just let me know, because I don't feel like taking the chance of that happening again to me." Seguld slaps himself in the forehead "... I mean of that happening again. Not that I was involved last time or anything. Sometimes things just happen around you kind of and if you are not careful you'll find that your gear will end up in some pile of confiscated goods and once it's there you are best off just letting that sleeping dog lie, because the local officials are extremely temperamental when it comes to the weapons trade and you don't want to get lumped in with the wrong crowd."

The minotaur grunts. "Clearly, we do not wish to violate the laws hof the city," he says.

Holland frowns and says, "I know that it is illegal to import weapons on Bral without a royal charter but this is not Bral. Additionally, it was my understanding that crew and passengers are allowed two bags each of 'personal' items that do not incur taxes. This is how many crewmen on the past ships I have worked on have supplemented their meager wages. These weapons would fall under our 'personal' domain, thus we do not have to declare them nor pay taxes on them."

Italapate grins wickedly. "I don't know about you guys, but all of this sounds like fun. Imagine the stories we could tell if we could get away with that sort of thing. There must be some kind of black market around here we could look up. If they won't let you sell weapons to the residents, the residents probably have some system to get around it."

Holland continues, "However, since I don't think that we will be dealing with weapons in the future, and if the others agree; Seguld, why don't you handle the sale of them. You will receive 10% of the gross."

Holland says, "Outstanding. Those weapons are just taking up space as it is." Holland smiles, "Come on Deigatt," and the two of them leave the STAR and head to the Harbormaster's office.

Leera says "Jamila, shall we?"

"Lets" replies Jamila, and with a gesture "after you Leera. Perhaps we can find something to eat afterwards for ghada?" Jamila asks as they head off towards the temple.

Going belowdecks for a few minutes, Kain comes topside buckling on his sword belt, with a dagger tucked in each boot. "Now I'm ready," he nods again to Talus, Billy, and Raken.

Armed as always with his dagger half concealed under his coat, Talus nods and looks to Billy and Raken to see if they are ready before setting off to explore what the town has to offer for sailors out for a good time.

Date/time: 12:30 30th day of the 4th Month, 5049 OC