Jammers Summary: Chapter 3, Turn 35

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

Deigatt jerks his head back quickly as the gnome shuts the door. "He his not has friendly has hour Seguld," the minotaur notes. Then he suggests, "Perhaps we should get some supplies hand lunch before heading back to the hothers to find hout what kind hof craft they've secured."

The two comrades head back into the streets of Port Walkaway.

"Most of these buildings look like homes," Leera says, gesturing at the garden-topped houses along the street. "We'll probably need to head back toward the lake if we're going to find a tavern."

"Hit's hodd that the guild would be so far haway from wildspace traffic," Deigatt says.

Leera pauses to consider, "Oh, I don't know. If they make the guild house difficult to find and off the beaten path, then only powerful--or at least determined--wizards will visit them. Besides, the essence of the Art is misdirection. I think I'm starting to like these gnomes. Don't you wish the mage guilds on your world were more like those gnomes?"

"My world doesn't hallow mage guilds," Deigatt replies. "My kind frown hon magic because they believe hit usurps hour natural habilities."

"I'm sorry, Deigatt," Leera says. "I'd forgotten that you told us wizards weren't welcome on your world, though I'd think that you of all people would then see the benefits of illusion and misdirection to a mage guild. Still, it must be good to be able to practice magic with more freedom that you had on your world."

"That his why I left," the minotaur says. "One hof the reasons."

Passing a tinker gnome lab, the two round a corner. Before he can react, Deigatt trips over a brown-skinned gnome carrying a box of metal cogs. The toothed disks scatter about the street. "Lookwhatyou'vemademedo!" the gnome spits out at the fallen minotaur. The short demi-human rights his box and begins retrieving his loosed cogs. Leera leans down, picks up a few of the cogs, and tosses them into the box.

"IcandothisMYself!" the gnome glares at her. Leera backs a step to watch the gnome scurry about the street. Deigatt lifts himself off the ground and joins the illusionist. She discreetly covers her mouth with a fist and laughs quietly, feigning a cough.

After a few moments, the box looks filled, and the gnome looks around trying to find any cogs left in the street. Behind him, Leera rubs her left thumb with her right thumb and utters a quick syllable. In the street, five blue lights flare briefly then fade away. The gnome moves quickly to retrieve the five cogs identified by Leera's cantrip.

The gnome looks up at Deigatt, who towers above him. "Nexttime, lookwhereyou'regoing, youbiglummox!" the gnome says angrily. Without waiting for a reply, he hefts the box up into his arms, using his forehead and nose to keep the box steady in front of him. Deigatt and Leera jump quickly to the left as the gnome moves toward them. After the cog-carrier bumps into the lab's wall twice, he finally staggers around the corner and disappears.

"I've never heard hof a people who carry their coins haround hin wooden boxes," Deigatt says to Leera as the continue on their way.

Leera smiles. "Indeed, gnomes are unusual people," she tells him. "Now let's get some lunch."

As the pair continue their quest for a tavern, they stroll along the banks of the lake. A few hundred yards out from shore a small boat sits quietly on the surface. Neither of the mages pay it particular attention until a shrill whistle is heard and a whining sound of steadily increasing volume and shrillness begins to travel over the water. Leera stops a passing sailor gnome. Pointing at the increasingly noisy craft she asks "Could you tell me what sort of ship that is?"

The gnome breaks stride for long enough to answer, "OhthatsDillynswonderful fishattractorandfilleteryououghttoseethefilletsitproducesbeforeit..." The gnome is interrupted by a deafening mechanical shriek followed by an explosion. "Butsometimestheattractorworksfasterthanthefilleteranditbacksup.Lookout." Having given fair warning, the gnome takes his leave at a pace faster than either mage would have expected. Looking up, Leera sees a cloud of debris sailing up into the sky, spreading out. Guessing the nature of the fallout, she utters only "Run!" before taking off at top speed for the nearest building. Deigatt follows quickly behind, and both mages enter the open door of what a sign proclaims to be "Goluks Fine Grub and Other Sustenance with a Decided Emphasis on Fish and Other Seafood but our Stew is Good Too, and Don't Forget the Mead and Ale Either, Matey." Moments later, the rain of fish parts begins.

Leera looks over at Deigatt, chuckles, and says "As I said, gnomes are unusual people."

The minotaur glances back outside where the shower of chowder is subsiding. "Hindeed."

The companions manage to find a table. They wait only a short time before a serving maid comes over to take their orders. "Specialofthedayisfriedperch, thoughifyou'dliketowait,Ithinkwe'llhaveamixedseafoodchowderreadysoon." As she speaks, a young gnome runs past, headed outside, carrying a bucket and shovel.

Leera and Deigatt exchange glances. Deigatt frowns, but Leera says quickly, "The perch for me." The waitress sighs and rolls her large eyes: "Fine, butthechowder'sfresher." Deigatt asks for a loaf of bread. The waitress looks up at him curiously, then shrugs and wanders off. The boy runs back into the tavern (lugging an apparently heavy bucket), ducks into the kitchen, and emerges with an empty bucket. He heads back outside.

Leera and Deigatt spend the time waiting for their food discussing the prospects of buying a ship. Leera notes, "I hope we can get a ship here. It seems a waste to have to pay freight on a helm, after all."

The waitress arrives with the food and sets it down on the table. "Here'syour grub.Remember,atGoluksFineGrubandOtherSustenencewithaDecidedEmphasisonFishan dOtherSeafoodbutourStewisGoodToo,andDon'tForgettheMeadandAleEither,Mateywese rveonlythebest.Watchout,thoseMerle'simprovedcombinedtraybowlplateforkandkniv eswerejustsharpened." So saying, she moves over to a table where a dour-looking dwarf is having difficulties with his Merle'simprovedcombinedtraybowlplateforkandknife. In trying to cut his rather tough, leathery fish with the razor edge of the bowl, he somehow has managed to get the lever-controlled hyraulic fork tangled in his beard. In his struggles, he activates the hydraulic soup stirrer feature of the autofork and panics as it begins to wind his beard toward the (razor sharp) edge of the bowl (mounted securely on the tray). In moments, his beard is lying on the floor and the hydraulic potato masher function of the autofork has begun work on his nose. He runs screaming from the tavern.

Leera glances over at Deigatt, who is peering suspiciously at his tray. Tentatively, he reaches to take the bread out of his bowl, then he changes his mind. Seeing that Leera does not appear eager to start in on her own repast, he asks, "Leera, was hany hof the Star's cooking gear salvaged? Hit might be safest hif we were to prepare hour own meals."

Watching one of the humans loading cargo on the docks, Talus waits nearby until he finishes unloading a cart. When the heavyset stranger sits on one of the crates to take a break, Talus approaches him, "Greetings."

The stranger just glances at him and offers a grunt in reply. Unperturbed Talus continues, "I just arrived yesterday and am just scouting the lay of the land."

The stranger gives him another look and asks in a coarse voice, "Are you with the group that arrived in that contraption yesterday?" At Talus's nod he gives a braying laugh, "What did you do, let the gnomes redesign you ship and have it fall apart halfway out?"

Talus gives a short laugh in response, "Not quite. We ran into some trouble with the scro that was kind of hard on our ship. It did not go back together quite the same way, but at least the helm survived. We were looking to get a new ship here, but buying a ship that the gnomes have had their hands on is a bit risky."

The stranger laughs again, "Ain't that the truth. I came here on a gnome ship, my first and only voyage. It ended in a pile of splinters outside the city. Lucky for me the gnomes had a healer." He shakes his head, "I am never going up in one of those things again. But if you are looking for passage, there are a few human ships on the field." He points them out.

Eventually, one by one everyone makes it back to the Inn in the afternoon.

After the early feeling out process for the purchase of a ship, Italapate takes off on his own for a while, exploring the bustling town of Little People. He returns as everyone is gathering together to discuss their options. He staggers a little, obviously feeling more than a little bit of a buzz. He is wearing a metal helmet, with a pair of shaded goggles in an upright position on the crown of the helm. Several gauges and exhaust valves and pipes protrude from the helm, one whistle softly tweeting as a steady leisurely flow of steam escapes.

"hmm, hmmmmmm hhmmmm hhmmmmmmm, We're all part of the Gnomish Space Marines, the Gnomish Space Marines... the Gnomish Space marines. We're all part of the Gnomish Space Marines, the Gnomish Space Marines... the Gnomish Space marines. Hmmm hmmm hmmmm....." Italapate sings to himself as he approaches. He spins a chair around, sitting in it backward. Folding his arm over the seat back, he rests his helmeted forehead in the crook of his left elbow. Finally, the steam whistle is silenced.

Taking his ease and sipping a mug of tea Ferric says. "Well, looks like the wasp is our cheapest option. I dislike the lack of a projectile weapon but we can always fix that later if we decide to get the ship. We may be able to get the cog down another few hundred if we show up with the gold in hand but it's not a vessel I'd want to be on during a fight. The tradesman is a bit big for our group and it is the most expensive of the three. It also has the downside of restricting us to spaceports since it can't land anywhere. Personally I'm pulling for the wasp. It seems best suited to our needs as well as our coffers."

Kain returns, munching away on a bag of apples he'd bought at the market. Seeing almost everyone has returned from their errands, Kain says simply, "Well.. ah.. we can possibly book passage to Bral on a ship called HANALI'S SWORD, if we choose not to buy a ship here on Ironpiece. The locals say for a group our size the fair price is under 100 gold. That's what I would like to do.. uhh.. by the way," Kain adds. "Out of the available ships here, the wasp is the best for us I believe. But there are still ships that are better suited to our.. ahh.. capabilities, I think."

Grigree nods at this, but doesn't comment.

Holland continues, "I must confess, I like the idea of returning to Bral as passengers. There are bound to be a wider variety of ships and with Nilaroo's contacts we should be able to get a decent deal."

Talus adds, "Also, we will have some extra money from the elves with which to purchase a vessel."

With a light laugh Holland says, "Who knows; with our luck, our ferrying ship will be attacked by pirates and we will be able to gain a ship that way."

"yay," Pate says into his arms.

Grigree adds with a smile, "As long as they not 'jetatin vipers."

Seguld shakes his head in disbelief. "AreYouSayingYouWantToReturnToBral WithoutAShip? Seguld'sNineteenthRuleOfBusinessSaysThatYouShould NeverLetYourselfBeSeenInAnUnflatteringPosition. NowWhoWouldWantToHireAGroup OfJammersWhoCan'tEvenProtectTheirOwnShip. SureWeCanTellEveryone ItWasTwoViperShipsAfterWeBeatAScorpion, CourseMost'dJust ThinkItWasASingleBladeShip. WeNeedToGoBackWithAShipAndIt'dBetterBeMore ImpressiveThanAnEel. ISayWeBuyEitherTheTradesmanOrTheWasp, AndB'foreWeDepartWe LoadHerWit'TheSuppliesNeededToConstructAMediumBallista. Holland'RooAnd ICanBuildIt, Wit'SomeHelpFromTheRestaYou."

Pate takes a deep breath. "IThinkYouAre OverestimatingOurReputation OnBral. ToBeHonest, NoOneIsGoingToPayUsAnyHeed." His face reddens as he pushes the words out at speed. He takes another breath, as he mumbles to himself, "more practice." He looks around, then turns again to Seguld. "'Sides, it don' matter if we come back wi' a new ship or if we get a ship there. People, should they pay 'tention, will realize we lost the first ship." He shrugs. "Pers'nly, I like the Wasp, and wouldn' mind gettin' it while we're here. But, if we head back ta Bral and get somethin' there... well, tha's fine wi' me too. As far as our story goes, leave tha' to me. By the time I'm done, ev'ryone on Bral'll think we hadda fight of an entire Scro Fleet, an' came out on top. Why, i's just like the time ol' Coyote outwitted th' whole o' th' spirit realm ta sneak Man outta th' Kiln and set'm on the Prime. A roun' on me in honor of Coyote, tha' ol' dog!"

Eyeing Italpate's hat nervously, Nilaroo speaks up. "The three ships are not in that bad of shape, but they are more expensive than their counterparts on, hoom, the Rock. If we can obtain passage and cargo space, I would rather sail with the SWORD and look on Bral."

Holland adds, "It seems that the majority of the people that have spoken so far are agreeable to traveling back to Bral as passengers. What do the rest of you think?"

At some point in the proceedings, Leera voices her opinion: "It seems silly to pay good money to transport a helm in a crate. It seems Seguld has negotiated a pretty good price for the Wasp. I hope we don't regret not taking advantage of the opportunity...."

Raken shrugs. "Would there be a better ship at Bral? Most of the ships I know of would be either too big and expensive for us or are ancient designs not commonly built these days. Obviously, the vipership would have been a dream ship, and the eel was probably the best for our particular needs, but both are rarely sold these days. Either the wasp or the tradesman are probably our best options."

"I will bow to Nilaroo's wisdom in this matter." Ferric says. "Besides his contacts in the shipwrights guild I will see if House Moune knows of any ships that might be suited to our purposes."

Holland says, "It looks as if we will become passengers. We need to book passage and purchase a container large enough for the helm and the rest of our cargo."

"All right...." Italapate says, a smile in his voice, "but if we gotta pay more fer a ship, Seggy an' I'll kick yer asses!"

"Since we are being funds conscious may I suggest we have Nilaroo attempt to use lumber from our now defunct raft to build crates." Ferric suggests. "Should be a simple matter really."

Grigree nods affirmative at Ferric's suggestion. "I help," he adds to Nilaroo.

Nilaroo nods back.

Date/time: 2:00 pm 15th day of the 6th Month, 5049 OC

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