And that brings your week of R&R, downtime, shopping, or whatever to a close.

You show up, bags in hand, at the gates to the Field. everyone but Ghaith and Naill makes it, and Glass has two companions. One looks like a farm boy someone slipped some chainmail on...because he is. The other looks like a really big bug. Because he is. Keira and Hund look overloaded...because they are.

And here comes Sherm to show you to your ship. "Howdy, folks. The new ship is here. You've got two days prepaid field time, as arranged, and my boys just finished putting in the lights you arranged for. Most of your old gear is in the hold waiting for you to decide where you want it. I'm told you'll be doing a tow job in 2 days? Ship supply is own by the docks. there's a livery there where you can rent a cart, too, or just ahve your metal thing carry it, I guess. Shall we?"

He leads you to a small bird ship with the name "Ad Astra II" painted on it, then around tot he back of it where the cargo doors are rather unfortunately places. Coming out of them is a ladder. "She's all yours."

With everyone gathered, Captain Glass gives a summary of the results of many things that have happened during the week.
"Everyone, these two are our new crewmembers - Callvyn Arees and Klak-Nik," gesturing at the farmhand and insect respectively, " and they will be filling some needed roles we are lacking. As a group, it's also been decided to sell the extra Helm and split the proceeds." He hands each of the original members pouches containing their shares. "We've also made a excellent arrangement with the local merchant's company. We will be towing a company ship to Earth and Trident's landing field to get them into a trading relationship. For this towing service, they have equipped all rooms with the permanent flameless lights, worth a small chunk of change. We have two days more here in port until they are ready, so feel free to enjoy your earnings while we are here. let's get everything put away and then relax for a bit. "

Klak-Nik looked like more than just a giant insect. He seemed to be a whole hive of them actually. There were many more tiny, almost imperceptible, bugs flitting about him constantly. As his new captain introduced the Thri-Kreen to the crew the bug didn't even seem to be paying attention. Its head turned this way and that and antennae-like projections flicked about as low hum accompanied by clicking sounds projected from the creature. [Language unknown: "Ei str ugh, redhe, les toad an est ll. Teceil sipros, are ndck u. Sanwh saon. Essblelinher, has lothu, re hi nohi enctinany eau."] All of this strange sound was at the same time as Master Glass was talking to the others but when the speaking ceased there would be a mental knock in the captain's mind. "The Hive, Klak-Nik is happy to serve. How can I be helping on the ship? I have travelled before. I can help navigate or anything else you may need."

To each of the others a similar mental knock in their mind would be followed by the clear thought message of. "It will be a pleasure to work with you all. I am the Hive, Klak-Nik"

Brian arrives, carrying with her at least half a dozen vials she's been making for her break, her eyes look tired as she stared at the newest members,"Oh, we have a navigator? Wonderful, we seem to be at a loss sometimes when we travel to space, it is good to meet you Klack Nick." she says as she gives Glass the potions,"Good for healing, distribute however you wish captain." she says as she stares at the new ship with a name to respect it's predecessor. She's still miffed that their ship is gone, but this will do nicely.

Keira kept more than a respectful distance between herself and the Hive. She watched closely though to see if the smaller residents left their host significantly. "We got a number of ropes, grappling hooks, and some boarding pikes as those were lacking on our original vessel, a little over 170, I'm not gonna be too picky but the 170 would cover the pearl I hope to buy and may be the difference for the decanter. We will put the pikes on each side of the main deck and ropes not far from each ladder. But with another full day, I have a Giff to see about a weapon, a decanter of endless water, another pearl to get for identification purposes, and ideally a spell book to take notes on unique resources we come across though my parchment may hold for a while yet. I have so many ideas that I'm bursting and now I at least have a few bodies to work with."

She made a half bow to each of the new hires. "I'm Keira if you need anything fixed, or something made from wood or metal... Or some healing... Then I'm the lady you're looking for. Though much metalwork apparently doesn't go well in space. Cold work is alright though... Until I find an alternative."

With a gesture to her canine-headed humanoid defender, "This is Hund," and a tiny figure, not too different from a big dragonfly lifted off her back on glittering pearl wings, "and Koolu. Two coils at each ladder top, tied to railing is my plan, a boarding pike secured a few feet from each of the back ladder wells. If someone will go in on purchases with me to make sure I can get it all, I promise I'll buy them out next time we get paid if I don't have enough, and maybe we want some lumber for making shelves or boxes... I'm not sure how much the Giff weapon will cost but I trust valid spacer weapons are better than my Earthbound ones, maybe someone else can use it after I've studied it, even if I can't." She took another few moments to give Hund simple instruction. Hund being slowed by gear was still as good at covering ground than most folk, it took off up the ladder to get the goods to the deck. Koolu got more complex direction and would take some gear from Keira over the railing.

Ok, a quick ship tour. The default, Group 0, Map is the deck plan. It's the old one, must only two room s ahve been swapped, and the feather pant job ion hull and canvas are gone, although feel free to replace them  Sherm has laid claim to doing repaints.

Your current hull color is a basic brown.

Going up the ladder takes you into the Cargo hold. "Hatches" to the main deck have a ladder guilt into the inner hull for use when landed. The passageway forward has tow sconces for holding torches on either side. One is upside down and empty, one has a smokeless torch burning in it. Light is a bit dim buy the doors you're coming on board through.

The hallway gets by with torchlight from the cargo deck, dim at the far end. Three doors to starboard, two to port, and one at the end. Check the new key in the Ship thread.

Tentative sleep assignments were made so we didn't spend a week discussing it. That being said, let me know if there are changes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:36, Sun 23 Oct 2022.

Jediah steps up to the new crewmembers.
 "I am Jediah, the ship's cook.  If you have any special dietary requirements, I will apend the next two days trying to get a hold of what you need, he says.

Lyra arrived with a bag in one hand and a lantern in another. "Oh hullo! Captain , have you been picking up strays?" She said with a laugh. "Hullo to both of you! I'm Lyra phillips, chief of security. Welcome aboard."

In reply to Klak-Nik (msg # 3):

"Navigation is what we need, for certain, although our next course is known well. Thank you, Klak-Nik"

With regards to Keira's expenses, he pays her back 170 GP.
A day later, after the Helm sale, he provides the original crew with 830 GP each (Helm sale plus loot sale).

"Move and set up your gear in the assigned cabins, and stow anything loose. Remember, the lower deck will invert gravity when we leave Ceres. See you all in two days. Enjoy the profits from your hard work!" He says, as he heads to move his own gear and setup the Helm room.

Ayamba greeted Master Glass and the old crew. He looked at the two new crew members and nodded toward Callvyn, he appeared less welcoming toward Klak-Nik; maybe even repulsed.

"I am Ayamba. Good to meet both of you." He swallowed heavily a number of times. "No offense Klak-Nik, but speaking in my mind and all those crawling things on you and everything else is going to take time getting used to. So you stand there and I'll be standing right over here." He shuffled sideways.

"Apparently I am in charge of the ballista. So if you need any help with that let me know. And if we do get attacked make sure you get to your assigned crew spot so we can actually shoot properly."

"Keira, I didn't get half what you spoke about. Why do we have 170 boarding pikes and what are they?"

Klak-Nik hummed and clicked away with his mandibles as each of his new crew members reacted to him. Though the antennae seemed to rest at ease, he was used to various reactions at this point or oblivious. It was hard to tell. He did seem to key in on a few points of what the others were saying though the vast majority of it seemed to slip him by. The communication barrier was an evident hitch in the future of their work together but he seemed to get enough to make do.


Interestingly when he projected his thoughts to an individual it would seem possible to refuse to hear them if one so chose even though they took form in the language that was most comfortable to the receiver.

As it came time to start bringing things on board Klak-Nik lifted his pack and moved to find his 'quarters' though everyone would soon learn how little he planned to frequent them. Primarily his portion of the space would be unused except for storage. The Thri-Kreen lacked much clothing but had brought with a him a few small armaments and some tools that could be handy on a ship though clearly Kiera far and away surpassed anything he brought if through sheer numbers alone. Still his contribution included another 100ft of rope and his own grappling hook which was to be kept with him. The swarm occasionally would leave his person in handfuls at a time to grab something he wanted moved, acting as an extension of him, almost forming a something akin to a hand on occasion. That same swarm hand would attempt to approach the only other bug like creature here, the dragonfly.

More clicking, thrumming and shifting of antennae emitted from Klak-Nik again, this time giving the sense or impression perhaps of curiosity. [Language unknown: "Notblever ingivevor. Leion. Wil alles testi? El.. Si lewit ut be wasdinthi iomo m?"]

Keira responded to Ayamba, "Captain understood me. I got some supplies during our week to ensure we had more rope and hooks, even some halberds to help boarding or transferring salvage. I don't know so much about ships so my plan might not be the best place for things... But Master Glass had said we could be reimbursed for ship supplies we purchased."

Assuming Keira gets these interactions from Klick day one, she would try to respond with her mind but would also, ultimately feel better about communication aloud, "I had spoken with a giff smith about a better personal weapon. He said it was going to be expensive. I've been trained in most fighting weapons on my world as part of getting my Battle Smith certification. If I can study it, I may figure it out. If not maybe someone else can. I like tools of all sorts.

I constructed Hund and Koolu they are able to understand languages I'm trained in, but I don't expect they will respond to mind speak. If they do please let me know."

Koolu is solid... Something... At least the outer shell is metal. It would pay no particular attention to the 'bug hand'.

The time in the morning that she gets paid, would see her and her automatons headed to giff town, though if someone expressed interest in coming along she would wait a little. The magic mall curio shop would be her second stop.

Callvyn never thought he'd ever end up on one of these ships. Now, he's actually part of the crew. "Greetings. Glad to be of service." He says, doing his best to contain his excitement. He looks around, a little lost. "Uh, if someone could guide me around and show me what I need to do, that'd be great. I'm a little new at this."

"Callvyn, welcome aboard. Your primary task will be keeping our decks clean and items secured during travel, helping our cook out when needed, and training on and manning of the deck ballista during battle. As you learn more about this life, we'll give you duties that suit your skills, but we are a small vessel so there's not a lot of them. Oh, and also handling cargo when the time comes." Captain Glass answers him.
On the launch day, he oversees the hooking up of the tow ropes to the Dragonfly, the final check of secured gear, gets on to the forecastle and then calls out "All secure and ready to sail?" to the crew.

Everyone takes positions...presumably on the main deck to watch the show. And Brian sits down on the Helm...and starts attuning it again.

Attunement fades after 24 hours if the item is more than 100' away.  Which is both why she needs to attune it, and why it can be attuned. It's been 48 hours since it was dropped off. Something to keep in mind for later.

You folks have an hour to kill. Barring other instructions I'm going to assume Second Shift isn't going to lose anymore sleep over it.

Also, you neglected to get a tow rope. The Dragonly fly had one and used it, but the Giff doing the work looked underwhelmed at the necessity.

Take off in one hour, real time. Any final instructions?

Brian signals she's ready, Glass warns folks, Klak-Nik warns whoever he can see on the Dragonfly, and Brian powers up the helm.

A lot of crashing of objects is heard from the lower deck, and the folks down there get dumped from hammocks to the ceiling, or floor, or...well, it's floor now. The lower deck is upside down under power, and rooms are a mess. And Breakfast is all over the galley walls.

The atmosphere is 30 miles deep. That took 10 hours in the old ship. Here it will take less than 4.

Anything anyone wants to do while falling over the side has some element of danger to it?


OOC:
Without training in Vehicle(space) or special instructions, you folks are under prepared for the theory of an upside down deck, much less the reality of it. Klak-Nik is the only one who's gear was properly secured. But now you know.

Ayamba sets about tidying his bunk area and then gets stuck into using his newly purchased cleaning gear to put the mess area in good order. "What was that all about? How come we were all messed up and why didn't anyone tell us that was going to happen?" A grumpy start to the journey.

Klak-Nik for his part was also surprised at all the clattering objects in other rooms. Though not because he wasn't expecting the invert; rather, he was expecting the others to have properly prepared for it. Now they knew he supposed.

Once they were out of the atmosphere he would show the others means of storing and keeping gear in a manner that would be least impacted by future inversions. In the meantime he looked toward where they flew. Time to go back to wild-space.

In reply to Klak-Nik (msg # 18):

Tied against the wall. Around the middle for easy reaching with either floor plan. Well, either floor, anyhow.

Now someone move between decks for me....

Koolu simply caught flight in the time between the old floor and the new one.

Hund cannot be surprised and not having standard anatomy or human limits to range of motion meant that it looked freakish for a few moments but no one was looking to see it fold around, but low intelligence meant that it only put one arm across her middle clotheslining the poor girl since she had just laid down and fell up into the guardian's arm.

She got poured over by some gear she had previously stowed under her hammock... At least it kept her armor from hitting her too. She wished she hadn't second guessed getting netting though.

At least it was likely not happening in the middle of rest time. She was grateful she had gotten a chest. With so many hands and active instruction she came out of her cleaned up room to offer hands to help others and mend flesh or materials if any were damaged in the shift.

Brian sits upon her Helm seat comfortably,"... I'm going to have to ask the captain to give me a pay raise after this."

Callvyn runs down to check on his bag, only to find it thrown away from his assigned bunk He frowns and sighs, knowing he'll have to deal with it later. He's just glad he didn't start unpacking yet. They didn't really have the time to. He returns to the deck, shaking his head. "Apologies. I wasn't sure what that noise was. It's a disaster down there. Should I start taking care of it?"

In reply to Callvyn Arees (msg # 22):

Runs down? Oh no. Let us cover changing gravity orientations, just to underscore the joys of space for all you new folks.

Callvyn goes down the floor hatch feet first. Or, from the other side, Callvyn is climbing up out of the hatch feet first, feet and legs flailing around and falling over as the blood rushes to his...well not head but whatever part is actually in the hatch at the time. It's awkward, embarrassing, and kind of difficult.

But Klac-nik has a secret, which he shares. Kneel down and dive through head first. You are now pulling your self out of the hatch, as you would hope, and it's easier than climbing on a planet, as the reverse gravity on the other side does half the work for you, at least to start.

Just don't do it that way when you've landed.

OOC:
Best I could figure when trying to picture it. I'm going to blame this on the person who posted how interesting the dual gravity planes would be and got me thinking about it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:50, Tue 25 Oct 2022.

Callvyn rubs his temples as it feels like his movement is more like swimming than it does walking or even running. The sensation is one that he's ever experienced before, and it's almost scary. However, it's obvious that this is normal for new people, so it calms him, at least a little.

OK, folks, after a 4 hour flight straight up, you break free of Ceres atmosphere, and the stars quit twinkling and become steady. This puts you about 6 hours into your day between final arrangements with the tow vehicle, and the need to attune the Helm again.

It's been 13 days since you left earth. Nine of those days were spent on Ceres. Ceres and earth have both moved, but they are closer now, so the trip will be a few hours quicker.

Just over 2 days later (and only about half a day since you could call ambient light "bright" obscuring the stars) you take up Earth Orbit.

Two full days starting after Brian did a shift of take off, is Klac, Keira, Brian twice, leaving us with Kalc-nik or Glass to Land. (Brian is just off shift, Keira is mid sleep). It should be gentler now, as you are nearly 3 times as fast, but it's still nearly a full shift (about 7.5 hours).

Glass has received instructions to land in a field a couple miles North and West of the City, but you still need to find it.

Who's landing?

Klak-Nik, always ready to show his worth would offer to take the ship in for landing. He would remind everyone that once landing occured they would all need to be prepared for another inversion on what would once again be the lower deck. Secure everything you can or prepare for it all to be dumped once more.

Lyra went about the ship making things were secured. Starting with the Upper deck and moving from room to room and deck to deck she would make sure everything was stowed properly. After all she was chief of security.

Remember, half those rooms are private quarters. As with Keira, there just isn't room for a 3rd body. Which is why Keira has her own room, come to think on it.

And, truthfully, outside of the Galley mess, the biggest problem is that Ayamba's bottom bunk is now the top bunk and he can't reach it. Callvyn may be in for a surprise at the end of his shift. Or he may not notice.

Oh, and maybe a cargo deck mess. I forgot Ayamba's gift of cleaning supplies. Keira will need to make wall tiedowns for it all once she has the materials. The supply chests, too.

Upon reaching the edge of Earth's atmosphere, Captain Glass orders Klak-Nik, "Helm, Take us in and let's get to the surface intact." He then steps out onto the deck where people are on duty and adds "All crew, prepare for landing. Check your gear and all loose objects are secured underdeck, and ensure the lower deck crew are not going to be woken rudely when the gravity plane shifts!"

From his position at the helm Klak-Nik chittered away in what my be read as a sort of agitated state. [Language unknown: "Tiica actaee p pe e hienic se m. Mint ti ore urilen. Any all sspoeler aveti hi ainsheart."] Almost simultaneously a thought would land in Glass's mind sans the agitation, "Lots of surface. Lots of place to land. Where is the destination, best to know sooner rather than later landing in desert. This is new planet to me. Just guide me in. Can land then."

Glass directs the Helm where to head by marking landmarks and other noticeable signs to the landing field provided by Trident.

From orbit you can point him to the Mediterranean and to aim 100 miles west. It's going to need a lot of refinement over time. He's going to need a navigator this first trip.

Well, planetary landing is a bit tricky. Most planets are a lot bigger than Ceres. There is was a choice of landing you watercraft on the only body of water you could see from space, or not landing.

Earth has seven continents, six of them usable, and a LOT of water. Kalc-nik had probably never even seen it before, and, without a map, would need a guide. Thankfully Glass was handy.

First he had to figure out where Atlantis was. Easy enough (he WAS a navigator, after all): find where two continents come together with a buffer sea, the go west about a hundred miles.
then is was just a matter of heading down to that spot until you could see the island through the clouds and distance.

Finding an empty field in a countryside you've never visited would be a little trickier.  Somewhere north west of town less than a day's travel was kind of broad, but could have been worse.

You're not having much luck finding a field, but there is that odd mountain in about the right spot. Two ridges forming a perfect "X". Each side of the perfect square they would make is 150'.

Glass indicates the spot that seems most likely, directing Klak-Nik to hover over there as he looks for ground crew.

As directed, Klak-Nik hovers the ship instead of landing. His concentration after the near 8 hours into the landing seems strained but not enough to keep his thoughts from interjecting into the Captain's mind. "This seems. Irregular. Do you usually have no idea where you are landing ahead of time? We need to work on this. Wait to long and I will be putting it down. We can always move again if we need it."

Answering in voice, Glass says "If we don't see anyone in the next few minutes, put her down. This landing field IS new to me, and the short messages we are able to send and receive are not conducive to details."

And which place seems most likely? Serious question.

OOC The 150' square, far enough forward that the towed ship also has a landing spot. If no one shows up, Glass with use the Sending Stone to get a more accurate location.

Got it, a mountain landing.

Except the mountain retreats from you as you come down, and you find yourself in the middle of a field. One a bit larger than the 150' of the mountain that was in the middle of it. You've landed.

There are other folks under the tree line, as well as a Coach and horses.



OOC:
Best I could come up with for a signal of where to land was Hallucinatory Terrain. Lower levels were too small, and higher levels more than I wanted to establish for a hired mage.

And, of course, your lower deck has changed around again.

Jediah makes sure that utensils and food stocks are secured now that he knows gravity shifts.  No one wants to be stabbed by falling cutlery.  Upon landing, he gathers his gear and heads for the nearest porthole.

Keira wakes with a few moments of panic as she impacts the hammock and some of her belongings impact their new floor. It wasn't a common occurrence yet but this was far better than hitting the floor. With two assistants her morning preparation went by swiftly and she was ready to perform turnover. Hund carried her old weapons and the saddle bags.

She held her book of drawings plainly in her more recently tattooed hand, "Captain, are ship's duties on hold for shore? I'd like to shift my enhancement from the ballista to this giff bullet thrower... I can use it! There are a few problems with extended use though and I want to make a detailed study of it. I have more ideas for the ship too... When you have a bit of time. Did you want to sleep?"

She also would regard Klak-Nik a bit closer to regard the insectoid anatomy and whether a pack or saddlebags would best suit their companion.

Callvyn approaches one of the more experienced crew, "Now that we're landed, should we figure out a way to keep our cargo from shifting, as well as our personal items? I'm sure it's going to be a mess down there."

It had been an odd experience, thinking one was landing and then the land becoming something different entirely. But then again there was more space than originally expected so it has been nice not have to worry about perfectly parking. Klak-Nik winced at the sounds of a few upturned people's and belongings at inversion but it didn't seem so bad as last time. Good they were learning.

As the others started getting ready to alight from the ship, Klak-Nik waited at the helm. He was cittering away again and waving his antennae about in his natural form of communicating. [Language unknown: "Etit ur k essresstr, satiweil ndfingwe ers? Aciopo but of ecwisi, estsonith anna ules er erho butantive. Nce er hiatlo laanha."]

Projecting himself about the ship until he could see what all was waiting for them he then projected to where he could see Glass. "The hive is wondering if we will be expected or accepted here. If we need to remain on board we can do that. Would like to see some of this world. Very curious about it."

Well, for perspective on that: it's a couple of Hippomen that come out from the Damselfly to decouple the ships.Or, to put It another way, Atlantis and Egypt are enemy states, more or less, and a couple of people that look like Egyptian gods are wandering around the new ship.

The 2 Giff are joined by a human and a 12 foot tall blue giant once the ships are separated and the tow rock reclaimed.

There ARE crew left behind on the Damselfly.

The Giant and his entourage are approached by a coupl of people from the area of the coach, while one approaches the Shrike.

In reply to Klak-Nik (msg # 43):

Mentally, Captain Glass answers back, "Your species isn't wide spread here, so let me inform the contacts and then you can come and take a look."
Glass goes down to meet the representative on the field. "Morning? Or evening? Hard to tell these days with space not having a time cycle and all that. Our only cargo is the trader group we told you about, but I do have a couple of new crew who've never been to Earth before. One of them is an insectoid, so he may draw some stares or worse if that's an issue. Can they take a tour of the city before we depart again? Also, we could use some cargo of unusual objects for our next stop, which will be Mars. We've been told it's a martial planet, so military gear would probably sell well."

Struck out by DM to remind Klak-Nik that he didn't hear it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:52, Thu 27 Oct 2022.

The man, dressed in what passes for Business Finery on Atlantis looks puzzled, "I'm afraid there has been a misunderstanding, I'm here to collect your communication stone."

Curious himself, Glass passes over the Stone. "Oh? Are we getting an upgrade?" He asks.

The man looks even more puzzled, "No. You've completed your contract. You no longer work for us."

Captain Glass is stunned by this announcement, saying "But, but I've ALWAYS worked for Trident! You just mean this particular contract right? Not my career in the Company? There's cargo trade possibilities out there! I can make amazing inroads in new markets!"

Keira was a little offended at Glass moving off through the ship, "Klack-nik, do you fit saddle bags or a backpack easier? Hund was nearly canine in shape when we started, I adjusted that since we had ladders even on our first ship. Now I find myself in possession of extra saddlebags that he won't fit into anymore. Koolu is too small for them. Are you familiar with the operation of a crossbow? Those Captain didn't say anything I'm going to transfer my enhancement back from the ballista onto my personal weapon.

Oh, Callvyn, my trusty old mace is also available. I'll get those weapons if you all want them from my trunk as well as the saddlebags once I transfer this enchantment."

He looks at you with a bit of pity, "Poseidon is our Patron. You have gone as far in the company as you could, and, frankly, we don't want your...connections, involved in the next stages of our current ventures.

"You and your people have been well paid for less than a month's work: Room and board, and, if you were able to get a decent price for the ship we gave you, 125 gold or more each. We consider all contracts fulfilled. We would appreciate your absence by dawn. A giant wooden bird would be hard to explain. Ever since Troy such things have been considered bad omens."

Glass is stunned speechless for a minute, unable to consider life without being part of the Company, and the dismissal and insistence to leave quickly - almost an exile! - disturbs him even more. "Uhh, very well, if that's what's needed." He says uncertainly, heading back to his ship. Once back aboard, he's visibly shaken, grabbing the railing firmly and thinking hard.

Klak-Nik was focused on watching Glass' interaction on the ground from the helm when his focus was broken by Keira's question. His immediate response was of course in his own language which as always came across as lots of antennae motion and mandible clicking. [Language unknown: "Poioof? Constimenounest? Elpro sonit preectard Te u lo icaoerear la hersetwhe? An isst os Rose werni hi fofo ofunwh pl rifoen osnce caain. Cengpe ome wa no ar n masaus...."]

The apparently agitated words were quickly followed though by a calm thought projection.

After a moment's pause and projecting ones self to a point on the ship where observation of the captain could continue, Klak-Nik would project himself about the ship finding each member of the crew and thought message to everyone something along the lines of "The captain seems disturbed. Prepare for bad news. Maybe someone down there to back him up."

In reply to Klak-Nik (msg # 53):

If you've landed, you're likely not powering the Helm, hence you aren't benefiting from it.

If you ARE powering, physics gets twisted, and I need to know.

For one thing, Glass won't be able to disembark. Well, not without climbing up to the bottom, climbing the leg, and holding on the the "sky" for dear life until he's out of range.

And what happens to anyone who walks too close will be entertaining, as well.

The issues come in when someone jumps or flies while in overlapping gravities. The local wild life might be bothered, but probably that's it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:54, Thu 27 Oct 2022.

"Indeed. I will go see what's up!" Lyra said. She walked over to the Captain to see what was going on, "Captain, what's the situation?" she asked.

Keira frowned as she transferred the repeating shot infusion to her pistol. She was crossing the deck to go back and answer Klak face to face, "Koolu, go back to my room and bring my crossbow from the chest to Klack-Nik, it will be Klack's should they want it. If they leave it for greater than twelve seconds leave it with Callvyn, then return to me." It was a light crossbow, but not small in size particularly, if someone new could use it, that was better than taking it to town to sell it.

Keira passed the two officers and assumed she would be told if there was a problem they thought she might help with. She continued on to the helm space.

"Klak, I'll do what I can to help any of our crew improve in weapons and armors but until we have a way to do that in space and gain resources to work with... I'm somewhat limited. I'm just offering my old gear because I have improved my situation through salvage funds."

Bit more involved than that. You're on the ship, he isn't. It will take a couple of rounds, including ladder time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:26, Fri 28 Oct 2022.

Again, infusions done first thing after a long rest. If you're in another room chatting with Klak-nik, it'll be tomorrow before you can make the change. Shouldn't matter as I dont' expect combat before then. Also it's best to post such things to me before hand so timing can be dealt with, rather than posting them as an afterthought during another situation. Especially when such things are timing sensitive. That's why I give a long (1-2 day usually), break between updates. Please use THAT time for spell and infusion changes.



Which two officers? And you are leaving the Helm space if you were just talking the Klak-Nik, and he's still on the Helm.

After a bit, Captain Glass somberly heads back onto the main deck, sighing. "All right, people, I've got news. Not sure if it's all that good, but it's news."
Once the crew is gathered, he makes his announcement. "We've been released from our contracts. As far as Trident is concerned, we've filled our duties, and they...want us gone by dawn. Our payment is our shares in the sales we did. Anyone who wants to stay on Earth is welcome to do so, but the impression I get is you'd be on your own. Those that stay with our ship - we'll need to discuss plans." His somber attitude shows he is deeply troubled by this life change.

"Released from our contract? Interesting. And what of this ship? Do we get to keep it? I think we should take it anyway."

He rubbed his chin in thought. "Anyone get a look at the crew on the other ship. Bunch of Egyptian god puppets if you ask me. Seen many statues like them when I was there. Not far from what their crew is looking like. Did we approach them Master Glass or did they approach us first? Gotta wonder about that surely?

"Any idea whether tossing us aside was originally planned or have we been set aside? And why would they want us gone so quick? I say take the ship. Find another port. Stock up and go trading ourselves. What was the original plan? Mars? Let's do that then."

Glass answers "The ship is ours, and all the gold and loot we've acquired in our short adventure. The hippo-like beings are called the 'Giff' and are a very well-known species in space. The blue being is a Mercane, one of the traders in magic that Trident," He pauses here for a moment, "Will be contracting with from now on. We are not needed."
"The tossing aside part - I have no idea. None! I've spent my entire life working in the Company, for the Company, and I thought my future was going to be forever WITH the Company! They've abandoned me utterly with this, this uncaring SEVERANCE! They were my HOME!" He says, getting louder and upset in his grief.

Some things to keep in mid, at least some of which would occur to anyone with the Merchant backgroud, and other bits to individuals:

-The Helm is Brian's. She furnished the material component that is most of the cost, and the knowledge to make it. The Wizard that made it was paid with a new spell in his book that no one else on the planet had, and that gave him a (short lived, as it turns out) monopoly.
-The Orrery is Brian's
-The ship was bought with salvage by the crew. It's yours outright.
-The first ship was sold on their instruction

All that Trident can claim is the Hotplate and some basic tools and food supplies.

You were under an open ended ("plausible deniability") contract. You worked for them with just one specific duty, which was find a source Orrerys. And that was verbal.

They have no real hold on you anymore, even on paper. Now they have no responsibility of you do something embarrassing.

And now you can do what you want, and have a well supplied start.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:49, Fri 28 Oct 2022.

"Oooh, are we looking at crushing them at their own game or just crushing them? We know some pretty big rocks from near Ceres... I only ever had teachers, this ship has seen my most brilliant works. The crew, my closest to family. Sad as that may be. I'm all in with the Ad Astra."

Keira turns to Brian, "Can you help me understand the construction of the Helm? I don't want to go into making them just yet, it is just that while I can infuse two objects at any time and tinker magic another three... I want to explore and then maybe retire to teach magical crafting to some apprentice of my own."

"I'm sorry about that Captain. I'll stick with you and the crew! So we ened to figure out what now? Perhaps we can hire on with someone else?" Lyra asked.

"We do not need anyone else. This is our own task now. I was thinking we were being taken, but now it seems clear we have an opportunity for anything we choose. Now I understand why my ancestors led me here. We are traders and explorers now. Master Glass where are we headed?"

"I haven't had astral fish in some time. We could sail the astral sea and find so many other wild-spaces to explore. But be warned if we do leave this space there are dangers out there that... That I fear to ever encounter again..." This was projected to each of the crew members in turn with some small variations between each although, recalling Ayamba's hesitancy to receive such messages he was left out of the communique.

Glass tries to shake off his morose mental state and says "This is Earth. I don't know if it's the most populated and feature-rich planet in our system, but it's the one I know best. We will find another port of call - Paris perhaps, or London - and arrange a peaceful landing and resupply. We each have gold to spare for simple things, so let's play tourist for a bit and then get back out into space. Maybe there's another Company out there wanting new markets, as well. Let's get back into the air and pick a city!"

"Lyra, how would your people react to a flying ship? I am thinking we should not be landing and flying in plain sight. If we land away from a city and walk in surely that would attract less attention of the wrong sort."

".... To make my statement clear, I have no desire to return to Earth. This unexplored and vast universe is a place where I can be truly free, that's what I believe. So, my statement for you is that I'm remaining with all of you in your ventures." Brian say, then turns her head toward Keira,"Oh, so someone wishes to know my secrets now. Well, I don't mind sharing it to you. The process is quite long though and materials quite rare and expensive, so making a helm will take time... Hmm, but considering where we are, it might be done in a week. Either way, allow me to teach you the basics." she says, dragging you along so she could talk your ear off with her discoveries.

Keira smiled brightly and unless Brian makes it clear she is not a hugger, there will be one. "If we are to go up, I'm on helm duty... But I have a whole blank book and infinite ink to spend as soon as we have time!"

She gives up on her thought of giving away her unnecessary weapons just yet. Nor is she upset about not shifting the rapid shot enhancement.

The young man frowns at the captain's words, but doesn't really understand the gravity of the situation. They were fired, for all intents and purposes. He shrugs, "I joined the crew to explore. To be dropped off here would be disappointing. I am here to help. I'm not giving up on my dreams yet."

"If no one here wants to stay on earth, then let's life NOW, and screw them and their stupidity, tossing me aside like a tool when I can still do SO much for them!" Glass says angrily, stomping towards the Helm. "Who's on Helm, now? Klak-nik has done more than their fair share of flying for us. Get us aloft and we'll pick a city to land near and stock up on supplies and cargo! Also, I'd like to leave the name behind, as well, so let's think about THAT as well."

"That's me bo- I just realized I don't know your full name. You've been captain and boss- probably will continue to be for convenience sake but... something I thought about. Guess it doesn't matter yet!" Keira moved to the helm. It would only take a bit of time to attune from scratch and even more likely would be Klack coming to transfer attunement. Either way they would be up within a little while. She wasn't sure what to do after that though. "Cargo..." she said slowly.

"Koolu get a blank parchment out for me and bring it over," it wouldn't be as efficient as Klack's mindspeak but it was a way she could send messages to folks from the helm.

In reply to Keira Mordewald (msg # 73):

He's still trying to open your cabin door and get the crossbow out of the locked chest he doesn't have the key to.

Edit: Also, if you're going to be Attuning, you're not going to be able to do paper work, write letters, etc.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:12, Sun 30 Oct 2022.

In reply to Ayamba (msg # 68):

"Oh I rather think it'd be alright! Flying ships are not unusual at all in jolly old London! We do pride ourselves ourselves on making visitors feel safe. My family is quite influential and they will make extra sure we are kept safe and happy!" Lyra replied.

Hearing Lyra, Glass says "Then let's make London our first stop before the rest of the Solar System. With your family's connections and influence, maybe THEY want to get in on this venture and provide base cargo for us to trade with. I would not be sorry to set up a better equipped rival trading company to Trident and their callous disregard. Weapons to Mars seems the only firm answer we've had so far, and if we have someone who speaks hobgoblin that'd be a plus."
To Keira, he remarks, "I'm sure I said my full name at some point, but I am Eresh."

"Eresh Glass? What a strange name." Brian says, then stretches her back a bit,"Anyways, I guess we could head to London to gather resources. Call me if theirs a situation." she says, heading to her bed.

"Perhaps a listing of foodstuffs that each of us likes, or, rather, dislikes, would be useful for future provisioning," Jediah suggests.  "And, perhaps, we could have a pantry designed so that magics prevent such as to prevent any further spoilage of perishable things.  I am however sure that its possible to wait until such time as we have earned such a luxury."

As the others discussed their next course of actions Klak-Nik, as always, chittered away to himself and his hive about whatever it was he always talked to himself about, antennae waving this way and that. [Language unknown: "N buteenhou onin acoflo ard i wari el aind ckith meres laisel be mius rise pl mongre enomou instr. asvir t ithiofwh leev us usomit. Hopoar wi illun re atfolo pr sithev peusis. Essa e hasa. Roni seni temall meis mo roplwh iv staha on ev ss k ndrina nidin. M nteri les ame ieul witithnde? M set ev allad eraek p atpre ughpropro? Ntosek N hapoof rutwitpre uril un. Was ta ourho strarttha? U caenee. Whth osalie menet alcom hou itisin asica hetrss ta ounonsres ort ecouom le osfoleio bean dayamepro ncie."]

As discussion turned to Mars and hobgoblin and future trade ventures Klak-Nik keyed back in to the conversation and offered his thoughts to those present. "The Hive can speak to any speaking creature like this but understanding others is not always the case. There are many good destinations out there in this system. The asteroid belt has three places I know. Ceres, Fred's and  Barney's. They have ports and farms and towns that may have needs but not always easiest to find. The elves have the planet Venus and all it's wood, also spices good for getting to those without spices. Imperial ship military is there though. There is always the sun of Jupiter and it's own system of planets or even the darker planets beyond. I do not know as much about their needs and trade as would be helpful but I am for becoming whatever vengeance you wish. If attacking other ships becomes part of our travels well... It is possible but comes with it's dangers. There is also those places beyond this system the Astral Sea holds its own wonders. It is something wonderful and dangerous... I have not seen it in long time."

In reply to Master Glass (msg # 76):

"I dare say they would! Father is laways looking for a good business venture and if I speak to him on your behalf, I think I could convince him to join up as it were!" Lyra said with a smile.

In reply to Glass Keira offers, "Would you send Klak in to transfer control? It would be much faster than me completely attuning anew and when we are in space after I've rested I have some ideas about netting the legs that would let us finish loading things off world but still not be overly burdened getting things up with us. I have some questions for the Hive about our ship and gravity... I was well learned for craftsfolk on our world... But that is all medium sized fish in a bucket compared to the ocean now..."

OK, after a bit Keira gets her mind settled and actually focuses on attuning the Helm, and, eventually, you folks take off. The usual 7 and a half hours to get into orbit.

And then its time from Brian to take the Helm.

England is about 1150 miles away (on the surface, a bit more 60 miles up). At 190ish miles per day it's about 6 days, give or take, to get over England.

If you have another destination, now is the time to tell me, if not, I need some idea of a landing zone.

OOC:
1151 miles from the Straits of Gibraltor
192 miles per day for speed
5.994 days total travel time

In reply to DM (msg # 82):

maybe london airfield! I think that would be a nice place to set down.

In reply to Lyra Phillips (msg # 83):

I'm not sure what picture you have of England in this setting, but there is no such place. Think Arthurian.

If Lyra is awake Keira would ask her, "Might your family have lands that we could put down on?"

She would also offer to Glass, if she could find him before she needed sleep, "Perhaps my credentials as a tinker and a wondrous new device to show, could inspire some investors or wealthy tourists to pay for some trips to space to see our world in a different perspective. I'd be careful not to say I made it...

They pay for meals and some deck space or extra for use of a room... I can move my belongings to the cargo hold for a little while and move some of the existing cargo around to provide some modicum of privacy and if anyone tries anything untoward then I have sleepless sentinels as opposed to roommates who require rest.  I'll give instruction to not inflict lethal wounds and we should be okay. Is it too ambitious for getting us some start up funds rather than promising a cut or repayment to investors?

I was also thinking that if they are a world of warlike peoples they would likely make better weapons than us already. Comfort, food, and style would be what they likely have a hard time with. We want to sell luxury because that is where value is. It means different things to different people. There were compendiums at Ceres that would help us figure out more but they were terribly expensive."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:47, Wed 02 Nov 2022.

Glass says to Lyra, when opportunity presents itself "What landmark should we navigate for, to get you near your family grounds? We can come in all peaceful and such, a goodly distance from any building."
To Keira: "It's not a bad idea, but as tour guides we would be nearly as ignorant as our passengers. Maybe once we've travelled and seen exactly what's out there we could offer that service.
           A world at war might make better weapons, certainly, but they might also be consuming the weapons faster than they can produce. Or maybe raw materials or healing salves would be more profitable."

"And rations," Jediah mentions.  "An army must eat in order to march and to fight.

Callvyn watches the conversation quietly as he ensures everything is secure as they travel to this "London" place.

Keira suggests, "I was thinking we might just do day trips to better see the stars and lands of our own world. Not show them to Ceres or Mercury.

We have a bit of a problem with loading significant goods planet side. I'm not sure but maybe if we put a kind of netting in two heights between the legs we could use it as a loading area on land, then transfer goods from those nets once we are outside the planet's grip. Assuming we are going to be loading and unloading relating to planets a lot in the future. I'm not very ship savvy yet but the rigging I've seen on some sailed ships might be ideal to raise and lower nets for that purpose."

Glass nods "Yes, I can see that this ship design isn't really suited for ground loading. What about loading at height for regular shipments? The ship doesn't touch down, just hovers against a warehouse second or third floor, and we load from there? Or, if we have to offload at an unserviced location, we have a platform that we put a bit of magic on it. I have a spell that creates a floating disk and it can hold 500 pounds at a time. We could experiment with making that work, as the mass of the cargo wouldn't actually rest on the platform, so the hoist wouldn't need to be all that strong. Understand, I am eager to oust Trident at their own business, so we should invest accordingly. A regular shipping spot, built to work with our systems and unusual gravity plane, would make our efforts that much more effective."

Well, either the calculations were off or Brian wavered when flying back ... or just really doesn't want to go to England. She IS Irish, after all.

The miss wasn't by much and correctable going down, but it adds an hour to the landing (which happens at an angle) adding distance.

As Brian buzzes the city coming down, you're missed by a couple of fireballs. Unable to find a moat, she heads for the countryside, and settles for a small farm and it's barn, which she settles down next to.

OOC: I'll need 2 Con saves from Brian for two hours of Forced March before the fun starts (one hours extra landing time, and about that getting out of town and away from the fireballs). Well, before her part starts. The rest of you feel free to do whatever it is you were going to do in the London area.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 18:49, Thu 03 Nov 2022.

Keira wrinkled her face as she looked at some drawings of their ship in her book, "A planet isn't ideal then. I think someone said something about docks on asteroids. Stronger magics make everything easier... Levitating a platform would make the job easy... If we had the magic for it. I'm happy to work with you on mundane or magical solutions.

If your disc can't follow up ladders... Can it go up stairs? With some poundage of lumber I can make a set of stairs. With pulleys and line or chains I can maybe rig it to deploy easily using the tail support ribbing but that might have to be reinforced. Koolu can carry items all night and day as long as they are near fifty pounds or so no matter her shape. Hund is much better at lifting but I have less control over the form that Hund takes so going up a ladder with hands occupied is complicated... I bet Koolu could help Hund out if I reworked the homunculus' shape a bit." A few blank pages were turned and pictures of statues, chests, and varied insects for which the resident Hive was an excellent source for models became apparent. She was not a masterful artist but she could put ideas down... The enchanted tattoo let her not have to carry an inkwell and quill all of the time. She considered it a worthwhile investment.

"Damn Brits and their friggin air zone laws." Brian grumbles to herself as she dodge and weaves through volleys of fireball. It took her a couple of hours until she finally makes a landing to a safe zone where their not being bombarded with spells. The Irish woman takes off her Helm and gives out an exhausted sigh,"Urgh, this is why I never want to visit England. Why did we come here again?" she asked Glass, feeling like death.

"Go sleep. That was well done." Glass says to Brian. "We'll make arrangements for cargo and such. If things work out, after you've rested we may be able to have some shore leave." After the Helm has been passed on, he gathers the awake people in the Helm room. "Our first order of business is to make contact with Lyra's family. What would be the best way to do that, Lyra?"

"Would you like me to remain at the helm in case we have to leave quickly and avoid more fireballs?"

"Yes, please. " Glass asks verbally, "We're a goodly distance from any likely attacks, but that doesn't mean some intrepid - but stupid - adventurers won't consider us some kind of challenge. I'll also remain on board in case I need to make a big sign or something to let them know we're no enemy." Considering the difficulties he had before, Glass will practice his backwards illusion messages so he doesn't make a spelling mistake that causes issues.

Well, as you seem inclined to stay in place, let's get to it.

About an hour after you land, still no farmers, but the knights have arrived. Four of them in full plate mail and on horses in full plate barding. The come with entourages: about a dozen assorted followers on foot or riding horse  Oh, and the obligatory Wise Old Man with staff and robes. He'd be horsed, too.

And the lances. Don't forget the lances.

Welcome to England.

Checking himself over to look presentable, Glass climbs down the ladder to the ground to meet with the group. "Good day! I'm trader Glass of the Tri...Spelljammer Ad Astra. May I assume you represent the local authority here?"

OOC I assume somewhere along the line Lyra told us her family name?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:24, Fri 04 Nov 2022.

Four lances drop and point at Glass. The wizard rides forward a bit, eyeing the ship, "So, not a dragon or a roc. Just an enchanted artificial bird of prey coming for London. What would you have of us, Sorcerer....or is it Warlock? What foul magics do you use?" And now the staff lowers.

OOC:
Not that I recall. But she calls herself Lyra Phillips, if that helps. It probably just means Dad's name is Phillip.

Keeping his hands down by his side, Glass answers simply, "I would trade with you. We aren't coming for London or anything of the sort. We are traders, buying cargo in friendly ports and selling in other ports. We actually have a member of a local noble family aboard who wishes to make contact with their estate here, to help us set up a regular stop. Lyra Phillips?" He looks up to see if she's visible, then looks back. "I, myself, was born in Athens, and our company mostly met in Atlantis. We've also a couple of people we've picked up from a planetoid out in space. Our intentions are nothing but peaceful commerce." He adds with a friendly smile.

The lances stay level, as does the staff, "An odd way to show it, diving towards the heart of the City."

OOC:
I'll pause here and wait for Lyra.

Ayamba remained on the main deck of the ship and watched the interaction. He waved and smiled at anyone that looked his way.

Jediah steps to the side of the ship.  "Why not invite them aboard, give them a tour, to show we mean no harm," he calls out in his Atlantean accent.  "I'll prepare a bit of dinner."

Glass looks abashed at that. "That, I'm afraid, was a pilot error. Due to the nature of the magics involved in these crafts, we can't change pilots in midflight, and to come from beyond the edges of Earth's gravity takes hours of constant concentration. Our pilot was exhausted as we approached and went left when they should have gone right. My sincere apologies for the fright."

"You told me to go to London, then put the blame on me." Brian says to herself, in her room. Clearly the two hour flight of stress and anxiety has fog her mind,"Damn Brits and their Merlins." she says, before spitting at someone's bed, probably hers.

Well,  Lyra isn't on deck, and it's her sleep shift, so maybe she's sleeping through all the fun. Proceed without her for now.

Glass waits for Lyra to appear and, when she doesn't, says "I'm sorry, she's sleeping at the moment, but once she awakes we'll begin to make contact. Unless you know of the estate I'm speaking of? Either way, we are simply traders and will be moving to her estate to establish a space port there." He then gestures openly at the ship, "You are more than welcome to come aboard and see her and our ship. Perhaps a tour to show our innocence?"

Watching from the helm as he was Klak-Nik would send a message to Master Glass if, or as soon as, he was in range again. "Do not forget to warn them of my presence. They seemed jumpy about the ship, I can only imagine their reaction to me if not warned. Would you like me to try and wake Lyra?"

One of the Knights answers, "There is no Phillips estate, nor Noble family with that name." If he is a knight, he'd know. The take their Heraldry seriously.

Ayamba walked over to Jed. "I have a feeling one of two things will happen. One. We reveal too much and they decide to take our ship from us, because they can and have their own ambitions. Two. We discover they are our new sponsor or imposed partner as rival to the Atlantean Trident Company. I doubt they will let us on our way without some sort of profit taking. This whole thing makes me concerned. Our arrival should not have been so announced."

Callvyn eyes the Britons carefully. He finds it odd that they have no idea about Spelljamming. How could they not? These ships were pretty prolific on his backwater asteroid. How could they not on this planet?

"That...complicates things for sure. Maybe if I tell you our plans, you could help. We are free traders, mainly from Atlantis. We are a varied group of beings, of various species. We want to start moving cargo from Earth to other places in our Solar System for a profit. There are civilizations on Mars, Venus, around Jupiter and many other places that would value unique merchandise from here. We want to come to an agreement with some trading house or other to regularly buy and sell cargos of value, back and forth. The Trident trading company out of Atlantis is already trying to make some inroads to the same e ds - I want to compete well enough to put them at a severe disadvantage, if not drive them out of the market completely.
If you could put us in touch with a possibly interested group or Lord, we can take the steps from there." Glass offers.

They look offended, even the wizard, who answers, "We are NOBLES. We don't engage in...commerce."

In reply to DM (msg # 113):

"Then by all means don't let me keep you any longer. Put us in contact with a local merchant of some renown and we'll proceed from there." Glass adds.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:09, Tue 08 Nov 2022.

The sagging lances all perk up and level again. The wizard speaks, "You claim to be foreign, yet feel the right to give us orders in our own country. Perhaps you should explain why to the King. Summon your crew. You're all under arrest as potential enemy combatants."

Klak-Nik diverted his attention from the captain briefly to make the rounds and alert anyone currently awake. "Trouble brewing, may need to take off quickly if captain needs it. Be prepared for countermeasures. Someone may need to pull the captain up if he starts climbing to hasten the ascent."

To Captain Glass he would project himself. "Do we need to get out of here? That wizardly one seems the sort to throw more fire at us. If we are not careful. If you turn and run we are getting out of here."

If Captain Glass made any move that looked like sudden retreat from the situation the Thri-Kreen was ready to blast out of there as soon as Glass was on board.

"Well now. Looks like option one."

Ayamba called down to Glass. "Is there a problem Captain?"

Jediah steps away from the gunwale, choosing to head for his bunk to grap his light crossbow and bolts.  Just in case.....

Ayamba looked at Jed. “Where are you going. Are we heading down to take them? Could be risky don’t you think?”

Captain Glass pointedly looks and calls back up, "Not yet, but we aren't getting the welcome we were hoping for." watching for the Wizard and his knights to also look up at the crew many feet above them all, he surreptitiously casts a spell, putting a 15' high opaque wall in front of himself, then summons forth his angelic side, spectral wings giving him flight. From behind the obscuring wall, he flies up, saying "We'll come back when you see value in a relationship!" and ducks into the cargo hold of his ship and calls out to the crew "We can leave now! They're not selling anything we want to buy!"

OOC Silent Image of a wall, Bonus Action to sprout the wings, then movement to fly into full cover in the ship. At least, that's the plan.

In reply to Master Glass (msg # 120):

Well, not being a sorcerer, you can't actually conceal the casting, but I'll give you a surprise round.

After that we are in combat.

I'll need initiative rolls and combat actions from everyone sent to your private threads. Please don't use this IC thread until combat is over. I'll string together everyone's actions and post what happened during the round. Feel free to include conditionals if you have them

And off we go.

Klak-nik sits on the helm, monitoring things remotely.

Jed heads for the lower deck to get his weapons out of the Galley.

Keira sleep in her hammock

Glass flies for the open cargo doors, his 'wall' blocking him from view.

Klak-nik takes the ship straight up 70' and still going

Jeb bounces off the old ceiling, which is now the floor.

Keira falls out of bed lanidng next to the heap hat is Hund, where it fell. At least she's awake now.

Glass needs to make a Dex save to see if he corrected before landing or got pulled askew by shifting gravity.

Your ladder falls away behind you. It WAS leaning on the open cargo floor allowing access in and out of the ship, after all.

Brian sleeps in the ship's only actual bed.

Callvyn and Aymaba are on the main deck and fine, Lyra is probably in her and Brian's room, and so, also fine.

The wizard gestures and ice chunks start falling on the main deck.

Status:
Glass, Callvyn and Ayamba all owe me Dex saves.

Keira, Jed, and Glass are all on the lower deck, which is now reversed.

Keira is not in armor or armed, and is prone.

The main deck is difficult terrain for round 2.

Damage taken:
Ayamba:
Brian:
Callvyn:
Jediah:
Keira:
Klik-Nic:
Lyra:
Glass:


Resources used:
Ayamba:
Brian:   -1 2nd level slot
Callvyn:
Jediah:
Keira:
Klic-Nic:
Lyra:
Glass:
Ship: -1 ladder

Initiatives:

21 Klak-Nik
11 Jed
10 Knights
 9 Keira
 6 Glass
 4 Brian
 3 Wizard

Still pending:
Lyra
Ayamba
Callvyn

Round 1 continued:
The Ice storm damage from round 1 is a base of 11 cold and 8 bludgeon. 19 total on a failed save.

Both Callvyn and Ayamba failed their saves.

Round 2:

Klak-Nik: flies up, pushing himself for twice the usual movement. Height from ground is now 210'.

Ayamba: doesn't do anything but shiver a bit. Ballistas don't point down.

Jed: makes it into the galley and gets his crossbow. He can head for the ladder next round.

The knights kind of sit there on their horses looking up.

Kiera gets up, digs out her thief tools, and open her door.

Callvyn shivers next to Ayamba

Glass crawls out form the lower deck, and partially heals one of the two blue-ish crew, Calvyn (Random roll) n a bit of light from the sky.

Brian sleeps the sleep of the exhausted.

The wizard...well, no wall, now, so he can go with direct fire. As in Fireball? No, you're out of range for everything he's packing except...Ice Storm.

Status:
Glass, Callvyn and Ayamba all owe me Dex saves, again. Another Ice Storm

Keira, and are on the lower deck, prretty much opposite each other and leaving their rooms next round for the hatches to the main deck.

Keira is not in armor or armed, but she's ready for lock...or spellcasting.

The main deck is difficult terrain for round 3. Again, another Ice Storm.


Damage taken:
Ayamba:  -19
Brian:
Callvyn:  -11
Jediah:
Keira:
Klik-Nic:
Glass:

Resources used:
Ayamba:
Brian:   -1 2nd level slot
Callvyn:
Jediah:
Keira:
Klic-Nic:
Lyra:
Glass:  -2HL dice
Ship: -1 ladder

Initiatives:
21 Klak-Nik
20 Ayamba
11 Jed
10 Knights
 9 Keira
 9 Callvyn
 6 Glass
 4 Brian
 3 Wizard

Round 2 continued:
The Ice storm damage from round 2 is a base of 14 cold and 11 bludgeon. 25 total on a failed save.

Everyone failed their saves.

Round 3:

Klak-Nik: flies up, pushing himself for twice the usual movement. Height from ground is now 350'.

Ayamba: is making death saves

Jed: makes it to the ladder Keira isn't blocking

The knights kind of sit there on their horses looking up.

Kiera makes it to a ladder and stops while her defender walks around in the very small hold.

Callvynis making death saves

Glass is making death saves

Brian sleeps the sleep of the exhausted. Someone had better wake her up before folks start dying.

The wizard is out of range

Status:
Glass, Callvyn and Ayamba all owe me Deat saves

Keira and Jed are on the lower deck at the ladders.

Brain is in the cabin on the main deck.

Damage taken:
Ayamba:  -44
Brian:
Callvyn:  -36
Jediah:
Keira:
Klik-Nic:
Glass:  -25

Resources used:
Ayamba:
Brian:   -1 2nd level slot
Callvyn:
Jediah:
Keira:
Klic-Nic:
Lyra:
Glass:  -2HL dice
Ship: -1 ladder

Initiatives:
21 Klak-Nik
20 Ayamba
11 Jed
10 Knights
 9 Keira
 9 Callvyn
 6 Glass
 4 Brian
 3 Wizard

Round 4:

Klak-Nik: slows down to basic speed once he determines you're out of range. Let's hope he's right.

Ayamba: Successes: 1 Failures: 0

Jed: gets through a ladder and starts working on Callvyn to no effect.

Kiera gets through the ladder and casts Cure Wounds on Glass, who fell just as he popped through the hatch.

Callvyn  Successes: 0 Failures: 1

Glass: alive but prone.

Brian sleeps the sleep of the exhausted. Totally forgotten. And right there, too.

Status:
Callvyn and Ayamba all owe me Death saves

Brain is in the cabin on the main deck.

Klak-nik is on the bridge

Lyra is still missing

Everyone else are on the Main deck.


Damage taken:
Ayamba:  -44
Brian:
Callvyn:  -36
Jediah:
Keira:
Klik-Nic:
Glass:  -20

Resources used:
Ayamba:
Brian:   -1 2nd level slot
Callvyn:
Jediah:
Keira:
Klic-Nic:
Lyra:
Glass:  -2HL dice
Ship: -1 ladder

Initiatives:
21 Klak-Nik
20 Ayamba
11 Jed
 9 Keira
 9 Callvyn
 6 Glass
 4 Brian

This message was last edited by the GM at 21:37, Mon 14 Nov 2022.

Round 5:

Klak-Nik: keeps going up

Ayamba: awake but prone

Jed: Keeps working on Callvyn

Kiera sends her dragonfly to Callvyn while standing over Glass"Do you know what is going on? I'll stabilize Ayamba in a few seconds too unless someone heals him first."

Callvyn awake but prone

Glass: stands and moves to Ayamba while bathing Callvyn in a blast of light. Callvyn wakes. After laying ahnds on Ayamba, he, too wakes.

Brian sleeps the sleep of the exhausted. Totally forgotten. And right there, too.

Status:
Brain is in the cabin on the main deck.

Klak-nik is on the bridge

Lyra is still missing

Everyone else are on the Main deck.


Damage taken:
Ayamba:  -27
Brian:
Callvyn:  -29
Jediah:
Keira:
Klik-Nic:
Glass:  -20

Resources used:
Ayamba:
Brian:   -1 2nd level slot
Callvyn:
Jediah:
Keira:    -1 1st slot
Klic-Nic:
Lyra:
Glass:  -3 HL dice, -2 HH dice
Ship: -1 ladder

Initiatives:
21 Klak-Nik
20 Ayamba
11 Jed
 9 Keira
 9 Callvyn
 6 Glass
 4 Brian

It had all happened so fast. Klak-Nik was glad he had been ready for it or things could have gone much worse. He'd wanted to shout a warning to everyone but he could only be so many places at once and even forming those thoughts he sent out took time. He'd had to keep his attention on the captain and it was well he did. It had been a bit of a surprise for the Hive to see Glass suddenly sprout wings and fly but they weren't one to look a gift-chwinga in it's glittering moondust. As soon as he touched down, the ship, under Klak-Nik's helming, darted straight up and away from the threats below. Immediately trouble abounded on deck and as that nasty wizard through storms of ice their way all they could do was get away and get away fast as they could.

There was nary a cloud I'm the sky to hide behind so he kept hurdling them spaceward until such a time as he was commanded otherwise that would be his goal. There was safety among the stars and away from wizards.

Ayamba oriented quickly and moved to push Glass away before standing up. “Get away from me. This was all your fault. You are unprepared, reckless and foolish. How many times have you put us in situation where we are called to rely on luck because you have not things in place to fall back to? You should be the Captain no longer. Trident put you in charge and even they dismissed you. So why should we settle for your poor leadership as well?”

He then spoke out to the ship. “A vote. We should vote on a new Captain. Else what happened here will most definitely happen again.”

Glass rises, still in a bit of pain, from the now awake Ayamba, saying to the air "Klak-Nik, you can stop flying upwards. We are well out of range and need to regroup for a bit and think." Turning to the crew on deck, he says, " That could have gone a lot better, or a lot worse. What do you say to moving behind a cloud bank or something and healing up before we try a different method of contact? That was a pretty hurtful reaction to a trade delegation."

From his place on the helm Klak-Nik spouted off with his strange sounds and shuffling of antennae, [Language unknown: "Trhaiv u k ro, ati ousca. At antillill sti heai anec in pl tha. Oun nte ssriek sien ti we ivedining. Lent ndsinc m rattioeauwas toter anywitlar... Ichterndeant ichthuithere con a laeihi nefiie  ersresour unar u il eraur."] Whatever his grumbling was he did stop flying "up" as Glass had called it.

To the others on deck he projected his thoughts on Ayamba's demand for a change in leadership. "Changing captain now is a very bad idea. I have been on ships where the one who suggests this thing is soon finding out how gravity works. There is a wizard below us that dropping something on could be a good revenge. There are no good enough clouds around captain. Regroup is wise. Give new directions though."

Take aback by the sudden vituperous attack on his position, Glass responds "You think that was a matter of poor planning on my part, Ayamba? We supposedly had a warm contact through Lyra to a lucrative trade port, which proved false and did I at any time risk your person - or any crewmember - on the ground during the initial negotiations? I knew I could make a quick escape from aggressors alone. Where is Lyra, anyways?" He adds, looking for her, "Regardless, I did not expect to have some magic user decide that we were worth destroying without rhyme nor reason. How would YOU have handled the contact?"

Ayamba looked incredulous. “Do not dismiss what happened Glass. That attack on is was more than a trade meeting gone bad. What happened was the result of bad judgment and reckless behaviour. Your bad judgment and your reckless behaviour.”

In reply to Klak-Nik (msg # 130):

"Take us up another 500 feet, Mr. Klak-Nik. Out of range of any magics, I hope, until we settle this issue." Glass answers aloud.

Klak-Nik did as commanded. At a leisurely pace, as his attention was split between observing the goings on on the main deck and trying to check their surroundings for anything unexpected.

Lyra is not on deck. She shares the main deck cabin with Brian, s could be a doorway away. Or she's on the underdeck somewhere.

Keira tapped her shoulder, "Here Koo." She began running a hand along the railing. She looked over the side and wished she dropped a piece of parchment. She wanted to see it ride the gravity plane a bit... Not a lot.

She let out a sigh, "Alrighty... At a minimum we need some food and a bit to talk. I assume there is a story behind dumping my hammock and people on death's door all over the deck. It sounds like there may be a few sides to this."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:11, Tue 15 Nov 2022.

The young man is roused from his near-death experience. The chill is still in his bones as are the bruises from the pummeling he took. He first turns over and lifts himself onto his knees before taking a moment to stand, steadying himself on a nearby railing. This was something he had never experienced or even seen. How does an ice storm appear out of nowhere? He rubs his arms, trying to warm himself up. "Um, so, is this something we're to expect anywhere we go?"

"No, it's not something we should ever expect, " Captain Glass asnwers, looking pointedly at Ayamba, "but it seems that the xenophobic England provides it for free to visitors. We will have to make plans on dealing with such unrequired violence the next time. Keira, could you please go find Lyra, and wake Brian to join us. This needs settling."

Keira nodded slowly, "We do need to settle these things, I suppose. I disagree that it is never something to expect however. Perhaps we need to plan our steps better and there is no sin in that... As long as we start doing so."

She turned to the ladderwell, "I'll check their shared room. Koolu check the legs of the ship and exterior near them. Come back here and clap a lot of you see anyone down there. If you don't, then return to my shoulder." Talking done for a bit, she would head to the other ladies' room to knock on their door.

And now Brian can decide what to do about the racket on her door. Worse even than the familiar sounds of hail on the roof.

Ayamba shivered reflexively and rubbed his bruised arms. “And there is the whole of my complaint. No planning. And relying on luck and assumptions. What happened here will indeed happen again if it is not checked. And it is only luck Callvyn that has you and I alive to talk about it. Glass did not expect the attack to happen. And is therefore not fit to make decisions that affect our very lives.”

He moved to look over Callvyn’s injuries and provided a reassuring tap on the shoulder.

"Eh, what is it now, I'm trying to sleep. And we're in godforsaken London, if your asking someone for a tour guide, ask someone else." Brian says as she opened the door to see, and she noticed the distinct sound of hail,"... What's up, and what's that sound up their?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:23, Wed 16 Nov 2022.

Callvyn nods to Ayamba, grimacing slightly at the tap. Yes, that hurt. "I'm already not a fan of this Earth place. We come seeking assistance and we get attacked? Who are these people?" He sighs, carefully folding his arms over his chest.

Keira smiles to Brian, "I am sorry but I've been asked to invite you and your roommate to the deck for a team meeting. Apparently we left London in a hurry... And there was some magical assault upon us that left almost half of the crew dying on the deck. That's all I know so far. I've got Koolu scouting the exterior because little more than a thump would be all the warning we get from a knight who tried to grab on as we took off and no one really thought of that. Maybe they know knights better than me though... it isn't hard to do."

While the others gathered and talked, Klak-Nik used the helm ability to virtually be anywhere in the ship previously and checked every inch of it for damage or potential hangers-on. Reporting what he found, if anything to Captain Glass.

In reply to Klak-Nik (msg # 145):

Well, the cargo door is flapping open in the breeze. Other than that, make an Investigation roll (Raw Int if untrained).

It is difficult to be prepared for all situations and problems, Jediah says to the pygmy.  The conversation sounds very much like a discussion of mutiny to his ears.  We had no reason to expect a welcome so wanting of hospitality, nor did we expect the claim that no such noble family exists.  Are you going to blame me for not being properly prepared to prevent you from dying, though I am a cook and not a healer?
He had not expected to find the need to try to stabilize dying crewmates when he returned from getting his crossbow.  Now, it seems ge will need to learn more of first aid to aid his companions in their time of dire need.  He will have to rectify that.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:47, Fri 18 Nov 2022.

"What? Crew dying? Magic Assault? Knights? Bloody hell, this is why I didn't wanna go to the home of uptight Brits." Brian says as she pulls out her staff,"And is their a reason why no one called the medic in when people started dropping like flies. My God, Captain should add an alarm system like the naval vessels, it's not that hard, just add a bell or something."

Keira shrugged, "I admit, I panicked a little when heard impacts. I didn't think to wake you. It got worse when I saw folks were down on deck. I hurried to use my limited magic to keep folks from getting worse. I'll be sure to have some thumping on your door done next time.

I can't promise any specifics as I don't have the whole story yet. I figure if there was magic there was a caster. If there was a caster there were guards. If the caster can drop 3 people at once from significant range they were powerful. Likely government funded. Their guards would likely be knights.  Is Lyra in?"

Brian wordlessly points her thumb to her roommate,"Oi, Lyra, wake up, we have a job to do."

No room mate. Lyra isn't there.

Keira looked over, "...and she's gone. I'll keep my peace on that. I think there is a lot of explaining to go through.

I imagine it is a little awkward. Please come with Hund and myself to the deck so that we have our best chance at keeping people safe. I don't want folks disappearing until all of us are missing.

Hund, clap if anyone not among the crew comes within sight."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:52, Fri 18 Nov 2022.

Your room is down under. It's a bit of a trip. So you know

Brian gives out a sigh as she follows you,"I just wanted to sleep. Is that so much to ask?" she says to herself as she follows Keira.

Keira had merely to make way for Brian to move out on to the main deck. She took a pause and offered to the assembly, "No one died. We need to plan better. Even recovery of downed people was a little less than perfect, due to lack of communication- I think.

We talked about a plan, I thought, then did something else. If we go around and state what we each thought the plan was then we can talk about execution. All of that may or may not be best suited to a time after we recover our last member. Considering what we have said already."

"My father used to tell me, 'No plan survives First Contact with the Enemy.'  Seems to me that this may have been the case, the cook advises the rest of the crew.

"Even more so when we didn't expect to find an enemy - just a welcoming party or directions to a warm contact. " Captain Glass answers, "Seems we were taken to be overtly obvious enemy spies for some bizarre reason. But that uncertainty, as well as other factors, was a main part of my decision to go down alone, at first. "

Ayamba began when all crew were on deck. "Can Klak-Nik hear our words?"

"Firstly we all need to be clear that we can choose who is our Captain now. Trident is no longer. Glass was chosen by them not us. We all have a share in this ship. It is owned by all of us. And I include Klak-Nik and Callvyn in that even though they are new to the crew. As such it is important that the Captain is in position by a vote." He allowed his statement to settle before continuing.

"What happened today with the deadly attack from the wizard is the cause of my speaking out, but it is not the start. I have had my concerns from our first contact with Fred where Glass acted on assumption that all we meet will be essentially friendly and act in similar ways to his own. Revealing our lack of experience to a stranger is a poor decision tactically and only by luck was Fred revealed to be friendly and actually helped us.

"Our next encounter with the shark ship. True we ended up with a good salvage and on reflection it turned out to be a good find. However again I say that the result is luck and not judgement. We did not know the strength of the flying sharks, and we knew very little about the risks of boarding. And again towing the ship into Ceres Port was a risk. We did not know what the laws were and could easily have been subject to judgements that we knew nothing about. But again good luck delivered a good result and we were able to gain our current ship from the plunder.

"But what happened today with the wizard attack was the result when the luck that Glass relies on so heavily runs out. Glass you directed us too close to the city causing them to use their magic fire attacks in defence. They were never going to be friendly after that. We should have immediately gone to another place. Instead you made assumptions and made contact even when the whole ship and crew were asleep or unprepared and at great risk. And this time your luck ran out. And we were very close to being welcomed by our ancestors. That is why we need to choose a Captain. That is why you Glass should step aside."

Klak-Nik acknowledged that he could hear Ayamba when asked. He may have been at the helm but with the current ongoings he was projecting his perceptions to the same area as everyone else. In fact from his perspective he was basically standing where Ayamba stood but nobody but himself would know that.

Letting Ayamba finish, Glass responds to his challenges:
     "From the first, you questioned my right to be Captain and, until recently, my right was with the duties and responsibilities assigned by Trident. Even so, you grumbled about my ability and skill to be a Captain, for a voyage that none of us had any idea what it entailed. My judgement to approach Fred in the beginning was based on a couple of salient facts. One, that there was almost no crew on his ship and we apparently outnumbered what we could see three-fold, and two, approaching an occupied lone ship in space was the best bet for us to start to learn about the environment we had been paid to travel. There was very little in the way of luck involved as it was a logical choice to approach."
     "Had Fred's ship shown any signs of aggression, we were at a distinct disadvantage right from the start. It was faster, more armed, bigger and could have overtaken and overwhelmed with little effort. That was a given considering our meager craft at the time. By observing their ship at rest and seeing it's minor crew compliment, it was a simple choice to approach and act in a friendly manner. Prevailing upon a stranger's charity and showing ourselves novices at space travel was the best course once the lack of threat was determined."
     "With the derelict, I took a different approach, sending a scout out to test the waters - so to speak- and that again proved effective as my familiar drew out the only threat there, which we handled swiftly although our tactics were uncoordinated. If we have approached the ship closer, we could have been easily surprised by those beasts, or perhaps something worse could have been on the ship, and they could have crossed any short distance and boarded us, had I not stood us off a goodly distance. Again, not luck but tactical caution. If the ship had contained anything space-capable other than the two scavvers, we could have simply flown away out of gravity range and gone to fast travel."
     "Finally, with the wizard and his escort, that was an unexpected response, but I again planned for possible exits. I was worried that our fly-by of London was going to cause issues, although I didn't expect such a fast response. I did say aboard that we should be ready to leave at any point and didn't want any crew wandering from the ship until we made contact with Lyra's family. Where is she, anyways? I did not anticipate that her family was unknown, and that our presence would be judged an invasion rather than peaceful, but even so I had prepared. By being the only one to greet the party, I was more than capable of making my escape to the ship, and was the only one put at direct risk during the entire time. You all remained on board and - at the worst - could have flown off and left me as needed for your own safety. As soon as the wizard demanded you all unload, I knew there was no salvaging the situation and made my exit. The fact that this particular wizard was of such great skill and power as to hit us from great distance was also not anticipated, but we did deal with it as we had to. The second storm of ice took me by surprise as I rushed to heal anyone hurt from the first. I had hoped we would have been out of range by that point."
    "I didn't put any of my reasoning or plans to the test or vote, because up until that point you all seemed to have accepted my given position and we're fine with our organization continuing as in. Perhaps you forgot that our goals are not piracy and attack, but trade and commerce with whomever is willing? All that being said, what would you have done different Ayamba? What particular skill or ability would have made you and the crew so much safer than my own actions, that you feel secure to challenge my ability, even without the backing of Trident?  I don't disagree that we are no longer the same structure and authourity we were before, but if you wish to be Captain, maybe you should prove yourself capable before you shake up what already works."
     "If you feel the need to replace me in my role, by all means you can take a vote and choose a new leader, but don't expect me to just step aside because I didn't tell you my decisions." With that, Glass finds a nearby rail or secured barrel and sits down, looking at the rest of the crew expectantly.

After the response from Glass, Klak-Nik injected his thoughts into everyone present for the discourse. "It is well said. As expected from a captain."

Brian had a look of complete and utter tiredness but she reluctantly listens to Ayamba's and Glass's arguments,"Look, Uhm, I don't really remember nor care who you are. Apologise for that for I am fricking exhausted right now. Anyways, I disagree, the captain did what he did, and more, those Brits were being unreasonable and one of our crewman, particularly Lyra, seems to have vanished the moment we landed. It's possible that she lied about the house and is actually some sort of spy, this is merely an assumption so don't look too deeply into that. However, Captain Glass, I will say your actions today and previous times have been reckless and almost endangered the ship and it's crew. Despite what you say, and I agree with this stranger's points, I request we go at this at a vote as the stranger suggested. Everyone alright with that?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:01, Sat 19 Nov 2022.

Callvyn shrugs. He just got here so his opinion isn't worth that much. He watches the conversation with not much to add.

Keira too shrugged, "If we can get a promise that going forward we will discuss plans where we can... I don't think we need a new captain. Just like if the ship sustains significant damage I don't expect to be the only one repairing and if we are attacked I expect to lend several hands in our defense.

We've had a couple bad hits. People are wound up. That isn't a good place to make decisions from. We also should probably determine if Lyra is still on board and sweep for other probable issues. Then we need to talk about going forward as, us... Whatever form that takes." After speaking she glanced to the others to see if they looked like they didn't understand or maybe she seemed crazy.

“Based on the reaction of the London people I am believing Lyra was not who she revealed and her lack of appearing should not delay a vote. So we have heard from all. We should vote on Glass being captain of this ship. Who here has no confidence in his leadership?”

"Hmm, looks like we're voting, but since I'm too tired to bother choosing, I vote myself as Captain. Go ahead and choose me if you think this stranger and Captain Glass are unfit to lead."

“Again you call me stranger Brian. Why is this?”

".... Sorry but have we met before. I have never met you at all, I think. Are you a new person, you look new?"

"Glass is the captain. Klak-Nik will not have another take his place so soon after coming aboard. Other issues exist. Lyra, The Hive could no find her. The cargo door is flapping in the wind. Voting for captain hundreds of feet off the ground dangerous. In space floating or on ground safe is best."

Keira chuckled, "Ayamba has been our chief artillerist from the first leaving of our planet, dear. I am forced to think Brian needs sleep rather than administrative duties. I think directing a sweep of the ship may be an excellent way for Glass to prove that it isn't just Trident and luck but also an understanding of the ship and tactics or a willingness to work with others to make such skills come together.

Isn't the doors or sails flapping at all kind of odd?" she regretted not having a better word for their wings and tail. Sails should suffice given a timely gesture over the side to the sail cloth.

The young man shakes his head slightly. "Although I almost died, I still vote for Glass to remain captain. If anything, I hold this Lyra person responsible for the incident. Since I wasn't present for his other mistakes, I cannot base my vote on hearsay."

Ayamba looks to Callvyn with a confused expression. "You would still choose Glass? How much injury would it take for you to change your choice? But what does it matter," his demeanor turned to resignation, "it would seem Glass has the numbers. Jed still has a say, but the result remains clear. Master Glass remains. And may the ancestors watch over us all."

Once all the votes are tallied and the discussion is settled, Glass steps back up and says, "I'm glad that's over with. You are welcome to question my decisions if it's not urgent, or discuss options as they present themselves, but once I've weighed the options and courses, I will act on what I think best. We all must pull in the same direction if we are to succeed in doing more than merely survive. We want prosperity and success in our efforts to make a healthy income, if not become a trading House of some renown! We can't do that if you don't go along with the paths we set. Now, we need to find Lyra and at least try and find out what has happened to her. She wasn't on the surface when I left, that I could see, and the ladder fell when we departed. We'll start on this deck and go fore to aft, checking for any unusual signs, then work our way underside. Sing out if you find anything. Klak-Nik, take us up another thousand feet and then head best speed East. Once we decide on where to try our trade next, we'll change course." Glass heads to the front of the ship, starting his portion of the search.

Klak-Nik did as directed. Up another thousand feet putting them well above two thousand off the ground. And then eastward. The captain must know of something this direction but in case he was just buying time until they could find somewhere else to go the insectoid helmsman watched as best he could for other cities or monoliths or signs of sentient life out here that he could report to Glass.

I'm not at all sure how one measures 1000 feet of air. How are you doing so?

Probably best to tell me how long you fly up for. Time, not distance. Time, at least, you can measure, more or less.

"Chef artillerist? Strange title. Ah wait, your the spice guy right. Oh yeah, that's my bad, sorry." Brian says,"Anyways, now that a captain has decided, I'm heading to bed."

Ayamba sets off to join the search for Lyra.

In reply to DM (msg # 175):

If one knows the speed of the ship then time and distance calculations aren't all that different. For 1000 feet at 70 feet a round I'm pretty sure 15 rounds would do or a minute and a half. Take a few turns to slowly adjust up to max speed and a few rounds to slow down and I imagine two minutes is perfect to put us another 1000 feet up. I don't imagine I'm going maximum speed out the gate so as not to disrupt anyone, same for full stop.

We are still within the air envelop of the planet and shouldn't have to worry about bursts of hyper speed here right?

No. I just need you to tell me how many rounds you fly upwards.

I'm saying you have no way to measure distance, so give me time, not distance. I'll do my own math based on what you tell me.

However you want to determine that amount of time is up to you.

1 Round at quarter speed
1 Round at half speed
13 Rounds at full speed (not doubling with dash)
1 Round at half speed
1 Round at quarter speed

If the assumption is 70 feet per round.

If there is something else impacting speeds, I would be aware of, that would change things otherwise that's the goal.

Again, without instruments that haven't been invented or other objects to use as reference points, I'm not sure how you deterrmine partial speeds.

Still the goal seems to be about 15 rounds of movement in 17 rounds. Make a d20 roll for me, and we'll see how far you actually move,.

---

Not that it matters, really, but folks, I'm trying to remind you of the limits of the setting so that when it matters later you aren't surprised.

No instruments mean no speed or distance indications. Full speed is easy. Time is approximate but usable. Anything else needs a least a reference point. Precious little in the way of other objects is sky or space, usually, unless it's an encounter.

Time passes and Ayamba returns to the main deck. "Lyra's gear is gone. So it seems to me that she has left us permanently and with purpose. My guess would be she was holding more secrets than she revealed. I would suggest that everyone checks their own gear and valuables just in case. I also checked the cargo hold and closed the ship loading doors."

Jed had also voted for Glass, quietly and without comment.  Ayamba had not asked, and he had felt no reason to elaborate.  Instead, he had just gone back to the galley to prepare ingredients and add to the forever stew that seems to always be sitting on the Hot Plate, its body locked in place, with the lid kept locked down so it will not spill with the periodic shifts in gravity.

Keira nodded, "That is a good idea, thank you. I will check over my belongings before getting the dual hammock set up and getting some rest. If it works well, we can put a bulk of them in plans and it can be our first original product..."

With a sigh, Captain Glass shrugs. "A strange sort of spy. Perhaps there was some truth in the Wizard's accusations land-side, after all. Very well, before we each go and check our personal goods and wealth to confirm she was not also a thief, we need to discuss our course. London, obviously, is out, but there is Edenborough, where we speak the same language, albeit distorted and canted, and also Paris where language will be a challenge. Beyond that are many other cities. If you have suggestions to our next attempt at trade, I'd hear them. Or we abandon Earth entirely and stick to the unknowns of the System beyond this globe."

Keira paused as she had indeed turned to head to Brian's formerly shared quarters for what she hoped was picking up an extra hammock. She thought about what was being said, "My master didn't have so fixed a shop and worked to the order wherever their work took them. I am afraid I don't have any valid contacts.

I have had the thought, Ceres might have a market for ferries we could use to earn a little coin while we save for the guide books that were rather expensive and seed money for filling one of those orders. I'd love to see new places and collect further wonders.

Guarding other ships headed farther would be a good way to use our ship and might spread our name and skills, if we are any good."

"The further we are from here the better. I agree with Keira, back to Ceres and look for work opportunities from there. We need to stay a step ahead of Trident and build our contacts."

"I agree with the two others, staying any longer here on Earth makes me sick. Let's continue back to space shall we?"

In the galley, Jediah begins preparation to dry meats, vegetables, and any fruits, for better keeping on the voyage.  What the others decide is of little consequence to him as he works at his job.  Whereever they go, whatever they do, they will need food prepared to help them all stay alive and healthy.

That was done before it was loaded on. It's as shelf stable as it's ever going to be, already.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:23, Sat 26 Nov 2022.

"Okay, then we have a consensus - we head back into space and try our luck plying the space ways. Klak-nik, head us back into orbit, and we will switch Helmists then, as long as you are not too tired."  Glass says, "I am going to check our inventory and my own gear to see if anything is missing, or even added. I suggest you all do the same before shift change. Report anything untoward back to me." barring any other interactions, he does just that, ending up in the Helmroom when done.
    Once there, he starts a conversation with Klak-nik. "In your experience, how do ships handle cargo and such with the gravity reversing if they touch down on a larger ship or body of mass? The ladder didn't really work out, and the utter chaos caused every time the gravity plane de-polarizes is ridiculous. Do they have a small boat they shuttle goods too and fro with? Some kind of row-barge or what? I don't think we should ever be touching down on a planet again, just get real close and hover."

"So is Callvyn taking Lyra's place on nightshift?"

Ayamba wanders off, drifting into shiftwork.

So, with Lyra gone, that's Callvyn on days and Ayamba on nights doing scut work, Brian on days and Keira on nights flying, Klak-nik pivot pilot, And Glass and Jed day shift doing Captaining and Cooking.

Brian has a private room, currently, on the main deck, aft. Klak-nik has one below, of course, but that's just numbers, and Keira has one below, but she has all that moving hardware to house, so it doesn't seem like it. Aymaba and Callvyn share one, jed sleeps in the galley, and Glass in the captain's cabin. All of which cna be changed, if you like, of course.

Assuming Klak-nik goes up for a few hours (as directed), you'll be in earth orbit in time for a comfortable change over on the Helm.

It's Day 19 since you originally left Earth, and halfway through the "Night" shift. Keira is up in rotation for the helm.

Ands the Orrery, when set up for navigation, is showing something new: 2 flashing lights, each in the Asteroid orbit and, with Ceres, the three divide that orbit, more or less equally, into thirds.

Keira raises an eyebrow and assesses these new lights. She commands Koolu to bring her a blank parchment. She doesn't want to bother folks needlessly.

Did they all start at the same time?
Are they moving/how fast?
Do they appear attached to something else or are they independent?

She begins looking through logbooks and papers, making sure she inks down the basics of the phenomenon. No assumptions just facts. "...hours into shift, Keira becomes aware of flashing yellow lights in asteroid orbit. Initially looking very much to separate belt into neat 3rds if Ceres were to be considered part of an array."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:41, Mon 28 Nov 2022.

Having done the kitchen tidy work Ayamba is on the main deck staring into the stars and dark. A seemingly endless watch.

Again, usually not actually ever dark within the inner system (asteroid belt is the border). Well, unless you're orbiting in a shadow.

Your logbook is only 19 days old. It has nothing about this sort of thing. It will, next time Glass updates it, presumably. As far as I know you don't have access to it. I could be wrong, but even if it's in the Bridge, you'd have to get up to get it...which means you really don't have access to it or any of the charts. (Unless you tell me you are taking them tot he helm with you ahead of time).

Yellow? I still have no idea where you got that. They aren't yellow. No colors in the Orrery display at all, as far as I can tell, in fact.

And you would have been aware immediately, as you use the Orrery to navigate...unless you decided to sit around unmoving for several hours before moving the ship.

What you and Klak-nik see, as you take over and the journey starts, are two new lights. Each of these lights are free floating and are supposed to correspond to a planet. These two flash, which is unusual, and weren't there last time you used the Orrery (which has been a day or so, at least).

They started when the Orrery did. Which means whatever is causing them happened sometime in the last day or so when you weren't using the Orrery.

As to being attached to something...again, they are lights floating in the room around you. There is nothing to attach to.

IF they are moving, it would be at planetary speeds. That means you won't be able to tell for a few days.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:41, Mon 28 Nov 2022.

Since Callvyn is on days and it is now night, the young man nods to  the crew and makes his way to rest for the evening.

"Klaknick, is my memory right, are these new? Do you know what they indicate?" She asked at turnover indicating the orrery lights that seemed in synch with Ceres that she did not remember from before.

She still debated how much Ayamba needed to know versus what the fellow might simply like to be aware of.

She looked again and with a finger swipe struck a line through the word yellow. "...eyes playing tricks..."

Klak-Nik as always had followed Glass' orders and took them out to orbit. Though the others may not realize it he was enjoying the helmsman responsibility he had on this ship that in most cases before he never would have had. In response to the Captain's inquest about handling gravity reversals and the possibility of smaller boats to go between larger objects the insectoid would have shared his knowledge about jolly boats and their uses. As for cargo and reducing chaos during gravity shifts he'd reiterate the importance of nets and ropes and suspension just about everywhere possible as well as proper organization and storage. He'd once been on a ship which had its entire interior and exterior honeycombed with walls of netting. Having all of his arms was also useful and in his explanations he continued to refer to the sadness he felt for the great number of spacefarers that were limb impaired.

When Keira asked for confirmation of the newness of the presence of the lights in the orrery he could only agree with her assessment. As for what they might indicate he had to think on it for a bit. "It is strange they both show at once. Beacons for advertising presence of a base in the system. I do not know these bases or where they come from. Blinking is..." Two arms shrugged while the other two idly pointed out bright points that had already been on the orrery. "... Design feature? Lights like these usually mean planet or big enough base for gravity like a planet. Beacons though more likely to mean flat plane gravity. Lots of money in them if they have Beacons. Two though in so little time. Strange strange strange."

Keira turns to Glass, "We could drop in on one of those other places and maybe get a drop on mixing with that wealth that has recently popped up. We can call them Second and Third, going around like this from Ceres clockwise and maybe mix in with new opportunities if Klaknik is right.." The plan had originally been to head to Ceres but this was new information and likely bore accounting in their plans since they have time.

"It sounds like as good a plan as any. Let's set course for Second and see what we can see, cautiously. Klak-nik, please inform the crew and, if there are any objections, let's hear them as we travel." Captain Glass says. Curious to see what these new locations are, he nonetheless is wary of possible hazards.

ok, as Glass would have been at least 4 hours into his off shift, he'd be in bed by then, so Keira has left the helm and gone below to wake him.

So we know where folks are, and who, if anyone is on the Helm.

Keira returns to the helm and begins travel, as discussed, at best speed. While traveling she wants to estimate math on how many shifts it will take to get there.

Sure, make an Int based Navigation roll.

ok, as it happens, its a bit less than 4 days direct flight to the first flasher clockwise from Ceres. Call it a full 4 days with the detour.

What detour you ask? The flasher is on the other side of the sun, so a straight flight isn't really an option.

So, I need a decision: bear right or frog left?

Glass Brian is flying after Keira, and he'll need to make the decision or things will be rather warm, as you'll be inside Mercury's orbit and all too close.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:43, Wed 30 Nov 2022.

Oops, sorry. Glass hasn't needed to fly recently, I'm not sure why I thought he was. Brian is flying, and needs to choose right or left.

Or up or down, actually.

"Attention passengers, this is Brian your pilot speaking. I'm turning right and you can't tell me what to do cause this is my ship." Brian says as she takes the Bear Right.

And that tells me which encounter. The one closer to Venus.

You slow down to regular speeds as you come within range of another ship. Those on the day shift and in a position to notice (Glass, mostly) see a giant moth coming about to face you, as it, too, slows.

And by now you figure it's probably not really a moth.

Glass calls out, "Is that a ship design, as well? All hands on duty - wake the rest of the crew, Helm (if she can hear him) all stop!" And he goes to the top deck, manning the focsle bow. Once there, he waits to see what the moth-ship does.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:52, Fri 02 Dec 2022.

In reply to Master Glass (msg # 210):

I'll assume she focused on you for instructions. But it's still her call.

I'll update around noon, my time, tomorrow.

Brian, still able to see everything going on in the ship replies,"Sure thing Captain. All crews on board the ship, get your arses into high gear. Captain's orders."

When his attention is gotten and the situation is explained to him, Jediah begins tto don hos chain armor.

Ayamba wakes and heads to the main deck to find out what is going on.

Once awakened, Callvyn arrives ready for whatever might be heading their way. "What's going on? We got trouble?"

Keira awakens and gets the rapier to her hip and deposits the pistol, powder horn, and mace into her chest. Armor and pack were coming. It seemed adventurers were generally not a surprise in space, hopefully it wouldn't be considered hostile.

At all hands her place was aftcastle so she would head there expecting to standby.

Klak-Nik was on the forecastle lying down in his not quite trance like state of rest, starbathing.
Two hands behind his head, two hands resting comfortably on his chest. His carapace as always had sort of blended into the colors and patterns of the ship while he lay there. As the call went out he considered getting up and doing something but elected to wait for something more actionable to happen first. If anyone needed him they knew where to find him. He sort of hoped Ayamba would come up this way as he knew his little hive bugged the small man. It was half the reason he had picked this spot. The other half was it was just so damn beautiful out there. He never understood how the others could shut their eyes to the beauty of it for their so called sleep.

Unfortunately, no one outside the Helm room can hear you (Klak-nik cheats in that regard), so it's Callvayn actually running around and banging on doors, after Glass (presumably) yells those instructions down the hatch to the underdeck.

Still it gets done

OK, encounter distance was 11 rounds away (at your speed) they close most of that over 14 rounds. Then 3 giant Fairies (that's what they look like: full sized elves with butterfly wings) spend the next two rounds flying over to you.

The ships are about 70 feet apart.

As the elves land you notice that they are, probably, elves, although not a type anyone is familiar with, with some sort of big plants wrapped around them. They are wearing breastplates and longswords.

After 16 rounds of waiting:

Jed will be in his armor in another 84 rounds. Until then he's cut off from events and won't know what is happening.

Brian is on the helm, can't speak to anyone, but is aware of what's going on. Until she says she isn't, at least.

Calvyn is on shift, so awake and kitted out as normal, on the main deck.

Ayamba is also on the main deck, but not kitted out with more than a dagger and belt pouch.

Keira has weapons, but no armor, and is on the aft ballista on the stern deck withy her entourage.

Glass and Klak-nik On on the forecastle manning the forward ballista, Glass fully kitted out, Klak-nik was in his sleep cycle, so his belt pouch and dagger are about all he has.

When Ayamba arrived on main deck and realised that the reason for waking everyone was an encounter with something, he would straight away return to his bunk and get his shield and shortsword. I assume he could do that in a few rounds. And then return to the sterncastle ballista.

"We should really have a word to make sure everyone knows to get armed up rather than just get up."

Travel time alone would be about 4 rounds. Plus the wake up and then 2 more to get there. 7 rounds. Callvyn would have spent at most 2-3 rounds banging on doors, so you have, at worst, an elapsed 10 rounds. You get there in time.

But now they see someone standing there ready for combat as they fly in, so it's a mixed blessing.

"Greetings!" Master Glass calls out, stepping away from the ballista as they land "Welcome aboard the Free Trader Ad Astra. That is a magnificently beautiful craft you came from! I am Captain Glass, how can we help you?"

OOC Glass doesn't have armour, so fully kitted out is pretty meager.

The lead elf/giant fairy answers, "Elven Imperial Navy. State your reasons for being in close proximity to Venus. And what cargo are you carrying?"

Glass looks impressed at that and says, "Oh, my! Imperial Navy of Venus? At this point, our hold is empty as we sold everything at Ceres, and we found no friendly trading port at Earth. Would Venus or your Navy have any trade goods we could take on? We have funds for purchase at the next port, and our Orrery recently added two new points of interest, so we were travelling towards one of those in speculation of a new market. If we've intruded on interdicted space, I apologize. We'll map a note of the area, if you'd be so kind as to define it's extent?"

He looks at you like you're a little slow, "Not of Venus, the Elven Imperium is...rather larger than that." He gestures for one of the Fairies to check the hatch to your hold. That worthy taps off his wings, which crawl off of him. it seems to be some sort of plant. The wearer still doesn't look like any elf you're familiar with...but then, that isn't saying much.

The odd looking elf heads for the cargo hatch.

“Um, let me help you. Wouldn’t want you getting lost now would we.” Ayamba follows the elven intruder as a guide.

He turns, "That won't be necessary. Please stand aside during the inspection."

Ayamba wasn’t obstructing the elven intruder, but looked to Glass. “All good Captain?”

Brian keeps a watchful eye on these weird giant fairies,"Never mess with the bloody Feys my father always says." she says to herself as she uses the Helm's powers to watch their every movement.

In reply to Ayamba (msg # 228):

Nodding to Ayama, Glass continues with the Officer "Very well, feel free. Most interesting wing-suits you have. Are they available for sale to the public somewhere? Oh, and if you'd be so kind as to tell me your name?"

The spokesman says, "My name is unimportant, I represent the Imperial Navy. Not a Mercantile."

After a minute or two the wingless elf pops back up from down under and simply says "Empty of cargo." He walks over to his wings and reaches down. As he touches them they start crawling over him until they are in place.

The leader speaks again, "Have a nice day." They set off to their moth ship.

Something of note: the breastplates they wore? They seem to come with full face visors. Usually that is something found in heavy armor.

Keira once more found herself in wonder at the nonsense that was to be found among the stars. That kind of wonder that generally fed the imperial attitudes of the elves no doubt. Curious combinations of armor and perhaps some kind of symbiosis with the winged plant creatures that may or may not be magical. She was upset at herself for not thinking to cast detect magic while they were in range.

She would try to catch them still. Maybe they were not flying fast enough for her to get a fix on the kind of magic they might have at work. She would bet they were not in any particular rush. She would race across the deck and hope to cast the spell and learn at least if they were magical or if they were... All natural.

In reply to Keira Mordewald (msg # 232):

I'm sorry, you're casting a spell? What spell?

Ayamba watched the elves fly back to their ship. “And get on your way with you. I did not like them. Tell me what would they have done if we did carry cargo? Take their share no doubt. Pirates masquerading as noble authority I would wager. Seen it many times.”

The Moth backs up a bit after the boarding party arrives back, and keeps pointed at you.

What do you do next?

Keira watched the ship wishing that she was wealthy enough for a spyglass. Materials and physical sciences were as much a love as magic and what had once been seeing herself as one of few magic users she knew and materials and functions... Her perspective enlarged drastically over the last month or so.

"We should probably try to ensure that we don't go closer to Venus, but we can probably be on our way... I'm not overly fond of the elves but their tools are impressive."

“Tools of oppression usually are.” Ayamba lost his attention with the moth ship. “I guess we can go back about our business?”

He started to head back down to his bunk.

Klak-Nik through the entire situation had barely moved. He wasn't really hiding his presence but he wasn't doing anything to make himself known either. "Astral Elves" was the simple and only thought sent to Captain Glass while the Thri-Kreen remained lying down blending into the deck of the forecastle. He wasn't going to worry about the whole thing going down and ruin his rest because as far as he knew they had nothing to hide from the navy. He'd mentioned their presence before but was sure that after this Glass would want more information about them.

Everyone got all worked up over the navy like it was a big deal, if they did eventually turn to pirating or smuggling or something less than legal then sure it could become a concern but for now why worry. Tensions hadn't fully dropped as far as the Hive could tell so he asked Glasss, "Are you thinking this will be a problem to avoid in the future?"

Brian made a whistle as she finds nothing stolen,"While that's weird for light Elves. Though by now they would be plundering, pillaging, and looting. Either that or they think our cargo wasn't worth it. Pricks." she said to mostly herself.

Still watching the departing craft, Captain Glass ponders on the encounter. Out loud he says to anyone near as well as Klak-Nik, "They certainly were rude and imperious Imperial Navy Elves, hmm? I expect this will prove to be an issue often unless we get warrants of travel and trade from them directly. We will need to make their port one of our stops, soon, to forestall this kind of thing. Especially if we are carrying cargo they consider criminal. Well, back to normal, I hope. Resume normal duties and let's get under way again."

They aren't departing. They're sitting there some distance away watching you.

And off you go. The total trip time is just under 4 days, the elf encounter fairly early in the first day.

Your destination is in the asteroid belt, and, once again, you're reminded that Fred said to go in high or low as you spend a day bouncing back and forth from tactical to interplanetary speeds while playing "dodge rock".

But, eventually, you come upon the rock that corresponds to the flashing light. It's got a town on one side, a farming community on the other, and about a third of the edge is ship docks.

There are half a dozen Wasp ships picketed around the rock, and the nearest is coming towards you.

Mid Second Shift. Keira on Helm, Ayamba on watch, and Klak-nik still active. Everyone one else about half way through their sleeps.

It is towards the end of day 24 of your time in space.

“They were quick to react to our arrival,” Ayamba mused. He moved quickly to the ballista closest to the approaching wasp ship.

Keira backs the Ad Astra up a bit, whatever the wasps are up to it will not be encountered at quite such proximity to the others.

She commanded Koolu to waken Glass and return.

Back up? Sorry.. no.

Helms don't have a reverse. The other ship is closing.

What are you going to do now?

Meanwhile, there is a voiceless insect buzzing around Glass' head while he sleeps. It'll be a bit before it irritates him awake.

The last time they were boarded, it had taken several minutes for Jediah to get into his armor.  By the time he had come up, it was all over.  The only way he could be fully ready for a boarding action would be for him to don his armor upon awakening.  Nope.  Chainmail is too bulky to be comfortable while cooking, he had decided.
Anyway, he currently sleeps, soon to awaken to prepare meals for the day.

Meanwhile, in the captain cabin, the Tiny dragonfly like homunculus debates how to wake the Captain.

(Going down Xanathar's Checklist of ways to wake folks)
It can't make enough noise, and even if it could make some he probably wouldn't hear it (Glass is more than a little imperceptive).

It's too small to shake him.

it's too small to effectively slap him, even. Well, as soundly as he sleeps, anyhow. (based on Passive Perception)

That leaves one option...It will drop something heavy on him. It, literally, throws the book at him.

Glass is awakened byy 1 point of damage that will NOT recover from THIS long rest as the ship's logbook bounces off his shoulder.

He sees Keira's little dragonfly thingee hoovering (out of reach) pointing at the hatch to the bridge.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 20:46, Wed 07 Dec 2022.

"Ow!" Glass says as he startles awake, "Did the gravity reverse or something?" Seeing Keira's construct gesturing, he says "Oh! Somethings up! Lead on!" And slips on basic clothing and his magical focus to go to the Helmroom quickly. Once there, he asks Keira "What's wrong?"

Keira sums up, "I'm not sure if they are a defense force or a siege. I'm not sure what that looks like in the stars... They have hornet looking ships, one is coming at us. If we want weapons, we may want Klack to take over helm. I can handle aftcastle ballista. Maybe it is the guard, maybe they will speak the truth... But it is your business."

And, eventually, (after about 2 minutes, give or take) the wasp pulls along side, and rotates and tips a bit until its tail is hanging inches above your deck.

A man (human) comes strolling down the tail while another takes position on it's deck with a couple of signal flags.

Glass goes out of the Helmroom after saying "I don't want to assume hostility, but it would be wise to have at least one manned. We can't afford you to be off the Helm, though. I'll take care of it." He then heads on deck and gets who ever is available to man the front deck weapon. When the wasp approaches without threatening, he goes to meet the wing-walker.
"Ahoy, there! Free Trader Ad Astra out of Earth, Captain Glass at your service!"

Ayamba moved from the forward ballista to stand with Glass.

The man nods, "Howdy. I assume you want a dockside berth? It's 2 silver a day. Are you on loading, off loading, or just here for passengers or R&R? And how long do you think you'll need the dock space? I need to know where to send you."

Wasps are the smallest ships out there. Sure, they have a ballista. Everyone has at least one. But that's it. At no time could their approach be considered hostile because they are far too outgunned by you. They don't even have a ram. Like the keel boat that met you on Ceres, really, just the Space equivalent.

But only Klak-nik really knows that, so far.

"On-loading, if we can find a cargo worth hauling. It's our first time at this rock - what's it's name? Any advice on exports from here? You'd be best informed as to how long I should expect to be here, if I'm arranging cargo before leaving." Glass answers, curious why no one ever wants to introduce themselves, in space. Even the first encounter took a while before getting his name.

He shakes his head, "This is Fred's Shipyard, we don't get much cargo onloading. Water, of course, and maybe some food restocking, but not much else. You might try Barney's Rock on the other side of the belt. You might be able to pick something up there, depending on where and who your customer is."

“Fred’s Shipyard? Well either that’s a really common name out here or we actually know Fred. He was flying in an insect ship too.”

He shrugs, "Most ships are insect or fish patterned. You folks are in one of the exceptions, actually."

As the silence st4recthes the official starts looking a bit impatient, "We can put you in a n R&R slot, but that will limit your ability to take on cargo. You may have to move, depending on what you manage to find. How long a stay?"

"We'll start with your 'Arr and Arr' spot and move as needed, I think." Glass answers."Three days, to begin with."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:13, Sat 10 Dec 2022.

He nods and holds out his hand, "6 silver, please. you can have slot 5 C. That's the 5th pier over, last slot."

Glass passes over the silver, then waits until the harbourmaster and his ship are clear, then directs Keira to the indicated pier.

The official returns to his ship, the signal man starts waving flags at the asteroid, and you folks fly down to the piers until find one with a big "5" and smaller, but still big "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", and "F" painted on the sides.

C is port side (of the pier, so your starboard) and last on pier 5. You pull alongside and tie yourselves to it firmly. Well, you think you did. The gravity of your ship doesn't wobble. You are on the gravity plane of the asteroid.

Once the ship is secured to the dock, and passage off it is safe for everyone, Glass will gather the crew who wish to explore. "This isn't a big place, and I know it's not what we expected, but keep your eyes open for anything unique that might do as a cargo. Even paying passengers would be welcome, if we can find any here. It's bee an interesting journey, so far, and we've had our disagreements, but I've enjoyed our travels with all of you. We have yet to be truly challenged by this environment we've adopted and I'm sure that will happen, but know that if you encounter any troubles while on 'shore', you can call me for help. "
     "Something else to think about while you roam- we've yet to assign other positions on the ship beyond Captain and Helmsmen. You should consider that we need someone to act as First Mate, and take charge if I'm incapacitated or unavailable. We may also need to consider not having these three travelling shifts and merely stop and rest on a daily basis. While we are able to get places faster with the three shifts, and that may be important to do if we have a time-sensitive cargo, the disadvantage of not having all our resources available, prepared and rested during encounters is significant."

OOC
If possible, he'd add more of a speech to qualify for the Inspiring Leader bonuses to the crew, before they leave the ship. 7 temp HP.

The speech isn't a problem.,

No one gets to leave the ship until I have their updates. I still need at least 2.

Also keep in mind that stopping for 16 hours a day will triple your food expenses. And you could always have an encounter during that period, so folks will need to be on watch, anyhow. I'm not sure there will be much of a difference, other than travel time being extended.

“Will do Master Glass.” Ayamba seemed cheered by the prospect of shore leave. “We should all talk more about shifts later. Brian was my vote for Captain so I would say she would be best for first mate. No-one else was interested in leading it seemed and it should be someone that can helm.”

Brian yawns, not because she's tired. Well mostly because she's tired,"Mmh, if we have shore leave, then I'd like to take my time napping really. This must be some sort of side-effect for working with the Helm for too long" she said with another yawn, though looked at Ayamba with a raised eyebrow,"Sure, I can take first mate."

"I will second that nomination," Jediah chimes in.  It seems a bit of a surprise to see him up on deck, and not in the galley.

Keira would offer, "I know nothing of the responsibility of leadership, ships, nor navigation. While helping make smart decisions is a passion I know when I am unfit to take charge. My talents are better suited to damage control than morale. Brian as first mate seems excellent.

I thought that with nearly three weeks and no reason to fire a ballista as yet I would like us to consider applying enhancements to trade ability rather than military might. I can adjust a jug I have to let us call up a number of different substances, though only one each day. This might help cut down on water costs for us or add a small amount of variety of goods as we travel."

"Keira, does that mean we should invest in more barrels for the cargo hold?"

"I think we use enough water for that to not be an issue. Some might even say that we are due for a reason to use ballistae and should keep the infusion active there. I wanted us to think about it for a day or two. It is an option," she replies softly.

Ayamba returned to the ship after wandering around the dock area for the day. "I found a hiring hall, mostly labour, trades, that kind of thing. Shipyard work. Lots of taverns and boarding places. I was thinking of us getting a passenger or two on board, but couldn't find anyone. At least in the places I looked. Did anyone else find anything interesting?"

As day 2 of 3 in port wraps up Glass shows up with your two replacements: An Astral Elf (and we all remember how much you enjoyed meeting Astral Elves last week) and a little Ayamba sized lizard thing.

OOC:
New folks, you get to share room 9 on the map (the deck plan is posted as Game Map 0), steerage. It has 3 hammocks and a spot for a fourth, but barely room for two of you to stand up at the same time.

I assume watch duties will be assigned soon, after the ship sets back out for...well, I have no idea where, yet.

Back on ship maindeck Ayamba greets the new crew and addressed the gathering. “Seems to me we need more time to properly explore this small port. But likely our new crew can tell is all we would find anyway. So how about we leave and pick a new big place to visit, with a decent sized city with greater potential and plan to spend a week there finding a job or cargo to haul.”

Jediah introduces himself.  "Jediah Deimos, of Atlantis on Earth.  I am the ship's cook, and can almost always be found in the galley if I'm needed."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Thu 15 Dec 2022.

Brian steps out of her room carrying a bunch of flasks and a lot of leaves and strange items. From the smell, you think those are herbs,"Oh no, please don't give me a hand everyone. I'm only here to save your butts." she says, giving Glass two more healing potions,"Distribute them for the love of God." she says, then looks to the newcomers,"Hey, I'm Brian O'Brien. The first mate and doctor."

Inspired by the ancestors Ayamba had a suggestion. “Well we could put the potions in a white box with a red symbol on it. For emergencies. At key points about the ship. Here on main deck would be a good spot for instance.” He shuddered.

 The little lizard-thing barely seems tall enough to come up to mid-thigh on the average member of the crew but he(?) has a look of keen, biting intelligence about him for all that he's dressed in dockside sailor clothes - light and battered, but well-fitted to keep from getting caught in ropes or pullies - and his kit includes a number of tightly fastened scroll tubes and a couple of hefty looking leatherbound books...

 ...which are the first clue to his profession, the second being his calm voicing (in accented common speech) of "Torkaghsinishkabepres, of Thricsvaklar thaczil Shaninthaczil.", the monstrously tongue-twisting recitation flowing off his inhuman tongue with ease and hanging in the air for a moment before he sighs and adds "Most humans call me Tor. I'm a capable pilot and celestial navigator, although I'll need to secure tools for the latter."

 "Mr Glass was, while persuasive a little light on detail about the contract too. Crew share or wages, duration... things like that." the tiny spellcaster (presumably) adds, bright-gold eyes moving from crewmember to crewmember in turn.

The Astral Elf looked around slowly as he walked up. The only potential clue as to a 'profession' possibly was the lute strapped to the pack on his back.

He then gave a small bow to the crew present, and flashed a brilliant and charming smile. "Greetings! I am Xanadry Kaltrhis. Hired to help helm, among other things."

He glanced down at the other new arrival and then gave a small nod. "I suppose that would be good information to have."

“I am Ayamba from…Earth. It is good to have another admirable-sized crew on board.”

He then looked at Xanadyr. “Just so you know, we were recently invaded by elves from a military looking ship. They were not particularly pleasant. I hope you are different.”

And day 3 wraps up with little more done.

AAs one or two of you have already determined, most downtime projects take a week or more.

So... slip fees have been exhausted,, and it's time to move on.

Where to?

Glass says, after the newcomers have made the rounds, "And now we have a full crew again. Once we have a destination, we can get underway. Any suggestions?"

 With no-one really interested in answering his questions, Tor glances at the other new hire, shrugs and heads down to set up his sleeping arrangements - hooking up his hammock on the lower level available and stowing his equipment before going to find out what the watch schedule is - knowing when you're set up to sleep being a rather important part of being awake when you should be after all.

 That puts him in place to hear Master Glass's inquiry, which in turn leads to the natural question "Well... What is it that you're trying to accomplish?"

“Interesting question Tor.” Ayamba nodded approvingly. “Trouble is we are in the process of working that out. We were kicked from our initial contract job on Earth and have been looking for purpose ever since. And answering your earlier question, equal share, equal vote for as long as your are part of the crew. Leave when you choose, but no guarantee on welcome return depending on manner of your leaving of course. Master Glass was voted Captain and so has the lead. But we all get to choose our direction.”

He took a deep breath. “So what can you offer?”

 "Methodical Intelligence." the diminutive reptile answers dryly, although without a particularly biting tone, "You're looking for employment for yourselves and the ship after failing a job and losing your contract? Then the first thing you do is assess your resources. What languages do you have access to - that will impact what ports you can freely expect to seek employment at. What skills do you possess? - that will determine how well you can fulfil a contract if you take it."

 "For my part I am, as mentioned a navigator as well as a qualified arcanist. I'm fluent in the trade tongue and draconic." he then proceeds to list, plainly willing to start the ball rolling.

Jediah shrugs.  "I am a skilled cook and brewer, and also trained in arms, and a skilled pugilist."  He paises a moment, then continues.  I also speak the elemental tongues.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:37, Fri 16 Dec 2022.

Glass a little stridently corrects the new crewmate's interpretation: "We did NOT fail our job - we completed it with swiftness and fully, providing direct access to the new markets that Trident contracted us to do. They, however, chose to terminate our contract when we landed, without even establishing a rapport with the new clients! We were cast aside like petty cashiers, even after we had arrived with a ship ten times larger than the row boat the sent us out in! In only a couple of weeks, we showed our excellence, and they did not even have the courtesy to close our contracts with an official, just some low-end flunky! It was an insult!"
Calming down a bit, he continues, "We have both Navigator's and cartographer's tools onboard for use, and I myself am skilled in Navigation, albeit space is a new terrain to my skills. I have some talent with magic and healing and I also speak Celestial and Primordial. As others have said, we are a profit crew, sharing the gained wealth each time we reach port. Your duties are suited to your skills, so your talents with the Helm will be welcome, as we have lost two Helm operators, during our short time in space, that chose to leave the ship in various ways. One of our members even turned out to be some kind of spy and jumped ship after misrepresenting themselves as a person of influence. That was not a fun negotiation. We are looking for trade of profitability, something that would make use of our speed and ability to not have to stop during a trade route. That is a primary reason we wanted a full compliment of Helmsmen - to change pilots mid-flight and arrive that much faster."
     To Brian, he says "Thank you for these. We need to put them handy at every point on the ship, so if you could find a safe way to fasten them throughout, it would be appreciated. Marking them in some way as Ayamba mentioned would be ideal."

Keira climbed up from below decks with a wooden box under one arm. She looks pleased to see the captain and started towards him with purpose, ostensibly business regarding the box as she shifted it from under one arm to both hands as if to present it to him.

A few steps into this journey she paused noticing so many gathered and decided to go forward with it, "Captain, I present a fairly commonplace jewelry box... but with enough doors for us to enspell with Alarm so it can be left by the helm and with a mere rub of a hand, a few combinations of casters with that spell can be alerted without having to leave the helm. I was expecting us to pick up one more helm capable but couldn't be sure... So an extra compartment or two lets us keep a few more odds and ends though as yet we haven't had issues in that department... I figured one for myself, one for you and one for both. The doors being more important than compartments"

She turned to the others, "I'm Keira, resident tinker, woodworker, smith, and part time healer. If either or both of you can cast Alarm then you are welcome to choose an emblem for me to ink on a door so we don't have anyone alerted accidentally. I'm also open to further ideas of course!

If we are headed out, we might take folks looking for work out to Ceres then collect food and directions to a mine or some such further out."

 "A familiarity with foodstuffs could represent a path to profit and a facility with elemental languages opens up a wider range of possible trade partners. I'm in no way familiar with this syste..." Tor begins to reply when Master Glass detonates and indulges in his long-form denunciation of their prior employers and all the many ways that the fai... negation of their previous contract was not, in fact in any way their fault, all of which and a copper penny will get someone a rat-onna-stick at a voidfront dock stand. At the end of it, Tor assesses it with a modest "Quite."

 And then moves swiftly on, blinking just the once before noting - delicately - "There are few points of commonality between surface and void navigation but you must have managed well enough to have arrived safely here and we can compare notes at a later point."

 That takes him back to moneymaking, and the diminutive spellcaster notes "All Spelljammers have approximately the same speed, absent the presence of another large mass but with sufficient helmsmen to maintain a constant watch we could serve as a courier or exploration vessel - in the former case, our high proximity speed would be an excellent selling point. This might also apply in the case of small-quantity, high-value deliveries such as rare foodstuffs."

 Keira's arrival earns her a speculative look and a nod of the head "I do not. My studies were focussed upon martial application as a matter of necessity, but I would be willing to study the spell if there is an opportunity to do so. I do not think this vessel suited for serious passenger transport but with two healers it may make a serviceable medical ship. What steps have you taken to advertise your services?"

“It has only been days since our situation changed with our previous employer so the issue really is choosing a port to advertise our services and find work and purpose. I feel the opportunities we find will reveal our strengths.”

"Maybe we can put those potions to some sort of emergency boxes all over the ship. Like, just attach said boxes on the walls so we can have access. Keira, you can do that right?" Brian says in response to Glass's thanks.

 "Well, this is sort of a port, isn't it?" Tor asks calmly, and without letting any accusation into his tone, "And you've been here at least a day or two, presumably looking for work. So, obviously you'll know who the main employers are and where the brokerages and clearance-houses are?"

 For clarity, the kobold adds "I was only rescued a few days ago myself, but the first thing I did was take myself to the hiring hall, since I knew that I'd need to maintain myself before I could work on getting home. I don't know much about the major players here yet.*", making it plain that he himself doesn't have the first idea where to begin beyond the obvious 'make a plan and follow through (that's what Torkaghsinishkabepres would do)'.

"If you don't, then we'll need to undertake that task before any other. The first step to a job well done is to set up your work space, after all." - indicating the port, he starts to explain the setup - "Most of the immediate area is cheap construction: Asteroid rock, discarded ship timber, that sort of thing. It's warehouses, workshops, all the stuff you need to run a shipyard and service the crews of ships. Local residences are mostly on the far side of the rock and in between, you've got the fancy part of the town, which is the city hall, watch office, expensive stores, that sort of thing. If you're looking for official work, you go there. If you're looking for unofficial work, start here in the dockyard taverns."

 ---

* Although if the DM would like to give me and my co-hire the basics of the port culture and setup, that might short-cut this step!
This message was last edited by the player at 02:57, Sat 17 Dec 2022.

You know...another day in port will only cost 2 silver. For the whole crew and ship.

Xanadyr's eyes flicked back and forth as the conversation seemed to swell and switch, like a current crashing against rocks here and there but continuing onward nonetheless. When eyes looked at him he said, "Well. I'm not like those other elves, and I doubt I know them. I'm not originally from around here. But if you don't want me to join the crew due to my race I will understand. I'll be miffed and upset, but life will go on."

As to what was brought to the company, he gave a small shrug. "I am knowledgeable of ships, specifically those fit for space travel. I know how to navigate in space fairly well. I am a spellcaster of modest skill, and can operate a helm. I..." He stopped and made a hmming noise and then said, "No, that's probably enough for now."

To Keira he smiled and said, "Sadly, no, Alarm is not among my limited repertoire. Though...I do know Mending, which is useful onboard a ship if that helps."

"If you think it will help us secure a contract or cargo of some kind, we can stay another few days in port. It's not that costly." Glass says to those more familiar with the spaceways than he.[Language unknown:  "Nteortven ilofof om vir whesanreasan'thiwheint ioube ti ticratichstimenshe lin meanneiv om een nontai ro Oretinles."] He mutters to himself.

 "A cargo or indeed, any sort of work. Frankly, this isn't the sort of vessel I'd use for cargo operations unless they were small-quantity, high-value and you don't just luck into those." the kobold spellcaster states before sighing and pinching the bridge of his muzzle and looking up at the group (he sort of has to look up at everyone) and concluding "Look, first chance we get I'll take our negotiator into town and find work for the ship. Does anyone have a particular preference for or against certain sorts of job?"

"I think at this stage any work is good. Something to get us started. Might not be a suitable ship for large cargo, but surely someone would want something carried elsewhere that we could help with."

Keira considered it for a bit, "I'd need time to get some custom pieces from town and then I could construct boxes and affix them as we travel, so as to minimize time sitting in one spot. Alternately, I may be able to cut niches into our existing stair railings or walls without such issues of custom piece requirement. I can magically tinker some emblems until we decide what we want to use then ink those over for a more permanent mark though it would take time to set ink into the wood but that shouldn't be troublesome.

Do we have a replacement ladder yet for the cargo hold? It may be nice to have something a little wider, or simply second ladder to let us use that opening better. A shallower loading angle or block and tackle would let us load in heavy goods easier too, when we do land on the feet. We can anchor the new ladder into tie downs in the cargo bay so we don't lose it if we get in a hurry again."

"Hmm, you know the Old Astra didn't need ladders, just stairs where you can just walk down to the cargo hold for only a few minutes with a brisk pace. Just saying." Brian says, saltiness not withstanding.

Xanadyr was a little torn for just a moment. He wanted to explore the new ship and see what all it had to offer, or didn't as the case may be. He also wanted to get going. Almost any place was more interesting than where they were. But they had no destination, no idea, and no job.

He let out a small sigh. "I will go and inquire about work as well. Maybe we'll get lucky and some wealthy personage is stranded here and looking to go somewhere quickly." He let out a dry chuckle.

I will go along, Jediah suggests.  No one should really go alone.  Though you've been here a bit already, it may help me to learn more about this place.

"At this point," Glass answers, agreeing with Ayamba,"Any paying contract would do. I'll accompany you on your search." He arranges for 4 silver to be paid for additional docking fees, hoping they secure something within the next day or two.
To Keira he says "Since they have a small forest here, you should look at acquiring the raw materials and store them. You can then work them as needed for whatever project comes up, as we travel."

OK, that will take you to day 29. That will be 22 days food used and 37 days food remaining, roughly.

Edited by DM after a little math
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:36, Mon 19 Dec 2022.

 "Alright, although the task shouldn't require all of us and for the love of magic, we should stick together. It would be embarrassing to get back to the ship and find out that we've been hired for three separate and mutually exclusive tasks." Tor answers, although whether he's overstepping the bounds of his authority or just providing the sort of solid good sense that you'd hope to get from an arcane caster who relies on his clarity of thought to cast spells is rather up in the air.

 "Alright. Anyone coming on the job hunt with me, anyone helping the artificer with her I suppose. No sense wasting time about it!" the tiny kobold states, moving to be in place once/if they're properly docked and ready to go.

"Should someone stay with the ship?"  Jediah poses a simple question.

"I'll stay, I made the helm and I'll protect it from thieves." Brian says, staff at the ready,"Then again, didn't we have that person with us, I don't remember who he is what he does but he was working with us? Right. Or did he jump ship or something."

Keira shrugged, "I'm going to put the Alarm spell on this door of m- this box. If I'm within a fair distance touching the door will alert me. I'll take the extra time to put it on twice, one will chime locally so you know the alarm works, both should go off at the same touch." She tapped the door she intended to enspell but she also planned to magically tinker an image to the door to make it clear.

"After I set this by the helm and work about half an hour of magic on it, I'll head off ship. I can have Koolu search from above for places with lumber out. Though that is no guarantee it can possibly help." All that said she would go to the helm room. First order of business was to magically tinker a tools emblem on the desired door. Then begin two ritual castings.

"I can stay behind too." Callvyn suggests, looking to Brian, then back at the captain. "I mean, if that's all right, sir."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:50, Mon 19 Dec 2022.

"I will stay on ship, and go with Keira when she leaves."

"We are Free Traders, now, Callvyn. All I ask is that everyone who wants to be on board when we leave, are on board on time. What you while we're in port isn't a problem, as long as it doesn't reflect badly on our ship and crew." Glass answers.

 Watching the captain and crew debate and decide their course(s) of inaction, the diminutive Kobold remarks softly "I am going to need so much willow-bark tea." before heading to the gangway (once they're docked, obviously) and calling out "Last call for the hiring hall!" then heading for the better part of town - moving at a shockingly fast skitter for someone of his size, although he does linger to make sure that anyone coming along has a chance to keep up and, if more than one person does seems to take it upon himself to keep them together and away from anything distracting (or slightly shiny).
This message was last edited by the player at 14:23, Tue 20 Dec 2022.

In reply to Tor (msg # 310):

You've never left dock. I'll give folks until noon tomorrow, then you're on your own.

Xanadyr looked between the different people and then gave a small shrug. He'd already stated his attention to help look for a job, so when Tor turned to leave, he did as well, following after the little fellow, humming softly to himself.

Captain Glass follows Tor, curious to see what they will find for a contract on short notice.

When Jesiah joins the captain and then kobold, this time he wears his armor and bears his shield with his sword sheathed upon his hip.  Perhaps it will help them appear as a more competent crew.

OK, Jed, Glass, Tor and Xanadyr all head to the Hiring Hall to look to be hired. New thread coming

Keira and Ayamba are looking for the lumberyard...and will be dealt with on yet another thread.

Brian and Callvyn are babysitting the ship.

Callvyn watches the others leave, then folds his arms over his chest. "So, how'd you end up on the ship?" He asks, turning his head to look at her, awaiting a response.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:27, Wed 21 Dec 2022.

"I built this ship farm guy." Brian said,"At least the first one, unfortunately we had to go with this new one. At least the Helm I built was with us." she says with a sigh,"... If I'm honest with you farm guy, I'm here for one thing and that's to find a life among the stars. A much better one than Ireland."

Callvyn nods, "Wow. Built a ship? That is amazing. Why change ships?" He asks. "Also, would you mind explaining on how all this works? Back home, I saw all the ships coming and going from port, and I just had to experience it myself, but I have no blinking idea on how these ships can fly."

"Beats me, something about need a more faster and advance ship. Hmph, Ad Astra I was a fine ship though. Their was nothing wrong with it. So I'll blame that entire affair solely on Glass." Brian says, then looks at Callvyn up and down,"No offense Farm Guy, but you don't strike me as the smart type. No, fraid if I talk about the ships inner workings you'd probably be confused. It honestly takes brains to figure out how this ships and anything accompanying works." she says, bonking his head to hear how hollow it is.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:09, Fri 23 Dec 2022.

Callvyn laughs heartily. "You're probably right about that one. Though, you've got to admit I was smart enough to get out of that backwater town. I didn't want to be a farmer forever. There's too much to see and do." He shakes his head. "Well, if you're not gonna explain to me how this whole flying thing between worlds work, how did you learn about it?"

Captain Glass arrives back on the ship with a receipt and some orders. "We have a contract! It is going to take us into Astral space, and it's a bit of a schlep roundtrip so we need a lot of food supplies. I have ordered enough food for us for the round trip, but we need to pool some funds to buy it all. This will be for 150 days food for all of us, and 3600 meals isn't a small purchase! The contract pays 10,000 gold gross, so we will expense anyone's payment for supplies out of that once we are paid. I am personally covering 600 of our 846 gold coin costs, so we need 246 gold."

"I excavated the schematics from a fellow astronomer of ancient times and used their blueprints for inspiration." Brian explains to farm guy, then turns to Glass,"... You just need 200 something right captain, I can pay for the rest. It's my job as the first mate to take some of the weight off your back after all... Not like I'll lose any profit doing so." she mumbles that last part.

Nodding, Glass accepts the offer. "They will have it all gathered for loading by tomorrow. I'll go put the deposit down, and your loan can cover the difference after we've loaded accurately." Captain Glass then heads back to the outfitters to make the needed arrangements.

It's the holidays, and folks are in and out, as soon as Glass tells me what packing containers, and Brian tells me how much cash she's parting with, I'll add the food to your cargo.

 Some time after Glass gets back with his happy report, Tor (and presumably the others in the away team) get back, the diminutive Kobold grumbling softly in Draconic but not actually saying anything about the trip as he heads below decks, gesticulating irritably.

Xanadry followed just a little bit after Tor as well, strolling up towards the ship with a small smile on his face. "Sooooo. We have a job. Are we good?" Not that he was particularly excited about who they were going to be delivering whatever it was to.

"I'm going to go familiarize myself with the ship and helm a bit if there's no objections." He said it more as a statement and began to do just that unless there were objections.

Jediah places a hand upon the astral elf's shoulder.  "I did say I as going to give you the grand tour, did I not?  Let us start with the helm, and work our way to your shared quarters."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:52, Thu 29 Dec 2022.

"Actually, I still officially need a tour myself. Still not entirely sure where everything is on board, or underboard for that matter." Callvyn says.

Once the food and containers (and payments) are settled, Captain Glass asks "First Mate, if you could please give our new crew - and any who wish it - an orientation of the ship, our emergency healing supplies, and instruct them on their procedures and duties as crew. Once we've finished loading and all our tasks are done, we'll lift." Turning to the crew he adds "Use supplies as needed, but inform Brian or myself if things are used so we can replace them at the next opportunity."

OOC - What shift can we start on?

It'll be a morning start when it happens. (I'm still looking at next Tuesday for the restart, although I'll  be around more starting tomorrow, probably. Unless the snow over the mountains causes my daughter to extend her visit a day or so).

But without a third Helmsman you won't get far. I still need to know who's replacing Klack-Nik, and if you're making other changes to helm or crew assigmnents.

Also the assignments for the new folks, if one or both aren't taking a Helm Shift.

Keira would raise a hand at this juncture, "We have equal shares of the ship. I can drill fitting holes in railings and/or walls to fit potions into... the question is do where do we want those? I know buildings have bearing walls that I need to leave alone... I don't understand ships on that level. Much less ones that actually alter how their weight holds. If one with such knowledge can help me stay clear of additional damages, I can mark a few each day. I think the potions should be located in pairs at least."

"Seriously? What a pain." Brian says with a sigh then turns to the new recruits,"Alright new guys, follow the cook along his little tour and I'll do what I can. As for orientation, our mission is simple and always has been. Explore the planets in the sky looking for new sources of untapped revenue, only difference now is we're doing it independently. So you better do your hardest and we'll kick you out, we don't want anything to do with slackers."