Return of the Emblem Chapter Eight: Affairs of the World

[Ether]

It seems the course of action was decided. One of the things Faatina noted was a simple fact, though quite a dramatic one, in which she herself had never even stepped foot on a boat, let alone the sea, and was now going to be spending what would apparently be several weeks aboard one. When it was time to split, Faatina immediately began to follow Gytha, she would likely be best off taking whatever time she had still docked to adjust to the feel of simply being on a boat.

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, looks like it was time to move.

''Alright Gil, time to move on.'' John said, addressing the wyvern as he mounted him. Gil grunted and rose, then took to the air.

Sophia began following Gytha on foot with the rest.

[Phoenix]

Let Us Complete Readiness

Gytha decided to lead interested individuals back to the Leverager. The rest were Raquel's to deal with. She made her way up to the Dauntless' driver seat and waited for anyone who didn't want to just ride their mount or travel on foot to get inside. Eventually she was able to get the large vehicle moving and drove back into town.

Finding people willing to sell them the equine feed and meat they would need for the animals was almost as easy as finding food and rations for themselves. Trying to purchase water in such large quantities turned out to be much harder, though. By the end of the ordeal, Raquel had spent much of the left over money from the retrieval mission. The inside of the Dauntless was uncomfortably packed, and everything else had to go on the roof. There wasn't even enough room left for new supplies or equipment now, and Raquel got upset over that. Not finding any items of interest would have been one thing, but being too bogged down with mount supplies and older equipment to make room was just insulting to the young arms dealer.

The Dauntless also picked up so much weight from the load that even with the deflectors on, it was moving much slower than before. Raquel wasn't willing to activate more deflectors, though. The locals that had been close enough to the Dauntless seemed bothered enough by just four rings being on. Now all that was left was to get back to the docks, board the Leverager, brief the party, and then wait for the ship to depart.

[Mercakete]

And so Gytha led those following her to the Leverager and guided them up the ramp. As soon as Maw was on board, she slipped off and disappeared below decks to scout out the ship and learn where the good hiding spots were. Gytha, meanwhile, addressed those that were now on the ship. "A'right! We're here! Ye might've noticed that standin' on deck feels a bit strange. Ye'll get used t' that. Once ye do, that's called havin' ye sea legs. Right now it isn't so different from bein' on land, but ye might as well get used t' it while we're in port. Once we're at sea, it'll be worse. Fer now, just stick around the quarterdeck. I'm goin' t' ask th' captain if he can spare someone t' esplain th' ship rules t' us n' maybe show us around th' ship. Best t' know where everythin' is n' what they're called, aye?"

With that, the mariner left the others and walked to the captain's cabin at a swift pace. Once there, she knocked on his door and waited for a response. Meanwhile, Norbert was wondering what a quarterdeck was.

[Acacia Sgt]

And so they reached the ship. Once aboard Sophia noticed the place was lightly swaying. Something that was explained by Gytha during her talk to the group.

So this is how it feels to be on a ship? She thought. I guess I'll just have to get used to it, considering we'll be at sea for a long time.

A certain pair meanwhile just followed the others through the air, avoiding the ramp and just landing at the deck directly.

<So this is the ship.> John thought, dismounting. <Neviskotian huh. I wonder...> He made a quick glance at Gil, who for once didn't decided to lie and nap. He just stood there, watching his surroundings. However, at that point Gytha had begun talking, so he glanced back to listen, even if it was mostly unnecessary for him.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[Ether]

So this was it, the ship that the next section of her life would be spent on. It had a say to it, along with the waves crashing lightly upon the sides. The rhythmic feel of it was certainly unique, if nothing else. Faatina felt like it would be easy to drift off to sleep to the gentle rhythm of the waves and water.

"So this is a ship..." Faatina murmured, looking around the deck taking in hat was all too likely too much information at once.

[Phoenix]

First Arrivals

As Gytha's group approached, the sailors aboard the Leverager became suspicious. The word had gotten out that a whole bunch of mercs would be showing up soon, but the waiting crewmen would have appreciated it if the first group hadn't just waltzed on up the ship like they owned it. The captain didn't care and made his way out onto the deck. Reign was nowhere in sight. "Don't just stand there! The enemy could be setting out any minute and we have a lot of work to do!" the captain yelled to those standing around. He quickly turned his attention to Gytha and the others. "It will be too dangerous in a fight to have animals on the main deck," he began, before turning back to his men. "Get the ship stores open!" And then back to the mercenaries. "So anything that can't fly needs to be below decks outside of battle."

Second Arrivals

Raquel immediately realized that they had a serious problem on the way the moment she arrived next to the Leverager. The Dauntless was stopped just short of the loading ramp, and she stared at that ramp apprehensively. After about five seconds of fretting to herself, she came right out and announced her concerns. "There's ... just no way we can get the Dauntless over that ramp. It's too much weight. We've got to be at least several tons and I really doubt that thing is going to hold us up."

Filat spotted the stalling vehicle and gawked at it. "I have never seen anything quite like that thing before. What is making all of the gusts underneath?" With his curiosity overwhelmed, he and several others made their way down to the Dauntless and came up to the front-side, just behind Sandrock and Riley. "What kind of wagon is this?"

"Err ... custom model." Raquel answered, truthfully, but still withholding the rest of the information. Undoubtedly the deflector pads were about to come up.

"And what is making all that wind down there? That is definitely not natural."

"Iiit's to lighten the vehicle. It's ... it's just extremely heavy when they're not on. Listen, that's part of why I haven't come up, yet. I don't think the ramp will be able to hold us. If it gives, we'll be on the ocean floor in seconds."

"Our ramps have iron braces. Are you sure they won't hold? How heavy is this thing?" Filat asked, trying to make an assessment.

"We haven't weighed it, but we're at least four tons without all of the extra stuff."

"Hmm. Can't have the merchant leave behind her wagon .... We should do this piece by piece. You will have to trust us, though."

"Trust you? What do you mean?"

"Unload everything out of the wagon and bring it all onto the Leverager. Then we'll see what we can do about the wagon itself. Trying to bring it all at once is going to end with you people at the bottom of the docks." he explained.

Spies

Somewhere nearby, among the various figures, were several sailors. They like a few others had their eyes on the activity at the Leverager's loading ramp. They didn't look happy about it, though. "Damn, that's at least twelve mercs." one of them said.

"It's not enough ... and look, they're getting ready to set sail. I think we're done here. Let's get back to the ship so we can get a move on. The captain's expecting us, anyway."

"We really should have left a bomb or something ..."

"No time ... we'll get our chance once we're out on the water, now come on." And with that, the men scurried off, likely to see their captain.

Ups and Downs

Cassandra found herself lying on her back with her limbs lying in various positions. She had an exhausted and dazed look on her face. "Good. You lasted ten whole seconds that time. But we aren't done just yet. Come at me again." came Burke's voice. She slowly looked up at him as the blurriness faded.

"Urgh ..." Once she pulled herself up, she stumbled back a few steps and assumed some kind of fighting stance. She still didn't have a tome, which meant this was strictly melee training, still. Naomi was sitting on the Sword Coffin this time and watching the match. Cassandra charged at Burke who tried to stop her cold with an open palmed strike to the chest. She promptly leaped over it like a frog and landed behind Burke, sidestepping just in time to avoid a what would have been a head splitting back kick. Her view of Burke's back was completely obscured by his coat tails, however, and she wasn't prepared for his next attack. He was already reaching out to grab her by the time she realized he had completed his turn around. As he grabbed her wrist, she took the initiative herself and leaped into him to try and force him off balance. Burke pushed back at the same time, and Cassandra wound up getting lifted three feet off of the ground. Taking her only chance to escape, she kicked Burke's fingers to force open his hand and freed herself. As soon as she landed, she was clotheslined and sent tumbling back near the other wall, recovering just before she reached it.

Burke began bouncing a bit and shaking off his limbs in preparation for the next round. "Very good! You aren't a waste of our time after all, are you?"

"How much longer do we have to do this? You keep attacking me, but you won't actually teach me how to fight." Cassandra complained.

"And yet you've picked up about fourteen moves in only three days. I'm not trying to teach you, I'm only aiming to condition you. You'll teach yourself just like you've been doing."

"You're a not like a standard opponent. I'm sure I could handle myself against most people, now. I'd really just like to move on to magic if you don't mind ..." she replied. She kept her head down and her voice low enough so he wouldn't think she was arguing with him or anything else that might get her put through the wall.

"... that so? You can handle a standard opponent? How about ten?" And right on cue, ten ebon clad men stepped into the room from every entrance. They were all wearing masks, similar to kigenese spies. Cassandra was surrounded before she knew it.

"Oh crap ..."

"You can't cast without a tome, so pretend you lost the damn thing and the enemy wants to take advantage of that. Begin."

"W-wait!" Cassandra pleaded before the ten men converged on her. It seemed like a sure loss ....

[-Cynthia-]

Almost All Aboard

"Taking everything out of the Dauntless just means I'm going to reorganize it all later..." Connor complained. "Be careful there are a lot of fragile items in there," he advised the sailors who seemed like they would be doing the moving.

"How are things like "below decks"? Nadya asked skeptically. She had the suspicion the biggest concern of their crew was not the care of their mounts.

[Mercakete]

Soon after she knocked on the door, Gytha heard someone on the quarterdeck giving orders, presumably the captain. She arrived in time to hear the orders about the mounts and approached the captain with her questions. He assigned one of his men -- the one from earlier, Filat -- to give Raquel's group a tour of the ship along with explaining the names and terms used on the ship and a run-down of the ship rules once the 2nd half of the party arrived. When Norbert asked where the flying mounts should go, the captain replied that they could stay above decks in good weather so long as they stayed out of the rest of the crew's way and he made it infinitely clear that the mounts were to be supervised by the group at all times. The crew around and about began answering whatever questions came up and then, eventually (around half an hour later), Raquel arrived with the Dauntless at the bottom of the ship's ramp.

[Phoenix]

Leverager

Already a couple dozen sailors were on their way over, some heading down the ramp to see about the Dauntless problem, and some to assist with the mounts. One of them looked back toward the deck and the sailors lifting a very large grate from the deck when Nadya asked 'how things were'. Since her horse was right next to her, he thought she was wondering about the conditions the mounts would be in below decks. "It is clean. The Captain runs us tight. As long as you clean up after your pets, they should be comfortable." he then looked past Nadya and Luca to some of the others around. "Will definitely need to get out more hammocks, though." he said under his breath.

Meanwhile Raquel got out of the Dauntless since the whole thing would have to be lightened before she would need to drive it again, anyway, and frankly, she wanted to help. Even she could handle some of the smaller crates. Chip hid in Connor's chest plate the entire time. Filat approached Raquel before she made it to the back where things were just starting to be unloaded and hauled up the ramp. "Raquel, is it? We're off to a good start, but you may be right about the weight. Transporting the wagon won't be possible if we can't get it aboard."

"Do you have any ideas?" she asked. I'm starting to hate that I even think of Lilith whenever a situation like this comes up. It's bad enough I needed her help to be useful again. I don't want anything else from her, though. I don't even want to see her again if I could avoid it! Every time she gets within ten feet of me, something bad happens. I'm sick of it. By now her expression was growing angry, and Filat wasn't sure why. His answer (which was missed due to Raquel's self talk) might have been the cause.

"I-I'm sorry ... would that be too inconvenient?"

"Would what be too inconvenient?" she replied. "I didn't hear what you said, sorry ..."

"Oh, well I was thinking that we should speak with the dockers. We tend to avoid them since they ask too many questions, but we could certainly use the help. Being a major port in this region, they might even have a crane or two. I thought I saw one earlier."

Edited April 3, 2012 by Phoenix

[Ether]

After taking a few moments to gather herself, as well as take in her surroundings more thoroughly, Faatina noticed the grate being lifted, it seems that would be where the mounts would be kept.

"Seems well kept enough..." Faatina gathered, though the lighting below deck at the moment was a touch too dim to make any acute observations about the place. It seemed as though it might take a while before they were ready to set sail though...

[Phoenix]

Docks

"Okay, let's find them." Raquel decided. Filat nodded and turned to some of the sailors helping to unload the Dauntless.

"Hey! Listen up. Raquel and I are going to see the dockers. We still need this wagon lightened, so just keep doing what you're doing. Hopefully they will lend us a crane we can use without charging us a fortune."

"How much does a crane usually cost to rent?" Raquel asked, suddenly becoming worried.

"One thousand gold for every hour it is in use, including bringing the crane to and from storage. That is just a standard fee we see in more civilized ports like Lukin. Out here, it could cost more. We will see, I suppose."

Raquel hung her head muttering "Great ..." Looking back to the group, she asked another question. "Does anyone else want to come along, or stay and help them move everything?"

[Mercakete]

"I'll help out here!" Gytha replied, happy that she could join in unloading the wagon without getting in anyone's way. "I'll help with the unloading, too. I don't know how going along with you would help anything," Norbert added before he, too, headed over to help with the unloading.

[Acacia Sgt]

Not much went on, for a while that is, as eventually the other group came back. However, it looked they had trouble bringing the Dauntless on board, so it looked like they would be bringing the supplies first wagon second.

''Come on Gil,'' John said, looking over. ''Let's give them a hand.'' And so they went to help out, though not without a certain someone grunting beforehand.

Apparently they would need a crane to lift the wagon. No surprise there, it was heavier than your typical wagon after all. Raquel would be going with Filat to rent one, and asked if anyone else wanted to go.

<Hm, there are enough people here helping already.> He thought. <And who knows if those of the Dark Utka are still around. Just in case...>

''I'll go with you.'' He said.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[-Cynthia-]

"I hope whoever is operating this crane knows what they're doing," Connor said, frowning. "Not that the Dauntless is easy to break, but if they dropped it in the water or something...I guess making it lighter could end badly too though," he said thoughtfully.

"I'm still worried about something happening, so I'll come with," Veronika offered.

"Ya sure like to pack a lot of crap in this wagon," Nadya commented, surveying the interior of the Dauntless.

Edited April 4, 2012 by -Cynthia-

[Snowy_One]

Robin looked up at the crane before shuddering. She did not want to get on that boat! At all! But she had promised to help Raquel and... She clutched her hands to her sides before shuddering again and approaching Raquel.

"Raquel, do you need me to carry anything on to the boat?" she asked, the disdain for being on the ocean clear in her voice. "Just tell me what you need moved and I will try... Just do not make it anything to heavy please."

[Phoenix]

Docks

"There are plenty of small crates around if you don't want to work with anything heavy." Raquel replied to Robin. "You could also partner up with someone like the Leverager crew is doing."

She had gotten a volunteer or two, but Nadya's comment was the only one that got a reaction out of her. She turned around and came a bit closer saying "I don't like to do this at all. It's horribly inconvenient since not everyone has a mount. If I have to start picking and choosing what I sell and discarding everything else, there won't be much of a selection left. This isn't a store with an actual building, so the only way to have a good selection available without getting rid of standard stock is to pack the wagon as tightly and efficiently as I can. That's not going to work for much longer, but it's my only option unless you want me to only keep the most basic, or the most useful equipment." she explained, sounding more frustrated with the problem itself than anything else.

Filat replied as he rubbed his chin. "Maybe you should only sell the most useful items. You aren't running a staple store, so pretending that you are is only going to make things more difficult for you. Look at all of those crates. If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed that everything you and all of these mercenaries have ever owned was inside that wagon."

"It's not like I could just empty out my inventory whenever I feel like it. It would take time or a very big spender interested in taking the surplus off my hands ... I'm not selling these for less than their worth, no way. It's hard enough making profits in my situation." she replied.

"Speak with the Captain once we're out at sea. We could always use better equipment and weapons given our line of work. He might be interested in 'lightening your load'." Filat hinted with a wink. Raquel didn't feel any better, though. She figured the captain wouldn't want much ... not enough to make a dent in her inventory, and not enough to get her off of relying on Weyland's payoffs at least. She shrugged and turned to leave, which meant it was time for Filat to guide her, Veronika and John to the dockers and pester them about renting a crane.

Dockers

The walk to the docking offices, or rather the large building that served as such was about the same distance from the Leverager to the Sandbar, so they made decent time, arriving to find dozens of people coming and going, mostly ship captains, shipwrights, and a few dock workers here and there.

"I've never done this myself before. Have you?" Filat asked Raquel. She promptly shook her head blankly. "W-we'll be fine. How hard could renting a simple crane be. I'm more worried about transportation, heheh." As the small group walked inside the building, there appeared to be a multitude of people caught up in their own business. A few crates were scattered about, cargo samples ready for examination and the like. They arrived at what looked like a reception desk(one of several in fact). The man sitting there looked as if he was about to die of boredom right in front of them. "Hello!" Filat greeted awkwardly with a small wave.

"G'day. What can we, the Temptress Trade Bureau do for you?" he replied dully.

"I didn't know things were even remotely 'official' in these parts." Filat admitted while scratching the back of his neck. The receptionist raised an eyebrow.

"So can I help you with something today?"

"Y-yes! We need a crane to lift my wagon onto a ship. It's the Leverager." Raquel chimed in.

"... timely. There is only one crane left that hasn't been reserved for the afternoon. It will cost you fifteen hundred gold an hour, plus a five hundred gold reservation fee if you want to keep me from letting someone else waltz out with it in the next five minutes." he explained, his voice being almost completely monotone.

"What?!" Raquel exclaimed.

"Well, my estimates were worthless." Filat muttered under his breath. "Should I go back and tell the captain about this 'development'? If you can't afford the crane rental, we will have to think of something else."

"I can afford it, but just look at the bigger picture. If the rates are like this in Tremere, we'll have to pay them around three thousand gold on every stop if we have to keep changing ships. This could break us long before we ever get back to Ursium." Raquel fretted.

"Hmm ... no I think you will be fine, actually. If you can keep selling things or doing other things to make money during each of your stops, you should be able to keep up with the crane fees ... uh in theory."

"I don't think it'll be that simple but ... it's probably worth a shot. Okay, we'll rent the wagon from you. It should only take an hour and I'll have the money ready for you once we finish. Is that acceptable?" she asked the receptionist. He simply nodded.

"I'll need you to fill out a log and the crane crews will be notified shortly. Anything else?"

"Nothing else. Thank you." she said with a polite bow.

Crane Get!

After filling out the form and paying two thousand in gold for a gigantic wood and iron contraption, Raquel and the small group left the building and went around to the side as directed. There they found the crane being brought out. It was almost three stories tall and was on a wheeled platform. It took four oxen just to move, but was heavy enough to remain stable once the stands were let down. One of the works called out saying "Show us to the ship." He needed to give the horse driver directions, so he needed to know where he was going.

Once they were back in view of the Leverager, the work unloading the wagon was about half done, and the supplies was gathered up on the starboard side off the main deck, off where they wouldn't be in the way of the work. Raquel was still walking alongside Filat and occasionally looking back at the large device. She was also mentally keeping track of how much time had passed. She knew the workers certainly were. If it took ten seconds longer than an hour to finish this, they would be right there with their hands out expecting her to give them another fifteen hundred gold. She understood there reasons, but was alienated all the same.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Phoenix

[Snowy_One]

Robin nodded before jumping into the Dauntless. She needed to find a nice, light, crate for her to move. Something that she could handle with ease. Walking to the back, she picked up what seemed to be a box full of candles and started to bring it forwards. As she did she passed by a medium-sized crate resting against the wall and a notion popped into her head. This was a light crate. Anyone could move it with ease. Raquel, Conner, a child, anyone. It could be handled later on its own. But this bigger crate... needed to be moved by someone strong. Someone who could lift such a weight with ease. Something that she... could do.

She looked it over quickly. It didn't look too heavy, like something that would need an animal or something. At worst she might need help, but that would be it. Putting down her crate she approached the larger one, lowered her shoulder against it and...

"HNRK!"

Her shoes slid against the floor as she pushed with all her might, moving it, but only a little bit. It was much heavier than expected. Putting her hand on either side she then tried to lift it up. Immense weight came down upon her spine as her legs spread out to try and bear the weight as it slowly started to lift off the ground. Centimeter by centimeter, but she was doing it! She was lifting

*thud*

Robin didn't cry out as the weight came down on her foot. Her teeth clenched shut as she quietly slid her foot out from under the crate, greatful it hadn't been crushed, before sitting down and softly rubbing it, trying to ease away the pain before she cried out from it. This was not going to be easy.

[Mercakete]

Well, Norbert, for one, was quite happy with this predicament. It'd been difficult to get much training in while they were travelling but having to move crates onto the ship was a good workout. Actually, he'd turned it into a sort of game for himself, seeing how many crates he could run from the Dauntless to the ship in the ammount of time Raquel was gone. He always picked crates he could handle, but were still heavy enough for him that he could feel the strain. It was just getting too warm, though, so by the time Raquel was back, Norbert had taken off his jerkin and was returning to the Dauntless for another crate, clearly getting a good workout from the hour and some odd minutes of unloading the wagon. When he saw Robin working on trying to move a crate that was too heavy for her, he briefly gave her some advice, though he was a bit short on breath: "If that's too heavy for you, you should just move the lighter boxes. There are plenty of us strong enough to move the heavier ones so don't worry about it." And with that, he picked up another crate and was gone again.

Gytha had been helping out enthusiastically, but had been going at a slower pace than Norbert, taking her time and just enjoying the chore as ship work. It'd been a long time since she'd worked on a ship and she was happy to be doing things like this again. When she noticed Robin, she smiled and addressed the archer girl. "Ye need some help? I could help ye carry that onta th' ship, if ye want," the mariner offered.

[Acacia Sgt]

They managed to get a crane and went back to the Leverage without problems. Well, there was that issue of the money. Even if they only had to pay once, the fact they'd probably need to use more during the voyage wasn't a very welcoming thought.

<At least we managed to get a money-less passage here.> John thought. <But if we need to change ships...>

''Hey,'' he addressed Raquel. ''In the case it takes more than an hour, I'm sure between all of us we can pay the extra gold. I doubt anyone has used up completely their winnings from our past missions. And with how many we are, that helps further to soften the blow.''

[Snowy_One]

As Bert spoke to her Robin listened. It was obvious that this wasn't her size from the start, she was more used to bringing home deer carefully in pieces, not lifting crates after all. Though she wasn't flabby at all, muscle wasn't her thing, dexterity was. Then Gytha offered to help.

"I can handle this on my own." She put her foot down again, ignoring the pain as she gripped the side and tried to lift the crate up again, only to be met with similar results as before. As the crate fell to the floor after not moving an inch, she looked up at the top of it. "What is in this thing?" she complained before trying to lift it again. Across the top of the crate, marked clearly in common, was the words 'Horse Feed'. Something clearly out of her league in lifting to be sure.

[Mercakete]

Gytha grimaced. "Err... No offense, but ye don't look like ye can handle that on yer own," the mariner commented before walking to the side of the crate opposite Robin. "Here, let me help. Ye try t' lift that side n' I'll lift this'un. A'right?" she offered again, though waiting to actually lift or to even count down for Robin to respond. If she really wanted to try this on her own, Gytha would just move on to another crate, but she had to at least offer one more time.

[Snowy_One]

Robin gritted her teeth as she looked down, feeling humiliated, but still her hands came up to the sides of the crate as she applied lift. Slowly the crate rose up as the pair lifted it, Robin throwing all her might into the task, trying her best to ignore the fact that she needed Gytha's help to lift this crate. "Hurk! There. I am lifting it, with your help, happy?" she asked, the humiliation she was feeling clear in her voice as the pair started to move the crate out of the Dauntless.

[Mercakete]

After Robin agreed to her help, Gytha counted off, "One...two...three!" and the pair began to lift the crate. Then, Gytha began backing up to and up the ramp while Robin guided. The archer was annoyed or something. "Don't talk," the mariner quickly warned. She decided to explain why once they were done.

After the crate was down on the ship, Gytha took a deep breath and sighed, content with their work. "That was a big crate. Good job liftin' it," she encouraged before explaining her earlier instruction, "Talkin' while workin like this usualla don't go so well t'gether. If it's not somethin' easy t' lift, I advise ye focus yer breathin instead o' talkin'." Following the explanation, the mariner extended her hand to Robin, offering a handshake and a friendly grin. "Good work, heharr."

[Snowy_One]

Robin looked down at Gytha's hand disdainfully before, hesitantly, extending her own to shake it in an unenthusiastic manner. "You are happy about this, aren't you. Me having to depend on you to get something done and swallowing my pride."

Edited April 5, 2012 by Snowy_One