The Dockmaster's

[Attilius]

[Bob can we please get a detailed description of the area, mining equipment/stuff and the water line. I'm not sure I understand the layout correctly]

[AthasianLaborer]

Feb 17, 2021 17:20:03 GMT -12 Coden Rokos (Jesse H.) said:

"He gave us what we wanted, ultimately... the real malefactor. He could be useful to us still, I think. This one seems... to have left ambition to his younger years. That's useful. Means he has no motivation to betray us for money or position."

"The problem," the nobleman says, "Is that now that he knows who we are—he knows our faces, and now he knows my given name, so that's not great—we have to insure that we don't have the rest of the templarate to worry about."

Coden crouches down in front of the old templar and says, "Members of the Rokos family were murdered, and that debt will be paid in kind. If what you want most is to stay out of the way... then your best bet to avoid further complications is to stay completely out of this. Talk to nobody. Know nothing. Go back to your life and pretend that this never happened."

Coden waits, still browsing the old man's thoughts, to see how he responds.

"Hear that old man?!  We'll let you live, just forget this whole painful situation.  Now, answer Master Coden!"  Victory will start to twist his left arm while it is pinned in an attempt to accelerate his answer.

[DM Bob]

"Rokos. I know of your Uncle and I have no wish to incur his wrath and start a war between the templars and noble houses. I can understand your grief and anger. But do me one favor, and if my cousins were indeed a part of things..." He looks the young noble in the eye. "I'd be most inclined to keep my silence if they are dealt with by the patricians in regards for their punishment. They are not the brightest teeth in the maw, but also not the type to do violence without reason."

You stand at the end of the finished corridor under the inverted ziggurat under South Ledopolus. The area with the brackish water is where the dwarves once broke into the aquifer below. It drops from the opening down to the water line some distance (tens of feet, can't exactly find my notes atm). The rock ceiling is only 10-20 feet above your head past that opening. In other words, you could dive into the water from here assuming it's deep enough, and with a jump Hurk can probably hit the ceiling.

The psurlon and dwarf bodies are in states of horrid discomposure.

Tools? Not much of anything that's useful, pretty sure you grabbed any useful stuff if there was any the first time.

[DM Bob]

And as far as any ESP at this point? No outside thoughts. Straight to topic.

[Niachi]

Laakh picks his way around the rotting remains to find a clean spot to sit for Rejuvenation.

"Not convinced. But very fucking eager to practice my own version of Psychic Surgery (picking up a jagged rock) to ensure our faces and names will never escape his mind. Templars are NOTHING but trouble and we have plenty of that to deal with."

To Coden:

"Your call to keep him alive, but methinks you now have to watch over him for the rest of your life. 'Keep your frenemies close' is that the saying? Soon as we can power up, I want my hands back on my weapons, report to Rokos, and with extreme haste The Fuck Out of Balic.

[Attilius]

Red pulls out a wheel of cheese and hands it to Khuv to start eating. "Let's get back." She says to the group impatiently.

[Remie, the cheese wheel gives you bonus PsP's in case you didn't know, similar to a health fruit giving you HP. Bob said you can roll your wormhole activation (≤15) once you've consumed it.]

[Coden Rokos (Jesse H.)]

"He's my problem, and my family's," says Coden. "I want the one behind all of this, and I mean to get him. While some of my associates are a bit more brutal about it, I am... focused on this one thing. You gave me what I wanted. Stay out of the way, remain in obscurity. I'll arrange for someone to come and take these memories away from you, so that you never have to worry about being caught in the middle."

Coden turns back to the team and says, "I know none of you wanted to get caught in the middle of this, and you don't all necessarily agree with my way of doing things. I'll use my family's position to deal with this matter. I'm sure you have many adventures ahead of you that won't be in Balic for a while, which will give me time to get the rest of this nasty business sorted out. Let's get out of here."

(Bob at this point I think it's pretty clear that Coden is going to have a confrontation with Aloysius, but after that he's likely to stay in Balic and try to manage house affairs further. Since he can't Mindwipe this templar himself he'll have to get someone else to do it, which is its own pain in the ass because nobody wants to get involved in that kind of dangerous affair, which probably means going to a telepath who isn't part of the regular Academy circuit to do the job. And so the cycle of intrigue continues...)

[Deleted]

(OOC: lol, I can't believe you guys decided kidnapping a templar was a good idea. It's been fun to watch this play out. As far as the templar goes, remember that these guys don't need "evidence" to accuse you and toss you in prison. Mindwipe might be overkill. The worst he'll do at this point is betray you to his superiors to tip you off that you're coming for them. Since you can't mindwipe him immediately, there's really no benefit to doing so after the damage is done.

All that said, I'd probably double the usual bribe at the docks going forward. Maybe even offer assistance with solving one of this templar's problems in the future. Try to recover the relationship as much as possible.

Don't forget to debrief Mak when you get back.)

[Coden Rokos (Jesse H.)]

(It wasn't my first choice!)

[DM Bob]

Nothing is ever easy though.

Except for wormholes. Khuv successfully opens one back to Balic.

Just tell me if you want it to be exactly back at the dock...

Or somewhere else in town. You tell me.

[Attilius]

[Somewhere hidden. Maybe a back alley next to the docksp

[DM Bob]

That works. You communicate that and easily return to the City State in one piece.

For now.

[Attilius]

Red looks around for possible trouble then whispers "let's get this gentleman back to his house..." and leads the way back to the dock house.

[DM Bob]

And that is easily done.

Next?

[Attilius]

[Bob what does the ESP pickup as we drop the Mul off and leave?]

If shops are still open Red will say quietly "I need to do some shopping. I got an idea about the salt water critters while you guys were interrogating... I can meet you guys back at the ovens unless you want to join me?"

She'll head to a "baiting" shop to purchase large and small netting, large and small bone hooks, heavy duty giant hair ropes and whatever else is available.