Shorebound, Day 537.15
DD started her internship today, I really hope she enjoys it and gets a lot out of it. *fingers crossed* Anyway, on to the campaign update!
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Nothing that Kolo had been trying to steal looked particularly unusual, just "money." It seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through? He now refused to cough up any more info, so he was cuffed. I picked up the automaton, which made a halfhearted whirring sound and quivered, but didn't seem able to do more, and we headed back upstairs.
Kiarra obviously is "born under a lucky star" style lucky. We did follow the correct route back up to the main lobby. There were two more locked doors to be opened other than the one Kiarra had opened from the other side. Of the 10 keys on the ring, I got the right key on the 5th try for the first door we came to, and the 3rd for the next. The last was still sitting open. We filed back out into the lobby and were jumped on by Ugwe and Mr. Softwhistle.
We recommended that he get some of his own staff down to the vault to re-secure everything, and pushed his stepson to the fore. Mr. Softwhistle got quite mad and started in on him. Kromnir held Kolo out of reach and asked him to not abuse the prisoner. I passed the keys back to Ugwe with a bit of an embarassed nod, and asked him if the dog thing was part of their security. He had no idea what it was. "Evidence" is what it is now.
And of course at that moment the Token Guard showed up acting like they had saved the day. Several swanned into the building importantly. Their leader told Mr. Softwhistle they could talk about the usual arrangements later, while eyeing us suspiciously. He tried to bully us into leaving and handing over Kolo, which based on their previous record of keeping track of detainees, seemed like it would be bad for everyone. Kiarra gave him a withering glare, and Kromnir ran roughshod right back over him by telling him who we were, observing that we had sent notice we'd be in the area (it might have even arrived by now), and noting that it certainly looked like we had observed a Watch member trying to get a bribe.
Their officer backed down, and said something about checking up on the prisoners outside. Mr. Softwhistled offered us a reward, which I was on the verge of saying OK to but then others observed that on the heels of accusing others of taking bribes, it might not look great. Good point. Everyone except Visandus followed the Token guard outside, where they had a collection of the Copper Hand footpads secured. One was the one that Kromnir had manacled to the railing. One was the one I had knocked out by the fence. To their credit, they did have a couple of the other ones that had run off at various points, though not our informant from the conference room.
We eventually talked them into turning over the whole crew of brigands to our custody - seemed like they just didn't even really want to deal with it. There was still a big confused crowd milling around outside as we took charge of the additional suspects and started herding them back toward home once Visandus joined us. He said he had observed something change hands between Mr. Softwhistle and one of the Token guards.
As we tried to work our way out of the throng with our charges, someone came pushing through the crowd toward us. "Reginald VanCaskersin, Absalom Observer" he called out, and proceeded to start asking questions about goings on at the bank. Several more reporters tried to crowd in behind him, but he warned them off with a Kiarra worthy frown. He fell in walking with us, got a hint to go look in the broken window for an eyeful of what kinds of things has been used for the breakin. He was checking out the dog thing too. He didn't want to let us get away, but he wanted to go look in that window, so he asked us to meet him later at Heaven, and disappeared back into the crowd after scribbling a passcode for the place on a note he gave to Kromnir.
We wended our own way back to the precinct, herding along all the detainees. Day Sarg is getting pretty good with the eyerolls himself. He mentioned that a pair of boots labeled "Evidence" had come back with the courier, and been filed away in the materials lockup. The automaton was sent to join it. We saw the detainees to cells and then reported in to Sgt. Ollo, who was pleased that the robbery had been mostly foiled. He clarified that rewards offered freely are within code (Damn! Oh well). I visited the kitchen afterwards and found Chad clearing the last of lunch. He had a few slices of sandwich meat that he was willing to donate for the Bunyip. It seemed to remember the bacon and hopped right out of its tub when it saw me. I tried to keep firmly in my mind that it was a mostly wild and fierce creature as I fed it the slices, but it seemed to have completely forgiven and forgotten that whole incident at the docks and even shoved its head against the bars for a scratch. I obliged. It felt like scratching leathery damp sandpaper, very weird.
Back at our barrack room, the rest of the team was already getting ready for the meetup at Heaven. Kiarra was carefully laying out a lovely outfit. Aja was too. Even the guys were getting tidied up. Clothing was never a big thing to me. I opened my chest and perused it. I selected out the nicer linen shirt with a bit of a ruffle on the sleeves, and a calf length skirt with a hint of eyelet ruffle around the base. Kiarra was giving me a look of pity. I shrugged into them defiantly, and as a last touch donned my charm necklace...a small compass from Dad and a tiny glass globe with a dried Seerbloom blossom from Mother. Kiarra tsk tsk'd and said we needed to do a shopping trip badly. Perhaps, but not today.
We headed out for the House of Planes to see if the reporter was there. The password was good, and we found our way to Heaven. The club was big, each room was more over the top than the previous one, and Heaven was of course at the top. A crowd was cheering on a person at the top of a column who was telling a story. Aja stage whispered that if the crowd liked the confession, the person would win a free "House Special" beverage, and that all the planes had some themed beverage and contest by which to earn a free one. She looked a little seasick while relating this bit of info. Visandus spotted the reporter at a large table. Several people were just getting up as we approached.
Mr. Reginald VanCaskersin waved us into his domain. As we settled in, fancy drinks appeared at our spots. I started right in on mine - sailors pride and all. The stuff was great. I think you would have liked it Dad...maybe mother too, which is saying a lot. I liked it for sure. Kiarra was working on hers, Aja was regarding hers like it might bite her, and the guys opted for beer (Kromnir) and water (Visandus). Talk went back and forth - No, the name Donovan didn't ring a bell, but over my protestation about giving out too much info about in progress investigations...the name Fayati Alummar came out, and that one was obviously familiar to Mr. VanCaskersin. He didn't have too many specifics, but he had a basic description of her - red hair, scar on cheek, HQ reputed to be in the Foreign sector, sounded like a big player in the vice world - and making it more violent. The more they talked the more I sipped and the more my attention wandered. A second mug landed on the table, which was surprising because it meant the first was empty. Reginald asked if there was anything he could do for us and I piped up with "Got a spot for a Bunyip?" This subject tangent led to a promise to get it to one of his family's holdings in short order and NOT murder it for financial gain, and that sounded like a much better option than the local zoo or trying to ditch it on the coast somewhere. Yay, I did something good. Somehow the confiscated boat even came up. Damn good informants. I think Reggie was hitting on Aja. My attention refused to stay focused, and it soon appeared we were being shoo'd off anyway, as Regs made comments about another meeting about to start.
The music was getting better by the minute, and I drifted off in that direction with Kiarra as the lightweights opted to head out. The dreamy beat teamed up with the drink to put my head in the clouds - like literally - the painted clouds seemed to take on life and motion and light seemed extra intense and well, extra shiny. We danced, we cheered on some confessions that we would highly likely have arrested the confessees for had we been on duty. It didn't feel very important with the music and the crowd. Several hopeful guys tried dancing themselves into our orbit, but they just didn't seem very interesting. At some point we called it a night. It had been fun though, and I was really happy that Kiarra had stayed. I'll have to try remember to dig up that pirate novel for her later. Everyone else looked to be asleep when we tiptoed back into barrackroom, and we slipped into our bunks as quietly as mice.
I awoke at the usual time the next morning with Aja, Kromnir, and Visandus looking at Kiarra and I expectantly. "How are you two feeling....?" Aja ventured...to which she got two "Great!"s. I swear they looked disappointed. Dad didn't raise no lightweight. We readied up, informed Ollo of our desination, and headed out once again in normal Watch attire - with the Foreign Quarter as the next target.
I hadn't been there much - it seemed very nice. Reminded me of a lot of ports we had visited on the Soarer, actually. Kiarra was quite at home and led us right to the headquarters of the Sleepless Sons, where we were ushered in to the office of their Captain. He welcomed us, made a big deal of Kiarra, and while he was happy to commit information and some material aid toward our mission of taking on the Copper Hand, he did not have people to spare at that time. He offered to give us some special training, which sounded interesting but also did not sound like it would involve swords. Ah well. He did have a little more information on where to head to look for the Hand, and recommended going without any Watch trappings. He seemed worried they might have a hostage. I have a feeling this might soon turn into a "Getting holes poked in me" kind of day. This whole bank heist case sure has had a much higher than average amount of that.
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Nothing that Kolo had been trying to steal looked particularly unusual, just "money." It seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through? He now refused to cough up any more info, so he was cuffed. I picked up the automaton, which made a halfhearted whirring sound and quivered, but didn't seem able to do more, and we headed back upstairs.
Kiarra obviously is "born under a lucky star" style lucky. We did follow the correct route back up to the main lobby. There were two more locked doors to be opened other than the one Kiarra had opened from the other side. Of the 10 keys on the ring, I got the right key on the 5th try for the first door we came to, and the 3rd for the next. The last was still sitting open. We filed back out into the lobby and were jumped on by Ugwe and Mr. Softwhistle.
We recommended that he get some of his own staff down to the vault to re-secure everything, and pushed his stepson to the fore. Mr. Softwhistle got quite mad and started in on him. Kromnir held Kolo out of reach and asked him to not abuse the prisoner. I passed the keys back to Ugwe with a bit of an embarassed nod, and asked him if the dog thing was part of their security. He had no idea what it was. "Evidence" is what it is now.
And of course at that moment the Token Guard showed up acting like they had saved the day. Several swanned into the building importantly. Their leader told Mr. Softwhistle they could talk about the usual arrangements later, while eyeing us suspiciously. He tried to bully us into leaving and handing over Kolo, which based on their previous record of keeping track of detainees, seemed like it would be bad for everyone. Kiarra gave him a withering glare, and Kromnir ran roughshod right back over him by telling him who we were, observing that we had sent notice we'd be in the area (it might have even arrived by now), and noting that it certainly looked like we had observed a Watch member trying to get a bribe.
Their officer backed down, and said something about checking up on the prisoners outside. Mr. Softwhistled offered us a reward, which I was on the verge of saying OK to but then others observed that on the heels of accusing others of taking bribes, it might not look great. Good point. Everyone except Visandus followed the Token guard outside, where they had a collection of the Copper Hand footpads secured. One was the one that Kromnir had manacled to the railing. One was the one I had knocked out by the fence. To their credit, they did have a couple of the other ones that had run off at various points, though not our informant from the conference room.
We eventually talked them into turning over the whole crew of brigands to our custody - seemed like they just didn't even really want to deal with it. There was still a big confused crowd milling around outside as we took charge of the additional suspects and started herding them back toward home once Visandus joined us. He said he had observed something change hands between Mr. Softwhistle and one of the Token guards.
As we tried to work our way out of the throng with our charges, someone came pushing through the crowd toward us. "Reginald VanCaskersin, Absalom Observer" he called out, and proceeded to start asking questions about goings on at the bank. Several more reporters tried to crowd in behind him, but he warned them off with a Kiarra worthy frown. He fell in walking with us, got a hint to go look in the broken window for an eyeful of what kinds of things has been used for the breakin. He was checking out the dog thing too. He didn't want to let us get away, but he wanted to go look in that window, so he asked us to meet him later at Heaven, and disappeared back into the crowd after scribbling a passcode for the place on a note he gave to Kromnir.
We wended our own way back to the precinct, herding along all the detainees. Day Sarg is getting pretty good with the eyerolls himself. He mentioned that a pair of boots labeled "Evidence" had come back with the courier, and been filed away in the materials lockup. The automaton was sent to join it. We saw the detainees to cells and then reported in to Sgt. Ollo, who was pleased that the robbery had been mostly foiled. He clarified that rewards offered freely are within code (Damn! Oh well). I visited the kitchen afterwards and found Chad clearing the last of lunch. He had a few slices of sandwich meat that he was willing to donate for the Bunyip. It seemed to remember the bacon and hopped right out of its tub when it saw me. I tried to keep firmly in my mind that it was a mostly wild and fierce creature as I fed it the slices, but it seemed to have completely forgiven and forgotten that whole incident at the docks and even shoved its head against the bars for a scratch. I obliged. It felt like scratching leathery damp sandpaper, very weird.
Back at our barrack room, the rest of the team was already getting ready for the meetup at Heaven. Kiarra was carefully laying out a lovely outfit. Aja was too. Even the guys were getting tidied up. Clothing was never a big thing to me. I opened my chest and perused it. I selected out the nicer linen shirt with a bit of a ruffle on the sleeves, and a calf length skirt with a hint of eyelet ruffle around the base. Kiarra was giving me a look of pity. I shrugged into them defiantly, and as a last touch donned my charm necklace...a small compass from Dad and a tiny glass globe with a dried Seerbloom blossom from Mother. Kiarra tsk tsk'd and said we needed to do a shopping trip badly. Perhaps, but not today.
We headed out for the House of Planes to see if the reporter was there. The password was good, and we found our way to Heaven. The club was big, each room was more over the top than the previous one, and Heaven was of course at the top. A crowd was cheering on a person at the top of a column who was telling a story. Aja stage whispered that if the crowd liked the confession, the person would win a free "House Special" beverage, and that all the planes had some themed beverage and contest by which to earn a free one. She looked a little seasick while relating this bit of info. Visandus spotted the reporter at a large table. Several people were just getting up as we approached.
Mr. Reginald VanCaskersin waved us into his domain. As we settled in, fancy drinks appeared at our spots. I started right in on mine - sailors pride and all. The stuff was great. I think you would have liked it Dad...maybe mother too, which is saying a lot. I liked it for sure. Kiarra was working on hers, Aja was regarding hers like it might bite her, and the guys opted for beer (Kromnir) and water (Visandus). Talk went back and forth - No, the name Donovan didn't ring a bell, but over my protestation about giving out too much info about in progress investigations...the name Fayati Alummar came out, and that one was obviously familiar to Mr. VanCaskersin. He didn't have too many specifics, but he had a basic description of her - red hair, scar on cheek, HQ reputed to be in the Foreign sector, sounded like a big player in the vice world - and making it more violent. The more they talked the more I sipped and the more my attention wandered. A second mug landed on the table, which was surprising because it meant the first was empty. Reginald asked if there was anything he could do for us and I piped up with "Got a spot for a Bunyip?" This subject tangent led to a promise to get it to one of his family's holdings in short order and NOT murder it for financial gain, and that sounded like a much better option than the local zoo or trying to ditch it on the coast somewhere. Yay, I did something good. Somehow the confiscated boat even came up. Damn good informants. I think Reggie was hitting on Aja. My attention refused to stay focused, and it soon appeared we were being shoo'd off anyway, as Regs made comments about another meeting about to start.
The music was getting better by the minute, and I drifted off in that direction with Kiarra as the lightweights opted to head out. The dreamy beat teamed up with the drink to put my head in the clouds - like literally - the painted clouds seemed to take on life and motion and light seemed extra intense and well, extra shiny. We danced, we cheered on some confessions that we would highly likely have arrested the confessees for had we been on duty. It didn't feel very important with the music and the crowd. Several hopeful guys tried dancing themselves into our orbit, but they just didn't seem very interesting. At some point we called it a night. It had been fun though, and I was really happy that Kiarra had stayed. I'll have to try remember to dig up that pirate novel for her later. Everyone else looked to be asleep when we tiptoed back into barrackroom, and we slipped into our bunks as quietly as mice.
I awoke at the usual time the next morning with Aja, Kromnir, and Visandus looking at Kiarra and I expectantly. "How are you two feeling....?" Aja ventured...to which she got two "Great!"s. I swear they looked disappointed. Dad didn't raise no lightweight. We readied up, informed Ollo of our desination, and headed out once again in normal Watch attire - with the Foreign Quarter as the next target.
I hadn't been there much - it seemed very nice. Reminded me of a lot of ports we had visited on the Soarer, actually. Kiarra was quite at home and led us right to the headquarters of the Sleepless Sons, where we were ushered in to the office of their Captain. He welcomed us, made a big deal of Kiarra, and while he was happy to commit information and some material aid toward our mission of taking on the Copper Hand, he did not have people to spare at that time. He offered to give us some special training, which sounded interesting but also did not sound like it would involve swords. Ah well. He did have a little more information on where to head to look for the Hand, and recommended going without any Watch trappings. He seemed worried they might have a hostage. I have a feeling this might soon turn into a "Getting holes poked in me" kind of day. This whole bank heist case sure has had a much higher than average amount of that.