Heroica RPG - Quest #157: Staking the Flag

[UsernameMDM]

24 minutes ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"When a man brings a sword to a handcannon fight he shouldn't try drawing first." The sailor smiles at Hoke, "Besides, we wouldn't have to worry about competition if you had decided to hire us earlier. Yer lucky we're still talking after ya tried that one, good thing your cute. Anyways, the captain won't see any good in starting a blood feud with another crew, we're whalers, not pirates."

"Good thing indeed," Hoke says with a smile,"I understand where you're coming from and respect that, but you never know, so I had to ask."

Hoke reaches across and retrieves the wanted poster.

"Enjoy the show."

He walks over to the end of the bar to Thorlar and the captain.  He places the wanted poster on the bar in front of the captain and neatly smooths it out for the captain to see.

"Good evening captain.  It seems that there is a bounty on one of your men, and, for some reason, my crew is itching to collect."

[Duvors]

4 hours ago, UsernameMDM said:

He walks over to the end of the bar to Thorlar and the captain.  He places the wanted poster on the bar in front of the captain and neatly smooths it out for the captain to see.

"Good evening captain.  It seems that there is a bounty on one of your men, and, for some reason, my crew is itching to collect."

"I'm not 'itching' to collect anything. No matter how tempting the offer is we have no information on why this bounty was posted or what he did to earn it. And though the offer is tempting I'm somewhat more worried about the fact that someone has set up a Heroica knockoff here. 'Quest twenty-two'? Really? That's our shtick! Do they have magic that prevents them from dying? No! As we just saw. However..." here he looked back towards where all the blood was. "...that does bring us to the fact that the good captain here seems to have shot a man who was on the other side of the room from himself, possibly with little or no provocation. That is something I find rather objectionable."

[Alfadas]

2 hours ago, Lord Duvors said:

"I'm not 'itching' to collect anything. No matter how tempting the offer is we have no information on why this bounty was posted or what he did to earn it. And though the offer is tempting I'm somewhat more worried about the fact that someone has set up a Heroica knockoff here. 'Quest twenty-two'? Really? That's our shtick! 

What he said. Completely agree. 

2 hours ago, Lord Duvors said:

However..." here he looked back towards where all the blood was. "...that does bring us to the fact that the good captain here seems to have shot a man who was on the other side of the room from himself, possibly with little or no provocation. That is something I find rather objectionable."

I do think our captain over here had a good reason to kill the penguin. He only tried to protect his crew. If a captain can't protect his crew, why would his crew fight for him? 

[UsernameMDM]

Hoke looked at the dwarf and barbarian, wondering if they had recently fallen on their heads.

[Duvors]

2 hours ago, Alfadas said:

What he said. Completely agree. 

"Torald, I was being just a tiny bit flippant with that remark, please don't take it entirely seriously."

2 hours ago, Alfadas said:

I do think our captain over here had a good reason to kill the penguin. He only tried to protect his crew. If a captain can't protect his crew, why would his crew fight for him? 

"I don't disagree with that, I just disagree with shooting someone on suspicion rather than with irrefutable proof of enmity. If this fellow here (whom, for some mysterious reason, we are talking about as if he wasn't present) knew for a fact that the werepenguin was after one of his crew than that counts as self defense. But as we have no knowledge of weather or not that was the case, I suggest we let him inform us himself."

[Waterbrick Down]

12 hours ago, UsernameMDM said:

He walks over to the end of the bar to Thorlar and the captain.  He places the wanted poster on the bar in front of the captain and neatly smooths it out for the captain to see.

"Good evening captain.  It seems that there is a bounty on one of your men, and, for some reason, my crew is itching to collect."

"Really now? Well I'd have thought ya saw what happened to the last guy who walked in here. 'Sides this," The merman points at the poster, "Ain't proof of anything, I'd suggest ya leave it lie."

8 hours ago, Lord Duvors said:

 "...that does bring us to the fact that the good captain here seems to have shot a man who was on the other side of the room from himself, possibly with little or no provocation. That is something I find rather objectionable."

"Don't even carry a handcannon on me, that would be my gunner Billy."

5 hours ago, Alfadas said:

What he said. Completely agree. 

I do think our captain over here had a good reason to kill the penguin. He only tried to protect his crew. If a captain can't protect his crew, why would his crew fight for him? 

"Torald, I thought you were smarter than this, with what happened to your friend ya had to carry off."

1 hour ago, Lord Duvors said:

"Torald, I was being just a tiny bit flippant with that remark, please don't take it entirely seriously."

"I don't disagree with that, I just disagree with shooting someone on suspicion rather than with irrefutable proof of enmity. If this fellow here (whom, for some mysterious reason, we are talking about as if he wasn't present) knew for a fact that the werepenguin was after one of his crew than that counts as self defense. But as we have no knowledge of weather or not that was the case, I suggest we let him inform us himself."

"Yer a strange group, I thought you were all merchants of some sorts. Yer all bringin' quite a bit of ruckus to this town as of late."

[UsernameMDM]

22 minutes ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"Really now? Well I'd have thought ya saw what happened to the last guy who walked in here. 'Sides this," The merman points at the poster, "Ain't proof of anything, I'd suggest ya leave it lie."

"Tis true, and that's what I said. They kept wanting to come back here though.  As for the last guy, well, he wasn't amibicle to us neither."

[UsernameMDM]

36 minutes ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"Yer a strange group, I thought you were all merchants of some sorts. Yer all bringin' quite a bit of ruckus to this town as of late."

"Well, we are still getting used to each other as we are newly assembled. We all have experience on different assignments and this is our first together. Our current assignment is one of ther merchant and exploration variety,  but, as self funded individuals, you can agree an offer like this is hard to let slide," Hoke says tapping the poster,"Plus a tavern brawl does sound kind of fun. But honestly captain, is your man innocent of wrong doing?"

[Waterbrick Down]

12 minutes ago, UsernameMDM said:

"Well, we are still getting used to each other as we are newly assembled. We all have experience on different assignments and this is our first together. Our current assignment is one of ther merchant and exploration variety,  but, as self funded individuals, you can agree an offer like this is hard to let slide," Hoke says tapping the poster,"Plus a tavern brawl does sound kind of fun. But honestly captain, is your man innocent of wrong doing?"

The merman shrugs,

"What my men do while they're ashore is their own business. As ya can see, Billy can take care of himself, but if I were to see some funny business, ya can be sure I'd be stickin' by my best gunner's side. Good help is hard to find these days and call me biased, but I'd be willin' to believe Billy over some silly slip of paper."

[UsernameMDM]

"Barkeep, I'll take another one of those Apples and a Chicken if you have them."

3 minutes ago, Waterbrick Down said:

The merman shrugs,

"What my men do while they're ashore is their own business. As ya can see, Billy can take care of himself, but if I were to see some funny business, ya can be sure I'd be stickin' by my best gunner's side. Good help is hard to find these days and call me biased, but I'd be willin' to believe Billy over some silly slip of paper."

"I can respect that captain."

[Waterbrick Down]

"We've got one Apple left."

Hoke buys the remaining apple.

[UsernameMDM]

Hoke consumes the apple.

[Duvors]

14 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"Don't even carry a handcannon on me, that would be my gunner Billy."

"Oh, sorry. You said personal business and I thought... I"ll just go now."

[UsernameMDM]

3 hours ago, Lord Duvors said:

"Oh, sorry. You said personal business and I thought... I"ll just go now."

"Aye, as we all will."

Hoke nods at the captain and signals for his crew it's time to go. As he walks out, he throws Amelia a wink.

As they all step out, Hoke pulls out the business card and holds it up the the tavern's light.

Madame Mihm's
Fortunes Foretold, Futures Found Out, Secrets Scrutinized
Appointment Only
Wailing Wharf, Babeleth

"As I said earlier, I think I have the word. Unfortunately, I'm unsure of what it is. You can see some of the letters are bold.  I figure if we can unscramble them, we can gain access the 'the hall'."

Edited March 19, 2017 by UsernameMDM

[Alfadas]

47 minutes ago, UsernameMDM said:

As they all step out, Hoke pulls out the business card and holds it up the the tavern's light.

"As I said earlier, I think I have the word. Unfortunately, I'm unsure of what it is. You can see some of the letters are bold.  I figure if we can unscramble them, we can gain access the 'the hall'."

How about "enterprise"? O wait, we are short one E then... hmm.. No clue sadly. So, "i n r e S p t r e"  are our letters. Can't make anything out of it. Maybe we just show the guy this card?

Edited March 19, 2017 by Alfadas

[UsernameMDM]

"Mayhaps it's a person or a location?  I can't think of a word in Common speak other than 'Preinsert', and I highly doubt that's it."

Hoke flips around to the backside of the card to check for any notes or clues.

Edited March 19, 2017 by UsernameMDM

[Waterbrick Down]

4 hours ago, UsernameMDM said:

"Mayhaps it's a person or a location?  I can't think of a word in Common speak other than 'Preinsert', and I highly doubt that's it."

Hoke flips around to the backside of the card to check for any notes or clues.

Hoke examines the back of the card and finds in small print at the bottom corner.

Quote

No refunds

[UsernameMDM]

2 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

Hoke examines the back of the card and finds in small print at the bottom corner.

"Hmmm...let's find out if this works," he says as he thumps the card.

Hoke heads back to Madame Mihm's.  He once again knocks on the door.  

"Enterprise" he says when the cyclops guard opens the slot.

Edited March 20, 2017 by UsernameMDM

[Alfadas]

5 hours ago, UsernameMDM said:

"Hmmm...let's find out if this works," he says as he thumps the card.

Hoke heads back to Madame Mihm's.  He once again knocks on the door.  

"Enterprise" he says when the cyclops guard opens the slot.

So I was right, Torald smiles. 

[UsernameMDM]

6 hours ago, Alfadas said:

So I was right, Torald smiles. 

"We'll make a Scholar out of you yet."

Edited March 20, 2017 by UsernameMDM

[MysticModulus]

"Good work Torald!" Ezeran smiles.

[Waterbrick Down]

12 hours ago, UsernameMDM said:

"Hmmm...let's find out if this works," he says as he thumps the card.

Hoke heads back to Madame Mihm's.  He once again knocks on the door.  

"Enterprise" he says when the cyclops guard opens the slot.

The cyclops grins and then opens the door.

The room is dimly lit by several lamps at a variety of tables spread throughout the room. Against the back room a self-service bar is setup. Many individuals stand around chatting in hushed tones interspersed with coarse laughter at times. A oaken bulletin board is setup off to one side, several bulletins attached to it. Stairs lead to a second floor and a balcony with several doors leading off the main room. A mermaid sits behind a desk and greets the heroes.

"Rather late night gentlemen, don't recall seeing you here before, first time? May I ask whom your sponsor is?"

[UsernameMDM]

15 minutes ago, Waterbrick Down said:

[Insert Thumbnail once I find it]
"Rather late night gentlemen, don't recall seeing you here before, first time? May I ask whom your sponsor is?"

Hoke looks around a bit as he steps up towards the mermaid.

"Yes, first time," he says as he finally makes eye contact with the mermaid,"Sponsor?  Well..."

Hoke lays out the wanted poster, smoothing and flattening it out.

"There's a bit of a mess in the square.  A black and white beaked fellow, now deceased, was carrying this." 

[Waterbrick Down]

32 minutes ago, UsernameMDM said:

Hoke looks around a bit as he steps up towards the mermaid.

"Yes, first time," he says as he finally makes eye contact with the mermaid,"Sponsor?  Well..."

Hoke lays out the wanted poster, smoothing and flattening it out.

"There's a bit of a mess in the square.  A black and white beaked fellow, now deceased, was carrying this." 

"Sod, looks like a quest posting. Whelp part of the job I guess." The mermaid dips her quill, "Now as to your sponsor, what did you say the name of your reference was again?"

[Alfadas]

Torald stands back, letting Hoke talk. He looks around and gets a strange feeling of familiarity. He whispers to Ezeran: feels a bit like our Hall, doesn't it?