Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 14: Dancer (group)

[Zhym]

Mercutio has a magnifying glass in his kit, but no spyglass AFAIK. I'm kind of amazed that in a waterworld, no one has one, and that we made it out of town without thinking to get one. I wouldn't complain about retconning that someone got a spyglass before we left. It's not like we couldn't have afforded one!

[ffilz]

Mercutio has a magnifying glass in his kit, but no spyglass AFAIK. I'm kind of amazed that in a waterworld, no one has one, and that we made it out of town without thinking to get one. I wouldn't complain about retconning that someone got a spyglass before we left. It's not like we couldn't have afforded one!

Do we actually have navigation tools also? A retconn might make sense... Doc Linkletter still isn't going to have any appropriate toys... He already has all the toys appropriate for his position as doctor.

[Zhym]

Mercutio has a magnifying glass in his kit, but no spyglass AFAIK. I'm kind of amazed that in a waterworld, no one has one, and that we made it out of town without thinking to get one. I wouldn't complain about retconning that someone got a spyglass before we left. It's not like we couldn't have afforded one!

Do we actually have navigation tools also? A retconn might make sense... Doc Linkletter still isn't going to have any appropriate toys... He already has all the toys appropriate for his position as doctor.

No one has a sextant listed in their equipment either, and it seems unlikely we'd have set sail without one.

Oddly enough, Mercutio could have had his cane accessorized with both a sextant and a spyglass—which would have made sense if he'd had any skill at navigation. The cane does have a signal mirror, though, in case we need to do any signaling.

[Bluetongue]

Nathaniel has a sextant and a divers suit and air bellows pump if needed.

[atpollard]

It is a question of Character Skills.
SKILL-1 indicates about 4000 hours spent DOING something, so someone with Auto Mechanic-1 would reasonably be assumed to have acquired a set of tools appropriate to the skill. For SKILL-1 (or higher) the assumption is that you have the tools of the trade with you. For SKILL-0, the assumption is that you do not have the tools of the trade (unless the Character specifically acquires them). "I personally change the oil in my car" (skill-0) is not the same as "I worked as an Auto Mechanic for two years." (skill-1)
Skill-0 has a screwdriver. Skill-1 has a mechanic's toolbox.

My question is not: "Did someone remember to write down 'spyglass' on their character sheet?" ... that is not my style.
My question is: "Does anyone have a SKILL-1 or higher that would make it reasonable that you have a spyglass among the tools acquired to do that job?"

The doctor is correct, a spyglass is not among the normal "tools of the trade" of a Doctor. Someone with Navigation-1 would be assumed to have the compass and sextant typical of "tools of the trade".
I am just asking the players to make a call for their characters because YOU know your characters better than I do.
Would he/she have a spyglass to see ships on the horizon?

(I am not a "You enter the dungeon, but nobody brought rope" type of referee.)

For the record, you can travel perfectly fine without a spyglass. In the dark, ships appear as a light in the distance. In the light, they appear as a dark spot against the horizon. It is not essential to count the number of masts from 5 km away. It is more of a Navy/Corsair "Identify Friend or Foe" tool of the trade ... useful for Forward Observer (Recon), Gunner, Ship Tactics, etc. skills ... plus Navy Combat and Scout Exploration type tasks.

[atpollard]

I'm kind of amazed that in a waterworld, no one has one, and that we made it out of town without thinking to get one. I wouldn't complain about retconning that someone got a spyglass before we left. It's not like we couldn't have afforded one!

If nobody has one (based on tools for character skills), I have no objection to adding one to the "ship's locker" during the rushed refit at Gwynedd. It is a reasonable purchase (especially for a ship with an empty bow gun mount).

Just for the record, the ship is unarmed but the crew has lots of personal weapons and plenty of ammo for them. Counting bullets and carrying guns only comes into effect when you leave the ship and cannot have everything with you.

[Monsieur Rose]

Ok. So let's say we gathered one in Gwynedd.

Jacques

He scans the fleet, trying to determine if it would be safe to dock there.

[atpollard]

Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 14: Shift 3: 5 Bells [Hex 46N-25W: 33 km WNW of Gwynedd]
Jacques Bonnet, Remy Hernandez, Mercutio Routledge, Samuel Linkletter, Josephine Baxter-Smith, Nathaniel

Nathaniel first raised the possibility of docking at this fleet, and Jacques carefully scanned it for anything that might suggest trouble. It posed an interesting philosophical question what a man that shares drinks with the Brotherhood and helps pirates capture a steamship would view as ‘trouble’, however that question remained unanswered.

The fleet gave all appearances of being a remote “waterborne” community of between 200 and 300 people … Nathaniel advised that the official TAS classification for a community between 20 and 100 families was a “Hamlet”, although deep-water folk always referred to their communities as ‘Fleets’ irrespective of size. The larger ships were minimally armed, which was likely for protection, and the hundreds of large, slow and barely maneuverable barges suggested more Farmers and Cage Ranchers (people that raised animals in cages … like rabbits and chickens) than “Corsairs”.

The Dancer approached and was challenged for your intent by a steamboat half your size with a small cannon mounted to the bow … not really being “Navy” people, the bore was smaller than your fist. Once it was established that YOU were not an armed raiding ship (these people had no spyglass), you were welcomed to “Poage Fleet”.

The 200 plus barges, each 10 meters wide and either 30 or 35 meters long, were linked together forming a giant floating island with a small harbor for small boats to shelter in and larger ships docked around the perimeter. The entire island flexed and rolled with each passing wave, but the mass dampened the motion. The perimeter deck of each barge formed a pedestrian grid that allowed one to walk across the island with ease.

You docked along the outer perimeter and were greeted by people eager to see the first ship of the new light … to learn if you had any news from the East, and to see what you had to sell. There was some curiosity if you were looking to buy anything … with over 80 merchants, there was plenty to choose from.

Someone needs to tend the boiler and anyone else is free to go and explore the various merchant ships. Roll a 2d6 if you go shopping and add any skill that you use (streetwise or administration, etc.) There are common, uncommon and rare shops with some harder to locate than others. Streetwise will give you a shot at the “black market”.

You learned that the population of Poage included 82 merchant/tradesmen, 19 farmers, 19 cage ranchers, 12 fishermen and 6 food process workers (who converted fresh fish into dried fish). There were facilities available for wooden boat repair and both Ethanol and Methanol sales.

[ffilz]

Doc Linkletter will stroll about and check out the wares on offer.

[Urson]

Josephine
I will remain with The Dancer for now- but I would sincerely appreciate the chance to visit the village market later.
Josephine has probably dealt with such floating towns before, having been a Trader. She'll divide her time on The Dancer between tending the boilers and watching the decks. There always seem to be one or two young rascals who need to sneak aboard visiting vessels.

[Zhym]

Doc Routledge inquires as to whether the community has a doctor. If so, Routledge will pay a courtesy visit and ask if there is anything he can assist with during this brief stopover; if they don't have a doctor, he asks if anyone is in need of medical attention.

Once those 'duties' are taken care of, he goes shopping for medical supplies or anything that might be useful in his mechanical tinkerings. He doubts whether this small community has much in the way of arcane scholarly knowledge, but he will seek out what he can find in the way of a bookstore or local area of learning. And just for the heck of it, he'll attempt to get access to the less above-board market as well.

Medical: [2d6+3]=6+3=9
Mechanics: [2d6+3]=8+3=11
Scholar: [2d6+2]=4+2=6
Streetwise: [2d6]=7

[ffilz]

Doc Linkletter will also check in with the local medical community and needs.

[Monsieur Rose]

Jacques

"Are we in need of anything for the Dancer? Any spare parts we may need?" Jacques asks the others before they go off shopping.

"I'll take a turn tending to the boiler, if you give me a crash course, Jo. I'll be back in a little bit."

Jacques goes in search of news, gossip, and maps.

Administration: [2d6]=5+2=7
Streetwise: [2d6]=5+1=6

[Urson]

Jo

Please remember, we have a crate of machine parts- we can barter or sell these as needs be.

[atpollard]

Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 14: Shift 3: 5 Bells [Poage Fleet]
Jacques Bonnet, Remy Hernandez, Mercutio Routledge, Samuel Linkletter, Josephine Baxter-Smith, Nathaniel


Doc Linkletter set out on a curiosity stroll to examine whatever wares might catch his eye. Each person he met was helpful in offering directions, but navigating an island a mere 250 meters across proved trickier than expected. Each time Doc followed the instructions to ‘turn left at the third cage barge, then right four barges, then straight to the Merchant Barge’ and thought he was near his goal, another helpful individual informed him that he had made a wrong turn and directed him a quarter way around the perimeter of the island. After the fifth “wrong ship”, Doc caught on that he was the victim of some sort of local sport. Whether it was his low SOC, or his ISLANDER background, or his efforts to climb above his birth station that marked Doc, he had no idea. However, Doc had grown tired of the game and headed back towards the ‘Dancer’.

Josephine remained behind to watch the boiler and the deck with equal parts boredom. As the crew dispersed, the crowd that had initially gathered dispersed along with them. An empty ship was not very interesting. Jo made the best of it by taking advantage of the brief stop to go over the cylinders and linkages … this was a ‘shakedown cruise’ on a hastily refurbished steamship, after all. There was nothing serious. Jo had checked and double checked everything before she steamed out of Gwynedd to make sure of that. There were still dozens of small adjustments and drops of oil to apply to moving parts.
It was while moving from the linkage at the paddle wheel back towards the boiler that Jo heard a noise. A sweep of the decks revealed nothing, but she tracked the noise to the cargo hold between the boiler and the empty passenger compartments. She stepped in and startled two young men … actually closer to older boys. One had a small prybar and the other had a pencil and paper. The boy with the prybar abandoned the crate he was opening (and his companion) to flee from the ship through the open window. The other boy seemed too startled to run and held up his pencil like a knife, pointing it at Jo to defend himself. Personally, Jo thought that the 8-pound, 2.5-inch wrench that she still had in her hand from tightening the paddlewheel linkage beat “pencil” if this was some strange version of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’.

”Umm … umm…” he stuttered at Jo.

ooc preview: (Jo will react … then Linkletter will arrive shortly after.)

[atpollard]

Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 14: Shift 3: 5 Bells [Poage Fleet]
Jacques Bonnet, Remy Hernandez, Mercutio Routledge, Samuel Linkletter, Josephine Baxter-Smith, Nathaniel

Doc Routledge and Jacques set out together in search of information. Mercutio finds the community cool towards him [reaction 5]. The Poage’s tend to take care of their own and 80% of the town seems to be related to the Poage family in some way. While Doc intends only to be helpful, the locals make it clear that they need no Britannia Islanders telling them what to do. They have their own Herbalists and folk remedies to cure what ails you. Jacques has more luck getting along with the locals [reaction 11], suggesting that they are more ‘anti-Britannia’ than ‘anti-Islander’, and is soon surrounded by people willing to talk and listen and share stories.

Doc Routledge locates a ship with shops selling spices (Cr 6/kg), including in bulk for those interested in speculative trade. While not important in and of itself, nestled among the spice merchants was a shop specializing in Medicinal Herbs (Cr 6/kg) that would sell up to 1 kg for cash and would be willing to barter for speculative cargo in bulk. Your quest for Mechanical supplies brings you to a man that is developing a diving mask that connects a snorkel to a tube to a floating barrel and allows prolonged snorkeling at shallow depths. While the invention has limited utility and needs refinement, he has several small boats for sale … three rowboats and two small sailboats.

Jacques learned some general information about the area. The ships that you passed last shift are the Wayne Family Fleet which comes here to trade for fuel. Old “Mad Eye” Wayne, the head of the family, is supposed to be come sort of retired Admiral or Commodore or something. There are several large Fleets in the general area. One about half this size is just over the horizon to the north. There is another fleet about the same size as this 40 km or so ahead on your present course. Potage is the largest Fleet in Hex 46N-25W and produces most of the semi-refined FUEL used throughout the region. As the subject turned to the “black market”, Jacques learned that there was one in this low law level community.

[atpollard]

Medical: [2d6+3]=6+3=9
Mechanics: [2d6+3]=8+3=11
Scholar: [2d6+2]=4+2=6
Streetwise: [2d6]=7

Just FYI: I took the first two and dropped the others for the post. Time only permits so much activity at once. If the 'Dancer' tarries more than two hours then I will continue with the next two tasks.

[Bluetongue]

Nathaniel

Will go looking for some rations, perhaps a bottle or two of coarse potato hooch and chitchat with those elder fishermen.

What depth do they dive to here? Are the anchored above any wrecks, wrestled any giant squid out of the waters? When did the last 'customs boat' call by?

He uses streetwise to garner info on the smuggled items and offers his sub-aqua expertise to check on any rigs and tackle setups that he might be able to improve in return for their contact/favour.

Nathaniel streetwise roll (0+1 Edu) [2d6+1]=9+1=10 Sub-aqua roll (1+1Edu) [2d6+2]=5+2=7

[Urson]

Jo
Jo tightens her grip on the wrench. She keeps a serious look on her face, and speaks in conversational tones. You are aware, I suppose, of maritime law? Theft from a vessel is considered piracy, and pirates are usually hanged without benefit of trial. She's going for the intimidation factor.
She lets this soak in a second, then: Empty your pockets- everything.

[atpollard]

Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 14: Shift 3: 5 Bells [Poage Fleet]
Jacques Bonnet, Remy Hernandez, Mercutio Routledge, Samuel Linkletter, Josephine Baxter-Smith, Nathaniel

Nathaniel located a cluster of shops on a large ship that seemed to serve as an “entertainment district” for the community. There was a variety of cooked food available with most food prices running on the inexpensive side: Food and drink run about Cr 3 for a typical meal adjusted as follows:

Seafood = 80% standard price (Cr 2.4)
Vegetables and Rice = 90% standard price (Cr 2.7)
Cage meats (rabbit, chicken) and grains (wheat, oat, corn) = 100% standard price (Cr 3.0)
Fruits/nuts = 110% standard price (Cr 3.3)
Range meats (lamb, pork) = 120% standard price (Cr 3.6)

While eating and drinking with the locals, Nathaniel learns about the thriving local black market in illegal luxuries … Exotic skins and horns from animals hunted to near extinction, ammunition for military grade weapons that occasionally passed through, commercial cargos of ‘no questions asked’ origins.

Nathaniel observed that about a third of the locals seemed put off by discussion of the black market, viewing it and anyone involved as trouble to be personally avoided. Another third was more than happy to brag about it and viewed it as legitimate trade. The remaining third were indifferent. Talk of 'customs boats' brought snickers ... Poage is beyond the reach of any government. There has NEVER been a customs boat here, Poage is extra-territorial wilderness.


While the Deep Water folk tended to be a little ‘clannish’ and hold ‘Islanders’ at arm’s length, Nathaniel found a completely different reaction among the Divers. The divers were hyper-clannish. The world was divided between those that were Divers and those that were not. Once Nathaniel moved from discussions of the black market to discussing diving with a diver, his situation abruptly changed. No sooner was Nathaniel identified as a Diver, then he was abruptly escorted out of the shop by three other Divers with the admonition …

”This is no place to talk shop.”

He soon arrived at a barge with a battered but otherwise unremarkable shed that opened to reveal a ‘Diver Pub’. A room in which divers met and drank and relaxed and talked diving. A room in which non-Divers were generally not welcome. While most of the men here operated at surface depths and worked on inspecting, maintaining and repairing ships and barges in the fleet, two of the men were “Deep Divers” operating as deep as light penetrated (about 600 feet) and requiring special air mixtures (below 200 feet). They dove for pearls from the giant deep-water oysters. From the conversation, most of the water in the area is more than 800 feet deep and too deep for diving, so these men search the rocky crests of the canyons that cover the ocean floor for oysters clinging to the tops of the cliffs.

[Note: this type of diving is a hard task (10+) with a (6+) required to survive the dive. Bonus for skill & END. (Locate 1d6 Pearls on a 12+).]