[Game Thread] Part One - From Open Sky to Broken Earth

[Cheaplaffs]

Butler Where perhaps you were expecting the party to continue on to the mountains, within a few hours march you catch sight of a huge airship in the valley below. You can see other smaller ships landing and taking off from the base of the valley, some of them drifting low enough that you can see the faces of the men on board. Sitting next to you, Mewes waves to them. Nobody on the ships wave back. "Are we going aboard that thing?" She asks with wide eyes. Its a definite possibility. "Everyone listen up!" Hudson stands atop one of the caravan wagons and addresses the members of the expedition, some of which look as confused as you and Mewes. "Your contracts have now all been indefinitely extended." You notice that his two thugs are now carrying rifles. "From now on you will do as I tell you. You will all be assigned duties aboard The Lady, which you will do without question. Refusal is not an option. The state has authorized me and my men to shoot deserters, and once you're aboard the ship, the Captain and his crew will ensure the law is enforced as well." Any stirring in the group of ten people is cut short by the harsh noise of one of Hudson's guards chambering a round into his weapon. Hudson goes on without hesitation, his voice continuing to be intimidating. "Butler, report to Engineering Officer Vee. Mewes, Wood, and Clehara, you'll be reporting to Crew Officer Wilson. The rest of you will be assigned to various positions once the ship is adrift." Before you have much of a chance to speak, you and Mewes are separated right after the caravan stops in the loading area. Once aboard the ship you lose her in the chaos of the crew rushing back and forth, but she manages to slip a small piece of paper into your pocket before she was pulled away. You don't have time to look at what it says while the gaurds are escorting you below deck, where they leave you in the massive network of steam pistons that is the engineering bay. A shadowy figure immerges from the gauges and pipes and reaches out with a leather gloved hand. "The name's Vee. You must be the new guy." You realize he's wearing a crafting mask, making his features invisible beneath the tiny slat for eyes. "Any questions? Just don't ask what happened to the last guy."

[Cheaplaffs]

Stokes The masked woman only laughs softly at what you say, seemingly encouraged as she says, "Ahh, but all 'dat experience as a soldier don't mean a much while you're a prisoner, does it? And you still are 'dere prisoner, and like it or not, as long as you have to follow the Gypsy, you're their spy, too. Your government will make you report on anything we discover, and they'll do it under torture to make sure you ain't lyin'. Don't kid yerself by thinkin' that after this they'll let ya off lickedy-split. Nothin's that easy." She steps forward a bit and reaches out as if she wants to take your hands. "Let me see your palms." She instructs casually, her voice not trying to presume.

[copatt]

Lizbeth arches both brows at the woman and instinctively recoils from her approach. When it becomes apparent that the woman wants to study her palms- probably some charlatan's trick- Lizbeth relaxes and actually extends her left palm. Gotta keep my right free to punch her if she tries anything funny.

[Cheaplaffs]

Stokes "Don't be a'scared." She says, noticing how tense you are around her. Her gloved hands are surprisingly gentle, and as she clasps your hand and spreads it out flat, palm up, you can barely feel the pressure of her fingers. The surface of your palm tickles slightly as she runs two fingers down its length, starting at your fingers and ending just below your wrist. "You can learn a lot about someone by reading their palm. Like... before I even start, fer'instance, I can tell ye've got a big family... with a lot of longevity." She traces a line in your palm going fron the end of your middle finger and curving around the shape of your thumb. "Hmm..." She ponders for a moment before going on, "You have military roots... or at least... the military has been a big part of your life. Y'don't need scars or calluses to tell that, neither." Behind her you can hear the Gypsy make an annoyed noise akin to kissing the teeth, followed directly by a deep exhale through his nose that fills the night air with the smoke. The woman ignores him and goes on with curiosity, "My mother was a fortune teller in our tribe. We would travel along the trade routes and visit all the major cities. Dinotopia... Bone City... 'course back then it went by a differ'nt name. Folks considered us tramps... gypsies, they called us. But in our hearts, we knew that our community made us strong. That was before the war." Her voice becomes suddenly less bright after saying the last sentence. Still gazing at your palm beneath her hood, she asks, "Would you like to know what I see in your future, little spy?"

[Peter172]

Wally stood in the engineering room in stunned silence until the man came up and asked him a question. The words barely registered in his mind as they were spoken, but after a moment, Wally comprehended them and replied, "Yes I have a question, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE!" his face turned red as he spoke the words furiously. After a moment, he calmed and continued in a more reasonable tone, "I'm sorry, perhaps you aren't the one I should be angry with....right?"

[copatt]

Big family, yeah, I've got to give her that one. Military roots, I as much as told her that. Though skeptic, Lizbeth leans closer, as though she might see some glimpse of her future in her own palm. Sure, go ahead, tell me-- what do you see?

[Cheaplaffs]

Butler Vee lifts the blast shield on his mask, and for the first time, you get a look at his face. The strong-featured Westerner is bald except for thin black eyebrows. A long scar slices his left brow in half, trailing down the side of his face to the base of his chin. His beady black eyes narrow at you, "First time being legally kidnapped, ah?" He grunts in semi-amusement, "That's what'cha get fer being an egg-head." He takes off his big gloves and spins on his heel, moving deeper into the engineering bay slow enough for you to follow. "Don't worry, kid." He assures you, casually, "We'll start out basic and work our way up to more complicated. I don't wanna lose you on the first day adrift." Vee turns around sharply, almost bumping into you following. "First off, you ever service a steam powered engine like this?"

[Cheaplaffs]

Stokes The woman pauses for a moment before answering slowly, "The future's a tough thing to read, cause the present holds so much potential." Reading your palm like a book, her head shifting slightly to the side like an animal caught in its own reflection in the mirror. "I can tell you that you have many possible roads ahead...." She says, her index finger tracing the multiple lines starting from above your thumb and running across the length of your hand. "...thing is, I can't read--can't tell if'n they lead to differn't places. You may be faced wiff a situation in that... no matter what you do, you can't end up no where else." She shakes her head, "Can't tell you where that is... that you have't find out." "Kin' we go now?" Gripes the Gypsy, still impatiently waiting. She ignores him. "Don't trust a soul." The woman advises, "The only one you can rely on now is yerself." She lets go of your hand and puts a hand on your shoulder, leaning in close to say something into your ear. "And as soon as you get the opportunity... you run. You go as far away as you can and stay there. Follow the easiest path... marry a strong, handsome man. Have many, happy children. Grow old wiff 'em. Live." "C'mon, Stokes." Barks the Gypsy, already making his way down the trail. "We be movin'." "Wait, before ye go-" The woman says, bending over. She brushes away the tails of her cloak and begins unbuckling the tall calf-high black boots she was wearing. "Take these, you'll need 'em more than me." She hands you the boots, stepping back. "I'll be in touch." Once you've caught up with the Gypsy, he stops marching and turns sharply towards you, crossing his arms over his chest. A new cigarette bounces between his lips as he speaks, "I and I are goin' to check up on me sis - bun' what the Witch says. Are you gonna try 'an stop me?"

[copatt]

Still somewhat puzzled by the woman´s prognostications-- as well as her unexpected generosity-- Lizbeth shakes her head, eyes wide, at the gypsy. Nope, no plans to stop you-- doubt I could, and so far I´ve no reason to try. In fact, I´m sort of looking forward to meeting your sister.

After a few steps along behing the Gypsy, Lizbeth smirks and asks, you don´t happen to have a cute, younger brother, do you?

[Cheaplaffs]

Stokes Without much indication, the Gypsy turns away midway through your sentence and continued to march - slow enough for you to follow easily. At the mention of his sister, he answers glumly, "I an I a'int seen 'er in six years. I'onno if'n she'll even recognize me." He makes a sort of huffing sound at your question, glancing over his shoulder at you with somewhat annoyed, narrowed eyes, the cigarette still hanging out of his mouth. "...why y'ask?"

[copatt]

No reason, Lizbeth answers, still grinning, your friend just said something about me sttling down, getting married, making babies, and living happily ever after.

No reason to tell him that she also told me to run away at the first opportunity.

[Peter172]

"No I haven't," Wally said as he walked around, admiring the hulking machinery with a gleam in his eye. He seemed to have forgotten all about being kidnapped for the moment as he looked it up and down, inside and out, studying the craftsmanship and the function of the equipment. "It seems similar to other machine I have worked with, though on a larger scale of course..." an image of Mewes being dragged away suddenly snapped him back to reality and Wally almost asked about her whereabouts, then thought better of it. If they knew he was attached to her in any way, they may try to use it against them. Instead he focused on the machine, Technology roll

Dice Roll:

d20+12

(8)+12

Total = 20

looking for a way to use it to his advantage. Maybe he could sabotage it at the right moment, and use some spare parts down here to make something to help get the,m out of this mess.

[Cheaplaffs]

Stokes The Gypsy laughs out loud, the cigarette wiggling in his lips. "That witch prob'bly saw somefin awful..." He teases, voice deep. "..din't have tha' heart t'tell ya." Pressing on, he turns around after a few steps and looks you over, and smiling, says, "She told I an' I tha' same thing th' day me pappy died an I got caught. Six year'ago." Further up the trail the Gypsy slows his pace and his head perks up like a deer hearing a snapping twig. Fluidly he unslings the rifle from around his torso and shoulders it, his head turning from side to side, trying to pinpoint the source of some noise. You hear the sound of a bird whistling, and the Gypsy releases one hand from the rifle and places it to his lips, whistling back in the exact same tone. As the figures on either side of the road, invisible before in their camouflage, the Gypsy laughs softly to himself. The closest of the two men immediately clasps the Gypsy's hand as he gets within range, pulling him close in a show of respect. "Howdy, fellas." He breathes, repeating the same gesture with the second man. "De' camp be movin' again. Ye kin follow us, we're trackin them int'a th' valley." Says the first man in an accent similar to the Gypsies, lighting a cigarette. "It be good to see ye again, Inyis. Long time." "Yah." The Gypsy says glumly. "Long time." The two men nod to you respectively, not wanting to not acknowledge you. This reminds you of that thing the Gypsy had said earlier, about his people respecting women. They take you down into the valley where after a short wait, a number of dinosaur-pulled wagons appear in the early morning light. Once they begin to unpack, the Gypsy takes you into one of the covered wagons, big enough for maybe five people to sit comfortably. There is an old woman and a girl maybe two or three years younger than you inside. The woman looks like she's seen a ghost when the Gypsy appears, and instantly she's blown into tears. The Gypsy lets down his weapons outside the wagon and wraps his arms around her, whispering, just audibly, "Peace, mama... peace..." The younger girl is sleeping. Beads of sweat form on her pretty head, and you begin to notice the resemblance between her and the Gypsy. Is this his family?

[copatt]

Lizbeth sits quietly in the covered wagon, struggling to take up as little space as possible, while mulling the gypsy's words from earlier. ...saw somefin awful...din't have tha' heart t'tell me... The thought had not previously occured to poor Lizbeth that the woman could have indeed lied to her. Could she have lied about me needing to run away too? No, those were probably the only honest words out of her mouth.

Lizbeth spies the young girl, sweat beading on her forehead. Is she-- she looks sick. Would it be rude of me to ask? Is it safe for me to stay in here?

When they gypsy finally releases his mother from his bear-like embrace, Lizbeth waves meekly. Hi.

[Cheaplaffs]

Butler A lot of the machinery, as you first suspected, is similar to the valves and devices used on walking mecha and other smaller steam machinery. Applying what you know to the engineering bay of the Ship should be doable, and once Vee shows you the major wings of the bay itself you begin to get a good sense of how thing work down here. [You gain a +1 bonus to maintaining the ship due to your previous experience and patience being trained by Vee.] You realize obviously that you and Vee aren't the only engineers aboard. A myriad of minor engineers are present in the bay as well, monitoring gauges, adjusting valves, and running general maintainence on the vessel. At the end of the day, Vee leads you up into the crew's quarters and an empty room, which he gestures to and says, "This'll be your quarters on board. I know everything seems messed up right now, I felt the same way when the state recruited me on board this ship three years ago." A short laugh, "I know a lot of the folks on board, so don't hesitate to ask me if you need any pull anywhere. You're alright, Butler."