RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by Adam »

"Yes, those are the.." Benn begins, "*ahem* rumors in the city. I've seen rats like the ones you're talking about." He looks around before lowering his voice. "I don't know that you have much silver, but you'll find it is repellent to the creatures you're describing, the ones that don't like your weapons. Hopefully that should be enough to keep you safe."

He dusts off his trousers. "Shall we be off, then?"
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by ewancummins »

GHOST STREETS



LUDWIG leads BENN, along with any others of the party who wish to come, east...


LUDWIG leads the investigators through empty lanes and into a more populated area of the western city, close to the Musarde.

This neighborhood shows more activity than the Ghost Streets proper: a scattering of Falkovnians mixed with Richemuloise going about their daily tasks. It might appear a normal street scene if not for the scarves, bandanas, and makeshift masks the people wear---evidently a caution against the light drift of ash from the sky. No one approaches the armed strangers walking with Ludwig.

The Falkovnian underofficer points out a little cobbled plaza strewn with ashes.
''There. I found the tracks there while I was buying supplies for the others.''

The houses on three sides of the plaza appear to be in fairly good repair.
But on the east side, facing the river, only a broken wall remains where a large building once stood. Beyond that sagging, pitted barrier, a few tall chimneys and a wooden crane rise. The ash cloud extends out further overhead, dropping black soot like snow.

As the group nears the plaza, a group of men, women, and children exits one of the houses, carrying chests, boxes, baskets, and stuffed sacks. The people hasten across one corner of the plaza and then cut out of sight behind the broken wall closer to the river-side.

''The cloud is making people leave.'' Ludwig shrugs. ''Sometimes people forget things. This area will be worth cleaning afterward--if it has not become too dangerous.''
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by RocEter »

ewancummins wrote:THE PORT-MASTER'S OFFICE

SOUTHEAST PORTION OF THE CITY



Thom's trip takes him south along the waterfront to a district of warehouses, offices, lock-houses, canals, horse-driven cranes, and wagon-rutted roads.

The vibrant air of the river-markets gives way to a workaday atmosphere, as people go about mundane business; roustabouts carrying crates, skippers calling out orders, teamsters driving slowly down the roads,
boatmen poling or rowing small craft, a few fish-sellers pushing handcarts, clerks tallying and marking cargo with slate and chalk.

Thom knows where to find the Port-Master's office.

The two story building looks impressive from the outside, with a pink marble façade restored over the last couple of years. The work has progressed since last time Thom visited. Given his status and wealth, Thom needn't wait in line at the clerk's depot like a common person, but can enter the building through the lobby reserved for merchants and gentlemen of substance. Asking about the boat, he learns the Port-Master has restricted all access to it by members of the public.
But Thom would be welcome to speak with that worthy, if he so desires.
The master is taking his lunch upstairs.


The usher sends a pair of swordsmen in brigandine to escort Thom to see the Port-Master.
Paintings and tapestries adorn the wood-paneled walls of the upper level, which looks more like a little palace than an office.


The guards admit Thom to a spacious, well-lit chamber. The Port-Master, a large, well-fleshed man dressed in fine clothing, sits at his side table with a plate of fish and a tall glass of white wine set before him.

''Ah, I know you, monsieur. Don't tell me...Thomas the Printmaker. That's it, yes?'
"Indeed, monsieur. " he says.

"I've heard you had quiet the interesting morning. A 'ghost boat' washed up in the south peirs. I was wondering if you be so kind as to allow a third party to discretely examine and investigate the boat." Thom says.
History prefers legends to men. It prefers nobility to brutality, soaring speeches to quiet deeds. History remembers the battle and forgets the blood. What ever history remembers of me if it remembers me at all, it shall only be the fraction of the truth.
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by ewancummins »

PORT-MASTER'S ROOM


RocEter wrote: "Indeed, monsieur. " he says.

"I've heard you had quiet the interesting morning. A 'ghost boat' washed up in the south peirs. I was wondering if you be so kind as to allow a third party to discretely examine and investigate the boat." Thom says.

''That boat--yes, you heard correctly. My men suspect river pirates were responsible, but I'm not certain of it. Word from... a request came from higher up in the city government, to keep a close watch over the vessel and to thoroughly investigate it. But of course it's all under my jurisdiction and I can handle the affair as seems right to me. You can have a look, but let me first make it official."

He rises and walks to his big desk, where he retrieves writing materials from a drawer. Mixing ink quickly, he scrawls a note on paper, then signs it sands it to clear up excess pigment.
"
Here-"

The Port-Master hands the authorization note to Thom.
"You make your signature below mine. You won't get past my men at the warehouse where we're keeping the boat with other impounded goods, not without this on you, so don't lose it. If you discover anything they missed, or learn something new that seems in any way pertinent to this case, report to me directly."
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by kintire »

Kat follows politely, looking around, with easy confidence. She appear to know little of the Falkovnians, and less of their lord, but she does watch with interest as the people clear their houses.

"How long has thgis cloud been around?"
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by ewancummins »

WESTERN CITY, NEAR RIVER, EDGE OF GHOST STREETS ZONE


UNDER THE BLACK CLOUD
kintire wrote:Kat follows politely, looking around, with easy confidence. She appear to know little of the Falkovnians, and less of their lord, but she does watch with interest as the people clear their houses.

"How long has thgis cloud been around?"

Ludwig turns to her and says,
"Just a couple of days. But it was spotted in the countryside west of the city before it moved here. It moved against the wind once, so I heard. I know the wind does not blow it away now. Only scatters the ash around more."
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by RocEter »

ewancummins wrote:PORT-MASTER'S ROOM


RocEter wrote: "Indeed, monsieur. " he says.

"I've heard you had quiet the interesting morning. A 'ghost boat' washed up in the south peirs. I was wondering if you be so kind as to allow a third party to discretely examine and investigate the boat." Thom says.

''That boat--yes, you heard correctly. My men suspect river pirates were responsible, but I'm not certain of it. Word from... a request came from higher up in the city government, to keep a close watch over the vessel and to thoroughly investigate it. But of course it's all under my jurisdiction and I can handle the affair as seems right to me. You can have a look, but let me first make it official."

He rises and walks to his big desk, where he retrieves writing materials from a drawer. Mixing ink quickly, he scrawls a note on paper, then signs it sands it to clear up excess pigment.
"
Here-"

The Port-Master hands the authorization note to Thom.
"You make your signature below mine. You won't get past my men at the warehouse where we're keeping the boat with other impounded goods, not without this on you, so don't lose it. If you discover anything they missed, or learn something new that seems in any way pertinent to this case, report to me directly."
Thom signs takes the note and then signs it.

"Thank you. I will inform you of any discoveries I make." Thom says.

Thom departs the office and makes his way to boat is being kept under lock and key. Once there he presents the note to whom ever is on duty.
History prefers legends to men. It prefers nobility to brutality, soaring speeches to quiet deeds. History remembers the battle and forgets the blood. What ever history remembers of me if it remembers me at all, it shall only be the fraction of the truth.
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

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Bennedict starts looking around the indicated area for anything that seems out of place, though a dubious expression does appear on his face. He looks at the people wearing masks on their faces and pales a little, reaching into his breastpocket and fishing out a handkerchief to hold over his face. "No one has fallen ill from the ash, have they?"
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by ewancummins »

Adam wrote:Bennedict starts looking around the indicated area for anything that seems out of place, though a dubious expression does appear on his face. He looks at the people wearing masks on their faces and pales a little, reaching into his breastpocket and fishing out a handkerchief to hold over his face. "No one has fallen ill from the ash, have they?"

WITH LUDWIG


Ludwig says, "No one I know. But the natives do seem worried."
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by ewancummins »

RocEter wrote: Thom signs takes the note and then signs it.

"Thank you. I will inform you of any discoveries I make." Thom says.

Thom departs the office and makes his way to boat is being kept under lock and key. Once there he presents the note to whom ever is on duty.

...WAREHOUSE

IMPOUNDS


Guards take Thom to a large warehouse behind the southeast dockyards.

Unclocking a chain on the heavy door, they usher him into the big, dim space.

Louvers in the ceiling and narrow windows set high in the walls allow light and some air into the dusty interior, revealing small hills of crates, chests, sacks, and packed nets. Little lanes of clear floor run between the large collection of impounded goods.

The two men take him down one path to a thirty foot keelboat that rests near the wider back cargo gate and ramp. Even with its mast removed and lashed to the deck, the low-built flattish boat takes up a lot of space. White fluff sticks out from gray and brown bales fastened to the upper deck, buffering one side of the horizontal mast.
Judging from the look of the boat, the hold below deck must be little more than a crawlspace, certainly nothing a man could stand inside. This particular craft does not have a large raised cabin, unlike some keelboats on the Musarde, but it's certainly better built and more advanced in design than the crude flatboats or log barges some of the poorer traders use.
Getting close, Thom smells tar and pine-wood, and maybe just a hint of something rusty.



A typical vessel of this type, depicted sailing on the river


http://www.maryhardysdiary.co.uk/wp-con ... orwich.jpg
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

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Adam wrote:Bennedict starts looking around the indicated area for anything that seems out of place, though a dubious expression does appear on his face. He looks at the people wearing masks on their faces and pales a little, reaching into his breastpocket and fishing out a handkerchief to hold over his face. "No one has fallen ill from the ash, have they?"

Alain looks around as well, but will forgo the handkerchief since considering where he has been for the last couple of years, the ash in the air seems only a minor annoyance in comparsion .
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by alhoon »

GHOST STREETS:
Raen, shunning the handkerchief as well, moves around trying to not disturb the ash on the ground much, and picks up a bit. "Let's see if this one is like the other one we picked up earlier" he says simply. He is not surprised that people consider ash dropping from a cloud that moves against the wind a bad thing.
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by ewancummins »

SEARCHING



ALAIN, BENN, SARA, RAEN, DORGIO

the party searches the area, but finds no clear indication of a beast or a madman.

Expanding the search, the investigators reach the wharves on this side of the river, near a bridge.

Still nothing that clearly links with a large predator or a woman-killer.

Alain spots it first. Not a clue on the ground, but something strange in the sky. The ash cloud is moving, slowly, and against the direction of smoke from chimneys and from dragon boat in the river. Against the cirrus clouds high above the city, too.

He has to stand still and observe it for several minutes to be sure, but, yes, it's moving. The dark, thick center of the cloud seems to have shifted from the Ghost Streets to a point more or less over the Musarde river. Almost as if it had followed the party...
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by ewancummins »

THOM


IMPOUND



Searching the boat, Thom finds:


some partial boot marks on the deck in mud and a little dried blood

scuffs on the bottom that indicate dragging over a rough, possibly stony, surface

a short, slashed coil of rope, maybe severed by a sharp sword or knife, or an axe blow--there's a wedge cut out of the deck near it, at the stern of the boat

a deformed arquebus ball buried in the wood on the inside surface of the prow, which seems have been fired from the deck at a downward angle

a fingernail stuck in the cracks between planks, amidships
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter 3

Post by Adam »

Bennedict wipes the ash from his hands after turning over what looked interesting at first, but ultimately proved to be only a piece of refuse. He turns back to Ludwig, reaching into his breast pocket.

"Well, it was worth a look, at least," he says as he offers him one of his cards, "Thank you for taking us. If you or your people have any more troubles I can help with, or if you see any sign of our quarry, please let me know."
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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