Turn 161

    "Danger?" Inez says, reminding him that the two females do not know what is afoot with the rest of the crew... yet. "They're probably in a bar."
    "Oh, yes..." Yestin turns his face away, lest his the ever-deepening shade of his thick skin reveal his embarrassment at having nearly blown the secret of the crew's current whereabouts and activities. "That is what I meant. Emmett and Valarin in a tavern with two many ales in their belly could provide, that is cause trouble that would lead to danger. Yes, that is all." The Giff frowns at his awkward and improbable lie. He generally preferred honest dealings--especially with his crewmates--and had little skill in whipping up prevarications on the spur of the moment.
    Yestin sighs. "I suppose there is nothing to be done but wait and keep our watches until they return." He turns towards Hiro. "Master swordsman, I could stand some practice with my mace and shield, so long out of use am I with any weapon other than greatsword and halberd. If you would care to put me through my paces?"
    Hiro gives the giff a measuring look and a one-shouldered shrug. "The oak and the willow; a most interesting contest. Very well."
    Yestin grins, then moves to an open space near the forecastle, hefting his rune-laden shield into position and holding the mace at the ready...
    Hiro stands for a moment, apparently paying little attention to his opponent, then moves with startling suddenness; the katana whistles past Yestin's ear. The giff is a lot faster than he looks; the mace brushes the swordsman, but no harm done. They trade feints, and Yestin lands a heavier touch. Hiro reaches him with the blade, and then the giff lands what would have been a shattering blow had this fight been in earnest. [ Crit. The dice are singing a one-note song. :-) Yestin just has an ungodly AC and strength bonus, ]

    * * *
    Ibn Hassan stops at a wineshop to purchase a jug of wine, and now looks just like a man who's bringing some provisions back to the ship - no worries, nothing to hide.   
    "Perhaps we should arrive... separately?" Val offers, considering ibn Hassan's motive for the wine. 
    "Doesn't matter, sir," the half-elf replies. "We were just out seeing the town and shopping and happened to meet up with each other on the way back."
    "Fair enough," Val says. With the adrenaline drained from him now, he is tired and looks forward to returning to the Distraction. And he looks forward to perusing the documents and trying to figure them out...
    When they arrive at the ship, having experienced no trouble along the way, they find Nyala on watch at the ramp for their return; she gives them her usual nod with a slight smile for ibn Hassan. Above, the ship rattles to the noise of Yestin and Hiro's sparring session.
    Val suggests they use his cabin to research the documents, as there's probably less traffic thee than in the galley.
    Spreading out the materials recovered from the temple, Val and ibn Hassan are able to sort them in relatively short order into four piles: land records in plain language; a small red account book filled with cryptic notations; plain-language notes; and the coded material.
    The land records suggest that the Hextorians have been selling off assets lately, which would fit with their apparent sudden impulse to travel; ships aren't cheap. The red book is half full of single-line items like this:

    84168 40 to J.
    841719 10 to X.
    841724 1600 to KR, B shipment early
    84193 10,000 from C very satisfied

    Figuring out eventually that the first number is the local date, the first record is about twenty years old. The second number stays small for most of that time, but five years ago there was a sharp uptick in the frequency and the size, including many marked "B shipment." As of a year ago there are no more of those, and the record ends with the departure of the senior priests from Abarrille.
    "J, X, KR and B?" Val muses quietly. "Initials? Abbreviations for spheres? Very curious..."
    The plain-language notes appear to be intelligence concerning the ruling family, and other people and items of local interest. The code is not going to be broken in a matter of minutes, but some of it seems to use the same paper type and writing hand as the intelligence reports.
    Ibn Hassan glances through the coded pages a few times, looking for any obvious repeating patterns - especially anything that might be "Abbarille" or Kahrelan. Then he settles down with some scratch paper, pen and ink, and a cup of wine, obviously expecting this to take some time. 
    Val also sets his mind on the task at hand. Only occasionally does he stop to listen for the return of the rest of the crew.
    [GM: This is going to take most of the night.]
    Yestin enters the room where his captain and crewmates are poring over their documents. The pungent odor of Giff sweat--slightly reminiscent of pickled eggs--clings to his gray flesh. He is grinning, having thoroughly enjoyed his session with Hiro (he may be considered odd for his kind, but he loves a good fight as well as any of his kin).
    Wiping the smile from his face, he thrusts his chest out and gives Val a quick salute. "Begging your pardon, Captain, but I wish to report that mounting of the cannon has been been completed."
    A small frown crosses his face as he sheepishly continues his report. "But, I'm sorry to say, we only have one shot." Yestin shrugs, his face turning blue-black with embarrassment. "I'm afraid I negotiated poorly with the High Priestess of Gond over the price of the smoke powder. I turned over nearly all my own personal funds and it was only sufficient for a single shot's worth of powder. I, ah, I was wondering if we might not use the funds you set aside for general use by the crew to purchase a second shot?"

    * * *
    "We must get to Kahrelan before it is too late!"
    "Right then, let's get out of here," Lynden gestures back to the temple proper, " It won't do to get caught and those goblins will raise the alarm soon enough." He looks sternly at Emmett knowing that the half-man won't want to leave a fight half finished. "The sooner we're back at the ship the better."
    He sets a quick walking pace , assuming the others will follow him but listening out just in case they have other ideas. _Even Emmett can't be that stubborn_ he thinks to himself.
    Seeing that they have the prisoner, Emmett looks down at the two unconscious goblins. "Strike some fear, boys," he mutters before hurrying off with Barrend and Pham.
    "Sorry about that. I didn't expect there to be a small army of crazed goblins rushing me downstairs. I just hope Val didn't run into something similar." Seeing that Pham was moving at a speed to keep up with Lynden, the half man hung back with Barrend, letting a natural stagger develop. "We're probably going to have to leave sphere right quick regardless, whatever the cause of Pham's sudden certainty."
    [GM: Any comment from our scandalized dwarf?]
    He's so deep in thought over that and other matters that he nearly bumps into the forward pair a few moments later.
    Once they are well away from suspicion Lynden turns to his comrades, "So then, what's our excuse for being away from the ship? Sightseeing?" Knowing full well that Emmett will bear the full weight of Inez's wroth if she discovers what they've _really_ been doing.
    "No excuse. Whoever's not up for being involved in what we have to do should know about it now, and get off ship now." He looks at Lynden man to man. "Inez is a big girl, but what's coming isn't her sort of work. I'm not going to lie to her about it and get her into danger. Barrend here knew what he was getting into when he signed on. Inez deserves that chance. I'll be happier with her safe and pissed at me than unsafe, dead and pissed at me."
    "You know Inez best. Just make sure I'm out of range first," Lynden says, shrugging. "And it is always best to be honest if at all possible..." His voice trails off as he sets off once more.
    They return to the ship to find the elf standing guard, Inez rattling around in the galley, Hiro out contemplating the stars, and Val, ibn Hassan, and Yestin in the captain's cabin, discussing cannon amid a welter of stolen paperwork.
    [GM: Brian, let me know how you want to approach this one. As far as the others, Nyala is going to be angry but understands that there wasn't time to wait for everyone to get back. Hiro doesn't comment. I'm trying to move this along a bit, let me know if I'm going too quickly. Once again, you have a prisoner. Let me know what you're planning to do with him, and keep in mind that several gods appear interested in the general affair.]
    * * *
    In the morning, Val and ibn Hassan have red eyes and aching heads--and a story. The man known as Boden had been one of the inner circle of the faith, a secretive body whose full membership is known to no one, and hence one of the most powerful priests to be found in a dozen spheres, before his strange epiphany and vanishment. The head of the Abbarille temple being highly placed, he had been told of the defection and with a handful of others in nearby spheres charged with handling the problem-- ³for this treachery places our Great Work in grave danger.² They had spent more than ten years searching before rumor of a holy hermit led them to Kahrelan Sphere.
    The first two expeditions had disappeared entirely. The third, more cautious, had only scouted the area, locating the place ­ the sketched navigational chart shows a roughly spherical, hollow asteroid among a large group, far from any planet. [GM: Barrend has a good chart of the sphere among his collection.] The fourth expedition had actually landed there and fought their way through many defenses to reach the apostate hermit himself, though his power had defeated theirs, and half the group had defected to remain with him when the others fled. The fifth is quite recent--³Our last chance at present,² the temple head notes, ³for the time draws near, and I myself must soon depart. Surely our vengeance will be easily accomplished with the weapons the most magnificent and terrible god Hextor has bestowed upon us."
    

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