Combat proved to be surprisingly absent this session, though some critical plot development took place setting things up for other things to occur later on. Highlights include; the introduction of a new player character, visiting a town with an ill-reputation, meeting an NPC who'll become important later on...oh and the characters themselves being arrested.
A Sharp Dressed Inventor
After successfully resolving the Windryder problem at Taran's Bluffs, the crew return to Bowerstead Post. Alex sought out Ardan Gowan, mainly to collect some promised money and to get an update on the job Ardan had mentioned. The job was up for grabs as the pilot, Harris, had done a vanishing act. Tag meanwhile reported in with the company foreman, Dermot Hardwick, and said about some of the things that had happened. In return, Hardwick says theres some toff who claims to be one of 'em fancy inventors and a supposed dab hand with machines. Tag, reluctantly, agrees to have the toff sent over to the airship.
So a posh speaking and well dress gentleman present himself at the airship, introducing himself as 'Reginald Spitsworth the Fourth'. Reginald reveals that he's dabble with Glim Tech and has been amassing knowledge on Ancient devices, though he ends up making himself an unwelcomed guest amongst the crew. Later, some of the crewmen manage to coax him into a game of cards and fleece him for all he was worth. Reginald's wallet also ended up having an adventure of its own.
The crew accepts Ardan's job and fly to the decrepit fishing town of Grimsport, the most derelict and miserable town in all of Alyeska. Shortly after arriving they quickly learn that the locals are extremely unfriendly to strangers, though the two-man Air Police detachment and the store owner are the only friendly faces for miles around. Tag confronts one of the locals who's extremely rude back and the ruckus attracts attention from the other townsfolk, though both sides back down and Tag sends word back to the Waylander that all the airship's guns are to be manned round the clock.
Eventually their contact, a sea captain, sails into port and hands over the goods after a friendly exchange. The crew's job was to then take the goods to Gravenburgh where they would be delivered to another contact. En-route they spied a cargo ship that had floundered on the rocks and abandoned by its crew, so the characters scrambled aboard and took what they could get their hands on. They also took the ship's log, cargo manifest and associated paperwork. Alex amended the cargo manifest to include the goods they were transporting as part of Ardan's job, basically making them look like they were salvage.
They were met by the law when they arrive in Gravenburgh and asked to come back to the station to answer a few questions and to hand over any and all paperwork relating to the airship and cargo. They were asked about one of the towns they'd visited, their deceased crewmate (the ex-Aero-marine George Packer) and their reasons for being in Grimsport. Herbert was revealed to be an army deserter and held pending a response from the army. Reginald was also held as the officers didn't believe he was the son of a Commonwealth noble, though a message was sent to his supposed father.
The rest of the crew (Tag, Alex and Sebastian) were released on bail. Tag was met by a car waiting outside the police station and an invitation. Tag accepted the invitation and was driven to a rather plush house, the owner of which introduced himself as a broker of secrets called Andrei. He'd heard about the crew and basically offered them some work, in addition to his information services. Tag noticed a ticking noise but no clock in the room, though the sound stopped and Andrei revealed a mechanical arm which he pulled out a key for and winded it up. Though Andrei talked about "perception" and "what is truth and what is not".
Tag shared a few choice bits of information, in return Andrei revealed that Harris had 'turned Crown's evidence'.
Thoughts
The session has to be one of the few sessions I've seen where combat hasn't taken place, though it could've still happened depending on the characters' choices in Grimsport and checking for random encounters (they only got one which was Fortune). What should be noted is that they are selling the location of the glimmer rock deposit they found, though they'll approach a number of different interest parties to maximize their profit.
I had to applaud Alex's player for thinking of amending the cargo manifest to help, legally cover their tracks. Originally they were going to do what I'd expected them to do and land outside of the town and offload the goods, though the random chance of the ship wreck gave them an unexpected option and the players were clever enough to exploit it. Though it does mean they'll suffer a minor setback, granted nothing compared to the major issue thats going to arise (depends what's happened to a certain item). This will be on top of Herbert's potential court martial and the response from Reginald's father.
Though curious is that they discussed the idea of returning to Grimsport and turning it into a base of operations.
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