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doing other stuff irl so I'll be slow to respond

Our story resumes a week before the solstice, in a pizza shop on the boardwalk, after a hasty exit from a trip to Andromeda's Sorrow and a meeting with Zakkai, the Mad Prophet. Kiko has recovered from being drugged, albeit with some memory loss, and the party is discussing their discoveries.

Darri waves a hand in front of Doc's face. "Hey, plan?"

"...Yes. Plan." Brune blinks a few times and returns to reality. He pushes the glass away from him. "When we're certain the coast is clear, I assume we should return to Jack and Alex and discuss what we've learned."

"Talk, talk, talk. When are we going to do something about the world ending before I can even graduate?!"

"Well, if you'd like to do something instead," Brune says, shockingly calmly, "I propose that instead of doing that, we head down to the dock and see about acquiring a boat."

"What was this outing if it wasn't doing something?"

"Y'all talked to him, I took pictures. We're still in the setup phase of whatever this is."

"Well then. If we're prepared enough to get to the action stage, let's do it."

"Quite so. We know where Benni's son is. We know where they are. I say we cease with the preludes." Brune wheels himself away from the table and starts languidly rolling towards the door, apparently having decided he's going whether anyone comes with or not.

"Woah, woah! Don't stiff me!" the person behind the counter calls.

Brune slows down just long enough to chuck his wallet onto the table for Darrion to pay for the pizza, then keeps rolling.

There's a box with mozzarella cheese and pepper packets next to the register. Darri grabs a few fistfuls after paying. He also slides across the counter a student ID and a rewards card with three of ten holes punched

(I'm here but I am not home yet, sorry about this)

Holes punched, cheese acquired, staff paid - you're all set.

Darri opens one cheese packet and dumps the contents directly into his mouth. The others go in his bag. These will definitely help against the forces of darkness.

Brune wheels his serene, oddly calm way down to the boardwalk. Normally he wouldn't be so relaxed after just throwing his friends a wallet stuffed with several months of a surgeon's salary in it, but, well. Nothing really matters anymore.

With that attitude, I'm assuming you're not bothering to make a Stealth check?

Probably not.

Huffing a bit, Darri catches up to Doc and passes the wallet back

The sun is pretty much directly overhead as you roll / amble your way down the boardwalk. Most of the shops you pass seem to be very quiet; a few of them are boarded up. Down in the water, on the opposite side of the shore from the industrial docks, a fleet of small boats, barely more than rowboats, bob and float in the water. There's a salty, fishy, scent in the air.

"Thank you, Darri." Brune tucks the wallet back into the pocket of his sweatpants. "I should hope we won't end up sailing into the depths of hell on a canoe."

"We'd have some pretty good cheese if so"

There's a small wooden shack at the edge of the boardwalk. On the closed door is a stylized octopus, eight tentacles writhing, the words BOAT FLOAT faded and barely legible over the image.

@AncientSwordRage @Ginger at your convenience lemme know what you're up to

"I was always partial to cheese." Brune slows as he surveys the beach before them, realizing begrudgingly that his bad shoulder will make it much more difficult to push himself through sand than before. He spots the Boat Float and cranes his neck to make sure the route is decently accessible, then starts rolling along towards it, wheels clattering on the wooden walkway.

@Mithical (Jack has just suggested he could dismantle The Device to Alex, and is waiting on their response)

@Mithical Alex is still poring over the photos Darri sent in the lobby of the Crow's Arms

Darri, make an EDU check, please.

Darri tags along right behind. "Should we tell the others...?"

78 > 70 EDU (wow that's bad)

"Naturally." Brune pauses long enough to paw out his cell phone, squints at the buttons for a moment, and then slowly and painstakingly pushes in Jack's number from memory.

When did Brune get the phone, incidentally? :)

@bobble Failure. No spontaneous GM-aided recognition occurs.

(alex wanted to call it earlier so i just retconned that he bought a disposable one from the hotel shop :p)

(can un-retcon though if one was unavailable)

it's fine - just need to know where it came from

@Mithical (👀)

Jack, your phone rings.

Jack answers his phone, shocked that someone has his number and is calling it.

"Uh, hullo...?" He answers

"Jack, it's Brune." Brune sounds a little fuzzy, probably because he's holding the receiver at the wrong angle. "We're down at the boardwalk, by the, ah, Boat Float, it seems. Are you and Alex all right? Where are you?"

Jack pauses to look at the phone and mentally checks if the number makes sense. He doesn't recall when Brune got a phone.

"D'you you remember when we all had breakfast together and we drank lots of coffee? Same place." He says, hoping he wasn't too cryptic

"...Right. Yes." Brune cottons on promptly. "Me and, ah, the fashionable friend of ours, and the, ah, motorcycle-riding friend of ours. We're here if you want to join us. Stay safe."

There is some beeping and muttered swearing that implies he is trying to figure out where the end call button is.

Darri leans over and taps it for Doc

Brune briskly flips the phone shut. "Thank you." He tucks it into his sweatpants and resumes rolling towards the Boat Float.

@Ginger "I think that was Brune... I think. I thought they were coming to us though... What do you think about going to find them by the docks?"

As you approach the Boat Float, the smell of cigarette smoke joins the salty and fishy aroma.

@AncientSwordRage "You sure we're safe?"

"You sure they're safe?"

There's a sign on one side of the building that may have listed prices once upon a time. It's now entirely faded and covered in graffiti.

Some small measure of childlike wonder sparkles inside of Brune despite himself as he studies the sign, considering the idea of sailing out onto the Great Sea. His father took him on a boat once as a child, and he never forgot that marvelous feeling of the ocean breeze ruffling his hair. He looks around for the door.

It's there, with the emblem of the octopus. It's closed. Do you knock?

Yes, cautiously.

@Ginger "We've not been safe for a long time," Jack intones more ominously than he intended

"Let's got hoping it's not a trap, but prepaid it is."

Darri stress-eats another cheese packet

There's a pause, and then you hear footsteps. The door swings open, and a shaved head is stuck out, accompanied by a cloud of smoke. The head has a lit cigarette in its mouth. "Whaddya want?" the guy mumbles around the cigarette, squinting out at you in the sunlight.

"I'd like to inquire if you have any boats for sale, or perhaps for rent," Brune says, politely pretending not to notice Darrion dumping cheese into his mouth a few feet away. "Or if you can direct me to someone who does."

He takes the cigarette out of his mouth and blows smoke directly into your face. "What kinda boat you want?"

@AncientSwordRage "Sounds wise to me."

Brune coughs a few times before answering, wincing. The smell of smoke is, if anything, conjuring up an even stronger memory of his father. "Ah - something that can seat around five or six people, preferably."

Jack leads the leads the way to the docks

"With a motor? Without a motor? Gotta be more specific, pal." He takes the cigarette and puts it out under a foot. "And what's yer budget?"

"Ah... with a motor, ideally, but I have a rather talented sailor companion who could manage without one. As for budget -" Brune pauses to clear his throat again. "Well, I'm not normally in the market for sailing vessels. What would it run me?"

(oh no, Jack should really be there)

"Six people, with a motor, not too many holes...to buy? 20 grand." He gives a grin. "Special price, just for you."

Can I make some kind of check to determine if that's bullshit? :p

Darri googles how much do boats cost on his phone

Sure, make an Appraise check, I think is the right one

then he thinks again and texts Alex, ask J hwo much boats

Oh, haha, I definitely should not be doing this

22 vs. 5 :D

You know nothing about boats. He could be ripping you off or giving you an amazing deal.

boat man say 20k

(🙃)

(could Darri be clearer in his text messages? sure, but why bother)

Alex checks their phone. "Uh... Jack, what's a reasonable price for a boat"

"Well, ah... I'll of course have to talk that over with my companion. He's far better versed on boat prices," Brune hedges. He gives Darrion a fervent please help me look.

(Then again, the GM doesn't know much about boats, and this is based on a quick DuckDuckGo.)

Darri holds up a wait a moment finger

(ooc i have no idea and/or never put down how much money brune took with him, so mith if there's some way of calculating it from Credit Rating or something, lmk)

now??

(55 Vs 40 is a failure - Jack has never actually bought himself a small fishing vessel, and the last time he looked was about 20 years ago)

"What if we wanted to rent?" Brune says, hoping to keep him talking in the meantime.

@Sciborg What's Brune's credit rating? Looks like 60 on the sheet I have?

"How longs a piece of string?" Jack stalls before saying "You could get a decent boat for $20k I guess?"

@Mithical Correct, 60. It's never come up so I never calculated cash on hand/assets.

u there?

Shouldn't be too much of an issue for Brune, then.

20k is reasonable

There are some benefits to doctoring.

If he wasn't gripping the phone so hard, he'd be eating another cheese packet

Darri shoots Doc a thumbs-up

@Sciborg He spits on the ground. "I don't do less than 2000 a day. 'specially since people tend to hit rocks and such around here. You get a much better deal buying."

"Understandable," Brune says. He nods at Darrion. "Supposing you don't do rentals, I suppose I could scrape together... ah..." He pauses, mentally shifting some numbers around as to the accounts he still has available given, well, fleeing the country and all. "...perhaps eighteen thousand to buy it, assuming we like the look of it? Would that do?"

"Yer already getting a good deal." He steps outside the shack and lets the door slam shut. "If you're negotiating without even seeing the boat, you really are a landlubber. I could be selling you a pile of scraps, eh?" He grins. "I'm a nice person, you see."

boat man call us landlubber

"...Twenty thousand, then," Brune relents. It's not like he'll need the bank accounts after the world ends, anyway. "As you can tell, I'm not one for sailing."

Can Jack psychology the guy based on the text messages?

(I want Jack to say "Nobody calls you a landlubber..." But only if he gets a bad vibe from that)

@AncientSwordRage You can try. You need a Hard success or better.

@Sciborg "Sold." He holds out a hand to shake. "I'll show you your new boat."

Brune gingerly shakes, praying he hasn't just agreed to buy a kayak with a hole in it. "Thank you."

@Mithical (94 Vs 69... Failure, not nice!)

"What's happening Alex?" Jack says while walking to the docks

He leads you down the boardwalk a bit, when you spot Jack and Alex a few minutes away headed in your direction.

There's a ladder down to the water, where a boat is floating. Brune may have some difficulty inspecting it from here.

Brune slows down upon spotting Jack and Alex, and whistles sharply, waving. "You're in luck," he shouts. "I've bought us a yacht."

Can Darri see it well?

Yeah, if you climb down. Make an EDU check to evaluate the condition of the boat.

@Sciborg Jack heads over, uncharitably assuming the worst

43 < 70

Brune rolls up as far as he can to the edge, peering down to watch Darrion clamber down. "Careful, lad."

"Haven't died yet."

"There are much worse things than death," Brune mutters, darkly.

(@Mithical let me know when Jack can see the boat, and if he gets to roll anything to do with it's appraisal etc in person)

It's definitely not a new boat. It's a small motorboat. The paint is faded and chipped, except for two spots: The name, which has been freshly painted - The Grasping Arm - and the eyes, traditionally painted on the front of the boat. There's a motor attached to the back, several years old, but nothing indicating that it's broken. The seats in front are open to the sea air, although the back two rows are covered with an old tarp tied to the sides. The steering system may work.

@AncientSwordRage You can also make an Appraisal check, a couple minutes afterward.

"The boat's seen better years. Was its name changed?" Darri waves at the fresh paint

"What's it matter?" He waggles his eyebrows at you.

Brune raises an eyebrow as he looks it over; one of the few tidbits he knows about sailing is that renaming a boat is bad luck.

(73 Vs 40 failure... @Mithical can I push it by lightly encouraging the boat seller to be honest with us?)

@AncientSwordRage Lemme know what you'd like to say, and make an Intimidate check.

(👀)

Jack overhearing about the boat being renamed, feels a knot tie in his stomach. He's not a superstitious man, but the bad luck isn't a superstition, it's fact as far as he's concerned.

@Mithical "Hang on matey," Jack says as he looms over the man, "I've seen plenty of boats in my time. But I know when ones got history. Is she going to sink on us? Is she seaworthy? You wouldn't want to send a fellow sailor to the depths over a misunderstanding." And Jack emphasises 'misunderstanding' so it's clear how some might get misunderstood over the head with a wooden cane.

Darri tries to use his camera's zoom to check on the boat's seats

79 Vs 64... I'm going to burn luck if I'm allowed? I was sure if that was pushing the previous roll or a whole new thing

Brune shifts slightly back from the confrontation, letting Jack handle it, and looks around the marina to see if there are any lower docks around.

@AncientSwordRage Yes, you can spend luck if you want. If you'd like to push the roll, you can re-roll but there will be harsher penalties for failure.

I'll push the roll instead, by getting up in his face

@bobble They're hard plastic, uncomfortable-looking but they're there.

62 Vs 64 a close success

Darri snaps pictures and texts Alex (not wanting to speak out loud) uncomfy seats

He stands there calmy. "Woah, woah there, pal. We of course wouldn't want any... misunderstandings." He starts to roll up a sleeve, and then pauses. "She's seaworthy, if you know what you're doing." He takes a step back. "You're getting your money's worth, I assure you."

@Mithical Jack claps a friendly albeit heavy hand on the man's shoulder, "That's good to know friend"

Alex, make a Spot Hidden check, please.

"When I went to medical school and dreamed of buying a boat, this isn't exactly what I had in mind," Brune mutters to himself.

one sec

40 > 34

Failure. Lots of failures today...

Jack announces to the group, in a voice that he's clearly practiced at his bar for speaking to clientele, "Looks like we've got the man's word that she's seaworthy."

(reconsidered that last bit)

"Now that you're satisifed... let's settle the check, shan't we?" He waggles his eyebrows at Brune.

"Yes, yes," Brune says, wearily, and opens his wallet. "Do you take credit cards?"

"Back at the shack, yeah. You can handle 20k on a card?" He sounds incredulous.

"Oh also, why are the eyes freshly painted?"

Brune gives him a flat look. "I'm a doctor."

"Well, whood-de-doo." He holds out a hand for the card.

@bobble "I'm not sure he's going to be that forthcoming lad"

Brune pulls out one of his platinum cards and drops it into his palm, grudgingly.

He takes the card and starts walking back toward his shack, ignoring Darrion's question.

"Why would the eyes be freshly painted, you think?" Darri asks Jack

"Remind me to cancel that one when he's done," Brune says, tiredly. He rolls away from the boat and towards the side of the marina.

@bobble "Lots of reasons, mostly for good luck, protection from evil, the usual stuff," Jack says, hopeful he sounds authoritative

"As for why they're newly painted," he says more quietly, "That I don't know..."

He returns after a few minutes with your card. "Enjoy your boat," he says, grinning as he hands it back.

"Oh, I'm quite certain we will get enough use out of it for a lifetime," Brune says, taking it back.

He rolls towards the edge of the boardwalk, over the water.

He gives you a mock bow and vanishes back towards his shack.

Make one last Spot Hidden check, anyone who'd like to.

@Mithical 18 Vs 44 (success)

Brune isn't paying attention; he wheels up to the edge of the walkway, slows to a stop. He takes out the photograph he tucked into his sweatshirt pocket back at the hotel - the one of his family. He holds it in both hands and stares at it quietly, then looks back up at the ocean, watching the sun flash over the waves. His face is unreadable, but oddly serene.

13 <<< 73 Spot Hidden

On his ankle is a tattoo of a grasping octopus - the same emblem as on the shack. Darrion, you also notice that the same tattoo can be seen peeping out from where he started rolling up his sleeve. You've definitely seen that symbol before.

"Where'd you get the tattoos?" Darri says, trying not to panic

He starts fingering another cheese packet

He doesn't seem to hear you as he walks away. Do you want to make an effort to stop him?

Jack does "Hey! The lad had a question!"

Darri does run up to him, yeah. "Hey, where'd you get the tattoos? They look cool." He tries a very fake smile

He stops and wheels around. He looks both of you directly in the eye, and finishes rolling up the sleeve. "Oh, I've had these a long, long time. Don't you worry about it. It just means I have... friends 'round these parts."

"Above and Below?" Darri tries

(👀)

(👀)

"Oh... more Below, I would think." He cracks his knuckles. "I don't deal with that Above stuff, that's for those religious dreamers."

"Will the boat take us there?"

"You better hope it doesn't. Now, if I knew what was good for me, I'd lay off with the questions. Wouldn't want to catch too much attention, if you get my drift."

Darri nods and eats a cheese packet while backing away

He has reached his limit with that conversation too

@bobble Jack walks back with Darri, seriously reassessing him.

Brune isn't hearing any of what's happening; he's focused on the water, and the faces in the photograph. He touches each one with his thumb, softly. He gazes back out at the ocean, his expression settled, calm - decided.

"That took some serious guts... And brains to make the connection,"

"Alternatively, nagging worry and intrusive thoughts."

"Whatever is takes to pull us through..." Jack says before really understanding what Darrion said

(call it?)

Brune kisses the photograph. Then, in one swift motion, he rips it in half and tosses the pieces out into the sea, watching them twist and flutter down to the water. Then, calmly, he rolls back towards his friends.

(good thing to end on)

@AncientSwordRage (👍)

(thumbsup)

featured: bobble pushes the plot along

@Sciborg 🤯

@bobble I loved that