Our story picks up as the party purchases a boat, briefly encountering a representative of the city's criminal element, and Brune makes an emotional decision.
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.
A little ways down the dock, you find a section that extends out a bit in the water, with the boats bobbing just under the surface of the dock. You could probably tie the boat up here and then either carry Brune + chair (together or separately) onto the boat, or try to set up some sort of ramp.
@Sciborg In this area, on the opposite side as the industrial sections, it's mostly smaller boats; you see a smattering of motorboats of varying sizes, a few obviously unkept and dirty. There's one larger boat docked there as well, a clean, white, double-decker boat that looks like it could be a ferry of some sort. The name emblazoned on it says "The Elephant's Trunk".
Brune raises an amused eyebrow - now that's the kind of boat his father would have been proud of. Two grasping arms, one of land and one of sea, he muses, and starts wheeling back towards his friends.
"There's a lower dock down that way where we could board," he calls, approaching. "I don't suppose we're all keen on braving the Great Sea today."
@bobble There appears to be one sailboat - it stands out, since the wind around here tends to be upredictable, and so sailboats aren't very common. The university logo would presumably be on the sail, but it's currently furled.
"We could return to Antonelli, tell him about Zakkai, and give him the cipher, if we decide he is trustworthy." Brune shrugs. "We could go to the university and speak with Bardot about whether her action was successful. We could have Alex rig something up to try and speak with Benni. We could do many things."
He gestures to the boat. "Or we could get in that boat and go see the island for ourselves."
"What would I like to do?" Brune sounds bitter. "I would like to go back to that damned church and plunge a knife into that mad priest's heart. But doing so would be... not ideal, given our current circumstances."
His tone implies there's another thing he would like to do, but he just tore that thing up and flung it into the sea.
"If we waited until nightfall, and took the boat out..." Brune looks warily at Jack. "You've seen the island in your dreams, just as I have. It's surrounded by rocks. Do you think you could navigate?"
Kiko looks a bit skeptical at the prospect. "In the dark? When you've never been there in person before, just relying on dreams? Sounds like quite the risk."
"We could take it for a, ah... test drive, with the unsinkable Darrion aboard. Around the marina a few times, just to check the engine." Brune sounds like he's badly trying to conceal his desire to joyride around in a boat for a while.
"If we are going out, it makes sense to take only two to start with... Oh I have, I guess..?" Jack is nautically minded right now and not really listening
Brune falls silent to let Jack think, looking around while he waits to make sure nobody is eavesdropping on them. He didn't really like the look of the man who sold them the boat.
Regular success. You've caught the attention of one person who seems to be working on their boat, moored a little ways over; they glance over in your direction every couple minutes while apparently swapping out a wooden bench. Nobody else immediately catches your attention as paying you any notice.
Brune eyes them to see if they look familiar, trying to assuage the faint spark of paranoia - they are a fairly eclectic bunch, and he's not a stranger to being stared at, but still.
Brune waits a while to see if Jack is done thinking yet, and then, unable to resist his curiosity - as usual - he begins casually wheeling over towards them, figuring that he'll just pretend to be a new boat owner wanting advice.
@Sciborg As you approach, the figure resolves itself into a burly woman, hammering nails into the boat to keep the new bench in place. She doesn't look particularly familiar. She sets the hammer down and raises an eyebrow as you wheel over, but doesn't say anything.
"That's a magnificent boat you have there," Brune says, valiantly attempting to break the ice. He gestures towards the Grasping Arm in the distance. "I don't suppose you're familiar with the sailing around here?"
"Nothing out of the realm of repair, I suspect." Brune looks at her boat. "I suppose I was just hoping for advice on navigating the Great Sea, if you're the sort who has made the trek before. Particularly any advice on going out to the island."
"Those schoolin' idiots are the only ones going out for fun. You must've spent too much time with 'em. Stay 'way from the island. Too many rocks. Only those people -" she jerks a thumb at the ferry - "get through. Must've made a deal with old Jones. Everyone else 'ventually ends up on the bottom. Also don't get caught by the fog."
I suspect that a deal with "old Jones" is more real than she knows, Brune muses, rolling off and heading back towards the Elephant's Trunk - now he wants to look for any signs of its owner.
"But who knows how they do things here. Maybe you just put a drop of blood in the ocean, say a prayer and mermaids carry you about!" Jack is showing his frustration a little now
@Sciborg Most of the boat is covered by black tarps. The hull of the ferry is painted white, and looks like it's regularly maintained. The name is painted in a dark color that on closer inspection seems to be a dark green. There's very little else to go on at the moment.
Alex makes an exasperated noise which should be very familiar to Brune by this point. "Seriously? Are you sure it's even seaworthy? And, like, not stolen?"
They shuffle to the side, looking for a registration number on the hull.
"Not a clue. We may have other problems. According to that woman repairing her boat, the only boat that ever makes it to the island is that ferry there -" Brune motions to the white boat. "The Elephant's Trunk. All other boats get caught on the rocks or pulled under. She implied the owner may have a deal with the, ah... entity that must not be named."
@AncientSwordRage You would have found this out when doing research over the past few weeks; any authorities related to the docks are only concerned with the industrial shipping and fishing boats. Nobody cares about the smaller craft - they basically come and go as they please.
Brune nods, thinking wearily that he'll have to liquidate his retirement fund if they need a bigger boat. Not that he's going to need it anymore, at this rate.
You step off the latter into the boat, your weight causing the boat to rock back and forth. There's a small amount of water in the boat, so your shoes get a little wet. The fuel gauge shows about half full.
"Tell her -" Brune hesitates, debating what to say. "Tell her that we've spoken with her friend recently, and that we'd like to speak to her soon. And, ah - you still have those goggles, don't you?"
@Mithical Jack looks for the bilge bump, but doesn't use it. He just wants to make sure it's there. Then he does a cursory check over everything he thinks should be there
@Mithical Jack winces. Even the smallest fishing bots he's been out on, the ones which are just glorified canoes with an outboard motor had some kind of crude pump.
Brune holds them carefully in his hands, twisting them idly between his fingers. He braces himself, and then swiftly puts them over his eyes and looks at Alex, and then the boat - in that order.
Alex's figure appears surrounded by the other figure - pale, fleshy, and toothy. It struggles around their form, as you've seen in the past. Not much has changed. The boat looks the same, but the water around it takes on a shimmering green quality.
Brune stares in horror at the Spawn for a moment; it's much worse than how Darrion described it. He starts to swiftly rip the goggles off - and then hesitates, one moment longer, to look down at himself, even though a part of him screams not to.
You look down. Your feet sit there, as useful as ever. Your arms are the steady, practiced hands of a surgeon. Two questions that Mick will have to answer: Are Brune's hands still blood-red, and does he have a heart?
