This session introduced two new characters and one new player with one absence...
Rafaldo Scorgiani (Steve's character and the new player), Bragg Halvard (Arold's new character replacing Bert) and mine and Martin's characters Bosh Skullsplitter and Danika Jansen. Tom was unfortunately unable to attend this session so we'd be without Sebastian LaCroix...
Mission Two - 'A Few Days Off...'
Introduction.
Bosh and Danika were summoned to their employers (The Transcontinental Rail Company) main office for a meeting though were surprised to find that Sebastian wasn't also in attendance. Apparently he'd already sorted out the details earlier with the representative who introduced himself as the replacement for the incompetent responsible for the near disastrous first leg of the journey. This incompetents fate however was not revealed.
They were informed that Sebastian had negotiated a bonus for any of the company who were involved in any defence of their companies employers assets of the 'above the call of duty' variety and he somewhat reluctantly tossed both Bosh and Danika a small pouch of gold as in his opinion they were the only two that qualified. In a somewhat mercenary manner Danika immediately started to count hers though Bosh didn't bother and while she was counting her 'bonus' they were told that the trains upgrading and re-loading would take about six days during which time neither the rail company nor the mercenaries had any duties...effectively they had nearly a week off. Other than the small matter of the bonus they were also there to be introduced to the new recruits to the company.These two recruits were a formal naval officer named Rafaldo Scorgiani who Sebastian had decided to make his Lieutenant due to his command experience and a Trollkin Mechanik called Bragg Halvard who was to take responsibility for making sure another disastrous break-down didn't occur. Bosh suggested that they meet for a drink in order to get to know each other a bit better as they were all apparently going to be potentially getting the blame for issues in their respective areas of responsibility so knowing what each other could do might be handy. The meeting was agreed for in a few hours time as several of them had errands to run first. Rafaldo had a meeting to attend before he left and Bragg needed to arrange for his laborjack to be correctly stored as well as having a look at his new charge.
Meanwhile Danika planned to visit the local temple of Morrow though first she accompanied Bosh while he went and sold the weapons and equipment they'd salvaged from the bandit raiders on the journeys first leg presumably to ensure that she got her share. Bosh was apparently well acquainted with the city and had no trouble locating a trader though Danika was somewhat surprised at Bosh's negotiation skills as he managed to get an excellent price for the goods without resorting to any threats of violence...of course in many ways Bosh was a 'threat of violence' just standing there. It was decided to split the coin three ways between themselves and Sebastian because as far as they were concerned no-one else really deserved any. While Bosh went to give their Captain his share Danika went to visit the temple of Morrow. Bosh also paid a visit to the local law enforcement authorities to see if there were any bounties worth looking for while he was at a loose end for the next week or so.
A Spot of Bounty Hunting.
After a few drinks and general chit chat Bosh voiced his attention to spend a few days investigating the few current bounties that he'd acquired information on from the authorities. One related to a member of one of the noble families who was wanted for undisclosed crimes but he rejected this one for a number of reasons...amongst which were that anything involving the privileged inevitably got complicated and that given that one of his other major sources of income was protecting those same privileged people while engaged in the very activities that got them into trouble in the first place...
Editors Note - Bosh's background has been left deliberately vague in the areas of just who and where he's done bodyguard jobs so I can develop the character later as opportunities arise...
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Of the remaining two jobs one was a relatively simple locating of a petty thief who was annoying several influential traders in the market and a far more complicated one involving a mass murderer who was widely regarded as having already fled the city. The first was a relatively small pay-out but the second was likely a cold trail. Having nearly a week to waste and nothing else to do he decided to give the more than likely dead-end second job a look. Danika and the two new recruits expressed a desire to tag along despite Bosh pointing out that it was probably going to lead to nothing. They waited while Danika returned to the train and changed into something less obviously armoured...
The scene of the most recent murder was a surprisingly open street area that still bore the bloody sign of the stabbing but was unsurprisingly devoid of clues. Bosh who had investigated such things before was about to move the case into the 'too much effort' pile but Danika wanted to try questioning the local populace despite the local authorities having already done so. Seeing that she was going to do it anyway he made the decision to give the case a few more hours with Rafaldo and Bragg tagging along. As it turned out a local shopkeeper who ran an establishment on a nearby crossroads was apparently far more happy to talk to attractive priestesses of Morrow than belligerent policemen had seen several people running from the scene towards the train station just up the street, As luck would have it this was one of their employers stations so they had the authority to throw their weight around a little and after chatting with the officer on duty discovered three employees matching the shopkeeper's rough description. Bosh rounded them up for Danika to interrogate while Rafaldo and Bragg questioned the workers who had been loading and unloading cargo at that late hour and several had seen a lone figure waiting for one of the later passenger trains.Bosh was to discover that Danika was a highly skilled and surprisingly aggressive interrogator but despite both his intimidations and her methods it quickly became obvious that the three most likely suspects all had more than plausible alibis and no motive at all. It was probable that the killer had escaped either on one of the later passenger trains or just used the train as a short-cut. On the bright side they had at least cleared the rail companies employees should the authorities manage to gain the same information they had themselves discovered and they had a far better description of the man responsible that may come in useful later. Bosh added a few notes to the wanted poster so he wouldn't forget what little they had learned and tucked it away in case it came in useful later. Not wanting to have the whole day wasted he decided to make some enquiries about the thief as that should be a simple one to clear up...
Editors Note - Either we missed something obvious or this will come up later in the campaign. I'm guessing the latter as we were rolling insanely high on both intimidation and interrogation rolls...
A Trip to the Market.
Bragg pointed out that the stolen parts would be next to useless for weapon construction so that reduced their list of possibilities to one Roberto's Sprockets and Gears. 'Bob' knew nothing about a female thief but after some 'persuasion' pointed them at a couple of Khadorians who had sold him identical parts to those described by Bragg who also had a reputation for violence. Danika had become far less polite after Khador was mentioned and began to describe in detail what could occur to an uncooperative witness should he be less than forthcoming with a location for these Khadorians.
Apparently there was a bar...the fact that Danika went to put her armour back on first should have been a warning sign...
Editors Note - Either our GM had forgotten Danika's background or REALLY wanted us to be massively outnumbered in a bar fight...
A Sailor, Priest, Trollkin and an Ogre walk Into a Bar.....
"No weapons in here..."
Bosh explained the situation to the Trollkin doorman pointing out the potential problems with the authorities should they find of the criminal element based in the bar and also pointed out that he might not necessarily want to rush in quickly if he was to hear a loud noise. Though somewhat non-committal in his response Bosh got the distinct impression that he didn't like his job so was unlikely to put himself in any danger in order to keep it but he wasn't shifting on the 'no weapons' issue...
Meanwhile Rafaldo noted several bits of nautical memorabilia amongst the Trollkins possessions and began one of those conversations that are probably really interesting if you're also a sailor but pretty tedious for every-one else. After some bonding moments Rafaldo dropped into the conversation that his cutlass was a purely ornamental retirement present that had great sentimental value and inexplicably he was allowed to keep it on him in the bar...Braggs tool-belt seemed to have been ignored as well...
Editors Note - Apparently you can persuade a Trollkin of pretty much anything when you roll eleven for your negotiation roll and the Trollkin rolls snake-eyes...
The suspects were sitting at a table with four others though there were probably another dozen of their countrymen spread around the bar. Unfortunately before a plan could be formulated Danika decided to go with the direct approach. The two fences steadfastly refused to talk to her or take the discussion outside and now the whole group of six was on it's feet...then there were eight...ten...and pretty soon every patron in the bar was ready to leap to the defence of their countrymen...It was at this point that Danika decided the best diplomatic option was to drive the closest Khadorian's head into the table as hard as she could...
Editors Note - Though distinctly a bad idea from a logical point of view this rash act was justified by her character background which can be found on the character bio page here should you be interested.
Reacting quickly despite the surprising actions of Danika, Rafaldo stepped back out of immediate danger, Bragg produced a large wrench from his tool-belt and Bosh took a step towards the rest of the group that were now dangerously close to overwhelming Danika as it was at this point that it became obvious that without a mace in her hand Danika was a far less formidable combatant than the situation probably needed....
The closest trio of Khadorian's became a single Khadorian as Bosh hurled one over the table and a second into the wall. One of the stray patrons discovered that a 'Jack Wrench is a very effective weapon when applied to a skull while Danika was having trouble subduing a second Khadorian but fortunately the first one she had attacked was still too stunned to respond. Rafaldo's retreat was not an act of cowardice but rather a tactical manoeuvre to give him sufficient space to cast a spell but unfortunately his first attempt to do so was unsuccessful. The rest of the bar patrons close enough to retaliate were unable to do much damage except a couple of ineffectual hits against armour...they were however beginning to re-group...
Getting into his stride Bosh charged into the largest group of opponents and incapacitated another four Khadorian bar patrons and was beginning to enjoy himself considerably. Rafaldo's second attempt at magic was far more successful and a blast of arcane energy catapulted his chosen target across the bar to land in a satisfyingly unconscious heap on the floor. Bragg had taken a minor wound which he repaid by bludgeoning the antagonist to the ground with a crushing blow from his improvised weapon. Danika was having little success with her current opponent and had made a mental note to acquire some concealable weapons for use should this situation ever occur again...
There were now far fewer annoying interfering bystanders in the way now so it occurred to Bosh that the remaining Khadorian bar patrons might be more open to negotiation at this point...
"We just want those two!!!!" he yelled gesturing in the approximate direction of the criminals they'd first spoken to before briefly emphasising his point by backhanding another opponent unconscious and finally the rest of the patrons backed away. After a bit of hog-tying and application of some manacles the two newly acquired prisoners were taken away to answer some questions. After some completely unnecessary violence from Danika the fences gave a detailed description of the thief and the time of their next meeting which amusingly happened to be at the bar they'd just destroyed...
After a brief detour to drop their prisoners off at the watch station together with some negotiation for a token reward and a vastly exaggerated tale of how they were viciously attacked in an unprovoked manner by thugs while minding their own business during the entirely innocent process of asking a few questions they departed to the aforementioned meeting point.
The company representative reiterated their point about the possible complications that might arise should the service gain a reputation as a troop transport but Danika countered this by pointing out that this was less a military exercise and more a kind of pilgrimage. Admittedly it was a pilgrimage that would more than likely end in a battle of some kind but the company could hardly be held responsible for what happened after the passengers reached their destination. She also observed that the train galley was already catering quite successfully to a significant amount of people and a few extra would hardly make a difference, they already had significant quantities of coal so a bit extra for their warjack was a drop in the ocean and extra carriages were hardly in short supply to a rail company...
...eventually her arguments began to sway opinion in her favour and the passage was agreed. Though this was also a favour to her personally that may need to be repaid at some point...
In Conclusion - Back in the Real World.
As with any game session that starts with "you're in town...what do you fancy doing?" there's always the possibility that the players will want to do something that you've in no way planned for and apparently that's what we did which made the first part of the session basically an attempt to continuously convince us that the trail was cold and we should do something else. Of course this just convinced us all the more that there was something we were missing, lol.
The need to introduce us to two new characters was also inevitably going to slow the pace a little and a simple joint mission is an easy way to get a bit of interaction between the players without distracting from a massive story arc. Sometimes one-off side missions are fun...as were parts of this one. It had a bar fight...what more do you want, lol. The inclusion of Khadorians gave Martin a chance to role-play Danika a bit, the machine parts inclusion let Arold's Trollkin show off his knowledge. Steve's character had less to get his teeth into overall but the nautical connection with the Trollkin doorman at least generated the hilarious surprise element of actually blagging a cutlass into a bar with a 'no weapons' policy. It also answered the question every-one in the group had about how a great hulking (and not particularly perceptive) Ogrun actually makes a living as a bounty hunter...the answer of course is he keeps threatening people till some-one tells him something useful, lol.
From a mechanical point of view all our characters got the standard one XP and a bonus one for teamwork which meant that Rafaldo Scorgiani and Bragg Halvard got a couple of new Occupational Skills each. Bragg upped two of his appropriate Mechanical Skills from one to two while Rafaldo increased a couple of social skills which was also quite appropriate. Already having reached that level ourselves last session mine and Martins characters instead got to choose a new Ability, Connection, Spell or a point of an available Military Skill. Martin is yet to decide which spell Danika is going to learn (he also has to be able to justify it from a character development point of view) but needs to decide before next session. I myself selected a new Ability for 'Bosh' from one of those available to his Man at Arms career which was Specialisation - Halberd which means that with any weapon of that type he takes no Attack Modifier penalties which negates some of the downsides to using his Ogrun Warcleaver.
Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.