Securing transport

SUMMARY - Rona's investigation of the Dark Artificer's Binder she mysteriously received continues, as she attempts to charter a sneaky trip to Black Water Ford in Charn, and recruits Ga'Elian into her latest adventure. 

Yelrona is having an animated discussion with a grizzled-looking sailor. The words "Charn" and "Veyshan" and "smuggler" can be heard by a sufficiently perceptive audience.

Ga'Elian strolls casually around a corner playing a song on his panpipes. Seeing Rona, he stows the instrument and walks over.

"Yes, I know," Rona is saying, with an exasperated edge to her voice. "What I'm looking for is a _similar_ ship, one that might be _taken_ for a smuggling vessel that -- oh, hey Elian!" She greets the ranger as he approaches, and the sailor takes advantage of the distraction to head off. Rona shakes her head.

Ga'Elian says, "You sound a little upset. Was he being deliberately or honestly stupid?" He nods toward the sailor with a smirk.

Yelrona sighs. "Honestly, neither... he just doesn't want to do it. And I guess I can't blame him. I'll probably have better luck hiring a wizard to teleport me. Well, either that or sleeping with Astaren again, if he can reach that far, but I haven't seen him around lately."

Ga'Elian raises hia eyebrow, "Teleport to where, exactly? Surely not to somewhere on the open seas where ships are wont to be?"

"Black River Ford," Rona replies. "It's a trading and shipping hub near Charn, and I want to check it out... preferably without raising too much suspicion in the process. Which, I gather, is difficult to do, as its largely frequented by smugglers, who are suspicious by nature."

Ga'Elian smirks, "Oh, I bet you could disguise yourself as a mul easily enough and forge whatever documents you'd need to travel there, maybe on an airship. Aya or Daechir might be able to coach you sufficiently on the culture to avoid making critical mistakes, and even if your deceptions were discovered, you could bribe or threaten them. Besides, I figure they'd expect you to be other than what you present as, as most smugglers are, but just because you show a false identity doesn't mean they'd suspect your true identity. You could claim to be a fugitive from a Charnese noble family with a penchant for a lower class life, for example."

Yelrona nods. "That's a good idea."

She smirks after a moment and adds "So when did you learn to be so devious?"

Ga'Elian bows, "I learned from a master." He winks.

Yelrona inclines her head slightly, acknowledging the deserved tribute, then chuckles. "True, that. And you're right, I would definitely have to disguise myself. I usually do, around Charn... there aren't very many Llyranesi there, which I suppose I'll take as a compliment to my race." She frowns, thinking. "If I go via some official route it's probably best if I do a two-legged trip, so my assumed identity can't be traced back to Alexandria... that's sure to raise suspicions, especially now."

Ga'Elian advises, "Even if you do the main dirty work alone, it might be prudent to have a support partner or team close by in case things make a turn for the unexpected."

Yelrona grins. "Good idea! You volunteering?"

Ga'Elian says, "I suppose I could. Of course, Charn is an alien landscape to me, but I'm sure we can figure something out."

Yelrona nods. "It is to me, too, honestly. Though ultimately a city is a city is a city. Have you ever been?"

Ga'Elian shakes his head. "No. I've only ever been to Charn once, and that was by airship. I think we basically stowed away with the help of magic, then avoided contact with the public. Our job was to infiltrate a top secret military research depot where they were developing their own Spell Cannon, destroy it, and if possible get back out, all while maintaining Alexandros's plausible deniability about sending us. It wasn't a great opportunity to learn the local culture nore

Ga'Elian shakes his head. "No. I've only ever been to Charn once, and that was by airship. I think we basically stowed away with the help of magic, then avoided contact with the public. Our job was to infiltrate a top secret military research depot where they were developing their own Spell Cannon, destroy it, and if possible get back out, all while maintaining Alexandros's plausible deniability about sending us. It wasn't a great opportunity to learn the local culture nor the lay of the land."

Yelrona tilts her head to one side curiously. "That sounds... interesting. Are you free to discuss it?" She adds after a moment "I have to admit, I have never really thought of you as an espionage agent before... apparently I've been underestimating you! My apologies."

Ga'Elian smirks, "Rangers make excellent scouts, spies, and snipers. We're just not expert with people skills. I can disappear far easier than I can bluff, and I can survive in any terrain better than I can disguise myself. Destroying their Spell Cannon was easy enough once we penetrated their security. All it took was to scuttle the ship it was being built aboard. My adamantine arrows ruptured the hull like a hot knife through butter."

Yelrona nods. "That makes sense. If it comes to that, I can disguise you... I even have a spare magic item that will help with that. And I can handle the talking. As for the local culture... well, you might be better off not knowing. I've learned rather a lot about Charn lately, both from talking to Aya and while rescuing Razen, and honestly much of it I would rather not know."

Ga'Elian smirks, "I'll take your word for it. So how soon are you looking to make the trip?"

"That's a good question. The College is looking over the binder now, and I'd like to learn everything I can about it before I go... that way I'm more likely to notice clues. And I'm taking advantage of the time to learn what I can about the Ford. But once they're through, there's no reason to wait... probably within the week," Rona explains. "No more than two, certainly."

Ga'Elian looks thoroughly bewildered as if Rona is speaking Sanskrit, but asks, "What is the Ford? I mean, normally a ford is a spot along a river that is shallow enough to croas on foot, but I'm guessing you mean something else."

Yelrona blinks. "Oh... sorry! I haven't really explained any of this, have I? The Ford is Black River Ford, a shipping hub near Charn. I got a package from there about a week ago -- apparently the fragments of a Dark Artifice Binder, either from the Kulthian Empire before the Sundering, or from someone trying to reconstruct it... like with the Spell Cannon, I guess. Who knows, maybe the same people. I have no idea who sent it to me, or why, or, well, anything at all."

Ga'Elian says, "Okay. That /is/ suspicious. I guess you are famous among Charneth dealers in Kulthian antiquities. If that doesn't give you anxiety, you're pretty tough."

Yelrona laughs. "I've just accepted anxiety as a given, at this point. At least this is something I can _do_ something about. But, yeah... if _I_ were looking for someone to send a pre-Sundering Kulthian historical object to, I would _not_ be my first choice. My current theory is that whoever sent it saw me in Charn when we were rescuing Razen, figured out where I was from, and either decided I could be trusted with it to get it out of Charn, or trapped it and sent it to me and I'm under some VERY subtle curse now."

Ga'Elian smirks and says, "Or maybe one of your plushies found its way into their hands."

Yelrona laughs. "Maybe so! I wonder if that factory is still operating, now that the Chaos Lich is defeated.

Ga'Elian chuckles, "I haven't checked, but if it is, somebody must have taken over management. I suppose Sandy might have been the rightful heiress."

Yelrona nods. "Though she insists that she's not. Still, she might have bought the place anyway."

Ga'Elian says, "I don't see that being the case. But I think I've heard the sages and bards say that Unsearchable are the mysteries of Sandy."

Yelrona nods. "That much is true," she agrees. "Then again, I also here that she's secretly a Rainbow Dragon. I'm not so sure about that one."

Ga'Elian laughs. "Well, there is a kernal of truth to that, but mostly it's a bunch of fluff. When one is battling a pit fiend, one may be driven to shooting rainbows at it while in the form of a dragon. In this world, that wouldn't be the strangest thing to see. I mean, having a bunch of folks deciding form a cult and worship her, seems stranger yet, you know?"