Almost everyone shows up on time: Tim (Sir Brindal Karth de Hazat), Paul (Sean Punch), and Chris (Peter Sangaree). Dan (Koa so k'Terr) is off laying sod, so our hearts go out to him. As a new development, we get a new player: Chuck (Sir Caine Engelheim de Hazat), who will hopefully become a fixture in our little coterie.
Sir Caine Engelheim de Hazat is the eighth child of a minor Hazat family back on Aragon. Most of his early life was spent in the Hazat military, where he served as a sepoy officer, raising up forces of loyalist native troops on worlds contested by the Hazat. Sadly, Emperor Alexius' victory has not served him well. The massive Legions fielded by the Royal Houses are no longer needed, and most have been decommissioned. And with many fewer Legions, there is no longer a need for as many officers, particularly low-status officers commanding irregular troops. Sir Engelheim found himself out of a job.
His mustering-out bonus has allowed him to tour the Known Worlds for a few years, during which time he has liberally depended upon the kindness of his fellow nobility. Now he finds himself on Gwynneth and down to his last hundred Firebirds.
When last we left our intrepid band, they were on the tarmac of New Berlin Spaceport, dealing with the last of the two assassins who slipped in to the colony with the Utag emissaries. The characters did not take much time to discover that the two work for the Haustein Syndicate, and that they report to the Underboss Philip Dettlen. Unfortunately, neither of them knows either where Dettlen is or how to contact him directly. The best they can do is to contact him through a dead drop in the Tuam Low City, a brothel operator named Maurice.
Sir Brindal Karth de Hazat decides that while selling the two of them to Patrice Cheroux would be viscerally satisfying, simply keeping them in prison is probably the better choice. For all he knows, they might become useful hostages or bargaining chips in the future.
The gear taken from the assassins includes: two wireblades, two personal shields, two sets of IR goggles, two master VERTOL keys and two sets of climbing claws. Sir Brindal Karth de Hazat and Peter Sangaree each claim one of the wireblades.
Given the events that have just transpired, the Utag group moves to depart. Before he boards his VERTOL, the grizzled Jarl Gunter Feggen approaches Sir Brindal Karth, grips his arms strongly, and tells him, "It always tells me a lot about a man, to see how he faced the death of his people. Taussen will be in touch." The characters interpret this rather ominous statement as a compliment, particularly because Pieter Taussen is an Utag merchant who had previously wanted to sell many things to them.
As the Vuldrok VERTOLs fly into the distance, the characters' Scorpion Ack-Ack Golem points its armored head into the distance and emits a mournful sound. It almost seems sorry to see the aircraft go. Sir Brindal Karth impulsively pets the golem as he walks by it, and is shocked when it purrs back at him. He hadn't known that it could do that.
After some discussion on exactly how they should try and set up a legal way for the colony to trade with the Utag (at least in the eyes of the Hawkwoods), the entire group decides to head to Tuam. During the flight, they write a note to Cheevo, the probably dishonest Charioteer trader, stating that they want to discuss a shipping deal with him, and that he should contact them at New Berlin.
Upon their arrival in Tuam, the characters stop by the local Charioteer factor and give him the message. The factor explains that he can transmit it along to a drop at the WardenCo station, where Cheevo will get it as soon as he checks for messages. The cost to send the message is 5 FB for standard security, and 20 FB for high encryption. The characters, reasoning that "high encryption" is just a way for the Charioteers to know that they should examine a message more closely, opt for the standard fee.
The characters go to visit Morgan Hawkwood in his townhouse. The find that he is just as decadent as always, having adopted a wispy, effeminate English accent and a long cigarette holder. He greets them in the sitting room dressed in a long housecoat and pyjamas. He has clearly been living a rather plush life, and is obviously doing quite well for himself, though his exact means of support are not overwhelmingly clear (some of the more crass characters suggest to each other that he might be prostituting himself). On the plus side, Morgan does do his best to be scrupulously polite to the characters, even though he slips up and calls Sean Punch "little mechanical boy" at one point. Sir Brindal Karth quickly corrects him: "We prefer to call him Pinocchio."
Peter takes the conversation on a more serious track by explaining to Morgan that the characters need him to put them into serious contact with someone important in Hawkwood military intelligence. Someone who can get secret treaties drawn up. Someone who is interested in seeing the Hawkwoods prosper in this time of peace with the Vuldrok. Peter explains that the characters have a chance to get some serious intelligence on the Vuldroks, but that getting it will take time, patience, and money. The characters can deal with the money part, but they need somebody else, somebody smart, respectable and trustworthy, to deal with the time and patience aspects.
Morgan listens to this appeal, then drawls out, "But why would you think I would know somebody like this?" Peter, ever ready with explanations, points out that if he doesn't, the characters won't be able to give him any money. In contrast, if he does, then Sir Brindal Karth will invite him out for the next Running of the Hiipos.
Morgan whines that this business is so terribly tiresome, but promises to see what he can find in my little book. At this point, he develops a concerned expression upon his face, explains, "Pardon me, I must clear my stomach," and leaves the room. He is gone for some time. The characters are not particularly upset, especially when their wait is interrupted by a pair of servants bearing drinks and plates of seabird-and-cucumber sandwiches.
Morgan finally returns, bearing a name. He suggests that the characters talk to the General Count Abelard Rouen-Hawkwood, an officer serving in the Custom House and affiliated with Hawkwood Intelligence. As a side note, Morgan comments that the General is a collector of fine objects and exotica, and that he has made several pilgrimages to the various gargoyles on Lachann, including the Red Weeper. Morgan promises to send him a letter of introduction on behalf of the characters, and to provide them with a copy of it.
Hearing this (and mindful of the need to present such an important person with an appropriate gift), Brindal Karth suggests that the characters postpone their meeting until they go to the Mystery Planet. His hope is that the group might find some kind of nifty Annunaki artifact to give to him. Peter argues against this plan, saying that it might just be like giving him the Evil Beating Heart without knowing that it is an Evil Beating Heart. He argues in favor of meeting him right off, then coming back after the Mystery Planet trip if things don't go well.
Out of a sudden burst of misplaced hospitality, Morgan invites the characters to stay with him instead of at the Plow and Sickle. Peter points out that people may be shooting at them, at which point Morgan says, "Okay, you'll be staying at the Plow and Sickle." The characters bid Morgan a good-day, and give him 100 FB for his efforts.
The characters already know that their next target will be Maurice, and the Red Lantern House. The place is in the Low City in the Under Passing quarter, across the Tuam river. Under Passing is not one of the more prosperous parts of Tuam, and is predominantly downriver of the bulk of the Low City. There are two bridges connecting it to the rest of Tuam Low City, one run by the Reeves and another run by the Electors' Council.
To prepare for their foray, the characters go to the Low Market outside the High City. Sir Brindal Karth buys baggy clothing appropriate to the lower classes for everyone for 1 FB. Peter makes sure that the clothing is thoroughly laundered first, out of a desire to avoid catching any "hitchhikers". The characters then walk down the Under Passing. They take the Reeve Bridge, each paying a fee of 1 Tuam Shilling. They bitch about the price.
The characters admire some of the sights of Under Passing along their way. Most of the quarter is constructed of wood, with some buildings reaching up to five stories high. Based upon the rather rickety nature of the taller buildings, the characters suspect that the upper-story apartments probably rent for bargain rates. Though the city sewers do appear to run out to this quarter, most folk seem to gain access to them by simply dumping their wastes into the street, in keeping with the Church prohibitions on electrical power and running water in the Low City. The characters also notice that one of the High City nanoabrasive plants dumps it's effluvient into the Tuam River just upstream of Under Passing. They resolve to avoid eating or drinking anything during their time in the quarter.
The Red Lantern House a two-story wooden building typical of construction in Under Passing. It is located at the center of a squarish city block. Two doors are visible leading in to the front of the building. There are several alleys into the core of the block visible around the streets. The characters guess that the center of the block probably contains gardens, outbuildings and maybe some stables in there, and possibly an access to the sewers (yuck!). The most unique features of the building are two large bay windows at the front, each made of a single pane of glass. Two women smiling at passers-by from one of the doorways, and one guard armed with shortsword, buckler and truncheon lounges against a wall nearby. Sean Punch, upon seeing the guard, comments, "Oh, he'll be really effective against us."
The characters case the area, then head off to collect some props. Specifically, they purchase several cheap shortswords (8 FB each; 20 FB would buy a normal one), some truncheons (1 FB each), a fake bomb (5 FB for parts and a digital timer, plus Peter's mechanical and scrounging skills), and a bag full of Tuam Shillings, Wings (1/4 FB), Crests (1/2 FB) and Talons (other coins) (20 FB total). The characters plan is to approach the place claiming to be tavernkeepers from Fennen Marsh. They will say that they have just started a new Inn called the Hog's Wallow in New Berlin. They have realized that there is a big market for prostitutes in New Berlin, and they want to buy some. Their plan rests upon their looking as much like the salt of the earth as possible, and they hope that their various Acting skills will be sufficient to pull it off.
It is at this juncture that Morgan Hawkwood contacts the characters and offers them some reinforcements. In particular, he has remembered a Hazat knight he met at a party some time ago and he feels that he should introduce him to Sir Brindal Karth. The characters agree to attend dinner at Morgan's townhouse to meet this person.
The Hazat knight turns out to be Sir Caine Engelheim de Hazat. He is an eighth son, and until the close of the Emperor Wars had served as a sepoy officer, in charge of raising and leading units of "native" troops. His career took something of a plunge with the ending of the Emperor wars: his unit was decommissioned and he was dropped from the service rolls as he lacked the political influence to wrangle an assignment to another unit. He spent most of his decommissioning payout traveling the Known Worlds, finally arriving upon Gwynneth. Morgan Hawkwood has run into him at a couple of parties, all along Lachann.
Dinner goes fairly well, even when Peter falls back upon his old habits and sweeps the better part of two serving platters into bags "for later" when Morgan's back is turned. Everyone tells stories of their past, and Caine's include a lot of features the characters find quite favorable: he has trained infantry, he isn't particularly religious, and he thinks that Morgan Hawkwood is an effeminate lush. Peter takes a shine to him instantly.
Sir Brindal Karth asks if Caine would be interested in helping him in a "household matter." Peter, feeling that Brindal Karth's description lacks something in restraint, explains that the characters actually intend only to threaten people, resorting to actually beating them up if that fails. Caine agrees to help out even after he learns the specifics of the matter. Apparently, this sort of activity is right in characters for him. Sadly, Sean Punch is troubled by everyone else's plans, mostly because the whole process involves walking into a house of ill repute, behaviour that troubles his faith.
Brindal Karth asks if Caine is well-equipped. Caine mentions that he has a shield, a wireblade, and a heavy pistol. When asked if he could easily disguise himself so as to not stand out among the people of Under Passing, he explains that while he's dealt with a lot of indigenous populations, he has mostly done so in the role of Great White Hunter. Brindal Karth gives him appropriate clothing.
About 23:00 that night, everyone heads off to the Red Lantern House. They find that it is much busier at night than during the day. There are three guards and lots of women outside. The characters walk right past them and right into another guard equipped with a handheld weapons sensor. The door guard proves to have some backbone, and isn't willing to let the characters enter without surrendering their weapons. His willingness drops even more when several characters claim that they just want to see Maurice. It reaches it's final low ebb when his detector tells him that several of the characters are carrying energy weapons that are fully functional (not broken heirlooms as they had claimed). At this point, Peter makes a lot of noise about how weapons detectors makes people sterile.
Recognizing that the guard isn't going to allow them to bring in weapons, Sir Brindal Karth explains once again that he wants to talk to Maurice, and hands over a handful of change (about 20 Tuam Shillings) to get the guard to send Maurice over to the Gelded Ox on the other side of the bridge. The characters leave.
The characters head to the Gelded Ox and wait there for about three hours, doing their best to look important and spending 3 FB in the process. Their patience is finally rewarded when a very tough-looking fellow walks in, looks around the place, then heads straight for their table. He tells them that he's Samson Yannon, that he works for Maurice, and follows up that fantastic introduction with a series of not particularly veiled threats, including that he's brought a bunch of guys along equipped to be "serious."
Sir Brindal Karth takes him at his word and stuns him. The situation goes downhill from there, at least from Samson's point of view. Brindal Karth moves over to his supine form and starts to bind him with cable ties, only to have him break out of the stun and fight back. Sean Punch moves to help Brindal Karth while Peter Sangaree and Sir Caine Engelheim draw firearms and head behind the bar, all the while keeping an eye out for Samson's "serious" guys.
Samson's men oblige by showing up a moment later. Two of them, armed with break-open shotguns, pop up from the front window and start peppering the characters behind the bar. They manage to damage some furniture and create a tremendous lightshow on Peter's shield. Peter responds in no uncertain terms with his assault rifle, ripping through one of the goons. Caine, who believes that restraint is a virtue, removes the second with his pistol. A third goon makes a brief appearance through the kitchen door, fires once, and is felled by Peter's keen shooting. The man is desperately injured, and surrenders when Peter tells him he won't get medical care if he doesn't. By this time, Sean Punch has managed to pin the unfortunate Samson, allowing Brindal Karth to finish cable-tying him.
The characters swiftly search the bodies of the fallen. Samson turns out to be carrying 10 FB and 150 Tuam Shillings in his purse. He is wearing a chainmail hauberk and is armed with a rapier and a wickedly long percussion-cap revolver. He is also carrying an ID card indicating that he is a member of the Scraver's Guild, ranked at Associate. One of his goons is actually dead, while the other two are merely badly injured. Each had been armed with a double-barreled break-open shotgun, four shells, a shortsword, a truncheon, and a buckler. Peter, good to his word, performs First Aid upon the one injured goon. Brindal Karth gives the bartender 40 FB to apologize for the mess. At this point the characters clear out, dragging Samson Yannon with them. They also take the shortswords and the shotguns.
Peter Sangaree, who spent a lot of time in the Low City back before the Clavigers explained to him (at gunpoint) that power equipment is illegal in the Low City, remembers that there are a lot of warehouses nearby, and that about a quarter of them aren't used. The characters take Samson to one of them. Along the way, the characters debate whether or not they should storm the Red Lantern House. They suspect that Maurice is fairly smart, and probably has a lot of guys with good guns, meaning that actually taking the house is likely to be a lot of trouble. Sean Punch remembers that the entire area is comprised of close-spaced wood frame buildings, and that setting the House on fire will probably take out a lot of the neighborhood. Brindal Karth mentions that going in through a side door and shooting everyone in sight sounds like a really unbeatable plan.
Eventually, the voice of reason speaks: Caine suggests taking Samson somewhere where nobody will disturb them, and interrogate him for all he knows.
The characters take Samson to an old warehouse. The place is built with a metal frame & concrete floor, but has a mix of aging wood and canvas for its walls and ceiling. The floor surface is broken and rutted, and will impose a -2 penalty if anybody tries vigorous physical action (like fighting) on it. Nothing valuable remains inside, but there are a few rotted crates stacked in irregular piles throughout the structure. The whole place smells of rotting fish.
The characters strap Samson down and start to interrogate him. Samson says again that he is a card-carrying Scraver Associate (which the characters already know from having investigated his wallet). He tells them that Maurice is a big boss, holding the rank of Genin (rank 2), and that he Maurice's lieutenant (the characters are skeptical of this claim). Maurice's office is on the second floor, with an outside window and a view of the street. Samson knows that Maurice reports to another guy in the Low City, but he doesn't know much about who it is. He does know that Maurice has ten alleybasher-type guards (like the guys that Samson brought to the Gelded Ox) and three more "really serious" guys.
Caine taunts Samson, "Are you one of the serious guys? Hahaha… If you're the best he's got, then we have nothing at all to worry about." Peter does his best to get Samson to tell them about the actual skills and equipment possessed by the "serious" guys. Samson finally tells him that they have good guns (the type that doesn't shoot bullets), and that they've all been trained to fence.
The characters turn to asking Samson about Maurice's personal habits. Samson no longer has any resistance to questioning, and spills everything he knows:
The characters decide to grab Maurice on the way to work on the next day. Their plan is to go back to the Plow and Sickle and get some sleep, then wait at the bridge at noon for Brindal to shadow Maurice and suss out his route. They will then go back to sleep to get rested up to hit him on his way back, presuming that he'll take the same route. Sean Punch expresses some moral reservations about attacking people out of the blue like this.
Having come up with a plan, the characters turn to debating what to do with Samson in the meantime. Brindal Karth suggests tying him up really well, on the theory that he probably wouldn't die for a couple of days. Peter laughs at this plan, pointing out that the local rat population will eat him for lunch. Brindal Karth reluctantly agrees, glumly suggesting that the characters will have to take it somewhere else.
It is at this point that salvation appears in the form of a diseased and disfigured beggar who claims to be "Duke Harold." The man looks like a walking disaster: his hair is long and disheveled, one of his eyes is rotted in his head, and his right leg is swollen with boils and carbuncles. He roars and wheezes at the characters, convincing them that he wasn't particularly lucid. The characters take to him instantly. Sean Punch heads out to find food. He runs into trouble, as it's 4:00 am in the Low City. He spends 5 FB and brings back fruit juice in a plastic bottle shaped like a woman and a bunch of pastries. The characters give Duke Harold some food and order him to guard Samson for a couple of days, and to keep the rats away. Duke Harold agrees, in his wispy, rheumy voice.
The characters go home.
The next day, Sir Brindal Karth gets into position at the City Council bridge and waits. He knows that Maurice is balding, and heavyset, with grey hair. Brindal Karth eventually sees him drive past in a new Moremax Spirit, accompanied by his three bodyguards. Brindal Karth does a fair job of following him back to the Red Lantern House, given that Maurice can't drive very fast through the winding streets of the Low City. Maurice eventually drives down one of the alleys behind the Red Lantern House and parks the car in a slot behind the building.
Brindal Karth returns to the rest of the group and reports his findings. He mentions that the car is currently unoccupied, though probably watched. The characters revise their ambush plans to include more heavy weaponry, particularly including the spud gun. Peter's hope is to use it to destroy the car, preferably with Maurice and his "serious" guards inside.
Each character gains four experience points. Sir Brindal Karth spends 4 points on Fencing and Fencing Art and a point on Fast-Talk.