Tim wasted all week sending us email and thinking about a game that hasn't even started yet, forcing him to spend much of the day studying. He only manages to put in an appearance very late in the day. Everyone else has their priorities in place and shows up on time, including Chris (Peter Sangaree), Chuck (Sir Caine Engelheim de Hazat) and Paul (Tolenn).
The characters spend a fairly uneventful three weeks aboard Cheevo's vessel Jayjay on the way to Cadiz. They make one jump from Cadavus to Severus and one final jump to Cadiz proper. Their opportunities to encounter Decados corruption and iniquity along the way is limited by the fact that they deliberately stay down in the Jayjay's hold, playing card games and observing their stash of clown… products.
The end of the characters' journey is Garusharm Station. Cheevo lets them up onto the bridge to observe the final approach. The station spreads out in front of them like a manic cross between Las Vegas and a junkyard, floating above the blue sphere of Cadiz. Cheevo points out the location of the original Second Republic-era station amid the mass of habitats, old ship hulls, tanks and tubes. Some of the characters humor him by agreeing that they're able to see it.
The Jayjay maneuvers in towards a series of docks located around the circumference of a large wheel structure moored to the body of the station only with a rather weak-looking central spine. They can see a total of thirteen other ships already docked on the structure, and three Decados frigates orbiting nearby and keeping everybody honest. To break the monotony of the approach, Sir Caine Engelheim de Hazat asks Cheevo, "You still have any of those explosives you had last time?" Peter Sangaree, thinking that Caine is serious, responds "Don't worry, we brought our own this time." Cheevo once again reflects upon whether or not even his exorbitant fees are worth this sort of treatment.
In their own turn, the characters are somewhat disturbed to discover that Garusharm Station has it's own share of oddities. In particular, they listen to the ongoing turf war between the Charioteer-loyal Traffic Controllers and the Engineer-operated Final Approach Control bicker over which vessels are allowed to approach the station upon what vectors. Given the tone of the discussion, the characters speculate upon the number of collisions caused every year by traffic control conflicts.
For all that it might not seem to be working out well, the characters are relieved when the Jayjay finally manages to make contact with the docking grapple and shut down its engines. Vukjuk deals with the Decados customs officials over the intercom, then tells the characters that they have permission to disembark. He comments that they're going into one of the more "industrial" sections of the station, and that the spectrograph shows a couple of toxic-looking spikes in the air composition. He suggests that the characters wear either air necklaces or filter masks. Everyone decides that his words contain wisdom and don their filter masks (disdaining air necklaces for the rather better protective qualities of their shields).
The characters emerge onto the deck to find that there is artificial gravity, but (seemingly) no customs. The only semblance of an inspector is a very bored Engineer who appears to have little passion for his work. In fact, he seems almost suicidal. He is even more put out by the fact that the characters want all kinds of information on lodging, transportation down to the planet, good bars, and cargo dock locations. His unwillingness to answer persists until Peter gives him 10 FB as a bribe.
His palm greased with silver, the Engineer offers up some suggestions. He claims that the Autumn Blossom is a good hotel, on the expensive side but blessed with very obvious cameras (in contrast to cheaper hotels that often do a good job of hiding their surveillance). It is located on Commerce Ring level 4. He tells the characters that they are currently at Docking Bay 7E ("remember that, if you get lost"). Shuttles down to the planet are a Charioteer patent. They all leave from the Sunrise Platform, which can be reached through the central lift on the Commerce Ring ("just take it all the way down").
The Engineer also comments about a particularly grisly mass murder down on the loading docks about five months ago. He tells the characters that a Charioteer Cargo Master went insane and killed most of his work gang with a 30-pound saw. The incident happened a couple of days after the Sky Titan docked. In response to the characters' suddenly-interested questions, he comments that the Cargo Master and his crew had been working on unloading one of the Sky Titan's bays at the time. The incident was fairly notable when it happened, and a documentary on it has been made for the station's magic lantern shows. The Engineer suggests that the characters buy tickets and check it out if they are interested. The characters make noncommittal responses.
The characters head down to the Commerce Ring to find that the place looks like a Moroccan bazaar run by Josef Stalin. The place is a multilevel maze of shops, stalls, tea-houses and whatnot, but there doesn't seem to be anything actually for sale at most of the shops. The shopkeepers and customers are plentiful, but they lack much of the energy and enthusiasm normally attributed to the exchange of goods for money.
Shrugging this effect off as just another oddity of a Decados world, the characters corral a local urchin and offer him 2 FB to get them to the loading docks (1 FB to get there, and another 1 FB to get them back). The urchin agrees eagerly. Along the way, he makes a rather clumsy attempt to pick Tolenn's pocket, and gets a strict talking-to in punishment.
The cargo terminal proves to be a cavernous area that is mostly in zero-g. Large signs at the edge of the zero-g region claim that access is restricted to those with the appropriate badges. Lacking badges, the characters settle for interrogating a nearby "SEKURITY" guard, who explains that off-duty cargo workers drink in the bars on the Orange Sublevel, but that you need a badge to get there as well. He also comments that the cargo terminal area needs to be kept clear for cargo containers: they may not have any weight in zero-g, but they've still got mass and will crush anyone who accidentally gets in their way. The characters debate on whether or not to taunt him on the fact that his employers can't spell, then think better of it.
The characters ask him where they can talk to someone in charge. He tells them how to reach the lift to the Administration Office
The characters make it up to the Administration Office without any trouble. They emerge from the lift to find themselves in a poorly appointed waiting room. A series of ratty-looking locals fill the place, each of them clutching a numbered tag. A red display on the wall above a stern-looking receptionist proclaims "Now Serving: #12". Another of the "SEKURITY" guards stands next to her.
Peter Sangaree walks over and takes a tag. He finds that the characters are #189. They spend some time waiting, looking over the other patrons, before they realize that there is no sign that #13 is likely to be served any time soon. The characters quickly attempt to bribe the receptionist, only to discover that she is totally incorruptible. Fortunately, the guard standing right next to them will arrange for them to become #12 for a mere 8 FB fee. Several characters are amazed that nobody else in the room is willing to part with such a nominal fee to avoid waiting fruitlessly. They are even more amazed when the guard points out that the display has been stuck on #12 for almost five days now.
Quickly forgetting about the miserable wretches behind them, the characters are shown into the office of Assistant Administrator Smith, who is uncharacteristically helpful. The characters ask him about the cargo dock massacre. His initial response is that they can go see the magic lantern show about it, suggesting the Amazing Sights Magic Lantern Theater down on the Commerce Level as a particularly good venue. He notes in passing that the production and display rights for the show belong to some bastard cousin of the Duke Garusharm, who is probably making a mint from it. Peter acts surprised that there aren't t-shirts commemorating the event, to which Smith responds that there are, they're just sold at the magic lantern show concession booths.
The characters then explain their cover story, that they're agents for Grandfather Baboon Shipping looking for a misdirected piece of cargo that got loaded onto the Sky Titan at Criticorum. They provide specifics appropriate to the twelve cargo canisters they're actually interested in. Assistant Administrator Smith makes customarily regretful noises, explaining that he would like to help them except for an unfortunate screen saver failure his think machine is currently suffering. Peter Sangaree discovers that the failure can be fixed by handing Smith 50 FB, whereupon Smith starts providing information. He says that the shipment was in the customs area when the Charioteer Cargo Master went insane and cut eight people into sushi. It was passed through and taken down to Margenburg on a Charioteer launch, where it was turned over to Mountain Shipping, a local shipping syndicate. Mountain Shipping was instructed to take it to a private warehouse in Margenburg proper. Smith gives the characters the address.
Peter Sangaree asks if there is any way the characters can get in contact with Smith without going through the waiting area. Smith sells him a business card for 30 FB.
As a parting gift, Smith also gives the characters tickets to an evening showing of the Cargo Deck Murders documentary at the Amazing Sights magic lantern theater. The characters thank him with as much politeness as they can muster.
Back on the Commerce Ring, the characters see a couple of guards shoot a bum off in the distance. They note that nobody else pays much attention. Sir Caine is surprised that the guards actually shot the bum, considering the price of ammunition.
The characters decide that while they might want to see the Cargo Deck Murders show, they don't trust Assistant Administrator Smith to not sell them out to their various detractors. They ditch the tickets he gave them and go to the Golden Dragon magic lantern theater instead. The place is surprisingly sumptuous, considering the general aura of poverty present on the rest of the station. The characters buy box seats. A servile employee wearing a Golden Dragon mask that obscures his entire face leads them to their seats. Along the way, the characters note that almost all of the lower-level employees seem to wear similar masks.
The theater itself is built on the sort of lines you would expect from a strictly class-based society. The floor of the theater is bare: purchasers of the cheapest tickets simply stand through the show. In contrast, the theater walls are lined with private boxes adorned with plush seats and lavishly served by servants who provide (for a cost) refreshments and whatnot.
The "documentary" itself proves to be an hour and a half of breathless tripe, not even fit to be shown on Fox. It includes security footage of the Cargo Master on his rampage, plus a lovingly enhanced "recreation" of the entire event and a series of coroner's images of the dead (including the Cargo Master, whom the documentary claims was shot down by courageous security personnel). Both Peter and Sir Caine note that in the security footage the Charioteer psychopath appears to have a hunchback, but in the post-autopsy shots he doesn't. Sir Caine and Tolenn note that a couple of folks in a box across the theater are disporting themselves with the (female, masked) employees in a manner that Sir Brindal Karth would surely approve of, were he only present.
Throughout the show, the audience in the commoners' area stands passively. About a quarter of them are masked. The characters only see them react at the very end, when the production credits roll. They break into wild clapping and cheering when the words "Produced by Count Leonardo Ross-Decados" scroll across the screen, then instantly fall silent again when the Count's name vanishes.
The characters note that the commoners are subsequently herded out of the theater and onto waiting liftplats like cattle.
On the way out, the characters are handed a glossy brochure of "Coming Attractions" by yet another subservient (masked) employee. Tolenn flips through the brochure. He notes that everything scheduled looks… decadent, but that the Bishop of Garusharm has approved all for public display. The characters speculate: "Is there anything in this place that isn't wretched?"
The characters retire to a nearby bar to discuss their findings. Sir Caine opens the discussion with the wry observation, "I bet only 11 of those containers made it down to the surface of the planet." There is wide agreement. While the characters are thinking about what might have been inside the containers, Sir Caine remembers an Antinomist outbreak on Criticorum that he had been involved in during the Emperor Wars. One of the types of demon the Antinomists had summoned up was a sort of parasite. It attached itself to its host's back, turning the host into a killing machine. The creatures could be removed (though frequently not before the death of the host), and left an h-shaped scar behind.
In the midst of the discussion, some of the characters spot a small magic lantern display over the bar that appears to be set to some sort of Garusharm Station official channel. The characters spend some time watching the proceedings of a series of corruption trials. They conclude that the Decados have elevated the concept of the kangaroo court to a fine art form, and entertain wide doubts that any of the officials busily confessing their crimes to the judges are any more or less corrupt than anyone else on the station.
The characters conclude that they have largely run out of useful options on the station, and that the next step is to get down to Margenburg as quickly as possible. They locate a ticket counter, and discover that shuttle tickets cost 10 FB, but that all shuttle flights are sold out for the next three months. Peter makes the customary throat-clearing noises and finds out that for 50 FB each, the characters could get tickets for a shuttle leaving in three hours. Peter forks over the money, overjoyed that he can spend money without worrying about it. As Peter counts out coins, Tolenn cautions that the well does have a bottom, even if it is at 5000 FB (from the money kept by the Brother Battle). Reminded that they might not have much of a chance to get additional funds planetside, the characters head to the local Brother Battle office to get more money.
The Brother Battle office is adjacent to an Orthodox shrine. Oddly enough the brothers inside are polite, efficient, and not bribable. They ask, "How much?" Tolenn says, "3000 FB." The brothers provide a bag full of money.
The characters make a brief trip back to the ticket counter to see if the counter agent is willing to look up information on Mountain Cargo. She agrees to do so, "if you don't mind: it might inconvenience other passengers - there is a line." The characters are confused by her response, as nobody else seems interested in the ticket counter. The counter agent makes some inquiries on her think machine, then says that while there is information, the Margenburg Public Security Department has placed a block on it. She very subtly indicates that she might be able to get around the block, for 200 FB. The characters agree to return in an hour to pick up the information.
The characters spend an hour lounging around empty shops in the Commerce Ring, then head back towards the ticket counter and the lift to the shuttle dock. On the way, they are attacked by a series of knife-wielding goons led by a strangely hunchbacked derelict. The attack is not particularly subtle, as the characters are standing among a crowd of people all waiting for the shuttle dock lift to arrive. The fact that two of the omnipresent "SEKURITY" guards are among the attackers does not give the characters any additional reassurance.
It doesn't take the characters long to dispatch the goons and their "SEKURITY" allies. Sir Caine deals with the hunchbacked goon by stabbing him a lot, then cutting open the back of his rags to reveal a horribly lobsterlike (but thoroughly dead) demon attached to his back.
Noting that a pitched battle on the Commerce Ring is likely to bring all manner of official attention, the characters rush off to the shuttle, after a brief interlude in which Sir Brindal Karth (newly arrived on the scene!) gooshes around with the dead demon. Peter fights down his disgust enough to provide Sir Brindal Karth with some bags to hold the most interesting demon bits, and to instruct Sir Brindal Karth to vomit in the direction away from the characters. The characters then douse Sir Brindal Karth in cheap alcohol. Peter explains that the smell will cover up the scent of dead demon.
Sir Brindal Karth continues to wash himself with mints and cheap alcohol on the shuttle to Margenburg.
The session ends with the characters aboard a Charioteer shuttle, bound for Margenburg on Cadiz. Each character gains 4 experience points.