[IC] New Crobuzon & the World Beyond

[GM Marvel]

"The ballistae are masterwork so they are very accurate.  We usually use them to slow down the other ships by targeting their masts and rigging."

On the Ab-Dead Ship...

The Captain and First Mate hear Betimi's statement.  They gaze at each other with dead glowing eyes and then send another message.  'Peculiar diplomacy tactic for a New Crobuzon vessel.  What is your purpose for being in this region, so far from your city?'

"Our mission is not your concern. Turn off and mind your own fucking concerns! Interfering with this vessel could be construed as open aggression by New Crobuzon!" [Intimidate +11 if I can apply it]

[OoC: You do not know if these Ab-dead are affected by your attempt to intimidate them.  They are simply too far away for you to intimidate.  It would be like that time a scammer called me saying he was the police and if I didn't contact them immediately then I was going to go to jail.  Yeah, ok... 'click'.  ]

"I'm afraid your objective for being at this location; at this time; may be our upmost concern.  We are looking for something.  An object stolen from our people.  If it falls into the wrong hands it could bring death on an unprecedented scale.  We tracked it'slocation here; below us; and while surveilling this region we couldn't help but notice the untimely arrival of this airship.  Coincidence?"

[GM Marvel]

Bump

[Betimi]

Betimi is not trained on ballistae but her reaction to the ab-dead's last statement is to turn and help the crew load and fire as quickly as possible.

"Commander, I will fire when you give the order." she says to Selina. [It  does not take a sense motive check for Selina to know the "Commander" part is Betimi making an effort rto reinforce the crew discipline by recognizing Selina's authority]

[Selina Parcellus]

Selina's eyes narrow, as she watches Betimi begin loading the ballistae, and she looks to Simon and the Captain, suddenly a touch suspicious.  "And do they have any reason to suspect that we would have such a...device on our person or in the hold of this vessel?"

[GM Marvel]

Simon looks straight at the Moon Priestess and says flatly, "I know nothing of the stolen object they seek.  The Thantii Captain said they tracked it here, 'below us.'  I do not believe he means the object to be in the hold of the ship.  It sounds more like he's talking about it being somewhere on the ground below us.  And as I told you before we set out on this mission, there's a powerful energy signature coming from the region below us that is similar to the energy emanating from where the cracks between planes appear.  It's possible the energy and this object are somehow related, but unlikely.  The object would have to be immensely powerful to be able to break the barriers between the multitude of planes across the multiverse and there is no evidence that this world is the center of this planar convergence.  My studies have shown that Bas-Lag's planar energy is being pulled toward some multi-versal 'center' point; Not attracting other sources of planar energy."

While Simon was speaking, the Captain busies himself supervising the crew readying the weapons. 

Tomeal continues quickly strapping Selina's armor onto her body.

Nang will be conversing with his brother in Draconic.  "Become an adventurer, you said.  Get out into the world and live, you said."

The dog is sitting on its haunches, head tilted slightly, intently watching Selina, like a good doggo does.

[Ningalu Baal'urki]

Ning looks at his brother from his hiding spot near the helm, still maintaining his illusion.

"It is for the future of our tribe, when we get home we can decide whether to continue."

[Selina Parcellus]

Selina presses her lips together in a frown and nods slightly, eyes slightly downcast.
"I apologise.  Very well.  We should not seek to do battle with them in our weakened state, but they may be giving us no choice..."
She rubs at her bottom lip in thought for a few moments before pausing and turning to Tomeal.
"We are already prepared to attempt to flee, but they have the advantage of arcane magic.  Would you have any suggestions for us?"

[GM Marvel]

Tomeal said nothing while focusing on helping Selina don her armor, so one might believe he wasn't paying much attention to the conversations happening around them but that was far from accurate.  He was always listening to what was and wasn't said.  And when Selina asks him for advise he says under his breath, "I believe you directed your question to two people...  it's odd only one bothered to answer.  So if while we look for this strange energy to find a clue to return home, we are also to be pawns in some plot to retrieve a powerful object, I'd prefer to do the opposite of what's expected of me rather than simply follow along with the expectations of the scheme's perpetrators.  It's reasonable to assume that if retrieving this artifact was honorable then someone with honor would have asked for our assistance instead of concealing it from us."

[Betimi]

"Commander, our ship is faster, if we dive that will double or perhaps triple the difference between our speeds, getting us out of spell range faster than simply sailing  at a level altitude.   Let us use that.  Our vessel can gain distance, and once beyond easy sight, perhaps with the aid of our kobold friend's illusions, we can debark via these glide devices."

"The ship could then get to safety and return in, say  days to get us?"

"They are giving us two options, fight or surrender. Let us take option three."

[GM Marvel]

The captain listens and then looks over Betimi's shoulder at Selina who has accepted command of the soldiers and mission.  "Well, she has a point.  We aren't maneuvering as well as we were so we'll have to keep that in mind so we don't crash into anything when we try to lift the nose of the ship.  On the other hand, if we get hit too hard by a spell when diving we may not be able to overcome our momentum to keep from spreading our wreckage over several mountains."  

[OoC: Just a reminder about Silent Image.  As a Figment, Silent Image must always create the impression of something new. It cannot make something seem to be something else. For example, you can use a figment to create an illusory cover for an open pit. You cannot, however, use it to conceal a trap door since that would be making something seem like something else.  Likewise, you cannot make a visual copy of something unless you know what it looks like. 

Please see OoC post. ]