Croup jumped at the offer of more rat stew “Well if you don’t mind” and with that made to grab the bowl of slop right out from under Ezra’s bulbous hands

Ezra doesn't have any. When Croup says he wants some, Ezra rises to his feet, heads towards the line and gets turned away. He shrugs and returns.

Croup was slightly surprised at Ezra’s willingness to seemingly please an, almost, complete stranger

”Thank you for trying Ezra, I sometimes find if you ask more than once you get what you need, I wonder if you couldn’t possibly try asking again for me?”

This could be entertaining thought Croup, and a possible distraction to facilitate a little wandering of his own …..

(Croup, you're free to wander if you like, as long as you don't exit the room)

Lunch passes largely without a hitch, though a few of you almost choke on pieces of something that may or may not have once been bone. Whatever they used to be, they are now quite blackish-brown, quite uncomfortably rubbery, and quite adept at lodging themselves in your throats. Despite the taste and dubious sentience of your meals, those of you who eat manage to wolf them down before the bell rings again, and your fellow prisoners begin rising again, groaning. They begin lining up before various prison officers, and you notice the Burly Officer waving your group over, sounding his whistle shrilly.

     Afternoon Assignments

"Level nine, norf wing," the Burly Officer shouts. "That's you lot! Get over here and line up." One you're all assembled, the Burly Officer gestures at some nearby gaolers, and they push over a cart loaded up with buckets, rags, and other assorted cleaning equipment. "You'll get the opportunity to sign up for an actual job soon, but today you lot're bein' assigned cleanin' duty. The norf wing's been more or less empty lately, which means good news and bad news. Good news, you're not gonna hafta clean up much blood. Bad news, the dust and rat shit's practic'ly piled to th' roof."

The Burly Officer begins unlocking shackles as the gaolers hand out cleaning equipment to the sore-wristed prisoners. You all receive a rather stained cleaning rag, as well as a bucket filled with some rather brown-tinged water (probably still cleaner than the stuff that runs through the Stolen River) that smells strongly of vinegar. "So long," the Burly Officer bids you as you head off in the direction of your cells, pushed along by the mute gaolers. "Oh, and make sure you clean your cells real well. After all, you'll probably be spendin' a long time in 'em. Ha!" And then he disappears from view, and you all head back to the 'norf' wing.

Ezra takes his bucket and rag, and waits until everyone is headed back that way.

Menial labor isn't out of the ordinary for a Clay Man in Fallen London, but it's been a bit since he's been tasked with scrubbing rat droppings. He gets to work with the methodical precision that one might expect of his kind.

(In your future work you're going to have to make checks, but right now no such thing is required. This is just a time to explore your wing, meet, other prisoners, and discuss amongst yourselves)

Croup glares down at the cleaning equipment he’s holding, Jeez he thinks to himself, he shouldn’t even be here and now he’s bloody well cleaning the place.

He sits his bucket down, drops the cloth and decides to have a look around in the hope his disregard for duties isn’t spotted! 

OOC - can Croup squeak rat speak to the original rat species before they became Croups of the world? 

(I’m afraid ratterbox is just another language, and without magical aid Croup is no better at communicating with ordinary rats than anyone else)

Damien ate in silence, casting his eyes ever so briefly upon the other prisoners outside of his newfound group of allies. He found amusement in the reaction of the inmates to the food. Most were disgusted at it and to be fair neither appearance nor texture or taste deserved much different of a reaction. That said it was not the worst thing he ever had. Trash cans and streets have way worse food and in very little quantity. With that in mind the warlock actually managed to somehow enjoy his meal, at least until the bells rang and the burly officer came to take the quintet to work.

He decided the man was less unpleasant than the other guards. At very least he spoke without flourish and tried to make jokes. This time none had the impact of the idea of seducing the gaolers, but the man was still leagues better than the silent Bagstock, the aggressive Barnes or the dissimulated warden. Those three made most criminals seem like model citizens.

The relieve on his wrists as the burly man removed the shackles was immediate and reminded Damien that he needed to find a way to get rid of them later, as they escaped their cells.

“Hey, guys. Don’t you think we could take care of Ezra’s work and have him work on the cells?” He asks the group, few minutes after the guards left. “By the way, what weapon do you reckon can break the shackles?”  

Tarkhan takes hold of the cleaning rag in one hand and the bucket of murky water in the other. "Heading norf, am I, gov'na?" he asks with a sneering emphasis on the word norf. 

Pretending not to enjoy the freedom of having his wrists free, Tarkhan trudges along and gives the impression that he is devoted to his cleaning duties. "Yes, Damien. Not a bad idea to the have the clay man do such work. Allow him to exercise his strengths, so to speak."

As Tarkhan goes about his work, he attempts to engage other prisoners in conversation. His primary focus is to learn how frequently the dirigibles arrive at New Newgate and what sort of prison job (or jobs) might increase one's odds of being near, or involved with, the arrival and departure of the airborne transports.

Persuasion 12

Herman does his work in silence this time around, only taking over for a part of Erza's work as well. His eyes are focused on something else entirely though, he is looking for the Fence. 

Perception: 4

When the others offer to take over his scrubbing, Ezra nods and returns to his cell, pulls out chisel and hammer and sets to work on the space at the back again.

Croup nosed around the work area, filthy was not even close to how squalid the area was - he decided any cleaning he didn't do would make little difference to the overall impact of their hard labour - in effect a pointless and irrelevant task - one to keep them entertained and out of trouble he thought - not to worry he would entertain himself - if only he could find Vandemar - then the fun could really begin but in the meantime he could really do with more light so he can see into the darker places that he felt sure would prove fruitful

Perception 7

Tarkhan runs into a Sniffling Pickpocket as the two of them are working at the same work of rather explicit graffiti, which involves both a stick figure that resembles a certain burly fellow and a particularly squiggly rubbery man, the two of them entangled in a rather compromising position. Try not to think about it too much. The two of them get to talking, and the Sniffling Pickpocket is very eager to help her fellow prisoner out.

      A Helpful Inmate

"Well," she sniffles, "the dockers are often looking for help. But they typically really only take the prisoners they can trust not to try and escape. So that's an option, but would probably take a while, unless you somehow proved yourself to the Warden and his cronies. There's also a decent chance you'll be sent to the docks for treadmill duty, since the dockers use cranes powered by 'em. But you'll be under heavy guard in that case, and again, you probably won't be sent there if they think you'll try and run.

"As far as the schedule goes, I haven't a clue. Just about everyone who's been here has tried to decipher it at some point or another. Most don't succeed. Those who do don't really hang around much longer; they either escape, or fall to the Zee below. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try and piece it together, look for clues. I've just about given up, but I'm getting out soon enough anyways."

Herman, on the other hand, is far less lucky. He approaches a group of prisoners who seem somewhat friendly with each other, and he hopes their attitudes will be the same with him. He is wrong. He asks about the Fence, and they stare at him with scowls of their faces. One steps forward, a Hardened Enforcer, getting right up into Herman's space.

      The Bilgewater Boys

"Well, look'ere, mates. The newbie's tryin' ta talk to us, is 'e? Look, specs, I don't know nuffink 'bout what you're talkin' 'bout. And 'sides, if I did, why would I tell you, eh? Let's say I do know what yer talkin' 'bout, yeah? What're you gonna offer me in return. Nuffink's for free 'ere, and you'd do best to 'member that."

The Hardened Enforcer pushes Herman in the chest, not hard enough to send him flying, but enough to make him stumble a pace or two back (unless you choose to oppose it like you normally would a shove attack). "Maybe I oughta teach you that lesson right 'ere, eh? I been itchin' to bloody me fists for a while, and I'm finkin' I make it real clear that the Bilgewater Boys don't give nuffink away for free. If you ain't payin' me and me boys wif physical goods, then you can go ahead an' pay us wif the satisfaction of beatin' you up. Sound good to you?"

A few of the Hardened Enforcers friends seem unsure, though it isn't clear whether the reason is Herman's muscled frame and scarred knuckles, or the fear of retribution from the prison guards. The rest of them, however, seem eager to beat Herman into a bloody grease stain.

Ezra, please make a Dexterity(Mason's Tools) check, as well as a Dexterity(Stealth) check. You can make the Stealth check with advantage if an ally helps to draw attention away from you(which may be achieved unintentionally in a second, depending on Herman's actions).

      A Brief Exploration

Croup wanders about the wing, making it seem like he's doing something meaningful whenever a gaoler looks his way, and though he doesn't really find much of note he gets a good grasp of the area. The 'norf' wing consists of two rows of cells, curving all the way along the edge of the spike, with one row having a barred window overseeing the Unterzee and London to the north.

At each end of the wing, as well as in several spaces throughout, there are stairs up to the second level. There are also doors leading into what Croup assumes are various rooms similar to the one you were oriented and ate lunch in. At the ends of the wing there are also two more reinforced doors labeled for officers and gaolers only, which likely lead into some sort of guard room or other such place.

Ezra checks:

Dex (Mason's): 17

Dex (Stealth): 17 (Rolled with ADV, but disregard second roll if not conferred.)

"Well, I thank you for the insight," offers Tarkhan to the Pickpocket. "That's very helpful. I wish you all the best after you depart this place."

He continues his half-hearted cleaning duty as goes from room to room, but he soon notices that his new spectacle-wearing acquaintance has attracted the attention of some mouth-breathers. Tarkhan makes his way toward Herman. 

(Feel free to approach the others whenever you like. Unless I state that you're specifically barred from interacting from them, you should assume that you are all able to interact at any time)

(I'm going to resolve the fruit's of Ezra's labors once I know how Herman is reacting to the Hardened Enforcer's bullying)

Herman is entirely focused on his own interaction, to the point where he doesn't really notice anyone joining him. Normally, he'd avoid an unnecessary scuffle. This situation especially called for that. Would be the smart thing to do. Unfortunately, Herman found that avoiding explicit shoving does not pay one any favours in the future. And, well, the spectacles are already on. “Lesson? Lesson?” Herman lets himself be shoved back a step, letting out a scoff, “You and your lads need some croakin’ I reckon,” He exclaims loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear. If Herman fights, he puts on a show. An audience is mandatory. 

Herman takes a quick step forward and drives his forehead into the nose of the person that spoke to him.

(Herman, make an attack roll. Everyone joining in, either in support of Herman or to try to break it up or to do whatever else you might want to do, roll initiative.)