[Kiki, read this spoiler and act on it, or not, as you see fit:]
From this vantage point you're able to see people moving about on a nearby dock, where a hobgoblin academy officer is supervising the unloading of a merchant vessel. You notice the merchant approach the officer; the hobgoblin surreptitiously slips the merchant a platinum piece, and receives a small bottle in return, which the officer conceals in his pocket.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Zap doesn't remember any spirits. Let alone mean ones. I think Zap understands what you both said. The ship was rough not I. Zap is smooth. You know me well. Zap looks forward to being in Nexus to learn more."
Zap then follows along and pays close attention to the details they are provided. The smooth plasmoid nodding in agreement to any details they are given. Zap asks many many many questions to make sure they fully understand the use and purpose of each piece of equipment shown and the proper way to maintain them. As the group makes their way through the ship tour the plasmoid seems to be satisfied with explanations given.
[We'll assume we're a little non-linear here, and Yaris asks his question before you get to the sterncastle]
"Well," replies Kip, "Spelljammer Corps personnel are of course expected to carry their own service weapons. And some vessels designate some storage space for a ship's armory—on a Hammerhead class it's usually at the forward end of the cargo deck—to hold a few basic backup weapons—"
"—and if you're out looking for a fight, sometimes a few special surprises as well," Pik grins, mounting the stairs to the sterncastle. "And for ship-to-ship battles, we have a couple of these little babies!" She gestures with both arms to the siege engine mounted to the deck. "Two mangonels, one here at the stern and one at the prow on the main deck, plus—"
"—a ballista on the forecastle. These are generally operated by a team of people working together to load, aim and fire, and have specific ranges for direct confrontation with an opposing vessel..." Kip begins the lecture.
[I'll give Icarus and Zap a chance to say whether they speak up, or if not we'll assume they, like Kiki, ain't no snitch and carry on]
Da"kal listens intently, always interested in tools of conflict. She had very limited experience with siege machines so the details were very satisfying to her.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
[Sorry for the low post rate at the moment, I'm experiencing corporate-IT-department-induced technical difficulties. Normal service will resume as soon as possible.]
Finally, the gnomes lead you down from the sterncastle and through a door leading to a cabin right below where you just were. This room is mostly filled sets of wide, thin drawers, surrounding a broad table with notches for various navigational tools. A security officer stands by the desk, and watches you closely as you move through the space.
"Don't mind the guard, they're not standard equipment. But there's orders for all ships in dock to keep all our charts under watch, what with the recent—"
"—thefts. But now the room some of you will have been waiting for, the spelljamming helm."
Pik throws open another door at the rear of the chart room with a "Tada!", and gestures with both arms for you to file through. Inside you find a wide enclosed space, the main feature of which is an ornate, legless chair, all polished wood and brass and red leather, that hovers a couple of feet above the deck, seemingly held aloft by some combination of the glowing crystals affixed to the chair's base and the circle of arcane symbols inlaid into the boards below it.
"So, any final questions?" Asks Kip. "Otherwise you're dismissed to—"
"—have fun with the rest of your orientation!" Pik finishes with a wink.
Yaris strolls around and observes everything. He will listen to Icarus as his question and wait for an answer and when it is time will ask his own: "You mentioned thefts, is there a lot of that ongoing at the moment?"
(OOC: No worries about the technical difficulties hope it gets worked out soon =] )
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Yaris Hurley | Water Genasi Monk Lvl 1 |Karrion's Spelljammer Port
Da'Kal finds the arcane chair to be only a little interesting. If she was honest with herself, she'd find it unnerving. Having your brains connected to something the size of the ship was just...wierd.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
"Moving the ship through wildspace, that's all on the spelljammer at the helm, sure. But they're usually taking instructions from a captain, and it takes lots of people to keep the whole ship afloat, as it were. The whole crew is usually around fifteen on a Hammerhead. A smaller ship like a Damselfly or Flying Fish might have nine or ten, a big Galleon maybe twenty. But however big the ship, someone has to feed the rest of the crew, someone has to keep the weapons oiled, and someone has to clean the head." Pik replies with a nudge of her elbow.
"Recently, several navigational charts depicting Realmspace were stolen from the Spelljammer Nexus." Kip replies to Yaris. "Some of the academy's bigger investors have expressed that their confidence in our security has been shaken, and reduced their funding of us as a—"
"—result. The Old Wolf is suuuuper unhappy!" Pik finishes.
[I think that probably wraps it up for the Sky Dock, where are you headed next?]
Perception: 7
[Kiki, read this spoiler and act on it, or not, as you see fit:]
From this vantage point you're able to see people moving about on a nearby dock, where a hobgoblin academy officer is supervising the unloading of a merchant vessel. You notice the merchant approach the officer; the hobgoblin surreptitiously slips the merchant a platinum piece, and receives a small bottle in return, which the officer conceals in his pocket.
Icarus Perception: 12
D&D since 1984
"Zap doesn't remember any spirits. Let alone mean ones. I think Zap understands what you both said. The ship was rough not I. Zap is smooth. You know me well. Zap looks forward to being in Nexus to learn more."
Zap then follows along and pays close attention to the details they are provided. The smooth plasmoid nodding in agreement to any details they are given. Zap asks many many many questions to make sure they fully understand the use and purpose of each piece of equipment shown and the proper way to maintain them. As the group makes their way through the ship tour the plasmoid seems to be satisfied with explanations given.
Perception: 5
[Icarus and Zap, also read the spoiler above]
Kiki takes note of this, but doesn't say anything. Not until she gets the full picture, at least.
Yaris walks around and listens intently to the talks of the instructors, "What sort of weaponry does a ship like this hold?"
Yaris Hurley | Water Genasi Monk Lvl 1 | Karrion's Spelljammer Port
[We'll assume we're a little non-linear here, and Yaris asks his question before you get to the sterncastle]
"Well," replies Kip, "Spelljammer Corps personnel are of course expected to carry their own service weapons. And some vessels designate some storage space for a ship's armory—on a Hammerhead class it's usually at the forward end of the cargo deck—to hold a few basic backup weapons—"
"—and if you're out looking for a fight, sometimes a few special surprises as well," Pik grins, mounting the stairs to the sterncastle. "And for ship-to-ship battles, we have a couple of these little babies!" She gestures with both arms to the siege engine mounted to the deck. "Two mangonels, one here at the stern and one at the prow on the main deck, plus—"
"—a ballista on the forecastle. These are generally operated by a team of people working together to load, aim and fire, and have specific ranges for direct confrontation with an opposing vessel..." Kip begins the lecture.
[I'll give Icarus and Zap a chance to say whether they speak up, or if not we'll assume they, like Kiki, ain't no snitch and carry on]
Da"kal listens intently, always interested in tools of conflict. She had very limited experience with siege machines so the details were very satisfying to her.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Icarus listening
D&D since 1984
Kiki whips out a pad of paper and a pencil and begins taking notes of what the two gnomes are saying about the weapons systems.
[Sorry for the low post rate at the moment, I'm experiencing corporate-IT-department-induced technical difficulties. Normal service will resume as soon as possible.]
Finally, the gnomes lead you down from the sterncastle and through a door leading to a cabin right below where you just were. This room is mostly filled sets of wide, thin drawers, surrounding a broad table with notches for various navigational tools. A security officer stands by the desk, and watches you closely as you move through the space.
"Don't mind the guard, they're not standard equipment. But there's orders for all ships in dock to keep all our charts under watch, what with the recent—"
"—thefts. But now the room some of you will have been waiting for, the spelljamming helm."
Pik throws open another door at the rear of the chart room with a "Tada!", and gestures with both arms for you to file through. Inside you find a wide enclosed space, the main feature of which is an ornate, legless chair, all polished wood and brass and red leather, that hovers a couple of feet above the deck, seemingly held aloft by some combination of the glowing crystals affixed to the chair's base and the circle of arcane symbols inlaid into the boards below it.
"So, any final questions?" Asks Kip. "Otherwise you're dismissed to—"
"—have fun with the rest of your orientation!" Pik finishes with a wink.
Icarus nods to the guard as he passes. To Pik, he asks "How many people are required to operate the ship? Is it just the helm?"
D&D since 1984
Yaris strolls around and observes everything. He will listen to Icarus as his question and wait for an answer and when it is time will ask his own: "You mentioned thefts, is there a lot of that ongoing at the moment?"
(OOC: No worries about the technical difficulties hope it gets worked out soon =] )
Yaris Hurley | Water Genasi Monk Lvl 1 | Karrion's Spelljammer Port
Da'Kal finds the arcane chair to be only a little interesting. If she was honest with herself, she'd find it unnerving. Having your brains connected to something the size of the ship was just...wierd.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
"Moving the ship through wildspace, that's all on the spelljammer at the helm, sure. But they're usually taking instructions from a captain, and it takes lots of people to keep the whole ship afloat, as it were. The whole crew is usually around fifteen on a Hammerhead. A smaller ship like a Damselfly or Flying Fish might have nine or ten, a big Galleon maybe twenty. But however big the ship, someone has to feed the rest of the crew, someone has to keep the weapons oiled, and someone has to clean the head." Pik replies with a nudge of her elbow.
"Recently, several navigational charts depicting Realmspace were stolen from the Spelljammer Nexus." Kip replies to Yaris. "Some of the academy's bigger investors have expressed that their confidence in our security has been shaken, and reduced their funding of us as a—"
"—result. The Old Wolf is suuuuper unhappy!" Pik finishes.
[I think that probably wraps it up for the Sky Dock, where are you headed next?]
"Well we can't do the assault course without getting our equipment first, what do you think guys?" Yaris asks the rest of the group.
Yaris Hurley | Water Genasi Monk Lvl 1 | Karrion's Spelljammer Port
Icarus says "That's a good point Yaris. Next should be our equipment."
D&D since 1984