Watching the squirming sack Tibi turns to  Krikendolt "exactly what have you got in there lad?"

"And how do we cross the river?"

Quote from GrantFromCanberra >>

Watching the squirming sack Tibi turns to  Krikendolt "exactly what have you got in there lad?"

 "Eh, ya, my pet.  Here take a look!"  He reaches into the sack and when he turns around he's holding an abyssal chicken.  "This is Earwax.  He's my pet." He strokes the tiny fiend's head.

"The river?  We could go up to the docks and see if we can cross or maybe get lucky and find or boat or swim.  There is a barge that goes up and down, maybe it'll come along.  On second thought, better not swim, that would be bad.  Don't drink the water either.  Nasty stuff." 

"Got any soul coins?  Maybe you could buy services from a flying fiend to fly you over?"

As Krikendolt proudly shows Earwax to everybody Tibi says '"he's a pretty fellow look after him." He turns to the others continuing "as to getting over the river I can fly but not sure I can carry anybody else. So it looks like the docks!" 

Deciding that crossing the river on your own does not sound appealing and having no other way to cross you head for the docks hoping to find a way across.

5

In a period of time that seems much shorter than the time it took to head the opposite direction, towards the Spawning Trees, its only an hour or so later that you see the docks up ahead.

A massive iron structure that appears to be a pair of docking arms straddles the River Styx and extends out over it. Hefty clamps, chains, and bars are fixed to the docking arms to lash large vessels between them.

As you get closer a group of 3 barbed devils stand ready to block you way. 

"Who are you?" calls one

"Doesn't matter, scram you aren't welcome here." sneers another

"Ya, get lost, the boss says no one is allowed here, beat it." the third says

"We need to cross the river. This boat looks like it will suffice." Kaelani states matter-of-fact.

"You wanna use a boat?  You gotta talk to Bazelsteen.  He manages the dock for Zariel.  Oh and look, here he comes." one of them points up.

 Bazelsteen swoops down to deal with you personally.  Engine oil covers this Horned Devil, who constantly chews on a shard of smoking, red hot coal.

"A boat eh?  This ain't no rental place.  But I bet I can help you out if you help me out."

"A boat eh?  This ain't no rental place.  But I bet I can help you out if you help me out."

"Why is this place always about making deals" Tibi mutters under his breath before turning to Bazelsteen "alright what do you want?" he says with a sigh.

Bazelsteen takes you to a rusty barge anchored on the River Styx a few hundred yards from the dock. Hanging from the barge’s loading crane by a rusty chain is a ten-foot-diameter, spherical diving bell made of iron and glass. Suction tubes protrude from the diving bell’s lower hemisphere like flimsy arms.

"I built a bathysphere to dredge the bottom of the River Styx for silted souls. I need to test it and it can fit up to four creatures inside it. The hatch is located in the bathysphere’s upper hemisphere. I assure you that the device is airtight and watertight."

"I need one or more of you to secure yourselves inside the diving bell while I use the crane to lower you into the river. Your job is to use the suction arms to scoop up silted souls from the bottom of the river, which lies 40 feet below the barge. The diving bell is attached to 50 feet of chain — more than enough length to reach the river’s bottom. There are four “suction stations” inside the diving bell, each one equipped with a chair and some metal control levers."

"We'll run the experiment, er I mean test, for 10 minutes.  In return I'll give you an Infernal War Machine that I've modified to be watertight.  Its a Tormentor and runs great.  I'll even give each one of you who do the test a soul coin to operate it.  You can use it to cross the river and journey these forsaken lands."

"If it will get us closer to our goal, then I am in. Literally..." Kaelani says. 

"Alright for you to say - me I'm not so sure" Tibi looks at the small hatch and enclosed space the craft represents dubiously. 

Kaelani smiles. "But you can fly over the river - the rest of us not so much. Do not worry yourself about being cramped into the device." 

Drabash looks at the Bathysphere, looks at the chain, and says "What happens to the souls when we suck them up?"

Quote from Whatwall >>

Drabash looks at the Bathysphere, looks at the chain, and says "What happens to the souls when we suck them up?"

 "Siphoning tubes suck up the silted souls and deposit them in tanks that are attached to the bathysphere’s underbelly, and dials on the tanks track the number of silted souls in each one." He replies.  "So I have one volunteer.  That's enough to run the test. Anyone else?"

“I ain’t getting in that contraption” Tibi confirms

Drabash says "Aah, I was thinking we might be bringing the souls in with us inside the bathysphere, I wasn't keen on that. But I reckon if it gets us a way across the river, we gotta take it. I'm in." 

"What about the quiet one?" Bazelsteen gestures to Darvin.  "In or out?" he looks over at Krikendolt also.  "In or out?" 

Krikendolt quickly raises his hands and back away "Uh, no, I'm out.  I'm just a guide for the moment."

"Too bad." Bazelsteen answers.  "I could use some more good workers."

"How can we be sure that thing isn't going to leak, and expose us to the effects of the river?" Darvin asks.

If he receives reasonable assurances that it is sealed and believes them (Insight: 23) then he will participate.

"I assure you that the device is airtight and watertight.  That much has been tested and it works great.  It's the other functions that need to now be tested." Bazelsteen answers Darvin.

He appears to be honest in this regard and you sense no deception in his answer.

"I don't care how watertight or airtight that thins is - I'm still not getting in it!" Tibi states