We head to Parkers Notary

Billy and Joe are eager to comply, clearly out of their depth and glad for someone to tell them what to do. There faces change quickly when you leave them to their glorious new post, but you so definitively stride off towards Parker's Notary in Eastway, that you leave no room for discussion.

Walking there, you do notice a greater frequency of patrols around the immediate harbour area, but the further you get, the sparcer the patrols become. Parker's notary is a tidy little office tucked in a corner on the busy market street, right opposite a haridressers and underneath an old lady trying to make a living by renting out some rooms. WIth the goings on on the street, no one pays particular attention to you two making your way into the shop.

Inside, the smell of parchments, inks and sealing wax hangs in the air, but luckily the many volumes of legal texts and other reference books muffle the sounds from the street signficantly, and you are quite certain of not being listened to.

“What did you find out from the harbourmaster?”

Parker hands the ledger copy to Dart

there seems to be a lot of military activity in port

“That makes sense with what we’ve discovered so far. Anything about any changes to the ship? Or a way to get on board?”

just that it has been out at the anchorage for the past few days

“Did you draft up papers to get us onboard? I suppose the cover of night would help, rather than broad daylight...” I starting pacing the room trying to formulate a good strategy to get the goods off the ship without anyone in the water being noticed. “Perhaps they come up to the ship from the opposite direction... Our aim is to get the medicines and a bonus would be the canned foods...” continuing with pacing I look to Parker for his input. 

i have the papers for the inspection with identification, if thats what you are asking

“That should get us on board at least... now we need to confer with Magnus to coordinate getting medicines and food off the ship without being discovered or things could end badly very quickly.”

With your plan settled, you agree to meet in Sow's foot in the evening, and that you'll spend the night at Dart's farm again. Then Dart leaves to go after his daytime activities.

There's only one merchant that looks to make a promising target, and after a quick bit of misdirection, you relieve him of his coinpurse. You're quite disappointed that it only amounts to 23 silver pieces, but it's still better than nothing, and will pay for lodging or a bribe.

-------------------------

As dusk approaches, Parker makes his way to Sow's foot, to get to the tavern in time. There, you both quickly find Magnus sitting in a quiet corner with some stew and half a tankard of ale. He quickly orders another round, for you two as well, before looking at you both: "So, what did you find out? And what have you planned to do about the ship?"

After taking a rather large sip of ale, “Seems the military has a lot of interest in the same ship. Parker May have a way for us to get on board. ... It’s getting things off that may prove difficult.” I’ll scan the room for anyone that appears overly interested in our conversation. (If no one appears interested in what we’re discussing) “I was curious if we might be able to get a second boat near it or have a couple fellows hidden under a tarp when Parker and I go aboard. My goal is to get the medicines and food off the boat without anyone catching on to us.”

It looks like she's been commandeered, Parker produces a copy of the ledger,   that as well as these other ships in for unscheduled refits show something is up

Magnus has a quick look over the document: "Hmmm, this is great. If the ledger is to be believed, we should have three days still, before the refits on the military ships are to be complete. Better to strike before though, since they're likely to be more on guard and might even have more people on board before casting off. Alternatively, the military vessels could be faster, and so they might catch up with the Empress en route, so better to play it safe and strike as soon as we have the details hammered out."

He briefly and seamlessly switches to a conversation about potato farming as he sees the barkeep getting closer to bring you all some more bread, and you utter noises of disbelief at his exaggerated claims about his bountiful harvests, ever since he started to use Turkey droppings in his fertilizer. Once the barkeep is out of earshot, he continues:

"Now, what's the plan then? I assumed we'd have to make sure you get out to the floating piers on another boat, unless you wanted to swim out into the Gray Harbour Bay... So that shouldn't be a problem. The question is, how much space do we need, and how big a vessel do you think you can get away with? Also, how are you planning to get on board, exactly?"

After you quickly show Magnus the forged orders, checklists and other documentation, he whistles: "Not bad... just audacious enough to work... I have to ask though, how are you getting the goods from under the noses of the soldiers? Stands to reason, they're going to have some people accompany you whilst you make your inspection? And otherwise, what are you planning to do if things go south? What's your insurance policy? I can get some guys to join you, but I don't have enough to take on a small naval flotilla..."

the only comment Parker makes is  "Accidents happen so it might be good to have a crew on standby for any signals"

Responding to Magnus, “How big of a ship do we have access to? I imagine the larger the ship the more we can take off. I figured we could say there was some sort of issue with the canned food and they need to be removed since they aren’t fit for consumption. As for the medicines, perhaps Parker can draft up some sort of document from one of the higher ups stating they are being repurposed for use elsewhere and we are to grab the requisite number during the inspection of the cans.” 

I’ll finish the rest of my ale and pause for a moment as I wipe my mouth with my sleeve. “Haven’t put much thought into an insurance policy ... I couldn’t think much past this plan” rubbing my forehead as though all of this thought hurts somehow, “Do you have any suggestions?” I’ll look to both Parker and Magnus as I say this. 

“Besides, according to the ledger, we have a few days at least. We have time to gather a seal or stamp to make the papers look more official, at least for any discerning eyes. As well as keeping an eye on the boats for numbers of troops and shift changes, so we can strike at the most opportune time ... should things go ... differently ... then we would like.”

Throughout all of my part of the conversation, I’ll cast furtive glances around making sure we aren’t being listened to. 

Magnus sighs: "Look kid, I like your enthusiasm. But I haven't been able to grow my organisation by risking my men and women on operations that were less then sure... If the guards are having none of this, or if they somehow have an order that makes our papers obviously fake, the best we can hope for is getting out of there unharmed."

He takes a sip, before starting to think out loud. "The seal might be the key to getting this plan to work. An order stamped with a blaze's seal would likely make the soldiers think twice before refusing. As far as convincing them that the food has spoiled, we might need something official from the slaughterhouse or the canning factory, a letter on official stationary at the very least..."

After an other sip, and a sigh, he looks at you both: "Alright, I'll make sure we get a hold of some uniforms, make you look like flames. You get that seal and a letter or something detailing why the meat has spoiled, just as a backup if they ask for it. I'll get us a small schooner, enough for ten men, including the two of you. I don't like going in without a backup plan, so if you could turn on more information on either the guard rotations or the layout of the ship, that would be great. Leave a message at the tomb entrance when you're ready to meet, and we'll meet the same evening, in Tumbledown cemetery. Sound good?" 

I grumble a bit at being called a kid by Magnus but say nothing about it.

‘Can’t really hold a grudge against him. He’s got a point. After all, that’s why I came to talk with him. To iron out all the details and make the plan as fool proof as it can be.’

I make a mental note to observe any shift changes by the Fist during my upcoming guard duty in the docks area.

‘That should both give me an idea of how many soldiers are in the area at any given time as well as a location on a blaze to get a seal of theirs ... though perhaps it would be better to have the papers drafted up first so the seal isn’t noticed being missing. I wonder if Parker has the right kind of wax to use...’

Turning my thoughts to the slaughterhouse/canning factory...

‘The slaughterhouse would probably be easiest it’s fairly empty (or at least it was) and just across the way. Though perhaps Parker has the stationary already...’

Musing over information about the ship ‘we should probably check with the trading company or perhaps a shipwright to get the most up to date layout. Though we could just be escorted to the canned goods and medicines’

After running through all of this information in my head I’ll let a disheartened “I suppose” to Magnus.

Unsure if this is even a good idea or not. ‘Worse case I get caught and put in the tower and eventually hanged... best case I help the people of Borogrod.’

Leaving you to your ale, Magnus excuses himself, pays the tab and heads out. Dart, you swear a bit at the realisation that the gates are closed and you'll have to somehow convince the guard to let you into the city for your guard rotation down at the harbour, or else you'll have to try and get into the harbour via the river.

Is there anything you and Parker want to discuss, or anything you want to do immediately?

Turning to Parker after Magnus departs, “I don’t suppose you have access to the same type of paper and wax the Fist uses for their official orders... Or while I’m watching the docks could get into the slaughterhouse and find a bit of their stationary if you don’t already have something like that.” I berate myself a bit more for not having kept better track of the time ... ‘Getting back into Borogrod won’t be easy.’

"Having not seen them i honestly do not know if i do or not, but ill give it a try"