Temple of the Divine Dwarf, part 2

[Graybeard]

"Did any of those 'interested people' have webbed fingers?" Layla asked, not sure she what answer she wanted ... but if the Seeadler was taking an interest in the rumor, it would be good to know about it.

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC Are we waiting of PF to post before we can head to the weapons depot/wareouse/clubhouse/brothel/temple of the evil monkey?/OOC

"Well... Eve fielded the question. "There were a couple of people who seemed to be a little stubby in the digit area, but I just chalked that up to them having rural accents. I think the man called the girl with him his cousin... or was it his wife?" Her face screwed up. "Maybe it was both."

The tomboy stood up so suddenly her chair clattered to the floor. "I'm getting antsy, how long before we triangulate the position of these assholes? I'm dying to use this thing." With that Eve drew the golem blade Jade had put together and pressed the catch to extend the staff to its fullest length, the blade positively hummed as she swung it in an arc that made Leo duck instinctively even though the weapon missed him by a wide berth.

"Careful with that thing." Jade cautioned. "You catch someone with it we won't even need to bury them, just paint over the wall."

"That's what I'm hoping." The younger woman grinned wickedly.

[Graybeard]

Layla suppressed a chuckle at Eve's description; there were places in rural Farrel, some of them not all that far from Kugelheim, where that stereotype would fit all too well. The things I've heard about Taberna...

"Well, on balance, that's probably good," she concluded. "One problem at a time, we'll come back to the interested parties later. First, I think we need to case the place where the bastards have my mom stashed. Scout first, shoot later, that's a good policy." Eve may not like it -- she's awfully eager to use those weapons -- but she could get us all killed if she's not careful. I'll have to watch her. "Let's go get started, low profile, no gunplay unless we're attacked or confronted."

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As the group drove/rode into the Seeadler zone, Layla pondered what they might be riding into. She consulted her map, which had two lines drawn on it corresponding to the directions pointed out by the magical divinations Galina had cast. Surprisingly, they converged well inland from the waterfront. What might be there? Warehouses? That would be a natural, and the Seeadler would probably work out of a site like that, just as the Gewehr used the shipping company in Kugelheim. Of course, there would be a question of how the Tsuirakuan rebels had managed to get into such a place -- longshoremen were not the most, ah, welcoming of people when foreigners came snooping around. So maybe a seedy bar, then? That would also fit, and odd characters coming and going wouldn't be remarked on, the way they would be at the Seeadler home base. But would a people as fastidious as the Tsuirakuans even think of using such a place? She ran through possibilities in her mind, not really seeing any that fit perfectly. Well, we'll see just what kind of joint they're using ... and then we'll go after them.

When they reached the map coordinates, however, what lay before them was very definitely not what Layla had been expecting.

A beautifully manicured lawn stretched in front of a large, august-looking building made of some reddish stone. Not much more could be seen directly, because of a solid fence of the same kind of stone that ran around the periphery of the lawn and building, extending back behind them toward the waterfront. She could see, though, that there were more, smaller but still impressive buildings behind the fence, along with what looked like ships' masts, even though there was no obvious place for ships here, half a mile from the water. It all looked remarkably tidy and sedate, not the kind of place for kidnappers and conspirators to hang out, more like the campus of one of those universities she'd heard about in Ysabel or Port Lorrel, with ivy on their walls ...

... And then she realized the analogy was quite good indeed.

A sign in front of the handsome structure identified it as the Rinkaiel College of Shipbuilding and Maritime Science.

Layla turned to Rufus, bafflement on her face. "Now how are we going to infiltrate a place like that?..."

[OOC: Incidentally, this would be a great place to introduce new players and characters.]

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC Didn't see that one coming!/OOC

Rufus was certainly unprepared by the sight of the location that lay before them, however, he hadn't survived nearly 40 years as a soldier and then as a mercenary by being a man who was unable to improvise. He stared a moment longer at the sign and then answer was presented to him. He smiled.

"Eve, did you bring that disguise of yours?"

The young woman opened her mouth to say something, but it hung as if on an invisible hinge. Eventually she managed to force it out.

"Captain... you can't mean..."

"A college is a great place for a young lady to get an education." Rufus continued, cutting Eve off mid-sentence. "I expect they'd be looking for new students at this time of year, especially the daughter of a retired old merchant with money to spare."

Leo, taking the hint, began reaching into one of the sacks the group had brought with them for a clean shirt that would fit the old man.

"To answer your question, Layla. I find the best way to infiltrate a building is to march through the front door is if you have a right to be there." Rufus said.

[Graybeard]

"To answer your question, Layla. I find the best way to enter a building is to go through the front door."

Another smile, furtive and sly, yet with some humor in it, played across Layla's face. "I can see where you're going with that."

She, Galina and Joe dismounted from the cab to give Rufus and Eve a little privacy for getting in costume. "Let's take a walk," she said, wishing that Ace and Zachary (and Oksana) had come along; that might make for a more natural group outing, but two young women and a slightly older man should still be inconspicuous enough. They walked along, talking about the weather, children (a never-ending source of conversation for the two young mothers), and other innocuous things, as they surreptitiously checked the wall for entrances.

No great subtlety was required, however, in looking for secret doors or entrances, because not half a block from the main entrance, in front of another green with a handsome building behind it, was a second gap in the wall ... and another sign.

MUSEUM OF MARITIME HISTORY
This month's traveling exhibit:
SHIPBUILDING IN PREHISTORIC AND EARLY MODERN TSUIRAKU
Hours: 9:00-5:00, Monday through Saturday
VISITORS WELCOME

[Jack Rothwell]

A few moments later Rufus and Eve exited from the cabin, now both clad in more formal attire. Eve back in her hated blonde wig and dress on that gave her the appearance of a teenager rather than a woman in her early twenties. The old man had his greying mane slicked and raked back into a short ponytail that, coupled with the suit, hinted at a businessman who kept both his mind and body in good working order. The illusion was completed by the old man holding a cane which belonged to 'Martin Dashwood' which, as Jade knew, contained a stiletto blade sharp enough to slice a silk handkercheif in half.

Rufus brushed the last specks of dust off his lapels with a gnarled hand and stood, straight backed, in front of his company.

"How do I look?"

"You look ready." Jade replied, smiling, thinking she could see a trace of the younger, more handsome man Lamenter had once been.

Eve looked sullen, but said nothing.

"What do you want us to do in the meantime?" Leo asked.

"Take Jade, scout the perimeter and see if there's another way to get in undetected. But don't be too obvious about it. Bert, Adam,and Rick, take the cab and horses out of sight and keep an eye on the entrance in case anything untowards happens. Now, come on dear." The Captain said. "Let's see about getting you enrolled."

Eve grumbled and followed the Captain through the gates.

[Graybeard]

The lobby of the main building, where Eve and Rufus entered, featured a startlingly large, ornate and realistic model of a dreadnought. This would have been striking enough all by itself, particularly given that if Farrel's navy was organized enough to put such a ship at sea, only the Farrelites (Seeadler?) knew it. What made it even more striking was the distinct play of magic around the cannons. What were those things capable of? Who knows...

The entrance also featured a receptionist, sitting primly if cordially behind a large mahogany desk with a plaque proclaiming that its raw materials had been brought from the Southern Continent on a ship built at the college, and then finished into its current form as a term project for a "Professor Meliaciel's" marine woodworking class. She looked up as the two approached, and smiled more or less politely. "May I help you?" she said, displaying hands with beringed fingers that were also just very slightly webbed.

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"Know anything about this?" Layla asked Galina and Jin-Liu, who'd joined the three walkers. She pointed at the museum's sign. [EDIT: Slight retcon to clarify where this is. /OOC:]

Galina thought for a minute. "Not really. Truthfully, I'm a little surprised to see it here. We Tsuirakuans are a little bit sensitive about the pre-history of our country. I'm honestly not quite sure why, but we are. I'm surprised the government let this display out of the country if it originated there, or helped the college build it themselves."

A thought occurred to Layla. "Well, maybe it wasn't the government that provided the help at all." As in: maybe those who oppose the government ... like the kind of rebel group that's screwing around with Mom. "Want to take a look?"

[Porcelain Fish]

"It does seem a little unusual." Jin-Liu frowned at the sign. "Though granted, I suppose there's the odd chance that the more sensitive components were omitted and it's just mockups of the basic designs. I'd say a little investigation wouldn't be out of order as long as we aren't terribly conspicuous." He glanced down, straightening his jacket, and reached into a pocket, hand feeling around and then withdrawing. He nodded at Layla.

[Jack Rothwell]

"May I help you?"

Eve, taking her cue from her captain, hung back as he approached the desk in the manner of a man with important business to resolve. He made no effort to hide the gritty tone in his voice (putting on accents was Leo's job, after all) but formalised his diction nontheless.

"I hope so madam. I'm here to enroll my daughter in your academy, is there someone in charge we can talk to?"

[Graybeard]

"I hope so madam. I'm here to enroll my daughter in your academy, is there someone in charge we can talk to?"

A look of perplexity flashed across the receptionist's face, as though she wasn't used to fielding that kind of question. Then she recovered her bland, bureaucratic, but still more or less cordial look. "Let me check. Meanwhile, please fill out this form." She handed Rufus a piece of paper, taking a quick glance at his hands, then bent to retrieve a crystal ball in a desk drawer. "May I ask who is calling?"

An observer might have noticed that the magical guns on the model dreadnought were starting to turn oh-so-slowly toward where Rufus and Eve were standing. Then again, maybe not.

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Layla looked at the other members of the group. "It says it's open to the public. Shall we?" (With the unspoken subtext that this might represent a way into the college, and therefore, to Faye.) Nobody seemed to have any objections, so they entered the museum.

Another bland (and also very slightly web-fingered) receptionist awaited them inside, and flashed them the same mildly bewildered look that Rufus and Eve had just received down the block (unknown to Layla and friends, of course). However, she recovered quickly, took their money (purely token, it wasn't going to bankrupt anyone) for admission, and smiled a greeting. "The permanent exhibits are to the left," she said, indicating a hallway, "and our rotating display is to the right. It's the only one of its kind in the world, so we ask that you not touch anything, there are magical security systems in use. None of you have any sensitivities to magic, do you?" Layla had the composure to smile a negative answer, never mind whether it was true, so the receptionist smiled again and waved them through the doorway leading to the exhibit on prehistoric Tsuirakuan shipbuilding.

I'm not totally sure why I'm doing this, Layla thought to herself, but hey, at the worst it'll be something to bring Zachary back to ... And I want to know more about those security features. As she entered, first seeing the hull of an impossibly ancient canoe (and sensing, with her new-found sensitivity to magic, a faint magical glow around it), she tried to maintain a tourist's mildly curious expression ... which probably wasn't inconsistent with casing the joint.