[Shan walks down the dock towards the ship! She notices some people talking to Virgil on deck! Geez, this world's full of youngin's these days. At least his escort is older. But she's being awfully quiet.] [Naiya, the lazy bum, is asleep on the deck. Nasira hasn't returned yet. Nor has Enzo.] [But what HAS returned is SESSION START!] * Shan has returned too. She walks slowly and calmly along the dock. [Kid doesn't seem to notice Shan. He keeps looking up at Virgil. The girl, however does. She clears her throat, taps him on the shoulder and points.] Hmm? *turns around* Oh. Hi! Good day. * Kid makes a show of tipping an imaginary cap. "Not used to spotting ships out this late. I suspect you shall be staying here till morning?" * Shan nods. * Virgil looks down at Shan, then regards the other two. "Well, we're just getting supplies, so we should be leaving soon." * Kid whistles and turns to Virgil. "At night? You must be brave." Nonono, not at night. Soon as in tomorrow morning, most likely. (We are brave! Or stupid. Usually both.) (You're both. I'm neither.) (You willingly travel with us.) (Actually, it's not very willingly.) ( We can always throw you off the boat. ) (That wouldn't be a wise idea.) (Man Chong!) * Kid nods. "That's more like it. More than one sailor got lost because of poor judgement. That reminds me..." He starts digging through his vest... ( I know that guy! ) * Man calls from the dock. "Hello the ship!" ( Hello, Man! ) * The kid and woman turn around for a second. Kid grins. "Felt couped up after all, eh?" * Man laughs. "Hardly. Had to make sure everything got set up right this time. I'll never hear the end of that first demonstration." * Enzo returns, lugging lots of big bags filled with stuff. Hey, Enzo, you finally got back! * Shan glances over her shoulder. "Do you need assistance, Enzo?" * Man, for the record, is a six foot and a bit blond haired and blue eyed Dunlorian wearing a tailored outfit in grey with blue cuffs and undershirt, his face is fairly plain, but he's grinning. He glances to the side to see who the man on board is talking too and then calls back, "Permission to come aboard?" Mmf. * Enzo is also lugging a bag between his teeth. Kid went all out and stuff. * Kid shrugs. "Hey, we all make mistakes." He hands them a sketch on a paper. "Since you're going aboard, ask them if they've seen this man. We'll be checking in the inn in the meantime." * Kid nods his head. "Come along, Sarah." He starts walking down the deck, taking care not to bump Enzo with his guns. * Enzo raises an eyebrow at the kid (YAY SOMEONE WHO LOOKS YOUNGER THAN HIM) and the lady, and staggers aboard. * Shan heads over to Enzo and helps him carry the bags in. "I'll take that to mean 'Yes'." * Man takes the paper from Kid as he walks by and nods at him. "Sure thing captain." * Virgil considers for a moment. "Sure, come aboard." 'Hank oo. * Woman (who is apparently Sarah) takes one more glance at them then follows. * Man walks to and up the gangplank. * Virgil holds out his hand to Man. "Good day. I'm Virgil, and you are..?" ( "They call me... Man." ) ( "...*Manly* Man.") ( "Aww, man..." "Yes?" ) * Man grips Virgils hand strongly, and despite the outfit, he has the calluses of somebody who's done a good deal of hard work. "My name is Lucas Smithson. It's a pleasure to meet you, Virgil." So, what are you selling? * Lucas grins. "I came to personally invite your crew to a demonstration of one of Dunlor's finest shipboard weapons that will be starting shortly." (He's a ship to ship salesman!) * Enzo carries the stuff to somewhere where he can stow it, and, uh...stows it. * Enzo then comes up to eye the new guy. (You better believe it!) * Shan returns along with Enzo. "What sort of weapons?" * Virgil glances at the others. "Given the lack of... people around, I'm wary of leaving the ship unattended." Naiya can stay. And whatshername. Where is she, anyway? * Lucas looks at Shan. "Why the pride of Dunlor my lady, cannons, and a small selection of enchanted 'balls for them." Filis? * Filis peeks her head up from below deck. "I'm here! Someone call me?" Yeah. You're staying here, and Naiya can help you watch the ship. * Enzo prods Naiya with his foot. He doesn't do it roughly, but it *is* his foot. * Lucas looks at Filis. "There will be another demonstration tomorrow if you wish to attend." * Filis glances at Lucas. "And you are?" * Lucas bows slightly. "Lucas Smithson, Dunlorian cannon merchant. At your service." So, where is this demonstration going to be? * Filis blinks. "Cannon merchant?" * Lucas points back along the docks. "At the far end of the pier, but, before I go, The indomitable Captain Kidd has asked me to ask if you have seen any pirates recently and this one particular." He then hands over the paper. * Enzo raises an eyebrow at "Captain Kidd", but peers at the paper. * Virgil looks at the paper! * Lucas turns back to Filis. "Yes, my family has been outfitting the Dunlorian navy for generations, and the parliament has finally granted us leave to sell other clients now." [The picture is a composite sketch. It looks like a rather stunning likeness of the red suited Drake. It also looks like a wanted poster.] Ah, interesting. [The reward's set at 10,000 Drachs.] * Filis still looks confused "Other...clients?" * Shan peers at it. * Lucas keeps grinning. "The rest of the world my lady." * Filis frowns a little. Of course we are to do our very utmost to make sure that they don't wind up in the hands of individuals like that man there. * Lucas inclines his head towards the page Virgil is holding. But if they do, it can't be helped, right? * Shan folds her arms into her sleeves. Not at all. The Dunlorian navy itself will deal with those who misuse our products. We shall have to consider your request, then. Uh-huh. * Lucas looks over towards where the demonstration will be. "Well, I can't force you to watch, and we will start in a few minutes, but I assure you it's a sight you don't want to miss!" * Virgil nods. "I wouldn't mind seeing, myself." * Filis shakes her head. "No thank you. I'll stay by the boat." Yes, exactly. * Shan nods. "Very well." * Lucas shrugs. "I assure you that the demonstration is perfectly safe, and with both the cannons and the projectiles enchanted by magic, they are even safer than ordinary weapons. But for now I have a show to run. I hope to see all of you there." ... safer? * Virgil nods. "Very well." * Virgil murmers to Enzo. * Lucas turns and walks back off the ship. * Shan chuckles after he leaves. "One would wonder the use of safer weapons, eh?" ( They fire nerf cannonballs. ) Yeah. Weird. (You do realize that all your cannons have levels of unreliable on them right?) ( We have cannons? ) (Minimal.) ( Dude! You never told us that! All RIGHT! ) ( We have "a" cannon? :P ) (Half a cannon o/~) ( Oh. Well then. ) (No seriously. 2 light cannons. They'd probably do jack all to a real ship :P) (Front mounted deck guns) * Shan disembarks. "At any rate, I am going to see what this demonstration is about." * Enzo follows. * Virgil nods and goes that way to find out too! * Filis hmmphs and plops down on the deck. [Lucas pointed everyone over to an overhang next to a nearby cove. There's a mild chirping from crickets over here, and the cattails are sticking out here and there from the grass. There's already a decent sized crowd murmuring quietly around. The overhanging rock gives a good view of both ocean and shoreline alike. The targets are being set up on the cliff face on the other side.] * Lucas is there with a 10-pound cannon pointing out to sea that some of them are looking at with interest, and a second one on a round platform that's been roped off. Stacked beside it are sacks of powder and two sets of cannonballs. Two large men are setting up the targets and two more are standing next to the cannons. * Enzo watches curiously... * Shan watches as well. She favors one leg. * Virgil watches! Yay! * Lucas looks over at the progress of the men setting up the targets and then climbs onto the platform with the cannon. "Ladies and Gentlemen, my associates are nearly done setting up the targets for tonight's demonstration. I am sure that all of have heard of our enchanted weapons and tonight is your chance to see them personally! And perhaps even own some. The magic in these weapons..." * Lucas trails off while one of his men lifts a cannonball over his head. "... Has been refined through generations of study and hard work until it is now finaly ready for the world at large!" [The other man on this side of cove starts to load powder into the cannon.] * Shan fans herself with her feather fan as she watches. That thing is awesome, yo. * Enzo catches peripheral breeze. Ohyes. My own great-grandfather is the man who first created the spell that I will be demonstrating tonight and he passed it onto his children and they refined it and passed it along, as did their children. The spell is placed upon the cannonball itself and cannot be activated without a cannon, so there is no danger of them going off in your holds if you are struck. * Lucas gestures at the man holding the cannonball and he walks over to the cannon and loads it in. "On the other hand, when your target is struck by them... Well, as my assistants are ready, I'll let the magic speak for itself." * Lucas walks to the platform and talks to the men. They rotate the entire platform with the gun on it until it's aligned with one of the targets. [The men get away from the target on the other side. The men on this side fire! The ball sails through the air and is lost halfway in the darkness before...] [The cannon ball lights up with a red streak behind it. As it collides with the target, the ball explodes. Literally. A pyre forms upward and out from the explosion before it settles in a ring formation. The target is singed, as are a couple on each side of it, blazing brightly.] * Enzo raises an eyebrow. "...cool." [A couple of the spectators "Aaah." Then there's some claps.] ... Quite. [On the other side, the men are working to put the fire out. May look impressive, but this is just a demonstration. Don't want it to spread.] * Lucas steps away from the cannon and towards the crowd as his men scramble to reload. "That, Ladies and gentlemen, was just a small demonstration of what one of these cannons can do. I know many of you are thinking that a tech user could do the same, and you are right, but the only limit on the number of times one of these cannons can fire is your own pocketbooks. Stretch your minds and imagine an entire broadside of such weapons." * Lucas checks on the progress of the men with the targets. [The men have set up new targets! Such obedient lackeys!] * Lucas walks back to the cannon and directs it to be aimed at the new targets. "An entire volley off!" He fires again. [This demonstration...doesn't go so well. It falls short of the target and falls in the water. There's some sizzling before the redness of the cannonball winks out.] * Shan stares at where it went under. "... Somewhat less impressive." I'll say. Yeah. * Lucas chokes a bit and then recovers. "I must admit that I am somewhat less than the greatest gunner in history. If there are any amongst the audience tonight who believe they can do better I invite them to step up and show me how it should be done." [There's some murmuring amongst the crowd. It doesn't seem like anyone's stepping up though.] * Nasira walks up to the back of the crowd. She looks around at the end, and then she starts weaving her way to the group. "Hey, boss." * Shan smiles. "Ah, Nasira. Welcome back." Nasira, there you are. * Nasira grins. "In the flesh. Surprised, huh?" Not particularly. [A few minutes later, Kidd shows up. He's hanging towards the back of the crowd and checks Lucas out. His demonstration, that is.] * Nasira laughs. She folds her arms and looks to the demonstration. "So, what's going on? And are we staying in this town overnight?" * Enzo grins. "Hi again!" * Lucas shakes his head. "In that case, I'll be forced to take the next shot myself." He gestures to his men and they start to reload again, but this time using a cannonball from the other pile. "Fire is, of course, not the only element we offer, but it does make for the best show. Our cannons can also fire more conventional types of ammunition as well from chain shot to the perfectly ordinary ball being loaded as I speak." Hey, Enzo! Long time no- actually, it wasn't that long of a time, was it? Can't leave until morning, yeah. * Shan nods. "Yes, we're staying until tomorrow. As for what's going on, it's a weapon demonstration of some sort." Good. I need to check on those kids again, and I've gotta get some clothes. * Virgil blinks. "Yes, you do. In fact, I think you all could stand to be healed." * Lucas walks back to the cannon and makes a show of taking the time to aim. "Wish me luck folks!" No, probably not. What kids? Oh, the kid who thought you were a vampire. And her sister. [There's a couple of chuckles. At least they're good sports.] * Nasira calls to Lucas, "Good luck!" She's an even better sport! Oh, those kids. They weren't eaten by zombies? That's good. * Shan laughs at that. "I'm a vampire?" Nah, Enzo's a vampire. * Nasira pauses. "I think." Unless you are? [Nasira's a good luck charm! Apparently. The ball sails through the air and takes a good chunk out of the target on the other side. Crunch.] Look, none of you had better be vampires, 'cause if you are, I'll - nice shot - have to poke my other eye out. That would be bad. Okay, I'm not a vampire! * Enzo grins! :D That won't do. Don't you use wooden stakes to take out vampires? Preferably on fire? * Nasira thinks. "I could arrange that." (Now you can buy Lucas's cannon and shoot FIREBALLS at vampires!) Hardly. Charms and prayers are the only salvation. I suppose those may work if your vampires are more religious. * Lucas turns to face his audience. "Not all that impressive I'll admit, but utility and everyday use are just as important as the extra boom when you need it. No, before my finally, I'd like to call up Captain Kidd to make his own demonstration of our lighter, but no less deadly weapons." He points at where Kidd is standing. * Shan chuckles. "Well... conventional methods work too. Eventually." [There's some clapping. Kidd looks...a bit confused. He wasn't expecting to be called up. But since they're calling him...he steps forward!] * Enzo does again with the eyebrow-raising. "...Captain Kid? Why am I not surprised?" He obviously can't hear the double-Ds verbally. Silly Enzo! Oh, you know him? I saw him while I was bringin' supplies onto the boat. Didn't know his name, though. * Nasira turns to look at the kid. "Okay, now I'm starting to feel almost old." * Kidd hehes a little as he walks forward. "Well... I didn't know I was going to be on display..." Heh. At least there's someone who looks younger'n me. * Virgil chuckles. * Nasira snickers. "I guess calling you 'kid' doesn't help, huh, kid?" * Lucas grins. "You're free to decline captain, but then all these people will get bord waiting for me to get my next bit set up and we can't have that, now can we?"" * Enzo shrugs. "At least my name isn't Kid, like that kid." [There's some chuckling from the crowd. Kidd still looks unsure but his audience awaits. He glances over. "What are we demonstrating?" So you say. Yup! * Lucas points at a small sack conveniently located under a torch a good distance away. "Oh, I don't know... you could start with that and work you way up?" That? Hmmm... It'll be interesting to see what he can do, though. Who, Enzo? * Kidd eyes it and takes out an unusual pistol. Unusual because it has a longer barrel. And it's a quad shot. Normally, guns only go up to dual or single barrels. He crosses an arm to steady it and shoots at the sack, but it takes three to actually make it. He frowns. This wasn't what he was expecting. Well, I was referring to the Kidd down there, but Enzo too if he hasn't shown you his bag of tricks yet. * Enzo grins sheepishly. * Kidd cracks down his barrel and reloads his pistol. * Nasira grins, too. "He can sail. That's good enough for me- okay, really, what's the *point* of firing four bullets at once?" Um....lots of bullets? I guess, if your aim's bad. I don't know a lot about guns, though, and I think it'd be harder to aim that thing anyway. * Lucas shakes his head. "Sir, Perhaps a closer target?" He lifts a similar bag from behind the pile of cannonballs, meanwhile his men seem to have slipped away. Maybe they are novices. I'm not exactly sure. But I'd guess if you have more bullets flying, you'd be more likely to hit something close-by. * Kidd takes out his other pistol and turns, crossing it over his other arm. This is a dual shot one. Fortunately, this one hits on the mark. * Nasira nods. "The guns look nice, at least." * Lucas is left holding a bag leaking sand from two holes. "There we go!" * Kidd grins. "Better?" That's a lot of trust in a guy who just missed twice in trying to hit the first bag. * Nasira stretches her arms behind her. * Lucas drops the bag and picks up another one. "Much! Let's see you get this one!" He throws it out over the lagoon. * Kidd grins and turns, but instead of shooting the bag, he shoots the ground. The ground spikes and then shrapnels out. The earth shot pierces the bag multiple times and knocks it off course before plunging into the lake, half the sand spilt out before it splashes. ... huh. That's pretty cool. * Virgil mmmhmms. Yup. Won't use it, but it's cool. Yeah. * Lucas grins and lifts two bags. "Good one! But can you do two at once?" He tosses one right after the other over the water. * Kidd gets caught reloading his pistols. "Wait!" He raises them both up and fires both at once, multiple times. A few miss but most of the shots puncture the bags before the fall into the lake. * Shan hides a yawn behind her feather fan. * Nasira blinks, then looks to Shan. "Nice fan." * Shan smiles. "Thank you." * Nasira idly picks at her torn and bloody clothes. She frowns a little. * Shan glances at Nasira. "I could lend you some of my clothes when we get back, if you'd like. * Nasira laughs. "Boss, I'm a little taller than you are." * Virgil gets up. "Well, when you're done with the demonstration, come talk to me back on the ship. There are a few things I'd like to talk to you about before we head out tomorrow... the least of which getting you back into the condition to sail." * Shan laughs. "I didn't say it would be a perfect fit. But it's better than walking around like that." You could use some of mine! Yeah, but I'll just get your clothes ruined. Anyways, tell me how the demonstration goes. * Virgil walks off to their ship! That's okay, I do the same thing. * Lucas looks over his shoulder at the open ocean. "It looks like we'll be ready for the final demonstration of the night after one more from the captain." Out there two torches light up, marking the stem and stern of a small boat. Sure! I'll list out all the casualties alphabetically! * Nasira waves Vigil off. * Enzo waves bye to Virgil. * Nasira grins at Enzo. "Not *this* bad." Well, I guess not. * Kidd glances at Lucas. "One more?" But they'll fit better than Shan's! Maybe. Oh, yeah. I'm just gonna try to get some clothes tomorrow. One of the kids said there's a tailor at this town who should have clothes my size. One more, and this time I'll wait for you to get ready! Oh, that's better then. Alright alright. * Nasira thinks. "Better pick up some thread and needle, too, just to sew up rips." [There's some clapping for him now. They were unsure at first but now that they're into it..] (We find clothes more interesting!) (Just wait, Shan's going to volunteer herself to go with so she knows what her hechma- guide is wearing.) ( Kyah, like, totally. ) * Shan shrugs. "If you insist." * Lucas stoops down and picks up two bags and waits for Kidd to actualy be ready before throwing them high into the air and in different directions. (So does he!) All I'm saying, boss, is your clothes won't really fit me, and even if they did, it's not like it's easy to get Chu-Lin silk out here. * Shan nods. "You make a good point. * Nasira sighs. "Too bad, really. That stuff looks really easy to move in if it's tailored to you." Quite. * Kidd finishes getting ready and apparently chose some magic shot for the finale. Both bullets spiral with water after they leave the pistols. One grazes the bag, but the other hits dead on. The impact of the water not only soaks the bag but sends it flying off-course from the pressure. * Nasira applauds. Let's here it for Captain Kidd! * Lucas applauds him as well. [This gets some applause from the crowd as well. Kidd gives a laugh and a bow after putting away his pistols. * Enzo applauds politely. * Shan gives a token applause, but it's clear she lost interest in Captain Kidd's amazing shooting display some time ago. (Shan's here to talk about clothes.) * Lucas gestures at the two cannons, both of which are now pointed at the boat. "And now for the last act!" The number men standing around seems to have increased and they prepare to fire the cannons. [Lucas and his men fire the cannons both at once. The cannon balls streak through the air and each collide alternatively, bursting the small boat into cinders. The flames roar.] [The crowd cheers and applauds at this. Apparently this is the most impressive. Or they're an easy crowd. Either way.] I hope that ship wasn't important. Yeah. That would suck. * Nasira squints. Naaaah. I don't see any government officials there. ... Then again, they could've been burned up! That would *really* suck! Poor possibly-existent government officials. [Some people start to filter out after the demonstration. Some stick around to talk to Lucas. Business is good!] [Session End.]