Balthazar nods in agreement. "Yes, those clockwork trinkets seem to hold a great deal of importance among the locals. We should make sure we are issued with them for the duration of our stay here.

"Local authority figures chafe when the Church runs roughshod over their precious little fiefdoms, but in this case it may be necessary. These lines are enormous, and our duty urgent. Let us see if the Emperor will open a path for us."

With that, Balthazar approaches the scribe and makes the sign of the Aquila in greeting. "Greetings, we are new arrivals to Port Gyre. We are on important business on the God-Emperor's behalf and would like to procure 'cogs' for the duration of our stay." His mouth takes a moment to form the strange phrase, then he continues. "We realize there is a queue for this sort of thing, but time is of the essence."

((What sort of skill should I roll to convince the scribe?))

On 7/1/2017 at 0:03 AM, Lynata said:

After a moment she glances at Estelia, adding: "Although we should probably see to acquiring a set of these unorthodox insignia as well."

On 6/30/2017 at 9:20 AM, Servant of Dante said:

Estelia turns to the other two, "we're just looking for the document that the Sister is to have left for us; we're not even sure it will be here. Are we really going to go through one of those lines?"

11 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

With that, Balthazar approaches the scribe and makes the sign of the Aquila in greeting. "Greetings, we are new arrivals to Port Gyre. We are on important business on the God-Emperor's behalf and would like to procure 'cogs' for the duration of our stay." His mouth takes a moment to form the strange phrase, then he continues. "We realize there is a queue for this sort of thing, but time is of the essence."

((What sort of skill should I roll to convince the scribe?))

((I'm just going to open with, remember that this person likely hears this sort of thing all the time, so it's going to be a little difficult. Let's talk first about getting you a bonus to this interaction if you'd like. First off you can as always spend a fate point. Other rolls include a Common Lore (Administratum) +0 or a Scholastic Lore (Bureaucracy) +10. Success on these tests will give you a bonus equal to +10xDoS, failure will just give you a -10 overall. As for convincing the person you can make a Charm (+0) as it's seemingly the only fit I see for your approach so far.))

((I'll use Infused Knowledge to roll the Scholastic Lore (Bureaucracy) test. Target number is 40 + 10 = 50, rolled a 13 for 4 DoS. Infused knowledge adds +1 DoS to successful Lore tests, so thats 5 DoS total!!! Balthazar knows a thing or two about paperwork.))

((Rolling the Charm test with +50 from the Lore test. Target number is 38 + 50 = 88, rolled a 79 for 1 DoS.))

Balthazar looks at the scribe and clears his throat before uttering the following passage without stopping for breath:

"As members of the Ministorum with a pressing responsibility within Port Gyre, we have cause to petition for expedited entry into the port under Subsection 473 of the Adeptus Administratum Guidelines For Priority Access. Ordinarily the Port Gyre Credo Operandus would prohibit the use of this special channel without at least three days advance notice, but in this situation I believe filing Form 102A pursuant with Port Entry Procedures, Subsection 91 should suffice. In addition to that form, we should fill out applications for temporary use of an oath-cog.

"Will that be sufficient?" He smiles at the scribe as he begins looking for a quill and ink.

On 7/1/2017 at 0:03 AM, Lynata said:

The other novice takes a deep breath, reaffirming her grip on the heavy duty shotgun as if to remind herself and others of it being an option to speed things up. Naturally, however, Ariel would resist following up any such allusions with action, the gesture remaining as nothing but a comment on the aggravating nature of their situation. After a moment, she seems to get an idea, turning to Balthazar:

"Father, does the Church not grant you precedence on all His worlds?"

After a moment she glances at Estelia, adding: "Although we should probably see to acquiring a set of these unorthodox insignia as well."

On 6/30/2017 at 9:20 AM, Servant of Dante said:

Estelia turns to the other two, "we're just looking for the document that the Sister is to have left for us; we're not even sure it will be here. Are we really going to go through one of those lines?"

9 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar looks at the scribe and clears his throat before uttering the following passage without stopping for breath:

"As members of the Ministorum with a pressing responsibility within Port Gyre, we have cause to petition for expedited entry into the port under Subsection 473 of the Adeptus Administratum Guidelines For Priority Access. Ordinarily the Port Gyre Credo Operandus would prohibit the use of this special channel without at least three days advance notice, but in this situation I believe filing Form 102A pursuant with Port Entry Procedures, Subsection 91 should suffice. In addition to that form, we should fill out applications for temporary use of an oath-cog.

"Will that be sufficient?" He smiles at the scribe as he begins looking for a quill and ink.

((For the quality of the business babble alone Balthazar may take a temporary fate point for the rest of your time at the Auctriate Porteus.))

If this scribe could cry with her augmentic eyes you might see her tearing up. Her voice slightly cracking in joy at being addressed in such a correctly business manner she replies, "O-of course honorable father I'll have an adept bring the form as quickly as possible."

She presses at the right side of her throat and subvocally murmurs something in the strange shorthand that the Adeptus Administratum uses, and within the next 10 minutes a winded adept, no more than 14, has come running up with a small packet of parchment. The older scribe quickly dismisses the adept with a smack to the head and hands the father the parchment.

((Given you passing the test I'll say that the father can successfully fill out the paperwork))

After filling out the paperwork she calls a tech-wright to fit the group with the wrist mounted devices that you've seen so much on the citizens of Desoleum.

The fitting process is a quick enough ritual the wright soothing the oath cogs to gently fit onto each individual's wrist and explaining to both the device and the group that these are visitor cogs, there are two oaths that must be fulfilled is that within a month from this date either the machine spirit must be soothed in to cooperation again or removed, and the second oath is related to your business, it an oath that will allow the party to be the immediate following business to be handled within the Adeptus business line.

The wright leaves making the sign of the cog one last time before leaving the oath cogs and the scribe addresses you again, "Ahem, pursuant to the adeptus business as I mentioned usually you'd be in a line, however, the smaller cog within that device will allow you to be the next immediate business handled. Merely present it to the queue servitor and they will remove the cog. Please don't be alarmed, they've been trained for the procedure and it won't hurt the machine spirit of the device. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Ariel raises her eyebrows - the most she usually allows herself as an expression of surprise - at the priest's declaration, as well as the reaction it evokes. In some ways, the bureaucratic minutiae reminded her of Ministorum scripture, albeit these chants were directed not towards the One True God but rather the Administratum's faceless pantheon of papers. Certainly she had not expected a man of the cloth to be this versed in such matters, but in this case she was glad to have underestimated the priest.

The fitting process for her oath cog and its smaller pendant went by rather uneventfully, although the nixie-chronometer that already occupied her left wrist caused the tech-wright to pause. At first they were merely marveling at the device, before their superior cleared her throat in a subtle display of impatience. As Ariel had pulled back her sleeve to expose more of her left arm, however, she also exposed the underlying bodyglove, whose material and cleanliness stood in stark contrast to the shabby duster.

The servant ventured a quick gaze at the novice, but her eyes commanded them to proceed and moments later the cog was fastened. It was more than unlikely that the tech-wright knew the origin of her underlying armor, but if her shotgun was not already an indication, this sort of gear was not what you'd expect from a travelling mendicant.

Estelia too did not expect the Father to know the intricacies of the Administratim. It all sounds entirely unnecessary, but the scribe he spoke to seemed impressed. The Novice holds out her armored wrist to receive the cog device. It occurred to her that she might not be able to remove the piece of armor while the cog was overtop it, but being stuck with armor seems better than being stuck without.

After filling out all the requisite paperwork (in triplicate, of course), Balthazar accepts the oath-cog around his wrist. He thanks the orderly and massages his wrist around the cold, unfamiliar weight of the device, but doesn't say anything further. After accepting the device and the passage-cog, he prepares to leave with the Novices.

Balthazar smiles when they are out of earshot of the front desk, addressing the Novices and their looks of surprise: "The old librarium at my order's cloister had tomes and treatises on all kinds of subjects, from Administratum legal codes to ancient Terran cuisine. I was a voracious reader in my youth, and I would always bring a book with me wherever I went. Midnight vigils in the crypts were much more tolerable with a nice piece of literature at my side."

On 7/8/2017 at 11:11 PM, Lynata said:

The servant ventured a quick gaze at the novice, but her eyes commanded them to proceed and moments later the cog was fastened. It was more than unlikely that the tech-wright knew the origin of her underlying armor, but if her shotgun was not already an indication, this sort of gear was not what you'd expect from a travelling mendicant.

On 7/9/2017 at 10:27 AM, Servant of Dante said:

Estelia too did not expect the Father to know the intricacies of the Administratim. It all sounds entirely unnecessary, but the scribe he spoke to seemed impressed. The Novice holds out her armored wrist to receive the cog device. It occurred to her that she might not be able to remove the piece of armor while the cog was overtop it, but being stuck with armor seems better than being stuck without.

23 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar smiles when they are out of earshot of the front desk, addressing the Novices and their looks of surprise: "The old librarium at my order's cloister had tomes and treatises on all kinds of subjects, from Administratum legal codes to ancient Terran cuisine. I was a voracious reader in my youth, and I would always bring a book with me wherever I went. Midnight vigils in the crypts were much more tolerable with a nice piece of literature at my side."

Provided the team had no further questions for the front desk scribe they are directed to the area over to the left supposedly holding Adeptus business.

There are as described, two lines, one line (roughly 2/3 the size of the other line) has people who also have oath cogs on their wrist, the other has people who have none. The variety of the occupants of the line seems more like some form of Famulous geneology study tome showing the varieties of the human form. Tall, short, thin, fat, and all in between along with a veritable rainbow of colors in terms of hair and eye color.

Many look as if they've been here all day, or longer.

((I'm assuming that you're using your newfound get in front of like pass since you were interested in getting one.))

As the group moves further and further in front of the line there are some contented murmurs coming from the crowd, no one makes a move though as a servitor quickly approaches you and scans you quickly with a seemingly inbuilt auspex system it presents one of its hands now replaced with a sort of binding and states, "Please present oaths for absolution."

"Oaths? What does it mean? The extra piece added to the cog device?" Estelia sticks her arm forward, presenting the cog to the servitor. Only after doing so does she realize the servitor may intend to grab her arm, if only temporarily. Her other hand, as it often has of late, slips toward the holster at her waist. Just in case.

Raising her left arm, Ariel patiently awaits the servitor's grasp with a dispassionate expression. Somehow it felt a little like waiting for the Hospitaller's sting during one of the many inoculations, gene-tests, adjustments, and other syringe-related procedures the novice remembers from her days at both the Schola as well as the Convent.

Her own weapon currently rests hanging from her back, the shotgun's weight too heavy to be comfortably supported by only one of the girl's hands for any prolonged time.

Balthazar holds out his wrist for the servitor to inspect his oath-cog. The normally-calm priest seems to squirm visibly as the servitor approaches, almost like a child awaiting a vaccination. The Sisters hear him mutter, "I can't stand those bloody things."

On 7/12/2017 at 3:20 PM, Servant of Dante said:

"Oaths? What does it mean? The extra piece added to the cog device?" Estelia sticks her arm forward, presenting the cog to the servitor. Only after doing so does she realize the servitor may intend to grab her arm, if only temporarily. Her other hand, as it often has of late, slips toward the holster at her waist. Just in case.

On 7/12/2017 at 10:03 PM, Lynata said:

Raising her left arm, Ariel patiently awaits the servitor's grasp with a dispassionate expression. Somehow it felt a little like waiting for the Hospitaller's sting during one of the many inoculations, gene-tests, adjustments, and other syringe-related procedures the novice remembers from her days at both the Schola as well as the Convent.

1 hour ago, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar holds out his wrist for the servitor to inspect his oath-cog. The normally-calm priest seems to squirm visibly as the servitor approaches, almost like a child awaiting a vaccination. The Sisters hear him mutter, "I can't stand those bloody things."

The servitor grabs a recipients hand with it's arm binding device and it quickly latches down, not painfully but by no means comfortably.

Afterwards it raises its other arm uses a series of different sized pincers (think edward scissorhands but with like different sized pincers), it repeats a recorded intonation in an obviously different voice, "And so. By the grace of the Omnissiah. And the acknowledgement of the God Emperor. An oath is absolved." it removes the smaller geared cog and puts it in to some inner cavity, and then releases the person's hand.

It then repeats the process for the other two recipients.

After the ritual it is complete the group can move further to the head of the line, much to the chagrin of the the people in the line, however they know there is little to do about it.

As the group is about to reach the the next Administratum help both they are accosted by a very flustered looking merchant or low noble, hard to tell, and his guard (dressed in a similar manner to the troopers you saw before). The flustered one addresses you, he is wiry in build about 1 and 3/4 meters in height, seemingly early or mid 30's (possible rejevenat), tanned skin, black hair, green eyes like an emerald, but noticeably he has wire mesh around his right cheek covering some wound (difficult to tell it's gold mesh decorated with a jeweled aquila).

"Now who on Desoleum think you are to. to to take my place?! I've been here for 5 hours and I'll be damned if I'm going to wait a moment longer! What right have you?"

Estelia rolls her eyes beneath her helmet, and takes a step away from the noble and his guard to give her space to work with. The Novice glances around herself, not making any attempt to be inconspicuous, looking for cover should it come to a fight. She does, however, in a sudden bout of prudence, keep her hands off of her weapons as she waits for the Father to respond to the man's insult.

The other novice eyes the noble and his escort with a stern gaze, seemingly unimpressed, maybe somewhat irritated judging by the narrow look of her eyes. Her right hand's fingers reflexively reinforcing their iron grip around the shouldered shotgun's sling, Ariel raises her voice, perhaps a few decibels too loud to not make a scene within these hallowed halls. Then again, the noble had already started it, anyways.

"Stand aside, sire. You are interfering with urgend business of His Holy Church!"

Under other circumstances, Ariel might have refrained from evoking the name of their agency, yet Father Thorne had already publicly stated their supposed affiliation. It would only make sense to continue playing along.

Briefly, she glances towards Estelia, as if to check the other novice keeps her hands off her arms.

Balthazar pauses mid-stride, then turns to regard the nobleman through slightly narrowed eyes. He did not have time to deal with this. "As my companion stated, we are members of the Ministorum with a pressing responsibility within Port Gyre. We have been granted expedited entry into the port under Subsection 473 of the Adeptus Administratum Guidelines For Priority Access, and we filed Form 102A pursuant with Port Entry Procedures, Subsection 91 to cover the circumstances of our arrival. You may check with the desk attendant if you like, but I am sure you will find that all our paperwork is in order."

On 7/17/2017 at 6:16 PM, Servant of Dante said:

Estelia rolls her eyes beneath her helmet, and takes a step away from the noble and his guard to give her space to work with. The Novice glances around herself, not making any attempt to be inconspicuous, looking for cover should it come to a fight. She does, however, in a sudden bout of prudence, keep her hands off of her weapons as she waits for the Father to respond to the man's insult.

On 7/18/2017 at 7:18 PM, Lynata said:

"Stand aside, sire. You are interfering with urgend business of His Holy Church!"

Under other circumstances, Ariel might have refrained from evoking the name of their agency, yet Father Thorne had already publicly stated their supposed affiliation. It would only make sense to continue playing along.

Briefly, she glances towards Estelia, as if to check the other novice keeps her hands off her arms.

The sanctionary turns to address the sisters and changes his stance into a preparatory, he does not draw any weapon, but seems fully ready in case he needs to defend his charge.

9 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar pauses mid-stride, then turns to regard the nobleman through slightly narrowed eyes. He did not have time to deal with this. "As my companion stated, we are members of the Ministorum with a pressing responsibility within Port Gyre. We have been granted expedited entry into the port under Subsection 473 of the Adeptus Administratum Guidelines For Priority Access, and we filed Form 102A pursuant with Port Entry Procedures, Subsection 91 to cover the circumstances of our arrival. You may check with the desk attendant if you like, but I am sure you will find that all our paperwork is in order."

The noble merchant grins with one side of his mouth, as if he was hoping for a fight, "Yes I'm sure your paperwork is fine, and that is all well and good, and it would certainly allow you such authority for anyone normally associated with the Adeptus of His realms, but unfortunately for you I am a magnate of the Consortium. The Consortium, if you don't realize this venerable father, coming from Thaur, takes precedence in matters of business if they should so choose. The only reason I've been here in line all day is because the rest of the citizenry of Desoleum have been kind enough to realize their place, and I am anyone but someone who doesn't realize their place in His Imperium."

Estelia tilts her head slightly, as if thinking, "I don't see the issue here, if you want to stand in line, that's fine, but we have permission to move to the front, so that's what we're going to do. If it weren't allowable for us to move to the front, we would not have been given permission."

The Novice stops for a moment, considering what the man had said further. In a more measured tone, she continues, "I know my place in the God-Emperor's Imperium. I am to do what is necessary and righteous, and to do it well, without hesitation or fear. Where it my choice, I would not be on this planet. At this time, my place in His Imperium is to be about our business as quickly as possible, and waiting in a line for the rest of the day is not that."

Estelia is careful to keep her posture non-threatening, which is undoubtedly made easier by her adolescence.

Narrowing her eyes, Ariel hesitates for a moment. A private company taking precedence before the Ministorum? It sounded like heresy, yet she knew little about the local politics. Or politics in general, for that matter.

"You cannot do this", she states matter-of-factly, only to turn her head towards Balthazar, her voice growing uncertain as she seeks confirmation from the hopefully better-versed cleric. "Can he?"

Then Estelia spoke up, and she had to admit that her fellow novice - usually more prone to rash action than insight - made an excellent point. Deciding to back her up on this, she added:

"It seems as if you should take your troubles to the scribe at the front booth, my lord. If a mistake has been made, I am certain the adepts will sort it out for you."

((Before Balthazar responds, is it possible to tell if letting this guy go before us will significantly slow down our entry? Or will it basically just mean that this one nobleman gets to check in before we do, basically not making a difference on our travel time?))

17 minutes ago, Covered in Weasels said:

((Before Balthazar responds, is it possible to tell if letting this guy go before us will significantly slow down our entry? Or will it basically just mean that this one nobleman gets to check in before we do, basically not making a difference on our travel time?))

((Well, you don't know what his business is, so of course it's pretty relative when it comes to the Administratum. If you want to ferret out the person's "inner feelings" on the issue then you can roll a +0 Scrutiny test since you brought it up.))

((Might as well try it. Rolling Scrutiny +0, target number 30. Rolled a 67 for four DoF. I won't be learning anything from that sort of roll.))

Balthazar gives a look of acknowledgement to the Sisters, then turns back to the nobleman. "I must agree with my associates in this case, Your Grace. What is your business here today, and why were you caught up in the line until we arrived? Surely you would not have been waiting in this line in the first place if you could simply bypass the whole procedure?"

(Your Grace was the honorific of choice for nobles visiting Thaur on pilgrimage, and Balthazar uses it here to keep some measure of respectfulness in his question. It will still probably ruffle the feathers of this nobleman, but Balthazar hopes it might take the sting out of his words.)

On 7/20/2017 at 11:49 AM, Servant of Dante said:

Estelia tilts her head slightly, as if thinking, "I don't see the issue here, if you want to stand in line, that's fine, but we have permission to move to the front, so that's what we're going to do. If it weren't allowable for us to move to the front, we would not have been given permission."

The Novice stops for a moment, considering what the man had said further. In a more measured tone, she continues, "I know my place in the God-Emperor's Imperium. I am to do what is necessary and righteous, and to do it well, without hesitation or fear. Where it my choice, I would not be on this planet. At this time, my place in His Imperium is to be about our business as quickly as possible, and waiting in a line for the rest of the day is not that."

Estelia is careful to keep her posture non-threatening, which is undoubtedly made easier by her adolescence.

On 7/22/2017 at 11:26 PM, Lynata said:

Narrowing her eyes, Ariel hesitates for a moment. A private company taking precedence before the Ministorum? It sounded like heresy, yet she knew little about the local politics. Or politics in general, for that matter.

"You cannot do this", she states matter-of-factly, only to turn her head towards Balthazar, her voice growing uncertain as she seeks confirmation from the hopefully better-versed cleric. "Can he?"

Then Estelia spoke up, and she had to admit that her fellow novice - usually more prone to rash action than insight - made an excellent point. Deciding to back her up on this, she added:

"It seems as if you should take your troubles to the scribe at the front booth, my lord. If a mistake has been made, I am certain the adepts will sort it out for you."

10 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

((Might as well try it. Rolling Scrutiny +0, target number 30. Rolled a 67 for four DoF. I won't be learning anything from that sort of roll.))

Balthazar gives a look of acknowledgement to the Sisters, then turns back to the nobleman. "I must agree with my associates in this case, Your Grace. What is your business here today, and why were you caught up in the line until we arrived? Surely you would not have been waiting in this line in the first place if you could simply bypass the whole procedure?"

(Your Grace was the honorific of choice for nobles visiting Thaur on pilgrimage, and Balthazar uses it here to keep some measure of respectfulness in his question. It will still probably ruffle the feathers of this nobleman, but Balthazar hopes it might take the sting out of his words.)

The man smiles at the use of grace, pleased at the respect you're giving him, and he answers, "If you want to agree with lessers father, that's your business of course, mine is for the business of Desolum itself, and takes precedent. Reasons as to why I stayed in line are my own, but I'll certainly not let some off-worlder trounce their way through, proper paperwork or no. Now, will you move aside?"

He noticeably completely ignores the two novices.

People in the line are getting a bit restless now.

"No, we will pass right through the checkpoint and you can follow right after us. We have a time-sensitive engagement and really must be on our way. You can follow right afterwards." Balthazar gazes serenely at the man, but underneath this face his blood is starting to boil. This may not be the most diplomatic thing to say, but Balthazar is personally offended by the nobleman's description of the Novices as his 'lessers.'

Estelia stays quiet as the Father speaks, keeping an eye on the noble and his bodyguard.

Pressing her lips together, Ariel exercises great restraint so as to neither speak up nor do something even more rash. The Schola taught her patience and respect, but it also taught her not to suffer fools such as this creature lightly.