Balthazar steps forward and addresses the Administratum functionary at the desk. "My associates and I are members of the Adeptus Ministorum, here to meet with a colleague of ours for collaboration on matters of faith. Our colleague is also affiliated with the Ministorum, and she has requested our aid some pressing matters. I know we are to assist her in a search for information but, to be frank, I am not sure what we will be expected to do."

Balthazar really has no idea what an Acolyte of the Inquisition will be expected to do here. Raising a mob of torch-wielding Thaurians is one thing, but uncovering corruption in one of the biggest cities in Askellon is another matter entirely.

On 9/7/2017 at 5:10 PM, Lynata said:

If he took too long to raise his voice, or if his explanation did not include them, the novice would introduce herself as a servant of the Ministorum. And it would not even be a lie.

On 9/7/2017 at 9:44 PM, Servant of Dante said:

Estelia also looks to Father Thorne to answer for the group. That they were on the buisness of the Adeptus Ministorum seemed obvious, but what Adeptus was their buisness with? The Novice finds herself irritated that Sister Inellia was not more specific with where they were to go upon landing on the planet. For all she knows, they could be at the wrong place.

On 9/12/2017 at 0:13 AM, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar steps forward and addresses the Administratum functionary at the desk. "My associates and I are members of the Adeptus Ministorum, here to meet with a colleague of ours for collaboration on matters of faith. Our colleague is also affiliated with the Ministorum, and she has requested our aid some pressing matters. I know we are to assist her in a search for information but, to be frank, I am not sure what we will be expected to do."

Balthazar really has no idea what an Acolyte of the Inquisition will be expected to do here. Raising a mob of torch-wielding Thaurians is one thing, but uncovering corruption in one of the biggest cities in Askellon is another matter entirely.

"...I see" he states jotting down some notes, "Well, there's no person here fitting the description of that goal. Those here are the Administratum or those of the Mechanicus, and no new visitors have stated intent to stay here and wait for others."

He considers something for a moment, "Perhaps they left something for you? We may not have seen the person physically, but if they wanted something picked up it likely would have filtered here from a gate post or other such thing if it was important. If that were the case I'd need the name of the recipient and the name of the sender to properly check."

Estelia hopes that this is the place the Sister had left instructions for them, or at least the writ from the station security chief. Something so that their time here would not have been entirely wasted. At least this adept seemed to actually be trying to be helpful, unlike most every other person they had met since arriving on the planet.

The Novice waited for the Father to speak, or call on her.

Perhaps still on edge after their recent encounter with the arrogant noble, the other novice seems more inclined to action, taking a step forward to tug Balthazar on the sleeve of his robe. Assuming the priest would turn to listen, the girl raises to booted tiptoes and moves a hand next to her mouth as she tries to whisper something into the cleric's ear:

"... the writ, Father."

Balthazar speaks to the clerk: "My name is Balthazar Thorne, and these are Ariel and Estelia. We were to pick up a writ of passage left to us by a Lady Inelia. Your office should have received the document earlier today." He furrows his brow ever so slightly in anticipation -- he is dearly hoping that everything is proceeding as planned.

On 9/14/2017 at 7:30 PM, Servant of Dante said:

The Novice waited for the Father to speak, or call on her.

On 9/14/2017 at 8:47 PM, Lynata said:

Perhaps still on edge after their recent encounter with the arrogant noble, the other novice seems more inclined to action, taking a step forward to tug Balthazar on the sleeve of his robe. Assuming the priest would turn to listen, the girl raises to booted tiptoes and moves a hand next to her mouth as she tries to whisper something into the cleric's ear:

"... the writ, Father."

15 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar speaks to the clerk: "My name is Balthazar Thorne, and these are Ariel and Estelia. We were to pick up a writ of passage left to us by a Lady Inelia. Your office should have received the document earlier today." He furrows his brow ever so slightly in anticipation -- he is dearly hoping that everything is proceeding as planned.

The clerk nods solemnly, "I will check against these names, it will take some time." he bows slightly and leaves the station. You can't see where he's gone but he does not appear for roughly 10 minutes. They pass agonizingly though the area is quiet only in the way that anticipation can create. The area that you are in is sort of like a cathedral in the sense of architecture in that the area is so large it muffles sound. Even then there's not really any background to hear other than some shuffling both of papers and bodies.

What really gets to you is the smell, now out of the line the smell of ink and iron suffuses the air as if it is incense, and you can easily tell where the term "Inkies" comes from.

After this time the clerk comes back he is carrying a tube. it is made of some light looking metal and is painted black. It is stoppered with a red wax seal.

"This is the only parcel from any Inelia, although she is not of the Ministorum, however sister organizations are an acceptable grouping, within reason. It is addressed to the three of you, and solely the three of you with specific physical descriptions. However, it did include a very specific instruction stating that the parcel is only to be given over on the correct response to the following statement: ' There are more than a few that only look at the overall song.'"

((Now it was a while ago to be fair, in real time, but Ariel very likely remembers this as a piece of conversation she had with Inelia before departing Kappex it's on page 12 if you need a refresher.))

As the dataclerk scurries away to perform their function, the novice is left wondering whether it was a good idea to operate under their actual names -- an unusual thought for a member of an organization whose members, with exception of the Sisters Sabine, are not accustomed to working in the shadows, yet at the same time evident of that small spark of creativity and critical thought that sees some of the Sororitas marked for Inquisitorial service. Silently mulling over the idea, the novice finally decides that it should not matter at this point in time, as she knows that at least her own and Estelia's identities are safe and secure, and the priest ... well, in a way he was actually travelling as himself, did he not?

The clerk's return pulls Ariel's thoughts back into the present, and her eyes lock onto the black tube before returning to the wielder as he poses his query. Briefly, the novice furrows her brows at his words which she recalls having heard somewhere before. Then she speaks, paraphrasing what stuck in her mind: "Be the example you want them to see."

Estelia too wonders briefly about using their names, but it was unlikely that the simple mononyms given by the novices would mean anything to anyone, and this way if they checked the Father's identity they would find that he is in fact a Thaurian priest.

Arial's response to the clerk confuses Estelia for a moment, but the other Novice generally remembers things like that that aren't exactly important, so she gives it little thought. It was good that someone had known how to answer the clerk, in any case.

Balthazar stands patiently in place, hoping whatever code phrase the young Novice had uttered would be sufficient to take custody of the writ. The sooner they had that document, the better -- the thought of leaving such sensitive materials in the hands of a random clerk was deeply troubling to him.

On 9/18/2017 at 9:53 PM, Lynata said:

The clerk's return pulls Ariel's thoughts back into the present, and her eyes lock onto the black tube before returning to the wielder as he poses his query. Briefly, the novice furrows her brows at his words which she recalls having heard somewhere before. Then she speaks, paraphrasing what stuck in her mind: "Be the example you want them to see."

23 hours ago, Servant of Dante said:

Arial's response to the clerk confuses Estelia for a moment, but the other Novice generally remembers things like that that aren't exactly important, so she gives it little thought. It was good that someone had known how to answer the clerk, in any case.

9 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar stands patiently in place, hoping whatever code phrase the young Novice had uttered would be sufficient to take custody of the writ. The sooner they had that document, the better -- the thought of leaving such sensitive materials in the hands of a random clerk was deeply troubling to him.

The clerk looks at an accompanying data slate and furrows his brow, scrolls down a little further and nods to himself.

"Acceptable"

He passes the metal canister through a partition and closes his side. He quickly jots down some notes on paperwork finishing up on his side, "Is there anything else I may be able to help you with? Or does this conclude your business?"

Estelia glances at Ariel and the Father. It seems their visit is complete.

"Is there anything else?"

The novice wants to ask more, but not within earshot of the clerk (and anyone else who might be listening).

"No, that should be all," says Balthazar. He does not want to ask any more specific questions of this orderly.

Perceiving it as expected to - owing to her role as conveyor of the code phrase - receive the canister in person, Ariel approaches the counter to acquire the item of interest, but parts with it shortly after as she hands it over to the accompanying priest.

"I suggest we ... seek out a somewhat more private place to study our letter", the girl suggests, lowering her volume only an iota but opting to conceal their intentions in an attempt to disperse suspicion among potential onlookers.

On 9/21/2017 at 10:13 AM, Servant of Dante said:

The novice wants to ask more, but not within earshot of the clerk (and anyone else who might be listening).

7 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

"No, that should be all," says Balthazar. He does not want to ask any more specific questions of this orderly.

6 hours ago, Lynata said:

"I suggest we ... seek out a somewhat more private place to study our letter", the girl suggests, lowering her volume only an iota but opting to conceal their intentions in an attempt to disperse suspicion among potential onlookers.

The adept makes the sign of the aquila bowing slightly (there's not a lot of room in his area), "Emperor be with you then," he considers for a second having heard Ariel, "If you are looking for private areas, they are available to be rented within the building itself, depending on your budget you can get varying levels of privacy as it were. Could I perhaps book you a room for some time?"

((We'll just go with the "Accommodations" with the varying rarities of Abundant, Average, or Rare. To describe the rooms mechanically;

Abundant-A quiet room off to the side of an area, no special provisions are really made other than no one will physically interrupt you.

Average-The room is specifically for privacy a lockable door sound proofing some very basic signal jamming techniques are implemented.

Rare-Essentially a dead room, no sound gets out, sound jammers are specifically implemented, along with a small vox scrambler and other techno-archane devices made to keep whatever you speak about only in that room between yourselves.

Remember, from last time, please only one make the roll.))

((Estelia can make the test, though she only has 30 Influence it's higher than the other 2,))

Speaking to the adept, Estelia says, "I think we would like a space, yes. Something with some basic privacy measures should suffice"

((I want to roll for an average room, we'll see how this goes))

Inf = 30 , roll 86 for 5 DoF (or is it 6?)

((I'm not sure I want to re-roll that on 30% odds))

Ariel pauses, considering the offer and probably overthinking it as she weighs their options. On one hand, the rooms would offer quick access to privacy, yet on the other such installations would certainly be considered prime targets for surveillance by someone powerful enough to get past the Administratum's safeguards -- or perhaps even a leading adept of this officio itself. Suddenly becoming self-aware of this lingering distrust, the dusk-skinned, raven-haired novice cannot help but be almost surprised at herself: a mere one or two years back, thoughts like these, suspicion leveled against fellow Imperial servants, would have seemed unthinkable for the young, impressionable girls, but before they left for this assignment they had both received ample instruction as to the dangers of trusting anyone outside the Sisterhood.

Before she can make a decision, she hears Estelia speak up. Being somewhat indecisive on this matter, she opts to simply go along with her companion's choice.

6 hours ago, Servant of Dante said:

((I'm not sure I want to re-roll that on 30% odds))

((You can keep the result, or reroll for the rarity with a fate point, or try for the lower rarity one.))

((I'm going to try for a lower rarity one, I'll just give you the roll))

Influence 30. Roll: 14

On 9/26/2017 at 2:29 AM, Servant of Dante said:

((I'm going to try for a lower rarity one, I'll just give you the roll))

Influence 30. Roll: 14

On 9/24/2017 at 11:26 PM, Lynata said:

Before she can make a decision, she hears Estelia speak up. Being somewhat indecisive on this matter, she opts to simply go along with her companion's choice.

On 9/22/2017 at 10:38 PM, Covered in Weasels said:

((Alright Weasels indicated Balthazar is all good.))

Balthazar has no comment on the situation.

The scribe nods at Estellia's first desired choice of accommodation and looks to see if he can accommodate the three of you. He frowns slightly, "I'm sorry, but it seems that currently all of those rooms are taken at the time...perhaps something a bit more...breathable." He finishes coming up with a slightly positive descriptor. Perhaps if you had more clout, or maybe if you decided to pull out all the stops you could get such a room, but it hardly matters now, such is the life of an acolyte.

He makes what accommodation he can, and has a junior scribe comes and she leads you to what at least seems to be an empty room of the building. She scurries around and gets together a small table and 3 chairs (all relatively stable), and sets them out for you. Blushing nervously she quickly excuses herself as she has many other things to do.

You are, seemingly at least, now alone with the canister and the documents within it.

Estelia glances around the room. She is worried they are being monitored, but unsure of what to look for to confirm this.

40 minutes ago, Servant of Dante said:

Estelia glances around the room. She is worried they are being monitored, but unsure of what to look for to confirm this.

((If you want to make a test out of it you could make an Awareness test at +0))

Awareness: 20 (Perception) - 20 (Untrained Awareness) = 0 Roll: 22 for 2 DoF

((Rolling Awareness, target number 10. Rolled a 58 for 5 DoF.))

8 hours ago, Lynata said:

I'll refrain from an Awareness Test for now; it might be more natural for the character to do so only the moment we arrive at the site and are about to open our parcel. Can't have everyone getting the same idea at the same time, especially given our backgrounds.

((Fair enough but to be fair, you are in the area that they've given you to open the note.))

On 10/3/2017 at 1:27 AM, Servant of Dante said:

Awareness: 20 (Perception) - 20 (Untrained Awareness) = 0 Roll: 22 for 2 DoF

10 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

((Rolling Awareness, target number 10. Rolled a 58 for 5 DoF.))

Neither Esterllia nor Father Balthazar notice any devices for monitoring the room or anyone trying to hang around if any.

The room seems to be some on and off again storage room, at the current time you arrived it was empty save some dust lines where boxes or cabinets once stood. Now it houses a table and some slightly level chairs made of some form of pressed pulp wood like substance.

Examining the document containing tube you find it similar to before; it is made of some light looking metal and is painted black. It is stoppered with a red wax seal. Now you can notice that it is heavier than it would normally seem to be and if moved back and forth it seems to contain more than one parcel in it.

Ariel examines the room, more out of habitual absorption of new experiences than actual suspicion. What she finds merely deepens her negative impression and reinforces a growing bias. Certainly, even the convent and the schola had dusty rooms, in particular one of its famed librariums, but that's where novice girls like herself and Estelia came in, with regular and lengthy cleaning duties as a part of daily ritual. The - in her mind - poor state this cell was in merely indicated that the officio either did not care or simply did not have sufficient personnel to keep its facilities in order, given that the adepts still saw fit to invite guests in here. Still, at least it seemed private for a change. Thank the Emperor for small mercies.

Waiting until Balthazar would take a seat - or indeed remaining standing as well if the Father was inclined not to - the cocoa-skinned novice rested her weapon of choice on the table and gazed at their mysterious tube, nodding towards Thorne to open it.