6 hours ago, ThenDoctor said:

((Is Ariel interested in the more feminine aligned clothing?))

((moreso the fabric and the colours, than the actual dresses -- they'd be impractical in combat, but the cloth is nice to look at. perhaps a shawl might be nice...))

((I r rally can’t remember if there was anything else I was thinking about the shopkeeper to write ))

Moving away from the disturbingly heavy saleswoman, the Novice puts the additional ammunition her new weapon had come with in a pouch with her las charge packs. She would not be able to hide the autopistol while wearing her armor, but if she removed it she’d be able to keep the weapon beneath her clothes more or less, she figured.

Estelia rejoins the others and moves into the shop. After some consideration, she removed her weapon belt and adds the autopistol behind her right laspistol, shifting the largest weapon forward. As she puts the belt back on, she notices several people from the street glancing her way. The Novice supposed she was a bit of a sight now.

She sees Ariel is looking at the clothes in the store they had entered. They seemed entirely impractical, but if they needed disguises to go to the upper hive . . .

Balthazar makes his way into the store, looking with bemusement at the clothes on display. Thaur is not known for its vibrant fashion scene, and as a priest he was never accustomed to dressing up in anything but his black robes. He is slightly surprised to see so many possible options on display.

((I'm ok with progressing to the meeting with our contact here.))

On 7/27/2018 at 9:43 PM, Lynata said:

((moreso the fabric and the colours, than the actual dresses -- they'd be impractical in combat, but the cloth is nice to look at. perhaps a shawl might be nice...))

On 7/28/2018 at 9:03 AM, Servant of Dante said:

She sees Ariel is looking at the clothes in the store they had entered. They seemed entirely impractical, but if they needed disguises to go to the upper hive . . .

On 8/3/2018 at 7:47 AM, Covered in Weasels said:

Balthazar makes his way into the store, looking with bemusement at the clothes on display. Thaur is not known for its vibrant fashion scene, and as a priest he was never accustomed to dressing up in anything but his black robes. He is slightly surprised to see so many possible options on display.

Out of the back of the shop comes a young shorter woman, about 5 1/2 ft ((1.65m)), her dark skin similar to Ariel's though vibrantly different in terms of dyed purple hair and fingernails the colour of the spectrum along with white brown and black. Across her blue eyes, well one of them, is an ancient magnifying lens set in a copper wire manacle piece. She stops a moment, surprised to see customers different than her usual, but she bows flourishing her Oath Cog which has surprisingly few cogs in it painted in pastels.

"Honoured guests, welcome to my humble shop, how may I be of assistance?" she turns up from her bow and examines the group. "A new set of robes? Jacket not hanging flatteringly enough of your frame? Perhaps a refitting for the belt and holster? or...a formal event for which the young girls require dresses?" She asks the final questions to Balthazar.

Momentarily taken aback, Ariel turned to face and stare at the merchant. She had never seen a human being with such colours to her body, and though the first impulse of the voice in her back was to suggest mutation, she quickly recalled having heard of means to change one's appearance in such a fashion, and how this was supposedly a popular thing to do in some circles of the noble castes.

The moment stretched to become an awkward pause, causing Ariel to blush uncharacteristically, before she quickly returned the bow with less elegance, but hands folded to form the Imperial Aquila. The duster largely concealing the simple but high-quality bodyglove did indeed look somewhat old and frayed, and intentionally so.

Lips moving to form a reply, the girl swallowed her words as she noticed the questions being addressed at the priest, albeit for possibly all the wrong reasons. Then again, a part of her was mischievously curious how Balthazar would react.

The woman’s appearance was indeed strange, but so were the appearances of many they had seen. The Novice supposed this is the kind of thing that was meant when they were told the convents and Scholas were more strict in their conduct than the Imperium at large.

More thinking out loud than anything else, Estelia says, “I don’t think I’ve ever worn a dress before, those are the ones with all that fabric hanging from the waist and no real pants right? Can they be made out of bulletproof weave? I can’t imagine trying to jump in something like that.”

”Although that color is pretty” she points to something hanging in the shop that’s a fiery orange color, it might be a dress or it might not be.

Realizing what she was doing, Estelia stopped herself and waited for the Father to answer the questions directed at him.

9 hours ago, Lynata said:

Lips moving to form a reply, the girl swallowed her words as she noticed the questions being addressed at the priest, albeit for possibly all the wrong reasons. Then again, a part of her was mischievously curious how Balthazar would react.

7 hours ago, Servant of Dante said:

Realizing what she was doing, Estelia stopped herself and waited for the Father to answer the questions directed at him.

((Only the last question was explicitly addressed to Balthazar))

1 hour ago, ThenDoctor said:

((Only the last question was explicitly addressed to Balthazar))

((mean! you wrote plural! ))

24 minutes ago, Lynata said:

((mean! you wrote plural! ))

((First suggest was Balthazar, second was you, third was dante, last one was a question to Balthazar about you two ;P))

14 hours ago, ThenDoctor said:

((First suggest was Balthazar, second was you, third was dante, last one was a question to Balthazar about you two ;P))

((I was referring to the wording of "question s ", but I now have a hunch it was just a typo. I'll let it rest, gomen! ))

((ah I missed that))

"Well, I suppose this belt is a bit crowded," Estelia fingers the bit of rope holding the flintlock to her waist, it was certainly not ideal, "I don't know how a person would normally carry something like this"

She draws the weapon, holding it up so the woman can see it. "however, I believe that's not exactly why we're here?" She looks back to Father Thorne.

"Yes, although your selection is quite impressive we are not here for a new pair of dresses." He pulls out the handkerchief they brought with them and shows it to the woman. "This is a handkerchief belonging to Lady Rosalind Novianna,a member of the nobility here at Port Gyre. We are looking to contact her on some personal business but cannot seem to contact her. She at some point was in possession of this handkerchief, and I understand it may have some special significance. That is why we came here to you, as I understand you are very well versed in all the sartorial arts."

On 8/8/2018 at 9:49 PM, Lynata said:

Lips moving to form a reply, the girl swallowed her words as she noticed the questions being addressed at the priest, albeit for possibly all the wrong reasons. Then again, a part of her was mischievously curious how Balthazar would react.

On 8/10/2018 at 11:40 AM, Servant of Dante said:

She draws the weapon, holding it up so the woman can see it. "however, I believe that's not exactly why we're here?" She looks back to Father Thorne.

10 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

"Yes, although your selection is quite impressive we are not here for a new pair of dresses." He pulls out the handkerchief they brought with them and shows it to the woman. "This is a handkerchief belonging to Lady Rosalind Novianna, a member of the nobility here at Port Gyre. We are looking to contact her on some personal business but cannot seem to contact her. She at some point was in possession of this handkerchief, and I understand it may have some special significance. That is why we came here to you, as I understand you are very well versed in all the sartorial arts."

((TIL Satorial is a word relating to tailoring lol))

Cassa looks at the handkerchief and chuckles quickly to herself, "Well yes, I hope I know about them. I'm the only one that makes those handkerchiefs." She turns around and rummages through a few bolts pulling one out of the same blue fabric, "Special order of the Consortium only from a dye they, or...I think it's them, have shipped in. I'm just told who to order it through honestly. I've been given a proprietary creation oath." She lightly taps a cog colored as the same peculiar blue as if that explains the situation.

"I don't know who receives the materials though, I just make the pieces and someone picks them up when I've filled an order that I leave at a designated drop off location. Novianna...the name sounds familiar, but, well, I'll be honest while most of my clientele are nobility I don't try to get that familiar with them, it invites too much politics into one's life," she looks like she's sorry she can't help much further, "unless there's something else about it you'd like to know?" while waiting for the group to reply she absent-mindedly reorders some bolts of cloth into a pyramid shape.

“Do you know who delivers the dye to you?”

Casually inspecting some of the pieces of display, Ariel adds: "A drop-off? Are transactions with your buyers usually conducted this way?"

On 8/17/2018 at 12:49 AM, Servant of Dante said:

“Do you know who delivers the dye to you?”

She shakes her head and her colourful hair sways slightly, "No, just one of the no name runners who're all around Port Gyre, as you can see it's a pretty busy place. Groups vie all the time for jobs here and there, and mine moreso since they know I can tip pretty decently working so closely with the nobility."

13 hours ago, Lynata said:

Casually inspecting some of the pieces of display, Ariel adds: "A drop-off? Are transactions with your buyers usually conducted this way?"

She snorts a little again, "All nobles are different, some are personal, some I've never even met, refusing to be so close to the lowborn. The Consortium doesn't exactly have a head, they're a conglomeration of families with a semi similar set of business interests. What one part is up to another has no idea of or may not even care. I make the material to their specifications and the job order generally includes a way to get a hold of a specific representative of the merchandise who tells me where to get it to someone. The people that pick it up are no names in the normal Consortium getup." She shrugs.

"An interesting mode of business."

"Interesting, but unlikely to cause many referrals or further business. Could we have the contact information for this representative?"

On 8/19/2018 at 5:24 PM, Lynata said:

Casually inspecting some of the pieces of display

She smiles seeing Ariel's interest. "See something you like? I think the one over there," she indicates over to a dress that probably registers no different than an other, though is made of a fabric that mimics the night sky with some sort of accents that look like shining stars, "would look nice on you, maybe get rid of the frills though."

On 8/20/2018 at 9:14 PM, Servant of Dante said:

"An interesting mode of business."

She shrugs, "Someone's got to move things around, they've been doing it since Desoleum was founded, I don't see the upside of having slaves do it versus someone getting recompense. It is expensive though, the dye not the tipping, so it's got to be off-world or maybe just difficult to make. I make up the cost of acquiring through what the Consortium pays for the handkerchiefs."

11 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

"Interesting, but unlikely to cause many referrals or further business. Could we have the contact information for this representative?"

She looks quizzically at Balthazar, "Nobles refer me to other nobles when they show off my work, you know how they are, can't keep themselves from bragging. I don't need a lot of referrals to stay in business with the wealth of my clientele and I am kept abreast of current fashions across the sector along with making my own. Being part of the Consortium has nothing to really do with it, nobles are, or aren't, part of the group getting some worth through one piece of it or another is really just getting work from any other family of nobles."

She brushes some dust off of one of the bolts and puts the special dyed cloth away shaking her head, "I can't give away information like that, I'm not sure it'd be of much use either way, the information isn't any more than a vox code, and it's different per batch."

((Note you, meaning any of you, may try to convince her a couple of ways:

- You can pull rank by revealing your inquisitorial connections - do remember that you were at least asked not to, but it's an option.

- You can try to influence her with paying for the information with a Influence (-10) test

- You can attempt to convince her socially with Charm (-20), Deceive (-10), or Intimidate (+10) ))

15 hours ago, ThenDoctor said:

She smiles seeing Ariel's interest. "See something you like? I think the one over there," she indicates over to a dress that probably registers no different than an other, though is made of a fabric that mimics the night sky with some sort of accents that look like shining stars, "would look nice on you, maybe get rid of the frills though."

The incognito novice blinks at the merchant's suggestion, her eyes wandering to the piece pointed out. Weirdly, the girl feels both interest and skepticism welling up inside her; the indoctrinated church-warrior critically judging the cut's impracticability, whereas the child in her cannot help but admire the colours of the cloth.

She takes a moment too long to pull herself away from the merchandise. "We travel a lot..", she tries to form an excuse, apparently unwilling to just brush the vendor off, before going ahead and demonstrating her lack of expertise in matters of fashion: "I fear a robe like this is not much suited for the streets."

Slowly moving closer to Balthazar, and if possible Estelia, she proceeds to whisper more mission-critical thoughts towards her companions: "We might try and observe, see if we can locate drop and courier by lying in wait."

The idea to further work the merchant does not even occur to her at this stage, but perhaps more experience in the area of covert investigations would have her realize such options in the future. At the very least, she understands the need for secrecy, and has just formulated a plan for an alternate approach.

(Whispered to the others) “what should we do? I don’t want to upset her.”

((of those checks Intimidate is the one that would have the highest chance of success for Estelia at 40%))

((Rolling Charm -20 test, target number 33; after a reroll from a fate point, got an 08 for 3 DoS. Balthazar wanted to try and do things diplomatically before using intimidation.))

Balthazar smiles at the clothier and responds, "Even if it is just a vox code, it could help us locate Lady Novianna. I'm sure the nobles wouldn't mind if you told us a minor detail like that." He then leans in closer, and in a mock-conspiratorial stage whisper says, "And I simply must know where to get that dye! It's exactly my color of blue."

On 8/26/2018 at 12:32 AM, Lynata said:

She takes a moment too long to pull herself away from the merchandise. "We travel a lot..", she tries to form an excuse, apparently unwilling to just brush the vendor off, before going ahead and demonstrating her lack of expertise in matters of fashion: "I fear a robe like this is not much suited for the streets."

"Depends on which streets you're walking I suppose, some gala ballrooms are large enough to require transportation to get around in. From what I hear at least, never been in one, nobles don't exactly invite their clothier to parties." She takes no offense seeming in the denial and leaves Ariel to her gazing.

On 8/27/2018 at 7:36 AM, Servant of Dante said:

(Whispered to the others) “what should we do? I don’t want to upset her.”

On 8/26/2018 at 12:32 AM, Lynata said:

Slowly moving closer to Balthazar, and if possible Estelia, she proceeds to whisper more mission-critical thoughts towards her companions: "We might try and observe, see if we can locate drop and courier by lying in wait."

10 hours ago, Covered in Weasels said:

((Rolling Charm -20 test, target number 33; after a reroll from a fate point, got an 08 for 3 DoS. Balthazar wanted to try and do things diplomatically before using intimidation.))

Balthazar smiles at the clothier and responds, "Even if it is just a vox code, it could help us locate Lady Novianna. I'm sure the nobles wouldn't mind if you told us a minor detail like that." He then leans in closer, and in a mock-conspiratorial stage whisper says, "And I simply must know where to get that dye! It's exactly my color of blue."

((It's actually 4DoS, DoS in DH2 are determined by subtracting the tens digits of the roll versus the target so 3-0 is 3 and you get 1 base DoS. Regardless you had more than enough lol))

She smiles and laughs lightly to herself her dark face blushing, "I...guess it can't exactly hurt, but...you didn't get it from me! I don't need to go about messing up this contract, it's an important oath to me. Alright?" She states in a jovial manner, "I hope you find her, she seems important, I get having to do what you need for those above you." she taps her oath cog as if that's an answer.

((The group receives the vox code, Cassa at least verbally relates it to you and someone I'd assume records it, more plausible deniability this way for her.

At this point is there anything else you'd like to ask Cassa, or do in the Port Gyre area related to the investigation?

If not, what would you like to do with the vox-code? At least in relation to investigating it.))

Estelia whispers to the others, “Is there any way to link the code to a specific person or location without actually hailing it and letting them know we have it?”

Turning back to Cassa, the Novice asks, “There is a chance that I will have to blend in with higher society at some point, and all I have now is this,” she raps her flak plate with her fist, “and one of those,” she points at Ariel (specifically her robe).

“Do you have anything that would fit in in such spaces while not restricting movement too much?”

If there’s space Estelia will attempt a ‘simple’ backflip to demonstrate and pray to the Emperor she doesn’t fall on her face.

((45 Agility + 20 Acrobatics = 65 (flak is max Ag 50 but that doesn’t restrict skill bonuses iirc) Roll: 37 for 4 DoS))

1 hour ago, Servant of Dante said:

((45 Agility + 20 Acrobatics = 65 (flak is max Ag 50 but that doesn’t restrict skill bonuses iirc) Roll: 37 for 4 DoS))

((Not skill bonuses no, just the characteristic))