111 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
111 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: 00043
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created: Mon, 19 Dec 2022 08:03:20 -0700
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updated: Mon, 19 Dec 2022 08:03:25 -0700
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syndicated: yes
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public: yes
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---
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### 00043 {#00043}
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> Pirates?! Again?! Alex groans, unfortunately he's run into this crew
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> of dastardly mostly cybernetic punks in the past. Nasty group back
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> home, always kept the precinct busy. Not necessarily with the
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> detective work, it was always a little obvious when they showed up.
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> They have a flair for the dramatic.
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>
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> Alex shouts to Inky & Jarrod "Come on, we need to get in one of those
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> balloons and fast!" he then darts off in the direction of the nearest
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> abandoned balloon in the market place, not looking to see if his
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> companions had followed him.
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>
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> *internally* I know these guys have pulled off smaller heists, they
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> could just be attacking the hotel to plunder riches from its guests.
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> They don't seem the likes of a retrieval team.. Then again, that
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> Blavin fellow has multiple teams working for him, and he doesn't seem
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> all too picky about how they get the job done, it wouldn't be
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> surprising if he'd hired some brigands hoping they'd get the gems
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> faster.
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>
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> Alex conjures up another bug, a stag beetle this time, and casts it
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> away at the pirate ship. It'll probably take some time to catch up,
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> but once it does we'll be able to keep an eye on the pirate's ship
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> and general actions, at least within line of sight of the bug.
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>
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> As Alex reaches the balloon he grabs the ruby hilted dagger and cuts
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> the mooring lines keeping it down, and jumps into the basket
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> preparing for take off.
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You spot a balloon that has already been knocked half loose of its
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mooring by the pirate attack. The basket is listing to the side and
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tugging at the one remaining rope tying it down Its owner scurries
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around in circles trying to secure it.
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The vertical panels of the balloon are all different colors, creating
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a brilliant rainbow pattern. The large woven basket is large enough
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for maybe three people.
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You leap inside, swinging the ruby hilted dagger at the remaining
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mooring line. The balloon owner cries out in dismay. The basket
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shifts beneath your feet as the balloon tugs it skyward.
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In the burner, a small sunspoke---a minor fire elemental---is merrily
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burning away, producing a modest flame that is hot enough to lift the
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balloon slowly above the market into the sky. There is a knob valve
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on the side of the burner to allow more oxygen to flow in, thereby
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feeding the sunspoke and encouraging it to burn more intensely and
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raise the balloon higher and faster. The valve is currently only
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about one third open.
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A pile of blankets in one corner of the basket---and that area of the
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basket itself---is covered in blood. Somebody injured in the pirate
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attack must have temporarily climbed into the basket looking for
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cover? As you're about to look away, something large-ish (small for a
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human, large for an animal) under the blankets shifts and moves.
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> Inky stares after Alex's sprinting figure before shrugging and
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> stepping towards one of the stalls selling sandwiches bowled over
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> by one of the large boulders. They place some loose change on the
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> stall's wooden sign that had tipped over on the ground and pocket
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> one of the sandwiches displayed inside an open chest oven. Next,
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> they pick up several of the scented candles scattered on the ground
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> by the crash, throwing some coins in the direction of the
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> disoriented vendor before continuing at a leisurely pace up the
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> steps to the hotel, taking in the balloonship and surrounding
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> scenery. The members of their merry party arriving first can hold
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> their own as well as the fort of a hotel.
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You do a little leisurely shopping as the vendors and other shoppers
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put out fires and tend to the injured. With a couple scented candles
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and a sandwich safely in your pocket, you start to climb the cloud
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steps, enjoying the scenery as you go. Bread and Confidence have
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quite a bit of a head start on you, and are nowhere to be seen. As
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the stairway winds around the mountainside, the market and its bustle
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recede from view, and soon you are quite isolated and alone.
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The majesty of creation is humbling here: the endless, roiling ocean
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of cloud; the towering mountain of rock. It's as though this was the
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creator's playground when they were still trying to figure out scale.
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Before they quite got it right for human-sized creatures.
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About halfway up your climb, it starts raining sheets of paper. You
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snatch one and read it. Some heroic fantasy about slaying demons and
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facing great peril. You grab another. A bodice-ripping romance.
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Another. A gourmand's food tour of Basmentaria, eating their way from
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coast to coast. A murder mystery whodunnit. An aetherwael handler's
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guide to interplanetary travel. How to grow your own fortified
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pumpkins. On the Care and Maintenance of Fortles. The Rise and Fall
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and Rise of Palace Runesocesius. Within a minute, you have fists full
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of an entire library's worth of snippets and passages.
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~
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It looks as though Alex will approach the hotel by balloon from the
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non-pirate side. And Inky's approach by stair will deposit them at
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the hotel entrance, roughly pirate-adjacent.
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WHAT DO YOU DO
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[www](https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00217.html)
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