In another life Joe would have made for a good accountant thanks to his [
Meticulous] nature.
Blake’s watchfulness, spatial sense, and navigation skills combine into [
Knows Where It Is].
Blake’s and Joe’s fortunes twist and turn into a mingled conundrum, combining into a shared trait [
Fated]. When working together one will benefit while the other suffers from the whims of fate - this trait is always applied to make extremes of luck more pronounced.
Blake, having been used as a pack animal in the past has developed a [
Strong Back].
That would be a tie.
As an officer Joe has high grooming standards, [
Like a Proper Imperial].
Blake has a silky smooth and luxurious pelt thanks to his habitual Whiskas
® consumption, a sign of his [
Refined Palate].
Neither is very useful for grabbing stuff and running though...
A roll is made…
Joe’s loot rollMeticulous -1
Fated -1
Joe rolls 1. With a modifier of -2 he has scored the lowest possible value. The quality of loot will be Downright Terrifying.Blake’s loot rollKnows Where It Is +1
Strong Back +1
Fated +1
Blake rolls 6. With a modifier of +3 he has scored the highest possible value. The quality of loot will be Extraordinary Find.
MEANWHILE…
You hurry along the corridor as the ship's metal bowels groan and shudder around you, accompanied by only the clicking of you claws on the floor and the Wispfly illuminating your path. The strange, ephemeral ball of light bobs ahead of you in starts and stops like a ghost of an insect, unnatural and weightless. Whenever you try to touch the creature it withdraws just beyond your fingertips throwing loops in the air yet staying tantalizingly close as if playing a game with you. The fluttering of its blur of wings does not make a sound nor breeze, but you can
feel the metronome tick-tock beat of its flight at the base of your skull. Otherwise it seems harmless enough, and keen to have you following it.
Suddenly the Wispfly makes a full stop in the middle of the corridor and hovers in place like a signal light. You start hearing grunting and ladder climbing noises from a nearby maintenance duct, and soon after Benjamin pops up. He greets you with a wide grin, wiping engine grease off his flippers and looking mighty pleased with himself.
“The undership is busted!”, he says with a laugh. The Wispfly buzzes around him but he does not seem to notice. Maybe he cannot see it?
“Let's go find your big friend!” he continues.
“Are you sure you're okay with this?”, you say waving your arm at the undership. He has called it his home for who knows how long, after all.
He shrugs. “Yeah, the rest of the crew treated me like an idiot all the time. Benjamin mop the floor, Benjamin unclog the toilet, Benjamin get out of my way you fat useless lump…
screw 'em.” He crosses his arms and huffs like a petulant child.
You do not know what to add to that, so you nod and let him lead the way instead.
When you pass through a corridor leading to the engine room you start to hear muffled noises of slamming doors and shuffling of heavy feet from somewhere above you, carried over through the air ducts.
Benjamin looks startled. “Miss Vivian! Do you think it's the ghost? Did you see it?”
His hand seeks out yours, and without thinking about it you take hold of it. His skin feels coarse like sandpaper, but there is comfort in having someone stand next to you.
“N-no, I didn't... and I don't want to find out what makes that sound. Let's go already!”
You are not sure why you lied about meeting Rebis. Maybe it is something you wanted to keep just for yourself? Everybody around you seems to have their secrets, so why shouldn't you too!
The clanging noises come and go as the unseen person makes their way through the undership. You have a growing suspicion that they are also headed for the engine room, and you become anxious to see Francine before running afoul of the stranger, longing to see her big, warm bulk shambling down the dimly lit corridor. Benjamin has picked up your nervousness and tries to soothe you in his clumsy way, pointing out that the engine room is just around the corner, but it only serves to make you even more worried. She should have met you at halfway point already -
something is holding her up.
You clear the corner and run into Jan standing in the almost pitch black corridor, its guide lights either broken or turned off.
“Oh Viv, fancy meeting you! Do you come here often?”
“Jan? How'd you get on board?”
“Heh, it was simple for a resourceful guy like me. Let's just say I had to arrange some favors if you catch my drift.”
You can hear the heavy, shuffling steps coming closer. There are shapes standing in the shadows behind him.
“Jan, what kind of favors exactly? This is
important.”
“The kind where I release the prisoners and in exchange they carry me to their ship?”
The porbeagle crew blocks your path to the engine room and does not look amused in the least. Jan looks apologetic and eager to step aside if something dangerous happens. Benjamin has fallen silent and looks unsure what to do next -
aw crud, he is trying to think for himself.
