(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 6)

[Oldmansour]

>Nod. "With ya there."
>"Far as you know, you got any enemies here in town? Or anyone that would want to ground you?"

[DracoOmega]

>Nod. "With ya there."
>"Far as you know, you got any enemies here in town? Or anyone that would want to ground you?"

>"Not that I can think of," she says. 'least no one who would pull this kinda stunt. Suppose it's possible, though."

[Oldmansour]

>Can we douse for stamp glue? Or certain types of paper, or ink?

[DracoOmega]

>Can we douse for stamp glue? Or certain types of paper, or ink?

>Unless there was something extremely distinctive about it, effectively no.

[Oldmansour]

>"You'll have to forgive me for asking, but, you can vouch for your own crew, yes? None of them would be susceptible to bribes to pull this off?"

EDIT:
>"Or have the skills to pull it off, for that matter?"

[DracoOmega]

>"You'll have to forgive me for asking, but, you can vouch for your own crew, yes? None of them would be susceptible to bribes to pull this off?"

>"What, and strand themselves here, too? 'sides, the money we lose on this is comin' out of their pay, too. Wouldn't make much sense, really."
>She shrugs. "Doesn't matter, anyhow. I know my crew; this wasn't any of them."

[Oldmansour]

>"Alright, just had to cover all our bases. More possibilities we eliminate here, less running over town I have to do, faster we can be airborne."
>"Mind if have a look at the 'crime scene'? I'll check your harbormasters' place as well, see if I can pick up any clues there."

[DracoOmega]

>"Alright, just had to cover all our bases. More possibilities we eliminate here, less running over town I have to do, faster we can be airborne."
>"Mind if have a look at the 'crime scene'? I'll check your harbormasters' place as well, see if I can pick up any clues there."

>Murasa nods, though her expression is rather drab.
>"Not gonna find anything worth seein' at my place," she says. "I keep all the paperwork and junk in my cabin, and trust me I've been over the place enough times by now already; whoever took it didn't leave much trace to find."
>She gives a wry chuckle and shakes her head. "Nothin' was even out of place, 'sides that. Wouldn't have noticed if we weren't trying to ship out."

[Oldmansour]

>"Sounds like a pretty pro job."
>Do we know anyone that could pull that off?
>"Maybe someone just doesn't want you, or your cargo, in Val Razua."

[DracoOmega]

>"Sounds like a pretty pro job."
>Do we know anyone that could pull that off?
>"Maybe someone just doesn't want you, or your cargo, in Val Razua."

>"Pretty much." She lets off another frustrated grumble.
>Most Seekers are acquainted with some part of the thief's trade, if only to spot its use by others, but this sounds a little beyond the aptitude of most you know. Marisa is certainly good at entering places where she's not wanted, but it's rather rare for her to leave them in the same state they were before her arrival. You don't know much about Lunasa's skill in that domain, but she's always seemed very detail-oriented, and who knows what Rinnosuke can do. But of the short list of people you know who might be capable of this, you can't think of any who'd be liable to actually try. You certainly don't know of any master thieves lurking about Braston, and if an export license is really all that was taken, you're probably not dealing with the usual sort of criminal.
>"Heaven forbid the city sees another papaya," she replies dryly.

[Oldmansour]

>Laugh.
>"Yeah, it's a produce-hater conspiracy!"
>"But seriously, that's all you're hauling, fruit?"

[DracoOmega]

>Laugh.
>"Yeah, it's a produce-hater conspiracy!"
>"But seriously, that's all you're hauling, fruit?"

>"Fruit, coffee, rivets, some fresh-harvested wynswort and shimmergrass. I can show you a copy of the manifest if you want, but I don't think you're gonna find anything too interesting on it."

[Oldmansour]

>"Still couldn't hurt."

[DracoOmega]

>"Still couldn't hurt."

>"Fair enough," she says, a hint of a tired sigh trailing her words.

[Oldmansour]

>"I know, I know, but if there's one thing I've learned in my time, it's that ya never know where you'll find clues and leads."

[DracoOmega]

>"I know, I know, but if there's one thing I've learned in my time, it's that ya never know where you'll find clues and leads."

>She shrugs. "Well, like I said: if you wanna see it, you can. Not like I've got better things to be doing at the moment."

[Oldmansour]

>"I presume that's still aboard ship?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I presume that's still aboard ship?"

>She nods. "Yeah."

[Oldmansour]

>Polite incline of the head. "Lead on, then, captain."

By the way. For those of you wondering why I haven't been around as much over the past week, Xmas hours at my work started. I've had the past couple days off, but the week before was shot, and I've got another few days left ahead of me before D-Day. Which means I won't be around as much the next few days, either.
Which also means that, don't wait for me to move things along, if'n yall wants. My plans thus far were to have a look around the 'crime scene' on the boat, maybe douse for magic traces, though Murasa indicated that might not get us far, and then check that harbormaster's office, assuming she lets us. After that, at the moment, I got nothin'.

[DracoOmega]

>Polite incline of the head. "Lead on, then, captain."

>"Ah, may as well." She lets out a deep breath and stretches, cricking her neck to one side. "Ok, c'mon."
>She sets off towards the Blue Maiden. Her gait has an oddly indolent air to it, but is still fairly brisk. She leads you over to the ship's berth and up a telescoping metal gangway to the main deck. A fiery redhead reclining casually against the deck railing tilts her head towards Murasa as she boards and gives a perfunctory salute, little more than a flick of her hand.
>"Cap'n."
>Murasa returns the gesture with a nod and keeps on walking. As you follow along, you catch the redhead following you subtly with one eye, an odd suggestion of a smirk of her face.

>The deck of the ship is a largely open affair, with the wheelhouse on an elevated structure at the aft, and a small deckhouse with stairs descending below deck towards the fore. A large hatch, presumably for cargo loading, is roughly in the middle. Murasa leads you down a short flight of stairs to a door at the base of the wheelhouse structure, then reaches into her pocket and pulls out a key on a short chain. She gives it a little twirl then puts it in the lock and swings the door open.
>"Well, here's the place," she says, stepping inside. "You got some trick for figuring out who's come and gone in the last couple days, you knock yourself out."

>You enter into what you assume to be the captain's cabin. It is a modestly spacious affair ringed with narrow reinforced windows along the walls that border on the ship's exterior. To one side is a square wooden table on a drab red throw rug, flanked by a pair of l-shaped benches with high backs. A few empty glasses and and a pack of playing cards lay strewn across it. To the other side is a large desk with a small scattering of papers and charts on it. Against a nearby wall rest several stolid chests and what looks to be a liquor cabinet. There is a second door along the back wall, perhaps leading to her sleeping quarters. The room somehow manages to look simultaneously spartan and untidy, which is rather a neat feat when you think about it.
>Murasa moves over to the deck and starts brusquely sifting through the drawers.

[Oldmansour]

>Examine liquor cabinet and contents.
>Does the cabin have a window?
>Produce dowsing rods.
>"Any members of your crew mages?"
>Appraise both doors' locks for signs of recent tampering.

[DracoOmega]

>Examine liquor cabinet and contents.

>The cabinet is a moderately-sized, yet stolid affair in dark-stained wood with a lighter filigree inlay. The doors are closed with a small silver latch that you discover is locked when you attempt to open them and examine the contents.
>Murasa glances in your direction and smirks. "Tryin' to get at the stash?"

>Does the cabin have a window?

>It has several, in fact. As clearly pointed out in the very first sentence describing the room.

>Produce dowsing rods.
>"Any members of your crew mages?"
>Appraise both doors' locks for signs of recent tampering.

>You produce your dowsing rods.
>"Not to speak of," she says, pulling a small bundle of papers out of the desk drawer.
>You double back and take a look at the lock on the door to the cabin. The locking mechanism is actually a bit more sophisticated than you might have expected and it takes you a little while to notice them, but a close inspection does turn up a few characteristic scratches on the mechanism's inner workings; It has definitely been picked at some point, though it would be hard to say for certain if this was recent. Examining the other door inside the cabin reveals a similar result. Whoever picked them did a very good job; you could almost have missed the traces of it entirely.

[Oldmansour]

>Hey, was bound to miss something after the past two weeks. Bit surprised Sour got five points there at all.
>Perhaps we should have spicified 'visually examine' cabinet.
>"How about... lockpicking skills?"

[DracoOmega]

>Perhaps we should have spicified 'visually examine' cabinet.
>"How about... lockpicking skills?"

>Perhaps.
>"Told ya I trust my crew," she says neutrally, "if that's what you're trying to get it."
>She takes a couple of papers from the bundle and hands them to you. "Here ya go - everything we're loaded down with now."

[Oldmansour]

>"Thanks."
>Parouse list.

[DracoOmega]

>"Thanks."
>Parouse list.

>For a moment, you consider parousing the cargo manifest, but then decide this is a silly idea and peruse it instead. It takes a little time to decipher some of it, due to the amount of unfamiliar shorthand involved, but at least the handwriting is clear. The contents do seem to be more or less as Murasa said; there are substantial quantities of fruit of various kinds, coffee beans, enough rivets to build a larger ship than the one you're standing on at the moment, the herbs she mentioned, as well as a few other mundanities like wool and leather from Northswald and a small quantity of boots and gloves. None of the items are especially exotic - the herbs are probably the most valuable by volume, but hardly precious - but in the quantities listed, there's a significant amount of money tied up in this shipment and most of it in perishables.

[Oldmansour]

>There's a difference between parouse and peruse?
>"I believe you when you said you trust your crew, captain, I'm just trying to be thorugh." Or however you spell that damn word.
>"But that begs the question, and this is gonna sound weird, but... Have you ever had cause to pick your own door locks?"

[DracoOmega]

>There's a difference between parouse and peruse?
>"I believe you when you said you trust your crew, captain, I'm just trying to be thorugh." Or however you spell that damn word.
>"But that begs the question, and this is gonna sound weird, but... Have you ever had cause to pick your own door locks?"

>In that one is a word and the other is not, yes.
>She waves a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah." It's thorough
>"Not these ones, anyhow," she says.

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, then, somebody got aboard your ship, into this room and that one," point to her chamber door, "and off the ship again without anyone noticing. Because these locks have been tampered with."

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, then, somebody got aboard your ship, into this room and that one," point to her chamber door, "and off the ship again without anyone noticing. Because these locks have been tampered with."

>She nods grimly, not looking very surprised by this. "Well, whoever it was took the license papers right out of this room, so I figured they must have. 'course, I don't really know when they took 'em; I don't exactly check the paperwork every day. Only noticed when we tried to leave port and got told we weren't cleared to go."