Sneaky Smuggler Sails a Sea of Sorrows (Cliffracer)

[Mashugana]

(Char sheet)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

NAME: Aosoth ur-Zarad
AGE: 26 (Presumably, she lies on forms)
SEX: F
APPEARANCE: Aosoth is a tall and imposing red skinned woman, sharing a lot of classical traits with what humans would call "demons". Just under seven feet tall, muscular, and bearing two pairs of ivory horns- a large forward-facing set above her temples and a smaller downward-curling set a bit behind her ears. Her left arm has been replaced with a sophisticated bionic arm, for the most part either silver or black with some minor customization here and there. Aosoth's build is pretty curvy-looking, mostly due to having a narrower waist and hefty chest, but her thighs are damn thick as well.

When she's not in some kind of body armor, Aosoth likes dressing in tank tops to keep cloth out of the way of her bionics, and will usually try to avoid skirts when it comes to legwear.

BIOGRAPHY: Aosoth was a spaceborne kid, her dad being a scientist and her mom someone who fell in love with him. She was raised strangely, her parents quite competently raising her when they had the time, but for the most part she ended up getting most of her upbringing from others around the station. By the time she was a teen she'd already had a bit of a reputation for being a thug, which her mom was trying to nurture towards a... productive lifestyle. If not bounty hunting like she does, something that'd put those tendencies to use.
Aosoth instead found that she rather liked doing jobs that skirted the law. At first she was muscle for some 'tax collector' types, but she got bored of staying so still, so she managed to make a good enough sell for herself to end up as muscle for a crew of smugglers. Rather early on in this career, she started realising an upgrade would really cement her usefulness, so after some serious lying to her parents, she managed to put together the pay she'd made and some extra cash from her folks to fund one hell of an upgrade. Gave her a good punch, and she had an edge for moving cargo, too.

STRENGTH: 8
PERCEPTION: 5
ENDURANCE: 8
CHARISMA: 6
INTELLIGENCE: 6
AGILITY: 4
LUCK: 3

It's a decently warm night at sea aboard the medium sized Strider vessel known as the Kipchak, captained by one Debreny Vishprik and his merry crew of "honest" sailors and traders, the wind is good, so the Mist powered engine is cut for the moment and the sails are high, letting you save power and keep quiet at the same time as you journey towards the port city of Yulush. You and your crewmates have been working hard today, keeping clear of the Holy Nations' patrol boats as you move your somewhat questionable wares. Things have been rockier since the war between the Holy Nation and the Free Cities broke out, and you and your wallet are definitely feeling the strain, but hopefully this job will have a big payoff and you'll be able to have a bit of fun once your necessities have been paid for. You're on break at the moment, hanging out with a couple of friends and having a drink and/or a smoke, shooting the shit.

"Man, hopefully we can get there by tomorrow. Getting sick of sleeping in a cot." One remarks, her lean and tall frame hunched over the railing as she takes a long drag off her pipe, the harsh smell of the pipe weed almost burning your nostrils as she blows it away from your group and out to sea in a ring. "Cap's been irritable this last couple weeks too, dunno what his problem is lately." she mutters, her belled earrings chiming on her pointed ears as she shakes her head gently.

"Ah c'mon Whip, the old bastard's probably just worried like usual is all." An older goatman remarks from his seat on the deck, pausing from his rather shoddy work of whittling to adjust his glasses briefly. "Once we've got this taken care of and he's gone to the brothel or whatever he'll have calmed down, right Red?" he asks, nudging you in the hopes of getting some backup.

[cliffracer]

Aosoth's been using a spare crate as a seat and 'enjoying' a cheap beer while the others chatted, admittedly a little more tense than she'd like with the metaphorical smoldering hole in her wallet and the not-so-metaphorical strain the captain's been feeling. Hard to avoid feeling it when on the job, but at least break time like this was a good way to vent some pressure and chill. She's in the middle of her last gulp when she's nudged, which gets a playful look out of her before she's done. "Cap catches you talking like that and he'll at least have a punching bag for the trip." She smirks and crushes the can, holding it under her boot for now. "Let 'im stress, long as we keep shit runnin' smoothly, we're helpin'. Haah, fuck knows I could use a whore about now, though. Tomorrow'd be great."

[Mashugana]

"Yeah, tomorrow would be nice. Looks like that'll be the case too, if the weather holds up." Whip responds, glancing up at the sky. Other than a few heavy looking clouds, things have been fairly peaceful, and with the sea not giving off any huge waves, it wasn't likely to stir anything up, whether that be official naval vessels, pirates or monsters.

The Goat who'd nudged you manages a half nod before speaking up. "Speaking of the cap, he's back up."

The captain is an older man, with hawkish features and a rough beard that was as iron gray as his hair. Two cracked, upward curving short horns sprout from either side of his head as his dull amber eyes scan you all briefly before settling onto you, and he appears to be considering something for a moment before approaching, the faint difference in the sound and volume of his steps betraying the fact that one of his legs is false as he approaches.

"Break'll be over in about five minutes, we'll need to submerge shortly to slip past some of the closer patrol lines. I'll also need to borrow you for a moment, 'Zarad. Got some instructions about some of the cargo that you'll be handling." he announces, nodding towards you as he fiddles with the rings on one of his hands, a nervous habit from the war.

[cliffracer]

Ah, and there's the captain now. Aosoth's been eager for something to do, and it looks like she won't be going disappointed. She gives a half-salute when referred to, already getting up when she's got her directions. "Meet you inside, Cap'n. Gotta clean up before we dive." Before she heads in, she's gotta make sure she's not leaving crates on the deck, even if there's nothing in them right now. It's a pretty easy matter for her to heft up her crate-seat with her bionic arm, so she waves to the others and heads in first just to get the stuff out of the way before she goes to link up with Captain Debreny. She's curious to hear what her conditions for this cargo will be, since it apparently isn't the usual "don't jostle violently" rule.

[Mashugana]

"Of course, I'll be waiting for you in The Back." The captain responds, nodding in approval as you bring the crates indoors and going to what was known as "The Back".

"The Back" was a chamber that was located, sensibly enough, in the back of the vessel's cargo hold. The entrance looked like an unassuming sort of wall, with all the usual nicks, dents and scratches that come from a lifetime's worth of being thrown about by storms and waves of all stripes, as well as the none too tender ministrations of seafarers. Take a close look, however, and you may notice that one of these cracks has a part that's big enough for a man sized humanoid to stick two fingers in and pull, revealing a subtly glamoured door in the wall that led to the chamber. It was here that the most dangerous or illegal items were kept, both for security reasons and for the obvious purpose of hiding them from an inspection. Nothing came in or out of The Back without Debreny's notice, and only you, him and a tiny, tiny handful of others on this vessel or off knew of it's existence.

Debreny was waiting there at the entrance, and when you came he wordlessly checked to be sure nobody was there with you before opening the hidden door and leading you inside, shutting it behind the two of you for secrecy as you saw what was stored here.

An urn, roughly the size of your forearm, with slightly thicker proportions was sitting by itself on a table. The thing seems to almost forcefully catch your eye as it appears to be mainly constructed of onyx, black as the depths of the ocean. There's detailing along the gentle slops and curves of it, etchings in white gold and pure silver, showing scenes of storms and massive waves, islands being claimed by seas, swirling vortexes of faces and creatures of the wild and the deep, with frenzied, staring eyes and faces that show a variety of emotions, from simple things like happiness and joy to simple psychotic rage and everything in between.

"This is our cargo." the captain says simply, walking towards it and stopping at an arm's length from it, like it was a bomb getting ready to go off. "It'll be delivered to a monastery on the outskirts of Yulush, you'll know it by all the flowers surrounding the damn place. Pretty, but it makes me miserable after a few minutes." he explains. You notice that his gaze never leaves the urn. "Now, the order says it's the funerary urn for someone, but I never got the specification as to who it was for. Just that it's supposed to go there, to the abbot, and that it's not to be messed with or opened, even touched without necessity."

Debreny turns to you.

"They offered eight million for this one delivery. Paid half of it upfront."

[cliffracer]

Ah, The Back. She was honestly honored to be one of the ones who knew about it, even if there was sort of a necessity for it thanks to her being the most suited for moving and protecting cargo. Still, she's already pretty good at acting natural when she knows it's time to head back there, and now was no different. Just another cargo check. Without being followed.

And hoo boy, this was some serious cargo. It wasn't every day that she got such an air of menace from pottery, but this thing's got an aura that's practically holding her by the shoulder. It has her perfectly alert when the captain starts explaining the circumstances surrounding it. Perfectly alert about how he can't seem to take his eyes off it while he's giving her the rundown. It practically makes her want to look away consciously to avoid whatever it was about the thing that seemed to be gripping him. Made sense why he was so stressed though, this thing was baaaad news. Needless to say, she's giving it more space than he is.

She almost has too-loud of an outburst hearing the price, but catches herself. "Eight mil?! And they gave us HALF already?! Hooh, that's... pretty serious dough for a pot to put your freaky gramma's ashes in." She risks another momentary glance at it. "Already feels like that thing's fulla ghosts or something, anyways. Gives me the creeps. We got a case I can carry this in, keep that lid on snug?"

[Mashugana]

"That's the issue. The specified that you shouldn't have a case." Debreny answered, his expression dead serious. This urn may be creepy as shit, but all that onyx, gold and silver in such elaborate work was absolutely going to attract attention, and some opium addict with a knife wouldn't care about the eerie nature of the cargo.

"You're supposed to carry this thing through the city streets, where the sunlight can hit it. There's also supposed to be people who try to take it from you, and you're supposed to resist them."

You're noticing a lot of "yous" and not "wes" here. You see him sigh, heavily.

"...And they want you to deliver it alone, without guards."

[cliffracer]

Every single word coming out of the Captain's mouth was making Aosoth's frown deepen just a little bit more, and she was looking like she was going through the stages of grief by the end of it. Still, she figured it wouldn't do not to remain calm about this, so she just takes a slow breath as she thinks about it. As tough as this will end up being, it's not the most impossible job she's taken. She just has to be clever about how she handles it, and make sure she's ready to deal with any thieves that might actually get past her. She's already considering a "no-mercy" stance.

"...Yeah, alright, I can handle this." She nods a couple times. It's pretty notable that she didn't say that in her usual confident tone- she did the math in her head this time. "As long as I won't be hounded about any hospital bills I might cause. I'm not even gonna play around on this one. If I've gotta drag a fool around by the leg to make a point, I'm goddamn gonna." She rests her hand on her hip. "All in all not the worst job ever. Touching this thing's gonna be the worst part if I'm bein' honest, buuut I think the rest I can deal with just fine."

[Mashugana]

The captain's stance visibly relaxed, and he gave a sigh of relief. "That's good, thank you Aosoth, knew I could count on you. I can't tell you exactly what, but I don't intend on having you be totally unsupported in this." he promises, the refusal to say what his help was was likely his way of trying to keep his word on the deal. "Ah...speaking of, you wouldn't happen to have any relatives or friends here, would you? They seemed to know you specifically."

Heavy footsteps in the main part of the hull told you that some of your fellow crewmen were wrapping up their work, soon the ship would be submerging for it's dive.

[cliffracer]

Aosoth nods some more. It's good that she's at least lifted some of the burden on the captain's shoulders, she at least could be proud of that. And hey, she won't be doing this TOTALLY on her own! Depending on the support she gets, at least. Keeping her in the dark about it DOES still fit within the wording- plausable deniability, after all. But... that question definately caught her suspicion. "Hrrrmmmhhh. No, I'm a spacer. If anyone who knew me was here, they'd probably be... an aunt on my dad's side I was never told about, or maybe some childhood friends that decided to join the cult lifestyle? This job just keeps getting weirder, huh?" She bobs her head side to side. Already looking forward to whatever the hell's going on there. "Anyways, if that's everything, I better clear out so you can close up."

Once dismissed, she figures she'll head back to see if there's anything left to help with before the dive. Maybe see if someone else wants her for something. Otherwise, time to relax!

[Mashugana]

The captain makes a small humming noise, mulling that answer and it's implications over. "Well, that's reassuring. If you want my advice? Take off running as soon as you get the money. This sounds like nothing but trouble."

With that, he dismisses you and prepares to lock up, and in a few moments you're able to leave the hidden chamber without any of the lower crew seeing. There might be a couple small things here and there, or people to talk to, but you could probably get away with just resting while the ship dives, this was mostly where the engineers and navigators would be doing the legwork. In a few hours you'd be at the port and making your strange delivery.

All in all, you were probably free until the ship resurfaced and you'd have to use the "official" colors and such for the sails to deter any officials and offload the cargo and the like, rest, prepare or talk to
some of the crew, a few were probably locals themselves, or at least pretty familiar with the city.

[cliffracer]

Normally Aosoth would be looking for any excuse to keep slacking and socializing, but the circumstances of the job have led her to decide resting and mentally preparing will be a better use of her time. Yet... better to at least go in with a bit of foreknowledge. Getting lost and ambushed would be a pathetic way to fuck up a job of this profile. Better to find someone she had a good feeling was from the place, that way she can get some directions to think about on her way up to the monastery. She does at least do her best not to run in to any of the busy crew, she isn't exactly compact. She's already had too many instances of turning corners and having people bounce off her airbags.

[Mashugana]

The first person that came to mind was Zilpah, a slim, short you're fairly certain she grew up in one of the seedier parts of town and could probably know her way around. You even managed to find her very shortly after looking for just a bit. Unfortunately, she was the one to collide into you, her head smacking straight into your chest and causing her to almost stumble and fall backwards before she caught herself.

"Fuck me, Ao! Those tits of yours should have hazard stripes painted on em'!" The sprite girl jokingly swore with a shake of her head, her earrings jingling lightly as she moved some of her shaggy, curly blonde hair out of her face to look up at you. "If you wanna have a smoke you'd best hold it, unless you feel like swimming." she noted, the low pitch of the descending siren starting to drone.

[cliffracer]

Aosoth was just starting to wonder where she might find Zilpah, with all the corridors of the ship to take in to account. Luck turned out to be on her side though, because it was Zilpah who ran in to her. Literally. She's glad she's not one of the more 'brick wall' folks on board, or someone's nose would be hurting. "Actually, was hopin' I'd run in to you, Zils. Besides this one. I've got some cargo work to do in this town we're comin' up on, and I wanted some advice on directions. You were from there, right?" She motions to take the chat to a side area, just so they're not clogging the hallways.

She considers what she'll be saying carefully... best to just talk about it like a regular job. "I'm gonna be taking some case-sized cargo out to the outskirts of Yulush and I'm not gonna be taking any quick alley routes, so I'd like to know how to get my ass through the city without gettin' a ride. Wanna savor some new scenery." She grins. Now for some diversion tactics to discourage questions. "Information doesn't have to be free if you don't want it to be, not like I've got shit to do until we're moored anyways."

[Mashugana]

Zilpah agrees to the suggestion and moves off to a small mess hall with you, a couple of other crewmen are there as well, but they're hanging out amongst each other and won't be paying much attention to your conversation.

"Taking a route by foot through town eh? Well, it's a good thing you won't be taking the alleys then. Liable to wind up with a much wider smile over something smaller than a case." the smaller woman remarks with a grim chuckle as she sits down at an equally miniature table, leaving her about head high to your hips. She pauses for a moment, mulling over the potential options as she hummed to herself."Alright, so depending on how brave you're feelin', there's mainly three routes. Simplest way is to just go straight down Main Street, locals call it Zanderghast Avenue for some dead wizard guy from ages ago, but it's crowded and busy since pretty much everybody uses the damn thing. Second route is to take a right and just go til you've reached the wall, then walk along til you reach the gate to the outskirts. That'll run ya into the more seedy part of town though, and you've got a higher chance of attractin' some nastier elements since the law doesn't like patrollin' there. Finally, and I know you said you don't wanna take any alleyways or shortcuts, but... You could try the underway. It's a series of catacombs, tunnels and the like, used to play in the shallower parts when I was a brat. Thing is, that place ain't watched at all, parts of it are flooded, and there's always the odd rumor about some monster eating people who go in trying to be sneaky." she explains, laying out the options matter of factly, before nodding to herself.

"As for payment, well... I am kinda curious if the devilish carpet matches the demonic drapes, so to speak." the sprite remarks, wagging her slender, long eyebrows at you in a manner that's both suggestive and fairly comical as she grins, showing off pearly white teeth and glittering green eyes.

[cliffracer]

By the sounds of it, she's either taking main street or this wall route, depending on how the sun will be hitting on the way there. She doesn't mind some rough characters, might make it more fun, but if the wall is blocking the sun then she can't be taking that path. The catacombs are a no-go for the same reason, but her curiosity's making it sound like fun for the way back. All in all it's close to what she expected to hear so it's nice to have some confirmation. She nods as well, smiling as her plan formulates. Looks like her idea to offer payment to avoid too much prying went off without a hitch, AND she won't be digging in to her pockets for it. "Heh heh, is that so? I think I could throw in a bonus since you were a good sport about hitting my crash padding. Unless you want the angle from under a table, we oughta go somewhere more private." She glances at the other crew members, then rubs her chin while she thinks about it. "Your preference, but I'll warn you, you're braving some of the best thighs on the ship if it's just the two of us."

[Mashugana]

"Hmm... well that's just a risk this brave sailor's gonna have to take." Zilpah responds, a greedy, hungry gleam in her eye as she tilts her head, not unlike a bird of prey in that regard. "And unfortunately for these schlubs, I ain't the type to share the view, or the mess. So your place or mine?" she asks, folding her hands together as she eyes you. You get the feeling that, for as small as she might be, this sprite's appetite isn't something to take lightly.

One of the crewmen glances your way, seeing Zilpah's expression. He doesn't say anything, but he does make a few small hand gestures towards you, sign language, perhaps.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Rolling perception: 8 vs 10, fail!

Hmm, either the mess hall was a little too dark, or his gestures were clumsy, but it doesn't seem like you can tell what he's trying to say. Either way, it's probably not important as getting your rocks off.

[cliffracer]

Aosoth affords the crewman a short glance, but whatever he's doing with his hands doesn't really get across to her. If he was trying to warn her about Zilpah, Aosoth gets the feeling she might already have a handle on just how thirsty she might be... And is ignoring the warning signs. There's a romp to be had, and what's the harm if she gets more than she bargained for, anyways? She hooks her real arm behind Zilpah's legs and hoists her up, mostly just taking the excuse to give her a shot at her chest. "Mine's at the other ass-end of the ship, so it'll be yours. Point the way, and there's no need to keep your hands to yourself." She grins. She had half a mind to just bury her head in her cleavage, but the need for directions and the tanktop in the way sadly make it not an option.

[Mashugana]

Zilpah lets out a surprised and delighted squeal as she's picked up, her wings flickering as she wrapped an arm around your neck and nestled close, her small chest almost pressed against your massive one. Laughing lightly, she gestured out the door and down to the left, towards a rather battered looking portcullis with green, crude lettering carved into it.

"Cap was really pissed when I did that, but not much you can do about a torch's burnmarks without shelling out money for a new door." the pixie snickered as an explanation, her hand wandering down for a good squeeze. "Damn, these things are so friggin' soft..." she mumbled, almost looking as disappointed about not being able to dive in face first as you are, but she settles for seeking out and tweaking your nipple through the fabric as consolation before continuing to grope and fondle your breasts ravenously, one crewman even stopping to take a look for a long moment before smiling slyly and entering his chambers.

Zilpah's door took some pushing, even for you, but the cause soon became clear as a small pile of clothes were shuffled to the side and crammed against the wall of the room, and you noticed that the bed was actually about as big as yours, which meant it took up half the space and was covered in jumbled up blankets and pillows, and even a couple of food wrappers, some of which you recognized as the wrappers that littered the upper deck at times. Huh.

"Well, mi casa you casa, or whatever that saying is. Let's get to some deep diving!"

[cliffracer]

Aosoth's more composed than to let just a boob squeeze get to her, but her breathing picking up is pretty obvious. She grins at the mumbled compliment. "Heh heh heh. That's one way to mark your territory, I guess." The rougher grabs and nipple attention, on the other hand, get a blush and some quiet gasps out of her. She exchanges that sly look with the crewman, sure he'll have something nice to think about later on. Kinda entertaining to think about honestly. The blocked-up door is no match for her robotic arm even if it does take her a couple good readjustments for leverage. "I can see how YOU get in through this door, but maybe you oughta think of keepin' some clearance for next time, eh?" She shuts it with her foot.

Aosoth chuckles and swipes some of the wrappers off the bed before she flops on her back so Zilpah can sit on top. Don't wanna crush her yet. "Ah-ah. Don't forget to take your time." She pops her tanktop off, and her (pretty nice, compared to how much she usually values clothes) bra is next. "I'm feeling pretty generous, after all. Go nuts, I can handle however you'd like to enjoy this." She sways her bare chest for emphasis, but is already working on her belt anyways.