Assignment 2 - Meeting

JP with mdman, Redsword, Jaxx, Lucian, Lasersexpanther, Lorem and Cindy

Monday, June 10, 1889
Elizabeth's Estate - Paris
10 AM

The grey folder sat in front of Elizabeth, they hadn't had a mission in a month and now - we'll it didn't leave a lot of time. The team leader had a suspicion the Baron might have done this on purpose. It was what it was..

Elizabeth walked out to the hallway, she sent a few servants to tell the members of the team to meet in the large sitting room in an hour, giving enough time.

An hour later, Elizabeth sat in the sitting room waiting on the team, as she looked over the folder again.

Sasha was found in the courtyard practicing with a crudely forged but razor sharpe splitting ax. Keeping her skills sharp was paramount since plenty here could not defend themselves and if it were just here and Cronk here again and things were not quite like they were she'd need to be ready.

She was retrieved and followed the servant leaving the ax by the back door and making her way to the sitting room.

"Good morning Lady Elizabeth." She said with a bow.

Vor was still busy moving about his new office when he was alerted to the meeting. He had been quite the sight of industry transferring the necessary books and parchments once scattered in his library corner and room into the graciously given space, lending a calm organization to his mind.

While still having reservations about having any further dealings with the Children, he had to admit the time away from the action had rejuvenated his desire to see the work done, though he remarked to himself that he hadn’t even been told the nature of their new mission. This only added to his eagerness to begin as he joined Elizabeth and Sasha, taking his seat after a polite bow to them both.

Lorem’s presence around others over the last month was sporadic. She was like a meerkat popping up out of multiple tunnels, appearing here and there and all over the grounds and interior of the estate. A staff member might think they were alone in a room and suddenly realize they were sharing it with a gnome. Then moments later discover she was gone. A team member might be in their room and think they saw her, only to blink and there was nothing there. Ever since she installed the security system, she had this uncanny ability to get from point A to point B seamlessly.

It was all in the pursuit of tweaking, monitoring, correcting and improving on the security system. Though as the month waxed on, and the staff had been throughly trained, the tinkering engineer became even more scarce; save formal meetings and meals.

The workshop became a menagerie of interesting sounds that would make one think that a mad scientist was inside. Now with the security system off her plate, save a fix or checkup here or there, Lorem had time to devote to other projects. And without a mission in such a long span of time, these projects were more on the personal side at times.

As she entered, the petite gnome gave a curtsey to those present. As she took her seat, she immediately inquired, “Is it time to get back into action?”

Lily was found setting up her new office after training Clement to work in the mail room. Since she set it up properly for her replacement, young Clemont was able to learn the process rather smoothly and was answering the mail efficiently. Of course he still had to consult with Harold on the odd letter or two. At this point Lily now had a proper desk, chair for her and a guest, a phonograph record player, several records of orchestra music, organized filing cabinet, office supplies, a few small plants and some decor from her home. She was now hanging up a few pictures of her and her father on the wall along with a picture of her mother and father. She was starting a new chapter in her life in the Order under Lady Elizabeth and was free from the constraints of being an heiress and a werewolf. After being notified of a meeting by a maid, Lily thanked her and set her tools down before following her to the meeting room.

Dr. Jackal was once again working in his lab comparing notes from several copied research journals from the Order's Library to his research with his blood. Sadly most of it was not applicable to his cure but he did find some time saving methods for his experiments that he could use in the future. He sipped his coffee as he pondered a bit then rubbed his tired eyes. Then he smirked as he remembered the kiss from Lily. She was a very proper but aggressive young woman. Granted she was pretty, smart, a proper lady and an heiress, and any normal guy would beg to be her suitor, however Dr. Jackal could not understand why she kissed him and wanted to be by his side a lot. He didn't feel like he was the best choice in a companion since he was poor and cursed. If not for Lady Elizabeth and the Order, he would still be a destitute, cursed criminal on the run from the law. Then as he was about to refill his coffee he heard a knock at the door. After opening it to see who was there he was notified of a meeting with Lady Elizabeth. So Dr. Jackal put on his coat and hat then grabbed his cane as he followed the servant to the meeting room.

Mr. Sung was outside sitting on a table cross-legged meditating on his KI many things were going through his mind and he could feel everything moving around him even those in the house now that he knew them better. He could feel the sun on his face as the sun came up the flow of the lay line near the house where he drew some energy from.

Mr Sung stood to his feet and started a Yin-Yang Kata as his hands moved in a circular motion an orb of KI energy started to form in his hands The orb getting brighter over time. Mr. Sung trusted the ball into a stone pillar that cracked there was the sound of baking stones ringing out from the backyard.

He stood straight up looking at the pillar Sung knew he had to keep working on that technique He was missing his old mast right now there was no one to show him how to advance in this technique.

Harold came out of the house and walked up. "Master Sung, you are wanted for a meeting Sir," said Harold with a small bow. Sung returned his bow "Thank you, Harold, I will be in shortly." replied Mr Sung. taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Harold turned and walked back into the house.

Mr sung went to his room changed and washed up looking around his room before leaving. Went back downstairs to the team to meet in the large sitting room. walking in he gave his bow. Greeting Lady Elizabeth first then the others. He took his seat just in time for a cup of tea to be brought to him.

Cronk came strutting down the hallway to the sitting room. He was trying his best to whistle, but it was mostly just blowing air, which bounced of his tusks making a percussion sound. He was extremely happy and relaxed.

While half the team was away, when Cronk wasn’t busy with security details, he enjoyed the presence of sweet Camille, who pretty much was a mainstay in Cronk’s room, when not busy with her duties as a maid. Most of those duties pertained to Cronk and his room.

It was a time neither of them would forget. Many nights, it seemed a great ruckus was coming from the room. No one from the staff was brave enough to venture into the room. If they had, they’d be instantly blush at the sight that was transpiring between Cronk and Camille.

The rumors would spread the next morning, hushed whenever Camille entered the kitchen to attend to Cronk’s needs. She would simply curtsy and get what she needed, stopping by the dry stock for some cigars and bourbon.

So it was a happy orc that waltz into the meeting room. He eagerly, and surprisingly with grace, bowed to Lady Elizabeth.

“Boneyour!” the Orc exclaimed. (Camille had been working at teaching Cronk a few French words. He was attempting to say, Bonjour.) “Good Lady Boss back!”

Masao had gotten in late the night before, and hadn't gotten much sleep after getting back. Still wired from the night before, but he'd passed out sometime in the early morning and being on a loud ship the knocking didn't raise him. The maid had to get a key to his room and shake him awake. Luckily for her he was still dressed, as if he'd sat on the bed intending to take his boots off and just out like a candle.

Eventually the sound of clomping boots filled the sitting room as Masao swaggered in. "I apologize for the delay." he said, giving Lady Elizabeth a deep showy bow before taking his seat.

Elizabeth greeted everyone as they entered the room. To Lorem she nodded. She noticed Cronk's attempt at French. To Maseo, she added, "It is quite alright, this meeting came on suddenly."

The team leader glanced around for just a second before beginning. "As some of you have suspected, we have received our new assignment but before I tell you about it, let me explain. This just came to me, we are expected to leave in two days, and it is in Norway. Northern Norway, to be a little more precise, so I need everyone to be prepared that we will be camping." She had warned them before this was likely to happen. "We do have the equipment needed, which I will go over in more detail. Everyone will have an individual tent, a bedroll, and a canteen. We will have with us provisions, though I must say, it will won't be fancy. Miss Ipsum and Dr. Jackal, you will both have two tents, one for your personal tent and the other to work in. I do hope you have both been working on the travel packs of your equipment I asked you to arrange at our last meeting. Miss Ipsum you will need to bring the mechanical trinkets, I asked you to make, they might come in handy." Elizabeth paused. "The plan I have currently is to land in Oslo, Captain Maseo, we will need use of your ship and crew to get us there. We can take a few days to procure anything additional we need. I want to get some steam carts to travel the rest of the way in. I'm opening the floor to questions about travel or camping, I will get to the actual assignment once we’re done discussing this part of it.”

“Cronk home in Oslofjord,” Cronk announced. It was the main reason Cronk mispronounced the J[\i] in [i]bonjour. “Family help!”

"And I have relatives in the area, they should be busy preparing for the summer festivities, but still quite willing to lend a hand."

Vor was quite giddy at the idea of returning so close to home and while he may miss on seeing his parents, any family would be a gift from Metira to be around.

Lorem looked like she was trying to conceal a giddy enthusiasm behind her shy demeanor. She had been working on several things that were now going to get proper field testing. This included items that she was sure would captivate dwarves attention. In addition, there had been no mentioning of danger; just camping and working.

Lorem nodded to Elizabeth.

Dr. Jackal nodded as he replied, "Of course Lady Elizabeth." In reality he was very accustomed to roughing it. Before being recruited by Lady Elizabeth he was a homeless criminal living off of whatever he could find, be it trash, small animals, dirty water and plants. Oddly enough he learned that his demon blood somehow protected him from dangerous toxins, spores, bacteria and other things that would normally kill a person. So camping with supplies would be so much easier for him. However he still needed to pack his supplies and tools for his mission and this meant he was finally going to get to use the portable lab that was collecting dust in the corner of his lab. He also knew he needed to bring a portable coffee brewing kit as well. As he thought about it he had a lot of packing to do.

Lily replied, "Yes Lady Elizabeth as she liked the idea of a camping adventure. She had done it a few times in school but they camped on private property with no dangerous animals so it was a bit different compared to this mission. However she was excited to travel to Norway and see the sights. She looked at the good doctor and wondered if he was looking forward to it as well.

Sasha simply nodded, this was something she did often enough when hunting larger prey.

Masao shrugged, "As promised my ship is at your disposal so long as everyone pulls some sort of duty on board. It's a big ship with not a lot of crew, so extra people just standing around won't do." he said, "But all that said we'll need twelve to twenty or more hours to get ready to head out." he said.

There was a squeak of excitement from Lorem that came out like a steam whistle that built up too much pressure to contain. She quickly tried to suppress it and flushed in embarrassment. The thought of getting her hands on the interior mechanisms of another airship was splendiferous.

Dr. Jackal smirked at Lorem as he replied, "It sounds like you are excited to test out your equipment Ms. Ipsum. I take it you have equipment already available?" The good doctor didn't want to embarrass Lorem so he mentioned her technology that they would be using.

Cronk looked at Masao, his face turning green. “Rather walk!”

Masao heard Lorem squeak, "Ok okay I get you love gizmos and gadgets, and I like that about you...But you will have to listen to Gimbal. He's the only one on the ship that knows how to be safe in the guts of the ship, and I've grown fond enough of you to not want you to get pulled into a cog of some sort.”

"The Baron wants us traveling in two days." Elizabeth stated, mostly to Maseo. "But yes, I am sure the team can find some way to make themselves useful for the few hours we'll be on your ship. I estimate the trip should take about 17 hours or so, maybe less." Elizabeth was allowing for certain variations in the flight and, purposely, overestimated the time.

"Mr. Cronk, you will be fine. I can ward you against getting sick on the ship. That goes for anyone that needs it," Elizabeth explained.

Elizabeth went on, "Anything requested in the lists I was given has been acquired, if anyone needs anything else now is the time to say something.”

Lorem had never really spoken to Masao before so it caught her off guard being singled out. The best way to ensure that some gnomish fiddling didn’t happen, was not to let a gnome engineer on an airship in the first place. It would be like telling a chocoholic not to taste or touch any of the treats in a chocolate store. Lorem nodded in understanding, but it felt a lot more like a promise one might not intend to keep.

“Cronk thank Lady Boss,” Cronk enthusiastically said. “Also know bar owner. Get whiskey.”

Elizabeth caught what Lorem did and wanted to be certain, "Miss Ipsum, Captain Maseo did not say you could not help in the engine room, he just said you would be under the supervision of the one that knows that engine best. I would highly suggest not poking at engines you are unfamiliar with, besides if someone came into your workshop and started disrupting it, I have a feeling you would not be pleased. The engine on the ship is like Gimbal’s workshop.”

Elizabeth nodded at Cronk, she certainly didn't want him on the airship with no whiskey either.

Lorem put her hands in the pockets of her work dress to play with the trinkets she kept inside. She actually had a witty comeback, but decided it was best not to come across as stubborn and rebellious. The little gnome merely frowned, about the opportunity cost and thinking she would have only made it better. Which is typically what a gnome thinks even when they fail. She would respect Gimbals workshop, that would be the proper and honorable thing to do for a gnome.

Lily smiled at the conversation then asked, "Lady Elizabeth? What are we doing in Norway?”

Cronk padded Lorem upon the top of her head. “It okay Pretty Flower! You get chance.”

Elizabeth looked at Lily, "I will explain that when we're done discussing traveling." She wanted to be sure everything was addressed in that before moving on to the next thing."I am predicting we will need three carts. One of these will be Orc sized." Elizabeth was making sure Cronk knew that. "I have heard that while the carts are good for traveling over more rugged, hilly terrain, Norway is behind in their technology compared to Paris and London. So, traveling in them might be a little bumpy.”

Lorem’s head bopped down and up from the mere weight of Cronk’s hand. It felt like an oversized padded helmet petting her, his large hand palming her petite head. After he finished, she looked up and smiled at him. “Thank you Cronk.”

Elizabeth felt that more could be addressed as they went on with the meeting. "Our assignment will be in the northern part of Norway. There is a dwarf village that went missing. Everyone, except one young girl, disappeared overnight. King Hakkon and Queen Maud have asked for the Order's help in finding out what happened to the village.”