Bunions and Flagons Part 1

Posted on Mon Jun 1st, 2020 @ 8:55am by Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*) & Fordyce Kirschler PhD & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein & Jinx Jorasco & Chief Helmsman Eden Bowers & Executive Officer Jake Ford & Liha t'Ehhelih

Mission: Mission 11 - Prospecting
Location: SS Mary Rose - Ward Room
Timeline: -MD03 20:00
1891 words - 3.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Jake looked around the paraphernalia laid out on the big table in front of him. Dice. Various padds. A low screen. A pile of replicated miniatures. A slight smile crossed his face as he took it in.

It had been years since he'd gotten involved in anything like this. Even when it had come up in conversation with Eden he was a little sheepish; it had been so long ago now -- back in his Starfleet days -- that he'd virtually forgotten half of it. And yet when she'd asked him to pull something together, he surprised himself with how enthusiastic he was with the idea. Of course, having Eden there to drum up the enthusiasm of others had helped.

He flicked over a few notes, waiting for his party to arrive. Strange how this sort of activity got lost in the advent of holodecks, where the immersion was far increased and characterisation was different.

Cassie looked at herself and then down at the padd that she had downloaded on what she would expect that evening. It was all confusing, if the biologist was honest. Was she making the right choice in her outfit? Was she even wise to go along? She glanced at the note that had been left in her lab that had convinced her to go ‘Sorcerers carry a magical birthright conferred upon them by an exotic bloodline, some otherworldly influence, or exposure to unknown cosmic forces. One can’t study sorcery as one learns a language, any more than one can learn to live a legendary life. No one chooses sorcery; the power chooses the sorcerer.’ She had no idea who had left it, but maybe someone would own up that night.

She stepped into the Wardroom and stopped as she saw that no one else was dressed up, and there was her dressed as a sorcerer. Her relatively simple blue dress flowed down to the floor, but had two long slits up either side that if she had moved correctly revealed boots. It was the headband and staff that she carried that created the biggest fuss. “I thought we had to dress up.” Cassie stammered, already turning to escape.

"Hey, looking good!" Burnie said, coming in behind her, sporting plate mail and helmet and dwarven battleaxe slung across his back. "For someone who hasn't played before, your cosplay is on point." He grinned at her, looked back over his shoulder at Liha. "See? I told you you should dress."

One Romulan eyebrow ascended in eloquent assessment of her opinion on that. "I am dressed. Like a normal person," she stated flatly.

"Eh, you're no fun." Burnie stuck his tongue out at her. "If a Vulcan can get into it, you have no excuse to be a stick in the mud."

"Cassie, you look beautiful!! Now I wish I'd dressed up." Given her character, that might have been a little difficult though. Eden, feeling like she was playing hostess, invited them both in. "I bet you're happy we did it here and not my quarters. Stan is safely tucked away there, though he might have been a bit of a distraction."

"I thought we were meant to," Cassie explained, with the embarrassment still written on her face. She actually felt less silly now that Burnie had appeared dressed up, but it was still a small number of people who had done so.

"Of course we're meant to. I mean, it's not required," he gave Liha a sour look - she'd only agreed to come if she didn't have to dress. "But it makes it more fun getting into character. Plus, how often do you have an excuse to look this cool?" He flashed a playful grin, striking a pose to show off his dwarvish armor.

Liha rolled her eyes. "You Humans have a very strange definition of looking cool...."

"Hey, it's not about looking cool," Jake inserted. "It's about getting into another character's shoes. Feeling more like someone else. I bet Romulans are pretty good at role-playing, right?" He grinned. "Pretending to be someone else? Staying in-character?"

Liha narrowed her eyes, the tell-tale tightening at the edge of jaw making Burnie tense to intervene. But then she leaned back causally, her expression switching to almost lighthearted. "Oh, yes." She smiled pleasantly. "For instance, right now you'd never know that I'm imagining dropping you into a world where you could spend thirty years with the Tal Shiar watching you constantly for any hint of disloyalty."

There was the scattering of claws on the decking as Zambi rushed in, darting between legs, and then Jinx entered behind the small, cat-sized raptor. She was dressed in leather armor and had a pair of real looking scimitars at her hips, and a recurve bow in her hand.

“You wouldn’t believe the amount of rewiring I had to do on the replicator to bypass the safeties to get it to let me make authentic Kisongo weapons,” she said, shaking her head. Her face was painted even more, not just with the two coup lines and her tattoo, but additional lines in red and blue as well, and her coup stick in her belt had been decorated even more. “Though I feel a bit sacrilegious. I haven’t earned this many coup marks yet.” She clambered up onto a chair, sitting with her chin at table level. She sighed and studied everything on the table. “What is all this stuff?”

"Oh, is that who messed with the one industrial replicator we have on ship?" Leaning against the door frame was Ryder Bray, a small satchel in one hand and personal padd in the other. "I'd ask that you probably not do that again. I had a small ball of fire of a woman come at me demanding I help her safeguard the whole area."

But he wasn't here to be a security officer today. Not when there were games to play. He plopped down next to Cassie, setting his bag down. "Do you have a set of dice? I've got extra if you don't."

"Excellent costume," Burnie said, nodding to Jinx. "But next time you need weapons, come see me. I've got pre-programmed templates I'm sure we can custom adapt for you." He put a bag with leather-worked runes on the table. "I've also got enough dice to share if anyone needs some, or there's a program to generate holographic dice on my padd if you prefer dice with a glowing eldritch effect."

Eden was practically pouting that Jake hadn't mentioned dressing up to her. She would have, of course, taken the challenge and made it completely her own. She sighed lightly and watched the others settle in in their bright costumes.

Jake looked around the room, counting heads. "Is everyone here?" he wondered aloud, still feeling a touch of tension at trying to help the group -- many for the first time. "Who are we missing?"

"Ford... I mean the other Ford," Cassie spoke up as she brought over a flagon of wine. "I thought this would be appropriate from my research."

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Jinx said. “In case we get thirsty.” She started picking up the dice. “These look nothing like the dice back home,” she commented. “This one looks dangerous.” She held up a triangular piece. “I wouldn’t want to step on it.”

The door opened to reveal Fordyce Kirschler, who seemed relieved to see everyone there. Like Cassie, he'd assumed they were supposed to come in-character, so he was dressed in appropriately holy-looking armor that he'd had P.E.A.R.L. help him fashion together. It was really just cleverly designed synthetic leatherwear, but it certainly had the appearance of the armor of some ancient order of paladins. It was an interesting choice for such a morally flexible person.

"I spent damn near ten or fifteen minutes lookin' for the holodeck. I do apologize," said Ford, reaching up to tip a nonexistent hat. "Readin' comprehension ain't one of my strong suits, and I had to reread the invite to figure out where I was meant to be."

"At least you made it," Burnie said, and rubbed his hands together, looking at Jake with an eager smile. "So, can we get started?"

"You bet we can. Gather round the table." He motioned for them to take their seats as he positioned himself behind the low DM screen. "If everyone is ready to go...we shall begin."

Cassie let out a sigh of relief as she saw that Fake Ford, as she now referred to him, appeared dressed very much like her. "I am glad you dressed up," she approved, taking her seat, and set about pouring wine. It was a recipe in the replicator that seemed appropriate.

"Tell ya what, I thought this was theater, sis," admitted Ford. "Ain't no turnin' back now though, huh?"

In his tunnel vision, Ryder immediately had his character sheet set out. Since the Armory Chief had brought up the idea, Ryder had the most enthusiasm for every little detail. Which ruleset were they following (as he had his own full set of the game's texts circa 2245, which was the most up to date at the time during his commission). He was quick to update himself as well, making sure to know the differences in spell saves vs. physical attacks. Honestly, he had read the books front and back before he finally decided upon his character, which he had asked Jake on multiple times about. “Is this god okay to worship? Okay, here's my character idea. Oh, I bet I can get Cass to come along. I'll make her a character.”

Truly, Jake had probably had Ryder at his most animated since the 2240s.

Without prompting, Ryder slid a small pouch of dice in the scientist's direction. "I picked those out special. Works best with the beautiful sorceress."

Cassie looked down at the purple dices and smiled her thanks to the man. "Thanks." She blushed a little as she started to hear people talking around her.

Liha looked from Ryder to Cass, then pointedly at Burnie. "If you dragged me to some weird Human mating ritual, I will kill you."

The statement did not sound like a joke, but he'd heard the threat enough to not feel extremely threatened. "Relax, Liha. It’s just a game."

She sat back, eyes shifting warily along the men at the table. "That's what I find concerning."

Eden was astonished. She didn't know anything about Cassie and Ryder. She didn't think she did. "Uh, no Human mating rituals here, we promise," Eden said as she gathered everything she had on her character and sat down next to Jake. "Let's just get started, shall we? Sit, sit, sit," she said quickly.

"Absolutely," Jake agreed. He clapped his hands together, a universal sign for shut up and listen.

OFF::

Eden Bowers
Chief Helmsmen
SS Mary Rose

Jinx Jorasco
Chief Science Officer
SS Mary Rose

Jake Ford
Chief Armoury Officer
SS Mary Rose

Michael Burnstein
Chief Engineer
SS Mary Rose

Liha t'Ehhelih
Engineer
SS Mary Rose
(PNPC Burnstein)

Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson
Biologist
SS Mary Rose
(PNPC Gregnol)

Fordyce Kirschler
Chief Operations
SS Mary Rose