Driftwood/Session 2

We're introduced to "Hum Hum" Huggins (Matt), a giant in a suit of power armor who seems to be highly attuned to the humming of various electronics and machinery. He sat a few tables away from most of the party, getting distracted from his drinking by the motel's HVAC system and falling asleep. Luckily, he managed to be dragged on to the ship without any punishment.
It's boarding time! As we're shown to our bunks, we overhear a Shantine crewman being whipped for not knowing the Fialta alphabet. We're directed to the launch craft that we, as a boarding party, will be manning. It's also now our sleeping quarters. We can launch it if the need arises, but there's not enough equipment on it to use for potential mutinous activities.
A few hours after launch, we're given our first assignment: raid and scavenge some Shantine ships that drifted too far off course. Easy enough, right? We're all on the same page, we all seem to be ok with taking the fight to the Shantine. On the way there, we discuss what roles are being taken by various boarding party members:
*Ossirc and Huggins are engineers (Huggins being a very unorthodox one)
*We don't have a designated pilot, so we're being assigned one. His name is Argob, and he has one eye.
*Fritz is a surgeon and boarding medic.
*Georg is elevated to boarding party leader, taking the rank of Sergeant.
*Job attempts to become a "political officer" of some sort. More on that later.
*Tog wants to use his financial skills to his advantage.
Huggins is doing his work, humming away. The humming isn't loud or distracting enough to bother his fellow engineers. He picks up on the different sounds made by the various refitted engines on the Carcosa. One specific engine seems to have been scavenged from a commuter vessel and tends to overheat.
Fritz takes some time to study the general "worthiness" of the crew, should they need saved. Many seem to be malnourished to an extent, and a lot have cybernetic implants, some of which are only valuable if sold for parts. As far as the boarding party goes, Tog has a very high-quality cybernetic heart that could be useful, and Huggins also has value in saving thanks to his power armor.
Georg assesses the combat readiness and capabilities of the boarding party so he can set an order for the upcoming boarding action. He finds that Drakr, Huggins, and Job are the best suited to melee combat, while he, Ossirc, Darius, and Tog are better at range. Fritz has no combat value whatsoever and can stay at the back.
We discuss raid opportunities and the boarding maneuvers that could work best: hitting planet-side harbors and docks might not affect the order much, but a contested ship with long corridors could be an issue. It's agreed that we ought to start with suppressing fire from range, then move forward with melee.
Next, we discuss what to do with captured crew and prisoners. Officially speaking, we're anti-slavery, but can still sell off POWs should they have any valuable information to share about our enemies.
Job sets out to the bridge to make a proposal for his new role. He's stopped at the doors by a guard, who informs him that no one is allowed in uninvited. Job manages to play to the guard's Thalranese heritage, intimidating him to let Job through. On walking in, he's confronted by 3 armed crewmen, ready to fire, as well as Captain SQ, who offers Job last words should he want them.
Job makes a speech to SQ about crew morale and making them "real killers." SQ mulls this over and decides to acquiesce, ordering Job to kill the guard that let him in. Job steps out and finds the guard, telling him that SQ wished to see him. The guard draws a weapon on Job, who responds by chewing the guard out and reiterating that SQ asked for him.
The guard shoots and misses Job badly, and Job gets in his face, pressuring him to end his own life so he doesn't face certain death on the bridge. The guard obliges. SQ steps out and surveys the scene, impressed by Job's tenacity and sending him off to be reassigned by the Quartermaster. SQ also invites him and a guest to dine with the officers later.
While this was going on, Tog approached the Quartermaster and offered his skills as an assistant. Despite clearly not being in the mood for interruptions, he humors Tog's pitch. They sit down to talk. The Quartermaster checks Tog's literacy by having him read his resume, then has Tog appraise an unfamiliar artifact. They then debate over the cost of a crewman's life and how the logistics of replacing them affects their value. Tog appeals to the Quartermaster for an increase in salary by floating his replaceability and shooting skills, to which he's not overly impressed. He does, however, offer Tog a position as an "investment," with its own separate debt to pay off.
Tog sits to read the contract, and Job arrives shortly after. They talk for a moment, then Job asks Tog to kick rocks so he can speak to the Quartermaster in private. Job informs the Quartermaster of SQ's intentions to reassign him as a "political officer." He's not impressed, and he asks for clarification on what the job entails. Job expounds on crew who don't do their job properly (i.e., killing), so he wants to "unlock their potential" so they can prove their worth. The Quartermaster finally relents and offers him a surgeon's salary plus a bonus. They set a baseline based on casualty rates, with improvement on the baseline netting him said bonus, while failure will result in a pay cut. A contract is made for the arrangement. Job signs it, and they talk a bit more about matters unrelated to the mission.
Once the business is done, Job returns to the boarding craft to find Georg. They speak about rank, as Job's theoretical rank would be higher than Georg's, but Georg would still be the boarding party captain. Job invites Georg to the dinner as his guest. Georg is receptive to Job's assistance with morale. Job then tells Georg about how he got the reassignment and the guard he convinced into killing himself. This is important, because Job wants to be able to step in if any of the crew start to get cold feet in the heat of combat, and he wants to ensure he's not trying to pull rank.
At the dinner, Job and Georg run into a few people they recognize: the Quartermaster, the cook, both Captains (SQ and QS), and the surgeons (including Fritz). SQ welcomes Job to the table, and QS is displeased. Job explains to the captains what a "political officer" does both in and out of combat. Georg compliments Job's fervor. Despite this, QS is still angry about the situation, as the "rug was pulled out of his ass" (the decision was made without his involvement). Job pleads his case, but QS doesn't give his consent to appoint the rank, referring to Job as SQ's cabin boy. SQ says he assented, but QS reminds him about the contract and the power they share as co-captains of the Carcosa. Despite all this, the Quartermaster assures Job their contract is still valid.
Meanwhile, what's Huggins been up to? He's assessing the engines in more detail, checking his etheric lance, and generally hanging out. He asks for details of the upcoming "smash job." Given the orders from on high, we're mostly targeting passenger ships, but it's also helpful to scavenge for parts to refit the Carcosa as needed. Huggins is very willing to smash up anything Shantine. With the rest of his downtime, he makes up new melodies to hum.
Back to dinner. SQ asks Job how he got here and so acquainted with killing. Job goes into his backstory, how everything in his life has been torn down in front of him, and how he can use his two hands to take what he wants in turn. SQ loves his attitude but wonders what he'll do after we win. Job simply says he'll pivot to the next threat because there's always a threat. He asks Georg the same question. Georg says he's seen too much already, so if it's all over and we're still standing, then someone must have decided to leave something worth going back to.
Fritz, who's been quiet up to this point, does a cursory diagnosis of the officers' table:
*He determines QS and SQ to be identical twins in their 30s, only able to discern them due to SQ's gold teeth and battle scars. He likely saw a lot of violence as a child. QS, while in better health overall, didn't grow up soft by any means, having to prove himself as a Thalranese aristocrat.
*The Quartermaster clearly doesn't take care of himself, his complexion is sallow, and his hair is gray. He's old enough to be a holdover on the crew from when the twins' father ran the ship, and he has two mechanical hands and at least one mechanical leg.
*The second mate, Varnus, looks to be a friend or "cousin" to the twins. Strong, likely trained in combat from early childhood. Otherwise, forgettable. The chief surgeon, Dr. Zaranc, is a relatively young Shantine half-elf. Probably a Fialta transfer or a religious conscript.
After dinner, and a bit of downtime, the aether picks up, and we pick up a few craft significantly earlier than anticipated. Time to prepare the attack…
Category:Session Summaries