Situation Report Eight (Supplement)

General Summary

As we set sail on The Brine it is also clear that the Skipper knows her business. The chop turns to rolling waves as we leave the relative calm of Sel-kai harbour. The steady strong wind whips the sea foam and sleet into our faces as we head out on a fine reach towards the island. Fresh air at last. By the gods it feels good. We each spend the first couple of hours of the trip in thought, although some of us enjoy the invigorating sea air more than others.
Cherry emerges from below-decks and gathers the team around, “We’ve got this cover ready to travel, do we have a decent idea what we are looking for at this estate? The way I see it is they’ll be watching strangers closely on the island and if we have Lyssa to communicate I can actually drop back from the team and use the wine merchant cover quite well for the main team. Yes I want you guys and girls to actually sell the brandy and wine I’ve brought for a profit. I can’t see why we can’t make money while doing this.”
"Ugnan, you take sales lead and have Sylke as your partner/backer for the venture with Sharna and Cran as your protection. When you identify target rooms or information you reach out to Lyssa, who’ll be with me and let me know what the lay out and things to avoid might be, distract with your sales pitch or even other goofiness and I’ll keep to the shadows and open pathways for you all, as far as we are seen by the Islander eyes and ears there are four in the merchant group. If I get caught that gives you all plausible deniability and between Lyssa and my skills I should be able to avoid most contact.”
With that Cheryl takes a deep sigh and her eyes get a stern look. “That’s my plan so far, feel free to tear it apart, or add to it. I’m just used to doing what I do without being overly encumbered and our current contract seems to require us doing this with minimum footprint. Or maybe I’m just seeing that because minimum foot print is my thing”.
She turns to Sylke and says, “You gotta learn to keep me out of the picture when discussing things in front of our contractors and our targets baby-girl, I’m best used as the surprise not the main feature. I live in the shadows and that’s the way I like to be until I have no other choice.”
I scratch my chin, and reply, "Sounds a workable plan to me Cherry. Anyone able to produce some forged documents that provide trading rights on the island? I'm relieved to have Sharna alongside me, but we need a reason she's protecting a small band of liquor traders. Any ideas?"
His back to the group, Ugnan's vomit spattered head droops over the gunwale. He releases his tight grip and raises an arm to give a thumbs up when Cherry tells him to take the sales lead before grabbing at the side again to steady his shaky legs.
I glance at Elayne and weave my way over to Ugnan with my battered silver flask proffered, concern and humour vying for control of my salt-weathered face. "Hey Ugnan, you alright? The Skipper told me to take a nip of brandy if you feel wobbly. Can't read the woman though. She could be winding me up. Anyway, have a swig if you want. Oh, you may also want to lean over the down-wind side of the boat to avoid the wind whipping your breakfast back into your face."
Wiping his mouth and cheek with a crusty sleeve but still leaving a few strips of stomach lining matted to his beard, Ugnan looks hopefully at the flask. A gust of wind brings a whiff of the alcohol to him causing his face to pale which he whips downwards again. Retching, he waves the burly barbarian away.
Sharna vaults from the lower deck, gracefully rolls and finishes in a hand stand. She shifts her weight and pulls her left hand to her side. "I can go along with this plan", she says while balancing like this for a minute. She changes hands as the ship hits a wave. Sharna is thrown off balance but she recovers by rolling to her feet. "Hmm, I thought the dojo's balancing board was difficult", she mutters as she somersaults back down the hatch for the umpteenth time.
Cherry shakes her head at Sharna's athleticism before piping up again, "Well Adresin told me our Mr Deltar was looking for us. In fact Ads was watching out for us, as he's a friend he's covering for me. And for the coin I gave him he should keep his word for a few days. I gave him our cover as a new path I'm taking in life, which I think he bought and if he hands this over to Deltar there are two factors that Deltar will be pondering before he acts either way: First we have taken our pay and gone straight as traders; second if reports of said traders come back from the island he'll be expecting five, not four of us."

Report Date

24 Jul 2018

Primary Location

Sel-kai