Last War: Spyhnx

As mercenaries you hunt for action and as it so happens you have found it, a lot actualy you have found a world at war with itself and you plan to fight for your morals and whoever as the largest walet. Aundair a forest nation of mostly humans and elves, Breland a larger industrious nation with humans and gnomes, Cyre witch is the small ruined remains of an older nation that was the richest and has mostly humans half-elves and halflings, Thrane which is a religious mostly human nation, and Karrnath a old militant nation with humans dwarves and halflings Now it is up to you to decide with whom you will make your living, chose wisely.

The Zepplin Comes over a mountain Range, And The Sounds of a large Battle reach your ears, You see a Battle Between two fractions (Gather info check) taking place.

-'Kay lads get ready to jump. - The big Karrnathi man smiles to the other mercenaries, his bulky and heavy armor gives him a fearsome appearance, although he moves with ease. And tilts his head in a negative while looking over board checking the flags of those below them. He studies them for a couple of minutes getting a knack of what is actually going on.

-Are we going to fast lads? Of if any of the flyers jumps he can get back to the ship?- The man looks at Starielle - Lass you are fast and good at remaining unseen want to give it a try?

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gather info [roll0]

Starielle looks over the balcony of the ship, one leg raised up as she dangles over the edge peering at the scene below.

"Oh ma chère, c'est un massacre là-bas!" she says to anyone who was listening. From her tone you could tell she was excited however. It had been a long trip, and while she appreciated the openness of the sky, and the freedom to flutter among the clouds when the urge arrived, she quickly became bored. Her baser urges where calling for a move to fulfill, and she was about to submit. She needed some fun, some mischief, something to get the heart pumping!

Turning around she leaned on the rail with both elbows, her small stature making it look slightly awkward, having to lean against the bow of the rail.

"So" she starts to no one in particular "What are we to do with such a trophée?"

Looking to Cadaver she smiles a knowing smile. "Well of course!" she says, she turns invisible and then to those who can see her, jumps off the railing with wings outstretched.

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[roll0]

Midnight peers over the side, observing the battle.

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Knowledge (Geography) to figure out where we are:[roll0]
Knowledge (Local) to ascertain the particulars of this battlefield: [ROLL1d20+5[/ROLL]
Knowledge (History) to remember anything important about this area, such as famous battles: [roll1]
Knowledge (Nobility/Royals) to identify any coats of arms: [roll2]

Click

Among the curious bunch peering down from their lofty position inside the Riddle, a thri-kreen sits on the floor and leans on the outer wall of the zeppelin, mindlessly juggling a dagger, throwing it up and catching it at the tip of the blade. If anyone pays better attention, one could notice that each time he throws the dagger, the design changes, from the type of the blade to the design of the hilt. If one observed even more closely, one would notice that the dagger thrown each time is a different one altogether than the previous one.

It has been a long trip, and even indifferent thri-kreens do get bored. Especially this one, who always seeks to be in the middle of something exciting. Perhaps that is why he accepted the offer to be a mercenary. The long trip has exhausted all possible things to do on-board that does not involve alcohol-related bets such that when the lookout informed them of a battlefield up ahead, he lets the dagger fall tip-first and lodge into the floor and stands up. The two large black compound eyes scan the battle field that appears beyond the mountain peaks, immediately scanning for the standards of the opposing army.

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Spot: [roll0]
Gather Info: [roll1]

After one look out over the battlefield, Lia dropped to her knees next to the Thri-Kreen, and slung one of her Quivers off of her shoulder. Leaning it on her lap, she begun to sort through her arrows, checking the fletchings and shafts for any damage or deformity.

It was a good thing to do before a battle, and knowing the others, the likelihood of us jumping into that fray was high. The repetitive nature of the task, checking each arrow for any damage, meant you had a chance to get your head together before a fight.

And it also made sure that your arrows weren't broken.

Lifting one eyebrow as the Fey disappears from view and flutters off, Lia shook her head in exasperation (and a hint of jealously; if only they'd been on the ground, she could've been just as good a scout, if not better, than the Half-Nymph!).

She continued checking her arrows.

Big Kay

What sets Key apart from his overeager companions is that he do not relish battle. He relish victory, and total annihilation of the enemy is certainly a pleasant thought, but not the actual fighting. Of course, that is why he leaves the actual fighting to other people.

He had been hearing sounds of battle for a while now, but the view had been blocked by a mountain range. Now that the conflicting armies are in view, he glances casually at the battlefield, looking for anything of note. While a good enough theorist, the lore of the word above Khyber is not his forte, so he is not expecting to recognize much.

He hears the big knight send off their assassin to scout. He would probably have been the better choice for scout duty, but the fact that he spends his time invisible and wordless makes people forget of his existence. Just the way he wants it.

As the girl takes off, he wispers in her head "Bonne chance!". People still get startled by this habit of his, but she seems not to mind it too much.

Rolls:

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Spot: [roll0]
Gather Info: [roll1] (untrained)
Knowledge (Geography) to figure out where we are: [roll2] (untrained)
Knowledge (Local) to ascertain the particulars of this battlefield: [roll3] (untrained)
Knowledge (History) to remember anything important about this area, such as famous battles: [roll4] (untrained)
Knowledge (Nobility/Royals) to identify any coats of arms: [roll5] (untrained)

Cadaver looks as Starielle departs and disappears on the night. For a second he stares blankly at the night trying to see through her, but she is cloaked and beyond the Karrnathi's sight.

The man walks towards Big Kay an unsettling and big presence to say the least, even if once you get to know him he was a better person than he seemed.

-Kay, tell our scout to not go to far away, in case there is trouble.

Then he opens his backpack and gives a look to his crossbow before discarding it again on the bag.

-Click, Cerberus, your eyes are much better than mine, can you see whoever is leading this battle? If we are to fight we better ready to be useful. Lia if we drop you'll be taking the lead you are the fastest and can move without trouble, try to see if there are some routes that we can take without much fight.

He pats the shoulder of Midnight with a gauntlet hand that clinks against the warforged armor.

-Maybe the two of us can use some darkness to get in there. Lia, would you be able to silence our movements? This armor will certainly get noisy. Although... that battlefield will be noisy and the sudden silence might draw more attention than the sound, what do you think?

"Of course" he answer, relying the message to Starielle just before she got out of reach.

He watches the Knight as he goes through the motions as usual before an hostile engagement, checking things and making plans. It is good to have someone like that, he thinks approvingly. Even if his plans might require a little tweaking before being executed.

"If I may interject, perhaps it would be best do simply drop directly above our objective, as soon as we have one.
By the way, are there any factors (other than money of course) that might influence our choice of sides?"

Click

The thri-kreen looks at Cadaver wordlessly, then back out onto the battlefield with something that would resemble a smile on his face. Then as if not able to hold the thought to himself, he then turns to the elf beside her and whispers.

"I tell you a secret. Big eyes, not better."

The smile widens into a grin as he looks back at the battlefield once again.

So from what I gather its undead vs. warforged and both sides have Cyre emblems, no other important information can be gathered.

Click

As his eyes try to focus, the grin on his face slowly morphs into a quizzical look. Click leans a bit forward to make sure he is not seeing things.

"Undead against warforged. Odd. Both sides wear colors of Cyre."

Lia's lips perk up into a small smile at the Thri-Keen's remark, not looking up from her arrows. The green fletchings of her normal arrows seem to be in good shape, and she moves onto her silver tipped arrows.

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Originally Posted by God Imperror

-Lia, would you be able to silence our movements? This armor will certainly get noisy. Although... that battlefield will be noisy and the sudden silence might draw more attention than the sound, what do you think?

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"Easily, but you'd have to stay close to me" Lia replied levelly, keeping focused on her task as she did so, "And if it comes to a fight, you know that won't be possible for very long"

Placing aside her quiver for a moment, she looked back at the Knight. While she had needed to put aside many of her opinions on the practice of Necromancy to the side to work with this group, she still preferred not to associate with the sometimes Necromancer, and absolutely refused to deal with the crew of Skeletons that manned the Riddle. Having to keep close to him would be...awkward.

But that didn't matter; she was a part of the team, and she would pull her weight. Even if she didn't like it.

Perhaps she could hide in his shadow.

"I'll make sure your armor doesn't make a sound until Combat begins, Cadaver" She told the Knight, a friendly smile on her tattooed face.

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Originally Posted by GuyFawkes

"Undead against warforged. Odd. Both sides wear colors of Cyre."

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Well, it is strange. Very strange indeed...
"The most likely explanation I can come up with is that the karrnathi animated an undead division of defeated cyrean soldiers, but failed to change banners.". ...they should probably look into including that detail in their animation spell... "I would add that this would most likely be due to time constraints rather than a clever ploy to take the enemy unaware, as we all know karrnathi commanders are dull as bricks". Pause. Then continuing, trying to keep a level tone of voice. "Of course, exceptions exist... Even so, one would expect some Karrnathy banners somewere... Any other theories, while we wait for Starielle's report?""

Undead versus warforged... well that might mean that Karrnath was on the side of undead. But that was wrong, one thing was to ask a soldier to keep serving his country after death but to fill the ranks with the dead of the enemy... that was barely ethic. Although Cadaver had to admit that the tactics and strategy behind that move was solid.

-Well if there are undead they might be Karrnathi, but Karrnath normally only brings back those who have a sworn duty. I doubt that the host is being lead by mindless undead, there should be Karrnathi dead marshals and skeletons somewhere. Those will be enough to keep the morale and push the undead, without need for banner.

Cadaver's eyes for recognizing the undead are pretty good and he knows what he is searching for, any unusual undead among the rank.

-Defeating those might change the tide of the battle as the mindless get loose. Any insight on the warforged tactics Midnight? You are probably more suited than I to answer that.

Then he turns to Lia with a nod.

-I'll keep close.

Looking at Big Kay.

-That would be a risky jump, but there ain't a risky jump for a trooper is it? On choosing a side, well, if Karrnath is down there I could have had a personal interest months ago, but its gone now. If the battle were among others I would go for the supply tent, but neither undead nor warforged need much.

There will still be a supply tent on the warforged side, and a command tent on both, likely close to the battle. Neither of these groups would be allowed to function long without oversight, and the warforged, while not requiring much, still require some amount of repair. I suggest we circle to the outskirts of the battlefield and find the commanders, flying neutral colors. If the commanders have any common sense, they'll contact us.

Ah, stealing supplies. It never gets old. That's the kind of thing that makes you glad you are a mercenary, as opposed to, say, one of those people fighting down below on the battlefield for the glory of their country.
And with both undead and warforged on board, there was no risk of a useless loot from any or both sides.

I concur about the flags. It is very important to maintain the semblance of neutrality as long as possible, regardless of our intentions. We could also consider sending envoys as soon as we get a signal, rather than the entire squad.

You all look, but only find one supply and command tent.

I suggest we land at that command tent. The Karrnathi use undead, but they aren't nearly so sloppy about it. Those undead are a disorganized mob, not a true fighting force. We can swoop in like heroes, win the day, and take the gold of whoever commands the opposing side. Midnight walks off to his cabin to retrieve his equipment.

Starielle dropped from the ship she revels in the feeling of the rushing air, decided several hundred feet down to open her wings and soar the rest of the way down, controlling her descent and circling in large lazy loops.

Looking down she tried to see anything important, soaking in the numbers of both sides, any irregular troop movements, and more importantly command tents.

She wheels slightly and goes towards the outskirts of the battle, trying to find the command tent.

If she finds it, she will fly near it @300ft. altitude, she will be invisible, recasting when it comes close to ending. If shot at or spotted she will fly up as fast as she can.

[roll0] sad panda
[roll1] (she is actively searching for things)

A raptoran with a very strong resemblence to Cerberus reaches out towards Starielle as she drops off the Riddle.
WAIT!... Darn it... Well then, she'll get hers later.
Turns to the rest of the group,
But the rest of you, if you don't want to be singed by my fiery breath, then you're gonna have to deal with a little ash smudge.
Holds up a hand to show the ashes on his finger tips.
Don't rush now, who's first?

Key bows a little toward Cerberus as the reptilian reaches for his forehead with his dirty fingers. It actually feels kind of nice, as the draconic power of the ashes keeps the chill of the wind off one's bones.

"No need to land. I could go down myself and negotiate the price of our involvement, including looting rights, if I can manage it. Then, we can maneuver back to the rear of the undead force and take out their commanders, not to mention take a closer look at those supplies we saw".

Midnight accepts the ash. We need to get at least a bit closer to land. I can go down the ropes, but I am incapable of flight. I do believe the plan to first eliminate the commanders is a solid one. We must first determine which force we will be fighting for.

As some of you drop down you feel the might of the wind jerk you back and it becomes harder to steer your direction. I will need a Dex check for manuvering in these wind conditions I mentioned in the OoC.

Looking back at the battlefield, a small, yet very important details catches Kay's attention. I point it out to the rest of the group.

"Look, the leader of the undead army is trying to make a run for it. I'm all for joining the battle when it is almost won, but no later than that or it is not going to do any good to us".

Starielle surverys the battlefield and sees what seems to be a strange test battle, intriguing idea, using undead against the warforged to test them.

She shrugs not seeing anything worth their while and flies back up to the Riddle.

Landing she listens to the group before revealing herself, she always reveled in the knowledge she could see others and they not see her, it was exhilarating, almost as much as dropping from the sky, but not quite.

"Ah merde, il semble que ce tour de taille stupide ...." she looks at them all and forgets she was speaking fey, putting her hand on her hip she waits for them all to pay her the attention she deserves. For a moment she toys with the idea of stunning them all, allowing her fey powers to overwhelm them, but thought better. It would only make them angry.

"The petite battle is only a test site, nothing that I saw worth jumping for." she said once everyone was looking. She walked over to Kay and leans on him, nestling against his big bulk.

"Well, Star" says Kay, pointing at the two supplies tents "those might not be a king's ransom, but they could be worth a quick trip down, don't you think?"

She looks up the large Knight and shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, "I guess so, since we're here we might as well get something"

She perks up suddenly at the thought of falling again. "How are we doing it this time? I liked it when all you big guys used rope ladders and most of the fighting was done with." she says beaming with a giant smile on her small pretty face.

She suddenly sees the ash mark on everyone's forehead, "What the hell is that for?" she says, making a nasty look, as if she had tasted something bad.

"Come now, be a big girl and stop making faces..." says Kay in a bantering tone, fully aware that this is not going to happen anytime soon (and besides he actually enjoys her exaggerated expressions) "Look, he's going to put it on your cheeks, like warpaint. How about that?"

Star pouts her lips and puts her hands on her hips, thinks for a moment and relaxes, leaning back against the big man. "Fine then, It's not like they're going to see me anyway." she says finishing with a smile.

She walks up to Cerberus and leans forward, awaiting the smudge of ash upon her cheeks.

The raptoran laughes a little at the Fey, his musical voice quite pleasant. I never said the ash had to be applied to the face. That's just a more common practice. I can administer it to anywhere you would allow.

Star turns around slowly staring at Kay, as if he was in on a big joke and she was the punch line.

Sticking her tongue out at him, she spins around and looks at the strange raptoran. "anywhere? Well mon ami, I think my arms shall do!" she brings both her forearms up and pulls the sleeve back from them revealing her milk white complexion. Grimacing as it is placed on she quickly puts her sleeves back and prances away to the side of the Riddle.

"So, are we going down or what?"

Midnight stands at attention, weapon at the ready. It isn't an unnatural pose for it; the warforged looks as if it was a statue cast in that stance. I am prepared for battle.

Shaking her head in amusement at the Fey's attitude, Lia scooped up the last of her arrows and returned them to her Quiver. She sidled over to Cerebus, and held out her hand for the Ash to be applied.

She looked out over the battlefield, the match between the Undead and the Warforged seemingly a stalemate. Starielle had said it was a test match; perhaps the outcome of this battle would determine whether Cyre would use the Living Golem Soldiers, Warforged like her companion Midnight... or the Mindless Undead.

If that was the case, then perhaps she could tilt the scales ever so slightly in the Warforged's favour...

"We help the Warforged" Lia said, her tone of voice making it clear that this was not a question.

Sure. No need to be so intense about it. They are the easier target for us after all.

To Cadaver: Please ask the pilot to bring us about a sixth of our height upwind of our target. Have people join hands, and those of us who can fly will grab you as a group and try and fine-steer you as precisely as we are able.
Also, if might be worth considering the opportunity to capture the necromancer alive, both for questioning and ransom. As always, I trust your judgment on the matter.

-Those are not Karrnathi troops.

There was quite a lot of steel and hate in Cadaver's voice. His country had resorted to necromancy, since they had sworn to serve, and only soldiers were raised. It was a duty, and an honor, to continue to serve in the front lines even after death. And it was known that the tactics, and superior intellect of Karrnathi skeletons wouldn't make sacrifices. But those below were just like cattle waiting in front of the slaughterhouse.

Cadaver nods, to Big Kay and approaches the flying Raptoran.

-Mark me.

Then he looks to the group.

-Okay everyone, plan of action, we jump on the necromancer, and take him. If we can keep him alive that would be better, if we end killing him, well, it won't work for ransom but we might still be able to extract information. I don't know what we are going to fight down there, those are not troops of Karrnath, and their skeletons and zombies are unintelligent and sacrificed like pests. Be ready to jump in two minutes, we jump together to keep the wind from blowing us away. Once in the ground Midnight and I would try to get most of the heat, be sure to be able to come back.

He moves leaving the balcony and going into the body of the vessel, he walks pasts some of the skeletons, wearing the colors of the Sphinx and nods to them in a mute salute until he gets to the center of the Riddle were the finished Captain Julio is riding the vessel. He looks at the skeleton, with its white bones covered in fine silks and golden sphinxes. He might have been a pirate, hanged for it, but once he was brought back to live under Karrnath he had been a good soldier and pilot. It was true that most of the time he was under a magical compulsion to serve Cadaver, but the man hoped that he had treated the undead fairly and with respect and if he ever came out of it the first instinct wouldn't be to kill the man who had freed him from a service for eternity in the karrnathi army.

-Julio, down there a wannabe necromancer has raised an army and is starting to cause problems, to others and to itself. We are going to drop. Could you bring us about a sixth of our height upwind? Also... if possible we will return with him alive for questioning, and perhaps ransom, keep the boys out of his view it might be problematic. Good luck, the Sphinx prevails.

After talking to the pilot Cadaver nods and walks back to his cabin, leaving everything but the backpack, the crossbow and the bolts behind. Then he returns to the others.

-Ready?

Kay turns invisible himself as people get in position for the launch. He grabs onto the tri-keen arm ("It's me"), careful to avoid the mithral chain shirt even with his gloves on.
To Cerberus: "You hold onto Midnight or Cadaver, as Starielle and I would rather not touch them if we can avoid it."

Roll:

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Dex-check: [roll0]

As you jump off the wind blurs you vision so you must squint, but you can defiantly see some of the warforged and undead artillery being pointed toward the Zeppelin.

Click

The thri-kreen approaches Cerberus and gets his share of the marking. After that, he also retrieves his gear from the storage room, a mere haversack, and awaits the zeppelin's descent.

When the invisible Kay touches him and identifies himself, he cannot help but smile.

Hehe. Funny creatures think I cannot see them.

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Dex check: [roll0]

Midnight prepares for the jump, ensuring that all of his gear is tightly secured. It would be bad form for a tanglefoot bag to go off inside its pack. Once we are within 30' of the ground, please release any magic to slow my descent. I will attempt to clear the landing area so that the rest of you may land safely. I have prepared a spell that will also likely accomplish much of that function.

Then you should probably be the one wearing the ring, so you can take it off at the right moment.

Lia unslung her Longbow from her back as she strolled over to the Knight. She tested the string absent-mindedly with her right hand; she gestured and muttered, crafting the spell and releasing it with a few sweeping gestures. A shimmer in the air, and sound was trapped around the Elf, not passing through the unreal and invisible barrier unless she willed it.

"Undead and Warforged are perhaps not the most observant of foes, but I told you I would silence your Armor" Lia told the Knight, a small smile on her face.

She gave the others a thumbs up to show she was ready, knowing that her words would not reach them while until her spell expired, and ducked into the much taller man's shadow, all but vanishing into it.

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Cast Zone of Silence, which means that Cadaver and I can be all sneaky.

Hide check to be even more sneaky than that (I <3 HiPS) [roll0]

Cadaver moves his hands in the traditional sign language of the Karrnathi special operation forces. He had shown some of the signs to the rest of the Sphinx but none was able to understand it properly, although, the symbolism was quite clear. The armored man was thanking Lia for the spell. And signaling click that he would jump after him, and he better slow the fall. After the signs are finished he tends a hand to Lia and the other one to Click.

Star grabs Kays hand right before he slips away from sight not wanting to lose him on the way down.

She too dissapears just as suddenly.

"Eh bien, ce n'est à peu près aussi foutu comme un tit sorcières"

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To those who understand Fey (this is FUBAR)

[roll0]

Cerberus walks over to Midnight, I am not strong enough to carry you, but I can help guide you in the right direction. I'm ready to jump when you are.

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Dex check for when I do jump [roll0] and apparently a -4 due to wings sooo... 17

For when people do jump it will take you 16 rounds to reach the ground those who failed the Dex check DC 18 are blown [roll0] x 10 ft. backwards from the intended landing spot and are offered a second dex check to still be able to activate any means of slowing their fall at the last second.

I am ready to jump. Let us go now. (Assuming Click is ready) Midnight leaps over the side.

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Dex check: [roll0]

No matter how many times you do it, a HALO jump never fails to deliver a big adrenaline rush.
It is in this state of (subjective) enhanced awareness that Kay realized two things: they are being targeted by [siege weapons] and there are light flashing in a precise pattern, whose significance he manage to grasp and relay to the last member of their team remaining aboard. Hopefully, he'll find the strenght to act on this information.
Rolls:

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Int (understanding signals): [roll0]
K: architecture and engineering: [roll1] (trained)

Cadaver takes a strong hold on Lia and nods at her with a smile. He moves his lips, but no sound comes due the silence. "I am a leaf on the wind"

His other hand has a steel grip on Clicks keeping him close.

Then as light start to erupt all around them the big armored man jumps freefalling to the unknown doom below. His eyes are closed, and he keeps his lips pressed against each other.

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Dex [roll0]

Second dex check:

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[roll0]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by iTookUrNick

No matter how many times you do it, a HALO jump never fails to deliver a big adrenaline rush.
It is in this state of (subjective) enhanced awareness that Kay realized two things: they are being targeted by [siege weapons] and there are light flashing in a precise pattern, whose significance he manage to grasp and relay to the last member of their team remaining aboard. Hopefully, he'll find the strenght to act on this information.
Rolls:

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Int (understanding signals): [roll0]
K: architecture and engineering: [roll1] (trained)

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Here is what you see from your int check.

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The flashing is indeed a message after a few moments you see, "...lense, respond in the next minuet or we will shoot"

Your Knowledge check tells you this

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You can tell it has explosive rounds and an long barrel for accuracy.

The ropes strain under the weight of the hull as the Riddle angles upward by its captain's command. The signaling lamp is maned and a short message is beamed to the artillery batteries on the ground: "Sphinx Company here. Do not shoot. Offers will be considered".