LogAWBO Smoke On The Water-Jason-6

Game log for the 2023/01/01 session of Apocalypse World Burned Over - Smoke On The Water, as taken by Jason

Start of session rolls:

• JP passes a ship coming out of Finnegan's Shoal and hears that Bantam is pissed as hell. Like, enraged pissed. He's so pissed he's managed to get Stempler looking for JP too.
• Jacob can't seem to find the captain of the boat he's on. Kayak was found floating. Lots of people seem to think they have a claim to Kayak's boat.
• JP finds that Betty Jo is leaking gas. He's got maybe a day of limping to port.
• Finch finds news is easy to come by and transportation is hard.
• Crill finds leisure is free and status is easy. Word of Crill's exploit with Handy has gotten around.

Churban's in the marketplace, trying to pilfer some food, and gets himself seen trying to slurp an eel out of a pop. Someone says, "Hey!" and now a man with a cleaver is chasing him. The nobody legs it. He's able to slip away in the crowd, but he was spotted, and he's distinctive. He needs to get the hell off the Shoal. He's going to be persona non grata there until he somehow gets that cleared up.

Finch and Jacob are fishing off Kayak's boat when a bunch of guys show up, including Prentiss and some thugs working for Jax, the local hardholder. Prentiss breaks the news about Kayak being found face down in the water. Finch argues that the crew who came over with Kayak are owed a round trip, but Prentiss says it doesn't work that way. The obligation to them died with Kayak. It's not personal for Prentiss, but the rules are the rules. Kayak's boat is going to get auctioned off, and they need to get all their gear off it. "Their gear" is of course a concept that can be interpreted different ways.

As they're getting their crap together , there's a godawful noise, and the Betty Jo limps back in, trailing fuel.

Finch goes into town to see what options might be out there for transportation. Jax's office is a cargo container turned into a raft, with an openable front. Jax is right there out front, talking about how the auction is going to work. It will be tonight, right after sundown.

Finch approaches and mentions he has a desire to obtain transportation. Jax points out he has the right to bid on the boat if he wants. Finch doesn't think he could afford a boat, but might like to talk to whoever the likely winner is. Jax thinks that will be a fishing captain named Catalou. Jax also mentions that if Finch can wait, the price for passage back to Upwell might be cheaper. Since Jax mentioned wanting to find out who killed Kayak, Finch mentions the attack they suffered on Kayak's boat at the hands of unidentified wetsuit wearers. Jax finds that unsettling, but wonders if they were after Kayak, or his passengers. Maybe Jax would be better off getting Finch and his friends gone. Finch reads Jax as fairly honest, as hardholders go, but also figures that she might be fixing to throw him off her settlement. He says he can be found at the Betty Jo. Jax is not excited to hear that the Betty Jo is back, and warns him that there might be trouble for that boat.

JP starts looking for help, and finds Churban right there. He'll trade work for passage. When Jacob pops up at the dock, he catches JP up on the news, and JP offers a lift if they can wait the day or so it will take him for repair. JP also suggests that Crill might pay Jacob for a little medical attention. JP says, "Well, I am a doctor for hire," in a very loud voice, determined to be overheard by the folks watching the Kayak. Then JP and Churban go below decks to work on the engine.

Some of the local enforcers are watching the Kayak, and Crill figures they're probably also looking for him, or at least keeping a close eye on him. He decides to stay on the boat. He shouts out of Jacob and offers to hire him. Jacob is feeling a little skittish, and senses that the local constabulary might consider this medical treatment to be aiding and abetting. Collecting reward money could be an option.

Finch returns and catches Jacob up on the news. Jacob decides to go talk to Prentiss and make sure he knows about the wetsuited tech raider. The dealer mentions that the time he sold it was the first time he put power to it. Maybe that sent a signal somehow. Jacob does worry that if they can figure the tech came from him, someone might come calling. Prentiss did have an issue last night with the door being left open... or maybe not left open. Sadly, Prentiss doesn't exactly keep detailed inventory records. Jacob's read is that Prentiss wasn't lying about the potential robbery, and that the dealer just wants repeat business from him. His gut tells him that Prentiss might be more interested in buying the Kayak as a joint venture. He suggests that, and finds Prentiss intrigued by the idea, but looking for some certainty of getting a return on the investment. Prentiss suggests he'll front the money, the salvagers work for him, he gets right of first refusal, he gets a cut of their proceeds, and he gets a cut of the revenue for Jacob's herb garden as well. He gets to call the sites, though Finch can make suggestions. They work three hauls, and assuming the dives are reasonably profitable, the boat is theirs. Finch has to come in and agree to the deal personally.

Jacob returns and tells Finch about this opportunity. He asks if the guards can watch their stuff when they go talk to Prentiss, and the guards agree to do so. They don't even seem to be lying. They're getting the read that Jax is actually a fair-minded person who runs an honest float.

Prentiss seems happy enough to meet Finch (and Frank and Pickles). Finch tells him that he can suggest dive sites, but Finch can veto them. The dealer wants the right to veto Finch's sites too, since he doesn't want them going places where his boat just gets wrecked. Prentiss' big worry now is that Wendigo and his team might get a better bid in, or just follow the boat out of port and create an accident. Those guys have been lookig for a sailboat, and will likely drive up the price.

JP finds that someone made a hole in his boat from the outside. Churban suggests maybe they need someone on watch, to make sure whoever tried to keep them around doesn't come around again. As JP is working, Churban gets overcome by fumes and has a vision from before the before. He's in a dark, cramped, hot space. He heats pistons thumping, so slowly that he's got to catch them at top dead center and oil them. He and the other children have to do the maintenance there, because nobody else will fit there. It's an old steam engine plant, shuddering and throwing sparks, and the children are sweaty and miserable. Among other reasons for being miserable, anyone who does a bad job gets poked with a cattle prod. He comes to and briefly thinks JP, in his welding rig, is an enforcer with a cattle prod.

Finch tries to tell Crill that Wendigo has it in for him. Crill isn't buying it. As they finish, the Betty Jo shudders, and they hear screaming or tearing metal or something from below decks. People dive for the deck. Churban has a moment of just not knowing that the hell is going on before he realizes he needs to leave this fucking sinking ship.

He swims to the surface as Finch and JP decide to re-board the ship and see if they can't get the pumps working and the Betty Jo off the bottom. Churban goes rushing in behind them, and gets some bumps and bruises from bouncing off the walls. After the ship ain't gonna sink no more, Finch goes above decks, and then JP asks Churban what's going on. Churban tells him all the generalities of his personal history, and when JP hears it all and says, "You've got a place on this boat." Churban gives JP a great big hug and tells him that he's been having a lot of trouble managing his anger and he integrates all these memories of being betrayed and victimized. If JP ever wants to see Churban vent a litle frustration on someone who's being an asshole, he just needs to point and give him the signal.

JP leaves the nobody pumping and goes to see Takko the shipwright. Takko can swap him for a new fuel tank if JP throws in a barrel of fuel along with the old tank. That will leave JP a little short of fuel, so the run to Hoddard's Rock to look for Lilly will be very risky unless he can refuel somewhere.

Jacob checks with the local authorities to make sure it's cool, then takes Crill's barter for healing him.

Finch goes looking around for signs of what killed Kayak and/or who the guy in the wet suit who can shrug off a spear might be. Kayak was seen having a conversation with some unknown party, a tall wiry blond fellow, and things got heated. Kayak was heard to say, "No, I won't do it, that is final." That was the night someone came aboard the Kayak. He encounters Jax, and she tells him that Kayak was here waiting to meet his kid, who captains another boat, and who hasn't shown up. He runs a fishing scow, and he might be in today, or tomorrow, or the day after that. Mention of the wiry dude makes Jax trade a significant look at one of her henchmen, which Finch catches, and which prompts him to ask to be filled in. She swears him to secrecy now, and sends some of her guards away, so it's just Jax, a lieutenant, and Finch. "Don't worry," Finch says, "Frank only understands Spanish." Jax reveals that she knows of a group of people who come and go through the Shoal. They keep to themselves and don't make trouble. They come one at a time. They all have similar mannerisms and strange requests. She thinks maybe they're trying to hide that they're all working together on some strange project, and have been trying to elude her scrutiny. Nobody ever sees these folks arrive, which makes her nervous.

That night, the auction happens. Wendigo decides to lay low. Prentiss wins, so Jacob and Finch become co-owners of an exciting new venture. Jax calls Jacob and Prentiss over, and lets them know that when Kayak's kid arrives, finding the new owners of the boat hanging around might lead to so tensions. She's not kicking them out, but if it's convenient for them, it might be nice if they were gone.

Finch thinks about the wetsuited attacker and concludes that this guy, and probably his entire faction, are very comfortable in the water. They probably arrive through the water, and retreat to it at need. The attackers may well know that Finch's home ground is the Betty Jo.

Jacob checks in with Finch and tells him they have a boat. Jacob wants to stick around a day and see if Kayak's boy wants anything of sentimental import off the boat. Prentiss has a dive site in mind, Hooligan's Grotto. It's well picked over by now, but there are deeper parts that require more technical expertise to get into. People have dug valuables out of there fairly recently. It's the least dangerous and technical of the places he'd like them to dive, so this is a good start. He's looking for electronics, comms and comps.

Finch executes a free dive around where the Betty Jo was docked yesterday, just looking around. The only thing he finds is his harpoon. It's not bent or broken, so maybe the victim pulled it clean through. There's also a disturbed area on the bottom, where maybe someone sat to get a little work done.

Takko shows up and helps swap the tank, and while the tank is out, it's easier for JP and Churban to repair the hole in the hull. With the new tank installed, the boat is left a litle the worse for wear, but fundamentally viable. John Paul Jones then uses the oranges that Crill traded for passage to buy more fuel, hopefully giving them the range to get to Hoddard's Rock.

Kayak's son Rigger shows up, and learns what happened to his dad. He can't afford to make an offer on Kayak's boat, but he appreciates Jacob's offer to retrieve any family items left aboard. Rigger asks about Jacob's plans for her, and the doc says he's got contractual obligations for a while, but after that, it will likely be home ported at Upwell. Rigger would like to buy the boat, and in a few years, he might be able to, so he's happy to know where he might find it. He'll see them in Upwell someday.

Finch finds one more person who has some memory of a tall, blond, wiry person who came aboard mysteriously. One of the market stall operators remember the guy being very particular in pawing through everything in the stall. The tall blond guy was with a woman- young, short, big dark eyes, dark hair. That's the description JP has been using for Lilly, as he searches for her. That was a couple weeks before the guy attacked the Betty Jo. Finch goes to report that to JP. If he finds her, Finch wants him to ask if she's been hanging out with a tall blond guy. If he finds the blond guy, Finch wants them to kill the guy immediately, and bring him the body.

Prentiss assigns Lil' Abner to go aboard with Finch and Jacob, just to give them ample hands. The Kayak can be run by one person in a pinch, so three is ample crew. The three of them head back to Upwell.

While they finish repairs, Wendigo pops in one more time to see if Crill wants to reconsider his job offer. He does not, but Wendigo tells him the offer stands. John Paul Jones, Crill, and Churban head for Hoddard's Rock.

The Rock is tiny, a little island poking out of the sea, and buildings clinging to it like barnacles. There's no harbor, and everything is by rope, so in rough seas, people have to stand off and wait. JP moors the Betty Jo offshore, and when a guy in a skiff comes to offer him a lift, he sends a fish (as trade goods) and a note to Frenchy that he'll be in tomorrow. It's calm and foggy in the morning. Hoddard's Rock doesn't have paved roads or anything, it's all rope lines or occasional rope bridges. JP goes ashore and visits Frenchy's Gas and Go, where he knows he can obtain some dangerous stuff. The skiff operator does tell Crill that the blade thrower is not going ashore on his ride.

Frenchy is delighted to see Crill and doesn't mind seeing JP. They make small talk, but when John Paul describes Lilly, things instantly become very tense. Frenchy thinks that Lilly is trouble that the captain is better off without. He thinks Mml LeFlour runs with an unsafe crowd. Crill notices that things are getting tense and sees that Frenchy feels like he's trapped in a situation where he doesn't have a lot of control. Frenchy suggests that if he lets it be known that JP is asking questions, people will find him. Or, if he wants to go to the bar and sit with his back to the wall, Lilly's people will probably come and find him on their own. He suggests that JP and Crill separate, so that they don't know Crill is protecting him. JP can tell that Frenchy might very well tell someone he's looking for Lilly regardless. Frenchy doesn't mind selling Crill some flamethrower fuel, but he sends it right to the boat, so he can't be accused of selling them the fuel they used to burn down the island.

Churban brings the Betty Jo alongside the Rock and gets fuel delivered, and then they lower a couple of pressurized gas cylinders as well. He takes delivery and then stands off.

John Paul Jones goes to the local bar, sits with his back to the wall, and orders a bottle. Crill sits at the bar and waits for about five minutes, nursing a drink. At one point a group of ten or so loud sailors come in, and he keeps an eye on them. When he drink runs dry and he turns to order a new one, he sees a tall, blond, muscular man sitting next to him at the bar.