Dorian sat in the back of the groundcar, happy to be a passenger while one of their Sardaukar escorts drove. Their destination was the district where the explosion from the previous day had occurred.

If they could find someone in the area who had seen who came and went from the storehouse, perhaps they could follow the lead to more definitive evidence of Harkonnen duplicity.

Cuyler rode along, wanting to visit the site again.

She'd never thought she would be back here again, but there she was. Here again. In the exact same area, with the exact same man. Hopefully this trip would be better than the last one.

"Hopefully this groundcar trip will be smoother than the last one, eh?" Gene said with a small grin.

Cuyler Gray wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 25, 2021 6:14 pm

Cuyler rode along, wanting to visit the site again.

When Cuyler was getting into the car, her nose registered the faintest trace of spice. A short investigation led to a discovery of a small piece of spice paper, made locally from the leftovers of spice refining, tucked at the edge of the side compartment.

She pocketed it quietly. It was something best to look into after they returned.

[Traits: Moderate Heat, Altered Landscape]

As they approached the area, they could hardly recognise it. It is as if the storm had passed, bringing loads of sand onto this suburban landscape, tearing continuity of roads and buildings into halves. The fire had died out, only naked poles of plasteel, black and bent from heat, suggested something man-made had been there before.

Cuyler could smell many things in the air, mostly the aftermath of burning, but no spice any more.

[Who wears a stillsuit?]

((Def wearing one))

As Gene stared into what remained, she looked at the others and stared on. "Well, at least all the fires are out."

The sand was only going to make this tedious job even more tedious.

"Glad we aren't relying on finding physical evidence to trace back to the perpetrators or anything..." Dorian commented jokingly as they came into view of the site.

OOC: Wearing my shiny and stylish stillsuit beneath robes.

"I know, right? Be back to the convoy before you know it." Her words were dripping with cynicism. "So, what, we split up and each take different sections of sand?"

"A foolish course of action." Their Sardaukar nanny chauffeur, thoroughly pissed with the role but obeying his superiors, interjected while slowing the car down.

She didn't say anything in response, just stared at the Sardaukar for a moment with a amused look before looking out at the sand again.

"Perhaps instead of looking through the mountain of sand for direct evidence, we can ask those nearby if they have seen anything strange around here or noticed something odd recently?" Dorian offered. He was more of a people person, so his first recourse was to address the people.

"I can't even smell the spice anymore." Cuyler said. "There's still a bit of smoke in the air, though."


- - -
Wearing my stillsuit as well.

The Sardaukar stopped the car, got his stunner ready, and exited first.

The view outside was stunning. Against the yellowish sky now painted in the orange of fire opals, fang-like crags of the Broken Land pierced up, casting long shadows onto the plains of Arrakeen, changing it into a board of triangles of black and ochre. Hot wind kept blowing from the desert through the Old Gap.

She gave a small pause looking at the others before getting off herself. It was rather scenic, to say the least. It was also rather uncomfortable to be around. "So then..." She says, giving a long stare to the things around her. "...Where should we start?"

Gene looks around the area, maybe there is somebody still alive to talk to? Or something else. The girl who could smell things was likely their best lead. Like having a dog around to sniff for some perp or something. Incredibly odd to have a human do, but then again, she wasn't exactly lacking in extraordinary talents herself.

There were human figures at the edge of the new sand mound, their silhouettes vibrating in heated air. Workers most likely, but interspersed with blue dots that were almost invariably Harkonnen troops. There was some effort to seal off the damage and prevent the sand mass from cluttering those facilities that survived the fire. It seemed well-organised, even routine. Logically, fires couldn't be rare this side of the Shield Wall, so procedures to put them out and control the aftermath must have been developed long ago.

Cuyler walked towards the mound, looking around for anything of interest.

If there was a chance anyone knew anything, it was these workers. Gene began her approach to them, getting used to walking around in this stillsuit until she felt comfortable enough to keep a good pace.

She didn't start speaking at first to them. Just observing them, and more importantly, how they reacted to her standing there watching.

Dorian followed the two closely. Keeping an eye out for any surprises. He looked to see if there was anyone aside from the Harkonnen soldiers who seemed to be in charge, to be leading the containment efforts.

There seemed to be a commanding one among the Harkonnen, ordering a loose cordon around the workers, making direct access to them difficult.

While they are still out of earshot of the workers and soldiers, Dorian quietly says to the two with him, "The Harkonnens are keeping a tight leash here. If we can't speak to the workers without a Harkonnen minder, we can at least talk to the Harkonnens. We'll see what cover story their putting out about the target of the explosion and let them dig their own graves in their lies. We may even find someone that knows what's really going on."

[Those that watch the Harkonnen, Discipline 2, visual focus. Those who study the sand, Discipline 4, auditory focus. No assistance allowed. Danger Sense applies to the second.]

Dorian kept an eye on the Harkonnens, watching how they interacted with the workers and how the workers reacted. He wanted to get a sense of things before approaching.

-----
LE2, Watching Harkonnens, Discipline 4 + Faith 6, TN 10: 2#1d20 14 15
Failed 0 successes, unless Constantly Watching would apply to watching Harkonnens and reduce difficulty by 2 to 0.

Cuyler slowed down as she walked with the others. Was she hearing things?

- - -
[Day 2 - LE] Through Fire and Flame, Discipline/Truth, Difficulty 4, TN 16, Listening, Constantly Watching?: 2#1d20 10 9

She kept one eye on Harkonnens. Maybe she should have kept both of them on them?

~~
I noticed you noticing me (Discipline+Truth) DC13: 2#1d20 11 18
1 suxx