Meanwhile, Lenora falls in love a little bit more watching her smoothly deflect the bad kinds of interest at the fire sale. There's something fun about being in on the secret.

Someone has scrounged up five barrels of Hours for her. Two of the barrels are full of sub-par Hours, but there are five of them! There are kind of a lot of questions about her. Mostly 'where the hell did you get all that stuff', of course. 'What do you intend to do now' is up there too.

The bloods at the Promise of days ask her to sit with them.

She pays for the barrels as agreed, of course. They're no secret, just another purchase. She's been making a lot of purchases.

There was an old warehouse in the abandoned part of town that held all this stuff. She inherited that warehouse and all its contents, or so the bribed owner of the property will say. Fortunately most of it was still salvageable; here's a water-damaged crate of tea would you be interested in buying it? If you are particularly persistent and in charge, here is some psychic paper displaying a quite ironclad will and if she turns the page there's a writ of inheritance for the warehouse. She's quite willing to produce other documents upon request.

She intends to take up exploration using the funds raised from liquidating the warehouse. She wants to venture all across the Reach, Albion and Eleutheria. Maybe visit the Blue Kingdom too. Once she's seen all there is to see, she'll likely settle into the Hours trade. 

She understands that the invitation is not necessarily a request, and accepts.

The Plucky Baroness raises a glass of wine. "Congratulations! I was surprised to hear that a relative unknown was the one who purchased that lovely machine that's been for sale for so long, rather than Ms. Lovejoy leading the pair of you two, but I'm sure it'll serve you well. We'd offer you some supplies for the journey, but you seem to have it well in hand. Gifts for new captains of any sort of merit are a tradition, however- So, advice. For two days you may bring me names and I will tell you if they are good sorts, to my knowledge."

The Masked Citizen taps the table. "You're hiding something. The story is too convenient and there are... Oddities. I am certain of it. That's not necessarily a deal-breaker. Many people are hiding many things. Here." He passes over a small folded paper. "Compendium of common signals for various, less than legal, groups. Fairly outdated. Probably not useless. I'll be watching you."

"It's not actually impossible for her to have inherited an old warehouse. The thing is," 'Spatchcocker' Meg continues, "Some secrets are a lot more dangerous than others. If you're joining the ranks of explorers, my advice is to get some big guns and a good gunner. And know when to run like hell and when to fight. If you intend to head to Eleutheria, watch out for Grievers. Scaly, mostly mouth, hard to describe. They hate the light."

The Bedeviled Diadict says, "I am always on the hunt for- Er- More information from distant locales. There are a great number of subjects that interest me, or a colleague I can pass the information on to. Any unusual discoveries, you may show them to me for possible identification or sale. And since we're doing advice, d-do not pry into the affairs of the stars if you value your life."

She smiles and halfbows to the Plucky Baroness. "We're partners, Ms. Lovejoy and myself, and she has an equal stake in the engine. But thank you exceedingly. Lenora's experience might have been enough, but I won't hesitate to have an experienced captain check over my hires."

She nods to the Masked Citizen. "This fire sale has attracted a lot of attention, it's no secret. But if it'll give me the chance to fly the skies, it's worth it. I'll let others speculate; you know my side of the story. I will however accept your manual of signals, and thank you honestly for the thought. Anything to be able to communicate honestly, even with the dishonest." She smiles like a cat.

"Lenora's that," she says to "Spatchcocker" Meg, "And I'm glad of it. She comes with her own big gun, too. As for your advice - I'll do my best to judge when to fight and when to flee, and watch out for Grievers as well. Thank you." 

"And I'll remember your offer, Didact, for I'm sure I'll find all kinds of strange things among the stars. And I'll recall your advice when I think to dig too deeply into matters above my station." 

She smiles. "Thank you all once more. With your support and advice I believe I'm sure to succeed. Pride goeth before a fall, of course, but - let's hope things go well." 

"Pride is a sin," the Masked Citizen comments, "But all the fun things are sins, anyway." Meg laughs and slaps him too hard on the arm.

"You'll either earn it or die trying, I'm sure," the Baroness says. "I hear you don't drink or I'd have you buy our next round. As it is, good luck."

"I'll buy your next round anyway and just not drink with you, I think that's allowed. And thank you for the good luck."

"Cheers!"

She'll get enough regular crew, at double pay, to fill out the roster with experienced sorts even on short notice and as an entirely new captain. Though she does have to do a bit of talking up the joy of the sky and how amazing the Moloch is and assuaging vague fears. Competent officers are a bit thinner on the ground.

A Devilish Technician finds her at the bar after a while, with golden eyes and breath smelling faintly of brimstone. He's wearing a suit. He presents a small pad of paper. "My references. Or simply ask the Baroness. I understand you have come into ownership of a remarkable machine and intend to adventure. I may not be the most capable engineer in the High Wilderness, but I am sure I would serve well. In addition to Sovereigns, of course, my desired payment may be a bit esoteric- And I do not mean souls."

She o'erglances the pad of paper, and nods. "I would like to hear more about this esoteric payment, then. I intend to range far and see much, so it's more than likely we'll have an opportunity to gather what you are in need of."

It's a neatly typed list of names, addresses, and their relation to the Devil. Coworkers. Customers. Bosses. 'Consultants'.

"Perhaps we could meet in a quieter place to discuss?"

"We could. Aboard my new vessel, perhaps?"

His eyes light up. Almost literally. A polite, businesslike smile. "I see no problems with that."

"Let's, then." 

She leads the way to the unnamed vessel and picks out a cabin near the engine to talk in.

He has an air of detached disinterest as they go down to the railyard and board the engine. He does peek in the engine room before moving to the designated cabin.

(Lenora, currently fitting her cannon into the engine, frowns at them as they pass but says nothing.)

"My unusual payment is nothing terribly much. I have old connections, who are very particular about their anonymity. Occasionally while in certain ports, I will have business to attend to which may take a day or two. I would ask that you remain for a while in such cases, and not ask any questions about my business ashore. Even more rarely, I may ask that you consider visiting a certain port, if it reasonably fits your plans. I understand this is a considerable inconvenience, and I assure you that such matters will be rare. I would also appreciate your sharing any news of the recent exploits of the more villainous parts of society- Savage secrets, or perhaps tales of terror, if you will." He shrugs. "They will help me plan. I would consider it a bonus."

He is unmistakably up to something villainous and she likes him. 

"None of this is a dealbreaker for me - I have no particular order planned for my explorations yet. I would ask you 'help you plan what', but I don't expect to get an answer to that question. I appreciate your straightforward approach. I will have to discuss your hiring with my First Officer, so I cannot say you are hired now. But I think you have good prospects."

"Indeed, you would not get an answer, I'm afraid. As for Sovereigns-"

The monetary pay he wants is high but unreasonable given what she's paying the crew, though he does want to have an actual contract, and a signing bonus. He smiles pleasantly if absently and departs the locomotive after telling her where he can be reached and saying his reputation speaks for itself as to his skills so he doesn't feel a need to demonstrate them.

She checks with the Plucky Baroness, of course, and then if the response is positive she'll talk to Lenora.

The Baroness says that he is rather taciturn but she has no particular reason to doubt the Devilish Technician's skills or trustworthiness as an officer.

"So, you're thinking of hiring a Devil? I know I shouldn't be prejudiced, but..."

"He's rather straightforwardly villainous. I like him. And we do need officers." She explains the situation with his unusual pay.

"-I mean. Make sure he isn't smuggling, the authorities won't much care that it wasn't ours. Maybe he's robbing or killing people. Maybe he works for eccentric rich collectors. Maybe he has some pact where someone owes him their soul as long as he keeps to the deal. Maybe he's passing messages for anarchists, rebels, the Khan, or organized crime."

Thorn winces. "Yeah. On reflection I can't actually take him up on that offer, no matter how much I want to."

"Lots of sky-captains are kind of sketchy, maybe even 'most'... But if you want to keep your hands clean, stay away from someone who all but admitted to something deeply villainous, yeah."

"Yeah, no, thank you for catching me here. Your government might be responsible for some awful things but that doesn't make all your criminals good people. Red Honey should have been enough for me to know that."

"You're welcome! I think more people are nice if their upbringing is nice. The High Wilderness is... Not nice."

"It is not. I suppose this means I go back to the Technician and inform him that he's been vetoed."

"Sorry to veto the first experienced officer we found but staying out of blatant criminality is probably for the best."

Quick hug?