The legendary vessel Skidbladnir is a ship, of colossal proportions, that can sail across both sea and sky, and travel between realms.

The brass colossus is housed within one of the Skidbladnir's holds.

DM\Arcturus: I'm going to make you roll a skill check to have the Skidbladnir act suitably cloud-like, i.e. blend in properly
Nikolai: well the giant can try
Vasily: I can embiggen if desired.
Albrecht: less so that I'm going to give a shit about its offense but I guess I'll look i tup
* Taras desires embiggening
DM\Arcturus: That check will be: d20 (rolled by pilot of ship) + half of someone's K:nature + half of someone's Hide
Vasily: Of course...
DM\Arcturus: (ranks)
Vasily: I could also cast thundercloud on Taras with the same spell slot.
Nikolai: so
Albrecht: the same someone?
DM\Arcturus: No
DM\Arcturus: Different people is fine

the stargate

Crew

In Cherkessia, through Juliane's contacts, Vasily has gotten hold of two sorcerers, having convinced them that working for a foreign scholar/adventurer such as himself would be more exciting than their previous plans of serving in the King's court. They are both level 2.

In Kiev, Vasily has picked up two fighters, briefly (and formerly) of the Kievan Guard and looking for some more exotic adventures. These guys are level 2 and they have max ranks in Profession: Sailor, having served on a Kievan ship on the Kiev-Oleshie route.

In Novgorod, Vasily has used Yegor Dolgorukiy's archives to locate three wizards (two working for assorted merchants and one in Prince Vladimir's court) who are being paid far less than their skills demand, and makes them better offers. One of these is level 4, the other two are level 3.

With the help of Lars (who is still working as a clerk in Prince Igor's court in Chernigov), Vasily convinces four of the Prince's men, all rogues, to come work for him. Two of these are level 2, the other two are level 5. All have max ranks in Use Magic Device, as well as an assortment of other useful rogue skills.

Finally, an opportunity presents itself... Vasily, being the shrewd and discerning observer of people's behavior that he is, took careful notice of the attitudes and dispositions of all of the Cult's researchers, scribes, and other staff who worked at the underground base in Novgorod before it was destroyed. In the process, he noted several of the arcane scholars there, who worked for Ileana, and showed subtle but noticeable signs of being unhappy with their lot. Careful probing and asking-around confirmed that these guys are likely to be susceptible to a better offer, if it came from someone who could shield them from Ileana's displeasure. Luring them over to your service almost certainly would annoy Ileana... but it would gain you the services of three wizards (two level 6, one level 5), with ranks in useful skills (K:arcana, K:planes, K:history, Decipher Script, others) and knowledge of the Cult's workings. Whether you want to go for this is up to you.

Second, I'd like to nab 2 of them (most likely Illeana's L6s) for a project: Create a library of history, prophecy, and related knowledge, writings and arcana, with the goal of eventually being the most complete repository in the world (if not the multiverse). Pending party approval, we can nab some party funds as seed funding. Once a legitimate Fox Imports is up and running, it should be possible to fund the library's acquisitions through that.

Two Fighters: After a suitable evaluation of their capabilities, dispositions, etc... Vasily assigns them the roles of Captain and Marshal; Although under Vasily in the org chart, The Captain has authority over the ship and all matters related to getting it from one place to another in Midgard, while the Marshal is 2nd in command to the Captain, and responsible for organizing, training, and commanding the military forces on board.

Four Rogues: These are now Vasily's spymasters. Each is given responsibility for a particular region... Northern Russia/Novgorod, Southern Russia/Kiev, Germany/Poland, and Cherkessia/Byzantium. Vasily expects them to become full, tactical experts on their areas, and to manage any forces on the ground. Given the assassinations of his previous agents, Vasily advises them to stay on board the Skidbladnir and to communicate with their agents on the ground through Kai and Vasily until a more permanent solution (e.g., communication devices) can be put into practice.

Two Sorcerers and Six Wizards: Depending on disposition, interests, etc... these are assigned to a combination of shipboard defense, magical maintenance, and spy logistics. Concretely, Vasily assigns one of them to be subordinate to the Marshal and command the magical defense of the ship. The head caster assigned to defense, and their team will train alongside the military forces on board, maintain the ship's defenses, and take charge in the event that the ship is engaged in combat. Vasily will also select one or more of the casters (likely from those taken from Ilena) to support the efforts of the rogues, acting as a general coordinator/big-picture guy.

The rest: Of the remaining 150-ish people: At least 20 dedicated sailors, and 40-60 combat types, capable of supporting the sailors, as well as firing bows, or grabbing swords&shields. A very small number of these followers will be deployed on the ground in places of interest, posing as local agents of Fox (Lis?) Imports, an up and coming merchant firm, and acting as handlers for members of Vasily's contact network.

Ship statistics