Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

For in-universe game play. Journey through both familiar and foreign settings, explore lost ruins and forgotten cities, and try to bring light to the darkness of the world... or, you know, blow stuff up. Either way.
Post Reply
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC Make that tomorrow. Sorry grey I've been having a really hard time of it lately. /OOC
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Crosby gave the young man a surprisingly pleasant smile as he fielded his request. Jade returned her attention to likely looking discs of metal on the walls.

"Well, young sir, I think we can help you out. What is the lucky lady into? Ornaments?" He indicated a few exotic looking necklaces. "Or is she more of a weapons Gal?"

A blind man could've seen the business was fairly stuffed with those. Jade shook her head ruefully.

"Nothing as good as a mana rifle I'd bet." She half muttered. "Crosby! I'll also need some sort of grabber thing. I'll need to take a sample of the freaky fungi before I can finish the job. Would I be free to use your forge for a few hours? I'll pay my way."
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

Post by Graybeard »

"Well, young sir, I think we can help you out. What is the lucky lady into? Ornaments?" He indicated a few exotic looking necklaces. "Or is she more of a weapons Gal?"

Khoo was actually a reasonably cheerful sort, with a good sense of humor, as long as neither Anna-Lisa nor Masaki were around. He guffawed briefly at this before answering, as a whimsical thought entered his head. "Actually, she'd probably go for something like a working model of an Anuban swamp beast, complete with slavering fangs. Unfortunately, you don't seem to have any of those. I guess I'll just have to --"

But again, he didn't finish the sentence before he noticed Jade perusing the discs on the walls. He waited patiently for a break in the conversation about Jade using the forge (overhearing the words "mana rifle" in the process -- hmmm, that doesn't seem like a very Farrelian kind of device), then asked, "If you don't mind me interrupting, what are those?" Naw, they couldn't have anything to do with what Masaki wants -- could they?
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Jade couldn't stop a guilty flush from Khoo's question.

"Oh, umm, just some weapons that this Lorrel group was apparently using in the port a few days ago. They're like yukki staffs converted to a rifle shape."

Crosby lifted an eyebrow at the fellow blacksmith's explanation. Jade didn't have the best poker face.

"Sounds like the work of someone with some serious talent." He said. "Speaking of which, I could certainly make you a commission if you had an image to work from, go young man. I like to keep my customers happy."
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: You know, it's amazing what you can find on Amazon. My wife, on discovering that our new strawberry bed needed mulching for the winter, simply went out to amazon.com and bought ... a bag of straw. And relevant to the question Crosby just asked Khoo ... consider this. Move horns from skull to jaws, shorten the neck a tad, convert legs to a sprawling rather than upright posture, and you get pretty close to what Khoo's about to produce. So:]

"Speaking of which, I could certainly make you a commission if you had an image to work from, go young man. I like to keep my customers happy."

Now it was Khoo's turn to blush. He'd actually been wondering about the discs on the wall, not about the mana rifle. (Jade's response did catch his interest, though.) And he hadn't intended the swamp-beast comment to be taken seriously. But since Crosby had responded, he now felt honor-bound to reply in turn. He reached into his traveling pack and pulled out a Tsuirakuan sketch-pad, redolent of magic. "Well, um, er, I don't know, I've never seen an actual Anuban swamp beast myself ... but I think they're kinda like this."

Khoo wasn't much of an artist, but the whole point of Tsuirakuan gimcrackery like the sketch pad was that you didn't have to be notably skilled to use it; you supplied the concept and the magic did the rest. A few strokes of the hand and flares of magic, and an image appeared on the display surface that could only be described as that of a swamp-beast bobblehead.

His flush deepened as he realized that both Crosby and Jade were looking at the image, and at him, with ... interesting expressions on their faces. "But, er, oh, it's all right, it sounds like you two have more serious business to discuss. Don't mind me. Please. Go ahead and do the important stuff. Please." It sounded like he was outright begging by the time he got the last word out.
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Jade craned over Crosby's shoulder to look at the picture with a brief snort of laughter before putting the paraphernalia she'd gathered on a workbench. The materials certainly didn't resemble anything yet, but it was obvious the woman had something in mind.

"Oh, the most important part of our business has been concluded. But, you're right, I've got some serious work to do."

"I... can certainly make this for you sir." The blacksmith said, more or less neutrally. "It shouldn't take more than a day."

"My Kingdom for a chemist. " Jade muttered, cranking open a vice.
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

Post by Graybeard »

It didn't take long for Crosby and Khoo to reach a deal (one that Khoo realized he was getting mildly fleeced on -- he'd never been much of a bargainer -- but to the Weave with it, he was on an expense account and he could write the cost off as "developing a source," probably, maybe). He was about to leave the shop and go face the music, which was to say, Anna-Lisa, when he heard Jade's mutter.

"My Kingdom for a chemist. "

He thought for just a moment; he was stuck here for another day anyway, waiting for the animated swamp beast and doing whatever Masaki-satisfying poking around seemed justified, if any. This woman sounded like there was some chance she might lead in interesting directions (interesting to Masaki, at least), so ...

He stepped over to Jade and cleared his throat. "Hey, I heard you were looking for a chemist. My girlfriend and I --" damn, I used that word again -- "are just passing through, but we're here for a day and I have some chemistry in my background." He restrained a shudder as he remembered a certain incident in his thaumatic chemistry lab at Sashi Mu; surely that, at least, wouldn't happen again. Would it? "What do you need?"
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
Alberich
Noble Knight Protector
Posts: 1892
Joined: October 5th, 2008, 9:58 am

Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

Post by Alberich »

Khoo's memory of the mission briefing was a little hazy. Mr. Masaki's mistake had been in holding it at a decent hour of the morning...when the previous night's activities had left Anna-Lisa looking prim and attentive, and Khoo himself feeling as weary and ready for death as Masaki always looked. All the more reason to stay on the right side of his (ulp!) girlf...well, her. She had the broken bit of greenish glass, etched with an archaic form of Farrelian script that Homeland Security was unfamiliar with. She also had the coded notes on the compounds to be tested for, if he could find an intact bottle like this. And she might even remember why this town of "Ester" was supposed to be the most promising spot.

[OOC: If Elke's coming into town and has some education, it occurs to me she might be able to read the writing--as most of the locals cannot--and that this might get her involved in things, most especially if this reading is done in earshot of Jade.]
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

Post by Graybeard »

OOC: Elke would probably be able to read the writing, and she's also carrying magical gadgets that would include translation effects.

It's a bit difficult to write for her -- the reason for including her in this is largely to tie up some loose ends (and expose others) pertaining to the grand finale in the Far North -- so it'll take me some time and thought, but I'll try to get something up tomorrow.
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
Alberich
Noble Knight Protector
Posts: 1892
Joined: October 5th, 2008, 9:58 am

Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

Post by Alberich »

[OOC: Very good. Here is a little more of what Anna-Lisa will remember...or, if you prefer, the fog can clear from Khoo's mind and allow him to recall.]

"...Operation Girlfriend is well under way," had breathed the ever-weary Mr. Masaki. "So your role is out of it. A little amnesia wouldn't hurt a thing. We got another matter needs your attention. Needs a chemist in fact. And you're it."

Anna-Lisa had made a positive comment about their "chemistry" that ensured she would be sent along. This business of sending Khoo alone to find "girlfriends"--she didn't care much for it.

"So," he'd said, waving her down, "it all started with a Board of Tourism investigation. Bunch a' barbarians were going back to wherever the hell they come from, and coming down with diseases they wanted to blame on us. Like they know hygiene. That didn't go anywhere a while, there was a lot of talk about mandatory hygiene checks at warp gates, to go with the rest of the recent changes..." -- a recent crash had added enough complications to the whole business of travel.

"But some whiz kid figured out the pattern of reports actually fit the pattern of diseases you get from handling corpses too much. So it went from Tourism to Public Health and Hygiene. 'cept there was an issue whether there was unlicensed body disposal, or Tourism Beyond Limits, or a foreign plot, so they had the cops involved, and us too." The true adventure had taken place in the trackless wastes of the Tsuirakuan bureaucracy, but Mr. Masaki spared himself the memory by sparing his listeners the details. "Finally traced it to an unlicensed males-only place called 'Memories.' Catered to the exotic, like we don't have enough exotic 'round here..." He'd shaken his head.

"So, anyway, turned out this place was being run by a couple of necromancers, man and a woman, and the customers were getting the diseases for reasons let's not go into. That brought in the Sashi Mu faculty and the council, and the genius idea we had to shut 'em down and keep it all quiet. Like there was someone left who didn't already know. They tried solving the problem with police spies, then a couple elite Heliomancers, but they ran into a problem. Women can't get in there without making a scene. You send in any man, he gets seduced by the girl of his dreams, even if he knows he's 'making love to one already dead.' We ended up solving that problem."

The solution had involved a powerful and resourceful mage in the Homeland Security hierarchy who could get into the establishment but didn't feel the slightest attraction to women--Kentauro Kitaura. The idea had actually come from that Foreign Sensuality Consultant they'd hired, Miss Azaka, using some barbarian gift she called "gaydar."

"Well, our man caught one of the necromancers, and we'll get the other soon enough. And we got the story of what turned him to necromancy." How that information was obtained was covered by compartmented classification, some program Masaki wasn't read onto and didn't want to be. "Just another out-of-luck wizard washed out of Sashi Mu with his girlfriend, ended up with pirates, took a merchant ship down in Farrel. They didn't give him a big cut of the loot but he found a bottle the others didn't notice. Incredibly well hidden" -- the details of how were also compartmented -- "And here's all that remains of it."

He'd laid down a bit of broken greenish glass, with archaic script and language unknown in Tsuiraku. "They broke the bottle and lost most of the contents, but he and his girlfriend figured it was for drinking, so they got the broken bottle back to their room with as much as they didn't spill, and gulped it down all at once, then tumbled into bed to see what their good times would be like." Ugh. Kids.

"It was way too strong for them. Like way too strong. They were seeing visions and they were all from the past--like their own conceptions, and their great-grandparents' conceptions, and what their ancestors did in the Mage-Priest Wars. And apparently the girl had a necromancer back in the family tree, and she picked up some suppressed knowledge. And they ended up as some kind of sex necromancers"--ancestors preserve us wasn't there enough kinky stuff out there to fill even an elf's lifetime?--"which led to this 'Memories' establishment I was telling you about. Got all that?"

Anna-Lisa and Khoo had both nodded, though possibly for different reasons.

"So we've got other people after the other necromancer, but we've also got to find out exactly where the stuff in that bottle came from, all those years ago. And what it is. After we know that, we can make sure this won't happen again.

"There wasn't even a trace in the broken bottle we found, but Public Health and Hygiene is pretty sure it's a hallucinogen, or a mix of them, and they've got details of some tests to confirm the most likely kinds." Here he provided some encoded notes, such as any analytical chemist could follow if he knew the code. "If so, what they took was a massive overdose.

"So your mission, and you choose it accept it, is to find out what that stuff is and where it comes from, then report back. Don't ask me how we know, but the likeliest source of that bottle is close to some town called 'Ester.' It's got no drug trade far as we know, some group called the 'Falkenrohr Patrols' is keeping the peace these days, and our contacts don't reveal any rumors of necromancy or necrophilia or necromancy-assisted necrophilia or whatever. So it might take a while to get a lead. That's all right--it's a cold trail and there's not a rush. Just get it done." And if you want to stay out of my rapidly whitening hair for a while, that is o kay by me.

"What's this 'Ester' like?" Anna-Lisa had asked.

"Little ground caravan trade stop on the way out of Port Lorrel. Last place to get tanked before taking your stock across country."

A thought had drifted through Khoo's bleary mind...Booze and hallucinogens? Maybe that's why they call the place 'Ester.' Half acid and half alcohol...
Last edited by Alberich on October 22nd, 2017, 12:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply