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.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

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"Never trusted teleportation." Jade declared, even thinking about warp gates made her feel a wave of nausea. "I mean, getting whipped through one point of space to another? How could anyone be sure their arms won't wind up where their legs are? Or their eyes on the back of their head? Or... -hurk-."

"Settle down spaz." Leo interrupted, and then, tempting fate. "I'm sure it'll be nothing but smooth sailing from here on out."

"Which is my cue to leave." Moriarty said. "Pardon my exit boys and girls, but a Captain has to make sure his ship is shipshape."

The flamboyant merchant departed with a wave and strode towards the, admittedly impressive, vessel. Eve sighed.

"...and then there were five." She murmured. "We've still got some time to kill before departure right? Any ideas anyone? We could always just stand around and practise 'murder faces' like those two over there."
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Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

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[OOC: OK, assuming our intrepid pair made it to the rendezvous with the Silver Hands with no further encounters, and that Kawamura's encounter with Boris and Natasha was close enough to the rendezvous point for all to see:]

Khoo looked at Leo, at the departing Moriarty, at Leo, at Moriarty's back, and then at Anna-Lisa. He noticed that her eyes were doing the same tennis-match thing as his. He would later be forced to admit, to himself if to no one else, that he felt just the tiniest bit of jealousy ... but it passed, maybe because of the embrace and smooch that his girlfriend gave him, maybe not.

The other Tsuirakuan couple was still standing in front of the boutique, steaming in such a way that it shouldn't have been necessary to run the boilers once they got onto the ship. Khoo couldn't really blame them; inwardly, he'd been having the same response to Kawamura himself. Eve's comment had been to the point. He decided to break the mood with a little humor that would later seem prophetic. "If that guy ever gets murdered, they'll never solve the case, because if we're typical, anyone who ever dealt with him will have a motive."

"Huh?" Anna-Lisa said, her focus back on him rather than on the Landaus.

"Never mind," Khoo sighed. He addressed Eve. "Maybe your friend the skipper will let us board a little early, start getting our stuff -- hey, wait a minute, that's odd."

Another man had seemingly materialized from nowhere (Khoo would later conclude he'd just walked around the corner, but the timing was ... interesting) and walked over to where the other Tsuirakuans were fuming. He couldn't hear the conversation, except some extremely emphatic swear words from the large woman. Her companion just nodded quietly while the other two did most of the talking ...

... And then, the woman pulled out of her ample(!) bodice what appeared to be a large coin purse, and smirked. The new man took this with a leer, and retreated back around the corner where he had come from.

-------

Five minutes later, somewhere else:

Well, I guess I'd better get ready to board that ship,
Elke thought.

Things seemed to be going as smoothly with the Eisenfaust as could reasonably be expected after the uproar of the last few months. Nobody new had gotten too ambitious for their own good in her absence, and had to be killed. That was a pleasant change of mood. Annabelle, for her part, had discharged her duties competently in the absence of her boss, as Elke had been sure she would, leaving nothing for her herself to clean up. A good second in command is hard to find, she thought. I'm sure she can handle it while I'm ... out again for a while. Subconsciously, she rubbed her belly, now definitely starting to show signs of the life within. Just need to make sure nothing happens to her ...

As if on cue, another underling appeared in her office door and knocked politely; he knew that barging in on the boss' thoughts unannounced was unwise, sometimes terminally so.

She looked up, recognized the man but couldn't remember his name. "Yes, what is it?" she said curtly.

The man looked pained but forged ahead. "Sorry to bother you, ma'am ... but there's a man outside who says he's looking for some way to fix it so a guy on that cruise ship you're going on gets dead."
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Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

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"Curiouser and curiouser..." Eve murmured. "Then again, I too leer when someone hands me a large bag of gold."

"We should be able to board now." Leo said. "Moriarty is laid back when it comes to passenger protocol. He considers his job getting cargo from point A to point B intact. As long as nothing fucks with that he doesn't care too much."

"Plus he said there was shrimp cocktail available." Eve chipped in, wiping her mouth unconsciously. "What kind of beer goes with that?"

"The kind that's white wine, you uneducated savage." The handsome mercenary spoke in the tones of a long-suffering older brother. "We still have time if you want to run errands. Personally, I'd like to see what kind of vessel Mesuinu trusted to my brother's charge."

Jade had lapsed into silence again. The techsmith seemed a thousand miles away at that moment.
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Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

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"Well, all aboard, then," Khoo said, hoping he sounded more like this was a good idea than he truly felt. [OOC: When looking to create potential suspects for the planned murder, it helps to go where the suspects are ... So let's head in that direction. Except:]

----------

"Tell me more," a skeptical Elke said as Annabelle joined her and the underling. "But my initial reaction is 'not no, but hell no.' This sounds like something we don't want to get involved with." She snorted. "Where's a Gewehr Wraith when you need one?"

The underling stood his ground. (She would later appreciate this.) "Understood, but he says you'll recognize him. He's still on the front porch."

The two women exchanged a look at this piece of news. All three of the people in the room knew about the thaumatic camera system, brought in at some expense (mainly in the form of bribes to Customs people) from Tsuiraku, that kept an eye on the entrance to the shabby-looking warehouse that served as the Eisenfaust's headquarters for the harbor district. Another visitor to this warehouse had passed muster and been admitted there, not all that long ago ... with life-changing consequences for Elke. (John!) "Very well, let's have a look at him. Step out for a moment, please." The underling did as he was told; he didn't need to know how the camera was controlled.

The two women brought up the system, using a carefully concealed switch -- concealed under what looked like a coffee mug with stuff in it that hadn't been touched in several months. (In fact, the "stuff" was a quickly lethal poison, as both Elke and Annabelle knew. They also knew where the antidote was, just in case.) There was a magical glow and an image formed on the far wall of the office ... and Elke produced a low whistle.

"Yes, we'll talk to this guy, I recognize him," she said, to Annabelle's great surprise. The system was shut down, and the women headed for the entrance. A few precautions were taken before the door was opened, but there was no need for high security, just caution to make sure no one was watching ... because this man would be, to put it mildly, recognizable.

"Good morning, Doctor Rabbitfoot," she said to the towering, dark-skinned figure wearing a cloak and a top hat. "Come on inside, and let's talk."

[OOC: Kinda fun to do a callback to one of the very earliest scenes in Errant Road. The stuff about twenty posts on either side of that one should be entertaining reading, JR!]
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Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

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OOC I'll check that out. Always like when things link up down the road. Almost like we planned it! Btw, how to you put a link in text again? Completely forgotten./OOC

Leo, probably more than anyone else in the group, cooed his appreciation at the state of the big vessel as they walked up the gangplank to get to a deck that was so clean it practically shone. Aristocrat or not, it boggled his mind at the amount of coin that must've gone into this thing.

"Gold embroidery!" He exclaimed, running a hand on the railing. "Ivory studs on the door frames! I wonder if this guy is hiring?"

"What? You don't have enough money already?" Eve raised an eyebrow.

"Money is one thing. This is TASTE." Leo declared, effortlessly pronouncing the capital letters. The mercenary waved at waiter carrying a tray of glasses which were obviously fixed to it via some sort of low grade gravity magic. "This is what I call a vacation!"

At that moment Jade tapped Khoo on the shoulder. When the student turned the blacksmith cleared her throat.

"Erm, Khoo? I was wondering... you were travelling with a kobold right? Would you mind telling me about her? What her plans were after the... incident... with the Black Guard?"
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Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

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[OOC: Yeah, callbacks can be a lot of fun, and having been involved from essentially the beginning of the ten-thousand-plus :!: posts in Errant Road, I can come up with a lot of 'em! Funny thing is, I remember very little of the Ralkin-oriented posts, so you may have to "correct" me on some of those ... Anyway, a quickie, with considerably more to follow after I'm done traveling between houses today:]

"Erm, Khoo? I was wondering... you were travelling with a kobold right? Would you mind telling me about her? What her plans were after the... incident... with the Black Guard?"

"Tamina," Khoo confirmed with a wry smile. "How could anyone forget Tamina? Last I knew, she was going off on some world-saving adventure with a countryman of mine and his wife -- well, sort of his wife, anyway." Am I going to regret saying "wife" in Anna-Lisa's hearing? (In fact, he was not, or at least not immediately.) "She was going to try to learn some earth magic from him, he's arch-mage-level at that. Why do you ask?"

Thus distracted, none of those present noticed that the waiter-crewman was making sure that one oddly-smudged glass was being delivered to a particular, unoccupied (as far as they knew) cabin at the far end of the deck.

----------

[OOC: More, quite a bit more, on Elke in a couple of hours.]
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Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

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[OOC: Sorry to do this as a twofer, but Elke does need to be heard from, and I was too rushed to do it yesterday...]

Elke heard the imposing lifemage out, occasionally stopping him to pose a question. The first, and most obvious, was "Why hit this guy at sea?" But then she understood: simply put, that was where he was going to be, he wouldn't be on dry land long enough to arrange ... things. The "who" part was clarified; the mark sounded pretty distinctive. She did not inquire about the "why" -- certain aspects of Dr. Rabbitfoot's "practice" were best left undiscussed -- and the "how" was something that Rabbitfoot would not need to know.

The "how" part did leave one question open, however. "Why not take the guy out yourself?" she asked him when his description was done. "You certainly have the resources for it. You have access to every poison known to man, and some that aren't. You're also better at magic than anyone that we've got on the docks."

Rabbitfoot grinned, exposing his gold tooth. "Plausible deniability."

Well, that was fair enough. However, it simply transferred the problem from his shoulders to hers. Although she'd taken the precaution of using a new alias for the travel rune, there was no mistaking a comparatively young, pregnant woman among the almost exclusively elderly passenger list. But then she had an idea ...

"We'll do the best we can," she assured Rabbitfoot, and showed him the door.

Next, she summoned Annabelle again. She knew her lieutenant had recently found a new boyfriend, and this one, in contrast to the lowlives (or so Elke considered them) she'd dated previously, looked like a keeper. He was smart, didn't mind getting his hands dirty, and showed certain ... skills that the Eisenfaust would definitely find useful. To Annabelle's knowledge, he hadn't killed anybody yet, but there was a first time for everything. Yes, this should work, she thought with a smile like a wolf's. "Go find Kevin," Elke commanded. "You two have qualified for a relaxing, all-expenses paid cruise, posing as my valet and beautician. There's just this one thing I'm going to want you to do ..."
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Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

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"Well...." Jade rubbed her head. "I WAS working for the black guard at the time that fight at the docks happened. I was even there in fact. One moment I was showing potential investors my brilliant designs and the next the lights went out and magic starting flying everywhere. I saw your friend killing the people I was working with and she seemed to be very enthusiastic about it. Guess I'm just trying to figure out if she's the type to hold a grudge."

"Your knight in shining armour will protect you from all danger my love!" Declared Leo, now sipping from a champagne glass.

"Sure you will." She coughed. "Also, I don't know if I said this already but I'm sorry for creating the weapons those guys were attempting to murder you with."

At that moment Eve emerged from below decks with a shrimp cocktail in her hand and seafood in her mouth.

"Man, this stuffs got a kick!" She enthused. "Hey aristocrat. You should check out one floor down; there's oak furniture and chandeliers in the dining area."

Leo made a girly noise.
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Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

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[OOC: Can we clarify one thing before proceeding very far?
I saw your friend killing the people I was working with and she seemed to be very enthusiastic about it. Guess I'm just trying to figure out if she's the type to hold a grudge.
Does this refer to Tamina? If not, to which of the possible "she"s? Anna-Lisa? Elke? Someone else? Also, for a link back to an earlier page, do this, substituting square brackets ([]) for the curly ones and not in bold:
{url=(URL for the page you want to link}(whatever you want to say){/url}
Thus, if I want to link back to the second entry in this thread (the one where Jade is retrieving her money), {url=https://forums.errantstory.com/viewtopi ... 104#p41857]this{/url} lingo produces this link back to that post. Let me know if this is confusing and I'll clarify. /OOC:]

When Khoo and Anna-Lisa got to the honeymoon suite, their luggage had already arrived and was piled on the bed, there being barely room for it all on the floor. This probably disappointed Anna-Lisa, but it came as a great relief to Khoo; he'd been all but sure that she was going to insist on putting the bed to ... other uses right away, and he was, to put it bluntly, all tuckered out. Actually, Anna-Lisa didn't object too strenuously when he started easing her out the door and toward the lounge where the Silver Hands were congregating. Maybe he was overestimating her libido, or underestimating her understanding of the situation.

Sure he was.

On the way down, they had an odd encounter.

A small, nondescript, rather elderly man, overdressed in much the same way that Kawamura had been, was quietly going down the rail beside the cabins, counting them one by one under his breath. He was maybe half way down the row of cabins when the couple pulled alongside and excused themselves. The man looked up at Khoo, paled as if he'd seen a ghost, and all but shouted "DON'T HURT ME! I'LL BE GOOD!" He took off running in the opposite direction ...

... Dropping a small dagger, of a kind that probably was ornamental rather than practical and came in pairs, unnoticed on the deck.
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Re: Farrel- Vengeance in the Mushrooms Woods

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OOC Yep. It's Tamina Jade's referring to./OOC

Jade, feeling somewhat reassured (OOC assuming Khoo reassured her; I can edit if not./OOC), had decided to leave her companions to their own devices as she wanted to be left alone to hers. It had been a hell of a few days; the loss of her sword had felt like the loss of a limb, and it's retrieval an elation that had made her uneasy. Jade wasn't the kind of woman who wore her heart on her sleeve. Feeling such feelings often made her uncomfortable and brought on a strong desire to forget.

So, the bar then.

"Ahh madame! Welcome aboard! Here early I see?"

"5 'o' clock was 23 hours ago." The blacksmith replied, echoing Eve's line from the day before. The barman was as smartly dressed as a patron of the opera, and gave Jade an uncharacteristic urge to put on a dress to fit in. He really did have an impressive moustache. It seemed to have sapped the growth from it's owner.

"I'll have a-"

"Whisky. Aged 15 years. Lots of ice."

"How in the world did you know that?"

"Part of the training madame. A few of the key servants on The Majestic Otter are learned in some very specific types of empathy magic. There are Rallaheim cigars behind the counter as well."

"That's some pretty sophisticated skill you have there."

The bartender smiled. "Actually, that part was just from hearing your voice. Smoker's rasp."

The techsmith return the smile, feeling herself starting to finally relax. "Jade Ermingard. Nice to meet you."

"Travis Dupree. A pleasure."


OOC Of course, empathy magic might come in handy in a murder investigation... or possibly the exact opposite./OOC
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