Tsuiraku-town, part 3

[Graybeard]

OOC:

OOC Alright, timeout. If we're gonna decide on a direction to go with the story i've got an idea; since all the characters are trying to locate the real Oshima in one way or another why not set-up a meeting with him? The original way i'd planned Martin (Leo, in case it isn't glaringly obvious) to meet the group was with them interupting a meeting he was having with Oshima to discuss buying some property in Tsuiraku Town (there's a huge bloody backstory being written in fan-fiction which gives him the means and the motivation to do that *plug*). If the guys pool the info they've gathered as individuals it should present some way of achieving that, if nothing else occurs Martin could always use his 'creditials' to get them in, or there's always the Gewehr approach, or use him for misdirection AND take the Gewehr approach?

After that... obtain some valuable info from Oshima then deal with the shack once and for all?/OOC

This all sounds reasonable, except that so far, we don't have any clear picture of who the real Oshima is. About the only things that are clear is that he isn't Galina (she's completely detached from Oshima and the conspiracy, indeed is theoretically one of the "good guys"), and he isn't any of the roadkill that has accumulated to this point. Let it be said that the move toward the Temple of the Divine Dwarf is intended as a step in that direction ... and if it proceeds the way I intend, an interesting surprise is coming. Just be patient a little longer.

Incidentally, anyone who hasn't read the backstory that Jack has been setting up in the fanfic is encouraged to do so. It's good stuff.

[Hours]

OOC: I changed the post, now stop harassing me about it.

The Oshimas so far have only been middlemen and low level grunts, I'll write up a few NPC bios for the ones involved with Gault's leg of things if it makes it easier. So far we only really have...

Bodyguard Oshima - Gault shot his hand off and clubbed him over the head, Wallace is now 'interrogating' him for the sake of exposition.
Tanaka Oshima - "Mr. Silver" Oshima Family bagman and problem solver. Shot by Mouse when Gault went to hit him up for information.
Real Estate Oshima - Former owner of the Vineyard, possibly high mucky muck of the Oshima Family, possibly glorified lawyer.
Archmage Oshima - Probably that dude who was spotted at the shack, most likely very high up in the Oshima Family, possibly "The Oshima"

Other than that... The plot is pretty clear, the Gewehr want to stick around in Tsuiraku town but are being targetted by the Oshima Family (Do people mind if I tag the group as the Oshima Family?), while the Tsuiraku homeland security guys want them to help wipe out the Oshima Family, while quite likely the Sorensens and prospective Sorensens are just wanting to quietly establish a cover and maybe have some quiet time. Gault doesn't want anyone to win, he wants to gain some leverage over the Oshima Family because it could be a very powerful tool in international clandestine politics, as such he's trying to sabotage pretty much everyone while no one knows it was him doing it.

The conman and blacksmith duo I have no idea what they're here for, but they probably have their reasons. Gault obviously has far less tolerance for random intruders into his business and so is going to keep Martin around long enough to try and get the Gewehr to kill him, in all likelihood that won't work. Basically however the only way anyone is going to get any peace is to try and work out what they can do about the Oshima Family, and so far their best lead is at the temple, so they should probably snoop around there instead of holing up around the vineyard.

Ultimately it also seems some background big bad is pulling strings, but no one really knows/cares about that.

[Graybeard]

OOC: Pretty good analysis, but let me address a few things in it.

The Gewehr do NOT want to "stick around in Tsuiraku-town." They want to stick around in RINKAIEL. There's a difference. Tsuiraku-town is an ethnic enclave in the much larger city of Rinkaiel. The Gewehr have figured out (possibly through what has happened in the threads, possibly through prior reconnaissance by the advance party) that Tsuiraku-town itself is too tough a nut to crack for their business purposes, and their only interest in the place, going in, was that their initial cover operation (the liquor store) was on the periphery of the district, while the magic teaching center is in it. Once those things were resolved (they found a better cover and Layla completed her lessons), they were going to be all too happy to be shut of it.

That all changed as a result of events in the game, first the "creation" of the shack, second the business with the late Dasuke Kinabalu, and third and most important, the unwilling recruitment of Layla and Faye by Kitaura, which evolved over time with input (intended or not) from almost every player that's been here. Several shoes remain to drop on that one. Like it or not, Layla and the Gewehr are now involved in the Grand Conspiracy -- which, left to run its course, actually provides protection for them at the moment, as the conspirators have considerably bigger fish to fry and don't want to call attention to themselves. Of course, if the conspiracy ever succeeds, there'll be an effort to tidy up loose ends, permanently and fatally ... but that's far in the future.

How does the conspiracy actually work, and who is the mysterious uber-Oshima and what is his role in it? That remains to be worked out collaboratively -- hopefully cooperatively -- among the players. As soon as we get to the Temple of the Divine Dwarf, there'll be an encounter that suggests some directions for that. Thanks for setting the cast of under-Oshimas, that was very helpful. It is also consistent with what's coming at the temple.

If Gault really wants "leverage over the Oshima Family," he is playing with fire. The stuff going on in the Ladies' Day Out thread, it gives nothing away to say, is also connected to the Oshima Family, and it should suggest that their resources are ... extensive ... should they choose to exploit them. Still, no reason not to try, subject to the "play nicely with each other" principle that Impy laid down as one of the underpinnings of the game. We'll see what happens. Layla, for her part, wants nothing more than to complete her magic lessons, then go back home to Volkanenborg and smooch Ace, although if she makes some good wine in the process, all the better. She was NOT sent to Rinkaiel to oversee the Gewehr operation there; quite the contrary, she has become much more involved in it than anyone intended, including both Sorensens and the big shot lurking behind the scenes (Peter). This will need to get resolved, and you're giving me some ideas on how to do it. And yes, there is a BBEG whose motives transcend even the Oshima stuff, but that's for far in the future, and you're probably right in not knowing or caring about it at this stage of things.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled mayhem.

[Jack Rothwell]

[OOC On the subject of explaining motivation and future plans with characters. I'll drop a little explanation regarding Leo (since a fair amount of the stuff he's doing is easier to understand in the context of the backstory) and make the situation with the blacksmith more clear. Basically he's working for a disreputable group (depending on your point of view) who have plans to set up a base of operations in the city. 'Martin' is the forerunner for the group as he's best qualified to achieve this. As far as Jade goes, she used to be a member of the team and he has personal reasons besides that to chase after her. His inclusion in the storyline atm (besides not leaving you two to write this whole thing by yourselves) is to provide a more diplomatic option or a cover to help deal with the Oshima situation and, besides that, a possibly dangerous group bears investigation on their behalf.

If 'Ladies Day Out' winds up reuniting with Tsuiraku at its conclusion this should all go according to plan. In the meantime, the fop's going to put on his best face and take mental notes./OOC]


"Okay, now what?"

Martin was parked at the back of the small convoy when he heard the question. A wry smile touched his lips.

"Well if that's a liquor store I see I usually find that wine is the best answer to that question." He dismounted carefully, silently cursing the stiffness of the clothes he wore, and walked past the older man to the entrance of the building.

"Of course, afterwards there's the matter of meeting the woman-who-isn't-your-wife, am I right?" He called back, reaching into his pockets to produce an elaborately embroidered purse which (quite deliberately) matched the design of the waistcoat he wore, toff's liked form over fuction after all.

"I'm buying if anyone's thirsty." He said as he went inside.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Retconned. The exchange between Ace and Oskar has already happened -- I'm losing track! So do whatever you want to at the liquor store, and be aware that Oskar is packing heat...]

"I know this cute little Tsuirakuan restaurant just on the other side of the Temple of the Divine Dwarf," Galina said brightly as she and Layla walked, children in carriers. "Want to run by the temple on the way to lunch and do some reconnaissance? We security types do things like that, you know." She winked.

Layla rolled her eyes. Honestly, the Temple of the Divine Dwarf wasn't high on the list of places where she wanted to be seen. In fact, it wasn't on the list at all. But if her friend wanted to go there, she'd go.

They didn't stay long when they got there, just long enough for Layla to notice something most unexpected. The high priest was arrayed in his preposterous dwarven getup, of course, and he was too busy chivvying a small group of underlings and acolytes into a frantic tidying-up of the entrance to the temple to even acknowledge the two women, let alone speak to them. Momentarily a novice came over to where Layla and Galina were standing, and shooed them out the door, saying the temple was closed because of an impending visit by a dignitary ... but Layla's powers of observation were as good as one would expect of a Wraith, and she'd already noticed something that made the trip worth while.

Strip away that ridiculous outfit, she thought, and this "Reverend Orpiment" bears a very strong resemblance to the arch-mage we saw at the vineyard. A frighteningly strong resemblance.

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC I'm assuming intro's were made on en route/OOC


Martin strolled into the liquor store with just enough presense of mind not to freeze at the sight of the oversized man standing behind the counter.

'Luminosita's nethers! Is he the proprietor or the bouncer?'

Martin made his way over with a tip of his brim. He kept the conversation breif, having no desire to be caught ogling. If this place had connections to the vineyard as the man who called himself Ace had stated then it was a safe bet looking at the near troll-sized individual that they knew how to take care of themselves. He tried not to think too hard about which side of the fence the charming Ms Ermingard had come down on with these dubious looking characters. The priority was Oshima right now after all.

He exited into the sunlight with a pair of bottles full of rose-coloured liquid, secured them in his saddle bags and remounted his animal.

"Always important to take some time out to enjoy a few of the finer things in life." He said brightly. "Shall we go?"

[Graybeard]

"Shall we go?"

"I suppose," Ace said, rolling his eyes. "It's still a little early to pick up my -- girlfriend. Let's execute phase two of the plan and go get some lunch -- uh, oh."

They had just mounted the wagon (or, in Martin's case, horse) and pulled away from the liquor store, when Ace noticed a pair of scruffy-looking Tsuirakuans heading for the store ... with kerchiefs pulled over the lower parts of their faces, and carrying long, cylindrical objects wrapped up in bags. Bags just the right size and shape for the contents to be Yuuki staffs.

[Hours]

Gault rode along with Ace, he had his man take his horse back to the docks and hopped on the cart, there was a lot to do and yet he seemed to be doing nothing but lounging around all day, which wasn't so bad when you think about it. His arm was starting to cramp up though, something about not moving it all morning, but he was reasonably used to such things after so many years of playing the assassin game where you have to sit in tiny cramped nooks for hours on end.

Arriving at the liquor store, Gault just looked up to see where the sun was. His opinion of this rich guy wasn't improving much as the proposition of getting drunk before noon was something he'd have Wallace give most of his men the lash for even trying. But then the prospect of lunch wasn't so bad.

"It's still a little early to pick up my -- girlfriend. Let's execute phase two of the plan and go get some lunch -- uh, oh."

Gault looked back to see what this spectacle was, raising his eyebrows at the whole thing. There was two of them which meant this wasn't exactly going as planned. Might be an opportunity, might be an outright crisis really. Perhaps he'd jumped the gun with his orders...

'I never did ask, but are either of you two fighting men?' he asked Ace and that other guy who's name had slipped his mind, 'Or are we just going to leave this to your bear behind the counter?'

[Jack Rothwell]

"I never did ask, but are either of you two fighting men? Or are we just going to leave this to your bear behind the counter?"

Martin had wheeled his nag around to face the curious spectacle of the masked men approaching the liquor store with suspicious looking bundles as the grumpy looking individual asked his question. He turned the situation over in his mind.

"I know my way around a fencing sword." He said in response to Gault's question, and in response to his ever-running mouth he couldn't resist making a joke. "But, I don't suppose there's any chance they could just be decorators who take their jobs really seriously? Masks for paint fumes and all that?" The looks on the faces of his companions at that suggestion indicated not.

"Well then..." He rested a hand on the pistol that was tucked into his belt just as the men disapeared inside, and pointed to the establishment the group was facing. "Perhaps diplomacy would be an aid in the day time. It would be a tragedy if a simple misunderstanding cost the business its liquid assets."

He began his ride over.

[Graybeard]

"I never did ask, but are either of you two fighting men? Or are we just going to leave this to your bear behind the counter?"

Ace looked worried. "I can handle myself in a pinch," he said, "but it's not really my thing. I'd rather do my fighting from the helm of an airship. If Layla was here --" He started to say she'd settle those thugs' hash with two quick shots, but decided that wouldn't be a good idea, and changed the thought in mid-sentence. "I'd probably do something stupid to try to protect her, maybe get my damn fool self killed. I think Oskar in there can handle himself." I hope.

---------

Oskar's opinion on the matter is not recorded, but he did look up in surprise as the two hoods burst through the front door of the store waving Yuuki staffs. "Don't nobody move!" one snarled. "This is a stickup!" For good measure, the other fired a Force Bolt from his staff through the ceiling of the store, narrowly missing Stevo in the flat above, and waking him from his usual sound, if drunken, sleep. The roar of the offensive spell echoed in the building as Oskar made a quick mental calculation about going for his pistol, decided against it.

---------

None of this was known to Layla, who was happily enjoying a very peaceful lunch with Galina at a cozy little hole-in-the-wall coffee shop in the middle of Tsuiraku-town.

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Meanwhile, another liquor store elsewhere in Tsuiraku-town was undergoing a remarkably similar, if considerably more organized, attack.