Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

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Alberich
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Re: Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

Post by Alberich »

Yawning, stretching, scratcihng his beard, Udo made it downstairs last. The others had finally left the bed completely to him, and he'd enjoyed the extra naptime. Truth to tell, he'd rather see the sunrise from the front end than the back, but he supposed he'd better be ready in case they moved out without him. His smile glowed with a happy memory of last night...of silky cat fur, right under his palm...but to keep getting the hero's reward, you sometimes had to do the hero's deeds, so he supposed he'd best make ready for the grand adventure. If they weren't going by wagon, he'd have to sell the Doomcurdler...there was no way a mere horse could carry that thing, let alone himself...and now that he'd actually heard it fired in anger, well, he wouldn't be too sorry to see it go. An International Man of Mystery would have to use subtler means anyway. He ordered the unhealthiest breakfast the inn had to offer and listened for a hint of what happened next.
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Graybeard
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Re: Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

Post by Graybeard »

"Took you long enough," Father Blaise grumbled as Keyes returned to the flying boat with the load of fuel.

Keyes felt a more than momentary urge to sic Old Charlie on this annoying man. Unfortunately, it couldn't be done. For one thing, Old Charlie might not have recharged yet from the silliness on the Southern Continent. For another, Mr. Stagpoole had emphasized that this guy was important, although he hadn't told Keyes why. Of course, accidents had happened to important passengers in the past ... but that was usually because Mr. Stagpoole arranged them.

"Dut remember," he answered as neutrally as he could, "we'll make better time running on puel dan ip we had to put up de tailt. Now get all your gear towed, we'll be under way in ten minute or to."

True to his word, the boat pulled out of the hidden bay exactly eleven minutes later, and was running hard on its hydrofoils barely two minutes after that.

------------

Junichi Oshima took three minutes to bow before the shrine to his ancestors, killed in the War with Barbarians, and then headed off to find the men he had come to Lorrel for; it was going to be a long day.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC Skipping ahead a little to get things rolling, if that's ok./OOC

"Onna rooooooad again.... somethin' somethin' somethin' onna rooooad again!"

Tamina turned in the wagon and waved a goodbye to Ester, smiling at a young child who'd stepped out of her house to run a stick over the loose wooden panels that made up the fence of her home. The girl waved back with a saucer-eyed expression of wonder.

"Say bye bye Nera."

"ba..buh!"

"Good keysha gah!*" The kobold enthused, holding the infant up so she could get a better view of the town they were leaving behind. In truth Tamina was looking forward to returning to the Port. The bustling activity of the town appealed to her. She hoped that with the goods delivered (all except for a few remnants of the weapons of the bandits who'd ambushed them on the way there that they had hadn't found a buyer for) the trip back would get them there sometime close to mid-afternoon. It seemed likely; the horses were rested and Gary's hangover was mild.

"Na, na-na, na-na! Saying ba-buh to Ester, onna rooooad again!"

The humanoid's melodic voice carried across the countryside.

*- pretty cub
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Graybeard
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Re: Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

Post by Graybeard »

OOC: Just FYI, Keyes and Blaise have disappeared from this thread, and reappeared in Background Noise. If you need help getting Oshima to do things, let me know, but Jamie and Tammy have a way of finding chaotic adventures without much help ...
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Alberich
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Re: Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

Post by Alberich »

The wagon rolled along to Lorrel, no adventures meeting it this time. Of all the persons who might've brought them adventure on this road, about 4% had joined the group and the other 96% were dead or fled -- not a surprising result for Jamie and Tamina.

Tamina's lessons for Nera -- expanding the girl's vocabulary beyond "Gobaw!" -- was as meaningful as any conversation in the wagon, except the part where Jamie gave Udo the name of the man they were after and gave the best verbal description she could. Which, given her lack of patience, wasn't all that good. But he wouldn't abandon this mission. Not with you-know-what waiting for him at the end...

Finally, they were back in town. The wagon and the boy went their way. The remaining adventurers got their rooms for the night.

A discreet inquiry with their erstwhile employer told them what they needed to know about those gregarous Tsuirakuans. Jun Oshima wasn't known to him, and there was no "Tsuirakutown" in Port Lorrel, but there were a bunch of them passing through. There was going to be an airship, or at least a ship-ship, arriving in the morning to take a bunch of them away. So, anyone who wanted to ask about anybody among these Tsuirakuans had better get it done tonight. After inquiring among the merchant's contacts, they learned of three groups --

One claimed to be a group of game developers, returned from some kind of tour of old battlefields. They were suspected of being spies, but not very smart spies, since the modern Farrelians had any intention of refighting those old battles.

The second was a group of arms dealers. Rumor had it they'd just completed a very successful venture.

The third was a group of magical performers, the kind who'd play music, wander among the audience, and produce rabbits from the gentlemen's hats and mice from the ladies' underwear. They'd been playing the provinces and now it was time to come home. (And maybe come up with a new act?)

One of these groups -- it wasn't clear which one -- had apparently gone to The Red Rose, which had recently become ownerless or something like -- and was considering whether to diversify.

Udo suggested splitting up, to make sure they got to them all. They could meet in That Tavern Over There an hour after midnight. Whichever one of them had found Oshima could then lead the others to him, and they could do some "wet work." He himself volunteered to take the game designers. He hoped for no objections as he was eager to get started.

[OOC: Just trying to move the plot along a little here; Greybeard had no issue with it.]
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Graybeard
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Re: Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: If I did have an issue, it wouldn't matter. This is a free-form, after all. ;) So a little more to work with here:]

The setup looked almost perfect, Jun Oshima thought, with no small amount of self-satisfaction. "Orpiment" had done his job well.

It was helpful that the barbarians considered the Temple of the Divine Dwarf almost as goofy as his own people did. Their reasons were entirely different, of course; the equally preposterous worship of the Veracian god-construct was still deeply entrenched here, despite Tsuiraku's attempts to, well, enlighten them. However, the result was the same: an island of security in a foreign city that the barbarians wouldn't examine too closely, and if they did, anything they saw would just be attributed to "heathen" worship practices.

It hadn't been just the base of operations that Orpiment-san had arranged, either. There were two other groups of Tsuirakuans in town at the same time, neither of them having anything to do with the Family, and both heading off to do their own things that might attract the interest of the Homeland Security goons. Even better, one of them seemed to include a man whose features were a good match for Oshima's own. That should throw that hiretsukan Kitaura's men off the trail; and if they couldn't penetrate the deception, how could the barbarians possibly do it?

The only real problem was the Weave-damned bugs, he thought, slapping irritably at a gnat buzzing around his face. A proper place to live would float high above the ground, like the Home, where none of these vermin could reach it. ("Vermin" of several kinds.) Well, the barbarians were what they were, and he and the Family could hardly move among them without being noticed if they carried with them all the comforts of a civilized race. Still, the insects were ... annoying. He could see a swarm of midges ahead, just waiting for their opportunity to dine on his succulent flesh.

They wouldn't get the chance. An extension of his will, a snap of his fingers, and where there had been an insect swarm, there was now a sudden, soundless flash of magical light. When it cleared, the insects simply weren't there any more, although an observer would have noticed a few toasted husks, bugs that had been close enough to the perimeter of the fireball to only get part of its effect, dropping to the ground. That was part of the spell, of course; Oshima wanted any watching gaijin to draw the correct conclusions about his magical capabilities. Orpiment-san had said this particular band of retainers could be trusted, to the extent that any Farrelite could be trusted, but a bit of intimidation might come in handy later.

"Well, let's get to work," he said to his countryman, now back wearing civilized clothes after the ridiculous Divine Dwarf getup had been stashed in a Pocket Dimension.
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Alberich
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Re: Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

Post by Alberich »

Hearing no objections to his plan, Udo split away from the others and went searching for the game designers. He thought it best to stow his medals and the Frontier Blaster - that was for later, the violent phase. Not every veteran was decorated like him - perhaps even a hint of his reputation would have reached his countrymen, and that would not be good for operational security. For now, he was just a humble travelling Tsuirakuan (with three knives and a nightstick) looking for some good companionship. And maybe a game or two.

He traced them pretty quickly to a tavern (don't quests always start in the tavern?). There were four of them at a corner table, relaxing and talking comfortably. And sure enough, one of them was getting out some strangely-marked paper and some whittled pieces that could only mean tabletop warfare. Up he went.

"Hi, fellas, say, it's been ages since I had a good game - can I join you?"

"Sure! What's your name?"

Oh, dear, he really should've thought of a good alias. He was far too well known in certain circles. And the city-state was not so large. Better be like the expats who took up foreign names. It had to be a mighty name, an expansive name, the name of a conqueror! Notimetothink- Alex...

"Zander!" he gulped.

An eyebrow or two went up. "Good to meet, you, Zander." The man who was fishing out the dice asked, "Last name?"

Oh dear, oh dear, he needed one quick. Your name is in the mouth of others...let it show your highest aspirations! Kobold-petter? No, sounded petty. Cat-snuggler? No, too cutesy. Notimetothink...

"Kittysnoggin'!" Even he paused at that one. "It's, ah, Farrelian. Been away a while, you know how it is..." At least, he hoped, they wouldn't ask his rank.

He joined them at the table to begin the subtle gathering of actionable intelligence.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Tamina had opted... no, that was too polite a term, jumped up and down near squealing in excitement at the prospect of going to check out the magic act, and had made big, sad eyes at anyone who suggested otherwise until it was unanimously agreed that the kobold would do that part of the investigation.

There had been only a brief side-trip involving her and Jaime (after Udo had gone his way) to pick up their completion pay for the escort mission before she was off, meandering along with a scrap of parchment in her hand (whipped up by Jamie) which gave directions to the entertainment district laid out in a manner the kobold could understand. Namely, pictures and arrows with smiley faces on them.

"Aaaand past the fishy place..."

Truly, negotiating through stalls clustered with ice-packed, over-sized fish was the biggest challenge the southern continent native had faced since she'd left her home.
Alberich
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Re: Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

Post by Alberich »

Although Tamina wasn't trained as a detective -- not the in-city kind anyway -- she had winning charm, and kept her wits about her and her drits wide open. It didn't take her long to find the tavern where the magicians were staying. (Yes, of course a tavern. Quests always start in the tavern, unless they start in the prison instead.)

This place was cheap and nearly empty, further from the waterfront, and the showfolk were gathered around a large table, sipping their various drinks and arguing. Their costumes weren't the latest in Tsuirakuan fashion, but a hodgepodge spanning centuries. (And in the case of the young lady, not spanning much else.) The buck-toothed young man in the coolie hat -- not very practical in here, kept colliding with his mug, and you'd have to maneuver pretty carefully to kiss him -- was twitching his left hand nervously as he argued. "Nonononono! -- look it's the mice and bunnies and bunnies and mice -- more mouse stuff the same way -- they're tired of it! We've got to give them something else!"

The young lady stuck out her lower lip, and blew her bangs out of her eyes. "You keep saying that. But you don't come up with anything!" She consolingly petted the only nonhuman at the table - a large white mouse she'd been feeding. It was taking no part in the argument. In the philosophic tradition of wu-wei it was accomplishing just as much as the others.

The oldest man at the table, a shrivelled, white-bearded little man in a shiny black short cape, had been making less noise than the others. Now, with a beatific smile, he raised one hand and pointed at the kobold who'd just come in. The other faces turned her way, sprinkled with five flavors of "astonished."

The girl spoke first. "A ca...?"
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel: The search for Jun Oshima

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"Kobold!" Tamina said reflexively, actually overtaking the girl who was talking. "On vacation from the southern continent. Umm... hi-hi-hi." She added with a wave.

It dawned on the kobold that the people who were gaping at her at her had a flamboyancy of style that was similar to the play she and Jaime had very nearly almost watched all the way through the last time they were in town. In all likelihood they were the magic act she was looking for. A lucky break. Tamina didn't know much about espionage and infiltration but she understood, at least, how to start a conversation. She padded over to the table managing, after a considerable struggle, to avoid staring at the mouse which had begun frantically scrabbling up to it's owners shoulder. She gave her best smile and asked a question in the nicest tones she could muster.

"Umm, watcha do-ing?"
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