Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC Are we ok to move the dead threads to rear view now? We can link up anything relevant to the current narrative as we roll along I reckon./OOC

Jade froze as she opened the door and saw the ten men wearing the same armour as the pointy-eared man who followed her. Her hand fell back to the hilt of her sword as she turned back to the Black Guard Captain with a questioning look. Eli sighed.

"Have no fear miss." He said, waving the soldiers away. "We're not here to mug you."

She didn't reply, instead she strode, a little unsteadily, around the back of a building towards a stack of empty crates near the back entrance. She stuffed the bottle of whisky into her belt and liberated one of the boxes from it's perch, the bag hanging off her soldiers made a clinking noise as she walked to the half-elf and held the thing out from him to take.

"Miss." Corningstone tried to interject. "That is the property of my employer."

"Do you want a bloody demonstration or not?" The weaponsmith snapped. The merchant looked momentarily flustered, the half-elf met his look with a shrug. Eli was actually curious about what the woman had to offer.

"Yes. Alright. Fine."

"Just set it up over there." Jade pointed to a dirt track framing a grass field a few dozen yards away and began unzipping the hefty sack of goods she'd brought with her, the woman's hands dipped into the bag and reappeared with what looked at first glance like an ordinary bolt action rifle. Eli placed his target vertically on the earth and made his way back as the woman took a knee to line up the shot. As Eli approached he took a good look at the weapon and saw the things that his partner had missed, the ornate pattern of the barrel was unusual, but clearly just for cosmetic purposes, but the hammer...

"Where's the hammer?"

"Doesn't need one." The weaponsmith's hand strayed to the top of the gun and pressed a thumb against a panel of metal where the gun part in question should have been, a low crackling noise started to emit from the barrel of the weapon. The volume remained constant, but the pitch began to climb.

"This-" She said, sighting the target. "-is a mana rifle."

She squeezed the trigger.

Eli had to squint his eyes at the beam of energy which discharged itself from the end of the weapon. He recognised the spell; a force bolt, but one that was concentrated into a tighter beam than a spell thrown from the hand or a staff. As it struck the crate the thing simply blew up in a shower of flaming splinters, and burned a thin, blazing trail in the tall grass of the road before the energy finally dispersed.

The half-elf smiled.

"All yours for a thousand bits plus the interrupting-my-drinking tax." She said.

At this, Corningstone stepped in, falling into the bartering routine with practised ease.

"A man could buy a yukki staff which does the same thing for half the price. Five hundred."

"Not at long range." The woman replied. "And the concentrated energy is more effective at piercing tougher targets, nine hundred."

"Granted, but the shorter length of the weapon means less energy crystals, and less energy crystals means less shots before it needs recharging, six hundred."

"... but also makes it easier to conceal. Eight hundred."

Corningstone regarded the red head for a moment and offered his bony hand. "Seven-fifty. My final offer."

"Deal." She shook.

OOC Relevant link for the rifle coming when I get off this bloody mac and get to a computer where you can actually right-click stuff./OOC
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Graybeard
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

Post by Graybeard »

A sign formed in the window of Dr. Rabbitfoot's front door for long enough to be read, then vanished.
Stay where you are. A contact is on the way.

It wasn't a minute later that a man wearing the uniform of the ragtag Lorrel police force turned the corner and stared at the three people at the door. Puzzlement crossed his face. There was supposed to be one contact here. There were three. He was intelligent enough to tell the difference, but possibly not intelligent enough to know how to resolve it on his own.

Finally he cleared his throat and addressed the head-shaved man. "You there. This is a private office. No admittance after hours. Come with me."

[OOC: Other threads getting rear-view-mirrored shortly.]
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Alberich
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

Post by Alberich »

Recognizing this for what it undoubtedly was, their Eisenfaust contact, Udo nodded. "I guess we'd better go with him," he said. The three went along with their quasi-arrest, to wherever the "officer" cared to take them.
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: This is all going too smoothly ... so let's introduce a little complication. :evil: ]

"Smi-- the, er, sergeant wants to talk to you," the low-level Eisenfaust operative said, self-consciously fingering the revolver that he carried. (Elke was too savvy to issue this man more than one bullet at a time for it, however.) "Come with me."

They set off in the direction of the warehouses, and everything seemed to be going smoothly ... at least until they got to the next intersection.

As it happened, another man wearing a police uniform was out on his regular patrol. This worthy noticed what appeared to be a member of his force, taking three suspicious-looking characters somewhere while he nervously fingered his gun, and did the math. Three was greater than one. If the three hoodlums decided to gang up on his fellow cop, things could get messy. The fact that three was also greater than two didn't seem to faze him. He drew his own weapon and approached the group, squinting at the unfamiliar face of the other officer. Well, there were plenty of cops in the force that he didn't know; he'd only been in the police for a month or so himself. He cleared his throat. "Do you need backup, officer?" he asked.

The operative stopped in his tracks and gulped. As far as he knew, this second cop wasn't in the Eisenfaust. In fact, he had no idea at all who the man was. He glanced at Udo, at Khoo, at the cop, back at Udo, at Angrist, back at the cop, at Khoo. Finally words came out. "Uh, no, thanks, Sarge wants to talk to these three about --" he fumbled for more words -- "on suspicion." That should sound convincing enough, shouldn't it?

The rookie cop's eyes got big. "Suspicion of what?" This could be a lot more exciting than what he'd been doing, which was mainly keeping drunks and hookers off the street.

The operative started to sweat. "Suspicion of -- conspiracy." He'd heard that word before, wasn't quite sure what it meant, but it certainly sounded menacing, didn't it?

The rookie certainly thought so. He frowned and drew his gun. "I'd better come along with you, sir. I'll keep these bad guys covered. But -- isn't the precinct station back that way?" He motioned in the direction from which the motley crew had come.

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

Meanwhile, back at a cheap flat near the warehouse, Smitty was checking his watch. It should only take about five minutes for Yogi to bring in the man that Rabbitfoot had told them about. Of course, being that it was Yogi, it would probably take ten. It had only been about seven or eight minutes since Annabelle had poked her head out of her office to let him know that Rabbitfoot's crystal ball had called hers and that he should get ready to meet the foreigner and Yogi at the flat, so he wasn't getting nervous about time ... yet.
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Tamina had returned to her practise after the men had departed the group and had made a little more progress. So as the pair sat down to eat the kobold felt some consolation that as least she was doing the best she could do in the circumstances she was in. But even so, being stranded on the outskirts of the town her enemies were gathering strength in was doing little to ease the stress the humanoid was feeling.

"Wish I could have gone with them." She said to the elf sat next to her, watching the flames of the campfire flickering. "It's not right what's happening, people in the Port saying the bad men are good men, while the real good men are risking their lives to stop them." She turned to face the other woman. "And you too. I just... wish it'll be worth it somehow."
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

Post by Alberich »

The rookie certainly thought so. He frowned and drew his gun. "I'd better come along with you, sir. I'll keep these bad guys covered. But -- isn't the precinct station back that way?" He motioned in the direction from which the motley crew had come.

Fuming, improvising furiously, Yogi countered: "There's a shortcut this way." He led the way.

You didn't need more brains than Udo's to understand what was going on here. The one cop didn't want the other one there. He wasn't sure why -- as far as he knew, the Eisenfaust ran it all around here -- but it might be good to please their contaccts. So he waited 'til the mean streets got quieter, and asked Khoo. "Hey, didja catch that girl's name? The one we saw on Kugelsegen?"

"Huh..?" said Khoo.

He turned his quesiton to Angrist. "How about you? Did you catch where she lives? She's a real knockout!" He looked over at the rookie and nodded. "Yes, sir, a realllll knockout." He paused significantly, then dug his fist into Sensei's shoulder. "Yeah, she left you speechless, too, eh? But those sausages she sold me, man..."

Yogi nodded sagely. "It's better to stay away from girls with sausages."

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." said Udo, going green and stumbling, so that the rookie had to use fast footwork to make sure he wouldn't be a target for any noisome emissions from the behatted bandito. "Keep an eye on those two, officer," said the newcomer as he warily watched the lurching stranger. Now he was between Udo and Angrist and watching Udo, so the latter figured that Sensei would take his hint and make short work of the situation, in some subtle way.

That done, they could make it the rest of the way, get some allies mobilized, get back to the girls, and get on with some Ralkin-stomping girlie action!

So...what would Angrist do?
Last edited by Alberich on January 29th, 2013, 8:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

Post by Drusia »

"Wish I could have gone with them." She said to the elf sat next to her, watching the flames of the campfire flickering. "It's not right what's happening, people in the Port saying the bad men are good men, while the real good men are risking their lives to stop them." She turned to face the other woman. "And you too. I just... wish it'll be worth it somehow."

"War is like that sometimes," I reply. "The sides get confused, everything you thought you knew falls apart, and you end up out numbered and out gunned."

I pause and shake my head. "Sorry," I say, turning to look at her rather than the fire, "This isn't the time for old war stories. Or bitter memories. What I was trying to say was - I've been in situations like this before. In fact, I specialize in this sort of small force attack. It's what assassins do."

Kill the leader and the troops fall apart. The only trouble this time is that the leaders know me and my tactics. Some of my tactics anyway. It also isn't helping that I barely know this 'team' that's working with me. During the Errant War, I had people at my back that I could trust, who knew how best to support and assist me. This group means well, but they're hardly an experienced fighting force, even if individual members are skilled.

And again, I'm not helping.

"Sorry," I say again. "I'm not sure that's what you meant either. Go on. I'll listen and do my best."

-- Drusia
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"I'm just thinking... even if we win... I don't have a home to go back to. I'm just... fighting to save what's left. Even then, more people die, some of them might not even be bad. Seems so pointless..."

She put down the meal she'd been eating and shuffled a little closer to the elf.

"...but with good people around me, sometimes... I can forget about it for a while." She blushed in rememberance of the tour of her village she'd given Drusia a few evenings before, and the chaste 'goodnight' after a moment between them which had been more than just companionable. "I... umm... owe you an explanation about... 'that' night." She managed, the look in her eyes leaving no ambiguity about which night she meant. "I got worried about what was coming, I wanted to get ready to face it so I went to train instead of... anything else." Her cheeks were crimson now, and she'd taken a sudden interest in the floor a few feet in front of her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you away."
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

Post by Browncoat »

To get back for the dig in the shoulder, Angrist waited until Udo was starting to get uncomfortable before acting. The rookie was starting to get suspicious when he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned to look, there was nothing there. When he turned back the other way, he saw Angrist turning the corner out of the alley with a wave.

"Hey!" Now here was some excitement. The rookie took off after the eye-patched escapist without a second thought (or even a first thought). The other three were left staring. After a little bit, they saw Angrist jog past the alley entrance with the rookie in hot pursuit..and again after a short wait. By the fifth pass, the rookie was struggling and Angrist waved at the others to go.

[OOC: He'll catch up with the others sooner or later.]
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Alberich
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters

Post by Alberich »

Udo shrugged. He'd imagined that Sensei would find a tasteful and painless way to send the interloper to sleep. (At which point he, Udo, would have spared the man an alley nap - not wishing him to wake up in his loincloth.) But Sensei knew best, and after Udo's recent experience being thrown into the sky, it best not to argue with him. Maybe he was like one of those hunters who chased their prey 'til it collapsed from exhaustion or something.

Anyway, he dropped his sick act and muttered "Let's go" to Officer Yogi, hoping soon to be led to a place where he could speak his piece.

He had no worries about Sensei, because even if he couldn't track where this officer took them, he knew how to get back to the girls. What scene Sensei saw when he got there would depend on them. Perhaps it would be maudlin, or touching, or, ah heh heh, touching, a scene to render him speechful. Woo-hoo! In the meantime, if the chase drew attention and led to wacky hijinks and pointless mayhem...a city Jamie so often had visited would be used to that by now. It wouldn't even be news.

Maybe Sensei would even meet Khoo's destructo-mage girlfriend along the way, and that would be fine by Udo. This was the life of adventure! They just needed to stack the odds some so they could get on with the action.
Last edited by Alberich on January 29th, 2013, 8:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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