So you probably have about 45 minutes or so before the Ossylian cruiser arrives and people get on board. Anything you guys are doing before that? I'm assuming any weapons are hidden and that outfits from Hasheli are being worn; if that's not the case let me know.

Yep, anything incriminating is tucked away in my pocket, at least my things, and anything that the others want to put in. The only danger for that would be, if we get separated, they won't have access to it for a while. And for that case, we have set up at least 3 plans of where and how to meet in case some of us get de-routed.

What I'm going to do for the boarding party is to state generally what they do and then the questions they'll ask. You can then each respond in IC with how your character answers those questions. If you plan on using a skill like Diplomacy or Bluff then please make a roll for it when you post your responses. Note that if your character is essentially telling the truth you shouldn't be making a Bluff check, though you could make a Diplomacy check to make what is said sound better.

Then we'll proceed based on those responses.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:41, Tue 06 Dec 2016.

I thought I posted that Vanyra was going to be hiding/looking for hiding places.  We did not seem able to come up with a valid story that would get her in.  Should we discuss this in OOC 6?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:04, Tue 06 Dec 2016.

Do they hear any answers before the soldiers get to them? Like is anyone answering yes to having weapons and what happens etc?
Zelpuz will basically tell the story of why he originally came (just a few days delayed), order of the Order.
Do I need a Diplomacy & Bluff for saying "no" to carrying weapons? Technically he's not carrying them, so not a lie (ah these Germans ...)

I'm not sure that hiding will be an effective method of dealing with the situation as it would be akin to hiding on the airplane to get through customs. I mean Vanyra could probably find a place to hide from this primary group of officials, but that would still leave you with clearing any inspection in the harbor itself.

As for a 'good story' you guys really have no idea was a sufficient story to enter the city is, considering the random group of people on the ship with you, as long as you're not going to cause shit then there's a chance they'll let you in. No harm in trying right now and see how it goes; they haven't shot anyone yet.

You hear some answers, and they're pretty standard answers. No one is answering that they weapons, because they don't actually have them, aside from maybe a knife. You would need to make a bluff check to say you do not have any weapons, especially considering you're from the Order and those guys usually carry weapons.

After they're finished with their questions they write up a slip of paper and tell the person to give it to the officers at the dock upon disembarking; I'll amend the IC section with that..

Ok. Reviewing back, it looks like Vanyra was just going to play the using-the-truth card and be who she is, just like she did to depart the city.

Is her blade going to be an issue?  Its basically just a big curved knife in terms of size (30-45cm total length - I based it off the kukri).

OK, so Zelpiuz will say he has a weapon, he still has a short sword that he could give up if he is asked to surrender his weapons. Also a good test to see what the sentiment is.

Spider-man: homecoming trailer is out.  Yes!  Finally something that looks good again.  Vulture is the villain, which is who Raimi wanted to put in the earlier movies before Sony made them choose villains like Venom.

Yuu is pretty much mirroring as much truth as he can. It was his last year, he is a student, he spends more time at the Academy than away so... that's kind of like residing... maybe a bit of name slip, but he didn't actually say HE was Sarcen Thuln, only just said a name Sarcen Thuln, he just forgot to add the "isn't my name" bit after.

Yeah, just saw those trailers today Erik, looks freakin awesome. The Iron Man cameo is a hilarious twist on the storyline. Really excited for it. Not nearly as much as Guardians of the Galaxy 2... /drool... but still.

I am not sure about where exactly he came from before, I'll edit that later.
And I assume he is basically a nomad, no real home base as he is sent to different places each time.  And he'll have the short sword somewhat visible on his side.

Yeah, we can just determine where planetary headquarters of the Order is on Khalyun and say it's there. I'll have to check my world map and see if I named that area at least.

In case my post wasn't noticed, I was wondering what Vanyra might know about the legality of her blade.

It's a relatively short one; Zelpuz is walking in with a whole sword, albeit a short sword. Her knife isn't any more dangerous than a good chef's knife; it's all about who wields it. Plus I would imagine she registered with the local authorities as a bounty hunter upon arrival and thus would have been given some ID towards that, which would give Vanyra some leeway probably.

Regarding the questions, Vanyra knows that the ship's log may show her boarding in the Hesheli region, but she is just not mentioning it to avoid the drawing of associations based on what they hear.

She will be taking 10 on Diplomacy and using her Attractiveness, so that would give her a 17 on the Diplomacy check for people attracted to her (13 otherwise).

She will also use her Empathy (6) to guide what she says - I will let you decide what kind of bonus this may or may not provide (skill synergy rules would give a +2 for the first 5 ranks of a similar skill, I am not sure how powers could work for this since they have lower ranks than skills).

Anything the characters want to do while waiting for the ship to enter the harbor proper? There's about a half-dozen ships anchored outside the harbor gate awaiting entry. Naturally they are not lined-up like cars would, rather they're just anchored about the area on the north side of the gate, nearer the mainland shore.

After Yuu receives the slip with the code on it, he's going to spy out other people's papers to see how the codes being scribbled differ and share similarities. His Take It At A Glance and Eidetic should help keep it subtle.

Erik asked about the same thing oddly enough, and my description in the IC still stands. The codes seem to make little to any sense; could be a numbering system but a non-sensical one. No two people, from the people you've seen, have the same code. Some parts of the code may be the same, like a letter combination or letter-number combo, but that's it.

One thing to add is that Zelpuz got a different colored piece of paper, light blue, than Vanyra and Yuu, who both have a yellow paper.

In case it matters, the new leads literally referred to finding information about what is going on in Ossylia, since that is her current job. ;)

Yellow paper?! What? No!

I decided to answer for Brett to move the story along.

So you are each in your own line and waiting. It will probably be a 15~25 minute wait until you are at the front given its current pace. Is there anything you are doing in line or anything you want to look for/at?

Otherwise we'll jump ahead to when you are at the counters.

Vanyra will be observing/listening to the conversations of the guards at the counters and the ones on guard.

She will also attempt to read the emotions of the guard at her counter while their conversations are ongoing so that she has an idea of what to expect from them.

Similar for Zelpuz, he'll try to read the general emotions, especially as he draws closer to counter 9. He takes his time to see what happens to a few people before him at the counter.
For escape routes, that includes trying to just phase out into the city or cause some kind of panic in the landing area.
Made a few rolls just in case, but I think the system is rigged.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:18, Wed 21 Dec 2016.

The guards have the typical emotions of people who are at work, whatever that is depends on the individual. Some are bored, some are frustrated, some are nervous, etc. It's different for each person and changes over time. You're not going to gain much more useful info from a blanket search like that. None of them are "on edge", and no one is having fun.

Jan, with those notice and sense motive rolls you're not going to notice much more than the obvious.

If you are using mental powers against random guards to scan their surface emotions then you don't need a roll. If you guys are going to use them against the counter officer when you are in front of them you'll have to make a subtlety check to avoid detection since the person is "on guard" against deception and such.

For phasing the only reliable place would be a rooftop, but that's somewhat in the open if anyone looks up there. You cannot see into the streets beyond the fence.

Yes, I noticed the notice rolls were not very helpful to notice something.
And no, just listening to the guards questioning. I assume that he may be in a special "has a weapon" line, so checking if there are extra guards in Zelpuz' line, if they question for weapons, and if so, if they take the weapons away etc.

Ok, well Zelpuz does notice that no one else in the line appears to have a weapon.

I'm going to send each of you a private message to go through the counter portion since you're all apart from each other. When that's done I'll post a summary of what you could notice of each other following that exchange.

Vanyra will just be taking 10, so her Notice check for listening in and such is 23.  (-1 per hundred feet).

Oh no!  Zelpuz has gone to secondary!

Did Vanyra hear what was going on?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:03, Thu 29 Dec 2016.

We were talking about setting up meeting points for after getting inside, so I assume we made a plan, like we'll meet at this cafe after we get in, alternatively, if that got shut down at some other pub etc. And if we don't see each other that day, we'll meet at some place at a given time each day or so? And if you need to leave a message, put it on the rooftop of Vanyra's previous flat behind the corner of the chimney that has a loose brick (or something like that).

No Vanyra had no chance of hearing what went on over the hundreds of people talking and yelling, and the distance between the two. Furthermore, neither she nor Yuu saw what happened with Zelpuz as there are hundreds of people standing in the way between the two lines.

Jan posted that just for IC note; it is not something the others see.

I will assume you guys did specify some place to meet up that is away from the harbor district since you were not sure on the ship how big this quarantine area was. For lack of anything better we'll say you were to meet up at Vanyra's apartment, unless you've got a better idea.

I updated what Zelpuz did, assuming that there is some sort of food stand / cafe with outside sitting space. He'll stay there for a while to see if Vanyra or Yuu come out.

Cool. We're just wrapping up everyone's counter interview so I should be posting a neutral-perspective wrap-up for what everyone sees in the next day or two.

Taking 10 on Notice for a result of 23. (sight, smell, hearing, etc.)

To notice what? Yuu? Yeah, he's not there, like I said; it may have come across like he may be lost in the crowd or something, but no he is not outside the security fence.

To notice if Vanyra smells or hears him somewhere nearby where she cannot see him, or perhaps if she notices that he has gone somewhere different from where she expects him to be.

She doesn't smell or hear him in her vicinity either.

He's gone ... it's a mystery.
Is Vanyra joining Zelpuz? We can sit there for another while and wait. I doubt we can find another storage of highly explosive magical substances that I can accidentally light on fire to cause enough distraction to go and look for Yuu at the moment.

Well he's not outside as far an Vanyra knows, but she may want to check with Zelpuz on it.

So before the reunion wraps-up, what is the general game plan for you guys today?

Sounds like Ice cream, Freelancer guild, and somewhere safe to talk like Vanyra's apartment are the 3 goals I can think of.

Works for me.

At the Freelancer's guild house was there anything in particular you were looking to accomplish, or just some general information gathering?

Did we get ice cream somewhere?

No, there wasn't a place between where you were an the Freelancer guild; it's only a couple hundred meters away from where you all met up.

Vanyra wishes to ask about the current situation in town, including the implemented martial law and restricted movements.  Depending on who she gets to talk to, how forthcoming they are, and the read she gets from them using Empathy and Sense Motive, she might ask more about the situation in town.

More would include more information on who is fighting who (major players), who is in charge, who is best to avoid, and what happened to people of the ruling class before.

Oh, ya, Yuu won't be participating in the Freelancer guild entry... rather, quite the opposite. He'll hang way back outside until you finish up. There's a chance his name is on the board and he doesn't want to chance it.

Ok, well just state in IC what/where you (everyone) is going, be it with Vanyra or elsewhere.

Board?

Well, a symbolic board. Freelancers are adventurers for hire... which means bounties are also on the menu. Yuu may be on someone's bounty list.

Oh, ok, I get you.  Good point.

Good point, same may be true for Zelpuz, but I hope there's not a good enough description to identify him from the explosion.
And it seems like an interesting place, and a good chance to take a look at something he won't get to see otherwise.

Taking 10 in Diplomacy in the interaction.  17 if the clerk finds Vanyra attractive, 13 if not.

I think Mike did something to the dice roller ... suspiciously low recently ;)

It's always been low, or seemingly lower than average.

That must mean there are a lot of critical hits waiting...

Challenge accepted: I typed in the single rolls into excel and got an average of 10.6, so I think its OK :)

Though those last few rolls are really bad!


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

I thought since a First Lance was just a team leader that the other two positions would be the only true "people-in-charge" types.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:57, Thu 02 Feb 2017.

Well at present Vanyra is just some random person off the street who walks into a police station and asks to see the Sergeant or Captain for some information about the town.

Remember the Freelancers are an interplanetary mercenary force, so they're not in the habit of divulging info to anyone. And there is a chain of command to work through.

A rough breakdown to modern military equivalent ranks:
Lancer = Private/Corporal
Lance Sergeant = Sergeant
First Lance = Lieutenant
Lance Commander = Captain/Major
Chapter Lance = Colonel/General

Vanyra would probably notice at this time that she's speaking to a Lance Sergeant.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:49, Fri 03 Feb 2017.

Sorry, I made a bad assumption that the clerk was aware my ID had been checked.  No matter.

And with that explanation of ranks, then a Chapter Lance is a bit much. (I removed Chapter Lance from the post - it doesn't change the flow of the conversation)

Does Vanyra know the names of Yuu's parents?  Maybe having picked them up at some point?

And how big are these books?  Dozens of names, hundreds?

And... if handing one to Zelpuz is a huge no-no, I will edit that out.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:04, Wed 08 Feb 2017.

Also, is it ordered in some way? Would make it easier to look for people of interest, such as Yuu's parents, Yuu, Lasrane ... and if I can't take a look, I'll message Vanyra to also look for Lasrane and possibly the Order master (just out of curiosity, you never know).
If there are no complaints or strange looks, Zelpuz moves forward to look through the second book.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:49, Wed 08 Feb 2017.

BTW, Zelpuz also looked for himself ;)

I interpreted Mike's post as indicating that Zelpuz got to look too :)

Definitely need to look through them for anyone we know.  That's not too many people so it shouldn't be too hard.

When they get to look through it more, Vanyra will also want to pay attention for jobs she might want to take, or major players related to the coup.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:05, Fri 10 Feb 2017.

Yes, Zelpuz got to read them too. I figure the second time through you'll read through the books together (two sets of eyes being better than one), and that way with Zelpuz's photographic memory you'll be able to recall anyone of note for later.

Copying this in from a post Brett made in Chapter 5:

"...there are three main factions: Novians, Reforgers and Fundamentalists.  Each with a certain political and geographic objective, and each having a number of supporting groups and individuals.  Ossylia has existed this way fine, in the same way political parties try to sway the decisions of the head.  In Ossylia's case, the King.

Recently, two of the factions (Novians and Reforgers) have objectives they've been pushing a little harder than traditionally considered, though nothing quite open has taken place.  Simply more intense behind the scenes plotting and maneuvering.  Certain families supporting the Fundamentalists (which is a middle ground faction) have been approached from the two extremist factions to support their side, with rumors that these approaches were unsavory.  And rumours of a plot of serious nature has gone around...  [Yuu's] parent are powerful individuals in the Fundamentalists.

The Shen Zue are a mercantile group, very large and powerful, that are officially connected to the Novian faction... comprised of a lot of merchant groups.  Yuu wanted to know which faction was the one that attacked his home (Novians or Reforgers)...

The Shen Zue are a little complicated in that they have a lot of economic dealings with the Reforgers...

It's also the reason he didn't want the Shen Zue hurt, because they may actually be part of the faction against the one that attacked his home."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:07, Sat 11 Feb 2017.

So Governor Jin said that special forces aligned with the Reforgers were the ones who attacked Yuu's parents.  Possibly only some of the Reforgers. (message 58, Chapter 6 IC)

Did he also say that it was the Reforgers who closed the city?

Yep, and any names that we may know should also pop up as interesting to Zelpuz. If there are any, Zelpuz will tap at the picture, look at Vanyra questioningly and convey whatever information he has telepathically accompanied by "Isn't this a guy we saw in the pub?"

OOC Correction: Vanyra saw two meteors falling towards the city, and a different scene of the city in flames. She never actually saw the meteors impact the city.

OK, I fixed the meteor details.

Did Governor Jin say that the Reforgers closed the city?

That is correct. Yuu likely explained at some point that the Reforgers are a more militant faction of the government, composed of various officers and their supports. The Novians on the other hand are a mercantile faction that seeks expanded trade and loosening of regulations to that effect. The Fundamentalists are in the middle, as you'd expect.

So there is still a coup going on.  Interesting.

If you want to pursue that line of questioning in IC you can do so, but you're barking up the wrong tree on this one. The Freelancers DO avoid local politics like this when at all possible, and have a reputation of neutrality to maintain. Furthermore, their command structure and levels of information security clearance would prevent the sergeant from revealing anything he did know to Vanyra or Zelpuz on the matter. They may very well know something but they wouldn't be divulging that information.

So, how do the freelancers handle politically motivated bounties?  I only ask because helping a coup capture dissenters could be seen as a political action.

I was originally thinking Vanyra was trying to speak to someone higher up to try and figure out what is going on with the factions (is a faction in control or winning, is there a faction that is losing, are there areas where one has taken over).  There was the possibility that she could share some of what she knows to help obtain that information (leaving out the parts about Yuu).

Knowing something of who is doing what and where could be important to the collection of bounties, though I acknowledge that they may leave people to figure that out on their own.

So the Freelancers are essentially a massive interplanetary mercenary organization that formed centuries ago after the fallout of the Golem Wars and the dissolution of the Zhen Halan empire. To that end their primary focus is in acting as a private military force for those willing to pay for one, the only rule is Freelancers never fight other Freelancers, even if they're on opposing sides of a conflict.

Over the years though they've expanded their services into other markets, like protection, bounty hunting, law enforcement and exploration. Because of this expansive role they began to interact more and more with those outside the company proper and the regular chain of command. This eventually developed into a two tier membership scheme; the first are the regular full-time members who are part of the chain of command and are salaried. The second are the myriad of contractors and affiliated members, who do not have formal rank and are not regular employees. Rather they have an alpha-numeric rank based on their skills and past reliability, and are paid per contract at a rate commensurate with their rank. Naturally these independents come from all sorts.

So when it comes to bounties and similar jobs the Freelancers will take in all sorts of contract requests as they are a reliable known entity, but they may or may not act on it depending on the situation. Even if they do not officially act on it they do provide the opportunity for their independent agents to execute it, with the understanding that the Freelancers did not formally endorse or support the action. In such cases the Freelancers will only take a small flat amount from the contract as an administration fee, while the agent gets to keep the rest. In officially sponsored contracts the Freelancers will pay the agent a percentage of the contract.

I figured that's where Vanyra was going with this and that's why I put in my comment; they have no idea who she is and thus would not trust her with any information they had if they had any. If she was a ranking member it may be different.

You are right.  That changes things, but its OK, I can salvage it since she was just information gathering so far anyway.

Yeah, I just made the comment so we didn't try for a couple pages of text to resolve the conversation in IC. There is still considerable intel you guys have gathered from being here about the state of things and who is or isn't wanted by someone.

So, looking for anyone familiar.
-criminal elements
-important people: physically familiar, or familiar by name (like Yuu and family)

Also looking for any contracts that might be easy to do for her right now

Not sure what Zelpuz might have to add

Since I really don't know who your characters may or may not know I'm actually going to throw this back at you guys in a sense; there's no one pertinent to Yuu's situation or the coup as you know it in those books. There may be someone you know or recognize in there, but if there is you'll have to tell me who it is and explain why you know them, what they do and a possible reason why they'd be in that book. The reason doesn't have to do with the coup at all.

Ok, I only meant the named characters encountered in the context of this game.  The circle of 'criminal' elements we encountered or royal family people or people from the Order or things like that.

And anyone that  Zelpuz recognizes ... from the Order etc. If there is noone special, he'll just look through the names and affiliations (if those are listed) etc as a general information source, in particular for the last few weeks. For example, who was added since the coup, is it mostly Reforgers or what group? Any pattern that is obvious with the limited knowledge of the town that Zelpuz has.

No names you recognize, the only notable absence would be Lasrane, but the Order is not in the habit of posting bounties on those they are looking for anyways.

Other than that since Vanyra and Zelpuz have little to no political knowledge of Ossylia you don't recognize any names as being a member of any faction, but you barely know what factions exist.

You can take note of the names and Zelpuz naturally commits them to memory should you need them later.

What are  you guys doing after that?

Going back outside to find Yuu is what Vanyra would do.

Yep, no big plans right now. Zelpuz will go to the Order at some point. Where are we now? Vanyra's flat was close to the harbor, right? So was this place sort of on the way?

Sorry for the delay; for some reason I couldn't log onto this server for over a day.

Anyway, please state what the PCs are planning to do next, in IC or OOC.

It wasn't just you.  I noticed that the site was up and down for that time (often down).

I think Vanyra would want to go somewhere and talk about what to do next.  Go to her apartment.

What time of day is it again?

I will be fairly late into Aftereve as most of the morning and the day was spent on board the ship arriving in the area, the initial inspection at sea and the moving into the harbor queue. So we'll say it's 9 hours into Aftereve; sun should be close to setting now.

Do the characters have any plans for the next few hours, before nightfall?

Just checking, Vanyra was specifically asking Yuu to tell what he knows as a condition of getting help.  Can he do that or is he going to be secretive in the wake of the request? :P

Hah, I know, and you're definitely welcome to push him on it.

Out of character note, Xander may not be in town, since he is typically outside doing field work and such. Likely Marcus is in town.

Cool. As Yuu's best friends, he may as well check if they're around I figured.

On a related note there really isn't any daylight left today to do any reconnaissance during the light hours. You guys are pretty much in twilight now for the day.

Does Zelpuz communicate with Telepathy or Communicate?  I noticed for those powers that Vanyra doesn't have to be visible to him to hear him, but she does have to be visible for him to hear her. (unless there are modifications to them)
This message was last edited by the player at 03:04, Mon 13 Mar 2017.

They are really one and the same; the telepathy power is just the Communicate power combined with the Mind Read power. Zelpuz's telepathy does have quite a long range, as do many Mespah, but the problem is one of finding the particular mind you want to communicate with. Thus it is normally limited to line-of-sight (or other targeting sense). But if you saw someone, activated telepathy and then maintained it while you went your separate ways the link would last until the max range is reached.

Now if the person also has the power of Telelocation they can search for a particular mind within their power's range, like Professor X, and if found they can initiate Telepathy.

I'll also say that someone with Telepathy could do a general telepathic broadcast to an entire area, but then any and all in that area could 'hear' it, so that's probably not something you want to do.

And a reminder that Zelpuz also has Telepathic Sight; allowing him to share the visual sense over a telepathic link.

No worries, it was a little confusing thinking about how Communication was "Extended Range" while in some ways it seemed like a Perception range power.  The descriptions in Ultimate Power were better where they clarify it a lot.  They also interestingly discuss how if you link a little bit of the ESP Power to Communication, the communication becomes two-way (because you ESP the replies).

Yeah, they kind of muddled the descriptions there since Communication has an extended range, but it's treated like a radio type power rather than traditional Telepathy. There's quite a bit of power combos you can do with similar effects, just depends how you want it to work.

Also as a point of reference for ranges, even though you're in a large city, a 5 mile radius would likely be sufficient for most of the group's need. 20 miles would cover the entire area of the city.

So people in two places would suit the situation quite well regardless of how well people maintain visibility.

As long as the mental link is maintained they can communicate via telepathy. Note that this requires 'concentration' and thus any strenuous action or combat can possibly break that link.

If I already have telepathy active with someone not in my line of sight, could I then also start a telepathic sight since the connection is already kind of established?
And can you define strenuous? How about jumping from rooftop to rooftop? Or phasing instead of jumping?

Concentration duration powers normally use a standard action.  Each round you can do 1 standard + 1 move, 2 moves, or 1 full action.

You can maintain a concentration duration power as a move action instead of a standard action with a Concentration skill check.  The DC is 10+the power rank of the power.

Distractions while using a power can also force a skill check - they have a list under the Concentration skill on page 44 in the main book.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop looks like a DC of 10 or 15.

Since Teleportation uses a Move Action, you should be able to use it while maintaining telepathy without a skill check (unless there is something special about your power that makes it use a Standard action - in which case you would use the rule above to maintain Telepathy as a Move instead of a Standard action).

As Eric said.

Basically if you get into combat or a combat-like situation you'll have to start making concentration checks or break the telepathic link. It's sort of like walking and talking on the phone at the same time, but if add in an obstacle course chances are your conversation or your navigation of the obstacle course will be interrupted at some point.

OK, sounds like a relative weak link, but we could come up with a few scenarios of how to re-group. So let's just try this, unless someone has a better idea?

Nope, unless someone wants to use magic to help.  Vanyra's abilities are pretty specific and not open to interpretation.

I'm not sure why you think a telepathic link over miles of distance is weak; it's pretty damn powerful considering you can transmit sight and people can't listen in; like have a tight beam video stream.

Almost all powers, unless innate, require concentration and will drop if you lose concentration or consciousness.

Just need to know who is going and who is going to be the telepathic receiver, and also when and for how long this recon mission is going to be.

I'm not sure why you think a telepathic link over miles of distance is weak; it's pretty damn powerful considering you can transmit sight and people can't listen in; like have a tight beam video stream.

Almost all powers, unless innate, require concentration and will drop if you lose concentration or consciousness.

Just need to know who is going and who is going to be the telepathic receiver, and also when and for how long this recon mission is going to be.

Right now I assume we are all going. I'll phase from rooftop to rooftop, keep a Stealth field active and a link with Vanyra and Yuu. That's 4 things but different abilities.
And in case we loose contact, we can define a few locations where we would re-group, unless the last message is "HELP" ;)

Ok, just waiting to see if Brett has anything to say/add, otherwise all of you will be going. Just need to know when.

Brett's been awhile, any word on what he's up to?

Right, maybe we should just start filling in the blanks for him, I can start to make stuff up for him, I think first he'll agree to a full mind scan from Zelpuz...

No, likely busy with work. We can fast forward to the evening though.

Ya sorry, been another full week. Awesome post, Mike... pretty much where I'd have gone with it, though not written as eloquently as yours.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:26, Sat 25 Mar 2017.

Can you add what intelligence you want to get? I assume only Yuu knows that.

Is everyone OK? Or just too busy?

No idea. Conversation kind of hit a boiling point and then a wall.

Present.

Maybe just for the fun of it, chime in, too ;)

I was waiting for Vanyra, but if she is remaining silent, then I guess I can move on.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:27, Fri 07 Apr 2017.

Lol; I've almost forgotten what the heck you guys were in town to do. Was just going to have a pack of dire wolves bust in and start messing up the place.

Vanyra thinks Zelpuz's query was fine.

So what's the plan in the game now? Are you going to recon the Jin compound now or later?

As far as I understand we are going pretty much now, right? As soon as it's dark enough.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mike!
Are you going all out shooting at burning barrels of gas while BBQing your freshly shot coyote on a mountain of burning coal and drinking Lone Star, Texas-style?

Just got back from Canada, so not quite.

Going to grab some more bourbon and some St. Arnold beer for this weekend.

If you guys are going to recon now I'll get this posting-party started today.

Just need to know if you guys are going to avoid the checkpoint somehow, or just try to pass through. You're far enough away that you can turn down a side street.There are only a handful of entrances to the High Quarter though, so they are all likely to have guards stationed at them.

I was assuming that I jump from roof to roof with some stealth field. Vanyra does whatever she does ... and Yuu, is mysterious ;)

Vanyra is quite happy to avoid the checkpoint.

Blur to stay less visible (which should work well since its dark out).
Leaping/Speed/Climbing to get around the checkpoint.
Sensory abilities to help avoid detection and pick a safe route and roundezvous.

Hey Mike, I sent a pm, just in case it was missed.

Totally did not see it.

If you're going to circumvent the guard post please provide the appropriate checks:
1. Climb / Jump / Magic if you're going up and over somehow. Pick how you're going to do it.
2. Stealth
3. Notice - Just for awareness of the general situation.

I am just waiting for Yuu to confirm that that's our plan, it's his mission, but as far as I understood, we go separately, Zelpuz maintains a communication link and we all walk in our own hidden ways. If the link is lost, climb up the next roof for Zelpuz to re-establish the link. And if there are no problems, we'll meet at some place in front of Yuu's house. Does that sound about right?

I think it makes the most sense. With you up high, Vanyra moving ahead, and Yuu trailing half a block behind.... it gives us observation above, ahead, and a check behind.

Also what does this checkpoint look like? What's making it a check point, other than a couple guards standing by?
This message was last edited by the player at 10:37, Sun 23 Apr 2017.

OK, I rolled a Stealth and Notice. And man, I am stealthy, esp. since I'll also add the stealth field.
Zelpuz will use phasing to jump from one rooftop to the next (or whichever looks best ahead), so I didn't roll a climb/jump. Should I make some magic rolls?
He'll also continue a 3-way telecommunication link (assuming that's possible).
And for the notice, it should probably be 10 higher, since there is no rush, I assume that Zelpuz could take 10 at several locations (while waiting for Yuu to catch up depending on how he travels).

Vanyra is using her camouflaging ability and she uses Acrobatics for both jumping and climbing.
She can move at half her normal movement speed (5mph) without a penalty to Stealth.

Rolls for Acrobatics and Stealth are posted. (sorry, messed up the first Acrobatics roll).

Taking 10 on Notice for 23.

If you're using magic you need to magic a magic check.

The check post is really just a couple of guards with a table and a pair of chairs. The area is also well lit.

Should I do a magic roll for each time I phase or one for all?

also is there anyone else walking around on the street, or does it seem a curfew is in effect in this area?

Curfew is partially in effect. Moving between zones of the city is discouraged; that's where the checkpoints are. But people are moving about within their own neighbourhoods.

I added a roll for phasing and stealth field. I'd say Zelpuz uses rooftops or side alleys as much as possible and phasing when necessary.

Definitely a solid series of rolls. Just waiting to find out exactly how each character is going to proceed through this 'check point' area. Then you'll also have to let me know how you're moving towards the destination area.

Yes, I am sure we'll be punished with a series of 1s when we need the rolls more urgently...

So just kind of wondering what you guys are doing now...

I'm waiting for Zeluz to do his thing, then I'm going to walk up to the checkpoint.

How are the houses/rooftops here? Since it's a more wealthy area, I assume that the houses are separated by some garden around them etc? Or are they still old style city houses with rooftops that you can walk along and blend in?

You're not in the High Quarter yet, so the buildings are fairly close together. Once you cross over to the other side there is more spacing between the houses, which are also larger. The further into the High Quarter you go and the higher up the hill you go, or along the water front, the houses become estates and thus you cannot move rooftop to rooftop. Many of the houses are walled in with small courtyards, similar to feudal Japan or China.

The roads within the High Quarter are fairly wide, about 7~9m across. Sometimes there are just walking paths between the homes, which are only about 3~4m across.

A mage with two shadows walking down the road ...

In High Quarter, are there sufficient trees or other places to hide to blend in with stealth and stealth field to avoid being observed or would it be better to phase from tree to tree or something similar? How well are the streets lit?
I assume Yuu picked a path that would allow us to stay hidden if possible.
And to Yuu's knowledge, are there any magic barriers or are those common on the walls to alert of trespassers?

The roads are about as well lit and treed as those in a modern city suburb, so there's a decent amount of light and a fair number of trees... you won't be able to just ninja-walk down the road.

Yuu is unfamiliar with the defenses of other houses, houses typically keep that stuff secret.

OK, but maybe a combination of ninja walk, stealth field and phasing would work?

You realize that Stealth field makes you essentially invisible to sight and sound right? He'd be pretty safe walking around in the middle of the street at night, as long as Zelpuz doesn't run into anyone.

Ah, OK, no I wasn't aware that it works that well. So yes, let's just say he'll walk in the shadows as much as possible, just to be sure, and somewhere within sight of Yuu.

Yeah, it's a fairly powerful spell; uses up half of Zelpuz's power point pool. Zelpuz will need a Nether Manipulation roll to cast/activate that power though.

Vanyra's natural blending ability is more like a chameleon-effect, where she blends with the background, but isn't really invisible. Thus she needs to be more cautious. Similar power, but different levels of effect and function.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:17, Wed 03 May 2017.

I made that roll on 4/26.

OK, right. You made all those Nether Manipulation rolls, no problem.

Is the checkpoint just two guards or are there multiple other people around?

There's two guards there at the moment; things are pretty quiet at this time of night.

Do they seem friendly enough, or kind of annoyed, with Yuu speaking to them?

Also, can I just ask how many people live in Ossylia, and maybe this section of the city? And how many guarded entrances like this would there be? And is it walled off, or just normal buildings, with roads passing through?

They are polite, a little annoyed, but it may have to do with the fact that they're guarding a gate.

There's about 2 million people in the city proper, with another 4~5 million in the greater surrounding area. The High Quarter is an old part of the city that is walled off from the rest, and has a general population of about 100,000, but it has a much larger land area than it's population would suggest. There are 4 entrances to the High Quarter from this side (west), there are some harbor front estates that naturally are accessible by water, there are 2 large gates on the north side and one on the east side of the High Quarter.

Do I see any nether type machines or devices around this gate or up along the walls?

Just out of curiosity, do we 'hear' what Yuu says/does? Either via Vanyra's excellent hearing, my relative proximity or via telepathic communication?

Up to you if you want to hear it; it's really not that important. He's obviously trying to talk his way through the gate.

As for Nether Devices, there are probably some around, but they'd be minor devices like a light or something.

Around the corner from which you came I assume?

I'll assume that I can communicate with Yuu for now, correct me if I am wrong. And I assume that includes two way communication?

I think you can because you already established the mental link before he disappeared, but I'll have to double check on that tonight when I get home.

So how are you guys going to the area around Yuu's family compound? Since you guys are all stealthed and such, you're just as invisible to each other as anyone else, so just following the leader won't really work like normal.

In the planning we assigned positions (I assume) of where we should go. Then we have to rely on communications somehow.

So you have to be able to perceive someone to establish a telepathic link, and I'm going to rule that once established it'll work up to your rank in range as long as it is maintained. So for Zelpuz that is 5 miles.

So I can reply back in my head? I thought only Vanyra could bec she also had mind powers as well.

Zelpuz, and all Mespah, are full telepaths. They can read and communicate mentally. Some can even communicate regardless of language. Zelpuz can even see through your eyes if he wanted to.

Vanyra only has the ability to read minds, but does not have the ability to project her own thoughts.

Ah ok, that's awesome! Wow, that's going to be powerful for us.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:27, Wed 24 May 2017.

The sight-thing is just something Zelpuz has, but the telepathy power is why Mespah were persecuted in the past and why the Order of Ashes exists; to hunt down rogue Mespah.

Unless you guys are doing something special I'm just going to forward to you getting to your stakeout position.

I'm good with that.

Me too.

So how exactly are you staking out the compound and are there any things you are looking for in particular?

If skills/powers are involved please make the necessary checks.

I did a Notice roll earlier (with the super stealth roll etc), but can do one again. Until something happens, I assume that's the only thing.

I'm looking for damage, any changes of family sigil/symbols, guards and their uniforms. Do the gate guards look familiar or new faces. That kind of thing. Initially I'd just do a circuit around the compound as best I can, then I'd like to get to an elevated position to look in.

Stealth and Blur to ensure not being seen (taking 10 for result of 20)

Acrobatics to ensure good positioning (result of 31: I accidentally labeled it stealth)

Notice check for:
-seeing what might be going on with guards, activity, entrances
-hearing what anyone might be saying (normal -1 per 100 feet, ultra -1 per 10 feet)
(I will take 10 or 20 if there is time to take 20, results of 23 or 33 respectively)

Jan; you'll need new rolls since those initial rolls were just to move around the guard post. These new ones are for the stakeout. If you're keeping your stealth field you just need a Notice check.

Brett: I'll need Notice checks at least and some kind of stealth or power check unless Yuu's just walking about on the street.

Eric: You can't take 20 on a hearing check for conversations, or really in most circumstances. You can for a visual check if you're going to sit in one spot for a really long time and observe an area.

OK, rolled another Notice, if I can also take 10 (I assume since we are basically sitting around) it'd be 30, otherwise 20.
And yes, I'll keep the stealth field on until I say I drop it (or am somehow made to drop it).

I made a couple notice checks, also, how do I roll for stealth? I have that Stealth field generator, giving Concealment 3. Do I simply add that to my roll? Plus my base Stealth bonus?

The stealth field generator makes it more difficult to detect you, though in theory someone could Notice you if they had the proper abilities or skill check. It's up to Yuu if he wants to move to avoid detection (Stealth skill check) AND use his stealth field device, or not.

For example, he could have the stealth field up and just walk down the middle of the street and that would not require a stealth skill check.

So to use one of your gadgets, like the stealth field generator, you need to make a Know: Technology roll.

Then if you also want to move to avoid detection you'd make a Stealth skill check separately. The result of that roll is the DC someone needs to detect you with a Notice check. The stealth field will make that much more difficult or impossible in some cases.

Cool, that makes sense. Also, on my character sheet, my Know: Tech has two bonuses in bold. Would I use the +10 or the +12?

Also, do I recognise the gate guard, or does he look new?
This message was last edited by the player at 11:09, Fri 02 June 2017.

Use the +12.

Also Yuu does not recognize the guard at this distance since it is night time. If he moved closer for a better look he could confirm it.

Second, from the street level you won't be able to see much of the interior. There are no convenient trees along the exteriors that would allow people to climb up and over the walls as that's a major security risk. There are the walls and buildings in adjacent compounds, though they are across the street they would provide something of a vantage point. Think of a feudal town in Japan or China; with walled houses on both sides of the road.

There are some light posts stationed about that one could climb if they were skilled; wouldn't be easy or comfortable, but would likely provide a better vantage point.

Know: Tech roll made.

And I figured it was like as you described. If there's nothing to vantage point from, I may just levitate myself up for a better look.

I want to pay special attention to how the two House guards and Ossylian military interact. Do they seem comfortable, tense, are the Ossylian military paying more attention to the building, or is their attention to outside the compound.

Ok, I figured as much. Once Zel and Van reply in IC then I'll move forward a bit.

Eric, Jan, neither of your characters notices anything unusual beyond what I've already described in the IC channel. If they want to search for something in particular though, let me know.

Cool, waiting.

Zelpuz will mostly follow Yuu's lead, Yuu knows what he wants to know, Zelpuz just looks out for things that are out of place, and of course for any hint of the Order playing a larger role now.

Ok, there was a question in IC so I was waiting for some finalizing dialogue there. I can continue the stakeout action though.

Yeah, unless Yuu tells us otherwise, we'll just be on stakeout.

How long are you guys going to stick around?

Would Yuu be right to assume, watching the guards, his mother probably pulled in soldiers of hers to help provide protection of the estate?

He does not have enough info to make that assumption. The soldiers present may or may not be under her command.

Hang tight, I was waiting if Erik or Jan would have responded.

Before he goes in, I want to trigger my holo clone to appear on the balcony beside him.

Vanyra cannot directly respond to you unless she yells out; she does not have telepathic communication. Only Zelpuz does, he must act as a communications hub for you guys to communicate effectively right now.

Also, about your Holo-Clone gadget it does not create an illusion of you anywhere you want. What the item does is the equivalent of a mirror image spell; it creates the illusion that you are about 1~2m away from where you actually are. So you would not be able to project an illusion all the way across the courtyard to the balcony.

Ah, gotcha. I knew it mirrored me, but I didn't realise the distance was so short. Ok, let me summon one of my little demon minions, I'll have that thing flutter high and over.

Let's assume that I will relay what each of them says to keep the conversation active, unless it's specifically for me.

One question out of character; does the Jin Household have some sort of magical defense against aerial invaders? It's up to you, but could have consequences later.

Make a Nether Manipulation check to summon the demon; the TV is dependent on the type of demon you want to summon; basically it'll be 10+5/rank of the creature. You can only do up to rank 4, which you'll probably want to do, so the TV will be 30.

The power is defined as allowing you to summon any type of demon, so it's abilities are sort of dependent on what type you want summoned; you want a gargoyle or a lesser imp, etc? This will be important to determine how/if it can fly up and over without being detected.

One OOC note is that you do have a Mespah with you that you know can telepathically communicate. While it will take a few mins for him to get in position for a visual Yuu would calculate that there's enough time once he sees his father light up the pipe.

From what I understood of Mespah, telepathic communication has to be voluntary, or it's considered an attack to break through?

Yuu's summoning a small imp, something simple, sneaky, with wings that can fly itself over. Something that can carry a message.

And yes, considering who Yuu's parents are, I'd assume there's magical defences set up. I'd also assume Yuu is aware of at least most of them by now, being it's his household and his field of study.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:17, Sat 24 June 2017.

Mespah can get into someone's mind without them even knowing about it. It requires special training to develop a good defense against mental intrusion. For telepathy it's voluntary in a way, as the target can try to kick the telepath out, but again without special training that may not be possible. Unwanted mental communication may not be the friendliest gesture, but wanted to make sure all the cards were on the table.

For the household defenses how do they work; is it a force field, a silent alarm, etc? That will probably determine/limit the movement of said Imp.

I'll use modified stats out of the book for Imps, have to scale them back a bit since they're level 6 minions and Yuu can only summon level 4s. We'll say they have Flight 2 and a stealth skill of 6.

There's probably a number of magical countermeasures. As I figure Yuu knows them, he probably also knows how to bypass them. He's probably snuck out an occasion or two.

I'm not looking for anything complicated, just the simplest of minions to flutter over and pass a message. I like the idea for mental communication, but for now I'll see if I can get this idea to work.

Yeah, I'm just thinking that the defenses they have up would be designed exactly to counter the thing Yuu is trying to do, and given the skill of those who created them it would be extremely difficult to counter from the outside.

Perhaps Yuu has some sort of IFF token/item on his person that would allow him to pass through the defenses without triggering them? He could then give it to the minion to deliver the message and bring it back. Such an item may also be something each member of the family had in case of emergencies or if the defenses were seized by hostile forces.

What do you think?

Could Vanyra get past the countermeasures more easily?

Yep, makes sense to me. A pin in the shape of our family emblem, perhaps.

To Erik, I doubt it; the point of the system would be to detect anything entering the area through a variety of means. So you enter and the system triggers. Using a teleport ability may be able to circumvent the original field, but there are no doubt a host of sensor to detect any nether anomalies that a teleport action would trigger.

To Brett; ok, emote in IC the actions taken with the summoned demon and the message.

I edited my post to reflect my summons. It took a couple tries on the dice, but I got there.

Ok, you can emote in IC what Yuu does with the imp. I removed my entry about his father finishing his pipe and going back in. Please include whatever message is to be conveyed.

Hey Brett, I just figured you could emote in IC what Yuu does next since I sent you the reply in pm.

A notice in general though, I'm leaving tomorrow for quick trip to Japan for work. So I likely won't be checking this forum during that time. I should be back next Friday.

Hm, I thought I replied already in PM. But don't see it. And here I was thinking I was waiting for your response. Cool, back to the land of suns and risings and all that.

Back for now, will respond in game shortly.

So turns out I'm headed back to Japan this weekend, so I'll be out for a few days. Actually this whole next month I'll be in and out as I bounce between Canada and Japan. After mid-August I'll be working in Japan until about April of next year, which shouldn't impact the game once I'm settled.

At least they're keeping you busy... you keeping your place, or putting everything into storage?
This message was last edited by the player at 09:13, Sat 22 July 2017.

Ah, lucky you, all the good sushi you can want.

Have to keep my place, no time to put things in storage and all that, plus it's only 6 months during which I'll be back once or twice.

Good, that place is sweet.

So are there any immediate plans for the night and the next morning? No real need to IC this stuff. Let me know what the characters' next plan(s) are.

Checking around for Lasrane is an interesting idea, if he's even still in the city. How did you guys find him before?

We told him that we would be at a certain place at certain times every certain day ... something like every Thursday at 8pm in the Tavern. Since we kind of left on somewhat agreeable terms (maybe?). So we should be a bit careful just in case he didn't like the way we handled him.
Oh, and last time we had some information from the Order to find him if I remember right.

Yes, you're investigation started with the Order and through various means you eventually eavesdropped on a meeting with him, which then meandered into your fleeing the city after dropping Lasrane off at a hospital while unconscious.

So now you have no leads on him save the message you left with him when you fled the city. The only other lead would be through the Blood Runners, but they've likely gone to ground after the seizure of one of their ships.

Yes, the beating, kidnapping, interrogation, and being tied would not make me expect flowers.

Box of chocolates, at least?

Just a reminder that Zelpuz has yet to check-in at the Order Chapter House, and they are expecting him. They could also be a source of information regarding Lasrane and other things.

Yuu's friend Marcus is also probably in town and would perhaps have a better idea of recent events.

Ah, very good point, I guess he'll do that first thing in the morning.

Ya, was thinking to start checking in with old friends.

Ok, I'm sort of back. I'm staying in a hotel for the next couple of days and then moving into an apartment here in Wakayama, so I'll be touch and go for a little while, but I'll try to keep things moving forward.

Ok, so Zelpuz is heading to the Order chapter house, Yuu is going to look for Marcus and Vanyra is just hanging out for the time being?

In reply to DJShirow (msg # 229):

Which Tavern again was it we were to meet Lasrane?

Vanyra will suggest following Yuu discretely as best she can.

Otherwise, she will look around and get a feel for the situation in the city.

In reply to Yuu Jin (msg # 230):

You're guess is as good as mine; you'll have to dig through all the IC stuff to find it.

To be honest I don't think you guys actually said where to meet; I can't find any mention of what was actually written on the note you left the unconscious Lasrane.

sorry, I am still on my trip back from the solar eclipse viewing, I'll be back online this Sunday.

Yes, we never wrote down where/when etc to meet, all we said was that we would leave him a message of where and when to meet if he was interested to continue 'working together'. I assume we picked some pub that we know a little, that's got at least 2 exits and is a somewhat typical place for such meetings. As for the time, we didn't actually specify either (and I am not even sure what day it is), so for simplicity I assumed it'd be this evening, but it would have probably been something like every Thursday at 8pm in the Tavern of the Stinky Dog. So it's kind of up to Mike to decide what day or in how many days the potential meeting time would be.

Well it's morning now and at least a week since you guys left. You can just make up the name of a place you wrote, but I suggest not making it the same tavern you met Captain Westling in as that would likely be known to the authorities.

Yes, should be some pub by the harbor district that we know, I assume we did scout the area a bit when we arrived.

I would say you actually did not scout any pubs when you arrived. You guys were only in the city for a few days before this whole scenario started and you had no reason to check out harbor pubs. At the least you would have stated the name of a pub that Yuu had mentioned earlier, but even his knowledge of city taverns would be limited.

OK, then Zelpuz would have just picked one of the pub names that they passed at some point or where they had some lunch or dinner. Should we say the meeting would be this evening or some other day? Let's say we said Thursday, what day is it now?

Ah, you had NO way of knowing when or even if you were coming back. So likely you would have said nothing about a day; it would have just been an open statement of being at a place at a certain time each day.

Just pick a name of a place and time and we'll call it done. You can then go there and check it out if you want.

Sounds good, and yes, we would have had no idea, so I was thinking the statement would be every Thursday at 8pm in the Blue Ox. Seems more reasonable for him to check in every week rather than every day, but either way works. So Zelpuz will go have his dinner at the Blue Ox at 8pm, and if the time permits after going to the Order, he'll go scout the area around the Blue Ox and the actual place to get an idea of escape routes, potential places for traps etc.

Gotcha. Works for me. Why don't we say that the day of choice is actually tomorrow; that way it gives you a little more time to deal with what you want to do today.

Sounds good. So for now, Zelpuz is heading to the Order.

Jan, would you mind replying to Yuu's question in the IC channel? Once that's done I'll move the day forward.

If there is anything particular you guys want to look for during the day let me know. So far I've got:
1. Zelpuz checking in with the Order, will ask about the current situation, news on Lasrane.
2. Yuu hoping to visit his friend Marcus in town and get some info from him on what's been going down; how and where he wants to look for Marcus is up to Brett. Yuu would likely know the clinic Marcus works at during the day.
3. Vanyra; keeping her ear to the ground through some bounty-hunter contacts and such; using streetwise to get some info during the day. May also shadow Zelpuz or Yuu to their destination if so desired.
4. The meeting place with Lasrane will be at the Mirrored Moon lounge, near the merchant district off the harbor. The meeting day is the following day (days of the week are no longer used).

In order to assist in keeping track to time I'm going to officially set the date as 287-130. Which means it is the 287th year of the Post-Imperial Age, and the 130th day of that year.

There are 210 days in a year on Kahlyun, and the year begins in 'winter' depending on where you are on the planet. So you guys would be almost halfway through summer now. Ossylia is somewhat nearer the equator so the seasons aren't that different though; similar to the southern US or southern Japan.

OK, I just realized that a day here is 45.5 hours. I'll assume that either a second is much faster than our seconds or that people there developed to find a 30 hour active day and 15 hour sleep cycle normal? Or how much sleep do people usually have per night?

People have adapted to staying up for longer stints, but most people take a nap at some portion of the day and then sleep a solid 8~10 hours during the night, depending on their schedule.

Ok, I'm going to start with Zelpuz and his trip to the Order chapterhouse first, then move to Yuu's search for Marcus.

Erik, can you give me a streetwise roll for Vanyra, and any other applicable roll for skills she may be using to pick up info?

Jan, Zelpuz is going to need a story about why he and Myyria just left so suddenly. It would probably be best to work in some connection to hunting down Lasrane, as that wasn't too far from the truth. Once you got something let me know and I'll move the story forward.

Taking 20 for streetwise requires research and at least an hour.  I'd like to have Vanyra spend the time to take 20 for this, I'll roll if she can't.

To help with information gathering or research, taking 10 on stealth yields a result of 20.  Taking 20 on notice (requires one minute) yields 33.

OK, I was trying to find some of the posts that dealt with me interacting with the Order that I seem to remember, but I am not even sure if it was IC or OCC. Can you help me remember some of the things that happened?
I think I was supposed to forget about Lasrane (after the explosion incident) and just 'hang out' the city, i.e. I didn't really have a job anymore and was mostly there to watch Myria recover, right?
I'll try to dig through the posts, but I haven't found a good way of navigating through old posts other than scrolling through each. Might take a few days (also I am off to Washington until Tuesday night).

Here's what I do.  When you're in the thread view, at the upper right you can select which page to view.  I select "all" and it puts all the posts on one page.  Then I use the search function to search the terms I want.  That tends work pretty quickly for me.  It just gets tricky searching back through previous threads, but we're only on number seven, so its not too bad.

Did you check your private messages?  I don't remember much about that either, though it didn't affect my character directly, so I may have not spent much energy on remembering it.

Correct, they told you to lay low after the explosion because well, the explosion. They did not officially take you off the case per se, but you weren't supposed to go chasing after him any more.

Erik, are there any particulars Vanyra is looking to get info about with streetwise?

Paying attention to how things are operating in the city under the changes.  To whatever degree she can, the movement/operation of patrols and checkpoints, how criminal elements may have changed behavior, and assuming she's following Yuu around for a bit, also paying extra attention to things around the areas he is traveling to.

OK. Through the course of the day she uncovers that much of the criminal element is keeping a very low profile right now. The city guard has been supplemented recently by elements of the local Imperial garrison, which has been very strict in putting down any subversive elements. Regular guard patrols are easy to determine, but the garrison patrols are irregular and they don't seem to follow any particular schedule. Said groups may be searching for something or on particular missions, and as such their movements haven't been able to be tracked until they are actually out and about.

As she is aware there are curfews in effect, though they are not applied equally over all areas. Counter to her expectations the strictest curfews are actually on the wealthiest neighborhoods.

Sorry for the delay.
Here's the story, since he's in the waiting room at the moment, I'll let you add it whenever it's needed.
Zelpuz kept following leads about Lasrane, his connection to the Blood Runners and his other activities. It seems he is quite deeply involved with them and kept meeting with people that Zelpuz associates with the Blood Runners. Once he saw him meet a captain of a ship that Zelpuz believes to be part of the Blood Runners.
Then, one day when he came to check on Myyria, she was mostly recovered and ready to go along with Zelpuz. But since they were no longer needed to apprehend Lasrane, Myyria thought she would go on to the next city. Zelpuz traveled along with her for a few days to make sure she is fit enough for the way and to catch up on what he discovered so far. Myyria suggested she would talk to the Order in the next city and see if they know anything about Lasrane and his doings. If she finds anything, she would contact Zelpuz or the Order directly. After they parted ways, Zelpuz happened to be close to the mansion of a friend and decided to pay them a short visit before returning to the city and see if he was supposed to continue his investigations or try to apprehend Lasrane again.

Nice furnishing of my story!
During the meeting/lunch he'll prod some more about the general situation in the city, and very casually about how the Order is doing  and if there he should watch out for any changes in the top level fighting that would suggest he should maybe come back to the Order for new directions or refuge.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:01, Mon 18 Sept 2017.

Zelpuz and Myria were already briefed about Lasrane way back when they were charged with finding him, so it's odd that Zelpuz would ask about any special abilities he has at this stage since he should already know them.

Ah, OK, I don't remember a briefing. I'll edit the post. Could you recap what the briefing would have told them?

Nothing more than you already know. He's a Mespah, just like you and trained by the same people. He doesn't have any super powers or nether-manipulating (magic) abilities. He's simply a highly trained and experienced agent.

Ok, so I think everyone is done there mission for the day. Was there anything else anyone wanted to do before evening? If not I'll skip ahead a bit to when you're all back at Vanyra's apartment, assuming that's where you're all meeting.

Sounds good with me, dude

I think Zelpuz wanted to go check out the tavern, but I think we said the meeting date would be tomorrow, so they were going there for dinner or so, so skipping to evening sounds good.

OK, right. I figure Zelpuz can swing by the tavern on his way back from lunch at the Chapter House. I'll put a bit in IC for it.

Yep, that works, he'll also check out the surrounding in case they have to escape or chase someone. Looking for shortcuts/hiding spots etc.

Yeah, that's fine.

Just a heads-up for everyone; I'll be travelling from Sunday through the following so I will probably not be checking up on this as often as normal.

I'll be out Saturday-Thursday, too, conference in Cancun, could be worse.

OK, I'm back from my whirlwind tour of North America and mostly caught up with my shit here. Nice to see you guys carried through the conversation.

So is there anything people want to do before the meeting at 7-aftereve? If not I'll just fast forward to about 6-aftereve and we can go from there. It's not a huge amount of time, a few hours, so keep that in mind.

The only thing Zelpuz suggested was going to the place they may meet Lasrane the next day. Check it out again and get some 'light food' as Yuu suggested. But nothing we need to act out.

I'm ok with that plan.

Since you guys got there early I'm going to assume that Zelpuz and Vanyra check out the place a bit, like visit the bathroom and look about. Yuu has been here plenty of times so no need for him to do so.

Is there anything else you want to do in the time immediately after arrival at Spikey's?

Seems like we are eating and drinking a lot in this story line ;)
Checking out the place and maybe the surrounding sounds good, nothing special otherwise.

Well it's something that's missing from most games considering how central it is to survival... eating and drinking I mean. Also since the days are 45 hours long you'd probably end up drinking and eating more often in a day than here on Earth.

It won't take long to scout out the place or even the surrounding street area, back alley, etc.

The checking of escape routes, surrounding area etc. now counts for both places, the one we just came from and the one we are at now.

Ok, so the basic plan is that Yuu will sit at a table/booth and await his friend, seemingly by himself. Zelpuz will be perched somewhere outside with a good view of the street area. Vanyra will be inside though away from Yuu, seemingly on her own, keeping a watch inside.

Just so you know Zelpuz would have to maintain visual contact with Yuu to be able to use Telepathy properly. Without line of site Zelpuz could only broadcast his own thoughts towards Yuu. I reckon this place would have a decent sized outdoor covered patio seating area, that may give Zelpuz a chance to maintain line of site, if you want to go that route.

Are there any specific actions Zelpuz or Vanyra will be taking to remain inconspicuous? I'm going to assume Zelpuz will active his invisibility field when he's in place. Vanyra just hanging out in a corner, trying to not look too sexy? I figure when about town she has a few short summer dress-like garments that she can rip off in a moment if she needs to go full camo; that way she's not walking around in a bikini and drawing attention all the time.

Sure, just out of curiosity how did we maintain the link when we went to Yuu's house? I thought I could keep the link up once established?
The patio depends, can he also see the street? Otherwise, maybe it's better to get a good look of the street, up to Yuu.

You guys were positioned in a triangle formation for LoS back then. Technically the part that allows you send messages telepathically has an extended range, and does not require LoS, but you can only send messages and not read thoughts.

If on the patio Yuu can get a seat with a view of the street if he so desires.

So patio or inside? Similarly Vanyra could be positioned in such a way to maintain LoS with Zelpuz and Yuu, and then could provide some sort of hand/visual signal if Zelpuz saw something outside.

Just let me know where everyone is.

Yeah, I am fine either way, I can either just be on a roof somewhere and give a warning if someone comes. Or wait on the patio. I think that's up to Yuu, depends on what he wants or is worried about most.

Yuu out on the patio is ok, also easier for a quick escape if it happens. To deal with the LOS issue, I'd originally thought to position Yuu at a window, but ya, if the place has a patio, easier to just do that.

I'd suggest Zelpuz on the roofs, to overlook leading streets. Also something to be aware, Yuu trusts his friend, but she still has a job to do. It might be she will bring in civilian clothed security. So... an added element to our situation.

Need notice checks from everyone; sight only at this time. Don't add in any powers or gear bonuses. This is just a straight-up situational awareness check.

Not my best roll. I guess I would spot a small army walking by though.

Nice... 26 for me.

Does there seem to be a shortage of fish based dishes suddenly? Just wondering if the fishing industries are being affected by the lock down.

That would be a logical assumption, though without further research on Yuu's part into the local fishing industry it's hard to say to what degree the lock down impacted the fish stocks in the city.

My computer will be in repair for a few days, should be back within the week.

Cool, thanks for the update. This will make it easier to kill off Zelpuz.

Can everyone give me another round of notice checks please?

Hah! I got my old computer to work, the one I used to have in Japan from 2009. And it knew my rpol password, did we start that long ago?!
Did the notice check, slightly better than last time.

We started this game in 2011 I believe, so you must have still been using it then... or your browser pulled it (if you use Chrome).

Yeah, apparently you've got much better luck with the older machine.

Yeah, I am pretty sure I used it after 2011. Maybe I should always use this one to roll dice.

Waste of a natural 20...

Vanyra rolled 30.

About how long has it been since Saya sat down?
This message was last edited by the player at 11:46, Mon 04 Dec 2017.

Let's say about 20~25 mins; considering you ordered beverages and then appetizers, and then ate that seems reasonable.

Hey all, I'm going to be traveling for a day or so starting from tomorrow so I won't be available then, and with the holiday season coming up I'll be sporadic... though I don't think that will impact are current progress pace in IC.

Is everything still quiet? :)  My requested roll is above, unless you wanted a new one.

Still quiet from Zelpuz's and Vanyra's points of view.

I'll be back to the normal routine on Wednesday the 3rd.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:38, Sat 30 Dec 2017.

OK, happy new year!

Happy 2018!

Ok, I'm back to my normal routine so we'll continue forth.

Erik, Jan, you guys can IC your characters joining the table if you like. I'll add a quick description of Saya so you know the situation.

I've uploaded a concept photo of Saya; click on the Game Map link and select Group 4 map.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:37, Sat 06 Jan 2018.

In relation to the entire warehouse incident what are you guys going to relate? There's a lot of material there since it sort of relates to everything you've done to date, plus you have some conflicting leads as to what was going on there.

Yes, this conversation could go hours. Zelpuz would keep it to a brief incident summary, let's see.

There's also a lot of information that could be damning to certain parties, and you are in the presence of an Ossylian military officer, so also keep that in mind.

That's why Zelpuz asks for an abbreviated version of events.

Ya, my plan was to put the chlornetherium stockpile to her, because something like that is so whack. She may have heard something bout it or inside rumours, that could lead us somewhere interesting, or that she could then ask around regarding. And agree re abbreviating the version with only the most basic of info, plus to keep things moving.

Some OOC knowledge that for sure Zelpuz and Yuu would have is that chlornetherium production happens in various places around the world; anyone with properly trained mages and the facilities can do it. The trick is the quantities that are used by large organizations like national militaries are beyond capabilities of many. A fair amount of chlornetherium comes from offworld facilities through the World Gate at Arghos on account that the Zhen Halen empire had specialized production facilities on certain worlds, and said worlds are carrying on from those days, albeit in a more limited capacity.

Any other information or items you guys want to get from this conversation? We can probably move on unless there's a particular item that needs to be resolved.

Just another OCC note that I forgot mention in IC, which everyone would be aware of. Saya is a Gnarm, one of Sapien sub-species. Gnarm are known for their physical fortitude and their singular dedication to a particular set of skills or service. So if Saya has dedicated herself to the Ossylian military she would be very hesitant to do anything against it without just cause.

After Zelpuz's inquiry you can assume she takes her military duties as a matter of personal honor, so she will be unlikely to act against them or parts of them, unless it can be proven to be in the general interest of the Ossylian forces.

I'm good to move the conversation forward. Don't have anything pressing.

Yeah, me too.
And OK, but checking these information may be actually helping the military, right? If she finds that it's been stolen somehow. Well, telling us will not be that helpful to the military ... OK, so we'll have to do what she said and break into the military ;)

Well you guys really don't have much info so far, so she's not going to break ranks because of a remote possibility. Alternatively, if she did start poking around in areas she's not responsible for it could tip off anyone paying attention to such things; Saya's in the mage infantry and not the MPs.

That being said, it would be a fair assumption, and Yuu could back this up, that any military shipments would have a military escort and thus be pretty secure against your average theft.

Also just to bring back some info from long before (in real lift time); you guys know that Lasrane worked with the Blood Runners to steal the chlornetherium from the Shen Zue consortium and by relation the Novian faction of the Ossylian parliament, at least according to what you got from Lasrane. The events you've witnessed so far largely support that hypothesis as well.

How the Shen Zue got the chlornetherium is another question, but they are one of the few sanctioned traders of it in Ossylia, so they certainly have channels. Those channels 'should' be legal ones though and would have paperwork to back them up, but like all customs records they're not available for the general public.

Just some more food for thought to tie it all together.

Thanks for the refresher course, totally forgot about the details where it came from. Good that Zelpuz remembers.
Right, so for Zelpuz, he's just gonna enjoy the evening and chat about peculiarities of the city.
If there's nothing more, we can start chatting about what we do next and how to prepare for tomorrow (i.e. the small chance of meeting Lasrange).

OK, anything you guys are doing after this? Otherwise I'm going to jump straight to tomorrow and the mission to see if Lasrane shows up at that place.

For the meeting with Lasrane, I think we do something similar, two of us stand watch nearby and Zelpuz waits in the bar.

Any plans for the daytime? Should we try to look at some ship logs, or trying to find out more about what the Shen Zue are up to?

Yeah, I was going to ask about what you guys are doing with Arkham Abode situation, so just make a plan here.

Remember that Lasrane does know us - he may not be as thrilled to see Vanyra.

He does, but I don't think he ever established who exactly crushed him. He was just aware the you guys got him and interrogated him. Not the biggest fan, but probably not your biggest enemy either.

Caution is probably warranted though, hence asking about the plan.

I would say same thing we did with Saya. Zelpuz can be the one that meets him, Vanyra and Yuu set up watch around the place. I'd be pretty surprised if he did show up, as he has little real incentive to, but any chance, however slim, is still a chance.

There is also the question of Blood Runners and Shen Zue working together, going back to the warehouse incident, and the trails that followed. Maybe we could start sniffing some of those old locations and people again, wasn't there a captain, a ship and some underground activities at some point? Or am I remembering from a totally different game?

Just a clarification, the Bloodrunners weren't working with the Shen Zue, rather they're the ones that stole the chlornetherium from the Shen Zue with Lasrane. Which also leads to the reason the Shen Zue sent a contingent of guards to commandeer the Bloodrunner's vessel in the harbor before you guys left town. Vanyra and Zelpuz managed to grab Captain Westling of the Bloodrunners before he was captured by the Shen Zue, but the vessel was under their control last time you checked.

So you know that Lasrane, with the help of the Bloodrunners, stole a lot of chlornetherium from the Shen Zue. You also know that the Shen Zue are aware of who stole it and were out to get them, successfully capturing the one ship.

What you don't know is where from and how the Shen Zue accumulated that particular amount of chlornetherium. During the interrogation of Lasrane he implied that it was an unofficial, or unlogged, amount of material and hence 'illegal.' The Shen Zue are sanctioned manufacturers and traders of chlornetherium though, so this point remains unverified.

Sounds good on the next day's meeting plan.

Can everyone give me a streetwise check? If you don't have that please give me a Notice check. Only one; streetwise trumps notice.

I was going to ask what bonuses would add on to Yuu's Streetwise check, but having rolled a 1... I don't think it much matters.

Nope, that doesn't really matter then. Streetwise is an INT-based knowledge skill for reference.

I don't have streetwise, but survival, which, if I remember right, was for cities. Not sure if that would be better. I rolled for Notice, but didn't roll very well either.

Let's hope Vanyra actually has her eyes open... would be an improvement over our rolls.

Hmm... That's a tough choice given the difference in those skills for Vanyra.  Wait, noone else has Streetwise?  Okay, crossing my fingers and... yuck.  Should have just taken 10 on Notice.

Wow, that's 3 pretty shitty roles in a row. We must have had too much of that new lager that they had at the pub, or maybe they mixed something strange into that.

No, you wouldn't want to roll Notice as you would have almost certainly failed unless you rolled a 20. I only put it out there since Streetwise is not a core skill in the game and decided to give everyone a chance.

OK, so specifically how are you guys doing this? I mean who is going to be where and for roughly how long are you guys going to wait around for?

I'm going to assume you get there about 30mins or so before the designated time to get set up and do a quick check of the area.

Are there any beggar types along the street?

I'm going to say no; I pictured it as a slightly nicer neighbourhood. The beggars would be closer to the market squares and around the harbor perhaps. This is just a regular street with a mix of residential and commercial properties and fairly low key.

Is there anything else around where standing around, or hanging out, wouldn't look weird? ex a coffee shop or something with a view of the meeting place.

Yes, 30 min early, Zelpuz will find a convenient table, not too far from the exits, best on the patio if there is one. We'll have to establish some kind of communication again, I assume I can maybe see one of the others but probably not both.

Yes, there would be various shops and stalls on the street in both directions, a cafe and small restaurant or two.

No patio at this place; purely an indoor establishment.

I think Vanyra should not be noticeable - to avoid possibly spooking inn case he harbors ill feelings.

She's probably best for outside scouting anyways. Any way we can communicate with her being outside? Or just send a signal of "GET OUT"?

The only person without some degree of telepathic abilities is Yuu, so you've got a couple options:

1) Zelpuz inside, Yuu out in the street mingling within line-of-sight of Zelpuz, and Vanyra at a suitable vantage point within line-of-sight of Yuu. That way Zelpuz can communicate to Yuu and Vanyra can listen in on Yuu's thoughts.

2) Zelpuz inside and Yuu inside at separate tables, with Vanyra outside but within line-of-sight. More direct communication potential, but this doesn't look like the type of place Yuu would frequent so he may get some stares.

Ok, maybe we're over thinking this. Don't we have radios or something?
This message was last edited by the player at 10:03, Wed 14 Feb 2018.

Wouldn't that be Yuu's department? Making magical radios?

Good point, I keep forgetting that we are not in a pure fantasy setting. If we don't have any, let's just buy some, best 'in ear' ones that others can't see/hear easily.

Yeah, I forget that sometimes as well. That said, using minds to communicate is certainly better than having to hit up radio waves. Yuu could probably whip something together in the future for situations like this.

I agree, minds are more stealthy, but in this case, we basically need a "Get out" signal. So an in-ear bug may be the right thing, it avoids the limitation of line of sight. Is there a way to boost mind communication by spending more points? I think I have a few left, although it's too short term for 'tomorrow', but maybe for future similar situations.

I was running around all weekend, hence my lack of response, but I think it shouldn't be too difficult for Yuu to create some radios for temporary use. You could also go an buy some sort of radios, though that would increase the risk of some party being able to eavesdrop on them versus the custom-built ones.

If he's designing a purely technology based device he'll need to use Know: Tech skill for design, and if it's a Nether device he'll use Know: Nether. If the later he'll also need to find some nether batteries to change the devices. For actually constructing the devices he'll need to make a Craft: Electronics check.

Here's the basic options you're looking at:
Nether Comms Devices: Communication Power w/Area Extra (omnidirectional)
1) Level 2 (100' range): Design check: TV 19 (2hrs), Craft: TV 14, 16 hrs
2) Level 3 (1000' range): Design check: TV 21 (3hrs), Craft: TV 16, 24 hrs
3) Level 2 (100' range) + encrypted: Design check: TV 20 (2.5hrs), Craft: TV 15, 20hrs
4) Level 3 (1000' range) + encrypted: Design check: TV 22 (3.5hrs), Craft: TV 17, 28hrs

You can reduce the crafting time by half by increasing the TV by 5, making it quite difficult. You cannot take 20 on the crafting check, but you can take 10.

We can assume you essentially had most of a full day of Kahl'yun day, probably about 30 hours of functional time, before the actual meeting.

Yuu being a Nether Engineer, he'd probably look at that option first. However, I'll design something later, and take the time over the course of a few days. Easier at the moment to just buy a radio set, and use that instead. All things considered, our communications requirements for this are pretty straight forward.... "all clear" or "GET THE FUCK OUT!" So someone that does, by chance, steer onto our frequency isn't going to get much from it.

OK, so let's do that. Anything else we want to do before the potential few hours of waiting for Lasrane to not show up?
And even more important, IF he shows up, what are the goals? For Zelpuz, it's to further investigate if the Order is/has been involved in the politics of the city and get more info to see if his story is true (which Zelpuz would remember, I'll have to look it up again). Anything else?

I'm going to say that it's not super hard to get a nether radio device, easier than a pure technology one, but they're also not common either. You don't see everyone using them. I figure it'll be like mobile phones in the 80's; pretty expensive, not a giant brick device. They won't be tiny inner-ear communicators though, they'll be the size of a modern mobile phone, like a iPhone 8 or Samsung S8.

To acquire them you'll need to make wealth checks with a TV of 12; this can be slightly lowered with a successful Diplomacy check. Alternatively, if you have leftover Equipment Feat points you can use them to acquire a communicator device permanently. It will cost 1 equipment point.

It will only take a couple hours to find a reputable shop to get the communicators at.

Just did some checking and Yuu has enough of a base Wealth bonus that he can just buy the communicators without any need for a check. Though he'd probably want to bargain a bit and reduce the price anyways, in which case it's a straight Diplomacy roll.

To clarify, these are nether powered and not nether operated, right?

Zelpuz might want to help in the bargaining. He's got +5 on Diplomacy and Bluff and 2 levels of fascinate (Dipl.), which I am not entirely sure how it works other than I can potentially get the seller fascinated by me. Although Yuu is probably sufficient in those skills, too.

Rolled a 21 for Dip check on negotiating price.

Correct, that these are nether powered devices, using nether-cells. They are not the kind you need to be a mage to use, nor are they powered by pure electrical batteries.

Jan, make a Diplomacy check and the outcome will determine whether or not you were of any help to Yuu in the negotiations. The Fascination thing is for combat; it's like a distraction technique, so not of use here.

Also does anyone remember where the rule for assisted skill checks is in the books? I can't find it for the life of me. It was something along the lines of the assisting characters make the assisting skill check, and if they succeed they provide +2 bonus to the primary character, and an additional +2 for every 5 points over the TV they get.

I'm just not sure if it was +2; seems like the proper value though.

Rolled.
And really? Fascinate is for combat? Check MM2E on page 170, it says when attached the fascination is broken anyways. Well, it's not what I want here either though.
Anyways, not that this roll matters much, but Zelpuz would want to join the negotiations, so there we go.

The leader makes the roll.  The helper makes a check at DC 10.  Success gives +2 to Leader. Every extra 10 on the roll gives an additional +1.

I don't remember where it is, I had it in my character file.

Ok, well Zelpuz manages to help in the bargaining and you guys get a good deal on the communicators.

So back to the situation at hand; who is going to be where?

I'll try to be in a coffee shop nearby, on the outside. So I can see down the routes.

I'll be on some table waiting for Lasrane.

Ok, sounds good. I'll need those on lookout to make a Notice check.

Since Zelpuz is just waiting inside no need for him to do so.

Vanyra scouting outside (and blending) - taking 10 on Notice = 23 with the improved range modifiers.

How long is Zelpuz going to wait for Lasrane?

I'd say for several hours. What time is it and what time does this place (and the ones around) close?

We'll say it's the 7th hour of aftereve, so about sunset. The pub probably won't close for another 7~10 hours.

OK, I'd say we wait about 4 hours, which we probably discussed before, any other opinions?

rolled 16 for notice

4 hours sounds about right.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:03, Sat 03 Mar 2018.

Besides waiting for Lasrane, Zelpuz will also look out for people he saw in the meeting Lasrane had with the Captain, as far as he knows, seems like it may be the right crowd for some of them.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:53, Sun 04 Mar 2018.

OK, good idea. In that case give me a Notice check, but using your INT bonus instead of the usual WIS. For Zelpuz that should mean a total bonus of +9.

Not a bad roll. His Memory should also make it a bit easier.

Zelpuz doesn't notice anyone matching the appearance of persons he saw with Lasrane previously. There's a few persons that look like they are sailors or dockworkers, but that's it.

Too bad, well, once the ~4 hours are over, Zelpuz will head to the toilet, check in with the others on the radio and suggest that he'll go chat to some of the dockworkers to see if he can get some information about the Captain's ship or the heist from the bloodrunners.

Vanyra will look around for any Midians or anyone else that would seem suspicious or recognizable to her.  She will first observe outside to places that can observe the bar's comings and goings, then she will try to look in the bar itself.  She will try to be as covert as possible.

Who were the Midians again?

They're a sub-species of people, the most populous of all the worlds. Yuu is a Midian, as opposed to Zelpuz who is a Mespah and Vanyra who is a Freyan.

For all intents and purposes they're the average 'human' type of race.

Ah, OK, so there are probably many Midians around, so I misunderstood the message.

Yes, there are billions of them across the various worlds. So unless you are in very particular places the majority of the people are Midian.

Can we clarify the timeline? What time are we at now? I mean how long into the waiting time? I thought this was now about a good 4 hours past the original meeting time?

No, you guys jumped ahead while Erik and I were discussing in PMs. When Vanyra contacts you it is about 1.5hours into the waiting game.

Also just to get ahead of things, at the time you're conversing with Vanyra almost everyone looks Midian in the place. That table of 4 has one Kodam, and that table of businessmen has one that is Gnarm.

Is there a back entrance?

Edited my last post.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:49, Sun 11 Mar 2018.

OK, so we are now playing things out that happened at hour 1.5, right? Then I'll ignore some of the things we said assuming we already waited 4 hours.

Zelpuz will look for any movement, esp. after he briefly left the bar.
Also, did he notice anything with his nice 28 on Notice?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:45, Mon 12 Mar 2018.

Yes, there is a back entrance leading to the kitchen and storage area. How is Vanyra subtly entering the bar, like just casually entering through the front or trying to sneak in the back? Just a warning you're almost 100% guaranteed to have some staff working in the back, making food, prepping drinks and whatnot.

Zelpuz notices what is already in the tavern. Nothing out of the ordinary. Almost any of the groups in the room could be spying on him, as it would not be hard, but no one is obviously staring at him.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:41, Wed 14 Mar 2018.

OK, so he'll just sit back down and continue to wait.

If the back entrance is a staff entrance, then she will just enter the front casually and discretely.

OK, sounds good. She'll garner as much attention as any very attractive woman entering a bar, maybe a little more because she's Freyan, but that's to be expected.

Once she enters the bar, is she going anywhere in particular? Like grabbing a drink and then hanging out at table somewhere? Or is she going to sit by Zelpuz?

Well... Inconspicuous might be...

Walk up to bar while looking around a little, get drink, glance around while waiting, walk to totally different part of bar while discretely scanning for faces so as to be able to get a view of everyone in the place before finding a place to sit or stand with the drink.

Mike, I'm really confused on the timings. In post #281, you said "hours pass" followed by "3 hours pass" then a little later, "after a couple hours". Then suddenly below that, in my own post, you're saying that it's only been 1.5-2 hours into the stake out.

How far into the stake out is this drama now going on? Sorry if this seems obvious, just a bit thrown off.

Yeah, I had to rewind a bit because I was PMing with Erik. As I mentioned to Jan at the time Vanyra enters the bar it's only about 1.5 hours into the stakeout.

It won't really effect anything. I'll simply delete those two posts to clean the timeline up a bit, and insert an edited, condensed version of the two covering only the first hour or so.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:22, Thu 15 Mar 2018.

Erik, can you give me a visual Notice check for scanning the crowd in the bar to see if there are any faces Vanyra recognizes.

Cheers dude, and thanks for edit on the post. Stake outs are hard work.... gotta keep them energy levels up!

Sorry, taking 10 = 23 Notice.

Zelpuz and Vanyra have line-of-site to each other so they should be able to communicate telpathically without issue. Using the radios will obviously draw attention, they're about the size of a large mobile phone, but common people typically do not have or use them.

I'm heading back to Canada on a visa trip for a few days, so likely I won't be checking the game much until I'm back in Japan on the 26th. I'll try to check in on Friday or Saturday though.

Have fun on the plane ... and of course back home.

In general, how do members of the Order display their affiliation? I assume I have a sort of badge, but do we usually also wear the insignia on our clothes?

How long will they be keeping you in the 'Pan?

I've got about a month left here and then back to Houston.

Yeah, the Order of Ashes has a specific insignia that would be on badges and medallions. They also have a uniform, though many naturally don't wear it expect for specific operations or occasions. I imagine they would also have a specific tattoo that is kept hidden, and typically known only to other members of the Order.

OK, so let's say Zelpuz is not naked and wearing some sort of what he considers typical clothes without insignia. The option then is, to start playing with his badge on the table to increase visibility.

That's fair. I think everyone would be in very casual clothing right now. Given your mission was to see if Lasrane would appear it may seem a bit odd to start flashing your credentials as a member of the Order of Ashes without reason. If you were to question the bartender or something and explain who you're looking for, and flash your ID then it would be more natural.

If you randomly start questioning patrons along the same lines you're likely to get into trouble since you're harassing people without any legal authority.

I am just waiting for Vanyra to reply, then potentially head to the bartender, and ask him if he had seen someone with a badge like this since I am waiting for a college.

Yeah, just waiting for the IC to progress myself.

GM note here; it would probably be more natural and expected if Zelpuz asked about a particular Mespah when flashing his Order insignia, even if he just made up details about the person. It's a little odd for Order people to ask strangers if they've seen other Order members, but it's perfectly normal for Order members to be hunting down other Mespah... that's pretty much what they do.

Thanks, good point.

Any rolls necessary? Notice, Senses Motive, Bluff, Diplomacy?

Ditto.

Jan, you can give me a Diplomacy check for the conversation with the bartender. Zelpuz isn't trying to bluff so we'll just go with Diplomacy. If you think the bartender may be lying you can also give a Sense Motive check.

Both Zelpuz and Vanyra can also give a Notice check for scanning the room during the bartender questioning. It'll be more difficult for Zelpuz since he's engaging with the bartender.

Vanyra would take 10 on Notice for 23 if she can.

Not necessarily lying but maybe trying to hide things or just not providing full information, and to get a sense how he reacts to the question (in case that's not obvious).
Could take 10 if the bartender is not too busy, since I want to show the badge for a while anyways, and casually shifting positions to look around.