Shawn had meandered around the Circus for a while, finding a small drain. Like a rat in the darkness, he scurried down it, the stench of foul odors clogging his nose and invading his senses. The walls were slippery as he descended the ladder, landing on a surface of old, grimy stone.

As Shawn looked up he realized this might be more than just a sewer. Perhaps an old subway of some kind.

Shawn looked around for anything that could give his search context; landmarks, signs of previous passage, even potential dangers.

The tunnel was large and the smell of foul, putrid garbage filled the air. Shawn cocked his head to one side, listening for something, anything. There was a dripping sound coming from beyond the abandoned metro car, the faint sound of running water.

Shawn was hit by the notion that underground there was a dank, forgotten place that most people never give much thought. Even though he was in a different world than his own, the vast, sprawling warrens of the underground sewer system: pipes, and tunnels existed under all of bustle. It was a murky, shadowy place full of blackness and silence, secretly coexisting with the upper world of the Circus.

To the left of him, Shawn saw another, smaller and more narrow tunnel. It seemed to lead to a darker passage. Graffiti lined the wall, spelling out the letters 'Malphrus Layer' with a large red arrow pointing down in the direction of the darkness.

It was clear that from this entrance, there were too choices, two paths to go. Shawn was also overcome with the sudden sensation that he needed to pee.

Shawn forced himself to hold it - even though he was in the sewer. now was not the time to just go pee. He tried to think logically; this looked like a big place, and searching it all could take years. But this was a sewer, which meant if he could find running water, and specifically a grate or other obstruction, it'd basically be like searching for everything upstream of it, since the water would wash away any bo...any object in it. That way he could save time searching, right?

He headed towards the other side of the metro car.

It was a logical thought. Things flowed upstream. And that meant that if the boy....had washed up there...he might be there. Shawn found himself unavoidably thinking of what that might mean when and if he found the boy. The boy he remembered had had blonde hair and a backwards hat and spoke with a French-like accent.

Heading past the metro car, Shawn saw the loud water flowing. He followed the stream and the current smoothed out. Finding himself walking along-side the water, the cement becoming more clear, hardened--the sewer taking on a constructed, organized appearance. Shawn adjusted his nose, the foul smell becoming more normal.



Then, in the distance he saw a swollen, lump floating against a grate, the rushing water passing through it. It looked like a body. But a terribly inflated one. Shawn couldn't reach it from this perspective. And there was nothing around to drag the body closer.

Now the smell was terrible. A powerful, pungent, disgusting odor that was like a garbage can left to ferment in high heat for an extended period of time.

Shawn tried to creep closer to the body, as close as he could without getting into the water. He deliberately slowed his progress so he could keep an eye out for dangers. He couldn't be sure, but the Circus seemed like a place where scavengers might be attracted to a body. Of which he was one, he realized in a brief but painful moment of self awareness.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:23, Fri 28 Apr 2017.

"Hey! Get away from there!" Shawn heard a voice say. A sharp command, like a warning shot firing off the bow of some great ship.

Then upon turning around, he saw it was Crowley. He had an angry glare in his eyes, small, delicate hands with finger nails too long and sharp were brought up by his sides. His needle-point teeth were bared, diaper sagging on one side.

"It's you." He said, speaking less to Shawn and more informing himself.

"Hello Crowley. I hope you're well?" Shawn wasn't particularly happy to see the creature, especially in these circumstances. He had a sinking feeling they were there for the same reason. But he remembered that Crowley liked politeness, and he wasn't going to needlessly burn a bridge.

Every part of Crowley seemed to soften at Shawn's politeness. Every part except Crowley's eyes. They remained old, and hardened on Shawn, sizing him up.

"Good afternoon." Crowley said with fake politeness. "What are you about here?"

"I've been sent to look for something down here. How about you?" Shawn knew he onlu half-answered the question, but considering the circumstances, it seemed fair. He kept his expression and tone gormless and open; acting started with the eyes, so he made sure his were wide and innocent.

"Something down here." Crowley repeated, matching Shawn's look of innocence with one of cautious circumspection. He scratched at that angry rash with his sharp nails, flaked of dandruff floating down onto the grimy, soiled rock where his small baby-feet stood, toes wiggling.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Manipulation + Expression +Striking Looks  with the following results

0 Successes: Crowley sees through the charm and guesses why Shawn is here and considers him hostile competition

1 Success: Crowley has a good guess as to why Shawn is here, but doesn't consider Shawn hostile competition

2+ Successes: Crowley can't see through Shawn's acting. He guard is let down and he turns to questioning and then deal making.

"Oh, neat!" Shawn gave him a look of innocent curiousity.

OOC: 13:52, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 5 successes using 9d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more.  Manipulation + Expression +Striking Looks.

Crowley wandered towards Shawn, or more accurately, waddled. His diaper was sagging, one small foot pigeon-toed as approached the river of green sewage water that separated them. To the left, at the end of the grate, the body just floated, face pressed against the iron bars as water passed through in a constant rushing wave.

"I get the feeling you might be here for the same reason that I'm here." Crowley mused, a smile that didn't seem friendly growing wide on his face to expose his needle teeth once again. "I'll wager your looking for something in say, that boy's pockets? That's OK. I don't have to have it. But, I won't leave either." He said, leaving the situation in a standoff. "I can't just let you have it for free. There isn't anything as a free lunch, even in the sewers beneath the Circus. You don't want to get lost down here, let me tell you. The Circus doesn't use these sewers, the sewers lead to the Circus. It's the only fair way to travel in the underworld to get to other places without getting lost. " 

Shawn gave Crowley a relieved smile at, one with shades of his actual feelings. Crowley was small, but his teeth looked very sharp, and Shawn didn't want to make him mad. "So...if it's not for free, do you have a price in mind?"

"There's always a price for everything." Crowley said. He didn't seem to press upon that outer shade of Shawn's feelings that Shawn chose to show him. Instead, he seemed to be satisfied with what Shawn gave, not peeling at all at the layered complexity obfuscated Shawn's thoughts and feelings.

"Do you have anything on you? Let's start with that." Crowley said, neck crooked forward in a searching gesture, looking for anything that might be bulky on Shawn's body or in his clothing. He was looking for anything of value, that was certain.

Shawn rummaged through his pockets, checking for anything valuable. There was the rabbit's foot, but that wasn't his, just a loan from the Fortune Teller. In the end, after fishing around, he'd pulled out around $20 in mismatched bills and coins and a baby tooth. The tooth was his, lost recently, and he'd kept it mostly because the idea of a supernatural entity that approached you while you were asleep, even if it was ostensibly to give you money, had lost a lot of its lustre in recent times.