A thread for IC posts about life off the run.  Fill in backstory, introduce your new character, craft a cool NPC or antagonist or otherwise keep us entertained.  May occasionally be worth karma points...

"Hey, uh, Charles.  Ya got a minute?" Caduceus said over the phone to his contact.  He was currently pulled over on his motorcycle, trying to decide if he should actually eat the soyburger he just bought.  "I've been thinking lately about the many practical uses for levitation and wanted to try some things out."

The ork on the other end of the line grunted.  He was a snake shaman, like Caduceus, but a vastly different type of serpent.  If Caduceus was like a quick and deadly viper, Charles was like a strong, slow, deadly python.  Still, the two of them had a certain common bond that fostered a great deal of respect and trust.  Caduceus knew Charles well enough to know that that particular grunt meant to continue.

"So, to try what I want to try, I need to get my hands on a Sustaining Focus.  Doesn't have to be too powerful, but I'ld rather it be off the books, if you know what I mean."

Another grunt in reply.  This one inquisitive.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Caduceus teased.  "Just call me up if you manage to track one down, ok?"  Charles mumbled something unintelligible then hung up.  Caduceus took a bite of his burger then made a sour face.  He spat out his mouthful and tossed the rest into a nearby trashcan that was already overfull.  He revved his engine and took off down the road to find a food vendor who's food didn't make him want to vomit.

---

Later that evening Caduceus' phone buzzed and he answered.  "Found one," a gruff voice said.  "It's got a steep price tag though.  You sure it's worth it?" Charles used actual words this time.  Impressive.

"I'm sure we can work something out," he replied.

---

Sustaining Focus
Availability 2/48 hrs
Force x 15,000¥
Street Index 2

16:07, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 2 with rolls of 4,5,1,5,3.  Etiquette roll for Force 2 Sustaining Focus Availability.

48/4=12
It takes 12 hours to locate the focus.

Base street price is 60,000.  -5% per net success (or up to +5% for every net failure) in a two-way Negotiations vs. Intelligence test.

16:14, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,5,1,(6+4)10,4.  Negotiation (Bargain) vs Contact's Intelligence.

16:16, Today: Caduceus rolled 5 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+3)9,(6+6+6+5)23,5,(6+4)10,5,3.  Intelligence test vs Contact's Negotiation skill.

16:30, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 2,5,3,3,3,3.  Magical Background as a complimentary skill for one of the tests, if allowed.

Let me know how much I owe!

"¥30k.  You wanna pick it up or should I come by?"

On an opposed test, you only need to roll once.  You target his intelligence, he targets yours.  Net successes apply to whoever gets more.  In this case, it was a wash so you pay base street price.

A few days after the run was finished, White Duck's comm buzzed.
"Hola, my well-dressed friend.  Have you given some consideration to my proposal?  I've got a few candidates lined up, but it appears the way this works, the more the merrier.  Obviously, only those we can trust and that would feel 'comfortable' in our neighborhood"

Julia had reached out to you a couple of weeks back about a new concept called initiation.  She was looking at starting up a group and had approached you to see if you were interested and whether you knew of any others who might make good candidates.

You have a choice - you can initiate with Julia and 3 other members she's found for the benefit of 4 extra dice on the roll, or you can ask for a copy of the materials to go through the process on your own.  That's less people to worry about messing things up (and less fun for me), but also less dice and may put you on the outs with your talismonger.

“Haii...” He says, stretching as he rolls out of bed and wanders through the curtain that divides his small apartment from his business and Julia’s adjacent living facility. “Shoulda woke me up sooner, Jules, didn’t know we were opened.” He says with a shrug, moving over to his spot behind th counter. His regulars were around as usual, but they didn’t really need any assistance. Kicking back, he smirks and lights up a joint. “Course I’m down for that thing. Part of the path of inner mastery and such. It’s gonna be like getting my own montage! You call that guy I was tellin ya about what might be interested?”

"I'll come grab it.  I've got the time."  He hung up, flushed the toilet, then headed out to pick up his new spell focus.

---

Later that evening, Caduceus spent a good two hours in his basement lodge bonding his astral signature to his new focus.  A corded necklace with a snake fang dangling at the front.  The process was one he hadn't gone through in a long time, and it felt good to get himself reacquainted with the ritual of it all.  In the end, he cast his levitation spell upon the item as he wore it around his neck, then willed himself to float toward the ceiling.  He smiled as his feet lifted off the ground.

Removed 30,000 from my available cash.  And yeah, the way you described the tests working is much less confusing than the way the book made it sound.

"Talking on the phone won't help me size him up.  I thought we could all get together tomorrow night.  Say 8-ish?  See how everyone gels, go over the expectations.  You can bring your friend and anyone else you can drum up.  They might need an escort to get down here.  I'll decide who stays and who goes and will let everyone know when we're going to try to hold the formation ritual.  Soka?"

Duck nodded, sending Cadeuces an encrypted message via a private Shadowland subforum he’d slipped the mage the address to on the past run. He worked his shifts, hoping this whole thing at least had some of those neato hallucinogenic jungle plants Julia sold on the side involved. He’d already agreed to let Julia use the space in the shop for the ritual, as maybe some real-life juju would give the place a spirit of its own. Literally, figuratively, who knew?

The next day, he finished closing up early and helped Julia escort anyone in not familiar with the “ neighborhood,” as it were. One of the more accessible areas of the Ork Underground, this place saw a lot more tourists than others. It was good for business, but it also led to Duck having to help keep the place safe himself. Damned near every business here had black market ties, and the last thing you want to do where guns are sold two shops down is pull out a gun.

“Hope Snake-Eyes shows up.” He comments idly to himself as he lights up a smoke.

"You talking about me, or somebody else?" Caduceus asked with a sly smile as he approached from behind.  He knew from experience that White Duck's comment could have been timed like that on purpose because he heard Caduceus coming a mile away.  The guy's hearing was ridiculously good.  Regardless, Caduceus was glad to see his fellow runner once again and excited for what the upcoming meeting had in store.

"So, this is the famous shop, eh?  How's your ward work?  If you're ever looking to hire someone who knows his way around warding a place of business, just give me a call.  I have competitive rates."  Caduceus often worked as a freelance warder in his off time as a side gig.  Not quite as glamorous as having an actual shop where things were sold, but it was much more his style.

Hairy has had a very bad day. In fact, he's had a very bad time of it in general since going independent. His business plan is solid; sell drugs and hoop-kickings to whoever has the cred. He's good at those things. He knows his business. The only problem was building up a clientèle. So he did what any entrepreneur would do. He drafted up five hundred fliers; "Want a fun time? Someone need a beating? Call Hairy. Guaranteed fast and discreet" and posted them in every night club, street corner and simsense shop east of downtown.

But it seems no one can take a working ork seriously, because instead of calls to escort execs, he's been getting calls to "escort" execs.

He played with his phone in one hand, and a shot glass of old engine oil "whiskey" in the other. He'd considered setting up a few runs for himself, just to get a reputation outside of his old gang circles. But he was legitimate now, and didn't have time for any of that mickey mouse drek. He ran through his contacts. Loser. Loser. Loser. Dead. He sipped his whiskey, letting it coat his tongue. The drink numbed both taste and touch. Good stuff.

He nodded at the bartender, calling her over. "Don't suppose ya got any work, do ya? Need anyone harassed or anything? I run an agency. Lots a' pros on call. Just if ya need anything."

Comic book store, comic book store, cooooomiiiic boook stooore... thought Koby, as he searched and browsed the signs on each store.

Finally, he comes across the description Noruas had given him on the piece of paper.  Or at least it looked like what paper comic book stores would possibly look like 50 years ago after weathering through 50 years of age.

This HAS to be the store....right?

He looks to his left and right to check for other possibilities as well as for anyone looking his way.

Nope, this is probably it.

He gently raps on the glass pane with the closed sign on the front.

Hopefully, someone answers soon.  And hopefully, it ain't another secret bondage fetish sex den...

Duck grinned to Cadeuces and took a drag of his smoke as the pair made its way back to the store.

"Jules takes care of most of that. We also sell magical knick-knackery through her end of the shop, and since, well, nobody wants to heist old back issues of Sandman, she's got more to worry about than I do." The pale, almost-elven looking man clad in a pair of flannel pajama pants and an old black T-shirt of the first Mega Man box cover art walks up with the street mage to the old subway bookstand-turned-store. He regards the newcomer with the courtesy a friendly small southern town shows to a stranger.

"Hoi chum, we're closed early today for a private event. You looking for anything in particular? I can set a few things aside for ya 'fore we open tomorrow." He flicks the cigarette's ashes into an interior that's nearly too grungy for the ashes to be noticed. Beneath his almost-pajamas is a lithe form of corded musculature that moved with the grace of a trained assassin. His pale-pink albino eyes smile along with a mouth full of shining, pearly whites, long colorless hair drawn back into a loose-fitting ponytail. His voice is the honey/molasses drawl of a born and bred Cajun, though it might be hard to place the accent for someone in Seattle.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:43, Tue 03 Apr 2018.

"Loser. Loser. Loser. Dead." made my day :>

The orc running the taps eyed Hairy suspiciously before scratching herself and leaning over the counter.  While it had been effective on his tastebuds, the 'whiskey' had not yet managed to deaden the dwarf's sense of smell and her breath nearly left him seeing stars.

"Do I looks like someone what needs 'er herassin done for 'er?"

She snorted dismissively and went back to cleaning a glass with a rag that looked far from hygenic.  It appeared that the night wasn't going to get a lot better than the day - or the week.

Hairy downed the rest of his glass and tapped the empty twice on the bar to signal for  refill.  As he settled back onto his stool, someone brushed past him and settled down on the stool next to him.

"Fires?"

The newcomer was human, probably early twenties, though he had the prematurely aged look of someone who'd spent too much time sampling the wares that Hairy sometimes manufactured.  He had greasy black hair and an oversized nose ring that looked suspiciously like it was infected.  A leather jacket, stained jeans and an assortment of tatoos on the arms completed the look of some sort of gang-banger - or at least a wanna-be.

"You and your pros - you good with fires?"

Seeing an albino man in pajamas answering the door, the first thing Koby did was sigh in relief.  OK!  Not a sex dungeon!....right?

Whew!  White Duck I presume?

He notices another man behind the wiry albino, And Caduceus, I'm guessing?

Koby checks their response to his questions to ascertain their identities before continuing on, We have a friend in common.  You know, the guy who likes to hack his way out of problems with a deck?  He mentioned that you guys were looking for people looking to upgrade their magical...assets?
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 14:49, Wed 04 Apr 2018.

Caduceus gave White Duck a disappointed but understanding nod when he said he wouldn't be needing warding services.  He then turned his attention to the other arrival.

"You guess correctly.  Which means you must be Koby.  Unless our mutual deck-head friend has been extra loose with his lips.  That doesn't seem likely though."  Noruas was the teammate from the last run that he knew the least about, by far.

"So, you say you have magical assets?  Anything that might impress me?"  Caduceus flashed Koby a mischievous grin.

After hearing his name, Koby breathes a sigh of relief, again.

Koby looks Caduceus top to bottom to try and determine whether they practiced similar arts, Let's just say, you're a painter and I'm more of a dancer, but we both practice art.  He looks to his left and right again and continues on, D'you guys mind if we talk about this inside?  I'm not certain its a good idea to start advertising what we are doing.  Especially when we need to do it undisturbed.

In reply to DeusEx (msg # 13):

Hairy looks the guy up and down. Seems legit. Probably not Renraku, but Hairy could never tell corp types. Well, probably he couldn't. He hadn't met a lot.

"Yeah, we do fires. Causing 'em or putting 'em out?"

In Julia's shop:

The door to a back room opened and Julia stuck her head out.

"Ven en mis amigos."  She smiled as she gestured the group of you come back.

"Be sure to bolt de door and flip de sign.  We will not want to be deesturbed."

The back room was dimly lit.  Shelves, cartons, packing materials and other unidentifiable objects had been neatly moved all to one side of the small area, leaving an open space that was now decorated by a large persian-style rug and an assortment of pillows and cussions.  A couple of these were occupied by people White Duck knew from past encounters.

Martha was a human rat shaman in her mid-50s.  Her hair was prematurely gray and hung in a tattered mess that seemed to fit her shabby clothes.  However, the albino knew better than to underestimate the woman.  He'd seen her dicker with Julia a few times over prices and come up on top.

Chuck was a troll bouncer from one of the local clubs - the tall, silent, break both your legs if you step out of line type.  White Duck had never paid him much mind, let alone suspected he was magically active, but a quick glance on the astral showed the signature of a physical adept.  As if being a troll wasn't enough...

The last was a young girl in her early twenties.  Her tusks were short and she was well-dressed, though pointedly ignored the others in the room focusing on the cup she was holding in her hands.

"Help yourself to some tea and introduce yourselves.  I am expecting one more, den we can begin."


------------------------------------
In the bar:

"Perhaps we should grab a booth."

The booths didn't offer eavesdropping protection, but the local thrashband-wannabes would obfuscate your conversation from anyone who was either not really determined or technically sophisticated.  The ganger leaned forward.  His breath, while not spectacular, was much better than the bartender's.

"I've got someone that needs to learn their place.  I figure their place of business going up in flames might help that process.  ¥500 up front and ¥2k on completion.  It's late enough, the place should be empty by now.  But it needs to happen tonight."

Duck nodded, grabbing an old back issue of Fantastic 4 from the small safe that stored his most particularly valuable issues. He takes his usual seat behind the counter and starts re-reading the plastic-protected pages with a pair of tweezers. He also comes out sans-pajamas, what with the company and all.

"Hoi, I'm Duck. Don't mind me, just run the joint."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:53, Tue 10 Apr 2018.

Name's Koby, said Koby as he sat down.

"And you can call me Caduceus," he added.  Although Caduceus stood near a wall rather than sit down.  He examined the auras of the others in the room to help get a grasp on who they were.  Nothing too intrusive though.  He was supposed to be forming a group with these people after all.  He didn't want to start off on the wrong foot.

"Quite a diverse bunch of people we have here, eh?"  His tone implied he thought that observation was a positive.

Martha nodded and smiled.
"As in life.  The mother calls whom she will.."

She eased herself up from the floor with far less effort than her age would have suggested and gave smile to white duck a short bow to Koby and Caduceus.

"I am Martha."

She walked over to a kettle brewing on a hot-plate in the corner a couple of seconds before it started to whistle.  She poured the hot water into the waiting teapot and waited a bit for it to steep.

"Would anyone else like some?"

"Chuck."  The troll didn't bother to stand, which given the ceiling height, was understandable.  His low rumble carried the faint hint of an accent, though without more words it was hard to place.  And more words were not forthcoming.

The girl in the corner continued to remain silent for several minutes before starting and looking around the room.

"Oh, uh, Kate.

Umm, does anyone know what this whole thing is about?"

Hairy leans in close to hear the ganger's offer. "Yeah yeah yeah, I hear ya. That works. Where's the sucker at? You know if he's got any guards or cameras or anything? Not that it's a problem. Just, you know, recon. And no magic, right? I fraggin' hate magic."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:45, Sun 15 Apr 2018.

"Haven't noticed any cameras.  No guards.  And ah, no, you shouldn't have to worry about magic.  Nice 'n simple.  It's a dreck area, but not as shady as the Barrens or anything.
 You in?"

He reached into his pocket and took out a credstick, turning it over in his hands while he watched your face for signs of interest.

If Koby was surprised by Kate's question, he didn't show it.  He stays silent to see if others would respond first.

"Uh, yeah." says Duck, idly shuffling a deck of playing cards in one hand, not seeming to smoke inside with his comics. Cadeuces sees him eyeing his pack on the table though with subtle anxiety.

"We're here to get more magicky."

In reply to DeusEx (msg # 24):

"Yeah yeah. Twenty five hundreds a little low, you know. My guys, they don't want to end up in the slammer with their moms visiting on weekends and everything. Really uhh... messes with their free time. I think three thousand is a good amount."

Trying to negotiate the price up a little. Definitely one success.
((1,(6+6+3)15)).

"More magicky.  Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it," Caduceus said as he went over to accept some tea from Martha.  "Although I am still a bit foggy about how we pull that off.  Which is why I am here.  To learn exactly that."

In the bar:
"Then I guess they'd best not get caught.  If ya do a good job on this one, maybe you'll rate higer pay the next time.  You in or do I find someone else?"

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

The young woman rolls her eyes.
"I know THAT.  I mean how does it work.  We're not doing blood rituals or anything like that, right?"

At that moment, the door opens and Julia returns, followed by a well-dressed man in his early 30s.  "Shazai itashimasu.  My employer had extra tasks and I was unable to depart in a timely fashion".  He gave a short bow to the group, then knelt on one of the cushions.

"No blood rituals tonight or any night pequeño.  I would not have considered this eef that were involved, though it was some of my experiences with my former employer that helped me recognize what this document meant and might offer."  She pointed to a bundle of papers sitting in one corner.

She poured a cup of tea for the young man and then filled another.  "Who is missing one?"

Here, replied Koby.

"I could use one too," Caduceus added before walking over to grab one to read.  He passed one over to Koby while he was at it.

Duck moves over and grabs whatever Julia hands him, perusing it on the way back to his stool.

Julia passed out cups to Duck to distribute to everyone before taking one herself and making herself comfortable cross-legged on a faded cushion.  She gestured for everyone to drink.

"Magical groups have been rumored for several years now.  I know of them from my experiences with ... my former employer.  But we would not wish to use their methods.  I have also heard of practices within the NAN.  The corps have been trying for a while, but this document I recently acquired might suggest a path for those of us who are not so-positioned.

What I know is this.  Forming a group will open up a magical pathway that may grant us greater powers, but it may come too with greater risks.  We will also be bound to each other.  This action will cost some of your independence.  It will also require secrecy.  I suspect the former will be more challenging than the latter for most of you.  Is this a path you all wish to walk?"

What do you mean by, it ' will cost some of your independence'?  Could you be more specific, please?

"If you choose to join, you will have obligations to the group.  If a member of the group has need of you, you will be obligated to assist - or risk losing access to the power you have gained, and perhaps some of the power you already have.  As well, if the group is to guide your assension in the mysteries, then you will need to help others in turn.  Those selected to be here all come from the same line of work, though some of you move in slightly different circles.

I understand that having ties is a risk.  If you wish to bow out, the time to do so is now."

The young woman shifts uncomfortably but no-one else moves to leave.

So say if we were to be trying to save a friend, and for some reason or another, one member of the group decides that they need my help with moving their furniture, I have to leave my friend to die and help them move tables or risk losing some of my powers?  What's to prevent people in this group from abusing this obligation?  And how do we know that no one in this group isn't going to break this kind of trust you speak of?
This message was last edited by the player at 15:25, Tue 24 Apr 2018.

"The group will decide what is reasonable and will also determine the consequences for failure to comply.  If you are severed from the group, it may come with a cost to your power.  All here will be equally bound and, I presume, equally motivated to keep the group's tenets to avoid loss of their own powers or other consequences.

I understand that, while I know most of you, many of you are strangers to each other.  Trust is hard to find in the Sixth World, and harder still for those of us who work in it's shadows.   If we wish, we could each share something of ourselves in a bid to build trust.  I can ensure that only truth is spoken."

She looks around the room to see if the notion is more or less appealing than the prospect of being magically bound to a bunch of strangers.

Caduceus listened with interest to both the questions that Koby asked and to the answers Julia gave.  It sounded like this was going to be quite the ordeal.  One that would require him to get cozier with people than he usually liked to get.  It wasn't in his nature to depend on others in the way the group would likely demand.  He liked to slither around on his own as he pleased.

However, it wasn't in his nature to pass up a juicy secret either.  And learning how to increase his magical capabilities certainly qualified.  The snake shaman decided to give more consideration to joining the group.  He could always leave later if things got too weird.

"Alright, I'm in.  I would like to see where this goes," Caduceus concluded aloud.  "I'll share something with the group, but I would rather have you go first," he said, gesturing to Julia.  "This is your show, after all.  And I'm better at collecting information than I am at sharing it.  Nothing personal."

In reply to Hairy (msg # 27):

"Yeh, yeh, I'm in. But next time, the team gets paid proper."

Hairy stands up. "Okay, so where this place at? No time like the now."

In the bar:

The presumed 'go-ganger' slides the credstick across the table and pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and hands it over.  An address is written with remarkably neat penmenship.

"Remember, it needs to happen tonight.  I'll see you here tomorrow night with your payment if you do the job right."  He slides out of the booth and makes his way to the door.


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

Seeing no-one get up to leave, Julia took a sip of tea and began.

"Most of you know of my former employer.  And, as I mentioned, I had exposure to magical groups in my time there.  As you can guess, their practices involved the use of blood magic.  What you do not know is that, before I left, I played a part in one of their horrible rituals.  The victim was my own father - and I was the one who held the knife.

I had no choice.  My father was an employee who had failed in some way and was and was doomed regardless.  If I had not cooperated, they would have killed me as well as my sisters.  Apparently the energy of one family member sacrificing another provideded a boost to the magical energy.

It was then that I knew I had to leave.  I could not face my family again.  I can still remember the warmth of my father's blood on my hands."

She stared down at her tea for a while, then took another sip.

EDIT - fixed formatting
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:51, Sun 29 Apr 2018.

Koby silently listens on without ever drinking his tea.

"That... is brutal," Caduceus commented after a long bought of silence.  "I would never wish that upon anybody."  He didn't know what else to say.  It sounded like she had been messed up in some dark Aztecnology biz, or at least something similar.  He didn't like to think about it, but Caduceus still noted it in his mental dossier he had constructed for Julia.  You never knew when knowing someone who knew something could come in handy.

"I don't have any stories quite as dramatic as that, I'm afraid.  But I don't have such a close relationship with my family any longer either.  They were excited to learn I was awakened, and showed promise as a shaman, but all but disowned me when they found out Snake was my totem.  They never really understood, and I still rarely have contact with them."

Caduceus crossed his arms across his chest and slumped further against the wall.  His story might not have sounded like much, but it was more than he had shared about himself with strangers in a long time.

The troll gave a snort.  "What's wrong with Snake?"

Hairy checks the stick and bites the end. Why? It's what people do. He slips it in his pocket, nods to the go-ganger, and heads to the door. "See ya tomorrow. Keep my seat warm." With that, he heads out to his car.

Feeling the stress of a successful meet gradually dissipate, he pulls a little vial out of his inner pocket and does a quick line. As the red hot fire moves through his veins, he turns on his car and listens to the engine purr, then pulls out to scope out his target.

"Absolutely nothing," Caduceus replied to the troll earnestly.  It is what he himself truthfully believed.  But some others, such as his family, saw them as sneaky liars who will sell every last one of your secrets for a quick buck.

Hairy drove to the general vicinity.  The 8pm "dedicated sarariman" rush-hour had died down so navigating traffic wasn't an issue.  Finding a place to park his vehicle where there was a reasonable place it would remain intact for his return, the orc made the rest of his way on foot.  It was a rougher neighborhood.  A group of several toughs lounging around smoking and drinking gave him a bit of an evil eye, but he fit in well enough that they couldn't be bothered getting off their hoops to do more.

The building indicated by the slip of paper was slightly better maintained than its neighbors - meaning that it was painted in the last decade or two and the windows were relatively clean.  The latter made it somewhat easier to peer into.  The lights were out and, as far as you could tell, the shop was deserted.


---------

Chuck waited a minute or so for more.  When it was evident nothing futher was forthcoming, he shrugged.

"Grew up in the UK.  I was a wet little sod and my step-da, ee had a thing fer wee blokes.  Liked ta stick things in me bum.  Then I got big.  Stuck me fist up 'is bum.  To me elbow.  Ma didn't like havin ta work again and booted me out, so I crossed the pond."

The Japanese man looked down, obviously uncomfortable.  Kate's gaze moved from Julia to Chuck and back again.  She shook her head.  "Wow.  You guys have had to deal with some serious dreck!  Worst thing I can remember is being grounded for a month for lifting a pair of jeans - after my dad paid off mall security.  I mean I've fragged some corps and stuff since then, but I presume that's a given for all of us, neh?"

Duck shrugs, hopping off of his stool with a smoke tucked behind his ear. “Let’s see, I’m the only non-goblinized member of my family. All six brothers and sisters are full on orks.” Looking around, he continues. “Also, there’s the small matter of Having killed lots of people, most of them with my bare hands, some of em last week.” He brings a finger to his chin as he walks for the door. “Lastly, for the few of you who might know this, here’s somethin new. I really wish I had a pet cat and I’ve had a serious crush on Julia here for ages.” He winks to her, having never verbalized that before. He then steps out for a smoke.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:02, Fri 04 May 2018.

Julia gives a brief chuckle.  "Mi amante fantasma.

Please stay.  I don't think anyone here will mind if you indulge?  And some have yet to share..."

Hairy peers in the window, checking for anything interesting. Not seeing anything, he circles the building, getting a sense for its height, distance from its neighbors, and how burnable it would be. He circles around the back side and checks around for a back door, or even just an unwatched window. When he's sure he's not being watched, he'll check if they're locked (or poorly made enough to be forced).

The shop is one from the end in a line of 10 or so, though not all appear to be active businesses.  All appear to be of wood construction with a brick foundation and are single-story with bars covering the windows in front and rear.  Your target has maglocks on the front and rear entrances, which is a tad unusual for the district.

A group individuals lying against one of the buildings in the back alley makes it difficult to approach totally unnoticed.  However, the glazed looks in their eyes and the occasional limb twitch strongly implies that whatevers hitting their optic nerves isn't coming from their eyeballs

Hearing that everyone has unloaded, he decided to give a little.

College dropout.  Military drop out.  Government security dropout.  Guess the shadows only one left that would have me...

“Ah hell Julia, you know I don’t smoke around the merchandise. I’ll just be right here for a minute.” He says, half-stepping out of the door and staying half-in so he could still listen. He lights his smoke onnthe other side and takes a drag, blowing the smoke out in a calm, relieved breath.

In reply to DeusEx (msg # 50):

Hairy watches the group for a little bit, then pushes on by. Not like they can arrest a man for walking. He'll move on around to check the back for doors or any windows he can see in, or anywhere he can discreetly break inside.

The back windows had bars on them that appear relatively solid.  Nothing a welding kit or some acid couldn't take care of given enough time though.  The back door had a maglock much like the front.  Given the lack of grime and graffiti, it was probably not more than a year or two old.  The shop was dark, but Hairy's eyes had no trouble taking advantage of the dim light reflected down the alleyway to make out the content of the rear room: A desk with a few odd nicknacks, a shelving unit containing a number of cardboard boxes, a filing cabinet, a coffee machine and a small sink.  The boxes and the content of the filing cabinet would probably both go up nicely if aided by a decent accelerant.


----------

White Duck opened the rear door of his shop, taking a wiff of the sweet smell of decaying garbage from the near-by dumpster before inhaling the sweeter smell of his tobacco.


Julia shrugged and got up to pour everyone some more tea.  Noticing Koby's still-full cup, she asked if there was something else he'd prefer.

Martha chuckled.  "I won't speak for the others, but I've certainly nipped at the tail of a corp or two.  Let's see, what sins shall I bare.  There are so many to choose from...

Before I found my path many years ago, let's just say that I was more often in the bottle than out of it.  I lost my husband and my daughter as a result."  Her voice makes clear that this particular part of her history is something she made peace with quite a while ago.

"Fragging hobo cats..." Hairy curses under his breath.

He settles down in place, and decides to put some touches on his costume, in case it comes to that. He drops a few empty glass capsules on the floor and permits himself a quarter hit of a downer, just for authenticity. With that, he'll wait out the fragging smoker, damn cheapskate, can't buy something quality from a fine purveyor such as himself.

Duck steps from out of halfway through the door and lets it close and lock behind him. He leans against a nearby wall, casually taking a drag of his smoke and drawing out a deck of cards, shuffling them idly with his free hand, calling out to whomever is hiding.

"Wanna step out from behind that bin, omae?" he calls out without looking, flicking free some loose ash.

"You got no good reason to be back here, and since you're hiding, I'm presuming you already know that."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:10, Wed 09 May 2018.

Hairy pokes each eye until they're properly bleary and bloodshot and drools a little. He considers peeing himself, but decides art needs limits. Finally, he stumbles on out. "Heyyyy.... Hey listen, my uhh... my uncle is in this house here," he tugs on the locked back door a few times, "and I was... I was supposed to..."

Hairy trails off a little, letting his eyes glaze, before he looks back at WD. "Hey lend me a few credits for a sandwich, man? I'm real hungry."

He takes a moment to consider, subvocalizing something to someone offsite.
<<Yo Snakes, you got your comm on? Might have trouble back here. Tell Julia there's about to be some noise.>> After exhaling the smoke, he turns to the orc, clearly suspicious.

"Cut the crap." he says, narrowing his eyes and taking another drag of his smoke, its embers one of the few light sources in the tunnel-alleyway built behind the row of old subway stops and stands to bring in cargo.

"You weren't slurring your words when you bitched about Mayor Fluffypaw being behind that dumpster you were hiding behind, which is his town hall. Also, all businesses in this neighborhood. So, If you don't talk *now*, I'm sending you back topside without one of your tusks, and if you run, I'm going to catch you and take both." he steps out into the alleyway and flicks out a card subtly from the deck with his finger, sending it whizzing past the orc's head at a speed and velocity that cards aren't supposed to be able to fly. It curves around his head and pins itself like a throwing knife into the wall, just within the orc's peripherals. His lit cigarette's ashes crumble as they hit the ground, his face alight with the young flames, his tone and intent shifting from casual to that of someone who may as well be holding the orc at gunpoint.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:19, Fri 11 May 2018.

Hairy holds his hands up in the air, "hey hey, there's no beef between me and the mayor. I'll just be on my way."

Hairy regrets not bringing a little heat to this party. Nothing big, just his antioch. Still, no need to start a fight where one isn't needed, and his job didn't include fighting anyone.

"No, not between you and the mayor, that's correct." Duck takes a step or two forward, putting about ten feet or so of distance between himself and the ork.

"Who hired you?"

Koby reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small metal decanter.

I'll be fine, thanks.

He hands the tea back to Julia before opening the decanter and taking a swig from it.  The water was warm from being absorbing his body temperature all day.  He didn't mind, as long as it didn't mean him drinking something from a stranger he had just met the first time.

After hearing Martha talk about her loss, and if the others noticed it, he quickly adds while pointing a finger at his decanter, Don't worry, not alcohol.

"Was that everybody? What is the next step?" Caduceus asked looking around the room.  He continued leaning against the wall and casually glanced at everyone's auras, curious about what emotional tinges everyone now had after telling and hearing such personal tidbits about the others in the room.

The Japanese man hesitated, then looked up.  "I have yet to speak."

He glanced over at Julia - "Shall I proceed, or is it best to wait?"

"Let's give him a minute.  I doubt he'll be long."

EDIT: removed incorrect name for NPC
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:26, Tue 05 June 2018.

Hairy backs up to keep out of striking range. He's not afraid of a throwdown, but there's on reason to invite one. "Hey man, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just here on a public street and you're all up and harassing me. Whatever your problem is, I don't need no part of it."

Hairy backs away, back towards the street, but without taking his eyes off Duck.

Duck narrows his eyes, taking another drag of his cigarette for a moment. "Scram. I'll be here if I see you creeping around again."

He takes the down-to-the-filter butt and snuffs it out on the wall beside him, then waits for this person to leave.

Julia put down the teapot and opened the back door.

"WD, are you almost..."

She paused when she saw Hairy and picked up on the body language between him and the albino.

"Ah, I didn't realize we had a visitor.  Who might you be and why are you here?"

Her voice was friendly but her eyes were alert.

"Sure." Hairy backs off, mumbling under his breath, "Fragging crazy wirehead breeder needs to put something a little stronger in those coffin nails of his, harassing honest, hard-working .....

Hairy will head back on around to the main drag, then continue on a long ways until he's sure he's not being followed. At that point, he'll head off to a gas station and a mini mart, to stock up. This job just got a lot LESS fun, but with enough juice, he figures he'll be fine.

So to review, the place is at the end of a row of buildings, with a main walking space ahead (not car accessible?) an access walkway around the side, and an 'alley' in the back. It's underground. Does it have a roof, or is it just joined to the ground above? The windows are barred, but glass past that, and the inside is full of twigs and books and stuff. No signs of cameras though.

Julia paused, then put a restraining hand on White Duck's shoulder and gestured for him to return into his store.

"There are more important things this evening."

Correct.  No cars.  This particular part of the underground is an old subway terminal.  There were a set of shops along one of the main passageways that used to sell cigarettes, junk food, magazines, etc. to commuters.  This part of the subway has been long abandoned.  Duck, Julia and a few other entreprenurial folks have repurposed the shops.  So definitely no driving, unless you want to take your car down a few flights of stairs and drive through a few baricades.  The "alley" is a tiny hall that was used to bring in stock and take out garbage.  The roof of the shops is the roof of the tunnel - which gets a bit higher as you move out from the shop.

Windows could be glass or plastic.  If you had to guess, you'd bet on plastic as glass doesn't seem like it'd survive well down here, though the underground isn't as dangerous a place as the Barrens, for example.

After reading a private post WD had shared with Papa a while back, I now realize I was misrepresenting things a bit.  I thought the comic shop and Julia's talismonger shop were separate, but they're actually the same building.  Which means the bit about the shop being unoccupied was a lie.  Can't ever trust those former gang types...

No sign of any cameras.

Hairy is going to do some shopping then. A flamethrower and some incendiary grenades would be swell, but that's also stupid expensive, and if this guy is trying to pick up insurance, it'll spoil the whole gig.

Instead, he'll hit the gas station and the hardware store for some ingredients. Gasoline, styrofoam, iron oxides, magnesium ribbons, and a lot of bottles of pop. And he'll spend a few hours rigging up some napalm bottles, molotov cocktails, and a few batches of spreadable thermite.

Duck grunts. “Either way, I think some upgrades to security are in order.”
He makes his way back into the main room of the shop. “Yo Cad, I’ll be taking you up on that offer for warding after all. We need something keeping watch.”
This message was last edited by the player at 19:19, Fri 01 June 2018.

"I'm already working on that, but the more the merrier."  She remains at the door whispering to someone/something out of range before closing the door.

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

The local Stuffer Shack(TM) has a good sale on pop - BUY 5 GET 1 FREE!!!  And a fueling station a little further up can get you a couple of jerry cans.  Packing foam is free for the taking from a local dumster.  Iron oxide and magnesium are going to be a bit harder to come by - at least in a form that's readily useable.  You can go without or you can give me a roll to see how quickly you can get your hands on some.  (You could drive for an hour or so to one of the few chemical stores that're still open at this time of night, but experience suggests that they'll be taking a harder look at your SIN and taking a bit more security footage than you'd rather.)

Rolling negotiations + half of chemistry as a complementary skill:
((5,2,4,1))

Ettiquette comes before negotiation, but I'll give you the complementary skill on that too.

Harry reached out to his web of contacts to secure the necessary supplies.  Unfortunately the web had only a few strands.  And only one who was likely to know what magnesium was, let alone be able to get her hands on some.  Leliah's response to your call is polite, but firm.  "I believe we've discussed after-hours calls in the past.  Right?  I can get it for you, but you'll have to wait until morning.  So wait to call until the fragging morning!"

Morning is going to be past the contracted timeline.  So you settle for improvization.  You're able to clean out the stock of sparkler birthday candles from a party store.  If you want to take a few hours, you can probably scrape a decent amount of rust off exposed pipes in the Barrens.  The dock district could work too, but you're more likely to see security wondering why you're banging on pipes at midnight.  Though banging on stuff in the Barrens could attract the wrong sort of attention too...

Caduceus tilted his head curiously.  "Something keeping watch, eh?  I can do that.  I'll get some of my spirit friends to watch this place for the time being.  Both inside and out."  With that said, and a nod to Julia's comment, Caduceus stepped outside for a moment and called out to the spirits dwelling withing this part of the underground city.  When one answered his request for an audience, Caduceus petitioned it for a favor or two.

"I need you to watch over this place and protect it from anyone who means it harm.  Bang on the door if anything happens that could be a threat to those within."  Caduceus smiled at the floating mass of refuse that was the spirit he had conjured and added, "thanks bud," then returned inside.

"Got someone watching the outside," he reported.  "Now someone for the inside."

Caduceus closed his eyes, then inhaled deeply.  He took in the scents of old comic books, lingering cigarette smoke, and various talismonger items.  He reached out with his mind, and with his hand, then pulled a spirit toward himself.  When he opened his eyes, a spirit hearth spirit stood before him.  It was a tubby little guy with a ponytail and an ill-fitting t-shirt.  "Please let us know if anyone or anything comes into this building that isn't already here," he asked of the spirit.  Then he let it go back to wherever it was that it had come from.

The shaman wiped his hands together satisfactorily, then said, "There we go.  That should help."  He went back to where he hand been leaning against the wall and waited for the last arrival's story to be told.

Conjure a Force 3 City Spirit:
17:53, Today: Caduceus rolled 6 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 4,4,4,3,(6+6+1)13,5.  Conjure Force 3 City Spirit.
6 Services. All used/forfeited.

Drain Test:
17:54, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 3,2,2,5,1,2.  Drain.
2 successes = no drain

Conjure Force 3 Hearth Spirit
17:56, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 2,1,(6+2)8,2,3,3.  Conjure Force 3 Hearth Spirit.
3 services, 1 used.

Drain Test:
17:57, Today: Caduceus rolled 6 successes using 8d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 3,1,3,5,4,4,1,3.  Drain.
6 successes = No Drain

"Any of you tell anyone aside from whoever's in this room where you were coming? Had somebody out back. It ain't Thursday, and Thursday night fight club is on hiatus anyway until two weeks from now." he asks with a sigh, returning to the group and kicking his feet back up. He flits a few cards across the room at a nearby box of discarded comics in the corner with one hand, the holes riddled in its side evidence he's done this many times before.

"Whole situation got me all throwy." he looks to the bouncer. "Tell ya what, we can do Thursday night fights *this* week if you can get some guys together. Need to get some kickyfooting outta my system."

Julia smiled and nodded her appreciation at White Duck's assistance.

Kate raised her eyebrow in response to White Duck's "card trick", but no one else had much of a reaction.

Chuck responded to the albino's query with a shrug.  "Dunno.  Jasper's gonna need at least da fortnight 'fore ee's gonna be up ta much after da last bout.  But I kin call da rest o' the blokes an see if dey's up fer it."

The Talismonger gave White Duck a chance to go through the rest of his deck and retrieve the cards before gesturing for him to take his seat.

"Noda-san, my apologies for our delay.  Would you be willing to share something of yourself?"

The young man gave her a short bow.  He paused a moment before speaking.  "As you can tell, I was born in Japan.  My family there is quite powerful.  They were most pleased when my abilities surfaced.  However, I came to be a tool more than a son.  And the work I was asked to do became distasteful.  I tried to assert my views.  Events did not go well.  And so I find myself here under a new name and with a new face."

Julia waited to see if there was more to come.  When it was obvious Noda had finished, she nodded.

"The ritual we will undertake tonight comes to us from Mitsuhama.  I believe it is based on work I originally saw at Aztechnology, but has evolved to require considerably less blood and no human sacrifices.  Thus, it is a ritual I am willing to contemplate.  I suspect that some of what it describes is not strictly necessary, but I do not have the knowledge to determine what changes can be safely made.  Therefore we must make the choice to proceed with the ritual as written, or not at all.

To complete the ritual, you will need to make promises.  These promises are not like the ones you might give a Johnson, or even your fellow runners.  If you fail to abide by your promises we will all know.  And the link we establish to increase our power will fail until your failure is rectified or you are removed from the group.  I'm sure you can guess what Mitsuhama's mechanisms for removal are.  I don't know that we will need to be that drastic, but I can assure you that loss of membership to the group will put at risk not only the powers you might gain as part of the group, but also those you already have.

The promises you must make are as follows:
- You must promise to keep your knowledge of this group, of the rituals we hold and what your fellow members might share within the bounds of that secrecy.  You can tell no-one.  Not your mother, your boyfriend, your fellow runners, your priest - not anyone.

- You must promise fraternity.  If the group requires your services, you must do everything in your power to be available to assist, even if it is not convenient.  Obviously, we all share the same lifestyle and we will try not to impose unnecessarily.  But if you wish to benefit from membership, you owe a duty to ensure that others too can benefit.

- If you join this group, you must forego all others.  At this time, I'm sure that's not a big issue for you, as it's not like any of us have a lot of options.  However, in time, I expect this knowledge to spread.  If you join this group, you will not have the option of joining another one later.

- Finally, I mentioned that this ritual did not require as much blood, but it does require some.  When the time comes, you must cut yourself on the ritual blade.  The blood you spill will bind you to this group.  It will also allow the group to locate you - or anyone else who obtains the totem we bond.

Are you all sure you wish to proceed?"

EDIT: grammar
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:43, Tue 05 June 2018.

Before we begin,  I would like to say I'm not too happy about having my location known at all times by others.  But that aside, I would like to ask what will prevent members of this group from abusing the 'fraternity clause'?  I'm fairly certain that in certain situations, there's a possibility that we might have to choose whether we keep our 'promise' to help, or we keep our lives.  What's to prevent this sort of thing from constantly happening?

In reply to DeusEx (msg # 73):

Hairy finds a rusty subway rail and begins scraping it with his knife, collecting the flecks. After ten minutes, he quits with a mumbled 'frag it' and heads back to the gas station for another jerry can of fuel and a couple road flares. He'll also pick up some hefty stones as well.

"Koby makes a good point," Caduceus commented.  He brushed dust that wasn't there off of his reptile-skinned jacket sleeve then added, "and I also like my privacy, same as him.  However, I do believe most of us have that in common.  Which I guess makes us sort of a good fit for each other in a way.  The less secrets we know about each other, the easier it will be to keep those secrets."

A few others in the room nodded their heads in agreement at your concerns.

"None of us will know where the other is at all times, but we will, as a group, have the means to find each other should we agree it's necessary.

As for abuse, you will need to trust in the reasonableness of those here, just as they must trust in you.  The rituals needed to advance along the path of magic cannot happen every day.  many months and often years must pass of practice, learning and practical experience before one will be ready to advance.  I would think a frequency of not more than one meeting a month should suffice, and we might not even find that.  As for more urgent scenarios, I think we all share the hope that such a need will be infrequent at best.  I think none here would expect a sacrifice of your life.  But requests of the group will need to be taken seriously and prioritized over non-essential needs."

===========================

Hairy parked his vehicle about 1.5 blocks from the old subway entrance and popped the trunk.  He looked from the trunk to the distant subway steps and then back at the contents of the trunk.  If he was bringing all of this stuff down, it would probably mean about 3 trips.  The good news was that the "carrying heavy stuff" bit was going down, not up.  The bad news was that the escalators and elevators hadn't been functional in at least 20 years.  And the target shop was a good 3 flights down.  If only his 'team' had as many members as he'd implied to the Johnson...

Before entering the subway, Hairy will find a quiet corner to do some 'magic'; molotov cocktails, gasoline glycerin, and, well, rocks. For throwing. While he's working, he looks around for anyone who might be interested in extremely short-term employment.

Once everything is sorted, he'll bring the rocks down first and put them somewhere close by, while scanning the store again for any indications of trouble, any nosey neighbors, and definitely any stinkin' cats.

There's usually 3-4 kids who hang around the subway stairs who earn a few nuyen helpingcarry stuff up and down for the more elderly/less mobile - those who choose to bother going to the surface at all.  It's a bit late for them to be out though.  There are a few gangers who help to keep the underground "secure".  For the right price, they might be willing.  But they might also have some questions about what they're lugging and interacting with them makes it more likely that someone'll put two and two together if and when some of the buildings downstairs go up in flames.

If that is the case, then I guess I'll agree to those terms.  But I do suggest that we punish or at least penalize those who do abuse the rules.

"I am at least willing to attempt this ritual as well.  It sounds like there is a large time investment involved before we get locked in, so I am sure that if there are going to be any issues with individuals, it will most likely become evident between now and when we are ready to perform the ritual.  You learn a lot about people by working side by side with them."  He looked to White Duck, the only person here that he had worked with before.  That one mission had given Caduceus more insights into who White Duck was than any documentary ever could.

"The time investment is up to us.  We could give things a shot tonight, or we could take some time to prepare ourselves first.  I will warn that the preparation process is intensive.  We would all need to take time away from our day jobs for at least a month, maybe more.  We'd have time to eat and sleep, but not much else.  The longer we prepare, the better our chances, but there's no guarantee.  If we fail, we can try again a month later.  Each time we try, there will be a personal cost to each of us, though."

Noda speaks up.  "I must apologize again.  With regret, I can only get 2 weeks of vacation a year, and that needs to be requested 6 months in advance."

Chuck grunts his agreement.  "Better ta just pay da cost"

There'll be a lifestyle cost for each month of preparation.  It'll also create an issue for anyone with a day job, dependents or other "entanglements".  It's also going to drop the number of people who who will participate - which means a drop in the number of dice rolled.
Right now, you're looking at the following:
- Base TN = 12
- +4 for allowing shamanic, hermetical and adept
- -1 each for: Exclusive Membership, Exclusive Ritual, Fraternity, Secrecy, Material Link, Oath and possibly Limited Membership (shadowrunners)
So that's revised TN of either 9 or 10

Each month lets you reduce the TN by -1.  However, you'll also reduce the number of dice rolled from 8 to 5 or 6.  It'll also mean the Comic store and Talismonger shop shut down for that period of time.  It costs you 3 karma each time you try.

Duck grins, wondering pray tell what his new friend's impressions of working with him might be. He glances to Koby.

"Punishment eh? Sounds kinky, cher. Anyway, I figure we could just exchange numbers. Most of you guys know I've already got anyone's back in a pinch. Wouldn't bailing out lose you the extra mojo or something already though?" He asks, of anyone in particular.

"Let's give it a shot tonight, Jules. Plenty of me to go around. Anyone else who'd like to crash here after we work on this can be my guest, as long as you smoke outside and bring your own mats. Coffee's on me." He looks to Jules.

"So, uh, what do we do? Please tell me it's massive amounts of hallucinogens."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:38, Mon 11 June 2018.

Hairy grumbles, wishing hed been able to find a wino or beetlehead he could coopt. But failing that he hunps it hinself. His first load is pretty innocuous anyway.

Once downstairs, he’ll scout instead for a secret place to stow things for a minute, and double check escape routes. He needs at least two just in case. But hes avoiding any line of sight on the shop itself.

There are a few winos and beetleheads around, but none that he'd trust to make it down the stairs with any sort of load - at least not while still on their feet.

Finding a place to stash a bunch of rocks isn't hard.  In fact, while looking, you find a nice pile of bricks, rocks and other assorted heavy debris.  After pausing a moment to quietly demonstrate your extensive vocabulary, you successfully tuck your "much higher quality" rocks behind the pile and make your way back up the stairs for load number two.

Multiple avenues of escape are possible from the main underground area.  In addition to the one you've used, there are 3 stairways leading up to other different intersections above.  There's also the two subway tunnels, now lined with various living accomodations, some of which tunnel back into the dirt a good ways.  There are also "emergency" staircases every few hundred yards, though it's not immediately obvious which of those are clear to the outside.

The bigger challenge is the shop itself.  There's a single utility door that leads to the passageway behind the shops - branching in a T with the pair of BTLers down one way and the shop down the other.  There's no other entrance to that passageway.  While back there, you did notice a closed utility hatch.  You're not sure where it goes though and it would take a bit of work to get it open, but it might provide an alternative exit.  And there's always the possibility of "making" an exit by trying to muscle your way through the back of one of the buildings.

You could avoid the rear entrance entirely and do a frontal assault, but you won't get a lot of time.  This part of the underground is pretty public.  You've probably passed 20 people coming and going or just hanging out when bringing in your rocks.  You might have time to toss a brick and a single molotov cocktail and make a clean getaway, but anything more involved than that is likely going to bring the locals down on you - and most of the locals are packing something or other.

"Frag it.  Let's go for it," Caduceus agreed.  "We've got skills.  Let's put them to the test.  See what we are made of."  Despite his big talk, the shaman continued to lean casually against the wall.

Duck laughs at Cadeuces' enthusiasm. He wondered if those snake-types tended to bite those that trust them. Ah well, wouldn't be the first time he'd been got if things went south, certainly wouldn't be the last.

"Fuck yeah buddy. Maybe I'll figure out a way to give you a high five from across the room or something when this is all over."

The others nodded their assent.  "May as well start the process and see what it's all about...".

Julia smiled and got up from her cushion, moving over to her kettle to start a new pot.  While she waited for it to boil, she set out a few containers of incense and lit them.  She nodded appologetically to Duck.  "I have a spell that should purge any odor from the merchandise.  I'm afraid this part is necessary.  On the plus side, you may find that this fulfills part of your wish..."

The odor was sweet, but not cloying.  It quickly spread through the small back room.

When the pot boiled, the shaman spooned several scoops from a silver container into a new, larger teapot.  Rather than bothering with teacups, this time she just used styrofoam cups.  She filled them and passed one out to everyone.  She paused in front of Koby.

"I'm afraid this part isn't optional if you want to particpate."

The tea wasn't nearly as pleasant as the incense.  It was bitter and had an odor that suggested strongly that you really didn't want to know where it came from.  After pouring her own cup, Julia re-seated herself on her cushion and after waiting for it to cool slightly, chugged it down with a mild grimace.

"Now, we wait.  If you have access to the astral plane, you may find it speeds up the process somewhat."

Everyone give me a Willpower 5 check :> - presuming you all choose to continue...

Caduceus smirked at White Duck's comment, knowing full well that he could already high five the man from across the room if he wished.

When Caduceus received his cup of what he wanted to say was rancid dishwater, he wrinkled his nose and held it far from his face.  He was hesitant to put it into his body.  But after Julia drank her cup and he scanned his own drink thoroughly in astral space for any traces of sinister intent, Caduceus gulped his it down too.  He then tapped the astral plane as Julia had suggested while he waited for the effects to kick in.

10:36, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of 5,5,3,4,5,4.  Willpower 5 check.

“Well folks, if you got any protection mojo, cast it now. I’ve got a feeling shit’s about to get buck wild.” With that, he downs the tea, savoring the flavors of the cup in spite of the bitterness of the drink. He rolls out an old “Doctor Strange” sleeping bag on the floor, in excellent condition in spite of its age, and sits in a lotus meditative position on the floor. Something familiar. Something he did thrice daily already.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:26, Fri 15 June 2018.

Okay, well NOW at least one of those beetlers can do some good.... Or whatever it is Hairy is up to at this point.

He'll go hunting again for one who is at least partially coherent. Mobile is good, upright is a nice plus. But really we just need loud.

Hairy will pull his target(s) aside, "hey man, I know you're one of mine. You know, a connoisseur. Listen, I got a real jam. I work with a cook shop and they made a real fine product, but listen, it lets you see the magical world. I frag you not, this stuff blows your socks off. You're like a free spirit. It's the drek. But those damn Tir elves, they won't let that kind of thing hit the street and they attacked my guy.

"They're still around here. I need to slip a tracker on them is all, and I can follow them back to where they put all my stuff. But for that I need to catch them off-kilter. I'll cut with you, sixty forty, if you help me. Everyone you see coming down the thoroughfare, look them right in the eyes and ask if they're a high elf. Don't matter if it's ork or dwarf or breeder, cause they got magic. You ask, and if you see them flinch, you make sure I hear you so I can put the tracker on. Got it? And just to prove I'm legit, I'll give you a little slip of something good. Tell me that ain't the best product you've ever got. All you need if you want more is to find my guy. You don't find 'em? No skin off your nose, I'll give you a free hit for your work. Deal?"

Hairy is happy to provide tiny samples of product to prove he's got skin in the game, but not so much as to leave his conspirator ineffectual. Failing that, he'll absolutely give his conspiratorial a proper, wacky cocktail and just let the guy lose, because dang if this black ops stuff ain't a pain the in the hoop.

Pair of 1's on negotiations, (2,2,2,(6+5)11,4) on Drugs skill. Give the guy a couple molotovs on his own too. We just want him REALLY riled up, in the public thoroughfare to divert traffic from coming towards the shop, but far enough away to keep me out of sight of the crowd.

Still waiting on willpower rolls from WD and Koby

The man's eyes brighten as Hairy talks to him - which means they open into a squint and he appears to be making a conscious effort to look mostly in your general direction.  At the promise of free sample he proffers his hand, which proceeds directly to his nose and then stretches out again tentatively with a faint hope of more.  He doesn't seem surprised when no more is forthcoming.

As for how well he's tracking the story, that's less clear.  Less words would probably have been better.  However, he does seem to gather the key elements, namely:
* little bit of drugs now
* more drugs later
* to get more drugs, be LOUD
* and something something something elves

He unsteadily makes is way to the bottom of the stairs around the corner and shortly thereafter, you hear a loud voice shouting "ELLLVSSSHHHHH!!".

It's probably for the best that he didn't fully grasp the instructions.  Asking many of those coming approaching the underground at this time a night if they were an elf was a good way to get a well-muscled punch in the face or worse.  That would have probably shut him up sooner than intended...

"ELLLLLLSSSHHHHVVVVSSSSS!!!"

Hairy takes that as a success and hustles back to the store.

Does the walking traffic seem to have slown down?

You've probably gote 1-2 minutes to do something while people gawk at/are accosted by your friend.  There's a possibility of someone coming from the other directly though, so taking your time probably isn't the best plan.

Actions are:
1) Light molotovs
2) Throw rocks through windows
3) Throw molotovs
(Time permitting) 4) throw remaining gasoline
5) Run

What do you want me to roll?

Koby gingerly took the styrofoam cup with the odd coloured liquid and took a whiff.  He cringed at the smell and was hesistant to bring it to his lips.

Daaaamn.   Who the hell cooked up this poison?  They never heard of seasonings?  I'm pretty sure I could cook up better shit than this...

He took a sip.  The bitterness and pungency crashed over his body like a tidal wave crushing a puppy.  He could feel his body shaking from just that taste.

And there was still half a cup of it left...

Awww fu-

He shut his eyes tightly and just let his hand do the guiding of the cup to his mouth.  And in one swift motion, he downed the rest of the contents of the cup.

Another wave of discomfort washed over him.  But this time, his body didn't shiver as much.


Koby rolled 1 success using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 ((2,3,5,2)).

Those of you who can, open yourself to the astral.  The rest of you just sit and stare at the others in the room.  Oddly enough that doesn't feel weird.  Your bodies feel oddly relaxed.  A warmth begins in your bellies and slowly spreads through your torsos, then limbs and extremeties.  Your skin tingles.  Those of you on the astral see the forms of the others glowing even more brightly than most life-forms.  Those without astral vision detect unusual halos around those in the room.  And then the visions start...

I could make up a halucination for each of you, but it's more fun to have you each make up your own.  Koby, yours is a bit disturbing to your character.

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

Let's start with stealth, no need to roll to light them.  Thrown weapons for the rocks and the molotovs.

Interesting, the web filtering at work now blocks the dice roller... but none of the rest of the site. That might be an issue at some point!

Stealth: 5,2,2,5,5,1
Throwing/Athletics (Rocks): ((5,1,5,3)).
Throwing/Athletics (Cocktails): ((3,1,5,5,1,4,4,5) (adding some Combat Pool for that one)

If the TN is 6 or above, I'll use Karma Pool to reroll.

The auras are starting to change colors and a few of you are seeing images that are most entertaining when a small figure manifests in front of Julia.  It gestures at her and you hear her mutter a curse.  "Now??"  A second later, there's a knocking noise at the back door.

She eases herself to her feet and jestures at White Duck and Caduceus.  "It appears our friend from earlier has returned and he doesn't seem to have good intentions.  Anyone care to assist?  For now, I just want him subdued.  I need to have a chat with him later..."

The room is feeling pretty trippy.  Make a willpower 5 if you want to assist.  Koby, you're at a TN of 6

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

Hairy stands near the building patting his pockets looking for his lighter.  He *knew* he had it earlier...
Your brain is feeling unusually foggy.  Your first reroll is to find your lighter.  TN = 5.  After that, TN will be 7 to aim well enough to hit a window, so you can use karma on those too if you like...

Koby felt the world swirl around him in wonderful shades of pastel colour.  At first, it felt like he was flying and swimming in the air around him (despite him not having moved an inch...).  The odd coloured lights in the room began to feel warmer and more comforting compared to how he felt about it earlier when he first entered the room.  The people in the room seemed to be vibrating to the beat of a classical song he had heard a long time ago.  The tempo seemed to be increasing faster and faster what with the electric guitar going at an insane speed....until something appeared in front of a not-very-clear-and-static-looking Julia.  Then, the drums joined in.

Whoa....oh, this shit is.....  The sensations he was being assaulted with barely allowed him to focus on the words static-flashing-Julia said.

Koby rolled 3 successes using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of (6+6+6+1)19,1,(6+3)9,(6+1)7.  Willpower check.

Suddenly, as if the signal intensified, Koby felt like he could see and feel very clearly, and the static interference on each person seemed more contained.  The lights and details around him seemed a little clearer...

As Duck rose, he only noticed the slightest tinges of the walls starting to melt, the cracked paint burbling and churning as if it were some viscous form, like wet concrete still in the mixer. The superheroes painted on the ceiling crawling around among the flickering shadows of the ceiling. As he lit his cigarette upon stepping outside, he only barely noticed the faces on the cards starting to move and peer back at the full hand he draws. He didn't notice all too much that he was stepping into comic panels. It just sort of happened.

1.
"You ain't too bright, omae." he said, a colorless, lined-in drawing of an almost ghostly-thin man against a very detailed storefront.

2.
He replaced the glowing embers of his cigarette, the orangered glow the only color on the man, with his mempo. Everyone in this neighborhood knew who he was.

3.
Everyone from around here knew that when that mempo was on, Duck was not open to negotiations. He inhaled, then expressed a cloud of voluminous royal purple vapors, the vibrant colors swirling around the corners of the frame.

16:09, Today: White Duck rolled 14 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 4,4.  Initiative.

4.
A flurry of cards emerges from the smoke, thrown kings and queens aiming daggers and short swords at their intended target. Diamonds sharp as razor's edges, spades shoveling, hearts heart-seeking, clubs clubbing in thunks against the chest of this dingy-looking bastard.

17:41, Today: White Duck rolled 3 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,5,3,(6+6+2)14,4.  Throwing Weapons.
17:42, Today: White Duck rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,1,4,5,1.  Throwing Weapons 2.

5.
The colorless form of the man who attacked is gone from the storefront after the blow. He closes in along the edges, a flurry of sudden kicks and punches darting out from the vapors.

17:43, Today: White Duck rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 2,3,5,(6+3)9,1,5.  Unarmed Combat

6.
"Clearly you came to the wrong neighborhood, brotha. This is MY turf."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:44, Wed 27 June 2018.

As the drink took effect, Caduceus slowly slid down the wall to a sitting position, his mouth slightly agape.  He was still aware of his surroundings, but they seemed less important to him at the moment.  And at the same time, more important.  Everything in the room slowly began to shift.  To slither.  But not in a horror movie sort of way.  Like everything in the room was made of ropey snakes that were all shifting slowly in place.  Which, to Caduceus, was quite comforting.  Every item in the room appeared to be made out of his totem's form.  And each tiny little snake head he saw was ready to impart another secret to him related to the object it represented.  Each comic book, each poster on the wall, and even every styrofoam cup in the garbage had a history behind it.  Each item had its secrets that could be unraveled.  Caduceus sat against the wall with a wide grin, knowing he very much wanted to collect every last minute detail they had to offer.

Was this what it would feel like all the time when they formed their group?

He didn't have time to dwell on the thought though.  Apparently someone came to interrupt their meeting time.  "I'll go take a peeksey outside," Caduceus said, still a bit loopy.  "Let me out through your astral barriers and I'll go tell 'em what's what."  Without waiting for a response, Caduceus Astrally projected.  He exited his own body by slithering out through his foot and flew toward the back door.  He let his fingers caress the snake-objects longingly as he flew by.

Roll to see if Caduceus can assist:
12:32, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of (6+3)9,(6+5)11,2,(6+6+5)17,3,1.  Willpower 5 check.

Caduceus will go snoop on whoever is making trouble and see what they are doing.  He will gain any identifying information he can from them (like their aura signature, for example).  And if they are still a threat shortly after he gets there, he will materialize in front of them and ask what they are doing/why.  (Caduceus is not currently in the mindset to come up with masterful plans of action at the moment).

WD, I see your roll in the log.  However, I'm not clear what actions you're taking in the real world that correspond to your comic-book exploits - if any.  Let me know, and if appropriate, make your rolls.  All of you are able to act, though Koby will be suffering a +1 penalty.  And all of your perceptions will be influenced by the substances in your systems.

There ya go boss, interspersed rolls where they might be appropriate.

So what sorts of things does Caduceus see when he flys over to snoop on their attacker?

Caduceus, you may as well roll initiative too.  You're choosing to project - that's your initial complex action.  WD is opening the door between the back room and the front of the building.  That's his complex action.  Koby hasn't declare what he's doing yet (if anything).  I'll also need Hairy to roll perception (4) with a +4 penalty.  1 success = he notices the light from the door in the back opening.  2 = he notices Duck charging towards the front door.  And then initiative and declare your actions.

Initiative.
09:35, Today: Caduceus failed (no successes) using 1d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 2.  Initiative (add 6).

With a roll of 2 + his reaction of 6, that is an 8 total for initiative.

Not sure which one I'm rerolling. I got a 5 on all of my rolls. Definitely rerolling the molotov toss though, since that's a failure otherwise.

((6+6+5)17,3,2,4,(6+6+4)16,(6+3)9,(6+6+4)16,2))

Of course, I might regret spending that KP in a moment :P

After realizing that everything had started to settle down, Koby tries to get up...only to find out he should have remained where he was.  All the objects and people in the room started to vibrate into a blur again as the floor and ceiling started to shake.  Nothing looked clear cut or stable in any way.  He could feel a motion-sickness overcoming him as he tried to stabilize his footing on the floor.  The urge to throw up all the food and drinks he had earlier that day was overwhelming, until he decided to stop moving.

Then everything quickly stopped shaking and spinning.  He could start to make out the details of the people and objects in the room again.

Shit....this is not good....

How should I roll for suppressing the urge to puke? (Should I roll willpower?  And what's the target number?)

Hairy's initial actions were:
1) Light molotovs
2) Throw rocks through windows
3) Throw molotovs

You had rolled for #2 and #3, but not #1.  Normally #1 would be a freebie (TN = 1).  But in the current situation where you're suffering from Confusion, the TN is actually 5.  I rolled INT for you and the highest you got was a 4, thus you spending your time patting your pockets looking for a lighter.

I'll presume that you want to karma reroll that and will take your first 4 dice from the just posted roll as that.  So your molotovs are now lit.  I'll take your next 4 dice as your perception roll (well done :)).  As the rear door is opening, you're tossing rocks.  With your current roll, you're going to miss the windows, though you'll hit the building.  (Base TN to hit a window without glancing off one of the iron bars is 3.  Unfortunately for you, that means it's a 7.)  Let me know if you want to karma reroll that too.  Then I'll need an initiative roll and guidance about what you want to do about the guy charging towards you through the shop.

Koby, you don't *have* to roll to avoid puking, but if you'd like to, willpower is fine.  Seeing as it's voluntary, you get to pick the TN - and if you fail, you get to decide where your puke lands :>

Hairy pulled it together and found his lighter in an inner jacket pocket.  In short order had his home-made incindiaries lit.  His head still felt a bit fuzzy and his balance was off as he let his first brick fly.  On the plus side, his gaze was clearly fixed on the front window when a door from the back storage area was thrown open.  He could clearly see the albino gentleman who'd accosted him in the back alley now charging towards the front door.  In one hand he had... a deck of cards?.  The older hispanic woman who had shown her face earlier appeared in the doorway a second later.

Just your luck that tonight would be the evening of the weekly poker game...

"Oh, hey buddy, how's the mayor?"

Seeing things get hot, Hairy activates his reaction boosters. He feels his muscles twitch under his skin. He tosses one molotov to the running figure--not trying to break it, just a gentle toss to keep him busy. Then he'll charge the window to punch through (at point blank, it can't be too hard, right??)


Initiative: 26
Throwing at WD: (1,2,(6+1)7,4)).
Smashing the window/point-blank throw: (1,3,2,2)

The fuel filled bottle arced gently towards White Duck as he opened the door.  It would be easy enough to catch.  But if he didn't catch it, it was going to smash onto the floor, possibly igniting him, or worse, his prescious magazines.  Hairy grinned as he watched the albino's eyes widen at the inbound projectile.  Unfortunately, he should have been paying more attention to where his fist was going to contact the window.  His fist made a solid connection with one of the the iron bars protecting the pane, sending a bolt of pain up his arm, but apparently causing no lasting damage.

Caduceus' spirit slithered out of the back room.  He could see an orc with pair of lit molotov cocktails in his hands.  Two more lit cocktails as well as a couple of bricks and a jerry can were sitting at his feet.  As the snake shaman watched, the orc tossed one at White Duck as he opened the door, then charged and punched one of the window's iron bars.  He could also see a city spirit who seemed to doing something or other to the orc.  As Julia emerged from the back room, she started whispering to it.

WD, your first complex action is to unlock and open the front door.  For your second action, you can either make an athletics test against a TN of 5 to catch the bottle or you can continue with your previously planned ranged attack and suffer the consequences of the cocktail

Hairy, you have one last action to take.

Caduceus, you can make a roll to see if you learn any more while perceiving.

Then we're at the top of the initiative cycle again :>  So feel free to roll again and describe what you plan to do next.

EDIT: corrected spelling
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:52, Tue 03 July 2018.

14:33, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+3)9,1,2,(6+4)10,2,3.  Perception.

14:34, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 1d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5.  Initiative (add 6).
Total of 11.

Caduceus plans to materialize in front of Hairy and block his view as much as possible.
His aim is to distract Hairy and potentially goad him onto attacking Caduceus's ghostly form.  All the while he will be relaying pertinent information to the others by asking Hairy why he is doing what he is doing.  For example, if Hairy secretly pulls out a switchblade Caduceus's will ask "What are you going to do with that switchblade you just pulled out?  You going to try and stab my friends?"

Of course, backstabbed by a Johnson. Classic. Hairy said 'no magic' and this place is just crawling with fragging mages. Hairy can feel the rage rising, not so much at the mages, but the fragging Johnson who put him here in the first place. "Frag you, JOHNSON!!"

He gives one more punch at the wall, not trying to bust anything in particular, just to deposit as much pent up rage as he can, before he turns tail and dashes down the tunnel towards the escape.

As he became more aware of his situation, Koby decided to test his current limits.  He moved his head from side to side to see if there was anything or anyone that could help his current predicament of 'red-light-green-light'.

It was a mistake...

The moment he moved his head, he could feel the would around him start to shake like an earthquake.  It was like a major earthquake had taken over everything....including his body.

06:51, Today: Koby failed (no successes) using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of 3,4,4,1.  Willpower check to prevent puking.

This time he could not prevent the motion sickness from overcoming his current state.  The sudden small arching of his back, followed by the immediate and forceful bow his body forced him to go into, ended with a loud but short belch.  He was like a grand and majestic dragon spewing out its breath in a stream....that arched across the room towards Kate's face.

Every movement leading up to, and during his fine biological display, made his motion-sickness even worse.  He felt like it was like a perpetual cycle of forced bodily reaction exacerbating his situation.  All he could do was to try and brace himself and stop the rocking and shaking....

06:51, Today: Koby failed (no successes) using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of 3,4,4,1.  Willpower check to prevent puking.

Koby failed to stop the situation from getting worse by trying to keep as still as possible.  It was impossible.  His deadly acid breath continued to stream out, forcing him to continue to feel the waves of imbalance, until he could no longer stand still and his legs gave out.  By then, he had bowled over onto the floor.  His acid breath had finally run out.

The shaking he had felt at first, was only a product of his mind under the influence of the hallucinogen.  But now, his whole body quaked from the aftereffects of its reaction to the 'tea' he had taken.  Every time he shivered, he felt more waves washing over his whole body, each just as disturbing and debilitating as the last.  It had gotten to the point where he was unable to tell whether or not what he 'felt' was real or a product of the drug.

Koby tightly shut his eyes as he went into a fetal position, all the while forcing all his muscles to clench tightly.  He hoped that he would be able to force his body to stop all motion caused by his shivering.  That, or wait out the effects of the drug and his body's reaction to it.

Do I roll for a body check to try and see if I can stop the effects of shivering?

As the bottle is hurled at duck, is morphs into a thousand thousand phoenix feathers, the shape of fire licking around the edges of his comic-book-frame. He waits for the right moment, then reaches out to catch the bottle before it can break. To him, everything shatters from ink and paper to pixels, the backdrop to this battle an ancient monastery in the moonlight instead of a confined. shoddy marketplace. To him, he catches the fire itself. Then, he chucks it back at its source, a fireball made of pure chi bursting from his hands within the bounds of his perception.

17:05, Today: White Duck rolled 1 success using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 ((3,5,4,1))

"Hadooken!" he shouts, in a primal, yet controlled fury, in a reference he's sure NOBODY else will get, but who cares? Following the bottle whistling through the air, duck's white, emotionless glare behind his mempo gives Hairy the impression he's no longer open to negotiations. He wonders if the oni in full samurai gear that challenged him to battle was aware of the sanctity of the monastery (comic book shop) behind them. For some reason, cherry blossom petals drift slowly to the ground.

17:09, Today: White Duck rolled 3 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 ((1,5,1,(6+5)11,5))

This message was last edited by the player at 00:17, Wed 18 July 2018.

A few of his cards hit the floor as White Duck reached to keep the flaming bottle from hitting the inside of his shop.  Once in hand, the gas-filled container arced smoothly as he tossed it back, smashing it squarely at Hairy's feet.  Or at least where Hairy's feet had been...

Though his head was still feeling fuzzy, Hairy's thought processes were clear enough to indicate that the flaming missile headed back his way was definitely a BAD THINGand he had already started backpedaling as the molotov left White Duck's hand.  So he was no longer at the point of impact when the bottle smashed open.  However, he was still in range of the pool of flaming gasoline that splashed out.  His coat blocked most of the flamable liquid.  However, the flames around his boots lept high enough that he could feel them biting into his ankles.  That Johnson was going to owe him a new pair of socks...

Following through on his plan, with the additional incentive of the flames around his feet, Hairy turned and ran.


White Duck watched as his fireball exploded in a calidoscope of colors, the shattering glass and the whoosh of flames creating sweet music as the flames poured outward from their point of origin.  Unfortunately, the point of origin was only a foot or so from his building and a couple more feet from his door.  More unfortunately, the tunnel was sloped such that the gas was spreading rapidly towards the building, himself and the currently open door.

Julia moved to the window of the shop, letting loose a litany of curses in English, Spanish and a couple of languages White Duck didn't recognize.  She pulled something small and white from one of her pockets.

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

In the back room, Koby's tea, dinner and perhaps even a bit of lunch gushed forth at an impressive velocity.  The curve of gravity kept the acidic liquid from hitting Kate's face directly, but a considerable proportion of it coated her dress and the cushion on which she was seated.  The remainder pooled on the floor to soak into the physical adept's pants as he collapsed down into it, trembling.

The young woman didn't bat an eye throughout the whole process.  Her face remained lit with a grin as she stared at something on, or perhaps through, the wall behind Koby.  Noda, on the other hand, burst into tears.  Whether that was from the sight of Koby's mess or something else wasn't immediately clear.  Chuck stared at the scene for a second, then shrugged and pulled himself to his feet, grabbing a mop from the back corner and moved to start the cleanup.

Koby, if you'd like to roll to resist the shakes, you may.  Everyone else, roll initiative and tell me what your plans are.

Koby, you're holding a lit molotov cocktail while standing close to the edge of a pool of gas that's burning your ankles.  You're in the process of turning and running.  There's an albino about 2.5 meters from you who threw said cocktail who seems unhappy with you.  Your head still feels fuzzy.

White Duck, there's a river of flaming gas that has already splattered against the front of your shop and will be flowing inside your the open door in about a second.  I'll need a Quickness roll from you if you want to shut the door before any gets inside.  You have two options: leap back inside and pull the door closed as you do so (easier) or move into the flames and quickly close the door behind you (harder and with a likelihood of taking damage from the flames).  If you fail to do either, you won't lose your first action, but flaming gas will definitely pour into your shop.

Caduceus - if you don't indicate otherwise, I'll presume your first action is to materialize and try to scare/further confuse Hairy.  If you want to do something else, let me know.

16:57, Today: Koby rolled 1 success using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 1,1,1,(6+2)8.  Body roll to resist the shakes.

Not long after tightening all the muscles he could feasibly control, Koby finally felt the shakes stop.  Slowly, yet carefully, he loosens up his control on his muscles.  As he finally reaches a relaxed state, he decides to try something else.

Gotta switch off everything and start from there...

It was a lot harder and more troublesome than he thought.  But a reset of sorts was required.

His eyes were still closed, but that meant that his focus was amplified in all his other senses.

He could hear WD shout something he didn't understand.

The pungent smell of his stomach acid was like a slow burning of his nose.

Acidity from his vomit still lingered in his mouth like a bad hair day.

The cold hard floor mixed with a small layer of his warm vomit made him feel dirty.

But his sense of balance had returned.

He begins by focusing on his breathing.  Inhaling.  Exhaling.  Inhaling.  Exhaling....  One by one, he starts to tune out the 'noise' in his surroundings.  From the sound of the crying Japanese man, to the temperature of the floor, the distractions faded away until he only noticed his breathing.  Then, he decided to go a step further by clearing his mind as well as his thought of focus on breathing.

"That's right.  Leave this place!" Caduceus said as he manifested before Hairy with his snake-like shamanic mask in full bloom.  He appeared as a man with snake eyes and scaly skin.  He wasn't sure of it was the tea playing tricks on him or what, but Caduceus could swear his skin was also slithering about his own body.

The spectral shaman made sure to keep his form between Hairy and the shop, blocking as much of the man's view as possible as he moved away.  "Begone interloper!  Unless you wish to be possessed by a powerful serpent spirit!  OoooOOOooo!"

Caduceus is trying to mentally intimidate Hairy to help urge him to leave.

15:08, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 3d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5,1,5.  Intimidation (mental).

Hairy does not care to be possessed by a powerful serpent spirit, and these tunnels are suddenly feeling very hostile. He continues running towards the exit (or a very, very inviting hiding spot).

Duck leaps back into the grounds of the monastery, sealing the doors shut. Reality whips back to him for a second, which he manages to keep track of for long enough to look to Julia.

"Grab the extinguisher!" he shouted, knowing hell well they both kept theirs up-to-code regardless of surroundings. As a business owner, when damned near everything you sell is flammable, it didn't matter whether fire regulations existed if you wanted to protect your assets. Not to mention Julia's constant issues with Duck's cigarettes, burning the whole place down being one of many warnings she'd fired off at him on tough days.

17:49, Today: White Duck rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+5)11,1,2,(6+5)11,1.  Quickness.

Koby's stomach decided that perhaps it didn't mind remaining a part of his anatomy after all.  Closing his eyes helped a little, but it didn't shut out the psychedelic astral panorama.  It did however remove the image of the stomach contents he had spewed all over the floor and one of his future lodge members - and in which he was now kneeling.  As his breathing helped bring him back to himself, he found himself wondering whether anyone here might have a spare set of pants...

====================

White Duck's lightning reflexes had him back inside and the door closed a fraction of a second before the pool of flames reached it.  Black smoke curled up in front of the window and he could see the light of the flames reflected off the far wall, though they weren't high enough to reach the windows.  "Get it yourself!"  Julia remained where she was beside the window, waiting for something.  Suddenly the ceiling in front of the building exploded in a cacophony of orange, yellow and black, largely obscuring the view of their attacker.  The shaman let out a stream of curses, then waved the white thing in her hand towards the window, waited a second, then smiled in satisfaction.

"Never mind.  I'll get the extinguisher.  You go get that bastardo sangriento..."  She continued to swear as she headed for the extinguisher beside the desk.

====================

A little voice at the back of Hairy's head seemed to be saying something about the wisdom of running when on fire, but that little voice was overruled by a stronger voice with definite opinions about the wisdom of standing in a pool of burning gasoline.  Hairy turned and ran with all the speed his augmentations provided - which was quite a lot...

The gasoline that had adhered to the front of his cloak flamed brighter, the flames billowing behind him as his cloak flapped open in the wind aas his enhanced body kicked into high gear.  Thankfully, Hairy's longcoat was one that had stood the test of numerous exposures to unpleasant chemical reactions.  It would probably look even less appealing when he was done than it did when he started.  But it did have the decency to not start on fire itself and managed to keep the flames of the sticky gas/styrofoam mixture away from the orc's skin.

A bigger issue was the molotov cocktail Hairy was still carrying.  The wick flared brightly as the air flew past, causing the flames to singe a significant portion of Hairy's namesake.  His addled brain was in the process of figuring out what to do with the unwanted burning thing when Caduceus's snake-like face manifested directly in front of him.

The orc came to a screeching halt, giving the flames time to singe him once more.  Then bolted off at a right angle - away from the stairs.  Hairy wished with all his heart that he *could* "begone".  Deciding that holding the remaining incendiary any longer was a bad idea, he tossed the remaining bottle madly in the direction of the bookstore/talismonger shop.  His aim was poor though.  The bottle flew high and smashed into the curved concrete ceiling several meters in front of the shop, splattering flaming gas along the ceiling and creating a waterfall of flame and smoke as the heat tried to carry things upward and gravity tried to do the reverse.

Hairy continued to run - away from the flames, away from the snake thing and hopefully away from the whole fragging job.  The gas on his longcoat finally burned itself out and he lost the look of a flaming angel, instead taking on the more accurate appearance of a panicked, smoky, hairy, orc.  He had only gotten a couple of steps further when suddenly his head exploded.

Or he was hit by a baseball bat.  Or maybe a semi truck?  Something anyhow.

Whatever it was hurt like dreck and caused him to lose track of his feet, bringing him quickly face-to-face with the grimy floor of the underground station.  He could vaguely hear some shouts coming from the direction he'd been heading in, but it was hard to tell what they were saying.  In fact it was hard to understand very much at all.

Hairy: on the plus side, you managed to avoid taking any more flame damage and managed to not ignite or cook off any ammo.  On the minus side, you just took 6 boxes of stun damage.  You're now at a net of +7 to all of your actions.


WD: There's a wall of flame and smoke outside the door of the monastery.  The abbess just ordered you to run out into those flames to retrieve the assailant who dared attack you.

Caduseus: Your scare tactic seemed to be effective.  The stun bolt that erupted from the Talismonger's shop was even more effective.  The attacker is now sprawled on the ground not too far from where you've manifested.

Koby: You're starting to feel a bit better - though that's still pretty gross.

Time for initiative.  What's everyone doing next?

Hairy works his legs back under him. Fortunately, slowly for him is still pretty darn fast for everyone else. The thought of hiding flickers in his mind, but that's not how magic works. Hidden to normal, god-fearing people is jangling your bits in an empty field to them mages.

The best plan is to run still; away from smoke and fire, away from noise (but mostly away from smoke). Dark tunnels are ideal. The Underground has plenty of exits. He'll worry about that once he's gotten some more range on these crazy people.

With one final triumphant hiss, Caduceus dematerialized his visible form once again.  He then glanced over his shoulder at the burning building.  Sharp vipers of flame were licking upward and great pythons of smoke were beginning to billow.  After mouthing the word "yikes," the shaman quickly returned to his body in order to help extinguish the flames.

"Got any extra extinguishers?" he asked once he returned to the world of the physical.

Caduceus will help put out the fire.  If it is too hot to approach, he will use Magic Fingers to manipulate things close to the fire. (get an extinguisher close, smother the flames with a blanket, throw burning objects away from the building, etc.)  Then he'll help heal and detoxify anyone who needs it.  At the very least he'll cast Healthy Glow on the sick-as-a-dog Koby.

"Hai! The Abbess and I both keep one behind our altars!" he points behind Julia's altar, rushing through the burning monastery gates, pixellated tufts of dust kicking up from the movement of his feet. He'd already caught the intruder's scent. He knew the forests around it better than he. He would find his quarry, but the abbess would be lucky if he managed to stop himself from tearing the intruder to shreds.

What Cadeuces sees in Duck is clearly someone whose mind and perceptions are in a different place. He had pointed towards Julia's counter before he rushed out of the room, blitzing straight through the flames with the speed of an Olympian.

@DeusEx: You did tell me to go the disturbing route...

As he finally enters the nothingness, Koby felt nothing.  His emotions and feelings had ceased to be.  There was no sound, no sight, no smell, nothing...

Time didn't seem to exist, the sense of self had started to slowly dissipate.  That was when something pulled him back, little by little.  Bit by bit, pieces of everything he had let go of was introduced back into him.  It might've been only a few seconds, it could've also been years, he didn't know...nor did he care.  His mind and body was acclimating to the information that was being fed back into him.

By the time he had returned to the feeling of his eyes being shut, there was a sense of calmness in him.  He had control of himself again, and this time the information his senses had obtained was processed more easily.  It was no longer overwhelming.

Koby decides to slowly open his eyes and see what all the ruckus was about.

As Koby's senses reawoke, the first thing he noticed was the smell, then the wet and slightly warm sensation of the pool in which he was kneeling.  When his eyese opened, the vibrancy of auras were the same as when his eyes were closed, but it was no longer as disorienting.  Chuck was astiduously mopping the floor, doing his best to avoid looking at either Koby or Kate.  Kate was apparently still blissfully unaware of the pool of vommit in her lap.  Martha was doing something over by a small sink.  Noda continued to weep inconsolably - not that anyone was trying to console him.  Julia and White Duck had apparently left the room.  And as you reaclimitize to your surroundings, you can see Caduceus' spirit returning to his body.

As his senses became clearer, he could also detect a whiff of smoke that seemed distinct from the insense burning in the room.  He could also hear some sort of commotion going on in the front room.

===================

Caduceus's spirit-form slithered back into his body.  It felt somewhat unusual to return to physical form but still retain his astral perception.  The odor of Koby's recent incident was currently overpowering the insense within the room.  He saw much the same situation as Koby.  As he watched, Martha moved from the sink with a wet cloth which she began using to clean the worst of the vomit.  As she worked, she hummed a song and the snake shaman could see astral rats gliding along the cloth licking and eating and somehow leaving the young woman's clothing clean and fresh.

====================

White duck threw open the door, expecting to be met by a pool of gas running through the front door.  However, somehow the pavement had buckled slightly preventing the gasoline from running all the way up to the monestary and encouraging what accelerant had touched the building to move away.  He didn't waste a whole lot of time figuring out what had had happened - he had an assailant to catch.  He tore through the flames running flat out and ignoring the intense heat as he pursued the individual who had dared assail his home.  He was keeping up on his target, but wasn't making any gains - and the figure was nearing the tunnels and that was going to make him harder to find.

====================

Hairy's heart was pounding in sync with his head, the sweat was pouring off his face and stinging his eyes.  He peeked over his shoulder and could see a a figure emerging from the flames behind him.  Certainly not time to let off the gas pedal yet.  He reached the entrance to the tunnels and had to make a quick decision.  Left or right?  Despite his pain and confusion he instinctively headed left - away from voices.


White Duck, resist 6M.  Impact armor counts.

You're about 14 meters behind Hairy.  He's turning into one of the rail tunnels, now populated with a variety of dwellings shops and other structures.

This guy has to be some sort of elemental or golem or something. He regretted not carrying his gun down with him, but that doesn't mean he came unarmed. Reaching into his coat, he loosens a grenade, pops the pin, then eyeballing the speed of his pursuer, drops the grenade in his wake. That should kick up a little dust...

PM

.

Duck seems to almost skate across the pavement, a singular bead of sweat forming on his brow from all the contained heat. Instead of closing on his target, he stops short, about 15 meters away, and flits out a playing card, the dual hearts on the card beating actively during Duck's brief glance at it.

20:05, Today: White Duck rolled 2 successes using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 3,3,5,4.  Athletics.

20:08, Today: White Duck failed (no successes) using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 4,1,2,1,3.  Throwing Weapons.

20:08, Today: White Duck rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 4,(6+3)9,4,(6+2)8,1.  karma reroll.

PM

Hairy did his best to set the timer on the grenade and dropped it as he ran.  But math is hard and he wasn't exactly feeling his best...  Then his calculations got thrown off further when his pursuer paused briefly to throw something at him.

The well-smoked orc's lightning reflexes kicked in and he dodged out of the way.  Almost.  Because what was flying towards him was ... a playing card??  His instincts faltered briefly as his muddied head tried to understand what was going on.  And that fuzzy-headed pause was enough keep his super-agile body from getting completely out of the way.  A jack of diamonds embedded itself deeply in his arm, sending a wave of agony through the poor orc's body on top of the pounding head, minor burns and just general confusion.

Hairy turned to look at his arm while his feet kept moving - right into crate, sending him sprawling.  A lesser man in his state would have just stayed down, but not Hairy.   He pulled himself to his feet and started running again, dodging debris and dwellings.  He just needed to get out of range of whatever was fragging with his head.

===============

White Duck had taken advantage of Hairy's stumble to close the distance.  He was only about 6 meters away and had just come around the corner when there was a deafening noise behind him.  The albino instinctively moved behind a dwelling to protect himself from the worst of the concussive blast, but the tunnel made it difficult to avoid the wave and it sent him stumbling.  He resumed his chase, trying to ignore the nasty ringing in his ears.

Anyone who was sleeping was now definitely awake and a variety of shouts and curses fill the air.  It won't be long before the locals are up and out.


Hairy, you're at serious stun and 4 points of physical, so +9 with your confusion
White Duck, you're at medium stun, 1 point of physical, so + 5 and now 10 meters behind Hairy.

Wincing in pain, Duck comes to enough to see his singular target, the orc, still trying to flee.

"Not after pulling that trick, pal." grumbled Duck, flitting out a couple more cards.

"Stop, asshole, don't make me go for a flush!"

19:16, Today: White Duck rolled 1 success using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 2,3,(6+1)7,2,2.  Throwing Weapons.

19:16, Today: White Duck failed (no successes) using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 4,2,1,5,1.  Throwing Weapons.

Hairy seems to be away at the moment, so I'm going to keep things going.  Those back at the store are welcome to post about what they're up to too if they like.

White Duck pauses and lets a few cards fly, but in his current state it's hard to get a firm beed on the rapidly moving orc and the cards go wide - one embedding itself in the concrete tunnel and the second taking out a light.

Hairy keeps running, dodging around people as they come out from the tents and other shelters along the pathway.  At least until he comes to the troll.  The woman is muscular and looks like she's not terribly happy about being woken from her bed.

Hairy pauses briefly, but his instincts continue to bypass the confusion thumping through his head.  He dives between the woman's legs.  Unfortunately, the pause cost him some momentum and he doesn't quite make it all the way through.  He feels the troll's hand grasp his boot and start to pull him back through between her legs.

Hairy is now about 25 meters ahead and has been apprehended, at least temporarily.  The pathway is starting to get crowded with rather ornary locals which will slow movement.

(Sorry, didn't realize I was expected to post more--just going for 'more running!!' which you captured pretty on the nose.)

Hairy's movement is momentarily arrested, but fortunately, talking is his strength.

"Hey good-lookin'. Anyone tell you you look fine with your hair in that all-sticking-one-way-first-thing-in-the-morning-look? Well I'm telling you that now. You single? I'd love to get to know you better. Oh hey, it's probably nothing, just one of those things some people have, ya know. But there's an ugly ork-hating elf coming to kill me, and he's right there!"

Trying to fast talk the lady into a date, and maybe also taking a swing at the fellow threatening her new date.

(6+4)10,3)

While White Duck was out playing a game of cards with the arsonist, Caduceus was busy helping to put out the fire with an extinguisher.  Once all the flames were out though, the snake shaman slumped against a wall and stared at the cinders.  He watched the little steaming snakes sizzle toward the sky with his tea-vision.  He felt simultaneously less connected and more connected to the fabric of reality, both astral and non.  He had yet to decide if he actually liked this sensation, but opted to enjoy it for what it was.

"Hey! that guy just tried to start a fire down here! Stop him!" shouted Duck, continuing his pursuit of Hairy, pointing him out to the emerging crowd as he rushes forward after him. Shouldn't be too hard to sort out which one is him, the guy with the card sticking out of him, covered in burnt napalm. That one.  Down here, he was the one with the good reputation, but Hairy didn't know that. Duck ordered free pizza for any kids that wanted to come in and read comics most Fridays. His and Julia's shop was that local store on the corner. That, and, well, Duck was clearly a human. This dude must have been whacked out of his mind. What was with that stone orbiting around his head and the peasant village he was running through in place of that neighborhood. "Oh yeah, I'm all hopped up on goofballs myself." Duck thought.

20:14, Today: White Duck rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+2)8,5,3,4,1,1.  Street Etiquette.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:18, Sat 01 Sept 2018.

The troll continued to pull on Hairy's boot, then grabbed the other and soon he found himself in the air upside down, still doing his best to flirt - though he wasn't totally clear on what direction he was facing or who he was flirting with.  The world spun briefly.  And kept spinning for a while longer than his body was moving as the troll gripped him by the back of his neck, holding him with his feet still off the ground.  In the center of his vision he could make out a figure approaching him.  A figure with an unusually white bald head...

"Next time, mebbe stop 'im 'fore 'e wakes up 'alf da neighborhood."  Elsie thrust the scorched, bleeding and somewhat smelly orc out toward White Duck.  The troll was a sourpuss at the best of times - and apparently being woken up at 2 in the morning wasn't the best of times.

The words seemed unusual coming from the giant mongol warrior White Duck saw standing before him.  He felt somewhat ashamed that he hadn't been able to aprehend the fugitive for his abbess single-handedly, but at least the miscreant would be causing no more harm tonight - or perhaps ever...

Hairy continued to blather and had gotten to the point of proposing marriage when the troll delivered a serious swat to his head to shut him up.  The message sank in and Hairy shut up, proceeding to instead puke on White Duck's shoes.  The world had resumed spinning and was stubbornly refusing to stop.

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

The flames extinguished rather easily.  Much of the gas had already burned itself up and with the asphault terrain causing it to move away from the building, it had nothing else to ignite.  The flames, glorious and colorful dimmed.  As they faded, the ground straightened again and Caduceus could see the magic of the spirit removing the protection it had put in place.  Apparently he hadn't been the only one with a spirit on hand.  Looking at the store, there were some scorch marks and some warped plastic on the sign outside, but no other obvious damage.

The talismonger nodded at him when he brought the fire extinguisher.  She put it away, then summoned a hearth spirit who set to work airing out the smoke.  "Gonna have to light a bunch more incense.  That fragging stuff was expensive..."

She moved out the doors and stood facing the tunnel the pair had run down, her hands on her hips, apparently awaiting White Duck's return.

As Hairy is handed over, still upside down, he manages a weak wave.

"Hey, good ta finally meet ya"

Duck smirks, for half a second looking like he might greet this troublesome stranger kindly. He takes a step back, lights a cigarette, then swiftly kicks the suspended ork in the temple, not using deadly force, but soundly enough to knock Hairy unconscious. If one kick doesn't do the trick, he tees off on the ork like he's kicking a tetherball until he's out. When he is, Duck hefts the weight of the man over his shoulder.

"Much obliged. Next time my mother makes her famous Spring rolls and sends them up, I'll spare a dozen just for you." he smiles to the troll.

"Sorry for the disturbance folks." he says, spigging his cigarette as he retrieves his cards, then heading back into Julia's end of the shop, unceremoniously dumping the orc onto the tile floor.

"Same guy that was out back. Fuckin' mook. Anybody got some restraints? I got a few questions when he comes to." he looks around at the shop, wincing slightly when he tallies up the inventory wasted by the probably-still-puking adept.

"You okay there, omae?" he asks, the intensity of his trip starting to take over as his adrenaline dies. He flops back onto his stool with a sigh.

White Duck carries Hairy over his shoulder for a few meters - enough time for the battered orc's nose to bleed profusely on the adept's outfit before Duck changes his mind and drops him unceremoneously to the ground, opting instead to drag him along by his feet instead.  Even still, it's tiring work.  Hairy is not exactly a "light" individual.  On the plus side, the lack of reaction as the arsonist's head bumps along the ground confirms that he's definitely still out.

Julia raises an eyebrow as she sees the pair approaching and does a quick assence to confirm that the attacker is still, in fact, alive.  She eyes White Duck critically.  "Looks like the dreckhead gave you a run for your money.  Thanks for showing 'restraint'..."

She helps lug the man into the back room and finds some binder twine to use on the man's wrists, ankles and, for good measure gags him too, once certain he wasn't likely to choke to death.

Kate seems to have come back to awareness enough to notice the additional individual in the room.  "Who's the smelly one?"  Chuck fills her in as much as her interest level warrants.  Noda too has pulled himself together again, though his eyes are still red and swollen.  While there's still a faint glimmer of the astral in each of your vision, it's faded considerably.

This fact doesn't seem to please Julia much.  The talismonger keeps up a quiet litany of profanity in Spanish and a few other languages as she re-locks the front door, digs into a box for more incense and lights it, then brews another pot of tea.

"Thanks to our 'interruption', I'm afraid you're all going to have to drink another cup.  If you need a quick bio-break, now's the time.  The next dose is likely to be a bit harder on our systems."

Hairy, you're at deadly stun and 5 points of physical.  The good news is that once you wake up, the only confusion will be from your injuries.
White Duck, you're at 7 stun, 1 point of physical

Willpower 7 checks from everyone as they drink the tea - WD, adjust for your current condition monitor.

EDIT: fixed formatting
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:44, Mon 10 Sept 2018.

Caduceus's vision returning to some semblance of normalcy was a bit bittersweet, but definitely a plus for what he wanted to do at the moment.  "Here, White Duck, before we start again, let me take a look at those injuries.  I've been told from time to time that I have miracle fingers.  Let's see if they'll even work on you!"  So long as the adept didn't resist, Caduceus would go about applying some healing magic to the man's wounds.

The snake shaman placed a hand on either side of White Duck's injury and began concentrating.  His mind focused on the skin and imagined it peeling away to reveal fresh flesh underneath.  To heal by removing the damaged tissue completely.  As Caduceus did this, his outward appearance took on a scaly appearance and fangs almost seemed to grow from his mouth.  Caduceus let out an audible hiss as White Duck's injury sizzled away, then opened his eyes, complete.  The shaman didn't say a word, but smiled a sly grin and went over to grab a new cup of tea.  He downed it in one big confident swig.

OOC: Casting Heal 6 on White Duck to heal his 1 Physical Damage. Target number is 4 (10-Essence).  Rolling 6 Sorcery and 3 Spell Pool Dice.  Saving 3 Spell pool Dice for Drain Test.

10:30, Today: Caduceus rolled 8 successes using 9d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+6+5)17,4,4,4,(6+3)9,5,3,(6+2)8,(6+6+3)15.  Force 6 Heal Spell.
White Duck's scratch has healed to the point of growing him a brand new arm.

Need 2 Drain successes to turn light stun into no stun.

10:32, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 9d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5,1,(6+3)9,2,2,5,2,1,(6+2)8.  Drain.
No Stun.

Tea Test:
10:39, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,(6+3)9,3,1,3,(6+6+4)16.  Willpower 7 Test.

Hairy snores.

(First box of stun will heal in an hour.)

Julie lit a new set of incense and made the rounds again with the teapot, continuing to mutter the occasional curse under her breath.  She dragged Hairy's unconscious form closeer to her cushion where she could keep an eye on him - and give him the occasional kick.  Some of his blood left a smear on the carpet and the mutters became louder and one of the kicks was a bit more forceful.

Eventually everyone was back on their cushions breathing in the heavily-scented air, their vision opened fully to the astral plane.  The tea didn't taste any more horrible than the first dose, but the impact seemed harsher.  The colors were more garish.  The visions were more intense.  Julia and Caduceus seemed to handle it relatively well, but everyone else struggled.  Even the Martha, the grandmother-like rat shaman let out the odd scream.  The room vibrated occasionally as Chuck tried to squash invisible spiders.

Noruas's stomach was largely empty by this point, but there was a fair bit of gulping for air as he felt his body slowly descending into the floor which had apparently turned to quicksand.    White Duck found himself reduced to a scullary boy, scrubbing floors and washing pots under the watchful eye of the abbess, wielding a whip she wasn't at all hesitant to use.  (A few of those images would return in future nightmares of a different variety...)

Eventually everyone settled.  The room itself started to fade.  Julia levered herself up from the floor and removed a ceremonial dagger from a drawer.  She walked around the room and taking each participant's hand in turn, she made a slice across each of the palm.  Oddly, it didn't really hurt - or even make a mess.  The blood seemed to be absorbed by the dagger  She finished with her own hand, then thrust the dagger, point down into the center of the room before returning to her seat.

The walls continued to fade from view, then even the floor.  All that remained were the 9 figures in the room all glowing on the astral, with a bright center-poing of the dagger.  The participants felt a slight tug from their wounds towards the dagger and faint shimmering lines formed, like spokes on a wheel, as the world began to rotate.  The world spun faster and faster until the shapes across from you were nothing but a blur and the dagger had become a brilliant column of light.

Suddenly, the rotation stopped and the light faded, though it left an imprint on  everyone's 'retinas'."


Ok, moment of truth time.  WD, Caduceus, Noruas - each of you needs to roll one die and must pay 3 karma.  If you wish, any of you can buy additional dice for 3 karma each.  You can go together on a die too.  I'll roll for Julia and the others when you're done.

Caduceus's mind swirled as he felt the power flowing between them.  It was both intoxicating and a bit unsettling.  He was having difficulty opening up, but knew he would have to if he wanted this to succeed.

23:42, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 1d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5.  Initiate!

Initiation is 12 karma total, before paying for extra rolls, correct? So if I wanted a second dice roll the total would be 15? Do we know the target number?

You're not initiating yet.  You're just forming the group.  With the group, initiation will cost either 12 (no ordeal) or 9 (with ordeal).  You're already doing an oath, which can count as your first ordeal, so you're presumably looking at a 9.

Your TN is: 12 + 4 (because your group includes 3 magical traditions) -2 (because Julia's done this before - which is one of the reasons you're getting to do it so early in the timeline :>), -4 for secrecy, fraternity, exclusivity and material link strictures.  So grand total of 10.

Hairy mumbles into his gag and lets his head roll back. This is how he dies. Stupid magic.

Just when he thought he was done with the worst of it, he had to drink that vile stuff again....

Koby didn't want to think of it anymore, this was not a good day.  He downs the cup of tea as quickly as he could and resumed his cross-legged meditating position.

So I'm paying another 3 karma?  Where should I mark this?  Is our TN still 10?  One die?  So we'd pretty much automatically fail this if we only use one die?  Guess I'm paying for another 18 dice then (for 6 die)?

Right now, Koby only has 3 good karma - so you've got enough to pay for your 1 die - that's it.  Caduceus has 15 - but he probably wants to save 9 of those to initiate, so he could throw in an extra die if he wishes.  White Duck is rolling in the Good Karma right now, so he could theoretically donate more, but he may have other things he wants to do with some of that.  If you guys donate some extra dice, the other participants will probably match you.

If the roll fails, then you get to try again in a month.  If everyone devotes full time to prep, you can drop your TN to make it easier.  (Though that might get Koby fired...)  You could also choose to take more restrictions.  Forming a magical group isn't supposed to be a walk in the park.  Though I will admit that having to deal with an arsonist while feeling trippy is a bit stranger than typical... :>

So does someone roll all of our dice together?  Or do we roll our individual dice?  I don't get it.

You can roll one die in the roller.  If you'd rather I do it for you, that's fine too.
 In theory, you rolling now gives your group a slight advantage as they'll know if you made it for the group or not...

Then please roll for me.

08:41, Today: DeusEx, on behalf of Noruas, failed (no successes) using 1d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 10 with rolls of 2.  Noruas' roll for forming the group.

quote:

10:17, Today: DeusEx, on behalf of Caduceus, failed (no successes) using 2d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 10 with rolls of 3,5.

Don't you just love suspense? :>

PM

PM

PM

You each find yourself floating in total blackness - alone.  No breeze touches your skin.  No scent touches your nostrals.  You're neither warm nor cold.  You just exist.  You're not sure how long you're there floating.  It might have been seconds.  Maybe it was hours.  Suddenly you feel a voice rumble through you.  And it's definitely felt, rather than heard.  The sound almost seems to eminate from within your very bones.

You seek power/knowledge/wisdom/guidance and so agree to be BOUND.

You are BOUND to secrecy.  You shall tell no-one of this group, what it does or the power you derive from it.

You are BOUND to fraternity.  You shall aid one another in time of need as you would a family member or loved one.

You are BOUND to exclusivity.  This shall be your only magical group from now until your last breadth

You are BOUND by material link.  You accept the vulnerability of that that linkage provides

Once made, violation of these BINDINGS will result in CONSEQUENCE.

DO YOU ACCEPT?

"power/knowledge/wisdom/guidance" are all said simultaneously, though one word is louder than the others.  You sense the voice is speaking to all of you at once, but the louder word was directed at you.  Each time the voice refers to 'binding', you feel a portion of your body locked in place - immobile as you continue to float in nothingness.  The word 'consequence' comes with a seering pain that penetrates every nerve ending.  The onset is overwhelming and instantaneous, then just as suddenly, it is gone.

The voice appears to be waiting for a response.

"I accept." Says Duck, pale eyes calmly on the trickster that interrupted the initial ritual, vigilantly eyeing him with suspicion as the world swirls around him, eyeing the space he was in when the rest of the world faded off.

"I accept," Caduceus said, echoing White Duck.  He did not like being BOUND to anything, but in some instances the reward was greater than the drawbacks.  The last two times he was BOUND in such a way, he ended up having zero regrets.  He could only hope he would be so lucky a third time.

Sure, I accept. said Koby in reply.

I guess there's no turning back now!

PM

You didn't hear each other's responses.  There was a brief pause after you'd given your responses, then a seering agony almost as though something was being inscribed on your very bones.  You tried to thrash, but whatever bonds were holding you in place were unforgiving and totally effective.  Then suddenly they were gone and you found yourselves falling through the blackness - spinning and tumbling with no visual reference to tell how quickly or where.  And then suddenly you were back in the store again.

The air had cleared.  Down here in the Underground, there was no sun to see, but you sensed that many hours had passed.  Your insides felt like jelly and you saw after-images of the astral whenever you moved your heads.  Most of you quickly decided that moving wasn't a hot idea just then.

As you started to recover a bit, you noticed that the dagger Julia had stuck into the middle of the floor was glowing with a bluish light, though the glow was fading.  Sitting a couple feet away was a dog, squatting on its haunches.

It was a dirty greyish-white bulldog with probably a few other things mixed in.  It pushed itself up into a walking position and stretched, then ambled over to the dagger.  Positioning itself, it raised a rear leg.

The dagger sizzled and the glow disappears entirely as a puddle formed around it.  The dog padded back to where he'd started from and did a quick survey of the room before squatting again.

Julia was the first to open her mouth.  "What the..."

She was interrupted as the group of you heard a voice in your heads, though it was a different one than before.

Congrats.  Condolences.  Whatever.

You made it.  You're officially a magical lodge, group, coven 'er some such dreck.  The eight of you are now bound.  Ready to learn the mysteries of the planes or die tryin'.  Best 'o luck on the former.  I'll be seein' ya around.

The dog got up and started padding towards the door.  He was about half-way there when Kate piped up "Hey, where's Noda?"

The rest of your heads swiveled to find that sararyman's cushion was empty.

The Jap?  He wimped out.  Decided the "bound" thing wasn't for him.  He's sleeping it off in a dumpster about six blocks from here.  Won't remember a thing.  He'll be fine...

Pickup's not 'til tomorrow, right?"

The dog turned to continue toward the door but was interrupted again, this time by Julia.  "You said 'eight'.  There are only seven of us.  How can there be eight if Noda declined?"

The dog scanned the room again, nodding his head as he looked at each of you, then turned to face the shaman.

Math ain't your strong-point chica.  There's 8 in the room.  Eight with their blood on the dagger.  Eight that made the journey.  Eight that made the oaths.  So eight it is.

The dog wrinkled it's nose in Hairy's direction.  'Course that one ain't got more talent than a doornail.  However, the spirits say yer gonna need 'im, so I guess he's in.  Looks like a bit of a loose cannon, ya ask me.  Might wanna give 'im a job er somethin so ya kin keep an eye on 'im.  Oh, an maybe loosen up on the ropes an' gag.  I hear first impressions are important...

The dog turned back to the closed door and walked right through.  The voice continued in your heads.

Good luck.  Yer gonna need it.

Congratulations!  You're now all members of one of the first magical groups in the 6th world...

Duck seems a bit confused with the talking dog at first, takes a moment to realize he's just tripping balls, then gets eerily quiet when he realizes other people seem to notice the talking dog too. He narrows his eyes at what the talking dog has to say, then looks to Hairy. He slowly rises to a slightly wobbled stand, then moves over to Hairy, taking out one of those left-handed cigarettes instead, lighting it and taking a drag.

"Shoulda let me ace this one, Jules. Now we got some ingrate with no appreciation for the arts bound to the same oath as us." he takes a knee, exhaling a plume of smoke as he reaches up to remove the gag.

"Welcome to the circle, jerk face." he grumbles, taking a bladed card and slicing Hairy free of his bonds in a few sweeping motions similar to the flashy sleight-of-hand that magicians often employ.

"You got a handle, omae? I think I'm just gonna call you Burning Man."

Of all the things Caduceus expected to see when he returned to reality, a talking dog was not one of them.  He kept his mouth shut, however, and merely observed as Julia interacted with it.  He was still a bit dumbfounded by the time the little canine ghosted through the door.  Not to mention confused.  The guy that attacked them had gotten tied up in the ritual with them?  That in and of itself wasn't overly surprising to Caduceus.  But what did surprise him was that the man had apparently agreed to the terms of the oath.

Caduceus grunted heavily as he tried to stand up, failed halfway, then redoubled his efforts and attempted to stand again.  "Whoa," he said as his vision steadied.  Then, approaching the bound man, he asked, "Is the guy even awakened?  Or awake, for that matter?"  The snake shaman leaned in close and began examining every stitch of the man's aura.  He wanted to learn as much as he could about this guy before he woke up and started causing trouble.

---

Caduceus is Assensing Hairy, using Aura Reading (Auras) as a companion skill.

11:28, Today: Caduceus rolled 6 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 4,5,4,(6+3)9,(6+2)8,4.  Assensing Hairy.

11:29, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 4,2,2,4,3.  Aura Reading (Auras) - Assensing complimentary skill.

That should be a total of 7 net successes.  Which should be enough to learn basically everything I can about him from his aura.

Julia, for once, seemed speechless - though it was clear from the look on her face that she's *not* happy.  Chuck and Martha seemed to take the situation in stride.  Martha got up to make a fresh pot of tea - carefully rinsing the pot first in the small sink and sealing the remains of the "special" variety away in its tin and back in a drawer.

Kate seemed to be distracted a bit by her shirt, which she was sniffing suspiciously.

After spending some time carefully scrutinizing the unconscious man on the astral, Caduceus stood up straight once again.  "Well, unless this guy does kids parties, he's not a magician in any sense of the word.  He's got loads of cyber throughout his body too.  I think he's a drug addict too.  Or at least a dealer.  It's not a recent habit either.  The only real silver lining I can see is that he doesn't appear to have the worst outlook on life, generally speaking.  He has some character to work with."  He looked skeptically around the room. "Should I try healing him?  I mean, he did willingly agree to be "one of us" after all.  We should probably at least find out if his name really is Burning Man." Doubtful.

"If it ain't, it is now. That, or Guinea Pig, as he's like to be the first one to face any consequences. Anyway, if he consented, he should know the rules." Duck blows a plume of smoke into the ork's face.

"He's also likely playin' possum." He pats the ork on the cheek.

"Soon as you 'come to' pal," He says with finger quotes, the joint captured between two fingers on one hand, the card the other. "...we've gotta hammer out some details. Could be good money in it."

Koby shook his head a couple times when he saw the talking dog.  He wasn't sure if what he had seen was real until he looked around the room.  The others seemed to have a similar reaction of noticing the pooch conversing with Julia.

Not long after the dog left, Koby decided to stretch out his legs and help himself to his feet.  As White Duck and Caduceus had begun loosening the ork's bindings as well as inspecting him, he walked up to Martha with the freshly brewed pot of tea and asked for some.

Hey Martha, could I get a couple cups of that?  I think we'll need them for everyone here, if we are truly to get along... said Koby as he indicated to the people in the room.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:30, Wed 26 Sept 2018.

Hairy slowly shakes off the last wisps of unrestful unconsciousness. He's looking about as confused as the rest of the crew.

"Hey guys... Listen uh... Thanks for loosening up the ropes. And for understanding about the whole fire thing. Nothin' personal, just a job, right? In fact, maybe we can circle back on my Johnson and burn him back. He said this place was some kinda trouble. Set me up to twist."

He thinks for a moment, before continuing. "Said there wouldn't be no magic either."

"Okay, so uhh... if we're sorted, I'll just... see myself out, ya know? Everything's forgiven between professionals, right?"

Duck reaches over and hands Hairy his joint.

“Well, seems like the J got you in over your head but you got yourself in even deeper with your persistence. Remember having some kinda dream where you took an oath, bub? If so, hate to tell ya, the dream was real. If not, hate to tell you, but you’re now bound by an oath, one with consequences likely more dire than I could muster from any interrogation at that.” Duck shrugs, then stands, moving back behind the front counter.

“Either way, welcome to Crane’s Comics. I’m Duck. Congrats on inadvertantly stepping in a pile of magical dogshit that is now perma-stuck to the soles of your shoes, omae.”
This message was last edited by the player at 01:32, Thu 04 Oct 2018.

Caduceus looked at Hairy with a look of scepticism. "Yeeeah, I think your Johnson lied to you.  Either that, or is completely incompetent.  Assuming the former, remember that oath of fraternity you just took? How we are supposed watch eachother like family?  Well, I think this situation applies.  Either someone took a hit out on one or all of us who gathered here, or they set you up for failure.  Either way, I think it is imperative that we know who your Johnson is, and ensure that this never happens again."

Caduceus squatted next to the cybered warrior.  So, who is your Johnson and where can we find 'em? All of us. Including you. And for that matter, who are you?"

"Wait, that's what you all do? You sell dreking comics?"

"Wow, and I thought hustling needed muscle. Okay, well... the name is Hairy, and I'm a pretty experienced salesman myself. So uhh... I guess I'll flip through some of these, get to know your wares, and start hawking to some contacts of mine. I guess 'burn man' is fine too, just not the initials, ya know?"

"The Johnson, yeah. Scraggy looking guy, nose ring, some tats. Real upstanding business-type. Met up at  the Chicken Pump. It's a piss pot I know."

Hairy scratches his head as he processes everything.

"Comics... Huh."

Koby sets the cups of tea on a tray and approaches the 3 men.

Drink up guys.  It might make you feel better.  So how are my new 'family' members doing?

Duck takes a few regular cards from the bargain bin and casually starts to flit them at various strategically placed standees and old collectibles throughout the store. Some bounce off, and some end up holding fast. He nods to Hairy.

"Shame on them, chummer, the ones that hired you. I sure as hell thought you were some kinda blood sacrifice, so you got real lucky there. Anyway, I sell the comics and Julia sells the drugs and magical stuff. I'm a regular staple of this little neighborhood... Might wanna know that there's kids in these tunnels too man. You wanna do some *real* work with us, you're gonna have to consider collateral. I don't want you trying to sell my comics though. Don't think your clientele would appreciate the value of some of em', but we run, so there's that, and you might be useful. Hell, provided you listen to decent advice, you might be *really* useful." he looks to Koby.

"You too." he takes a cup of tea and sips cautiously before adding a few packets of sugar.

"Provided y'all are willing to work with us, of course. Sizing the two of you up, not sure what skills you both bring to the table. I do the kicking and talking and punching and throwing shit and Cadeuces here does healing and other magic. Probably more useful than me, honestly. Koby, you strike me as a physad too. We'll have to spar sometime. Fight club's on Thursdays." He turns to Hairy.

"You though, aside from leaving me little presents and causing one hell of a diversion, what is it you can do exactly? You any good with guns? Decking? Rigging?"

Koby holds the tray on one hand and takes a cup in the other.  He sips it carefully to ensure that it wasn't too hot.

Let's not jump to conclusions here.  We might all play in the shadows, but I don't think I ever heard myself say that I want to be useful to you.  But now that we are in this bog together, we might make the most of it and give each other a hand....when they need it.  I'm not gonna be anybody's serf or slave.

Sure that the tea had cooled down sufficiently, Koby swigs the tea.

Chuck eased himself up off the floor.  "Well, not 'zactly what I 'spected.  But thanks.

Shift starts in 6." His tone was somewhat appoligetic, but it was pretty clear he just wanted to get clear of the whole place.

Kate seemed eager to bug out as well.

Martha, on the other hand was happy to accept a cup of tea and squatted back down on her cushion, studying the group, and Hairy in particular as she leaned against the wall.

Julia went to her desk and grabbed a pad of paper and scribbled something, then brought the paper over to Hairy.  "This look like one of his tats?"  The paper had a rough outline of a bat flying in front of a circle - presumably a moon.

The one Hairy had seen was a bit better drawn and the circle was tinted with orange, but it was definitely the same sort of image.  At the samaurai's confirmation, Julia frowned and tapped her finger absently against the picture.  "Tantarus.  This is not good.  Not good at all..."

Martha's eyebrows went up at the mention of the name, but she said nothing.  Finally Julia gave her head a bit of a shake.  "Nothing to do now.  I need to send out some feelers and find out what's going on.  For now, let's get things tidied up."

"You" - her finger pointed clearly at Hairy - "have some cleaning to do."

Anyone with knowledge skills related to gangs, the Ork Underground or related topics is free to roll to see what, if anything, they know about 'Tantarus'.  WD, you'll have a lower TN by 1.

Does criminal organizations count? What's the TN?

"I'm a businessman. Not totally independent, but, you know. Enough. And I know how to take care of myself. I run on the streets before. Could'a made tonight a lot worse, but the J didn't pay for murder and, yeah, collateral and all that. I got my stuff parked upstairs.

"Yeah, I seen that ink. That was the J. Tantarus, sure. I can draw you a picture if you want. I got that fragger's face burnt into my eyes now."

Hairy gives the broom a moment's look, but he's not unaccustomed to manual labor, so he'll get to sweeping up broken glass. Sorting trash from the Tibetan yak-hair fetishes and such is a little tougher, but he makes an honest effort.

Duck chokes on his tea a bit at Koby’s comment, setting it down.

“Woah dude; nobody said or implied that serf bullshit. You don’t wanna tell us your skillset, that’s fine, but being useful is a hell of a lot different than being somebody’s butler. Honestly, I personally hope I can be useful to you if you need, but it don’t exactly put me in the shoes of a peasant, yanno.”
This message was last edited by the player at 01:47, Fri 05 Oct 2018.

Caduceus stood back and let the others trade information while he observed.  He kept an eye on the astral to keep tabs on Hairy's aura, searching for telltale signs of lies or deceit.  He seemed to be more or less truthful about stuff, so that was a good sign.

When Julia mentioned Tantarus and showed a sketch of a tattoo, however, Caduceus leaned in to take a peek.  "Tantarus..." He searched his brain for any information he knew about the name.  Or the tattoo, for that matter.

---

Unless Tantarus has strong connections with Seattle's backways, Caduceus probably doesn't know anything about him.  Here is a roll anyway, just in case.  Plus a roll to see if he knows anything about that tattoo's image or meaning.

13:16, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+6+3)15,3,5,5,3,2.  Seattle Back-ways - Tantarus.

13:16, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 3,5,(6+5)11,3,2.  Symbolism - Bat and moon tattoo.

Criminal organizations count.  TN would be 5 for that.

Caduceus has seen the symbol before.  Not often, but occasionally as graffiti in some of the darker corners of the ork underground.  Not anywhere else that he can really think of.

Bat is a shamanic totem.  They tend to prefer or at least be associated with the dark or night.

Duck shrugs, moves over to a rack of batman comics, and thumbs through one, thinking.

18:47, Today: White Duck rolled 2 successes using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 1,5,2,5.  Ork Underground.

Tantilus is a gang whose primary turf is the underground.  It's generally not a good idea to talk about them much.  Those who annoy them tend to disappear.  As in totally.  No news, no bodies.

"Bad stuff, those dudes. Underground gang. They disappear people." he looks to Julia.

"What'd you do to piss those guys off?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:06, Fri 05 Oct 2018.

"I might have an idea.  But I need to explore a few things.  I think they were sending a message.  If they'd wanted to actually get rid of us, they'd have chosen a different approach"

She glanced at Hairy.  "No offense..."

"Hoi! Offense taken. I am very capable. I was just havin' a down day. Everyone gets them. Anyway, if they didn't want me to off you, what was their goal? To set me up so I get pulled into your secret magic club and drag everyone down?"

He thinks about that a moment, before dismissing the thought.

"Alright, so what we gonna do about it? These guys burned me. If I had a team, some of them might be dead right now. That pisses me right off."

Julia looked at White Duck and Hairy appraisingly.  "When stung by a hornet, the best plan is not to go knock down it's nest.  Tantilus may not be as well known or as flashy as the Ancients or the Halloweeners, but we'd probably fare just as poorly in a confrontation with them.

We will do nothing until I have more information.

I have much more I wish to do with this life - and my plans do not involve becoming ghoul food..."

"I don't particularly relish the thought of getting into a scuffle with a bunch of bat enthusiasts, but I suppose it has already happened.  I'm not sure any of my standard contacts could help us out in this situation, so I'll leave the information gathering to you." He had been making a mental checklist of people who might know something useful, and the list was uncharacteristically empty at the moment.

---

What does Caduceus know about bat shamans?  Knowing their specialties and weaknesses could help give him a clue about what sorts of things to keep an eye out for/be prepared for.

17:47, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 4,3,3,5,1,4.  Magical Background - Bat Shamans.

Unsurprisingly, bat shamans generally like both the dark and the sky.  They also don't tend to stick in one place too long.  Caduceus encountered one once, but she took off for Europe a couple of years ago and he lost contact with her.

22:21, Today: Koby failed (no successes) using 3d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of 3,4,4.  Criminal organizations check for (Tantarrus/Tantilus/however it is spelled).

Koby thought about the name Julia mentioned and tried to wrack his brain for the answers but to no avail. It could be the effects of the tea, or the fact that he was now initiated, but he couldn’t seem to remember anything about the name, so he kept quiet as the others shar d what they knew.

Duck shrugs when directed not to do anything about the issue.
“I planned on upping our security down here anyway. Hell, if Hairy here is any indication, we could certainly use it. Buddy of ours seems fond of turrets and drones. Gonna give her a call, get things squared away with that. There an issue with that, Jules? I’d rather not just sit on my hands here.”

"Just the one, right? Nothin' a few land mines couldn't fix up. But I can wait, at least 'til I'm done sweeping up, 'cha. You got any work lined up while we wait? Them turrets are nice, but they cost a good few yen."

"Spaeking of security," Caduceus pipped up.  He turned toward Julia, "I could help beef up the astral security around here if you would like.  If a bunch of us work on the warding together, we could make this place nigh impregnable.  Probably a good idea if our little club meetings are going to take place here. Especially if we have to worry about bat shamans snooping in." The shaman looked around the room, already picking out good spots to place wards.

Julia nodded.  "Wards aren't a bad idea.  We're all now bound to this knife, so it'd be best if it wasn't easy to find.  Might even make sense to bind an elemental or two.  We can see if we can talk Kate into helping with that.  I have a few other customers who might be able to assist there.

I don't know that drones would work well in this sort of space.  The neighbors might get a bit antsy and a few would use them for target practice.  Though perhaps something inside?...

Give her a call I guess.  She may have suggestions that could work.

I'm heading home for now.  I've got a *mother* of a headache."

She dug into a drawer and pulled out a business card, handing it to Hairy.  "That's my info.  You got a comm number we can reach you at?  I presume you'd prefer that option to us using ritual magic?"

Koby placed the tray on table before he approached Julia.

Hey, could I get one of those as well? he indicated the card Julia had passed to Hairy.

"Yeah, yeah, commcodes... hey, business cards. That's a good idea. I'd give you a flyer, but I left them all in my car. Here, give me your phone and I'll plug it in."

Hairy will share his number with anyone who cares for it.

"Okay so... I turn up here tomorrow at opening? What is that, like... 3?"

"Yeah, sure, three works." Duck scribbles his comm codes onto an old collectible card from a box of cheaper ones. He nods to everyone, then steps into his back office for a moment to get in touch with an old acquaintance.

Calling CH

"I'll hop onto the commcode express too," Caduceus said as he moved closer.  He passed out his commcode to everyone who requested it and recorded their codes in turn. "I guess I'll head back here tomorrow too then to get started on the warding.  For now I am going to go home and do a bit of unwinding.  Unravel everything that happened today.  Ya know?"

If nobody needed anything else, Caduceus would take this opportunity to head out. And he would take extra precautions to ensure no bat shamans were following him home. (Or anyone else for that matter.)

Koby recorded down the commcodes of everyone there that was willing to give it to him.  He also gave out his commcodes to anyone who might need it.  After that, he had another cup of tea before heading back to the surface and going home.

So, did we set a time on when or how often we were supposed to meet?

The group exchanged contact information and finished cleaning up the back room.  Hairy had a job.  Maybe.  He was expected to show up, though he wasn't totally clear on the "being paid" thing.  However he was still alive, mostly, so that was something.

Everyone else had gotten what they'd hoped for, though the process had certainly been more bizzare than expected.  (And those expectations had already been pretty high.)

Julia promised that she'd let everyone know once she'd done more digging around exactly what "message" was being sent by Tantarus.

"A few of us would probably like to try this initiation thing soon, but it's probably best to wait until we figure out the cause of tonight's episode.  I'd rather not get interrupted again"

She headed out with Martha leaving White Duck to lock up the shop.  Koby and Caduceus went their separate ways.  Hairy was left on his own to slowly limp up the stairs, nursing his cracked ribs, nasty headache and general distaste for whatever karmic source that had decided his life wasn't quite complicated enough that he needed to be bent over and screwed in a new and more entertaining fashion.

He paused on the landing part-way up to catch his breath and to steel his nerves for the final flight before he could get to his car.  A crumpled figure in one corner stirred a bit and a bruised face peered up.

"eelvvshss?"


And so was formed one of the first magical groups in the Seattle metroplex - and certainly the non-corp-affiliated such group...

That took a whole lot longer than I'd expected, but hope everyone had a good time.

Karma: 3 for everyone, both for the duration of the process and for some entertaining posts and ideas.  Which means that you formed your magical group almost for free :)

I'll post an update in a bit with what Julia learns about Tantalus.  Who's planning to initiate?  Karma cost for grade 1 initiation is 9 and you've already passed your first ordeal, which was Vow.  If you'd really like to play it out, we can do that in a separate thread, but I'd like to move things onto an actual run that doesn't JUST involve beating Hairy senseless.  You'll have a few weeks between group formation and initial contact for the run, so post if there's anything your character wants to do that's of interest or just fun from a color perspective.

EDIT: corrected karma cost for initiation (5 + level) * 1.5 for group initiation with ordeal
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:00, Tue 23 Oct 2018.

A couple of days later, the team members got a message from Julia.  (Duck actually heard it face-to-face, but the gist was pretty much the same.)

Did some digging.  Apparently a lieutenant got miffed because of a sale I made.  They overstepped their bounds.  They now understand better and it shouldn't happen again.

Copperhead also responded to the message White Duck had left.

"Dunno dat drones is whatcha want.  Ya don got a lotta space ta keep 'em.  An they needs a way ta get in an out.  I kin set ya up wit some cameras so ya kin keep an eye what's goin on in da front an da back.  An mebbe some gun ports.  Though you gots ta take care o' payin for da hardware.  Don like workin wit plumbin, but mebbe can rig a sprinkler system too."

If you want, you can pay to bump the security of your lifestyle up a notch or two

Duck pays for the security of his lifestyle to be upped by two notches, getting CH to rig a sprinkler system, cameras, and just a couple of gun ports to cover entrances, just in case the place needs to go on lockdown. He also trains Hairy to do some basic work around the shop, offering to spar the orc any time the shop closes up early and having him along for Thursday night Fight Club. While he's courteous to Hairy, he isn't exactly letting him in on any deep dark secrets. For all intents and purposes, Hairy will be left in the dark about Duck's other profession.

Hairy is eager for some sparring training (or mostly, dodging training), and will happily swap for information about chemistry, medical studies, and the sort of magic that comes in plastic baggies.