Nexus is where every low-life ended up at least once in his life. With a thieves guild, assassins guild, a pirate district, and freelancers of every kind, getting a quick job for cash under the table was fairly easy to manage.

A quick check on the want-ads in the Pirate Herald, yielded a low paying heist request from a little old lady whose dog was stolen, a teen asking for a hit on her abusive stalker ex, a descent paying request for stolen vehicles, a well paying scuttlebus heist, a high paying tomb robbery off-world.

All want-ads were brokered by the Pirate Prince, and applicants were to visit the Palace for vetting.

Cery considered the jobs. Usually he preferred doing work for people he knew, but no one had work for him right now ... at least nothing they wanted him for. He wasn't in danger of starving but he certainly didn't want to just wait until then before he took on a job. None of them looked particularly palatable.

The stalker one pricked at him. Killing was certainly an unsavoury prospect, but he hated people that would inflict that kind of pain and fear on people who couldn't protect themselves moreso. Maybe he could convince the client that ruffing the guy up and chasing him out of town would be the better course.

Sighing, he snatched the ad and from the board and headed to the palace to take the job.

The Pirate Palace had originally been a castle, but once their dominance of the district had been secured, the stone castle was sold to a retired Warlord, and the palace was rebuilt nearby. Now that stability made security less of a concern, the Pirate Prince commissioned a work of nautical art-chitecture. The base was blue, green & white marble cut to resemble a stormy sea, and a few tones of ancient weaponry that pre-dated Magem had been welded together in the form of a gigantic tall-ship. In many places it was difficult to tell which guns were ancient cruft and which were modern operational guns made to look ancient.

In the middle of the marble base, two large wroght-iron gates were open, and two guards stood by the doors. The first guard was a 15' Magem infused, heavily scarred warrior, and the other was a Battle-Golem. Golems were usually piloted by ghosts, so there was no way to tell who the pilot was unless it told you.

Just inside the gate along the corridor was a booth with a sign, "Want-Ad vetting here"

A little old lady was in the booth, crocheting an eye-patch.

When Cery approached, she looked him over, and said, "Who are you, what do you do, and what is your goal?"

Cery was never a fan of those huge constructs, he couldn't tell what they were thinking or feeling; they could be happy or ready to stomp on you. He did enjoy the work that had gone into all the designs for the building despite the imposing guards. It wasn't often that he was outside of the shacks and ramshackle shops that made up the poorer areas ... areas that lent themselves perfectly to staying hidden and conducting clandestine business.

When he approached the booth he prepared his usual innocent smile and produced the piece of paper that the ad had been printed on. "Oh hello miss. The name's Ceryni, I wanna do this job," he says as he slides the paper over her, "I do all sorts of odds and jobs and could do with a bit of coin, it's supposed to be getting colder. Could use a new cloak and a few hot mugs of ale, you know how it is."

The lady looked him over suspiciously. "You're clearly a crook, but that's just fine since that's what we want. Please don't fake an innocent smile with me, I find it annoying. Just be honest with me and we'll get along just fine. What size cloak do you wear? I ran out of things I needed to crochet years ago, so I have a stash behind the desk here of all sorts of items I've made. As for the ale,  the Palace Bar lets you pay your tab up to a week after you buy drinks. Also, I don't know how "it" is, but thank you for your confidence in me. Here's the girl's address. She didn't pay for the anonymous brokering, so you'll have to visit her for further instructions on the hit." With that longish response over, she hands Ceryni a paper with an address scrawled on it. "Oh, please don't call me miss. I'm clearly too old for that title. My name is Ethel, but you can call me ma'am."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:26, Wed 22 Jan 2020.

Cery was equal parts taken aback and hurt by her attitude but that faded quickly as he regained his composure. "Oh size I think a small size ..." he trailed off as she continued until she passed along the details. He looked over the paper, getting an idea of where the place was and what to keep an eye out for in that area before tucking it into his pocket. "Well umm thank you ma'am, I'd best go and get to work then."

With that Cery was off. His mind raced with potential ways this meeting could go, he could imagine a hot headed girl feeling hurt and betrayed, or maybe one scared, or perhaps just confused. He had no illusions about he being a good person and if this man had done horrible things then he'd put the man down; but still he felt that he needed to know more. Once he was able to talk to the client he hoped it would all be a little clearer.

Ethel could tell she had upset Cery, but she had no idea why.


While talking, she reached behind her without looking and handed him a perfectly sized crocheted cloak.


On the back of the paper was an image of the client's face, and her name. As soon as he read it, it disappeared, but not before he was able to memorize both. She was named Diffle, and her face somehow matched that. He could tell from her bone structure that she was a Dwarf, but Dwarfs ranged in height from smaller than him to far taller ((OOC: I don't recall the exact numbers now, but I'll let you know)). Diffle lived in Dwarftown, below the main city. There were plenty of access points to the undercity, but there were also more confined spaces than the surface or the overcity. Most of undercity was fairly well built and could withstand a lot of stress.

Dwarfs, Gearfs, Narfs, Gnomes, and plenty of otherworldly peoples inhabited the undercity.


"You're welcome, Ceryni. That cloak should help."



Cery made his way to the address and found a single door along the side of a long tunnel. A tunnel branch 10' before and another one 10' after the door revealed a secret tunnel that connected them 15' down the side tunnels, showing that Diffle's home was 20'x15' on this level. No other windows or doors were obvious, though.

When he approached the door, he heard a man's voice yelling from inside.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:47, Wed 22 Jan 2020.

Crey was grateful for the cloak and it showed in his expression. He wasn't the type to look for handouts but when one was practically thrown into his lap he wasn't going to argue. He tried it on, happy with the fit of it. His old one was caked in mud and stiff, so much so that pieces had broken away and the material had frayed. The new one was warmer and he pulled it tightly around him as the wind whistled around him.

Once down in the underworld he dropped his cloak in the lap of the first cold street urchin he found. "That'll keep you warm for years, it done me good so take care of it," he said with a smile before hurrying off.

Once he had gotten a feel for the area he listened in at the door briefly as he detected the shouting. Well he was here to kill a man, maybe this was him. If it was him it wouldn't do for him to kill the client before he could meet her he reasoned. He looked around to ensure no was watching him as he spied the gap between the door and the ground. He focused on the shadow there and willed his senses through them, to see from the position of the shadow, hoping that whatever was happening would be visible from the door.

Cery was able to see into the room fairly easily. He saw Diffle and a muscular Dwarf arguing. The man (Dwarf) was taller than Diffle and Diffle was taller than Cery. He had been shouting at her and hitting her.

"Don't you get it Diffle? You're my girl! No one else's!" At those words his fighting hand reached for his knife. Diffle was blinded by tears and blood and couldn't see what he was doing.

Cery recognized the man as Hamish Findle, of the Findle clan - an infamous organized crime group mostly consisting of members of the same large Dwarf family. Hamish was muscle for the Findle clan, but he was also 3rd in line to become their Undermountain King, and the current King's great grandson.

The Findle clan was certainly not the largest mafia or gang, but they were practically untouchable among Dwarfs.

He didn't know of any connections that Diffle had.

Cery's blood boiled as he watched what was happening. If he had to be honest with himself he didn't know what the situation was, there could be any number of reasons why he might be behaving like this; but all he saw right now was a brute threatening and attacking someone who couldn't defend herself and who hadn't done anything to deserve this treatment.

He withdrew his senses from the inside of the house and quickly ducked round the corner into the shadow cast by the lanterns outside. He closed his eyes and felt for the shadow the man was casting inside and then forced himself through the connection between the two shadows appearing silently right behind the dwarf man.

His goal was to intimidate and protect rather than kill at that moment; if he attacked the man his client might get hurt. Better to distract him and draw him away or even chase him out. He placed a firm hand on the man's shoulder declaring in a demanding tone, "I think that's enough of that, don't you."

---

Spoiler for rolls: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
16:32, Today: Narrator, on behalf of Ceryni, rolled 14 using 5d6 with rolls of 2,1,2,3,6.  Dodge (& counter?).

16:32, Today: Narrator, for the NPC Hamish, rolled 15 using 4d6 with rolls of 5,3,5,2.  Surprised reaction.

---

Cery is only just able to reach Hamish's shoulder. Surprised by the sudden appearance of a much shorter man behind him, Hamish turns fast and swings his arm toward Cery as he exclaims, "What the frak!?"

Cery jumps to avoid the swing, but Hamish's knife handle catches Cery's left hand on a nerve, making it go numb.

OOC: You are now in a Risus battle. You had the element of surprise, and it's still on your side. He acted against you first, but I'm giving you an opportunity to roll or otherwise respond first. However you respond, whether with words, fists, knives or whatever, roll for it. If you want to use magic, roll twice the current stat which would mean you'd roll 6d6. If your attack is higher than his roll, you'll do double damage. Either way, your magic stat will go from [3/3] to [2/3]. You could roll for Underworlder/Thief (4/5) which would be 4d6. You lost one d6 from your roll because his first attack roll was higher than yours by 1. His stats are:
Hamish Findle
Brute (4/6)
Once he reaches (0/6) you'll be able to determine his fate.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:42, Sat 25 Jan 2020.

Cery flinches as the blade catches him, he should have been quicker on his feet but he hadn't gotten into a fight for a while, he was rusty. He called on the shadows to assist him as he jumped back out of reach of a second swipe. He swirled his hands catching the darkness around him and forcing twin tendrils to whipe out of the ground next to the dwarf in an attempt to bind his wrists.

20:53, Today: Ceryni rolled 16 using 6d6 with rolls of 3,1,1,4,5,2.  Shadow magic.

18:04, Today: Narrator, for the NPC Hamish, rolled 13 using 4d6 ((1,5,1,6)).

Hamish couldn't avoid the tendrils of shadow as they confined him. Although Hamish's wrists were now bound by a mysterious force, his feet were still free, and long enough to reach Cery. He kicked out with all his effort, bound as he was.

Hamish
Brute (2/6)
18:07, Today: Narrator, for the NPC Hamish, rolled 7 using 2d6 ((4,3)).
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:09, Sat 25 Jan 2020.

Cery hadn't expected him to still attempt to fight while his arms were bound but he now had superior mobility allowing him to dart in and out, doing his best to avoid what kicks lashed out at him as he cut at the dwarf with his daggers, doing his best to disable him.

22:13, Today: Ceryni rolled 12 using 4d6 with rolls of 1,6,3,2.  Underworlder.

18:35, Today: Narrator, for the NPC Hamish, rolled 17 using 4d6 with rolls of 6,3,2,6.  final lashing out.
Hamish lashed out with all of his effort in one last push, kicking Cery's knife so that the blade cut Cery's other arm. But in truth, he was now completely at the mercy of Cery.

Hamish
Brute (0/6)

Now as the player, you can decide the fate of Hamish.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:37, Sat 25 Jan 2020.

Cery gasped as the man managed to kick his knife and drive it into his arm. Filled with adrenaline as the blood gushed from the wound he side steped another kick and punched the man hard in the head, knocking him out. He let the shadow bindings fall as the man slumped down to the floor unconscious. He turned to the woman he'd been threatening and with a tilt of his head addressed her, "I hope he didn't hurt you. This the guy you want done in right?"
He began to examine and bandage his arm using strips of cloth ripped from the unconscious dwarf.

Diffle had stood in shock at the fight, but at Cery's question she snapped out of it. She grabbed a cloth from the wall and wiped her face, causing the bruises and cuts to nearly disappear, then she wiped Cery's injury and it sealed up and stopped bleeding as she said, "Yes, this is the guy I needed killed. He's been threatening to kill me for weeks, and each time it gets worse. Last time he cut my throat and only handed me my healing cloth just before I lost consciousness. He told me that the next time he wouldn't be so generous and that I'd better decide that I was his before I couldn't be anyone's ever again. He's serious. He will kill me. Please help me!"

Cery marvelled at the cloth as it wiped away his wounds, something like that might have put him out of action for days and yet he flexed his arm and instead of a stab of pain felt soreness and tenderness. He winced at the woman's declaration. He had hoped that it was just a lover's spat gone wrong; well it was but not in the way he'd hoped. He regarded the unconscious man, then looked back at the woman. "Are you sure about this? I think I understand the situation and you want to be rid of him, but it's also a big decision, one that leaves a stain on you."

He racked his brain, thinking of if there was anyone he knew who could offer an alternative, someone who could make the man disappear without killing him, or perhaps have a word with the thug's bosses so that they might put him in his place, or threaten him directly and use fear to keep him away.

09:46, Today: Ceryni rolled 11 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,6.  I know a guy.

Cery has a vague recollection about a treewoman named Stella he heard about who had created her own Oner that operated by its own rules. He remembers that the Portal Creators Guild has recently had an influx of new members, and that his childhood friend, Djust Iss who was obsessed with law and order, had been also fascinated with Portals and the possibility of prison Oners. He has a hunch that Djust might just have a solution. In any case, someone at he Portal Creators Guild should know of some place to send unwanted people.

Diffle answers Cery, "I... I don't know. If it's him or me, I'd rather live with the guilt than die innocent." While she's talking, she grabs some rope and begins tying up Hamish.

Cery nodded, "I do understand that feeling. Listen, I know a couple of people; the kind who make people disappear without killing them. I can ask if they can do anything with him if you'd prefer that?"

"Alright. I think I can keep him here for about day. I have some sleeping herbs and he kept me secret from his family and friends so they'll never know to look here."

Cary pauses to look at the woman, not sure what he'll find. Probably fear but he wasn't sure what else, "Are you sure? I won't be gone long, I'll be back by the evening."

If she agreed then Cery took off for the portal makers in hopes of finding Djust and finding a resolution as soon as possible.

Diffle lowered her head but held his gaze, "I'm a level 5 traditional herbalist. I can handle this."

Ceryni went to the main Portal Terminal to visit the Portal Creators' Guild. To reach the Guild, he had to go through to the centre of the Ring of Portals, and down a spiral staircase into a room beneath. Half of one of the walls was taken up by a Portal that he went through into the Portal Creators' Guild World. They had chosen an Oner with no gravity and with plenty of atmosphere but very few floating objects to minimize potential damage from Portal explosions that were so common and frequently fatal for the unexperienced.

A network of ropes created a 3D spider-web of interlinked locations within the guild. The first location was Reception. Once he gave the clerk, Djust's name, he was handed a rope to follow. He followed the rope out to Djust's primary Portal. Djust was inside the Portal, so Cery went into Djust's Oner.

Cery was floating in a void of royal blue with perfectly white fractal clouds. Djust stood in front of him with his arms crossed.

This message was deleted by the player at 15:45, Tue 28 Jan 2020.

(As a note, she would be totally down to help some one set up a prison oner, if the focus was therapy, rehabilitation, and re-ingratiation rather than segregation from the rest of the population.  They do not believe in prisons as a place to store bad people, they should be a place to help people work out the problems they have that made them do bad things.)

"I'll never get the hang of this," Cery laughed as he lost his grip on  the rope and tumbled a little before regaining his orientation. "Hey Djust, haven't seen you in several weeks. These portals and stuff keeping you busy?"

He held her gaze for a moment, she'd known him long enough to know there was something bothering him. "I took a job, someone wanted her violent ex-boyfriend done away. It's like that guy that used to give Julie  trouble. I walked in and I swear he was about to cut her up. You know I can't stand people like that, I almost did do him in then and there, but I'd rather we get rid of him; same way - I'm sure you've got one of those correctional places we could dump him in. The guy's got more than enough of a rough streak to warrant it. Could you help me?"

Djust answered, "Yeah, I think I can do something for you. I've got a section of my personal Oner here set up to confine people like that. I've also heard that Star Lady has a similar place." Djust held his thumb and forefinger together and said, "Show me Corrections Planet, my Oner." And suddenly a viewing screen of a planet pictured on it appeared before them. Djust continued, "Zoom in on some of the inmates." The image zoomed in to the surface of the planet to reveal various people working together on a building project. "That will be all." Djust turned to Cery, "I've made violence impossible, and given them constructive projects to work on. They eat the food here, so they can't leave even if they found a Portal out. Whenever my Oner says they're rehabilitated, I send them through a series of moral tests and if they pass, I replace their fake matter for real matter that I bring in from outside, then I free them. I can take the guy you're talking about. Here, take this."

Djust hands Cery a small ring with a button. "Press the button and a Portal will expand from the inside of the ring. Toss the man into the Portal and I'll take care of the rest."

"Aww thanks Djust you're the best," he rushes in to give her a hug. "You always got the right answers when I need them. How about I take you to lunch when you're free, to say thank you? Been way too long since we caught up."

Djust sighed and relaxed a little, then smiling she said, "Yeah, okay."

Cery gives a friendly pat on the shoulder and calls out another thank you as he leaves the room heading back for his client with a bit of a smile.

Diffle was waiting for him, and when he knocked on the door, she let him in fairly quickly. Spying the ring with the button, Diffle said, "That's a Portal Ring!" as she snatched it from Cery and pressed the button, sending Hamish into the Portal which promptly closed right afterward, leaving the ring behind on the floor.

Diffle said, "Thank you so much! Here is the price I promised." She hands Cery a bag with $200, more than some people make in a year, but less than a CEO makes in an hour.

"By the way, my mom is working on a project to bring medicine to a people who are completely without modern medical care, but the only Portal to these people is owned by a man who refuses to let anyone bring medicine through his Portal. No one else can find this world, so he has exclusive access, and he locks away in a private Oner, anyone he finds smuggling medicine. Can you think of any way you might be of help to us?"

Cery takes the money with a quick, "Thanks. I hope you'll feel a bit safer now."

"What kind of medicine are we talking about here? I could scout it out if you're giving me another job."

Diffle stares for a moment at Ceryni, as if weighing him in her mind. "It's mostly a salve made from the same plant whose fibres the cloth I have is woven from. It... does have other benefits and occasional side-effects too. It helps people feel more at ease, and some people get unhealthily attached to that feeling, but it's nothing like BadBlood."

There are many drugs on the streets of Nexus, but BadBlood has always been the most notorious. BadBlood is extremely addictive and extremely fun, but always lethal to quit. Only someone who is injected with BadBlood against their will can be saved from the life-threatening effects, but only with the hard-to-find and expensive bonhemotin.

"I am willing to give you the job, and my family will back the pay. But we have to wait for the first load of medicine to be delivered. You can scout first if you like, and I'll keep the first packet of medicine here for you to pick up when you're ready. Or you can take the packet even now. You're choice. The medicine is in these marbles," Diffle shows Ceryni a few marbles in a bag. "For each marble delivered, we will pay $10." Ten days' wages for each small marble delivered. That could add up quickly. And Ceryni got the feeling that Diffle's family might be more organized than most.

Cery couldn't manage containing the surprise on his face at Diffle's quick change in attitude and clear organisation. "Well damn this is sounding good to me. I can't make promises because I don't know this guy or what his security's like. Just let me know where I can find him, and where this portal of his is though and I'll see if I can do it. If I can I'll come tomorrow, or maybe the day after and we'll go from there."

With that in mind he takes off to see if he can find this man and size him up.

Ceryni had heard about Mr. Lyenz. He was not a pleasant man. He'd just as soon cheat you as pay you, and you never knew if you were getting a fair deal from him. He was reckless with his own life and safety, and he didn't treat his employees much better. He learned Portal Creation the hard way, before safe Private Oner schools opened up. He had the explosion scars to prove it. His leonid ancestry left him without any social skills, and without regard for anyone he walked on.

Mr. Lyenz operated out of a warehouse, with his proprietary Portals all partitioned off with two points of access for each. The premium pay outside-entry, and the laymen's labyrinth of corridors inside the warehouse. Premium pay guards were stationed where they could attend to 6 Portals at a time (2 below, 2 beside and 2 above), and a special entry cage permitted access by only one vehicle at a time to only one entry at a time.

The laymen's main entrance had guards, but the internal halls to the Portals were only patrolled by 5 guards. The entry guards search everyone who enters.

While watching for about an hour, Cery notices 4 produce delivery carts exiting the warehouse, 5 carts entering, and a steady stream of about 2 people per minute coming and going.

Satisfied with the knowledge he'd acquired so far, Cery now waits for Lyenz to leave the premises and follows him in the hopes that he'll go to a public place for a drink or meal or something of the like. He fully expects the man to sit alone brooding in the corner of some bar. Hopefully a chance to interact with him. If instead the man goes straight home Cery notes the location and returns here in order to see what security is like at night and if there are any holes or problems he can exploit.

Lyenz goes to a seedy bar in the Pirate district and buys a vial of Badblood and a Whisky Sour from the bartender. He goes to a corner booth as Ceryni expected and begins sipping his Whisky and getting out his pipe to smoke the Badblood.

Cery noticed no holes to exploit, but also only a few Magem users in the guards - no employees seemed to have any other magic than Magem.

Cery orders a weak ale not wanting to get himself drunk and just wanted to appear to be drinking heavily. He takes his mug and heads in the direction of the booth. He makes as if he's looking around at tables in that direction before picking out someone sitting on his own who looks like he's too drunk to really know what's going or probably even be able to stand without assistance.

He grabs the man by the scruff and drags him to his feet, saying loud enough that Lyenz can notice, "I thought I told you not to show your face again till you have my money." He pushes the man away letting him fall to the floor and takes his seat, giving him a sideways view of Lyenz sitting nearby in his booth. He grumbles in Lyenz's direction, "Give them an inch and they'll take a mile."

Lyenz watched bemusedly as Cery roughed up a delinquent customer. He answered, "Tell me about it!" as his mind raced. Here was a potential client. A shrewd business man like himself who wasn't bogged down by what the sheeples called 'morals'. He needed to feel this guy out and see if he could sell access to one of his more exploitable worlds he discovered. He followed up with, "Why not finish that drink over here at my booth? What business you in?" He pulled a few drafts from the Badblood pipe and waited on Cery.

Cery shrugs and then shifts from the chair he'd sat in to the one opposite Lyenz. "Some people just got no respect for paying them they owe, you know what I mean?" He takes a swig from his mug and then indicates the unconscious man speaking in a boistrous but not too loud voice, "Take that bum. He pays me to do a job, agrees to half upfront. When I come back to collect the other half, he flips me off and tells me he aint got it and yells at me to shove off. I'd turn him in but a night in a cell would probably be a luxury to filth like that."

He shakes his head then turns his attention back to Lyenz, "Sorry 'bout that, sometimes you just gotta let off some steam you know. Name's Cery, I do odd jobs for those that can't or won't do business with the guilds. Usually specialise in deliveries, sometimes acquisitions too," he gives Lyenz a knowing look. "And what about you?"

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"Ha! You're too kind. Me, I'd just sell him to the pirates."

"I'm in the smuggling trade myself, in a way. I own a bunch of Portals to places I discovered, and I sell access to the Portals to interested parties. Some of those places have laws about what can and can't be brought in. Selling what can be brought in is great for the rubes who pay to access my Portals, but the real money's in the contraband. I could use a good smuggler, if you're interested."

Cery's eyebrows perked up as he spoke, especially when it came to the job offer. He broke into a wide grin and said, "How about we get ourselves another drink and talk business then." He waves to catch the attention of nearest barmaid and indicates she bring them both another drink.
"So what did you have in mind? And I don't think I caught your name."

"Name's Lyenz. I wanna test you first." Lyenz waits for the drinks to arrive, then slams his back. Once he drinks it in less than a full second, he offers his Badblood pipe with a bit of liquid still in it and says, "Smoke this and race me to my Warehouse. I'll turn onto the street with my warehouse 5 blocks before I get there. If you make it to the facility first, the job is yours, payment up front. If I get there first, I'll give you the job with pay upon completion."

Cery drinks from his mug slower as he watches Lyenz slam his back. He accepts the pipe and takes a puff. The smoke swirls in his body and he feels a craving to get a pipe of his own. His mind grows foggy as he takes another puff before blinking away the disorientation for a moment and setting the pipe aside with some hesitation before downing the rest of his drink to wash the taste and feel away. Lyenz is already on his feet before Cery regains his mind and stumbles a little as he rises.
"You're on," he slurs his words a little. It was supposed to be done intentionally but Cery realises that some of the slurring was him naturally having lost himself a little to the smoke and drink.

The initial disorienting effect of the smoke and drink wears off, and the fun stage of the high kicks in. Ceryni feels great! It seems like the world is working exactly as it should, and he is its king. He knows who he is beyond the shadow of a doubt, and he is content with himself, confident in who he is and why he exists. Everything he thinks about is fascinating and complex, yet for him it seems easy to understand. Cery once met a man who could give the answer to any math question in less than a second, and now he thinks he knows what that must feel like, but his genius is in streetsmarts, shadow magic and thievery. Ceryni sees every shadow from here to 10 yards in every direction, regardless of what lays between him and the shadow, plus every shadow within line of sight. It's as if someone has lain a transparency of the shadows over his regular vision. He not only sees the shadows, he sees into them, where they come from, what source of light creates them, and what will come of them. He can feel them.

Cery is stunned by this feeling, it takes him a few moments to realise that the one he's supposed to be following is moving. He only noticed when all the shadows of the bar are wildly distorted by the opening of a door as Lyenz leaves. He shakes his head to try to remember what he's doing and steps back into the booth, slipping through the shadow into the one outside. He then scales the wall using sills and gutters to take to the rooves. Spotting Lyenz who seems to think he's given Cery the slip he follows over the rooftops shadowing his movements while he waits for them to get closer to the warehouse.

Lyenz jumps over buildings, and practically glides downward. If it weren't for his shadow-travel, Cery probably wouldn't be able to keep up. They round the last corner, 5 blocks from the warehouse. Lyenz glances behind and starts laughing, thinking that he's given Ceryni the slip, even though Cery get there first.

After Cery reveals he won, Lyenz says, "Well I didn't think you could do it, but since you did, I know I could use your talents. Follow me to my office."

Lyenz leads Cery to his office in the warehouse, and hands him a map of the warehouse, a bag of 100 marbles, and $50. Pointing to the very Portal that Diffle wanted help with, he says, "We have our customs on this end when they leave for Nexus, but they have their customs on their end too." He points to a room in the basement of the warehouse, "This is the employee locker-room. Feel free to use it. I trust you to figure out how to get this to through. There is a business on the other side called, 'Fogertie Foods'. Take the marbles there, and they'll give you a small box in exchange. Bring the box to me and I'll give you another $100. Be careful, because their customs will confiscate the marbles or the box if they find either. Good luck!" With that he leads Cery out of his office and begins to leave.

Cery leans against the wall panting for breath, pretending to be more tired than he ran less than you might expect, "Damn you're fast I almost didn't manage to get ahead. You gotta teach me how to do that." He pushes himself off the wall and follows Lyenz to his office and listens to the briefing, examining the marbles, weighing them, feeling them, generally seeing how they compare to the sample marble from Diffle he has stowed away right now.

"A few questions spring to mind: Am I worried about our customs too or just theirs? Do they search everyone, spot checks, detectors? Is the delivery expected now or do I have a little time; I wasn't expecting to get a job tonight afterall," he gives a quick grin at that last question. Either way he checks out the employee room too to see what's available.

They are identical to Diffle's marble.


Lyenz says, "Right, I almost forgot! He goes back into his office, and reaches into a drawer in his desk to pull out a badge with his face on it that says, "employee". He grabs a wandering cameracube and snaps an image of Cery, placing the image in his drawer. Then he says, "Show this to Security on your way in, and you'll bypass our scanners and won't have to pay to access the Portals. The name of the place you're smuggling into is RiSol-ju. The RiSolians have their own customs scanners, and they can detect the contents of these marbles. Since they're made of Void Magem the marbles themselves aren't hard to detect. Since they're often used to smuggle things, their customs agents will be especially alert for them. The Portal opens into a large room, and the only exit is guarded by their customs agents. Since this is the only Portal to or from their entire Oner, we are their sole source of goods that they don't have in their Oner, and there is a steady flow of traffic in and out. Mostly its vendors from our world who buy and sell in the room after the customs agents since the government there doesn't allow their people to leave and return."


Cery finds lockers, washing facilities, a breakroom with snack vending machines and a coffee pot.

Cery accesses the locker his new pass opens and stows the bag of marbles in there before relocking it. He then leaves the warehouse heading back for his place, it's been a good day and it was late. He can still feel the smoke in his head and he's tempted to head back to the bar but resolves to get some sleep and let it clear his system.

The next morning he heads to the market and searches for somewhere to buy a bag oof marbles from. He wants to find marbles that look similar to the ones he's smuggling but are actual genuine marbles so he can attempt to sneak them across customs.

The next day, he still feels that the boosting effects of the badblood smoke on his Shadow magic abilities is partially present. He gets the feeling that it will remain until he uses it up.

The Anima corporation sells the material storage marbles and their accompanying material accumulation devices. Matter is compressed inside Void marbles depending on the quality of Magem crystal used which affects the price. Simple 10 gallon marbles are $1 each, 20 gallon marbles for $5, 30 gal for $31.25, and 100 gal for $208.33. The Cheap Accumulation Device costs $50 and can be used to load and unload the marbles.

Cery acquires a large handful of plain glass marbles from the market of similar size to the storage marbles that he was expecting to smuggle. With those in hand he heads back to the warehouse and checks the locker to ensure the bag is still there. He then spends plenty of time hiding the regular glass marbles in various places on his person. In pockets, sleeves, shoes, wherever he has a little to room to secrete away one, the idea being to see where customs directs their searches most intently, if they do a pat down what might stick out, and in general if anything is noticeable during the whole process. With the marbles hidden away he heads for the customs checkpoint on this side.

It's always good to be friendly with those you're going to be working with, his father's words echo in his head. He does his best to be friendly and cordial, engaging in a little banter with those who are willing to play along and generally trying to be the sort of person who likes to be; one who people like having as a friend. He uses the employee card to get through any checks but still puts the effort in anyway. Then when he proceeds to customs on the other side he puts on the same act. He's just here to look around and he wants people to know he's just a friendly explorer or traveler sort. Afterall, he might be coming this way often.

At Lyenz's checkpoint, Cery walks up to a security guard who waves a wooden wand with a complex Magem pattern etched around it up and down both sides of Ceryni about 6" away from his skin & clothes. Without touching him, the guard says, "Have a nice trip, sir." He points to the exit into the warehouse complex.

Once through the Portal to RiSol-ju, he finds himself in a large waiting area with about 30 other people. There is a stand with a hook that has placards with numbers on them, and a sign that says, "take a number" and another one like it near the exit that says, "now serving". A few minutes later, more people have come through behind him, and it is almost his turn at the customs officers' area. There is an ornate doorframe big enough for a loaded cart, standing by itself unattached to any wall, that they are sending everyone through. Cery recognizes the man about 3 people ahead of him as a small-time smuggler and petty thief named Jo. When Jo goes through the doorframe, it lights up and makes an annoying noise. 10 customs officers pounce on him, putting his hands in a metal tube. Jo complains that he's innocent, but one of the officers brings a wand similar to the one Lyenz's guards used, and waves it over his body. The wand lights up over his stomach. Jo suddenly has a panicked look as one of the officers asks, "How long ago did you swallow it, sir?"

After arguing that he doesn't know what they're talking about, one grabs a frightening device she calls 'the extractor' and says, "this'll pull it straight out of you."

Jo squeals and admits through tears, "Alrightalright! I swallowed it just before I came through the Portal."

One of the officers gives him a glass of black sludgy liquid, "Drink this." After forcing him to drink the chunky liquid, Jo begins retching. He vomits a few times, and one of the officers picks up the tiny sealed vial of Badblood. She places the vial on a little spider-legged clockwork robot that scuttles over a large poster with foreign words scrawled over it, and it stops over a certain word. She reads the word and announces, "It's malhemotin. Book him."

The officers lead Jo through a door and out of sight.

When it's Cery's turn, he gets through without a problem. The officer tells him, "Enjoy your time in the RiSol-ju market! We ask visitors to remain in the market area for now, and enjoy the splendid variety of unique products we provide. We are proud to announce we will be expanding access to our perfect city to include the famous Miracle Bridges in the months to come." Cery has never heard of them, let alone RiSol-ju, before he so recently learned of it.

The customs waiting area is a poorly lit wood panelled barn. There is plenty of space around the customs scanning doorframe to walk around it. The only thing preventing people from doing so is the customs officials watching them. There is a separate room for evacuating bowels and bladders off to the side in the waiting area. People come and go from that room regularly.

Beyond the customs barn, there is a market with various vendors and stalls inside a large walled off area. The Northern half of the market is all Nexus vendors, and the South end is all RiSolian vendors. There are gates, one gate per wall, and although there are no scanners in the gates, there are guards. Cery notices that he hasn't seen a single RiSol-ju man, only women.

Just then an image of a planet exploding appears filling the sky, it seems to be everywhere at once. People scream and point for a few moments, going silent. But when nothing else happens, the noise and activity level returns to a slightly hushed normal.

Cery finds the Fogertie Foods stall easily enough.

OOC: the exploding planet has very little to do with Cery's storyline so far, though it will have an effect on his life later on
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:32, Wed 26 Feb 2020.

Cery checks out the bathrooms on either side of the checkpoint.  This seems like a great place to get out of sight of the guards. He checks them for places he can unseen, the stalls would be one by other potential blind spots. He considers the shadows thrown by the various objects and tries to reach for those in the bathroom on the other side of the checkpoint. Maybe he can pass the marbles through to the other side and then go through the checkpoint normally before retrieving them on the other side.

Once satisfied with this potential plan he spends a good amount of time exploring the market. Getting a feel for the lay out, the people, the places, the slang, whatever he can pick up. He pays special attention to where he needs to drop off both sets of smuggled items.

When a planet explodes overhead Cery jumps back, trying to seek cover behind a stall while people scream. Then it's gone and he wonders what he's just seen. He wonders if it's something he would have seen back home too, what caused it, where was that place? Many questions but no answers present themselves.

Once he's satisfied with his exploration a few hours later he returns to the warehouse to plan his next moves, including collecting the medicinal marbles for his double smuggling job. A day well spent he reckons.

He'll be able to use them with ease to pass through security completely undetected.

While passing between stalls, Cery noticed one vendor hidden behind 4 walls without a door, only a ladder to a tunnel below and a rooftop pathway from the top. He noticed her not only from her strange clearly contraband store, but also from the fact that she looked right into his eyes as he passed through shadows from the other side of the wall.


Through the darknetwork of the underworld and Ceryni's connections, and especially after sharing a few puffs of Badblood, Cery hears rumors that an ancient planet was pulled into the system by a secret government run by an evil genie with the help of angry Dragons and a team of evil Wizards to destroy Magem once and for all. Apparently all of the big heads of the big companies like Anima, AAFT, ComoweCorp and even the secret Pskaena Police are involved in a counterplot to undermine the goals of the evil side and save us all. The conspiracy theories sounded more reasonable, but Cery's contacts all agreed on these points, though none would give a source. Cery himself had a dream while on Badblood that involved a number of these things.

Cery collects his reward and the supplies.

Madness, Cery thinks to himself. But more importantly, not something he ever wants to find himself tangled up in. He knows he's just a humble man of the streets and delusions of grandeur do not become him. Just the dream of a comfortable life and maybe a few underlings to do his dirty work for him. He'd be lying though if his dreams that night didn't include some of those outlandish things.

The next day Cery begins his plans. Simple really: Grab both bags of marbles. Use his pass to get him through customs on this end without being searched. Use the bathrooms to deposite the bag in the darkest corner of the bathroom on the other side of the chekpoint. Increase the darkness to act as a barrier to keep the bag out of sight while he proceeds unhindered through customs. Retrieve the bag and deliver to the end recipients. Then repeat for the box.

Simple and with any luck, no complications. He almost finds himself congratulating himself before catching himself and realising the job's not even done yet, it wouldn't do to be so carefree. And so with suitable caution he enacts his plan.

02:27, Today: Narrator, on behalf of Ceryni, rolled 20 using 5d7 with rolls of 7,1,1,4,7.
02:26, Today: Narrator, on behalf of Ceryni, rolled 24 using 4d7 with rolls of 5,6,7,6.
02:26, Today: Narrator, on behalf of Ceryni, rolled 11 using 4d7 with rolls of 2,1,1,7.
02:25, Today: Narrator, on behalf of Ceryni, rolled 25 using 7d7 with rolls of 5,2,2,2,7,2,5.
02:24, Today: Narrator, on behalf of Ceryni, rolled 32 using 7d7 with rolls of 7,7,2,7,3,1,5.

Diffle gives him a bag with 167 marbles in it, and tells him to deliver it to the red door. Cery remembers there being one red door in only one shop.

Ceryni is easily able to pass the marbles from one side to the other, and the darkness spell works well enough the second time around, that the whole bathroom dims and all the shadows increase. The woman who stared at Cery from the secret room the other day, stares at him again.

But when the 2 bags of marbles are placed in the darkness the first time around, Cery discovers a child playing with his marbles. Fortunately, the child runs off, leaving everything as it should be.

When he delivers Lyenz's marbles, the shop clerk of Fogertie Foods says, "Thank you! You wouldn't believe how hard it is to obtain BadBlood here. This will make a mint!" She then hands Cery the box for Lyenz.

When he delivers Diffle's marbles, the woman who had been staring at him from the secret shop in shadow-vision accepts the bag and says, "You have quite a talent, young man. If Diffle doesn't offer you a job, I know I could use your services. And I'd pay handsomely too. In the meantime, I've been asked to give you your pay upon receipt, so here you go." She hands him $1670 - 6.5 years worth of regular wages.

When he returns to the warehouse, Lyenz meets him in the office, and says, "Well done lad! The world shines on you. Here's your reward.

OOC: My style is to include many different parts from unspecified time differencials, so feel free to respond to any one or all of these.

$100 from the box, $1670 from Diffle's marbles added to CS.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:13, Fri 20 Mar 2020.

Cery is quite pleased with how things are going. The little kid playing with the marbles is a nuisance but kids will be kids - at least that's the thought once he confirms that no marbles were taken. He pulls the cloak he received a little tighter around him once he's on the streets making his deliveries, it almost gives him a feeling like a comfort blanket to a child, like something he'd had for years despite only receiving it days ago. He makes a note to return to the kind old lady later.

When he drops off the badblood Cery's eyes linger on the bag a little too long and he can feel a little pang of desire there. He almost consisders asking for a marble as payment but instead thinks to ask Lyenz for a taster on his return. Having that kind of awareness of the shadows would be invaluable for some jobs ... at least that's how he rationalises it in his mind. "It must be tough doing business with those strict customs folks out there, I mean if there's a market for something then there's always going to be a supply for it."

Once he follows up dropping off Diffle's marbles he actually feels his face warm a little at the compliments before saying, "Well thank you, sometimes it's just nice to feel appreciated. But if you're serious about the job offer maybe I'll swing back here some time. After pulling this off though I think I'll treat myself tomorrow to a quiet day, maybe go to one of those health spa places for an hour two, I've heard some big talk about them." Cery graciously accepts the payment with a smile and thanks.

He loiters around the market a little longer, not wanting to seem out of place by coming and going too frequently. He grabs himself a little snack and drink at a cafe to relax for a short period before bringing the box back to Lyenz.
"Much appreciated. Your bussiness associate said  badblood is tough to get - makes it sound like you're the only supplier he gets. He must be a good customer for you. Last night was actually the first time I tried it myself, I can see the appeal. You wouldn't happen to have a few tasters around? With all our running around last time I wouldn't mind seeing what a full one would do without all the adrenaline running through me."

Whether he can sweet talk some of the stuff off Lyenz or not he returns to the old lady late that afternoon with a very cheerful attitude. "Good afternoon ma'am, Cery declares brightly. I finished with the job and I just wanted to come back and thank you for the cloak. I haven't felt so comfortable since ... well since I was a baby I guess. It feels just right so I just wanted to come back and let you know."

ooc: I'm actually very happy with your style so far, it's so easy to play off of and keeps things moving

"And if you can find a way to supply it yourself at a better price than what he's charging, then I'd be more than happy to take you up on that offer. Lyenz is clearly gouging us."

---

"Ducky's Spas are honestly the best, but if you're looking for something a little bit different, my family runs a number of spas ourselves. I even have a coupon for a free two hour session, if you're interested."

---

"As a matter of fact I do!" He pulls out of box with seven vials in it. "Here's a sampler set of 7 different varieties that we have on offer. They're each neatly labelled so feel free to try them at your leisure and if you want, there's more where these came from for the appropriate price of course."

---

On the way to the old lady, Ceryni thinks he notices someone following him, but when he glanced behind him, no one is there.


"Oh thank you so much dearie, it was made just for you. I only make what I feel like I'm supposed to make. Like these gloves that I feel should go to your mother."
She hands him a set of gloves.

"I'll keep my ears open and let you know if I hear anything. You can't blame him though in a way. It's tough getting this stuff through those tough customs and he's letting the fact that he's got a monopoly on the line go to his head probably."



"Really? Well I certainly do appreciate that. Though I get the feeling maybe you just want me coming around more often," he gives a cheeky grin.



"My mother?" Cery eyes the old woman suspiciously. He tries to avoid any link between him and his mother for her own safety. He would have chalked this up to just a general gift but something about her told him she knew more than she let on. There wasn't much he could do about it though so he shrugged and the suspicious look left his face. Though the spring in his step has now gone, "Well thank you again."

"I'll say! I have to charge $100 for each ounce in these marbles just to operate at cost. Now that enough people have tried it, they're willing to pay, too."


Diffle giggles and blushes, but says, "Oh, you don't want to be my rebound. Let's save us till I'm back to myself. Let me know if you ever want that coupon!"


"Wait a moment, I apologize for mentioning the person who might benefit most from those gloves. Have you not wondered why I am the only person vetting the people looking for questionably lawful jobs? I don't have a file with everyone's information - that could be stolen by the police of another district in Nexus. I'm a Truthteller. I know things, and I've made sure everyone wants me alive because of it. I'm a danger to Nobody."

"I can imagine, he had me try it too, that stuff is ... potent. Anyway I'll let you know if I find anything. Take care."


ooc: Isn't it Diffle's contact he's talking to in this situation?

"Oh if you insist. I'll happily accept that coupon though, thanks!" Cery gives another big smile before exiting.


"I mean I was curious and it gave me a fright of course, but you learn not to ask too many questions early or you get in trouble. Besides from what I knew so far either you're not threatening me or you are and you're in a position where there's nothing I can do about it - either way meant being hostile wouldn't help my case," Cery winces as he says that. "I just don't like people," he catches himself mid-sentence then continues a little slower and quieter, "Talking about her." She could be very dangerous, Cery doesn't like how freely he was speaking with her, something about her mannerism just made her easy to talk to.

OOC: Oops. Diffle is the one who giggled. The contact isn't interested, and I had Cery with Diffle in my mind as the one talking about spas. The contact would've left it at a job offer and otherwise remained mysterious.

IC:
The truthteller puts a reassuring hand on Cery's shoulder. "You have no reason to fear me. I know how to keep secrets. Stay safe, and thank you for giving your old cloak to someone in need. It says alot."

Cery is free of obligations at this point, free to do whatever comes to mind.
With 3 years worth of cash to invest, he could live like a king, buy a cheap space-yacht, even start his own organization if he wanted.

Cery's smile returns as he once again thanks the old lady and wishes her a good day before leaving.

That evening Cery spends perhaps a little too long staring at the vials of badblood. He wants to try some more but it's late and he manages to convince himself that it'd be better if trying one again waits till he has the whole afternoon free, maybe tomorrow.

The following day Cery decides to put Diffle's voucher to good use and spend a few hours at a spa, enjoying the relaxation and it gives him time to think about what to do with his new earnings. His first thoughts were about going into business for himself. That was his goal afterall. Enquires will need to be made first though, he'll need to start small.

Then his thoughts turn to the gloves and his mother. If he does start making a name for himself this might be his only chance to see her. Once he's finished with the spa he retrieves a little of his new earning from various hiding places and stowing it in pockets all over, as well as the gloves. Not a lot of money but enough for her to have some emergency funds in case she falls out of work to feed herself for a while.

There's a little time spent procrastinating as he wanders around his little home thinking about this. Eventually he decides to just get on with it and heads towards his mother's home. As he travels he occasionally checks if he's being followed and occasionally uses his shadow affinity to throw off potential pursuers when no one would notice, such as turning a corner into an empty alley and then stepping through the shadows to the other end of the alley. Until he finally arrives at his mother's house. He takes a deep breath and knocks.

OOC: I'm taking liberty with Tania, so please let me know if any of it is off, and how it aught to be if different.

IC:
Tania throws the door wide open before Cery's fist ever hits the door. She Judos his knock into a surprise embrace (pulling them into the home and closing the door) and smothers him with kisses on his cheeks.

"Ceryni, my son! It's such a treat to see you! Let me get a good look at you, my Cery."

After her display of affection, she stands back and looks him over from top to bottom. His time in the spa really relaxed him, so he was looking his physical best. "Mmm mmm! How you're not being followed by 13 little Cerys is beyond me! What is my joy up to these days?"