"I think I would like tutelage in magic for my pay."

Polkitain said with a smile.

He then listened to the other men speak of their jobs.
He turned to look at his companions to see their reaction.

Doc eyes the three new comers to the party carefully, they seemed like big wigs, and in the West, a lot of the time, that was enough. Doc tipped his hat to the four warlords as they had been called. "Yeah, I get it. You folks run things, like to make it known too. That's fine. But you can't honestly expect us to take a job before we know anything about it. Hey, I got a job you want it? I can't tell you about it til we have an agreement... but it's good." Rolling his unlit cigar around his mouth, Doc shrugged, "Ain't how it normally works folks. If ya wantin' us to be your errand boys, you gonna have to talk a little more."


15:00, Today: Doc rolled 54 using 1d100.  streetwise(beat 37).

14:59, Today: Doc rolled 81 using 1d100.  lore monster or psychic(no skill).

14:59, Today: Doc rolled 3 using 1d100.  lore magic(no skill).IQ is 14... does this pass?

Samuel looks at the four one by one before stating, "I don't speak for the rest, but I am happy to give them a base of operations for whomever wants to continue in your service. I do, regardless. I am up for just about anything you have, that pays, including being the resident fix-it man on just about anything mechanical. E-Clip recharging at reduced prices for employers are a courtesy. If you let me know how far away this 'errand in the North' might be, I can let you know how fast I can do it by myself. I am talking hours....so I can get back and help out with the other possible missions within a day."

Arulas has acquired extensive experience with the monsterous races during his long career. Rarely, he has even fought on the same side with some. Due to his time among (and against) Simvan Monster Riders, he is able to read this chief's tattoos and jewelry like an open book. This warlord must be the Talon, the second most powerful Simvan chief in the Pecos Empire after the infamous Zimchex. The Talon and his crew specialize in riding flying mounts like leatherwings and griffons. They are actually a principled group of guys, but most people don't know this because they cannot get past the behavior of the Talon's tribe. These guys are rude, gross, dishonorable, quick-tempered, violent, arrogant, and loud.

The warlords listen to the PCs say what needed to be said. They nod is acknowledgement -- except the orc who just sort of scowls less.

When no else speaks, the Lady in Green addresses some of what she was told. "Little dragon, I have experience with creatures of magic like yourself. Extensive knowledge is within you already, but sometimes the young have gaps. In order to find your knowledge, some filling of those gaps is in order. I think that I know how. I will personally teach you what you need to know, but remember, you asked for this."

"Sir Arulas is it? You seem to speak for the majority when Lady Kalista is away. Can you give me a list of what you need from my technowizard?"

The broad-shouldered orc shrugged. Then he added, "The cigar-chomping little elf isn't wrong. I wouldn't take the deal. This special job isn't going anywhere tonight. Maybe after we've established some mutual trust, we can talk about it again. I don't work with crews that don't have a name for their crew anyway. The Lady knows how to get a hold of me. These sharp-nosed raiders look like they could use a rest."

All of the fake rune weapons found were destroyed by way of exorcism. What was left are empty replicas made from cheap metals. These pieces of junk are piled on a table in front of the warlords. The man in the uniform actually laughs at the sight. He offers, "Okay, I'll buy these off you. In exchange, I'll cover the cost of recharging your eclips. Just turn over any clips that you want topped off to any of the fae flying around here, and the Lady's techs will take care of it for you. She will bill me, and we'll call it an even trade."

"Regarding my little errand to the north, it's just something that can be done while you are on the trail already. It's not really worth your time to make a special trip. Not far from where you were when you completed the job for the Lady in Green, I have a crew of workers digging out an old Golden Age facility. It's not a military bunker. It's just some sort of storage facility. I haven't heard from my crew, but radio silence is a part of their job, so this is expected. I merely want somebody to drop off a letter to drop off some food and water for my people, and tell them that I will be coming by to check on them myself in a few days. I will pay five hundred credits for this service."

The Talon (Simvan chief) breaks his poker face to throw Samuel a look. The looks says, "Come on, you can't be considering this." Then he gets up and leaves without saying goodbye.

P.S.: If nobody speaks up, nobody gets paid.

I, however, will pay some experience points. As I explained earlier, I am not keeping a tally of XP in this game like I normally do. Let's round this up to 3001 points for everyone. That way, everybody at least attains 2nd experience level.

Ethan feels a strong impulse to follow the female cyber-knight but resists it, at least for a little while. He doesn't feel strongly about any of the potential job offers but he does feel the need to get paid for work already accomplished. He proceeds to tell the gathered important persons just that.

"I'm fine with letting my companions decide the next mission. Actually it's more like I go wherever my ride goes so wherever Samuel takes the Behemoth is where I will be. I would like to get paid though. Based on how I understood the terms, each of us should get close to nine thousand credits. If you would, please send my pay to the Behemoth. I'd appreciate it and will leave you now to get on with your no doubt busy schedules." Ethan says this without any trace of sarcasm or disrespect. Indeed his tone is the opposite, acknowledging that whoever these people are, they are clearly persons of power and authority in this region.

 Ethan then heads for the hotel, where he hopes to take a shower and change into clean clothes before looking for Kalista.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:53, Sat 11 Feb 2017.

 "I need a piece of paper or something to make a list on. Do we have numbers on the vampire nest? I need as much information as you have on this." he starts making notes for a minimum assault based on standard number of vampires.

Doc nodded to the orc, "Couldn't agree more sir, glad we at least understand that much. Ain't really figured a name for the crew. I'm sure we can come up with something to your liking though. And yeah, I could use some money."

Polkitain looks briefly confused by how the green lady responded but nods.

"We could call ourselves Lumberjacks since you all took down that evil tree."

Kalista left the tent in a bit of a daze. Her thoughts and emotions were all jumbled and tangled, like a spider web that had been stirred up with a stick. She did not know why she went to her saddlebags for her more formal regalia, there was no need for it, and yet she was carrying it and her grooming bag to the inn. She paid for a room, bath, and meal. She went to the room that had heated tubs, stripped out of her armor and stealth clothing beneath and took a long warm bath.

She was shaving her legs when she realized with a start why she was going to so much trouble. She wanted to impress Ethan. She wanted him to see her as beautiful and desirable, which made her feel as though she were loosing her mind. This had never...in sixty years...been so important. There was a knot in her stomach when she thought of him not thinking of her this way and thus insane or not she continued.

She dried herself and looked at her formal dress. Perhaps he would not like it, it covered her throat to ankles, but it did match her eyes and it was the most feminine thing she owned. She pursed her lips, it would have to do. She did have stockings, she had only worn them a handful of times, and she used powder to make sure the went on smoothly. She had never thought of the garter belt, yet she felt even more pretty with it on now, even though no one would see it. She even told herself she was putting panties on top so that they could be taken down easier in case she needed to use the restroom. It was a lie, she knew it was a lie, but she told it to herself anyway. She wore a corset, again because it was what she owned not for Ethan to see, no it was enough that she had it on. She smiled just a little at the thought of him seeing it, then brushed the thought aside. She dried and combed her hair in front of the changing mirror. Yesterday she would have thought this vanity, and yet here she was going so far as to make her hair pretty and not in a braid.

She used only very light makeup, accentuating her lips and eyes. This she could not lie to herself about so she just refuse to think on why she did it, Best not dwell she told herself again and again. He wouldn't be interested anyway, I am too broad for a woman. Maybe I can hide it in my dress, with petticoats. She put on three layers of petticoat, in hopes it would soften her appearance, and it work, kind of, at least she looked less broad now. Last went her dress and healed shoes. What if he doesn't pick this hotel? What if he never sees me like this, all this trouble wasted. I will not chase after him, I am not a teenage girl! She held her head up, You will not chase after him. That is an order! She nodded in agreement with herself, he would see her or not, as he would.

When she was finally ready she went back down and had the meal brought to a table. The waiter was a nice young man who pulled her chair out for her. She smiled and nodded which caused him to blush as he put her plate in front of her. Well at least someone thinks I am pretty.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:15, Sat 11 Feb 2017.

Ethan returned to the Behemoth and went directly to his small, barracks like quarters on board. He preferred to think of the room as 'cozy' rather than cramped. Truthfully it had nothing to do with him being enamored with minimalistic living conditions than it did with it reminding him of the life he had life behind. Samuel's 'ancient' Behemoth was like a tangible connection to his past. That made it worth far more to him than any size room he could have afforded in the local hotel.

He stripped out of his fatigues and showered though he forgoed shaving as he had taken care of that little detail earlier. Once out of the shower, he looked over his modest collection of clothes. He decided against wearing his other set of fatigues. He wanted to feel like something other than a soldier right now. "Besides you aren't supposed to drink in uniform", he thought.

With those thoughts in mind, he selected one of the two civilian outfits he owned; a jet black dinner jacket, white button shirt and matching pants. His issue dress shoes pulled double duty as his shoes for this too.

Finished with that he took care of the final details, his hair and cologne. Fortunately with his short hair, his staying options were limited but he did apply gel and run a comb through it to make it nice and neat. The cologne, another bygone like him, he applied sparingly.

He gave himself a final look in the mirror and finding no faults, left his cabin. He exited the Behemoth and walked to the hotel. Unlike him, Kalista was not overly fond of the walking science robot. He doubted he would find her on board but the hotel on the other hand seemed like a good place to start. "And I'm hungry anyways so even if I don't find her, I can grab a decent meal."

He entered the hotel and proceeded to the dining area. He paused near the entryway to the room, his eyes scanning for the battle hardened warrior woman. Because of that he missed her at first, not realizing the stunning beauty sitting by herself was in fact Kalista.

He did a double take as his eyes darted back to her. Then he overcame his reaction and walked up to her. He stopped in front of her table after the waiter left. "Excuse Lady Kalista", he said formally, using her title as if it was a military rank. "Would you mind company? For some reason I don't want to eat alone right now".
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Sun 12 Feb 2017.

Samuel pipes up and says, "How much food and water are we talking about? My carrying capacity is very limited in the fashion I was intending to travel...."

Kalista had been lost in thought, pushing food around her plate rather than actually eating it. Her thoughts had drifted to the carnal, again something she is not used to having happen. When she heard her name she was snapped to reality and looked up to find the same face that had occupied her fantasy. Her embarrassment turned immediately to humiliation and desire as she blinked to make sure this was real. She was a bit slack jawed at his seeming appearance at the exact time she was musing about him, shocked perhaps was a better word. She stammered, "Company...uhhmmm...you mean with me? I uhhh...you may sit but you must hear me out before deciding whether to stay."

She stared at him as she gathered her turmoil of thoughts together. "Where to begin?" This was a question she was asking herself and meant as rhetorical, "I am unused to this, so you must be patient. What you are feeling may not be your own emotion. This may be difficult for you to understand given that you seem to have been displaced by a rift. This is a common occurrence, the displacement I mean. I once met a man who was from the late 19th century by pre-rift calendar. Strange fellow. But back to the point, what you might be feeling is my emotional state. Someone unused to this, being psychic phenomenon such as sharing another's emotional state, might mistake it for their own emotional state. Allow me to demonstrate."

She looked him in the eye, which was difficult for her and he could feel that difficulty. "I am not a virgin." He could feel not only her deception but the pain of both the deception and what it admitted about her. "I am, however, sixty years of age, chronologically, meaning I have actually lived through sixty years." Here he can feel her lack of deception. "Do you understand?"

Polkitain remained in the tent with Lady Green to see what it was that she would teach him. He tried to remain patient even though his youth struggled against that.

Whilst the others push and prod at the Warlord, Nyx remained silent. Only after the others had begun to trail out on their various errands did he speak, "Sounds like we're hunting leeches, my Lady. But me and the Lumberjacks will be back to find out about the 'special'"

Doc nodded at his brothers statement, a grin on his face, "I like it. Cuttin' down problems."

"Our hatchling is naive, not stupid", chuckled Nyx, in a rare display of emotion. Glancing back at where the youngster had begun to work with the Lady, he nodded at his brother, "Speaking on which, time we left. Going to get all kinds of mystical and shit"

A Nightelf Faerie appears with a stack of cred chips. Each chip is loaded with nine thousand black market credits, certified by the Lady in Green. Four chips are distributed to Samuel, Arulas, Doc, and Nyx. The lady mentions, "Credits for Lady Kalista and that young man with the lost look on his face will be left for them to collect at the general store in town before they leave."

In Dragonese, she speaks to Polkatain directly. "Young dragon, follow me into another room. You have opted to be paid in knowledge instead of gold. Your lesson begins now. Bring with you anyone who wants a crash course in practical magic. You may share payment if you chose." With nothing further, the lady stands, bows to all, and leaves through a tent flap which more faeries open for her.

The orc warlord goes over what he knows about the latest vampire threat. He speaks in American to the remaining characters, probably Nyx, Doc, Samuel, and Arulas. "There is no specific nest which is causing trouble here, it's more like one bloodsucker in particular."

"This town was raided last night. It isn't that uncommon as some wilds from time to time get lucky enough to capture a boat and go hunting on our side of the river. This group was just more brazen, hitting the town while a Warlord of Pecos was camped here. About a dozen wilds hit the town in a blitz. The Lady's fae soldiers made quick work of them, but there were casualties on both sides. A couple of second-tier bloodsuckers who were managing the raid got away. We don't know how they managed to get across the river. Lots of packs have been getting more aggressive in this region over the last few weeks. We warlords think we have figured out who is pushing them."

"You see, there used to be a gunfighter from a crew called the Wolfpunchers. His name was Severance. He was one of the best too, but he went off onto his own and vanished on us. Some of the fae performing recon claim to have seen him on the other side. He's hunting and transforming travelers, but he doesn't change just any villager. When you get turned into a bloodsucker, you lose all of the magic which you had. If you're a borg or even a Crazy, your robotic bits get spat out. Your skills, however, remain intact. Severance was very skilled. He's hunting other skilled individuals who can offer expertise and variety to the bloodsucking armies. He specializes in hunting vampire hunters, but he also has been grabbing up Wilderness Scouts and Mercs. It's not just humans and orcs either. It turns out that most any orc-shaped folks can be turned, even bigguns like trolls and wolfen. Fae and Dragons seem to be immune though, so they just get torn apart. We think his pack is responsible for making off with an Operator last night. A lot of Operators have gone missing lately."

"We have been searching. The Simvan boys have been flying past the river during daylight hours and performing aerial searches. I already have lots of orcs sweeping the desert in small squads, visiting the hideouts we know about. We're working with a former Cyberknight too, one Sir Raven. There's a lot of desert over there to search, so a team of Lumberjacks shaking trees could be very helpful, and you might get lucky enough to find Severance for yourselves."

Polkitain nods and looks to his friends to see if any have an interest, If none do he follows after the Lady in Green quite happy with knowledge instead of credits.

At the mention of Severance, Nyx smiled thinly and tried to catch his brother's gaze: there was a hunt afoot here, and one they were suited to. Nyx was damned good, but smart enough to know he might need Doc's help with someone seasoned. Still, he smiled broadly, and whispered in Dragonese, "Get his number, I'm with the hatchling"

With that he followed Polk into the back room - though he was keen on the foe, he needed to learn a little about the kind of foe they'd been tangling with. After their adventure on the road he was aware just how many gaps there were in his own knowledge and he had noted a burgeoning itch at the back of his skull when certain folk where around

OOC: Boosted Nyx to Lv2, including taking Sense Evil as a psionic

Doc nodded, "Go learn yer finger wagglin' nonsense brother. I'll get useful info." Doc teased his brother, turning to Iron Gut, "Be real specific boss, there's a bit difference between a fighter and a slinger, is Severance a fighter or slinger? And I reckon we can find him alright. Even if he's turned he's got a rep. Pride can get us all in trouble, yeah? What else you know about this fella... what was he like? More we know easier it'll be to catch him... and by catch him, I mean kill him."

Polkatain follows the Lady in Green into an adjacent room. Nyx trails behind. It looks just like the previous room with it's central table and canvas walls. Anyone paying attention will notice that there is no noise from the outside world in this particular room. The primary difference here is the heavy steel chains and manacles on the table's surface.

The Lady explains, "My experience has been that doing is the superior way of learning. With that in mind, I have devised my own method for teaching the core concepts of practical spellcasting in the least amount of time possible. In fact, it will take exactly sixty seconds after we begin. Please, sit at the table."

"Notice that the chains are securely fastened to the table. Four sets of manacles are here, but we will only need two. These are not merely chains of slavers or jailers. Notice the silver wiring and small crystals attached to many links. Look at the mystic symbols on the manacles. I purchased these manacles from a friend who practices the art of technowizardry. He performs as an escape artist is a traveling circus. He used to use these exact chains in his act, and he has built them with the Escape spell in their design. When magically triggered, these chains will release whomever they are holding."

"Now, place them on your wrists and lock the bracers in place."

At this point, Nyx is not feeling the warning from Sense Evil. In fact, that feeling went down when he left the orc's presence. Instead, his Six Sense is alerting him of danger.

Do Nyx and-or Polkatain follow her instructions?
This message was last edited by the player at 06:21, Sun 19 Feb 2017.

"Alright elfy, it looks like you are repping for the lumberjacks. Since you asked about Severance, I'll tell you what I know. He was born into a small tribe of nomads who were rifted into the Mexican territory sometime during the Dark Age. As the vampires grabbed up territory, these orcs migrated further north until they came to Pecos territory and joined up with my tribe. He was wet behind his ears, but he was one of the few who came out of the Vampire Kingdoms and lived to tell about it -- very few. When we gave some firearms, he took to them. He wasn't talented exactly, just lucky and determined. He spent all of his plunder on ammunition. He worked with his guns for years until he became an expert, one of my best. That's not talent; that's skill."

"He's a gun fighter alright. He prefers his reliable JA-11 longbarrel, an authentic antique from the Golden Age that we collected from this merc once. Most of my crew likes Remis or Narunis, guns that kick and make a loud bang. This kid liked his assassin rifle which has quietly been through the Great Cataclysm and keeps picking off targets generation after generation. He carries an NG-33 Northern Laser Pistol as his backup, nothing fancy but reliable. He's also very good with an hatchet which is how he got his name."

"Severance travels light. He's never worn much armor. I don't know how he gets around these days. He used to have a bionic eye which our cyber-doc gave him, but after he went all fang,
his fleshy eye grew back."

"About six months ago, Severance was the scout in a party that was chasing a Naruni merchant across the river. The merchant had done us dirty, and -- well, that's another story. The raiding party vanished. Not even the buzzards could find them. The only trace of them found was that bionic eye on the desert floor. I'm told that the cyberknight tracking him, Lord Raven is his name, has that eye now."

"Severance was always a funny sort of orc, more like an elf really. He wasn't mean or kind, just serious. He never had time for anything that wasn't business or practice. He didn't even spend time with the females if you can imagine that. If you had a useful skill, he would grant you his respect. If you didn't, he would ignore you. If you wouldn't let him ignore you, that's when the orc in him came out. He could hold a grudge as well as any orc."

"So that's Severance. No family. No past. No future. Just a smelly old gun, and a bottle of tequila."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:27, Wed 22 Feb 2017.

"No", stated the elf, clearly and firmly, "Nor you, Polk. They reek of danger"