IC: The Sun Never Sets, IC thread for The Sun Never Sets Options

[phlapjack77]

The words of his companions sound wise and compassionate.

Smohalla nods his head slightly in agreement with their decision.

If only their ongoing situation were as easy to solve as this one was.

[Tecumseh]

The elves slowly straighten up. The one who was knocked over stands with as much dignity as he can muster. The one with the injured hand slowly grabs his revolver off the ground, frowning as he inspects it for damage. He doesn't look pleased with its condition. Nick and the other human move back to the Tata. Nick gets in first so that he can sit between or behind the elves. The other human jumps on the back and holds on to the roll cage. He's decidedly less animated than before. The elves get in, start the engine, and slowly point the Tata out of town. They roll the windows down to give you the one-fingered salute before they slam on the gas, spinning the wheels and throwing up a cloud of dust before the Tata regains its traction and bolts for the highway. They're gone.

You're back by yourselves, left to wonder who put the bounty on the Sisters and how it can be stopped. ¥15,000 is a healthy bounty, one that would draw a lot of attention out in the woods, especially among hunters and subsistence types for whom the money could last a year or two. But ¥15,000 for each Sister is serious nuyen, the kind that attracts professional hitters - gun bunnies, gillettes, and madmen of every sort who are good at what they do simply because they are not dead. They will not be so easily scared off.

[phlapjack77]

We must find out who is offering the bounty.

As of now it seems only the foolish and unprepared have appeared.

Yet those who are more capable will surely follow.

Who would have the resources to offer such a high amount?

Could it be offered as a way of revenge?

The boy killed in the fire watch tower...

His father was a powerful man, was he not?

[pbangarth]

"Yeah," says Stogie. "He's a mover in Gaeatronics, from what Jeff figured out. A company with a reputation for working on the clean side of things. Certainly the money would be there. There's the university where he was studying, too. Maybe if we figured out what he was working on, we could tell who wanted it stopped. I think Jeff figured out that Shiawase was being blanked out of Seattle energy providing. If the youngster was on to something big, they might have tried to stifle it.

"So, it looks like we have at least two angles to work."

[phlapjack77]

Smohalla pauses and thinks back before answering.

According to Ellie he was working on something that would steal Talol's energy.

A sense of foreboding fills my being.

The longer we are away from the Sisters...

It is dangerous to leave them by themselves, both for them and for others as well.

Can you conduct inquiries from the remoteness of their campsite?

Or is some special item needed?

[pbangarth]

"No, man, this would require going closer to the source of information. Jeff mighta been able to do something with a satellite link, if he hadn't buggered off on that thing with his girlfriend, but not me." Stogie scratches Jakes ear, as the dog has been poking his knee with his muzzle ever since the rowdies left.

[phlapjack77]

Smohalla doesn't seem entirely comfortable with this idea.

The thought of interacting too much with modern civilization...

If Stogie didn't know better he'd think that he'd ruffled a few of the shaman's feathers.

[AtroposReborn]

Ellesar notices the expression inhabiting Smohalla's face and decides to interject. "We should be heading back to camp. No telling what the sisters could be up to by now. I do not like leaving them alone. Besides, we will need a plan before we go messing with the locals again. I think a good place to start will be tracking down the man that was so in tune with continuing the student's study. And who is this Talol anyway?"

[phlapjack77]

Talol is a kachina...the spirit of the mountain.

He has grown more powerful since the Awakening.

This student's project was some scheme to steal power from his very essence.

The Sisters show no remorse for their actions, but I cannot fault their goals.

My friend, you speak wisely. We should return.

[Tecumseh]

It's been all of 16 hours since you walked into Greenwater. As it will be an easy flight, Smohalla is not particularly daunted by the prospect of returning to the Sisters. Stogie and Ellesar, however, are not quite so blessed. Their feet are already singing to them from yesterday's 30 kilometer hike and here they are, setting off to do it all over again. Man, Ellesar didn't even have to hump like this in the Peace Force.

Your bodies are starting to cry out for better nutrition too. You have rations so it's not like you're going to starve, but the high-fat, low-fiber MREs leave you feeling heavy and ungainly. The cool weather means that you're not sweating much, so the high salt content of the meals prompts you to drink and retain a lot of water. With luck, Ellie will have something homemade brewing for you over the fire, hopefully something that doesn't require any of the ingredients on her shopping list that you've ignored.

The hike itself is uneventful, just you and your dirty socks and hot feet. There's no Toothy, no barghests, no city slickers out of their element. Smohalla flies high above, keeping overwatch on the forested valley below. He conjures some modest spirits to accelerate the journey so that it doesn't take all day.

You walk back into camp shortly before dinner, finding it a drastically changed place. The earth spirits have been busy, transforming the area approaching the lake into something of a maze of trenches and berms. Making your way through, you find the Sisters seated by their campfire. Sure enough, there's a pot bubbling over the fire, wafting something into the air that smells good. This clearing hasn't been altered just yet; you get the sense that it will be the last thing to change.

Ellie looks up, welcoming you with a smile and a happy "Ah!" She stands and holds her arms open. "You've returned! And so soon! We hardly expected you until tomorrow at the earliest!" She looks pleased. Hester and Selene look rather passive at your return. K'wa'iti is here in wolf form too, his muzzle covered in red. He glances up from something he's gnawing on, which looks distressingly like someone's arm.

[pbangarth]

Jake takes the maze of berms and trenches as a personal challenge, and scurries up and down, around and through. Stogie knows that Jake will be able to negotiate this maze better than any of their team, now. Except Smohalla, of course, who will just fly over it.

As Ellie rise to greet them, Stogie comes to her and receives her embrace. He smiles at her, and at the two less demonstrative Sisters. "You've been very busy! Amazing work. It's just as well. We had to cut our journey short and return to you. We need to talk. May we rest a moment before we fill you in?"

[AtroposReborn]

Ellesar follows Stogie's lead, remaining quiet. His face exhibits as positive a demeanor as he can manage, considering the day's events.

[Tecumseh]

Ellie looks mildly taken aback. "Well, yes, of course. We can talk over dinner if you like. I have a stew in the pot. Don't worry - K'wa'iti didn't supply the ingredients."

She turns back to the fire, which looks inviting. It's a cold autumn evening now that the sun has gone down. Ellie returns to her seat while K'wa'iti gnaws on his mass of blood and bone, eyeing Jake with a territorial warning in his eye. The troll seems to be carving a piece of wood that's about a meter long. It has a sharp, conical point that makes it look like a spear, although in her huge hands it looks more like a giant dart. The ork summons a small ball of fire out from underneath the cast iron pot. She passes the flame back and forth between her hands, letting it hover over her palms. Whether she's practicing something specific or merely amusing herself is an open question. She smiles at the flames as they illuminate her face from beneath.

[phlapjack77]

Smohalla eases himself down near the fire, close enough for the warmth to be comfortable.

He studies the actions of the campsite dwellers before turning to their main host.

Our quick return had me unable to buy the supplies you wanted, Ellie.

Please forgive me for failing in this task.

Yet the situation seemed grave enough.

The arm-gnawing shapechanger gives him pause.

It seems you have had more unwelcome visitors during our absence.

[Tecumseh]

Ellie's lips purse in a look of disappointment at the news that you didn't bring any groceries. "We're out of sugar," she says, tapping her chin. "Dessert will be savory then."

Hester and Selene scrunch up their faces too; they look annoyed by the prospect of no dessert. "We'll just have to go into town ourselves then," Ellie says in response to their scowls, clapping her hands once to demonstrate her decisiveness.

"Pay no attention to K'wa'iti," she adds with a dismissive wave and a distasteful look. "Who knows where he got that dreadful thing." She looks away with a puckered face. "But we mustn't chide Nature for following Her course."

[pbangarth]

Stogie takes a seat near the fire, warming his hands in front of him. Jake curls up at his feet, just happening to be facing in the direction of K'wa'iti. Stogie appreciatively and obviously draws in the smell of the stew. "Mmmmm. Smells great."

After a few moments warming up, he begins. "We only made it as far as Greenwater. We explored a bit, and rescued a lost dog, returning it to its human companion. The human told us about the dreams you sent. Nice touch, that. A group of young thugs, more hormones than talent, drove into town, looking for information about you. We sent them packing back to the city, tails between their legs.

"But we did learn that there is a broad and lucrative bounty put out on the three of you, and that many are taking up the call to make some money. You are not going to be left alone here as long as that bounty is out there. Our current best guess is that the wealthy father of the young man who died in the watch tower has decided to get revenge. If that is the case, then the bounty could be up for quite some time. The desire for vengeance doesn't necessarily fade with time, and the father may be willing to leave the money available for as long as it takes.

"I'm afraid there may be no peace for you for some time to come."

[Tecumseh]

Ellie takes a seat by the fire, her hand flicking out to wave at the bowls stacked on a nearby log. They leap up and coast to the pot bubbling over the fire. A ladle serves stew into each bowl, which then fly into the hands of everyone around the fire along with utensils and linen napkins. Her duties as hostess satisfied, Ellie sits back and listens to Stogie.

Her expression doesn't change much as he speaks, although she does give a small, curt nod at the mention of dreams. Stogie notices the ork's eyebrow raise ever so slightly, and the troll shifts her weight. "Watchers," Ellie explains. "Naturally a mundane would not understand the difference between a dream and the astral world, but we must not hold the deficit against them." She gives a faint, almost reflexive glance to acknowledge Ellesar.

"A bounty, yes, I believe that is what we had concluded by the time you left yesterday," Ellie continues. "Perhaps the source of it is irrelevant. We were destined to make enemies; our course puts us at odds with the modern world. I'm afraid that, at the core of things, the two world views are incompatible. One of us shall overwhelm the other; it is inevitable. Do you like our odds?" She smirks grimly, her eyes steely and cool.

She turns professorial for a moment, channeling her inner school teacher. "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man," she cites from memory. "George Bernard Shaw. Applicable here, is it not? The great God and Goddess have set us on our course. Our course is to change the world, to rewind it to what it once was, what it once more could be. The world will resist, naturally. And so there will be bounties, and bounty hunters, and whatever comes after that. Regrettable, yes, but simply the first step among many. No peace for our time, indeed." She smiles bravely, sighing inwardly.

[pbangarth]

"Careful who you quote, Ellie. The same guy said, 'Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.' Even before people showed up, the world was constantly changing. Seems to me that bringing back the old world as it once was is a little bit about adapting the world to your own desires. Me, I think keeping the good of the old and the new makes for successful adaptation."

Stogie digs into the food with gusto. Here and there a spoonful ends up on Jake's tongue.

[Tecumseh]

Ellie looks down at the fire, the flames illuminating her face and warding away the creeping chill of mountain night. The twigs crackle and pop, dry needles sending rising embers through the air. Ellie smiles sadly, lost in reflection for a moment as people continue to eat until their spoons scrape their bowls.

"Let us not cut Mr. Shaw short," she says. "What he actually said was, 'Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.'"

She's quiet for another minute, looking down at her untouched bowl. "You make my point for me," she says to break the silence. "I was not always this way. I led a very different life, one that was in line with society at large. House, lawn, Land Rover. Not many people Awaken in middle age. How old were you, Stogie? A teenager, perhaps? Do you remember what it was like before? It's for the best when it happens early, when it's least disruptive."

Another minute passes. Hester and Selene are silent. Forest noises begin to surround you as nocturnal creatures awaken for their turn in the world.

"I've made my change. It hurt, but it was progress. And so shall it be for the rest of the world."

[phlapjack77]

Smohalla picks at his stew during the conversation.

In his advanced age hunger has become an old friend, well-known but not often visited with.

Change is inevitable.

The world around us changes constantly, every second.

We, the children of the Great Mother, we change with her.

But it is for us to determine how we change and in what ways.

Ellie, did you know a man named Gunny before?

[Tecumseh]

A look of mild disappointment crosses Ellie's face. She frowns, seemingly displeased that Smohalla, of all people, doesn't quite get it.

"Respectfully, Sky-Father, we don't always determine how we change and in what ways. The greatest change of my life was a great blessing, but it was very much imposed on me without my will or consent. I imagine your have never been separate from your magic. What if you woke up one day and found yourself with a new way of seeing the world and living in it, a new tradition if you will, completely foreign to you but intractably, undeniably your own? New mentors, new gifts, new voices in your mind that you feel more than you hear. It is not a change that may be resisted. I know, because I tried."

Ellie looks down at her bowl following her confession. Her appetite seems to parallel Smohalla's, but finally she takes a bite. She looks pleasantly surprised by the results, modestly nodding to herself. She thinks for a long moment about Smohalla's second question before slowly shaking her head.

"No, I don't know any 'Gunny'. Do you, ladies?" She turns around to Hester and Selene. They shake their heads, grunting lightly. Ellie turns back. "What does he look like? Is he important? Is there a reason we would know him?"

Astrally:

[ Spoiler ]

She's telling the truth. She's never heard of anyone by that name. The question doesn't trigger any emotional response other than mild curiosity. Hester and Selene don't have any reaction to the name either.

[pbangarth]

Stogie fills in. "Gunny is the front man offering the reward to anyone who puts an end to your reign of terror." He makes a wry face to make sure the ladies know it isn't his opinion of them.

Stogie decides for some openness on his own part. "He hired us. Unlike others who have come out here, it seems, we decided to find out for ourselves the truth of what is going on. And since his wording allowed for solutions other than outright murder, we took the job. Doesn't look like many others see it that way, though."

[phlapjack77]

It seems we now have two options.

Either we realize a way to prove to Gunny that the Sisters are no longer a threat...

Or we figure out who is sponsoring this bounty and put a stop to it ourselves.

[AtroposReborn]

Ellesar remains quiet throughout the meal, occasionally glancing off into the woods as if looking for something sinister to come crawling out. He perks up as the conversation turns away from speculative authors and magic, moving towards the real reason they find themselves here.

"Another good meal," he states seemingly to the forest. "I may not have been reborn into your world of espers and phantasms but I would say I've had my share of new beginnings. Stogie has also known great loss, if the stories are told true. We want to help you but we need to know the details, even the dark ones. They may be the key to ending this without bloodshed."

[Tecumseh]

Hester and Selene snap to attention at Stogie's admission of being associated with Gunny. The air of the campsite takes on an immediate charge, a stiffening of the air and a crackle of ozone that almost feels like an imminent lightning strike.

Astrally:

[ Spoiler ]

Hester and Selene immediately start counterspelling themselves and Ellie, jamming the mana around them. Compared to the wild breeze of mana that usually flows freely through the campsite, it now feels like you're in a concrete bunker buried deep underground. Two spirits snap into place, called forth from the metaplanes or wherever they were on hold. One's a fire spirit, the other a water spirit, and both look large and ornery. They hover over the campsite menacingly, brooding and eager to act so that they might soon be set free.

Ellie sits there quietly, holding up a hand and quietly shushing Hester and Selene, even though they haven't said anything. The ork and the troll stare daggers into Stogie and Ellesar. K'wa'iti stops gnawing on his mangled victim and turns his attention to Stogie and Jake, studying them closely and watching for any transfer of power between them.

"There, there," Ellie says consolingly to Hester and Selene without actually looking at them. "They're not in a murdering posture now, are they? You can see as much in their auras. So let's be calm and think this through." Still, you can see Ellie's eyes dart around the circle more than they have before.

"So Gunny wants us out of the picture," Ellie says, restating the facts from the beginning. "He represents someone who wants us stopped, killing optional. A long list, I'm sure. I suppose we should go through it. It's not like we're delaying dessert." She shoots Smohalla a sly smirk.

"Stogie, you think that it might be Mr. Higgins. He certainly has the financial resources, I grant you. But tell me, Ellesar, if you were to put a bounty on the men who killed your wife and daughter, would you allow enough wiggle room to allow them merely from being stopped from doing the same thing again, or would you insist that the men face the ultimate punishment? Or you, Stogie - would you pay a bounty simply to stop the men who took your dogs and your land from you, or would you want retribution? As a mother, I know what my answer would be. So perhaps Mr. Higgins is responsible, but I would not think him to be the most likely candidate of the bounty you have described."

She pauses and takes a sip of peppermint tea before continuing. "The immediate family of Mr. Longshanks has perished, so it seems. The mine owners are not likely to pursue the matter, especially given the financial condition of the mine. But perhaps they fear a future strike, which is not an unreasonable concern. It would be rather astute, actually. But, still, they are in a fiscal bind, just as we intended.

"Perhaps the people of Greenwater banded together to offer the bounty, but I would think that they have more pressing demands for their resources. The same is true for the town of Lester. If they had the money, which I do not think they do, then they would likely spend it to reestablish themselves elsewhere."

She pauses to consider things through once again. "Outside of that, we have no enemies, other than the corporations, the cities, and society at large." She smiles at her wit. "Identifying the source may be difficult indeed. But it will certainly be easier than proving that we are no longer a threat to their interests, because I assure you that we most certainly are." Hester and Selene growl their assent.