IC New Beginnings DAWN Options

[Necrogigas]

O'Connor kept apart from the rest of the group as much as possible and ignored them outright. His demeanor remained decidedly sullen and withdrawn for the length of the trip as he brooded over old memories.

[Titan]

"Wonderful." Clementine lamented to herself. "It seems everyone is trying to be blocks apart, in a coffin hotel room. Looks like things would have been better if we waited to fly."

For those that knew her well enough, it was pretty clear that Clementine was in a sour mood. She quietly tends to her katana, and keeps an eye on any of the pirates moving near the group.

[farothel]

Sammy took a spot where she was comfortable enough and tried to get at least a couple of hours of sleep on the way to Lagos. This trip wasn't going all that well and they hadn't even arrived yet.

The time she wasn't asleep she looked around, including in the astral, as she had heard rumours about weird things happening in Africa in all the awakened jungle and she wanted to see those coming.

[Titan]

Clementine eyed the guards and pirates, judging for when they are most alone. She was certain the group would never be completely alone, so she picked the best time she could.

She turned to the group, but to Jane specifically and asked "So what is our exit strategy from Lagos? Depending on how quick we are, flying might still be too dangerous." The Ork woman frowns a bit with the last statement. It didn't seem to sit well with her.

[Crossbow]

Jane looked at the woman strangely, as if she couldn't quite see where the question was leading to but she didn't like the direction it pointed.

"Whatever is going on at the airport, it will be cleared up in a few days. The corps aren't going to let things get out of hand, there is too much money coming out of this place. Let's worry about finding the elf, not our travel arrangements."

Sammy's last astral search before napping happened at dusk, so she got quite a show happening on the swampy shoreline. A huge flock of birds suddenly rose up throwing off a magical glow as they danced, the effect was not completely visual, there was a hypnotic effect that could be sensed but was not really strong enough to affect any but the weakest willed metahumans.

[farothel]

"Nice birds," Sammy said to the ones in the group who were still awake, keeping her voice down if some were sleeping, "I wonder what those are? They are dual natured though, as they give a very nice show in the astral as well. A bit hypnotic, so either a mating thing or something to get food."

[Mercy]

Snow chuckles at Sammy's words and immediately regrets it as it hurts her face a lot. She carefully puts her hands to her face and manages to keep her groan soft, resolving to try not to chuckle for the time being. Or laugh. Or perhaps even talk. She can keep her comments to the 'links for a bit. That decided, she grimaces, knowing that she will probably be required to speak at some point as the boat arrives in Lagos.

[Thvor]

Sam had positioned himself where he could watch the crew. He might not be able to understand the language, but he could at least figure out the social structure by watching how they interacted, how they responded to orders, and so on. And that sort of information could be useful, though he wasn't sure how yet. When Sammy broke the silence, he glanced over, and noticed Snow's reaction. Keeping his voice low, he asked Sammy, "Looks like Con was a little rough--can you help Snow out without being obvious about it?" He then turned and resumed his surveillance of the crew.

[farothel]

"Unfortunately not," Sammy said, "healing spells don't work for bruises and things like that. And I would wait until we're in Lagos and out of sight of these low-lifes."

[Titan]

Clementine calmly replies to Jane "Immature strategy is the cause of grief. Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings. We should never go in somewhere, without at least considering our exit strategy."

[Crossbow]

"Let me rephrase, travel arrangements is on my plate, and it is under control. Your plate is piled high with finding elves, keeping me alive and yourselves out of trouble, okay? If it will settle things for you my local contact, Black Mamba, literally wrote the book on running in these parts, so logistical stuff like that shouldn't be a problem."

[Mercy]

The amount of deck space provided to the passengers is small enough that all of them are close, even though several, including Snow, are separated by a couple of feet and she chuckles a bit at the overheard conversation. Snow keeps her head down and speaks softly. "Sorry, Jane. I do not want to be rude, but weren't words similar to that said about our transport into Lagos? It seems to me that things have not gone optimally in that regard so far. As a team, we have overcome the imperfections of the initial plan, so are you sure that you do not want to consider that we do know what we are doing?"

[Crossbow]

"If I didn't have absolute faith in your abilities, I would not have hired you. This is the point where you have to have some faith in me. Snow, you of all people should know the vagaries of travel internationally are simply an expected consequence when time is a crucial factor. Getting home after the job is over is simply not as important, for a number of reasons. At that point, it is simply a matter of contacts, cred, and caution, and we are well covered on those fronts, so if we run into any additional difficulties, we can worry about it at that time. So ka?"

The purpose of the paracritters' glow seems to be answered in the abatement of insects buzzing around the boat for a little while.

As the night falls into inky blackness, and the jungle's sounds reach a new level under the hum of the motor, you see more stars than any of you thought were ever visible. The only distraction is a small glow on the horizon that your boat is pointed towards.

[Mercy]

Snow gives Jane a nod then gives the glow a glance, Shaking her head, she tries to find enough deck space to lay down on and tries to get some rest.

[Titan]

Clementine looked to the glow on the horizon, and cursed that it wasn't close enough while at the same time praying it really was their destination.

She never really took much stock in the dock hands and sailors stories about the bow of the ship being the most uncomfortable place to stay for any length of time. But now she understands full well what they meant when they said even the saltiest of dogs have been known to get a bit queasy, if not toss their lunch, if they stayed there too long. Something to do with the bow being the area most vulnerable to every little motion of the water.

Whatever it was, it sure wasn't helping anyone's "less than ideal" mood they held before even getting on the boat.

[Mercy]

As Snow lays out, she sends a text to the team members. >>Hey, team. Please do not feel badly for me or angry at Con. I expected to be hit and actually thought that he was nicer than he needed to be. I am a big girl and can handle a bit of a beatdown from a friend. And we are friends, right? He did what was needed, as did I, in my opinion. He did not hold back and that helped sell the illusion. Thank you all for going along with it. I know from the captain's expression and by what he said that Con's value went up in his eyes every time he hit me and established his dominance. Just wanted you all to know that I appreciate what he did. Thanks. Please remember that he probably cannot hurt me more than I can repair over time.<<

[Necrogigas]

O'Connor's guilt was not assuaged by Snow's message. He was unsure how much longer he could play the role she gave him. He hated what he did, but it had still come easily to him. He was a creature of violence, but he only used his skills against other fighters or to punish those that had wronged him. Beating someone unable to fight back simply to assert control was distasteful and petty in his eyes. Why was it so easy for him to do it then?

Vadik would randomly slap around his girls and their kids, such as himself, just because he could. It made that bastard feel big to hear them beg him to stop. O'Connor always told himself that he would not become like that, but had he without realizing it?

[Crossbow]

The lights of Lagos, as well as that of other ocean traffic gradually come into view. The brightly lit high-rises of Lagos Island glitter like some fabulous African blood diamond. The boat turns away from these on the final approach though, towards the port.

There is a clear divide between the district of Apapa where the port is located and the island, and it is more than the inlet that feeds Lagos Lagoon. The lights of the island makes the mainland feel so much darker, in spite of sporadic electric and torchlight.

You dock and disembark without incident, and the charade for the pirates discarded when Jane hires a young boy to guide you. He leads you to a wooden booth, surrounded by heavily armed men in light armor. She says something to one of the guards, who steps aside. You follow your employer past the wall of flesh into the booth.

Inside, a wrinkled ebony-skinned man with a cap of tightly curled grey hair sits at a makeshift desk. A large sign hangs behind him, with lettering in twelve different languages. In AR, a similar sign pops up, with “Hawala” spelled out in a dozen tongues.


“E káàrò,” the man says to Jane, nodding to all of you.

“E káàrò,” Jane replies, using a Yoruba linguasoft, then hands him a small slip of paper. As he reads it, Jane turns to you. “Your per diem—five days at 250 nuyen per day—has been deposited in the hawala system here. You can withdraw all or some of it now. As I said before you’ll want to carry some, ah,”—she pauses, searching for the right word—“ah, currency, with you. Out in the city, most people won’t take electronic cred.”

The hawala nods. “I see you each have a deposit of 1,250 nuyen on account. That is equal to, hm … 25,000 naira. I can give you all of this, or if you wish to leave some on deposit, any other hawala in the city can release your funds to you. I’ll give you markers to show them, which will include your remaining account balances.”

[Mercy]

Snow watches her bag carefully as it is removed from the boat and claims it immediately. Her time in the slums of Vladivostok have prepared her for what she is experiencing here, but inured her to it. The smell of unwashed bodies vies with that of a fetid sea corrupted by human waste and all manner of flotsam and jetsam. She sees several dead birds floating on the water and the fact that someone has not taken them for food is a telling point. She stays close to Con as they walk, feeling the eyes of the men they pass mentally undressing her. She feels pretty sure that roaming alone is going to be high on the "Bad Idea list.

Inside the booth, she watches the exchange between Jane and the Hawatha man and listens to him speak, translating as needed for the others. When he is finished, she looks at him. "How much naira would it be prudent to carry with us?

[farothel]

Sammy was used to the heat, but the heat and the moisture was quite a lot. It seemed that there was mould everywhere. And weapons. Even in the Barrens you didn't see this many weapons carried openly. Clearly the dangers weren't exagerated. And from the look, she was glad she had her magical shower spell, as it seemed quite necessary here.

After getting her bag, she followed Jane to the Hawala. When she heard the numbers, she did the quick calculation in her head. 20 ... naria was it, to the nuyen. Well, whatever the maximum safe amount was, she wasn't going to run around in this city with heaps of cash. They were rich looking foreigners, they would be targets wherever they would go. Let's not add to that by flashing cash all over the place.

[Thvor]

Sam was generally confident in his ability to get what he needed without actually having cash on hand...or even available, in many cases. He was, however, still trying to adjust to the new languages, and although he was able to understand the greeting that Jane and the "banker" had exchanged, he hadn't been able to work out what the pirates were saying to each other. It was going to take a while before he would really feel at home in this new area. Taking the lead, he stepped forward to the hawala and said, "Emi yoo gba ẹgbẹrun marun."--"I'll take five thousand" in Yoruba; better to get the practice in when it didn't matter much.

[Necrogigas]

O'Connor wasn't all that phased by their surroundings. He'd seen similiar in Redmond. He did note that the conditions here on the edge of the city were comparable to the deeper parts of the Barrens, *Guess bordering 'civilization' does have benefits. Wonder how bad the inner city is here.*

Once the old man asked how much they wanted, he put up a hand, "One sec, omae." He poked his head out of the hut to address the guards, "Any of you speak english?" There was a long pause, "Didn't think so. Snow, translate for me...please." Courtesy didn't come naturally to O'Connor by any stretch. His guilt compelled him, however, to go the exta mile, even if she had been the one to create the situation. Through Snow he asked, "There a weapons market around here? What would you say tricking out a pair of AKs would run?"

[Crossbow]

The Hawala hands Sam and Clem their tokens and naira. To Snow he says "Your companions seem to have the right mind set, unless you have a shopping trip in mind."

Outside, the boy who guided you here answers Snow's question before the guards do, not that they seemed inclined to speak anyway. "I got you Boss! Best shop in the Lagos! I can take you!"

[Necrogigas]

O'Connor high fived the street urchin, "Sounds good little man. What ya name kid?" He turned back to the wrinkled banker, "Cash me out." At the side glances he got, O'Connor replied, "What? Anyone trying to collect on me is getting popped in the face. Simple as that."

[farothel]

"I'll also take 5000," Sammy said. She thought that walking around with a lot of cash wouldn't be a good idea in this town and she could always get more later. The Hawala system was reputed to be quite safe.

"Okay, where to next," she asked Jane when she also got her money and the tokens.