Behind the Crown [IC], Behind the crown are shadows Options

[pbangarth]

Blue nods to Karmakaze. """ I hope this is actually the one we want. """

As she exits the car, Blue stays in the car and instructs the spirit to materialize and herd the courier to Karmakaze and keep him there as they speak.

[Koekepan]

The spirit shows up right in front of him as an apparent thick cloud of stinging, choking smoke. The courier backs up, and leans with his foot against a concrete bollard, waving his hand in front of his face. Well, he's going nowhere even though he's not knocked down and he's so distracted that Karmakaze can easily walk right up to him.

[Bastard]

Karmakaze grabs him by the back of his shirt, placing her pocket knife against the back of his neck, and speaks clearly into his ear;

"""Your deliveries are short. It has not gone unnoticed. The clients on both sides want you gone, but your fixer thinks you're worth a second chance. I am paid the same either way, so leaving you alive is a lot cleaner. So do you want to stop fragging around, stay alive, make everyone's life easy? Or do you want to keep fraggin' around, make you fixer and his client look bad, and force me to come back and dispose of a corpse?"""

She waits for his answer.

[Koekepan]

"""No! Wait! Ugh..."""

The courier squirms a bit on the ground, but the intimate awareness of the knife tempers his desire to flail out. Instead, he cranes his neck and rolls his eyes in an attempt to see what's going on.

"""I got it! I got it, fraggit. But you can tell them I'm never working for those liars again, understand? They shorted me!"""

[Bastard]

"""That is a wise decision, but if you have proof of these lies you should forward that to your fixer. Everyone looks like drek in this deal as it is.

"""Now walk your sorry hoop away from me and don't look back. If you do, our mage will zonk you."""

[Koekepan]

He struggles to his feet, only pausing to grab the handlebar of his bicycle and pull away, spluttering in the cloud of smoke that is the spirit.

[pbangarth]

+++ Oh great. How did it come to this? +++ Blue thinks.

+++ I'm now the bogeyman Mom uses to threaten the unruly child. +++

[pbangarth]

Blue ends the spirit's task but keeps it in the astral. He takes his seat in the car and waits for Karmakaze to return.

[Koekepan]

The spirit dissipates quickly, and the courier hustles away almost as fast. Karmakaze finds the knot of action gone almost as soon as it appeared, and standing by herself near the Stuffer Shack door.

She can smell the self-heating plum jam snacks blending with diesel and kerosene. It's not the best scent combination in all of recorded history.

[pbangarth]

The gyrocopter incident is niggling at the back of Blue's mind. If he is correct that there is a seven day limit on the hunt for him by persons unknown in Mitsuhama, then there is precious little time left for whoever wants to collect his hoop. Desperate people might pull out all the stops so close to the finish line. He sees nothing threatening. His spirit has not notified him of anything in the astral. Blue makes sure the spirit knows to warn him if something comes. +++ Another service spent +++

Maybe Blue is getting a bit paranoid, but he is worried. He puts up as strong a magical defence around him, Karmakaze and the car as he can. Too bad the spirit is on the astral, otherwise he would cover it, too.

[ Spoiler ]

Everything he has -- Sorcery 5 plus Spell Pool 7 for a total of 12 dice for Spell Defense.

[Bastard]

Karma scans the area on the way back to the car, making sure the courier didn't double back, or that anyone else is taking notice. She leaves the area as quickly as legally possible.

"""Well, seems like the courier feels he was shorted."""

She calls Jaxx on speaker and informs him as well, seeing that that was the job.

"""Whether he was shorted in pay and skimmed some product, or they shorted him in nuyen doesn't matter. He said he won't be a problem anymore, and will probably be out of the biz for a while."""

Jaxx went on and on about something, neither Karmakaze or Blue could decipher if anything was of importance. They were already heading toward Concrete by this time, so any additional information on the area could be helpful so she hadn't disconnected the call.

"""Okay, Jacky-Jaxx. So any new info on the current task you texted about? Or any general information about the area?"""

[Koekepan]

Jaxx seems actively delighted that Karmakaze is giving as good as she gets in terms of her moniker. His response is pretty cheery too.

<<<Works for me either way, Karmakrammer! The fact is, the source is shady so if mister courier boy is telling the truth, the next courier will have the same problem and then I close a trap on his wibbly-wobblies. But yeah, Concrete. It's all in the hands of the Salish these days. Concrete itself usedta be a forgotten ex-industrial hole made up of meth freaks and burnouts but after the big change and all the quakes and everything it was a refuge for the Cascade Orks. Nil surprise, it's up in the hills anyway, and there was some crazy plan to turn it into an industrial stronghold until the tribal plans took hold - yeah, that tripped up the march of industry pretty good. OK, so after that they stripped it of anything the locals hadn't already taken ages ago, kicked out anybody whose skin was too pink or who they didn't like, and turned it into a basecamp for tribal excursions. But that didn't last too long because they realised, a day or two late, that even tribes do better with logistical support, so they let it turn into a sort of end-of-the-road contact point for the wilderness orks, while also letting truckers, pinkies and traders settle in there. It's not exactly downtown Seattle, and it's kinda rough, but the biz is hot and the movers and shakers have deep roots in the Salish-Sidhe halls of power. Now, of course, tribal politics being what it is, the Cascade Orks rule that bit of the zone and that means that not all the other tribes are too frosty with it, but it also means that the other tribes have no more pull there than does the enclave government. You might stand out, being an elf and all that, but there are a few other elves. Just don't go boosting the Tir and there probably won't be no fight. They don't like the Tir much, up there. Old, bad blood.>>>

[pbangarth]

"""Well, if Daisy has been sent there, """ Blue says, """then we better get over there as soon as possible. If she is being collected by criminals, she could be trafficked to who knows where."""

He adds, """ Which means we have to cross into Salish-Shidhe territory. Good for me to get away from Mitsuhama, but we don't have passports or visas. Either of you know a way in there that gets around border security?"""

[Bastard]

"""Well, I know a couple ways to get us in, but since we got Jaxxorama here, maybe you got a cheaper or easier route?"""

[Koekepan]

<<<Matter of fact, I do. Temporary contractor visa, no passport or anything needed, special allowances for special skills. Shamans travel pretty much free as long as they're not on the naughty list. You're entitled a bodyguard, so I'll just send you an electronic credential to say-so at the guards, and you should be in with less fuss than a hot nightclub. While on that note, I got a bit more for you on what to expect with respect to your girl. Apparently the folks that shipped her out, most probably, did so along with a package deal of all sorts of other folks and more-or-less dumped them in Concrete. How exactly they swung that isn't clear, but with everything from grizzlies to moose roaming the area not many folks are about to hike out. Now, were they just left to shiver on the streets? Probably not. There hasn't been a caravan of folks leaving there, but there is a steady trickle of trucks scooting in and out with the regular biz. I'd bet you a wendigo's third leg there's somebody there who was given a fat stack to keep people on ice. My bet is, the Cascade Orks are warehousing them and keeping them out of the way until things have moved on. However, that makes it a financial deal. If your girl is somebody important or connected, she might be too much trouble to keep, and you can work something out.>>>

[pbangarth]

""" That Is very helpful, Jaxx. You turn out to be quite a useful person to know. """ Blue is amazed at how easily that problem was solved. He begins to worry. Too easy?

""" So, how does the fact that I am Shaman get useful at the border? Do they welcome people so inclined, just because, or will they expect something from me? """

[Bastard]

"""Is it possible to list me as the contractor, and Blue as my subcontractor? False credentials for him of course. We still believe he is on the list with the megacorps, who will definitely be watching borders."""

[pbangarth]

Blue chimes in, """I have a fake SIN, courtesy of Billy, which I believe Mitsuhama does not know about. It was for pretending to be wild when slipping away from Biozu some nights.

"""My appearance may be stored in files, but no other credentials will change that. I can take a shot at hair colour, etc. """

[pbangarth]

Blue decides, """ It will take a difficult spell to alter me sufficiently. I will wait till after sunset so things will be easier for me. """

[Koekepan]

After some thought Jaxx responds. <<<It's tougher to make you the contractor, Karmadibbles. Cheaper to make him the contractor, you the bodyguard. Fancier backstory costs more, y'know. Shamans get the white glove treatment because the tribes figure they're on their side. It's political, you see - they figure every shaman that likes the backwoods is leverage for them. Same way that the Tir likes elves. You won't have to change - big M wants to be heavy out there, but the tribes don't like Nippon either. I wouldn't worry.>>

[Bastard]

Karma sighs, comforted a bit, but not completely by Jaxx.

"""You think it is worth the risk, Blue? Mit seems to not be relenting, but if what Jaxxy says is true, then we are probably safer out there than in the city."""

[pbangarth]

"""Oh, yeah."" says Blue. """ Let's get out of Dodge while the gunslingers are looking for me. In fact, let's move now, and near the border, once the sun sets, I can change my appearance so it will be a little harder to recognize me. Go with your plan, Jaxx, and I'll do what I can to match the description. Of course, make it not too different from what I am now. Heh. A troll is out of the question.

"""I figure I can be a freelance contractor looking for new prospects in a land that values my talents. Would that work? """

[Koekepan]

There's ample time to reach the border before sundown, even with stops to pick up clothes, drinks and road food. Concrete is well up in the hills, so orographically produced rain is very likely.

The drive up will take the car far off the grid, but the grid reaches up to the border, give or take a few meters, and so the car would be well juiced up for the ride up the hills. The way down would be easier, of course.

[pbangarth]

As they head north, Blue plans with Karmakaze, """ We can stop for food and drinks, and maybe some supplies to handle contingencies outside of the city. You probably know better what we need. Once the sun sets, I'm going to change my appearance, anyway, and I could do the same for you. Maybe a hair style that covers those ears?""" He smiles, then adds, """I can handle clothing, too."""

""" The spell is a tough one, and it might take a few cracks at it before we look good ... enough. That's why I want to wait till the sun sets, when I will be better at it."""

Once they leave the city proper, his city spirit departs. The environment changes, sometimes urban, sometimes countryside, so Blue decides to call an air spirit, which can be with them a long as he stays under the open air.

[ Spoiler ]

Summon F2 Wind Spirit: target 2+2(daytime) = 4, 6 dice : 2 hits
Resist Drain target 2+2 =4(M), 4 dice : 3 hits L drain for 1 box
heal drain target 2+2=4, 12 dice: 6 hits ==> 60/6=10 minutes per box

Blue gets a spirit, asks it to Guard them and their vehicle, and then keeps quiet and still till his head clears. """I've got a spirit watching over us. I'll rest a bit to clear my head. This working in the daytime sucks."""

[Bastard]

"""We will at least have to get some cold weather gear and maybe some dried food. Maybe we can stop at a outdoor recreation store, if not a SuperMaxPlus Walmart."""