The Found Arcana - Tenth Interlude - San Angelo [OOC] Options

[Tecumseh]

Boiling things down a bit, your two primary goals are:

1) getting the RCC into the pipe, and
2) getting the RCC out of the pipe.

An anthro drone is a plausible approach to #1.

Trouble (and Psychokinesis) is a plausible approach to #2.

What you might want to be careful about is getting Trouble in and out of the drainage pipe without being observed, especially on the astral. Perhaps Trouble could just zip from the cornfield to the pipe, which is obviously fast on the astral, but what if Iktomi has other plans?

[Thanee]

Can't Trouble go through the ground?

Bye
Thanee

[Gilga]

I thought Trouble enters through the pipe and steal the thing - did I miss something?

[Jack_Spade]

Can't Trouble go through the ground?

Bye
Thanee

Spirits can't move through living earth - the planets aura prevents them

[Thanee]

Right. There was that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

@Gilga: Not sure, if we are missing something. The first time, we masked the aura of whoever went through there (Mato?) with that Manascape spell from Gladius.

I am not certain, whether that was only necessary to actually make the path available and isn't needed now.

Bye
Thanee

[Tecumseh]

Gladius masked Mato's aura so that Mato could investigate the fence. However, Gladius has left the scene with Tien III so that option isn't available.

Trouble could go steal the RCC, but it's possible that the spirits would object to Trouble's presence. Or not, who knows. At this point it's not clear what the spirits' instructions are. Are they just border security? Are they there to make sure that what's in the farm stays inside the farm? Raven's IC post has some good theories.

Beta's plan sidesteps the question of "how will the spirits react to Trouble" by having the anthro drone deliver the RCC to the drainage pipe. If Trouble can get into the drainage pipe unobserved, then Trouble can use psychokinesis to retrieve the RCC and pull it through the pipe. Then you just have to get Trouble to the cornfield, which will provide visual and astral cover.

[Gilga]

Seems like a good plan (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Thanee]

If the approach through the pipe is not completely hidden from the spirits, I would definitely not use anything awakened for that purpose, since that will exactly be something the spirits will report to their summoners.

Bye
Thanee

[Tecumseh]

The pipe itself is underground and completely hidden from the spirits.

The only trick is the 15-20 meters between the edge of the cornfield and where the pipe emerges from the ground. That section is exposed, but it's possible that it's outside of the spirits' area of focus, as they seem to be concentrating on what's inside the fence. Traversing that distance is also very fast on the astral too, although dragging the RCC out via psychokinesis will be slower.

~~~

ICly, hiding yourselves in the corn fields won't be hard, but you still have the GMC Armadillo with you. That will stick out, either for plowing a huge gap in the corn or from kicking up dust as it drives off. Perhaps you can address these concerns if you want to try to remain concealed.

[Tecumseh]

Let's make sure we all have a common understanding of the situation.

The farm is about 20km west of San Angelo.

There's a gravel/dirt road that leads from the main road (Highway 87) to the farm. The gravel/dirt road is about 2 km. Victoria's remains are halfway down the road so as to not be too close to the farm, or - more specifically - the spirits and sensors watching over the farm.

The gravel/dirt road only goes to the farm. Everything else around you is corn, which is about 1.5m high right now.

There is a ~25 meter-wide band of dirt outside the farm fence that isn't planted with corn. The drainage pipe extends about 10 meters outside of the fence, leaving ~15 meters between the end of the pipe and the edge of the cornfields. This is the space that Trouble would have to traverse between the cover of the cornfields and the cover of the irrigation pipe.

As stated previously, it's easy to hide in the corn. The problem is the GMC Armadillo, which can't be hidden so readily. You could drive it toward the farm, and then go off-road next to the fence (in that 25 meter band of dirt outside the fence) but that would 1) kick up a lot of dust, and 2) might look more suspicious, like you're fleeing the scene of a fire.

You could drive back to Highway 87 via the gravel/dirt road, but then you'd be passing by the fire truck.

[Gilga]

Alright, I edited it according to your explanation. Hiding in the corn field and pretending to be in love seems more interesting than GTFOing with the car. Gives us some social control on the situation.

[Tecumseh]

hahaha I like it

[Jack_Spade]

I'm back home - regular posting schedule should be possible again 😊

[Tecumseh]

Alright, let's move this along so we can get back to Seattle and have Bobby rejoin.

[Thanee]

They actually do have a mage... so no Influence spells, I guess. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Bye
Thanee

[Gilga]

Unless it is the mage you target with a low-force spell to keep everyone from noticing - but AM would keep sorcery as a last resort if things go very poorly. She'll prefer to talk her way out of a mess.

[Tecumseh]

Moving forward with the plan.

Gilga and Thanee, go ahead and roll Charisma + Con if you get lyin'. Depending on the nature of your story, you can add +1 for "has plausible-seeming evidence" and +1 for "subject is distracted".

The elf eyeballing you on the astral is a potential complication, but it's possible he's not very good at assensing and/or he's distracted by the background count.

(The astral was heavy to begin with due to the ley line, but Victoria's passing has polluted the local manasphere.)

[Beta]

Sorry for the brief absence. For the first time since moving into the house in 1976, my mother had her basement flood (yay climate change making for more intense storms). Clean up was time constrained to avoid mold issues, and exhausting. Just fell asleep before looking at the computer the last couple of days. (all done now, other than waiting on the insurance company -- which got me thinking, in the SR world, do you need a 'shadowrunner' rider on your house insurance to have coverage in case people end up randomly shooting it up?)

Now going to go read through the last bit of ICs and get caught up.

[Gilga]

I'll let AM rolls it because of the free edge;)

Chrisma + con: 13d6t5 5
Karl Kombatmage bonus: 8d6t5 2

I assume Raven would give cooperation dice: up to two more hits:
cooperation: 5d6t5 2

So 7-9 hits.

@Beta, it seems like a rough day.

[Thanee]

Yeah, it's crazy how much damage water can do.

Rachel's Con: 6 hits

Bye
Thanee

[Tecumseh]

I've never dealt with fire or smoke damage, but water damage is insidious. That's the power of water: it will flow and find every little crack and gap.

~~~

Per the IC, the fire truck and firefighters are gone but the elf's water spirit has stayed behind to keep watch on you.

There is a point of background count now due to the violence that dispatched Victoria, and the tattered remains of the shedim in the air. While this is unpleasant, it is a bigger headwind for the little water spirit than it is for you.

[Thanee]

Rachel's summoned spirit will be on standby, not around her in astral space. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Bye
Thanee

[Gilga]

I think me and Thanee posted in parallel, but I'll keep the post because I think it's funny.

[Thanee]

Admitting to be a mage, she astrally projects to the truck - wow, she is so open about it.

That mage part was pretty obvious to him, anyways. Not much to admit there. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Bye
Thanee

[Gilga]

I imagine AM sees all forms of magic as a dialogue with Wakan Tanaka. Tit for tat, I get knowledge and power, and the great spirit gets to play me like a pawn in their plans. Even now, she chooses to let the perv watch because she feels her totem would approve, and she owes him big for the Shedim. Tit for tat - a relationship where every bit of good luck or talent use has some hidden price.

Where Raven just *is* a mage and astrally projects or casts a spell as one would reach out and touch something. Which is a great and useful approach. So AM is astonished that Raven zaps in there or casts a spell for their amusement because she would resort to sorcery only as the nuclear option. If things go really bad in the mundane approach.