The Found Arcana - Chapter 12 [IC] Options

[Thanee]

Outside on the street, you see the door of the weapons store opening and a guy slowly walks outside, leaning against the wall next to the entrance, giving you a slight nod. A powerfully built human in his late fourties with a bald head and a thick, dark brown beard. He is wearing worn-out jeans and a black muscle shirt with a large smiley face that has a bullet hole in its forehead, blood flowing down over its crossed out eyes. You can see that both his arms have been replaced with cyberlimbs, but those are not your average limbs. Instead of just elbow, wrist and shoulder, his arms have eight ball joints with full directional motion. They make his shoulders look droopy, but certainly allow for some very interesting movements. He is wearing a holster on his hip with a customized Savalette Guardian.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby nodded:

"Just for a bit of ritual work. In the end every trickster is also a shapeshifter, so it likely doesn't matter too much. But yeah, I'm just the guy send out to the shops to get everything - and of course I wasn't given a detailed list. Tricksters - they always find new ways to make your live a bit more interesting.

Speaking of which", Bobby took out the obsidian knife, "Can you tell me who makes these?"

[Thanee]

Trinket tenses up a little as you pull the knife out, but quickly relaxes, when it is clear by the way you are holding it, that you really just want to show it to her.

"Gee, where did you find that?" She chuckles lightly.

Holding her hand out to inspect the knife a little more closely, you hand it over and she turns it around while taking a closer look.

"I hope you didn't pay too much for this. I mean, it's not terrible, but it's obviously a fake. Not that sharp, either. Thinking about it, probably better that way."

"Catch!" She tosses the knife back to you.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby caught it and asked:
"Can you tell me, what significance it has in magical practice? I'm pretty sure it's not useful to actually cut anything. Found it today in the bed's headboard accompanied by a crow feather."

[Thanee]

"This geegaw and a crow feather? Maybe your trickster friends are pulling your leg. Significance... I mean, an actual dagger like this is used by those Azzie fiends in their blood magic rituals. Good riddance! But this one? Meant as a scare would be my best bet. Together with that feather, though, that makes no sense at all to me."

[Gilga]

I listen intently to the conversation, and when Trinkets says that the feather and the knife don't make sense... I ask"Do explain". I ask suddenly, very curious as I was wondering about these things myself.

[Thanee]

Trinket turns to AM. "What is there to explain? Such feathers are used by amerindian shamans, and a knife like this... is not."

"And what is the reason behind this? Why were the items left behind? If it was deliberate, then what do they represent? Is it a message? Why would you use two different pieces like this? What kind of message does that leave behind, other than confusion? Of course, I cannot see the full picture. Maybe there is an explanation for all of it."

[Beta]

Tamarind had trusted Mato to watch the truck -- and if anything happened she could command her drones from inside the store almost as well as from inside the truck. More critically she was curious about the talismonger. She'd never dared more than briefly glance in such stores, due to the (hopefully irrational) fear that the owners would point out that as a mundane she couldn't make use of any of the items. Having a good excuse to look around had been an opportunity not easily passed up.

She didn't touch, but she did wander around a bit, looking, while listening to the conversation. Only as it ran down did she interject herself. "What if the knife and the feather were not related to each other. You said that a knife like that might be used as a threat. Can you think of any particular significance to someone unawakened having such a feather under their pillow? For instance, could a shaman have used it to communicate with him somehow?"

[Tecumseh]

Mato nods approvingly at the man with the cyberarms.

Mato points at the man with his left hand, transitioning to a thumbs-up when he has his attention. Then Mato activates his snake fingers, which bend backward and wriggle and writhe before returning to their original thumbs-up. It's not as fancy as what the man can do with his ball joints, but it should signal that they're birds of a feather.

[Gilga]

"Aham... I could tell that the feather was significant to someone. Perhaps you'll be willing to look at its aura to see if it is anyone you know.

[Thanee]

"You found them both together, no? How could they not be related? And people do all kinds of weird stuff, but that does not sound like something you would usually do," Trinket replies to Tamarind. "You are also asking the wrong person, you should be asking whoever was sleeping in that bed."

Turning to AM again, the talismonger says: "If there is some attachment, the feather is likely the real message here. Maybe a secret one, if it was placed out of view? I can take a look, sure, but I will not tell you, if I recognize it, however unlikely that is. There is this thing called customer confidentiality, you know."

* * * * *

On the street, the man closes the door to his shop and walks the few steps over to the Gopher.

"You guys are not causing my wife any trouble there, are you?" He asks in a serious tone, but immediately waves the thought off with a somewhat unnatural movement of his arm and chuckles, his tone becoming a lot more light-hearted. "Nah, just kidding, you are not trouble. I can tell."

He offers a hand. "Name's Rattler. Finest guns in town, if you need anything."

[Gilga]

"Sure, just have a look... We might have missed something." What can I say? I believe I can guesstimate if it rings any bells by body language, and if I think she knows more, I can try to figure out if it is a story, a bit of coin, or both that would lose her lips.

[Beta]

Tamarind is for some reason annoyed by the talismonger's dismissal of her thoughts about the two items being seperate. Enough that she digs in on the topic, not making her usual effort to easy to get along with.

"We found them in the same room, yes. Together? Not really. One very visible and out of place, the other tucked away almost intimately. Different traditions, as you said. That they are part of the same story is likely, but that they arrived at the same time and were placed by the same person seems unlikely to me. Possible, of course, but unlikely. It feels more like one being a sign of something he was involved with in chapter one, resulting in the other being placed in chapter two. Figurative chapters, of course."

[Tecumseh]

"Oh, we're trouble for someone," Mato says, matching Rattler's light-hearted tone, "but not your wife, no.

"We're in town on biz, and are looking for some local expertise. Your wife came recommended."

Mato shakes Rattler's hand, taking a moment to judge whether the ball joints make Rattler's arm slack or floppy. "Mato," he says to introduce himself.

"So is this your piece of turf then, so to speak?" he asks. "No gangers in sight. Our 'escorts' on the way here peeled off as soon as we entered Paradise Lane."

Mato decides that things are calm enough to engage in a little shop-talk. He nods to Rattler's pistol. "How did you tailor the Savalette? I was never much for pistols, myself. I have a Walther P118 and it's a sleek piece but it doesn't hit very hard. If a target is within pistol ranges..." He trails off to consider his phrasing. "- then I prefer a hands-on approach."

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby was happy to let AM take over the conversation, while he put the reagents away. Those certainly would come in handy if they needed more watchers.

[Thanee]

"So, they might not have arrived together, you think? Hmm... still, I don't see what it could possibly mean. It feels rather arbitrary."

Looking at the feather, as you present it to Trinket, she comments: "Ah, yes. I see what you meant. Definitely a bit of a personal attachment here, but not very strong. Not an item the person, whoever that might be, will have had for long. It's not, like, you know... cherished. It still means something, but it's more shallow. Unfortunately, that is about as much as you can see here. You will likely have to ask the owner or previous owner of the feather, what it's all about, if you want to know the whole story. And, no, I do not recognize the imprint."

* * * * *

"Oh, I didn't mean it that way, I am quite sure you can be trouble, when you choose to do so. Well met, Mato."

"This here is our own little paradise, so to say. You know, well, probably you don't ... yet. Anyways, there comes the point in your life, where you do not need the constant action anymore. When you would like things to be settled down a little bit. So, we decided to provide some important services for the community here. And that's what this is. The Fronts, sure, they would prefer this to be theirs as well, but we made a deal with them and they know better than to cross us. That's not gonna end too well for them. Does that stop everybody? Nah, there are always some jokers trying to pull something. But still better than the alternative. At least, around here, we are not going to be bothered too much. It is, actually, one of the safest places around, I would say."

He pulls out the Savalette Guardian. Just to show it to Mato, of course.

"This one? Oh, just made it a little more unique looking. Better grip, added a gun cam and a flashlight, too."

[Tecumseh]

"Yeah, I get it," Mato nods to Rattler. "I can see the appeal of claiming a piece of turf, cleaning it up and making it yours. Managing things as you see fit, adding a layer of humanity in so it's not just corporate coldness. Extending your protection so the locals can go about their lives. That constant fear for your security is just a drain on your mental energy."

Mato admires the Savalette.

"I dig it. In my younger days, I would carry a Ruger Super Warhawk. I had it all tricked out for the intimidation factor. You know, like in the trids: 'Feeling fortunate, gonk?'"

Mato shrugs in a 'those were the days' manner, with a little smile for what he did in his youth.

"Here, check this out," he says, turning around and grabbing his rifle case out of the bed of the Gopher. He opens it up and shows it to Rattler.

"A connoisseur such as yourself might appreciate this: a Mannlicher Marpingen Pro D. Sporting rifle up top, shotgun down below. I added the smartgun system. Deadly out to a klick and a half, if you can do the trigonometry. A little souvenir from the CAS."

Mato keeps the Mannlicher pointed in a safe direction while he puts the safety on and opens the action to confirm that the chamber and magazine are unloaded. Then he offers it to Rattler, letting him grip it securely before releasing it.

[Thanee]

Rattler laughs heartily. "Hah! 'In my younger days.' Come on, chummer! How old are you? Like, twenty? Guess, you guys live your lives a little faster than us norms here, but still... you need a bit more on your back until you can talk like that."

When Mato pulls out the Marpingen, the weapons dealer gives out an appreciative whistle. "Now that's a beaut. Only the second time, I have seen one of those. Not exactly a common sight around here. Those are from germany, right? Or was it switzerland? No, austria! Yeah, that's it. Austria. Steyr-Mannlicher." He has some trouble pronouncing that more or less properly. "And well-maintained, too, I see. Nice!" He hands it back after taking a closer look.

[Tecumseh]

"Austria, that's right," Mato agrees. "I believe it's the descendent - or spiritual successor, perhaps - to the Mannlicher Wildhüter."

He accepts the Marpingen back from Rattler and returns it to its case, which he secures in the back of the Gopher.

Mato smirks a bit about being called out on his age.

"It's all relative, isn't it? How much longer do I have left? The actuarial tables would probably say 20 years. And that's if something doesn't put me in the ground first. That means I'm halfway done. I'm past the crest and going downhill.

"it does seem early for a mid-life crisis, but it weighs on you."

[Gilga]

"I wish I knew who it was..." I sigh Anything that comes to mind? It feels like a counting coup to me, but why add a completely different fake item if so?" I think out loud perhaps she'll be my muse. I am mainly desperate. If nobody has much more to do in the shop, it is probably time to leave. "I also need some reagents, basic shamanic stuff. I wouldn't know what to do with the more refined things." I admit that I rarely actually use reagents, given that I learned the art while being very poor and paying to avoid physical pain seemed like a luxury. This time, if I ever do favors to strangers again - I'll have a bunch of reagents to mitigate the worst of it.

[Thanee]

Trinket shrugs. "A distraction maybe? Really, your guess is as good as mine... Reagents, sure. Still got plenty of those. How many drams do you need?"

[Gilga]

"Fifty" I say.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby looked at the lady behind the counter and decided this was likely a bust. Still, the reagents were useful and he would likely need to use some before the new day broke.

He decided to go for one last desperate move: The truth

"To be frank, we are investigating a kidnapping. We know a mage was involved and that they were most likely local. With that in mind, do you know anyone that can point us in the right direction to find the perpetrators? Ideally, we can solve this before the parents of the victim learn of this."

[ Spoiler ]

Influence: 6d6t5 3

[Thanee]

"Well, that is not a whole lot to go on, but I am also out of the game for quite a while, already. Hope you can find the kid, though."

[Beta]

Tamarind went a bit wide-eyed when Bobby pulled out the truth card, but then realized it made sense. So she followed up with one more question before leaving. "It seems likely that the knife, at least, was bought recently. Any thoughts of who else in the Zone might sell things like that?"