Yep....karma is the only reason he knows how to fire a gun.

hehe

Thanks Fenris for saving us from ourselves.

Fenris: Contacts - as a Face it's of some concern to me that I spend my points wisely - and since I see us as globe trotters I wondered if it would be good to have higher-level global contacts than local ones, even local ones at a presumed destination.

On the same topic, I got Bambara as a language on the presumtion that we'd be headed to Mali after the Mask - but that's actually quite presumptive and specific and a BP expenditure that I'd like to avoid if possible. I got it to represent Charlotte brushing up on her team's target destination. If that's not our initial destination, I'd like to not spend the BP/Karma until I know we're headed there.

I don't want you to have to tip your hand - a treasure hunt/mystery is what we're after after all - so if you don't want to answer these questions my default position is going to be to save some Karma for language expenditures when we get rolling.

---

Team: I dig Draco over Atlantis. Anyone want to make a case for Atlantis to me (and the others?).

Also - would any of the team like to be the one that recruited Charlotte into the larger organization (whether it's Draco/Atlantis/Something Else)? Charlotte would have been a pilot when you met her - flying you to who-knows-where and maybe saving your bacon with her absurd Assensing skills?

---

I'm also kicking around Initiating with my 30 karma, though I'm sure Charlotte could use some filling out in skills. Any suggestions?

ES - I don't mind spilling my hand that much. Yes, the initial location will be in Mali, the location of the actual city of Timbuktu

And yes, I believe you would be much better served by taking better connected global contacts then local contacts, as I also envision a globe-trotting type adventurer. Of course, there's no reason you can't take a contact that specializes in having contacts in all the weird locales you'll be visiting

Id lean more towards Atlantis because they are more the treasure hunters. Draco foundation is more concerned with fulfiling the wishes of a big dead dragon. Sure, they might be looking to get their hands on something nifty, but usually because they want to either hide it away, or as a whim for a dragon.

Atlantis is more obsessed with finding tech and mystical stuff from the lost city with the holy grail being the city itself... I think we'd feel a little more freedom and personal interest in an Atlantis oriented chase than as stooges for dragons. You know..out for glory and the eternal quest to find something that will lead us all to the lost city. Seems more adventure, whereas the Draco foundation would feel more like a job.

Oh..and I'd be happy to be the roper to pull you into the madness! muahhahaha! *wink*

Or we could part of some new organization that occasionally bumps heads with the other two....

oooohhh....independent enterprise. If we do a great job, we could build up to a buyout and then go drink pina coladas on the beach...

Finalized Character, I hope...

I finished the last of the character stuff last night, but my internet was teh broke so I couldn't update here, and like a dufus, I forgot to print it out this morning. Will post it when I get home.

Likewise with the internet. Though I have no excuse for not having gear or contacts.

Charlotte Victory Faust

So before I start, I just need a finalized decision from the group about who'll you'll be working for.

I've heard 1) Draco, 2) Atlantis (where is this information again?) 3) Some independent third party.

Im getting on a plane this evening for Vegas then San Diego. I will try and find my way to a computer to stay updated, but if need be, please auto-run my character to keep from holding up the thread. Wont be getting home until around the 4th.

Here's some brief info on the Atlantean side of things. Sourcebook references seem to be Tir Taingire, Corporate Download and Loose Alliances. I can bring Loose Alliances tomorrow for you.

Edit: My vote is independent third party, though I will be swayed to Atlantean if party majority is there.

That makes DIMR much more interesting to me. Plus ASPS! That's RIGHT up Charlotte's alley.

You know....quite honestly, I really don't care. All sound like fun options. You guys decide

After having re-read the section about the Atlantean Foundation in Loose Alliances, I am voting for that. We get to work for the national geographic of the sixth world...alright the national geographic that occasionally is accused of ruthless business practices, theft, strong arming, forced labor camp style archaeological digs...but come on, it's National Geographic...

I agree (having read the same section) with McQuillan on this so there's my vote.

Chatted with Whizbang via IM, and I believe she mentioned voting for the Atlantean society as well.

That said, I'll try to get the introductory post up today or tomorrow to get things rolling along.

For Whizbang and Blitz, I'll just used the previous versions of the character you've posted in the thread.

START ALREADY!!!

Finished the character as she is now an adept with a focus on melee combat. I am heading out on vacation tomorrow but I will have WiFi so I will post a more complete sheet for her over the week for everyone to see.

I'll get the sheet all exectronic-y for ya over the weekend Fenris, but you mostly know what's there after this past weekend

Im ready and eager to get started!

Okay, to clarify the IC post:

The group that just walked in the door is you guys

The elf's name is Vessiry Deray, and she's supposed to have a map to a spirit mask that not only gave the wearer great control over spirits, it allowed them to become "as a spirit" for a short period of time.

Contact with Deray was made through one of Sparky's global contacts (since I don't actually have those contacts yet, we'll assume she had something appropriate.)

The bar is in Kubutambahan in Bali, which is a small Indoneasian island off the coast of Java.

And as a completely innocent, say, hypothetical question, does anyone have anything that would modify their intake of poisons or toxins.

Via what vector?

Inhalation

Just to clarify, technically DIMR and Atlantean are co-workers in the same field. In fact, one of the members of your board even sits on DIMR's board. Below board, however, the two foundations are pretty bitter rivals. Nothing overt, however, because both DIMR and Atlantean want to maintain their image. They're pretty sure, however, that you guys are petty thieves. Thieves you may be, but I'd hardly say petty

Nothing for me against inhalation...the gas mask would just be a little too obvious.

None here...guess we're liable to wind up a bit loopy with all that smoke....

Ok I do have a gas mask (my Noh mask) since I have a severe allergy to pollutants. You would all know that the mask is tricked out with all sorts of sensors for just these occasions. I will be scanning the elf woman and her four associates.

Perception (the visual look over)
01 02 03 04 04 04 05 05 06 (3 hits)

Cyberware Scanner Rating 6
01 01 02 03 04 05 05 06 06 (4 hits)

MAD Scanner Rating 3
01 02 05 05 05 06 (4 hits)

Radio Signal Scanner Rating 6
01 02 02 03 03 04 05 05 06 (3 hits)

Perception w/ Directional Microphone on their table. I will be using the select sound filter to remove the background noise of the club (other people talking and the music)
02 03 03 04 05 05 06 06 06 (5 hits)

Tracheal Filter 1, Pathogenic Defense 1, Digestive Expansion. Yay, the pleasantries of being a glad-handing foundation ambassador.

Yi

Visual Perception: The two bodyguards are carrying obvious pistols and collapsed batons. You also notice they have a collection of concealed throwing knives as well. The female elf at the table doesn't appear to be armed, but both of the men sitting at the table with her are sporting something in a shoulder holster.

Cyberware scanner pings for a single hit on the woman (minor alterations to the head - a datajack, device rating 4,Erika Elite commlink), several hits on each of her companions at the table (one moderate cyberware - bodyware rating 4, including Wired Reflexes I, datajack; one high quantities of cyberware - Reaction Enhancers, commlink, datajack, synthetic left arm), and several hits on each of the bodyguards (Wired reflexes II, cybereyes, one has hand razors, the other a built in shock hand).

MAD scanner reveals the presence of at least 5 items on each of the female trolls, most likely the gun, the baton, and the throwing knives. Also detected are one item on the female elf, most likely the pistol, and the pistols on each of her companions.

Lay-O-The-Land Etiquette roll
[5] 4 4 2 2 [5] 1 [5] [5] [5] 1 3 [6]
Hits:6

Sparky

Alright, so, basically your contact set you up with someone that put you in touch with someone that had the name of someone that had mentioned they might have information that would be extremely useful to anyone in the archeology business. That was where the information about the spirit mask came from.

So, you know Deray is supposed to have very good information on where to find the item. Additionally, your contact also gave you little info on both her and the location.

Deray is an information broker, pure and simple. She doesn't give a damn about anything or anyone, but she will broker the highest price possible for the information that she knows you want. She occasionally sells her own information, usually acts as a broker for an interested third party. She's cold hearted, and has been known to resell information several times. However, the information is always good once paid for. The two companions seated with her are Twist and Spark. Twist is a bruiser, in the more cultured sense. A supreme martial artist, he specializes in, well, twisting people into pieces. Moderate cyberware, moderate bioware as well. Spark is a heavy decker/light rigger type, does the driving and recon, and is a crack shot with the pistol he carries.

Local flora and fauna - Kubutanbaham is a tiny village on the northern edge of the island of Bali. In the last 20 years, it's become a well frequented neutral ground for making deals and a way-stop for smugglers through Asia. Most of the peace is kept through the renting of local muscle (probably the two trolls Deray has) that have the twin duties of maintaining peace and order and protecting their clients. The money has provided muscle that wouldn't normally have it access to some of the better grey/black clinics in asia, especially Japan.

There's a town governor, but the majority of the peace is kept by the guards, which basically act as police if not protecting anyone specific.

It works when both sides use them, because they have a high level of professional curtousy for each other. Keeps the number of deaths down. Most of the trouble happens more when one side has them and the other doesn't, but the trouble is usually very short and painful, and ends up in the favor of those that rented the local muscle.

Apa kabar? == S'up?

Assensing Rolls (15 dice) in order of performance.

Room read, 7 hits - [5] 4 4 2 2 [5] 1 [5] [5] [5] 1 3 [6] [5] 3

Deray, 7 hits - [5] 4 4 2 2 [5] 1 [5] [5] [5] 1 3 [6] [5] 3

Spark, 4 hits - [6] [6] 1 [6] 3 4 [5] 1 4 3 2 4 4 2 2
Twist, 8 hits - [5] [5] 4 [6] [6] 2 [5] [6] 2 4 1 [6] [5] 1 4

Local Muscle 1, 3 hits - 1 1 [5] 2 1 2 3 2 [6] [6] 3 2 1 1 4
Local Muscle 2, 4 hits - 4 4 1 [6] 4 4 3 1 [5] 3 [5] 4 [5] 1 2

The team would know that Mickey is left-handed.

Yay for ambidexterity

Sparky

Room:

The room is a muddy mix of conflicting emotions, from the obvious show of tension and fear to the dulling greyness of depression and resignation. As a whole, the room doesn't seem inclined towards anything resembling action at the moment.

Deray:

Swinging your gaze towards Deray, you see the bright and obvious form of a Spirit of Man towering protectively over the elf's thin form. The elf herself is healthy, tense but not fearful (and mildly irritated), you will recognize her aura again. She is Awakened. She has a small collection of cyberware implants in her head. Her essence 4.8, her magic rating is 5, she has several bioware implants through her musculature. She is not a technomancer. There is currently a power active on her, the Guard power from a Spirit of Man. The source of her tension is this meet, the source of her irritation is Charlotte. She is currently being affected by a mild toxin that has a semi-paralytic effect, but it seems suppressed in her system somehow.

Spark: You'll note the cyberware I listed for Yi's roll. His Essence is 2.08. Non-awakened, you'll recognize signature. Seems to be affected by the same toxin, you'll see the same odd suppression. He is also protected by the Guard power from a spirit. His general emotion state is tense and a little excited.

Twist: Same cyberware as noted above, however, you'll also notice a large amount of bioware in his system, the majority of it collected around his spinal column, musculature, bone structure, and nervous system, including a completely replaced heart. His Essence is .58, he's bored with the whole proceedings, and anxious for combat. Also protected by the Guard power from a Spirit of Man, he's fairly healthy, and afflicted by the variant of neuro-toxin that has a very slow onset time and has been building up in his system for some time. He also seems to be suppressing the effect through the addition of some other additive to his system, most likely an antidote to the toxin.

Local Muscle:

Both are Awakened, both have Magic Ratings of 4, both have an Essence of 4.5. Both are sporting a moderate amount of bioware laced throughout their bodies, focused around the heart and musculature. They are also affected by the same toxin, and are suppressing it. General emotional state is alert and expectant. You will recognize their signature if you see it again.

Nice descriptions, thanks!

Intimidation roll, Spark
(CHA + Intimidation* vs. WIL + Intimidation)
[5] 4 4 2 2 [5] 1 [5] [5] [5]
5 hits

*Kinesics 4

Sparky - You've got 1 net hit. Since you won the Intimidation roll, what response are you trying to generate? Just general fear?

Yeah, just a settle-down-boy-o sorta effect. Nothing special. Plus, as a player, I want to use my ridiculous adept/assensing abilities.

Hey folks - I'm fixing to do some negotiating and I wanted to work out with everyone what sort of deal we want to make.

1st - do we want exclusive rights to the info? (if possible)
2nd - do we want to pay for further exclusivity if the info has been sold already?
3rd - do we want to pay for the names of whoever else has the info?
4th - do we want to pay for keeping our interest in this info on the down low?

Related - what sort of reputation do we, as a team, want to build? A super-public one? An in-the-know only one? No rep at all - totally black ops? Don't worry about it and let the chips fall where they may (that won't be possible, because it's something that Charlotte considers her business to see to)?

Well, seeing as how she is known for reselling information, I doubt she'd really hold to any agreement for exclusivity and Dakota wouldn't trust her enough to want to pay for that. However, that being said, she seems to be the type to sell whatever information she has access to, regardless of the circumstance as long as the price is right. I'd say let's try and get a complete list of who else knows with a promise to pay again if she resells the information after we're gone. (it's always nice to know who's in the race)

As far as reputation goes, I think Dakota would stand in favor of black ops. I know it wont always be the best way to address things, but again, knowledge is power in her opinion and she would prefer to have all the possible knowledge on her enemies/competitors while denying them all possible information on us.

Re: Team Reputatation--I'd prefer to not necessarily be known by everyone. Any media coverage we may have would be one or two of us walking in the background of documentary shots, midxed in with all the other workers. I'd say that groups that do what we do will have heard of some of our exploits, similar to the way a runner could take "Seattle Shadowrunners" to recognize names and exploits of known runners. So I'm leaning towards a "Those in the know" type rep.

1--If possible, but remember we have fixed income.
2--If it's already been sold, I don't see why she would not sell it again.
3--Could be useful, but only if people have the associated skills necessary to tell us about the other buyers.
4--If she says 3 is a possibility, I wouldn'ty trust her in this regard whether we pay her or not. If no to 3, thensee what she'll offer.

I would like the "in the know" rep as well, but with the understanding that I assume that segment of society would be fairly small. I agree I think the best we can hope for with this broker is getting a list of names of people she has already sold to. We could see if we could buy the list of potential buyers as well, or at least people she has contacted. Even if she agrees to not sell I would not trust that one bit, she's an info baker. We'd be asking her to put herself out of business and I don't think we have enough money to make that offer to her.

Uhm I think we're wating for you to post Sparky so the thread can bump along.

Blitz--You realize that the spirit will wipe the floor with me right? I have stunbolt and a pistol. Jeffery is most likely the one who will generally tackle spirits as he has conjuring and more spells.

No..I didn't realize that , but Dakota would so I'll modify the post to reflect that

Yeah, I realize we're waiting on me. Wanted to get feedback from everyone on what we wanted our rep to be.

Related question: Now that I know what level of rep we want, do we want it made explicit that we are AF seeking this info out or let interested parties figure that out for themselves?

Let the interested parties figure out for themselves, those in the know will recognize who we are working for if they get our names, but thre is no reason to tip our hat too far. Afterall it's certified cred on the stick not a direct transfer from the AF...it appears that even our bosses want to be kept somewhat discrete.

Oh, and OOC - I need initiatives please

Yi 15