http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...=0&#entry628165

In the last 15 years, the streets of New Orleans have gotten meaner, if possible. Theres always a new threat. Something, or someone else that comes along and wants the next biggest, baddest thing to be feared. Despite the occourences, one name has survived all the turmoil, Jacob Sinner. They say that someone is most famous after they're dead, imortalised for eternity. Very little was ever truly known about the personal life of Jacob Sinner. His family, most of all, were kept a secret.
The new threat on the street is something unknown. 11 people have gone missing. And only one body is found, completley mutilated, beyond recognition of the body.

Slow week
As Dante drives away from the purging flames that was once a dive bar. He had carried out a hit that night on seven individuals who had robbed one of Lucky Santangelo's casinos. Money wasn't the issue, though. In the middle of the robbery, one of the casinos "working girls" was killed. No one messes with Lucky's girls. Its an age old rule at the Lucky Strike. You screw with them, and your asking to be killed, slowly.
Dante drove listening to the loud hum of his engine. He told them he was taking them to Hell. He looked in the rear view mirror, humored by the irony. After he'd hung up the phone, informing Lucky it was finished, a new message popped up on his screen.

Ace in the Hole. Work. Price Negotiable. One hour.

Dante groaned.

I hate anonymous drop messages. Means someone I don't know knows how to get a hold of me. What the hell is 'Ace in the Hole'?

Absently, Dante switches on the autopilot and scans the matrix for local sites matching the title 'Ace in the Hole', eventually finding a bar that gives dive bars a bad name.

Ah hell.

With a shrug, Dante changes directions to the autonav, setting his destination for the Hole.

As you arrive, you can already tell that this is the dive of all dive bars. Bullet holes riddle the outside, mostly near the door. As you get inside, the light is dim, ceiling fans look like they're about to fall off. Theres a bar upfront with only 2 or 3 people sitting at it. In the back of the bar, there are a few pool tables. Not in great condition, but some a playable. theres a few orcs and human males playing a few games.
As you walk in through the front door, the bar tender goes pale for a moment. Once he regains his composure a few seconds later, he quickly runs to the back rooms of the bar.

God damnit
Seeing the bar tender run for it, Dante quickly casts a deflection spell, locking it into his sustaining foci, following it with a spell to Detect Enemies, while scanning the 'crowd'.

I'm going to kick my self if I just walked into something.

Dante gets nothing on the detect enemies. Though you can sense some hostility from the men in the back. But thats as to be expected. Searching the crowd, you notice similar expressions on a few of the other patrons. A mixed expression of suprise, fear, and excitement. No one is aproaching you, but many are stairing.

Fuck it.

Annoyed and very on edge, Dante keeps his face expressionless. Minding the detection spell, he walks to the abandoned bar, reaches out, and brings a bottle to him with magic fingers.

If these wharf rats are gonna be eyeing me, might as well give them a reason for second thoughts.

Showing minor magical ability, Dante takes a stool, trusting to general fear of magic in New Orleans to keep the idiots in front from trying anything for a while. That left worrying about the idiots in back.

Dante sits for moment. Out of the corner of his eye he notices the bartender come back holding a bottle of rum. He slowly aproaches Dante, and places the bottle in front of him, next to the bottle he already had.

H-H-H-Here you are s-s-sir.

He looks terrified. Beads of sweat drip of his nose and face. He appears to be waiting for something to happen.

Dante looks contemptously at the bottle.
Get that shit away from me.

What the hell did I just walk into? Sometimes I hate New Orleans.

Dante looks the crowd over again, then back at the bartender, trying to figure the man out.

Maybe I look like the local enforcer or something.

He meets the man's eyes, waiting to see if he'll break and say something useful, or at least just go away.

Oh....I um.....He clears his throat. My mistake. I just remembered you liked....Is there anything I can do for you?

huh?

No.

Actually...
I'm supposed to be meeting someone here. What do I have to do to get your regulars to quit staring at me?

Theres....Im sorry. Theres nothing I can do about them...

But I did just receive a message. He told me Id know when the man he's supposed to meet got here. i suppose thats you...one of the boothes, in the back next to the pool tables.

And who is 'he'?

I dont know. His money's green. So I gave him a private booth. If you cant tell, money is slim around here. Things haven't been the same since the incidents that took place, about fifteen years ago.

He wipes a glass, then the bar. He appears to be remembering something.

Dante rolls his eyes, not really caring to hear about the bar man's woes. Instead, he stands, wiping the lip of his glass with a gloved hand, and walks over to the booth, looking for the Money Man there.

It doesnt take long to notice a man sitting in a booth smiling at Dante. He's about to take a sip from his drink when he notices Dante. He puts his glass down and smiles intentively.

Dante stays a good two meters from the man, looking him over, getting a read on him. He also minds his peripheral vision to see if anyone is paying attention to the two of them. Without approaching further, he says I assume you're the man who called me here? I don't care for anonymous messages with little information.

And I dont care much for smart mouth young men, but what can you do.
The man sitting in front of you looks to be in his late 70's. Wearing what appears to be a suit, with a top hat. The usual in New Orleans. Dante's seen this kind of thing before on people. It seems to be a style.

He take a sip from his drink and moves it aside.

Sit, sit. What harm could a frail old man like me do. I wish to speak bussiness. Mostly, how much this is going to cost me?

Dante remains standing for the moment.
'Don't care for it'? You called me here, without anything more than 'there's work'. You can take my smart mouth as long as I have to take your bad manners.

Dante reaches an arm towards a chair, using a simple spell to bring it to him, turns it backwards, as sits, facing the man.

Ok. Talk. What'syour business.

Roll Ettiquite Test

Charisma 6 + Etiquette 4 10

Alright then. Im sure you've heard of the disapearences and bloody bodies found right here in New Orleans? Well the job is simple. Find out what it is, and eliminate it. I have a detailed report on the bodies found, and about the people still missing. Included are the sites where the victims were last seen, and also where the bodies were found. Everything else is entirely up to you to find. Now as for pay, Im willing to pay up to 10k for this job to be done. Do we have a deal, Mr. Dante?

He holds out a disk.

Dante scrutinizes the Johnson or a long moment, internally debating. In the end, it has less to do with the cred, than his own conciense, at having an oppurtunity to do something, and passing.

Alright Mr Johnson, I'm interested. But first, tell me, why me? This isn't exactly my are aof expertise.

Its not yet. But I can see now that it may be. You're a hunter Dante. You always have been. Its in your blood. But the rest of this conversation is for another time. Complete this job, and I may have more work for you, only if you're interested ofcourse. And Ill consider finishing this conversation. I think you may be interested. But only one can tell.

He puts his ciggarette out and stands. He pats his coat, pulling out a flask. Quickly taking a sip.

Theres a number on that optical disc. Call only when finished. A man will awnser that wont be me. But he'll direct you to me, but only if you give him a password. The word is....
He leans in a little closer.

...black mage. Good day to you young Dante.

The man picks up his cane and walks to the door.

Roll perception

Intuition 4 + Perception 2 + (S)Visual 2 = 8
3,4,1,2,6,5,1,3 = 2 hits

Dante sits, a little bit confused. Some of the "tough guys" playing pool have taken notice to the old mans absence and are pointing at Dante, or atleast in his direction.

Dante puts his arm out, blocking 'Mr Johnson' from leaving the booth.

I think you're forgetting something. We'll forget for the moment that I'm not a runner, and that I have no vested interest in this. If you're going to treat me like a runner, I expect to be paid like one.

Roll barganing test.

3 hits

Though ten thousand seems fair to me,but what did you have in mind, young Dante?

Fifty percent up front.

With Dante, it's less the issue of money, which hasn't been a problem in his family for years, as it is showing the proper amount of respect and protocol. He's certainly no established runner, but he's proven himself already in New Orleans, and expects his dues at least.

Well naturally. He lets out a chuckle. Is that all? Well then, let me get that for you.
He slides a cred stick across the table.
Now, if it isnt too much trouble, I do have other things to tend too. Remember the password. And keep the contact to a minimum. Now, good day. And happy hunting! He smiles and bows.

Dante waits as the man leaves the bar. He's sure there's some sort of protocol about these sort of things, letting the Johnson have the time to be sure he isn't being tailed.

Tensions ease a bit after the man leaves. Everyone appears to be a bit more comfortable, but not completely. While Dante waits, aboslutley nothing happens.

Checking to make sure enough time has passed, Dante wipes down his glass quickly to remove any prints or saliva, and briefly brushes off his chair to make sure no stray hairs remain. Lucky had taught him many things over the years. One of these was a healthy dose of paranoia. The one time she hadn't been careful about cleaning up after herself was the one time she'd been sent to prison. It wasn't an experience he intended to keep 'in the family.'

Eyeing the bartender as he walked out, still wondering at the man's reaction, Dante walks out of the bar, and to his car, careful to mind his Detect Enemies spell as he exits the place.

Once in his car, he sets the autopilot for a round about course home, giving himself an extra half an hour on the route to give himslef time to read, and begins going over the information provided by 'Mr Johnson'.

Dante sits quietly as the files load. Finnally the information pops up on his screen.
It shows photos of the mutilated bodies of the victims. Being a hitman, theres little in the photos that disturb you. The names are as followed.

Stacie Peck
Robert Poulsan
Ryan Gonazales
Rodney Connor
Terin Mathews
Jordon Nort
Najimari Hiroshan

It also gives the various locations of Redmen that the attacks took place, three to be exact. Also two in Renton. Skipping to the next page, it shows an article of a badly injured man who apprantly survied the attack but is in very critical condition. It appears his intestines were ripped out, half of his face is also missing as the result of a spell acording to the article. Though this is classified under the rest of the attacks, something strange was found at this seen. The victim appeared to have an eight ball in his mouth.

Eight ball in his mouth huh? that couldn't have felt good. Those things aren't small. 'Course, doesn't much look like our killer is much concerned for their feelings...
Dante calls up his commlink, quickly selecting the icon for his old friend Robert, back in Miami, aka Bob3.0. It's a ridiculous name, but Robert's alsways been an excellent hacker, and he has ways of finding information on the matrix that Dante can hardly comprehend. With his skills in computers however, that isn't really saying much.

Bob's icon, the kung-fu rat, quickly apperas within Dante's car. Whether or not he's actually available to talk, Rob always takes a call. Enecephelons and cyber phones are great things.

Rob, hey, it's Dante. Good ta see ya', 'you dirty rat. The two chuckle, old friends who still haven't gotten over an old joke from a flat vid, crossed with their mob families and teenage senses of humor. Some old habits die hard.

Hey, if you've got a sec, I've got a little something to keep you busy for a while. I need some data gone over, some stiffs names, I need you to find out where they lived, and if they've got anything in common. I also need you to see if you can find out where the not-quite-stiff is being held, what hospital he's at, and what kind of gaurd they've got on him, if you can. I'll send a grand down your way so you can get something nice for your sister form me. Wouldn't want her to forget about me and our good times. Dante winks at the icon, waiting for the face to turn red. Rob, always over protective of his disturbingly hot younger sister, is well used to the ribbing Dante gives him about her. It wouldn't be a real conversation between them if she didn't come up.

Sure enough, the kung fu rat turns red. Steam even comes out his ears.

Frag off Dante. Even If I did let you date my sister, you wouldnt stand a chance. She has this thing about guys who kill for money.....actually I think she does...But thats beside the point! You may be my best friend, but Ill still kick your ass.

The steam stops spouting from the rats ears.

Now, as for what you asked, that wasnt about my sister. Sure, I can do it. But you better throw in an extra few hundred cred. That last comment's gonna cost ya. Also, Alyssa's gotten sort of an expensive taste as of late.

The Icon smiles.

Dante grins back. Sure, no problem, as long as you don't mind putting a bit of a rush on it for me. Without waiting for a reply, Dante forwards 200 nuyen to Robert.

Alright my man, Ill be on it quickstyle. Ill let you know what I got by the end of the day.

Suddenly Dante hears o a famialar voice on the other end of the call.

Rob! Were you in my roo- Hey! Is that Dante? Hey Dante! When you comin home to see me?

Robs voice again.

Damn it Alyssa! This is important bussiness here! I almost shot you! Just now! The icon appears to turn its attention back to you. Red in the face again.
Ill get that to you asap. Anything else man?

No chummer, that's it for now. Just tell your sister she's looking fine for me today, will ya'? He winks.
I'll let you get to work without anymore aggravation. Stay arctic. Dante disconects with a grin. It feels good to chat with old friends from back when things were a little more simple.

Coming back to the present, Dante considers his present course.
Lots of dead bodies, brutal maniplation, NOPS has no leads.... I could use a diviner. Seeing as I dont know any ...
I think I need a spirit. God I hate spirits.

Hmmm... The hmm sounds more like a sexual moan. A diviner eh? Well Dante, Im your girl..
Dante turns to see a gorgous blonde bombshell in tight blue jeans, white t-shirt, black leather jacket, and stilleto boots. She approaches Dante and runs her hand up his arm, looking him up and down.
What can Desire possibly do for you sweetheart?

Dante turns his head in his car, quickly making sure the autopilot is engaged. He looks back over his shoulder again at the spirit in his back seat.
Wards. Car needs wards.

Desire ... you stalking me? I guess I should be flattered.

Yeah, I'm looking for a diviner. I need some answers. Would the Lady that knows what everyone wants know where to find one?

Perhaps. She leans in close, whispering in Dantes ear. What you got for me?

Dante is quiet for a long moment, considering his options, who he knows in New Orleans. For that matter, who he's comfortable with offering up for the spirit's mercurial affections.
There's a bordello down on Lamont, the Lady there's named Madame Eva. She's got a dom that works for her, a real smooth slitch. She's a switch, meaning she's a dom and submissive, when she wants to be. She's been working her angles against Eva for a while, trying to discredit her in Lucky's eyes, and just might manage it. but if you look close enough, you'll find that all the crap that's getting heaved Eva's way is this other slitch's doing. And I think she's skimming too. Get me a good diviner, and I'll give you the girl's name. Score you some points with Lucky and Eva, plus give you a new plaything.

Dante waits, feeling just a little dirty, selling the girl out to the spirit. He carefully keeps his thoughts quiet, not even daring to think of the girl's name or face, incase Desire' is better at mind reading than he is at shielding. He still remembers the night he caught her in Eva's office, a commlin in hand. Not the bottom of the lime MetaLink, but a serious Transys model. Being in the office could only mean that she couldn't ge past the room's shielding to hack it from outside. That meant at the ery least she was hacking out client lists.

The girl had begged Dante not to tell, that she'd "do anything" for him. He wasn't interested in her brand of what she was selling, so he settled for a very large undisclosed favor in the future. Rough time to pay the piper. That's life.

She almost looks happily shocked.

Well Dante....I didn't think you had it in ya. Alright, Ill do it. Give me an hour.

She stands and disappears.

How the frag does she stand in a car?! . Fragging spirits.

Dante listens to music while cruising, waiting for one of his info sources to get back to him.

The hour passes and the spirit returns in the passanger seat, conveiniently during a slower song.

Ah, we got a romantic on our hands. Dante, Im flattered, a girl can get spoiled this way. She lets out a small giggle.
Anyway, Ive got you a diviner, he will be calling you in ten minutes. His name is Lucien. Hes old, but with age comes alot of expeirience. He knows what hes doing. Now, as for your end of the bargain..?

Shes looks excited, and impatient at the same time.

The name's Serena. Lucky will know who she is.

Dante ignores the spirit as well as possible, trying not to let he get under his skin. Spirits like Desire are the reason they bother him so much.

Better of Bound or not around. Damn things, spying on me....

She studies Dante a moment.

Alright, Ill go play. Good luck in what ever it is your going to do Dante. Let a girl know how it turns out okay?

With that, shes gone. A few more minutes go by and Dante's com finnally rings.