Psionic Anti-Crime Squad: Mind Over Manner [IC]

[Blinkbear]

Argus smiles when pat on the back. "I tend to make an ass of myself when I'm drunk. Not talking about the donkey..." He also raises his glass of juice.

During the evening, he smuggles some of the roasted meat to Sylfa who sits under the table and waits for tidbits. She will also start to sniff at people's legs, and possibly hands.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Aww, hey there puppy!" Leolin scratches Sylfa behind the ears before heading inside. Upon entry, she stares at the tavern's eponymous piggy with a predatory grin. "Oh, yeah! I just remembered: I'm starving! Let's carve this thing up until they have to change the sign!"

After guzzling the first round - it's on Lucky, after all - she digs through her pockets for coins, intending to order enough pig to probably feed the whole table, but after 40 coppers' worth...

"Welp! I'm out of money. Hmm..."

After a moment assessing the situation, she scoops up the remaining coins she had set out in front of her, stands up and points to her unsuspecting comrade.

"Alright everyone!" she announces, "Lucky here just bet me five copper I can't lift him over my head one-handed! Who else wants in on this?"

[Cespenar]

Some heads turn, but since the Smoldering Boar's clientele aren't usually the raucous sort, Leolin's dare seems to fall on deaf ears, at least for a while. Then, a raven-haired mercenary type raises his tankard from one of the tables, and calls in an accented voice.

"I bid one gold." The guy in front of him, another mercenary type of graying hair, rolls his eyes and comments. "Vint, look at her. She can easily do that." The raven-haired mercenary grins. "Vell, I'm making sure she does it. Because this place iz getting boring otherwise."

You can see the barkeep eyeing you, but he doesn't seem to be worried yet.

[Lynam III]

Lucky looks a little torn, as he isn't sure attracting attention might be the best of ideas. But noticing that they cannot back out now, he shrugs and caves in. He whispers in Leolin's ear: "This looks like a good opportunity. I'll raise the stakes and we divvy up the profits."

After passing the message, he gets up from his chair, and turns towards the patrons. "Gentlemen! My lady friend here thinks that she could lift me over her head with a single hand. I say there is no way she can pull it off. I bet her five coppers, but perhaps I was too easy on her." He pulls out a shiny gold coin out of his pouch and slams it on the counter. "I raise it to one gold! Who's with me?"

[GnomishPride]

Obsidian shakes his head solemnly, though those paying close attention can see a small smirk.
He then stands up and slams his hand down on the table, roaring "I'll take that bet!", a wolfish grin now plainly evident on his face as he reveals a gold piece under his hand (the one he slammed on the table).

[Cespenar]

Lucky's pitch, and the two bidders' bids work as enough of an advertisement to bring several other people, and the pot soon fills up to an astounding sum of nine gold pieces. Now, the people (those who joined in the fun, anyway) look at Leolin expectantly and chant. "Lift! Lift! Lift!"

The older of the first two mercenaries turns to his black-haired colleague and comments professionally. "It's more of a matter of how she'll lift him, you see. Off the collar, easier. Him planking or handstanding is harder, because of balance." He nods sagely.

The barkeep, Ebb, however, pulls Lucky to the side for a moment.

"Look, I'll mark off this one as a 'social event', but don't you go pulling this shenanigans in my establishment again, okay?"

[Lynam III]

Lucky considers telling Ebb to ease up a little bit since the patrons seem to be entertained, but quickly decides against it. He nervously clears his throat. "You got it Ebb. Sorry for the trouble. No more shenanigans."

When he comes back in front of the crowd, Lucky hopes that Leolin will try to look strained during the attempt. Ebb might give him a hard time if the rumors spread that the Talented con people out of their money in his establishment; and the fewer people who suspect it, the better.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Noticing the conversation between the two takers, Leolin waves her hand. "Oh! No, no. I didn't mean to cop out and lift him by the collar or whatever. I was thinking I'd just pick him up in his chair. You know..." she takes the opportunity to grab the empty chair and balance the seat on her right hand while Lucky is busy talking to the irritated barkeep. "Like this!"

Spoiler

Show

(1d20)[15]+10 for perform. Leolin is naturally treating this as a show rather than a con; she's trying to build up anticipation, not trick anyone into thinking she can't do it. But, if Bluff is still more appropriate, just substitute her +2 instead.

[Cespenar]

The ease of how Leolin lifts up and brandishes the chair impresses many of the onlookers, which only bolsters their chanting further.

"Lift! Lift! LIFT! LIFT!"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

So, is Leolin going to Rage or Expand?

[Lynam III]

Lucky grabs his glass of fire ale from the counter and downs it in a single gulp. He picks a large piece of bread and stuffs it in his mouth. "No need to take chances, am I right?" he shouts at the crowd while his mouth is still full, expecting some laughter.

Finally, he flexes, and sits on the chair to be lifted. "Bring it on!"

Spoiler

Show

Balance check if necessary: (1d20+11)[19]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Haha! Okay, okay! Hey, ready to lose, Lucky?"

The circus performer lets Lucky sit or stand on the chair at his discretion, reaches her arm underneath, and then slowly and theatrically lifts him off the ground. She braces the chair against her knee, then her hip, then her shoulder, and finally:

"*Huff,* Alright, look out! Hi-YA!"

Leolin extends her arm straight upwards in a sudden burst of motion. Lucky might need to shift positions to avoid smacking his head into the ceiling.

Spoiler

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Lucky plus chair is something like a medium load for her, so it's not unlike balancing a 60-pound sack of potatoes. Leolin is pretty good at determining how much weight she can handle for a stunt like this; she can rage to get that last push in if she's having trouble.

She's not using Expansion tonight. She needs to keep something as a surprise for later.

After a brief pause for applause, Leolin drops the Lucky chair on her shoulders, then her knee, then the floor.

She turns any and all proceeds in to the bartender, paying for her meal and telling him to keep the change as thanks for putting up with her hijinks.

[GnomishPride]

Obsidian joins in with the cheering and clapping, but keeps a careful eye out for any suspicious behavior that might be hidden in the commotion.

Spoiler: Spot, if needed

Show

(1d20+7)[25]

[Cespenar]

Obsidian's careful watch reveals no suspicious behavior, but he can see the barkeep scuttering around and getting some tables and bottles away from the point of possible impact with a worried expression.

Leolin's good form gets Lucky to the shoulder easily, but the last push feels like it's going to wobble or worse -- it occurs to Leolin for a moment if the "one hand" part was maybe a bit much. But then again, with a warcry and rush of adrenaline from her, Lucky finds himself rocketing to the ceiling with alarming speed.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Lucky needs a DC 15 Reflex save or get (1d6)[6] nonlethal damage.

[Lynam III]

Spoiler

Show

Reflex save: (1d20+7)[21]

[Cespenar]

Lucky, luckily, is not yet inebriated enough to forgo his senses, so he easily ducks in his chair to avoid hitting his head to the ceiling. The chair wobbles a little from the movement, but Leolin's adrenaline-fueled muscles hold fast and the chair goes nowhere. Both moves draw another cheer from the crowd.

When Leolin puts Lucky down, Obsidian can see that the barkeep is visibly relieved, and he becomes doubly happy when the strongwoman hands him the winnings. Ebb shakes Leolin's hand heartily, and tells her that she is welcome to his tavern any time she wants. He even starts to look at Lucky in a slightly less suspicious way, which marks a success when all things are considered.

He brings multiple sets of beers to the group's table when everything is cleared, free of charge. The rest of the evening flows smoothly enough, and you are all in high spirits (unless you wouldn't prefer to) when you eventually leave.

No one stops you as you make your way back to the fort and to the barracks within.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

First day post soon to follow.

[Blinkbear]

For Argus, the thought of actually using visible talents in this bar is so far fetched, that he simply does not consider Leolin to do it. Thus, the only tension for him is that their table gets a lot of attention, but then again, he is quite relaxed right now, and so his eyes are fixed on the "big cat" for most of the time. An attentive, empathic observer might see that he is at least admiring her, and that maybe there is even something else in his eyes. While he did not take part in the shouting, he takes part in the applause after the act.

On their way back, Argus will play a bit with Sylfa while strolling home, playing fetch or chasing each other; never going too far away from the group, and frequently saying typical dog owner stuff like "Who's a good girl? You're a good girl!" or "You want some treat? Here, come and get it!" and so on.

[neriractor]

Jacob joins in the cheering and claping, enjoying the extra beers afterwards and laughing the whole way.

while walking to the guard house he remains silent, partly due to not having something to talk about, as well as wishing to know the way around town better, learning the streets on the way and any landmarks in case he needs to know someday.

[Lynam III]

After being put down, Lucky gets off the chair and does an exaggerated bow before Leolin, enjoying the applause of the patrons. He sighs silently as he watches the impressive pile of coin being scooped up by Ebb, but his good mood is quickly restored after seeing Ebb's changing attitude -- and of course, the free beer.

As they move towards the barracks, he is coasting the zone between tipsy and drunk, cracking jokes and commenting on how they would make a terrific team. When they are back, he tries to find some water to gulp down, removes his boots, and then throws himself on the bed.

[Cespenar]

Dawn feels like breaking as soon as you lay your head to sleep, and you're awakened by the morning horn sounded by some hated guardsman somewhere. After a routine slightly (but not by much) slacker than a military, you are subjected to a training schedule originally prepared for Sergeant Mich's own Enforcers. "This is just as a beginning, to see where you stand. I'll make you a special training set soon enough", he says, with a glint in his eyes.

Fortunately, you are not the average commoner, so the workout doesn't really tire you out to the point of exhaustion. You do feel the "burn", so to say, though, and you can see yourself getting some improvement if you are subjected to something like it every day.

After the training, you spend some hours cooling down and simultaneously getting oriented to the city with a basic lesson or two from a bored corporal. Then you eat lunch, and promptly get yanked away by a guard to see the commander. When you enter, you see the four people waiting for you in stances very similar to yesterday. Commander Maela spots you, and quickly gets down to business.

"Your probationary assignments begin today. Sergeants, you have already thought of something, I gather?"

"We were thinking of separating the group briefly for this," Anton replies. "Farseer, Mimic, and... Liam (if he's here), will come with me. We'll investigate a jail breaker."

Mich takes on from there. "And Leolin, Lucky and Obsidian will come with me. We'll try the Uncatchable Brothers."

That draws some looks from the other three. After a quick moment, though, everyone seems sold up. Anton snorts a brief laugh. The lieutenant nods approvingly, and the commander looks pleased. "Good thinking, Mich. That should be worth watching." She pauses for a while, glances at the lieutenant, and grimaces wistfully. "Though I'm afraid a report would do too."

With that, the two sergeants split you into the mentioned groups, and lead you away.

"Oh, wait," Lieutenant Rhon says, stopping you. She points to a bundle of clothing on one of the tables. When you pick them up, you can see that they are dark blue cloaks with the City Watch's coat of arms on them. What's interesting is also a set of featureless black masks along with each cloak, also marked with a smaller coat of arms and then additionally with a number from one to six.

"The common folk still fears the Talented," she explains. "Your flashy actions will indubitably draw some attention, so we fashioned these masks and cloaks to protect your identities and those of your families, if any. It can also help your real faces not getting recognized if you go spying or undercover any time in the future. The cloaks are mandatory, of course, but the masks are optional. Do what you will with them."

***

Anton's Group

Anton briefs you as you make your way to one of the guard posts scattered around the city. "Our guy goes by the name Erwan. He's a small time crook, works with a small gang, does small time jobs. The night patrol caught him a couple days ago when he tripped and fell while escaping. Normally that would be that. But now see this."

You arrive at the one-tower guard post near the slums, and proceed to its singular holding cell. The jail door stays shut, but in the place of the iron bars that would normally act as the cell's outer wall, a human sized hole stands agape. The reason is apparent from the discarded pair of bars on the ground, the edges of which are now basically molten pieces of slag.

"So, unless Erwan smuggled in several jars of alchemical acid in his butt crack..." he says, leaving the rest of the thought to you.

Mich's Group

Mich briefs you as you head to the marketplace, still bustling in the afternoon heat. "Don't get hung up on the nickname. It's just that we failed to catch these kids four times in a row. No big deal. In reality, these boys are harmless pranksters. They just need to be taught a lesson in humility and respect for the authority. It also serves as a good training job for you guys. Their names are Thunder, and Lightning."

He pauses for a while, stonefaced, not even glancing at you.

"I did say they were kids. Anyway, there's little mystery to them. They are weirdos like you, both run real fast. They usually swipe a singular apple or pear from one of the market stalls, just to taunt us, and then dash off before our guys can straighten up their spears. Now, these guys are something like a folk hero/local entertainment around the markets, and they never hurt people willingly, unless maybe bump at some fella and knock him down. So, this probably should be common sense, but you'll need to hold your punches while catching these guys."

You arrive at the marketplace as Mich finishes. "So," he says, opening his thick arms. "What do you do first on a job like this?"

[Lynam III]

Lucky ponders. "Uhh... Ask what precisely happened the first four times? So that we do not repeat the past mistakes?"

[Blinkbear]

ANTON'S GROUP

Argus has followed promptly, excited to see their first case, though also not too happy about the group being split up. Then again, it made sense.

When at the crime scene, Argus squats down in front of the cell, then he carefully enters it, and also squats down there looking for tracks and left overs of clothes or similar that could be used as a starting point for dog-supported tracking.

"Sylfa and I will try to track him."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Argus has a Survival of +11, and if its indeed a Talented it rises by 2 (favored enemy).
Once he finds initial tracks or some left over cloth or whatever carrying the escaper's scent, Argus also commands Sylfa to look for tracks. Sylfa has Scent, Track and a +7 on Survival if tracking by scent.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Well, we kind of know the problem already, right? They just bolt as soon as they have our attention!"

Leolin thinks for a second along with the rest of Team Brother-Catchers. Her instinct is to call them out with some kind of public challenge, but somehow she thinks Mich would find that unprofessional.

"If our goal is to just catch them and reprimand them, we need to find out where we can find them. Do we know where these kids live? Or where their parents are?"

[neriractor]

Jacob was happy to be in the smaller group, being specially worried about the ruckus Leolin would probably cause, some of that relief faded as he saw the melted bars on the prison, but quickly they turned back into confidence and expectation for the challenge at hand.

He nods at Argus as he* takes the tracking duty on his* hands and he backs a few steps to not contaminate the scene "good idea, with your talents we'll catch them in no time" he said, a small grin on his face.





*that he is Argus.

[Cespenar]

Anton's Group

Anton stops Argus quickly. "Hold your horses there buddy, we already have one of their guys sighted in a tavern in the slums. We'll be visiting there in a bit. Besides, the dog may have trouble sniffing a trail that's two days cold. But that's good thinking. Trained tracking dogs are hard to come by. The city has some mixed odors that may confuse him, but I expect you'll see some use of him in the days to come. "

He focuses on the bars. "I wanted to show you this because it's important to identify your quarry and the threat he potentially presents."

"So, what manner of ability could have done this? And how can we prepare ourselves against it?"

Mich's Group

Mich stares at Leolin for a second. "If we knew that, we'd have already caught them. They disappear too quickly to be tracked. What we do know that they almost always grab some fruits from those stands over there," he says, pointing at a couple of fruit stands to the side of the busy market street.

He points a finger at Lucky, and hangs there for a second. "That's... a good question. Huh."

"Hmm, let me remember. I wasn't there, but I believe besides the first fumble, they tried putting multiple patrols along their path, tracking them via watchtowers, and throwing nets at them. After the nets, they realized that among all the crowd, the chases were making more trouble than the actual guys, so they quit."

[Blinkbear]

Argus gets up. "Yes, after two days in a huge city like this, the track is probably cold." he pets the agitated Sylfa to calm her down a bit. "seams to have some talent for heat," Argus reasons. "but I assume this is not news. Assuming that it's heat, it would be preferable to abide from heat conductors such as metal armor or weapons." It is obvious that he is just having some theory here, and not knowing.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Leolin smiles through her embarrassment after that wrong answer, but you can still see her red cheeks since she's not wearing her mask. "Ha! Yeah, fair enough!"

She pays more attention to the story after that. "So, I guess the gist is that there's pretty much no catching them once they get so far away, right? So we need to narrow our effort to a smaller stage, and intercept them before they break line of sight."

She starts looking around the market square, trying to map it out in her head. By strategically placing guards on the road and by the worst alleys, we might be able to funnel them toward one alley in particular and into a trap... but of course we all know that even the cleverest of lawful machinations can never defeat the legendary moxie of a street urchin.

"...or we could just let Smyg chase them," she adds, gesturing to Obsidian. "You said that that was kind of your thing, right? What better way to catch up with Urban Runners than with our own Urban Runner?"

[Lynam III]

Lucky starts stroking his goatee and pondering. He listens to Leolin's ideas, and nods.

"Why not combine all we can do? We can first use some stealth: We all take off our cloaks and disguise ourselves as commoners. One of us, probably me, wanders near the stalls, ready to jump on them when they show their face. At the same time the other two wait in hiding at the two ends of the avenue. If jumping on them fails, we can try our chance to trip them or block their passage while they run away. And if all else fails, Obsidian runs after them with that ability of his."

[GnomishPride]

Obsidian, noticeably a bit uncomfortable with the attention, nods in agreement. Sounds like a fairly solid plan. Though I'd like to point out we need to prioritize direct attack. They avoid confrontation and aim to confuse and cause chaos. If we're quick and decisive, I think it shouldn't be too much trouble. We'll need to be on our toes, which is a problem because we don't know when they'll strike, so we'd be on constant alert for potentially hours. Not ideal, which is why I like the disguise idea. If they don't see many guards around, they wouldn't have much reason to wait around before attacking.
But I wander. Setting a trap seems like the ideal solution, and I'm all for it.

[Cespenar]

Team Anton

Anton nods, but not entirely satisfied. "Yeah, fire or some kind of acid, maybe. And you'd be right to have such precautions if he could heat up your equipment like that. Anyway, let's hit up the tavern."

Anton has you take off your cloaks as you enter the slums and stroll casually through the relatively dirty streets. Your destination is literally named the Watering Hole. You realize the (second) reason as you near it, though, as there is a large wooden funnel assembled to the roof, where the tavern possibly harvests rainwater.

Anton explains. "Okay, this is where Erwan's gang usually hangs up. There's bound to be at least one of their guys here at any time. They are likely to get away and report back to their group if they see someone poking about, so you should either be very careful while asking around, or be normally careful and hope to tail the guy back to their hidey hole. Possibly both."

Team Mich

Mich nods at your discussions, and doesn't really shoot down your plan. "Yeah, having multiple options is often good in a chaotic situation. Be adaptive."

"Also, this is not really my strong suit, but you could try asking around, see what the vendors know about them," Mich offers. He points to a group of fruit sellers on the side of the wide market street, possibly where the guys do their swiping, but there are also other vendors around the place if you'd want to be roundabout.

[Blinkbear]

Team Anton

"In case of acid, wouldn't we then find also other traces of it, like on the floor? Or of course, it could be gaseous..."

Still on their way, Argus asks for a detailed description of the target person, and also if there are any distinctive badges/marks/features of the gang members.

Later, when they can see the tavern from the distance:
"I can peak inside the tavern from here." And so he does. Of course, it makes much more sense if you actually have an idea who you are looking for.