MtA: Sun, Surf, and Shadow

[Ditto]

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Side note - I didn't necessarily catch anyone's name since I walked in a minute late, but what's up with Alrikar? That's the given name, not the shadow name, correct?

Zephyr

"Assuming he's a hostage." He offers a little shrug with that, and spreads his hands to indicate that anything is an option right now. "Guardian high-ups or no, I'm of the mind that speed's key when you have people missing, especially someone who can take two steps and be in Tokyo before three. Zephyr half-turns to Hermes as they're filing away and gestures to the paper. And I'd best get an idea of where we're headed, if'n we're headed there. Mind if I look at that a moment, Mr. ..? Missed the introductions, I'm afraid."

[Brickwall]

Hermes

"Call me Hermes," he says with the most amicable tone that's been heard all day. He hands the map-thing to Zephyr. "You?"

[JMobius]

"Right, sorry. You may call me 'Morpheus'. I'm Ladder, not much of an arcana specialist, and, I like to think, a nice guy. Just so you all know where I lie, or claim to, anyway."

[Ditto]

Zephyr

"Zephyr," he replies, and gives the pamphlet a moment's study. He hands it back to Hermes. "I can deal with any Space issues we have, if I haven't stated as much. Like I said, the Provost Arcadius is of my order, as is this character," gesturing to Alrikar.

[Chineselegolas]

Edwin

"Uhh... I'm Edwin" he began cautiously, "Disciple of Time, and I'd rather just leave it at that for now", he finished, running his hands over his knotted belt, checking it was secure.

[Lord_Gareth]

"Madonna," a young female voice says from the entrance to the crime scene, somewhat blithely. "Pleased to meet all of you."

The voice's owner is a young girl, fifteen at most, with lustrous black hair and green eyes. She's wearing a slightly less than conservative Catholic schoolgirl outfit, but it's easy to guess why - with her athletic build, she probably moves around a hell of a lot. She wears a large, bulky backpack and a pair of charm braclets that dangle numerous crucifixes.

"My apologies for my late arrival, but I had to deal with a problem on my way here. What can you tell me?"

[Brickwall]

Hermes

I can tell you you're dressed like a fetish porn star...seriously, do we even have any catholic schools in the area?

"Some guy Arcadius got kidnapped. We're trying to find out the who-what-when-where-why and such. The how's over there. The two scary guys think they know someone who can help, and we've got no other leads. That's about it."

[Lord_Gareth]

"Hmm," she muses. "Well, I've got some friends who could get on the case, but they're not exactly magical. I can be helpful once the dying - or killing - starts, however. In the meantime, do you have any more specific details?"

[JMobius]

Morpheus smiles brightly as Madonna enters. "Hello there."

When Hermes mentions no other leads, he pipes up again. "What do you mean, no other leads? We have numbers and addresses, which seem like a good place for a few of us to start to me."

[Ditto]

Zephyr

Nodding to Morpheus, Zephyr says, "He's right. I'm inclined to look at his office, since it's in the area, and perhaps his home after that - we should see if he has any more retainers besides these dead bodyguards, 'cause I'm sure they'd have tons of dish on Master Arcadius. If we want to consult Mr.-" he looks at the cover of the pamphlet again- "Aeonass on the habits of hostage-takers, it should probably be after we've figured he's a hostage and not a prisoner." He wondered what Madonna had run into that delayed her arrival. What sort of problems does Go-Go Yubari here have to deal with on her way to a crime scene?

[Chineselegolas]

Edwin

Interesting way to dress Edwin thought as he checked on his coat once again. "Shall we see these places as a group, or shall we divide and conquer?" Looking around, at the others, many times back and forth from Madonna and her stark comparison to the dress of the others, "We don't exactly look like we belong together"

[Lord_Gareth]

"I'm used to working alone, if that's what you're implying," she says without a trace of offense or remorse about the concept, "but I can work in a group. I can also change my clothes - this, believe it or not, is a school uniform. And people wonder why priests become pedophiles lately."

She shrugs her shoulders to adjust her backpack, and an ominous metal clinking sound emanates from it, like small pipes hitting each other, or maybe a sack of hammers being moved.

"Either way, I've got some talent in mapping things out and seeing at a distance. Space is such a wonderful thing to learn. And if we're breaking and entering, I can help there too. Just give me a direction."

[JMobius]

"We're under orders to keep the magic use to a minimum, so lets start with the obvious, and go talk to people. That, I can do." He takes a few steps toward the door, "We were just headed to lunch. We'll talk things over there, fill you in the whole story Madonna. Afterwards, if some of us want to head off into the swamps to visit mysterious uncles, that's fine, but I'm checking out this list."

"Now," he says, waving the card once more. "Food."

[Premsyl]

You go for lunch at an outdoor cafe off of Ocean Avenue. It's still hot outside, but the ocean-breeze is cool and refreshing. It's a slow day, but still every once in a while a pedestrian or a group of tourists walk by, rarely glancing back at some of the more outlandish appearances amongst you.

The waiter, a gangly teen with blonde hair, approaches your table, and asks if you're ready to order.

((I figure we can do a short lunch scene. Btw, everybody gains 3 xp. Keep it logged on char sheets.))

[Ditto]

Zephyr

"Slice of pizza and a pop." As the others make their choices, he begins to think aloud. "Checking out the office would give us an idea of how he carried out his business, besides 'quietly'. I can 'phone home' and see if I can get some background, too. If there's anyone at home still, they might have something to share. The storage facility should probably be later on our list, whichever way we go, since there could be all sorts of surprising... stuff... in there we might not expect."

[Chineselegolas]

Edwin

"I'd rather go to the storage last, he might leave references to stuff stored there" Edwin said, eyes flicking round to follow some passers-bys. Turning to the waiter and said "Caramel Latte and..." pausing for a moment while he turned the menu over, "All day breakfast, perfect. Pancakes" then turning back to the others, "Office first sounds good"

[JMobius]

Morpheus indulges himself in a set of three different sandwich orders and a vanilla shake. "Expense account, people. Haven't you ever had one before?". With the few (no doubt) glares he gets for this comment, he rebuts "Relax, I'm joking. This is one indulgence I'm sure they'll understand. Even we have to eat."

"While scoping out the office sounds like a good idea, I'd suggest visiting at least the house as soon as possible, preferably with one of you Mysterium folks..." He pauses to shout at a passer-by that has given the group a confused look. "Hey, don't judge, LARP can be fun." He resumes. "We know that Arcadius had several retainers in his employee, and I assume they weren't all with him earlier. I'd like to get in touch with any of them that we can, particularly since we don't know the situation. They might be in danger as well."

[MinotaurWarrior]

Unused to American food, Alrikar copies the order of his fellow Mysterium member Zephyr. Uncaring towards his retainer, he neither allows him to order for him self, nor orders anything for him.

"Do any of you know how to do anything... special with telephones or electronic mail? Either normal or," Alrikar switched to an intense whisper , "divinely illegal?" Alrikar's voice quickly returned to a normal volume, "Seeing how transit consumes precious time, it would probably be a good idea to do as much as we can without physically going anywhere. It should be possible to, even if none of us know how to do anything truly special, get into his electronic mail account, and possibly check his undeleted telephone messages. Even just the pre-recorded missed-call-response messages could contain some important information. Since I have neither a portable computer nor a cellular phone, I will require the assistance of one of you in order to do this"

"As for Arcad's," Alrikar said, using an abbreviation he thought would draw less attention to the group, "retainers, seeing how we don't even know if he has any that are currently alive, let alone their names or current locations I'm thinking we should just ignore these hypothetical personages until we, at very least, actually confirm that they exist."

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His real name is indeed Alrikar (Val'Tar), His shadow name is 'The foreign lord'. I figure that since these posts are in third-person god (omnipresent/scient) I'll only refer to him as The Foreign Lord in dialogue. If this confuses anyone, I'll Change it. My other characters have no shadow names. Montaenoo doesn't have one, because nobody really cares about him (himself included) and Aeonass because he believes in the whole 'let any man try and strike me down, the gods shall protect me' shtick

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I edited this post to make the tense consistent, and to fix some spelling errors

[Premsyl]

The waiter takes everyone's orders and walks off. A television is mounted on the outside wall of the cafe for those dining outside. The channel is set to the local broadcast station, and the afternoon news is starting.

The first shot shows the crime scene you all just left then shots of bullet-ridden walls, and one of a covered body being wheeled away, all the while a woman's voice accompanies the pictures.

"Three people are dead, today, after two unidentified men stepped off a train and fired shots into a crowded metro station, and police say the gunmen are still at large."

The shot changes to a dark haired, dark skinned woman holding a microphone, standing in front of the stairs leading up to the station. The word 'Live' adorns the top left corner.

"The men were heavily disguised, and carried automatic weapons, police say, and they displayed no reason for the attack."

The shot changes again to a snippet from an interview shot earlier. An older man wearing a police uniform talking into a microphone. You remember him as one of the policemen that Eclipse was talking to at the station.

"Right now we're dealing with what looks like some sort of terrorist attack, but the people can rest assured that the city has it's best individuals on the job of bringing these extremists to justice."

Back again to the live feed of the female reporter and the station.

"Police are reporting no leads or suspects, but say they are optimistic. If you have any information or anonymous tips regarding this case, call the number on the screen. 1-800-555-TIPS"

[Lord_Gareth]

"The best the city has to offer? Well, I don't know if I should feel proud of myself or ashamed of the city."

Madonna didn't bother ordering anything, and is instead quietly nibbling on what are probably Doritos from inside her barely-opened backpack.

"How the hell are we going to get into his office, for one. For another, how do we get into his storage? Aside from that, both are likely booby trapped and we may even get a delightful ambush in one or the other. I don't know about the rest of you, but I want at least a quarter-mile distance between me and anyone who's trying to kill me."

[Chineselegolas]

Edwin

"They asked us to look into this, least we can do is show some effort. I agree that the place might be trapped, but I'm sure with this many of us someone will know something about entering," Edwin said, looking at the others shrugging. "And no one has tried to kill us."

[MinotaurWarrior]

"Yet. No-one has tried to kill us yet. For now, I do believe that we are truly free from assassins, but soon, once we have some leads, I am certain there will be attempts on our lives. Also, never doubt the ability of a someone like Arcad when it comes to hiding traps. The trap that kills us could 'currently' be hidden in the left kneecap of the horse that killed Chengis Khan. Finally, do not, at any time, think yourself safe from death; if you do, you will surely die. I know I may be sounding a bit Moros and cliched, but as the recent victim of an assassination attempt I do believe that, out of all of us I am the authority on this sort of thing"

Alrikar began to casually scan the area for anyone with a cell phone or laptop he could force into his possession.

"As for... gaining entrance, the vast majority of your American doors are feeble things of wood that can be smashed to bits by an average mans continued shoulder bashing. I assume that at least one of you is of average strength, and Monty here, Alrikar gestures towards Montaenoo, "Is most certainly of above average strength. Now, I most certainly do not recommend this method, but it is available in an emergency. As for what I do recommend, my uncle, as I have previously stated, has quite a bit of experience in this field, though he may be reluctant to help us with this matter."

[JMobius]

Morpheus finally stops munching on appetizers while listening, leans forward, and speaks in whisper: "Why exactly are we leaping to 'lets break and enter!'?" He leans back. "I'm a much bigger fan of 'lets knock on the door!'. The man had to be wealthy to employ the servants he... formerly did. I think its worth a shot to see if some of them are still at home. That's what I'm doing." He glances around at the continued onslaught of strange looks from the surroundings. "And I should probably go by myself."

[Premsyl]

Alrikar sees a man walking down the sidewalk talking into his cellphone. Across the cafe he sees another man typing furiously on a laptop computer.

The waiter arrives with the food, setting it down. As he turns to walk away you can see a cell phone protruding from the pocket of his pants.

[Chineselegolas]

Edwin

Taking a bite from one of the pancakes, Edwin nodded at Morpheus' suggestion. "Knocking sounds less likely to have repercussions than banging"

[Premsyl]

Zephyr notices a car parked across the street. A black new-model sedan. He realizes it's been there since just after they arrived. He can just make out the driver. A black man wearing sunglasses. He also notices that he's been watching their table this entire time, and he catches a fleeting glimpse of something gray and black in the man's hand.

[MinotaurWarrior]

Alrikar whispered something in Val'Tar to Montaenoo, along the lines of 'see if you can't get that guy with the cell phone who is walking on the sidewalk into a back alley and steal his stuff,' completely ignorant that his life might very well be in danger from a second black assassin.

Preemptively smug about his new acquisitions, and completely ignorant of N-Val'Tar cuisine, Alrikar tore his slice of pizza in two (making both his hands and his plate rather messy) then quickly swallowed the half in his right hand. To assist with the difficult swallow, he stabbed the top of his soda can with a knife then pried the entire top off, and swiftly chugged the entire canfull. After he was done, he looked almost as surprised as everyone else at the table, and rather pleased. He finished the second half at a greatly decreased pace, and seemed to be truly enjoying the flavors.

[Premsyl]

At Alrikar's eating habits, a few people at other tables look scandalized, while a few more snicker to themselves. A young girl laughs out loud and is quickly silenced by her parents. Most people just mind their own business. Crazy tourists.

Meanwhile, the man with the cell phone seems to be in a hurry as he's walking at a brisk pace down the street. He's still talking, no, yelling into his phone.

[Ditto]

Zephyr

"There's really no need to worry about getting into these places before we try knocking, like you say, Edwin. Anyway, I'm pretty good at opening doors - without the shoulder bash - and also, walking through walls. Good trick, if it comes to it."

Zephyr pulls a napkin toward him and jots down, Shady character, 2 o'clock. Any intel, team? Touching his hand to the key strung around his neck, Zephyr closes his eyes a moment to concentrate on fully opening his eyes to the scene around him. He wipes his mouth with one corner of the napkin, covering his mouth as he mutters an Atlantean word, and then places it on the table off to one side, nearest to Hermes at his left.

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Casting Omnivision, so that I can stare at this black stalker fellow without actually looking at him. I'm curious what that grey-black flash of something might have been.

Help me out here, I'm away from my book and I don't know the magic rules off the top of my head... it's Gnosis+Space to cast, and Wits+Composure for extended making-sense-of-omnivision. Using the fancy word gives +2 dice, and having my tool (key) handy takes off of paradox (not that there's a big issue with that here)... I promise I don't normally try to recreate the magic system from memory, honest!

Anyway, here's this. Two successes, plus a ten-again gives me... one more!.

[JMobius]

Morpheus glances at the napkin while chewing happily, raises an eyebrow for a moment, and his expression visibly sours as the meaning sets in. He resumes chewing, slowly, eying Zephyr with a faint expression indicating a need for direction.

"God, this place has great lunch."