~~~ IC ~~~

::it's still early June, and little else of consequence has happened since no firm plans were made in your previous meetings. The sunlight coming into the room in the beachhouse you've set aside for meetings indicates that it's nearing lunchtime::

::finishes writing his last letter to his contacts::

::done with some minor surgical duties, comes back for lunch at the beachhouse.::

::Vasili, as usual, wanders the home, hoping for a situation to break out that he can actually help with.::

Ahhh, Vasili. You know of any exceptionally seedy bars near here?

Hi, guys! ::smells like antiseptic:: What're we eatin' for lunch?

samwiches here. wash yer hands fore you get the chow.

Hmm. Come to think of it, there is one about three miles down the beach. Name of Jorgin's.

::rubs his eyes:: Sandwich's?

::is immaculate, but shrugs, and goes and washes up:: So, guys, I've been thinking about getting a substitute drug for the selchaka stockpiled. Anybody object to me going ahead with that?

I would say it was. . .less than reputable.

Excellent. how would you feel about a fishing expedition into the criminal underworld this evening? And yes Lan, i think you should go ahead.

What exactly are we fishing for?

the sooner we have means to combat the drug the better. ::turns back to vasili:: way I figure it, If you want to find out who stole something, lean on people who do it for a living. If nothing else, meybe it'll give us a starting point or something.

What, you're thinking, the Orb?

Well, I'd be willing to try it out.

::lights up a little at the mention thereof:: And, by the way. Do we know anything more about who we're going to start approaching to ally with?

((AFK - BRB))

Yup, I'm thinkin the orb. And no Idea on the ally front. But I figure a likely name will turn up when we start getting proceeds from the info gather nets we put out.

Well. If we want to put all our effort into the ... orb? I think it's the plainest bargaining chip we could possibly bring to the table....

indeed. we want to be as blunt as possible.

An orb IS about as blunt as it gets. ::procures a sammich, and starts to eat::

::listens but not really listening, seems distracted::

exactly. so we find it. or make others find it, but make sure we get the credit. and who knows more about illicit activities than the criminals? they are a cowardly and superstitious lot.

::there's a knock at the front door::

Huh?

::gets up and goes to the door::

Well, you guys are the sleuths. I could possibly give you a list of field doctors to... ::looks up::

::comes out of his haze and looks toward the door::

can we help you ::called through the door::

::knock knock knock::

*sigh* ::opens the door and steps to the side out of the possible line of fire::

::stands and moves to the door::

::no fire is forthcoming::

((yay!))

::for a moment Martel doesn't even think anyone's there, until he looks down...

::looks pointedly insignificant, with his sammich::

standing in the door is quite possibly the tiniest, most wizened, most environment-weathered old man any of you have ever seen...

Can we help you?

barely over five feet tall with incredibly wrinkeled, chapped skin, sparse white hair on head and face, he's dressed in battered earthtoned clothing, and a beaten up straw hat... he seems to be of Aragonese peasant extraction...

::Vasili cranes his neck down.""

::stands up. Looks at the other dudes:: Come in, grandfather. Come in. Something to eat?

he looks up at an with oddly clear gray eyes and passes the subtle signals of the Favyana meeting signs::

::returns the signs::

((Back)

::oblivious to any signs::

::sniffs:: You guys have sandwiches?

Indeed, come in. ::smiles::

::shuffles in with an old man's gait and settles himself at the table with a couple sandwiches and digs in::

want a drink fella?

Prejun

Want a drink Prejun?

::looks around at the other guys again, skeptically, and sits back down hisself::

coffee, if you have it, black

::goes to get a mug::

((Do I know him?))

((the name sounds vaguely familiar as a potential cult member that you'd heard of being on Aragon, but you've never met))

::comes back and sets the coffee down on the table, and leans against the wall a few feet behind and to the left of the old man::

How can we be of service brother. ::retrieves coffe for him self::

Lessee ::between mouthfuls of sammich and quiet slurps of coffee, looks at An:: you'd be Mr. Griffen, ::turns to Martel:: you're the Fiery Crusader, ::looks to Vasili:: You're the Banished Penitent...

I'm sorry, who are you again?

::frown:: I prefer it when the guys on the other side are the "fiery" ones, but i guess it fits.

((The DM.))

::looks to Lan:: You're the the Battered Philosopher, and ::looks to Budi:: You're the Scruffy Wayfarer

I'm Prejun

So you said.

Now's where you ask "But how did you find us?"

::opens his mouth to object politely to the description. Then shuts it without saying anything::

Why did you call me that?

You don't have the look of a noble, and you don't talk like a guildie. Church or mystic?

Scruffy?

::nods from Vasili to An:: Ask his sister.. she couldn't give a straight description of anyone if the universe depended on it.. which it might

Mystic then.

You've spoke with my sister?

::Looks at Prejun like he's a madman, which hasn't been ruled out::

Not recently.. got a hyperpulse telegram with some basic info that suggested I come help out ::squints up at Vasili:: Did I lose more height or are you really that dadblasted huge?

::mutters:: he's big.

::nods:: We could use the help. I feel like were stumbling in the dark here

Right then. Worried I wasn't getting enough calcium.

Don't know. Bit of both?

::nods:: First piece of advice I can give you... those of you that are still young... a lifetime of black coffee is not a good idea if you wanna be as tall as that man

Caffiene does tend to leech it from the bones.

::slurps his coffee:: so lay it out for me, like I don't know anything but that you're in trouble

now whiskey, whiskey does nothin to shrink a man anywhere but his liver.

Do you? Or are you just going to get us to hand over info?

It's okay man. Have a sandwich. I'm here to help. I need to know what you think you know. Then I'll use my phenominal wisdom to offer advice. Just don't ask me to spar with you.

Well if you're so wise, you would know that wise people don't trust people just for the asking. How do we know that you CAN be trusted.

::shrug:: we don't, but there are things we can tell him anyway.

He can be trusted At least I think so.

well then, there ya go.

Urrrr... cause I have an honest face? What Mr. Griffen said. We have friends in common.

Just because he mentioned your sister? That's hardly reason.

has left the room.

Our man An here ::motions to An:: wants to get hitched. the lady is semi-spoken for, though she doesn't want to be.

Exactly.

We are trying to find a way to get the two togeather.

has entered the room.

You know of the deaths of the Hazat in the accident, yes?

The Lady, is being forced to marry for political reasons, to sure up the hazat and her uncle's position.

Well, I'd heard it mentioned here and there.. what do you know about it?

I know it's a good first move in any plan to collapse house Hazat. Pancreator forfend.

Vultures and Mantis

We need to ... aid AN, our friend here, in becoming a worthy suiter to the Lady. And find out how was behind the killing of her father, beloved cousins and other relatives. That is the most general and brief description of the situation

oh, and stop An from being slaughtered along with the rest of the Hazat. but we dont know enough about that little bit yet.

::Looks from AN to Lan to Prejun and back to AN, nodding his head.::

Vultures.

...

...

Charioteers?

::squints at budi:: I don't know.. he looks more like a finch of some kind

I was interpreting that one as, minor houses, or... you know. Whomever would pick at the pieces.

So what's with Vultures and Mantises?

Vision, eating on the corpse of the hawk

From where?

I'm not sure

ummm...I am. here. ::taps his forehead:: or, also, the gargoyle.

Also, well. ::looks around the table, figures they're spilling the beans anyhow. This guy has the drop on them one way or another:: I'm fearful of what will happen if a certain house's selchaka supply is suddenly pulled off the market, and the wrong people's military are left high and dry.

Hmmm. Gargoyle visions huh? Those are generally pretty vague and annoying. Which gargoyle?

big one. out by BZII

In the desert? The lovers?

has left the room.

Yeah, the one in the desert.

::scratches head:: prolly. it was in the desert, but i don't know the names.

That one's a notorious tease... I was gonna ask Mr. Griffen a question, but he seems to have nodded off for a moment

I figure its one of those vision things that looks bloddy obvious from one direction, until you know that you should be looking at it another way, and then its too late.

What was the whole vision?

lesee...mantises and vultures picking at the corpse of a hawk...then a thin stone in space stoping a wave of exploding suns, and then finally An getting trampled down by an army amongst the corpses of the hazat.

We see our buddy An, here, wearing the crests of several minor houses, fighging a bunch of folks in, armor, and then there's this hawk, thrown down, and devoured by mantises and vultures, and a fire that spreads between the stars. Eclipsed by a stone.

Could be, but the gargoyles usually like to put something in there that's helpful even if you don't have the whole puzzle

has entered the room.

What do you think the mantises are?

::leans forward:: Decados. That's got to be for sure.

either that or someone who's into eating his mate...

has left the room.

Well... if one of the animals is a direct symbol of a group, then the other one is likely to be too... To figure out who the vultures are, you have to figure out what group is also interested in picking the bones of the Hazat and has a vulture somewhere in their symbology

::frowns:: anyone here got any heraldry in their noggins?

Heraldry and comparative m.... mmm, stuff, not my forte. Fortes.

Now were there really exploding suns, or are you just putting your own interpretation on the vision?

((just fyi, I'll need to be going soon))

((k))

my own interpritation. don't remember the vision that well.

They're not exploding. They're... something is spreading among them. I'd assumed, war.

Okay, could be.. now what's special about this stone that's stopping them? It's thin, that's all?

has entered the room.

black, if memory serves, which it sarely does.

(("vision resolves into a black night sky... slowly the stars are overwhelmed with fire... jumping from one to another until a massive inferno sweeps across the heavens... only a thin, slivered gray stone holds back the torrent"))

Mmm, grey. I think

slivered gray stone...and stars being overwhelmed with fire..::shakes his head:: aint a pretty picture...

It's the philosopher's stone. I'm sure of it. ::moment of unreasonable IC conviction::

Okay.. so now you're looking for a group that uses a Vulture as part of its symbology, and legends, history, or rumors about something that could approximate a thin, gray stone of indeterminate size

Right

It'll be pretty damn important, so you can exclude uncle billy's cane from consideration... Oh, right, I remembered.. Mr. Griffen.. did you ever find out what became of your own gargoyle? As I understand it had peculiar effects where time was concerned... Might be useful as something your enemies don't expect

thin grey stone huh...artifact of some sort?religious icon? which religion? ::settles in for some thinking::

That the vision led you to associate the word "stone" with it might be important... if I saw a thin gray sliver at a distance I'd be inclined to think metal, and you didn't

Hmmm... come to think of it I have no idea what happened.

Hrm. A sliver, of metal. A single sword? ::Frowns::

no, a sliver of stone. he's right, it was specific about that.

Did it look like a sword, though? That, also, could be important. Don't see many stone swords lying around.

true, but i dont remember anything like a handle

((gotta go in like, 3 minutes))

still, it's worth considering. So that sounds like something to get you guys started this afternoon... Mr. Griffen and Scruffy, handle what happened to your gargoyle...

Yeh, me neither. ::drums his fingers:: Maybe it's an eclipsed moon or something.

Penitent, you should look into heraldry, and Crusader and Philosopher can look into stone swords

::shrugs:: meybe the local churches willhave something on record. worth doin until the cavalry arrives, at the very least.

Hmm. Yes. Stone swords. ::rubs his goatee::

Heraldry. . .

You know, Vultures in the heraldry of different groups.. see who might be your mystery enemies

::nods:: Should be easy enough

The only sword and stone combination that I can remember is a magic lanter show about a man becoming king

And I'll sit here and think about your other problems... strange visions are my forte, so it'll take a bit longer for real problems

::shrugs, and nods::

Interesting thought.. think that might resonate with the current or past government of this world or the empire?

I think I read that stuff once. ::raps his own temple with a knuckle:: I need to read up on that.

Right, go to it, we'll talk more in a few hours

::nods::

::and everyone heads out in search of concise information that I can easily summarize for next week::

~~~ OOC ~~~