Into the Lair of the Kingpin

[Olvelsper]

Jan began pressing for more info carefully when he found he had a hit.

[Dracos]

He didn't though, as it seemed that while there were plentiful drunks around the bar, few were in the family, so to say.  A few rambled about some big shipment, but it was the same rumors they'd gotten earlier.

Dracos

[Olvelsper]

Jan left the bar as he continued wandering, using that latest bit of info to start a new series of questions as he'd stop and make a little bet here or there to keep from being too suspicious.

[Carthrat]

Mei heads inside the casino, looking around for a game she's familiar with, but upon not finding one, starts looking for Important Places, such as carefully guarded backrooms, particularly high-rolling tables, the works.

[Dracos]

There are, in fact, what appear to be a number of guarded backrooms.  Or more particularly, guarded doors along the edges.  She spotted a rich looking couple heading through one after chatting with the guards.

As far high roller tables, they didn't seem to be around here.  There were lots of odd games.  Some folks playing with what looked like paper cards.  Lots and lots of these odd blocks of metal with a sort of metal arm on the side people were pulling.  There was even this strange spinning ball one that had a couple of tables near the bar where Jan was talking with folks.

Dracos

[Dracos]

[21:23] <GM_Dracos> It was still midafternoon, not that they could tell much with being inside the casino.  The casino had its own sort of neon light atmosphere and being so large, it totally shielded them from any sense of day or time.  Probably intentional on the side of the designers.  Jan was sitting near the bar, talking with a drunk that looked more and more like another dead end.
[21:24] <GM_Dracos> Leets was wandering around the casino and well, Clyde was as well.
[21:24] <GM_Dracos> OOC: I can give events to react to, but first...I'd rather see you guys lead where the investigation goes.
[21:24] <GM_Dracos> OOC: I'll play Mei Ling if you need to ask her something.
[21:24] * Clyde wandered over to the nearest table to see what sort of gambling was going on - most of what he knew of gambling houses and casinos was what he'd read.
[21:25] <GM_Dracos> Jan: "Well, uh...yeah, you know...the good stuff." The drunk smiled a bit wastedly as he swilled another drink down.
[21:26] <GM_Dracos> Clyde found himself looking at what appeared to be a roulette table, assuming he knew of the game.  Otherwise he saw a table where folks were putting tokens on numbers, followed by a ball being spun about some odd device.  The stakes didn't seem too high here, most bets being just a few tokens on the numbers each round.
[21:28] <Jan> OOC: Play a hand, Hal. Knowing what kind of DQ fanboy Drac is, he might follow Hori's school of gambling philosophy. :p
[21:28] * Leets walked around the edges of the casino, listening to the various voices trying to speak over the noise of gamblers and drunks having way too good a time. Who knows, someone might be thick enough to try talking over the racket.
[21:29] <Clyde> (I'm just going to put OOC notes in this way for simplicity's sake.)
[21:30] <Clyde> Searching around for a few moments revealed a place to purchase the tokens. Upon obtaining a few of small demonination, Clyde headed back to the roulette table, to give the game a try.
[21:30] <GM_Dracos> (Okay...  I got no real preference.)
[21:30] <GM_Dracos> (If we need to, I'll toss together an ooc room during this)
[21:31] <GM_Dracos> Leets: Not much luck.  The racket he heard was pretty focused towards whatever gambling table he was near...or the conquest of the moment.
[21:31] <Jan> (OOC room ho.)
[21:32] <Leets> {We got an OOC room?}
[21:32] * Jan decides to gently bring down the pressure on the bartender to find out some more info about the comings and goings of the rich in the casino recently.
[21:32] <GM_Dracos> ( #Wastelandooc )
[21:33] <GM_Dracos> The bartender eyed him a bit, taking in his clothes and such.  "Aren't you a bit out of your league there?"
[21:35] * Leets glanced at the tables, trying to see if he could recognize anyone from the Ronspecio or Targo.
[21:39] <GM_Dracos> Clyde: It took a bit, but there were several tables, so he found a seat at one soon enough.  "Place your bets, Place your bets." The man in a fancy attedant outfit by the wheel called.
[21:39] <GM_Dracos> Leets: Unfortunately, you don't know their immediate gang well enough to tell them at a glance yet, though your gut tells you they're probably don't have anyone important down here on the ground floor.
[21:42] * Clyde examines the board for a moment - with the way probability works, any bet is as likely as any other to succeed, assuming the game isn't rigged. Which he wouldn't be entirely shocked to discover. With a shrug, he places a couple of his tokens on the stake with the highest return value and nods to the attendant.
[21:46] <GM_Dracos> "Place your bets, bets placed...  rolling, rolling,  3 blue, 3 blue is the winner."  Unfortunately, 3 blue wasn't his number this time.
[21:49] * Jan shrugs. "Appearances can be deceiving." He pulled out one of the artifacts he had stowed in his pack from Pandora's Box, a tri-fold staff that practically looked artifact-ish.
[21:50] * Leets continues wandering, keeping an ear out for suspicious activities.
[21:51] <Clyde> "Ah well, was at least worth a try," Clyde muttered to himself. Letting someone else take his place, he decided to watch the manner in which others played for a while - as well as keep his ears open to the chatter around the table.
[21:51] <GM_Dracos> "Mmm...ah, into..those sorts of things...I didn't...are you an archeologist?" He asked, a bit curiously, looking over it.  He definitely had the bartender's attention, and a few others nearby he noticed.  He could tell the bartender was off guard, probably could bluff his way into some of the vip rooms if he played his cards right.
[21:51] <GM_Dracos> Clyde: Seems mostly oriented about the game.  Every so often someone wins, but the house seems to be making out pretty darn well all told.
[21:52] <GM_Dracos> Leets found himself standing near Mei Ling, noticing a bit of the various guarded 'back rooms' they had on the casino.
[21:53] <Clyde> With a shake of his head, Clyde wanders over to inspect the nearest card table - there's not much that observation can help him with in terms of a mechanical game.
[21:54] <GM_Dracos> Clyde: Here it seemed a lot more even.  The general game seemed a lot more neutral, and a few games didn't even have a house player involved, with various ne'erdowells playing poker.
[21:54] <Jan> "Yes, you could say I have a vested interest in ancient cultures." Jan looked amused as he placed the artifact away and made sure to secure his pack.
[21:57] <GM_Dracos> "Hmm, well, that'll be a different story.  Mmm, are you...perhaps interested in selling some of those?  I could think of...perhaps some people who may be interested in acquiring such artifacts."
[21:58] * Clyde moves on, heading for the billiards tables in the corner. This at least he could eliminate as being an element of chance. Drawing his collapsed cue from the inside pocket of his coat, he extended it to its full length with a snap of his wrist and looked for an unoccupied table.
[22:02] <Jan> "Oh?" Jan quirked a head inquistively at the bartender.
[22:02] <GM_Dracos> He found one soon enough, a younger fellow nearby eying him.
[22:02] <GM_Dracos> "Mmm, yes.  Are you...in the market for selling?"
[22:04] * Leets eyed the guarded rooms, memorizing their locations. If they were lucky, there might be another way to get in from the outside.
[22:04] <Jan> "It's not solely my own decision. These artifacts can't be bought by just anyone."
[22:07] <GM_Dracos> "Mmm, well...if you had come across stuff...of great worth.  We could connect you with clients willing to pay full value and such.  Mmm, but only if you are truly selling.  mr..?"
[22:13] <GM_Dracos> Clyde: The table seemed good enough as you practice your game on it, a younger guy watching and sizing him up as he played.
[22:14] <Jan> "Smith. Jan Smith. I'm leaning on selling them, as these artifacts aren't exactly helping me put food in my mouth, but I'd need to bring along my team so they can share the benefits."
[22:16] * Clyde keeps it simple at first, just going for straight shots and normal setups - nothing too fancy. It doesn't take long, however, before the table stands bare - product of one seven-ball run and two four-ball runs. "Must be getting a bit rusty," the professor grumbled to himself.
[22:17] <GM_Dracos> "Ah, I see...mm, well, I'm certain arrangements could be made.  Go tell...Mr. Judas, I asked you to see him about selling." He gestured to a huge man guarding one of the doors.
[22:27] <Jan> "Thank you very much." Jan nodded as he rose and went to talk to Judas.
[22:33] <GM_Dracos> Judas was dressed fancy, but was really quite the intimidating presence, a literal giant among men as Jan walked up to him, silently waiting for Jan to introduce himself, his eyes scanning the room.
[22:36] <GM_Dracos> He simply blocked the door behind him completely.
[22:37] <Jan> "Name's Jan Smith. I was told that I'd be allowed to sell artifacts to some special clients by the bartender." He gestured back towards the bar.
[22:39] <GM_Dracos> "Hmm, ah."  He nodded, stepping aside.  "You know the business?"
[22:40] <Jan> "I need to bring along a few of my fellow team mates. They need to be there for the transactions. I just didn't want you to be surprised by seeing a group approach you quickly."
[22:41] <GM_Dracos> "That is fine, though all weapons must be checked here.  The penalty for concealing anything past this point...is strict."
[22:42] <GM_Dracos> The man's voice was calm and reasonably intelligent, no dumb brute really, a dangerous combination.
[22:42] <Jan> "Righto." Jan handed over his revolvers.
[22:43] <Jan> Before turning and fetching Mei Ling and Leets, and heading to find Clyde.
[22:43] <GM_Dracos> He could see Mei ling and Clyde easily enough in the crowd, but who knew where Leets was in it.
[22:44] <GM_Dracos> He have a devil of a time tracking the stealthy kid down in this crowd.
[22:50] <Jan> Jan made his way towards Clyde, "How goes the game?" He curiously asked the professor.
[22:51] <Clyde> "Not too badly," Clyde responded. Lining up a careful shot, he fired the cue ball around the table, managing to sink two balls at once quite solidly. "Your own pursuits?"
[22:51] <Leets> "Any luck on your end?" Leets asked Mei-ling, and noticing Jan and Clyde talking.
[22:53] <GM_Dracos> <Mei-Ling> Just noticed they seem to have a lot of rich folks heading to the back.  Haven't figured out how to get in there thouhg.
[22:53] <GM_Dracos> *though."
[22:54] * Jan (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.244.231.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) Quit (-=SysReset 2.53=-)
[22:55] * Jan (WinNT@dialup-4.240.245.70.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) has joined #Wasteland
[22:58] <GM_Dracos> wb
[22:58] * GM_Dracos sets mode: +v Jan
[22:58] <GM_Dracos> OOC: Oops =)
[22:59] <Jan> "I managed to get a lead. Do you want to stay out here for a few more rounds? I'll take the rest in if you want."
[23:04] <Clyde> "Might as well. Doubt I'd be much use to you in there, and perhaps I might get lucky here - who knows?"
[23:05] <GM_Dracos> Mei-ling made her way over to the two, leading leets over there.
[23:05] <Jan> "Well, okay. Just be careful incase something goes sour. The code signal will be...an ominous rumbling of the building."
[23:06] <Clyde> "I shall summarily ignore any non-ominous rumbling, then." Clyde gives Jan a quick grin. "Best of luck to you."
[23:07] <Jan> Jan laughed as he turned to face the others. "C'mon, I got us a new lead. We'll be allowed into the guarded areas so long as we're pretending we're selling some of Yomi's junk."
[23:09] <GM_Dracos> Mei-ling nodded, curious to see what was behind the closed doors.
[23:14] <Leets> "Well, if you can get us in past the guards, I might be able to scout further to find out just what it is their hiding," Leets said.
[23:16] <Jan> "Right. Let's go, then." Jan led the way to Judas.
[23:18] <GM_Dracos> Judas looked over them, sizing them up and nodded.  "Weapons?"
[23:25] <GM_Dracos> A few minutes later, the team was lead upstairs, their weapons checked.  "This is your first time here, correct?"
[23:25] <GM_Dracos> The place looked noticibly more extravagant, almost with ever step.
[23:27] <Jan> "Pretty much. Anything we should be aware of?"
[23:28] <GM_Dracos> "You'll do your business through Fransico."  He lead over to a small man, dressed almost like a fancy bookie, a pair of glasses on his nose as he sized them up.  "New sellers?  or buyers?"
[23:37] <GM_Dracos> He had a bit of a sharp tone to his voice, sort of a no nonsense sense about him.
[23:45] <Jan> "Sellers. Is there a way we can see the inventory, though? I'm kinda interested in what's being sold too. Maybe other artifacts that might give me and my team new leads?"
[23:46] <GM_Dracos> "Mmm, how much cash you got on you kid?" He said it sort of casual, not so much indiciating that he thought Jan was a kid, but more that he called everyone that.
[23:49] <GM_Dracos> "Anyhow, sure, if you've got the change, you can try and bid.  That goes on around the front.  Just got to raise your hand when something goes out on bid.  Selling is different though."
[23:57] * Clyde is now known as Halbarad
[23:58] <Jan> "I see. How is that done?"
[23:59] <GM_Dracos> "Bidding goes through me.  You give me what you want to put up, I help you pick a start price and handle selling it.  House takes 5 percent, but don't worry, the prices you see here tend to be more than plenty."

[Dracos]

[20:55] <Jan> "Well then, can I see a list of what can we can bet on? I'm curious if there's anything we can use to expand on our research."
[20:55] * Dracos is now known as GM_Dracos
[20:56] <GM_Dracos> "Well, we don't have so much lists...  It's more first come first serve deal.  If you're ready to buy at the moment, I can lead you in, though...preferrably, it'd be idea of you to show a measure of...good faith in that regard.  Evidence that you've got what it takes to bid at these levels."
[20:59] <Jan> Jan once again reached into his pack to show off the artifact he had gotten from Pandora's Box as the sign of good faith.
[21:03] <GM_Dracos> "MMm, yeah.  I guess you've got plenty.  Okay, basic deal is that items get shown up here every night, abouts six to midnight.  If you want it, you bid, at least as much as the starting bid.  If you don't have the money to pay, we will take it out from you one way or another, so don't play around.  If you win, you pay up later in the night and get your prize.  Simple enough?"  He lead into a huge room, chandalliers hanging from the ceiling, fancy lights filling it.  Rich foods and wines were being served around and there must have been at least a hundred or so people in here.  There was a stage up front where they were just finishing selling something, but they couldn't tell what it was from here.
[21:04] <GM_Dracos>  He lead into a huge room, chandalliers hanging from the ceiling, fancy lights filling it.  Rich foods and wines were being served around and there must have been at least a hundred or so people in here.  There was a stage up front where they were just finishing selling something, but they couldn't tell what it was from here.
[21:06] * Mei decides to sample some of the wine that's produced in this place. Where does it come from, anyway? The wastelands she'd seen didn't seem amiable to vineyards.
[21:09] * Leets glanced around, waiting for the moment when eyes shifted away; when minds were distracted enough and one did not pay attention to what was happening around them. When the opportunity arrived, he would slip out.
[21:09] <GM_Dracos> That's a pretty good question.  The wine was sharp.  Didn't taste altogether natural, but didn't taste half bad either.  No one seemed to complain or ask for money while she was doing so, which was nice.
[21:10] <Jan> Jan looked around at the rest of the room, trying to place names to faces he saw around as he casually waited for bidding to begin.
[21:12] * Mei decides to ask one of the waiters where it comes from, and what vintage it is.
[21:14] <GM_Dracos> None he recognized yet, but then, good opportunity to memorize new ones as these were clearly some rich folks that had connection.  They seemed to organize in a bit of cliques, some looking richer than others, some drunker than others, some more chatty than others.  A few seemed to have special spots, fancier seating areas (though it was hard to tell by comparison).
[21:14] <GM_Dracos> The room got a bit more silent as tell tale ring was heard.
[21:15] <GM_Dracos> Mei: the waiter turned, looking at the young lady and nodding.  "It is brewed here.  Vintage..doesn't apply so much to a Targo' delight."
[21:16] <Mei> "Oh, I see," replies Mei, moving back near Jan.
[21:22] <Jan> "C'mon, let's take a seat, Mei Ling." Jan gestured to the spot where he saw a few of the more drunker, less posh looking people. They might let slip a few discouraging words towards those they most likely envied.
[21:22] <GM_Dracos> Leets, slipping almost invisibly into the crowd of wealthy folks, scouted about the edges of the room.  There was a bathroom, and what looked like a service entrance where the waiters were coming from.  There was probably another backstage and one that they came in on.  Beyond that, he didn't see any other exits.
[21:23] * Mei takes a seat, musing. "Do you do this sort of thing often?", she asks.
[21:27] <GM_Dracos> Jan was able to find a pair of seats for them as what looked like an announcer came forth, producing...what looked like some kind of remarkable RC Car!  He hadn't seen even something as motorized as that outside vault city.
[21:27] <GM_Dracos> The man seemed to be going over its qualities and admirable traits before starting the bidding, most of the folks nearby sort of shrugging at it, though there was some clear interest from certain quarters of the room.
[21:29] <Jan> "Can't say I've done this before, no. Still, there's always a weak part of the chain one can exploit." Jan whispered back, eyes began scanning through the crowd of the rich they were sitting near in between fascinated looks at the car up on stage, trying to pick out an appropiate target.
[21:34] * Mei nods, and starts watching the produced items with interest. RC car? What is this.. car?
[21:37] * Leets tries the service entrance, as experience dictates that it would have to be connected to a lot more rooms then these people would admit to having.
[21:41] <GM_Dracos> Leets was able to slip in, the waiters not noticing him sliding in right behind one.  The first thing he found was a pretty darn busy kitchen, food and drink being prepared here and constantly readied to go out.  There looked to be a few doors in the back as well.
[21:42] * Leets studied the doors in the back, trying to see which ones were still in use and which ones were collecting dust.
[21:44] <GM_Dracos> "5000."
[21:44] <GM_Dracos> "6000."
[21:44] <GM_Dracos> The bidding launched off quickly, folks raising their hands.
[21:45] <Mei> "What is that thing, anyway?" asks Mei, musing. "Is it really worth that much?"
[21:46] <GM_Dracos> "I hear 6000, 6000 silvers.  Do I hear 7000?"
[21:46] <Jan> "Well, to people that really love technology and are nostalgic, it is. It's called an RC Car, uses electricity to make it move around. It's controlled by a remote control."
[21:46] <GM_Dracos> "6800!" A man in the front called.
[21:47] <Mei> "Electricity?" replies Mei-Ling, blinking. "Well.. like lightning?" She channels a slight spark between two of her fingers to demonstrate.
[21:48] <GM_Dracos> There didn't seem to be anyone getting angry about it.  Though there were a number of folks that seemed a bit tipsy, including a few talking privately near the back corner.
[21:49] <GM_Dracos> A couple of people glanced back at the slight flashe caused by the spark.
[21:50] <Jan> "To a lesser extent." He blocked the majority of the flash and he leaned in closer, while holding a lighter and trying to flick it on a few times to trick people into thinking the flash was from that instead. "Psst. Be careful, we don't want to attract attention right now."
[21:51] <Mei> "Oh. Right," she replies, turning back to look at the car. "Where do they get the electricity from? It's not magic..."
[21:54] <Jan> "As far as I can tell, it's from mixing two different chemicals." He put away his lighter with a feigned look of disgust, demonstrating to anyone who might still be watching that he had failed at lighting a cigar. "Electronics aren't quite my bag, though."
[21:56] <Mei> "Oh. I'll have to ask Clyde, perhaps," she replies, steepling her hands. "Is it widespread in use?"
[21:58] <GM_Dracos> Leets: They all seemed still in use, though he didn't see anyone heading through them at the moment.
[22:00] <Jan> "Not here. The only place that could still do this is Vault City. Back in my world they were common."
[22:02] <Mei> "Ah. Still, they obviously know about it," replies Mei, shrugging. "I wonder why they can't replicate it.."
[22:04] <Jan> "We have to make due with the scraps thrown our way by Vault City. They pretty much control the flow of technology, so no one can challenge them."
[22:04] * Leets checked the door knobs, trying to feel for some warmth indicating a door was being used recently or often.
[22:05] <Jan> Jan finally spotted a perfect target as he waved Mei-Ling follow him. The man seemed plastered enough, and was animatedly chatting away with anyone that would give him an ear.
[22:05] <GM_Dracos> All of the handles seemed cold, but then, they were metal.  If they hadn't been used right then, they'd be cold.
[22:06] <GM_Dracos> Some lady in the front won as he got up to move, a cheer going through the room.  The man was was talking, at the moment, about his grand exploits in the russian alpes.
[22:06] * Mei stays a short distance back from Jan, keeping an eye on the area- and making sure nobody is watching him.
[22:08] <Jan> "How are you doing there, sir? Isn't it amazing the kinds of things one can purchase here?" He casually slipped into the conversation during a lull, noticing the way the man half turned at the cheer and capitalizing on that moment.
[22:09] <GM_Dracos> "oh certainly.  New here?  I don't recognize you." He sort of giggled at that.  "You should've seen last week.  They had a real live Yeti as the closer."
[22:13] * Leets decided to try his luck with a random door, since they all seem to be used equally. Starting with the closest.
[22:13] <Jan> "Yes, my friend and I are considering selling an artifact of ours." Jan half nodded at Mei-Ling to draw the man's attention

[Dracos]

[20:55] <Dracos> Clyde, meanwhile, had been having a pretty good night on the tables so far.  At least, as good as it gets with nobody around bothering you.  That looked like it was going to change soon as that young guy who'd been watching moved in.  "Up for a game, old man?"
[20:55] * Dracos is now known as GM_Dracos
[20:56] <Clyde> "I wouldn't mind one, no," Clyde said, sizing the man up as he gave him a smile.
[20:59] <GM_Dracos> He was sort of a punk.  Black greaser hair.  Leather jacket and pants.  Had a visible tattoo on his arm along with evidence of someone who worked out every so often.  He picked up cue and started sizing it a bit, not amateur but not necessarily in Clyde's league.
[21:01] <Clyde> "Any preference what style of game?" Clyde said, retrieving the balls from the collection area at the front of the table.
[21:01] <GM_Dracos> "Standard Eight ball is good."
[21:01] <GM_Dracos> The man seemed to be sizing up Clyde as well.
[21:02] <Clyde> "Fair enough." Clyde racked the balls, leaving them in position on the table. "Feel free to break, if you like."
[21:05] <GM_Dracos> The man moved to the other side of the table, bit slow as he lined up the shot and broke, a fair break, but nothing went in as the balls went all over the table.
[21:09] * Clyde nodded, taking up his cue and lining up his shot. A short run of fairly straightforward shots and the ball sported four fewer of the solid-colored balls, the cue coming to rest in a corner of the table. "Your turn, I believe," Clyde offered.
[21:16] <GM_Dracos> "Right-o," the man answered, his cue coming down on the table as he took a couple of shots, sinking two, before missing by a near miss.
[21:20] * Clyde frowns slightly. The last shot left him in a less than favorable position, and his ball is squarely trapped behind the 8-ball itself. "Ah well, nothing for it..." Lining up the shot carefully - right through the 8, it seems - he drives the point of the cue at a sharp angle, the cue jumping squarely over the obstructing ball and trundling down the table to sink its intended target. This is the limit, unfortunately, the next shot re
[21:20] <Clyde> *resulting in a miss.
[21:32] <GM_Dracos> "My turn now." He sunk two in before a miss, leaving the cue ball in the middle of the table.
[21:34] <Clyde> "Mmm..." Clyde quickly set about demolishing the rest of the table, quickly driving both of his remaining balls into their pockets before solidly sinking the 8 in the side of the table. "Good game, young man."
[21:47] <GM_Dracos> "Mmm, yeah.  You're not too bad.  Care for another...for cash this time?"
[21:49] <Clyde> "How much did you have in mind?" Clyde raised an eyebrow. Not quite trusting the man - he'd heard that this was how sharks operated - he decided to keep things to a minimum if possible.
[21:53] <GM_Dracos> "Mmm, 20 a ball up."
[21:57] <Clyde> "I... suppose that should be all right," Clyde said cautiously. "I'll take the break this time, if you don't mind."
[21:59] <GM_Dracos> "Sure, sure."
[22:01] <Clyde> Not trusting to luck, Clyde sets up his shot and breaks, sinking a ball of either variety on the break. Deciding to take the solids again - more available shots that way - he promptly goes on a five-ball run, leaving only one of his own balls on the table before handing over the turn.

[Dracos]

[20:18] <@Dracos> Clyde, meanwhile, was preparing to shark the pool shark
[20:19] <@Dracos> The man whistled.  "Not a kind player, are you?"
[20:20] <Clyde> "Just good at what I do," Clyde replied noncommitally.
[20:24] <@Dracos> "I see, I see..."  He fired a few around, sinking three before edging one.
[20:26] * Clyde wastes no time in eliminating his final ball from the table, then sinks the 8 by a whisker. "Bit short, but it's good to get back into the feel of the game," Clyde said, giving his opponent a small smile.
[20:27] <@Dracos> "Mmm, another round?  Double the wager on each ball?"
[20:27] <Clyde> "I suppose one more shouldn't hurt terribly," Clyde replies, shrugging.
[20:32] <@Dracos> "I'll start..."
[20:32] <Clyde> "Go right ahead."
[20:32] <@Dracos> He broke, doing a similar game as Clyde had the last round, just barely missing nailing the eight ball on the final shot.
[20:33] * Clyde nods, having expected as much. With the table mostly cleared, however, it's not a difficult matter to run the entire table himself, although a couple of shots do require some impressive use of English.
[20:34] <@Dracos> The man twitched, clearly displeased with the result.
[20:35] <Clyde> "An excellent attempt, if I do say so myself." Clyde grinned - not a huge payoff, but he's not here to make money in any case. "I think I'll forego another game, however."
[20:44] <@Dracos> He glared and paid up.  "Lucky night."
[20:44] <@Dracos> He stalked off, leaving Clyde alone again...but Clyde couldn't shake the sense that he was still being watched.
[20:45] <Clyde> "Luck has nothing to do with it," he said to himself, shaking his head. "It's all physics." He returns to his solo play, playing by the numbers this time - but trying to get a sense of where the impression of watchfulness is coming from.
[20:57] <@Dracos> Hard to tell with the crowd, but it definitely raised the hairs on his neck.
[20:58] <Clyde> With the uncomfortable feeling of observation, Clyde quickly finished off his current game and collapsed his stick, deciding instead to watch some of the other players to avoid attracting further attention.
[21:10] <@Dracos> The players are pretty good at the nearby table, playing a more friendly game abouts.  rare to see at the casino, or so it felt from his time here.
[21:11] * Clyde smiled slightly, listening to the players chatter as they went about their game. He does occasionally glance around, however, as the feeling of being watched still hasn't left him entirely.

[Dracos]

[20:19] <@Dracos> "Ah, first time here." He laughed, finding that very funny for some reason.  "And already a hit with the ladies?"
[20:21] * Saul (~user@203-214-107-151.dyn.iinet.net.au) has joined #wasteland
[20:21] * Saul is now known as Mei-Ling
[20:22] <Jan> "Actually, she's just a friend." A hint.
[20:23] <@Dracos> "Ah, you seemed close." The man laughed.  "And what is your name, exotic beauty?"
[20:24] <Mei-Ling> "Mei," replies Mei, smiling softly and giving a short bow. "It's an honor to meet you, Mr..."
[20:31] <@Dracos> "Charmed.  I am Mr. Ghiberali.  I run the paper company around here." He smiled.
[20:32] * Jan (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.141.228.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) Quit (-=SysReset 2.53=-)
[20:34] <@Dracos> Leets: Opening the door you find...  a storeroom?  Seems to be being used to handle non-refrigerated foods and keep them both near and out of the way.
[20:34] <Mei-Ling> "Ah.. as in.. 'news-papers'?" asks Mei-Ling, doing a good job of looking like an exotic bumpkin. "That most be profitable for you."
[20:39] <@Dracos> "Indeed.  That goes without saying." He almost smiled.  "Care to share a drink?"
[20:40] <Mei-Ling> "I would be delighted," replies Mei, bowing again. "To our future business."
[20:45] <@Dracos> He laughed. "Quite quite." His eyes roaming over Mei in a none-too-wholesome way.
[20:49] <Mei-Ling> "We should move to a more private room to discuss these matters, however," she goes on, noting the mans eyes. "You could be very helpful..." he adds, smiling in a sultry sort of way. "We are.. strangers to this market. Having someone to.. 'show us the ropes', as it were, would certainly be appreciated.
[20:58] <@Dracos> "Mmm, well, I'd love to take you back to my place."
[20:59] <@Dracos> He tried to slip his arm around hers to guide her off from Jan.
[21:00] * Mei-Ling doesn't seem to mind, demurely taking his and letting him take her somewhere.
[21:09] <Mei-Ling> OOC: cut that.
[21:10] <@Dracos> OOC: Make an action
[21:10] <Mei-Ling> "Mmm. Maybe later," she adds. "What I'm looking for here are.. connections, you know. I'm sure, in this room, are people who tap into all sorts of.. alternate markets. I'd be interested in meeting them, you know."
[21:10] <Mei-Ling> OOC: orly.
[21:11] <@Dracos> "What's a pretty lady like you into that stuff for?" He laughed.
[21:11] * Leets shuts the storage room door and checks the next door down.
[21:11] <@Dracos> He seemed to find a lot of things funny.
[21:12] <@Dracos> Leets: This one was locked it seemed.
[21:13] <Mei-Ling> "I'm just curious by nature," replies Mei. "Surely, as someone who looks after.. news.. you can understand that, hmm?"
[21:13] * Leets marks the locked door and tries the last unknown door.
[21:17] <@Dracos> "Mmm, well certainly... what kind of stuff are you looking for?"
[21:18] <@Dracos> Leets: This one is open, exiting into a stairwell heading upstairs.  Seems to be a sort of service stair.
[21:20] <Mei-Ling> "Well, I'm not bereft of my own sources. I'd like to get an ear down to the, ah, substance market," says Mei-Ling. "You know. For medicinal purposes."
[21:25] <@Dracos> "Substance eh...well, you know uh...Jake Ronspecio?  He knows a lot...I could, you know..." He winked at her and tried to guide her towards the door again.
[21:26] <Mei-Ling> "You'd better point him out for me," says Mei, batting her eyes. "It's important that me and my friends can pick him out quickly."
[21:30] <@Dracos> "Did I say he was here tonight?" He hiccuped, drunkly lying.
[21:32] <Mei-Ling> "If he's not, then I suspect I'm wasting my time," replies Mei-Ling. "I would need to hurry elsewhere to find him.. that would be a shame, wouldn't it?"
[21:32] * Jan (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.123.9.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) has joined #wasteland
[21:32] <@Dracos> "Well, mmm...he's in the corner." The man gestured.
[21:32] * Mei-Ling glances over.
[21:33] <@Dracos> Following his gesture, she could see a group of men sitting in the corner and drinking, talking quietly about something with a tingle of excitement about them.
[21:33] <Mei-Ling> "I don't think I can thank you enough," says Mei-Ling, bowing again. "Perhaps we'll be able to talk more closely.. later tonight," she winks, with little real intention.
[21:34] <@Dracos> He smiled, taking a drink of his beer.
[21:34] * Mei-Ling moves off into the crowd, glancing around for Jan.
[21:37] * Jan shortly returned from the thick crowds around, looking from side to side for Mei-Ling. Spotting her, he gave a curt nod as he drew closer to her. "How'd it go?"
[21:38] * Mei-Ling gestures with her eyes. "A Mr. Jake Ronspecio should be able to tell us something," she says, musing. "Shall we go?"
[21:39] * Leets makes a note to check the stairs later and slips back to the locked door. He paused, making sure there was no one looking in his direction as he applied a little jolt of power to open the locks.
[21:40] <Jan> "Sure thing." Jan gestured for Mei-Ling to follow after as he walked up to where she had gestured.
[21:41] * Mei-Ling follows smoothly, looking for all the world like a hired escort.
[21:41] <@Dracos> Leets: A moment later he heard the lock softly click open.
[21:42] <@Dracos> As they got close, they heard something sounding like discussing a shipment transfer, the voices kept pretty low.
[21:46] <Jan> Jan gestured for Mei-Ling to sit down as he found them some seats nearby. Best to not break in their conversation if they could find out the information by spying in on the conversation.
[21:46] * Mei-Ling hangs around, whispering something under her breath.
[21:47] <Leets> Sure that no one was looking, Leets quietly opened the door a crack and peeked in to make sure he wasn't going to lock himself in an exitless room and increase his chances of getting caught.
[21:48] * Jan tries to use his training to naturally shift to a more low key pose as he offered Mei-Ling a sip. He gave her a gentle look to trick the men nearby that his entire focus was on the woman at his side.
[21:49] * Mei-Ling plays the part, taking a drink and gazing back at Jan.
[21:49] <@Dracos> A few seconds after, the spell took effect silently... they could hear the men as clearly as if they were right there between them.
[21:50] <@Dracos> "So how long until you're ready to move your shipment out of here?"
[21:50] <@Dracos> "Two days, no more.  We've just about cleared out a place for it.  It's safe right?"
[21:51] <@Dracos> "No one even knows it's here.  Don't worry about it.  Our generousity though goes only as far as your budget, understand, Jake?"
[21:52] <@Dracos> "Yeah, yeah, you'll get your money."
[21:52] <@Dracos> The men seemed to be ignoring the two of them, assuming they were out of earshot range.
[21:56] * Jan shifted in his chair, taking in the group of men conversing amongst themselves. He quickly took in their expressions to try and find who this Jake could be.
[22:00] * Jan settled back into his chair as he went back to quietly discussing with Mei-Ling. "Have anyway of letting us talk to Leets?" He quietly asked the woman.
[22:00] <@Dracos> "Anyhow, thursday night.  I'll send my men and a truck to pick it up and move it."  'Jake' got up, slipping on a hat and turning to leave.
[22:00] <@Dracos> Leets could only tell that the room was dark.  Pitch black to his eyes.  Of course, with the lights off in it, that's to be expected.
[22:00] <Mei-Ling> "Not unless I know where he is," replies Mei, musing. "Finding him would be.. ah, visible."
[22:04] <Leets> Sighing quietly, Leets slipped into the room and started feeling the wall for a switch; leaving the door open a crack to let light in, but making sure it appeared closed to anyone not giving it a closer scrutiny.
[22:04] <@Dracos> Jake made his way out of the room, a sort of scowl on his face.  He had a pretty noticible nose, sort of hawklike, and narrow eyes.
[22:08] <@Dracos> He found one with his hand...did he flick it?
[22:09] <@Dracos> OOC: Actually, just greasing a bit
[22:09] * Mei-Ling rises, nonchalantly pulling up Jan. "Shall we go?" she asks.
[22:09] <@Dracos> Flicking it, Leets found the above light go on with an almost too noisy to his ears spark...revealing a stairway heading down and another one going up.
[22:10] <Jan> Jan waited until Jake was three quarters through the room before he smirked and leaned in close to Mei-Ling to whisper. "Let's go." Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave it a small squeeze as he continued playing his role as he gestured for Mei-Ling to follow. He took her hand as he went off in the general direction after Jake.
[22:10] * Leets keeps his hand on the light switch and quietly shuts the door before flicking the switch.
[22:11] * Mei-Ling follows, seeming to stumble a bit and giggle like a drunkard.
[22:14] <@Dracos> Leets: Flicking it, Leets found the above light go on with an almost too noisy to his ears spark...revealing a stairway heading down and another one going up.
[22:16] <Jan> Passing a few of the guards near the entrance of the auction hall, he dismissively passed Fransico over a few herbs. "They can be crushed into powerful healing tonics. Send my portion to the hotels if you want, kinda busy." He shifted the giggly woman in his arms pointedly as he shuffled towards the exit.
[22:17] <@Dracos> Downstairs, Jan and Mei-ling were able to retrieve the stuff they'd deposited earlier with the guards.
[22:17] <@Dracos> Leaving them now back in the main casino hall.
[22:18] * Mei-Ling leans on her staff like it's an aid to balance.
[22:19] * Jan scanned the crowd for Jake as he assisted Mei-Ling onwards. Once they were far enough from the guards, he'd let the facade drop.
[22:20] * Leets flinches, quickly locking the door before someone decides to investigate the noise and finds it unlocked. Once that's finished, he decides to try exploring downstairs first.
[22:20] <@Dracos> He could see Jake already nearing the exit, a couple of men winging behind him.
[22:25] * Mei-Ling stumbles over to the pool tables, glancing around for Clyde.
[22:26] * Clyde is standing alone near one of the tables. Glancing around - clearly upset by something - he spots Mei-ling and walks over to meet her.
[22:27] <Mei-Ling> "You look a little down," quips Mei-Ling, starting to walk back towards Jan.
[22:27] <Clyde> "Just a bit on edge," Clyde replies. "It seems like someone's been watching me for some time, although I'm not sure who."
[22:29] <Mei-Ling> "In a place like this, everyone is watching," muses Mei. "They'll show themselves eventually.."
[22:31] <Clyde> "Haven't so far. Concluded your business, I'm guessing?"
[22:31] <Mei-Ling> "The first step, anyhow."
[22:32] <Clyde> "Glad to hear it. I'll certainly be glad to put this place behind me."
[22:33] <Mei-Ling> "Really? I find it interesting," muses Mei. "If we weren't busy already, well.. anyhow, we'd better hurry."
[22:35] <Clyde> "I agree." Clyde moved his steps towards the exit, trying to look around discreetly for the others.
[22:36] <@Dracos> They could quickly go catch up with Jan if they wanted to, as he was following Jake and just about to exit the casino.
[22:36] <@Dracos> The hairs on Clyde's neck still hadn't really gone down.
[22:37] * Mei-Ling does just that, though she keeps a loose eye around.
[22:38] * Clyde quickens his steps a bit, not trying to catch up with Jan but certainly interested in getting out of the casino quicker.
[22:41] <@Dracos> The crew of three, together again..or something like that as they got out in time to spot Jake stepping into..an actual car?  Sheesh. It'd be hard to keep up with that, but it'd probably be easy to track as the car started up with a bit of an unhealthy roar and started down the street.
[22:43] <Jan> Meanwhile, Jan shadowed the steps of the group and was close enough to spot and memorize the license plate number if it was there. He got the make/model of the car as well.
[22:45] <@Dracos> The car was moving at a healthy 20...starting to leave them behind as they cleared out of the front of the casino crowds...few places now to hide that they were following, if they kept it up.
[22:46] <Jan> Jan returned to the group.
[22:46] <Mei-Ling> "They don't look hard to follow, even moving at that speed," comments Mei. "It leaves a stench in the air behind it."
[22:47] <Jan> "More notably, there aren't that many cars around."
[22:47] <Mei-Ling> "I suppose.."
[22:49] <Clyde> "With that being the case, their possession of a car may be helpful information in itself. Surely someone should know more about them with something so unique to make them stand out."
[22:49] <Mei-Ling> "That seems likely. Where would they obtain this.. car?"
[22:50] <@Dracos> They could hear a bit of laughter behind them.
[22:50] <Clyde> "An excellent question. I've seen information about them in the Vault City archives, but nothing about working vehicles." Clyde glanced back at the source of the commotion.
[22:52] <@Dracos> He saw his friend, the pool shark.  He'd come to say hi.  Complete with....nine other friends!  He didn't look that happy.  "Hello there.  I was kinda thinkin', I don't really take well to losin' a game of pool."
[22:52] <Jan> "I suggest a tactical retreat."
[22:53] <Clyde> "I concur most heartily," Clyde nodded.
[22:53] <@Dracos> "Running?  Already?  But I've hardly said anything yet."  He smacked his fist together and his friends rushed at them.
[22:54] <Jan> "Do you really want to make trouble in front of this fine city's casino?" He gestured for Mei-Ling and Clyde to retreat.
[22:55] <Clyde> "Be ready to run yourself," Clyde murmured to Jan as he started to back off. "I can throw up a screen to cover our escape." So saying, he reaches into one of the pockets of his long coat and palms a small ampule concealed there.
[22:56] <@Dracos> The nearest one pulled a pipe from his jacket, swinging it towards Clyde.  Whatever Clyde was going to do, he best do it quick...and probably step back.
[22:56] * Mei-Ling mutters something under her breath. "They don't look.. challenging, but, as you will," she says, pointing a hand towards the ground, and speaking a Word.
[22:57] <Jan> Jan quickly drew out one of Yomi's spears to block the pipe.
[22:57] * Clyde leaps back, hurling the glass capsule down as thick, choking smoke starts to billow out from the point of impact.
[22:59] <@Dracos> A few of them stumbled, nearly tripping over each other as the pipe slammed into Jan's spear, that specific one falling as his feet were hit with the wind.
[23:01] <Mei-Ling> "Time to go," states Mei-Ling, quickly moving quickly away.
[23:02] <Clyde> "Already going," Clyde retorted, turning around and beginning to run as quickly as he can.
[23:05] * Jan (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.123.9.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) Quit (-=SysReset 2.53=-)
[23:06] <@Dracos> Running, they could hear the coughing of the thugs, combined with angry shouts behind them.
[23:08] <Mei-Ling> "I don't think they'll catch up," says Mei, gliding along. "Where shall we head?"
[23:08] * Jan (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.198.50.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) has joined #wasteland
[23:10] <Clyde> "Back to the hotel, I should think," Clyde responded, puffing a bit. "As long as they're no longer on our trail."
[23:10] <Mei-Ling> "Mmmhmm," says Mei, glancing back.
[23:13] <@Dracos> They didn't seem to have followed them so far...though they'd probably be searching the nearby streets in short order.
[23:13] <Jan> Jan easily spun the spear in his hands as he casually walked. "Hmph." He put the weapon away in his pack.
[23:14] <Mei-Ling> "All you did was beat him at a game?" comments Mei. "Were you betting?"
[23:15] <Clyde> "At his suggestion," Clyde responded. "He attempted to fleece me, but he wasn't quite good enough to do so."
[23:15] <Jan> "How much did you win?" Jan asked with a smirk.
[23:16] <Clyde> "Only 40, but he would have had me for almost 300 if he'd managed to pull off his game." Clyde shook his head.
[23:16] <Mei-Ling> "Over that little.. he must be desperate," notes Mei. "Or possibly just stupid."
[23:17] <Clyde> "I think it was more a matter of pride," Clyde responded. "It's not exactly pleasant to run into a complete sweep of the table like that, but if I hadn't done so I would have been a good deal poorer."
[23:18] <Mei-Ling> "Ah, Pride. The third burden," muses Mei. "The heaviest, for some. More's the pity."
[23:19] <Clyde> "Either way, I hope I don't run into him again any time soon. At least not without being better prepared."
[23:19] <Jan> "I was hoping he would've tried to snap out more witty goon dialogue. I had a running bet he'd leer at Mei-Ling next."
[23:22] <Mei-Ling> "Ah, lust. The fifth burden, and the one I seem to be seeing most, as of late."
[23:23] <Jan> "Big hips sink ships." Jan tried to recall the propaganda poster from back home. "Sorry 'bout earlier."
[23:24] <Clyde> "...big hips?" Clyde mouthed to himself, looking thoroughly puzzled.
[23:24] * Mei-Ling continues walking towards the hotel, smiling softly to herself.
[23:25] <Jan> "Yah. From where I came from, they kept women from serving in the armed forces. Too much of a distraction for the men." Jan explained to the professor.
[23:27] <Clyde> "Ah, I can understand that," Clyde nodded. "There was a woman in the League, but I don't recall seeing many other women in government service."
[23:29] <Jan> "So what was that League of yours like anyway, Professor?" Jan quirked a head towards Clyde. "Was it a government organization?"
[23:31] <Clyde> "Government-sponsored, yes," Clyde confirmed. "Officially a branch of the Secret Service, although almost none of what we did was in the public purview. Most of the work we were doing was out West - Utah, Colorado, Arizona."
[23:33] <Mei-Ling> "What did you actually do?"
[23:34] <Jan> "Secret agent cowboy?" Jan asked with a small smile.
[23:34] <Clyde> "Mmm... well, I don't suppose there's much harm in talking about it now - very top-secret back at home, but I doubt I'll ever see home again at this point. Most of the work we did dealt with an organization called the Sons of the Confederacy - a group of old Confederate soldiers with some rather remarkable skills who were trying to revive the Confederacy."
[23:38] <Jan> "Huh. It takes all kinds, I guess. What'd they try to do to bring it back? Terrorism? Robbing trains full of gold?"
[23:40] <Clyde> "Mostly what you'd call terrorism," Clyde replied. "One of the first incidents we had with them was an attempt to destroy nearly the entire length of the transcontinental railroad just before its completion. We barely managed to figure out what they were doing in time on that one."
[23:41] <Jan> "Wow. Almost makes me glad all I had to deal with was two bit mobsters. They were too stupid to do anything so grand." Jan let out a low whistle.
[23:41] <Mei-Ling> "It must be nice to only deal with people," comments Mei.
[23:42] <Clyde> "Oh, it sounds exciting, but a great deal of it was mostly working on research back in Philadelphia," Clyde shrugged. "Most of my work was involved in researching weapon improvements for the Army - my 'cover job', so to speak. We usually didn't see more than one or two incidents a year, if that."
[23:45] <Jan> "Vault City must've been terrible system shocks for you two." Jan tsk'ed as he looked over the group. "Makes me wonder if fate is getting a jolly ol' laugh at our ragtag group."
[23:46] <Clyde> "Vault City was... certainly educational, I'll give it that. Not one of the friendliest places I've ever been, though."
[23:46] <Mei-Ling> "Vault City was far preferable to.. well, here."
[23:47] <Jan> "They got more soul down here, though. I'd rather rub elbows with the goons back in the casino than visit Vault City. You can't read a machine's face or their body language."
[23:48] * @Dracos (WinNT@mewtwo-48.dynamic.rpi.edu) Quit (Connection reset by peer)
[23:48] <Mei-Ling> "Machines.. tools.. they're just extensions of people," notes Mei. "There's always a man holding it, and people are always, well, the same."
[23:53] <Jan> "The thing about Vault City's machine is that their owners seem so damn strange. I think they're machines in disguise or something."
[23:53] <Mei-Ling> "You're the expert, compared to me," concedes Mei.
[23:56] <Jan> "Most of them don't smoke. The bars they have is mostly for the benefit of people they graciously allow inside their walls." He shared with the two conspiratorily, and with a tone of one that was imparting great knowledge. "And they always seem so damn calm. I've never seen one of them even curse."
[23:56] * Clyde is now known as Hal-zzz
[23:57] <Mei-Ling> "Perhaps they merely seek mastery over themselves. A tool is only as useful as the one who wields it," replies Mei. "They may not be dissimilar to myself.."
[23:58] * Leets (~Dinh@c-24-6-70-63.hsd1.ca.comcast.net) has left #wasteland
Session Time: Mon Dec 19 00:00:00 2005
[00:01] <Jan> "Doesn't seem to be mastery to me when you just cut it cold turkey. That just leads to be naive about the world. Their kids are going to have one hell of a time adjusting if Vault City's walls ever fall."
[00:03] <Mei-Ling> "Seeking mastery is not always finding it," notes Mei. "To them, Vault City may be the world. A pity... but who knows, really?"
[00:04] <Jan> "Maybe that thing under the desert sands."
[00:04] <Mei-Ling> "Remember to ask it when we meet it, then."
[00:06] <Jan> "I'll be busy shooting it, stabbing it with these magical sticks of doom, or blasting it. You're the magic girl, you could do a better job than me at dealing with that thing." Jan sagely nodded.
[00:08] <Mei-Ling> "We can only hope."

[Dracos]

[20:21] * Leets flinches, quickly locking the door before someone decides to investigate the noise and finds it unlocked. Once that's finished, he decides to try exploring downstairs first.
[08:17] Dracos: The stairs were metal...he'd have to go slow to avoid making noise for those below or above him.
[08:20] * Leets descends the stairs slowly, trying to make as soft an impact on the metal steps as possible while peering off the edge to try to see what he was heading towards.
[08:22] Dracos: He went down a floor...and he could hear some noise through the iron wall to his side.
[08:26] Dracos: There were stairs still heading down further.
[08:26] * Leets paused and leaned against the wall, trying to see if he could recognize some of the noises coming from it.
[08:32] Dracos: It sounded like the casino...he was probably on the ground floor now.  Though it sounded faded, as if he was hearing it through a pretty heavy insulator.
[08:33] * Leets made note of his position and continued stealthily down the next set of stairs.
[08:37] Dracos: Sneaking down, he found a locked door, and further stairs heading down.
[08:38] * Leets places his ear against the door to check if anyone is behind it.
[08:42] Dracos: He didn't hear anyone on this floor.
[08:47] * Leets tries unlocking the door to find out what was being hidden.
[08:52] Dracos: Opening it, he found himself peering into what seemed to be a large storehouse.  With the door out of the way, he could hear some footsteps deeper in, neon lights on the roof illuminating dozens of covered crates.
[08:56] * Leets slips into the storehouse, quietly shutting the door behind him before ducking behind the crates. Once hidden, he checked if whoever else was here was in his view.
[08:57] Dracos: He could see a pretty big thug wandering around in a suit.  Probably a guard.  Though he might not be alone.
[09:03] Leets: Ducking back into hiding, Leets checks the crates for clues of what might be inside, or which one was loose enough for him to pry open for a peek.
[09:05] Dracos: They were tightly sealed and unmarked.  Curious.
[09:11] * Leets reaches into his satchel, pulling out a swiss army knife he snuck past security. He flipped open a blade and carefully slide it under a board, slowly working it free while making sure there was no one coming his way.
[09:16] Dracos: He could hear footsteps approaching as he finally got it off with an all too noisy to his paranoid ears.
[09:24] Dracos: You hear the footsteps pause a second.
[09:26] * Leets quickly checks the insides of the crate before the guard comes over to investigate.
[09:31] Dracos: OOC: brb
[09:32] Dracos: He sees chips.  Blue ones in fact.  Hundreds of them.
[09:40] Dracos: He could hear the guards footsteps approaching now...
[09:40] Leets: Cursing himself for wasting time, he checked the guard's position before he tried to sneak back towards the door.
[09:42] Dracos: OOC: Checked..how?  Making sure you're not heading towards the footsteps?
[09:43] Dracos: The guard was not coming from the direction of the door.
[09:45] * Leets made a break for the door, keeping hidden from the guard's line of sight by staying behind the crates. When he was near the door, he checked once more to see if the guard was looking his way.
[09:49] Dracos: He couldn't see the guard, but it sounded like he'd stopped and was looking around the broken crate.
[09:49] * Leets quietly slips out the door, locking it behind him so it would seem no one came in.
[09:49] Leets: Before working his way down the next set of stairs.
[09:51] Dracos: Checking downstairs, he found another locked door.  This one with some kind of electronic lock.
[09:56] * Leets studies the lock, checking for possible alarms that might be triggered if he disabled it.
[10:01] Dracos: Scanning it, he found a simple one, also electronic.
[10:10] Leets: After making sure there were no other alarms, Leets tried disabling the one he found with a jolt of power.
[10:11] Dracos: A brief 'beep' came out of it as it went dead.
[10:16] * Leets quickly disables the electronic lock, hoping the beep wasn't another alarm he failed to find.
[10:17] Dracos: The door unlocked, allowing him to open it.
[10:20] * Leets opens the door a crack, peering inside for other signs of security, such as cameras.
[10:24] Dracos: He could see a couple guards wandering about.  And a camera in the corner.
[10:28] * Leets eyed the camera's position and whether it was moving or not, trying to see where would the best place to be if he wanted to avoid being spotted.
[10:29] Dracos: It was...  it'd be hard to get across the room without at least being caught on camera.
[10:32] Dracos: OOC: METAL GEAR LEETS
[10:46] * Leets waits until the camera was looking at the far corner before sneaking into its blindspot, and making sure to stay out of it's view by staying near the wall until he was safely hidden under the camera. Once safely out of view, he made another check of the room to see what he might have missed.
[10:50] Dracos: He could see a room blocked off with a guard in front of it in the corner.  pretty big too.  Other than that, just lots of crates.
[10:57] Leets: Ugh, more crates, Leets sighed mentally. Though they did give him an opportunity. He watched the camera, briefly timing how long it took to pan one corner of the room to the other, while sneaking towards the crates within the camera's blindspot.
[10:58] Dracos: He got there easily enough.
[10:59] *** Dracos has signed off IRC (Connection reset by peer).
[11:04] *** Dracos has joined #wasteland.
[11:04] *** Mode change "+oq Dracos Dracos" for channel #wasteland by ChanServ.
[11:10] Leets: Pulling out his knife again, Leets began prying open another crate. Partially to see what was inside and partially to create a distraction.
[11:20] Dracos: The crate was a bit sturdier than the last one.
[11:41] * Leets pulled the knife out, afraid it would break before the crate did. He pondered for a moment, waited for the camera, then tried kicking the crate farthest from the door to create a noise and held back a cry of pain from kicking the heavy object.
[11:42] Dracos: Well it did creak, but not enough to really alert all the guards.  One he heard heading towards him though.
[11:49] * Leets moves to another hiding place while checking to see if the door was now unguarded.
[11:52] Dracos: The guard was yawning in front of it.
[11:55] * Leets looks to the guard that was investigating, watching to see what his next move would be.
[12:04] Dracos: The guard that was investigating was looking around, examining the crates.
[12:06] Dracos: After a bit, the guard started looking around to see if there was anyone there.
[12:07] * Leets tensed, ready to move around to avoid the guard if he started to come his way.
[12:10] Dracos: He did head Leets way, though he didn't seem to see him yet.
[12:10] * Leets moved along the crates, staying out of sight until the guard decided he was hearing things and headed back to his post.
[12:20] Dracos: The guard eventually did so...continuing to pace the room as he had been before though.
[12:21] * Leets moved back behind the crates and waited for the camera to get into position and the now pacing guard to be out of earshot. When the opportunity came, he repeated his earlier action, making a noise to attract the guard standing infront of the door.
[12:29] Dracos: The guard doesn't react.  He might not have heard it.
[12:31] * Leets frowns and thinks for a moment, then reaches into his satchel, searching. He pulls out one of his food rations, testing its weight in his hand. Satisfied, he rears back and throws it against the corner opposite the door with a thud. If that didn't catch their attention...
[12:33] Dracos: "Hey, who's there?" The guard moved towards the object.
[12:34] * Leets stealthily heads for the door while the camera and guard weren't looking. Not even bothering to check, he applies a bit of power to the door to force it to unlock, then opens the door to let himself in.
[12:40] Dracos: The door opens... revealing a lot of metal canisters holding some kind of liquid.
[12:42] * Leets snatches one canister to examine later and escapes the room before the guards notice him.
[12:45] Dracos: As he's dashing off, he realizes, THE DOOR.
[12:55] * Leets curses his own stupidity and leaves the room before the camera can pan over and spot him. He shuts the door behind him and heads up the stairs before the guards see the door was open and begin searching for him.
[13:06] Dracos: He can hear the guards behind him, running after him.
[13:11] * Leets speeds up, hurrying back up to the entry he used earlier and hopes the guards don't catch sight of him before he could escape.
[13:14] Dracos: Climbing up, he quickly gets to the casino level...then the auction level above that...does he sneak into the kitchen?
[13:15] * Leets slips back into the kitchen, hopefully unnoticed by the staff, and moves to rejoin the crowd at the auction.
[13:23] Dracos: The place is still pretty lively.  He could hopefully slip downstairs before the guards got up here and caused a ruckus.
[13:30] * Leets headed back towards the casino, mingling casually with the crowd as to not arouse suspicion. When he was sure no one was paying him much attention, he slipped out of the casino and went to meet up with the rest of the group.

[Dracos]

[21:25] <Dracos> Following the end of last session...  The crew had arrived back at hotel to regroup and reorganize.  The stuff they'd left at the casino successfully retrieved.  Leets had arrived well after everyone had gone to sleep, collapsing late himself, but in a habit of his that'd served him well on the streets, getting up early as dawn...  Clyde working a bit on improving the aim on the gun he'd gotten from earlier also up at this hour.
[21:27] <Dracos> Leets had also swung by one of his informants last night, figuring out that he did pick up an actual dose of the drug... in fact, a pretty pure one judging by the two grand the informant had offered for it, no questions asked.
[21:33] <Leets> "Good morning, Professor," Leets said in greeting, watching the other man practice.
[21:38] <Clyde> "Ah, good morning, Leets," Clyde replied. "Another early riser, I see."
[21:39] <Leets> "Yeah. Old habits are hard to break."
[21:40] <Clyde> "I know what you mean. I've been getting up at daybreak or close to it for years now." Clyde finished adjusting the sight, taking careful aim before firing a test shot.
[21:41] * Leets takes a seat, shifting until he was comfortable. "So what did you guys find yesterday?"
[21:44] <Clyde> "Not much in my case, I'm afraid - just an unhealthy dose of trouble. I haven't had much of a chance to talk to the others since, as I went directly to bed after we got back."
[21:48] <Leets> "Seems we both found trouble," said Leets, his smile turning wry as he pulled out his little souvenir. "Not that it was entirely useless."
[21:49] <Dracos> Leets is holding a metal capsule, about eight-ten inches in length, probably 5 across... sort of tube shaped with some kind of liquid inside visible from a translucent surface.
[21:51] <Clyde> "Hmm..." Clyde gazed at the capsule with interest. "Mind if I take a closer look at that?"
[21:51] * Velsper (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.144.53.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) has joined #wasteland
[21:51] * Leets hands over the capsule to Clyde.
[21:54] * Velsper is now known as Jan
[21:57] * Velsper-Idol (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.144.75.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) has joined #wasteland
[22:00] * Clyde examines the capsule for a few minutes before handing it back to Leets. "I wish I had better equipment here for an analysis, but I don't usually travel with chemistry in mind."
[22:00] * Jan (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.144.53.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) Quit (Ping timeout)
[22:01] * Velsper (WinNT@dialup-4.240.144.90.dial1.phoenix1.level3.net) has joined #wasteland
[22:01] * Leets nods, repacking the capsule. "Considering the security I had to pass to get this thing, not to mention my informer's reaction to it, there's a good chance this might be what we were looking for."
[22:02] * Velsper is now known as Jan
[22:03] * Velsper-Idol (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.144.75.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) Quit (Ping timeout)
[22:05] * Clyde nods absently, sitting down to half-disassemble his rifle again. "Good to know we're on the right track, then."
[22:08] <Leets> "We won't be entirely sure until we either get Mr. Wright to look it over or compare it to a sample of the drug being passed around though."
[22:11] <Clyde> "Will it be possible for you to get a sample of the drug that's on the streets? Or how difficult would that be?"
[22:12] <Leets> "Problem is that there's a lot of drugs on the streets," sighed Leets. "And Mr. Wright was specific beyond it being new."
[22:12] <Jan> Jan silently moved out of his bed, checking his gear, hefting and comparing different weapons from Pandora's Box as he pondered. "Think I should use one of these?" He asked out of the blue.
[22:13] <Dracos> "One what?" the old man turned from where he was perched on the couch...not seeing, largely from having a hat over his face. "Gah, where's everybody gone?"
[22:16] <Dracos> A tzzt sound was heard as a quite wet Ryder-chan appeared in the room, yomi glancing around. "About time!" It crowed.
[22:16] <Jan> "The spears. Oh, it's Yomi and Ryder." He went back to discussing the fineries of spears with the old man.
[22:17] <Leets> "Hello, Miss Ryder." Leets greeted teasingly, sparing a wave to Yomi as well. "Sounds like you didn't enjoy your little trip."
[22:18] <Dracos> "Well, in my day, I always preferred the lance.  Fine weapon, the lance.  Proper heft, good length, and a nice piercing force for getting through scales." he yammered.
[22:19] <Dracos> "Shove it, Leets." She complained squeezing water out of her hair.  "One of the hops ended me up midocean... but according to batbrain we've found another."
[22:19] <Jan> "People would probably think I was a freak for using the lance, though. Then again, I can change my form, so I shouldn't complain."
[22:20] * Leets blinked at that statement. "Wait, one of the towers is under water?"
[22:21] <Dracos> The old man laughed.  "It'd match the color tone too.  You can be stylishly matching and use the best of the lot...well, technically..just my favorite and not really the most powerful, but, being my favorite is important too!"
[22:22] <Dracos> "Towers?  We were searching for stones." Yomi responded.  "And we found one.  On some island to the north east."
[22:22] * Jan half turns towards Ryder and Yomi. "Well, we certainly are going to have one hell of a time getting that one."
[22:23] <Clyde> "No ships to be had?" Clyde looks up from his rifle.
[22:23] <Leets> "Ah, right." Leets frowned, turning to Jan. "So what have you found in your little excursion yesterday?"
[22:23] <Jan> "First thing first. There's no ocean. At least none I've ever seen in my years of being here in the wastelands."
[22:25] <Dracos> Ryder turned to him and frowned, shaking his arm, still wet. "Then what do you call this?"
[22:25] <Jan> "Secondly, we found a guy who we can thug into singing for us. But I think you found something much more useful for us, Leets." His eyes ran over the capsule.
[22:25] * Jan shrugs. "A mass delusion? Either that, or the ocean is past the mist veil and the mountains. I've never heard of anyone daring to go past the mist."
[22:29] <Dracos> "The mist is south...I was headed north...maybe no one heads that far north?  I mean...like, no offense but you're about the most traveling guy I've met in my time here."
[22:34] <Jan> "Hm. I have a plan. The goon was driving in a fantastic car when I saw him speed away from the casino. Not many of them in these parts. I say we go to Wright with the info, and let them handle things from here on out. Or they assist us. Our payment can be that goon's car, and enough gas to drive to that ocean."
[22:34] <Jan> "Unless anyone has anything else to add? Leets? Found anymore dirt we can use to convince the Wrights that we're on the right track?"
[22:35] <Clyde> "The car sounds good," Clyde said with a grin. "I'm sure I could keep it running...." There's a not quite predatory gleam in his eye as he says it, though.
[22:35] <Leets> "Well, I didn't have enough time to scout every little nook and cranny, but I didn't leave empty handed." Leets handed the capsule he stole to Jan. "Not sure what it is yet, but judging from my informant's reaction, it's valuable."
[22:38] <Jan> "If nothing else, we can give this to the Wrights to earn some favor. Okay, shall we be off to the Wrights?" He handed the capsule back to Leets after looking it this way and that. "Great work all around, by the way." Jan offered the group a genuine smile.
[22:38] * Carthrat (WinNT@c211-28-176-37.eburwd7.vic.optusnet.com.au) has joined #wasteland
[22:38] * Carthrat is now known as Mei-Ling
[22:40] <Clyde> "Sounds reasonable to me," Clyde agreed, reassembling his rifle.
[22:40] * Retrieving #wasteland modes...
[22:41] * Dracos changes topic to 'And now the cards get on the table.... | #wastelandOOC up | <Jan> Bikimono.'
[22:44] * Artemis (greek@dt-FF8CCE70.pantheon.org) has joined #wasteland
[22:45] <Jan> Jan gave the old man a thumbs up as he decided to go with the lance. 'Couldn't hurt.' He put away the rest of his gear in Pandora's Box. "Let's go to the Wright Family. I want a bit of a security netting for when we go hit the source of all the problems."
[22:46] <Mei-Ling> "As far as security goes when dealing with organized crime," notes Mei.
[22:47] <Jan> "Always have an organization at your back."
[22:47] * Dracos sets mode: +b *!*@dt-FF8CCE70.pantheon.org
[22:47] * Artemis was kicked by Dracos (bot.)
[22:52] * Jan leads the way back to the Wright Family Home.
[22:53] <Dracos> OOC: Everyone following him?  The old man is this time.  Yomi is, unless otherwise requested, heading back in the box.
[22:53] <Mei-Ling> OOC: Yar.
[22:56] <Dracos> A little bit later and they were sitting in a set of chairs before the Don of the Wright family himself who was waiting to hear their report.  "More and more of you." He said in a sort of amused fashion.
[22:57] <Jan> "I'm tempted to give our group a name. Or some kind of uniform. Maybe we should mug some vault city guild members for their outfits or something." Jan lightly stated.
[22:58] <Jan> "Anyway, we wanted to touch base with you. Leets, can you explain to the Don what you found under the casino?"
[23:01] * Leets nodded, and begin his summary. The first floor and and warehouse didn't seem important, though he did note their location and the security (or lack of) on those levels. The basement however was the interesting point of his report as he described how much trouble they were putting up to protect these crates and another door.
[23:01] <Leets> "I wasn't able to see what was inside the crates," said Leets, then handing over the capsule. "However, I was able to retrieve this from behind that door."
[23:06] * Jan cleared his throat as he pressed on, explaining how he and Mei-Ling had managed to get into the auction hall and had overheard about a shipment that was going to take place in a day. About how suspiciously they were acting to protect the secret from being pried in on. "We then tracked one of them to the exit of the casino, fellow was named Jake Ronspecio."
[23:08] <Dracos> "Two families...mmm...  A war with the Targos and the Ronspecios would cost us greatly.  It would be idea still if we could track them down to their source discretely."
[23:10] <Jan> "Well, I'm not going to leave the job half finished. That car Jake drove off in will be easy to track down."
[23:16] * Dracos nods. "Describe it to me?"
[23:17] <Jan> Jan went about describing in fine detail what the car looked like, and a few digits of the license plate number. Couldn't get them all, unfortunately.
[23:17] <Dracos> "I see.  That will be very helpful, though he probably keeps it inside somewhere so it isn't stolen."
[23:20] <Jan> "Now that we touched base with you, we should go track it down. I give the transfer of those goods another day, and it'll be all worth nothing then."
[23:20] <Dracos> The man nodded, pleased.  "If you hear anything on the location of where they're shipping this stuff from, let me know immediately."
[23:22] <Jan> "Will do." And so the search....begins!
[23:28] <Dracos> Later that night, they'd narrowed it down to a small building near the docks where the man's car had been seen driving into earlier that day.
[23:30] <Mei-Ling> "Who shall go and look around?" asks Mei of the group.
[23:31] <Jan> "Ryder and Leets, go in from the back via teleport. Clyde, set yourself up from here with your rifle along with Mei-Ling. You have any magic to like enhance accuracy or sight in darkness? I go in from the front."
[23:31] <Mei-Ling> "I'll see what I can do."
[23:32] <Dracos> "Need help?" The old man, still following, asked.
[23:32] <Dracos> Ryder nodded. "Inside or just around back?"
[23:33] <Jan> "Inside, I'll be making a racket, so they'll come my way hopefully. Or at least the lion's share."
[23:33] <Jan> Jan turned towards the old man. "Well, you know magic too, right? Probably better if you stuck back and tried to help Mei-Ling and Clyde."
[23:34] <Clyde> "Afraid not, I'll simply have to do the best I can. Magic simply isn't my forte."
[23:35] * Dracos nods. "Okay. I've got this wonderful spiderweb spell."
[23:35] <Dracos> *The old man nods.
[23:37] <Mei-Ling> "Make sure you cast it somewhere away from us," notes Mei. "It'd be bad if the rifle got clogged up with webbing.. now, let me see."
[23:38] <Jan> Jan gestured for Ryder and Leets to follow after him. "You two teleport halfway down to the building."
[23:42] * Mei-Ling softly murmurs something, and dark brown and faint white wisps gather around her hands, flowing and settling into Clyde and his rifle with a slight tingling feeling.
[23:44] <Dracos> Ryder nodded. "Sure thing, boss" His tone joking.
[23:45] * Leets nodded, eyes narrowing as he followed silently.
[23:49] <Dracos> As they approached, Ryder grabbed leets and vanished according to plan, appearing in the back alley behind the building.
[23:51] <Jan> Jan continued approaching the building, lighting a cigarette as he went to steady his nerves. Always was a bitch doing these kinds of things.
[23:53] <Dracos> No one came out... at least yet anyways.
[23:53] * Leets shifts into stealth and checks for patrols while waiting for an opening.
[23:54] <Dracos> None behind the place either.  They must all be inside.
[23:56] <Jan> "Excuse me? Can I interest any of you fine gentlemen in an AJAX policy?" Jan managed to put on a pretty good display of being drunk as he screamed into the building. "We cover doomsday scenarios (to a point) and runaway golems."
[23:57] <Dracos> A small man headed out. "What the heck?  Get yer shit away from here ye stupid drunk."
[23:59] <Jan> "Dial down the center for love slaves?" Jan woobled about slightly. "Jus' getta a cup of spit, lock of hair, and *poof*!"

[Dracos]

[21:13] <Dracos> At the end of last session, our heroes were bravely assaulting a secret garage, hoping to either acquire Jake Ronspecio or his car.  Probably his car.
[21:13] <Dracos> The man that Jan knocked over shouted for help as he was kicked brutally in the side.
[21:14] <Dracos> Meanwhile, behind the back, Leets and Ryder were working on a lock.
[21:15] * Ares (greek@dt-FF8CCE70.pantheon.org) has joined #wasteland
[21:28] <Jan> Jan quickly frisked the thug for his weapon when he made sure the man was out of commission. Using the man's weapon for himself, he fired a few shots to attract even more attention.
[21:30] <Dracos> He heard footsteps coming downstairs rapidly..as two men came out, saw their friend on the ground, and started shooting at him with pistols quickly.
[21:32] * Ares (greek@dt-FF8CCE70.pantheon.org) has left #wasteland
[21:34] * Leets heard the first gun shot, followed by additional shots and took it as Jan's signal. He reached out and lightly brushed the lock, forcing it to open with a jolt of electricity.
[21:34] <Jan> Jan called on his inner power, the ground around him erupting in a vicious spray of concrete and dirt as he threw himself to the side, not going through the entire thing.
[21:35] <Dracos> <Leets> The door opened into a back area hallway
[21:36] <Dracos> <Mei> The old man started yammering as he saw, pointing and doing what seemed to be halfway between casting a spell and halfway between drunken gibberish.
[21:37] * Mei nudges Clyde, and the crack of his rifle sounds out across the garage, sending tranq darts flying towards Jan's harrasers!
[21:38] * Leets sneaks into the hall, checking to see if it was clear before signally Ryder to follow.
[21:41] * Jan quickly opens fire on the duo's hands to disable them.
[21:45] <Dracos> The old man was still chanting as a guy opened a window on the second floor...  Mei could see him!
[21:45] <Dracos> The guys outfront fell over, their second shots missing as between Jan and Clyde they were in a bit too much pain to try and shoot.
[21:45] * Jan rushed to seperate the thugs from their weapons. Just in case. Putting away his pistol, he was now wielding both of their guns instead.
[21:46] * Mei gestures towards the area around the window, calling air and fire to make thick smoke about it, completely obscuring vision.
[21:48] <Jan> From the side of Jan's vision, he saw the smoke and fired into the cloud. He quickly rushed across the entrance of the garage, opening fire as he went.
[21:49] <Dracos> Inside, Leets found the place mostly empty... a table with some cards tossed about it, chairs strewn around as if they'd been flung down quickly.  through a window he could see the car from earlier, unoccupied and parked.
[21:50] <Dracos> The man there coughed as bullets flew randomly down to the street from the submachine gun he was packing.
[21:52] * Leets checks for additional doors that might lead into where the car was parked.
[21:54] <Dracos> He saw one, also locked, that probably lead to the main garage.  He could hear gunfire out there.
[21:55] <Dracos> Jan, you hear more shots coming from above.
[21:56] * Jan quickly moved towards where the shots were coming from to try and get a clear shot. As he moved, he'd use any possible structure/object to duck behind/under.
[21:59] <Dracos> OOC: Towards where?  So you're heading towards the building?
[22:03] <Dracos> <Jan> You're in a hallway with a door to the left.  You can hear the shots from behind and hitting the street outside.  There's a stairway heading up.
[22:04] * Jan moves upstairs to take care of whoever was shooting.
[22:06] * Leets makes a quick scan of the parking lot through the window, making sure there weren't any guards before going to unlock the door.
[22:07] <Dracos> There doesn't seem to be anyone directly in the room.  The door clicks open.
[22:07] <Dracos> Leets finds a small bedroom and shower upstairs as well as... a room full of smoke!
[22:12] <Dracos> OOC: Ignore last line.
[22:12] <Jan> Coming up in a bedroom, he made his way out of it...to meet Leets, hey!
[22:12] <Dracos> [22:07] <Dracos> Jan finds a small bedroom and shower upstairs as well as... a room full of smoke!
[22:12] <Dracos> Leets finds himself in a large garage with the car in it.
[22:12] <Jan> Coming up in a bedroom, he made his way out of it...to meet no one, hey!
[22:12] <Dracos> The doors shut and locked.
[22:13] <Jan> OOC: :p
[22:13] <Dracos> Jan can hear gunfire from the room with smoke.
[22:13] * Leets slips into the door, stealthily making his way towards the car while scanning the room to map it out.
[22:14] <Jan> He snuck in to the loud room, and tried to peer through it. Maybe the flashes from his machinegun might be apparent through the smoke?
[22:18] <Dracos> The gunfire was stopping as he was smacked into falling over with the gunner...
[22:21] <Dracos> Leets> The car was decisively unguarded...
[22:22] <Jan> So begins the struggle for supremcy as he fought with the man.
[22:22] <Dracos> Jan: The man seemed a bit staggered, but he was also bigger than Jan as he slugged at him.
[22:23] <Jan> Jan took the blow like a man, not that there was much else to do in this smoke. He fought back as best as he could.
[22:26] <Dracos> Ryder headed for the garage door, listening for gunfire.
[22:26] <Dracos> The two struggled as he saw the machine gun a bit to the side.
[22:29] * Jan smashed his head against the man, trying to use his guns to end the fight at once.
[22:30] <Dracos> The man smashed back, a brutal fight as they rolled around.
[22:31] <Jan> 'If nothing else, Ryder will show up. So..' He opened fire whenever his arm was forced away from the man.
[22:31] <Jan> He emptied the clip.
[22:32] * Leets seats himself in the drivers seat, spending a moment to check for anything of value that might have been kept in it. Identification, hidden panels, spare key, papers, etc.
[22:34] <Dracos> "Hey, someone's upstairs." Ryder teleported up there, seeing the two wrestling...and dive smacking the other man off Jan.
[22:35] <Jan> "Thanks, Ryder." Jan helped Ryder, and between the both of them knocked out the man.
[22:37] <Dracos> "No problem." Ryder grinned.
[22:43] * Jan tried to catch his breath as the adrenaline from the fight faded away. He looked to identify the submachine gun wielder. "You want to pick up the submachine gun? We could probably use it at some point or another."
[22:44] * Leets hears the fight ending and stops his search to glance up where the noise was last heard. "Well, no need for sneaking here, I guess."
[22:45] * Leets begins hotwiring the car since there's no one left to hear the engine start.
[22:47] <Dracos> Ryder grinned and picked it up.  "Sure thing."
[22:47] <Dracos> Examining the gunner...nope, not Jake.  Heck, checking the others...Jake isn't here.
[22:48] <Dracos> Searching through the place, there's not much here.  The car, the deck of cards, some basic necessities upstairs.  A radio.  But beyond that?  Didn't seem like the place was set up for more than just the guards and the car.
[22:49] * Jan waves everyone into the garage.
[22:49] <Jan> *everyone still outside the building.
[22:49] <Dracos> A few moments later, they've got the whole crew inside the garage.
[22:49] * Mei wanders across to Jan, accompanied by Clyde and the old man (in theory, anyway.) "How'd it go?"
[22:50] <Jan> "No damage to the car. Jake wasn't in, though. No other clues beyond the guards." He gestured to where they were all nicely tied up for them. "I did snatch this radio, though." He held it up.
[22:51] <Mei> "We should interrogate the guards," muses Mei.
[22:51] <Jan> "And a few guns. Just a few." He frowned after patting himself for a pack of smokes. Dammit, lost them upstairs.
[22:51] <Jan> "Do either of you have any tricks to make them talk?"
[22:52] <Mei> "I doubt it will be that hard," says Mei, frowning. "Base threats work well on base men, I find."
[22:53] <Jan> The clicking of a gun was heard as Jan cocked the hammer back and pointed it to the head of the submachine gun toting goon. "Well, things might be a bit messy, then."
[22:53] <Mei> "Be sure to clean up when you're done."
[22:57] <Jan> "How about you, old timer? I hope you've got something to make them talk?"
[22:58] <Dracos> The old man had commendeered a chair...and promptly fallen asleep.
[23:00] <Jan> The negotiator shook his head. "Well then. I guess the blunt method works." He turned towards the tied up goon and slapped the man awake. And aimed between the man's legs with his revolver. "Think we can talk?" Jan asked with a kind tone to the man.
[23:02] <Dracos> "w-wh..y.yeah, sure sure."
[23:03] <Jan> "Can you tell us where Jake is?"
[23:06] <Dracos> "Uh.." He stared down at the gun, his face going white.
[23:07] <Mei> "If you can't, it would be unfortunate," adds Mei.
[23:07] <Dracos> "c-come on m-an..they'll kill me just as sure.."
[23:08] <Jan> "We'll just say we found out another way."
[23:08] <Mei> "They don't need to know, after all."
[23:09] <Dracos> He looked back down. "Third house on keseller street..."
[23:10] <Jan> "One last important question - Where are the car's keys?"
[23:11] <Dracos> "H-he has 'em"
[23:12] <Jan> "Well, damn."
[23:12] * Jan shrugs and holsters his revolver. "Let's go, everyone."
[23:13] <Dracos> He hears a revving of the engine.
[23:13] <Leets> "Hey, are you guys done yet?" Leets called over the noise.
[23:14] <Mei> "You need keys to start the car?" asks Mei, curiously, heading towards the noise.
[23:14] <Jan> "I kinda wanted the matching set."
[23:15] <Jan> Jan called back to Leets, "Yeah, we're coming!" He nudged the old man to wake him up.
[23:17] <Dracos> "Eh, eh, where are we?" He woke up pretty quick.
[23:17] <Dracos> "Jan?  That you?"
[23:18] <Jan> "Yes sir. Time for us to go."
[23:19] <Dracos> "Okay, where to now?" He got up walking over to the car. "You know, It'd look better in red."
[23:19] <Mei> "We'll work on the paint later."
[23:20] <Dracos> The old man got in the back.  It looked like it'd be pretty cramped with all six of them in there.  And who was going to drive?
[23:20] <Jan> "Keseller street. Do you know how to drive, Ryder? I'm thinking you, the old timer, and the professor go ahead back to base and begin working on the car after you leave us two blocks or so away from the house we're going after."
[23:23] <Dracos> <Ryder> "Yeah, but...  where we going to store this?" He gestured to the car.
[23:24] <Jan> "I'm guessing it'll be a run and gun operation."
[23:24] <Jan> "We can get our rewards later. Just stay near it while Clyde works on it. We're going to leave when we take care of Jake."
[23:32] * Jan pondered. "I know, go buy gas and parts for the car so Clyde can convert it to something more useful for us. Mei-Ling, Leets, and I will handle Jake."
[23:33] <Mei> "Mmm.. handle, you say. What do you mean by that, exactly?"
[23:34] <Jan> "Get the information from Jake about where the source of the drugs are. We want an ally in New Reno, and that's the Wrights. If we do this, they'll owe us one. Besides, there's another starstone here we need to come and get some time in the future. Best not burn any bridges, right?"
[23:34] <Mei> "I wouldn't be adverse to burning a bridge to Reno," mutters Mei, but she nods.
[23:35] <Jan> "If you like, you can stay with Ryder and the others, but your magic would be useful." Jan got into the car and gestured for Ryder to take the driver's seat.
[23:36] <Mei> "No, I will come with you," she says, shrugging.
[23:40] <Dracos> The crew crams into the car, driving off in style if not comfort from the garage.

[Dracos]

[18:26] Dracos: At the end of last session, our heroes *cough* had absconded with a pimpin' ride...  driving down the streets in style, they dropped off their assault team a block from where Ronspecio was reputed to be holding out...
[18:27] Dracos: The roads were clear...save for, of course, the everpresent prostitutes.  They were right near Reno's famous boxing ring.
[18:30] Dracos: The assault team, Mei-Ling, Jan, and Leets, were left to make things happen as the others drove to the junkyard in hopes of some neat car parts.
[18:34] * Jan approaches Jake's hideout along the sidewalk. Wasn't like anyone could keep them from passing by like they were just any other average joe.
[18:35] Jan: "Got any tricks to put the door guards to sleep or something?" He asked Mei-Ling as he passed a knife over to Leets.
[18:36] * Leets accepts the knife and slips it into one of his pockets, as well as place his guns in the other pocket for emergency use.
[18:36] Jan: "You'll probably want to use that instead of your guns. It'll attract less attention to yourself."
[18:36] Dracos: The house was large, but not huge.  No yard, more of a brick inner-city type home.  Leets could spot a few guards both inside and outside patroling the place subtly.  Seemed to be a lot better guarded than the previous place.
[18:38] Dracos: The place was about three stores high.  Seemed to have what looked, at least from the balcony visible, like a higher class penthouse type deal towards the top.  One visible door around front, but there was also a nearby alley.  The roof was of the flat type, that a guy could stand on easily.  Made of concrete and brick at a glance.
[18:38] Leets: "Doesn't hurt to prepare." Leets adjusted his pack so it wouldn't slip over the pocket with the knife. "And it'll save seconds from searching in case I do need to grab it."
[18:43] Dracos: They were close to walking in front of it now.
[18:49] *** Dracos is now known as Joe.
[18:49] * Leets shifted his pace, appearing casual as he surveyed the area.
[18:50] Jan: Jan immediately spotted the shift in stance. "Tell me what's going on, Leets."
[18:50] *** Joe is now known as Dracos.
[18:50] *** Mode change "+o Dracos" for channel #wasteland by ChanServ.
[18:57] Leets: "Those punkers standing across the street," whispered Leets from the corner of his mouth, "are acting too fidgety for normal street gangs."
[19:00] Dracos: Mei-ling is trailing, a step behind the two, looking as innocent as a girl in a kimono can manage.
[19:05] Jan: "Hm. Let's go down the alley."
[19:08] Dracos: Mei-ling raised an eyebrow, glancing down it.  It seemed, at first glance, to be a dead end.  "You sure?" she whispered, leaning closer so she wasn't overheard.
[19:10] Jan: "I want to call Yomi. Besides, there might be a side entrance."
[19:10] Dracos: She nodded as they headed in.  A few of those punks, gradually moving near the entrance.
[19:12] Jan: "Typical. Move behind them and cut them off, Leets. Mei-Ling, got anything to knock them out?" Jan quickly whispered to the duo.
[19:13] * Leets frowns, watching the punks trying to keep the group in their view. "By cutting them off, you mean...?" Jan saw the hilt of the knife flash as Leets looks between Jan and the sentries questionably.
[19:15] Jan: "Just block them. For now."
[19:15] * Jan continues leading the group deeper into the alley.
[19:17] * Leets nods and drops back, idly grabbing a few small items as he exits the alley and stealthily moves behind the disguised guards.
[19:18] Dracos: The two near the entrance didn't follow, more just keeping an eye on them as they moved and reached the brick wall at the end of the alley, a standard punk grafitti drawing covering it.
[19:19] * Jan spun around to face the punks, blinking at them. "How can I help you, gentlemen?"
[19:22] Dracos: They seem to be playing some game, not even answering him...  looks to his eyes to be pogs or some such.
[19:26] * Leets grins as he's not out of the punks line of sight. Taking careful aim, he tosses one of the items he picked up at the back of the lead guy's head.
[19:30] Dracos: The goon turned around... looking a bit before noticing Leets.  "Hey, you punk, what do you think you're doing?"
[19:33] Jan: 'Oh, for the love of.' Jan quickly drew out his revolvers and started blasting indiscriminately, not feeling like playing today.
[19:35] Dracos: The shots knocked into their head, drawing attention...Mei chanting quickly as others rushed near...and then looked bewilderedly at them.  "Where'd they go?  You two, take that street, you, swing around the other way."
[19:37] Dracos: "That should buy us a little time." Mei whispered, gesturing for quiet.
[20:03] Jan: Jan waited for the goons to be gone before sighing and opening Pandora's Box. "Yomi, go in and tell us how many people are there. Leets, I'm giving you a boost into the compound, knock out or incapitate whoever you find on your way and open the front for me and Mei-Ling."
[20:04] Dracos: Jan noticed that they could use a pipe along the wall to help get Leets up to one of the second floor windows.
[20:05] Dracos: "Eh?  Now I'm a scout?  Where's the respect?" Yomi grumbled a bit, teleporting inside though to see.
[20:11] * Leets checks for an open window near the pipe.
[20:11] Dracos: The windows not open, but he could see a latch he could force open and pull it up to slip in.  Jan would have to hold his legs carefully, but he could do it.
[20:14] Jan: "Alley oop." Jan held his hands ready to help Leets up.
[20:14] * Leets balances and reaches out, forcing the latch open with his power.
[20:15] Dracos: The latch snaps open...He can look in to see he's going to be heading into a bathroom, thankfully unoccupied at the moment.
[20:16] * Leets pushes the window open slowly to avoid making a noise and slips in when it is wide enough.
[20:17] Dracos: The window screeches a bit worriedly, but he gets in without anyone coming in.
[20:20] Jan: "Go in from the front, Mei-Ling. Just hang around near it and once I break in with my power, come in a half minute later."
[20:21] Dracos: <Mei-Ling> "Understood...  so we'll hit them from three sides?"
[20:23] Jan: "Pretty much. Let's wait a second for Yomi, though. It'll probably be more important info for us than it is to unnoticable boy."
[20:24] Dracos: Yomi appeared beside her as she asked.  "Yeah, bunch of 'em in there...  about four on the ground floor, four more upstairs, and three hanging out drinking on the top floor.  They had some kind of guns, looked sort of like a longer version of yours, with this big round part in the center."
[20:25] Jan: "Anyone of them blatantly richer looking than the others? Or maybe even being deferred to by the others?"
[20:27] Dracos: "Yeah, this guy at the top had a bunch of rings on his hand, was dressed in a blue suit and seemed to be the boss there."
[20:28] Jan: "Cast illusion on yourself again, Mei-Ling. Sneak in quietly and get him. Go fly up to Leets and tell him that while he's still in the bathroom too." He commanded Yomi, pointing up to the open window.
[20:28] Dracos: "Its a pity we can't get to the roof somehow.." Mei pondered.  "Be easier taking three than eleven."
[20:28] Dracos: "What of?" She blinked, wondering if he had a special idea in mind.
[20:29] Jan: "The guy we were interrogating. Pretend he's going to tell the boss that the car that got stolen."
[20:31] Jan: "Tell Leets to go after Jake as well, Yomi. I'm going to handle these guys."
[20:32] Dracos: <Leets> You're standing in a bathroom, the door shut in front of you.  It's not too dirty, but not too clean of one either.
[20:33] * Leets presses opens the door a crack, checking to see where the bathroom was in relation to the other rooms.
[20:35] Dracos: Checking out, he sees a couple of guys hanging out near the window, tommyguns near by...
[20:35] Dracos: #<Yomi> "Hey.." *None too stealthily...*
[20:37] * Leets bites tongue, glaring at the floating plush toy and shushing him while keeping an eye on the sentries by the window.
[20:38] Dracos: # Yomi quirked a wing at him curiously.
[20:39] Dracos: Jan saw Yomi as mei-ling chanted, taking on the man's guise. "Look good enough?"
[20:40] Jan: "Yeah. Go in. I'll give you a chance to get to the second floor before I break in."
[20:43] Dracos: OOC: one second, mirc just glitched fierce X_X
[20:44] Dracos: Mei-ling went around, knocking on the door and talking with the guy who came out.
[20:48] Leets: "Yomi, just how tough are you?" whispered Leets to the hovering being.
[20:48] Dracos: #<Yomi>"You are not using me as a bullet shield." He glared at the concept.
[20:49] Leets: "Never crossed my mind." A half truth. "I just need you to have them look away long enough for me to slip out of here."
[20:52] Dracos: #* Yomi sighed.  "I'll try something."  He teleported around, leaving Leets alone for a bit before Leets heard somewhere in another room. "Hey Halfwits, where's the beer?"
[20:53] Dracos: The guards glanced at each other, picking their guns up and heading towards the noise cautiously.  They were clearly a bit better trained than the others with one keeping an eye on their back as they went.
[20:56] Jan: And then the building was rocked by an explosion on the first floor as Jan rushed in, towering tall in the room as he broke in with two mighty blows from his iron fists.
[20:57] Jan: The pistons draw back to level the ground in a mighty explosion as he terrorized the guards and made an unholy racket.
[20:58] Leets: "Guess that's Jan's distraction then." Leets slipped out of the room as it seemed the guards have better things to look out for downstairs.
[21:00] Dracos: Gunfire from the two guards not killed in Jan's entrance quickly, and somewhat painfully he might note, rattled off deflecting off his metal limbs as they blasted at him with a pair of tommy guns... a bolt of fire slamming into the back of one from Mei-ling, who hadn't quite made her way upstairs.
[21:01] Dracos: He saw a guard running from near the stairwell towards him...he hadn't seemed to have seen him yet though and more seemed to just be rushing to get downstairs.
[21:02] Jan: Jan knocked the other guard away as he continued to stampede through the first floor, walls crumbling to dust around him.
[21:05] Dracos: "Jan, slow down.." Mei called after him, trying to convince him not to bring down the building on top of them...
[21:05] Jan: The piston on his right arm slowly drew back as the golem that Jan had turned into forcibly drew to a stop. He snapped his head towards the stairs as he tried to communicate to not deviate from the plan.
[21:06] Leets: "Let's see... according to Yomi, Jake was up top..." Leets carefully made his way upstairs when the last of the guards passed him.
[21:07] Dracos: Mei, already having dropped the illusion was already chanting, a wind wall coming into place as she ducked behind cover, another guard kneeling on the stairs and firing at Jan's head and torso, the wind wall slowing the bullets down a bit as they rammed into him.
[21:10] Dracos: #Glancing on the top of the stairs, Leets realized he probably should move cautiously or take another route with both of Jake's guards up there behind cover with guns trained on the stairwell.
[21:12] Jan: The golem's left arm instinctually snapped in front of his chest despite the wind barrier. The right arm's piston ominously clicked as it extended to its peak. A vicious punch was flung at the ground before the firing guards, and the piston painfully fell, a wave of earth and super heated air roared down the path between them.
[21:15] Dracos: The guards (and stairs) tore apart before the assault, both leaving the two of them safe and leaving the route upstairs rather wrecked.
[21:17] *** Velsper has joined #wasteland.
[21:17] Velsper: The golem stumbled, crashing loudly onto its left knee as Jan caught himself
[21:18] Velsper: On his right arm.
[21:18] *** Jan has signed off IRC (Killed (NickServ (GHOST command used by Velsper))).
[21:18] *** Velsper is now known as Jan.
[21:18] Dracos: Mei-ling moved near him. "You okay?" She looked over his arms.
[21:20] Jan: The right arm was fairly boiling over, the metal looking a livid red and hissing with steam from the two back to back piston attacks it had used. It gestured for her to fall back towards the exits he had created.
[21:21] Dracos: She chanted as they moved back, pointing to the arm as the air around it cooled, drawing off the excess heat from it.
[21:23] Dracos: The two were soon in one of the backrooms, a bit separate from the stairs as mei-ling waited for Jan to appear recovered from his attack.
[21:23] Jan: Jan shakily rose to its feet, the sound of metal scrapping loudly on the ground as it rose. It looked towards the stairs before looking over at Mei-Ling and gesturing to the exit with a brief shake of the head.
[21:26] * Leets grit his teeth, his body tensing as the stairs began to shudder under the stress. "This frickin' sucks," he growled, eyeing the guards, not noticing the slight crackle of electricity as the air seemed to bend around him. Not seeing any other option and worried about the stairs collapsing underneath him, he made a dash to the nearest cover and hoped they wouldn't get lucky with their shots.
[21:26] Dracos: "Mmm..." She eyed the stairs. "Any chance you could fling some of the ground up?  I could try and reshape it into a rough slope to get us upstairs."
[21:28] Jan: The golem shook its head in the negative. It offered hand for Mei-Ling to stand on as he gestured for the exit.
[21:30] Dracos: She stepped on, wondering what the golem had in mind.
[21:30] Dracos: #They eyed closely, but didn't see as Leets ran past them, rolling under a table for cover quickly.
[21:31] Jan: Jan thunderous steps carried them outside, where the golem easily lifted the exotic woman to the second floor window, which Leets had already opened.
[21:34] Dracos: She nodded and slipped in, the cursing of the two guards audible to her ears as she moved.
[21:35] Jan: Jan returned to the first floor of the building, and continued his racket, punching the floor with enough force to crush it loudly. He made sure he was near the stairwell. Oh boy, was this going to hurt when they started shooting at him.
[21:36] * Leets blinks, a bit surprised that they didn't start shooting. Curious, he peered out of his hiding spot to see if they reacted to his presence.
[21:36] Dracos: Not a glance, they were focused on the stairs.
[21:38] Leets: Still breathing hard, Leets carefully attempts to sneak behind the sentries to the room they appeared to be guarding.
[21:41] Dracos: He spotted the guy, Jake pacing about a bit anxiously, a gun in his hands.
[21:50] Leets: "So far, so good," Leets muttered under his breath as he passed the guards. He eyed Jake for a moment, then stood behind the guards and gave both of them a sharp blow to the base of their necks to knock them out.
[21:52] Dracos: They fell to the floor, Jake turning towards the room at the noise.
[21:54] * Leets quickly ducks into the room and uses the knife to cut Jake's gun hand, careful not to hit anything vital since they needed the man alive.
[21:55] Dracos: "Gah," He shouted drawing back and kicking towards leets reflexively.
[21:58] Dracos: Leets got a firm kick in the gut, nearly driving the air out of his lungs as the man screeched and fell back in shock.
[22:00] * Leets grunted, backing up and reflexively grasping his stomach. "Urp, ugh." He swallowed the bile rising out of his gut and stared in surprise at the man twitching from an electric shock.
[22:06] Leets: "What's wrong with him," muttered Leets, before getting annoyed at deciding to put the man out of his current misery. He kicked him in the side, yelping as he saw a flash of something transfer from the contact.
Session Close (#wasteland): Sat Jan 07 22:12:41 2006


Session Start (Dejatoon:#wasteland): Sun Jan 08 17:56:12 2006
[17:56] *** Initial topic: And now the cards get on the table.... | #wastelandOOC up | <Jan> Bikimono.
[17:56] *** #wasteland: Leets Clyde Jan Dracos
[17:56] *** #wasteland was created on Sun Jan 08 07:48:36 2006.
[18:12] Dracos: The next day, leets, Jan, and Mei-ling had managed to get back to the hotel room after subtly getting the information out of Jake and ditching him off somewhere untracable to them.  With the directions in hand, they were ready to take action as the morning dawned...
[18:14] *** Jan has signed off IRC (-=SysReset 2.53=-).
[18:14] *** Mode change "+oq Dracos Dracos" for channel #wasteland by ChanServ.
[18:15] *** Velsper has joined #wasteland.
[18:19] Dracos: [21:12] <Dracos> The next day, leets, Jan, and Mei-ling had managed to get back to the hotel room after subtly getting the information out of Jake and ditching him off somewhere untracable to them.  With the directions in hand, they were ready to take action as the morning dawned...
[18:20] Velsper: "Let's go talk to the Wrights. We have concrete info on where the drugs are coming from. Maybe we can get some backup when we annihilate the facility."
[18:21] Dracos: "Mmm, mind if I come along?" The old man seemed a bit sharper, more lively today than he had in the last couple.
[18:22] Velsper: "Sure, but you're not going to join the assault team. I don't want you getting hurt."
[18:24] * Leets pondered the old man's offer. "Did you happen to remember another spell?"
[18:25] Dracos: "Well, I had a brief flash of this really great one involving falling rocks."
[18:28] Leets: "Let's make sure to tell the Wrights to keep an eye out while Mister Wizard plays artillery," suggested Leets to Jan, while warily watching the old man for more of his 'inspirations'.
[18:28] Dracos: "Anyhow, I'm sure I can help you out...and where you're going you'll need it, no?" His eyes sharp for once.
[18:31] Leets: "Yeah, I suppose that's true." Leets still couldn't shake the image of 'falling rocks' conjured when combined with the assault on the factory though. "Let's just hurry. We want to get this over with before dark."
[18:35] * Velsper moves behind the wheel and starts it up. Destination: The Wrights.
[18:35] *** Velsper is now known as Jan.
[18:35] Dracos: Piled in behind him was: Clyde, Leets, the old man, and Mei-ling...  a few minutes and they were at the Wrights.
[18:39] Dracos: The guard was out front as usual, waving them by as he recognized Jan and Leets in the car.
[18:39] Dracos: They got parked inside and soon were able to get an audience with the Don, who looked like he just came from breakfast.
[18:41] Jan: "We found the location of the factory that's producing the drugs."
[18:41] Dracos: "Excellent.  What do you know about it?" The man was clearly pleased.
[18:42] Jan: "It's outside of town, so no matter what happens, the Kingpin won't move against us. It's a practical fortress though."
[18:43] Dracos: "Directions?"
[18:43] Jan: Jan told them the directions. Or some varient.
[18:46] Dracos: "You've done well...we'll take it from here." He nodded.
[18:48] * Jan hummed, deep in thought as he considered the Don. "I'm joining in the assault."
[18:49] Dracos: "Mmm?  Are you sure?  It'll be dangerous...not that we wouldn't mind capable help, but..."
[18:50] Jan: "I won't speak for the others, but I'm seeing this through to the end."
[18:54] Dracos: "We'll be glad to have another gun."
[18:54] Dracos: The old man laughed a bit. "I'll come too.  Got to look after the youngins."
[18:56] Clyde: "I suppose I might be of some help with sniper fire," Clyde nodded.

***Siege scene***


[16:11] <Dracos> The rest of the crew slinked off, not truly wanting to get involved in the gruesome job that was to follow.  The old don eyed jan carefully and nodded and gestured to one of the other family members who went, delivering some message that the don had sent.
[16:12] <Dracos> Moments afterwards, two thirtish looking family suited up family members were standing next to Jan. "Honored grandfather, you wished for our presence?"
[16:14] <Dracos> "Yes." He folded his hands together.  "Jan here has discovered the location of the new drug factory of the Ronspecios.  It is, fortunately, outside of the city limits, so we can deal with this as appropriate.  I would like you three and a few of the younger brothers to head out there and disable it, permanently."
[16:17] <Dracos> "No, honored grandfather.  Shall he be coming with us?"
[16:18] <Dracos> "Yes, he wants to finish the job.  I like that.  Anyhow, get moving, there's still sunlight left."
[16:18] <Dracos> The two men bowed, leading the way out and waiting for Jan in the foyer outside.
[16:20] <Dracos> Turning to face him as he came out, the taller one offered a white  gloved hand forward.  He was kind of lean with with cropped blonde hair.  "Name's Darin.  Jan is it?"
[16:24] <Dracos> The old man smiled.  "Fihban...no, that's not right...Fizban, yes.  Pleasure, pleasure to meet you." He shook the hand next.  Darrin raising an eyebrow slightly at him.  The other one, a touch shorter, a bit more stout about lowered his hat slightly in greeting. "Estigo, nice to meet you."
[16:25] <Dracos> Darrin looked pleased at Jan as he focused on him.  "Before we get moving and I introduce you to my boys, how good are you with a gun?"
[16:27] <Jan> "Hm. I've had to use guns a few times. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that I can use in case of an emergency, though."
[16:27] <Jan> Jan nodded pleasantly at Estigo as he finished.
[16:29] <Dracos> "What about you, Fizban?"
[16:29] <Dracos> "oh, never touched  one in my life." He smiled.  "Don't worry.  I won't be no trouble."
[16:29] <Dracos> The two men did not look comforted at that.
[16:31] <Jan> "He's been a help so far, but he needs to be kept a bit away from the main combat." Jan smoothly broke in.
[16:32] <Dracos> They eyed him and nodded, trusting the judgement of their don and leading around, Estigo running off for a bit before they were brought into a room with six others, getting guns ready.
[16:34] <Dracos> Darrin gestured to Jan and Fizban. "This is Mr. Smith and Mr. Fizban, they will be joining us on our greetings today." Turning towards Jan, he went across the room, "This is Diego, Baker, Farmen, Silent Bob, Brokis, and Sevin."
[16:37] <Dracos> Sevin lifted a shotgun onto his shoulder noddding.  The others seeming to take the two added members in stride.
[16:39] <Jan> "Before we continue, I need to tell you of a certain ability I have. I unearthed an ancient weapon out in the wastelands when I first got here. It might not even be needed, but it's best to warn you all so we don't scatter and turn on each other."
[16:40] <Dracos> Estigo, standing to the side quirked his head.  "What kind of weapon would cause that?"
[16:43] <Jan> "A golem. Sorta a mechanical warrior weapon, something that looks like it should belong in Vault City. It's pretty durable, and if the situation calls for it I'll summon it. I needed to warn you all so you don't think it's working for the other side."
[16:43] <Dracos> "mmm, gotcha." Estigo responded..
[16:44] <Dracos> Darrin eyed him. "You any good with explosives?"
[16:48] <Jan> "I can get the explosives into the heart of the factory, and arm them if you tell me what switch to flip." Jan truthfully responded.
[16:50] <Dracos> "Cool, cool.  Silent Bob, give this man a sticky."
[16:51] <Dracos> Silent Bob was a pretty bulky fellow as he walked up quietly and tossed Jan some kind of yellow box with one sticky side.  "Hit the green button, then run.  It'll go off about five to ten minutes after its pressed, no stopping it."
[16:58] <Jan> "How are the groups going to be divided up?" Jan deferred to the leader of the group as he looked at the bomb, holding it carefully.
[17:01] <Dracos> "We'll scope the place out first, but, Diego, Baker, Farmen, Sevin, and Estigo will take one side while myself, Silent Bob, Brokis, Jan, and Fizban will take the other."
[17:04] <Dracos> "Any questions?" He looked more at Jan, his men moving like a pretty well oiled machine.
[17:08] <Jan> "Hm. I'm guessing that the number of bombs we'll have to set up is dependant on the size of the factory?"
[17:30] <Dracos> "Unlikely.  The most important thing is to eliminate those making it and to destroy the equipment.  If the brewing equipment is destroyed, the factory is worthless."
[17:30] <Jan> "I can take out the equipment easily enough." Jan volunteered.
[17:31] * Jan (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.144.214.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) Quit (-=SysReset 2.53=-)
[17:32] * Velsper (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.144.195.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) has joined #wasteland
[17:32] * Velsper is now known as Jan
[17:37] <Dracos> "Good, you'll be leading then.  Anyhow, we should get  moving." Darin lead out of the building, waving Jan to direct.
[17:45] <Jan> Jan quickly glanced around to take stock in what kinds of weapons they had.
[17:46] <Dracos> They seemed armed for bear.  A couple of shotguns, a pair of tommies.  A few rifles and modified handguns.  Silent bob was carrying some big suitcase.
[17:49] <Dracos> Fizban took up the rear, walking along with his staff.
[17:51] <Jan> "Okay, so the factory is to the east of Reno, we should exit through the street north of the boxing ring."
[17:55] <Jan> Jan hung back to look at Fizban in the eye. "Are you *positive* you want to go through with this? You can always stay here with the others."
[17:55] <Dracos> "No, no, I'm coming along." Fizban nodded.
[17:55] <Dracos> Estigo nodded, waving the men after Jan, the crew making their way through the streets and eventually arriving on a dusty dune outside the factory.
[17:58] <Jan> Jan tried to peer down from on top of the dune, belly to the sand. "Anyone got binoculars?" He asked softly to the men around them.
[17:58] <Jan> *him
[17:59] <Dracos> Darrin tossed him one as Estigo lead his squad slowly around to the other side.  Silent Bob dropped his suitcase with a thud, opening it and beginning work on something in there.
[18:00] <Jan> He easily caught it, using it to look down below to gauge the defenses.
[18:05] <Jan> "Fizban, can you do anything to put the guards to sleep or knock them out for a bit?"
[18:05] <Dracos> [18:02] <Dracos> The outside showed it'd be no cakewalk.  Three guards guarding a single entry point that he could see on this side.  They looked both alert, well armed and well armored.  The gate behind them looked pretty sturdy too, with a some kind of panel next to it.
[18:05] <Dracos> [18:05] <Jan> "Fizban, can you do anything to put the guards to sleep or knock them out for a bit?"
[18:05] <Dracos> OOC: Reposted  for logging purposes
[18:07] <Dracos> Fizban nodded, getting some rose petals out of his bag and slowly crushing them, chanting and gesturing towards the men.
[18:07] * Jan continues looking through the binoculars to look for any cameras or automated defenses around the guards near the entrance.
[18:08] <Dracos> The three mafiaso eyed him as he did so, looking a touch uncomfortable.  Meanwhile though, the guards down there started to nod off, lying against the wall...one falling over asleep right out.
[18:11] <Jan> "Let's go. Quietly now." Jan gestured for the others to start moving closer to the sleeping guards.
[18:16] <Dracos> "One sec.  Fizban, Bob, stay back and provide covering fire."  Bob had set up...damn, that's one big fucking gun.  It was like five feet long down the barrel as he set up in a sort of sniper position.  Darrin and Brokis flanked him as they moved closer to the guards.
[18:18] <Jan> Jan nodded as he moved closer to the sleeping guards.
[18:20] <Jan> He kept an eye out for anything suspicious as they neared.
[18:20] <Dracos> The guards were snoring away.  Closer he could see the door had some kind of key panel...and a security camera that Darrin promptly blew away.
[18:23] <Dracos> Darrin and Brokis guarded the rear. "Check 'em for keys."
[18:26] <Jan> He did so, keeping an eye to see if they were going to wake up soon from their mystically charged nap.
[18:29] <Dracos> They were snoozing like babies.  Jan eventually found a keycard around one of their necks.
[18:31] <Dracos> The gateway lie before him, no sign that they'd yet been noticed.
[18:32] * Jan slowly removed the key from around the guard's neck. They slept through a gun blast, but best not take any chances. Once he got the key, he used it on the card reader to open the way.
[18:34] <Dracos> The door beeped and opened, letting them into a narrow passageway...  Where annother guard stood waiting for them, promptly letting off a couple close shots at Jan.
[18:39] <Jan> Jan called on his power as he had done the night of the attack on the garage, using the part of the transformation where the ground around him erupted upwards to provided a rather nice shield. He responded in kind to the guard's attack, snapping out his revolver in a flash and firing back once the ground flew back down.
[18:46] <Dracos> The bullets bounced a bit to the side as his shot caught the man in the shoulder, sending him back.  A bullet from behind striking his head ended that threat, but they'd likely lost the surprise factor at this point from his shot.

Session Start: Wed Jan 11 18:48:06 2006
Session Ident: #wasteland
[18:48] * Now talking in #wasteland
[18:48] * Topic is 'And now the cards get on the table.... | #wastelandOOC up | <Jan> Bikimono.'
[18:48] * Set by Dracos on Sat Dec 31 23:43:58
[18:48] * ChanServ sets mode: +oq Dracos Dracos
[18:49] <Jan> Jan stumbled to the side as the near death experience drained him more than it should have. His eyes narrowed as he ran the experience through his head...before he shook his head and gestured for the others. He leaned down, snatching the guard's weapon as he waved for the others to pull back slightly. "Take the guard's body armor. We're going to get in fire fights from now on." He did as he said as he snatched the fallen guard'
[18:54] <Jan> *guard's body armor.
[18:55] <Dracos> Took a few minutes as the others gave cover. "Hurry it.  We've got to move."
[18:57] <Jan> Now outfitted, Jan gave the duo a nod as he got armed with the newly pilfered equipment. "Let's move out." And once again they were off, peering around corners and moving only when it looked clear.
[18:58] <Dracos> The guy with the tommygun, Brokis as Jan remembered, sprayed a few shots down each corridor as they moved by, covering their back.
[18:59] <Dracos> The place was a facility, bathrooms, closets, labs.  They saw down one corner a few guards stomping down.
[19:02] <Jan> Jan waved for them to keep pressing on towards the labs, his mind spinning at the situation as he tried to keep his cool.
[19:06] <Jan> OOC: backing up a step.
[19:08] <Dracos> As they were checking down the corridors, they saw down one a set of guards charging down, moving towards them.
[19:10] <Jan> The negotiator waved for the group to duck down a side corridor and duck for cover since they were seemingly spotted, reading his guns he crouched low to fight them off if they began the fight.
[19:13] <Dracos> Brokis tossed something against the other side of the corridor entrance, pulling tight and gesturing for the others to get ready.  The guards calling for backup as the first one ran forward...and tripped over Brokis' tripwire.
[19:16] <Jan> The world went white as the explosive rocked the building, Jan rising from his hiding spot to take advantage of the chaos. Just underneath his skin something boiled and quivered in anticipation as his power tried to bubble to the surface. The stand in leader of the invading forces rushed across the blown and ruined corridor, revolvers spitting fire at the defending guards.
[19:17] <Dracos> A shot got one in the arm, the other the leg, even as awkward blind, rapid fire shots blasted out at him.
[19:19] <Jan> Not really a pro at gun fights, Jan threw himself out of the way in an awkward dive, an arm snapped to the side to answer in kind.
[19:21] <Dracos> Someone grabbed his legs as he fell and shot, his bullet going high a bit as he was dragged hard out of the firing range by Darrin, a bullet nearly clipping his ear as they pulled back behind cover a moment.
[19:21] <Dracos> Darrin waved to Brokis as soon as the gunfire died down a touch who rolled out, spraying the approaching guards with gunfire.
[19:25] <Jan> Jan grunted as he swiftly reloaded, as he rubbed sweat out of his eyes. A faint ethereal glow flashed in his dark eyes at the near miss as he breathed out a shaky breath. "We have to go to the labs." He called to Darrin with a quiet voice as he mentally prepared himself to join the fight once again.
[19:25] <Dracos> Brokis waved to them and they moved on down that corridor only to find the door at the end sealed.
[19:29] <Dracos> "Damn, we'll have to find another way around," Darrin turned to lead away.
[19:30] <Jan> "Wait."
[19:31] <Jan> "Move behind me and stay behind me. I'm using my trump card." Holstering his revolvers, he handed the bomb to Darrin.
[19:32] <Jan> "Be prepared to face a lot of opposition most likely. Pick up and use the others weapons if you're running low." Jan's outline flared with a powerful light as the ground underneath him suddenly caved and exploded upwards.
[19:32] <Dracos> They backed up a good deal behind him at his call.
[19:33] <Jan> As the air threw thick with cement and falling dust, twin eyes flared crimson as a towering figure was outlined inside the smokescreen.
[19:33] <Jan> Seconds later..
[19:34] <Jan> The sealed door and most of the wall attached to it ceased their existence as stationary objects as they viciously exploded outwards towards the lab, a metal fist remained extended in a punch as a giant of a man, cast in dark and grey iron, stomped into the facility.
[19:37] <Dracos> Twenty or so scientists looked at them as the two followed him into the lab, gunning them down even as they began to flee.
[19:40] <Jan> The golem suddenly snapped out an arm and blocked the gun fire from continuing to annihilate the noncombatants. Jan mentally winced at the impacts, but remained firm as he looked at the two and gave them a firm shake of the head. They were here to destroy the equipment, not slaughter everyone alive.
[19:43] <Dracos> "What the hell?" Darrin glared at him.  "Brokis, get the explosives, we're blowing this lab up."
[19:47] <Jan> The golem moved to defend the two as they set up the explosives, the silver piston on the golem's arm slowly rising into position as his right arm whistled as it drew air in through vents on the bicep.
[19:49] <Dracos> It'd be a bit awkward heading back through the corridors like it though.  "Let's get out of here.  It's set."
[19:57] <Jan> Jan crouched as he easily slid back to normal, the simplicity in not having to do a lot with his golem form helping the process complete itself quickly.
[19:57] <Jan> He drew out his twin revolvers as he rushed after the duo.
[19:59] <Dracos> As they turned the corner, a guy slugged him, sending him flying back and then rolling out of the way as his two comrades returned fire.
[20:04] <Jan> Jan drew out a revolver from his vest holster as his other flew from his grasp to crash into the ground. Pulling himself to his feet, he ignored the pain in his jaw as he quickly snatched the weapon from the ground and rose to his feet to cover Darrin and Brokis.
[20:04] <Dracos> The way out was clear...for the moment.  They better hurry!
[20:10] * Jan took a more cautious approach, moving in the lead since he had the body armor and the abilities to protect himself better. His breath was getting heavier as he moved, but he forcibly shut up before he got too far.
[20:11] <Dracos> Turning, the others followed, rushing out of the building. "Come on..." An explosion shook them off their feet as the factory's brewery was blown to smitherns.
[20:14] <Jan> Stabilizing himself with a grunt, Jan quickly glanced about for any remaining guards as he helped the others up.
[20:15] <Dracos> He could hear footsteps following them as  Darrin gestured to keep running.
[20:18] <Dracos> Gunfire rattled off near his feet.
[20:20] <Jan> Jan rushed towards the exit with the other two, firing behind him as he ran.
[20:21] <Dracos> As they cleared the door, he heard Darrin shout "SIDE." and wave as he moved to the side of the doors.
[20:24] <Jan> The negotiator followed Darrin's lead as he rushed to the other side, pressing himself tight.
[20:30] <Dracos> He heard a hiss...as a rocket went right into the doorway they just moved out from...fire blasting out from the doorway entrance.
[20:33] <Jan> Barely getting his eyes closed in time, Jan just avoided temporarily going blind as the rocket blew up. "Go go go!" He snapped open his eyes as he began calling on his power for this last rush, intent on guarding the duo now that he had the space to properly do so.
[20:36] <Dracos> They rushed up the hill...  and with their two comrades providing covering fire, they vanished off into the desert...
[20:45] <Dracos> It was late at night when they returned to the wright family home, tired, scraped, but alive and victorious.  Jan and Fizban were let inside...
[20:45] <Dracos> The mafiso that had come with him were chattering amongst themselves mostly.
[20:46] <Jan> Jan was strangely quiet as he entered, rubbing at his right arm. "That didn't go as well as I hoped it would've."
[20:49] <Dracos> "yeah... what the heck were you doing with the scientists there?  We were there to neutralize, not to let them get away.
[20:50] <Dracos> Darrin was answering him.
[20:51] <Jan> "They were non-combatants. Besides, we put the fear of God into them. At least those that survived." Jan frowned a bit, shaking his head. "Those types always change when they get into that many near misses with death."
[20:53] <Dracos> He looked at him and shook his head, disagreeing, but not pressing it further. "At least the plant is out of commission and we all came back alive."
[20:54] <Jan> "It'll take them a long time to recover from that, if ever." Jan hazard a guess as he recalled the state the factory was left in.
[20:55] <Jan> His right arm twanged a bit painfully, causing him to hiss slightly. "Damn." Shaking his head, the negotiator turned towards Darrin. "Thanks for all the assistance in there. Sorry I wasn't as much help as I could've been." Jan apologized.
[20:56] <Dracos> "Hey, you lead us there.  That's the important thing.  That golem thing is a pretty neat trick"
[20:57] <Jan> "Too noisy for my taste. Old man Fizban here is the one that impresses me."
[20:57] <Jan> Jan patted the old timer in question on the shoulder.
[21:01] <Dracos> "Eh? Was just a little spell." He responded.
[21:03] <Jan> "Anyway, we should go tell the Don how things went. Still have to finish the job."
[21:04] <Dracos> The man checked his watch. "In the morning, I'll handle it.  You can stay here if you want.  The Don doesn't appreciate being awakened this late except for emergencies."
[21:05] <Jan> "I see. Well, that works for me." Jan nodded. "Is there any place the old timer and I can crash for the night?"
[21:06] <Dracos> "Yeah, guest rooms if you want to stay here." He sounded like he was offering.
[21:06] <Jan> "Why sure, I never turn down a free bed. Thank you kindly."
[21:09] <Dracos> "No problem"  He lead upstairs to a servicable, if not fancy guest room, holding the door open for Jan.
[21:09] <Dracos> "You can rest here for the night."
[21:11] <Jan> "Thanks." The negotiator moved into the room, turning to face Fizban and Darrin. "Goodnight you two."
[21:13] <Dracos> *Insert little final fantasy style sleep ditty* The next morning, Jan awoke, refreshed if still sore from last night's activities.
[21:15] <Jan> Jan still felt vaguely disturbed as he rose from his bed, having slept in his normal outfit out of necessity, black slacks and white dress shirt wrinkled. His arm still twinged every now and again. With a sigh, he fumbled in his brown vest for a pack of cigarettes as he walked towards the exit of the guest room.
[21:17] <Dracos> heading out, the house was pretty quiet in the morning.  He could probably have a relaxing smoke outside.
[21:20] <Jan> The negotiator softly plodded through the hallways, heading back to the entrance as he stretched his arms up and behind his head. Lowering them to his sides, he continued. 'I wonder how the others are faring with the car.'
[21:23] <Dracos> he saw Gregio at the door, already guarding the gate.
[21:23] * Jan (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.144.195.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) Quit (-=SysReset 2.53=-)
[21:24] * Velsper (WinNT@dialup-4.240.123.157.dial1.phoenix1.level3.net) has joined #wasteland
[21:24] * Velsper is now known as Jan
[21:26] <Jan> "Gregio." Jan nodded to the guard. "Fine morning, isn't it?" He stepped past the guard, moving away from him before lighting up his last cigarette, taking a long drag from it as he leaned on the wall to the other side of Gregio.
[21:28] <Dracos> "Yeah.  Peaceful." He nodded.  "You alright?"
[21:29] <Jan> "As good as someone can be, I guess." Jan grunted in response, nearly chewing his cigarette in half. "At least the factory is gone, so things might get better in this city."
[21:37] <Dracos> "Yeah, thanks for that, by the way."
[21:39] <Jan> "Don't worry about it. I always see the job through to the end. I was just glad I was able to help out the others in some small way." Jan flew out a puff of smoke through his nose.
[21:41] <Dracos> "Ah... I understand that." He leaned back against stone base of the gate.
[21:59] <Jan> "So what's it like working here?" The negotiator curiously asked the guard.
[22:01] <Dracos> "Working?  We're family.  It's more guarding the family estate."
[22:01] <Jan> "Must be nice." Jan admitted as he shifted slightly in place.
[22:03] <Dracos> "It's a way to live." He gestured at the city.
[22:05] <Jan> "The wastelands aren't ever going to change that." The negotiator admitted, remembering the towers. "I wonder how long we'll be able to survive in this world."
[22:06] <Dracos> "Forever.  We're survivers.  It's what we do."
[22:10] <Dracos> "You're the same, no?" He turned.
[22:12] <Jan> "Hm. I do believe I am." Jan leaned his head backwards, and it might've been just Gregio's imagination, but a flash of green lit up the negotatior's dark eyes. "It would insult the memory of everyone that died if I gave up now."
[22:13] <Dracos> "Eh?  Died?" He listened curious.
[22:15] <Jan> "I woke up near here, actually. Before then, my home town just got wiped out. Completely annihilated by something ...alien."
[22:17] <Dracos> "Tough way to go..." He said sympathetically.
[22:19] <Jan> Jan's cigarette burned away, ignored by the man as he recalled. "That tower between Reno and Brunswick insult my intelligence. I hate things that stick out like ugly thumbs like that. Makes our surroundings look even more drab because of their existence."
[22:27] <Dracos> "Eh...I've seen worse.  Once did a hike over near Broken hills...now that's a sight." He leaned back.
[22:28] <Jan> "I've never traveled that far." Jan pulled the cigarette from his lips and flicked, the burnt part of it blown away by the wind as he placed it back to his lips. "What's it like?"
[22:29] <Dracos> "It's an old mining colony.  Wretched place.  Big mutant guy, ugly as sin watches over it and keeps order.  They mine Uranium there and such."
[22:30] <Jan> "Slave ring?"
[22:33] <Dracos> "Naw, no slave  ring.  guy kept it up and up, all righteous.  But well...ye ever see a city of mutants?"
[22:34] <Jan> "Can't say I have. Only mutant I've ever seen was the man working the water purifier over by Brunswick."
[22:36] <Dracos> "Brunswick, brunswick...naw, that's a ghoul, not a mutant... they're not quite that ugly, but they're also about twice to three times as big and half as smart.  So, yeah... they're are worse things to run into than that tower."
[22:37] <Jan> "Isn't like they chose to be mutants, though." Jan pointed out. "Well, then again, I guess that's one way of moving up in the world if you want power."
[22:39] <Dracos> "Some did... but yeah.  Anyhow..."  he leaned back, checking the gate.
[22:41] <Jan> "Think it's possible for people to ever make it alright again?" Jan put out his cigarette, and tucking the remains in his vest pocket until he could find a can to toss it in.
[22:48] <Dracos> "Right?  I dunno where you come from but...I was born in this city.  It's all I know.  Right?"
[22:49] <Jan> "Hm...but things can always be improved." Jan mentally filed away that nugget of information.
[22:52] <Dracos> "Yeah, I'll say." He stayed at his post.
[22:53] <Jan> "I'll talk to you later, Gregio." Jan waved at the guard as he entered the building, looking for a trash can to throw away his rubbish, even as he merely observed the goings on.
[22:55] <Dracos> He found one as he headed it, the old man Fizban wandering about. "Ah, there you are."
[22:55] <Jan> "Slept well?" Jan flicked the worn out cigarette in the trash.
[22:59] <Dracos> He nodded.  "And yourself?"
[23:00] <Jan> "I'll live. My arm was giving me some trouble earlier, but it's settled down." Jan rubbed his chin in thought. "What ever did happen to your bird, anyway? I've never really had a chance to ask you between all the disasters lately."
[23:04] <Dracos> "mmm... I left it somewhere safe.  Couldn't very well bring it along."
[23:05] <Jan> "I see." Jan sighed. "I think I might quit now. The others have Pandora's Box and the car. I don't think they need me now."
[23:08] <Dracos> "Mmm.. Do you think they can carry it though?" He asked in a matter of factly way.  "Carry on I mean?  You sense it don't you?  Something wrong at the core...  You're not a man to leave a job half done...are you?"
[23:09] <Dracos> He sounded surprisingly lucid, more than he had in quite a while.
[23:10] <Jan> "Heh. I knew I shouldn't of ever tied my fate to you, old timer." Jan sounded amused as he ran a hand through his dark locks, eyeing Fizban seriously. "I don't think the others realize how serious those wolves are, either..."
[23:13] <Jan> OOC: *my fate to you and the others
[23:15] <Dracos> "They're not that bad...  The box now... and the towers...that's a different story.  You can feel it, can't you?  There's something wrong.  Something that has to be set right."
[23:19] <Jan> "Is it really my job to fix the world, though? I tried it before. All it did was buy me a bullet and a short life." Jan crossed his arms before his chest. He didn't sound angry or sad though, just curious about how it really tied with him. "People are stubborn. They've lived here for a long time now, and they'll probably keep living here for longer still. People like Gregio, the don, and that ghoul in Brunswick will take care of
[23:23] <Jan> OOC: *take care of that
[23:34] <Dracos> He gestured and sat down on a chair, looking quite old. "It's not a job.  It's a burden.  Some folks, when confronted with it...walk away.  Leave it to others.  Others say, "This is wrong" and..even though others may fix it...they can't leave well enough alone once they've seen wrong.  They don't know that they're  important.  That their decisions mean anything... but they decide nonetheless."
[23:37] <Jan> Jan took a seat across from old Fizban. "I'm just a simple negotiator. I settle problems between people. Sure, I have this power...but I don't think demons and other foul beasties would ever want to strike a deal with us humans."
[23:38] <Jan> "And I don't think I can just punch them."
[23:40] <Dracos> "Look at these folks here.." he gestured.  "What do they know?  You are a negociator... is the greatest power in the fist?"
[23:42] <Jan> "Hm..." Jan didn't feel comfortable answering that. "I was the one that opened Pandora's Box and started this mess. I guess I can stick around until the guardians of it are finally at peace. Or forced into peace."[23:52] <Dracos> "I remember a bit like you once.  Well, not as sharp persay and far more curious, but he saw wrong and wondered what good he was.  It was at a great meeting of kings and lords.  He knew the fate of many lives lay in the balance of this meeting, but he surely could do nothing.  He was not strong, not compared to these towering lords.  He was not as wise or as smart them.  Nor was he mighty enough to hold off the fierce enemies that opposed (cont)
[23:52] <Dracos> them all."
[23:54] <Dracos> "He was just a little man, and so he sat and he watched as they bickered over an orb of power, the power to drive off their foes.  He watched and he wondered, what could he do if these powerful lords couldn't?  It was they who would decide, after all, they had the strength."
[23:57] <Jan> "What did he do?" Jan asked, leaning in attentively.
Session Time: Thu Jan 12 00:00:00 2006
[00:01] <Dracos> "He watched them, each claiming that they alone had the strength to save the world..and he got up..and he picked up the orb...and he looked at each of them...his legs trembled before their rage as they shouted at this little man for interfering."
[00:01] <Dracos> "He stepped back, pressed against the wall and lifted  it high and then... smashed it down, shattering it into a million pieces.  He reminded them, scared as he was... that if they did not stand together...they could do nothing.  That even little men knew that much."
[00:03] <Dracos> "You see...for all the lords that were there, for all the powerful men...  it was not them that made the most important decision."
[00:04] <Jan> "I'm no unifying point for glorious quests. That would be more Clyde's gig. He's a thinker and most likely a leader-type. Heck, even that other guy, Darx. He seems able bodied to lead a crusade."
[00:07] <Dracos> "the point of the story is sometimes the little decisions matter just as much as the big ones.  In the end, it is those who act who decide."
[00:09] <Jan> "Huh. Well, I decided I'm going to go tame some wolves. I can only promise you that much." Jan hopped to his feet. "And I always see my jobs, even if they might be considered a burden, through."
[00:10] <Jan> Jan firmly nodded to Fizban, turning and marching off to go see the Don. "Come on, old timer. We gotta go get paid before we hook up with the rest of the group. Yomi must be driving them batty by now!"
[00:11] <Dracos> "Don...oh, yes, right right..." He followed behind.
[00:11] <Dracos> Jan was summarily directed to join the Don for breakfast at a large table.
[00:12] <Jan> He helped Fizban to his seat before taking a nearby one for himself. "Good morning, sir. Did you rest well?"
[00:14] <Dracos> "Indeed.  The news of your success has reached me and I am quite grateful to hear that the streets will be a little cleaner."
[00:16] <Jan> "It's mutual." Jan nodded in return. "I've been fortunate to have had my last few jobs be ones I can be especially proud in."
[00:19] <Dracos> The older man smiled. "I can understand that."
[00:21] <Jan> "What do you think about the way the world is right now?" Jan suddenly questioned, an urge rising in him to ask the Don. Maybe it was just to compare the answer to Gregio's response.
[00:22] <Dracos> He raised an eyebrow.  "It's a hard world, this is a hard city...  these things, they never change."
[00:24] <Jan> Jan glanced at Fizban for a moment before turning to look at the Don. "If you had the power, would you change things? Make things better than they are now?"
[00:25] <Dracos> "Yes...but I sense it isn't a simple thing you ask.  What is really on your mind."
[00:30] <Jan> "They people wouldn't need leaders like the Kingpin if the world was brought back to life. They wouldn't need Vault City. Or the mayor of Brunswick. I just wonder how all of you would feel."
[00:30] <Jan> "I'm particularly worried more about the less savory of Vault City's government, and of New Reno's leadership."
[00:32] <Jan> "Pandora's Box was opened, and before hope came out all the evils of the world..." Jan looked uncomfortable, almost looking like he wanted out of his own body at this point.
[00:33] * Dracos raised an eyebrow. "I work in facts, not fairytaleles. People always need leaders. You're too idealistic if you think otherwise."
[00:37] <Jan> Jan tapped his fingers on the table as he thought. "Hm. They would. I just worry about what might happen if the world was suddenly expanded seemingly overnight. It might ruin the delicate peace that exists..."
[00:38] <Dracos> "Expanded?  Do you know something?"
[00:39] <Jan> "I've heard whispers in Vault City." Jan smoothly explained, deciding to cut the line of conversation before he brought down the good mood. "Them and their technology. They're looking into ways of culturing the land. You never know with those eggheads." He smiled.
[00:39] <Jan> "Regardless, I shouldn't ruin the good cheer now. We won, and the factory has been destroyed. I apologize for bringing down your happy mood."
[00:40] * Jan (WinNT@dialup-4.240.123.157.dial1.phoenix1.level3.net) has left #wasteland
[08:56] * Dracos is now known as Gavin

Session Start: Fri Jan 13 12:12:20 2006
Session Ident: #wasteland
[12:12] * Now talking in #wasteland
[12:12] * ChanServ sets mode: +ntr
[12:12] * ChanServ changes topic to 'And now the cards get on the table.... | #wastelandOOC up | <Jan> Bikimono. (Dracos)'
[12:12] * ChanServ sets mode: +oq Dracos Dracos
[12:22] * Velsper (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.141.65.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) has joined #wasteland
[12:43] * Velsper is now known as Jan
[13:04] <Dracos> [00:30] <Jan> "I'm particularly worried more about the less savory of Vault City's government, and of New Reno's leadership."
[13:04] <Dracos> [00:32] <Jan> "Pandora's Box was opened, and before hope came out all the evils of the world..." Jan looked uncomfortable, almost looking like he wanted out of his own body at this point.
[13:04] <Dracos> [00:33] * Dracos raised an eyebrow. "I work in facts, not fairytaleles. People always need leaders. You're too idealistic if you think otherwise."
[13:04] <Dracos> [00:37] <Jan> Jan tapped his fingers on the table as he thought. "Hm. They would. I just worry about what might happen if the world was suddenly expanded seemingly overnight. It might ruin the delicate peace that exists..."
[13:04] <Dracos> [00:38] <Dracos> "Expanded?  Do you know something?"
[13:04] <Dracos> [00:39] <Jan> "I've heard whispers in Vault City." Jan smoothly explained, deciding to cut the line of conversation before he brought down the good mood. "Them and their technology. They're looking into ways of culturing the land. You never know with those eggheads." He smiled.
[13:04] <Dracos> [00:39] <Jan> "Regardless, I shouldn't ruin the good cheer now. We won, and the factory has been destroyed. I apologize for bringing down your happy mood."
[13:06] <Dracos> The don eyed Jan, curious at his odd behaviour.
Session Close: Fri Jan 13 13:12:13 2006

Session Start: Fri Jan 13 13:12:17 2006
Session Ident: #wasteland
[13:12] * Now talking in #wasteland
[13:12] * Topic is 'And now the cards get on the table.... | #wastelandOOC up | <Jan> Bikimono.'
[13:12] * Set by Dracos on Sat Dec 31 23:43:58
[13:12] * ChanServ sets mode: +oq Dracos Dracos
[13:17] <Dracos> The don slowly ate his breakfast.  "Know this, Jan, you have friends here among the Wrights for what you did."
[13:19] <Jan> Jan sipped at some coffee. "I'm honored, sir. Please don't think ill of the others, it really was a surprised they stuck with me up to this point when the contract was just between you and me."
[13:20] <Dracos> He smiled.  "Do not worry.  It is not the little things that matter."
[13:28] <Dracos> "So, I am told you are traveling soon?"
[13:29] <Jan> "Thanks to some adventures lately, we secure ourselves a car and we're going to drive out north."
[13:35] <Dracos> He lifted an eyebrow. "That's a rare thing."
[13:36] <Jan> "I think it's time to diversify. I've been working around these three cities near the tower for years now. Gregio got my wanderlust working again, so now I'm going to go see if there's anything I can do out there."
[13:38] <Dracos> "Hoping to find something else out there in the wastelands?"
[13:39] <Jan> "Direction." He honestly replied.
[13:43] <Dracos> "Ah...I see, I see.  A rough road to walk."
[13:44] <Dracos> "You could stay here." He lifted a cup.  "We can always  find room for men of your skills."
[13:47] * Jan (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.141.65.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) Quit (thunderer.dejatoons.net scifi-classics.dejatoons.net)
[13:47] * Jan (~WinNT@dialup-4.240.141.65.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net) has joined #wasteland
[13:52] <Jan> "I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline your offer. It wouldn't be fair for me to block off my choices in life because it's hard work. Besides, my friends need me. Despite their time here, they're relatively new to the wastelands, and they'll need my help."
[13:53] <Dracos> The Don nodded, rising.  "The offer will remain on the table."


***Siege  scene end***


[19:05] Dracos: It was a hard fight, and they took a full days rest afterwards, but it was richer in both gratitude and wealth that the crew was packing the car later that week... the factory thoroughly destroyed.
[19:09] Jan: A slightly troubled look remained on Jan's face as he drove through the desert, an arm slung out the window impatiently tapping the door. "Anyone want to try their hand at driving?"
[19:15] Clyde: "I suppose I could give it a try," Clyde replied. "I understand the theory, at least. I think."
[19:18] Dracos: It was a quiet drive as the sun beat down on the car, hours passing as they moved over the sands into a wasteland that looked like it would never end.  Every so often they saw bones, scorpions (the giant nasty kind), and various others things...but luckly nothing had gotten close yet.
[19:18] Jan: "Never going to hurt to try." Jan pulled to a stop, allowing Clyde to take his seat as he shifted to the passenger seat.
[19:19] * Clyde takes the wheel, the car leaping forward as he hits the gas a little TOO firmly. "WhooOOoaa...!"
[19:19] Dracos: The sand skidded under the car wheel as he started.
[19:20] Jan: "Keep the pressure steady, but gentle." Jan felt his stomache fly upwards his throat as he barked out a bit too harshly, gripping his seat a bit fearfully.
[19:21] Clyde: "I'm trying, I didn't expect it to be so sensitive though!" Clyde eases off, VERY slowly beginning to accelerate across the sands.
[19:24] Dracos: the car inched along...  it really was a bit touchy a machine, grumbling as they went.  Good or not, it was going to take work to keep this running if they were always driving in such wretched conditions.
[19:24] Jan: "Don't worry, you'll catch on fast enough. We don't have to worry about other cars out here, anyway."
[19:24] Clyde: "I can certainly see why this replaced the train," Clyde said as he started to get the hang of the machine. "Being able to go where there are no rails is wonderful."
[19:26] Dracos: Soon the moon began to rise as they drove through the desert, still no sign of change...  it was really quite terrible to see how much of this world was blasted and barren.
[19:27] Jan: "I'm starting to miss New Reno, as much as that disturbs me."
[19:27] * Clyde slowed to a halt, finding the process of driving for so long to be oddly tiring - most likely tension from learning the machine, no doubt. "I suppose someone else can take over, unless we're setting up camp for the evening."
[19:28] Dracos: In the distance...the far distance... they heard howling.  Wolves howling.
[19:28] Jan: Jan's eyes narrowed. "No way..."
[19:28] Leets: "I think you should step on the gas pedal. Hard."
[19:29] Clyde: "Yes, but where are they coming from? Are we heading towards them or away?"
[19:29] Clyde: "Never mind. Jan, you take the wheel, I'll take the roof."
[19:29] Jan: "Right! Leets, get Pandora's Box opened. We might need those weapons soon."
[19:30] Jan: Jan quickly moved towards the driver's seat.
[19:30] * Clyde scrambled out of the car, quickly climbing onto the roof and seating himself in the seat for the gun he'd mounted atop it.
[19:31] Jan: Rolling down the window of the driver's side, Jan called out. "You ready?" He began accelerating the car, but made sure it was going slow enough that it wouldn't throw Clyde off.
[19:32] * Leets opened the lid of the box, vanishing inside. A few moments later, is ejected out with a couple of Yomi's suggested weapons.
[19:33] Clyde: "I'm quite secure, go ahead and increase your speed!" Clyde shouted over the roar of the wind.
[19:34] Dracos: In the far distance, chasing them, clyde could barely make something out.
[19:35] Jan: Jan promptly accelerating the car faster, building up to it rather than smashing the gas pedal down.
[19:36] * Clyde swiveled the seat to face the object, holding his fire until he's sure of at least hitting his target.
[19:37] Dracos: Clyde can barely see them, they don't seem to be able to close.
[19:38] * Leets grips the metalic spear, eyeing both sides of the car as well as the rear window for any sign of their stalkers.
[19:39] Jan: Jan kept his eyes ahead to make sure nothing rushed at them as he continued to drive on. "Is the old timer awake, Leets?" He asked.
[19:39] Dracos: It was getting hard to drive at this speed, jan could keep it up, but he'd be totally wiped by daybreak making sure not to crash the car.  The old timer was snoozing...or at least, se

[Dracos]

[18:17] Dracos: It'd been a few days now, the sand covered wastelands slowly transitioning into more more rock and earth grounds, though every bit as barren.  As Leets drove towards the north east, he saw a small twist of smoke rising up to the north.
[18:19] Jan: Jan was thumbing through a book he had borrowed from Yomi's library, having recently completed a section on something called the 'Ginrai Syndrome'. Fascinating...
[18:22] * Leets squints, as if trying to see what was causing that smoke. "Who in their right minds would camp out here?" he muttered, ignoring his own mental retort that noted their little group was probably just as insane.
[18:23] Jan: "Probably someone not as trigger happy as us. Cars are a rare and beautiful thing." Jan briefly looking up from the book, setting it aside for now. "Want to see if they need any help?"
[18:24] Dracos: It was way too far off to see from here.  They could drive there probably in an hour or so though.
[18:25] Leets: "Unless anyone has objections?" Leets asked rhetorically, listening to the others sleeping soundly (and some not so soundly) in the back.
[18:28] Jan: "Works for me."
[18:29] * Leets adjusts the wheel and detours towards the smoke.
[18:36] Dracos: As leets drives, Jan is the first to get a glimpse of what they're approaching.  It seems to be a burned out husk of a village, seared and ravaged by both time and something else.  What looks like they might've been the bases of great trees remain, charred and broken.  Scraps of what might have been houses at one time lay strewn, forgotten on the ground of the broken town.
[18:39] Jan: "Something annihilated the village we're coming up on. Burnt to the ground on top of being naturally old looking."
[18:40] Leets: "Can you tell how recent it is? Any signs of survivors or their attackers?" asked Leets, eyeing the smoking ruins.
[18:41] Jan: Jan continued scanning through the village. "No survivors I can see. And it has to be pretty recent."
[18:43] Dracos: As they moved closer, he saw a campfire towards the cennter of the village.  It must've be the source of the smoke, and in fact, he can see a trail of smoke rising up from it, one small figure sitting near the fire.
[18:45] Jan: "Someone set up a campfire." Jan reluctantly followed it up. "Guess I was wrong. The whole place must've been destroyed before, and thatoone person just decided to set up in the ruins."
[18:46] * Leets nods, slowing down as he navigates the car through the old streets.
[18:48] Dracos: They aren't so much streets as torn up paths..  Parking near the campfire, the figure doesn't rise or seem to give notice of them.
[18:49] Jan: Jan rolled down his window. "Hello?" He tried to get the figure's attention.
[18:52] Dracos: It was a short man, gray hair mostly with a topknot.  He seemed lost in his own world for a bit before  turning, tired, red eyes looking at him before turning to the car and blinking.  "What's that?"
[18:53] Jan: "Uhm. A car. You alright there?"
[18:55] Dracos: He sniffled a bit.  "Yeah...what's a car?" Briefly distracted by the new thing.  Leets, glancing over, realized he looked pretty familiar.  Especially his pack which was completely stuffed with all manners of things.
[18:56] Jan: "A vehicle able to get one from point A to point B quickly. Powered by gas and assorted other things that I won't get into. What happened here?"
[18:57] Dracos: "Gas?" He looked puzzled, wandering around it and proding it with quick strides.  He really was quite short, not taller than leets.
[18:58] Jan: "What are you doing all the way out here?"
[18:59] Dracos: "Exploring...going home...  but.."  He sniffled a bit and looked around, sort of self-evidently.
[18:59] * Leets silently studies the stranger, unable to shake the sense that he's met this guy somewhere before.
[19:00] * Leets opens the door and hops out of the car to stand face to face with the other man.
[19:01] Leets: "Have we met?" Leets finally asks after studying the stranger a moment longer.
[19:01] Jan: Jan blinked, deciding to be lazy for once as he stayed inside the car. "The heck?" He asked more to himself than shouting it out at the duo.
[19:06] Dracos: The man blinked.  "Oh, you're Leets."  He smiled friendly.  "Things turned out well?"
[19:08] Dracos: Jan noticed the man didn't seem entirely human, his ears being slightly off, more pointed.
[19:10] * Leets blinked, gaped, and sputtered wordlessly as recognition hit. "You're that map guy?!"
[19:12] Jan: Jan decided to get out of the car to stretch his legs for a bit, walking around the car as he went to the trunk to check on Pandora's Box.
[19:13] Leets: "And how do you know my name!?" demanded Leets, his mind finally getting around to that detail.
[19:15] Dracos: [22:01] <Leets> "Have we met?" Leets finally asks after studying the stranger a moment longer.
[19:15] Dracos: [22:01] <Jan> Jan blinked, deciding to be lazy for once as he stayed inside the car. "The heck?" He asked more to himself than shouting it out at the duo.
[19:15] Dracos: The man blinked.  "Oh, you're that boy I found in the desert."  He smiled friendly.  "Things turned out well?"
[19:15] Dracos: Jan noticed the man didn't seem entirely human, his ears being slightly off, more pointed.
[19:15] Dracos:  <Jan> Jan decided to get out of the car to stretch his legs for a bit, walking around the car as he went to the trunk to check on Pandora's Box.
[19:15] Dracos: The old man stepped out, joining Jan.
[19:17] * Leets blinked, gaped, and sputtered wordlessly as recognition hit. "You're that map guy?!"
[19:17] Jan: "Seems like those two are either best friends, or worse enemies." Jan amusedly looked at Leets and the shorter man as he explained to Fizban.
[19:18] Jan: Opening up the trunk, he inspected Pandora's Box. He rapped on the side. "You haven't died from oxygen deprivation yet, Yomi?"
[19:18] Dracos: "Tasslehoff.  Tasslehoff Burf..." He stared at the old man, in some vague recognition, his voice catching in his throat.  "F-Fizban?"
[19:20] Leets: "Leets," was the automatic response, the boy's mind trying to catch up with the earlier realization. He gazed between the two old men, rhetorically asking, "You two know each other?"
[19:21] * Jan half turned towards Tasslehoff, an eye on Fizban. "Hey, why didn't you say anything earlier, Fizban?" He chimed in as well.
[19:25] Dracos: The old man looked tired.  "Yes, it's me, little one."  "Whot happened?  Everyone's gone...  even the inn's gone again..." He sniffled, hugging the wizard.  "Everything's wrong..."  Fizban patted the shorted man on the head.
[19:26] Jan: Jan looked at Leets dead in the eye and sort of nodded off to the side, the intent clear in them giving the duo space.
[19:27] * Leets seemed preoccupied, as if wanting to object, but eventually gave into the unspoken request and left the old friends to catching up.
[19:29] Dracos: The man bawled a bit, rambling quickly, tales and names that were entirely foreign to them coming from him as he talked with Fizban, the wizard nodding and patting his topknot from time to time.  Eventually they sat down at the fire, Fizban gesturing for the others to join in answer to a question of 'what now?'
[19:31] Jan: "So...I'm guessing that you two are outsiders as well?" Jan sat down, eyeing the sun suspiciously.
[19:34] Dracos: "Outsiders?" The shorter man seemed confused by the statement. "This is home...Solace...but everything's wrong..." He shook his head.  "It's not supposed to be this way.  It shouldn't be here...and I can't find flint..."
[19:35] Dracos: The old man turned to answer, "You could say that in a way..."
[19:36] Jan: "Well, I have a theory about this place now. A war sprung up, as the engine in our car can attest to. And some extraordinarily powerful weapon was used that annihilated everything. That's why this place might look different to you?"
[19:42] Dracos: "But..that shouldn't be..." He lookeed at fizban, almost a bit accusingly, and yet sorrowfully..."there wasn't anything like that left with Chaos gone...right?"
[19:42] Dracos: The old man nodded, silently... not giving more.
[19:43] Jan: "Chaos?" Jan blinked. "Wait, what's going on here, Fizban?" His eyes narrowed. "I figured that if anything, Leets, I, and the others were outsiders that were thrown here because of talking to people, but what's going on between you and Mr. Tasslehoff?"
[19:43] Jan: "Is this related to the towers?"
[19:45] Dracos: "I can't find flint either...I thought for sure he'd be here." tasslehoff said worriedly.  "It's been so long...I hope he's still waiting for me..."
[19:46] Dracos: "We're here..for the same reason you're here..." He gestured, backwards to the cities.  "For the same reason everyone is there... thrown, forgotten, lost..."
[19:50] Jan: Jan rubbed his head. "Let me guess, Tasslehoff and Flint were part of your group? You wound up here together?" He pointedly looked at Tasslehoff's ears. "He doesn't look like a mutant."
[19:52] Dracos: "mutant?  I'm a Kender.  what's a mutant?" He quirked his head, momentarily distracted.
[19:53] Dracos: "Something like that." the old man said softly, slightly enigmatically.
[19:54] Leets: "Just one of the... more unique aspects of this world," Leets said. "So what happened to you and Flint?"
[19:54] Jan: "Giant of a man. Ridiculously powerful. Sort of disfigured too." Jan explained to the newly classified Kender.
[19:56] Dracos: "oh...Like an ogre?"
[19:57] Jan: "A what? I think we need to start from the beginning like Leets is asking."
[19:59] Jan: "Give me a second to bring the others and we'll start." Jan went to alert the others.
[20:00] Dracos: "Flint is one of my friends...or was...he's waiting for me in the afterlife under a big tree so we can go on all kinds of new adventures." He smiled cheerfully at that thought, wiping his nose with fizban's hankerchief before putting it away in his pouch.  "Of course, I'm dead too now, right?  At least, I remember being so...  that's why I'm looking for Flint."
[20:03] Jan: "What I've pieced together is as follows. Different people are being attracted to this place known as the Wasteland. Either when they 'die' or when something else happens, like with Leets. I'm going to guess that it's..the tower's and what powers them that's doing it."
[20:03] Jan: "The demon below them." He nodded to Yomi briefly before turning to the kender. "Now, is chaos..that demon? You said that it wouldn't be possible with chaos gone."
[20:10] Dracos: "Can't be.o. I killed him!" He smiled proudly.  "Well, sorta...It's a great story.   It all began on this really hot summer with this girl that claimed she was Raistlin's daughter, but wasn't really raistlin's daughter, even though she had gold eyes, just like Raistlin did...." He started the story right from the beginning.
[20:12] Jan: Jan morbidly allowed it to continue, never having met someone so literal. "Was she...cute?" He asked, obviously thrown off by the kender, amusingly enough to the people that had known him for so long.
[20:13] Dracos: "Yes.  And neat too, though she didn't really know how to look after herself.  She was raised by some special ogres that were pretty."
[20:18] Jan: "We don't really have time for that." Jan composed himself shortly after. "What's chaos? And how does it relate to you, Fizban, and Flint."
[20:22] Dracos: "Chaos is the godfather, or at least, that's what Dalamir said.  Basically, the pretty ogres broke his cage, and he was angry, so he decided to wipe everything out.  Flint well.." he rubbed his cheek. "Flint had already passed away by this time...  And I haven't seen fizban in forever, since the war of the lance...  50 years ago?" He looked questioningly at Fizban, who gave a slight nod.
[20:25] Jan: "I haven't vaguely heard any of these terms before. I've never seen your type in any of the cities either." Jan gestured at the kender. "You recognize this town, though, Tasslehoff?"
[20:31] Dracos: "This is Solace.  I used to live here with Flint and Caramon and Raistlin and Tika...  Caramon used to run the Inn." He pointed towards a big tree stump near the center of town.
[20:32] Jan: "There's trees here. The rest of the Wastelands except for one place are completely void of life." Jan observed.
[20:33] Dracos: "Nu-uh," The kender disagreed.
[20:34] Jan: "There's other places?"
[20:37] Dracos: "Of course!  Like up north, the thanoi are up there in icewall."
[20:38] Jan: "Hm. North..that's where one of the Starstones are..."
[20:38] Dracos: "Starstones?"
[20:40] Jan: "It's a device to open the door to the towers. I'm sure you've seen them? They can return life to this world. It's strange that our surroundings have trees, though. The rest of the wasteland is blasted sand from the war."
[20:41] Jan: "The towers are infested with demons that were beaten back by a hero before our time, seemingly." Jan rubbed at his head as he tried to make sense of it all.
[20:41] Jan: "But clearly, this isn't the afterlife. Just another world which has had its own history before we showed up. Gregio and Vault City have records."
[20:43] Dracos: "It isn't?  Mmm...  But where else could this be?"
[20:45] Jan: "I don't know. You recognize this place and others, right? How about the rest of it? Completely unknown?"
[20:45] Jan: "You've ever heard of Vault City? Or New Reno?"
[20:47] Dracos: "Yeah...weird places.  They didn't let me into the first...  and even when I went in anyway, they were all snooty.  It wasn't much fun.  And New reno...i just got a strange feeling."
[20:48] Dracos: Fizban looked a bit tired at that, leaning back, his hat covering his face.
[20:48] Jan: "New Reno has a starstone too." Jan looked intrigued, his mind whirling with possibilities.
[20:49] Jan: He didn't pay attention to Fizban as he continued. "Where the cities in the same places in relation to this town before you 'died'?"
[20:51] Jan: OOC: *Were
[20:52] Dracos: "No.  Solace wasn't this far north...and everything else around it is different...  I've only found Icewall that seems mostly unchanged...well, save for that big black tower."
[20:53] Jan: "And the wolf town wasn't on the maps either...the demon has to be drawing in more than just people then. This land is different than the rest, the trees attest to this. So, the demon is drawing in land as well!" Jan happily smashed a right fist into his left palm.
[20:55] Dracos: "Demon?" the kender was confused.
[20:57] Jan: "Underneath these desert sands is a demon, like I said before. The towers connect down to it, but they also have the power to restore oife to the wasteland."
[20:58] Dracos: '...Neat.  I should check them out more closely then..well, after I find flint anyway."
[20:59] Jan: "But you haven't died. You just think you did, like I thought. We're both very much alive."
[21:00] Dracos: "No...I'm quite sure I did." He nodded.  "After all, I was squished...  It hurt a lot for a bit."
[21:02] Jan: "I was shot. I got better."
[21:02] *** Jan has signed off IRC (-=SysReset 2.53=-).
[21:03] *** Velsper has joined #wasteland.
[21:03] *** Velsper is now known as Jan.
[21:05] Jan: "Regardless, thank you for the information. Would you like to stay with us for a while?"
[21:05] Dracos: "No, I've got to keep  looking.  Flint'll be lonely without me."
[21:07] Jan: Jan covered a frown with practiced ease. "Well, how are you doing for supplies? I can part with some of them to help you."
[21:09] Dracos: "I'm fine." He munched on an apple that looked suspiciously like one of thiers.  "Thanks though."
[21:10] Jan: Jan rose from his spot with a faint nod. "Where will you go now?"
[21:11] Dracos: "I haven't gone west recently."
[21:12] Jan: "I'll be back. Yomi, follow me." Jan didn't explain as he tugged the floating purple primordial creature with him into Pandora's Box.
[21:13] Leets: "I got one thing to ask you." Leets eyes narrow as he learns forward towards the kender. "...How do you do that?" he askes quietly with a hint of inspired awe.
[21:13] Dracos: "Hey hey, watch the fins." Yomi quipped, dragged along.
[21:14] Dracos: "do what?" He responded innocently.
[21:15] Leets: "I never saw you move! I've got to know how you keep getting our stuff without anyone seeing!"
[21:17] Dracos: "Oh...I'm just keeping it safe.  Folks lose stuff all the time." He responded, not really seeming to get it.  "here, let's see..' He dumped out a pouch full of odds and ends, 'Any of it yours?"
[21:23] Leets: "No, I don't think so," said Leets, hoping his stuff was still safe in the car.
[21:23] Dracos: "Okay." He sorted it back into his pouches.  He sure had a lot of them.