A small child, no more than 5 human years runs up to your group as a young woman chases after him. "My dog can't stand on two legs, can you teach him to do that mister?"
"Sorry boy, the Sarge here is a special breed. He
can talk and everythin'." Ezekial tells him with a smile and a wink.It takes you a moment to realize he is talking to Ezekiel about Burgurk. The woman keeps her distance, but tries to coax the boy away. "Come here Brady, leave the nice travelers alone." She looks up sheepishly. "I'm sorry, we don't get many travelers around here. The Canary's Last is just up the road a ways, can't miss it." The boy stares a bit longer and then goes back to his mom. She takes him by the hand and starts to lead him away.
"Thank ya kindly for the directions, missus. We're a bit parched from the long journey, so somethin' to whet the whistle is just what we're lookin' for."
Once she's out of earshot, he turns to his companions.
"Y'all notice how scared she was? I think they might've already got some 'unwelcome visitors', like."
Saturday, 11th November, 109 P.A., 11:45 pm. 28oF. Flurries.
You walk towards the tavern, ever vigilant for trouble. As you get near, you can see two more of the soldiers standing outside the doors of the establishment. They don't look like they are relaxing. The building itself is made of a dark wood and would probably be turned to kindling if heavy weapons were fired in here. In fact, most of the buildings in Paragould look this way. The only thing that tells you that this is a right place is a dingy sign that has a faded yellow bird with a gray quarter note next to it.
The two men guarding the door watch you closely, but they say nothing as you open the door. When you get inside, you can see that the furniture and decor match the outside. There are a scant few patrons at this time of day, most of them buried in whatever they were drinking hours ago. The bartender looks up at your group, rather disapprovingly.
"Can I help you folks with something? Bar's closed 'til after lunch."
It is clear that this is a falsehood. Anya's special hardware can detect his elevated heart rate and Burgurk can almost smell the fear the coming from him. There is no immediate danger here, but for some reason, Shakti can sense something is off about this place.
"Now, you sure? I ain't never met a barkeep what wasn't eager to make a bit of extra dee-narrow, as they'd say south o' the border. We'll buy a few drinks and whatever you've got to snack on and stay outta yer way, how's that sound?"
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Anya looks dumbstruck for a moment, as if she's trying to decipher this alien language that the bartender is speaking. Apparently it sounds like English, but it makes no sense, so it must be some alien tongue.
Then the moment passes and she realizes he's talking actual words and at first an acidic reply forms on her tongue. Those that know her can -see- the reply forming on her lips, probably something along the lines of 'bull fragging drek bakebrain!'.
But then some small and minor muscles on her face twitch, oh so very slightly, and its as if an alternate programming line takes the wheel for a little while.
She laughs gaily. High and lilting, a sunbeam of beauty in a dark place. "Ha! Ya almost me there, chummer!
Me buddy Zeke as th' right of it. But soft! Mayhap we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Anya. White Angel."
She takes a chair and turns it. She sits down, facing the bartender.
"Now I know we look a scary bunch. But I've ran with harder and we're all just a fistful of cuddlebears, you get to know us.
So how about we start of fresh? Say with your name?
Then you tell us your troubles. 'Cause you got troubles, me chummer."
She leans in over her knees.
"And we be the solution."
The bartender eyes you warily. You also notice that a couple of the patrons look up from what they are doing to watch the scene. "Look, I don't want any trouble, especially not in here. I'm Max, I run this place most days. I... I'll see what I have." He takes a few minutes to look behind the bar and pulls out a bottle of clear brown liquid. The label is written in Spanish, you think, it has someone's name on it. "I don't know who this Jose Cuervo is, but he left this in some crate we found a couple of years ago. You're welcome to try it. Most of the folk around here can't handle it." As he sets it and a few glasses on the counter, you notice that underneath the bottle is not a napkin, but a handwritten note. "Enjoy.", he says as he puts a small bowl of peanuts on the counter. He then goes back to cleaning glasses. That's when you notice that two of the people looking up have unholstered their laser pistols and placed them on their laps.
Ezekial's eyes light up.
"You're a treat, barkeep. Honest to god whiskey. It's just like bein' back home." he says, taking the bottle and pouring everyone a glass.
His eyes flash to the pistols pulled out by the other bar patrons.
"Maybe a bit too much like back home." he says, pensively, before he notices the note. He gives it a surreptitious glance.
The drink burns as it goes down, making you feel like you swallowed a swash of lava. At first, nothing happens, but then your mind starts to get a little foggy. You shake it off, but it's just there, at the edge of your thoughts. The two men holding their weapons wait to see what you do next.
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"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh yes," Anya sighs as she takes her drink in one gulp. "Synthahol has got -nothing- on the real thing."
She closes her eyes and deeply enjoys the total-body experience of the booze crawling down her throat.
Not that it's a new experience. She has a couple bottles of booze on her person right now, and has been enjoying real alcohol ever since she got in-system. But she knows what she's missing and so relishes it.
Having given the moment its due due, she at last pipes up. "Is this a thing in this town?" she says to the ceiling. "We all get our guns out?"
She lollingly turns her head and looks at the men with guns out. She slaps her own pistole under the table. "Oh look, I got one too. yippee.
Now I don't know you gentlemen, and I ain't been in town long enough to cause trouble enough for you to have cause. So I'm wondering what all the fuss is about.
Let's try this. I'm Anya. White Angel. You might'a caught that. You two gents got names? I'd much rather share names and another round than lead, wouldn't you agree?"
She favors them with a 6000 megawatt smile.
Something about the booze and her unadulterated smile just lights the room, bringing forth the feeling of electric towns surrounded by lights and dripping neon.
Bugurk doesn't have much experience with alcohol, so he can't tell if the amount fuzziness is normal for this much liquor.
One of the men at the table speaks up as his hand rests on his weapon. "That gun looks a bit dangerous for a little lady to be handling by herself. Suppose we have a little drink or three and have a nice chat. Maybe a game of cards or two while we're at it." He waves his hand and a couple of the other men at the table make room for some of you. "Name's Hollis. Me and the boys keep the peace around her. This here's Dexter, Eric and Hugh. Come on over, we'll show you how it's done." He looks at the bartender. "Better get more of that stuff, we're gonna need it."
"Yes, sir. Right away, sir.", he stammers out as he goes in the back room. You see one of the men that got up from the table start to make his way outside. The others look at you expectantly.
"I assure you that Anya can handle herself and her gun just fine. I suggest you not give her reason to demonstrate. We just came in here to get out of the sun for a moment and get a drink, I think we'll be leaving now." Burgurk's tone of voice, the glare in his eyes, and his body language suggests that the guys at the table *not* try to interfere with us.
He looks at the others, and nods his head towards the door as if to say "let's go".
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"Excellent!" Anya declares, grabbing a chair, turning it around, and sitting on it backwards, letting her hands settle on it's backrest.
"Hoi there, Hollis, Dexter, Eric, and Hugh," she says kindly, nodding to each man named, her inner chrome already working up profiles of threat for each man.
"And the gun ain't so dangerous...that's why I got two," she says with a wink, taking a swig from a glass...that may or may not be hers.
"What are we playing?" she says earnestly. "And, what are we chatting about? Might we entertain the question of why, perchance, with such fine, strong, virile gentlemen as yerselves to keep the peace, all the folk we come across are wary as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs?"
'And why are y'all acting like you're setting up an ambush? ...I just hope Burgurk takes his own advice and follows that one guy outside. See what he's on about.'
Burgurk audibly growls as Anya sits down with the guys he was trying to get the group away from. He looks at Ezekial and Shakti as if to say "are you two with me or not?".
Ezekial spares a glance at Anya to be sure she's got it under control, then leaves a bit of money on the bar for the 'keep. He walks out with the bottle.
"Hell, Sarge, we gotta leave so early? Ain't even worked up a good buzz!" Ezekial says, but he gives Burgurk a slight nod to let him know he's savvy to what's going on.
Following Ezekial, Burgurk motions to the rest of the group to follow them outside.
"Anya's too much of a wild card. If she's not going to obey orders, she's on her own. Let's keep an eye out for the guy that left the table and went outside before us."
= 5
Following Ezekial, Burgurk motions to the rest of the group to follow them outside.
"Anya's too much of a wild card. If she's not going to obey orders, she's on her own. Let's keep an eye out for the guy that left the table and went outside before us."
[dice=Notice?]d6; d6 = 5
Ezekial lowers his voice a bit once they're out.
"Sure that's how you wanna play this, Hoss? Them boys looked like they meant business. Don't need everyone on the squad to foller one guy."
Anya settles down to the table, despite orders, and gets dealt in to a game that appears to be similar to poker. A round of drinks is served and the game begins in earnest. The men seem to relax a bit as it does and Hollis puts his weapon away.
"See, that's the problem. Too many folks come here and ask too many questions and don't stop to simply enjoy the peace and quiet. You notice we ain't got no strange monsters, other than the two you walked in with, no army of bandits banging down our doors? The people are safe, the mines worked and ain't no one gonna change that. Your deal."
Outside, Burgurk and Ezekial chat as they surreptitiously follow the man that left. He turns a couple of streets and then starts making a jog towards the mines when he thinks he isn't being followed.
Burgurk says "I didn't want everyone to follow this guy, but when I 'suggested' that we leave, Anya chose to stay. Like I said, if she can't follow orders, she's on her own."
Bugurk starts walking fast, hoping that will be enough to keep the target in sight.
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"Sweet," Anya remarks as she starts dealing. "Game is 5 Bargh...erm, I mean '5 card stud'."
She'd picked up that one of the similarities between this world and hers was a few card games. Some principles were so basic that it seemed to translate dimensions. They just had different names and she was awful with names so it took some getting used to.
As she deals she keeps up the interrogation. "Ha, yeah, but our beasts ain't so bad. They might growl at strangers but they know not to wait inside with the Civilized Folk and they do what they're told. So long as they pull their weight, it's all chill.
So, yeah, you got a real good town here. Real good. But the trick is that we heard there was some trouble up this ways. Folk had all weird descriptions, but I figure it was just some big beasts, or maybe the CS was feeling its oats, so that's why we're here. Just trying to help.
Would you know anything about that? Got some trouble recently?"
The guy seemed to be very much -not- talking about demons, which was weirding her out.
"And it's not like you guys can call on the Refuge. I like that. Good, strong, independent minded folk like you are a dying breed. Did you tell 'em to shove off just because you don't like their rules, like most folk, or was it something else?"
Burgurk says "I didn't want everyone to follow this guy, but when I 'suggested' that we leave, Anya chose to stay. Like I said, if she can't follow orders, she's on her own."
Bugurk starts walking fast, hoping that will be enough to keep the target in sight.
"Tell ya what Sarge, I'll keep an eye on here and you can gimme a holler if somethin' goes wrong. Bein' honest I'm not sure if yer lookin' at the bigger picture. She can take care of herself I'm sure, but if she hauls off and kills one of these poor dumb bastards it's gonna make our job a whole lot harder."
Ezekial sticks around outside the saloon, listening for sounds of trouble.
Ezekial peels off from Burgurk and heads back to the saloon, standing outside. He watches a couple of the town militia wander by, but they say nothing and continue on their patrol. Medic Jimenez and Private Casey look to Ezekial and then at their sergeant, who has disappeared behind some buildings. "Should we go with him?"
Burgurk continues to follow the one who took off. He heads towards the mine entrance and Burgurk can see that if he tries to get any closer, he might be spotted by the guards that are there.
Inside the Saloon, Shakti looks on from the bar as Anya plays cards with the men at the table.
"Let's just say we have things the way we like it here. Most of the folk work the mines, we keep the place safe for them to do so. I'm not sure what you might have heard, but you may want to check your intel before charging into something you don't understand. We've heard of a place called the Refuge. Your team affiliated with it? My man at the gate said you were Grey Death Legion. My understanding is that Legion means a lot of troops and I only see a few of you." He raises an eyebrow, a knowing look in his eye. "We've heard tell of some folk from Refuge trying to get Paragould under their umbrella, and them CS folks have been around here too, but you notice neither one is here right now? We, Hollis's Hellhounds, that's us, have been hired to keep the peace and by all the things holy and unholy, we've done it. My suggestion would be to finish up this game and get your crew out of here before they stumble into something bigger than their paws can handle. Just a friendly thought, one killer to another." He grins a predatory smile and then deals the next hand. "Aces and eights are wild."
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"A'ight. That is a mighty fine plan, mighty fine.
A'yep, we're just independent contractors. Refuge sometimes has the coin to point us at a thing, but you know how it is.
Yeah, looks a little too quiet for my crew. I wouldn't mind something I can't handle, just for a change, but boring, secure, un-troubled towns like this? With no coin in the offing, well, I'd just get all up in trouble eventually, so we'd best t' take your advice and be moving on."
Anya continues to play as if she is taking his friendly advice to get outa here to heart. She drowns her drink (not bad, not bad) and bails from the game as soon as able.
'They're probably the demons we're looking for right?' she asks her brain.
'Most indubitably,' it answers.
'We're prob'bly goinna hafta kill them sooner or late, huh?'
'Most indubitably,' it answers.
'Can you say anything other than "most indubitably?"'
'Most indub--.'
'SHUTUP!'
The new tech was weird.
Burgurk, knowing he's no good at sneaking, just parks himself where he can watch the mine entrance waiting for the fellow to come out, while staying far enough away that he won't be noticed.
As she walks through town, she occasionally reaches out her senses, to see if she can detect any whiff of the demonic presence they have come to investigate.
As she walks through town, she occasionally reaches out her senses, to see if she can detect any whiff of the demonic presence they have come to investigate.
At the bar:
Shakti tries the drink, finds it passible, and pours herself another.
Seeing the suspicious characters gaming with Anya, she gives them a closer look, using her power to see into the type of creature they are, and hopefully piercing any veil they might be using to conceal any demonic nature.
Shakti opens up her senses to the area and almost regrets it. She gets an ill feeling, like something is tainting the area. It seems to be centered around the mines.
Shakti watches Anya play a few games and notices that these men are indeed humanoid, if not human. There is little magickal about them, but the taint she noticed earlier does seem to be on them, mostly around the one called Hollis.
After winning a couple of hands and losing some, Anya breaks even. As she gets up to leave, Hollis stands with her. "You just do that. In fact, you can tell anyone else from the Legion to not come to visit either. We'd appreciate it." He nods and sits back down at the table, but he watches Anya closely as she leaves.
Burgurk watches as the one soldier speaks with the other two at the entrance. One of them nods and then goes inside. A few minutes later, a flash of light comes from somewhere within. No one seems phased by it. Not long after that, the guard returns and speaks with Burgurk's mark, who then turns and starts walking back towards the town.
Burgurk rounds the corner of the building he was standing at, and waits for his mark to pass by.
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"Meh. IF I ever see any of them again, and they're still around when I tell them to go frag themselves, yeah, I'll tell 'em," Anya replies casually as she strolls out the doors.
Taking a few steps out, she nods at Ezekial and falls into step with him.
"As much as those are among the few lawbringers that I didn't wanna set on fire within the first moments of meeting them, they ain't lawbringers. They say they're mercs, just like we're appearing to be, and they didn't say anything about demons.
Back where I came from, if you were looking for a nest of vampires, and suddenly nobody is talking about vampires, you know who that means you're talking to?
Yep. The vampires.
Masbe they're dopplegangers--erm, that means shapeshifters--maybe they're dominated by the demons. Don't know.
You know which why the Sarge went? Let's go find him."
Ezekial jerks a thumb in the direction Burgurk went, then starts walking.
"Yep, sounds about right to me. Don't know much about vampers, but I've hunted down my fair share of outlaws, and they're the same way. Half the time if someone's talkin' up "Big Joe, Scourge of the Southwest" or whatever upjumped little castle rustler there is, they's a part of the band themselves, and they never take kindly to questionin'."
Saturday, 11th November, 109 P.A., 1:22 pm. 29oF. Flurries.
Burgurk rounds a corner and waits as the soldier goes by. It doesn't seem like he is returning to the cantina. Instead he turns toward the direction of the front gates. After that, he disappears from view, blocked by some buildings.
Not long after, Ezekial and the rest of the crew start walking up the street, looking for Burgurk.
Burgurk glares at the team, and growls "So, what did you find out by staying at the bar, against my orders?"
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"You give orders now?" Wraith quips, bemused.
"I found out that they're not locals, they're a merc band hired to ensure the peace. They think a lot o' dey selves, but without panzers, I don't see how they can be big time. Of course they might all be hermetic archmages for all I know, but mana tossers usually don't carry hoglegs, so who knows.
I asked 'em about trouble and they said they ain't got none. Since we know they certainly do, methinks they -are- the trouble. They're the demons, either shapshifters or whatnot. We'll probably haveta dtake 'em all down, sooner or late.
Were I giving "orders" I'd go back right now and take 'em all down. Save time, chose the place of battle, buncha good stuff. But whateves.
And you? Where's the one lead that we had that you were supposed to follow?" she asks, looking around and not seeing the guy that left the bar.
After pausing for a moment to figure out Anya's comments, Burgurk says "Yes, I give the orders, don't you remember Elle making me a Sergeant? As the highest-ranking person here, I give the orders. I'm open to suggestions, but I expect my orders to be followed."
He seems to relax after that, and continues "So, you suspect them because they lied about having trouble, and want to attack them right away? Perhaps they lied to throw us off the scent of trouble that they themselves hope to solve, seeing as they are mercenaries hoping to collect a bounty.
Regardless, it would be bad form to attack the first people we meet in town, it would put the townsfolk against us.
I suggest that we wander around the town some more, looking for anyone who will talk to us to give us some idea of what's going on.
The guy I followed went into the mine, where there was a flash of light that looked suspicious, but the entrance is well-guarded, so we'll have to put off getting in there for a while."
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Saturday, 11th November, 109 P.A., 1:22 pm. 29oF. Flurries.
Burgurk rounds a corner and waits as the soldier goes by. It doesn't seem like he is returning to the cantina. Instead he turns toward the direction of the front gates. After that, he disappears from view, blocked by some buildings.
Not long after, Ezekial and the rest of the crew start walking up the street, looking for Burgurk.
He seems to relax after that, and continues "So, you suspect them because they lied about having trouble, and want to attack them right away? Perhaps they lied to throw us off the scent of trouble that they themselves hope to solve, seeing as they are mercenaries hoping to collect a bounty.Regardless, it would be bad form to attack the first people we meet in town, it would put the townsfolk against us.
I suggest that we wander around the town some more, looking for anyone who will talk to us to give us some idea of what's going on.
"I gotta agree with Hoss on this one. Even aside how it'll muck with our assigned mission, you don't wanna go startin' shootouts for no good reason, not when there's simple folk about who could get caught in the crossfire. You think that little boy we talked to earlier is the only one around?"
"Hmmm...well, that does change things. So, the mines are definitely the source of the problem, and should be our major focus. Also, since Hollis was the most 'tainted', perhaps he knows something that could help us.
So : we could find Hollis and hope to catch him without his friends to interrogate him, or we could try to figure out a plan how to get inside the mine past the guards.
Preferences, suggestions?"
Burgurk finishes his report about his target's actions by saying "He headed towards the front gates, then I lost sight of him as he went behind some buildings."
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"They're alone in the bar, and they were evasive to our questions about stuff we totally know," Anya replies to Zeke. "But I know I'm quick with Occam's razor, so we can wait until we get more data...from a guy...who's alone right now."
As Burgurk updates their quarry vector, she smiles.
"Excellent."
Without another word she follows the indicated direction, finding shadows when needed.
Anya follows where the guard went as best she can, but it being broad daylight and having several of the locals walking the streets at the same time makes it slightly more difficult. She does manage to stay just out of sight as he heads for the front gate, where he appears to be relieving one of the guards. The other one starts walking back towards the town. It looks to be the one that let you in when you first got here, but it's hard to tell based on the nearly uniform armor they wear.
Burgurk sighs and says to the rest of the group "Let's follow Anya, at a safe distance behind her so we don't give her away."
And he moves off in the direction Anya took.
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Seeing that her quarry is both stationary and not accessible, Anya feels confident enough to head back to the group.
"Okay, it turns out he was taking his position at the gates, so we've got two targets we can pick from.
We can isolate and try and kidnap a guard to interrogate them. Might be easy, might be hard.
If we wait until tonight, I figure it'll be easy to get one alone. If ya know what I mean."
She winks.
"Or we can try to investigate the mines. Might be hard, since it'll probably always be guarded by two guards. And we have no idea how to get in there.
Again, if we interrogate a guard, we can get that also.
We can try to talk to townsfolk, but they all seem cowed, so I'm not sure how effective that'll be.
What say you?"
"Seems like waitin' 'til tonight when everythin' starts to die down might be for the best. I don't really relish the idea of stayin' here overnight though. Hard choice, but s'pose it's the only one we've got."