Jacques "Indio Black" Jhaltero's page

"Well, business before pleasure. I'll have a look at the merchandise and join you after.
Meet you at "The Buff 'Ro" in a bit?"

Then he turns back to Dewi and smiles his half smile again.
"No time like the present, shall we go and have a look?"

We're all finding our way a bit, of course there'd be some stumbling.
Some do not know the setting well, some haven't played Savage Worlds before, and our characters might still be a little undefined as of yet.
Not really an issue though, all things that's get smoothed out as we go along.
At least in my own experience.

For the record, I don't feel the game is geared towards me and Perry, I just decided to step in and try to write myself into the narrative a bit.
Once you find that opening...

Indio feels a momentary pang of disappointment, until he realises that there might be something here after all.
He was a repairman, but maybe he might be able to do something with salvage as well.
Couldn't hurt to look, if there was credits on the line then why not?
"Well, sounds interesting. So you want me to take a look and maybe see if I can figure out what it is and/or does?"

Looking around for a moment, he eventually shrugs and offers a half smile.
"Well, nothing else seems to be going on of interest, so I guess I'm your man."

If it's anything electrical or mechanical, then my telemechanics should give me a good insight.

"Weeeell, the manuals were a bit vague, deliberatly so I suspect.
I think, or at least suspect that the manuals were released into the world as bait. It's likely they use them to incite people into finding them, as a trial possibly.
But they speak about teaching people the mystic arts, with the ultimate goal to enact some sort of transformation.
Possibly literally transforming them into people of bronze.
Sort of like...internal alchemy? But instead of lead to gold, flesh into bronze."

Indio shrugs, he knew he could get a little into talking about things, it sure beats being shot at though, which is what he had half expected would be happening around now.

"So, uh...did you need something repaired by any chance?"

Indio raises an eyebrow, here was a chance to come of as even more knowledgeable than he really was.
However...
Telling a lie against someone who knows about what you lie about was a suckers game, better to be truthful here.

"Neither actually, "Fear is the mind killer, yet he who fears nothing is a fool.
The path is to confront your fear, to use it and never let it control you."
Those are the lines of the teachings of the Mystics of Bronze, and I once came across a few of their teaching manuals, I took them in trade for fixing a generator for a caravan that came through here a year or so ago."

And I ended up having to pulp them for raw material to patch up my walls at home. I wish people would pay me in credits more often.

Clever Indio realises there is a potential for profit here.
HE didn't much like attention, but Perry didn't seem to mind it much.
The best way to hide is often in the shadow of someone great, or someone at least perceived to be greater than oneself.
And if people were focusing on Perry, Indio would be free to look for credits while they were distracted.

In addition, if he was a known associate of Perry, it could lead to a trickle down effect of profit to him as well.
And merchants were known gossips, it was know, wasn't it?
He'd have to help Perry sell himself, and that was just the ticket.
Since he had been keeping close to Perry anyway, to guard his back and all, he was in a perfect position.

"Oh, our Perry here is a man of many talents, and he keeps most of them close to his chest.
But you can take it from me, he is a man who can do great deeds, especially after he has had his breakfast, heh."

"Fear is the mind killer, and Perry, he has little fear, of anything.
And I know that, because I know things, that's what I do."

So, I'm going to try to start picking up this system -- from what I understand, SWADE is an attribute + skill roll like Storyteller/WOD. Does the dice explode of 5 or 6? Is the difficulty always 4.

From what I've gathered, you roll either trait or skill, as appropriate, never both.

On an unrelated note, I just found Indio's catchphrase, hardly original, but it works well.

Oh screw my life, I KNEW I was going to regret it.

Despite not really having a dog in the fight, and every ounce of self preservation telling him to run away, Indio remains close behind Perry.
At this point, even he isn't sure what he is going to do if things really do devolve into violence.

He DOES realise that on some level, what Perry is doing is counter productive, since this is likely to just escalate into a bigger fight, and this cause ven MORE damage.

Question is, how to get that to Perry without also letting the others know?

And, he does have a point, they SHOULD take it outside, and he is also right that if they really want to avoid being banned from this place, the Roamers really NEED to take it outside.

But how to get THAT through their thick, macho skulls?

I'm not the talky person! Why is there no talky person here? I know s@+% and fix things, that's what *I* do!

Yeah, I've been stuck in places like that once or twice myself, hope you get to leave soonish.
Feel better.

Let's just say that if I hadn't gotten the Beastmaster for free, I wouldn't have taken it.
For me, the main benefit is really the part where animals normally doesn't attack.
The pet, hell, I went for a Horse only because, why not?
I could make it a theme and hopefully get a robot horse or a cyber horse later on, better survivability compared to a regular old grass eater.

"Ugh...I'm going to regret this..."
Sighing deeply, Indio offers a wry grin at the others, before following Perry.
He did offer to cut me in after all.

Yeesh, I KNEW a crowd would form, I just didn't really expect to be IN it.

"I..uh...think it's mostly ceremonial, posturing, you know?
"Look at me", hell, it might even be a mating ritual, who can tell?
Strut around to attract a mate."

Indio shakes his head slowly, wondering if he should make sure not to be here next time this ritual comes around.

"Very..."European" of you Perry.
I don't really like it, too fancy for me."

Indio was certainly impressed, despite himself. It had been a series of impressive displays, and it was hard to deny that.
The problem was, it seemed to be so much...posturing.
It reminded him about what his mother had told him way back when.
Son, those that are truly brave, strong, capable or anything like that, they don't NEED to show it, or prove it. They just ARE.

"Ugh..."
Indio began to look for a place to hide, so he could slip away if things really went to the pits.
Too much going on, and nothing that could score me credits.
Short of the weapons trader getting shot so I could snag myself a gun.
...
Except I don't really want him to die just for that, damn my morals.

"This is all making me a bit uncomfortable...
I mean, it looks like something is going down, and that could mean trouble.
And not the kind of trouble that could spell C.R.E.D.I.T.S unfortunately."

"Doesn't look all that tame to me..."

Indio wiped the sweat from his brow with a dirty rag. It didn't really matter much, since his face and hands were already stained with grease from work.

It could be said to be a bit of shame, because he was a man with a potential to be quite handsome, if he took a bit more care of himself.
His hair was messy, and could use a comb, as could his beard, and obviously a stained overall wasn't exactly showing of much.
The grease also stained his hair and beard which had been grey since an early age and made him look like he had salt and pepper instead of all salt.

I have the Healing power.

For a moment, Indio wonders if this woman is serious?
Sneaking another a glance at the roamer, he decides that it's probably unlikely.
So she has a sense of humor, a luxury to be sure.

"Well, I'm hoping he moves on soon. The less attention and fuss, the better."

"Eeeeh...I'm not sure. You see how everyone is moving away from him? You might end up having a bit of that rub off on you.
I...uh...kind of do not like that sort of attention much."

While his attention is mostly focused forward, to wards the woman who had just appeared like that, Indio does notice that something seems to be going on around them as well.
Risking a glance to the side, he notice the cause of the hubbub.

Well, look at Mr Fancy pants there, huh, quite LITERALLY fancy pants as well.
It's alright for some I guess, things like that cost a mint I bet.

"Don't look now, but we've got a VIP roaming around."

Unable to quite resist a little bit of banter, Indio quips.
"Heh, Perry, with our luck, next time someone says five million, it will be "You OWE us five million" you know...One and a half won't sound so bad then."

"One point five, not five..."
Indio replies before he fully registers that someone else has entered the conversation.
When it clicks, he nearly jumps out of his skin, sure that the previously mentioned "slitting" was about to happen.
Still, he would rather not get TOO confrontational, so instead of reaching towards his gun, he instead focuses his mind.
The hidden weapon is the best one...

He then glances at Perry, more than happy to let him take the lead.

Indio considers for a moment, then shrugs.
"Easy enough, I'll be sure to do that.
Sure do need some liquidity, that horse is eating me out of house and home, effin Glory..."

"I swear, she is a pain in my arse, and jealous too. If I so much as look at another female, no matter what she might be, she gets all narky at me."

Indio quickly goes pale and makes shush motions with his hands.
"Quiet man! Don't mention that sort of cash out loud.
You never know who is listening in, believe me, you can NEVER be too careful.
People would happily slit you from nose to crotch for a tenth of that."

Calming down a little, Indio raises an eyebrow as he considered with a clearer mind.
"It's a good deal mind, and I'm certainly interested.
What do you need me for though?"

Indio looks up and blinks, taking a moment to come back to reality.
"Oh, Perry, 'lo there.
It's pretty much same old, same old.
Everyone constantly needs something fixed, but when it comes to payment, it's always "Tomorrow my man, tomorrow, I promise!", except of course, tomorrow never comes."

Taking out a little notebook, he glances through it quickly.
"That's a lot of credits still owed me..."

"And you?"

Having finished his inventory taking and packed up once again, Indio continued to walk through the Bazaar.
While his hands certainly itched to do some business, his lack of credits beyond what he needed for basic necessities prevented that.

Still, he couldn't exactly stop himself from being drawn into the throng of people looking at the guns.
Guns were a sad necessity of life in these parts, and his own meagre pistol was sorely in need of an upgrade.
The plasma pistol certainly drew his attention, as did the rifle.

In a month of Fridays maybe...

Indio stops short and then snaps his fingers.
"Oh yeah! I have to get some feed for Glory as well, 'effin horse...
The day she started following me around, 'effin Glory..."

So, horse feed and a spanner, anything else?

Moving over to an empty bench, Indio puts his toolbox up, opens it and begins to look through it.

"Sealant...check, Philips head Screwdrivers...check, needle nose pliers...check, pipe cutters...check..."

Indio, dressed in his work clothes blinks and frowns at the unusual solar phenomenon.
Sure, it was pretty, but considering how things tended to work out on earth, anything new and unexplained was potentially dangerous.

Normally, he enjoyed the market, even though he usually didn't have any spare credits to spend on much.
Oh sure, with his various skills, it was easy to make a living, but you didn't make the big bucks just fixing stuff.
Unless you got money to spend, you can't get the big opportunities.

The market was still nice, especially the scents.
But it was hard to focus on that now, since some new horror might be about to happen.

Still, he needed a number five spanner to complete his toolbox.

Ok, then let's do some shooting!

Shooting: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Wild die: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Damage: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 3) = 9

"Bugger off, you! That's too damn close! Dinner first..."

Yeah, I noticed there was quite a bit of overlap. But hey, it's Rifts, maybe we ARE the same person from different alternate realities and one of us just wandered into a Rift one day without noticing?

Indio readies his las pistol, aware it's just not a very good weapon at the moment, but it wasn't like he was spoiled for choice.

25 is still long rage for that, not going to waste a shot at the moment, Indio just isn't that good.

"I swear I had a number five spanner somewhere around here..."

I'm considering making one change.
Since I can have a pet up to size 3, maybe I should to a horse, and maybe even change drive to Ride?
Hmmm...

I THINK I've got it all down and right...

I didn't see a restriction on the melee weapon I could get, but I thought I miiiight be biting off a little too much if I was cheeky and went for the TW battle blade, 12 million credit on a starter character, bit much eh?
So I went low with a light blade instead.

Aside from that, I don't think there were any difficulties.
Got to say though, didn't expect the changes in attitude those rolls brought on.
Funny how things can surprise you.

"Indeed, and there is still the possibility of hidden areas, emergency exits and the like."

Indio considers the information, slowly tapping his chin as he considers the implications.

"Consider this, we are currently under "management" by those who thrive on our fears as a means of control.
You are all intelligent people, I have little doubt I can leave the implications unspoken."

Hmmph, this is not exactly what I would expect...which is a surprise in itself, this is after all completely in line with what we have seen so far, and also with what can be expected from this country in general.

Indio merely runs a finger along his jaw, realizing he will soon need a shave, or else he will find it more difficult to maintain his aura of sophistication.

"Certainly an idea of merit, however, considering their fragile state of mind, I am not so convinced they would allow us to do that without a struggle.
And of course, then they may have a paranoid fit and believe we are in league with the people that kidnapped them in the first place."

Indio says nothing, slowly stroking his mustache in contemplation at the events unfolding.
Live sacrifices were part of Cheliax, for better or worse (worse in his own humble opinion), which was hardly surprising, since the whole realm was styled after literal hell.

They are unlikely to be anything but frightened at this point, a soft touch and gentle words is needed here.

"Fear not young sirs, your tribulations are over.
We are no friends of those that imprisoned you here, and if you let us, we shall endeavor to set you free forthwith."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

Echo 5, reporting in.

Happy Sanguinala.

Preparation is key...

Calling upon his powers, Indio suddenly becomes blurry and indistinct.

Casting Blur

Then he focuses the overwhelming force of his will through his glare, directly at the arrogant devil

Hypnotic stare

Indio is NOT the self sacrificing sort, but he is capable of taking a blow to create an opening if necessary.
And someone as smug as this devil really should be brought down verbally as well as physically.

"Such a question betrays your limited intellect, lack of scope or vision and pretty much dooms you to the lower levels of intellectual reasoning.
Or, to put it in terms someone of your limited capacity to understand might grasp.
You are a fool and not worth talking to."

Normally, Indio wouldn't be able to help himself and quickly insert himself in any conversation.
Here however, he decided it might interesting to see what the others might be able to do without his input.
Unless of course it looked like he HAD to jump in.

Indio considers for a moment, he was fairly skilled in stealth himself, but he decides to remain with the larger group.
Too many cooks spoil the broth after all.

Indio looks over at Stricia for a moment, rubbing his chin as he re-evaluates her and stores the new insight away for later use.
"Indeed..."

"How very interesting...
Tell me oh shrouded one, does there exist a possibility of this ending in a cordial fashion?"

"Hmmm, that might not be a bad way to spend some time.
I believe I shall second that motion.
Better to proceed with such an endeavor presently when we are free with our time."