[Rising Sun Pioneers go go go!] [You're RIDING! Riding in the Hellspoint! Also known as Morriston, but who freaking cares? It's ugly, and the people are ugly, too. Except the prostitutes. Some of them are pretty hot. And you *know* they got those ladies in this city.] [Millie got a tipoff about some bandits and a rock over at the Jennings' home, who happens to be a warhero or something like that, because he recently had a party in his honor. Since the party may still be going, you're probably taking the less traveled roads. And since Millie's the only one with half a clue, she's likely leading.] [Oh, and Mikoto left you all, because apparently you can't get your lousy butts in gear and find that tablet. Also, it's about noontime. And it's hot. Did I mention it's hot? It's hot.] [Session Start (dangit Millie, get back here)] * Jinx wipes his brow. Despite the occasional cheer up from checking out the hotter of the prostitutes he's been in a comparatively poor mood. * John drinks from his canteen and, uh, rides. With a hat. He looks hella tight, as usual. * Fanfan is riding behind...uh...John. And is hot. As in sweating. Probably because of the cloak and Tairan's hat. (Hella tight? HELLA TIGHT?) (WTF?) (Hella tight!) (John needs new pants.) (*throws Prinfrock and Fisturnis at Ard.) * Jinx , for the record, looks like hell. (*dodges by falling over*) * Fanfan looks...like a weird person in a cloak wearing an oversized hat! Who is sweating hot! * Tairan is pretty darn sweaty himself, and is shielding his eyes with his hand as he scans the area. If only he had a hat... * Millie scouts out the area, keeping an eye and ear out for anyone around. She rides for the Jennings Mansion or hovel or something. Gotta say... while I could get used to the lifestyle here out west... the weather sucks. [People give you looks as you ride. Not the good kind, either.] * John doesn't seem to give a damn. Either that or he really doesn't give a damn. * Millie looks back at them and tips her hat further down, keeping her voice low. "Dammit, the sooner we can get off the beaten path, the better. [It's a city. The whole blasted place is beaten.] (With an ugly stick) * Fanfan shrinks in a little. It's not always like this temperature wise. Although I'll be damned if I'd live in this town if it was sixty five degrees year round. * Millie keeps on with her voice low, hoping the rest of the action lets people ignore most of her. "We've gotta remember, we may hate this guy's guts, but he's a hero 'round here. We're gonna hafta tread lightly..." I'm planning on keeping my mouth shut. That's a first. * Fanfan mumbles something incoherent. ( Visual rolls! +1 ) * Jinx nods at Tairan's comment. 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Tairan (2d6-1) and gets 8. 2d6+1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for John (2d6+1) and gets 11. 2d6+1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jinx (2d6+1) and gets 9. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Fanfan (2d6-3) and gets 4. 2d6+1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6+1) and gets 11. ( Fanfan has both good vision and basic math skills! ) ( Wheee! She's also the only one that will see our impending doom. ++!) (Will she tell us about it? ^_^) (She'll think about it.) (She's not online using the horribly laggy connection to Zrithy's computer, so she might even be able to respond in a timely manner!!!) (If she sees the highly alerting BOLDED NUMBER in Irssi, that is. ) [Whoever makes it spots the mansion a few streets up and over, above the skyline of the buildings. It's a big place all unto its own. Judging from its position, it must be on a hill.] * Fanfan peers ahead to escape from having to look at the scary mean people and spots the mansion. "Ah...is that it?" * Fanfan points a little. * Millie follows Fanfan's finger, looking at it for a while. "I'd say so. Mmm.." ( What's so engrossing about my finger? O_o) (It's pointing to the mansion, silly :P) ( Someone painted Kirby on your nail while you weren't looking. ) * Jinx glances up at the mansion. "Nice." * John looks in that direction. "Yup." Big house. [It's also some distance away from you, so no chance of getting details here. :P] * Fanfan nods. * Millie steers the horse that way. "Let's approach with caution. Hopefully there's some bandits hittin' him up or somethin'. If we can sneak around an' figure out the guard situation..." * Millie looks at the mansion. "If not, well, I guess we jus' smash our ways in. The law's plum useless 'round here anyhow." She frowns. "At least if you don't have money." * Jinx nods and follows Millie. ...but we do not have money, do we? So aren't you saying we'll be in trouble? Nah. My point wasn't that we don't have money. * Millie points at the mansion. "My point was that he DOES." We're screwed all the way around. We should be used ta it by now. Oh, I see. That's all right then. * John nods. [You head towards the mansion! As you steer onto the main street leading to it, you see it is, in fact, on a hill. The hill is surrounded by a wall. Not only that but it has OMGGRASS! Well, just a little... but grass! OMG! The mansion looks to be three stories high and several somethings wide. Itsa big place.] (OMFGRASS!) ( HAHAHA ) * Millie looks for a gate and trees and a place to hitch horses nearby. Not necessarily in that order. ( That FIEND! Not only is he guilty of war crimes, but he grows marijuana! ) (Mmm...strange variety that Ohemgee Grass.) [The gate is at the end of the road, and there's also three men out front. One of which is wearing red. But trees... Hah, not around here. * Millie eyes the man in red. Very narrow eyes. She then gestures her head towards him looking at the rest of the group. * Fanfan has very narrow eyes too! ....hey, wait, was that a zing? Â_Â (Slot eyes!) * Jinx looks over the mansion and then glances at the men out front. ( ...I'm gonna tell my momma. ) ( Who is, natch, Dead!Sakura. ) ( How close you getting? ) * John looks at the mansion and goons. ( Close as we have any sort of cover? ) ( Nope! ) (Okay, then not closer for now) [You approach and see that the man is, indeed, wearing a red trenchcoat. But he doesn't look quite like the man you remember from the visions. He's younger, and looks kind of different, although some traits are similar. He's got long, messy black hair tied into a pony tail, and aside from the trenchcoat, his clothes are actually black. And perhaps most strange, especially in this city, he's got a sword with an uber long blade at his long blade at his side. Cultural arts -2, Shomurans] 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Tairan (2d6) and gets 7. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Fanfan (2d6-4) and gets 5. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke reaches into his gut, removes his spleen, and rolls for Tairan ( 2dSpleen ) and gets 0, "CRITICAL SPLEENING! FATALITY!" He promptly collapses in a bloody heap and dies. ( Dicey hearts you. ) ( It's non-combat. =P ) (Point.) (In reverence to Dicey's observation, Tairan does indeed know the color of this guy's spleen) (It's black like his DARK HEART!) [Um. Fanfan recognizes the weapon as a Nodachi. It's a big long sword that... Well, that's about all there is to it. It's like a katana, but longer. Tairan figures it's probably Murakami made.] ... don't see those often. Guy has a no-dachi. S'like a katana, but twice as long. Made for fighting against riders... and I'd bet good money that it's a Murakami sword. Huh. ...Murakami make? Here? Hmmm? Murakami. Big clan, all the way east. [You're currently too far away to hear what they're talking about.] * Millie turns to towards Tairan and glares a little, hissing and putting her finger in front of her mouth. She drops her voice. "Not so loud. What's the deal about the sword?" (Which means they're too far away to hear what we're talking about.) ( You presume ^^ ) Yeah, what's the deal? I would not expect to see a Murakami sword in the west. * Tairan shrugs, and drops his voice. "It's a big sword, and it's from a clan that doesn't come west much." (I think it's a safe presumption that all human beings follow the same laws of physics in this universe. ^^;) ( Maybe one of them has SUPER EARS. =p ) ( unless they have SOUND MAGIC) So it's either someone who went east, or it's been traded amongst many hands. * Jinx grins and comments quietly. "Anytime there's a name type strongly associated with a weapon it's probably at least twice as valuable." ( Maybe he's not human :P ) (They could also be talking softly like WE should be doing ;P) * John snickers and nods in agreement with Jinx. ( You can tell when people at a distance are talking softly and when it just means they're far away. ) Trophy from the war? ( Either way, if you want to hear them, you've got to get closer. ) Look, does it really matter right now? We've gotta know if we recognize 'em. We can debate craftsmanship later. * Millie glances back at the trio. Okay, let's ride past them. Keep quiet while we do it. * Tairan shrugs again. "Only that things that look outta place are usually important." * Millie nods. "Quiet. On horseback. I think inconspicuous is a better term." * Millie then EYES Fanfan. * Fanfan blinks back at Millie. "Yes?" * Millie shakes her head. "Nevermind. We'll deal with it." * Fanfan blinks again, then shrugs. * Millie starts up the horses to ride past. Slowly to get a good look but keeping up a steady clop so that she has that Just Passing By #43 look. ( Performing arts (acting) rolls! XD ) * Jinx nods at Millie's early comment and rides by as well. He adopts the look of a bodyguard for Millie. * John follows behind in suit. * Tairan is a guy onna horse. Whee. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jinx (2d6) and gets 8. * Fanfan is a person in cloak and her head really is that big. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Fanfan (2d6-2) and gets 9. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for John (2d6) and gets 11. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Tairan (2d6) and gets 9. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6) and gets 11. [You approach, and over hear them talking! The goon on the left warily. "But S-sir Draco! If we go with that plan, it allows the bandits free access to the mansion! Surely that is madness! Please reconsider."] (...Malfoy? How much you've changed!) (We've known his name. :P) * Jinx keeps riding, looking around regularly, as he should as a bodyguard. (I know :P) [Draco eyes the man. "If we hit them at the perimiter, some of them will undoubtedly retreat. No. We will surround them."] ( I suppose that doesn't mean that we can't still make fun of it. ) ( Stupid Rowling. ) [Goon 2: "But then the mansion might be damaged!"] * Tairan eyes the land in the distance. What fascinating land it is! >_> <_< * John isn't listening as he rides by. Honest! * Jinx eyes a nearby rooftop opposite the mansion. Never can be too careful. * Millie rides by nonchalantly. She isn't checking the perimeter or anything. [Draco turns to him. "The mansion can be repaired. But this..." He grins, slowly drawing his blade. "It's not every day fools choose to attack us directly."] * Fanfan is lump in cloak w/hat. Really! [He licks the back of the blade. "Bandits. The perfect opportunity. It's so much better when they can fight." He smiles. "And their leader is one of those women who likes to think she can play men's games. Those are always the best."] * Tairan mutters softly. "I think he means us..." * Fanfan mumbles as well. "We have a leader?" * Jinx switches his attention to the blade and puts his hand on his shotgun ready to fight if it comes to it. He also lets Millie handle the talking. All this being appropriate bodyguard behavior. * Millie rolls her eyes but glances the way of Draco out of the corner of her eyes to see if he's looking this way. * John doesn't reach for any of his multitude of guns. Pfft, why? [Draco hadn't been, but as you ride by he does, looking each of you in the eyes as you pass. "Huhn... Tighten security," he says to his guards. "There's more trash in the city than I thought."] ( ;-; ) * Jinx doesn't react. He's long used to it. * John doesn't give him the option of an eye-look. Hats are good for that. * Millie scoffs and keeps riding past. * Tairan manages to stifle any reaction to that. [And you ride on! He heads through the gate towards the mansion with his goons. "Father will want to hear too..."] (I knew it. :P) (I think most of us did. ^^;) (Jinx didn't. But he's not all that bright. :P) * Jinx comments quietly once they're out of range. "Let's finish our survey and scram. We can talk at the hotel." * Tairan waits until they're at a decent distance, and talks quietly. "Okay, not talking about us. But the bandits are led by a woman... three guesses." * Fanfan replies, dryly, "Sakura's ghost." * John speaks quietly too. "And the first two don't count." ( OMG SENSE OF HUMOR!? ) * Millie waits for them to get out of earshot. "So Jan's coming here. I say we wait for her." * Millie sighs. "Figured she'd be one of the bandits. We'll have a full crew around again. Wonderful." (OMFG!) * Jinx frowns. "I don't like talking about this here. But yeah. We can talk to them outside or follow them in and change the odds on the ambush." * John nods and heads for the hotel. * Millie eyes Jinx. "We what now?" *still quiet* Sounded like he was planning to go out and ambush the bandits before they got here. Which means... we might be able to sneak in? ( We follow them in and I ask Jan out. I mean, we negotiate. Yeah.) * Jinx grins at John's example and rides after. "Let's plan in private. With cold drinks." Sure. While we do that, we miss our opportunity. (What time of day is it?) (Early afternoon.) It'll be a night-time raid. We could switch to a closer hotel, but we shouldn't wait here. We don't know when they're striking. We don't know how. We....what makes you so sure? When else would they do it? When everyone else is busy partyin' in the streets? What better time than that, really? Won't get everyone then. Better when they're sleeping. An' why hire guards if they're gonna be "sleepin'" at the most obvious time to strike eh? The point's that the guards are goin' out to strike the bandits. s'what that guard was complaining about. * Jinx frowns. "Alright, there anywhere around here to hole up?" They leave, we sneak in... something like that. He will certainly have some other plan in that event. Fine. But I wanna see when they sneak out. Someone's gotta keep an eye out here... * Jinx looks for a spot where they could watch out for someone sneaking up. ( Mmm... Gimme mind (memory) rolls. ) * Millie checks around the surrounding buildings. The guards that leave cannot be his sole defense. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Fanfan (2d6) and gets 9. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6) and gets 7. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jinx (2d6) and gets 6. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for John (2d6) and gets 9. (And if this is a memory check to remember that the guards are fighting inside the house, I know that. :P) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Tairan (2d6) and gets 6. [There's a high-class hotel not far from it. A few blocks away.] * Millie looks for some place within sight distance of the gate that she can camp out at. (Can you watch the place from the hotel?) ( One side of it pretty well. ) * Jinx gestures in the direction of the hotel. "We can get a room with a view, work out a plan, and send out scouts. Sounds good?" (No other places relatively nearby, though? Restaurants or anything?) * John nods. (And if we do that, I suggest FFing to the room to save time. Jinx will cover it.) ( Expensive restaurants ) ( That works, let the gambler pay. ) Works for me. I can do scout work. (Ah) ( So make plans and we'll call it. ) (Again. -_-) (We were going to make plans in the hotel room. Where we're not standing by the place we're going to raid.) I...would volunteer to help Tairan. But I would probably stand out too much, here. * Jinx nods at Fanfan's comment. "I tend to attract attention." I can give it a shot. Never was much of a scout, though. * Millie rubs her head. "You guys...make my head hurt. Why are you making this so complicated?" * Jinx eyes Millie for a moment but he doesn't say anything. I stand out myself, actually... *eyes John* I've done a lotta this before, but it might pay to have a Teckian do this. * Tairan turns to Millie. "Hmm?" (Not return. New hotel. :P) * Millie sighs. "Let's just go..." (Okay, so FF us to getting a hotel room at the nearby hotel. :P) [You go to the nearby hotel. It's a lavish place, but the rooms are $55 a night.] (Jinx is paying) ( Per room, no board ) (Aww. But I wanted a 2x4 ;_;) ( 20 dollars ) ( Okay. We'll get one for now. Not like we'll stay there after the raid goes down) [You get a hotel room] * Jinx frowns at the expense then finds some comfy chair. "Alright, so Jan and Jennings aren't working together. Two ways to do this I think. We talk to Jan outside or we come to help when she gets ambushed." Either way we risk being seen and marked by Jennings' people. We do this right Jennings' people are dead afterwards. Then he knows we're here and increases his security around his mansion. * Millie looks out the window. "Look, the way I see it, there's two options." * Jinx shakes his head. "Security is already high. He knows the raid is coming." He then looks to Millie. "Yeah?" Either Jan's coming to the mansion and they're planning on being prepared, or he's going straight out to take on Jan on her home ground. * John nods. * Jinx shakes his head. "They're waiting to ambush Jan inside. If they were attacking Jan the mansion wouldn't be in danger." So we wait until a bunch of people leave the gate or until a bunch of people come to the gate. Simple enough. I can't believe you suggested we not watch the gate. It would be if they don't find all of the bandits. Or some of 'em left before they got there... but it could also be that. If they were attacking Jan, then there'd be less left to defend the mansion...it goes either way. But we watch it. And we wait for a bit after. Then go in. Either way, though, Millie is right in that respect. * Jinx shakes his head. "Fine. So if we see Jan, we talk or we follow?" * Millie sighs and settles back in her chair. "So our plan is..." She stops short and looks at Fan. "Wait...hold up here...did you just say I was right?" * Tairan rubs his head. "Could be planning to leave the mansion to make it look like they'd left, then surround Jan when she attacked. Fits what the guy with the no-dachi was saying." Yeah, it happens sometimes. * Fanfan just blinks. * Millie smiles pleasantly. "Shut yer pie hole, Johnny boy." * Jinx doesn't look like he's buying a word of this, but he waits his turn. ( What? He's saying she's right! That's a good thing? ) * John grins. *ting!* ( Swoon. ) I apologize, I believe I am getting confused. Why do we need to talk *or* follow Jan? Now...the way I figure it, we're after both in a way. The problem is that if that Shomuran girl an' D are considerin' the same thing, things get complicated. * Millie looks at Fanfan. "Ain't it obvious? We're both after the same thing. Difference is, we'd be after both." Though it's doubtful Jan woulda brought it with her. * Jinx looks at Fanfan as if she's obviously confused. "We work together with Jan we can kill Jennings." He then looks to Millie. "Alright. My vote is talk on the outside. You're for following them in if it comes to that. Anybody else?" * Fanfan rubs her temples. * Millie shakes her head. "If we do that, then we convince Jennings we're on the same side as Jan from the start. We're not..." She glares at Jinx. "...Are we?" The last sounds like a legitimate question, not a persuasion. As for the other two...we do not *all* need to go in, do we? Can't some of us block Eri and her friend if they make an appearance? My point is, we side with Jan on the outside, we lose our element of surprise. We strike at Jennings' men once the firefight has already started, we have the advantage. Splitting up leads to dying. *nods sagely* ( Tairan has obviously not learned from the master of splitting-up, Sku Bee Du. ) * Jinx looks back at Millie. "If we talk on the outside we can warn Jan of the ambush and pool our forces. We're not on the same side, but I think we can ally on this." He then shrugs. "But I'll go with follow if I'm outvoted." An'...uh...blocking Eri an' D's gonna prove harder than it looks. An' it'd weaken us unnecessarily. * John nods and rubs his hand. "I'd rather not have to deal with them again." * Fanfan shrugs. "So we let them get what we want instead, then? It does not seem a fair trade to me." Okay, I think Fanfan is voting to follow. That's two to one. John, Tairan? * Tairan rubs his head. "We're not sure where the firefight is gonna be, and we're not sure where Jan is. Kinda makes her hard to follow." ( UGH. iTunes prefs are gone too. ) If we can spot her... sure, try'n arrainge something, if only so she and her people don't start shooting at us. I think Jan will be coming to the compound. If I'm wrong we can follow Jenning's expeditionary force. * Millie eyes Tairan. "That's why we're watching the fuckin' GATE, Tairan." * Jinx nods at Tairan's comment. "Two to two. John?" * Millie then looks more calmly at him. "But if we fire at Jenning's men first, she won't have a reason to fire at us." * Tairan eyes Millie back. "It'd be kind of hard to hold a conversation with Jan in the middle of a massive firefight. I was assuming we were gonna try to meet up with her beforehand." ( Strategy is hard. Let's go shopping! ) (I'm down with that) And I'm not committed to any plan. Let's keep our options open. If we can get in contact with Jan, great. If not, we go with Millie's plan. * John hmmms, thinking for a bit. "I think we should talk to her to avoid confusion, if that makes any sense to you guys. Not like we're wearin' uniforms or somethin' here." * Jinx nods. "Three to two. Okay, so we talk outside if we have the chance. If not we follow Jan's group or Jenning's group." * Fanfan snorts slightly. She's not gonna fire on us until Jennings is taken care of though... And after he's takin' care of? * Millie shrugs and folds her arms. "But what can I say...?" After he's taken care of, she ain't the type to jus' shoot first an' ask questions later. Otherwise more of us would have been dead the first time we met 'er. Alright. So we've got our plan. I suggest I handle talking to Jan. As I think I'm the best at relating to bandits. I'm more concerned about her bandits thinking we're with Jennings and firing on us than her personally. Doesn't matter if we're with or against them. * Jinx glances around to see if anyone disagrees. That'd just mean she hires stupid people. But go ahead. I should think Jennings' men would be easier to identify specifically. * Tairan eyes Millie. "If you were in the middle of a massive firefight, and 5 heavily armed people you'd never seen before came riding in, wouldn't you play it safe and assume they might be dangerous?" * Millie eyes Tairan back. "Uh...she HAS seen us before." As opposed to aiming for the people who were already shooting at me? Yes, but I'd take care of the people I was fighting with first. It's more efficient. Her MEN, Millie. The random grunts with guns. Who will be busy shooting at the people who are already shooting at them. * Millie rolls her eyes. "I agree with Fanfan." But of course, we're using logic. I can see why you'd argue against that, Lanky. And who, in a panic, might think we're trying to flank them and fire on us to keep us from sneaking up on them. * John nods. * Jinx shrugs. "We're wasting time. We're not a group that tends to change our mind and we had a vote. So, do I handle the talking or not?" ( Low... jick? ) * Millie sighs and waves her hands in the air. "Forget it. Forget it. We ain't gettin' nowhere an' the.." she pauses and adds dryly, "'men' have already made up their minds." Well, that was the decision that the majority decided on. I was only contributing my opinion. I don't know...ya might creep her out...seein' as how you're s'posed ta be dead an' all... * Tairan rubs his head. "Be our guest, Jinx." Go for it Jinx. * Jinx smiles at that. "She's a pro." * Fanfan just shrugs. [And so they ride off into the sunset. Or not! End!]