Nightlife Chapter 4

GM: Smoke
Players: Alyse and Smoke in part 1, Alyse, Naomi and Smoke in part 2
Synopsis: Intel gathering on the Vampire story arc
Date: January 2073


Uptown - Lunar Nocturne
Inside the Lunar Nocturne it is barely brighter than a night lit by a full moon. Tables colored in ebony and silver have a soft light in brushed steel hanging over them, booths have thick black curtains tied back with a silver cord. At the bar are black stools with silver capped feet sitting in front of soft, milky white neon strip.
In the center of the 15 by 10 meter space is an immense fish tank. Half a meter wide and three meters long, it stretches to the ceiling and is filled with pale blue-white light. Glass fish swim around blue and white angel fish, while a small albino octopus crawls on the bottom.
Soft techno-classic music fills the bar making conversations easy, but private. The employees all share a few traits. They tend towards black as a dominant color of clothing, with silver as the favorite accent piece. Most are pale, but fit and well dressed, if a bit nostalgic. A good number of them are magically active. Scattered in the bar are foolish youths, trying to look cool wearing shades in the near darkness.
Lining the wall behind the bar are a series of shelves and cubbyholes set in front of a mirror, randomly filled with bottles and baubles. Ranging from silver-gilt sculptures and blown glass globes to empty bottles of moonshine and hubcap art, they all share a singular element: the moon.

Sandra Sanchez [Bartender]

Alyse's Desc:
This woman stands a little short for an elf, but then that still leaves her around about 5'9" tall. Though youthful looking in an elven way, it's clear she's no child. Her hair is straight and blonde, and if it were hanging loose might frame her face nicely. However, it's pulled back into a simple bun set high on her head, and bound tightly to her scalp and held in place by simple tie and hair pins. The effect is to make that blonde hair sit somewhere between an oriental style and business-like, but either way it keeps it out of her deep blue eyes. With hair up like that it's clear there's no attempt to hide her pointed ears that clearly mark her race.
Her neck sways down from her head to her shoulders in a graceful arc. It is neither long, nor too short, but proportionate to her relative body size. The skin is delicate, and smooth, and melds beautifully to her shoulders. Hanging from her neck, is a long thin chain of delicate black metal. Attatched via a small loop is a silver heartshaped pendant, with curved thorn-like projections all along. Each thorn glimmers, and appears to be made of ruby.
Her shoulders are proportionate to her shape and size. Her arms are lithe and toned with the soft muscle of practice, but still remain smooth and not overly muscular to the eye. Around her shoulders she wears a simple leather jacket, hite in color but otherwise unremarkable. Clinging tightly to her form beneath, she wears a tight light blue tank top colored that extends down past her breasts, and ends just above her belly, the bottom of which just barely peeks out, should she move or stretch just the right way. Her belly is flat and toned without being excessively defined, like that of a dancer. Her form sways in from her modest breasts to her slim belly, before swaying out again towards her hips. Centered in her abdomen her navel peeks out, showing itself to be a distinct "inny".
Her hips are neither too narrow nor too wide, but somehow fall somewhere in between. Fit snug to her hips, and riding low, she wears a pair of black jeans that hug to her form like a glove. The denim looks worn in but hardly old, and conforms to the shape of her thighs, pelvis and beautifully rounded backside perfectly, including the distinct gap between her thighs. These flow down along her firm, toned thighs closely following the line of her legs as they taper in at the knees, and then follow the curve of her calves about halfway before the pants themselves loosen down to her ankles, where they end in a straight cuff. The color of the jeans is dark and unfaded with richness of color that never seems to last, suggesting they're a relatively new addition to her wardrobe.
Her calves are beautifully formed and these again taper to her delicate feminine ankles. Her feet are covered in worn leather combat boots. The laces are black like the leather of the boots themselves, and looks as though they extend up to her mid-shins. The soles of the boots are thick and durable, as do the heels of the boots. All and all they look like they've been well broken in.

Alyse is here, currently alone and drinking a small drink while toying with her pocsec. She likes this place, it's one of the few about where she can flick through her list of stored spells without people freaking out.

Smoke enters the Lunar and glances at the fishtank and then the reflections off the glass. He flips his vision to the mirror world for just a moment while deciding whether or not to hang up his coat. He decides to keep it with him and does take it off to place on the barstool when he sits next to Alyse. He flips the air filter on the little ashtray so that is sucks up his excess smoke and lights one, flagging the bartender. "Iced Soycaff and a club soda." He takes a drag and then blows the smoke at the filter device which he thinks is prettty cute. "So where's the hubby?"

Alyse looks up as another joins her, giving a little laugh as she watches him light up and shifting a little. Giving a little shrug of her shoulders she reaches for her drink to sip lightly. "Plugged into a computer drooling I would assume…" she says lightly. Flicking the lock on her pocsec flicks back to screen saver out of habbit. "Giving him some space and me some time to think. He can get nervous in mage bars anyway."

Smoke nods, looks back at the door as a late night couple comes in and then shifts on the barstool a little. "I was supposed to meet a contact here…possibly. But I keep showing up and she keeps no showing. Trying to figure something out on our tooth problem." He folds the flannel shirt at his belt so that it covers the blade handle sticking up a little from his waist. "So you said you had some good informtion from the last encounter?"

Sandra places the iced soycaff and the club soda down in front of Smoke and gives him a look that is hard to read. She glances at Alyse, "This one might buy you a drink if you play your cards right." She rolls her eyes at Smoke, obviously picking on him.

Alyse gives a laugh at Sandra's comment, knowing the woman well enough from having come here plenty and certainly knowing Smoke. Shaking her head she looks towards Smoke to answer his question. "Yeah, I think I have a little idea of where the dentist gets most of his business," she says lightly. Reaching up she casually brushes her hand through her hair. "A few of them there too, if you get me."

Smoke first makes a funny eye-bugged face at Sandra followed by a smile and looks at his iced soycaff taking a sip. "Sandra can you get me a hot one, not sure what I was thinking getting this iced." He takes another sip and pushes it back, turning to look at Alyse when Sandra moves away. "Okay well that is good. I am investigating the name of the lady you mentioned, throwing it out a little in my circle. Getting poked threw me off my game so I have been a little slow."

Alyse gives a nod and slides her pocsec back into her jacket. "In the mean time, i've been working on extending my own toolbox of toys…" she says with a little grin and indicates the device. "I've got a fair library to choose from, but picking what to read next and what 'knowledge' might need to be applied is the trick."

Smoke nods, "I still don't have a lot of good angles to work with except brute force and some stunning'ly good luck. And well having Whiskey along will solve a lot of that problem. He's dangerous with that tomahawk if you haven't seen it. My weapon focus isn't that strong." He quiets as Sandra comes back and serves the hot soycaff. Smoke gives her a warm smile. "Thank you dear."

Sandra squints at him and says, "All sweet talk and very little on the tipping. But you're welcome sugarbritches."

"Mine neither," Alyse says and gently unzips her jacket, drawing it down towards her waist where a solid looking metal chain rests like a fashion statement. It wouldn't take much to guess that's her weapon focus, even if it looks a plain chain. "It's very simple, for spirit and astral defense".

Smoke nods, "Just having anything is better than nothing." He leans in a little, almost says something and then stops. He leans back out and away and takes a drag on his cigarette. He follows this with a drink from the hot soycaff. His eyes flit to the moon shaped bottles and things behind the bar. A woman walks in then, oriental and dressed in a white coat. She is tall and has long flowing black hair. She sits down on the other side of Alyse and orders a bourbon and soda with a twist of lime.

============> Magical Security for Uptown - Lunar Nocturne (#123) <============
The bar is watched over by three Force 4 Watchers at all times during business hours, as well as the manager and all other magically active employees and patrons. The day manager is a magician who has three Force 5 Air elementals on standby; the night manager is a Dog Shaman who can easily summon a Force 6 City Spirit to deal with rowdiness.
The bar environs are Cleansed weekly, eliminating background count.

Alyse looks over the woman, offering her a friendly smile and the usual once-over to see if she's seen the woman here before. Either way the elf woman will indeed note if she's attractive or not. Menu's and eatings, as the expression goes. The blonde elf has after all shared a few similarites with Conchita and Naomi. Turning back she nods. "Yeah, better then nothing…"

The woman is flat out ethereal alluring and looks over at Alyse very boldly. Her eyes are..hard to tell what color they are, very deep. She smiles just a little and looks at Sandra as her drink arrives. She picks the glass up with her middle finger and thumb, sipping at it once and says, "Put it on the Sioux boy's tab."
«Plot» Smoke says, "Most likely around Cha:8"

Smoke glances over at her and nods and takes another drink of his soycaff. "No problem Lady. This is my friend Doc."

She's cute enough that Alyse looks twice, giving a friendly wave and a nod as she waits to hear the other woman's name. She had warned smoke about talking to strangers lately, but either she's forgetting or she's just hoping she'll be observant if it's something wrong. Sipping her own drink she laughs and glances to smoke, mouthing the word 'pushover'.

The woman smiles and says, "White." She takes another drink of her bourbon and looks Alyse up and down. "And yes Smoke is a pushover but he intrigues me at times." She winks at Smoke and looks at Alyse, "He is always in the company of a woman. I find that interesting, like perhaps he uses them as a shield, or perhaps a crutch. Where is your little spirit friend Smoke?"

Smoke clears his throat. "This was supposed to be a friendly meeting and you've stood me up twice. I thought you might be more amiable or at least friendly?"

The oriental woman bats her eye lashes and stares at Doc, "I can be friendly."

Alyse can't resist the little peek into the astral to see the other woman's aura. After that one time she likes to know if she's accidently flirting with a free spirit or a dragon. Even so she responds none the less. "Well now," she shrugs. "Perhaps he's just one for asthetics?" she offers and leans back. The gaze she's getting is not lost on her, but it sounds like this woman is the contact Smoke was refering to.

For a moment during the peek the woman appears to be completely mundane but she is looking right at Alyse and gives her a very pleasant eye flutter and right then she does lower her extended masking to reveal what she is. And she is indeed a free spirit, her aura a whirl of shifting colors, emotions and mana fluxuations. Her form is very similar on the astral except that all of her features are bleach white. Just as quickly the mask goes back up and her light grey eyes are rather wolf like for a moment. "That could be, he is a curious one. And since I was in the city I thought I would stop to deliver a quick message. But now when I look at you dear I think speaking with you might be…more to my liking."

Smoke squints at the lady and whispers, "Careful Doc, she's a tricky one. And I already promised her I would be paying her so don't let her try to get anything more out of you." He takes a drag on his cigarette and blows the smoke at the air filter on the ashtray device.

The fact Alyse hadn't told Smoke off for his cigarette probably shows progress…or distraction. Either way she nods at the mage-man's comment and leans closer to the spirit, tilting her head to indicate she is indeed listening. "Alright then," she says simply, as much curious of the being as the news. "Do share…"

"You may for the rest of this visit call me Lady White. I am what some call a fixer among the spirits and I sometimes run across information. The information you need is this, "Both high and low will give you answers when you strike. Too much time spent in the middle will allow them to rally their forces. And if the guardian is mastered and you feel the need to bring fire to the prize, think twice because the Fae Screamers might want a slice of the pie. So care must be taken at the end." Her voice went a bit sing-song during that and then she looks over at Smoke, "This I'll give you for free. Why is Baregga blocking you from remembering him?"

Smoke was listening quietly and had slipped his hand down into his pocket to record the woman on his pocsec. But when she says the last part he winces and a trickle of blood drips from his nose. He arches his back and grips the edge of the bar for a moment and then seems to get ahold of himself. "Son of a bitch…too many webs on these fucking spiders." he whispers.

Alyse…looks lost for a moment. She obviously expected a report, a brief…something coherent. She really should know better then that when it comes to spirits. It's riddles clearly, but more then that obviously when 'Lady White' looks past her to Smoke and speaks of someone…that somehow gives Smoke a nose bleed. "Why do I feel like I've skipped a chapter here at some point?" she questions.

Smoke slides off the barstool and plants a foot, wiping the blood from his face with one hand and taking a drag with another to center himself. "No different book…but motherfucker. It's like that influence spell..but goddamn.." He cursing more at the pain in his head than anything. "Thank you Lady White." He grabs a bar rag and holds it to his nose, looking at Doc. "Okay better. Gonna clean up in the restroom." He wanders back that way trying not to draw too much attention.

The Lady leans in close to Alyse, "Good and while he's gone I have a proposition for you. You give me this 'key' that I have heard about and I will simply put into motion events that will clear the vampire nest." She bats her eyelashes and her breath is like sweet spring rain and lilacs.

With Smoke leaving Alyse takes a moment to mull over what she 'wasn't' told. The lady's comment however brings her attention back. Enthralling or not Alyse blinks and inhales that scent for a moment. "It's not mine to give," she says simply. "To clear the nest out…we'll likely go with our own plan. It is not something I can decide on my own without betraying another."

Lady White smiles, "Honor based. That is respectable. Well then heed my words elf. I am not the only one interested in the key. But right now you and yours are in the position to make the changes and call the event. I hope luck is with you then. Lillian will prove to be difficult I am certain. Just remember in the end she started as a waitress. And that is all I really have to offer for the price that Smoke paid me."

"And you would ask for more?" Alyse says, her lips pulling into an almost smile. "You would try to tempt me into paying you for some secret I don't know yet?" she says lightly. Anyone else and the elf might try her psychometry, but who knows what might happen if she tries with the spirit. Shrugging and shaking her head she leans back. "I suppose this is all we have for our first meeting."

Lady White finishes her bourbon and smiles at her. "I don't know much else really. I just started getting information when Smoke asked me about it. I might be able to dig up more later. I am in town for a few weeks on a different issue." She slides off her seat and takes a long look at Alyse for a moment and says, "You are quite pretty. I sense many happy years ahead for you with your mate if you retire from the business today. Alas n one ever listens though." She wraps her coat about her tightly.

Alyse actually smiles at that, at the talk of the info and her own personal life. Her eyes go down to the ring on her finger while she talks. "Nothing truely lasts forever, not him or me or even you. One day I may quit…but i'm sure I'll be drawn to it again just the same. Magic and this world are more wrapped up then we'd like to admit. For now things will just be what they are."

She smiles and touches Alyse's cheek, "Oh I do love the solid people. You take care 'Doc', and if you need me, Smoke knows how to contact me." And with that she moves toward the door. "He'll probably have a headache for a while. Baregga set several layers to the spell to cloud Smoke's mind. Oh and tell him that I think his girlfriend now is much better than the one before. The old one was simply horrible and had no place in his magical life."

"Girlfriend, or 'friends'?" Alyse answers with a little humor as the other woman departs, Alyse left to ponder the thouht of spirits and why they'd take such an interest. She might have channeled them, but understanding their ways of thought is an entirely different concept. While Smoke is off doing his thing cleaning his nose in the bathroom Alyse herself moves to stand and pay her tab, signalling Sandra. "Tell him I had to run, but i'll call him later" she says simply and heads for the door. She's not chasing the 'Lady White', she's simply headed home.

Joining Additional Intel Gathering Log

Jigsaw Puzzle

Smoke is sitting at his desk with a pile of papers and his pocsec. He's got his tanto out and it using it to sharpen a pencil. The ashtray near him is filled with cigarette butts and he's got one going, almost forgotten hanging between his lips. He's dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt but the shirt has a big coffee stain down the front of it. His familiar is sitting on the left hand side of the desk frowning at him. They seem to be in some sort of mental rapport.

Naomi walks up from below, her boots clicking on the steps as she climbs them, casually tapping at her pocsec as she walks. She looks up and takes note of the way Skeelee is frowning at him, then the full ashtray as she walks closer. "Hey… What are you two discussing there?"

Assuming she'd recieved an invite…or perhaps she'd just come to brag about her new estate Alyse too arrives moments later. The door squeeking open to announce the elf's entering of the room. She too takes in the sight of Smoke and Skeelee with a raised eyebrow. "Heya."

Smoke tilts his head and looks back at Naomi, his usual bright smile, just a minor tight lipped one. His eyes do sparkle a bit and he takes a deep breath and blinks some thoughts back that were bothering him. His eyes flit to Alyse and he nods, motioning both of them in. "Skeelee and I were talking about the fact that I had that mental block…spell that was keeping me from remembering Baregga. I know a Nosferatu. Not like we are friends but our magic group early on allied with one to fight against some possible blood mages, or at least allied to try to find them. We never did anything but kill a possessed shapeshifter." He takes a drag and blows the smoke up and away from the women. He looks at Alyse, "The other night at the Lunar Nocturne bothered me, the Free Spirit could see the magic on me but Skeelee couldn't, or didn't notice…neither did anyone else close to me."

Naomi walks over to the right hand side of the desk, leaning against it as she reaches over, running her fingers through Smoke's hair lightly. "The Nosferatu doesn't have anything against you, though, does he? I'd think that these vampires we've been dealing with would probably be stirring up too much trouble for the comfort of most. And what's this about a free spirit?"

Alyse chews her bottom lip as she tries to think back to her convosation with the spirit she'd met in the bar the other day with Smoke, it had been a little distracting after all. She herself makes to find a seat while she listens, crossing her arms over her chest. "Naomi's right, it's very unlikely every vampire out here and every type are all jumping on this bandwagon."

You sit down in a chair at the desk.

Smoke nods, "True, but why was I being blocked from remembering him?" He just throws that question out there and then looks at Naomi.

Skeelee looks at Alyse a bit shyly for some reason and then stands and moves toward the door leading downstairs. "I will make some coffee."

Smoke tilts his head, studies Naomi for a moment and then nods to Skeelee, perhaps another bit of silent communication happening between them. "I was meeting Lady White. She's a Free Spirit contact from a while back. I try not to bother her much because she's tricky and hard to get straight answers from. This time she did something and dispelled a magical haze from my mind that was making me forget Baregga. I would assume at some point or another he put that magic on me. It may or may not be pertinent to the situation. But…I was trying to get information about the vampires and the stones and she just got all cryptic. She ended up talking to Alyse while I cleaned up my bloody nose."

You paged Alyse with 'The building you saw with your Psychometry is called the Landsborne Building and is in the CAS business district.'.

Naomi gives Skeelee a curious look as she excuses herself, then to Smoke, studying him a bit as she looks at him, keeping her position by his side, her fingers playing in his hair. "You've mentioned Baregga to me before, so you must not have forgotten him completely. Or, it was a recent thing. Did you remember anything in particular when the Lady ended that magic? And, how did you get a bloody nose?"

Alyse just keeps quiet for a moment, most of what had been talked about between her and Lady White isn't worth repeating to the others. Besides, Naomi's first concern is obviously Smoke himself. Stretching out in her seat Alyse does however share the most important bit to her mind. "According to Lady White, the places I've seen in the visions I've stolen were correct. They hide where I think they do."

Smoke squints at the papers, "I just started bleeding when she ended the spell I guess. It felt like it wrenched something in my head when she took the spell away." He tilts his head and looks at Alyse when she says that last bit. "Skeelee stayed in the room for a bit and listened to some of your talk. She mentioned a warning." He fumbles through some of the papers and finds it, reading aloud, "Both high and low will give you answers when you strike. Too much time spent in the middle will allow them to rally their forces. And if the guardian is mastered and you feel the need to bring fire to the prize, think twice because the Fae Screamers might want a slice of the pie. So care must be taken at the end." He finishes that and then stubs his cigarette out. "What are Fae Screamers?"

Naomi considers that a bit, shaking her head. "I'm not sure. I'll have to thnk on that one. Is that what you were being made to forget? Seems an odd thing. I guess once we get going, we need to follow through. Which we would need to anyway… I wonder what the guardian is, and how we would go about mastering it…" (repose)

"I didn't realise we were being watched," Alyse muses and makes to stand, heading her way over towards the coffee machine if it's still up here. "But yeah, that sounds pretty much word for word…I still don't know for sure what Fae Screamers are, unless it's a reference to Banshee. They're an offshoot of HMHVV themselves too…" The blonde elf stretches again and conciders. "High and low could reference the building and the supposed tomb I saw. If both tell us what we need to know…" she trails off.

Smoke nods and looks at his wrist, "The only thing I know about Banshees is that teeth from them went to make up my bracelet." he looks at Naomi, "No I was just being made to forget that Baregga existed at all." His hand goes to his pack of cigarettes and he taps one out, fishing for his lighter. He looks at Alyse and squints, "The building stuff makes sense. And Skeelee didn't stay and listen when the conversation seemed to get personal, she was trying to be polite."

Naomi nods slightly to Alyse. "Could be the banshees…" She looks to Smoke. "I can see what you mean by enigmatic." She looks back to Alyse. "What are the places you saw in the visions? It's where the vampires are based, I gather, but where exactly are they based out of? A building and a tomb?"

Skeelee comes back up with a tray of coffee and a carafe. She places it on the table and looks at all of them.

Alyse nods, her hand reaching up to brush her hair back lightly as if that would help her with her visions. and their recollection. Probably media-created habbits touching your temple for mental stuff. "I saw a building in the CAS district," she says smoothly, working through it in her head. "Many vampires…including the big 'boss lady' who either has magic or changes her appearence regularly, and there was something underneath I think. The 'resting place of the old one'. I think there's a few vampires nesting down low."

Smoke nods and lights his cigarette, "Well should we investigate the building or something? Maybe figure out some more about them…or were you still thinking of using me as bait? The certainly either still want me or think I have the stones. The attack in the bar the other day surprised me. We were in the Sioux sector and all of the previous encounters have been in the CAS. I didn't get a good look at the guy at the bar either, just remember him being a bit short and has pointed features."

Naomi nods to Smoke. "Yeah, I didn't look at him that closely either. That's all I can recall. But, after that incident at the bar, if we were going to use you for bait, we would need to be very careful. I'm concerned they may just try to blow up the building you were in now, as opposed to storm the place. It may be better for us to just go in ourselves. But, we should certainly look into this place first. Maybe monitor it for their comings and goings a bit, see if there's astral security and all that." She looks to Alyse. "What do you think?"

Alyse pages: Question, the blue-haired vampire I first ever mind-fu'd who hated the boss vampire, 'Shirley'. Did she live with the others?
You paged Alyse with 'Yes some others, some sort of penthouse view apartment, might be different though, you get two different apartment visions'.
You paged Alyse with 'Some sort of slats over the windows during the day and a nice city view at night'.
You paged Alyse with 'You recall images of Scarlet, some other woman and a Persian looking man in a suit'.

Alyse seems to take a moment as she blinks, sorting through the mess of Psychometry. "Wait…I remember righting it down that the tunnel looked like it was some part of Sioux. Could be it's not just below the actual building itself." Pausing for a moment she considers their options and crosses her arms. "Using you as bait wouldn't be the most effect means, as Naomi says. Checking out the other places astrally is a good idea too. I was however thinking of something else…"

Taking a breath the elf reaches forwards for the offered coffee and continues. "You remember the first time, the vamps that attacked in the car park? The one I read left me with a -lot- of psychic impressions, but she also quite clearly had one heck of a grudge against her 'boss'. It's risky, but we could perhaps make an ally out of this if the cards fall right. Get an 'inside man' as it were."

Smoke raises an eyebrow at Alyse, "Bold…maybe, if you think you could pull it off somehow." He takes a drag on the cigarette and looks at Naomi, "Okay so if not being used as bait..do you want me just to wait it out here while you dig around? I feel sort of ineffective, but I have been studying the Coprolite stones and I am going to bind one to myself. The sustaining magic can be used for the extended mind link so I don't have to keep that spell up myself." He stands and walks over to the enchanting table with all the gear. The lead lined viewing box is where he's been keeping the stones.

Naomi looks to Smoke, giving a soft sigh as she walks over to get herself a cup of coffee, smiling to Skeelee as she does. "Thank you, Skeelee." She looks to Smoke. "I wouldn't say you're ineffective, but it may be best if we dig around in the area while you stay back. They are looking for you specifically, so Alyse and I may be able to go about more unnoticed than you. Are you sure about binding the stone, though? It may tied you even more to whatever it is they are trying to do with them." She looks over to Alyse. "And that's a good idea, Alyse. But, how do we get in contact with one of these vampires that'll be willing to help us take out their boss? Or, more aptly, how do we know which one to talk to?"

"I -think- I do," Alyse says quietly. "I mean I know where the one I read lives and lurks away from the others. If we can catch her alone we might be able to swing convincing her with what I know about her. Of course if she's not home or she's got friends there who don't feel the same things could get a little violent."

Smoke nods, "I do want to bond one, they seem fine that way. And if somehow that screws up whatever all five of the stones do together then maybe it is a good thing." He looks at Alyse, "You mean Blue Hair right? You want to try to sway Blue Hair…that seems nuts but it could work I guess. I mean when I was dealing with Baregga people couldn't believe it, said I was nuts. You two do what you need to do, just remember to be careful…what about Oracle hacking the building where the vamps all lair at…maybe information to be found that way too?"

Naomi nods to Alyse. "She does seem a bit seperate from the rest, or at least most of them. Smoke shouldn't go, just in case, but I think you and I should be okay talking to her and finding out if she'll help us get ink Alyse. We should take a prepatory look at her place before we make our approach, though." She glances to the stones for a moment. "She's the one who messed this up in the beginning, anyway. Maybe she's against the… whatever." She sips her coffee, walking over t Smoke's side and putting her hand on his shoulder. "And your logic is sound. Just, be careful, okay?" She looks to Alyse. "If Oracle can get anything out of their main building, that could be a big help. Even more so, if we was willing to control it when we went in, I think. Assuming they have real security."

Alyse gives a little 'mmm' of agreement while she sips her drink and leans back. "Oracle can do his thing and get us the layout of the building at least. From there we can try for an investigation inside. Until then the next best thing we can do is check out this tunnel in Sioux that may or may not lead to a dark and dangerous vampire lair, or we can try this penthouse with 'Blue hair' in it and see how we go. At least we'd be taking steps forwards."

Smoke takes one of the five small leather bags from the lead lined box and holds it up, assensing it. The round polished ball of stone still radiates magic itself, but the tooth inside of it still radiates magic strongly as well. "Why would a human tooth be inside petrified lizard…dino…" he pauses and takes a drag on his cigarette. "Any chance this could maybe be something other than dinosaur? Maybe Dragon feces?"

Naomi nods to Alyse. "The secret vampire lair might not be on any layouts, but anything he can find would be great. The less blind we are, the better. I think we should approach Blue first, though. She is likely to know everything we might need to know. If she's uncooperative, we could always just force the information out of her."

She looks to Smoke, giving a slight shrug. "Well… I mean, I suppose it could be. We classified that sort of thing before magic came back, so it's certainly possible it could be dragon feces, too. Or some other ancient magical beast, though likely reptilian." She pauses, seeming to think of something. "Hey, Rowan is good at recon, isn't he? He helps you with that a fair amount, no?" She looks to Alyse. "It might be better if we have him do the recon. They might recognize us, but they've never seen him. He can do that while we approach Blue."

Smoke nods to Naomi, "Yeah Rowan is excellent at that sort of thing. You give me a building address and he can scope it out for you. He's a highly skilled sniper too if it comes to that. I have his number if you want me to call him? Which building was it Alyse?" Smoke pockets the stone in the little leather bag and takes another drag on his cigarette, getting his pocsec out. "Just you two be careful with the Blue Hair, she was the main one hunting me in the CAS, at the strip club and all. She's the one I am worried about, although her boss is probably much more dangerous."

"I'm not sure of Rowan," Alyse says slowly, having a frown spread across her lips. "I've never worked with him and barely met him outside of here once. Not entirely sure I can trust him on those grounds, so you'd best be damn sure if you're going to vouch for him." Seems the good doctor has become a little paranoid…or maybe she's just had a long week. "This isn't exactly a job that we really want to pull those who might not be able to handle it in, so we should be sure Rowan is up to the task."

Naomi looks to Smoke, then back to Alyse. "Well, he's certainly a capable medic. I'm going off of Smoke's glowing recommendations as far as his sniping and recon skills. But, I was just talking about having him look over the place and get us something of a report as to who was coming and going, at what hours, that sort of thing. I don't know how many people we'l want to actually go in. I think that may depend on how much of a floor plan we can get and if we know where we're going."

Smoke tilts his head, "Rowan is a mundane, personal assistant of mine that I have known as long as I have been in Denver. I trust him as much if not more than members of my magical group." His eyes go to the pocsec. "He knows a little about this already and said he didn't want to be directly involved. But doing some recon to dig info is something he's likely to do."

Alyse herself nods and sips the drink in her hands. "Well, if you say so…" she murmers and stretches out yet again. Seems her muscles tense up easily with this little stress of inaction while such threats loom. "If you think he could keep an eye out, or maybe cover our asses if things get bad."

Naomi nods. "It would be good to have someone outside who can warn us if a flood of vampires, or banshees, or whatever, is coming in behind us. Or if someone is escaping, or whatever else. If he can scout the area, find a good place to watch, and get a sense for the normal traffic and response, that'd be a decent start."

Naomi looks to Alyse. "Is Blue's penthouse in the same building as this underground vampire lair?"

Alyse pages: Is it?
You paged Alyse with 'Blue's apartment is in the CAS'.
You paged Alyse with 'A few blocks from the Landsborne Building'.
You paged Alyse with 'You are still not sure about the undergrund lair idea in the Sioux, that might just be you getting confused. The only thing that has happened in the Sioux sector is the bar attack on Smoke.'.

Smoke looks at them, "I will call him if you want, seriously. He can come get info from you or you can just tell him where this main building is for the outside recon." He takes another drag on the cigarette and then moves back over to the desk to sit, stubbing the smoke out in the overfull ash tray.

Alyse gives a little shrug and looks towards Naomi. "If you want to bring him in do it, he's not a contact of mine." The blonde elf woman crosses her legs once more before leaning back on her seat. "Her appartment is in the same district, but not the same building, it's a few blocks down from the actual building itself."

Naomi nods, looking to Smoke as she moves to lean against the desk again. "Go ahead and give him a call. He can check out the building as best he can without taking any risks, so we have something to go off of." She looks to Alyse. "But, we can go talk to Blue any time. If she's with us, she may need some time to get us what we need, and if she isn't… well, we can kill her. I'm sure they think we're on to them by now anyway. It may make them think we're out of leads."

Smoke dials up his pocsec and stands, pacing and then lights another cigarette. He moves away from the group and starts speaking quietly into the pocsec. He shakes his head a few times and then nods once, speaking again into the device.

Shifting on the couch Alyse places down her drink and then moves to lay out a little more comfortably. "Well the question comes of how we prepare. Marching in there with a bunch of greatform's could be pretty handy, but it doesn't exactly scream that we're extending the olive branch." Idly rocking her legs and placing her hands behind her head the elf ponders. "I could channel once more, it was effective last time."

Smoke turns and looks at Alyse, "What was the name of the building?"

Alyse shrugs. "Landsborne, it's in the CAS"

Naomi nods, taking a sip of her drink as she shifts slightly, leaning against the desk. "Well, I could call a few great forms and have them wait in the astral, so we know we'll have plenty of punch, should it come to that. As for our approach, it would depend on the building, but we could just walk in politely. Or, we could leave her a message at what I would assume would be the front desk… though that could be monitored. We could fly up to her balcony and knock. That would be polite, yet stealthy."

Smoke nods a few more times and says something else into the pocsec. He listens a bit and then talks into the device again, his left hand with the cigarette making a few gestures. He then hangs up and turns back to the women. "He'll do it, just has to get done watching his soap opera. That lady had domesticated the hell out of him." He laughs and gives Naomi a grin.

Naomi grins slightly as she looks over to Smoke. "Hey, that stuff is addicting. I used to spend so much time watching soaps. They are way racier out here than in Tir." She takes a sip of her coffee. "Oddly, almost just as royal, though, just without the titles."

Logs end

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