Pulp 010 Ke Interstitial

March 11, 2021

[8:13 PM] Raconteur: Following the pre-gathering gathering, with its appetizers and informal chatting, the various members of the Aeon Society gathered at the table for dinner, during which they had what can loosely be described as a "meeting." It's up to each of you in turn whether you were there for it or whether you went off to do your own things.

[8:15 PM] Ke: would have stuck around

[8:15 PM] Raconteur: Most of the meeting involved Alan saying something and then five or six different conversations erupting at once about what he just said--somewhat of a frustrating method, given that you basically have a room of 30 people with very strong personalities who all have their own opinions.

[8:16 PM] Raconteur: The guy in the pith helmet, Sir Bram Farthingale, argues that they should fight the Thule more directly, with guns, and pretty much everyone else shuts this idea down. Tika, the fae princess, seems to be asleep in her chair; Mort is wandering around the corners of the room looking at the floor, mostly, followed by his nurse, Nellie. One man is taking notes and asking penetrating questions occasionally; this is probably Nick Norton, the nurse's brother, given their family resemblance.

[8:17 PM] Raconteur: Half the group is bored, half the group wants to argue. It's super productive. Even Alan gets irritated and shouty several times during this process. This is less of an organization and more of a loosely associated group of individuals who like to argue.

[8:17 PM] Raconteur: Eventually the consensus seems to be to send one team to try to find the Fang, and another team to try to secure the Hellmouth, which is likely located on one of several points where leylines converge to create a nexus of magical energy.

[8:18 PM] Raconteur: At this point, about 20 people try to volunteer for one team or the other, and some of them, for both. Alan, being the one with the gavel, shouts them all down and states that he's going to choose the teams, and anyone who volunteers will be able to help SOMEHOW. This appeases most of them, though he does get into a shouting match with Sir Bram, who seems to have some sort of beef with Alan going back literally decades.

[8:18 PM] Raconteur: Alan reminds everyone that they have to decode the message before they can do ANYTHING thanks, and they're all welcome to stay for dessert, and they have full access to the estate if they want as well. Then he adjourns the official meeting for people to finish their dinners and just chat, and departs.

[8:22 PM] Raconteur: You do have the run of the estate afterward, but if you have nothing specific to do, we will move ahead a bit.

[8:24 PM] Ke: ((thats fine))

[8:26 PM] Raconteur: All right. Roll Awareness.

[8:27 PM] Ke: ((1 success))

[8:28 PM] Raconteur: You awaken in the middle of the night, aware that someone has just begun turning the knob to open your door.

[8:31 PM] Ke: will get up and move to the side of the door.

[8:32 PM] Raconteur: The door swings open.

[8:33 PM] Ke: tries to see who is in the doorway

[8:34 PM] Raconteur: It's dark! This building has electric lights, and you haven't turned 'em on.

[8:34 PM] Raconteur: Then someone knocks on the opening door, when it's about a foot open. It definitely would have awakened you.

[8:36 PM] Ke: who is it?

[8:37 PM] Raconteur: "Ahh, you are up. Forrester. I apologize for the untimely interruption, but I need to speak with you unobserved by prying eyes."

[8:38 PM] Ke: Seems like you would trust your own Society?

[8:39 PM] Raconteur: Forrester steps in, slowly, leaning on his walking stick, and immediately pulls a chair away from a desk on one side of the room to sit down in it.

[8:40 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: We could turn the light on if you like. And I prefer to trust as few people as possible.

[8:41 PM] Ke: will turn on the light and shut the door “ i can agree with that”

[8:41 PM] Ke: Are the meetings always so disorganized?

[8:42 PM] Raconteur: Forrester makes a face. "Unfortunately. Luckily, my schedule often does not permit me to attend."

[8:46 PM] Ke: But you made time for this one, If I may how does such a disparate group not fall apart?

[8:47 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Partly because it's so disparate. And a lot of them like to argue. Or attend out of spite.

[8:49 PM] Ke: like farthingale?

[8:50 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Exactly. I gather he used to be the one who led the meetings--and spent most of them droning on about how things were better in the old days when you could shoot natives on sight and make off with their treasure.

[8:53 PM] Ke: well at least this was more entertaining than that sounds even if it doesnt seem efficient

[8:53 PM] Ke: But you didnt come here to discuss the meeting I assume

[8:53 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: As someone he probably would have quite happily shot without a second glance? Yes, it is quite a bit better than that. But no, I did not.

[8:55 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: I have been investigating a number of cases which have some unusual characteristics, and I believe you are the person I have been hunting.

[8:57 PM] Ke: What kind of cases?

[8:58 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Thefts, for the most part. I'm not here to arrest you, by the way.

[8:59 PM] Ke: No that wouldnt require a midnight visit.

[8:59 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: It would not. Rather, I wanted to ask you if you know who you're working for.

[9:02 PM] Ke: Some religous group

[9:03 PM] Raconteur: Forrester blinks his single eye.

[9:03 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: What?

[9:04 PM] Ke: I dont know much about them

[9:05 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: All right. Tell me everything you do know.

[9:07 PM] Ke: why dont you tell me how you found me and why the thefts grabbed your attention?

[9:09 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: All the items concerned were taken while the Traveling Spectacular was in town.

[9:10 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: From there, it was guesswork.

[9:15 PM] Raconteur: He shrugs.

[9:15 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: I'm a patient man.

[9:16 PM] Ke: and quite interested in some items apparantly

[9:17 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: The items weren't valuable. That's what interested me in the case in the first place. Certainly they're of historical interest, but... that's not something you can fence.

[9:20 PM] Ke: No

[9:22 PM] Ke: I dont have information on the group really

[9:25 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Why do you think they're a religious group?

[9:28 PM] Ke: they leave religous phrases at the ends of some of their messages

[9:29 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Like what?

[9:31 PM] Ke: some religous quotes or something like go with gods

[9:32 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Not God, but gods? Plural?

[9:35 PM] Ke: is that unusual?

[9:37 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: No, but it does narrow it down. They haven't said anything about their plans? How do they communicate, dead drops?

[9:37 PM] Ke: mainly dead drops

[9:40 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Did you ever see any of them?

[9:41 PM] Raconteur: ((You did not.))

[9:42 PM] Ke: No

[9:42 PM] Ke: Look its not like I can just stop working for them

[9:43 PM] Raconteur: He blinks. "Why not?"

[9:46 PM] Ke: does it matter?

[9:47 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Yes, it does. Also, I wasn't going to ask you to stop working for them.

[9:47 PM] Ke: And why do you care?

[9:48 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Simple. I want to know who they are and what they're doing, preferably before I have them all arrested.

[9:49 PM] Ke: See that doesnt work for me

[9:51 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Why not?

[9:56 PM] Ke: because you get rid of them I am dead within the month

[9:56 PM] Raconteur: Forrester blinks his eye again. "Why?"

[9:59 PM] Ke: will lift her right arm up and move the sleeve away will show a tatoo on the upper arm of a white tiger

[10:00 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: ... I've seen it before, but I don't know what it means.

[10:01 PM] Ke: Does Triad mean anything to you then?

[10:03 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Not really my area of expertise, but yes, I've heard of them. Does that mean you're one of them, or that you're their property?

[10:04 PM] Ke: both, no such thing as an ex Triad member.

[10:04 PM] Ke: whoever this group is they keep me alive.

[10:07 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Hmm. You have taken your own precautions.

[10:07 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Do we actually know that they're the ones keeping the Triad away?

[10:08 PM] Ke: They got me out, and I am working for them No one else would have any reason to

[10:10 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: They might have lost track of you, or they might not care that much.

[10:11 PM] Ke: Seeing as its my life on the line I will err on the side of staying alive I am sure you can respect that

[10:13 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: I can, and I think it would be wise to continue doing what you're doing, for now. I do have three requests, however.

[10:13 PM] Ke: Are they requests or demands?

[10:14 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Requests.

[10:15 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: The first is that you stay alert when you do these jobs and when you're given them. Don't do anything that will make them suspicious, like asking questions, just... try to find out what you can without tipping them off.

[10:16 PM] Ke: ok thats one

[10:18 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Second, I have a list of the things you've taken. Please take a look at it and tell me if I've missed any.

[10:19 PM] Ke: I will take a look

[10:20 PM] Raconteur: He takes a piece of paper from a coat pocket and hands it to her. It's got a neat handwritten list of objects by description.

[10:20 PM] Ke: I am curious are you doing this investigation solo  or with people?

[10:20 PM] Ke: will look over the list

[10:21 PM] Raconteur: He is indeed missing 3 small objects Ke retrieved--none of them valuable. A jade figurine of a horse, a small urn, and a miniature tea set similar to the ones people are buried with.

[10:22 PM] Ke: You are missing a jade horse, an urn, and a burial tea set

[10:24 PM] Raconteur: He asks Ke to describe them in as much detail as she can, and writes it all down, carefully, frowning.

[10:24 PM] Ke: whats wrong about them?

[10:24 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: There. Thank you, that should help. I'm attempting to trace the provenance of some of these items but I haven't made much headway yet.

[10:24 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Nothing, I'm just disappointed I didn't connect these three with the others.

[10:26 PM] Ke: doing all the research yourself?

[10:26 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Yes. I'm not sure who's doing this, but I have a distinct feeling that it's a very powerful group.

[10:27 PM] Ke: If they can stand up to the Triad I would agree

[10:28 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Which leads me to my third request. Be careful.

[10:29 PM] Ke: Which leads me to my question? Why do you care?

[10:29 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: ... pardon?

[10:31 PM] Ke: Why not arrest me or bring this to Alan or someone else high up inthe society why are you keeping it quiet?

[10:32 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: If I arrest you I'll lose the one link to this organization that I've been able to find.

[10:33 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: And I don't know who they are, so I don't know if they have links to anyone else here.

[10:34 PM] Ke: Do i get to know who you are since you seem to feel yourseff distinct from the society?(edited)

[10:37 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: ... you know who I am. I'm Holly Forrester. I work for the International Criminal Police Commission. ... I was born in Battle.

[10:38 PM] Ke: nods

[10:39 PM] Ke: How do I get in touch with you in the future?

[10:39 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Here's my card.

[10:39 PM] Ke: will take it

[10:39 PM] Raconteur: He takes a little card case from another inside pocket and hands her a card with his name on it.

[10:40 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: My father was Arabian, if you were wondering. But I'm English.

[10:43 PM] Ke: Interesting if this does go how you want it to will you still help me or will I be on my own?

[10:44 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: I'll help you as best I can. I do have connections in some very unexpected places.

[10:47 PM] Ke: thats somewhat reassuring and i guess you would prefer the least amount of people involved

[10:48 PM] Raconteur: Forrester nods. "Until we find out what we're dealing with."

[10:48 PM] Raconteur: He stands up, with a great deal of effort, and limps to the door.

[10:49 PM] Ke: what happened to your leg?

[10:50 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Got caught in a blast and blown off. The prosthetic isn't as maneuverable as I would like.

[10:51 PM] Ke: will nod " well have a good night assuming you dont have more midnight visits to make"

[10:52 PM] Raconteur: Forrester: Just to a good warm bed. Thank you, and... be careful.

[10:52 PM] Raconteur: He heads out, and there we'll stop.