Hunting Mist Goes Hunting

Scene run by Ayesha. Xp to Lark, please.

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "okay!"

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "You have heard there seem to be armies of bandits doing the bandit thing all over the 100K. So what do you do?"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Alright."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Apply Spies 5. Get Heseiah to round up the information such that we know the basics as to what these bandits are about, and what's behind them. Heseiah, btw, is a DK ally I use as a spymaster. Necklace of Solar Charisma, combined with the DK larceny paths make him *extraordinarily* effective as a spy."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "an ally?"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist nods.

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "well, I guess you can use his investigation pool instead of yours, then."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "I need to know how you proceed. You have a very good spy network, but what is what you want to know, and how much time are you devoting to gather information?"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "At least a month. Information? They're an army. Someone leads them, or doesn't. They're structured somehow. How? They do stuff. What? What have they done? Anything odd about their membership? Were they a legitimate nation before? Did something happen to make them rise up as a unified force?"

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "5 questions, roll 5 times attribute + investigation + spies + stunt. Yours or your ally :)"

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "also, do DKs stunt normal or for 1 dice less like mortals?"

Somewhere, in the wide country of fallen hope, are the masters of despair that was so lovingly crafted by their choices and opportunities. As law breaks down, power and might become the order of the day, and the weak call out for help, leave or are lost to violence and hardships all too common in this day and age. Most do not hear those cries...except a handful. They're the remnants of an entirely different disaster, one more horrible and terrifying than this mortal mass of desperation and predatory hunger. They have learned the skills to notice and evade detection themselves, the small magiks that allow for quiet communication and the detection of subtle influences, they have penetrated the menace's boundries quietly, letting the tide of violence wash over them while they remain unnoticed, and what they know could unravel kingdoms.

         At Mist's behest, Heseiah has gone forth to slip through and contact these hidden eyes and ears and learn what they know. He listens and questions, probes and commands, until finally he has cornered a someone who knows more than they should, while remaining weak enough to be cornered like a rat. Heseiah reveals his true form to this one, as a victim should know their attacker, and swiftly pulls him into the yeilding earth into the deepest dark to let his mind be consumed by the terror of the unknown darkness, and whisper the secrets of his salvation for the secrets of his soul.

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Charisma + Investigation from Hesiah is 8 dice iirc"

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "So, 15 dice for each roll"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "How'd you get that? He's got +3 from Solar Charisma, 8 base, +2 stunt...where's the other +2 come from?"

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "+5 from spies, forgot solar charisma. So actually 18 dice :)"

(Judge) Hunting Mist rolls 18: [ 3 4 4 5 5 6 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 9 <10> <10> <10> <10> ]

        Resulting in 16 successes.

(Judge) Hunting Mist rolls 18: [ 2 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 9 <10> ]

        Resulting in 8 successes.

(Judge) Hunting Mist rolls 18: [ -1- -1- -1- 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 ]

        Resulting in 8 successes.

(Judge) Hunting Mist rolls 18: [ 2 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 8 8 <10> <10> <10> ]

        Resulting in 9 successes.

(Judge) Hunting Mist rolls 18: [ -1- -1- 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 8 8 9 <10> ]

        Resulting in 5 successes.

The reports come sketchy and slowly at first, but after a month even some of the agents in more remote areas manage to send messages and the picture is quite clear. The Bandit King is based in the town of Crimson Hollow, northwest of the ruins of Rikant. Crimson Hollow was a trade hub that fell to anarchy shortly after the trade crisis caused by the Guild bank collapse. At about the same time the Guild outpost of Spidermist was taken by the Vir Sidus conquering army. The ruler of Spidermist, de-facto king, was a particularly cruel Dragon-Blooded called Amber Scorpion, and he managed to escape with a couple dozen loyal soldiers. In the confusing days after Rikant was destroyed, Scorpion took over Crimson Hollow. By then he had managed to recruit a fairly large group of luckless mercenaries and thugs, and he proceeded to establish a network of contacts over the region.

The economic crisis left many people unemployed and improvised, often forced into banditry, most of the new bandits were destroyed or driven out by the agents of law, and Scorpion offered them refuge and promises of wealth. Now they are moving in huge groups, sometimes as large as 1,000. Smaller kingdoms can't cope with those invasions, and the larger ones find the bandits scatter and flee when confronted with large, organized military units.

There are rumors Scorpion is not the only Dragon-Blooded involved in the operation. This is not difficult to believe, given the Realm Civil War, plus the destruction of numerous nations in the East in the last few years, it looks likely Scorpion is not the only Dragon-Blood that lost his kingdom and is out to crave a new one by any means.

Crimson Hollow was a small city-state of about 5,000 inhabitants, pretty much a Guild puppet state. Reports indicate the population has doubled, and that the town is now very overcrowded. It could certainly be considered a kingdom, by the standards of the Hundred Kingdoms it is neither the smallest nor the most chaotic. It is hard to say how much control Scorpion has of the roaming gangs and armies of marauders that are currently rampaging and pillaging all over the Hundred Kingdoms.

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "oh, something else: it might be the Guild is paying them to be left alone."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Yeah, that makes sense. Wow, nation of vagrants. 'Pay up, are we start squatting!"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Damn. This isn't going to be easy. It could turn into something else, in time, but it is a big-assed pain in the keister to any and all who happen to be nearby."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "well, not all bandits start out as evil-evil, y'know. Plenty of imporvished peasants, escaped slaves, rebels that had the best intentions, out of work mercenaries that were honest way back, etc, etc."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "but now they are mixture of barbarian horde and the Mafia"

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "not a good combination. no"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Alright. Send Heseiah in again to infiltrate. He's to observe Amber Scorpion and tally his leuitenants, supplicants, diplomats and supporters. If I had more social Charms, I'd feel confident being able to stroll in an take the place for myself. As it is, I'm guessing someone else is trying the same thing. I need to know who that is. Another good thing about Heseiah is that he has the equivilent of AESS for cheap."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Give him a week for this."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "can he move quickly? Can he see demons?"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "AESS? Yes, demat is not proof from his Air Path. Move quickly? If he has to. He usually just moves through stone the entire time, while being able to see out of it fairly easily."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "how many xp does this guy have? O_o"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Starting Elder DK"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "He can push his mastery in the Paths with a Virtue channel"

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha hmms, AESS does indeed allow to see demat critters.

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "but can he keep it up at all times?"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "That's good, because the entire Mosok schtick is to pull B&E's on spiri's sanctums."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Scene-long, so mileage may vary, costs WP per scene, so it's not a constant all-the-time thing for the rock-swimming trick. But the walking-through walls and invisibility are cheap and easy-ish."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "And he's got a decent Larceny and Stealth."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "These tricks are why I *really* considered playing a DK over a Solar."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "It's just...wow."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "Okay, so... no, he is an ally, but I doubt he is willing to risk his neck to get into likely conflict with a powerful DB or DB brotherhood alone."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Nope. Simple observation of the comings and goings of important people is enough."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "So, he agrees to take a look to the city, and you owe him one."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "I do, indeed. I just picked up the Lore teaching Charms. I'm sure I know something he wants to learn."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "directly spying Scorpion is a no, unless you back him up a lot :)"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Don't have those resources yet. He's just recon, not assault."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "right, but he is going there, not you!"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Yeah, because he's got a chance of success. No back-up. If he thinks its too risky, then it is, because I'm not there with him."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Not yet anyway. He's not the kind of ally I'd usually have in a scene with me when I go out. That's Yoshi's job."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "he has also a chance to getting killed. DBs are barbaric this age, nothing like the honorable warriors they should be, let me tell you!"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "The entire Shimmering Water path is about stealth. He has it up to 3, can push it to 4. This gives him immediate access to the aformentioned Easily Overlooked Presence effect and Guyise of the New Form, which allows him to appear as a humanoid of his choice and description. Guise works for a day, Averting the Eyes works for a scene."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Wits+Stealth? 7 dice."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "alright, alright... he reports after somewhat more than a week. He has a map of the city and can tell you how it works. It is pretty anarchic, but there are some strong social constructs there. Basically Scorpion gives commands to bandit lords, which go raiding and bring slaves and loot, including most of the food the city needs. Still, the original inhabitants are little more than slaves. There is a vague pecking order, and he has a three or four other DBs with him, including at least a demon-summoning sorcerer. Just before he left he heard Scorpion had the blessing of some pirate goddess."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "Scorpion has taken over the old guild compound, a large stone building in the center of the town, pretty well defended and it has wards (not against DKs, though)"

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "He is a bit offended there are guards against things like raksha and ghosts and not against Dragon Kings"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "I am saddened to say that the memories of mortals has been rudely assaulted by the construct we know as the Immaculate Faith."

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "You legend will grow in time, friend. You have planted its seed with this action."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "like the DKs do not matter anymore... wait, they don't. Gotta work on that and less in spying -_-"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "Hey, that's why you have friends. You help me, I help you."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "So, you go lawgiving now! :)"

-= OOC =- Hunting Mist says, "So, next step. See if I can co-opt the Pirate Goddess."

-= OOC =- Ragara Ayesha says, "aaah, we would have to talk with Blue :)"