40,001; a space Illiad, the movie, the video game

[ScrapyardDragon]

[this is the rp thread, the general thread for character submission/discussion is found here]

Its a beautiful day in sigil; dryads are dating, kenku are singing. Its a shame all this is happening on the other side of the city. No, where we zoom in on is a small, out of the way diner in one of the sigil's port districts a few hours after the district's sunlights have turned off, the only illumination being the buzzing florescent bulbs on ceiling, and the tv showing a muted game of blitzball, the only real sound coming from the jukebox in the corner, playing some smooth jazz. The only customer left in this last hour before closing is human in a dark grey suit sipping some coffee, his dinner finished a good hour ago, going over some documents, waiting for the arrival of the people he contacted to meet with him here on this quiet night.

[chippo]

 Normally, Zel would turn her nonexistent nose up to requests from people she scarcely knows - it's beneath her, an unwarranted waste of her time. However... being presented at last with the opportunity to apply her expertise on a proper spelljammer, even if only for a tedious delivery job, is a different story. The past so many years of her life have been singularly devoted towards this end, years spent solely on honing her understanding of the magical and technological inner workings of spelljamming systems. Even if the task isn't as grand as she'd like it to be, she can not allow herself to pass it up.

Of course... enthusiasm towards spelljammers aside, what she's less enthused about is striking up conversation. It isn't that she's anxious about it, her nerves are fine, but neither is this her element. Surely she's not the only one called in for this, why not find herself somewhere to sit? When her associate(s) to be arrive, she'll just interject herself into the discussion. It's worked for her before. Until then, though, just her and her datapad.

[Amanojyaku]

The bell chimes at five minutes past the hour, admitting an elfin figure clad in a brushed, sand green pantsuit, matching the curtain of hair framing the head. Two crimson eyes narrow slightly, and a third opens wider as it surveys the near empty room, then the other way as they alight on the seated human. A quick check of a personal dataslate, then tucked into an inside pocket as the satori steps fully inside, allowing the door to finally shut.

"You must be- hm. No, I should respect the desire for privacy, even if you have an... interesting method of attempting to remain anonymous..." The satori's voice is soft, on the border of tenor and contralto, carrying a tone of mild amusement and the vaguest accent from Acerath only knows which corner of the Wheel. "A crowded taproom would make it much harder to overhear the discussion, good sir."

[ScrapyardDragon]

The man smiles, his dark grey eyes glinting as he takes another sip from his drink before responding.
"perhaps, but, I do so love the music here over the vulgar audio they play elsewhere. But please, you may go ahead me Leere. I don't suppose you might have noticed the others on your way here?"
he turns his head, looking out the window to see if anyone else is arriving as he asks

[wake]

Olivier walks into the bar his eyes shimmering in the dim light of the bar. "I assume you're the contact then? I was planning to come with the ships captain but they're currently indisposed." Olivier reaches his gloved hand out to shake Leere's. "Olivier Lenhiem a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

[ScrapyardDragon]

"Leere. Caiten Leere. The same to you."
Leere returns the handshake before taking another drink from his cup. "Indeed, That would be me. A shame to hear they won't be joining us right away, but, so long as you're able to communicate the details it should be fine. I don't suppose he sent a message or two along with you?"

[Amanojyaku]

"...trust me when I say you will know when one of ours arrives well before he opens this door. Though the proprietor may not particularly care for his entry."

The satori's eyes narrow, watching Olivier's interjection, as etiquette is remembered. "My apologies." Fist to palm, a polite dip of the head. "I am called Raito."

[wake]

"I believe this is our first time meeting Raito? My apologies for any rudeness." He gives a bow to show his remorse. He then reaches his hand out to shake yours. "As I said before I'm Olivier Lenhiem and it is my pleasure to meet you, and I must say your eyes are simply splendid."

[chippo]

...Now. Now's good. While introductions are being made. Zel stands up from her seat, a few tables down, and quickly makes her way over to the man's table. She doesn't make much of an effort to hide her approach, as remaining unnoticed wasn't her intent anyway. Not to mention, glowing a vibrant green does her no favors for being inconspicuous. She'd maybe prefer it if no one notices her until after she sits down, but it doesn't really make a difference. All that aside, she'll promptly fall in line with the others arriving, either finding a spot to stand alongside someone or slotting herself into an open seat. 

She won't say anything until whoever's currently speaking finishes, or she gets enough odd stares. It's likely both will happen at the same time. "Did you request an engineer?" She asks. Her tone of voice is flat, as if dismissive or disinterested, yet polite. One look at her suggests an obvious Zoltan heritage, what with the green luminescence of her nearly translucent skin... and yet, it's equally apparent that she possesses some distinctly more humanesque features. Too humanesque to be a coincidence. Her choice in wardrobe seems to at least loosely fit her apparent job description - some sort of all black lab attire with green streaks and some few accessories, including clasps that keep her hair(?) tied in pigtails. On her back is a backpack, the contents of which seem to lightly jangle and rattle.

[yog]

A kitsune in the baroque dress uniform proper to a mercenary captain (epaulettes, cape, combat skirt, and all) steps in from the street. After a cursory scan of the establishment, she sets a brisk pace towards the only active table. Grey ears swivel, and she waves a gloved hand in the direction of the jukebox; the saxophone is soon complemented by faint piano.

She comes to stand behind an unclaimed chair, rests her hands on the seat's back, glances around the table with a quiet "Greetings," and gives the grey-suited human a nod of acknowledgement. She waits for him to reply to the green-glowing engineer's query before saying: "Captain Yarrow, at your service." And Yarrow can't keep from smiling as she adds: "Is it fair to presume that you are here on our client's behalf, and that I do not, in fact, have the wrong table?"

[ScrapyardDragon]

Leere smiles, sipping from his drink once again. "I was wondering when you'd approach." before he can finish he is interupted by the jingle from the door opening, eyes darting up to spot Yarrow as he enters.
"ah, and another arrival for the night. But, I get ahead of myself. Yes, I was the one who contacted you miss. All of you, really." He makes eye contact with yarrow as he says the last bit, before looking to the group at large as he continues. "Now then, the matter at hand. I've contacted all of you to make arrangements for a job. A simple one in principal, all I need is competent group able to pick up some packages for me from...rather distant spheres, and deliver them without making a stir in the public channels..Ah, and no peeking, of course. To that end, both a promise and assurance of payment must be made."
He looks to the sole worker behind the diner's counter and nods, the man nodding back and heading into the back room. Once he's gone, Leere clears his throat and speaks in a hushed voice
"five cubic meters of pure, refined orichalcum, ready to be forged, sold, or whatever else pleases you to be handed over on delivery, with a downpayment of 500,000 thrones for you all to cover expenses and whatnot."
upon saying this he sets a suitcase on the table, unlocking and opening it briefly to reveal the thrones for the downpayment, to help prove the point.




minor edit because i'm a tired dumbass who can't keep made up names straight at one am

[yog]

Her joke ignored, Yuzuko pulls her chair out and takes a seat at the table. The smile does not leave her face.

Serious business it is, then. And of course he waves the waiter off before I can order a drink, she thinks.

"So, you - I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think I caught your name - you have called us," another glance around the table, index finger drawing a circle on the table, "All of us, here, to pick up a mysterious client's mysterious packages from distant Crystal Spheres, and to then deliver the mystery boxes discretely to anonymous recipients. Leaving no records of the transaction ever taking place. And in exchange we will each receive a significant quantity of pure artifact material."

Exhale. What am I getting myself into?

"I certainly do not mean offense to your reputation, sir; I'll take your promises as platinum. But how are we to trust that the people who you are representing here, today, share in your spirit of good business, if we do not know anything about their business history? And even if they are accomplished in fair dealing, five cubic meters of pure orichalcum is almost unheard of. Anyone and everyone will want to get their hands on it, if someone in the clients' organization were to leak. What gives us confidence that the payment will still be here when we return from the other side of the Great Wheel?"

"While I would, alternatively, be satisfied with knowing what is in the packages, just to be certain that the professionals under my guidance will not be in exceptional danger while we fulfill this contract, I get the impression that closed-box delivery is non-negotiable. So I'll need something else. Is there any chance that I might speak to the clients?"

"Now, I don't care to know their voices, or faces, or names, or anything else that could breach their anonymity. I would only like to hear it from their mouths, all of what you have said, and some, so that I can rest easy that they are right and honorable fellows. We can agree on that point: promise and assurance of payment must be made."

[ScrapyardDragon]

"Ah, I believe there is a misunderstanding. I'm not representing anyone but myself, and a small handful of close associates under my service."

[wake]

"As long as you can assure our payments security for about twice the expected time for us to make the deliveries I see no reason not to take the offer myself"

[Amanojyaku]

Raito offers a pointed cough, dismay at Olivier's proffered hand soon deflected by the kitsune's introduction and queries.

"If it should please the 'captain'-" with a brief drawl on that word, third eye widening as it glances toward the grey-suited human "-I am a proper satori, not merely a three-eyed mutant, with the abilities that entails..."

SPOILER: Click to show

Detect Thoughts Focus Power result 24, against Leere's MD. One explosion, unfettered, tested.

Warp Phenomena: 45