5081/PETA: Follow-Up

PETA: Follow-Up
Date of Scene:	10 February 2017
Location:	The Tapestry
Synopsis:	The Paladins follow up on a prior case, and discover things may not be as they seem.
Cast of Characters:	Eryl Fairfax, 300, Sir Gawain, 947

---

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The time has come. Permits have been submitted, signed in triplicate and approved. The Paladins can finally move to uncover the truth behind an embarrassing early operation. Three possible threads have been suggested, and will be followed up on today.

-Were the poachers receiving illegal payments?

    Tracking down the tribe proves tricky. They're nomadic, and move around very frequently. Indeed, observation teams have noted that there seems to be no rhyme or reason in their uprooting, and the areas they were observed in certainly seemed habitable enough. But no matter how sneaky they are, they cannot hide from electric eyes in the sky. Satellite imagery finds them camped out at the base of a mountain, using a cave for shelter from the rainy season.

    It's drizzling lightly when Eclipse shows up, and the tribals are immediately on-edge. Hawkish eyes regard her, muscles are tense as they grip their weapons. They are not brandishing them, but not a one of them is not in reach of drawing one at any time. Permits are presented and requests made to ask questions. The only answer given is 'speak to the chief' with fingers pointing into the cave. Inside, a seat of bones has been constructed, and a wizened prune of a man sits upon it. He has only these words when the lawbringers approach.

    "Leave now foreigner. You will not find what you seek here. Your gaze is best served elsewhere. Trouble us no more."

-Was the tip faked to shame the Paladins?

    As it turns out, in this world? Phone booths are required by law to have a camera in them so as to record those who use them. This was done specifically because anonymous tips became frequent, and a high-profile case that hinged on such a tip had to be thrown out when it turned out to be a crank call. Filming those who used a phone booth to deliver such a tip introduces some means of following up on who gave it.

    The one who delivered this tip is Joey the Nose, a known small-time hood. His name comes from his prominent, constantly broken nose. It's always broken because he keeps getting into scraps, usually over someone commenting on his nose. The recording shows him rushing to the booth frantically, and the call in question was panicked. Certainly not the attitude of someone giving a known bad tip.

    Joey lives in Redrock Apartments, although if it was red once, its buried under a layer of urban grime. Allowing themselves in with a master key granted by the landlord, it's an ascent up a flight of stairs (elevator hasn't worked for years), past the sounds of apartment living. This includes many domestic spats, babies crying and blaring TVs to cancel out the prior two.

    Room 604 makes itself difficult to know, but it is soon found down a hallway behind an abandoned luggage mover. Knocking on the door and declaring oneselves brings the sound of many locks unlocking before the door is opened, stopped by one final chain lock. A desperate, bloodshot eye peeks out.

    "W-Whaddaya want?"

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
Stadler was and still is a soldier. There had been much that he had to change about his outlook when joining the paladins. Force couldn't be an answer to every question that was presented, for one. The loss of the war and the rule of international anarchy as an excuse another. Permits, laws, warrants... things that he had to only consider at a high level before were now at his forefront. It had taken quite a bit to adapt. But, at the very least, there was one thing that Rick could take from those previous days.

He did not like he or his allies getting made fools of. Part of it was being a man with a plan; what he had heard happened to Eryl and his team on that last mission meant someone had /outplanned/ his friends, and that was just annoying. And the best revenge was grabbing on the thread that a planner had left and pulling on it, until the entire tapestry they'd woven came undone.

This was step one.

When the door opens, there's Stadler, standing on the other end, his clothing making him look like the assistant principal in a high school, the type that dealt with too many rule breakers. Peering at the eye that looks at them through spectcles. "Joey... Do you have a last name? I hate to be so informal. I'm Stadler, and this here is Gaiwan. We've got some questions for you on a case one of your tips lead to." Start simply. Maybe he'd be cooperative!

Sir Gawain has posed:
Stadler wasn't alone when the door opened: a young man, with blonde hair and a nice suit was standing next to him. Gawain does not appear to be a cop, especially since he smiles way too much. too genuinely. "I'm Gawain, please, everything will be alright! As long as you answer some questions truthfully for us, we can all go on our way."

Gawain isn't sure whether or not they're being made fools of. He's giving the informant the benefit of the doubt, because that's what Gawain does: he gives people the benefit of the doubt. But it's still a lead, and still something they need to clear up either way.

Eclipse (947) has posed:
Eclipse passes the permits on to the other Paladins who'd been sent alongside her. She probably wouldn't be able to understand them even if she could read the words anyway. The legal jargon is important to the Paladins, but for the shifter there are more important things to consider here. Passing through the assembled tribe, she stands before the chief, her gold lupine eyes settling on him and glinting in the darkness of the cave. He was quite elderly, it seemed- suggesting that this tribe valued wisdom and experience in its leaders over brute strength. Though the old man shooed Eclipse and the Paladins away, she stood unmoved by his words.

    "Where would I go for answers, then?" Eclipse asks the chief. "The men you dealt with will twist the truth if I speak to them. They will confuse things. But my people live much like yours. It will be easier for us to understand each other, I believe," she says. "I am Eclipse, a longtooth shifter- warden of the Den-of-Oaks clan. I have not come to trouble you- only to learn the truth."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    -Redrock Apartments

    Joey sniffles. This size of the noise is proportional to his nose. "Joey Nosandi... wait, tip?" The pupil dilates and his hand trembles. But Gawain's calming tone seems to settle him before the door is closed and the sound of the chain rattling coming from the other side. It's thrown open again, revealing the man himself. Greasy dark hair, that prominent nose with the bandages on it, ill-fitting clothes that have never known the touch of a washing machine.

    "Come in I guess," he says. The apartment is... uncharacteristically tidy. Meticulously clean and organized, with everything put away. But it's also very Spartan, with not a decoration in sight. Once the pair of Paladins are inside, the door is slammed shut behind them, and the symphony of locking sounds begins again. Finally, he turns to face them.

    "So did ya bust 'em? Please tell me ya did, it's for the good of everyone..."

-Tribal Camp

    The chief regards Eclipse as the other Paladins begin their search. Their best bet is the hope that the tribe received technology beyond their means that would give them an unfair edge against other inhabitants of their home world. Since Eclipse has the advantage of a similar background, they leave the diplomacy to her.

    The elder regards her as she introduces herself, before rising on groaning knees to return it. "Elder Flax, of the Hallowed Bones people. And if the truth will make you leave, I will offer enough truth to fill your belly." Hey, that's a good start! "Our people do trade with the people of the city, with voices slick like ice, but sticky as tar. We offer certain creatures that we hunt, creatures abundant in these lands, in exchange for their technology." He gestures to the side, where an attendant is grilling fish upon a gas-powered hot plate. "We were informed that objects such as these, which replicate the campfires we can produce on our own, are permitted. We had one of our young ones learn your precise writings to confirm this." He nods to another attendant, who produces a box of water chlorination tablets. "Items such as these, that provide better access to the fundamentals of life are also permitted. Things such as these are the only ones your people will find. We do not wish to have your attention on us, and have rejected past offered to trade as a result of this. A harsh winter and a fair deal is the only reason we accepted this offer."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
Gawain was being rather nice... cheery attitude that really could freak a person out coming from a law enforcement officer. Richard's opinion, anyway. BUt at the very least, it kept the man calm; Stadler noticed the way that Joey's hand seem to have trembled on the door knob. Some point to note there; if he was in on it, he wasn't as confident of his chances as some other people Rick had met.

Stadler's nose wrinkles slightly at the way the man's dressed, the unkept hair and poor hygine evident, even as... the room itself was noted. Clean. Put together. Not a lot /to/ organize, but what was there was quite well done. Suprising. But he'll address Joey again. "Oh, we sent a team down there. Moved in, had everything well in hand. Funny thing happened after that, though. The man in charge had all the proper permits for it. Everything perfectly legal. So that tip you gave us has us... concerned."

He moves away from the examination, turning back to the man directly. "Have anything to say about that?"

Sir Gawain has posed:
Gawain is happy that Joey calms down, because the man being anxious would be dangerous. Gawain carefully walks in on invitation, taking a glance around the apartment, but lets Stadler do the main talking. He simply talks afterwards, having noticed that he's doing a good job of calming the man. "Of course, we're not saying you've done anything wrong. We just want to know where you got the tip, because someone may have lied to you, sir, and we'd rather you be safe. Please help us figure out what's going on here so we can all have a good day."

Eclipse (947) has posed:
Eclipse listens to the chief's explanation. It's true that simple things like the hot plate are legal. But there are a few things she is wondering about. "Where are these 'writings' you speak of? I don't believe that we in the Paladins have ever encountered your people to explain the laws," she said. "Did the men from the city give them to you?" She wonders if the laws they were reading were the real ones. "And the winter... are you certain that you needed these... items," she adds, holding up a chlorination tablet skeptically, "in order to survive the season? Many tribes like yours, and mine, have faced the coldest winters with their strength, planning, and will to survive. What made you think this was necessary?"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
-Redrock Apartments

    Joey /howls/ when Stadler mentions the permits. A genuine, despairing howl that one would not expect from a man who picks fights over his big nose. "You idiots! You could have stopped them, bought more time to deal with them! They're so close!" He even totally misses the insinuation that it might be fake.

    But once again, Good Cop Gawain to the rescue. Joey takes several deep breaths to calm himself, before staring at the suited knight with wide eyes. "Those goons... they're just the middlemen of others... people with awful plans, not just 'family business.' They have no idea... but I was the one who hooked them up. Now they're..."

    The apartment groans and rattles. But there is no tectonic activity, as the support team can ascertain over the radio.

-Tribal Camp

    Elder Flax manages a wheezy laugh and jabbers to an attendant in his old tongue. He departs, and soon returns with a young boy who is holding a Paladin-issued book of laws. "Your own people were offering them, young lady. We did not receive this one from the men. You think we trust them so freely?"

    His face twists at Eclipse's insinuation. "Boasts of strength are for children and stubborn fools. My people were starving. Certainly, none would complain. But we are a community, and I love each and every one of them. I would bow my head to anyone to protect them, but I understand that would make them unhappy. So I struck the best deal I could to help them while preserving their own honour."

    He stands taller as he meets Eclipse's eyes, his own fierce. "Many like them came once they learned of the creatures that inhabit this place, but we saw them off. Only they did not mock and insult, as if they were doing us a favour. I know of their ilk and what they do, but I care only for my own."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
More unexpected. And Stadler was getting a somewhat bad feeling about what was going on over here. "And how would you expect us to stop them if they had the proper permits? There's not a lot we can do to tie people like that up if they have half a mind and enough lawyers to keep them off our backs... but that's not critical here." He says, looking over to Joey with an actual bit of concern. "This sounds serious. More serious than we thought. But we can deal with it if we know exactly who these higher ups are that are so scary. And what exactly they're up to. If we know what we're supposed to be aiming at, then we can hit them. But-"

At the shaking and rattling of the apartment, Stadler looks around the room, gripping a door frame. "Earthquake?" He says, to thin air, before his hand goes up to his ear. "All right. That's enough. I'm going to make some guesses, here. You've got a clean apartment, little decorations, and a lot of locks. Which says to me that you're someone running from someone bad. You want protection, we can give it to you, but we need information to work off of."

Sir Gawain has posed:
Gawain continues with good cop. "Please, let us help you, Joey." The apartment shakes, but it's not an earthquake. Gawain moves, noticeably to /protect/ Joey. It's his first instinct, and the knight gives off an attitude of confidence and no fear of what's going on. "We're here to protect you. Just tell us who we're dealing with, and we'll keep you safe. We promise."

Eclipse (947) has posed:
Eclipse checks over some things with her allies over the radio before holding out a hand to the boy with the book. "Let me look at that for a moment, child," she requests. "We need to be sure of where it came from." It certainly looked official, but given that they're claiming it came from the Paladins when it apparently didn't, the book's origins seem worth looking into. She looks toward the elder once more. "I do not doubt your intentions towards your people," she said. "It's the city-dwellers I doubt. They made this deal to enrich themselves... not to benefit your tribe, and certainly not to benefit nature."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
-Redrock Apartments

    "I didn't know permits like that exist man, do I look like a lawyer to you?!" he exclaims. He seems to be on the verge of tears now, and visible flinches as the room groans. "Oh god they know. They know I'm talking to you! They're coming!"

    Gawains words are a lifeline, one that Joey clings to desperately. "Yes, please. Anything you want, just get me out of here! Get me on that ship of yours, anything! As long as I'm out of the city, I'll-"

    And then the apartment erupts.

    The bed flies across the room, drawers fly open to unleash a flurry of utensils, doors rip from their hinges. Anything not totally built into the floor, walls or roof flies off, and seems to converge on Joey!

-Tribal Camp

    The boy hugs the book to himself, but a nod from Flax encourages him to hand it over. It passes all the checks for authenticity. The chapter on inter-world trading it bookmarked with a leaf, well-thumbed and with several passages circled. The parts the elder cited are among them. Furthermore, there are some parts circled in red, with notes like 'big brute,' 'boomstick hunter' and other such primitive titles.

    "Of course they seek to enrich themselves child. Don't we all?" Flax says simply. "We will take care of the nature here. It provides for us, it is in our best interest to do so. Just as it is in their best interest to corner a valuable market. Just as it is in your best interests-whatever they may be-to find the truth. Now, I trust you have no more questions?"

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
The one thing that Rick can say, definitively, is that yes, indeed, Joey does /not/ look like a lawyer. It's one of those odd thoughts that comes through when things are going to get very, very bad, very quickly. "All right, it's time we get out of here, then. Let's move toward the-

And then, after that.. What. The. Hell. Stadler was ready to curse magic again, but it was annoying as hell to have something rushing someone and him not be able to shoot at it. Like Gawain, the only thing that Rick can do is get into a protection position, front to Joey, back to the room. He wasn't so complacement in being a cop as to not wear the heaviest vest he could underneath his coat, and it might provide protection from something.

Another thought, pops into his head. That this may explain why Joey lived in such spartan surroundings. Did that mean he /knew/ that this was going to happen? Rick grimacesas a book slams into his back, before roughly dragging Joey down. to the ground. Exit. Door would be too slow, with all those locks on it. "Gaiwan, got any goddamn ideas?"

Sir Gawain has posed:
The room is shaking horribly. Joey is in danger. As he speaks, crying and begging for help, Gawain smiles sympathetically. "It's going to be alright." And then with a flash of a movement, a sword appears in his hand, a powerful blade, as his armor manifests onto him. With a rapid, reflexive strike, Gawain parries several knives as they fly at Joey, before moving to grab the man with his spare arm. "I'll call for an escape route. They're hunting Joey, see if you can't find anything out while I get him out of here!"

And then, Gawain turns to Joey. "Grab onto me, tight! I'll keep you safe!" Joey won't get any warning besides that. Gawain hefts the man up with super strength, reinforces him, and then /leaps out the window/, sword positioned to block anything coming at them from behind. Six stories in the air, this would look pretty insane to basically anyone, and probably /feel/ crazy. However, Gawain isn't afraid. This is basic for him. In mid air, he moves to reposition himself to land on top of something at an elevated height, in order to prevent a strong crash. He'll then move to keep Joey defended while he looks for the escape route he called for.

Eclipse (947) has posed:
Consulting with the other Paladins, Eclipse concludes that the book is the real thing. "Could you tell me who, exactly, gave you this book?" she asks the elder. "We'll need to check things with them." If it wasn't one of the gangsters, it might have been someone working with them.

Eclipse (947) has posed:
"...oh, one more thing," Eclipse adds, after one of the other Paladins whispers something in her ear, "These red notations. Who added them into the book?" The other Paladin mentioned that one of the notations mentioned a "boomstick hunter". If the tribe members ended up with any "boomsticks" of their own somehow... that would *definitely* be a problem.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
-Redbrick Apartments

    It's a dervish inside the apartment, Joey screaming out as the objects seek to end his life. Throwing the man to the ground saves him from a carving knife that would have carved through his throat. But, as Gawain throws the pair of them out the window, Rick would notice the storm instantly stops.

    Joey does not stop screaming when the pair hit the streets safely. He looks around, panicked. Gawain doesn't really see anyone suspicious, but it's like... 'thre walls have eyes' has never been so appropriate. Every brick, every window and street light and fire hydrant seems to bare malicious intent for the two. But thankfully, the Paladin transport touches down, security emerging to cover the knight and crook so they may get inside. It waits for Rick to come and join them before taking off for the Ad Coelum once more.

-Tribal Camp

    The young boy raises his hand at Eclipse's question. "I did... those other people who came. What they offered would break those rules, so I took note of it." What a little lawyer in the making. The elder meanwhile just sighs. "We bought it. From a bookstore. The concept of money is not foreign to us, child. Now, if there is nothing else, be on your way. Your friends have found nothing."

    And indeed, the other Paladins come in with empty hands. There really is nothing illegal here.

Sir Gawain has posed:
Nothing is going to harm Joey. Gawain is moving at full Servant reflexes, with Excalibur Galatine at his side. He points his sword at anything that looks like a threat, every reflex being dedicated to the safety of the suspect. Once they reach evac, he hands Joey over, but keeps on guard. "Alright, we'll be safe shortly. Don't worry."

Eclipse (947) has posed:
Eclipse smiles a bit at the boy's explanation. "You might end up having to teach me one day. ...but I'm not making that a promise," she says. It seemed that, at least in part thanks to this boy's studies, the tribe had refused to trade for any illegal items. "I suppose we're done here, then," she says. "You've done nothing against the law." She still wasn't sure she entirely agreed with the elder's actions, but they were definitely within legal bounds. "Thank you for your time... may you last through many winters more," she added before turning to go.