(PRP TH) - Treasure Hunt!

[Aurora]

What can she say, she was on the fence about this guy and wanted to get to the reason they were there. Would it be rude to advise the kid about the benefits of a shower?

She didn’t want to give him the money first. It was the only leverage they had in this. But then again, he had the information. Supposedly. So it was a rock and hard place thing.

“Always a wise move.” In regards to the spell for sound.

Looking to Corn and Belle, she nods.

If this kid fucked them over, she was tempted to turn him into a fish. A tiny one, make it as painful as possible.

“Can you answer a question or two for me? Where did you find this item in question? And why us?” what made them special. Why didn’t he offer it to someone else?

She gently blows on her drink and takes a careful sip, nodding as Belle asks her questions.

[Corn]

Corn was still a bit sceptical about the person. There were ways of non-magi to use magic. A sleepwalker with some item could be such a case and supposedly the person behind this bargain (whether Crypto or the persons that sent Crypto) had access to such things. Corn has also read in a somewhat reliable source that "Proximi", those sleepwalker legacies the Silver Ladder was so invested on, could use something similar to their magic, even using mudras, like Crypto did.
It seemed more reasonable to Corn for someone to send his sidekick to bargain - even if it was a scam - that show up himself. Of course, there was always the chance Crypto was just selling information about where they could find an artifact to steal and he had no possession of the item. 2000$ for information seemed to him much more reasonable than 2000$ for an atlantean item. Or it could be a scam or Crypto - or the persons he represents - may really need the money.

Corn's thoughts were interrupted by the pull of fate. So it was something at least. He moved his hand to touch the envelope with the money with two fingers, holding it down,

"Sight reveals that Crypto's words influence our destiny. It seems to me, that he either has some real information ... or has something else in mind that would affect our near future.
Crypto, Do you have information about an item we have to take risks to obtain, or you actually have something for sale? Do you want for yourself, or you represent someone else?"

[Corn]

Made a mess of the post above.
For starters, this is the wits+inv roll:

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-22 12:51:04	Corn rolls 5 to Wits+inv (10 Again)	9, 2, 3, 1, 1	1 success

Second, it should read "Do you want the payment for yourself..."

[Aeolus]

Nimble fingers snatched up the envelope as soon as it hit the table proper but Corn's move made Crypto stop in his tracks. He fully ignored Belle 's question - either because she really came off the wrong way or because the distraction of money was just too big. She could see a flash of bright red course through the contact's aura though. "Aight. Okayokay, I see. Not cool, I thought we were working on a shared business relationship build on trust?" He looked Corn in the eyes and gave him probably his best 'trustworthy' smile. "I'm not selling you nothing I'll tell you where you can get it yourself. Once" he tugged at the envelope. "I get the money." And with that he pulled harder until the Moros gave it up.

Then he actually opened it and counted the money - and he was neither quick nor particularly careful about it. The former probably out of pettiness, the latter because he was either careless or really confident about how he did things. Once he was satisfied, he folded the envelope and stuffed it into one of the pocket's of his baggy cargo pants. His other hand simultaneously produced a wrinkled piece of paper from another pocket. "This is the part where I answer your questions so listen up." But damn, having to wait for his money must have made him thirsty because he took a sip of his coffee first. Then he tucked back that rebellious strand of hair. Then he started talking again. "Yes I do have real information and yes I am my own boss." He still looked mostly at Corn. "Risks? I don't know, I just find out stuff and share the fun." He turned to Aurora . "Afraid I can't share my means of getting those pointers. I'd go out of business in no time, don't you think?" Another red flash in his Aura, but it had a different quality? Vermilion? And was there a black streak in it. This Crypto had a lot going on as he gave his next answer. "And don't give yourself too much credit. It's a free market, you know? You expressed your interest first, you paid, that's it."

Finally, he looked at Belle. Licked his lips. "Aight, the item in question. So, ever heard of Roksie's Choker? Course that's not the original name, thing's been around for a while. I don't care about those specifics anyway, so I'm afraid I can't give you a helpful instruction booklet about it's properties." He slid the piece of paper across the table. "What I can give you is an address. Gotta be somewhere there, most likely in the garden. Heard the previous owner bit the bullet a few years ago and now all sorts of veiling spells are running out of juice so now the rats come out to loot the premises." The fact that Crypto himself could be considered one of those rats apparently didn't occur to him.
He took another sip of the coffee and smiled at the Mystagogues. "So, we done here?"

Corn another (Wits + Investigation) please.

Success

They maybe were first, but they surely weren't the only ones expressing their interest in the Artifact. Assuming that Crypto was greedier than he was honest, did somebody else purchase this information? Or was somebody else about to purchase it?

Everybody can make an (Int + Occult -3) roll to check if they've heard of that particular Artifact.

Success

The fact that this Artifact changed names almost as often as it changed owners didn't make it any easier to place it, but you remember hearing about this locket that always seemed to find a particularly lovestruck Awakened to end up with. It made it possible for the owner to have their love transcend the divide between Sleepers and Awakened and even life and death.

[Belle]

Belle notes the brief anger in Crypto's aura as the payment is briefly withheld, then the bittersweet mixture of excitement and spiteful anger. So, big shot doesn't like being talked down to? And he's very, very money motivated. But no deception so far. Good. Play nice enough to get the info and don't...get...frustrated. The fact he seemed to take his sweet time didn't earn him any graces with the Warlock, but she sees it as a power play born of stubbornness. Two can play at that game, greasy.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-23 02:02:49	Belle rolls 2 to Test Artifact Knowledge (Int + Occult - ST penalty) (10 Again)	1, 8	1 success

To her surprise, Belle does recall something about this Artifact. Or at least something like it. "A treasure for lovers. It's supposed to bind two people together so tightly that even fate can't deny their love." She looks at Corn and Aurora to see if they were in the know as well. That likely makes it attuned to Fate magic. It doesn't affect people's perceptions, so there's no chance of Mind magic there, unless it's subtle. She takes a look at the paper to review the address. She's pretty sure it rings a bell Heh even though she hadn't been in the city long, she'd taken the time to do some exploring.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-23 02:38:15	Belle rolls 6 to Check Address Knowledge (Int + Streetwise) (10 Again)	10, 4, 2, 10, 4, 1, 6, 8	3 successes

"Do we know how the previous owner died? Jealous lovers tend to be dangerous." It could've been an unrelated party who killed the last owner; a hit and run or home robbery gone south. But in the off chance the Artifact only worked one way, maybe they got Romeo & Juliet'd.

[Aurora]

An eyebrow was raised at Corns words, “Really?” looking back to the kid, “Interesting.” What could he affect in their near future? It was stupid and dangerous to not take another mage seriously.

“Trust goes both ways.” Says the Shaman, watching the kid. And she decided to tap into an Acana she didn’t use often, Death, and look at him.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-23 11:28:00	Aurora rolls 6 to Grim Sight (Gnosis 4+Death 2) (10 Again)	5, 7, 5, 3, 6, 2	failure

“For fun?” a shrug, “I can see that. And I can understand not wanting to share sources.” This could still be a trap. Oh, she gave them all the credit. They were part of the Mysterium, the chance to acquire an artifact was too good to ignore.

Roksie's Choker? It didn’t ring any bells for her.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-23 11:28:45	Aurora rolls 3 to Roksie's Choker?(Int3+Occult3)-3 (10 Again)	1, 2, 6	failure

“If the spells are weakening, it could mean there are others there as well.” Looking to Corn and Belle, “Which means we wouldn’t be the only ones going to that address to check it out.” Eyes slide back to the kid, “I’d be surprised if you hadn’t already ‘sold’ this information to others. And they either failed,” a pause, “or something else.” It was a risk. But were they willing to take it. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not game. Haven’t had a good challenge in a few years.” And it would give them a chance to work more closely with each other.

Listening to Belle, who had some knowledge of the item, "Sounds like something that would be very interesting to find and study." thinking a moment, "But that's an important question. His cause of death would be most helpful." and if no answer? She'd use Spirit and Death at the garden to see for herself. Well, she'd probably do that anyways.

[Corn]

Roskie's choker? I am pretty sure I never heard of this.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-24 02:45:05	Corn rolls 3 to Intel+occ -3 (10 Again)	7, 3, 1	failure

Then Belle spoke up and described it as a "Treasure for lovers". Hmmm... I wonder what it does. Could it help my love with Maria be shielded in the case some mage tries to mess with her feelings - or mine - as Phoenyx warned me? he thinks to himself.

Then Aurora brought up an important issue - even without the sight. Considering the person dealing with them, it was ... a good bet.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-24 02:57:07	Corn rolls 5 to Wits+inv (10 Again)	6, 7, 5, 3, 4	failure

"Madison is right Crypto. Perhaps we are not the only ones you have sold the info to or you plan to sell the info too. If that is the case, can I ask we get a bigger head-start from your other clients? Last thing we want would be to fight sleeper treasure seekers you sent our way.
And speaking about parceling information out... that dead mage, did he had anything else of value to us? Also, whatever the cause of his death, when you were there, did you see whether he was ... still hanging around? As a ghost or anything else? " Stranger things have happened...

[Aeolus]

Belle recognized the address. It's not far from their location, in one of Sacramento's more expensive neighbourhoods. Lots of big properties, which meant a decent amount of privacy.. and room for whatever may be hidden or buried in a garden.

Aurora 's Imago didn't hold, and the purple runes barely formed before falling apart and disappearing again. If Crypto had any morbid deals going on, those deals would stay a secret for now.

The kid regarded Belle with a sleazy smile again. "Wouldn't know anything about jealous lovers. I stay out of private business as a rule of thumb. Nah, I heard he died in the wake of-" His expression became confused for a second, as if he wasn't sure of something or was struggling with conflicting memories. Aurora might sympathize with that feeling. "A war or something. Look, I'm not your local library, so you might have to live with a little risk and uncertainty." He combed through his hair and tapped his foot a few times. The Q&A session wouldn't go for much longer as your contact became somewhat antsy.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-25 04:37:22	TH ST rolls 6 to do something (10 Again)	7, 1, 9, 1, 3, 2	1 success

His smile faltered just a little bit when Aurora called him out. Only briefly though, and the Mage retorted back to a quick barrage of mumbled reassurances. "Ouch, that hurt. I would never sell my intel to more than one customer. Makes for a bad rep. If someone else somehow stumbled over that information?" A shrug. "I never claimed to have a monopoly on juicy intel. But let me assure you that this one is pretty fresh. You're basically the first ones to hear about it. Promise." A second shrug, directed at Corn . "So there are no head-starts to give. You got the address, make of that what you want. Got nothing else for you, I'm afraid, gotta bounce."

And with that he slinked out of his chair and turned to leave. With a flick of the wrist the spell around the table went away and suddenly the noise of the restaurant came crashing back in. Crypto stopped one last time and looked back at the Mystagogues. "I'm afraid I'm a little short on cash. Can you pay for my coffee? Next time it'll be on me, promise." And off he went, not really waiting for an answer. So that was that - they had an address, some information and a whole lot of new questions.

Anyone can rolle Wits + Empathy to catch Crypto being not entirely truthful.
Aurora , don't forget to spend a Mana for your improvised non-ruling spell.
Corn another Wits + Investigation roll please.

success

Aurora's hunch rang some of Fate's bells. Did Crypto sell the information to someone else? Did other treasure hunters find out about it some other way?

I'd say if you want to move on we can keep it in this thread - just give me a heads-up if you want to check out the address directly or if you want to do some digging elsewhere.

[Belle]

Belle waits until Crypto leaves until she shrugs and takes a long sip of her tea. "Well, that could've been worse. At least he stayed long enough to give us some leeway."

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-25 20:53:27	Belle rolls 5 to Read Crypto's Intentions (Wits + Empathy) (10 Again)	10, 5, 1, 4, 8, 2	2 successes

Though she was sure Crypto wasn't telling them the whole truth, between the three Mystagogues there was plenty of truth-seeking potential there. With the silence dissipated, Belle looks between Corn and Aurora. "What do you think? If we can find someplace more private then I can try scoping the place out." She jots out a quick note on her phone then shows the screen to the two of them, quickly deleting the note after Corn and Aurora took it in.

message on screen

Scrying

"I've gone past that address before while scoping around for apartments. It's well-to-do, lots of big houses with big fences. If we're careful we can be in and out no trouble." Though the idea of them being on the clock with others looking for Roxie's Choker makes her a bit eager to get going. She's not the most patient of Warlocks.

[Aurora]

The cup was raised to her lips as she listened to Corn backing her question. But then takes it in a direction she wasn’t expecting.

Give them a head start?

This wasn’t a game.

Then an eyebrow was raised, a war of some sort? Was it their Time War? Or something else?
Did she buy what he was selling? She wasn’t sure. They had to be cautious.

An absent nod at paying for his coffee, whatever. She had other thoughts on her mind over a couple bucks for coffee.

Looking to Belle and then the message, “I guess where we’ve paid for the info, we might as well get our monies worth and visit.” She’d feel better with Phoenyx with them, in case.

“I want to touch base with the, other, residents of the place. See if there is anything they can provide us.” It was worth a shot. A long one. But it was something.

So sorry! My bad...