(City on Fire) Asking the locals

[Jasper]

Cold is starting to settle in for the night as Jasper sits in his van, watching as the sun dips beneath the horizon. He shifts in his seat for a moment which causes the mutt pup named Squire to lift his head from where he's curled up on the passenger seat, burrowed partially into one of the Beast's shirts. "Yeah, yeah.. Let's get this over with..." Jasper mumbles before opening the driver's door with a slight creak. He waits for Squire to hop down out of the van before he reaches into the plastic bag and pulls out a bottle of cheap whiskey in a brown paper bag. He doesn't bother with a leash as the young dog knows not to stray too far from the Beast; he knows who feeds him and will take care of him. They've discussed it at length over the past few months since Squire came to live with them... with him.

He closes the door to the van and makes his way into the camp of homeless that he's had his van parked at for a while now. They knew his face and he knew most of theirs. He approaches one of the small fires of one of the older homeless, one he's gotten a bit friendly with over the past few weeks. He hopes for two things in doing this: he hopes perhaps the old man might be willing to share a bit of food with him in exchange for a bit of the whiskey Jasper had; and he hopes that the older man might have a bit of info that the giant Beast is looking for.

Pleasantries were exchanged, as well as food and whiskey, and Jasper sits with the old man for a bit before asking, "You here 'bout these house fires going on around here these past couple of months? You know anything about them or know someone who does?"

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2023-01-15 23:01:25	Jasper rolls 4 to question his contacts (Manip+Persuasion+SL) (10 Again)	9, 10, 9, 10, 7, 6	4 successes

[Saber Sloth]

Jasper If you want you can add your Dot in Contacts to the roll, just roll that one die, and post it here, if you don't wanna roll the extra die, @me in discord and I'll get back to this asap

[Jasper]

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2023-01-16 14:49:14	Jasper rolls 1 to Contacts (10 Again)	1	failure

[Saber Sloth]

A lull in the conversation, the camaraderie as warming as the fire and whiskey the old man grunts kicking a foot out. Eyes half lidded, an tongue liquor loosened.

"Aye, s'been taking out good spots. Winter's here. Sacramento might be mild compared to elsewhere, but is still no summer nights. Can't stay dry, can't keep warm." a low gusty sigh, "Don't know who's done it. But it seems systematic, one good spot after another. Pig's ain't helpin' who cares if a squat gets got, and a few 'vagrants' loose their lives and what passes for a home. City cares more for a burned out wreck than something with 'condemned' slapped over it. Burned wreck looks bad, so they get off their asses and clear it off, build it back - condos I think." the old man takes another swig of the whiskey.

"Now, I don't wanna push blame, especially not on one of ours...but. There's been a new face. A girl, well, twenty or so. She don't look it. She takes good care of herself. Clothes neat, hair's washed - short though, and blonde like the really white kind. She don't look like she's been on the streets long, like that, but her face is...worn. She looks hungry. Scared. She's been comin' 'round for a couple a months, she's always the newest person 'round. Just before the fires..." he says, a melancholy settling on him. Shaking his head, he takes another swig.

[Jasper]

He nods as he listens to the liquor-loosened tale, passing the whiskey around though he leaves the man with over half the bottle when he stands up to leave. "Yeah, pigs never help. We got stick together where we can. If you see her again, let me know. I just wanna chat. You stay warm and safe, old man. I'll talk to you later?"

[Saber Sloth]

The old man nods, raising his whiskey and toasting Jasper as the Wolfhound ambles away.