Avatar Legends: Book 1: Unity

[CaoimhinTheCape]

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OOC Thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?636272-Avatar-Legends)

Book 1: Unity
Chapter 1: Primary | Chapter 2: | Chapter 3: | Chapter 4:
Chapter 5: | Chapter 6: | Chapter 7: | Chapter 8:
Chapter 9: | Chapter 10: | Chapter 11: | Chapter 12:
Chapter 13:


Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Weaponry. Technology. Eight years ago the world was in panic. Avatar Korra and her friends were able to stop the Earth Empire army from destroying Republic City. The United Republic has faced numerous threats in the past decades that have shaped our city and now that the Avatar is attending to other matters, it is up to us to grow and advance our society. I was elected President to lead that change, but now my time is coming to an end. While the world is coming together to discuss the future, Republic City must find a future of its own in the upcoming election. The new candidates face an unknown threat that seems intent on taking them all out of the race. It is now up to us, not the avatar, to protect our city and its people.



Chapter 1: Primary

As you walk or drive through the streets of Republic City, there is excitement in the air. The press was up first combing the streets to catch a glimpse of the many political figures set to arrive.

Internationally, leaders from the other Nations were set to arrive and attended the first meeting of the World Coalition. The representatives invited may not be the direct heads of state but are becoming famous from their new role on the world stage.

Within Republic City itself, the primaries have just ended, leaving them with six candidates for President. Each has been openly campaigning on their own platforms and now that the election is entering the final stages, they are pulling fewer punches. Touting their own platform has turned to mud slinging, as they are increasingly focused on why the others should not be elected. There have even been rumors that more than words have been used against the candidates but for now, they remain rumors.

Zhu Li has refused to endorse any particular candidate to appear impartial, continuing her duties as President as normal. However, the one action outside of her regular schedule was to hire you all. She has given little information to you so far, but you do know that it is in relation to the rumors of attacks on the various candidates.

On this morning you are asked to meet her to go over the details of your assignment, should you choose to accept.

[Ramsus]

https://sc04.alicdn.com/kf/Hfe6cdadb981740669e3d8f255a6406edi.jpg


Kiyo finished her tea time with some of the fairly (though not extremely) well to do ladies of similar age that she met with, usually, weekly for their tour of teahouses of Republic City. Though the members of this "teahouse touring club" were actually more varied in social class than an outsider might expect, this particular one was on the more expensive side. The teahouse was up on the balcony area of the fifth story of a department building, granting it a nice view to accompany the day's warm breeze.

Bidding the others a good day, she hopped onto the outer railing and stepped off to fall a little more than her body length off the edge with a parting wave. Though the fall was entirely for dramatic effect, as evidenced by the next moment where with a subtle but commanding movement of her right foot she made a short lived block of solid air to land on. And with the same bending technique she'd developed from her studies of earthbending applied to her gift of airbending, she continued to make a flight of stairs as she walked down to the street level. As the nearly invisible stairs dispersed behind her with each step, she made eye contact and the occasional nod of the head or a gifted a smile upon a passerby she was familiar with. Given the amount of time she'd spent out and about in the city in her life and especially the last few years, she'd greeted almost a dozen people just by the time her feet finally touched down upon the pavement. She even greeted a confused looking clearly fresh to the city boy with a wink, as if to inform him that the wonders he'd see in Republic City were many and more.

By the time she reached the next block she was already engaged in conversation with a pair of leather jacket sporting siblings she knew, an older brother and slightly younger sister (though both her elders by a few years), from a somewhat rougher neighborhood who had been out shopping.
When on the next block a car turned a corner a bit too fast and almost sprayed them with oily runoff water, with a casual motion of her left arm she made a small wave of wind that sent the spray splashing back against the body of the car. Nothing that would decrease the driver's visibility, but just a bit of mess they would hear right now and know they'd have to clean later, that would hopefully make them keep in mind to drive more considerately in the future.
The siblings, familiar with Kiyo and being born and raised in Republic City, didn't blink an eye at any of this. Though gave brief gestures of thankful acknowledgement, the same you might if someone had blocked the water with an umbrella.

After a few blocks she parted way with the siblings, and within half a block she paused to briefly chat with a baker while purchasing a small box of a few dozen little cookies. That by a few blocks later she had eaten only one of and handed the rest out to a variety of casual acquaintances whose variety matched those of the cookies.

It was in this, her more or less usual style, in which she approached City Hall. Breaking off from a conversation only right before the entryway.

[Batcathat]

Click. Cli-click. Dink. Click. Cli-click. Dink. Click. Cli-click. Dink. The sound as Ye Quon made his way down the street was almost as hard to miss as his outline. The metal ending of his cane was good for both close combat and dramatic gestures. The sound it produced as it struck the cobblestone served its purpose as well. Make a distinct enough sound wherever you go and no one think to look for you without it.

The coat – garish enough to make a rainbow fade into the background – served a similar role. Ye Quon had met dabblers in the field who preferred to observe their surroundings from the shadows but that was not his style. No one expected the center of attention to be staring back at them. Of course, having a need for attention the size of an elephant whale might have influenced that particular observation.

Click. Cli-click. He paused at the corner across the way from City Hall. Never enter a building without surveying it a little, never have a meeting without a smoke first. Rules to live by, he thought as took in both cigar smoke and surroundings.

[flame12]

Kara weaves between streams of water as she closes in on her opponent, turning his own water against him. With a flick of her wrist, she freezes his legs in place before the young man can react, and lands a solid hit into his chest, leaving the man breathless. With a smirk, she pokes the man between his eyes and releases him, backing off while cracking her shoulders. "Nice feint, but you need to learn to capitalize on an opportunity like that, otherwise all you do is prolong the fight." With her advice given, Kara heads to the showers to clean up before she heads out from her newfound sparring partner. Since coming to Republic City, Kara found that going to different dojos has been a great way to keep her skills sharp, as they always have someone looking for a fight.

Leaving her latest training ground behind, Kara turns and heads down the street at a brisk walk. The match took longer than expected, but she figured she still had time to get where she needed to go without having to run. Looking around the city as she walked, she couldn't help but smile at the advanced technology. Truly, it made for some interesting sights, and even more interesting fights.

After a short while, Kara came upon the City Hall, but before she could head in, she heard a distinctive sound. Clink. cli-clink. Dink. Sighing to herself, she headed towards the source of the noise, and found Ye Quon smoking outside the building.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

City Hall, and much of the rest of Republic City, had been cleaned with the utmost care for the coming dignitaries - the two story building had never been in better condition. Municipal workers were preparing the steps and checking the shrubbery to make sure everything looked perfect as the earliest reporters kept an eagle eye out for the foreign leaders who would not be arriving for hours. Workers making final preparations bustle in and out of the multiple sets of doors and you think you even notice a rolled up pink carpet waiting to be set up for the leaders to walk down.

As your group meets in front of city hall, a reporter catches your group's eye and rushes over to you three, paying particular attention to Ye Quon's flashier appearance. "Excuse me! Any comment on the various nations coming together for the World Coalition?"



OOC: This can happen before or after your group has a chance to talk, the timing on it doesn't matter much.

[Batcathat]

"Of course." Ye Quon assumed what he considered to be an expression of uttermost wisdom, blew a cloud of smoke and leaned against his worryingly creaking cane. "After all the international unpleasantness of the last two hundred years — Ozai, Kuvira, water chieftain whatshisname — any steps towards greater international unity are important." He paused, giving the reporter a moment to bask in his wisdom. "Hopefully our leaders will be able to set their own egos and need for attention aside and work together for the greater good."

[Ramsus]

While the press are distracted with Ye Quon, Kiyo slips into the building without even pausing to think about it, as the Mushi family has usually done their best to avoid public attention when possible. At least when it's not something they've organized and have a plan to benefit from, but even that's pretty rarely done.

[flame12]

Kara watches with fascination as Ye Quon works the crowd, slowly shifting to a distant position that gives her a better view of how the press moves around to better capture the man's attention for follow up questions.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

The reporter frantically takes down notes of Ye Quon's statement. "Perfect, perfect! It is true that representatives of many nations have attacked or planned to attack Republic City. Do you think there will be any repercussions? What reparations should those nations pay if any? Is there anyone who should have more or less of a say in the Coalition?"

More reporters came over to listen to the answers - both Ye Quon and Kara got the feeling that they were only interested because someone else had come here first, and they couldn't let a rival get some important soundbite before them. As for the original reporter, he seemed to be probing for any statement that could make a good headline, though seemed less interested if other papers would get the same scoop.



Inside, Kiyo is able to effortlessly walk past the various workers all trying to prepare the building. She can easily find the meeting room where Zhu Li is waiting, though would have time to explore the building without drawing much attention to herself, if she chose.

[Ramsus]

Kiyo spots a woman she knows, Ai Shi, amongst the various people milling about. She knows Ai does some kind of office work here but as for it's exact nature... *shrug*
Nonetheless, she approaches Ai and engages in a bit of casual conversation before inquiring about the president's mood today.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"Oh, hello Miss." The woman that Kiyo approached constantly looks to the other people walking around the building, occasionally handing folders out as others pass. "I hope you're doing well. We are all busy here today. Really, you're here to see Ms. Moon? She has been a bit more... particular than normal. Calm as ever, though the World Coalition is important to her. If she is worried, she would not let it show, but she doesn't seem to be in a bad mood. She did seem to be more relaxed after a conversation with her husband. He's away right now, pitching a business venture for one of the further Earth Kingdom districts. I think him being otherwise occupied means she has one less concern before the meeting."

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon smiled towards the reporters. "I couldn't possibly comment." Which was true, on account of him not really knowing much about it. "Though I do believe this meeting will provide some much-needed answers." Also true, on account of being blindingly obvious.

"I'd love to stay and chat." He twirled his cane and started walking. "But duty calls."

[flame12]

Kara sees the reporters looking to get someone else to talk after Ye Quon leaves, and she quickly darts inside leat she be bothered for a statement. Inside the building, she begins looking for a map, or failing that someone who looks Iike they work here.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

The reporters are disappointed when Ye Quon leaves, but soon after they find someone else to bother for a comment.

The group enters the building separately and all see people rushing around, though there are signs to help guide visitors to whatever room they'd like. It doesn't take long for you all to find yourselves in the Zoryu meeting room. The large table here could sit up to twelve, though as far as you're aware there was no one else invited to this meeting.

Though Zhu Li is not here yet, there is hot tea waiting for you along with a cold water pitcher and an assortment of pastries.

[Ramsus]

Kiyo picks a seat in the middle of the table and serves herself a cup of tea and a pastry.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Zhu Li enters the room and gives everyone a slight smile. To anyone who doesn't know her, she is the epitome of composure and calmly puts some information packets on the table in front of you. To anyone who does know her, she is doing her best to hide a number of panic attacks as she tried to plan ahead for everything that could happen during the day.

"Thank you all for coming. I actually thought we may have another joining us, they may be able to help you out later.

So. What I have called you here for is to address the issue of our presidential candidates being attacked by an individual or organization."

She turns on a projector and points it at a white wall. As she speaks, she puts pictures of the destruction into the projector.

"So far each of the six candidates has been attacked. These attacks have caused structural damage to buildings that houses political rallies and have caused the most recent debate to be moved and rescheduled. Outdoor events have been disrupted in ways that include cutting the electricity and causing large explosions not far from the premises, causing a panic.

There have been incidental injuries from some of these attacks but it seems as though the crowds are not targets themselves. However..."

She brought up a picture of a room whose walls were covered with newspaper clippings and pictures of each of the candidates, with strings between them.

"We were able to track down the apartment that the suspect or suspects were believed to reside in. We did not find anyone there but found this board, with more knowledge than what the general public should have on when each candidate's upcoming events are. The "documents" found here indicate anger toward all candidates and possible plans to continue the attacks. While we are not worried about most civilians being targeted, I am worried about the safety of the candidates themselves.

The police force will be busy during the days that the World Coalition is in session. I would ask that you protect the candidates at their public events and pursue any leads you find on who could be responsible. As you are doing this, you are not expected to put your own lives at risk and would only pursue dangerous avenues of your own volition.

Do you have any questions on the knowledge we have or what this job would entail? You will be well compensated for your work, of course."

[Batcathat]

"Interesting." Ye Quon rose up from his seat at the end of the table and walked up to the projection, leaving a trail of crumbs behind. He stopped a few feet from the wall, eyeing the image of the suspect apartment. "Always string. I swear, lock up everyone who buys over ten feet of it, and half the police force will be out of a job."

He cleared his throat and turned towards Zhu Li. "Two questions, Madam President. Well, two at this point anyhow. How did your people find this apartment and are our mysterious, violence-minded chums aware that their hideout has been found?"

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"The police were able to use witness accounts to lead us to the apartment building where we found this information. It did not amount to anything more than someone of average height in a trench coat, but it was enough for them to begin their search.

We have been monitoring the building for some time now, but no one has been back. Our detectives tried to be subtle when investigating and staking out the apartment, but it seems whoever was using it is aware of the surveillance."

[Ramsus]

After giving a bit of a respectful nod, Kiyo asks, "Mrs. President, do the candidates and their security know we're going to be providing extra protection? I'm curious to know if you think the threat is someone with inside information and well.... it would be good to know ahead of time if they might mistake us for the threat."

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"I have informed the candidates that I was looking to hire additional investigators, though I haven't provided your names yet. I can provide documentation to affirm that you are the correct team.

The attacks have been committed against all six candidates - I would be surprised if any one person has access to all the campaigns. It would be helpful for the perpetrator or group to have an insider on all of the teams, but I can't say for certain that this is the case."

[Batcathat]

Clack. Cla-clack. Donk. Ye Quon had started pacing back and forth in the room. "Attacks against a single candidate could be motivated by something in their politics or even their personal lives. Attacks against all of them suggest a larger motivation." Clack. Cla-clack. Donk. "Perhaps royalists with a grudge against democratic elections?" Clack. Cla-clack. Donk. "Perhaps a Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom extremist who consider the territory theirs?"

He grabbed more pastries as he passed the table. "Perhaps one of the candidates want to get rid of the competition without looking too suspect?" He devoured one of the pastries in two bites. "Mmm, exquisite! We should look out for attempts that might not have been intended to succeed."

After carefully sucking some crumbs from his fingers, he turned to the President. "Madam President, are you aware if any of the candidates... how should I put this diplomatically? have any skeletons in their closet? Possibly literally."

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"This is politics. I am sure that some, if not all, of the candidates have a past that they are less than proud of. I was arrested (well, technically Varrick was arrested and I went with him) for kidnapping the previous president.

While it would be helpful to look into their past dealings, I have had a lot on my plate and have not investigated the candidates past this public platform and well-known history."

[flame12]

"Strange thought, but what if we are looking at this the wrong way? Madam, have you had anyone expressing, extreme dissatisfaction, with you stepping done. Enough to suggest they might sabatoge the elections just to prevent anyone else taking the position?"

[Batcathat]

"Well...", Ye Quon said and took another bite. "The president's esteemed husband is a convicted political terrorist." He winked at Zhu Li. "I kid. Probably. But I suppose Miss Kara has a point — there are a lot of possible motives, and we shouldn't focus on them at this point." He twirled his cane, barely missing a expensive-looking vase. "Let's get to work, shall we?"

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"Strange thought, but what if we are looking at this the wrong way? Madam, have you had anyone expressing, extreme dissatisfaction, with you stepping done. Enough to suggest they might sabatoge the elections just to prevent anyone else taking the position?"

"That is not something I have considered, but it is certainly possible. These attacks to seem to be distributed evenly. I do not know of any group that is quite so devoted to me, so it may be a lead for you to follow up on."


"Well...", Ye Quon said and took another bite. "The president's esteemed husband is a convicted political terrorist." He winked at Zhu Li. "I kid. Probably. But I suppose Miss Kara has a point — there are a lot of possible motives, and we shouldn't focus on them at this point." He twirled his cane, barely missing a expensive-looking vase. "Let's get to work, shall we?"

"I will say I do not think Varrick is behind this. Despite his experience with illegal explosives, I think he misses having me working with him on his business ventures and around the house in general."

Zhu Li gave a small smile, before returning to a serious face.

"I should also officially say I have no reason to believe my husband, Varrick, is plotting, in the process of carrying out, or previously attempted to commit any sort of crime that has not become public knowledge and that he has not already served time for."

She runs through this declaration as if she has needed to say it many times in the past.




Zhu Li sighs. "Your first assignment is to protect candidate Rin at her rally, later today. It is being held not far from this building, and she intends to speak out against the coalition as the leaders are arriving today. You can meet with her manager, Noburu, for details. Please keep a lookout for anyone who is suspicious at the rally but also make sure the attendees do not become too riled up."

[Ramsus]

"Well, let's go see this Noburu then." Kiyo says and gets up to leave after giving Zhu Li a respectful nod as a parting.

[flame12]

Kara gets up to follow Kiyo, but remembers her manners at the last second and also bows to the current president before leaving.

[Batcathat]

With a respectful bow and a inappropriate wink towards the President, Ye Quon grabbed a plate of pastries and followed the others out the room.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

< cutting to the next scene, though you all would have had time for discussion before this >

You arrive at the setup of the rally, where workers are setting up the stage and equipment in anticipation of the candidate. Just like city hall, the place is bustling with activity, where people are rushing to get something or other done. The area cleared out is large, in particular you note that this outdoor event doesn't have any barriers to denote the area - just some velvet ropes that seem more like guidelines than boundaries. Though there are some chairs near the edge of the marked area, its seems this even will mostly be standing room only. The area is in full view of city hall, you can assume that this was the closest they could get.

This event has garnered the attention of locals and tourists, you can easily pick out the latter. The locals seem to be supporters, many holding signs with slogans like "United Republic First!" and "What about us?". A banner unfurls above the stage, reading, "Our City, Our People, Our Future".

There is applause from the one person who doesn't seem to be stressed from working: a confident looking man with his hair in a bun. He wears a formal suit, purple with red and black accents, and he seems to be calling out to people as they pass, giving instructions as necessary. You can assume this is Noburu, Rin's event manager.

[Ramsus]

Kiyo casually strolls up and asks, "Would you happen to be Noburu?"

[CaoimhinTheCape]

The man turns and looks the group over. "That is me. Now, I don't recognize you from working here earlier. Are you contractors or... Ah, right, the guards from Madame President." The man's face briefly twisted into a frown when mentioning Zhu Li, but he quickly put back on a public face. "I see, welcome then. I appreciate that Madame President wants to aid in our protection, but we will be having our our guards come by later to make sure nothing happens to our patriotic citizens.

Of course, that's not to say we won't take your help. Any additional eyes are helpful so tell me, what specialties do you have? How would you go about securing this area?" Throughout the conversation, Noburu seems to be sizing up the group, both to understand your physical abilities as well as your personalities.

[Batcathat]

The cane creaked worryingly as Ye Quon leaned on it as he surveilled both their surroundings and the man in front of them. "I observe, I deduce, sometimes I even interfere", he replied. "The good news is that it would be very easy to make the area more secure, the bad news is that it is because it's anything but secure at the moment."

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Noburu gives Ye Quon a smile that says 'how dare you criticize my event'.

"Well, it does turn out that I'm not worried about bringing in the guards until closer to the beginning of the event but what would you suggest?"

[Ramsus]

Kiyo uses the opportunity provided by Ye Quon's distracting response as a way to avoid actually answering Noburu's question. They hadn't ruled out insider interference yet and more importantly she just got an oily feeling from this man and would prefer he knew as little about her as possible.

[Batcathat]

"Guards will do fine", Ye Quon smiled and lit a cigar. "Assuming, of course, that you are planning on stacking them side by side into a wall around the important people. Or perhaps it's psychological warfare? Overwhelm any potential assassin with too many opportunities to pick a single one?" Ye Quon looked around. "Let's see, at first glance there are seven — no, eight — positions for an archer or bender. Plenty of room to plow a Satomobile through the entire crowd. If they want that personal touch, there's a decent chance to just run up and stab someone before a guard gets close enough. Then there are explosives, of course, you need neither a good plan nor a combustionbender if you have enough explosives and a disposable enough pawn." He tapped the ground with his cane. "But let's not focus on ground level alone. A team of earthbenders can tunnel fast enough to make a badgermole blush. So better add enough guards for a floor. Probably a roof too, while you're at it. Attacking from the air is trickier, since we'll see them coming, but hardly impossible."

He took a long drag on his cigar before continuing in a cloud of smoke. "I could go on, but perhaps it would be quicker to just move the event to somewhere not quite as many people will be able to attack the candidates?"

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Noburu's grin fades as Ye Quon lists everything that could go wrong. He looks out over the venue as Ye Quon points to all of the vulnerabilities. He looks like he is about to put his politician smile back on when moving the event is suggested.

"Moving... I... DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND THE POINT?!?" Noburu is fuming; his shouts have drawn the attention of onlookers, but the event staff continue on without hesitation. "If we could hold this where those dignitaries are meeting we would. Moving venues is out of the question, our president and those foreign leaders need to hear that we don't have time to sit down to tea with the elite from around the world. She chose not to hear us as she planned this summit, so she has no choice but to hear us now."

Noburu huffed, proud of his speech. But he sighed, looking around again. "Though I can hardly refute your points. Where do you suspect an attack is most likely to come from and," Noburu spoke through gritted teeth, "where would your team be best suited to defend Rin? My guards do not have any particular specialty, so they can fill where they are needed."

[Ramsus]

Kiyo ignores the blowhard and moves to mingle with the crowd. Making a few greetings to people she's familiar with and casually mentioning the attacks on the candidates and asking if they've seen anything. If any of them pick up the hint that this might not be the safest place to be at the moment, she's not the least bit sad about that.


Plead: [roll0]

[CaoimhinTheCape]

As Kiyo moves throughout the onlookers, she is greeted by familiar faces. Asking the general public doesn't give her much new information about the attacks, unfortunately. Everyone she asks believes that it is best to leave the investigation to the authorities as they don't know how they could help.

But Kiyo's words about the previous attacks are heard, particularly by the tourists who have come here for the first meeting of the World Coalition. Previously unaware of the attacks, the tourists become obviously worried and decide to give this area a wide berth, and many of the people Kiyo knows also take the warning to heart. Rin's supporters either boast that they are not afraid of the threat or pivot to complaining that President Moon is not addressing the situation or protecting her citizens (even if Kiyo explains why she is there, the crowd is not swayed).



OOC: Your successful role is going to help later on. When the group keeps watch over or moves through the crowd, take +1 ongoing.

To define some stuff, +1 ongoing means as long as the situation fits you get +1 to your roll. This lasts until the situation changes. This could change from a GM Move, say, if it makes sense for people to rush into the area on a bad roll.

"Keeps watch over or moves through the crowd" can be pretty broad. I can see it applying to Assess a Situation when watching over the event or if you Rely on Your Skills and Training to pursue someone through the crowd. But if it helps with other rolls, just explain why you think it applies and use the bonus.

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon eyed Noburu. Temperamental. Egocentric. Pride as magnificent and fragile as a glass castle. Almost too easy. Noburu could wait. If he had anything to do with the attacks, he would almost certainly trip over his own plans sooner rather than later.

Instead, Ye Quon's eyes followed Kiyo as she moved through the crowd. Or rather, he watched the people around her react to her movements. If there were any aspiring terrorists present, they would be as tense as pygmy pumas ready to strike, anything out of the ordinary was almost certain to cause some sort of reaction. Looking a little too much. Looking a little too little. Trying to run. Trying to hide. Reaching for a weapon. Sweating. Twitching. Something.

Assess the Situation: [roll0]

Who/what is the biggest threat?

[CaoimhinTheCape]

As the day continues on, your group watches the event come together. For all of Noburu's posturing and pride, he seems to take your suggestions to heart and does his best to cover the areas that you suggested. The security is stretched somewhat thin, but chances are they would at least see an attack coming on and have time to warn others.

The crowd fills in, all obviously supporting Rin. They wear the colors of the United Republic, as do any staff members. The other candidates often wear clothes to indicate their family heritage (green for the earn nation, blue for water tribes) but there is conspicuously little red of the fire nation here. The crowd is excited, and some may even be called rowdy. Half of the crowd expectantly waits for the event to start and Rin to take the stage, while the other half glares at town hall in the distance, where dignitaries are beginning to arrive.


As Ye Quon looks around, he analyzes the situation. None of the other attacks had shown evidence of earthbenders or airbenders. Vehicles had not been used and while that was a real possibility, air and ground traffic have been diverted from the area (likely more from the World Coalition than this rally).

But what may be most concerning would be the people: there's a crowd of politically charged spectators and shops not too far away from the area. Individuals could easily blend in to either location.


OOC: Biggest threat is the crowd/people on foot. Because of Kiyo's roll earlier, you still have that +1 in checks related to the crowd since a lot of onlookers have cleared out.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

The crowd settles as the stage lights dim, and everyone's attention turns to the center microphone. Rin takes the stage, a woman in her forties with long hair and a confident walk. She seems elegant and full of energy at the same time, commanding the crowd's attention. She wears a pink and purple robe, with only the slightest touches of red.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming out today. I appreciate the support that each and every one of you have given me. And that support... the will of the people. Is why we're here today." The crowd cheers, and she waits for this to die down. "Your support, and the will of the people, is exactly what is being demonstrated today. Here we have the wonderful citizens of the United Republic!" Again, more cheers. "Making their voice heard! Showing brotherhood, no matter what nation you descended from, making our way into the future. Some of us struggling as the changing world tries to bring us down."

"And over there!" Rin makes a sweeping gesture toward where the World Coalition is meeting. "Our president hides from us, from the challenges facing her own people. She turns away from responsibility toward her citizens and spends her time with the rich and powerful from elsewhere. Your time is up Madame president, and not a moment too soon! Your people have needs. Your people have a voice. And with that voice we will fix this nation together!"

The crowd goes wild and Rin eventually continues her speech. Your group looks around the crowd (again, thinned from your earlier actions) and tries to pick out anything that might be off. Even during the speech, individuals in the crowd move and nearby a busy street continues with everyday life.

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon had walked to the side as the speech had begun, seemingly preoccupied by lighting his cigar. There were no obvious threats in the crowd, so instead he looked at the woman on the stage. She was a possible target but hardly above suspicion herself, none of the candidates were. He tuned out her words - political propaganda and posturing meant little to him, regardless of the flavor - and focused on her movement, her expressions.

Suspicious Mind: [roll0]

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"What are you truly feeling?"

As Ye Quon watches, he sees the passion in Rin's eyes, her movement. This is a woman who fully believes what she is saying to the crowd. Yes, there was a note of rehearsal to this - she had likely gone over this speech a few times or ones similar to it. But the words, whatever they were, came from a believer.

Her contempt of the meeting held between world leaders was genuine and real, the most obvious emotion on her. But she also seemed... emboldened. This crowd was proof that her beliefs were true and held weight, especially when much of the world was more concerned with the World Coalition.


"What are you worried about?"

Even as she projected confidence among all of the other emotions in her speech, Rin would scan the crowd from time to time. Everyone knew about the attacks on political candidates and Rin was no exception.

Having been around all day, Ye Quon knew that the previously hired guards were distributed fairly evenly around the event. Rin was no more protected than the crowd, despite the fact that no civilians had been seriously injured in previous attacks. It seemed that in her worry about an attack, she was more worried about the safety of the citizens listening to her.



As the speech goes on, your party's attention is drawn by a couple of cars satomobiles pulling up to the line of shops near the rally. A four imposing individuals briskly walk into a nearby store, while a driver stays in each car. Soon after they enter the shop (a pottery store) you hear the sound of a pot breaking.

Meanwhile, someone in the crowd seems to be moving briskly, making their way from the back toward the stage. A hood covers their face and they seem to be moving alone - the crowd is caught up in Rin's speech and pay little attention to the person who is pushing through.

[Ramsus]

Kiyo spots the suspiciously quickly approaching person, waits a few seconds to confirm they're not stopping, then hops to her feet and as she lands makes a sliding motion with her feet and a slight pull up at the end to create two blocks of air around their feet. Hopefully this will make them reveal their intentions, either as a threat or not. If not, at least they'll be stuck to be questioned later.


Evade & Observe: Hinder: Trying to inflict Trapped. [roll0]

[Batcathat]

Seeing Kiyo deal with the hooded person, Ye Quon made his way through the audience — moving with surprising agility and stealth for a man of his size and fashion sense — towards the pottery shop. He glanced towards the drivers in the satomobiles as he walked — they were a possible threat, maybe using the others as a diversion? — but decided to ignore them for now. They were more likely getaway drivers than attackers.

He paused outside the shop. "Hello?" Pushing the door open with his cane, hoping to stay out of reach of any immediate reaction. "I'm in the market for some ill-tempered hooligans, know of any?"

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Kiyo makes her way through the crowd easily - it takes some time to catch up but she is obviously making progress. You hear the sound of lightning crackling as gloved hands emerge from the cloak. Sparks dance across the gloves and it seems as though they are ready to blast lightning toward the stage.

But Kiyo's movements are swift and as the cloaked figure tries to move forward they find themselves unable to lift their feet. Struggling, the air prevents them from moving. They look around and see Kiyo as the source of this obstacle but Kiyo cannot get a look underneath the hood.



As Ye Quon walks past the drivers, he notices that one is tense and ready while the other barely looks up from his magazine. Opening the door, the bell above it rings and everyone turns to look at the newcomer. The four 'hooligans' seem to have made their way up to the register, leaving broken pots in their wake. Behind the counter, two older women tremble and hold onto each other.

Before Ye Quon speaks, he hears part of the conversation threat. "Ya know, it's a shame all of this getting broken." This is punctuated by him pushing another vase to the ground. "If only you had been able to pay us to protect you." Everyone turns when Ye Quon enters the building. The one who was speaking chuckles. "Hooligans? Not sure who you're talking about pal! We're just model citizens offering protective services. Never know when something can..." he breaks another nearby sculpture. "happen. Say, you look like you could pay for protection too. Come on guys." Two of them walk toward Ye Quon.




Kiyo: 0/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions
Kara: 0/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions
Ye Quon: 0/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions

Gang (6 members): 0/5 Fatigue 0/3 Conditions

Cloaked Figure: 0/?? Fatigue 0/?? Conditions
Status: Trapped


Not sure the best way to track combat, but I'll keep everyone's health in this spoiler. A reminder about combat - you are removed from combat when you mark all 5 conditions. Some powerful moves may mark conditions, but most mark Fatigue. If you are asked to mark fatigue and this puts you above 5, you mark a Condition instead.

You can heal fatigue by taking an Evade and Observe action in combat (there may be other healing moves?? somewhere??).



The gang technically has 6 members (4 inside the shop and 2 in the cars). This gives them 5 fatigue boxes and they must take 3 conditions before they are defeated. As a group, they get 1 additional action in combat, so they're a threat mostly because there are so many. Attacking one member is an attack against the the group and that is their shared health.

The rules don't specifically mention what happens if members get knocked out (and they become a smaller group) but I'm going to run them where once they've taken a bit of a beating, they'll lose the additional combat action.



The Cloaked figure can remove the trapped status by marking fatigue. I'll probably do that in the first round of combat but taking 3 fatigue off the bad is gonna suck. You don't know how powerful they are, so you don't know how much they can take in terms of Fatigue and conditions.

[Ramsus]

Seeing that she's been spotted, and more importantly that the cloaked person is certainly a threat, Kiyo closes in closer (to increase their perception of her as a threat so hopefully they'll attack her instead of the politicians or even worse, the crowd) and with a swift wrapping motion of her arms attempts to rip their cloak mostly off of them and use it to wrap around them and pin their arms down.


Evade & Observe: Hinder: Trying to inflict Impaired. [roll0]

[flame12]

Kara hesitates for a moment on picking a target. The bigger threat is clearly the group of men, as opposed to the single agent, but the hooded figure is a lot closer to the politician. Deciding to protect the target as a priority, Kara rushes to help Kiyo, attempting to knock the target to the ground by taking out their legs with a water whip.


[roll0]

[Batcathat]

Even as he readied himself for the approaching enemies, Ye Quon's mind raced. Thugs shaking down a shop for protection money? Not unlikely. Happening to do so as a political rally full of people and guards was going on outside? Less likely. A probable distraction, whether they knew it or not.

Regardless of their motives, they posed a not nonexistent threat to his time, his patience and possibly even his well-being. However, they had been so kind as to provide him with such a useful environment for a mind who knew to exploit it. Pretending to back away from their approach, he also moved a little to the side to put the densest patch of broken shards on the floor between himself and his opponents.

Defend & Maneuver: Ready (Attempting to inflict Impaired) [roll0]+2 (So, 6)

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Ye Quon: Defend & Maneuver (miss)

Kara: Advance & Attack (miss)
Gang: Advance & Attack (2 actions)
Cloak: Advance & Attack (1 Action)

Kiyo: Evade & Observe (Hinder)



Inside the shop, Ye Quon moves first, backing away from the thugs, hoping to put some distance in between the two. They look at the ground and and chuckle - one of them bends the ground below to sweep aside any debris in their way.



Outside, Kara rushes toward the crowd pulling water out to send at the cloaked person. But shouts from the crowd distract her and rather than hitting her target, the water knocks over some of the bystanders. The crowd shouts and everyone begins to scatter... everyone except for the three nearest guards who rush to the scene. They have their sights set on the Cloaked figure and... Kara, who just accidentally attacked the crowd.



The thugs had paired off, split into the two advancing on Ye Quon and the two pestering the shopkeeps. One of the thugs by the old women stomp the ground, causing it to crack and fracture. One of the women falls down, crying out and holding her knee. (Action 1: Smash to inflict the Impaired condition on the shopkeeps).

The two advancing on Ye Quon simply grin, with one pulling out a club and the other earthbending some rocks into the air. "Now, hand over your money and be on your way. No need to make this too bloody." (Action 2: Pressure Ye Quon so he cannot Advance and Attack next turn).



The cloaked figure grunts, taking a lot of effort to break free of Kiyo's airbending. Finally the air dissipates and they try to catch their breath.

But Kiyo follows it up with another attack, blasting air to tie up... whoever this is. She's able to blow the cloak in the way of the wearer (Successfully inflicting the impaired status).

As the cloak goes up she sees the person... woman? wearing a white dress with a pretty blue flower design crawling up it. That looked familiar but... no, that's not right. Blinking, Kiyo sees that it's really a man in grey gear. The outfit slim and practical for activities like running or attacking an important political figure. The face, again, it hard to read. At first it looks like a young woman but after focusing for a moment it was definitely a man with short, greying hair. Kiyo didn't recognize whoever this man was.



Around the fights going on, the crowd is in disarray and running from the scene. Rin is seen moving forward with fire in one hand and lightning in the other, glaring at the Cloaked figure but Noburu and a guard pull her back successfully getting her out of harm's way.




Kiyo: 0/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions
Kara: 0/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions
Ye Quon: 0/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions

Gang (6 members): 1/5 Fatigue 0/3 Conditions

Guards (3 members): 0/3 Fatigue 0/1 Condition

Cloaked Figure: 3/?? Fatigue 0/?? Conditions
Status: Impaired

[Ramsus]

Kiyo blinks as she perceives the figure to dramatically alter in appearance. While less keen (or experienced with spirits) might accept the lie that their senses had tricked them and that what the viewed person or object now appears to be is the truth, she knew better. Whoever they were, their ploy was rather clumsy. If they wanted to really fool the people they needed to fool, they should have chosen something a lot closer to what they really appear to be. Though that of course assumes whatever she's looking at has a "real" appearance at all.

Either way, the figure meddling with spirits suddenly made this the family business. Which honestly in many ways made this a whole lot easier. She and her friends no longer needed to figure out what this person(?) was after alone and it was a lead on what this was all about. Now she just needed to focus on capturing the target.

With that thought in mind, Kiyo leapt into the air and with a flurry of kicks, jabs, and strikes into the air seemingly at nothing, she hammered at the opponent with concentrated blasts of air, hoping to quickly knock them out.


Advance & Attack: Strike: Hammer: [roll0]

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon's eyes narrowed. "Oh, we wouldn't want that, would we?" He reached into his clothes and pulled out a small coin purse, but rather than handing it over he weighed it in his hand, considering whether to throw it still closed for a focused blow or open for an unpredictable scattering. At the same time - his opponents' attention hopefully focused on the money - he took his weight off the cane and instead grabbed it like a club. With any luck, the buffoons in front of him wouldn't realize what he was doing until they approached.

Defend & Maneuver: Retaliate[roll0]

[flame12]

Kara groans internally as she sees the guards moving to attack both her and the hooded figure, but continues to try and press the attack, hoping to finish them off quickly so she can explain what happened. Timing her strikes inbetween Kiyos proves tricky, but Kara has never backed down from a fight that was merely tricky.


[roll0]

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Defend & Retaliate
Ye Quon readies himself, expecting an attack from the thugs. As they approach, he is confident that they are looking to attack him.

Outside, the guards try to gauge the situation and surround the fighters, ready to Retaliate if needed.

The cloaked man panics as he looks around and sees he is both surrounded by guards and two fighters. He thinks he sees an opening in the guard's perimeter and sprints, only for Kara to knock him back with her water whip.

Advance & Attack

The thugs near Ye Quon move forward to attack, one of them encasing his fist in earth and directly punching Ye Quon (marks 2 fatigue). The thug isn't ready, though, as Ye Quon's club hits back in retaliation (they mark 1 fatigue). The thugs near the front of the store finish taking the money from the register and menacingly walk back toward Ye Quon.

Kara and Kiyo, meanwhile, press the attack. Kiyo pummels him with air, almost as if he was getting punched by nothing (inflicting 2 fatigue) while Kara begins by hitting with her water whip, hitting the man square in the face. When he opens his eyes after the hit, they shine for a moment and he angrily glares out at his opposition with new anger (Balance shifted toward ???). His hands crackle with small sparks but he sees Kara, already anticipating an attack from him (blocked from Attacking)


Kiyo: 1/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions
Kara: 1/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions
Ye Quon: 2/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions

Gang (6 members): 2/5 Fatigue 0/3 Conditions

Guards (3 members): 0/3 Fatigue 0/1 Condition

Cloaked Figure: 6/10 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions
Status: Impaired


So, the group of thugs is going to use both of their actions on Ye Quon next time to continue beating him up. Noting that the Cloaked Figure has taken 6 Fatigue, more than your fatigue tracks. Turns out he's a major NPC, with 10 Fatigue boxes and 5 conditions (page 25 of the quickstart).

We also haven't talked about Balance too much yet - for player characters, you're adding or subtracting the values from rolls as appropriate. For NPCs, shifting their balance away from center means they get extra actions in combat. (Page 20 of the Quickstart). If their balance is pushed past the end of the scale (for the cloaked figure, if it goes past +3) then they are basically taken out of the combat in some way (generally losing control of their power or surrendering, or some combination of those).

[Batcathat]

"You know..." Ye Quon's hand brushed across his face, removing some dirt and feeling for injuries. Nose unbroken. Some future bruising. Shallow bleed above right eye. "... I really do prefer using my brain to my brawn." He raised his cane, seemingly for another blow. "So... uncivilized. Perhaps we could have a spirited debate over some of the latest hypotheses on spirit world cartography?"

Without waiting for an answer, he kicked the knee of the closest thug, the entirety of Ye Quon's considerable weight behind it. As he half-moved, half-fell forward he followed up with a blow from the cane. "No?"

Advance & Attack: Strike (force 2 fatigue) [roll0]

[Ramsus]

Kiyo continues advancing, tumbling through the air, and uses her momentum to twist her body around to do a movement that results in a small hard wall of air slamming down on the figure from above.


Advance & Attack: Strike: Hammer: [roll0]
edit: Also Pressure so that they can't Defend.

[flame12]

Kara slams ice into the man's joints, hoping to take him down and out so she can get over to help Ye Quon.

[roll0]

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Defend & Retaliate
The guards, helpful as always, are willing to let the fight play out and simply Retaliate should anyone attack them.

Advance & Attack
Ye Quon is able to knock into the legs of the man in front of him, but his cane attack is stopped by one of the other thugs. "I don't think so, old man."

The thugs then attack him in turn, all ganging up to pummel him (Strike: Take 2 fatigue, 1 condition, or shift your balance away from center). Any time Ye Quon is about to put his guard up, a different thug throws him off balance (Pressure: cannot defend).

One of the thugs takes a look outside, a confused look on his face. "Hey, something's going on at the rally."

"Really, what? More yahoos shouting about something or other."

"No, everyone left except for the guards and a few people fighting or something."

"Hmmm. Those guards are distracted right?"

"Yeah."

"New plan. We take what we can from the other shops while everyone has their little show outside. Finish it up, we got more shops to break."



Back outside, Kara attempts to attack the man, sending icicles at him. But, strangely, as they get close the ice melts into harmless water and not hurting her foe at all.

Kiyo doesn't let up, pummeling the cloaked figure with her bending. Just like the thugs inside, she makes sure to keep the pressure on so that he can't defend himself.


Evade & Observe
The cloaked figure throws off his, well, cloak and looks frantically around the area. The crowd has cleared out and he is surrounded by Kiyo, Kara, and (ostensibly) guards. He takes a moment to breathe and closes his eyes, seeming to become more ready to fight again. (Commit: shift balance away from center toward ???). As he opens his eyes, his body and clothes shine as he readies himself.

He glares at Kiyo and she feels herself struggling to breathe (Hinder Kiyo: mark Impaired)




Kiyo: 2/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions
Kara: 1/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions
Ye Quon: 2/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions (take 2 fatigue, 1 condition, shift balance)(Can't defend)

Gang (6 members): 2/5 Fatigue 0/3 Conditions

Guards (3 members): 0/3 Fatigue 0/1 Condition

Cloaked Figure: 7/10 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions (Can't Defend)

[Ramsus]

Kiyo pauses for just a moment. As a novice airbender there'd been plenty a time where she accidentally made herself unable to breath for a moment or two. A situation she imagined most any airbender had been in. So rather than panic she simply used a technique to draw fresh air into her body, gave the figure a "really?" sort of look with a raised eyebrow, and then....just to make a point of it, drew in a large breath and leapt into the air and exhaled with great force to try and slam them down into the ground.


Taking 1 fatigue to get rid of Impaired.

Advance & Attack: Strike: Hammer: [roll0]

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon takes the Foolish condition

Even as he tried desperately to block the incoming blows, Ye Quon's mind was focused on the larger situation. The thug's seemed genuinely unaware of whatever was going on at the rally. Curious. Could it be a coincidence, after all? Unlikely.

The fight was not going his way to say the least. The wise option would be to surrender, pretend to be knocked out or perhaps attempt to join the others outside, but while most would call Ye Quon clever, only a fool would call him wise.

Out of patience and witty lines, he raised his cane again and struck the nearest thug.


Advance & Attack: Strike (force 2 fatigue) [roll0]

[flame12]

Kara sees Kiyo setting up to slam the man down into the ground, and attempt to attack his from several angles at once, so that between the two of them he is finished off so she can go help Ye Quon.

Advance and attack
[roll0]

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Defend & Retaliate
The Gang members keep an eye on the fight outside, making sure they avoid everything and everyone there (Ready action). They throw what they can into bags and run toward the door, toward their getaway cars (Seize A Position: Escape the scene)

The Guards ready themselves to Retaliate should anyone actually attack them.


Advance & Attack
Inside, Ye Quon draws his cane again, hoping that it'll land better this time as the thugs try to leave.

Everyone looking at the man who had tried to attack Rin has a hard time focusing, as your eyes are drawn away from him at the ground, at the stage, at each other. As this passes and you see the man he appears stronger somehow, though his body hasn't physically changed (His balance is shifted two left of center, meaning he takes three actions).

Kiyo pushes through the shortness of breath that, really, shouldn't have happened... maybe that was something to look into later. But for now, pummeling this man was the top priority. He recoiled from her attacks, clearly feeling the effect of such a long battle.

Kara also moves in for the attack, hitting the man just as he was recovering from Kiyo's push.

Between the two attacks, the man looks crazed. His eyes dark from side to side, trying to find a way out of the situation but coming up empty. He looks Afraid, Angry, and Insecure.

First, he focuses on Kara as he us buffeted by water. As another blow is about to strike him, he puts his hand up and stops the water mid-air, holding control over it. (Pressure: Cannot attack).

Turning to Kiyo, he extends his other arm and she is buffeted by bursts of air herself (Strike). As she recovers from the attack she sees Kara's water flying toward her, turning into icicles and threatening to pierce her should she move (Smash to inflict the Impaired Status on Kiyo). The strain on this man from the action wears on him and you think you can see Guilt on his face.



Evade & Observe



Kiyo: 4/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions (take 2 fatigue, 1 condition, shift balance) (Impaired: mark 1-fatigue or take a -2 to all physical actions)
Kara: 2/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions (Cannot attack)
Ye Quon: 3/5 Fatigue 1/5 Conditions (Foolish)

Gang (6 members): 4/5 Fatigue 0/3 Conditions

Guards (3 members): 0/3 Fatigue 0/1 Condition

Cloaked Figure: 10/10 Fatigue 4/5 Conditions (Can't Defend) (Balance at ??? +2)

[Ramsus]

Rather than drawing back, helping Kara, or just focusing on defending herself.... Kiyo charges straight through the incoming spike of ice and just narrowly splits past/brushes them aside to close with the figure. Getting in close perhaps not being the wisest move, but she's had just about enough of this and has no intention of damaging her pride by letting them escape.

As she gets into melee, she punches them in the gut and then the chest. Which in addition to being physically painful, is also part of an airbending move to push the air out of their lungs and block them from pulling more in for a few moments. Long enough to cause someone to pass out without suffering any permanent damage.

Taking 1 fatigue to get rid of Impaired.

Advance & Attack: Strike: Hammer: [roll0]

Marking Foolish to for the fatigue to Hammer.

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon takes a fatigue to keep the thugs from leaving.


Ye Quon's body - already aching or worse in several places from the beating - was happy to let his opponents run away, but his pride disagreed and it was stronger than any muscle. "Leaving already?" He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. "But we're having so much fun!"

With more grace than could be expected from a man his size, Ye Quon spun around with his cane stretched out, first hitting a vase and sending it flying towards one of the thugs and then going straight for the head of another one.

Advance & Attack: Strike [roll0]

[flame12]

Kara steps back to clear her head. Something wasn't right here and her desire to punch it wasn't helping get to the bottom of it.

Evade and observe [roll0]

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Defend & Retaliate
The guards are happy to let the fight play out, keeping everyone in the area.

The attack first tries to make a break for... anywhere, really but, surprise of all surprises, is blocked by the guards! (Guards mark 1 fatigue so attacker fails the Seize A Position action).

Unable to do anything more, he readies himself to Retaliate.


Advance & Attack

Kiyo relentlessly pushes forward again this man, ignoring the strain that his airbending attacks have on her as she pushes the assault. Battered, the man falls to his knees, groaning. But... not all of him falls? As he collapses in exhaustion there's a reflective glow around him, the shape of a humanoid that seems to be trying to pull itself to stand up. But as the reflective humanoid figure tries to break from the body it too succumbs to exhaustion, snapping back until it is just the man on the ground.


Inside the shop, Ye Quon continues to deal with the thugs.

"Oh no, this is bad." Two of the thugs grow nervous as they look outside. "The fight out there is over, we need to GO!"

While the other two angrily kick at Ye Quon. "Why won't you just stay down!"

"We need to get out of here! The guards are gonna come!"

"Not until we teach this old man a lesson!"

"But I can't get arrested again!"

Two of the thugs Strike Ye Quon, hoping to put him down this time for good. But with surprising agility Ye Quon pulls off a move to stun one with the vase and beat the other over the head (inflicting Angry).


Evade & Observe

Kara, taking a moment to breathe, looks around at the situation. The guards, one threat taken care of and now more bold, move in around Kara (who they at one point saw as a threat). "Hands behind your back, you're coming with us!"

Kara, even though we're in combat they want to arrest you. Before you take a combat action you can Plead (Harmony) with the guard to let you go, Intimidate (Passion) them to leave you alone, or Trick (Creativity) them to get away for the moment. You'll get your normal turn in combat after this.


Kiyo: 5/5 Fatigue 1/5 Conditions (Did you ever take the condition or balance shift from last round's attack?)(Condition from Retaliate) (Foolish)
Kara: 1/5 Fatigue 0/5 Conditions
Ye Quon: 3/5 Fatigue 1/5 Conditions (Foolish) (take 2 fatigue, 1 condition, shift balance)

Gang (6 members): 4/5 Fatigue 2/3 Conditions (Afraid, Angry)

Guards (3 members): 1/3 Fatigue 0/1 Condition

Cloaked Figure: 10/10 Fatigue 5/5 Conditions (Balance at ??? +2)

[Ramsus]

"What are you doing?" Kiyo says to the guards trying to arrest Kara. "You should have been informed we were sent by the President to assist and now you're getting in our way after just standing around while we handled two separate conflicts for you."

While she speaks, she takes a position over the downed figure so that none of these brilliant guards think they get to take him away on authority they don't really have probably to some location this strange person could escape from.


Intimidate: [roll0]

Edit: They can't choose "They attack you, but off-balance"

[Batcathat]

The good news was that his opponents looked about ready to crumble from a stiff breeze. The bad news was that Ye Quon strongly suspected he looked about the same. People hire me for my mind, he thought. To solve mysteries, explain the unexplainable and look damn good doing it. Not to break my body against some cheap thugs in a pottery shop.

Still... Ye Quon didn't like leaving things unfinished. His mind was too tired for fancy plans, his eyes to blurry for finesse. Nothing left but brute force and a big stick.

Advance & Attack: Strike (force 2 fatigue) [roll0]

[Ramsus]

Evade & Observe: Bolster Kara with Prepared: [roll0]

[flame12]

Kara stops only briefly as the guards try to interposed themselves between her and the gang of criminals assaulting Ye Quon, before Kiyo gets them to back off. With a quick nod towards Kiyo for the assist, Kara slides over to the remaining attackers, whipping the water around who into a flurry of icicles, aiming to pin them down and slash the tires on their vehicles.

[roll0]

[CaoimhinTheCape]

The thugs in the shop panic from Ye Quon's resolve to keep them, barely able to fend off the man as they struggle through the door. Two of the thugs from the shop are panicked, they run straight for the front car shouting to step on it, while the other two curse as they run toward the second car.

The cars technically drive forward a little, but something is obviously wrong as neither driver can seem to get control of their vehicle. Both cars slide, eventually crashing into each other and leaving the exhausted thugs with no escape.



The police are called to take away both the thugs and the political attacker. Seeing the area calm is welcome after that eventful afternoon but there is still much unanswered. Who is that attacker and why is he going after the candidates?

You are free to stay around this area, asking anyone questions if you'd like. Heck, after all you've done today, it would be a crime for you not to be recognized as heroes.

It seems as if the World Coalition meeting is still going on, but you will need to debrief with Zhu Li later once everything is sorted.

[Ramsus]

"On the authority granted to us by the President, we'll be hanging onto this one." Kiyo says to the police and indicates the mystery figure. "We have pressing questions of them, and I believe they'd likely escape any conventional jail cell fairly easily." After a pause she adds with a smile, "Though I'll gladly take two pairs of handcuffs if you have them to spare. A length of rope to bind them in wouldn't hurt either."

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon limped out of the store, leaning more heavily on his cane than usual. He looked around at the people, cars and assorted chaos on the street, trying to take it all in. Though analysis would have to wait, his mind felt as slow as his beaten body.

"Not bad. That's the second most excitement I've ever had in a pottery store. So what happened out here?"

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"On the authority granted to us by the President, we'll be hanging onto this one."

The policeman narrows his eyes at you but, seeing papers from the president, he's happy to have less to deal with. He gives you handcuffs but looks down at the only rope he has: a length of wire for him to bend.

The police proceed to arrest the thugs and are talking to the shopkeepers to get the full story.


"Not bad. That's the second most excitement I've ever had in a pottery store. So what happened out here?"

[Ramsus]

Kiyo accepts the handcuffs with thanks and looks back to the officer at the wire motioning and gives him back a shrug and replies, "That'll have to do I suppose." in a rather neutral tone. Then she goes about handcuffing the figure's hands behind their back and handcuffs their feet together too.
She just hopes their weird spirit powers don't allow them so way to mimic metal bending too.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

The unconscious man doesn't respond as you handcuff (and feetcuff?) him. You can rouse him just enough to walk on his own, but if you do he only follows instructions lazily, still exhausted from the fight. Otherwise, it isn't too hard to carry him, or find somewhere to carry him, to wherever you plan to hold him.

Now that the fight is over, you get a better look at him: he seems to be of average build, probably in his mid to late forties. He doesn't wear colors of a particular nation, only practical clothes to blend in with the crowd (well, he did. That cloak is probably blowing in the wind somewhere). You also would assume that he doesn't have any training in an army or as a bender: usually people who belong in either category have at least some physical training that this man does not appear to have.

OOC: You don't know exactly how this works, but you don't have to worry about him breaking out for the next in game Day, or however long it takes you to get to his interrogation.

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon limped over to the handcuffed man and poked him with his cane. "So who is this charming fellow?" He turned towards his companions. "Should we take him somewhere and have a talk? Preferably somewhere with soft chairs and expensive drinks for us and unpleasant consequences for him."

[flame12]

Ye Quon limped over to the handcuffed man and poked him with his cane. "So who is this charming fellow?" He turned towards his companions. "Should we take him somewhere and have a talk? Preferably somewhere with soft chairs and expensive drinks for us and unpleasant consequences for him."

"That's probably a good idea. Whoever he is, I hope he's the main muscle behind these attacks. Otherwise I hate to imagine what kind of damage his bosses could do."

[CaoimhinTheCape]

You find yourselves in another meeting room at town hall that evening. It is late - the World Coalition meeting ran over its expected time. It was a closed door meeting and all of the politicians involved gave good news to the press, but without the cameras President Zhu Li looks exhausted.

She looks over the report of this afternoon's attack and even in her tired state she perks up, reading that the man was captured. "I had high hopes for this group but I can't say I expected you to capture him your first day on the job. I see that he wasn't taken into custody..." she looks to Kiyo. "I assume that you and your family has somewhere safer to keep an eye on him?"

After she receives that answer, she continues with your debrief. "This report gives me the facts, but I am curious as to your individual takes on the attacker and the rally today. Do you think capturing him has ended the threat? Is there anything more I should know?"



OOC

At the end of each session (what we're calling episodes) you get to answer a few questions. For each question you answer "yes" to, you mark one box toward advancement. We have a few options outlined in the quickstart but frankly the more exciting advancements will be in the full game. We'll deal with it if anyone gets an advancement.


Did you learn something challenging, exciting, or complicated about the world?
Did you stop a dangerous threat or solve a community problem?
Did you guide a companion towards balance or end the session at your center?


In addition to those three questions, each of you has a fourth.
Kiyo

Did you learn something meaningful or important about your lineage, its members, or its effects on the world and others?


Kara

Did you make progress towards your goal against your adversary?


Ye Quon

Did you pursue a desire or goal of your own, outside of protecting others?

[Ramsus]

"That's correct Madam President. I believe they have powers granted by or stolen from a spirit or some artifact. They have some ability to disguise or change their appearance, even their apparent gender, and they used powers that looked like, but I suspect aren't actually, multiple types of bending. So I figured a regular jail cell might not be able to hold them, especially if we didn't see all they can do yet. Since my family specializes in spirit and bending knowledge, I figured they could pull their weight for once and hopefully safely contain, interrogate, and study them so we can find out what's happening here." Kiyo replies.

"And I'm sure you of all people can appreciate that part of my reason was also to keep them happy with my giving such a public display that I value my family's traditions so that they'll continue to 'indulge' my current lifestyle." she adds with a slight hint of exasperation.
((To be clear she's meaning that she figures the president gets that this was in part essentially a small scale political maneuver on Kiyo's part.))

"As for if the threat is over.... I've been thinking about that since the fight ended. And I'm thinking.... probably not? Coordinating attacks against multiple or all presidential candidates seems pretty difficult for one person and also, not the most common kind of political motivation you'd expect. And if I ha the abilities this person we captured does and wanted to do that anyway.... I'd probably manipulate other people into doing it for me. So I have to assume that this person was just a member of a group or even just some pawn. Because really, trying to eliminate all the candidates seems like the motivation of a group or even governing power since the only thing I can see that really accomplishing is setting us up with a weaker leader or being able to push puppet leaders into the running." she answers.


"Also... in my studies of the Avatar, I've found that strange new problems, often have a larger cause behind them. Speaking of the Avatar, where are they? Because you might want to let them know about this in case it turns into.... well the kind of thing Avatars are supposed to do." she adds, trying very hard to not let her inner Avatar fangirl break out, though she still didn't manage to restrain herself from asking where they were. The opportunity was right there. And it seems perfectly natural... right?

Did you learn something challenging, exciting, or complicated about the world?

Certainly. The whole mental/whatever disguise thing and "like bending, but not quite right?" thing is certainly both challenging and exciting.

Did you stop a dangerous threat or solve a community problem?

Both of those since the gang of thugs was also present. (Do we mark two boxes for that or just one?)

Did you guide a companion towards balance or end the session at your center?

Yup, did end at center.

Did you learn something meaningful or important about your lineage, its members, or its effects on the world and others?

Does making them have to actually deal with spirit related problems and maybe setting up the potential for at least high ranking government officials expecting/calling on them to do so in the future count? I would think so?

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon was leaning against the wall in the corner. He'd had time to change out his ruined coat for a new one ― lime green with gold details, loud enough to dazzle the blind ― but was unfortunately stuck with his at the moment rather ruined body.

He rhythmically tapped the ground with his cane as he thought, before eventually speaking up. "I mostly concur with lady Kiyo. While I was... preoccupied for most of the events outside, the scene and the witnesses seem to support her conclusions." He leaned against the cane, trying to find a comfortable position despite his body basically being a giant bruise. "Speaking of my sparring partners, they appeared to be running a protection racket, and they might even believe it, but perhaps I am stating the obvious if I point out the unlikeliness of a separate attack happening at the exact same time. They should be investigated further."

He paused for a moment, looking around the room. "Though I am not sure if involving the Avatar at this point is the right move. As much as we all respect Avatar Korra, she is not known for her... subtlety. A more delicate approach might be the wiser one."


Did you learn something challenging, exciting, or complicated about the world?
No, I don't think so. I mean, I guess Ye Quon learned about the same thing Kiyo did, but second-hand and probably wasn't as interested in it, so I'm guessing it doesn't count?


Did you stop a dangerous threat or solve a community problem?
Yes, the community's pots are now safe from vandals.


Did you guide a companion towards balance or end the session at your center?
Yes, ended it at the center.


Did you pursue a desire or goal of your own, outside of protecting others?
Would you believe me if I said Ye Quon had a life-long dream of being badly beaten? :smallwink: No, I don't think he pursued any particular desire or goal.

[flame12]

Kara keeps her thoughts to herself as the others start talking, but speaks up to agree with Ye Quon. "I concur about the Avatar being brought in, but not at this time. She's undoubtedly powerful, and if we could find out where this groups main headquarters are I can't think of anyone I'd rather have at our side to fight them head on, but from what I have heard of her she would be less than thrilled to be brought in during the preliminary investigation, especially since whoever is behind this might take her appearance as a reason to accelerate whatever time table they have in mind."

Kara considers the presidents questions once more before answering. "As for whether the threat is contained, I can't help but feel what we saw here was not the actions of the leader of such a group. Hopefully one of the more capable combatants they have, to be sure, but they didn't act like the brain of an operation like this. While taking active fighters off their side is good, it doesn't do us much long term good if it means leaving the thinkers time to come up with new plans."



Did you learn something challenging, exciting, or complicated about the world?
As tempting as it is to say Kara learning about new opponents is exciting for her, I wonder if that's a little to broad for it to count? Otherwise any time we come across a new threat it would be marked.

Did you stop a dangerous threat or solve a community problem?
Well, at least one dangerous assassin is down, so I feel like yes.

Did you guide a companion towards balance or end the session at your center?
Ended at center, so yes.

Did you make progress towards your goal against your adversary?
No, although I don't expect to unless the remaining Equalists are backing this political group.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"And I'm sure you of all people can appreciate that part of my reason was also to keep them happy with my giving such a public display that I value my family's traditions so that they'll continue to 'indulge' my current lifestyle." she adds with a slight hint of exasperation.

"As for if the threat is over.... I've been thinking about that since the fight ended. And I'm thinking.... probably not?"

"Also... in my studies of the Avatar, I've found that strange new problems, often have a larger cause behind them. Speaking of the Avatar, where are they? Because you might want to let them know about this in case it turns into.... well the kind of thing Avatars are supposed to do."

Zhu Li nods at Kiyo's mention of appeasing her family, understanding the necessity of it.

"That assumption makes sense. I hope you will keep me updated as you learn more."

"Avatar Korra has done a fair amount of traveling as of late. I am not sure of her exact location, but I can try to get word out to her that her assistance would be appreciated."


"Speaking of my sparring partners, they appeared to be running a protection racket, and they might even believe it, but perhaps I am stating the obvious if I point out the unlikeliness of a separate attack happening at the exact same time. They should be investigated further."

He paused for a moment, looking around the room. "Though I am not sure if involving the Avatar at this point is the right move. As much as we all respect Avatar Korra, she is not known for her... subtlety. A more delicate approach might be the wiser one."

"The police will be looking into them, so far as we can tell, they were part of the Terra Triad. Obviously, the group is primarily Earthbenders or those whose families come from the Earth Kingdom. We may ask you to come in and assist with this in the futured."

"I think it is prudent to keep her aware, but I hear your point about approaching this situation more delicately. I will notify her but not request her presence just yet."


Kara considers the presidents questions once more before answering. "As for whether the threat is contained, I can't help but feel what we saw here was not the actions of the leader of such a group. Hopefully one of the more capable combatants they have, to be sure, but they didn't act like the brain of an operation like this. While taking active fighters off their side is good, it doesn't do us much long term good if it means leaving the thinkers time to come up with new plans."

"I ask that you all talk to the man you captured, and see if you can learn any more. I can only hope that it is a small operation, but given the events I've lived through, I need to expect more."



"Thank you, you all have exceeded my expectations in this matter. For now, I am going to act as though this is an ongoing threat, and will contact you if another event is in danger. Now, go have some rest. You all have earned it."

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Your group is relieved to get some rest after the exhausting fight and come morning, you see that the city is moving on as if nothing important happened. Well, related to your fight at least. The World Coalition is still in session and the foreign leaders will be here for another couple days. This meeting between them is mostly to establish guidelines for how often and when to meet, to iron out the details needed for this group to work. And while some of the populace has been outspoken against it, as far as you (and Zhu Li) can tell there is no active threat against the delegates.

The man you captured has woken up overnight, confused about where he was, but quickly he stopped talking and refused to answer any questions. Whether because you were asked by Zhu Li or wanted to do this on your own, the man is yours to talk to, should you get him to open up.



Before you all meet up again, I'm curious how everyone is doing off of yesterday. Feel free to talk about any of these in your first few posts of the day, or at least know they'll probably come up.

Kiyo - How are you holding this man? What protections are in place to stop any thread he may pose (if any)? What does your family think of this? Are they interested in being around as you talk to this man? Specifically, I think at least one family member would want to be present during this.

Ye Quon - Do you get any attention (positive or negative) from taking out the gang members? Do you try to play to the press and make this a bigger scene or try to downplay this?

Kara - How do you feel about the attention and fight from yesterday? Is there any friction from being briefly suspected by the cops? (from their end, there is no lingering suspicion or anything)

Everyone - Ye Quon and Kiyo still have the Foolish condition. A Comfort and Support roll would probably be good to clear it, so long as you describe how you, well, comfort and support them.

[Ramsus]

Kiyo had put the man(?) in a cell the family used not necessarily as a cell for people, though it was sometimes used that way, but more "potentially very dangerous things" temporary storage until whatever placed inside was properly stored and either a more specialized means of containing was discerned or otherwise dealt with.
It was on the property but not particularly close to any important structures and fairly deep underground. The cell itself was made of hard wood that was coated in platinum and had a backing of concrete (not so much to stop being bended, but to absorb direct applications of force). The airflow in the room was dry, cool, and limited. A comfortable amount for a person not moving around very much, but would be rather uncomfortable for anyone trying to break out or do an exercise routine... or more importantly firebend.
And etched into the wood were runes of some kind of spirit power that reinforced the cell itself and would block any attempt of astral projection and just in general dampened spirit energies.
The man's bindings had been replaced with rope, just in case he could somehow mimic bending even with his hands and feet bound, to deprive him of something he could turn into a more dangerous weapon.

Kiyo's family didn't mind that she'd brought someone in to be detained and studied. Though they were a little annoyed that it was "public" knowledge that she'd done so. Given she knew she was the least likely to be useful in studying and questioning this person, she actually encouraged interest in dealing with this situation. As such there's been several people around and when it comes time for her group's crack at talking to him, there's at least four or five members of the family attending.
While normally she'd find this much oversight rather suffocating, she's glad for the additional (and more experienced) eyes (especially spiritually sensitive ones) and manpower they provide here. And it's not like she could really begrudge the family handling something their way when she brought a problem there to be handled.

[Batcathat]

Excerpt from The Daily Spiderfly.

Famed detective defeats gangsters
In a exclusive interview, famous gentleman detective Ye Quon reveals the full story of how he personally defeated a gang of known criminals, during a political rally.
― It was nothing, really. Any hero with the physical and mental capacity would have done the same.


It was during a rally for presidential hopeful Rin that a gang of ruffians showed up unexpectedly and entered a nearby establishemnt.

― I can't possibly comment on the rumors about any top secret and very important assignment I may or may not have been on, Ye Quon says.

He continues:

― In any case, I happened to be present and when I spotted the thugs threatening innocent potters, I sprang into action.

A number of assailants, sources have suggested anywhere between eight and twelve, started demolishing the pottery shop.

― I attempted to resolve thing peacefully, of course. I'm a peaceful man, some might say a sophisticated intellectual. But those hooligans wouldn't listen to reason, so I had no choice but to deal with them in a more hands-on fashion, if you know what I mean (Note from the editor: Ye Quon is believed to be referring to a physical altercation with the individuals in question)

In the store was two employees, being threatened by the attackers.

― Terrifying, absolutely terrifying, one of them (who wishes to remain anonymous) describes the situation.

The other one adds:

― Thank the spirits the fat man showed up, so those horrible men started beating him up instead.

Ye Quon describes the fight as very brief:

― It's all a matter of physics, really. When you apply the right amount of force at the right angle... well, people just start falling over.

When the police arrived on the scene, they found the eight to twelve attackers lying unconscious in a pile, according to our source.

During the same rally, a unknown person caused a disturbance in the crowd and was dealt with by women suspected to be hired body guards or possibly assistants to Ye Quon.

― I couldn't possibly comment on what sort of heroic helpers I may or may not have working for me, the detective finishes.


Dàduō Xūgòu

[flame12]

With Ye Quon: [roll0]
Kara manages to find a moment alone with Ye Quon after the report to the President and takes him aside. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for not getting to you faster back there. Whatever this guys deal is, I should have been able to get through it to help you with those punks faster." Kara says this fairly quietly, while thinking back on the fight. She should have been able to take a potshot or two at the gang while keeping the weird bender off balance. I need to get stronger. My brother would have been able to handle both of those at once.

With Kiyo: [roll1]
After the prisoner is secure, Kara tries to guide Kiyo aside to talk. "I get the feeling being here is making you uncomfortable? If you need to talk about it, just say something ok? Or if you'd prefer to just focus on how great you did back there, we can do that to." Kara says, offering an alternative in case Kiyo really doesn't want to bring up her family life with someone she barely knows.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

When the group joins up again, it is at the Mushi household. Kyoke (Kiyo's mother) stands at the head of the table that everyone else sits at, pastries laid out as breakfast for the three of you, plus the other family members here.

"Well, first I would like to extend a warm welcome to Kara and Ye Quon. After your adventures with Kiyo yesterday, you two are most certainly welcome in our household. I appreciate you trusting our family and bringing this individual to us, I am sure we will be able to learn much from this unique specimen... to solve who has been attacking the candidates, of course.

I should also introduce you to our other family members here. Kiyo's younger brother: Kagemoto." A serious looking boy, head completely shaved. "Our youngest, Kozosu." A girl who seemed to be listening intently to her mother's words. "And my brother, her uncle Gaito." A confident looking man with grey hair. "Unfortunately, our other daughter, Ke is not able to be with us today." Kiyo's mother said this in a way that betrayed just how fortunate she thought this was.

"In regard to the man who was captured, I think it would behoove us to talk to him and see what he knows. And, if this is spirit related, we may be able to talk to the spirit inside. I only ask that I accompany you during this interrogation, as my knowledge of spirits may be helpful."

"So, before we begin, is there any thoughts you would like to share, or any questions you have?"

[Ramsus]

"Well if you mean being uncomfortable with this 'only our city matters' rhetoric, then yes. Or if you mean standing out here with a prisoner out in the open... also yes." Kiyo replies to Kara with a shrug and then a smile, not really commenting on the compliment but appreciating it.

Kiyo, having already shared her observations with her family (probably more than once at this point), stays quiet.
While she's sure Ke would appreciate this move Kiyo made for the family, she's not sure her presence here would be helpful since it wasn't exactly the best time for people butting heads.

[Batcathat]

With some effort and heavy use of his cane, Ye Quon bowed to each family member in turn, as he filed away their names and reactions for future use. Deep enough not to offend anyone, but not deep enough to bruise his ego. "Lady Kyoke, thank you for receiving us in such... splendor. Clearly, your reputation as a marvelous host is not an exaggeration." Ye Quon did not know whether she had such a reputation, but who wouldn't want one?

His eyes briefly narrowed at her request ― if it wasn't intended as a demand ― to join them for the interrogation. Regardless of her insight, her influence and her family ties, she was an outsider to the investigation. There was no reason to distrust her, but no real reason to trust her either. Still, pushing the issue might be unwise, so Ye Quon ignored it. For now.

Instead, he smiled. "No questions at this time, lady Kyoke. Let's get to it, shall we?"

[CaoimhinTheCape]

With some effort and heavy use of his cane, Ye Quon bowed to each family member in turn, as he filed away their names and reactions for future use. Deep enough not to offend anyone, but not deep enough to bruise his ego. "Lady Kyoke, thank you for receiving us in such... splendor. Clearly, your reputation as a marvelous host is not an exaggeration." Ye Quon did not know whether she had such a reputation, but who wouldn't want one?

His eyes briefly narrowed at her request ― if it wasn't intended as a demand ― to join them for the interrogation. Regardless of her insight, her influence and her family ties, she was an outsider to the investigation. There was no reason to distrust her, but no real reason to trust her either. Still, pushing the issue might be unwise, so Ye Quon ignored it. For now.

Instead, he smiled. "No questions at this time, lady Kyoke. Let's get to it, shall we?"

"Why, thank you. Anything that we can do, our family is at your service.

If there is nothing else... let us begin." Kiyo's mom will lead you to where the man is being held.

[flame12]

Kara stands off to one side, ready to intervene if the prisoner somehow escapes, but otherwise merely observing the proceedings. New place, same problem. She thinks to herself Kara's thoughts drift to her brother, and his talent for dealing with spirits even at a young age, before memories of the rest of her family and how she never lived up to expectations. Her grandparents expectations that she would be as spiritually attuned as her brother, her mothers expectations she would be a healer rather than a fighter, her father's expectations that she would stay in the North rather than travel the world. Maybe once this is over I should visit. Can't live up to something I'm not, but atleast I can stay in touch. Her moment of sentimental reflection over, Kara resumes watching the start of the interrogation.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

From the other side of the cell, you see the prisoner sitting cross-legged, muttering something to himself. He has his eyes closed tight, as if trying to concentrate on something. He rocks back and forth and you can see that he is not doing well, despite appropriate accommodations. You're told he has refused to eat food and when he was given water, he stared into it before actually drinking it.

When the three of you, plus Kiyo's mom, arrive he opens his eyes and looks at you, a sense of loneliness in his eyes.

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon walked closer to the prisoner, stopping right in front of him and leaned down ‒ cane creaking under the strain ‒ to meet his gaze. "How should we do this then? I suppose we could start by exchanging pleasantries but you don't really seem like the type. Didn't anyone teach you it's rude to decline offers of food from your host?" Ye Quon patted his substantial stomach. "As you can see, I am a very polite person."

"Another way might be to threaten you, of course. You are alone with your enemies in a dark room. We could promise all sorts of unpleasant treatment if you don't speak." Ye Quon paused, seemingly considering the idea. "But you strike me as the martyr type, all too willing to play the hero unfazed by threats and torture."

Ye Quon started slowly walking in a circle around the prisoner. "So no polite friendliness. No brutal threats. What shall we do with you?" Back in front of the prisoner, Ye Quon stopped. "Perhaps we shall just ask? You strike me as a man with a mission, an agenda. And men like that are usually quite eager to share." Ye Quon used his cane to gently but firmly raise the prisoner's head until their eyes met again. "Who are you? What do you want?"


Suspicious Mind: [roll0]

[CaoimhinTheCape]

As Ye Quon speaks, the man studies him wide-eyed. When he mentions that this man is "alone with his enemies" the man winces and turns to anger.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME THEN?!? YOU'VE ALREADY TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME, HAVE YOU NOT?!? I... I am alone. I can't find my other half. You haven't driven it away but it's not here, all the same. You attack me and lock me up here. To you, we are apparently no threat. I'm alone. You've won. You could let me wither here alone. What do I matter anymore if I'm not whole?

So what's the point of all this? What... what do you really want right now?"

[Ramsus]

"So you're bonded to some kind of spirit? What we want is to know what you were trying to do. Why were you? Who are you? Who are you working for?" Kiyo cuts in and rapid fires off the questions, hoping to keep the man off balance enough that hopefully he'll reflexively answer at least some of them.


Trick: [roll0]

I guess whichever option makes sense here for them answering questions?

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"So you're bonded to some kind of spirit? What we want is to know what you were trying to do. Why were you? Who are you? Who are you working for?" Kiyo cuts in and rapid fires off the questions, hoping to keep the man off balance enough that hopefully he'll reflexively answer at least some of them.

At the mention of a bonded spirit, Kyoke's eyebrows raise, paying slightly more attention.

"My... my mirror..." He trails off, distracted as Kiyo rattles off questions.

"My name... I don't know that it matters anymore. I should now be Shunnuhs, not only me but also me. If I... If I do my jobs I may more toward balance... toward harmony with myself. He'll help me. I don't know who he is but he'll bring me in balance. He'll make use one plus one equal one."

The man says his words with full sincerity as he rambles.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Kyoke puts her hand on Kiyo's shoulder. "I think we may want to let him have a few minutes..." Unless there are any objections, she leads the group out into another room.

Away from the man, her eyes light up, clearly intrigued by him and what his speech could mean. "This other half... based on your description of the fight and how he is missing something here within our wards... I believe he is somehow bonded with a spirit. It surely isn't the same type of companionship that the Avatar has but... if we were to keep this man and see just how it works..." Kyoke pauses for a moment, lost in thought. After a moment she continues, "I think we should lower the wards. Let the spirit in so we can talk to it."

"Kiyo, just think of what this could mean for our family! What we could learn from this person! Whether it is just how they formed a connection or how to manipulate that connection, between human and spirit. Kiyo, your discovery is what will move the Mushi name into new prominence!"




Out of character Kyoke's speech is attempting to shift Kiyo's balance toward progress. If you accept this, your balance shifts to +1 Progress/-1 Tradition. If you would like to resist...

Resist Shifting Your Balance
When you resist an NPC shifting your balance, roll. On a hit, you successfully maintain your current balance in spite of their words or
deeds. On a 10+, choose two. On a 7-9, choose one.

• Clear a condition or mark growth by immediately acting to prove
them wrong
• Shift your balance towards the opposite principle
• Learn what their principle is (if they have one); if you already know, take +1 forward against them

On a miss, they know just what to say to throw you off balance. Mark a condition, and the GM shifts your balance twice.

[Ramsus]

"Are you sure that's wise mother? It took the combined efforts of Kara and myself to defeat him and it was quite the fight. I feel like it would be safer to try and learn more before taking that step. And certainly with more people ready to contain him again." Kiyo replies.
After a brief pause she adds, "I also wouldn't get my hopes up too much about the possibilities here. Look how weakened he is in this state. And he was beholden to someone else who is clearly a threat. I know you wouldn't want anyone in the family to become someone else's puppet."

Resist shifting Balance: [roll0]

I think I'll take one forward against them. (I assume I know their principle given.... yeah.)
Unless you think this is immediately acting to prove wrong?

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon paced back and forth in the room. "I must admit, I am no expert on spiritual matters, being a man of more... worldly pursuits. But I might have a suggestion... These wards of yours, they have a physical limit of some sort, no?" He pointed his cane in the general direction of outside. "We take our friend right past it, have ourselves an enlightened tête-à-tête with the spirit and if things get heated, shove the prisoner and his spirit chum back inside the wards."

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"Are you sure that's wise mother?" ... "I also wouldn't get my hopes up too much about the possibilities here. Look how weakened he is in this state. And he was beholden to someone else who is clearly a threat. I know you wouldn't want anyone in the family to become someone else's puppet."

Kyoke frowns, but nods. "Well reasoned, Kiyo. I do want to protect our family and hastily rushing into an opportunity, no matter the potential, is likely the best course of action."


"But I might have a suggestion... These wards of yours, they have a physical limit of some sort, no? We take our friend right past it, have ourselves an enlightened tête-à-tête with the spirit and if things get heated, shove the prisoner and his spirit chum back inside the wards."

"That could work," she says. "We will be opening ourselves up to the possibility of attack but with the number of you here, I think he could be pushed back into the cell."

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Kyoke watches with anticipation as the man is brought just outside of his cell.

There is a momentary pause as he steps out, unsure if this has worked. But after a moment relief washes over his face and he seems happy, closing his eyes and looking up to the sky.

When he opens his eyes again they are different, not human. Looking in them you see yourselves reflected back rather than an iris or whites of his eyes. He looks around at you all, sees that you are ready to attack if needed, and seems to understand the situation. When he speaks again, his voice sounds slightly off, reverberating slightly. The voice is restrained as it speaks, "Thank you for releasing me, though I doubt you did this without a greater goal in mind. What do you desire from me?"

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon met the reflective gaze for a few seconds before saying anything. "First of all, who are we speaking to? Man, spirit or both?"

As he waited for a reply, Ye Quon swept his eyes across every part of their prisoner, watching for any sign of... well, anything. Reading a human was one thing, this promised to be something quite different.

Assess the Situation: [roll0]

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"Physically, you are talking to us both. I, the spirit, will be the only one responding." This person. Or spirit is watching the group, taking in as much as it can.


• What here can I use to _______?
• Who or what is the biggest threat?
• What should I be on the lookout for?
• What’s my best way out/in/through?
• Who or what is in the greatest danger?

[Batcathat]

For a few moments, Ye Quon leaned on his cane and meeting the spirit's gaze without saying a word. Interrogating a spirit? That was something new. New was good. New wasn't boring. But it might require a certain... light touch. That was most certainly not Ye Quon's specialty, whether literally or metaphorically.

So let's start simple, he thought. "That answers what you are. Would you care to enlighten us as to who you are, spirit?"


As I mentioned on Discord, my question is: what is the best way for getting through to the spirit?

[CaoimhinTheCape]

The reverberating voice goes on, eyes locking onto Ye Quon. "I have no name and even if I had one it would do little to scratch the surface of what I am. In essence who I am... is you. I have spent so long understanding only spirits that I find this human world very... interesting to absorb and understand." It shrugs. "I supposed this is one way to advance my understanding but it is a bit... restrictive. We have only a handful of humans here, as opposed to the crowd yesterday."

OOC: So, getting through to the spirit would be intellectual discussion, particularly giving it information that it finds interesting. The more information you give it about people, abilities, or really anything the more satisfied it will be and more open to talking. In particular, it seems to want to observe people.

[Batcathat]

Ye Quon rubbed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "An answer that would be of great interest to a philosopher, I am sure. But it is of little use to a detective." He met the eyes of the spirit again. Was it telling the truth? Was there even a way of knowing? "So let's focus on your actions instead, shall we? What were you trying to accomplish at that rally? What is your end goal?"


As I mention on Discord, I'll go with "What's the best way to get through to this person?" for my question.

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"My end goal was first to not get captured," the spirit says this, amused rather than annoyed, "But I should say I met my other goal of experiencing airbending, waterbending, firebending, lightningbending... so refreshing. Though, I can already tell that you don't have anything to offer." At this, he indicates Ye Quon. "I am simply here to live and to... test my limits."

[Batcathat]

"Nothing to offer?" Ye Quon put on a face of exaggerated sadness. "You hurt my feelings. But that's not the only thing you've hurt lately, is it? Why test your limits by attacking a political rally? You don't like her stance on spiritual matters?"

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"Nothing to offer?" Ye Quon put on a face of exaggerated sadness. "You hurt my feelings. But that's not the only thing you've hurt lately, is it? Why test your limits by attacking a political rally? You don't like her stance on spiritual matters?"

"I suppose I don't have much of a say in your politics, being a spirit, but she is not someone I care for. But..." the spirit smiles a reflective grin. "She is a powerful firebender and lightningbender. That was a treat, particularly with an audience."

[CaoimhinTheCape]

"Let me speak plainly," the spirit says. "I am not the mastermind here nor do I have the knowledge of who that person is. But I know what my next assignment would have been and I can point you in the right direction.

In exchange, I ask that you provide me people to train with so that I may... flex my abilities." With that, he purses is lips and blows a gust of air at Kiyo, copying her airbending."


OOC I'm definitely forgetting what the different moves are off the top of my head but if you want to try and negotiate somehow, that's fine.