>>1994212
>>You should be good on equipment, though. Let's see what to wear.

>>1994212
>>You should be good on equipment, though. Let's see what to wear.

so ...futuristic 1950's america? cool.

>No, you're going to need to pick up a few things... (what?)

could izumi loan us one of her sniper rifles? i'm sure it will be useful.

>>1994212
>You should be good on equipment, though. Let's see what to wear.
I vote pump intimidation and bring some kind of tommy gun and cigar

>>1994262
You'd need to pick stuff up for that.

Also 15 minutes more. First vote after all.

5 more minutes. Anyone got anything to suggest or any changes, time is short.

>>1994212
>>You should be good on equipment, though. Let's see what to wear.

>>1994279
>>1994262
Always forget that Miranda doesn't believe in guns. Sticking with what we have works.

>>1994322
She doesn't not believe in guns. They're just not her first choice.

Alrighty, time for the shop. Just a moment...

>>1994235
>>1994247
>>1994251
>>1994262
>>1994319
Here's the shop! https://pastebin.com/R263U7Hp

>>1994356
Power Armour set with helmet. We're here to hunt down the big names and probably won't need to do much leg work, scaring away the chaff will hopefully make things easier as well.

>>1994380
I'll back this idea. But is it bad I kind of want to do a full Humour run at some point? Just really go full ham with max Humour stat?

>>1994390
This run will end up like Bugsy Malone or Scarface. Either one is fine.

>>1994380
naaaah. we are supposed to be assassins, going in with a power armor will only paint us as a huge danger.

I propose we go the oposite side. go as plain and unintimidating as possible. our bosses might not believe us at first, but we can do a show of force to convince them.

5 more minutes.

>>1994401
Ha!

>>1994380
don't we already have the power armour? no need to buy another set

>>1994401
it can also end up like in hitman, including the point when we say fuck it and begin mowing down everyone we see.

>>1994425
Oh yeah, didn't we already buy it?

>>1994404
I'll back this

Hm. It seems like either

>Power Armor >>1994380

or

>Getting plainclothes. >>1994404

You'd need to buy some stuff for a plainclothes approach, however.

>>1994356
Do we have a listing of already owed clothing?

>>1994470
Dilettante's Dress or plain tshirt or warrior's gi and Summertime Sandals do the work.

>>1994470
>Wind Girl's Windbreaker
>Magic Battle Skirt
>Mastercrafted* Pleasant Necklace
A few good picks for Plain-ness. And a small buff of Humour.

>>1994475
https://pastebin.com/9J70gqM2

For simplicity's sake:

Miranda's Jacket [Intimidation +1/Plainness -1]

Third Eye Brooch (Otherworldly +3 / Hothead -3)

Noble's Cape (Intimidation +2 / Plainness -2)

Glowing Headband (Otherworldly +1 / Hothead -2)

Clear Sunglasses (Plainness +2 / Intimidation -2)

Red Striped Sneakers (Hothead +1 / Otherworldy -1)

Power Militant Armor (Intimidation +2 / Humor -2)

Power Shell Legs (Intimidation +2 / Plainness -1)

Elite Soldier's Helmet (Intimidation +2 / Hothead +2 / Otherworldly -2)

>>1994487
Jeez, we're really into the Intimidation and Otherwordly when it comes to our current gear. We really did need to buy some Plain stuff.

I support buying some plain stuff, unfrtounately dont have time to make a shopping list myself right now

>>1994487
By the way, since we already have Clear Sunglasses, should they be marked as bought in the shop?

>>1994491
We usually dress for the job, and so far we've mostly gone with what Miranda is good at. Plain clothes might make for a change of pace so that might be fun

>>1994505
you're right. Done.

So
>>1994485
and
>>1994484

so far. I'll go with

>Magic Battle Skirt
>Mastercrafted Pleasant Necklace
and
>Summertime Sandals.

So, what top? Dilettante's Dress or Windbreaker? Or something else?

>>1994541
Windbreaker

>>1994541
I say Windbreaker, cause I like the description of it.

>>1994541
I'll say
>Warrior's Gi
> (Plainness +3 / Hothead -3)
>Price: 4 Motes
or
>Wind Girl's Windbreaker
>(Humor +2 / Plainness +2 / Intimidation -1 / Otherworldly -2)
>Price: 5 Motes

>>1994541
>Windbreaker

>>1994541
Windbreaker

>>1994541
windbreaker

>>1994547
>>1994549
>>1994551
>>1994555
>>1994556
>>1994580


>Wind Girl's Windbreaker
>Magic Battle Skirt
>Mastercrafted Pleasant Necklace
>Summertime Sandals.

Total Motes Spent: 19.

Total Motes Remaining: 39.50.

And WRITING!

Also I'm assuming you're bringing your goody bag w/crystals and respirator and whatnot.

We're gonna have a real hot time, yeah? Yous mugs best get yerselves set.

>>1994589
Will our Bag of Tricks also include the manastone guns we got from the Frontier world?
We should pick up some normal guns and acquire some plasma rifles and disrupters when we go to an advanced tech world.

And I can’t believe you guys forgot to get night-vision and infrared goggles again.

>>1994673
We were through this ages ago. Handler didn't want us to get all that stuff because it invalidates the whole magical girl thing. We might get a chance to buy them if we ever go to a null-magic world but you'll just have to live with it.

>>1994685
That was for powerful tech items like tricorders and exographic scanners, not for mundane items you can get a well-equipped American sporting goods store.

>>1994710
To be accurate, it wouldn't be a sporting goods store so much as an outdoor sports outfitter.

Dunkelberger's Sports Outfitter carries night-vision goggles as they carry hunting and camping equipment.
http://www.shopdso.com/catalog.night-vision

A sporting goods retailer like Modell's, who has a very limited Camping and Outdoors selection, won't carry them.

>>1994673
>>1994547
>>1994549
>>1994551
>>1994555
>>1994556
>>1994580

>Current Stats:

>Intimidation: B-
>Humor: B
>Otherworldly: E???
>Hothead: C
>Plainness: A-

You pick out a few things; skirt with reinforced plating, nice looking necklace, jacket, cutesy sandals. From what it sounds like, for a job like this you'd be better off looking relatively inconspicuous and unthreatening. You're probably going to have to put on a bit of an act this time- specifically, you're going to have to play up your 'little innocent girl' appearance a lot more than usual. Should be good for getting you in and out of places, although you'll have to be careful who you talk to and how you talk to them.

...actually, it doesn't feel a whole lot different from your usual wardrobe. Which you suppose is a good thing.

You take a few moments to text the rest of your teammates letting them know that you're out on the job and will be unavailable likely for a bit. You make sure to mention that Mono is to go with Owlia and Cylica for now as a guard on their next job- fortunately, none of them say anything to dispute the order. Hope they learn to get along well enough.

"Well, well, going for some priiiiivate time, after all?" Oh, dammit, Sal. "Dooooo be careful out there! I belieeeeeeve the common term is 'it'd be a shame if something happened', right? Although I believe that's noooormally said far less sincerely."

You just sigh and resist the urge to facepalm. "It's...yeah. Any time you're set, Sal."

"See you 'roooound!"

A flash of light, and you're off.

JOB STARTED


>>1994673
It should. I need to recheck that to remind me what you had. I'm pretty sure it was a pistol and a rifle, but want to make sure.

>>1994762
>I'm pretty sure it was a pistol and a rifle
I'm pretty sure it was, too.
And I think Lorelei kept her pistol and shotgun from that world.

>>1994762
To your vague surprise, you find yourself in the air as you feel yourself emerge on the other side. Not the usual entrance, but not horribly uncommon. As the light fades, you find yourself falling only a foot or two - you're quick to notice several things about where you've been summoned. For one, it seems to be a dingy, musty basement area. The walls are standard brick, and it has a cement floor, but there's nothing else in there aside from a few chains on the wall that are clearly meant for prisoners. Second thing is that you're surrounded by roughly a dozen men in suits and hats, all of them having a variety of pistols and rifles and shotguns. They're not pointed at you, but how they're held says they're not going to be shy about changing that.

You land with a small 'clack' as your sandals hit the ground; and you immediately look up to see them looking at you with various expressions in their eyes - mostly curiosity and confusion. Quickly, you take the time to check yourself over.

You're dressed in what appears to be a simple, pastel blue skirt with a pattern on the bottom you can't quite make out. It covers down to just above your ankles, matched with a similarly colored jacket that's open in the front, revealing a simple black shirt with a lovely little pearl necklace around your neck- one that seems to have a small, stylized skull in the center of it. On your arm is a tote bag, a large black one with a dark purple trim. Not a bad ensemble, really. This place was close enough that there wasn't a whole lot of changes that needed to be made, it seems.

It doesn't seem like the goons are quite as appreciative, however. One of them- a large, rotund fellow with a snub nose, a tommy gun, no hat, and clearly balding to boot, steps forward, and looks you over with a derisive eye. "You're shittin' me. All that to-do and we get some plain ol' bird? Fuckin' RIPOFF!" Oh, damn, he's sweaty, too.

He squats down- you idly think it's a miracle nothing tore- and leans in in what's a clear attempt at intimidation. "Listen 'ere, girly. Th' boss asked for someone real good at a certin' somethin', right? An' somethin' tells me yous ain't it."

You open your mouth to speak, but he pokes you in the chest, cutting you off out of sheer surprise. "An' don't gimme any weepy lil' excuses. I dun care if you needta sell cookies or whatevah, clear?" Behind him, you notice a few other goons turning around in surprise- and judging from their bodies suddenly going rigid, someone important decided to show up.

"...So you gets back to wherevah you came from and tell 'em ta send someone else, got me?" Oh, he hadn't stopped talking.

>"Terribly sorry, mister, but I'm whatcha got! Don't worry, I'm sure we're gonna be real good friends!" Introduce yourself.
>"Awwwww, you suuuure you don't wanna give me a chance? You wouldn't want to make your boss angry, would you?"
>Ignore lardass, focus on who's behind him. They're clearly the more important figure.
>Other

>>1994890
>Other
Break lardass's hand.

>>1994890
>>Ignore lardass, focus on who's behind him. They're clearly the more important figure.

Can we call ourselves bulleta?

>>1994890
>Ignore lardass, focus on who's behind him. They're clearly the more important figure.

>>1994927
I'm tempted to say yes. because I really like the character, even though I prefer the name B. B. Hood to Bulleta.

>>1994890
>Ignore lardass, focus on who's behind him. They're clearly the more important figure.

>>1994890
>>Ignore lardass, focus on who's behind him. They're clearly the more important figure.

>>1994916
I agree we need to make an example of someone, but we should do it where our client can see clearly.

And I'd prefer to do it after we make a quip about not judging people by their appearance. Especially when they had signed the Minimum Collateral Damage Rider.

>>1994890
>>"Terribly sorry, mister, but I'm whatcha got! Don't worry, I'm sure we're gonna be real good friends!" Introduce yourself.
If the boss has a similar reaction, say something along the lines of "The contract implied discretion was prefered."

>>1994979
we dont really need to act infront of the boss. we are trying to fool their enemies, not our contractor.

You don't want to focus on that man. He's sweaty.

Writing!

>>1994890
>>1994927
>>1994929
>>1994952
>>1994953
Well, if he doesn't really want to interact with you, then you don't have to interact with him any. In fact, judging by how everyone seems to be saluting now as you look behind him, it's pretty clear that you may not have to. The lady that approached is tall, to say the least. Blonde haired, with a nasty looking scar across the right half of her face that dips from her forehead to just below one of her steel blue eyes, she carries herself with the familiar body language of someone with status, power, and a desire to show it off- something that her primly pressed grey suit seems to augment. When she speaks, her voice is crystal clear and brooks no funny business. "And what, may I ask, are you doing to my contractor, Tabo?"

The man in question freezes, the look on his face one from indignant and feral to something chastised and fearful. He slowly turns around, as though he doesn't want to see the site behind him. Alas, his hopes are dashed, and he shrinks down in supplication. "S-sorry boss, but look at 'er! She ain't got nothin' to er!" He motions to you as though your very presence will serve his point.

The lady simply steps up as he moves aside, eyeing you with a gaze that speaks of years of being able to discern people. Behind her, the various other goons seem to hold their breath as they await her judgement. For your part, you just meet her eyes casually, but making certain that you never break contact. "Hm..."

You see her right hand shift, and you already guess she's going for a gun before you see the flash of steel.

>Deflect it. Boss or not, you're not just going to let anyone point a gun at you.
>Call her bluff. She wouldn't waste the time and effort like this.
>Disarm her. That's a bit more of an insult than you care to take.
>Other

>>1995244
>>Deflect it. Boss or not, you're not just going to let anyone point a gun at you.

"this might be a breach of contract, but i'll let it pass"

it is a breach of contract, right?

>>1995244
>Call her bluff. She wouldn't waste the time and effort like this.

dont want to hurt the client, even accidentally by showing off.

>>1995244
>Disarm her. That's a bit more of an insult than you care to take.
>Other: have a fully charged and ready to go magiblast at our fingertip pointed at her throat and ready to kill her. “Does this allileviate any qualms you may have about my competency? Perhaps you would like to go over my resume of previous genocides?”

>>1995244
>>Disarm her. That's a bit more of an insult than you care to take.

>>1995244
>Disarm her. That's a bit more of an insult than you care to take.
>"Inconspicuous doesn't necessarily mean harmless, ma'am."
>"I assumed breaking your assistant's arms would have gone against the Collateral Damage rider."

>>1995244
>Disarm her. That's a bit more of an insult than you care to take.

If that's how she's gonna play it, then that's how we are gonna play it.

So, we need to get some specifics on who we’re going to kill.
Like, the contract said to dismantle their Family, but how thorough does she want us to be? Just kill the top, or kill everyone and their families, all the way down to the kids that do lookout duty? Do we also go after friends and crooked cops on their take?

>>1995244
>>Deflect it. Boss or not, you're not just going to let anyone point a gun at you.

>>1995335
We'll hit ALL their favorite coffee places.

5 minutes on.

>>1995335
Family head, wives/lovers, sons and grandsons, and we balme it on another gang just to be sure.

>>1995244
>>Disarm her. That's a bit more of an insult than you care to take.

>>1995244
>>1995278
>>1995299
>>1995323
>>1995328
>>1995266
>>1995265
>>1995340
>>1995533
Yeah, no. It's one thing to question your appearance, but it's far another to have a gun leveled at you. Your hands dart out just as she swings the pistol around, and she barely has time to register as your hands snatch the gun and her wrist, eyes going wide as you twist and grip her wrist just enough to loosen her grip, flip it up, and have the weapon out of her hands and quickly into yours.

Almost as one you hear the sound of a number of guns cocking as they're all aimed towards you, but you don't break eye contact with the boss as you keep a smile on your face - now more sardonic than it might have been otherwise, but still there. "Iiii dunno about doing that again," you offer casually. "Looks can be decieving, y'know!" You waggle the butt of the gun at her in false chastisement, can you can see the fat man's face go red - although from anger or otherwise you're not sure.

To her credit, the lady doesn't react immediately. She blinks once, then looks at her hand, still curled, as though she's still expecting the gun to be in it. She then turns back to you, as her eyes narrow... But her mouth slowly turns upward into a grim smile. "Not a whole lot with the balls to try something like that...much less actually pull it off. I guess you're the real deal, huh?"

"As real as can be." You affirm. "I'm guessing you're my client?"

"Carmel Lucineta, sweetie." she states in greeting. She raises a hand, and the surrounding goons lower their guns again. "And you might be?"

"You can stick with 'Sweetie.'" You say, giving her a half-shrug. "No big deal."

"Fair enough," she says with a laugh. "Follow me." She turns to leave, and you follow her down the hall, as Tabo and the others trail you both like fearful dogs.

She starts talking out of the blue. "So, put simply, you're on Havershan, if you didn't know. Right now, you're in the city of Laverta. It's a shitheap." Wow. Ringing endorsement. "Expensive, rundown, generally bullshit. Fine place to live, really, so long as you know the rules."

cont.

We should also ask how bloody she wants the terminations.
I’m looking forward to getting a kid and having their intestines run across the buildings of the target Family like telephone cables.

>>1995543
"And those would be?" you ask.

"Don't cross the families," she says beatifically. "You do as we say, how we say, when we say, and your life is lovely. Well, as lovely as it gets for any poor asshole not in the families. You try and start shit, and we make your life hell- before we send ya there." Fair enough. "The Lucienta family likes to understand that people enjoy pleasure more than pain, though. We're...well, they call us the 'nicer' family, but I wouldn't take that to mean we're cute n' cuddly." Obviously.

"Of course, considering how all of us are in the saying...'business', there's going to be a couple of...'altercations'. That's normal. But what AIN'T normal is how ballsy those Giogionne bastards have been lately. They've been getting uppity since they managed to take Carcon City from the Gravers." She turns a corner, and there's a door at the corner, facing a smaller hallway that leads up a stairway. "In here," she says, opening the door to reveal a very plush office. You follow, but no one else does. She's got a number of pictures of various men and women, along with a number of books on a shelf. The floor is carpeted white, and her desk seems to be a dark wooden number. On it a some smaller pictures- a number of a young boy who seems to be rather clean cut, with bright eyes and a beautiful smile. He's got his arm around a young girl that looks similar to the woman in front of you.

She sits behind it, and relaxes a bit. "And those bastards have been screwing around with someone I care VERY much about. Nearly killed him, really. So I'm fed up. I want them gone. All the heads, all the seniors, anyone higher than a fucking footsoldier needs to be dead in the ground. I want a fucking slaughter of Giogionne. I want a fucking boogeyman for everyone wearing that STUPID ASS yellow badge. I WANT THE FUCKING GIOGIONNE FAMILY AS ANCIENT FUCKING HISTORY!" She slams her desk, and leans back in a sigh. "All of them. Everywhere. Any city ran by the Giogionne, find them, and END them."

Wow. That's pretty extensive. "All of them, huh?"

She scowls. "Yeah. Any questions? I know you got some."

>Anything in particular?

>>1995556
What are their numbers, where are their bases, who is their leader, what is their general armament?

>>1995556
How blatant do you want me to be? Should I stick in the shadows, slit their throats in their beds, poison the patriarch's wine during a family celebration? Or should I show myself, and make a glorious spectacle of the arrangement?

>>1995556
>any events the giogionne will have/will attend in the near future? also, information the hierarchy of their family.

>>1995556
This includes children, extended family, friends and consorts?
Anyone above footsoldiers, and so everyone associated with them?

Make it absolutely clear that we will kill every single person in a city if she asks us to. Tell her that we WILL cause a goddamn genocide if she wants.
Does she want mass graves, or should we make an example of every body?

I want it made apparent to the client that they are NOT hiring some run-of-the-mill assassin. Miranda is a subtle assassin or a walking WMD who will kill every single living thing within a city. She needs to be VERY SPECIFIC on the parameters of her contract.

5 minutes to go.

also, a way to contact her in case something relevant happens

Locked. Writing!

>>1995610
Hah, Miranda can bring up the Frontier job as an example.
“A previous client of mine didn’t tell me he wanted the civilians of a town alive until after I’d already started exterminating them. And because he didn’t mention any of the tribals, I made sure to kill every single one of them. Would have burnt the women and children, too, but I didn’t get a chance to do that. Settled for just killing all of their men.”

>>1995610
>>1995680

Ow! Who left all this edge lying around here?

>>1995879
On one hand, bringing it up in a tactful manner that doesn't come off as stupid edgy teenager "look how little I care for your sense of morality" is going to be pretty difficult. On the other hand, we do need to know, as this could easily come back to bite us in the ass if we try to guess what's appropriate and end up wrong.

>>1995914
This is the only reason I didn't dispute those write-ins. We do need to know what exactly she wants. If we can ask without the edginess, it'll help clear up any misunderstandings.

>>1995879
It’s like you’ve forgotten the villages that Miranda has wiped out as part of a job or because they got in the way.

>>1995914
We were able to pull it off when we told our client we’d kill everyone in town if he didn’t buy the rider to minimize civilian casualties.

>>1995556
>>1995579
>>1995587
>>1995605
>>1995610
>>1995648
>>1995680
"Weeelll, I'm going to need data," you start off. "Y'know, numbers, what they're carrying, base locations, important people, leader, y'know, that kinda stuff."

"Couldn't tell you their exact numbers, but I know they have ten generals. The guys who call the shots for everyone else below them. I'll give you a list. Then there's the big three: Fredo Giogionne, who's the underboss, Lani Zesco, the right hand, and the big guy- Fredo's father, Marco Giogionne. He runs the whole damn thing." She starts rummaging through her desk. "We've been settin' this up for a bit, so I already have some details for ya. DON'T lose this, okay?" She hands you a piece of paper, and the first thing you notice is that it has a number of names on it:

>Marco Giogionne
>Fredo Giogionne
>Lani Zesco
--------
>Orenzio 'Mad' Petruzzelli
>Darwin 'Iron Man' LeRose
>Mario 'Good Looking' Morella
>Pomponio 'The Spider' Barilla
>Logan 'Clownshoes' Cerbia
>Alfred 'Silver Tounge' Randle
>Bi-ba 'Fat Mousey'
>Lyra 'Sweetcheeks' Royale
>Jaheem 'Sniffer' Solway
>Brody 'Winters' Turner

"'Round here, you get you here names cuz of what you do," she says warningly. "Don't go in expectin' easy times. Especially because they know they're big targets. Been waltzin' around with more shield glyphs than usual." Well, you have a shield shard yourself. Might come in handy here. "Sides' from that, they're old school. They run gambling parlors across the whole damn continent, traffickin', gun runnin', that sorta stuff. Mostly they're about the shootin', but I know for a fact they got spellslingers in their ranks. Pretty sure Spider and Sweetcheeks do it."

"And bases?" You press.

She leans in. "We know a couplea 'em. One in this city, they rule th' the south end. I expect you to handle that'un first. Winters holds court there. Seen him before, tall guy, white haired, looks a whole lot older than he is. Likes to smoke. Don't like to talk, just shoot. Got another out in Violetta, next city over. Sides from that, going to have to do some detective work." She shrugs. "Bastards are sneaky, and don't like people knowing their business."

"Anything you know 'bout 'em?" Great, you're starting to talk like her too. "Any big events or anythin' coming up?"

She shakes her head. "Nothin' we could tell ya in advance; Sweetcheeks likes to spend big and throw parties, but that's as random as all get-out. None of them are exactly recluses, but they tend to keep their cards close to the chest. They go out when they go out, come back in when they come back in. Just that folks are smart enough to not fuck with 'em. Too much magic, too many men. I mean hell, like we stay cooped up in here all day. Winters likes him some ballgames, I know that much. Gets his own private seating area and everything. No games for a couplea days, though."

cont.

>>1996104
Fair enough. You'll have to figure some things out on your own, then. Although that does remind you. "So... How quiet do you want this? You did say 'everyone', soooo, do you mean stuff like friends, family, outside associates? That kinda stuff?"

She mulls it over for a good few minutes, actually. You decide to make a point of it. "I mean, it's completely understandable if you want to make absolutely certain that absolutely no one even remotely related to them will have a ghost of a chance of wanting revenge. It would leave a lot of bodies, but I can certainly do it! Done it before, even!"

She doesn't seem to take it any badly, instead leaning back again as she considers your words. Eventually, she makes her decision. "Anyone you think knows too much about their business. I don't care beyond that, but keep it quiet if ya can. I don't want shit exploding in the streets, and we don't want people goin' crazy and thinking there's about to be some massive gang war- especially 'cause once you start gettin' to work, the sooner it gets public, the sooner other families are gonna come in hard. We want as much time to grab things before they figure out the score. We're not so weak that we can't take care of a few loose strands, but I want the possibility of the clan reforming to be single digits, get me?"

"Got it!" you give her a lazy salute. "Any way to keep in touch whicha?"

"I'd prefer ya didn't. But if you really needta..." she takes out a spare sheet of paper, and writes out a number on it. "Call this number, ask for 'Jessie J.', he's my second, knows the whole score. Whatever you want to say to me, you say to them, and I'll get back to you. I got ways, so don't worry about that." She stands up. "If that's all, I got you set up in a nice place in the Big Crown Hotel. Tell them the reservation's under Sharla Gunn."

>I'll letcha know when the first job's done.
>Can I ask if that kid's who you're talking about?
>Other

>>1996108
>Other
>Now, you mentioned that your precious sweetie-cakes was trying to make this here city a better place. I need to know three things: does he know what you do, is he in any sort of position to interfere with my work, and if so, what exactly should I do to ensure he won't follow me back to you.

>>1996108
>Other: can we get a shield rune (gotta test how effective the local defenses are against what we bring)?

>>1996108
Do you know someone in the magic black market for potions/gadgets? We could use some mind control/magic cancelling stuff.

>>1996108
>Other
Can we eliminate anyone from the other Families that looks like they might interfere, or if we can try to pin their death on the Giogionne? Or should we avoid killing anyone not part of the target?

>>1996108
Locked, writing.

So, people here have shield glyphs. We're gonna have to check if they're the type that are always on, or if they require the user to be aware of a danger.
Also how strong the glyphs are.

Also we're going to have to check around how well developed magic is here; if there's a lot of utility spells or if it's mostly just offense/defense.
We can brute force through defense, but support spells like detection and divination could really trip us up.

>>1996108
"Cool," you say, taking the paper and memorizing the number. "Just a few more things, then. First, can I get any of those Shield runes? Just for practices' sake?"

"I'll have one tossed your way," she says with little consideration. "More than worth it."

Easy enough. "Great. Speaking of that, are you familiar with anyone in the, uh, market of less than legal potions or gadgetry? Specifically anything involving mind control or anti-magic."

She scratches her head in thought. "Yeah, I might know a guy, but he's neutral- don't expect any discounts. I'll put the word out though- and he'll contact you, not the other way around. That's outta my hands."

Fair enough. "Last couple of things then. Let's say someone from one of the other families gets a little bit too nosy..."

"Deal with 'em if you gotta," she shrugs. "Just don't let be traced back to us."

"Hokay, so, last thing- and this is really kind of important." you fix her with a mildly serious look, to which Carmel raised a slender eyebrow. "This 'sweetie-cakes' of yours... Does he know what you're doing here?"

To your surprise, her cheeks are gently dusted red. "Not as such, no. He's...an old friend of mine, and trying to...help things. He...doesn't know I'm one of the major families. I kept it a secret from him for, well, ever. But he's too sweet for me to say the truth!" All at once, her countenance seems to shift from a cold, serious mob boss to a young girl with a precocious crush. "And he's just so SINCERE about it, and he's just always been the sweetest thing! I-I can't just squash that! All this talk about Justice and helping and it's just soooo cute!"

Oh...well, that's going to make the next bit rough. "Sooo...if he were to interfere..."

"Hurt him in any way whatsoever, and I will bring absolutely all of my forces, hatred, and wrath down to bear on you." The way she says this is so absolute that you actually believe every syllable. "He's an investigative sort, true, but so long as you don't get too obvious, he shouldn't cause you any troubles. Especially if I distract him from the mystery of you. If needs must, just...call me and I'll do something about it. That or just lay low for a few days, maybe both. Just...don't-"

There's a knock on the door that interrupts you both, and a voice you recognize as the fat man's sounds from beyond the door. "M'am? Need ya upstairs."

cont.

>>1996534
>>1996136
>>1996152
>>1996226
>>1996227

She sighs- whether in relief or frustration you can't be sure. "Bah. Business. Get to the hotel, okay? One of my boys will lead you out the back and drive you there." She leaves quickly, before you can ask anything else, and you're blocked off by a wall of men with guns as she walks up the stairs in front of her office.

"This way, miss," One of them says, and you figure that you've got enough information to at least get started. Hell, if you really need to, now, you can call. No reason to disobey.

The ride over is silent; you have plenty of time to see the world around you, and it's one that you can tell is all of a veneer of niceness. Today is actually fairly sunny, but you see precious few people out on the roads, and the ones that are seem to be very much trying to power walk, as though they would really rather not be on the roads at all. The city itself is one that's clearly larger, judging by the highrises in the distance.

The driver finally parks at a rather luxurious, white brick hotel. There's a symbol of a crown on the top, which leaves no guesses as to what it is. "We're here," he says. As soon as you get out, however, he leaves rather quickly.

Giving a sigh, you walk in. Might as well get used to your digs as soon as possible. This is gonna be a long job.


>Cutting it off here for now, will resume later! Gotta say, really glad this one got picked. I've been having ideas for some solo jobs for a while now, and this is one of the more detailed ones, to me. Hoping to have it be interesting for you guys.

>>1996540
I personally prefer the solo jobs, honestly. They tend to allow for more flexibility, and we get paid more. I long for the day we don't spend the majority of our payment on clothing.

Thanks for running.

We forgot to ask about the harpies, mice and dolphins. It would be mildly amusing to end up having to interrogate one of these.

>>1996534
I'm really hoping that there's a point in this job where we convince her to go on a date with him as a distraction from our murder spree.

If we can get extra pay from it, all the better.

>>1996540
I mean. Are we getting paid enough for this? We have to take out people in multiple cities?

Like I get it's too late to renegotiate but we should be thinking of how to loot these people.

After all she never said anything about NOT robbing them as well. And criminals tend to have fungible yet easily transportable goods around in case if sudden asset seizures or to avoid drawing official eyes to their income levels.

>>1996815
>We have to take out people in multiple cities
We have to take out people across an entire continent.

>>1996815
We've been on jobs that pay the same as this, but suggest multiple people; the main payment is fine. We could take the advice we gave to the flower themed girls and loot our targets safehouses and vaults and such. We'll need to be careful about not over encumbering ourselves however; as far as I can tell, anything not used as currency can only be taken with us when we leave.

>>1996815
>>1996846
Because she said she wants everyone above the level of a footsoldier dead, as well as anyone that knows too much about their business (which is kind of vague).
On top of that we have to make their deaths look accidental if possible since she wants this entire business kept quiet.

>>1996815
>>1996864
>>1996871
We're in it for the long haul. Once we work out a plan we may be able to work out a safe house deal with our boss. Wonder if a bag of holding would be possible to buy one day

>>1996871
I figure our best bet for keeping the massive amount of killing we're about to do quiet is to simply 'disappear' everyone we kill. We'll need a mass grave somewhere out of the way (ocean? wilderness? desert? big hole in the ground?) we can dump our victims in. I doesn't have to stay hidden forever, just long enough to complete the job.

>>1996993
Don't forget we are in a world where harpies, giant mice and sentient dolphins exist. May need to resort to atomizing bodies.

>>1996871
so we need to do a hitman and poison their beverages or the air supply?

>>1996540
Will the other three jobs be available after this? Honestly all of them sounded fun.

>>1997011
Shit, we forgot to ask if the target Family is mostly of one species or an even mix.

>>1996956
Your tote bag is the Bag of Holding. It just changed form.

>>1997011
I wonder what happens if we just throw their corpses into the Intersection. Do they vanish too?

Is there a market for organs in the intersection?

Man I hope we got a list of targets too. Fuck having to play detective.

>>1997851
I hope there's just gonna be a big, simple mob party somewhere. We'll just go up to the front door and double-tap Flux Wave and shank everyone.

>>1997011
i think that with removeing the head, or blowing their brans out will be enough

>>1997851
we already hace the list of targets. it was posted on one of handler's texts

>>1997873
We got a list of names.
But no descriptions, no idea what cities they operate out of, or even what species. So yeah, we’re going to have to play detective.

>>1997851
What's wrong with being a detective? Having to find the people before we kill them isn't anything unusual.

>>1997873
Maybe I misread his comment about atomizing bodies, but I interpreted it to mean something like "If we drop the corpses in a body of water, the dolphins may find them and sound the alarm. If we bury the corpses, one of the other races of non-human people may discover the graves through digging or aerial surveying. Thus, vaporizing the evidence may be the only way to successfully hide it long-term."

I don't believe he was suggesting we'd need to vaporize people just to kill them.

Perhaps we need some more information about how the various non-humans actually live. If harpies don't actually fly, it won't matter very much if mass graves are visible from the air. If dolphins don't swim any more often or any more deeply than humans do, it won't matter very much if we sink a pile of corpses in a river, lake, or ocean. If mice don't actually tunnel, it won't matter very much if we bury in dirt instead of concrete.

>>1998053
Anon has it right, I meant more in terms of body disposal. Also need to think about order. On one had splurging Winters first will allow the Lucientas to help with clean up, maybe they already have something in mind. Then again it would immediately draw attention to the family so picking a random one off the list might be good too.

>>1996540
The mouse girl at the desk is friendly enough; the large interior is doing her no favors, but the grey-furred she-beast still moves around as gamely as possible to try and check on your information when you give her the name. She barely comes up to above the lip of the desk, and you can clearly hear something being set up and down as a stool or some sort. When you give the name Sharla Gunn, she doesn't hesitate, instead giving you a key and a thick folder. "Was-was told to give this to you, yes." The desk agent says in her raspy voice. "Room three-six-eight, yes. In room there's number. Ca-call! We can do things for you, yes. Food and stuff, yes." Huh. Seems like they even have room service.

>"Thanks." Just get to your room.
>"Were you told anything else?"
>"Say, you know anything about Mister Winters?"
>Other

>>1998232
>"Thanks." Just get to your room.
>Give her a tip

>>1998053
eeeh, we just need to think like serial killers, go to the middle of a forest, make a shallow grave and leave the body there. or send the body parts to the rest of the family to panic them.

>>1998232
>>"Thanks." Just get to your room.
Let's at least try to be discrete. Asking about winters inside the building we're staying in is asking to be traced back to us.

>>1998232
>"Say, you know anything about Mister Winters?"
No time like the present

>>1998232
>>"Thanks." Just get to your room.

10 minutes due to start of run.

Locked, writing!

>>1998232
>>1998238
>>1998265
>>1998279
The mouse girl at the desk is friendly enough; the large interior is doing her no favors, but the grey-furred she-beast still moves around as gamely as possible to try and check on your information when you give her the name. She barely comes up to above the lip of the desk, and you can clearly hear something being set up and down as a stool or some sort. When you give the name Sharla Gunn, she doesn't hesitate, instead giving you a key and a thick folder. "Was-was told to give this to you, yes." The desk agent says in her raspy voice. "Room three-six-eight, yes. In room there's number. Ca-call! We can do things for you, yes. Food and stuff, yes." Huh. Seems like they even have room service.

>"Thanks." Just get to your room.
>"Were you told anything else?"
>"Say, you know anything about Mister Winters?"
>Other


Best not to get too eager. "Thanks," you say, giving her a node and a professional smile. "Appreciate that."

She beams, her large ears flapping as she nods in thanks. "Not a problem, not at all, yes! We have gym and fancy breakfast for you in the morning, yes!" That said and done, you take what seem to be an elevator up to the floor in question, and it's little trouble finding your temporary lodgings.

It's actually a pretty swank place- from the looks of things it seems like she's sprung for a lavish suite, a three room that's more apartment than anything-it's got an ice box in it (pre-stocked with wines), what looks like a stove of a sort, a king sized bed, and a private bath/shower. It's pretty good digs, you have to admit. The entire area is covered in thick red carpeting, and when you look out the window near the back of the living room, you have a rather nice of you of a large portion of the city. In fact, you can see what looks to be a stadium a bit further out - likely for baseball, if what Carmel said was correct. There's also a large building that you can see from here has a star on it. You can just make out the large sign on the top saying 'Laverta Herald'. Newspaper,then.

It's evening now, and the Sun is just barely above the horizon. Taking your eyes off the view, you recall the envelope. Tearing it open, you're a bit surprised to see a thick wad of cash spill out of it - a quick count reveals that it's ten grand, even. There's also a note inside.

cont.

>>1998613
'Here's a little spending money to make sure you get the job done right. Don't blow it all in one place. That's not a joke. The map has a few places you're gonna be 'safe', no matter what.'

There's no notification as to who it's from, but you have a pretty good idea. There's also another folded up piece of paper which is the map in question. It's got a few places marked on it, as she stated.

>Louie's Bar
>Ma-Ma's
>Snippy's Salon
>Darsi's Boutique
>La'chan's hey
>Spice Club

You're pretty sure the last was where you came from, if your sense of direction is entirely shot. Well, now you got a little time to think. You could just go after Winters since he's in the city, but you need to find him first...

>Head out for an evening stroll.
>Just take an early night, and start in the morning.
>Other

>>1998618
Head out for an evening stroll.

>>1998618
>>Head out for an evening stroll.

>>1998618
>>Head out for an evening stroll.
Might as well get a feel for the area, if nothing else.

>>1998618
>>>Head out for an evening stroll.

>>1998618
>>1998624
>>1998664
>>1998667
>>1998682

Might as well take a late walk around and see what you can find. No one should question a young girl like you walking around in the evening, right?

>Pick an area you might want to go to out of the ones listed in >>1998618, or
>None, just wander.

>Either way, roll 1d20.

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>1998746
>>None, just wander.

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>1998746
If those are safe houses, we don't really want to be hanging around them unless we're using them, kinda ruins the whole 'safe' aspect.
>None, just wander.

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>1998746

Fair enough! Place like this has gotta have some inerrestin' joints off the beaten path, yeah?

>>1998746
>>1998781
>>1998802
>>1998811
The night seems to be a lot more personable oddly enough. While during the day it's a bit eerie for people to not really be seen out and about, it's a lot more natural here. Surprisingly, you swear that the number of people out on the street actually seems to have increased. More mousefolk are running about, and you see a number of harpy groups flying low, talking about various nonsense. Doesn't really make sense, to you. But, whatever.

Wandering around the city and taking an absolutely everything would take up half the night you figure, at least without trying to leap everywhere, which would blow your cover. Still, you manage to locate a few other places of interest; the apparent Police Department, which isn't actually that far away. It seems surprisingly well kept, but considering what the situation is, you doubt that they're of any particular use. It seems like there's a number of nightclubs and various entertainment venues around this end- which, thinking about it, might be the reason why more people are going out so late.

As you pass a nightclub called, ironically enough, 'Sunset's', a number of harpy women in line, eager for a night of dancing, you notice a pair of individuals walking across from you, both dressed very well in matching suits. One is a human, tall, thin, and balding, the other an Ogre, and they both seem to be casually talking with each other. You can see a number of the harpies notice as well, and you can see a few of them fluff themselves up as they swoon over the men, and immediately start jabbering about them.

The two men grin at each other, motioning towards the club, and the ogre nods casually. After a bit more talking, they both head in your direction.

>Lean back a bit and see what's happening covertly.
>Ask the harpies what's going on directly.
>Ignore the rabble for now, keep learning the city.
>Other

>>1999148
>Other
>Ask the harpies what's going on /in/directly.
Our high plainness should allow us to talk to the locals without any issue, so long as we don't paint a target on our backs by being overt.

>>1999148
>Lean back a bit and see what's happening covertly.

>>1999148
>>Lean back a bit and see what's happening covertly.

Aren't we a little girl here? This could be awkward. Maybe go around a corner and flip on super hearing instead

>>1999148
>Lean back a bit and see what's happening covertly

Locked. We're gonna hang back.

>>1999148
>>1999183
>>1999218
>>1999230
>>1999268
>>1999250
Considering your looks, you don't think it'll be look upon to well if you were to walk up to people in line at an adult's club and start making casual conversation. Might be best to hang back and get what you can get from passive observation for now. You end up walking past the line normally and walking under a streetlight, turning a corner near into an alleyway. Fortunately, it did genuinely seem to lead out to another road, straight further down, so if anyone caught you in here you could just call it taking a shortcut. Kneeling to seem like you're just resting, you try and focus on the raucousness of the group that you just passed - you hear the footsteps of the duo approaching, and they walk right past your spot without giving you a second glance.

"Aawwk, welll, Mr. Staton, Mr. Boggarth!" The harpies immediately take on a sultry tongue, clearly intending to try and seduce the two, as the tallest one speaks, a lady with quite the wingspan and figure. Her winged arms flutter in excitement. "Didn't think two of you fine gentlemen would be at such an establishment tonight!"

"Spontaneous visit, hun," one of them says - a quick check shows you it's the taller man. "Decided it was worth our time to spend some hours in the company of some lovely ladies, such as yourselves."

"Glad you appreciate us visiting," the rougher voice of the ogre says, giving a small chuckle at the end. "Good to know we've got fans."

"Oh, of cooourse. I'm sure we can show our appreciation in other ways, too." Yet another glance shows that one of them is trying to cozy on up to the muscular ogre. "Can't we, girls?"

cont.

>>1999864
"Oh, I bet!" Various other agreements pipe up. "Old Man not causing you to work too hard, is he?" Hey, now. Finally.

"Nah, things are fine at the house," the man says. "Might be out and about in a couplea days- we're lookin' into some big business." Hm. So he'll be open in at least two days. Good to know- although you're kind of surprised that they're being so blatant about it. "Big man wants to take a look at the place we're steppin' into. I'm pretty sure you gals are gonna love it, though. Real plush spot, lotsa traffic."

"Oooooh, isn't that somethin'!" The lead harpy flutters her ruby red wings a bit more, before she drapes them around the man, while a raven-colored compatriot does the same to the orc. "How gracious..."

Neither of the mobsters refuse the advances, and it's only when the men offer to get them into the club early to 'get ahead of the rabble' that they cease their clinging.

You're thinking about what to do with this information when you hear a clattering from down the alleyway- and you're quick to see a number of individuals who seemingly come out of the shadows- some teenaged, some younger, all of them looking poor and unkempt. Threadbare clothes, scraggly hair, some without shoes, either. At first, you're sympathetic.

That ends when one of them points a small pistol at you. "Ey, you! Give us your money!"

...Huh. Really?

>Gonna leave off at this point for now. Will resume...gonna say Tuesday,

>>1999876
We could beat and torture information out of them before disposing of the bodies.
We just have to make sure that they disappear and that there’s no evidence.

While there’s the idea of turning them into low-level informants for us, there’s the high chance they would sell us out.

>>1999876
These muggers are in for a bad time. I'm more worried about how to deal with them such that the aftermath looks like another mugging gone wrong.

Thanks for running.

>>2000021
Maybe we can use our magi-blast to disintegrate the bodies.

>>2000019
>>2000021

Yup. Thing to remember is that this place, as stated, is pretty shitty. Night and day both have their...problems. This is a city kept together only by the thinnest veneer of 'order' and 'law'. You're going to be dealing with more than just primary targets here simply by dint of how life is.

>>2000025
Could do, but don't those involve large flashes and loud noises?

>>2000037
Oh, yeah, did we return that pistol we snatched out of Carmel's hands, or can we consider it sort of a welcoming gift?

>>2000107
You gave it back.

>>1999876
Fist run off into a side alley/street. We're new in town and looking to know what's what. They can either help us out by providing some info for a reasonable fee . . . Or providing an example for why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover as well as the information we want.

Their choice how they want to do business.

Then we can "mark" them and tell them that loose lips sink ships and if they can help us out we pay fair and square, and if they sell us out we pay back with very generous interest. After all, money is only good if you're alive to spend it, and since we come from out of town it isn't like it's difficult for us to follow someone even if they leave town themselves.

>>2000078
Only if we have the blasts explode. We can make them stop and burn things.

>>2000168
Bummer.

Ah, well. At least these kids brought us a new piece for us...

>>2000021
we dont need to do that... just make it look like a mafia related execution; like if someone was sending a message to somebody else. considering how the world runs, it will create little rabble.

>>2000350
That's what I meant; if we killed them in our usual fashion, the resulting mess would be... atypical. We need to deal with them in a non-unique fashion, whatever form that takes.

>>2001412
Going out on a limb here, but typical mafia-related forms of violence probably go, in order from most common to least: Blunt-force trauma, lacerations, "accidental" car crashes, stabbings, gunshots, and "creative punishments." The "creative" category is for things like heads in hydraulic presses, power drills to kneecaps, vats of acid, meat processing plants, and that glorious classic: feet in concrete at the bottom of a river.

That said, since magical shield glyphs are apparently a thing here, it's possible magical executions actually do occur. I'd expect them to be in either the gunshot or "creative" tiers. At that point you can't reasonably write it off as an accident or a common criminal's activity anymore.

So let's just bludgeon these guys into submission.
> "If anyone asks, you say 'the idiot at the top of the steps tripped and knocked us all down like dominos,' get it?"

>>2002070
We could also go with a “mugging gone wrong” wherein these muggers tried to hold up a spellslinger, and we blast the guy with the gun.

>>2002074
i´d rather not do that, because we don´t know how magic and social status work here. its simplet to beat them down and discard the corpses on the conviniently placed dumpster...

or force them to work for us.

>>1999876
> Pretend to flee somewhere people can't see us, then roll the thugs for information.

>>2005002
You know we’re in an alleyway right now, the nuggets are blocking one exit, and the other exit opens out into the street right in front of a nightclub, right? There isn’t really anywhere to run that isn’t highly visible.

>>1999876
Give'em a tenner then tell'em to fuckoff. If they don't fuckoff, forcibly conscript them into your personal intelligence gang.

>>2005055
>conscript
They'd cut and run as soon as they were out of our sight, and likely sell us out in the process.

>>1999876
You have to admit, this is pretty audacious...not to mention sudden. Sure, it's at night, but there's at least eight individuals, most with some sort of melee weapon- crowbars, chain, knives, classic bat for two of them. Seems like the leader is the only one with a gun, though. Seems to be just out of his teenage years, shorthaired, and with a few nicks on his face and arms that tells you he's been in a couple of knife fights. He has a mountain of swagger in his step as he levels the gun at you, his voice dripping with insincerity. One of the bat wielders nearby taps him on the shoulder, though, and his rough frown changes into more of a sleazy smile.

"Aheh...sorry, sweets. Normally, we'd see a gal like you go with mebbe some sweet words and some fun, but- hey, guys gotta eat, right? So anything you got in that purse, it's ours now. Hell, leave the purse, too. I'm sure a doll like you can get another one, yeah?" He looks off to the side for a few seconds back at his lackeys as he laughs.

>Point, shoot. Beam through the chest should make your point.
>Take the gun and bludgeon him with it. You can beat down the lot of 'em.
>"Aww, are you suuuure you want anything from little 'ol me? Can't we work out a deal?"
>Other

Remember your high plainness and humor. Not a warning, just a note.

>>2005599
>>"Aww, are you suuuure you want anything from little 'ol me? Can't we work out a deal?"
can we say it with some undertones of danger?

12 more minutes- due to start of run.

>>2005599
>>"Aww, are you suuuure you want anything from little 'ol me? Can't we work out a deal?"
Give them a little show and have some electricity arc between our fingers.

>>2005599
>>"Aww, are you suuuure you want anything from little 'ol me? Can't we work out a deal?"

>>2005599
>>Take the gun and bludgeon him with it. You can beat down the lot of 'em.
magi-blast will leave distinctive wounds, and I'm not sure what we can offer them.

>>2005599
>Point, shoot. Beam through the chest should make your point.

>>2005692
We need to break into the city morgue as our next target.
It’ll show us the kinds of wounds that the locals see, so we can alter our methods appropriately.

>>2005599
Attempts at enticement. Writing!

>>2005696
we could just find a contact at any of the safehouses and ask. why make it complicated?

>>2005599
>>2005626
>>2005681
>>2005690
>>2005692
>>2005693
You fix him with an easy smile; one that shows that you're not particularly distraught at the events occurring right now. "Awwww, that's no fun. None at all!"

"Yeah?" He shrugs. "Well, that's how the cookie crumbles, doll."

"But you're suuuuure you wanna try and take my stuff?" You say in a sugary sweet tone, as you hold out a hand as if checking your nails. The true meaning of the motion is made clear when the sparks that fly between them light up the alleyway a bit. Immediately you see a number of individuals clinched their weapons tighter, and a couple of them back off a step or two. The leader rears back a bit, but isn't so afraid. "I mean, can't we work out some sort of deal?" Tilt your head down just enough, and make sure you still keep eye contact - that look's always a killer.

And it doesn't fail you here either; the kid with a gun waivers for all of a second, which is enough to let you know that you got his interest at least somewhat. "Y-yeah? What kind of deal- what does a little broad like you got for a crew like us?" he's talking faster. Stuttering. If nothing else, he seems to sense that things aren't quite as they look here...

But that does leave you with a question. What ARE you planning to offer him and his crew, and for what?

>You've got enough money to come up with something...
>His life, in exchange for information.
>Other

>>2005750
>>His life, in exchange for information.

>>2005750
>>His life, in exchange for information.
Even if we had a job that needed doing, I wouldn't trust this lot to do it right.

>>2005750
>You'll be my gophers for a couple of weeks and I won't kill you, and neither will any of my associates.

>>2005775
They don't need to do it right. A badly executed job can be worth a lot. As a distraction for example.

>>2005750
Locked. We're gonna be ominous. Wonder how that'll turn out.

Writing.

>>2005750
>>2005770
>>2005775
>>2005777
"Mmmmm...tell ya what. You give me a bit of information..." you lean forward, the sunniest of grins on your face. "And I won't splatter your face all over the pavement. Sound fair?"

You can hear some mumbling and discussion under their breath, and most of them seem to have the same sense of unease that's been permeating the air ever since you started talking. The leader of the gang purses his lips, licking them in their dryness. You can see his eyes are on anything but you, flickering around as he starts to sweat. You're kind of hoping that he'll understand exactly what the situation is- having to kill someone unrelated to your job so soon would be an ill omen.

However, he shakes his head, finally seeming to gather his nerve. The response isn't quite what you'd hoped, however. "Augh, screw this! One creepy broad- Jack, flatten 'er!" He motions to a bigger boy- one of the ones carrying a wooden bat. He's at least twice as tall as you, and three times as wide. He's close shaven, and doesn't seem to really register too much judging by his blank look before the boy calls him name. Still, that shifts to a wicked grin once he hears his orders and steps up. The quick sniff tells you that he's really not all that much to write home about. Not anything really. He's slightly stronger than your average kid and that's about it.

This is why when he rears back and swings the bat, you don't move a muscle. In fact, the bat bounces off with a crack, while you still keep your smile in place as the boy stumbles back from the unexpected recoil.

A number of eyes go wide at this show of capability, and almost like a wave, the lot of them step back far more readily this time. "The fuck?" the leader asks incredulously. "Fuck, that wasn't a shield glyph...what the FUCK is up with you, girl?"

You shrug. "Nunya. So, last chance!" You take a step forward, and there's a couple of shouts behind him. "Man, just do it!" "Come on, boss!" "Say somethin'!"

"Alright, alright!" he holds up his hands in surrender and backs off, the gun having not even been fired once. "Whaddya want to know!? Make it quick, though, we got places to be!"

"Rude," you remark. But at least you have his cooperation now.

>Ask about personal information about Winters.
>Ask about Giogionna strongholds in the city.
>Ask about any unique underground gossip.
>Other

>>2005964
>>Ask about any unique underground gossip.

>>2005964
>Ask about any unique underground gossip

>>2005964
>"What places you got to be at, to begin with?"
>Ask about Giogionna strongholds in the city.
>Ask about any family no-go zones, we wouldn't want to meet with more bullies who try to flatten us out of the blue.

>>2005964
>>Ask about any unique underground gossip.
I really want to ask more directly useful info, but I'd bet these guys would try to tattle that someone was asking around about them.

>>2005964
>Ask about any unique underground gossip.

>>2005964
>>Ask about any unique underground gossip.

>>2005987
They seem easily intimidated, I'm sure they'd thank us for only breaking one of their arms to make sure they won't.

How about we stalk them, see where they go? Then we can show up the next day and remind them that girls don't like those who kiss and tell.

3 more minutes.

>>2005971
>>2005980
>>2005987
>>2005984
>>2005997
>>2006004

"Got any information on anything particularly juicy? Something that most people won't know?" You ask as you leer at him.

The boy in front seems to shrink away a bit. "I mean...there's a couple things, I guess. We ain't no big players, y'know? But we get wind o' some stuff here and there. Especially since sometimes they like to ask us to do stuff form - we never know exactly why, an' they don't tell us, but it's usually stuff that don't seem all that dangerous at the time. They'll ask us to make sure something ain't found, or that someone ain't where they need to be at a certain time, stuff like that. And usually we over here stuff, y'know?"

"Liiiike?" you ask.

"Well, uhhh... I know there's somethin' going on on 39th, tomorrow eve. Gio boys been hanging around there a lot for an old warehouse. Rumors are saying it's going to be some kind of market or big auction or summdat." Interesting.

"Aaaanything else?" you ask with a sharp twist of your head for emphasis. "Be honeeest..."

>Time for rolls- let's see what these urchins know.

>3d20, best individual 3.

Rolled 16, 17, 17 = 50 (3d20)

>>2006090

Rolled 1, 18, 4 = 23 (3d20)

>>2006090

Rolled 15, 17, 5 = 37 (3d20)

>>2006090

>>2006090
Some good info. Writing!

>>2006090
>>2006094
>>2006097
>>2006118
Several of them seem to take some to actually think about it - the rest are keeping their eyes on you as though you're going to do something drastic if no one answers quickly enough. Which you have to admit is an understandable concern. Fortunately for them, a couple of individuals do manage to speak up. "I heard of a few things. Apparently there was a deal what went sour between the Giogionne and the Sabul up in the north area, over a restaurant called The Chewery. Some folks got got, and now there's some rumblings that the Giogionne are looking for revenge. Don't know anything more than, though." Sounds like a solid lead on a possible target of yours.

"I heard about that," another speaks up. "Heard something else though - there's a local crew- the Buzzkills- what are looking to get under one o' the big four. They've been puttin' the word out lil' by lil'. To know if there's any real room, y'know? Problem being with that is that there's another local crew called the Nobles what are looking to stomp 'em out 'cause of it. Been kind of nasty lately; a lotta folks gettin' found in gutters." Hm. That might could give you a bit of extra muscle if you were to convince them to sign on with the Lucienta...or provide a worthwhile distraction.

"Then there's the old lady what runs the grocery down on Rose Street, Ms. Muckett. She's about to retire, and was looking to sell off the place. The Gravers and the Lucienta been angling for it, and they've been caught up in a tussle between it. Both of them want it 'cause the actual place is a lot bigger than what she uses, and I'm guessing they both have their own plans for it. She's not sure who to go to, if anyone. Some folks are worried that there might be shootin' soon if somethin' don't come of it."

All at all, it's interesting information, although you're going to have to think about whether you really want to act on this information at all or not. Nonetheless, they did in fact give you some news, so...

>Just walk away. "Thanks, boys!" If they're smart, they'll know to not cross you again.
>Give them a bit of incentive to keep their mouths shut- $500 should do it.
>Well, they've outlived their usefulness. Shame, but it's too much of a risk.
>Other

>>2006267
>>Give them a bit of incentive to keep their mouths shut- $500 should do it.

>>2006267
>Give them a bit of incentive to keep their mouths shut- $500 should do it.
>remind them that things will go badly, quickly, if they don’t keep quiet. But there’s more in it for them if they give us more info when we ask them to.
Don’t give them our hotel room, though. Maybe we can rent a cheap motel room that they can drop info off at.

>>2006267
>>Just walk away and blow them a kiss. "Thanks, boys!" If they're smart, they'll know to not cross you again.

guys, dont give them money. it defeats the whole point of not giving them money.

>>2006267
>Give them a bit of incentive to keep their mouths shut- $500 should do it.

"Just remember this little ditty if you think of tattling, boys. Snitches... (flicks up a dropped switchblade) ...get... (blade snaps out) ...stitches."

5 minutes to go for voting.

Locked! Hush money and a 'gentle reminder'.

Writing!

>>2006267
>>2006292
>>2006308
>>2006326
>>2006324

"Thaaank you!" you say cheerily. "Now, for being very nice about it..." you're quick to reach into your purse and- after a bit of concerned looks from the groups, pull out a wad of bills from the envelope. You've got $10,000...$500 shouldn't be too much to ensure they don't talk. "I'm certain you nice fellows understand that if anyone asks, you never talked to me or saw me, right?" The look in their eyes assures you that they understand even before the leader nods and reaches to accept the bribe. "Good. 'Cause if something happens and my little ears hear otherwise..."

It's a light shot- incredibly light, but incredibly fast, shot from just your pointer finger. It's still enough to leave a small cut on his face- nothing even out of the ordinary of what's already on his face. Lesser, even. But the way his eyes widen, hand still on the money, he wasn't expecting it, and neither was anyone else. He freezes up in shock, and you keep your smile ever present. "Well, money isn't any good to anyone in a casket, right?"

"...got it," he says thickly. Moving away, the money is left in his hands, and after a quick, mocking curtsy on your part, you walk out of the alley, feeling the gang's eyes still on you.

All things considered, that went very well. You got some information on the goings-on around here, and with a relative minimum of fuss. You're $500 lighter, but you figure that it's worth it. 9.5 grand is still a pretty good amount of money, and all the information that you've just acquired you'll be able to move around a lot more steadily and with purpose. It's just a matter of figuring out what you want to do first. Although from the sounds of things, nothing else in particular is going to be happening tonight. You decide to head back towards the hotel. Tomorrow, you should be able to take a look at what's going on around and figure out what you want to do from there.

>Apologies, gotta wrap it up a touch early today, but tomorrow will be another run! Info gathering has begun, and now it's time to work the yard and figure out the best approach.

>Also, time for everyone's favorite game; guess what I've been playing that inspired me to make this job!

>>2006506
>>Also, time for everyone's favorite game; guess what I've been playing that inspired me to make this job!
L.A.Noir?

>>2006506
Gotta be Mafia.

>>2006506
Assassin's Creed?
X-Com?

>>2006546
Nope.

>>2006567
Close! (Also partially right wholesale, really)

>>2006582
Played 'em, but nope.

>>2006589
So just add a 2 to the end? Because I'm assuming the place we're in is supposed to be based on a mix of New Yawk and Bosstown.

>>2006567
Max Payne probably

>>2006599
>>2007856
>>2006582
>>2006546

Won't be able to run today, but I can at least say- it was Mafia *and* Yakuza. So that's fun.

There's gonna be a number of different locations and major peeps to interact with, if you play your cards right, and, yeah. Extra stuff.

>>2010204
What about possible recruits to kidnap to our plane of existence?

>>2010281
That's technically always an option, but they'd need to want to leave everything they've ever known, and have enough skill to make a living in the Intersection. Unless we want to just kidnap useful-looking folks.

>>2010281
>>2010347

Well, you can't take them by force. Convince them, sure, but not just grab 'em.

>>2010397
Did I say kidnap? I meant to say interview politely and professionally before determining how well they'd fit in our company and the Intersection overall.

Hides burlap sack that smells of onions behind back, kicks away bottle of chloroform

>>2010440
Actually, I just thought of this: Has there ever been a case of people being unwillingly brought into the Intersection, either by accident (kid hides in an outgoer's equipment bag, gets brought back by accident) or on purpose (target requires being kidnapped and stored off plane for a while or permanently, or other, even worse fates)?

>>2010462
Yes. Remember, the woman that had the FarSight and was driven nearly insane by its knowledge?
The memory wipe was botched, and I hope we did enough to make sure she’s not a problem in the future. Because our ass is on the line for that now.

>>2010281
It would be nice if we could stop headhunting scrubs and get some actual goddamn talent from within the intersection.

But people seem to want Miranda to be an autistic unlikeable bitch when she's there.

>>2010347
So far nobody we've picked up has really been worth it power wise. Owlia is a techy, Cylica is a bitch and also a techy, and Mono alone needs a ton of training.

I don't think we really have the spare time to babysit another raw recruit unless they're significantly more powerful than what seems to be the norms on our missions.

>>2010726
There's no problem with our talent, and scouting our own is not only cheaper, we actually get paid for it.

Miranda is an old, world-weary mercenary that, literally, only cares about money. You think she should be sunshine and roses?
>>2010764
We scouted Owlia because of her techiness. Cylica was part of a package deal but is already showing her worth in crystal tech. Mono is green, sure, but she's got good potential.

We aren't on a deadline or in a rush, we have no pressing need to add more people; we can afford to take out time, slowly fill our ranks as viable potentials show up.

>>2010843
> Miranda is an old, world-weary mercenary that, literally, only cares about money. You think she should be sunshine and roses?

> What is character growth

Heck. There's more money to be made by working with Intersection companies than there is nickel and diming jibs while trying to train newbies.

Grow or die, it's as true for companies as anything else.

>>2010764
>So far nobody we've picked up has really been worth it power wise.
because we are fine power wise. Miranda an izumi are powerhouses on their own right (Not so sure about lorelei because we have never fought alongside her). Owlia, Cylica and mono fill the obvious gaps we have at the moment, which are crowd control, R&D and defense options.

>>2010897
and we are growing. it just won´t be as fast as you´d like.

>>2011236
Because we're not powerhouses? Maybe outside the Interdiction we are but not within it.

We need people that can go out and make us money. We need contacts that can get us 100 mote jobs. Our growth needs to take in people like that Fighting dude (not necessarily him) and start doing bigger jobs.

Lorelei is weak on her own. Izumi under performs due to job choice. Mono is very weak and untrained and inexperienced. Owlia and Cylica barely contribute in the short term and are long term investments for the bigger payoff - IF we can keep them since we have very limited resources to invest in them.

You have to stop thinking tactically and start thinking strategically. We can't just be dragging everyone on every mission.

>>2011369

>We need contacts that can get us 100 mote jobs.

Guess what, we can´t hire them because we aren´t big enough, don´t have the reputation and we don´t have the infrastructure to keep them. you want us to over extend and hire the cream of the crop when the only thing we have in our headquarters is a meditation room.

>Owlia and Cylica barely contribute in the short term and are long term investments for the bigger payoff - IF we can keep them since we have very limited resources to invest in them.
Cylica already has a contract with the crystal lock company, and owlia could deliver with the equivalent of scraps a crystal shield in a day. And this is not taking into account the jobs they have as couriers, They are already paying off.

>>2011369
We don't /need/ to do any of that. Miranda's been with Sal for most of her 90-odd years; look at how long it took to even get to this point.

Miranda likes money, but has no pressing need for it. We don't need 100 mote jobs; We're not paying off debts, or saving for something big.

Most of our co-workers are not front-line fighter, yes, but we don't need a squad of hard hitters. Support classes act as force multipliers, covering areas the main-line fighters don't.

Owlia and Cylica were given the role of Courier by us; if nothing else, it's a good ease-in job.
It's not they're a drain on our resources to keep; they are paying for themselves, and the R&D has the potential to pay dividends. They more we invest in them, the more they could be worth.

>>2011457
>>2011435
That's why I want to get more people on Mirandas level, not the "cream of the crop".

But Izumi doesn't pull in good money, Owlia and Cyliva don't do missions, Lorelei is a support, and Mono is a rookie.

We need to get people that can go off and do missions without needing Miranda around to provide firepower.

I'm not saying we need to go all out, but we need at least one more person on Mirandas level or preferably two. That way they can go out with Lorelei while Miranda goes out with Mono, and Izumi does a solo mission because "muh morals" won't let her take better paying ones. Or we can complete missions faster because we aren't trying to constantly have Miranda in two places at once.

What we don't need is more scrubs that have to be supervised.

>>2011457
> We're not paying off debts, or saving for something big.

We're managing the company with Sal now remember? Look at the pastebin and how much upgrades cost.

And remember, Owlia and Cylica aren't really our friends and could easily leave us for a better paying employer if we don't provide the resources to fund their research.

Hell Lorelei might even ditch if the money is good enough. Probably not but hey we're "a jaded mercenary that's all about money".

Do you think Izumi will come along on missions like our current assassination? She's not a reliable earner.

Look if you guys want to make money, let's make some fucking money. If you want to play slice of life, let's stop being an autist whenever we interact with anyone besides the main cast.

Or not but I find your arguments less than convincing.

>>2011876
>We're managing the company with Sal now remember? Look at the pastebin and how much upgrades cost.
So? as long as we aren't on the red zone and we don't stagnate we are fine.

>Owlia and Cyliva don't do missions,
you are wrong on that. they do missions, just that they arent the kind of missions we do.

> If you want to play slice of life, let's stop being an autist whenever we interact with anyone besides the main cast.
miranda has been like this for more or less 90 years. you won't change that from one day to another. We are playing as miranda, not as how you'd play a character.

>>2011948
Fair enough on the slice of life point.

But let's still stop recruiting scrubs.

Or go back to not being in a position where we have a responsibility to grow the company. Because Miranda IS all about fulfilling her obligations and "just coasting" doesn't do that any more.

>>2011979
It does make sense to try and find someone around Miranda's who has no qualms about job type, but most of them already belong to other companies. Right now we have that loaner from Interdiction and can use her to make money, or perhaps smooth things over with her and see if she knows anyone we can use. Scouting out the Intersection seems like Sal's job honestly.

>>2010726
She has the same personality there as on the job, that's it. It's not like a lot of people have endeared themselves to us and with what just happened, at least on a personal level we were right to not get chummy with those people.

>>2010764
Owlia and Cylica were a package deal who so far look like they'll be worth it. You realize Sal would've told us No if they were worthless? Let's go kick some half dead bum on this job and tell Sal we want this guy in the team, see what happens.

Mono wasn't recruited, she begged to come. Miranda warned her it ain't roses but it was Mono's choice to come, not ours.

>>2011876
>>2011900
>>2011979
What we need to do is go to a world completely subsumed with magic, filled with heroes and wizards and shit. The other option is to go to a Shadowrun world and find a space samurai or something. That's where we'll find the right kind of guys with the potential to get on our level or surpass it.

>>2013084
So then, what kinds of roles do we currently lack?
Owlia and Cylica cover R&D.
Lori is our social infiltrator and light general infiltrator.
Izumi is a secondline fighter with a wide weapon proficiency, which often has her taking longer range roles on multi-man jobs. Also has combat healing for self and others (I think). Moral issues restrict the jobs she'll willingly go on to "good" aligned.
Mono is raw, but is being trained as combat support via her singing, and as another general infiltrator via Lori.
Miranda is a pure frontline fighter, with some slow but potent healing. She does have enough experience to cover just about anything in a pinch, though she'd rather just punch things.

What does that leave us without?
Serious ninja-type infiltrator. Serious long-range support. Dedicated healer. Some more I can't think of.

>>2013115
we are missing a tank- someone that can take or outright negate the damage the team can recieve; owlia´s gadgets could do the trick in the meantime, but it would be better to have someone with us in the field.

A mook killer would also help us; someone that can deal with low level minions and masses of persons.

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>>2013115
A Tank.
A field commander / tactician.
A REAL WIZARD.

Problem with just looking at archetypes is that they won't necessarily be able to perform in all kind of worlds. Since there is no lack of work we don't need to build an RPG party, just get a whole load of competent dudes.

>>2013127
>>2013131
I'd say Miranda has 'tank' pretty well covered. The complements to a tank, though, would be DPS and healer.
>mook killer
Crowd control would be handy. Miranda especially is more built toward taking down strong, singular opponents.
>field commander
I thought about that, but that'd mean we'd spend a lot of time playing as them during multi-man missions in order to keep player agency. It could work, but will need careful consideration.

>problem
As best I can tell, techology is more reliable, but magic is more powerful, when on the right world. Using a mix of specialties or cross-training is our best bet for dealing with low-magic worlds, I figure.

>>2013164
welol, i'd argue that miranda is a tanky-ish DPS. She is pretty resilient, but has almost no dedicated defensive abilities to speak of, and that´s what makes a tank a tank. A true tank would be the oposite of miranda; somoene stupidly resilient that has very few offensive abilities, but can also dish some pain when the need arises.

Also, what would purpose would the field commander/tactician have? sit in the back and give orders? because if that is the case, miranda covers that function perfectly well.

>>2013201
>Miranda
It's a tough call either way, I think. You're right, she doesn't have much in the way of active defense and isn't short on offense, but she can be punched through multiple buildings without much to show for it. I guess a dedicated tank would forgo almost all offense for personal defense, group defense, and agro draw abilities?

>Commander
In theory, they would allow for more complex tactics and coordination, taking tactical thinking pressure off the actual fighters, or acting as a communication hub for spread out teams.
Mechanically, this might allow for complex coordination, or give buffs due to 'inspiration' or 'focus' or somesuch.
In practice, I suspect we won't need a dedicated 'commander' type until we're bringing 10+ people per mission, if ever. Miranda does pretty much cover that role at the moment.

Well, I more imagined a commander to be a guy who get summoned to lead other people's armies because everyone on the continent is a goddamn fuck-up. Not necessarily a person dedicated to micromanage a group job.

>>2013254
that´s an awfully niche specialization. i don´t think that there would be that many contracts that would justify a commander, and if they are, i´m pretty sure thaqt the market would saturate awfully fast.

>>2013254
Ah, that's an interesting idea. Those would have to be lucrative jobs, due to the time it would take to get to grips with the army you've been handed, the time to actually run a campaign (could easily be a years), and the relative rarity of clients that would be willing to hand control of an army to a complete unknown. But that'd be a pretty slick job, if there was enough work.

>>2013263
In an infinite universe?

>>2013266
infinite universes, but there aren´t infinite dealmakers. ther will be a bottleneck of jobs, and if some are easier to get/fulfill than others, there will be a lack of specific jobs.

>>2013265
Seems unlikely we will get that far though. What is our goal for SES growth anyway? Aiming to be a small, tight knit elite unit or more like that outfit we were working with when we recruited Cylica/Owlia?

>>2013283
You know that's entirely up to what Handler wants to write?

We don't have to play as every single character we recruit. We haven't played as Owlia or Cylica yet and I doubt we're going to play as them when they work on their R&D. The guy who started this wanted us to find more competent people to build up the company and make money, looking for someone with a skillset none of our character has is a good way to do that.

None of us knows anything about the real availability of jobs in the setting, so trying to shut down a discussion on how to get earners with pure conjecture based on very limited information is weird. Do you just not like the idea or are you afraid we'd have to play a strategy game for 20 threads?

>>2013301
>Aiming to be a small, tight knit elite unit.
This seems about right, but i´d also like to fill another niche that interdiction and the other guys havent filled yet

>>2013321
I'll second this; I'd rather not have to deal with dozens of coworkers, even if it brings in more dough. Having a few unique, memorable characters is more important than load of minorly noteworthy ones, I think.
I'll note that we seen to fill some sort of niche already. The air guys sub-contracted /us/ for groundwork, not Interdiction or anyone else. Dunno why, but they did.

>>2013330
that was because we were cheap

>>2013331
Then they saw not one but two Nebulas. We're going to work with them again I have no doubt

>>2013115
That's just ONE team though.

>>2013084
> The QM wouldn't let us make bad decisions!

I also don't want to play for a year before we see O&C pay off. Also once again they can leave if we can't find their research and fuel their ambition.

>>2013301
I would like to make a shit ton of money. Ideally though I'd like to have "background" teams go off and make money while we're doing missions and other things so that when we spend 5 threads and 3 months IRL doing slice of life or our own jobs we have some income happening.

Otherwise it'll take for fucking ever to build our company into anything.

Jesus. All I want is like two more people so we can send out complete units without needing everyone.

But not real-world scrubs we have to train up.

>>2013374
actually no, those are 4 contractors(not counting mono, 5 if you count her). they dont need to be a team in order to get jobs.

>>2013380
Who are you quoting??

No, you're right, as soon as we make a stupid decision Sal will suffer a stroke and become retarded too. It's Sal's call in the end all Miranda does is recommend an individual.

Let me rephrase
>QM will bend backwards and fuck up established characters and turn anyone into a mouthbreather if it will enable players to act like idiots

>>2013385
Getting background teams is neat. No idea if this current world can produce anyone worthwhile though.

I like the idea of the company becoming an elite group. However i think our main objective should be to make Miranda the first S classed outgoer

>>2013397
> No idea if this current world can produce anyone worthwhile though.

That's why we should recruit from the intersection. Pretty much everyone is scrub tier power wise.

>>2013395
Izumi canon underperforms due to morals. Lorelei is weak AF in direct combat. Mono is a rookie. Owlia and Cylica do collections and at best can provide limited support in Outgoer jobs.

We literally have only Miranda as the reliable all rounder. Any team jobs pretty much have to include her or Izumi.

>>2013447
that's irrelevant to the point i was making, that is that we don´t need a team to make cash, just contractors.

>>2013447
>Any team jobs pretty much have to include her or Izumi.
Depends on the job; we see combat-oriented jobs because Miranda is combat-oriented. Lori and Mono would be a reasonable choice for a stealth-focused job, for instance.
Also, as >>2013454
said, many jobs don't need multiple people.
Several of the multi-mans are worth less per person than sending the same people on individuals, actually.

And Izumi doesn't underperform on jobs, she just doesn't go on as many jobs.

>>2013454
Contractors that can go out on jobs.

Once again, Izumi and Lorelei are very limited in the jobs they can do - Izumi by her morals, Lorelei by her combat abilities.

>>2013459
Not going on jobs = underperforming. This isn't school where you just have to do well on tests or your life where you just have to make enough for rent and a six pack from your neetbucks. This is a piece work career. Don't work, don't eat.

>>2013605
>Once again, Izumi and Lorelei are very limited in the jobs they can do - Izumi by her morals, Lorelei by her combat abilities.

Not true at all, but actually it isn´t false either, because as >>2013459 said, we only have access to the missions that are tailored to us, thus they are mainly combat oriented. From the meta knowledge we have, izumi should have a similar list, but we have never have had a greentext of lorelei on a mission, so we can´t judge how her missions are.


>Not going on jobs = underperforming

Thats wrong; it would be underperforming if she was getting paid by a set ammount of time and not by job. Lorelei on the other hand IS underperforming; she has failed more contracts than the other girls because she gets sidetracked. izumi just doesn´t choose to go on jobs that don´t fit her morals.

>>2013618
We literally had an internal monologue about how frustrating it is that Izumi goes on fewer jobs and is less profitable as a result. It's also pointed out in the pastebin.

Nobody cares how well she does her jobs, it's about how many motes she brings in. Lorelei is actually better there because she does more side objectives and more jobs, even though she fails more of them.

We need someone that can back up our supports to help Lorelei complete more jobs, go on the jobs Izumi won't, and to help us take on jobs that would otherwise be above even Mirandas mid-level power.


You can't micromanage successful businesses.

>>2013632
>We literally had an internal monologue about how frustrating it is that Izumi goes on fewer jobs and is less profitable as a result. It's also pointed out in the pastebin.
Internal, PERSONAL monologues are irrelevant to actual data. And so far we are actually GROWING as a company. The problemm is that you want to be a big business RIGHT NOW. And that is simply not possible.

>Nobody cares how well she does her jobs, it's about how many motes she brings in.
Up to some point yes, but you also need to take into acount our rating in comparison to others. For example, if we have a morally neutral mision, Lorelei is a worse employee because she has failed more missions, which makes her unreliable, that means she is statistically likelier to fail it and would put concern into any employer and sal (if it is a mission like the one in the crossover).

>Lorelei is actually better there because she does more side objectives and more jobs, even though she fails more of them.
Finishing the main job brings way more motes than a side objective. they are side objectives for a reason. Also we don´t have the data to compare the ammount of motes the two bring in a set amount of time, so all of this is a moot point until we have that information.

>We need someone that can back up our supports [...] and to help us take on jobs that would otherwise be above even Mirandas mid-level power.
all the persons that can take jobs above Mir's paygrade are with more successful companies; why would they want to downgrade their pay? We also don´t need to hire an extra person to help lorelei and izumi. Lorelei needs to stop sidetracking and izumi needs to fins jobs that fit her better, or she has to bend her morals a litle (which she has been doing)

>You can't micromanage successful businesses.
That only applies to big business. we are barely bigger than a micro business.

>>2013696
> Main characters opinion as an expert in the field and intimate of the person is irrelevant

I guess the word of God in the pastebin doesn't count either?

> Wanting to grow the company by hiring one or two people to hopefully double our work capacity

That's not really unreasonable? It's not like I'm saying we should buy out interdiction.

> Helping take on jobs above Mirandas pay grade

As part of a team with Miranda. Not better jobs than her. I'm saying 2.4 + 2.4 = 5 not 2+3.

> Micromanaging being bad only applies to big business

No, that actually kills a lot of small business. We have to start actually managing things to grow any further.

The time to hire people is in preparation so you aren't suddenly caught out.

Hell we could even just hire them for one-off jobs not full time.

Just no more scrubs from reality. The gap between Miranda and Izumi with 90 odd years vs. Lorelei is huge, let alone Mono.

While everybody else is discussing intersection business ideals,
Things Miranda should do on the next day(s) on this job:
>get a map (handler should post one)
>The shield rune should be tested(do we have it now ?)
>Read the newspaper and listen to the other guests for info/rumors while eating breakfast.
>Buy some disguises, preferably masks, hats, coats, wigs and voice modulators. we reverse trap mode now
>go to a weapon/magic shop to ask about how magic works and about the other races in this world
>Scout/look around the ghettos, maybe we could get something/somebody useful.
>Check dumpsites,rivers, graveyards, incinerators or things that can help with disposing bodies.

also I'm really into this plan of killing one important member then waiting for the inevitable funeral to plant bombs on the burial site(or rigging the corpse) and watch as the number of dead Giogionne members increases. I know it's too risky but it seemed cool to me.

>>2015461
>Funeral bomb
Efficient, but definitely too showy for the job. Can't really do that much planning until we gather more info, but right now it seems taking advantage of the two small time gangs to try and whack Winters is the obvious move.

>>2015461
We have to figure out ways to make the deaths look accidental, since our client doesn’t want this to look like the prelude to a gang war.

>>2015509
lets check the ways the mafia and narco kill their targets, and modify their methods. or go full hitman and poison their food or have an out of control car run them over.

>>2015543
poisoning their food, delivering a nerve agent on the air pipes, filling a room with CO2(its odorless!), collapse the building they are on, the sky is the limit!