DiscoDude: ---BEGIN SESSION---
DiscoDude: Session logging commenced
GM: It takes a while to find Yugo's office, Norwick - it's his Lowtide hours currently, and Lowtide's a bit easier to get lost in than Paradisio is. It's set in what seems to be a grungy strip-mall; you can see the cheesy business sign on the second floor from your car. Coincidentally, the date of the appointment on the business card you found also aligns with the Grey being in Lowtide.
(What do you do?)
GM: Harry, you've been driving another hovercraft over the ocean for an hour or so when you get a notification; you're officially on Amoccelli property. You're pretty sure the precinct called ahead to tell the family you're coming.
Looking ahead, you can see the mouth of what you presume to be the river-chasm where the body was found.
(What do you do?)
Harry: Harry stops the vehicle, gets out, and takes a look around. This is pretty much the last chance to look for any signs of evidence before entering the river chasm.
GM: (Whoop. I forgot to mention that the mouth is set into a sheer cliff coast.)
GM: (Or, rather, it slipped my mind that it needed saying.)
GM: (Are you stopping your vehicle just inside the mouth, then getting out on one of the flanking shores? Because before that point, there's nothing to 'step out onto' but ocean.)
GM: (Or maybe it's me overthinking your post.)
GM: (Shall we go with that, Harry?)
Harry: (oh! yeah i misunderstood, i thought the chasm cut downward from solid land, not inward from the coast)
Norwick: Norwick steps out from his vehicle after parking it somewhere nearby, and enters the mall. "This better be something good..." He mumbled to himself as he made his way to his destination.
Harry: (sorry, the fact that you paused me at "right before entering" made me assume there was some point of interest here i could miss)
GM: (Blame me for being adverse to using 'fjord' outside of arctic environments. XP)
Harry: Harry looks up at the steep cliff faces, then drives on into the chasm.
GM: Norwick, you reach Yugo's office on the second floor. The moment you enter, you could tell by the walls of filing cabinets behind the glass partition that this office is full to the brim with Hundreds of Contracts (or copies, anyway) that the resident attorney here presumably looks over for various clients. You're sure not all of it is for savory purposes, considering that Yugo's practice is Affiliated With Rosewall Somehow.
Standing in the waiting room out front is this imposing-looking komachi - unlike the Biiki, he looks like he could snap your spine like a toothpick. He seems to be wearing a guard uniform, along with sunglasses and a flu mask.
(Is this Nor's first time seeing a komachi?)
Harry: (a live one anyway)
GM: (XD)
GM: Harry, this place can only be described as a verdant fjord. You can certainly see why the tourists wanted to be here.
As you round the corner, you see the tent where the on-site officer guard - a Geckoan named Dolly - is waving from. Surrounding her are what seem to be Old Komachi Ruins half-submerged in the river and at varying degrees of tilt; the site of an ancient disaster, most likely. As you complete your approach, you notice the holo-projected Outline In a Tidal Pool right in front of a crumbling stone lattice.
*krrshk "10-4, o-over. H-have visual. Harry, i-izzat you?" Dolly's stutter crackles into being over your comms.
Norwick: ((Norwick has probably seen a Komachi before, considering his....skills in the past. ))
GM: (Alright.)
Norwick: Nor looks at the Komachi, walking up to him and looks up, "Is Yugo in their office right now?" He asks, folding his arms.
GM: “... He is,” says the guard. “Do you have an appointment?”
Norwick: "I have questions, one of his clients is dead. I'm sure he'd like to know which one." He says, looking up still.
GM: “... Ah.” The bird in the overstuffed uniform hefts a fist up to his chest, then drops it into his other hand as a show of realization. “You are the police.”
Norwick: "Half correct," He looks around to make sure the place is empty, "I'm also from Rosewall." He says, "I'm not here to arrest Yugo, just to ask him questions. Why would I take away business from Rosewall intentionally?"
GM: The guard tilts his head to show that he’s confused, but shrugs and opens the glass door to the main office.
“Boss. Police is here.”
“What!” There’s a rattling bang as one of the farther filing cabinets jolts and shudders, followed by cursing. “Lord- Tell him to get a warrant!”
“There is more.”
“What?” A grey’s head pokes up over the sea of cabinets, and his big black eyes settle on you. ”Oh.”
“He is also from the ‘rose wall.’”
“Yes, I can see that.” The attorney - dressed in fine clothes more befitting of Paradisio than Lowtide - maneuvers his way to the exit of his little maze, looking more than a little irate. “What does Bedlum want this time?”
GM: (Harry?)
Harry: (sorry, back)
Harry: "Yeah, it's me." He looks around. "Not gonna lie, if I died in a place like this...I wouldn't have too many objections." He squints at the ruins.
GM: “U-uh... uh...!” It seems Dolly doesn’t know how to respond to that sort of comment.
(Are you looking for anything in particular?)
Norwick: "It's not about Bedlum, one of your clients was found dead, his body was now recovered after a lil over a month of decaying down a ravine." He says, before showing him the business card, "I found this in his suit, I just wanna ask a few questions."
Harry: (seeing if there's any sign that they've been touched or moved or otherwise fiddled with recently)
Harry: (signs of recent vandalism or damage, etc.)
GM: (Hmm... If that’s where you’re looking, there is something I can throw your way, if you can beat a roll against... let’s say Fair (+2). Are you using CLEVER?)
Harry: (sure)
Harry: !r 2 (Clever)
DiscoDude: Harry rolled 2 for 2 [] (Clever)
Harry: (oop)
Harry: !f 2
DiscoDude: Harry rolled 4dF+2 for 3 [4dF = [+][+][ ][-]]
GM: “A client? That...” He takes the card and examines it, Norwick. “‘Caramel’... I was using food codes during the month before last. Let me check my records; if you would follow me back?”
Norwick: Norwick shrugs a bit and follows, "Sure." He says, ready to maneuver the maze that was Yugo's room.
GM: Harry, you don’t see any signs of vandalism... or destruction. Of any kind.
It takes you a moment to realize why that’s actually weirder; Everything Above the Body Is Untouched [!]. Not the small shelf of wall/roof/floor(?) attached to the lattice’s top. Not the trees jutting out from the cliff above. Not so much as a smear of blood, as far as you can tell. Is it even possible for the body to fall directly in that spot without hitting anything?
Harry: Harry frowns. His theory that the victim literally dropped out of the sky suddenly has a hole in it, or perhaps more accurately, a lack of them. "Body was here for a month...probably no point in asking whether there's any evidence he walked here before he dropped dead?"
Norwick: (( Gotta remember his entire spine being broken was before death too ))
GM: (‘Premortem’ can apply to the fatal injury, too.)
Norwick: (( Ah, right... ))
GM: The door to the more private room Yugo was actually leading you to, Norwick, isn’t actually that far off. On the way, you do notice a conspicuously large safe set into the wall between two cabinets.
“Wait here.” The ‘meeting room’ is more like a large closet, though you realize this must be Yugo’s personal office, where he actually conducts business. He heads to the back where yet another filing cabinet awaits; this one likely holds records about the business itself.
Norwick: Norwick takes note of the safe as he is lead by Yugo. Although, he thinks it's better off not to make any remark about it as he waits for the records to be brought out.
GM: “U-um... If there was, it... it p-probably would have gotten w-washed away, like I almost did. Th-this is actually low tide... I... I had t-to reposition my tent, I’m w-willing to admit. N-not that it isn’t safe to exit the vehicle!”
Harry: "Low tide?" Harry looks closely at the position of the body. "When was it last high tide?"
GM: “Here it is... Hmm...” Yugo frowns. “I’m honestly not sure if I should be telling you about this if it’s not related to Rosewall - client confidentiality and all that. You might have to get clearing from another party to the contract in question if want the specifics, but...”
Norwick: (( Can I user my Silver Tongue stunt? ))
GM: “U-um... L-last night; apex was a l-little past midnight.”
(Addendum; the witnesses discovered the body yesterday afternoon.)
GM: (Sure, just describe what you’re actually trying to do first.)
Harry: "How high does it go, and how often?" This is a curve in his theory - the body might not have been precisely where it was found the entire time it was out here.
Norwick: Norwick looks at Yugo, "Don't you think it would be bad for business if one of your clients was murdered and it was out in the open? Look, if you give me the info on the contract, I'll promise you I won't let anything come back towards you if we find the people who killed your client. Sound fair?" He says, trying to charm Yugo into giving out this info.
GM: “U-um, about 4 feet. I-it reaches its apex... L-lemme google... every 20 hours, in this area.”
Harry, you’re capable enough at visual calculus to envision the tide going well above the lower shore where the body was found - the victim would certainly have been floating at some point.
GM: (Roll it, Norwick.)
Norwick: !f 4
DiscoDude: Norwick rolled 4dF+4 for 3 [4dF = [ ][+][-][-]]
GM: !f 2 (LEGALESE)
DiscoDude: GM rolled 4dF+2 for 2 [4dF = [-][ ][+][ ]]
Harry: (and the body was found resting next to a stone lattice, right? a bitta old ruins in the river chasm?)
Norwick: (( wouldn't the body be slightly bloated if it was in water? ))
Norwick: (( Or are we just gonna chock it up to alien physiology? ))
GM: (I think we’re past the point of bloating being a discernible thing.)
GM: (Keep in mind, BTW, that the body was resting against the supposedly downstream-facing side of the lattice.)
Harry: (yeah the body was too decayed for that to be a concern)
Harry: (also you mean that there's no way the body was washed up against it, or that that's precisely what could've happened?)
GM: If this river works like most rivers, there’s no way it washed up here, and yet, here it was, leaning against this lattice, facing the stretch of river that led to the ocean.
Harry: Harry peers at it with increasing suspicion. "Any thoughts on how a body could've ended up stuck here for a month without washing out to sea?"
Norwick: (( So uh, what does Yugo say to Nor? I won that roll, I think. ))
GM: “I d-don’t know, but... s-something felt off about this place, b-but I couldn’t place it...”
GM: (Alright, gimme a moment.)
GM: “... Alright, fine. I suppose I’m in enough trouble with you people as it is.” Yugo sets the file down on the table. “The client’s name was Yakopi Kosrae; Komachi - as you probably know, assuming you saw the body. He met with me on the 3rd of that month to discuss a land contract concerning the legal ownership of a certain peninsula.” That’s the date of the hidden card’s appointment.
GM: (Harry, are you gonna follow up on Officer Dolly’s comment?)
Harry: (oh, whoop, i thought that "gimme a moment" was aimed at me)
Harry: "'Off'? Off, how?" He doesn't have any experience with ruins-strewn fjords so he doesn't have a point of reference.
Norwick: Norwick takes a look at the files and listens to Yugo, "And, who would be the other person who said they owned that peninsula?" He asks, jotting down the name Yakopi Kosrae into his phone as a note for when He and Harry meet up again.
GM: “U-um... W-what’s the word, when something isn’t q-quite right? D-during high tide l-last night, I... g-got that feeling of almost-but-not-quite-right-ness w-when I looked out a-at all that water...”
Harry: "I understood you the first time, I was just hoping you'd have some insight." Harry closely examines the stone lattice. Is there something non-obvious in the construction here?
GM: “Th-that is the insight... I d-don’t think it’s the l-lattice... Oh, what am I saying...”
GM: “The contract itself outlines an agreement between the Amoccelli Group and the local Komachi tribe; that the former would retain legal ownership so long as they honored the latter’s conditions - not disturbing the village, acting as peaceful allies to its inhabitants, the opportunity for work, a tribute of minor goods every year. Funny stuff, really. I’d say the tribe gets screwed as long as the deal is upheld, but then I’m legitimately unsure if they even want for anything more than this.”
Harry: Harry frowns, grabs Dolly by the shoulder, and looks her square in the eyes. At first, it looks like he's about to upbraid her for her lack of focus, but then he starts speaking in measured tones: "Relax. Take a breath. Then tell me what you see that's wrong here." His gaze remains laser-like, almost hypnotic.
Harry: (can this be an Overcome action? and moreover, does Dolly count as "withholding" information?)
GM: (It’s... a stretch, but yeah, I guess it counts. XD)
Norwick: Nor puts in the Amoccelli Family and local Komachi Tribe contract in his phone as well, "So, with Kosrae out of the picture, the land would go back to the local Komachi tribe, but the Amoccelli Family basically can stop being allies and deny them work?" He says, folding his arms. "I'll talk to somebody from the Amoccelli Family now, try and find somebody who might know Mr. Kosrae." He says before standing up. "If they ask me where I got this info, my lips are sealed."
Harry: !f 5 (Careful + "Just One More Thing")
DiscoDude: Harry rolled 4dF+5 for 6 [4dF = [+][ ][+][-]]
GM: (With the unconventional approach, I’d say the difficulty was Good (+3); still SWS. In this case, I’d say you get to name a boost after I describe the hidden aspect’s reveal.)
Harry: (nice)
GM: (Ah- Just realized there was a way I could have given it to you if you examined the lattice. Ah well; proceeding!)
GM: “Um, it w-was night...” She’s clearly scared of you, but chooses to play along as she tries genuinely to remember. “I... hear water going by. I hear the ocean. I go out to use the bathroom and... I step into the shallower water to do it. It... It felt wrong, but I couldn’t tell why. Something about how it f-flowed... O-oh, it was where it was flowing that was wrong!”
She digs out an analogue paper notebook, and tears out a page.
“It wasn’t just a dream... right?”
She folds it into a boat and drops it over the low-tide river. You both watch as it settles on the surface and gets wet.
It then starts to slowly drift off.
Inland.*
GM: This is why the body didn’t wash out - The Water Flows Inland.
Harry: Harry places his hand in the stream to confirm the evidence of his eyes.
GM: True enough, you feel it pushing from the ocean rather than towards it; you even find that it tastes salty, if you’re inclined to test that.
Harry: He does, in fact, lick his fingers.
Harry: "You're not dreaming." It seems -Nature Can't Be Trusted Around This Place-. He gets back in the car. A possibility has suddenly opened. "I'll be right back."
Harry: He drives off back towards the ocean, keeping his eyes skyward for any sign of where, say, a body might have dropped through.
GM: “Er, not quite.” Yugo puts on a pair of reading glasses. “If the contract is breached, the property goes on the market. The highest bidder has to agree to the same terms, but the Amoccellis would essentially be forced out if they can’t renegotiate the contract themselves.”
Norwick: "Really?" Norwick sits back down, "So you're telling me somebody from their tribe could have killed him to get a better deal?" He says, looking at Yugo.
GM: “It’s possible, yes, but... The client was asking all sorts of questions about specifics regarding how the contract might be violated, and estimates regarding the amount of money needed to win the ensuing bidding war. If he was planning something himself, I wouldn’t discount the Amoccellis as suspects, either. But- Ah...” He sighs. “I honestly shouldn’t be speculating about this.”
Norwick: He nods and asks a follow up question, "Was he here alone, or did he have somebody else with him?" He asks.
GM: The foliage is high enough around the outside cliffs that it would be hard to tell from down here whether someone fell from the edge within the last couple months.
However, less than a mile to the east along the bluffs, you spot a long stretch where the green thins to something... sparser; more curated. You realize that the cliff-tops here are less natural ledges and more clean terraces, and in their center at the top of this stretch of cliff is what seems to be a rather nice-looking, glass-faced modern mansion.
You’ve seen the pictures; this is the fruit plantation house the Amoccelli family had chosen to live in. And if a rich family is choosing to live out here instead of up in Paradisio, it’s a sure bet that they’ve built something even more posh for themselves, as unlikely as it sounds.
GM: (You cool with giving your last line, Harry?)
GM: “He was alone. Will that be all?”
Harry: "Well, now," he mutters to himself. "Looks like I'll be paying the Amoccelli residence a visit..."
Norwick: "Yup, thanks Yugo. Again, if anybody asks me, I'm not spilling anything." He says before standing up, "I'll be going now, thanks for talking." He says before texting Harry. "Our victim's name was Yakopi Kosrae, and apparently he was at Yugo's for how a contract between Amoccelli and the Komachi Tribe and possible ways to violate the contract between them. And if anybody asks where I got this info from, we're both going to say it's from an anonymous source, got it?"
GM: (For the record, Harry knows where Nor was, so I’m guessing he knows who this “anonymous source” is?)
Harry: (yes)
Harry: Harry texts back: "No issue there. In the meantime, it looks like the Amoccelli property out here abuts onto the river chasm where they found the body. It's possible he was on the property when he died and washed downstream to where they found him." He doesn't bother clarifying the matter that "upstream" and "downstream" are backwards from what they should be.
Norwick: (( Yup, but he's asking to keep a lid on it to telling other people. ))
Norwick: Norwick begins walking out of the mall, "You think somebody from the Amoccelli Family killed our victim in order to violate the contract between them? That might be a loophole to it, I didn't ask too much about the aspects of the violation, but it seems possible."
Norwick: ((Should we wrap this up soon? ))
GM: (Yeah.)
Harry: "There's a lot we don't know but it seems like the death definitely has something to do with that contract. If you don't have any other business, I'd like you to meet me at the Amoccelli property as soon as you can."
Harry: (and if nor's good i'm good)
GM: (I’ll give Nor the chance to have the last line, then we’ll close the session.)
Harry: (Norwick)
GM: (Alright, I’m gonna call it if Norwick doesn’t respond in 5 minutes.)
Norwick: ( Oh uh ))
Norwick: "On it." Norwick texts before entering his car and beginning to pull out from the parking lot.
GM: (Then let us...)
GM: !end
