Trieste: In Search of Lorin Highwater

[Keehnelf]

Samantha listens for a few minutes and all of the conversation circles around Miriam's imminent move off-world. She talks briefly and vaguely about some deals she has in the works elsewhere in the sector, and everyone is jealous of her ability to be so mobile. Many of them have major investments wrapped up in items that are much harder to liquidate or divest themselves of, and are stuck here until they can do so. Apparently there is a major exodus of the well to do in the works.

[Pulpatoon]

September makes a careful study of the temple priests' names and faces. He spends just a little time with his cadre of local youths before heading off, making vague promises of meeting up again before he leaves the dome. He heads back to find Vinnie and report his meager findings.

[Keehnelf]

Vinnie
31 hours until lift-off
Heironymous appears even more agitated as he considers his answers.
"I could call in some favors and find out for you, if you like?"

He seems a bit more at ease as he talks, turning to Benjik.
"Benjik is a right pain all around, you know? He's a pushy one, right in the middle of the trade, his fingers in everything, keeping things in line for the Temple and mucking up traditional trade opportunities all in the same breath. It'd be doing Trieste and its residents a favor to get rid of that guy. And it sounds like he's got the wrong side of you as well, eh? Hah, that wouldn't surprise me." He chuckles.

"You don't need to call in any special favors on my account, I'll ask Highwater myself when I find him.
Vincent smiles, "Twelve hours ago, I had no idea that Benjik existed. Now ... well, let's just say 'be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.'."

"But I promised you an answer. Benjik is hiring mercenaries to find Mr Highwater. He offered me roughly 300,000 credits to find him. The more I learn about Benjik, the more offensive I find him. However, for that kind of money, people more physical than me will undoubtedly come looking for him and think nothing about who they might need to kill or maim to locate him.

I hope to find him first, because I am hopeful that he has information that will allow me to hurt Benjik. Benjik himself pointed me towards your door. Apparently HE believes that you may know something about Mr. Highwater's location.

Are you quite sure you really know nothing?
The next people Benjik sends may not ask as nicely or be as accepting of your answer.
If I go to war with Benjik, it seems you might win.
Even if you do not know this Highwater, have you any idea why Benjik wants Highwater so badly?"

"One last question, more an idle thought than a serious inquiry, but ...
If you knew the when and where of a Temple Drug Drop, could you do something about it?
Would you do something about it?"

I have to admit, this approach to things caught me off-guard!

---

Heironymous thinks a long time about the sum of questions, then says, slowly, "Sooooo...your family does have some resources in the area, then? Because if you're looking to take on the temple you'll need a lot more than a single man can put together himself."

He scratches his head. "Truth be told, a lot of bad decisions have been made on this rock, including by yours truly. I don't want to hurt myself, or my family, by putting good money after bad.

"I don't want to get any more involved in this situation, but this much I'll tell you: Miriam Istrik would love to know where Highwater is, too. He lost her over a million credits performing industrial sabotage on behalf of the Temple, and the republic is set to issue a reward of 250,000 credits for him, dead or alive, in about four hours when the daily central data push goes through.

"You can thank me for that information later by not sharing it with anyone or revealing any of the details of this conversation even under pain of death. Deal?"

[atpollard]

"You can thank me for that information later by not sharing it with anyone or revealing any of the details of this conversation even under pain of death. Deal?"

"You have a deal. Thank you for your time." Vinnie rises, shakes his hand and leaves to rejoin his companions.

[Keehnelf]

By 30 hours until lift-off, Vinnie is back at the landing pad but neither of the others are. At that time, the driver departs to make his re-clearance run.

An hour later, September and Samantha return from opposite directions at approximately the same time, followed shortly by the re-arrival of their launch vessel.

It is now 29 hours until lift off. The Republic will issue their open warrant for Lorin Highwater in two hours.

[atpollard]

By 30 hours until lift-off, Vinnie is back at the landing pad but neither of the others are. At that time, the driver departs to make his re-clearance run.

An hour later, September and Samantha return from opposite directions at approximately the same time, followed shortly by the re-arrival of their launch vessel.

It is now 29 hours until lift off. The Republic will issue their open warrant for Lorin Highwater in two hours.

I have to admit to more than a bit of confusion about what to do here. I am open to input from other players.

Recapping what I know:

• Almost every penny I own is tied up in 2 tons of speculative cargo that should be in high demand on any non-industrial world (like this one).
• I roll almost maximum (11 on 2d6) to sell it here ... The demand for my cargo is so high that I will max out the bonuses on the top of the sale price chart.
• The purchaser is a corrupt priest of a sect which is universally fanatically loved by the entire civilian population ... in spite of the fact that all evidence also indicates that the temple is the dominant drug cartel on the world.
• The world appears to be a cross between Somalia and North Korea in terms of wide spread corruption.
• The most honest person that I have met is the pimp who runs the local sex club laundering money for a rival drug cartel ... that's my closest ally at the moment?
• Unknown to Vinnie, the ship is going to be robbed while I am gone and I am about to become penniless.
• Meanwhile, the only way to close the deal and actually sell my cargo involves sending a 70 year old con-man out to kidnap a man that we are having no success at locating and who will in 2 hours be the most wanted criminal on this entire corrupt ball of puss world.

I am really not sure that I like how this whole thing is going to turn out.
I am an old criminal ... This calls for a mercenary strike force.
I don't see any possible path to victory heading forward.
At this point, who cares who Loren is or why they want him dead?
I can't stop an entire corrupt world government run by religious fanatics.
All paths forward lead to the crapper.

So barring any brilliant observation by an outsider, I plan to go down fighting.
If the whole friggin world is corrupt, then that's how I am going to have to play this hand.

Vinnie shares everything that he learned with the others and suggests that we make one last head-on attempt to locate Lorin Highwater ... starting with a visit to his brother at his place of business.

[Keehnelf]

Sorry that you feel I've painted you into a corner--since you used your criminal connections to make this deal and it was basically at maximal profit I wanted to put the stakes high. Trieste is a complicated planet politically. But from a somewhat unbiased perspective, I see a few ways forward:

1. Find and kill highwater and claim the 250k reward. That's profit no matter what happens with the cargo, and if you keep the bounty hunter clear of it then you can still try to sell on another world even if Benjik doesn't like the results.

2. Side with Benjik and take his deal, either finding out more about what his end goal is or blindly, not knowing who might be pissed off by it.

3. Confront benjik with what you have so far and either force him to get straight with you or make him bend on his negotiations.

OOC: I'm trying to out together this story like a noir detective novel--everyone's a bit of a back stabber, everyone is out for themselves and it's up to the detective (vinnie in this case) to make it throug the storm that's brewing and hopefully come out the other side with the purse in hand.

[atpollard]

Sorry that you feel I've painted you into a corner--since you used your criminal connections to make this deal and it was basically at maximal profit I wanted to put the stakes high. Trieste is a complicated planet politically. But from a somewhat unbiased perspective, I see a few ways forward:

Don't sweat that.
I get the High-Risk, High-Reward nature of the events.

1. Find and kill highwater and claim the 250k reward. That's profit no matter what happens with the cargo, and if you keep the bounty hunter clear of it then you can still try to sell on another world even if Benjik doesn't like the results.

I don't think that we have the skills for this task ... at first I was reluctant to become that violent of a criminal ... kidnapping and murder tends to be a short career in anyplace with even a little Law and Order.
This place is so corrupt that Law and Order do not appear to exist on Triste.
So at this point it is less about being unwilling to do something, and more about being the wrong tool for the job.

A part of me wants nothing more than to rush back and stop the robbery, but if I am honest as a player ... Vinnie is clueless.
Ironically, I think that the Ship is the one who will be stuck with the liability.
They lost two tons of valuable cargo ... I hope they have good insurance [joke] or I may end up captain. [/joke]

2. Side with Benjik and take his deal, either finding out more about what his end goal is or blindly, not knowing who might be pissed off by it.

Except, so far, we can't actually find Lorin.

3. Confront benjik with what you have so far and either force him to get straight with you or make him bend on his negotiations.

Is attempting to strong arm a Somali Warlord in his home territory really a viable plan?

OOC: I'm trying to put together this story like a noir detective novel--everyone's a bit of a back stabber, everyone is out for themselves and it's up to the detective (vinnie in this case) to make it through the storm that's brewing and hopefully come out the other side with the purse in hand.

Vinnie still has some cards to play.
Some of the options drift a little far from the 'Leverage' mold and into the 'Scarface' mold ... time will tell ...

[Keehnelf]

Haha, for sure. Also note that your characterization of benjik might be a little astray he might be involved with smuggling, and he might be a hypocrite, but he's also part of an organization that's never attempted to retake Trieste from the republic with either economic or military means.

[Pulpatoon]

Have we found any useful clues as to Highwater's location?

Name: Lorin Highwater
Age: 24
Height: 5' 3"
Weight: 145 lbs.

Occupation: Exo-maintenance (vaccuum-suit operations including construction and repair), specializes in dome engineering.
Criminal History: None
On-World Relations/Contacts: Byron Highwater, Brother; John Cline, Spouse; Miriam Istrik, Business Partner
Address: 51462 South Palisade Complex, Dome 64

I have the names of some priests:

"Yeah, of course! Everyone knows the temple servants who come down here. There like twenty or so and they rotate. That's Dohar Mainz and Dohar Fenhin, Isai Xarien, and on the end is Kistar Volock, second ranked priest on the planet. They're good guys, the lot of them. They do us a great lot of good."

And the fact that this dome contains remarkably un-disaffected youth: they don't do denner, they support the local temple, and the maintenance crews are alright by them.

Of these, Volock seems like the only potentially useful bit of information, although we don't have enough context to see how.

Let's see, what else:
Rust Alley is the place to go for denner. Useful if we think Highwater is either using or dealing personally.

Samantha has learned that Miriam just returned from the Core Worlds, and is about to move off-world (permanently?).

Miriam is a big fish in the business.

Benjik seems to be acting as broker for all trade in the area. Either as a crypto-mafioso with really good PR, or as a genuinely good man who is exerting as much control as he can to keep things "in-line" for the temple and the dome residents. To the frustration of the more traditional criminal elements.

And this:

Miriam Istrik would love to know where Highwater is, too. He lost her over a million credits performing industrial sabotage on behalf of the Temple, and the republic is set to issue a reward of 250,000 credits for him, dead or alive, in about four hours when the daily central data push goes through.

Not a lot to go on. Possible avenues left to explore: Brother, spouse, and Rust Alley.

Oh, and what kind of sabotage did the temple need done? Why? It doesn't seem to be local news, given the kids' positive attitudes towards infrastructure.

[atpollard]

Actually, you point out at least one obvious place to look ...

Address: 51462 South Palisade Complex, Dome 64

We have his address.
I guess that it is time to go after Lorin ... at least we can walk away with a reward if everything else goes south ... and we have a 2 hour head start on all of the other bounty hunters.
(Well, it isn't a dull visit on Trieste)


So we head off to 51462 South Palisade Complex, Dome 64 ...

• looking to see if anyone else appears to be watching the place.
• looking for signs of forced entry (like the front door kicked in already)
• looking for signs that someone is inside.

seems like a good time for a streetwise skill check ... Streetwise: [2d6+4] = 10+4 = 14

[atpollard]

I have the names of some priests:

"Yeah, of course! Everyone knows the temple servants who come down here. There like twenty or so and they rotate. That's Dohar Mainz and Dohar Fenhin, Isai Xarien, and on the end is Kistar Volock, second ranked priest on the planet. They're good guys, the lot of them. They do us a great lot of good."

And the fact that this dome contains remarkably un-disaffected youth: they don't do denner, they support the local temple, and the maintenance crews are alright by them.
Of these, Volock seems like the only potentially useful bit of information, although we don't have enough context to see how.

Yeah, that's what has me most confused ... the temple seems loved by the locals, but both my market analysis and the local criminals indicate that the Temple controls the drug trade.
Drug cartels may be universally feared, but universally loved?
Maybe a chat with Volock will vield some insight.
Vinnie really does have a soft spot for a world full of people who seem to be getting the shaft from both directions, but with absolutely no sign of anyone not completely corrupt, there is nothing to build upon.
Those fleeing and abandoning the world to a long slow genocide, may be right.
We will keep looking for an 'honest man'.

Let's see, what else:
Rust Alley is the place to go for denner. Useful if we think Highwater is either using or dealing personally.
Samantha has learned that Miriam just returned from the Core Worlds, and is about to move off-world (permanently?).
Miriam is a big fish in the business.
Benjik seems to be acting as broker for all trade in the area. Either as a crypto-mafioso with really good PR, or as a genuinely good man who is exerting as much control as he can to keep things "in-line" for the temple and the dome residents. To the frustration of the more traditional criminal elements.
And this:

Miriam Istrik would love to know where Highwater is, too. He lost her over a million credits performing industrial sabotage on behalf of the Temple, and the republic is set to issue a reward of 250,000 credits for him, dead or alive, in about four hours when the daily central data push goes through.

Not a lot to go on. Possible avenues left to explore: Brother, spouse, and Rust Alley.
Oh, and what kind of sabotage did the temple need done? Why? It doesn't seem to be local news, given the kids' positive attitudes towards infrastructure.

Miriam Istrik may not be the villain she at first appears ... or the world may be inhabited by all criminals
... I would like to avoid Rust Alley as long as possible, but a streetwise check in the heart of drug central may be the only way to find out what is really going on.
Let's try to grab Lorin and get him safely aboard the small craft and hear what he has to say.

Then we can decide whether Miriam or Volock or Rust Alley is the next logical move ... [or police headquarters to collect the reward, hide aboard our ship and urge the captain to leave ASAP. ]

... At this point, I think that it is a safe working theory that it is the three of us against the whole planet.

[Keehnelf]

That's quite a roll!

---

As the group makes its way toward highwater's residence, Vinnie keeps an eye out for strange happenings or patterns in pedestrian movement and notices something that seems quite obvious now he's spotted it: the trio is being followed by a young Kamoor in a heavy plasti-leather jacket that seems to be fashionable among the youth here. After a moment of reflection, this young man was definitely in Druthers out front when Vinnie was there. From how long he's avoided Vinnie's senses about this sort of thing, he knows what he's doing. Having been tailed more than once, though, he has a vocabulary to work with. The man isn't using Republic InSec techniques, nor is his style of tail reminiscent of the common language of organized crime he's most familiar with.

Chances are he's foreign service or religious--both of those groups tend to have non-standard orthodoxies of practice for things like this. Under the circumstances, religious seems the most likely.

Vinnie is sure he can shake the tail with a bit of time--the kid's good at evading detection but it limits his options--or try to navigate somewhere that will allow a confrontation. Thankfully, he's got a map of the dome up on his datapad to help navigate. As he looks down, the map flickers and is replaced by the incoming call signal and a snapshot of the smiling face of Raihar Benjik.

[atpollard]

That's quite a roll!

I agree, but I can't really take any credit ... I just push a gold dodecahedron and the site rolls it up.

As he looks down, the map flickers and is replaced by the incoming call signal and a snapshot of the smiling face of Raihar Benjik.

"Raihar, what a pleasant surprise.
I must say that Dome 64 is quite a dismal little place ... and yet full of surprises.
Like this one ... your call.

So does this mean that you have found Lorin yourself and are ready to close on our little business arrangement?
Of have you discovered some other lead to his present location?"
Vincent offers his most pleasant smile in return.

[Keehnelf]

"Actually, sir, I'm a bit worried. One of my colleagues out in Dome 64 called me a few moments ago to inform me that you'd been spotted chatting with Heironymous Verge. I must admit that I underestimated your resources where work of that nature was concerned: he's a hard man to get a meeting with.

"And that is why I am calling. Heironymous Verge is neither a man to be trifled with, nor a man to be trusted, no matter your previous dealings with him or his family. I understand that you are a smart man, and that you have discerned that I've not been entirely forthright with you about my needs, my intentions, or the fringes of the situation. Unfortunately, that is all from necessity. The less you know about what I know and what I need, the less dangerous the situation is for me should things go wrong. A terribly selfish attitude, I know, but please believe that there's more than my personal reputation at stake.

"I hope that you will take the following as incentive to believe me: I do not want Highwater killed, or harmed in any way. I've just learned that the Republic plans to issue a no-restrictions warrant with a high price tag very soon, but I'm not clear on the timeline. If you can bring him, safe, to the following location, I will be more than happy to sweeten the deal by a matter of another hundred thousand credits. Please do not call back on this line--there will be no answer. A representative will be waiting at the location specified until midnight tomorrow."

A location link blips across the screen as Benjik's call flickers out. When clicked, it reveals a desolate volcanic field about 100km northwest of Dome 64.

[atpollard]

Following the call, Vinnie will advise his companions about their shadow (they heard the call for themselves).
This game just got even more curious.

From his evasions, Heironymous Verge seems involved up to his eyeballs with Miriam Istrik.
Miriam Istrik appears to be involved in a direct struggle with Raihar Benjik.
Whatever this dance between Heironymous, Miriam and Raihar ... Lorin appears to be at ground zero.

We are in the middle of some very big players.
I would really like to chat with Lorin ...

... so for now, we ignore the tail and head to Lorin's home address.

[Keehnelf]

28.5 hours until lift off

South Palisade Complex turns out to be a featureless cinder block of a building, 53 stories tall, dominating half of its run-down block. Two main entrances on the long side of the building give in to elevator lobbies with check-in offices for visitors, and each unit has what appears to be a single, slit-like window offering a view of the surrounding dome-scape. Judging by his address, Highwater lives very near the top on the 51st floor, the right hand side.

Vinnie casts a practiced look around the area and catches sight immediately of a nonchalant-looking woman in a plasti-leather bodysuit leaning against a roadbike eating Mlavosian noodle-cup with her fingers. She has goggles pushed up on her head, keeping her well-groomed hair tidily off her face and out of line of sight, and a suspicious-looking bulge alongside her left breast, just high enough that the half-unzipped jacket would provide easy access. Both her bearing and her look give the impression of someone who doesn't belong in this environment--a practiced disguise artist but this kind of squalor is just a bit out of her range: the boots aren't scuffed enough, the hair too neat, the bike obviously rented.

Vinnie risks a look backward as he catches sight of her, and the tail doesn't acknowledge her. Either he doesn't get why she's here, or they don't know one another.

[atpollard]

28.5 hours until lift off
Vinnie risks a look backward as he catches sight of her, and the tail doesn't acknowledge her. Either he doesn't get why she's here, or they don't know one another.

Vinnie takes a moment to consult with the others.
"I think that it is unlikely Lorin is sitting in his living room in his boxers with a cold beer in his hand.
So at this point, I see no reason to take any action concerning either our tail from the Temple or the biker chick watching the building for 'whomever'.
At best we might speak with Lorin's spouse, or perhaps find something inside to shed some light on the situation."
Vinnie will lead his band into the building and scan the lobby for security cameras.

[Keehnelf]

The one security camera in the lobby is so heavily vandalized that it is unlikely even to be operational, and regardless it is pointed at an odd angle straight toward a nearby section of wall.

The plexiglass half-wall on the opposite side of the lobby has a sliding panel in the middle through which items can be passed or communication performed, and is likely quite necessary as the plexiglass itself is so scratched and grimy that it looks like algae-covered water.

The panel slides open a few inches and a deep man's voice booms out, "What you need?"

Past the corner with the maltreated security camera, a short hall sports a sign indicating the location of the elevators.

[atpollard]

"Just visiting." Vinnie points upward in a vague gesture and heads towards the elevators and the apartment.
Vinnie looks for other security camera's that might be working to note their locations.