Nue Quest: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Rin Kagamine]

> Well damn
> Head out to the street.
> Do we know where Deva K lives?

[Hello Purvis]

> Well damn
> Head out to the street.
> Do we know where Deva K lives?

>This is most annoying!
>You return to the streets, and find things are largely unchanged. It's still fairly quiet, with only a few particularly drunken oni roaming about. In fact, it's kind of annoyingly quiet.
>It is on Vine Way, which is south of here, on the edge of the warehouse district.

>_

[Rin Kagamine]

> That's quite unsettling.  Make a note to ask Deva K about that.
> Head over to K's place!

[Hello Purvis]

> That's quite unsettling.  Make a note to ask Deva K about that.
> Head over to K's place!

>You head toward the warehouse district, and move along the empty streets. By the time you get close to Vine Street, you can hear quite a few voices.
>Vine Street itself is practically an alley between two buildings; looking around one of them, you can see a group of noisy, angry oni, gathered around the unassuming stairway that leads down into the Deva's manor. Standing there, doing her best to calm the crowd, is a tall, thin oni with dark hair and long horns protruding forward from her temples, doing her best to talk to the crowd. You recognize her as one of Deva K's followers. You get the feeling things are not going to stay this peaceful for long.

>_

[Rin Kagamine]

> Listen to the rabble and try and discern what the issues are.

[Fightest]

No, she had the power in that exchange. She knows enough about us to claim that we want the information that she has, while we have no idea who she is or what her situation is. Also, why would she want "guaranteed" patronage from us? We're only interested in certain bits of information most of the time, since we don't really deal in information like she does, so she can only sell to us when she thinks she has something worth selling. On the other hand, she's interested in any information that can make her a profit, so she'll definitely get a return on the deal.

No, as we did not need that information. It would have been nice to have, but we could have obtained it elsewhere. We were the sole buyer of this information, meaning that if we said "no," it would become a useless product, which is something the streetear cannot afford. Power was completely ours. Also, you misunderstand - the guaranteed patronage/dibs on next rumour wasn't a payment to her. It was part of what we would want off her to make the deal worth it. As it stands, now we're just wasting resources. That said...

> Are our newly-acquired gems well-cut?
> If not, we should consider cutting them, that will be likely to increase their value, and we should be able to control our denominations better.
> Is there a moneylender/pawnshop/fence that we are familiar with?

>Vine Street itself is practically an alley between two buildings; looking around one of them, you can see a group of noisy, angry oni, gathered around the unassuming stairway that leads down into the Deva's manor. Standing there, doing her best to calm the crowd, is a tall, thin oni with dark hair and long horns protruding forward from her temples, doing her best to talk to the crowd. You recognize her as one of Deva K's followers. You get the feeling things are not going to stay this peaceful for long.

>_

> Eavesdrop.

[Hello Purvis]

> Are our newly-acquired gems well-cut?
> If not, we should consider cutting them, that will be likely to increase their value, and we should be able to control our denominations better.
> Is there a moneylender/pawnshop/fence that we are familiar with?

> Eavesdrop.

> Listen to the rabble and try and discern what the issues are.

>They seem to be at a glance; you probably couldn't improve upon them. But you've also not sat down with a scope to look at them.
>You know of a number of pawnshops. While oni would never consider theft, beating up someone and taking their stuff is perfectly acceptable as long as you're not sneaky about it. As such, repossession is a major form of debt collection, debts being something of a problem with a people who consider alcoholism a virtue. A number of pawn shops exist to change goods into cash. Yuugi manages the majority of them, making sure that no one tries to get too greedy or the like, much as Kay manages the majority of the pubs: protection money and threats of violence. You've been clever enough that the latter has never been a problem for you.
>You eavesdrop on the crowd, as well as you can. While you can't really make out what specific people are saying, you hear quite a bit of "I've been robbed!" and "Where's my money!?" It's really hard to hear what Kay's underling is saying, but it sounds like, "We know!" and "She's on it!"

>_

[Fightest]

>They seem to be at a glance; you probably couldn't improve upon them. But you've also not sat down with a scope to look at them.
>You know of a number of pawnshops.
>You eavesdrop on the crowd, as well as you can. While you can't really make out what specific people are saying, you hear quite a bit of "I've been robbed!" and "Where's my money!?" It's really hard to hear what Kay's underling is saying, but it sounds like, "We know!" and "She's on it!"

> Then the only obstacle we'll have is that there's a 70% likelihood that the pawn shop will have the same problem as us.
> That said, it is not actually a problem. Gems are a perfectly fine form of currency.
> Speaking of currency: who mints the actual money that we normally use?
> Ask an oni at the back of the crowd: "Lost your money as well? Was it replaced with anything?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Then the only obstacle we'll have is that there's a 70% likelihood that the pawn shop will have the same problem as us.
> That said, it is not actually a problem. Gems are a perfectly fine form of currency.
> Speaking of currency: who mints the actual money that we normally use?
> Ask an oni at the back of the crowd: "Lost your money as well? Was it replaced with anything?"

>It seems you may not be alone in your troubles...
>You could probably barter with them, but the problems quickly become obvious.
>You...aren't actually sure who makes it. You know there's someone in town who does, and you're pretty sure there's a person who does minting topside, as well. But you never really chased after the details; you tended to use the precious metals you came across for jewelery.
>You head toward the back of the crowd and question an oni. "That I did!" she says, looking toward you. "Some zoggin' sneak thief came and made right off with it! Left a bunch little beads, too! And 'ere I'm paying my protection proper!"

>_

>_

[Fightest]

> Oho.
> "We're in the same boat. Tell your friends that it ain't a problem, I've got this, as long as a riot don't break out."
> Major Objective: Economic Reboot. Until we get new currency minted, we can use gem trade as a stopgap, as long as the oni accept their value. We'll need a voice of power for the last bit.
> We can make a lot of money off this, if we're careful about it.
> Make our way to the front of the crowd, get better detail what the underling is saying.

[Hello Purvis]

> Oho.
> "We're in the same boat. Tell your friends that it ain't a problem, I've got this, as long as a riot don't break out."
> Major Objective: Economic Reboot. Until we get new currency minted, we can use gem trade as a stopgap, as long as the oni accept their value. We'll need a voice of power for the last bit.
> We can make a lot of money off this, if we're careful about it.
> Make our way to the front of the crowd, get better detail what the underling is saying.

>"Ain't no friends of mine," says the oni.
>You do smell the potential to make a lot of money, if this can be played correctly.
>You make your way toward the front of the crowd, where the dark-haired oni is shouting, "We know! Go home! She's not here anyhow!"

>_

[Fightest]

>"Ain't no friends of mine," says the oni.
>You do smell the potential to make a lot of money, if this can be played correctly.
>You make your way toward the front of the crowd, where the dark-haired oni is shouting, "We know! Go home! She's not here anyhow!"

>_

> Does the average Oni even have friends, as opposed to drinking-buddies or people-on-my-side-in-a-fight?
> Hm. Modulate voice-box to average Oni voice. Pull back one row into the crowd so we're not seen by the flunky.
> Shout, "Hey, stickface! If she ain't here, then where is she?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Does the average Oni even have friends, as opposed to drinking-buddies or people-on-my-side-in-a-fight?
> Hm. Modulate voice-box to average Oni voice. Pull back one row into the crowd so we're not seen by the flunky.
> Shout, "Hey, stickface! If she ain't here, then where is she?"

>Oni do have normal friends and such. You get the feeling this is more of a random mob, and suspect that one of the main reasons violence hasn't broken out already is due to this being a Deva's home.
>It'll take you a couple minutes to get your voicebox like you want it. Do you still wish to do this?

>_

[Fightest]

>It'll take you a couple minutes to get your voicebox like you want it. Do you still wish to do this?

>_

> Better idea.
> Shout at nobody in particular:
> "I think I saw her downtown, like, two minutes ago!"
> Watch mob mentality do the rest.

[Kilgamayan]

> Do we really want to be lying to oni? The consequences of doing so last time didn't seem very pleasant.

[Fightest]

> Do we really want to be lying to oni? The consequences of doing so last time didn't seem very pleasant.

> No idea what you're talking about. What last time?
> Regardless, we have deniability, even if our voice is easily identified, and that's a big if in a mob. Plus, I don't think we'll be around in one place for very long, there are a lot of things to be done.

[Kilgamayan]

As well, having lived among the rigorously honest oni; quick to answer injury with violence; has done much to quietly shape you toward being a more socially-minded soul. Particularly after the end result of your first attempts to run scams and thieve your way through as you used to...

> This last time.

If you want to hedge your bets that they'll take off immediately, then ignore me and go for it. I'll just never be comfortable with lying to oni in any capacity.

[Solais]

I think it's better if we don't go with the lying. The voice box idea can work.

[Rin Kagamine]

Voice box will take too long, why don't we just ask the lackey where she is?

[Kilgamayan]

Well, if Fightest thinks he can get away with it, then it's admittedly a faster way of dealing with the current conditions. Now that the Iku mindset is gone, deception can be considered as a reasonable solution to any given problem., as much as it will obviously not always be the best solution.

I will ask, though; do we even need to be here if Kay isn't? Is there anything in particular we have to say to her that she wouldn't have already learned from the mob if she were present? It might be faster to just head topside and follow the rabbit lead.

[Rin Kagamine]

Possibly, but I imagine that if this is widespread then K is already out on it.  Given that, I think Nue talking to her would probably be more beneficial because if she has any leads, topside or otherwise, we could act on them in ways oni can't.

[Fightest]

Voice box will take too long, why don't we just ask the lackey where she is?

I considered that. However, imagine what would happen if the lackey told the oni mob where K is. Nothing good would result from that. Additionally, there's a good chance that K is actually home and the lackey's saying that K is away is a basic ruse to get the mob to leave. If we can facilitate the mob leaving, we can at least get to K to work things out or, if she is actually away, find out where she is.

As for actual retribution - as I said, I imagine that we won't be in one place for very long with this project, making prospects of oni violence quite slim.

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

We can afford to make some deception here, since Nue isn't the 100% nice girl that Iku/Maribel were. Just make sure it doesn't bite us back in the ass later on/get anyone killed.

> How good are we at seeing through other's lies?
> How far away is the Earth Palace from here, and how long would it take to travel there?

Might as well see if everyone underground was jacked or if it was just the Oni.

[Sect]

Actually, there's an easier way to get to K, and it won't even involve lying (well, not really): just get up close to the oni controlling the crowd, and tell her that we need to talk to K because we have a lead on whoever's been replacing the money (Tewi).

[Kilgamayan]

Additionally, there's a good chance that K is actually home and the lackey's saying that K is away is a basic ruse to get the mob to leave.

Not a possibility worth considering. Remember that oni are honest to a fault. It's not an issue of "I don't think I'll get away with it" with them, it's an issue of "Lying is an objectively immoral thing to do." And if lying weren't bad enough in general, this would be doubly worse if one of the subordinates of one of the most respected women in the city was caught telling a lie to a large number of people.

Also, I've done a few musings on the subject, and I'd like to lay down a few "facts" for further pondering (along with some italicized conclusions based on those facts that can be disputed to your hearts' content), as they may help get to the core of why this was done. These will have to come on my lunch break, though, which is in a little over 2 hours, since this break has run out.

[Fightest]

Not a possibility worth considering. Remember that oni are honest to a fault.

News to me, but will be taken under consideration.

Actually, there's an easier way to get to K, and it won't even involve lying (well, not really): just get up close to the oni controlling the crowd, and tell her that we need to talk to K because we have a lead on whoever's been replacing the money (Tewi).

Requires removal of crowd. They are a far more pressing concern to K and subordinates than some Nue.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

I say go with Fightest's little deception.

[Shadoweh]

> Has an oni ever lied to us?
> Do we think oni are capable of lying?

[Sect]

Requires removal of crowd. They are a far more pressing concern to K and subordinates than some Nue.

Some Nue who claims to have information on the situation that they're dealing with? Not to mention that K knows who we are, and even frequents our tavern, so there's a strong likelihood that K would want to her what we have to say.

And if it becomes absolutely necessary that we need to disperse the crowd, then just suggest to the oni that she line them up, take their names and what's been replaced, and that when they find out what has happened then they will ensure that either their money is replaced or they are informed as to a solution. The oni will take her on her word more easily than humans would.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

These are angry oni. Calming them down isn't likely to be that simple. Better to divert their attention.