[LPF] Fury Steps In

[Qik]

The pair enjoy their meal (Mrs. De Luca having eaten half her bowl and then nodded off) and their bottle of wine. And another, for good measure. They talk well into the night, with the topics generally remaining light: Milo reminisces about old friends, tells stories ranging from hilarious to scandalous about political rivals ("Many of them wanted as much power as they could get their grubby hands on; I just was tired of watching others come and go without much change."), and talks in great detail about food and cooking ("My passion."). Even so, he provides Fury with ample opportunity to pick his own topics. In the end, the De Luca cot is rolled out once again, and Fury spends the night, sleeping off the wine and food with the knowledge that he has both made a difference, and made a friend. The two seem to go hand in hand.

[sblock=OOC]So I had a few sporadic ideas for further scenes, but we've also played out most of what I had planned for. What are you thoughts about going forward?[/sblock]

 

[GlassEye]

[sblock=OOC]Going forward? I'm all for it if you're up for it. I must say that this has been incredibly enjoyable. Thanks. I've particularly enjoyed the banter between Fury and Parsons, Moretti, the thugs, well, everyone I suppose; the friendship developed between Fury and Milo; even the development of Handso. An all around good story. Thanks, again, Qik.[/sblock]

 

[Qik]

[sblock=OOC]Well, I'm really glad to hear that you've enjoyed it. My aim of course was to give you something really suited for Fury, from the plot line to the banter, and I'm glad to hear that you've been pleased with the results. As I may of mentioned before, I'm still pretty new to tabletop RPGs - have been playing for a little over a year now - and this outing has been something of a highlight for me thus far. It's been exceedingly enjoyable.

As for going forward: my main hesitations were two-fold. One, Audra's adventure will be starting up shortly (I'm going to start on the opening post this afternoon, with designs of putting the thread up by the weekend), and I was worried about the time in that regard. Two, I just wanted to make sure the ending didn't drag - I have to say, endings for me in general are tough to pull off, in a lot of contexts; I always find it hard to decide what should be addressed and what's best left unsaid.

If you're fine with it, I'm happy to play it by ear. I have an idea for a bit more to be covered, and we can just see how both the story and the posting rate are holding up once we get to the end of that, and then go from there.[/sblock]
Morning comes in the form of a knock at the door, coupled with an obtrusive ray of sunlight. As Fury gets his bearings in the midst of the fog brought about from equal parts food, wine, and too little sleep, Milo makes his way to the door, also clearly unhappy at the premature awakening.

"I'm coming, damnit, I'm coming!"

Milo opens the door to find the clean-cut form of Galen Parsons on the other side. Parsons smiles wryly at Milo's surliness. "Late night, Milo?" De Luca grunts a response and backs away from the door to let Parsons in as he moves towards the stove to make some coffee. As he enters, Parsons eyes Fury's prone form. "Well good morning, Mr. Furioso. I'm glad to see you at least made it over here. I was afraid you had gotten lost or wandered off." Despite his grogginess, Fury swears that, underneath the barb, he detects a modicum of concern in the Commander's voice. Maybe.

Parsons turns a chair around and seats himself at the table in anticipation of the coffee to come.

 

[GlassEye]

Fury yawns and looks up at the Commander with heavy-lidded eyes bleary from the early morning.

"Oh. Commander. Uh..." Fury struggles to think coherently. "Sorry 'bout that. Milo was satisfied knowing you were on the job; he insisted I stay." Fury runs his hand through his hair trying vainly to neaten it a little. "But you're here to talk to Milo; I should go." He gropes around on the floor for his boots.



[sblock=OOC/Actions]If you'd prefer to wrap it up so that you aren't running two games at once I'm ok with that. I understand having limited time and DMing takes more time than playing...
[/sblock][sblock=MiniStats][size=+1]Fury[/size] Human Rogue 3 / Bard 2
Initiative: +7 Perception: +8

AC: 20 (15 touch; 15 flat-footed)
HP: 40 Current: 34
CMB: +5 CMD: 20 Fort: +2 Ref: +11 Will: +4

In Hand:

Spells Remaining: 1st: 2/2[/sblock]

 

[Qik]

Fury's efforts to leave are stifled by Milo's surprisingly strong hand on his shoulder. He smiles at Fury as he places a cup of coffee in his hand. "Why are you always so eager to try and leave my house, son? If I didn't know better, I would be offended." He gestures to an empty seat at the table. "Just sit, already."

Taking a seat for himself, Milo says, "So what exactly brings you by, Commander? Just checking in on a frail old man?"

Parsons snorts. "You're hardly that, Milo; you'd give more than a few White Cloaks I know a run for their money." Growing more serious, he says, "But I was genuinely concerned after yourself and Mr. Furioso failed to materialize yesterday. There's already been one attempt on your life as of late..." Parsons trails off, the implications clear. He shakes his head slightly as if to clear it. "But thankfully there doesn't seem to have been an issue. And given the success of yesterday's raid, I dare say that the criminal element of Ranocchio will have greater concerns than a politician" - "A lowly one, at that," Milo chimes in - "in the weeks to come," continues Parsons. "Such as getting revenge on their own," he adds ominously. "Some of those Krakens were only too eager to talk."

Parsons shifts in his chair, apparently slightly uncomfortable. Finally, he continues, "But no, Milo, I didn't come just to check in on you, although that was part of it. Frankly, I feel as though I owe you an apology. Owe both of you one, really," he adds, nodding to Fury. "You know I've been behind your efforts to clean up Ranocchio 100%. But I dare say that even I underestimated the scope of the problem here in Ranocchio. To think, the Krakens were about to begin refining pesh. It's enough to make one want to hide in Roses D'Avorio, which more than a few White Cloaks officials seem inclined to do."

"I hasten to add that I'm not here in any official capacity. Gods know the last thing the Coordinator would want is to have someone issuing an apology to you on his behalf. But I felt as though you were owed it, official or no, so I came to offer it." Parsons turned to Fury. "And you. You pissed me off a hundred times over yesterday. But I don't know if myself or my men would have all gotten out alive if you hadn't been there. Not to mention we wouldn't have been there in the first place if it hadn't been for you. So," says Parsons, reaching into his satchel and pulling out a small but hefty bag, "here." He plops the bag on the table in front of Fury.

Inside are coins. A lot of them.

[sblock=OOC]400 gp from the raid. Also, did I dole out XP for the warehouse fight? Just in case, it's 700.

I appreciate that; like I said, I'm fine at least finishing out this scene, and then we can take it from there. I certainly don't want to end this prematurely, because as I said, it's been quite enjoyable. In any case, we're done with the map making/battle scene-ing portion of things, which is what I find to be the most time consuming.[/sblock]

 

[GlassEye]

Fury takes the seat and the coffee and sips at the scalding hot drink as he listens to Milo and the Commander talk. When Commander Parsons drops the bag on the table in front of him, Fury stares at it for a bit then raises his eyes to meet the Commander's.

"Commander, I... I don't know what to say." He rubs his chin, whiskers making a rasping sound against the callouses of his hand. "Thank you." He abruptly thrusts his hand out to shake the Commander's hand. Once finished he stows the gold in his pack and returns to his seat.

Settling again in his chair he looks at the other two men thoughtfully and unconsciously chews his lip. "This worked out much better than I could have hoped. A great success by all counts. But I wonder what happens next."



[sblock=MiniStats][size=+1]Fury[/size] Human Rogue 3 / Bard 2
Initiative: +7 Perception: +8

AC: 20 (15 touch; 15 flat-footed)
HP: 40 Current: 34
CMB: +5 CMD: 20 Fort: +2 Ref: +11 Will: +4

In Hand:

Spells Remaining: 1st: 2/2[/sblock]

 

[Qik]

A slightly surprised Galen Parsons accepts Fury's handshake with a firm one of his own. "Well, like I said," responds the Commander, "I feel as though things will be quiet in the short term. And not just for the Krakens: a raid like yesterday's is going to make the entirety of Ranocchio's underbelly think twice before doing anything too drastic, now that they know we're willing to act. Plus, I believe the Coordinator will want to capitalize on the political potential of the current circumstances and cast this whole thing as being the beginning of a wider push to clean up Ranocchio's streets." The Commander smiles. "It looks like you'll finally be getting what you've wanted Milo."

The elder man snorts derisively. "Like hell I will. What I want is to have gotten this years ago! But you're right," he says, shifting his tone, "it does look as though we've made some real progress. Now let's just hope we can take advantage of it." Milo stares out of the window for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Parsons takes advantage of the lull to add, "I don't want to paint too rosy of a picture - not that Milo needs a dash of realism thrown in - but I doubt we've heard the last of the Krakens. You don't get as big as they have without the ability to bounce back from a scrape or two."

 

[GlassEye]

Fury is too much of a realist to get all glassy-eyed about the prospect of a clean and happy Planks district; he's glad of the success, hopes his part doesn't become too well known, but is all too aware of how things are likely to stand in Ranocchio for the foreseeable future. He clears his throat and adds to Commander Parsons' dash of realism. "And Milo, you still need to be wary. Truth be told, I found no real evidence linking the Krakens to the attack on you; just rumor. Maybe the White Cloaks can verify Kraken involvement with those gang members they captured but unless the Commander has more information we just don't have a sure connection right now.

And Commander, that's a pretty big scrape we're talking about. If the Krakens were broken I'd expect a bit of peace in the near future as the criminal elements here readjust. If not... well, if I were a Kraken I would be going after some revenge and making some examples. This could escalate and get pretty nasty for everyone." He watches the Commander for a reaction. Sometimes Fury isn't sure people from the other side of the canal think the same way as people from Planks and he wants to be sure the Commander fully understands.

Fury thinks a bit before continuing. "And right now the law-abiding citizens of Planks, those willing to take a stand, are as fractured as the gangs that inhabit our streets. Milo and myself, the White Cloaks, the priests of the temple of Hinotheus, the do-gooders of Argento the Fisher; what we need is a bit of unity and organization." He falls silent thinking about the possibilities.



[sblock=MiniStats][size=+1]Fury[/size] Human Rogue 3 / Bard 2
Initiative: +7 Perception: +8

AC: 20 (15 touch; 15 flat-footed)
HP: 40 Current: 34
CMB: +5 CMD: 20 Fort: +2 Ref: +11 Will: +4

In Hand:

Spells Remaining: 1st: 2/2[/sblock]

 

[Qik]

Commander Parsons follows on the heels of Fury's warning. "He's right, Milo; we still haven't gotten any confirmation that it was the Krakens who tried to have you killed. With any luck, yesterday's actions assured your safety, either directly or indirectly, but we have no way of knowing that for certain." Looking to Fury, he adds, "At least you're not alone out here." Milo waves the subject off, but its clear the old man isn't making light of the threat, only that there's little to be done by dwelling on it.

Parsons nods at Fury's assessment of the situation as he sips his coffee. "You're right, of course: as my cousin always says, there's nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal. As long as they're still standing, that is. Let's hope the Krakens aren't standing at the moment. Still, like I said, I see the White Cloaks presence in Ranocchio increasing in the coming months, and after watching Handso rise to the occasion" - Milo snorts incredulously, but Parsons nods in confirmation of the statement's truthfulness - "I dare say Ranocchio will be in better hands than we would have otherwise thought. There sure is a lot of uncertainty, but things are looking brighter than they were two weeks ago."

Throughout the dialogue, Milo continues to sip his coffee, keeping his thoughts to himself. At Fury's last remark, he speaks up. "I was just thinking that myself. If the Krakens can organize themselves, why can't we? What we need is to capitalize on the rightful indigence people should have over what's happening to their home. And now, we have more than words and rumors: we have proof. Proof both that the criminals in Ranocchio grow bolder the longer they go unchecked, and that their rise is not inevitable: they can be stopped." Milo frowns. "Swaying public opinion and inciting action, though, is a difficult task. The Krakens are brought together by greed and ill-will: we need an equally-galvanizing force on our side..." he trails off, his frown deepening, no clear solution to the quandary in sight.

 

[GlassEye]

Fury nods in support of Commander Parsons' comments about Handso. "Commander Handso surprised me yesterday, Milo. He performed his duties surprisingly well. Although he won't be pleased to stay in Ranocchio; he was counting on this raid accruing enough political capital to get himself a transfer to a cushier command."

Turning back to the idea of rousing the populace of Planks Fury continues. "We're nothing if not proud. Oh, we all know the rest of Venza thinks of us as the bottom of the barrel but our history is as rich as that of Twin Roses, our craftsmen are just as skilled as those in Incudine, and our fleets of fishing boats outnumber the fleets of Gulls and supply the fish markets that feed the whole city. Pride of place, Milo, pride of place." He chuckles. "I guess we just need to go door to door to remind everyone of that."

Fury's face scrunches up in thought. "A face. Someone to remind the people who we are and who we can be, someone to rally behind." His mind leaps back to a previous topic of conversation and Fury turns to the Commander. "And since we've got you here, Commander... we need local men involved in law enforcement. Handso was assigned here, he wasn't raised here and doesn't understand our needs and ways of thinking. Most of his staff are from other districts as well. Recruiting and cultivating local men and women into the White Cloaks would improve relations and go a long ways to eliminating the us vs. them mentality held by both sides."



[sblock=MiniStats][size=+1]Fury[/size] Human Rogue 3 / Bard 2
Initiative: +7 Perception: +8

AC: 20 (15 touch; 15 flat-footed)
HP: 40 Current: 34
CMB: +5 CMD: 20 Fort: +2 Ref: +11 Will: +4

In Hand:

Spells Remaining: 1st: 2/2[/sblock]