[gradivus]

Werner gives Chaim a quick look and rolls his eyes.

He thinks to himself, At least it didn't break out into a brawl. Fraggin Xem- master of the universe.

[HydroRaven]

"Whatever you say, chum" answers Rat to Xem. He didn't think anymore of it than that, as things always moved quickly in the Jungle and dwelling on the past was the best way to miss present opportunities. Still, he was relieved things hadn't turned for the worse. *Now, let's deal with Sarafin and see if we can't find those trid chips* thought the ork as they made their way to the stubborn man's shop.

[inca1980]

The four of you head two more blocks south down the Valley until it becomes Ibleaf square.  The massive Ibleaf tree in the center of the square juts majestically out of ground over 40m towards the sky and is one of the highest structures propping up the massive bio-plastic tarp covering the Jungle.  More than 15m in diameter, a branchless trunk pushes up out of the ground turning half-ton cracked slabs of concrete on their side.  How did it get there?  Most people in the Jungle will rattle off:

 "Ea'van the Bountiful blessed the Jungle with the Ibleaf tree and taught us how to make even the cracks in the sprawl streets flourish.   She lives at the top and watches over us." 

Who knows if that's true or not.  Kubiak will ascend for days at a time to the top of the Ibleaf, but no one that you know has ever seen the peak for it is shrouded in foliage so dense that it is said not even microwave scanners have penetrated its depths. 

From Ibleaf square you turn east and two blocks are soon standing in front of Sarafin's.  The squat, smug little dwarf is in the middle of haggling with a middle-aged Amerind ork customer, Mrs. Kimimela, in front of his many tables filled with produce.  When he sees you coming he just sells her what she wants for the price she asks and hurries her along and quickly calls over to where you are about 15m away. 

"Hey kids, come over here, I got a question for ya!"

[rednblack]

Chaim wills himself to keep his eyes off the tables full of goods, and approaches the dwarf dutifully. ""Hoi, Sarafin. What's biz?"

[Poindexter]

Staying near the rear of the group, and staying silent, the bony little elf with the crazy eyes tries to size up Sarafin before he gets too close.

[spoiler]What's he got on his mind? (Judge intentions. Cha 4 + Int 5): 9d6t5 2[/spoiler]

[HydroRaven]

Rat was a little startled by Sarafin's behaviour. The dwarf usually shooed the gang away, either with a broom or sometimes with something sharper. This made the ork wary of his position, fearful he was walking into a trap of some sort and looked for the signs of anything that was out of place.

[spoiler] Rat is looking around for anything that would indicate things are not as they seem. Perception 〜 Intuition 5 + Perception 4 + Specialization 2 + Hawk Eye 1 + Actively Looking 3: 15d6t5 4 no glitches.[/spoiler]

[gradivus]

Werner is just as confused by Sarafin's behavior as are the others. He hangs back a few feet just in case Sarafin whips out a weapon or something.

[inca1980]

@Xem:
It's hard to read Sarafin's tense smile.  His default mode is shady.

@Rat:
You look around and you only see a few other customers looking for the bananas that have the least number of brown spots.  You do notice Sarafin quickly tap briefly on an ARO that you can't see.

@Everyone:

"You kids hungry?  I got some day old bread and some fresh cheese that would sure hit the spot right now." 

He reaches inside his vest and pulls out a metal flask.

"A little something to warm the spirits as well on this dreary day!"

His mouth broadens into a wide smile as he offers it to Chaim.  Old Sarafin had more than enough cred and sported very visibly some decent dental work.  Over half of his teeth had to be of gold or mercury filling. 

"You kids heard anything about who might have run off with my hard earned merchandise?  Kubiak's looking into it and I want to know if maybe you kids know something?"

[spoiler]OOC: If you haven't eaten this morning yet  make a Body + Willpower (2) test to see if you have to eat or not. [/spoiler]

[Poindexter]

[spoiler]Hungry? (bod 2 + will 7): 9d6t5 5
Not hungry, but Xem will take the food anyway.[/spoiler]

"You kids hungry?  I got some day old bread and some fresh cheese that would sure hit the spot right now." 

With a smile that attempts to be sincere, Xem says, "Thank you, Sarafin." before reaching out to take the bread and cheese from him. He then wraps them up in a piece of torn cloth hanging from his back pocket and places the small package in the small brown purse he carries with him. More than a few people have tried to correct him on the term "purse", Xem being a man and all, but he never cared much. It's a purse, and he's not so terrified of people thinking he's gay to do any mental gymnastics about it.

"A little something to warm the spirits as well on this dreary day!"

Again, Xem smiles, but this time shakes his head and raises one hand. "No thanks, not right now. Come nightfall, I may be back to take you up on your offer though, if it still stands?"

"You kids heard anything about who might have run off with my hard earned merchandise?  Kubiak's looking into it and I want to know if maybe you kids know something?"

A thoughtful frown crosses his face as he speaks. "Unfortunately, no. I could be persuaded to look into it, though." His face changes suddenly to a hopeful and friendly smile as he glances back and forth at Rat, Chaim, and Werner briefly, then back to Sarafin, speaking sweetly. "I don't think any of us have any particular plans for today. Is the food and drink a down payment for the help or is it the full payment?"

[HydroRaven]

The young ork wasn't one to refuse eating, but seeing as he noticed Sarafin had set off something before offering them the food made him suspicious. On the one hand he was hungry, but on the other, a piece of bread wasn't worth a beating or worse.

In the end, even though his stomach was telling him to take the food, Rat was too spooked to put it in his mouth and decided to pocket it for later, passing on the drink as well. The young delinquent listened to Xem make his offer and nodded at him when the elf looked back for approval.


[spoiler]Hunger 〜 Will 3 + Body 5: 8d6t5 2 no glitches [/spoiler]

[inca1980]

Sarafin keeps smiling but glances around a little impatiently before responding to Xem. 

"I don't even care about who did it anymore.  I really just want my merchandise back.  Those trid-chips were a special delivery from a contact I have all the way in Touristville.  If you could get the trid-chips for me by tonight I'll give you 20¥ each.  How does that sound?"

[Poindexter]

"I don't even care about who did it anymore.  I really just want my merchandise back.  Those trid-chips were a special delivery from a contact I have all the way in Touristville.  If you could get the trid-chips for me by tonight I'll give you 20¥ each.  How does that sound?"

Thinking that Sarafin's pockets might be loosened a little bit more if he didn't actually have to take any money out of them, Xem responds to Sarafin. "How about fifty, but store credit?"

[rednblack]

Seeing no one else getting zapped and pulled under one of the tables Chaim reaches out his hand and tears off a small piece of bread and cheese.  The flask was risky, but with Sarafin seeming more interested in the merch than in the satisfaction of beating a street rat to a pulp, he figures it might be bad form to not take drink.  He grabs the flask about the time Xem asks about store credit -- sharp guy, Xem could be when his pride wasn't on the line.

Chaim tips the flask slightly toward Sarafin, and raises his eyebrows, giving his best adult, do-we-have-a-deal? face.

[inca1980]

Sarafin keeps looking around and then his eyes seem to fall on something not too far behind you and his nervous smile grows into a genuine one as he gives the flask to Chaim and shakes Xem's hand.

"Fifty....ok why not.  We have a deal......"


You suddenly hear behind you the scraping sound of aluminum against concrete and Sarafin squeezes Xem's hand even tighter as the boy tries to pull away.  Grimacing through clenched teeth the skeevy dwarf growls so that even the few customers turn around.

"More like the fifty swings with that baseball bat I'm gonna get in when my friends over there get done wiping the street with you.  You fraggin kids wanna steal from me??!!   Looks like you'll wind up paying for that merchandise after all!!"

Turning around you see Oakley, one of the most senior members of the Cutters and leader of their Clean-up Crew. 


He approaches with 4 other tattooed orks swinging more bats, chains and lead pipes and they're about 15m away.  Oakley's bat grates along the floor as he drags it playfully, smiling in anticipation.

"Look what the cat just dragged in.  I think we found our boys.  Hoi lucky chummers.  Hoi Sarafin.  You mind holding that skinny one for me while I hit a home-run with his head?"

[spoiler]OOC: Roll initiative everyone.[/spoiler]

[Poindexter]

As soon as the dwarf grabs his right hand, Xem's knife is in his left. Seeing the armed men approach from the rear, he thinks about the only cover he has here. He pushes himself in close to Sarafin, which isn't difficult, already being held by him. With a crackling voice full of fury and madness, he whispers to the man, knife pressed against tender bits. "Release me this fucking instant and I shall allow you to keep your testicles!"

[spoiler]
Intimidate (Cha 4 + Skill 4 + Spec 2): 10d6t5 2
What do I know about oakley? (Int 5 + Jungle knowledge 4): 9d6t5 5
Still well under my mental limit.
EDIT: Actually, I guess this should have been an info: gangs roll, but with my spec in cutters, it's the same amount of dice either way.[/spoiler]

No matter what happens in the next few moments, this man's shop BURNS.

[spoiler]Initiative: 1d6+10 11[/spoiler]