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  • File : 1301256040.jpg-(40 KB, 480x480, 25.jpg)
    40 KB Harlem Quest - Part IX Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:00 No.14384797  
    It's 1927.

    You're an enforcer called Duke, you're a midlevel guy in one of the three black gangs trying to control the illicit side of things in Harlem, the Outfit, though recently the Dutch and the Jews have been trying to muscle in on the action. You've got two underlings and a whole bunch of people above you.

    As well as being a black man, you're a black magician, which just means you've got a certain understanding with the Other Side and don't hesitate to use certain kinds of energy to help yourself and your people, always in that order. Necromancer is a dirty word used by white folks to try to keep down you down and maintain their power base.. Anyone uses the N word around you finds themselves dead and their ghost enslaved.

    It's the height of the swinging twenties, money is flowing, deals are being made, position and power are gained and lost every day, and all that life and all that energy means that magic is abundant.

    Welcome to Harlem.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:01 No.14384802
    Part I: http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/tg/thread/13796767
    Part II: http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/tg/thread/13808265
    Part III: http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/tg/thread/13868014
    Part IV: http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/tg/thread/13892779
    Part V: http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/tg/thread/13928333
    Part VI: http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/tg/thread/13986169
    Part VII: http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/tg/thread/14065396

    I highly suggest you read the old threads because a shitload of things have happened and although I'll try to summarise shortly I won't be able to get down all the details.

    Skills:
    Guns - all guns, rifles, semis etc
    Bartering - The bluffing, the negotiating, the double dealing, it all comes naturally to you.
    Intimidation (Intermediate) - You can scare almost anyone into obeying you in the short term.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:02 No.14384811
    >>14384802
    Oh and Part VIII: http://archive.easymodo.net/tg/thread/14114290
    ---
    Spells:
    Summoning (Level Four) - you can now summon people up to 3 years dead, faster and with less energy than you used to.
    Bind (Level Four) - You've used Bind often enough that you've gained a new level of mastery. You can now bind a ghost to your cause for 30 days. You've also gained the ability to bind a ghost to items in a manner of ways. You can bind a ghost to a container, in order to imprison them, or you can bind a ghost to an item like a knife, dagger, amulet or what have you in order for the item to gain magical characteristics. For example, binding the spirit of a war veteran to a rifle will give you a sentient, bloody minded rifle with an offensive bonus that speaks to you and wants to attack all Germans on sight. And so on and so forth.
    Life Leech (Level Two) - you now have the ability to heal minor wounds. If you're already healthy and use it you get stronger, quite a bit faster and gain some stamina. Your target feels like they've run a marathon unless you decide to only take a little. You still cannot leech from magicians.
    Rip (Level One) - essentially ripping out the souls of living people from their bodies by summoning them. Makes them unconscious for about 30 seconds since their souls return to the bodies relatively quickly.
    Ghost Whip (Level One) - you can now cause untold amounts of agony to the newly dead, up to three days. As you get more practice at this you can cause more damage to older ghosts.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:03 No.14384815
    Items of Note:
    Happy Magic Juice - a high quality concoction that mystics use to power their astral wanderings: some laudanum, a some rare chinese opium, and a dash of Ghost. You've got enough in the bottle to get a mind and soul high and keep it there for a whole weekend.
    Medium Physical Protection Amulet - This can take killing blows and spread out the attack evenly on the shield so you don't get broken bones or incapacitated. It can only take 3 killing blows before having to be recharged.
    Medium Astral Protection bracelet - This will protect you from attacks on the astral plane, whether you're a sleep or you're awake although it does require a ritual in the mornings to activate it for the rest of the day.
    Distraction Charm - This will allow you to walk through white neighbourhoods without having the police called on you or get undue attention. You're part of the background but if you do something out of the ordinary you will get noticed.
    Strong Luck Charm - when wearing this things always seem to go your way. Especially when you're in battle where bullets seem to miss you and experienced melee fighters suddenly gain inner ear problems. The luck of the Irish is yours.
    2 Charmed M1917 Colt Revolvers - They Never Miss. Ever.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:04 No.14384822
    Your underlings are as follows:
    - Randy, an innocent sounding name for a dangerously cynical 16 year old kid. Loyal beyond death, really, because you helped him kill the judge that sentenced his father to death. You've taught him a bit of magical theory but he's not your kind, so for now he's a low level elemantal magician until he gets some real training. But boy can he set fire to shit. Special Items: 1 Elemntal Booster stone. 1 Basic Physical Protection Amulet. (BONUS: Pyromaniac. Also he is currently working for the Chinese for 1 year as part of a peace agreement).
    - Big Jim, a muscular behemoth with no magic whatsoever. He resents the fact that he is the same age as you and yet you give the orders. Nevertheless he obeys because you've got the juice and he don't. He ain't all that smart but he's good in a scrap. Special Items: 1 Medium Strenght Amplifier necklace. (CURRENTLY INCAPACITATED DUE TO NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE WITH A WEREWOLF)
    - Chandler Raymonds. A punk kid you killed that has agreed to work for you for a time as a ghost, to spy on your enemies for you on the understanding that you keep his brothers safe if he finds out they're in danger. Because he's a free ghost who you haven't bound he can show initiative and do things on his own away from you and for extended periods of time without having to constantly rebind and set the parameters of his mission to him. He's agreed to work with you on a long term basis now.
    - The Three Amigos, three nameless henchmen who've been with you through thick and thin. (BONUS: Loyalty Level Two). One of them is now the Old Amigo because of a curse he was inflicted with.
    - Ro, a young chinese woman who's your hostage for a year in exchange for peace with the Chinese.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:05 No.14384835
    DISADVANTAGES:
    DEATH LEECH - if you're mortally wounded and you get knocked out you will drain until death whoever is standing closest to you in order to recover and wake up. This disadvantage will stay with you until you gain better control of leech life (i.e. Level Four).

    ---

    Alright! There we go. After our several week long hiatus, Harlem Quest is back and now I'll go make myself a sandwich while waiting for you guys to turn up.

    I'll post the latest weekly update in about 15 minutes or so.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:11 No.14384879
    Bumping.

    Wish I could contribute, but I'm not caught up yet.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:11 No.14384881
    >>14384835
    >DEATH LEECH - if you're mortally wounded and you get knocked out you will drain until death whoever is standing closest to you in order to recover and wake up. This disadvantage will stay with you until you gain better control of leech life (i.e. Level Four).

    I thought the general plan was to use leechlife regularly so as to lose the disadvantage. I know our magic related growth has slown down a bit but shouldnt we have grown enoudh to lose the disadvantage?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:20 No.14384945
    All right. Things to do...

    We must acquire additional competent underlings. Not that I don't like the ones that we have, but we're moving up in the world- that means our cadre of reliable agents needs to be expanded to match our new position. And, hell, Randy's gone and Ro's not even really ours, Jim's incapacitated and the Amigos are essentially just mooks+; hardly the kind of posse one can run an empire on. Our other underlings aren't fighty types, and we can't do everything ourselves.

    Order our people to start up a talent search. We need to find some solid people- our sort of people- and start handing out offers they can't refuse.

    Additionally, I continue to back getting more ghost servants like Chandler. Find dead people, offer to look after their families or fix things they left behind in ways that they didn't like in exchange for their serving us as ghostly bruisers and spies. The army of ghost jews demonstrated the potential power of this approach, even if we got most of 'em killed in a zerg rush. If we put some actual work into getting personally loyal and competent ghosts... could go a long way towards giving us a solid power base.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:24 No.14384972
    >>14384881
    You've trained enough that you're about to reach level 3 in life leech soon enough but that still won't be enough to get rid of that disadvantage.

    >>14384945
    Whoops. Big Jim is obviously back in action, I copypasted that part from an old notepad file that's out of date since Big Jim recovered from the werewolf injury quite a while ago.

    Ok. I'm going to assume we have enough people and begin.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:24 No.14384973
    HARLEM QUEEEEEEEEEEEEST!
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:24 No.14384979
    OVER-ALL STATUS FOR WEEK 7:

    WARCHEST:
    108,000 dollars.

    ASSETS:
    - Wessler Building (Sanctum: 100% COMPLETE!) (Foundations fixed in 1 weeks time)
    - The Boom Boom Room (managed by Sweet Johnson)
    - Henry's (Formerly the Stiegler Bar: Now being run by the Old Amigo)
    - The Well Travelled Inn (managed by Sweet Johnson)
    - 4 Holdings.

    Net Profits Per Week: 11500 dollars.

    STATUS WITH NEIGHBOURS:
    JEWS: Excellent.
    CHINESE: Peaceful.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:26 No.14384991
    Wow, you really did start this at 1600.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:26 No.14384992
    After weeks of work on your part and your part alone you finally have a sanctum in the Wessler building that responds to you. When you walk in you can feel your power echoing in the walls and energy responds to your manipulation much easier than anywhere else.

    You've sent out the word that you're looking for new underlings to take on responsibilities. Word is slowly going out and people should start trickling in several weeks time to see if a position under you is something they're interested in.

    It's been a quiet week: The councilman has not been in touch since sending you that case of drink. You've sent Alexander and his police buddies the pay off money like usual so nothing from him. The Jews and the Chinese are quietly running their own territories in the neighbouring parts of the Financial District without encroaching into yours.

    On the surface it seems like everything is going just perfectly for you.

    Except you have this nagging feeling that you're missing something.
    ---
    What do you want to do this week?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:32 No.14385045
    >>14384992
    Well that's not fucking ominous.

    - Monitor Ro. See if it looks like she's spying on us.
    - Look for other miscellaneous areas in the financial district where we can expand. A small business that's failing, could use some "investment" and a partner. Etc.
    - The Opposition, back in Harlem. What are those fuckers up to? We need to take them out. Drop the leaders, and possibly most of the middle men, and absorb their streets into the Outfit. Send out some feelers. We need some intel on who exactly the bosses of those little shit kickers are.
    - We have these crystals. Turn some water into wine to see how well it works. Maybe we'll have some high quality drink to pass around.
    - I don't think other people liked it last time I suggested, but we still have Pitt's spirit here. I think we should seriously have him meditate, and contemplate his actions, why he's done them, and how that effected him as a human being. We have Ro. So we could talk to her about Chinese meditation and shit while Pitt is around, having him listen and using what she says as advice. Pitt's a bad dude. And I think if there's nothing else, we should turn him into an item. But he's evil and powerful as fuck, and based on the Wolf Claws, I don't think something with Pitt in it would be too effective for us at this stage. It would likely be more of a hindrance. If we can get him to mellow out, or come to some inner peace, imagine what we could make.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:37 No.14385089
    FUCK YES HARLEM QUEST!

    >>14385045
    I like this. Especially paying attention to Ro, looking for expansion in the Financial District, and looking into absorbing the Opposition.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:39 No.14385109
    ____________ALERT__________________

    One of your henchmen has been killed.

    Abe Brandanowicz, a goon hired by Gerald who worked security at the Boom Boom Room was attacked and killed on his way home.

    He was left to bleed to death and has a note left on him that reads "Filthy Jews and Jungle Bunnies - You're Not Welcome."

    He was 34 years old and leaves behind a wife and a pair of 5 year old twins.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:39 No.14385110
    >>14385045
    Somehow, I don't think "I'll force this guy to meditate until he's okay with the fact that I ruined his plans, killed him, and stole everything he used to own" is a rational plan. He's not going to suddenly start doing what we want because we made him contemplate his actions; people- yes, even people who meditate- can nurse grudges for years, and I doubt ghosts are any exception.

    Better to get everything we can out of him and then squeeze the power out his soul like water from a sponge. The resulting item will only be hateful if we didn't squeeze hard enough; the Irish boys had nothing in favor of us and they made some fine loot.

    Also, don't monitor Ro any more than we already are. Of course she's spying on us, and will report everything she sees back to the Chinese when she returns; that was kind of our deal with them. Unless we actually think they're going to stab us in the back very soon, displaying distrust for her would be pointless.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:40 No.14385120
    >>14385045
    While we're here with Ro, talk to her about Chinese mysticism? See if there's anything she can teach us, even if she doesn't know she's teaching us? Even just basic things? Oh, "Chinese Mysticism is based off of . . . "

    Maybe look into the Jews to see what their capabilities are. I'm assuming maybe some ancient Hebrew magic? Golems and the like, maybe? Just because we have excellent relations, doesn't mean we can slack off on security. The worst enemy is the best friend that stabs your in the back.

    I don't think we (The Duke personally) could learn to use Chinese or Jewish magic, but if we at least gain a basic understanding of how it works, it would be helpful.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:41 No.14385133
    >>14385109
    Motherfucker. Have Gerald meet with his widow. Give her 5 grand right now. Have him give her his deepest condolences. She'll be taken care of.

    Meet with his ghost. Find out what happened.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:42 No.14385141
    >>14385109
    Tragedy has struck!

    Well, standard operating procedure here. Go to his body, find out if his ghost knows anything. Pay for his funeral, give his family death comp. Offer to take care of his family in the long term if he'll stick around; he probably wants to for vengeance reasons anyway.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:43 No.14385154
    >>14385133

    This. Ensure that the family is okay and investigate the murder.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:45 No.14385165
    >>14385109

    Meet with our guy's family, and give the wife some blood money.

    Send Chandler out on the town and see if he catches anything.

    Send in some low-level henchies to the Boom Boom Room as to who might have killed our guy.
    >> setsail4fail !Twb3SytpoI 03/27/11(Sun)16:48 No.14385187
    i both hate and fear quest threads, but this is awesome.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:50 No.14385206
    Harlem Quest is Duke Tier
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)16:53 No.14385235
    You're one of the first people on the crime scene and manage to grab some of Abe's hair.

    Before meeting with his family you take his hair back to the Wessler building and summon him with ease.

    Abe appears in front of you, confused at first but quickly realises he's dead. When you ask him what happened he explains:

    "The night was over at work, nothing special to deal with other than the usual drunks, but then on my way home I get ambushed and someone hits me with a steel pipe from behind. I wake up some time later and they've dragged me into some alley. Four of them wearing masks but all of them with blue eyes or green eyes, fucking goyim."

    "They start asking me questions about who you are, your people, what your plans are. I can't answer that shit, I'm just a bouncer. Before they cut my throat I could tell they were disgusted by how little I knew."

    With a sigh he comes to the end of his story and you realise that's the extent of his knowledge. You offer to take care of his family for the rest of their lives should he stay on in your service as a ghost. He agrees. You've gained another ghostly set of eyes.

    As the day goes on information begins to flow in to you but it's sparse. Chandler is the only one who comes up with anything, somehow he's started developing ghostly sources of information on his own and one of them mentioned that they spotted four white men racing out of the Financial District in a dark red ford around the time Abe was killed.

    Anything else you want to do this week or jump to next week?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:58 No.14385284
    >>14385235
    If we don't find these bastards fast, they'll only kill more of our people. We don't have a ton of employees, and our ghost eyes move fast as hall, right? So having our ghosts randomly follow some of the people who fit roughly Abe's profile around with the expectation that they're likely to be attacked as well has a decent chance of working, I'd say. And if we catch 'em in the act we can scramble the jets, tail 'em home, and start bringing some serious retribution down on them and theirs.

    Continue attempting to expand operations while that is ongoing. We will not be intimidated; they will not stop us.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:58 No.14385286
    >>14385235
    Could we know where exactly in the District the Ford came from? Anything else we know about it other than its color?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)16:58 No.14385288
    >>14385235
    Have Chandler show Abe the works. Introduction to Ghosting 101.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:00 No.14385308
    How Ro's magic works? Is it quite the opposite of our (in the Life Leech form)?
    We can train her, learning from each other: I know the less she knows, the less dangerous it is, but we can't expect Randy will be trained to be a better pyro without training Ro, plus we can learn how a completely different kind of magic works training ourselves in the process.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:03 No.14385324
    >>14385308
    We are training Ro. With pistols and western medicine, as I recall. Frankly, if we devote any more of her time to training we'll be like a damned university for Chinese women instead of a gangster's outfit.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:07 No.14385357
    >>14385324
    My bad, I forgot about that
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)17:08 No.14385369
    OVER-ALL STATUS FOR WEEK 8:

    WARCHEST:
    114,000 dollars.

    ASSETS:
    - Wessler Building (Foundations: 100% COMPLETE!)
    - The Boom Boom Room (managed by Sweet Johnson)
    - Henry's (Formerly the Stiegler Bar: Now being run by the Old Amigo)
    - The Well Travelled Inn (managed by Sweet Johnson)
    - 5 Holdings.

    Net Profits Per Week: 11750 dollars.

    STATUS WITH NEIGHBOURS:
    JEWS: Excellent.
    CHINESE: Peaceful.
    ------continued------
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)17:10 No.14385386
    An import/export firm in the Wessler building had a serious cash flow shortage and would have gone out of business if not for your help. You've gained a significant share in their business and thus have gained another holding in the Financial District. You're starting to gain a reputation as a savvy business man and not just a gangster.

    You check in on Ro, just a natural progress meeting and to see how she's getting along and she seems really happy. She was very quiet and awkward around you at first but you've slowly gained her trust with your actions, and the fact that she's learning more about medicine as well as how to defend herself means she's ecstatic. She's really pleased that you're curious about the Chinese and explains to you their ideas on magic. "It all comes down to diving beings," she says "My healing ability comes from some deal my soul made with a divine being of a Benign Realm before I was born. The big boss is a bit scary when it comes to the Spirit-Within-Things. I've seen him have conversations with walls, doors, cars, anything you can think of the spirit of that item seems to love him and do anything he wants. I've never even got my own divine being to talk to me, nevermind wild ones. I've asked him how he does it and he just smiles at me and says 'Being friendly is the key'." She giggles at that.

    You apprentice Abe to Chandler and although Chandler is annoyed that he's got such a weak ghost by his side slowing him down from jumping all over the place like he usually does, he bears the burden well and tries to show Abe the ropes. Their task at the moment is to travel around the Financial District and keep an eye out for groups of white men and Red Fords, especially around your own goons who are likely to be targets.
    ---continued---
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)17:11 No.14385400
    You get reports from Harlem suggesting that the Opposition's days are numbered. Apparently the blow you made against them in taking over Portertown and thoroughly beating Freeman ruined their morale and Olukwele has been attacking their holdings on all fronts.

    Now that the work on the foundations are complete the Wessler building is in tip top shape.

    --

    And now....what?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:13 No.14385420
    >>14385400
    Make some water into wine and test it out.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:17 No.14385443
    >>14385400
    So now we've got an import/export business under our thumb. We could use that in the future, smuggling and whatnot. Make some calls to the boss bootleggers and Canadian whiskey runners. See if they could find a use for our business. It would have to be on the down low, though. We don't want to draw a lot of attention.

    As for the Alexander and the Councilman situation, I don't think it's wise to get involved too much with either right now. Eventually we'll have to choose one or the other, or maybe even try to play them off each other and screw them both. But for now, we're out of our element. We need to do some research on these guys.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)17:19 No.14385465
    >>14385420
    It's a slow ritual, half an hour long, but it seems to work just fine as you turn several liters of water into fine red wine. You're no connoisseur but as you taste it seems delicious to you: light, just a little tart and goes down your throat very well.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)17:20 No.14385472
    __________ALERT______________

    War has broken out in the Old World.

    Some newspapers are suggesting that a revolution has begun to take place in Germany, while other newspapers are saying it's a full on civil war.

    Apparently a group calling themselves the League of German Peoples tried to initiate a quick and brutal take over of the government but the reigning party's defenses were better co-ordinated than expected so it seems like a protracted internal war is to be expected until one side surrenders.

    Days pass and reports of atrocities in regions like Bavaria begin to come in. It seems both sides are utilising heavy military weaponry as well as magic. The numbers of the dead are currently in the tens of thousands.

    France has sent observers to keep an eye on the situation.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:22 No.14385493
    I wonder if our hat needs an upgrade.

    You gotta make sure you're wearing a nice hat. Nice hats are nice to look nice.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:22 No.14385500
    >>14385472

    Eh, doesn't really concern us unless refugees start coming across the Atlantic.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:28 No.14385550
    >>14385500
    Are you crazy? This is an excellent time to do business! It's war!

    >>14385472
    We need contacts with people in Germany. Talk to EVERYONE we know who might know someone. We need to know someone who can get us into contact with people with money, and a desire to spend it. Once we get some contacts, set up deals to sell them shit for their war effort. Hopefully we can get people on both sides of the conflict.

    The plan would be to buy things here in the US, and to sell them to those in Germany at inflated prices. Buy a protection amulet for 400 here. Sell it to Germany for 600, 800, 1000 even. "Magic Go Juice" for use by astral projectors, magic defense trinkets, magic weapons. Anything that we can get cheap, and that is wanted buy people fighting a fucking war!

    GOD DAMN WE'RE GONNA BE RICH! Talk to Olukewele about the possibilities. He'll like the idea, I think.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:28 No.14385552
    There ain't no profiteering like wartime profiteering. Lets have a few words with that import/export buisness and see if we cant make a few buisness deals, considering we have a near limitless supply of wine we could sellit for massive profit. If we do start to use the water to wine magic make sure we buy a vinyard or two someware.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:29 No.14385560
    >>14385552
    I like your style. Maybe after this war is over, if we have the right friends, we could buy some land over in Europe.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)17:31 No.14385573
    _____ALERT_____

    Word that you're looking for new members of your staff has spread and the first person interested in a job has shown up.

    You arrive at your offices in the morning and see a man waiting outside in a chair.

    You can't quite place those facial features but as the man stands up and smiles at you, flirtatiously(?), something in the back of your mind is trying to recognise what's so familiar.

    As the man's smile turns into a grin and he shakes your hand you hear a voice you haven't heard from since your days back in Harlem when you were trying to get a grip on the Lord Pitt/Crystals situation.

    "Why, Duke my dear, I'm offended you don't recognise me straight away," Willy Dean says in his slow drawl, despite the fact that he's wearing a different face than either of the three faces you've seen him wear in the past.

    "I hear you're looking for uh...employees?"
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:33 No.14385592
    >>14385573
    Shit yeah. Hire that fucker. Have him/her manage a business in the interim. Keep it a secret though. Having an underling who can shape shift is a good secret to keep. We'll find some uses for him/her later.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:35 No.14385604
    >>14385560
    Brillant idea, we could use it as both a cover for the wine making and whatever else we get into and as a recruiting/training/fallback base. and hey, if another jew purge starts we can get good PR, minions, and connection by giving them shelter and smuggleing them out.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:35 No.14385605
    >>14385592
    Like buttbuddy?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:35 No.14385608
    >>14385592
    You can't trust a shapeshifter. Let's chop his head off and be done with it.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:36 No.14385613
    You know what I would like in the future. An advanced power of ours. Making people into "Voodoo" style zombies by using our abilities in tandem.

    Ripping someone's spirit from their body, and binding it to our will. Once the spirit returns to the body, they're still bound to our will. Making them a walking bound spirit. A traditional Voodoo zombie. I'm sure something like that would take a long while to develop, but it's a cool idea.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:37 No.14385626
    Hey Ellington, did you expect us to turn into War Profiteering bastards so quickly?
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)17:45 No.14385697
    >>14385552
    >>14385550
    While other people are thinking in quite isolationist terms about not getting involved in the problems of the old world, you see an opportunity for profit.

    With the contacts you've gained in the Financial District and the help of the import/export business you've taken over, you're sure that somehow there's money to be made. You send out some feelers and within a few weeks there should be results in this area.

    >>14385592
    Willy shifts back to the face and body you were used to when you first met him, the effeminate milk chocolate skinned pretty boy with the masculine chin.

    "I could use some steady work and some .... safety," he says after hesitating for a moment. "I took a job I shouldn't have and went to hell faster than you can imagine. 8 years of clean jobs and perfect getaways and then within a 3 month period I get tracked down -somehow- by an Irish cop bastard and then a job goes wrong from the get go."

    Willy shrugs regretfully when you mention the idea of him and Jackie running a business. "Sorry Duke dearest, I wouldn't know where to start. I'm a thief. I can steal money like a Yankee steals bases but when it comes to keeping it, I ain't exactly a pro, you know?

    >>14385626
    lmao, NOT AT ALL. This is an avenue that hadn't even occurred to me since this Old World War was going to have other kinds of effects down the line.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)17:46 No.14385704
    >>14385613
    This is very possible and is within the realm of your abilities. Do this at some point in the future just once and you'll gain level one in this spell.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:49 No.14385726
    >>14385697
    "Now listen. Everyone has a job to do here. Head on over to Henry's. That's a real class joint. I'm gonna make a call, and you're gonna work there as a bartender. Or a waitress, maybe. Someone people see, but don't pay attention to. Go ahead and do the job there. Put on a nice, pretty face, and keep your head down, and your ears open. If you hear anything, go right ahead and come tell me. And in the mean time, if an opportunity arises where I need your . . . other skills, I'll let you know. Sound good?"
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:51 No.14385754
    >>14385704
    Let's go ahead and do that shit then! Wait for an opportunity or present itself though. Let's not just pluck a random dude off the streets.

    Oh shit, this would be a good way to murder guys. Rip and bind them, let them return to their body. "No, go back to your home. Make your presence known. Talk to your neighbors, your local grocer, let them know you're there. Then go into your bedroom, put a pistol in your mouth, and blow your head away. Don't tell anyone that I've given you this order. Act naturally."

    And there we go. Murder by suicide by puppet.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:53 No.14385774
         File1301262813.png-(414 KB, 769x431, Can't comprehend Beast Mode.png)
    414 KB
    >>14385754
    I I I can't believe

    Holy shit, that's awesome.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)17:54 No.14385782
    >>14385726
    "Why, sure, I understand" Willy drawls. "I think I'll go for being a waitress, I feel like being a beautiful woman this week. Jackie needs to get out a bit anyway. All work and no play makes Jackie a dull, dull girl."

    "I hope you'll drop by Henry's soon, Duke. I know you're not one of those types to frown on fraternisation, right?" He chuckles playfully as he walks out of the room, somehow managing to walk with sinuous swing to his hips that the suit he's wearing just can't hide.

    You now have an expert thief on your rolls.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:56 No.14385799
    >>14385782
    Expert thief, working in tandem with a ghost spotter? That's a team that can't lose.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)17:58 No.14385808
    Ellington, who controls the major docks here in New York City? With war in Europe brewing, even just in Germany (for now?), NYC will see some new immigrants coming in. And those that control the docks will be the first contact for new citizens.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:00 No.14385828
    Have we done anything to pretty up the building? Last I heard it looked like the south end of a north bound dog.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:01 No.14385841
    >>14385828
    Oh yeah. We should get in contact with that city planner asst. and get some insight on how to Beautify the wessler.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:02 No.14385856
    _______________ALERT_______________

    Another of your men, actually a woman this time, has been killed.

    Somehow though, the men behind this have smartened up. You're not quite sure how but it seems they realised you got information from the last corpse they left behind so after they killed this one they burnt her corpse completely so you'd have no chance to summon her.

    She was a black whore called Gina who worked at the Well Travelled Inn.

    No note was left behind this time.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:03 No.14385863
    >>14385754
    Oh man, the possibilities of this are endless. Make someone into a puppet. Have them sign over to us the deed of something we want. Well look at that. Thank you for giving me the gift of these warehouses at no charge. You're a wonderful person. No, go about your business, and in two weeks, jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:04 No.14385869
    >>14385856
    Let's talk to Sweet and see what he knew. The girl, Gina, had to have had an apartment. An apartment with a hair brush. Get my meaning?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:05 No.14385876
    >>14385808
    Fuck yes to this, first thing immigrants need is a home and a job. We can buy some land or old slums pay the immigrants to fix them up and give them affordable rent. From there we just have to keep fairly close and we should be able to recruit loyal grunts with relative ease and mabey pick up a few whites with magical talent.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:06 No.14385888
    >>14385856
    Go over there and find out whatever we can. Talk to the girls. Tell them not to worry. They're gonna be safe, and we're gonna get the fucks who are doing this, and they're going to pay.

    Hire up some low level goons. Real mook types. We need to increase security for our businesses and our men. The girls are gonna walk back to their houses after work? A goon is gonna escort them. The head chef at a restaurant is going home? A goon is gonna escort him. Shit will not stand.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:08 No.14385902
    >>14385856
    ask the jews(the ones working for us or the organised independants) if there were any other groups of whites interested in the fincancial distrect
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:09 No.14385917
    >>14385876
    Shit yeah! If we get enough money, we can buy a couple tenement buildings, plus a few nearby businesses. A grocer, a butcher shop, a dress shop, a laundry service. All in the immediate area. Give newcomers a place to live, affordable rent, and even give them jobs. "Here, you go ahead and live here. Come over to that grocer tomorrow, there'll be a job waiting." Get the family's loyalty, and we have a nice power base growing. Surely some of the people will have talent, in one way or another. Be they just bruisers, or hitmen. Or even mages. If their family likes us, they'll like us. "Son, welcome to America! Finally, you arrive! Mr. Duke, he's been very nice to us! He gave us this home, and I'm working as a butcher just down the street! America is so wonderful!" When Sonny boy begins looking for work, begins looking for places to use his, I don't know what kind of powers, do you think he'll go to see the Jews first? Or the Italians over in Bensonhurst? Maybe he'll come to see the people who helped his family so much.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:11 No.14385932
    >>14385869
    You talk to Sweets and have to spend the first ten minutes of your conversation calming him down. He's in an apoplectic rage and seems to be in favour of declaring war on anybody and everybody but as he calms down he realises that won't help anything.

    Eventually he sighs and give you her address where she lived. Before you leave though, he pleads "You've got to do something Duke. Gina was a sweet girl and she didn't deserve that. Whoever did this has got to pay. Hard."

    You proceed with your plan to find some traces of her at her house and you're successful.

    You summon her in her own bedroom and as her ghost takes form in front of you, you see that she's been crying.

    You console her and slowly draw the story out of her but there's not much to tell. She was just a whore so the assailants didn't even try to get any information out of her. They shot her in the head as she was walking home and then dragged her corpse into an alley and set fire to it. That was the last thing she remembered until her consciousness was reformed by your summoning.

    You make her the usual offer of keeping her around in exchange for taking care of her family but she has no dependants and no family. She just wants to move on as quickly as possible.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:14 No.14385952
    >>14385932
    Let her go, she has nothing more she can do for us. Maybe even give her a bit of a push on the way.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:15 No.14385955
    >>14385932
    Fuck. Tell Chandler to gather info alone if the new pal is slowing him down, somebody must pay soon or we're fucked.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:15 No.14385958
    >>14385932
    "Smile, girl. Things will be better now. No more pain, no more hurt. Let's give Duke a smile, and we'll see you on your way." Then give her a push in the right direction.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:15 No.14385960
    >>14385917
    >>14385876
    There are two run down buildings in the less developed part of the Financial District, on the border with Tribeca, you can buy the pair of them for 50k all together. They each have about 25 apartments each, and they're empty of residents currently because they're in such a poor state. It'll take another 15 k to fix up the buildings so they can actually be lived in, and take 2 weeks.

    Buy? No buy?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:18 No.14385991
    >>14385932
    then we push her on as far as we can without greatly tireing ourself. also scramble evereyone, man the battle stations. This is either a test to see what we do, a trap or a distraction.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:21 No.14386012
    >>14385958
    >>14385955
    >>14385952
    Gina cries and laughs at the same time as push your energy into her. She comes over and tries to hug you, her ghastly arms passing through your body and then disappearing completely as her ghost moves on.

    As usual you find it difficult to tell how much your push helped but you can feel her appreciation flowing back in the bond between you two.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:22 No.14386025
    A civil war somewhere in Europe? Start selling weapons, discreetly, to both sides for a somewhat inflated price. See if we can't 'encourage' this war to continue for longer than it perhaps otherwise would have, and maybe even draw others in. As anon said, there's no profiteering like war profiteering, and there's a chance for us to become so much more than a mid-level or even high-level gangster. Shit, we could become the '20s equivalent of Magic Blackwater or something like that.

    Just out of curiosity, how close is this setting to our world? Are there, for example, communists? I just ask because there was more than one attempted uprising in Weimar Germany after the First World War, from both extremes of the political spectrum.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:23 No.14386031
    >>14386012
    We're a good bad guy.

    >>14385960
    That would be most of our money right now. Let's hold off for a few weeks to see what we hear from Europe. We'll need cash money before we can start selling shit to the Krauts.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:23 No.14386035
    >>14385960
    buy them, our men can use a few rooms as a sort of barracks and also act as securaty.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:23 No.14386042
    >>14386025
    Shit man. Guns, magic gear, booze. We can sell all kinds of shit to the Germans at inflated prices.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:27 No.14386076
    >>14386042
    We can sell booze to Germany without even smuggling it through the US.

    Just buy liquor from somewhere in Scotland or England or something. Sell it to someone in Germany. Just have it shipped between the two. That's how you do business.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:27 No.14386077
    >>14385888
    >>14385991
    You have a meeting with your main underlings and start to give out orders.

    - Nobody walks around alone.
    - Nobody goes anywhere without being fully tooled up.
    - Everybody is to keep an eye out for suspicious white people and send word to headquarters immediately if it looks like anything is about to go down.

    You've given Chandler orders to let Abe off the leash and go out on his own. Chandler goes into full on spy mode and frantically follows through with every lead and clue he has to try to track down the assailants.

    Your whole Financial District outfit has bunkered down and is ready for any attack that comes.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:28 No.14386083
    >>14386031
    it would only take a bit more than half of our horde and once we get the rent coming in we could easily make it back
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:29 No.14386089
    >>14386035
    >>14386031
    At the moment I count one vote either way to buy or not to buy. Someone else weigh in please.
    >> Franfag 03/27/11(Sun)18:30 No.14386097
    >>14386089
    I vote for buy.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:33 No.14386138
    >>14386089
    God damn. Well, I guess go ahead and buy them for now. Hold off on fixing them up for the time being though, wait until we have a larger cash reserve.

    And while we're doing it, look for any businesses in the area, or vacant lots, or anything else we can buy, to provide jobs for the people who will come to live in Dukeville.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:35 No.14386148
    >>14386025
    >Just out of curiosity, how close is this setting to our world

    It's....relatively close. Because of the presence of magic certain things in history have gone a different way. I've made hints and clues about that in the previous threads - like how President Andrew Jackson's war on the Native Americans lead to their chief shaman cursing the White man and ending up in Jackon's death. There are no such thing as reservations, in this setting, only territories in the US that that the US government doesn't quite hold because they're still smarting from the crazy defense the natives put up when they tried to wipe them out.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:36 No.14386161
    >>14386148
    AH, so the plains and the west coast might not be as fully entrenched by the government as they'd hope.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:37 No.14386171
    __________ALERT________________

    Another note has arrived from Councilman Troy.

    "Join me for dinner next week?" it asks simply, giving a time, date and place.

    The courier stands in front of you waiting for your reply.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:38 No.14386177
    >>14386171
    Look contemplative for a moment. Put on a show. "I'll be there. With company."

    Bring Jim and Sweet with us.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:39 No.14386186
    Would it be a good idea to use the buildings as a temporary barracks, on account of strength in numbers? Or would it be bad, opening us up to defeat through one massive strike?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:41 No.14386205
    these attacks could have some connection to the Councilman.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:43 No.14386225
    >>14386205
    That's a possibility. We'll have to pay attention to what he says. "Heard you've been having some trouble, huh? Nasty business, that."
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:43 No.14386227
    BTW, as usual for anyone who can't stay till the ende, we're archived here: http://archive.easymodo.net/tg/thread/14384797

    And here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14384797/
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:44 No.14386239
    Ellington, regarding the two tenement buildings. They're next to each other, right?

    During the reconstruction, let's do some remodeling on the basements. Combine them together, and add a secret area, hidden from the rest, where we can store shit if we want to.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:45 No.14386245
    Oh shit, yeah, this is the 1920s. So with these tenements, once we start fixing them up, let's put some anti fire wards up so the bitches don't burn down.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:45 No.14386248
    >>14386239
    That will add another 5k to the reconstruction. Still want it?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:46 No.14386260
    >>14386239
    good idea, mabey we can get the guys who did the foundation repairs to put in a ward or somthing
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:49 No.14386280
    >>14386148
    Texas would be even more bloodily minded and reactionary that it is/was in real life. The frontier in Texas, due to the fucking commanches and apaches was the longest and bloodiest of all the states. It collapsed 100 miles during the Civil War. Marching constantly into a magical bloodbath while refusing to give up would create some amazingly frightening people amoung the anglo settlers. Anti-magic/hex using using Texas Rangers? (My Walker-Colt casts BLAM)
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:50 No.14386288
    >>14386260
    >>14386245
    >>14386239
    I support all of these.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:51 No.14386310
    >>14386280
    I wouldn't mind getting a native magic man on our payroll. God damn.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)18:53 No.14386330
    >>14386225
    If tat is the case, maybe we ought to learn that zombie trick discussed earlier.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)18:57 No.14386379
    OVER-ALL STATUS FOR WEEK 9:

    WARCHEST:
    55,250 dollars.

    ASSETS:
    - Wessler Building
    - The Boom Boom Room (managed by Sweet Johnson)
    - Henry's (Now being run by the Old Amigo)
    - The Well Travelled Inn (managed by Sweet Johnson)
    - 5 Holdings
    - 2 Apartment Buildings (Repairs Complete in: 3 weeks)

    Net Profits Per Week: 11750 dollars.

    STATUS WITH NEIGHBOURS:
    JEWS: Excellent.
    CHINESE: Peaceful.
    __________ALERT______________
    Thousands of German immigrants trying to escape the war that's broken out have begun to stream into Ellis Island to be processed officially by the US Government. Others have simply bypassed all immigration procedures and just sneaked into cities on the East Coast to stay with relatives of theirs that already live in places like New York, Boston and Atlantic City.

    Construction work at the buildings you've bought has begun.

    You'll be having dinner with Councilman Troy this Friday.


    Chandler has come to report that he's found a single red Ford that's gone past Henry's twice in the same night. It's only had one white man in it but no other red Ford has travelled near your other establishments and this made him suspicious. How do you want to proceed?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:01 No.14386411
    >>14386379
    Find the car again, and follow him.

    Seriously, we need to send out dudes to meet the new immigrants. Offer them places to live.

    Any businesses near the tenement buildings we could buy, invest in, or pressure the owners of?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:01 No.14386417
    >>14386310
    "I cast CRIPPLING ALCOHOLISM"
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:02 No.14386429
    >>14386379
    have the car and the driver followed, our noob ghost spy can watch the car. also, see if we can pick up a few germans and start setting somthing like this up.

    >>14385917
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:04 No.14386444
    >>14386379
    We should set up a trap at Henry's and wait for them to arrive.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:05 No.14386454
    >>14386444
    Do this as well. They're watching Henry's.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)19:13 No.14386523
    >>14386454
    >>14386444
    >>14386429
    >>14386411
    Chandler focuses his efforts on following that one car and its driver until it leads him to something more solid. Meanwhile, you sneak in quite a few goons into Henry's. It makes sense after all, these assailants have already hit employees of the Boom Boom Room and the Well Travelled Inn.

    Meanwhile the week passes slowly and Thursday arrives.

    You, Jim and Sweets arrive at the address that you were given for the dinner and it turns out to be a restaurant. As you enter once again, you feel your magic leaving you. This time, at least, you knew that would happen.

    Once again it seems when meeting someone they've rented out a whole restaurant for themselves just to meet you. What that says about being seen with you in public doesn't bear mentioning.

    Councilman Troy's mouth beams widely at the sight of you and comes over, arms extended.

    "How are you, Duke? Have you had a good week? How's the old business going?" he asks as he motions you over to a table in the center of the room. His bodyguards and yours stare at each other silently from opposite sides of the room.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:15 No.14386540
    >>14386523
    "Business is." And leave it at that. Sit at the table across from him. "Germany's gotten itself in quite a state."
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:16 No.14386559
    Ellington, this is my favorite quest now. It reminds me so much of Lord Quest, and that makes me happy. We need to get a Lt. named Shorty who looks like Andre The Giant.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)19:23 No.14386634
    >>14386540
    "Ah, Germany, Germany, Germany," the Councilman muses.

    "Quite the pickle. That League that's risen refuses to acknowledge the government. Apparently a lot of people in Germany feel quite bitter over how much influence the US has had on the German economy in the past couple of years, what with the Dawes plan and all. These unrealistic fools want to have "a Germany for Germans", apparently, and they say when they take over they'll refuse to pay any debts owed to other nations."

    "Can you imagine the French taking that sitting down? Christ, if this isn't solved soon and they don't get back on that payment plan I can just see the French being stupid enough to march into Germany and try to get their money the hard way."

    "It's a disaster waiting to happen," he says, eyes gleaming at the possibilities.

    Councilman Troy is quite possibly insane.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:27 No.14386680
    >>14386634
    Perhaps he's simply been in the game a lot longer than we have. We need to gain his trust and betray him spectacularly. In a way that utterly destroys him. He's too wild and unpredictable for us. Alexander, for how mysterious he is, seems to be on the up and up, as it were.

    Don't mention our problems to him. See if he brings it up. Take a sip of water, or wine, or whatever's there, and ask, "Now, Mr. Councilman, I appreciate your hospitality, this is a fine restaurant, but it's been chewing at me, and I must ask, why is it we're here?"
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:34 No.14386741
    >>14386680
    Seconded
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)19:38 No.14386774
    >>14386680
    >>14386741
    "Please, none of that 'councilman' business between us. You can call me Richard," he smiles pleasantly. He really wants to be your friend. Can't you tell?

    "Do you recall the matter which we discussed last time?" he says, referring obliquely to Alexander without bringing his name up.

    "Well, let me tell you something about myself," he says seeming to jump into a completely different conversation, "I'm all about minimal government. Low taxation, free enterprise, let the market take care of itself. The government's role should never be greater than that of the private individual," he says, his voice taking on grandiose terms like he's doing a campaign speech on the radio.

    "Certain...parties don't feel that way. You've started to feel certain constraints yourself recently haven't you? From those parties who would have you follow certain...modus operandi. As you gain more power and position in this city that same party would constrain your actions further and further until you are unable to move."

    Richard Troy slams his fist against the table, shaking the contents of both your wine glasses.

    "I won't have it!" he says, still smiling despite his rage.

    "That's I hope to, how shall I say, cut away all that red tape. Once and for all. With the help of businessmen such as yourself. I already have several captains of industry, who deal in Italian and Greek goods on board and with your help I'm sure we can all come to mutually profitable plans of action."

    "Do we understand each other, Duke?"
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:39 No.14386779
         File1301269159.gif-(114 KB, 576x400, bump me.gif)
    114 KB
    >>14386741
    Thirded
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:44 No.14386841
    >>14386774
    Smile and tip our glass towards him. "I believe we do."

    This fucking slimy bastard. I don't trust him one bit. The only pressure we've been feeling is from those fuckers killing our man and Gina. Alexander wouldn't do that. We pay him nice and polite every week.

    And shit, we're not someone to be making deals with this fucker to form some sort of commission. We have one boss, Olukewele. Once we're out of here, let's see him and fill him in on the ongoing situation.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:48 No.14386875
    >>14386774
    give our best fake agreement, i get the feeling that hes the sort who wouldnt think twice about dumping radioactive wast at a grade school(a simpsons referece)
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:49 No.14386882
    >>14386875
    It wasn't a grade school. It was out in the park, buried inside the trees.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:50 No.14386899
    Good god, Ellington! Where have you been, I've been jonesing for this quest! Anyway, onto suggestions

    >>14386774
    Politely decline. "I never get involved in politics." See if we can't get him to talk a little plainer. I'd rather not jump in with the sharks if we don't know about any sunken treasure.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:52 No.14386915
         File1301269925.jpg-(691 KB, 1532x1080, 1282967973595.jpg)
    691 KB
    >>14386841
    >>14386841
    >>14386841
    Seconding this.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:53 No.14386931
    >>14386899
    if we turn him down he will just keep fucking with us, if we agree then back stab later it should be less trouble.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:56 No.14386951
    >>14386899
    This seems prudent
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)19:56 No.14386962
    >>14386875
    >>14386841
    Councilman Troy raises his glass of wine and toasts once again, "To Prosperity."

    The rest of your dinner passes amicably, with minor chit chat as you both feel each other out during the course of your meal.

    Eventually you shake hands and part ways. You wonder briefly how good the Councilman is at reading people. Did he see through your act or did he take you at your word? Would the Councilman have risen as high as he has if he went around taking people at their word? The Councilman probably has hundreds of contingency plans and counter-plans for any scenario that occurs, part of which is probably why he spoke of rebelling against Alexander in such vague terms - so that he would have plausible deniability should things go wrong.

    A slimy bastard is exactly the phrase to use when it comes to this man, who would probably smile and laugh with you if you said it to his face.

    When you get back to the Wessler building you find there's a car waiting for you outside. Despite the fact that the glass windows of the car are perfectly clear there's some kind of mirage making it difficult to see the details of who's inside. But you feel compelled to enter anyway.

    When you do, you find Olukwele waiting for you inside. He's as gaunt as ever and his cheekbones still give the impression that he's not that far off from walking around with a bare skull for a head. The rings on his fingers glitter inside the car.

    "I believe you wanted to speak to me?" he asks quizzically, as surprised to be there as you it seems.
    >> noko 03/27/11(Sun)19:58 No.14386974
    >>14386841
    Oh yeah, this reminds me. Talk to our Jewish and Chinese contacts, and then send a message to Olukewele. I want to know how our boss and our friends feel about the German Problem.

    Oh yeah, speaking of the Jews, who was that nephew, or grandson that we took in under our wing? We need to have Ro chat with him, see if they can help each other so we're not just tutoring them both.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)19:58 No.14386980
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    >>14386951
    Prudence won't give us progress on this already fairly determined (see: dangerous) son of a bitch.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)19:59 No.14386995
    >>14386899
    >Good god, Ellington! Where have you been

    I've had a very busy couple of weeks at work but I have a bit more time now. We should get at least one thread a week going for the next month or two.
    >> noko 03/27/11(Sun)20:02 No.14387019
    >>14386962

    Huh. No need for a runner, it seems. Ask about Germany.

    >>14386995
    Ok, was missing this very awesome quest. Hoped it hadn't been missed by the archives, or gone the way of LordQuest
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)20:03 No.14387029
    >>14386962
    Sit across from him in the car and remove our hat. We're a gentleman now, after all. "Yes, I did. There are some rather urgent matters to discuss. This Councilman Troy, first of all." Fill him in on how he's gathering support and wants to target Alexander. "Removing Alexander might be a good plan, but he's done nothing to hinder our business so far. This Troy is no one to be trusted. He's dangerous, smart, and worst of all, extremely capable. He'll sell us out and kill us all without blinking or turning away. We're pawns in his game." Shake our heads. "He's a problem that needs to be dealt with."

    After discussing that, also bring up the general things going on. Thugs targeting us, possibly working for Troy, but unconfirmed. We'll get them soon enough. Also the possibilities for Germany. From bringing in immigrants to work for us, our new tenements, and also profiteering by selling to them at inflated prices.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)20:10 No.14387104
    >>14387019
    Oh, I miss LordQuest so much. But this is so similar, I love it.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)20:15 No.14387156
    >>14387029
    "Duke, you've had interesting times, as they say." Olukwele's lips twitch, as if a private joke just occured to him. "Oh but to be young and on a new frontier once again," he sighs.

    "You're right to distrust the Councilman. He's a snake of the worst kind. A liar, a schemer, and worst of all a crook who won't stay bought. He is dangerous in his own way and can cause you immense trouble, so you're wise to go along with him for now. Mouth whatever he needs to hear to massage his ego and his plans."

    Olukwele's eyelids rise from their habitual droop as he says the next part, "However you must never commit yourself directly against Alexander. He will come down on you like an avenging angel from the Old Testament and as fond as I am of you, young Duke, I would let him. Troy may cause you trouble but the only thing Alexander will cause you is death."

    "As for the German matter, proceed as you wish. I have been occupied with wiping out the Opposition in Harlem, soon it will be just us and the Dutch and we will turn those white animals out for good. If you see profit to be made from this German situation, take it. If you overextend yourself," Olukwele shrugs "You are your own man in this district, Duke."

    "Good luck. And I got sent a prophecy which may be of help to you in the near future: Be Wary of Three Promises. I have no idea what it means but you know how these things work."

    With that you step out of Olukwele's car and it drives him off, presumably to wherever else he needs to be. It's only now that you're outside that you notice Olukwele was sitting in the backseat with you and there was no driver in the car.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)20:16 No.14387164
    >>14387104
    This is like the third mention of LordQuest. Have I accidentally ripped it off or something? I don't think I participated in that quest.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)20:24 No.14387241
    >>14387156
    Oh! That reminds me When next we talk to Ro, after introducing her to Gerald Brokowitz, is talk about this Spirit of Everything stuff, and ask if they can die. And then I wanna go to a scrap yard and see if we can call any car spirits. I want an undead Hearse.

    Oh, and we need to start playing the stock market. Do we have a company? If so, put money in it. If not, hire someone that knows investments. Invest. Then start our own company.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)20:26 No.14387263
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    >>14387164
    Basic idea was"new lord of a crappy bit of land tries to make the land less crappy" part was firs person adventuring part was managing your growing land.

    so, yes there are similaritys. And yes I know I left a hell of a lot out.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)20:29 No.14387299
    >>14387164
    Not really. Just, it was an awesome quest that vanished. I could have easily said Old Doppelganger Quest or EvilQuest, but LordQuest was as easy going as this.

    >>14387263
    CURSE YOU! NOW I DESIRE LORD QUEST AGAIN!
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)20:32 No.14387334
    OVER-ALL STATUS FOR WEEK 10:

    WARCHEST:
    67,000 dollars.

    ASSETS:
    - Wessler Building
    - The Boom Boom Room (managed by Sweet Johnson)
    - Henry's (Now being run by the Old Amigo)
    - The Well Travelled Inn (managed by Sweet Johnson)
    - 10 Holdings
    - 2 Apartment Buildings (Repairs Complete in: 2 weeks)

    Net Profits Per Week: 15000 dollars.

    STATUS WITH NEIGHBOURS:
    JEWS: Excellent.
    CHINESE: Peaceful.
    --continued--
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)20:33 No.14387349
    Because of the people that you sent out to Ellis Island, German families have begun to make their homes in the Financial District, with the understanding that they would be made welcome and given opportunities. Although only a third of the rooms in your new apartment buildings are ready, that's enough for a lot as several groups of families (almost clans of) share the apartments with each other. All of them have their life savings with them and several of them were small business owners back in Germany and look to be restarting their trades here. The local economy will be booming with the influx of all this new money and new consumers.

    Just in one week you've gotten 5 new holdings by financing two sets of German dentists, an optician, a bootmaker and a carpenter. It's been made very clear to the Germans immigrants who they have to thank for this new start in America. Your policy of reinvesting your money into the Financial District is paying off as you're becoming more and more entrenched in both legal and illegal ventures. If things continue like this you'll soon be part of the foundations of this small society.

    You introduce Ro and Brokowitz and they seem to get along fine, although their work doesn't intersect much so they don't have that much of an occasion to meet. They talk for a while about their kinds of magic but they're so far apart and the techniques so different that it's almost as if they're speaking different languages. Ro looks nonplussed when you mention the Spirits-Within dying. "They're divine beings, sir. They don't die, they live forever," she says as if that explains it all.

    Reminder: Your first meeting with the Chinese since the hostage exchange happened will occur in 2 weeks. Both hostages will be present during this meeting.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)20:48 No.14387487
    >>14387349
    Ask her if a car that's been dismantled still has a spirit, or if its spirit is made of many little ones from its parts.

    Also, is Alexander...an immortal Alexander the Great?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)20:48 No.14387488
    Curses, there goes undead Hearse and Ro and Brokowitz teach each other. Oh well. What has Brokowitz been doing?

    Oh yeah, TALK TO THE JEWS ABOUT THE KILLINGS. Seriously, they aimed it at us fucking niggers and the kikes too. See if they've had any problems.

    And again, play the market, and actually start up Duke Corp - or something that doesn't sound stupid. Magic Hat, Ltd.

    Oh yeah! Go talk to that priest that the Irish bastard was talking to. If we found hsi rocks, we can give them back...but a few, that got distroyed by the English fuck. Speaking of Pitt, have we whipped him lately? Or tormented him?

    Other then that, lets go talk to Jackie.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)20:49 No.14387510
    >>14387487
    Also, bring up rust. But tactfully. We're trying to understand this as a Necromancer, and a American Kid, too.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)20:59 No.14387618
    >>14387349
    ellington, you still here?
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)21:01 No.14387642
    >>14387487
    >>14387510
    "It is all made up of smaller spirits. When the spirits come together and form a larger whole, the small spirits slumber and the whole wakens. When the spirits are separated by an act of partitioning the whole slumbers and the smaller spirits waken to be themselves again. Does that make sense to you?"

    >>14387488
    You contact the Jews and have a conversation with your equal on their side. Through a cagey session of information sharing over coffee, you manage to find out that they haven't been attacked and it's just your outfit, without revealing to them that you have been attacked.

    -------
    >And again, play the market, and actually start up Duke Corp - or something that doesn't sound stupid. Magic Hat, Ltd.

    Err, I know nothing about the markets in the 1920s, except for the crash of course, and I'd have no idea how to even simulate that to make it interesting for you. That's one road we won't be going down.

    I'm going to go ahead and call it a night there. There only seem to be two of you left and this is as good a stopping point as any.

    As usual if anyone wants to join in to play the next round I've included my email address in the email field, send me a message and I'll add you to the mailing lest. The next round will be at some point in the middle of the week.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:02 No.14387652
    >>14387642
    Playing the stock market is bullshit. Let's not do that.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:03 No.14387663
    >>14387642
    Nonononono! Don't! Stay!

    Awwww...you're already gone, aren't you?
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)21:03 No.14387666
    >Also, is Alexander...an immortal Alexander the Great?

    And I'm sure you didn't actually expect me to answer this!
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)21:05 No.14387680
    >>14387663
    I'm around for the next 20 minutes or so (at which point, gotta go) but it's better to stop now before we're in the middle of something and leave it incomplete.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:08 No.14387725
    >>14387680
    Well we've got to buy more housing buildings. Get more people on our side. "You want to take my district from me? Look around you. Look all around. See these people? Look, the butcher. See him coming with his meat cleaver? See his wife at his side? Their children? See their neighbors, the tailor and his family? And the cobbler? See all their friends? See how they're moving up all around you now? See how they'll kill you if you don't leave? Why's that? Because I protect them. I give them nice places to live. I've helped them resettle their lives here. I've given them food when they were hungry, heat when they were cold, jobs when they needed work. Yes, I protect them. And they protect me. Now leave."
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:08 No.14387728
    >>14387642
    Nuts, I'm on the list but totally forgot. I'll set an alarm next time.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:09 No.14387732
    >>14387642
    Ah, ok. Mostly playing the market was to give us more money.

    And curses for pausing, but sleep well, Ellington.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:09 No.14387739
    >>14387725
    "And I ain't pulling no rabbit out of my hat."
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:10 No.14387755
    >>14387732
    That's boring though. Everyone does that in their quests. Then it's no fun anymore because it's just all, "lol, you do well in the market, infinite moneies."
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:11 No.14387769
    >>14387652
    Nah, it's real easy. Company you invest in gets 'protection'. Competitors get dead, or at least knee caps broken. It's just like a protection racket, but bigger payoffs.

    And a question: Can we get undead, or ghost stuff, or is that one impossible too?
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)21:16 No.14387817
    >>14387725
    Sounds like a plan.

    >>14387728
    Do that!

    >>14387769
    You mean like the undead car or hearse that someone was suggesting earlier on? Yeah, that's impossible. Inanimate objects don't have the kind of soul energy that you deal in, their spirit-within stuff is in a completely different realm that you don't have access to. But then again you can do cool shit like rip a lion's spirit and then bind it to its body to have a permanent lion zombie. Peaks and troughs man.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:16 No.14387823
    Yeah, let's buy up some more housing tenements. More room for immigrants. But also room for blacks from Harlem to come in. We'll force segregation.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:17 No.14387836
    >>14387817
    "Simba!" clap clap, "Attack!"
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:23 No.14387899
    RIPPING SOMEONE AND TURNING THEM INTO A BOUND ZOMBIE

    We should do that to Councilman Troy. We need to get him by surprise. Somewhere where there isn't an anti magic zone.
    >> Ellington !!UwPj376bY/f 03/27/11(Sun)21:27 No.14387952
    Alright, I'm officially off. I hope you all had a nice time. Good night.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:29 No.14387974
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    Harlem Quest ;_;
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:33 No.14388021
    >>14387899
    As far as we know, his defences consist of the fancy anti-magic field and some bargin bin guards. We also know he is a sneaky bastard. So, he must have some ace in the hole beyond the antimagic artifact.

    untill we round up a boat load of cannon fodder and a few good magic combat charms like the knuckle dusters we have to hold off on putting him out of our miserie
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:36 No.14388051
    >>14387836
    Yes. Mmhm...now I wanna bind a Lion's soul to a car and do the same thing.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)21:46 No.14388176
    >>14388021
    He's the opposite of Alexander. He's the devil, for all we know. Mmm...Alexander the Great is said to be a descendant of Trojans. Odysseus? Mmhm...Anyway, I wouldn't attack until we know more. That's gunning for someone who is aiming to kill a supernatural cop of all NYC, if not everywhere else.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)22:15 No.14388521
    don't mind me i'm just bumping a motherfucking harlem quest thread
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)23:04 No.14389015
    Oh shit yeah. BIND A LION INTO A NICE FUCKING CAR! WE'LL BE THE KING OF THE CONCRETE JUNGLE!

    Oh man, I hadn't even thought of that. Kill a snake. Have it turned into a nice snake skin belt. Bind the snake into the belt. THAT'S A GOOD BELT.

    Bind some birds to a pair of shoes. THOSE ARE SOME QUIET SHOES. GOOD FOR SNEAKING UP ON DUDES.

    We'll be fucking Mr. Burns. Seeeeeeeeeeeee my vest, see my vest. Made of real gorilla chest!
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)23:09 No.14389066
    >>14389015
    Listen to that car roar! Oh fuck man, that is awesome.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)23:12 No.14389091
    Or speaking of snakes. Bind a poisonous cobra or asp or something to a knife.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)23:23 No.14389193
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    864 KB
    >>14389015
    >>14389066
    >>14389091
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)23:29 No.14389229
    Anyone still here?
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)23:30 No.14389235
    >>14388051
    >>14389015
    >>14389066
    I don't know. Driving while black is enough of a bitch already without a car that's psychically urging you to pounce every pedestrian while driving it.
    >> Anonymous 03/27/11(Sun)23:56 No.14389512
    Bumping for Harlem Quest
    >> Anonymous 03/28/11(Mon)04:21 No.14391623
    >>14389512
    >>14389512
    >> Anonymous 03/28/11(Mon)12:02 No.14394384
    Bump for discussion



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