[Ace of Wands] Gameplay

July 2, 2019

The weather in Las Vegas for the next few days is forecast to however around the 100'F mark. When you check your mail that morning, each character finds that they have received a letter, printed on marigold sheet of paper and delivered via regular 1st Class U.S. Mail. The letters are addressed to "Resident" with the address where your character is staying. For some of you, that is likely eyebrow-raising in itself.GM Prompt: Each of you should find a reason to plan on attending this event.

Let's introduce our characters to each other with a paragraph or so that includes a description and some idea of their planned routine. If you are planning on doing any research about this celebration in advance, tell me what that looks like.

Esther Quinn, as was her custom, did not get out of bed until mid afternoon. Her magic act at the Cabana, a small hotel in downtown Vegas, had come to its final night, after a successful two-week run. It was an intimate show this time, lounge-style, in their Xtr Showroom, which meant she could perform up close and personal with her audience. Last night's was particularly boisterous; a number of tourists from the Middle East were very appreciative of her craft.

She didn't have a new show booked for the national holiday though. Hotels wanted more celebratory, crowd-pleasing revues, not quite her niche. It meant she was going to have the long weekend off. There was not much she needed to prepare for tonight, the stage was already set, her assistant Taurus would take care of the stage/sound check, and he had already dropped off her 'Incredible Ishtar' costume freshly laundered, and also this letter with no addressee but her specific hotel room address. Strange.

The mention of old North Vegas brought back some unpleasant memories of her teenage years. She grew up with first hand involvement in the vice and crime ridden neighbourhoods of the 90s, and in her later years made it a point never to look back north of New Fremont. That was reason enough to want to make her toss the invitation into the bin. But she was not the same young girl then. She had conquered her demons, and this serendipitious letter was an occasion to do likewise. She made up her mind to go, but it'd had to be entirely on her own terms.

Esther looked up the number for North Vegas Community Center, and asked for the organisers of the carnival. 'Ishtar the Immortal', fortune teller, crystal reader, celebrity psychic, will require a booth for her grand appearance, and will not take no for an answer!

Wow, had this been an email it would go straight into the spam folder. "Dear Lucky Resident", dear scam victim more likely.... bla bla bla Natalie Dormer! Now there is a hotty that didn't have to knock too long on my door. See you on the 4th Nat!
Strange that they mention "Consolidex Worldwide", who are they?

Wiki flips open a leather cover on her wrist and type in a few commands. A web crawler has been deployed to learn more about Consolidex Worldwide. She could take a shower while it worked its magic.

With a Bye Sis... and the sound of a door being slammed, she is now alone in her parents' house... well Wiki and her brother's house. Their parents got divorced and both moved out and the paperwork for the house got stuck in redtape. Wiki would know as it was her that hacked the principality and the bank, making it possible for her and her brother to keep the house. Its not always easy living with a big brother who is a cop, but they have divided the house and made it work.

Well a quick shower to cool down and then a deep dive into Consolidex Worldwide

Glenda's seen flyers like this before, seems like someone's always looking to develop the downtown area and then the money usually dries up. She knows some people who live around the area, wonder how they feel about this new development. Glenda is having a cup of tea and some lentils for breakfast before she puts on her morning yoga DVD and gets dressed for work.

There might be some dispensary owners in the future development crowd, Glenda thinks she might as well go. She can size up what the so-called "investment specialists" have in mind for the area. Plus some free wine is always a treat, hope they have a nice red. There is no way she is going near a sports mascot, a sports drink, or anything called a Chaos Bar.

Glenda will do some checking around on the celebration, just looking on social media to see if other people are talking about it. Really, she just wants to make sure the celebration is legit before she wastes her time going.

The Office/Apartment Conner has been staying in hasn't gotten much mail. Hopeful for a job, he was slightly disappointed but every chance to get his name out there is a good chance. Besides he isn't the most well connected with the community right now anyway, and this could be the chance to meet some friends its been lonely his first week in Las Vegas, with little to occupy his time but going through his old books, some Netflix, and more drinking then probably should be healthy.

While in the shower Wiki has become more and more curious about this invitation letter. All toweled up, she checks on the web crawler, but seeing it's just finishing up, she whips off a quick SMS.


Hi Conner. This is your friendly neighborhood tech-support. Is everything up and running? Mail, phone and the accounts I created for you? Remember to change the default password, to a passphrase. Like "Wik1IsTheBest1nfosecIHaveEverM33t" ;)

Yours
Wiki


Then she starts digging into Consolidex Worldwide investment

Conner's phone goes off with three short buzzes. Going over he reads Wiki's text, and sends one back.

Sup Wiki, thanks for the advice, everything seems set up. Looking into jobs, or other opportunities. Gonna check out this "New Fremont District Celebration" know anything bout it???

Wiki text back to Conner

You also got a "Dear Lucky Resident,...." invitation? I don't know anything about it. I think that "Consolidex Worldwide investment" firm is a bit odd. I did a web search, but I'm not really happy with the result. But no matter. I'll swing by and check it out. Especially Natalie Dormer ;)

Mind if I tag along? Kinda wanna check out these black jack tables. Meet some people as well.

Wiki text back to Connor
I don't mind. I ordered this shirt online, and you will recognise me by the shirt and red hair.

You got it, wanna meet outside?
Conner puts on his favorite hoodie and heads off to call an uber on the street corner. Wondering if this will be worth it all in the long run. Definitely different than London, sure is fucking hotter.

I'll see you there in two days

Well, better get some work done before...

Mordecai sits in the living room of his small apartment, reading the invitation and furrowing his brows. The room is an office space cluttered with all manner of materials evincing Jewish scholarship: piles of Qabbalistic texts, religious paraphernalia, rabbinical commentaries, cosmological diagrams, and written formulae for apotropaic talismans. The windows are closed and shuddered, leaving stray beams of sunshine as the only source of light.

The rabbi is dressed in his usual prescribed Hasidic garb: black frock coat, black trousers, white collared shirt, and a black suede fedora currently resting on his lap. He frowns as he considers the invitation. It’s unlikely that there would be much at this gala that’d appeal to his Orthodox sensibilities. Religious wisdom dictated avoiding more contact with goyim than is necessary, but since living on his own, Mordecai has been forced to soften his position on the matter.

From behind the rabbi, the sound of heavy footsteps approaches; a massive figure looms over him. Mordecai sighs and looks at the stone humanoid as it silently waits... staring at him with expressionless eyes.

"Let us see if I can bring a +1..."

Not really happy with her own result with Consolidex Worldwide, she asks on the IllumiNaughty hacker forum. She then researches the other interesting name Endron International

Research rolls

- Ishtar makes contact with the Community Center, who organizes the volunteers and acts. They are she busy, but after requesting a head shot and audition video, readily accept her offer. A prominent booth is made available, and she is asked to come a day early for the safety briefing and a very basic orientation.

-Glenda did find social media activity. A few mentions of the event, and even one asking about the lucky ticket, but no responses to that.

- Wiki's research into Consolidex turns up little more than assorted references. As an investment brokerage, they mainly track as mentions in finance blogs, but nothing earth shattering catches her eye.

- Mordecai and Wiki both find that Endron, a well known global energy player that dates back a century, was most recently involved in a large oil spill in Scotland that was caused by an explosion. The company has taken some PR hits because of that.

Any more research, finance, or investigating activity?

Wiki places her invitation in the middle of a bulletin board. Then she adds the information she has about Endron and Consolidex. As an afterthought, she also adds a post-it with Conner's and her own name to the board



She looks at her murder board and is about to do some magic when she remembers a promise she made.

Text to Glenda
Hey Glenda, I promised to show you next time I did my murder board magic. I got this strange "Dear Lucky Resident" invitation that me and a new guy got.
Wanna join me?

Return text to Wiki
Oh shit, I got the same invite. Seems legit, from what I can figure out. YES, I want to see your murder board! :D

I'll be right over. Anything you want me to pick up on the way?

Text to Glenda
a bottle of red wine would be nice ;)
And the invitation