CH 1.1-b: Shank's Pre-Owned

The server droid's eyes flicker as it listens to the lot of you, dim to bright, dim to brighter, paying particular attention to Krosus as he speaks. It allows Tajanna a wide berth as she gets up and quickly steps out of the way, as if Tajanna herself was inherently a threat by her mere presence. It points to the door in the far left corner, the one you saw previously when you first entered the dark room.

"That door," 'she' says to Krosus, sounding surprisingly nervous, almost sentient, "is the only other exit, through the kitchen." It shifts momentary glances, rapdily switching between everyone at the table, eyes flickering again, then widely bright. "It's not for our patrons," it backs further away from the table, "but...I don't see any harm in your using it? I...I'll just walk away now. Undoubtedly, there are patrons in need of refreshment. Booths that need resetting. Good evening." With that it backs away then spins around, moving into the blue lit bar room toward the bar, a little faster than what you saw when you first came in.

CCL, you can't 'crack' the door. Most are automatic, or have a keypad, like this one, and slide open.

We'll assume Lexi is going with the group.

The door opens, revealing a very basic and small kitchen of sorts, occupied by a lone chef droid who looks up at you, then returns to its mixing and chopping. Another door, closed, is on the opposite side of the kitchen from where you just entered. Not feeling particualrly threatened by the chef droid, you move through the kitchen and tap the keypad to open it, eager to avoid a potential confrontation with any Espos who might come into the cantina to investigate.

You stand in the doorway, the cantina's back door, which exits out into another dark alley, as narrow and poorly illuminated as the one fronting Charitable Charlatan's. You gag, almost tasting the foul air, and immediately put on your breath masks, reminded of Bonadan's extreme pollution by the horrid smell that assails your senses. Looking to the right, there's just enough light so you can see that the alley dead ends about a block down, whereas off to your left it passes through what seems to be a 4-way intersection less than a block away, then continues on, toward a still shadowy yet more well lit alley.

Directly ahead from where you stand is another door with a keypad, although it's difficult to tell what might be inside as all of the buildings are connected for the most part, whether they're residential or business oriented. There's no glow-light sign, or any sign that you can see that would suggest it is a business.

To help you guys with orientation, the entrance to the Charitable Charlatan's is on the opposite side of the building relative to the cantina's back door. If there was no dead end to your right, that would generally lead back toward the ECUL. In fact, that dead end is literally part of the building that would be on the street where your ECUL is parked.

If you exited from the kitchen toward the intersection to your left, then took two lefts, you would then be looking down the alley past Shank's, Charitable Charlatan's, and a pile of droid parts near a pair of dead Rodians. Beyond that would be the street where your ECUL is parked, past that the Espos Tower Station, where the Espos were coming from to investigate your alley fight.

The four of you cautiously approach the intersection, mindful of the Espos presence nearby. As you near the corner, Krosus, in front, barely hears the sound of footsteps down the alley off to the left, and motions the group to a stop. A glow light beam, coming from the same direction, suddenly sweeps past the intersection in front of you, close enough for Krosus to reach out and 'touch'.

Just then you hear a plasteel banging sound, followed by some grunting and the spill of -bottles?- onto the ground. "Heyyy-ay!" A gravelly, angry, clearly intoxicated voice yells. "Hey brown pants!" The glow light sweeps back from where it came, leaving the intersection dark in front of you again. A different voice, nearer, mutters, just loud enough for you to hear. "I'm so sick of this dung. Damn homeless bums. Worse than the air." The nearer voice increases in volume, asserting a professional, authoritative tone. Sounds like some type of security or police. Surely it's one of the Espos.

The gravelly voice of the homeless is accusatory now, pressing. "Whatcha doin' by m' home? Huh? 'at's m'home. Ya' boys 'n brown.. ya' in yer brown outfits. Ain' welcome here."

The Espo replies. "I suggest you go back inside 'your home'. Espos business."

"You're in m'yard!"

A sigh from the Espo. "Really? Your yard? It's an alley. Just go b-"

"You're in m'yard" You hear a bottle shatter against something. A wall or the ground? "You're in m'yard brown'spo!!"

"Look, moving the back seat of a--" The Espo talks over the homeless man.

"M'yard!"

"--a speeder into an dump of an alley doesn't--"

"M'yard! M'yard!"

"--make it your--"

"It's m'yard! Home!"

"--home or yard!" The Espo, exasperated, finally finishes. "Dammit!"

The homeless man explodes into a screaming rage. "It's M'HOME!!! AAARRRRHHHH! M'HOME YA 'DUNGHOLE BROWN'SPO!!" His screaming seems like it won't be letting up anytime soon.

The above homeless man is provided courtesy of Krosus' 4 Advantage on an excellent Vigilance roll. Also, only one of you alluded to using Stealth (use placeholder rolls to make it clear!), surprisingly, but luckily the Espo failed his Perception roll against difficulty two purple & one setback while actively searching for you (the purple for the weakest Stealth in the group- Hawke/Krosus, the setback because you were around the corner). I assumed you were being Stealthy and applied your skills, but will not always do so (again, placeholder rolls to indicate using a skill!). I don't mention every roll I make in secret, but, as always, I may occasionally give you some insight so you can understand how the mechanics of the game are working out. It's my way of making sure you know that the skills matter.

Also, in the future, in Stealth type situations, you may want to have your best go first, if they're willing. If they are at least ahead of the rest of the group by Short range (6m/18 ft) then they can serve as scouts, depending on the situation and where threats might lurk. Mechanically, this means they will often serve as the group's Stealth roll, again, this depends on variables, but will typically be your best bet (e.g., going to look around a corner). Having the group trail at Short range also saves us from redundant 'so and so' scouts ahead posts. If you want to work out a scouting setup, go ahead and do so via the Shank's OOC. I'll assume that order from now on, unless things are obviously not so, or you inform me otherwise.

Additionally, two people can work together in Stealth efforts, using the 'skilled assistance' rules to pair up for greater success. Those two characters would combine the best of their characteristics and skill ranks to form one skill check roll for Stealth, moving in tandem. In sum, you'd want to have the highest Agility character working with the one that has the most skill ranks in Stealth.

Also, FYI, the Espos, as Zhaff might have mentioned, are commonly referred to as the 'Boys in Brown', due to the uniforms.

It's a miracle the Espos haven't already noticed us with Krosus (does he have any talent beyond being undeservedly arrogant) Hawke (maybe we shouldn't recruit ganks into our military if they are wholly incapable of subtlety) bumbling about. At least they seem content to let Lexi take point from now on.

"I'll go second."

Tajanna quickly claims her place in the formation, and then follows slowly after Lexi, tracing her movements as closely as possible.

You all move away from the intersection and the continuing commotion between the vagrant, who is still screaming at and berating the Espo for intruding upon his 'home'. Retracing your steps, you quietly make your way back to the door on the opposite side of the alley from Charitable Charlatan's back door. There are no signs or windows to indicate what might be beyond the door, but there is a keypad next to it on the wall.

At this point the conflict between the homeless man and the Espo continues, but seems to have died down a bit and become more civil, with the vagrant now simply making his case rather loudly, instead of screaming at the Espo.