[SgtBoomCloud]

... while his tether to this world get fucked up by some decent firepower.

Arc did her best to stifle that grin of hers, finding the older man's use of street lingo to be nothing short of fragging hilarious.  Still, the information was given across, and she cut in at the line about the tether, giving a nod.  "Aye, and that's where people like us'll come in.  Might need a mojo slinger or so for it, as this slitch is no doubt awakened and fraggin' crazy as all get out, but at the very least, a good bullet or baboom gon' do the trick.  Fraggin' divide and conquer, seeing how geeking this slitch'll weaken Ghosty McSmileyhoop^TM and binding the same'll make our jobs a drek-ton safer on the meatside.  Once we get a fix, this whole 'hood's goin' on the hunt, we talkin' biz?"

The human noted the two mages...she knew them, Mermaid and Merlin, siblings if she remembered correctly, both surly looking trogs with matching superiority complexes to boot.  Hoo boy.  She made a glance to the others, making a show of ensuring her hands were open and visible, her glances suggesting they do the same for this part of the meet.

[Triskavanski]

Masquerade made sure to stay away from those two as much as possible, after all if they caught wind of her abiliites, she'd be in a rather world of hurt.

Knowledge - Local Gangs - dau -edged: 7d6h5 3

She attempts to give her the dau name. << Meraerth Eoerin>>

[ismilealot]

@ Masquerade >>Sensai!?! Why you want Sensai brdgurl?<<

@ Arc  Lupo looks at you. "You be representing.He says nodding towards Duck, Don't trust no damn trog I don' damn well know. But you be representing, you be damn sure wearin 'de colors. Howlers don' hide behind 'nothing. 'Cause we fo' damn sure aint letting it It go south.

@ Everyone  Lupo turns and looks at all the pack. "Howler biz is to protect they own. We hunt for the mojo spirit what do 'dis. Mermaid, Merlin you two will hunt 'dis spirit out. I want two teams protecting they bodies, both teams needs people what 'kin kill wid mana case the spirit be done followin dem. Rest o' you form teams for patrols what keep the teams with Mermaid & Merlin in de' center. That spirit be done following dem back to de bodies I want Howlers be on it like a pack. If 'dat spirit 'pear anywhere else on our turf I want de teams to get the mojo teams in on it like wolf be on prey, wiz. Howlers be on de hunt. He snarls loudly, and then lifts his head and neck back to howl loudly at the moon. The rest of the pack, taking heart at his words and his decisiveness, joins him in the howl. They begin to move away, teams forming even as they move.

[Csjarrat]

Feathers felt awkward, the smirks from his "team" and the half-cocked eyebrow of lupo did nothing to make him feel at home.
He breathed a sigh of relief once the mages returned to their bodies and the guns were lowered, even though he knew it would be alright, the view of several gun-happy gangers pointing weapons their way did not help his confidence in allying with these scumbags.
He had yet to make up his mind as to whether they'd be an asset or a liability.
Taking a risk, he interjected.
If I may, hunting this thing in small teams is only going to accomplish one thing. Your death. If we're ever going to kill this thing, we're going to need to be united and directed. I know where this thing lives and it ain't exactly going to be an easy walk. Our best plan is to patrol the entrances and exits and disrupt its feeding whilst we build our strength and put the binding ritual in place.
He'd given up on the pretence of street slang. he needed to make sure he came across crystal clear, not some old bastard trying to be "down with the kids"

[ismilealot]

@ Feathers  Lupo looks down at you, "You say you know where this fragger be. An we be need'n ta just be guard'n de entrances till we go all bwant till it be Chinese take-out. You want Howler help an come here wit yo hand out, than you best be Dr. Know wit all this and be sharing all that drek wit my boys here." You can tell he doesn't like having his authority challenged or his orders questioned.

[Csjarrat]

That was pretty much what i was hoping to talk to you about. There somewhere a bit quieter we can go to talk through the details?

[ismilealot]

@ Feathers  With an exaggerated sweeping bow Lupo says, "By all means. I would be happy to discuss the details with you." imitating your more precise educated diction. although his extremely large tusks make a mockery of his attempt at it. He gestures through the parking lot towards the bar. Looking at it, it certainly doesn't look any quieter, all flashing neon lights and metal-synch music spilling out gratingly through the walls. Lupo looks towards several members of his group and gives a jerk of his head indicating that they should come with the two of you. In a moment you're surrounded by gangers, including Mermaid & Merlin, and they certainly don't smell any better closer up.

[Csjarrat]

Well at least the noise of the bar would make eavesdropping a damn site harder for the casual passer-by.
Feathers let the mockery slide and headed into the bar, noticing the concerned look on the patrons faces as the gangers came in heavy with their street swagger.
Lupo and his crew made some gesture to the staff who quickly cleared a booth out, scattering its previous occupants back towards the bar.
Feathers felt like sticking his fingers in his ears, the bass tore at his eardrums and pounded in his chest cavity.
How anyone could enjoy this was beyond him..
Sitting at the table, he did his best to recount the huge volume of information the Prof gave him, labouring the salient points to emphasise their importance while sipping from a beer the waitress brought over

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc gave a look to the others as Lupo led the older mage into the bar, followed by his well-armed posse.  She gave a sigh, rubbing her implants before muttering to them under her breath."I ain't leaving no one alone with that troll.  First round's on me, let's keep our mojoman safe, wiz?". And with that, she followed suit, taking a seat at the bar with a good view of the exchange, ordering a round of beers for the group and easing back, keeping one hand inches from her Ingram at all times as she watched Feathers and Lupo.

[ismilealot]

@ Feathers  The bar is hot, the "ambiance" is "busted bar fight" and the music is practically alive it's pounding you so hard. But the beer is actually pretty good, and the service is outstanding. Lupo only has to glance at the staff and things materialize. It isn't long before you realize the looks your group is getting isn't for the gangers, it's directed at you. But soon that's forgotten as the loudness of the music, and the near lack of lighting, combine to force you close to them in order to be understood. And they are absolutely paying attention. The lack of formal magical education for Mermaid and Merlin forces you to explain things simply, and then simpler still, but, once they understand the concepts your trying to convey you find that they do actually understand many of the core concepts, it's the terminology and the practicum of the more esoteric philosophies that they lack. And when you mention the "smell" of the blood magic the quick look between the two siblings is smug & vindicated. They argue with you about the patrols. "Now that we be knowin where this sewer slottin fragger be, we 'kin take de whole pack down der' an turn it into some chunky salsa. Won't be enough left for a chalk outline wid a broken piece 'o chalk."

@ Everyone  The staff doesn't pay much attention to you, and aside from a few glances neither do the patron. Most of the bar seems to be focused on the old fragger with Lupo. But, the curiosity dies down when they see that Lupo isn't going to kill him and soon they're back to whatever recreational activity they were up to before they came in. And seriously, rooms aren't that expensive and the lights aren't that dim, it's a shame there aren't one or two less "recreational activities".

[Poindexter]

[Inside the Skeleton, Redmond Barrens, Seattle, UCAS. 12:26am]

Duck had always hated playing the Skeleton. Not cause it's a ganger hangout. He isn't scared of playing some rough spots like a lotta musicians are these days. But the Skeleton just aint a place where people come to hear music. It's a place where people come to get drunk, talk, and fight. They don't play music in spots like this cause they like it. They play music in spots like this cause without some background noise, they might notice how shitty a time they're really having. Damn shame too, cause the band playing tonight is actually really good, but they haven't learned that lesson yet, angrily blasting their hearts out into some nasty, grungy, dirty, and driving goblin rock for a crowd that couldn't give less of a shit if they were being paid to. Duck almost feels bad for their singer. Trog gonna have a sore throat in the morning, over these motherfuckers.

Despite the way this bar has always been with musicians, Duck is still pretty sure that the reason most of the patrons look at them is cause they recognize him. Mawfuckers don't forget a trog like this one. He swaggers into the bar with an arrogant grin on his tusked face, looking completely at ease surrounded by gang members, violent killers, and the like. Knowing what can happen to people who look like easy marks in a place like this, he stays close to Feathers,  and listens to the conversation between he, Lupo, and the two Howler mages.

[Csjarrat]

Look, I can see you looking at me like I'm some old haggard piece of shit, but I've come up against these blood mages more times than either of you have had awkward fumbly sex.
When I say smell, I mean stench. I've come up against these guys before and it stinks. Its like 3 day old tramp vomit mixed with rotten corpses, sprinkled with dog shit. Look here, even the fucking textbooks talk about it. Read this if you don't believe me.
Feathers pulled out his comm and flicked to the page he'd read earlier, hoping to hell they'd buy the story about coming up against blood mages before.
He puffed his chest out and tried to sell the story as the truth, realising how badly this might go wrong if they saw through his facade. And if you think waltzing into its lair, fighting your way through god-knows-what that lives down there and then fighting the thing on its own patch, that it knows intimately, is a good idea, then you need to think again. This thing is too powerful for that, it'd be suicide. We need to fight it where we know the streets, where we're strong and where it is weakest. We need to fight it up here if we can. We pin it in place with the holding ritual and then frag the mage.

[ismilealot]

@ Feathers  Lupo looks you up & down, coolly studying you. He takes the proffered comm and reads it then he looks at you. "Aight, I'll post guards, keep it from feedin'. But you want my blood waiting on this mojo-drek you be spoutin then I need some proof you be knowin' what you be talkin' m'bout. You be takin' 'dem ta scout in 'ta astral or we know this drek you be spoutin aint nothin but chaff ta get us off dey scent.' he says pointing to Mermaid & Merlin.

@ Arc  Bonehead's finally managed to work his way next to you while you were busy watching out for your mojo-man and circling your waist with his arm pulls you hard against him, "Hey, wouldn't mind riding your rig tonight. How 'bout it."

@ Duck  The old guy is talkin' a good talk, but, you don't earn respect in this hood with just talk, and he's trying to sell it to a guy who's used to people trying to lie to him.

@ Masquerade  >>Merae be all gone in the head brdgurl, she weren't never right, now she be all gone. She be all laughing an tellin Chipmunk she be laughing forever in the secret place brdgurl. You no look for Merae. <<

[Csjarrat]

Thats fine by me, lets start early tomorrow morning. If it has been active tonight, its trail will still be fresh enough to detect. 6am start good for you two? He glanced between the two awakened, relieved that they were tentatively on-board now.
The manpower would come in more than handy.
Lupo, have you got anyone decent with tech to call on? I'm wondering if we can create a bit of a sensor network at the entrances to act as an early warning system.

[SgtBoomCloud]

@ Arc  Bonehead's finally managed to work his way next to you while you were busy watching out for your mojo-man and circling your waist with his arm pulls you hard against him, "Hey, wouldn't mind riding your rig tonight. How 'bout it."

Arc visibly stiffened as the fat, thick-skulled ork lieutenant known as Bonehead slid up next to her, grunting as the much smaller girl was pulled to him.  Her nose crinkled as his stench of body odor wafted over her, swearing that if it were any stronger, it would fry her eyes' circuitry.  Fraaag....I thought this hoophat forgot about me...nnh, still after me too, YUCK!  Squirming, she shifted, her smirk returning as she settled for a moment, lifting her arms up as if to stretch and relax.  "Haa....you know I don't gots no rig, less you be buyin' me one on the side, honeh~  So let me thinks about it for a moment..."  She tapped her finger to her chin, jaw pushed forward as she appeared to mull it over before she acted, her fist coming down between his legs with a soft thud.  Hopping up, she grabbed her beer with one hand, walking away with her hand visibly gripping her Predator, the show a Howler display of dominant defiance signifying that he shouldn't try further.  "..Though it over, figured it wasn't worth it.  My Vrukat would likely kick your dirty slotting hoop to the grass..if I didn't beat him to it, wiz?"

Satisfied, she took a long drink of her beer, starting to migrate towards the table with Duck, Feathers, and Lupo, head bobbing to the metal synthcore...cuz hot damn, that was her jam.