Asher's Story S1E5

 

 

"The Alboyrn Family Business and a Day to Handle Business"

 

Our day starts with our hero, Asher, traveling to Candle Soul to visit, at their request, his parents. And to the young half-elf's surprise, the whole family is there, finishing brunch. He soon finds himself in what can only be called an intervention over his continued pursuit of his new found profession. Most of the family is quiet, though Verity, his grandmother, repeatedly gives Asher a reassuring smile. His father lays it out that if Asher doesn't come back into the fold of his family's business, financial support will be severed. Asher challenges his father's words and is soon leaving the estate. But not before Verity finds him, kissing him on the forehead and saying that the city needs more people like him. Gifting Asher with an Ever Full Vial of Health (in an engraved tinsteel bottle) and a simple, unassuming tinsteel Necklace of Secret Door Detection. Thankful for the words and gifts, our hero heads back to his stomping grounds.

 

Once at The Common Grounds, Asher calls the young gnome Prewitt and she agrees to meet him as soon as she can get there. 

While waiting for his new assistant to show, what can only be an acolyte of The Order of the Undying Answer sheepishly enters the coffee house to looks of disdain. Eventually, after making eye-contact with the pretty young human wearing the red robe of a lower tier believer, Asher asks if he can join her and soon finds himself taking an "evaluation". The acolyte, tell our half-elf that the assessment says he is an adventurous risk-taker. She then invites Asher to an introductory dinner at the infamous Academy. 

 

Asher says thank you and the women gives him the address and her name (Nisa) and, strangely enough, her member ID number.

 

While Nisa exiting the cafe, Prewitt arrives and the two bump into each other.

 

Getting them both coffees, and a pastry that she jams into her mouth, Prewitt is asked to join Asher on a job and is tasked with finding, what are now growing scarce, Invisibility gadgets for the two of them. Prewitt, eager to please, says she'll do what she can and dashes off to the Mystic Market, pastry hanging from her mouth.

 

Before anything else can happen, the bounty hunter purchases, online, another pistol. And since it's Soulsday, he is forced to wait 24 hours for the store to open on Weekstart.

 

After a quick call to Rina, Asher's fixer, about the 6 vials of blue liquid he lifted of the dazed courier he found jumped in an alley near the ManaForge Mechanica lab he had broken into, Asher heads to see her. She tells him that what he has are six vials of an highly addictive, dangerous and illegal substance called Bliss, and advises him to get rid of it a.s.a.p.

 

And, after another quick call, this time to Venra, a drug dealing contact he has, Asher find himself outside his contact's home, waiting.

The wait is not without incident.

What can only be assumed is one of the scarred fairy Blaze's henchmen attack Asher on the street. In board daylight. But, fortunately for our hero, Asher, with the help of his Dragon Pistol, makes quick work of the assailant and is soon in the apartment of a put-out Venra (he's didn't like the action outside his home) who buys the drugs for twelve thousand shards.

 

The two go out to dinner.

To rest, and to pack a bug-out-bag (because of the in-coming storm), Asher heads home to his apartment. When 5 a.m. comes around, he meets up with Prewitt to stake out Eyrnn Elquest home where they eventually jump in a cab to follow Elquest's own taxi to another ManaForge Mechanica lab, this time in South Side.

Asher leaves Prewitt with the task of surveilling the lab from a hidden position, reporting back to the bounty hunter with anything that might be of interest.

 

 Our hero then heads, by taxi, to the "Guns For U", one of the cities only gun dealerships, to pickup his new pistol, where he hears on the passenger view screen in the cab that a riot is occurring at the funeral of Londo Rolon, and part of Midtown has been shut down. 

 

Asher meets the gnome proprietor Blomm and is introduced to his new pistol, The Last Laugh...

 

...it's a nice gun.

 

(10 rounds of explosive ammo for the pistols is also purchased) 

 

He heads back to Prewitt and the lab and the two decide nothing of serious interest is happening at the there and decide to go to Elquest's apartment to see if they can find any leads inside. 

Prewitt gets them, surprisingly, past the buildings security easily and the duo carefully searches the scientists pad. Asher locates the book she was reading, "The Art of Obfuscating", with a bookmarked passage reading, " If one truly wants to hide themselves, then simply hide in plain sight. By doing so, one can keep a focus on those that they wish to remain hidden from". Asher pounders this as he looks to she what Prewitt is up to.

Surprised to see the gnome teens pounding away at the keyboard of Elquest's computer like a ham-fisted ape, Prewitt seemed to have cracked it's security and thinks she found something of interest... An email from and a Sterik Senti saying to meet him in Element Park at midnight and to make sure to bring her copy of The Eye...

Is this the lead they were looking for??