Welcome to the Jungle : A Mage Quest

You finish off your pastry and pull the files over for a look through. There are seven total, with a couple pages of material each.

The first is one Lady Sidney Bartholomew. An impeccably dressed statuesque woman with a deep tan, piercing dark brown eyes, and black hair. The Lady Bartholomew runs the Bartholomew Preparatory Academy, which has rapidly become the most prestigious private institute for secondary education in the greater New Dresda area. She’s included because a large number of her alumni go on to become noted scholars and important figures in governments around the world. She is minor nobility of asian descent, though she came to Bosworth’s attention when it was noted that his contacts couldn’t pin down her background with any accuracy. There just isn’t much to be found. In his opinion its been gone over by a professional cleaner, which is note-worthy in and of itself despite whatever she may be hiding.

Second is Doctor Thomas Threed. A wiry man in his mid thirties, with scruffy, unkempt looks and a permanent 5 o’clock shadow. Despite his appearance, Threed is a competent administrator and a brilliant scientist who collects PhDs like most men collect shot glasses. He runs the High Energy Experimentation Project, a large complex dominated by a concrete dome near the edge of town. Their security is top notch, but Bosworth knows they’re responsible for several of the more recent advances in the more exotic sciences, notably efficient and high energy fuels. Threed has a special note on his file that he ran afoul of an attempted kidnapping about a year and a half ago. The police file says that his security detail beat the kidnappers within an inch of their lives, but the doctor has never been seen in public with bodyguards of any kind.

Mason Wang is quite possibly the best researched person on the list. Chinese by birth, twenty-three years of age, and from a long prestigious line. Wang attended the Bartholomew Academy and was immediately snatched up by the Department of External Affairs. Young, but given a high position of responsibility and rapidly promoted. Since then he has led a long and bloody career of putting down warlords, wannabe dictators, and insurgency groups. A little digging into his heritage reveals that this is probably a family business, and that they survived the communists by being “civic minded” with their talents. (The file notes that a great deal of this information is considered classified, but wasn’t too hard to get ahold of. Seems Saxton doesn’t mind people knowing who his main hitter is.)

The name Natsume Graham is on everyone’s lips if they’re even slightly interested in community and environmental wellness. This good-looking blond haired blue eyed French woman is a political tiger. A tireless crusader for reform, equal rights, charity, inner city rebuilding, community policing, and a slew of other topics has made headlines across the world. You name a just cause and Ms. Graham probably has a hand in it. Though her personal finances aren’t the best, Graham’s natural charisma and fiery attitude have opened more doors (and raised more funding) than most political fat cats. Here in New Dresda Natsume is the founder and head of the highly political Graham Movement, a growing group of normal people, from society’s dregs and inner city gangs to students and business owner, who have grown fed up with their circumstances and banded together to do something about it. She is clearly aware of the supernatural and Bosworth’s files note that several of his more exotic contacts have had meetings with Ms. Graham about community safety and togetherness, but he has not had the opportunity to speak with her himself.

Paul Orlean is the current head of The Union, a group of working-class hunters who trace their heritage back to the labor movements of the early 20th and late 19th century. Orlean is a well groomed and young looking gentleman with roguish features and a quick smile, despite being confirmed in his mid forties at the least. He is another figure which Bosworth’s contacts can’t pin down before his appearance in London during the late 90s, with even less available material than Lady Bartholomew. Notes in his file largely deal with their monster and demon (you double-take at the word demon) hunting activities. The Union is very good at what they do, but they’re currently at odds with Lieutenant Harmon and the rest of the police. Harmon was Not Pleased to learn that this sort of thing had been going on under his nose for decades before it started to spill out onto the streets and become his problem. The Union has been surprisingly close-mouthed about everything, preferring to keep their secrecy, which has led to the rift between the two groups that exists today. Bosworth doesn’t know exactly what The Union’s problem is, but their efforts have been rapidly slacking off in recent years.

Organized crime has a face in New Dresda, and that face is the man who calls himself Nicoli Aquila. This sharply dressed man in his early thirties has pale skin, dichromatic eyes in deep blue and hazel surround by premature wrinkling, and raven black hair. Nicoli Utka is from a well-to-do Russian family who made their fortune running contraband and information through the Cold War years and have turned that profit into legitimate enterprise since then. Aquila is something of a throwback for that family, taking to crime like a duck to water and applying his genius level intellect to “challenges” of high security and secrecy. He has a good working relationship outside of crime with Dr. Threed, and a file as tall as your arm is long with Interpol. They haven’t been able to make anything stick, despite more than a decade of trying.

The smallest file of the bunch is on one Hans Bryer. No known background, no known history. The Order, an organization that Bosworth knows exactly nothing about, is represented by this man whenever they make contact with information dealers. There is one picture, of a heavy-set germanic individual who looks to be posing alone for an old-time family photo, that was found in an old newspaper and compared to several discreet digital shots that Bosworth’s people have taken. The paper was dated 1946 and mentioned that Bryer was wanted for crimes against humanity in connection to the Third Reich. Physical and digital copies of that paper have since gone missing, and there is no outstanding, existing, or prior files of one Hans Bryer in connection to Nazi Germany (or anything else for that matter.) Bosworth makes it very clear that you should be careful around these people.

After you’ve gone through the files you inquire after an Occult Bookstore. Bosworth is surprised.

“And here I thought you magic types didn’t approve of mundane dabblers.”

“Yes, well, it has come to my attention that my education is lacking in some areas,”

You hear a quiet snickering over your shoulder, too quiet for anyone but you to hear but you hope Puck is slightly psychic because SHUT UP PUCK.

“...and it might be a good idea to freshen up in preparation for my new duties.”

“Capital idea! Always get the most out of your investment I say, why don’t you try The Flying Saucer up in Grove district? Lovely little place, does a brisk coffee business to supplement their income next to the occult practitioner side of things. Most of the regulars don’t even realize just how serious Mr. Smith, the owner, is about his ‘quaint atmosphere’ and ‘interesting decorations.’”

“Thank you, I’ll look into that.”

“No no my dear boy, thank you. Afterall, keeping you happy means my finder and retainer fees are secured.”

Bosworth might come off as a bit slimy, but he didn’t dance around the point either. That sort of honesty was refreshing.

What now?

[X] Questions for Bosworth.
[X] To The Flying Saucer.
[X] Back to work. (Advance to next month)
[X] Something Else.

(Bonus points if you can spot the character reference! There are three.)

 

Lorelei Bartholomew is an obviously Type Moon reference.

 

WHOOPS! >_> *edits*

That's actually an unintentional one. I borrowed the name for a completely different character and had the original still in my notes.

Barthomeloi Lorelei and Sidney Bartholomew are completely different people, I just liked the name. xD

 

It would probably be a good thing to have him pass word around that we are interested and willing to enchant peoples equipment for an appropriate sum total.

Possible enchantment idea's:
Get Rabbits, use their blood like the turtles, and enchant footwear for improved speed.
Get a goat, use their blood like the turtles, enchant their footwear and handwear for improved grip and stability.

 

You want us to advertise our specific skillset and give magic goodies out to whoever pays in spite of working for the cops?
No.

[X] To The Flying Saucer.

 

(And yes Hymn, even though it was an unintentional fourth it totally counts. You've got a floating +5)

 

Front page says I got a +10. I assume that's a mistake?

Thanks for the bonus, by the way. I didn't want to ask and be greedy by pressing you on the issue, but I do appreciate you awarding it.

 

[X] To The Flying Saucer.

 

[X] To The Flying Saucer.

 

High Energy Experimentation Project= Discworld reference?

Paul Orlean/The Union=Torchwood?

[X] To The Flying Saucer.