Neither is Toshiba, but I've collated a Cole Phelps-like list of testimony while I was rereading the old Waves. It's been a while and I grew curious about when Adler first appeared, since Toshiba didn't deal with him and it was therefore vague.
Cole Phelps is a Terrible Detective List
Olafsen hired Ayami to kill Tingarson
Contract provided Adler to Ayami as intel source
Contract NOT confirmed as coming from Olafsen specifically. We do suspect that it could have been Adler all along
Sadatsugu posed as Tingarson's lover, killed him, and stole his dog's collar. We failed to get an answer for that from Nagani (Should've pushed X, not Y!).
Count Champagne hired Killer Bees to investigate
Champagne and Tingarson were good friends
Champagne says Adler's gang coveted his wealth and could have found out Tingarson's sexual preferences
Champagne says chaos follows in the wake of his potential removal
Killer Bees (Ryu Zatoichi Akiro) confirmed Champagne hired them
RZA put squeeze on Adler, had minions killed by Kagemaru
RZA doesn't think Adler killed Tingarson (he didn't of course)
Van Synt had PCs investigate
VS needs killer in X days or will hang it on a random Imperial (he claimed) or implicate PCs for it (suspect this is more likely)
VS found Sadatsugu's hiding place, but Toshi rescued him before he was discovered.
Here's the problem I have with Kasumi's plan (and it may be a minor detail):
if the Blue Oni wants revenge, why doesn't he just kill Adler instead of walking out?
I can imagine the scene:
Blue Oni Storms in.
"You have killed my friend Tingarsson! For that, you must die!! I am a dangerous bandit and could easily slay you! But.. I will not do it just now.
Because... because... I left the oven on! Yeah, that's it! I'm going to leave now and turn it off. So suck on that!"
Blue Oni turns and storms off.
The threat we need to pose to Adler has to be something that he thinks he can't handle (force is a good one) in a shape that he can't retaliate against politically (so someone whom he's never heard of would be good). The threat has to be dire, but leave him enough time to contact his allies (ideally, he would send a runner as soon as we leave). On the other hand, we can't give him too much time, because then we give him the initiative, and he can dictate the flow of events, as Toshiba has already pointed out. He must be pressured to react, without having enough time to think it through. Incidentally, that last bit is the core element of most cons.
I gathered that Kasumi's plan involved me shouting my general dislike for Adler in a scary manner in his bar while he wasn't there. Because otherwise I agree - proclaiming that you're marking a dude for death while you're standing there looking at him? That doesn't make any sense.
As for Olafsen, he is some sort of piratical or nautical type fellow who has multiple ships and is supposed to meet with the Blue Oni in X days, where X is less than 3 at this point. I believe he's our next real link to the people who want Yukio dead, but if we can corroborate what we might glean from him in the future with what we might learn from Adler, it gives us a leg up on him when the time comes.
We DO always have the "frame the Killer Bees" backup plan should ANY of our zany schemes collapse.
And the plan as presented hits all of your points (which are good ones).
1. Threat he can't handle: The Blue Oni is a legend. Having him, in person, call out Adler and put a bounty on his head is more than enough.
2. Political retaliation (?): I'm not quite so solid on this one, but I think you mean a threat he can't just wave away, and again, the Blue Oni is a legend. The rep will handle that for us.
3. Leaving him time: Kidnapping him off the street doesn't do that, issuing the threat and seeing what happens does.
4. Too much time: Well, by issuing a bounty (and a sizable one), it pressures him to act NOW, since it's not just us, but everyone that wants a piece of him.
As for the first complaint, it's not an issue, because the Blue Oni, as we have seen, is nothing if not theatrical. He was in the mountain pass, so the odds are that these kind of bold proclamations and "letting the matter 'sort itself out'" isn't anything new with the persona. Also, while calling out Adler on his own turf is dramatic and big, actually attacking him there is rather stupid. The place is probably shot full of Adler's men, and while actively attacking Adler or the Blue Oni would be ill-advised, issuing threats is no problem.
(Imagine as delivered to Toshiro Mifune:) "I, the Blue Oni, am deeply offended by Adler's hasty and ill-advised assassination on my friend and business partner, Tingarson! Soon, justice will come to those who dare defy the Blue Oni! A thousand pieces of silver to those who bring me this man in one day's time!"
Or, if you're really worried, doing it in the square outside of his bar would work just as well. He stands out in front, shouts that he is the Blue Oni and that he has a message for Adler, shouts the message, and walks off, possibly with whoever we have to spare to act as guards.
"Political retaliation" was supposed to mean that Adler uses his contacts (government or otherwise) to strike at the offender. We (or at least I) don't know what manner of backers to expect.
I guess you have a point about the theatrical effect. I still find it more credible if a face-to-face conflict is avoided, but otherwise it works. Also note that, as far as we know, Adler's "men" are a bunch of kids, so it's unlikely they'll give us grief.
Aiko's plan sounds like a good one, too, apart from the fact that we haven't witnessed an execution in these parts yet and don't know what it takes to bail Adler out, should he end up there.
Feel like with Aiko's idea, Adler's supposed masters, the people we want to speak to, might be the people who'd bail him out, possibly before we are able to rescue him and thus gain his confidence.
I have a Raylan Givens-type idea ready to go in case Adler IS at his bar. Tell him he has "till sunset" (or whatever would be a good timeframe) to get out of town, or he's a dead man.
Adler's masters are more likely to want him dead, surely, rather than risk him talking?
And really, the public (and likely personal) delivery of the ultimatum makes no sense. First, where is a gaijin going to run to? Second, he just points the town militia at the wanted criminal and says "there is your murderer!"
I feel Robert should probably chip in on this point but from what he's told me, it seems that the Oni isn't the Riddler with his foreshadowing of his deeds but rather more like Batman or the Joker, who leaves no doubt about who was responsible for what happened.
There's also the possibility that Adler and the Oni are allies in some manner if only via Olafsen, so ranting about "his friend Tingarson's death" could be entirely counter productive and tip our hand.
If the Oni identity is deployed as stick rather than carrot, better to leave the reason for the animosity to Adler's imagination so he can fill in the blanks as to whether it's revenge or housekeeping. And for that to happen, you need the easily verifiable danger to be brought to Adler's attention by a third party
Note that the Blue Oni is not actually wanted in Kargbeck - he's committed no (known) crimes in the city, and the foreigners are not in the habit of helping Imperial law enforcement. Adler, on the other hand, is a wanted man. The authorities will be of no help to him.
I was under the impression that, assuming Adler goes to his masters, that we are actually be shadowing him. Whether or not Adler is killed for incompetence then, well, that's too far down the line for me to care about. He's served his purpose by leading us to his betters.
I don't think Adler will sic militia on me. He's a thief. Besides, I am confident in Toshiba's ability to evade should it come to a hasty retreat and complete mission failure. At which point, we have the fallback option of blaming it on the Bees and praying.
Quote:
There's also the possibility that Adler and the Oni are allies in some manner if only via Olafsen, so ranting about "his friend Tingarson's death" could be entirely counter productive and tip our hand.
That I DO agree with (although I personally still Adler is more a useful tool than a conspiracy member). "You really bungled the Tingarson account" is a good phrase. So is "You know goddamn well why I am displeased with you". Or even just "You have until sundown to leave Kargbeck, you smug son of a bitch." Best not to choose my exact words until we get there, eh?
Honestly, I'm just tired of dithering about it at this point and want to go DO it. The rest of you, pick out who's gonna be best at shadowing Adler if he makes a run for it.
Agreed on taking action. Since I'm muscle, I don't quite see where I can be most helpful at this point, save to bail Toshiba out if something goes wrong. The ninjas are much better at shadowing.
I could come in with Toshiba (since Adler doesn't know me) to get a read on his reaction, and I'll be handy in the interrogation afterwards.
On second thought, maybe Takao should follow at a distance. He's not as high on the honor as he used to, but posing as a henchman of a known criminal is probably more dishonorable than he's willing to deal with, even if it is to get at another criminal.
I had a chance to browse through the rest of the forums this weekend, and I must say you have some pretty awesome games going on. My favorite was the CRASH game: completely awesome idea, and the players all go well with it! The mechanics look cool, too. Is that pure Dresden Files RPG, or is there other stuff in it, too? Might have to go and buy a copy.
Thanks! It's pretty much just Dresden, aside from a few Stunts and minion rules pulled from Spirit of the Century. You can PM me if you have more questions, or post in the CRASH OOC thread. We won't mind.
If Toshiba can get out of sight long enough to remove the armor, that's almost like being invisible. After all, everyone's looking for a big blue guy, and if you ain't blue, you're not it.
Okay, since this is a team check, I'm letting you all throw action dice at this. Who's up for taking a hit for the greater good? You need to overcome 8 points of margin, that's doable with two AD or one that explodes.
Admiral Duck Sauce
You need to overcome 8 points of margin, that's doable with two AD or one that explodes.