Mission 13: A Pearl Necklace

Prelude

Following Opal's multiple nervous breakdowns during the events of Mission 12 and an enlightening conversation with Ash, she decided, for the first time in her adult life, to take her leave of the Grass-Spiders. She swears she'll come back, having requested a one-year hiatus from Gyoki (which he granted) - she is, in fact, obligated to return after a year, under penalty of death. The first stop of her sabbatical is Blue Haven, where she intends to find work as a smuggler. Mesa decided to take a shorter vacation, agreeing to spend a month in Blue Haven with Opal. This effectively made public the knowledge of their relationship to the (few) members of the Order who weren't aware of it. During his time off, Mesa intends to begin what he considers his most important action as member of the Order - He plans to write the story of the Grass-Spiders and preserve the memory of its many personalities in song. Rizuka was moved enough by the gesture that she used her clout to pressure Gyoki into allowing Mesa's (shorter) vacation. The group now travels to Abalone for a mission unrelated to the Veil War, but at the same time utterly related - With the Order at war and the Circle with No Name losing two members (temporarily), the need for fresh blood has never been clearer. In the small town of Diving Joy, the Grass-Spiders plan to recruit their next member.

The Job

Client: Gyoki, the Morning Lion
Targets: Unknown (see below)
Type: Recruitment/"Assassination"
Target Background:

In the small town of Diving Joy, a pearl farming town in Abalone, a sea monster has been ravaging the oyster beds, taking pearls and divers alike. The mayor, Shamshung ((I wish I was kidding, but it's in the book)), is too proud to accept the Guild's offer of bringing in professional hunters and guards, but he grows desperate as the new town's fragile economy is increasingly devastated by the assault on its only serious industry - pearl farming. Shamshung, now an old, one-armed man, has seen many adventures, and in an old, different life, he learned the proper channels for having a problem taken care of discreetly. Working through several factors, he managed to contract the Grass-Spiders. Shamshung believes the pearl beds are not being ravaged by siaka, as most villagers believe. Instead, he believes the attacks are part of a greater scheme and threat to his power - an upstart hoping to destabilize the city and claim it for his or her own in the ensuing chaos. The Grass-Spiders have reason to believe Shamshung is correct in his assessment, and furthermore believe that the mastermind is a young, Water-aspected Dragon-Blood. As an indirect penal measure in retaliation for two of their members requesting time off, Gyoki has dispatched what remains of the Circle With No Name (Fay, Zealot, and Ash) to carry out Shamshung's contract. The village elder is surprisingly wealthy for a the mayor of small town (prior to the ravaging of the town's pearl beds an explosion of wealth had entered the city) and has offered a large sum of money for the Order in the hopes that they will do the job discreetly - it is important that the Elder's pride is preserved (publicly, he refuses outside help); this is one of his conditions for payment. During the Veil War, the Order, although wealthy, still needs every piece of jade scrip it can muster.

The Grass-Spiders have another take on the matter - the young Dragon-Blood, whatever his or her identity may be, has been clever in framing the nearby sea monsters for his crimes and ruthless in eliminating those who risk discovering him. That is exactly the attitude the Order looks for. The team's goals are thus threefold:

1) Discover the identity of the Dragon-Blood behind the sea-bed thefts.
2) Recruit him or her.
3) Convince Shamshung that the thief has, in fact, been killed, and collect the payment.

Team: Ash, Zealot, Fay, Ash's crew

((I will provide more details in person. Sorry for this being up late. It's been an insane day/weekend/week/month/year.))