Mission 2: Big Trouble in Little Nexus

Exalted: Grass Spiders
Grass Spiders On You Organizational Info Charms
Chapter 2
10: A Proper Sendoff 11: The Rat that Caught the Canary 12: A Proper Introduction 13: A Pearl Necklace 14: The Spider and the Slug
The Circle With No Name
Ash - CS Fay - CS Mesa - CS Opal Zealot - CS

The Job

Client: Takeshi Irugawa
Target: The Most Parsimonious Shogun
Type: Kidnapping, bodyguard (Team A), Assassination (Team B)
Target background: The Most Parsimonious Shogun is a spirit of the salt drying pools at Port Calin. He is one of the three spirits whose salt tithes are averaged to set the interest rate in the Nexus securities market, and is, by proxy, one of the most influential individuals in Scavenger Lands society. Every spring, he travels to Nexus to meet with the Council of Entities and Guild Hierarchs and discuss the upcoming harvest season's rates. This season, it is anticipated that a great deal of money will change hands in anticipation of civil war in the Realm - many houses are liquidating their Scavenger Lands assets. The other two salt spirits upon whom Nexus relies are predicting high rates for the Harvest season, favoring the Realm's oncoming storm of sales. The Most Parsimonious Shogun, on the other hand, is planning to lower his salt tithe considerably. This lowers the average interest rate in the Nexus market, and would result in considerable profit loss for the Realm. Both the Realm and the Guild are less than pleased about this - the lower rate also means that less silver will end up back in the hands of the Guild when the Realm makes its sales. Like the salt spirits themselves, one Councilor has a differing opinion - the resident astrologer, Takeshi Irugawa - Naru's uncle - foresees dark economic times if harm is to befall the Most Parsimonious Shogun. Contacting the organization through his niece, Takeshi has contracted the Grass Spiders to kidnap the Shogun for his own good, leaving behind a decoy to be the target for the Realm's or Guild's assassins. Takeshi has also foreseen the the Shogun's guardian spirits in Calin have been compromised, and asked that they meet an unfortunate accident on the job. Team B is handling the work in Calin - Opal is dispatching the guardian spirits while Mesa deals with corrupt members of the noble family who are entrusted with the salt pool's safe keeping. Cello is helping with spirit interactions and summoning replacements for the guardian spirits. Team A will handle the kidnapping and safe return of the Shogun.
Critical Notes:

• You are in flagrant violation of the Second Dogma. Be aware of this fact at all times.
• Expect trouble - the All-Seeing Eye almost certainly wants or already has a hand in this. Numerous other independent assassins are likely on the trail of the Most Parsimonious Shogun as well.
• The Shogun himself is extremely vain (as is his nature as a salt spirit) and is unlikely to respond to rational pleas to seek shelter - getting him out of harm's way will likely need to be done by force.
• The other assassins don't necessarily have to be convinced they've killed the Shogun, but the task has to be resolved somehow. The Grass Spiders don't get paid until the Most Parsimonious Shogun can safely meet with the Council and return to Calin unharmed.
• The Council can't find out the Grass Spiders are on the job - most of the council wants the spirit dead (although none of them would dare to admit this in any public capacity, and as such, won't endanger the Shogun if they actually meet up with him), and Takeshi will likely suffer the same fate if it's found out he's contracted the Order.
• Even though Naru insisted on coming because she "Trusts her uncle even less than the All-Seeing Eye", Opal will still probably be pissed if she gets hurt. Just something to keep in mind.

Team A (Nexus): Lord of the Ashen Cloud, Zealot of Iconoclastic Virtue, Fay Morgana, Naru Irugawa
Team B (Calin): Mesa, Opal, Cello
Expected Threats:

• The Hooded Executioners (Threat level: Minor, probability of encounter: High)
• The Emissary (Threat level: Do not engage, probability of encounter: Low)
• The All-Seeing Eye (Threat level: High, probability of encounter: High)
• Guild mercenaries (Threat level: Minor, probability of encounter: Medium)
• Ruol was spotted in Calin by Cello's scouts just days before the trip, and is likely to have followed Shogun to Nexus. It isn't known at this time where his allegiance falls.

Mission Status

Job: Complete
Dates: Ascending Water 14 - Resplendent Water 1, R.Y. 768
Kidnapping: Ash smuggled Fay and Zealot into the Most Parsimonious Shogun's bedchambers inside of a slug that the spirit intended to copulate with. They burst out of the slug just as tensions began to pick up and knocked the Shogun out, whisking him off to the safety of the Geronimo until his meeting.
Quote of the night: "I had a thought... It was... fairly rash." (Ash)
Exp. Awarded: 6

The Aftermath

"... Wow. I thought something smelled kinda off. And that worked?" Opal did little to hide her disbelief after Ash had matter-of-factly explained that they were not to be deterred by the Most Parsimonious Shogun's preference for bestial lovers. He'd brought Team B largely up to speed on the bizzare affair, strange even for a job carried out by the Hallowed Order of the Grass Spiders.

As per the norm, the circle and their sorcerous assistance, Cello, had gathered on the Geronimo as they flew back to the range homes after their mission had been completed. The weather was not particularly pleasant, so Ravenous Moon, Waning Heart and Ash were taking shifts piloting the ship, while the group had gathered in a small recreational space below deck. Although somewhat spartan, it was comfortable enough - they'd managed to fit a table, a slew of chairs, and a small couch in the room. Mesa, Ash, Fay, and Zealot sat at the table. Cello leaned back in a chair in the corner of the room, wrapping a roll of gauze around her forearm, pipe hanging loosely from her lips. Opal and Naru occupied the couch and huddled beneath a wool blanket, the latter nestled into the left side of the former. Fenrir had laid down across their laps, basking in Opal's affection, who scratched idly behind his ears. The crew had tapped a keg they'd hauled into the room, and most of the group had a pewter mug sitting around the room someplace.

Zealot, hurrying through a gulp of beer to interject, spoke up, "We've since bathed, thank you."

Opal replied through an exaggerated grimace, "That's even worse! Okay, seriously, though, you guys burst out of a dead slug the Shogun was about to have his way with, knocked him the hell out, and then what?"

Ash elaborated, "Getting out of the palace didn't go quite as smoothly as we'd hoped - we set the place on high-alert and ended up offing a guard, but overall, the damage was pretty minimal. We had a hell of an exit, shot out a window and flew out into the noontime sun in the ship. After that, we pretty much hung out in Geronimo for a few days and took turns hitting Shogun with a bat to keep him out. Drank a lot."

The need to keep Shogun unconscious as a result of his refusal to accept the fact that he was in danger had already been well explained, but it was clear that hadn't gotten the full story when when a sigh escaped Naru at Ash's mention of the batting circle. Ash smirked, folding his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, the bat thing kinda started out as a joke at first, but we kept putting off coming up with a more elegant way to knock him out and frankly, weren't confident any of the drugs we had on hand would keep a spirit out, so the bat became our bread and butter. We had a few trips to the city to take care of some loose ends and I think Naru ended up going to that dinner party with her uncle... "

Naru shrugged, reaching out from under the blanket and joined Opal in her pampering, stroking the length of Fenrir's back. The canine certainly did not object. "I did, just to keep an eye out for who showed up. Some guys who I'm pretty sure were from the Eye were there, and I'm sure there were a few I missed. My uncle seemed a little off too, but then again, he always does... " Naru's voice trailed off momentarily, but she picked up the story where Ash left off after a brief moment of silence.

"Anyway, there was some excitement over the Shogun's disappearance - we're not exactly sure what was said behind closed doors, but public opinion held that he'd been killed by assassins, just like everyone was expecting, which was exactly what we were hoping for. I don't know if it was great that so many people know the assassins flew Geronimo, but on the whole, it essentially went as well as it could have gone."

Ash chimed in again, "It was all a moot point when the Shogun made it to the meeting - that left everybody baffled. But before that happened, we had to had him off to Ruol. That was a little tense. We ended up meeting him at that tea salon at Yinhang Square Zealot tracked him to, the one I told you guys about earlier. We're pretty sure we saw the same Dynast guy there, too, although he wasn't obviously with Ruol, he was just off in a corner, minding his own business. We left after that - it was agreed that we'd escort the Shogun to his meeting with the Guild, so we picked him up the next day."

Ash was about to continue, but Moon entered the room, rubbing her hair dry with a towel. It appeared the rain hadn't let up. She gave Ash a teasing, sarcastic smile.

"Your turn, cap! Don't worry, weather's beautiful."

Ash smirked and sighed, letting the front two legs of his chair fall back to the ground. He stood and stretched, cracking his neck before he went above deck to take the ship's wheel. Moon replaced Ash in the chair, helping herself to a small mug of beer. Zealot picked up the story where Ash had left off.

"We don't know what Ruol and the Shogun talked about, but they must have been persuasive - the Shogun upped his rate like they hoped he would. This created a pretty awkward situation, because the people who wanted him dead actually ended up getting the higher rate they wanted. Takeshi only specified that Shogun shouldn't be killed, so I'm guessing he doesn't care one way or the other. Anyway, after escorting the Shogun to the Guild offices - it was a short walk across Yinhang square, since we picked the Shogun up at that tea salon - we arranged for him to return to Calin with a protected Guild caravan, which we followed here. Upon his safe return, our contract had been fulfilled, and that's about where we're at now. What'd we miss in Calin?"