Protoman

Deadpool Strikes Again! (DeadlyPhoenix and Protoman)

"That is true...it would give us a less discreet way of eavesdropping on them and we could go in closer if we see our man. It doesn't give us much in the way of audio if the cameras aren't in with them. That was part of spying closer on them--anything they say in Franco's absence is valuable, too. Perhaps if we can find an in with a bug or two, that might settle that issue. And...don't you mean it'd raise too many red flags?"

Deadpool Strikes Again! (DeadlyPhoenix and Protoman)

"I say we try to stake out the office first. As you've said, torture is hit-or-miss, even if we find someone who would have that intel. He should come for his stuff eventually. In that case, we would have to either get information on his next visit or try to figure out the patterns to see if there's a regular time he will make himself present to us. However we go about getting that information, this is a stealth op. And it sounds like if they catch a whiff of something suspect, they'll hit the alarm and send Franco fleeing for his high castle somewhere else."

Mourning Mirrodin Tavern (A MTG sandbox roleplay)

"So I would guess it was some time ago, then," Lanestol responded to Aspasia. "I was not looking to purchase it. Had it not been for recent events, I could have gotten one like it. In fact, I did have one like it for casual attire just after I graduated my village academy, just of lighter color. The hard part was sufficiently turning a trap on him so I could stop him cold and siphon out his life. I would have definitely lost a straight-forward battle and the way I did it guaranteed the pelt stayed whole. Not much risk of tearing it with a weapon, though for some, that gave it a bit of charm or room to sew in a pocket. These days, werewolves of Innistrad are mangled abominations, far beyond how twisted they were to begin with. You may want to keep that one intact as long as possible. It is not replaceable, as it is. You could get another if you not mind the next one coming with tentacles or other unnatural appendages."

Lanestol turned to acknowledge the contact who had finally come to meet with Veronica. Upon hearing the messenger's contemptuous tone toward Alexander and Victoria, his demeanor took a sudden turn. The ruby pendant flashed for a moment before his eyes turned the same shade of red, and a wicked smile curled as he made direct eye contact with the messenger cleric. He stood from his stool and walked right to the agent as he bowed before him. He leaned in and whispered in the contact's ear, a disquieting anger concealed as he grit his teeth.

"I would have hoped you would treat your hosts with a bit more respect, especially considering your current status. It is not one which commands respect or draws envy from anyone. If this goes poorly in the Advisor's view, you will be fortunate to stand in line for the Maw. If you do hold respect for my station, act like it and be a more gracious guest or you will be no one's guest again."

I could have told him something like that myself without the threats.

Someone with his arrogance needs a good whip now and then to know his place. He needs to know just how little control he has of the situation. Whelps like him are why I wonder you still don't just blow them all to the aether and become the Guildmaster.

I would be no different from him, flexing my power to control people. That, and I know that would motivate you to try to take control of me permanently. I only tolerate you since I cannot exorcise you yet. If you drive me to it, I will seek someone else to send you on your way. For now, I wish to have command again.

With his own message given to the agent, Lanestol stood and returned to his seat. His pendant flashed again and his eyes reverted back. His face had also returned to its usual forlorn stare before he faced Alexander upon his query.

"I suppose some work would be in order. At least, after I eat. My stomach has settled from the nervous moment earlier."

Deadpool Strikes Again! (DeadlyPhoenix and Protoman)

"Damn...this guy really sucked the well dry. Guess we can ask Mr. Franco why he'd leave himself open to someone getting so much evidence on him. Or why he would pose for pictures with the guys he hired for his shady deals. Before we kill him, of course. And if he doesn't want to talk, we don't have to have reasons for his cockiness." Eric sorted through the remaining documentation Deadpool had available before setting it all back. "So, since I unwittingly offed the guy who was going to lead you to him, we need a new plan. Where are we starting now?"

Mourning Mirrodin Tavern (A MTG sandbox roleplay)

Lanestol held on a moment longer, pondering what the Myr said before lowering his defense and taking his right hand off his staff. "Very true. I have greater fear of coming across the blight than any other illness that can befall a creature. Most diseases do not compel service to one of the most vile wretches in all the realms. Seeing as how you have not tried anything yet, I can take you on faith for now, at least." His attention turned away once another sat on his other side and questioned about the Orzhov's anticipated meeting at the tavern.

"I am not privy to the exact reasons why our leadership insist on meeting their patrons where they are at rather than inviting them to the Church of Deals, where we are at," Lanestol responded to Victoria. "Perhaps to project an image of openness. In reality, it may be because too many dealings at the Church itself would invite too many of the kinds of people the Orzhov don't care to have poking about. The sorts of people as there are in the Azorius Senate or the Boros Legion or the kinds of people who would, in turn, attract their attention. They take no chances with alleged House Dimir agents poking about, even if they have already intruded our ranks.

"To answer your question, no, I am not the contact. They just gave me some information about the meeting and to assure the liaison will be of greater intellect than the thrull we mistakenly trusted last time. They did want me to warn you in case he meets you and seems...a bit less lively than usual. An Advisor met him to speak about that meeting and his debt problem."

A small celebration had broken out upon Alexander's acceptance of Two-One. Seemed to him they would carry on for a bit with it. In the meantime, he finished off his drink and decided to strike up conversation with the woman Alexander referred to as "Aspasia". He hadn't seen her before, though the fur covering her armor had caught his eye and he figured she would at least be worth a talk with.

"When did you get that? The coat over your armor. How long ago was it you got that?"

@Achronum

Mourning Mirrodin Tavern (A MTG sandbox roleplay)

Lanestol had been hearing the conversations between Alexander and the other patrons present. He had looked over as a rather imposing woman entered and vented about what seemed to be her latest endeavor beyond the plane of Ravnica. Sounded to him like the type of assignment he would rather not get involved in. Any number of things could go awry, from what he had previously heard of Zendikar, and with the sorts of things that could come about, even his own protective powers would not be completely reliable. He did happen to notice the fur coat over the top of her armor and its familiarity struck him.

Seems like she's been to my home at least once...doesn't look like she's been there too recently. That looks like normal werewolf fur. From what I heard from the survivors the last time I went, if she went there now, she might still come across one of them who were corrupted and come back with something half covered in tentacles or with a coat fit for someone with seven more appendages than usual.

He had glanced back the other way to see the short hooded figure pull back its hood as it had been asked. Upon seeing a Myr, he started feeling a churning unease within his stomach. He tried to discreetly continue listening and keeping the Myr in his peripheral vision. He had not been to Mirrodin personally, though another planeswalker he once talked to had been in the early stages of the blight's conquest. At Alexander's the first mention of the oil, he started to regret coming to drink as his unease sent his heart pounding. He began to take another drink to try to steady his discomfort. Overhearing the Myr say it hoped it didn't have the blight, he halfway choked up a moment on the drink in his throat and halfway spat up what was in his mouth. He placed the mug back on the counter and gripped his staff tight with both hands.

"You hope you don't have the blight!?" Lanestol interjected. "When was the last time you could have been exposed?" The end of his staff began to glow as a protective aura surrounded himself.

Deadpool Strikes Again! (DeadlyPhoenix and Protoman)

Eric took the photos and magazine article drafts and started sifting through them, closely scrutinizing the photos for seams or signs of alteration. He shook his head as he started realizing the truth to the information provided in the rejected drafts and the veracity of the photos taken.

"Why would he have photos like these taken, though? Even if he probably never could be charged for a crime because he's in cahoots with the media, this seems...arrogant. To just leave incriminating evidence around like this for someone to pick up. Surely, he realizes he has enemies in this world, even if none of them are in any seat of power? I don't doubt these are real. I don't understand why he would leave anything tying him to this warmongering..."

Deadpool Strikes Again! (DeadlyPhoenix and Protoman)

Eric followed Deadpool around the apartment, noting the books his ally kicked aside as they entered what seemed to be his war room.

Oh, wow...that's quite an extensive map...I can only start to imagine what connections all of these guys have in with each other that he'd have to off them...and the way these are dated, I'm also interested in why it had to be this specific order...wait...did I hear that right?

"The CEO of Comcast? I've heard the company's practices are evil and borderline criminal, though I thought that was more just some corporate fatcat getting away with technicalities of US law. Even to the point of trying to alter US law so it fits their agenda. I could understand begrudging his ability to capitalize on the cable market. This is the first I've heard of someone like him using that to fund wars in third-world countries. This is a pretty massive front operation. I'd like to see what you have that led to him."

Mourning Mirrodin Tavern (A MTG sandbox roleplay)

Lanestol looked up to accept his drink, an odd brew someone from the Izzet League had purchased once they called Niv-Mizzet's Failed Experiment #5043. He had liked it, though after he tried a second Failed Experiment it with the alcoholic components of a Rakdos Revel, he found it a perfect balance.

"Business has been on the lighter side today, as far as I have seen. More people paying a visit to the Maw to pay with life than with coin. I am aware of who they will send later today and they did ask me to assure you the agent they send will be much more intelligent than a thrull. They cannot guarantee if they will be dead or alive--that agent is...meeting with an Advisor. That's all the business they asked me to come for for now.

"I am just here to have a drink and maybe something to eat as well. I do not know what exactly yet; I will have a look over the menu." He took one up and started to browse their offerings for the day. "Personally, I had come to unwind from a...rather confusing trip home. The business information was because Advisor Karlov asked me to tell you."

Mourning Mirrodin Tavern (A MTG sandbox roleplay)

A tall and somewhat slight human entered the tavern, seeming a bit weary and completely disinterested in the stage show. He leaned slightly on his staff as he walked, the upper end of which bore the white and gray sun insignia of the Orzhov Syndicate. Anyone who didn't live under a rock with the Gruul clans cleared some extra space for him as he walked through the foggy tavern. The cloak draped over him bore the same symbol on his back, a symbol he had come to learn demanded respect of some and fear of many, even if he did not wish for it to be so. He would seek redemption in turning corruption to piety, even within his own small place as a cleric among the Orzhov. An opposite progression of what he had seen in his life and what he learned had happened in his time away from home in Innistrad. Even if he could pull the planeswalker card and take command of the Syndicate, for the time being, he elected not to and decided to at least earn some respect first.

Until he could reform the Syndicate at least back to its tradition of actually functioning like a church, he carried a name which raised him up as a symbol of the Orzhov's sway in Ravnican financial matters and their willingness to exercise it. The Cardinal of Calamity. It was no official title since he still bore the official standing of a cleric. As he did not exercise the greatest extents of his power and his power didn't have great extents regarding spirits to begin with, he was deemed rank-and-file in the eyes of the Obzedat and the Advisors. More or less, another attendant to the Church of Deals, another accountant in clergy robes ruining lives and afterlives alike. Still, he was a bit more notable than others from his constant presence around the city and his tales of strange places beyond the City of Guilds. Some thought him crazy. Among those folks, they thought it made him more intimidating.

He took a seat at the tavern bar and kept one hand on his staff, staring a bit longingly at the end of his staff with the sun symbol. Some shock still resonated within, and he snapped to attention once he realized he was no longer looking at anything in particular and had let his mind wander off to events far from where his body resided now. Even as he turned to greet the bartender, someone he knew more by name than anything else, he still seemed a bit despondent and his eyes half wandered and half drooped.

"It is nice to sit down once in a while here. To actually relax and not talk to someone just to get them to pay. Might need bigger or more drinks if I actually dealt with that part of the process. How has the place been while I was away, Mister Pax?"