8690/How much for that bowl

How much for that bowl
Date of Scene:	15 November 2021
Location:	Foot Warehouse - NYC
Synopsis:	Shredder has Roland's bowl. Roland wants to know where he got it. A trade is made.
Cast of Characters:	Roland Livingston, Shredder

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Roland Livingston has posed:
It's time for a little B&E. Roland was lucky enough to have picked up on the location of his family's singing bowl, the one that might be able to predict it's player's death. Of course, they were never able to get it to work. Still, it was stolen by Gebhard the Undying and it belongs in a museum! Or in Roland's private collection. He may horde these kinds of things.

Regardless, he located the bowl at this shady ass warehouse. So he's prepared to break in and take back his artifact. He's dressed head to toe in Multicam black, the better to blend in at night. He's even got a black balaclava covering his face and protective goggles over his eyes, worn just under the night vision goggles and their straps around his head. His torso is protected by a plate carrier with a tactical tomahawk sheathed in the front of it. A war belt holds up a pistol, some spare magazines, a few extra pouches and a knife. Out of the boots his camouflage trousers' ankles are tucked into the hilts of another pair of knives are visible. On the back of his vest is a flatpack for more gear.

Around the warehouse itself things are quiet. The young Englishman approaches from nearby rooftops, covering ground very quickly. As he nears his target he slows down to scope things out through the night vision, not wanting to miss anything before he moves in any closer. He adjusts the goggles to increase their magnification a bit, scanning for any signs of life near his objective.

Shredder has posed:
    The Foot soldiers that guard are on roofs themselves, two of them. Just lookouts. In the dark they are perched, sitting on opposie corners of the warehouse to watch for intruders while work is done within.

    Inside, A beautiful woman dressed in very traditional Japanese garb takes close examination of the bowl. The warehouse is full of many boxes. This is simply one item within, though the cardboard shields the rest of the contents from view. Who knows if it's magical or just other stuff.

    Shredder stands, hands at his side as the woman examines the bowl carefully, seeking to divine its purpose.

Roland Livingston has posed:
Guards. Best to try to avoid their notice, if possible, though the Englishman plans to be in and out with the bowl as fast as possible.

It's a long jump from his current building to the roof of the warehouse so Roland draws his tomahawk and twirls it around so he can use the spike opposite it's blade to catch himself if he falls short. After a running start he leaps into the air and his feet barely make it to the warehouse roof. As he impacts it he does a little roll to end up back on his feet. Walking softly he approaches one of the skylights and looks down through the grimy glass to the interior of the building. Seeing his bowl already in the hands of someone he doesn't recognize, standing next to someone he's met before, Roland lets out a deep sigh. Apparently he was hoping this would be easy.

The young man slides the spike of his tomahawk under the lip of the skylight to pry it open, using his superior strength and the leverage provided by his weapon to bust through any latch that might hold the window closed. Once open enough for him to get through he'll slide his body into the opening, hang down by one hand for a moment and then drop the rest of the way to the floor, "Good evening. Terribly sorry to interrupt, but I believe you found my bowl." His upper crust English accent is quite evident as he lifts his goggles away from his face. "I'm quite curious as to how you got it, as well." More curious about that than he is interested in the whole maintaining stealth thing, apparently. Then he sheathes his ax, "Don't let me stop you from trying to operate it. I'll be quite impressed if you can figure out how it works."

Shredder has posed:
    As Roland drops into the presence of Shredder and the woman, she doesn't look up, completely ignoring him. Shredder on the other hand, immediately shifts his gaze.
    "You are a bold one," he comments, his steady stance not changing. It's a perpetual ready stance, one that he'd be able to spring into action from easily, though not by any particular preparation for a move. He stands like an iron warden, his black shozuko mask covering his face. "Not many people would dare to simply drop in front of me unbidden, particularly to attempt a claim upon my property."

    Two elite guards come from the shadows, demon masks and rice hats distinguishing them as decidedly different from the usual Foot soldier, reading their weapons. Shredder holds up a hand to stay them. "I know you," he says. "We have met before."

Roland Livingston has posed:
"Nobody ever accused me of being timid," Roland says as he removes the goggles and stuffs them into his backpack before rolling up his mask and putting it into a cargo pocket. He's already been made so there's no point hiding any longer. "When I realized moments ago that it was you who had my bowl, I thought it best to approach as directly as possible. I don't imagine trying to sneak around a man such as yourself would have done me much good for very long." The other two masked men are given polite nods.

The Englishman looks at the woman with the bowl, then back to the Shredder, "I'd offer to buy the bowl from you, but I'd just stick in a vault somewhere. My family spent a hundred years trying to get it to work and the only time it ever made noise was when my uncle threw it against a wall in frustration. It wasn't musical even then." There's a little pause. "Instead, I have a proposition for you. Tell me how you found it, where you obtained it and who you took it from. In exchange I'll happily pay for any intelligence I can use to combat my enemies."

Shredder has posed:
    This earns a raised brow from the Shredder. It's a surprising enough proposition that he doesn't have an immediate answer, though that eyebrow is really the only outward gesture regarding it. "That's a most interesting request. So you have come," he says, "Not to reclaim the bowl, but simply to find out who stole it?" he asks. "A simple pit of revenge on your mind, then?"

Roland Livingston has posed:
"Oh, I'd like my bowl back, but I'd much prefer revenge, thank you," Roland actually smiles at that. "You took the bowl from someone who took from me, so you've just about done me a favor as I see it." The young guy looks fairly relaxed, all things considered. Until he grows serious all at once, "An army of scum wiped out my family, destroyed my home and stole probably hundreds of millions of pounds worth of magical items. I'd quite like to identify and destroy the lot of them and recover anything of mine that I can. You've got knowledge I'd like so there's no reason we can't work out an agreement."

Shredder has posed:
    The Shredder regards Roland for several seconds. "Hm. Trades require a benefit in both ways. You suggested a payment for the information. What form of payment were you suggesting?" he asks, a stone stance remaining that indicates little regarding whether he is interested or disinterested at the current juncture.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"Well, you're obviously interested in magic and mystical artifacts," Roland starts off with a smile. "I'm one of the world's leading experts on those subjects. I'll offer my knowledge for your knowledge." And then there's a chuckle, "There's always cash, as well."

Shredder has posed:
    "Only some," he says. He looks to the woman, who seems to have completed. "It is a divining device," she says, "It is created to determine lifelines, to know the day of a person's death."
    Shredder looks at the bowl, and casually away from it. "I will trade you your bowl and the source," he says, "In exchange for operations. There are times that I must remain more anonymous than usual. Even I have occasions to outsource my operations." He offers an arch of his brow, perhaps a proposal that carries with it a certain level of fact finding. How Roland answers might give him even more knowledge on the man before him.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"Well, I suppose I could take on a little work from you now and again," Roland says after a moment of consideration. "I'd prefer not to break any laws and I won't kill anyone I don't have to, unless I think they deserve it. Note the word 'prefer', I imagine the missions you'd have me work on would generally be other than legal. If you provide me what I need to know, then I'll be your deniable asset. Keep the information coming and I'll keep working for you."

Shredder has posed:
    Shredder looked unamused. "Whether you kill people or not is dependent on the job. I don't appreciate failure, so I will consider that when deciding on what to require. But I do not take kindly to betrayals." Another way of saying that if this is accepted, Roland is expected to follow through. He picks the bowl from the woman's hand, and holds it up next to his head. "An accord?" he asks.

Roland Livingston has posed:
It takes Roland a moment to think things over, then he nods deeply, "I won't betray you. When I make an agreement I stick to it." His lips are pressed tightly together for a second, then he smiles, "We have an accord."

Shredder has posed:
    The toss of the bowl comes from a flick of The Shredder's fist and it flies toward Roland. "It was stolen from Uriah Fent," Shredder reveals. "His security is rather lax, was a far easier mark than my Foot expected."

Roland Livingston has posed:
Roland snags the bowl out of the air with ease and chuckles faintly, "Uriah Fent. I'll need to look him up." He quickly puts the bowl in his backpack, causing it to bulge out a bit. "Well, I must say it's good to do business with you. I've got some valuable intelligence and you've got yourself a useful new mercenary." He lifts his chin, "Speaking of which, have you got anything that needs my attention at this time?"

Shredder has posed:
    "Not yet," Shredder says. "But rest assured, I will make use of this option in the future."