Completed Projected Clientele

[Viszragoneszh]

Projected Clientele 78th day of Fall, 514 The days had been rather slow of late for Spectral Solutions, the Morealis-backed, spiritist service of Kenash. Goneszh had hoped to be establishing himself as the apprentice of note to Mr. Caleb Morealis, the boss. But with so little to accomplish in spiritual endeavors, there was getting to be little chance of that. It was beginning to cause him great anxiety. Things had been flowing reasonably smoothly toward his goals. The ultimate one being the freeing of his brother Iyvess slaves from the treacherous Rajor constrictors and their wretched human cohorts. He had been able to create small degrees of unrest and suspicion between the operative Dynasty families, in hopes of the disruption allowing a window of opportunity to slip in and release them. He had been able to exploit the ignorance most people had of spiritual dynamics to imply accusations, leveled from one family against another, by supposed "ghosts" he had "communicated" with. Goneszh did not know what craft the slavers had used to keep his Dhani brothers from shifting at any given opportunity and slither away silently with the shadows. Most likely it was simple threats of violence to those that they cared about, should any turn up gone, rather than some dramatic djed craft. That sounded like the tactics one could expect from the brutal Rajor. As far as he was concerned, the choice these constrictor Dynasts made to emulate human cultural outrages just made them all the more contemptible. He didn't really care if humans wanted enslave each other. But to Dhani, even constrictors, stooping to human behavior was a hard thing to stomach. Enslaving lesser races, like humans, was one thing. But enslaving their own... Goneszh shook his head for the hundredth time. Those worms would be rejected, even by their own constrictor brethren, now. And they were fooling themselves if they thought the human Dynasties truly accepted them. But therein lay the justice, he reasoned. All the more reason he figured the gods would support him. But for now, Goneszh found himself somewhat set back in his progress. If he did not make his name one spoken with respect, and assurance of expertise, his aims would be all the more difficult. Why should anyone pay attention to the warnings of a second-rate apprentice to a spiritist that was slipping from public notice. It was becoming apparent he needed to "encourage" some customer activity. He did not expect this to be difficult. He would employ the same basic tactics he'd been using to lay his original false accusations between families.

[Viszragoneszh]

That meant creating the impression of a haunting. This was a simple matter, once the target was selected. Goneszh pondered a good target for his mischief as he walked though the city proper. This would be no ambush of slaves to discredit the security of one of the Dynasties. No planting of "random" clues to incriminate one of their allies. No sowing of suspicions. He'd used the same tactic in reverse with his own sponsoring family. He'd played the part of the same rogue Dhani that had beset slaves on other plantations, but let himself be driven off of by a perimeter guard, to the credit of that guard, and the Morealis family, for their "superior eye" in training and personnel. His boss, Caleb, had no idea he was up to this in his spare time. But Goneszh was more concerned about Caleb's ghostly assistant, Mita Jerome. Though Goneszh thought it was possible that Caleb would not be too upset to find that he was promoting the idea of the Morealis family being more competent than the others in this regard, he would not approve of the risk involved. And Goneszh was a good enough spiritist to know that it was the ghostly Miss Jerome that was the more difficult watcher to elude. If Caleb ever got hints of his employee's off duty activities, he would undoubtedly send his minion off to keep an eye on him. This was one reason why Goneszh was in haste to encourage a contract or two for spiritual elimination. It would give the office ghost some scheduling and bookkeeping to tend to, as well as giving himself some free time to continue spreading suspicion while his employer thought he was off reining in the activities of some trouble making phantom. But he figured that this time he'd make it a different family than he'd targeted up until now. He didn't want it to appear that there was an agenda here. He passed several businesses, dismissing them as he realized their affiliations. There were a few that were independent, and he made note of them, thinking he could come back to them if he got no better idea. Eventually, he reached the West Bank and passed through the large open court of the Traveler's Complex. He looked across the way to the Office of the Magistrate, recalling the infliction of his "Freeborn" Brand. He was tempted to initiate some well-earned mischief there, but thought that might have the opposite effect of what he'd done thus far. Rather than continuing to nurture an increase in alienation here and there, among this family and that, it was more likely to galvanize them in support of one of the few facilities that served the interests of all the families. He was about to turn and go back, when he noticed the Stables at the Northwest corner of the Complex' plaza. It was identified as an Askara affiliate right in it's name. That was a family he had thus far left alone. It would do the trick nicely. A dab of mischief here, a few mysterious incidents there, and they'd be thinking they were haunted. In fact, the sensitivity of the horses would very much play to his intent. He would slip into snake form and creep inside. The horses would detect him right away and get alarmed and agitated. He would then have a little fun and the owner, some product of Askaran incest, no doubt, would come to check on what had his charges so upset. In no time at all, he'd be made to think he was haunted. The owner would never know that it was the detection of a snake, and not a ghost, that had the animals riled up. The stable master would contact Caleb, and Goneszh would have a contract he could milk for some free time.

[Viszragoneszh]

Goneszh looked around casually as he made his way past the Askara Livery Stables building. He didn't want to draw attention though, or he might have given some of the carriages at the neighboring shops a look over. He considered how it was well planned that there was the full gamut of wheeled transportation service related businesses all in the same area. The stables, the cartwrights and the vendors, combining the assets of the other two. They were quite handy to each other. As he passed the 'Fantasia Zulaca', with its upscale rooms, his thoughts touched on Nuits. Like most mortals, he found them unsettling and slightly disgusting. But at the same time, he respected their potential. As beings capable of immortality, they could strive for truly great things in their own "lifetime". The other dynasties were based upon the "providing for future generations" philosophy. To Goneszh, it was preferable to be in charge of your own destiny. Not to work your whole life for a future child that may be a wastrel or an incompetent. Nor to be born into wealth and be unable to realize what it took to amass, so that you could know how to guard against losing it. He realized these families had a number of safeguards against both of these downfalls. But still, there was much that you could not control. He shook off this philosophical bend as he passed the Auction House and turned toward 'The Sunken Park'. An accurate enough name for the boggy recreational area. The inherent mire was well contained though, because the carriage repair and construction shop, as well as the actual vendor of said wagons and such, would be truly 'swamped' if the park encroached upon their sites. Their proximity to each other just added to the certainty that his employer would be "contacted and contracted" for a spiritual elimination once they were convinced they were experiencing a haunting. 'And a feisty one at that.' Goneszh smirked to himself. The fact that there were three interdependent businesses in the same area ensured that ONE of them would surely come calling on Caleb for rescue. He paused, and grinned. That was not a bad catch phrase. He thought he might drop that nonchalantly when he got back, 'Come calling on Caleb...' He chuckled as he entered the park and turned to keep to its perimeter to remain unnoticed. His Benshiran-style clothes were easily fit into his backpack and cached in a dry hollow among a clump of trees. He covered it up with some of the mulchy soil and began his transformation to snake form.

[Viszragoneszh]

His body refit itself, arms aligning with spine; legs fusing together to extend that alignment; his head pivoting back to bring his face pointing in what would be straight up, if he was still standing. All the sense heightened considerably. He could hear the movement of insects nearby, taste the aromas in the air with his tongue, feel the vibrations indicating movement of larger creatures. Every flow of warmth, whether biological or atmospheric was overlaid on his visual spectrum. This was the bonus to what was otherwise only an average sense of sight. He stole through the grass to the side of the stables. The bales of hay giving him a good point to operate from. The horses began to shy and whicker nervously, their own heightened sense of smell detecting his reptilian presence. The stable boy came in, looking around, uncertain of what was upsetting the animals, talking as much to calm himself as the horses. Goneszh focused on himself then. On the parameters of his body, the flesh, the breath, the feel of his own pulse. He meditated on feeling the end of his tail, the physical knowledge of its existence. Then, concentrating to continue that surety of its presence, he extended that knowledge, elongated it, knowing it would comply. His astral form obeyed, his tail stretching forth to exceed the limits of his flesh. There was a rack with a bounty of reins and straps of all sorts, sizes and lengths. He slipped his astral tail up within the numerous lengths of leather and began unhooking them, laughing to himself as the boy stammered in confusion. As the boy bent to [ick them up, he started to poke the boy, to knock the reins and tack items back out of his hand. It was fortunate that the horses were beginning to make a considerable noise, as the boy might have heard his hissing laughter on the other side of the big bay door. He heard a thump against the wooden wall and he found the boy's leg and started to snake his tail up the back of his calf. There was a loud yelp, the boy's alarm only adding to the general din and anxiety of the animals. When Goneszh heard the boy pounding across the floor the other way, he knew he was finished here. It would not be enough, in and of itself. But it would lay the ground work. He knew that the more competent adults would be coming back to investigate the boy's fears. They would not be so easy to intimidate. But he would be gone by then, on his way to the cartwright's shop.

[Viszragoneszh]

His reconnaissance of the cartwright's shop was favorable for his strategy. The overhead door to the workshop was open and there were a few nearly completed carts standing idly by while workers tended to the less finished ones. It was relatively easy to slip by these sense-deadened humans to reach one of the carts and pull the handle down to access the interior of one of them. He slipped inside, looking around for a good starting point. He decided quickly that he'd need hands again for better holds on various things. He could Project well enough as a snake, but the end of a tail was considerably less versatile than a hand, with its opposing thumbs and all. He would grudgingly admit that this was one aspect of the human form that was advantageous. He lay in the darkness of the enclosed cart and shifted back into human form. The overall sensation of feeling contact with the wood of the cart, in extremities that did not exist prior to his shift, gave confirmation of his shift being complete. But he knew he needed to remain out of sight. For one thing, he was naked, and that always drew attention. For another, his meditative aspect might give away that it was projection, and not a ghost, that was causing the mischief he was about to undertake. If he was caught, he was sure to be identified, due to the combination of his stature, his coloring, and his 'Freeborn' brand. Then if anyone came to 'Spectral Solutions' and saw him, two and two would be added quickly and the gig would be up. But the greater concern was the possibility of overgiving. He had already done some Projecting at the stables, and needed to pace himself. He started small, extending his astral hand to knock tools from wall racks and tip leaning arrays of materials. Then he began opening and closing doors on the vehicles as men hurried to collect the strewn items. Talk began pretty quickly, some of the men growing nervous quickly while others sneered them down for their 'womanly' ways. The idea though, was not really to scare them, but just to convince them that they were being haunted. It was equally important to open and close the door on the cart he himself was hiding in. If every cart but his was being tampered with, it would be noticed. For now, none of the carts were being approached, not even by those bravos ribbing the 'scaredy-cats' for their fears. A moment of concern occurred when he ended his antics. He could feel the onset of overgiving, and pulled his astral extension back. this was not something that could be done quickly at his modest level of command. He could affect his nervous connections permanently with a reckless reconnect. But the braver men began approaching the carts when the activities stopped. Not all of course, since he'd also had some fun with tools and stacked cart parts. But he strongly tempted to inflict a dose of hypnotism upon a man that was approaching his cart in particular. Nothing too heavy handed, just the impression that he'd already checked this cart, and that it was the other one nearby that he needed to inspect. But even as he started to begin the generation of a mental djed sphere, his head started to ache. He knew he would suffer for this, but felt as if he had no choice. Then salvation arrived, in the form of the stable boy, who came bursting in, announcing in a frightened squeal that he'd seen a ghost at the stables and had been sent to warn everyone. The men gathered around the boy to get details and compare notes. Goneszh heaved a sigh of relief, shifted back to snake form and slipped out unnoticed. That would do the trick. He moved back to the dry cache of clothes and shifted one last time to human form, got dressed, and went home, anticipating having Spiritist work to tend to at the Stables and Cartwright's in the near future.

[Matthew]

Visragoneszh

Experience Points:

• +2 Intelligence
• +1 Meditation
• +3 Observation
• +1 Philosphy
• +3 Planning
• +2 Projection
• +3 Stealth

Lores:

• Intelligence: Spreading Rumors that Damage Reputation
• Kenash: The Askara Family
• Planning: Creating a Fake Haunting
• Projection: Lifting Minor Weights

Additional Notes :

Very interesting thread, and quite a well-planning and intriguing way to go about generating business. This was a great read.

If you have any questions or concerns relevant to your grade, don't be afraid to send me a private message so that we can work it all out! Please remember to mark your Grading Request as Graded.

A shout-out to Ollic Rimesage, who was kind enough to make this template for me.