Ronin are a fairly common sight in the slums, and even then Okuri was enough of a fixture around here that his presence is not likely to draw much attention. He moves from place to place, whispering a few words here and there. Debts are settled, more incurred, the ebb and flow of life in the slums continual. His stomach grumbles at the long day's exertion, and tea from earlier in the day the only thing to fill his stomach since a light breakfast. The hangover fully worn off, he squats at a low table outside a stall. He is served a steaming bowl of rice porridge, topped with pickled vegetables and a powdery substance that is supposedly spun off meat or fish or something. He tucks in, curious if any of the lines he cast will come back with anything.

(Roll in PF, feel free to join in if you want to post)

The city was full of ronin, looking for opportunities. Sometimes they bumped into each other. This was just another one of those opportunities.

Hato spotted Oturi consuming questionable foodstuffs as was his want.

She approached her fellow information broker.

"Good afternoon, Oturi-san." she offered with a bow. "Heard the news?"

Okuri raises an eyebrow. "Would you please narrow that down Hato-san?" Okuri motions to another stool. "Please, pull up a seat. Can I order you some? It's..." Okuri looks at the bowl. "Cheap"

Okuri wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 04, 2022 8:29 pm

Okuri raises an eyebrow. "Would you please narrow that down Hato-san?" Okuri motions to another stool. "Please, pull up a seat. Can I order you some? It's..." Okuri looks at the bowl. "Cheap"

Hato took the offered seat.

"I appreciate the offer, Oturi-san, but I'd had to spoil my appetite for this evening's tiny bowl of rice." she remarked. "Some water would be fine."

Once her water glass was in hand, she indeed, narrowed it down.

"You know that couple that worked for the governor's office, Oro and Kos?" she said, alluding to a low ranking couple that was normally more than happy to exchange overheard information from the governor's office for relatively few coin.

"Magistrates got called out to their residence in the small hours this morning. Found the pair of them dead within." she revealed.

Okuri's chopsticks stop clicking in an instant, eyes flying from the bowl. "No. No I had not. Shit." He shakes his head. "That's a bad bit of business. And of course, ronin will be at the top of the list of suspects"

Okuri looks back at his food and tries to continue eating, his distraction obvious. "Is the area coordoned off?" His fingers on the table twitched, like an itch he couldn't scratch.

Hato shook her head.

"Ie, this one heard they were ruling it 'natural causes' and the cleanup crews had already been in and out." she offered.

It was amazing how often couples, even whole families could die of natural causes on the World of Dreams.

"Still, they'll be missed. Oro was a bit of a handful when he was drunk, but you could get some interesting tidbits out of him if you got him just drunk enough."

"I bet someone they crossed has a blade with the name Natural Causes written on it. Two, relatively healthy folk, in one night? If I was rubbing the investigation-" Okuri cuts himself off in a hurry.

"The Scorps bleed you dry on the exchange, but I can't discount the value of the "we won't stab you in your sleep surcharge". And two folk?" He shakes his head. "They were just folk"

Okuri wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 04, 2022 9:54 pm

"I bet someone they crossed has a blade with the name Natural Causes written on it. Two, relatively healthy folk, in one night? If I was rubbing the investigation-" Okuri cuts himself off in a hurry.

"The Scorps bleed you dry on the exchange, but I can't discount the value of the "we won't stab you in your sleep surcharge". And two folk?" He shakes his head. "They were just folk"

Hato nodded.

"Two dreamers with their hopes and dreams, no matter how small, rudely awoken because they were found to be mildly inconvenient to someone important." Hato agreed. "And yet the world continues on, turning a blind eye to their erasure."

"The galaxy does not notice two stars dimmed" Okuri clenches a fist."But we still feel their absence"

Okuri shakes his head. "It's cold comfort, but the Scorpion will give anyone responsible their due"

Okuri wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 05, 2022 12:22 am

"The galaxy does not notice two stars dimmed" Okuri clenches a fist."But we still feel their absence"

Okuri shakes his head. "It's cold comfort, but the Scorpion will give anyone responsible their due"

"Mmm" said Hato as she sipped her water.

Truly, if putting disbelief in the Scorpion lifting a finger to help someone into a single syllable was an artform, Hato was a master.

"Ah, but that is the news. This one thought you might like to know, just on the off chance you were thinking of going to them for a chat. It would be...unfortunate, if Okuri-san unexpectedly found himself cast into the role of scapegoat." she explained.

After all, if you needed a convict and a criminal wasn't handy, a ronin's blood was a fairly useful lubricant for the wheels of Scorpion justice.