The Musician and the Devil
Michael
So as Roger, who was standing with the dudes outside the social club where Mansa was rehearsing, starts to notice a crowd of dozens spontaneously gather as Moore and his core bandmates emerge, inchoate feelings of overwhelming jollity grabs the crowd.
But before any of that happens, I need to see if Moore notices Roger. Roger's steel SANGUSH plate/pin pulses with invisible neurolinguistic energy as Moore's eyes graze Roger, standing there in his best wardrobe among the other bystanders. The boffins at Granite Peak had better have done a good job with their computer-aided-designed, laser-etched glyph to affect a "wary [and/or] important" subject. If you don't mind, Bill, if you like, roll against the glyph's computer-aided Symbol Drawing (Anunnaki) skill rating of 12.
>>>> SUCCESS by 1
Thank you, Bill.
And now Bill, can you give me a Psychology minus 2 roll please.
Effective Skill 9
>>>> FAILURE by 3
All right. So Moore makes his way out to the street, where he makes a little impromptu speech to the crowd of a few dozen who have congregated here outside this social club at lunchtime.
"Brothers and sisters, we are so ready for Saturday." There's polite laughter, a couple of 'Go, E.L.!'s from the crowd. "Now I want you to make sure you tell everybody you know to come out. Get your cousins from the City, get your sister from Sacramento, get your granny from Richmond, get your uncle and auntie from the Fill', all right? Throw a dollar or two in the kitty for the kids, the young musicians, the people of West Oaktown. We're gonna play you an album that's gonna groove you into the ground, we're gonna show you an album cover that's gonna blow your mind … we're gonna put on a party that's gonna fill you with hope." A hug and a shoulder bump from one or two of his band members and the dudes hanging around outside the club, and then Mansa are off to the social club parking lot to get their sleds.
(Bill, if there's anything you want to do while the speech is going on, of course, let me know, otherwise I'll assume you're playing bystander and showing enthusiasm at the appropriate spots.)
Bill
Lots of cognitive dissonance — Roger feels how he would have loved to be charged by this energy, but when Moore says “blow your mind” he’s knocked right back out of the mood. As they turn to go, Roger decides to try the bold move. He’ll make an obvious beeline right for them, and speak up, loud, “Hey, brothers, you let a brother buy you a drink?”
Michael
Give me a Streetwise.
>>>> SUCCESS by 9
Moore and his bandmates check out Roger's threads (and his bold approach) and act maybe a little cagey/suspicious but Moore holds them back with a gesture. "Well, sure brother." Holds his hand out for a handshake, "E.L. Moore."
(Your feeling is that Moore's bandmates are more "street" than E.L.)
Bill
Roger is right on it, shaking his hand firmly. He elevates his elocution, but keeps a bit of the street in it. “An honor, my man, a real honor. Roger Washington — call me Roger.” He makes a lot of earnest eye contact, and inwardly thinks about how he feels about his own neighborhood. “I love your music. But I love more what you just said there, bringing in the whole neighborhood. You really love Oaktown, don’t you?”
Michael
Are … are we seeing an opportunity for El Diablo to surface? Because these kind of words … let's just say the slightest whisper passed through Roger's frontal lobes, the subdued susurration of a deal-maker and a bargainer, yearning to come out and strut his stuff.
"Yeah." Naked sincerity in E.L.'s eyes. "Yeah, I really do."
Bill
(Oh, he’s on speed dial, for sure.) “Well, man, it’s not my lady, but I know a lady like her. And I gotta buy a drink for a fellow lover of the ladies.”
Michael
"Yeah, man, let's rap … come on down the block. Charlie, Bernard, Ralph? You all wanna join us?" Ralph Dorty, a member of the horn section, declines, but Charlie Nash the keyboardist and Bernard Thandeka the bassist decide to come down the block to the Ace of Spades, Mansa's regular watering hole (discussed in the FBI report and seen as a sign of the "bucket and spade" meme by Jocasta yesterday).
The four men settle into a booth at the Ace of Spades. Moore has a Coca-Cola; Charlie and Bernard each have an Olympia. "So where is your 'hood, Roger … where do you hail from?" E.L. says. (While E.L. is showing a great deal of openness, he also displays a modicum of wariness of someone who's been historically faced with person after person dressed in sharp clothes trying to cut a deal with him or sell him on something, so he's letting Roger do the talking. Charlie and Bernard remain relatively stone-faced.)
Bill
"Born and bred in South L.A., my man, but my current 'hood's more a barrio, ¿entender?" Roger flashes some shiny whites. "My girl's La Misión. Not so musical as your O-town lady, but never underestimate the passion of a Latina dama."
"But I get what you're really asking, and I dig it. Suits have probably been swarmin' you like flies. Nobody's being this friendly without wanting a piece of you. You want to know what I want." Roger signals the bartender, and asks, "Shot of Myers. Lime wedge on the side, if you got 'em."
Michael
"Solid, solid, I can dig it, esse," E.L. says to Roger's talk about the Mission District.
Bill
"What do I want? I want you to be a big success. I want you to have the moon and stars and all the shit the others are promising you out of their asses." More smile. "But most of all, I want us to succeed. You, me, our ladies. All these fine gentlemen drinking beer and hanging on the corner."
Michael
Okay, give me a Reaction roll. 3d6, +2 for your Streetwise roll earlier, and another +2 for roleplay, wardrobe, and E.L. feeling particularly expansive near his moment of triumph. 3d6+4, roll high.
>>>> 3d6+4 … 21
Hoooly
Bill
(I haven't even turned on the voice yet!)
Michael
"All right then. Shoot. What do you have to sell us, to sell me, Señor Washington." E.L. leans back but with a smile on his face.
The rum, two beers, and Coke arrive.
Lime provided.
Bill
"I know from your music you're a man who knows his history. You love the future, but you know all the old Black influences. All those suits showed you their cards; let me show you mine." Roger pulls out his black vever, puts it down on the booth table with two fingers over one edge, holding it down.
Michael
(symbol-side up?)
Bill
(Oh yeah. This may be too ballsy, but it's the play.)
Michael
Moore looks at Roger's vever with fascination, and a big smile on his face. "What is it?" He says with wide, curious eyes. The other two band members are quiet, and then Bernard, the bassist, says, "It's a vever, isn't it?" Awkward pause for a moment. "My mama's people were from New Orleans."
"What's a vever," E.L. asks Roger.
Bill
(Well, that's a stroke of luck.)
"A calling card, just like I said." Roger looks at Bernard, drops in the French accent, "your mère or your grand-mère ever tell you stories about Maître Carrefour? Mine did." Roger smiles wide again. Roger turns back to Moore. "That's the Master of the Crossroads, you understand. You're a horn man, but I bet you know your blues guitar, too. I'm sure you know the legend around Robert Johnson?"
Michael
(Make a Religious Ritual roll for Bernard.)
E.L.: "I know he died young because of neglect, lack of medical care, alcohol. I know that white people laid that devil trip on him because that's what they've been doing to our music for the past 300 years. I know that young rich British rock and roll motherfuckers just LOVE to rip him off."
>>>> FAILURE by 2
(That's fine, Bernard is a tough nut to crack.)
Bill
"Oh, white people laid the name devil on it, white people made sure he died in the gutter, and yeah, they're taking his art and stealing it. But don't get all white science on me now. Robert Johnson knew, he sung about it, played his damn heart out for it. You gonna join whitey and deny an African power, too? Or do you want to see it? Real Black power."
"Power for Blacks. For us."
Michael
"So you're selling me religion. Gotta be honest, my man, I haven't had much time for it since I left my mama and daddy's church when I was 13. I didn't like being lied to. But I'm listening. Tell me about the power, here."
Bill
"I'll let the power tell you Hisself." Roger just raises a finger, like to say "one second". Then he starts in French, a cut down quick version, with just a little bit of theatrics for Bernard. "Master, I give you rum, I give you myself. More, I give you a chance for a deal, with a musician coming into his puissance." He shoots back the rum, and concentrates.
Michael
Man, here we go.
You want to roll to invoke?
Bill
Autohypnosis check, first, right?
Or see how I did on the Ritual?
Michael
Autohypnosis, correct.
Bill
>>>> SUCCESS by 1
By 1.
Michael
All right, one second to complete the trance thanks to Autotrance, and Maitre Carrefour will be slowly taking you over over the next ten seconds.
The faintest odor of gunpowder drifts across the barroom table; Bernard and Charlie's hackles are up, they're each taking a look around the bar.
Moore is pretty much rapt watching the changes in Roger's face and affect.
Bill
(Since we have a French witness, I'll stick to Maître Carrefour as his styling, although to save myself the diacritical marks, let's go with the old Kalfu. It also avoids calling him The Master. Or M.C.)
Kalfu takes Roger's hands and snaps up the glass. "Garçon, another if you please."
(Yes, we'll have to make that roll next, but first … )
"So, let me see what we have here." Kalfu flips through Roger's brain for a second, then peers at E.L. Moore. "Ah, the young musician. And skeptic. That is to laugh, of course, considering the Powers you've already been trafficking with."
Kalfu realizes he'll have to sell this one with a little more scare than usual. "I am not usually a creature of the day. See how it fades me? But to save you from a mistake, and of course because I love music, here I am, at nearly noon, for you." Kalfu plays Roger's hands back and forth, not casting shadows.
Michael
Oh man.
Bill
(Sadly, that 21 reaction roll is going fast … )
Michael
I have some thoughts on how to handle this mechanically …
Bill
(I know how to take a Fright Check, but not cause one.)
Michael
I think regardless these three need to make a Fright Check. But I guess I'm wondering where le Maître wants to take this, because I also want you to make a skill roll to reflect that. But for the time being, yeah, let me see how these three handle the Weirdness.
Bill
(Kalfu is just trying to take this to the point of getting to the diplomatic stage, instead of being stuck in denial. He/Roger are also trying to suss out how much Moore is in the know or a dupe by seeing how he reacts to Weird.)
Michael
(All right, I'm down, I got it.)
Bill
(And le Maître also has his eye on Bernard, because he's another target, even if Roger wouldn't.)
Michael
Bernard and Charlie get the fuck out of Dodge. In fact, Charlie spills half his beer getting out of the booth. (Charlie was sitting on the outside, next to Roger; Bernard to E.L.'s side. They both walk very quickly (not running) out the front door of the barroom.
E.L. just smiles.
E.L. doesn't react with visceral naked horror like his bandmates, though. He reacts with wonder. "So it's all true then. The old religions, the practices and beliefs from the Motherland, all the dreams of magic and power. You're here to help me. You're here to help me get the music out to everyone, to let everyone see the same dream that I see."
Bill
(Ol' wary Kalfu wants a Detect Lies on that reaction, as much as it's what he wants to hear.)
Michael
Okay, so I think I'm gonna roll that for you here. And for your reference, I will be giving Roger/Kalfu a +2 to Detect Lies because of the previous Reaction roll/not having to screen the rest of Mansa at the table for their emotional static and reactions. One sec.
Bill
(GM should always roll Detect Lies, imo, so the player isn't too too sure of themselves.)
Michael
Yeah, that's the directive in the skill description which I just double-checked.
Okay, so Kalfu senses nothing but authenticity from this young man, sincerity, and true heartfelt belief … but there's also this undercurrent of ego, of "I will be the one to lead my people to the promised land," which, you know, okay, that's not entirely a bad thing for a liberator but it's also a little sign of the window being open to … temptation.
Bill
Oh, Kalfu just loves this one.
"Yes, brother! I am the old spirit of liberation, of people seeking freedom, seeking their dreams. People who need someone like you. I am here to set you free, so you set others free! And brother — you are enslaved. You have shackles on you beyond what you know."
Michael
Oooh. With that E.L. shows a little bit of a crack in his optimistic, positive facade. "Wha … what do you mean," he says, nervously playing with a cocktail napkin.
Bill
"You have done well, avoiding their obvious snares, their agents of direct control. But you have been tempted into using their tools of control. Of bending your people's will. We on the Other Side have heard your music, and it is not free. It is not freeing. It is control. And control to who's end? Who gives you these tools? Who turns your music? Does it come from the Black spirit?"
"I will help you see the true spirit."
Michael
Whoof. It's all out there now, isn't it?
Bill
Well, the fish is only just barely on the line. Careful reeling is needed by le Maître.
Michael
All right, so this time we're going to do Fast-Talk. I just read the descriptions of Diplomacy and Fast-Talk and this definitely feels like the latter. So use Kalfu's rating, and add that 2 to your skill again but I will tell you, this is likely the last time you'll have that +2 benefit because you are beginning to bust up Moore's worldview just a little bit now. "Careful reeling" definitely sounds accurate.
Bill
>>>> SUCCESS by 12
(I believe that's a crit.)
Michael
Yes. Indeed.
"Control." Moore says, much less animated and more dead-eyed than you've yet seen him. "Are you saying I shouldn't have signed to Columbia?"
Bill
(Oh really?)
"Brother, it is right for you to seek a stage, seek to spread your dream! But don't let your dream, your music get twisted. If you keep the true spirit, the African voice, they will all follow. It is the change to your music where the shackles are closing."
Michael
"My music hasn't changed." Moore is cold, delivering that statement with real undisguised venom.
Bill
(These sensitive musicians.)
"You hold that line. You don't let them change it. You summon that steely resolve the next time they come, and they will come. Keep the people free. Keep them from control."
"Now, let me look to your future, what aid you need from me."
Michael
Hell yes. Oh man, this rules. Let me dig up the doom-saying rules.
Okay. I roll the IQ roll and then I give you a vision.
Bill
Fright Check
>>>> SUCCESS by 6
Michael
Whew. Kalfu's eyes return to looking at this reality. (Not sure if Roger's face shows any of the stresses of that vision or not, your call.)
Bill
Maybe a flicker, but ol' Slick Kalfu works it into the act. He moans.
"I see your future. And I see a Doom." (Full deep Voice effects on this one.)
Michael
"Lemme guess, I'm gonna die at age 27 and join Jimi and Janis."
(Oh man, Pigpen from the Dead just died three weeks ago in-game. At 27.)
(NB: E.L. won't be 27 until next year but the 27 Club is obviously on his mind)
Bill
(Oh, he needs the slapdown for that. He gotta fear death. Force of the Truth might penetrate.)
Kalfu stares hard into Moore's eyes, his own black eyes swirling with darkness. He wields the Truth as hard and and sharp as he can. "You die this very weekend, fool, in a riot, your beloved neighborhood set to blood. The forces of control use your concert to lock it all down, set on the shackles, enslave them all, destroy Oakland. 27? You won't see Monday you keep on this road." (Slam. Now to put the details in so he'll believe.) "I see the needle going down on your golden record, you calling out to Ed to play 'Ukerewe', give the crowd a taste … and then it all goes wrong."
Michael
The details, man. The details probably put the fear of god(s) into him. While this does feel on the surface like an Intimidation check, it's honestly part and parcel of everything you've been doing so far: a con, in other words. Hell, if anything the idea that his music could start a riot plays into that ego trip you've got him on. So we'll go with Fast-Talk instead, with a +2 for the continuing Kalfu special effects.
Bill
>>>> SUCCESS by 4
Kalfu gives a second for the echoes to reverberate in his mark's brain, before throwing out the baited hook. He's looking for honest fear in Moore's eyes.
Michael
Moore finishes off his Coke. "Maitre Kalfu, it has been an honor and a privilege to be in your presence. Fact is, if the Man wants to stop us, they're going to. I … I was a coward when I was young. I denied my brother, you see … told them that violence wasn't the answer, got scared when the Panthers got militant. And it's been my shame to bear since. You're telling me I'm gonna end up a martyr. So be it. Ain't no shame in that. I wouldn't turn from my fate for all the kingdoms of the world. I … I don't want the people of Oakland hurt, but you and I both know the Man is gonna hurt us no matter what. Better to go out triumphantly shouting about a Better World from the stage like Brother Malcolm and Brother Martin than to spend my life putting out album after album that nobody but smart-ass white boys listen to in their dorm rooms." Moore throws down some cash for the drinks. "I appreciate you telling my fortune. You come back after the show Saturday, we'll see who's right." (Another good resistance roll from me, Bill. Not a crit but damn close.)
Bill
(Damn martyrs.)
Kalfu says "You see your fate, then, and turn down my aid? When you could live, and lead your people? Well I named you fool. Come find me if you want to turn from this, and bring the real dream. But soon."
"And don't drop that cursed banner, you mark me? The white evil is in it!"
Michael
(Oh, that's great. I will say, after Kalfu looks at the reaction on Moore's face, that the roll was close, so Kalfu (and Roger) can tell that the seeds of doubt have absolutely been planted in Moore's mind and soul.)
Bill
Kalfu leaves the cash on the table. "Bartender, I'm still paying for all this — a deal's a deal. That cash is your tip, you bring me that bottle."
Bill
(If Roger's going to be in any kind of shape to help with Mitch, I need to make an Alcoholism control roll.)
Michael
(Go for it.)
Bill
>>>> SUCCESS by 9
Oh thank the Spirits.
Michael
Heh, so it's a 2-3 Myers lunch then.
Bill
Kalfu finds the taste of rum bitter in his mouth after the deal fell through …
He leaves in a huff, leaving Roger to pay the tab.
Michael
Bill, no rush but if you could give me a Hearing check at a -2, I want to see if Roger heard Mitch outside greet Moore.
Bill
>>>> FAILURE by 5
Yeah, no, missed by 5 with penalty. He's busy settling up and getting his head on straight.
Michael
Sounds good.