Prohibited Spirits (Closed, Started)

[DarkRawen]

A pleasant evening suddenly turned sour as the desperate gasps for air of a rather young man could heard. One of the other men, the one with the most authority, reached out and grabbed the man, cursing as he did.

"Tommy!" he yelled, trying to snap the other out of it. "Come on, what the fuck? what the fuck is going on?!"

The bartender, Pips, seemed more shocked than anything else, putting the bottle down and raising his hands.

"No one else drink, please," he muttered. "The wine might be..."

"Might be?!" Suits snapped in return, reaching for the bottle and examining it. With a frown, she held it up, letting the light passing through the tinted bottle color her perfectly fitted suit and tie. "It's rather clear that there's something in there! Don't touch your glasses, we've got to figure this out!"

The young Mafia member didn't look very well, and she continued. "I'd advice you to get your friend to The Doctor, Francis." Rubbing his forehead, it took a couple of seconds for the Mafia higher-up to respond.

"Fine, if you say so. But I swear, if either of you two had anything to do with this---!"

"Do you want to save your friend?"

"What kind of goddamn question is that?! He's not my friend, he's my brother, and I swear, if something happens to him?!" Francis, usually known as Frank the Burner and a nephew to the boss, replied, and pointed to the tall Mafia goon that had accompanied them there. "Take him to The Doctor, tell him it's one of them..."

"Curses?" Pips added, helpfully, though it wasn't much appreciated, and all he got was a glare in return. First when the goon had taken the sufferer from the curse outside, did Francis turn his attention to the other customers there. While he recognized some of them as fellow members of the Pasticcino family, some of them were complete strangers. Furious, he got his gun out.

"Firstly, not a single person leave! I don't know who did this, but I'll find out, even if I have to blow your brains out in order to do that." Getting in front of the only exit -at least, the only obvious exit- he was clearly not going to let this go. He pointed at the siblings, questioning them first.

"I bet the two of you had a hand in this, you ungrateful bastards!"

Pips shook his head, nervously, while Suits was more collected. However, as she spoke it became clear that she didn't feel comfortable with a gun pointed at her.

"The bottle was closed when we got it, we couldn't have done it. Besides, it was a curse, and we aren't capable of magic." The thick atmosphere still hadn't left the room, a feeling of dread and death washing over those inside.

"Hah, as if, I bet your freak brother has some sort of trick up his sleeve, with those spots of his," the man spat, referring to the almost completely white marks on the right side of Pips' face and hair. However, he changed his aim, instead aiming for different members of the group of bystanders.

"How about you, Lumberjack? Messing with the drinks before they were bottled?! Or, how about you little girl? You look innocent, but how much of that is just a disguise, huh?! You trying to kill my brother?!"

"D-don't point the gun at our customers, please," Pips said, speaking up. "Please, Francis, we'll find out what happened, but don't shoot anyone. No one needs to die, or anything like that. So just calm down."

"My brother might already be dead, and you expect me to be calm?!"

"Yes," Suits replied. "Please, sit down, I'm sure we can talk about it. Find out what's going on. If a sip of this bottle had this effect, I dread to think of what might happen if there's more than one. It could be quite the disaster for your family."

Francis opened his mouth to reply, but shut it again. Instead, he sat down, gun next to him.

"Fine, I'll try not to rip anyone's head off," he said, gesturing to the group. "And you people are going to help me out, if you like it or not. You've got a choice, help the family and get paid well, or fuck off and get your head bashed in one of these nights. If I don't just shoot you the moment you get close to the door, of course." He glanced over at the siblings.

"And that includes the two of you, don't think you're off the hook yet. But for now? I'd like for people to tell me just who the fuck they are, and how they're going to help me. Now!"

He slammed his fist into the table, people would have to step forward rather quickly to keep him pleased.

 

[Terratina.]

The tirade ended with, "I'd like for people to tell me just who the fuck they are, and how they're going to help me. Now!"

It was enough to give a man a headache it was. Ross groaned, of course the place got heated every once in a while but there was not mistaking that it was just so... bothersome when it did. Some Pasticcino got poisoned, another got mad and was waving his gun around. Ross was half-tempted to stroll right up to him and dare him to shoot. However, that would probably result in the end of Pips and Suits and therefore the end of the booze. The neurons in Ross's brain had already sent out signals demanding more.

"Naaaame's Ross. Ah ca'ae help ye, 'cept fuuur shootin' shit." The Scotsman replied as he slowly rose of the bar stool, "Byrraaawiy, whi' sort ae man orders fuuuuckin' wine?"

He was sober enough not to continue that line of enquiry, but there was a little chuckle at the end.

 

[Random Fella]

Lucy was sitting at one of the tables close to the table of high ranking family members, a long with a few other threatening looking men.
A bottle of wine at the table and a toast to one of the men on a recent achievement, she was about to take a sip before a commotion occurred in front of her.

"Tommy!" he yelled, trying to snap the other out of it. "Come on, what the fuck... what the fuck is going on?!"

Upon the sound of this Lucy burst up laying her hand to her pistol whilst looking around the room, her glass smashing to the floor. A hand approached her shoulder pulling her back to her chair, a much calmer man who she had respect for, and thus reluctantly didn't give him one straight to the jaw, returning to her seat to observe, hand still steadily roaming by her hip.
She glared at those Frances addressed menacingly, including the other patrons, before staring back at Tommy occasionally to attempt to figure out the situation.
As soon as his fist hit the table, she shot up in response
"Let's find this bastard, surely if it's a curse it must be one of these magic users, let's round them up and ask 'em a few questions, see?"
Her eyes rolled over at the drunk's response disapprovingly, 'What help could a man like this offer?', she thought to herself.

 

[The Harkinator]

Earlier that night, down by the riverside...

scrape*CRUNCH*scrape*CRUNCH*scrape*CRUNCH

"Hey listen, thanks for helping me out here man." Said the first man, shovel in hand and re-filling the hole he and the second man had just dug. The second man didn't look up from his own shovelling for the few moments it took them to cover the hole. Then he spoke.

"Don't mention it, actually that's an order. Don't mention this to anyone, don't make any stupid jokes about what you were doing last night and never come back to this spot again. Tomorrow morning when there's lots of traffic drive his car somewhere very far away from your apartment. Park it down some alley where the hobos live and catch the bus home, get rid of the keys and lie low for a couple of weeks." The second man said, he then took the shovel from the first man's hands and walked back to his car, only stopping to stow the shovels in the boot.

The second man got in his car and drove away, the bar was waiting for him. In his rearview mirror he could just about see the first man watching him go as the darkness swallowed him up.

Pips and Suits, right now.

Francis Pasticcino slammed the table with his fist, other customers offered their suggestions. Mr Wolf just said, "I solve problems, lots of different problems. I'm sure I can help solve yours."

His fingers tapped his whiskey glass impatiently. He wanted another sip, but common sense was stopping him. A man had just drank something in here and collapsed, it would be best to hold off on drinking for a moment.

 

[IFS]

"Come on, what the fuck... what the fuck is going on?!"

"What?" Cynthia had been quietly drinking just a moment ago but now something was happening, a man seemed to be distressed or crazed. Shouting ensued and the crazed man was soon dragged away to the doctor, what's going on? Was he poisoned? How horrible! Certainly the man didn't seem to just be drunk, any doubt of that was immediately washed away when his friend started waving a gun around.

"The bottle was closed when we got it, we couldn't have done it. Besides, it was a curse, and we aren't capable of magic."

Magic? There's no such thing as magic... Yet the man, likely a member of some mafia family (how exciting!) certainly seemed to think there was.

"How about you, Lumberjack? Messing with the drinks before they were bottled?! Or, how about you little girl? You look innocent, but how much of that is just a disguise, huh?! You trying to kill my brother?!"

Suddenly the gun was trained on her and she quickly raised her hands in fright "Hey I didn't do anything!" she protested, but the owners of the club worked quickly to attempt to calm him, soon managing to get him to take a seat. Phew that was bracing. Unfortunately the trouble didn't seem to be over quite yet as the man began demanding the aid of everyone in the room.

"And that includes the two of you, don't think you're off the hook yet. But for now... I'd like for people to tell me just who the fuck they are, and how they're going to help me. Now!"

How does he expect me to help? Wow this night got out of hand fast, in spite of these thoughts she couldn't help but feel excited, even the gun being trained on her, while terrifying had only increased her curiosity. A number of others in the room even began to comply with the man's demands, giving their names and offering help, one even mentioning some familiarity with magic. Must be underworld speak for something, I wonder what!

Pushing down a smile she attempted to calm herself before standing and speaking "My name is Cynthia," she said "I'm not sure I'll be much help, but I do have plenty of friends all over the city I'm sure one of them might know if something like this has happened somewhere else. Oh I've also got some knowledge of medicine, so I could maybe try to examine the wine and see what was put into it."

 

[alandavidson]

"How about you, Lumberjack? Messing with the drinks before they were bottled?! Or, how about you little girl? You look innocent, but how much of that is just a disguise, huh?! You trying to kill my brother?!"

If there was one thing Jack didn't like, it was being accused of dishonesty. He had been sitting in the corner, about to light his pipe when the commotion started. Now this bastard was about to make a mess of someone's brains if no one acted. A young woman, clearly wealthy, had already volunteered her services. Jack rose and walked toward the bar, and the very angry goon.

"Francis, is it?" He asked, picking up the bottle of wine and examining it. The bottle looked tiny in his hands, and Jack made Francis look like a miniature next to him. The pipe hadn't left Jack's mouth, and he squinted over it as he turned the bottle over in his hands.

"This ain't belonging to me." He said. Only a few moments had passed, but it felt like an eternity. "Bottle's from Canada." He sniffed the liquid - it smelled like wine should, nothing to make an ordinary person wary. "Wine's not. Smells as they might got a touch of creosote in the mix." He kept his eyes trained on Francis. "Suits, fetch the sick one some milk if you will."

 

[deathbydeath]

The fellow Dana Adler had been meeting at Pips & Suits had left a short while ago. Lucky for him as the formerly pleasant atmosphere vanished, soured by the unexpected curse.

"But for now... I'd like for people to tell me just who the fuck they are, and how they're going to help me. Now!"

This was not the way Dana wanted her evening to go. Carefully, she took a light sip from her glass before raising her voice.

"Excuse me sir," Dana paused, reorienting herself as the patrons shifted their gaze at her, "but what exactly do you think the problem is? Other than what happened to your brother, I mean."

 

[DarkRawen]

"Naaaame's Ross. Ah ca'ae help ye, 'cept fuuur shootin' shit. Byrraaawiy, whi' sort ae man orders fuuuuckin' wine?"

The Don's nephew narrowed his dark eyes as the drunk spoke, clearly insulted. However, before he got the chance to speak, Pips chimed in, tugging at the pair of leather-gloves he was wearing.

"Oh, that's... I offered it, since it was brand new, and supposed to be rather decent. For these times." Glancing over at Francis, he added;

"I didn't know it was cursed, though, I swear."

"That... doesn't matter now. As for this guy," he pointed at Ross. "You better be useful."

As several more offered their services, Francis looked pleased.

"Good. I knew I could count on you, Luce, I've heard good things about you. And the infamous Mr. Wolf too, I'll be counting on the two of you to take care of whoever is responsible for this, got it? Make it hurt."

Suits didn't change her expression from the calm, thoughtful one she wore already. Pips, however, seemed more and more worried by the whole ordeal, especially when Cynthia offered to help out. He sent her an apologetic smile, but both siblings kept quiet, and the silence was once again broken when Jack raised his voice.

"This ain't belonging to me."

"Then who?" Francis growled, expecting a reply quickly. Although he was impatient, it was becoming clear that the more people who offered their help, the less likely to shoot people he was.

"Bottle's from Canada. Wine's not. Smells as they might got a touch of creosote in the mix. Suits, fetch the sick one some milk if you will."

Suits shook her head. "It's okay, Jack. He should be fine as long as the specialist in curses deals with him. If Francis' underling is quick enough, he should be there already." Francis shrugged.

"He's fast alright. So, you in or not, Lumberjack?"

"Excuse me sir, but what exactly do you think the problem is? Other than what happened to your brother, I mean."

"We don't know how many bottles there are. The family could be dealing with countless of cursed bottles, it could ruin their business," Suits replied, and continued;

"Speaking of which, I'll be right back, I have to check what bottles came with this delivery, if I'm correct, there might be another cursed one among those." She left the room through one of the back-doors.

"What Suits said is true," Francis started. "But I'm more concerned with what the fuck happened to my brother, and that'll be your responsibility to figure out. Pips'll probably help you plan. If you figure out the thing with the bottles on the way, then great! But someone needs to pay. Speaking of which..." he looked towards the last person in the room, a tall and beautiful woman who hadn't spoken yet.

"It's only you left now, sweetie," he told her. "Who. Are. You?"

Motioning to the rest to join him at the bar-counter, Pips waited until most if not all had joined him, and started speaking, smiling as brightly as he could manage right now.

"I'm... sorry about this mess," he started, sounding sincere. "But it would probably be best if you listened to him. If you have any questions, or any ideas, now's the time to voice those. I'd offer you all a drink on the house to help calm your nerves, but that's probably not a good idea right now."

Spoiler: OOC

Since there's a lot of different people talking, here's a guide (in case it's a bit difficult to remember who says what):

Suits is Bold,

Pips is Italics,

Francis is the basic text without any changes,

and PCs are Gray.

I could go with a more color oriented difference, but I'd like to avoid using colors since it would suck if people were colorblind or had an issue reading colored text. Don't worry though, this amount of characters talking at once won't last for long.

 

[PlastikThief]

The day had been long. The night seemed it might be even longer. Rosa tutted at the commotion and continued sipping her gin, eyes icy over rim of her glass. The boisterous young mob boy rattled the proprietor?s establishment and patrons, demanding justice and retribution from the very people who were there to have a relaxing time.

Rosa was well aware that this was a mob bar, (it was why she had sought it out, in fact), but even this level of ignoramus could surely see that there was (at the very least) one other patron who had no idea what was going on. The young thing looked positively stunned by all the excitement.

Should this all go belly up, Rosa thought to herself I would like to get to know that girl a little better.

Her attention however was rapidly and rather rudely bought back to the present conquest of facing down the demanding boy in front of her.

"It's only you left now, sweetie. Who. Are. You?"

Rosa finished her gin. Dabbed at her lipstick with a napkin, and rechecked her charm glamour, setting it to a midway point; enough to aid in a favourable outcome, but not enough to activate any sensors.

?You may call me Miss Asta," she told the pub at large, making sure not to look directly at the fuming mob boy. "I came in here for a quiet drink in unquestioning company, and now I am expected to help you solve a murder mystery?" She laughed derisively, high and clear."I did not think when I entered that I had found a circus troupe!"

 

[Terratina.]

Ross hmphed at both the bartender's and the Don's nephew's response. If they wanted to drink something good, then they should've gone with something with actual alcohol in it. Not prissy wine. In any case, Ross met Francis's gaze and replied, "Aye. Hooow tae hurt fowk, Ah ken that muuuch. Di'ae worry aboot me."

Afterwards, he joined Pips near the bar-counter and perked up a little at the sound of a free drink, even if it was somewhat foolhardy to take up that offer. Ross tapped the surface of the counter and said, "Di'ae worry abooot that, juuuist gimme anither shot ae Scotch."

Of course, the woman had to interrupt that as all the attention was now on her and her stupid laugh. In response, Ross wiped his nose, cursing under his breath while he did so. Something about the "burd"'s laugh. Just another viper in the nest, another snake in human clothing. They all were, but at least they had booze to oil the wheels of forgetfulness away.

 

[alandavidson]

Jack ignored the woman, or at least pretended to. She was confident, deliberate, and Jack thought he might have heard the faint touch of an accent. At any rate, she was someone to look out for.

"He's fast alright. So, you in or not, Lumberjack?"

Jack looked at Francis, raising his eyebrows quizzically.

"Don't know exactly what I'm in, or if I've got a choice in it." He turned away and faced the rest of patrons. "But if you're head's to seek the origins of what's ailing your brother, I'd start at the north shore rum row sailors, then find the ones who brew ratgut and see if any of them know of divination." He turned back to Francis. "I'd wager the ratgut brewers didn't fix this up, but probably's aware of who might."

With that, he leaned back and finally lit his pipe.

 

[Random Fella]

"Good. I knew I could count on you, Luce, I've heard good things about you. And the infamous Mr. Wolf too, I'll be counting on the two of you to take care of whoever is responsible for this, got it? Make it hurt."

"Oh, I will..." She smiled as she cracked her knuckles.

The others in the room continued to converse, it was all pointless to her, they needed to act, from the sound of things this 'lumberjack' seemed to know what he was talking about.
Finally they turned to the woman in the room who had been silent, who gave a rather rude response
"I came in here for a quiet drink in unquestioning company, and now I am expected to help you solve a murder mystery?"
"I did not think when I entered that I had found a circus troupe!"

She quickly turned her expression toward her from the table she sat at across the room.
"Ain't no one askin' for ya help ya frilly dame! You're just an odd one out in what seems to be a murder attempt"
She slammed her fist on the table
"And you'd better watch that tongue of yours, if you want to keep it!"

 

[DarkRawen]

"You may call me Miss Asta," she told the pub at large, making sure not to look directly at the fuming mob boy. "I came in here for a quiet drink in unquestioning company, and now I am expected to help you solve a murder mystery?" She laughed derisively, high and clear."I did not think when I entered that I had found a circus troupe!"

Francis went for his gun, not tolerating this kind of mockery. Grabbing it, he started speaking. "I'm sure you'll appreciate my offer once you get what you've gotten yourself into. If not..." he trailed off, allowing Luce to take over.

"Ain't no one askin' for ya help ya frilly dame! You're just an odd one out in what seems to be a murder attempt. And you'd better watch that tongue of yours, if you want to keep it!"

"You heard her, if you think Luce here's the only one who would take you out on behalf of the family, think again."

"Please, people, be nice," Pips muttered, though it wasn't likely to be heard by anyone, he was far too soft-spoken for that. Instead he sighed again, defeated.

"Di'ae worry abooot that, juuuist gimme anither shot ae Scotch."

"I... okay," Pips replied, he knew that Ross wasn't going to give up easily, and keeping the man drunk was the best way of dealing with him. Getting a rather precious bottle of Scotch, he poured it, then handed the glass over to the drunk.

"Don't finish it all in one go, okay?" Pips said, his smile having grown a little. Pouring drinks was more his element than dealing with murders, or near-murders anyways. As Jack spoke, Pips nodded, it was clear that the other knew what he was talking about.

"Don't know exactly what I'm in, or if I've got a choice in it. But if you're head's to seek the origins of what's ailing your brother, I'd start at the north shore rum row sailors, then find the ones who brew ratgut and see if any of them know of divination. I'd wager the ratgut brewers didn't fix this up, but probably's aware of who might."

"You're going," Francis replied. "At least if you want to keep that business of yours going. Consider it... a chance to prove that you had nothing to do with it. Actually, that applies to all of you."

"Even---"

"I found another two bottles," Suits interfered. "I can't be completely sure those are the only ones, since my ability to sense magic is somewhat limited, but it's rather clear that these aren't the only bottles." She rubbed her forehead, then continued.

All of you, get to it. Francis, you're going to inform your uncle about this. Pips--- go with the group. And take this." She threw one of the bottles towards him, Pips barely grabbing it before it fell to the ground.

"What? Pips asked. "Why?"

"Because we need someone to ensure that this goes well, and I need to stay here and take care of the club," she replied, motioning for them to leave. Pips reached below the bar and got a small knife in a sheath, before doing as he was told, those there leaving either voluntarily or not so voluntarily as Francis followed with the gun. Once outside, the latter pointed at Pips.

"You, make sure that this gets dealt with. Rely on Luce and Mr Wolf if people misbehave." Reluctantly, Pips nodded. "Good."

With that, they were left behind. An awkward silence followed, before Pips spoke again. "So, ehm, north shore, right? Let's get going then." He started walking, waiting for the others to follow, speaking as he did.

"So, is anyone here especially familiar with that area? Cynthia, you mentioned that you had friends all over town, do you think there's anyone up there you could talk to?"

Anyone who knew him, or had even spoken to him before this knew that he wasn't normally that careful or worried when speaking, it was simply a situation he did not know how to deal with.

 

[Terratina.]

"Don't finish it all in one go, okay?"

"Whi'daeye think A'm goin' tae dae?" Ross chided then downed the shot in one. It wasn't like he had the time or inclination to take tiny sips like a babe anyway. Still, a free shot was a free shot. Clearly cheered up, the drunk reached over and slapped Pips on the shoulder, "Puuure dillion, that wis. Guid man, guid man."

Nothing like a drink before a job, or rather, just nothing like a drink at any time of day at any time. Satisfied, Ross followed the bartender as well as the others as they went outside. Wasn't exactly his choice though, the business end of a gun was always a few inches behind them. Hands in pockets, the drunk kept a beady eye out for any cops.

Nevertheless, for a country until the yoke of Prohibition, they didn't enforce it very well.

 

[The Harkinator]

Ross had a decent idea, finishing the drink. Mr Wolf turned back to the table and followed suit, downing what was left of his drink. Turning back to the rest of the people who were filing out the door. Perhaps not everyone would return. A quick chat with Pips was in order, "Do you have any records of your transactions that Suits can go through while we're gone? That bottle came into the club from somewhere, it could be a start. If not, you know it's a fucked up city when alcohol smugglers are getting bottles snuck in by someone else."

If the North Shore crews knew anything it would be a big boost to the investigation. If there was anything Mr Wolf was worried about, it was someone slipping away from the group before anyone noticed. If the real poisoner was amongst them there would be ample opportunity to disappear and cause more trouble. "So, anyone need to carpool? I've got a couple of spare seats."

 

[IFS]

"So, is anyone here especially familiar with that area? Cynthia, you mentioned that you had friends all over town, do you think there's anyone up there you could talk to?"

"Sure!" she said cheerfully, thinking for a moment on who specifically to ask. Most of them were just friends who frequented clubs so aside from learning if anything like this had happened elsewhere she wasn't sure they would be much use, though at least they were asking for someone in a specific location rather than someone with specific knowledge.

"Hm, Alice has been frequenting the North Shore lately I think," she said "so she might be there tonight, she's a fantastic gossip too so I'm sure she'll have heard something."

"So, anyone need to carpool? I've got a couple of spare seats."

"I've got my own car thanks," she said "and before anyone starts I'm a very good driver."

 

[Random Fella]

"I've got my own car thanks," "and before anyone starts I'm a very good driver."

"I'll come with you then."
She motioned at Cynthia.
"And you better not try anything funny, I'm riding shotgun."

 

[Terratina.]

"So, anyone need to carpool? I've got a couple of spare seats."

"If ye dinnae mynd..." Ross replied, scratching his stubble and choosing not to voice his distrust of women drivers, especially young women drivers. Such things were not meant to be in the driver's seat. He took a quick inspection of the motley crew. There was - of course - Mr. Wolf, all-round handyman; Cynthia, a little chick who somehow got wrapped up in mob business though hanging 'round a speakeasy might've been asking for it; some old lady, another person who didn't entirely fit; Miss Asta, who apparently came to speakeasies to admire the freak show of desperate men; Lumberjack, a man you couldn't miss; Luce, who dressed like she should've been born a man; Pips, the put-upon bartender; and a drunk.

How they were going to achieve anything was anyone's guess.

 

[The Harkinator]

"Right then Ross, get in, don't be sick anywhere in it. If you do feel sick stick your head out of the window, we don't have time to stop." Said Mr Wolf, gesturing for Ross to get into the passengers seat. Wolf got into his car and started the engine, ready to follow Cynthia to meet their new contact.

"What a mess, am I right Ross? And I tell you something for nothing, it'll get worse before it gets better. I can already tell it's going to be one of those jobs. Sometimes it's better to just stay home on nights like these. What do you say to that?"

 

[alandavidson]

Jack weighed his options. On one hand, he had the very excited and seemingly excitable Cynthia. On the other, the very drunk Ross. Jack chose the girl.

"I'll be sitting with the ladies if they'll have me." He started toward the ladies. Beside Cynthia, Jack looked like a giant. "Mind if I tag along with you, miss?"

Jack didn't mind going on some bonkers errand for the magic types. All a part of living in this insane city, as far as he was concerned. What he didn't like was that a whole mess of people were going to the north shore. The rum-rowers weren't exactly welcoming types, and they weren't fond of local brewers who took profit from them. Couldn't be helped, he supposed. Jack would deal with whatever trouble the bell-bottoms might cause when they got there. Until then, no sense worrying.