Karl sets the fan on the side table, closes the doors and heads downstairs. He finds one of the waiters and ask for The Raki to be brought to the table. "I believe Herr Campbell has a broad grasp of languages, modern and ancient. I have studied a few but not in depth."

Ian wanders into the hotel from the street and joins Karl and Leland at the table. He settles his sleeves with a quick flick of his wrists before pouring himself a glass of raki.

"I think Burt is a bit sore with me. He seems to be avoiding me today. What about you gentlemen? Are you up for adventure and excitement? I've got some mischief in mind," Ian tosses back the liquor and pours himself another. "What do you gents know of the Black Lotus assassins?"

Okay,
It is roughly mid evening when you reassemble in the common sitting room. Some other guests are eating and drinking and going about their business. It occurs to most of you that the script that Leland has is a local one, as seen on many signs and shops.

A few inquires gives you the information that Leland is looking for. The scrap of paper is a hand written receipt from a local metal working or foundry of some sort. Now of course it is known that the craftsman's quarter and the gardens lay in completely different directions in the city. Which is notably difficult to get around in during the day. Both are likely closed by this time, but it is also likely that the proprietor's live on site as well.

Before you go any further Ian, you will need to pay out a fate point to overcome your "Secret Life on line" to speak any further to your friends about the Black Lotus clan. It has been my understanding that though these are your friends only Burt and Leland have had any interaction with the Black Lotus and in order to maintain the secret of the Shaolin temple that you have taken some pains to maintain. Unless you are really taking this in a different direction than I think.

So you have a couple of different paths to take. Make some nighttime visit on either the Garden or on the Metalworking place. Wait till morning and make a more discrete inquiry.

Discuss and make a choice

Volos looks over the piece of paper (ooc: I'm guessing I can read it) and explains it.

"Taking an interest in metallurgy? Giving up the life for some smithing, perhaps?"

[OOC] I would like Karl to take a look at the specifics of the metal composition & figure out the possible uses. I have the 'Walking Library' stun. If I need to use a fate point and tag an aspect, I would use Under-valued Genius or An Eccentric German Engineer. [/OOC]

No problem. Between Volos and Karl, the scrap of paper seems to be a bill of material for a fairly common mixture of copper and tin. In this day and age it is still used to make precision instruments inexpensively, but of course in the past almost any conceivable metal object could be cut, cast or drawn from it. The only things that are particularly useful are the the name of the artisan is Ladon, and the volume of bronze would have been about two cubic feet solid. The rest of the note is marred beyond recognition or just plain missing. No fate points were harmed used in the acquisition of this information.

After talking it over, Volos hands the slip back. "Whoever this person is, it should be easy to find him. He'll have quite a heavy quantity of metal somewhere nearby." He settles back in his chair. "Now, I may be able to order you a bottle of Raki (OOC: Can I or is that something rare?), but I wouldn't mind knowing if this is something that will keep us all from getting bored? I'm getting tired of being myself. This many men of adventure brought together means I usually end up in the most interesting situations."

Karl says, "It looks like someone want bronze for something. Howefar, it is getting late. We can see the metal smith ins dem morgan...in the morning. Guten Abend, meine Herren."

"G'night, Karl."

Leland carefully folds the receipt and puts it back in his pocket, looking at Volos.

"Bored? I honestly don't know. It's... Personal. And I'm not even sure what it means. It's a bit like working a puzzle with all the pieces facing down, and some of them missing."

He pauses, rubbing the palms of his hands into his eyes.

"Still, I doubt I'll be able to sleep, either way. It would be fairly easy to get to the shop at night, and also likely that the proprietor lives there, as well. I'm not sure what it will accomplish, though. And did I hear you mention the Black Lotus Clan, Ian?"

[OOC] You can take a fate point; I was going after a combo of my "Black Lotus Treachery" and "Nemo me impune lacessitn" aspects. That may be a bit too complex for the system, though. [/OOC]

"You may remember them from our time in China together. They are a clan of Japanese assassins, dating back hundreds of years. Someone hired them to destroy everything and everyone I knew as a child," Ian pours himself another, larger glass of raki. "They killed my master. I've spent the last eight years hunting these gou tsao de bastards. A few weeks ago I received a note by post. It said that a botanist here had developed a strain of lotus no one had ever seen. A black lotus. A flower from bedtime stories. Except I've seen it before." Ian stares at his drink for a few moments.

"I'm here to find and kill the men who killed my master and I could really use some help."