Scene Two:
The heroes spend the day at the fairgrounds of Gomati, touring the travelling circus. Some reconnaissance is accomplished, some prizes are won in games of skill, but there is no sign of the target of the assignment, Roslin Syed.

Scene Three:
Having won entrance to the “Championship Showdown” earlier in the day, Rajan, Shiv, and Q. Proud Mary all compete in respective bouts of skill with the local and circus champions, in the hopes of winning “golden tickets” that allow repeated reentry into the circus without paying a fare – the tickets are high-tech keys to the gates. The intent is to disassemble one of the tickets, so that another may be altered to grant after hours access to the circus (and the exhibits).
Unfortunately, Rajan is unable to beat the circus Elementalist Shaily Patoyari in a bout of raw Power, and Shiv is unable to triumph in a game of water blasters when the circus opponent puts the whammy on him with Spritualism magic. The good news is, Roslin Syed has been identified.

Campaign Aspects: “Everybody owes somebody”, “You’re only as good as your last job”

Background

The Janya Church has a separate but co-equal ecclesiastical criminal justice system.

For the most part the Church defers to temporal matters by using the civilian justice system for their needs (hence, Red Warrants), but in cases involving the Nobility or Clerics castes, or the practice of Sadhana, they have the authority to charge Janya under their own auspices.

Much as a military court, under separate-sovereigns doctrine, defendants do not have protection from being charged for the same action in multiple courts, just protection from being charged for the same criminal offense.

Scene One:

Pursuant to a high ranking member of the Church (a Red-Badge Agent of the Inqusition) saving Q. Proud Mary and the entire team from burglary and attempted manslaughter charges on their last assignment, the team finds themselves back on the Kaikasi moon of Aruna, in the Sanctuary of the Thearch. There, they are meeting with their contact in the Church, Shoan Sen. It seems there is a Casteless Janya outside the reach of clerical law in the Yami belt, and Shoan is calling in her marker quite expediently.

The team accepts an unsanctioned retrieval assignment for Roslin Syed, who stands accused by the Inquisition of Sorcery (Magic outside of the faith) and Maleficium (Injury, or Significant Injury, resulting from Magic). The highest level offense for unsanctioned Siddha, Necromancy involves the use of Spiritualism and Vivacism in the service of the Adversary, but there isn’t any evidence of that offense, currently.

Roslin is known to be traveling with the travelling circus, currently in Quadrant I of the Yami Belt. The circus travels to independent and outlaw settlements where the Church lacks legal authority (or worse), hence the need for mercenaries. The circus is scheduled to be on Gomati for the next two weeks (the third month of 1989). Once taken into custody, Roslin is to be returned to Aruna, the center of the Church power.

As this assignment pays nothing, the usual profit sharing arrangement with Captain Lohani isn’t applicable. That means fuel and travel expenses come out of the team’s pockets (although Rajan will likely take the brunt of it, as she usually does).

Scene 5

A civilian vessel flashing Belt transponder codes moves to intercept the Lucky Business carrying the crew and their prisoner as they decelerate out of Empyrean Sail propulsion and move into orbit around Raka. That ship doesn’t respond to attempts to communicate, but does open fire once the two vessels are close enough to do so.

Shiv returns fire, lightly damaging the hostile ship and allowing the Lucky Business to safely escape and land at a Navy cosmodrome. Rubel Mian is taken into custody, and the warrant is paid in full.

The familiar face of Shoan Sen (from scene 3) in the unfamiliar garb of the Cleric caste approaches the crew as they make their way back to the cosmodrome…

Scene Three

Q Proud Mary is visited in the Primitive Medicine ward of the local hospital. All charges against him are dropped, and the investigation into the violence in the Solar Commerce Union Hall is closed, but Everybody Owes Somebody.

Scene Four

Q Proud Mary catches up with Shiv and Rajan as they investigate Union controlled properties in the Srama Gaol Municipal Complex. In one of them, they spot some Union brutes keeping a lookout of a condemned weapons facility. They also recognize Joya Hazari, one of the fugitive Rubel Mian’s recently revealed associates (and collaborator in the work stoppages).

The bounty hunters attempt to infiltrate the building with stealth, hoping to minimize the opposition. In this they are successful, and get the drop on the fugitive and two well armed bodyguards. Once the bodyguards are taken out quickly and quietly, Rubel surrenders without too much fuss, and the Paladin operatives exit without the notice of the brutes outside.

The Hunt for Rebel Rubel.

Principal is Rubel  Mian, Janya of the Artisan Caste, associated with a Blue (Navy) warrant for the capital offense of Sedition in times of war. Last confirmed location was the Srama Gaol Municipal Complex on Aruna (Kaikasi b). Remand is the Naval Reservation on Raka.

Known associates include Ashik Kalinga (Janya Nobility caste, executive director of the shipyard at the Municipal Complex), Oporajita Debroy (Janya Artisan and fellow employee at the shipyard), and Bhaskor Pathan (Cleric caste long time friend of the fugitive).

Scene One takes place in the Srama Gaol shipyards, and include a social interaction and investigation of Ashik Kalinga. It seems as though the fugitive had been staging work stoppages and sabotage in protest to the conditions of martial law in the complex.

Scene Two takes place at the Solar Commerce Union Trade Hall in the Free Trade Zone (no customs) of the Srama Gaol Cosmodrome. Rajan and Shiv made best use of a distraction provided by Q Proud Mary to surreptitiously obtain property and utility information for residential and commercial properties used by the Union from the foreman’s office. This, combined with the unofficial rumblings of an upcoming demonstration and rally, give the hunters an edge on arriving at the rally before the location is generally announced.

Unfortunately, there are two bits of complication. The first, Rajan’s belief that “magic solves everything” has resulted in a curious Union foreman being torn nearly asunder by a terrifically overpowered thunderbolt spell. The second is Q Proud Mary’s attempt at a distraction early in the scene ends in the Raksasa in law enforcement custody on the way to a local hospital to tend to the savage beating he took at the hands of Union members (in the company of nearly two dozen Artisan and Casteless union members who are in worse physical shape than he is).

Scene Two

An academic research facility on Kaikasi Orbital MMMCLXVII, where the fugitive’s known associate Naznin Gāyakaḥ (a Janya of the Savant caste) works and teaches. An illicit entry after hours led to the discovery that Arup Vārtovahaḥ was residing in lab space in a state of construction without the knowledge of the administration. A less than subtle approach alerts the local security forces, who respond with haste, and the fugitive manages to exit the building one step ahead of his pursuers.

Scene Three

A Rocketsled chase in the airspace above the Kaikasi orbital enclave. Well, it would have been one, but the hunters risk shooting down the craft in question and injuring their quarry due to their own limited piloting skills.

The Red Warrant on Arup Vārtovahaḥ is closed successfully, if not quietly.