fandomhigh | Tracking: Urban v. Wilderness; Thursday, Period Three [ 10/28 ].

The class was meeting in the Danger Shop once more, where they'd find the scene of Ankh-Morpork again, growing increasingly familiar. This time, however, the air was as crowded as the streets, as people called out wares and sermons and things you were better off politely ignoring.

"Welcome back, you guys," Angua called, trying to herd the flock of students into on area so she didn't have to shout too much. "Come on over here for a moment before we get started!"

At which point she opened a door and motioned the students in. "Ah," she said, the noise of outside brought to a dull roar by the walls surrounded them. "That's better. So. A marketplace. One of the biggest messes of activity in any urban area. I'd check your pockets before we go back out there and remove anything valuable, or else someone else is likely to remove them for you later. A marketplace is a classic area for a target to lose the path of the person tracking them; there are so many people, scents, sounds, and distraction that it's easy to lose something in the shuffle, from your pocket watch to your target. So today, we're going to work on tracking in this sort of environment. The catch is, you're going to be tracking each other. The person you're tracking will not know you're tracking them; just that someone is, and your job is to make sure they don't figure out that it's you. The hunted, meanwhile, will also be the hunter, and be tracking their own person. So you'll have two things to think about: tracking your target, and trying to throw off who might possibly be targeting you.

"Before we get into that, though, let's discuss what I assigned to you last week, which was to try to spot out things about people you know that could help you track them. Maybe someone's ideas will give you some thoughts on your own tracking today. For example, if I were to be tracking Sheriff Vimes, without depending on his undeniable scent of surly and smoke, I could always look for ashes from his cigars. I also know for a fact that he tends to walk in certain ordained beats, so I could look for particularly well-trodden ground. That sort of thing. Can you think of any for your classmates, as well? And don't be offended if someone points out that they could look for you based on one thing or another: it's important to know what your habits might be so that you can be more aware of them and avoid letting them become something you could be tracked by.

"I'm going to hand you each a card with the name of the person you will be tracking, too, and so you'll have time in discussion to plan things out. Then we'll head out into the marketplace and work on tracking each other amidst all the activity. Any questions?"

Cards
Jacob Black has: Blind Seer
Maladicta has: Bruce Wayne
Alice Cullen has: Andros
Andros has: Roy Harper
Blysse Norwood has: Cara
Blind Seer has: Maladicta
Bruce Wayne has: Elizabeth Stonem
Cara has: Jacob Black
Dana Scully has: George Cooper
Dru Anderson has: Alice Cullen
Elizabeth Stonem has: Kurt Wagner
George Cooper has: Jason Todd
Jason Todd has: Dana Scully
Katniss Everdeen has: Makita
Kurt Wagner has: Zack Fair
Makita has: Blysse Norwood
Roy Harper has: Dru Anderson
Zack Fair has: Katniss Everdeen

"Oh, one more thing," said Angua, before going to open the door again, "whatever you do, don't eat the sausages."

[[ OCD ~~on the way~~ is stalking the OOC now! ]]

[[ Previous Classes ]]

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You know who you're tracking; do you know who's tracking you?

The marketplace is completely moddable, of course, so long as it's busy and chaotic.

Okay, so track a wolf and watch his own ass. Ears pricked, Jake leaned against a wall as he considered how to do this. Getting too close to Blind Seer would be a problem. So he needed to stay down wind, moving he could do quietly, but all advantages Jake had, Blind Seer had even more so.

As Jake had pointed out, there were certain... advantages, in tracking a vampire over a normal human. Their scent stood out.

Even if this particular one smelled more of coffee than blood.

Blending in was a bit more difficult when you weren't bipedal, so he stuck mostly to the shadows.

Right, so. After conferring with the teacher to figure out who she was tracking (since reading from the card wasn't an option), Firekeeper... did not actually see her in class.

She briefly thought about joining Blind Seer's hunt, but supposed that might defeat the point of the exercise, which was to work alone.

So, instead, she focused on making herself as unobtrusive as possible within the marketplace.

In a busy and crowded marketplace, it was easy enough to appropriate a few articles of clothing. Hat on, hat off, jacket on for a time. Anything to keep her appearance changing.

Dana was looking around for George, eyes open for shaggy hair, but not entirely sure what else would be a giveaway. And keeping her eyes open, occasionally walking backwards, for a couple steps, to see if she could spot someone, then ducking behind random booths.

Bruce was reasonably tall. It was a blessing and a curse in this kind of environment. He had a better view of the people in the crowd, but he also probably stood out a bit more than he would have liked.

It was something to deal with as he moved around the edges of the marketplace.

Kurt decided that he'd make it fair for whoever was tracking him, and not teleport around. That, and 'porting in here still made him nauseous.

In fact, he decided to make it EXTRA fair, and 'ported only a foot or two a few times, to give his tracker a nice, thick brimstone smell to follow.

...And then he crawled straight up the side of the nearest building and onto the roof, trying to keep an eye on Zack the whole time.

This was literally child's play to George who'd grown up in the Cesspool and helped feed himself and his mam by picking pockets.

He shrugged and lost himself in the crowd, keeping an eye out for Jason - and an eye out for anyone's valuables that might need liberating.

Tracking: Urban v. Wilderness; Thursday, Period Three [ 10/28 ].

Tracking in the Marketplace -- Tracking, 10/27.

Re: Tracking in the Marketplace -- Tracking, 10/27.

Re: Tracking in the Marketplace -- Tracking, 10/27.

Re: Tracking in the Marketplace -- Tracking, 10/27.

Re: Tracking in the Marketplace -- Tracking, 10/27.

Re: Tracking in the Marketplace -- Tracking, 10/27.

Re: Tracking in the Marketplace -- Tracking, 10/27.

Re: Tracking in the Marketplace -- Tracking, 10/27.

Re: Tracking in the Marketplace -- Tracking, 10/27.