5/5/2025 Kick Recap - "For The Cause"

Lang threatens CJ for walking into his room, she promises to never do it again. They organize some of the books and supplies, eventually leaving while making small talk. They head to the Cave and check for new information on the USB, CJ asks about if they might be given false information, but Lang wants to assume everything is intentional. Lang gets a recap of friday from CJ and calls Saab to do something, but Saab doesn't make it sound secretive enough so Lang decides not to. Arush calls to complain about the cops in Cypress and warn Lang about ongoing shootouts. Lang asks Arush for a crowbar, they wait outside the Stables for one. Arush calls back to say he's currently being chased by tons of cops, but the boys will grab Lang a crowbar.

Lang and CJ return to the Rest and open up the box. Lang pulls out two chests, one with a dagger and the other with 3 medallions. Lang has CJ read the small booklet's out loud as he lays out the items on the railing under the dim light. The booklets detail the history of these items, where they've been and how they might be related to members of the past. Lang and CJ are somewhat speechless, but Lang is sure the room wasn't entirely fit for just these items, there probably are a lot more out there. Saab calls to them to a meeting, Jonah saw Liya over the weekend. Lang and CJ drive up to a small cape on the cliffs, Saab and Jonah arrive with a tugboat. Lang argues with Saab for hiring a private investigator to look for Liya, Saab agrees to kill him if he learns too much.

Saab want's some wood they left at Blarney's, so they return to Cypress. Lang and CJ chat about why Liya might be hiding, he considers that Martin may have threatened her enough to scare her. Saab wants to have have a quick meeting in Blarney's, Jonah gives them the recap of how he spotted Liya last night, Skipper suggests that if there is evidence of weed, then she's alive. Dante won a few bets against Future the other night, then masked up robbers came by and robbed everyone. Dante and Sofia were getting food, Hydra kidnapped Dante and left Sofia. The Manor kidnapped Sofia for something, and they shot at her feet to make her move faster. Skipper lost close to a million dollars in parts, he thinks someone from the sewers stole it out of his car. Saab and Jonah think Blarney's is out of money because Clark won a 3 leg parlay. Lang grows incredibly frustrated by hearing all the bad news.

Lang wants to go down to the sewers and get the parts back, they all agree to head down. Lang informs CJ that she is the least fashionable member of the North, Saab compares her to a vanilla cone. They find Thomas (Sewer Person) and kidnap him, holding him up in the canals and demanding the return of Skipper's car parts. He knows the parts that were stolen, and where they were split amongst the sewer people. Thomas offers to arrange for the return of the parts, Lang agrees to follow up with Wayne when he's awake. Lang is interrupted by an anonymous ping. He sends Saab and the boys to go gather the construction equipment, and takes CJ to the old court house.

Lang finds 5 bags of cocaine on the old court house steps, which confuses him. On the way out, Lang runs into Clark and Glitch (NuFarenheit's character). Lang checks with Clark that he's not on a Faceless mission, and then leaves them to do whatever they're doing. Lang and CJ return to the cove where they are building a new Blarney's fighting arena, they joke with CJ about her terrible sense of style. Lang texts around an image comparing her to a vanilla ice cream cone. Lang helps them build the platforms and they return to Blarney's. Edgar calls to complain about out his lawyer being in the ICU. Lang wants to follow up, but Clark and his lawyers (the South) arrive to speak with Blarney's.

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Jonah and Lang congratulate Clark for winning his bets, Saab tries to arrange payment options. Everyone wants to hear out Saab's credit arrangement, which includes a visit to the Blarney's stone and some "fent-acini". Luciano agrees quickly, but Clark tries to barter for more. CJ walks in with a new outfit that interrupts everyone, Lang demands that she leaves. CJ goes into the back closet, Lang has Jonah lock her in the closet out of disgust. Clark offers to take his 860k through cash and credit, Saab and the others claim it was only 500k, Lang is surprised. Queenie gives a bold statement about Clark being paid out what he's owed, but Luciano says that if he has no receipt he can't get paid - Clark fires him. Luciano takes a seat as a guest of Blarney's, Lang joins Jonah and Skipper in the back to figure out the odds. Jonah claims that Saab made the odds, Lang pulls out his shotgun and goes out to threaten Saab. Saab tells them that he used "vegas odds and mixed it with chatgpt", Lang flames him out for being so incredibly stupid. Lang shoots Saab in the leg and walks out, instructing them to pay Clark what he's owed.

Lang runs into Edgar waiting outside the Forge, Lang offers to drive Edgar up North while they chat. Lang and Edgar discuss how trustworthy he is, Edgar thinks that they both spiral into doubting each other when they don't need to. Lang tells Edgar that the transport they hit Friday was successful, but they only got a few artifacts. Lang tells Edgar that he discovered a "new room" in the Rooster's Rest, where he noticed a bunch of things were missing. He determined that the things that were missing were actually stolen, and what they recovered recently was only a small portion of what was missing. Edgar reminds Lang that when he spoke with the Faceless about the mission previously, they bragged to him that they are much farther ahead than expected.

Lang drives back into the city to show Edgar a book, Edgar is torn between meeting his lawyers and going with Lang, but he decides to continue with Lang. Lang grabs the artifact booklet and has Edgar put his phone away while he reads it. Lang and Edgar sit in the parking lot of the Rest while Edgar reads the book out loud. Edgar has a surprising response to certain mentions in the book, and claims he gets goosebumps. After learning about the Dagger and the Medallions, Lang reminds Edgar that he only learned of these items and their history this morning. Lang tells the history of how he got the rest from his Grandmother, and assumed it was more of a front for criminal operations. Edgar tells Lang that names of places in the book are steeped in his own heritage. He demands that Lang put trust in him, he will beat his court case and face what comes next with him. Lang returns the book to the Rest and takes Edgar to his lawyers at City Hall. Before Edgar leaves, he suggests that the Faceless may just be a member of Talon that has gone rogue. Lang doesn't want to spiral in suspicion, dropping Edgar off and returning to Cypress.

Lang and Sofia chat about Saab's terrible decision to use AI to change the odds, Saab is getting operated on at the hospital so they head over. Lang shares the 'CJ ice cream' picture with her, Sofia asks about Photoshop, and Lang doesn't seem to understand that you can edit photos. Lang presses Saab for being stupid, and deserving a life long punishment. The nurse tries to get Lang to give Saab some space, but Lang explains what he did and the nurse agrees how stupid it was. Lang does a line of coke from one of the baggies and hits Saab in frustration as he leaves. Sofia tells Lang that Hades is splitting up, he jokes that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Sofia mentions that you can repair your car parts now, Lang tells her about Jonah spotting Liya. Lang yells at Saab some more before heading to bed at the Rest.

Talon Artifact Lore - 2025

this information was transcribed from the texts found with the items - thank you Stitchy

DAGGER

Forged in silence, stained by legacy.

This obsidian hilted dagger bears no makers mark, only a faint engraving in an Archaic Dialect long forgotten: "For The Cause." It's blade is impossibly sharp, unnaturally cold to the touch - as if the metal itself remembers every life it has taken.

Forged in the late 1800s by an outlaw smith in the heart of Lemoyne, the dagger was passed to the first Shadow, a nameless assassin bound by oath, not coin. Operating in the dying twilight of the Old West, the first Shadow worked for an organization known only in whispers - The Early Talon. Where gangs fought for money and land, Talon moved for power and silence. Their aim was never chaos - it was control.

The first Shadows dagger is believed to have ended the lives of Judges, Senators, Pinkerton Agents, and rival secret society members. Through blackmail, fear and surgical assassination, Talon quietly bent Government's, Railroad Magnates, and Military Officers to it's will. Whole settlements vanished from maps under their influence. Entire laws were written - and erased - with the threat of the very blade.

By 1899, as Civilization crept in and the Wild West faded, Talon didn't die. It evolved. The dagger was entombed beneath what would centuries later become the Roosters Rest, sealed behind a false wall - hidden away with the remnants of Talon's earliest rituals. It waited.
In the modern day, the blade resurfaced during an unmarked excavation beneath the city. Reclaimed by a new generation of Talon, it now serves as a symbol of continuity, proof that while the World above changes, the true hand guiding it remains unseen. To wield it is not merely to kill - it is to remind the World that power does not need a crown or a badge, only a cause.

MEDALLION

Power lies not in presence, but in permanence.

Rough-hewn yet unnervingly perfect, this medallion is carved from a blackened alloy known only to Talon's inner circle. It bears the symbol of a downward pointing talon encircling an eclipse - A mark that never tarnishes, never scratches, and cannot be copied. On the reverse, in tiny script readable only by firelight, are the words, "Bound in silence. Bled for the cause."

This medallion is not given lightly. It is not currency, nor decoration. It is a seal, granted only after the oath is sworn and the individual proves themselves worthy - through blood, through loyalty, through sacrifice.

According to the Talon archives, the first medallions were forged during the late 1800s in the shadows of the Blackwater incident. At the time, Talon operated behind the scenes, guiding the collapse of Outlaw Empires and aligning themselves with rising federal powers. Each medallion was cast under moonless skies and cooled in the blood of the inducted - A ritual the ensured both loyalty and silence.

To carry one was to be untouchable. Lawmen turned their eyes, Bankers waived their questions, Judges hesitated. It was a silent passport into forbidden halls, a proof of allegiance to something older, and more dangerous than Governments: The Cause.

The medallion's influence extended even as Talon slipped deeper into Myth. In the decades that followed, whispers say it was used to infiltrate Intelligence Agencies, Private security firms, and Multinational Corporations. A single glimpse of it - to the right person - was worth more than any badge or ID.

In the modern era, only a few exist. Those who hold them are considered oath bound - neither civilian, nor soldier, but something older. If found on a body, protocol is clear: Burn the corpse, and return the medallion to the roost.

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