[MH] Caribbean by Night

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Seeing as your campaign is set in a similar world to our own, with the same weather patterns and all that (aside from when something goes horrifyingly awry, anyway), you may get some use out of this site. While it doesn't give historical weather predictions, it does give historical weather patterns. Unfortunately, that site seems to have some difficulty finding the nearest weather station to Indianola (it goes to Corpus Christi, roughly 100 miles away); it appears Indianola is flanked by 3 weather stations (forming a nearly-equilateral triangle, with Indianola in the dead center of one edge) - the Mole Hill Observatory (the furthest of the three from Indianola) seems to be the only one with data from December 28, 2018, and indicates it was around 55 F that day (see here; scroll down a bit to see the historical data); note you can use the forward and back arrows to navigate to another day (or just use the dropdown). Mole Hill Observatory looks to be roughly 10-15 miles away from Indianola (~30 mile drive, but that's because the route zig-zags), so should work. It was dry aside from what looks to have been some light rain very early (0.11 inches between 12:50 AM and 7:45 AM) on New Year's Eve Granted, if you prefer a different weather pattern than what was seen over New Years' there (or have already decided on one), you've plenty of excuse to modify it to match.

There's an ahistorical fog and temperatures dipping toward freezing around Galveston on the evening of the 29th of December and the ripple effect is causing rather more wind and precipation in the coastal region around it. Indianola should be around 10° F colder than in our history this night, as the negative energies there are reacting to the events of Galveston Bay and ghostly activity is draining heat energy.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Incidentally, is it just me, or do Agemegos' posts have a disconcerting habit of vanishing into the aether? I've noticed it in a few threads now, and it's particularly glaring here, as Icelander is consistently quoting posts that no longer exist. Is Brett perhaps some sort of Evill interdimensional being?

Evill... Evill is his one and only name.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Provided they have enough people capable of driving, and the process of moving their accoutrements from one vehicle to another isn't too terribly onerous, they may just want to rent twice as many vehicles as they need. That way, even if half of them break down, they can just abandon the borked vehicles and continue on their way. Use a higher multiple (to a maximum of one vehicle per person who can drive) if they feel they want to maximize their chances.

So you think that obtaining two, three or four TL7 vehicles in twelve hours in Texas is impractical?

I expect that at least 6-7 (don't know about nuns) and maybe all nine of the cultists landing that day in Texas will be able to drive. Trusted to navigate in a country they don't know, buy gas without drawing attention and just generally don't mess up... maybe four or five of these nine.

Edit: Sorry, there were five landing in Houston and six in Dallas, so it's a total of eleven cultists with South American passports arriving as tourists between 06:00 and 09:44 on the morning of the 29th of December, 2018, and they aim to be in Indianola by nightfall.

The ones driving down from California will have had plenty of time to arrange classic cars. As for the ones in Texas, their associates in the Consortium arranged for transportation, but with the arrest of two cultists of the advance team and the later arrest of Raul, their logistics chief, none of those arrangments are secure any longer. So, the four six cultists landing in Dallas and the five landing in Houston need new transport.

Depending on how the transport for the seven pishtaco that crossed the Mexico-Texas border on foot was arranged, it might be necessary to abandon their vehicles as being in the names of Consortium associates who might become wanted at any moment. On the other hand, if there were any cheap TL7 trucks that still work that could have been bought with cash and a basic fake ID (of the kind that might fool a liquor store clerk, but you wouldn't present to a bank teller or cop), they'll have vehicles that are unlikely enough to be traced to be still useful.

Originally Posted by Varyon

As a happy side-effect, this gives Kessler's people a chance to notice (thanks to their police contacts) a suspicious line of broken-down rental cars heading toward Indianola.

Yeah, that's what the cultists want to avoid and why the first ones to land were asked to figure out how to obtain more magic-proof transportation over the Saturday the 29th.

Also, some of the leaders want to kidnap new sacrifice victims, which would require the use of reliable transportation with, at the very least, good luggage space in the trunk, and ideally trucks or vans of TL7 vintage.

Originally Posted by Varyon

If the cultists get rather unlucky, a highway patrolman might notice them transferring from one vehicle to another, stopping (after radioing it in) to investigate and render aid if needed. While it would be nice if the patrolman survives, it could be more useful to the world at large if the cultists flub their cover story and it comes down to a fight; the patrolman would almost certainly lose, but his failure to report back (or better yet, his calls for backup) would call for a more immediate response. Granted, the police are unlikely to recognize the cultists are heading toward Indianola, but a combination of internet searches (much as I used to initially find Indianola) and similar dowsing rituals to what the cultists used to find their location may clue Kessler's people in.

Let's not forget the massive manhunt going on around Galveston and Houston, with the investigation rapidly reaching Dallas, for associates of the Consortium shooters that attacked police in Galveston the night before and the cultists that kidnapped Alice Talbot.

In fact, this manhunt and the massive police presence around the ritual space they had originally planned to use, are the reason they are switching to Indianola.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Given the serious fight and severe wounds his monster hunters are reeling from, he may opt to send in a different, less capable team, provided he has such within actionable range.

Unfortunately for Kessler, the PCs were backed up by every available 'Night Rider' in Galveston and those men will be arrested on site (unlike the PCs, they are not Reserve Deputies and have no official business there). Also, two of them are wounded/otherwise disabled and the rest are probably not psychologically up to another operation on the same night, even if they could be released after extensive interrogation, if they manage to convince the authorities that they are merely Good Samaritan boaters rendering aid to sheriff's deputies under fire. Realistically, though, they are unlikely to be free from official inquiries for days, given how serious the case is and how many federal, state and local agencies are involved.

Kessler has called up old friends and retired 'Night Riders' living in East Texas to guard Penemue, his own person and the wounded Alice Talbot (she was not arrested on the Aqueronte, but rescued by boat from the water and taken back to Penemue, and is hoping no one will know she was aboard Aquaronte). However, given that Kessler is using other old friends and newly arrived 'Night Riders' to keep tabs on the hospital where captured cultists are under arrest, Kessler has no credible force to put in the field until the New Orleans team gets there.

I'm away from my dice, but depending on some random factors and skill checks, they might be able to fly in that night, but more likely, they'll arrive on the morning of the 30th of December (in the worst case, they have some issue of their own that they can't leave, at least not until Kessler's people have some solid reason to believe that there is still an ongoing threat even after the success of the PCs). If they are available, that's a six man 'Night Rider' team, some with PI licenses and the rest officially employees of their security company, all traveling with personal firearms.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Icelander

There's an ahistorical fog and temperatures dipping toward freezing around Galveston on the evening of the 29th of December and the ripple effect is causing rather more wind and precipation in the coastal region around it. Indianola should be around 10° F colder than in our history this night, as the negative energies there are reacting to the events of Galveston Bay and ghostly activity is draining heat energy.

Nice.

Originally Posted by Icelander

So you think that obtaining two, three or four TL7 vehicles in twelve hours in Texas is impractical?

No idea, honestly - my only experience with car rental was when my own was totaled, and insurance covered that. I was just thinking that if it turns out to be difficult/time-consuming (or if specifically renting a bunch of pre-electronics vehicles is suspicious), the relatively low failure rate of ~10% means you can just grab more cars than you need and abandon the ones that die on you. I think car rental places favor relatively newer vehicles (still under warranty, and I think they can get better contracts to cover maintenance with the manufacturers that way), and are certainly going to want lojack and similar in their vehicles. There are probably smaller car rental outfits that have older vehicles available, however.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Yeah, that's what the cultists want to avoid and why the first ones to land were asked to figure out how to obtain more magic-proof transportation over the Saturday the 29th.

Fortunately for the PCs, those plans have been screwed up. The cultists may need to sacrifice some operational security to actually be able to do something by the New Year, which has the advantage of making it more likely someone in Kessler's sphere of influence catches wind of it.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Also, some of the leaders want to kidnap new sacrifice victims, which would require the use of reliable transportation with, at the very least, good luggage space in the trunk, and ideally trucks or vans of TL7 vintage.

If they're abducting people en route, TL8 vehicles are a no-go, at least for the vehicles transporting the sacrifices - forcing people out of one vehicle and into another on the side of a highway is going to raise some eyebrows (and cellphones, which will promptly call 911). If they can manage a quick version of the "someone else's problem" ritual it could be doable, but I'd imagine a major highway isn't exactly a Place of Power, and they'll really want to keep their charms in reserve.

Of course, if there are some non-powered cultists, they could easily be the ones driving the TL8 transport vans full of sacrifices and stuffed to the gill with advanced features, provided they don't bring any mages of pishtaco.

Indeed, it occurs to me that any group that gets seriously into the paranormal would be quite well-served purposefully maintaining some "designated mundanes," who make use of all the wonders of modern tech without fear of constant malfunctions to assist the more supernaturally-inclined members. Sort of a mixture of the "guy in the chair" and the Blackguards/designated liars from Wildbow's Pact (in that setting, mages and most supernatural entities cannot lie without severe karmic repercussions, so a lot of groups have one or more mundanes as part of them, who can lie and cheat without supernatural blowback).

Originally Posted by Icelander

Let's not forget the massive manhunt going on around Galveston and Houston, with the investigation rapidly reaching Dallas, for associates of the Consortium shooters that attacked police in Galveston the night before and the cultists that kidnapped Alice Talbot.

In fact, this manhunt and the massive police presence around the ritual space they had originally planned to use, are the reason they are switching to Indianola.

Several abandoned rental vehicles with mobility-killing electrical problems probably aren't going to immediately ring alarms as being associated with the Consortium with the various official agencies, but it may for anyone on the lookout for the paranormal. It generates a clue that mundane police can't really follow up on, but Kessler &c have a good chance of recognizing it for what it is. The police may be inclined to follow-up on the abandoned vehicles at some point, but it's unlikely to be before the New Year - and it sounds like the cultists don't intend for the police to be able to do anything about it once the ritual is done.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Unfortunately for Kessler, the PCs were backed up by every available 'Night Rider' in Galveston and those men will be arrested on site (unlike the PCs, they are not Reserve Deputies and have no official business there). Also, two of them are wounded/otherwise disabled and the rest are probably not psychologically up to another operation on the same night, even if they could be released after extensive interrogation, if they manage to convince the authorities that they are merely Good Samaritan boaters rendering aid to sheriff's deputies under fire. Realistically, though, they are unlikely to be free from official inquiries for days, given how serious the case is and how many federal, state and local agencies are involved.

Kessler has called up old friends and retired 'Night Riders' living in East Texas to guard Penemue, his own person and the wounded Alice Talbot (she was not arrested on the Aqueronte, but rescued by boat from the water and taken back to Penemue, and is hoping no one will know she was aboard Aquaronte). However, given that Kessler is using other old friends and newly arrived 'Night Riders' to keep tabs on the hospital where captured cultists are under arrest, Kessler has no credible force to put in the field until the New Orleans team gets there.

I'm away from my dice, but depending on some random factors and skill checks, they might be able to fly in that night, but more likely, they'll arrive on the morning of the 30th of December (in the worst case, they have some issue of their own that they can't leave, at least not until Kessler's people have some solid reason to believe that there is still an ongoing threat even after the success of the PCs). If they are available, that's a six man 'Night Rider' team, some with PI licenses and the rest officially employees of their security company, all traveling with personal firearms.

Well, if they can make it, the morning of the 30th probably gives them enough time to stop the ritual. The inhabitants of Indianola and any sacrifices they pick up along the way aren't likely to have a good time of things, and the PI's may have to use a good deal of force sufficiently bluntly that they cannot get away without incarceration (hopefully brief, given Kessler's connections), but at least the Lords of the Last Waste won't get a foothold. Hopefully Mr. Smith will be unable to travel along with them - I'd imagine He Who Hungers in the Depths would be rather interested in a rematch, and the whole point of using Indianola is that it probably has a low threshold, meaning there'd be a risk old fish-face would manage to (partially) cross over yet again. Honestly, I'm imagining the whole scenario as the players taking control of a "B-team" of hunters while their actual characters rest up.

Actually, looking up rental options, I found this for your Houston cultists, and this for your Dallas ones. Using a Whois search, it looks like both domains were registered in April of 2017 (it's the same brokerage company), so they should have been available to your cultists. I'm not certain how much time they need to setup a rental, but it should all be doable. I'm not certain there are vintage truck/van rentals available; if the trunk space on the fancy cars is insufficient for the sacrifices, the above idea of having your mundane members handle prisoner transport is probably your best bet.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Varyon

No idea, honestly - my only experience with car rental was when my own was totaled, and insurance covered that. [...] There are probably smaller car rental outfits that have older vehicles available, however.

TL7 is so long ago that they don't need just 'older' cars, they need actual vintage, classic cars that usually don't even run unless they've been maintained by an enthusiast. We're talking 1973 models and older cars if they are US-made, with some trucks maybe having gotten electronic injection a couple of years later. Think classic muscle cars from the 60s, but, you know, they're looking for cars from that era that are less striking in appearance and have good trunk space.

I've never seen a car older than five years at an ordinary car rental service in either the US or Europe, but I'm aware that classic cars are sometimes available for sale, lease or rent for people interested in driving them, admiring them or both. At best, even if the cultists have someone Internet-savvy who can find classic cars for sale or rent somewhere in the Dallas and Houston area, they'll need to rent some late TL8 cars to get where they can pick those up. Or take a taxi or public transport, maybe.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Fortunately for the PCs, those plans have been screwed up. The cultists may need to sacrifice some operational security to actually be able to do something by the New Year, which has the advantage of making it more likely someone in Kessler's sphere of influence catches wind of it.

Well, the earlier, carefully prepared logistical plan is out the window, because while there is a possibility that the cops might not dig through the crumbs of evidence fast enough to link the Consortium with the cars the cultists should have received on landing, the cultists have decided not to risk it and change their plans.

This means that the first cultist to land in Dallas (and who is sufficiently low in magical power to be able to use a computer and Google), is supposed to find a place to obtain TL7 vehicles for himself and his five cultist buddies in Dallas, as well as trying to see if there is anything available in Houston, so he can inform a counterpart who'll be landing there later.

The first cultist lands at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport at 06:00 on December the 29th and he needs to be in Indianola by around 17:00 that same Saturday, 17:30 at the latest. So he has a little time to Google and enough time to pick up a vehicle if he finds something, but otherwise can expect to spend most of this Saturday driving.

Originally Posted by Varyon

If they're abducting people en route, TL8 vehicles are a no-go, at least for the vehicles transporting the sacrifices - forcing people out of one vehicle and into another on the side of a highway is going to raise some eyebrows (and cellphones, which will promptly call 911). If they can manage a quick version of the "someone else's problem" ritual it could be doable, but I'd imagine a major highway isn't exactly a Place of Power, and they'll really want to keep their charms in reserve.

Abducting people en route is a no go, unless somebody becomes suspicious and they have to, or something.

I imagined they'd use the night of the 29th to take over as much of Indianola as is practical (ca 0.5 mile radius near the marina, I think) and try to avoid anyone outside it noticing. Then spend Sunday the 30th and the day of the 31st, Monday, preparing the ritual site while sending out small teams to silence witnesses in neighbouring buildings, stop any cars that come by to check on inhabitants of Indianola and snatch anyone they can manage while that's going on.

Personally, I doubt they even get that far without drawing more attention than they can handle, but Sister María Teresa, while extremely intelligent and strong-willed, is also a fanatic who believes that the ritual needs to happen at exactly midnight of December 31, 2018. And despite all the ways their careful plans have unraveled, she intends to make sure it does.

Also, she really doesn't fully grasp the difference between the methods of Colombian police when she was young and those of US police in the modern day, i.e. how many technological ways there are that they might notice no one in Indianola being reachable for over 50 hours and how much of a response there will be if even a single policeman comes to check on it and doesn't bring back a satisfactory report.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Of course, if there are some non-powered cultists, they could easily be the ones driving the TL8 transport vans full of sacrifices and stuffed to the gill with advanced features, provided they don't bring any mages of pishtaco.

Indeed, it occurs to me that any group that gets seriously into the paranormal would be quite well-served purposefully maintaining some "designated mundanes," who make use of all the wonders of modern tech without fear of constant malfunctions to assist the more supernaturally-inclined members.

That's what the Consortium was supposed to handle!

And they even sent an advance team of cultists, with an Igor-like servitor who could drive a TL truck without problems. Filled with charms, esoteric components, sacrifices and everything!

Then the PCs ruined everything, forcing the remaining cultists to operate without all the mundane associates who were supposed to handle logistics, while they try to improvise a new ritual space and new sacrifices.

Really, it's enough to make an honest cultist despair.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Several abandoned rental vehicles with mobility-killing electrical problems probably aren't going to immediately ring alarms as being associated with the Consortium with the various official agencies, but it may for anyone on the lookout for the paranormal. It generates a clue that mundane police can't really follow up on, but Kessler &c have a good chance of recognizing it for what it is. The police may be inclined to follow-up on the abandoned vehicles at some point, but it's unlikely to be before the New Year - and it sounds like the cultists don't intend for the police to be able to do anything about it once the ritual is done.

This is spot on.

Although, of course, two out of five cultist leaders are probably having second thoughts about this, given how much has already gone wrong... and may not actually be all that invested in destroying the world right this second. At minimum, they'll want some kind of a backup plan to escape, just in case the ritual doesn't work out.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Well, if they can make it, the morning of the 30th probably gives them enough time to stop the ritual. The inhabitants of Indianola and any sacrifices they pick up along the way aren't likely to have a good time of things, and the PI's may have to use a good deal of force sufficiently bluntly that they cannot get away without incarceration (hopefully brief, given Kessler's connections), but at least the Lords of the Last Waste won't get a foothold.

At this point, the ritual succeeding would require a critical success or even a series of them, given all the things that are missing or wrong.

The stakes are not the end of the world any more. It's just whether the cultists will manage to kill several dozen people or not while they fail. And, of course, it would be a mitzvah to prevent even a failed ritual, as that is likely to lead to some kind of dangerous paranormal phenomena, even if not the right one. Say, 'just' calling up some angry ghosts instead of an Outsider John the Baptist type for the Apocalypse.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Hopefully Mr. Smith will be unable to travel along with them - I'd imagine He Who Hungers in the Depths would be rather interested in a rematch, and the whole point of using Indianola is that it probably has a low threshold, meaning there'd be a risk old fish-face would manage to (partially) cross over yet again.

Happily, Teddy Smith is the healthiest person among those who boarded Aquaronte. He thought he might have sprained a leg when he landed roughly, but fortunately, it was just an uncomfortable twist (1 HP). As for Him Who Hungers in the Deep, you're not wrong in that he'd like a rematch, but unless I roll under the Frequency of Appearance, He Who Hungers won't be able to find any way in without the tendril of his essence.

Yes, a low Threshold is a potential gate to Elsewhere, especially if frayed further with dark rituals, murders, violation, sacrifices and invocation to all sorts of evil spirits, but not all Elsewheres are the same. Even if the cultists fail and something unintended happens, the odds are that this would be something unpleasant, but unrelated to Him Who Hungers in the Deep. Probably undead or evil spirits, not Outsiders.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Actually, looking up rental options, I found this for your Houston cultists, and this for your Dallas ones. Using a Whois search, it looks like both domains were registered in April of 2017 (it's the same brokerage company), so they should have been available to your cultists. I'm not certain how much time they need to setup a rental, but it should all be doable. I'm not certain there are vintage truck/van rentals available; if the trunk space on the fancy cars is insufficient for the sacrifices, the above idea of having your mundane members handle prisoner transport is probably your best bet.

Ooh, thanks, I'll check whether this could work.

Edit: Ooh, black vintage hearses would be perfect if they can get them at such short notice!

[adm]

There are often small car shows or weekly meet ups at different locations here and there that have vintage vehicles for sale that the owner can't afford to finish, some are running, but need body/restoration work to look right. You may be able to find a vintage truck or van that runs at such a get together on short notice.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by adm

There are often small car shows or weekly meet ups at different locations here and there that have vintage vehicles for sale that the owner can't afford to finish, some are running, but need body/restoration work to look right. You may be able to find a vintage truck or van that runs at such a get together on short notice.

Okay, let´s take the first cultist as an example. He's landing at 06:00 on the Saturday of December the 29th, 2018, at Dallas-Fort Worth International. He needs to leave the Dallas area at 11:00 at the very latest, having secured some form of transportation, to be able to reach Indianola in time. To account for traffic, necessary stops and a certain margin for error, it would be much, much better if he could leave Dallas earlier than that, ideally as soon as possible.

What are the odds that he can find a car show going on that Saturday within easy driving distance*, where he could obtain a couple of TL7 cars of some sort immediately?

I'll roll for it, but what kind of odds am I looking at here? 2% chance? 5%? 10%? Better than that?

*By a TL8 rental car, which he aims to get rid off as soon as possible.

[adm]

That would really depend on the local car culture, but in a city the size of Dallas there ought to be something every weekend, even if it's just a get together at a local drive in restaurant that caters to 1950's nostalgia, look up Sonic restaurants for a quick look. Finding one shouldn't be Craig's List, or Facebook groups. Finding one that has what you needed for a truck or van will likely be harder on short notice.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by adm

That would really depend on the local car culture, but in a city the size of Dallas there ought to be something every weekend, even if it's just a get together at a local drive in restaurant that caters to 1950's nostalgia, look up Sonic restaurants for a quick look. Finding one shouldn't be Craig's List, or Facebook groups. Finding one that has what you needed for a truck or van will likely be harder on short notice.

So there is at least some chance that a successful Merchant check might yield a couple of whatever TL7 vehicles are most common and likely to be available for sale in Dallas?

Here is a situation where the inability to make use of the Consortium logistics support in the US really hurts them, as their primary legitimate business in Dallas is a company that buys and sells precious metals. It might even be considered worth the risk for them to try to clean out the secure storage facility where the gold and silver are stored, for use as operational funds, if not for the fact that the empoyees of the Consortium have almost certainly appropriated these already, in order to use to go on the lam and disappear.

So, the first two cultists who landed will have only $18,000 in cash and one of them will also have a credit card with a fairly high limit (the highest that could be reasonably obtained by someone whose day job is as an executive of a minor Peruvian holding company, yearly salary $125,000, but the card can be a company card, and the company revenue is about $5 million a year), a debit card linked to his Peruvian company account with about $200,000 in it, access to Panamian accounts with further $500,000 (both of which might take time to access in the US) and around $50,000 in whatever the modern American equivalent of traveller's cheques are.*

So they'll have to stop at a bank and possibly a lawyer's office (who'd have been briefed the day before on the need for accessing offshore funds in the US) if the two vehicles are likely to cost more than $18,000. The rest of the cultists landing in Dallas on other flights over the next hour or two will each carry around $9,000 in cash as well and at least one of them will also have access to millions in offshore accounts, as well as carrying an array of credit cards, but in my experience, international bank transfers are too slow to be helpful here.

And I don't believe a private individual selling a car at a car show or advertising online through Craigslist or Facebook could accept credit cards, so their practical limit for how much they can offer is how much cash they have and how much money they can access locally in no more than a couple of hours. So, minimum $52,000 cash if they wait for everyone to get in before paying, with whatever else they can get through ATMs and a US lawyer briefed on Friday night (considering that most banks are probably closed from Friday night until Monday morning, that might be little enough, unless there exists an electronic equivalent to traveller's cheques handy for their purposes).

The cultists landing in Houston will also carry cash, but will probably use credit cards to rent cars, ideally TL7 ones from the company Varyon so kindly found. A TL7 black hearse would be amazing as a vehicle for carrying comatose potential sacrifices. None of them has much personal wealth according to tax records, but they'll have access to offshore accounts and prepared for their trip by getting credit cards and possibly whatever the modern equivalent is to traveller's cheques.

*What might those be, actually? If you have a bank account in South America full of money and want to bring $50,000 of it to the US on short notice, what is the best way?

Could you access a $50,000 money order made on a Friday the following Saturday somehow?

Maybe stored-value cards like FreedomPay?

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Icelander

If you have a bank account in South America full of money and want to bring $50,000 of it to the US on short notice, what is the best way?

Cirrus. Back when my credit union was part of the Cirrus network I could stick my card into an ATM in California and withdraw US cash from my Australian account. And they didn't screw me as badly on the exchange rate as bureaux de change tried.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Cirrus. Back when my credit union was part of the Cirrus network I could stick my card into an ATM in California and withdraw US cash from my Australian account. And they didn't screw me as badly on the exchange rate as bureaux de change tried.

Thanks.

Do you know if there are any limits involved that would prohibit withdrawing $50,000 in an hour or so?

Do typical ATMs even have that much cash at the ready?

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Do you know if there are any limits involved that would prohibit withdrawing $50,000 in an hour or so?

One bank I checked had a default limit of $800 per day but will let you arrange $2,000 per day. Another will allow up to $3,000 per day on domestic accounts and $2,000 per day on overseas accounts.

Do typical ATMs even have that much cash at the ready?

Varies, depending on the usual traffic at a given ATM. Some ATMs at busy (and secure) bank branches are loaded up with $200,000 on Friday afternoon to get through to Monday. The ones in small shopping centres and coastal villages have no call for so much cash.