Tsuiraku-town, part 3

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Sareth
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Re: Tsuiraku-town, part 3

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Graybeard wrote:"So what was a highly attractive woman like you doing in a backwater like Rinkaiel?" the junior mage (not that junior; he had to be at least thirty) asked Jasmine Porter, as the airship lifted off.
Jasmine blinked in surprise, then smiled to the young man. "Getting out of it," she laughed. "Seriously, though, I'm looking for someone."

[OOC]Oops! Didn't see this before. Sorry that took so long.[/OOC]
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Re: Tsuiraku-town, part 3

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OOC Sorry for the lull in posting lately guys. I'll try to get something up tomorrow. Not a whole lot with my characters to do atm to be honest./OOC
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Re: Tsuiraku-town, part 3

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[OOC:
Jack Rothwell wrote:OOC Sorry for the lull in posting lately guys. I'll try to get something up tomorrow. Not a whole lot with my characters to do atm to be honest./OOC

Yeah, there's a little bit of a problem in this thread in that the remaining characters are off doing their own things, not interacting with each other, and not having an obvious threat to deal with now that the Tsuirakuan rebels have been dealt a defeat. I'm getting an idea to fix that, but it'll take a little time to develop. If you can temporize just a little longer, some entertainment will be coming ... /OOC:]


Layla was continuing to do fine-detail work on the ice sculpture of her son, and to agonize internally over reconciling her Wraithdom with being a vintner, mommy and now mage, when a magical chime announced that there was someone at the laboratory's door. Puzzlement crossed Galina's features. "Strange. I wasn't expecting anybody else today. Keep doing what you're doing while I answer that, I'll be right back."

Standing at the door was a very peculiar figure, a young woman in the distinctive outfit of a priestess of the Temple of the Divine Dwarf. [OOC: She's been seen before; refer back to that thread, which was designed to hook her up with a player character who left the game before it could happen, for more information. /OOC:] Galina was relieved that she didn't start on the usual "The Dwarves Love You" rigamarole, but rather, got straight to the point. "I am Joli, daughter of Reverend Orpiment. We have been told that you might be able to help us with a little matter of thaumato-forensics."

----------

"Seriously, though, I'm looking for someone."

The apprentice arch-mage either didn't understand what Jasmine had said, or chose to misinterpret it.

"I would think that such an attractive woman as yourself should have very little trouble finding what she's looking for. Might an accomplished magic user be of service in your search? Or might you be looking for such a personage -- one who happens to find you particularly enticing, and isn't all that bad looking himself, if I do say so?" He raised an eyebrow suggestively...
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Re: Tsuiraku-town, part 3

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"You're cute, but don't push it," Jasmine smiled. "You're laying it on a little thick." She leaned back in her chair. "I'm looking for my daughter and granddaughter. They're went off on the lamb and I aim to bring them back home where they'll be happy."
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Re: Tsuiraku-town, part 3

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Leo found Barker Lane some twenty minutes after his meeting with Liepzeller. The guild he'd been informed of stood on one of the southernmost streets in Rinkaiel, next to one of the town's several entrances. The merc stood a moment and cast his eyes up and down the length of the street; Leo might not have been the brightest star in the nebula but the chance that Liepzeller was setting him up for a trap had still presented itself as a possibility in his mind. After all, a crooked law enforcer wasn't someone you could trust not to stab you in the back. A minute passed with nothing setting off the warning bells in the young man's head. He stepped towards the building.

The guild itself was a fairly non-descript affair. A three floor building that looked as if it might've started out life as a travel agency. Old paint was cracked and peeling away from the walls whose only guard was an unshaven and tired looking man Leo didn't recognise. The lightly armoured and black haired individual was currently halfway up a ladder and struggling with a faded sign that hung awkwardly over the front door.

"Excuse me?"

"Just a moment." He man yanked and cursed with the sign, then took a deep breath and gave the thing a ferocious pull. It came away with a screech of twisting metal and dropped to the street. The man gave a cry of alarm and jumped off the ladder, at the same time Leo's reflexes took over and moved him out the way, sparing him a broken ankle in the process.

Once the echo died away the man gave the merc an apologetic smile and held out a hand.

"Sorry about that. The old bastard got in this morning and he's been nagging all of us to tidy the place up. Name's Adelbert Gotzen, just call me Bert, everyone does."

"Leo Landau." He took the man''s hand and shook it. "Don't recognise you. You new?"

"Sure am. The Captain recruited me three weeks ago, picked me out of a training ground in Lorrel."

"Well glad to have you on board Bert. Is the old bastard in?"

"He is. He's waiting for you. Told me to let you in as a matter of fact."

"Well I'd best not keep him waiting then."

Leo stepped inside the building, squinting slightly at the drop in light. He turned around to say something else to Bert, an inane joke of some kind which was his speciality in all likelyhood, but was met with the sight of the door closing, followed by the sound of a key turning in the lock a moment later.

"What the-"

Before another word got past his lips a noise behind him killed the sentence.

It was the sound of a sword being drawn.
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Re: Tsuiraku-town, part 3

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC Sorry for the double. But I've been planning this one for a while. BTW, if there are any new merc-like players roaming around this would be an opportune time to join./OOC

Leo wheeled around and saw a slightly built figure standing a dozen feet away from him. The woman, judging from the way the leather armour she wore was molded to her figure, was carrying a pair of shortswords in a way that suggested she hadn't drawn them to pick her teeth. Even though there was just enough light to see her clearly a black bandanna was tied firmly across the lower half of her face which left nothing but a generous pair of eyes fixed unblinkingly upon him. The merc drew his own weapon instinctively and tried to weigh up his odds.

"Look, I don't know who you are but you've got the wrong-"

She charged, Leo rolled out the way just in time as the pair of swords bit into the ground he'd been standing on a split-second earlier. The woman was as quick as a hummingbird, and closing the gap with a flurry of strikes that put the merc in mind of being attacked by a swarm of wasps. Leo, no slouch in a fight but no master swordsman either, was forced into a rapid, parrying retreat that took them across the room to the bottom of a flight of stairs leading to the second floor. With nowhere else to go, the merc double-feigned and broke into a run, the splintering of wooden steps marking his progress.

He fled up a second flight, passing cabinets, grisly hunting trophies and locked doors with the woman chasing closely behind and swiping at him. The top floor was a wide open area, dominated by a large desk in it's centre with a large leather chair pointing to the wall behind it and not much else. There was certainly no convienient window to bail out of. Leo turned on his heels to face his pursuer just as a voice spoke up from the chair.

"Alright. That's enough."

The woman halted immediately. Actually taking a playful skip backwards before she yanked down her disguise. Leo recognised her immediately and realised the joke was on him.

The lady in question was, of course, Eve. Another long-term employee of Rufus Lamenter who'd built a sibling-like relationship with Leo brought on by years of working together. In terms of pranks they'd played on each other though, this was a new one. She wore an unabashed grin on her youthful features.

Leo shook his head in disbelief and seathed his sword. Turning to the owner of the voice who, no surprise, was Rufus. The chair wheeled around (with what the merc felt was a touch of unnecessary drama) and the young man found himself facing a much older one with a thin, scarred and grey-haired face. The Old Bastard was smiling too, creases deepening around his one good eye.

"You're late, lad."
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Re: Tsuiraku-town, part 3

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The Lorrel-bound mage's demeanor changed abruptly as he digested what he'd just heard. I was trying to pick up a grandmother?...

The airship droned south, with one row of seats rather more silent than they'd been at the start of the flight.

-----------

Layla overheard the conversation between Galina and "Joli" with mild alarm. She was pretty sure she knew exactly who had made that surgical strike at the Temple of the Divine Dwarf, and more importantly, why they'd done it. Getting involved in an investigation of that would not turn out well. However, she couldn't exactly horn in on the business being transacted at the front of the laboratory, at least not right now. She made a mental note to do everything she could to dissuade her friend from sticking her nose into Kitaura's business ... but first, there was an ice sculpture to finish.
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Re: Tsuiraku-town, part 3

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"You're late, lad."

Leo cast an annoyed look back at the young woman as the old man in the chair greeted him. Eve, who looked a hundred times sweeter than she actually was, favoured her team mate with a grin befitting a naughty child who knows they've gotten away with something. Leo rolled his eyes and faced his employer.

"I only got your message half an hour ago and I would've arrived earlier if I hadn't been attacked by that psycopath." A thought occured to him. "By the way, when did you get this building?"

"Two days ago, and we're renting it." Came Rufus' gruff reply. "We're well funded enough for that at least, I assume you have something of interest to tell me?"

Leo did. He grabbed another chair, planted himself and spent the next several minutes telling the old man about his experiences of the last few days, taking particular care to inform him of the potential threat the tsuirakuan rebels presented, when he was finished he found the old craving for a smoke tugging at his sleeve. It was probably stress. Rufus leaned back in the chair, methodically weighing up the information before responding.

"Do you have any idea when an attack'll be coming?"

"No sir."

"Then maybe we're best steering clear of the situation."

Leo grimaced. "Jade see's things differently."

"I'm sure she does, and I'll be happy to debate the issue with her if it comes to that. Let her know, would you?"

Rufus stood and took his leave without another word, Leo felt a touch of depression as he saw the halting steps the man took. Only three years ago the Captain had been a formidable bastard, certainly no-one you'd want to get into a fight with. Now arthritis was attacking his hip with the ferocity of a wild animal, his hair was whiter, thinner, and even a minute tremble had creeped into his voice that had previously been as unshakable as an iron post. It was sad; Rufus Lamenter had gotten old.
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Re: Tsuiraku-town, part 3

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Galina let out a low whistle as she saw what Layla had been doing while she was talking to the weird priestess. "That's beautiful!"

Layla made modest noises, but truthfully, she was pretty proud of what she'd done. She had turned the ice into a remarkably lifelike sculpture of her son, complete with his favorite little stuffed-animal toy. And she'd done it all with her mind. Maybe I could turn into a mage yet ... instead of ...

She changed the subject. "What did you work out with 'Sister Joli'?" she asked.

"Oh, I'll go over there after we finish," her friend answered. "Thaumato-forensics isn't my specialty, of course, but I've done a bit of it, and I can probably help them. If I can't do anything myself, I know some people at the mission who are better at it than I am."

And Kitaura will have a fit if you go talk to them. I can't let that happen. "I don't know, if they wanted official involvement, they'd have gone straight to the consulate," she opined. Then she had an inspiration. "Look. There are some people who work for us at the vineyard who have some skills with fire magic." That seemed like as good a euphemism for what had been done to the Yuuki staff as anything. "We're hoping they can forge us some advanced equipment we can use during harvest season." That too was true enough, even if the "advanced equipment" was exotic weaponry rather than something for tending the vines. Of course, whether Leo and Jade would go along with the assessment that they were "working for" Layla and Faye was an open question, but one couldn't have everything... "Maybe we can pay a call on them after the lessons and see if they're interested. They're new in town and could use some paying gigs."

Layla wasn't sure how this rather lame idea was going to go over, but she was surprised to see a look of relief cross Galina's face. "You may be right. Truthfully, I don't want to get too deeply into the affairs of the Temple of the Divine Dwarf. They creep me out."

You don't know the half of it, Layla thought as the lessons resumed.

[OOC, and mainly a note to JR: This is a mildly contrived attempt to get our characters interacting again. No need to rush with that, but I think it would be helpful to get cooperation happening so we can revitalize this thread. Got any other ideas?]
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Re: Tsuiraku-town, part 3

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC If it's one thing a blacksmith loves, its a commission.../OOC

Jade stopped her work and lifted an already damp rag to wipe her forehead. She'd been lost in the rhythm of her job for the last thirty minutes and now woke up to herself with the air of a woman coming out of a trance. The second mana-rifle, although still unfinished, had taken on much of the shape of its predecessor. It lay on the workbench in front of her, barrel open in a lazy L-shape, still crackling faintly as its power source shut down. She went to the desk where Leo had sat earlier copying her notes, and rolled herself a ciggarette with stiff fingers. There'd be a fresh set of blisters on her hands by the evening if she was any judge. She pulled a match out of her pocket, lit the white cylinder and inhaled gratefully.

She let her mind wander, it drifted to the possibility of setting up a forge somewhere and kicking the mercenary business in the head altogether. The idea had an attraction, not being shot at was a definite plus, making money doing something she loved to do was another. Of course, Leo would have to factor into that equation somewhere as well... and then... what? A house in the country? Kids?

Jade snorted laughter and smoke and shook her head at the image. Three years and change of wandering back and forth across the country had beaten a lot of sentimentality out of her, giving her in return a desire to get involved with things, maybe even right a wrong or two. If she'd ever heard the term 'good karma' she'd have jumped on it for a description of what she wanted.

She ground the stub into the ashtray Leo had set out for her (considerate, charming bastard that he was) and resumed the rhythm, wondering briefly what was taking him so damn long.
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