Kiyoka

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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Graybeard
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Re: Kiyoka

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: Well done. :lol: I didn't, and don't, have a solution for this in mind, so let's see what develops... /OOC]

"I'm not sure what to do now," Sister Rose agreed. "It may be best to sleep on this one. I'll seek some advice at the mission. And just in case you were thinking it, no, my polymorph magic doesn't extend to going transgendered." Argus' expression was unreadable, which was probably just as well.

"But let me try one thing. I don't want to go back to the mission looking like ... what I'm about to look like; I want to preserve enough mana to change back to something ... respectable. That would leave me pretty well used up if anything came along in the compound, so this is just to get you thinking for tomorrow. Come over here." She tugged Argus' arm, pulling him toward an alley. Argus resisted for a moment, wondering what passersby might think, then realized there weren't any passersby, and that he didn't give a damn anyway.

"Okay, here goes," Rose said, and her eyes glowed again, with a hint of a grimace ...

Argus gaped.

Standing before him was a tall, gristly woman -- at least he thought it was still a woman -- in a severe, form-fitting gray uniform bearing the logo "Church Militant" on its sleeves. Short-cropped black hair poked from under a peaked cap with a skull-and-crossbones insignia at the front. The gray pants were tucked into knee-length leather boots. In one gloved hand, Sister Rose held a riding crop; in the other, a large dog collar. What looked like a whip was tucked into her waistband. Rose's normally sensitive, serene face was gaunt to the point of emaciation and drawn up in a sneer. She had what appeared to be a saber scar on one cheek.

And green eyes.

"Vell, vat do you tink?" Rose asked, in a voice that could shatter glass.
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Drannin
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Re: Kiyoka

Post by Drannin »

(OOC: I'm trying to restrain myself from collapsing with laughter here. Let's see what we can do with this...)

Argus stared. "I think I'm going to have nightmares tonight," he said, only half joking. Actually, more like a quarter. He sighed. "I think I'm getting a plan here." He eyed the dog collar warily. "A game of good-cop, bad-cop might be in order." Argus looked at Sister Rose and held back a flinch. "You'd be the bad cop."

"Ja, I thought as much," Sister...... Madame Rose intoned. Argus noticed a smirk and felt that the woman was enjoying this FAR too much.

"And I suppose I'll be the good cop," he said wearily. "The polite investigator counterpart to the terrifying militant battleaxe." He hesitated. "No offense."

"None taken."

Argus stared off into the middle distance. "And if all goes well, I'll get the good commander to take a liking to me..." he trailed off. Looked at Madame Rose. "How exactly am I suppose to sed... se... sedooooo..... charm... another man??" he hissed in bewilderment. The 's' word wouldn't quite come out. Argus' face took on an expression of vague horror.

"What do I do if I succeed?!"
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Graybeard
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Re: Kiyoka

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: Sorry if this disappoints you, but there's a reason to rein things in a little here ... entirely separate from the possibility of getting banned by Impy. Truly. /OOC:]

"What do I do if I succeed?!"

"I vouldn't know. Ve vill crrrross dat brrrridge ven ve kome to it," Sister Rose spat, every "r" rolled and every word enunciated with precision and dripping with malice. "And now, you vill exkuse me..." She didn't say if you will excuse me, of course; it would have been out of character. The harsh green eyes glowed again ...

... And Rose's original, ethereal form returned in all its glory. However, there was fatigue around the beautiful woman's amazing eyes. "Whew. I'm pretty well wiped out. I'm going to have to stay with this one, and go back to the mission and take a good nap. Let's take the back route; people on the main road might remember you walking with your, ahem, 'wife,' and besides, that Mesuinu girl is out there somewhere..."
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LordofNightmares
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Re: Kiyoka

Post by LordofNightmares »

"And if you can see Magic then you should be able to see past that grand display on the roofs," Tsubasa said as she walked around Kureji "but enough of that before you ask me why I am here, I want to know what bring you here?"

I like to keep all my options open, never know when you need some one out side to let you know what is really going on. she thought to her self. thought this one might be help if her, if she does not blow me up.
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Re: Kiyoka

Post by Graybeard »

As Argus and Sister Rose strolled back toward the mission, Brother Farley came trotting up to them, breathless and cheerful. "I thought that looked like you," Rose said. "Any news?"

"Well, Kristi and I are going to a play tonight," he said, trying unsuccessfully to keep the excitement out of his voice. Rose and Argus had the same thought: Hm -- so it's gone from "Corporal Yugawa" to "Kristi." "After that, we're going to --"

Rose cut him off gently. "Well, that sounds very nice, but I meant news about the investigation. Did she have any more insights into what is going on there?"

Looking somewhat abashed, as though telling stories out of school, Farley said, "Not much, really. She says this Captain Kitaura -- she doesn't like him at all, by the way -- is personally blocking all attempts by his underlings to get more involved with our mission and what happened there. She doesn't know why, but she says it's clear that he doesn't like the mission, or Veracia in general, very much. She says he keeps a picture in his office of some ancestor of his that was killed in the Mage and Priest Wars, almost like it's a shrine, he practically worships the thing. I got the impression that she thought there was more to it than that, though, but she didn't know what it is."

"Interesting," Rose said. "This Captain Kitaura hasn't been on the scene very long. He replaced some earlier man whose name I can't remember, after he became ... involved ... with my own predecessor, Sister Agnes. (Speaking of whom, she's due any day now.) Possibly the Tsuirakuans felt burned by that display of ... camaraderie ... and decided to err on the side of caution. I wouldn't blame them... Did Kristi have anything to say about the dead battlemage?"

"Not much more than what we all heard," Farley said. "They're surprisingly disinterested in Private Ryono himself, or at least Captain Kitaura is. There's some grumbling among the enlisted people about that, apparently, but nobody is willing to make a stink about it. I think they're all scared of Kitaura.

"As for how he got killed, they know he was shooting at something overhead, and his Yuuki staff triggered a lightning bolt. That's nothing new, according to Kristi, and it's one reason why they're not pressing about Ryono -- evidently he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. The question is, what was he shooting at? They've found some strangely large footprints on the rooftops of buildings close to the mission, they have a lifemage running some analyses on samples from those but haven't heard back yet. Second, there's a fairly credible report of a robed figure doing a feather fall off a roof not too long before we got together for lunch. And then there was some weird mass hallucination while we were eating that we didn't go investigate; we were enjoying ourselves too much," he added honestly, with a slight blush.

They were almost back to the mission now. Rose said, "Well, let's continue this conversation inside. But before we go in, tell me more about this play that you and Kristi are going to." Although the Kiyoka mission was more ... accepting ... about certain things than some other branches of the Veracian Church, there were still some rather straight-laced nuns and priests around; why scandalize them unnecessarily?

"It's called 'An Elf Princess in Farrel,'" Farley said. Rose and Argus exchanged a look, and Rose said, "I've heard of it. But isn't it rather ... risque?"

"Maybe," Farley admitted, "but Kristi wants to see it. And if you think I'm going to be shocked by anything I see there, let me just give you a two-word answer: Mrs. Tenorio."

"Point..."
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Drannin
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Re: Kiyoka

Post by Drannin »

Argus coughed. "This is a fair amount to take in," he mentioned to the two of them. "I'd like to take some time to set up some lodgings for tonight, and think about what we've learned today." He was also quite eager to figure out a way to get some information out of Kitaura without being... overly friendly... with the man. Actually, Argus thought he'd be doing some serious brainstorming.

"Still, I'd like to know more about these footprints on the rooftops that were discovered... Shall we meet up later? And can you recommend a nice, affordable inn to me?"

Preferably one with a well-stocked bar.
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Re: Kiyoka

Post by Graybeard »

"The footprints are an interesting development," Brother Farley mused to Argus, as Sister Rose headed off to her chambers for some sleep. "I wonder: do you suppose there might be footprints on our roof? None of us thought to check on the roof after the wall went down. Maybe we should have." He motioned to a novice who was passing by. "Benji, could you do two errands for us? First, see if you can locate a ladder; we'd like to go up on the roof and I don't want to use a climbing spell, out of courtesy to our guest. Second, pass by the Happy Wanderer and ask them to save a room for Dr. Cleiviein. They do a lot of business with us, they're a good operation, and they probably have some vacancies after the Veracian tourists went home early." The teenager nodded and trotted off.

"He's a remarkable boy," Farley observed as Benji went out the door. "I assume that you've heard about Sister Marilyn and the work she has been doing up in the, er, entertainment district. Benji is one of her finds. He was living on the street when the mission first opened, very disagreeable circumstances, hand to mouth and worse. She got some warm food into him and some warm clothing onto him, invited him to a service, and he liked what he heard so much that he went from early parishioner to our very first home-grown novice. He's still a bit, shall we say, shaky on some of our doctrine and ceremonies, but he's highly enthusiastic and works hard, and he'll learn the doctrinal part soon enough. We could use a lot more like him.

"While we're waiting for him to get back with the ladder, let's figure out what we'll do when we get up on the roof. Do you have anything in your arsenal of spells that might be useful for doing some analysis up there?" The two men talked spellcraft until Benji reappeared with a ladder over his shoulder.

---------------

After receiving thanks from Farley and Argus, Benji headed up the street for the Happy Wanderer. En route he noticed some odd goings-on: a sidewalk strewn with flowers and something foul-smelling outside the Happy Eater, debris from a Temple of the Divine Dwarf that had had its steeple blown off somehow and was being inspected by some battlemages, two oddly-dressed young women (was that a fox mask the one was wearing?) arguing in a doorway. They weren't his problem, though, so he kept going to the Happy Wanderer, where he reserved a room for the guest. This done, however, he didn't head straight back to the mission, but rather continued on up the street ...

... to the Homeland Security compound.
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Re: Kiyoka

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Kureji stood her ground against the girl, obviously an agent of Springheel Jack. "I have been sent to seek vengeance for the murder of an innocent, and to bring a foul abomination to justice. I am Kureji Mesuinu, daughter of Saiko, heiress to the House of Atama Gaokashii."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a sheet of papers. "Also, I'm looking for a job. If you'd hear of any openings, let me know. I graduated the Suchu Dentoapashi Community Mage College second in my class with specialties in demolition, explosives, and hypothetical alchemy."
How could a plan this awesome possibly fail?
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Re: Kiyoka

Post by LordofNightmares »

"Also, I'm looking for a job. If you'd hear of any openings, let me know. I graduated the Suchu Dentoapashi Community Mage College second in my class with specialties in demolition, explosives, and hypothetical alchemy."

"Strange I am here looking for work, I am the Heir to the Name Shade, My job is assassinations, bounty hunting." Tsubasa said taking off her Kitsune mask showing her bright green eyes "and I am looking for a book written by the first Shade about 2000 yrs ago."
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Drannin
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Re: Kiyoka

Post by Drannin »

Argus pondered the rooftop footprints while waiting for the ladder. "There might be something I could do... communing with spirits with elementals and spirits was a secondary skill of mine. It comes in awfully handy when manipulating nonliving matter." It also lets me use one of my favorite spells, but never mind that for now...

"Basically, any object has a slight magical aura to it," Argus explained, going into lecture mode. "By harmonizing with that aura, I'm able to manipulate matter. Using some divinatory magic, I can harmonize more fully, not so much creating golems, but 'awakening' the object, if you will, to take some sort of action. The walking chair is a classic example. Of course, the effect only lasts as long as I'm actually concentrating on it, and I can only focus on so many things at once."

"What is more germane to our situation," Argus continued, "Is that I can use some basic divinatory magic to pull impressions from material. Almost a form of object reading..." he trailed off as he realized that Farley was getting a glazed look in his eye. "Er... sorry. I wasn't trying to lecture." Argus flushed, embarrassed. His wife had used to tell him that she found 'lecture mode' sexy, which had led to some very interesting nights... Until-

Weave, stop thinking about it. It's in the past. Move on. Focus.

"To summarize, I can pull off a variant of object reading," said Argus. "But don't expect much. Divination isn't my strong suit, and there's only so much bricks can tell you anyway. They're less than scintillating conversationalists." He paused. "Still more interesting than just about any politician, though."
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