Rinkaiel

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.
Locked
4uk4ata
Errant Scholar
Posts: 153
Joined: August 2nd, 2009, 4:25 am

Re: Rinkaiel

Post by 4uk4ata »

I look back at the fence to make sure I avoid any other surprises, then lean back on it. I am still a little dizzy, I guess. I know - or at least am pretty certain - that Vikor is somehow to blame for that. I wish I knew why, but it does not really matter all that much. Then I remember... what if he came around to make sure I really was dead?

I hear footsteps, and I don't have time to hide. I growl to Sharo to lie in wait and then slump to the ground, trying to play dead. I think I am quite good at this - I had a fair bit of practice. If that bastard gets close enough, I will feed him whatever hangs from his scrotum. I lie with my face down to one side and my breath held. I sense, then hear hurried and careful footsteps. That guy is one sneaky bastard. I pray to Luminosita he doesn't decide to play it safe and kill me from a distance. I hear Sharo's quiet nervous whine. Strange - and then an unknown male voice says, quietly "Hell, what happened here?"

Well, I never was much for deception anyway. I turn over, and say, "Who are you and why do you blas..? ... Oh. You were with that woman, right?" I am still lying on one side, hoping that we have not attracted further attention. "do you see someone else nearby?"
Image
AdamZero
Mage/Priest War Veteran
Posts: 400
Joined: August 15th, 2008, 5:04 am
Location: Behind the guy on the left of the thing over there

Re: Rinkaiel

Post by AdamZero »

I was started to get a little bored just sitting around and doing nothing but counting how many people passed up and down the deck, forty to twenty-five.

"We should have stayed with Grandma, right, Nera?" I tickled her chin. She giggled in her sleep and clutched at my robe. Whatever was going on in the office wasn't hostile, noone inside had done anything remotely aggressive, for better or worse.

"I wonder what the rest of our gang's up too..."
"Now he's gone too far. NOONE ATTACKS AMERICA'S FOOD COURTS!" -Deadpool.
"Don't be so naive. I've got ulterior motives. MANY. Two, maybe three. Probably Four. I am one BIG ulterior motive." The Great Teacher, Onizuka Eikichi.
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Rinkaiel

Post by Graybeard »

"Hell! What happened here?" Joe said as he reached Kalin.

"Who are you and why do you blas..? ... Oh. You were with that woman, right? Do you see someone else nearby?"

Faye had been extracting the small single-shot pistol that Layla had built into the frame of the baby backpack (I wish I'd thought of that when I was her age, she thought ruefully), and now she came trotting over to where the men were, Zachary bobbing along in the carrier and thinking it great fun. "I think we're alone," she puffed. "At least I don't see this man Vikor. So like he says: what happened here?"

---------

"Mind magic?" Layla echoed.

Kinabalu nodded. "Telepathy, lie detection, that kind of thing," he said. "Your aptitude for it isn't as great as for the body magic; you're certainly never going to be able to get inside people's heads and throw switches the way the elves are supposed to be able to. Of course, we Tsuirakuans can't do that either. Anyway, you might be able to learn a few useful spells in that area, maybe even some that go beyond the basics."

Layla was beginning to see possibilities...

---------

"We have one little problem with proceeding on that possible arrangement," Gryffyd said. "We seem to have lost track of your mother."

---------

The two men who'd been watching Marcus and Nera hadn't lost track of Jasmine, however.
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
User avatar
Viking-Sensei
Evil Admin Overlord
Posts: 1193
Joined: August 14th, 2007, 12:18 pm
Twitter @: Kallisti_x
Location: Vikingopolis, USA
Contact:

Re: Rinkaiel

Post by Viking-Sensei »

Lucas' side trip to the bank had taken a fair bit longer than he anticipated... during his time in the wilderness he'd lost all touch with the news, and apparently in the interim of their journey there'd apparently been some sort of armed conflict between Veracia and Tsuiraku... sort of, anyway... that played out in southern Farrel. However, fortunately for him, the Bank of Tsuiraku had a couple of Tsuirakan crystal-net vid screens hooked up, and his time in line gave Lucas a more-than-ample chance to see all the footage of the awesome action they'd missed.

A couple of days ago, a gigantic ancient Veracian War Golem (modeled, no doubt, after some equally horrible Tsuirakan golems) left over from the Mage/Priest Wars had washed - or rather, stomped - ashore in southern Farrel and had been making it's way steadily inland. It was on a direct vector towards Tsuirakushiti, which unfortunately for Farrel, meant that it was going to be walking over/through two or three fairly densely populated districts. Tsuiraku was about to officially lend their military strength to Farrel, when... and the news anchors were having a field day with this... a dragon showed up and started fighting the golem. Between the dragon and a few local Farrellian hedge mages who'd shown up, they had managed to neutralize the golem, which was now being confiscated by the Farrellians for "research".

Of course, Veracian officials claimed to know nothing about any official projects to ever build a weapon of mass destruction, let alone to keep it after the accords following the Mage/Priest Wars. This statement, of course, was tempered by the fact that the Golem kept playing "Battle Hymn of Luminosita" over it's own built-in PA system... Tsuiraku had, naturally, fired back with allegations of secret Veracian arms projects, all the while denying rumors that after the fight the "dragon" had transformed into a girl in a Tsuirakan school uniform and apparently 'wandered off' before any sort of official inquiry could take place. And of course, neither Tsuiraku nor Veracia were happy that Farrellian forces had confiscated the golem.

Politics as usual, apparently.

The outcome of this intense intercontinental drama, however, was that there'd been a rush on the Bank of Tsuiraku here in Rinkaiel, and Lucas had been caught in line behind several ex-pats who were either still removing or now sheepishly returning the large sums of money they'd withdrawn in the face of their funds being cut off. Still, after about six laps around the velvet-roped room and listening to the obese elderly woman in front of him baby-talk her poor familiar, one of those nervous-looking dog types with the huge eyes, Lucas finally managed to get a good chunk of change back into his posession.

He then rented a couple of suites from an inexpensive-but-quality hotel near the edge of the beach, left a set of room keys with Ayiee, and went to go re-introduce himself to his local Seeadler contacts to see what he could find out about mysterious sinking ships that don't stay sunk.
How could a plan this awesome possibly fail?
Image
User avatar
Sareth
RPG All-Star
Posts: 2604
Joined: August 23rd, 2007, 8:54 pm

Re: Rinkaiel

Post by Sareth »

"Mother?"

I was out the door in a flash. "MARCUS!"
Image
Image
AdamZero
Mage/Priest War Veteran
Posts: 400
Joined: August 15th, 2008, 5:04 am
Location: Behind the guy on the left of the thing over there

Re: Rinkaiel

Post by AdamZero »

"Jamie!" I responded, as Jamie came running out of the office, a few of the men who led her in following close.
"WAAAAAAAAAAH" went Nera, waking up. Jamie relayed the situation, which was, vaguely, that these people had been watching me and Jasmine, and now Jasmine wasn't visible anymore.

"Aw crap." I grumbled, and Nera gurlged and laughed as she agreed in her own way. I handed her to Jamie before we set off, not having a damn clue as to where to start looking.
"Now he's gone too far. NOONE ATTACKS AMERICA'S FOOD COURTS!" -Deadpool.
"Don't be so naive. I've got ulterior motives. MANY. Two, maybe three. Probably Four. I am one BIG ulterior motive." The Great Teacher, Onizuka Eikichi.
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Rinkaiel

Post by Graybeard »

"Oh, dear," Gryffyd said to the Seeadler man who remained in the room, as the other two took off after Jamie. "I wasn't expecting that strong a reaction."

The other man chuckled. "You shoulda seen 'em fightin' at the bar. Couldn't really work out any other way. If they'd been ignorin' each other, things would be different."

"I suppose. Well, get them both back here and let's continue this."

---------

"What are we followin' her for?" Weed said. "She ain't the job." Jasmine had wandered into one of the numerous shops along the waterfront, looking for Luminosita alone knew what.

"No, she ain't," Fritz answered, "but they'll get back together soon enough. The fish know we're lookin' for Jamie. This way, they might not know we're on th' trail." The two Gewehr men settled back to wait.

---------

"What else does mind magic let you do?" Layla said.

Kinabalu gave her a sharp look. "It doesn't let you do anything," he said. "It helps you do things. Never lose sight of the difference. If you do, magic will eat you alive."

Layla remembered the aftermath of the encounter with Barb, shuddered, apologized. The Tsuirakuan continued, "There are other mind spells. Translation is a useful one. Some mages can make people fall asleep." Layla pondered how that might be useful; in addition to "professional" applications, there might be some things to be gained involving an occasionally fussy child ...

"This all sounds very interesting," she said. "I'm really looking forward to getting started on the lessons, but for now, we're just getting introduced. As soon as Joe and my mother come back, we'll go house hunting, then be back in a week or two."

Speaking of which, where were Joe and Faye? They'd been out a little longer than expected.
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
4uk4ata
Errant Scholar
Posts: 153
Joined: August 2nd, 2009, 4:25 am

Re: Rinkaiel

Post by 4uk4ata »

hary bobbing along in the carrier and thinking it great fun. "I think we're alone," she puffed. "At least I don't see this man Vikor. So like he says: what happened here?"

I stiffle an overwhelming urge to curse as the young woman and the - child - come here. "I'd love to tell you, miss, but I'm not so sure myself. I was crouching to fix a fencepost - Vikor told me it was loose, then got burning like Lum'nosita himself filled me with liquid brim... brum... eh, fire, then I wake up lying on my back, hurting like a bull stomped me. I found this strange thing though... must be some thrice-dam... uh, darned witchery" I say, my voice still raspy. I show them the strange stone-thingy. Maybe they will know what it is... though by the way their faces go, I'm not sure I want to know. I sigh and prop myself up. My knees are kinda wobbly, but they will get the job done. I've been through worse, I guess.
Image
User avatar
Sareth
RPG All-Star
Posts: 2604
Joined: August 23rd, 2007, 8:54 pm

Re: Rinkaiel

Post by Sareth »

Oblivious, Jasmine was haranguing the poor shop keeper of the establishment into which she had wandered.

"Don't be rediculous! This is barely worth HALF as much as you're asking! My dead husband, Luminosita rest his soul, would roll over in his grave, and probably give me a good smiting if I paid anything even close to that!"

The shopkeeper seemed unswayed. "You have my condolences, but the price won't be dropped just because you're worried about a ghost abusing your flesh."

Jasmine pouted a little, then smiled. "Would you lower the price if I offered to let you do a little abusing?"

The man's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "You... wha... What?"

"Oh, nothing," Jasmine laughed. "I was joking." Mostly. "Still, your price is far too high. I'm asking to purchase bottles, formula, and diapers for my grand daughter, not a seven course meal for a prince."

"Look, ma'am," the proprietor sighed. "I can tell by your accent that you aren't from around here, so let me explain. You're on the north side of the channel. The only way for us to get anything here, it has to come in by sea or airship. And in order for that to happen it has to get past more pirates than you care to shake a stick at. That means either paying them off, or paying for good escorts. And that raises the price, see?"

"Oh, pooh!" Jasmine exclaimed. She pulled off her pack and rummaged around, bending down good and low to let the neckline of her shirt plunge rather nicely. "I'm not sure I can afford that," she whined.

The man shifted around a little, his attempt to position himself for a better look less subtle than he thought. "Perhaps I could knock the price down ten percent," he said.

"You'll do NO SUCH THING!" a screechy female voice called. Jasmine stood upright once again, having found her money pouch to find the proprietor backpeddling with a "little boy caught" expression on his face as a battle axe of a woman glared at him from the door to the back room. "I swear, Jotenth Plunbottom Hochimier, if I catch you offering reduced prices to any more hussies I will haul you to the smitings myself!"

"Yes dear..." the proprietor mumbled, then held out his hand.

Sighing, Jasmine handed over the price, collecting up the baby supplies, and turned to walk out of the store. She was stopped just short of the threshold, however, when something caught her eye. "Is that a 'Child Tracking Bracelet?'"

"Uh, yeah. Good for a range of up to 25 miles, and guaranteed not to come off without the parental control code word."

Jasmine smiled. "How much?"
Image
Image
AdamZero
Mage/Priest War Veteran
Posts: 400
Joined: August 15th, 2008, 5:04 am
Location: Behind the guy on the left of the thing over there

Re: Rinkaiel

Post by AdamZero »

One of the people who'd called Jamie out here had caught up with us, not hard considering the crowd density, and told us to come back. I swore under my breath, but it's not like I was going to find Jasmine in the crowd anyway.

Of course he requested Jamie change Nera's diapers before they returned to the office.

"Okay, maybe we're jumping the gun, eh? Maybe they were just messing with you." I offered the sentiment to Jamie and receive a glare in return. "Right, shutting up now." Or I would have if the very blending of Man and Sea wasn't standing right before my eyes. "Holy shit." I said aloud. "Wicked gills, dude." I said, flashing a thumbs up.
"Now he's gone too far. NOONE ATTACKS AMERICA'S FOOD COURTS!" -Deadpool.
"Don't be so naive. I've got ulterior motives. MANY. Two, maybe three. Probably Four. I am one BIG ulterior motive." The Great Teacher, Onizuka Eikichi.
Locked