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.
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Graybeard
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Re: Rinkaiel

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: OK, so on to morning it is ... with a probable fork coming soon. /OOC:]

The waterfront wasn't open for regular business yet when the Seeadler operative went to call on Gryffyd. It didn't matter; he knew his boss would be in his office-pool, as indeed he was.

"The arrangements you ordered have been made," he said. "The police have been paid off. They won't be investigating the two dead men at the inn too closely. Any poking around there will be done by us, or by those we allow to do it. The bodies have been secured."

"Good," Gryffyd said. "And the ship?"

"It'll be ready to sail mid-morning. A skeleton crew of four has been arranged. They're a bit light on firepower, but after what I saw last night, I don't think that'll be a problem."

Gryffyd smiled, an odd expression on his fish-like features. "Indeed it won't."

One thing was bothering the underling. "Uh, sir, if I might ask ... why? I mean, we've leased vessels to some pretty odd customers, but these people are different -- scary different. It sounds like they're in the middle of a gang war among the dry-landers, or worse. I'm concerned about getting our people dragged into the thing, if not just killed outright. Some of these customers take death very damn lightly."

Gryffyd smiled again. "Oh, the crew will have some special defenses along when they sail. As for the gang war, I'm pretty sure that getting these people out of town will stop all that. And for the rest, my boy, there are things you don't need to know ... and believe me, you're better off not knowing." The underling was dismissed.

-------

A related conversation was occurring aboard the airship, now that Layla and Ace were back from their morning run. Ace wasn't quite the fitness freak that Layla was, and she'd had to slow her pace considerably for him to keep up ... but she really didn't mind. Now, however, it was back to business.

"Mom, what's going on here?" Layla complained. "I don't know what happened last night, but I know I don't like it. And I don't like that you're being so closed-mouthed about it, either. If I'm supposed to take charge of the operation here, I have to know what's going on."

Faye couldn't blame her daughter for being cross. None of them had slept well, and frankly, she had a point. For that matter, Faye herself was starting to wonder what was going on, and why Peter was acting the way he was. Something wasn't making sense here. Well, not much to do about it until they got home. "I don't know either, but we have to follow orders, and that includes orders to me to shut up about what little I do know. As soon as we're done with breakfast, let's make a stop out at the vineyard, then see if they know more at the store than we do. And then after that, let's get the hell out of here."

As soon as everyone (including Zachary) had finished eating, Joe showed up with the hack, silent and with his jaw set. Layla figured out soon enough that he was under a gag order too, and that he didn't like it either. What's going on? she asked herself again, but the group was piling into the hack to go to the vineyard.

When they arrived, cranky and tense, Layla dismounted to try to find Kalin, who wasn't visible at first sight. Something she didn't want to see there was visible, however. There was a puddle of a reddish liquid on the porch. A quick touch, smell, taste confirmed it for what it looked like: blood.

This didn't look good.
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AdamZero
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Re: Rinkaiel

Post by AdamZero »

I let off a breath of warm air into the cold of the morning. The balcony doors were closed behind me; though I wasn't worried about getting smacked over the edge. Jamie had been... restless... for much of the night, alert for a secondary attack by the Wraiths. I told her to get some rest, and when she commented on having to much energy; I gave her something to do.


Girl kicked my ASS at poker. Five damn dinners.... I might as WELL marry the girl.

Boris had remained silent for much of the night, and Sally simply reported the Seeadler, not 'Seedler' were keeping the bodies for their own examinations. I didn't really know what to make sense of the one bastards jabbering. All he had known was there was another group scoping out the town, looking for roots... Whatever.

The Nine were everywhere and nowhere. No borders, no strongholds, no weaknesses. Wasn't my fight, as long as they weren't killing with me in the blast radius.
"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.
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koshkoo
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Re: Rinkaiel

Post by koshkoo »

((work got a little demanding, sorry for the slow reply. Rice won't be too concern with people who had paid before meal leaving, so it's fine there, since she's a non combatant, she's at better use of providing a converging point for plots to happen etc, so at this point she's still happily getting lost in town hunting for stuff to cook, which means she could be anywhere really.))
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4uk4ata
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Re: Rinkaiel

Post by 4uk4ata »

Graybeard wrote:
When they arrived, cranky and tense, Layla dismounted to try to find Kalin, who wasn't visible at first sight. Something she didn't want to see there was visible, however. There was a puddle of a reddish liquid on the porch. A quick touch, smell, taste confirmed it for what it looked like: blood.

This didn't look good.
This didn't look good. It didn't feel good, either, and I wasn't the one who got shot. Or stabbed - because damn it to Luminosita's underside, a gun is supposed to make noise. Whatever hit that man - Oscar, or however he's called, sure as cinders didn't. One minute we were chatting up some time after sunset - he wasn't very talkative, but made it clear he's with the new owners, and he felt that way, too. Sharo didn't like him much, and truth be told, I am not that fond - he smells odd, and his mouth stinks like he ate a dead lizard. Anyway, then he gets tense for a second, tells me he has something to do, and goes out in the dark, hand bleeding. When I asked him if he's okay, he looked like he didn't understand the question. How often does a man have to get shot to not mind it? I doubt I'll ever find out, and I'm not really looking forward to it.

I have to admit, though, that man's tougher than old bark. Good night eyes, too - but on an overcast night, you can't go on eyes alone. We went around snooping for a while, but eventually I asked him to stay inside, and that me and Sharo would check. Well, we checked . We just didn't find much. Am I growing old? Soft? Five years ago I could have folowed a trail on my nose alone, dog or no dog. However, we checked for more than an hour and found nothing. Nothing! As if that shot was done by ghosts!

Yeah, I might have thought it was ghosts one or two times as we stalked around the hill. I certainly thought it could be Sarya or Vikor, and went around the shack a few times, but found nothing there - except the two of them sleeping. They weren't faking it either - only Luminosita knows how I know, but I do. When I came back, the man was standing on the inside, near the door. The smell of blood masked his presence, but there was something odd about him, like how you sense a wolf before you hear a howl or smell its breath. Like an aura, of sorts. And this man had it in spades. It was bad, though, bad enough to make my beard tingle. Sharo felt it, too, and bristled. So much for a good night's sleep - I'd prefer to be awake if this man's around. Eventually, he did get some shut-eye, but some time before sunrise he was around again. Said something about wanting to check the place better before the boss came. The boss would be Layla, I suppose.

By the morning, I was groggy. I had barely had some shut-eye, and I decided to walk around to check the place and shake the tiredness off. I walked around, coming back to the porch just as a few familiar shapes were checking it out. Layla was crouched, looking at the small puddle of blood from tonight. "Morning, ma'am. Did you meet him already? He should be up and about, more or less. That bit," I nod towards the puddle "didn't slow'im down much."
Last edited by 4uk4ata on October 4th, 2009, 3:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Graybeard
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Re: Rinkaiel

Post by Graybeard »

"Morning, ma'am. Did you meet him already? He should be up and about, more or less. That bit didn't slow'im down much."

"Who are you talking about?" Layla asked, then figured it out. "...Oh." Well, Oskar was a huge man, and he could lose more blood than this and still be able to function -- probably. But something was bothering her about the time line. She turned to Joe. "Had Oskar made it back when you left to pick us up?"

Joe thought about the implications for a moment. "No. I hadn't really expected him back for a while. You think --"

"I don't know. But I'd like to find out. Let's at least check the perimeter of this place. Come with us, Kalin, if you don't mind." And if you don't have a weak stomach, because I'm not very optimistic about what we're going to find here.

---------

Meanwhile, a ship was being prepared for its new renters.

[OOC: I'm not a sailor, but I see this ship as being a rather smaller version of this famous racing ship, but equipped with a small cargo hold. This means it would require a crew of maybe half a dozen in addition to its "passengers," and would have some capability for hauling weaponry and, um, trade goods. If anybody more familiar with sailing ships wants to propose an alternative model, by all means go for it, but we're definitely not talking about a ship of the line here.]
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Sareth
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Re: Rinkaiel

Post by Sareth »

I awoke to a particularly ripe smell, and my mother standing over me with a smile. "Time to change her," she said, holding Nera out at arms length. Nera smiled and blew spit bubbles.

"I thought you were going to watch her."

"That was last night, this is now."

I sighed. "Morning to you, too, mom."

[OOC]Sorry I wasn't on much over the weekend. Metric shitton of homework...[/OOC]
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Graybeard
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Re: Rinkaiel

Post by Graybeard »

Nera's diaper was being changed as there was a knock on the door.

The Seeadler man didn't look like the one who had taken Jamie to see Gryffyd earlier, but it was hard to tell. In any case, his message was brief. "Your ship has been arranged. Please meet me at the food stand on the beachfront at ten o'clock and I will take you to it." He turned without another word and left.
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Sareth
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Re: Rinkaiel

Post by Sareth »

"Well, that was abrupt," I pointed out as I finished pinning Nera's diaper. "What do you think?"

"I don't think it's a trap. They'd be nicer if it was a trap." Mother nodded thoughtfully.

"I wonder if they intend to keep you as leverage after all?"

"That's really hard to... what?" Mother blinked, looking at me slowly.

"Um... well..." I asked, then looked to Marcus. "Could you give us a moment, Marcus? Perhaps go let everyone know we have a boat to catch?"
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4uk4ata
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Re: Rinkaiel

Post by 4uk4ata »

And if you don't have a weak stomach, because I'm not very optimistic about what we're going to find here.

Kalin had half a mind to mind, as he hadn't had much sleep last night, but luckily he had rested well in the afternoon before. He could keep going for a lot longer, anyway . He shrugged, and looked around, as if looking for something, before looking back at Layla. "We are looking for this man, yes?" At her "yes", he whistled, calling Sharo. The old dog was just as worn as he - and just as able to plod through despite its sleepyness. As long as they didn't have to run, they'd be fine. "He was wounded," he said to the dog. "You can find him, right? She knows you can."

Well, of course he could. Sharo wasn't exactly the world's greatest bloodhound, but he could probably track a wounded man with a near-puddle of blood to start with even even asleep. Heck, Kalin was pretty sure he could follow it himself... but he was a little tired, and he didn't want to take chances. He nodded to the others and then said to Sharo again. "They follow, yes?"
Last edited by 4uk4ata on October 8th, 2009, 3:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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AdamZero
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Re: Rinkaiel

Post by AdamZero »

I was already dressed by the time Jamie made her little verbal faux paus and was out the door before she'd realized I was gone. "I'll handle the bill, Jamie, should be three dinners?" I flashed a smirk before dashing about, informing Lucas, who had spent most of the time keeping to himself and keeping his magic in check, and Aiyee, who'd spent dawn stark naked on the balcony.

After that I was dashing down the stairs, slapped some money, and my key, at the front desk and headed off to port. The ladies would follow shortly and I was feeling breezy.

Which meant I was smiling as I walked through the groggy morning street traffic. Working girls slinking back from whence they came, surely men hungover to the point of memory damage, and birds. LOTS OF BIRDS....

And a floating squid, which seemed to be gathering the birds.

"Good job, sir." I said, stopping to salute the squid, who responded with a strange twitch I took for 'as you were' and continued on my way.
"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.
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