The Glitch IV - Inversion (Ch. 1)

[Dark Silver]

Chapter One:


The sun rose over the mountains which stood as the eastern border of the Barony of Kirinford, it's rays basking the quiet village of Stars Cove in gentle warmth, drying the night's dew and chase away the chill. For years, the village was a quiet respite for adventurers, a stop on thier way towards the harbor city of Valecove, or the land bridge which connected the northern continent of Kalidora with the untamed southern continent of Wilderune. Never a place they stayed, and many in the village made comfortable lives by catering to the traveler's needs.

In the last year or so, things had changed. Rumors nof war in the north had kept a steady trickle of people into the southern kingdoms and fiefdoms. Naturally, these people settled in the largest areas of civilization, used to the grand cities they apparently fled, though even the great Souther Capitols could only hold so many, before they were being told no more could settle, to goto the other towns and villages. And as such, Stars Cove was a village in name only anymore, it was a bustling small town, and even in these early morning hours, busineses were open, and people were milling about.

It looked to be another glorious day in this sleepy little village, tucked away in the relative quiet area not far from the Keep of Kirinford, abode of the Baron Lumark. Travellers and settlers were already filtering into the town, bringing with them news of the outside world - of how war has broken out in the ancient Northern Kingdoms, shattering the unity. Of how creatures hellish and foul strode side by side with armies of orcs, knolls, shambling undead, and other monsters.

But this was all far away from this place. Most of the citizens dispelled the rumors, saying no major wars had broken out in the past 200 years, and no one force could possibly align all the various factions said to be working together. Some few ventured off to the north when the rumors first arrived, a trip of many days on foot normally, to see if they held any truth. None had come back yet, of course, but it was such a large and dangerous world. Better to remain in town where it was safe.

As it stood, as the Inn offically threw open it's doors for the morning crowds, and the smell of spiced potatoes, eggs, roasted meats, cold ale and milk drifted over the air. Today was going to be a good day.


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


A few scant miles from Stars Cove, the Keep of Kirinford stood. It's dark stone walls seemed to absorb the sun's rays, and the warmth that came with them. The keep seemed to be enshrouded in a prenatural chill, even in the dead of summer, the stone sucked every erg of heat, but never warmed it's inhabitants. Some said it was a spell cast by a great Sorcerer, employed by one of the former Baron's, others whispered it was actually a foul curse long forgotten, used by a grandmaster Warlock who wished to take the keep for his own.

All of those stories where just that, stories, and those who lived and worked in the Keep paid no attention to it. The chill was another part of the enviroment, long accustomed to it, they donned thier woolen socks and breeches, and went about thier chores. The Baron, Draven of Sughulm, sat in his throne, the early morning had passed, and his advisors had given him thier reports. The war in the north raged on, entire cities were deserted, monsters roamed freely, some unlike anything the world had ever seen before. Luckily, they weren't advancing below the Charnel Mountains, and the Dwarven Ambassador had declared that nothing could get past thier defenses.


'I'm not so sure about that. Stereotypical dwarves, always think thier topshit' ran through Adam's, the player of the good Baron, mind after they had all left. The player was smirking behind the holographic facade, while the Baron's face remained taciturn. Whatever was happening in the north, it seemed as if the world were against them. Or something greater than anything they had faced. He remembered his early days in the Nothern Kingdoms, the quests he had undertaken, the battles he fought. Entire armies devouted to cleansing monster infestations. The North had never seen a war like this since the Begining, when the Creator deemed it was time to test those who followed him.

"What the hell is going on..." he asked himself, moving from his throne to stare out of the stained glass window.


The guard opened the door to the audience chamber, and spoke to the Baron, "M'lord, Sir Ottoman Draeculis is here, requesting an audience."


-------

It was nearing noon in Stars Cove as the three made thier way towards the town. They were dressed in black, heavy cowls drapped over thier heads, long flowing cloaks spread over the rear of thier mounts. They rode not horses, but massive wolves, the fur jet black, groomed to a deep shine, thier muzzles left untethered, no harness to coax them along.

Wolves of this breed where not seen before, they were to massive, easily as tall as a full grown stallion, the look of intellegence in thier eyes were eiry, they seemed to serve the three dark riders of thier own accord, not because they were enslaved.

As they reached the outskirts of Stars Cove, the three stopped. Barely a hundred yards ahead, the forest broke, and they would each the "production" section of town, the area designated for those of Trade to play thier skills. The heat of massive forges could be felt even from this distance, but they didn't suffer, they remained in thier heavy cloaks.

The three slide off the backs of thier mounts, heavy armored boots crushing the grass and leaves beneath thier feet, and they proceeded to make camp. Thier time would come soon enough.


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

GM Note: The scene is rather open, I'm just using it as a place setter, and to let everyone introduce and interact. Since this is a SMMORPG setting, don't expect alot of GM guidance on what to do. I'll post only when I have to for now, but I'll make sure to keep us moving along. Minor NPC's, like shopkeepers, average every person #3, or other none important (read, anyone I don't introduce as apart of the main plot) feel free to write for. Everyone in the village is around the same level your characters are (20-35), with a few higher levels who hang out, own shops, and play "old timer" in the inn and all.

[Charon]

Ottoman was awake and in his full regalia when a servant came in. His windows collected the morning sunlight as it came in and shone brightly in his large ornate room. Matthew smiled as he leaned back, it was times like this that he didn't miss the adventures of the world outside this town. It was time to get into character though.

Ottoman got to his feet, his green robes wrapping themselves around him as the sunlight gleamed off of his helmet which he still wore. He stalked towards the servant.

"Is Jonathon available?"

The NPC servant stuttered and bowed low. "Yes my lord, he just came in."

Ottoman exited his chambers, his quick gait bringing him to the dining hall. With a brisk motion he openned the tall wooden doors which slammed into the walls, announcing the presense of Ottoman. Jonathon was one of his men. A psychophant who's main reason for following Ottoman was because of the power he wielded. 'Ah well' thought Matthew, 'all have their part.' Ottoman strode up to Jonathon as he took a bite out of an apple. He was an amazingly handsome man who was very fit, perfect for what he needed him for.

"Jonathon, I see you are enjoying the fruits of my labor."

"Of course mi'lord. How better to serve you then to make your labor worthwhile."

Ottoman simply looked at Jonathon until the man moved his feet off of his table. "Feeling up for a task?" Ottoman didn't wait for a response. "You are to go to Lady Leandra's and collect a sleep potion that I asked for some days ago. Take your time if you like, there is no hurry."

Jonathon got to his feet and stretched, taking another bite of his apple he bowed low and smiled. "Of course my lord."

As Jonathon left Ottoman made his way to the stable, the Baron should hear of his achievement with the 'nature' problem. And besides, Ottoman had to make conversation with the advisors he would soon be ruling over.

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

Ottoman stepped into the chambers of Baron Dravan. "My lord, I bring good news to counter all the bad news that has come our way. The forests have once again been made safe. If you will recall there had been difficulties of the forest attacking our most recent additions of our town to account for the massive influx of people. I tracked down the druid responsible for these actions and have worked out an arangement with him." Ottoman knelt before the Baron, handing him the sheets of paper going over the specifics of the deal. In return for setting up nature reserves, where no civilization could go. The druids would increase crop output and strengthen the wood of the many buildings, allowing the town to grow up, not out. Getting to his feet Ottoman waited for the Baron's response to this news.

[Agent Fisher]

Decimus Maximus stepped out of his room in the officers section of the militia portion of the Keep, his pet wolf, Macto, following at his heels.

He carried his helmet at his side as he strode outside, his breath fogging up in the cool morning air.

'Another day in the service of the Baron.'

Decimus returned the salutes of the NCOs and lower ranking militia men. He headed to the stables and mounted his horse. He made sure his equipment and armor was snug and then spurred his horse on. He exited the stables, his pet wolf at his heels.

[LadyTevar]

Leandra came down the stairs from her room and opened the door to her shop to let the morning air in. She was distracted as she puttered about the shop, setting up for the first customers of the day... so distracted that for once she didn't have to shoo last night's company out the door for once.

Yet again, her hand slipped into the pouch where she kept her contact stones, fingering the one belonging to Darek Steele. Back in the real world, Leah tried to page him, wondering what the odd message she'd received the 'day' before meant. In game, Leandra frowned as the contact stone remained cold to the touch... it had gotten hot and she had heard him scream her name, but from then on nothing.

Hopefully he'd not fallen in battle up in the new area he'd been telling her about.

The bell over the door rung merrily as her first customer came in, and she let the stone go, turning to see whom it was. "Ahh.. Jonathan? Back again for his lordship?" she teased, grinning widely. Maybe what she need was a bit of ... flirtation to ease her mind.

[SirNitram]

Thud. Thud. Thud. Swiiiing. CLANG!

This was the sound of Thog entering the potion shop. The reason, of course, was that the half-giant never remembered to duck the bell. Rubbing his head and muttering something to the effect of 'It came outta nowhere!', Thog looked over to the counter where Leandra and Jonathan, and smiled in the slightly vacant way he always did. "Hi, Lee-Dra, Hi Jon-thon." He grinned, ambling over to the counter. "Got sum-ting to tell you, Lee-Dra. I fix problem where your robes always falling down."

This had all the hallmarks of a very slow day. Al was sniggering in his apartment, free at last from the pile of essays he had just slogged through.

[LadyTevar]

Thud. Thud. Thud. Swiiiing. CLANG!

This was the sound of Thog entering the potion shop. The reason, of course, was that the half-giant never remembered to duck the bell. Rubbing his head and muttering something to the effect of 'It came outta nowhere!', Thog looked over to the counter where Leandra and Jonathan, and smiled in the slightly vacant way he always did. "Hi, Lee-Dra, Hi Jon-thon." He grinned, ambling over to the counter. "Got sum-ting to tell you, Lee-Dra. I fix problem where your robes always falling down."

This had all the hallmarks of a very slow day. Al was sniggering in his apartment, free at last from the pile of essays he had just slogged through.

The thuds warned her, as did the rattle of bottles on her shelf. But his comment stopped the cheerful hello in her throat.
".... you... fixed the problem?" Anyone who knew Thog Stonehead knew that he had the intelligence of a child, as well as the understanding. Still.. he was a handsome half-giant, and Leandra had been playfully trying to get him in bed for a while. It was a game Leah played with Al, ever since they'd met. So far.. Thog had been cluelessly resistant to Leandra's charms. "What did you do, Thog?" she asked, feeling like there was a very large boulder about to come crashing down. Thog's idea of 'fixing things' often meant it was broken beyond repair.

[Agent Fisher]

Decimus trotted on his horse through the main part of town. He saw a half-giant head into the 'village bicycle's' potion shop. He never liked half-giants. In his expierence, they ended up being stupid brutes who used their status as half-giants as an excuse to make trouble.

He dismounted his horse and tied it up near the shop. He entered into a food store right next door and got some bread and meat for breakfast and stood near the potion shop. He started eating and gave a bit of his meat to his wolf.

[Dark Silver]

"Dogpatch?" Draven almost smirked at Ottomon, John knew was meant at the name, a joke, probably by the Druid. "Mine friend, it does me good to hear this news. Excellent work. Of course, I will see that you are rewarded accordingly."

Ottomon's shoulder was clasped by the by the Baron's hand, the squeeze was tight. "I'm lucky to have such loyal retainers as you. Was there anything else, my friend?"

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

Johnathan smirked at the young redheaded cleric, and was about to make his suggestion of what they could do, when the thudding, and the half giant trodded in.

Johnathan had seem him around at the Inn often enough, and knew him by reputation, he never expected the big thing to rememeber him. Thog's lack of intellegence was astoundingly well known.

"Morning Thog" he muttered, as the half-giant told Leandra he "fixed" her problem.

Johnathan groaned, and took a step back, he didn't want to be here for the fallout.

[SirNitram]

"Uh-huh." Thog smiled proudly. He drew himself up to full height, and hit his head on the ceiling. He went back to his hunch. "El-Wind esplained to me. It was all evil, naughty magic on my house that made your robes fall down."

Beaming like a child, Thog announced what he did to 'fix' this terrible, terrible problem.

"Dat house is all smashed up now. You perfectly safe from naughty magics!"

There had been a pause before the final sentence. This was because, in the real world, Albert had been laughing too hard to speak clearly.

[Charon]

"Dogpatch?" Draven almost smirked at Ottomon, John knew was meant at the name, a joke, probably by the Druid. "Mine friend, it does me good to hear this news. Excellent work. Of course, I will see that you are rewarded accordingly."

Ottomon's shoulder was clasped by the by the Baron's hand, the squeeze was tight. "I'm lucky to have such loyal retainers as you. Was there anything else, my friend?"

Ottoman had a pleased look in his eyes. Matthew meanwhile was chuckling at the dogpatch comment. "I figured you would need good news of some sort. I hear the Dwarves are talking of trouble in the North." Matthew quickly pulled out some sheets, looking over them he didn't see any of the Dwarves in on his plotting, that was ok though, they were far up North.

[Comrade Tortoise]

The forest was idelic. The yellow light of the sun pierced the canopy like radiant spears to lick and caress the dappled forest floor. The normally chattering birds and chirping insects grew silent as the three dark figures approached.

Nor were they alone. They were being watched. This was Elwyn's forest. And he saw them. He had been watching them since they entered the forest and they did notseem correct at all

...

Scheisse, what the hell am I supposed to do about these? Justine said to himself as he looked throughhis characters "eyes" and heard through his "ears" FInally he got an idea

...

He knew he could not be detected. He was perfectly hidden in this forest and could move through it without so much as snapping a twig or disturbing a branch.

He thought for a moment and called a woodpecker and a crow out of their nests. He took out a piece of paper and wrote two messages. One to Vadlenar which read

"There are some awfully creepy things which have entred my forest. They may be hostile and I am out numbered. You may be able to help me out should they become hostile, consider yourself permitted to enter my forest if you wish to assist me. I am approximaly 100 meters out from the Industrial district of Star's Cove" he sent that crow toward the Warlock's demense

He then wrote another message to Ottoman and attached it to the woodpecker

"There are three figured shrowded in darkness riding darkwolves. They are suspicious and may be hostile toward the town. I may not be able to handle them on my own, I would suggest sending a detachment of troops to ascertain their intentions anf dispatch them if possible. Consider your troops having safe passage through my forests. I am approximatly 100 meters from the forest break near your industrial district."

Both birds we sent out, being the only possible clue that he existed to the interlopers. However, they were swift and were above the canopy and out of visual range in seconds; and would reach their destinations in minutes.

[Dark Silver]

Did Jonathan hear right? The half-giant had wrecked his own house?

"I'll.....come back later Leandra..." Johnathan said lowly.

"what the fuck, is his player insane?" Bastion said to himself, as Johnathan walked out. "Fucking houses are expensive...she'll probably get the gold to repair the thing to from her." Of course the words weren't transferred to the game world, Bastion just was to shocked to activate the voice over for the game.

Johnathan made his way to the Inn, which wasn't far from the Potion shop, he figured a good breakfast of Otik's spiced potatoes and a mug of ale would give him plenty of energy for Leandra after.

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

"Indeed my friend," Draven spoke, almost gravely, "The rumors of war in the Northern Kingdom's grow, and the dwarves speak of a enemy forth gathering in the plains above the Charnels."

Draven paced a few minutes, speaking softly all the while, "I am pondering sending a expidition to the north, to make haste through the Charnels, and see what can be learned. I dread not to send any of the Militia...we know not what troubles await us, should we be defenseless."

The baron looked upon the Paladin with a sense of revenance, and perhaps even a touch of need, need for his advice. Paladins, after all, were the works of the Creator, the followed his words, surely thier advice would come from him?

"what should I do, old friend?"

[LadyTevar]

"Uh-huh." Thog smiled proudly. He drew himself up to full height, and hit his head on the ceiling. He went back to his hunch. "El-Wind esplained to me. It was all evil, naughty magic on my house that made your robes fall down."

Beaming like a child, Thog announced what he did to 'fix' this terrible, terrible problem.

"Dat house is all smashed up now. You perfectly safe from naughty magics!"

There had been a pause before the final sentence. This was because, in the real world, Albert had been laughing too hard to speak clearly.

Leandra seemed to freeze in shock, as Leah herself had to take a long moment to stop laughing at the situation. Finally, Leandra spoke in a soft, strained voice. "You... smashed... your house?"

All because the last time she tried to seduce him, she'd let her robes slip off her shoulder. Wait... he'd had help. "Elwin told you it was magic on the house?" That damn druid! Ooo... just wait til she.. her hand was in her pocket, grabbing for a greenish contact stone. Pulling it out,she held it in the palm of her hand and spoke into it. "Elwin? I need to talk to you... j00 r47 84274rd."
It was rare for her to use that language.. but it was one of the best for cursing.

[Agent Fisher]

Decimus heard the bang from inside, but nothing else.

'Eh, must not be anything to worry about.'

He finished his meal and remounted his horse and headed back towards the Keep.

[SirNitram]

"Bye, Jon-Than!" Thog happily waved to the departing man, before turning back to Leandra and nodding enthusiastically. "Uh-huh! It all safe now! El-Wind very helpful for silly leafy man." Thog had never grasped the word 'Druid', it seemed. He grinned in his way, quite proud of himself. "Next house gonna be bigger. And I not let any bad magics on it!"

The half-giant went on beaming without a change. Albert had had to turn off the mic to burst out laughing. He couldn't remember the last game he'd had so much fun in.

[Charon]

"Indeed my friend," Draven spoke, almost gravely, "The rumors of war in the Northern Kingdom's grow, and the dwarves speak of a enemy forth gathering in the plains above the Charnels."

Draven paced a few minutes, speaking softly all the while, "I am pondering sending a expidition to the north, to make haste through the Charnels, and see what can be learned. I dread not to send any of the Militia...we know not what troubles await us, should we be defenseless."

The baron looked upon the Paladin with a sense of revenance, and perhaps even a touch of need, need for his advice. Paladins, after all, were the works of the Creator, the followed his words, surely thier advice would come from him?

"what should I do, old friend?"

Matthew almost laughed as Draven finished talking. Sometimes luck was just on your side.

In game Ottoman was silent and thoughtful for a great while. He smiled at his baron. "You have a sound grasp of strategy my lord. Keeping the militia here would indeed be best maintain the safety of our town, and sending a detachment up the Charnels is wise. If these creatures the Dwarves speak of do indeed exist then there are dark arts at play that we had best defend ourselves against. We must show a display of strength to those that would challenge the southern kingdoms and send an expedition to the Charnels. If you wish it my lord I will personally set up this expedition so as to see to it that the very best of our men are on this mission."

[LadyTevar]

Leandra kept the stone in her hand, as it slowly rose to rub at her temple. Thog was just so.... so.............. hell, he was fun to have around, let's face it, Leah admitted. She never laughed as hard as she did whenever he was around. Leandra, on the other hand, found herself babysitting Thog to keep people from taking advantage of the gentle half-giant.

"So.. you're getting a new, bigger house. That's really nice Thog. Where will you stay until it's built?" She knew the answer would be classic Thog: a blank look and then a furrowed brow as he tried to think that far ahead.

[Dark Silver]

Indeed, Ottomon was a good man. Draven knew it, though Adam didn't quiet trust the character, or the player behind it. But since Ottomon hadn't given Draven any reason to suspect anything, Adam had to play by the rules.

Rule number one of Destiny, RP is strictly maintained. Don't use Out of Character assumptions or information to act against another character.

And fuck if Adam didn't want to deal with one of the Silver Guardians who came to speak with him about a rules violation. He worked to hard to get his character into a position of power, even as minor as it was.

"Indeed, I would feel more assured, my friend, if you..would lead the expedition personally. There is no one I trust more in the Barony."

-------

The riders stood in silence, thier dark worgs standing in place, like perimeter guards.

Thier objective was so close at hand, thier mission was clear, yet so far away.

Time.

Time was all they required.

[Charon]

Ottoman bowed low, hiding the curse in his mind. Matthew thought that perhaps he'd overplayed his hand and he'd been caught by Draven. Ah well, only one way to find out.

"Of course my lord, if you believe that the city will do well in my extended absense I shall leave with your blessings. However, I must state that I believe that my presense may be needed in order to make certain that our deal with the druids goes well. I tell you this so that you may make a decision with all of the information available."

[Shark Bait]

Vadlenar was walking contentedly in his "garden" nothing living grew here of cource except the odd mushroom, but he delighted in the over used irony of reffering to the mass grave he had constructed his house over as a garden. Half the job of being a warlock was maintaining the immage it kept people away and spawned over blown rumors of his power. Two skeletons were finished digging up a long dead corpse lacking all but bone and a few remaning scraps of metal armor. Vadlenar stopped over the remains and finished a spell he had began a while ago the corpse twitched and then rose guided by unholy forces, the dark elf smirked, and people say its hard to find good help these days.

A crow landed behind him and squaked, odd even for a creature naturally drawn to death, nearly all living things avoided this scrap of land and te man who lived on it. The crow had a message tied to its leg and it shook fearful of the dark elf who now approached it. Vadlenar carefully removed the note from the leg of the crow who immediaely took off anctious to flee from him. He read the note and smiled, he could allways use a new corpse to join his ranks, he set off in the direction of his companion a veritable army of the undead following in tow.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Elwyn couldnt do anything but whisper into the contact stone, which vibrated when Leandra contacted him

"Yes, I did a bastardly thing to Thorg, but I couldnt resist. Tell him he is welcome in my grove while he builds a new and doubtless larger house. However, there are more important matters. I suspect that the town is going to come under more attack than my usual harassment of loggers. I may not like civilization but I dont think innocent people should die either. There are riders on Dark Wolves roughly 100 meters from the forest break near the town's industrial district. I take it you are near that area. The necromancer is on his way to assist in any defense and you know I dont like him in my forest"

...

Justin panted, he has whispered all of that on a single breath

Ted, who played the necromancer just so happened to be his roommate and he could hear him cackling in the other room, he was probably raising the undead.

The game room was basically their bed room. When they werent studying doing research, or sleeping, they were in their game-roooms. Despite it all, their grades didnt suffer, presumably. Justin's GPA was still a 4.0

...

Elwyn was shifting his position again, just in case the Dark Wolves heard him whisper. And once again, he did so without a sound, and made sure he was downwind of them so they couldnt smell him. He knew which spells he would cast and when; should battle be joined.

[Rukia]

Rory made her way home down the crowded city sidewalk. It had been a long day at work. She had been stationed in the morgue and after dealing with people all day she was more than ready to go home and kill some. She turned the corner and stopped to go into the little convenience store just a few blocks from her apartment. She grabbed three energy drinks, two power bars, a half gallon of milk, and a four pack of cat food.

Burke was waiting for her at the register when she was finished. The older man who owned the store always had a warm smile for Rory.

"Arora, how ya doin' darlin'?"

Rory smiled, "Please Burke, call me Rory, like everyone else. I'm doing good, glad to be off work. I also need a pack of lights in a box, please?"

"Oh doing some serious gaming tonight?" She said as he got her the cigarettes. He threw her a wink as he handed them over.

"You know it, big job with a sweet pay off. How much do I owe you?"

He gave her the total and she swiped her card. She smiled and left him with a "I'll let you know how I do."

++++++++

Sivri pressed her back against the tree trunk and steadied her breath. Her latest assignment had proven to be tougher than she had anticipated. She'd been tracking her target for over an hour and hadn't had an opportunity to make her move. She was quite relived when he had moved into the forest. She stilled herself as the cloaked figure passed by her, without wasting a moment she jumped out onto the path, unsheathing her daggers from their holsters on either thigh. Her landing, although almost silent, still alerted her prey. He turned and she stood to her not so tall 5 foot two and glared at the man.

"I've been hired to kill you. Don't ask by whom or why, just know that--"

She wasn't able to finish before the man, her target, threw an exploding potion at her. She rolled on the ground to dodge it and simultaneously threw one of her daggers. It lodged itself into the mans chest, he fell backward, she stood again.

"That," She said as she stood and moved over to him. She squatted down and grabbed his face and made him look at her, "Was very rude." She let go of his face and grabbed the dagger protruding form his chest and yanked it out. This caused the blood to rush out faster and pool on his chest. She searched his satchel and found a few more potions and a very expensive looking ring. She pocked these items as she stood and wiped the blood off her dagger onto her long, black, cloth armor pants. She put the weapon back in it's holder and turned on her heel, walking away, leaving the man to die. She headed back to the village, she other matters to tend to.

++++++++++++

Rory yawned and stretched as she walked down her hallway. The dim light of the fading image from the HDD in the spear bedroom flooding the hall way. She stopped in the bathroom and ran cold water on a rag, before continuing to the kitchen. She patted her head and neck with the cloth as she grabbed an energy drink from the refrigerator. She took a swig then took a can of cat food out and popped it open.

"Jiiiinx, here kittykittykittykitty..." The fluffy black cat skidded across the floor to his dish as she spooned out the food. He looked up at her and mewled his appreciation.

"Yes, yes, you're welcome." She said with a cigarette pressed between her lips. She lit it and took a drag, watching the cat. She finished off both the energy drink and the cigarette and headed back to her room. She was glad she was on call tomorrow, she could get a lot done in the game tonight. She closed the door and moved to the HDD to log in.

++++++++++

Sivri was not happy. The person who had hired her hadn't shown up and she'd been waiting for over 45 minutes. She took out one of her daggers and began carving into the wood top of the table. This was the last time she let one of Ottoman's men skip out on payment. Normally he was very good a paying her and paying well, but as of late his goons had been getting good at pissing Sivri off. She looked around the room one last time, finishing her mead and made a note to go she 'his lordship' a.s.a.p. She got up and left the tavern.

A few moments later she was standing in Leandra's shop, she figured she could sell the potions. Leandra was nowhere to be found and Sivri knew what that meant, so she waited.

[Narsil]

Maeglin stepped into Leandra's shop broodingly, muttering something to the effect of, "...Should stop testing my own alcohol limit every night..." while rubbing his forehead. He noticed the Dark Elf, Sivri, stood there, and in typical fashion* he spoke up cheerfully, ignoring the bastard of a hangover that he was suffering from, "Hello there!" He glanced about, "The shopkeeper's not about, I take it?"

* Typical fashion for him that is.

-------

In the real world, Brian took a sip of his coke, blasting his teeth with something which was only slightly more healthy for them than biting into a stick of dynamite. "This is why they should have kept shopkeepers as NPCs!" he muttered angrily to himself, "NPCs don't walk away to do something else."

[Agent Fisher]

Decimus saw the dark elf thief exit the tavern. When he was a low ranking member of hte militia, he had stopped one of her assassinations. They had fought, but she had escaped.

He got off his horse, put on his helmet and walked into the potions shop.

"So, assassin, we meet again."

[Narsil]

"Assassin?" the High Elf asked aloud, glancing in her direction, "Well that might explain the daggers... and the poisons..."

He grinned, going off on a tangent, "We're all hunters of a sort here if you think about it... some of us better than others... and you're a good example of the 'others' category, sir knight."