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 Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 9:58 am
Oh behold our fair city, what a crowing jewel...and at the same time, what a cesspool.
Whoever designed this city was a genius, directly placing a city on the intersecting trade routes of the elves from the forest, the dwarves from their mountain kingdom, within the migratory path of 6 halfling caravans as they all travel through the plains of tall grass. And right next to the great river too for water to power things. He musta been a gnome...
So many peoples intermingling... Gnomes, Humans, Halflings, Elves, Dwarves...Even the Centaur even occasionally came to trade from the foothills, even if they complained about the smells.
In truth, getting it to this point has been a struggle...there's a number of unsavories; like orcs, ogres, gnolls, giants, goblins, trolls, even some lizardfolk about. Hell, the city is filled with half-orc, half-ogre, half-gobs, and half-giants from these interlopers. I'll leave you to guess how they got there. It ain't hard if you use your keen ol' mind. You might even consider them lucky...Gnolls used to eat folk.
But even they've settled down, once the town became big enough to be considered a city. It's very hard to raid anything when the population is easily 8 times greater than the population of your whole warband. Eventually, they decided if you can't raid 'em, join 'em. Now the orcs, goblins, lizardfolk, and gnolls fill the slums, which they seem to like just fine. Not good homes by any means, but infinitely better than what they had out in the badlands. They aren't ones for a cushioned easy life like the rest of us.
The trolls, giants, and ogres...we still have troubles with from time to time, as they have started acting like highwaymen, trying to raid the traders and caravans coming through the city.
Yes, the city. It is certainly a gem, isn't it? A big misshapen semi-circle hugging the bank of the river. Ringed around it's outskirts by a fence of towering smoke stacks that bletch steam and smoke 24/7. It's lettered and numbered...The line that runs along the river...that's A, the alphabet then runs through the city laterally. Then we take longitude, and number it starting from the northern point of the city by the river's edge...that block is 1. This is where the street names come from, just add your house number to the combined letter plus number and you got your address. I live on 22 H&6, got it memorized?
The city is silver and rust...literally, the areas closest to the factories, the sections devoted to the slums and the poor are rusted and tarnished metal over old, blackened brick and wood. Scavenged pieces tacked and cobbled together in a maze that teems with a life of it's own, shifting based on it's own needs. Every day, there's a new shacks somewhere, while old sheet metal and kindling hovels have disappeared elsewhere.
While the heart of the city, gleams like burnished copper and silver. Industry and trade have made us rich, and it shows in out city. Our gleaming silver jewel set in it's old rusted crown. Here is where most people live, the civilized races that were just here first, people who don't work the factories...They are traders and professionals, nobles and neer-do-wells. You can tell a persons status just by looking at their home in this section of the city. Do they have a house clad in bronze, brass, silver, tin, iron, aluminum? All a matter of taste and wealth.
There's a white marble tower through the heart of the city...fancy, ain't it? Most cities have just a big house for town hall...we got a tower. Quaint, right?
Along the banks are all of the ship yards, small boats come up and down the river all the time. But see, we don't just tend to seafaring vessel. No, by ship yards, I mean the airships...those marvelous new devices, ships that fly through the sky from far off places. Amazing vessels that come in and out of our city at a constant rate.
In the center of the ship yards, connecting to the city's oldest and most central road, is the bridge...city gets richer off holding a toll for travels to get across the bridge. Which they pay in scores, because to not take the bridge tacks an extra 6 days travel to the nearest natural river crossing. People got places to be, and trader's make money on getting there fast.
That's why they put the railroad in...some 15 years ago. Just off the north-west arched of the city, there's a well traveled the road that leads just a short distance, maybe 15 minutes travel, to a small satellite community. But these days, the trains rust with not being used. The satellite community has gone to more s**t that the city's industrial. Due to the airships, of course. Taking the sky is faster and safer than the train.
This small area contains simply the worn down, beaten out train station. And warehouses upon warehouses for trains and storing goods that lay empty and neglected, creaking on their timbers. A small housing section consisting of 6 wooden cabins is here, 2 of which were burned down under mysterious circumstances.
The train section of town was once a common place to find homeless squatters who can't carve out a place in the factory slums. Now it's the most lawless zone in the city, filled with people who want to keep their personal 'businesses' separate from where the city constables and guards won't bother coming. Different 'representatives' seem to feud there, always staking out their territory in non-violent means, at least most of the time, but every once in a while a body pops up. Whole city seems to think the train yard can go rot, and I reckon that ain't a bad idea.
Either way, welcome to Brisbane, enjoy your stay stranger.
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Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 9:59 am
Now, I believe by this point, you should be all well aware of the rules of role-playing on Gaia.And as such, I introduce you now to the concept that in this, there is only one true rule, a house rule for the setting that I will be explaining after I get this out of the way. In this roleplay, there are only that house rule, everything else are your RIGHTS as a roleplayer in this RP. They are as follows. 1- You have the right to roleplay in a coherent setting, where you can understand what people are saying, and that is true to the subject matter at hand. 2- You have the right to rp in a thread, as this is also a class, where you are able to improve your skills in a flowing setting. 3 You have the right to RP in a fair setting, where your character will not be hijacked by munchers, godmodders, or autohitters. 4- You have the right to rp without worrying about OOC trolls, flamers, and arguments that hold no relevance to the RP interfering. 5- You have the right to rp in a decent setting, which follows along the gaian ToS on what is acceptable to post and what isn't. 6- You have the right to know what it is you are being accused of, should I or a person acting in my name issue a ban to you. 7- I have the right to bringth the banhammer down upon anyone who infringes the rights of their fellow players. Now that that is out of the way, let us discuss the house rule, and theme of this RP. The house rule is simply thus; The Magic versus Technology variant. Please read this before attempting to play!Quote: This variant on the rules dictates a metaphysical conflict between the arcane forces of magic and the ever-advancing force known as Technology. To represent this, every character has either a Magic rating or a Science rating on their character profile (see below). Now, items of Magic and Items of Science cannot be used together under any circumstances...Trying to use a magical heat source in a steam engine will only cause the engine to malfunction and maybe even explode, while a warrior trying to use a Steamwork flame shooting sword, and a magic aegis shield will only have both misfire on him. In addition to this, characters aligned with one side of the conflict cannot use items of the opposite side, and how spectacularly they fail is based on how high your rating is. So a Steamworks professor who tries to whip out a magic scroll and conjure a fireball will just be asking for trouble as the spell misfires. Same goes for any Sorcerer trying to shoot a pistol, as the firing pin breaks, and all other sorts of mechanical breakdowns happen.
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Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 10:06 am
This would be the Profile Skeleton: Quote: User name: Character Name: Race: If you are a half-breed, you must be half human. None of this half-dwarf, half-giant stuff. Almost any race goes, except for things of mythical proportions like Angels and demons. Gender: Age: Equipment: Appearance: Calling: That role your character plays in the world, his or her job. Racial Abilities: Science Rating: Magic Rating: The Ratings are the measurement of how much knowledge and skill you have in your proficiency, be it magic or science. There are 8 ratings, and it is possible to have a little in each, especially if you are a magical race, yet your character knows a little of Science. You still cannot cross magic and science, and use whatever rating is higher for what equipment you can use. x - An x rating rates you as someone who has absolutely NO aptitude in that field, and as such a rating is Not Applicable. You mind is completely in capable of comprehend the subject, or you are just so scientific or magical you cannot even think of even picking up the other side, like if you have a rating of 6 or 7. 1 - A natural aptitude, generally due to your race having some natural knack for the proficiency. You can do small things, like arcane cantrips or the construction of very simple machine parts and use of simplistic devices. 2 - A working knowledge. Ability to produce 'handy' things like basic levitation spells, very weak attack spells, helpful spells. Or the ability to make small engines or simple devices, a limited knowledge of firearms. 3 - A advanced knowledge. Ability to produce things like full functioning attack spells, like Magic Missles or to produce full steam engines or use complex, exotic steamworks weaponry. 4 - A true expertise. Your character can wield even more complicated magics, now reaching the mid-power magical effects. If science, you can now construct the beginnings of science fiction-esque anachronistic machines and use them. 5 - An Exceptional. You are truly grasped almost all there is to know of your magic or crafts. You are approaching the limit of mortal potential for proficiency in your field, and this is a rating few men ever achieve, taking nearly a whole lifetime to reach. 6 - A Master. You are heralded as a paragon in your field. You're accomplishments can make the mind boggle. You are of a select few, as only a handful in the whole world can be considered as masterful as your character. But it comes at a price, for now, you cannot ever dabble. Merely touching a piece of the opposing field of proficiency with the intend to use it can cause almost fatal results. You receive an x in the opposing field immediately. 7 - Of Mythical proportions. This rating is NOT for mortal characters. A rating of seven is reserved for things like Dragons, and massive steamwork dreadnought golem. These creatures are so aligned with one rating or the other, that their mere presence causes the opposing side to malfunction, making you have to fight fire with fire. All rating 7 characters immediately have an x in the opposite field.
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Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 11:46 am
Feral Knight's Lizardman Username: Feral Knight Character Name: Ssessriel Race: Ssarviss Tribe Lizardfolk Gender: Male Age: 23 rains Equipment: Basalt warhammer with bone shaft, leather shield, leather cuirass with the ribs of various dead creatures sewn on for added protection. Appearance: Ssessriel stands at 6'2", weighs just over 300 pounds, and boasts 40 inches from shoulder to shoulder. Ssessriel's mottled green and brown scales, which grant him excellent natural camouflage in the swamps of his tribe's homeland, literally ripple with the movements of the powerful muscles that gird his massive frame. The lie to this camouflage, however, is the natural scarlet streak that runs from the tip of Ssessriel's snout, up between his reptilian brown eyes, to the top of his head between the tiny, vestigial horns. Filling that very snout are two rows of twenty very small, very sharp teeth, making a total of forty for each jaw. Tipping each of Ssessriel's four-clawed hands and three-toed feet is a sharp talon easily capable of rending flesh, and even scarring wood and bone. Topping off this arsenal of natural weapons is a 54 inch long, thick, and powerful tail commonly used to slam the legs from under unwary enemies. Calling: Mercenary Racial Abilities: Ssessriel enjoys the slow respiration of all of his race, something that allows Ssessriel to hold his breath for roughly ten minutes at a time with no ill consequence. Like the others of his tribe, Ssessriel also bears a bacterial toxin in his saliva that can cause a life-threatening infection to most living creatures. Of course, this bacterial toxin also causes Ssessriel and his tribemates to have breath so foul that it quite often inspires gagging, or even vomitting, in the 'civilized' races. Science Rating: 1 Magic Rating: 1 Ten Tails' Half-Goblin Detective User name: Ten Tails Character Name: Ezra "Notch-ear" Baldurine Race: Half-Goblin {Mother: Human, Father: Goblin (Deceased)} Gender: Male Age: 34 Equipment: Ezra's constantly carries with him a set of well-maintained thief's tools, lock picks, and probes in his Bandoleer as well as an chemical agent known as Flashpowder. Placed in a special pocket holster on the inside of his overcoat is a special steamwork blade, called a Swingblade; this weapon uses clockworks and a collapsing blade to mimic the function of a butterfly knife, letting it covert from a short non-lethal metal rod to a longsword with a simple depress of a button and a flick of the wrist. Hidden in both boot sheaths and a number of places on his body are a number of Shiv. Even when disarmed of these, Ezra was a master of the improvised shiv and shank, and will be able to make new ones, given enough time. As a last resort and ranged combat is the only option, Ezra will bring to bear a custom revolver, called the Vulcannon. And the final thing on his person, in a custom pocket in his sleeve to be pulled out with dramatic flare, is a small hand-held notebook containing all his personal notes on a current case. Appearance: Ezra stands about 4' 9", and weighs about 121 ibs., his goblin heritage stunting his height but muscle making up most of his weight. The goblin features are remarkably softened by his mother's human beauty, but that only goes so far. His skin has the tone of deep, dark tarnished copper and is worn, taut, and leathery looking. He's very slight and fragile looking, typical of one of goblin parentage, with long limbs and slender curved fingers that once served him well in breaking and entering into the homes of others. His features take much more from the boon of a human parent, leaving him with an soft, unmarred face, plain human teeth, full lips capable of human expression, and soft eyes...despite the pure black irises of his eyes, which many find off-putting. But his goblin father's incredibly long ears with their seven inch points, pointed face, and jutting chin do let everyone who looks at him know as a half-blood, a stigma he's grown to. He stoically refuses to let it bother him, even though it's sometimes obvious it does with the way he consistently covers up his mouth and chin with a white wool scarf. He takes the nickname "Notch-Ear" from the large notch cut from his right ear lobe, but he only lets his oldest acquaintances and contacts call him his nickname. He can always be seen wearing his brown rawhide overcoat, and fitted leather gloves. Beneath that he wears the standard blue military shirt and trousers of it's durable linen and many pockets, that all the city guard wear when not dressed in armor, along with a bandoleer of pouches on his waist, hidden under his coat. He also wears, in direct violation of the constabulary dress code, soft-soled boots that are good for sneaking around. Calling: City Inquisitor Racial Abilities: Half-gobs have been known to inherit their parents natural ability to see in the dark with a near perfect clarity, as revealed by their black irises. Ezra's nose is exceptionally keen, and able to pick up the scents of other humanoids. As well as this, Ezra holds the goblin's hardiness, making him resistant to poisons and toxins, immune to disease, and granting him a high pain threshold. Science Rating: 3 Magic Rating: 1 Wynaro's Dwarf Engineer User name: Wynaro Character Name: Grimgawr the humble Race: Dwarf Gender: Male Age: 47 Equipment: Grim wears a think Yellow cloak, making it relatively easy to pick him out in a crowd. Below his cloak, is thick plate armor, With cotton padding to keep him comfortable, and linen pants. He wears specially crafted boots, When turned on, the pressure from the steam forces locks closed over his feet, and force steam out the bottoms and backs of the shoes, enhancing his speed. On his left hand is a glove which works the same way, making his punch stronger. The gauntlet is connected with a series of metal strips going down to his shoulder, to evenly distribute it's weight for easier use. The palm of the gauntlet is a small pressure pad, which holds back the steam so that he only punches when he wants to, instead of every time the pressure reaches a certain level. Appearance: Grim is rather tall, 4'4, though fatter than most dwarves as well. He has a full head of think, brown hair, kept relatively short, with a large widow's peak. He's got lots of wrinkles under his eyes and near his mouth, along with lots of freckles on his forehead. He has bright blue eyes, always full of happiness and life. both his arms and legs are muscular from his work, and his nails have lots of cracks and chips in them from work. Calling: Engineer, but he tries to keep that on the down low (more or less) Racial Abilities: none Science Rating: 5 Magic Rating: x Bern's Mad Doctor and Sexy Nurse <3 User name: Lady Bern Character Name: Doctor Oliver Redden Race: Human Gender: Male Age: 48 Equipment: A medical bag full of supplies from medicines to tools to extra shiny and sharp scalpels and an over-sized bone saw that looks to have been meticulously cared for in an almost obsessive manner. Appearance: In the simplest of descriptions Dr. Redden is a brain in a bell jar. Numerous wires attached to specific nodes allows for the disembodied Dr. Redden to control a steamwork automated body on which the jar is mounted on the cranium. The body is a brass and steel skeletal like contraption with a humanoid frame standing just over five an a half feet on backwards bent cricket like legs. It's most notable feature is its hands designed specifically to work with complex surgeries and constructions. Dr. Redden is prone to say that before his 'accident' he was a handsome man, desired by most. But since no one who has known him before as having a human body has shown up no one is sure how much of that is true. Calling: Doctor Racial Abilities: The automated body allows for him to work and keep running longer, he feels no pain, and as long as the bell jar is not damaged can be a force to be reckoned with if he were a fighter. Science Rating: 4 Magic Rating: 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ User name: Me again! ^^ Character Name: Mary Blood Race: Human Gender: Female Age: 30 Equipment: A small medical bag of her own full of syringe needles and bottles filled with questionable liquids. Strapped on her back is a large steampowered dart gun altered to fire injection needles (for when patients try to run away). Appearance: Standing at a modest five foot four with a curvaceous figure fitting her 160 pound weight Mary is pale in complexion. She might have some more color to her skin if she were to leave Dr. Redden's office more often or take her nose out of the medical research books. She keeps curly her pinned back in a bun and beneath her nurse's cap when she is working. Her storm gray eyes looks steely especially when she is wearing her surgical mask graced with a bronze cross. She wears black, rust, and red colored shirts, corsets, and dresses to help hide the blood stains from her work which are very very difficult to wash out. Calling: Nurse and personal assistant to Dr. Redden. Racial Abilities: None really. Science Rating:3 Magic Rating:1 Shap's Elven Airship Builder User name: Shapatti Character Name: Nyana Freaniathem Race: Elf Gender: Female Age: 72 Equipment: Nyana wears a pair of comfortable leather trousers as well as a green silk, sleeveless tunic. She uses a think leather apron and a pair of thick elbow length leather gloves while at work. As well as a pair of goggles with different lenses that swap in and out for different magnification. She also has a bandana for covering her mouth and nose. Nyana wears a tool belt which contains everything she needs, a hammer and suchlike. She also carrys a revolver for self defence, the revolver is hidden in a pocket on the tool bag, so it could be easily mistaken for a screwdriver or a wrench. Appearance: Nyana is actually fairly short for an Elf, clocking in at only 5' 2", as well as weighing in at 154lbs. Nyana's skin has become a slightly pale brown shade from the time spent outside on the decks of airships that require her attention. Her medium blonde hair barely reaches down to her shoulders, though she ties it back while at work on a machine. Nyana's iris are an iridiscent violet, showing that her bloodline had a dormant mutation called Alexandria's Genesis. Calling: Airship Engineer Racial Abilities: Nyana has the Elve's ability to live long past a mortal's life expectancy. She has also been gifted with the Elve's ability to move quickly and with increased stamina. Nyana also has the basic knowledge of magic imparted on most of her race. Science Rating: 5 Magic Rating: 1 Eternal's Human inventor User name: Eternal-Solstice Character Name: Erreck Rusellem Race: Human Gender: Male Age: 25 Equipment: The clothes that Erreck wears is nothing special; just a simple faded blue shirt that has an old black overcoat over top of it, a pair of cloth pants that are also black in color, a small hat, black fingerless gloves, and a pair of old shoes that his father used to wear to his workplace. His weapon of choice is a pistol that he had made himself, although it has a few flaws, one being that it only holds about 4 shots per round, and another being that it can lock up at random times. It also isn't very strong, with very little stopping power. Also adding into the problems this gun already has is that is loud.... VERY loud. Appearance: Erreck Rusellem is about 5'9" in height, weighing in at 197 pounds. He has blonde hair that reaches to his shoulders. His eyes are a dark shade of blue that has a greyish "line" that goes directly through the middle of his pupils (this does not hinder his eyesight at all, although many people who stare at his eyes tend to believe this is so). He often has a look on his face that shows what would seem to be sadness, but really is a face of deep thought. Erreck has a small scar on his right cheek, which he recieved from a cut of a part of a small device that exploded while he was trying to tinker with it. Although he does not have the apperance of someone with a lot of muscle, Erreck is rather strong and is capable of fending for himself in fights or situations where strength is needed, although he'd rather use machines for most of his work. He is clumsy and trips often, often making him the target of laughes or being teased by any of the passing citizens of Brisbane. He is a bit... "eccentric" as the townsfolk would say, always mumbling or jotting down notes of things he may attempt to create. Calling: Inventor Racial Abilities: Although not helpful or hindering in any way, Erreck's eyes have a greyish "line" through the middle of his pupils, which most of the men in his family have passed down throughout its history. Science Rating: 3 Magic Rating: x Princess Pai's Gardener User name razz rincesse Persephone Character Name:Mintella (Mint) Pherson Race: Human. Gender:Female. Age:Twenty this year. Equipment: Gardening Tools. Appearance sad Picture Coming Soon...Ish.) Mint it topped with a lovely mane of slightly curly, mocha-colored hair. She typically keeps this pulled away with a black ribbon hairband. Her eyes are the color of rich caramel framed in dark chocolate lashes. Peach skin cover her average frame, healthy with years of working around her lovely plants that are just as healthy as she. She always seems to have a giddy demeanor, even if seen from a distance. She wears dresses, mostly, with heavy leather boots that are worn with several years of heavy use. Calling: Gardener. She has a tiny shop near the Airship docks. Racial Abilities: N/A Science Rating mad Magic Rating: 2 500's Apothecary User name:Revya500 Character Name:Silva Race: Centaur Gender:Male Age:22 Equipment: A pack that carries a small assortment of herbs, a dagger that hangs of a belt loop that Cris-crosses across his chest, the belt has many pouches hanging from it. Appearance: A somewhat lean centaur with a bronze tan from his days in the rolling hills. But his appearance is deceiving, he has won many battles of wit and strength. With nothing more than his belt and and pack he is ready to take on the world. Calling: Apothecary Racial Abilities: Natural ability to identify herbs that grow around hills and forest. Science Rating: x Magic Rating: 2 The Dark Merchant cometh OMG User name: Maou the Darkness Character Name: Robert DunRoan Race: Human Gender: Male Age: 29 Equipment: Many say that this broker can acquire anything or anyone a person could possibly need. This fact alone makes it rather hard to nail down what he might have of a given moment. However, he always has at least two weapons on him. Levinstone Rod: This device, rarely seen outside of the magical kingdom of Corvix Rex, is generally used there for the transport of heavy objects. Each rod is attuned to a certain distance over time setting, and Robert's version is attuned to move any object up to 250 meters in the course of a second. At small distances, this is barely more than a light toss, but at long range it can turn practically any object into a dangerous projectile. The rod holds a maximum charge of 200 kg, and must first be tapped against the item it is to move before it can be used. Coldstone Repeater: A high quality revolver, top of the line and very well designed, this is the typical weapon of the Coldstone Guard, and never seen outside of their hands. A six-shot weapon, it is capable of using both packed and cartridge ammunition. It's design is that of an urban weapon, designed to be used for accuracy at short ranges, befitting the twisting city streets of Coldstone. These weapons are more notable for the relative impossibility of having one out of their home areas, rather than power. It is a bit of a sign of the man to carry both of these devices, and still walk free. Appearance: Robert is almost always dressed in a full black suit, the most formal of formal clothes. Black shirt, shoes, pants and jacket, the only different mark on him is the white tie he habitually wore. A darkly mysterious and handsome figure, he still prefers to keep himself in secrecy. You don't get to a position like his without making many enemies. Calling: Fixer (Black Marketeer) Racial Abilities: None Science Rating: 3 Magic Rating: 3
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 12:02 pm
That weakling human had said that this place would be good for finding work. This metal, stinking, human city. There were wonders here, yes. Ssessriel had seen some of them himself, but wonders didn't mean work. He had been in this place, this home to the iron monsters, these 'trains,' for a full moon and there had been no work. Less glory. Just a few local whelps thinking to drove off a lizardman with sticks and stones, and no one had seemed to mind when he left them with broken bones.
The people here were soft, but Ssessriel had expected that. The human had said so, too, and that was why they would trade for Ssessriel's muscle. But still, nothing. A full moon, and Ssessriel was beginning to grow impatient. He didn't even leave his ragged little hut, the one marked 'Customs Office,' much anymore, too impatient. Might mash more of these soft folk. Might not get work at all, after that.
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 4:31 pm
The large cog shaped wheels of the modified baby's carriage bumped unsteadily over the the cobblestone roads that lined the farmer's market where the various vendors called almost excitedly with promises that one bundle of spices were far superior and better than the neighboring seller even if they had procured it from the same place.
Mary silently rejected the offer as she pushed onward through the crowd the carriage carrying the gray human brain encased in a bell jar made the perfect plow. "Where is that damnable so-called medicine man?" A gruff voice demanded from a gramophone speaker.
"I don't know." Mary said aloud ignoring the gazes of the visiting races who were not use to the pair. "But we do need some more morphine I think someone stole what we had left." The carriage bumped into someone's leg but she was too preoccupied looking at some trinket to notice.
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 5:56 pm
The slum's stank a little heavier today, at least, Ezra thought so. The slums always stank, but maybe that was the fact there where too many bodies all cramped in here together. Another blessing he had to count his goblin heritage for.
His white scarf whipped over his shoulder, as he reached up and shifted through his pockets, looking for something to purge the smell of the metal smelting furnaces that populated this section of the back end of Brisbane.
All he had was a long stemmed glass tobacco pipe, and some orcish badland's tobacco. Generally known about the city as 'the cheap stuff', as there wasn't a market for it in the upper branches of the city's social caste. But Ezra could not imagine anything else in his pipe, this was the only stuff with the strong enough flavor...even if it did get him called a miser.
Let 'em think what they wanted, he really didn't care.
He had work to do, and he couldn't do it with this thick smell of rotten eggs and decaying wood filling his nose hairs. He placed the stem of his pipe in his teeth gritting them as he pulled out a long brass phial, or at least, it looked like a brass phial. Immediately upon him flipping open the conical cap of the phial, a yellow flame flickered out of a small spout there. He brought flame to pipe, and puffed, filling his nostrils with the stench of burning pipe weed.
His boot tread a silent path through the alleyway, coming up on the gaggle of city guard in their shiny breastplates and blue trousers, or plain blue utilitarian jackets. Ezra hacked in his throat gruffly, "Aside, gentlemen..." He wheezed in that low voice of his. "I have work to do." Some of this sections guards seemed suspicious of the short half-gob here, but Ezra paid that no mind as he forced his way passed them.
Not even his pipe smoke could outclass the pure filth-riddled stink of the body that lay in the barrel of brine. Ezra took in the immediate features of the man, he had been an elf with white blond hair. From the nature of his robes, and the leafy, embellish motif of them, definitely not from Brisbane itself. The man had been killed by three well-placed stab wounds to the throat. And if Ezra was familiar with stab wounds, from behind...and Ezra was as intimately familiar with stabbing as most men where with their own wives.
He caught sight of pouches on the man's hips, and narrowed his jet black eyes. He raised his hand and flipped his notes out of his sleeve, taking the pen from within and beginning to note carefully on a fresh page.
He looked over to one of the guard keeping people out of the alleyway, wheezing at him, "You, could you please fish this man's belt out for me." It was no request, despite the please having been added.
The guard looked rightly revolted to have to grapple the pickled elf in the brine barrel. But he did as instructed, handing the wet pouch covered belt to Ezra, looking a little pale as he did so. "Good job, lad. At least, you didn't pu..." And Ezra's ears where greeted by the sounds of retching and expelling of breakfast behind him. "Lovely, so much for that."
Ezra began to fish within the pouches, finding all many of strange implements there...bones, crystals, liquids in vials, and what was once a strange powder. Ezra let out a long sigh. "Well, we have another dead mage." He noted down the contents of the pouches into his notebook, before flipping through the pages to other cases he had open. He would need to brief the captain further, when he arrived.
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Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:58 pm
Erreck was at his desk in his small and cluttered home, quickly scrawling notes into a small black notebook. "And I may need some more bolts... perhaps some more screws and pipes as well," he muttered to himself quietly, adding everything into his notes. After finishing his scirbbling, he stumbled over to a small and dusty looking pantry, opening it to see that he had only a few pieces of bread left inside, some already eaten by bugs or mice.
"Great... another few days of supper lost," he sighed to himself, adding to the list to get bread or any other food that he could afford. Erreck slams the door shut behind him as he walks to a coat rack, grabbing his overcoat and the small dusty hat. After donning his coat and hat, he opened the small, creaky door of his home and walked out into the streets.
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 1:14 pm
The world lurched alarmingly, bringing Nyana out of her thoughts with a shock. Right now she was hanging in a harness from the hull of one of the great vessels she spent so much time on. On this particular one, one of the stabilising propellers had shattered. Leaving the airship stranded above the city. It could have been towed towards the docks though the danger of it turning over and plummeting was too great to move it under anything other than it's own steam.
Nyana sighed as the remaining bit of the propeller slipped off of the rod that connected it to the engine. Not being able to quite reach it she had to watch helplessly as it plummeted towards the city, a distance of sixty or so feet. Nyana squinted at the ground, it seemed to be dropping towards the slums, so if it did hit anyone. They wouldn't be too badly missed.
Nyana sighed again before turning her attention back to the engine, all it needed was a new propeller and propshaft and it should run good as new.
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Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 4:40 pm
The quaint little store made of copper reflected in her awe-filled eyes. It was everything she had hoped for, worked for, and dreamed of. Since she moved to this town with her father a lofty number of years ago, they had planned to bring precious life back to the people who had so carelessly forgotten it.
The shop blended in perfectly with the buildings around it. It was decorated to show off her plants, with large windows and a dainty sign that read "Flowers" in ornate, hand-painted English. Although the building blended in, it had quirks. Anything that was necessary to touch, like doorknobs, was made from highly-polished wood.
Outside sat a wooden stand, with a folding and lockable lid made from chicken wire, where flowers sat in terracotta pots, all labeled with stickers advertising the girls name and the name of the plant. This sat in front of the left-side window. On the right, there was a wooden cart that was used to transport flowers to homes and other businesses. The cart was empty, besides a blanket of rich soil that cushioned the bottom. From the ground, her work area could barely bee seen. A few tendrils of ivy hung over the side of the building, which was trimmed regularly to avoid complaints. All of her tools and immature plants were kept there. Both sun and shade covered the rooftop, making it a perfect place to grow several types of plants, fruits and vegetables (though the fruits and veggies were for her personal use).
The inside of the shop was full of all kinds if plants, from all parts of the world. The farthest part the of shop was split into a hot, and a cold section. These were the most exotic plants. Lights and sprinklers were strung strategically for optimal plant growth. Everything else was simple. Made of polished maple and cedar. There was an antique register that sat on her desk, and a small tablet of receipt paper sat next to it with a pen. Mint sighed and went inside to busy herself with pruning plants and wiping down the slightly soiled shelves.
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Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 9:49 pm
Ezra huddled near the wall, concealed in the dark of the alley as the other guards went about removing the corpse and taking it to the morgue for a final examination before being put into the ground. Ezra looked the Constable across from him. "Doesn't take a genius to realize we have a serial killer here. Someone is targeting visiting Mages. People who won't be missed." He looked towards the body, "Maybe even a group trying to make a point."
The Constable stroked the curled tips of his thick bushy mustache and grunted, "Seem to be trying to make a point, doesn't it?"
Ezra considered it, normally such methods were the same as what a gang or smuggler's ring would do to send a message through assassination, except for disposing of the body. All of the bodies so far had been placed into a position where they would be discovered, but not before some time had passed. Like the brine barrel. Another had been strung into a tree, hidden in the branches until the ravens alerted the guards it was there. "Perhaps...I wouldn't rule that out." In the end, he was just an inquisitor. Ultimately, all calls where on the Head Constable and the Captain of the Guard. "But the body hiding doesn't make sense...unless they wanted to let rot remove signs of the attack." Ezra wheezed, as he moved away from the wall. "I'll stop by the morgue tonight and examine the knife wounds...This thinking is making me pine for a beer."
Ezra traveled away from the slums, distancing himself from the serial murders to clear his head. If he did this, he found things made more sense. Evidence pieced itself for him together better in a state of distance from the actual case. And he knew just the place for this...
He traveled all the way to the dock yards, to where a small sailor's tavern lay. Here, Ezra traveled almost daily. He came each day, and ordered the same thing. He took a stoppered jug of sailor's punch and a baked fish sandwich. And today was no different...except for the new copper shop that had opened up, right outside his usual spot on the docks. Such an odd place for a flower shop, as he slipped out of his boot and sat down, his feet overhanging the edge to dip in the river.
He drew his paper wrapped sandwich close, and popped the cork stopper out of the thin necked jug, focusing on the sunlight beating down on the water.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 7:39 pm
As Mary pushed the Doctor onwards in their search for the merchant who provided them with their medicines the wind blew a certain hint of gossip in their direction.
"-body found-"
"-must have been a murder how else would it get there?"
"They were guarding the alleyway wouldn't let-"
Mary kept her eyes before her while stretching her ears to listen to the conversations without showing any suspicious movements that she were eavesdropping upon them. "Did you hear that?" She asked aloud.
"Yes. We might have something to work with soon."
There was a sudden loud bang that echoed dully from the direction of the slum area. Everyone stopped for a brief second to satisfy their curiosity of the sound's source before returning their focus to whatever it was that they were doing.
"Perhaps we'll have more than we thought." Mary added wondering if anyone were hurt, if so they should return to the office soon. That damnable vendor was nowhere in sight and she had grown tired of the crowd turning off from the market street Mary pushed the carriage back towards the direction of J block where they worked.
"I guess we'll stop by that flower shop and see if they have any Poppies. We'll just have to make some morphine until we can find a new supplier. Oh and see what you can do about finding a grave robber we are in need of some fresh parts." Dr. Reddin's muffled voice ordered from the gramophone speaker as the gray mass within the bell jar shook slightly in its preserving liquids.
Nodding in agreement Mary headed towards the flower shop.
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