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Dangerous Conversationalist
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 Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:45 am
Within a mountainside of Gaia, there exists a tomb. Built to perfection for the Siwang family, this tomb holds priceless relics, pieces of ancient history, and cultural artifacts to preserve all that has come before man today, in a beautiful and artistic way. It is also privately owned, by the current heir of the family. At least that's what they say. The reality is, the tomb houses no family members at all. Reinforced on the inside by using magical and alchemical arts on the entirety of the mountain surrounding it, and stocked full of priceless artifacts that were acquired during their long lives, the tomb is an underground base for the Siwang group's mercenary activities.
The best technology of the age is kept in the tomb, reinforced by alchemy and Taoist sorcery. Weapons both new and old are kept in stock, and everything is under tight security, with mystical and mundane methods of keeping it out of the hands of others. The doors of the tomb are reinforced with Onmyoudo magic, making traversing it if you aren't charmed specially a difficult task indeed. It is in these halls that during the great crisis, this unusual group holds court, living in as much luxury as if it was their home away from home. Which it is. This is their staging point.
Getting in isn't easy. Even finding it isn't easy. One would have to first realize it was more than just an old tomb in the first place. All the paperwork on it is up to date. It's registered as a historical relic, and under ownership of the family, so the legal end is covered, and would draw no suspicions. Complex enchantments mask the presence of life and machines so it feels simply like any old mausoleum. Beyond that, there are various traps both magical and technological, including complex illusions, mind-altering effects, elemental forces, and guardian creatures that obey the Siwang family.
Even if you manage to get into the door and into the complex maze of tunnels that make up the tomb, you would spend days, weeks, even months trying to navigate the perils and pitfalls. The way in is known only to the family and its closest employees, and a small force of their best military associates. The rest is done by animated soldiers and servants, summoned elementals, and creatures from the annals of time, thought long lost. This is the home of immortals.
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 3:06 pm
Within the depths of the blocked off tomb, enchantments making it seem like any other old archaeological relic, the man sat in his monitoring room, sealed off from the rest of the building. This room was triple reinforced with various rare metals, all of them also enhanced with his magic as well, woven into the very fabric of the alloy itself. Dispelling all of his threads of sorcery would be a lesson in both patience and power. It would take an application and talent that was far beyond his own, and in this day and age, that was something rare. He had had much time to practice.
His cell phone rang. He raised it. Only a few had this unknown number on this encrypted signal. He listened to his retainer talk about the fight, and said nothing. She knew that he always said nothing. If he said nothing, it meant that she had done nothing incorrectly. The only time he spoke was to politely end the call, and to issue new orders. If there were no new orders, it essentially meant 'do as you like'. This is how he ended this call after simply saying a 'good work', and 'I'll speak with you again during the next report'. The phone was set down, and the complex scanning system using the Siwang family satellite system continued scanning above and below the surface of Gaia, looking for traces of the metal demon. Things were going as intended.
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Dangerous Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 1:22 am
The sound was a soft chirp, like that of a bird, the ringtone signaling that the quiet man in the depth of the tomb had an incoming phonecall.
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 1:45 am
There were a total of five people that had his number. Just five. There were five elements in the Tao. His own element wasn't, technically. It was part of the all itself. How he'd ended up with wind..well, it was a long story. But he had an individual ringtone for each person. He lifted it and chuckled into the reciever.
"Bored already are we?"
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Dangerous Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 1:55 am
"You could, perhaps, say that."
There was a light chuckle from the other end of the line.
"I was just calling to make certain you did not miss me too much. Since we decided on this course of action, I cannot very well meet you in person."
A brief pause then, before the voice continued, "I have been listening, as it were, to the movement of the waves, and I believe that something may rise to interfere with your well lain plans. I'm going with option two of our original discussion. "
A sigh, "I wish that I could say more, but I don't want to arise anyone's suspicion. I'll be in touch, my heart."
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 3:50 am
"That's a bit of an eyesore, I suppose. That entire plan was really sort of conceived on the notion that there might be a snag. Still, I suppose there's no choice then, is there? Alright, that's fine. But I have another matter to attend to as well. I left our fifth element at home. For now it's the three of us, and our fourth element is elsewhere on a project. I have a meeting in the Void to go to. Be careful in your movements. Use the summoning art if you need Huoyan's help."
He hung up the phone then and rose. The man turned and gestured, his hands moving in rapid motions. Five pieces of paper were placed at five positions, and a gateway was opened into a dark space. He entered this space, to go speak to someone. Behind him, the gateway closed.
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Dangerous Conversationalist
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