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Epine de Rose Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:39 pm
 {Area Introduction} [Gambino]:Welcome to the North Eastern Town of Gaia and the most famous of them all. It is the home to the infamous Johnny Gambino who is said to have gone insane after his ego-boost from the populace of Gaia, nevertheless the Isle itself is rather small and holds more tourist attractions than it does industry (with the exception of whatever may lurk beneath Gambino's mansion). Along the eastern side of the island, slightly south of the mansion are a number of shops ranging from accessories to weapons while on the west is the newly opened Gambino Casino - I would advise not going there if you would like to remain at least slightly wealthy... [Obvious Exits] South Path >> Port de Gambino
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:23 pm
As usual, it was a busy day in the Town of Gambino--a fact that went largely unnoticed by most, as they were too busy going about their personal business to perceive this.
Sighing, the one known as Shade entered the city, his shadowy cloak wrapped around him. This city, was not a place that he liked to be. Not only were the townspeople to hurried to stand still and pay attention to the mandatory dark lord monologue, (which he had attempted to complete several times, with little success), but the last time he'd been here, one of his rather more devious plots (or so he though) had gone horribly wrong. There he was, attempting to take control of the casino, (a first step in world domination, naturally) when one of the peasants, (all of which had been giving him a particularly hard time up until then) had sidled over and offered him a drink.
What happened next, he didn't really know. Suffice it to say that he'd woken up the next morning dangling upside down from a clothesline, smelling vaguely of alcohol, and earwax, with nothing left on his person except for a half-used roll of duct tape, and three expired coupons for something called a pan-galactic gargle blaster.
Shade shivered as he passed the said casino. Just the sight of it was enough to give him the willies...
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 5:39 pm
Merrick d'Seery peered down distastefully at the human filth that crowded the streets of the isle from the back of his horse, Sasha. He was dressed more richly than Gambino himself could afford to be, in an embroidered shirt of red, green, and gold, a pair of silken black pants, and fine, soft boots and gloves, all made of the finest fabrics by the finest designers his father's barony contained. His saddle was similiarly trussed up, and both it and the saddlebags matched the shirt the young nobleman was wearing.
He didn't want to be here. He wanted to be off discovering magical artifacts, or locked away in his room tinkering with them. But his father had sent him here on an errand, and Merrick had long since learned never to refuse a request from Baron d'Seery. At least it promised to be somewhat interesting...some shady businessman had asked for his father's financial backing; Merrick was supposed to observe the business operations for some time to be sure it would be profitable.
But Merrick didn't even know how to find this shady businessman; the chap had said he would meet with the lordling outside the casino, but he hadn't mentioned where outside the casino, or what he would be wearing, or even what he looked like. Merrick himself was visible enough, on horseback as he was, but what if the businessman chose not to approach him? He was going to need to pick out this shady character from the crowd somehow...
There! That black cloaked figure! He looked shady enough...
Guiding Sasha gently, Merrick pushed through the crowd till he and the horse were standing right in front of the cloaked figure known as Shade. "You there!" he shouted down at the cloaked man. "You are the one who wanted funding, are you not?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:21 pm
Startled out of his thoughts, Shade looked up to see what seemed to be some petty lord squealing nonsense.
Confused, (and rather taken aback by this fool's audacity in refferring to him as 'you there') Shade had a leap of insight uponwith the word funding.
Pulling his hood down, as not to seem suspicious, Shade spoke..."
Err...yes! Of course I'm the one...--who else would it be!?
HE still had no idea what the guy was blathering about, but a little bit of 'funding' never hurt anyone--even a dark lord...
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:22 pm
"Oh, good," Merrick replied, the relief evident in his voice. He dismounted, and offered a gloved hand for the cloaked man to shake. His other hand remained on Sasha's reins. The gelding was a calm beast, but he didn't trust her not to wander off in search of some place to graze. "I was afraid I would never find you. How do you do? I am Merrick d'Seery, representative of the Baron d'Seery. I'm here to oversee your operation for a week, and provide you with the agreed upon 10,000 gold during that time. Afterwards, if my father is satisfied that this investment is worth making, you'll get a steady flow of coin from him; as much as you desire, if he deems it worth it."
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:18 pm
Shade tried not to let his eyes go wide in shock, 10,000 gold in itself was easily a small fortune! Pausing for a second to consider whether it would be a better idea to play along, or just hold the hapless creature for ransom, Shade eventually decided that the charade could prove more profitible in the long run.
Shaking Merrick's hand, Shade smiled cautiously, "Of course m'lord. Come with me, and I'll lead you to my...buisness.
Fumbling around in his cloak, Shad found and crushed one of his 13 (a fittingly evil number) pre-made illusion stones, muttering a quiet incantatio to direct it's form.
From anyone but his point of view, a Tall dark tower seemed to have suddenly come into the foreground...not actually appearing, but seeming as if it had been there all the time, just overlooked. Grinning at his own cleverness, Shade beckoned the young royal into his 'tower'.
"Here, is the headquarters of Eclipse Industries, where we manufacture zombies day and night, for use by the general public...."
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:19 am
It was Merrick's turn to have his eyes go wide. "Ah...zombies, you say?" he asked as he walked alongside Shade, leading Sasha behind. Every now and then he glanced nervously about, as though expecting zombies to pop out at him and tear the flesh off his bones at any moment. His father hadn't disclosed to him the exact nature of the business, and Merrick was beginning to suspect this was one of the baron's attempts to off him. Everyone who lived in and around their manor knew the baron favored Merrick's younger brother, though Merrick, as the oldest, was his heir. Still, father hadn't tried to kill him in months now; surely he had given up?
"Well...erm," the hapless noble began, a lilt of anxiety firmly in his voice. "Let's have a look at these zombies, then."
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:26 am
In a city where most of population seemed special, he was special, only because he did not seem to be special. He carried no oversized weapons. He didn't run around in sorcerer's garb, nor masks, nor cloaks, no black impractical clothes. No, he was special, because he appeared like none of the would be demigods that populated cities around here.
He looked like a hobo, one that had possibly shoplifted from the clothing isle of a homeless shelter, or perhaps an army surplus store. He wore woodland camoflague cargo pants, loose, and worn thin in a few spots, mostly around the knees. The hemline was frayed, and the pants seemed held up only by a length of nylon rope wrapped tightly around his waist, and sinched down with a knot to the left of his fly. His shirt seemed no descript, a blue, light teeshirt. It might have once been large for the man, and it might have once had sleeve, however, both were torn now, the shirt barely covering his shoulders, and barely reaching the top of his pants. His face was covered in a scraggly beard, his hair was long and lightly colored like the sands of Gambino.
The only thing that didn't seem to speak of the life of a hobo, was his muscles. There was a little too much. He looked like someone that worked out. His body was poised, his posture straight. His eyes were sharp, too sharp, it seemed, as he walked through the crowd, his hands stuck in his pockets.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 11:00 am
"You want to see the--!?" Shade was rather taken aback. Had the impudent lord caught onto his devious plot?! Shade reprimanded himself...that was impossible, his schemes were too welll crafted to be bested by the likes of him!
Nodding to th boy, "Uhm...yes, of course! Come right this way, and I'll escort you to our nearest factory..."
Leading him out of the 'tower', Shade began to wander around the city in a roundabout fashion as he pondered his next move.
As they passed by the rather ragged looking figure, Shade had a sudden idea. "Merrick, stay right here...I believe that that man behind us may be one of our new 'chameleo-zombies', outfitted with synthetic flesh, as not to scare off the kiddies--I'll check.
Confronting the figure, Shade briefly explained the bare minimum of events to him. "...and so, sir, if you would consent to come with me and fool this idiotic noble into believing you are a disguised zombie, I'd be willing to pay you somewhere in the range of 500-1000 gold..."
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:42 pm
The man's eyes darted left and right, as he hunched over, bringing his arm over his face, as though he was drawing up a cloak, though, of course, the man wore no cloak, none that anyone could see, in the least. Nor one that anyone could apparently interact with in any way.
Finally his eyes focused on the dark lord before him. His voice was quiet, barely a whisper as he spoke, "1000, a pie, and a point stick... and you have a deal," he told him, "and the pie must be fruit based, dammit... then you'll have hired your ninja zombie of doom."
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 5:43 pm
Briefly, Merrick wondered why the man sounded so surprised. He had said he had come to oversee business operations, hadn't he? Of course he needed to see the product...
Contentedly, the noble followed the dark lord around the city, glancing left and right for any signs of factories filled with zombies. Sasha calmly moved through the crowd behind them, looking for a bit of greenery to eat.
His first reaction to the man's comment was indignation - how dare this peasant call him by his first name? His second was fear, and the moment it registered with him that he might be within three feet of a zombie made Merrick's ice blue eyes go round and wide. The lordling turned, staring at the raggedy man. By the time he recovered from his fear enough to stammer "Ah, good idea, that, camoflauge, so as not to scare people...brilliant, really..." the dark lord was already talking to the zombie thing.
The ragged one moved much more fluidly than one would expect from a zombie; it must be one of the newer models. It's behavior was far too strange to be human, but the camoflauge certainly was working well; if the dark lord hadn't said something, Merrick would have assumed it was a flesh and blood man.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:58 pm
Shade nodded silently. "That will not be a problem. You have my word as a dark lord that the gold and items will be yours by nightfall--if all goes well..."
Bowing, Shade presented the 'zombie' to Merrick. "Realistic, isn't it? The guys down at research and development are really at the cutting edge undead magitechnology, creating new, and innovative zombie designs!"
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:59 pm
Chyre sighed, adjusting her grip on her staff as she wandered through the streets of the island. She was supposed to be shopping, but every shop she went into had the most tackiest things -- honestly, who wanted a monkey figurine that made odd hooting noises if you squeezed it? The tourists must have liked it a lot, though, because she could swear every child she had come across had at least one. It was .. somewhat frightening.
She stopped in front of yet another souveneir shop and begun to look at the display in the window out of sheer boredom when she heard someone nearby talking about camoflauge. She immediately turned around to look for anyone disguised as a bush but, sadly, it must not have been a full moon. Looking for the source of the voice she had heard, she came upon the oddest group of people she had seen yet. And a horse.
As she quickly skittered behind a lamppost in hopes of not being seen, she wondered whether to laugh or call for help.
She settled for just hoping she wasn't caught.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:21 pm
Catching a rapid motion out of the corner of his eye, Shade Turned slowly around, as not to alarm the noble. Shade saw a rather strange looking person, who seemed to be attempting to hide behind a lampost, and doing a surprisingly good job, thoght the post was less then six inches in diameter. This bewildered him utterly. Had the forces of light caught on to his scheme? He knew they were often quite resourceful, but somehow he couldn't quite bring himself to believe tha t they could trarck something down that he'd only just thought up himself...
Sighing in confusion, he decided a straightforward approach might be the best choice. Approaching Chyre, "Err, may I help you miss...?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:47 pm
Chyre tensed up slightly as she was noticed, shutting her eyes and hoping to high heavens this guy was an idiot and thought she was just a figurine or a flower something. Lady Luck was ignoring her today, though.
She cracked open one eye as she was addressed. Looking around wildly, she wracked her brain for something that could possibly get her out of this situation.
.. wait. Didn't he say something about zombies just a minute ago?
"You have zombies!" She cried triumphantly, waving her staff at him and the.. other person. "Try anything and I'll holy the living -- er, undead -- hell out of your evil army, you.. you.." She searched for the proper insult. ".. very.. bad.. person!.. ..um, don't hurt me," she mumbled, cringing slightly. Well, that went well.
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