Phenominon
New Member
"More rubble, less trouble!"
Posts: 24
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Post by Phenominon on Apr 17, 2009 4:30:54 GMT -5
It was late in the afternoon when the trade ship pulled into Antigus harbor, having just returned from the Abatar kingdoms. As the crew began to unload the cargo, the sounds of the harbor caused an unexpected passenger to grogily wake up. Still half awake, the passenger mumbled "...five more minutes...alchemy test isn't for an hour..." before remembering where he was and jolting awake. He panicked briefly at the sight of the sailors coming into the hold before realizing that they were just unloading cargo. Still, he had to get off the boat before someone spotted him. Using the crates as cover, Alexander made his way to the dock. Fortunately for him, the sailors were busy unloading crates and tired from the journey, so he went unnoticed- at least by them- although getting over the plank had stressful. After giving a brief thanks to whatever Divina was watching over him, Lex tried to put some distance from himself and the dock quietly and when he thought he was far enough away he made a short dash for a nearby back alley. From there he took a short breather and looked up, hoping it wasn't a full moon tonight...
(Oh yeah, since I figure this will come up fairly soon, for how full moons or their absence work; unless Solum has any objections or a specific idea for how he wants to run seasons, I was thinking anyone could declare when a full moon started happening but after that happens the next couldn't be declared by anyone until about 30 or so more in game days. Also, as an event the full moon 'lasts 5 days' as a mostly full moon can still trigger the transformation.)
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Post by Solum on Apr 18, 2009 9:25:44 GMT -5
((Yeah, I'm fine with that )) Deciding to take a break from the bustles of the Market District, Ricalser had headed down to the harbor. Normally he'd take the chance to sneak off with someone's cargo, but after the close call in the markets he decided to stay low for awhile. So for now, he was sitting up against a wall, watching the ships unloading all their precious cargo. As he was doing so, he noticed a man running away from the docks and into an alley. That wasn't unusual, but the man looked kind of panicked about something, and where there was panic there was trouble. And around these parts, trouble usually meant money. Getting up, Ricalser decided he'd tail the man for a little while and see what he was up to. If there was some kind of shady deal going on, Ricalser would temporarily become a vigilante...and then run off with the loot. If there wasn't, he'd leave the man alone.
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Phenominon
New Member
"More rubble, less trouble!"
Posts: 24
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Post by Phenominon on Apr 22, 2009 17:02:25 GMT -5
As Alex was taking a rest, he heard a small noise and panicked. He whirled around. "Who's there?!" He saw no one, and spun around the other direction. There was a small old man sitting further down the alley, and nobody else. Not giving up yet, Alexander quickly muttered a few words and cast a Detect Hostility but got no response which couldn't be attributed to panic. "I'm being paranoid..." he said to himself as he calmed down.
He sat down and tried to straighten out his thoughts. "What do I need, I need a place to stay, food (preferably by getting a job) and eventually I'll need to get into the local mage guild," he thought aloud. Unfortunately he had no idea to begin looking for any of those. He sat in depressed silence until he noticed how low the sun was in the sky. Alex stood up. "And I'd better find them soon," he said as he walked further into the alleyway.
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Post by Solum on Apr 25, 2009 22:43:00 GMT -5
Ricalser had ducked out of sight upon hearing the man saying "Who's there?". He was afraid for a moment he had been caught, but eventually the man sat down and calmed down. There was a chance he used a spell to look for enemies, but obviously it didn't work. The guy didn't sound as if he was doing anything illegal, and the man's poor looks made it obvious he wouldn't be a good target to rob. He was about to leave when he heard the guy mention he needed food.
That caused Ricalser stop in his tracks. The guy was desperate, poor, and if he wanted into the Mages Guild, a magic user. In this town it sounded like a perfect recipe for a Thieve's Guild member. And if he could recruit him into the guild, he'd probably get a nice bonus.
"Hey you. I heard you say you need a place to stay. I might be able to work something out for you." Ricalser said, moving into view. He leaned against the alleyway wall, crossing his arms while giving a bit of a grin. There really was no purpose in that other than to look cool. Half of his job was acting when you got down to it.
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Phenominon
New Member
"More rubble, less trouble!"
Posts: 24
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Post by Phenominon on Apr 27, 2009 1:30:16 GMT -5
As the fox person stepped in front of Alex he jumped. He could have sworn there was nobody else there... "Hey you. I heard you say you need a place to stay. I might be able to work something out for you." It took Alex a few seconds to realize the renard, he just remembered that's what the species was called, had even said anything at all. It was about a minute more before the full realization of what was said drove home. He muttered to himself "He's offering me a place to stay! Maybe he can help me get some food too! This is too good to be true..."
And then he paused, a worried expression on his face. This renard didn't know about his condition. Would he be able to handle it? Alexander didn't want to hurt his new friend. He looked him over one more time. This guy certainly looked like he could handle himself. "I'm sure it'll be fine, and it's not like I've got any better options." he muttered to himself, before speaking up and replying a little nervously "Ok, y-yeah I like the sound of that."
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Post by Solum on Apr 27, 2009 20:54:18 GMT -5
Ricalser smiled for a second, but then remembered the catch to his offer.
"Great, but I do have a question. Do you have any qualms with being on the, uhm, bad side of the law? My offer will get you food and a place to say, but you'll have to do some jobs for us that may involve breaking and entering."
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Phenominon
New Member
"More rubble, less trouble!"
Posts: 24
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Post by Phenominon on Apr 28, 2009 23:53:26 GMT -5
Lex didn't really like the sound of that. But after thinking about it for a brief moment, he realized this was possibly the only work he'd get and besides this is everything he needed! At least to give him time to research his condition...
"Y-yeah, I think I can do that." he replied uncertainly.
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Post by Solum on May 2, 2009 14:26:47 GMT -5
"Great, then let's see if we can meet up with my boss. Just make sure you keep up okay."
With that Ricalser started to walk out of the alleyway, but as soon as he was out of sight he began to shift into his weasel form. This would serve as an excellent test of the man's skills. If someone was capable of keeping up with him like this, then they obviously had the skills needed to be thief. Sure, they would start off with something simple like pickpocketing some merchants or swiping fruit, but who knows. One day they might be work together on robbing the Emperor himself!
To start off, he headed back towards the water, but made a quick turn toward the Waterfront district. Headquarters for the city was located there, and it was there new recruits had to go.
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Phenominon
New Member
"More rubble, less trouble!"
Posts: 24
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Post by Phenominon on May 3, 2009 3:00:13 GMT -5
Alex followed the renard as he started to leave the alleyway, before he suddenly turned a corner. As Alexander walked around the same corner he was greeted by a strange sight: some sort of strange half-renard-half-weasel which quickly changed into a full weasel before darting into the crowd. It took him half a second to realize he'd just seen the tail end of a transformation, and another half second to realize that the person he just met was transforming an running away, and that his good luck was all for nothing if the person got away.
"Hey! Wait!" Alex yelled, and gave chase. "Why are you running? Did I do something wrong?" he shouted while running after the weasel, bumping into people on the way and mumbling sorry here and there. He lost sight of it twice before finally starting to get sick of the chase. "Hey stop! Wait! STOP!" he yelled, punctuating his last shout by casting a flare directly over the weasel intending to stun him, while accidentally stunning everyone in the immediate vicinity.
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Post by Solum on May 3, 2009 13:43:34 GMT -5
Ricalser looked behind occassionally, and saw all the chaos that Alex was creating. He hoped that as the chase went on that he would realize what was happening, but instead he got worse. By the time he sent out the flare, Ricalser had decided he had failed the test. After finding a safe spot to transform again, he went back into his normal Renard form. With that he approached Alex, tsking the entire time.
"You know, for a wannabe thief you are really, really bad at it. I mean you can't even walk through a crowd and not be seen. You are going to need a lot of work if you even want to get into the lowest level of the guild."
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Phenominon
New Member
"More rubble, less trouble!"
Posts: 24
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Post by Phenominon on May 3, 2009 14:34:31 GMT -5
Alex watched, confused and feeling defeated, as the weasel disappeared into the crowd for a last time. This time he completely lost sight of him. Alexander felt like a failure. Not only had he scared off his most prominent source of food and shelter without knowing how, his attempt at magic had no visible effect on his intended target.
Then after a few minutes the renard came back, tsking. Alex was dumbfounded. The renard spoke: "You know, for a wannabe thief you are really, really bad at it. I mean you can't even walk through a crowd and not be seen. You are going to need a lot of work if you even want to get into the lowest level of the guild."
It took Alex a long time to respond, he was still trying to process everything that just happened. Eventually he said quietly, "...you never said anything about me being a thief..." He could feel his anger building inside him. "Nobody ever tells me anything. No! One day I'm perfectly happy working at the mage academy the next day I wake up hunted with blood on my hands!" His teeth began to elongate slightly and in between sentences he began to growl under his breath.
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Post by Solum on May 3, 2009 20:23:18 GMT -5
Ricalser arched his eyebrows, confused. The guy didn't know anything about the thief business? What did he think he was being brought into, a tea party? Why else would Ricalser have asked if he had qualms about breaking the law and breaking and entering?
"Hey, I asked if you had problems about breaking the law, and I mentioned breaking and entering. Thieving is about the only job I know that involves those, other than murder and assassination. If you're interested in that, then I can't help you."
Ricalser had heard the part about blood on his hands, and as a thief his eyes were sharp enough to notice the change in Alex's teeth. And of course, Renards always had a good sense of hearing, so the growling was noticeable as well. Assuming he was in the middle of a transformation spell, Ricalser knew he might want to back off a little bit. His eyes started darting around, looking for hiding spots and escape routes. He had one advantage over this guy; he knew the city.
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Phenominon
New Member
"More rubble, less trouble!"
Posts: 24
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Post by Phenominon on May 4, 2009 0:19:10 GMT -5
"I-" Alex stammered as his anger faltered. He thought about it for a moment, and that was the logical conclusion. "...I..." As his anger died down, he finally realized that he had been changing, in broad daylight. "Stupid!" he whispered to himself and smacked his forehead. "You know strong emotions are one of the triggers!"
Alex looked back up at the renard and after a few false starts finally said "I-I'm sorry, you're right. I...haven't always been living on the streets...I guess I'm not used to it yet..."
He stood there awkwardly for a moment before adding "I should probably go, its...not safe..." and he turned to leave.
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Post by Solum on May 9, 2009 6:53:33 GMT -5
"Theres no need to rush. If you're not used to living on the streets, then I'm the perfect guy for you. Been living on them my entire life." Ricalser said as he placed a paw on the man's shoulders.
Ricalser thought the guy was acting a bit odd, but it wasn't worse than some of the nutjobs he had met in the past. In fact, there were quite a lot of strange people in the big city, which was one reason he always enjoyed it. Small towns were too boring and predictable, but you never knew just what you'd run into in a big city.
"By the way, mind explaining what it is that isn't making this place safe? Other than the occasional pirate and, well, thief," Ricalser grinned at that word, "Nothing bad usually happens at the docks."
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Phenominon
New Member
"More rubble, less trouble!"
Posts: 24
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Post by Phenominon on May 11, 2009 22:40:21 GMT -5
"Theres no need to rush. If you're not used to living on the streets, then I'm the perfect guy for you. Been living on them my entire life."
Upon hearing this, Alex visibly relaxed. Maybe this can work out after all, he thought to himself. He just got a source of income, a place to stay and a friend and contact all in one go. "Thanks," he said, almost whispering.
The the renard said "By the way, mind explaining what it is that isn't making this place safe? Other than the occasional pirate and, well, thief, nothing bad usually happens at the docks." Right. That. Should I tell him?...probably. Wouldn't want to surprise him with it that's for sure.
Alex turned towards the renard. "Listen I-" he stopped for a moment while he thought about where to begin. "...I think it was a couple weeks ago, I was working with my mentor at my local mage academy. Something went wrong, and I fell unconscious. When I next woke up I was covered in blood. That was the first time I changed. Since then I've learned a few things that cause it, strong emotions and a full moon. Beyond that , I don't really know a lot about it other then that it's dangerous. I'm barely aware in that form, and very dangerous." He paused for a moment to let the renard process that. "Because of that I need to get into the mage's guild. I need to learn more about my condition, maybe find a way to cure it."
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