-Baron John Hawkes-
Closing his front door, John walked down the pathway to he street. Some lovely flowers and fancy statues lined his marble path. A the end, he passed two of his guards at the end, guarding the front. Two boys, each about twenty, in black and yellow guard suits and rifles. Acting more on his reputation, strength and connections to keep himself safe, John's guards, only about eight of them, were some boys on the street who impressed him. So, he'd made them an offer, and then let an old military man train them. It wasn't easy, training was rather harsh and strict, but hey. They were better off then before, so they couldn't complain. Especially when he had them trained to never complain. Nicer folk might call it something like brainwashing. Only moderately good at fighting, John just called it an investment. They were loyal, and would certainly get better with time.

Walking down the street on his morning walk, he quickly moved out of the Financial District and over through town. He walked down the roads with his head held high and a light smile. And why not? Today seemed as great a day as any, in his town. That's what he called it, and to him, that's what it was. He knew it's nooks and crannies, it's alleys and streets. His gang ran protection rackets and other activities in many areas, across the city. And most of all, he was on top now. Well, very high up. The Imperium still had him near it's bottom, but he knew that wouldn't last long. Striding proudly through the street, most people knew to stay out of his path and keep their hands off his pockets. After all, he walked this path many days for quite some time now. He kept himself lightly electrified as he walked, meaning those who did touch hm got a small shock. Taking a turn down an alleyway, he was barely halfway down it when a group of thugs walked into it, coming at him. Three rather normal, if none too friendly, looking humans, and another fellow, rather large and none too pretty, probably an ork or some such. Walking up in front of him, he simply smiled. "Boys."

"Boss. Got your coins, righ 'ere." The man in front held out held out a small bag, clearly holding a number of small coins, big and small. John snatched it away, and opening it up, shifted through it.
"Looks a tad small. It's all here, yes?"
"'Course boss! Every penny."
"I'm sure it does. Wouldn't want you to end up next to Jimmy, eh?"
"No, no boss."
"Good. Go on then boys, enjoy the day."

Taking his leave of the thugs, he walked past them, them of course moving out of his way and wandering off. Coming out on a near, he resumed his walk. He passed by that one beggar, what was her name.. Liz, or something. The one that gave tours. She had a large group today, an assortment of misfits. Good of her to be proactive. But then, maybe if she was more so she wouldn't still be starving. Smirking to himself, looking for a little fun, he subtly tossed a crown so it'd roll by her feet. It wasn't charity, he just liked watching them jump as money. Besides, when he pulled this trick he put an electric charge on the coin, to shock whoever picked it up. Almost as fun as watching them jump on the coin was watching them jump back when it shocks them. He considered it fair payment. The good Baron slowed down just enough to watch as unnoticed as he could before moving on. Walking down a street he didn't take near as often, a quaint shop caught his eye. Pemberton’s Clock's. Hm. You know, I could use a new one, That spot on the living room wall is rather empty. Bursting in with his usual flair, John started inspecting the clocks they had, waiting for attention.

_________________

-Adan, animal instinct-

Adan was disappointed. He hadn't ever thought of having a watch, but he really liked this one he had just found. Once the gunk was cleared off, it had a pretty pattern. But he was only willing to spend so much of his money on it; he worked hard for it, after all, selling skins to tanners and herbs to apothecaries, etc. Deer skins could only bring in so much, and he couldn't just go spending it on any old luxury all willy-nilly.
And yet...

"Well. Can I leave it with you, then? And I can come back tomorrow? How much would that cost me, d'ya think," Adan queried. After all, maybe sometimes it was nice to splurge a little bit. And hey, maybe it wouldn't even be all that much. He walked up to the counter and clinked his new little pocket watch on the top. He was pretty proud of having gotten it pretty much clean on the outside, and somewhat on the inside. Obviously, the clock makers would be able to clean it thoroughly, leaving the pattern much more visible, and the inside more, well, functional. As he turned around to leave, however, yet another person entered the shop. The hairs on Adan's arms stood on end, and it was only partly because of the electrical charge of the man. Adan knew quite clearly who it was, the Baron Hawkes. As a member of the Imperium, he would get nothing but hatred from Adan.

"Hawkes," Adan spat.

_________________
YOU MUST ALWAYS UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING I SAY

IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU MUST ASK OTHERS FOR CLARIFICATION

EVERYTHING I SAY IS IMPORTANT

~~Enine Estel/Coin & Card~~






Enine observed the rather pompous looking man walking down the street. "As snooty as they come aren't we Hawkes." Enine thought. And while it seemed like Enine has no room to talk, consider the fact Enine planned and calculated all of his interactions with others. He only came off as snooty, because he meant to come off that way. He could be a saint if he really wanted. In fact, speaking of saintly, that small action of the coin made it possible to shift his plan further a bit, although this would mean Lizzie herself would have to decide whether to choose or not, choose what? Something, nice and life-changing no doubt. Although Enine found it boring in the fact that she was having such a good day. Enine hated it when many things of either persuasion happened to befall all on one person. Oh well. He could look at it this way: she may be having a good day, but she won't have a good life, at least not at this pace.


To see all that raw-power contained in her. That was a pain. It was justifiable anyways, what with the coming storm. They had yet to even see the tip of the ice-berg, this much Enine could tell.


He turned and gave a side-way's inclination of his head towards 00. She repeated the gesture and quietly walked over the the crown the gentlemen from before had dropped. Enine would pick it up himslef, but he did not want to come off as that type, and the fact that such things were not very common for a person of his status, especially for a low-class citizen such as the tour-guide. Not to say Enine did not want to help. He could feel the small-magicks in the coin, the charged electricity. In a world where every movement was the same to a player on a chess-board Enine chose to act.

She stepped on the coin, the electricity silently being neutralized the moment she touched it. Reaching down to pick it up, she walked over to Lizzie and placed the coin in her hand with a bow and a professional look (the kind only an expert maid would have) along with the coin she had also slipped a business card. It was Enine's. The girl would no doubt look at Enine, who at that moment would have been simply staring in her direction. On the back of the card was a street-name, as the card only listed the address of Enine's business office

"Here, you seemed to have dropped this." She said, tactfully ignoring the fact that it was thrown down at her, and ignoring the note she was passing as well. Enine left it up to the girl's curiosity to go to the street later. Should she go, one of his assistants would be waiting on the corner. He didn't want to scare her into thinking he wanted her to come directly to his house for some random reason. He knew how to go about these things. Going somewhere near (And in an extremely rich neighbor-hood) would no doubt sooth her mind and pique her curiosity. perhaps if she was at any all optimistic she'd also be excited. Oh how the mind wonders.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

"How dare you suggest that I purchase a new one when it would cost more to mend this one? What terrible business practice." He stamped the floor with his cane. "I refuse to sign anything until you can decide how you want to handle this." His left-hand fingers tapped the knuckles of his right hand as they rested upon the crook of the cane. "And by the way," he addressed Adan without turning to face him. "I don't hear any Mozart."

As Adan moaned about his plight, a man bursting with flair entered the shop and went straight to perusing the merchandise. The audacity of this man infuriated Billiam, who only conveyed his distaste with a show of teeth.

Penna Pemberton – ‘Pemberton’s Clock making’

“Yes, you can leave it here and come back tomorrow, certainly,” Penna smiled at Adan. “How much it will cost will depend on what repairs are needed. Examination and cleaning costs only a sixpence – it will be the repairs themselves that are the bulk of the cost, but it varies from watch-to-watch. If you like, we’ll clean it up and examine it for you, calculate the cost and based on that, you can decide tomorrow whether you wish to spend the money needed on repairing it…if any further repairs are needed. Although with any luck, it could be that it just needs a good clean.” She smiled. “If you could leave your details and a sixpence as a deposit, you can come back here tomorrow either for collection, or to discuss any further costs for repairs there might be.” She gestured to the paper and inkwell on the counter.

The girl frowned at Doctor Billiam’s response. “Doctor, thank you very much for having such great concern for my business, but here at Pemberton’s we like our customers to get their money’s worth. We are a humble and honest business. Good quality service and customer satisfaction is what we set out to achieve, not cheating customers out of their money.” She smiled sweetly, in a way which was subtly condescending. “I know how to handle my family’s business, doctor, that I can assure you. Now as far as I see it, you have three options. One, you walk out of this shop, your watch still broken and your time wasted. Two, you can browse our selection and see about replacing the watch for a brand new one. Or three,” the girl said, marking it off with her fingers, “You can do what I suggested to this kind gentleman here - leave the watch and a deposit, and come back tomorrow to review the results. Now is there any other aspect of my business you would like to criticize me over, or can we all move on in a civilized manner?” She looked to Billiam, as if challenging him to say one more word out of line.

However the atmosphere in the shop then turned more sour as yet another customer walked in. It certainly was icy in there, as both Adan and Billiam, and indeed Penna observed the newcomer with distaste.

Great, a member of the Imperium in our shop…Geoffrey would have a fit, Penna thought to herself. Please Angelo, please stay in the back room.

She composed herself, her expression more neutral. As much as she hated the Imperium, she had a business to run. And she didn’t want to think what would happen if they knew just how anti-Imperium her family was. She would just have to try very, very hard not to lose her cool whilst serving him. The girl turned her attention back to the doctor and Adan, tactfully clearing her throat to break the awkward silence that had settled in the shop. Although, it could hardly be called silence, what with all the constant ticking going on in the background.


~*~

The Empty Church
Here comes a candle to light you to bed…


As William and Abe entered the room beyond the door, they would have noticed the decrease in light. The room was dark…the only source of light coming from a single, small window without any glass, somewhere up near the low-ceiling on the left wall.

This was the Sacristy – a room where the church’s supplies were kept. There was a shallow stone basin in the centre of the room, and various cabinets and cupboards lined the walls, the wood in perfect condition despite being so old. A large heavy book could be just about seen through the gloom, on one wooden surface to their right…presumably containing old parish records and notes. There were a few other books and bit and pieces beside it. A collection of church candles stood on another surface, and there were also various linens, vestments, equipment and objects of worship. There was no sign that any of it had been disturbed since the church had been ‘empty’. On the opposite end of the room stood another door…or rather, a doorway. A thick dark curtain hung before it, acting as a partition between the room they stood in, and whatever lay beyond it. The curtain wasn’t actually dark – but it was coated in such a thick layer of dust, it had turned a completely different colour.

Still there was that eerie silence, so thick you could cut it with a knife. The door behind them, like the entrance, stood open patiently. However there was no warm inviting feeling from it, should they turn back. But with every step back towards the exit, the two men would have felt a sense of relief, should they have done so.

Continuing on, however, was much a different story. Every step forward would have been more psychologically difficult to carry out than the last…and was it just imagination, or was the room ever-so-slightly growing darker with every step, too? In fact the closer they got to the curtain on the other side of the room, the darker their surroundings would have got. Not dramatically…but just enough for them to notice.

And that curtain. It was just an ordinary curtain and yet…there was something about it that made you want to turn and run the opposite way. Not quite menacing and yet…not at all friendly. Not to mention, the air was still freezing. The silence almost deafening.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

Vincent

Vincent eyed the stranger that walked into the shop. He knew in in an instant who the being was. A member the men who ran this city. The Imperium. As a bounty hunter, Vincent had to know his people. The atmosphere went dark. Of course, not many people liked the Imperium…but then again. They ran an entire city. They were bound to have money. They were bound to have people who they wanted out of the picture. Perfect clients. Of course, he wouldn’t offer his ‘services’ right now. Not when it was painfully obvious that the Imperium were not welcome in the shop, and offering to aid them would probably mean he wouldn’t get his watch fixed. He would wait until the Imperium member left the shop. Hopefully, things would go well, and he would get some new, rich, clients. Until then, he patiently waited in line, planning his next move.

_________________


You think your evil? You want to see real evil? Then allow me to educate you...

-The Great Baron, John Hawkes-
It only took a glace around to tell none of these folk liked him. Ah, such was the price of fame and power. Some people just were foolish enough, and rude to boot, to not be friendly with him. Of course, why would he want to be friends with such odd, poor fellows such as them? "Baron, sir. Baron Hawkes. I'd ever so prefer it if we kept the title there." With a quick cruel smile, he turned back to browsing. For the most part, he ignored the odd bunch with him in this shop. A nice collection, fine handmade products. Quite a few caught his eye, but they were all missing... something. He finally settled on one, with an excellent wood color and a slight bird motif. Still, even that had something lacking. Taking is hat off and walking over to the counter, a bit surprised the lady hadn't even offered any help to a fine, rich customer, such as himself, he introduced himself to Penna. "Good day, madame. Baron John Hawkes." He spoke fairly loudly and with a fair bit of authority, and plenty of "high class". Speaking of, he basically just went around the others in the shop, regardless of any sort of "line". "I would like to purchase the clock over there." He pointed at it with his cane. "However, it seems to be lacking something. Namely, precious metals. Not altogether surprising, but worthless to be without some. I was thinking electrum would work well, a few different shades. Maye some true gold and silver here and there. Anything you think would fit it well would work, but I was imagining a few thunderbolts perhaps, with whatever you made add. Oh, and the clock face would certainly need gold. Beyond that, I'd leave it to your shops excellent craftsmanship. I'm assume you won't... disappoint me." John grinned at the lady at the county. Not the happiest smile. "I can pay upfront for some of the metals. We can handle the clock price and any other fees when I pick it up." Reaching a hand into his pocket, he laid a rather impressive stack of paper money into the table, with a handful of coins. Plenty for adding to the clock. "Of course, I'm sure you're willing to wave a few fees for a proud member of your hardworking government, the grand Imperium."

_________________

"Mademoiselle, I am going to leave this watch here and never return for it." Billiam was about to about-face when Hawkes approached the counter, cutting in front of him.

"Sir, while I approve of your tastes for flair," he thrust his finger into Hawkes' face. "I disapprove of your rude behavior! How dare you break into the line before me! I was just leaving, but nevertheless, you would have to be very brazen to do so! For I am a rich doctor with connections."

{William Livingstone}

_Church_Meeting an ally?_

One of his tick toking men, noticed an old beggar or what it assumed as an old beggar and alarmed William by pulling on his pant leg. " You never.... fail me,.... my faithful.... minions." William commented as he praised his little guys. He turned his head slightly behind him before he walked any further into the new room. " I think... salutations,... are in order....Its good...to see another...face...here." He remarked to the person behind him. The cold and the terror, the house provided seemed to be still effecting his speech. " ...I doubt..your..the preacher..of this church...I don't think...that person..would be ..effected..by this..ward..." William mentioned as he voiced his thoughts about this man when he observed him. " My name...is ...William....a pleasure...good fellow..." He said as introduced him to the stranger. With a shaking right hand, William tipped his hat and formed a rather shaken smile.

" Through....I didn't expect to ..find..a..sacristy...right ...off the...bat." William commented as he turned away from his fellow adventurer and looked around the rest of the room. It was hard to see in this room, but with what little light there was, William spotted a wax candle . With a match box he kept in his pocket, Will lit one of the candles. " I...know..I..don't ..have ..the ..right ...to ask..but...could..you help..me ....look over..these...records...while I ...check out that...book..over..yonder?" William said as he requested the help of the other man. " There...are...answers..here...Maybe...to..my ...own..and more..." He commented as he strolled over to the big book. He was having trouble walking even more than before as he went deeper into the room.

"The ...stronger....this...presence...is...the bigger...the answer...is...I suppose..." William said as he continued to talk. The unsettling silence was starting to get him, to remedy this, William talked. His fear to quit on a friend was much more stronger than the fear this house was trying to instill into him. As he reached his destination, William opened the large, heavy looking book and started to read. "The blood bath...Imperium...my friend...this church...I wonder...if it all..connects..." William mentioned out loud while he read.

_________________
"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit

~Abraham Wylie~



----Location: The "Empty" Church, Graveyard of Centre Merchurdon----

The ghoul stopped right by the door when he saw one of the man's little machines took notice of him. He glared at the little twerps, how wonderful, now he was no doubt at the mercy of this man and the creepy "empty" church. Looking wearily at the man in case he was, in fact, in a deep sort of trouble, the ghoul was slightly relieved in the fact that he wasn't about to get into an unwanted fight with this guy, or something worse. He was still a bit annoyed by the what the man called, his "minions", but that couldn't be helped. After all, he was still inside the church, it was still a frightening place to be in, and the area was darker than it was before.

...Wait.

'That can't be right' he thought, confused. But he was distracted by the man greeting him as if he was someone trustworthy. It would have been a hilarious thought. He gave the man a nervous smile, which revealed the teeth of someone who hadn't brushed in a long time. The man was right, he was not a preacher, and he sort of doubted the church even had a preacher anyways. Well, it probably did, but not anymore it seemed. The fact that the man would even consider him a preacher was almost insulting to the ghoul. He had better things to do than feed the masses false hopes, and there was absolutely nothing to profit from in that. Heavenly treasures...it was all a joke! There was nothing "heavenly" about this place at all..."God's House", more like "House of the Devil". It was unholy, unnatural, and quite bizarre. He was glad that the man dismissed such a notion.

He was taken aback, however, by the man being so quick as to offer his name. Did he actually trust him, a stranger? Or was he really that frightened, that desperate? Abraham had to admit, he was frightened himself, but being called a "good man" bothered him, but at the same time would have made him smirk inwardly. He knew he wasn't by far "good". But bothered him even more was that this man was actually asking for his help. He didn't help others. He only helped himself. That was they way his life went, that was his motto. Helping this man would be against all that he lived for throughout his lonely years as a conman. Although...this man did not know he was a conman.

"I'm..." he began to give the man a name, but hesitated. He didn't want to reveal his real name, not just yet. The man may have trusted him, but he sure as hell didn't trust William. "...Lazarus", he decided to go in an obvious direction this time. He always got a kick out of meaningful names.

Abraham decided he might as well help the man anyways, if only because he did not want to be alone in a place like this. Not to mention he had matches and a burning candle. The darkening surroundings that plagued his senses worried him, and somehow he felt that being around a source of light would make him feel better. Admittedly, snooping through old records and books wasn't something he imagined doing in his life, ever. He wondered why the man even needed to dive into the writings of the old, but William had answered his question for him, walking heavily as he did so. Abraham was reluctant to walk farther himself, but he did so regardless, not wishing to arouse suspicion. Indeed his feet felt heavy as he walked, as if his body would not allow for him to go any further inside the room, especially when it came to that curtain. Not that he could focus long on the curtain, or the records for that matter. The man's reasons for being here...angered him almost.

"Answers?" the ghoul questioned, as if that was the silliest thing he had ever heard. "You mean to tell me that you have come here, not hiding from the coppers like any normal bloke, looking for some answers? To what? A long lost riddle that probably never existed in the first place?" He would have laughed there and then, but the humor he saw in the situation got whisked away by the disturbing factor that was the church. Instead, this had become a very serious problem. "You sir, are either the bravest toff I have ever met, or one of the dumbest. I don't know what you expect to find here. But I'm pretty sure all there will be is some information on past members, some records on tithes and offerings, and a few bibles and prayer books. Honestly, I think you're better off looking for valuable items to sell in the market, not that something like that is possible in a place like this." Abraham gave a visible shudder, picking up a few records with a shaky hand while looking through them one by one. "What question is it that you hope to be answered anyways?" he asked William gruffly, not exactly looking forward to the answer. It was probably going to be an imbecilic answer, or none at all.

_________________

Musicmac: "Sam4Books: Always ready to cheer things up with awesome art. Terms and Conditions apply."

{William Livingstone}

_+_Church_+_ Answers

William looked up from the book, at the man who addressed himself as Lazarus. He chuckled and said "HaHaHa, you took...took...a bit.. of...time...there for...a name..." William shook his head amused by the fellow Lazarus. "....Through..its a..very..christian..name.. Perhaps...you think..I'm strange...and don't..want..to really..share it... " William remarked about the name. " Either way...I thank...you...for the company..." He said to the man.

There was only four visible tiny mechanical beside William. One was on the table with the rather large and heavy book that William was examining. Two was beside William's feet, and the fourth was near Lazarus, ticking and toking as it looked up to him. " Probably... the dumbest...through...I think...your...underestimating this...place...a bit..Lazarus..." William commented as the way Lazarus talked, he obviously didn't pay too much attention to his surroundings. "Mind..you..I'm no..master carpenter...but...the...architecture..of..this building...is much older..than most buildings...around here...I suspect." He said as he mentioned his findings to this place. " Through...the answers...I seek...might..not...be here..as you put...,However, Lazarus, I have a feeling...a greater answer is here."

" Who... killed a friend... of mine..., Where..are the..watch..artifacts of his..., and...the purpose...of..the Imperium...are the questions, I seek." William said as his answer to Lazarus, whether he liked it or not.

_________________
"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit

~Abraham Wylie~

----Location: The "Empty" Church, Graveyard of Centre Merchurdon----

Abraham glared at William, particularly because he was so observant, but also because he had pointed out the name's Christian roots. "To be honest, I never had a care for Christianity" he said a matter-of-factually. "Never-the-less, you are very well welcome..." His voice trailed off as he took notice of something peculiar about the man's minions. There were only four, when he was certain the man had ten with him. Abraham eyed the one nearest to him suspiciously...where did the other six go? 'Could he have sent them ahead?' Abe asked himself, looking at the thick curtain which scared him so much. Did he?

Once again, William detracted him with his talk of the church like there was some serious mystery behind it. "I take it you're one of the lot who believes in the stories?" he commented, taking notice of the way the man acted. "That this church really isn't empty as it is believed to be. That there is something here...something hidden? I myself think that's a load of rubbish, the only thing hidden here is a bunch of fugitives hiding from the law. I'm surprised no one thought of that one before actually." He gave a low chuckle at that one. "But hey, maybe you're right, maybe there is something big hidden here, that big answer you seek. Heh, maybe I'm just being a jackass."

He paused to listen to William's answer to his question. It wasn't much of an answer, but at least he had some sort of reasoning behind adventuring in an abandoned church. Such reasons were of actual interest to him, "From the sound of things you think the Imperium is responsible for you're friend's death, or have a hand in it at least. I don't know much about that, never had a problem with the Imperium myself, they never bothered me, so I never bothered them. But if you are certain that there may be more to them than meets the eye, who am I to stop you? If the Imperium turns out to have their own agenda...well..." he grinned. "That would be most interesting. In any other case, you aren't the only one searching for a murderer. 'Course, my personal search is going nowhere here, which is why I see no harm helping an adventurer find his answers. It's not like I have anything better to do." he said with a tinge of anger in his voice that turned into a sneer at the last part. His day was already ruined by an idiot, there was nothing much to lose at the moment. Even if he was facing certain death.

_________________

Musicmac: "Sam4Books: Always ready to cheer things up with awesome art. Terms and Conditions apply."

{William Livingstone}

_Church_

William breathed in and out as he stopped reading and closed his eyes. The curtains at the door way was bothering him. A creeping sensation like a hand and a pair of eyes was hiding behind that doorway, watching and listening. Talking wasn't smoothing his psyche as it was before, the place was starting to get to him. If he didn't remedy it anytime soon, the flight response was going to go fully automatic. William reached into his coat pocket and clutched his precious time piece.

The fear and the cold, the level of this ward was not only impressive, but had to be quite expensive if someone paid for this, not at the level of a petty crook that's for sure, William figured. Whom or whatever was here or is here, that looming sense of fear was making a crack in his courage. Do it or not, his thoughts raced. If he didn't, he would run and probably never return here again. If he did, he could probably last, maybe go deeper into this mouth of fear. William opened his eyes as he clicked the pocket watch.

Washing over him was an electrical jolt as his entire body tingled. His brown hair turned silver, even his thin moustache was silver. The irises of his eyes were an unnatural shade of teal. The creeping fear was still there, but he was refreshed now and the coldness left him completely. " Much better." William remarked. He then, turned and over to Lazarus and said " Sorry, what was it you said? Something about belief."

William turned yet another page slowly. " Now, Now, the tale comes to mind, but I don't believe in it. I've pointed out the structure, because its out of the ordinary like yourself. " He remarked as he studied the pages. " Now the fugitive angle, sounds like something plausible, through I must rule out petty crooks and simple murderers. The ward of this place is something far more useful for eviler cads. " William commented as he glanced over at Lazarus. " There is some evidence that someone else was here before us. Through, I can't determine if it was recent or not. "

" The latter is what I believe, he made no reference to who took interest in his work. The only reason I believe it was them, The Imperium, is because of the date of the post stamp. It was mailed three days prior their violent takeover of the city " William revealed as he mentioned the Jame's letter to Lazarus. " Well the agenda, is a based on a hunch. Like before, the story comes to mind, because why take over Merchurdon, when they had plenty of other options, better options to say. " William pointed out as he gently closed the big book. " Believe it or not, there is always a kernel of truth somewhere in a story. " William remarked .

"I've learned to never close off the impossible, just simply keep it in mind." William explained .

_________________
"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit

Marcey - On the streets - Status: Triumphant Grouchy Told ya

See! I told you he was good. Marcey exclaimed to Marr. Yeah, yeah. You het to keep this one. Marr grumbled. Shouldn't you be watching where we're going? Oh right!
Marcey held the bunny to her chest and narrowly avoided running into a lampost. Are we almost there? she asked the little girl.

_________________
You... you really don't get it... do you? I... I love him... I'd die with him. Or for him. That's what you do... how you feel when you love someone. - Impulse

Elizabeth (“Lizzie”) Taylor – Merchurdon Tour

Elizabeth smiled at Minara. “Thank you Miss,” she said, nodding in agreement. “I will.”

Seeing that there were no questions, she had been about to move on when she noticed the coin that had been thrown down. The small urchin had just been about to walk over and grab it when 00 beat her to it. “Thank you very kindly, Miss…” She said slowly, knowing too well that she hadn’t dropped it, but she decided not to comment. She stared down at the buisness card in vague confusion, and then looked back up in Enine’s direction curiously. “…And Sir,” she finished, nodding to him. Although whether she was saying thank you for the card or the coin, it was difficult to tell. But she silently placed both in the pouch she had with her.

She then addressed the group, putting on her ‘Tour guide voice,’ as she called it. “Ladies and Gentleman, if you would like to follow me…” And so the tour began, Lizzie leading the throng further down the street. Only there now appeared to be a noticeable spring in her step.

Turning down another street, she stopped. “This is Vanisher’s Lane,” she explained, indicating the street. “Now it seems like an ordinary street…many people walk through it without a second glance. But it aint. 58 years ago, every adult living on this street, disappeared suddenly without warning. There’s this story that says that there was this creature, called a Vanisher, which gobbled all the adults up. Just on this street, one night, every child here lost their parents. And what’s really strange, is that none of them remembered they had any. Any child from Vanisher’s lane that lived here 58 years ago, they will tell you that they were orphaned since birth. No one knows what the Vanisher looked like, even…only that there were strange shadows on the ground that night. But ever since that night, some people say if you look closely enough, in the dark, you can still see those shadows on the ground, really faintly. Some people say it’s a sign that the Vanisher will return one day…” she then smiled. “If you believe those sorta stories, of course.”

Lizzie then proceeded to lead them down another street and back up to the Market Square. “Now I’ll just stop here to give you a little information on the Square,” she explained. “Now you may or may not know this, but up until 50 years ago, this was where many of Merchurdon’s public executions were held. The method of death was sometimes different from person to person, since their powers had to be considered, but public hanging by use of enchanted rope has always been popular. Nowadays though, public executions are only used for the most notorious of criminals…although with the recent ruling power, this is…uh…subject to change.” She cleared her throat, moving on quickly.

Her next stop took a much lighter, positive note. They had now moved quite some distance from the square, and were standing outside Merchurdon Park. “Merchurdon Park,” she said, gesturing past the iron railings at the large stretch of land before her. “Now it may not look like much now, but long before Merchurdon was here, this whole area used to be forest. Not only that, but an enchanted forest. It’s said that beasts and creatures of great power once dwelt where this city now stands, and Murchurdon Park marks the very centre of where that forest stood. Some say that’s why it still stands today, even though so many other parks have gone. Many people have witnessed some of the forest creatures within the city, still living here where their home once stood. And if you look carefully within Murchurdon Park, the site of one fairy ring still exists. You have to know where to look to find it though, but at the end of the tour if anyone’s interested, I could take you to see it.” The pointed-eared girl smiled.

Lizzie then led them along the length of the park, stopping across the road from an imposing looking building, half hidden by the trees that grew close to it. The bleak tower of it rose from out of the foliage, like a dark smear against the sky. The Empty Church. The main portion of the graveyard was on the other side of the building, and couldn’t be seen properly from this side. All that stood between the group and the church grounds was a low, crumbling wall, and before that, the road. The wall marked the ten foot distance to the church. Anyone that got too close to that wall would have found themselves subconsciously backing away from it again. It was an unsettling building, even to merely look at…although you couldn’t quite put your finger on why.

“This church is one of the oldest in Merchurdon,” Lizzie explained. “Some say it was one of the first buildings to be built, back when this was all still forest. No one knows exactly why, but it been empty for as long as anyone can remember – some people call it ‘the Empty Church’ for that reason. People did used to visit it, but there’re all long gone now. There are many stories surrounding this place. And you’ll notice that no one ever goes near it, not even wild animals.” She nodded at the cold church. “Everyone avoids that place...even I do.” Out the corner of her eye, Lizzie noticed something. The door to the church appeared to be open. Her expression paled a little, and she turned back to the group. “Next stop: Town Hall,” she said, and moved the tour on.

The tour continued on for a while, the little urchin girl leading them around most of the landmarks and well known buildings of Merchurdon, and briefly explaining each one, before stopping at Vanisher’s Lane again.

“And that concludes our tour, ladies and gentleman,” She spoke, giving a small bobbing curtsey. “Unless you have any places you still need to go,” she gave a nod in acknowledgement to Marcey, “or if you have any more questions, or unless there’s something you still want to see, then…thank you all, Sirs and ladies, I hope you enjoyed the tour and have a pleasant day.” She bowed, her messy brown hair falling in front of her face and then back to her shoulders again.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

~~Enine Estel/Tour~~


Enine took in most of the sights. Nothing more then fluff for the most part. Enine himself was there to get more acquainted with the town. He had after-all, been about over the country, making money and gaining status. He had never quite gotten used to the city, that and a man a following through, his previous objective had been dropped due to unforeseen events (Enine couldn't be a murderer if there was already a murderer about, Enine hated conformity, and so he had almost instantly used the situation to create another entertaining scenario) so he ad gone with the little not-quite-so-normal urchin girl on her tour.

He only nodded and smiled on the other locations, until they all reached the church.

"I detect a vast magic formation within the church, sir"
"I know. . .I can feel and see the power emanating from within that place."
"I can also detect two life-forms near the structure. One of them seems to be the one we met earlier, the shop peddler, his signature is the same. . .yet different."
"Oh? I wonder what they could be doing in a place like this. . ."
"Shall I make a surveillance note?"
"Go right ahead, make sure you know both of their signatures, maybe I'll send Gap later tonight spy one if them. . .if they're doing or on to anything interesting of course. . ."
"Yes sir."

He involuntarily narrowed his eyes at the church. It may not have had the same unsettling effect to Enine, but he could still "feel" the feeling in his body. To him magic like this was simply mind over matter. And a strong mind Enine had, a regular human body he also had, and thus even he couldn't keep himself from shivering.

"Blasted hex. . .must be guarding something. . .It'd be best to watch what happens from afar. This is too good an opportunity to pass up. 410 and 45, stay stationed in the tree-line across the path from the church, I want a full analysis of the churches magic grid, I assume that will take you more then a few hours, but I can manage. While you're doing that keep close tabs on the two persons near the church. Under no circumstances are you to interfere, I want to you two only to be an observer nothing more. At least not without my permission. Keep a link with 00 and establish a direct connection with me should anything of importance happen."


"Yes sir."
"Yes sir!"

both girls were then summoned in the trees as Enine directed, they made sure to set their magic out-layers to minimum to avoid any detection, as well as using the brush to conceal themselves. They were far enough away from the church that you'd think they couldn't see anything, but what they lacked in direct sight they sensed in sound, and magic sensory. Of course as soon as they were summoned both began simultaneously scanning the church and watching the two near the church. As instructed both would not interfere with the going ons therein. And on one in the tour wouldn't know (or at least, shouldn't know) of Enine's action.

His work done, Enine turned and followed behind his guide. 00 followed quietly behind, her hands clasped in front of her. The rest of the tour went quicker then Enine could gauge, maybe because the rest of it was rather boring.

Enine bluntly walked away as soon as the tour was done. As he reached the corner he turned around. With a silent expressionless tip of the hat to the urchin girl Enine turned the corner. He hoped her hope for a better life would lead her to the address.

"I'd like you to wait on the corner for her in your current clothing. We'll have to introduce her to you lot, but that will come in parts since 410 and 45 are working. As soon as we get inside you can use your normal uniform."

"Thankyou, sir." Enine said to 00 as they both walked home. As they got there 00 gave a bow as Enine entered the manor-gates, she then turned around and walked to the far end of the street. Considering it was a private street, there were not many people walking about, as such it wouldn't be terribly hard for the girl to find the rendezvous point.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

The Empty Church


William Livingstone

Looking through the big book, William would have found little of real interest. It appeared to be a registry book, listing all the people that had been married inside the church. About half-way though, the list of names stopped, the rest of the book filled with empty pages. The last recorded name in the book was dated a whole 116 years ago.

As William closed the book, however, he would have heard something ‘clink’ onto the floor. A small key had been attached to the back of the book, and had apparently loosened itself due to the action.

If he had sent any of his clockwork men to investigate the curtain, those that went right up to it from the outside, would have come back to report nothing. However, if any of them had investigated behind the certain, they would not have returned. No matter how much William called them…what had happened to them, one could only guess. The silence…the silence seemed to drown everything out. Even for the remaining small clockwork soldiers, the ticking and tocking of their mechanisms would have echoed dully, as if something was absorbing the sound. Speaking, also, left no echo…which was unnatural for a church such as this one.


Abraham Wylie

Most of the records Abe looked through would have just been more records. Various notes, nothing that really stood out…until he shifted a few more out of the way. Hidden beneath a stack of papers, was a book, about the average size of a journal. There was an eerie stain of red on the corner. There was no lock or anything sealing the book physically, but if he had tried to open it, the book would have not budged.

But on the front of it, someone had scratched one word: LEAVE.

Was it just imagination, or had the room steadily got darker while they had both been reading?


~*~


A Noble Guest - Lady Clarita Lockhart

Inside the dinning hall, a lady dressed in white and silver was already seated primly at the table. Her pale white face half-concealed by the rim of her pale white hat. The only noticeable bright colour on her was the sweep of red hair on either side of her china-doll face, and the deep red lipstick on her lips as she smiled. Upon the announcement of the new arrivals, the Silver Lady stood up from the table in silent greeting. She nodded to the two of them, her eyes observing them with a quiet smile. She waited patiently for Lady Saxe-Gotha to introduce her.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

~Time flows
Nobody knows
The years go by
Where we go
Alone from here

Night falls
Strange-colored walls
My eyes deceive
What is wrong
With me?~
___________________________________________________________________________________________



~Abraham Wylie~

----Location: The "Empty" Church, Graveyard of Centre Merchurdon----

"Whatever you say" Abraham muttered in response to William, still not convinced.

___________________________________________________________________________________________
~Deep in the night you think everything's right
Tell it to yourself. Say it's just a nightmare
Something is telling you nothing can change where you are
Again~
___________________________________________________________________________________________

After a few minutes of seraching he managed to find a strange book. "Well whoever was here before us has a sense of humor." he said to William, showing it to him. As he expected there was really nothing of interest in the room, just a bunch of old records and some notes, possibly service notes. Nothing stood out. It made him feel silly due to the fact he was still looking through this stuff. Maybe he just preferred doing something rather than letting the silence in the church bother him. Something to that effect, but it still didn't change how fruitless the entire thing felt.

Abe was surprised to say the least when he found the journal like book, which also striked him as odd. A church was not a place one would expect to find a journal. It wasn't that which he found humorous however, it was the fact that scribbled on the front was a single word:

LEAVE.

___________________________________________________________________________________________
~Two steps I take getting closer and closer
And one more breath I take sends me further back~
___________________________________________________________________________________________

It was like a bad horror story come to life, in fact it was a horror story come to life. He could not believe someone would actually leave a journal with the word "Leave" scratched on front. He would like to think that this was in fact a joke orchestrated by the previous explorer of this church, just to ensure himself that the guy he was with was bonkers and there was absolutely nothing here but the both of them and maybe a fugitive. Wouldn't you?

He tried opening the book, to his dismay and agitation it would not budge, not even a little. It didn't matter how many times he tried either, the piece of shit would not open. It made him wish to throw the blasted thing across the room in frustration, but then he saw the blood.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

~Over and over it calls to your soul
Say it isn't so. Emptiness surrounds you
No one can help if the angels refuse to come here
Who's there?~
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Now the fact that the journal would not open only slightly caused him to think differently about his initial impression of the warning on the front on the journal, but that was mainly because the entire thought left his head for the couple of seconds he was wrestling with the damned thing. It was entirely possible that the previous adventurer brought a bit of booze with him and it happened to be entirely sticky. Perhaps the unknown adventurer spilled it all over his journal, and did not stand to have it on his person any longer, so he scratched a warning on it for the humor of it, and promptly left, not entirely harmed at all. But that's where the blood stain proposed a problem, and made him doubt his initial claims entirely. It just did not stop him from coming with more, innocent rationalities in an effort to save his sanity. Perhaps the unknown adventurer accidentally cut himself on a old piece of wood or any other sharp object, although he did not wish to think about how silly this thought could potentially be. Nor did he want to admit that despite his excuses he felt that maybe the book's cover was right (an entirely frightening thought to be sure), and he had no reason to stay any longer. But this journal was also the first interesting thing he saw in this god forsaken church that was of the remote interest. He thought all he would see was some old stuff that you would find in any old church but the journal had, in fact, proven him wrong. It was almost as if the church itself was trying to make a believer out of him, while at the same time convincing him to leave. It was a funny thought, actually. Abe could not help but think about how great of a story this would make if someone were to write it.

No, he could not leave. There was more things to find, and the only thing this journal did was encourage him to find out information that he can sell. "Although it does seem strange..." he continued, his voice trailing off, obviously he was mulling over the journal, wondering whether it was truly a joke or a sincere warning. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed how silly it would be if someone shed this much blood by accident. Not to mention the fact that it was all in one place, the corner, instead of all over the book like it should have been. Such a thing was unnatural unless done on perpose. There had to be a reason, some sort of hint the book was trying to convey to him. There was also that chance that the person that came her before him found the journal here, just as he did, and found a way to open it, got frightened, and promptly left. 'I wonder...' he thought, twirling his walking stick in hand. If this was so, there was still a chance he could find out the information he needed in order to make some money. He supposed there was no harm in trying, he once read stories about how this sort of think opened secret caverns and the like, maybe the same worked in real life, after all, this would have been the perfect horror story. It was something he would not enjoy, that much he knew, but there was no harm done for the sake of profit. He took the sharp end of his walking stick and gave himself a large cut in the palm of his left hand, seething as he did so. There was great pain in cutting oneself with a wooden stick, he could already feel the splinters that got stuck in his palm. His hand shaking, he lifted his palm over the corner where the red stain laid, dripping drops of blood over it, his mind filled with anticipation. 'This will work...it has to.'

___________________________________________________________________________________________

~The cold. The light
The fear returning
It's not the eyes
You feel that's chilling you~

_________________

Musicmac: "Sam4Books: Always ready to cheer things up with awesome art. Terms and Conditions apply."

Gerard Escalen

The butler closed the door as he left the room behind Gerard and Jackie. "Good Day Monsieur Escalen." Spoke Jackie's wife nervously, not knowing what the woman wanted, other than it involved business. "It is my honour to present the Lady Clarita Lockhart." Gerard looked at the china doll-like woman. He was surprised a being of such beauty was in front of him. He knew there were some gems in the aristocracy, but he hadn't met any of them other than Alicia Saxe-Gotha. Smiling, he bowed again, and took her hand lightly and gave her a kiss on the hand. "Milady it is a pleasure to meet you," he told the Silver lady.

_________________

Penna Pemberton – ‘Pemberton’s Clock making’

Penna was surprised by Doctor Billiam’s decision. She opened her mouth to say something about it, but then the Imperium Baron put himself at the front of queue. She immediately decided she disliked him, before he had even addressed her. She almost snorted at the last sentence. Hah! Hard working government? The Imperium? Like I’d ever do favours for them. However she did her best to maintain a professional manner, her expression only twitching slightly at the words. Her surprise grew at the Baron’s clock request, and at the money he placed on the counter.

Penna cleared her throat. “Um…certainly, Baron, sir,” she nodded, slightly stunned by the request. “Of course, you understand that crafting such a clock will take time…But if you could leave your details, we shall get in contact with you once the clock is ready.” She politely handed him the parchment of details and a pen, so that he could add his contact details to the list.


~*~

Lady Clarita Lockhart

The Silver Lady smiled under the rim of her hat as Gerard kissed her hand. “Likewise, Monsieur,” she replied. She also nodded respectfully in Jackie Saxe-Gotha’s direction, before gesturing smoothly with a white-gloved hand to the dinning table. “Please, let us sit. I have some business I wish to discuss. Particularly with you, Monsieur Escalen”

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

Gerard Escalen

He blushed a bit at her comment, partially due to the wine he was drinking, but also due to the emotional roller coaster he had sent himself upon not long ago. He always felt good when someone needed his help, and even more so when such a fine and beautiful lady did so. Giving him a nudge, Jackie stepped towards the open seats. Following his lead, Gerard took a seat. Swirling his wine a bit, then taking a sip, he spoke, "Well, I am always open to talk of business, especially with a lady such as yourself. However I'm unsure what an advisor such as myself would be able to help such a fine lady with."

_________________

Galen Varius

Near Pemberton’s Clock making (Will affect all inside the store and outside of it)

Galen knelt inside of his makeshift cover on the roof, working very carefully on his little surprise. However, in all honesty, this hut wasn’t his. The small makeshift structure on the roof belonged to the city guards who were sometimes stationed on top to watch for trouble. These hunts featured low walls and a roof made out of wood, cloth blinds provided some cover from the elements when lowered. These city guards usually operated in market areas, festivals, or other areas with many people and an increased danger of theft, murder, or any other kind of crime. Unlike their fellows on the ground, who were armed for anywhere between light and heavy combat, these guards on the roof wore no armor or protection at all; just simple uniforms that had lightly padded leather coats for the cold. They also carried bows, the rare firearm, a short sword for close encounters, and a horn to notify any trouble.

He paused for a moment, listening for any noises, but didn’t hear a thing. He took a quick break from his work and glanced out of the cloth covers. There was a small gap at the bottom that allowed him to survey the area to see if any of the guards noticed anything yet, but pleasing they had not. His plan was simple, but painstaking at best. He’d been contracted to kill some nobleman, Lord Harrow? Or was it Loghain? Meh, it didn’t matter to him at all, his target was some minor lord from Exalia. His client had paid him indirectly to kill the man, for reasons he didn’t care to explain, which again didn’t bother him at all. From experience, such matters were usually jealousy, betrayal, loans, support, etc. From what he’d figured out so far, was that it was an odd combination of all of them. Several people were irritated with the minor lord, including his wife.

Galen had been working on this for the past week and a half. Most of his time was devoted to simple watching. The minor lord had a path that he took every day, but was heavily guarded by eight individuals. So an ambush or distraction would have been suicide. The guards were very good too and never allowed an opening or let anyone get too close to him. Four of them would form a box around him, two would be up front scouting the area ahead, and two more would bring up the rear. So he had to get a little creative this time. Late last night, disguised as a weary salesman he delivered a special clock to Pemberton’s Clock shop. He begged the kind shopkeeper to allow him to leave it there for the night, and allow him to deliver it in the morning to his client and that he’d pay for the trouble. They allowed him and it was sitting in the front window facing the street. It was a monstrous grandfather clock, made from magnificent and beautiful oak, elegant and broad engravings. The clock face was made from marble with golden numbers and hands that were created in intricate patterns. The front of the clock was wider than the back, making it harder to place in a room, and suggested that it was a custom designed for a very wealthy individual, when it was something very different; a giant bomb. It was stockpiled with compressed blocks of explosive powder, daggers, nails, arrow heads, and a few other scraps of metal. The design of it ensured that most of the explosion would be generated outwards into the street, killing anyone out there, but the shock wave would disorient anyone in the shop or in the vicinity of the explosion. The only problem is that he didn’t have enough time to wire a count down, so he had to find a way to trigger the detonation without getting caught in it.

That’s where the guard tower box came into play. Although he did have to spend much of the early morning killing the roof guards in the area, hiding the bodies, and locking all of the doors to the roofs, it wasn’t bad. It kept his skills sharp. All he had to do was throw a pipe bomb into the clock shop to trigger the grandfather clock to explode. The only trick was designing a pipe bomb to not deliver any fatal wounds, but it was going to be one hell of a disorientating boom. Not to mention all of the clock fragments from the twin shock waves. All the grandfather clock needed was some pressure. If you dropped it, then it would have exploded thanks to the delicate trigger mechanism inside

“It’s all part of the plan,” he whispered to himself, and the dead guard next to him. Had he lived in the modern world that he use to belong to, one would identify his accent as being Italian, but it had an unusual hint of Russian in it as well. “Excuse me senior, are you going to have a drink of this?” he asked reaching over to the guard and grabbing the guard’s wine sack. “… Hmm yes, I do guess that having a slit throat would make it slightly difficult to drink. Do you mind if I have a drink of it, for my terribly dry throat? ... Ha, thank you senior, you are such a kind and understanding man. Your wife must love you dearly.” Galen ripped the stopper from the wine sack and gave it a long, swig, and smacked his lips an approval. “Not too bad my friend, I was expecting piss to taste better than this, but it isn’t half bad. Although I know where to get much, much better wine than this watered down tragedy. After work, you should stop by and I’ll… You cannot, I am sorry to hear that, perhaps another time then.”

The assassin took one last swig before dropping it on the guard, staining the uniform and mixing in with the blood that was already flowing from the box onto the flattened section of the roof. He carefully popped open a small tube, full of gun powder and dumped it into the pipe bomb. Then he opened a few of his smoke bombs and poured the contents in as well, and packed his creation down enough that he could get the cap on. After screwing the cap on, he examined his work; simple, but satisfying. All he needed was a light. He turned back to the dead guard and began poking him “Excuse me senior, I am sorry for da interruption again, but do you have a light? Belt you say? In the left pouch there’s a tinder box, you say? Thank you my good sir,” he said as he rummaged through the guards equipment, taking the tinderbox as well as the man’s coin bag.

He glanced around on final time before looking down into the street from the space again. Right about this time, his target would be entering the street from the corner. He glanced over at the clock shop and caught sight of one of the leading guard’s pole axe, and the door to the shop was opening. Perfect. Galen lit the fuse, pulled the curtain back, and tossed the pipe bomb across the street and watched it bounce into the shop, two meters behind the clock bomb. The fuse sat there spurting for a few more moments of its short life before exploding. When the bomb went off there wasn’t too much shrapnel, but there was a considerable shockwave that destroyed and knocked down most of the clocks; plus a large amount of smoke. Glass shattered, small fragments of wood and metal soared across the room, and clock faces fell to the ground in pieces, bells rung one last time with the warning of doom. It’s like time itself has been ended. The grandfather clock detonated a few moments after the pipe bomb killing several people out in the street, including a few children and their parents, and leaveing many more wounded. The grandfather clock was propelled backwards and slammed into a wall, breaking through and into the room behind the wall.

But He didn’t stay to watch. Galen bolted out of the watch tower, going the opposite direction of the pipe bomb as soon as he saw it land inside the clock shop. He landed on the slopped section of the roof, and slide down it until it ended. At the last possible moment, Galen jumped across a small street and landed on the roof of another building. As soon as he landed, he heard the pipe bomb explode, followed by another, much bigger explosion that shook the building he was standing on. He looked back at the growing smoke cloud and smiled to himself as he turned right, and bolted across the roof, jumping across small alleyways, dodging the occasional chimney, and sliding down a few roofs. Once he reached his area perimeter, he jumped down an alley, bouncing between the walls to slow himself down. The assassin landed gracefully on his foot and knee, stood up and strolled out into the market. It was going to be a beatuful day, now all he had to do was report back to The Traveling Minstrel and get paid.
Yup, everything was going great until he looked up the street and his joy turned to cold furry and frustration.

His target was still alive. He was never in that area. But most disappointing of all, is that he blew up a clock shop for nothing and didn’t get to see it.

“God Dammit,” he said to himself as he watched the noble man walk into a tavern, but he was only escorted by six guards now. “The other two must have been escorting someone else, or getting something…” he reasoned to himself as he worked his way through the crowded market.

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
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Snafu's Mercypostle.

Vincent

Vincent hear something land near him. Turning around, he saw a small pipe enter the shop. As a bounty hunter, Vincent knew what it was at once. "BOMB!" Vincent thought quickly, using his power to manipulate his body structure so that his skin was as hard as steel. He didn't have much time, so he ran in front of everyone else in front of the store, and spread his arms out. He was a bounty hunter, someone who captured and killed people for a living, but there were innocent people in this shop, people like his sister, who had done nothing to anyone. He hoped that he could prtect as many people in the shop as he could from any shrapnel that would come from the blast. "This is going to hurt like a bitch." When the bomb detonated, Vincent could feel himself fly through the air, and crash into a nearby wall. His steel skin had protected him from the worst, most likley saved his life...but his whole body still racked with pain. He just hoped that he was able to save any innocence...

_________________


You think your evil? You want to see real evil? Then allow me to educate you...

{William Livingstone}

_Key_

From what William had read, the last name, "James Stroker" was the last recorded name in the book and that was over 116 years ago. Apparently, the church back then, was normal at some point. What changed it, William couldn't even fathom. Through as he closed the big book of names, he heard a small clink on the hard wood floor. He looked down to see what had drop. " A key?" William questioned as he stared at the fallen key. He picked it off the floor and held it up to his face. He clutched it tightly when Lazarus talked about his findings.

William looked over the journal and then back at Lazarus. " A joke, probably or a true warning." William mentioned. Through to be honest, Lazurus seemed more interesting than his findings. His appearance shouts beggar, but his way of thinking seemed unusual for a beggar and his willingness to work with the law, seemed very strange as well. Certainly the information, he, Lazarus would give come at a price, yet still, it was fishy.

" In a book of names, a key is hidden? I think, that's kind of strange. " William said as he held up the key he found. He sat up from his spot and approached the curtains of doom. The room felt like it was getting darker, but his curiosity was glowing brighter. " Want to explore, further ?" He asked as he opened the curtain. " Let's see, what it opens." He mentioned.

_________________
"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit

-Adan, holy hell-

Adan let a deep, heavy growl eminate from the very back of his throat. He had just come in here for that watch he had found, he hadn't been looking for a fight, but it was all he could do to keep from transforming and charging Hawkes. He would never hear Adan call him a 'baron.' In fact, he would tell him so, Adan decided.
"You can take that title, Hawkes, and stick it up your-"

Unfortunately, as Adan was about to tell him in no uncertain terms exacty where the title belonged, he was interrupted by a clanking on the floor. He turned, startled at the sudden harsh noise. However, the harshness of the noise was nothing compared to what was about to follow, and Adan realized it quickly.
"Well. Shit."
With that, he tried to run as fast as he could away from the bomb, towards the back part of the shop, transforming as he went for extra speed. However, he only could get so far, and the bomb went off. The shockwave knocked him off of his feet and sent him flying head over heels, directly into the back wall. Regrettably, his rather impressive impact crushed every clock he hit directly, and knocked many off of the wall completely. After falling off the wall, he lay on the ground, dazed, surprised, and, frankly, very much in pain. He dared not switch back to human, seeing as that would hurt even worse. So, having no other real option, he stayed on the ground, groaning like a dog with a burr on its paw.

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