Oddestsey III

[alex_holt]

As the person supposedly temporarily in charge of Blotter, the pokemon heads over to AK to wait there, and after arguing with the staff for a short while, they let him stay in a storage room overlooking the Ultimate Rift Phaser. It turns out to be a complicated set of wires, switches, dials and levers made up of a weird mix of components. Oddly, some of them look like they could be thousands of years old. The whole package is the size of a briefcase.

Blotter watches and waits, and plays solitaire.

[majinb]

Right now, I'm not sure what to do and I'd like (for now) if Maurice decided for me. Thanks! g2g now lads

just for the record, this is what I was looking at when I decided to let Blotter guard the Phaser (came up with this together with Joey), if Kody wishes to overrule this at any point and take whatever action he wishes to I'll let you know or I'll let Kody post it himself

[majinb]

Maurice learned 2 things

I called Atoom, asking about the fact that we were given 15 days to solve this crime, and the fact that second fallers have rift energy for 15 days, and asked if there is a connection between the 2

there is a connection, but Atoom wouldnt tell what it was

I asked my playing card a question, I asked if the mass manipulation machine was stolen by either V or those working for V, the answer was, non

[steven_mcg]

Y'know, guys, I'm seriously considering taking up Mr Crabmeister's job offer. He did say we could name our price (within reason) and my hypnotic music and such should make it all relatively easy to 'acquire' the item for him. Perhaps he could give us some lovely new hi-tech supplies, or some extra dosh, or even any important info he knows.

And if you're worried about us stealing, I can just tell the hypnotized guards we're 'borrowing' the item in question, turn my instruments on Crabby once we get our reward, ask him any additional info and have him arrested.

Hey, I'm a rock star. Our ethics are loose enough as it is. :wink:

[alex_holt]

It€™s getting late in the evening, and the party splits up.

Mr Harmonik, has a brief snail-call to Hans Crabmeister, and a large amount of waffle with prolific use of the word €œYa!€ coming down the snail. After managing to interpret him, Phil finally works out that he wants to acquire an item called the €œPandemonium Sapphire€ owned by a man named Rogatien Brazil who dwells in a building called the Tower of Swifts. Phil sets off towards it.

* * * * *

Meanwhile at AK Industries, Blotter and the quantum possibility of Taranis sit in his storage room overlooking the room containing the Ultimate Rift Phaser. Very few people are still here now, with just the quiet sound of keyboards tapping in distant wings of the building and harsh striped shadows crossing the floor where the lamps outside mix with the shutters on the windows. The silence envelops all.

* * * * *

In the record office where Maurice and Patricia shuffle through records, a psychic alarm spreads through their brains as their psy-snail has an incoming call. It suggests that any of them present should go to a meeting with Fernando and Nickelson and a few others at a secret location. The second they agree, the two suddenly vanish from the room as if they had suddenly just collapsed into nothing but dust.

* * * * *

The Tower of Swifts evidently was not named imaginatively - a huge ancient tower of crumbling limestone, seemingly too thin to be sound juts up to impossible heights. The crumbling holes in the wall seem to be perfect home for birds called night-swifts - a bird for which the name is pretty self explanatory and thousands of them seem to be constantly entering and leaving small holes in the stonework. Phil approaches cautiously and unslings his sitar and starts playing and begins to ascend the tower.

* * * * *

In AK, the shadows grow longer and Blotter finds the coffee machine doesn€™t work. A mouse scuttles across the floor and the quantum possibility of Taranis runs small electrical arcs down his lightning rod to entertain himself.

* * * * *

Maurice and Patricia appear in a whirl of thick dust and sneeze heavily. A wizard with dusty coloured robes and dusky coloured hair nods to you and then steps backwards into shadows and vanishes. Ahead of them is a round table - at it you can see Nickelson, Fernando and a collie-sized slender brown dragon with a serious expression. A fourth figure sits in shadow on the far side of the table.

The figure at the back of the desk speaks in a voice which sounds very familiar yet utterly unlike anyone they€™ve ever known. It also sounds a bit like there is a large bird in the back of the room somewhere in the blackness.
€œWelcome. Maurice. Patricia. I think it€™s time we all shared a bit of information€

* * * * *

Phil walks up the tower with ease - he finds two guards fallen asleep at the beautiful sound of his music, and proceeds through the door with ease. The next room he gently hops over a flamepit which snaps open like a trap in the real world, but it the trance of his music seems to be opening at a snails pace. A few rooms later, a maelstrom of minigun rounds hails towards him from automated turrets, but in his trance Phil brushes them aside like curtains and proceeds onwards.

* * * * *

Blotter and Taranis sleep on their chairs amidst the shadows.

* * * * *

Maurice€™s first response is €œWho are you?€
The figure laughs €œI think you can hazard a guess as to who I am. My friend here is Mr Kontan Krepitman€ gesturing the dragon. The dragon, as if to answer breathes outwards and where you€™d normally expect a lick of flame there is a small yet of popcorn which scatters across the floor. €œNice to meet you€ it replies with a rich voice that faintly reminds the two of Louis Armstrong.
Now returning the shadowed figure €œNow, if you wouldn€™t mind, please update me on all you have found€
The two fill them in on the details, omitting the part about their disguises.
€œInteresting work, and well done I must say - you are proceeding faster than I€™d anticipated. Now there are a few things to tell you. Firstly, one of my informants has acquired a piece of information for me - a short coded message. It states that the threat that comes to us all is from a king. Who this king is I don€™t know, but be on your guard.

Secondly I want to be updated regularly on any developments with this potential machine. I need to be ready to nullify any threat should it arise.

Lastly, be careful of assassins, I believe you met one already, but my sources revealed the price has been raised after you€™ve managed to remain below the radar for the last two days.

Any questions?€

* * * * *

Phil picks the lock on the last door and sees before him a pedestal topped with a huge sapphire. It seems to contain strange light within it, that gives off a faint feeling that it shouldn€™t be. Regardless, Phil clasps the jewel and turns around to leave to be confronted by a figure he had not heard. The figure is dressed in medieval garb and has a wry smile on his face. €œAh, so someone has finally managed to get up here! Bravo!€
Phil freezes, not least because the man seems to exist at the same speed as Phil himself in his enhanced state.
Tell you what €œYou can keep the jewel, and in ten days I€™ll decide the payment for keeping it. Nothing like I keep your first born or anything, just some task of no more than an afternoon and no more illegal than this little escapade€
Phil doesn€™t get a chance to state his opinion on this before a happy €œGood, it€™s agreed then! Now we better make this look convincing!€
Before he knows what happens, the man sends a blast of energy from his hand launching Phil through a stained glass window and scattering the night-swifts in fright. He falls about 30 stories, yet somehow lands with only minor bruises and cuts and no damaged equipment. Magic is probably at work. He gets up, dusts himself off and wonders whether to take the jewel to Crabmeister yet.

Bells toll midnight across the city.

* * * * *

A bell in AK wakes up Blotter. The URP is untouched, but worryingly, there is an open door in the room where there wasn€™t before.

END OF DAY 3

[steven_mcg]

I'll charm myself a snail and give the others a call. This bears consulting.

[alex_holt]

After some consultation with both Crabmeister and the party, Phil agrees to the reward Crabmeister offers which are the party gets to take what they can carry of their choice from some of Crabmeisters vaults (from what you gather, it's implied that he is a collector of extreme wealth and decadance, although these vaults spread for literally miles, they are only his 'swapsie' rooms - artifacts he aquires purely so he can trade them for stuff he wants. You also get to 'pick his memory' although he phrased it in an odd way...

A short while later, a small paper bird flaps its way down to Phil and opens up as a tiny leaflet brochure of the vaults. A photo on one side seems crammed with all sorts of things - vast pillars of marble, friezes, ornate globes, open chests of trinkets, book cases, taxidermied animals both mundane and otherwise, fossils, weapons and a dozen things besides. This is merely the entrance hall.

The back of the leaflet breaks down the rooms:
Books - of Magic
Books - Magical
Books - Other
Armour - Pre Modern
Armour - Post Modern
Weapons - Melee
Weapons - Firearms
Weapons - Other
Animals - Live
Animals - Other
Trinket and jewellry rooms A-Q
Clothes A-E
Painting Galleries A-C
Drawing Gallery A
Other Art B
Stonework
Golems and Automatons (note: unless specified otherwse, a maximum of one golem may be selected per transaction)
Furniture - Aesthetic
Furniture - Historic
Furniture - Functional
Magical Artifacts
Technological Artifacts
Historical Artifacts
Miscellanious

The figure in shadow suggests that he is either Panginoon or 'a' Panginoon.

[majinb]

right, posting this here, before I forgot it

the dark Panginoon figure said a king comes and his actions will reshape worlds/ the plans planted years ago will bear fruit before the week is out.

... yeah

Patricia got a device that either allows her to summon Panginoon, OR allows Panginoon to summon her, I forgot :P

the dragon was a police chef of some region

[shadowflare]

I always manage to miss these online convos/Alex being online now that I have to take my free time and use it for packing.

Since Kody isn't around for me to bother and see what he may want to do, have Taranis go see if he can find any clues on/around/through the other side of the open door and see if Taranis can tell if the person who opened the door was trying to be sneaky and get in the room or what. Doors shouldn't be able to open themselves, although it wouldn't really surprise me if it had.
If it turns out that whoever opened the door wasn't trying to be sneaky or I couldn't find anything, snoop around anyway and see if I can't find anything interesting.

If all this has already been done, then I don't know. :P

[majinb]

Patricia got a device that either allows her to summon Panginoon, OR allows Panginoon to summon her, I forgot :P

... could you enlighten us Joey? :wink:

May as well update Maurice's trip through the Crabmeister's collection... just so that everyone knows, there is A LOT in his collection, just make sure you've got bags with you and take what you can carry.

What Maurice has taken so far are a pair of sky flippers, shoeware that let you swim through air as if it was water, as well as the Athletic Trainers of the Gods or something with a similar name, shoes that arrange themselves on a molucular level to fit perfectly, and they are the perfect shoeware for any sport you are doing on them. Maurice also takes the Stink-Lizard, an intelligent animal that can spy on places and telepathically send the images he sees to his owner.

Then one thing is of interest... Golems and Automatons (note: unless specified otherwse, a maximum of one golem may be selected per transaction) Patricia and I checked, and none of the golems are an exception on this rule. We can only take 1 golem between the 5 of us. Joey and I checked through the golems, and the 2 of us thought the Steel Elephant would be the best pick! He's the strongest golem, physically, can carry the most weight and a bit of extra muscle never hurts, especially since our squad itself packs no muscular powerhouses. He can also ram things and carry our luggage!