Steam & Sorcery - IC

[Cazmonster]

((Okay, I'll be posting here today or tomorrow. I promise to keep on a human schedule from now on.))

((Cazmonster poings around in front of his two monitors again.))

[Gamemaster]

Nenya looks at him again, her warm earth-brown eyes moving over his well-toned muscles. She lightly runs a hand along the bare skin of his forearm.

"I am far more interested in touching parts of you than parts of your speech. Perhaps you would care to watch the fireworks with me this evening."

"Nenya, I will join you for fireworks, but I'd rather to watch the fireworks with the community, not just you, so if you want to see fireworks with me, look for me with the community."

Nenya's full lips pressed into a firm line, and there was a disappointed look in her face. She withdrew her hands from the monk and pushed her self away from the table.

"So, what exactly you do for your life? What beliefs do you serve?"

"I work with Mother Windsweet, but I don't see how that can matter to you. Have a good evening with the community, I shall be elsewhere."

So speaking, the lithe, handsome half-orc woman rises to her feet and stalks away. Her fast-forged pride weakening by the step. Silent Fist is left to listen to the swish of the tassels of her buckskins.

[Gamemaster]

Kardon sat on his rump, trying to keep a hold of the small faerie as the thing told him, "Human, be putting me down. A quarrel I have, and it is not with you." A group of pixies had shot up into the late summer sun a few moments ago, squabbling like upset budgies. They disappeared from sight, using their magics.

Kardon looked at the small being in his hands and asked, "What is your quarrel with this man? What did he do to you?"

The pixie looked up and responded, "A trade we went to make, gold for paper, he seemed pleased, but then things went wrong. He cast fire upon our things. From there the arguements progressed."

The eccentric wizard Jon Etter, with Karen Schmidt behind his green-glowing shield. "A comic book? Woman, do you not understand the Strength of Superman, the speed of the Flash? They're all inside the books! My spells are there, and I was hoping to finally restore my collection with an Action Comics #38 but those little bandits thought they would trick me. That's why they lost their wagon."

[Kardon Silverblade]

"How did things go wrong, Pixie?" Kardon does his best to stand, crossing his legs first then pushing himself upright, while continuing to hold onto the fairy. "And you," he turns to look at the wizard behind his glowing shell, shooting a worried glance at Karen, "What was so wrong that you had to torch their entire cart?"

[Gamemaster]

Etter looks at Kardon, his hand still wavering near his old revolver and says, "that little gimp and his buddies made off with three thousand gold pieces and then gave me a fake book. The one with the treasure scoffed off with a teleport and I was damn sure not going to let the rest of them get away."

The pixie jabbered something in a strange and fae language before replying, "Good was book! Take it we did from large stack of books from Mage City Madison. Took it with many others that are now gone to ash and flame. You owe us so much more gold!"

Etter's eyes narrowed dangerously as he replied, "I don't owe lyin' cheat poozers nothin, 'cept a quick fist in the jaw." With that, he started moving toward Kardon and the pixie. Karen spies the corner of a brightly colored book sticking out of one of the wizard's voluminous pockets.

[Silent Fist]

Silent Fist stare away at Nenya in disbelief and wonder. A cold chill ran down his spine as she said 'community.'

Silent Fist began to wonder for a moment, then he ceases to wonder, and begins to talk to himself, "Who is that lady? I'd rather to work with community, and learn how focus my own spirituality toward myself."

Silent Fist rises from table, with food done, and begins to look around, and goes off in direction where people are gathering for fireworks.

[Gamemaster]

As the arguement progresses and as Silent Fist looks about for someone to watch the fireworks with, the sun continues its slow descent into the crimson-skied west. The first of the pom-pom explosives thundered low and throaty above Sheboygan, drawing the revelers toward the show.

Near the Shining Hope Deacon Gregory and his friends made preparations to be in Commerce Waters, choosing to use the steam-fired boat they had just recently purchased from the northern dwarves.

Father Benjamen and his flock were moving toward the Good Garden, there to meet with Mother Windsweet to watch the dancing and take part in the singing.

All about Sheboygan, there's a feeling of joyous expectation.

[Kardon Silverblade]

Kardon hele the pixie gently, but firmly, and backed away from the wizard. He looked from the thing into his hands, to karen, to the wizard and back again, hoping that the woman behind the counter would help him decide, his first instinct to protect was torn between exactly who he needed to protect.

[Karen Schmidt]

Dammit, girl, Karen tells herself, just don't get involved. She realizes this is just some petty squabble between two parties of equally questionable character. It's none of her concern, and if they want to knock themselves out over it, that's their business.

But the mother hen in her can't leave it alone. She needs to get to the bottom of things and help resolve it. Sneaking up behind Etter, Karen takes advantage of his distraction and makes a casual grab for the book in his pocket, hoping that maybe it will shed some light on this dispute.

[Gamemaster]

Karen deftly withdrew the book from Etter's pocket just as the wizard left her side. The old paper smelled faintly of ink and musty things and the picture gracing the cover, that of the Old Hero Superman holding a car aloft, was a thing of antique beauty. But on the pages within, there was something wrong about it. The art within did not look like the fine screens of color she had seen created by old printing presses. It was painted in painstaking detail.

The pixies had pulled a fast one. They were copying old Terran books...

[Silent Fist]

Silent Fist sees Deacon and Father Benjamen moving toward the Good Garden, and he smiles softly, hoping to seek a chance to join them to watch the fireworks. That or another round of thought-discussions. Silent Fist relaxes his muscles slightly, and moves casually toward the Good Garden.

[Karen Schmidt]

Karen can't believe her eyes. She shakes her head, and her hands drop in front of her, still holding the bogus comic. "Kardon... I think Etter's right. This thing's a fake. I'd swear to it." She fixes her eyes on the pixie, and waits for its reaction... and Etter's.

[Welby Thorngage]

Welby moves quickly through the streets, stopping here and there to give small performances - juggling, small acrobatics displays, things like that. His heart isn't really in it, though. He's distracted, unfocused. He keeps looking for faces in the crowd that seem too familiar; people that might be following him from street corner to street corner, watching him. Marzipan has, of course, picked up on his mood, and is restless herself.

In all, he hasn't really made any money to speak of, maybe a few silvers' worth at the most, but that's not really a big deal to him at the moment. He's too busy keeping an eye out for some of his new aquaintances; the ones he had lunch with yesterday. They're the only ones he can think of to trust at the moment. Mostly passers through, like him, even if some have been here a little while.

He just hopes he can find one of them soon; it's almost time.

[Gamemaster]

Welby takes a moment to do a small acrobatic number, scampering up a gaily bedecked bit of fencing. With his higher vantage point, he can make out the Monk and the Half-Dragon at the very north end of Commerce Waters, moving along one of the open roads that would take them to the Good Garden. He can also see Deacon Gregory in the front part of the steam-powered boat slowly coursing up the river. Finally, there's a pulsing half-sphere of green light not far from the river, on the same side he happens to be on.

As Karen makes her discovery plain, Etter grumbles in a satisfied way. The pixie, though has a look of panic on his diminuitive face. In a flash, he draws a needle-thin dagger from a hidden sheath and buries it in the webbing of Kardon's hand. The mariner yawps in pain and the little forger is free and on the wing. It fizzles from view chattering curses on the group.

Also, the small man with the questionable talents picks out a handful of folks on the rooftops who don't seem to be interested in the fireworks...

[Kardon Silverblade]

"Yeow!" Kardon clasps his hand, trying to rub out some of the pain. He crosses his legs underneathe and pushes himself standing, still rubbing his hand, "I'm sorry I doubted you, old man. Just trying to hear all sides of the story." Kardon extends his left hand, a pinprick of blood welling up on his right.

[Shayla]

Shayla was definitely now having a good time, although she couldn't quite remember what exactly was so good. Walking across the streets, she spotted one of the people she hoped to see today. Or rather, she saw Marzipan and figured Welby must be somewhere nearby. Fishing a small package out of a pocket, she smiled at the mastiff and waited for Welby to finish his current act.

[Karen Schmidt]

Karen looks momentarily embarrassed, and hands the picture book back to Etter with an apology, "Sorry, for snooping... I just thought that, well..." She trails off and then looks around for the vanished pixie. "It really is beautiful work, though."

[Gamemaster]

Silent Fist sees many dozens of well-dressed people milling toward the Good Garden. Flute and guitar music fills the air with an old song from Terra. As he moves along, a number of people shake hands with him or clap him on the back. He sees that many of these folks have purchased libation of one kind or another. Fizzy wines and deep red sangrias are sweating in large flagons. Beers of a dozen different varieties are disappearing as well.

As he continues, there's a motion at the gazebo that catches his eye. He sees a handful of young-looking men clambering to the roof. They look like they've brought another bundle of pyrotechnic entertainment with them. Silent Fist's attention is diverted by the large form of Brother Goldtooth. The dragon-priest is there at the monk's elbow. He hands his companion a tall earthenware vessel that's full of a citrusy drink.

'Have some lemonade," offers Goldtooth, "I'm not thirsty and folks just keep buying for me."

[Gamemaster]

From their various vantage points, the characters can see the beginnings of the great fireworks show to come. Dozens of deep red and bright blue explosions ring out across the sky, punctuated by illusion magic and technomagical music. The crowd is really enjoying the spectacle.

But, as each character watches, there are signs that not everything is right with Sheboygan. Some folks notice the hard-faced strangers sidling through the crowd. Others see folks on the rooftops not paying much attention to the show as it progresses. There's a palpable air of tension.

((Okay, everybody who's still in, let me know where your character is. I know that Silent Fist and Goldtooth are in the Good Garden with Windsweet and Benjamen.I know that Karen and Kardon are watching the proceedings with their new 'friend' Etter. I need to know what Welby's going to be doing. And Shayla, in spite of being a little tipsy, some of these tense people seem all too familiar.))

[Shayla]

Shayla caught a moment out of the corner of her eye, and a bolt of fear shot through her. No, it couldn't be, I must have imagined it, my head's a little fuzzy and I'm seeing things. The man that had crossed the street looked like one she'd known at home. Shaking her head, she spoke to Welby, instantly wanting to talk to anyone friendly. "Master Welby?"

[Karen Schmidt]

Glad to be free of her duties at Cessil's market stall, Karen relaxes and prepares to enjoy the show with Kardon and this odd Jon. He has turned out to be quite charming in his own way, and Karen is glad her initial instincts about him turned out to be wrong. He is worldly in a way Karen is not, but they've found common ground in their shared interest in art and music--especially that of old Earth. And he was more than willing to join them in watching the show.

She brought a large checkered quilt with her today for this purpose and now spreads it across the grass, giving all of them a comfortable place to sit with a good view of the fireworks.

Kardon seems a little dazzled by the whole spectacle--as he does by so much of this world. How long has he been here? she thinks. Karen has an urge to move closer to him, but... instead chooses to lay back on the quilt and stretch out with her arms over her head. She shuts her eyes.

Just like when she was a kid. Seems no matter where they were or what troubles were hounding them, there was always a Fourth of July celebration. Usually it was fireworks or explosives, but sometimes it was magic fire, and once a confusing mess of light that her father explained as a "laser show." And whether it was just a few locals scraping together some flammables or a big town show like this one, it was always the same production of gathering everyone together and laying out on blankets on the grass to watch the lights and fire flash overhead.

But something's not quite right. Karen opens her eyes and tries to figure out what it is, not wanting to move for fear of disturbing this delicate sense of "wrongness" about her.

She casually indicates a small group of dark strangers--not quite properly attired for a carnival--who are obviously not interested in the celebration around them. "Kardon? What do you think they're waiting for?" She asks this loud enough for Jon to hear as well.

[Kardon Silverblade]

"I don't know if we are going to get a chance to have that dance, miss Karen," Kardon walked over rubbing his hand gently, "Things seem to be amiss all over, though the fireworks are beautiful, Shayla has done good work, yes?" He turns to the stranger, Etter, "I apologize for my behavior earlier. You were cheated, and I'm glad that justice has been served at least." He sits on the edge of the booth, gently taking the book from Karen, but somehow finding his gaze drawn to the faces in the crowd, recognizing few, but reconizing the foreign features of many, "Miss Karen, do you know them?"

[Silent Fist]

Silent Fist approaches Brother Goldtooth, and accepts lemonade kindly with a warm smile, but for some reason, Silent Fist feels some disturbance in his aura, as people begins to witness the beauty of the fireworks exploding in the distance.

For some reason, Nenya has been disturbing his thoughts for long time, and for some reason, Silent Fist is unable to keep his...solid coolness that generally is prevalant in his aura, and several of people who look up at Silent Fist could notice that there's soemthing not exactly right about the half-Orc Monk...

Half-Orc monk begins to think and ponder about his self, but however, there's still something eluding him. Yet he searches for the very same thing, but such elusiveness bothered him more than before. While he is thinking, he becomes completely unaware of his surroundings, and he accidently bumped into a person, and he sees that this person is...