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<blockquote data-quote="akira1" data-source="post: 4429757" data-attributes="member: 64437">Day 25 Flameskull 5th year New Era &nbsp;The open patio atop the Patrician was well known through out the city of Rath for its excellent wine lists and the privacy that was ensured to its clients by the owner Jama Haldonix a man of no small means within Rath. The colorful partitions that separated the guests on this, the highest and most expensive level of his restaurant and day spa were made of darkwood and enchanted with several spells to deter listeners and those who would attempt to look over them. All in all one could be fairly certain that they would not be recognized by anyone who happened to take a casual or not to casual glance in into the privacy provided by the partitions. &nbsp;Dr. Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe waited patiently for his guest to arrive and idly stirred his finger in the top of a fine crystal glass of rothbury black. The view of the city afforded by the height of the patrician was spectacular even if the Scions Spire stood like a knife in the middle of it all. A variety of people flew through the skies of the overcrowded city on various means, rugs, broomsticks, energy discs, mounts, and by their own magical or psionic means. Below the streets were choked with the traffic of the city state itself and was no less colorful or dramatic that the air traffic which abounded. The people of all races clogged the streets below and the babble of them reached the Doctor faintly as he was lost in his own musings. The heat of the &quot;day&quot; if the lessening of gloom that occurred under the overcast continent could be called that had not yet arrived and the normally sulfurous stifling breeze which blew was somewhat refreshing if no less pungent. The partition behind which the doctor sat opened slowly and a tall statuesque female walked in with an unconscious grace. She appeared to be made from opalescent marble and had black hair which spilled to her waist in a glorious black cascade. Her features were solid and more handsome than beautiful and her lips were full and very red. Her eyes though were pale gray and very cold. She had the bone structure of those native to the Domains of Malekith and bore herself with a tremendous dignity. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Coming to his feet, Dr Zhindzhe said, &quot;Please Madam have a seat.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Accepting with a gracious nod of her long slender neck she glided to a chair and sat, calm as ice and stared at Dr Zhindzhe as he sat down and replaced the napkin in his lap. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Wine?&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe asked her indicating his crystal carafe.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Of Course Doctor Zhindzhe... was it?&quot;&nbsp; She asked. &quot;Yes, Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe&quot;&nbsp; I said.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; She looked at the doctor archly for a minute and said, &quot;Your from the Southern Kingdoms....Shezur by your name and accent.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Dr Zhindzhe blinked and looked slightly startled then quickly regained his composure saying, &quot;I am indeed my Lady. Since were are playing guessing games, let me venture a guess about you.&quot; &nbsp;She simply sat staring defiantly at Dr Zhindzhe as he said, &quot;You are from the Domains of Malekith most likely of one of the noble houses that proliferate there in the shadow of the Lich King. You also are the woman known as Claudia Ravenbrow in Rath...a nomenclature that if I am mistaken is not..&quot; &nbsp;With am imperious gesture she cut Dr Zhindzhe off and hissed, &quot;Who I am is not important and I do not have all day to play one ups manship games with you good Doctor. I have something important to relate and as far as I know, you have been collecting information on these particular &quot;adventurers&quot;.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;I have indeed.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Good&quot;&nbsp; She said. &quot;Attend Doctor, my time is limited and I may have to leave at a moments notice.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;By all means then Ms......&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; With a wry smile she said, &quot;Call me the Cold Lady in this place.&quot;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Uhhh very well, Cold Lady, your story?&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe prompted. &nbsp;&quot;The events I am about to relate, when looked back upon by future generations will quite possibly been seen as a turning point in the history of our world.&quot; She began dramatically. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;How do you mean Madam?&quot;&nbsp; I said slightly taken back by the heat in her voice. &nbsp;&quot;A critical decision has been made, One that cannot be reversed and one that has far reaching implications and .....consequences. I will begin with a quick segway into another person that has become incorporated with this group and then move on to what I was talking about.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp; &quot;By all means Cold Lady proceed!&quot;&nbsp; I said enthusiastically. &nbsp;&quot;His name is Valen Nairek and he arrived in the city state of Rath on Day 1 of Skullsflame. As was appropriate, he presented himself at the Wizard's Guild and met with the Necromancers in the crypt and toured the facility under the guidance of Orororopal who is apparently the secretary of the Guild.&quot; The Cold Lady said. &nbsp;&quot;In any event, Orororopal is quite the character, she seems to take perverse delight in showing off her deformity, an eye the size of a teacup on her left cheek that makes a horrid sucking sound each time she blinks and she also talks slow and very stilted.&quot; &nbsp;&quot;Interesting, that obsession, if you will, of over compensation of an obvious deformity...has it ever occurred to her to have it fixed by one of the local wizards or clerics or at one of the Chop Shops?&quot; Dr Zhindzhe asked. &nbsp;&quot;&quot;I doubt it&quot; The Cold Lady returned. &quot;She seems to derive intense pleasure off of making people uncomfortable from it. In any event, she gave Valen the tour and then directed him to the Crypt where the Necromancers were holed up in the Guild. He went there and met the leader of them, Alm, and was advised as to the actions he was allowed to take within the city state and of the factions within the Necromancers themselves.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Factions within the Necromancers!&nbsp; I thought that as a whole they were a faction.&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe said.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;Apparently the faction has subsets within it. The Vivisectionists, The Bone Keepers, and the Soul Takers. Each one is interested in some perverse form of Necromancy.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &quot;How very interesting.&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe replied. &nbsp;&quot;Well to get to the point I ran into Valen as he was moving into his room in the wizards guild. At the time I was being followed by my enemies, the Mantis Man and his compatriots and was unable to shake them really. Valen was standing in the hall and this was early on in my search for the object.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;An object?&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe said. &nbsp;&quot;Yes, we will get to that. In the mean time though I had certain suspicions and knew ahead of time that I would need a team to break this thing out. So I approached Valen and prepped him for it by extending a hand in friendship.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &quot;Friendship!?&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;Well it was all pure farce. I may have needed him later and it never hurts to be on speaking terms with others of diverse talents. The mantis man showed up and I fled again leaving an invitation to meet at a later date.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Did you ever follow up?&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe asked. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;No, Other matters came up that required my attention and He sorta of vanished from the guild.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Vanished?&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe asked. &nbsp;&quot;Well he moved into the city. At the direction of Alm, he sought out another member of his society that worked in the nightclub known as Heaven one Lady of Ash.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;I have heard of Heaven, its run by Creamy Jade and her familiar Camilla right.&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe stated. &nbsp;The Cold LAdy leveled a very stern and disapproving look at Dr Zhindzhe at this point and said stiffly, &quot;Yes, It is &quot;good&quot; Doctor.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Clearing his throat Dr Zhindzhe retorted, &quot;Ahem, don't deny a man his pleasures Madam.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;Well in any event, Creamy Jade is a Morelandi jesabell that has polymorphed her familiar, a cat in this case into a voluptuous female companion. Neither one of them wear very much in the way of clothes and in general they are classless and uncouth. The Lady of Ash is an information Broker and liaison between the Wizards Guild and the Underworld for District 9. She informed Valen of her obligations and stated that she would look for work for him.&quot; &nbsp;Dr Zhindzhe simply nodded at this for the Cold Lady to continue, which she did after his nod, &quot;Valen in the mean time took up residence at a place called Mom Haggadahs flop house. She is a crone and spent most of her time complaining about children or grumbling about anything.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Isn't she the one that has the sweat shop in the front of her flop house.&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe asked. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Yes, a very visible reminder of the consequences of not paying on time.&quot;&nbsp; the Cold Lady said. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &quot;I see, so this crone was crotchety and mean.&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe said.&nbsp;&nbsp;&quot;You have no idea.&quot; the Cold Lady said. &quot;In any event over the next 2 weeks, Valen managed to acquire a small street gang of urchins called the Scabs and was led by a buck toothed human male named Scamp. he apparently paid them really well initially and Scamp locked onto him.&quot; &quot;He acquired a street gang, for what purpose?&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe asked. &nbsp;&quot;Initially to help him get through the crowds but after paying so well, scamp hired a couple more children to help him and they proclaimed themselves as a gang with Valen backing them.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Isnt that dangerous, considering that there are real gangs with real backers in district 9!?&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;Very much so,&quot; The Cold Lady replied, &quot; but Scamp seems to be a bright one and he bribed some of the other gangs to leave his guys alone and after a while they stopped getting the hard looks even. The Lady of Ash eventually showed up and told Valen that she had a connection for him with Brickface in District 9. Which he took.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;So this is where they all come together.&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe mused.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;Not exactly. Valen worked out a deal with Rat first to get to meet Brickface. He basically traded Scamp for a meeting with Brickface where he did not have to prove his credentials before hand.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;What do you mean by prove his credentials?&quot; Dr Zhindzhe asked. &nbsp;&quot;Usually Brickface likes to have the people that work for him assessed by someone that works for him. this usually requires them to do any number of various jobs before he actually meets them. Valen because of Scamp had some clout going into this meeting so he had a little more room than the average person in this situation.&quot; The Cold Lady explained. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;That sounds very logical and sound to me.&nbsp; So he met Brickface and then what?&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe asked. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Brickface made the final deal between himself and Valne's mysterious backers.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;But Valen has no mysterious backers!&quot;&nbsp; The Doctor exclaimed. &nbsp;&quot;I know this and so do you, but Brickface does not do not think he will live with this perceived imbalance of power though. You can rest assured that his pet diviner, Amelia will be looking into Valen's background with a fine toothed comb.&quot; the Cold Lady replied. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;And then...&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe replied.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;The Cold Lady simply smiled very unpleasantly and then went on, &quot;Well on the 23rd day of Flameskull, Valen was introduced to Kalanaghar and Damien and they formulated a plan to defend a warehouse with the item in it.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Ahh the mysterious item you had been seeking.&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe said.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Clearing her throat the Cold Lady said,&quot;They were in the warehouse where the item was being kept along with Rat, El'Tari and 19 of Rat's Nightstalkers.&quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Really, where was Ivanor?&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;No one knows&quot; The Cold Lady replied &quot;Perhaps if he were there though what happened would not have happened.&quot; The Cold Lady said with some finality. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;What Happened!?&quot;&nbsp; Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; The Cold Lady leaned in and in a low whisper she said&quot;........&quot;********************To Be Continued************************</blockquote>

[QUOTE="akira1, post: 4429757, member: 64437"] Day 25 Flameskull 5th year New Era The open patio atop the Patrician was well known through out the city of Rath for its excellent wine lists and the privacy that was ensured to its clients by the owner Jama Haldonix a man of no small means within Rath. The colorful partitions that separated the guests on this, the highest and most expensive level of his restaurant and day spa were made of darkwood and enchanted with several spells to deter listeners and those who would attempt to look over them. All in all one could be fairly certain that they would not be recognized by anyone who happened to take a casual or not to casual glance in into the privacy provided by the partitions. Dr. Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe waited patiently for his guest to arrive and idly stirred his finger in the top of a fine crystal glass of rothbury black. The view of the city afforded by the height of the patrician was spectacular even if the Scions Spire stood like a knife in the middle of it all. A variety of people flew through the skies of the overcrowded city on various means, rugs, broomsticks, energy discs, mounts, and by their own magical or psionic means. Below the streets were choked with the traffic of the city state itself and was no less colorful or dramatic that the air traffic which abounded. The people of all races clogged the streets below and the babble of them reached the Doctor faintly as he was lost in his own musings. The heat of the "day" if the lessening of gloom that occurred under the overcast continent could be called that had not yet arrived and the normally sulfurous stifling breeze which blew was somewhat refreshing if no less pungent. The partition behind which the doctor sat opened slowly and a tall statuesque female walked in with an unconscious grace. She appeared to be made from opalescent marble and had black hair which spilled to her waist in a glorious black cascade. Her features were solid and more handsome than beautiful and her lips were full and very red. Her eyes though were pale gray and very cold. She had the bone structure of those native to the Domains of Malekith and bore herself with a tremendous dignity. Coming to his feet, Dr Zhindzhe said, "Please Madam have a seat." Accepting with a gracious nod of her long slender neck she glided to a chair and sat, calm as ice and stared at Dr Zhindzhe as he sat down and replaced the napkin in his lap. "Wine?" Dr Zhindzhe asked her indicating his crystal carafe. "Of Course Doctor Zhindzhe... was it?" She asked. "Yes, Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe" I said. She looked at the doctor archly for a minute and said, "Your from the Southern Kingdoms....Shezur by your name and accent." Dr Zhindzhe blinked and looked slightly startled then quickly regained his composure saying, "I am indeed my Lady. Since were are playing guessing games, let me venture a guess about you." She simply sat staring defiantly at Dr Zhindzhe as he said, "You are from the Domains of Malekith most likely of one of the noble houses that proliferate there in the shadow of the Lich King. You also are the woman known as Claudia Ravenbrow in Rath...a nomenclature that if I am mistaken is not.." With am imperious gesture she cut Dr Zhindzhe off and hissed, "Who I am is not important and I do not have all day to play one ups manship games with you good Doctor. I have something important to relate and as far as I know, you have been collecting information on these particular "adventurers"." "I have indeed." "Good" She said. "Attend Doctor, my time is limited and I may have to leave at a moments notice." "By all means then Ms......" With a wry smile she said, "Call me the Cold Lady in this place." "Uhhh very well, Cold Lady, your story?" Dr Zhindzhe prompted. "The events I am about to relate, when looked back upon by future generations will quite possibly been seen as a turning point in the history of our world." She began dramatically. "How do you mean Madam?" I said slightly taken back by the heat in her voice. "A critical decision has been made, One that cannot be reversed and one that has far reaching implications and .....consequences. I will begin with a quick segway into another person that has become incorporated with this group and then move on to what I was talking about." "By all means Cold Lady proceed!" I said enthusiastically. "His name is Valen Nairek and he arrived in the city state of Rath on Day 1 of Skullsflame. As was appropriate, he presented himself at the Wizard's Guild and met with the Necromancers in the crypt and toured the facility under the guidance of Orororopal who is apparently the secretary of the Guild." The Cold Lady said. "In any event, Orororopal is quite the character, she seems to take perverse delight in showing off her deformity, an eye the size of a teacup on her left cheek that makes a horrid sucking sound each time she blinks and she also talks slow and very stilted." "Interesting, that obsession, if you will, of over compensation of an obvious deformity...has it ever occurred to her to have it fixed by one of the local wizards or clerics or at one of the Chop Shops?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. ""I doubt it" The Cold Lady returned. "She seems to derive intense pleasure off of making people uncomfortable from it. In any event, she gave Valen the tour and then directed him to the Crypt where the Necromancers were holed up in the Guild. He went there and met the leader of them, Alm, and was advised as to the actions he was allowed to take within the city state and of the factions within the Necromancers themselves." "Factions within the Necromancers! I thought that as a whole they were a faction." Dr Zhindzhe said. "Apparently the faction has subsets within it. The Vivisectionists, The Bone Keepers, and the Soul Takers. Each one is interested in some perverse form of Necromancy." "How very interesting." Dr Zhindzhe replied. "Well to get to the point I ran into Valen as he was moving into his room in the wizards guild. At the time I was being followed by my enemies, the Mantis Man and his compatriots and was unable to shake them really. Valen was standing in the hall and this was early on in my search for the object." "An object?" Dr Zhindzhe said. "Yes, we will get to that. In the mean time though I had certain suspicions and knew ahead of time that I would need a team to break this thing out. So I approached Valen and prepped him for it by extending a hand in friendship." "Friendship!?" Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. "Well it was all pure farce. I may have needed him later and it never hurts to be on speaking terms with others of diverse talents. The mantis man showed up and I fled again leaving an invitation to meet at a later date." "Did you ever follow up?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. "No, Other matters came up that required my attention and He sorta of vanished from the guild." "Vanished?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. "Well he moved into the city. At the direction of Alm, he sought out another member of his society that worked in the nightclub known as Heaven one Lady of Ash." "I have heard of Heaven, its run by Creamy Jade and her familiar Camilla right." Dr Zhindzhe stated. The Cold LAdy leveled a very stern and disapproving look at Dr Zhindzhe at this point and said stiffly, "Yes, It is "good" Doctor." Clearing his throat Dr Zhindzhe retorted, "Ahem, don't deny a man his pleasures Madam." "Well in any event, Creamy Jade is a Morelandi jesabell that has polymorphed her familiar, a cat in this case into a voluptuous female companion. Neither one of them wear very much in the way of clothes and in general they are classless and uncouth. The Lady of Ash is an information Broker and liaison between the Wizards Guild and the Underworld for District 9. She informed Valen of her obligations and stated that she would look for work for him." Dr Zhindzhe simply nodded at this for the Cold Lady to continue, which she did after his nod, "Valen in the mean time took up residence at a place called Mom Haggadahs flop house. She is a crone and spent most of her time complaining about children or grumbling about anything." "Isn't she the one that has the sweat shop in the front of her flop house." Dr Zhindzhe asked. "Yes, a very visible reminder of the consequences of not paying on time." the Cold Lady said. "I see, so this crone was crotchety and mean." Dr Zhindzhe said. "You have no idea." the Cold Lady said. "In any event over the next 2 weeks, Valen managed to acquire a small street gang of urchins called the Scabs and was led by a buck toothed human male named Scamp. he apparently paid them really well initially and Scamp locked onto him." "He acquired a street gang, for what purpose?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. "Initially to help him get through the crowds but after paying so well, scamp hired a couple more children to help him and they proclaimed themselves as a gang with Valen backing them." "Isnt that dangerous, considering that there are real gangs with real backers in district 9!?" Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. "Very much so," The Cold Lady replied, " but Scamp seems to be a bright one and he bribed some of the other gangs to leave his guys alone and after a while they stopped getting the hard looks even. The Lady of Ash eventually showed up and told Valen that she had a connection for him with Brickface in District 9. Which he took." "So this is where they all come together." Dr Zhindzhe mused. "Not exactly. Valen worked out a deal with Rat first to get to meet Brickface. He basically traded Scamp for a meeting with Brickface where he did not have to prove his credentials before hand." "What do you mean by prove his credentials?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. "Usually Brickface likes to have the people that work for him assessed by someone that works for him. this usually requires them to do any number of various jobs before he actually meets them. Valen because of Scamp had some clout going into this meeting so he had a little more room than the average person in this situation." The Cold Lady explained. "That sounds very logical and sound to me. So he met Brickface and then what?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. "Brickface made the final deal between himself and Valne's mysterious backers." "But Valen has no mysterious backers!" The Doctor exclaimed. "I know this and so do you, but Brickface does not do not think he will live with this perceived imbalance of power though. You can rest assured that his pet diviner, Amelia will be looking into Valen's background with a fine toothed comb." the Cold Lady replied. "And then..." Dr Zhindzhe replied. "The Cold Lady simply smiled very unpleasantly and then went on, "Well on the 23rd day of Flameskull, Valen was introduced to Kalanaghar and Damien and they formulated a plan to defend a warehouse with the item in it." "Ahh the mysterious item you had been seeking." Dr Zhindzhe said. Clearing her throat the Cold Lady said,"They were in the warehouse where the item was being kept along with Rat, El'Tari and 19 of Rat's Nightstalkers." "Really, where was Ivanor?" "No one knows" The Cold Lady replied "Perhaps if he were there though what happened would not have happened." The Cold Lady said with some finality. "What Happened!?" Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. The Cold Lady leaned in and in a low whisper she said"........" ********************To Be Continued************************ [/QUOTE]

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