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Message: <blockquote data-quote="johndaw16" data-source="post: 3413724" data-attributes="member: 12033">GrandbanksI turn around and whisper quiet as I can, What do we do?---RikoI frown, This sucks. Next time we're hitching a ride. I guess we might as well climb up there, you two first though.---DanielWell, sh-t. I move forward and grab hold of the ladder - partly because I don't want Grandbanks going up first; he's got the damn briefcase. Climbing the thing is hard as all crap, especially in this dark, but I try to keep my mind partway on how to get at my gun if I need to.I glance back. It's so dark I can barely see Grandbanks and Riko, but I sure hope they're about to follow me.---GrandbanksI lean into Daniel's ear when he shoves in front an whisper quiet as I can, Listen, they were talkin real casual about killin us, so it's gotta be easy to get away with that sh-t around here. So if we gotta...---DanielMy stomach drops a little when I realize what Grandbanks is saying. That mountain of cash is suddenly looking like a lot less of a windfall. I don't turn, just pause, then keep climbing.---RikoI follow up behind them both. I've done a fair amount of climbing during all the repairs around the Stilts, so it isn't very tricky.ooc: I'm guessing Riko totally missed the reference to killing us since she can be sort of clueless like that at times.---The ladder is blessedly short, no more than twenty feet in length. The top is attached to another landing similar to the one you were just on, its a simple rectangle of steel with one of its long sides bolted to the concrete of the docks. As the last of you pull yourselves on to the landing, a figure steps away from a niche carved into the concrete. In the last of the light you can see that its a guant unwashed man, he's dressed in some pretty ragged work clothes and reeks of sewage. You recognize him as being the owner of the first voice, the one who told you there was a toll. The man clicks on a small flashlight, Seh t'no good to climb more, ya go our way now. The light illuminates the remainder of the pipes, conduits and stairs you were climbing before. But the long snake of metal is completely broken about 15 feet above the landing, all that remains are unrecognizable pieces of twisted metal sticking a few inches out from the concrete. At leat the man hadn't lied about that, climbing any further would have been impossible. This way. The man with the light reveals a narrow scaffold that runs away from the landing into the darkness. As you contemplate your situation you can here the ladder rattle as someone climbs up.---GrandbanksKinda was hopin he'd be whale-sized an p-ssed off, so if it came to bashin his head an runnin off, I wouldn't feel so bad. Hopin the El Toros and small bills will work for his toll, or maybe we should just blow his mind w/ a crisp benjamin an get out fast.I follow him, tryin to get a peek at any weapon he's got.---DanielI step behind Riko to try and get her to walk in between me and Grandbanks.  Hey, guys, awful dark to be hanging out in this nasty place, ain't it? Thanks a lot for the help finding the path, looks like we woulda been all kinds of screwed tryin' to keep going' like we was.---RikoI squeeze in between Daniel and Grandbanks and keep my mouth shut. Hopefully we can get through here quick without any trouble.---The gaunt man with the light leads the way, walking casually along the scaffold as if it wasn't a mere six inches in width. The drop below you is a good eight stories or so onto a foundation of concrete. A second man, climbs up onto the landing as the three of you vacate it, looking over you shoulders you see that he's in no better state than the first man. However his face is covered in weeping open sores and he smells more like rotten meat than sewage. He clicks on another lights behind you as he follows. He gives you a grin more gums than teeth and says, T'aint a nasty place, tis home. Ya better kep up too. Or we'll be 'avin to fish our 'olls out teh Bay. The third man cackles at his friends wit, a few feet above. A chain rattles as he laughs and you think he might be swinging across the face of the docks. OOC:[sblock]After giving the two men that you can see a few discrete glances you notice that they both seem to be lightly armed. They each have a knife within easy reach, and some sort of metal pole dangling from their belts. Both of the poles are black, about 2 feet in length, about 2 inches in diameter, and are tipped on one end with an odd looking coil of some sort. You still can't see the third man but he's pretty close judging by the sound of his laughter. I won't force you guys to make Balance checks, because you can go ahead and take 20 on it and just take a long to walk along the scaffold. If you'd like to hurry or preform some sort of move action other than walking I'll require a Balance check. Btw as if you didn't know, the fall would be lethal. [/sblock]---RikoI make sure to keep up pace with the man in front with the flashlight. I've walked stuff like this plenty at work and heights stopped bothering me a while ago. These guys are pretty filthy. I lean forward a little to Grandbanks and whisper, And you were wondering why I wanted to bring you guys along huh?---DanielSh-t. F-ck. Sh-t. Sh-t. Oh, f-cking f-ck. ...F-ck.Yep, this just stopped being worth it, and we just got here. What the hell is up with the way these guys are talking? And what in f-ck is wrong with his face?!Just had to go off helpin' the poor little hot chick pick up her nice deck, didn't I...I pretty much stop trying to get any better of a look at the creeps, and focus on not falling off the scaffold.Ha, hey, sorry about that, man, didn't know you live here! Yeah, we're tryin' to keep up, we ain't so skilled at this climbin' all over the cliff stuff as you all. ---GrandbanksAmadeus needs an ass-kickin.My brain keeps goin in the same slow circle while I try to shuffle cross this scaffold. They just want cash, an we can give them the small bills, if they find the benjamins, they off us, or they wanna take it all. Then what? Never killed anybody yet. Can we bash their heads before they get us with them stick things? Somebody else gonna hear a shot down here? Can we get through this place without them? Gotta figure some way to keep them from finding the bens. Maybe they'd take the flake...Riko's little ass needs a kickin too.---The scaffold runs the entire face of this side of the docks, about 50 yards all told. Walk length of it and turn a corner with the scaffold. As you turn the corner you're met with an amazing site. An entire community clings to the concrete walls of the PIZ docks, nestled in a steep walled "valley" created by a series of major drainage pipes. Runoff from all over the PIZ and beyond pours out of a three massive tunnels big enough to drive two trucks through abreast. The murky what rushes below you, churning and frothing its way to the Bay. The little squatters community is made up of hovels bolted and screwed to the face of the concrete walls, all connected by a tangled maze of scaffolding, ladders, and nets. Rope and wire bridges span the gap between the walls of the "valley", dangling in the oily mist rising from the drain pipes. Chinese lanterns, stolen neon lights, and salvaged flourescent lights festoon everything giving the place a carnival like glow. You can hear the raucous calls of myriad birds: chickens, gulls, geese, pigeons and crows. The man with the sores leans close, over Daniel's shoulder. Tis our nasty 'ome. You hear the chains above you rattle, and a teenage comes swinging into view above you like Tarzan. He comes to a halt once he rounds the corner and deftly repels to the scaffold in front of the gaunt man leading you. As soon as the kid lands the lead man speaks to him. Bender, go get teh Elder, we got a 'oll to collect. You wonder who this Elder is as the kid scampers off, you notice for the first time that he's half lame, his back and shoulders grotesquely twisted and mishapen giving him a hunched profile.</blockquote>

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