Mage/Steampunk Roleplay- Alliances

[Jina]

Barrett's House
The witch approached Barrett, casting a spell. Barrett looked up at it, drew his sword, and swung. It instantly dissapeared.

It got away. It came to attack me and it got away. I knew they were up to something. Barrett stood up. The witches were out for him, but he'd stop them. And he'd start with the Archmage.

Mayor's Office
"Thank you. Tell me what resources you need and I'm sure we can aquire them, either through Knight contacts or by manufacturing them ourselves. In turn, we'll make our request in time. Hopefully by the time the people find out about it, they would have gained some trust in us."

"Well, we mostly need food and metal, but we can sort out the details later." Celestial offered her hand, and Owen shook it. "For now, why don't I show you around the city?"

He stood up. "Follow me, I've got a tank out back."

[Lord Hayati]

-Mayors office-

"Follow me, I've got a tank out back."

Krisseh slightly froze up at the thought of it. Sure, the mayor would be driving it... but something felt wrong.

"thanks for offering both of us, but I'll pass."

She went to the exit, wanting to explore the town on her own accord. Luckily, she wouldn't be doing it alone.

"OW!!!" >.<

A Resident steampunk rat decided that Krisseh was the perfect place to stay... and made a small residence inside her tail.

"what in the name of fyora bit me!?"

Disturbed by the sudden biting, she makes haste to go outside.

[Celestial]

((Brassport))

"Well, we mostly need food and metal, but we can sort out the details later. For now, why don't I show you around the city? Follow me, I've got a tank out back."

"I'd be glad to. Although by tank isn't exactly how I expected to travel," Celestial remarked as she withdrew her hand, glad to have made this deal. She kept a straight face but inside, she was grinning. This had gone a lot smoother than she thought it would. At least, they haven't chased her out of the city with torches and pitchforks yet. Standing up, she headed after the mayor.

"Thanks for offering both of us, but I'll pass." Krisseh said nervously and withdrew towards the exit. The Archmage looked back at her friend and smiled kindly.

"As you wish. I'll meet you here when we're done, ok?" she said. But her instinct did sound a small warning bell. Something wasn't right here. The Mayor seemed trustworthy enough but something was bound to go wrong. And her dragon self knew it. It's nothing, it will all be ok. You're a good mage, you can work your way out of it Celestial told herself. But she always had trouble convincing people, even herself. Now was no exception.

Nevertheless, she had to finish what she started. Celestial went after the mayor.

She came out into the street, next to what was very clearly a tank. A tank which had the necessary modifications made to it to allow it to run on steampower but nevertheless a tank. It was actually surprisingly elegant, as if the touch of steam made everything more awesome and more beautiful. The Archmage quite liked it. She wondered what the application of magic and steam would do to an object.

Now all she had to do was wait for the Mayor to invite her inside it. Celestial shrugged and stood there, observing the people going by.

[Deleted]

“… and we’ll see who is powerful then? WON’T WE!”

It was the unmistakable air of a madwoman, babbling away to herself about fantasies of revenge that would normally go unrequited, mainly due to the actual madness. Only this madness was aided by sanity … and just enough of it for Emily to be sure that she would succeed. She gathered up what remained of her tattered skirts and broke into a sprint, skidding around a corner before stopping dead in her tracks as she came face to face with the barrel of some huge artillery.

There were noises and Emily quivered, ducking under the huge barrel and darting to the side. She had always been frightened of weapons, and now was no exception. That primal instinct which screamed at her to run, however was delicately but totally smothered to death by what she saw.

As she moved around the side of the tank, a woman in deep purple robes slid into view. A woman with deep purple robes and chestnut hair. A woman with deep purple robes, chestnut hair and …

“Dragon wings!” Emily screamed it like an insult, thundering forward, her arms flailing about. She suddenly became aware that she had no weapon, so she snatched up a metal rod from a narritavely convenient pile and brandished it with the fury of the Elder Gods. Her mouth uttered noises that were not able to be understood by any ears but those of demons and her eyes bulged with the kind of fury only a maid could conjure.

“Beast!” she spat, “Come back to finish what you started, have you?” Emily advanced menacingly.

[Celestial]

((Brassport))

Celestial barely registered the young woman running towards her before her instincts told her of the danger. As if to confirm what they were saying, the woman picked up a pole and ran at the Archmage with it, thrusting forward as if the pole was some kind of lance.

“Beast! Come back to finish what you started, have you?” she screamed and ran at the Mage. Celestial immediately understood what was going on but there was no time to elaborate on the thought.

She dodged the first strike and ducked beneath the second one, although the third strike grazed her shoulder slightly. The Dragon Mage leapt out of the way, putting a bit of ground between her. There was no point hiding her wings so before Emily could react, Celestial flew onto the tank. Her instinct made her want to spread her wings and appear larger but she knew that making threatening gestures was not a good idea now.

"Listen to me, please! I'm not here to cause any trouble, quite the opposite! I want to start an alliance, to help this city by providing it with resources and integrating it into our world. I'm trying to help!" she cried out, preparing to fly up when the woman rejected her ideas and came at her again.

In the corner, she heard a very high voice saying something that sounded like a garbled "liar". But there was only a rat there. A rat in goggles but still a rat. Besides, why would it come to that conclusion?

[Deleted]

((I ish speedy. ))

Some people were like teddy bears, some like coconuts. Yet more were similar in nature to oceans and others still were the image of creamy apple pie. And some were like politicians. This dragon-mage-best was one of the latter kind. Her words spoke of hopes that would turn to fears, of promises that would be as chaff in the wind. The squeak of “lies” only served to harden Emily’s resolve, and deepen her madness.

And just like a politician, the ghastly excuse for a woman fled like a coward, unwilling to face up to her actions. She could just imagine what a tea party with this creature would be like … spitting, foul names, smashing of china and then, ultimate destruction of the universe itself with some sort of reality bomb and a wheelchair.

Such was the reasoning of an unhealthy mind.

And what was worse, she wanted an alliance. The world was what was unhealthy; the world was the insane one. To Emily, things were as clear as mud. She leaped up onto the tank’s wheel tracks and scrambled for purchase on the smooth metal surface, not stopping to wonder why the heck a honking huge big tank was in a Stampunk city, nor what the heck “Steampunk” was (some sort of vaporous rock band?) …

“You … you stole my mistress from me. She could be dead for all you care!”

The rage gave way to a mixture of cold fury and deep sorrow, thick pearly tears welling up, before spilling out and tumbling slowly down her cheeks. “Lady … My Lady, where are you?” she wailed, then swiped at her foe’s knees viciously in a sudden fit of anger.

Even the rats knew this wasn’t going to end well.

[Celestial]

((Brassport))

The cogs in the woman's mind were going round for a bit, obviously comparing Celestial to the worst kind of scum on the planet or even compare her to a megalomaniac who was king of his own little world. All of which might have been true of her Underdeep-posessed form but not now. Not now.

The woman only to ok a brief moment to mull this over before she lunged for the tank and began scrambling up it. The Archmage began to panic. She didn't want to be reached. It would force her to fight, something she didn't want to do. It wasn't that Celestial was scared, far from it. She knew what would happen if she hurt somebody from this city.

“You … you stole my mistress from me. She could be dead for all you care! Lady … My Lady, where are you?” Emily cried out at the mage, first angrily and then sadly before taking a swipe at her legs. Celestial just managed to fly up and land on a low roof of one the buildings.

Well, at least she knew why she was being attacked. This was going to be difficult. The darn Underdeep business would probably haunt her until the day she died.

The pole was a problem. The Archmage waved her hand a little and ignited a fire inside the pole, making the metal hot and hopefully forcing the woman to drop it. That is, if her madness did not get in the way of instinct.

"I don't know if I killed your mistress but if I did then I'm sorry. You most likely won't accept my apology but if there is anything I can do to repent then I'd be glad to," Celestial shouted, putting all her effort into sounding kind. Not that it would stop somebody so hell-bent on revenge.

[Lord Hayati]

Brassport Streets
---

Krisseh browsed around town, looking for any kind of abandoned building to possibly use as a resturant. The mayor wanted food, after all.

"Where is a shenkuu teahouse sized house when you need one?"

She glanced to her right, noticing a pack of rats giggling at her. She didn't pay much attention to them, since she had a bigger meal to fry.
besides, all of this was just a distraction for her. she needs to get to her kingdom... not open up a place that'll make it even harder to get there.

"Wait, here we go. This seems big enough."

she entered the building, hoping it was abandoned.

[Jina]

Outside the Mayor's Office
Owen watched as a woman attacked Celestial. This... was not the best position to be in, to say the least. There were people watching, and no matter which side he went with, he'd upset someone. And if he just did nothing...

Ah, a militiaman. That's good, I'll let him handle it.

Outside the Mayor's Office
Barrett headed back to the Mayor's Office, hoping that the Archmage would still be there. It turned out she was, and somebody was already attacking her, though apparently failing to achieve anything. This would be a good opportunity to make a friend, at least.

He approached the woman, and attempted to hold her back. At the same time, he leant forwards and whispered, "You're not going to kill her like that, you know."

[Scar]

((Sarn gave me permission to godmode Emily while she's resting from her operation, just a FYI ^_^))

Under normal circumstances, Emily might have let go of the rapidly heating metal rod but the sane part that was Emily had long ago flown from the nest, leaving nothing but broken eggshells. Edged broken eggshells.

She gripped the rod tighter and struggled to pull free from the watchman's grasp, hearing the whisper and drowning it in a wave of rage. "I don't want to kill her! I want her to suffer! My Lady ... oh my poor Lady, she must have suffered terribly," Emily whimpered, faltering for moment, giving Barrett enough time to strengthen his grip on her.

"NO!" she shrieked suddenly, brandishing the pipe at Celestial. "You must pay for what you did to my mistress, devil! I'll see you cry for mercy before the day is over!"

With that she aimed a kick at Barrett's foot.

In the shadows, a couple of rats groaned and pushed handfuls of screws over to a smug looking rat.

Emily wailed and flailed the pipe, ignoring the smell of carbonised skin. "My Lady ... come back to me ..."


Meanwhile ...

One-Eyed Willie ... no ... how about Doc Brown? No, no, no! Argh, focus!

Oscar turned down Burnwright Alley, Lady Sarinon nestled carefully in his arms, as he struggled to remember the nearest doctor that a) did not kill their patients and b) wouldn't ask any questions.

Just then, a drunk stumbled through a pair of doors up ahead and Oscar's gaze instinctively flickered up to the sign over the door, no doubt just another one of the man -- Thank the Forger!

Oscar, Gentleman Adventurer kicked open the door and burst in, in what he hoped was dramatic fashion.

"Knickers! I need your help!"

The man known as Knickers slammed his mug on the counter, sloshing amber mead all over the bar. "Who in the bloody -- Is that ...?"

"I don't know what's wrong with her! She just collapsed and I think she has a fever and --" Oscar laid Lady Sarinon carefully onto the suddenly clear bar surface and panted heavily from exhaustion, gulping in air.

"There's a black bag in the back room," the heavy set man growled, moustache twitching as he laid the back of one broad hand on Sarinon's forehead. "Get it now, boy!"

Oscar scampered off to fetch the bag but couldn't resist opening his mouth for an encore. "Sheesh, no need to get your knickers in a knot."

"Ye better shut yer mouth," Knickers barked, shaking an alcohol soaked rag before placing it on Sarinon's forehead. "Or I'll forget all about 'First do no harm' and wring your scrawny neck."

Oscar soon returned with the black bag in question, hearing its contents clink and burble suspiciously as he set it on the counter above Sarinon's head. To his relief he could already hear her breathing become less ragged. "Is she going to be alright?" he asked, gently holding her limp hand.

"Aye, the lass needs some bed-rest is all, in a proper bed," the grizzled healer added meaningfully, rummaging through his bag.

Oscar sighed and reached for his money pouch. "How much is this going to cost, Knickers?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "Just fer that it'll be 20 gold cogs fer the good rooms."

"That's highway robbery!" Oscar burst out. "What kind of a doctor bankrupts his own patient?"

Doctor Knickers grinned smugly and closed his bag with a tiny 'snap'. "A good one. After all, isn't money but a sickness on society? Can't blame me fer wanting to cure ye of it."

Oscar, Gentleman and Currently Penniless Adventurer, sighed and handed over his money bag.

[Celestial]

((Lazy Celes is lazy. >>;; ))

((Brassport))

A militiaman grabbed the woman and said something to her but at this distance Celestial did not hear it properly. She could have sworn she hear 'kill her' but why would a militiaman say that if he was for upholding peace like he was supposed to? Unless of course, the woman in her insanit ywas expressing what the rest of the townspeople were too polite to say. Makes sense, she thought grimly.

But what disturbed her was that the woman had not let go of the rod. The Archmage caught a wiff of burning flesh and realised her plan had backfired. She had to get the metal pole out of Emily's hands and quickly.

"I don't want to kill her! I want her to suffer! My Lady ... oh my poor Lady, she must have suffered terribly," she shouted out and the militiaman gripped her tighter. Celestial was about to jump down when suddenly the woman was once again pointing a pipe at her.

"NO! You must pay for what you did to my mistress, devil! I'll see you cry for mercy before the day is over!" came the insane shrieking. The dragon mage had had enough. A strong current swept under the pipe and gripped it like an invisible hand, trying to lift it out of Emily's hands. It was like a hurricane wind concentrated around that bit of iron.

"I never did anything to your mistress and it certainly isn't right for you to go accusing me of such a thing! Don't think that I tried to destroy your city willingly last time!" she shouted down to them both.

[Tiger]

Trying to rush through busy, foreign streets on a magical horse rapidly loosing its enchantment, in pursuit of two complete strangers she’d been asked to watch over by a sheep-person was a remarkably new experience for Tiger. She was used to small villages, and maybe the occasional town, but nothing so dense as Brassport. The streets looked as if they had been built with horses in mind, but it appeared that the designer had never told anyone else about this plan.

”Pity there can’t just be two parts of the street,” the mage thought. ”One side for pedestrians, the other for horses, another for shipping wagons…that might be nice, riding behind wagons is-“

A group of workers suddenly cut across her path, forcing Tiger to pay attention to the road- and to the fact that she had no idea where she was going. It concerned the mage that she hadn’t caught up to Featherstone yet, as on horseback, she should be able to outrun him easily. Probably a wrong turn, then.

By backtracking and asking an occasional pedestrian whether they had seen a man running through the city with a woman in his arms, Tiger was able to correct her route. The entire affair took longer than she liked, and by the time she turned down the proper street- after having passed it once- and spotted the bar, the enchantment on her horse was wearing thin; patches of gray-green speckled the horse like a nasty case of mange or measles. Tiger dragged the animal into a gloomy ally between two buildings, and when nobody was passing, drew the magic back into her hands.

As she emerged from the alleyway, it occurred to her that Featherstone might ask about the horse. Hopefully, he’d be in too much of a panic about his sick lady friend to notice the animal’s sudden absence. Even if he did, any lie was better than riding a clearly magical creature around a foreign city.

Tiger entered the bar in a decidedly less dramatic fashion than Oscar Featherstone; even if she had kicked open the door, drawn a sword, and posed for a moment while backlit by the sun, she might not have drawn much notice. Understandably, most of the bar patrons’ attention was on the unconscious woman.

Far from disappointed that she could slip in largely unnoticed, Tiger stepped to Featherstone’s side, pulling her hood a little lower over her face. She hoped the mustached man the adventurer had just given a bag of coins to was actually a doctor.

To Featherstone, Tiger said quietly, “Sir. The leader of…of your friends at the gate asked I help you, if you need it.”[/i]

[Ikkin]

Ikkin listened intently as the bespectacled rodent gave its longwinded spiel. Unfortunately for the rat, she didn't understand a single thing it said.

"I should have known," she said with a growl.  "Your kind are always useless."

The rat squeaked even more, as if it were trying to explain itself, but that just made Ikkin angrier. Before she realized what she was doing, she'd thrown the offending rodent at the ground.

Her realization came a split-second after the rat left her hand: even if it was a rat, there was no reason for her to hurt it like that. She formed a pillow of wind below it, stopping it just before it hit the ground and leaving a terrified, floating rodent in place of a squished one.

[Strife]

"I should have known. Your kind are always useless."

The rat squirmed. Sure, most people in the city couldn't understand Ratspeak, but he was hoping that this person would be an exception. Turns out that she wasn't. Still, he kept trying to talk.

Unfortunately, it was no use, and out of sheer frustration, the big scary kitsune girl wound up her arm and hurled the little guy straight towards the ground. The rat let out a high-pitched squeal as he fell off the rooftop.

Blacktail saw the rat coming towards him, thinking it was some kind of projectile, and instinctively jumped backwards while assuming a defensive stance, his plate armor clattering. Much to his surprise, however, the "projectile" was a rat with goggles, and it suddenly and mysteriously halted just a few inches above the dirt pavement, hovering in the air through some sort of mystical force.

After the rat came to its sudden halt, a short burst of laughter echoed through the crowd. The rat tried to "swim" his way out of the air pocket, and after a few seconds, he successfully hopped safely to the ground, darting into the nearest alley like an elven arrow.

Blacktail could only watch the spectacle with a raised eyebrow. After the rat was gone, he fixed his gaze on the rooftop again, where he saw the woman standing at the edge of the building with a single arm stretched downwards. Several strands of her long hair were whipped in front of her face, and she had an expression that was half frustration, half surprise - most likely at what she had almost done to the innocent rodent.

I've seen her before, Blacktail thought to himself. She must have been one of the color guard... I'm sure of it.

[icon]

{Brassport- some place in town}

Eli stared at the spot which the rat had previously been. He probably would have stood there gaping for the better part of the day, were it not that a crowd of people brushed past him rather quickly, almost knocking him over. "Hey, watch it!" said some generic city-goer and his pals as they went by.

Eli dusted himself off and gave them a good glare, but by then the city-goers were out of sight.

Deciding to cool down for a bit, Eli kept walking. One of his coworkers was always saying, "Take a walk, clear our mind." However, he couldn't get that rat out of his head. Was it the only one of its kind? Were there more little goggled rats running through the streets?

Eli kept going for a while, puzzling the entire thing over, until he looked up and realized that he had gotten himself lost in the maze-like streets of Brassport, and was now pretty lost. Looking around, he decided to peer into a shop and ask for directions back to the city hall. Eli took a step, unshouldered his cleaning pack, and took a step in.

Inside the building, Eli noticed a small layer of dust and a few pieces of furniture, and a few other trivial things. Seeing how rundown the place was, Eli started to turn around and head out, but then noticed the richly garbed character, almost creature-like in nature, looking around as well. Eli decided to speak up.
"Excuse me... would you happen to know where Town hall is from here?"