"Anyhow," said Flake confidently to Lowell, "All we have to do is walk around town and talk to people, and an opportunity will present itself!"

Lowell folded the map and secreted it into his cloak. "Of course," he said. "It probably isn't wise to get into any sort of trouble with a party consisting of a cook and a knight- perfectly capable, I might add, heh, but, still, heh, yeah..." Lowell faltered. "Anyway... the town, right. Let's see what it has to offer."

"Well, this is a dull town." sighed Flake.

"Well..." said Lowell, "It's possible that our way of going about this is flawed. If you were looking for an ally before, then it was sheer luck that you found me in that pub. It could be asking a bit much of the universe to duplicate that luck. There's a story I could tell here that involves rabbits breaking their own necks, but I can't say I'm entirely comfortable telling it and the gist of it is that we're unlikely to meet an ally just walking around this town. Maybe if we do something interesting, like stop a crime or go out looking for an adventure, we'll meet up with someone. Allainces seem to be born of conflict."

"It's just a theory, but since -agreed- this IS a dull town, we might at least try it."

The calmness of the town was suddenly burst as a sword was suddenly drawn. The bustle of the town quickly drew away from the small group affording the two adventurers with a good view of what was going on. What they saw was a small group of people in armour. The one who had drawn his sword was showing signs of rage as his eyes bored into what seemed to be the leader of the other three knights. The three knights seemed to be enjoying themselves to varying degrees although the two subordinates did seem to be shocked by the sudden appearance of the sword.

"I dare you to say that again, bastard!" yelled the person who had been so offended as to draw his sword.

"Hmph, so it seems your answer is simply to draw your sword when words fail you," sneered the leader opposite him. "That is entirely why you'll never make the cut, coward." He then stood there for a few seconds as he watched his opponent struggle to respond, be it with words or sword, before he continued. "Since you don't seem to have anything more to say, then I'll stop wasting my time on you. C'mon boys, let's leave this 'vigilante' be."

The two flunkies snickered when they heard the word vigilante and then they followed their leader as he turned around and walked away. The swordsman watched them leave and then jamming his sword back into his sheath he stalked into the tavern not even noticing there was no longer a door there.

Excal, bringing back a char that hasn't been seen since the Eidolon Wars.

Flake looked over to where the swordsman had been.
"Hmm... A rogue swordsman... tendency to violence... most likely a deep past that could result in trouble... and we don't know a thing about him."
Flake appeared to consider something for a moment.
"Yep. I think we've found the newest addition to our team."
Flake walked into the bar, closing what was left of the door, only to have it fall off.

The swordsman stalked up to the bar and grabbed himself a stool. Settling on the stool he caught the barkeeps attention and ordered a Djin'ntonycks. There he sat as the barkeep mixed his drink and put a few coins on the bar as the drink was placed in front of him.

He sipped his drink as he thought his situation over.

Sigh, I coulda been done already if I had stayed there during the Moogle Wars. But then, from what I've heard it turned into the Epsilon War, so I didn't miss much. Wonder who that guy who warned me off was though. Well, I'll be sure to get my own back with him should I ever find 'im.

Add to this that there's now word out that I missed out on a Bardic War. Both quests that could have gotten me my glory. Would have given me the victory I need to prove my worthyness to be a elite soldier. But, I guess it's just my luck that I wasn't there.

Then there's all of these rumours going around. That I'm calling myself a vigilante and that the Juno Blade has been found. Sheer rubbish! I KNOW where it is and I'd have heard if it was grabbed. I suppose I could go back and get it, that would be a trophy none could doubt back home. Or perhaps I shouldn't set my sights so high. Get into the squad and then prove my superiority. Yeah, I guess that's what I should do. Stop being so picky and just go for a few good ol' dungeon crawls. Now to just find a good adventuring party.

The swordsman looked down again to find that his glass was now empty, so he called the barkeep and put down a few more coins. And he cradled the empty glass wondering what to do next.

"Excuse me," said Flake, wlking up to the swordsman, "Did I hear you say you wanted to join an adventuring party? Well, you're in luck! My associate and myself happen to be and adventuring party... On an adventure... To find the..."
Flake paused and grinned, unsure of what to say next.
"Well, we're currently, not on any particular adventure, but I'm sure that'll change and there'll be lots of fame and fortune for me... uh... I mean us!"

Flake turned to the bartender.
"Can I get an ale?"

The bartender started to fill amug, then saw Flake.
"Hell no! You practically destroyed-"

Flake grabbed the mug.
"Thanks."
He turned to the swordsman, ignoring the sputtering bartender.
"You're paying, right?"

The swordsman turned from his drink and looked over at the person who had just showed up beside him feeling quite very certain that he hadn't just said he wanted to go on an adventure, but remembering what happened to his last drink, he figured he might very well have and not realised it. So he listened to what the person had to say.

His first thought was noisy... but he fought it back to think over the proposition a little more clearly. That resulted in a more appropriate thought. Am I really gonna work with THAT!?! A master of survival though, not a bit of this showed on his face while he continued thinking things through.

Well, I suppose I have to go on a quest sooner or later, but is this the crew I wanna sign on with? Then again, around these parts I'm not likely to find another crew... Well, they say patience is a virtue. So it's settled.

The swordsman fixed his gaze on the person next to him and stuck out his hand. "Don't see why not. Name's Excal Burned, and I'm a Canuck Knight. As for where you're goin', I can give you some tips, though I'm fine no with whatever you decide." The knight turned to his drink again to find it empty once again. He shrugged and put down a few coins. "This oughta cover what he got and the door. And you, this is the one time I'm gonna pay your way." And then he got off his stool and turned to leave. Before he left though he turned to the person and said "Well, you comin?"

Follow the path and raise thy head
For the dawn lay yet ahead

"The name's Flake Kingham. I've got a sword, bardic skills, and I know how to use magic scrolls."
He motioned to Lowell to follow.

"This is Lowell. He's the cook. And he can remove curses and use blue magic. Anyhow, I've already got a destination in mind."
Flake paused for dramatic effect, whatever that was.

"The Lufia 2 Casino!" He looked at the faces of the other two.
"Or we can go with whatever you guys decide." He conceded.

A casino didn't sound like a particularly heroic destination to Lowell. Besides, he didn't need a bunnysuit.

Being a lagomorph, Lowell had had some experience with gamblers, albeit in their most embarrassing moments, so his impression of them wasn't all that...

Gamblers?

A scar, a tattoo, some way of acting...

Yes. Someone would know. Someone would at least tell him where to find other casinos...

"That sounds all right," said Lowell with guarded optimism. "It's a good place, I imagine, to get to know each other, maybe even get some leads on adventures. I'm with you."

Excal looked at the two of his travelling companions incredulously. This has got to be a joke... running through his head. After all, this was no heroic quest, this was a trip to a casino. But, then again, so far as he knew mysterious things that lead to heroic quests generally tend to happen to unlikely heros and eccentric parties. And if this motly crew wasn't that, then no party was.

And so Excal tried to bite back his annoyance and said "Alright, I guess it's settled then."

A child, no more than possibly twelve or thirteen years under his belt, strides up to the small group, having overheard a few bits of the conversation already in progress.

"Wow! Adventuring?! COOL! Can I come? Please? I promise I won't get in the way, in fact I'll help! Really! I can be really REALLY helpful! I can do things you've never seen! I can ..."

The youth opened his mouth as though to continue talking, but suddenly fell silent, covered his mouth, and stepped back, hands clasped behind his back, looking as though a grave error had been made--or narrowly avoided. He looked up entreatingly at the party of three.

A hooded figure walked up from a different direction.
Figure:Hi! You're adventurers, right?
Flake:Yeah.
Figure:Are you on an adventure?
Flake:Yes, we're going to the Lufia Casino.
Figure:To do what?
Flake:To play the games. What did you expect?
Figure:Something more specific and long-term, like "Find the Gold Card." Otherwise, it's not an adventure.
Flake:Well, what would you consider to be an adventure?
Figure:I thought you'd never ask. Ya see, I was the protector of the Kewaress empire until recently. To summarize, I got my power from 36 power crystals, but I lost them, demons invaded the empire, and I need the crystals to drive them out. And I want you to help me. That is what I think an adventure should be like.
Flake:Why should we help you?
Figure:Because it would make you real adventurers.
Flake:Fine, we'll help you.
Figure:Great. My name's Daryl Villin. You can use this to locate and identify the crystals.

<Received Key Item "Crystadex" X1>
<Daryl joined the party!>
Daryl Villin's Stat's
STR73 DEF78 AIM86 DEX91 ETH142 WIL137 LIFE93 MANA128
Weapon:Glass Cube(Power Crystal)
Armor:Leather Robe(Robe)
Head:Cloth Hood
Leftarm:Leather Glove
Rightarm:Leather Glove
Feet:Leather Boots
Powers:Magic:Casts normal spells.
Crystal:Casts spells Learned from crystals.
Daryl has a carefree personality normally, but is quite serious when protecting something he loves. He tends to criticize people, especially "adventurers", and has an uncanny knack for making people want his approval, against their better judgement; as a result, he has several "recurring villans" following him around.

Daryl:That casino sounds like a good idea, though. I could use a break.
(OOC:Daryl's stats are percentages, with 100 being average. The notes beside "Weapon" and "Armor" are his equipment types. "Glass Cube" is not one of the power crystals, just a glass cube, and contains no crystal spells. If Flake strongly object to this message, he can post his own version of it, as long as Daryl's statistics and the end result(Daryl joins the party, Flake decides to help him get his crystals back) remain unchanged.)

Lowell had no objection to Daryl's joining, expect because of his suspicious last name. Overall, the quest seemed noble enough, and a collecting quest agreed just fine with Lowell. 36 crystals seemed like a lot, but...

Crystals of power?

Thirty-six of them?

*Nah,* thought Lowell. *The crystals are important, so they're sure to be located in dangerous dungeons with lots of treasure in them. They'd better be, or I don't think any of us will tolerate gallivanting about searching for thrirty-six of them for this guy's benefit. Still, I can get what I want no matter what quest I go on.*

Lowell looked back at the kid that had approached them, and had been mostly forgotten with Daryl's arrival. Lowell himself had experienced plenty of that, standing at a mere two feet, and he sympathized with the child. "Hey," he said, and the child faced him. "I'm Lowell. So what's your name?"

"Okay! So we're all going to find these crystals! And stopping at the Lufia 2 Casino on the way."
Flake paused, as if puzzling things out.

"Wait a minute. You're name's Daryl Villain? That sounds kinda suspicious... You wouldn't happen to be evil, would you?"

Excal himself was certainly less than happy with current events. Two of the people here sounded quite talkative, although so long as they didn't try and force him to talk, he didn't really have a problem with that. The main problem was with the other guy. His name was quite definatly familiar, and the way he just foisted that quest on them. Even if it WAS a heroic quest, you at least gave the other people the chance to turn it down before you signed them up. Otherwise you'd just end up with far more trouble than its worth when they all rebelled. Especially since he didn't look like he would win if he tried to force Excal to do something.

"I'll go along," Excal said with menace in his voice, "but I want to set some ground rules now. I don't mind if any of you call any small decisions for me, but if it's a big one, like say whether or not we're gonna accept a quest, then only I get to choose if I'm gonna go on it or not. Especially since this thing is a cooperative thing. One person starts calling the shots for everyone else outta the blue and we're all gonna suffer."

Excal then smirked as he kept his gaze on the new guy. "Name's Daryl, huh. Funny spelling for a guy. Or are you a bard in drag."

OOC: Cosmetor, you might wanna change your char's first name. There's already a well established Daryl here and having two of 'em will make things confusing. So this is a simple request as a matter of common courtesy.

-------------------------------------------
Follow the path and raise thy head
For the dawn lay yet ahead

"Well technic'ly I guess I'm the leader, but you can be second in command." Flake conceded diplomatically.
"Onward!"

The youth looked back (slightly down) at the strange rabbit anthropomorph. Puzzled, but determined to make a good show of himself, he stood tall (for his height), puffed out his chest (in what he hoped was a manly gesture), and spoke a little deeper, voice cracking a little:

"I'm Priam, mage AND cleric extroardinaire!" He started to reach out to shake hands with the diminutive bunny-person-thing, but pulled back, wondering if he/she/it had hands at all...

He shrugged, and smiled as he bowed slightly to the furry one. After a short period of listening to the others talk, and being ignored for the most part, he pointed over his shoulder at them, and remarked, "So...is he the local hero? He seems to be pretty popular."

"You could say that." said Flake.

"He seems to have a sort of charisma," said Lowell. "I'm not sure if he's ever done anything heroic, but he sure seems to be a draw. I just joined up because he caught my attention at that bar, and because... well, because of a love of adventure, I guess. I'm a cook, and a decent fighter, but I was about to settle down here if I couldn't find some travelling companions."

"As for you," he continued, "if what you say is true, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't join us." Lowell wasn't quick to judge at first impressions, having too often been seen as just "cute". "But if you're not being totally honest, be careful... because this is the REAL THING."

Lowell thought about this. "Probably, I mean. I guess we haven't even really started yet, so for all I know it could be fun and games from start to finish. If so, then... uh... right on."

Lowell coughed, smiled, and turned back to the rest of the group. The youth seemed a bit leery of him, and he wasn't sure that speech had done marvels to undo that. *I suppose I'll have to chat with this Excal and this Daryl sometime,* he thought to himself.

After that, there was no deeper thought on his mind for some time than, *I wonder if we can actually take that kid into the casino?*

Someone in a corner seems to be watching and listening. Most won't notice, though some might. It's certainly not a very conspicuous watcher, at any rate. Since the party appears to be leaving, the watcher, ever so casually, begins gathering its belongings together. Why?

To surreptitiously stalk them.

Duh.

"Don't you worry about me getting into the casino. I can take care of that." He smiled smugly. Lowell realized that he hadn't actually voiced his concerns over such matters--and what's more, it seemed neither did the little boy. The child glanced over his shoulder at the mysterious dark figure, gave a short nod and wink, seeming to know he had been there, watching them, the whole time...

OOC:But first, a note. "Villin" is a parody of "Hiro". Daryl is named Daryl to parody the original Daryl's name, and no, he has never been a bard. Or a villan. End of note.

Daryl:So, you're a mage and a cleric? Fascinating. Which god gives you your powers? Because if you're really a cleric, you'd get your powers from a god. Otherwise you'd just be a white mage. It's a common misconception, really. But it's still annoying. Anyway, back to my original question. Which god gives you your powers?

"So where's the closest crystal?" Flake asked.

Excal reached into his bag and pulled out the Crystaldex. "Just give me a few seconds to familiarise myself with this thing and then we can set off," Excal said as he fiddled with a dial on the device.

As he did this, Lowell peered out from under his hat and asked a question. "Uhhh, didn't Daryl hand that to Flake?"

"Hmmm, oh yeah, he did..." Excal said without looking up. "But I grabbed it out of bagspace."

"Bagspace?" Lowell asked.

"Yeah, it's a term I made up. It's basically just a place where all the items in your bag reside. And for some reason it's accesible to everyone in your party." As he said this Excal stopped fiddling with the Crystaldex long enough to put his helm into his bag. "Now, try and grab my helm."

Lowell was doubtful, but decided to give it a try. He reached into his bag and after a few seconds of rummaging around he pulled out Excal's helm. "Wow, you were right!"

"Yup!" Excal said absentmindedly before adding on, "Err, could you put it back please?"

"Oh, sure!" said the lagomorph before putting the helm back.

After this Excal fiddled around for a bit longer before he finally thrust the crystaldex up in triumph and exclaimed "Eureka!"

"Did you figure it out?" Flake asked him.

"Got a lock on one, now..." Excal kept on a stream of rambling while he pulled out a few maps and a quill and made a few markings. Finally he made a large circle on one of the maps while saying "...and that means the Crystal of Fire is riiiiight THERE!"

Excal handed the corresponding map to Flake while putting everything else back into his bag.

-------------------------------------------
Follow the path and raise thy head
For the dawn lay yet ahead

"Is the casino nearby?" asked Flake.

"Yep, mage AND cleric. My parents taught me both their arts, so I get a lot of really neat powers! Um, my patron god? Uh, I don't remember exactly, I think my dad said our god was Vidna? Does that sound right? Anyway..." The youth stood on his toes and pointed on the map to a moderate-sized black blob near the rather large circle that Excal had traced.

"...is that a town? Or maybe that's our casino!!...we're...not...going to the casino anymore, are we?"

He faced the ground, a little despondent from the letdown. His sadness quickly subsided as he grew curious about this 'bagspace'...He reached inside the bag and started feeling around inside...

A wink. But not an alarm. Interesting. Especially since it's the child. One might think a child would be quick to raise an alarm, but this one obviously isn't quick to frighten. The watcher considers just walking up to the party now...strongly considers it. He's not used to sneaking around, and he doesn't like it. But he holds off for now.

Priam pulled his hand out of The Bag, with a small item with a tiny label hung around it. "Exploding Crystal with Pain +80? I wonder what this is?"

(ooc: i just picked a semi-humorous item from the list in the compendium thing...if that item's long gone, substitute a similarly catastrophic-yet-humorous item)

"Not going to the casino?" said Lowell. "Of course we're going! I want to go, Flake came up with the idea, Daryl seemed to like it, you want to go, and Excal... seems all right with it." A perceptive person could have picked up a hint of I need this in his voice.

"But let's just work this out. Flake, you've got the map, anyone who wants to help out, can... ARE we near the casino? I'm going to have some trouble helping with that because I can't see the map at a normal level."

Lowell reached into his bag to get his map. It wasn't in there. Apparently his cloak and bagspace weren't connected.

As Lowell roots through his cloak and bag attempting to master the subtleties of subspace, yet another Mysterious Figure looked on. Not from the shadows, of course (the cat, the Evil Demon, and the 27 Obligatory Nefarious Underlings took up every scrap of poorly-lit real estate in the establishment), but from a neighboring hill via a high-powered scope.

Lowell's face lights up and he triumphantly extracts the map. The figure smiles as the lagomorph realizes the "map" more closely resembled a small piano. Locking its tripod in place, the figure looks away from his scope and makes a small note in a file. He scans over a ragged post-it note to which it is laboriously stapled to.

"To: Section Yea Eighth
From: The Living Tribunal
Reg: Activities in Dimension #78.Q

A class-seven SMAG* has been sighted, currently without the influence of any CMDGOAPs**. Please monitor the SMAG and track their effects on local DTs***, with care taken to ensure no FORPPUs**** or CUEs***** develop. Take any actions necessary to prevent these, OK?******

Signed,

The Living Tribunal
Supreme Justice Independent Cosmic
Judiciary of the Transient Name"

[* Spontaneous Mercenary Adventuring Group
Concerned Meddling Demi-God, God, or Other Anthropomorphic Personification
*** Dimensional Thingie
**** Full-On Righteous Panthenological Punch-Up
***** Catastrophic Universal Explosion
****** Ostroppos Kleptophogoria]

The figure, Eighth, unlocked the tripod and resumed his survey of the bar via his scope-mounted crossbow.

"Hrm, Excal, eh? I was wondering when he'd get his blasted buttocks out of the underworld...or is this another Excal? I'll have to check on that. Now, who's this fellow...? focuses Cosmentor? I'll shoot him later, I guess." He flicked on the clairaudience, winced at the boistrous baroom cachophany, then fiddled with the detection field.

"The Lufia Casino?" he thought, as the adventurers passes said idea around. "Isn't Pyloric of Bile, Notorious Disemboweller of Cute Bunny Rabbits there right now? swivels the scope around Yep. Well, they're going to have a blast then."

Two bar patrons scrutinised the party.
"Hmm..." said the black-cloaked one. "I wonder what Flake has planned..."

"What?" asked his companion. "That numbskull? Nothing, I shouldn't wonder."

"Don't be fooled. Every single mission he's been on, he comes out the best in the end, no matter what the odds. Noone could be as unintelligent as he seems to pretend."

"Yeah? So?"

"He's stumbled across something big now, I'm betting." said the mage-looking dude.

"So what do we do?"

"We watch and wait."

"Just like always." sighed his compatriot.

-----------------------------------------

"My shoelace appears to have become tied around a lamppost." Flake said. "Well, onward!"
Flake tried to strige forwards, but fell flat on his face.

"Oh yeah. The shoelace thingy."

Excal quickly snatched the Crystal with Pain + 80 from Priam as he pulled it out of the bag.

"Hey, be careful with this stuff!" he scolded the kid as he carefully put the item back in the bag. "Some of this stuff is actually pretty dangerous. As for you," he said looking at the short figure in the straw hat, "we could head for the Casino, but as I recall it's on the other side of this dungeon we're headed to. We can still head to the Casnio first if you guys want to, but since this place is on the way..."

Excal, deciding this style of sig is better for IC threads.

"Hmm..." said Flake. "Okay, we'll get the crystal first." Flake started to walk, but tripped again.
"Damn! Stupid lamppost..."

sigh "Okay, let me help you with that. Sheeze."

The kid walked to the lightpost and tried untying Fluke's shoelaces from around the lamppost. "How did you get these around this thing anyway?....hm, i never was very good at knots. I can't get it undone." Before anyone else could sigh and step in to take his place as shoelace-untier, he reached out to the lamppost and chanted softly. The lamppost seemed to melt a moment, enough for the shoelaces to pass through, but when he took his hand away, the lamppost seemed undamaged.

Fluke stood to walk off heroically, but stumbled again.

"Oh yeah, You still gotta untie them."

"Thanks." said Flake.
"Anyhow, onward."

--------------------------------------------

"Did you see that?" asked the black-cloaked person. "Proof positive that we're dealing with a formidable mind here!"

"Are you kidding?" asked his friend. "I don't see what that Flake idiot had to do with it."

"Ah, that's how good he is."

"Anyhow, you do that trick all the time. You just stole my wallet with it."

"What makes you say that?" asked the black-cloaked figure innocently, giving a large tip for his meal.

"So, Daryl," Lowell said, as the party finally began to move out. "Tell me about these crystals. When you acquire them, will you just absorb all their power at once, or 'equip' them and continuously draw power from them as long as you possess them(I would assume the latter, given that you said that their power was 'lost')?

Lowell blinked.

"And how were they lost?" He continued. "Did it have something to do with the demons you mentioned?"

"I'm not prying too deep, am I?" He asked.

Excal shifted himself a bit and got comfortable in his perch high up in the tree. Once he satisfied himself that his footing was firm enough that a sudden gust of wind or other similar shock would send him tumbling down to the ground far below, he reached into his bag for his telescope so he could complete his self-imposed duty of scouting the area for the cave and any possible threats. Not that he really needed his telescope, having changed classes into an archer beforehand, but the picture was always far clearer that way, and it was an old habit that comforted him and helped him focus his mind on the task at hand.

The first thing he did upon looking through the telescope was to sight his party as they walked along the trail. They were easy enough to spot as they were taking no precautions to stay hidden. Then again, with this crew, Excal doubted that they could move stealthily even if they wanted to. So no real problems there. He then turned his telescope to the area behind them to check and see if anybody was following them. This was done more out of habit drilled into him as a squire than out of any real need to check for pursuers. However, Excal found the routine check to immeadiatly pay off as he spotted a cat-like person following the group. Checking the furtive figure from his position, he made a few mental notes on the cat's appearance so that he could recognise it should it ever make a move. He quickly debated with himself over whether or not he should do anything about the cat, but he doubted that anybody would know anything about it, and if anybody else knew about it, they may act differently enough to tip the stalker off about their knowing about it, and that was an advantage Excal didn't want to give up. Besides, there didn't seem to be anything overtly hostile in the stalker's actions so it could wait for later.

After that discovery Excal was less shocked to find two knights also following his group. He quickly checked them to see if they might be fellow Canuck Knights on their right of passage, but he saw no sign of the maple leaf upon them. At this point Excal began to worry. His thoughts began to dwell upon just what was after these crystals, and just how dangerous would this trip be. He noted everything he could about these knights as well, and with a vow to be on his guard from here on in, he continued his scan far more carefully than before.

His continued scan showed nothing of note in both directions, which relieved him greatly. However, given his greater guard, he decided to do a final bit of searching, and checked some local hilltops. There he found a sight he hadn't expected. On top of a local hill, he saw a figure dressed in rusty dented armour of a style a few millenia old staring back at him through a telescope. Then, completely startling the scouting Canuck Knight, the figure waved at him. Stunned, Excal meekly waved back at the mysterious figure, then put his telescope back in the bag and started climbing down. His mind racing with the question of whether he should tell his party members of the strange observers they had picked up, and just what he should tell them of what he did say.

Excal, resisting the urge to have bad things happen to SYE.

Indeed, the Neko was stalking the party. And if stealth was not possible for the party, it looked as if he had at least the rudiments of it down. As far as appearance, he was humanoid, with a head resembling a cat's. He was a little under five feet tall, and was wearing a vaguely mage-like robe. His fur was tan-colored, and he was creeping from one hiding spot to another.

Until he stubbed his toe.

"OUUUUUUCH!"

He promptly began hopping about like an idiot on one foot, while holding his poor little stubbed toe. And then he fell over onto his back. Any thoughts of stealth...or indeed of anything else...were gone from his mind. He had hurt his toe!

Lowell wheeled around in response to the noise. His eyes met the cat-being hopping around and still whimpering a bit. Back in town, Lowell's sensitive olfactory organs HAD picked up the smell of a cat, and it was oddly coupled with smells not usually associated with cats, for example the smell of clothes. He hadn't mentioned it, because if you blurted out every fool thing you smelled, well, then... You just shouldn't, okay?

"You can get back to me on that, Daryl," Lowell said. His stomach made a noise, and he continued, "In fact, if I was prying too deep, never mind. You can forget it if it's personal, or something."

"The real question is, who's this guy?" Lowell thrust both hands inside his cloak. One hand went to his All-Purpose Knife, as a prey instinct, and the other went to a quick healing snack in case the cat-being was friendly.

For no apparent reason, Lowell wondered at this point how Axlebirk was doing.

"Hmm..." said Flake. "Okay, we could be surrounded, so I'm gonna play the song of sleep."
Flake took out his lute.
"Observe."
He started to play. Thoughthe song was intended to cause sleep, it would most likely cause anything but. A mournful wail filled the clearing, pure discord itself echoeing on and on, terrifyingly with a devastating rhythm.
Flake however, seemed unaffected by all this, and inspected the instrument critically.
"Hm. Needs a little tuning."

-------------------------------------

On the hill, the black cloaked figure had thought to cast a barrier before Flake stated playing. Not all of the sound had been blocked, though.

"Did you hear that?" asked his companion, cringing at the mere memory. "Destin, if this is what we're up against-"

"I would feel more sorry for his companions, myself." said Destin, grinning evilly.

Meanwhile, Cosmetor faded into view behind SYE.
Cosmetor:Ahhh... Secton Yea Eighth.
SYE:(Whirls around)Cosmentor?
Cosmetor:No, Cosmetor. Mispronouncing my name was your second mistake. (Points at Daryl)Your first mistake was mistaking him for me. And your third mistake was CASUALLY deciding to kill me! I was considering freeing you from the Living Tribunal, but you just lost any chance of that happening! (Summons huge claws)Now you shall feel my wrath! (flies at SYE)

Daryl wondered why his companions were clutching their ears.
Flake:Maybe I should tune it a little.
Daryl:Shouldn't you play it first?
Flake: You mean you didn"t hear that?
Daryl:Nope. Oh, I just remembered! there are 26 crystals, not 36! (Turns to Lowell)An while we're on the subject I should answer your questions. I draw power from a crystal by holding it, but I can only use one crystal at a time until I get all of them. And I don't know how I lost them, I just left my tower for a while, and when I came back, they were gone.

As soon as Flake had begun to play, Lowell had fumbled through his cloak for a scrap of paper given to him by Master Mediator Quinthus, on which were written the fine details of the mediator technique Finger Guard. Master Mediator Quinthus spake thusly:

"Lowell, I keep telling you, it's really very simple. Just take one finger from each hand and put it in the corresponding ear just far enough so that you don't hear much of anything anymore. That's all it is, for the life of me I can't figure out why it takes so much JP to learn."

-Quinthus

Lowell slapped his forehead, tucked the paper into his robe, and executed Finger Guard, which worked fairly well. It was still an experience getting through that song, however, and Lowell collapsed exhausted on the ground when it was through. When Daryl spoke to him, he answered, "Thanks, Daryl. Great story. I appear to be dead right now, though, so I'll just have myself a little 1-up Pudding and see if my head clears."

"You're going to be okay?" asked Daryl.

"M'okay," Lowell said, spooning more pudding into his mouth. "Ftill furrounded, tho."

"You? By what?"

"No, all of uff."

"Oh yeah..."

Excal, being an agent of chaos and having served previous under Valen of dischord, had the ability to shake off a tune like Flake's very easily. Unfortunatly, this wasn't that Excal, and so he found himself leaning against a tree with a pounding headache.

"Groan... He wasn't kidding when he said to be wary of his music..."

For a moment, he wanted to just stay there and let his head clear. But he had to check up on some of the various figures following the group. For a few moments he wavered between the path of duty, and the path of sanity before he came upon an argument he couldn't refute. Namely, if he didn't help resolve the situation fast, the Flake might be tempted to play a song again. And that was something Excal resolved to do at all costs. And so he bravely ventured forth.

At first he wobbled a bit as he tried to regain his balance as his head hadn't cleared yet, but as he got closer to his chosen targets, the two knights he had seen earlier, he regained more of his senses. By the time he was near them, he was as stealthy as usual thanks to a combination of time and adrenaline. Then, as he snuck up behind the two knights, who seemed far more engrossed in Flake and the rest of the party, Excal slowly drew his father's old sword which had served him well since he had first been able to wield it. Excal didn't really blame them for keeping an eye of Flake, after all, he wouldn't mind a bit of warning if Flake was about to play again either, but blame them or not, it was a mistake and they were gonna pay for it.

As Excal rushed forward he deftly placed the tip of his blade in the chink between the helmet and the hauberk for the closest knight as he said "Drop your weapons to the ground if your wish for your companion to survive!"

As Excal prepared to question the two, he prepared himself to run the one through should either of them try anything funny.

Excal, hoping Flake doesn't mind my catching his other two guys off guard.

(OOC Note: Rodrigue is a character I created using the FFRPG system, a tabletop RP system based on the Final Fantasy games. He's a Cosmic Mage, sometimes called a Grey Mage. His main repertoire is the Grey Magic from FF4j and FF6j, including spells such as Pig, Frog, Scan, Haste, Slow, and Stop. He also has Gravity spells like Demi and Quarter, though he won't learn the big ones for a while. This combination of Time and Space Magic is what garners the name "Cosmic Mage." Kinda like a Red Mage using Black and White spells. End of OOC Note. We now return you to the whiny Neko, already in progress.)

You ever hear a cat try and sing? Trust me, nothing that comes out of a lute will affect the Neko. However, when he sees the Lagomorph reach into his cloak, his eyes begin to tear up immediately.

"Don't hurt me, I'm fragile! ;_;"

After a few seconds to recover from his debilitating toe injury, he finally manages to compose himself enough to introduce himself.

"I'm really sorry I was following you, but...I was really really bored! I mean, I finally graduated from my Magic School a week ago...first in my class, I might add. Hold on, I have my diploma around here somewhere."

His previous train of thought totally abandoned, he begins digging in his bag for his Diploma. He finally pulls it out and unfurls it, looking quite proud of himself.

"See? I'm so smart! My name's Rodrigue, by the way. Anyway, I want to go on an adventure, and it looked like you were going on one. But I wanted to make sure you weren't bad guys. Or something like that. Um...please don't kill me?"

Eighth rolled his eyes as Cosmetor lunged. The archmage grew to thrice normal size, glowing with an aura of wicked indigo flame. Three electric eyes drilling into the very id and ego of all foolish enough to gaze into them. Serrated rapiers of brilliant steel dripping blood tip every finger, each claw rending the air, leaving trails of light as atoms split into their component parts. A reptilian scream and a thrice forked, thrice headed tongue lash out from his mouth. Innocent rabbits and birds and rholodendrons haplessly look on and perish instantly at the sight. The Invisible Background Music People take up their violins and harp on them furiously. Cosmetor, the greatest mage of all time and space, lances his arms in front of him as if to dive through Eighth's very heart.

The Heir to the Seven Sacred Seals of Silaine, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Reese, Guardian of the Gateway to Pandemonium, Master of All That Man Was Not Meant to Know, was surprised when his serrated blood-dripping evicerators of brilliant steel plunged into the very heart of a small rose bush. As he became entangled 'midst the prickled vines, he noticed his wicked Indigo Aura of Righteous Fury and Thricefold Orbs of Plasmatic Sight had lit said bush on fire.

Not too far away, Eighth picked himself off the ground from his evasive roll, reflected briefly on the merits of melee-based spells used by hand-to-hand neophytes against Grand Masters in the School of Fighting Dirty, then stepped out of the universe altogether.

OOC: Destin is a mage, just so you know. And I think a lot of the creatures around would have scattered already thanks to Flake's 'Song of Sleep'

"We appear to be ambushed." commented Destin casually. His companion had a sword at his neck, and whimpered.

"Very well." continued Destin drily. "Now what to you plan to do with us? Throw us into a vat of boiling sharks?"

Excal blinked as he digested this.

"A vat of boiling sharks? But wouldn't the boiling vat kill the sharks?" Excal asked with a note of obvious confusion in his voice.

"It was sarcasm." Destin commented dryly.

Excal cursed silently in his head as he realised he had fallen for obvious sarcasm. But he figured he ought to say something, so trying to put behind his past comment, he pushed bravely on.

"Alright, I'd like to know why you guys are following us, and which group of knights this guy here," he gestured at Destin's whimpering companion, "is with."

-------------------------------------------
Follow the path and raise thy head
For the dawn lay yet ahead

"Ah. Well, my cowardly associate is mare of an adventurer. Myself, I am a bit of an entrepreneur, you could say." Destin motioned back at Flake.

"Well, the news of these 'crystals' piqued my interest, so I thought I'd just check it out. And if they should fall into the wrong hands, it would be my duty to redistribute them."

Figuring that he didn't have anything to worry about from this group, for now at least, Excal sheathed his sword.

"Hmm, an Entreprenuer, huh. Well," Excal said as he leveled a serious glare at the mage, "should you try and 'redistribute' these crystals then know that my blade shall stand in your way. And I don't take kindly to people messing in my affairs. Consider this a warning, your only one."

Excal then walked past the mage and his wimpering partner and started on the path towards his comrads.

Well, looks like they're gonna be a complication. Ah well, it means I'll have to stay on my guard the entire time. Heh, they might even be useful. It seems the cat guy has met up with the party. Guess this means he'll be joining up. As for the third guy, I can't check on him right now, but he didn't seem to be a threat, so I probably don't need to worry about him. Sigh, looks like this is gonna be quite the trip.

Excal, wondering how those two are gonna affect the mix...

Lowell tipped his kasa back and looked up at Rodrigue. "Sorry about startling you back there," he said, "But the whole stalking thing, I think, put all of us on edge."

Having seen how the cat had responded to him reaching inside his cloak before, Lowell had readied a sandwich before he approached so as not to startle him. He held it up. "Sandwich?" he offered. It was a small chicken sandwich on wheat, small enough in fact to fit in the palm of a normal person's hand. "I'm a Cook, and my foods are healing items, so if you're as fragile as you say, this should take care of whatever wound you were suffering." Rodrigue accepted the sandwich cautiously.

Excal left the two stalkers behind and rejoined the party. Everyone seemed ready to speak at this time, but Lowell spoke first, saying, "So, does anybody know those guys?"

[OOC: This might be a good time to point out a character trait of Lowell's. All the food he prepares is very good. This fact is important to his character, and I hope you'll all respect it whenever the issue comes up. The other characters don't have to rave over his food, and it doesn't have to be the best they've ever tasted, but as I see it the only reasons NOT to like any of his food would be like these:

1: Allergy
2: Moral Opposition (Meat, for example)
3: Really do like the food, just lying.
4: Don't like any food at all.
5: Brings back bad memories or something like that.

Thanks!]

Priam sighed at the catlike form that had presented himself behind the group. Apparently this was not the wiliest of stalkers, or even a decent sneak thief. Still, a feline body could be of use to the party. Priam felt old for his age (hah!), thinking of such things in this kind of analytical detail, and went back to his playful childish mindset.

He strode up to the 'neko', and looked its strange body over, carefully noting proportions and anatomy (in general, no ogling!). His eyes came to a stop when his met the neko's eyes, and the neko seemed to remember his gaze from before. Priam smiled knowingly, and turned back to Excal, who had just finished taunting the knights and mage. He made a note to follow this Excal, and watch his sword technique...the skill might be useful later.

Priam, who is getting a bit serious, and should probably throw in some more comic mischief

He takes it cautiously, yes. And sniffs it carefully. Then he downs it in a matter of seconds. It was good! And he's partial to chicken...then he meets the examining gaze of Priam. Oh, hey, that guy who'd noticed him in the bar. He grins a little and waves.

"So, you don't mind if I come along with you? That's great! Finally, something to do!"

With that, he bounded over Priam's head in joy, and generally danced around a bit. Then he turned to the Lagomorph with a suddenly serious look on his face.

"Now then, my cut. My share of treasure shall be everything I find, or one nth of all treasure found, where n is the number of adventurers in the party, whichever is greater. If at any time, you decide to drop me from the party, you immediately forfeit any and all treasures I personally have found or bought. Are these terms agreeable?"

Excal arrived back at the party just in time to hear the cat's terms. His mood having been adversely affected by everything that had happened help him make up his mind swiftly.

"No," Excal said bluntly.

"Huh," replied the startled neko.

"No, those terms are not fine. First off, you say you want a fair share of the goods unless you think you can get more by pocketing whatever you find. That's just plain greed and has no part in a fighting group.

"Second, the whole point of this expedition is to gather crystals so as to give them back to their rightful owner. We really have no idea whether or not you might decide to simply 'include' one of these gems into your cut. After all, it seems that under these terms you have no obligation to reveal whatever you find if you decide you've already gotten more than your cut would otherwise be.

"Third, why should we establish such a generous cut for you now when we have no idea of how good your skills are? The only other people to have a guaranteed cut right now are Daryl who gave us the quest and the means to complete it, Lowell who's shown himself to be a good cook even if he hasn't had the chance to show much else, and Flake who is the leader of this group and has shown himself able to incapacitate any wildlife within a kilometer radius. Meanwhile, what have you proven yourself capable to do? It seems that Priam there spotted you in the city, I spotted you following us while we were on the trail, and then you went and made enough racket to alert your presense to everyone within hearing distance. So you earn your share before you go demanding it.

"And fourth, from the sounds of it, you need us more than we need you. So I wouldn't make such hefty demands if I were you."

At this Excal started walking past him, but he stopped briefly and, turning his head to face the neko said "But, I am only one voice, and the others may decide to ignore my reasons. And, I'd be quite willing to let you tag along should it be on a trial basis. Let us see if you're truly good enough to warrent such a price."

And with that Excal went, and sitting down for a bit, and started working on one of his personal rations.

Excal, disguising ranting as rping.

"As far as I know," said Lowell to the party in general, excluding the somewhat removed Excal, "I'm the only one with a firmly established cut. I get fifteen percent, which was modest when Flake and I were briefly a duo, but at the rate the party is growing may soon become disproportionately large. "

"Excal was right about your proposal, Rodrigue. We have no reason to believe you're dishonest,"

*Except the stalking,* thought Lowell, *but you apparently had a good reason,*

"But the 'Whatever I can grab' clause leaves everything a bit too open. You see how it is."

"The way I see it, we can either do an even split of the remaining eighty-five percent, Flake, I assume, receiving extra for being the leader, OR, we can wait and see precisely how valuable each person is and weigh the cuts based on that."

"As for Daryl, I suppose it's up to all of you to determine whether he is entitled to an equal cut, or whether he should accept a diminished cut based on the fact that this quest, at its heart, is solely for his sake."

"Since it shouldn't affect me, I'll leave myself out of any further debate, unless I'm called on."

Not another treasure battle. He'd seen one too many of these in other towns, and they always ended up with somebody being unhappy. He took out a few wooden discs from his pouch, and conspicuously put his hand out in front of the group, palm up and open, and pressed his other palm down on top of it. His eyes sunk back into his head a little, and some chants were whispered.

The youth pulled his hands apart, and there lied three gold coins. Given, they weren't stamped with the local emblem, but gold they were nonetheless.

"We don't really need to worry so much about treasure. Rodriggitz, or whatever, if you need money for something just ask me." He sighed again as everyone's senses of greed perked up slightly.

A press of the hands, a small soft chant, and the coins were back to wooden make.

Priam, who H8's treasure-splitting fiascoes.

"You mean we won't get any treasure?" Flake asked incredulously at Excal's words. Then he stared at what Priam was able to do.
"Ah." he said. He looked over the neko critically, then his scroll case spontaneously caught fire.
"Just wait for the water scroll to go off." he sighed.

Excal listened to the hew and cry raised by his words and decided that he ought to try and correct people's interpretations of what he said before he created a larger rift in the party than he already had.

"Priam, my argument wasn't that much of an argument over any treasure we find. I mean, if I wanted cash then I'd go on a solo quest. I'm good enough to handle some lesser places by myself and there'd be plenty of cash there for me without the sticky problems of how to divy up the cash. Really, so long as I get enough to cover any expenses I rack up on this quest, I'm happy. And I'm pretty self-sufficient so I don't cost much. And as it doesn't affect me in the least, I don't really care about how you guys split the cash."

At this point Excal stood up again and looked at everybody as seriously as he could, his voice clearly showing the strain he was subjecting himself to to keep himself calm.

"What I do care about is what people's demands show about their character since my life is going to depend on all of you. I mean, Flake has made no demands, he just wants to go on a quest. Lowell asked for 15% back when such a margin being seen as equitable or even a good deal was nigh unthinkable. And aside from Daryl asking us for help to get the crystals, nobody else has asked for everything. But this cat here is asking for an upfront guarantee that he'll get the better deal when it comes time to divy everything up and that should we part ways for whatever reason, he gets to keep whatever he has regardless of whether he's earned it or not. I find this to speak of a character which will value what's best for themself over what's best for the group. Flake may not be the best of fighters, in fact, this cat may even be better than he is, but at least I can be sure that in battle I can count on him to watch my back. In my experience, that's not something you can count on with those who value coinage so highly."

"So, I suggest that aside from Lowell's prearranged cut, and any items which may be of use to the party, and therefore property of whoever is best able to use it when it gets assigned, then we divy all of the treasure at the end of the quest. This'll keep us from squabbling in a cave over who gets what while something nasty sneaks up on us. And any 'parting treasure' has to be agreed upon before being handed out."

"Basically, let's just shut up about the treasure and focus on finishing the quest. Or in our case, starting it."

And with that Excal went over to a nearby tree and leaned against it waiting for everybody elses decision.

"He's right," said Lowell, breaking his promise of noninvolvement but, he felt, for a good reason. "And since my fifteen percent is the only snag in that arrangement, at the end of the quest we'll just do fifteen percent or an even cut, whatever's simpler at the time(although you might note that, according to my arithmetic, fifteen percent is slightly lower than an even cut at present)."

"Clearly," Lowell nodded at Priam, "We won't lack for cash, and since we all have equal access to bagspace, it'll be difficult for anyone to hide very much of anything he finds."

*Except for me, what with my cloak,* Lowell noted guiltily to himself. *but I can trust myself.*

"So let's go, and sort it out when it becomes relevant."

OOC: I'm going to be away from home for about two weeks. It seems pretty likely that I'll have access to computers where I'm going, but if I'm not posting after, say, Saturday, don't expect Lowell to respond directly to any questions. Just have him tag along. Pyloric of Bile is going to feel quite the fool if I can't post while the party's at the casino...

Cosmetor cut his way out of the burning bush.
Cosmetor:Mental note:practice flying skills.<fades out>
CUT TO a room with a desk and chair on one wall. On the desk is a computer. Cosmetor appears in the chair.
ZOOM IN on the computer screen. It shows a picture of Flake, Lowell, Excal, Daryl, Priam, and Rodridge.

Daryl:Excal has some good points. But I have a simple plan. If we let Rodridge join, then each of us gets 17% of all treasure. And if we don't let him join, Flake gets 22% and everyone else gets 21%. Except for Lowell, who already agreed to 15%. Is everyone okay with that?

Priam stood a little straighter, pressed a finger to his temple, and sighed, obviously stressed from the discussion in general. A hand in the bag, a press of the hands, chant, you know the drill--and a platinum piece paid off the party's drinks.

He sighed again, having lost one of his (rather scarce) wooden nickels, and went to lean on the same tree as Excal, on the opposite side.

He paused a moment, remembering Excal's sword mastery.

"Hey....um...Mr. Excal, do you think you could teach me how to wield a sword sometime?"

Excal looked at the group trying to believe what he had just heard. The Lagomorph had agreed with him to drop the take percentages for right now, and from what he could tell the entire discussion rubbed the kid, Priam was his name?, the wrong way. They were very quickly getting on his nerves too. But there was something particularily unsettling in what he had just heard. Something that tripped something inside of him and set him off.

"What kinda soldier are you anyways?" Excal asked Daryl.

"Well, I guess you'd call me a crystal mage," Daryl responded.

"I don't mean that." Excal said this in a low tone of voice that didn't bother to hide any of the anger he felt. "You said earlier that you were THE Protector of your empire. A position of great responsibility and honour. And here you are on a mission vital to the security of your nation and you're not just squabbling over pay cuts, but you're keeping such a debate alive when it was starting to die down?!"

At this point Excal was leveling a piercing gaze at Daryl while standing straight up, his body taut as though he might spring into action at any moment.

"You're here, wasting precious moments while your duty demands you try and gather the crystals as quickly as possible bickering about your cut? And in all of that, your decision about how to divy everything up seems to be quite certain that we find enough to satisfy everyone. What if we find nothing but the crystals on this quest? Are you going to be willing to give me 17% of them because we agreed ahead of time that we divy up everything. Or do you simply get the crystals and that extra 17%? And more importantly, are we going to let innocents on the other end suffer longer simply beause we're standing here argueing over such mercenary issues!"

"That's right, mercenary, as in the sort of person whose loyalty goes to the highest bidder. Because you've certainly shown yourself to be more like that type than any sort of Protector with any sense of honour, dignity, or duty than I've ever known." The last statement dripping with ill-concealed loathing and contempt.

"So, I have to ask, are you gonna continue talking about pay, or are we gonna finally be able to decide that this isn't an issue of such importance as to put the lives of others on hold and get this quest going."

With that Excal went to the other side of the tree himself and sat down on the grass there next to Priam. There he fumed for a bit then he turned to face the kid, and in a sufficiently calmer voice said, "Sorry bout the blow up back there. I shouldn't have done that in front of a kid. But, I know you said something to me, and I sorta forgot it just then, so could you please repeat it?"

"Well, um, uh... Mr. Excal. I was wondering if you could teach me how to use a sword?"

Excal blinked and was momentarily shocked by this. Noone had ever asked him to teach them something before. Heck, it was rare that he even got a modicum of respect. As such, he answered before he thought it over.

"Huh? Sure, it'd be great to teach a kid the fine art of the sword!" Excal said, the enthusiasm gushing through his voice despite the vicious tone of his earlier words. After all, he'd seen mercenaries in high positions before, but never before had he had a pupil. "Oh yeah," the Canuck Knight added. "While training, you're to call me Sir Burned. It's a matter of respect and what I had to do when I was training. Especially since it's my proper title, even though nobody ever uses it. But, when you're not training, Mr. Burned will do fine."

Excal would later reflect on having agreed to getting a pupil without any thought, and decide that he wouldn't have decided any other way had all the time to consider in the world.

Excal, feeling old...

"All I want to say," said Lowell to the remainders of the assembled party, "is that I trust every one of you to devote yourselves to this quest, to deal honestly with me and the other party members, and to ensure that everyone gets a fair deal. All we need to do is trust each other, and we can sort this issue out after the quest is done. What does it matter who the money belongs to when we're still searching for the crystals, and all working toward the same goal?"

Lowell realized that he might have just assisted this accursed debate in going on longer.

"That was a rhetorical question. Do NOT answer it. Let's... just... go, for the sake of salvaging any semblance of heroism in any of us."

"Hang on," said Flake, "I'm just wondering, what exactly do we all have in the way of skills. If the cat's useful, we can let him join. I personally can use swords, staves, scrolls, boomerangs, and bardic techniques."

"Well, you know what I can do," said Lowell. "I can cook, obviously. My foods are all healing items(if need be I could poison an enemy if we tricked him or her into eating something, although causing poison damage in battle might be a bit tricky), and occasionally they can be weapons. Dwarf bread would be an example of that, and I can handle those pretty well."

"I find it useful to carry my All-Purpose Knife around, and although it's not an exceptional weapon, I... well, I manage to get better results out of it than might be expected. I can use blue magic, and I have a pretty decent array of spells in that area. I also have some cooking spells with varying amounts of usefulness. And I can dispel curses."

Lowell prayed briefly that the money issue had largely blown over.

Excal looked at the group, a confident smirk on his face.

"You want skills, you got 'em. I'm a Canuck Knight, the ultimate support soldier. Name the skill, I can use it. Name the item, I probably got it. Granted, I can only use a few skills at a time, but if I need a different skill set, then give me a couple of rounds and I can switch to it. I may not be as strong in any of my skills as someone devoted to it. Like my cooking is nowhere near as good as Lowell's, and I doubt my magic is as good as Priam's. But I can do anything having spent my youth learning all of the known discipleins. In addition, you also get the benifit of my unique Canuck Knight skills such as my Beaver summon, and my MooseBarrier."

"Okay, now for Priam, Villain, and the cat."

"Well, I can use magic, of basically any type, but I've never heard of this 'blue magic' that...um...you talked about. I'm really cheap to keep around too, because I don't need components for my spells. And I'm hoping to be able to use a sword pretty well soon too." He smiled at Excal.

Wooo, he hadn't meant to spark that kind of argument. Neko always bring their kids up to be money-saavy, and he's so used to getting second-class citizen treatment that he was trying to keep from getting screwed over in the long run. Of course, if he'd known about the crystals to begin with, he would have exempted them from the "cut." Hm. Probably just better to let sleeping dogs lie at this point. He muttered a "Sorry," in a manner not at all like his usual method of speech, i.e., quietly. Hmm? Skills?

"Well, I'm a Cosmic Mage. I'm not all that experienced yet, but I've got a fair number of spells. I can use a staff, but my main weapon is my magic book."

((OOC Note: Book-type weapons are taken from Final Fantasy Tactics. It's a weapon that defaults to Magic Ability instead of strength. So it takes no MP to use, and packs quite a punch for a mage weapon.))

"I'm fifteen years old, my blood type is O, I enjoy long walks on the beach...oh, wait a minute, kinda got carried away there! ^_^"

He's back to normal, alright.

Hmmm, I guess I might have misread the cat. What was his name, Rodrigue? However, it's easy to say something like that, harder to prove it. But, it's doubtful that anyone would hire a neko to grab the crystals. At least not so obviously. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, I have other priorities right now. Now let's see where is it... Aha!

As Excal found his old wooden sword inside his bag he let out the exclaimation. He then pulled out the sword and gave it a look over, having not used it since he had used it during his early days of squirehood. As he looked it over, he remembered how his father had carved it for him when he was young and how the two of them used to spar as he first learned how to use a sword. He ran his fingers over the blade recalling how each various nick got there. Then, he closed his eyes and turned to Priam.

"Here, Priam. Take this, it's the first sword I ever had. My father made it for me when I was a bit younger than you. Now I'm going to pass it on to you so that you can train. Please treat it well. And I will give you another once you have mastered the basics using this one."

With that, he held the sword in both of his hands and placed it horizontally in front of the child.

As Excal held out the wooden training sword, Priam struggled to keep from pointing out that he had a real sword at his hip--no, this was a special priviledge, and the swordmaster had clearly opened himself up for him. As young as he was, Priam still knew about this aspect of respect for one's elders, or in this case, tutors.

He reached out to claim the sword as its new user, for the moment being anyway, and again struggled with the urge to swing it around in the same way a child plays with matches. After all, he was in the proximity of a master, and he wasn't likely to gain any kind of respect or admiration by making pseudo-dramatic flourishes. He sated his childish urge with a quick small stab in the air, nothing too special, and went to sheath the sword in his hip-holster. *Clank.*

Having forgotten his real sword, and it being an obstruction, he unsheathed it, a little embarassed, put the wooden replica in its place, and chanted and gestured until the blade was no larger than a cocktail umbrella. He dropped it in The Bag(tm).

"So...um, when can we start, Sir?"

((OOC: are we 'looking for party members' still? at what point is there a new thread created? Because i've noticed the post number is getting close to being the highest one around...))

I'm going out of town in, like, hours. And unless a miracle occurs, I won't have computer access. Sorry. I trust you guys to do reasonable stuff with Rodrigue until I get back. And I agree, it's probably time to move to a new string. o.o

Excal chuckled a bit as he watched the kid pump the sword before sheathing it. He knew that he had done a lot more than that when he had first recieved the sword. He then watched as Priam put away his old sword. He didn't know how well the kid could use it, but one of the main reasons he gave the kid a wooden sword was because he couldn't be sure of how good the kid was, and so they had to use wooden swords in order to minimize the severity of any training accidents that were inevitable at the beginning of training. Then, looking at the rest of the group, he came to a decision.

"Alright, Priam, we're going to train during any breaks in travelling we have unless you really need to rest. And, considering that, now would be the perfect time to start," Excal said while he rooted through his bag for a wooden sword he had carved himself to while away some of his free time while on his quest. "We'll practise until Flake here decides it's time to move out."

Excal tucked his sword into his belt while he motioned his young student into position. "Ok, first off, before we start. I'd just like you to tell me how much experience you have with a sword, and if you have any, then stand in your ready position and show me what you know."

Excal, hoping that he can effectively rp a teacher.

Lowell sat back against a tree and pulled a bag and a pot out of his cloak. He poured the contents of the bag clinking into the pot, covered it, and gave the full pot a stare. sourceless flames formed under the pot as Lowell held it at arms' length.

"I'm just gonna watch the training," he said to those not invoved with it. "Who wants kettle corn?"

[OOC: Well, as you may have gathered, I have computer access out here, and will be posting.]

Priam nodded. "Well, I did learn a little bit of weapon stuff back in my village. I think it's pretty good, actually. Watch this." A tiny smirk started to show on his face, but the youth remembered he was the pupil, not the teacher, and his (attempted) humility showed on his face again.

He took a rather high fighting stance, and readied the sword with one tight fist and one rather loose grip, held far off to his right side. He then executed a series of clumsy, cumbersome strikes, which Excal gathered were most likely designed for use with a smaller weapon, like a dagger. With a sword, however, they were just goofy, and more likely to kill an opponent with hysterical laughter than anything else.

He settled back into his 'fighting' stance, resheathed the sword (accidentally poking his finger on the way down), and looked up at his newfound tutor.

Priam

Ummm, just to let you guys know, there isn't really any need to change threads just yet. I mean, the reason we used to change threads is because of the fact that the index would show EVERY post in branches. This meant that while we had a bit more flexability, after a while you'd have to scroll sideways in order to see the latest posts. Something which got annoying, so we'd have to start a new thread inorder to post more easily. This is a problem we no longer have.

Also, this thread is nowhere near being the longest one, even if you just go by a single thread. Some of the original threads on here have over two dozen more posts than this one does, and I don't even wanna count how many are in the great granddaddy of them all, the original Bardic Wars thread which is MASSIVE, even by the standards we used to have.

So, while I can understand wanting to change it so as to have a more fitting title, I'm more of a mind to keep it so that we don't have the story needlessly spread out over several threads like we used to have to do.

Excal, putting in his two gil.

OOC: I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but Flake's bardic tunes, no matter what protection, are still not quite all that easy to 'shake off'


"And Villain gets his power from the crystals, we already know that." sighed Flake.

"Anyhow, seeing as everyone except the cat over here has a reason we be here, I suggest we let him tag along and just see if he's useful to us."

Flake looked at the group.

"We still haven't decided whether we're getting the crystal first, or going to the casino. I'll just take inventory while you all work it out."

Flake rummaged through his scroll case, which was a veritable library.

"Hmm... Fire, Ice, Summon Pizza, Meteo..."

A figure chuckled to himself as he saw the band of idling losers and instantly recognized one of them....there was a brief second of restraint which was almost immediately snuffed out with cockiness as he walked towards the part. "ahhh, Flake, long time no see, I am sure you remember me..." Skit points to his eye, "I guess, now would be a good time to return the favor, wouldnt it?" Skit draws a custom made sword (nothing special just generic "cooler than any good guys sword" looking) and laughs. "shall we?" was heard as skit swung his first strike aimed at flake.

re-acurring bad guy, please dont kill off immediately, wink

Excal wondered briefly if this person thought he was invisible, just walking boldly towards Flake like that. Then again, it didn't really matter to him since it made his life easier. And he saw it as a perfect opportunity to teach Priam a few basics.

"Alright, Priam, watch what I do right now. We're gonna cover it later," Excal said as hed tucked his wooden sword in his belt and drew his real sword and walked towards Flake and the mysterious stranger. His blade raising up to meet the blow meant for Flake's head.

"Flake, I hope you don't mind my intruding on your buisness, but I figure this'll be the best chance for me to demonstrate some more advanced techniques to Priam without fear of hurting the kid," Excal said as he prepared himself to fight the mysterious swordsman and give a running commentary at the same time.

Excal, there'll be a quiz on this later on...

Uh, Skit? If you're going to bring in a character from Flake's past, shouldn't Flake have some idea who he is?
My email address is
flydradeth@hotmail.com

so you can give an explanation.

Lowell set down his kettle corn and studied the intruder as he spoke. Except for that cool sword, there wasn't anything about him that suggested to Lowell that he was some ultra-powerful other-being. He readied a pot of boiling water for if this foe was a pushover, and a Boil spell in case he wasn't, but he cast nor threw neither of them, yet.

So Flake had an enemy, eh? Perhaps there was something more to him than dischordant music if he could do some permanent, humiliating, and revenge-inspiring thing to someone's eye. Granted, Lowell couldn't see precisely what was wrong with that eye, but if you can't trust the implications of a stranger that attacks your fellow adventurer unexpectedly, whose implications could you trust?

Lowell drew back when he saw Excal challenge the swordsman. Excal seemed to Lowell like the type of person who might object to a potfull of boiling water giving him the advantage in a supposedly one-on-one fight. Lowell was what he considered a realist, and he didn't understand that type of person, but acknowledged their right to live how they wanted. Lowell's good intentions had caught him flac from other parties wtih which he had traveled, and, not surprisingly, Master Mediator Quinthus' lecture on honor had totally convinced him at the time. He had since mellowed that out to the point that he allowed other people to have as much honor as they wanted.

He took a mouthful of kettle corn and waited, just in case.

Hey Skit, if you don't email or tell me anything about your character or even post, we're definitely going to just ignore this appearance of yours. But, assuming that you aren't about to email somethin'...

IC:
Flake looked at the newcomer.
"Who the hell are you? Cool sword, anyway."

The Lufia Casino. Calling it a hive of scum and villiany would be generous. A glittering bejewelled geodesic dome of gold, silver, and platinum (surreptitiously concealing 300 tonnes of adamantite), illuminated day and night by floodlamps and trained bioluminescent flying pigs.

If you can meet the thousand Gil entrance fee, prepare your senses, loose your coinpurse, and enter...

Seven-storey chandeliers populated by dancing nymphs, rivers of champagne (blood available upon request), beautiful and surprisingly cooperative staff, the rarest and most illegal narcotics, and rows upon lines upon rooms of gambling opportunities. Slot, baccarat, blackjack, craps, roulette, even the most dangerous Yatzhee, they're all here. New acts show in the lounge every noon and evening; the bar, of course, is always open, and always noisy.

A man approached the drinks area. He is past corpulent, beyond obese, and "fat" is just a distant memory. His sheer mass causes learned onlookers to recall the influence of satellites on nearby planetary bodies. He beached himself at the bar, surrounded by his entourage of conservatively clothed hedgehogs [Ed: he has unusal tastes]. Pyloric of Bile rattled the bar with a meaty hand. "A drink!" he bellows. "A drink I say! Barkeep!"

An elderly man in worn yet formal clothes revolved on his feet to face him, polishing an obscene mug. He arched an eyebrow.

"Gimmie, uh, a New Ontarian Blood-Churdling Amnesiatic Pan-Galactic Gargle Janxer! And something for my associate here!"

"Just water," replied the meekly attired associate.

"Frogstrap here is worried for his health." Pyloric laughed, his body jiggling like a bowl full of congeled oils and grease. "What have you to worry about, my friend?"

"Nothing," he sniffed, as the barkeep performed his art. "But you have plenty, should your contact fail to deliver."

Pyloric roared. "Froggo, my friend! My associate will be here within the hour to complete the transaction!"

"Are you certain?" Frogstrap asked.

"I swear on the tomb of my father," he replied with mock seriousness.

"You murdered your father at age five," said Frogstrap. The barkeep flipped the mixing jar behind his back and threw it thorough a wormhole.

"In a humane fashion!" said Pyloric.

"And ate him."

"I was hungry! And now I'm thirsty! Where are those drinks!" he roared. The barkeep poured seven coloured liquids (one flaming) into the jar, closed it, shook it, and threw it in the air, where it was struck by seven thunderbolts. Barehanded, he catches the flaming jar, and briefly plunged into the nearby remains of an Ice Elemental before emptying the jar into a small martini glass. He added an olive, and presented Frogstrap with his water; the novelty mug in the shape of Lord Arghm'Kidknees containing Pyloric's drink was brought out from behind the counter.

"Finally!" Pyloric grasped for the mug, couldn't reach, and snapped his fingers; seven hedgehogs conveyed it to his mouth.

"Your contact had best be on time," said Frogstrap. "My employer has a tight schedule to keep."

"He will be, stop worrying!" Pyloric took another long pull on the drink.

A loud, pronounced gurgle briefly drowns out the ambient noise. Pyloric's face contorts in a curious fashion.

"Something the matter, Mr. Pyloric?" asked Frogstrap.

"N-n-nothing," he replied, sweating slightly. "There's just...something I'vegottotakecareofgoodbye!" Pyloric lunged off in the direction of the outhouses, plowing through several tables. Frogstrap returned to his drink.

The barkeep maintained a carefully neutral expression as he returned the tiny bottle to its dimensional storage space. "That laxative should keep him busy for the next three hours," he thought. "But where are those blasted adventurers? Pyloric isn't going to stick around here long, and they'll definately want to take a look at his agent's prize."

sorry, had other obligations past two days, thought bringing in a character specific enemy would be cool, and i also thought we could kind of build him as we went along, to tailor him to the story

Ic:
giving a look at the swordsman interupting the duel, "So, flake can't handle himself? Very well, then i guess i shall take you on AFTER i kill flake, or if you feel bold...while i kill flake", the stranger being burdened with over confidence knew he couldnt handle a two on one duel, but felt compelled to seek revenge, for it was flake himself two years before hand, while traveling through had taken his eye. The struggle was well met and flake dispatched his 2 allies and cast a scroll of flame which seared skit's eye shut, thinking skit for dead flake had left, and skit was determined to make him regret that fact until the day he died. (little background: average/excellent swords man struck with extreme cockiness and only a select few powerful tricks up his sleeves, believes magic is inferior to steel and will absolutely never back to anyone/thing/group of ones or things, very crass, but calculating) "so if you have no further objections gentlemen, shall we draw straws or shall i cut you both down"

again, sorry for putting words in your mouth, and sorry for patching a peice of your past, i tried to do it in an un obtrusive way (you get jumped, you fight, well 99% of you do)

"ahh, but maybe i acted hastily" said skit as he carefully moved out of kicking distance and lowered his sword a little, "you should at least be reminded of your avenger." Putting his free hand to his eye for a second "You killed my two allies, and left my burning body. I surely would have been dead if it wasn't for the snow, and as for my sword, you will see just how cool it is. I see no unfairness in readying my second blade to accomodate you, foolish knight" In saying this last sentence Skit very skillfully brought an identical sword into his left hand and stood blades lowered, but ready for any sneak attacks. "and as for your little "tricks", I wont fall to them so easily. before we fight, brave knight, i feel it only fair to warn you, that asside from my encounter with Flake no man has seen my blades and lived to tell the story." CHRIST, skit thought, not only a fair oppenent of flake, but a veteran knight to boot, well as i was taught, you live by the swords, and you die by the swords, for any who would leave a battle, is truly nobody at heart. "You two figure out how this shall be settled, and I would save some of that water for a good drink after, cook, maybe in trade for your existance"

Well, well. I haven't seen anyone using a dual sword technique since I left training camp. And the way he's holding those swords... It looks like he's leaving himself open, but if anyone foolishly rushed him right now, one blade would easily parry the attack while the other would eviserate the fool. I don't know who this guy is, or where he trained, but he's good. Maybe even as good as Ryerson, maybe better. Which means this guy'll be a good test to see just how strong I've gotten since I started my quest.

Unfortunatly, it means I won't be able to fight him and give Priam a commentary, but then, we need to get going soon enough anyways. But then, what should we do?

Excal continued his pondering for a bit longer, then he turned to Flake.

"Flake, I wanna try my blade against this guy. Of course, he's got a grudge against you, so if you want him, then he's yours. I'll stay out of it," Excal said, his sword arm tingling with excitment over the possible test of his skill. "One other thing, we've been here long enough, and this fight will only slow us down more. We're honourbound to fight it now that we've been challenged. But, there's six of us, and all the person fighting him will need is a second. Meanwhile, the other four will head for the location of the first crystal and scout the place out until the group left behind arrive. So, if you fight him, then Lowell would prbably be the best one to second you so as to heal you up should anything happen. And if I'm allowed to fight him, then Priam can stay behind. I have faith in his healing magic should I get injured in the fight. Besides, splitting the group up will mean that you won't have to worry about hitting any of us with your singing. Just as I'd also have less fear of any of you getting caught in the crossfire of myself and this fighter."

"Of course," Excal said, finishing up, "this is all just a suggestion. Decide how you will."

Excal, trying to get both Excal's into duels.

Priam was stuck in an internal debate. Should he help his new master survive the fight by using preparatory effects? Or just wait until the fight was over to remedy any sort of damage?...He thought it over, and started to call out to Excal, in askance of permission to intercede with assistance.

There was one flaw with that idea.

Priam didn't know how to cure death, and he doubted that the bunny-guy's biscuits could bring the dead back to life either.

*chant-slightgesture*

Excal's arm began to tingle with a bit of a different sensation--not the adrenaline rush of a fight, but something more, well, tangible. Not particularly pleasant but not altogether distressing, Excal's swordarm, no, just his hand, seemed to be made of liquid for a moment. Onlookers were disturbed by the sight of Excal's skin writhing and twisting around the sword's hilt for a moment. Without taking an eye off the challenger, Excal saw what had occurred--his hand was gone. Not detached, but merged, or maybe melded, with his weapon. The strangest part was that it felt totally natural, and all the techniques he knew so well would continue to work just as they had before.

Priam, off a few yards, shrugging off a minor headache, hoped that this would be enough to help--he'd still pick up some sword techniques, but Excal would have a little bit of an edge (if you'll pardon the pun).

Priam, who just kinda felt like posting.

"Oh yeah, that thing." said Flake. "Look, sorry 'bout that. Anyway, I lost the magic sword in a poker game shortly after."
Flake sighed.
"You know, you really shouldn't try to rob travellers. I mean, I've never done anything like that. Except for one time." He appeared to consider something. "Okay, twice... Three times. Okay, so I've lost count. But the important thing is, I'm not doing it anymore."
Flake took out a Meteo scroll.
"Okay, if you want a fight..."

Lowell tucked the pot into his cloak, apparently without discomfort. Flake appeared to want a one-on-one fight just as the newcomer had. And he was daring enough to claim that he could take all of them on...

Is honor more important than lives? Lowell let the word, "boil," the last component of the spell, sit on the edge of his tounge.

Then he let the spell fade, and cast a new one immediately upon himself. The spell effect around him as he cast the spell and as it took effect probably made the swordsman aware of it, but he had other things to worry about. Lowell was no good with scrolls, but this one looked pretty ominous...

A unassuming and regular-looking man suddenly ran in and yelled out to anyone who had ears in broken, japanese-sounding english, "Bardic songs deadly in wrong hand! Tune your piano!" And stood there looking proud... providing a thourouly useless bit of information.

If you choose to use the Badly translated NPC (copyright me) remember he is an NPC and can only say the thing he has just said above, and cant be hurt in any way shape or form... And he cant harm anyone either. ^_^ just F.Y.I.

"You have all said alot of words, but have made no meaning", Skit said and readied his swords, "so how about this, You, edward scissor hands, you are in, probly the best fight im gonna get sword to sword." Skit looked dead into flakes eyes, "Your sorry? oh, well ok, all is forgotten.......", Skit spit at flakes feet, "If you are that sorry I guess I will take my retribution from your flesh, an eye for an eye!" At this moment he noticed the knight inspecting him and knew he was reading his technique, so in a ploy to pysch him out he switched his swords in a sword dancer native technique few could master, *i hope this works, if i have any chance of winning i have to rely on someone backing off*. Putting his attention back on what he was saying, "and as far as your boy and his pet bunny, if they want to die, im happy to oblige them"

just incase you are taking a liking to my character, if you read his profile in the other thread, *he will absolutely not refuse a fight for his loyalty, and if his loyalty is one he will absolutly never break it* you can toss that in if you want, or later, or never...but if you did have recruitment thoughts, now would be easiest because he only gets stronger

Lowell had had just about enough species-and-class bashing from the newcomer. *Go ahead,* he thought, *your suggestions as to who should be in the battle are welcome.* He drew a hand out of his cloak as if to retrieve a weapon, but the hand was empty- empty, that was, in an odd way Skit couldn't quite place.

Lowell said, "I want in."

If this newcomer thought he was all that, Lowell thought, he'd soon find that Lowell was all that, a cold turkey sandwich on rosemary-and-onion foccacia bread with red onions, lettuce, and chipotle mayonnaise, a large cup of cool, refreshing, coca-cola, and a bag of chips.

Then he thought, *How'd that normal-looking guy know about that blasted piano?*

We're continuing it there.