Just outside of the woodlands

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Taurus Zeene
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:05 am

Just outside of the woodlands

Post by Taurus Zeene »

Just outside of the woodlands between old Fort Kihv and West Grinstead, in a small town not on any major by-way, a young man in twenties, of average build and height, with brown eyes and brown hair, unassuming and unimposing, dressed like a town-dweller, entered a tavern, called Emmitt's. Shortly there after a hush fell over its patrons as they noticed him, well, not so much him, but what he was carrying: an quantum battery with a glowing green indicator light. The young man glanced around, to find the man he was looking for, Alfred Harmsworth. Harmsworth, Harmsworth, Harmsworth...Alas, the man was nowhere to be found. His eyes fell upon a blonde-haired lass about his age over in the corner who then gave him a very flirtatious look. Why of course she would be quite interested in me, he thought to himself, for here I am, a man with a functional quantum battery, the owner of which must be a millionaire, a man of means and power the likes of which this lowly little town is unaccustomed to.

Alas, the quantum battery is not mine, he thought, I am merely its careful courier, transferring it to its rightful owner, thought the young man. Suddenly he felt a hand tap his shoulder. He looked back and saw a man dressed wearing balaclava, a parka, and oversized breeks, one hand clasping the top of a marble-topped walking cane, and the other making the secret hand-gesture of the Olde Travelers Guild, three fingers extended, with one down held by the thumb and the entire hand held down. His mother and father had taught him this gesture at a very early age. It was the primary way to recognize a fellow Olde Traveler or likewise make oneself be recognized as such by one.

Taurus Zeene
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:05 am

Re: Just outside of the woodlands

Post by Taurus Zeene »

"You'd better follow me, Traveler Friend. Let us sit down over here." The two Travelers sat down far in the back of the tavern, behind the piano. The only other person seated near them was a man dressed in a priest's attire slowly drinking a glass of a local brew while reading a book.

Said the older traveler to the younger, "No Traveler speech today shall-we, Taurus?"

"Agreed. I see you know my name. What is yours?"

"Gladius Smoake. What's your last name by the way? Lord Harmsworth didn't tell me that."

"I also see, Elder Traveler, that you have been working with Lord Alfred Harmsworth. My full name is Taurus Zeene."

"Ah, the Zeene's. Famous for serving as couriers to the Mhors of Old, and others."

"That is indeed us. I am being sent on behalf of a cousin of the Mhors to deliver this trophck [the Traveler word for "object being transported on behalf of another"] to Lord Alfred Harmsworth."

"Lord Alfred Harmsworth is having me retrieve the device from you. You can deposit it now into this bag which I had already placed under the table here."

"Well, could I not just take it to Lord Harmsworth himself?"

"You wouldn't want to do that. I am more familiar with these lands. The criminal element is hardly present in Willow as a whole, but as one gets further and further away from the Capital, well, the tax dollars flow not so quickly to the local authorities, for instance, the police. This tavern, for example, is the only safe place in town for a Traveler carrying an expensive item such as you have. And it is only so because I have paid the owner and some of the regulars here handsomely" -- he nodded to the man dressed as a priest, now on his second glass of rum, and to a burly looking individual seated by the window close to the door -- "to keep it that way."

"I see."

"Now, as it stands right now that woman with the blond hair who was flirting with you before has seemed suspiciously engaged with everyone who comes in and I hope that she's not up to trouble. Also that burly fellow seated over there at the bar"--Traveler Gladius pointed to him--" cannot keep himself from looking over here every two seconds at this quantum battery on the table like a canine looks at a tasty treat. You should put the unit in the bag now, Traveler Friend, and hurry on to your next Project."

"I am uncertain. These were not a part of the instructions. I was supposed to me Lord Harmsworth and hand the unit to him personally."

Taurus Zeene
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:05 am

Re: Just outside of the woodlands

Post by Taurus Zeene »

"What do you mean? I am older and wiser than you, Young Traveler. Just put the unit in the old carpet bag here and I will take it to Harmsworth as he instructed me. Harmsworth is not here and I am in his place. I am a fellow Traveler like you; I can be trusted. See, I know the old hand gesture."

Gladius did the hand gesture again. Taurus thought to himself that was not really necessary; he had seen the gesture once before already. There were other gestures in the Traveler code. He would not ask him to use the Traveler's lingo. Not many Traveler's used that anymore or even knew the Traveler's lingo. His use of it was more of a personal hobby or affectation among his own family.

"I would like for you, Traveler Gladius, to use another Traveler hand gesture. I am afraid that particular hand gesture may have been compromised."

Upon saying this Gladius had a hurt expression, but for a moment, a brief second, he looked nervous.

"Very well. Let me think of a good one to use. Give me a few seconds."

Taurus waited a second and was about to ask him what the problem was when all of the sudden Gladius began to reach into the opened carpet bag. All of the sudden the burly man sitting at the bar got up from his stool, took out a small gun from his pocket, started walking toward Taurus and Gladius, and fired at Gladius. The bullet hit his chest, causing blood to run out.

Hearing and sensing trouble, patrons of the tavern started making their exits. The man dressed like a priest stood up, broke his bottle against the table, and lunged towards Taurus, cutting his face diagonally across his right cheek. The man at the bar, who had red hair and freckles and a broad type of nose, fired another shot which hit the man dressed like a priest directly in the head.

The burly man seated by the window by the entrance to whom Gladius nodded earlier, who had jet black hair and piercing blue eyes, withdrew a long stiletto knife and a pistol from his pockets. He was wearing leather gloves. He fired several shots at the man who had come from the bar, missing all but one time, shattering several bottles of wine and beer and glasses behind the bar.

The one successful shot hit the red haired man in the eye. The man grabbed his eye and started stumbling around. Then he yelled out: "Get his gun, Taurus! From the bag!" It all was happening very fast. Taurus reached in Gladius's bag and got his gun. Taurus had never held a gun in his hands before. Causing injury to any living thing was against the Travelers' Code. The man with leather gloves was now coming at him with the stiletto knife. He had thrown his gun to the floor after it ran out of bullets.

Taurus took the gun and could not shoot him with it. Rather than shooting him, Taurus hit him in the face with the gun, bloodying his nose. Taurus thought he would be knocked out, but he was not. He came at Taurus again with the stiletto knife several times, puncturing his chest twice.

Taurus heard a woman's voice say "Shoot him, or I will!" Taurus looked and saw that the blonde woman had not left with the other patrons. She picked up a chair and threw it at the man with the black gloves, knocking him to the ground. She then grabbed the gun out of Taurus' hand and aimed it at the man on the floor. She then pointed it at Gladius and said, "Leave or I will finish you off!" Gladius, exhausted and tired due to his injury, took his bag and walking cane and made his way out of the tavern. She looked at Taurus and said to him, "Stay here!" Then she said to the man with black leather gloves, who was trying to get up off the floor, "You have killed a friend. I shall keep this gun pointed directly at your head until the authorities arrive! Don't even try anything!"
Last edited by Taurus Zeene on Thu Aug 18, 2016 3:11 am, edited 2 times in total.

Taurus Zeene
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:05 am

Re: Just outside of the woodlands

Post by Taurus Zeene »

"I'm Taurus. Who are you?" asked Taurus.

"Victoria Emmitt. I'm the owner of this place. Nice to meet you," she replied. "I don't think that man was really a priest, do you?"

"No. I don't think so. Is your friend, the man at the bar, dead?"

"No, I'm not," groaned the man from the floor. "Call an ambulance."

"Taurus, can you get that phone for me?"

Victoria called for the police and made it clear that they needed an ambulance. Then she went into a back room and got out some bandages and other medical supplies. She gave some to the man and to the man on the floor whom she had knocked down the the chair. She continued to aim the gun the man. She put antibiotic ointment on the slash wound on Taurus cheek and dressed it. Then she had him lift his shirt and cleaned and dressed the wounds from the stiletto knife. By some miracle the knife missed any major organs. He would need to go to the hospital soon. However wanted first to go to the train station to see if Lord Harmsworth had ever arrived.

"I need to go to the train station," said Taurus.

"Not with those injuries. And not with that thing. These three men who attacked you, there are others like them, all over this town. Just across the border is Fort Kihv. After they couldn't maintain their prisons anymore, they sent their prisoners over here. Now, neither could we."

"Gladius, that fake Traveler, you let him go. He was about to pull a gun on me!"

"Look, I owe him a lot of money. If it weren't for his money, Emmitt's would have closed a long time ago."

"So you let him get away with crimes here?"

"Heh. That is not exactly the deal. I let him and his friends use this place for their purposes and I don't ask questions. Not murder. Nothing like this. But you brought that thing in here and it must have put them into frenzy."

"It's still no excuse."

"You just sit there in silence and after the ambulances take these guys away you can go about your business. The police want to take a statement."

Taurus Zeene
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:05 am

Sir, You Shall Be Expecting a Visit from a Mssr Lange

Post by Taurus Zeene »

The police and ambulance arrived. Taurus rode in the ambulance to Herrington Community Hospital. The two other injured men still on the premises were taken to the hospital in separate ambulances. A policeman rode in the ambulance with Taurus.

Taurus gave his statements about the incident to the policeman. He told the policeman that the owner of the tavern, Victoria, was allowing one of her business partners to use it as a place to conduct illegal business there. The policeman told him, "The shooting and the killing of the priest and the injuries to the rest of you are definitely something we will pursue as a crime. We think we have enough evidence for that. However witnesses and evidence for any other crimes will be hard to come by in this town."

Taurus told the policeman exactly what he thought led to the shooting. However, it became clear to Taurus from the policeman's statements that Victoria had a told a completely different, but still plausible-sounding, explanation to the police. Taurus decided that he would rather hurry to complete his mission for his patron than bother with filing or pressing charges or contradict the sole willing witness to the incident.

Taurus recovered in the hospital for a couple of days. Taurus did not see either of the other two injured men. He did overhear one of the nurses say that the red haired man lost an eye and had a brain injury, and the man on the floor had a concussion and a fractured elbow. The red haired man would not be charged with murder because he was employed as a bouncer and was defending Taurus from immediate potential lethal harm from another patron. Taurus listened carefully for word about the fake traveler, Gladius, and rather he had come to the hospital. However, Taurus did not hear anything said about that by the nurses, staff, or other doctors. His whereabouts and origins remained a mystery. The police thankfully allowed Taurus to keep the quantum battery in a safe at the police station.

After the two days of recovery, Taurus retrieved the quantum battery, then had a quick visit to the tavern to have lunch and say goodbye and thanks to Victoria for coming to his aid during the melee. He told her to let him know when the red haired man recovered so that he could thank him. Victoria told him that probably would not be necessary--which he thought was odd. Next, he went to the train station.

At the train station, there was no record of Lord Alfred Harmsworth having arrived. Instead, there was a signed, certified message for Taurus from Lord Harmsworth: someone named Thadeus Lange, a distant relative of the Mhor family, would be arriving on Wednesday to retrieve the quantum battery. Well, that meant booking a hotel room, thought Taurus. Another night in this town.

Interesting as it may sound, Taurus had never met a member of the Mhor family himself. He had been contacted in person by a servant of the Mhor family in the distant output where had had been most recently staying for a while. The servant paid him handsomely in silver coins emblazoned with the seal of the Mhor family and handed him the quantum battery along with the instructions, to be read by him alone. Taurus was well aware of the Mhor family, as were many. No longer land-bearing nobles, the Mhors had decamped and, perhaps, sold away, their country estate, known for its legendary fox hunting escapades, and moved to posh townhouses in and around Westminster. There they became recluses and hardly interacted with the outside world except by servants. Lord Reginal Mhor, the patriarch, had already passed away, but his second wife, Lucy Anne Markham-Mhor-Michaels-DeVerion, was still alive and, Taurus assumed, the one directing his activities, since the instructions were signed by her and her seal was imprinted upon them.
Last edited by Taurus Zeene on Thu Aug 18, 2016 3:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

Thadeus Laing
Sea Elf, Sea Elf Run
Posts: 2247
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 5:33 am

He has arrived. He is here. Thank God.

Post by Thadeus Laing »

The next morning after a stay at the inn, Taurus again went to the police station to retrieve the quantum battery, where he had placed it for storage again after he received the new message at the train station. However this time the police said that they were keeping it until the rightful owner could retrieve it. Taurus went to the train station anyway, to wait for Mr Lange.

After the train came by and stopped, Mr Lange walked out. "He has arrived. He is here. Thank God," thought Taurus. "Someone of his eminence and importance--he was a leader across the border in Ergonia now--surely he can help me."

"Ah, greetings, Mister Zeene!" exclaimed Mr Lange. "Where is the quantum battery?"

"Sir, I do not have it," replied Taurus.

"Lost it already--have you?" asked Mr Lange, though not quite as seriously as you might have expected.

"The police have it in safe keeping. However they won't allow me to retrieve it. I was hoping they would let you," replied Taurus.

"I don't know to be honest, but it is my property. I am a relative of the Mhors and am entitled to act on behalf of their estate. We however may have to enlist the assistance of a former associate in the Brettish Isles," responded Mr. Lange.

"Come, let us go to Emmitt's. Gordon Emmitt, the owner, and I were good friends about fifteen years ago," he continued.

"But sir--" responded Taurus.

"Don't disagree. We shall have a nice brunch at Emmitt's first."

Taurus felt the pain from his injuries throb with more intensity. This Mr. Lange was not quite what he expected. He was surprisingly uninformed about the world today.

Thadeus Laing
Sea Elf, Sea Elf Run
Posts: 2247
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 5:33 am

Quantum Battery Retrieved; On to New Adventures

Post by Thadeus Laing »

Taurus said that Emmitt's had changed ownership, that it had become a haven for
crime, and thathe had been injured there in a scuffle several days earlier. Therefore,
they could not eat lunch there and they would be better off going straight to the
police station. Mr Lange was visibly irritated at this change of plans, but complied.

At the police station, they retrieved the quantum battery. No assistance was
necessary from the person Mr Lange said he might need to get into contact
with. Mr Lange thanked Taurus and asked if he needed anything. Taurus
said no and that he would be on his way to his next task, although he was not
sure when that would be.

Mr Lange hinted at what his next goal would be: "As for myself, I am going
to be pushing for some changes to make the existence of upstart nations like
Ergonia easier. I will be getting into touch with my cousin Roberto about this.
In addition, I have discovered that my fortune is partly intact, which means I
will be able to rebuild Commonwealth Global possibly."

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