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[Armok]

Beyond Quality.

Dwarves be'n dwarven!  

"This is a obsidian Beyond Quality award.
On the item is an image of demons in obsidian, the eyes are made from ruby.
On the item is an image of rolling clouds in obsidian.
On the item is an image of admantine vein and a fortress in obsidian."

[AlanL]

Thanks  

At least I won't break it. XP
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Several people were already in the train, apparantly having waited a while. More entered every now and then. Yeln hopped out of the backpack and lay in Kazos lap. Kazo relaxed, and welled his mana up towards his front, using it to cast a regenerative field around any damage on him. First, he repaired his eye, feeling a crystal click back into alignment, his vision first blurring worse, then gradually becoming clear and focused again.

Eventually, there was a call to make sure all were aboard, then the doors were closed. The train had been fully repaired and inspected, and was now leaving the station. It proceeded slowly around a loop, then back the way it came on a parallel track, accelerating away from Endlesslabors. Kazo continued repairing the various minor damage present. Yeln snuggled up against Kazo's chest, purring. Kazo grinned, and hugged Yeln, casting a regenerative field around Yeln again. Once again, the field was reflected back, this time amplified. Kazo smiled, noticing the damage on his exterior vanishing. Cats had an unusual level of natural magic ability, and this one seemed especially so. Kazo continued hugging Yeln. Yeln licked Kazos cheek.

Kazo continued petting Yeln, thinking about what had happened, what will happen, and revisiting the folder a few times as the train distanced itself from Endlesslabors, passing through a tunnel. Eventually, Yeln hopped down, and began sniffing the floor, licking his lips. Kazo saw this, got up, and walked to the rear of the car, exiting and proceeding back until he entered a cargo car. A small section of the car had a table resting on it, but previously it had been empty. Now, one of the crew sat, offering various things for sale, conveniently including bits of food.

Kazo walked up, then silently snuck around the back of the table, approaching it, and crouching under it. Then from under the table, he spoke loudly toward the crewman, "Why hello!" The crewman jumped slightly, "What t- Oh... What are you doing under there?" Kazo replied, "I wanted to see if you would notice me! People usually don't." The crewman replied, "What an odd person." Kazo smiled, "Yes I am!" Kazo backed out from under the table. He noted the price of a rather small chunk of meat was 1 moneys, a meal consisting of it likely two or three. Kazo fished out a single 1 money coin, put it on the table, took a small piece of meat, then walked away, waving at the crewman. The crewman spoke, "Right... thanks, I guess!"

Kazo returned back to the car he had originally left. Kazo crouched down, holding the meat out. Yeln, upon seeing it, ran up toward Kazo, crouched down, then leapt up, snatching the piece of meat away and pinning it to the ground, tearing chunks from it as he ate it. Kazo snickered, and watched. Kazo saw a passenger drinking from a rather large metal container. Kazo walked over to her, and spoke, "Hello! Do you mind sharing some of that?" She replied, "Nope, here, just don't drink too much of it. She handed it to Kazo. Kazo spoke, "Thanks!" He then poured some of the liquid, revealing itself to simply be water, into his mouth, then handed it back. She replied, "Sure, part of the reason I bring such a big one is for people who run out."

Kazo smiled, then went back to Yeln. When Yeln had finished much of the meat, Kazo spat the liquid into his cupped hands, offering it to Yeln. Yeln immediately drank deeply from it. When Yeln had finished everything, Kazo went back to his seat, and tossed the remaining slight bit of water out the window. Yeln sat on Kazos lap again, curling up. Kazo smiled, pet Yeln for a bit, then looked outside. The train continued on, distancing itself further from Endlesslabors and the mountains behind, and approaching the mountains harboring Steelflame ahead.

As the train continued on, Kazo reviewed the documents through and through. Still, the question persisted... Why? He could make immense profits by selling the weapons, or even holding towns and cities hostage, but he would only be encasing himself in infamy, and after he died, his money would mean nothing. Only infamy would remain. He could make himself just as wealthy by creating a power source, and unlike making a bomb from this knowledge, this would result in fame and respect, rather than infamy and disgust. Why then did he insist on making a weapon? It seemed there was no personal gain for Rostus to be had. By using the weapon, he would condemn himself to death, and he seemed in no way suicidal. There was the option that he was working for someone else, but his status, as well as his obvious preference for solitude, seemed to make it unlikely.

Eventually, the train approached Steelflame. It slowed as it did so, finally coming to a stop at the station. When the door was opened, Kazo stood, wearing his backpack. He crouched down for a moment so Yeln could climb in. Yeln did so, and afterwards, Kazo made his way into the crowd, proceeding to exit the train. He left the platform, and proceeded toward the entrance to the tunnel. He considered telling Nefarious of what he had discovered, but he didn't want to risk Rostus having any indication that he had even opened the folder.

It would have to wait until after he had sabotaged Rostus' operations. He would stop here for provisions, then after, he would finally get his fuel. Although, he would have to act as if everything were perfectly normal, as doing so would minimize the chance of something going wrong. Still, that chance was there. Kazo wasn't sure what Rostus would do in any case. Kazo smiled. He felt this simply made his time more exciting, and also felt an eagerness to see the result, although it was present among the preexisting curiosity as to what Rostus was really up to in the first place.
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I actually don't have any nervous warnings, which means either I did nothing wrong or I did something quite major wrong... I hope for the first. Hmm, that statement might invalidate itself anyway.  :p

[Armok]

BQ.

the only bad thing I can see is that you spent an entire update feeding the cat...

[AlanL]

Thanks... and yeah, I considered abstracting that, and then decided against it. What resulted ballooned to take the whole update. At least I accomplished the goal for that update and that was to finish transit back to Steelflame. Though, maybe abstracting it may have been a good idea after all.
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Kazo entered the tunnel, and proceeded back to where the milk farm was. He searched the rooms nearby, hoping to eventually find a place to pick up provisions for Yeln. He found a room full of equipment, a room full of barrels, a few homes, and eventually, in a large alcove, a food store. Kazo walked up to the food store, Yeln looking over his shoulder. Yeln licked his lips, "Mew!" Kazo snickered. Kazo walked up to the table. The kobold took notice of Kazo, "Why hello!" Kazo smiled, "I'm usually the one to say that!" The kobold continued, "Heh, glad to see more business, not that there's a shortage or anything! This is what I got. Take whatever ya need, just make sure you pay for it." Kazo replied, "Sure, I like this town!" The kobold smiled.

Kazo set his backpack down, and fished out 4 moneys, using it to buy meat. Kazo expected it would last quite a while, rather than relying on food being available elsewhere. He then checked to make sure a pocket of his backpack was suitably clean, and placed it in there. Kazo then wore his backpack, minding where Yeln was as he did so. Kazo spoke, "Thanks! Bye!" The kobold replied, "Goodbye!"

Kazo then left, returning to the front of the tunnel and exiting. Kazo approached the river, and let Yeln drink from it. Afterwards, he and Yeln continued to the top of the dam on their way out. On one side was a beautiful lake, and on the other, before the concrete below, water fell from openings down into the river, continuing on. The lines coming from the adjacent series of transformers indicated that this dam provided power to more than just Steelflame. It was a surprisingly large construction, seen near such a relatively small town. Likely it provided Steelflame with an income though. Kazo smiled, "That's quite an investment!" Yeln looked down off the edge of the dam, and mewed agreeingly.

Kazo continued, Yeln sleeping most of the way in Kazos backpack. He continued toward and up the mountains once again, the sun moving through the sky as the day carried on. When he reached the top of the mountain, he spotted the trail he had followed to the tribe. He pulled his necklace out from beneath his coat... the old golden necklace, quite beautiful and very well designed, with the intricately crafted image of a sun and a shooting star on it. It was still quite a beautiful thing, and would likely remain so for eons to come.

Kazo and Yeln stopped at the spring, then they made their way down the mountain to the town below. Kazo continued, carrying Yeln in his backpack most of the time, eventually reaching a point near the town and stopping at the stream, continuing into town from there. He then walked past the farms, past the wooden buildings, across to the hatch, leading down into Rostus' dwelling. Kazo looked around, and saw Rostus emerging from a nearby wooden building, looking like a garage of sorts.

As Rostus approached, Yeln hid behind Kazo's back, his ears laid back. Kazo spoke to Rostus, "Hello! So what's in there?" Rostus replied, "Ah, just a vehicle of mine. It's something from before I went out of business, something I could not sell. I have made... certain modifications to it, that I wish to remain proprietary. That aside, have you my papers?" Kazo handed the folder over, "This should be it!" Rostus replied, looking through the folder, "Very good... this is just what I needed. Now, I have spent the time awaiting your return in producing excess fuel for you. I shall see to my end of the bargain. Follow."

Kazo followed Rostus as Rostus opened the hatch and entered. Yeln hopped out, preferring to remain outside. It was late in the day and had cooled enough, but still... Kazo spoke, "Is everything O.K.?" Yeln replied, "Merrrrr." Kazo continued, "Why do you want to stay outside?" Yeln continued. "Merr!" Kazo spoke, "I have nothing against that! I won't take long!" Kazo then continued, following Rostus, leaving Yeln outside but also leaving the hatch open should Yeln want to come in.

Kazo and Rostus reached the front area of the lab Kazo had previously seen. Rostus gestured for Kazo to lay down atop an idle piece of machinery nearby. Kazo did so, popping his chest plate open. Rostus walked around a corner of the room, and walked back a bit later in a lead suit, with a tightly sealed metal cylinder. Kazo spoke, "So what kind of health risks are there for you?" Rostus smiled, "I doubt such things will be relevant for me, as their effects would manifest after my life has ended anyway." Kazo replied, "I see!"

Rostus leaned over, peering into Kazos chest. He attempted to analyze what he saw, tilted his head, then scritched the top of his own head, "Hmm... I assume this is it. Will you be able to sleep through this?" Kazo replied, "I could, but why would I?" Rostus replied, "Because... nevermind. Just hold still." Kazo spoke, "Sure thing!"

Meanwhile, outside, someone had shut the hatch, and now Yeln was attempting to get in, unsuccessfully.

Rostus spoke, opening a drawer under Kazo, "Right then..." Rostus pulled out what appeared to be a screwdriver, and reached into Kazos chest. He then began unscrewing something from where Kazos power source was. Kazo tried to see what was happening but, thanks to his own chest plate, he couldn't. Kazo could feel the torque build whenever Rostus began unscrewing a screw, then suddenly release when the screw began to turn. Half way through this, Rostus pushed the rods all the way in, Kazos power source gradually becoming dormant.

Rostus continued, and eventually, he pried something off with his screwdriver. Kazo immediately felt a sharp cold in his chest, seeing Rostus place what was likely the top cover of the power source to the side. Rostus looked closer, his eyes seeming to enlarge for a brief moment, "Whoa! Erm... Yes, then..." Rostus began whistling, quickly glancing back and forth between two points on the device, perhaps in comparison... perhaps in choosing one of the two arbitrarily. Rostus chose the point, opened the container, revealing its metallic contents, and took the small silvery white pieces out.

He reached down into Kazos chest, and, trusting his gloves, removed some things and replaced it with what he had in his cylinder, each ending with a slight snap. Kazo also noticed Rostus retrieve something, likely a tool, a moment afterwards, a snap, Kazo feeling something pressing against his heart. Likely it was just a tool to help. Rostus placed the lustrous, yellowish metal he retrieved from Kazos power core into his cylinder, stopping to carefully examine the last one before placing it in too and shutting the cylinder. Rostus then placed the cover back on to Kazos power core, and screwed it shut again. Afterwards, he shut Kazos chest plate.

Kazo stood. Rostus smiled, "Now, let us discuss your next mission." Kazo spoke, "Thanks for the fuel! I don't think I need to work with you anymore, but thanks for the offer!" Rostus continued, "Yes, actually, you do. You see saurian, you've made a critical mistake." Kazo asked, "Really? What's that?"

Rostus continued, "You trusted me! I knew the moment I assigned you to retrieve these documents that you would look through them yourself, and maybe even begin plotting against me. That dream was to warn me about you... As a businessman, I can't turn down an opportunity to turn a liability into an asset. You may have noticed something against your heart. Listen carefully. I am not unwise in the ways of magic, as you might have noticed... I am now capable of ending you at any moment I should choose, so you indeed will do what I say. There is a timer and a switch. Should you choose to flee without accomplishing your task, the timer will kill you. Should you attempt to remove it in any way, the switch will kill you. If you refuse or act against me, I will kill you. As you understand, adamantine is a scarce commodity these days, and as such, your lifespan is rather limited either way at this moment, but, by doing these tasks, you will earn yourself a longer stay. Do listen carefully..."

Kazo stood and listened, but thought about the situation as well. Rostus' smile faded slightly as he saw Kazo smile. Likely Rostus thought he had made his way to a complete victory. Kazo saw this as simply an already interesting challenge gaining a new layer of complexity and variety. Kazo saw this not as an end, but merely a delay. He even felt curious as to what Rostus was going to assign him. This also brought up another question... how exactly did Rostus know about magic in an era where virtually none existed?
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I sort of get the feeling that I did something wrong in Rostus' lines or one of the events. Ah well, nothing seems imminent.

[Armok]

THAT MOTERFU*ING BASTARD OF A ***** ****** ******************, DAMN YOU ROSTUS!  :mad:

...

Beyond Quality.

[apache1990]

Rostus had better not have been looking at my schematics!

*Apache begins pulling various levers in a bunker.  A large hole in the ground is revealed by retracting bridges, as mechanisms click in to place within a large cylinder in the hole.*

[AlanL]

Thanks  :p

Wow, that elicited a much stronger feeling than I expected with Armok at least.
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Rostus spoke, "I have a liability in Shadedports that you will take care of! Quite a while ago indeed, my business was endangered by one news reporter there who threatened to, shall we say, spread libel regarding my business." He chuckled, "His son found him dead in his bed. Alas, the poor boy was forced to wander the streets, having no other family. Quite a long time indeed has passed since then, years. This boy, Tacaru Wanderbroken, now belongs to a criminal faction there, the reds, specifically."

Rostus paused for a moment, then continued, "There are two major criminal factions for you to observe, though they've had different names under different leaderships. Their colors have remained the same, so it is convenient to refer to them as the reds and purples. They are two entirely different types, actually. The reds, with their black and blood-red colors, are in essence a bunch of thieves, thugs, prostitutes, muggers, lowlife scum of every type. Avoid confrontation with them. If a conversation doesn't proceed their way, they often finish it with violence. The purples, specifically with their noble-purple and golden colors, are a much more civilized group. They are much like a business, with a highly organized system of racketeering, fraud, contraband running, black marketing, and exploitation of the local government. Indeed, the leader of the purples happens to be the mayor of Shadedports."

Rostus looked straight at Kazo, "Now that you know enough to know who to talk to and who not to, I will tell you the obvious. I want Tacaru dead. He has received... robbed people of... information regarding my current business, and may soon find out what I did to his father. As you may understand, this news must never be printed. Silence it. The purples have always infringed on red territory, and the reds have a habit of vandalizing, raiding, and otherwise inhibiting the profits of purple business outlets. As such, they are enemies. I don't know his whereabouts, but Tacaru, being a red, might be located through a business deal with the purples. Just a recommendation... There is no pressure for time here, you have ample time on your timer as I do want this done properly, and I do want your adamantine self to return under its own power. A freight caravan will be leaving Steelflame for Shadedports in a third of a day."

Kazo asked, "So why are you doing this? What's the profit in bombing towns?" Rostus replied, "That is not my profit, rather it's profit for my master. A few atomic detonations in sensitive, high profile areas, when done properly, can stir up quite the political mess. Indeed, it can stir up quite a war, a war to engulf the world over... a bloody war indeed! It will be beautiful! Now leave. I shall await your return!" Kazo replied, "I see." Kazo then walked away, back up the corridor, ascending out of the hatch.

As soon as he had surfaced, Yeln immediately leapt onto his chest. Kazo grabbed hold of Yeln, smiling. Yeln exclaimed, "Meeeweew!?" Kazo replied, "Looks like he put something in that can kill me if he doesn't like what I'm doing. So he wants me to kill Tacaru in Shadedports..." Kazo walked away with Yeln, away from the hatch, out of conceivable earshot, "... Rostus killed his father. I can only imagine what he'd do to Rostus! Then I can look around for notes on how to safely remove whatever this is. I think I'll just go to Shadedports. This should be fun!" Yeln replied, looking right at Kazo, "Meww... Mew?" Kazo snickered, "Yes I am!"

They continued out of the city, Yeln hopping down and walking alongside Kazo, rubbing against Kazos legs as Kazo petted him and eventually started entertaining them both. They continued out of town, Yeln hopping in Kazos backpack after drinking at the river. Kazo thought the situation through as they returned back the way they came. He would have time after arriving back at Steelflame. He would restock his provisions, and he also no longer had any reason to hold back telling Nefarious about the situation. Kazo smiled. He also wondered what Nefarious would do regarding Rostus... he snickered, comparing what he expected Nefarious would do to what he expected Tacaru would do.
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I find yet again, nothing in particular strikes me as being potentially wrong, which means either nothing is wrong or I made a more fundamental error.

[ March 15, 2008: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Armok]

Beyond Quality!

How can Kazo be so sure he can find how to remove it after killing Rostus, what if he didn't write it down, or other unforeseen consequences?

[AlanL]

Thanks  

Actually, I thought about that, and figured that the documented notes in the folder, along with others present in his lab that I probably made the mistake of not mentioning, indicated he took notes of quite a bit. Really, basically every scientist should have his or her stuff written down somewhere.

On top of it, there isn't really any other way for Kazo to get out of it.
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As Kazo swiftly made his way over the mountain, he noticed his power returning. The new fuel did work, it seemed, but it seemed sort of thick and sluggish compared to the fuel he had beforehand. Likely the fuel Rostus had provided was of an inferior type or quality to the ones he had started with. Despite this, it seemed he could allow himself more freedom in the use of magic, seeing as his fuel stores had been at least partially refilled.

Eventually, the sun now having set, Kazo approached Steelflame, and entered. He continued through the tunnels, back toward the food store again. It seemed a shift change had occurred, as a different shopkeeper approached. She took her seat, yawning, "'ello. 'at coat looks... Say, aren't you that dino guy I saw in the arena?" Kazo snickered, "Yes I am!" Kazo then set down his backpack, reached down past Yeln to fish out 2 moneys, then placed them down on the table, taking a 2 money bit of meat and packing it up.

Kazo spoke, "Thanks, goodbye!" The shopkeeper replied, "Bye, and that's a good show ya did back there!" Kazo smiled, put his backpack back on, waved, and left. He then immediately continued back to Nefarious' room, found the door to be unlocked, and entered. Nefarious sat on her bed, her table dragged up to it. She had her glasses on, and was looking through a few papers. Kazo approached, and spoke, "Why hello! I have news for you!" She replied, "I got some for you too. Those a**holes in charge of national integrity over in the east are tryin' to force me and a few towns nearby to appoint sheriffs! We hardly need no law 'round here, and when we do, I'm the law! I vote nay, if they want a sheriffs they can damn have one, no need to force it on us! What idiot thought this was a good idea?"

She looked down at the page, and began writing a rant at the previously empty bottom. Kazo smiled, "I see. You're quick to be annoyed by their influence." Nefarious replied, "Long story short, out here people like to govern themselves, but the big central office over east likes to get as much power as it can get its sticky hands on. I can't help but get pissed when some big fat human sitting in some high office somewhere decides he's gunna mess with the systems I set out for these people!"

She sighed, then a moment later, continuing her rant on the paper, laughed, "A lot of 'em won't mess with me directly though, 'cause they know I'll just make an a** of 'em! OK, what's yer news?" Kazo spoke, "Rostus was planning to utterly annihilate you with a nuclear explosive! He also put something inside of me he wants to kill me with!" Nefarious laughed, "And Tok Hammerblazes is captain of the guard!" Kazo spoke, "Tok Hammerblazes is no longer with us."

A moment passed. Nefarious let out a breath through her nose, "You're dead serious, aren't you?" Kazo replied, "Yes, actually! I'm also waiting for the caravan to arrive." Another moment passed. Nefarious smiled, "Guess I'll just have to show him what I think of that. Hah, I'm gunna think of a few things to do with that radioactive stuff he has! If he's gunna kill you, we might as well make your time waiting here worth somethin'. Wanna play Tacticus?" Kazo replied, "I think I'll survive, but sure!"

Nefarious got up and walked to the other side of the room, retrieving a small box and carrying it back to the table. Kazo fondly remembered Tacticus. It was one of his favorite games. He recalled reading about its origins with the dragons during their bronze age. It began as a simple exercise in adapting to random situations, and although it's evolved, it always kept that spirit to one degree or another. Nefarious sat at the other end of the table, Kazo bringing up a chair and taking a seat. As she unpacked it, and set up the terrain, Kazo noticed some difference in the terrain, pieces, and rulebooks available. Kazo asked, "So what's the more recent history of Tacticus?"

Nefarious smiled, "My favorite story's gotta be the grandmaster, the mathematician and the tape-fed calculating machine back in 1781. The mathematician made probability his hobby, and after a game with the grandmaster they got in a big ol' argument about what the ideal rule set is. The grandmaster said that the rules always lead to the same strategy, killing the old spirit, and all the different combinations of rules were already gone through. The mathematician said this was bullsh*t, and set out to prove him wrong. Long story short, the whole tacticus league and a lot of the science board ended up getting involved in this, and the mathematician ended up inventing a more flexible kind of calculating machine that ran on a tape, goin' back and forth and changin' stuff on a tape 'til it reached a designated stop. He made an interpreter to go with it, then used the stuff to machine-generate random rule sets! He showed if you make new units part of Tacticus, then 'cause technology always gives new units as time goes on, you have new possibilities for rule sets poppin' up way faster 'n anyone could ever use 'em! Granted they had to do a lotta weedin' out to find rule sets that made sense, let alone ones that were good."

She finished setting out the pieces, then handed Kazo a rulebook, "Rule set A4 1781, one of the first ones outta that tape machine! The tokens here are the 1800 centennial stock. Funny thing about the tape machine is it's not really random. It looks random but if you put the exact same instruction set in with all the starting variables the same, it spits out the same rule set." Kazo smiled, "That's very interesting! I think I'll read about it when this is all over!" Kazo read through the rules, and familiarized himself with the new units. The rules were indeed very random, which Kazo had always found made for a more interesting game. It seemed magic had also disappeared from the Tacticus board... he used to try to mask himself as a harmless newbie using the river crystal farm method, to cause his opponent to let their guard down, but now crystal farming was useless, as crystals had lost much of their significance. The upside was all of these new units allowed for brand new strategies.

Nefarious spoke, "Ok, place. Doesn't matter we're short two, just go anyway." They set up their units on the board, Nefarious preferring more modern units, Kazo preferring more traditional units. Nefarious looked at Kazos position, and snickered, "Is that the ol' Iron Delta? I thought that stuff was for history books!" Kazo replied, "It probably is!" Kazo noticed that although he had spend his starting points on a balance of units, Nefarious spent it on a single airship as Command and two plated crossbowmen, investing all leftover points into the crossbowmen.

The game commenced, and Kazo moved, setting up a foothold on his side of the map and spreading forth, moving pieces one by one... meanwhile Nefarious did nothing. He expected Nefarious was trying to lure Kazos units toward the crossbowmen, spending everything on defense to drag out the game. Kazo decided to follow a similar tactic to force her to act, "Fortifications on 1F, 3C, 8C, and 9D." Nefarious snickered, "Rule 48, exponential stat multiplier to group of 4 over E, all to the N, for E is the number of units in the group and N is the number of Schist Fortifications of the enemy. My Legendary Crossbowmen get a multiplier of (4/2)^4, or 16. They now have a range of 800 and a damage rating of 320 each. Have fun!" Kazo spoke, "That's an exploit borderline on cheating..." Nefarious adjusted her glasses, smiling, "Yep, borderline!"

Nefarious then began using her crossbowmen as mobile artillery units, pushing Kazos units out of the way. As they played, Nefarious spoke, "Ya know, there was one time I lost an election for mayor here." Kazo asked, "Really? So how did that happen?" Nefarious answered, "Well the poll results came in, and it turned out just about everyone here voted for me... but all their pets and all the named livestock voted against me. Funny how that worked, so I let him take office and went back to the crowds myself. The people knew somethin' went wrong, none of 'em voted for the guy! On the first day the High Mayor ate a lot of produce, so to speak. On the second day, they all found out what happened. A mob formed outside this here room, charged through the door, picked him right up off the ground, carried him out and threw him on the dirt. The same crowd picked me up, threw me in the office, closed the door an' told me to get back to work." She laughed.

They played for a while longer, eventually Kazo getting pinned down by the river. He had his miners enter the riverbank, "Rule 18 section B, Mining skill counts for fishing under imminent defeat." Nefarious chuckled, "The last supper?" She moved her two crossbowmen into position to take out all key units, when Kazo spoke again, "Rule 32, units can be teleported by the power manifest in 5 lungfish!" Nefarious spoke, "That's an illegal type for the river!" Kazo smiled, "Not for the mud bank right by it! Teleport support Kappa to M5." Kazo moved some pieces. Nefarious replied, "Goodbye swordmongers." She removed two of Kazos high pieces from near her crossbowmen.

Kazo ordered the supporting archers to light their arrows, and rolled a critical hit, "My archers fire and destroy!" Nefarious spoke, "Support units can't damage heavy fliers, and it'd glance away anyway!" Kazo pointed to the die, "Trait 3 of the Airship unit, critical piercing hits nullify all unit-proofing, Trait 5, Airships have a -50 handicap on flame resistance. Those wooden gondolas don't look fireproof!" Nefarious remembered it, then spoke, "Gah, you sank my airship!" Kazo snickered.
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Really, my main concern is that I rendered Tacticus wrong. I looked around the forum and thought it was just a random, appendable-with-varying-difficulty ruleset that governed the game.

[Armok]

Beyond Quality!

Ah, Tacticus!  

quote: Really, my main concern is that I rendered Tacticus wrong. I looked around the forum and thought it was just a random, appendable-with-varying-difficulty ruleset that governed the game.

Well, Tacticus isn't really a "real" game, the only thing known about Toadys version is the name.
However if you wanted to do the version that has been played as a forum game you got a few things wrong, this thread explains the concept in detail.
The goal isn't to WIN, it is to have FUN!

[AlanL]

Ah, thanks  

I more meant the feel. I'm not trying to make a copy of the forum game.
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Kazo continued, "Rule 7, losing your command unit makes one of your crossbowmen have melancholy, the other have a fell mood." Nefarious tossed the die for a saving throw and rolled up 1-1... loss of 1 unit to suicide on the next turn. Nefarious proceeded to have the other crossbowman use the fell mood to make artifact bone bolts to arm the crossbow with, using the bones of the suicided crossbowman. Kazo had his units mob in toward the lone crossbowman... and although they were picked off one by one, they closed in.

Kazo spoke, "So what are the most recent developments in science?" Nefarious replied, "I don't know much news about anything other 'n farming science or mining science. I did hear there was some rocket guy up in Creeksmith sittin' up in the northwest continents. The guy's got a dream of flyin' into space. He made a little rocket to see how high he could get it to go on different fuels, and on the first day it wen' off to the middle o' nowhere an' blew up in the sky! Half the people think he's a joke an' the other half think he's crazy... 'cept me. He's a young'n still, if he manages to show some real progress, I'll invite 'im right over an' give 'im all the stuff he needs for it!"

Kazo responded, "So what if he fails?" Nefarious snickered, "Either we get something up there... or we get a good fireworks show. Either way it'll be quite the sight!" Kazo smiled, then looked off toward the corner of the table, looking at nothing. Nefarious spoke, "It's your turn ya know!" Kazo snapped back to his senses, "Yes! Sorry, that just reminded me of some things I did when I was younger..." They continued playing, Nefarious strategically placing the lone crossbowman to take full advantage of range and the terrain. Eventually though, with the last of his units, Kazo surrounded the crossbowman.

Nefarious spoke, "Yep, well looks like ya won. Good game!" Kazo smiled, "Thanks!" Kazo looked to his side. Yeln, who had been watching the game, half asleep, yawned. Kazo smiled, pressing his cheek against Yeln's. Yeln nuzzled Kazos face, seeming to smile himself. Kazo snickered. Nefarious spoke, "Well, the caravan's supposed to show up any minute now. If ya manage to get back, tell me what happened!" Kazo replied, "Sure thing! Bye!" Nefarious spoke, "Good luck!"

Nefarious and Kazo stood, stowed the game board back into the box, then parted. As Kazo walked back toward the tunnel, he reviewed the situation. There was a real chance he wouldn't make it back. For all he knew, there might be truly no way to remove whatever it was in his chest. Still, there was also a very real chance that he would make it out just fine. The actual result of all this was in actuality fairly unpredictable, but Kazo found this actually didn't bother him that much. It was one of the few occasions where it was best to do it without thinking too much about it.

Kazo continued to the front of the tunnel. He exited, and found a caravan of civilian trucks at the trade depot, humans and kobolds negotiating, crates and barrels being moved back and forth. Kazo quietly and carefully walked to the depot, the night sky above. He crouched down, sneaking behind the crates, gently knocking on them to see how hollow they were. He noticed some of the barrels were labeled as distilled water, but their sound indicated something of slightly different density. Likely they were a different type of distilled product. Eventually, he snuck around a kobold and human haggling, reaching a large crate behind them. Kazo snickered. This was a chance to test how secure their cargo handling is.

Kazo attempted to slowly open the crate, and found it was entirely unlocked. He slowly opened it, and silently climbed in, placing his backpack on the other side, Yeln poking his head out. The kobold broker commented, "Hey, wasn' that closed a minute ago?" The human shrugged, "Maybe." They continued their discussion. Kazo began to snicker, but moderated it. The human forgot the crate being open, and attempted to sit on it, finding himself sitting on the metal latch piece instead. The human spoke, "What the..." The human then, not noticing Kazo and Yeln, shut the crate and sat on it. The crate he was sitting on emitted a barely audible snicker. The human and kobold continued their conversation.

Time passed. Eventually, Kazo felt the crate being lifted. Yeln noticed as well, "Mew?" Kazo replied, "Sussh!" He felt the crate being placed onto an elevated surface. He then heard more crates and barrels being loaded in, followed by the slamming shut of the tailgate. A few moments later, the engine started, and Kazo noticed the acceleration of their departure.

Some time passed. Kazo was worried Yeln might be painfully bored in the crate and there might not be enough air, but he found there was enough air flow and playing with Yeln was quite entertaining for them both despite the limited space. Eventually, the engine sputtered, and the vehicle came to a stop. Both the driver and the passenger got out, and he could tell by the tone of the voice, the passenger was a dwarf. Kazo listened to their conversation.

"I ain't the one who forgot it?"

"Someone forgot to fill the damn tank, it wasn't me!"

They walked to the back, and the sound of a barrel being moved could be heard.

"Hey! What'r ya doin' with THAT?"

"We'll make it on time. Period."

"THAT'S ME BOOZE! WHAT- HEY!"

There was a loud CLUNK.

"Cool it!"

"NO!"

The sound of something lighter being moved could be heard.

"What- PUT ME DOWN! WHAT ARE Y-"

The sound of rope on metal could be heard.

"UNTIE ME RIGHT NOW!"

"No."

The sound of fluids flowing could be heard.

"ME BOOOOOZE! YOU DARE DISGRACE THE BOOZE?!"

A few moments later, the flowing stopped, the barrel was replaced, and one person could be heard entering the cabin.

"Y-... Yer gunna untie me right?"

The engine started, popping and occasionally banging, running quite awkwardly, but still running.

"RIGHT?"

Kazo felt the vehicle accelerate, the engine speeding up.

"Hey! HEEEY!"

Kazo snickered.
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This was a test of putting dialog events in that format, hopefully making it easier to read, although it might bloat the length a bit much. If the old format was better I can edit this to consolidate it.

[ March 17, 2008: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Armok]

Beyond Quality.

(just so peaple don't get worried)

[AlanL]

Thanks    :p
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The truck continued, the dwarf yelling and swearing the whole way. It wasn't too much longer before the truck began to stop and go intermittently, finally stopping a bit later, its engine shut off. Between obscenities, the dwarf yelled, "HEY! HEEY! HEEEEY!" Kazo snickered. Kazo then opened the back of the latch and unlatched the crate, opening it and peeking out. The truck was now at rest on a concrete platform near a building, a large dock nearly straight ahead.

Kazo stepped out of the crate, Yeln doing the same. He saw a very odd vessel docked. It was quite large with very large crates stacked upon its deck, a crane nearby. Likely it was a powered barge of some kind, but Kazo noted smokestacks on it and a rather square superstructure. In fact, there were quite a few features present he hadn't seen on a barge before. He stood for a few moments, analyzing the technological equivalent of the standard barge, but he was interrupted by the dwarf yelling, "DAMMIT!" Kazo snickered, and hopped down, seeing the dwarf tied to the side of the truck, his feet dangling above the ground.

Kazo walked up to the dwarf, and untied him. The dwarf immediately tore himself from the ropes and ran towards the building, entering it. A moments later, a loud, violent chorus of shouting started, punctuated by the clang of items being thrown. Kazo laughed. Yeln commented, "Mewww..." Kazo walked away from the dock toward the open gate leading out to the street, several tall, run-down looking buildings immediately after. Yeln followed. This was shadedports... and as Kazo looked at the soot-covered buildings, some people walking alongside the streets appearing to be up to no good, Kazo thought, it looked basically as he had expected it to.

As Kazo exited, he bumped into a human. The human shoved him against a wall, then walked away. Yeln walked up to Kazo, one ear forward, one back, "Merww..." Kazo picked Yeln up, and began petting him, crossing the street and walking alongside the street opposite the dock. This was a large city, and finding Tacaru would be quite difficult most likely. He needed information, and though Rostus had recommended the purples, dealing with them might be difficult. Kazo snickered. At least it would prove an interesting challenge.

Kazo saw ahead a muscular male human, tattooed and smoking a cigarette, arms folded, a small piece of red cloth sticking out of his pocket. The human looked into an alley, looked closer, then let his arms down. Kazo looked into the alley. A kobold wearing a thick coat stood in the alley, counting coinage as a pair of young humans walked away, smoking something that didn't quite look like cigarettes. The kobold finished counting, then walked out, walking alongside the street. The human scowled, grunted angrily, and began walking quickly toward the kobold. A moment later, the human stopped. The kobold was reaching into his coat in a rather menacing way, smiling confidently, almost mockingly at the human. The human clenched his fists, and looked at the kobold with a scowl, eyes half shut, "Errrh..." The kobold snickered with a grin, waved, and walked away.

As Kazo walked by, the human looked at him opportunistically. Kazo kept walking, wondering if this human was considering unwarranted aggression or something else. A few moments later, Kazo was knocked forward by a blow to the back of the head... although this did little more than answer his question. Yeln hopped away. Kazo turned around to find the human looking down at him, cigarette still there, throwing another swing. Kazo ducked under it, but another was on its way. Before it could land, Kazo kicked the human in the gut. The human grunted and bent over slightly, throwing an uppercut.

Kazo jumped to the side, and swung a kick at the humans head, landing it and leaving rather deep scratches. Before the human could react, Kazo grabbed his head, and shocked him quite a bit through it. The human grunted and struggled, grunted louder, then yelled. Kazo let go and swung his whole body around, tailwhipping the human in the head, knocking him to the side. The human stumbled and fell to the ground. As the human attempted to get back up, Kazo stomped the humans head, smashing his face against the road. The human half-grunted.

Trying to steal from me has always been a bit of a bad idea. I think I inherited that from my parents!

Kazo walked away again, leaving the likely unconscious human back on the side of the road. Yeln followed close to Kazo. It seemed it might be quite difficult to negotiate at all with these people. Kazo continued. Likely there was an opportunity somewhere ahead. Kazo smiled. Despite it all, he couldn't help but enjoy a new type of challenge.

I just love new things!
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I can't pin it down exactly, but I get the feeling something was wrong about the whole update, that something doesn't feel right. Then again, that might just be my general concern getting amplified as the night went on.

[ March 18, 2008: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Armok]

quote:Originally posted by Armok:
<STRONG>Beyond Quality.

(just so peaple don't get worried)</STRONG>

[AlanL]

Heh, thanks, although that's a bit like copy-pasting  :p
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Kazo continued, crossing another street, Yeln sniffing the ground as he followed. Eventually, he came across an abandoned warehouse. As he walked by, he heard a muffled yell come from inside, along with a distant laugh. Kazo immediately felt curious as to what was being done in there, and turned to enter the building and satisfy his curiosity.

He entered a small hall with a door to the rest of the warehouse. A kobold guarded the door. Another yell could be heard. Kazo looked in a window, and saw a kobold strapped to a chair, another two kobolds standing nearby, holding various implements, blood on the floor beneath. One of the two spoke, "Enough red for you?" Kazo turned back to the door, but as he approached it, the kobold guarding it pulled out a hand crossbow, and aimed it at Kazos head, an expression of joy on his face. Kazo approached anyway, noticing the purple tag on the kobolds shirt.

I might be able to get information AND do society a favor here!

The kobold chuckled, grinned, and fired. The kobolds expression turned to unpleasant surprise when the bolt glanced away, flying up into the air and falling back to the ground. Kazo snickered, and kept approaching, "I'll just go in there!" The kobold replied, "F*** you!" The kobold then drew a dagger, approaching Kazo. Kazo noticed the kobold grin suddenly and begin to approach Yeln. Yeln backed away, "MEWW! HSS!" Kazo immediately drew his spear, and jumped in front of the kobold, stabbing him in the gut. The kobold gagged. Kazo shocked the kobold through the spear, then pulled it out. The kobold fell back, simultaneously trying to gasp and yell in a manner that created an odd rasping sound, cut short.

NEVER threaten kitty!

Yeln, fur rather poofed up, pressed himself against Kazos leg. Kazo dropped the spear, and picked Yeln up. Yeln stopped for a moment to press his head against Kazo's, then scrambled into the backpack. Kazo took up his spear again, and crossed through the door. The two kobolds with purple tags standing by the chair immediately noticed this. The kobold with a red scarf in the chair seemed half-unconscious and very heavily injured, likely incapable of noticing. The two purples drew their crossbows, and aimed at Kazo.

Kazo held his spear back as they fired. One bolt hit Kazo in the neck, the other in the chest, both glancing away without doing any harm. Kazo completed the motion, hurling the spear at one, that one jumping out of the way. Kazo formed an explosive orb in his other hand, with a weak wall feeding on a mana stream. Kazo threw it at the other, mana stream trailing from his hand. The other kobold jumped away as well, but as the orb flew past, Kazo cut mana flow, causing the wall to fail and the orb to explode midair in very close proximity. The kobold was knocked hard to the ground, and stayed there.

The other kobold stood frozen for a moment at the sight of this, then ran. out another door. Kazo snickered, a moment later walking up to the unconscious kobold. Kazo picked him up, and looked at the red in the chair, strapped down, the floor below colored with blood. Kazo carried this kobold out the door, noticed another kobold, marked with red, walking along the other side of the street, crossed the street, and set the unconscious kobold down. Kazo walked back. The red checked an alley, turned around, and approached the unconscious purple. The rather large and muscular red stood over the purple, grinning.

The purple began to wake up. The red drew a dagger, and pulled the purple up by the back of the shirt. The purple tried to struggle, but it didn't work. The red slammed the purple chest against the wall, and pressed the blade of his dagger against the purples neck. The red then pressed himself against the purples back, grabbing the purples butt, chuckling and grinning, "Let's go to prison together, b*tch!" This, combined with the dagger against his neck, seemed to make the purples eyes grow larger. The purple struggled even more. Kazo snickered, and walked back inside.

Kazo untied the kobold sitting in the chair, pulled him up, then gently placed him down away from the chair. The kobold tried to look at Kazo, but lay flat, sighing. Kazo spoke, placing his hands on the kobolds head, "Hold still!" Kazo then began to heal the kobold from the head down. Kazo found his regenerative fields mending quite a bit of damage to flesh and some to bone as well. Eventually Kazo found the kobolds liver was beginning to bleed into the rest of the body. Kazo used very careful force manipulation to stop the bleeding in time and clean some of the mess before mending the wound. Kazo continued. It took a bit of time and energy, but eventually, he finished.

The kobold had fallen unconscious during the healing. Kazo waited for a few moments, and eventually, the kobold came to. They both stood, the kobold doing so rather slowly, shaking. The kobold then hugged Kazo, shedding a tear, "It's a miracle! Anything you want, promise! Those guys were crazy!" Kazo accepted. The kobold sniffed. Kazo spoke, "Well, I'd like to know where Tacaru is. Also, I'd like to know why you were in here if you don't mind!" The kobold spoke, "Away from the dock... three streets down, to the right another two, then to the left from there. It's the warehouse there. Those purples took me in here 'cause they wanted to scare us. They needed to make an example of someone an'... an' I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." The kobold shuddered, "It's wrong, all of it! I gotta get outta here, outta this town! But I got nowhere to go!"

Kazo asked, "So you want to leave this whole lifestyle behind?" The kobold replied, "After that, I don't want anything more to do with it!" He shut his eyes for a few moments. Kazo let go, the kobold doing the same. Kazo then took his backpack off, set it down, and took out enough money to cover fare, offering it to the kobold, "Talk to Nefarious in Steelflame! Things are better over there!" His hand shaking, the Kobold accepted it, but then moved Kazo's sleeve up, revealing Kazo's 3-fingered hand, covered with blue metallic scales. Kazo smiled, the glow of his eyes visible for a moment. The kobold hesitated, "Am... Am I insane now?" Kazo smiled, "That's a question I've found difficult to answer myself!

The kobold shook his head, then pocketed the money, "Thanks. You know... if we ever meet again, maybe we could talk some more? I gotta go, now. I... I don't wanna even think about them catching me again." The kobold then let out a deep, shaky breath, and began making his way to the door. Kazo spoke as the kobold exited, "Good luck!" It seemed Kazo now had a new friend as well as the information he needed, and Tacaru, well, likely just his hideout, was much closer than Kazo had expected. Still, there was the issue of making it back in time as well. Rostus had a time frame in mind. Rostus also expected Tacaru to be dead. Kazo smiled as he thought about it, and thought about the rather large crossbow he had been carrying around. Rostus wouldn't expect Kazo to gain the help of Tacaru, or even bring Tacaru back, alive and well armed.
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As nothing really stands out I might as well not be silly about this  :p