Zilean's Revenge (Part 3)

Skitter gave Jer a blank stare and said, "..... Thank you Jer but, out of the two I'd prefer Horizon's suggestion."

Horizon continued to think on the subject of team names. "...Storm... Storm-something. Or something that says 'official business'..." He motioned for the Deva to lead the way and followed her, whether the others were coming or not.

Kris appears to be having technical difficulties - her account has been flagged for "suspicious activity" for some reason, and can't login or fix it (which she should be able to).

I knew it, I knew she was a spambot the whole time.

Suspicious activity? She only posts in this thread, how could she have gotten flagged?

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"Yes, lead the way, Mrs. Dale," Rolf said as he started to follow Horizon. "The Shades sounds...a bit off, like we're a band of thieves or something. Schodinger's Cat doesn't work for me either, unless we had a particularly expressive feline familiar or something. Hmm..."The Stormriders" has a nice ring to it."

Lyntermas wrote:Suspicious activity? She only posts in this thread, how could she have gotten flagged?

Me, Kris and the admins I talked to are asking the same thing, apparently. It's normally a anti-spambot measure, but somehow she got hit by it, and can't really fix it.

She might have to make another account or something.

Ouch.

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"Perhaps we should let the city name us? If we continue onward I am sure we'll gain some recognition and so people would wish to call us something.

And I already walked away, I think. So someone else tell Zthulan that "Recognition" is the opposite of "anonymity".

Bronymous wrote:And I already walked away, I think. So someone else tell Zthulan that "Recognition" is the opposite of "anonymity".

Yeah but a group of adventurers is going to gain some notice. If anything I feel like we are just "Rolf and the Band" at the moment. Since he is kind of the face of the group. Socially anyway. Maybe I am reading too much Teen Titan fanfiction...

Rolf and the Band isn't that bad, actually. Whoever hears it only knows the "leader", whom they then assume is the most prominent, powerful or skilled. So if they attempt to take us out, they will go in guns blazing, underestimating us and unaware of the two professional murder machines until it's too late.

I think at this point we're all walking to Mrs. Dale's office while we're discussing our group's name.

...I have no complaints for the name "Rolf and the Band".

"That would be counter to granting us anonymity. How about The Colors or some such? Then we could be known as Mr Black or Mr Blue or Mrs Yellow or whatnot."

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I don't think Skitter would ever accept Rolf and the Band though. He wouldn't really want to be referred to by others as Rolf's sidekick or underling. Besides, nobody plays any instruments. =P

The group enters a very finely furbished office with a miniature terrace/window, overlooking the garrison (the glass door of which has been secured with a few planks to prevent easy entrance and breaking, and has a bolt to prevent opening from the outside). The party is offered a number of comfy chairs to sit in, facing the desk. Damiana sits at behind her desk, dons a pair of reading glasses, then taps a strange, cylindrical tube next to her desk a few times, and, after a few seconds, pulls out a cylinder from an opening in it. From the cylinder, she pulls out a number of parchments.

"Right then, let's get to business, shall we? Feel free to correct me if If there are any particular errors...", she says in a particularly stern, unexpected voice, as she unrolls the first parchment, and reads it, facing Rolf.

"First off! Rolf Towden, Human... Long standing citizen... Assigned to Tumberlane, above average magical ranking, non-inherited... Graduated from the Arcane School of Learning, flying colors... Apprentice to High Wizard Nester Bartholomew... Ah, yes, Nester. Brilliant man, very practical, but a bit too opportunistic and reckless... I'd bet that explosion a few minutes ago was his... Finder's Guild member, preferred assignment: escort... Special note: institutor of-ah yes, you're the one that is responsible for the password system! Such a simple thing, and it saved more than a few necks... Reliable, skilled, "restricting morality"... Hmh, well, they can't all be perfect, I suppose..."

She sets aside the parchment and begins reading the next one: "Next off, we have "John Doe", Human... Long standing citizen... pseudonyms Horizon, Masked Mercenary, Black Mask, Kukri Killer... Wanted by Finder's Guild for murder of a member... Warrant for arrest by City Watch restrained until serious malefaction... Skills reported: Alchemical knowledge, expert swordsmanship, dual wielding, brawling... Special note: motivations unclear, extremely violent, mental state questionable - reliable, skilled, extremely risky employ... Interesting... "

She then takes out the signet ring from Skitter and observes it. She opens another shelf and pulls out a book, referencing it for a bit, whilst continuing: "Next, if my diplomatic records are correct, you would be... Sir Kant Isaac Tesla Tzu Escher Rayleigh, Kobold, brood of Sel’vak Zasharof... Arrived recently, fugitive of clan rebellion, forced to relinquish status and property... Partial vampiric heritage... Special Note: Trained assassin, wields dark magic. The traits of one of noble blood indeed..."

She continues with another parchment: "Next to last... Jeraylia Shale, Deva, current incarnation, recent arrival, previous recorded incarnations, long standing citizen... Profession: Traveling bard, archer... Special note: Reference previous document... Seems standard enough, well, as standard as it goes for one of my kind... Let's skip the previous incarnations for now though..."

Taking the last parchment, she exclaims: "And finally, Zthulan Ydal, Dragonborn, recent arrival... profession: spirit shaman, healer... Special note: Accompanied by spirit animal. Ah, a spirit animal! I've heard of those, but never actually been graced with the presence of one..."

Setting the parchments down, she asks: "Any final decision on your troupe name? I can provide a few suggestions, if you so wish..."

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OOC: I'm working off memory for Jeraylia/Zthulan, and some of the rest. Correct me a bit, if needed.

Caught between surprise at the fact that there were diplomatic relations between this city who had a major pelorite faction and his clan of vampire ruled kobolds, thinking it might be best to eliminate the threat someone with that much information could pose right now, and being impressed that they understood the value of information and a less strict moral code than the presence of the pelorites would indicate, Skitter settled for giving a polite (yet toothy) smile and nodding affirmatively.

Zarhon wrote:She sets aside the parchment and begins reading the next one: "Next off, we have "John Doe", Human... Long standing citizen... pseudonyms Horizon, Masked Mercenary, Black Mask, Kukri Killer... Wanted by Finder's Guild for murder of a member... Warrant for arrest by City Watch restrained until serious malefaction... Skills reported: Alchemical knowledge, expert swordsmanship, dual wielding, brawling... Special note: motivations unclear, extremely violent, mental state questionable - reliable, skilled, extremely risky employ... Interesting... "

"My name's not John, and the rest of that is pure hearsay and speculation. You should strike all of it from record." Horizon is a bit unnerved. As an aside, he mutters to the others under his breath "And that's why I don't like tabs being kept. Complete disadvantage, and everyone who's seen those records knows exactly how to find me."

Skitter rolls his eyes at Horizon's objection.

"I'd be okay with 'Rolf and the band'," Jeraylia admitted. She gave an amused smile. "Makes us sound like a music troupe. The band angle could be useful. And I have enough talent to make up for the rest of us," she added half jokingly. "Finally, having a face makes it a little harder to imitate us."

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Jeraylia might be able to bang out a tune or two on a banjo, flute, guitar, piano, violin, oboe, ukulele... She's had a lot of time to practise.

Zarhon wrote:[size=14]"First off! Rolf Towden, Human... Long standing citizen... Assigned to Tumberlane, above average magical ranking, non-inherited... Graduated from the Arcane School of Learning, flying colors... Apprentice to High Wizard Nester Bartholomew... Ah, yes, Nester. Brilliant man, very practical, but a bit too opportunistic and reckless... I'd bet that explosion a few minutes ago was his... Finder's Guild member, preferred assignment: escort... Special note: institutor of-ah yes, you're the one that is responsible for the password system! Such a simple thing, and it saved more than a few necks... Reliable, skilled, "restricting morality"... Hmh, well, they can't all be perfect, I suppose..."

"That's...all fairly accurate. I didn't know that City Hall had such...extensive records." Rolf didn't know whether to be impressed or concerned that Damiana had such thorough information, even for Skitter and the "recent arrivals". "Given the "restricting morality" line, I'm guessing some of my profile came from the Finder's Guild, but..." He turned to Horizon. "Who would actually take the time and give you an employee evaluation?"

"As for "Rolf and the Band"...well, I suppose I may be this group's "face", as Jeraylia puts it, so that might work. Of course, I'm just imagining the first cultist we run into saying 'So if I kill you, you'll just be "The Band"' or something similar. Still, I might be for it if there are no objections to it." He turned to Damiana. "I'm open to hearing your opinion as well, Mrs. Dale."

Are you guys ignoring Skitter's suggestion/comments or just ignoring me in general?

Sorry I just blank out from time to time when doing post by posts RP. A bad habit that I hope to buff out.

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["Horizon, I am pretty sure 'John Doe' is given to someone whose name isn't known."

Azarune wrote:["Horizon, I am pretty sure 'John Doe' is given to someone whose name isn't known."

#beingfacetious
I don't have any IC response except for a facial expression you can't see anyway.

I'll be sure to imagine a suitable one.

Rolf glanced over at Skitter, who seemed to have a peeved look on his face. "Skitter, what's the matter? You don't like "Rolf and the Band"? Well, granted it might be a bit egotistical, but we're just spitballing at this point. What were your ideas again? There was, uh, "The Unlucky Bastards" and "The Colors", right? Well, maybe you and Horizon might be able to pull "The Unlucky Bastards" off as a sort of gritty "get the job done" motif, but for the rest of us they'd just think of us as...clumsy. As for "The Colors", well, it would only work if we were extremely serious about it all the time, no smirks or anything, because if we can't take ourselves seriously, then nobody else would. Because let's face it, the first words out of any enemy's mouth would be "So which one of you is Mr. Pink?"."

Lyntermas wrote:"That's...all fairly accurate. I didn't know that City Hall had such...extensive records."

"Oh, it doesn't.", she replies. She sets aside her previous parchements, takes a letter-sized piece of paper, and begins to write on it with a quill. She taps the pipe a few times as she does do.

Lyntermas wrote:"Who would actually take the time and give you an employee evaluation?"

"Those with proper motivation to do so, of course.", she replies, not taking her eyes off of her writing.

Lyntermas wrote:"I'm open to hearing your opinion as well, Mrs. Dale."

"Well... Might I suggest something related with your current accomplishments, perhaps?", she said, opening a drawer, pulling out a small notebook, and leafing through it momentarily, then setting it aside of her letter, referencing it as she writes in it.

"If I'm not mistaken, your trail of heroics left several rather monstrous entities vanquished in its wake... Sanguinary skeletons... A boneyard serpent... A necromantic funerary construct...", she says, finishing up her letter and rolling it up into a cylinder, then putting it in the pipe opening.

"I might also add, that your troupe's presence has also had attributed to it, a lot of, ahem, "collateral damage"... A tent and everything within it... A part of the infrastructure of the temple, including catacombs and an antique bell... Hmm, actually, that last one was a disaster waiting to happen, if I recall correctly... And of course, the notable "void" currently within the temple graveyard...", she continues, tapping the pipe again.

And then of course, there's the citizens you've helped or saved through your actions, at little or no expected reward. Selfless deeds carry far...", she continues, opening the pipe as it makes a sound, and taking out another cylinder, this one with a single parchment.

"All of this would, in my opinion, be adequate for a Bard to earn plenty of coinage from a eager crowd, while a name would be a trivial matter., she says, reading her parchment.

Bronymous wrote:"And that's why I don't like tabs being kept. Complete disadvantage, and everyone who's seen those records knows exactly how to find me."

"Oh, there are plenty of advantages, mister Horizon. And record-keeping and referencing, whilst certainly helpful, is hardly 'required'.

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"As for "The Colors", well, it would only work if we were extremely serious about it all the time, no smirks or anything, because if we can't take ourselves seriously, then nobody else would. Because let's face it, the first words out of any enemy's mouth would be "So which one of you is Mr. Pink?".

"We're supposed to be professionals!"