A new MK Story. This starts in February and stretches till April. It has no name yet but I'm hoping one comes to me before the end! It takes place mostly in Marigund - Misha's homeland.
I want to thank everyone who help me on this, Especially Stealth who read and reread it countless times! THANKS Chris The Lurking Fox The figure arrived on a bright, sunny day in February. She was tall, almost six feet in height with her blonde hair wrapped tightly in braids pinned close to her skull. Her clothing was the nondescript clothe and fur needed to keep out the winters biting wind. It was only when she had entered the warmth of main room of the Jolly Collie inn that the woman removed her jacket and furs. This revealed her to be wearing a wool tunic and pants died a dark red and edged with golden floral patterns. Without hesitating she made her way across the crowded room to where Misha was. The fox scout was seated at a corner table. Next to him was a tall, middle aged woman who was dressed in simple, working clothes and her hair was tied back into a pony tail. Spread on the table in front of them were the papers and account books of the Inn. Misha kept a close eye on the inn and all of its affairs. Misha closed the books and piled them along with the papers in front of the woman. "Thank you Jimmy. The records are fine. You've done well with the place." The innkeeper took the papers and books and stood up. "Thank you Misha. It's a good place." And then the innkeeper turned and left Misha alone with the new arrival. The woman herself was thin and well muscled like a soldier but her skin had the softness of a person who had spent most of her life indoors. This was not some average wandering merchant or adventurer. She was not carrying any weapons, not even a knife which was so common among people. Her clothing was distinctly oriental but she had the blonde hair and pale skin of a northerner. She placed a small box of black, lacquered wood onto the table in front of Misha. "The lady I represent wishes you to repair these," she said in way of greeting. The woman opened the box and slowly removed the contents placing each item on the table between them. In front of Misha was six gears, each of a different size and material. Misha picked up a small gear; one smaller then the palm of his hand and examined it. It was a fine piece made of a brass/gold alloy. He noted that three teeth had broken off and several others were badly cracked. There were fine fracture lines through all of the gear and it had the patina of grime and corrosion. "It's made of vansir. Not commonly used anymore. These are old and well worn from use." "Which is why my lady needs your services to repair them," the woman said slowly in a voice that had a trace of an odd accent he couldn't quite place the origin of. He picked up another gear and found it to be even more worn and fractured. Misha shook his head. "I cannot repair these. They are far too worn. I could patch them but they'll fail again fairly quickly. I'll need to replace them. I can melt them down and recast them into the same forms." "You can do this?" she asked with the first hint of emotion in her voice. "Of course," Misha answered without looking up from the table. "I've dealt with these alloys before." The woman smiled and nodded her head. "Good. The cost? The time?" The fox picked up a third gear and this one looked to be a mix of gold, silver, brass and electrum. There was a faintly visible pattern of flowers etched into one side. "What are these gears for? They are most unusual. Not the clock gearing I usually deal with. This one is made of an alloy called Alusier and two of the metals in it are themselves alloys." "They are part of a family heirloom, a great clock gifted to an honored ancestor centuries ago by the emperor," she said. Misha nodded slowly. "I see. This must be a really fine clock," he said slowly, still more intent on the gears then the conversation. "Emperor?" he asked and looked up. "How far have you traveled?" "From Zhonglu," the woman answered. "We have heard of your good works for a while but only with the recent decline of Nasoj has the journey been possible." "Ah! I see. that's a long way to travel for such a simple task," Misha said and returned to inspecting the gears. "Hardly simple," the woman answered. "You are the first to correctly identify the metals used." Misha gave a yip of laughter. "I'm not surprised. No one uses these anymore. Few ever did." "The cost?" the woman said in reply. Misha pondered that for a moment. "It will take at least a month of work and cost 2000 gold coins." The woman nodded and extended her hand. "Agreed." The fox extended his own hand and shook her hand. It felt warm but strong. "Good!" ****************** Misha watched the woman till the closing of the main door of the Jolly Collie cut off his view. "What did she want?" Caroline asked. The otter had watched the entire encounter from a discrete distance. Misha pointed to the gears resting on the table in front of them both. "She wanted those repaired or replaced." She bent over and examined the gears for a moment. "For what? A clock?" "That's what she claims," the fox answered without taking his eyes off the door as if expecting the strange visitor to return. "Do you believe her?" The otter asked as she sat down next to the fox. "No," was the flat reply. "You do not come half way across the world for clock parts. I don't care which highly esteemed emperor gave it to you." "Did you even get her name?" the otter asked. Misha just shook his head. "No, she was not inclined to give it to me. But it doesn't matter." He tapped one of the gears on the table in front of them. "She'll be back for these." ******************** Misha opened the letter and read it carefully. "Dear sir, We have, as you requested examined the samples for both style, composition, age and material content. They are all well worn from long use. Objects 2 & 4 are made of Alusier. Objects 1, 5 & 6 are of Vansir. Object 3's material content took considerable investigation to indentify. It is an alloy of 12% brass, 28% gold, 20% silver, 15% electrum, 10% mithril and 15% jade. We have only seen such an alloy once before; object 122457 in the guilds collection. Object 122457 is a circlet of the alloy with a diameter of 9 1/2 inches. There are irregularly spaced ridges on both the inside and outside edges that look remarkably like gearing except for the irregular nature of their spacing. It is listed in the records as a necklace but that label seems to have applied for lack of any other reasonable one. We have had that label changed to 'unknown' to reflect our doubt of it being a necklace. I am including several detailed diagrams and a cast of the object. We would like your professional Automicant opinion of it. "Of the objects themselves we can offer little more. They have been dated to circa -1700 to -1800 CR. a more exact dating is not possible. The styling does bear a faint and I do mean faint resemblance to eastern styling. Our belief is that the items probably came from the east or were created by an artisan from there. Enclosed are the 6 items themselves. In the same condition you sent them." "Sincerely, Sir, Carlisle Baldren Headmaster of the Automata dept. Marigund Mages Guild." Misha quickly opened the package that came with the letter. To his relief the six items were in exactly the same shape that they been in when he had last seen them. Also included were a score of carefully inked drawings and a bronze circlet. The bronze piece was very finely crafted and would if offered for sale fetch a very high price. But it was nothing more than a model of the original piece. He examined the piece and saw that the piece was a perfect circle. Both the inside and outside edges were covered with the fine teeth of gearing except the spacing and size did not remain the same overall. Misha counted at least four different types of teeth on the outside alone. "Oh, now this is interesting!" *************** "Dear Sir Baldren," "I have extensively studied the images and model you sent of object 122457. It is most certainly NOT a necklace. I have seen similar gears in some texts but never of that alloy. I do not understand the irregular spacing of the ridges but the item is most certainly a gear. Is it possible to send the object here for my further study? I am including with this letter 8 pages of illustrations and 4 pages of text concerning the item. Also what is the history of the piece?" *************** The clock that hung in the main room of the Jolly Collie was a large and elaborate thing. On the hour it chimed as little figures in an orchestra played a tune and others danced a waltz. The last of the small dancers had just disappeared into the clock through a small door when the woman arrived. A servant brought word to Misha. The young girl telling the fox that the eastern lady had arrived, walking through the single gate and into the courtyard of the inn. The mysterious lady looked no different than the last time he had seen her. Even the clothing she was wearing looked the same. Her hair was clean and neatly combed and her clothing had none of the grime and dirt of the road a traveler should have. If she had traveled half way across the world it was not by walking, riding or flying. Nor had anyone seen her arrive by those methods. "Good morning," she said in a level tone and sat down across the table from Misha. The fox gave a nod of his head and pointed to a large bundle on the table covered with a wool cloth. The visitor unwrapped the cloth revealing the six, brand new gears. Complete duplicates of the originals ones down to the smallest decorations. The woman examined the new gears intently, going over each one extremely carefully. Each gear tooth was examined and measured. Misha waited patiently enjoying several mugs of tea and nibbling on some muffins. It was over an hour before she looked up and smiled at the fox. "These are wonderful. My lady will be greatly excited by this fine work." She handed Misha a small lacquered, wooden box. Upon opening it he found the box filled with gold coins. The coins had been sorted into stacks, each of 25 coins. Each bundle was neatly held together with fine copper wire. "Thank you. I'm glad you like them but they were hardly a challenge. I'm sure there are others who could do better work." "No," the woman answered bluntly. She slowly and carefully placed each gear into the box she had brought the old ones in. "Once my lady has approved of this craftsmanship she might have some more demanding work for you." Misha nodded. "I look forward to the challenge." ************** "Again you didn't get a name," Caroline said as she sat down next to her fiancé. "She's not one to be pushed," Misha said in way of answer as he hugged her. "You already have a good idea of who she is," the otter femme said. "A good idea. She's the servant of someone powerful whose taken an interest in my metal crafting skills," the male explained. "An enemy?" Caroline asked. "The last to take interest in your skills was Bolva and he was not a friend." "Good point," Misha replied. "I know this is not Bolva. I already asked Madog." "And what did he say?" She queried. "Something confusing?" "Ugly bird in pretty cage," Misha said in a fair imitation of Madog's sing song tone. "He stay till he rot away." Caroline gave a chirp of laughter. "How can Madog be so sweet and yet so harsh?" The fox just shrugged and didn't speak. She recognized that silence. He was thinking of something besides his mysterious visitor. "What's wrong?" "Remember the Amber order fortress?" he asked. "The one Bolva was so nice enough to show us." "I do. I also remember it was a creepy and haunted ruin," she answered shaking her head. "And Bolva is imprisoned underneath it." "I meant to go back and explore the place thoroughly," the vulpine commented. "But I never did." Caroline chirped in laughter. "We have had some serious distractions like the Yule assault and the plague." "It's time to finally explore the place," he said. "And see what else lies hidden there." *************** The main home and headquarters of the Marigund Mages guild is located in the city of Marigund and occupies a large area in the center of the city. The official name of the location is Menomenta Gul which means Magic Crossroads but it's more commonly called The Mages Hall. The Marigund mages guild hall is actually a complex of buildings of many shapes and sizes tucked into the property as defined by the ten foot high stone wall around the properties edges. In one corner of the outer wall was a wooden door. Over it was the word 'Museum admission 1 copper." Behind that door was a complex of rooms filled with tables and display cases holding a wide assortment of items. Some items were old, others historically important and others were just odd. These items were collecting dust in some forgotten storeroom until it was realized they could make money by letting the public pay to see them. And in a city of merchants no one ever turned down a chance to make a profit. Just inside the entrance and to the left was another door. This one had a bright shiny brass plate bearing the words "Cecelia Armhurst, Curator." The room beyond was small and contained a desk, chair and a few tables and a locked cupboard all piled high with a wide variety of objects. "Sir, I really wish I could help you more," she said. "But we have little information on the item." The woman was the wearing a dress of dark blue. The thick wool of the dress helped keep her warm in the often cold and drafty halls and corridors of the complex. Her dark brown hair fell loosely around her shoulders and had blonde highlights at the tips that matched perfectly the silver ribbons mixed in. "Why?" Carlisle Baldren snarled. "You pride yourself on the completeness of your records." He was shorter than the woman with his black hair cut close to his head. The elegance of his dark blue tunic and pants was accented by the necklace that dangled from his neck. It was made of a metal that was too light to be iron and too dark to be silver. "There is the matter of a fire," the woman said and paused. "In 608." Carlisle slowly nodded his head and muttered a soft curse. "Another victim of the Burning." "Yes sir," the woman added. "We lost a lot during the infighting that took place here then but we are slowly rebuilding the records. I might have something similar. If you are interested." "Similar?" "We are in the middle of an inventory of our collection and doing a complete and extensive search of our storage areas. We've been uncovering all sorts of interesting items. Recently I have noticed several items of the same material scattered about. Also I can think at least 5 other objects with a similar floral pattern to them that are unidentified. Are you interested in them?" "You're joking right?" Carlisle shot back. "Of course I am!" ******************* The hallway stretched off for at least a hundred yards. Spaced evenly some 5 feet apart on both walls were at least 40 doorways. "How many rooms do you have?" "127 main storage rooms but not all of them are here. We have subsidiary facilities in the Sylvan mountains and a small place in Tol Doron." How many items?" Cecelia shrugged as they walked down the hallway. "We're not sure and that is one of the reasons for the inventory. The guild seems to attract all sorts of odd artifacts and items, either brought here by members or given/sold to the guild. Some have been in guild hands since it was formed and were inherited from five older, Suielman collections." She stopped in from of a door. The only markings on the wooden door was the number 112. The lock on the door was old and it took some effort to get the key to turn. The hinges squealed loudly in protest as the door swung open slowly. It revealed a small room lined with shelves packed with a wide assortment of items. The box Ceclia pulled down from a shelf was battered and covered with a fine patina of dust. She placed it on a convenient lower shelf. A moment's work with the lock and the lid came up. Carlisle looked into the box and a shiny object on top caught his attention. It was an irregularly shaped sheet of bronze colored metal about 6 inches wide. He recognized it instantly. It was a patch of skin like that used on armor and automatons. "Find all those other pieces," he ordered. "I'll call in my own department and a dozen of my trusted students and we'll search the entire room." !DSPAM:4d31e6a313111804284693! _______________________________________________ MKGuild mailing list [email protected] http://lists.integral.org/listinfo/mkguild
