Game Play 1-22

Note: This is a work of fiction!  It is by no means a representation of what the game play of the RPG tales of Hepian is really like.  This is a collaboration between the GM and the players to make this happen.  Oh, and I love Denmark!

NEW CHARACTERS!

Allison Newman
Allison is a 22 year old mechanic who has lived her hole life in Ranstoc.  She got her first taste of oil and steam at the young age of 5, when her father began to teach her the fine art of automotive and clockwork repair.  Her father took her under his wing and made her an apprentice in the family's shop when she was 13.  At 20 she took over the shop, and has been repairing autos and airships since.

Allison is taller than average for a woman and is lean and muscular.  She can be most identified by her large, round glasses which she wears and needs to aid her in seeing.


Odile Black
Odile is a 27 year old prostitute who has lived in Ranstoc her entire life.  Her childhood was a humble but miserable one as she grew up in the slums of Ranstoc near the cemetery.  Now older and in control of her life, she decides to use her beauty to turn profit and joined in the world's oldest profession.  She has learned that pleasing johns aren't enough to make ends meet and stoops to blackmail and extortion for money.

Odile is always dressed for success in her field of expertise.  She is a little shorter than average, is plump but in all the right places, as some in a less polite company would say.


GAME PLAY!
The afternoon slowly starts to turn into early evening in the city of Ranstoc, the home of the 43rd World's Fair.  The sun sits in the sky as she slowly sinks toward the horizon for her nightly slumber.  The shadows start to grow longer, the sky is a shade less blue as gold and purple start to bleed toward the clouds, and all the little birds are finding their roosts for the night.  Though, the birds are not the only ones who are choosing places to spend most of the night at.  Odile is a professional woman and in the Hepian Empire that does not mean she is a head of a multi-million-pres company (even though there are women who are).  She stands near the Lighthouse Bar, a place where she usually avoids but because of the World's Fair she has been having better business.  The flow of tourists of both Hepian and foreign alike have made the Lighthouse Bar in the cross hairs of traffic.  Lost people from the airfields head toward the lighthouse and then the usual traffic who come for more salacious activities.

Odile waits and watches the streets for a john and a future target.  She does not only work with her johns but she also works over them.  She watches toward the south as the sun sets and sees a man heading directly toward the bar.  He is tall, dressed nicely, and has a marmoset on his shoulders.  He holds himself in a commanding way, which tells Odile that he is either use to power or has had a taste of power at one point. She can also tell he is a man who can use his physique well.

She sees the marmoset, it is cute, fuzzy, and just begs for attention which is in contrast to this man's dangerous motif.  She adjusts her clothing for maximum affect and puts a little more sway in her step.  "Hey," she says as she gives a look which tells the man she is not coming up to him for directions.

The man is struck silent by the woman's beautiful body.  It takes him a moment to realize his feet are still planted to the ground.  "Hello," he smiles and says in a charming voice, "I am Ezekeal and you are?"

"Odile," she smiles and bats her eyes as she holds out her hand in the daintiest way possible to politely shake.  He takes her hand and kisses it in a polite way.  She smiles and blushes, "So, what are you doing in this part of town?"

"Looking for a mercenary job," Ezekeal says with some pride.  "And you?"

Odile's hopes fade fast, "So you're looking for work?"

"Yes."

"Oh," She says with a sigh.  One of the many sayings which many Hepian Prostitutes have is, 'a jobless mercenary is a penniless mercenary.'  Though, despite her better judgment, he does look like he has money.  She hopes that maybe she can distract him for a while and snatch whatever money loosens from his grip.  "Oh, you don't want to go in there," She says as she leans up against him, "there's no mercenary jobs in there.  You would be better off being with me.  And maybe you could buy us some drinks?"

"Alright," He says with a lust smitten smirk, "Let's go inside and have a drink."

They go into the shabby lighthouse bar.  The usual disrepair is there, but since it is night time and there are tourists in town so the crowd has become a little younger than the usual salt encrusted sailors.  The old grisly bartender sits behind the worn and scratched bar counter, his long beard hangs from his chin like spanish moss.  There are few old men sitting in the counter who are singing sea shanties which probably remind those men of their glory days.  A person, who is either hired or has sympathy for these fellows, plays along as the off-tuned chorus belt their half-drunken harmonies.

"Greetings Ezekeal," The bartender shouts as Ezekeal gets with in sight, "Looking for a job?"

"No," Ezekeal points to his new found woman companion, "I think I am spending the evening with this fine lady."

The bartender can't help but scoff as Ezekeal calls Odile a 'lady,' "Well, you have fun there."

Ezekeal and Odile sit at the bar and look at each other.  The thoughts of coming in and looking for a job have totally vanished.  He finds that he enamored by her beauty.

"Why don't you buy us drinks," She says leaning close enough.  But the word "sucker," slips out from under her breath.  He ignores it though as he is so taken by her.

"Well," Ezekeal says as he tries to lay on some charm, "how about we get a booth that fits five?"

"Why five?"

"Me, you, our drinks and your big posterior."

"What?!"

"Uh," he thinks for a moment.  "I meant that it is nice and big."

"Oh... thank you."  She says as she grits her teeth and seriously contemplates leaving.  But if she can get money out of this guy without "working" for it then it would be better.  "You're so funny!  Why don't we drink?"

"No, not right now."  Ezekeal says as smiles, "Maybe you should tell me something about yourself."

"How about I just leave."  She says with a sigh and she walks to the opposite end of the bar in a huff.

Ezekeal is not phased by the absence of Odile or that she is leaving the bar now.  He drinks at the bar and waits for a few minutes.  He watches the people coming into the bar and notices two men he saw before with a woman named Evelyn who has a bounty on her head.  He doesn't much notice them as he is swimming in some thoughts but he gets up and goes up to the bartender.

"So, finally had some fun?" He says with a dry laugh because he had just seen everything played out.  "What are you in the mood for? Protecting, killing, a little of both, or a little less?"

"How about protecting someone?"  Ezekeal says with a smirk as he shrugs.

"Oh," he says with a smile as he pulls out a sheet of paper from his leather satchel.  "There's this strange little country who wants this man protected.  He seems to be a leader of a dance troupe.  They seem very concerned for his safety."

"Oh what country?"

"I doubt you have heard of them," the man says as he eyes the words on the paper.  Unsure he says, "Fisahes."

"Oh, yeah them," he says as he remembers some of his travels.  Fisahes is a small country with little technological prowess but they are one of the major countries for mining.  Some of the best diamonds and jewels come from this area and  other countries always seek to take them over. The Fisahesian government have thwarted governments for centuries who have tried.  One country particularly, Arbondas which borders them to their northeast, has tirelessly tried to take over Fisahes and neighboring countries.

Though, one thing Ezekeal could not understand is why would such a wealthy country be more worried about a leader of a dance troupe than their own officials.

"How much are they offering?"  Ezekeal seems interested enough.

"Well," the old bartender scratches the side of his head and looks at the piece of paper, "it says 20 karats on here. And that's karats with a K."

"And when do I stop protecting this man?"

The bartender hands over the sheet of paper to Ezekeal, "It says on there until the end of the World's Fair."

"I think I will meet with them."  He examines the form more thoroughly and sees that he needs to meet with the officials of Fisahes to be briefed.  They are currently at the Princess Madeline Hotel.

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For the last few hours Allison has been seeing a car drive past her mechanic shop.  Being in the field of mobile machines, her eyes has been drawn toward to this car every time it has driven past.  It is rather hard to tell what is the model or origin since it has been modified heavily, but the fact remains that the car is stretched out, any sharp edges have been smoothed out, and someone took time to put quality work in each and every aspect of it.  For the last few hours it has been parked in front of a neighboring shop which belongs to a recluse inventor.  She is not really sure of the inventor's name but she is sure that it is a man since she has passed the shop several times and seen a man sitting behind the counter toying with clockwork gadgets.

She closes her shop early to get out and stretch her legs.  As she goes down the street, Ally decides to see if the strange car is still around so she could get a closer look.  Though, as she turns a corner three men are there loading something in a black cloth bag into the back of the wondrous car.  She looks at the bag and how carefully they are handling the bag.  She starts to connect it to a moving picture show she once saw where the same thing was happening.  The characters in the moving picture show had just killed a man and they needed to get rid of the corpse so they opened the trunk of the car, carefully loaded the bagged body into it, and sped off into the night.  Her mind starts to race as the real life scene starts to play out in front of her.

She comes closer to investigate who these men are.  She recognizes the first man off the bat, the recluse inventor and neighbor.  Though he is very identifiable by his mechanical limbs.  At the moment he is wearing his casual wear underneath a large leather apron, a welding cape, and goggles which are placed on top of his head.  The other man is tall, gaunt, and has curly hair which looks like it is trying to escape from underneath his top hat.  He looks like an eccentric with his eye patch, one gloved hand, and cane which is hanging off his arm since he is helping the other two with the bag.  Slowly her mind comes to the conclusion that this is the world renown inventor of Larsmark, Fredan Tarlister.  The other man is short, pudgy, and has absolutely no hair on his head.  He doesn't seem to be very important.

She approaches even closer and Tarlister spots her.  He starts to panic, "Quickly!  We must get this in before she sees what we have done!"

She stops and thinks about this and she takes out a giant tool.  With threatening motions she starts to scream, "Tell me! What you are doing?!"

"You can't know!"  Erwin starts to wave his arms frantically, "You have to wait until the World's Fair!"

"Wait, what?" She says with extreme confusion, "You're displaying a dead body at the World's Fair?"

"No you daft girl!" Shouts Tarlister as they finally place it safe in the truck of his car.  "It is a machine!"

"Prove it."  Ally says defiantly.

Erwin frantically looks into the bag and opens up the machine.  He takes out a part with a small yank, hoping that this would convince her.  Erwin holds up the piece of machine in hopes that she will calm down.  Though with the dimming light in the sky, she can't make out what it is except it is dripping something which she assumes is blood but in reality it is oil.

Tarlister snatches back the piece of machinery and puts it back into the motor area.  He then takes it out and puts it on the ground.  Ally does not know what she is exactly looking at.  It looks like a large cylindrical canister with wheels at the bottom and a hose stuck onto it.  He turns it on and it starts making a strange a strange noise of a fan running very quickly and air being moved.  The hose starts to sway slightly as rocks, bugs, and other things on the ground start to get sucked into the hose.  These objects start to rumble around in the canister and if anything was living, now it is getting obliterated.

Ally panics and starts backing away as she sees things getting sucked into the machine.  She is under the clear thinking that if objects are going into the machine then they are probably going to come out with as much or greater force.

Tarlister is satisfied with the results and comes up to the machine and turns it off.  "Well, my dear, I hope this is proof enough."

"Is that some sort of cannon?!  Is that some sort of weapon?"

"No, it is quite the opposite," Tarlister says with a smile.  He pats the machine and doesn't notice that strange liquid that is dripping from it.  "This will make all of our lives easier."

Erwin though notices the strange fluid that is coming from the machine.  He jumps toward it and Tarlister watches as Erwin investigates the machine.  Feverishly, Erwin opens up the top and looks inside to only see to his disgust it is full of rocks, dirt, and dead animals.  Apparently it sucks several large insects from the ground or flying past the hose.  There are also what looks to be some frogs in the mix.  The horrifying site also has a peculiar smell to it.  Erwin dumps out the gruesome contents.

"We can clean the rest of it out at the fair," Tarlister says approvingly.  "But we must hurry to the grounds!"

"You can't tell anyone about it," Erwin says as he helps Vance and Tarlister pack the machine back up.

"How do I know this isn't a weapon you're going to unleash at the fair?" Ally is rather unnerved by the strange machine and the actions it does.  If it sucks up small animals and kills them, then what could it do to a human?

Tarlister shakes his head and sighs, "I think we can both agree you saw nothing."  He hands Ally a bundle of Pres.

"I did not see anything," She says as she grabs the money trying to control a suddenly smile.  She quickly counts the stack and see she was handed 200 Pres.  "Yes, I absolutely saw nothing.  I hope you gentlemen have a pleasant evening."

She walks off back to her shop and closes it up the rest of the way.  She thinks about the money she received and that tomorrow she probably won't work because of the opening of the World's Fair.  She thinks for a moment what she could do and comes to the conclusion that going to a bar would be nice.  She travels to the Fish Mongrel.

The Fish Mongrel has been a place for many people to go.  Usually those who are not fancy enough to go into the Ocean View Bar in the Fish Market.  This is where the fishermen, the blue-collared workers, and the other average people go.  Everyone feels at home here, it is filled with pictures of regular customers, pictures of ships which some of the visiting captains own, nautical themed decorations, and there is always a band.  Behind the bar the always helpful Thomas Gedily stands to greet costumers.

This night Thomas is not greeting costumers but making drinks in a mad frenzy as the bar is busier than normal.  Waitresses weave in and out of the crowd and people clang drinks together.  Ally notices the tourists and it seems that all the foreigners have gaudy blue pamphlets which read, "Welcome to Ranstoc!  The Most Wonderful City in the World!"  This clearly gets a chuckle out of Ally.

She surveys the crowd and notices the band, but this time it is a Cizinec band.  It is a little different than normal but it works.  Though the real difference is that there is a dance troupe dancing along, helping the percussion instruments with keeping beats.  The women in the dance troupe are all being led by a man who is as dressed up and cheerful as the rest.  Ally cannot identify how they are dancing, to her is seems Cizinec because she lacks a better word for the foreign dance.

She sits at the bar and starts to watch the dancers.  The man specifically catches her eye.  To Ally he seems very attractive but she cannot tell why.  Perhaps it is his genuine smile, his open shirt with his exposed muscular torso, his well trim mustache, his long flowing hair, or the way he moves?  She feels the need to get his attention,

She first makes a hollering noise, but this only blends in with the yowling which the women produce every so often and the cheering of the crowd.  She moves closer to the man, but ends up bumping into another person who starts to yell at her in a strange foreign man.  This foreign man is very large, muscular, dressed in furs, has a thick beard, and an eye-patch.  He looks down at her and growls and starts barking more words.

She yells back at the man and the man shouts back, "IN ARBONDAS WE NO TAKE KIND FROM WOMAN!"

As soon as "Arbondas" is mentioned, the dance troupe leader turns and the music stops.  For a split second no one moves then the dance troupe with the musicians run out of the bar.  With that, other people start either run out of the bar or start to panic.  Ally, on the other hands, stands in her place and takes out a wrench which she happens to keep on her for an emergency.  Though, the man sees this as a threat and pulls out a very large knife.  He starts to swing and clips the front of Ally's overalls.  She pauses for a moment, holds the front of her overalls and runs out of the bar too.

As she goes out of the bar from the slower foreign man, she notices the dance troupe and the musicians running toward the east.  She ducks away into an alleyway and hides.  She peers out from behind some garbage cans only to see her pursuer running and calling out.

"You get skull crushed!"  The man says in a gruff voice.  "You not respect Arbondas!"

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Erwin finally gets back into the car after loading the machine.  The three speed off in the car up further the north face of the hill and then they travel down toward the outskirts of town where the farms and some of the poorer areas of town are.  Erwin starts to think about women and the ones which are and were in her life.  Suddenly, the name Ethel blooms a shock wave of memories which occurred this morning.  Joe, Joe's custom part, and Joe's daughter who needs to get out of the house just like Erwin.  Then a worse realization comes to his mind; he cannot stay with Tarlister all night long.  He starts to think about how much time he has and guesses that he may have enough time to both get a good sleep and help Tarlister with his marvelous invention.

"I just realized," Erwin says as he breaks the silence in the car, "that I have an... appointment in the morning so I must leave immediately after setting this up at the fairgrounds."

Tarlister nods, "We will make sure that you get back home in a timely manner."

As they go down the hill, Erwin can see the fairgrounds in the distance.  It isn't lit up except for lights which the crews are using.  He can tell that the fairground is fairly huge, it is almost like they built a small village outside of town.  There are several buildings, some of which look like landmarks which Erwin has seen in books on travel and exotic places.  There is even a facsimile of the Hepian Capital Hall which Erwin has seen pictures of.  More toward the eastern part there seems to be a bunch of buildings in a horseshoe shape and they do not seem they look like any buildings which resemble anything important.  In the middle of this fairground is a artificial lake with an island in the middle of it.  On the island is a large dome structure which has access by a bridge.  From the top of this building are wires and tubes which are connected to every single building around.

They get to the gates and an Authority stops them.  The chauffeur holds up a permit and the gates swing open.  They proceed through the gates and down the roads.  There are several roads leading down the lines of buildings which each country gets to show off their culture, technology, and power.  Erwin notices that the roads are hand laid brick in lavish patterns and in front of each building the name of the nation is spelled out in the brick work.

"We are one of the last cars which will ride these streets," Tarlister says as he turns his cane in his hand, "before these streets are flooded with people on these fair grounds."

Erwin watches the names pass by; City States of Alfgur, Calig, Duras, The Toric Empire, Solop, Menitope.  He has never heard of any of them.  Finally they get to the Larsmark display which is a scaled down version of the Lars-Market and get out of the car.

The Lars-Market is an open-air market that has been standing in Larsmark for over a century.  The real structure is large and bulky and was made to last a cannon invasion.  Though, the version which stands before Erwin, Tarlister, and Vance is smaller and probably could be taken down by one good cannon hit.  The inside is vastly different too, as one would expect.  The lively stands filled with merchants from all over is replaced with chambers which one side is glass so viewers can peer into what is being displayed.  These line the entrance of the faux Lars-Market along with little plaques to tell any viewers to what they are seeing.  Erwin pauses and reads one, "The typical modern Lendor Family."  Erwin looks inside the booth and sees what looks like a typical den where a family would be, but there is no one in the booths.  He goes to the next one, "Indigenous Lendor Mountain," there is a wilderness scene painted on the walls and it has trees and fake rocks, even a fire pit.  The tents look like they are made out of leather and Erwin is expecting someone to jump out but there is no one there.

The trio make their way toward the back of the Larsmark area.  A large banner greats them, "Welcome to the Tomorrow of Larsmark!"  There are several different podiums with several different strange looking objects.  In the middle there is a podium with nothing on it.

Tarlister points it out, "This is where we will set it!  This is where we will put..." he pauses dramatically and smiles, "THE SCHWARZHAMMMER!"

Erwin feels moved that Tarlister decided to name the new machines after him.  Though the thrill of having a new machine wears off as they all do one last double check on the machine.  They also clean out the machine of any biological residue that maybe left.  Erwin, Tarlister, and Vance all turn on the machine and test the suction of the hose and make sure they can still retrieve objects from it.

Erwin looks at his pocket chronometer and realizes that he needs to go.  But Tarlister is busy with another devise at another podium.  Erwin feels the need to explore and look at things before the awful crowds come in, so he first starts with around him.  One thing of interest is an oven which uses ultra high intense light beams to cook.  Erwin presses a button on the oven and a light suddenly comes on in the darkened cabinet of the oven.  Then suddenly without warning several beams of light bounce around the oven, some even coming toward the glass!  Though, the beams somehow are absorbed by the material the glass is made from.  After the strange display and the light turns off, Erwin opens the door and sees that the source of the light is a plain luminescent tube.

He looks at an elaborate pulley system toward the back wall.  It has clothes which hang from a line and it looks like the clothes go through several horrible looking devices.  As they progress through this pulley system, they are twisted, slapped, sprayed, and ultimately heated until they are dry.  Since the water is not turned on, Erwin does not play with this device much.

Erwin gets bored of the scene and goes out of the replica Lars-Market.  Along the brick-laid street are several signs, each marked in several different languages.  One points toward the entrance, an other points to something called "ULPIM," and then the other points toward the "Crescent of Food."  The Ulpim does not sound as exciting as the Crescent of Food.  Erwin walks past more replicas of great landmarks.  He passes large archways, decorative pillars, union shaped domes, and some architecture which looks impossible to begin with.  Finally, he finds himself on a wider street that is shaped like a giant horse shoe.  Like the rest of the fair grounds, except where crews have set up lights for last minute installs of displays,  the Crescent of Food is dark.  This ads to the eeriness but so does the fact that there is no one about.

He looks at each of the booths and all of them seem basically the same.  Menus hang from within the booth and decorations attract the eye to the overhangs of each booth.  Large words are tacked on above each overhang, but it is too dark to read what they are.  Each booth also has a display case, all the display cases seem like they could hold some kind of food but at the moment they lay bare.  Also, it appears there are sheet covered statues behind each display counter.  Roughly there are three of these strange statues every booth.

He tries to get into one of the booths. He notices that the booths cannot be entered by any way and the display counter is blocking the way and seems to be immovable without breaking it.  So out of a frenzy of curiosity, Erwin leaps over the counter.

He lands right next to the cloth covered statue and takes a peak.  He finds himself starring into a very happy face.  An open mouth which curls into a smile shows off a false set of teeth as if the sculpture caught someone telling a hearty joke.  The eyes seem to be almost the opposite, as if the joke this statue is about to produce is something that it would knowingly annoy the audience.  The body is dressed up as a normal citizen and Erwin can make out a logo on a button which matches the logo above the over hang of this particular booth.  Where a neck should be there are flexible tubes with a tightly meshed clothe outside.  These run out of the head piece and into the top of the torso.  These tubes also seem to run between bronze colored metal plating where most muscles of the arms are found.  The hands look also mechanical and as complicated at Erwin's own mechanical hand.

Leading out of the back of this grotesque statues are a set of tubes and what seems to be a bundle of wires.  These strands of tubes and wire seems to be running out of the back of all the cloth covered statues and they lead into one central hole in the wall.

Erwin is fascinated with this and can't help but to start toying with the joints.  But then from the distance he starts to hear water flowing.  Then after that a giant turbine starts to spin somewhere within the park.  Erwin can see in the distance that row by row lights are starting to turn on.  With each loud snap of power suddenly flowing into thousands of luminescent tubes, music starts to churn out of some of the displays.  The power starts to turn on in the Crescent of Food.  Booth by booth, lights turn on and the statues in the sheets start to writhe.  Lights start to shine from underneath the sheets where the eyes would be located.  Finally the booth which Erwin is in starts to animate itself.  The lines start to twitch, steam starts to fume from the mouth of the "statue", and lights turn on where there use to be cold empty eye sockets.

The being which Erwin once thought was a statue, turns toward him.  He can clearly see within the "eyes" of the being there are lenses which focus on his fixed position.  Internally Erwin can hear gears shift, cogs wind, and pistons start to pump.  With a hiss and a puff of smoke the being starts to talk, "Hello Sir."  The voice is slow, drawn out, and scratchy.  As a child while riding in autos, Erwin always imagine engines to talk exactly like this.

The other two beings start to writhe to life and the sheets start to slowly slip off.

"What do you do?"  Erwin says in amazement.

There's a pause of silence which suddenly is interrupted by strange clicking noises.  The eyes of the being focus off and then on Erwin again.  "I serve food."  The things hisses in reply.  With each word the steam puffs out of its mouth and eyes.

Erwin looks around and sees that not only is this thing is looking at him but every single one is looking at him.  Despite having sheets over them, they all have somehow navigated their gaze toward his very person.  Erwin thinks for a moment and deduces that this must be set up for a much larger crowd.

Erwin can feel his stomach to growl at the thought of food, "I could use some food.  What do you serve?"

The being starts thinking again and more clicking noises a produced.  "Ethically Correct Food of the Hepian Empire."

The thing lurches toward the display case and starts gripping at thin air.  It turns around and hisses, "No food sir, try another booth."

Before Erwin can reply a man starts to shout from a distance, "What in the name of the goddess are you doing?!"

The man goes up to Erwin.  The man is dressed in soiled overalls, is short, and looks displeased.  "What are you there?  Why are you here?  Was it you that turned on everything?"

Erwin thinks for a moment, "I am the... inspection maintenance officer!"

"Listen here," says the man who looks less displeased by the moment, "I am the head of the maintenance staff!  Get out of here before I call the Authority on you!"

"Well," he says as he jumps over the counter and starts to back off, "your machines are very fascinating!  I better be off!  May the goddess bless you!"
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Georgie for the longest time has wanted to cute companion by his side.  He's seen Evelyn with her mighty wolf, and so far has seen Bruno overjoyed by his grotesquely sized chicken.  Georgie starts to form a scheme, as he usually does, which he could find a cute fuzzy creature to aid in his quest for easy money.  He looks around the yard for something cute and fuzzy.  There are kids, piglets, and chicks all around but nothing that will stay cute.  "It is unfortunate," Georgie thinks to himself, "that practical animals are never bred for looks."

As Georgie looks, Bruno is still attempting to play the chicken flute in a manner so his giant chicken will obey him.  So far he has produce noises which made Evelyn's wolf howl, made squirrels paralyzed and fall out of trees, and to make one of the neighborhood cats come.  Georgie scowls and sees that the farmer is now long gone from the yard and has a bad feeling that the flute does not work.

"Here," Georgie says, "Let me try that chicken flute."

Georgie carefully blows into it, and the backyard stops again.  The free chicken has stopped ignoring its new owners and is looking straight at Georgie.  It is almost memorized by Georgie and follows his every move.  No matter what Georgie is doing, the chicken follows at his heals.

"Well,"  Georgie says with a charming smile, "Looks like we have to stick together.  The Chicken has taken a fancy to me."

Bruno looks at the chicken and at Georgie.  Bruno knows he needs the chicken to woo his unsuspecting Disobian lover.  Bruno also has come to the conclusion that Georgie is way more charming than himself.  So, if Georgie has the chicken, then he might steal his woman-to-be.

"I think I will give that another try," Bruno says as he snatches the chicken flute.  Bruno wets his lips, wiggles his fingers and tries to gently blow into the flute.  The flute then produces the same exact noise.  The chicken then pauses in its tracks and looks toward Bruno.  It looks almost torn and confused because the flute has a new master.  It looks between Georgie and Bruno several times to see if Georgie gains the power of the flute, but ultimately goes toward Bruno.  At this point Evelyn is laughing hard enough she is having a hard time standing up.

Evelyn gains her composure and breaths so her face is not so red, "Well, it has been interesting but I need to go do a few things.  I have a feeling we'll meet again."

"Goodbye," Bruno says with a small wave.  "I need to go to the Lighthouse Bar.  I have something I need to pick up."

"I think it is in my best interests to follow you," Georgie says with a smile. "Besides, I have to make sure you give me the rest of my money."

Georgie and Bruno go up to the Lighthouse Bar.  When they get there they notice the prostitutes are out on the street corners.  They are picking up johns, conning tourists, and trying to look appealing.  Georgie looks toward the women and notices one specifically.  Her name is, or at least he thinks her name is, Odile Black.  They have met up once a few years back.  Georgie had found the sweetest old woman to take advantage of who happened to be rewriting her will.  At the time Georgie was pretending to have an organization to help replace limbs of sick starving orphan children, or something along those lines.  So, when the old lady tragically met her end, he would gain all of the money.  Though, Odile got in the way by extorting the woman's favorite son who also happened to be aiming for his mother's money.  After some awry occurrences, bad luck, and craftiness, Odile got out of the situation with some money.  The son was arrested and put in prison.  And Georgie was left penniless.

"Oh hello," Georgie says with a scintillating smile, though really he wish he could strangle her.  But his fake happiness and charm pulls through and Odile buys the act.  He continues, "It has been a while.  I am so sorry how we last met.  It was such a horrid way to meet too."

Georgie looks her up and down and notices that Odile is clutching where she keeps her money a little tighter.  Probably because she has gotten a little money recently and she knows that Georgie has a reputation for pickpocketing.  Odile gets closer but keeps her distance from Georgie.

"Let's go in and have a few drinks," He says and motions for her to follow him and Bruno.  "Oh, and this is my lovely large friend... er..."

"Bruno," he says with a small bow but doesn't touch her.  Bruno can tell that she is a woman of the night, and his father always warned about touching these women.  His father also claimed that women who sell themselves are also Cizinec and they also never deserve to be touched.

"Are you buying the drinks?"  She says suspiciously.

"Yeah," Georgie nods.

"Okay," he says.

Bruno waves them on and checks on his motorcycle.  He looks it over and breathes a sigh of relief since it has no scratches, dings, or anything that would spoil it.  Though someone has carelessly  put a mysterious box in the side car.

"Oh great trash," Bruno says and he is about to chuck it when he notices this strange wooden box is big enough to hold a liquor bottle.  Inside, there is also packing material inside just perfect to protect a bottle of liquor.  "Oh, this must be the will of Galau!  This is a sign she wants me to be with my heart's desire!"

He comes inside and joins Georgie and Odile at the bar.  Georgie looks at the box and recognizes the box.  He sees that it is Negustor and recognizes the writing on the top from other Negustor made objects.  The writing, if translated, says, "Made in Negustor."  Georgie looks inside and sees from the marking on the lid and the light imprint of the stuffing that some very sharp knives are missing from it.

"Oh, that is a lovely empty knife carrying box," Georgie says with some curiosity.

"It's a knife box?" Bruno becomes slightly confused.  "I found this in my motorcycle."

"Oh," Georgie says as he looks around suspiciously, "let's hope no one is threatening you."

"An empty box isn't that threatening," points out Bruno.  "But I can use this when I get the bottle of alcohol for my lover!"

"That's nice."  Georgie says with a wave as he surveys the crowd as a feeling of paranoia comes on.  He scans the room and then spots Ezekeal, who is still standing at the bar.  He tugs on Bruno's sleeve, "Look, that guy again.  I seriously thinks he is spying on us!"

Bruno looks in Ezekeal's direction and then looks back toward Georgie, "By the goddess you're right!"

Odile also looks Ezekeal's way and sighs.  "That guy?"  She shakes her head and rolls her eyes, "I wouldn't worry about him, he seems harmless.  How about those drinks?"

Georgie nods and goes to the Bartender after Ezekeal leaves from the bar counter.  He makes sure he is out of hearing range from Odile.  "I need some beer for me and my companions.  But could you put something... special for the woman?"

"Oh... Odile," says the bartender, James Road, with a glare in her direction.  With in the past few days Odile has rubbed James wrong.  First by calling him Jimmy and second by accumulating a large tab.  Georgie goes back and sits with the others and James comes with the drinks.  He dishes out each person a beer and does not act suspicious at all.

Odile and Bruno start to drink their beers and Georgie watches.  He sits and waits for Odile to just drop, but he is unaware that Odile is resistant to what the bartender put in it.  After a few minutes Georgie watches her.

"So how has been business?" Georgie asks as he grows impatient.

"Well enough, thank you.  Why are you so curious?"  She looks suspiciously at him.

"Oh nothing," Georgie says as he watches her movements closely.  "Just wondering how things are going."

"It has been fine since that job," She is getting slightly irritated.

"So you haven't had business since that job?" Georgie laughs slightly.

"No, I have had business since then, and it has been fine."  She starts to glare at Georgie.

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

Evelyn leaves both Bruno and Georgie.  She is very assured now that Bruno is going to fair well in trying to impress his woman that he is trying to court.  Even though she has her suspicions about Georgie, she has seen him not stab or try to steal from him so she deduces that Georgie as a companion for Bruno may fair well.

She mounts Zora, who all this time has been patiently waiting by the floral store.  Zora gives her a trusting look and Evelyn pets her kindly.  They leave and head toward the docks.

She starts to think about the current events which have occurred and how many times she has been picked out of the crowd as Cizinec.  She thinks her garb is not so different from those who live around here, but apparently her thinking is flawed.  Evelyn thinks about what she needs to blend in more to the surrounding and comes up with the idea of wearing a skirt.  It seems that only laborers at the most strenuous jobs wear only jeans and the all the "proper" women are wearing skirts, dresses, or a combination of both pants and skirts.  Evelyn feels if she is to do anything further in this town then a slight wardrobe change is called for.

Evelyn steers her large wolf companion toward the east and they head toward the docks.  She remembers that toward the east there are boutiques and haberdashers for the tourists who are just coming to the city, also some toward the more posh neighborhoods.  So she travels toward one in hopes that they are open and that they have something she wants.

She makes her way to a nice little boutique called Bay View Fabrics and Haberdasher.  The outside looks nice and it has large front windows which display mannequins of the latest West Hall fashions.  Luckily the brightly painted, hand carved, open sign is still in the position of open.  The inside has racks full of clothing and signs directing people where to go.  In the back there are mirrors and small booths to try on clothing.  She wonders around for a moment and heads toward the section with a clearly worded, brightly colored, sign which says, "Women."

She looks around and sees lots of options before her.  A man comes up to her, he is polished from his smile to his shoes.  He wears a nice suit, wonderfully pressed trousers, and even has a handkerchief in his pocket.  He straightens his bow tie and straightens his mustache and says, "Good evening miss, how may I help you?"

"What do you have for skirts?" She says gruffly.

The man looks at Evelyn and how she is dressed.  He politely says in a smug way, "Are you sure you do not want a pair of overalls?"

A shadow flies across her face as a glare that could stop starving wolves appears, "I asked for skirts."

The man backs up a little and trembles for a moment.  Though, he regains his professional demeanor and has her follow him to the skirts.  He cautiously says, "What kind of fashion are you looking for?"

"What do you have," She says with a growl.

He takes out some and shows them to her and says, "Well, I do have this popular style which it mimics Hepian's proud nomadic ethnic folk."

She snorts at the idea that anyone would want to look like a Cizinec.  She waves her hand, "And other than that?"

He starts to bring out fashion from the risque to the very elegant.  Evelyn looks at each selection and waves her hand, which helps her resist the urge to plunge a knife into this man's throat and rifle through the whole shop herself.  The man is getting worried and frazzled at each wrong selection, and starts to try to find something for Evelyn.

Finally before either is about to give up, he finds a very nice looking, knee length skirt.  It looks like it could be loose enough to both fit over her pants and for her legs to actually move.  It is a deep dark red and has some embroidered patterns down the side.  Evelyn looks at it, but isn't enough of an expert to tell if it is really high quality or not.

"I hope this one satisfies you, miss."  He says as he finally starts to lose his compsure again.

"How much is it?"

"This would be 150," He can feel his confidence come back since Evenlyn seems interested, "but if you want it specially tailored it will be 200."

"I'll take it for the 150 Pres."  She says with an authoritative tone.

He agrees and hands over the skirt after receiving the money.  She takes no time to rip off the tag and puts on the skirt.

"Okay," he says as he looks at the tag which lays on the floor now.  He picks it up and tries to smile, "Have a nice evening miss."  He then goes toward another costumers which he is sure is not going to stab him.

Game Play 1-15 aka Georgie and the Mysterious Music

Note: This is not a representation of game play but a work of fiction which is made from game play from the game Tales of Hepian.

"So how did it go?" Jesay says with a grin on her face as Ezekeal and her ride up to the North Station in the cab.

"It went better than expected," Ezekeal says with a grin, which cannot be seen underneath the mask.  "Everything is taken care of.  We just need to get the northern chief on the same page."

"You're doing a very good job," She is a little impressed with him.

"Well, we couldn't have done much worse than what you were doing when I found you," He says with a few patronizing parts on her shoulder.

Jesay crosses her arm and looks out the window.  He didn't want to slap the guy because he just pulled off something she could have never done, "Er... thanks.  I guess."

The Northern office isn't as spectacular as the main station.  The walls are plain and not decorated, it blends in with the other boxy buildings all around.  It it wasn't for the shield of the Authority painted on the windows one could mistake it for any other shabby bar, shop, or warehouse.  The lobby of this building is busier than the main station.  The sound of people fill the room.  There are sobbing mothers who are having to talk through translators to tell officers about their missing children.  There are concerned tourists who have been conned or pick-pocketed right when they have gotten off the boat.  There are the usual riffraff who hang around looking to pick up bounties.  Also, there are lines of people asking directions.  Ezekeal has to wait in line to even get to the desk despite what he does or how tough he looks.

Five old foreign women get through the line, most of then asking where a bistro is, and then Ezekeal gets to the desk.  The clerk is agitated and is drumming his fingers impatiently against the desk.  He doesn't even look up, "What do you want?"

"I am looking for Cleetus Scotler," Says Ezekeal.

The clerk looks up and straightens up at Ezekeal's imposing figure, "Oh, sorry sir.  He is out of his office at the moment on some important duties.  I can leave him a message."

"I just need him to receive this memo."

The clerk holds out his hand and waits.  Ezekeal places the memo in his hand and the clerk snatches it out.  The clerk gets up, opens a side panel full of pneumatic tubes and stuffs the memo into a cylinder.  He puts the cylinder in the pipe marked for the station chief and it makes a satisfying sucking noise up the tube.  Ezekeal can see it race off in the tubes above him in the ceiling whizzing off to its final destination.

"It is all taken care of now."

"Good, oh, and good luck with this crowd." Ezekeal makes hsi way outside through the crowd.  Waiting there is Jesay in the cab.  He gets into the cab and they start making plans with Jesay on where to hand them out.  They formulate a plan where to hand out the pamphlets, and he gets the idea to use Authority officers to help.

"The plan will go like this," Ezekeal says with a smirk, "you are going to head back to the city center.  I am going to go back into the Authority office and get some help from spare officers to sell the pamphlets which you will provide them.  After selling the stack of pamphlets, the Authority will head back to you and hand you the revenue they get.  Once you get the majority of them sold, contact me."

"Okay," Jesay says with a smile, "but how are you going to convince them?"

"Just tell them.  It has been working so far."  He laughs and then gets out of the car.

He goes back into the office and this time makes it through the line and talks to the clerk.  He explains to the clerk that he needs spare officers from this station to help him.  Though, the clerk shakes his head and calls the main station which gets him connected to Mr. Donner, the Authority's liaison to the Tourist Committee, again.  Donner and the Clerk, Ezekeal and Donner, and The Clerk and Ezekeal all talk together.  The main station has a few officers who have nothing to do on duty, but they can only sell the pamphlets for this day.  Once the World's Fair starts, every available officer will be unavailable so Ezekeal and Jesay will be on their own after that.  And with some apprehension Donner agrees to set up a post for Jesay near the town center so she can sell pamphlets herself and have the officers find them.  The clerk finally gets off the phone and Ezekeal starts to leave, but before he can several women start to approach him, "You have pamphlets with information on this city?"

"Why yes," Ezekeal says, "they will be sold at the main tourist destinations.  They will tell you all you need to know about Ranstoc!"

There's a commotion in the room as this message of hope and information gets translated into several different tongues.  Ezekeal makes a quick exit and tells Jesay of what has transpired and collects his marmoset companion.  Jesay then leaves in the can toward the Clock House Square.  Ezekeal is left there outside alone.  He leaves the scene quickly and ducks into a back alley where he changes back into his normal daily clothes.

He starts heading west toward the lighthouse bar.

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

The music seemed to seep through the walls in the building which Georgie jumped in to avoid his Solopian cannibal pursuers.  It is definitely not coming from the current room, due to the fact the room is empty except for the window behind him, the door which looks like it could fall off its hinges ahead of him, and the lumps of dust which surrounded him.  He gets closer to the door and listens intently to the music which is coming somewhere in the building.  He can tell that the music is coming from the floor above him so he goes out of the room to look for some stairs.  The hallway Georgie enters is dark and has a few bottles which long ago contained substance, but have been long since drunk.  The doors which line the hall must be to more small rooms which is like the one he entered, but they are carved into with several different symbols.  He starts to recognize them as symbols which Cizinec squatters use to mark where they were.  Each symbol represents a person from a family and clan and the date which they were there.  He sees that a lot of rooms are occupied by Casgi, a clan of Cizinec who are the most nomadic of the Ciziznec clans but also the friendliest.  He suddenly realizes that he is in a Pruchag.

He sees a door way at the end of the door which lead to a stair case, one going up and the other going down.  He goes up the stairs and each step groans as if it is a strain for them to bare any weight.  They are loud enough that if any one above him could hear despite the loud music and his entrance would not be unnoticed, but the music did not stop and there were no shuffling noises of panicked people who are hiding so deduces that the musicians or the party above him are not worries about intruders.

At the top of the stairs Georgie can clearly see light coming through the cracks of the door.  The door itself has a symbol for a community area. Without fear he opens the door and there are lots of people in the room.  He can identify people hailing from the Cizinec clans of Casgi and Nostro.  The band which is playing is mainly made up of Nostro, though they are not dressed up in their "professional" attire.  There are also people who hail from the lower classes of the Negustor, which is common the further south in the Hepian Empire one travels.  But then there are strange people who are dancing around in a fashion which some could mistake for traditional Cizinec folk dancing but there are movements, dips, and sways combined with rhythmic drumming of feet which make it look dramatically different the traditions which Georgie grew up with throughout his childhood.  The leader of the troupe is dancing along playing a strange wind instrument.  From what Georgie can see there isn't an elder in sight but Elder Casgi are always around watching over that things never get out of hand.

Georgie decides to sit down and watch the women dancing, hopefully after time passes his pursuers will  forget about him.

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

Bruno and Evelyn stand at the edge of the Clock House Square looking toward the North with Evelyn's wolf companion, Zora, by their side.  They both mount the wolf and start to ride, Evelyn is in front and Bruno is sitting behind her awkwardly trying to hold on.

"Why in the name of the goddess do you want to buy livestock?"  Evelyn asks as they make their way on the back of the wolf.

"I need to buy an animal to woo the most beautiful woman from Disobia!"  He says as he thinks of his foreign-soon-to-be-lover.

"So livestock... woo women... from Disobia," Evelyn says as she raises and eyebrow in utter confusion.  She tries to fathom what Disobia might be, other than a disease, but cannot recall anything by that name.  So, she thinks it must be a ritzy manor or elite socialite club that she probably has never heard of.  Evelyn always thought that rich people were peculiar.

They arrive at the building which from the looks of it is an abandoned building.  Apparently it once was a warehouse with several offices above that.  Though, the warehouse part is clearly closed by the large chain and pad lock which hangs on the front metal double doors.  Several of the windows are boarded up and a condemned sign sits neatly above an old sign announcing the complex's name is.

"I am skeptical that there are people in there, let alone animals." Bruno says in a skeptical tone as he gets off the wolf.

"That's the point." Evelyn smirks snidely and starts to walk toward the building.

Bruno follows her and as they approach the building they can hear music coming from nearby.  Evelyn starts to look around the building and Bruno proceeds to follow her.

"What are you looking for?" Bruno is bewildered.

Evelyn shakes her head and continues to walk around the building, "The entrance."

"But we clearly saw the front was locked shut!"

"You think they would make it that obvious?"  Evelyn makes a sound of displeasure.  "They mark the main entrance, while setting traps or alarms for unwelcome guests."

They circle the building for a second time looking.  Bruno tries to look for whatever indication there is of an "entrance" but figures he obviously does not see what Evelyn sees.

"Miss, I think we have the wrong building."  Bruno says with a sigh, he could feel himself getting further away from his goal and his prospective-lover.

Evelyn suddenly stops in her tracks, which makes Bruno come to a dead stop too.  Evelyn points three stories up the building toward a window.  Bruno twitches his mustache and squints but still cannot make out what Evelyn sees.

They jump and climb up a fire escape ladder, go up two flights of fire escapes, and come to the window.  Evelyn cautiously opens the window and peers into the room.  The room is empty, except for a door which seems to be coming off its hinges.  There are several sets of footprints int he room, but all toward the door.  Evelyn climbs inside, goes through the door, and goes into the hallway.  Evelyn looks at the doors as they pass down them and can tell which families from which clans have been through this Pruchag.  She looks at both ends of the hallways and sees at one end it has the symbol for the community area and heads toward the stairs.

"We're going up," Bruno says with some apprehension, "shouldn't we go down?  I doubt they would keep livestock up there... or on the roof."

"Foolish man," Evelyn says with a slightly irradiated laugh.  "We have to ask someone first."

They go to the community area and step in.  Not a man notices the fiery haired Evelyn as she steps over the threshold, but the party stops as soon as Bruno comes in.  Despite his enthusiasm from early that day for training, he never took the extra time to dress for training.  So after several falls to the ground, running, and fighting his once finely tailored casual clothes have become warn, sweat stained, bloodstained, and frayed.  His appearance is unkempt except for his perfectly waxed mustache which he is known for keeping curled no matter what the situation.  After a moment of strained silence, everyone goes back to what they are doing.

Evelyn surveys the room for Bruno, trying to find a person who sells livestock.  She first sees a rather charming looking man with an angelic, trusting face, and a puffy shirt.  His sleeve is up just enough that she can make out the starting of a brand which indicates an exile mark of the Nem.  She then sees a man with a thin mustache smoking a pipe, on his clothing he has the symbol for a goat farmer.  She then sees the foreign man amongst the women dancing with the Nostro band.  The man is wearing odd clothing but is obvious the leader of the pack of women who are dancing, Evelyn makes a note of this.  She then sees a general livestock seller; an old man with a long goatee.  Not to far off but still looming in the background is the elder who runs the Pruchag and bordering him on either side of him are his two large, muscular sons.

As the music plays, the dance troupe dances and people are having private conversations under the music.  As soon as either Bruno or Evelyn get near they stop talking but only glance their way as if they were intruding in on a private party.  There are also people playing board games, card games, and other activities one would do while wasting time or catching up with an old friend.  Children also dance to to the music as their mothers carefully watch from the background, if their mothers aren't distracted with idle gossip or taking care of the younger children.

Evelyn starts surveying the room, like anyone good mercenary would do.  She notices the room itself is fairly large, it is fitting at least 40 people comfortable.  There are still doorways, one to her left leads to a room which looks like a make-shift kitchen.  Women and men huddle in there next to a poorly boarded window, which probably isn't boarded so tightly to let out any smoke.  There seems to be a make shift fire place and they are cooking something which mixes in the air with the smell of living human bodies, incense, pipe smoke, and alcohol.  Another doorway to her right is boarded up and has a caution sign on the boards.  Most likely it leads to a solid drop, it looks like it could have been a freight-elevator once.  The other door which has a door to it is one which the elder and his sons are standing in front of.

"What type of livestock were you thinking of?" Evelyn says as they make their way through the crowd.

"I was thinking a cow," Bruno says in thought.  He hadn't given much though of what to give his soon-to-be Disobian lover.  "Maybe something with horns."

Evelyn points out the man who has the markings of a general livestock farmer, "That's the gentleman you want to talk to.  That man does general live stock." Then Evelyn points out the other man who does only goat farming, "And that man only goes goat farming."

"Thank you for tell me the difference," Bruno heads toward the man who Evelyn says does general livestock, because he not interested in goats.  He was thinking that something large and robust would impress a woman more than a goat.  Plus, his mother always had dislikes about goats.  She never liked how they stared at her.

Evelyn decides to follow Bruno close by and listen in just in case he makes a fool of himself.  She leans against the wall and tries to look disinterested with Bruno but can't help worry about him for some reason.

The farmer looks up and raises an eyebrow.  He is not concerned that a regular citizen of the Hepian Empire is standing before him, because many citizens make their way into Pruchags especially when they need something which is not easily accessible in polite society.  He figures from his unkempt clothes and bloodied knuckles that Bruno is either running from the law or he is a bruiser who found some trouble.  Either way, the farmer judges that it is in his best decision to be a courteous and as polite as he can.  "Hello... sir.  How can I help you?"

"Do you sell cows?" Bruno says with hope.

"No, sir," the man shakes his head.

"Damn," Bruno shakes his head and feels like the no was a bullet to his heart.  Though, he would not get discouraged and try to get the best and biggest animal he could afford, "What is the next largest animal besides a cow that you have?"

"Let's see," The old man strokes his goatee and closes his eyes, "I have goats, I have pigs, I have very large chickens.  So large that midgets can ride them, I swear!"  The man thinks for another moment and then says, "I had some ostriches, but I cannot sell them to you."

"Why?" Bruno says as he feels a little offended.

"They're sold!"

"They're sold?" Bruno repeats back.

"Yes."

"But I thought you said you have some," Bruno says as he tightens his fist a tad out of aggravation.

"No I HAD some..."

"Oh, had," Bruno shakes his head in compliance.

"And I've got produce," The old man finishes his list of things he sells.

"Produce," Bruno says with a snort.  "Well, I don't want that because that isn't livestock.  Do you happen to know about anything about the country of Disobia?"

"No, sorry."  The old man says with a shrug.

"Do you know anything about impressing women with livestock?"

Evelyn tries to contain her laughter, but joins the old man and a few other people listening in.  Bruno feels slightly embarrassed and starts to softly blush on his chiseled face.  Evelyn shakes her head and relaxes a little seeing that no one is offended.

"Sorry, sir, yes," says the old man with a  toothless grin, "I know lots about that."

"What would you recommend for wooing a young lady?"  Bruno says as he regains his composure.

As it happens, Georgie is near by and hears this.  He can feel the weight of the Solop beads in his pocket and feels that he has a chance to get rid of them.  He slowly inches closer toward Bruno making sure he doesn't get too close.

"I would recommend something she can eat, milk, or both."  The old man nods his head, "Something useful."

Bruno thinks about it for a moment and nodes.  "Let me see how big your chickens are.  I really want to see if you can have midgets ride them."

"Okay," he says as he gets up from the crate he was sitting on, "but they are not in this building."

"Then where do you keep your livestock?"

"Oh, I keep them in a different building so they don't get stolen."  He says as he motions Bruno to follow him.  "I keep them hidden so no one will steal them!  Follow me and I will show you."

Bruno starts to follow the old man.  Evelyn follows both of them.  She is not sure about this old man or his claims.  She knows the Cizinec and she knows that some claims are too good to be true.  Then again, if they are true, she would not mind seeing some monstrous chickens.  Goergie on the other hand follows all three of them out, he can hear each time the beads shuffle around in his pocket.  He feels like he has been cursed ever since he has gotten his cannibal beads.

They all leave the building as they arrived.  Down the dingy hallway, out the window and down the fire escape.  Evelyn who is greeted by her wolf, Bruno, and the farmer start heading down the alley.  Georgie is close behind them and then approaches the group.  Evelyn eyes him, Georgie's smile may be charming but something deep down inside tells her he isn't to be trusted.  Bruno on the other hand reacts differently to the clean shaven baby face of Georgie; memories are triggered back to his childhood when he use to go and sneak out to the circus against his father's wishes.  Bruno was always approached by the circus folk, who his father claimed were Cizinec, and their faces were always friendly and trust worthy.  It was a place where Bruno could forget about the weight of the Von Feif name and enjoy himself.

"I couldn't help over hearing that you were going to go purchase something for a lady friend."  Georgie says as he passes the ever-sneering Evelyn and slides toward Bruno.

"I was interested in purchasing some livestock..." Bruno is bewildered by this charming man.

"Livestock?" Georgie is puzzled by this, apparently it is a trend he is missing.  "What sort of lady friend would this be?"

"She is from Disobia," Bruno says beaming as he thinks of his future-love-interest.

"Oh I once new the most charming young woman from Disobia," Georgie says as he lies through his teeth but Evelyn nor Bruno can see through the deception.  Georgie has no idea what Disobia even is, but whatever is was it must be important.  "What she liked the most was the livestock," and with a wave of his hands he takes out the beads, "with beads!"

"Oh," Bruno says as if he is a child looking in through a window of a candy store where they just set out a display of colorful skillfully molded suckers.  "Those are very nice beads."

"And I happen to have this very fine necklace I have been trying to barter," Georgie says as he flashes his charming smile again.  "And I am offering the low price of one thousand Pres for these very exotic and rare beads."

"I don't even have one thousand on me," Bruno says in a half disappointed way.  He is torn between ignoring this charming man and going with the advice of his trainer who he trusts, or somehow buying the necklace and not have enough money for the vital livestock!

Evelyn finally interjects and comes up to Bruno and scowls at Georgie, "Listen, was your lady friend even wearing jewelry when you last saw her?"

"Oh, what was she wearing?" Bruno thinks back to early in the day to his triumph over the foreigner who called him "hog wash."  Then he starts to remember the man's companion, Bruno's unaware-sweet-heart.  He can remember her black long hair, her voluptuous body, the sultry voice, and the flawless olive skin.  His mind then goes back to the fact of the matter, she was not wearing any jewelry, but the man he beat had all of it.

"Well, if you're lady friend wasn't wearing any jewelry," Georgie says as he steps between Bruno and Evelyn, "then that means any that you give her will be that much more precious..."

"BY THE GODDESS YOU ARE RIGHT!" Bruno slaps his forehead.  But the fact still stands that he doesn't have any money.  So he flexes his muscles and tries to get the toughest look on his face, "I think you're prices are too deep."

Georgie yawns and isn't impressed.  He has been bullied by bigger more fearsome looking men.  Georgie takes a good look at Bruno to size him up and to estimate if this man could even have 1,000 Pres ever.  Georgie notices Bruno's clothing, even though they are torn, stained, and ruined at this point, they are still clearly hand tailors and most likely fitted to him specifically.  This indicates he has had some money in the past.  He looks at Bruno's hands and see that the knuckles are fairly rough, and slowly but surely Georgie puts it all together.  He must be the "home-town" hero Bruno Von Fief, the man who made it all the way to the final round last year's Grand Exhibition and lost.  And that meant he had to have money somewhere, but not on him.

"Well, let's consider this," Says Georgie with his grand smile.  "I will lower it to 800, but you can first pay me 400 now and when we get to it, you can pay me 400 later."

"Agreed," Bruno says as he takes out his wallet, "You have a deal my good sir!"

Evelyn shakes her head and glares at Georgie.  Georgie figures he can just stick around until the next payment, plus Bruno could provide some added protection from her cannibal pursuers.  "I think I am interested in those giant chickens."

"Why don't you join us," Bruno says with a smile, "my good new-founded friend."

All this time the farmer has been waiting, not caring either which way how the interactions between everyone goes.  The farmer really only cares that he gets money somewhere along the way.  They all go back to following the farmer to where he keeps his stock.

Off in the distance, on his way to the Lighthouse Bar, Ezekeal spots the group parading down the street.  He quickly see that three of them are obviously Cizinec and one of them as a normal citizen of the Hepian Empire, but with the best quaffed mustache he has seen in years.  He can identify one, Evelyn, who he recognized from many reports within the past few years.  She is a "person of interest," which means they suspect her but cannot pin any crimes on her, in several murders in North Crow, Brandy Alley, West Hall, and Gallvarg.  And because of this the Authority have put a 300 Pres award if she can be brought in to any authority station.  All the posters that he has ever seen say that she is armed, dangerous, and irritable.  He decides to tail them and get close enough to hear what is going on, he knows that if can catch the read headed vixen in a crime that bounty could triple.

Georgie starts to notice that the group is being watched.  More specifically, he thinks he is being watched since he just conned Bruno.  He leans over to Bruno and points out Ezekeal, "You might want to keep an eye on that man.  He seems to be following us."

Bruno looks around and shrugs, "Who?"

"The man with the monkey on his shoulders." Georgie points straight him, "The man in the suit!"

"Oh that man..."

"Hush!  He might do something if you make it too conspicuous that we know!"  Georgie says.

Despite the distraction, Evelyn, Georgie, and Bruno follow the farmer to a small shop.  As they enter, they notice it is a floral shop.  The woman behind the counter of the shop looks at the farmer and nods, and the farmer nods back.  They go through the back and out the back door.  In the back lot are make shift fences which separate different animals; goats, pigs, small chickens, geese, and then large chickens.  The chickens overshadow the geese and look just as oblivious.  Strangely enough there are no roosters.

"How much are the large chickens?"  Bruno asks.

The farmer grabs one of the large chickens, it starts flapping and making a ghastly chicken call which starts to make all the other animals make alarming noise.  The chicken, despite fearsomely flapping its wings, does not get away from the farmer's iron grip.  He smiles, "This one is 90!"

"Oh," Bruno says with some thought.

"They are special chickens," The farmer says as he tries to let Bruno have a better look at it.

Georgie seems skeptical, "How are they special?"

"They're big!" The man says excitedly.

"How?" Asks Georgie.

"They're big!" The man repeats.

"How much for the plumpest chicken?"  Bruno asks.

The farmer tries to grab the plumpest chicken, but cannot.  He grabs the chicken's feet but is too weak to lift this gargantuan chicken.  Bruno gives it a try and lifts it up.  Bruno can tell it is extremely heavy and Bruno has trouble trying to control his arm as the chicken flaps around.

"Perhaps I want the second plumpest chicken," Bruno says as he puts down the plumpest chicken.  "If I am having troubles with this, then my lady friend will be unable to do anything with this."

Bruno spots the second plumpest chicken and tries to catch it, but it seems more spry than the plumpest chicken.  They man smiles and nods, "That chicken is 120 Pres."

"How about 100?" Bruno suggests.

"No."  The farmer says as he crosses his arm.

He looks toward Evelyn, who looks tougher then he is, and Georgie, who is more charming then he is.  He could have either one of them talk it down, but it is HIS lady friend he is trying to woo, so by his own honor he will barter!

"Have some compassion," Bruno says, "100 Pres is enough for this chicken!  This Chicken that will help me woo my curvy Disobian woman!  Do you really want to stand between two destined lovers for a mere 20 Pres?!"

The farmer sighs and just want Bruno to stop talking, "Fine, 100 pres.  Did you want me to kill it now?"

"NO!" Bruno shouts as he waves his arms.  "I need the chicken alive!"

"Then you will have to have the chicken obey," The farmer says as he walks toward Bruno.  "And for this task you will need a chicken flute!  This will be another 50 Pres."

"Wait!" Georgie shouts.  "A Chicken Flute?! Can we have a demonstration of this devise?"

"Thank the Goddess," Evelyn rolls her eyes, "at least you have some common sense."

"And I thought you didn't like me," Georgie says with a charming smile.

"I like you as much as I trust you, Nem."  She hisses.

The farmer pulls out the flute, and the attention is drawn back on him.  He gently holds it between two fingers and blows softly into it.  Suddenly all the noise of the back lot stops and all the chickens, large and small, are looking right at him.  The back lot for the first time, since they tread there, is still.

"Do they follow you?" Georgie is bewildered that such a simple thing would work.

The old man walks over and grabs one of the large chicken which seems pacified.  He sets it down and blows into the flute again.  He starts to walk forward and the hypnotized chicken starts to follow him.

"I am impressed," Georgie smirks.

"I want it for 25," Bruno says, and he is about to make another incredible speech when the farmer stops him and agrees.

"I will give you the best chicken flute I have."  Says the farmer.

Bruno gives the farmer money and the farmer gets out the second plumpest chicken and the best chicken flute.  Bruno reaches into his pocket and rubs his good lick charm and then blows into the flute.  He finds the flute is awkward to play and the holes in the flute are oddly misshapen.  The nose produced makes a strange noise which makes Zora, Evelyn's large wolf companion who is waiting in the front, howl.

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

The long awaited assistant of Mr. Tarliser, Alfred Vance, finally comes through the doors.  Mr. Vance is a short pudgy man with very large glasses which hug his face closely.  He has no hair on his face, even his eyebrows seemed to be missing.  More than likely his looks are only due to his job and not by any logical choice or illness.  There's been a long history of assistants to inventors who have had no hair because of fires, explosions, and other occupational hazards.

Tarlister and Vance take out suitcases and start to put away the various components around the room.  Erwin starts to help and does it in a more effective way so the job goes ten times as fast.  Before they know it, they are racing to the elevator and then out the door of the Princess Madeline Hotel.  The chauffeur drives and gets to Erwin's shop.  They almost break down the door in excitement, clamor down the stairs where Erwin's fully functional machine shop is.  He hurriedly clears off a space for the current project.  Tarlister takes out the blueprints, Vance starts taking out the components, and Erwin starts up the machines.  Tarlister and Vance look for something write on and Erwin offers them a napkin, they quickly take out pens and start to doodle all over of it.  Making notations, scribbles, and other notes about what they will create.  Erwin first looks at the blueprints and sees no flaws in it, then Tarlister looks and give his approval, but Vance looks it over and looks at the blueprint.  He twists his mouth in several different directions as computations run through his head, and he changes the diameter of a gear.

Metal cutting, molding, melting, drilling, and lots of other activities start to happen.  Tarlister, Vance, and Erwin work feverishly to finish this component.  Soon, a rhythm starts to flow as the noise of bowling water, hissing metal, pounding hammers, drills boring holes, and the crazed but pleasurable humming of Tarlister.

After a bit they get the component done.  All three of the men look it over using various instruments to check and double check that each specification is exact to the rough napkin blueprint.  They then they start to assemble the machine together.  Each of them working independently but together.  Erwin has never worked with others in such a harmonious way with any other person.  Tarlister and Vance seem to find Erwin interesting, understand his genius and madness.  Erwin start to feel like his two new companions are like kindred spirits!

It takes little time to get the whole thing assembled and they last put the hose into place.  The machine looks like a large canister with wheels attached for mobility and a long whose attached to the side.  On the top is the switch, which only begs to be flipped on.

Tarlister keenly smiles and motions toward the machine, "My dear boy, I think that you should get the honor of turning on the machine."

Erwin nods and comes toward it.  Ominously, Tarlister and Vance back further away from it.  He meekly turns on the contraption and his two companions wince expecting something devastating to happen.  But the only thing which happens is a little rattle and then a strange nose of a fan moving very fast.  Erwin notices that dust on his floor is moving toward the hose.  Soon small broken nuts, screws, and other objects start moving toward the hose too.  A spanner starts moving toward the hose too.  Erwin doesn't see it at first but then sees it moving ever so faster toward the hose.

"Oh wait, I'll need that!"  Erwin shouts.

He jumps for it, but the spanner slips between his fingers and rattles in side the container.  Out of panic he put his mechanical hand down into the tube.  The horrid sound of suction against a smooth metal surface sounds.  He can see his arm is getting further sucked in and the machine starts making a high pitched noise.

"Get your arm out of the hose quickly!" Tarlister tries to shout over the noise.

Erwin complies and tugs on the hose, and he dislocates the part from the machine.  The high pitched whine of the contraption stops.  Tarlister quickly moves toward the machine and turns it off.

"I think that's enough for today," He says with a sigh of relief.  He looks at their machine and presses a button.  The top of the canister flips open and he looks inside.  Apparently one can get into the area where all the objects are sucked into.  He reaches in and plucks out the spanner and flips the lid back down.  Erwin slides the hose off and takes back his spanner.

"Well that went well."  Tarlister says with a large grin.  He turns to Vance,  "Now that we know it works, let's get it to the fair!"

Tarlister and Vance check it one last time before Vance takes a large bag from one of his pockets.  Tarlister looks toward Erwin, "Would you like to join us?  Since we are main exhibitors, then we can bring others to the grounds even when it is closed."

Erwin looks excitedly.  His heart pounds and his head starts to spin.  "I know I felt like this early," he asks himself, "but by what? " The thought of Ethel, Joe's daughter, is pushed to the far reaches of his mind.  The consumption of going to the fairground with his idol is first and foremost now in his mind.

"That would be great!  I just found out about the World's Fair!"  Erwin says with joy.

They pack and go to the car.  The three ride toward the outskirts of town toward the fairgrounds.