Scorpiox

Fun fact for you kids: the scene to display the figures in Haldor's little things was built entirely out of parts from the vignettes for my Batman contest entries.

But as the heroes trudged off back to familiar lands, another vision cracked the air... ---About fifteen years ago, in the Nordic village of Tholtenfolst--- "...come on Haldor, don't be a coward. I'm counting on you for this one, don't let me down." Standing in a dank street of a wintery village, were two young Vikings. One was a bright and tall youth with a cocky smile, and the other was a nervous-looking red-haired boy, both were deep in hushed conversation. There was nobody around. "I don't know Leif, it sounds dangerous, and what if we get caught?" "We won't, trust me. And besides, what is the point of life if not for a little adventure? Surely you must have some courage inside you." "But Leif, you know what happened last time, I can't risk it, I don't want to risk it." "Haldor, you're such a baby. How are you ever going to be a proper Nord warrior if you can't even do this? Fine, if I can't rely on you, I'll just have to go and get some of my friends then, won't I?" Almost immeadiately, the young Haldor began to look panicked and fraught. "No no, please don't! Not them, not here! Please Leif, don't bring them here. I'll do it, I'll be brave, I promise!" "Ha ha, you are so predictable. I knew you'd come round to my way of thinking in the end. Shall we get this over with then? Thanks a bun.." Both of the young men turned in shock and stopped dead at the arrival of another passer in their back-alley. She was a broad and muscular young woman, a few years older than Haldor and Leif with flowing blonde hair, her pretty face offset by a stern and petulant expression. She was someone clearly used to getting her way. "...hello boys, what are you doing out here, shouldn't you be in the hall?" Haldor's face began to turn a shade of red as vivid as his hair, as he managed to get off a few awkward stammers. "He-hey g-g-Gerdur. We, erm, were just, um..." "...getting a breath of fresh air, it was his idea. You know what Haldor is like with large groups of people, gets all jumpy, I had to take him out. I didn't want to be stuck with him if he wet himself in front of the elders." "No, that is, I mean, it isn't-wasn't like that. I, um." Haldor shut his mouth before any more words could embarass him, the prescence of the young lady was effecting him quite drastically. He fixed his eyes firmly on the iced floor. "So, I should ask you the same question. How, erm, how much did you hear?" "Enough. Enough for me to go straight to the hall now and put a stop to your little schemes." "But..." "You wouldn't dare." "Oh really? You seem so sure, maybe I should just go now and see what your father thinks..." "Okay, fine, I get it. What the hell do you want anyway?" "I want in on your little plan, and I also want you to show some respect for me, like little Haldor here does." Haldor tried to look up at Gerdur, but found himself riveted on the spot. "Wha, erm, how, err. Gerdur, maybe, um. I'd be h-happy to, ugh." "Don't you worry your little head, you just tell me what exactly it is you've been getting up to, and we'll get along fine." "You mean you were lying?! Haldor, don't tell her anything." Haldor looked from Leif to Gerdur like a timid sheep, unable to decide what to do. But at that moment, Gerdur herself stepped forward toward the now red with embarrassment Haldor, so close that he couldn't help but take in the warm feeling of her body and her plain scent. It didn't take long for him to positively crumple before the attractive girl's influence, and spill the details of all the plans, while Leif could do nothing but look on with his head in his hands. "Thank you very much Haldor, it all sounds very interesting indeed. How about you two go and show me right now what you've been finding at the shrine, and no-one else will have to know about this." "Now you've done it. Gods Haldor, can't you ever just man-up?" -fin-

Should I PM it to you, or just post it myself or whatever?

Zepher, is it too late for me to post a sort of epilogue vision of my own?

Haldor looked up with a remarkably cheerful expression as he greeted the Wren-fighters, but became more serious as they discussed what had happened. "Felton, Hans, Poletad, it is good to meet you once again. I trust that we find you well and in good health? I heard of what happened in Dastan, it sounds as though you were lucky to get out of that one. I've been through a few scrapes myself, nearly lost Jess, but it was all right in the end. But Gods be praised, there is much we have to tell you right now." The Nord produced his orb once again, and held it up to the sun, fascinated by its sifting and ever changing shape. "Arthur has filled you in greater than I ever could, but it will suffice for me to say that we found her here, and in greater spirits than ever. She knew that we would come here, and made sure that she was also when we slew the beast. We can not hope to think what she may be planning, now that she has the amulet, but I know that we must be there to stop her before she can unleash whatever darkness she holds. I have here the esscence of Zoot in this plaything, and it acts as a reminder to me of what we must never allow to spread. I hope that I will be there when it all happens, when we bring down the witch once and for all."

I had actually set the sword to Arthur, but then remembered that someone said that they didn't want anything special, so I changed it. But I'll switeroo things if you want me to.

If you're so suspicious of him being one of the Mafia, then why unvote him? Isn't that a little unusual thing to do for a good guy? So you 'thought' properly about your actions before enacting them? Yet you said yourself that you voted back for him partly out of anger, contridicting yourself again? And a retaliation vote is far from what I would call a measured reaction. It is not my fault that this all happens while I'm asleep or at work typing up the case notes, and the time difference doesn't make the points any less relevent. Or would you have us just forget, Jimmy? I remain unconvinced, sir.

I am soooooooo signing up for the final Wren quest.

Haldor looked on, indifferent. "Oh, we'll meet again, Wren. And when the time comes, I'll be ready, make sure that you are." The Nord then turned back to the others, breaking into a grin. "Seems like I've got some loot to give out, hold fast everyone and speak up if you're getting shorted. And we've got that little riddle of hers to solve, so you're all welcome to chip in. This is what I've got so far: A Ace Refill, Owlish Ill, Wilt Orzo --- Zoot will rise Loot Cronk(175 gold, Nostrum, Soma) Tesni(Sir Roderick's Shield, Soma, Phoenix Essence, 50 gold) Alexis(Splinter of Ennoc, Nostrum, Soma, 50 gold) Arthur(Sir Roderick's Sword 50 gold, Nostrum) Haldor(175 gold, Nostrum, Soma) "Arthur, I am honoured that you think me worthy to carry this creation, so that I may wield its form in the name of Heroica. I will make it my quest to find and stop, Wren wherever she may be." Haldor retrieved the plaything from deep in his satchel and held it aloft. He turned back to his friends. "My comrades, I thank you for following me with this journey into the darkest of pasts, and I thank you all for staying true to our goals. We have all learnt much here, me more than most, and I can stand before you all in humility now that it is over. Cronk, you are steadfast and brave as always, and I never once doubted your judgement. Tesni, you are a great and formidable ally and friend to me, I never tire of fighting by your side. Alexis, while we may have disagreed on matters very deep, I trust you to do the right thing in what is to come, in both your life and your work. And Arthur, you are wise beyond your years, and you have taught me more than I knew about myself, for that I am grateful. I hope you find solace in your future, and would wish to meet you again on these fine fields of adventure. And to you all, good luck, and may we once again find ourselves and Wren very soon."

Haldor stumbled back, spitting blood. "Sasha, gah, bloody hell. What a waste, to lose her now, there was so much that I needed to ask." The Nord shook his head and faced away, all this had taken its toll on both his body and mind, leaving him doubting whether he himself was quite as good ad he'd thought. When he turned his tired and weary gaze back to the room, he saw that she was standing there, she who had been here in spirit for so very long, was before them now. "No, I will not judge you, Wren. Before I set about here I would have liked to call you evil and be done with it, but now I cannot bring myself to do that. All the things that you have done, some of them terrible things, were in your mind a thing that would benefit and show you the way to great things. Zoot has opened your eyes to your true self, and I admire you for knowing and accepting what you really are, something that we all find difficult. I cannot judge you and what you have done for merely unlocking the doors to yourself. No, I will not stand here and take views on what you are, witch, because I find myself balancing on a similar path. There is a fine line between walking on the chaotic path and the blackness of evil. But we will have to stop you, in the end we will have to bring you down. Because what you do is a danger to innocents and to the order that keeps us sane, and for that you must be stopped. Not for any warped sense of justice that I may cling on to. This is my truth, dark Lady of Chaos, make of it what you will.

While his case against you was non-existant, it is your reaction that intrigues me. If you've got nothing to hide, why the frantic reaction and retaliation vote? He himself votes for you, and you frantically vote back and shout around 'help help! He's trying to bandwagon me!'? Wow, looks like the early stages of flailing to me. I do not see how one vote is attempting a bandwagon, and even so, what has an innocent member of our community got to fear from such a thing? It does not look to my eye how he was 'attempting a bandwagon' like you look to fear, but that he was trying a poke you guage your response, which you have shown of so beautifully. I'm surprised that you apparently cannot see that his vote on you was little more than a 'sting', like we used to do back in the days. I'f you'd smiled and told us all how his 'accusation' was bollocks, we'd thought nothing of it, but how you reacted has raised a few of my well-experianced eyebrows. You seem mighty jumpy, Sir. And he is so very suspicious is he, and only because he voted for you? What if it had been someone other, would you have been so curious? I doubt it, because a member of the Mafia would love to sit back and watch the good guys vote each other off. And now, Ian lurking with his dastardly plans, you choose to unvote him, despite your suspicions? Another great trip there, choosing to abandon your go when the others do. It's quite obvious now that his little prod did yield results after all, as we've got ourselves a potential mobster here. Let's see what happens, shall we? Vote: Jean (Endgame)

While I admire your forthrightness, I'll not be voting myself yet. There are a few things that I have to sort first. But, like it or not, Isaac's little slip may have been an insight into what he is going on behind the scenes. It's things like this that we'll have to look out for, remarks out of line like these could easily be the quick words of a careless scumbag hoping to appear helpful. Another one who has earned themselves a note in my books, is Phyllis. While her ideas may seem innocent, I've seen very many times like this before where the mobsters have tried to stop a lynch. It's all very nice for her to sneak in a little suggestion for us, we've got to be careful of things like this. Just consider yourself under my watch, girl. Sirs, how many hours do we have left in the day?

Haldor keeps back behind Cronk's iron guard while the others rain fire upon their foe, before quickly jumping out and swinging heavily at Ennoc's Splinter from the front row. "McColt, try again with your hastening work on Arthur. Gray, don't worry about breaking your back for us, you just sit tight." Battle Order: Cronk Tesni Arthur Bal Bal Alexis Alexis Sasha Haldor

No, the lynch is our greatest weapon, must use it whenever possible. Not lynching today gives the Mafia a free kill and turns today into a chill-out for them, puts us at a instant disadvantage. Even if we do not grab a scum today, gives us some basis to analyse and work tommorow. Whatever happens, a lynch is imperative.

Wait a minute, son, care to explain what exactly of note 'has happened lately'? Quite the contrary, this is only the very beginning of our first day, what were you even expecting to have happened by now? No, would be odd if this part of the day were anything other than quiet... ...unless you know something we don't. Phil's expression hardens.

Ah, seems that those pigs have picked themselves a high-profile target, in the form of our cheif. Bastards are gonna get what's coming to them, in one way or anyother. I know how this works, been in the force a long time, we'll just have to sit here and watch what's going on, see if we can't pick out some clues. I hope you're all with me on this.

Don't know, someplace else maybe. I didn't even know I was an American. Been in the job many years now, seen many bad things, but you know what they say. Still learning somethin' new everyday.

Wait, we're in the U.S.? Well I'll be damned...

:wub: Beautiful, just stunning. I will be watching this one very closely, as the concept happens to be one of my absolute favourite aspects of history. The film that the title is based on also happens to be one of the best films that I've seen, so I hope for a few references. Lykke til! (That is supposed to say 'Good luck', but my Norwegian is rather rusty, it is probably all wrong. )

Oh no, it's going to turn out to be someone like Boomingham isn't it?

Haldor keeps safely behind Cronk's shield, and dashes out at the last moment to whack the General from the front row with his metal staff. Gray watches with an impassive expression. "Keep your guard up Cronk! Ha, not so smart now, is he? When this is all over I'm going to buy everyone here a pint, so make sure you all hold me to that." "Good work, heroes. My efforts would be best used hastening Arthur for now." Battle Order: Cronk Cronk Tesni Haldor Arthur Alexis Alexis Sasha Triad

Pretty sure that it's the department of the Police that deals with drugs and illegal substances and the like.

Tips his hat at his superiors. "Yessir, Detective Phil present and correct. Just you folks all remember that I've got my eye on you, and trust me, you don't want to get on my bad side. I've banged up more crooks than you could count, so no funny buisness from anyone, is that clear? Especially you, Phyllis. Bloody hell, I'm stuck with this lot. I can't think of anything really worse, besides a room full of frogs, ugh."