Ryzom

Rashan entered the Nexus News offices whistling merrily, much to Zespiole's surprise. He'd always been late with the final versions of the newscaster's scripts before and was never happy to be in the building. Proudly placing the latest draft down on the carved desk, he turned and attempted a short dance with his boss.

"Why are you in such a good mood?", she asked suspiciously.
"Oh no reason, just looking forward to a profitable day ahead", he said, winking slyly. "I just need some figures from the files to complete this masterpiece", tapping the paper, "could you read them out to me please?"

Perhaps he's turned over a new leaf, thought Zespiole as she entered the storeroom, although I should really go back and close the safe.

*Clonk*. Too late. The heavy motega door slammed shut and locked behind her.

"I'll be taking these, thanks for the payrise boss", he chuckled as he stuffed dapper into his sack.
"Let me out at once, that's our arts grant, you're fired!"

He started to hoist his flaming Retch axe over his shoulder, then thought better of it and threw it away. He's not going to need it and will have a lot more to carry later. Leaving by the back exit to the building, he breathed in the mid-morning Pyr air. It seemed a little smokier than usual but it wasn't the time for a climate report.

He got no further than the end of Upper Piros Street before bumping into Drakfot with some papers of her own in her hand. Needless to say, both the leaves of her new book and the Tryker herself went flying. A few dapper almost slipped out of Rashan's bag and he was not amused.

"Watch where you're walking, pipsqueak", he grunted.
"Oh I'm sorry Rashan, are you still grumpy about that dapper I won?"
"Well... I guess not. No hard feelings eh?"
"Of course. Hey can you smell smoke?"
"This is Pyr, funny-face, it always smells of smoke. By the way, I don't suppose I could borrow a few dapper? It's Jyudas' birthday soon and I forgot to get something."
"Just this once then and I expect to see you in the front row at my next story telling night", she smiled.

Finally glad to be rid of Drakfot and with a slightly fuller sack, Rashan rounded the next corner only to see his old gambling buddy Logar talking to a strange furry creature. Perhaps this was the mysterious Mr. Squirrel that a pipe-fuelled Logar often talked of, but when he looked again, the critter was gone. Now I'm going crazy too, Rashan thought wryly. A quick few rounds of Dexton Dice later and Rashan's burden was increased in size. He made his apologies and moved on.

Pyr was unusually busy that morning, for who should he see next but Jyudas heading for the baths with a young Slythe in tow. Always a master of disguise, he slipped into a doorway and was instantly transformed by putting on his special heavy armour.

"Hail! What's in the sack, traveller?", the quick-witted merc Jyudas asked this unusually tall Tryker.
"Oh just some mats. I've got woo..", answered Rashan.
"No don't say it", interjected Slythe, "we'll be here all day and Kyerna and friend are waiting for us".
"Have fun, see you around guys".

Rashan then made his way to the corner of Fountain Place, and somewhat nervously despite still being in disguise, ambled past the bar and it's angry owner. A broken cart provided the way up to the roof of the building, then it was only a few short jumps to the shuttered window of The Samsara guild hall, the window that had been left off the latch. He could walk in and out the front door but then the caretaker might get suspicious when he left the place with a very much larger sack.

Inside the guild treasury, there were many valuable things but even the kitin larva would leave less room for dapper and he'd done enough crafting to last a lifetime. He left a short note behind, an IOU for he may one day be back, most likely for more. After gazing around the rooms, full of happy memories, Rashan paused only to introduce a few wrong answers to the recruits' recently submitted homework on Kostika's desk. Then only one more task remained in Pyr before he could start his new life of luxury.

After dumping the disguise and making his way very stealthily to the Pyr baths changing rooms, he rifled through a bundle of folded clothes and carefully extracted the purse. Not until halfway down Arispotle Avenue did he check the contents, it was more about who this belonged to than how much. Unfortunately there was only a note inside:

Dear Rashan, do you really think I'd let a clumsy oaf like you steal from me? Kyerna

Not wanting to dwell on this too much and fearful of just how much she might know, Rashan hurried away. His mount had been properly fed and watered for the first time and it's spindly legs almost bent under the now bulging sack added to the considerable weight already loaded. Climbing on its back and readying the blunt end of his pike for a bit of extra speed-encouragement, it was time to go. Only a pale homin stood nearby to see him leave.

"Hey Spriteh, you should spend more time out here in the desert sun, you're looking a bit unhealthy".
"Riiiight, sage advice to stay near a city that's billowing thick clouds of smoke. Any other words of wisdom?"
"Well why don't you stop by the Tranquil Tryker in Thesos next time. I'll buy you a drink or two", Rashan almost smirked, wondering why everyone was obsessed about air pollution today.

Turning his mount, he sped away, kicking just a little dust in the old homin's face. On past the Kami temple and more importantly one of his stash spots. A very out-of-place looking, young Zorai sat there meditating and ignoring the fortune being dug up.

"Ma-Duk be with you", the proud Kamist said gently.
All that got him was a smack round the head. "Idiot!"

With that final remark Rashan rode off, down to Outlaw Canyon, past the South edge of the Flaming Forest and into the Scorched Corridor, his favourite place in all of Atys. A long time had been spent carefully charting all of the caves and boreholes here with one loose rockfall yielding passage to a hidden oasis. Only now did Rashan realise he'd left his map back in the guildhall. Well hopefully he wouldn't need it being a master explorer.

After passing a very familiar hollow in the cliff-face he entered a small cave, and feeling only slightly lost took what seemed like the correct series of turns. He stumbled in the darkness and then emerged in unfamiliar territory, it was the wrong side of the wall! The piercing shriek of the bandits sent a chill through his heart, he knew there were too many of the uncultured slobs these days to defeat. Fearing for his loot, he ran for the rockfall, praying to the Kami to let him pass as they used to.

But times had changed, no divine intervention from either side would let him through. As the bandits reached him, he knew it was pointless trying to fight them off. He'd battled them before and would give them no more sport. As he fell, before the final blow landed, he looked back in the direction of Pyr. The pillar of smoke was huge even from this distance.

"Damn."

The End.

Cheers Ras!

*waits patiently for Ras's body to reform at the pyr altar*

*mutters* were is that good for nothing oaf.. *wonders how long itll take rashan to realize he's still needed..*

A lone grey-bearded figure wanders in from the desert, approaching Dyron.

Samar d'Naz had been wandering the desert for some time; uncomfortable in the presence of too amny Homins, he prefers the solitude of the dunes. But some vague uneasy feeling had prompted him to return to Dyron on this day. Patting his waist band, he reassured himself that the parchment he'd found was still there. It was a map, one he'd found in the streets of Pyr shortly after his Guild Initiation. Probably belonged to some rogue or another, but it promised a path into a secret place in Scorched Corridor, near one of the rumoured locations of the ancient Kami Oasis. Some day, when he was feeling especially adventurous, he'd have to venture down there and check it out.

But that's not his mission today. Today he needs to find out what had pulled him into town. The stables are always a good bet for news and information, maybe he'd find someone there to tell him the news of the day...

Nearing the stables, Samar spots an old hunting partner gearing up for a trip...

"Greetings, Tall Pale One", Samar says, "Where you headed?"

"Pyr" answers Daemion, "Something strange is happening, rumours of a Dragon and what not".

"Pyr? Dragons? Sounds like one of Rashan's wild stories if you ask me."

"Funny you should mention Rashan" replies Dae. "The City Guards are looking for him. Something to do with some missing Trykerettes and a load of Dapper."

"Who's missing?"

"Zespiole and Mioette, no one has seen either of them for days. There's also been a great fire in the city. Gotta go, need to get through to Pyr before nightfall."

A great fire in Pyr? Mio and Zes missing? Rashan nowhere to be found? Is this why he'd been pulled out of the desert? With an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, Samar heads towards the local market place. Merchants are always good sources of information, as long as you filtered out the rumour bits.

"Have you heard? Rashan has turned on his guiild! He raided the Guild's treasury, then set a fire to cover his tracks!"

"I heard The Great Dragon was seen near Academy Place, destroying everything and everyone in its path. That Rogue Rashan probably just took advantage of the situation to plunder, lot, and pillage, then got out of town just ahead of The Dragon."

"Dragons!! *snort* What do you lot know of Dragons? There hasn't been a dragon spotted since my great-grandfather's great-grandfather drank too much Fire Wine at the Tranquil Tryker and set the place on fire! You'd a thought that Trykerette he married was a dragon the way I heard it!"

Moving on through the market, Samar approached a knot of guards talking among themselves: "... what you heard, any trouble in Pyr's likely the result of one o' them Samsara ..."

"SSHHT!! There's one, guard your tongue friend!"

Samar changed his track to pass a little farther away from the guards. What had happened these past few weeks? It was only a few weeks, wasn't it? The Samsara had always been a well respected, honorable guild! Something serious must have happened to change that! Granted, the "Dodgy Duo" had earned themselves a bit of a reputation, but it was mostly just harmless price gouging, a little blackmail here, a little information gathering there, a little too much drink at the bars, but this was something else!

Maybe he should use one of his precious Teleporter Tickets to pop into Pyr, see if any of his fellow guild mates could shed some light on the situation. Pulling out a ticket, Samar ponders his decision. Pyr was always so crowded, and he hated crowds. But he could use a new set of clothes, and tehre was a perfectly good set hanging in his apartment. And it WAS just around the corner from the Guild Hall so it would be natural for him to stop in anytime he was visiting his apartment.

Setting his chin, Samar triggers the ticket, disapearing from view...

hehehe fun tale but... MR. Squirrel is true i live wit him..... he comes wit nuts to me at the 24 dec....

Kostika sits quietly in a hidden nitch. She always knew that helping Rashan chart these hidden little tunnels would be useful someday. Watching Rashan fight proudly to guard his stolen bounty. The bandits slowly manage to overcome him and bring him down. She could hear his cursing from here as he lay in the dirt next to the entrance to the oasis.

Without leaving her nitch, she calls out to Rashan, "You done cursing yet Rashan?" All she gets is a grunt in return.

"You shoulda known I'd be here. You know you could never fool me."

Slowly she dons her mittens and begins an incantation. Blue light flares around her as she jumps into the air.

"Now get your ass over here. We need to have words boy." She says in a stern voice, her anger obvious.

She helps Rashan back into the safety of the caves, pointedly ignoring the bag laying in the dirt. Sitting him down she begins to listen to his tale.

(You didn't think I'd let you out that easily did you)

Ani heard some noises where she was quietly minding her own business, holding the Egiros pick she had traded the day before, unaware of what was happening in the quiet, warm place she had walked into. She looked towards what she thought could be breaking the silence she had been enjoying for a while, and she saw a bruised and battered fyros male dressed in his usual regular fyros light armor that smelled like rotten dung, and a familiar fyros female that was standing behind him looking as if she was reprimending the tough mercenary.

-"Ohh! Praise Jena ! Greetings lady Kostika, Rashan!"

She waved towards the fyrosian mercenaries. Despite her Matisian nature, and the differences she could have had with them in the past, she had had satisfactory dealings with the Sams in the past, and they had developed something similar to a corteous friendship

-"What business brings you here? some one of them well paid scorts, I guess... Nevermind, I thought I was pretty much alone here... my desert tracking skills are as reliable as always <sigh> and trying to find some seeds, I managed to get myself here, I must admit I was kinda lost, until I heard you talking... well, rather, until I heard Kos scolding Rash..*smiles*"

Kostika patiently explained her what had happened and the reason of them being there. Nodding, Ani looked at Rashan with an expert look, for she had trained in the skills of healing and curing wounds.

-"Nothing serious, just the usual scratches, and a couple of scars to add to Rash collection. Nothing that a couple of days at the Tranquil Tryker cannot fix. Rest, Furewine, and no betting for a few, aaaand a Rashan good as new...well, rather, good as usual"

Rashan, looking half drunk after being brought back to life by Kostika's spells, mumbled something about dangerous bandits.

-"Bandits? what bandits?" - said Ani "ah, those... yes, well, nevermind, I bribed them with some prime root fiber, a few dappers and new clothes. Did you see the rags they were donning? geez! one would expect more classy bandits! " -- frowning a bit and with a serious tone,she added -- "as long as we leave now, and keep our mouth close about their business, they'll let us go... so, let's move".

Putting aside her pick and wielding her magic amplifiers, she added:

- "By the way, Rash, you dropped this... " and handed the merc a bag with his precious loot.


(what she said!)

The desert sun beat down on the Scorched Corridor, the shadows it made only disturbed by the bright purple flashes of magic emanating from one of a pair of homins hunting Timari. The Matisian swung his axe at the beats; it was no effort killing them but the heat was starting to bother him. The ash and dust underfoot combined with the sunlight was turning the Corridor into a baking oven, but he fought on. He was young and strong, and half Fyros; he wouldn't be complaining any time soon.

Realising he was having to parry his prey more often than before, he glanced around and saw the other homin had stopped casting, and was rubbing something over his bare arms and face.

"Father?" he asked, and the Fyros looked up.

"Shush you," came the hurried reply, "Keep going."

Seeing his heir turn back to the Timari and raise his axe once more, Spriteh tucked the jar of 'Bodoc fat tanning cream' into a pouch and turned his mind back to the afflictions.

Bah, Enough's enough, theres no way Ras is still down, something has to be going on..

As Nightblade picked himself up and dusted the sand and dirt from his skirt, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a flash of light and Sam stood before him.

Sam? NB stared into the old homin's face SAM! Wher've you been buddy? after a quick hug that NB knew would embarass the older Sam, NB begins to relate the recent rumors regarding Rashan's disappearance and questioned Sam if he knew what was going on

Nothing.. NB closed his eyes and sent a mental greeting to the blue one Z! wats goin on!? Pyr smells like smoke and Ras's missing! kill that plod and get ur blue-ness over here.. Pyr needs the Dodgy Duo!

Opening his eyes, NB realized Samar was already gone, nothing out of the ordinary - Sam never did like company .. esp when he knew the dodgy duo was amok!

waiting impatiently for Z to arrive, NB began to wander around Pyr in hopes he could find the reason for the ashy smell. he didnt believe in rumors of the Dragon's Return, there was no dragon in Pyr and he knew only someone as wily as Rashan could come up with that excuse. tripping over a scrollcase NB examined its contents.
A map.. this smells like Oflovak's brew.. odd - it doesnt have Ras's seal on it
pocketing the scrollcase and donning his new blue outfit with the mismatching black boots, NB ran back to meet up with the blue hulk. he'd need all the speed he could get

Z! NB ran towards the great hulking zorai and hurriedly explained the rumors and showed Z the map to the scorched corridor i think Sam might have dropped this.. but it has Ras's feel to it.. i say we follow it!

Into the Scorched Corridor!? ...OK!

the Dodgy Duo exited Pyr through the secret passages known only to the Sammys, the guards never let the Duo pass through the gates without a small... interview.. and today they needed speed. rushing through the exit, the Duo blasted through a group of guards, sending helmets flying and wincing at the suddeness of impact SORRY Folks! can't talk now gotta run!

it wasnt until they were clear past the first ramps into the Corridor that NB realized the scrollcase was missing from his belt.. musta dropped it ..

Rushing past the Kami Oasis, NB almost forgot his mission and began to ponder about how to get back in.. that dam rockslide kept him out and that was _unfair_ ... thinking he saw a flash of red within the hidden niche of the cascading rocks NB began to move towards them.

Cmon NB! we gotta go!
shrugging it off as his imagination, NB happily got back to the chase. Rashan was here somewhere and they knew it. and he had money, LOTS of money if the rumors were true!

just as they were avoiding an oddly well-dressed bandit camp, they ran over Ani muttering about the evil-ness of the seeds. The poor woman is losing her mind... Sorry Ani! important business! .. by the way.. you wouldnt happen to be in need of an anti-grav bra? specially modeled after the famous trykerrete Mio herself! .. er.. wats with the funny look? hehe .. guess not.. avoiding Ani's glare, Z and NB inched away then turned tail and ran for their lives - in the wrong direction.. had NB payd any attention, he would have realized that a little blue dot on his radar suddenly went yellow.. and two more blue dots slowly arrived

---

*thinks* damit.. i'm not a very good story teller - o well, it was fun trying Great posts guies, keep em going XD

As the troublesome two dashed through the Scorched Corridor, leaving a trail of somewhat bewildered timari in their wake, it slowly occured to them that maybe this wasn't the best idea.

"err, Z, I dont think they like your 'at"

"Whats wrong with it? Green is a lovely shade and it complements the red armour so well!"

The small crowd of zerx, unimpressed with the fasion critique gathered speed.

"NB, remember that time that rich Matis found out about the 'nearly original' tapestry?"

"Yep."

"Good."

Doing a smooth about-face (so smooth you could tell it was well practiced) the pair shot off in opposite directions, resolving to meet at a spot picked out earlier, which just happened to be the site of a meeting already...

As NB ran for his hide, he realized he was heading directly into a sh*tload of cuttler, too late he realized his mistake and prayed for divine guidance to shield him from the mobs. turning once more, NB cut west and just barely missed the Frahar camp, who sent dozens of minions out to his aid. waving thanks and g'bye to his frahar allies, NB continued to the predetermined point, hoping that Z's luck was holding out as good as his.

Many startled timmies later, NB was just turning the last corner as he skidded to a sudden halt and quickly dashed back to hide. Kostika had her mittens on, and she looked _angry_ . and behind her he could see Rashan, a little bruised, accepting the lecture grudgingly.

"*wince* poor Rashan.. wonder what he got himself into now?"

"hey wats that!? " NB's head snapped to the far end of the valley where he heard a DOOMPFFFFFFF!!!!!!!! ...

"Odd, there arent any Kiban around here... was that Z?" Returning the DOOOOMPF!!!!!!!, NB caught sight of Z hiding behind his own boulder, using the secret hand signals of the Dodgy Duo. NB could barely contain himself as he grinned heavily while Z signaled his plans...

Hehe, leave it up to that oaf to come up with these schemes so quickly NB chuckled softly to himself as he hefted his pike and watched Z Don his mittens. That loot would soon be theirs!