From quinn@fazigu.org Sun Oct 19 14:55:53 2003 Return-path: Envelope-to: quinn@fazigu.org Delivery-date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 14:55:53 -0400 Received: from constr1-host1.corridor.net ([66.100.236.130] helo=yami.57thstreet.com) by requiem with smtp (Exim 3.36 #1 (Debian)) id 1ABIiW-00088E-00 for ; Sun, 19 Oct 2003 14:55:53 -0400 Received: (qmail 42208 invoked from network); 19 Oct 2003 18:58:09 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO moo.ghostmoo.org) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 19 Oct 2003 18:58:09 -0000 Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 13:58:09 -0400 From: "Quinn@Ghostwheel" To: quinn@fazigu.org Subject: Ghostwheel Message(s) 134 - 152 from *storylines (#5236) X-Mail-Agent: Ghostwheel (moo.ghostmoo.org 6969) Message-Id: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.60 (1.212-2003-09-23-exp) on requiem X-Spam-Status: No, hits=0.0 required=5.0 tests=none autolearn=ham version=2.60 X-Spam-Level: Status: RO Content-Length: 24513 Lines: 552 Message 134 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Mon Aug 25 15:52:47 2003 EDT From: Red_Fang (#5907) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: Shrinking Ranks So that was that, least the headaches where out in the open now. Funny how things turn out. They wanted it then when it got to hard they quit. Ok, Clockwork didn't quit but damn he was annoying. And blowing things up while I was in the room was a big no no. Honestly if it hadn't been for the rumors and the subversive actions I might of acted faster and in his favor but they don't learn. To some people loyalty only works one way. They expect the rangers to be a Red will protect me group, the big bad cat picked on me Red, kill it. Kill it yourself you girl! If the cat gets to out of hand I'll step in and die with you. But be a man and take it or go home to your momma. Honestly since the treaty with Mirg and Owen was signed thing where going very well. But then, seemed some people got bugs up their butts and instead of saying anything they just marched off and quit. Then these same people decided that they had a loyal following and with subversion could make some kind of point. Point taken. Treason is a death sentence. They whine about the big cat, they whine about Moon's son, honestly you'd think they where children on a playground and were not getting their way. But that did not matter. It did not matter that they didn't like Mirg or Owen, it only mattered that they turned on Red. So he chose his side. And with Clockwork's new threats it was going to be an interesting time. So far the promise of dying everyday hadn't happened. But then, he was only ever good for the quick hit and run tactics.. Actually getting in a shot would require more skill than that. So time would tell. If the remaining rangers wanted to stay, they would have to except responsibility. If they don't, one ranger is better than none. -------------------------- Message 135 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Mon Aug 25 16:14:31 2003 EDT From: Red_Fang (#5907) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: Rewards and sad partings Red was proud to be friend with Ceri, she'd stuck with him through a lot of crap. But it was sad seeing Darkpaw go, he honestly tried the hardest of any ranger. He saluted always, he filed his reports on time. And you could read his writing. Oh yeah he was anal about a few things but that comes with the recomb programing.. Recombs would go far with him as their champion. Whoever Darkpaw served they would be getting the best. Of course they would have to learn to dodge his quick temper. -------------------------- Message 136 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Mon Aug 25 16:40:34 2003 EDT From: Clockwork (#22209) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: Red Fang? Who's that? Clockwork realized finally who was really in charge of the rangers. The cat that had been a threat to the organization, was somehow it's new ruler. Red, just a figurehead under Mirg's thumb. I had been apparent for quite some time that Red was just the cat's bitch. Perhaps it was the mascara that Red had started to wear, or his flimsy wrist that had signalled the shift in power. Clockwork should have quit when he realized it, but for some reason he kept his confidence in Red. Big mistake. Red, being the coward he has always been, ultimately sold Clock out. Clockwork sighed in relief. He now had reason to leave the crumbling piece of shit that Red had been piloting for the last couple of months. The rangers, ha. Enforced by a leader that was not only a cowardly old pervert, but had broken the laws numerous times himself. Clockwork laughed... then cried... and then laughed again. He thought about Owen's horrible pussy songs. He thought about Mirg's masterful wit and his keen use of cliches. He thought about Red Fang and his taste for young school boys. He thought about all this and then something occurred to him. He didnt give a shit about anyone one of them. Clockwork then yawned and had the most peaceful sleep of his entire life. PS - your last post made me piss my pants. -------------------------- Message 137 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Tue Aug 26 00:10:00 2003 EDT From: Red_Fang (#5907) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: So this is the way it was going to be. Red honestly had to laugh at himself for his stupidity. He knew how to shoot a gun, why at the critical time did his finger get all tangled up like that who knows.. The fates where laughing for sure. And the irony of it all was Clockwork killed him with ammo he probably got from Red. The world was a funny place. Truth was, Red was happy. Though a few problems still needed to work themselves out the hard training the rangers had been doing was paying off. Next time things would go smoother. Next time. -------------------------- Message 138 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Tue Aug 26 00:40:18 2003 EDT From: Owen (#15637) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: Getting it. Owen stopped a moment, leaning on his staff and catching his breath. "I get it now." "What do you get?" Mirg ripped the final slisssh limb from limb and turned to face Owen, claws dripping ichor and flakes of chitin. "This place. These people. I've finally figured it out. Why folks are so rough on newcomers, why the Wasters hate the Riders and vice versa, why Dante can sit up in his tower and nobody bothers to band together to wipe him off the face of the planet, all of it. I get it." Mirg wasn't really listening all that carefully. He was experimenting to see how hard he could poke a slisssh corpse with a stainless-steel claw before the body collapsed into dust and crystals. "Oh?" "It's all about Death. Death doesn't mean anything here. I mean, I'd heard it before. I'd even said it to people. But it really, really doesn't matter. You can die six times a day, and it doesn't matter a bit." Mirg snorted, not even bothering to look up from the increasingly-perforated slisssh corpse. "And the ironic thing is that while Death doesn't mean anything, it doesn't cheapen life at all. Folks still live, and fall in love, and drink beer, and get rich or poor, and the only thing that's different is nobody has to be afraid of death if they don't choose to be." For emphasis, he thumped the tip of his staff into the slisssh corpse Mirg was perforating, demolishing it to a puff of dust. The cat slanted a disgusted look at Owen, "Well, duh." He moved on to the next corpse, prodding delicately with a gore-streaked clawtip. "So it doesn't matter. All the effort I've been putting into staying alive, keeping other people alive, trying to convince folks not to kill one another on sight, it's all wasted. Death doesn't mean a damn thing, mine or anyone else's. It's only the living that matters." Mirg laughed a bit as he finally prodded the unfortunate slisssh hard enough to send it falling to dust. Checking his boostometer, Owen strapped his staff to his backpack and dug out his whip. "More slisssh. West, do you think?" "West's fine," Mirg said indifferently as stomped the few remaining corpses to dust and picked the crystals out of the filthy sand. "Congratulations, by the way. Thought you'd never figure it out." Owen laughed and ran the braided tail of his whip through his fingers, testing the leather's flexibility, looking for flaws. "I'm an idealist, Cat. Not a fool." He loped off to the west, ranging forward in search of slisssh. He didn't hear the cat mutter, "Wanna bet?" -------------------------- Message 139 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Tue Aug 26 20:00:44 2003 EDT From: Ceri (#24980) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: becoming a woman Ceri sat in the comfort of her climate controlled dome and took inventory of her life. Though she had a few possessions, some she even liked alot, there wasn't much to show for her time on the Wheel. The fog in her mind clouded her thinking as she tried to make sense of it all. Her mother, grandmother, father.... all dead. And for what? For nothing as far as she could tell. She found death almost daily as she fought the slisssh in the pits and trained to make herself a fine speciman of a woman. In the end, tho, she found herself in Hell time and again with nothing but a few crystals and alot of slisssh droppings to show for her efforts. Her friendships were important to her. She wanted to stay neutral and not let anyone she cared for to be hurt or upset. Truth was though, everyone was upset. Xrara was angry at Red because she wanted the world to become a deomocracy. But it took folks who 'cared' to have their own opinion to want to voice one. Elendil seemed to go wherever Xrara led. He knew he could have a good time and be the center of the crowd wherever he was. Clockwork had been a friend as long as she could remember. But here he was, telling a story one way, while Red and Owen told it another. She knew none of them would lie, but where indeed was the truth when both sides were so far part? And Darkpaw, she knew the least about him. Red seemed to think alot of the guy, but she hadn't formed an opinion of him at all until he left the Rangers. He walked in alone, removed his armour, gave it back to Red and then without a word, turned his back and walked away. That said more about him than anything else could. You had to admit the guy ahad alot of guts. Then there was Mirg. The skeptical cat, calling her a traitor and accusing her of playing both sides against the middle. That cut deep into Ceri and she gritted her teeth even now just recalling it. Yak, in his own way, mimicked these very thoughts when he askd Ceri if she was going to take sides. Clockwork, making noise whenever he could, accused her of setting them all up. All Ceri wanted was for all sides to be even, to keep things from getting out of hand and to keep anyone from being hurt to the point of death. "JUst listen to yourself!", she shouted out loud to noone. "Here you are Ceri, sitting in your dome, all alone, feeling sorry for yourself when in fact, YOU are the only person that make yourself whatever it is you are." She suddenly smiled and laughed, feeling better than she had in a long time. She had felt anger at the attacks her friends made against each other. She felt disappointed in herself for not being able to control everyone and everything. She felt fear in having to choose a side. This was all bullshit! Ceri knew finally, that all she had to do was be true to herself. Take a damn stand for once! She knew that facing death fighting the slisssh wasn't anything to fear. Facing her friends, couldn't be any worse. "Let them come. If they bear arms, so be it. Shoot first, ask questions later. If that was how it was to be, then dammit go out in style fighting for who YOU are." Red needed her now. Restine trusted her and believed in her. She wasnt about to let them down." Ceri laughed as she left the dome and headed to the R/T. -------------------------- Message 140 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Wed Aug 27 22:38:01 2003 EDT From: Red_Fang (#5907) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: Sweet Victory Red smiled thinking, peace at last. The enemy was on the run and hiding in their holes. Afraid to come out into the open or even answer their comms. Mirg ordered up a big beach party with fried fish and hush puppies, but Ceri demanded no fish so we had hot dogs and chips instead. After eating and drinking enough to fill a small ocean we sat around the R/T lounge and listened to Owen tell tales of his travels. So then we stripped off naked, painted our bodies and ran out into the wastes yelping like wild men. We WIN! -------------------------- Message 141 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Thu Aug 28 00:02:31 2003 EDT From: Ceri (#24980) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: And so it goes After the flashbang and cherry bomb blast in the R/T Ceri was forced to take stock. "Now what?" she thought. CLock was definitely at war. And Darkpaw and Scott were the forerunners reporting back. Next thing Ceri knew, she was in the tunnels, standing next to a corpse of Red Fang, and clockwork telling her she would be let go, but owed him one. A few hours later, OWen, Mirg and Red arrived in the Keep, carrying the bodies of Darkpaw and Clockwork. After looting them, they jailed them in Red's Dungeon leaving Nenana to watch over the two. When noone was looking, Ceri slipped them a loaf of bread and a jug of Rous milk. In the center of the bread was a cardboard nail file, (slightly used) and a note. IT read simply. Tip #1--- Never get taken alive and jailed with someone whose medical skills are that much lower than your shock. Be back when I can. Ceri. -------------------------- Message 142 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Thu Aug 28 17:05:53 2003 EDT From: FoxFire (#22153) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: Mass confusion Ever since she first got word of Elendil and Xrara's departure for the Rangers, FoxFire has had nothing but the question of, 'What the f*ck is going on here." on her mind. She thought that the Rangers would be peaceful, at least amongst themselves. So, once Red Fang announced that there would be an ongoing investigation into why Xrara and Ele left, FoxFire figured she'd step down from her post until the matter was resolved. 'Damn," she thought, "With all that's going on around here lately, seems like I'm never going back to the Rangers.' -------------------------- Message 143 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Fri Aug 29 21:06:14 2003 EDT From: Red_Fang (#5907) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: And End. Time: Wed Jun 23 14:30:57 2657: Red sat down, took off his badge and threw it at Owen, "There, final." Not one ranger recruit was worth a shit, they all hated Mirg and they all took off their badges and handed them to Red. So when Restin handed over his badge and walked out of the Dirty Paw, Red had had enough. He turned to Mirg and said, "Try that with me." And Mirg did, and Red swong at him and ended with him losing his weapon. "See, they don't do anything, they just think I should stand up for them. Mean ol cat causes the suffering and we must go home to Momma." They never even tried, they just marched off and one by one turned on Red. Except Clockwork, but Clockwork was a differant matter. He was loose cannon and it was impossible to contain that. So time and energy didn't matter anymore. That was that.. Everyone thought it was Red's fault so he would just step down. No more rangers. He'd notify command. They didn't care. Only person who Red hated to disappoint was Ceri, she had tried so hard. She would always be a friend.. But screw the rest. -------------------------- Message 144 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Tue Sep 2 17:53:30 2003 EDT From: Red_Fang (#5907) To: *storylines (#5236) So Clockwork had used cowardly tactics to gain what he thought was an upper hand. Stupid Stupid, if Red even had the laser he sure wouldn't give it back to Clock now. So smiling he headed back to the keep, if it took a million years the wolfblade would eventually come back to him, but in that time Clockwork would be hunted continually. Maiming was in order. No quick death for Clockwork. He would suffer that whole time. And to think tonight they where going to try to parlay. Clockwork was nothing but a two bit terroriest who wouldn't show his face in a large crowd unless he was holding onto a bomb. -------------------------- Message 145 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Tue Sep 2 22:38:19 2003 EDT From: Clockwork (#22209) To: *storylines (#5236) Red Fang and Ceri showed up at Yak's bar while Clock was sleeping. Red knocked Clock out and then the two dragged him back to his Dungeon. After Red and Ceri's annoying mockery Clock waved his hands in a ciclular motion. A unicorn with a magickal smile appeared within an aura of confetti. The ground turned into a rainbow and he dissapeared into a mist of greenish-reddish light. He was transported home and remained there for the duration of the night, honing his magick of the 357 level. send oops dont pay attention to that... -------------------------- Message 146 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Tue Sep 2 22:58:29 2003 EDT From: Ceri (#24980) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: alls fair While exploring Red and Ceri came upon a shuttle they hadnt seen before. IT took them to an island and they saw a nice pimp house there. Ceri wanted to decorate their new area with it, so Red told her she could take it home. They decided to go to a new place in the Wastes and get a brew after a full day of second hand shopping. WHen they got inside, YAk said hello, and Clockwork was stoned again in the corner. Red hit Clockwork and slung him over his shoulders, taking him to the Keep for a nice little chat. Once Clock woke up, Red invited him upstairs to sit at the table and rest his weary legs. After a few obscentities, Clock thought he would try and run. Little did he realize he didnt have far to go to get home. His pimp house was right there in the corner. IT was still locked, and all Clock's things were still safe inside. COntrary to CLock's yelling something about "CHeater Cheater Fire EAter", he was able to get somewhere safe and magically call all his things back into a safer environment. Ceri smiled as she waved goodbye and her calls of "See you again Soon" rang in the air behind him. -------------------------- Message 147 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Tue Sep 2 23:36:21 2003 EDT From: Dexter (#14882) To: *storylines (#5236) fap fap fap fap fap squip squip fapfapfapfapfappitafappita fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fapafpafpafpafpapfappafpfpafafafpapa ung grunt homph sandwich, beer, zzzzzzzzz -------------------------- Message 148 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Wed Sep 3 03:12:20 2003 EDT From: Red_Fang (#5907) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: On and On. Clockwork's use of magick's earlier was purely astonishing considering his opinion of it all. So doing his rounds and trying to find the cowardly Clockwork napping again Red made his way to the Beer Gardens. No sign of Clockwork so Red picked his way back through the slisssh droppings that littered the wasteland these days. And what should he come upon on his return to the Keep. Not so far either, Clock's pimp house. So giving it a kick he gathered it up and brought it back to the keep. Then the work began. On an earlier adventure, Red and Owen had come upon a lockpick on the wheel.. Giving it over to Mirg who seemed the best qualified to do the job they sat about working the lock on the tent. Mirg attempts some mechanical roguery on the kirlian lock on a pimps house. With a mildly protesting *cluck* it yields, leaving the pimps house insecure. It was amazing. Inside they found a smell that could only be Clock's. A shield and a pair of football pads whatever those where.. And a sack. So Mirg went to work on the sack. But just as success was at hand the lockpick snapped breaking. So deciding what to do next was a hard choice. Knowing Clock was secretly a powerful mage they knew he'd just reclaim his belongings with a flick of his wand. So, soaking the sack in urine and locking it securely in the warded tower they hoped his magick wasn't strong enough to reclaim the sack. -------------------------- Message 149 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Wed Sep 3 21:47:50 2003 EDT From: Yak (#20718) To: *storylines (#5236) Yak passed the broken light bulb and slurpee spoon straw over to Clockwork as they sat on a sand dune in the Beer Gardens. A puff of chemical smoke escaped his slightly open mouth and he mumbled to no one, 'Man, firin' up this amphetamine lab was a beautiful idea.'. Clock stopped blasting rails off of a broken GPS unit for a moment and answered in his own way, 'Yeah.' He then crushed up a little K and snorted it through his flared nostrils. The two sat peacefully in a bliss that can only be attained 'sans' alcohol, 'avec' chemical, and zoned out peacefull for a few minutes (seconds under the allotted time where the eagle proclaims it unsporting to attack people). Yak, who had neglected to inhale the horse tranquilizers, suddenly came to as A fuzzy looking Red Fang and Ceri stormed into the gates. He initially passed the sight off as a hallucination as one of them appeared to be carrying a gigantic pimp house on their back. Then, the blood began to fly. Red Fang was hacking at Clockwork's melon with a rapier. He found it funny that for a good 10 whacks of sharpened metal, Clockwork had yet to respond. 'He's stuck in a K hole...' The thought resonated in his mind for a moment before he managed a raspy, 'Stop.' Red grinned. 'Stop!' he shouted again at the two who he once counted among his friends. Realising he was getting no response, he blocked the exit to the wastes. Red finished knocking out the drugged up Clockwork and then swung at Yak. Ever the wasteland pascifist, Yak pulled the trigger on his 'Kidneybuster' and aimed right for the head. Although succesful, he knew that the Bonnie to Red's Clyde cared not for old friends, and seeing her 'Boo' on the ground in a pool of blood was a deat ticket for himself, Yak showed how truly heroic and brave he was and fled his home. As he stumbled through the sand and slisssh poo, he felt his conscience clear and decided to go back to the gardens and get some sleep. Maybe it was all a dream. No more hard drugs for Yak... PS. Clockwork's a Jib-Tech. -------------------------- Message 150 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Mon Sep 8 17:01:28 2003 EDT From: Frank (#18463) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: For sale Lockpick, enquire at Freaky Franks Locksmith. Near Oasis Keep and the Bloody Claw. In need of smokestones as well for pick sharpening. Thanks. Frank. -------------------------- Message 151 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Mon Sep 8 17:15:08 2003 EDT From: Samatha (#18463) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: The woo's of a bar wench Samantha walked about the Bloody Claw wiping down the tables and chairs, she glanced over at the lonely barstool and a tear fell from her eye, "I miss him so." she confided in Charlie the barkeep. "He was so brave and so commanding. He defended me too." Sam said. Charlie just took another swig of his whiskey and grunted, "get back to work." Samantha muffled a cry and went back to work, "oh where have you gotten to Darkpaw." -------------------------- Message 152 from *storylines (#5236): Date: Thu Sep 18 23:45:16 2003 EDT From: Ceri (#24980) To: *storylines (#5236) Subject: Findings Ceri was cold and wet and had no idea where she was at. It was dark, and her mouth felt full, a cottony feeling made her think she had been in quite a fight. The last she remembered she was gathering kelp to make a poultice for Red. He had been having alot of symptoms resembling a cold, and Ceri wanted to make sure he didn't get sicker. While working, her thoughts had turned to Grady and his most current problems. HE had sought out Shandryl and was inquiring about mages, magics, and potions. When Shan had indicated she would tutor the boy, only the idea of losing his scrotum to her collection stopped him. Ceri had warned Grady that going to N'Orleans would only lead to trouble. SHe also told him that if he had gotten anything from the Magistra he should immediately get rid of it. Ceri thought aloud saying, 'That boy will be the death of me yet!', when the world went black. Little did she know how right she was. Something was ringing off in the distance. It took a few moments for Ceri to realize it was her communicator. She followed the sound, and crawled to it, shoving the button against the wall and her hip and tried hard to answer. She wasn't sure anyone would hear, but it was worth a try. Red's voice came to her, and told her to sit tight, he was coming. Ceri smiled knowing he would do just that. It was the last thing she thought before the darkness overtook her once more. IT seemed like weeks later and she opened her eyes. Home in her own bed, Tang and Nenana at her feet, Ceri knew Red had kept his word. SHe was safe, and Red was there, and that was all that mattered for the moment. The rest could wait for another day. --------------------------