This Wednesday I attended a meeting held by Nathan Hawke, to discuss the recent goings on with his spies being kidnapped and the candidates of the election being attacked inside Castle British.

On arrival I noted down some of the attendees:

Traveler the Arcanist, Splinter [PWR*], ARAGORN [*CD*], Lord Sparrow [ELV], Lord Aurelius, Barbaretta [DOT], Lord Phineas [DCi], Crest Lavender [JoF], Lord Fargo [Tre]

 

Once everyone was seated Nathan began:

Nathan Hawke: Ahh good evening all

 

Kayne: Evening Nathan, suitably recovered from your injuries?

 

Nathan Hawke: Aye Kayne. Now then let me get started.

This is intended as a catch up session and a discussion, and a place to talk ideas

So I think firstly shall I catch us all up to whats been happening?

 

Kayne: Please Nathan

 

Nathan Hawke: Thank you Kayne. Alright I will try and keep it brief.

So last Thursday we met the candidates and there was all sorts of trouble afoot. There was an incident where one of my spies was ambushed and kidnapped, she was carrying one of my cipher books which ended up..

where was it found?

Aurelius: Exodus ‘dungeon’.

Nathan Hawke: I think it was found at the brigand fort near Yew?

Sparrow: on a bed in the farmhouse

Nathan Hawke: No no Sparrow that was sunday

Sparrow: ah sorry

Nathan Hawke: And there were also some half made bombs in Nujelm. Are we agreed on that?

I guess so

 

WoitaB: wasn’t there strange golems in exodus?

Nathan Hawke: We will get onto that Woit

WoitaB: oh sorry

Nathan Hawke: SO moving on to Sunday. We annaounced the two finalists

Alaster The Mad: we were ambushed !

Nathan Hawke: Followed a trail to a mage shop. The alchemist there opened a gate,  and we were ambushed

Alaster The Mad: indeed

Brynhild: We shouldn’t have got in the gate.

Nathan Hawke: Agreed Bryn, noted

But the important issue as far as I was concerned was the book we found and the nature of the attackers I am not sure of the significance of the book yet, but what we did see were some very crudely made walking machines

Alaster The Mad: * raises hand*

Nathan Hawke: Kind of like human robots?

Go on Alaster

Alaster The Mad: we went with kayne and snorri, and woitab too checking on my idea the exodus pyramid we found one of the same kind in there,  he was in an important room of the pyramid it seems

Nathan Hawke: Good work Alaster *makes a note*

Alaster The Mad: nothing was different as usual else, apart this same kind of machine we found

Aurelius: We also saw rather a lot of Tokuno ninjas, didn’t we?

Nathan Hawke: Good point Aurelius

Alaster The Mad: yeah !

Nathan Hawke: *makes a note*

Nathan Hawke: So then we are all clear on where we are so far?

Alaster The Mad: indeed

Angeline: yes

 

Nathan Hawke: So lets go back to basics a moment

Skaros once told me there are three things to consider in a situation like this

Means, Motive and Opportunity

So what are the means then as we know so far?

 

Kraven: greed?

Kraven: power hungry?

Sparrow: motive

Sparrow: golems

Kayne: perhaps an attempt to stop there being a cohesive leader?

Kraven: motive power hungry

Kayne: oh wait thats motive

Sari-Liane: Sounds like the beginings of Chaos to me…

Sparrow: golems are a means

 

Nathan Hawke: heh

 

Escaflowne: *Smirks*

 

Nathan Hawke: true indeed

 

Alaster The Mad: argh

 

Nathan Hawke: greed would be a motive

 

Kraven: means is greed

Nathan Hawke: means would be the golems and the Tokuno assasins?

Kayne: the alchemist too

Alaster The Mad: yep, alchemist too

Alaster The Mad: he was with them

Nathan Hawke: Aye kayne

 

Sari-Liane: *Stares at Escaflowne for a few moments*

Brynhild: And they need inside information, else how would they have known about Monica?

 

Kayne: Chance may have led them to Monica

Nathan Hawke: Aye kayne possibly chance. We cant rule out either though

So lets look at motive a moment

Sparrow: power

Nathan Hawke: greed has been mentioned but what kind of greed? Power, yes

Escaflowne: Do we know who their actual target was on Sunday? Or were they going for all of us?

WoitaB: we should be careful, they may have spies in britain

Kayne: Perhaps to stop there being a cohesive leader in the realm

Nathan Hawke: Who saw where the first explosions happened Sunday?

Tokot: *tries to stay invisible*

Kayne: *raises hand*

Nathan Hawke: Go on Kayne

 

Kayne: the first i saw were in front of the seating on the south west side

 

Alaster The Mad: i saw that too

Kayne: also where i saw the first of the assassins

Nathan Hawke: So then

Alaster The Mad: and if i’m right, they trow some explo potions at citizens on benches down the ninja location

 

Nathan Hawke: is it too far to speculate the targets were the candidates?

Alaster The Mad: oh my

Nathan Hawke: That would tie in with kaynes theory

Mary-Ann: I would assume that is correct

 

Nathan Hawke: So then that takes us to opportunity

Brynhild: Why go for all of them? Four were just knocked out of the runnin’ anyway,.

 

Mary-Ann: maybe they do not want us to become as 1 ”fighting unit”?

Nathan Hawke: Aye Mary

Kayne: Wait Nathan you were the only one on stage at the time

 

Tokot: *quietly makes notes*

Nathan Hawke: *blinks*

WoitaB: next time we see them, we should capture one, instead of killing them all

 

Nathan Hawke: Woita hold that thought

 

Alaster The Mad: we kill then capture

Kayne: You were just talking about how the elections were going well

 

Nathan Hawke: kayne but none were thrown at me as I recall?

Caelia Alberic: but there was something brewing, you said..

 

Kayne: Not that I was aware of but who can be sure?

Nathan Hawke: Aye Caelia but that was vague rumours

 

Mary-Ann: maybe they missed

Aurelius: None were thrown with much accuracy though.

 

Caelia Alberic: indeed, but after that all hell broke loose

 

Nathan Hawke: So then

Aurelius: For ninja, it was a very shoddy job…

Nathan Hawke: lets assume the target was either me

Mary-Ann: maybe it was a diversion for something else happening

Nathan Hawke: or the candidates, or someone else

 

Mary-Ann: *ponders aloud*

 

Nathan Hawke: it could have been a diversion perhaps, But i suspect it was a direct assasination attempt

WoitaB: seems to be…

 

Nathan Hawke: And the opportunity was all of the candidates gathered?

 

Tokot: *tries to hide a chaos tatoo on his shoulder*

Alaster The Mad: but i sold them !

 

Nathan Hawke: Or at the very least the final two?

Escaflowne: Sounds reasonable

Angeline: but they attacked after the official meeting

 

Nathan Hawke: Aye Angeline I noticed that thinking back now

Angeline: when some of the candidates may have gone home

Nathan Hawke: *ponders*

Kayne: Also clegg had left so we can rule him out of being a target though he could be a traitor?

Angeline: i mean , if they wanted the candidates together , they should have attacked earlier

Escaflowne: It’s Alastar trying to assasinate me i reckon

Kayne: He didnt try hard enough Esca

 

Nathan Hawke: Agreed Angeline but perhaps just a bad assassin?

Angeline: one bad assasin? there were more then one

Nathan Hawke: Agreed Angeline

Angeline: But let’s say you were the target

Mary-Ann: they were not very organised

Angeline: then it would make sense to attack after most peple would have gone home

Kayne: agreed why chance too many of us defending

WoitaB: mmhhh i’m sure there’s a spy inside the castle

Nathan Hawke: or just followed me?

Kayne: You could have been ambushed on your way home if it was you

Nathan Hawke: Aye kayne thats what I am saying. There had to be multiple targets?

WoitaB: they came in the heart of the castle

Mary-Ann: Esca and alaster were the targets

Forbrak: Does that mean they will try again tomorrow?

WoitaB: could be a message, or an opportunity to have multiple targets at once

Aurelius: Perfectly possible they just wanted a crowd …

Phineas: Perhaps if the canidates are the target we should take measures to ensure their location is safe.

Aurelius: after all they did not concentrate on any of us at the ‘ambush’

Alaster The Mad: it’s ok don’t worry, i’m made of iron

Escaflowne: It sounds like their motive is to stop the lands being united again

Escaflowne: And prevent a new leader of power

Kayne: Maybe it was just an attack on freedom in general

Escaflowne: If we were infact the targets

Aurelius: if they were to kill Esca, Alaster or Nathan, then was a perfect chance too.

Tokot: Didn’t think it could be the third candidate of semifinal?

Alaster The Mad: exactly esca

Sparrow: and the devices in Nu’jelm would support that

 

Nathan Hawke: Aye all of that makes perfect sense to me, I will double the guard tomorrow And as a few of you have surmised it seems to be either to disrupt the elections kill the candidates or discredit someone

Alaster The Mad: it’s esca who wants to kill me ! i’m sure !

Escaflowne: Lies and Slander

 

Nathan Hawke: Esca

 

Mary-Ann: *eyes esca*

Escaflowne: I wouldn’t mind some robots though

 

 

Nathan Hawke: quick question?

Escaflowne: Of course. Fire away

Aurelius: Bad phrase to use Esca…

 

Nathan Hawke: Is Vesper workign on robot technology?

 

Escaflowne: Not currently. We’ve been a big fan of golems in the past, for our golem wars event. Not going to lie to you

So we’ve dabbled in the use of golems alot in the past

Brynhild: *Looks very suspicious*

Escaflowne: We’ve always liked to keep a balance of technology and magic

Nathan Hawke: I know

Escaflowne: Vesper is a city of industry after all and a big port city

Caelia Alberic: maybe someone in vesper is against esca?

Nathan Hawke: Exactly

Escaflowne: Always new inventions coming through our city

Aurelius: The quality of the golems we met was pretty poor…

Escaflowne: I can carry out investigations Within Vesper To see if there are any culprits

Nathan Hawke: Thank you Esca. Yes please

Kayne: Esca you did threaten Alaster after the announcement

Aurelius: The Vesper ones were at least a stage or two better than those things…

Nathan Hawke: Aye Aurelius, very poor machines

Escaflowne: I’ve never threatened Alastar

Alaster The Mad: oh, it’s friendly teasing between us !

Mary-Ann: merely implied then esca?

Brynhild: They might’ve made them in a hurry.

Nathan Hawke: Who is they Bryn?

Mary-Ann: or had no knowledge on how to construct them

Brynhild: The Vesperians.

Aurelius: Recently we did see Mericles show up again …

Corintur: I would say any tinker worth anything knows how to make one

Nathan Hawke: This isn’t his MO Aurelius

Aurelius: in the past he had a link with the Exodus machines and the technology used

Corintur: so thats moot

Aurelius: by if I remember right, the orcs…

WoitaB: maybe it’s a diversion

Nathan Hawke: it is a good point Aurelius

Nathan Hawke: *makes a note*

Escaflowne: Something to ponder, Is maybe the golems were not of good quality, because it was a different less intelligent race

Kayne: Didn’t orcs make some odd machines around the time of the Blackrock detector incident?

Escaflowne: Crafting them and not humans or elves

Mary-Ann: can Mericles actually return again?

Alaster The Mad: aaah good point

Escaflowne: or gargoyals

Nathan Hawke: yes kayne

Sparrow: Golems are mindless killers they dont have to be high technology

Alaster The Mad: yeah gargoyles are really fine in their crafting work

Escaflowne: Maybe it was the orcs again, They are quite sloppy with crafting sometimes. Or maybe it could be an entirely different race

Mary-Ann: could it be someone we have not yet encountered?

Nathan Hawke: But isnt this all a bit elaborate for orcs?

Tokot: we miss the ninjas

WoitaB: yeah i guess

Kayne: Werent the machines they had made for them?

Aurelius: Still leaves the issue of the ninja …

Alaster The Mad: maybe brigands with small budget

Tokot: or ones that want to-be-seen like ninjas

WoitaB: they used to make bombers or else, but no great machines

Nathan Hawke: Ahh the ninjas

Aurelius: Even ifthe coe of the plot is not in Tokuno, someone hired them

Escaflowne: Aye Orcs aren’t the brightest of races

Aurelius: which isn’r particularly ‘orcish’.

Escaflowne: But they sometimes have their strings easily pulled

Kayne: No but the machines they had at the blackrock detector time werent made by them as i recall

Nathan Hawke: Aye the tokuno ninjas seem like they were hired

Escaflowne: So perhaps we’re looking for another puppeteer, Like merciles. We don’t even know if its Orcs yet anyway. So have to keep our minds open. Could be lizardmen for all we know

Mary-Ann: or it could be someone new, someone with an unknown grudge?

Kayne: We have to explore all possibilities while we know nothing

Nathan Hawke: I must agree with Escaflowne here and Mary Ann, it could be someone not known to us

Aurelius: Actually Esca, other good contender is the rat clan in the abyss,

Alaster The Mad: * scratches beard*

Aurelius: one of them has a lot of mechanical ‘pets’ around them.

WoitaB: *nods*

Kayne: Has anyone recently been banished from Britain? maybe as simple as revenge

Mary-Ann: I tyhought they were merely foragers?

Nathan Hawke: Alright so lets move on a little

Escaflowne: Yes Ratmen are very possible. I’ve seen their clockwork scorpions.  Not the great craftsmanship

Nathan Hawke: Alright good ideas. But one question I wanted to ask

The machines in Exodus dungeon who makes them?

WoitaB: exodus?

Escaflowne: they make themselves these days. But Exodus did create them at first

Aurelius: We were never sure…

Escaflowne: Maybe one of the machines in exodus and risen to extreme intelligence

Alaster The Mad: we also seen gargoyle enforcer created by machines in there !

ARAGORN: the controllers perhaps?

Kayne: Exodus was destroyed wasnt she?

Escaflowne: And is now co ordinating this all themselves

WoitaB: and maybe the controlers…

Aurelius: There are controllers and some gargoyles in the Exodus ‘dungeon’

Brynhild: Blackthorn turned into a cyborg there, didn’t he?

Nathan Hawke: Hold on. SO the machines in Exodus are self perpetuating?

Alaster The Mad: not the machines

Escaflowne: Thats my guess

Aurelius: Possibly.

Sparrow: A Controller there sits in the middle of some machine

WoitaB: i dunno…

Escaflowne: They have become self sufficient

Kayne: It has to be controllers

Alaster The Mad: but the thing i’m sure to have seen was gargoyle enforcers self created

Nathan Hawke: Noted Alaster

Alaster The Mad: in few places in that evil place

Escaflowne: Maybe its a smart controller pulling the strings, Or perhaps like i said

Kayne: Yes there are enslaved gargoyles too perhaps their crafting skills are being abused

Escaflowne: One of the machines has grown to high intelligence and is now leading the rest of them

Alaster The Mad: nothing unusual to report on the controller’s little home, next blackthorn castle though

Escaflowne: Exodus was more machine than anything

Nathan Hawke: Alright I hear what you are all saying

Escaflowne: *Nods*

Nathan Hawke: And Esca makes a good point about a risen robot

Escaflowne: Wouldn’t be the first

Nathan Hawke: true. Alright

Aurelius: Would fit withwhat happened before…

WoitaB: juka also loves machines

Escaflowne: True the Juka were Exodus’s slaves

Kayne: there are alot of juka in blackthorns old castle in ilshenar

WoitaB: they have juggernauts and some other stuff

Alaster The Mad: * nods*

WoitaB: yep, but not now

Nathan Hawke: *scribbles notes down*

Brynhild: *Mutters about Escaflowne following Blackthorn to Exodus*

Nathan Hawke: Alright

Aurelius: When we ran across some ‘Blackthorn’ machines invading our lands before….when Mericles and the orcs stole some of their technology..

Escaflowne: I do hate them being called Blackthorn machines

Aurelius: the clues suggested some ‘controlling’ robot-style mind

Nathan Hawke: We will end this here and think about things – noted Aurelius

But Skaros has a mission. for those who havent been to see Skaros yet he has a mission for you and that may give us a few more clues.

Skaros is located in castle Britain, South end. If you go and ask him for a mission, he will tell you where to go

and ask about a report and he will tell you what he wants you to report on.

For now I will take my leave but we will reconvene soon and keep an eye out for anything unusual

Nathan Hawke: *yawns*

Nathan Hawke: Good discussion. Lots of possibilities

Good night all. go see Skaros

Tokot: We will never give up in our fight for the chaos!

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