Perhaps a trap could be set for him? There has to be some way to find him.

"Wow! What's this we have here? A Demi-human, why I never guessed I would ever see one. I've heard stories of half breast half men before but I never thought I would have the pleasure to finally meet one. Hello my good sir, my name is Paul Smith. You seemed to be troubled? Prejudice is found everywhere isn't it. Well, I'll let you know that I am not one of those repulsive men. Anyway. What is your name if I may ask?",Paul walked up to the tiger-man at the counter and wondered why he was so preoccupied with the racist men. "Pay no heed to those gentlemen, if I can even call them that, for there are also good people out there willing to accept you just as easily as the people who despise you."

Charles listens in interest to the conversation.


Perhaps if we had a name then we could find out more about this man.

He stands and gives a slight bow to the man-tiger.  Charles Harris, at your service.

"Setting a trap is all well and good, but a trap needs bait!" Mercy mildly exclaimed. "I sure hope you aren't suggesting that Connor be the bait!"

"Mr. Smith, Connor is part of our traveling troupe. We helped liberate him in Marseilles from a similar monster to this rich man."

"Connor, may I present to you Mr. Paul Smith. We met in the store. I thought you were there at the time, but you must have been window shopping elsewhere."

"Connor Holmes, of Holmes Machine Works and Specialist  Fitters Ltd, nice to meet you," Connor replied with a slight nod in Charles' direction to return the introduction, then he looked to Marian and shook his head in a sad sort of way as he said,"even if I did agree and we did set up a trap, I didn't see the people who were making the plot, I just heard them since this establishment is so full of people, so I don't know who to look out for unless I hear them again.

I've got ears that can pick out a pin dropping in King's Cross station at rush hour and eyes that can see like a hawk even at night, but it's easy to hide in a crowd."

Marian blushes at Mercy's words. Well I didn't mean to put him in danger of course... she mumbles lamely. At Connor's explanation she scowls. Blast! Well, perhaps they will make a move on you and we can pummel them then? If you hear anything again let us know and we will look around for you, see who is talking and narrow it down. If you try to glance over you could give yourself away but perhaps the curious eyes of two women will not arouse suspicion. Of course, that is if they haven't left already...I advise not being alone for a while Mr Holmes.

Nice to meet you Mr. Connor. I see you own a business of your own, and that to you are an engineer, like me. There are a lot of engineers in your group aren't there. Paul felt much more comfortable around the group of voyagers now that he knew most of them he could relate to. It was a refreshing feeling. I could accompany Mr. Connor, I have sone military experience so I could help him out. I do t mean that Mr. Connor can't take care of himself, but if you are looking for someone, I may be of assistance.

"I've seen Connor in action," Mercy explains, "so I wasn't too worried about him. It's one thing to volunteer to be bait--it's a whole different thing when you volunteer someone else!"

"Did you get any sense of direction the voice might have been coming from? Behind you? To the left or right? We might be able to spot anyone looking suspicious."

"It sounded to me like it was coming from yea sort of direction," Connor said with a slight shrug as he mulled over his drink, jerking a thumb over his right shoulder towards one of the corners of the pub, "Might as well be on a wild fowl chase though, I daresay an establishment  with such an...international...leaning has a lot of people you might classify as 'suspicious', ourselves included, after all in other terms that might be called 'atmosphere' for a place such as this."

Again the tiger shrugged, "There's no sense raising an uproar and worrying about it, if these fellows are going to try some skullduggery there isn't much I can do besides be prepared for it and handle it when it comes. Miss Kincaid can tell you, I've made big burly chaps with mechanical enhancements scream like little girls when I've got my ire raised and my dukes up, right now you happened to have caught me in a more mellow temperament."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:41, Fri 07 Aug 2015.

Oh I would love to see that Marian grins gleefully. It must be marvelous! The downside of being a woman, well one of many, is that it is difficult to intimidate people. I'm capable enough when I need to be but even when I'm besting my enemies they aren't as properly afraid as I would like them to be. It is immensely annoying she sighs. But then I suppose people underestimating our gender has its advantages she nods towards Mercy.

"Did you find a lot of... difficulty getting published? I mean, with your gender?" responded Mercy.

"I was halfway to where I wanted to be before it finally sunk in that I was being treated differently because I was female... well, at least once I filled out a bit."

"It was kind of funny in a way... when I was young, it was strictly about what I could do. Oh, sure, the other kids would tease me, but all kids do that. When it came down to the actual doing, though, I could do it better than most boys, and that's what they liked and respected."

"As I understand it, more and more women are in a position to buy and read books nowadays, so you have a much larger audience now than you would have had 50 years ago. Improved publishing methods and increasing distribution also create a greater demand, so I'm sure the publishers are desperate to find talented writers to fill that demand."

"We're here in Lugaash--the closest thing to the middle of Nowhere without actually being in Nowhere--and Connor was able to buy a penny dreadful!"

"Penny, yes. Dreadful? Oh, I think not." Connor quipped with an amused churr-urr-urr rumbling in his chest and throat, an amused purr of feline chuckling,  for unless Connor really got a good belly laugh going and his voice was in it that was how he laughed, a soft, almost gentle churring sound.

He knew very well what the slang term for what we might call a "pulp" novel meant, but Connor couldn't help making a little joke as he voiced his opinion of what he considered an underrated genre of literature, one he considered a nice little guilty pleasure to indulge in...

Oh yes I did have my naysayers to be sure she nodded at Mercy's question. Thankfully I found similar success upon proving my merits. It is fortunate that we have encountered so many who appreciate our abilities rather then judging our gender. And thank goodness for my female readers! Not to say I don't have a fair following of men but I doubt I would have gotten off the ground without them. Hearing about the Penny Dreadful and Connor's joke she laughs happily. Really? How wonderful! I confess to enjoying them myself from time to time. Nothing quite like a thrill when life gets boring, not that any of you likely have a boring life but up until recently mine had its moments... she winces. I've often considered writing one of my own but wasn't sure where to start.

"Well, I normally read technical manuals for entertainment," Mercy comments. "I suppose I'll have to branch out a bit!"

"Oh, Connor, did you happen to see if any of Marion's books were in the store where you got your dreadful?"

"Did you say whether you were published under your own name, Marion, or did you use a nom de plume?"

"Wasn't really a store, per se," Connor replied with a shrug, downing the last of his drink in one solid go and shaking his head "no" to the barkeep when he made to try and refill the tiger's glass, the felinoid having had enough alcohol for his tastes at the moment, settling his tab as he continued, "Got this lot from a sidewalk stall around the corner, a very big one, but it wasn't a full shop. Can't say I saw any of Miss Holroy's books, but there was a varied and somewhat eclectic selection of books, newspapers, and the like on sale."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:28, Wed 19 Aug 2015.

I write under my own name, though I see the appeal of anonymity. If I wrote as a man I may do better than I am now she laughs.

"Yes, it's kind of a two-edged sword, isn't it?" Mercy commented. "Whenever I've written a monograph or even a small technical manual, I was advised to publish it under 'M. Kincaid'. The consensus seemed to be that no one would bother reading anything technical written by a woman."

"So how many books have you had published? Have all the books you've written been published? Are you writing a new book?"

Mercy seemed to have gone off on a tangent.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:03, Mon 24 Aug 2015.

Marian laughs at the rush of questions. I've published nine thus far and no, there's plenty I've written that didn't make the cut I'm afraid. Writing is easy but writing well...that's a bit trickier she admits with a grin. I'd like to think I'm getting better at it but there's always room for improvement. As for more, very much so yes. I actually am traveling for the purpose of gaining more inspiration for my next books. I think I've trapped my parent's dry about their travels and it was high time I had some of my own. Already I have more than I ever dreamed of and I've barely started! I'm very excited, I have dozens of notes already she beams.

"Nine!" Mercy exclaimed at the revelation.

"Are these... um, what do they call it? A series?"

"You've said the stories your parents told you are the inspiration, but do you write them about--presumably--fictitious people? I mean, the same people in every story? Like Holmes and Watson."

"Oh, we've got to go the bookseller! I've got to get one of your books! It's far more exciting when you know the author, rather than some person from another country that you've never met. At least I think it is!"

Mercy managed to curtail her sudden exuberance for a moment as she looked around.

"Charles, Paul... would you happen to know where our compatriots may have got to?"

"I've almost forgotten what we were doing. We probably should be getting back to the ship. There's a possible assassination about to take place in Bourbony by these nasty Vril. Have we told you about them?"

For the most part yes, I do have recurring characters though some are stand alone books. They also tend to have a bit of romance in them so be warned she laughs, delighted at the woman's enthusiasm for her writing. I would love for you to read one of them though I confess there are far better authors than me out there she blushes.

At Mercy's reminder about the Vril she sobers up a bit, listening. It was easy to forget why they were there in such pleasant company but villains were not only things found in books it seemed.

"The Vril huh? Never heard such a name before. Hmmm... But they seem dangerous if you're fleeing from them. Could I accompany your, team, of people? This is probably what I've been looking for, a way to get out of home and venture the world. Plus another engineer to the team wouldn't hurt right? I also see  that you don't have many fighters, and I have been in the military. Point is, I wish to accompany you all. Would that be possible? I haven't been in many airships either."
Paul thought to himself that the Vril sounded like an extremely strange... whatever they were. Anyway, Paul hoped the group would allow him his request and join the group of strange adventurers.

"Oh, we're not 'fleeing' from the Vril--we're pursuing them!" Mercy replies.

"They were in Scotland trying to take over a cavorite mine by assassinating Lord Kentigern in London. We not only thwarted the assassination, but we thwarted the mine take-over."

"Unfortunately, they escaped in a black airship, taking the cavorite ore and Professor Cavor with them."

"We found a list, though, that had Kentigern's at the top, followed by Princess Yetive of Graustark and the present ruler of Bourbony. Our brief stop in Graustark probably thwarted the assassination of the Princess, so we were heading to Bourbony to forestall yet another assassination."

"We made a slight detour here after fishing the new Grand Vizier out of the Mediterranean Sea. We think he may have been targeted by the Vril as well."

"Alas, we know little about the Vril other than their actions. There was a book published years ago. We think it was supposed to be fiction, but some folks have claimed it was true. In the book, the Vril was both a race of superior women that lived in some marvelous underground city and the mental power that supposedly wielded."

"We have no idea if there's any connection to the assassins we've been encountering."

"As for fighters, well, we have Connor here. And Grimsby, Bellgrove and Dash are competent enough. Then there's our captain, Remi."

"As far as I'm concerned, you and Charles are welcome to join us, but I don't speak for the whole crew."

You Marion and Connor are the only crew members I have met.  I can take you to other locations if you think they might have gone there or back to your airship if you would like.

Charles perks up when the Virl Society is discussed.

This group... The Vril,  do they deal with high tech weapons.  Lighting guns and the like?

"I prefer to think of myself as an inventor over a bruiser,," Connor said as he rose from his place at the bar and made ready to get going, "All the same,  I can hold my own, was trained since I was young how to fight in various forms, and I haven't let my skills get rusty. I believe the Yankee expression is 'kick ass and take names', if you'll pardon the language.

To answer your question,  Mr. Harris, the Vril Society has just as many of the latest fancy toys and things that go 'bang' as we do, so it's partly up to technological wizards like Miss Kincaid and myself to make sure ours are better so we all can stand a better chance."

"Yes, they had a lightning gun with which they attempted to assassinate Lord Kentigern when he was in Gas Lamp Club," Mercy replies.

"Unfortunately for the two Vril assassins, they weren't as quick as Remi, Viktor and Dash! Dash was able to push Kentigern out of the way, though not without getting struck in the back! Remi and Viktor shot the two assassins before they could fire again!"

"I was given the lightning gun. It was based on the same design as Nikola Tesla's gun, but the construction was... inferior. Matthew and I have fixed the problems with it."

"Then there's their black airship. We don't know much about it, having only seen it from a distance."

"Oh, and then there's there wireless telegraph device! We found it in Graustark."