Dalamar had searched for hours looking for someone who could revive Caramon. BUt none would do it for no cost - and none were willing to create a new price to suit the mercenary.

Dalamar stands in a magic shop. A small, quant shop with wooden floors that creak under each step. An aged Elf sits behind the store desk reading a book, casually glancing up at Dalamar in the healing and restoration section, standing before a Pheonix Elixir. A potion - that reads "Will rejeuvenate a life lost - 1 million credits".

Dalamar had two choices. Leave it behind, or take it with him. Either way he didn't have the money...
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:57, Fri 11 May 2007.

   After hours of fruitless searching, Dalamar was prepared to take more extreme measures.  But doing so would require him to lighten his load.  So he purchased a large trunk in which to carry the body of his brother to a safe location.  He walked to a darkened alley, ensuring he and his luggage was enshrouded by his mystic cloak.  Once out of sight, he made a final check of the area to ensure he was not being watched.  He then levitated an iron storm drain cover from its position over the sewer.  Caramon's trunk was then lowered gently into the ground and left on a dry ledge several feet underground.  The drain cover was replaced and Dalamar went about the next phase of his plan.

   Before entering the shop with the pheonix elixir, Dalamar cast a couple minor spells upon himself - see aura and levitation.  It would serve him well to be aware of his surroundings once inside.  With new eyes, he gazed upon the shopkeeper, hoping to identify the level of threat the old elf might pose.  Despite the enchantment of levitation, Dalamar is not currently levitated at the moment.  He will wait for the ideal time before increasing his altitude and escaping with what he has come for.

   But for now, Dalamar hopes to read the aura of the old elf...

The elf is a powerful mage of high experience.

Meanwhile...

Arven is in hot pursuit by Tolkeen forces.

Meanwhile-while...

The Madness is deep in thought - barely noticing the sounds of the vehicles approaching up from behind him on the road from Tolkeen to Freehold. It is the familiar voice of the weapons dealer that disturbs his pondering...

Zed : "Hey buddy? You want a job?"

   Dalamar inspects the other potions along the shelves, pretending to be looking for something specific.  Eventually he comes upon what he is looking for - a relatively cheap potion valued at around 500 credits.  He bumps it, apparently by accident, and it falls to the hard wood floor, shattering.  Dalamar instantly looks over at the elven shopkeeper with an expression of guilt.  "I'm terribly sorry sir!"  Dalamar waits for a reaction.

The elf stands tall behind the counter and replies : "I can't spend apologies..."

The elven shop keeper is obviously waiting for Dalamar to offer to pay for the Antidote Potion.

   "Of course not, I would never presume... but I have fallen upon hard times.  My cash flow of late has reduced to a trickle.  Might I offer you an exchange of services in order to reimburse you?  I've worked in a small magic shop before.  I have experience and don't mind remedial tasks..."  Dalamar's normal appearance is rather ragged and so he tries to improve by brushing his black hair from his eyes and straightening his clothes.

He replies simply with "No"

Dalamar then feels a cold breeze on the back of his neck and ears... to turn quickly will reveal nothing...

A few books at the front of the shop displayed in a window vibrate - in some most definitely supernatural way.

   "I see.  What is your shop's policy in this situation?  Surely the war has brought hard times upon many more than just myself.  Can we not reach some kind of agreement?"  Dalamar looks over his shoulder at the vibrating books, appearing slightly nervous when he looks back at the shopkeeper.  But he does appear sincere.

"Well, I do not require the services of a clumsy human - assuming clumsiness was the cause of the accident. Tell me - what would a mercenary be doing in a shop such as this - when he cannot even afford an antidote potion. You seem to have several instruments of war - I suppose I could accept trade..."

   I actually just resigned from my position as mercenary for the war effort.  I won't go into the details as I'm sure you have better things to do.  Perhaps this would satisfy my debt to you?"  Dalamar pushes back one side of his black cloak to reveal an Uzi held snuggly in a holster on his belt.  He doesn't touch it with his hand however - not wanting to alarm the elder mage.  "It is worth nearly twice your potion and to be honest, I've come to rely more upon my magic than conventional weapons.  I'm sure you could still make a profit though."

OOC - I checked the main book and an Uzi sells for 900 credits.

Arven is flying just over the heads of normal sized humanoids at the maximum speed allowed him by the Fly as an Eagle spell. Seeing how those in pursuit that are able to see the invisible are edging ever closer to him he decides to try one more deceptive tactic before resorting to violence. While he is of course more comfortable with violence he also realizes that killing or maiming many more Tolkeenites will ensure that a manhunt continues on for him after he escapes the city. He lets the pursuers get closer and then cuts hard in between two tall buildings. Using his Mystic Portal Talisman again he opens a portal on the wall and uses it to teleport into an alleyway he just passed about a block back. He immediately cancels the spell once through of course. His hope is that those chasing him will continue on forward rather than turning back to where they just passed. Arven will stay low and fly parallel route to the one he had been but still makes his way towards the western edge of the city.

Madness looks to see Zed. "Funny, I just came from one of those..." He then looks off into the sky as if listening to a thought. "The lady says yes." He hops into Zeds vehicle before even hearing the terms, seeming quite confident that this is what something had intended for him.

Zed is driving a military truck. The back is full of crates, weapons, and ammunition - along with an old style SAMAS suit.

The cab has three seats and a beautiful Cyber Knight moves closer to Zed in the middle seat to allow Madness room.

A hum-V follows, along with 2 hovercycles and a Chopper-Road Boss Motorcycle piloted by a massive Cyborg.

They are headed North East currently on route towards Freehold - The City of Dragons.

With a blank expression on his face Madness turns to notice the Cyber Knight. "Oh, hello, she's pretty. I don't remember seeing her in your shop." His acknowledgement of her in the third person could be considered rude, but his childish neutrality does not seem to indicate any arrogance or ill intent.

He will ride on with the group, not pressing Zed for the detail of the mission, but letting the ride unfold as it may.

The elf annoyingly responds to Dalamar "Fine, give me the gun. Consider this a favour. You are lucky I am in a good mood..."

Considering the dry tone of the elf - one would wonder what he would be like if he were in a bad mood...

   "Thank you sir."  Dalamar draws the weapon, quickly pops out the clip and hands the empty uzi to the shopkeeper.  He pockets the magazine and turns to leave.  Perhaps someday when the economics of this region has restored itself, I shall return and make a more proper patronage of your wares."
   And with that, he steps outside, content with the results of his investigation.

   Dalamar will start walking down the street, but he is looking around for an inn or motel with a window within view of the magic shop.  If one can be found, Dalamar will saunter over and enter the front door.

Such an inn is found. A badly scarred greot hunter in a hover wheel chair hovers behind the desk.

He looks up at Dalamar and asks rather bluntly "room?"

   "One facing the street."  Dalamar states flatly, his patience wearing thin.  He inspects the interior of the building, looking for anything of note, such as security cameras or suspicious-looking loiterers.

There are plenty of security cameras as well as several standard Tolkeen wards and mystic symbols. (I would assume Tolkeen would have special security companies provide magical security).

The Greot hovers his way to a room - facing the street - and opens the door. Afterwards he hands Dalamar a card key - with a shaky unstable hand. Not of nervousness - the alien may be old, or perhaps other effects from whatever cost him his legs.

(Please subtract 40 credits.)

The other tenants spotted are other mercenaries and travelers - most rooms are labeled as occupied.

   Dalamar steps into his room after completing the transaction with the impaired Greot.  He shuts the door and walks over to the window, casually peering out into the street and looking over to the front of the magic shop.  His face is like stone - there is no place for pleasure in this act.

   He shuts the curtains if there are any available, or hangs his old black cloak over the window if necessary.  Then he walks briskly out into the corridor and towards the exit of the inn.  He waves pleasantly to the Greot before stepping out into the street and hopping on his hovercycle.

   Dalamar knows there isn't much time left.  He decides to forgoe navigating the winding streets of Tolkeen and uses the thrusters of his bike to simply hop over the buildings to the next street, and the next.  The dark line walker's cloak of shadows billows out behind him as he soars through the air.  He's on a rather simple shopping trip but the look in his face does little to hide the urgency of his goal.

   Dalamar's first stop is an armour shop - any armour shop.  He's looking for a simple suit of full body armour, something cheap that includes a face mask, gloves, and boots.
   The second item on his list is a simple hooded cloak.  He doesn't really care about the colour, but if something drab is available, he'll pick it up.
   The third item to acquire will be a magic scroll of telekinesis.

   After paying for all of these objects, Dalamar will return to his motel room to make the final preparations...

   Dalamar attaches all the armour components to each other in order to construct a sort of dummy.  The arms and legs flop about as if they contained a dead body, but the armour definitely makes a humanoid shape.  Dalamar then places the hooded cloak on the armour, laying the entire thing down on the bed in his room.  Then he takes out his JA-11 laser rifle and slings the strap over the shoulder of the armour and lets the weapon lay across the chest of the prone suit of armour.

   The entire game of dress-up shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.  When he's finished, Dalamar inspects his work to ensure all the clasps and buckles of the armour are secure and that the cloak is positioned properly.

   "Caramon..."  Dalamar talks to the suit of armour as if it were his brother.  "One way or another, I shall be seeing you again very shortly."

OOC - stopping here to ensure the GM approves all the above actions.

OOC - GM approval received.

   Dalamar tucks his strange puppet into a fetal position and wraps his old black cloak around it, forming a sort of sack.  With the butt of his JA-11 and a gauntletted hand hanging out from an opening in the cloak, Dalamar hefts it over one shoulder and starts on his way out of the room and back out into the street.  He ignores any strange looks the Greot or other patrons might give him and he proceeds out the door.
   Dalamar mounts his hovercycle and pilots it up into the air and then over the buildings on the same side of the street as the motel - across from the magic shop.  He dismounts his hovercycle on the roof of the building directly across from the magic shop.  he sets the cloak down and drags out the suit of armour.  Quickly, he chants the words to a spell of levitation, targetting the helmet.  The armour quickly rises to its feet as Dalamar ensures the boots of the armour remain in contact with the surface of the roof.  Then he places the hands of the armour on the JA-11 laser rifle as if the empty armour was going to wield the weapon and he casts carpet of adhesion upon the rifle.  Dalamar then chants the words to the spell telekinesis upon the rifle and it jumps to life.  With the hands, and by extension the arms, attached with the adhesion spell Dalamar's puppet is starting to look very lifelike.  The final touch is the sudden appearance of a glowing light from within the helmet as Dalamar activates a ley line observation ball.

   Dalamar then casts levitation upon himself and hops back onto the hovercycle.  He makes a single jet-assisted leap from the roof of the building to the street level, landing off to the side of the magic shop so that he is not seen by the shopkeeper at the desk within.  He parks the hovercycle in an alley and then runs out to the side of the magic shop, activating the power of his shadow cloak.  He vanishes suddenly as he enters the shadow of a building where he concentrates on the spells he has active.

   Now, using telekinesis to aim the rifle and the observation ball to see, Dalamar begins firing the weapon from the roof top at the store.  Targetting the rifle in this manner sacrifices much accuracy.  But all that is needed is to blast through the windows, and cause a lot of racket.

   After fifteen shots, Dalamar will cease fire and let the smoke and dust begin to clear.  He will cast carpet of adhesion upon his own left arm and hand before running into the shop concealed by his cloak.  He will first cast an energy field between the location of the potion he is after and the shopkeeper's desk - or directly around the shopkeeper if he is visible.  Dalamar will run straight for the potion and grab at it with his 'adhesioned' hand, making a point of sweeping his arm across any other potions on the shelf.  Hopefully he can score a few extra items out of this venture.

   When he has what he came for he will turn to run back to his hovercycle.  He will get aboard and fly away.  His first destination will simply be the other side of town, going to a populated area to ditch the hovercycle and make his way to Caramon on foot.  He will also stick his 'adhesioned' arm into his bag and deactivate the spell, releasing all the potions.

edit: spelling and grammar
This message was last edited by the player at 11:17, Fri 25 May 2007.

Several people watch as Dalamar lands on the building across the street - a couple stop what they were doing to watch this event unfold.

The people jump out of his way and just watch or comment amongst themselves as Dalamar ducks into an alleyway.

The rifle fires 15 times in less than 5 seconds - Dalamar comes OUT OF THE SHADOWS to enter the building through the shattered window. Hundreds of people watch him enter, and were the shopkeeper visible he would see Dalamar as well.

Dalamar can instantly feel something supernatural and evil attacking his mind - trying to take control. Dalamar loses control over his telekinesis and levitation, as a faint growl is heard and a massive burst of telekinetic energy literally explodes the "ghost armour" to pieces raining down on the street.

He manages to steal a half dozen potions in total. He is suddenly thrown into the wall - and several shelves of other potions and trinkets. SHattering the shelves and items, Dalamar lets out a grunt of pain as the wind is knocked from his lungs. He falls on the ground on his face. One of the potions in his bag is obviously shattered and a foul smelling odour accompanies the pool of liquid leaking from Dalamars face and dripping from his beard.

He picks himself back up and makes for his bike.

A Cyber Knight stands between Dalamar and his transportation. His psi-sword is drawn, and Dalamar can feel himself shrinking smaller at an allarming rate... damn potion...

"Turn in what you have stolen and surrender yourself - and we can do this peacefully. I am a Cyber Knight, and you will not get away."

Dalamar has shrunk at least 2 feet in height within a few seconds - casuing the Cyber Knight to speculate.

"Hey! None of your magic!

The Cyber Knight charges forward at Dalamar who now has to worry about how small he is going to get, and a Cyber Knight - not to mention whatever it was that attacked him in the store...

Until a massive creature lands on the charging hero...

Arven stands tall with one foot on the crushed and leaking head of the cyber knight, the other on the ground.

Dalamars' hovercycle is quickly becoming a 20 minute walk away...

The appearance of Arven could be worse than the Cyber Knight however - he did just gun down Magnet Man recently...

   Dalamar never panicks.  He's not even sure if he is capable of such an emotion.  He was certainly startled by his shrinking and by the sudden appearance of Arven.  But he's still a very long way from giving up.
   Dalamar will duck into the nearest shadow to conceal himself if possible.  If not, he will be ready to dodge a stomping attack from the mad rahu man before him.  He levitates a fraction of an inch off the ground and casts a spell of carpet of adhesion on himself.  Then suddenly, a ball of light and energy appears within reach of his shrunken arms and he grabs on to its surface.
   The ley line observation ball is normally intended as a means of espionage - not transportation.  But at his current size Dalamar doesn't plan on wasting half an hour walking several feet to his hovercycle.  The glowing sphere travels at a speedy rate of forty-four feet per second and Dalamar zips up into the air.  When he is high enough, he will dart out of line of sight from Arven and over the roof of the magic shop.  He will make his way towards his brother's resting place along with his stolen collection of shrunken potions.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:21, Sat 26 May 2007.