Welcome to Step

[Cash]

((Takes place after Puppets on a String. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=162) Closed.))

It had been three days since those fateful events in the strange land the Althanas natives called Raiaera. Three days since Casha Via had discovered that not only was the assassin Tarry Whealer, who had disappeared so long ago, still alive but it also turned out he was longer human. Three days since that monster had severed all communication and links the young spy had with her home planet. Three days since she met the dark elf Do’negh who had also been betrayed by Tarry and took her under her his wing. And it had been three days since she left Raiaera and went to the bustling city of Radasanth. Needless to say it had been a long, hard three days for Casha Via.

Now the young, slightly depressed operative from another world was sitting in the middle of crowded pub in Radasanth for precisely the same reason as almost everybody in that same room that night, to get drunk and maybe figure out what the hell should be done next. So far she had only been able to accomplish the first part of that statement.

As Casha took another deep gulp from the bottle of spiced rum she held in her hand she once again looked around the room of The Drunk Dwarf’s Delight only to see that nothing had changed in the last minute or so. The air was still friendly and filled with the same upbeat music that sounded as if it came from a guitar and the various loud and bawdy voices of drunken adventurers telling all sorts of tales whose details were probably greatly blown out of proportion. The various smells ranging from exotic spices, to powerful alcohols, to noxious smelling body odors still filled the room. And the same drunken buffoons were still there.

Still all was not so bad, there was at least one interesting aspect of it all. About two tables behind her Casha noticed a short looking creature, likely what the natives referred to as a dwarf, spouting his mouth off about some secret organization called “Step” or something like that. What was also interesting was the weapon the thickly built, slightly over weight dwarf was swinging about causing him to get cussed at severely by several of his follow patrons whom he had almost decapitated with the odd device.

The device was made out of some sort of unknown metal and at first glance it seemed like a rather large yet still ordinary knife. Yet when the dwarf was swing it every so often the thing would unhook into chain connected sections and behave like a sharp, bladed whip.

After several hours finally after several hours and countless, cheap drinks later tiredness, depression and alcohol managed to over come Casha’s frail body and she passed out trusting the guards enough not to let any of the various drunk and horny men take advantage of her incapacitated state.

[Izvilvin]

Casha was someone Step had been interested in for some time. She had shown promise and had skills that would benefit the organization. Step could never have too many agents who could gather information. Izvilvin admired her as she slept, since he had nothing better to do for the moment. He was outside, peering through the window and remaining vieled in the darkness. She was pretty, he supposed, though he hadn't yet learned how to measure beauty in a human. She was interesting-looking, to say the least. Red hair, darker skin than many of the pale humans he'd seen running around Radasanth, quite interesting indeed.

Finally, the dwarf got up to leave. He had been left alone for some time, but had continued his babbling about Step, to himself. Izvilvin didn't know how the drawf had found out about them, but he couldn't be allowed to continue running his mouth off about it.

The bearded creature left the bar, finally kicked out for all his loudness. It was alright when the place was crowded and he was partly drowned out, but since he was still talking to himself when the place was near-empty, it'd become a pain.

"Bah!" He said to himself. "I dunneed no dang bar t'tell th'people 'bout Step! Dang buncha manipulatin'... Bah!"

Izvilvin crept quickly. The dwarf had done enough talking for one night. As the stout creature stumbled forward, all he was thinking of was getting to a place where he could rest. So be it. In the darkness, the dwarf suddenly felt a tightness around his throat. He tried to cry out, but something was over his mouth. What was going on!? He lifted his hands to his throat to try and massage it better, but found something protruding from it. He felt weak.

The Drow dragged him over to the treeline, where he dumped the limp body, throat freshly ripped out by his sai. Izvilvin calmly wiped the center prong against the dwarf's shirt, clearing it of blood, which could have led to rusting. Casha was asleep, he remembered, and he needed to have a letter written to explain some things if he were to approach her.

No matter, he had plenty of time to get in contact with her. He didn't feel like dealing with a hungover woman just yet. Izvilvin disappeared into the forest.

[Cash]

“Uh, shut the hell up,” moaned a hung over Casha as she weakly raised her head off the table, to view an unusually busy bar during the morning. Unsurprisingly, nobody paid heed to her words and the noise continued.

“Goddamn primitives. Looks like the average time for people to start drinking on this planet is right before breakfast,” complained the miserable feeling female as she slowly got up, using the table for considerable support in this endeavor.

“Jeez, how much did I drink last night?”

A few seconds and multiple groans and curses that stemmed from her throbbing head and swirling stomach later, she succeeded in getting up on her own two feet. It was after the part that followed where she tried to regain the ability to open her eyes without vomiting (a task that was a lot more difficult for her than it should have been) that she realized what all the commotion was about and her curiosity, which apparently was unaffected by her hangover, once again became sparked.

Slowly on wobbly legs the beautiful spy headed out into the bright sun to where the center of the commotion was coming from. She stopped only briefly to get her gag reflex under control, courtesy of the sunlight and the pungent smell that filled the air. However as soon as she saw the dead corpse of the dwarf, all her efforts became futile as she leaned over and promptly emptied the contents of her stomach all over the rocky ground.

“Wasn’t that the guy that kept running his mouth about ‘Step’ or what ever it was called? Oh shit…”

Casha’s face went blank and almost white as a ghost it suddenly dawned on her and the words of the dwarf the night before came slowly back to her. The thought of what happened cleared her of her headache almost instantly. Casha was no stranger to organizations like “Step”, in fact the whole reason she was on Althanas in the first place was because she was on a mission for such an organization. That would certainly explain why the dwarf suddenly ended up dead, even if almost everybody who had listened to his ramblings probably considered it nothing more than a bunch of drunken babble, an organization like “Step” would certainly want to make sure the dwarf closed his mouth for good to nip any potential threat in the bud.

“I’m just paranoid, probably from some weird ingredient in one of my drinks. This guy was probably just killed by some cut throats looking for an easy target, nothing more than petty bandits,” said Casha out loud as she tried to reassure her self and slow her pulse down to a normal speed.

Unfortunately her suspicions were only heightened when she managed to push her way through the ever-thickening crowd to where she could get a good view the corpse. Working several years with highly trained assassins for a secret government organization had taught Casha a thing or two. One of them was definitely how to recogonize the difference between a sloppy murder and a skill full assassination and from the looks of things; the dwarf’s demise definitely fell into the second category. No run of the mill bandit could have managed to do such a thing and leave so little evidence.

Slowly she made her way over to the corpse simply saying that she was a member of the police force to anybody that objected. Slowly she bent down and examined the corpse one more time yet once again the only thing she noticed that might have been a clue was the strange weapon the dwarf had. Quickly she grabbed the strange device and walked back into the crowd, hoping to get away before the real police would arrive.

As she left the area part of her felt that she shouldn’t be trying to get involved, having just seen what happens when somebody gets involved with Step in a way they aren’t supposed to. Yet another part of her, the part of her that had made her such a good spy in the first placed, yearned for more information. Besides, she had been sent to Althanas to gather as much information on the people as possible, and getting dirt on a group such as Step would certainly get her closer to accomplishing that objective.

[Izvilvin]

Things were going according to plan, Izvilvin thought as he hid in the brush, more than far enough away from the gathered folk of Radasanth to avoid being seen. The dwarf's body had been discovered, and should anyone from the tavern last night see it, they would know not to speak of Step any longer. Of course, the body gave legitimacy to the idea of Step's existence, but it would likely be enough to strike fear into the hearts of those who'd heard the dwarf's ramblings.

Good enough, Izvilvin figured. His actions were worthy of a Step member, and he was starting to get the hang of the whole thing. Though he was far away, the Drow was sure he saw Casha take notice and approach the body, then step away in a hurry. She didn't seem too shocked or appalled by it, which was a positive thing in his eyes.

He then left the area, stepping through the thick forest as carefully as he could. Casha needed some time to reflect, he believed, and it was time to get back to his allies and have a letter written.

"Horrible," a woman whimpered as a pair of Radasanth guards wrapped the dwarf's body up in a thick tarp and carried him off.

A man was beside her, equally nervous about what had gone down. "Another kill for that huge guy we see around here sometimes? The guards always try to stop him, but he's like a demon. These are scary times to live in Radasanth, everyone."

A chorus of agreement rose up among them as the guards made haste to deliver the body to a burial site. "But that wound was too clean," another man remarked. "The man who does all the other ones is pure power, no games. If there's a second killer on the loose, it might be time we got out of here."

Some nods accompanied the idea, but Radasanth was home to generations of family. It was the largest human city on Althanas. To see it terrorized by murderers without the guards able to anything about it was horrible, but leaving seemed almost as bad.

[Cash]

((Sorry for taking so long to post.))

It wasn’t long after leaving the crime scene that Casha realized there was one major dilemma in her quest to find Step. Step was a secretive organization, likely of the government sort, though she figured on a planet as strange as Althanas it could have been working for some other entity other than the government. What ever the case may be it likely meant that nobody would have any information on it, and even if by chance she stumbled upon somebody that did, especially after what happened to the dwarf, it was unlikely that they would say anything.

By now Casha was sitting under a large oak tree off to the side of the main road examining her only clue, the strange whip-dagger-thing that the dwarf had been wielding right before his untimely demise at the hands of a Step assassin. Aside from the obvious exotic nature of the unusual weapon there was nothing about it that could have served as a clue, well almost nothing. At the bottom of the hilt engraved in silver were the words Reh’moras Weaponry Inc.

“Must be the manufacturer of this thing. Bet they would remember the client who purchased such a weird device quite well,” thought the young spy as she realized she had finally found a lead “might as well pay a little them a little visit and see what I can’t discover. All I have to do is find out where their headquarters are located and that shouldn’t be too hard.”

Slowly the operative got up and headed out of the comfort of the shady tree and back into the hot sun. Quickly she stepped onto the hard packed stone road of Radasanth and headed off into the busy city, studying her map of Althanas as she did so. Within moments she was once again integrated in the large crowd of the city that seemed to constantly flow like water through the winding roads, hopefully something that would make it hard for any spying eyes to track her movement.

[Izvilvin]

It took some time for Izvilvin to return, but he did. Night hadn't quite fallen yet, but the sky was beginning to turn orange as the sun descended. Radasanth was still bustling, and would likely do so until the darkness became too difficult to do business in. The Drow wore a cloak as he wandered through the streets, but he didn't seem inconspicuous because of the way he walked--normally.

Occasionally his eyes would wander and detect a subtle signal from a nearby 'citizen', and he would go in that direction. Soon he saw Casha, walking through the people on her way somewhere. Izvilvin stayed distant and followed, blending into the crowd perfectly despite hiding his face within the hood of his cloak.

It was amazing what one's gait could accomplish.

[Cash]

((Matt, if you need to feel free to bunny my character or any of the NPC's in the building as you see fit.))

A few minutes later after asking for directions and sweet-talking a few guards the otherworldly spy found her self in front of a large, steel made, two story industrial building with the words Reh’moras Weaponry painted on the front of the building in large black letters. All around on what must have been acres of land owned by the apparently large company were numerous small buildings (most of which were numbered) not to mention, armed guards, and fences line with razor wire on the top not to mention numerous peaces of odd yet primitive and crude machinery that was likely imported from the more technologically advanced nation of Alerar.

“Well this place is looks friendly,” thought Casha jokingly before heading into the main building via the oak and glass double doors.

The inside of the building was much more welcoming to the visitor at least the initial room which served must have served as a sort of lobby. The entire floor was lined with burgundy colored carpet. Off to the far left of the room was a finely polished wooden coffee table that had several similarly made chairs around it. To the right side of the room were several neatly organized display cases that showed off various types of exotic weapons as well as the base price for said weapons.

The bright young spy casually made her way to the desk and the far end of the room where a young brunet girl with ears that were oddly pointed (the girl was a half elf) was sitting doing some paper work. As Casha neared the desk she made a point to act like she was just another curious customer.

“Can I help you miss?” asked the young women politely with her very best fake smile as she looked up from her stack of papers.

“Yeah, hi,” said Casha politely with a very convincing fake smile, similar to the one the young brunet woman had on her face “I was wondering who exactly the owner of this weapon was?” Upon finishing her question the young operative drew the strange weapon that she had found on the dwarf’s body and laid it out on the counter in front of the half elf.

The girl behind the counter looked over it briefly the weapon into whip form and back into dagger form and then continued to examine it for all sorts of little details the young spy likely didn’t even know existed. After a few moments of examining the weapon and looking through various documents the women looked up at Casha and in a polite very business like way she told the young operative “I’m sorry miss but the owner of that weapon is considered classified information, and I’m I can’t divulge that sort of information to unauthorized personal.”

“Lousy cooperate policies,” thought Casha as her sharp mind began to go to work on formulating a lye or plan to get the information she wanted. Luckily for someone who was trained in the art of trickery and deception that was not hard to do and in only a few seconds the sly operative from another world had formulated a plan.

“I’m sorry you’ll find I’m an exception to the rule,” responded Casha, who this time sounded much more stern and authoritative “I am operative Casha Via and I work for the Scarlet Brigade. That weapon you have lain before you has been linked to numerous high profile murders as well as a multitude of other crimes, now you either get me the information I want or I’ll have you and this whole company thrown in jail and interrogated.”

The look of fear and surprise on the women’s face showed that she bought the spy’s lie, something that brought a certain air of satisfaction to the spy herself. “Sorry madam, I’ll be right back with the information,” responded the girl hurriedly before heading through a door behind the counter that undoubtedly led to more areas of the building.

A few more moments passed before somebody else walked through the door behind the counter only it definitely wasn’t the girl. This time it was a taller more elegant looking man brown hair, dark green eyes, and tan skin. The man was wearing an expensive looking suit with a flintlock pistol on one side and a silver long sword on the other. The fancy looking man was flanked by two large men wearing basic suits of leather armor with steel chest plates and steel broadswords by their sides.

“You must be the women claiming to be with the Scarlet Brigade,” responded the man in a very calm and polite matter “please follow me.”

With no other option or leads to the case Casha figured there wasn’t much else to do. So keeping her eyes firmly on the man and his two goons she followed him through the door behind the counter.

[Izvilvin]

Izvilvin was a few dozen yards behind Casha when she entered the main building, but as she disappeared he sped up, running full speed to get to the door and press his ear against it, hiding most of his body behind the wall. He couldn't hear much, and even if he could he wouldn't have been able to understand it, but he could hear the tones of the two people inside, and that helped him to know what the situation was like.

When all of the talking was done, Izvilvin pushed against the door and made his way inside. The receptionist looked at him and saw his face through the cloak, and her eyes flew wide open. The Drow looked at her with an almost equal response, and acted on instinct, drawing a sai and sending it soaring at her.

Just killing her outright was pretty risky, but Izvilvin knew how a half-elf might react to his appearance. It could even trace back to Raiaera is she had the connections needed. He removed the weapon from her chest and wiped it off on her shirt, before tucking it back into his belt. After a quick look around, Izvilvin stuffed a portion of her own shirt into the wound and dragged her outside, putting the elf's body in a row of bushes at the side of the building.

Back inside he quickly inspected for blood. Finding no signs of his own foul play, Izvilvin went to the door behind the counter and pressed his ear against it, trying to detect any voices or footsteps. He heard none, so he slowly opened the door and stepped into the hallway beyond, keeping as silent as he could possibly be.

[Cash]

Casha was led through a cold industrial type hallway and up a long flight of coiling stairs to a nyhon redwood door of obvious exquisite craftsmanship. Casually the rich looking man opened the door before beckoning his two goons as well as the young spy, Casha inside.

Casha was led into a medium sized room that was clearly the man’s office and it showed off his wealth well. Two large book cases each filled to the brim with books lined both walls on the side, at the far end was an exquisite liviol desk that had in addition to one or two expensive looking ornaments, several papers on it. Behind the desk was a leather chair with golden trim around certain areas. What amazed the spy most was on the back wall behind a glass case was what looked to be a skeleton of a small dragon. The room containing no windows or electric lights; was lighted solely by large oil lamps that hung slightly from the ceiling.

“So Casha, why don’t you tell me who you really are?” inquired the man in a very business like tone.

“I already told your assistant I am a member of the Scarlet Brigade.”

“Pardon my language miss, but that is one of the biggest loads of crap I have heard in a long while. After all it’s a well-known fact that all members of the Scarlet Brigade where those tell tale crimson capes. Besides the Scarlet Brigade wouldn’t confiscate a weapon that was sold directly to Step,” responded the rich looking man with a chuckle that was only amplified by the sudden look of surprise and disbelief that had popped up on the red headed females face.

“So you’re a member of Step?” responded Casha, the disbelief that was apparent on her face just as easily detectable in her voice.

“My ties with Step are none of your business miss, but I assure you that I am not a member so you have nothing to fear.”

For a moment following that statement there was a bit of an awkward silence. Finally after her eyes finished scouring the room or the man for something that she could use as to her advantage and after her mind failed to come up with any sort of plan to goad the man into giving up more information she had to admit defeat for now.

“So what now?” she asked.

“You leave, the weapon stays in the building, and we both do our best to forget this whole ordeal ever occurred.”

With out another word the spy turned and started making her way towards the door of the office.

[Izvilvin]

As Casha moved to leave, the door opened and Izvilvin stepped into the room. His weapons were in his belt and he showed no signs of aggressiveness, but his eyes were past the woman and looking at the man, Wiggan. "I had to kill your elven friend, Wiggan."

Wiggan himself was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the Drow, but recovered quickly and painted a smile on his face. "Izvilvin, good friend! Welcome back. I'm sorry about my secretary, I suppose I wasn't thinking what would happen if you came here... Then again I wasn't expecting you."

Izvilvin's eyes drifted over to Casha, who was stuck in between them and likely quite confused, considering that both men were speaking in Drow, a complicated language impossible to be understood without experience. "Tell her what your purpose is, please. And about the dwarf, and give her the weapon. She needs to join, lest she be killed."

Wiggan held his eye contact with Izvilvin for a moment, reading him for any sign of joking or deceit. Slowly his eyes went back to Casha. "My company sells weapons and supplies to Step. Actually, we just provide the stuff, we don't actually pay for them. The dwarf was Fiddlecraw Axegrinder, a former member of Step who needed to be disposed of." He pointed to Izvilvin. "Our Drow friend disposed of him when he couldn't keep his mouth shut."

"He tells me to give you the weapon, but if he wasn't who he was, I wouldn't. I guess it can't be helped, though," Wiggan said. "Finally, he says you need to join Step or... You'll be killed."

Izvilvin couldn't understand the words, but knew from Wiggan's tone what he had suggested. In response, the Drow put his hands on his hips and blocked the doorway completely, suggesting with his body language that Casha had to make a decision immediately. Details would come later.

[Cash]

It wasn’t often that Casha opened the door and found a black skinned, white haired, pointed eared creature wearing a leather mask to cover the bottom half of his face. So when precisely that happened, the red headed spy from another world was a bit taken back to say the least. Of course things only continued to get stranger from that point on.

The rich human and the strange creature that Casha realized must have been what the natives called a ‘drow’ or ‘dark elf’ then began to speak in an unknown tongue. All Casha could do was watch with curiosity as she tried and failed to decipher what they were saying.

Luckily (or unluckily depending on the point of view) it didn’t take long for her to find out because as soon as the drow and the human were done talking the rich company owner quickly gave the otherworldly spy a brief rundown of what was said. In the end it all narrowed down to the choice she was given; join Step or be murdered then and there.

“Heh,” said Casha a bit nervously “I don’t know rather to be honored or frightened by your offer, but I guess I have no other choice. Tell him that I will join Step,” responded Casha to the human.

[Izvilvin]

Wiggan relayed the message to Izvilvin, who nodded and looked at the woman, doing so closely for the first time. She was interesting, he thought, and somewhat attractive for a human. The Drow didn't want to get personal though, not yet, as Casha hadn't yet properly been briefed and brought into the group, she had simply agreed to join.

An agent who spoke common would give her more info, Izvilvin knew, and he felt the need to get going as soon as possible. "Keep working hard," Izvilvin said to Wiggan, not quite sure what passed as a human farewell.

With that he made his way out of the room, on the way to a small house on the very corner of Radasanth where an agent named Stefanos would be waiting. The Drow dropped a watchful eye Casha's way every once and awhile, but was confident she wouldn't change her mind. After all, if she knew anything about Step, she knew not to double-cross an agent.

With Casha, Step now had enough members to carry out a rather important mission. Izvilvin just hoped that they could survive it.

[Cash]

Confused…

That was the only way to describe how Casha felt. After she agreed to join the strange looking creature called a drow said something to the rich human in some sort of strange language she didn’t understand and then left. That was it. There was no further explanation, no introduction to Step, no nothing. What the hell had just happened?

“So uh, does this mean I’m part of Step now?” asked the otherworldly spy with a very confused tone in her delicate voice.

“Yeah you are. You’ll find members of Step generally don’t like to talk much, so don’t be surprised if you’re not exactly welcomed into Step,” responded Wiggan with a chuckle “but I think they decided to let you in. I’m sure if they have something they want you to do one of their other members will be more than happy to deliver the message to you.”

“Well I guess I’ll be leaving then.”

“See you around miss. On and by the way pick up that weapon you left on the counter on your way out, and don’t worry about the dead secretary, I’ll have her body disposed of properly.”

Casha’s movements out of the building were almost ghost like as her mind struggled to comprehend what had just happened. Even as she grabbed her new weapon the sight of the murdered secretary was not enough to snap her out of the state of mind the last few events had left her in.

It was all so overwhelming, even for somebody who was used to a lot of stress and strange events. One minute she was investigating a murder to find out more about a secret organization and the next minute she was part of that very same organization.

Luckily, after a few moments, things started to sink in easier and the realization and truth of what happened came much easier. Suddenly she stopped in the middle of one of Radasanth’s many roads. As the wind ruffled her long her she looked down and smiled as all the information finally sank in.

From her mouth five words silently slipped out into the air “Well Casha, welcome to Step.”

((Spoils: Casha gain’s the knife whip. The blade is composed of about eight hollow sections that are locked together while the weapon is in blade mode. Upon the pulling of a small trigger that’s located on the hilt of the weapon the sections become unlocked from each other an are attached by a thin chain that is normally stored in the hollow sections while the weapon is in blade mode. This puts it in whip mode. In whip mode, between each section of blades and between the first section and the hilt there is about six inches of chain (meaning there is a total of 48 inches (4 feet) of chain). The entire weapon is made of Dehlar. Cannot be sold at the Bazaar.))

[INDK]

It seems like this was something you did more for IC rationale, but then requested a judging to get the spoils. The effort here was quite low and I’m very disappointed.

Total Score= 36 This thread seemed like it wasn’t all that well thought out. Very generic.

Introduction – 5 This introduction would have been much better if Izvilvin had put a more personal spin on things. Everything your character did was logical, it was almost as if a robot was doing it. What was it about Casha Step liked? What did Izvilvin think about Casha outside of the feelings of his organization, or did he even agree with them completely?

Casha, for you my advice would be to try and always come up with things in your introduction that make people want to read further. It may have been hard in your case, because it had the potential to veer towards melodrama. However, there were things you certainly could have done.

Setting – 4 Casha interacted with the bar, but there was little setting to note otherwise.

Strategy – 3 There was a lot of vagueness here about how and what people were aware of.

Dialogue – 5 No real comment. Dialogue was used here primarily as a device for advancing the plot. It makes sense you’d use it in that way, but there are many other uses for it that you should consider.

Character – 3 Izvilvin definitely felt a bit flat in this thread.

Rising Action – 2 There was a real lack of intrigue here.

Climax – 1 I’m only giving you a point because I could identify something that I could construe as a climax. However, it wasn’t exciting.

Conclusion – 5 The conclusions were the best part of this thread. Casha did a really good job explaining the significance of this event and about how she felt about it. Izvilvin, though, continued to seem flat like he did through most of this thread.

Writing Style – 5 Clear, generally understandable. Grim, I’m pleased to see that you have all but eliminated the typos from your writing.

Wild Card – 3 This thread looked like effort was its biggest weakness.

Spoils=
Izvilvin receives 300 EXP and 50 GP
Casha receives 350 EXP and her weapon. However, she finds she is mistaken that the weapon is Delhar and will soon find that it is actually bronze.

[Thoracis]

Rewards Added!