The Adventure Never Ends

[Lord of the Dance]

(You can still join in at any time, if you can think of a good reason. We won't be leaving town for a bit yet though so you still have a few days if anyone else wants to join.)

The town was called Idlewind. The kingdom had been expanding so rapidly that they were running out of good names, it seemed. Idlewind was thus settled right near the border of the Mushroom Kingdom, and odd types were often seen wandering around looking lost or trying to sell you something useless. Cool stuff sometimes, but totally useless. They resided in the 'bad side' of town, the ones who had little money. With war almost unheard of, and adventurers out of business, it was hard to come across new jobs right in little towns like Idlewind.
One such foreigner was doing his best to idle in front of the cheapest, cheesiest shop in town. He was a small green creature, covered in long thick hair. Three long horns hung out from the back of his head and the fur covering his long, triangular face varied in color, from different shades of green to purple. But the strangest thing was that he had no feet. He simply floated, and his crooked tail did not quite touch the sidewalk. He was staring around looking amused, as if waiting for something exciting to happen in Idlewind. He would probably have a long wait.
He looked like the kind of guy who would send a mysterious note.

[nitrostraggler]

Syleena walked into town with the wind blowing in hair and her eyes sparkling wide. She was interested in seeing the town because she wanted to be able to go and see if she could be involved in anything interesting. It had been a while since anything came up, and she was dying to see if she could meet new people. "First rule in the adventuring commerce: things always happen when they are in podunk towns like this one." she sighed.

(Is that any good?)

[Strangie]

Karth had wasted no time in arriving at Idlewind, leaving his tavern in the fins of his cousin, back home in the great frozen north of Shiver. He remembered his cousin, Marty, wanting to come, but he told him no - someone needs to watch the inn and tavern, after all.

He pulled the note he had received and glanced it over. What kind of shady person sends a note like this? Was it someone he had crossed paths with once before? These thoughts crossed his mind only briefly as he turned a corner, stuffing the note back away again for later reference.

"What kinda daft lad sends me a note to go out to some shanty town like this, especially to the slums, must be outta their freakin' minds, aye..." he mutters and grumbles to himself as he searches out the place he was instructed to go to. Once he arrived, he had spotted the green creature and approached, though saying nothing quite yet. "This must be the one," he thought, but he wanted to make sure - if this creature had truly sent him the note, he would say something about it, so Karth kept his beak silent for now.

[nitrostraggler]

Syleena's eyes darted back and forth, and when she noticed Karth, she planned to keep her distance. She had learned that it was better to be cautious than to be a fool, and if he made any sudden moves, she would be ready. Once she saw that he didn't seem to be of a danger to herself, she relaxed and looked around for anybody else.

[Yoshiken]

Yoshiken was very familiar with the city of Idlewind. While he didn't live directly in town, he had passed through countless times on business. He had little trouble finding the dollar store that was spoken of in the mysterious letter that had come to him.

While he was used to getting some strange requests working as a transport guard, he couldn't help but feel that this letter was leading him to an experience unlike any other. Yoshiken found it strange that he had received the note himself, because most of the time, the requests were sent to his superiors in the business, and then funneled down to him. It wasn't uncalled for though to come across "under-the-table" jobs that had some increased risk to them. Yoshiken assumed that this is what he was about to face. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something completely unexpected was about to happen.

When he got to the dollar store, he found a strange, floating green creature outside. The creature seemed as if he was expecting someone or something, for he was looking at his surroundings with anxiety. Yoshiken had worked with odd looking individuals in the past though, and so he approached the creature with a calm demeanor. He took out the note, just to double check that he hadn't forgotten anything, as well as to verify to his new client of his identity.

[RaYoshi]

From on of the town's Inns, Ra appears out of the front door, a piece of paper clenched in his hand. He walks around the town, looking at the different buildings and occasionally looking into the paper he is holding.

"Blech, another mission once again. I hate how it actually asked for me in the note. Well, I might as well see what's up." Ra grunts to himself. He continues to wander around town.

[Lord of the Dance]

None of the notes he had sent out were signed. The sole hint to his identity was his horrible allcaps handwriting.
The creature spotted the various members approaching and smirked, showing a row of white, needly teeth. "Took you guys long enough! I'm gettin' old over here." He held out his arm tipped with massive claws in greeting. They were obviously difficult to write with.
He cast his gaze down the road, happily picking out individuals idling along the sidewalk... though he didn't seem to recognize any. "We're still waiting for a few more here. Goddang kids can't follow directions these days. My name's Chammice. You guys should just call me Champ. But not Chump." His teeth flashed again. "I don't wanna start a speech here and have to say it all over again for all the late people. But I hope you guys remembered your gear."

[nitrostraggler]

Syleena held out the note and brushed her hair away while twirling her dagger around. "I guess this answers my question about who sent the note." she crossed her arms.

[Strangie]

"Of course I got me gear. Ye think I'd come all the way out here without it? Bah. Not to mention ye didn't even sign the freakin' thing to begin with..."

He shifts his eyes in one direction toward Syleena, and then back at Yoshiken. "... and it would appear I'm not the only one invited..."

[RaYoshi]

Ra takes a quick glance at the dollar store, then at the note. He sees a small group in front of the building.

"Well... I guess this is it. Probably." He shrugs a little, walking towards the few others that stood there talking. "I got a message saying to meet here. Are you guys the one who sent this?" He says with sort of a nervous look.

[nitrostraggler]

Syleena gave him a quick once over. "No. I haven't sent anything. I just got this note. The guy that you are looking for is right over there." she points over to Chammice.

[Rackinac]

Mira walks through the town with anxiety hanging over her shoulder, surgical mask hiding most of her face. While making her way to this mystery group, she is constantly eying the note in her hand, scratching and pulling at her knotted hair.

"Where is it where is it where is it." She mutters under her mask, eye practically rolling out of her skull in frustration.

As her eye looks up, as her hand is caught in her hair, she spots a group surrounding the tiny green midget thing at the shop. Looking disappointed and a little confused, she walks over and taps the nearest person on the shoulder with a cold hand.

"Which one of you freaks sent this? What kinda show we runnin' here."

[Yoshiken]

Yoshiken half-expected to find a few more individuals hired as guards. A client usually has a small group hired instead of just a single person. He assumed that this was the case at first when he saw everyone else there, until Chammice spoke. He stated that he had a speech to make once everyone arrived, and he cautioned everyone to have their equipment ready.

Yoshiken found it strange that there was still more people expected, for there seemed to be a decent amount already for a transport job. It was also baffling to hear a reminder to have their gear ready, when it was obvious that no guard would ever do a job without it.

It suddenly hit. This wasn't a transport guard job. Yoshiken rested his hand inconspicuously on the hilt of his sword, without actually gripping it. It was an instinctive reaction he had whenever he felt nervous or suspicious. He had no idea what to expect now, but decided that he needed to keep his cool, and remain alert

"I have everything I need with me," Yoshiken said, calmly. "I am still curious though on why you summoned me here Champ. I understand that you don't want to repeat yourself for those who are late, but I do hope that everything is cleared up soon." Yoshiken was anxious for answers.

[nitrostraggler]

Assuming the person would be Syleena. She turned around. "Woah! What the hell are you? Are you the living dead?" Syleena looked at her wearily, then looked into her face and read her features, her dagger next to her. "The person that you are looking for is him?" she said pointing to Champ. All the while she had her hand on her dagger.

[Moot]

Moot wandered aimlessly through Idlewind, not by choice but mainly because despite spending a few days in town he still didn't have much of a clue where anything was. If there were any tracks around here, Moot was almost certain that he was on the wrong side of them.

After milling around for a while he noticed a group forming in front of a dollar store. Much like the dollar store he'd been invited to meet up in a cryptic all-caps note he'd received earlier, in fact. He hadn't thought much of it at the time, passing it off as a crank posting flyers for some non-event, or simply receiving somebody elses mail. Who sent out notes like that these days, anyway?

For lack of anything better to do, Moot drifted over to the group who were busy talking amongst themselves. On the way over he noticed that almost everyone in the group were armed, in some way. Not what he was expecting, but not entirely unwarranted considering the general area they found themselves in, he thought.

"So, I take it we're all in the secret note club here?"

[Lord of the Dance]

Champ stared at the group contentedly. "Yes, this is the cool club. I think this will do."
He stretched and yawned, his eyes lazily half-open. "I suppose ya'll wanna know why you're here. My superiors couldn't keep track of some kid so they want us to track him down. Too good-for-nothing and lazy to do it themselves... But anyway. I normally wouldn't think it too hard except they wanted like ten of you guys to help out. So I guess he's dangerous." He flashed his teeth and clicked his claws together, his eyes flicking around into the doorways of the surrounding buildings as dark-clad figures appear in them. "I hope ya'll are ready now, 'cause we're surrounded."

[Strangie]

Karth glanced around him quickly, though he seems to be surveying his friends more than his enemies, for the moment. "So for our first test ye lead us into a trap?" He reaches into his vest and pulls out a curved dagger, twirling it around on his right fin. "Well ain't that just dandy. Fine by me though!"

He does a quick tumble backward toward the group, landing directly behind Yoshiken, back turned toward him. He raises his dagger in front of him in a defensive stance, his other fin raised up in front of him as well. "I hope ye don't carry that for show, swordboy. Our employer wants to test our ability to work together and we hardly know each other! Pick yer target and let 'em come to ya, I got an idea..."

[Yoshiken]

"Well, I can definitely say that this is the boldest way I have seen to create teamwork," Yoshiken said, somewhat sarcastically.

"I am trusting you bumpty." Yoshiken pulled out his sword, and readied himself in a defensive stance, as Karth directed. He stayed still, keeping his gaze steady on his surroundings. He kept his sword still, with the hilt by his abdomen and the blade rising upwards at a 45 degree angle. "Don't let me down," he added, keeping his focus in front of him.

[Rackinac]

Mira frowns at Syleena while taking off her surgical mask, draping it around her neck. She looks at all the dark figures, pointing an accusing hand at Champ.

"Some club, y'all just gatherin' losers for the pickins' or what? Is this some sort of sick test? I'm gonna..." She bites her lip and with a quick jerk of her hand her chainsaw flips into her other, revving up. She takes a few steps towards the figures, waving it madly back and forth.

"... cut ya red and slap the red right off of ya!" Spit flies as she yells, voice raspy and cracking.

[nitrostraggler]

"Oh, this is just great! So you send us all notes then you decide that it would be funny to come after us after leading us into a trap! This is just lovely. Anyway, since I'm here, I might as well pull my own weight." she looked at Champ and back at the figures, pulling out a long dagger that had a green leather hilt.