The Hourglass Association

Fallen London
141

A mean-looking bat lets a note drop in the head of the Captain as he waves his white flag. The handwritting is terrible, but small enough to fit the bit of paper:

“Stay there and an associate of mine will meet you soon enough. There are a lot of distraction going on down there, so you will have your chance to escape later. If you tamper with one more piece of evidence without telling why, next time, I will be waiting you out there not with a club, but with my swordcane. If you ruined our chance to pin something on the devils with your little act of indecency, white flags will not save you from me.”

142

The Costermonger watches the odd Zee-Captain fall from the roof. She isn’t sure if the man noticed her as he glances about, or if she can survives if he is not friendly.

She sells fungal crackers for a living; she has a natural knack for spotting thief and sneaks. Less so on actually sneaking herself. She has a civic duty to be here however!
Some idiot, in a bid to corner the market on fungal foodstuff, tried to sell buns laced with solace-fruits! Very nice, very lethal, and happily the first run was too high in price to be bought by anyone at all.

She couldn’t ignore this so she has tracked the source here.
Disguised as a maid she is restricted from approaching cargo, however she overheard some snippets.
A zee-captain is feeding their crew nothing but solacefruits! Nonsense, but then the clerks mentioned that they &quotonly have one batch to verify&quot and &quotthe captain said don’t mix it with bread&quot.

The last snippet is damning. She wants to burn the place to a crisp, but not when so many people are here. She just need to get out first.

Like the beefy man doing something with a wine bottle and a notebook. Is he making a flag? A little ball of paper bounce off his head into her hands - a note?

A brief scan of the note and Zoe made her decision.

&quot’ey, mister! I am tryin’ ter burn this den of villains down! You are tryin’ ter get out too wite’? Help me. Please. Let me follo’ ya! If anyone comes after ya, I will back ya up. With tis’ or my two 'ands.&quot

She tries to flash a cheap Blunderbluss she bought earlier, but her hands are shaking.

(First time RPing be gentle)
edited by Zoe DeGeest on 6/2/2016

143

&quotI 'eard you. Let me read this first.&quot

Morkan grimaces as he reads the scrap of paper. This third party is much less upstanding than he thought. The Professor was Semi-Respectable with rumours of bloodsucker surrounding her, but he didn’t expect her to be literally bloodthristy. Still, it is clear they are on opposite sides now. He wants to get out of the place, either with the special fruit delivered to his employers, or hidden here in the warehouse. They can’t allow that, they just want a barge of constables seizing everything, frame job or not.

He sizes the Costermonger up. Fish out of water. Out of her league. Full of good intention. He would help her, even if their interests don’t align, and now they both have the same goal.

&quotListen up, lass. I am not going to just help you. You are going to work with me for a way out. I am going to climb down, and I need you to hold on to me back as tight as you can. Keep your eyes up. If you see a bad woman trying to sneak up on me, just whistle. Clear?&quot

He pauses.

&quotWhat’s your name, lass? I am Morkan.&quot

144

Estelle skips into the Warehouse whistling. Following her is a Rubbery Man carrying an euphonium, shuffling along meekly, and some plain Vicious Boring Squid-Thing strutting about with a trumpet. Behind them, a Clay Man dutifully carry a hamper with both arms. A plate-sized First City Coin is unerringly balanced on his head.

&quotCheerio!&quot she marches up to the devil and tries to high-five him. &quotI just came here from the Brass Embassy! They told me they were emptying this place out as part of my compensation package. What are all of you doing here?&quot

Having receiving no response to her invitation of high-five, she gingerly put down her hand. &quotThis place should be empty a month ago,&quot she says. &quotIs there anything I can help or get you to speed up the process?&quot

Poooooofstostsottsh! Foostsothosthoshts! The plain Vicious Boring Squid-Thing flails his tentacles menacingly. The other Rubbery Man, giant round eyes filled with tears, wrap several tentacles around the Euphonium.

&quotHe says Polythreme is a great vacation spot at this time of the year,&quot The presumably respectable lady explains helpfully. &quotAnd his family down in Flute Street would love to meet more people from the Embassy as well. If you want, we are all in a position to recommend you.&quot

She turns to the other Rubbery man, expectant.

&quotQUARRRRRRRRK!&quot

The Rubbery Man produce a shrill, off-key noise with the Euphonium. Third-rate scarlet stockings explode. Sounds of fruits splattering can be heard, faintly. Outside, bats fall en masse to the ground, dazed.

&quotAnyway, it seems like you are, like, totally not ready. I guess I will come back tomorrow evening. Please be ready. Like you, I don’t want to listen to Rubbery Hymn inside the newly open-air Embassy Theatre, as scenic as that was. I still have the Soul of Salami on me, you know. Cheerio!&quot

She waddles out, along with her companions.

&quotI SAW THE PROFESSOR ON THE ROOFTOP ON THE NEXT BLOCK,&quot the Clay Man says. &quotSHE FORGOT HER SWORDCANE AND I STEPPED ON IT. IT BROKE. WILL SHE ACCEPT SUGARCANE FOR AN APOLOGY?&quot

&quotI don’t know, Mr.Citrine.&quot Estelle pouts. &quotSugarcanes aren’t very good for moping, or brooding. Just help me figure out who wants to do what with Wyrm.&quot

The Vicious Boring Squid-Thing gurgles.

&quotHey, you are right! It is like a tongue-twister! I didn’t know you have a wyrmsical side to you, Bore! Ow!&quot

An alarmingly green weasels with three eyes leaps onto Professor Strix’s head. From there, it has the vantage point to view the bat-fall.

145

While, well, everything is happening. Hitch takes advantage of all of the commotion to sneak behind into the warehouse, and as he sees the two figures from behind the shelves, he tosses two folded papers towards them, enscribd with “I would be mindful of Stryx if I were you.” Afterwards, he begins to proceed down the corridors, to the section of the hallway devoted to Wyrm’s ship. He sees two boxes, on large and ornate, the cargo, and one way too regular for a warehouse. He smells the faint aroma of solace fruit on the bribe box, and decodes to take it first, he opens it up to find…

146

At her vantage point, still trying to understand how many different parties could possibly want to be in the same darned warehouse at the same darned time, the Professor see one young lady that she is fond of marching with two Rubbery Men and a Clay Man right into the accursed place.

As she watches perplexedly, one of the Rubbery makes a dreadfully high note with its instrument and she blacks out immediately as her eardrums are completely split by the sound and blood gushes out of her ears.

She doesn’t know for how long she stays there unconscious, but when she wakes up, nobody can be seen in the streets. Most of the bats that she asked to patrol the place are around her, chirping painfully and tugging at their little ears. She takes care of them tenderly with the curing tincture that was meant for her, before sending them home for a well deserved rest. Only her second-in-command refuses to leave and she spends some time caressing him until she feels that her hearing has gone back to normal.

She also notices something near her: her swordcane, made by her own hands, her first possession in Fallen London and possibly the one object that she would carry in all of her adventures, was broken in half, as if it was a twig stepped by a child. The blade within was bent beyond saving. She sighed, fighting back a single tear. It was just an object. She carved it in a prison, she could make another in her lodgings. Perhaps one with a marsh-wolf head. Or maybe she could add a blade to her extravagant bejewelled cane. She shakes her head. Priorities. It was not the place for that.

&quotHow is everyone?&quot She asks to her bat, concern in her voice. &quotAre they all right? I hope they are. This mission is becoming a whole bunch of nonsense. I only wish that none of those youths were harmed by something stupid. I did promise to cover for them.&quot The bat shrugs. D was following the leader of the association in his infiltration efforts and blacked out just before knowing what was in the box the man came there to find. Then, he flew right back to her, worried with her well-being. He knew that her senses were way too sharp since… well, that.

She bit her lip, not really liking the prospect to get back to that place and alerting all the devils with her scent, but she wouldn’t dare sending D there alone, with the possibility of crazy Rubbery Men being still around. She doesn’t notice that three green eyes are following all of her movements.

147

Before the arrival of the rubbery company the Game-Carver was attempting to comprehend the situation, but was interrupted by the ungodly sound released by the Rubbery Euphonium and it’s wielder.
A decision of annoyance follows as the Euphemian Game-Carver pulls out a sizable whistle and creates a loud, but, thankfully, less ear-shattering, sound, and three birds descend from the rooftops. The Midnight-Black Bird receives a blade of Ravenglass. The Lacre-White Avian is given a small, clear mirror. The Cobblestone-Grey Creature receives a message, and all three of them are sent away.
The trio of birds flies away in the general direction of the warehouse, with the Game-Carver remaining near the entrance, now peering into a small rectangular surface.
edited by Vavakx Nonexus on 6/3/2016

148

A bird stops Estelle dead in her track. She isn’t the type to stop for a paper ball or a chirp, of course. It takes a full minute of desperate pecking from the bird to alert the thick-skinned lady to the plea for help from the bird’s owner. Stop someone from burning down the place! Save the poor man’s cherries! Get the house she will be getting tomorrow anyway!

After all, she does think highly of everyone. No doubt the nice devil at the Warehouse will get it sorted out overnight. And if it all burn down, well, it is a good excuse to hire some of these artists and build a house with amber. Imagine the colors!

Fluke-Bore snatches the note with a tentacle, then pass it over to the Rubbery when he is done. He makes an impatient sucking noise and begins to resume walking when the Rubbery meekly tugs Estelle in the other direction.

&quotWhat’s that? You say there’s a lot of people inside?&quot

The Meek Rubbery nods. It raise one, two, three, than all of its tentacles. Its brows furrow for a moment before it pokes Fluke-Bore in the abdomen, spooking the Vicious Boring Squid-Thing into raising all of his tentacles as well.

&quotThank you! Let’s see. One, two, three, four, five…&quot

Tears begin to well up in Fluke-Bore’s big round eyes as the Rubbery maintains pressure on his abdomen. The Clay Man patiently waits as Estelle lost track of numbers twice. When she made a third mistake, the Clay Man interjects.

&quotEXCLUDING THE GUESTS, THERE SHOULD BE SEVENTEEN PEOPLE INSIDE. I RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT BEFORE WE CAME HERE. THE LAWYER SAID TEN OF THEM ARE ALLERGIC TO LEMONGRASS. THREE OF THEM HAVE CRIMINAL RECORDS OF PUBLIC INDECENCY ON ACCOUNTS OF INTIMACY WITH A GOAT DEMON IN PUBLIC.&quot

The Clay Man makes an attempt to pout before he continues. &quotTHERE IS ONLY ONE MADAM AMONG THEM, AND SHE IS HERE ON LOAN FOR PENAL REFORM LABOUR. SHE IS CHARGED BY THE LABYRINTH OF TIGER FOR SLANDERING MILLICENT CLATHERMONT WITH RUMOURS OF DEPRAVED BEHAVIOR.&quot

He puts on a Trilby and hail a hansom cab. &quotI AM TO ATTEND A SALON FOR HIDEOUS MILLINERY. THERE WILL BE SURPRISE FIREWORKS FOR THE GUEST OF HONOUR, SO I DO NOT WANT TO MISS THE SALON. I ADMIRE FIREWORKS. SHOULD I RESERVE SEATS FOR YOU?&quot

Estelle frowns as she come to a terrible realization. &quotI don’t have any hats at all,&quot She explains mournfully. &quotI guess only you gets to go.&quot

&quotNOTED. GOOD LUCK WITH THE HOUSE.&quot

&quotEnjoy yourself, then-&quot She was just turning back to the direction of the warehouse when the two tentacled individuals snatch her up and begins to run frantically.

&quotRemember to bring me the souvenir hat this time!&quot The Clay Man shakes his head as the hansom cab groans under his weight. The driver looks back and froth between the Clay Man and the sack of antique coins she just received, then grits her teeth and drives the cab ahead.

=======
The weasel looks past the rattled woman and lock eyes with the bat the woman’s communicating with. It seems that the bat, along with its compatriots, are used to sudden additions to their numbers. The weasel decides to play along; it does its best impression of a particularly stupid Salt Weasel and commence cuddling with the bat.
edited by Estelle Knoht on 6/3/2016

149

&quotGugh! HALLELUJAH!&quot

Morkan was waiting for a reply from the costermonger when the unholy noise pierce blast his ear and a window shatters. He jumps in reflex and nearly tackles Zoe to the ground but stops, remembering that she is further away from the window than he is.

&quotWhat the hell was that?&quot He exhales. &quot Look, lass, take your time and calm yer’ nerves. Watch the door, and lock it if you can. I am going to take a peek outside first. If I get shoot, don’t scream.&quot

The Boastful Captain looks out the just-shattered window. A group of bats fly by, dazed. He recognize at least two of them; it must belongs to that infernal, bloodthristy bloodsucker, but they are probably more than incapacitated. He watches as the bats slowly fly away. Now that he knows where she is, and with the bats all distracted, he has an opening. There might be more stalkers than he know, but he is willing to take the risk.

&quotRight, lass. If yer’ worried, trust in me! I have been in worse situation! If anything gets in the way, I will just surplex them. I wrestled three tigers at once and came out on top! And I thrashed two dozens of neddy man, just right at…&quot He turns around to point at a past battleground when he spots something that made him pause.

A delicate, well-dressed young lady is being carried toward the warehouse by two rubbery folks in a rush. She is easily the happiest and cleanest thing he has seen in his entire life. Possibly an exaggeration.

&quotWugh,&quot He slurs. He tilts his head to admire the approaching girl a bit before he comes to his sense. &quotGuh! I better tidy up!&quot

He begins to adjust his bandanna. He fluffs his beard. Checks his fingernails.

Morkan Kassington is very distracted.

150

Zoe stammers for a reply to the Captain’s bold proposal when the horrible sound made her jump. His sudden half-lunge almost gave her another heart-attack, since she briefly thought that maybe the Captain’s just tricking her and plains to murder her on the spot.

She only managed to squeeze out a weak &quotyes&quot before the man walks to the window with his back to her. The man got a point - his yell may have
attracted undue attention. She locks the door and barricade it with a chair. It was surprisingly calming. It was familiar, like stacking up chairs when she take a shift at the Singing Mandrake.

[quote=Morkan Kassington]
&quotRight, lass. If yer’ worried, trust in me! I have been in worse situation! If anything gets in the way, I will just surplex them. I wrestled three tigers at once and came out on top! And I thrashed two dozens of neddy man, just right at…&quot [/quote]
&quotNo, no, I believe you! What should we…&quot The Captain’s boasts is oddly comforting, like a father boasting to children how he could take on all the Jacks in the Neath. Zoe realises that she trailed off when the Captain just did the same. He looks fascinated and begins to preen himself.

&quotMister?&quot She joins him near the window, then wave her hands at him. She looks out the window in time to see the approaching visitors and almost screamed.

Squids! Squids kidnapping respectable ladies in broad daylight! Infernal Squids!

151

D feels a salt weasel cuddling with him. He has no problems with that. But then, the weasel makes the tactic mistake of trying to hop on the Professor’s right shoulder, and it’s his spot. Not even a much bigger bat with attitude could take his spot from him in the past, and no one will do it now. He hisses and bares his teeth at the new animal.

The Professor is so used to her pets fighting for space on her &quotclimbing spaces&quot that she is partially oblivious to the conflict at first. Then, she glances the weasel on her, and becomes very sure that it is not her salt weasel. She picks D cautiously and makes sure he is safe under her coat. He was her first pet and, by God, he will live all the extent of his little batty life.

She then offers the weasel a treat. Sure, she had to get back to the warehouse and discover what did she miss; but, then again, random weasel. You don’t simply drop a random weasel in the ground after it walked on you and hopes it survives. It’s not sporting, and it’s against all story conventions.

152

“Gods of Thunder and Lightening, one could never ask for as good a distraction.”
Dirae Erinyes crouches down. “Let’s see, contracts, contracts, and now a new one.” They careful take the old contract and lay down a convincing forgery. Why Dirae Erinyes already a has mostly completed forged infernal contract is not important. Neither are a few papers that go missing and a particularly attractive paperweight. The switch is made. Time to relive their wife.

153

The costermonger’s reply pulls Morkan back to reality, a little. For one, he told Zoe to trust him and he isn’t going to disappoint her.
Two, he has a job to do. Three, there is an attractive young lady fast approaching.

And then some frantic knocking at the door wakes him up completely. Hooves can be heard.

&quotD___! Geronimo!&quot In one smooth motion the Boastful Captain grabs Zoe in a bear hug and jump out the windows, his back to the ground with Zoe facing up.

His landing on an ornamental giant puffball at the entrance was almost perfect, save for the mushroom being more elastic than he thought. Caught off guard by the bounce, his hands on Zoe relax and the costermonger was sent flying right into the more vicious one of the pair of rubbery men.

154

An avian menace presents itself, as a flying advertisement for Black Wings Absinthe rapidly descends in the direction of the Boastful Captain, dark edge poking from the right side of it’s beak, as the bird bites down on the specialized knife handle, extremely uncomfortable by human standards, but bearable for being carried by a bird.

The raven’s owner has now wandered off to a nearby cafe and is reading a novel of some sort. The mirror they were peering into earlier now lays unattended on the table, showing a literal birds-eye view of the infernal facility.

155

(Why would you do that)

As she lands on the mushroom she feels the Captain letting go. Zoe is too stunned to scream. It was absurd. She thought it couldn’t get any worse, being grabbed by a stranger and jumping two stories to the ground, but the Captain still managed to surpass her expectation by depositing her in a faceful of squid tentacles. At least God has some mercy for her as she is not entangled.

&quotDon’t… don’t come any closer! I 'ave a…&quot She reaches for her blunderbuss as she shrink away from the squid monsters she just flew into.

It’s not there!

It must have fell away when she bounced off the mushroom. She looks back and see it on the ground several meters away. There’s also a black raven lying close to it; the blunderbuss must have knocked it out.

&quotJust, just lemme pick it up! Don’t move!&quot She scrambles toward her blunderbuss.

The gun explodes.

Bits of something - beak, maybe - hit her face. Zoe snaps, scream, and collapse, unconscious.

(Will be away for a few days sorry!!!)

156

The Game-Carver stops reading literature, apparently not as enticing as it seemed at first, and peer into the surface with interest, just in time to witness the accidental offence. They pick up their book and their mirror, hide them in the deepest compartments of their thick gown and rush towards the recently rifle-bombed location.
edited by Vavakx Nonexus on 6/7/2016

157

During the chaos Absimiliard looks to ‘Ms. Faust’ and mouths “thank goodness”. While the Devils are pre-occupied the Captain quickly snatches up the record-books and heads to a side-office.

“If they return Ms. Faust, would you be so kind as to inform the Devils I shall be going over their records for my Principle in this office. The chaos out here distracts me.”

In the office the Captain begins quickly pouring over the record-books. They pay particular attention to all details regarding deliveries and agents, committing those facts to memory.

158

Morkan winces at the splattered bird. He was regretting his moment of weakness and picking himself up when the explosion goes off.

Even if he is used to violence, scenes like these always disturbed him. At least Zoe isn’t injured physically. And his &quotcargo&quot is intact despite the rubbery bombardment. The Chief Constable should be reasonably satisfied. He just have to get them both out of this place, and burn down the house. He could come back later for that.

He rushes over, putting himself between the unconscious woman and the new arrivals. He is fairly certain the good lady nor the rubbery men will harm Zoe, but he doesn’t want to risk someone else. He was about to speak when the door to the warehouse flies open.

A goat demon walks out holding a net. The goat demon was prepared to cast its net when it sniffs the air and turns it gaze to a pocket on the Morkan’s coat. Then it drops the net and charges at him, eyes molten.

&quotOh, bugger!&quot Morkan relucantly prop Zoe into rubbery arms yet again. He decides not to look at Estelle, not after the daydreaming he did earlier. &quotTurn aside, missy. You shouldn’t have to see this.&quot

&quotI could say the same,&quot the goat demon growls as it lunges for Morkan. &quotStay out of this!&quot
edited by Morkan Kassington on 6/8/2016

159

OOC! Just popping up to say I am enjoying this. Ah if I don’t have so much to do I will join in the mess too, sadly.
edited by Koh Kai Ying on 6/10/2016

160

A clay man walks into the office, ignoring all the chaos and taps Ms. Faust on the shoulder.
“You’re in the wrong place. The warehouse we need is on Brigid Street.” A brief argument occurs. An observant watcher could swear that the Clay man managed to give a sarcastic eye roll heavenwards, despite the usual anatomy and temperament of London’s Clay men. Eventually Lady Faust leaves, and the good Captain can relax. Their paperwork has been arranged.

As long as the building is still standing. . .