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"Thanks Dave, you've been very helpful" I say, as a put on the silvery shirt and begin transferring knifes into the slots "but I do have some questions
1. How much protection does this shirt supply?
2. or are the bag of clothing meant as armor and if not do they have special properties?
3. This bowless crossbow appears to be a fairly advanced weapon, what is its range and power?
4. What are this crystal rod and piece of leather w/ cardinal points for?
5. Do you have any rope?"

"The armor is worn under the clothing and works like chainmail, the bowless crossbow you just put slugs into the cartridge and press the trigger and the rest you will figure out.... The clothing is just clothing of the current time." He walks away for a second... then returns with a small bundle in his hands "and here is a rope" he returns with a cartridge for the gun that seems to be full of wire and a extra large slug, the gun will go about 700 yards and using this will be good up to 300 or so... be careful with it." He then meanders back into the warehouse...

"Wait! You haven't told me what this crystal rod and piece of leather w/ cardinal points are for."

silence fills the room again... you notice your drink is now empty. as you listen the room seems to speak to you... the noise grows to the moans of thousands voices screaming louder and louder with each passing moment.

I take my stuff and walk back downstairs, while examining the crystal rod.

*stretches and looks around*

mutters to himself "Where in the 7 hells am I? Not the Pissy Dragon I hope... no wait... im dead. Why am I in a tavern? Sigh, at least its finally a quiete place. well there is the bartender. Might as well get a drink and see if it tastes as good here as it did on the living world"

I walk over to the bartender "Double dark and dirty please. Need something to get my thoughts straight"

Barkeep to Phoenix: "Greetings young one... welcome to the dark..." He speaks in a stangely civil alto voice as he pours you a drink into an ice glass. "As you have figured, you are dead just like your felow companion comming down the stairs. I have a proposition, another chance at life for a small task i need done first. what do you say?" he passes your drink over

Tiyan: As you approach the stairs you hear Phoenix speak as he walks through the door and the barkeep talks to him, you are out of sight just above the stairwell.

I finish walking down the stairs. "Hey new guy, heard you come in. Good luck with the drink. When I got here I asked for some ale but instead I got a fairly refreshing, yet clearly nonalcoholic, clear liquid."

"My name's Tiyan, and this guy is the Former Lord Soth. He's bringing a small group of people back from the dead in order to build some kind of crack commando unit. You know, one of those 'if you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... us' sort of deals. Anyway, like he said, he'll bring you back from the dead if you agree to do some mission for him but he won't reveal the details until the whole group is here."

"He got me 'cause I'm the greatest thief who ever lived, and from the looks of you I'm guessing you're here to beat the shit out of anything we meet. What's your story?"

Drains the glass without looking at it or anyone. "What is the payment and the benifits. My last job promised ultimate security but one of the weezles decided to open the hole to death. Volcanoes kind of hurt. Try to avoid falling into them, even if i wizard says they will save you. If you can intrigue me with the details of the job and the benifits, ill sign your contract lord... Soth was it?"

Turning to Tiyan walking down the stairs "Anyways, master thief" eyeballing Tiyan skepticaly, "i dont have anything worhty of stealing so dont try. As you have guessed, i do pummle things. I was a professional entertainment wrestler. You may of heard of us, the ring of doom. Traveled everywhere fighting each other. Quite fun. My death was because of my job. Couple people must have thought i was too good and with my character brother and manager dead, i was left without an alliance. THere was a bunch of complaining that i had no bounds. I had full permission to show up anywhere and at any time to pummel whomever i felt deserved it. I simply told the director the week before who i was targeting and why. The director then said yes or no. If he said yes, i told me which show i would do it and we would discuss how. I was the plot mover you see. The show was like a soap opera for men. I was the one who cut the drama babies or pummeled the unpopular one and thus allowed the story to unfold. Now if you wouldnt mind picking up my next round, I would appreciate it. Dont like talkin much. So you will have to wait to get a bit of the story at a time."

Back to the bartender "Another dark and dirty on the little one please. And if you could answer why you picked me, id like it a lot."







NOTE TO DM: FUll backstory will be posted in 2 hours.

"I'll just say he's made alot of assuptions, i believe you can do the job right. Ill give you what gear you might need and i'll bring you to life... the other choice is, you join the rest of the souls... " an echoing choir of blood curdling screams intensifies and stops "in the abyss..." He begins pouring another drink "you may think this seems unfair... but i assure you it takes much more effort to bring you to life than to throw you into the abyss. The reward will be that you may keep your mortal coils if you succeed." His eyes glow crimson red again and he passes you the drink "do you accept?..." he guestures to shake hands.

"Well put that way, Ill do it. And if when this is all done and you can grant me control of my family's torture in that place, and that bastard edward... then you will have my allegiance and i will serve you time and time again. Where do i sign and where do i get kitted up."

I think about removing the leathers becforehand but decide to just firmly grasp the Lord's extended hand and shake it.

"Agreed..." he whispers and his eyes glow, smoke fumes from beneth your glove as you feel a burning sensation and glowing runes dart from your hands across your body, you instinctively twitch but his grasp though not pressing is harder than adamite. "Upstairs there is gear, when your ready come down here and sit, wait, have a drink..." his eyes stop glowing and there is complete silence.

I look at the runes that are now on my arm and frown. "You ruined a couple of my tatoos my friend. But i guess the opportunity to torture 4 souls for the remainder of eternity only comes once. The fact that its fullfilling a promise i gave them is bonus. But still mate." I shake my head a little and think to myself how cool that felt. Maybe magic is worth thinking about afterall... I begin wandering up the stairs looking for this gear while thinking about what kinds of things i would need. Ive never been good at using weapons other than breaking chairs and tables over people's heads and armor is too bulky for my liking. Hard to get in close to pin someone when you cant move your arms fast enough to catch the bugger. Besides, tin cans make you hot and i can punch through them. If only i knew the missions. If its a sneaky one i am done. might as well have gone back to the abyss. Although there are rings apparently that do this stuff. I wonder if they could enchant my tatoos. That would be sick. What if...

I continue wondering about this new thing called magic and what it could do to enhance me when i reach the top of the stairs and look around

<<David>> the 8 foot tall giant made of jet black armor with glowing eyes, stares at you. "Boss likes you... you say you like magic eh... he... he... he..." something about his voice shakes you to the soul...(lol) "What do you want? you'll be doing alot of killing..." he wanders a bit seeming to search for something as his armor creaks with every movement.

I size him up. Hes as tall as i am but something about him is off. I dont know why but i think i am supposed to be feeling fear but... i Feel... alive and awakened. Something inside me is stirring excitement. One day, i should fight this man and if that is unsuccessful, learn from him.

"So you can read thoughts eh, handy. Only thoughts i read are the brains spilled after a solid punch. As for the good lord... he has intrigued me with his magic. If there is anything similar you can do now, or later for a price id be more than happy to ablige. For now, i can settle for a pair of sturdy studs on a pair of leather gloves and some metal knee caps. Im more of the in your face type know what i mean. If you have anything collecting dust in the strength department, im sure i can put it to good use. As for killing, if im going to be doing a lot of it ill need something to help me keep tickin. No good being a killing machine with a small battery pack."

"And one day if you deem me strong enough, i would like to challenge you to a duel to test our might. Maybe even be your training partner." For good measure i bow after all is said and done. I think that statement is going to end poorly for me. But... he can read minds so he probably already knew my intentions of sparring him one day anyways. Might as well make it public.

"oh... we will someday... Here." He drops a pair of gloves that seem to be woven from steel. "I think this shall suit your taste." He puts up a wooden box on the table... its heavy, well not really... upon closer examination it has straps to be carried like a back pack, its a traveling liquor cabinet. it says <>

*slips the gauntlets on* "mmmm they fit nicely. And they dont restrict the fingers, very nice work my friend. Talk about an upgrade. Cant wait to try these out" I throw a couple punches in midair to get the feel for them. "I am very grateful my friend. As for this cabinet... Ill be the source of the party again hahahaha. Its been years."

I bow politely and take my leave after giving thanks again. When i get downstairs i examine the contents of the cabinet, keeping care to stay several tables away from Tiyan.

In the cabinet are 3 bottles of red wine-like fluid with 1 to 3 shots of it inside, the rest is standard liquor a few bottles of well aged whisky though most you cannot identify they are all full. there is also a randomly unlabled crystal flask with one shot of something in it. you cannot read any of the labels.

When Phoenix walks upstairs I turn to Lord Soth. "He seems tough, good choice boss. Anyway, Dave gave me this crystal rod and this piece of leather with cardinal points but didn't tell me what they did. What are they?"

"That... is a map... a very special map... that tells you where you are... and the rod, dont know why he gave it to ya... he musta liked ya, is a rod of summoning, used in many rituals over the ages it has never ceased to amaze me, it almost killed me in life twice. use it wisely though i am not sure what it does myself..." he motions another drink...

I take the drink and sit at a table, closely examining the rod.

as your hand brushes past some of the runes you notice they glow faintly but nothing else. as you think about the images on the rod and speak the word one glows brighter than the others. as you say the word a projection eminates from the rod creating an orb of text giving you options like keys in mid air.

"Hey boss!" I call to Lord Soth. "It looks like I'm supposed to spell something out here, like a password. Do you know what it is?"

"those look like words of creation... i... am bound not to speak any but there is one minor one i can probably get away with "Nishvar" the word for shield..." he suddenly gasps for air as he looks away for a second... "alas i can tell you no more, seek scholors many use such words for true names."

"Cool, thanks" I type in Nishvar.