Partida Rol por web

The last clients had left the bar some minutes ago. Finally. It was time to clean up, prepare things for tomorrow and then he could go home. Or so he thought. As soon as he was starting to put the stools up to mop the floor, the bell over the door that anounced the arrival of new clients, started to chime. He had forgotten to put the "closed" sign, and now, he thought with a sigh, he would have to turn them out. At least he hoped that they would be reasonable and accepted to leave without too much fuss.

He turned around to explain to the visitors that it was closed and the had to leave, but something prevented him from doing it. Those people seemed tired, and with the kind of look of somebody who has seen much.

"It's late and I was going to close" he said, instead "but you seem like you need a place to sit down, drink something and rest for a bit. So I'll let you stay. But, in exchange, you have to tell me your story. It seems like you have a good one to tell"

The visitors took their sits, while the bartender started to wipe the glasses with the same cloth and the same gestures that all bartenders everywhere use. Drinks were served, snacks where distributed and the visitors started to tell their story.

It had been a long day, and it was sure to be a longer night. 24 hours, if you aren't good enough to catch a hint about who the assassin was or to find, at least, a suitable set of suspects you are condemned in a vast majority of cases to get stuck, buried by the new incoming crimes, crimes who set a new 24 hour clock without having mercy or patience. The clock was ticking tirelessly, not worried about the last time he has got some sleep or a decent food, 5 hours, no more, if he was not able to find a clue that poor girl wouldn't have justice.

That was his way of living, a tough one for a tough guy. Sergeant Batista had been in the police deparment for 20 years doing the same job. He was in his middle forties, strong-jawed and with an everlasting tired expression who remarked his black eyes, and he was clueless. This pub represented a remote probability to find the footprints that would lead him and his buddy, officer Jack Ryan, to close their first case of the month. He has tried to make from this case the stitch which can save nine but it wasn't working, the poor girl was the mayor's daughter and the huge amount of pressure was crushing him. His career was at the stake and time was flying.

The waiter told them that he was about to close but that they could stay there just for one good story. One good story - he thought with a wry smile - I can give you tons of them, most of them wouldn't let you to sleep a wink, you don't want to listen one of my stories. He put his hands in the left pocket of his old beige raincoat and showed his badge in a movement that was as natural as breathing

Sergeant Batista, and he is officer Ryan - he said pointing at Ryan - I'm afraid we don't have time for stories or drinks. We won't steal you more than 5 minutes, sir. Have you seen this girl recently? It's really important, pay attention. Does she ring a bell?

He finally got used to the name Batista gave him after showing his difficulties pronouncing 'Chä' Rhynh'... Most didn't show much interest in learning the faedonian basics to make it easier for their new companions, but Jack Ryan sounded good to him since he learned English watching old noir films and it seemed like a perfect name for his new incarnation. He smelled recognition in the air when the bartender saw the photo his partner was showing him, but he was already building an alibi, and putting his special arts to good use could save some time for them, so Chä took off his fedora, discovering the puzzle of rears he called brain, protected by a crystal dome covered in condensation, introducing himself as the artificial steam golem he was.

- Well, our friend, Roland, the bartender, knows the girl but he was going to tell us a story about a group of mercenaries escorting her out of his bar before they could even speak, but that's a pile of guano... Isn´t it, mister Topor?

He took a strange dial from an inside pocket of his trench coat and pushed it against the counter erected between them and the barman until it made a curious 'PLOP' sound. He moved it slowly, making a sound similar to a music box and took off his ceramic fingers when it was ready to sing its song. An ectoplasmic screen formed above the tool and started its exposition of the events:

- Once upon a time, there was a princess (the girl appeared in the green surface, with a frantic expression), she was the daughter of a queen and a warlock (an image of the mayor formed over it), born with the gifts of a sharp mind and a rebellious good heart. She wanted to be a good doer and put her whole soul on it but his fath... WOOOOOOM... Pof!

The dial broke leaving an image of a horde of strange creatures surrounding her...

- Oh... I hate the troll 'ONCE' dials so much, they match their name... - Chä complained

Mike Topor followed Ryan and Batista inside the bar just as it was about to close. He was wearing an old-fashioned suit and a fancy hat. They where they were offered drinks, but he put his hand up to indicate that he was not interested. Instead, he looked around and his eyes scanned every corner from behind his glasses.

When Ryan, or Chä Rhynh, mentioned the mercenaries, he turned and said: -Yes, the story about the mercenaries simply leaving this place does not add up. The other day I was walking in the park and I saw one of the suspects. He was on the phone to someone, and I overheard part of the conversation. They mentioned this place, and it seemed as if this was their base of operations. That is when I called Estevez, who knew that Sargeant Batista was investigating the case.

When the golem showed the images on the projected screen, he looked at the strange vision as if it was magic. Or witchery. There she was. The girl they were looking for. Unfortunately, something went wrong and the vision vanished. -Too bad, Rhynh. Not all the gadgets work like a charm...

Before somebody else had the opportunity to speak, a woman came from a room behind the counter, frowning and looking at what seemed a map in her hands.

“I think everything is ready, but I’m still not sure about the route…”she was saying but stopped when she realized there were people in the bar “I thought you had closed” She said to the bartender. And then she saw the badge and the photo of herself in the hands of sergeant Batista. They had found the mayor’s missing daughter.

“They think you were kidnaped by the mercenaries” The bartender said.

“I suppose I should explain.” She started, resigned, after leaving the map over the counter. ”I voluntarily disappeared. The mercenaries were paid by me, not to take me away, but to help me. For years, my father has been financing investigations into the location of the ruins of Terulium. And he has finally located it. I love my father, but if the stories and legends about that city are true, you know why it would be a bad idea for my father to have access to those ruins. So, instead of taking me to my father, I’m asking you to help stop the expedition to those ruins”

Esteban was clearly a calmed man with a mystical aura, wearing a strange outfit wich denote his foreign origin, he ussually speaks a lot but recently he just received the "you are just saying nonsense" glance, so he decided to keep his mouth shut until someone would believe him, that's why Batista acepted him in this case in the first place, under the table of course, it was unacceptable to have a fortune teller working in an official case. "Celeste is not lost, Celeste is not traped, Celeste is in despair but not for her situation, Celeste is Fine and nobody is retaining her, but clearly we have to help her" was everything Esteban said when Mike asked his opinion about this case, but  with the kidnaping theory he sounded just like a lunatic.

Esteban accepted joining in the case because he felt something more important than a single life. When they entered the bar he gladly accepted the drink with a smile and just sat in the corner of the bar leaning against the wall, and then they spoke the nonsense about the kidnaped lady until she apeared from the back of the counter.

-Ha! Are you now going to listen to what I told you? As I said, this wasn't a kidnaping case, I had my reasons to find her, that's why I accepted Míster Topor invitation... And it's Esteban by the way, not "Éste ves", I know I see strange things, but my name is Esteban Cromwell- Esteban's mother is from another land and he confuses some words with her native tongue.

Esteban stood up and gently put the empty glass on the bar near the barthender when he finished listening to the princess tale -Thanks, I'll need another one of this before we listen about these "Tell me more ruins", I think we are going to need more information about your father conenction with this place-

Dammed machines. They're full of gadgets and sensors which tell them if you're lying, what were your three last meals and what was your favourite food all in less than a second and with perfect accuracy. Jack, well that strange machine with a more strange name, wasn't an exception. He hated  having a mechanical buddy because it made the hunt less interesting, like catching a fish with a plasma cannon.

"I knew that Jack, I don't have those sensors but I also smell lies. It's something human called experience, you can check it on your data banks....So, mercenaries, uh? I think you want to have a nice time at the police station answering questions. We have beautiful views to the garbage dump" He said looking wryly at the waiter. It was unfair of him but he was tired and the Jack thing was behaving like a police cadet recently graduated. The problem was not only the attitude of Jack, but Topor and Estewhatever were also interfering with a serious investigation, his beloved job. Sometimes being a cop was awful, he missed so badly the old times.

Then, surprisingly she appeared healthy and safe and a mocking smile appeared on Batista's lips, like everything was as expected, the logical conclusion of a series of logical of events. He looked at Jack and said

"Jack, please make the call, the mayor will be delighted to know about this...Oh wait, I'm tired and we have 5 hours until the deadtime is reached... Jack, please, start a countdown, 5 hours and then make the call. So miss DeBeaulieu, if there's a crime to report I'll be more than happy to follow your unicorn hunting, if not, well, it's high time you got home before midnight. The only thing I believe is I'm retiring in two days' time and I'm not perfectly sure... No time for fairy tales."

While he was trying to be sensible and reasonable that seer was talking nonsense. It has been a mistake but the mayor has insisted so persuasively, and here he was. He looked at him with a smile that didn't touch his eyes before saying

"Mr EsWhatever, I recommend you keep your mouth shut unless you want that I kicked your ass so hard that you'd die of starvation while flying, miss DeBeaulie is featherbrained enough, you don't need to make your seer speech..."

Celeste ignored the commentary about her being “featherbrained enough”, and answered the question of that guy called Esteban.

“The story of my life is no secret. I’m sure some of you have heard at least some things. My mother was Queen Eleria, from Oldaran. My father was working for the palace, using his magic talent at the service of the queen. He became her lover, and later, father to the heir. Monarchs in Oldaran don’t take spouses, but being the parent of a royal child still grants a fair amount of respect and power in the court. But then, the civil war started, Queen Eleria was deposed and killed by her uncle, along with my older brother, and my father barely managed to escape to this country with me. We have lived a comfortable life here, but my father has never forgotten my mother and his son, or his purpose of avenging them and restore me to the throne. And the Chancellor would be happy to help him, if he knew that there was a chance of success.  And the ruins of Terulium would give them that chance.” The Chancellor being the ruler of the country where they were. The two countries have always been strong rivals, and the Chancellor, militaristic and strong willed, deemed Oldaran as a thorn in his side that he was eager to be rid off.

“I don’t want to sound cold, but I never knew mi mother or my brother, and I have no interest in the throne. This country is my home. And the king of Oldaran won’t leave the throne easily. A war would be inevitable. Now, officer, about a crime, I would say that a war is an important breach of the peace. And that your promise of protecting the citicenry  would be well served by avoiding them dying in a foreign land. And about Terulium, I’m sure your companions can enlighten you” That Estaban guy had already said he didn’t know to much, but unless she was mistaken, she thought that the other guy seemed to recognize the name. And the golem…well, it was difficult to identify any expression in a golem, but he was a golem.

When DeBeaulieu named the ruins of Terulium something inside Chä's head clicked, opening a hidden dam of information. It was a form of archiving information inside the pieces of his kind: a piece of ceramic is cut in two halves, one with information that was not considered of immediate importance and the other with a mechanism and decoder he could use subconsciously to acquire the blocked memory.

-  Terulium was the physical materialization of an interdimensional crossroad were the reigns of Fae, No-Named, Cypher and Goopa had access to the human world. It was a great meeting place for all five cultures, being the cradle of new forms of art and technology, where constructs with the best of each nation were smashed up between them in search of new materials, crafts, instruments and consciences... But when some military brotherhoods from all of these factions partnered trying to gain access to new forms of weaponry, they created a new language capable of affecting the conscience of their warriors and enemies in weird ways.

He took a second to analyze the rest of the information since it had a 'classified' label attached, before summarizing his presentation. This was the origin of the Forbidden, a perversion of the Rear Men from Fae, ancestors of his kind. These abnormalities were gigantic constructs of mass destruction. All known species of the universe had to make an alliance against them but the consequences affected the foundations and politics of all the species involved in its very DNA.

- Humans were not that affected by the conflict, and some even dare to say it never took place, but there are hidden remains of the Forbidden in this world.

The real danger was not that gigantic kind of warriors but the language used in their creation.

- Its sound is a weapon. Letters are ammo.

Esteban just shrugged with Batista's threat, -Ok, ok, I'm talking no more... To you- he replied while moving aside from him just in case, Esteban didin't know him that well to be sure if his bark is worse than his bite, but Batista was really intimidating.

Esteban remained silent while listening to Celeste's tale and Chä's explanation, not because of Batista's, but for the complexity in the digesting process of such information. 

-Let me see if I get this straight, you're saying that this Telurium thing is the source of the wrinkles in our reallity because of the blending of energies from different cultures and races from other dimensions in one single place?- he babbled while holding his own forehead with the tip of his fingers -I knew this case was something big enough to make me feel sick about it, but I didin't imagine it to involve not only the whole reallity of this universe, but others too... Wow-

Esteban started walking around not minding getting near the intimidatin Batista, he was moving his fingers like counting something or talking to himself while moving his mouth without saying anything aloud, and then like some revelation came to his head he saw everyone, including the bartender, with a serious expression and said 

-You say humans weren't affected but this surely afefcted cultural and social evolution of human race, although nobody noticed, we wouldn't be what we are today without this conflict remains. Me, myself, I wouldn't be that perceptible without this energy, and now you, Jack, are right, I'm not the one to "keep my mouth shut"- Esteban said looking this time directly to Batista's eyes.

-I don't care if you go or not, but we'll surely need an extra head to comprehend what will happen, and I believe you're smarter than your words-

-Exactly Esteve..Este-Ban, Mike replied hastily. -Terulium is an idea, a concept that scientists of different fields have approached for centuries. The reality that we can see and feel is only a facade. The war, the struggle, of the forces of Terulium have shaped our world and the humanity. It will take another few decades before science can join the dots.

Mike Topor looked around, and sighed. -I am a Traveller, and these wrinkles of the fabric of reality allow me to visit different periods for a brief time, but only when a portal to Terulium is about to be formed. And this is the first time in all my journeys that the possibility to visit Terulium is a real one. We cannot let this pass...

Otherwise, the future might not be the one that I have seen. -There are infinite futures ahead for Humanity, but most are not very kind on us. Terulium could well be the one thing that saves us as a race, as a civilization.

A sudden silence fell over the room. -Talking about things that can be of importance... We are all in this together, and we must take this chance to see the Forbidden. To go through the mirror and experience what is on the other side.