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Post by Red Charge on Oct 6, 2012 11:34:24 GMT -5
"Not have to work. Off duty. If not rest, fall down and die. No good for morale, no good for productivity. Need rest. Only I work. Work day, work night, always work. If not I, then who? If not now, then when? Night good for sleeping, not so good for working. Good for useless shinies though. Yes, very good. No competition at night. Maybe one day, team leader, have working for me? Maybe. Not today, no, today work." The dog continued in a torrent of words, tearing over a cabinet and emptying it drawer by drawer. "Ah!" He exclaimed.
"I found useless shiny... yes!" He said, examining what appeared to be a small marble chess-piece, more specifically, a rook. It had a very pearl like sheen, and the winter wolf could sense a low magical hum from it. It seemed generic at first, but he then noticed something on it, a tiny scribble of initials on the bottom. Somehow, he knew that whatever the dog was holding, was part of a set, somehow he felt that he needed to complete that set.
"Is magic? Maybe, not magic enough. Just a little, not enough to charge a gem." The diamond dog sniffed it. "What it is though, maybe for decoration? There are others, yes, but where? Not here? I need find them, make good set. Yes." Baxter could try and fool the dog into giving him the peace, and complete the set himself. Somehow he felt that it would be important. That he wanted to, do so... but why?
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 6, 2012 12:32:39 GMT -5
Baxter frowned, listening to the other dog’s words. So the real reason for his hard work was so that he could find more trinkets. Typical. And it seemed like the dog’s efforts had paid off, as he had just found what looked a chess-piece. Normally he would have dismissed it as junk, but something felt… different about it. The wolf squinted at the rook-shaped object for several seconds, then taking a few steps closer to get a better look. He could feel the faintest hint of magic emanating from the piece, and spotted some initials scribbled onto the bottom.
Baxter looked around the room, trying to see if he could spot any similar pieces. He found nothing, though, and the object felt like it was the only thing nearby giving off a similar signature. It had to be part of a set though, and if the rest weren’t in the house, they had to be close. It was just a matter of finding them, and getting that piece from the dog.
“Give it here,” Baxter said. “Like you said, it’s worthless on its own, not even strong enough to charge a gem. And you don’t want to go out looking for the rest, or you’re friends in the other room might take your spot and look through here themselves. Just think, if you could find something little like that, then there’s probably even better stuff here. And the last thing you want to do is leave and let them get their paws on it before you do.” The wolf held out his hand, giving the dog a look of stern expectation. “I’ll see if I can find the rest. If they make something worthless I’ll give you the whole set. If they have enough magical energy, they can be used to charge some gems.”
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 6, 2012 13:54:39 GMT -5
The dog hesitated for a few moments, greedily eyeing the tower, then his spot. The prospect of maybe finding something better caught his attention. If the wolf was right about the set being able to charge a gem he'd have to let go of it anyway, and if it was useless he'd get it back, or take it back, for sure. Yes, for now he could give it to the greedy wolf, so he would leave him alone. He handed over the Rook, and went to dig deeply once more into the piles and cabinets.
With the piece in hand, Baxter felt clingy suddenly, he had to keep it safe, until he could find the knight, the king and the pawn... then he only had to find out where the chess board was... of course...
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 6, 2012 14:39:32 GMT -5
The dog had relented the piece, putting it in Baxter’s hand and going back to digging through the room. As soon as he had, Baxter made his way back to the wall, quickly stepping over it and returning to the main path. He looked around, spotting no one else within sight, and decided to take a closer look at the object. He moved the little piece around in his fingers, turning it over so he could attempt to read the initials. Too dark though, and so the wolf quickly wrapped the item back into his fingers before putting it away and out of sight.
Now he just needed to find the others. Why exactly? He wasn’t entirely sure other than that he was just compelled to do so and curious what they would do once together. After all, the piece had to have that faint magic for a reason. Baxter looked at the buildings around him, seeing homes and shops stretching as far as he could see. The wolf let out a groan, realizing that the endeavor could end up taking a while. But he would probably end up losing sleep anyways if he left the task unfinished. Hopefully the rest of the pieces would be close.
Baxter approached the next closest house, trying the door. He could only push it about half-way open, probably because some wrecked piece of furniture was blocking the rest of the way. The wolf slipped through the doorway, closing it behind him and finding himself greeted by a near-pitch black room. Luckily there was a lantern nearby, which he promptly lighted and used to examine his surroundings. Looked like the dogs hadn’t been through this house yet, or at least they hadn’t done a very thorough job. The first thing that immediately stood out to him was a chest sitting in the corner. “Perfect,” the wolf thought, walking over to its side of the room. He set the lantern down beside him, pushing open the lid of the chest and taking a look at what was inside.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 6, 2012 15:54:46 GMT -5
Yet even as he entered he felt he was in the wrong place. This was not where he would find what he was looking for. He felt drawn to another structure, the remains of the library, that's where he wanted to go now. He didn't know why, but that was the place to be. He just felt it in his guts.
The Rook in his hands felt heavier the longer he carried it, yet he couldn't bring himself to let it go. He had a good hunch that if he follows his hunches, it will get lighter again... What a strange series of feelings. It obviously came from the chess piece, but to what end?
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 6, 2012 16:11:51 GMT -5
Baxter found only junk in the lid, slamming it shut with disappointment. He should have known better. As soon as he had entered he had gotten the feeling there wasn’t something in here. The chest was just there to get his hopes up. The rook also felt heavier, for what reason he didn’t know. Maybe he was just tired, but something told him that he should stop trying to be thorough and go with his gut. Baxter stood up, making his way back out the door. Once he was back outside, he easily found which way his gut was pointing him, the library. He had to admit that making such a decision based purely off instinct (from where he had no idea) was a bit strange, but it wasn’t like the library was going to be any less likely to hold another one of the pieces than anywhere else in the encampment.
The wolf set off for the library, reaching it in a surprisingly short amount of time. He had already pushed open the door and stepped inside before remembering something. Ice Fang was staying in the library, which meant he and the girls from earlier were still in the library. Baxter looked around nervously, but to his relief found none of them. Probably upstairs, which was fine by him. He’d be able to look for the chess piece alone and without being questioned, which couldn’t be too hard.
The wolf’s hopes dropped upon looking at the massive amount of books lining the shelves. “Oh come on!” the wolf thought to himself. If the piece was hidden inside one of these books, he would be here all night. The wolf begrudgingly made his way to the ladder, stopping right as he put his foot on the first rung. Something had caught his eye. It was the horse head statue on the table. “Bingo,” Baxter thought as he stepped down and approached the statue. He took it up in his hands, prying at it at every angle in an attempt to get it to open.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 7, 2012 8:33:02 GMT -5
Try though he might, it seemed the horsehead statue just had no opening. In order to get inside Baxter would have to smash it open. From above he could hear Ice Fang and the two Diamond Dog girls having their fun as it were. Smashing the horse head statue in the house might raise an alarm, but if Ice Fang came down he might demand Baxter to hand over the Rook. Perhaps it would be better to smash it against a rock outside, as he was confident that the horse head statue contained the piece he was looking for.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 7, 2012 11:05:15 GMT -5
Baxter stopped after several seconds of trying to open the horse head. There didn’t seem to be an easy way to open the thing, but the piece had to be in here. He knew it. The only way of getting inside, though, was to bust the thing open.
Upstairs Baxter could hear Ice Fang and the girls, indicating to him that it was a good time to leave. He certainly didn’t want Ice Fang coming down and asking what he was doing. With the statue in hand, Baxter exited the library, walking down one of the side streets. He was looking for anything that would help him break open the statue, and after a short distance he had found what he was looking for. There was a medium-sized rock sitting just a short ways in front of him. Baxter promptly approached it, kneeling down with the horse head in his hands. The wolf carefully brought the statue above his head, and then brought it down against the rock with all his force.
((And I think it’s pretty obvious that if it doesn’t open on the first try, he’d just keep hitting it over and over until it does.))
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 7, 2012 11:47:21 GMT -5
And voila, the horsehead smashed open and within it was the sought after chess piece, a knight this time. Bearing the same initials as the rook, it seemed. Now Baxter's gut aimed him towards the militia headquarters on the outskirts of town. It was odd that he knew where to look, but odder that he knew what the structure he was heading for was used for.
He just knew he'd find the next piece there, just knew it!
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 7, 2012 11:58:05 GMT -5
The horse head easily shattered open, revealing the chess piece inside. Baxter quickly grabbed it, holding it up to his face so he could examine it. It was a knight this time but had the same design and initials as the rook. The wolf quickly stored it with the other piece, standing up and getting a sense of where he should head next.
Baxter’s gut immediately pointed towards the militia headquarters, and if it had been right once before, it was likely to be right again. He quickly stood up and started off towards his new destination, leaving the shattered statue behind. He didn’t run as he moved towards the outskirts of the encampment but kept a quick pace, eager to find the next piece. He took no time in entering the headquarters. The wolf stood just inside the door way, looking around him for where the piece might possibly be.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 7, 2012 12:01:22 GMT -5
The room in front of him was possibly the most trashed room in the village, having many piles of debris and garbage piled up, nothing was obvious, nothing discernable and the smell of burnt wood and trash was filling his nostrils. The two chess pieces seemed to have abandoned his intuition, he'd have to search for it the hard way, and he was unlikely to come out of it smelling pine fresh.
There were several rooms, one was completely torn off and led to the outside, the other was collapsed to the point passing through it would be extremely difficult and even then it would be hard to locate anything at all. His best chances were to check methodically, starting with the large room, to the side of which was the militia jail he was in currently.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 7, 2012 12:10:59 GMT -5
The scent of garbage and burnt wood was the first thing Baxter noticed, instinctively bringing him to cover his nose for a brief second. He walked through the door across from him, finding the source of the smell. Numerous piles of junk and wreckage filled the room. Not only that, but there were other doors leading to more rooms.
Baxter's gut had now stepped telling him where to go, and now all he knew was that the third piece was somewhere in the building. Didn't seem there was going to be an easy way to find this one. Looking around at the junk piles surrounding him, Baxter picked one arbitrarily and started digging through it. The lowliness of what he was doing crossed his mind for a brief moment, but he quickly pushed it aside. He had to find that piece. He had to know what they did together.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 7, 2012 12:13:54 GMT -5
After a long time of digging through the trash heap, Baxter found... nothing. A complete waste of time, and there were plenty more heaps around. Not to mention the other rooms. Where could a chess piece be hiding in a militia headquarters? Baxter knew he was missing a mage and a pawn, but which one was hidden here? And where would one be hid?
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 7, 2012 12:26:36 GMT -5
Baxter searched through entire junk pile, finding absolutely nothing. He stood up, looking around at the other trash heaps in the room, wondering if there was any use searching them. Maybe there was some logic to it. The dog had found the rook just by digging around, but the knight had been fittingly encased in the horse head statue. Maybe the pawn or the mage would be hidden similarly.
Baxter looked at the doors in the room, deciding to try the one that lead to the torn-off room first. Entering what was left of the room, the wolf glanced around, seeing if he could find anything of interest.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 7, 2012 12:42:56 GMT -5
He found a relatively simple armory, the contents of which were already looted by the diamond dogs and probably smelted by now. There was nothing unusual except for the devestation, which seemed to have outrooted one of the weapon racks from its place in the wall, as it was now face down on the floor.
The rest of the room was in shambles, there were some supply chests that were now completely plundered, broken and empty, one was moved from its location apparently, as Baxter could see draggin marks on the floor. A small supply log was lying wrinkled and torn on the floor. Quite a thick book.
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