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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Oct 6, 2012 0:02:09 GMT -5
Sunlight filtered through the hotel room’s window, causing a sleeping Klepto to lazily open his eyes. The thief let out a yawn, blinking a few items before sitting up in his bed. The sound of a few plates clattering together greeted him as his movements tugged at the sheets. Klepto took a look down at the tipped over and mostly uneaten dishes, his mind not yet awake enough for him to immediately remember what they were doing in his bed. Oh, that was right, he had ordered room service. In fact, he had done so every night since the group had returned to Royal Rocks, usually just picking the most expensive items. A lot of the food hadn’t been that good considering the price (he could swear one of the dishes was just a nicely decorated piece of raw fish), but hey, as long as his good friend Lady Rainlock was picking up the tab.
The thief hopped out of bed, entering the door on the other side of the room. Even the bathrooms in this place were posh! Never had Klepto spent a night, let alone several, in such a nice place. Rarely he might have stayed in a decent hotel when he had “acquired” a fair amount of funds, but never a place this ritzy, not by a long shot. He could get used to these sort of living conditions. The room service and fancy hoof soap came at a price, though. The only reason they were here was the expedition he had been roped into. Klepto was lucky enough to emerge from the ruins mostly unscathed, but Selenia had received some serious burns after tripping some sort of shock trap (luckily she had been treated for her injuries a day or two ago). Some of the others, though, hadn’t quite recovered from their experience. That’s why the group had returned to Royal Rocks, to wait for some cavalry before heading further into the hazard-laden Equiterian palace.
And besides the dangerous nature of the employment, there was also a matter of the employer herself. Klepto was essentially here against his will, getting the choice of this expedition or prison after some of Rainlock’s goons had caught him in the middle of a bookstore robbery. The reality of the situation left a bitter taste in Klepto’s mouth. Room service and a comfortable bed were nice, but not with the knowledge that he was doing Rainlock’s legwork. Once the expedition was done, though, he could get back to thievin’. Maybe even take a break from Manehattan. After all, Rainlock’s guards were around every corner there and he hadn’t much luck within the city to begin with. But that was something he could decide later.
A few minutes later, Klepto emerged from the bathroom, crossing the room to slip on his bag. The fancy plate and broken spear he had recovered from the ruins were in a box under the bed. He figured he’d be able to sell the Equiterian dinnerware to some collector after the expedition for a good price, and the spear made a good souvenir. Not something you’d really want to carry around with you in a crowded city, though. Slipping out of his hotel room, Klepto trotted down the hall to the next door, banging on it with his hoof once he reached it. “I’m headin’ out, Selenia,” he shouted through the door. “If you wanna come with, I’ll be in the lobby for a few minutes.” He then proceeded to the next door, again banging on it with his hoof. “You too, Hind Sight. Meet me in the lobby if you wanna go with us.”
The thief proceeded to the lobby, stopping by the breakfast bar to swipe a muffin. He quickly found a seat, plopping down and beginning to take the paper off his breakfast. Most of the patrons here were griffons, unsurprisingly. There were one or two ponies he could see, probably remnants of the Wind Festival, but most of them had all left for Equestria by now. Probably turned tail after that little incident with the rust phoenix.
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Post by Selenia on Oct 7, 2012 10:16:59 GMT -5
"I'll be out in a minute Klepto." Selenia yelled to him through the hotel door. She continued organizing her belongings when she heard him pound on Hind Sight's door and relay the same information. She had woken up early, a little gift of the discomfort brought on by her shiny new dermal repairs. Her burns from their previous expedition were surprisingly serious, so their benefactor had gone out of her way to provide the payment for the best hospitalized care in the entire griffon kingdom. That meant magic and skin grafts. She idly scratched the patches of her coat that had been repaired, which was exactly what the doctor had told her not to do, but she couldn't help herself. Aside from that, the little singing that her nerves had received was completely fixed, so she wouldn't be falling over or twitching uncontrollably anymore.
Selenia finished brushing her hair and lifted her saddlebags onto her back before shutting off the lights and proceeding out the door into the hallway. "Hey Hind Sight, I'm heading down to the lobby." She issued after a light knock on the neighboring door. She trotted down the hallway and took the elevator to the lobby, vaulted ceiling and all. She smiled at the atmosphere of the place. Good service, good food, great views. It wasn't a five star hotel for nothing, that's for sure.
After enjoying the ambience for a few seconds, she spotted Klepto wolfing down a muffin at the breakfast counter and she went to join him. She plopped down on one of the seats next to him and rifled through the complimentary muffin basket, locating a simple blueberry pastry. "So, what are our plans for the day?" She asked Klepto before taking a hearty bite of her muffin.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Oct 14, 2012 20:09:18 GMT -5
Klepto spotted Selenia entering the lobby right after he had taken a bite out of his muffin. He waited until she had sat down next to him, swallowing before answering her question. "I dunno," he said, giving a shrug. "I was gonna walk around and see what I could find. Beats staying cooped up in a hotel room all day." Klepto took another bite out of his muffin, looking over at a clock on the wall as he chewed the food in his mouth. "Hind Sight's probably still asleep," he finally said. "I think that guy has narcolepsy or somethin'. We found him fast asleep in the ruins too, remember?"
The thief took a few more bites before finishing his muffin, crinkling up the paper and tossing it onto the counter. "So how's your uh... recovery been going?" he asked, motioning towards the newly repaired spots on Selenia's coat. "With the kind of pockets our financer has, I wouldn't doubt you've been getting pretty good treatment. I mean, I think even she knows that a barbecued unicorn ain't of much use."
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Post by Selenia on Oct 17, 2012 18:55:45 GMT -5
Selenia stifled a laugh at the memory of finding Hind Sight and Tunnel Nexus sound asleep in the middle of the hostile Equiterian ruins. "Yeah, I bet that whole magic sleep thing is still wearing off. Speaking of which, I haven't heard from Tunnel Nexus and the others yet about how they're doing." She left it open in case Klepto wanted to bite onto the end of the statement. Also speaking of which, she nommed another chunk of the muffin, savoring the continental breakfast taste.
Selenia met Klepto's eyes quizically when he noted her healing patches. She absently scratched at a spot behind her ear as he continued. "Yeah, the recovery has been very quick and relatively painless. The best care costs the most, and the care I got was the best." She even kept the little hospital band, as it had the name of the hospital and the name of the doctor, the most revered in all of the griffon kingdom, on it. A nice little souvenir.
"Yes, I do bring a unique skill set to the group, and without use of my abilities,' she gestured to her horn, "I feel kind of useless." She took a few glances around before hastily adding, "Not to insult any non-unicorns, I mean... My special abilities are all tied to my magic, and I am not very well trained in anything else, so I'm as good as any other citizen without my magic... Yeah." She shrunk a bit back into her stool.
Selenia shivered a bit at Klepto's final comment about a barbecued Selenia. On the whole walk back, Selenia could have sworn she smelled a wonderful outdoor cookout. Only then did it occur to her that the smell might actually have been Selenia herself. She finished her muffin and levitated the paper to a recycling bin, doing the same with Klepto's. "Well, we are in the most high-class section of the capital of the Griffon Kingdom... What do you say about spending some of our funds on... Adventuring supplies." She offered with a nonchalant wink.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Oct 19, 2012 22:22:23 GMT -5
Klepto nodded as Selenia spoke, listening as she described how she felt without her magic. "I get what you're saying," he said simply. "Most the stuff you bring to the table is dependent on your magic, so without your magic you can't really bring much to the table." The thief paused for a moment, realizing that the statement could easily come off as an insult. "Eh, that came out weird. Forget I said that."
"Anyways," Klepto said, hopping down from his seat, "Going out for some adventuring supplies sounds great. And hey, if we can charge it to the room, it's my treat. And by 'my treat', I mean Lady Rainlock's treat." He then trotted over to the revolving doorway, exiting the hotel with Selenia close behind him. He took a few steps outside the hotel, looking around before speaking to her again. "I think the shopping district's that way," he said, nodding to their left. "And let's hope we can actually find a store that's selling what we're looking for. I'm not too interested in any fashion boutiques we're bound to come across," he added, rolling his eyes as he made turned left away from the hotel.
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Post by zipfyre on Oct 22, 2012 12:34:55 GMT -5
ZipFyre paced in her room, snorting in frustration. Her hindquarters had been handed to her by beings who weren't even alive. Some Deputy she was turning out to be. She glared at the bright red and yellow mare in the mirror. Hmph. Yellow. Perhaps her Cutie Mark came more intuitively than she originally thought. Speed, sure, speed enough to run away instead of fighting. With a well-aimed kick, Zip sent a decorative figurine flying through the room to shatter against the opposite wall. She snorted and, more to burn off some fury than anything else, trotted out of her room, slamming the door behind her.
Of course, hunger and lack of sleep hadn't helped to improve her mood. She'd sent the last nurse trying to coax her into eating into a full retreat. Her stomach growled on her way into the lobby as she passed a basket of complimentary muffins, but she simply growled back. "It's watcha git fer bein' so darned yeller, belly."
Without really paying much attention to where she was going, Zip headed out the doors, ramming straight into Klepto's behind. "Oof. Watch it, partner!"
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Oct 23, 2012 17:28:42 GMT -5
Klepto frowned as someone bumped into him from behind. Yeesh, didn't people look where they were going anymore? "Hey, listen," Klepto said, turning to face whoever had bumped into him. "What makes-" The thief paused as a flash of red and yellow entered his sight. It was that pegasus who had been part of the expedition. What was her name again? Zipper? No, that wasn't it.
"Well, look who finally decided to show up. It's good 'ole... what's-'er-face. I hope you've decided to be a bit more sociable from now on. Last time we saw you, you wouldn't even give us the time of day." Klepto said, joking at the silence spell the pegasus had been hit with while in the ruins. "Anyways, Selenia and I were just about to head out. Hit some stores, get some supplies. You're free to tag along if you'd like."
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Post by Selenia on Oct 25, 2012 20:28:47 GMT -5
Selenia chuckled at Klepto. "Have a little faith. The griffons are famous for being rough and tumble. There should be at least 3 stores in this city with what we're looking for. But for the really good equipment, we may have to scour some back alleys. The best weaponry and gear can be very hard to come by." Selenia was thinking about adding a physical weapon to her repitoire, seeing as when her magic would be rendered due to any number of reasons, she would just become a load of dead weight. Not much dead weight, as she was fit and didn't consider herself that chubby, but dead weight regardless.
But anyway, Selenia wanted to get some kind of concrete weapon that couldn't be turned off like her magic. She was thinking something small, like a dagger or something like that. Heck, she even heard that the griffons made some kind of electrified talon attachment for their military engineers. With a little tinkering, that could even be effective for her needs, but they might have to search the black market for that.
ZipFyre joined Selenia and Klepto outside of the hotel, bumping into Klepto and eliciting a surprised response from him. She refrained from laughing at his little joke about what had befallen her inside the ruins. "Yeah, we were going to take the city by storm. See what goodies are hidden for us to make use of on our return to the ruins." She nodded along with Klepto's statement, "Just like Klepto said, you can come along. Who knows, you might find something that tickles your fancy."
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Post by zipfyre on Oct 26, 2012 14:56:10 GMT -5
ZipFyre blushed at the polite responses her companions gave her. "I-I'm mighty sorry fer snappin' atchya juss now. Days of no speakin' an' them's the words that come outta mah mouth. Mah name's ZipFyre, by th' way, Klepto. You cin call me Zip 'r Zippy, though, if'n ya want to."
She brightened at their invitation. "Yer derned tootin' I wanna see these here rocks! I hear these here griffons're right skilled in whatchamabobs an' thingamajigs. Where d'we go first?"
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Oct 27, 2012 11:41:40 GMT -5
"I think it's gonna be over in this direction," Klepto said, nodding to his left. The colt began walking in said direction, leading the two others towards what he hoped was the shopping district. Luckily, soon enough they had reached the place, evident by the various stores and numerous griffins holding freshly purchased goods. "Alright, what do we got here," Klepto said as he continued forward, looking around at the various establishments. "Rugs, music store, art gallery... hm..."
His eyes had settled on one shop in particular. "Expedition Enterprises". It kind of looked like what they were looking for... maybe. "Well..." Klepto said, debating whether they should go in. "It's better than nothing I guess. Wouldn't hurt to just browse." Klepto walked over to the shop door, going through before holding it open for the other two.
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Post by Stygg Whitefeather on Oct 28, 2012 13:12:03 GMT -5
The door's bell rang with a gentle jingle as they entered - their eyes struck by the soft light of electric lanterns hanging loosely from the ceilings. A single fan adorned the center above the shops floor, slowly spinning, circulating the air which carried a pungent sweet scent that seemed to waft from somewhere in the back, behind the counter. The walls were lined with shelves, filled with the mundane of expeditionary supplies, to the bizarre and strange. taxidermied creatures abounded all corners, from small game to larger more impressive monsters - many which had photographs beside them showing the moment after the kill. A mustachioed griffon with a very impressive looking assortment of large projectile weapons, dressed most recognizably similar to Daring-Do and who was flanked by Zebras.
"What-ho, ponies!" Emerging from the back of the shop is a older, mustachioed crowned-eagle griffon. Like the pictures on the walls, he was adorned with a worn kepi hat, old wire frame glasses and had on a frayed tan military style coat marked with medals - which appeared to be of foreign origin. "Sir Feathermain, at your service. Are you planning on some dangerous endeavors which brought you to my store this day?"
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Post by Selenia on Nov 7, 2012 22:01:56 GMT -5
Selenia cracked a small smile when she noticed the name of the store as they walked in. "Thank you-" She offered to Klepto as he held the door. The store was aptly named, as the windows were overflowing with garments and equipment that looked like it belonged in a movie. A fair portion of the stuff seemed to be antiques, with the other half very modern, advanced equipment. That and a bunch of trophy heads of creatures pinned up on the walls and stacked on shelves. Kind of like the way those big fishing stores are always set up, only cooler.
And then suddenly their group was accosted by a very classic looking mustached griffon. Judging by the photographs, Selenia was surprised that he didn't have at least two prosthetic limbs. And his manner of speech, too! He almost bled class. Perhaps she would go find him some wonderful wild animal fur to add to his hat, a little extra flair to make an old griffon look much more bad-flank than he deserves. Anyway, back to the matter on hand.
Selenia knew that their expedition was one of relative importance and secrecy, so she had no idea whether or not to tell Feathermain specifically what they were doing or where they were going. If that was to be the case, they could lose important context and advice that could help them, as well as the possibility of certain items in the store not being revealed as very useful for them. She turned to Klepto and gave him a questioning look, hoping that he got the message.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Nov 8, 2012 0:18:45 GMT -5
Klepto looked around at the various taxidermied creatures filling the corners of the store, his eyes landing on a particularly ghastly-looking one. "Kinda reminds me of this guy I once knew," he said, tilting his head in order to get a better look at the creature's teeth. The sound of the shop owner's voice soon thereafter turned his attention away from the trophy. What Klepto found in its place was a moustache-wearing griffon in one of those old hunting get-ups. Certainly looked like the type of guy who might be running an expedition shop.
The thief looked over to Selenia after the griffon had finished, only to find her looking at him like she wasn't sure exactly what to do. Guess she wanted him to talk first.
"You got that right," Klepto answered. "Danger is our first and last names. We're uh..." The colt paused, looking down to his right and tapping his hoof against his mouth, obviously trying to come up with something. "We're... architects!" he said excitedly, proud of his answer and completely unaware of the disastrous flub he had made. "We go around digging up clay pots, exploring secret tunnels, writing papers on our findings. Usual architecture stuff. In fact, we got reason to believe there's a whole buncha secret tunnels right around here, filled with all sorts of important stuff. Might even be some booby traps and what-not."
The thief walked over to one of the shelves, pointing at the various items as he continued. "So naturally, before we head out we wanted to get our hooves on some supplies. And lucky for us, your store looks like it might have just what we're looking for. We need to see your best and most expensive gear, post-haste." Klepto turned back around to look at Selenia and Zipfyre, grinning at both of them. He was eager to see what they thought of his well-crafted story.
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Post by zipfyre on Nov 8, 2012 10:18:26 GMT -5
"I think what mah dunder-head partner here meant was that we're arkee-ologists. Fergive'im, he's a regular Shave-tail. Gotta give'im credit fer knowin' the rest o' our trade, though. Good job, Klep, mebbe we oughtta git ye some ice cream when we finish."
ZipFyre winked at Klepto to make sure he knew she was teasing. She turned back to the griffon, putting on her best bartering face. "Aight, Feathers, let's see whatcha got."
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Post by Stygg Whitefeather on Nov 16, 2012 20:36:16 GMT -5
“Right-o!”Joyfully exclaimed the Feathermain, “Architectural Archeologists, what a terribly perilous profession indeed. Battling cults, daring dangerous booby-traps, fighting off fascists, swinging from ancient stone columns, going toe to toe… or hoof to toe with all manner of beast, drafting! You’ve come to the right place, that I assure you!” He stepped out from behind the counter and motioned for the trio to follow behind. “Reminds me when I was hunting the legendary Petsuchos along the great Neighal River. Saw all manner of strange and wondrous places petitioning to be explored. If I had been inclined and my zebra assistants hadn’t been such ninnies about all the non-sense curses, I would have explored them myself; now then.” He then showed them what he had to offer – starting with the basics.
“So here we have your necessities.” Pointing out goods and wares, “Oil lamps, tools, goulas – I mean galoshes, must be a speck hungry. Continuing on, I have a fine assortment of heavy clothing and gear just over there. Special sale on head-lamps and parasprite netting, mind you. Now this is all the mundane basic things, however,” He huddled close to the ponies. “I have a few items that I sense three ponies like you would be far more interested in. What say you? If you say ‘no’ then you are sad and I have no wish to speak with you further.” He bellowed a hardy laugh – impossible to tell if he was joking. “If what the chili-pepper mare orated is true, you’re going to need them.”
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