The training ground, Basic rpg training

[Aon_Daonna]

Her uncle looked at Lierin with his ears popped up like two antennas. Is it supposed to be so silent in there?
Lierin slided forward a bit and pressed her ear against the door. Eh... not really. She got up and banged at the door. "Hey ye two, everythin' awricht wi' ye?" No answer. She looked at Moira..

[free2Bme]

I have been sitting here at this bus station for what seems like an eternity! I am hot, I am tired, and I am fed up with Firth giving Garfield all of his mean little looks. If I didn't know better, I would say that Firth is actually jealous of my sweet innocent wittle pussy cat!

I can't wait to get to Aberdeen for a nice hot bath, relax in my room, and order my fill from room service. I need a vacation from this vacation!

It feels wierd sitting here, wondering where everyone else is. As far as I know, the police have nabbed that wild green eyed Witch Woman and her evil male companion - at least I hope they have! A little shiver went through me as I thought about what evil plan those two might be conjuring up!

I never have figured out where that kilted feller went. We left that purple haired space cadet and her friend Moira standing in the hall all by themselves, as they eavesdropped on Firth and me. I could not contain my smile about that one. I also found myself wondering about that dude in the tuxedo. I wonder if they kept him locked up, or if he was able to talk his way out of it?

But my biggest worry was that of the unseen presence of Mr. Jack O'Calahan, Vampire Extraordinairre! I looked around me, feeling his presence even now. Just out of the corner of my eye, just out of my peripheral vison, I was certain that every shadow and shade hid this evil specter of a man. I wondered if I really didnt just have a bad dream, perhaps the result of some poorly digested pizza, or maybe a bit of rancid haggis? Surely this cant be real. I am living in my own nightmare, and at any moment I am going to wake up!

When I get home, I am going to set up some time with a therapist!

[Herrerano]

I don't know why I picked up that damn cat. First of all, he weighed a ton, and lugging him around had given me a serious pain in the shoulder from one of those old injuries. He didn't look like he was good for anything. It seemed to me that the main purpose of cats on earth was to remind us there really may be extraterrestrial life (not necessarily intelligent). And then the humility of having to hold that thing when we finally got a ride. Ann sure seemed to enjoy the attentions of that crooked faced, sneering old geezer that gave us a ride to Strathdon. I think she would flirt with a warthog if one would show up.

We had waited forever for the bus to carry us to Aberdeen, and then of course, the effort to find the proper accomodations for that four legged feline fuzzball had tried my patience almost to the limits. I was tired and hungry and thirsty, and not in a very good mood when the bus finally arrived. Then, to make matters worse, my little princess, Her Royal Highness the cat lady, climbed up on the bus, with me behind carrying that orange repository of half digested Tender Vittles, picked out her seat, sat down and wanted His Excellence, the cat, placed on the seat beside her. I sat across the aisle, and immediatly before we left was rewarded with a companion in the seat next to mine.

It was with utter delight that I saw, what looked to be a couple of university students make there way onto the bus. One of them sat in an empty seat towards the front of the small bus, but the other one made her way down the aisle and finally squeezed past me to sit in the seat next to the window. She was quite attractive, with long dark hair, dark eyes, a small waist and a perfectly shaped oval face with gorgous eyebrows. I glanced across the aisle at Ann, and she seemed to be quietly fuming. Her ears had turned red and it looked almost like steam was coming out of her collar. Well, sweetheart, serves you right, why don't you have a nice little conversation with Mister cat while you sit there, I thought. I turned and just admired the beautiful scenery, some of which was outside the window as we passed through the countryside.

[free2Bme]

I remember now why it was that I had sworn to myself that I would never again ride a public transportation bus! The air on the bus was hot, crowded, and close. It felt like 100 people had been shoved into a bus that only had room for 50. The stench coming from the back of the bus was intolerable! Someone's baby agreed with me, because he was wailing at the top of his lungs.

We were jammed in like so many sardines, and to make matters worse, even though I gave my window seat to the cat, with the intent of sitting in the isle seat next to Firth so we could chat and sort of make this whole experience more pleasant, he was going to need a neck brace for that whiplash he was getting from looking at that 20 something tramp who had seated herself beside him.

Somehow I had imagined that we had been developing a sort of bond between us, but I guess that was all in my imagination too, just like this whole trip has been! This is the longest 45 minute journey of my life, and I hope that I will never have to ride a bus ever ever again!

Once this bus lets us out, I hope that Firth and his new found little hussy friend are happy together, because I have better things to do with my life than to worry over what a man does in his own time. That's why I like cats better than people, you never have to worry about them while you are not around. As long as you feed them and keep their litter box changed, they are happy and content.

[Herrerano]

We hadn't traveled very far when I noticed the girl seated next to me was holding a rolled up poster. I caught a glimpse of it and was somewhat interested. Hmmmm, I thought, must be a physics student.

I spoke up, "Are you attending that summer school?"

She replied that she was, and her and her friend were taking the opportunity to take a few excursions into the countryside before it started.
We then spent most of the trip engaged in a very interesting conversation concerning John G. Cramer's Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

We were so engrossed in conversation, that I hardly noticed the time pass. Just 45 minutes later and we had not even gotten to the discussion on Schrodingers cat gedanken experiment. As the bus pulled into Aberdeen, I wished her luck in her endeavors, and turned to see Ann a sort of beet red color, lips pinched and staring straight ahead. The intense conversation had helped me forget about the humiliation suffered at the hand (paw really) of that feline usurper of attention. I thought maybe Ann was just lost in deep thought.

I turned and spoke softly to that blond, southern accented beauty, who had so many womanly charms, "Looks like we're there sweetie, let me help with that cat carrier."

[free2Bme]

No thank you. I replied very coldy. I can get it myself.

I don't need your help. Even as I said it, I knew it wasn't true. My bottom lip began to tremble and before I could stop myself I began to cry. I hate myself when I cry!

I guess all of the stress, all of the excitement, all of my emotions had just reached a breaking point, and that bus ride was the absolute last straw. I cried and as I cried I realized could not stop. It was all just too much for me. I sat down on the nearest bench and let it all out.

[MDF3530]

Meanwhile, Mike's laptop had alerted him that Anne & Firth had gone to a bus station. He went to the station, where he saw them, waiting in line for a bus bound for Aberdeen.

What in the blue hell are they going to Aberdeen for?, he wondered. Then it dawned on him: the train station! Of course! She needs to get a replacement passport at the U.S. Consulate in Edinburgh! This'll be a good time to do a face-to-face with the Chief!

Now knowing where her final destination was, he had no reason to use another tracking device on the bus. Instead, he walked up to the counter.

"What can I do for you, laddie?" asked the ticket agent, a woman who looked like she could've played Ewan MacGregor's mom in Trainspotting.

"I'd like one ticket to Aberdeen please."

[Herrerano]

I had been very absorbed in the conversation, for some reason the Transactional interpretation seemed to cover so many more of the odd quirks of quantum mechanics then did the Copenhagen interpretation, and it was easy to get lost in a discussion of things like the determination of position q which arises from another characteristic of relativistic quantum field theories or the correlations of the seperate parts of the state vector, or a thousand other points related to the subject.

When we had arrived at the terminal, I felt much more relaxed after my discussion with this delightful student who confessed that she was interested in researching the correspondence between the QM formalism and reality for the case of pairs of canonically conjugate variables. I was very excited for her and wished her luck in her endeavors.

It was with some surprise then that I saw Ann, first, snap at me so tersly, and then start to cry and sit herself down on the bench crying and sobbing horribly. I sat down beside her and reached out to touch her shoulder but she sort of pulled it away. I was at a loss at what to do, I was never very good in these situations.

"Ann, sweetheart, what's wrong? We need to get to a hotel and get off the street, it's starting to get late and we don't know what to expect from that thing." I pled with her to come on. I reached down and unlatched the cat carrier and stroked the furry little animal a little, not knowing what to do with my hands. I locked it back up, and again reached out for her, I felt horrible, and was beginning to think I was going to start crying as well.

"Please sweetie, let's go find a place to stay the night. I'll even carry Garfield, I'll be happy to carry him, and we'll get him a nice piece of fish or something. Well, it seemed to me a small price to pay to calm her down. I was feeling so protective of her, and couldn't bear the thought of her being angry at me. I still wasn't sure what was wrong, but figured I was responsible, being the male in the situation. That usually seemed to be the case from past experiences. "Lets go", I said gently, reaching to put my arms around her, hoping she wouldn't shove me away or punch me in the eye or anything.

[free2Bme]

Having reached the end of my tear duct quota, about the best I could manage was to smile weakly and nod. Of course Firth was right. I have to pull myself together. Now is not the time to fall apart, especially not with a Vampire on the loose. The more I thought about the vampire, the more tears began to rise again.

This is all my fault! I sobbed. If only I had not tried to help him! I was just trying to do the guy a favor, but then I really had no idea what I was doing. Now I have just made a complete mess of things.

Firth was being his usual sweet self. How did I ever get him mixed up in all of this? He was too sweet to be any part of this, and I should never have dragged him into my troubles. By all rights, he should be at the pub having a few drinks, eating Bridies Pastries and just enjoying his vacation. Instead, he is here with me and we are running for our lives to get away from this vampire! The mere thought of the realization of what I have done to him cause me to start bawling all over again. I feel so guilty about this whole entire mess!

Well okay, I manage between tears. I guess yiou are right, we should be getting ourselves safe and secrue for the night. I dont want to get caught outside after dark, that's for sure - vampire or no vampire.

Firth put his arms around me, and just having him there made me feel safe and secure. I enjoyed the warmth of him his arms and returned his hug.

[Macrae]

Moira liked this wolf. He seemed friendlier than the other one. She offered him a hand to sniff and looked into his eyes. She had always been fond of wolves and when she was about 15 they had become her favorite animal, even more than horses. She had been on a spirit walk of sorts in the Celeddon Forest when she had gotten herself caught between a tusked wild boar and the boar's piglet in the midst of a small meadow. The closest tree to climb was too weak to hold her weight so all she could do was stand there and try to be invisible. Her skills weren't honed yet so she couldn't throw out something to distract the angry sow long enough to run for larger trees. Moira stood there waiting for the charge that was soon to come and hoped that her small hunting knife would be sharp enough to make it through the tough skin of the boar. All of this happened within seconds, of course, with little time for Moira to think of other means of defense. The sow chose that moment to charge, her head down and tusks gleaming in the sunlight. Then suddenly a wolf came running at full speed into the clearing and turned the sow away from Moira and off to the side. Moira literally leapt at the chance to make her escape and took off for the dense trees about 50 feet behind her. She climbed the nearest one and watched the sow and the wolf dance around the clearing for a few minutes. The sow finally gave up and, reunited with her bawling, fat baby, left the clearing. The wolf made his way leisurely to the tree Moira was in, stopped at it's base, looked up at her, winked and walked away. At least she thought it winked. It sure looked like it! She called out a thank you before climbing down and making her way to back into the darker part of the forest to finish her journey. She had loved wolves ever since but she never thought that people could actually talk to them. She wasn't so sure it was a natural thing to be speaking with animals but there were worse creatures on the earth that humans spoke to. Wolves were angels compared to THOSE creatures!

"It's a pleasure to be meeting your acquaintance Calum."


Moira was starting to smell something foul and feel something lurking near when Lierin mentioned the silence coming from the room. She pressed her ear against the door and listened. She heard muffled whispers and light scraping of shoes on the floor, then nothing.

"Blast! They're running!"

Moira takes a few steps back and plows into the door, with her shoulder taking the force of the impact. She nearly falls over onto the floor as the door is old and the wood of the frame is weak with age. She immediately begins to feel on the walls for a seam or draft of air to find the secret passage.

"There's no telling how many secret passages this castle has. Fools! How can I protect people when they keep running off or getting knocked unconcious?! Ah there it is."

She opens the mirror to reveal the door to the passage. The feeling of something lurking left suddenly just then.

"Let's go. We'll try to catch them outside."

On the way through the passage Moira turns to Lierin and says:

"Did you feel a presence when we were in the hall? It left right after I plowed into the room."

Moira thought for a moment......

"It's after THEM! Ah ha! One or both of them IS involved somehow with this vampire. We need to find them...NOW."


(OOC: I might not be able to play much over the next week or so. I'll explain on another topic so as not to clog up the game space here.)

[Herrerano]

Finally Ann seemed to run out of tears, I had certainly run out of words and so I was very relieved when she stood and we gently hugged. This was intended to comfort her, but of course, she ended up being very comfortable in my arms. At last she relaxed, and we got our small amount of luggage together, and the cat, who was now eyeing us as if he understood everything. I decided to try and like the little guy, no matter what it took, and resisted the impulse to swing the cat carrier as we walked trying to make him do something interesting like throw up.

I asked one of the workers at the terminal if there was a hotel close, he pointed a short ways away, and mentioned the Station Hotel. It was close enough to walk, and we were there in a few minutes. We rented a double, and we were very lucky to get it. The clerk explained that they were full, but had just received a cancellation on one of the six executive doubles and so this was the last room they had open. The porter carried our bags, I lugged up old fatso in his little cage. (Of course, he was an extra charge, and had cost almost as much as a child would have, along with the small bribe that was necessary since the hotel normally did not allow animals.)

The porter opened the door for us and setting the bags on the floor, asked if there was anything else we needed. Dropping the small fortune into his hand that constituted his tip, I told him no. He left, closing the door behind him and I surveyed the room. Nice, I thought, a very nice room, but only one double bed, well, I thought, I hope that chair is comfortable.

I glanced at Ann, she had a sort of smirk on her face that was a cross between a grin and the look one has when they are about to be sick.

[free2Bme]

Well, maybe things are not as bad as they had seemed. I can at least hope that I have found one friend in this place. This vacation has certainly taken an unusual turn, but I have been in worse predicaments. Just not of this nature of course.

As we walked up to the room, I noticed that Firth gave the porter an unsual amount of cash for a tip. I wonder what that was about? I had already spoken to the desk clerk and he assured me that I could take Garfield upstairs to the room without any problems.

What I wanted most of all at this very moment was to take a nice long luxurious bubble bath. That would help to calm my nerves. Garfield felt right at ease and went straightaway to the window sill to sun himself in the light of the evening sunset. He perched there looking down at the teensy tiny people walking about the front entrance of the hotel.

I looked around the room - one double bed, okaaaaaaaaaaay and in the bathroom - WOW! One large antique porcelain and cast-iron, claw footed bathtub, PERFECT!

I looked through the cupboards and located some bubble bath crystals, and immediately began drawing a nice hot tub full of extra bubbly bath water! The steam began to rise as I took off my clothing and sank down into the tub of hot water.........mmmmmmmmmmm this feels great! I sat there soaking away my cares and thought about those television commercials "Calgon! Take me away!"

[Herrerano]

Stupid me, I knew I should have taken my shower first, it looked like Ann planned on soaking in there all night long. I was hungry too and decided the best thing would be to go on and order room service, no telling how long it would be for that to be served.

I called down to order, figuring that if the food arrived soon it might coax Ann from the tub. "Two orders of Prime rib with yorkshire pudding, lots of vegetables, two orders of prawn (a little appetizer was sounding pretty good), a bottle of wine, and a bottle of blended scotch." I then looked over at that stupid cat and added, "Could you also send up a can of tuna, please?"

Well, nothing to do now but wait. I opened the window for a little ventilation, took out a cigar, and lit up. To hell with the no-smoking ninnys.

[free2Bme]

[free2Bme]

As I sat on the window sill looking down with contempt at all the silly humans below me, I decided that maybe the Man was not so bad after all, and perhaps I could use him in my plot to overthrow human kind. I know that human minds are feeble and weak, and prone to telepathic suggestions....hmmmm, what I could really go for right now is a nice dish of tuna.

Very good, Nice Man. Now open the window a little please. Good Job, Nice Man.

BWWWAHAHAHAHAHA! Er, I mean, MEOW!

Now scatch my ears and rub my back. PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

RPG Garfield, Lord of Cats
http://www.geocities.com/llrose.geo/