[b][center]A Clayman’s Finale[/center][/b]

At the border of Bihar, Alfiere Bianco had taken it upon himself to meet the back-up team of librarians personally. There was a small army of holders, led by a woman with long blonde hair in a low-cut white cocktail dress, smoking a pipe. This woman was no other than Vivian Locke; the white queen of the library. 

The Library had two queens, Vivian and her counter-part the black queen. Queens were abnormally powerful holders, capable of summoning weapons as well as casting spells. Queens were a very rare types of holders, and as the Library’s luck would have it, both its queens were rather… Peculiar. The white queen was an arrogant diva if there ever was one, the black one a glutton with a stomach that must have been spirit-powered.

Both Queens had their own set of holders called the Royal guard, consisting out of two of the strongest rooks, bishops and knights each. Alfiere Bianco was one of Vivian’s bishops, as evidenced by his grand power of putting a shield up around an entire town. 

“Welcome to my humble abode.” Alfiere said to Vivian, more than anyone else. Vivian in response simply looked bored beneath her brow.

“Alfred.” She simply acknowledged the large bishop, before she proceeded to go straight to business. “What mess of yours am I cleaning up? I’m not exactly dressed for this dirty forest.”

“Alfiere, Vivian, Alfiere.” The bishop sighed, even though knowing better. Vivian was only sociable after a few too many drinks. Although she had a tendency to become [i]too[/i] sociable when that happened.

“Whatever, Alfred. Intel. On the double.” Vivian bit, already facing away from the man.

“The holders sent to investigate have become trapped in the dungeon. They can’t get in or out. They did find out that Valenci, our target, has acquired a powerful artefact; something that according to hearsay could level this place with the ground. That’s why you and I are sent to stop it.” Alfiere then turned to the rest of the holders behind Vivian. “As for you, your job will be to keep this village safe from golem attacks until I return.” 

With that, Alfiere began walking, although Vivian didn’t follow him quite yet. Instead she grabbed one young man from the army of holders, Lux, by the arm and told him “You’re coming with us.” For reasons she refused to speak of afterwards.

Meanwhile, on the ruin-site, Nuka discovered something completely different from a hidden door. The metal construction began to vibrate and then glow; blue shades began to move through the bar as if it was blood being pumped through an exposed vein. All the ruins began to tremble, going from a still to shaking violently within minutes. Much of the vegetation shed from the temple like a skin, as vines and plants were being torn by the forceful shaking. Even inside the ruins, the quakes could be felt and the strange blue, flowing lights moved throughout the temple. Yet that was not all; rooms slowly began to tumble and rearrange. The ruins their selves were transforming. From the distance, from Lux, Vivian and Alfiere to the town of Bihar itself; they were able to see the ruins rise from the ground like a waking giant…

What had doctor Valenci done?

[b][center]Rendezvous Crash[/center][/b]

Midenze had clearly been a richer city in the past. Although there were artfully tiled plazas with statues and houses that surely had once been mansions, it appeared an aged city. The once marvels of architecture had been damaged and were now reduced to squats. The once the paved highroads were now a web of vagrants and small-time thugs. In Calacany, it was known as the home of the walking dead; men and women who had lost their way in life and would take any kind of job for just a small amount of cash. A century ago, this place had been, despite its poverty, what one would call a city. Now it was more akin a bandit’s nest. 

However, Midenze was where the librarians would find Alexander Bishop’s contact; Giovani Celino. He was the father of one of the mafia’s beast-tamers, Parvati Celino, who had been apprehended by McKenzi Bishop months ago in the mission ‘the Y-files.’ Giovani lived somewhere in the middle of the town, in a tower that had been surrounded by barbed wire and the sketchiest of guards. It was unknown what he did in Midenze, and details regarding his life the past fifteen years were anything but recorded. All the Library knew was he’d been a drug-trader and had spent ten years in prison for it. After that, he’d vanished from the face of the Earth, as far as intelligence went… Something that was becoming a regular occurrence when it came to Calacany…

Either way, Alexander had been told to find the tower in Midenze and ask for Giovani. Although such a task seemed simple, it would not be easy to slip through a town with such unsavoury types lurking on every street-corner. Less so escaping it, were such a thing to be necessary…