POOHEAD189

The Sunday Group - Bumps in the Night

@Penny I figured since we were there last time, but glad it's been confirmed!

The Sunday Group - Bumps in the Night

Chalk dust filled the air as Edgar worked his equations along the wooden mat he had placed in his living room, though truth be told it was much more like a vast study filled with books and trinkets across the ages. Along the walls were the words AIWISS and 418 etched in chalk like the marking of days in a prison cell. He seemed a madman, though his demeanor was calm and full of focus. Just now he was finishing the pentagram along the floor.

He had read the Liber AL vel Legis, having been written by that fool Aleister Crowley whom he'd met a few occasions before the fellow's untimely death. He wrote his work in a completely esoteric fashion when it should have reflected the layman's occultism, and Edgar had to agree with Israel Regardie's criticisms of the work, and not just because the wizard had been far better friends with Regardie when he was alive!

So it vexed him that despite the blathering, there was a bit of truth in the Liber AL, and after careful study, Edgar had deduced that there likely had been some being that had visited Crowley when he was penning his work at Cairo over a century ago. Aiwass was one evidently known by Aud the Deep-minded in Snorri Sturlsson's 3rd and 4th lost manuscripts; the Galdr Edda and the Seidr Edda. No one save Edgar had touched Snorri's tomb since the 13th century, so Crowley couldn't have used the name in those lost books to perpetuate his own lie.

Had that idiot known a form of magick that Edgar had yet to learn? Granted he still knew more about the Nordic way of the wyrd than any occultist, but it still vexxed him. Perhaps if Odin remained elusive, he could converse with this entity Aiwass and discuss magic properly. He was nearly done with his ritual circle, merely needing some goat's blood to call the spirit into the room. He passed the burning hearth and entered the kitchen, washing his hands with Dawn(™) before collecting the blood bags from his freezer.

Then his Android phone `pinged` like a morning bell, and he checked it to see he had a new email. "Bloody technology" he muttered, and opened the email after having to sign in and scroll and found Ellie needed him at the office. He lifted his lip in distaste. Not at Ellie, but the timing. It seemed the Norns still had their fun with him when they could, and he placed the blood bag back in the freezer and collected his things before entering the closet where he kept the Fjarskiptingu Steinn, or 'Teleportation Stone.'

It was dangerous to teleport often, but as long as everyone at the office followed the bloody rules and kept out of his office, no one would end up as a Draugr or a blood smear upon the walls. He plucked a small sack of sulfur from his robe pocket and began to sprinkle the mineral upon the stone at his feet, humming a tune.

Be it Grim and the Grave, Wizard or the Knave.
Hearken to my plea, grant me passage to flee.
Your power I ask to loan, my precious teleportation stone.

Ozone filled the air as lightning engulfed Edgar Stormraven's form, which gave his jackets nasty static shocks if he might add, and with a flash and a boom he stood at the center of a smoky room. Couching and waving about his arms, he fumbled for the door and opened it, letting the fog dissipate into nothing as he blinked, standing amid the office center. His room was the only one that was obscured by a windowless wall, so he could perform his experiments safely (for others, not just he!)

"Oh this better be good, this better be good." The old man murmured, making his way to the break room. A small half room with two round tables, five chairs, a vending machine that ate up coins like Fenris ate hands, and a coffee machine that had been dubbed "jormungandr" because it was everyone's world in this place. He poured himself a hot cup of the brew, hoping beyond hope it was actually drinkable this time. Back in his day, they used fresh cow's milk for creamer rather than this corporate shit.

Summary

He makes it to the office and grabs coffee

The Sunday Group - Bumps in the Night

And we are off to the races. We will rotate the Clue Introduction each round of posts once we get going. The person whose turn it is will introduce a new clue or lead, everyone else is free to build on it. I will be the leader in the next round just to get us started.

The Sunday Group - Bumps in the Night

True but you never think of him like that behind a podium or on TV!

The Sunday Group - Bumps in the Night

So... the kind of 6'4 people just don't notice?!

@Penny

FBI director James Comey?

Cinnabar Forever! (RCN)

Kaiden attempted to be nothing if not well informed. He had not been privvy to the Commodore's whereabouts, but he was well acquainted with the Marengo debacle. One of the delegates of the planetary assembly had made an aggressive move on the local stock market, having bought out over half of the forest planets timber production plants in an attempt to fluctuate prices to suit his bid for chancellor. The acting chancellor responded with increased tariffs, and the average man and woman were caught in the middle. Marengo was soon embroiled in riots and Cinnabar hostages were taken, though Kaiden would not have guessed it was a worrying enough proposition to bring in the Commodore himself or a full blown cruiser.

"I've been assigned to the Vicount, as have my men." He told her, wondering if she had the same misfortune of sharing a ship with him.

As if on cue, the Cadbury arrived just as Sabatine was informing the prince on matters, setting down 100 meters away to the north on one of the much larger hanger areas. Once the ulti-thrusters were into play, causing a gust of wind to flow over the immediate landscape, they all knew it was safe to look just as the ship was landing. Kaiden turned northward, hands behind his back and face as neutral as he could manage (and again, he was quite good at it).

The Commodore, an easily recognizable man to anyone in this section of the military, was the first to step off the Cadbury, followed by his aids and what looked to be a amanuensis penning a memoir. Behind them, column after column of crew and soldiers filed out, and from the base a cadre of what looked to be spacer crew members outfitted for engineering/janitorial work hussled over to the aging vessel, likely needing as much constant attention these days as ever.

The Commodore was around thirty years Kiaden's senior, and while he wasn't large or overly imposing, there was an experience to him that made him formidable. He wasn't unhandsome either, his chin covered by a salt and pepper goatee, and he had iron eyes the color of the scratch marks on the Cadbury. Everyone saluted when he was within twenty meters of his gig, and he seemed none too pleased with the grime atop it.

"Who is responsible for this?" He asked once he eyed his mud-caked gig, and before anyone else could answer (particularly Motorman First Class Gregor), Sabatine stepped forward stiffly, steely eyed. "Sir, I am." She declared, and his iron gaze fell upon her form. For a moment Kaiden wondered if he had arrived just in time to see Sabatine's demotion, but after a few seconds the Commodore softened and even gave a smirk. "Thank you for saving my gig, Lieutenant. You and your men will be compensated with an extra bottle of your choice tonight."

Kaiden felt relieved, and then he questioned why that was? He wanted her gone, dammit! "Sir, may I ask-" The prince began, but the Commodore made a cutting motion with his hand and he spun on him. "Ah, you must be first lieutenant Caladwarden. I see there isn't an ounce of mud on your pristine suit, nor on any of your men's. I suppose you convenient got here just in time to attempt to take some glory, eh? Be silent." The ranking officer approached, sizing Kaiden up. "I called you here because you have an exemplary record on paper and at the behest of Captain Harkin's recommendation. However, your family's name has no sway over me or my fleet, and if I catch any foul play or scandal that has your scent on it, you'll be scrubbing the boots of my midshipmen before you know it, is that understood?"

Kaiden did his best not to blink. "Aye, sir."
@Penny

The Sinful Stars

Orion and Ragnar let nothing stop their descent, breaking the limps of guards and pushing past any sort of quick and half-assed resistance as they made their way below. Fortune and surprise were still on their side, and the Palace was so large he wasn't even certain the Duke was privvy to any intrusion as of yet. He hoped that was the case at least, and judging by the lack of alarm he was likely correct.

The catacombs beneath the palace were baroque and ancient, made of less modern metals and stone from the bosom of the world. Ragnar recited a litany to one of his old gods, and though it grated Orion to hear it he wasn't going to reprimand him at the moment. There were ancient spirits in the deep places of the known worlds and Orion was simply glad the road they were on was relatively well lit.

Once they found themselves on a corridor that looked miles long, there was a screech in the distance. Far off and hard to pinpoint, to Ragnar it sounded like a bird sound or maybe an echo from above. Orion knew it to be Annika's voice immediately. He started to run, and soon he was like a freight train running past the abandoned rooms. Ragnar did his best to keep up, and though Orion outdistanced him he still kept the Knight in sight.

Despite his barreling run, when he made it into the tabernacle he saw a cloaked man laughing as if the funniest joke in the world had been concocted. Dark tendrils wrapped around Sister Annika and Mobius too! Orion shouldn't have been surprised the Ducal guard had been telling the truth. What's more, he recognized the gloating too. The voice was from one he wouldn't forget. It was Chamberlain Engel...

"I've changed my mind." the darkly clad Chamberlain said, raising his gloved hand and closing it into a fist. The tendrils curled around Annika with overwhelming strength, shoving the air out of her body. Mobius looked close to dead, if he wasn't already. "I see trying to convince you to join my cause is, for lack of a better term, a lost cause. So I think I will simply kill you now and be on my way to larger things."

As two large, sharpened tendril's raised in the air, he chuckled. "Fear not, Annika. At least you'll join your precious Sir Pentecost in the afterlife, or so you believe."

The Confessor's eyes widened in horror, which made Engel smile all the more. "Oh yes, he is dead, just as the Pancreator. And now it is your turn!"

The shadowing energy that kept Annika and Mobius lifted suddenly dispelled, as did the two monstrous tendrils threatening to kill both of them. Annika hid the ground, and when she recovered herself she saw a blood covered sword had thrust out of Engel's chest, the Chamberlain falling into oblivion. Where he once stood was Orion.
@Penny

Cinnabar Forever! (RCN)

It was a small mercy that the men around them were none-the-wiser to Sabatine and his past relationship, or the embarrassment he received from her throwing caution to the wind in a fit of rage and telling everyone who would listen that he was an unfaithful bastard. That was one of the major reasons he had been so loose with women since, never having a steady girlfriend. If any found out, they might break his heart in the same way and call him what any officer hated to be accused of.

Disloyalty.

Only Higgs and Enrique seemed to note she knew his name already, but they were wise enough to keep their mouths shut. They only glanced at him questioningly to find him staring daggers at her. Kaiden was very good at being professional and an asshole at the same time, though he tried to quell the latter, particularly in front of the men. "Lieutenant Hickoring, good work. I see you're still as active as ever. You look well, save for-" He looked at the mud caked around her. "-the trappings of your station."

He ignored her glare, taking note of the gig. He had been satisfied with it earlier but something about the whole situation seemed displeasing to him. "I'm certain the Commodore will be enjoying the fact he can cruise as he wills. However, I'm certain there's more pressing issues to attend to." He said marked by an odious tone. He could not wait for this 'scare' with the Alliance to be at an end so he could go back to anywhere else, and she could live her life here or wherever in the hells she wanted to.

Still, he glanced away for a moment and chastised himself. He might have left on a pitiless and enraged note but she didn't deserve his haughtiness in front of men. Or did she? He'd figure it out later, for now he needed to get back to business. "Myself and these fine men have been transferred here on the Commodore's orders. When will the Commodore be arriving?"
@Penny

New but not new

Welcome!

Post a random fact about yourself.

<Snipped quote by POOHEAD189>

Congratulations! Send me a link to your first book in a PM. I will check it out.
Still 70,000 words into my first novel. :(

@Gunther

It is currently in the beta reading stage so I have a few people reading it now. One person finished in like 2 days which I am happy about.