BenLuke

I'd like this game better if the performance on my laptop wasn't complete crud.

Just in case anyone hasn't noticed, Nuju seems to be starting to set the stage for next year.

IC: Kethyre (Ambages's Apartment)~ "My pleasure," Kethrye replied with a veneer of professional friendliness, nodding at Alfon's show of support and exiting the room. His smile dissipated the moment he left the architects's presence. It wasn't his pleasure, obviously, but keeping the suspect comfortable while they bided their time until Laryn returned from his investigations into Ambages's personal finances, hopefully with the kind of hard evidence they weren't finding in his home couldn't do any harm. And it would lessen the negatives affects of not finding any evidence too. "Alright, search over," he announced to his men. Most seemed to have stopped on their own anyway, and searching the small apartment had hardly took long. "Stand guard at each of the exits, okay? I don't want anyone entering or exiting without us knowing about it." He turned and headed back towards Ambages, loitering at the door of the back room to compose himself before entering. Maybe the architect is right, he thought. Innocent, no, he certainly wasn't, but he still might have a point. Maybe I have been letting my emotions get in the way of my duty. Kethrye breathed in deeply, then exhaled. Logic, literal cold rationality, that's part of Toa of Ice's traditional shtick ,isn't it? he concluded. And keeping that in might prove helpful. Anger and passion may have their place, but this is not one of them. Ambages will pay for what he's done, but only if I'm able to keep a level head. Madrihk For a moment, the Toa of Ice grinned. Funny, I'm taking the architects words as advice for engineering his downfall. Somehow I doubt that was what he intended. . . "It's done," Kethrye said, strolling over to the architect.

IC: "So would plenty other pleasant people," said Kethrye, gritting his teeth together and smiling at the architect. What if we could return to the matter at hand. . ."

>Expecting good writing in the actually plot of a Elder Scrolls game. Heh.

IC: Kethrye (Ambages Apartment) - "Yeah, right," Kethrye replied. "The evidence seems non-existent, but the corruption is there." He signed. "Regardless, nothing about being a Matoran stops you form beings a hero-" Trakuda appeared in his mind's eye, giving his life at the Rama Hive, followed by Nixie of Le-Koro, and then Kongu and Matoro and all the other Matoran that were as strong as any Toa. "-And, er, the businessman part doesn't either, really. Anyone can hero, and sometimes it's the smallest acts of heroism that are the greatest, which is cheesy as karz what actually true." Great, now I'm starting to sound like Kehuri, this day just keeps getting better doesn't it. "But, I think'll I give you the benefit of the doubt, Let's say I call off my men, and then we discuss exactly what is it is you can do for us."

What, shut Ambages up? Noooooo, the interesting debate just started.

"The entire island is playing a game, architect, not one over mere thrones or kingdoms, but one over the very hearts and minds of those that fight it, and fates much worse then death will come if we lose."

IC: Kethrye (Ambages's Apartment) - Crazy, is that it? Am I going insane? Kethrye thought, leaning out of the door and glancing to the left and to the right, confirming that the Vortixx were, in fact, gone, if they had even existed in the first place. He closed his eyes. Given all that's happened lately that wouldn't be terribly surprising. How ironic would it be if the only sane ILF member was the first to truly go mad himself? Kethrye suppressed a sigh, matching the architects stoicism with his own. The stress has been getting to me, at least a little. As soon as things slow down I need to take a brake. Go easy for a bit. Get drunk with Alfon and Ril. Ask Plagia out on a date. That sort of things. Wait, am I even thinking about romance? That settles it, I have lost my mind. He gritted his teeth. Demented or no, I have a job to do. And innocent or not, Ambages is not the saint he wants the rest of the world to believe he is. How could anyone with so much money be? "Madrihk's missing," he replied, his gaze returning to the Matoran of Sonics. "Probably dead. And I apologize if I seem overly suspicious but I don't think you realize how serious things really are, how bad bad things have gotten. "Ko-Koro was devastated in a meaningless act of violence, Makuta's follower's walk unchallenged across the island, Pala-Koro has fallen and many of the ILF scattered or killed, the Kumu-Islets have been swallowed by the sea, and the survivors have blamed the rest of civilization for the disaster. I wouldn't go off standing on a street corner proclaiming that the end is neigh, but it's certainly looking that way. All of us are at war. "The people have lost hope, and if the master of shadows made a move many would welcome him, trading freedom for survival. The entire island is playing a game, architect, not one over mere thrones or kingdoms, but one over the very hearts and minds of those that fight it, and fates much worse then death will come if we lose. "There's only two armies, and everyone's part of one whether they know, or want, it or not. Makuta and Mata Nui. Order and anarchy. The Matoran or their enemies. Light and darkness. Hope and despair. Life and death. The closest there is to good in this world, and evil. Will you help to save Mata Nui and it's people, or help destroy them forever? Everyone being on the island is being asked that question, and those that pick neither are only hastening their own destruction." Kethrye grinned like the madman he likely was by this point. "The island needs heroes, Ambages, the problem is there's no such things as heroes, there's only us. And while there are no true Toa, villains are very, very real. The question is whether you're one of them or not." The ILF leader shrugged, his madcap smile falling back into a frown. "I don't know why I'm bothering, though. To be frank, we both know what side you've chosen."

OOC: When did anyone state the interrogation took five minutes? I'd assume from it's length that it went on longer then that. Besides that, BZPRPG Time means that time flies when you're having fun passes differently to different characters, and so while less more time may have passed for Echelon, Utu and Vidar, they're still around the back door in the present. IC: Kethrye (Ambages's Back Door) - Kethrye shrugged, jabbing his thumb at the trio of Vortixx, none of whom had introduced themselves, or in indeed say anything at all. "I don't know, ask them."

IC: Kethrye (Ambage's Apartment, Ko-Koro.) - "Not, yet, no," muttered the Toa of Ice, sliding open the office's file cabinet and began browsing its' contents. It's been, what, five minutes? Not exactly enough time for a detailed investigation. The documents contained nothing incriminating, as expected. Kethrye flipped to take a second look at the blueprints for an Academy, mentally noting it along with the Cultured Gentry as possible leads. Time to put my private eye experience to good use, Kethrye thought,slamming the drawer closed and striding round in a sweep of the apartment. All twenty four-hours of it. He wondered to the far rear of the architect's abode, finding nothing that would be out of place in any other relatively upper-class home on the island, apart form the masterwork statues and carvings that decorated the tables and walls. Kethrye raised a hand to the ice cold stone of the walls. Even the building itself's a work of art, though the ILF leader. Ambages is certainly a great engineer when he's not planting explosives inside the walls. . . Kethrye shrugged to himself, inspecting the wooden door. Wonder what's in here, he thought, reaching for the doorknob and hefting the entrance open. Snow blown from the wind outside spilling into the chamber. -Backdoor, duh. Makes sense. What didn't make sense was the group of Vortixx standing on Ambages's back stoop. "Uh, hello?"

Nowhere, I'm just waiting for Jean to post.

IC: For someone just accused of being an evil mastermind he's taking it awfully well, Kethrye thought, eyes trained on the architect's kanohi. There is such a thing as being too good at deception, Ambages. Not that we have much evidence of your deception, though. No one's going to arrest anyone on my feminine intuition, now are they? "Then mayhaps you should choose foremen with better judges of character then this Trigar fellow did," Kethrye returned. "Considering subterfuge on this scale would require the entire rest of the workforce it from him, wouldn't it? Either the foremen was not the saint you make him out to be or there's more to this story then it seems." He shrugged again. "Regardless, I hope you wouldn't mind if we poke around your property, just to make sure. An honest man has nothing to hide and so on."

IC: Kethrye - "An honest man he well might have been," Kethrye shrugged, leaning over Ambages's shoulder to peer down at the dossier. "But the man who killed him was not." He paused a moment before continuing his tale. "On the night of our first real confrontation with the followers of Makutu, one of your men turned on the others, murderer his foreman and attacking members of the ILF before breaking into our HQ, an event which came immediately prior to the village walls exploding from within, which is a fact I can attest to personally. In the conflict's aftermath, several of our allies succeeded in capturing the traitor and wringing a confession about who he was and who he was working for. "He claimed to be part of a conspiracy of beings called "the Peers", and we expect you of being one of them."

IC: Kethrye (Ambages abode.) - Kethrye's only reaction to the blue prints lied out before him was was a hmmpf and narrowing eyes. Try as he might, he could not detect any sign of the sabotage they had theorized about since the fall of Pala-Koro. "And what about this employee of yours?" he said, shifting the line of interrogation elsewhere. "The work team leader? Can you tell us anything about him?"

IC: Kethrye (Ambages's abode) - Kethrye remained silent through the translator's explanation for their visit, instead allowing Matoro to represent the two groups. instead he merely stood behind the Ko-Matoran, suspicious eyes trained on Ambages. "Yes, Matoro, not only did I design the wall, I also had an employee of mine assemble a work party to construct the defenses according to my design." "Care to allow us a look at it?"

Something me and Hubert are thinking up reminded me of these old posts. Basically, we're planing to create prehistoric balloons, because why the heck not.

IC: Kethrye (Talking with Laryn) - "I don't know, you figure it out," Kethrye said, shrugging. Great Beings, don't these people have any initiative? he thought. No wonder Madrihk seemed constantly aggravated; Having to tell those under your command expect an full-blown check list for each little command would do that. - - - - The ILF and Sanctum Guard arrived at the front stoop of Ambgaes's apartment. A humble dwelling indeed, at least for someone so influential, Kethrye thought, inspecting the door before him. Small though it was, you still infer the occupants wealth from the fine wooden door and neatly carved walls of stone and of ice. And here we go, the ILF leader thought, composing himself before striding forward and rapping, tapping at the chamber door. Thump. Thump. Thump.

OOC: @Consuctman: Yeah, tagging along with us is fine. IC: Kethrye - Kethrye shrugged at Laryn, then stopped, standing lifeless as he considered the question. He then began to nod. "If it's necessary, yes," he replied. "Although having the bank approve any searches wouldn't be a bad thing, okay?"

IC: Kethrye (Ko-Koro, ILF and Sanctum Guard)~ "I don't, exactly," he replied. "Contracts with criminal organizations, blueprints that detail the explosives in planted the Pala-Koro's walls, suspicious bank withdrawals, stuff like that." That last example, one plucked from his mind without much forethought, gave Kethrye an idea. "Actually, speaking of which. . ." he nodded at Laryn as the group marched through the village's streets. ". . .Sending someone to sniff around Ko-Koro's banks might not be bad idea. They'd have information on what kind of things he's been spending widgets on if anyone does."

IC: Kethrye - The ILF leader grinned. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Yay, passive-aggression.

IC: Kethrye (Talking with Matoro) - He pursed his lips. "That. . .depends. On what you mean." he said, slowly. Careful to make sure he conveyed his point in the clearest manner he could. "The connection of Ambages ordering the construction of our fortress and the fact portions of what he ordered build were rigged to explode is too circumstantial to be of much use alone, true, as is the mole in his work crew's confession. But coupled with the evidence that the now dead peer seemly required access to our HQ to activate, which can only mean that it was somehow connected to the technological element of the village's defense, something that would require some impossible level of deception to pull off, not without alerting the rest of the workers." He paused for the briefest of moments. "Unless, that is, you were the one to design it," he said, one eyebrow rising. "That enough to warrant a- well, warrant?" he continued, jaw gritting. "It's not enough to take him against a court, no. But that's the goal of searching his property for evidence. If he's innocent-" Ha, an innocent company owner and guild-master, that'll be the day, he thought. Company owner's honesty could be predicted with a flip of the coins they praised so highly, and Kethrye was fairly certain that the only good guild-master were dead guild-masters, given their completion. "-Then he has nothing to fear, does he? If the Gentry make a fuss about it, well screw them. They don't karzing own Ko-Koro. . ." He paused, realized then that implying corruption might be the fastest way to get what he wanted. His eyes narrowed and his voice faded to something barely louder then a whisper. Well, that or completely alienate Matoro's sympathies, but hey, time was off the essence. ". . .Hmm, or do they?"

The way I've usually seen it done us this, if the action is taking place in the middle of a sentence:

Obviously, Hubert actually did get that Mask of Genderbending approved and has just been keeping it secret because Nuju decided to use it within the staff plot.