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| - The heroines of my beloved books always seem to be in the right place at the right time. I have not quite mastered this skill. My day that day started out not only in shear boredom but in mild irritations, namely ever single English person in that room. “Hellllloooo. Weelllllcooommmmeee toooo ourrrrr greeeeaaaattt Naaaatiiiioooonnn.” If I must hear one more overly tall, underlie tan person speak to me as though I am a daft child then I shall simply snub the invitations I receive in the future. I hope they realize what complete cads they sound like. Perhaps parroting them would give them some clue? Nay, it would only encourage them further. Though I did find it highly amusing the looks on their faces when a few of them were answered in their own Queens English, and very well I might add. It would not be so bad if I was simply ignored but to do so here in London would be rudeness beyond allowable to a person of my supposed stature. Mostly I simply milled through the crowd waiting for the great reveal of some bones so that I could retire home and finish the latest book I’d picked up. I’d had to leave in the middle of one particularly thrilling moment. The heroine was poised about to go over the cliff while her lover called her back to his arms, but I digress. One other irritation could not be rebuked for all the tea in China. Introducing himself as Colonel Gentleman, his advances could not have been stopped by the Great Wall. Besides the fact that first I am a foreigner, I had not spoken one word of English to that man the entire time we ambled in the exhibit. One thing kept me from disgracing myself and telling the man to keep to himself was the interesting movement of the chi around me. It was weak here, as if something had drawn most of it away. Also an odd man near by was drawing it his way as well. Not the incredible pull I was sensing but worrisome none the less and I quickly placed wards of sorcery around me. Still I knew something was not right. With that trouble taken care of, and because I really could do no more, I turned my attention back to the man who would not leave my side. He was babbling about his latest excursions, something about Africa and how they had darker skin then I even, though apparently my skin is like warm honey when the sun shines down from the heavens and illuminates it in all its glory. I think I wanted to step on his toe at that point. I was actually relieved when the explosion happened for it granted me respite from his insistent wooing. Short lived was my joy for a large robotic creature advanced through the opening just created as purple clouds rolled into the room. Where ever the cloud went, people collapsed to the ground. I wondered if the controller of the monster was Japanese, I’d heard about an attack like this before, or was that a large ensorcelled gila monster. It didn’t matter for I needed to do something about the currently threat. Snapping open my fan I looked for chi, precious little as there was. I still needed to try for the sake of those around me. Unfortunately Colonel Gentleman was one of those. I may as well have been grasping at straws. I could not coax the chi to do my bidding. It fluttered around me as I danced the patterns but would not bend and flow. I could only deviate it from its path, not fixate it to one place. The curling smoke wafted around me as I abandoned my efforts and I retched as it over took me. Light headed I turned to the guards to see the Colonel wound one of the men. I did not have time to watch them dance around each other ineffectively so took situations under control. With a swift kick to his temple the first man went down and I claimed the mask he wore. The Colonel was being over taken by gas and would not stand much longer, not only that but his advisory was leveling a nasty looking gun at him. A quick round house followed by a punch to his gut put the man down and the Colonel snatched up the other mask. All around us people lay unmoving. The door was barred and I could not shake it open. Some lunatic was screaming a title, the Reanimator. I’d have had a fighting chance if not for the twenty plus more guards entering. I was quickly over took, as was the Colonel, and rudely chloroformed. The next thing I remember was a dimly lit room and small glittering coins winking at me as I roused from unnatural slumber. One man all dressed in red and wearing a mask over most of his face had already freed himself with a blade he must have concealed only God knows where. He spied me as I struggled against my bonds and cut the ropes. The odd mage and the Colonel where also here, both had been set free and were still shaking off the effects of the drugging. After a quick steadying breath I reached out magically, there was little chi in the area but perhaps enough to work a spell towards our escape. Just as I reached for it, it vanished from my grasp and tightly pooled into a pattern I did not recognize, but I knew who had done it, the mage standing only an arms length away. I am afraid, dear reader, that I did not behave in a very diplomatic manner. My one perceived hope of escape had vanished in a spell that did none of us in this room any good. I hit him, of course followed by a few nasty comments in my native tongue. I was in for a shock when he answered back; rubbing at his aching jaw, explaining it was to keep his daughter safe. I felt like three day old tea leaves but my anger and pride kept my chin up as I took perch on one of the cases. I mulled over our supplies, possible weapons, and routes of escape. “Well gentleman, how do any of you propose we escape our current predicament?” I think the best thing about that statement was the crestfallen look I received from the Colonel as my words came out in perfect English. “Can any of you fight?” asked the man in red. “I believe I can help you.” I returned. From there we devised a plan to call in the guards which surprisingly worked. Once the men were adequately armed, they didn’t seem to keen to fight with fist and feet, we moved on. Few things stood in our way that we couldn’t over come in one form or another. The men were called down the banister by a well placed throw by the Colonel and then handily shot by the man in red as the mage boosted him up over the railing. Finally we reached the exhibit hall we had all started out in; the men’s things were unceremoniously piled off to one side along with many other individual items. Odd noises and cackling accompanied with female screams of terror could be heard to the east of us. After quick sorting and quicker debate we made our way to the east corridor to find insanity. We entered onto a balcony over looking a room, muggy and hot, filled with green goop. A cackling mad man stood over the center of the pool while a poor girl, denied her clothing, was dangling from her wrists, slowly being moved along a conveyor belt to the center. She was far to close to the end for comfort and I hastily made my way to her. Catapulting and flipping over the top, I reached her before she met the end and hulled her up. We were still being drawn to the center and would go over the edge if I did not move. She was much dead weight, exhausted from her struggles and screaming. All the while I heard gun shots below me as well as inhuman shrieks. Inch by inch I pulled us back. The girl looked over the side and then let out such a shrill cry that I was momentarily stunned and deafened and I lost the ground I had gained. Wild magick was flaring all around, it looked as if some mighty damn had burst forth and chi was running in torrents in all directions. I could only guess at what havoc it was causing. Crawling with the girl in tow I wearily started once more for the safety of the balcony when we lurched to a stop in the calamity of breaking servos and jammed gears. At the end the mage had jammed his cane into the motor, halting our forward progress. He ran up to the girl and flung his cloak around her. I wasted no time while this exchange happened. I whipped open my fan and looked the Infernal machine dead on. It wanted all chi to come to it but with its dome being shattered couldn’t control the flow so was sending it out in chaos. I gripped onto the chi around me, swirling it in calming patterns with my hands and waving it back with my fan, showing it what its natural rhythm and flow should be. How the machine fought me. It tried to rip the curtain of magick from my control and fling it back into anarchy, but I kept tight rein. Again it tried but was rebuked; my grasp remained solid, giving all those around me the time to run. The mage came up beside me and yelled over the ruckus for me to get the girl out and took hold of the magick as I released it. For a moment it shimmered and looked more like strings and knots then that of the curtain and rivers I was used to. It quickly passed or at least I paid it no mind as I pulled the now covered girl to her feet and ran down the catwalk to the exit. As I went I screamed for the others to run. The man in red seemed to pay me no mind as I went; I suppose he did not understand the danger of the wild magic flying about him. The Colonel was much more reasonable and went with me as we raced to the door. It was then I glimpsed the creatures. This is what the whole thing was about. Blood and gore spewed out below as half devoured and mangled corpses were thrashed around by mutated and bastardized Saurons. We made it to the door and were finally followed by the man in red who slammed it behind him. He braced against it and called for us to do the same. Something big and angry slammed into the metal and I heard it give ever so slightly as we were tossed back. We held though. The pounding stopped and I felt a tug in the room. How, I do not know. It was a small tug, much like I’d felt the first time I saw the mage man working some kind of magick. That was when the world went crazy. An explosion of proportions so large, it makes me wonder how we survived, erupted all around us. I was tossed back and, for the second time that day, rendered unconscious. When I came too, Bobbies were digging in the rubble around me. They helped me to my feet and took me down to the street. The man in red and the Colonel were there as well. No sign of the mage though I had a few suspicions of my own. They tried to arrest me along with the men, but with careful words and a few veiled threats I managed to claim diplomatic immunity and left. I received a letter that day thanking me for my part in rescuing the young lady whom I found out to be was Cecily Masterson the sister of Count Ruprecht Masterson. While this name is not familiar to me, I have been informed ahead of time that I may be called to his residence for a proper thank you. I have acquired with the Brotherhood as to where I can find a tutor in the art of (Social Graces) and (Charisma) and have received a few suggestions. Also in the event that I must entertain, I have been playing my Guzheng. (Performance) (Think of the instrument the blind man played in Hero) Also I shall see to it that I perform my Kung Fu every day, I have grown lax about doing so. (Athletics/Martial Arts?)
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