Cadoan (open)

[cielo]

Dumpster diving for magical items was, Albaea would decide later, a bad idea.

But there he was, rooting through the recycle bins behind Puck & Sons Arcane Emporium, glad that at least most magic items weren't slimy or bad-smelling, so he didn't have to worry about looking more like a hobo than he already did.

Admittedly, most of the stuff back here was junk; Puck, whoever he was, probably ran a pretty tight ship, and the only things he let get recycled either weren't going to sell or would sell and get returned by dissatisfied and/or eyebrowless customers. Or both, if they liked their eyebrows.

Al pulled something free and held it up to the streetlamp to his left. A scrying orb, he thinks, but it's cracked. Now, if it were one of those magic grenades...well, the right term was elemental orb, but whatever.

He pulls his coat a little closer against a stiff breeze and sticks both hands in the bin, rummaging through what his senses tell him are mostly used-up reagents, like a de-powered runestone and an infinite-ink pen that broke in two and ran out of ink, and then it was just a regular old broken pen.

Dexterous fingers brush against some sort of cord, and Al's senses tell him 'yes', and he pulls on it carefully, and there we go, he's holding a circular phylactery up to the streetlamp and there are runes and a faint red glow to it.

He pockets the necklace and moves onto the next bin. For all he knows it was one of Puck's kids that threw the thing in the bin and he'll get it appraised tomorrow, and it might be worth gil even if it's only glowing, because there are always rich people trying to look ethereal.

[yaypenguins]

As Al dug into the next bin, a head poked out of it. To that head was attached a face. To that face was attached an expression of half-shock, half-outrage and half-fear. It was a rare find, a 3-half face, but this man had one and he wore it with pride. The face then began to speak.

"Why are you in my mansion?"

His eyes narrow and he looks suspiciously at Al, then at his pocket. Seeing nothing he speaks again.

"And why do you have my stuff? How dare you rob me of my thingamajigger! It does stuff!"

[cielo]

Albaea jumped away from the bins, both hands held out in front of him in a warding gesture. "Agh! Wait, what? Mansion? And how did you even fit in that bin?"

[yaypenguins]

"Eh? Wha'chu talking about?"

He sniffed the air, then wrinkled his nose.

"You really smell."

[cielo]

"Says the guy in a recycle bin!"

Al set to work at another bin. The phylactery might be a nice find, but there could be other things buried in there worth something.

[yaypenguins]

Vaulting neatly onto his face, the man left the bin. After getting up, he casually picked a banana peel up out of the bin and tossed it at the back of Al's head.

[cielo]

Al rubbed the back of his head where the banana had hit. "So uncool, man! Wait...What was a banana peel doing in there? The employees must not be very responsible."

With a glint in his eye, Al set back to digging, coming up with what looked like a bag of marbles a minute later.

[yaypenguins]

Scratching his head, the man wondered why his mighty banana toss didn't make the dumpster diver slip, even though it hit him in the head. A conundrum? Certainly. Perlexing? Perhaps. A dilema? Doubtfully.

With this out of mind, our hero made his way over to the other dumpster until he stood directly behind Albaea. Immediately thereafter, he threw his arms up and assumed the "RAWR" position.

[cielo]

It took Al seven minutes and four good finds to finally turn around, satisfied with what he had found at this locale.

"Uh...What're you doing?" he asked the Hero.

[yaypenguins]

During those seven minutes, the Hero had not moved. When Albaea saw him, he appeared to have forgotten how to move. It took another minute for his to remember how, then another 2 to remember how to speak. When he finally did, he spoke in the deep and epic voice of a guardian angel.

"I am here to prevent you from making a terrible mistake. One that will ruin your life forever."

[cielo]

Al grinned. "Is it the marbles? I'll bet it's the marbles. Let me guess, each one has an elder god trapped in it."

[yaypenguins]

"You FOOL!"

With that, he jumped at Al, intent on knocking away the bag of marbles.

[cielo]

Al was knocked over, but retained a firm grip on the bag of marbles. He scrambled to his feet and backed away.

Okay, a crazy smelly hobo is attacking me. How do I get away?

Well, he ran, of course.

[yaypenguins]

Unfortunately for Al, the hobo had not been expecting this. Which forced him into a corner. Metaphorically. While trapped in this metaphorical corner for 5 hour minutes, he contemplated what to do. Finally, he decided. He would have to resort to his ultimate attack in order to stop Albaea. The man






















ran after him.

[cielo]

Ohgodsohgodsohgodsahoboisfollowingme.

Al took down an alley, dashed to the end, and made a sudden left, hoping the Hero would lose his trail.