Chucklemonkey

Not sure how to preface this. I can see when blending is done on a mini and I have read one or two tutorials on it but I still don't really grasp what the basic technique is. I'll be fine with practicing just not sure enough on the technique to actually do that. Not sure if that's even a question.

Truly one of us!

Thankyou indeed. For both the feedback and for taking the time to read it so far. I think there are only 3 more parts to go before the normal service of me irritating other areas of the forum resumes. There should be another twist or two, despite giving myself Leeway regarding the level of evidence the guild need, I won't be looking to cheat the ending.

Much like karn, they are well on my to do list. Read a bit of masquerade ball and enjoyed it but decided to stop to go right back to the start.

I made my way gingerly through the station trying to get to my desk while avoiding the stares of my colleagues. I had woken up that morning with my ribs aching and a face looking like that of a beat down Panda. Not only that, but my case was still live on the chalk board. I managed to make it to my desk - without undue aggravation - to find four tickets to tonight’s show at the Star right there waiting for me. This broad really took the biscuit. My anger would have to wait though. I had been looking forward to my first coffee of the day since the moment I had painfully stumbled out of bed. Unfortunately the cleaning lady had not cleaned my tankard. I wasn’t sure how this day could get so shitty so quickly. I suppose one more time from a dirty tankard couldn’t hurt. “Get in here!” screamed the Chief. I had hoped he would have been out kissing some higher-ups ass this morning. No such luck there. I didn’t even manage to take my seat across from him before he went off on one. “What the hell did you do last night!?!” “Well sir, I really didn’t do anything, he took me by surprise you s...” “I’m not talking about the fact you look like you went ten rounds with Killjoy! The Aether-vox has been going off the hook this morning. There are people here who are really not happy with you! Now I don’t know what’s been happening, but when I get a call from the Governor’s Secretary telling me he’s sending some people down here to have a little chat about your conduct, I get antsy.” He stopped full flow and stared over my shoulder through the glass. “Here they are now, I guess I will just have to hear your explanation live.” The door to the office opened and I turned to take a look at who else was going to cause me grief today. I don’t mind telling you I nearly had a god’damn heart attack. There they were in bright red official guild attire. Moe and weasel-faced Larry! What the hell was going on here? “Don’t either of you stand up. I am hoping this isn’t going to take much of my time.” Moe began. “We warned you to stay away from the Star theatre. The next thing we know you and some midget go storming in there half pissed in the middle of the night.” “He’s a dwarf not a midget” “I don’t care if he’s the old king of Malifaux itself. We asked you nicely to stay away and you just don’t seem to have got the message. Now I was all set for taking your career and throwing it in the sewer. A nice job shovelling out the guild stables seems to me to be about right for your level of ability." “Lucky for you Larry here thinks he sees some semblance of potential in you and thinks that would be a waste of someone with your record. He managed to persuade my bosses that we should appeal to your dutiful good natured side, although I am yet to see it” Well what d'ya know, that guy was actually called Larry. Still, it was hard to imagine any words of kindness coming from that smug hook-nosed mug of his. Moe continued “So here’s all you need to know. The dead girl was called Jessica Magnum, she was a member of my team and had been working deep undercover for the past eight months with an Arcanist sub-set that exists within the performers at the Star. She had been tasked with gaining their trust in order to finally establish a link between them and the M & SU. Now her death is a damn tragedy, she was terrific, and I am probably sadder than most to see her pass, but it seems clear she had been made and that’s why she ended up dead, and we can’t have you compromising things further and putting everything at risk! So what I am saying is leave this one to us. Got that?" I stared at the faces around the room and got the impression my usual attitude to such matters was not going to do me any favours. Still, I couldn’t let this slide without a bit of fun. “Well just so you know, me and the midget will be going to the theatre tonight, free tickets you see, and I do just love it so. Also, I think I have your killer!” I let that one hang in the air for a while. I didn’t know what I was saying, whether I still had booze in my blood or whether the beating I had taken had knocked me silly. I had to look like I had something. “His name is Wilkinson, I think he is some kind of stage hand, he was at the theatre last night practically covered in the kind of dust found up at the mine.” That seemed to stop them in their tracks for a moment. “Go to your show” Moe replied, as the two of them rose from their seats to leave “but after tonight we don’t want to see you anywhere near this investigation, or the Star, and there will be consequences if we do. We’ll check out this Wilkinson character." “Oh, and tell your big friend, the next time I see him, he is in serious trouble.” I always had to get the last word in. They stopped at the door and gave me the once over, then turned and left. ......... After sitting through another half hour grilling by Buzzkill my head was pounding. I needed a little fresh air, and a lot of tobacco. I headed outside for a smoke. I was glad only Becker was there. He was a lumbering brute with hardly two brain cells to rub together, still he had his 100% conviction record, so that was something I suppose. I didn’t think he would be able to shine any light on the situation, but I needed to let off some steam so filled him in anyway. He shrugged, “sounds like a bad mystery thriller to me, my wife reads them non-stop. I can’t stand that crap.” I turned and walked back into the station. I don’t even know why I asked him. That guy was an idiot.

Many thanks AB, I take that as a compliment. Part 4 coming up. We're about half way there now

I love Brooker, he has the whole grumpy old man thing I aspire to perfected. As for song's I wish I had never heard, it has to be these two by Flight of the Concords. Not because I hate them, I love them, but they have been alternating in my head for about two years. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZcYPEszN8[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fycGFGSeKpc[/ame] That last one has turned into a drunken favourite.

A very enjoyable read as always AB. I look forward to his continued adventures!

Gah, I forgot about the Cl own filter! :hmpf:

Every sinew in my body screamed for her to finish and to bring me the relief I sought. For the past four hours, as I walked back into old Malifaux - followed by a debriefing by the chief - it had been all I could think about. Now the sweet moment approached. Her hand stretched towards me, and with a final flourish she placed my ice cool glass of beer on the counter. “Stick it on the tab” I said without taking my eyes off it. Beads of condensation began their measured journey south on its chilled outer surface. I lightly placed the fingertips of my left hand on the glass, careful not to grab it wholeheartedly. I wanted to keep this one cool. Only two saloons I knew of had the capability and financial muscle for beer cooling equipment. Some said it was the work of the Arcanists. If it was, then hell, they couldn’t be all bad. “Are you going to drink that or make love to it?” “Shut the hell up Graeme!” Graeme was my best bud, and there was no-one who I would rather spend an evening with, excluding the obvious of course. Graeme had a taste for the finer things in life. I don’t know how he made his money but he had the finances to enjoy the luxury food and fine women he preferred. He also loved his alcohol, aged cognac, Champagne, Soulstone Gin; Graeme loved it all and knew more about them than most. He found my liking for beer distasteful and was always ragging on me about the fact I couldn’t hold hard liquor. Apparently it makes you less of a man.... I didn’t totally understand why he hung out with a schmuck like me. I just assumed he liked to rough it on occasion and I suppose it’s always good to have a friend in the Guild. I had filled him in on all of the day’s events as we had walked here. Some would say it was a breach of protocol to go giving details of a murder investigation to friends and family, I say hang that, Graeme was one of the smartest guys I knew and sometimes the chats I had with him resulted in the idea that broke the case wide open. He had withheld his judgement on things until now, I think he could tell how much I needed this drink. “So what you are saying is that there was a murder, you went to the Star, got nowhere, crashed your carriage, lost 59.” “I got her back, someone returned her to the station” “Ok, ok, you got her back, but you got nowhere and then got beat up? You sir, are superb...! Still, at least it seems like you know one thing that might allow you to take the investigation further.” “Yeah, I just don’t like the idea of getting the crap kicked out of me every-time I have a few questions to ask.” “Well, I don’t see you have much of a choice. Even if Ms Du Bois, who I am amazed you have not heard of by the way, didn’t know anything, someone over there did, and wasn’t afraid to let you know it.” Graeme went on. “They don’t see you as a threat, If they had they would have kept a lower profile. Something is making them feel safe, they feel confident, like you can’t connect them to the murder.” I felt that was just about enough work chat for one evening. In truth I was worried. It was 12 hours since I had been called into the Chief’s office and still the case was open. In the Guild we don’t need evidence. Usually an idea of what happened was enough to get that all important conviction, and I didn’t even have that. The guys at the station would be starting to worry about our 100% conviction rate right about now. We resumed the important activity of getting drunk! ............. We were promptly thrown out, despite our protestations – Graeme’s word - at 1:00am on the button. The rain smacked off the slick black cobblestones and seemed to bounce right back at us. It always seemed to rain during nights in Malifaux town. It never seemed to wash the crud off the streets though. In my alcoholic haze, I had forgotten that the Star was pretty much directly on route to Graeme’s - we always went back to his for a final drink, with our without companionship – until he pointed it out; the building, and the fact that all the lights were on well after time. “Well, perhaps it’s time to meet this beautiful specimen you described in such detail” said Graeme as he stormed up the front steps. I followed him. I didn’t see that I had much of a choice. We stepped through the suspiciously unlocked front door. The lobby was silent. Graeme looked up at me and shrugged before marching forward into the auditorium. Again it was empty but at least this time there was signs of life. We could hear muffled voices and what seemed like moving furniture coming from backstage. We quietly made our way forward, that was until my foot made contact with a couple of empty bottles sending them clattering down the central aisle. Graeme gave me a sharp look as the sound stopped. We were too far forward in the theatre to make a run for it and I sure wasn’t going to jump in between the rows of seats, it was filthy down there, and besides I was a member of the Guild, I can go where the hell I please. A door by the side of the stage opened and out walked Ms Bu Bois, flanked by a couple of guys. If they were her idea of heavies then I didn’t have much concern. “Well, howdy officer, what brings you back to my l’il ol’ ‘stablishment? And who is this, your partner?” I had regained enough composure that the moment of panic I had felt as I knocked over the bottles didn’t affect my voice. “No ma’am, this here is Graeme, a friend of mine." She stepped forward, bent down and offered Graeme her hand – and a view most men would pay for. Graeme, being what I would call socially able, seemed to know exactly what he was doing, he took the offered hand and gently pressed his lips lightly against it, taking a little bow as he did so. “A pleasure to meet you Ms Du Bois, can I just say that I have been an admirer of your work for some time now. I thought your performance in ‘a little drop of Candy’ was just terrific!” “Why, aren’t you just the sweetest?” she seemed to beam. “I try to be, in public at least.” He responded. “We just happened to be walking by and noticed the lights.” I interrupted. “Thought it best to come in and check there was no problem, especially given the day’s events”. “Why officer, that is very kind of you, I am glad to see you take such care of us citizens. There is no problem here though officer, we are just doing a read-through of my new show. It opens tomorrow....you know what....as a sign of my appreciation for your concern I am going to have Wilkinson here send you over a couple of pairs of tickets for opening, and afterwards I am sure I can arrange a little backstage tour for you and your dates.” Graeme was staring at the chap Wilkinson, but broke eye contact the moment the tickets were offered. “That would be just delightful Ms Du Bois, I am looking forward to it already. I shall of course have to find myself a lady to bring along, although I fear none will measure up to the beauty that will be on stage” Sometimes Graeme made me sick! “Alas” he continued “as all is well here, there is little else I can see that would justify us imposing further on your delightful company, we’ll be leaving now, but, and I am sure I speak for both of us here, we look forward to seeing you this Friday.” He grabbed me by the arm and almost dragged me out of the theatre. By the time we were back on the street it was clear he was excited about something. “Did you see that?” he asked. “What?” “The red dust on Wilkinson’s shoes, you said the office at the mine was covered in it. Also, given it has been raining since before we hit the saloon, it’s not something that could have been picked up in the last five hours or so.” “That is ridiculous! It’s dust. On shoes. There could be any number of reasons for it.” I know I said he was smart but sometimes I think he fancied himself as the detective. I assumed he was a little drunker than I thought. He seemed hurt by this and didn’t talk to me all the way to his place. I wasn’t even offered the customary nightcap. He simply stomped in, and closed the door in my face. I set my collar and turned to make my way back to the hole I called a home. The rain was coming down so hard it was almost painful. Still, I didn’t have too far to go. Not compared with my walk that afternoon anyway. Although this time I had to wade through Malifaux’s rat infested sidestreets. Thoughts of the case were swirling around my head, but the fuzz of the evening’s beer stopped them from making any sense. I turned my last corner before home. I didn’t see the punch coming. Before I could do anything it landed square in my chops. It didn’t knock me down but it sure had surprised me. I managed to stagger back a few steps and got a clear look at what I faced. It was Curly. Outside of the carriage he looked even larger and meaner than he had before. Still, size isn’t everthing, that’s what my ex-wife used to say, and I was not going to be bullied by this overgrown $$$$$$$$$$. I ran forward determined to give him everything I had, my right arm swung for him. I could feel that this was going to be the kind of punch you see in the shows. The kind that knocks the guy out cold. He leaned backwards. It wasn’t much, but it was enough, and with my momentum I pretty much went facefirst into the road. I had just enough time to think that Curly had got lucky, catching me after a few drinks, before I blacked out. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Not my favourite part - which is a shame as it is the longest - but hopefully you have managed to stick with it so far as it sets up the rest of the story ok in my opinion and things start getting properly interesting in part 4.

Many thanks for the feedback gentlemen. The noir-ish feel is what I was aiming for and I will hopefully manage to keep going. Luckily for me I have a good idea where the story is going for at least a little while yet, so parts 3 and 4 should be along shortly.

No problem. Glad to be of assistance.

Yes, kingdom was one I was thinking of and no you didn't just get an unlucky night at stirling, I'll not say anything else other than they are very gw-centric. They did however end up with a core of between 4 and 7 wm and Malifaux players by the time I left. Anyway, enough negativity. Will need to check out that store next time I'm back up there. Losing the game in the situation you describe is also fun, found that out myself a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy your stay.

Hi David Welcome to the game and the forums, hope you end up enjoying both. Where in Scotland are you from and where is your lgs? Asking as I recently moved away from Scotland and I only knew of two stores that stocked it, only one of which ever had proper level of stock in. There are plenty of players in Glasgow and stirling mind. Which crew did you go for? Anyway, enough questions, hope Malifaux provides the break from wm/h you were looking for.

As often as you like. Here is the ruling: http://wyrd-games.net/forum/showthread.php?t=9785&highlight=body+parts

Blue moon is one of the very few American craft type beers we get over here in the uk. Think if I absolutely had to choose I would be an anchor steam man. Luckily I don't have too. Tucking into a few Brooklyn lagers right now while painting up my proxy collodi crew.

A good choice sir. Can't go wrong with a good shepherds pie!

Fruit or meat based?

Nothing but a relaxing day for me I think. A couple of beers and painting will be as strenuous as it gets. How's yourself?

Years of dedicated policework, with hours and hours spent sitting on my ass at stake-outs had honed my sense of observation to that similar to a Malifaux raptor. All of those instincts told me one thing. This place had so much eye-candy it could turn your crotch diabetic. I tried not to let anyone see my double-take and strode purposefully forward. A broad with red hair, top hat, and legs that went all the way up, stepped through a door to the side of the stage and walked towards me with an air of authority that suggested she owned the place. I assumed this to be Ms Du Bois. "Well, howdy officer. I hear you're looking to have a little talk to me about sum'thin or other?" She asked as she reached me by the first row. "Yes ma'am, i'm a lueitenant with the guard and have a few questions relating to the death of what appeared to be one of the showgirls who frequent this here establishment...." Ten minutes later it had become clear to me that this broad knew more than she was letting on. I was getting nowhere with my questions though and thought I might head back to the station to hear if the science bods had any word for me. After that I could always come back and break her skull, Being a member of the guild allowed for such useful interrogation techniques. To be honest though it was getting a little late in the day and I had promised Graeme a trip to the saloon tonight. I loved drinking with that little guy. Not only was he my best friend, I did some of my best thinking when I was out drinking with him. Also, because of his size he couldn't hold his liqour too well which made him a cheap date. With thoughts of a cool beer running through my head I made my excuses and headed out of the theatre and back to my carriage. I started 59 forward and hit the road back to the station. Less than a couple o' miles later I thought I had spotted a tail. At first it had caught my attention because of the make of the carriage. Yup, you guessed it, a shiny new VX! After taking a few turns down quieter side streets I had confirmed it, and if they didn't know I had made them, they had to be dumber than a bayou gremlin. I made back onto the main cobbled road and tried to weave in between traffic, I was heading onto the bridge when they made their move, gaining ground until we were both racing forward, side-by-side, at full pelt. They veered towards me, there was nothing 59 could do but veer right and I could feel my right wheel just about to go over the side. Ten more yards and I would be safely across the bridge, that was all I needed. I held 59's reins tight and egged her on. The VX was not going to let me go that easy though and renewed their assualt on my left side. My right wheel slipped of the bridge. Luckily, we had made it far enough across that it just caught on the ground on the other side. This meant we did not fall headfirst into the river but instead careened straight into a goddamn butchers shop. I had taken just about enough of their crap and I reached for the handle of the left door and gave it a yank. I had forgot that side door had been jammed for months but before I could think of alternatives two pairs of hands reached in and dragged me through the window. A crowd of onlookers had gathered but not anybody did anything to help out as they pulled me up into their carraige. I reckon I clocked one of them pretty good on the jaw but then I took one to the guts and by the time I was breathin' again we were on the move. My mind was racing, was this a revenge attack for the death of those resser kids? An old score being settled? Or just some miscreants taking a pop at the guild? I settled down after seeing the size of them. There were three of them in the back with me. One of them was huge. I liked to think he was called Curly. "Listen numnuts, if you don't want to be a smear on the road next time you had better watch who you cross!" screamed the one I would affectionately refer to as Moe. "Numnuts??? What is this, vaudeville?" I retorted. I would have chuckled but my ribs were hurtin. With that the last of them, a greasy little fella who looked like he should have been working in the back end of an opium den, I would call him Larry, slapped me across the face. "Stay away from the Star! Got that?" I was going to answer that my sense of professional pride, dedication, and got damn sense of right and wrong; together with a deeper sense of the notions of justice that people would struggle to put down in words if they was writin' em, would prevent me from carrying out their polite request. In the end however, I went with my greater sense of self preservation and said "Sure" "Good, he maybe isn't as dumb as he looks" said Moe, before shouting at the driver to pull on over. They pulled me out of the cab, and curly stuck one in my ribs before they pulled out, the wheels of the carraige spitting dust and crud into my face. I had no idea where I was and the only thing I knew right now was I really wanted that beer.

A good point well made. He was in the vast majority of my Lilith lists until very recently. I love the idea of him and he is difficult to for opposing crews to put down. He just never seemed to do enough damage for me when compared to say a Young Nephilim.

Insomnia sucks. Hello all. **Waves in people's general direction**