Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Hey, everyone, I'd like to make a quick note about this RP. Since it seems like Lin will be off-and-on for a little while here, I'd like to open up my inbox for character submissions since I am the other sanctioned GM for this RP. We may not begin play for a little while, hoping that Lin will have a chance to start with us, but seeing as he's caught up in his computer trouble, it would speed things along if I could work with potential players on their characters in preparation for his return.

So if you've turned a character in to him for approval, or plan to, if you could also forward it to me, I'd be able to help you out with it. Your character won't appear in the approved character post until he comes back around, but at the very least we can get a leg up on getting this thing going. I'm sorry if it's an inconvenience as well, but thank you for cooperating.))

"Allo...? Allo, is anyone here?" Corinth shouted into the empty general store. It was strange, to him, for the store to be unmanned. Yes, it was the less-busy part of the day, but it wasn't late enough for places to close. Furthermore, he was smart enough to know that a shopkeeper wouldn't keep the door unlocked if it was closed (unless, of course, the shopkeeper was a klutz, but he wouldn't mention that out loud).

After he gently closed the door to the shop he grabbed a small satchel from his backpack and wandered around the store, filling it with various herbs (sprigs of mint, cloves, dandelions, and ginger), a large bottle of olive oil, and a small roll of cotton fabric.

"Hrmmm... Hey! I need to purchase something!" He yelled louder, somewhat annoyed. He then saw a small service bell sitting on the front counter. He sighed to himself, embarrassed for yelling and being annoyed and being impatient, and rang the bell about three times.

(( Will It Live? I Hope So. ))

Corinth sighed and dug around his purse, leaving two gold pieces for the herbs and the bolts of fabric he wanted to buy. It was a bit more than the prices listed, but he was impatient today. The convent was running a bit low on bandages and medicinal herbs and, considering he was one of the members charged with making bandages today, it was imperative that he got back.

He walked and stuffed the bolts and pouches of things he bought into his satchel, a little too busy to notice a huge clunking armor-of-a-person walking inbetween buildings. While his eyes might not have noticed it, he did notice the most awful of sounds -- clunking metal and steam. A machine must be nearby... he thought, though he found it odd for a machine to be wandering around. He shrugged it off and continued walking toward the convent.

----

Two thieves in the poorer parts of the artisan district hid in the darker parts of the alleyway, stalking for prey as they walked around from the smaller shops to other smaller shops. One thief spotted a man carrying a large bundle of sticks. He smiled and signaled to the other thief, commencing their devious, yet petty, plan.

The thief who signaled walked behind the man and "tripped" (that is, he pretended to trip), knocking over the man carrying the bundle. As the kindling fell to the ground and unbundled, the other man, working with the thief, walked over to help the man up. Casual conversations and apologies were exchanged as the poor victim was helped up. One thief gathered the twigs for the man as the other conveniently stole the other's money from his belt pouch. After the man was upright again and carrying his wood both thieves waved goodbye and walked off in the other direction.

Both thieves laughed and continued walking to the central square, using the alleyways to get back. As they walked, they noticed another victim -- what looked like an acolyte of a healing convent who carried a satchel of fabric and herbs.

The thieves smiled at their next potential victim. He looked at the acolyte and his belongings, particularly his coin pouch attached to his belt. He went up to the man and "tripped", knocking the man behind him. "Oh, excuse me!" He said, on top of the acolyte, as his hand reached for the coin pouch.

"Um... It's no problem, sir...!" Corinth replied, squirming under the other's weight. "But could you please get... get off me...!" He added, trying to push the other off. He did notice a light tug on his coin purse, however. He grabbed the other's wrist before it could be yanked off. "Er... don't pull there; you'll tear the pouch." He said.

"Whoa...! This is intense... two thieves, eh?" Corinth thought as he held the other's wrist tighter. He smirked, however; it was a mistake for a thief to get held-on by him. With a minor mutter of an incantation the hand that held the hapless thief began to glow slowly.

The thief grunted in slight agony, the place where his wrist was grasped was beginning to feel cold. In fact, it felt as if the warmth of his body was sucked by the other's hand. He loosened his grip on the coin purse, working to ensure he could remain standing. But it was apparent to anyone, after a small while, that something wasn't quite right.

"Don't worry about a thing Mr... Mr... Er... Caring citizen...?" He replied to Steam with the same smirk on his face. "He's merely a sick patient..." He added, using his other hand to make the thief look at his face. The other hand continued to absorb the hapless thief's life energies (but it wasn't known to Steam or the thief).

"Right, sir...?" He said mischievously, his hand holding the other's wrist even tighter, feeling stronger as he absorbed more energy.

The other thief was quite shocked by Steam's entrance, and was even more appalled by what was happening to his mate. Seconds after Steam commanded a halt he was already two blocks away.