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"Annoyance and Irritation" (South Window) *PAKOOF* Adlai watched as the rock whistled over the plain, descending sharply at the end of it's arc. The projectile slammed into the cedar tree, exploding in a shower of shavings that only a gerbil could find a reasonable use for. A big gerbil. One with lots of friends. "Wow," Rilly Corsata, his apprentice, gasped, in awe at the unerring accuracy of her master's customized catapult prototype. He had nailed the only tree in the entire field from a distance of two hundred yards, and without the machine blowing up and maiming it's operators. It was unheard of. Adlai danced a celebratory jig. It had actually WORKED! True, he'd been aiming fifty feet to the left of the tree, but did that really matter? Ah, the sweet taste of success, something he'd not tasted often in his forty-two years, but as far as he concerned, he was the best inventor in the whole world through. Then he woke up. *South Window Inn* Adlai's eyelids shot open as he excitedly threw the covers off and rushed to his lab, eager to jot down a diagram for a modified catapult. In the inky blackness, he didn't even see what hit him. While he recovered from the blow, his eyes slowly became adjusted to the darkness. Extremely irritated, he glared at the offending wall. The fact that his house was now just so much rubble still hadn't sunk in even after a week. His prized laboratory was gone. His books of ideas were history. Everything he'd owned had gone up in smoke. And why? Because some stupid dolt of a kid just HAD to break in and use his highly experimental elevator. Indeed, the one that was supposed to move sideways. Then, the evil bugger had had the audacity to toss him at some beefy, sword-swinging, steroid-induced public employees. It was times like this that he wished he'd became an evil scientist instead, it seemed a much easier profession than the one he'd devoted his life too. After all, how hard could it be to make everyone's lives miserable in the name of science? Consoling himself with thoughts of torturing the fool, he decided a nice little stroll was in order. *Two River, that same night* Kumacho Gergun's eyes followed the guard as he moved to answer the frantic knocking. The prison guard was halfway there when the door burst from it's hinges and darkness seeped in, bringing with it a powerful gust of frigid air. A lamp, the only source of light in the room, sputtered twice before everything went pitch black. A cold breeze tickled Kumacho's fur and his hackles raised involuntarily. The guard's scream of pure terror reached the kobold as he leapt to his feet, his blood running cold as ice. The scream broke off suddenly, accompanied by the dry cracking sound of a snapped neck. For the first time in his long life, the former mob leader was deathly afraid. Another breeze blew towards his cowering form, carrying the chilling promise of death. From the blackness issued a whisper that echoed of timeless centuries spent mastering the ways of death and cruelty, "Stand. Cower not before me, murderer, for I am Solzek'kol'namakra, now your master as you are now my servant. I require your services and you shall render them else this man's suffering will not hold a candle to the pain I shall inflict upon thee..." Wordlessly, the Don nodded, unsure what refusal would entail, only knowing that he wouldn't enjoy finding out. "Good. I had thought you would see the wisdom in my plan...You shall go to South Window and re-establish your empire, there you will go on with business as usual and I will contact you when everything is in place. Serve me well and you will reap the rewards. Fail me and..." it trailed off, leaving the threat unfinished. The sable presence vanished, taking it's imposed midnight with it. Slowly, Kumacho found he could once again breathe and his body sagged against the stone wall, fur soaked with sweat. He could almost convince himself that nothing had happened, almost. Fighting back nausea, he couldn't help but stare at the horribly decapitated body of the guard, his face contorted into an expression of unimagined pain. Stumbling to his feet, Kumacho noticed that the door to his cell was open. Shrugging off the fear, he strode out of the prison with new found strength. What choice did he have? *South Window Inn, the next morning* Once again, the middle-aged scientist's eyes flapped open, this time in annoyance rather than any feelings of anticipation. Above him stood a young woman, no older than seventeen, her blond hair pulled back into a pony tail and a notebook clasped in her arms. "Master Adlai, it's time for my lesson," Rilly said uncertainly, fidgeting under the perpetual scowl her teacher wore everywhere. "Yes, I know," he snapped edgily, rising from the uncomfortable bed he'd been forced to sleep on for the past seven days. He was really starting to miss the bed he'd built himself, it was a far more restful piece due to the ingenious usage of springs within the mattress. Derailing that lengthy train of thought, he forced himself back into the unfortunate reality of things. "Eh, how are your parents? They building my house yet? I should hope they are, it's been a WEEK," he asked, making an obvious reference to her mega rich mother and father. Rilly nodded in the affirmative, dismissing her instructor's impatience with the practiced expertise of an master. "You know I don't see much of my parents, but I assume that they're fine. And yes, the foundation was re-laid two days ago," she answered calmly. In all the world, Adlai was the only person she'd ever met that she could talk to. In the few times she had conversed with her parents, they'd always disapproved of her unladylike interest in things scientific, but they indulged her none-the-less, hiring Adlai Vellum as a personal tutor. They were far too busy in their day to day lives to bother with something as inconvenient as a daughter, they just wanted her out of their collective hair. As such, Adlai had warmed up to her over the years, becoming the father she'd never had. However, that didn't mean she was spared from the constant mood swings he often experienced, like the one he was in now. "Well, I don't suppose they could hurry it up, could they," he asked acidly, pitching a glare heavenwards. Setting down her notebook, Rilly said, "They're moving as fast as they can, I convinced father to pay them double if they finished within the month. May we start the lesson on determining mechanical measurements now?" *Three hours later* "Like this?" "No. You invert the sine of the right isoceles triangle formed by the radial transversal, then you take the external angle formed by that and multiply it by the diameter of the first gear to determine what the diameter of the consecutive gear should be." "Oh, ok, like this?" "Yes, like that. Keep practicing and tomorrow we'll begin investigating fluid dynamics and their conceivable implementations in possible inventions." "I can't wait," Rilly chirped, grabbing her book of notes and leaving her master alone to sulk over his non-existent house. That was one of the perks to being a tutor to one of the Corsata family, they paid ALL of your expenses. A prime example being that they were rebuilding her teacher's house and replacing everything that had been lost. And the amount of money they paid to Master Adlai was astronomical enough to maintain a small army if he ever had the inclination. She walked out of the inn, narrowly avoiding one pushy fellow, and, consequently, bumping into a young man and dropping her precious notebook. "I'm very sorry. Here, let me help," the black-haired man said in a deep voice for his apparent nineteen years, sweeping up some papers that had fallen out of her book and handing them over. She got a good look of his face and blushed furiously, he was handsome. "What is it," he asked curiously, running a hand through his hair self-consciously and looking at her with hazel eyes. She shook her head furiously, mumbling, "It's nothing," and walking away, her face dark crimson. Rilly didn't get too far before the cause of her embarrassment caught up with her. "My name's Verdenond Yelles. What's yours," Verdenond inquired, smiling with perfectly white teeth. He seemed genuinely interested in her, how odd, she thought. All her life, her mother had told her that she was too thin and would never attract any man wearing the baggy clothes she preferred. "I...I'm Rilly Corsata," she answered, feeling like a complete idiot as she offered a hand. Much to her surprise, he took her hand and, like a gentleman, kissed it. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he breathed softly, his eyes capturing hers, "I'm new here and am very much in need of a guide. May I beg your ladyship to show me around?" She tried to look away, failing miserably. "Sure...but I can't today...maybe tomorrow," Rilly suggested hopefully. Grinning, he nodded, "I shall not sleep a wink this night, in anticipation of your presence." Hardly believing it was possible, she blushed even more fiercely. A trace of disappointment in his voice, Verdenond said, "I beg your pardon, Milady, but I must be leaving now, though I regret it most dearly." Holding her gaze, he backed away reluctantly, at last turning and going to his destination. She watched until he vanished from sight, even then hesitant to move from the spot where she met the man. The man who would alter her destiny... *South Window, down the street and around the corner* Verdenond walked leisurely, carefully making his way back towards the inn where he was staying. Well, that had been even easier than he'd expected. All it had taken was a little gentility and open interest to open the path to the girl's heart. Now was the easy part: sit back, relax, and keep on confessing his desire to the Corsata's daughter and she would be his for the taking. The life of luxury that was his due was finally within his grasp and he would spare no expense to reap the rewards that he deserved. He had spent his entire existence deceiving others, first by necessity and now because he knew no other way of survival. Besides, why quit doing something you're good at, he reflected, dodging an old man who was busy trimming a bonsai. As soon as was reasonable, he'd ask her to marry him. And then it would just be a matter of receiving her father's blessings in the form of a will and an unfortunate mishap wherein the famous Caithan Corsata perished, no one the wiser. From there on, Verdenond would be set for the rest of his life, the grieving son-in-law and newly made tycoon. So caught up in planning his future, he didn't see the hand that snaked out, yanking him into a dank alley. A black furred kobold stared back at him, a grin revealing sharp teeth. It took Verdenond a full minute to recognize the dog-man as Ghanus, one of his few friends. "Ghanus! What are you doing here? I hadn't heard a thing since the incident in Two River," he blurted loudly. The kobold shushed him with a long-nailed finger, "Not so loud...you know how Master Kumacho got imprisoned," the brown eared kobold paused, long enough to see his comrade nod, "Well, he escaped and now he is rebuilding the Mafia over here in South Window. Boy will he be happy to see you!" Stunned, he didn't resist as his comrade pulled him towards the seedier section of the city. *A formerly abandoned warehouse in the aforementioned district* "Gather all of the local toughs you can and make them an offer they can't refuse. Bring the cooperative ones back here, you know what to do with the rest," the scarred Don growled, indifferently waving the lackey away. In jail, he'd refined his linguistic skills to the point where he could make himself understood to humans, although his voice was as deep and gravely as it ever had been. "Yessir," the young ruffian responded, really no more than a boy. The youth held his bow until he was a respectful distance from his master, then he turned and ran. The Don didn't have any use for slackers. And what the Don didn't like, no one did, if they wanted to keep their heads, that was. Lounging back on his sofa, he ran through some mental plans of what he would do differently this time around. Primarily, he wouldn't take the stupid risks that he'd taken in the name of boredom. Like the whole juggernaut scheme, that had backfired indefinitely. He would not succumb to the vices of overconfidence again, he'd learned his lesson the hard way. For one who'd been gifted with a strong head and the smarts to make things happen, he'd made some rather glaring mistakes in the recent past. And those who had ruined his organization would pay, but that could wait. If there was one thing he'd learned, it was patience. "Don, there's someone special here to see you," a voice interjected, interrupting his reverie. "Who is it, Ghanus," he snapped venomously, his eyes still closed, "If that is the chairman, just tell him to leave the money, he'll get the pictures soon enough." "It's not that...it's a surprise," his wizard interjected, the swish of his wagging tail audible. "Fine, send 'im in..."
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