Compound Mernoff

[Dego Mernoff]

Compound Mernoff
Posted with the revision and approval of GD Grim.

The great compound resided within the district of the city know as Secluria, once home to the mercenary pride of Nexus prime, the crimson tigers, it was sold and abandoned for a larger, more accommodating residence. From there a secret group who had split from the House of Whispers known only as the Guild Underground took possession, and finally from them, Dego Mernoff, one of their highest commanders in his prime with the group took the latest and thus far final possession of said property.

Surrounding the buildings within on all four sides, great stone walls stand a fair three or so meters tall keeping out unwanted visitors and adding a bit of security to those residing. The only visible entrance is a set of heavy looking, deep chocolate colored, wooden doors, standing the height of the walls, located on the northern front, with each wide enough for a cart to pass through should they be opened all the way. That is assuming they even could still open as over the years of neglect rust had started to form on the bracing and joints. Within one of the two doors is a smaller entrance, obviously installed so that the great fortified gates wouldn’t have to be opened unnecessarily, and just tall enough for a man to pass through should he appease whoever is watching on the other side of the dingy lookout slot.

Once inside individuals find themselves standing on the same stone that line the fair streets of nexus only in a less cared for manner and, of coarse, the option of three traveling directions. East and west have paths leading to each end of the compound nestled between the wall and a building, while south passes directly between the buildings and leads back to a third building stretching the entire width of the compound along the southern wall. Should this also be your choice you would see the final two buildings on the western side of the walkway completing the view of the total five structures within. It didn’t really matter which way you traveled, each path lead to the same place in a round about way and each path looked as little traveled as the last with small strands of the thin green Arium grass growing up between them.

The first Building, once passing through the great doors, is located to your left. This massive structure, like its four major counterparts and the few minor buildings scattered within, is well built, obviously in Arium Dwarven design, and holds stout sentinel over the rest of the buildings. Running two thirds the length of the compound and little less then half its width, it is lined with an assortment of doors all marked with the single letter B carved into the stone above the entrances. Little windows litter the upper heights of the walls and obviously designed to withstand siege as each hold a framework of iron bars protecting the heavy wooden shutters. Within the building are a maze of hallways leading to the various areas including a mess hall, an armory with extra fortifications and equipped for storing weapons armor or any other such valuables, five smaller training rooms designed to hold five recruits, three larger training areas designed to hold upwards of 20 recruits, and the store house, consisting of little more then a stone counter within a small room protecting a door leading back into a very large open warehouse designed for storing essential items needed for the daily operation of the facility, but currently holding little more then an assortment of dust, cobwebs and musty scent.

Exiting to the rear of this building one would find themselves crossing a pathway and walking alongside a building stretching nearly the entire width and final third of the length of the rear of the compound. Designed exactly like the first minus a few doors and plus quite a few of the barred windows this is known as building A, the barracks. Passing through any of the doors you have the choice of either going down a flight of stairs or up a shorter set. These lead to the two floors each containing long hallways stretching the length of the building and lined with doors only differing in appearance by the numbers stamped into them. A total of 40 rooms on the bottom floor and 60 on the top are capable of housing 400 individuals in tightly cramped quarters. A wooden framework set on hinges in the wall and suspended by chains are what the Crimson tigers considered beds. Two lower, two upper, capable of folding up and latching to the walls from which they hang for added space, and room for a single desk or dresser at the wall opposite the door make up each of the 100 quarters.

On the lower level, at the left end accompanying the 40 rooms is a second mess hall identical to the first in building B. Capable of holding 100 hungry troops at any time had it still contained her long tables, and once equipped with a full kitchen area for cooking and cleaning it now lacks all the tools for cooking a single meal minus the built in fixtures and houses little more then dirt and grime. At the opposite end is the second armory in the base, and a small private bath house for the residents. Consisting of four raised stone baths long waiting to be filled with water again, and small areas beneath to build fires for heating it.

Buildings D and E are nestled next to each other in front of Building A and opposite of Building B. E contains 13 large offices and a conference room along with 10 holding cells for prisoners all similar to the rest of the buildings long overdue for a deep cleaning. D is the largest armory and also doubles as a forge for building and repairing arms. It is equipped with the most stone racks and shelves, a few large stone forging ovens built into the building itself and none of the other essentials for the upkeep of a mercenary forts weapon supply.

The final building, building C brings you back full circle to the main gates, Stretching the final third down the west side, this is the stables. Within are stalls for 50 horses and enough space to store supplies and feed for each. Stone troughs run down each of the walls and along the back where water could be poured for the animals to share. Though none of the areas currently contain what they were designed for.

The only other things of note within the walls are a set of three smaller buildings, two behind the barracks and a third placed neatly in the center of the compound between all of the other structures. The match set located behind the barracks are the communal latrines used for the personal necessaries, and neatly divided into an assortment of separate stalls stretching along the back wall of Building A. The third building, which is placed in the center of the compound, makes up the well house. It is a large octagonal gazebo held up by stone pillars supporting the roof and covering a round opening into the earth, carefully crafted and lined with brick matching the rest of the structures. Within the stone circle is a hole dug deep into the earth beneath, much deeper then the sewers, or secret tunnels, or any other part of the city of Nexus. A pulley system hangs from the ceiling that allows easy hoisting of large amounts of water up from the sanitary well below giving an added edge should the small fortress ever find itself under siege.

[Roland Moonstar]

Originally Posted by Dego Mernoff

I would like to help with that, what I have in mind however is something of a much more grand level... A long while back I became the owner of a fairly good sized compound in NP capable of holding around 400 persons... Right now Grim and I are trying to work out an exact description of it because it was handed over in a pretty turbulant time for mods in this city... My idea is basically of setting up a huge red cross style shelter to get the refugees off the streets and then through a coop effort of the gov. guilds and myself along with any other PCs create a center to help train and re-establish the citizens and helping them get back to and rebuild paxia. This would also allow any paxian and np PCs to interact, pick up some training and take control of the rebuilding of arium.

IC:

3rd of Kalendrayas

Roland began searching through Nexus Prime for a suitable stronghold for House Moonstar. He didn't know why they wanted a stronghold, but some of the lads did, and he was quite willing to acquire one for them.

Having time on his hands, he began scouting through various residences. There were only two requirements: the place had to be big, and it had to be relatively deserted.

Roland had much prior experience in this sort of thing, having done it before in Port Constantine, Abestat, Jaedaxia and Tearsfall. Usually as Lefty McCulloch, and sometimes as Roland, and sometimes as yet another identity. Sometimes he acquired things through stealth, sometimes through manipulated Aedile records, sometimes through the brute force of a group of hirelings and mercenaries.

He wasn't yet sure what would be needed this time around, but he was a patient man and so was perfectly happy standing around casing the joint.

[Roland Moonstar]

Roland strolled around the entire outside of the compound, testing the stone wall at various points so as to satisfy himself that it was as defensible as it at first appeared. He took some time, not rushing at all, as he also wanted to hear if anyone was on the other side. He'd stop, look, listen, and attempt to cast Reveal and Awareness as often as his mana regenerated. At the half-way mark he attempted to cast Sentinel so that he would have a view from opposite ends.

Assuming he made an entire circuit of the compound, he would stop, rest, and do it again, two more times, using the zig-zag pattern he had shown Odyleon in Prime Province, so as to appear that he was just some mook walking down a street. Roland had spent a great deal of time undercover as a second-story man, and he knew a thing or two about casing joints from what he had learned from experience and the criminals of Jaedaxia and other places.

The first secret to casing a joint is to walk around acting as if you already owned the place. Roland used to disguise himself as a two-bit thug named Lefty McCulloch, and would obviously stand around, skulking and loitering, while he watched what was going on. This nearly ended his law-enforcement career before it began. Now, as a well-dressed dandy, he simply had to make sure he himself was not the target of pickpockets, but otherwise he was far more invisible in his charcoal suit than he had ever been as Lefty.

Especially in Nexus Prime, arguably the one city in the Empire where Roland was least well known. The Legion of Justice had never been here, House Moonstar had never had a large presence here-- or if it did, it was Moonstars that weren't Roland, such as Eninia-- and the people Roland had known in Nexus, such as Pirvan and Ogabe, were not around at the moment.

Also, as this was a place where Roland had some real estate, had friends and family, and had some roots, Roland could legitimately justify his presence just about anywhere in Nexus Prime, by feigning ignorance and claiming he was lost. There was, after all, some Moonstar now living on what felt like every street in Nexus-- an exaggeration, of course, but it helped justify any cover story for accidental trespassing.

He had never thought about it, but the very fact that he was from Arium meant Roland could get away with things in Nexus Prime that he could not do anywhere else. He was bound to have old friends and relatives on the Alderstag, for example, even if he lost touch for the past 9 eras. Maybe. Maybe not. It wasn't something he planned to test, as he had no intention of becoming a career criminal who needed to rely on such dubious contacts, or on the protection such people could give. But he made a mental note to file away the thought as a possible line of inquiry next time he was in the Hall of Justice. It would be better to find out sooner rather than later if the Alderstag was filled with friends, enemies, or those purely neutral, if not to him, then to House Moonstar itself.

Roland continued to ponder on this and other matters as mental chatter should anyone cast some sort of telepathic spell on him: another lesson learned in casing a joint was not to actively think about what you were doing. Just walk, look, listen, observe. Let your senses do their thing. It kept your reaction time at its optimal level, should it come down to it. And it would give you an instant answer should anyone ask you who you were and what's going on, as there would be no need for a split-second of hesitation before truthfully stating "Sorry, didn't mean to trespass, I was thinking of the Alderstag and got lost." That split second could get you killed as body language couldn't be faked, there would be a 'tell' you were lying, even if you mastered your face and voice. The best way to do anything audacious was to be on the up-and-up.

[Roland Moonstar]

Time passed. Roland continued scouting. He was beginning to like this place more and more. It didn't appear to attract any sort of attention. Or at least, nothing out of the ordinary had happened to him so far.

No one had approached him yet. Either he'd been written off as some local out for a walk, or he'd earned a glance or two and been pegged as bored and curious. Well, that was his theory anyway. Of maybe he was being ignored in the hopes that something else would attract his attention. That's what Roland himself would do if he had some real estate like this, but didn't want unwarranted attention: he'd lie low, at least until someone actually crossed the threshold. In a city of peasants, sailors, tinkers and shopkeepers, a fancy spread like this probably attracted a lot of attention from those who either admired or were jealous of those with more land and wealth than they had. Perhaps people came by every day, looking at it, contemplating it, casing it, or just curious.

And that line of thought made Roland curious, so he turned and looked all around, to see if anyone was in fact watching the place, or watching him. He scratched his chin, pondering what to do next.

[Roland Moonstar]

As the days passed, Roland pondered his options. He realized that the stone walls were rather impregnable, and that the weakness of this place, like any other place, was the people inside it. He threw a Sentinel spell up on the entrance, then cast various combinations of Reveal and Awareness on any people or carts coming in and out.

For himself, he went through various disguises of clothing, but he also utilized some makeup and loitered around a bit as the Kemite Lefty McCulloch, infamous second story man, the man with the reputation of getting into any fortress or safe.
This was a much better disguise than say, being Kyle Linvail, because it didn't require any mana. Plus, there really was a Lefty, in a manner of speaking: many of the season-long gaps in the life of Roland Moonstar were times when "Lefty" was in jail, or casing a joint, or working on a heist. He had underworld colleagues in various provinces, and was known to Golash and a few expatriate members of the House of Whispers and Jaded Claw. He was in fact more well-liked than Roland in some ways, because the very audacious qualities that polite society frowned upon in Roland were admired in Lucky: if Roland had not been an undercover Prefect at the time, Lucky could have been the Kingpin of a criminal enterprise based in Jaedaxia.

And now Roland wasn't undercover at all, at least not in the law-and-order sense.
His distaste for both Jenius and for the Provost Imperials had driven him to once again become a man of action, to take up the mantle that the private Pirvan Kaldres knew of as 'Uncle.'

[Roland Moonstar]

Another week passed with no problem. As he was alive and unmolested, he had to assume that his efforts at remaining under the radar of the compound's residents was successful.

Or they knew damn well who he was but didn't want to start a civil war with Paxia. Either way, he continued his efforts. If nothing else, it was a good chance to practice his mysticism as he decided if he would abandon it for a time in favor of Sorcery or Elementalism.

Both of those spheres would have already gained him access, either by teleporting through the wall or by blowing it to bits. Roland was more and more in his personality favoring the latter approach, as his dreams of late were all about fire and chaos, dragons and power.

* * *

Roland was standing there, in one of his many disguises, when a brilliant thought struck him. He was doing this all backwards.

What was the point of infiltrating this place? If he got caught by any residents, they would just gang up on him and do terrible things to him, perhaps while making bad cheese puns.

Roland didn't have anything to prove as far as being able to sneak in somewhere: he'd gotten into the gates of Abestat and then to the Thane's mansion, as if peeling the layers of an onion one by one. He'd gotten out of Jaedaxia the same way.

Why not apply the lessons learned in Carmelyn Province over to here? If he wanted to take this place, then.. well... it was time to bring in Eninia. Or Mrs. Votiov. Once he had the deed, the rest of his plan would fall into place much easier. . .

(to be continued.)

[Roland Moonstar]

* * *
One month later:

'Lefty' gave all the proper signs and countersigns, and waltzed directly into the place as if he owned it. As he rather ironically did. After all that time and effort contemplating how to acquire the place, he ended up meeting the head of the Guild underground in Paxia, and had joined up as Controller for Arium province.

He had used Gender Reversal day to disguise himself as Eninia and acquire the deed, only to find out that Lorre (or someone in his employ) had rather ironically put the deed into the name of Roland Moonstar. Perhaps a joke, perhaps a twist of fate, perhaps an implication that his little theatrics and subterfuge were no match for a born assassin.

In any event he had gone and switched the deed right back to the Guild Underground, as the point was to prove that he could walk in here unmolested, and get away with it. This place was now owned by 'Lefty' McCulloch, the man who, as 'Uncle,' had created with Pirvan the Arium Intelligence organization that had turned into the House of Whispers.

Even so, it was rather anticlimatic to be given the place he had spent all that time and effort trying to steal.

[Labyrinth]

OOC: Roland, please drop me a PM about what your on about here, thanks.

[Dego Mernoff]

The 1st of Ioannes
Era XIV Post Fractum.

Dego stumbled up to the gates of his once great fortress and smiled the sight was overwhelming to see it still intact. A tear of joy ran down the elves cheek as he thought about his affliction of taking on long slumbers. As it worked his body all but shut down and it seemed to be happening more and more frequently. He had awakened this time in his personal dwelling across the city. The young man wasn’t any more hungry then normal, but had been dying of thirst and had promptly quenched it with a bath and drink of fresh water with the cities amenities. This though, had been his most pressing concern, to insure that the future of the Guild underground was still resting here as it should be. He smiled softly and pressed his hand against the great wood door, feeling its warmth under the summer sun. Ioannes not only brought safety to his possessions but had found it time to wake the white elf under the guise of his month.

Eventually Dego knew he needed to look into a cure for his slumbers, one day it was liable to get him killed. So much time had went by, so many things were lost to him because of it. He wondered if any of his new friends were even still around, but then again did it even matter, would they even remember him, his time had been so very brief this time that no real relations had been forged. Such it seemed was the story of his life.

Letting out a long sigh, Dego slipped the key into its home and released the locking mechanisms to allow entrance. His plan was to make a quick check of the compound before summing up the rest of his errands and leaving town. A certain herald article had caught his eye. It was a little out of date, but the promise could definitely help the cause he was fighting for. The time was coming, Dego knew his role it was time he fulfilled it, and he couldn’t do it by himself.

[Viskyia Crow]

TS: Late Ioannes, Summer, XIV (PF)

A simple messanger brought a letter addressed to Dego. It had The White Crow Gem and Jewelry Sigil pressed into the wax seal. It was simply labeled... "To Dego..." Inside was the briefest of notes.

I've gone to Demios. -Viskyia

[Dego Mernoff]

20th of Aperitus,
Season of Spring,
Era I of the Celestine Mandate,
Era XV Post Fractum

It had been nearly one era since Dego had last been within the comforting walls of Nexus Prime. He had come home to fetch a few things on his way to the desert. Namely his former mount, now replaced by Diligence, the stallion had been left in the care of the half elves craftsman master Steakly Soulfire. The dwarf had gladly taken it in to use about the forge and for himself in exchange for the cost of care. It had been a good deal at the time considering the adventurer had not wanted to bring his faithful steed on a trip that had grown into something much larger then he had originally anticipated.

As expected the old dwarf had taken good care of the animal, even recently shoed him, and had insured the beast stayed in excellent health. Dego promised to take the old dwarf out for an Ale before he left the city as thanks, but overall had escaped in minimal time to return to the many errands he already had to take care of in the coming brightenings.

Walking between the pair of mounts Dego had to do very little to guide them. Both animals were viciously loyal, they followed closely with only an ease of direction needed. Staying to the side streets to help avoid attention to the Raslin, they had come upon the old compound without incident. It stood as vigilant as ever, the high walls that surrounded it were nearly as tall as the cities and gave off a foreboding sense of strength to all that neared them. The small fortress was old, perhaps just as old as the city herself, but its strength was unparallel despite the apparent age.

Slipping his key into the heavy lock of the small doorway, he felt the bolts shift and slowly give way as his hand released the barrier. The heavy steel banded wood took a bit of finesse but eventually gave way allowing entrance to the somewhat overgrown interior. Thin grasses and vines had begun to creep there way up from the cracks in the stone that made up the floor of the building and everything else was covered in a thin layer of dust. It was no surprise to say the least, but it gave the half breed something to do. While he was in town he may as well put himself to work and tend to all the maintenance this facility and his home needed. After all there was no telling when he would be back again.