The Taking of Motley
By Ricky Temple
Motley sat on the edge of the bed carefully read the letter from Count Brinkatore, requesting he provide the entertainment at his garden party, again & again looking for any hint of hidden danger or malice within the words and between the lines, but he could not detect any.
"I don't know Moll's" he said to Molly May the young food waitress of The Crazed Heifer, who's living quarters he was currently in and who's bed he was currently sitting on, "It looks like a perfectly legit job."
Molly finished straitening & smoothing out her dress, she then came over and sat down besides Motley on her bed. She also read the letter, "Yes it dose...except for who it is that's offering you the job." She pointed out "The Count is very much in Lord Fear's pocket." "Aye that's true" Motley agreed "But" he added "The old goat has rarely taken any direct role in any of old skull features schemes. Heck in this past quest season even with dungeoneers passing through his castle and lands of his estate he didn't raise a finger to stop them." Motley pointed out.
"But Motley that's because until recently Lord Fear had the likes of Skarkill & Julius Scaramounger to do the dirty work for him." Molly countered "That's not the situation anymore after recent events. You have to think that now The Opposition is going to be desperate and will use all means they still have at their disposal."
Motley nodded "Yeah but work is always slow following a quest season. I can't afford to turn work down it could do my reputation harm if people think I will turn down good work when it is offered." Molly sighed she knew Motley was right about that. "Well just be careful and keep your guard up at all times" Molly said gently putting one of her hands on Motley's. Motley smiled "Cause I will Moll's I always do and besides the event is happening at his estate not his castle. The Estate is in Greenshades and that's hardly The Opposition's backyard especially now they've been dealt such crushing blows."
Molly smiled but she had been right to worry for deep with in the dark hart of The Black Tower of Goth Lord Fear had been putting the finishing touches to his latest weapon which he intended to unleash on Motley. It now stood in the thrown room as its master & creator inspected it.
Sylvester Hands came into the thrown room "Your Lordhships I...Ohhh who's this?" he asked indicating towards the humanoid figure stood with Lord Fear. The figure was of average height and was dressed in the robes of a monk and it had a large hood on its head. "Is this the new Oblin Master or that new errrr seashell person you sent for Lordships?"
Lord Fear rolled his eyes and sighed "Seneschal Hands the word your pea sized brain is trying to send down to your dirty covered mouth is Seneschal and no it is not my new Seneschal nor is it the new Goblin Master. What this is, my faithful odorous glob of grime is the way in which we are going to nab that foolish jester Motley!"
"Ohhh" said Hands not really understanding "…But what's his name likes?" Lord Fear sighed "It doesn't have one yet because it's not a he" "It's a girl yer Fearships?" Hands asked "NO HANDS!" Lord Fear snapped "You monumental block head! Oh would it have been you the Red Dragon crippled and not Skarkill. Least he had half a wit in his head; you're totally bereft of wits altogether." Hands looked glumly down at his feet. "Sorry yer Fearships" he said softly.
"This Hands" Lord Fear continued "Is the end result of my purches from the former 'Merchant Prince' Julius Scaramonger. "Ohhhh yer mean that arti…Atey..Art…errr really old thing you was talking about yer poshness?" "Yes Hands you see what Scaramonger had come into possession of was these." Lord Fear held up what looked like scrolls. "Some spell scrolls?" Hands asked "Not exactly Hands" Lord Fear said with a smirk "These are plans and blue prints, written by my unlamented and thankfully departed predecessor Mogdread. It seems the old foggey wasn't as much a purist as everyone seems to think he was."
"He was dabbling in Techno-Magic, not to the level of an expert among experts like myself and I'll give the old prig this, he had some good ideas. Like this a mechanical warrior, seems he built one during the second phase of the dungeon & let it loose on the little Perishers." "So it's a Mechianical Man?" Hands asked.
"Well that's as close as you're ever going to get to pronouncing that correctly isn't it!" Lord Fear sighed "But yes that's what it is or to be more exact it's MY version. I modified the original design. The original was a very crude design, nothing compared to my Dreadnaught…but for our immediate purposes its simplistic and minimalist design was very practical."
"Beggin yer pardon though yer Fearship but why is it dressed like a monk?" "Two reasons Hands" Lord Fear said. "One, who would ever suspect a man of the church, no one will give our little automaton a second glance in this get up. Second well...just come round here and look under its hood." Lord Fear said with a smirk.
A confused Hands came round and apprehensively lifted the 'monks' hood. "OOORHHH ARRGH!" Hands yelled in shock and stumbled back in fright "Oh its Bloody Orribel!" "Yes" Lord Fear said "It is quite a distinctive face isn't it."
The 'monk's' face was human, but just barely, it was distorted and misshapen in such a way that it left it looking like some kind of grotesque parody of a human face. The 'bone structure' of the head seemed to be misshapen giving it a very unnatural angular look to it, the skin looked like it had partially melted off of the bone and completing this horrific sight was the fact that where there should be eyes there was instead opaque ovals made of glass.
"It's more like a monster then a monk" Hands said "A Monk Monster!" "Hmmmm" Lord Fear said thoughtfully "Monk Monster...simplistic...but I like the sound of it. Yes I'll call this creation The Monk Monster." "But how did it end up looking like that your worships?" Hands asked "An unintended side effect of the modification I made to the original design Hands" Lord Fear said.
"The original design neglected to include any in built weapon system, not even a pneumatic spear. Now I ask you Hands what self respecting Technomancer builds something like this and doesn't include weaponry? Well I corrected Mogdread's little oversight. It was these additions that caused the unique look of our Monk Monster. The more powerful and pure Techno-magic of moiré was to much it seems for the impure and diluted form that Mogdread was dabbling with."
"When I activated The Monk Monster's new weapons system its magical aura clashed with the one generated by the rest of the machine. It caused the exoframe of the head to warp and the synthetic skin to start melting. A simple holding spell was enough to prevent total structure failure though it was too late to stop the damage you can see." "So eeer what weapons did yer give it then Lord F?"
Lord Fear smiled "I've installed a remote controlled Freeze ray unit and remote viewing that is linked back to The Pool of Veracity all we need do is set our Monk Monster hunting and once it gets close enough to that daffy jester we activate the freeze rays and ZZZAP! Instant Jester flavoured popsicle."
Hands & Fear shared an evil laugh "But yer lordships...how are we goner get the jester back here once the Monk Monster has done froze him? Its a long way from Greenshades to here likes and that would give the Powers That Be plenty of time to spring the jester." Lord Fear nodded "Yes Hands this fact has not escaped me and against my better judgement that's where your going to come in."
Hands ears pricked up at this "Once The Monk Monster has done its job I'll open a portal and you scurry your disgusting little self through like some kind of giant and extra scummy rat, through that daft magic rope of yours over the frozen jester and drag him back through the portal." Hands smiled and nodded eagerly "Ohh yes your lordships, I can dose that no problems."
Lord Fear smirked evilly "Good, then just watch the sands fall through the hour glass Good Hands." He said his voice dripping with evil and sadistic anticipation "Because when they run out…Motley's time has also run out!"