[Sodium_noir] The Wayward Apprentices

[Bill]

> Giger, Greenville, Tommy, Mike
> Tremere, Mortal, Mastiff
> Mike's Place

> Giger stops the car and once again, he plays the
> gentleman and escorts Elizabeth from the car,
> keeping
> a sharp eye for any sign of trouble.  They make
> their
> way to the door together, and Giger is once again
> quick to hold it open for her.

As the door openned, it hit an old fashioned bell,
filling the store with its ring and announcing their
presence.

The store was large, two floors of occult knoweldge,
supplies, and material available to the curious
beginner, the experienced master, and everyone in
between.

A quick scan of an proficient magician quickly made
the layout clear.  The first floor contained all of
the basic supplies a practitioner might need.  This
included easy to find candles and cauldrons to rare a
difficult to obtain alchemy incredients.

The front half also contained the cash register and
various books.  The titles are familiar and fairly
common, cantrips and party tricks.

Further back were display cases which contained
various artifacts. Though none of them magical, all
were of superior quality and craftmanship:  staffs
made of rare woods and carved by masters, tarot sets
in which each individual card was hand painted,
amulets made of precious metals and created with the
sweat and blood of true artists.

In the very back was a door and a set of stairs with a
velvet rope across it.  The stairs lead up to the
loft, where bookshelves of rare texts were kept along
with more dangerous materials.

The door openned and out ran a dog carrying a stuffed
cat in his mouth, tail wagging furiously.  He was soon
joined by an out-of-breath man, perhaps 22 years old. 
The man saw the two Tremere and smiled.

"Play time's over, Mike.  We've got customers."

The dog turned to  the two vampires, and its look
seemed to say.  "Thanks a lot."  It went to lie down
behind the counter to continue playing with its toy. 
A loud squeaking broke the silence (and ambiance)of
the store.

The man smiled and approached.  "Good evening, and
welcome to Mike's Place.  I apologize for being out of
breath, and a little sweaty, but evenings tend to be
slow.  My names Tommy."

He seemed to consider the two for a moment.  "I
suspect for individuals such as yourselves, many of
the items at the front of the store won't be as
interesting as what's further back.  Your welcome to
browse the main floor and take a look at what we keep
in the loft."

"Access to the loft is generally restricted, but the
only customers who visit us in the evening are the
serious and skilled.  I don't think it will be a
problem, but I should warn you the owner likes to know
and authorize some of the purchases from there."

He laughed.  "Seems a previous employee sold a book on
necromancy to a high school girl.  The girl's
experiments were . . . messy."

"Is there anything specific I can help you with?"

tags

-------------
"I swear, as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
-- Les Nessman

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