Exodus: Guns & Gore

QJ had a half dozen rebuilt trigger housing in front of him. He had spent the morning filing down release catches and replacing the mid-grade springs with lighter ones. He gunsmith ability had been steadily climbing; by the time he was finished and switched to cutting barrel stock, it was already at 20.

A mason and a carpenter had very quickly removed a large portion of his shop wall to install a doorway. QJ headed outside to give them more space to work. His hud blinked notifying him that Lotte was returning his call. "Hey Slinger! You busy?"

Lotte favored him with a crooked smile, "just finished a quest turn-in. Got something in mind?"

QJ nodded, "thought I would check out Briar Rose before we have to log-off."

"I'll come too, meet you in the courtyard." Lotte waved quickly and cut comm.

All guild members had a 'Return to Keep' option; the portal point was in the courtyard. QJ headed out of the Keep and summoned Scorch. The big red horse's feet danced with anticipation, "Haven't ran you much lately, sorry chubs." He patted the big horse's shoulder.

A soft laugh caused him to turn, "don't listen to him, Scorch." Lotte had upgraded her armor; it was blood red.

QJ whistled, "Nice armor, ready to go?"

Lotte nodded and summoned her horse, "how far is it?"

"Halfway between here and Maelstrom." QJ pushed Scorch into a light canter, "twenty minutes or so."

The pair set out for Briar Rose, using QJ's hud to guide them, they pushed the horses hard for most of the way before slowing to a walk.

Lotte pushed back her flat-brimmed hat and patted her horse's shoulder. "I can't believe that red beast isn't winded."

"Chubs needed the run." QJ smiled at her, "did you level up?"

Lotte nodded, "I see you did too, how'd you manage that without going anywhere?"

"Crafting experience, I picked up the Gunsmith trade." QJ was stunned at how much experience was gained by doing crafting.

"Made any guns yet?" She gave him a sly look, "can I put my order in?"

QJ laughed, "am really just doing components at the moment. Anything I were to make right now wouldn't be something you'd want to carry around."

System Message: You have entered the territory of Briar Rose. Owned by Baron QJ.

The two riders looked at each other; they had just entered a valley and, there were no buildings in sight yet.

"Um... how much land do you have QJ?" Lotte stood up in her stirrups, and there was nothing but trees as far as she could see.

"No idea, but these trees are peach trees." QJ moved closer to one; Scorch immediately pulled a piece of fruit off a low hanging branch.

Lotte whistled and reached up for one, "this is an orchard QJ. Maybe the estate's method of making credits."

"No idea, let's keep going."

They broke into a gallop again. A few minutes later the valley opened up into a forested area. Both riders pulled up when they saw the house.


"That's way bigger then I'd imagined." QJ dismounted and walked toward the gate. The property was surrounded by a stone wall approximately eight feet high and two feet thick. It had seen better days, several parts of the wall had collapsed.

When QJ pushed the wrought iron gate, it collapsed onto the cobblestone with a loud crash. He glanced at Lotte who was trying not to laugh. "Maybe I'm stronger then I thought?"

Lotte patted him on the back, "that's probably it."

There were several buildings besides the Main House on the property. QJ peeked inside the nearest, it was definitely a stable. He pointed to a second smaller home, "that must be the caretaker's cottage. Let's see if anyone's around."

They carefully made their way through clinging vines and grass that was waist high. Lotte picked several flowers as they walked. "This must have been a garden."

They stepped onto a small cobblestone walkway that led to the door of the cottage, QJ grabbed Lotte's arm and stopped her from moving. A long rifle barrel extended from the doorway and was pointing straight at them.

"State your business." A rough sounding voice shouted from behind the door. QJ tried not to smile, it sounded exactly like Pops.

"I'm the new owner of this property. My name is QJ."

The barrel was retracted and a moment later a small man dressed entirely in black stepped out of the home. His hair was black and combed neatly back. His clothes were neatly pressed and his shoes freshly shined. He looked exactly like someone's butler.

"My name is Oliphant. Do you have a deed, sir?"

QJ handed him the deed to Briar Rose. The deed glowed brightly for a moment and then disappeared.

System Message: You have officially claimed the property of Briar Rose. The deed has been placed in your safe, a copy of your deed has been sent to the Maelstrom Housing and Development Office.

"Oliphant was it? Whose man are you? Did you work for the King's Uncle?"

Oliphant nodded, "yes, my master was Prince Waylo Maelstrom."

"What is your position here? How many staff members do you have?"

"I'm the estate's Majordomo. My two daughters are the housemaids, there is no other staff."

Lotte's face showed that she didn't believe him. "Why is this place is such disrepair? Show us the books, with all transactions since the last master's death."

QJ glanced at her in surprise, in the past, she always stood back a bit. "We'll wait in the Main house."

QJ walked toward the back entrance of the home, he stepped into a kitchen that had been recently cleaned, although it looked like it hadn't been used in years. He walked through a set of double doors that led to a formal dining room, although there were water stains on the walls, and the woodwork was faded and broken in many places, the room had also been recently been cleaned.

Lotte looked up the grand staircase that overlooked the dining room, it looked like it might collapse at any moment. "Everything is falling apart, but at least it is clean."

A noise from the kitchen grabbed their attention as two women dressed in traditional black and white maid uniforms walked in. They both curtsied.

"I'm Rae and this is my sister Lou."

Lotte couldn't help but smile at the two maids. They were identical twins and probably close in age to her and QJ. They reminded her of Suzi and Taylor.

"I'm QJ and this is Lotte." QJ sized the two of them up, they obviously worked hard keeping the house clean. "How many bedrooms are there?"

Rae bowed slightly and spoke in a quiet voice. "Sixteen in all sir. Four of those are suites with their own kitchens and entrances. There are two Master bedrooms, one Grand Master bedroom and nine standard bedrooms."

Lotte whistled, "okay QJ, we're sharing right? How many bathrooms?"

This time Lou answered. "Eighteen bathrooms in all."

QJ stared at the two sisters. Lou had a small scar over her left eye, Raye was lefthanded and favored her right leg slightly. "Are you injured, Rae?"

Raye shook her head, "no sir, I lost a toe chopping wood last summer."

Lotte winced involuntarily. "Goodness."

QJ clasped his hands behind his back, Oliphant was taking his time. "Tell me about the rest of the house Rae."

"There are two dining rooms, this is the formal one and there is a smaller one for informal occasions. There is a living room, a library, three offices, a workshop, and a gaming room."

QJ grinned at his companion, "what sort of gaming room?"

"Like a gambling hall sir, the Prince loved to spend time at casinos."

"I see... and the workshop?"

"The Prince was an avid Gunsmith sir, one of the best in Maelstrom."

QJ pursed his lips slightly, "show me." QJ followed Raye as she led him out of the formal dining area. Felix Soma must have known that the previous Briar Rose owner was a gunsmith, QJ didn't believe that the gunsmith skill book was a coincidence.

QJ stepped inside a large room at the back of the house, there were racks of component materials, tools and an entire wall full of books. Like the rest of the home, it had been kept clean and free of dust. He glanced toward Rae, "I'm going to repurpose this room for something else, everything in this room will be transferred to another location." QJ brought up his hud and a moment later Robin's face smiled at him.

"Hey QJ."

"Hey Robs, you can return Blinky's lathe, I found a better one. I need you to send someone to Briar Rose with a wagon, I've scored big."

Rob's pretty face lit up, "a big score? What did you find?"

"My estate has a gunsmith workshop, I want everything here transferred to my shop in the Keep." QJ moved to the bookshelves and started removing books and placing them in his inventory. "There's a lot of stuff, so maybe two wagons."

"Okay hun, anything else?" Robin had a notebook in her hands and was writing everything down.

"Yes... I'm transferring two maids and a Majordomo to the Keep. Can you make proper use of them?" QJ ignored the sudden gasps of surprise from the twins.

"What? Yes! Of course, as long as they are experienced. Anything else?"

QJ shook his head, "Cya later Robs." He cut comm just as Oliphant entered the room, he had a thick black book in his hands.

QJ and Lotte took a seat and started paging through. The stipend that the Prince left in his will, wasn't nearly enough for the upkeep of such a large estate. It barely covered the wages for the three remaining workers. "You've done well with what you were left with Mr. Oliphant."

"Thank you sir, please call me Oli."

QJ nodded, "I'm transferring you and your daughters to my Guild Keep. You can ready your things and leave at your leisure." QJ brought up the estate interface and found the payroll ledger. He transferred twenty thousand credits into each of their accounts. "Report to Robin at the One Problem Guild Keep anytime in the next two weeks."

"Of course sir." Oli bowed slightly and left the room, both maids followed him out.

Lotte watched them leave, waiting until she heard their footsteps walking away."Why not keep them on staff QJ?"

"They seem nice, but at this point, I can't be sure whose people they are. Rival factions are always looking to plant spies. Robin is a shadow operative, nothing gets by her. He activated his hud again, a moment later a beautiful Darkelf stared back at him.

"My day is complete, my beautiful grandson has called me." Serli Jol smiled at him, outside of his dad, she held the most power in all of TAP.

QJ bowed slightly, "greetings Mother." In the Jol Clan, Serli was referred to as Mother.

"Not so formal QJ, call me Grams."

QJ nodded, "I need people I can trust Grams. I've been given a title and an estate. It's quite large."

"A title? What rank?"

"Baron."

Serli nodded in approval. "Leave everything to me QJ, I will send someone to examine the estate and come up with a staffing plan."

"Thanks Grams, I should also add that the estate is in complete disrepair. Seems like nearly everything is either collapsing or completely destroyed."

Serli shook her head, "so lots to rebuild and repair?"

"Afraid so. I also seemed to have stepped into a major faction war, at this point the people I can trust are few."

"Trust the Jol Clan, I'll send our craftsmen to start on repairs." Serli leaned back in her chair. "I'm very proud of you QJ."

"Love you, Grams."

Serli's face lit up, her smile radiant. "Such a thing, it's very heartwarming. Take care QJ."

QJ closed his hud, he could feel Lotte staring at him. "Something on my face?"

Lotte shook her head and followed him as he walked toward the kitchen exit. "QJ I..." She hesitated as if trying to pick the right words. "I've never given LAIs their proper due. I'm not used to NPCs like Robin and Leah. Serli really cares about you, I can see it in her eyes."

"Most of the GnG and Exodus NPCs aren't LAIs, so your reaction is normal." QJ grabbed her hand and squeezed in gently. "It takes some getting used to."

They walked hand in hand to their horses. Lotte leaning against him, a smile on her pretty face. "You're very understanding QJ."

"That's me, Mr. Understanding." QJ checked his hud, they had nearly half an hour before lunch. "I want to check out the other end of the valley."

Lotte mounted her horse and followed QJ as they sped towards the other end of the valley.

The other end of the valley was quite flat, it was lightly forested with a stream running down one side. There was a sizeable rock Quarry followed by a few dozen acres of farmland. At the end of the Valley was a road leading to Maelstrom. QJ and Lotte rode out to the middle of the cobblestone road.

System Message: You have left the Briar Rose Estate.

QJ grinned at Lotte, "this gives me an idea."

"What kind of idea?"

"Let's head back to the Keep first."

"Can you come over at lunch again today?"

QJ nodded, "in the pool again?"

"Yep."

QJ activated his 'return to base' icon and a moment later they both vanished from the road.

Ringo was talking with Dessi in the Guild Hall. They both looked up when the door opened.

QJ noticed that Ringo looked decided pale. "Could you come with me for a moment Ringo? It's fairly urgent."

"Sure. Has to be quick though, we are meeting up in three minutes."

"Yep, fast, fast." He glanced at Lotte, "back in a bit."

Ringo followed QJ to the room he had made into his workshop, they entered and he shut the door behind them. He started stocking the shelves with books from his inventory while she looked around.

"Wow, this is starting to look like a real workshop." Her eyes stopped on the door that had been added, "ya know. You could step out the hallway and go through Rob's office that way."

QJ stepped away from the shelf, "yep, I could do that." He rolled up his sleeve and approached. "From now on, let's take care of this before the morning meeting."

Ringo sighed, "thank you QJ, I was really starting to feel the hunger." Without another word, she sunk her teeth into his arm and drank her fill.

When she was finished QJ rolled down his sleeve and headed toward the door. Ringo stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"Thank you QJ, you're as reliable a person as I've ever known."

Dessi was chatting with Lotte and Breeze when Ringo and QJ came back. QJ walked directly toward her and stopped in front of her.

He smiled pleasantly. "So, about your request for purchasing land from the Guild Keep."

Dessi crossed her arms in front of her, "yes?"

"Denied." QJ hadn't noticed that both Nina and Maya had come into the Keep.

Nina scowled at him, "don't be such a bastard QJ!"

Maya frowned at her and then turned her gaze to the freshman. "Please QJ..."

"That being said." QJ brought up his hud and zoomed in on the valley west of his house. "There are perhaps thirty acres here that include a Rock Quarry. You could build there, the quarry would help you keep construction costs down."

Dessi leaned closer to the map, "is this land on your estate?"

QJ nodded, "if you find it acceptable you can do some research and make an offer."

Ringo whistled, "my estate is mostly lake, although it's quite beautiful. It's nowhere near the size of yours. How big is your house?"

"Well... Sixteen bedrooms, eighteen bathrooms, two dining rooms, a kitchen, living room, three offices, and a workshop." He glanced at Lotte, "I'm probably forgetting something?"

Lotte shrugged, "a small cottage, stables and two other buildings we didn't go in. Oh, and don't forget the casino."

"...." Ringo.

Dessi laughed aloud, "she has a nice five bedroom cottage and hot springs."

"Crap... I'm a poor cousin." Ringo walked to the front of the room with QJ close behind.

"Be back at the Academy at Noon. We'll meet up at the Stables at 1300. We will have some special instructors there after everyone finishes up their extra duties." She glanced at QJ, "anything else?"

QJ shook his head. "Nope, everyone's dismissed."