ic The Meadows Of Plenty

[Supercape]

Lament

 

Always putting on a show? The words stung true, and Lament pondered them with a mix of pride and wounded ego. But so what if he did? Luther LeGrasse was how he was made, and no man should offer apology for what he is, only what he does. 

 

He sniffed in the cooler air, something of a relief after the heat of the day.

 

"Fountain guy? Well, I guess fountain guy it is."

 

That word could have two meanings. The fountain they stood by, or the fountain that brought forth the elixir of joy. 

 

Elixir... that word had potency. Was this some eldritch or mythological font? Like the fountain of youth? Luther was no wizard, despite his appearances, but he knew darn well that Eldritch forces seeped into this world. 

 

 "I want to know what I'm tasting, first," he said. "Seen too many junkheads dead in a filthy ally with a needle in their arm, if you know what I mean."

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"What you're tasting? Oh, my my, my friend, you wanna see how the sausage is made? That's bold for a first timer, a harsh curiosity. But I won't hide it." the Fountain Man said, still not looking at Luther. He wasn't here to get caught out by a cop, after all.

 

"I'm just a seller, but I'll let you know; these little containers contain pure liquid joy; from people who lose it all here in the City of Lights. When that joy goes belly up; when the lights go out and the dreams get lost and the horse comes in last, all that delicious happiness goes bye-bye. And somehow or another, it ends up getting bottled, and whoever is doing the bottling sends it out to people like me." 

[Supercape]

Lament

 

Luther initially responded to the answer with scorn. No, this was some story, something to pull in the customers... it was just some new synthetic drug, surely. Something that tickled this neuroreceptor and pummelled another. 

 

But then the scorn melted away. The story was a good one, plausible at the very least. Yes, this was Las Vegas, and dreams lived and died here. It had a certain magic, did it not? Maybe it was all just the hypnotic appeal of lights, but it was a magic nonetheless. 

 

"So someone's cast a net to catch the lost joy? Now that I gotta see...." he said, stretching himself up straight. "I could do with some joy to feed on."

 

Or rather, the Void did. 

 

Was this the answer to all of Luthers problems? It was tantalising, so tantalising. 

 

"Where can I meet this mystery man?"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Woah woah now, Mr. New Guy, I wouldn't know that at all." The seller said, rolling his eyes a bit. "I'm just a merchant. I don't see how the sausage is made. I don't know what you want with that information, or how I'm supposed to provide it...that's all a bit beyond me, ya know." he said. "Where'd you get this guy, Piano Man? He asks a bit too many questions for someone wanting some bliss...he a cop? You wearing a wire?" he asked. Charles himself looked a little uncomfortable. He wasn't expecting Luther to ask so many questions, and he was threatening his own supplier. Was Charles regretting bringing Luther along?

 

But the question. 'Are you a cop?' 'Are you wearing a wire?' Those were dangerous questions indeed; maybe they were half joking questions, and he ended them with a pause and a chuckle. But it wasn't a question someone in this sort of situation ever really asked as 'a joke'. Luther would need to be careful here, if he really wanted to find out more. Or he could end up rooming with Jimmy Hoffa.

[Supercape]

Lament

 

Luther cursed under his breath and chewed his teeth. Of course, the middle man didn't know the source. He was just the profiteer. 

 

"No wire. No cop," replied Luther, deadpan. He allowed just a little of the Void to sink into his eyes, darkening them. "But someone you don't want to mess with..." he said, voice low, dark. 

 

It was said with utter confidence. Luther had years of experience, and plenty of talent, in scaring people. 

 

"I need to know where that joy came from. How to get it. A lot of people are going to get hurt if I can't feed. And I feed on joy. A lot of people..."

 

He took a deep breath in, clenched his fists, unclenched them, breathed out. 

 

"If I cant find it, then you are going to wish I was a cope, I was wearing a wire. You are going to beg that I was. Because there is something a lot darker in this world, and joy is the only thing that keeps it fed. Want me to show you? Maybe you do. But once I show you, you will go to bed every night wishing you hadn't been shown..."

 

"

[Poncho]

((GM Post)

 

"Woah woah woah!" the fake homeless man said, hopping up suddenly. "Chill, chill out, man, I don't want no trouble with no evil spook!" he yelled. "I get my supplies at the convention center, off the monorail! There's a guy there, he handles giving me the product!" he finished before he took off for the safety of the Bellagio's insides, where there were more people around, and more lights. No Void in there. 

 

Charles wiped his mouth on a hankerchief and frowned a bit.

 

"W...well. I suppose that brings our little adventure together to a close, Mr. Zombo. I uh...I hope you have a good rest of your night." He finished, putting his kerchief away. He did stop to pluck the vial out of the cup of money the fake homeless man had been using, a vial of shining, brilliant gold.  He quickly pocketed that and made to get away from Luther. He hadn't been the target of the intimidation, but he clearly didn't want to get wrapped up in whatever Luther was about to be doing.

[Supercape]

Lament

 

That, thought Luther, was satisfactory. 

 

Although his fingertips still tingled. Should he have sampled the joy? It was tempting, so tempting. The realisation made his blood turn cold; where did Luther end and the Void begin?

 

Nonetheless, it did no good to ruminate on the bleakness of existence. No! The antidote to paralysis was action. 

 

He stuffed his hands in his purple jacket pocket and started walking to the monorail. He could catch a ticket, get off and browse through the Convention centre. 

 

At least the monorail ride would have a pleasant, nay, spectacular view of Vegas lights. And would be a serene pause amongst the disconcerting new occurrences. He could take a deep breath, secure in the thought that nothing exciting or action packed could happen during a Monorail trip. 

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

The Orb was the big show on the tiny trip down the monorail. Just a few stops, mostly at casinos, then a swinging, easy ride down past hotels and over streets, past a flat parking structure wall filled with advertisements for currently playing musical and other acts. The Orb, however, was currently in the shape of an advertisement for an upcoming convention at the Convention Center.

 

For a moment, though, the monorail slowed. Everything got a little greyer, a little less bold. The Orb changed. It wasn't an advertisement. It was a single eye, as red as brimstone. It looked directly at Luther. It blinked. It acknowledged his existence.

 

Then it was gone. The Monorail was back to moving normally, the advertisement returned to the Orb. And then after a few more minutes Luther was let off at the top of the long stairs in the middle of the Convention Center parking lot. It was empty; nothing going on at the Convention Center this week. But it was where he was told to go, into the Convention Center.

 

But it did look closed. He'd need to get closer to get some more information. But was he still being observed? What even was that thing on the Monorail, what had replaced the orb?

[Supercape]

Lament

 

Luther was not a blinking kind of guy, but he blinked. Am I seeing things? Been a strange day... did I take something funky?

 

No - no he had definitely seen the orb. Something spooky was spying on him. Or maybe something that was very good at looking spooky - Luther knew better than anybody that spooky things could be just good old fashioned technology and sleight of hand. But still, whatever it was spying on him. 

 

That meant he had to be cautious. 

 

With a sickening, prickly feeling he brought the near-mindless void to his skin, black, oily - something that blended in with the night. Like this, he was near invisible. 

 

And so cloaked, he entered the centre. 

 

Hopefully he would not need the skin long, for the Void, so alive, had a habit of seeping its tendrils into his soul...

Edited 11 hours ago by Supercape

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

What kind of criminals were bold enoguh to break into a building to make it a distribution hub for their drugs? 

 

Ones with- presumably- deep pockets and a lot of product to move. 

 

In a few weeks, this same area would host the Magic the Gathering World Championship, the area filled with Magic players and fans from all across the world watching the action or participating in side games. But right now, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, in the big entryway, there was jostling and moving of crates. 

 

Dealers lined up at plastic tables handing off money and getting tickets, then getting shuffled to the side where they were given marked crates of bottles of that liquid gold, then they quickly left. Some took small orders, some took big orders, but there were easily hundreds of people all together between the workers and the dealers buying product. All of it was being overseen by a dark-skinned man in a heavy fur coat- despite the heat- sitting on the balcony on the second floor and flanked by two heavies, watching the proceedings with a grin. 

 

"Come on, come on, you know we don't have this place all night. Turn in your purchases and buy your new product people; Liquid Joy's only good for a little while. But don't worry if we run out, there's always more tomorrow! So hurry up and turn in your purchases."

 

For now, between the Void and the fact Luther wasn't trying to be anything, no one had noticed him slip in. But if he did something drastic, it was likely they would.