A New Shadow

There has always been shadows in all of our life’s , things that scare us , things that appear to lurk, It could even be when you are walking home at night, You can feel eyes on you, But when you turn Nothing.

I am here to tell you that they are there, Lurking prowling, A League of shadows a group born of the finest warriors, You may not see or hear them but they lurk there!

Killers, Hit men , Black bag jobs, they have been around for years always six no more no less, If one dies they are replaced, In the shadows they work as a team , they forget there outside lives and alliances and work on the jobs they are given.

I am a the book keeper, A immortal who has over seen each team , Now I find myself at a loss, The whole league of Shadows has been killed and now i must replace them.

Two letters have been sent out, Only two will come at the start of it all as it has always been, From there they will decided the fate of the league , It is time for a new chapter to be written!

OOC

This is a RPG No one else post with out permission, Sit back and enjoy the story as it goes, Peace!

Louisiana

=======

Deep in the bayou’s of Louisiana hooded figures sit around an open fire speaking in there native tongue, a mixture of French, African, Indian, and English they are Cajun’s. They seem to be laughing and relaxed, but as a twig snaps they dowse the fire and disappear into the swamp with blinding quickness. A man dressed in what used to be sacred robes appears dirty, and wet his garbs ruined from an endless march threw snake and gator invested wet lands never fully realizing how each step could have been his last.

As he approaches the smoldering fire he suddenly finds himself at thee end of several daggers all poised and ready to strike. Slowly raising his hands he begins to explain he is nothing more then a simple messenger sent to find the one who is called Gambler. Reviling a document rolled and sealed with a crest barring thee initials LoS he dare not hand it to anyone even when faced with death. A tall shadow emerges from the background wearing a cloak and hood he is a statuesque figure with glowing red eyes. The messengers can hardly understand what the man says but can tell by his demeanor that this is the man he was sent to find. Dropping to one knee and bowing his head he hands over the document. Opening it up the man reads:

You do not know of me but what is important is that I know of you Jean Luc Lebeau. Your presence is requested in Munich, Germany. You are to come alone and unarmed, I promise no harm will come to you. Your guide holds a silver key that will unlock the door at the south end of the Frauenkirche Church. I cannot stress to you thee importance of this meeting, the League depends on it.

Sincerely Yours,

LoS
Post Edited:2007-09-20 09:37:19

A ISLAND OFF JAPAN

A small gust of wind ran over the tall grass,A deers head broke the gentle breeze as two black eyes looked round the lush green, then it began to graze again, half a mile away knelt Arrow in the long tan grass, Deep blues eyes held steady, Slowing each breath , Listening to the wind and his own heart beat.

Liffting the white bow , He ran his fingers over the white tipped feathers of his arrow, Pulling back until he felt the Arrow fight with the bow sting, Then encreased the froce , The Bow now pulled against Arrows fore arm, Almost tearing at it to be let free, Closing his eyes and started to pray, "May the lord welcome yo..." As the prayer finished His eyes opened and the Arrow broke free.

It cut into the long grass , Following his line of sight, The deer reared up , Its front legs kicked at the air , fighting all the way until it fell, A long Arrow stuck out of its side, The white feathers where now broken.

Arrow towered over the beast as he pulled the arrow out, He ran his hand over the tender fur, Emareld began to mix with fur as the wound sat open, "I am sorry my friend, But I am hungry" Throwing the deer over his shoulder and walking back to his tree house.

It was not the hilton but it did it's job, The tree covered him from rain and the four bark walls seen to the wind and the cold, This was his escape, Then every sense in his body began to tingle, Someone had been here, A white envolope was stuck to the tree with one of his spare arrows.

No one in the NAO knew of this place, no one in the world knew of this place, Walking over carefully, He dropped his dinner on the dusty floor and picked up the letter, Expecting someone to jump out at him, It was indeed a fine enovlope , when will people stop wasting money on something that is going to be destroyed anyway he wondred.

Two fingers tore at the seal on the letter as he opened it , Slowly reading the contence.

Welcome Brother

You do not know of me but what is important is that I know of you Christopher Lockhart. Your presence is requested in Munich, Germany. You are to come alone and unarmed, I promise no harm will come to you. You will find a a bronse key at the base of the staue of neptune in the city centre that will unlock the door at the south end of the Frauenkirche Church. I cannot stress to you thee importance of this meeting, the League depends on it.

Sincerely Yours,

LoS

Post Edited:2007-09-20 15:43:39

Barely a word was spoken between Gambler and his mysterious guide during thee 9 plus hour flight to Germany. Exiting the airport the guide quickly moved ahead of Gambler and opened the door of a luxurious stretch limo. Motioning for him to enter the vehicle Jean laughed as he ducked his head and thought, “Whoever they are they sure know how to make an impression.”

After driving for what seemed like hours the limo pulled off down an old abandoned road. Suddenly the doors flew open and a young man who looked and was dressed like Gambler was shoved into the car while the guide had stepped out and was now motioning for him to follow. A second less conspicuous vehicle sat in wait as the limo drove off into the night.

Your hosts apologizes for the shell game young assassin, but it is a necessary inconvenience

With a quick nod Gambler followed the guide into the second car and proceeded to the Frauenkirche Church. As they pulled up on the South end it was clear that this was no ordinary church nor a house of God. Magnificent looking statues lined the walk way to the door while weapons and instruments of death had been carved into the stone with such precision the seemed real. Grabbing Gambler’s hand the guide placed the silver key in it and smiled.

I go no further assassin. The rest of this journey is yours. Remember this, once you enter those doors you will be LoS and once your in, your in for life.

Turning to look at the church and then turning back Gambler was astonished when the guide was gone, no trace not so much as a foot print he had simply vanished like a………. shadow.

Flipping his hood up and over his head Gambler walked up the stone steps to the massive wooden door with a silver lock on it. As he unlocked the door he hesitated for a second before pushing them open and disappearing into the darkness.

Post Edited:2007-09-21 18:18:12

Munich 18:45

It had been a long trip to get to Germany , the night sky had taken its watchful place above us all, Arrow walked into the main square, It was silent nothing moved, the foutain sat in the centre in all it's glory, An emrald neptune sat apon three sea hroses who where breaking the tide as he rode out the fountain on a shell, The workmanship was amazing.

A light rain began to fall, Arrow's blue eyes watched the first rain drop break on the cobbled floor , Pulling up his crimson hood , He steped out on to the stones and made his way to the satue , "You will find a a bronse key at the base" he said aloud reminding himself where to look, the some thing caught his eye, It flashed once in the moon light , then again!

Plunging his long pale arm into the water he caught the key on one finger and pulled it out , Arrows gudie had said nothing until this time , "The key opens the north door of the chappel Remember this, once you enter those doors you will be LoS and once your in, your in for life.

Then the man was gone, Arrow tried to pick up a scent a foot print but nothing remained , "well this just get better and better!", Shaking the remain water of his hand , Then slipped the old bronze key into his pocket , Munich was a great city , Arrow had been to it during the seconed world war, It's people where brave and there beer was everlasting, He missed being so enovled in people's lifes.

The Choice

There it stood the church vergin out the ground like a Dragon waiting to devour him as he approched, He slid the key in and started to turn, He almost stopped , His blues eyes closed as the bronse key turned the rest of the way, Arrow's Choice had been made!

As the doors slammed behind him a series of torches lining both sides instantly caught fire providing the only source of light. Slowly Gambler began to walk taking in everything he saw including what looked to be golden tombs each stamped with a seal marked LoS . Going in for a closer look he could barley make out the name on the first coffin, Genghis Khan and on the second, Attila the Hun the third appeared to be some sort of alien symbols.

“What is this place.” he thought looking up towards the ceiling and discovering magnificent paintings of battles but not just any battles, these were battles that had shaped the history of the world and in each one there were six men with the marking LoS on there arm.

“LoS, LoS what does that mean?”

Suddenly darkness gave way to light and a figure stood up ahead. He was dressed in a hooded robe and seemed to be motioning for Gambler to come closer.

“Tis time we stop all dee games no.”

And so he continued forward to what would soon be his new destiny.

The Chappel was wonderful, bright candels, Filled the room, Arrow walked in as the door slammed shut behind him, Drawen towards the golden tombs, each one had LOS embeded on it ,Followed by a name, Walking over to the first tomb readin the name he gasped, "RICHARD THE LION HEART" Instantly Arrow dropped to one knee bowing his head, "My king".

After paying his final respects he moved on tombs carried on down the hall Alexander the great, What the hell was this place, A black wooden door sat at the end of the great chappel, Pushing open the door, The hall darkened in a blink of an eye, picking up one of the candle holders he began his decent into the shadows.

In front two figure became clear, Arrow instantly knew one of them, A ball of rage grew in his left hand, Had he been tircked , What was this Arrow slowed down to a easy walk as he entered the room.

The man in the black robe spoke, "Sit Arrow you have not been tircked or fooled, nethier of you will harm the other while I sit at this table, I have brought you here for a bigger purpose!"

The Book Keeper as he was called himself commanded respect, something about him said power, and knowledge. For a second Jean thought of making a move on both Arrow and the Book Keeper but as an assassin he had been taught never move on an enemy when he has more knowledge about you then you have of him. Still there across from him sat his greatest enemy and now they were supposed to trust each other? Grabbing the feather and dipping it in ink Gambler said,

“The Hellfire Club shall fill in the open slots.”

As he wrote his name in the ledger a small golden trail followed each movement, but as he filled out the other slots the words disappeared.

“Wtf?”

Suddenly the page became black and started to write in blood,

Post Edited:2007-09-22 04:32:32

Arrow stood and looked over at the book he picked up another feather and dipped it in the black ink, What am I doing he thought to himself, A team with Gambler I must be mad, But I can just let him have free rane and I want to know more about this book keeper and his part in all of this!

Placing the tip on to the foxed paper, He wrote Final Arrow, Then turning to Gambler "I think it is only fair if we pick one from each of are teams, So we have are two light and are two of dark, I suggest paragon from my men" As the words left his mouth the Name appeared on the Paper, The Roster now read

GAMBLER

FINAL ARROW

PARAGON

"It seems the book agrees with me, I think it is your choice now old friend" The wrods where vindictive, The two men had been close friends in the assassin guild but time had changed them both , Splitting there paths and breaking the friendship in two, But it seems fate had a small laugh at there expense frocing them to work like this, all one could really do is laugh!

Post Edited:2007-09-22 04:42:54

“This is an outrage!” yelled Gambler as he stood up from the table pacing back and forth looking at the book and then at Arrow. The book had rejected Gambler’s attempt at adding all Hellfire members to the League and excepted Arrow’s pick of Paragon, a fierce and loyal member of the NAO. Calming himself as to not give Arrow the satisfaction of knowing he had gotten to him Jean sat back in his seat. Slowly rubbing his chin the crafty Cajun smirked before making his pick,

“I select…..Lady Winter.”

As before the name appeared in the ledger without so much as a drop of ink touching the page. It now red,

Gambler

Arrow

Paragon

Lady Winter

“Looks like all that’s left now is for the Neutrality part of the fun no.”

Post Edited:2007-09-23 19:33:38
Post Edited:2007-09-23 19:43:56

Arrow looked at Gambler and smiled "A good choice" Lady Winter was very skilled, Her expertise in weapons almost matched his own and her ties to the under wolrd would no doubt give them an edge in contracts, This team was proving to be very intresting Arrow, Gambler side by side and now Lady Winter and Paragon!

The Leauge was strong but there could be no weak links, The next two members would have to be just as good, Running a thin finger over the page, He tapped it twice then looking at Gambler "Switch" the black ink began to write once more, As switch's name took it's place in the leauge.

GAMBLER

FINAL ARROW

PARAGON

LADY WINTER

SWITCH

When the name had finished Arrows choices where done, Removing the pale finger , The crimson robes sudenly changed to black , The book keepers voice came from around the room!

"Your votes have been cast , Your canidates have been sent for take your chair at the right hand of the Table My Shadow Brother"

There was one choice left, Arrows smile dropped as he realised how dangerous this team actually was and then it hit him, If the NAO and HFC where to fight again in te future it was forbidden for Paragon and Arrow to fight Gambler, But it did give them the advantage of Gambler not being able to fight them, "Your pick Gambler" Arrow Lowered himself into the chair, Resting his head on the back of his hands and looked on at Gambler

Post Edited:2007-09-23 07:01:34

Graham often considered himself to be one of the best at what he did. Whether it was fighting or loving. But right now, he was getting drunk. The smokey interior of the bar had been his haunt since 9pm and if he got his way it would continue to be until dawn. He knocked back another vodka and lit a cigarette, coughing as the smoke entered his lungs. The bartender looked at him disaprovingly and Graham answered in his own drunken way.

"I dont smoke, never have never will."

A frown crossed both mens faces as they both considered the untruth of the statement. But at that very moment the door opened and a large group of giggling ladies entered. Graham was a man of few vices. He didnt gamble, or drink very often and until that very evening he didnt smoke. But women were definatly a problem for him. He couldnt help himself. With a drunken laugh he joined thier group and layed on the charm in shovelfulls. They couldnt resist.

Soon afterwards Graham Lewis was seen leaving the bar with two attractive women. It was the last time anyone could remember seeing him in that part of the world for a long time.

He woke up with the sun hot on his face. The frontal part of his brain ached with a dull throb that seemed to consume his very being. Graham sat up and almost immediatly wished he hadnt. Memories from the night just passed filled his head and he grinned. The womans husband hadnt been happy. He began to get up, his head spinning when a shadow fell over him. Graham glanced up directly into the sun and winced.

"Most unappropriate for a member of the League." the shadow said in an english accent.

"Nevertheless I shall do my duty. Graham Lewis, also known as Switch, I have a letter for you."

It took Graham several attempts to grab the letter and even more to read it.

Hello Graham. My name is not important, for it is a frivolous thing that bears no relation to the reason for our corrospondance. Your presence is requested in Munich, Germany. You will come unarmed. The man who has delivered this letter will be your guide and show you what to do. Trust him and no harm will befall you. A key of gold can be found in the Stadthalle museum in munich. You will require this to gain entry.

Sincerely yours

LoS

Grahm closed the letter and pocketed it before looking at his guide. Hesitantly he withdrew a bundle of note from his jacket and passed them over.

"Make the arrangements to get to Munich, I need to sleep off this hangover."

The man nodded and helped Graham into a car that was waiting.

Arrow stood from his chair and walked over to Paragon, The NAO seconed in command looked about ready to pop, A small smile broke on Arrows face, He coud only be proud of the man that stood in front of him, "Please do as he say's everything will be explained when the rest arrive", Pointing to the chair to to his , He turned and walked back.

Bend over to sit down, He coughed violently placing the sleve of the robe to his lips, Tasting the metalic blood at the back of hit throat he let it slide back down the tenderness of his throat, Hoping no one had seen him clear the speck that had slipped on to his lips, He smiled at Gambler.

"Taking your time I see" Arrow flicked his boots on to the table and waited, It was fun to watch the clogs in Gamblers brain tocking over, One of those villians that would always push and challenge you in everyway, Gambler was the nearest thing Arrow had to family belive it or not, Hated the man with a passion but could do nothing but respect what he had achived, It may have been evil things, But Gambler always did it in style!

Graham flung himself into the back of the car, two burly security men close on his heels. Their faces twisted in anger behind their reflective glasses.

"Go, go! Drive!"

His guide firmly placed his foot on the accelerator and the vehicle pulled away from the security guards. He shot a disapproving look at Switch and focussed on the road ahead.

"That was wholly unnecessary, had you merely bought a ticket for the presentation you would have been given the key.”

Graham ignored the man, knowing that he couldn’t explain his motives. After the long journey he had been ready for some action, to simply be given the key would have been boring. Instead he had asked around and then stolen it, being caught in the act by the terrible twosome. With a grin he pulled the heavy golden object from his pocket and admired it in the light.

“Lets go to meet the League then.” He said, patting the guide on the shoulder.

“To the Frauenkirche!”

His guide sighed, obviously appalled at the Leagues newest member, but turned the car towards the church and kept up a steady speed. In ten minutes they had arrived, the car pulling up outside a large gothic building. Switch got out and closed his door, fiddling with the key in his hand. The guide looked up at him out of his window.

“I shall go and sort out the mess that you just caused. Simply open the door and go inside. Everything will become clear.”

With that he pushed the accelerator and the vehicle drove away. Graham walked to the kerb and sat down, unsure of whether to proceed. Then slowly a smile krept over his face, they wanted to meet him, well they would meet him and it would be a meeting they’d never forget.

His key turned in the lock, the heavy bolt barring the door slid back but it did not swing inwards for a precious few seconds. Then a shadow seemed to creep through the gap between it and the wall. Switch grinned as he stepped forward into the light of the inner chamber.

“Look at you all, the two amigos plus Gambler. Anyone care to explain why you’re all under one roof?”