All Aboard

JP with Redsword, LaserSexPanther, Jaxx, Omni, mdman, Lorem, LucianNepreen and Cindy

Elizabeth woke up the next morning, did her usual routine, gave her usual morning greetings to everyone, had a light breakfast and then got ready, in her room with her personal maid helping her.

Her outfit needed to be professional and possibly not lead to the Baron leering after her during the meeting.

Baron Greenwood was an annoyance. He thought Elizabeth was too young to be a team leader and had expressed that more than once. That was one side. The other side of the Baron was one that would flirt with Elizabeth any chance the man got. She wondered sometimes if he was even doing it on purpose.

Elizabeth was young, single, weathly and most importantly another Eldren. She was also completely disinterested in a man who was not that much younger than her father and one that had quite the reputation when it came to female Eldren. Elizabeth not only did not like the Baron, she had little respect for him.

Of course, the Lady also knew how to put on a good show that was her save. That and Sung would not allow a private meeting with the Baron as it would not be proper etiquette. Something the Baron was well aware of.

Still, day two and already summoned to headquarters did not seem like a good thing. She could only imagine how this meeting would play out.

Headquarters sent a steam-powered bus for the team. It was certainly plenty of room for the team, including Cronk. She told Harold to let the team know their bus was there.

She went out and greeted the driver, a human named Marcil who had been a driver for the order for years, according to her father's information and took a seat in the front of the bus, as she would have to be one of the first ones off.

Unsurprisingly Sasha was the first to show up that morning. Dressed in her full gear like normal. "Bonjour Lady Elizabeth." Sasha said, "I compiled a dossier about yesterdays events." she said, holding up a folder. "It contains all of my recollections of the event."

"Thank you for this, Miss Lagrave. I think the Baron will likely want to see this." Elizabeth was under the assembly the meeting had something to do with yesterday's occurrences. News tended to travel quickly back to Baron Greenwood.

Lorem was likewise up early, despite having stayed up late to finish the variety of blueprints. She was helping supervise Lady Elizabeth’s staff put underneath the Bus, in the storage area, a plethora of locked containers of all sorts and sizes. They contained the machinations she wanted to see if they could commission into existence.

The gnome was dressed in her usual female working dress, with pockets, with the interesting arrangement of straps and belt. Her long blonde hair was made up into two braids that ran parallel down her back, which must have taken a bit of time to do.

She was very much the little flower Cronk made her out to be. Her orders were very much agreeable and kindly in their tone. Once everything was secured aboard she took one big step up into the bus and made her way near the back so she could have both a side window and rear window at her viewing leisure.

On her way to her seat she greeted both Sasha and Lady Elizabeth with an energetic and lively salutation in German. She was eager to meet one of her childhood heroes, the one Dumont was friends with.

Sadly poor Dr. Jackal was moving a bit slow in the morning since he spent to much time working in the lab the night before. Apparently his old habits die hard when it comes to research. After having breakfast with a much chipper Lily, she escorted him to the door to see him off and making sure he looked presentable for his trip. Seeing some crumbs on his face she wiped them off with a handkerchief and fixed his collar. As she bid him good day he realized this was the first time in many decades he was being seen off by a female. He smirked as he tipped his hat to Lily and bid her good day. Then he headed to the bus to meet the others. He was hoping today would be a better day but there was always the unknown factor in life.

For Cronk, it had been a busy morning. He awoke, finding a fresh bottle of whiskey. The servants didn’t want Cronk to be unhappy. This highly pleased the orc.

He had a breakfast of crepes, eggs, and sausages. He are until full, no more, which was quite a bit for an orc.

Next, Cronk met with the Tailor that Lady Elizabeth had arranged. By the end of it, Cronk had enough of the attention, especially when the tailor measured his unseen. Cronk felt the man got too close, but Cronk endured.

He had passed his time the evening before to walk the grounds. He wanted to become familiar with his new home. He stayed mainly on the ground floor and the outside. He looked inside the windows of buildings. He recognized a workshop, filled with gears and gizmos. For Cronk, it seemed like a toy store.

Now, Cronk headed for the bus. Stepping up into the bus, the bus leaned to one side. It evened out as Cronk stepped in further. He realized he wouldn’t be able to sit next to anyone, his shoulders being to broad to allow another into the seat. So he sat in the middle of the bus, so he could converse with others and get to know him.

He recognized the Good Doctor, the Hidden One, Lady Elizabeth, and Pretty Flower. Cronk nodded his head to acknowledge each, feeling a part of something bigger than himself, which was hard for Cronk to imagine.

Before dawn, Sung walked to the back into the large area behind the house past the workshops and other building the air was crisp and had a slight chill. He look at the gazebo as he walked by a bird on one of the woold chairs and watched him as he walked.

Getting to a circular stone and brick pad in the grass. The circular pad was proximity 20 feet around with an inner cercal of 10 feet. Sung walked to the middle and sat meditating. then got up to his feet and started to move his feet and hands in a circular motion as he did some Katas at different speeds. Sung continued un tell the sun was up and he could smell the food being cooked in the kitchen.

Returning to the house Sung when back to his room cleaned up and put a dark suit on for the meeting that morning. he looked himself over in the mirror and smiled and walked downstairs to make sure everything was in order.

He had some tea and a few other breakfast items. He watched people come and go some of the team was there before Sung which was fine with him. After Lady Elizabeth came down Sung got ready and waited for the others standing leaning on his Cane. Sung saw the bus pull up. He wondered what he had gotten into there was no explaining away this team.

While waiting, Cronk realized he would not be able to sit comfortably in a seat. He adjusted himself sideways, flinging his feet across the aisle, giving himself plenty of leg room.

He saw the Older One come aboard. This was one of the two who found Cronk. He seemed wise. Perhaps Cronk could find a good teacher in him.

The other man wasn’t there yet. Cronk referred to him as the Magic Man as much for the lantern as for the sausage.

Not sure of what to expect from visiting the home office, Cronk let the worry be on Lady Elizabeth’s shoulders. It was tough to be in charge. That’s one reason Cronk chose to follow. Well that, and the fact that Cronk didn’t know much.

Tristin entered the bus saying hello to everyone and taking a seat in the back half.

Elizabeth greeted everyone as they entered the bus, in between looking at the information Sasha had given her. Elizabeth wanted to be sure what she recalled being told last night and what was in here was in sync. She trusted what Sasha had told her but the file clearly had more details.

Vor entered the vehicle with less grace than he usually held, giving polite but brief greetings to those aboard. He carried his bag, filled with his notes and the folder he had seen left in his room so he could go over the material and properly process it. It had been a very late night spent translating.
Breakfast had been a light affair as well, being able to nab some meats provided before needing to leave.
He chose to sit towards the back, using the broad back of Cronk to allow some privacy.

Sung waited for Lady Elizabeth to get on the bus. Following and taking a seat not too far away. Sung greeted everyone that was there. Sung reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope.

"Dr. Jackal documented his findings and made a copy for me to hand to you," said Sung handing the paper to Lady Elizabeth. "it was what he found

Letter To Lady Elizabeth and Mr. Sung, I have managed to discover the recipe used by Dr. Lemaire.
Dr. Lemaire's Formula:
1/3 cup pure distilled white sugar.
2/3 cup hot distilled spring water.
1 cup cold electrolyte water.
2 oz. butterfly pea flower extract.
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) fine crushed sea salt.
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) citric acid.
Can use juice of half a lime.
3 oz Hemlock extract in liquid form 1 oz Ghost Pepper extract
1 oz fine powdered Radium dust
1 Hippopotamus Brain

Sincerely,
Dr. Jackal

"So what do you think?" asked Sung.

Elizabeth looked over the paper and raised a brow, then shook her head. Keeping her voice down as so not to upset Cronk with the topic. "I am guessing that was just one formula." She highly doubted Jackal managed to test all the vials, in the lab, in one night. "Still it's disturbing. Hippopotamus brain? For the aggressiveness, I suppose. Hemlock? Why? Wouldn't Lamaire know that would just kill his subjects?"

Dr. Jackal looked out the window as he sat in the bus. He was up late last night and could use another cup of coffee, but lacked the time and didn’t want to upset his stomach since he was now eating rich foods. Since he tested the serum in the syringe already he could take his time testing the other serum samples since they were sealed and not contaminated yet. However he did feel good when Lily sent him off. The last time anyone sent him off was before he lost his parents. Since the loss of his parents he didn’t have many cheerful memories. Sure he had a lot of academic and scientific discoveries, but since he was a workaholic he had no one to share his joy with. It was ironic that he had to turn into a demonic monster in order to appreciate the little things in life. Maybe he could find that with this mission and this Order. He hoped that his letter would help the team track down Dr. Lemaire.

Cronk acknowledged Vor as he stepped onto the bus. He remembered the man, not as Vor, but as the Fish Man. He rather liked the man, not because of the man’s integrity or personality, although Cronk was certain of he really got to know Fish Man, he may like the man. The current reason Cronk liked the man was because Vor remind Cronk of and made him hunger for the lutefisk he was given back in Norway.

Lutefisk was a delicacy back home. It was white fish, dried and salted. Once this process is completed, the fish is cured in lye. It becomes gelatinous in texture. It is then rehydrated for several days before serving with boiled potatoes, peas, and white sauce. The more Cronk thought about it, the hungrier he got. His stomach growled, even though he had a large breakfast.

The morning air was crisp and clear when Dumont clumsily made his way out into the cul-de-sac to board the bus with the other members of the Order.

It was clear from his disheveled state, and from the bit of baguette wedged between his teeth as he threw on his overcoat, that the man had overslept and was now hurrying to the bus with what meager amount of breakfast he could manage to grab on his way out.

What wasn’t clear was the reason behind his tardiness, for the man was rarely late. Dumont found an open seat, took a bite out of the baguette and sat down as he chewed. He sighed and caught his breath, throwing up a grimace of apology to the others.

As he relaxed, he pulled out a flask and shook it. “Aaah, café,” he beamed.

Elizabeth spoke to Marcil for a moment, then stood up. "Everyone, this is Mr. - " Elizabeth turned to the driver. "I just realized, I do not know your last name."

"Ah, the... how do you say - biggest kept secret in all of the order," Marcil joked in a very thick French accent. "Lady Elizabeth, if you ... please .... I only go by Marcil."

Elizabeth smiled at the man, "Certainly, this is Mr. Marcil. He has been a driver for the order for many years. He is currently the lead driver for the teams that do not have one."

Marcil was a human, whose hair was a curly head of salt and pepper hair and eyes were grayish- blue. His figure spoke of his love of the rich decant food of Paris and the fact he had a job which required him to sit down a great deal during the day.

"Mr. Marcil, how long will the trip be, with current traffic." Headquarters was on the outskirts of Paris proper and with the Exposition going on, traffic was certainly more than usual.

"I believe, vingt minutes or so," Marcil didn't seem to notice he had said the one word in French.

"Twenty minutes," Elizabeth was clearly not correcting the man, instead translating for anyone that didn't know French. "Thank you, Mr. Marcil. It seems as if everyone is here, we may go when you are ready." With that Elizabeth retook her seat. Marcil closed the bus door and they were on their way.