*You open the file which seems to be a passage out of a book. Published by someone unknown and you read on*
For a year and a half my punishment, life, and salvation has been to walk the desert. Trying to find inner peace and mind has been a difficult task in this world of anarchy. I try to reflect on my past and at the same time, forget it ever happened. Like so many other lives it seems the past has caught up to the present and begins to test my future. I am Augustus “Nosferakus” Barchus and this is a story of a troubled old friend. A man with a vibrant imagination or many secrets he can barely keep from ravaging his mind. So I returned to the civilized towns and outposts of Rubi-Ka, in search of a lost soul.
When I entered the city of Tir for the first time since I left on my journey, my heart dropped to the ground. The Council of Truth gone, Sentinels controlling Tir and thus the Clans themselves, and a feeling of almost complete dictatorship. I was beginning to think my old friend had been “terminated” soon as he was part of the CoT bureaucracy, an investigator and law maker of sorts. It didn’t take long to understand what happened in the last year, however I was thought to be completely insane when I asked about old affairs. Walking the desert for a year and some months to find inner peace, never goes well with bar patrons if anyone for that matter.
It was in the surrounding area of Borealis however when I met someone who knew about my friend Chancellor Grieve. This man named “Haimos” was an unusual character; an old atrox who worked at a travel agency in Newland. He was being harassed by some mutants when I saw him from the bottom of Azure Lake, so as every generous Martial Artist with free time would do, I assisted an elder with mutants that were about to rip him a part. The cries “Help! Help!” soon turned into words of thanks and debt. All I could charge the old man for was for some of his time. Reets Retreat; a dance club and hotel that opened soon before I left for the desert, is where we ended up for drinks.
We chatted until Haimos mentioned something about a chubby, nanomage, Clan bureaucrat getting into more trouble than it was worth. This chubby bureaucrat description caught me off guard, “Could he be talking about Chancellor Grieve?” I asked myself. It seems as if my old friend had been involved with criminals, conspiracies, and cults while investigating Dust Brigade starting a year ago. Grieve’s past had been one of lunacy and mystery stretching back way before my time and many others. Being involved with cults could awaken this insanity, especially with the stress he must have gone through investigating all these now obsolete cases. It was rumored that this “Gabro” (which could be Grieve’s nickname) was “possessed” by the very cult he was investigating, turning on friends and family a like.
This was short lived because the cult fell soon after the termination of its leaders began and the people who once followed blindly had been “freed”, yet were never quite the same again. In Gabro’s case it seems as if he has turned into the man he once was. Clinging to reality battling an evil version of himself, caused by his madness. After much discussion with Haimos he gave me a location of this Gabro’s apartment in the common run down Borealis ghetto which you find in Neutral cities on Rubi-Ka. Parting ways with Haimos, I headed to the location to see if by any chance, this Gabro who could be Chancellor Grieve was in his apartment.
Treading lightly through the wet, cold backyards of Borealis I found the apartment number with a sign “Fair Trade” next to it. After entering the apartment complex the outdoor ghetto soon turned into nice apartments, better than any Clan apartment I had seen. The door to this apartment was slightly open and from this point on there was no looking back. Ever so quietly I sneaked up to the door of Gabro’s apartment when “BAM!”, the door swung open knocking me down with the same force an Enforcer swings a 2handed weapon. A Director-Grade Bodyguard was waiting and Chancellor Grieve looking stronger than ever before was behind it. His face was stone, twisted with no emotion, just pure madness when he uttered words he thought would be my last:
“Ha! Another one of Gabro’s friends how nice. Your luck just ran out by coming here...you just made my job much easier. The portal is opening and none of you are ready, what a complete waste of space!”.
What I feared had now been true, once again Gabro had slipped into madness taking on two personalities just like before when I saved his life in the desert some 10 years ago. His hands began to glow with incredible yellow light when all of a sudden I was down. It seemed as if he overestimated his powerful nano program and left me for dead. This time curiosity “almost” killed the cat and it was time to take a look around the apartment when I awoke from my beauty sleep. I found a check list with my name and many others crossed out. The last name on the torn list was someone I didn’t know like most of the other names. Jamar “Greenie01" Waddles with a location Reets Retreat next to it was the only name not crossed out. Showing up at parties seemed to be my best bet at warning Greenie01 to stay clear of Gabro but somehow I needed to break the news he might be on a hit list with out making him panic.
Two weeks went by when I finally came into contact with Greenie01. He showed up in the Glass Dance Floor of Reets Retreat during a party and didn’t look like the type to panic. I told him to watch out for Grieve he has “issues” and don’t press the wrong buttons. I thought my job was done and could return back to my journey however just as I entered the gates of Tir who other than Chancellor “Gabro” Grieve ran by heading directly for the Tir wompas. I followed him into Newland only to be pummeled by Mercs and Gabro slipped through the borealis wompa, not noticing who I was because of the beating I was handed. I knew now that Gabro was after Greenie01 and I was sent to Mort reclaim where I last insured myself.
Rushing to Hope wompas because I didn't have the skill to hack into grid, I had the disadvantage of time now and whatever Gabro was about to do was probably already done by the time I reached the small run down outpost. Arriving in Reets I saw no Gabro and no Greenie01 yet everyone else was still there. I thought I had failed, Gabro was on the loose and who knows where he was heading next and Greenie01 seemed to be missing. Not a minute went by when Greenie01 strolled into Reets stunned by whatever just happened to him.
From the story it seemed he was unsure if Gabro killed him or if he had bad luck with a tainted drink. Either way it seems the Chancellor flipped once more after talking to Greenie01. Now it seemed to be the right time to tell him the history of Gabro and see if something could be done, or if he could personally take care of the situation. There is only one solution which not been attempted...
Looking back on Gabro’s history seemed to come up with two conclusions about this madness. One being more realistic than the other and he is completely insane, or something more mysterious is causing his actions from the dark, shadowed areas of Rubi-Ka which breed tales of unimaginable proportions . In the end, who says madmen (and women) don’t have secrets?
Passage of Augustus’ Tomb of Knowledge
June 29, 29477
*File transmission seems to be complete*
