From: intraphase@gmail.com

With a single lightning fast thrusting probe the girls tiny arm shot down into the mandarins right pocket that lay half open as he bent over from the waist to inspect the place that the tiny child had been pointing at. With a flexible serpentine fluidity of many years practice she opened her index
and middle fingers and the Jade Pendant was tenderly plucked and seized undetected and then swiftly withdrawn from its nest on the white silk
hand cloth in the mandarins pocket by Lady Small Feat.
El Diablero having noticed nothing amiss with the coach turned to ask the small child a question.

" Are you alright "

" I don’t know, my leg hurts "


The Leper Woman of the secret Dark Society had observed the flawless removal of the Jade Pendant from the mandarin Warlords pocket and the swift rehanging of its hook on the silver chain each member of the Jade-Seven
wore to mark them as the high carriers and master spy couriers.
Lady Small Feats dark green blouse was safely fluffed and smoothed
now easily concealing the Jade Pendant firmly rehung on its silver chain and fishhook clasping.
Stepping out of the transport three carriages back in the line of waiting rentals she confidently moved to the child’s side and said.


" Oh. she's done this before, I'll take her home."

The Leper Woman softly clasped the child’s small hand and lead her back
up the hill three carriages distance where they both quietly opened the decorative door and slid into the rented great coach. Lady Small Feat felt the Jade Pendants warmth from just being in the evil mandarin Warlords pocket but would not take it off to let it cool.
Kneeling on the leather coaches upholstery she leaned slightly out of the street side window and hissed malevolently at the driver who stood waiting on his high perch cooing to the four quarter horses impatient to begin their days exercise trudging through the Countryside. The driver turned at this unexpected noise and saw the beautiful ivory faced small child and felt a fear in his heart as she spoke in a deep dark unearthly voice.

"Jade-Seven... To The Bridge"

The great coach was pulling out of the long cue and abandoning the protocols of the morning bridge crossings before the driver even had time to let sink in his terrible fear or reflect that this small child who spoke in the voice of an evil river spirit and was in the company of a leper might be the fabled and mysterious Lady Small Feat.
In the moment the coach had lurched and threatened to leap from the cue and begin moving towards the Bridge of Silence the Leper Woman who had spent many years alone in the darkness had developed her physical senses to extremes of human perception and heard the almost silent tingle of the bell on the carriage door as the Secret Temple warrior had stepped onto the rear area of the great coach reserved for servants and extra baggage and trunks.





Cry-Chang-E Chorus



A carriage has broken from the ranks of the cue with
the Leper Woman and Lady Small Feat aboard and is moving
towards the Bridge of Silence threatening to be the first coached
allowed to cross the bridge this morning.

Why does the Bhagda Temple warrior leap silently onto the rear of
the great coach. Is he a Spy. Is he a Hijacker. Is he an Assassin




Each morning Evil Tolltaker Y-Clang would open the gates on the
tightly planked sidewalks and open the large hinged ornamental gates of the two thin roadways that passed either side of the central beam upon which the tollbooth was set with its door facing east towards the countryside.
The large wooden framed window fronting each small strip of roadway that passed on either side of the central beam were opened and the wicker baskets that hung from hooks and funneled the tolls thrown thru the window into a bamboo boxes under the windowsills were opened. Y-Clang had found from years of experience and a near disaster or two that it was best to open the bridge to the peasantry traffic with the noisy and careless movement of livestock being driven into the city than risk a stamped of all sorts of people and carriages and animals all panicking simultaneously for this or that reason
or some other unpredictable stray disturbance.

The two roadways were now cleared of the waiting foot traffic and animals and it was time to wave on the long lines of great coaches
parked waiting on either side of the Bridge of Silence. Y-Clang emptied the toll buckets into the black metal triple locked rear box and was pleased at the small number of slugs and metal shards that had been thrown to avoid the tolltakers fee as the huge throng of animals and peasantry had flooded across the bridge clearing the roadway on either side to the smooth movement of the great coaches.
It was customary to wave on the Great City traffic first so Y-Clang headed for the western side of the bridge headed across the downriver southern track plankings. As he approached the halfway point between the tollbooth
and the bridges edge he saw a carriage break from the cue halfway up the long line snaking and winding up the hill to the many rental carriage houses and withdrew his green handkerchief waving it vigorously in a complete windmill stroke continuously motioning to the nervous driver now seeing the signal to pick up speed and not delay the other Great City traffic to any inordinate degree. The driver of the great coach carrying Lady Small Feat and the reclusive Dark Society ringleader Leper Woman. Seeing the Tolltakers waving signal the driver spurred the horses gently and the coached lurched slightly as it picked up speed causing Bhagda Duder to grab the brass rail right below the rear roofline of the rental transport with both hands. Well footed on the small half trunk attached to the rear boards of the great carriage the smiling Secret Temple warrior hung on for the fun of a speeding ride across the now open and empty Bridge of Silence. Peaking above the roofline from his perch on the back of the coach had allowed Y-Clang to spot his head bobbing slightly which’d slowed his waving green flag momentarily. Y-Clang smiled broadly and waved the green flag for four more huge wind milling strokes and then stopped to yell at the idle passersby at the bridges mouth.


"Stand Aside.....Stand Aside"

The idlers and river goers stepped quick and lively out of the way as the great coach hit the southern track at a strong and steady straight on line up with the bridge. The horses confident of their footings and longing for the wide open runs that were the occasional joys available in the Countryside leaned into their harnesses and the great coach stepped up to top speed.
Y-clang stood still and silent on the central beam to reassure the horses as they passed him and uttered a barely audible:

"Green is Green"


Which was clandestinely returned by the Secret Temple warrior in the waves of passing air pushed aside by the hurtling great coach crossing the bridge

"Gold is Gold"


As Y-Clang the Evil Tolltaker watched the great coach fly mightily across the Bridge of Silence and breach the landward side and go speeding into the Countryside he wondered aloud.

"What horrible and nefarious deviltry could the Gold Leafs of the Countryside be plotting this morning as the Jade-Seven and the Dark Society of the Great City try to do their honorable duties and get the messages of negotiation from the Blue Prince of the Black Castle to his rival high above the country sides Secret Temple and halfway again and into the clouds in the other twin tea cup that is the Black Castle high command of the mysterious and never seen Red Prince of the Countryside"


"Evil Tolltaker Y-Clang as the carriage passed the same vision of just before reoccurred, be so kind as to pass me my quills and ink bottle as I believe I miss-spelled a word the first time the mysterious vision set upon my noble mind"
" Iguanna oh noble Soothsayer you are incapable of mistakes your visions and handiwork are the gifts of the highest gods and spirits you are the infallible and most noblest of all Seers"
" Y-Clang wave on the traffic and pass me the ink"

Y-Clang had been momentarily caught up in the revelry of one of his most favorite maneuvers the Double Back Single Bridge gambit and knew the waiting coaches on both side would be eager to cross and their harnessed quarter horses would be growing restless which was not good for safe crossings and generous fares which were the bread and butter of an Evil Tolltaker.

Cry-Chang-E Chorus


What is this horrible commotion that circles the bridge this morning causing all manner of duplicity and unholy behaviors. What could be the origin of such machinations, surely every evil has a beginning and an end.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)