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Gaily bedight, A gallant knight, In sunshine and in shadow, Had journeyed long, Singing a song, In search of Eldorado.- Eldorado, Edgar Allen Poe
Carlos Aguirre could not believe what was happening. Sage Minerals was going public! His old neighbor had finally come to his senses and he would be able to propose his plan to find El Dorado. For ages the kings and queens of Nasger had funded expedititions in search of the famous planet, which is like heaven but on Earth. All one has to do is reach into a river and you would find diamonds, rubies, and more. He would be given land as a reward for the service, honored by King Manuel himself...
"Sir, we are at Cervantes," The ferryman said. Carlos stopped daydreaming and got up to enter the Cervantes. It was a typical mining community, with mostly bachelor men and few women. The first woman he saw was being carried to mass on a liter carried by servants. She was colorful and covered with diamonds and gold.
Carlos looked down at his rather plain looking clothes and went inside the church. He almost forgot it was a holy day due to the economic activity in the Republic of Raltvee. Carlos stopped to admire the beautiful statuary and bumped into an old friend praying.
"Mercy...please. I have given so much money to your church. I have given money to the poor and destitute and yet I am still haunted. Why?" The young man said.
Carlos said, "Miguel Santo Aligheri I do not understand. You go to church so often and do all these things and claim you are cursed? I do not think..."
"I am not pretending! I know you think I am mad, but I do not care. Our Lord knows the truth!" Miguel said. He looked like he was practically in tears.
"Be a man, Miguel. It's almost time for the service to begin," Carlos said. The service was of an average length, though he noted the priest was glaring at the colorfully dressed women. He would have to ask more when he got to Sage's estate. ~~~~ Carlos reached the beautiful Sage estate, which overlooked the mining operations. There were a couple of doves fighting over some fruit near the front door. Carlos knocked on the door expecting Sebastian to come running, but instead he waited several minutes.
"Yes, Carlos Aguirre?" He heard a voice say. Carlos looked to and fro, and then down to find Exnihil. He was a little confused.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"I am a CEO of Sage Minerals.At this time Sage Minerals find the mines it owns adequate for our profit margins," Exnihil said.
Carlos said, "Sebastian purchased those mines from a conquistador who was executed for defying the state. Both the Archbishop and King Manuel encourage exploration..."
"Then I advise you to sue them for funding," The man said. Carlos realized things were going nowhere and decided to go elsewhere for the funding. ~~~~ Carlos Aguirre wandered back into the now deserted church. He wanted to find Miguel, his father was into banking.* He walked into the church and could hear heated arguing near the statue of the Virgin. *= Aligheri's father is chairman of Fifth Circle Banking
"You want how much money to absolve my sins?" A young man said. There was a red glow around him and it seemed like he would spew with anger if provoked further.
"You have repeatably violated the holy days. You set a bad example for your workers and deprive the Lord of worship," The priest said. Both parties were adamant in their position. Carlos decided to take a gamble and speak.
"Father, where can I find Miguel Santo Aligheri?" He asked. The two men arguing turned and stared at him.
"If you want funding I advise you to stay away from Aligheri," The man glowing red said. His aura slowly changed to blue. "Maybe I could help you. I'm Hal Ferris of Ferris Sweeteners."
"Oh! You are Hal Ferris the tournament champion! The lighting is really bad in here," Carlos laughed. "I am in search of El Dorado."
"Aren't we all?" Hal said. "Let's do business together." ~~~~ The two of them drew up an extensive contract.he state would receive one fifth of any initial profit, Carlos would receive the rest, and Ferris would get the long-term mining contract. Each man left the table thinking he got the better end of the bargain.
"So now we recruit for the expedition," Hal says. "It should be easy enough, Nasger never runs out of unemployed young men."
"It might if you keep treating them the way you do," Carlos said.
"Everything I do is legal under the law. Do you think Sousa was a gentle employer? I sweated and bleed for that man for four years, but I never let him see me upset. I always had hope." Hal said. Carlos noticed the blue aura around Hal intensified as he said that last word. It was at that moment that he realized that Ferris Sweeteners' logo was this blue shape:
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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Hal Ferris and Carlos Aguirre worked diligently to put together a team to search for El Dorado. Carlos wrote in his journal We set out for El Dorado, submitting our forms at the Tordesillas Satellite. I was amazed at the speed Hal Ferris was able to arrange everything. When I asked him how he did so, he answered, "Screw the rules I have money!*"I no longer ask Hal Ferris those type of questions. *= quoted from LittleKuriboh
Carlos noted that the terrain was fairly desert like on this medium planetoid. It reminded him of Salvador, which actually wasn't that far from here. But nobody thought this rock was worth anything, the Republic of Raltvee's merchants didn't even name it.
"We are going to name it Manuel," Carlos said.
"That's already been taken by a small moon," Hal frowned. "Let's just get on the ground and worry about the name later."
Four days hours later, they had not discovered much at all. It was at that time Hal decided to explore the island by flight. Carlos said, "Hey, wait!" He jumped up in the air and grabbed Hal's foot. Hal's aura changed from green to yellow and he quickly made a disc construct for them to stand on.
"You couldn't wait for me to return?" Hal asked. He was scanning the ground for any cities of value. He was surprised by the lack of humanoids, for all signs pointed that this was El Dorado.
"Look up," Carlos said. There was a gigantic bird flying above them. Hal noticed this and looked for a spot for them to land. He then realized they were standing on the edge of a gigantic lake.
"Hang on tight," Hal said. His aura changed back to green and he put a tight shield around them as they dived into the lake. The bird followed them so he kept descending until they hit the bottom. Carlos swore it was at least nine feet deep, at which point the bird was long gone. It was at the point that a glitter hit his eyes.
Gold.
They had found gold.
Hal's aura changed from green to orange and he smiled at Carlos. The two of them embraced eachother as brothers. They then went to the surface and instructed their team to begin searching.
Hal said, "That is a wonderful mine we found."
"Yes it...mine? It is clearly initial finds," Carlos argued.
"But you must dig in order to find it so technically it is a mine," Hal countered.
"I'll see you in court," Carlos said. He was indigniant at this chain of events. Carlos decided to walk all the way back to where their ship was. It was mountainous and he could see an active volcano nearby. As he trudged through the terrain he lost his footing on a rock. He had to have dropped at least two feet, with his hands touching green rock.
Green rock...could it be emeralds?
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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Carlos Aguirre went straight to the court of King Manuel. It just so happened that Miguel Santo Aligheri was waiting to be ushered into court as well. Miguel asked him, "Is it the labor campaign season alredy?"
"Um, no. I am here to resolve a legal dispute with Hal Ferris," He said.
Miguel winced, "You made a deal with that irreligious man? You should have came to me for the investment money," At that moment the doors opened and they were both escorted in front of King Manuel.
The page said, "Sir Carlos Aguirre, respected nobleman and son of Ferdinand Aguirre you may present your case."
"Sir, Hal Ferris and I discovered a large deposit of gold on a small planetoid. He is trying to withhold from me what is rightfully mine," He stated.
As they were arguing to and fro, Miguel was talking to the guards. But he was not exactly in posession of his own body. The demon Malacoda spoke through him to the guards, "I am an angel in disguise. If you kill that man, you shall not die but live forever."
"And so thereby I conclude that Hal Ferris is the rightful..." At that moment the guard attempted to assasinate the king, and it must be noted that the other guards did not make a move to save him. But the demon Malacoda acting through Aligheri took out his sword and slayed the would-be assasin.
Carlos Aguirre said, "You...you are a hero! Miguel, you defended your king and lord!"
"It is rebellious to even disobey your master, to kill him is treason," Malacoda said.
King Manuel nodded, "You are a pious man. What would you like in return for your service?"
"I ask not for me, but for the less fortunate. I ask that you make Carlos Aguirre the Crown's mineral liason for the emeralds..." Malacoda smiled. He held up an emerald, and it was at the moment that Carlos realized the one he carried back with him was gone.
King Manuel smiled, "Ah, you and Ferris shall be even then. Ferris is simply selling his mines back to the Crown, he said something about Sage Mineral's new CEO being stubborn."
"The Lord lowers the stubborn and raises the humble," Miguel said. ~~~~ That evening there was a knock on the Sage Mansion door. Exnihil walked as quickly as he could to see Carlos Aguirre holding a piece of paper.
"On behalf of His Majesty King Manuel of Nasger, your company is hereby ordered to finance an expedition in search of El Dorado. The reward for accepting this contract is all the emerald deposits found in the Aguirre-Ferris expedition. The penalty for refusal is a charge of treason and death by garroting," He said.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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