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Esi coughs into her fist while Haibram just starts giggling uncontrollably. "That's, uh... that's a very good thought, Beck. They probably would. Um..." She glares at Haibram, rolls her eyes, and generally looks pretty uncomfortable and awkward, but powers through. "You're supposed to always wear your beads, especially out in Nantambu. There are a couple of legitimate reasons why certain merchants include a markup or refuse to sell to students, so hiding them when shopping in particular can lead to problems. However, there are some exceptions when it's acceptable to hide them. The standard example is if you're out in the Expanse and have to buy from an Aspis outpost, it's understood and expected to hide them then. This is sort of the same kind of situation, so..." She trails off, looking towards Haibram for help, who chuckles a couple last times before picking up the slack. "She was hopin' yeh'd all just think of it later on, on account of not wantin' to outright say 'break the rules' herself. Now, what I'll say is this: if you get caught not wearin' them, yeh could get yelled at. If you get caught with the Kafesi, yeh could also get yelled at. If yeh get caught trackin' mud or hay or little chicken dungleberries everywhere, yeh could also get yelled at. No matter what, yer not gonna get anything worse, an' the both of us will be happy teh step in an' explain. Now, Esi here will really hate havin' to say she even hinted at breakin' the rules, but we'll handle it all the same. Alrigh'?"
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Sep 14, 2021 02:50
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Ramiel Tiefling Battledancer Swashbuckler  "Okay. So we've got to find an illegal market, pretend we're not students and buy some weird chickens. Got it." Turning to the others in his group, "I guess the first task is to find the market. I've got a couple of ideas, but they both have pretty big flaws, so I'll lay them out and hope someone else has a better one. My first idea is that we could just put out the word that we're looking for it. That might well work, but it wouldn't be subtle, and might cause problems later, if they knew that a load of students were looking for it. My second is that we could dig out a map and logic it out. There are only so many places that an illict market could appear without attracting attention from the authorities. If we could narrow it down to a couple of locations, we could just go and check them out. The disadvantage here, of course, is that there could well be secret places that wouldn't show up on any map that would work - large sewer chambers, portals to demiplanes, and so on - so we might end up putting in a lot of effort with no payoff..." Ramiel shrugs theatrically. "But yeah, that's all I've got, so I'm hoping that someone else might have a better idea?" As he's trailing off, "Oh, and for those I haven't met yet, I'm Ramiel Makisal, elf. A dancer from Nagisa. Pleased to meet you all!"
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Sep 14, 2021 11:26
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Kakka[/b] 1st Night -- After the first day, and settling into a room that evening, Kakka mind is going full blast, and potential futures whirrs through his head. He thinks of business opportunities, something he never expected all his times working his stall - the meager earnings there never lent themselves to future growth... he pauses these thoughts abruptly, and thinks of all his fellow students and new people he's met. "Quite a crew, wouldn't you say Zilch?" Zilch meanders his way over to Kakka, and makes contact. «Indeed. Power of Tomorrow.» "Yeah.." Zilch takes a look at the token given to him by Haibram. "I wonder why he gave me one of these... do you think this has something to do with the old lady? Should I use it tonight?" «Study the Stars.» "Ah...of course." Kakka nods gently, this is not the first time Zilch gives that advice. "OK." Kakka then goes to a window (or outside) to stare and see what he can of the stars, and taking particular note of the moon and its phase before settling in for the night. (OOC: Generally, looking to find out: current phase of the moon, and if it is a new moon, or a general estimate for days until the next new moon. Also, I guess, is there a moon or two or what on Golaria? Also, for room choice, Kakka would prefer a second floor room if possible, but otherwise amenable to whichever room) Chicken Chasin' --- Kakka slathers on a generous bit of honey on his piece of flat bread, and listens carefully as the task is laid out. He gathers with his group, and looks around them. "Hi! I am Kakka!" He notices Orvald and Scarlet, and gives them a friendly nod and wave. "Has anyone seen much of Nantambu? I only arrived yesterday morning." He then looks around, and delicately adds softly "..If this were The Shackles, I would be much more comfortable finding... illicit merchandise among the sailors, but I am unsure if mainland ways are similar. There, it usually helps to find an in... and, local urch- er, orphans usually know the way." (OOC: I think I'd like to try a Society/Recall knowledge check here, to recall any other particulars of making contact with underground elements in The Shackles? IIRC, the general mood of The Shackles is Piratetown) code:
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Sep 14, 2021 19:16
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Valfane Valfane looks a little rough around the edges, not accustomed to getting up this early. Time to start earning our keep, eh? I know how I'd handle this in Bloodcove, but here... Well, a dodgy market is the same anywhere, I suppose. "Valfane, glad to meet you," he says, following Ramiel's lead. "Mm, you're right that we'll raise alarm bells if we go around in a pack asking questions, a blind man would see us coming. Might be better for some of us to split up and try our luck separately, then meet up someplace to compare notes? I can think of a few folks to chat up."
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Sep 14, 2021 23:15
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The Moon It is the night of Arodus 5, 4721, and on this night the moon is new. The last moon was the Lover's Moon, and now this one is the Swarm Moon. Your moon. As the storms clear and you watch the empty sky, the seven-spoked wagon catches your attention. Kakka Taraka, your time of travel is coming to a close. The pack is coming; will you be a part of it, or will the beasts tear you to shreds? Your sleep is unsettled, especially as you stayed awake late into the night, watching the skies clear. On Nantambu and the Docks  If you came to Nantambu from outside, it was almost certainly by boat, up the river from the west. Most traffic comes in through the westernmost connection to the main river, to a collection of docks around the Last Chance Shop. These are in a constant state of flux, warehouses and storefronts changing hands, with many merchants selling directly on the docks, from their boats. There are also hostels, outfitters with spare cots, and transport ships with spare hammocks. If you came in directly the night before, you almost certainly stayed here, either in the same ship you came in on or a grungy and somewhat dangerous feeling hostel, before taking a long walk east to the Magaambya in the morning in time for the welcoming. A lot of commerce takes place along the route from this dock area, east to the sort of hook of the J, then south to the main land road out of Nantambu. Goods flow into and out of the docks both ways, and merchants set up shops near the docks, that L-shaped corner south of the canal, or at the other set of docks in the southwestern part of the city. There are, of course, more markets across the city, that's what all the canals are for, and much of the commerce that happens near the docks is rapid, desperate, and transient, people who want to get back on the river having to pay rent on a storefront and dock space. It's possible that they're the ones best in tune for knowing where the Kafesi Market is set up right now, but it's also possible they'll all be incredibly impatient and actually out of the loop, focusing on just passing through. One of the busiest markets would be the big T-intersection at the western part of the circle, directly southeast of the label for the Dance Courts, where the circular road forks to the road west out towards the docks and the main land route out. The open markets there are especially active, as commerce mixes between the the more hectic parts of the docks and the rest of the city. The Last Chance shop is somewhat infamous for being one of the few truly permanent fixtures of the docks. They're willing to buy almost anything that people can't sell otherwise, at an almost crippling discount, and sell almost anything you can't find anywhere else for an exorbitant markup. Frankly, they're only just a slightly better choice than dumping your cargo in the river, and sometimes people do that anyway just to spite the store. They wouldn't have chickens though, or anything perishable in general. The walk to the Last Chance Shop and the docks generally is around two and a half to three miles total, with the zig-zaging, so around forty-five minutes if you go directly. Inquiries along the way will probably extend that to between an hour and an hour and a half. Most other points around the circle of Nantambu itself, such as the Carnivorous Gardens, are within a half-hour's walk from the Magaambya. Markets and storefronts are fairly evenly spaced. Scarlet Hood knows that sneaky stuff happens at the Black Crowned Crane, but sneaky things also just happen at the docks too. Also everyone knows that sneaky stuff happens at the Crane, including and especially the authorities, so maybe that means that... nothing sneaky actually happens there? What a conundrum... zachol fucked around with this message at 01:53 on Sep 15, 2021 |
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Sep 15, 2021 01:40
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Group W Bhekimp'lo, Mbe'ke Dwarf Barbarian (Beck for short)  The dwarf nods quietly with the "permission" to keep their identities close to the chest. As the groups divide themselves up, Beck introduces himself to those he hasn't met before, and responds to Valfane and Ramiel, "I've been promised an introduction to some of the local big game hunters, and they always push the limits when it comes to turning a profit; a grey market sounds like where they thrive. I think at least one of them will know where to find the next Kafesi market... but it would be better if I had someone friendly nearby. A lone pirate is always suspicious, no?" OOC: I'd like to (privately) see if Lumusi can set up a meeting for me with one of her big game hunter friends, to keep my source confidential, and then take anyone who wants to come to have a chat with my new best friends.
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Sep 15, 2021 04:22
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Group W Draahzin Dragonscaled Kobold Summoner Draazhin makes his way to the group he will be working with for this task. He listens to the others' ideas, nodding at certain points. "That sounds good. I don't really know a lot about looking for secret illegal markets. Oh! I am Draazhin." He gives an affectionate pat to the silver dragon that appears by his side. "This is Silver Scale." He looks at Silver Scale. "Probably should bring Silver Scale to look for a secret market."
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Sep 15, 2021 05:51
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ORIENTATION OMNIBUS // CHICKEN CHASERS Group E (Kakka, Scarlet Hood, Orvald) Kakka (bobthenameless): "Has anyone seen much of Nantambu? I only arrived yesterday morning." He then looks around, and delicately adds softly "..If this were The Shackles, I would be much more comfortable finding... illicit merchandise among the sailors, but I am unsure if mainland ways are similar. There, it usually helps to find an in... and, local urch- er, orphans usually know the way." Scarlet Hood (Tricky): Scarlet raises a hand, "Oh! I know my way around, and I think I might know some people who could help." She looks thoughtful, perhaps an unusual sight, and adds, "I think people know me better as not a student, so they wouldn't expect me to be doing things for the school, either?" Looking to the others in her group, Scarlet says, "So should we take a look at the markets by the Dance Courts first? If we can't find any leads there we can keep walking out towards the Black Crowned Crane and they're probably going to be able to point us in the right direction if we ask the right people." Orvald (Unknown Quantity): "I don't see why not. While we're on the way there we can come up with a cover story for who we are. Tourists, perhaps?" Orvald paces about in contemplation and confliction. "At least, I could argue I'm here on a trip of cultural and spiritual enrichment..." GM (zachol): The walk to the central market is pleasant enough. Especially after yesterday, the warm sun is welcome. The stone walkways aren't terribly even, not meant for carriages, and there are still scattered puddles from last night, but for the most part the city is dry, and people are out in full force. As you head towards the central market the noise is almost overwhelming, a constant chatter, merchants extolling the virtues of their wares and customers haggling in turn, and the contents of the market storefronts and tents have spilled out further than usual now that they don't have to stay protected under awnings. Here and there, merchants and passing residents smile and wave to Scarlet Hood. She isn't particularly known by name, but many still recognize her from her wanderings near the school, and there's a general fondness for leshy all around. Still, when the group makes their very first inquiries about the Kafesi, they initially get just blank looks and confusion, either a simple "sorry, can't help you" or something along the lines of "now why would you want to go there? Here, look at these astounding silks!" Seems it might actually take a while to track down some answers, although at least no-one is outraged or offended. OOC: Poking around in the central market and nearby streets will take a Diplomacy check to Gather Information at a secret DC. On a success, it will take two hours to find a concrete lead on both the location of the Kafesi market and who exactly to ask for regarding the chickens. The Kafesi market is somewhat spread out and not necessarily friendly to someone asking around for particular items, the expectation is you should know who you're looking for, not just what. That said, chickens are innocuous, so you'll still be able to ask around, it'll just take its own check once you get there. You can spend an hour asking for the location of the Kafesi market alone and will find that without a check (if you hide your beads), but either way finding a lead specifically on the chickens takes its own hour and the check, whether that happens at the central or Kafesi market. You can go directly to a contact like the Crane to ask about the location of the market, which will just take some RP, but asking about the chickens specifically there will require its own Diplomacy check at a somewhat (+3) higher DC. Particular contacts are unlikely to have knowledge about something so specific. Travel time plus the time for the conversation itself is around a half hour. You can get just the location of the market (again, without a roll) and then try to search around once you get there at the lower DC by spending more time. Scarlet Hood (Tricky): Scarlet is more than happy to ask silly questions (over and over, at times, until she gets an answer), so she plans to keep asking about the chickens (and the Markets, of course!) over the course of a couple of hours. Soars will also help out by floating over the markets and listening for any interesting snippets of conversations. Diplomacy to Gather Information: 13+6=19 (success). Through the course of her questioning, a canny observer can see that Scarlet Hood's looping routes throughout the markets take her by one spot more than any other: Kantu's stall, which boasts blown glass drinking vessels (and vases, and hanging ornaments, and...), and is conveniently located next to Shoka's establishment offering a wide variety of drinking chocolates... Needless to say, she makes a point of getting a glass (and filling it!) every time she stops by. GM (zachol): One of the major centerpieces of the market is the workshop of Kantu Clogshod, a mildly eccentric Song'o halfling glassblower. Kantu's workspace is open to the public, and he regularly takes requests on the spot, crafting glassware and charms to delight passing customers the same way someone in another world might twist together balloon animals on demand.  Kantu Clogshod, Song'o Glassblower Nearby is Shoka's stall. A gregarious yet level-headed Caldaru, she has a good business selling hot chocolates, made with cream, along with bars of dark chocolate for people to prepare on their own. She's the most well-known chocolate maker in the city, the first choice for people who want to try the novel taste. Normally the chocolate drinks are fairly expensive, with the idea being you can try them out and then buy bars to make them at home, but that doesn't really apply to Scarlet Hood.  Shoka, Chocolate Brewer "Hey there sweetie, back for more? Did you want to try a spicy one this time?" She smiles slightly, enigmatically, though even a slight smile is unusual for Shoka, and already starts whipping up another drink (literally, with a whisk and everything). She glances again at Kakka and Orvald, who she likely at least chatted with before, but doesn't press either if they've been hesistant to talk. "I'm really curious, Scarlet, I don't think I've ever seen you go around the market for so long anytime before. Are you looking for a gift for someone?" Scarlet Hood (Tricky): Scarlet hems and haws for a moment, mostly on deciding whether or not to try the spicy sort (she's not a ghost pepper leshy!), before ultimately nodding and saying, "Mmhm! I'm trying to find a special kind of chicken. It's an Ojo... Ojo..." She blinks, "I forgot the name, but it's purple! But finding chickens is thirsty work, so..." GM (zachol): Shoka looks a little confused at that, though she continues whipping up a mildly spicy chocolate drink. She sets it down on the counter, and glances at the others flanking Scarlet, a subtle look of 'help me out here, please clarify.' "A special kind of purple chicken? That sounds very unusual. Did someone at the school tell you about them?" Someone with more social awareness (probably Orvald) might realize she's worried that someone's sent Scarlet on a wild goose chase. Kakka (bobthenameless): Earlier, as they were leaving the school and entering the streets, Kakka would have hidden his beads in one of his belt pouches discreetly Kakka will pipe up with the full name after Scarlet stumbles with it. "Ojofiri is the name of it. And, they're not all over purple...just a darker lavender body." Kakka will cock his head to the side, letting some earlier bits of conversation catch up to his attention, and ask Shoka "...Did you say, there's spicy chocolate?" Kakka will buy a small spicy chocolate to try it out. GM (zachol): Shoka nods, accepting that this is perhaps a legitimate errand, although she frowns uncertainly. "Well then, I can't say I've heard of or seen any lavender chickens. Ojofiri? I'll keep an ear out, though. And..." She smiles faintly at Kakka, returning to her professional demeanor. "There is a spicy chocolate indeed. The classic style doesn't even have milk or cream, just chocolate, chilies, and hot water. It's also much more bitter, some people really enjoy it." She serves up a bracingly bitter and spicy drink, much closer to an unsweetened coffee than the usual hot chocolates. It's curiously good, though, at least when you reframe your expectations. "There's a family farmer I get milk from that would have some spare chickens, but I'm sure they're the regular kind. So, are these... magical chickens? I'm always a little curious what they get up to on the island..." Scarlet Hood (Tricky): Scarlet takes an exploratory sip, then says, "Well... they're supposed to hatch any egg they sit on!" A beat. "But I think mostly they're purple and hard to find." GM (zachol): "Well that's... that's a little magical. I guess I expected a purple beast might... breathe lightning, or something." "There's a place just outside town, the... uh... the 'Spotted Hyena'? They sell riding animals, but not just horses, like giraffes and lions. I don't think they have smaller pets like chickens, even magic chickens, though." She smiles. "They let you walk around and look at the animals, though, even if they don't think you're going to buy. You might want to visit. It's like a safari, without all the weeks on the river and sleeping in tents." Orvald (Unknown Quantity): Orvald has mostly kept themselves quiet about the matter, their beads concealed for the moment. In their particular mind, they figure, they look like they're from far away, they can pass as a tourist looking to bring home something novel to their homeland. Perhaps they can even use their native tongue a few times to further seal the image. One might initially suspect that chickens wouldn't be at home in the snow, but feathers go a long way towards cold insulation, and farm animals are certainly always welcome in rural communities, regardless of clime. Diplomacy check to Gather Information: 6+6=12 (failure). GM (zachol): Orvald, unfortunately, doesn't manage to have great luck finding a lead on the birds. The closest he comes is a fairly confusing conversation, with some things apparently lost in translation, where a scrimshander selling various pendants and charms made of carved bone, leather cord and feathers explains that he could purchase 'extravagant purple fowl' from a farm on the outskirts of town. Otherwise, occasional questions about the Kafesi market with the explanation of Orvald being a 'tourist' get grins and knowing looks, and instructions on how to navigate the Stem, along with several suggestions on the best sources of pesh, particularly concentrates. Also caution about watching his purse; although petty theft is very rare in the markets of Nantambu, it's somewhat more of a problem at the Kafesi, where victim customers would be hesitant to go to the authorities. You find a line on peacocks, but unfortunately nothing about the Ojofiri, although you can meet up with the others at the market. GM (zachol): Gradually, Scarlet Hood gets directed here and there, completely random merchants suggesting she ask around at some of those selling milk and eggs, who direct her to the butchers, who bounce her around between them across the market, back to yet others selling eggs and feather charms and all sorts of other assorted goods until eventually... "Oh, Ojofiri chickens? Yeah, Makena came in today with a handful of them. She keeps her farm out a couple days travel from here, you usually have to go to her, but she'll bring in chickens to display to new customers maybe once every other month? I heard she does have Ojofiri chicks this time, though. Ah, but you should probably get going, she might get, uh, 'plucked' clean pretty soon." A smiling egg-monger tucked away in a back alley just sort of guilelessly explains the whole situation, directing you to the mysterious and sinister Kafesi market. He also offers some cheap hard boiled eggs, where the yolk's been scrambled up with some kind of pepper sauce. Fresh and tasty! As the group enters into the dingy, mysterious, sinister depths of the Stem, someone waves them down. "Heeeyyyy! Scarlet!" It's Jumaane, hunter of rare and exceptional mushrooms, and occasional visitor to and friend of the leshys! Right now he's got a range of very nice looking truffles. Well, maybe not quite so nice, a closer look indicates they're oozing some kind of black, tar-like oil, soaking into the little wooden dishes he's set them on. Hm. Regardless, Jumaane grins at Scarlet, happy to see her. "How've you been? Haven't seen you in a little while, still doing good on the island? What's brought you out all the way here?" He sort of frowns, apparently only now thinking the situation through. "Actually... what are you doing down here? You know the school's not too keen on the market, right?" Scarlet Hood (Tricky): By the time she's finally made it to the Stem, Scarlet has (somehow, probably thanks to reminders via Soars) remembered to put her beads into her pack. Hopefully this will keep her merely plausibly school-adjacent (given her known ties with Teacher Ot), rather than immediately IDed as a student proper. Looking as innocent as an ambulatory magical mushroom girl can manage, Scarlet says, "Hello, Jumaane! I am doing very well today. I went all over the markets and talked to people and tried a lot of food and..." She pauses for a breath, then focuses on the question, "Mmm, well! This is where the Ofojiri... Ojorifi... purple chickens are! So here I am." She sniffs at the mushrooms, trying to divine the nature of her distant non-animate kin, "And I'm looking for... Makena? Makena. I heard she's here today?" GM (zachol): Jumaane leans forward with an "oop" to caution Scarlet Hood away from the truffles. "Ah, I'd watch out. These are a little special, I had to trade for them, from up north. Death's Heart truffles... you need to dig them up in a cemetery, which needs to have the right conditions for truffles, the right dirt, and the right kind of tree. They're poisonous, but apparently they're incredibly delicious to the dead, or the undead, or something like that. Necromancers grind them into a paste and mix it with oil, burn it as incense, and it makes it easier to speak with ghosts. But, like I said, poisonous to the living... although I'm not sure how you'd handle them, Scarlet." He frowns, then starts rooting in a nearby basket. "I'm sorry I can't help you, I don't know a Makena. The only one around here that might have chickens is Seydou, and you'd best avoid him if you can help it. Ah, here!" He holds up a bundle of thin, almost stringy little mushrooms, what might be known as enoki. "Velvet shank! My treat, like I said I'm sorry I can't help. But, any news from the leshy grove?" Kakka (bobthenameless): Kakka looks at the truffles, and his mind starts whirring with possibilities for them..but perhaps later. Kakka will look up and down the market, seeing if similar merchants seem to stick together. "Where would Seydou be? And..what cause is there to avoid him?" When he's lookin around, just wondering if he sees all mushroom vendors are here to try and deduce if the chicken merchants would be together, or know each other, etc GM (zachol): If there is some kind of organization to the Kafesi market, it's not clear. The stalls nearby include someone selling silver necklaces and charms, someone with... very thin, very long daggers, and a third selling unimpressive uncut gems. With the necklaces and the uncut gems, the only thing that comes to mind is 'spell and ritual components,' which sort of fits in with the inedible necromantic truffles. Oh, wait, gem guy also has a few scrolls... are those spell scrolls, or maybe spell instruction scrolls? Forbidden loathsome magics? Hmm... "Seydou... most think he's either a fence himself, or a fence's patsy, who for whatever reason only handles livestock. Exotic animals, always too cheap. We figure he has deals with, you know, cattle rustlers and cat burglars. But, nobody from around here has ever reported him as actually selling any of their stolen livestock. It would be possible he's just well traveled and can spot a good deal or find desperate farmers, but that wouldn't be enough for how he has new stock week after week. "I only mention him because if someone had special chickens, it would be him... well, no, he's the only one I'd know of. He's a little infamous. I don't deal with farmers much, I hunt wild mushrooms. Were you looking for someone else? If they're selling chickens, they might be upstairs. I know sometimes they have parrots and other birds up there, for budding 'pirate captains.' Might be worth a look." Kakka (bobthenameless): After hearing that, Kakka will say "Hmm...." His eyes keep darting over to the scrolls, and all the interesting and potentially profitable things, but a gentle nudge from Zilch keeps him on task... for now, but he makes a mental note to try and find the market later. He'll turn to Scarlet and ask "What do you think? Maybe we should check upstairs real quick and then go find this Seydou if that doesn't pan out?" Scarlet Hood (Tricky): Scarlet winds up, clearly ready to chat for the next five minutes on the latest leshy happenings in extremely gratuitous detail, but Kakka manages to keep her focused on the task at hand. Instead, she chirps out a quick, "Things are real good! I'll tell you all about them after I find the purple chickens!" Looking over to Kakka, she says, "Upstairs seems good!" Group W (Ramiel, Beck, Valfane, Draahzin) Ramiel (CottonWolf): Turning to the others in his group, "I guess the first task is to find the market. I've got a couple of ideas, but they both have pretty big flaws, so I'll lay them out and hope someone else has a better one. My first idea is that we could just put out the word that we're looking for it. That might well work, but it wouldn't be subtle, and might cause problems later, if they knew that a load of students were looking for it. My second is that we could dig out a map and logic it out. There are only so many places that an illict market could appear without attracting attention from the authorities. "If we could narrow it down to a couple of locations, we could just go and check them out. The disadvantage here, of course, is that there could well be secret places that wouldn't show up on any map that would work - large sewer chambers, portals to demiplanes, and so on - so we might end up putting in a lot of effort with no payoff..." Ramiel shrugs theatrically. "But yeah, that's all I've got, so I'm hoping that someone else might have a better idea?" As he's trailing off, "Oh, and for those I haven't met yet, I'm Ramiel Makisal, elf. A dancer from Nagisa. Pleased to meet you all!" Valfane (Ripley): Valfane looks a little rough around the edges, not accustomed to getting up this early. Time to start earning our keep, eh? I know how I'd handle this in Bloodcove, but here... Well, a dodgy market is the same anywhere, I suppose. "Valfane, glad to meet you," he says, following Ramiel's lead. "Mm, you're right that we'll raise alarm bells if we go around in a pack asking questions, a blind man would see us coming. Might be better for some of us to split up and try our luck separately, then meet up someplace to compare notes? I can think of a few folks to chat up." Ramiel (CottonWolf): "Okay. So is our plan to have Beck hit up the hunters, while Valfane taps his contacts?" GM (zachol): Valfane may have spent a day or two on the docks, and naturally chatted up a few people. He may also have contacts that travel between Nantambu and Bloodcove, likely the same sorts that facilitated his travel here. Beck (Infinite Karma): "Agreed." I'm gonna go with the Steady Compass since they have a relationship with the school, but one talky person would be good to help Beck make a good impression. GM (zachol): The group briefly discusses a timeline and then splits up, towards the Steady Compass Outfitters and the docks as appropriate. The morning is sunny and warm, though there are ever-present storms on the horizon. As you trek further from the inner round of the city and towards the southwestern outskirts, the nicely ordered paving stones become more and more sparse, the route becoming more often made of sections of packed dirt, which in this climate end up being little more than mud and ruts. The sun hasn't had enough time to work, so when you get off the main paved route, splitting up at the hook of the J, the paths south and west turn into a general slog. Steady Compass Outfitters (Beck) Beck, along with perhaps a spare face, finds the Outfitters easily enough on the main road leading south and out of the city, near the inner boating bay. The Outfitters' warehouse is right on the main road, with a smaller one leading back behind it to a few buildings that are part of the business, barns or stables or boathouses. The road here is actually much nicer, to the point where it's really just the section between this little area and the main part of the city that's a problem. The main warehouse has 'Steady Compass' written in faded gold paint, along with an eye-catching version of the usual iconographic sign. Where a smith might have a picture of a sword or a shield and a tavern a picture of a mug, the Outfitters have a sort of solid glass lens or half-sphere with a compass painted on the inside up against the building. It's very shiny. Inside is fairly dingy and sedate. There's a cleared out waiting area with a single table and a few chairs off to the side, and a long counter blocking off the main part of the warehouse. A pair of men are occupying the table, muttering while looking over a map; they look up at your entrance, evaluate you, nod politely, then go back to their discussion, while the man behind the counter catches your attention.  Digi "Hello, hello, welcome. May I have your name, and how can we help you today?" You get the sense this guy is some kind of clerk, although he has very nice glasses. He seems about your age... actually there's an odd vibe of someone in a similar position in life as you. The same hint of potential, of 'an interesting life.' The waiting room feels oddly barren. There are a few trophies, mainly just skins up on the wall, but you'd expect more from what should more like a hunting lodge--there are no mounted heads of beasts, or anything similar. On the other hand, it does feel very clean. Very... no nonsense, business-like, almost clinical. Beck (Infinite Karma): Beck greets the clerk, "Call me Beck, I was sent here by a mutual acquaintance." He reveals the smooth granite disk. "I'm looking for some relatively rare animals, but not the dangerous kind. Can you help?" GM (zachol): The clerk raises an eyebrow, peering at the disk and writing Beck's name in a logbook. "Not the dangerous kind? Refreshing. Firstly, please do not patronize Oba Eze's shop, 'Oba's Wondrous Creatures.' She is not a competent trainer, you will have issues. Secondly, please be aware that despite, or perhaps because of the fad, honey badgers were recently banned in the city, and several merchants have been trying to unload their stock. Now, is this meant to be more of an accessory or a housepet? There are several types of birds, snakes and cats that I could suggest, but attempting to house some of them in a confined apartment can lead to serious issues, especially the cats. However, we've found they can be highly suited to expeditions." Beck (Infinite Karma): Beck raises an eyebrow of his own, at the assumption that he's merely browsing. "To be specific, I'm looking for Ojofiri hens, or chicks, as a favor for some friends of mine, but I'll keep Oba Eze at the very bottom of my list if that's the case. There are rumors that someone in the city has a clutch of them, have you heard anything on the subject?" Speaking more quietly, Beck adds, "There's no point in lying; I'd heard that it's someone at the Kafesi market has them, and I'd rather start our relationship with honesty over deception. My friends have a rocky relationship with the Kafesi, so I'd be happy to take an expert's advice, if you have any." GM (zachol): At the mention of the Kafesi he doesn't balk, treating it as entirely reasonable. "Ah, livestock? And specialized hens... that does sound somewhat familiar..." He trails off, trying to recall the specifics. OOC: So the clerk can direct you to the Kafesi market, but there's a Diplomacy check to Gather Information for whether he knows exactly who to direct you to. Beck (Infinite Karma): "Indeed. Much appreciated. Would a finder's fee be appropriate?" Beck asks, offering 2 gold pieces. "And what can I call you, when I return? I am a naturalist, myself, and would enjoy building a relationship here." Diplomacy to Gather Information: 10-1=9 Hero Point to reroll: 13-1=12 (Failure) GM (zachol): The clerk grimaces, waving the gold off, tapping the counter in thought. "Of course there's no charge. You can ask for Digi next time you're here, though I'm usually at the counter. There are only a few animal vendors at the Kafesi, they usually sell certain exotic and highly venomous snakes and insects, for... practical purposes. One of them, Seydou, would be the closest thing to a general livestock vendor. He sells exotic breeds and colorations of some more common animals, such as Ankole longhorns, shaggy goats... the rub is he sells them for cheap, and it's a little ambiguous where he procures them. The last time I was there he had some unusual type of chicken with a frizzy mop of feathers, but that was several weeks ago." He leans forward, idly tracing out a map of the city. "Right now the Kafesi market is on the stem, the island directly north of us, on the east side of it. There's a side street that goes by a few inns and restaurants, up and around, then further in east along the alleyways." He grimaces again, leaning back. "Sorry I can't be of more help. Please do return, either as a customer or as a contractor. We'd have to do a few dry runs to determine your reliability, but assistants for small group guidework are always in demand." Beck (Infinite Karma): "Much appreciated, and well met Digi, you've been a great help already. I'll let you know how this works out next time I'm in." The Docks (Valfane) Valfane (and anyone coming with) has a vaguely miserable time getting to the docks. Yesterday was also pretty miserable getting out of the docks, but you assumed that had mostly to do with the rain. It seems like even on a good day this section is a cold slog. Here and there you see people perched on long poles, watching the foot traffic to and from the docks. In the sunlight, and without their ponchos, you can also see fairly eye catching metallic chimes hung from belts and bandoliers. They watch you attentively, with neither a smile and a wave nor a suspicious glare. The muck gives way to wooden boardwalks, the docks starting early, and with a steadier path it's easy enough to weave around to where Valfane expects his contact to be. On one of the largest major docks, jutting out the furthest into the deeper part of this branch of the river, is a fairly significant ship, a large cog, able to navigate both the river and the ocean, at least near the coast. The contact is its captain, who has a tendency to watchfully lurk nearby while his quartermaster handles most of the day-to-day business of the ship.  Captain Olamide of the Savvy Soldier This is Olamide, who is... well, you might call him 'a real piece of work.' You might call him a pirate. You might call him a lot of things. The bottom line is that he's killed a lot of people, and he spends a lot of time transporting and selling a variety of goods. Sometimes he also buys things, but it doesn't quite add up evenly. On the other hand, he certainly hasn't attacked any ships anywhere near Nantambu. Usually when they hear about who he has attacked, a lot of people around here think 'oh, well they had it coming.' So, pirate, privateer, pest removal... there are a lot of things you could call him, yeah. Regardless, he's in the same spot as a day or two ago, on the second story porch of a small cafe overlooking his ship, to all appearances sitting alone. He eyes Valfane up and down, and grins. "Hey little buddy. Washed out already?" Valfane (Ripley): "Nah, they've not driven me off yet, Captain. It's a drat strange town, though, isn't it? Feels like a monastery half the time, everything's so far aboveboard. Least it's not raining today!" Valfane offers his best affable smile. "I'm glad to run into you, sir - can I buy you a drink? I was meaning to ask where you might go to buy something a bit more off-the-books." GM (zachol): Olamide grimaces, taking a look at the sky from under the cafe's awning. "Yeah, sunny, but not for long though. You've got maybe an hour before the drizzle starts back up. Anyway," He whistles sharply, and a woman pokes her head out from behind a nearby curtain. After a quick nod back and forth, she darts back in (to prepare drinks?), and Olamide focuses on Valfane again, smiling. "A monastery, huh? Hadn't thought of that, pretty good. They get twitchy about the strangest poo poo, but they also let a lot slide. Case in point, one of my good friends is a 'lore-master' there, she and I had a pleasant little chat yesterday. Not even business, just shooting the breeze. I'm not docked because Asanda is happy about it, that's for sure." The woman comes back out with a tray, with two small porcelain cups and a steaming metal pot, a cezve. She's wearing a fairly innocuous floral dress and some kind of orchid in her hair. She quickly but delicately pours out coffee for the two of you, takes a step back to wait on Olamide, who just smiles and gives a "thanks dear," and then heads back inside. The captain casually waves at the drinks. "Enjoy, maybe let the grounds settle a little. Anyway, so you already need some contraband? Are we just talking some pesh or what? I gotta say, if you're looking for a knockout, something like chloral, it's available, but that's one of those really twitchy areas. You know they've got some places around here, right? They're not that uptight..." Valfane (Ripley): Valfane perches nearby and accepts the coffee gladly. It's still too early in the morning, so the drink is very welcome. At the word 'contraband', he waves a hand to say 'not really', but keeps listening. "Maybe I've been talking to the wrong people here," he says with a smile. "I'm not so much looking for the strong stuff today, Captain, it's more of a favour for a friend I ran into. They're looking for some rare livestock, Ojofiri chicks - beautiful lavender birds, she says, and apparently they're not in any of the normal establishments. I figured you'd be the man who knows where to find more unusual cargo like that." Diplomacy to Gather Information: 11+7=18 (Success) GM (zachol): The captain squints, then laughs once. "What, they got you chasing chickens? drat strange indeed. Well, I don't know about that, but let's have a little chat with the QM. He keeps an eye on the markets." He stands, stretching, takes the last sip of his coffee, then very casually jumps over the railing, landing on the dock below, and calmly walking over to his ship. It takes a little bit to navigate the cafe, assuming Valfane settles the bill ("no charge" and then, if he insists, "four copper total") and doesn't try the stunt of jumping down himself. The ship is easy to approach, no menacing guards standing watch, just the occasional crewmate carrying some large jug or basket on board. The quartermaster is ambiguously Sargavan, and also very piratical, sporting an eyepatch. Otherwise, bald, clean-shaven, and very... weathered, the jagged scar going over his eye suggesting the patch isn't about keeping an eye adjusted to the dark. Olamide is leaning on his shoulder, laughing, and waves Valfane closer. "Come on, this is hilarious. Now, Ricky, tell our friend here what you told me." "Sure. A breeder named Makena has several Ojofiri. I sent a runner to buy two, they'd make a nice little gift to Paulus next time we see her." "Freakin' hilarious. Alright, so it's still on the stem?" "East side of the stem. Makena is on the south side of the second level." The captain grins at Valfane. "Well, there you go. I hope you enjoy your... education. See you again, eh?" Valfane (Ripley): This conversation isn't going quite how Valfane had hoped; clearly the pirate can see right through him. He takes a moment to mourn his lost dignity as he settles the cafe bill. By the time he catches up with Olamide on the ship, he's largely resigned to being the butt of the joke - at least it seems like he's on the right track. "Makena on the south side, got it. Cheers Captain, Ricky." He bows to them both. GM (zachol): As Valfane turns to go, Olamide whistles, catching your attention, then tosses a small glass marble. It's direct on, a nice, easy catch, and the marble is large, very evenly spherical, and has a glittering hazy pattern inside, like the milky way in the night sky or a cloud of shimmering silver powder. "Hey, do me a favor, a little errand. When you meet 'Lore-Master' Adenike, tell her I said hi. It might take a while before you end up meeting her, she's a very busy woman. In the meantime, don't wash out, or I'll be real sad." He gives an exaggerated pout, then turns away to discuss business with Ricky the quartermaster. Visiting Seydou (Beck, Ramiel) Ramiel (CottonWolf): Ramiel joins Beck outside the shop. "Any luck? Sorry I couldn't join you, I was trying to work out if there was a congregation of Nocticula anywhere in the city, no luck as of yet. But if I can track one down, it might be useful in future." Ramiel leans against the shop window, "If you like, we could pop back in and see whether we could get anything more out of them? Or even to see if we could get you into their good graces for any future work they may need you for. I'm pretty rubbish at dealing with magic, but people, that I get." "No, wait. I have a better idea. No point endangering relations with someone you want to work with in future. Didn't you mention there was a second shop? We could go and see if we can get any more information there." Beck (Infinite Karma): "I got the location of the marketplace, we're better off asking there than going back to the Emerald Bough. It's on the Stem, north of here. But we should gather the others." Beck gives Ramiel more detailed directions and suggests beginning with a vendor named Seydou, as one of the few animal trainers who doesn't specialize in drugs and poisons. GM (zachol): Beck's sub-group reconvenes and heads back north. It's easy enough to get to the Kafesi market, once you know to push through the abandoned looking alleys. The market doesn't have any guards or checkpoints, just merchants setting up stalls and carpets like anywhere else in the city, slowly becoming more dense as you go east onto the Stem. The most you can say is it's significantly dingier back here, and none of the merchants are excitedly hawking their wares as you pass, just watching calmly. A few inquiries after Seydou send you further in, and down into a sort of basement area, a rare sight in the swampy, heavily canal-ed city. The only thing striking about Seydou is his body paint, stripes of white and blue that trail under his rather simple tunic and up his face. Well, the other striking thing is the two exquisitely furry... camels? Or, wait, are those 'llamas'? Two very shaggy, elongated sheep looking things, whatever they are, standing next to him while he moves several large crates around his section of the market. Occasionally he pries one open a little bit, some animals inside yip plaintively, and he nods and secures the crate again, setting it down somewhere else. He looks up at the group's approach, smiling widely. "Hello! How can I be of service?" Ramiel (CottonWolf): "Good afternoon. We're looking for some slightly unusual livestock for a client. Ojofiri chickens, specifically. Our job is to track them down and handle the negotiations. Name's Ramiel, broker. Who do I have the pleasure of dealing with?" Ramiel holds his hand out to shake. GM (zachol): The man grins widely, easily shaking Ramiel's hand. "Ramiel, friend, glad to meet you! I am called Seydou, and I'm sure I have just the thing you're looking for. Ojofiri, Ojofiri..." He shuffles crates back and forth, opening one up, and revealing a bunch of little chicks that start clustering around and peeping. There are around a dozen pure white ones, along with two that have black wings and lower bodies. He first indicates the white chicks, then picks up one of the black-winged chicks, delicately, displaying it for the group. "I do also have several Mzali whitebone chickens. But, you are looking for the Ojofiri, and here they are. Of course I know you're about to say, Seydou, everyone knows that the Ojofiri are a lavender purple! Indeed, that is true, but what isn't well known is that when young, their feathers are either very dark, almost black, or a clear white, and that as they mature, their crest, their wattle, their feathers, all over the lavender will fill in, and you will have your beautiful birds." He smiles, setting it back down in the crate, and leaning back. "For you, an incredible bargain! Two gold pieces each, for two Ojofiri chicks. And, I also have a special going, with a large shipment of Lirgeni water dogs from Jaha. I can see you all are capable explorers, the Lirgeni water dog is bred to hunt vermin, the giant swamp rats that can overwhelm travelers through the jungle by digging into their packs and spoiling their supplies. These are still pups, so they need some training, especially to heel and not run off when they see something darting through the water, but once trained they are fierce and loyal, an excellent hunting companion and a tireless guard to your supplies when encamped. Normally a well bred water dog is at least five gold pieces each, but I am willing to sell a group of three for only twelve. Three trained water dogs is enough to ensure your camp is free of vermin, your supplies secure, why they'd pay for themselves in a single expedition! How about it?" While he's been going through his patter he's opened up one of the other crates, and you can see a bunch of incredibly adorable short haired silvery blue puppies climbing over each other in excitement. OOC: It's pretty obvious these aren't Ojofiri chicks. A DC 15 Nature or Perception check will give you the right ammunition to directly contradict him. The puppies are legit, although it's going to take a year before they're actually useful as hunting dogs or pest control, and it's a little weird that he's got like twenty really well bred and normally very expensive dogs. 5 gp is a reasonable starting price you'd haggle down from for dogs like this, but he's already undercutting himself and seems like he wants to move them pretty quickly, bringing them up on the flimsiest of pretenses about you being 'explorers.' If you wanted some cheap dogs you could probably bump this down to maybe 3 gp each. Beck (Infinite Karma): Perception to appraise the chicks: 5+7=12 (failure) Beck stands silently and imposingly, not imagining that Seydou is the type to be easily intimidated, but more trying to give the impression that he considers 3/4 of what the weaselly merchant says to be a bold-faced lie. The dwarf simply shakes his head, not convinced that these aren't the same common looking chickens in every coop in the city. "Two isn't enough for breeding, even if they were actually able to hatch her dragon eggs someday..." Beck says to Ramiel. GM (zachol): Seydou sucks on his teeth, nodding along. "Ah, you have me there. The Ojofiri does not lay very often, that's why they are so rare, and indeed just these two would not be enough for anything long term. If you are looking to arrange a full coop, I have several contacts. It might take a little while to track down someone who is still breeding them, if you were looking to establish a flock that would be the best choice, but that would take quite a lot of work on my part, running all around the jungle..." His eyes flick between Beck and Ramiel. "Although... dragon eggs? There has to be a story there, I would love to hear it!" Beck (Infinite Karma): Beck shrugs his shoulders, "who knows if they're real dragon eggs at all, it's not my rumor to share. You know the tall tales that get told around here, I don't have enough imagination for them, between you and me. Job is for Ojofiri, not dragons." GM (zachol): "Fair, fair. Honestly I wouldn't even know whether dragon eggs keep." He grins. "Sounds like the kind of thing where people keep selling a big smooth stone back and forth. Actually, I'd be a little worried about finally testing it... I wouldn't want to get any backlash if my birds sit on a rock and it's somehow my fault no dragon hatches out." He glances back down at the puppies, and makes an exaggerated pout. "Are you sure you're not interested at all in the water dogs? Or... well, you all seem very capable, handling someone's business like this, there isn't anyone in your company, or any friends of yours, who might want some hunting dogs like these? I'd be willing to part with a little something if you could bring someone around who'd be interested... maybe your quartermaster, or if you have someone keeping your kennels? Ah, and the Ojofiri... it sounds a little familiar, I know there was someone who was still breeding them even now, you could talk to them about getting a flock, but it was a throwaway bit of trivia from a while ago, it's not coming to me easily..." Beck (Infinite Karma): Beck frowns at Seydou's relentless optimism. "We're of the same mind regarding that big smooth stone... I have to admit, I like you Seydou; I didn't think I was going to, but you're growing on me like a damned jelly barnacle." "I'll tell you what, if you've got a male pup and two bitches who aren't siblings, so I can breed them next year, I'm interested. I've always wanted to have some working animals around. I can give you ten gold for the trio, and if you remember where I can find an Ojofiri flock, and it pans out, two more." GM (zachol): Seydou smiles at that, beginning to look over the puppies. "Very clever, but take care not to go for more than one or two generations without bringing in some new blood. I do know who came from which litter, so this shouldn't be difficult, and I'll even throw in a nice basket to carry them off in. I'd insist on a small deposit to at least cover my time, though." As he speaks he still focuses on the puppies, gently nudging them or picking one up and peering at them. "Your best bet is Makena, upstairs. Now, I do not know for certain that she has Ojofiri with her today, but I do know that she still keeps them, along with many other breeds, and that today is the only day she'll come in for several weeks, if not months. If she does not have any right now, she will be able to arrange for your benefactor to receive a flock in due time. And, if the dragon does not hatch, well, that will be an issue for her to explain." He looks up. "If you can't find her, I can direct you to her farm. It might take a little doing, but Ojofiri are very scarce these days--any other mucking around trying to find them would always just send you to her in time." Beck (Infinite Karma): "I appreciate the advice, and the basket; I wouldn't force inbreeding on these loyal animals - one pack is enough for me. No need to worry about my competition, Seydou," Beck replies. "You haven't minced words, so here is my bargain: you earned your two gold for referring me to Makena. I'll talk to her right now, and if she's got the Ojofiri, even at her farm, we're square. Otherwise, you owe me a llama to guard my puppies." Ramiel (CottonWolf): Ramiel nods at Seydou, and then prepares to follow Beck to Malkena. "Very smooth", he whispers. GM (zachol): Seydou sets a gently shaking basket on top of a crate in easy reach with a flourish, and tips an invisible hat to Beck. "Ah hah, perhaps, perhaps. Well, good day my fine gentlemen, and I hope they serve you well."
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Sep 24, 2021 04:00
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Visiting Makena For Valfane, the walk back to the city and onto the stem (the 'Stem'?) is still pretty wet, uneven clouds rolling in and the day cooling off even as it nears high noon. Makena is easy enough to find, once you realize there are some ramps leading up to a pavilion, the 'second floor.' She's shaved bald, wearing large but otherwise plain earrings, and is a sort of easily disgruntled looking middle aged lady, the kind you might see yelling at kids messing up her laundry, or asking you to make an order or get out of the way at a food stand. Here, she's got two strikingly colored adult chickens in a large wooden cage, one almost pure black with thin white borders at the tips of its feathers, and the other golden yellow, a bright, almost gleaming bronze. Then there's a small open crate, with relentlessly peeping chicks inside. She looks you up and down as you approach, not smiling, but also not particularly upset or suspicious, though she does seem a little nonplussed at Valfane's general... 'non-farmerly' look. "Morning. Here for chickens?" Valfane (Ripley): "Yes ma'am," Valfane says, trying his best to look responsible and trustworthy in front of the no-nonsense merchant. I wish one of the others was here... "I was hoping to find Ojofiri, actually... Mind if I take a look?" He gestures at the crate hopefully. GM (zachol): Makena smiles slightly, moving the crate of chicks around to display. "Ah, that makes a little more sense. I was worried you're some rich idiot's dogsbody, looking to scatter some show birds around his manor. Always ends up being a hassle when the birds run off or die from a surprise cold snap and they somehow expect a refund. Rich people are the cheapest, most troublesome customers imaginable." There are seven chicks in the crate. Hm. "But, I'm surprised, these are going faster than I expected. Although I suppose people decided they're too much of a hassle to care for and stopped bothering, but then everyone had the same idea, and now there's nobody around to sell anymore. Mmm, funny. Well, four gold each." You can attempt to bargain with a DC 15 check with an appropriate social skill (like Diplomacy or Intimidate) or a DC 13 Mercantile Lore check. However, they're going fast, and if you take the time to haggle back and forth she'll sell one of them in the meantime. Ryuujin (Draahzin): As the groups get formed, then the group he finds himself in splits up Draahzin looks between the mini groups and sees that Valfane seems to be going off by himself. So he decides to follow him. He carefully watches Valfane on the errand. Once Valfane seems to be getting nervous he will walk up.He will casually clap a claw on Valfane's leg. "You found some Ojofiri chicks?" He will then take a look into the box. He then looks to the woman. "Are these all you have?" GM (zachol): The woman looks quizzically at the kobold. "Yessir. At least here. Ojofiri do not lay often, I was lucky with even this many, to start with an entire ten chicks early this morning. I have a flock back at the farm, but they wouldn't be for sale. Perhaps in another few months I might have another brood I could part with." Ryuujin (Draahzin): Draahzin nods. "Of course. Need to save some for breeding more in the future." He nods again. "Of course. We will take all seven if you are willing to part with them all." He starts to bring out his money, taking care of the matter right now and then getting reimbursed when the group reconvenes. "Oh yes. How would you suggest transporting them? In a box like that?" Valfane (Ripley): Valfane crouches down to get a better look at the chicks and buy himself a moment to decide whether or not to haggle. The steep price makes sense if they're selling as well as Makena says, and he's already met one of her other customers, but it's not his money to burn... Fortunately he's interrupted by the arrival of Draahzin. "Hey mate, you caught up," he says as casually as possible to cover his surprise. Nothing strange to see here, certainly no students. As the kobold quickly agrees the deal, Valfane tries his luck: "For that price, could you throw in the crate? Don't want them to get jostled on their way home." GM (zachol): Makena nods and smiles, giving the chicks one last look before getting things secured. "Seven chicks and a crate, plenty of straw. I'll take off a little bit, let's say twenty-six gold, pleasure doing business with you. Good luck with them, and your hatching. Ojofiri hens grow slowly, so it might be five to six months before they settle." Just around when she finishes securing the crate at the corners with some rope, a motley crew appears from a nearby ramp. It's Beck, Ramiel and Draahzin! Valfane (Ripley): "Thanks, Makena, we'll take good care of them," Valfane says, before raising a hand in greeting as he catches sight of Beck and Ramiel. "Hey, friends - find anything good? These are the Ojofiri chicks we heard about," he adds, nodding at the crate. OOC: How large / cumbersome is the crate going to be to carry safely, given that the chicks are apparently extremely delicate? Is it a one person job? Ramiel (CottonWolf): "Ah, Valfane! Good to see you! Beck just tracked down a lead which brought us up here. Have you had any success?" Valfane (Ripley): "The chicks were selling like griddle cakes on festival day, but luckily Makena had seven left," Valfane says, looking fairly cheerful. To the merchant he adds, "Thanks, ma'am, good luck with your flock. They're beautiful birds." GM (zachol): Makena smiles back faintly. "Good luck as well, and thank you." It's a mostly one person job. The crate and chicks are fairly light, just somewhat awkward. One person should be able to lift it easily enough, and carry it on normal streets, but when dealing with some of the tight corners (especially these alleys) a second person in front would be good as just an extra hand. Once you get onto the actual streets a single person can handle the crate fine during the trip back to the school. Moving back to the PbP thread. If Group W heads downstairs, they'll run across Group E, and similarly with Group E heading upstairs spotting Group W. Everyone can choose to either head back as part of one large group, accompanying whoever has the chicks, or linger at the Kafesi market to do some forbidden shopping. Regardless, finishing thoughts, handling any loose ends, and bumping into each others' groups should all happen in the PbP thread.
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Sep 24, 2021 04:06
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Group W Draahzin Dragonscaled Kobold Summoner Draahzin suggests one of the taller students hold the box of chicks, he then accompanies them back, possibly calling for Silver Scale if necessary to provide a better screen against busy streets possibly jostling the box.
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Sep 24, 2021 04:40
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Kakka (ooc: assuming this is after meeting up with the other group, and seeing they have chickens and returning) "I'll, uh... I'll catch up with you in a moment! I just, uh, want to see what..." Kakka will then go and check out the scrolls he saw earlier, and see about how much a small sample and safe handling of the NecroFungus costs...for research, of course. Also, if there's anything akin to an semi-illegal ant farm to purchase.
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Sep 24, 2021 21:38
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That's How You Get Ants Kakka gives the truffles another look, asking after a small sample. Jumaane seems a little surprised, but nods along, giving it serious consideration. "Ah, for tests? Well, for one of these smaller truffles I'd ask for at least six gold. As a favor I can cut one in half, but that's the most I could do, even for a friend of Scarlet Hood." Most good sized truffles are 10 to 15 gp. The smallest portion he's willing to sell is a small one halved for 3 gp. The truffles are primarily useful as materials to Craft spell and ritual components, meaning they can potentially have their value doubled. The most common ritual these truffles are used for is call spirit, a level 5 ritual which uses components worth 50 gp, and thus materials worth 25 gp--typically a single truffle and 10-15 gp of further materials such as consecrated wax for the candles. Asking around for 'live ants' and 'ant queens,' Kakka gets directed to a 'Mr. Scorpion.' Apparently there are several merchants offering things like deadly spiders or scorpions, but "only Mr. Scorpion would have any live ant queens to start a nest," it seems. Mr. Scorpion is easy enough to find, a fairly plain looking Osirian wearing off-white robes and a turban. He'd be completely unremarkable in Sothis or Totra, but here he's notably 'the Osirian' that you've been directed to. Mr. Scorpion is quite relaxed, apparently uninterested in any hard sells, and seems to think that purchasing a queen to start a nest is perfectly sensible and a common request. "You're asking at an interesting time. I think someone at the Magaambya had some kind of experiment go wrong, bugs of all types have been behaving completely erratic. They're now drawn towards the school, even normally calm ones try to escape and migrate. I've needed to secure my terrariums much more tighter than usual." He opens up a case, holding up a small glass jar. Inside there's some loose dirt and quite a lot of leaves, and ants. You can identify a queen and a dozen workers, climbing all over each other. "I don't sell pest ants, like grease ants. Bad business. Right now I'd have queens for only a few types. Driver ants are a little difficult to keep, but some people use them for pest control or as sutures. Weaver ants like these need to be kept in trees, fruit growers use them often. Last, I do have some fire ant queens, although you should know they're banned in the city. With their... current behavior, I would warn against trying to keep them anywhere close, if they got out and caused trouble the school could maybe have ways to linking it back to you. Even if not, the ants will still try to escape, and fire ants are difficult even in good times. I could also track down queens for, say, yellowback sugar ants, or some other ones if you have something you want." A jar with one to three fertile queens (depending on species) and several workers is 6 sp for a domestic working ant, such as weaver or driver ants, and 3 gp for the fire ant or similarly dangerous ones such as bull ants. You need to make a DC 18 Deception check to purchase dangerous ants such as fire ants, as Mr. Scorpion does not want to sell to anyone who will keep them locally (and especially not to an actual student). Mr. Scorpion can sell most types of exotic or working insects, arachnids, etc, with the notable exception of bees. Wasps are apparently doable, though. He seems to be the only one in the Kafesi market who actually sells domestic working queens, instead of the one-off assassination tools or poison sources the other insect sellers have. However, Mr. Scorpion does not sell snakes or other non-arthropods.
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Sep 25, 2021 05:09
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Kakka Kakka will buy both the fungus and a jar Weaver Ant with a single queen "An experiment gone wrong?" Kakka shakes his head morosely. "Experiments gone wrong, I suppose it's to be expected with all those students nearby. " Anything else I should know about them? What do they eat" "Well, thanks!" Kakka moves quickly away, and towards the group and the school. bobthenameless fucked around with this message at 10:30 on Sep 25, 2021 |
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Sep 25, 2021 10:09
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Valfane Valfane looks less pleased with himself as he realises that his good luck in finding the chicks also means he'll probably have to be the one to lug them back to the academy. He sighs, looking more enclosed by shadows for a brief moment, then carefully picks up the crate. OOC: Heading back to the school directly, hopefully with assistance from Draahzin and anyone else who's finished shopping. I'm assuming we can stop to reimburse Draazhin once we're somewhere quieter. Also if anyone stronger wanted to step in to carry it, they're more than welcome. Ripley fucked around with this message at 11:11 on Sep 25, 2021 |
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Sep 25, 2021 11:00
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Ramiel Tiefling Battledancer Swashbuckler "We can take turns with that crate if you like, Valfane. You should definitely carry it the last leg though, to the victor the spoils and all that."
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Sep 25, 2021 12:46
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Valfane "I'll take you up on that, thanks mate. Team effort though, I was just lucky - and you're not going to make me drink that bottle of rum all by myself."
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Sep 25, 2021 13:26
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 Scarlet Hood Scarlet, by this point, has completely lost any sense of urgency. There are purple chicks, they're going to the school, and she's in no particular rush to head back to the school. Admittedly, she's not in any particular rush to stay at the markets either and simply takes a meandering path back. Surprisingly, she does remember to get her beads back on before making it to campus.
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Sep 25, 2021 16:12
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Mr. Scorpion twists the glass jar a little, long fingers brushing against a spot on one of the leaves where you can see tiny little bugs blending in. "The ants shepherd their own livestock, the honeydew scales. You need to set up a large terrarium with branches and leaves, the ants move the scale bugs around, they farm them on their own. The ants eat the honeydew and keep the scale bugs safe. In time you need to establish saplings in the terrarium, living trees. At that point they'll all be happy together." He smiles. It's a little creepy. "Good luck, and thank you as well." The School The group generally head back, Kakka and Scarlet both falling behind with their extra shopping and Beck carrying his basket of puppies. The storms are rolling in, the temperature dropping sharply, and at some point they check in on the chicks, but Makena packed in plenty of extra straw so they're warm enough. By the time they make it back to the school it's starting to drizzle slowly, and Esi's set up a massive open tent (almost a pavilion, with hefty poles sunk in the ground and a framework of rafters holding up the canvas roof) in front of the dorms. Anchor Root is there as well, but Haibram seems to have hosed off already. Esi looks up from her book at your approach, and smiles and stands, while Anchor Root looks up shyly from her... knitting? Apparently she's knitting, though she starts packing whatever it is away into a bag. Esi smiles at Valfane, tapping an open spot on the long table, though she also looks curiously at Beck and his basket. "Oya, did you shop for a little extra? I'd be curious to hear. So, how did it go, you tracked down the Ojofiri at least, right?"
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Sep 26, 2021 02:14
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Valfane Valfane gratefully rests the crate on the table. "Hey presto, Ojofiri chicks. The seller was Makena - she says she has a flock of them on her farm, so you might be able to buy more chicks directly in a few... months? Next year?" He trails off uncertainly, the question of how fast chickens breed never having crossed his mind before.
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Sep 26, 2021 08:49
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Esi looks a little confused. "Makena? I suppose I don't... keep up to date on farmers. Anchor Root, does she sound familiar?" She turns to Anchor Root, who's staring up at the rafters and idly tapping her teeth with her claws. "Um, I know about her, but it's a little surprising. Makena raises hardy layers and show breeds, like for ships and manors. Almost more pets than livestock, normal farmers can't really afford them, they aren't productive enough. It sort of makes sense, though?" Anchor Root stands, moving to check on the crate of chicks. "Definitely didn't expect it, though. Bisola might not be too happy to hear about it, Makena... isn't very popular. Hmm." She very gently nudges the chicks around, lifting one up briefly before setting it back down, and waves her fingers idly over them as they sort of climb around and beg for food. "Well, they're plenty healthy, so that's good, and... uh..." Abruptly, she seems to realize that she's gotten very close, and has been talking much more openly. Her shyness reasserts itself, and she just sort of 'eeps' and backs away, glancing between everyone. Esi sighs, moving to look at the chicks herself, but just sort of makes a face at them and addresses Valfane. "Seems fine to me. I think she mentioned hearing about ten chicks being available, but I'm not sure how many she expected we could buy. Did you stay under budget?"
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Sep 26, 2021 09:13
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Group W Draahzin Dragonscaled Kobold Summoner Draahzin steps up. "They were going for four gold coins each. We could have haggled it down, but you had already expressed that we shouldn't haggle to keep some of Anchor Root's gold, and I feared she might sell them in the time we tried to haggle. I was willing to cover any extra cost, luckily she brought it down to twenty six gold for the lot of them. And after Valfane's words even threw in the box and straw to help transport them."
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Sep 26, 2021 16:57
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zachol posted:"Oya, did you shop for a little extra? I'd be curious to hear. So, how did it go, you tracked down the Ojofiri at least, right?" Beck reaches into the basket, lazily scritching the puppies, and earning a few happy yelps and nips from the little creatures. "I had some money from my stipend, and raising some working dogs would be a good use of my time. With any luck, a whole pack in a few years. Valfane was quite shrewd, by the way, tracked down the Ojofiri even sooner than the people whose job it is to know these things."
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Sep 26, 2021 17:23
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Valfane "I'll chip in towards your six gold," Valfane tells Draahzin. Stipend or no stipend, he's struck by the kobold's generosity. "Ah, I was just lucky," he says quietly again in response to Beck. If allowed, he'll take the chance to stroke one of the puppies.
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Sep 26, 2021 22:33
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Esi frowns. "Four gold? For chickens? That sounds really expensive." Anchor Root raises a "Um, it's probably not, especially with the shortage. Two to three gold was standard a couple years ago, but things are different now. If Makena had already sold three this morning I think that's... probably reasonable... Bisola should really be the one to pay. Or if she's going to fight on it, then I can buy two of them. If she's insisting on the budget, then she can just be happy with five for eighteen gold." Esi sighs, then turns to the group. "Alright, I'll deal with Bisola. It's probably going to suck, and sometimes people have unreasonable expectations and form grudges, but that's just how it goes. There's a difference between being helpful and letting people walk over you. We don't always take payment, but we also aren't in the business of buying everything for everyone. Anyway, you don't need to pay yourselves. Either Bisola will cover the extra cost or she can settle for five. Keeping two for the school is probably a good idea anyway. Maybe. And, uh..." Esi trails off as Beck opens up the basket, and Anchor Root immediately darts forward. "Ohgoodnesspuppies! And they're Lirgeni! That's amazing, I don't think I've ever seen full purebred ones, most of the 'water dogs' that get passed around as ship dogs are just mutts. Oh, and we'll need to set up a kennel, they need to get used to confinement and transportation early... they're going to be expedition dogs, right? And we need to get them acclimated to some of the cats and other animals around here, it would be really bad if they attacked another student's companion. Yeeheehee, so cute!" Gnoll laughs are pretty unsettling, wow. Regardless, Esi just smirks and starts settling the chicks in their crate, packing them up. Anchor Root glances over. "Oh, you're going? Did you need me to come with or..." "No, that's alright, I'll handle Bisola. Also, for all of you, the rest of your day is free. That said, tomorrow's task is going to involve gremlins, a type of fey. If you're not familiar with them, which is totally understandable, I'd suggest you spend a little time at the library reading up on them." Esi will deal with Bisola, either asking for an extra 6 gp or settling it at 5 chicks for 18 gp, with the other two staying on campus. Anchor Root is unlikely to pay the full 8 gp for them on her own, they'll discuss it with the teachers since they'll end up shared by other students for projects. Either way, the party doesn't need to contribute. General understanding of fey and gremlins is covered by Nature; anyone trained in Nature should be familiar with fey, and at least know the gist about what gremlins are about--unpleasant tricksters that break and sabotage things and are generally a massive headache. Time spent at the library will mainly be about getting familiar with it and getting an overview of what fey actually are. You can head to the library, or do other things such as get your new animals settled (for Beck or Kakka), or go back out into town. Any remaining activities for today are going to be mostly glossed over or montaged, so feel free to suggest a little something that sounds interesting. Also if Kakka or Scarlet Hood want to show up, they'll likely find Beck and Anchor Root talking about the puppies and making plans.
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Sep 26, 2021 23:37
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Scarlet Hood Scarlet arrives just in time to hear the word 'gremlin,' and she brightens, "Oh! I know about those. Well, kind of. They don't really like it around here because chimes are a lot like bells and they don't really like those at all, so I've mostly just heard talk." There's a bit of a think, then she says, "...Does anyone have any extra bells? That might be good to take care of tonight, if only so they don't mess with our stuff tomorrow."
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Sep 27, 2021 01:55
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Esi pauses, crate of chicks in her arms. "Um... maybe? I remember hearing that iron bells... don't work? Or is that just if they're, like, regular cast iron? There was definitely something about, like, normal cowbells not working. Wooden clackers too, even the really nice carved ones with good tone. 'Not shiny enough,' whatever that's supposed to mean. Anyway, Xhokan might have them if you can't find them anywhere else." She thinks for a few moments, frowning. "We... probably should string some up around the dorm, though. Yeah that's probably a good idea. I'll have to ask... someone... what kinds you need... hmm..." She trails off, mumbling to herself as she heads out to make the delivery.
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Sep 27, 2021 02:08
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Group W Draahzin Dragonscaled Kobold Summoner Draahzin steps nods along when hearing about what will happen to the chickens and about the rest of the day, and the following day's lesson. He is not particularly familiar with gremlins so he gets ready to head to the library to research about them, though he does listen to the conversation with Scarlet Hood about bells.
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Sep 27, 2021 02:57
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Kakka Along the way back, Kakka attaches his beads back to his belt as discreetly as possible. Kakka arrives at the school a short time later, and sees the group mingling around the pavilion. He walks up to the group, and hangs around a bit with anyone wanting to talk or chat, but looks a little...antsy to leave. "Oh! Puppies! Wow, what cute little things..." He'll quickly excuse himself here, and heads to the school store. Along the way, he stops and stares intently at various branches and leaves, judging whether they are fit for royalty. He picks up those befitting Her Majesty and stuffs them and some handfuls of dirt in his pack before heading into the store. -- "Hiya Xhokan! Tell me, what do you know about...buying trees around Nantambu? Also, what's the smallest alchemy lab you have? Also hi, howareyou goodtoseeyouagain." Kakka gives a small curt nod. Kakka will buy a suitable terranium, and/or raw materials that are available to craft such a terrarium. He'll also ask about buying a tree, preferably more of a small shrub or two that will fit in his room, in the near future. He then remembers this is a school where druids are located. He'll also purchase an alchemy lab if it is available, as compact as possible for the room. He'll be a bit circumspect in answering directly what the terrarium/materials are for. -- "This...may be too much to carry...but here it goes!" Kakka laboriously makes his way back to his room. Struggling a bit with everything, but committed to doing it himself. He sets everything down back in the room, then some of the rest of the pack, then takes a glance around the room. He looks corner to corner, judging size..and getting everything aligned. He puts the terrarium, dirt, and branches under a window. If there's a free corner, away from the sunlight he'll place the alchemy lab and Fungus and an assortment of some of the herbs and catalysts and bases he has sprawled around in various belt pouches. He takes a look around, and noticing some blank parts in the wall, begins to hang some herbs and vines along the wall. Then, seeing some empty space on the ceiling, hangs a few drying herb pouches where sunlight barely hits them. Finally, he places the nine-ring sword on the wall opposite the window, so that the sword can see the sky. He softly says a quick prayer to Hei Feng, then looks around his room and begins mumbling. He paces the perimeter of the walking space, and keep muttering softly a few of the same Tengu phrases. He'll end with a loud Caw Caw Caw. Then, he glances at the sword, cocks his head, then takes a bit of small adhesive to a gold coin and mount it on the wall centered below the sword. He nods quickly. Shuffling some stuff out of inventory and into the room during this too. He goes to the terrarium, and lets the queen out on the ground of her new domain. She sits there. He waits. She moved a little! He waits longer. "Hey Zilch, she's amazing isn't she?" The octopus lays a tentacle over his wrist. «Small.» "Oh come on! She's barely started...and hey you're kinda sm.." «Now. Not always So.» "Oh...yeah. Well, looks like the terrarium is big enough for her, there can't be that many of them, right?" He waits and watches the coronation of the Queen unfold. She moved another few inches! He humbly offers some bits of bread and a small dish of water. He checks the security perimeter of her realm. She waggles an antenna. Then he cocks his head, and says out loud. "I wonder what the others are up to?" He'll step outside, and Cast Sigil nine times on the door. He draws a circle, with 8 tentacles equidistant emanating outwards. He'll tap all of them to show. -- Dinnertime (i think) He then walks around the dorms and see what he sees and if there's any hijinks to be found. He keeps an eye out for Haibram and Ignaci, mainly to chat about alchemy and what the school's really like with Ignaci and to ask Haibram if he knows about any bug experiment going on campus..and tell him about the rumor he heard in town, and ask what he does and is studying right now and how the dream token works. Did Haibram make it? He won't overly look for either if they're not around. He would be coy and focused on getting the room set up until leaving the room. He'll ask them both about branches and advice there too, and ask all the other newcomers he sees what their thoughts are about the branches of Magaambya. Also, he barely knows anything about the school and Mwangi other than what he heard from the travel in, mostly about a book he read. At midnight that night, after the first day of the new moon, he'll prick a talon and squeeze a drop of blood into the terrarium near the queen, then head to bed. (ooc: in my head this was all basically arrival back - dinner but flexible for hijinks and gossip) bobthenameless fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Sep 27, 2021 |
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Sep 27, 2021 04:10
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Valfane Valfane makes his way towards the library for some brief remedial Gremlin Studies. Scarlet's talk of bells reminds him of the craftsman Njiwa Boro who was recommended by Xhokan, so he plans to head there after the library and maybe pick up a new instrument. If Njiwa knows something about bells and gremlins, that's just a bonus. In the evening if he gets a chance, he'll show the marble from Olamide to one of the senior students just to ask what it is and figure out whether it could be contraband (that he needs to hide) or a practical joke. Ripley fucked around with this message at 16:31 on Sep 27, 2021 |
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Sep 27, 2021 08:41
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Ramiel Tiefling Battledancer Swashbuckler Ramiel has never even heard of a gremlin, so he joins the group heading to the library for research. After that, he aims to head back into town and attempts to gather information of whether there's a congregation of Nocticula anywhere in the city. OOC: I'm happy to actually roll Gather Information on that if required, or it can just be handwaved. Up to you!
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Sep 27, 2021 10:49
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Scarlet Hood Scarlet thinks that getting small array of different types of bells from Xhokan, if only to cover her bases, will be a great idea. And, really, it's not like she has huge needs for the stipend to begin with, so she figures she might as well get started making her little nook under the large tree on the dormitory lawn more festive. And, hey, shiny things are really neat! So, as the night comes to a close, that's what the little leshy occupies herself with.
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Sep 27, 2021 16:48
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Bhekimp'lo, Mbe'ke Dwarf Barbarian (Beck for short) Beck can't help but smile at Anchor Root's enthusiasm. The little gnoll could hardly finish a sentence before. If Valfane or any of the others want to visit with the puppies, Beck gives them the chance. "I thought they'd make good expedition dogs, yes," the serious dwarf replies with a laugh that even he didn't expect. "And wouldn't it be appropriate for the school to preserve anything we can from Lirgen? Could you help me set up that kennel today, Anchor Root?" he asks, emphasizing the request for her help whether he actually needs it or not. The past few weeks have been strange for Beck, he starts to realize. Most of his life, stoicism has been his only response to life. Self-sufficiency, seriousness, and devotion to his daily duties, with little thought to the future, friendship, or his own goals and desires. But with the relationships he's already begun to build here, he actually feels stronger - there are people around that want to help, especially at the things he is unfamiliar with. Though it's a pleasant thought, a rude intrusion comes to mind, don't screw this up, Bhekimp'lo... one bad step and they'll send you back from whence you came! OOC: Beck is trained in nature so I supposed he knows the background info on Fey and Gremlins, so he'll go off to set up a kennel, and if anyone wants to play with puppies, now is the time to join!
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Sep 27, 2021 16:50
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Archhorn Library (Draahzin, Valfane, Ramiel) When you come in you see a very large circular desk, with a chair for the head librarian in the middle. Sitting there is a very old, almost ancient, and very sour looking northern elf, reading a book. She's sitting in a way that seems simultaneously hunched and... leisurely, lounging, as if this is the very most she can relax, one leg tucked under the other, one arm dangling at her side, a very casual sort of pose that is still hunched and stiff.  Cecilia "Silja" Neulanterava As each of you enter, her eyes flicker briefly to your beads, but besides that minor acknowledgement she doesn't greet anyone, and certainly doesn't go into any kind of long winded spiel about proper library etiquette. You suspect the rules are extremely simple: don't be loud, don't mess around with the books. Here and there you see a sort of wooden cart, a little set of shelves with a handful of books on them. Presumably you should put books back on those when you're done with them? Or... maybe back where they were? You're pretty sure another rule is not to just put them back wherever out of order. There are a few other students at desks, and hushed conversations reveal that books are arranged by topic, then by author, and that fey and other beings of the First World can be found grouped over in a certain section, near other books regarding other extraplanar beings such as angels or devils or elementals. Unfortunately, organizing by a topic as broad as 'fey' and then by author means any books specifically about gremlins are going to be a little difficult to find. This is compounded by most books not actually having titles on their spines, and most books on fey being about more... momentous types of fey, the various fairy courts, and beings such as dryads, brughadatches, redcaps, vilderavn, and yaganty. Gremlins, in contrast, are more thought of as just pests, often used as a dismissive example in an aside when talking about some other, more dangerous and noble type of fey. Also, it seems like the section is primarily about the First World, about the dangers and etiquette of traveling there, and that fey who are more native to the material plane (such as gremlins) are something of an afterthought. You still eventually can find some information, especially if you're going to linger all day. Some major takeaways are that gremlins aren't particularly unusual for fey, and have the same common weaknesses, such as a vulnerability to cold iron weapons. Gremlins are also consistently referred to as thieves and 'wreckers,' who enjoy destroying things, with favorite targets based on their type. For example, the gnagrif, described as 'looking like a goblin's head with arms, legs, and a shark's mouth and teeth,' infests structures, digging through the walls and foundations to collapse them. There are some references to bells, although none of the authors can seem to agree whether gremlins are actually repelled by bells. It's a common superstition, and many authors simply say that it works, while others say it's a myth. After some fairly dedicated studying the picture seems to be that there is a way to enchant bells to actually ward off gremlins, that nonmagical bells do not have any power against them, and yet that gremlins... seem to believe in the myth anyway, and will avoid items and places with bells hung around them out of their own superstition? Which would explain why some people just say that you can hang bells to repel gremlins, since apparently that usually does actually work. Just... not for any actual reason. Besides the gremlins believing in the superstition themselves. Hm. Finally, you also find a small pamphlet that is purely dedicated to decrying the 'loathsome and terrible scrit,' which smear the ink on the pages of a book all around until the book is illegible, and then eat them. Actually the pamphlet seems to be a local work, with several references to the Archhorn and other libraries on the island, and the ways you can recognize an infestation early. Hmmm. If you ask a student about the librarian, they get a sudden look of alarm and glance side to side, and in even more hushed tones say that if you absolutely must, you can refer to her as 'Madam Neula,' but that she isn't a teacher or lore-master, and that just 'Madam Librarian' is a better way if you need to address her directly. Apparently there are student workers and regular, non-head librarians that are much better to talk to if you're having trouble looking for something. Overall you get the same vibe you normally would from superstitious townsfolk telling you the local witch will turn you into a lizard if you bother her, except these are well educated students going into the same minor panic. If anyone has experience with elves (like Ramiel, or anyone with Elven Lore) or makes a DC 13 Society check, they'll realize that even old elves simply do not age in the same way humans do, and that no elf, no matter how old, would normally look the way the librarian does--elves past the age of eight hundred years or so simply pass on, without any period of becoming decrepit. It's possible the librarian is somehow truly ancient, having broken free of the usual elven lifespan while still 'growing older,' or it might be that she's the victim of some kind of curse. If it's not just a curse and she's somehow been growing older while moving past the usual limitations, she's at least a thousand years old, and likely much, much older. Even the oldest of elves do not look like that, there's very little difference between a four hundred year old elf and a seven hundred year old elf. You have a very strong gut feeling that it is a bad idea to ask the librarian about this directly, or even to discuss it within the library, where she... might overhear, even in the back, somehow. Age doesn't always necessarily lead to power, even with elves that have hundreds of years to practice, but... still probably a bad idea. The Student Store (Kakka, Scarlet Hood) Xhokan looks a little confused at Kakka's request, but brightens on the mention of the terrarium. "Ah! A habitat! Yes, yes, the ones I have are suitable for most animals and also for miniature jungles, quite a few students enjoy a developing an assemblage of exotic plants. A large display terrarium with glass all around is usually a little expensive for most students' personal habitats, but we have mixed construction ones available, with a single glass wall and the remaining ones made of this composite material made of stones, resin and cement. In the future you might want to consider building a refined alchemical clear resin habitat, they are much lighter and sturdier, and suitable for travel. Many students who keep reptiles and insects enjoy mixing and casting their own. Mhm. For a starting point for the plants, I can make suggestions about cuttings, several local trees will still grow well in confinement, and I can also sell you some fern nodes. If you're looking to develop an exotic plant display they can still serve as a baseline and backdrop around the back perimeter. If this is for a snake, I also can get you set up with a separate little enclosure for a mouse colony. For lizards and other types, several students farm crickets and mealworms. And of course for the substrate itself, you'll need perlite, clay, enriched soil, hm hm hm..." He wanders off to what might be a gardening area, retrieving several smallish canvas sacks and gesturing at... well, a variety of what seem to be cleaned and sanitized driftwoods and some halved and hollowed out stones, along with a tiny ceramic castle. It seems like the minimum for a largish and well stocked habitat is 2 gp, with most of that being the terrarium itself. Additions like the pieces of driftwood and the ferns are only a few copper, although the ceramic castle is an entire 3 sp on its own. A mediumish terrarium that will have room for cuttings plus 2 gp including the growing materials, and there are larger ones for 5 and 10 gp. Full glass display terrariums are five times the cost of a composite terrarium. Finally, going all out on ferns and driftwood and pretty rocks and the ceramic castle is 5 sp. He also has a standard little alchemist's kit for dorm rooms, the alchemist's lab in the core book, for 5 gp. Asked about bells, Xhokan seems a little confused, but... "Ah, if this is about gremlins, then the bells must be very shiny. Silver, at least! I have a few strings of them, normally I'd ask for 5 silver coins for each length, but if this is for a project I can lend them to you temporarily. Do not destroy them!" The bells can be loaned for a few days, but a permanent purchase (such as to hang above the dorm entrances) are 5 sp per string. Esi will eventually come and purchase two strings of bells herself, for the two main dorm entrances. You might beat her to it, or buy a string for your own room to hang over your door (or above your little nook, for Scarlet). Njiwa's Bellshop (Valfane) Njiwa greets Valfane cheerfully, especially after he spots Valfane's student beads. He sells an almost endless variety of bells and chimes, some made out of metal, while others are made of highly polished and very fine woods. The larger instruments are the mbira, or kalimba, a sort of wooden hollow body with a series of plucked metal tines, and then several types of instruments like the xylophone, some wooden marimbas with resonating gourds or metal pipes, and smaller metal ones named 'bell lyres.' The ones like marimbas generally need stands, though there are some hand-held instruments that are a small set of bells or bars on a frame, that you could play a repeating line on in an ensemble. If you ask after the wire strings, he smiles and shows you a set of alarmingly fine looking and thin strings. Most common low strings are made of gut wrapped with steel wire, the idea of metal strings isn't foreign to you, but these include unwrapped higher strings that are just... well, a piece of wire. Completely even, extremely thin wire, something you'd normally expect to snap just from trying to tension. Similarly, the wire wrapping on the low strings is much thinner and much more even than you'd expect. They aren't necessarily going to improve your music or anything, but you can anticipate they'd be significantly louder than normal gut strings, helpful in, perhaps, an open park, or in a crowded bar. On the other hand, they need to be cranked tighter, and on a very cheap or old instrument they could dig into the hardware or outright snap the neck. If you ask about gremlins and bells, he says he doesn't know much about gremlins ("isn't that a myth, about the bells?"), but that he does sell the small, untuned spherical bells, "for shakers and to put on the little cats' collars," very cheaply. Instruments like the kalimba or marimba come in a broad variety of price points and sizes. Particularly, the large stationary marimba with highly polished keys and well tuned metal resonators can climb up to 100 gp, as a virtuoso heavy musical instrument. A single cowbell or pair of clackers is 5 cp, a set of chimes or other musical bells is 4 sp, and a nice handheld kalimba is 8 sp. A set of fine metal strings along with additional hardware such as reinforced pegs is 1 gp. They don't provide an outright bonus like a virtuoso instrument, but can counteract situations like playing in an open area or a crowded room. Small bells are 1 cp each, with a string or shaker of a dozen costing 1 sp. They're shiny, but not very shiny. Nocticulan Inquiries (Ramiel) Bizarrely, as you make a few discreet enquiries into Nocticula, you sometimes get confusion and a simple "no, sorry," but more often instead you receive... embarrassed looks, people glancing from side to side and stammering an "I wouldn't know anything about that" before fleeing. Or, also fairly often, people seem mildly outraged and almost disgusted, asking "what kind of person do you think I am" before turning away with a harrumph. The most you notice is that people sometimes look towards a section of town in particular. At first it's just broadly to the west, but as (or if) you move towards the stem it becomes more towards the north, until you realize they're generally glancing at the 'entertainment district' in embarrassment, the area near the Black Crowned Crane. The brief impression you've gotten is that this is the closest thing Nantambu has to a 'red light district.' There are more distinguished forms of entertainment there too, in fact that's where the majority of the 'real' theaters are, but it seems like the area combines more formalized, more 'northern,' and less communal types of entertainment along with... yet other sorts of entertainment. There's a section of town called the Dance Courts that immediately interested you, where people are expected to spontaneously join in with the dances and other performances. In contrast, the 'entertainment district' has shows, with very distinct audiences and performers. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that that part of town is also closer to the markets and docks, and other parts of town that are more... outsider facing. You could keep poking around this area, but it's getting late; although in one sense that's probably even better, there's apparently another big activity tomorrow, and it's not as if they're really going anywhere. You also remember that Mariama seemed to know about followers of Nocticula off hand, you could just ask her this evening, if you can find her. Puppy Time (Beck) Anchor Root lights up at the request to set up a kennel. "Sure! Oh, I've got a few folding cages, for animal transport, one of them's about jaguar sized, it should be just perfect for a few months now for all three, though you'll want to get them used to individual kennels eventually. And we'll need blankets... actually, did you pick out a room already? No of course you did, you slept somewhere, but was it upstairs? I know that some of the rooms near the middle are pretty big, three dogs are going to be a handful eventually but we could get you in one of the bigger rooms. Oh, and there's a bunch of blankets in one of the storerooms up there that I know we could use, they've been there forever and they're really durable, almost like quilted armor. Not really comfortable for people, but they'd be great for rambunctious puppies, and even if they do get ruined it won't matter. Why don't we meet at the stairs, I'll dig out one of the cages and we can go up and set them up and pick out a room, okay?" She smiles at that, then darts off, humming under her breath. The Dining Hall at Dinner (Kakka, Valfane, others?) Kakka and Valfane find Ignaci lounging with a book and a large bowl of carrots sliced into long thin sticks that he's been idly munching on. When he spots you he smiles broadly and waves you over. "Well well, how's your first real day been treating you? I heard you're going to be doing some kinds of 'service projects' this week, they asked me to come up with something alongside Tzeniwe. Sorry, but no spoilers." He winks and grins at that, and gestures to the bowl of carrot sticks. "Feel free to snack. They've also got an incredible soup tonight, some kind of spicy fish broth. Very clear and light, but also piercing. Sour, bright, very unusual. Oh, and lentil mash from earlier. But still, tell me about today, I didn't actually hear what they had you doing. I think it was supposed to be... Haibram and Anchor Root, right?" When Valfane brings up the marble, he peers at it curiously. "Well, it's certainly a high end marble, enchanted somehow, you can't actually get that effect with alchemical glitters... wait, you said they mentioned Adenike? That's... wow..." Ignaci trails off, blinking, then refocuses. "Keep hold of that. Adenike Ilori is... something like the school's envoy? A diplomat? She visits... all sorts of places, like kingdoms, major free cities, all over the globe, she even travels to other planes, other worlds, and maintains our formal ties with those places. Sometimes she does classes with older students about planar etiquette, how to safely travel, like a year ago she up and brought a group to Hell, to Stygia. She's obviously not on the same level as a being like Geryon, but she's important enough to have actually bowed to him and had a short conversation before showing the students around the library. I guess that must be one of her markers. I mean, I've never seen her, but 'on her staff is a sphere that holds the glittering stars she walks,' I'm assuming it's roughly similar." He smiles and leans back. "That's really impressive, though. Whoever gave you that must be some kind of real big shot. Were they the one who recommended you to the school?" If Kakka mentions the bug rumor, Ignaci creases his brows. "That... does sound familiar. I don't deal with insects or really any sorts of animals, except as... well, as ingredients, sometimes. That said, I was trying to procure a certain type of spider venom, and my source said that he was having a very hard time milking them, they were acting very erratically, trying to escape from his enclosures. I assumed he was just making an excuse, but if insects are acting strangely all over campus, or especially all over town... that would be a problem. It's possible someone was trying some kind of bug repellant ritual, maybe developing one, and managed to completely fumble it and get the reverse effect, although I can't imagine how it would be powerful enough to have such a wide range. Very few rituals are able to cover large areas, most ones such as growth or warding rituals handle a house or a single field at most." He frowns, thinking it over. "Also, I say I 'don't deal with animals,' but I certainly know the basics. An indiscriminate ritual to repel all insects, arachnids, all 'bugs,' would be devastating to any sort of long term agriculture if you cast it over a field. It would be very strange if it was a student project. Certainly, for a house, or in the city, it could be reasonable with a limited range, but that kind of thinking still feels... foreign, somehow. Attempting it as a primal ritual would be... difficult, if not impossible, it simply clashes with the core concepts of natural magic, and as an arcane ritual it would likely have nasty side effects. That said, maybe it was some other kind of project that went wrong... I'm really not sure what else it could be, though. Sorry."
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Sep 28, 2021 08:54
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Ramiel Tiefling Battledancer Swashbuckler Ramiel tells the rest of the library crew how weird it is to see an old elf, as they're leaving. "In all my time in Nagisa, I never saw an elf that was even slightly aged. Well, maybe Old Genina, but that was burns, not actual aging. Regardless, that's not a thing that happens. Perhaps that's a mystery worth exploring at some point? If she is that old, think of all the things she'd know! ...Though if we asked her perhaps she'd polymorph us into books and leave us on the shelves for eternity, everyone did make her sound a bit prickly. Ah well, what's life without a little risk?" --- Ramiel notes the Dance Courts as somewhere to definitely return to later, but decides that rest is probably more important than religion or fun at the moment and heads back to the dorms. He will keep an eye out for Mariama that evening though.
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Sep 28, 2021 10:14
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Valfane [Leaving the Library] Valfane raises his eyebrows as Ramiel describes the mystery surrounding Madam Neula. "She already seemed stern, now she sounds downright terrifying." He underlines his mental note to steer clear of the librarian. --- [Njiwa's Bellshop] Njiwa posted:"Isn't that a myth, about the bells?" He admires the wire strings and makes a note of them for later, but for now buys a handheld kalimba and a string of shiny bells. If he hangs them in his room, maybe the hypothetical gremlins will appreciate the sentiment. (Spending 9 sp) --- [The Dining Hall at Dinner] Ignaci posted:"But still, tell me about today, I didn't actually hear what they had you doing. I think it was supposed to be... Haibram and Anchor Root, right?" Ignaci posted:"Well, it's certainly a high end marble, enchanted somehow, you can't actually get that effect with alchemical glitters... wait, you said they mentioned Adenike? That's... wow..." "Wow, huh, that is impressive, do you happen to know what Adenike studied before? That's quite a job description, ahaha..." he says extremely un-smoothly, tucking the marble safely back into one of his pockets. Ignaci posted:"That's really impressive, though. Whoever gave you that must be some kind of real big shot. Were they the one who recommended you to the school?"
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Sep 28, 2021 15:29
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Kakkazachol posted:
"Oh wow! I knew I came to the right person!" Kakka begins quickly nodding as Xhokan helps him and is excited to hear all the options that await the ants. Kakka buys the 2gp terrarium, and absolutely springs for the extra pretty castle and rocks for 5sp. And the alch lab. He'll turn to Scarlet Hood as she's getting the bell, and ask quickly "...What are the bells for?" Then he'll cock his head. "Maybe... I should get one as well..?" He'll take a loaner when it is offered. "I'll see you around! okgottogo byeee!" The shopping of the day brings him down to 33,4,8 G,S,C I think. zachol posted:The Dining Hall at Dinner (Kakka, Valfane, others?) Kakka eats some of the offered carrot sticks, and listens to Valfane's story of the day. Kakka does ask Ignaci about the bug experiment, although he won't be as forthcoming with information about where he heard it from...yet. "Well, could just be the time of the year... The Swarm Moon is gathering, after all. But..I would expect that to happen every year and not just now, strange..." Kakka will shake his head, and resolves to look into it later. Also, to look into what it takes to milk a spider. "Well it's a fun mystery! I'll keep an eye out for any worrisome insects. Thanks Ignaci!" Nod, nod. He follows after Valfane in search of soup, and begins asking them (and whoever else is around eating soup and hanging out, as well) "So, whatcha think of this place? Exciting isn't it?? There's so much to learn here...any thoughts on what branch you'll be going for? We have these tasks...and then we have a.. a Preclusion? A Prelude? to really prove ourselves? Have you heard what that's like? I think I may check out the Rain-Scribes..but who knows!" bobthenameless fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Sep 28, 2021 |
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Sep 28, 2021 20:11
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A Chance Encounter (Ramiel) As Ramiel is walking back towards the dorms he runs Mariama and Haibram, who are chatting with each other on the way to the dining hall. Haibram spots Ramiel first, and grins widely, flagging him down. "How ye been? Ach, shoot, I didn' stick aroun' teh see how yeh group handled findin' those chickens, did it work out fine?" Mariama snorts, briefly. "Wait, that was their errand? I thought you said you'd sent them to the Kafesi?" "Ah, no, yeh, they needed t' track down Ojofiri chickens. Magic ones! Not jus' plain birds!" "Uh-huh. Magical chickens. Well, I hope you had fun at the spooky grey market." "Come on, join us, we were gonna get some chow. I wanna hear how it all went." Mariama and Haibram are heading to dinner. Ramiel can join them, or meet up with Mariama this evening, in either of their rooms, to discuss... apparently sensitive matters. The Dining Hall Ignaci looks a little baffled at the mention of birds at the Kafesi market. "What, like... a baby cockatrice or something? I've had to sneak into the market sometimes for ingredients, is there some kind of... new poisonous bird? Actually speaking of pest control, you can make a really potent alchemical insecticide using the feathers of the hoopoe bird. But even something like that, you'd just ask around if anyone's keeping them on their farm and if you can nick a few younger ones." If you explain they were chickens, he just looks even more baffled. "Why would someone be selling chickens at the Kafesi? Even magic 'hatches anything' chickens. That's just... strange. I mean I don't know anything about this 'Makena' lady but she seems... well, whatever works for her." Regarding Adenike, "Oh, there are lots of classes about foreign etiquette. Plenty of students end up heading north especially, there are classes for learning Taldane, how to establish yourself as someone important and worthy of consideration, and all sorts of trivia about minor points of etiquette, the proper way to bow or not, when you should shake hands, how to eat, how to dress as a native, how to dress as a guest to still reflect your own culture while... harmonizing, 'vibing' with the people you're interacting with, plenty of things like that. They're generally considered Rain-Scribe classes, but most students at least take a few of the basics, even just to interact politely with the guests that occasionally visit here. There are advanced classes for more exotic foreign places, like the planes, or Arcadia or Tian Xia, but even those aren't necessarily just for Rain-Scribes. Recently we sent a delegation to the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, so there were classes on speaking Tien, ones about general etiquette in Goka, ones particularly about Tian Xian martial arts customs, and some refreshers on long term ship travel and preparing for and enduring voyages. They were mainly for those going as participants, and only a couple were Rain-Scribes, but they were also open to anyone, and I certainly went to a few. Similarly, classes about how to deal with outsiders, extraplanar natives, are obviously useful for a lot of students, even those who intend to stay in Nantambu indefinitely." He munches on a carrot, waving the stick around. "My understanding is that Adenike was originally interested in space travel, the planets. Castrovel and Akiton, obviously, but also further places, Bretheda and Apostae, and the Dark Tapestry and the numerous stars beyond. Brethedans apparently have a very stable and advanced society, and can fly between the stars on 'space whales.' Her skills as a diplomat were learned as part of negotiating with floating telepathic space jellyfish and visiting hundreds of completely bizarre and foreign cultures via the space whales, and later extraplanetary spaceships, again supposedly. I'm not sure how someone is meant to fit hundreds of interstellar trips into 'twenty years of youthful wandering,' but apparently space whales are very fast, or she can also time travel." He rolls his eyes at that, taking another few bites. "Space travel is obviously pretty wild. Really, even just communicating and negotiating with extraplanar beings is advanced. Technically speaking we could go on a trip to Bretheda or Elysium or lots of other places right now, we've got a number of gateways, but even a 'nice' place is immensely dangerous. A lot of times the teachers will talk obliquely about your 'capacity for self defense,' and the process of accumulating the... magical potency to be able to manage something like a planar binding usually grows alongside that capacity for self defense. In the meantime there's still a pretty commonsense progression of becoming more comfortable negotiating with... weird and quirky characters, first locally, then maybe in nearby countries, and eventually you'll be able to deal with something like space travel at the same time you're also prepared to interact with truly bizarre beings and also open up the gateways on your own." Then, the door opens, and Haibram and Mariama (and possibly Ramiel) walk in. Haibram waves at Ignaci and the others, Ignaci waving back idly, and goes to get some food, Mariama trailing along. Soon enough they join you, and Haibram immediately jumps in. "So, I realized I shoulda checked back, apologies! How did it go, Esi just said 'they got em' and was rushin' along anyway, I didn' hear any details."
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Sep 29, 2021 01:36
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Scarlet Hood Scarlet thinks, and thinks, and thinks some more, almost missing Kakka's question ("Oh! It's for the gremlins, mostly.") as she considers how many strings to buy. They are very shiny, after all, and sound nice as well. Eventually, she settles on an armful, enough for everyone's rooms, her nook, and one that she can twine up and around her staff. Once her purchase is complete, she spends the rest of the evening poking around and affixing jangly bells all over the dormitories. And her tree. And her staff, of course. Feel free to quote me a price on "enough for everyone," but whatever it is she'll pay it.
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Sep 29, 2021 01:42
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Xhokan looks briefly panicked as Scarlet Hood scoops up all the bells. "Ah, oh my, that's very... that is... forgive me, Scarlet, but I'd... I'd prefer to keep at least two or three single bells, they may be needed for another student's project. For all the rest of these I can give a small discount... are you sure you need all of them?" Xhokan had seven strings, with Kakka grabbing one of them. Six strings usually at 5 sp gets knocked down to 2 gp 5 sp for the armful. While Scarlet is at the dorms hanging them up, a visibly frustrated Esi stomps in. "Agh! You beat me to it! You've got to let me pay for some of those, or at least help getting these all strung up." As Esi helps, she also grumbles a little bit about the chicks, which apparently didn't go well. "I don't think we're going to be doing business with Bisola in the future, so much for all that. It's my fault, I still have trouble handling people who are being completely unreasonable. But, I'm planning to see if I can track down Makena someday soon. Anchor Root had also mentioned getting hardy chickens for expeditions, it sounds like Makena would be a good source regardless, especially if she keeps her flock of Ojofiri." She suggests parting out the bells from some of the strings to hang over doors or for students to add to their chests or drawers, with a few of the strings kept over the main entrances and the hallway.
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Sep 29, 2021 02:14
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Valfane "Er, wow," Valfane says, frankly overwhelmed by Ignaci's description of Adenike and the relevant curriculum options. "Riding space whales, new life goal." He feels quite small as he walks away to get dinner; all his half-imagined dreams seem a long way beyond him right now. Was there genuinely a pathway from lowlife tavern busker to roaming interplanetary envoy? Probably Adenike had been exceptional from day one, right? Kakka's excited questions bring him back around to the present. "Yeah, seems like a great place so far, eh? Oh, Teacher Ot made it sound like the whole first year would be the thingy, the perquisite - do you think there's going to be a test already?" Once Haibram and Mariama join the group, he won't rush to answer if Kakka or Ramiel or anyone else wants to. If nobody does, he'll describe the basics of the day and also mention that Ignaci thinks it's weird for anyone to sell such non-sketchy birds in the Kafesi.
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Sep 29, 2021 13:02
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