Sallrna look on as the shadow passes, then as the sales man moves off, her eyes follow him and then under her breath she says to her herself.
"Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night, That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth;
And ere a man hath power to say "Behold!" The jaws of darkness do devour it up, So quick bright things come to confusion."
Then looks around at the items on sale
"Such a shame they don't have what I'm looking for"
Jack says to Miria he shrugs
Sallrana looks at Jake
"You know Jack since we have meet you keep astounding me, that is a very astute observation"
She looks around the selling and payers, then once more back at the centre of the room.
"So we have one extraplaner nasty out at sea, and right here in town we have another. It seems there some are playing for high stakes here, the think back there may just be a god of some kind. You know there was a take given at the science institute on beings the worked with the planes and sort to maintain them, things of pour "law" they said, I did not heed much but I do remember they make one thing clear, they where living mechanical beings with multiple arms. It could just be the thing back there is like that. Old arms"
Wile she takes she opens her bag and takes out her Rapier and fixes the belt to her clothing. Her lower garments becoming tight fitting beeches and boots.
"You know, what I would not give for a rifle, I left mine back in the town house. Well just have to make do."
She takes a rope dart and puts it in a side pouch. Then checks herself,
"not much point hiding now. Something been scrutinising us very closely wile we have been here."
, the merchant is incredibly slow to react , but finally does as you bid. He hands you the contract and, like Jack, you can make little sense of it. But when you think back...
There is little more than dust and blood, and the second is a recent addition. Stepping back out of the harsh sunlight and into the shade of the tavern awning you take a look over your shoulder, at those assembled. They are thieves, beggars, charlatans and liars... but out here on the frontier, by the southern wall, people don't kill people.
That particular market is monopolised by the gnolls.
You can see the signs - the body fallen backward, struck across the face and savaged as his opponent moved toward him, torn into with teeth, claws and some sort of blunt instrument. The blood so widely-spread, a pattern across the walls and floor, a liberal spray so speckled and wild that it seems almost like writing.
Almost like some sort of contract...
And as you blink away the memory you know what you have to give up - a moment in time where you found the gnoll that killed that man, where you pushed your hands around its throat and choked the last dregs of life from it as it scratched wildly against your armour, looking for a purchase but powerless.
And you get the feeling, , that your massive orc friend might be on to something. The memory of that day means very little to you - it was one out of a hundred others when you worked near the frontier, assigned no other significance than being easier than some. What power could a mere memory of a small triumph hold? But the moment itself, the very events of the day...
As John reads Sallrana says.
"Gentlemen I would like to introduce you to Rick. we meet earlier and he's has some interesting things to say. Ill let him talk about what he's interested in and what he wish's to offer us for his help."
She indicates to a Blond haired Gnome close by.
"Rick, be so kind as to tell the others what you told me of that which you seek and your offer"
She steps back but is still in a place where she can hear what is being said.
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A moment shopkeeper John says as he turns to see the person Shallrana is introducing. Then looking down he sees the gnome.
A friend of yours, Shallrana? he says.
Slightly later: assuming something does not stop him, John seals the deal on the Torc of shield.
The small-headed gnome, who, for the more experienced ones, is clearly a halfling, comes closer from the shadows of a nearby shop, now that the terrain has been prepared for his appearance. He looks like a child with a lot of blond hair, but his facial features and his posture denounces he's more than that. He steps up with grace and makes no noise that you can her in this vast chamber, although his dark red cloak is loose and denounces his movement. Carrying a whip and a crossbow in his small size one could call him a circus pet, but he really just seems, experienced.
"Hmmm... Nice to meet you folks!!" He seems genuinely happy with it, and look at your visible grafted parts (if any) for a couple seconds, before addressing the group again. "So, I noticed Shallrana here" - yes, now he knows your name - "had an interesting addition to her body, and I'm in desperately need of knowledge about it, so I offered to help you in whatever you are seeking in this island, and in exchange you tell me what you know and show me how it works." He simply smiles.
"What's the catch? You're a gnome, talking to me like a normal person, which means you're good at hiding the crazy. So, what's the catch?"
"The catch is" - he winks and points a finger at you - "I'm a halfling!"
Then comes a worried face. "But don't tell anyone!"
"You mean you're a halfgnomling? what kinda crazy wizard would breed a Halfling and a gnome? OH, THE HUMANITY!" Roger thinks for a moment, then adds "If you're half gnome, what's the other half??"
Miria eyes Rick warily. Anyone Shallrana met while off gallivanting around is suspicious. But she warms to him fairly quickly, especially with his interaction with Roger. Her eyes lessen in harshness ans she looks around to see if they are going to introduce themselves to Rick.
She furrowed her brows remembering what he said about their grafts. Did Hawcroft proposition him as well? And then let him run off without further testing? That raises some questions. If only she didn't have trouble speaking.
Against so much potential wisdom thrown at him, Rick is defenseless, and thus chooses not to trouble the poor man's mind any further.
"Hmmm... good question!" He crosses one arm over the other and scratches his chin with the left hand. "I don't know, since I've never met my father, but he's probably a gold ingot, since I tend to shine so much! Oh, and there's the hair, of course!" He smiles, halfcautious with the man getting angry and going wild. You never know...
::"No John, he's not one of our guys, but I think he maybe someone's. I had a little loo inside his head, and spotted an interesting thing. From what little I could see, he's got some form of back in plant, I think metel of some kind and this is where it gets interesting, I don't think it was done by our freands. He seems very interested in how we got implants, o offered if he's use full to introduce him to our doctor. I think that my be an interesting meeting. For now as they say, keep your freands close but your enemy's closer as they say."::
"He was so interested in us, how could one say no"
"Indeed, thank you milady." He assumes a more serious face and takes a peek around. "But I'm not sure of what you are doing here. Maybe we should return to a more... liberal place?"
"But we're having so much fun here Rich, others wish to do shopping. Let's not disappoint them by rushing off."
He abandons the serious face as swiftly as it came in, replacing it with a happy smile. "Of course! Shopping it is!"
Sallrana study's the halfing noting his every move would intelligent eyes.
Jack looks down, and down... and down... his Large form peering down at the Small newcomer.
... and there is a sharp pain across your stomach, lasting only a split-second before fading into little more than memory.
The half-gold-ingot becomes serious again and looks up and up, and was about to answer the big guy's question, but then John introduces himself and so he smiles to the recently-diseased man, who was more polite and worried with introductions first. "Nice to meet you, John of the Wains. Yes, everyone calls me Rick, although usually I don't go." He looks at the big huge guy. "I heard you are Jack. You look similar to the Orcs of this island, but you're not like them, are you? Then there's the quiet blonde girl and the one who's good with the words, right?" At the end he's looking at Roger.
::"You see John, interesting fellow, so well informed. Now where could he have found out that kind of information do you think. From our talk and following us or from some other way. I had a little peek in side his mind and it's blocked in some way, like he's being pupated by another. Things have been done to the halfling and not just his body. Yet he dos not seem like our friends work on the ship. Your much better at getting to the truth of others than me. I would greatly value your views about him."::
Wile they talk Sallrana turns to the trader.
"Please may I see a contract, I wish to know the price before I buy"
'Of course, lady - just pick yourself out something you'd like and I'll show you.'
"So they are not all the same price then, dos each item have a singular cost or could you explain to me the pricing scale? I would like to know the range of options open to me."
'Look at like this, lady...' the stall-worker begins. 'You buy some little ring, something to let you... I don't know, make a spark with a click of your fingers. Now that's magic, and it's surely fantastic, but it's also... well, just not that difficult to do for the one behind the curtain. So you come here wanting one of those, and we hand you a contract, and the moment we take from you is something minor. A chance meeting that ended profitably for you. A lover you'd mostly already forgotten. Something like that. But this, for example...'
He grabs something from his stall, a pan-and-hammer pistol with a silver carp inlaid into the barrel.
'This is something special. Something wonderful. It fires and fires, but the little lead shot never leaves the barrel. Not that your targets would know that, of course. Anyway, this is something that has to perpetually create, not just a momentary change in the world-stuff but a, a persistent effect. And so Old Arms, to make it, needs a consistent effect in return. So the contract will specify a moment - maybe a son you never had, or the time you lost your friend to lung-rot. Something major, a moment you could never ever forget.'
He rocks back on his heels for a moment, regarding the weapon in his hands.
'And that's why we caution newcomers like yourselves not to sign over too much of yourself. You might not like what moments get taken, and you can't unsign for one of these. We don't set the prices here - the moments you can offer, those are the prices that are asked for. If you read a contract and the price seems too high... well, better to hand it right back if that's the case. Some moments are too precious to trade.'
"Intaresting, do you have any shell loading rifles, it dos not need to be magical at all?"
She smiles at him.
'Sorry lady,' the man replies with a smile, 'but if it ain't magic, it ain't here. Maybe try over by the publican's square, they sometimes have non-contract stuff on offer.'
asks Jack of Rick.
Listening to the speech and explanation, Roger moves back to the thing that he got the contract from and returns it, unsigned.
'Sorry lady,' the man replies with a smile, 'but if it ain't magic, it ain't here. Maybe try over by the publican's square, they sometimes have non-contract stuff on offer.'
Sallrana looks at him, then nods once.
"Than you, you have been most helpful"
She gos back to the group.
"Well, they don't seem to have anything I like. To be honest I would really not like to cut off part of my soul and trade them. That's the kind of thing Devil and Demon worshippers do. But my cup of tea at all. So are we all done here?"
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John shrugs at that, and places his new torc in his pack. It's not a creature of hell, and most certainly of the abyss. More one of near pure law. Those things tend to always follow the letter of a deal and don't care for deception.
John taps his head. I sensed it you see, an inquisitor gift to see evil, good, law, chaos.
Rick recites his answer to Jack as a well learned student testing his knowledge.
Well, the paper-sellers craft 'chems', words inspired by the ancient and divine, and scribed carefully onto long strips of paper that can confer power to those that wear them. Not something one would normally see in this country, so it's hard to comprehend the meaning of it."
Once they seem to be finally understanding the place, Rick seems happy and anxious to be leaving.
"You gotta understand that nothing here calls your interest because you don't need anything. Once you need something, you will pay the price for it. If you really need it, the price is meaningless. So this is not about the price, but about what you need. What were you looking for anyway?" He looks behind them, at the god-like-something-behind-the-curtain, and his tone goes down a little. "Has anyone peeked behind the curtain yet?"
"why I was looking for, Peace of mind, Rick, of course, Peace of mind"
She says to him.
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John looks at Jack, and shakes his head.
Jack, strength and size is not the be all and end all of things. Look for other things, such as armor to deflect blows, items that sharpen intellect and wisdom, or even those of a more utilitarian purpose.
John looks at Shallrana Peace of mind is laudable, I suppose, but not something I look for really
Rick was laughing for some reason, but he recovers his senses. "John is absolutely right, you need to be more practical if you really want something from this place. Mountains are very big, Jack, and nothing can move them, although they cannot move either. The dead have peace of mind, although that comes along with the peace of body. The Chems presented in a belt may enhance your physical strength, or maybe even your size, if it's that what you want. Or you may want something that enables you to open a portal to anywhere, but.... but then comes the matter of the price... And in my experience, that's not wisdom, Jack. That's...." - he looks to the sides before not really saying what he was going to - "well, something else... Not to mention the influence one thing always causes in another..."
Roger follows the conversation between the halfgnomeling and the inkie, and laughs at John's obvious joke "Of course being bigger and stronger is the most important thing. Dragons are the biggest creatures I ever heard about, and only stupid people mess with them. Having laws is nice and all, I spose, but laws won't stop bad men from caving in your skull if they really want to."
John looks at Shallrana Peace of mind is laudable, I suppose, but not something I look for really
"Now why dos it not surprise me you said that John"
Then as Rick takes to Jack.
::"quite the little chatter box is our new half ling acquittance. Have you noted how he seems to be responding to more than just us here. Like he's having a dialogue in his head. When I tock a peak into his mind, there was something dark there. Something with his own body addition."::
"Talking of things to see, I just spotted a stall I think may have something I want, nice dresses. Be back in a moment."
With that she walks off to look at a stall, and is soon out of sight.
The other customers move around your little group, occasionally jostling but generally with at least a modicum of respect for personal space. You see many people signing contracts and walking away with smaller trinkets, but few seem to be making any large purchases.
The red curtains sway in the warm breeze as a bell rings somewhere up above, signalling something - although you don't know exactly what.
Rick gets serious and looks at the direction he knows there's something new coming. "Incoming."
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John smiles at Roger. You're right Roger. Laws won't stop someone staving someones head in. But the laws servants, tapping his badge Will.
John refers to the fact that "Inks" quite often act as judge and executioner, and generally get their man. Keeping off their itinerary was considered the course of wisdom jn the underworld.
At Rick's word john starts looking around for trouble, hand on his pistol.
Sallrana after a short wile comes back to the group, as they walk she talks in an off hand way, she as if they where chatting about the weather.
"Well there things looked nice but thy just did not seem to have what I was looking for. Now Rick I would like to ask you something in front of my fellows here. You seem to have a back graft like my own, now where did you get a thing like that Rick. O and lets have no obfuscation or cryptic comments or we may think your seeking to hid thing and that may me us not introducing you to what your seeking. So lets have a nice clear description of how you where given your back implant shall we"
::"time to see just what our little tail knows I think"::