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Rushing through the market there was no stealth check, once we turned off the street and down the alley I direct her to make an immediate right and push Eleven up against the wall. My back to her holding my arm to keep her back. I draw the sickle from my side and prepare to pounce on whomever comes around the corner following us. I’ll whispers over to her. we don’t have much time, what in the gods is going on here?
[dice=Perception]1d20+8
** spoiler omitted **
Sticking his head around the corner Krat sees the male human standing in front of the female not-quite-human with a weapon in his hand, ready to attack. With a little shriek the dromite cowers. In a squeaky voice he then says, "Don't hurt me! I saw you both duck into the alley and just wanted to make sure everything was all right."
[dice=Perception]1d20+8
** spoiler omitted **
At Gigsr actions she complies keeping still behind him.
When he asks she says
"I have been a slave all my life. Others made me and used me. Those who know how, can control me. That is why I asked you for help. To remove my control bolt. You are a medic sworn to help by oath. That man back there in white. I belive He was probing my mind to find out how control me, I will not go back to that life.. You have to h.."
She stops as a head pops round the corner
Krat nods at the male's instructions and backs up slowly, his hands showing in front of him, until he feels he is a safe distance away. Once he is, he glances around quickly to make sure no one seems to be paying attention before speaking softly in a very different, far more confident voice.
"You were being followed, but not by the ophiduan you seem to be trying to lose in the market." Pausing to take a close look at the two the dromite cocks its head slightly to the side, pointing first at Eleven_Zee_Alpha, "You aren't what you seem to be and apparently don't want to get noticed by certain people." Then he points at Gigur, "And you're very quick to help and trust people you know nothing about."
"Me, I'm the type who likes to keep tabs on what happens in this part of the city and I find both of you worth knowing more about. If you're going to be in the city for a while then we should talk, but not here. Perhaps we could find ways to help each other out. If you're interested you should come with me now." With a last curious look at the pair, Krat turns leaves the alley at a casual, easy to follow pace, heading for a nearby warehouse he believes won't be in use right now, hoping the others will follow.
"Thank you, as for going with this Dromite, I can see his mind, He is friendly, and I don't think he is working for that ophiduan. So let's follow, I worry if he found us here others can as well."
[dice=Perception]1d20+8
** spoiler omitted **
Tai Leng jumps to conclusions, and assumes the kid was trying to pickpocket him to pay for his medical bills or something. He'll try to track him down and see if he can help him out before he tries to steal the wrong guy's purse and gets killed for it.
[dice=Perception]1d20+8
** spoiler omitted **
Tai Leng jumps to conclusions, and assumes the kid was trying to pickpocket him to pay for his medical bills or something. He'll try to track him down and see if he can help him out before he tries to steal the wrong guy's purse and gets killed for it.
"Thank you, as for going with this Dromite, I can see his mind, He is friendly, and I don't think he is working for that ophiduan. So let's follow, I worry if he found us here others can as well."
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"Thank you, as for going with this Dromite, I can see his mind, He is friendly, and I don't think he is working for that ophiduan. So let's follow, I worry if he found us here others can as well."
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"Thank you, as for going with this Dromite, I can see his mind, He is friendly, and I don't think he is working for that ophiduan. So let's follow, I worry if he found us here others can as well."
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 5
The market of Arbil is abuzz today with lively chatter and a general feeling of excitement. For several weeks, no iron shipments have been received from the nearby kobold city of Vensnak. The mountain city is located a short distance to the north of Arbil, in the midst of a forbidding wilderness. Its mines are one of the main suppliers of hard metals to Arbil.
Thankfully, a large shipment has just been received from the southern continent of Femon via the galleon of the Maquoran Fleet which has docked in the city's large harbor. Its supply of metals and other, more exotic goods from the distant lands, thousands of miles to the south, across the vast reaches of the Impact Sea, are eagerly awaited by the inhabitants of Arbil. The ordinary vendors quickly make way for the maenads and their associates to set up stalls to hawk their goods.
[dice=Perception]1d20+8
** spoiler omitted **
Tai Leng jumps to conclusions, and assumes the kid was trying to pickpocket him to pay for his medical bills or something. He'll try to track him down and see if he can help him out before he tries to steal the wrong guy's purse and gets killed for it.
[dice=Perception]1d20+8
** spoiler omitted **
Tai Leng jumps to conclusions, and assumes the kid was trying to pickpocket him to pay for his medical bills or something. He'll try to track him down and see if he can help him out before he tries to steal the wrong guy's purse and gets killed for it.
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When the opportunity presents itself, Gigar will talk to Seven in a hushed whisper. I might be able to help you, though I must warn you, while I am a practiced healer, major surgeries are not my forte. I’man herbalist by trade, and use my medicines on the battle field for a bit of extra coin. Though seeing your plight, there is no need to worry yourself with payment, I’m strongly against any sort of enslavement.
"It's a simple operation, but I am blocked from doing it"
She whispers back
"It's a simple operation, but I am blocked from doing it"
She whispers back
The kobolds of Ksaren are diminutive cousins of the ophiduans, albeit a cast off breed of the reptilian race, since they do not, generally, manifest the psionic powers that are the sole arbiter of station within the Ophiduan Protectorate. The early kobolds were cast off by their ophiduan forbearers, and one party founded the mountain city of Vensnak in the territory to the north of Arbil some thirty years past. This time of the founding of the city marked the only other comparable interruption in the delivery of caravans laden with ore which has disturbed the city-state for the last three weeks. Although some kobolds have begun to develop psionic ability and integrate with the larger society of the Protectorate, they continue to be largely a cast off and downtrodden people.
She follows the Dromite into the disused building.
Turning to Gigar, she says
"We may not have much time"
Bending her head forward and pulling her hair back
to reveal a small disk at the base of her neck.
"You need to cut it out and detach the wires linking to my spine."
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Generally I’d prefer more suitable locations for an operation like this, but time is pressing. Please, lay down on the floor and keep as still as possible.
Gigar pulls out his healer kit and examines the device, then pulls out a scalpel, some cause, alcohol, and pinchers to carefully remove it, then he sews the open wound back together.
She does as asked, being a mech she is still as a rock.
You note her body is cold to the touch.
Blue blood seeps out the wound, then as he sews he sees it self-healing.
When he is done, she stands and takes the disk, throwing it on the floor she stamps on it, Crushing it under her boot.
"No more a slave!"
She looks at the pair.
"I have some coin if you wish payment. Or I can offer my craft, a psi-tattoo if you want one. But I forget my manners. I am Eleven Zee Alpha, thank you for helping me. May I ask your names?"
~Tap~ ~Tap~ ~Tap~
The blunted end of a banner-less Ophid Glaive comes noticeably into contact upon the grounds of the Abril Marketplace in an orderly but steadily-spaced interval. The carrier of the Ophid Glaive in question [being held in his gloved right hand, no less] is a lone Ophiduan Male, dressed in an oddly slapdash mix of a modestly gold-trimmed toga, signifying some minor abilities in the Psionic Arts, with some Haramaki Armor being worn atop along with a bandolier crossing said armor and toga diagonally towards the left with a wide-belted leather breeches below covering the legs of the fully cloaked, reptilian-blooded personage.
This Ophiduan possesses the standard greenish colored scales of his species kind but interspersed along those green scales is the subtly ever-shifting mosaic-like multi-colors of obvious psionic tattoo patterns adorning all along his exposed bare arms, head, neck, and shoulders, save for exception of his left forearm, covered by a speed-sheath along with the kunai weapon en-sheathed within.
.
A former Guardsman of the Lirasse Guard, Xonti Ensk carefully surveys the surrounding areas of the Abril Market in a volunteer capacity as a private guard upon the behest of one known as Tanixil, a local Abril-based acquaintance of his whom he was temporarily boarding with- being relatively new to this city and all.
Crowded as usual today. A bit uneventful, the Flow willing, but this certainly is a more constructive way to conduct ones' daily duties compared to some of the more inanely, irrational guard shifts I had to pull back over in Lirasse.
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She takes of her upper clothing to show tattoos, they light up.
They move over her skin as if animated. Some of the designs seem part of her being.
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Gigar looks to the woman and smiles, there is no need for payment or services rendered young lass, all I ask is you pay the kindness forward. You still look a little hurt, but I’m amazed at how well you healed after you started glowing. he ponders fort a moment everything he has seen, and upon hearing her name it starts to connect, You’re not exactly human are you? I tell you what, I’ll stick with you for a little while to watch your wound for infection through till the morning. After that, if I am no longer needed, we can part ways.
At this time he looks to the newest member of this trio and states, Now my small friend, why have you brought us here?
She puts her shirt and jacket back on.
"Thank you and that would be nice. I have not had company for a long time. As for what I am, I am what you would call a construct. We say , words not use anymore."
She looks at the small being with them.
"You could tell I see"
A distorter has learned to alter her pattern to mask her appearance. As long as the distorter is maintaining psionic focus, as a full-round action, the distorter can change her physical appearance to look like someone else, granting a +10 bonus on Disguise skill checks. The distorter’s size does not change, and she does not gain any special abilities, even if her new appearance would seem to grant it. The effect ends once the distorter is not maintaining psionic focus or it can be dismissed as a free action.
After entering the warehouse and glancing around Krat is happy to see that the others have indeed followed him. Without a word he watches the quick, simple surgery that removes some sort of disk, noting the blue blood and the healing both by Gigar as well as Eleven's body. When the android has stood and smashed her former source of enslavement and both have had a chance to take in where they are and ask their questions the 'dromite' speaks.
"Eleven_Zee_Alpha and companion, it's good to meet you. You can call me Krat. I asked you here because you both seem to be new to this district of the city and at least one of you is interested in not drawing too much attention to herself." He pauses to nod to Eleven. "It happens that I share most of those traits. I've not been here long and, for now at least, don't need too much attention drawn to myself. Given that I was able to pick up on some irregularities in your manner (if you would like to pass as human you need to start blinking more,) and that you," Krat directs this comment at Gigar, "seem eager to be helpful to those around you, I thought that perhaps we would make good allies."
"The city is full of those to potentially be wary of and you both seem to possess interesting skill sets. I would claim that I do as well."
Being careful not move towards either of the others or make any threatening moves Krat once again focuses on his appearance and with a shimmering sort of pattern that surrounds his body, his guise slowly melts from that of a dromite to the kobold that they had seen before.
"For now I would simply propose that we keep an eye out for each other; that we, as newcomers to this area, will be stronger if we work together than if we're navigating the city on our own. I can keep an eye out and let you know if anyone is showing undue interest in you like that ophiduan was earlier. You can do the same for me."
Eleven nods at the suggestion.
"I like the idea, and friends only had one friend before and she died'
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Gigar ponders on this fort a moment then speaks, I’m not sure I like to what you are inferring. he looks around the warehouse for a place to comfortably sit, but finding nothing, he sits on the floor. If I understand you correctly, you’re not just looking to stay out of trouble, but trouble is looking for you. Eleven’s situation I can understand, and sympathize with, for fort a changing as yourself, who sneaks about and is worried about his identity so much, it makes me wonder just why they would be looking for you?
Krat nods at Eleven_Zee_Alpha's acceptance, saying nothing when she mentions friends.
To Gigar's questions, the kobold gives a small shrug. "You're the type that helps people because they need help. It's a nice quality to find, but it's not particularly common in my experience. I'd like to find opportunities to thrive here in Abril, but I'm not part of the current power structure. Those who are in power probably aren't going to be interested in me taking that opportunity over them. Others also seeking power or opportunity are also unlikely to simply let me act with impunity.
"It behooves me to have people I can trust watching out for me. Our relationship is young, but I hope that I'll be able to trust the two of you to do so. I'm offering to do the same for you. I don't know your goals, but if you're going to tell me that they won't get in the way of anyone who might try to stop you I think I might have to call you naive."
Krat shrugs again. "It's up to you of course. If you don't want to work with me or trust me I certainly can't make you. I'm proposing we give it a chance as, like I said earlier, we're all new here and having someone watching out for you is better than having to watch your back all by yourself."
Krat pauses to peer out a small dingy window. "I wonder if a field run might be useful? I hear that there's a new shipment of steel just come in from Femon. I'd like to go investigate and see if there's anything that might be gained from the commerce given that the city has been iron starved for the past while. Would the two of you care to come with to see if there's anything we can learn together that might benefit us all?"
On the talk of steel, Eleven says in a monotone voice
"Accessing local information gathered, subject ore shipments: The kobolds of Ksaren are diminutive cousins of the ophiduans, a cast off breed of the reptilian race, they do not, generally, manifest the psionic powers that are the sole arbiter of station within the Ophiduan Protectorate. Although some kobolds have begun to develop psionic ability and integrate with the larger society of the Protectorate, they continue to be largely a cast off and downtrodden people. 30 years ago one party founded the mountain city of Vensnak in the territory to the north of Arbil. Which has been sending shipments of ore out from that time. However recently there has been an interruption in the delivery of ore caravans that disturbed the city-state. This started three weeks ago. This would suggest the new ore comes from a new source."
She looks a bit sheepish.
"Sorry information sort of stays with me"
Krat's eyes light up a bit and he smiles. "Well now here we have a fine example. Someone has an opportunity at someone else's expense. There are sure to be parties that will want to do something about that. This makes the market near the new iron merchants even more interesting. There are sure to be opportunities there for those clever enough to seek them. Shall we make sure that we know as much about them as possible?"
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Hmm... Gigar hums as he places his finger and thumb on his chin. This is quite a mystery.Soon he begins pacing and talking to himself, though occasionally looks to his new companions, The Kobolds of Vensnak wouldn't just stop sending shipments unless they were forced. One such possibly for this would be the city is under siege and they physically can't. Another is that their shipments are being waylaid somewhere along the route. Least likely would be that the mines are dried up, though with that we would have seen a dwindling of the amount of ore delivered over time. He ponders these thoughts to himself, then looks to Eleven, Do your memory banks contain any relevant information as to where the shipments were originally delivered, or who and where the new shipments are coming from?
"Some of that is common knowledge on the streets at this point. Like I said before, this new supply of iron comes from Femon. More specifically it's been delivered by a the galleon of the Maquoran Fleet which doesn't seem to be specialized in iron as there are rumors of all kinds of exotic goods to be had soon."
"It's possible that the stoppage in shipments from Vensnak are related to this new supply, but I wouldn't assume that by default. It's the sort of thing that further investigation would help determine."
The journey of Gigar, Krat, and Eleven_Zee_Alpha from the Market District to the Docks involves a not inconsiderable amount of steps, since the one lies on the opposite side of the large city from the other.
Their route of travel is the Great Road, the so called sakbejo'ob. This edifice is a monumental structure that effectively divides the interior districts of the city, those occupied by citizens of the Protectorate, in two, roughly equal portions.
The sakbejo'ob is a wall of a dozen tiers with each successive level rising to a higher elevation, but decreasing in width. The lower levels are broad avenues available for the use of almost all citizens, while the upper levels are reserved for the transport of only high caste individuals within the Protectorate, the psionic elite which govern the society.
On the south side of the sakbejo'ob, the small company sees the psionic monasteries of the God Minds which surround the looming edifice of the Spire, as well as the sprawling district of the Psionic Academy. To the north of the tiered road, the monumental structures of the governmental district and the fortress-like headquarters of the local guard dominate the skyline.
The termination of their journey finds them in the extensive docks of Arbil. The city lies on the northern coast of the Impact Sea, and is one of the few Protectorate cities with a similar facility, and certainly none with a comparable port are located anywhere within several hundred miles of the city-state. The narrow streets of the port are filled with milling denizens of not only the Protectorate and its bordering regions, but also the distant southern continent of Femon and the many islands of the Impact Sea.
It appears that another large galleon from the Maquoran Fleet has just docked at the port, bearing another load of metal intended to ease the acute shortage caused by the cessation of shipments from the nearby kobold settlement of Vensnack.
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~Tap~ ~Tap~ ~Tap~
The blunted end of a banner-less Ophid Glaive comes noticeably into contact upon the grounds of the Abril Marketplace in an orderly but steadily-spaced interval. The carrier of the Ophid Glaive in question [being held in his gloved right hand, no less] is a lone Ophiduan Male, dressed in an oddly slapdash mix of a modestly gold-trimmed toga, signifying some minor abilities in the Psionic Arts, with some Haramaki Armor being worn atop along with a bandolier crossing said armor and toga diagonally towards the left with a wide-belted leather breeches below covering the legs of the fully cloaked, reptilian-blooded personage.
This Ophiduan possesses the standard greenish colored scales of his species kind but interspersed along those green scales is the subtly ever-shifting mosaic-like multi-colors of obvious psionic tattoo patterns adorning all along his exposed bare arms, head, neck, and shoulders, save for exception of his left forearm, covered by a speed-sheath along with the kunai weapon en-sheathed within.
[dice=Perception to look out for any signs of trouble in the marketplace]1d20+6.
A former Guardsman of the Lirasse Guard, Xonti Ensk carefully surveys the surrounding areas of the Abril Market in a volunteer capacity as a private guard upon the behest of one known as Tanixil, a local Abril-based acquaintance of his whom he was temporarily boarding with- being relatively new to this city and all.
Crowded as usual today. A bit uneventful, the Flow willing, but this certainly is a more constructive way to conduct ones' daily duties compared to some of the more inanely, irrational guard shifts I had to pull back over in Lirasse.
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Upon arriving at the docks, Gigar looks to his companions. I don't know much about shipping, but I believe there should be a quartermaster about who might be able to give us some information about this ship. Like who contacted who about needing the iron and such.
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Both Tai Pao Leng and the attempted thief begin a mad dash through the market.
Almost immediately, they are both faced with two potential routes -- one is a considerable physical obstacle in the form of a large stall peddling psionic crystals. The decorative awning and wide tables which make of the vendor's instillation are a substantial barrier to the progress of runners. This merchant has also, illegally, set up its stand in the middle of a marker thoroughfare, likely attempting to circumvent fees for market locations, and thus blocking a major passageway. (DC25)
The other potential way is a much longer, winding route that turns back and forth, and has several up and down dips through a hodge podge of stalls composed of non-Protectorate merchants. (DC20)
The dromite attempts to duck through and over the large stall of the crystal-hawker.
[dice=know(local)untrained]d20+2