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"Ah, good, you've heard of it. I have not doubt that many others, including Humans, may have made use of such devices. Why, I've even heard of a pirate using one as a peg-leg, if you can believe it. Hmmm, well, I was rather hoping you'd have one for sale, or could to point me in the direction of a master craftsman who could enchant one. I doubt the pathfinders will spare me for the months it would take to track down this Wizard's rod, if it even still exists. Still, thank you for the lead, it is, as they say 'you can't always get what you want.' Oh, and please do me one more, tiny favor. The . . . Inner Sea court system is not as-well, let us say it is different than the one in Kwanlai. I would appreciate lessons in proper etiquette on this side of Golarion if it is necessary. It would be useful in dealing with unknown nobles. Perhaps you could set me up with an instructor?"
BTW, knowledge Arcana check to identify a magic item by witnessing it is DC 15+caster level. Rod of Splendor is DC 12, 12+15=27. That's where I got the DC from.
The Tengu notices the man walk up and adjusts himself to face him accordingly. "Ah, yes, good. Ahem. Thank you, My name is Kamihane Taiicho, Eldest prince of the Kamehane clan of Kwanlai. Thank you."The tengu gives a slight, Tien-styled bow.
Knowledge Local or Nobility, DC 20:
The bow is of appropriate size for a Nobleman of Taiicho supposed stature towards a highly respected person not of royal blood. "I am in search of a . . . hmmm, I do not know the name of this item in Taldane. It is a rod of a most splendid nature. It can create fine clothes that cannot be stolen, and can, on occasion, create feasts for at least a hundred Teng- uh, that is to say one hundred people. Also, I am told it should enhance my ability to convince maligned spirits to leave people alone, as well as aid in more . . . shall we say, mundane negotiations." Knowledge Arcana DC 27, or Spellcraft DC 27: Taiicho is describing a Rod of Splendor
A regal-looking Tengu opens the door and FLOATS into the Narrow House, a few inches above the ground. He looks around the less-than-noble level of finery and gives a slight scowl before taking a deep breath and returning to an emotionless demeanor. "Excuse me? I was led to believe that I could find . . . items meant for those with, shall we say, refined tastes here? I . . . may have been lead astray." He gives another half-sneer before catching himself and again reseting his demeanor. "Hello? Does the eldest prince of the most prominent clan of Kwanlai not even warrant attention?"
Taiicho tries to recover the ball passed so energetically to him and gently serve it back to Qibli
And does so "A common mistake for first time players. Remember, your goal is to make the serve as softly as possible to the other player, so that they can easily receive it. As our Half-elf Friend said, it is about teamwork. It is not simply enough to hit it away, you must avoid excessive force. Still your skill at recovering the ball and preventing it from hitting the ground speaks well of you for your first time."
Caught by surprise, Taiicho tries to save the game by not letting the ball fall to the ground.
"My dear lady, you, like so many others, fail to see the complexity of the game. The game reflects the celestial order itself. The kami aid the mortals, the mortals aid the kami, it is a representation of how the universe is to run. If everyone does well and plays their, part, many disperate entities come together to form a beautiful whole. Kemari helps us to practice, and reflect this in the real world."
The tengu deftly catches the ball as he receives it from Annie. "Ah, yes, good. I have been hoping to bring the game more notoriety in the inner sea region. This is Kemari, a cooperative sport. We kick the ball back and forth and try not to let it touch the ground, or let it muss our dress. As I was telling our Kaer-er, our Grippli friend, normally it should be played in Kariginu, my style of dress, but we can forgo that for learning the basics. Come, set yourself equadistant from me and Annie over there. You can use any part of your body to move the ball between players, except for your hands. Some courts don't allow elbows either, but we will allow them for today to teach the basics. "Oh, my name is Kamihane Taicho" he continues with a shallow bow. "Eldest son of the Kamihane clan of Kwanlai. I should have my herald introducing me, but I believe I gave her the day off. Of all the days . . ." Kamihane serves the ball to Qibli
"Annie Croakley, of the Blackwood Swamp Irregulars. Right outside o' Cassomir. So how do you play this little game o' yours? By Kurgess's rippling biceps, it looks like a barrel o' fun!" "Ahem, Yes, well . . ." "Normally you must be dressed in proper attire, a kariginu, as a large portion of the game is to not soil your clothes while playing. However, seeing as I shall be teaching you, I suppose we can skip that part for now. Secondly, I shall be the mariashi, I shall start the ball on its journey. My job is to serve the ball to you in a way that allows you to receive it easily. You then keep the ball aloft-without using your hands- and, if you can, return it to me in away that makes it easy for me to receive it. This is a non-competitive sport. It is about cooperation and teamwork. The goal is to test ourselves, see how well we can keep the ball aloft as a team. As you are new to the game, we shall allow the use of elbows, though in some courts this is not allowed." Taiicho drops the ball to his feet and kicks it to Annie.
(Anyone playing Kemari with this ball receives as +2 bonus, as the ball is a 50gp masterwork Kemari ball.)
The Tengu's concentration is obviously broken by the loud croak coming from the mounted frog, and the Tengu struggles to regain his composure as the ball hits the ground. Somewhat annoyed, he moves over to fetch the ball as the Grippli comes up. Ahem . . . yes, kaeru this is the honorable court game from my homeland, called Kemari. It is normally played with more people, but it seems the inner sea isn't enlig- ehm, pardon me, my Taldane is . . . not as practiced as it should be. Eto-sa It seems that the refinement of the game has not yet reached the inner sea proper, and so I practice alone. "Ah, yes, introductions. Where is my herald? Oh, nevermind, I suppose I shall have to introduce myself. I am Kamihane Taiicho, eldest son of the Kamihane clan of Kwanlai." The Tengu gives a slight bow.
A tengu dressed in fine white silks of Tien make floats a few inches above the grass as he glides onto an open field in the grand lodge. He is holding a small white ball of remarkable quality a little larger than the size of his head. He effortlessly slides to a stop and, with a slight sign of annoyance, he decends until he is firmly planted on the ground. Curiously, he then drops the ball on his foot, and begins kicking it around, not letting it touch the ground, and without mussing his clothes.
His performance is reasonably satisfying, though a couple of times the ball gets away from him, to his obvious annoyance.
Taiicho, yes Lady Henderthane, and I agree with you. I merely meant that your family must be of superior stock and possessing of the finest education available in order to produce a noble-lady with such a perfect understanding of the social order and all of its intricacies. It is as if you have a divine understanding of the Tien Celestial Order, though you likely have not heard of it; most people from the inner sea have not.
Taiicho overhears the venture captain's words: Hear hear! That is the closest thing to talk of reinforcing the celestial hierarchy as I have heard in the inner sea. Thank you for putting it so sussinctly. Obviously your clan, Er, . . . House? Obviously your house is of superior stock, I appologize for not familiarizing myself with it sooner. I shall fix this obvious oversight at my absolute next opportunity.
Iia iia, wareware no sake wa senichi chīsana kamigami ni shukufuku sa remasu. Wareware wa hefeng-sama wo sūhai s&#+e imasen. Wareware wa, watashitachi no mawari no subete no ko rei o kayowa. Tien:
No no, My sake is blessed by the 1001 lesser earthly kami. I do not follow He-Feng. Instead I commune with the small spirits that exist around us. Mr. Gionani has an open invitation to join us, though I fear his particular palate will accept nothing other than that champagne stuff at this moment. Perhaps later . . .
** spoiler omitted ** The other tengu elegantly bows and interjects. Sou ne. Shamupen wa osake desukedou, garuto no hito wo tsukutemasu. Warrware wa, sono koto wo suki janai, ne. Tengu no osake wo nomitai ka? Wareware we osake ga sanpon. watakushi no hea de. Tien: Spoiler:
Yeah. . . Champaign is a sake(alchohol), but it is made by Galatians I don't really like the stuff. would you like to drink some tengu-sake? I have three bottles I my room.
No, no, I simply meant that my talents, and my bloodline, should accord me a higher status than having to babysit the local greycloaks because they can't be bothered to keep their own house in order. Recently though, I had a chance to make some decent inroads with a fey queen, so perhaps the society is starting to recognize my true worth after all.
The Tengu clearly doesn't recognize the newcomer. Excuse me but a moment Master D'Amore Ah, Lady . . . Henderthane was it? Apologies for not introducing myself sooner. I've been working judiciously to memorize all the nobles on this side of Golarion, but alas, there are so many new bloodlines to memorize and only so many hours in the day, even without the society sending me on errands beneath my station. He sneers annoyingly at the last sentence, but quickly regains his composure. But that is neither here nor there. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Taiicho, Eldest son of the Kamihane clan of Kwanlai. Pleased to make your acquaintance.
Knowledge-Local DC 25 (or DC10 if from Tien) Spoiler:
The quickness and angle of the bow indicates that Taiicho considers Lady Henderthane an equal, or possibly very slightly less than himself in the social hierarchy ladder. If you are not too busy later, perhaps you would join the recently recruited Master D'Amore and myself for a game of Kemari? It's a courtesan's game from Tien that I am trying to get started here. It requires a degree of skill, gracefulness, dexterity, and poise that you might find . . . interesting.
Excellent, I'll get Kemari started here yet! As for the library's section on poetry, it is . . . well, there are some decent enough attempts, but most are made by people from this side of the world trying to ape the style. While they are certainly noteworthy, I think they lose something in the translation into Taldane. However, if you are interested in Tien artwork, I recently acquired a painting by a famous Tien painter who portrayed several of your gods in Tien style. Fool merchant I bought it off didn't know what he had! I hung it in my room, here let me show you. Also, I have a reserve of sake secreted away there, if you are looking for some refined refreshment . . . I know it isn't champagne, but I never did care for that Galt stuff anyway.
Same here, I'm sure. Come, let me show you around the headquarters whilst your servants unpack your things. The amenities here are . . . passable, I should say. Afterwords might I persuade you to play a game of Kemari? It's an game from Tien Xia, played by courtiers and nobles. I've been trying to get it started over here but alas . . . The Tengu trails off. Sense motive DC 15 Spoiler:
You get the distinct impression he feels that anyone who doesn't appreciate his concept of 'high court' doesn't measure up as a noble. Anyway, come, there is a fairly good library in one of the side rooms that has a genealogy of nobles of throughout Golarian. Why, my family is even there, though the information is woefully out of date of course . . .
A lithe tengu in typical Tien courtier's attire walks up the steps, examining a masterwork katana in his hand, turning it and feeling the balance. He quickly sheaths the sword as he reaches the top of the stairs. To whom does the procession outside belong? I swear, if I have been left off the guest list of ANOTHER foreign dignitary, I shall become QUITE cross.
Oh, it must be yours. Terribly sorry, where are my manners? I am Taiicho, eldest prince of the Kamihane clan of Kwanlai. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?. He bows his head.
(The Tengu is visibly aghast at Volgnaer's comments)
And I trust that Mr. Azzar's information is accurate and that this Barbarian that the Blackros has married off is NOT a Jarl or other such title. In fact, I have it on good authority that he is a loud, brutish man who is touched in the head and possessing of no social graces. Called Lightning-mouth or somesuch nonsense. And of course I realize how powerful the Blackros WERE, I've heard about them even in the Minkai archipelago, but if they are slipping and allowing such beastly gentlemen to taint their bloodlines, well, I don't think they are nearly as respectable or powerful as they once were. Now GOOD DAY sir! (The offended Tengu storms off, hoping that he has 'won' this argument.)
(Taiicho sighs and takes on the condescending demeanor as if speaking to a small child.) It is, a common practice, and for more than just humans, the problem is not the arranged marriage. It is the fact that the Blackros has dipped into marrying off to such . . . let us just say 'lowbrow' stock. Obviously, if they are desperate enough to marry off someone to an Ulfen barbarian they are either desperate for coin and willing to sell their dignity to get it, or that they cannot keep the appropriate leash on their daughters. Either way it shows a failing in the family that we simply cannot afford. We must be both dignified and unified, something the Blackros clearly has lost track of. Honestly, I'm not even from this side of the world and I understand this. How do you expect to go far in this organization without grasping the basics?
(A Black-feathered Tengu dressed in a decently respectable Kimono and a set of darkleaf Lamellar armor stands up. He has a set scabbards, one for a katana and one for a Wakazashi, but strangely only the Wakazashi scabbard houses a sword, the other is empty. His Taldane, though perfectly understandable, betrays his Tien upbringing.) Ah, the Blackrose, I had heard of them when I was rightful heir to my country. I am sorry to hear that their standards have been lax as of late. Always sorry to see such a noble family brought low. However, I would humbly submit that the nobles of Alkenstar are on the rise and could be quite useful allies. Why, I just went on a . . . oh, what's the Taldane word . . . Safari? Yes, I went on a Safari with two just recently, and it was quite civilized for 'roughing it' in the wilds as it were. Might we wish to expand our influence there? As for you (He turns his attention to Lady Gabrielle d'Apcher) I'm rather new to your society here, but from what I'm able to understand, as long as you are making inroads with the 'right' sort of people, you are doing what is requested of you. I have yet to fully grasp your Inner Sea pathfinder politics, but might you become some sort of . . . double-agent? Feeding information from the less-than deserving nobles to our hands? |
