Master of Jade, Mistress of Iron - a World of Conclave adventure

slobster · Oct 21, 2012

Bi echoes the large, intimidating figure standing next to him and orders a tea. First impressions are important, he thinks. Play it cool. You can't make a fool of yourself by keeping your damn mouth shut.

The seconds stretch interminably, and he begins to scratch behind his ear in a nervous gesture, before he forces his hand down and folds them elegantly over his stomach. He shifts from one foot to the other as the host of this little get together continues to wait serenely, apparently for even more people to arrive. Is everyone here a potential buyer? He glances over at the hulking DaQan, certain that he wouldn't enjoy making him upset. In fact, many of the people in this odd little gathering look like they could make you regret getting the better of them, whether in a game of chance or an auction for a valuable trinket. What am I getting myself into?

Finally the silence and waiting get to him. Patience has never been a strong virtue of his. "Delightful party, Master Vaal. Yet I believe that we were invited here for reasons other than enjoying the tea?" He tips his cup to show its brownish contents to all assembled then sets it down. "I'm afraid this isn't my preferred color. I was in the mood for something a bit more refined. Something . . . yellow, perhaps?" He flashes his best conspiratorial smile and hopes that this will goad the silent man in the sash to reveal why he has gathered everyone here.

[sblock=OOC]
Site maintenance looks to be quieting down, so I wanted to give the thread a bump![/sblock]

Voda Vosa · Oct 22, 2012

"Master Bi is correct, save us the superfluous and onward to business." Hang declares, his voice is demanding and of stature, obviously not used to be argued with.

Dr Simon · Oct 22, 2012

"Of course, of course," says Vaal. He gestures to an empty table nearby. "I've reserved us somewhere to sit," he says as he scans the group. "I think everyone's here. Gentlemen," he inclines his head to Sil, the tlaxu, "and Lady."

At the table, Vaal draws a small ring from his finger, carved from yellow jade, of a serpent swallowing its tail. He places it on the table in front of everyone.

"This is the smallest piece that I have for sale," he says. "There are some other items, but they are... elsewhere, in safe-keeping." He smiles a salesman's smile. "It's geniune, if you'd care to inspect it. The rest will be auctioned in two days time with a reserve price of 20,000 yen [OOC: 200gp]. If you are interested..."

[sblock=OOC]
Aaaannd.... welcome back!

Appraise checks (and possibly Knowledge (arcane)) will help with identification of the jade serpent ring, should you wish to examine it further.
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[Sblock=Running Bi]
Bi sizes up the patrons of the Catfish. Most seem intent on their gaming. There are a couple of men near the servery area that seem overly interested in the gathering group.
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slobster · Oct 22, 2012

Bi pays very close attention to Vaal, and can't keep his eyebrows from raising at the mention of the trinket's price. His mind, however, is on the men watching them from the corner. As the group relocates to the table, he makes sure to brush past Sil.

"Those men near the servery don't seem to be enjoying themselves much," he whispers as they pass. "What could be distracting them, I wonder?"

He doesn't trust people easily, but he and the tlaxu have had amicable dealings in the past, and shared peril is always a fantastic motivator. Besides, he knows from experience that her eyes and instincts are much sharper than his own.

To Vaal, he nods seriously and puts on his respectable business face. "A tempting product," he says, leaving the ring on the table. The others have a better chance of authenticating it in any case. "How did you chance across such a valuable collection of artifacts?"

Falkus · Oct 22, 2012

Sil nodded discreetly at Bil, as he mentioned the onlookers. It might be nothing, but when doing a deal like this; you could never be sure. She resolved to keep one eye on the group, as she studied the yellow jade. Bil had a good eye for trouble; and she'd worked with him in the past. Trusted him as much as she was able to trust anyone.

"It certainly is an impressive piece. If you don't mind?" she said, her hand hovering near it. She'd pick it up, and run her eye over it for a few minutes; trying to gauge its worth, value and whether or not it was genuine.

GlassEye · Oct 23, 2012

Blue follows the other men and women to the table that Vaal has reserved. He watches intently as the tlaxu examines the yellow jade ring. This isn't his area of expertise, in fact, he's rather out of his league in this endeavor but he can feel Wild Jade Wolf pacing in the spirit world and pushing up against his essence as if he would attempt to take over, snatch the ring, and flee with it if it weren't for the guarding presences of Iron Ancestor and White Matoo.

When the tlaxu finishes Blue reaches out to take it. He holds it on his open palm hand trembling a little but quickly returns it to Vaal and sits back in his chair again.

"Beautiful, sir."

He says nothing further, waiting instead to see what the others will do in this examination preliminary to the sale.

[sblock=MiniStats]Blue Eye Bellows[/sblock]

Maidhc O Casain · Oct 24, 2012

Mal goes to the table with the others, seating himself and sipping his tea delicately. He watches in silence as the Tlaxu examines the exquisite ring, followed by the Human, but says nothing and does not reach for the ring himself.

OOC: Rolls were to notice Blue's hand tremors and to interpret them.
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[sblock=Stat Block]Malachite the Unfettered
Male DaQan Fighter (Archer) 1
CN Medium Outsider (native)
Init +3; Senses Darkvision; Perception +0
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 23 (1d10+1)
Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +0
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee Greataxe +4 (1d12+4/x3) and
. . Dagger +4 (1d4+3/19-20/x2) and
. . Dagger +4 (1d4+3/19-20/x2) and
. . Cestus +4 (1d4+3/19-20/x2)
Ranged Darkwood Thell Longbow (Str +3) +5 (1d10+3/19-20/x2)
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 17 (18 vs. Bull Rush, 18 vs. Drag)
Feats Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Traits Armor Expert, Rich Parents
Skills Climb +7, Survival +4, Swim +7
Languages Edraldi, Low Imperial, Thell
SQ Stone in the Blood, Treacherous Earth (1 minutes) (1/day)
Combat Gear Darkwood Thell Longbow (Str +3), Greataxe, Dagger, Dagger, Cestus, Arrows (40), Blunt arrows (20), Masterwork Chain shirt; Other Gear Backpack, masterwork (10 @ 23 lbs), Bedroll, Belt pouch (2 @ 1 lbs), Flint and steel, Grappling hook, Hammock, Silk rope, Torch (2), Trail rations (4), Whetstone, Wrist sheath, spring loaded (1 @ 1 lbs), Wrist sheath, spring loaded (1 @ 1 lbs)
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TRACKED RESOURCES
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Dagger - 0/1
Dagger - 0/1
Arrows - 0/40
Blunt arrows - 0/20
Torch - 0/2
Trail rations - 0/4
Treacherous Earth (1 minutes) (1/day) - 0/1
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Special Abilities
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Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Point Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into combat.
Stone in the Blood Gain fast healing 2 for one round anytime you are subject to acid damage.
Treacherous Earth (1 minutes) (1/day) Transform a 10-ft. radius patch of earth into difficult terrain.
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Voda Vosa · Oct 24, 2012

Hang sits as well, and on his turns takes the ring without any word and examines it with expertise.

HolyMan · Oct 24, 2012

"Truly an interesting piece," He-Mit says as the ring is passed to him. "I am no shala-dancer,who would know it's worth, your price seems fair to me. But this items seems more than just a decoration."

Handing over to the next potential buyer he asks, "Does it have a story to it?"

OOC: hope you don't mind me making up a few extras: shala-dancer = women who dance with expensive jewelry on and not much else

Dr Simon · Oct 24, 2012

[sblock=Sil]
Sil turns the ring in her hands, but apart from being able to tell that it is definitely jade and not imitation, she can make little of the piece.
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[sblock=Hang]
Hang, however, is pretty sure it is the general article, a very old piece of work like most yellow jade is said to be. In fact, the starting price seems low for such an item. Either Vaal is desperate to get rid of it, or he's expecting a serious bidding war. Or both.
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[sblock=He-Mit]
He-Mit recalls that yellow jade is said to always be found in worked form, as if someone (said to be the Lesser Dragon Empire which preceded mankind by millenia) found all the natural yellow jade in the world and carved it. It has properties associated with travel, and items were modified for use in the great Bird Ships of the Empire of Splendour (the last of which sailed over one hundred years ago). This still bears draconic imagery, so is probably an original, unmodified, Lesser Dragon Empire piece.
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"A friend of a friend came by a cache of these," says Vaal. "You'll forgive me if I don't tell you exactly where - there might be more yet to find. As to the provenance, I can tell you that it probably predates the Empire of Splendour."

A serving girl brings tea over for Vaal. He takes a sip and then looks into his cup, confused.

"Wait, this isn't..." he begins, before the cup explodes into shards of earthenware.

A... thing explodes into being in front of him, bursting out of the tea cup. All flailing hairy legs, each tipped with a claw, clustered around a central point but no body. One of the legs spears Vaal through the chest and he drops to the floor.

[sblock=OOC]
Before we start, regarding Mal sizing up Blue, I reckon if GlassEye wants to make Stealth and Bluff rolls against those checks to try to cover up, that would help resolve what Mal is able to tell.

Meanwhile:

Initiative checks, please, plus statements of intent.
Knowledge (nature) if you want any details of this thing.
Any other checks as and when.

He-Mit is currently holding the jade serpent ring.
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