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<blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1952363" data-attributes="member: 15043"><p><strong>A Scholar Learns His Place, and the Metropolis of Mingzhong</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Felonca gave a sigh of relief as she heard Nayu start to snore. It was a soft, warbling kind of snore. The first time she’d heard it, she’d giggled. Now, she felt happy about it for a different reason.</p><p></p><p><em>He’s finally asleep... and can rest from that man...</em></p><p></p><p>Her brow furrowed, as her gaze then switched to the man sleeping nearby. His silk pajamas, likely worth more than all of Felonca’s wordly possessions, reflected a soft pink in the firelight. The mumbled in his dream, and then turned over on the soft down pillow that his head rested upon, and reshuffled haphazardly his deep, warm woolen covers.</p><p></p><p><em>Poor Chou... the guy has to lug the scholar’s stuff on his back.</em></p><p></p><p>There had been several moments that night she’d wanted to smack the man. Several times, after Nayu had been slow to react to his instruction, the scholar had smacked him. His tone was harsh and overly intellectual... he constantly and smugly made references to things he knew none of the others would understand, and then smirk from his ivory tower of knowledge.</p><p></p><p>“<em>Wang</em> Zhou Yi once said, ‘a man without restful sleep is a man vulnerable to his enemies.’ Oh! None of you know who <em>Wang</em> Zhou Yi was! Oh, what a pity!” she remembered his nasally voice blaring only hours before.</p><p></p><p><em>Two more days, that’s all...</em> she thought, wishing that the walls of Mingzhong would move themselves closer. She looked away from the fire, and off to the west, where somewhere in the distance, their destination sat. She blinked.</p><p></p><p>And blinked again.</p><p></p><p>She’d only seen it for a moment, an outline of something. Something human-like, two arms two legs, but also indistinct. She remembered stories of how two hundred years before, when there was no Desert Wall far to the north, the barbarians of Kara Kitai had swept down on Langya and the northern parts of the Empire. </p><p></p><p><em>We might be in the midst of that great battlefield...</em> She remembered her grandfather’s stories of his grandfather, Wu Feng Yu, a mere captain in the Emperor’s army, who saved the life of the great Emperor Li so long ago. </p><p></p><p><em>The spirits of the soldiers may still walk,</em> she realized, the hair on the back of her neck prickling, standing on end. She looked where she saw the shape, and unfocused her eyes. An old trick she’d learned at the Academy. In the dark, human eyes, and especially hengeyokai eyes, were adept at seeing movement, even better than shapes. Her unfocused eyes immediately told her <em>something</em> was there... and that it was moving.</p><p></p><p>“We’ve got a friend coming!” she called out, reaching for her warfans as the shape moved closer. She then started making out it features... ancient armor rent in twain covered its chest, a peasant’s wide brimmed hat shading its eyes. It shimmered and shook, its translucence glowing in the moonlight. She heard muffled complaints from the party, and hushed movements of people donning armor, and Nayu’s voice starting a familiar whisper.</p><p></p><p>“What is the meaning of this! Do you not know it is ruffianism to wake a gentleman who is comfortably aslee-” The scholar’s protested died as a cold, gentle breeze stirred through the air.</p><p></p><p>Carefully, cautiously, Felonca moved towards the creature, her warfans wide and spread open. The creature seemed to loom larger and larger as she approached, her guard up. <em>Go away... go rest,</em> she silently prayed. <em>You should rest with your ancestors, there is no need to patrol here anymore.</em></p><p></p><p>The shimmering ghost seemed to stop, facing towards Felonca. She heard Nayu’s voice suddenly rise, and a sharp word of power thunder through the air. The night was suddenly lit by twin tongues of flame leaping from the young man’s fingers, licking and wreathing around the base of the ghost. </p><p></p><p>A second later, she heard loud prayers coming from Liu, his voice directed at the creature (<em>shout</em>). With a flip and a slash, she was upon it, her warfans slicing through the air. To her chagrin, the creature seemed to melt out of the way of her attacks. For a second, it seemed to recede into the distance, as if running away. However, she felt an immense cold to her front, and she suddenly realized the creature instead was charging her, deceiving her eyes through trickery. A second later, it was upon her.</p><p></p><p>She felt no pain, nor anything trying to control her mind, steal her soul, or fill her with mutant fungus. But she felt <em>cold</em>, as if the god of winter himself had reached from the heavens and grabbed her heart in his eternally icy grip. She felt to the ground, her teeth chattering and her body shaking, trying to ward off the freezing feeling. A second flash of flames from Nayu, passing only inches above her, did nothing for a few moments.</p><p></p><p>Slowly, she felt warmth return to her limbs. Still shivering, she tried to turn to see what had become of the creature when she felt Nayu’s arms around her, and his shout at feeling how cold she was.</p><p></p><p>“Blankets! Get her some blankets!” she heard Chou call as Nayu helped her sit up. She suddenly felt something thick and warm about her, and looked down to see the scholar’s thick, woolen blanket wrapped around her by Chou’s big, clumsy fingers.</p><p></p><p>“Are you alright?” Nayu asked her, worry in his voice.</p><p></p><p>“But... but... that’s <em>my</em> blanket!” The scholar’s voice had returned with a vengeance. “She cannot have my blanket! That blanket was expensive! Now it will have to be cleaned out! I expect you shall cover this, and I’ll instruct my lord that he should deduct this from...”</p><p></p><p>“Deduct this!” Nayu snarled back, giving the man a rude gesture with his fingers. The scholar gasped in horror at the crude comment Nayu’s hands had made, a noise that made Felonca give a shaky laugh.</p><p></p><p>“Brrr.... I wanted to do that all day,” she grinned, the chatter of her teeth dying down.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Sadly, the scholar’s disdain for Nayu and Felonca continued. For the next two days, Felonca gritted her teeth and tried to pull a Liu, and completely ignore him. Those 48 hours passed slowly, but finally, the gleaming red walls and towering pagodas and palaces of Mingzhong came into view.</p><p></p><p>“A bit silent, aren’t we?” Nayu asked a few hours later. He was riding stiffly erect in the saddle, the scholar brooding beside him, watching his form.</p><p></p><p>“It’s... huge...” Felonca whispered. <em>I could get lost in here and not find my way out for weeks! It’s so big... maybe...</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Nah. This city wouldn’t have one!</em></p><p></p><p>“Yup... I’ve only been here once, with my dad a long time ago. They say that other than Xianyang, capital of the whole Empire, you can find almost anything here. Or anyone. There’s traders from the Slave Coasts, from Kara Kitai, from Nors to the far north, White Harbor, even foreigners from the Empire Across the Mountains.” Felonca was too busy gawking to notice Nayu’s eyes doing the same at some of the wares laid out by merchants.</p><p></p><p><em>Maybe there is one here. Why not? I’m sure many thieves operate in this city! Why would they not organize themselves?</em></p><p></p><p>Her reverie was broken by a sharp bark from the scholar. Nayu had evidently slouched a bit while looking at some of the goods.</p><p></p><p>“Sit up straight in the saddle! You’ve made surprising progress for a peasant ruffian, but we still have a huge amount of work to do! We must get you tailored, and I must train you in the last bits of court ettiquette!”</p><p></p><p>“There’s more?” Nayu moaned, and the scholar nodded emphatically.</p><p></p><p>“I’m afraid your friends are a bit of a distraction. We must finish your training in a hurry, young man! You four!” his delicately manicured hands pointed to Felonca, Liu, Li and Chou, “go find something to do! Your friend will be busy the rest of the day. Tommorrow, early, I shall stop by with your garments and your directions for the ceremony!”</p><p></p><p>“Damn annoying cad,” Chou pronounced a few minutes later after Nayu and the scholar left. “After we’re paid, and this is all over, I hope I run into him on the road, so I can leave a boot...” Chou stopped his grumbling at a sharp look from his father.</p><p></p><p>“So, young Felonca, where shall you be headed?” the elderly captain asked. His eyes were not filled with sorrow or regret for once. Rather, they had quite a bit of thanks in them.</p><p></p><p>“I dunno,” she fake shrugged. <em>Sorry Captain, but you can’t come with me where I’m headed.</em> “How about you three?”</p><p></p><p>“I shall go and see if there is a temple in this city dedicated to the teachings of Master Shenyang,” Liu said serenely, before a slight smirk formed on his lips. “I fear if there is more time to be spent with scholars of Kongshi, I must meditate and gain more patience.”</p><p></p><p>“I’d say a good inn with a nice bed will do good for my meditation!” Chou laughed. “I haven’t slept on feather down pillows much, and I fear I have been spoiled now!”</p><p></p><p>“Very well,” Felonca turned her horse around. “I think I’m going to go look for some stuff. Do you have a specific inn in mind where I could meet you?”</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Where is it?</em> Felonca’s mind hissed a few hours later. The day was growing long and the sun’s red rays were already signaling late afternoon.</p><p></p><p>Her questions early on had been innocent enough. Starting conversations with people and asking about life in the city, what it was like... to mentioning she’d heard there was extensive crime. While she’d met some interesting people (and picked up one amorous admirer she had to now avoid), she’d come no closer to her goal.</p><p></p><p>She’d almost thought about blunting asking, “Where is the Thieve’s Guild?” when an older man had mentioned many thieves tended to congregate outside a certain tanner’s shop. Taking the advice, she now searched with her eyes, and her nose.</p><p></p><p><em>Aha!</em> Her nose picked up the smell of boiling leather and pelts, and she followed her nostrils to a rather well kept building, smoke coming from a hole in its roof. When she stepped inside, a bevy of faces turned to look for a moment before returning to whatever business they had been engaged in.</p><p></p><p>The business looked normal. Two rather burly men were examining one large set of leather barding. A couple others were scattered here and about, while three sat around a man whose dyed hands indicated he was the tanner himself. The proprietor seemed busy weaving a long yarn of a tale... something to do with a brothel in Xianlung... so Felonca thought the next step would be easy.</p><p></p><p><em>The stories always say that the Thieve’s Guilds have a secret entrance. It’s plainly obvious that must be the case here. Now, that wall goes to the outside, and these two are shared with the shops next door, so it must be somewhere along this wall...</em></p><p></p><p>The wall in question had several large sections of leather of various grades hanging on display. One was marked for potential coats, one for armor, and another for a section of barding. She started by the one marked for a coat.</p><p></p><p>She gingerly grabbed the leather, and ran her hand along it, mumbling and making “hmm” noises, trying to look at nonchalant as possible. When she thought no one was looking, she lifted the leather off of the wall and ran her hand along the stucco...</p><p></p><p>And suddenly screeched, as a jolt of electricity shot through her arm. </p><p></p><p>She pulled her hand back, holding her arm in pain. On her index and middle fingers were two tiny burn marks, the center of a pain that radiated out to her elbow. As she hissed, she cursed herself as every eye in the store turned to her.</p><p></p><p><em>Quick! Think of something! Hurry!</em></p><p></p><p>“Ah...um...wow... this... this... leather is quite... um... shocking!” <em>Dammit!</em> “Ah... um... the price, that is! My... I’ve never seen leather go for...” She leaned close and finally saw the little piece of paper marking its price... 3 gold taels. <em>Is that cheap, or is that expensive? Ok... think! Think! Um... ok. I’ll go with expensive! I have a 50-50 chance!</em> “3 gold taels! My... um... that’s... quite expensive! Heh!”</p><p></p><p>Eight pairs of eyes bored in on her... the tanner’s eyes flaming the most in fury.</p><p></p><p>“Tha’ ain’ expensiv’ neither! ‘Is one ‘ere is fo’ fifteen gold taels!” he snarled in broken Common, his accent speaking of someone from the deserts. “You makin’ fun ‘o my goods?” A big finger, dyed brown, pointed at her accusingly.</p><p></p><p>“No! No no no no!” Felonca apologized quickly. <em>Quick! Think! Deep trouble! Think!</em> “It...was meant in jest! Yes! It’s quite a good price actually! One of the best I’ve seen!” she rambled quickly. The two large men were already moving, their eyes locked on her.</p><p></p><p><em>Oh boy,</em> Felonca thought, starting to tense. <em>I could take on one of them, but those two plus six others? What have you gotten yourself into now, Felonca?</em> The other patrons started to move, and quickly, she found herself surrounded, the angry tanner now in her face.</p><p></p><p>“You come in ‘ere, you spit on my wares, and no you try to lie ‘bout it?” The finger still pointed at her, like a sword aimed at her throat. The eyes locked with hers, and she noticed uneasily all the scars on the man’s face and neck. Slashes, cuts, poorly healed. He was a brawler. Suddenly, his face turned to the side, and he gave a fearsome smile that included only seven teeth. “I ‘on’t think you was ‘ere for no ‘ides!”</p><p></p><p><em>What do I do?! Lie! How?! With what?! Why am I here!? I just want to get out!</em></p><p></p><p>“She ain’t here for no hides!” one of the tall burly men snarled as well. “I’ve got my suspicions about you!”</p><p></p><p>“It’s... it’s been a misunderstanding! Really!” Felonca held her hands up, hoping the gesture would relieve some of the tension. The men instead crowded around her closer, till she could hardly move.</p><p></p><p>“Hsian, I say if she doesn’t tell us why she’s here, we get to take care of her!” a very small man in front growled. “Can’t have people just wandering in here!” He then turned back towards her, and she could have swore he had coals in his eyes instead of pupils. “Tell us why you’re here!”</p><p></p><p>“I’m looking for the Thieve’s Guild!” she blurted out in a panic. (DM’s Note: Nayu’s player was going crazy at this point. “No! Don’t tell them that! Why did you tell them that!” :-D )</p><p></p><p><em>Nice, Felonca! If this is the wrong place, they now know you’re a thief! Great!</em> Silently she cursed her tongue and her luck, as the eight men all looked at each other in surprise. Finally, the tanner looked back at her and crossed his arms.</p><p></p><p>“An’ why should we tell you anythin’ ‘bout that?”</p><p></p><p>“Be...because...” Felonca stammered out, “I’m... I’m a great thief! Renowned throughout the Northern Border! Why... I even stole from Master Hsiu of the Military Academy at Hsiulan, and from numerous prefects and scholars!” she exaggerated. </p><p></p><p> <em>That got a response!</em> she smiled as she saw their stunned looks. The eight all looked at each other, before the tanner once again looked at her, looking her up and down. He motioned for the others to follow him, and for a second Felonca thought she might be let go... until she noticed that the two biggest men remained blocking her path out of the store.</p><p></p><p>A series of curses entered her mind as she saw the other six men gather in a circle, hushed by vehement words passing between them. The smallest man, the one that demanded to know why she was here, was making sharp chopping motions with his hand. Felonca gulped. </p><p></p><p>Finally, the impromptu council broke apart, and all six came back over, clustering around her again.</p><p></p><p>“’e’ve come t’ a decision!” the tanner crossed his arms. “You’re going wit’ us to see the guildmaster! ‘E’ll know what to do wit’ you! If ‘e like you, you live. ‘E no like you, we kill you.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Emperor Valerian, post: 1952363, member: 15043"] [b]A Scholar Learns His Place, and the Metropolis of Mingzhong[/b] Felonca gave a sigh of relief as she heard Nayu start to snore. It was a soft, warbling kind of snore. The first time she’d heard it, she’d giggled. Now, she felt happy about it for a different reason. [i]He’s finally asleep... and can rest from that man...[/i] Her brow furrowed, as her gaze then switched to the man sleeping nearby. His silk pajamas, likely worth more than all of Felonca’s wordly possessions, reflected a soft pink in the firelight. The mumbled in his dream, and then turned over on the soft down pillow that his head rested upon, and reshuffled haphazardly his deep, warm woolen covers. [i]Poor Chou... the guy has to lug the scholar’s stuff on his back.[/i] There had been several moments that night she’d wanted to smack the man. Several times, after Nayu had been slow to react to his instruction, the scholar had smacked him. His tone was harsh and overly intellectual... he constantly and smugly made references to things he knew none of the others would understand, and then smirk from his ivory tower of knowledge. “[i]Wang[/i] Zhou Yi once said, ‘a man without restful sleep is a man vulnerable to his enemies.’ Oh! None of you know who [i]Wang[/i] Zhou Yi was! Oh, what a pity!” she remembered his nasally voice blaring only hours before. [i]Two more days, that’s all...[/i] she thought, wishing that the walls of Mingzhong would move themselves closer. She looked away from the fire, and off to the west, where somewhere in the distance, their destination sat. She blinked. And blinked again. She’d only seen it for a moment, an outline of something. Something human-like, two arms two legs, but also indistinct. She remembered stories of how two hundred years before, when there was no Desert Wall far to the north, the barbarians of Kara Kitai had swept down on Langya and the northern parts of the Empire. [i]We might be in the midst of that great battlefield...[/i] She remembered her grandfather’s stories of his grandfather, Wu Feng Yu, a mere captain in the Emperor’s army, who saved the life of the great Emperor Li so long ago. [i]The spirits of the soldiers may still walk,[/i] she realized, the hair on the back of her neck prickling, standing on end. She looked where she saw the shape, and unfocused her eyes. An old trick she’d learned at the Academy. In the dark, human eyes, and especially hengeyokai eyes, were adept at seeing movement, even better than shapes. Her unfocused eyes immediately told her [i]something[/i] was there... and that it was moving. “We’ve got a friend coming!” she called out, reaching for her warfans as the shape moved closer. She then started making out it features... ancient armor rent in twain covered its chest, a peasant’s wide brimmed hat shading its eyes. It shimmered and shook, its translucence glowing in the moonlight. She heard muffled complaints from the party, and hushed movements of people donning armor, and Nayu’s voice starting a familiar whisper. “What is the meaning of this! Do you not know it is ruffianism to wake a gentleman who is comfortably aslee-” The scholar’s protested died as a cold, gentle breeze stirred through the air. Carefully, cautiously, Felonca moved towards the creature, her warfans wide and spread open. The creature seemed to loom larger and larger as she approached, her guard up. [i]Go away... go rest,[/i] she silently prayed. [i]You should rest with your ancestors, there is no need to patrol here anymore.[/i] The shimmering ghost seemed to stop, facing towards Felonca. She heard Nayu’s voice suddenly rise, and a sharp word of power thunder through the air. The night was suddenly lit by twin tongues of flame leaping from the young man’s fingers, licking and wreathing around the base of the ghost. A second later, she heard loud prayers coming from Liu, his voice directed at the creature ([i]shout[/i]). With a flip and a slash, she was upon it, her warfans slicing through the air. To her chagrin, the creature seemed to melt out of the way of her attacks. For a second, it seemed to recede into the distance, as if running away. However, she felt an immense cold to her front, and she suddenly realized the creature instead was charging her, deceiving her eyes through trickery. A second later, it was upon her. She felt no pain, nor anything trying to control her mind, steal her soul, or fill her with mutant fungus. But she felt [i]cold[/i], as if the god of winter himself had reached from the heavens and grabbed her heart in his eternally icy grip. She felt to the ground, her teeth chattering and her body shaking, trying to ward off the freezing feeling. A second flash of flames from Nayu, passing only inches above her, did nothing for a few moments. Slowly, she felt warmth return to her limbs. Still shivering, she tried to turn to see what had become of the creature when she felt Nayu’s arms around her, and his shout at feeling how cold she was. “Blankets! Get her some blankets!” she heard Chou call as Nayu helped her sit up. She suddenly felt something thick and warm about her, and looked down to see the scholar’s thick, woolen blanket wrapped around her by Chou’s big, clumsy fingers. “Are you alright?” Nayu asked her, worry in his voice. “But... but... that’s [i]my[/i] blanket!” The scholar’s voice had returned with a vengeance. “She cannot have my blanket! That blanket was expensive! Now it will have to be cleaned out! I expect you shall cover this, and I’ll instruct my lord that he should deduct this from...” “Deduct this!” Nayu snarled back, giving the man a rude gesture with his fingers. The scholar gasped in horror at the crude comment Nayu’s hands had made, a noise that made Felonca give a shaky laugh. “Brrr.... I wanted to do that all day,” she grinned, the chatter of her teeth dying down. Sadly, the scholar’s disdain for Nayu and Felonca continued. For the next two days, Felonca gritted her teeth and tried to pull a Liu, and completely ignore him. Those 48 hours passed slowly, but finally, the gleaming red walls and towering pagodas and palaces of Mingzhong came into view. “A bit silent, aren’t we?” Nayu asked a few hours later. He was riding stiffly erect in the saddle, the scholar brooding beside him, watching his form. “It’s... huge...” Felonca whispered. [i]I could get lost in here and not find my way out for weeks! It’s so big... maybe... Nah. This city wouldn’t have one![/i] “Yup... I’ve only been here once, with my dad a long time ago. They say that other than Xianyang, capital of the whole Empire, you can find almost anything here. Or anyone. There’s traders from the Slave Coasts, from Kara Kitai, from Nors to the far north, White Harbor, even foreigners from the Empire Across the Mountains.” Felonca was too busy gawking to notice Nayu’s eyes doing the same at some of the wares laid out by merchants. [i]Maybe there is one here. Why not? I’m sure many thieves operate in this city! Why would they not organize themselves?[/i] Her reverie was broken by a sharp bark from the scholar. Nayu had evidently slouched a bit while looking at some of the goods. “Sit up straight in the saddle! You’ve made surprising progress for a peasant ruffian, but we still have a huge amount of work to do! We must get you tailored, and I must train you in the last bits of court ettiquette!” “There’s more?” Nayu moaned, and the scholar nodded emphatically. “I’m afraid your friends are a bit of a distraction. We must finish your training in a hurry, young man! You four!” his delicately manicured hands pointed to Felonca, Liu, Li and Chou, “go find something to do! Your friend will be busy the rest of the day. Tommorrow, early, I shall stop by with your garments and your directions for the ceremony!” “Damn annoying cad,” Chou pronounced a few minutes later after Nayu and the scholar left. “After we’re paid, and this is all over, I hope I run into him on the road, so I can leave a boot...” Chou stopped his grumbling at a sharp look from his father. “So, young Felonca, where shall you be headed?” the elderly captain asked. His eyes were not filled with sorrow or regret for once. Rather, they had quite a bit of thanks in them. “I dunno,” she fake shrugged. [i]Sorry Captain, but you can’t come with me where I’m headed.[/i] “How about you three?” “I shall go and see if there is a temple in this city dedicated to the teachings of Master Shenyang,” Liu said serenely, before a slight smirk formed on his lips. “I fear if there is more time to be spent with scholars of Kongshi, I must meditate and gain more patience.” “I’d say a good inn with a nice bed will do good for my meditation!” Chou laughed. “I haven’t slept on feather down pillows much, and I fear I have been spoiled now!” “Very well,” Felonca turned her horse around. “I think I’m going to go look for some stuff. Do you have a specific inn in mind where I could meet you?” [i]Where is it?[/i] Felonca’s mind hissed a few hours later. The day was growing long and the sun’s red rays were already signaling late afternoon. Her questions early on had been innocent enough. Starting conversations with people and asking about life in the city, what it was like... to mentioning she’d heard there was extensive crime. While she’d met some interesting people (and picked up one amorous admirer she had to now avoid), she’d come no closer to her goal. She’d almost thought about blunting asking, “Where is the Thieve’s Guild?” when an older man had mentioned many thieves tended to congregate outside a certain tanner’s shop. Taking the advice, she now searched with her eyes, and her nose. [i]Aha![/i] Her nose picked up the smell of boiling leather and pelts, and she followed her nostrils to a rather well kept building, smoke coming from a hole in its roof. When she stepped inside, a bevy of faces turned to look for a moment before returning to whatever business they had been engaged in. The business looked normal. Two rather burly men were examining one large set of leather barding. A couple others were scattered here and about, while three sat around a man whose dyed hands indicated he was the tanner himself. The proprietor seemed busy weaving a long yarn of a tale... something to do with a brothel in Xianlung... so Felonca thought the next step would be easy. [i]The stories always say that the Thieve’s Guilds have a secret entrance. It’s plainly obvious that must be the case here. Now, that wall goes to the outside, and these two are shared with the shops next door, so it must be somewhere along this wall...[/i] The wall in question had several large sections of leather of various grades hanging on display. One was marked for potential coats, one for armor, and another for a section of barding. She started by the one marked for a coat. She gingerly grabbed the leather, and ran her hand along it, mumbling and making “hmm” noises, trying to look at nonchalant as possible. When she thought no one was looking, she lifted the leather off of the wall and ran her hand along the stucco... And suddenly screeched, as a jolt of electricity shot through her arm. She pulled her hand back, holding her arm in pain. On her index and middle fingers were two tiny burn marks, the center of a pain that radiated out to her elbow. As she hissed, she cursed herself as every eye in the store turned to her. [i]Quick! Think of something! Hurry![/i] “Ah...um...wow... this... this... leather is quite... um... shocking!” [i]Dammit![/i] “Ah... um... the price, that is! My... I’ve never seen leather go for...” She leaned close and finally saw the little piece of paper marking its price... 3 gold taels. [i]Is that cheap, or is that expensive? Ok... think! Think! Um... ok. I’ll go with expensive! I have a 50-50 chance![/i] “3 gold taels! My... um... that’s... quite expensive! Heh!” Eight pairs of eyes bored in on her... the tanner’s eyes flaming the most in fury. “Tha’ ain’ expensiv’ neither! ‘Is one ‘ere is fo’ fifteen gold taels!” he snarled in broken Common, his accent speaking of someone from the deserts. “You makin’ fun ‘o my goods?” A big finger, dyed brown, pointed at her accusingly. “No! No no no no!” Felonca apologized quickly. [i]Quick! Think! Deep trouble! Think![/i] “It...was meant in jest! Yes! It’s quite a good price actually! One of the best I’ve seen!” she rambled quickly. The two large men were already moving, their eyes locked on her. [i]Oh boy,[/i] Felonca thought, starting to tense. [i]I could take on one of them, but those two plus six others? What have you gotten yourself into now, Felonca?[/i] The other patrons started to move, and quickly, she found herself surrounded, the angry tanner now in her face. “You come in ‘ere, you spit on my wares, and no you try to lie ‘bout it?” The finger still pointed at her, like a sword aimed at her throat. The eyes locked with hers, and she noticed uneasily all the scars on the man’s face and neck. Slashes, cuts, poorly healed. He was a brawler. Suddenly, his face turned to the side, and he gave a fearsome smile that included only seven teeth. “I ‘on’t think you was ‘ere for no ‘ides!” [i]What do I do?! Lie! How?! With what?! Why am I here!? I just want to get out![/i] “She ain’t here for no hides!” one of the tall burly men snarled as well. “I’ve got my suspicions about you!” “It’s... it’s been a misunderstanding! Really!” Felonca held her hands up, hoping the gesture would relieve some of the tension. The men instead crowded around her closer, till she could hardly move. “Hsian, I say if she doesn’t tell us why she’s here, we get to take care of her!” a very small man in front growled. “Can’t have people just wandering in here!” He then turned back towards her, and she could have swore he had coals in his eyes instead of pupils. “Tell us why you’re here!” “I’m looking for the Thieve’s Guild!” she blurted out in a panic. (DM’s Note: Nayu’s player was going crazy at this point. “No! Don’t tell them that! Why did you tell them that!” :-D ) [i]Nice, Felonca! If this is the wrong place, they now know you’re a thief! Great![/i] Silently she cursed her tongue and her luck, as the eight men all looked at each other in surprise. Finally, the tanner looked back at her and crossed his arms. “An’ why should we tell you anythin’ ‘bout that?” “Be...because...” Felonca stammered out, “I’m... I’m a great thief! Renowned throughout the Northern Border! Why... I even stole from Master Hsiu of the Military Academy at Hsiulan, and from numerous prefects and scholars!” she exaggerated. [i]That got a response![/i] she smiled as she saw their stunned looks. The eight all looked at each other, before the tanner once again looked at her, looking her up and down. He motioned for the others to follow him, and for a second Felonca thought she might be let go... until she noticed that the two biggest men remained blocking her path out of the store. A series of curses entered her mind as she saw the other six men gather in a circle, hushed by vehement words passing between them. The smallest man, the one that demanded to know why she was here, was making sharp chopping motions with his hand. Felonca gulped. Finally, the impromptu council broke apart, and all six came back over, clustering around her again. “’e’ve come t’ a decision!” the tanner crossed his arms. “You’re going wit’ us to see the guildmaster! ‘E’ll know what to do wit’ you! If ‘e like you, you live. ‘E no like you, we kill you.” [/QUOTE]
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The Celestial Empire (Romance of the Three Kingdoms-ish, Updated 12/09/05)
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