Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6972034" data-attributes="member: 20323">[SECTION][ALIGN=LEFT]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c4/30/b3/c430b3a17a63c87a8015b4b78bd645fc.jpg[/ALIGN]The unnerving and prescient stare from the vizier cut to the quick. It was Jina the Bold who normally was the one to provoke or unbalance during negotiations, but with a simple gesture the tables were so profoundly overturned. Her eyes dart around the auction house briefly, realizing how much she has to lose, before smiling demurely at Akilah. "Forgive my humor. Too much time at sea and I've picked up the dark humor of the corsairs." Her eyes dart back up searchingly to Akilah's as she bows her head slightly. She knows.Sucking her lip, Jina raises her brow at Salahuddin. Desert flower? Oh, these two made a dangerous pair. "Humble? And a sha'ir? Then you are twice as rare. What I'd intended to ask..." she glances to Akilah again, making sure she's not asking too much for the information she will share. A subtle shake or nod of the vizier's head would suffice. "...was if you would do me the favor of looking into the House of Uqab (the Vulture)? While I trade with many desert tribes, these outcasts have been scavenging for antiquities at many of the sites I've visited, working at cross-purposes to my own men. The odds are too slim for it to be chance."After a moment, Jina's manservant comes bear a leather-bound ledger. Taking it from him, the raven-haired merchant flips the pages with a knit brow. "Here it is, an itemized list of what was lost to the raiders..."What is immediately striking about the list, besides that nearly 60,000 dinars (gp) worth of art objects were taken, is there are two references to urns marked with old Elvish script reading akashta bariyat.[/SECTION][SBLOCK=Those speaking Elvish]Akashta bariyat roughly translates to  “shield creature” or "created guardian."[/SBLOCK][SBLOCK=Salahuddin]Akdam was a merchant-mage of Zakhara famous for collecting his life's work researching the magic of neighboring lands; however, a war that took place in Qadib centuries ago resulted in much of his collection being looted or burned. Their are persistent rumors, however, that his "traveling spellbook" escaped with his apprentice. It was rumored to be a collection of spells used while on the trail to facilitate travel...spells to summon servants unseen and phantasmal horses, protect one's wares from thieves, not to mention fit a shepherd's crook into an aba's (robe's) pocket.[/SBLOCK]</blockquote>

Verification