"Return of the Rod of the Seven Parts" - D&D

[Silver Moon]

Chinese Take-out

Chapter 28, "Finder's Band", September 17, 1018, 4:00 P.M.

The group of Duegar, Lannon, Mojo, Narg and Serita are in the Chinese city of Chunming, where Hiroshi’s daughter Kim-Sung and his halfling servant Chin-Tang have been assisting them with finding information about the castle where Morgarth is now staying at. They have just left the Chunming City Hall, carrying a large painting of the castle that they have borrowed, and are now searching for the Church of Finder Wyvernspur, as the people there are thought to also have some knowledge of the castle’s former owners.

As they get to the part of the city where this church is said to be located, Kim-Sung and Chin-Tang ask for directions. They also find out some more information from the neighbors of this church. Apparently, the clergy first arrived in Chunming four months earlier, rented a building, and have been trying to attract new followers, but without much success. The clergy has been speaking of the exploits of their new god, but there has been little interest in the people to flock to this ‘god of reckless fools’. The party does pick up that this clergy itself is not fond of this unflattering nickname, and to be careful to not refer to the god as such.

They arrive at the building, a single-story stone structure with a wooden sign above the doorway depicting a white harp in a gray circle. They head up the walkway, hearing singing and the sound of a lute coming from inside of the building’s open front door. Inside is a large room, taking up about two-thirds of the building. The music stops, and the party enters and stop just inside the door, seeing a group of people standing in the rear of the room, the lute now placed on the table between them. The group is comprised of three men and two women. The men consist of an Oriental, a young Caucasian, and a middle-aged Caucasian. The two women are both young Caucasians.

The oriental man approaches the party. He is wearing an elaborate silk embroidered robe over a suit of chainmail. His long dark hair is tied back in a ponytail, and he wears a beard and a long thin mustache. He approaches the party, and asks Kim-Sung in Chinese what language the party would prefer to speak in. She replies “Common.” He says in Common, “Hello, my name is Le-Sun Chang. Welcome to the Church of Finder Wyvernspur. How can we help you?”

Kim-Sung states “We seek information, which you group may have.” “Indeed,” he says, and nods his head to the side, a gesture for his companions to come join in the conversation. The younger male immediately approaches the party. He is a tall, slender handsome clean-shaven male in his early twenties, with deep blue eyes, a freckled complexion, and bright red waist-length hair, which is pulled back into a ponytail. He is attired in dark blue woolen pants, a light blue silk shirt, a deep blue leather vest that is trimmed with gold with a matching blue and gold embroidered cloak. On his belt are a shortsword and set of musical pipes.

He says, “Hello, my name is Joel, and our group calls itself Finder’s Band. I am both a priest of Finder Wyvernspur as well as a bard, and welcome you to our place of worship. Would you perhaps be interested in joining our church?” “We were just passing through,” Lannon quickly interjects. Kim-Sung explains to the rather assertive man “This is the adventuring party known as the Silver Moon. They are only visiting in Chunming, and have been led here seeking information that your group might possess.” “And what sort of information would that be?” one of the females asks, as both of the women have now approached the party as well.

The speaker is an attractive human woman in her late twenties. Her figure is lean and muscular, and she has short dark hair and brown eyes. She is attired in leather armor, with a sheathed longsword on her belt. Upon close examination the party can see that the cloak on her back is in actuality a pair of wings. The other female is a tall dark-skinned teenage girl. She is attired in full plate armor, which is painted yellow and red. A sheathed sword hangs from her belt. Joel introduces them, saying “These fine ladies are the fighters of Finder's Band, the Lady Jasmine and the Paladin Holly Harrowslough.” He then gestures to Le-Sun, saying “And you’ve already been introduced to our other cleric. Now, what would you like to know?”

“Well, first of all, could you tell us exactly who this Finder Wyvernspur is?” Serita asks. Joel exclaims “He is the god for the cycle of life, from rot to rebirth, with the focus on transformation through the arts, primarily music.” “Huh?” says Narg.

The Paladin Holly compassionately interjects “Finder Wyvernspur came from another continent on this world, where he was known as one of the greatest bards. He was also a selfish and arrogant man, whose recklessness led to the deaths of his apprentices. As punishment, the Harpers Guild stripped him of his name, thereafter referring to him only as the Nameless Bard. A decade ago, as part of a trial to regain his name, he opposed the demigod of rot, decay and corruption, a massive mound of evil known as Moander, just as Moander was attempting to enter this world. Finder sacrificed his greatest work, an artifact that he had devoted his lifetime to creating, to first banish Moander from this world, and then to follow him to his home dimension of the Abyss, where the fatal blow was struck. With the death of Moander, and through the patronage of two other deities, Finder absorbed Moander’s powers and became a Demigod himself. While that meant that Finder now became the god of rot, decay and corruption, he chose to take this to the next level, to that of rebirth and transformation. It is also serves as an analogy of his own life, going from arrogance and selfishness to self-sacrifice and divination.”

[DM’s note: The above story can be found in the Forgotten Realms “Finder’s Stone Trilogy”, the novels Azure Bonds, The Wyvern’s Spur, & Song of the Saurials, by Kate Novak & Jeff Grubb.]

“So a great hero became a god,” comments Lannon. Le-Sun softly says “Yes, in part as a lesson from the gods to teach him humility.” “What?” Mojo exclaims, “How does becoming a god make somebody humble?” Jasmine quietly answers, “Finder had been one of the most powerful and arrogant humans on the planet. He is now among the weakest and least powerful gods, with very few followers, and still has not found a plane to live upon. That change in status among his peers has taught him a great lesson in humility.” “Ah,” says Serita “He went from being a big fish in a small pond to being a small fish in a big pond.” “An apt analogy,” says Le-Sun, “although I’d use ‘vast ocean’ rather than ‘big pond’ to describe his current situation.”

“OK, let’s get down to business,” says Narg. “What brings us here is that we heard that your group recently fought with some evil mages known as the Zhentarim.” “Yes, we recently defeated a group from the Zhentarim, one of several quests that we have undertaken since devoting ourselves to Finder” Joel answers, “They are a major force where we came from. In fact, it was their prior presence in this continent that brought us here. We thought that our recent defeat of the Zhentarim might help to impress the local population of Finder’s accomplishments, and attract followers to his church. Unfortunately, as the Zhentarim has now been away from this land for five centuries, their evil is too far removed from the recent memory of the people here, being thought of more as a trivial bit of ancient history. The people here have been impressed by the stories of our successes, but most seem to feel that we have crossed over that fine line that separates bravery from foolhardiness.” Lannon says, “We’ve crossed that line a few times ourselves.” “I live on that line,” Duegar adds.

Narg continues, “We are after an evil mage and his followers who we think is now living in an old Zhentarim castle near here.” The Paladin interjects “What is this new evil that you speak of? Who is it that may be trying to build on what the Zhentarim left behind?” “His name is Morgarth,” answers Serita.

This attracts the attention of the middle-aged man still in the back of the room, who begins to approach the party. The members of Finder’s Band cease talking, and look towards him. He is dressed in a leather tunic worn over a heavy wool shirt. His pants and boots are also made of sturdy, well-worn leather. A wool hat with a feather and hatpin matching the sign above the front door cover his balding head. His beard and mustache are mostly dark, with enough white mixed in to give him the appearance of a man in his late forties or early fifties. “I’ve heard of this Morgarth,” the man says. “He originally came from a world known as Oerth, from a city called Grayhawk. For the past thirty years has lived on this world, on the continent known as Phlooredah” “We are from Phlooredah,” Serita states. “I work for Phlooredah’s new ruler,” Mojo interjects, stepping forward towards this man.

Narg says, “We think he’s near here now, and playing with the toys that the Zhentarim left behind.” The man answers, “Yes, I was told that he had recently left Phlooredah.” Narg replies, “You seem to know a lot about things.” “You have to in my line of work,” he replies. “What line of work is that?” Mojo asks. The man immediately replies “Demigod. I’m Finder Wyvernspur. Pleased to meet you”. He extends his hand in greeting to Mojo, who lets out a scream and jumps back.

[DM’s notes: The AD&D specifications for Finder’s Band can be found in Dragon Magazine Annual #2 by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb; The specification for Finder Wyvernspur can be found in Polyhedron Magazine #119 by Erik L. Boyd and Kate Novak. These characters are from the Forgotten Realms novels Finder’s Bane and Tymora’s Luck, by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chinese Take-out

Chapter 29, “The God of Reckless Fools”, September 17, 1018, 4:30 P.M.

The group is taken aback by the revelation that the man before them is the demigod Finder Wyvernspur. “What are you doing hanging out with a bunch of mortals?” asks Serita incredulously. He answers, “They are among my first and most dedicated followers. I’ve assisted them recently with some very dangerous quests. These have included defeating the evil Dark Stalkers, fighting Walinda, the cruel priestess of Bane, going up against the Legions of the Blood Wars, and taking on the Black Network of the Zhentarim.”

[DM’s note: The above exploits of Finder and Finder’s Band can be found in the Forgotten Realms novels Finder’s Bane and Tymora’s Luck, by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb.]

He continues: “Without my direct assistance my fledgling church could have come to an abrupt end.” “So you’re not just ‘slumming’ on this world?” comments Mojo. “This was my world too,” the demigod answers, “And I haven’t found another plane yet to call my home. I certainly had no desire to stay in the Abyss where Moander had lived. I first thought that I would make a home for myself in Asgard on the plane of Gladshiem, home to many ascended heroes of the Norse legends, but soon discovered that Odin had imposed restrictions to keep all non-Asgardian deities from that plane. I then went to Olympus, but Zeus also turned me away. He was put off by my having first gone to Asgard, stating that if I had wanted to live in Olympus I should have approached him to begin with. I never fully realized how petty some of the gods could be. It then occurred to me that I have an eternity during which to find a new home, so why rush. I came back to this world to help establish my churches and to attract followers. I now have three small but thriving churches in cities on my home continent.

Last spring, the group of Finder’s Band sought my assistance in opposing the lich-god Vecna, which brought us to the dimension known as Tovag Baragu. It was there that we met Le-Sun Chang, a cleric of Zakani, the Spirit Lord. Le-Sun had been pulled into the conflict by the demigod Iuz, who Zakani was allied to. Following this altercation, Le-Sun sought our group’s assistance to return to this world. He had originally come from the continent we are now on. He has certain abilities that are linked to the land itself, so has to return periodically to revitalize. We chose to accompany him here, thinking that the Zhentarim’s former stomping ground might be as good a place as any to establish a foothold on this continent. So far there has been little interest, and we are now planning to move on. But first, please tell me more about what Morgarth is up to.”

[DM’s Note: The Oriental Adventures character sheet and history for the Le-Sun Chang character was obtained online from the World of Grayhawk Fan Club Internet site.]

The party gives a detailed description of the attack on their island the previous month, and of the clues that have led them to believe that Morgarth now resides at Darkhold Castle. When hearing the description of the elephant-footed giants Finder says, “Those are the Trow. They are a race that was magically created by the Zhentarim, and to my knowledge none but the Zhentarim have ever commanded them. The Black Network must have left several squadrons of them behind at Darkhold in Temporal Stasis, and Morgarth has awakened them. That means that when the Zhentarim left Darkhold they had planned to return some day, so there could also be other dangerous things that they left behind. Morgarth would now have these at his disposal. This is indeed troubling.”

“Maybe you’d like to help us get him,” Serita interjects. Finder answers “And deny you your quest for vengeance? I think not! However, now that you have brought this to my attention I can promise you that I will look further into it, and see what else I can find out about this Morgarth. There might be other ways that I can assist your group with your quest. Are there any musicians in your party?” “Well,” states Mojo “I once shot a piano player, and he sang out as he fell. Does that count?” Duegar says “I can make noises with my armpits.” Narg comments “Well, we used to have a bard with our group, but he had a thing for teenage girls, and, well, it’s a long story.” Kim-Sung interjects “I play a musical instrument.” “You do! What instrument?” Finder asks. “The harp,” she answers. “Perfect, please excuse me for one moment” is his reply, and he walks through the rear wall and into a back room of the building.

He soon returns, carrying what looks to be a wooden toy harp with an attached stool, about four inches in length. He walks up to Kim-Sung, and holds it before her. He asks, “Could you please sing out my name.” She sings “Fin-der-wy-vern-spur.” He then has her sing his name again, but at one octave lower. She does so. He then explains, “Your voice is now imprinted on this item, and its magic will only function for you. When you sing my name it will enlarge to a full sized harp, of a perfect size for you. It will reduce to this miniature size with the singing of my name in the lower voice. Please try it, and I will now teach you the harp’s other properties.” She sings the name, and the harp grows into its full-sized version. The instrument is elaborately carved, with gold edging, one of the finest harps she has ever seen. It rests on the floor, the stool having grown as well.

Finder motions for Kim-Sung to sit on the stool. She does so and moves her arms out to play the harp. Finder kneels down immediately behind her and reaches his arms around her, holding his hands above hers. “Hey, he’s making a move on our girl,” Duegar says. “Maybe I should try that,” Mojo comments. “What, become a Demigod?” Serita answers. “Sure” Mojo responds. Narg interjects “Oh yeah, I can just see your application for divine ascension ‘Reason for seeking godhood: To pick up girls.’” “Hey, it worked for Zeus,” is Mojo’s response.

Finder teaches her to play a song, then watches as she plays it back for him. He tells her “That is a Marking Song. When you play it an invisible mark is placed on all doors within the range of the harp’s music. Playing the song again makes the marks temporarily visible. This can be used to keep you from ever becoming lost.” Lannon whispers to Chin-Tang “Yeah, but the music will also attract every monster in the dungeon.”

He then teaches her another song, which everyone finds pleasant and relaxing. He tells her “That song is a Calming Song. Playing it will calm all those who hear, bringing them to a peaceful state.” He has her repeat the song. As she does so he says, “Once calmed, as you continue to play the song, your audience will also become susceptible to whatever suggestions you choose to sing.”

He then says, “Lastly, I play for you the third and final magical song imbedded in this instrument.” He has her stand, and sits on the stool. He then plays a short, distinct melody with sharp cord changes. He plays it a second time, explaining to her the cord changes. He then has her sit and try, repeating the difficult tune until she has it right. Finder says, “You should exercise great discretion as to the playing of that song. It is a Summoning Song. Playing it will call me to appear wherever you are. Use it with great care, and be mindful that if a time comes when you are in need of my support I may at that time also ask some sacrifice of you in return.”

Kim-Sung sings the song to reduce the harp in size, carefully wraps it in an embroidered cloth given to her by the Paladin, and gently places in into her satchel. The party thanks Finder and Finder’s Band for their help. As they leave Finder says “Good luck, Adventurers of the Silver Moon. I am certain that our paths will one day cross again.”

 

[Silver Moon]

Chinese Take-out

Chapter 30, “All together again”, September 17, 1018, 5:00 P.M.

The group heads back to the Ming Estate. They enter the mountain, and then walk up literally hundreds of steps, with a few complaints about how “We should have taken the train instead.” When they get back Chin-Tang says that he will go find Hiroshi for them. Mojo yells out to him, “OK, but remember the old saying, if the pagoda is rocking don’t bother knocking.”

Ten minutes later Hiroshi arrives, telling the group they are in time for supper, and he has food brought out to them in the room where they first arrived. “So, how was your afternoon?” Hiroshi asks. “Interesting, your daughter got personal with a god,” Mojo says. “Excuse me!” Hiroshi replies. “Mojo, that’s no way to phrase it” Serita exclaims, “It’s not like he pulled a Zeus on her.” Mojo answers, “Hey, I’m direct. I thought that was what you liked about me.” Serita answers, “There’s nothing that I like about you. Your only redeeming quality is that you smell better than Narg’s socks.”

The group explains to Hiroshi about the encounter with Finder Wyvernspur, as well as the other information they obtained, and shows him the painting and schematic. Given that Kim-Sung can now contact a god, who assumed that she was a member of the group going on this mission, it is decided that she should accompany the party back to Shosun. Hiroshi is concerned about her safety but is assured by Duegar, Lannon and Mojo that they will help to protect her. He says to her “Well, I suppose that it would be nice for your cousin Toshiro to get to know you.” Hiroshi leaves instructions and messages with Chin-Tang, then joins the party get in the bags of holding, and Serita teleports them back to Shosun.

The combined group all get together for dessert in the non-Chinese dining room at the Common House Inn, and each relate the information that they obtained this day. This leads to a discussion of how they will still need to find a way to get past the anti-magic barrier. They discuss how, since the barrier has been moved before, they could maybe move it again. Lannon says “What would happen if you use an anti-magic device on another anti-magic device?” Mojo replies “Gary Gygax would come over and slap your wrist.” They eventually rule out the idea, primarily because they have no idea how to accomplish it.

Toshiro is not at all pleased that Kim-Sung was brought back with them, and sits at the opposite end of the table from her, burying his nose in his book. As it is a book, bibliophile Cassie asks, “What is that and where did you get it from?” He answers, “I bought it at a bookstore. It is about the Hengeyokai, and was written by Li-Tak.” This catches the attention of everyone at the table, and Aradyn has to restrain Cassie to keep her from ripping the book out of Toshiro’s hands. They accuse Toshiro of holding out on them, but Toshiro points out that he just got the book a few hours ago himself. H hasn’t had a chance to finish reading it yet, and planned to pass it on to him when he was through.

Hiroshi asks him nephew to summarize what he has read so far, as the group now examines the book, They find that is was written 410 years ago by Li-Tak, when he would have been 190 years old, and around a half century after he had left the Heian Empire. It speaks of twelve Hengeyokai sub-races that he has created, specifically the sub-races of Carp, Cat, Crab, Crane, Dog, Duck, Fox, Golden Spider Monkey, Rabbit, Raccoon Dog, Rat, and Sparrow. “But back on the island we also saw a Badger and Panda,” Serita states. Toshiro refers them to a passage near the end of the book stating that Li-Tak was planning to also create other races. Lono makes an unprintable comment about these creatures. This conversation leads to a discussion of how the group will get past these creatures once they get to the barrier. Serita suggests that another talk with Rainville is in order, given his vast knowledge of these creatures.

Narg says, “We don’t need him. Or even to worry about these creatures, we just need to get to Morgarth and kill him.” “And we thought that Hendry Senior guy had monomania” Fiona comments. “Look, we need to be able to get to him first,” says Lannon, “And those creatures will be in the way.” “Tough luck for them,” Narg answers, “Look, I’m just here to get the bad guy. That’s what you pay me for.” “We don’t pay you at all,” Cassie answers. Narg replies, “Well, yeah, we need to talk about that. I’m not going to be young forever. In one-hundred years I’ll need some sort of retirement plan.” “You’ll be dead long before then if you keep this up,” Mojo answers. “No, seriously, we should be funded like those in the private sector,” Narg states. Mojo answers “You’re about to get a kick in the private sector.”

“Look, the Hengeyokai are an issue, we need to figure out how to deal with them,” Serita exclaims. It is concluded that most of those who had been in Chunming group will now go and have a talk with Rainville. They decide that they should also bring along one member of the party who had spoken to him earlier in the day, since they would know exactly where he is. Cassie volunteers, but the others decide to have Mark fill this role instead,. Cassie objects to that, but eventually relents once they promise that they won’t kill him. Hiroshi insists that he wants no further contact with that man. Kim-Sung volunteers to go with the group in case they run into a situation where they need a translator. Hiroshi is concerned about her safety; with both Lannon and Mojo assuring him that they will protect her. “I think you are the two he wants to protect her from,” Serita comments. Hiroshi asks his nephew “Will you go, and protect your cousin. It would be the honorable thing to do.” Toshiro reluctantly agrees.

The group of Kim-Sung, Lannon, Mark, Mojo, Narg, Serita and Toshiro head out to hail three rickshaws to transport them there. An argument ensues over who will ride with who. Naturally, both Lannon and Mojo want to ride with Kim-Sung. Serita says that she and Toshiro will accompany Kim, leaving Mojo to ride with Narg and Lannon to ride with Mark.

During the four-mile trip Serita tries to persuade Toshiro to be friendlier towards his cousin, stating “You’ve been with the Silver Moon for the past eight years, think of all the diverse and unusual things you’ve seen. Why can’t you just open up to your own family” (Which are rather ironic words to come from Serita, given that she and her own mother have avoided speaking to each other for over a decade.)

Narg tries to convince Mojo that he has been acting like a fool, and that Kim-Sung’s dwarven kin will never take to an elf. Mojo replies “Ah, but diversity is what the gods’ want. We are all just one big cosmic sea monkey jar.” Narg gives up.

In the third rickshaw Lannon and Mark discuss the promise that had been made to Cassie. Mark says, “I am surprised she agreed to stay behind.” Lannon answers, “I think that Aradyn would have made a scene otherwise. That is, assuming that Aradyn even knows how to make a scene.” “Well, there was really no reason for her to join us,” says Mark, “since we agreed not to kill Rainville.” Lannon answers, “Yeah, we did, but you know, accident’s happen.”

The rickshaws soon arrive at the church area.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chinese Take-out

Chapter 31, "OK buddy, where's the nearest pet shop?" September 17, 1018, 7:00 P.M.:

The group of Kim-Sung, Lannon, Mark, Mojo, Narg, Serita and Toshiro are heading out to the park area of non-Chinese churches, located in a hilly region four miles to the east, for another confrontation with Rainville.

Unfortunately for Mojo and Narg, the driver of their rickshaw misinterpreted the instructions, and he takes them to a park area of non-Chinese churches five miles to the south instead. Not seeing any of the others from their party, they seek out the Egyptian church that the group was going too. After discovering that this area actually had no churches of that pantheon, they deduced they were at the wrong place. They attempt to talking to the driver, discovering that he cannot understand any of the languages they speak, regardless of how loud the two of them talk to him. Finally deciding it is hopeless, with Mojo swearing about how “cabbies should all know how to speak common”, they head back to the inn. They then joined their other friends in the bar, and waited for the five to return.

Eventually the other five return, and recount the details of their encounter with Rainville. Whereas Mark had been with the group who met with Rainville six hours earlier, he led them directly to where Rainville had been staying, and knocked on the door. There was no immediate answer. With her usual tact and diplomacy, Serita ordered him to “Open the door immediately or I’ll blow it up.” After a few minutes it remained shut, and she yelled, “For your sake, you’d better not be anywhere near to the door, because a lighting bolt is about to smash it open.” Rainville them opened the door, Toshiro commenting to Mark “She has certain ways of persuasion, doesn’t she?”

The group tells Rainville that they are now seeking his assistance in getting a Hengeyokai to help them to traverse the twenty miles from the anti-magic shell to Morgarth's castle. They say them need him to come with them since they can’t speak the Hengeyokai language. He answers that the Hengeyokai also speak the local Oriental tongue, why can’t the two Orientals with them translate? “These two?” says Serita, gesturing to Sing and Toshiro, “She’s got other duties and he’s currently ‘conflicted’.” “Conflicted?” asks Rainville. “Mentally preoccupied,” Lannon interjects, “and we don’t have any Psychoanalysts with the group, Psychotics yes, Psychoanalysts no.”

Rainville then says “What about that peculiar old guy who helped Cassie out at the Inn?” Kim-Sung angrily interjects “That guy you just insulted is my father.” “And my uncle,” Toshiro chimes in. Rainville apologies for insulting Hiroshi.

Toshiro points out a passage that he found in his text regarding the Hengeyokai that says that while they have a large degree of apprehension towards all non- Hengeyokai races, they are rather tolerant of Druids, especially those with the ability to shape change into animals, viewing them as a type of “kindred spirits”. Serita comments “Well of course, what’s not to like about us?” Lannon replies “Well, based upon the ones from our group, let me give you a list.” Serita adds that she enjoy an opportunity to talk with these creatures. Toshiro comments “We’re not here for personal pleasure.” She replies “I know, if I wanted personal pleasure I’d have blown up the door.”

Rainville starts to tell them where the Hengeyokai currently are, how when the anti-magic shell was down there were seven slaver raids into the area, during which seventy-four Hengeyokai were captured. Thus far the Hendry family has rescued and returned forty-eight of these, and knows the last known locations of four more groups totaling twenty-two. He then tells them of these potential places to obtain this possible ally, as follows:

First, of the six Hengeyokai that had been auctioned off in Shosun on the 5th, the Hendry family has now rescued five. The remaining one is of the dog sub-race, and is currently the property of a kennel in Shosun. This Hengeyokai is currently in dog form, a chow, and is one of over fifty of this breed of dog at the kennel, all of which now have on magical collars which look identical to that worn by the Hengeyokai. Each dog at the kennel also has guard with it, and there are many other guards around the perimeter. The concludes that this may be too dangerous to try to get, and if they were caught it could hurt the reputation of their associates, the Ming family.

Second, are the group of eight Hengeyokai traveling to the city of Zun Hi, approximately 400 miles south of Shosun. The Hendry family is also traveling as part of this same caravan, which will reach the smaller city of Lai Sao on the following day. Since the Hendrys have now been identified in Shosun, and since Zun Hi will clearly know of this via river courier long before the caravan reaches it, the Hendrys plan to abandon their cover of being cloth/silk merchants at Lai Sao and then free the Hengeyokai traveling with the caravan.

Serita asks “Once you rescue them, would you allow us to return them?” Rainville says that he is certain his father would not agree to that. The group expresses further reservation about meeting up with the Hendry family, given past tensions between the groups as well as not wanting to be associated with the violence acts perpetuated by the Hendrys during their freeing of the Hengeyokai. They decide not to get involved with this group if at all possible.

Third, it is known that a group of slavers was transporting three Hengeyokai to the city of Chunming. Serita and Lannon get excited about this prospect, until Kim-Sung points out that her home city does not permit slavery in any form, so the slavers would probably just going there to get passage out of the region, it being the largest port in the area. Rainville acknowledges the likelihood of this, pointing out that these three were aquatic Hengeyokai.

Fourth, are another group of ten Hengeyokai left Shosun with their slaver captors as part of a caravan on the 6th, with their destination being the city of Y’Cho Kang, located approximately 300 miles west of Shosun. There are fairly good roads between Shosun and Y’Cho Kang, so the caravan should have been able to travel between 25 and 30 miles a day (thus, in relation to the characters current date, the slavers would have probably reached Y’Cho Kang either yesterday, today or tomorrow). The group says this sounds the most promising, it they can figure out how to get there.

Kim-Sung tells the party that The Ming family has a large and prosperous estate in this city, headed up by her mother’s dwarven cousin Tak-Tung Ming. She says that her father Hiroshi has been to this city over a hundred times, and that she had spent two weeks there during a journey with Hiroshi eighteen years earlier. Tak-Tung’s daughter Kit-Tung is around the same age as Kim-Sung, and the two of them have spent much time together, as Tak-Tung brings his family to visit Chunming at least once a year.

The group decides they need to return to Shosun and get the others for this trip. Rainville asks to go with them. Kim-Sung and Toshiro pull the other three aside, and Kim states that she absolutely does not want this lunatic and his homicidal family in any way involved with her family and their reputation. Toshiro wholeheartedly agrees, which Lannon points out is the first time that’s happened. The group tells Rainville no, that each party should try individually to rescue their own Hengeyokai independent of the other. She then adds that they should tell any Hengeyokai they free about the efforts of the other, to know of their good intentions. Lannon adds “Yeah, tell your Hengeyokai to call our Hengeyokai, we’ll have lunch.”

Rainville says that, if the Silver Moon is going to free the Y’Cho Kang Hengeyokai, then once his family rescues the Hengeyokai with the caravan they will then head for Chunming. He suggests that when the group returns to Chunming they have Cassie attempt to contact him on the Astral plane. The group says “we’ll mention that to her, but don’t count on it happening.” Once leaving the building Kim-Sung comments “If that guy thinks he and his associates are going to cause trouble in my city it isn’t the Astral Plane where Cassie will find them but the morgue.” The group then heads back to the city.

The five reenter the Inn, seeing Narg and Mojo drinking at the bar, and concluding that they must have been there the whole time. The entire party gets together to plan their next move. Hiroshi tells them about Y’Cho Kang, which is the largest and most populous city on the continent and quite probably the world, with approximately two-and-a-half million people. Like Shosun, is it located at a major crossroad of roads and rivers. Unlike Shosun, the city of Y’Cho Kang is not surrounded by any type of wall, which has led to continuous expansion of the city over the past four-millennia, with the city itself now spread out to an area covering nearly seventy square miles. The main river flows east-west and divides the city, with approximately 65% being the southern Y’Cho side of the river and 35% on the northern Kang side of the river. The group decides that with that much territory they need to send everyone

Two things are then pointed out, namely the travel restrictions on Timothy and that they have gems scheduled for auction in Shosun on the 19th, and will probably need the funds from that. It is pointed out that Timothy was once a banker, so he could stay and be able to do fine with the business transactions. Cassie hands Timothy the diamond, and tells him to put a reserve on the diamond of its appraised value of 100,000 gold pieces. He is told that if it sells to closely guard the money and to “not spend it all on gnomes.” Hiroshi gives Timothy three gems valued at a total of 7,500 to also put into the auction. They leave him at the inn, Hiroshi paying for his room for the next week, while settling the tab for the rooms for the others. He pays for this night, but tells the innkeeper they may or may not be back. The group then travel via rickshaw to the section of the Shosun with the Ming Estate.

They decide to teleport from the safety of the Shosun Ming Estate to the safety of the Y’Cho Kang Ming Estate. Before leaving, the party arranges for Hiroshi’s brother-in-law to send his son and three other guards to stay with Timothy and keep him out of trouble. “And away from any gnomes,” Fiona adds. The group then teleports to Y’Cho Kang.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chinese Take-out

Chapter 32, “Life in the really big city”, September 17, 1018, 9:30 P.M.

The Ming Estate in Y’Cho Kang is located in the prestigious southeastern Y’Cho section of the city. This part of the city is south of the river and between the the major roadways heading south and east. Thie estate is location is the fourth smallest of eighteen hills in this section of the city. The height of each hill designates status. The castle of the Y’Cho Kang Emperor is atop the highest hill, actually a small mountain, which overlooks the city below. Each of these hills has a protective walls around it, with each of these eighteen areas being a self-contained community within itself. The Ming estate supports a population of aaproximatey 8,000, who are approximately 60% dwarven, 25% human, 10% gnome and 5% dwarven-centaur (mountain goat bodies).

The Silver Moon party arrive in a main living room, where Hiroshi begins dumping the party from the bags of holding. They are soon joined by the Estate’s leader, Tak-Tung Ming, another brother-in-law of Hiroshi. The dwarf ushers them into a dining chamber, a vast underground room with a sturdy Oak table large enough to seat over a hundred. They are joined by approximately thirty dwarves. Food is served, and Tak-Tung tells them to “Help yourself.” Much to the embarrassment of the rest of the party, Duegar begins to fill up his pack with food.

Hiroshi relates why the party is there. A discussion follows about the city’s auction houses. The Ming family says that they use primarily the Crafters Guild auction house, bit it would not deal with slaves. Most of the city’s other auction houses have been set up for agricultural products and estate liquidations. The Mings know of an auction that the Emperor has at his Estate every third day, but do not feel that slaves would be sold there either. The poorer Kang section of the city has several places to buy and sell goods of all types, but the party feels that the Hengeyokai would appeal to a more upper-crust audience. It is mentioned that located in the better part of the city is a restaurant/auction house that holds twenty auctions a week, and that they believe it has an occasional slave auction.

Tak-Tung explains how this particular auction house provides an exquisite meal followed by the auction, with a maximum of five hours set aside for each breakfast and lunch auctions, and the dinner auction lasting until all items are sold. There are eighty four-person tables at the auction house, and all bidding is done in the local language. The auction house charges a flat fee per table, 50 gold pieces for breakfast auctions, 100 gold pieces for lunch auctions, and 150 gold pieces for dinner auctions. Each auction is comprised of six lots. Each lot is initially bid for as a lot. If it fails to meet the seller’s reserve, it is then broken into sub-lots or individual items, of which the seller can only place reserves on up to half of the items. The auction house retains a transaction fee of 20% of the price if the seller wants payment in cash, or 10% if they will take auction house credit.

It is suggested that the party check this place in the morning, prior to start of the breakfast auction. The party considers checking it now, as the evening auction will be taking place. They are told no, that nobody is admitted once an auction begins It is also pointed out that outside of the Ming Estate walls it is not necessarily safe for foreigners to travel unaccompanied, as they could find themselves victims of slavers. They are also told, that in this city, only non-Orientals or Oriental monsters may be sold or kept as slaves.

When asked about the city security, Tak-Tung explains that a formal Y’Cho Kang Army is maintained to guard and protect the roads, rivers and lands outside of the city, essentially acting as a “moving wall”. While this protects the city itself from outside invasion, there are no formal “city guards”, with each part of the city responsible for its own protection. The Ming Estate, like the other walled hills, maintains its own formidable defenses. The neighborhoods in the wealthier Y’Cho region each support their own security forces, which range in quality from mediocre to excellent. The poorer Kang region is essentially guarded by organized gangs, which tend to be as much predators as protectors.

The party is given rooms to stay in during their visit. Each of the guest rooms is rather spacious, and affords a fine view of the city at night. Serita locates Kim-Sung, who is bunking with her cousin Kit-Tung, to find directions to the local hospital. Kit-Tung refuses to give Serita directions, saying that the hospital is closed at this hour. Serita is insistent, cannot convince the stubborn dwarf to give up this information, no matter how altruistic her intentions. Serita storms out of the room. Kim-Sung tells her cousin “I don’t think that she is used to people ever telling her ‘no’ to anything”.

An angry Serita returns to the kitchen, seeing Duegar loading up his pack with even more food. She tells him to stop, to which he replies “But they said we could help ourselves.” She says he is being rude, to which he answers “Yeah, like you have the most personable personality yourself.” “I don’t have too,” she answers. “Well, you really should loosen up some,” he answers, “Here, have a chicken leg.” She repeats her earlier line about not eating anything she has talked to. They then get into an argument about the cleanliness and unsanitary condition of the inside of his pack. She eventually gets frustrated with him, and leaves the room, heading up to bed.

 

[Corwyn]

I thought that it was time someone said that this story hour rocks!

Good work on making the setting come to life.

And to tell you that you have readers out there.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chinese Take-out

Thanks Corwyn, I am very glad that you are enjoying the story. If there are others out there who are also enjoying it please tell your friends, and also feel free to leave your comments.

Chapter 33, “Table reservations please, party of twelve”, September 18, 1018, 5:45 A.M.

The party (except for Lono, Mojo and Narg) wake up early and head down the side of the hill from the Ming Castle. As the sun rises they can see that the dwarven buildings are all built into Ming Hill. Hiroshi tells the party that the main Ming castle has subterranean sections that even go below the base of the hill. At the bottom of the hill is the remainder of the estate, the self-contained city that spreads the entire ring of the hill for up to half a mile in all directions. After that is the main wall, of formidable dwarven construction. The party is told that the Ming clan has resided here for 500 years, and that another dwarven clan had originally built this estate a millennia before that. There are over 100 guards watching over the front gate as the party leaves the Ming Estate.

The walled in Ming Estate is surrounded by a farmlands for a half-mile in every direction, with tenant farmers obligated to support the Mings. Hiroshi explains that these farms are also for defensive purposes, so that there are no structures anywhere near the Estate walls that an invading army could use to breach its defenses. Hiroshi leads the group through the city, which is relatively clean and colorful. They see a considerable number of dwarves and dwarven-centaurs in this part of the city, which Hiroshi explains is due to the Ming Estate’s presence and prestige among their race, although there are other sections of the city that also, have large dwarven populations.

He points out that this is the nicer part of town, as they walk approximately two miles to the auction house, seeing large numbers of people hurrying about. They arrive at the auction house; a huge stone building with great oaken doors, with huge windows made of frosted glass situated well above eye-level. Hiroshi explains is to provide sufficient lighting inside while still keeping all internal proceedings private. Hiroshi looks up at a large wooden sign, set up in a grid pattern with Chinese writing in each block. He pulls out a pad of paper, and speedily translates the information into common, giving copies to the party.

The sign lists the auctions for the next week. Each day has a theme, followed by the specific breakfast, lunch and dinner auctions. Today’s theme is Wizard Magic, the three auctions being for Spell Components, Potions, and finally Staffs & Major Magic. The theme for the 19th is Investments, with auctions of Businesses, Financial Opportunities, and Jewelry & Gems. The 20th lists a theme of Provisions, with auctions of Agricultural Lots, Servants to Own, and Food & Beverages. The 21st has a theme of Men-at-Arms, with actions for Armor & Weapons, Mercenaries for Hire, and Magical Armor & Weapons. The 22nd has a theme of Exclusivity, with the phrase Private Auction listed for each. The 23rd theme is Edification, with auctions of Books & Music, Educational Opportunities, and Artwork. The 24th has a theme of Religion, with a Breakfast auction of Religious Artifacts and Evening auction of Clerical Magic. There is no lunch auction on that day, the Auction House owners using the building for a weekly worship service.

After reviewing the list, they conclude that the lunch auction on the 20th of “Servants to Own” is a tactfully worded euphemism for “Slaves”. They wish to know more, and Hiroshi points out a nearby sign above a desk located in a courtyard beside the main front doors of the heavily guarded building. He says that the sign reads “Information” in Chinese. They approach, and are greeted by a middle-aged Oriental woman. Hiroshi speaks to her in her language, and she goes into the building, returning with a young and enthusiastic man in his late teens or early twenties. He tells the party that he speaks Common, and can answer whatever questions they might have about the auctions.

They ask immediately about the “Servants-to-own” auction. He looks up the information in a pile papers on the desk, informing them that there are still tables available if they wish to attend. Glancing at the Caucasians in the group the man then tells Hiroshi, “However all six lots have been filled, if you are desiring to auction off any of these belonging to you.” Picking up on this cue, Toshiro chimes in “Oh no, they’re ours to keep, we’re looking to get a few more.” Toshiro continues to convey this impression the Silver Moon are his property, much to the annoyance of many of the party.

They ask the clerk if he can tell them specifically what is being auctioned. He says that he can look it up, and spends a few minutes finding the appropriate sheet. His note lists the contents of the six lots, but without a lot of detail, which exact verbiage still being drafted for the auction. He describes the first lot as being seven attractive Polynesian females. Fiona mutters to Serita “It’s good we didn’t bring Mojo or Lono with us to hear that.”

Lot Two is described as being twelve humanoids of assorted races, the only other note being that two of them are listed as being elves. The man comments “They make for good long-term investments, given their long life spans.”

Lot three is said to be “sturdy human north-men, a group of fourteen males and one female.” The listing goes on to describe them has healthy, hardy and robust fighters. “But not so tough that they didn’t get captured,” comments Lannon.

Lot four is described as a group of twenty assorted monsters. “What type of monsters?” asks Cassie. “It doesn’t say,” answers the clerk, “probably the usual, you know, goblins, orcs and hobgoblins, that kind of thing.”

He tells them “Lot five is listed as a group of five Hengeyokai.” He explains that these are animals that can take on humanoid and human form. The group manages to curb their enthusiasm over this information.

He concludes, stating “Lot six consists of five half-minotaurs, four male and one female. Oh, this is interesting, it says that the leader of this group has four arms.” Duegar comments “That minotaur group sounds interesting.” Several of the party says in unison, “NO!"

The group thanks the clerk, and says they need to discuss this. They walk out of earshot, and decide that they should reserve three tables for the auction, as they have three Chinese translators with Hiroshi, Kim-Sung and Toshiro. The group returns to the clerk and pays for these tables, registering them under the name of Toshiro Mitsubishi; in order to keep the Ming name out of this. They are told that merchandise can be previewed during the same five-hour block time block as the auction, on the day before the auction, and that in addition to those who will attend the auction they are also allowed to also bring one “expert” per table to the preview in order to appraise the value of the goods.

Realizing that the party may need more money for this venture, Hiroshi inquires about the Gem & Jewelry auction listed for the following day, and the possibility of him being a seller. He is informed that while all six lots have been reserved, one of the sellers is a regular customer who might be persuaded to postpone to a future auction date for a nominal fee. Hiroshi indicates that he is interested in this, and is told to come back in a few hours after they have had an opportunity to check with this seller.

Cassie decides that it might be a good idea to “observe” how one of these auctions works prior to the 20th, and asks if there are any available tables for the soon-to-start breakfast auction. She is told that it is full, but that there are still available tables at the noon auction, as well as the next day’s breakfast and evening auction. Since the next day’s evening auction is the one that Hiroshi hopes to sell at he offers to reserve two tables for it, conditional upon him also being a seller.

The group returns to the Ming Estate. They spend the morning checking out the various shops and stores within the enclosed city, returning to the Castle for lunch. Hiroshi informs the party that he returned to the auction house and is now listed as a seller, but that it is dependent upon getting the gems to them by 5:00 P.M. that evening for the preview.

He says that he has with him forty-seven gems, worth a total of approximately 60,000 gold pieces. He then asks what they have to put into the auction. Serita very reluctantly agrees to donate her remaining fist-size diamond. Mark, digging at the bottom of his pack, discovers that he actually owns FOUR of these, which he has been carrying around for the past thirteen years [DM’s note: They had obtained these during their first year of adventuring, this player having totally forgotten about them.]. He volunteers all four, much to Serita’s pleasure, who withdraws her offer. Duegar comments “Great, if they all sell we’ll have enough extra money to buy those half-minotaurs. The group points out the folly of this, to which Duegar says, “What do you mean. We just have to drop them off at Morgarth's castle and let them take care of him for us.” Since the auction is for both “Jewelry and Gems”, Lannon volunteers his ring samples, five rings valued at approximately 300 gold pieces each.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chinese Take-out

Chapter 34, “The Potion Auction”, September 18, 1018, 11:00 A.M.

The group of Aradyn, Mark, Mojo and Toshiro decide that they should check out how one of the auction is run, and the Potions auction this afternoon sounds more interesting to them than the next day’s Jewelry and Gem auction. They pool together their available funds, Toshiro coming up with 2,000 GP and Mojo with 4,000 GP. Aradyn says that Cassie is currently holding his cash, and they decide not to bother her. Mark says he has lots of cash, but only coughs up 100 GP. They accuse him of being a cheapskate, and goad him into contributing more, with him finally coming up with a total of 500 GP. Further harassment of Mark about not contributing his share is interrupted by Hiroshi, who points out that Mark has donated four large diamonds to the Gem & Jewelry auction. Hiroshi says he has some spare cash they can use, and advances them 10,000 GP, telling them to “Buy whatever looks interesting.”

The four arrive at the auction house, getting one of the last available tables. They leave as their “deposit” the 16,500 gold pieces, and are told they can bid up to 100% above that amount. All bidding is done in increments of 100 Gold pieces. Only one person at a table can bid, indicated by their standing and announcing their bid. Once a bidder sits back down their table cannot bid again on that particular lot.

They thoroughly enjoy the meal, but do not overindulge on the beverages provided, correctly deducing that the constantly refilled glasses are intended to increase auction bids. The notice that there is a separate waitress for every two tables, and that the waitresses tend to be of the same race as the patrons at each table. Their waitress is Heian, as the table had been registered in Toshiro’s name.

The auction itself is rather interesting with six lots of six to nine potions each. All of the potions are native to this area, and not the “standard” potions found back in their homelands. While all eighty tables are occupied, there are only about twenty tables with active bidders.

The first auction consists of cleric-type spells and the lot sells for 8,700 GP. The second lot sounds more interesting to them, with a mix of clerical and magic-user type potions. They put in a bid at around 8,000 and stay in the bidding until it gets up to 14,000 GP. The lot sells for a total of 17,000 GP. The next lot is a magic-user type potion, but they are only interested in a few, so opt not to bid. The lot sells for 9,800 GP. The fourth lot has undead and necromancer type potions which they also opt to pass on, the lot selling for 12,400. They begin to regret not going higher on the second lot, feeling that it had the best grouping. “I guess it helps to come to the preview,” Aradyn comments.

They then perk up with lot five, which consists of nine very powerful potions, of a magic-user variety. These include Anti-Magic, which negates the effects of magic; Archmagedom, which boost the level of the mage; Childishness, which reverts the drinker to age five while still retaining their current intellect and memories; Creation: Boat, which when poured on the ground creates an ornate and well constructed sail boat, capable of holding up to six people; Dragon Armor: Silver, which causes a coat of Silver Dragon scales to grown on the imbiber and usable by any class; Eternal Slumber, an extremely potent sleep potion; Magic Enhancement, which effects spells being cast so that they are at maximum potential; Super Healing, a very potent healing potion; and Zorbo Finger, which causes the imbiber’s body to absorb the properties of whatever is touched.

The bidding starts, and quickly exceeds that of all previous lots. They jump into the bidding at 15,000, and stay in as it eventually doubles that amount. At 31,000 there are still six potential bidders standing, but only two consistently bidding against them. Their most adamant competitor, the thief-type who had also won lots two and three, drops out when the bidding exceeds 32,000. The other competitor reluctantly casts bids in odd 100 GP increments to Toshiro’s immediate increase to even 100 GP increments. The competitor finally stops at 32,900, with Toshiro going to 33,000, which is the most they had to spend. They are declared the winners of the auction.

The final lot is a collection of silly potions, which only sells for 4,100 GP. They think that some of those might have been interesting, but with no money left, pass. The action itself ends rather early, as all six lots went as whole lots all in excess of the seller reserves. They go to make payment arrangements, discovering that they have until the following week’s potion auction to pay for the lot and then collect the potions. If not paid for by then, they forfeit the deposit, and the lot will then be resold. “Gee, we spent twice what we were given, what will we tell the others?” Mark asks. Mojo answers, “We’ll just tell them we traded half of the party for a bag of magic beans.” Aradyn mutters, “Can I pick which half?”

They get back to the Ming estate, where Hiroshi is getting ready to bring the gems and jewelry over to the auction house for the Gem and Jewelry preview. In addition to Mark’s diamonds, Lannon’s rings and his own gems, Lono tosses in eight gems worth a total of 10,000 GP, which he insists on playing a fairly high reserve on. Having reserved a table for this auction, Hiroshi says that he can bring up to four others with him to the preview. Since Mark, Lannon and Lono have all contributed items they volunteer to go along. Toshiro also wants to go, to which Hiroshi says, “Fine, we’ll tell them you are our expert appraiser.” “I can pretend to be that,” says Toshiro. “What pretend?” answers Hiroshi; “I trained you to take over my business. Consider this a test of how rusty your gem appraisal skills have become during the past decade.”

The five attend the preview, where each of the six lots are stored and guarded in six auditorium-style rooms, each room with seating of up to a hundred people. Potential bidders are allowed one table at a time, to come forward and examine each lot. Hiroshi has Lannon spend the entire five-hour preview staying in the room with their lot, to use his observation skills to assess the interest in their items. The others check out the other lots, concluding that their huge diamonds are one of the two prime lots, the other being a lot of finished jewelry with many expensive gems affixed to the precious metals. They stay until the end of the preview, and then head back to the Ming Estate.

[DM note: The potions come from the article “Oceans of Potions” from Polyhedron Magazine #65 ].

 

[Silver Moon]

Chinese Take-out

Chapter 35, “The Auction Preview”, September 19, 1018, 9:00 AM:

Over breakfast, those who had gone to the auction and/or preview relate what they had observed. The entire group, with the exception of Serita, decides to go to the afternoon preview of the “Servants to Own” action. Serita decides to teleport back to Shosun to check on Timothy and the gem auction back there.

Once at the auction house, they are given the rules to the preview. As with the preview the day before, the lots are presented in six different rooms, where potential bidders are allowed to examine the products one table at a time. Whereas this auction is of sentient creatures, there are additional rules. The servants will be on the stage in each room, with guards behind them. There will also be a three-person panel of “observers”, including a cleric and a mage, at a table before each servant lot. Bidders examining the servants must seek prior permission from the observers before talking to, touching or casting spells upon the servants as part of their examination. Talking to servants must be in a language known to at least one observer, and the speaker must clearly enunciate their words. Any violation of the rules will result in the table being barred from the auction, with the forfeiture of their table deposit. The group agrees to abide to these terms, and enters the building.

The party splits into two groups. One group is comprised of Aradyn, Cassie, Fiona, Hiroshi, Lannon and Narg who spend the remainder of the preview uneventfully observing the servants from the chairs in each room, opting to not directly interact with the servants (as the players of these characters were not present at the game).

The group of Duegar, Kim-Sung, Lono, Mark, Mojo and Toshiro decide to check out the six lots in numerical order. This proves to be a mistake, as the servants in lot one are comprised of the attractive and scantily clad Polynesian females, which Lono decides to closely observe from the front row. “I’m surprised you’re not up there with him” Mark comments to Mojo. “I only have my eyes on one beautiful lady tonight,” he replies, looking towards Kim. Lono continues his boorish behavior, making a complete jackass out of himself. He is hardly alone, however, as there are several dozen more potential bidders present acting just like him. The group decides to leave him in this room as they go to check out the other lots (not that they really have a choice). Lono tells the others not to worry, that he will examine this lot closely for them.

They move onto the room with lot two. This consists of twelve people, six human, six non-humans, all attired in plan gray tunics. The humans consist of a middle-aged male, standing protectively beside a young human female. Three of the other humans are strong looking men, apparently fighter types. The sixth is thinner, with a neatly cropped orange beard. The other six consist of a male dwarf fighter; a male half-elf fighter. The half-elf looks youthful, but with prematurely gray hair; a male elf, a female elf; and two gnomes, one younger the other middle-aged.

The group decides that they wish to talk to these people, and get a number. They are informed that five bidder tables are ahead of them, so decide to move on to the next room and come back.
The next lot consists of fifteen Vikings, fourteen male and one female. One thing of interest, pointed out by an auction house employee, is that only the female requires a collar that the others are her sworn protectors, who will do whatever is asked provided that she is not harmed. The group decides that they also wish to talk to these people, and get a number. Duegar suggests as a strategy that they shoot and kill the girl, which will cause the others to become enraged and create a commotion, during which they can free the Hengeyokai. Mojo comments “Oh, great plan, and then we spend the rest of our lives in prison.” “Hey, we could make it look like an accident,” Duegar replies. “I’ll make YOU look like an accident,” is Mojo’s response.

Moving on to the next room, the fifth lot is comprised of twenty monsters of five different races: two hill giants; five orcs; five half-orcs; two hobgoblins; and six goblins. Mojo comments that they can skip conversing with this particular group. “But we could buy them and use them for slaves,” comments Duegar. Mojo answers “If we want to be with a bunch of shabby, smelly, right-wing agitators we’ll just hang out with our own ship’s crew.”

They return to the room with lot two, as they are next in line to examine the merchandise. They approach the observers, Duegar explaining that he wishes to speak to the dwarf in dwarvish. The dwarf, a red bearded male with big sad looking eyes, steps forward when commanded to. Duegar introduces himself. The man does not respond until Duegar directly asks for his name, being told “Gritt Red Fire-sword, Red to my friends, which you’re not.” Taken aback, Duegar comments “That was rude.” “You’re one to talk about manners,” comments the dwarf, “A dwarf who deals in slaves, pathetic.” Duegar gestures to the observers, trying to indicate that he can’t freely speak, but the other dwarf does not pick up on this. Duegar asks how he came to be in his current predicament, to which the dwarf answers “Ask the old human, it’s his fault.”

They decide to do just that, dismissing the dwarf, and asking that the older human step forward. Mojo politely asks the man in common how they got to be there. The man explains that he is a businessman who is co-owner of a large shipbuilding firm He was accompanying a large merchant ship being brought to sell at a distant port when pirates attacked the ship. He, his daughter, three crew, and seven passengers were then captured and sold into slavery. He says that they have been passed on twice since then to other slaver groups, winding up here.

Mark finds something the man’s voice to be familiar, and asks where he is from. He says that he is from Lendore City, on Lendore Island, the largest island in the Spindrift Island Chain. Mojo thanks him, and pulls his group back away from the front of the room. Mojo says “That sounds like a place I’ve heard of before.” Mark answers “It should sound familiar. That was where we purchased our ship, the Silver Moon, thirteen years ago. He is the man we bought it from.”

A brief discussion follows regarding the potential purchase of this group. Of the current group in the Orient, the only ones who the man has met before are Mark, Narg and Serita, and it was clear that the man didn’t recognize Mark. They decide to continue to talk to each member of this group, to deduce their character classes. The man’s daughter is a bard and the three crewmembers are fighters. Of the seven passengers; the human is a druid; the half-elf is a rather flamboyant fighter with many titles; the two gnomes are fighters; the dwarf is a fighter; the male elf is an archer/ranger; and the female elf is a cleric.

They then go back to lot three, and speak to the Vikings. Mojo asks to talk first, and begins to sing the Viking “Spam” chant, to which the Vikings all join in. Next, Mark asks how they came to be in their current predicament. Their spokesman explains how they were transporting their Chief’s daughter on a large ship across the arctic, when winter set in early, trapping the ship in the ice. This wasn’t a disaster, as they managed to kill a few whales, providing them with meat to eat and oil to burn to get them through the winter. A few months later, a large army of two thousand Mongols attacked them. A fierce battle fell, resulting in thirty dead Vikings and over four hundred dead Mongols, but the superior numbers of the Mongols were too much. The other fourteen Vikings, the girl’s honor guard, surrendered after negotiating with the Mongol leader for her safety. “Well at least that got you to stop your blubbering,” comments Mojo.

They then head into see lot five. It is comprised of five Hengeyokai, all in their bipedal half-animal, half-human forms. They consist of five different Hengeyokai sub-races: a female cat; a female falcon; a male fox; a male lynx; and a male rat. Mojo asks the observers “What languages do they speak?” He is told they only know the local language.

Turning to Kim, Mojo says “If you wouldn’t mind, could you please translate for us.” “I would be happy to,” she answers. Deciding to tempt fate, he then adds “And would you like to also go out to dinner with me tonight?” She does not answer either positive or negative, so he continues. He then proceeds to totally insert his foot in his mouth by saying “I know where I can get you a steak as big as a toilet seat.” The shocked look on her face causes him to immediately remember that she is a Druid, and he tries to salvage it with “Did I say steak, I meant salad.” She just shakes her head, and turns back towards the Hengeyokai, as a grin covers Duegar’s face.

They briefly talk to the cat Hengeyokai, asking if they wish to go back to their home. She replies that of course they do, that should be obvious, but aren’t likely to happen anytime soon.” It is clear that the cat took the question not as an inquiry but an insult (teasing them about their current state) so the party decides to quit while they are behind, and just wait until after the auction to talk to these creatures.

As they move on to the next room Mojo tries once more to patch things up with Kim, saying “I didn’t mean any insult, I’m just an ignorant man.” Duegar snorts. Mojo then adds “I don’t understand this dwarf, he craves danger and excitement.” They then get into a childish insult match, with Mojo calling Duegar a weirdo, and Duegar calling Mojo a fairy. Duegar says “Your mother was a goblin.” Mojo answers, “That’s not possible, as we would then have the same mother.” Kim breaks them up by pointing out that there is still one more lot to look at. As this was the group that Duegar was interested in, he says “Oh yeah, “ and charges into the room with the others behind him.

The five half-minotaurs are in the room. Four are male, and one female. All but one of the males essentially look more human than past minotaurs encountered by the party, but with the head of a cow or bull. The one exception is the nine-foot-tall leader, who has four arms and two sets of horns, more goat or ram like than that of a bull. Duegar speaks to the leader, who appears to be surprisingly rather articulate and thoughtful. He has a deep resonating James Earl Jones sounding voice. He indicates that they are from a distant land, and implies that they were forced to flee from someone or something that was hunting them. They came to this land, as one of their deities is of the Chinese pantheon, so they thought this would be a safe location for them. Rather then safety, they were assumed to be monsters, were captured and thrown into slavery.

The preview ends, with Lono having to be dragged out of the building by the others. Duegar again reiterates that the half-minotaurs is the lot to buy, with Lono insisting on getting the Polynesian babes. “We don’t need them,” says Mark. “And you call me the fairy?” Mojo mutters to Duegar. “But we told out ship's crew that we would help to find them wives,” Lono says, then adding “Of course, I would never ask anything of a crew member that I wouldn’t be willing to do myself.” “Since when?” says ship crew member Toshiro. “Since now,” answers Lono, “I’ve seen the light.” “We all know what you’ve seen,” comments Kim.

The discussion then revolves around the prospect of buying all of the lots. Mojo takes the high moral ground, and makes a speech about “We can make a difference here. We can free all of the slaves.” Mark points out “They have these auctions every week. Giving these slavers all our money won’t stop anything.” Mojo continues, stating “These people live in sin and wickedness, and we must not stand for it.” The others conclude that he is still just trying to impress the girl, and ignore him.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chinese Take-out

Chapter 36, “The Jewelry Auction”, September 19, 1018, 6:00 P.M.

The group of Hiroshi, Lannon, Lono and Mark head out to the Gem and Jewelry auction. They are served a fine meal with unlimited beverage. All eighty tables are full, and female models parade across the stage during the meal wearing the jewelry. The auction begins, and moves rather quickly through the first four lots, with three of them selling as complete lots.

Hiroshi’s lot is fifth, consists of Mark’s four diamonds, Lono’s eight gems, Hiroshi’s forty-seven gems and Lannon’s rings. The bid for the lot reaches a total of 255,000 GP, which is considerably less than the 335,000 reserve that they have set. As the auctioneer goes to his stalling tactic of opening the sealed-reserve envelope, the auction house owner uses signals to ask Hiroshi if he wishes to waive the reserve. Hiroshi indicates that he does not, and the auctioneer announces that the reserve was not met, and asks if the high bidder wishes to raise his bid. He does, but not by much, so the lot is broken up into sub lots for individual auctions.

The first sub-lot is the smallest of Mark’s four diamonds, which sells for 73,700 GP, higher than both Hiroshi’s appraised value and the reserve price. The second sub-lot is the next largest diamond, which sells for 65,500 GP, less than the appraised value but above. The next sized one is sub-lot three, selling for 99,100 GP, significantly above both the appraised and reserve value. The final diamond is sub-lot four, which surprisingly only gets to a bid of 93,000 GP, well below the appraised value but still slightly above the reserve, so it also sells. Lono’s gems only get a bid of 6,300 GP, which does not meet the 8,000 GP reserve and Hiroshi had not had time to explain the signals to Lono so they do not sell. The next three sub-lots are Hiroshi’s gems, which bring in a total of 54,000 GP. The final sub-lot is Lannon’s rings which sell for a disappointing 1,000 GP.

The last lot in the auction is the fancy jewelry, which also sells for large quantities of money.
Hiroshi and the others go to settle up with the auction house. Their grand total for the lot comes to 386,300 GP, which they choose to leave as auction house credit. This gives the party a credit balance of 347,670 GP for the next day’s action. They head back to the Ming Estate.

While Hiroshi, Lannon, Lono and Mark are at the Gem and Jewelry auction the group of Duegar, Fiona, Mojo, Kim, and Toshiro are sitting around the main living room of the Ming Castle, waiting for Serita to return from Shosun. Fiona comments that “She should have been back long before now.” Mojo comments “Yeah. Maybe this is an opportunity. It’s not too late for us to change hotels.” “We’re not at a hotel,” Kim answers.

Serita then teleports into the middle of the room. She unceremoniously dumps Timothy out of the bag of holding, intentionally flinging him onto the floor headfirst in the process. The others in the room notice that she is red-faced and angrier than usual. Fiona is the only one brave enough in the room to ask “What’s going on?” Serita then shouts “MEN!” and tosses one of the three bags of holding over Mojo. She then says “Here’s your money. All seventy thousand GP of it!” “Seventy thousand?” asks Fiona. “Yes, ask HIM,” she says, pointing to Timothy who is both now standing up and trying to find furniture to hide behind. Serita then blurts out “We gave him only three instructions. Don’t sell the gem for fewer than 100,000 GP. Don’t take your eyes off the money. And don’t spend it on gnomes. You’d think he’d be able to follow at least one of those, but no, he messes up all three.” She then storms out of the room towards her own quarters.

The other surrounds Timothy, Fiona asking “OK, what happened.” “You didn’t buy any magic beans did you?” asks Mojo. Timothy tries to explain how he had the gem reappraised, as found that it was only valued at ninety thousand rather than Hiroshi’s estimate of one-hundred-thousand. “So, you sold it for ninety?” says Fiona, “But the reserve was one-hundred.” “I put the reserve at ninety,” Timothy says. “So it sold for ninety?” asks Fiona. “No, ninety-two” the tall cleric replies. “OK, comments Mojo, that’s no so bad, not great, but not so bad. What about the other twenty-two thousand. That must have been some expensive gnome.”

Timothy explains how the auction house fee was thirteen percent, bringing him down to eighty-thousand. “That still leaves ten thousand.” Comments Fiona. Timothy starts to explain how he bought some magical dust, that works as a potent sleep spell. “Hold it, you’re saying that you bought ten thousand GP worth of sleep dust?” “Yes,” he answers. Fiona shakes her head, commenting “Why is it that it’s always the lawful-good clerics who get in trouble?” Timothy is on the verge of tears, and says “I wish Serita was here.” To which Fiona says “No, I don’t think you do.” He corrects her, saying “No, I meant I wish she was there when I bought the dust.” “We do too,” adds Mojo.

Duegar asks “how much of this dust did you purchase.” Timothy replies five doses, to which Mojo exclaims “You spent two grand on each one! Boy did they see you coming.” Fiona lets out an sigh, and starts to bang her head on the table. Mojo stops her, saying “Don’t do that, you could hurt yourself, bang HIS head on the table instead.” I’ll take care of this,” says Duegar. He goes over to Timothy, and says “This will hurt you more than it does me.” He reaches into his old and smelly pickled hearing, which he begins to strikes the cleric with. Duegar blurts out “You did this. You know she’ll be complaining about this for the next thirty years, and we’ll be the ones who have to hear it.” The others eventually stop Duegar from his assault with a deadly fish.

Mojo says “I think this calls for drinks.” Fiona looks at Timothy in disgust, and says “I may just join you for that.” “Gee, that almost makes up for what Timothy lost,” comments Mojo. “Well at least he didn’t spend it on gnomes” says Toshiro. Timothy does not answer. The others eventually return from the jewelry auction, and announce to the party that they now have 347,670 GP in credit for the next day’s action.

September 20, 1018, 8:00 A.M.

The group of Cassie, Duegar, Fiona, Hiroshi, Kim, Lannon, Lono, Mark, Mojo and Toshiro gather in the main dining hall with two-dozen of the Mings for breakfast. “I’m not surprised that Timothy hasn’t joined us,” comments Fiona. Duegar again starts to explain his strategy of relating the half-minotaurs onto Morgarth. Fiona turns to him, and says “Listen, we’re not buying any half-minotaurs,” she then turns to Lono “or Polynesian women either.”

The Ming leader, Tak-Tung, asks what their strategy is. They tell him of their plan to purchase the Hengeyokai. He points out one possible snag, namely that the Ming Estate has a strict policy of no slaves allowed within their walls. “We’re not going to keep them slaves, we’re freeing them and bringing them home,” says Fiona. Tak-Tung answers, “I know, but you can’t bring them in here with the collars on, and if you take the collars off what’s to keep them from flying or running away and being recaptured in the city by somebody else?” He suggests that they find some alternative lodgings in this part of the city to bring them in the short-term.

In order to have some gauge as to how much money slaves might sell for she asks Tak-Tung. He answers that he does not know, that a few decades back the clan had actually gone to the auctions to purchase and free any captured dwarves, but that they discontinued that practice as it caused the slavers to go out of their way to find and capture dwarves.

Tak-Tung suggests going to the tax library, and consulting tax records for the auction house. Cassie, Aradyn and four Ming Estate guards leave to do this, with her reporting back mid-morning. She has found that human slaves tend to sell for between ten and twenty thousand GP, common monsters for less, and other humanoid races for more. The highest price she saw listed, for a Fire Giant, was 120,000 GP. They conclude that based on that they probably have enough for the Hengeyokai lot, although they may have to exceed the deposit amount and get some more money later.

They group prepares to head over to the auction. Since only twelve of the fourteen can go, they decide to leave behind Timothy, who is still hiding from Serita, and Narg, who is still asleep. Mojo asks Serita “Why did you say Timothy spent the money on gnomes?” She answers “He didn’t tell you? The fast-talking salesman who sold him the dust was a gnome.” “Ah, that clears a lot up,” comments Fiona.

They arrive at the auction house and put the additional 70,040 GP that came from the Shosun auction as a deposit as well as 4,500 GP from Mojo, 320 GP from Lannon and 100 GP from Toshiro. This brings their total to 422,631 GP, allowing them to bid up to a total of 845,262 GP.