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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 440954" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chinese Take-outChapter 10, "A place to hang your hat,"  September 15, 1018, 4:00 P.M.: The party arrives at their chosen lodgings, the "Common House".  A pair of human doormen, one Caucasian the other Oriental, open the front doors, and the party enters a vast foyer, with carpeting and fine oak furnishings.  Candles and potpourri, masking most of the odor from outside, heavily scent the room.  Wide staircases head up from both ends of the foyer, and several doorways lead off to the sides, behind three to which appear to be formal dining rooms and the other to a bar/tavern room.  Looking at the latter, Narg says, “This looks to be the right place.”    Out of earshot from Serita, Toshiro speaks briefly to his Uncle about the confrontation that he had earlier with Serita.  Hiroshi tells him “Don’t worry about it.  She’s just like my ex-wife, always having to have her way and not realizing that hers is not the only perspective.  The best way to deal with someone like her is to just ignore her.”  “Ignore Serita?” comments Aradyn, “You are definitely new to this group.”  “Trust us, it can’t be done,” Mark adds. They approach the main counter, and two attendants come over, one Oriental the other Caucasian.   Hiroshi explains that they wish rooms and requests a dozen individual but adjacent rooms, preferable in an isolated corner of the building, and with full chambermaid service.   He pays, and is given a dozen keys.  The Caucasian man says he will show them to the rooms.  He leads them up to the northwest corner of the third floor, where the party are shown to their rooms.  The fighters choose to take the rooms along the main hallway, leaving the spell casters with the adjacent interior rooms.  Hiroshi suggests that they each freshen up, and meet in the foyer an hour later for supper. Each room is rather sparse, being only 10x8 foot square, with the only furnishings being a wooden bed with a blanket, a wooden chair, a bucket of water, a chamber pot, and a shelf with candles and incense, one of which is already lit.   The rooms along the exterior wall have a single window, with a simple cloth curtain over it. As the party returns to the foyer they are asked to sign the guest books, and pointed to a shelf along the wall, which has six opened leather bound tomes.  Above each book is a sign, each in one of the same six languages on the exterior door.  As Hiroshi and Toshiro go to sing the book labeled “Heian”, the others go to sign the one labeled “Common.”    There are three columns in the book: date, name and occupation.   Most of the party signs in, most listing their pre-Silver Moon occupations.  Narg and Aradyn listing their occupation as “Bodyguard”, Lannon as “Jeweler”, Timothy as “Banker”, Lono as “Acquisitionist and Hired Guard”, Fiona as “Teamster”, Duegar as “Weapon and Armor Maker”, Mark as “Tanner”.  Mojo lists his upcoming title “General and Military Advisor to the Queen of Phlooredah”.   A few of the party noticing something significant in the common book, namely that four lines about where they are now signing, is a listing for “September 9th, Hendry Family, Merchants of Silk and Cloths”.   [Background: During the "Retake the Island" module the Hendry family was a group of adventurers working for Morgarth.  Hendry, a 14th level Mage, was the family patriarch, but also became the first casualty among Morgarth's troops.   With their father and leader dead, the other members of the family reluctantly accepted the job of  guarding the captured Cassie and Mark, keeping them as unconscious hostages.  Hendry Junior, a mage like his father, soon became infatuated with Cassie, and brought her consciousness with him to unique location on the Astral Plane, where the two began a multi-day dialogue.  When the other members of the Silver Moon came to rescue the hostages, and had the Hendry family cornered, Cassie was allowed to negotiate a truce between the two groups.   The two teams then worked together but with no trust of the other, with the notable exception of Cassie and Hendry Junior who had now become mutually attracted to each other.   Tension increased after Mojo made a comment about wanting to kill them.  When an opportunity to escape presented itself the Hendrys' took it, and they were later rescued by Morgarth.]The Silver Moon discovers that the three dining rooms each serve different cuisine.  One serves Chinese food, the second serves non-Chinese food, and the third serves only the daily specials from both of the other two dining rooms, plus one or two specialty dishes unique to this room.   They decide that, having had nothing but Oriental food for the past four days, they will go to the non-Chinese food room.   Food choices include Duck in Orange Sauce; Braised Venison, Swordfish Steaks, Roast Pig, and a Vegetable Pasta Dish.  The party orders some of each.  Duegar orders one of each for himself.   They find the food to be exquisite, Narg commenting, much to Toshiro's annoyance, on it being a vast improvement from what they were served at the Mitsubishi Estate. Dinner discussion concerns the Hendry family, with speculation on why they may have been in Shosun six days earlier, and the fact that they may still be staying at this hotel.   Lannon and Lono discreetly go and check the other two dining rooms, concluding that they are not presently eating here.  Narg offers to go check the bar, but they send Fiona instead, concluding that Narg won’t come back.    Fiona quietly says to Aradyn “So, what do you think of your potential rival for Cassie’s affection possibly being here?”  He answers “Well, if you thought that I sleep with one eye open before, that’s definite now.” A bellhop is looking to deliver a message to a "Hiroshi Mitsubishi Ming", and  interrupts the party’s meal.  Hiroshi indicates that is him, getting comments from the others about the “Ming” addition to his name.  Particularly confused by this is his nephew Toshiro.  Hiroshi says that “It is a long story, I’ll tell you later, let me see about this note first.”   He checks the note, and announces that some dwarven business associates of his have invited him to go out drinking that evening.  Hiroshi invites the two dwarves, Duegar and Lannon, to join him.  He also invites the others, saying, "Anyone else can also join us too provided that they can match drinks with dwarves.”  Mojo, Narg and Serita can’t resist this ‘dare’ and decide to take him up on the offer.  Much to the party’s surprise, Mark also says he wants to go.  Hiroshi appears relieved when Toshiro states that he will stay at the inn and meditate, as he has much to think about.  Aradyn, Cassie and Fiona say they will do some shopping and/or information gathering, and Timothy says he plans to spend the evening in prayer.  Lono says he has some "personal business" to attend to. Hiroshi then asks Cassie and Fiona if either of they know the “Hairy” cantrip.  Cassie says that she does, with Lono commenting “She’d still be bald if she didn’t.” [Morgarth had shaved her head to remove a magical crown that she interlocked into her hair.]   She asks why, with him answering “My dwarven friends have never seen me clean shaven. I previously came here by boat, during which time I had several weeks for my beard to grow out.  Since we teleported here this time I’m going to need some magical assistance to get to the point that they’ll still recognize me.”  Cassie says she will take care of that after the meal.  An hour later those going out downstairs to the hotel lobby.   They notice that Hiroshi looks very different, with the new beard.  He is also no longer wearing his formal Japanese robe and sandals, wearing instead a cloth shirt and pants, a wide leather belt and leather boots.  His clothes look to have had a great deal of wear.   Duegar and Lannon also notice, but don’t comment about the fact,  that he is wearing a Dwarven Clan ring, something they have seen before on a human.   A large wagon driven by two dwarves arrives outside of the hotel, with four Oriental dwarves sitting on benches in the back.  The dwarves climb out, the leader being a rugged looking dwarf, human equivalent of forty years in age.   He moves forward and warmly embraces Hiroshi.Hiroshi introduces the man as Chan Ming, son of the Ming Clan Chief.  He says that Chan is the leader of the Clan's members in Shosun.  Chan introduces his son Xhang Ming, and the other two as Cho-Tau Ming and Chung-Na Ming.   Hiroshi first introduces Duegar and Lannon, then the other four, telling the dwarves that they are “Trusted friends, who have looked after my human nephew Toshiro, who you once met a decade ago.”   They all climb onto the wagon. His dwarven friends are taking them to the north central district, so Hiroshi has them go by way of the north east, and the north central financial areas, checking out both auction houses along the way.  Again they find no recent listing of slave actions.  Conversation in the wagon is pleasant, with the dwarves all speaking in common out of respect for their non-dwarven guests.  Chan informs Hiroshi that “Per your request, you are now registered to sell gems at the next ‘Stone and Gem Auction’ in our district.  It will be held on the afternoon of the 19th.”   “Huh?” asks Narg.  “Our cover story,” Hiroshi whispers back to him.  Meanwhile, when the other group is out drinking with Clan Ming, Aradyn accompanied Cassie, Fiona and Toshiro for some shopping.   Most of this was spent window-shopping for clothes and at a bookstore, where Cassie bought a book on the history of the region, providing more detail to the information than Hiroshi gave them earlier about the city.   The only other shopping of significance was at another book store, where Toshiro made a discreet inquiry about finding a book about the animal creatures.  The bookstore vendor said he thought he might be able to find one elsewhere in the city, and to check back in a few days. On their way upstairs that evening, Cassie stopped and asked the lobby clerk about the Hendry family.  The night clerk didn’t know anything about them, much to Aradyn's relief.</blockquote>

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