Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 453041" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chinese Take-outThanks 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.    <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> 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.</blockquote>

Verification