The Center of Time

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

OOC Thread
Rogue's Gallery

Our Intrepid Explorers
Duncan Kull, A Strong Glaive who Fuses Flesh and Steel, played by fireinthedust
Echo, An Intelligent Nano who Wields Power With Precision, played by Shayuri
Seregal Chakane, An Intelligent Jack who Explores Dark Places, played by Tashtego
Antor Shull, A Swift Jack who Rides the Lightning, played by dragonwolf.
Wisco, A Tough Nano who Lives In The Wilderness, formerly played by Shadowsmith, now played by doghead
Xaion, A Strong Willed Glaive who Focuses Mind Over Matter, formerly played by Gamgee, now played by doghead

For ease of reading, everyone please put speech in "quotes," thoughts in italics and any OOC comments at the bottom of your post.

Like so:

"Well, I've never seen THAT before." Except during that one time at home, but I don't think I'll bring that up in front of the others.

OOC: Skasha rolls 1d20=18 to try to remember the weaknesses of the lead abhuman.

---

And until we get the hang of who is who, please put your character name and description in the title of your posts. So for my sample character I'd title my post with - Skasha Brae, Rugged Glaive who Howls At The Moon.

You'll be making your rolls with Invisible Castle.

And now... to the plot!

----

Norou, the entrance to the Sheer. The city is dwarfed by the fantastic size of the Clock of Kala, holding up the sky from one side the horizon to the other, erupted from the earth untold eons ago. The tops boil with stormclouds, and snow rides on the wind. The last warmth of autumn is fading, and the cold cuts the stink from the crowds at the gate. Merchants' trains of aneen, loaded with everything under the sun, pass to and fro beneath the watchful eyes of the plentiful soldiers. Goods are inspected minutely, and you can hear merchants grumbling as they open their coffers and scoop out shins. As you pass, you hear one muttering, "Lord Iron Pants gets greedier every year." Someone behind him adds, "Aye, and he gets more soldiers every year too." The first merchant snorts in exasperation and resignation as the crowd moves beyond you.

For a moment you're in a lull, facing a bustling trade city that is the gateway between the Beyond and... beyond. Before you lies three hundred and twenty miles without another town or village, hemmed in on all sides with sheer cliffs. And, if the heavily-armed guards traveling with the merchants' trains are any indication, there are those in the Sheer who would love to add your skulls to a trophy pile. Taverns and inns line the street directly across from the gate - The Plump Rugar, The Dancing Maiden, The Steel Fang, The Glaive's Glory, and The Scavenger's Art are just a few of the names that catch your eye. A beggar sits wrapped in layers of multi-hued cloth out of the flow of traffic, a chipped metal bowl at her feet containing a couple of shins and a crust of bread. Briefly you notice her raise her head - tentacles spring from where her eyes should be, and she uses them to explore the contents of the bowl. She brings the crust to her mouth and puts the bowl down again, shaking it to entice passers-by to feel pity for her.

A hulking brute with a shiny white ceramic axe stalks down the street, small glassy plates spinning about his head displaying incomprehensible symbols, a seskii hound trailing at his heels, while a young woman with a child in a sling across her chest sings softly to the crowd, displaying a basket of golden daffodils she has for sale. A fruit stand bearing fist-sized tart, juicy blue pummas, and sweet red square kilu-bar fruits is manned by an elderly man who hawks his wears entirely in sign language. A thin, scarred, wary-looking man with a shock of white hair stands behind a small table bearing bits of metal and other scavenged parts - his outfit looks as eclectic as his wares, patched together from at least a half-dozen different garments. A small group of what looks like mercenaries, some of them wearing fresh bandages, are heading up the street from the opposite gate. They look at the various taverns with determination on their faces, and woe to anyone who gets in their way. A pretty young lady with blue hair is tucked into an alcove, teasing a sweet air out of a glass flute, multi-colored bubbles rising from it as she plays.

You know your path lies beyond, but this is the last place of civilization for weeks. You have to get to Augur-Kala.

You need to be prepared.

 

[Shayuri]

Despite the wonders of the city of Norou arrayed before her, Echo's attention is taken up by the spectacle of the mountains that rise up on either side. Were they big enough? How could anything be bigger?

No, she decided. Too big. Too big...or maybe too close? Hm.

They might look different from the other side too. No, she couldn't write this off yet.

She spared a glance around at the others in the little group that had assembled for this journey, and wondered where exactly they were going and what they meant to do when they got there. There hadn't been a lot of socializing so far. By the time they'd stopped each day to rest, the hard pace they'd set ensured they just wanted to sleep. Even while walking they'd saved their breath mostly, or talked about where and when to stop, or other 'business' related things.

Maybe that would change now. Did she want it to? Echo wasn't sure. Well she'd deal with that question when and if the time came.

For now she strolled over to the strangely dressed man with white hair and stooped over a bit to peer at his collection of metal trinkets and odds and ends. She didn't have much money to spend...most of it would probably go to trail rations or other survival goods...but Echo was always interested in the possibility of numenera, and it could turn up in the most unexpected of places.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

The man smiles slightly as you come up to his stall, tapping his fingers nervously on the table as you peruse his goods. He has quite a few good bits of metal and ceramic, much of which could be fashioned into weapons. There are lengths of flexible tubing, strands of wire woven on improvised bobbins, small glowglobes, little arches and curlicues of copper, several glass disks in different sizes and colors, and a small selection of waxy-looking globes full of something that looks like liquid gold. There's a metal dial with odd-sized gradations, a violently pink rubber glove made with only three large fingers, a little crystal that sheens yellow, and a metal nodule speckled with tiny specks of light. Much of what you see might make good repair parts, or be useful in and of itself.

The little metallic silver puddle that follows you like a pet pauses when you pause, then forms a shape like a basket. The proprietor looks over it with interest, and the tapping of his fingers increase. A band around his wrist makes a little squeaking sound, and he abruptly ceases his tapping.

"See something you like, snow-hair?" he asks, smiling again and ruffling his own pale locks to show it's a friendly jest. "Just arrived, ya. This will be some of the best you'll see without going swimming through the streets, getting robbed by every desperate merchant and peddler. Going out with a caravan, are ya? Look like you could use protection." He picks up a gleaming arc of ceramic and pulls a handle out from behind the counter. "Fix these two together, make a good axe. Enough to slice off abhuman heads, be they get too close. Can't be to careful, ya?" The tapping of his fingers resumes, slower this time against the blade.

 

[Shayuri]

"I don't need weapons," Echo replies as she scrutinizes the pieces laid out for display. The puddle gets her attention for a second though. "Do you see something you like, Grey?" she muses. "I wonder..."

The little blob was still a mystery to her. She couldn't tell how much it actually reacted to things happening around it. Sometimes its self-sculpting seemed random. Other times it was oddly appropriate to the situation. Was it just chance though?

She sifted through the objects, pulling to one side a little handful of objects she was fairly sure she could use. The tubing was good, and useful for a number of things. A few of the copper curls had shapes she recognized...they could be replacement parts for several kinds of old devices if need was. The dial, gradations aside, would have a regulator in it that could be used to vary power going through it. She wasn't sure about the crystal or glove, but the glove looked uncomfortable, so she added the crystal to the pile.

"How much for these?"

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

The tapping man pokes his own wares. "These and these," he says, separating the tubing and copper curls out, "4 shins for the lot. The other bits have a bit more use, ya? The dial there, points to the closest road. Good for trekking about where there are none, that. The crystal, ah, good choice for a lady who says she doesn't need weapons. It'll move you. Shifts you straight out of harm's way. Doesn't last long, but for saving the life, doesn't need to, ya?" He squints at you as the wind kicks up a bit, a few flakes of snow falling. "Dangerous out there, can't be too careful." The tapping reached a higher frequency, and his wristband squeaked again. He stopped abruptly. "Dial, twenty shins. Crystal, thirty." He looks down at Grey speculatively. "Or straight trade, either one for that."

Grey falls into a puddle again and flows between your feet.

On the street, the bandaged mercenaries have finally made their choice, ducking into the Scavenger's Art after a brief conference involving much gesturing and a brief wrestling match. A merchant on a loaded aneen navigates the street towards you, the animal picking its way carefully through the crowd. Its packs bulge with unseen goods, but several of them are scored with what looks like cuts and burns. A pair of elegantly-garbed men sweep past you, one wearing an elaborate synth-and-steel harness, the other with three nodules of silver and copper affixed to his face - clearly numenera. They are talking quietly as they go by, and you can pick out part of their conversation: "...that's what they're saying. I hope we don't have to use them, but I doubt we'll be that lucky." "Well, if we find dressel, though..." "Shins like rain. Hope the script dealer gets through..." "And we don't die." "Right, that would put a bit of a cramp in the operation..."

The wind picks up now, flakes of snow beginning to fall, the bubbles from the flute-player's instrument rising to meet them.

 

[Shayuri]

Echo smiles wistfully.

"Greygoo's not for sale," she admits. "He'd just worm free and follow me anyway." She pushes the two cyphers away from the pile, and pauses, tilting her head slightly as she listens to the two men's conversation when they pass. Shins like rain would be nice. Or snow. That would be appropriate too.

"Where do you buy your goods from?" Echo asks, separating out the tubes from the copper pieces. "Just anyone who has cyphers to sell? Also, how much for just the tubes?"

The copper would be nice, but she had other pieces already. And 4 shins would leave her nothing to buy food.

 

[Tashtego]

Seregal Chakane, an Intelligent Jack who Explores Dark Places, currently disguised as "Father Seren"

Seregal stares at the old map in his hands. If the old beggar had been right, there was something significant at the top of the Clock; a ruin or mystery begging to be explored. Seregal imagines all of the great wealth of the Ancients, his for the taking...

The bleating of an aneen distracts Seregal from his idle daydream. Seregal adjusts his amber robes, glad that he had disguised himself as Father Seren today. The mendicant priest had almost taken on his own life, with his own friends and contacts who respected the wanderer; so very different from the shysters and grifters that Seregal often associated with.

Seregal hasn't been here before, so his plan is to find a caravan or trading group to join up with, to gain some safety in numbers as he journeys through to Augur-Kala. As Seregal steps outside of a nearby inn, he surveys the busy streets, looking around at the hustle and chaos of Norou, the trading town.

Then he sees by a stall - a glimpse of white hair. A familiar face. Adjusting his amber cowl, Seregal approaches the young woman, calling out a greeting.

"Echo!" he says, a merry twinkle in his eye. "I haven't seen you since our 'Adventure of the Jade Prism'. What brings you to Norou?" He leans forward, conspiratorially. "I have a treasure map of dubious origins. Perhaps I will finally make a mark in the Order's libraries if I can provide a detailed account of the exploration of Augur-Kala."

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Echo smiles wistfully.

"Greygoo's not for sale," she admits. "He'd just worm free and follow me anyway." She pushes the two cyphers away from the pile, and pauses, tilting her head slightly as she listens to the two men's conversation when they pass. Shins like rain would be nice. Or snow. That would be appropriate too.

"Where do you buy your goods from?" Echo asks, separating out the tubes from the copper pieces. "Just anyone who has cyphers to sell? Also, how much for just the tubes?"

"Worm free? He's bonded to you, then? Nice bit, that." His fingers start a slow tattoo of beats against the ceramic blade he still held in his hand. "Tubes, two shins. As for where I get my gear, 'tis no one's business but mine. And it's my business. You can find such things, if you know where to go. Perilous, ya, but you can find them. It's getting out all in a single bit that's the harder part." The tapping man puts on a broader smile as Seregal steps up to the booth.

"Be welcome, Father. Looking for a bit for repair? A numenera trick for safer passage? I sell both!"

The market is starting to get a little busier; criers are calling out the goods available down the sidestreets from the taverns and inns. "Cloth, solidly turned, warm and waterproof!" "Bread, fresh and tasty!" "Aneen pens, down this way! Travel in style and comfort with Norou's finest aneens!" "Candles, lanterns, glowglobes, illumination for all occasions!"

The cacophony of the marketplace begins to make its own peculiar music.

 

[iamrpgdm]

Antor had been here once before. It was many years ago, but Norou seems every bit as hustle and bustle as he remembers. His father had made some good money here selling his wares. Until they were robbed that is. They were walking along cutting through an alleyway to avoid some of the town soldiers looking to take their share for Lord Iron-Pants. They would have been better off with the soldiers though, as they had a net thrown over them and everything they had of worth was taken. Antor's father knew another merchant in town and was able to borrow some shins and enough supplies to see them back home. Antor was much older now and wasn't afraid of this town anymore. Besides, what could be safer than traveling with an Aeon Priest?

Antor saw Father Seren come out of the inn and walk over to a merchant's stall, engaging in conversation with a woman there. Antor kind of liked how others treated you when you were traveling with an Aeon Priest. They were typically more courteous and prices for items seemed to be a bit less. He finished paying the merchant for the rations and headed over to where Father Seren was. He was ready to continue on as there was numenera out there just waiting to be discovered.

OOC: - Antor bought 3 more days worth of rations -6 shins

 

[Shayuri]

Echo turned to regard Father Seren with an owlish blink of surprise.

"Hello!" she greeted, with a little awkward gesture that was midway between the beginnings of a hug, and an extended hand for a handshake. Finally she just took the hand back and seemed to pretend she'd never done anything of the sort at all. "What bri...oh, a 'treasure' map, of course."

With a fond shake of her head, she said, "I'm looking for an old city...mostly ruined but some people still live there. It's half buried in glass sand, and has tall mountains nearby...so I'm just checking different places with mountains for now. There's a few others I came this way with too."

She paused, then added, "What kind of treasure?"