The Center of Time

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Seregal looks around the group. "Any more questions?" he says in a low voice, while surreptitiously palming some of Jastor's delicious purple cheese.

"If not, let's do what Echo suggests. We should get back to the market and let the others know. We should also shop; might be our last chance to do some trading before we enter Augur-Kala." He frowns and scratches at his beard, wondering what supplies would be best on an expedition to a place that eats memories and time itself.

"Maybe we should keep detailed notes and diaries," he says after a while. "Just to safeguard our memories."

Later, when gets to the market, Seregal will see if there are any 'memory' ciphers or things that might protect one's mind. Failing that, he'll just purchase some notepaper to write in and various mundane travel supplies, like rations. "I wonder if we should purchase a pack-beast?" he mutters to his companions. "I don't suppose caravans will readily head to this city on an upside-down mountain."

There is one sort of memory cypher that can be more easily found - memory lenses. They allow one to store and permanently recall a short length of time of what they see, usually less than a minute. It's often used to memorize, say, a code sequence or a short message. There are also some substances that temporarily boost one's mental acuity, which would help with memory, certainly. You could trade other cyphers for them, or pay up to 20-50 shins, or offer some sort of service for them.

You can certainly find paper, writing utensils, and mundane travel equipment easily. The most common pack-beast available if, of course, the aneen, which runs 100 shins per beast. But they had haul a prodigious amount of weight. Being as Kolos Githian was one of those saved by your actions in the sheer, and he's an aneen seller, he might see fit to possibly wrangling you a discount.

Xaion just looks at it, then he nods. "Alright, here's your shins." He counts out and then drops the shins on the counter and takes his books. He will head back to the cheap inn earlier to rent a small area to sleep and read at.

The word-being says, "Very well," with a peculiarly dolorous font, as if it was disappointed that Xaion capitulated so quickly. Still, it takes the shins with a bob of its head.

Xaion heads off to Common Ground, supposedly an economical choice at a shin a night. The place is on one of the lower levels, and once at the door it's clear why. The sleeping-holes stretch up at least two stories, maybe more, with handholds between them to facilitate climbing. The place resembles a great hive of some enormous insect. Pale green light is across several of the openings, indicating the residents inside are sleeping.

"It deadens the sound and dims the light," a voice says. You look down to see the tiny proprietor of Common Ground, a grandmotherly woman perhaps four feet tall, with a sleek cap of black hair, and skin the color of strong tea. A pattern of blue and red dots decorate her forehead and cheeks. "Welcome to Common Ground, deary. I'm Delphont, and you're looking for a place to stay, I wager."

If her wager was correct, you may hand over a shin and be admitted to Common Ground. Delphont will stamp your hand with concentric circles of blue, red, and green. "Blue is the sonic grime-stripper. Go press your hand to one of those blue dots here by the door, and that's that. Red gets you one cup of brew from the metal boxes over there on the other side. Green lets you put up the privacy screen on one open sleeping-hole. Once you've used all three or a day has passed, then your hand is clean again and out you go back into the world!"

There's something that vaguely resembles a large firepit that sort of meanders through the common room, lit and warmed by fiery "fish" that swim within its confines. The floor is in drifts and gentle curves, periodically rising up to form places to sit, the whole plushly soft in a deep shade of blue. It's a pleasant place to sit and converse. Other groups of people are off in their own conversations - a couple groups of mercenary-types, a pair of weary-looking travelers wearing very worn clothes, a group of three Augurs speaking in very quiet whispers, and what appears to be a set of identical twins seems to be interrogating a very handsome man with a devil-may-care air about him.

 

[Gamgee]

Xaion

Xaion just looks down at the old woman "Nice place you got here." He hands over a shin "Your correct." He lets her tug at his hand and mark it. "Thanks for the directions." He wanders off, first to the sonic scrubber. With a whir of sound and some flashes of light it cleans him up quick. After that he heads over to the strange meta box where he gets a drink. As he swipes his hand a small metal cube with the top taken off is given to him. Inside is a yellow cube of solid matter. The machine makes another whrrr ing sound and then the cube melts into a strong smelling liquid that is steaming, a closer smell reveals a slight sweetness to the drink. He takes the nice hot drink and climbs up to one of the open pods.

Once inside he seals the pod and starts to read the books. Occasionally enjoying a sip from his drink.

 

[Shayuri]

"I have some spare cyphers," Echo says as they enter the marketplace. "Lets split up, find sellers of the things we want, then regroup and go to them each in turn. I'm not...good at negotiating with merchants." She admits the last with some chagrin. "But I'll be able to look over what they're selling and make sure it's suitable for our needs."

 

[Tashtego]

Seregal visits a few stalls and returns. "I got a deal on writing materials," he said. "Anyone want some?" He holds up a sheaf of odd mismatched papers - some of them printed from pulped leaves and others sheaths of peeled synth. Some already have writing on it them. "We may want to take notes in case the City takes our memories..."

He doesn't really want to cover what will happen if this City takes all of their memories, including the ability to actually read these notes to begin with!

He looks over at Duncan. "You could even start writing about your adventures in the arena." Seregal taps a pen. "I can also scribe, if you'd like. I enjoy the practice."

Seregal says to Echo, "I'll probably trade one of these solvent cyphers I have for a memory lens. You never know when it may come in useful." He stops and scratches at his beard. "I'll see what sort of packbeast I can wrangle from Kolos. I hope he's feeling generous!"

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Xaion examines the book of hazards closely while lounging at his leisure. He finds a peculiar number of ground-bound "nuisances" described, from the inevitable broken hounds and abhumans, to mastigophore and herders. Most creatures live in the "cracks," the wildlands in between established Augur communities. The Augurs seem confident in their walls and ward-off fields around their cities and towns to not overly worry about such things. Hence the few roads are mostly traveled, and periodically cleared out, by non-Augurs.

---

Echo, there are merchants that sell rations, rope, camping supplies, and other sorts and sundries. You know for a fact that anything made from Sevarr Trim's canvas is top-notch, and you can seek out decent-looking goods amongst the various merchants. Prices are not terribly inflated for a merchant town, and with the addition of cyphers to trade, you believe you can get what you're looking for for a reasonable price.

OOC: Depending on what cyphers you're willing to swap, you could do a straight trade for basic supplies.

---

Seregal, you offer a solvent cypher, demonstrating its effectiveness by using just a drop of a piece of rubbish, and the seller considers for a moment, running his smooth, red hand along his beard. "Oh, take it. You've been wanting to get through that thing in the cellar for ages," his trade partner berates him. Grimacing, the seller takes the solvent off your hands, and pushes over the slim case containing the memory lenses.

When he talks to Kolos Githian about aneen, the big man sighs.

"You have a point, Father. I'd planned on losing another dozen head than I did, so I'm to end up with a bigger profit margin than I expected. That might just make up for all the extra guards I hired. But I owe you and yours... See that one there?" he points at an aneen, just a bit smaller than the others. "That's Mox. Bit of a runt in size, though not in strength. I'll give you him and a wagon for thirty shins for the aid you've given me."

 

[fireinthedust]

Duncan looks fairly uncomfortable at the thought of "downloading" his memories.

"I'm..." He trails off. "I'll help Echo with buying things at the market. People tend to give me good prices, I think."


OOC: Sorry about the delay. Intensive course certificate, plus when I get home it's all about the fam. I'm still here, I really like Isida's style. I'm slower now, but when the certificate is done I'll have much more time!

If the game's kaput, are you folks starting others?

 

[Shayuri]

Echo nods at Duncan, then without much comment turns and heads to the marketplace.

"With the cyphers I took from the abhuman factory, we should be able to stock up fairly well," she tells him as they walk. "I want to trade one for something that will improve clarity of thought and memory, but the other we can trade for supplies. Now that we're not with the caravan anymore, what would you say we should be looking for?"

(OOC - Kaput? Who's kaput? )

 

[Tashtego]

Seregal surveys the small aneen for a few moments, and then smiles sadly. "I really need that beast, Kolos, but I don't have a lot of shins left to my name. But I understand where you're coming from. I appreciate the sacrifice your making; you're going to help a lot of good people, and allow me to continue the good works of the Amber Pope." He pulls out a worn pouch and starts to laboriously count out thirty coins, making it clear that these are his last savings in the entire world with a bit of acting.

[sblock]Using my skill in Diplomacy, I'll see if I can persuade him to drop the price a bit lower. Or, if it's as discounted as far as it goes, I'll just run with it.

1d20=20

Sweet!

[/sblock]

"Sounds like a good deal," Seregal says, shaking hands with Kolos Githian and handing over the pouch of coins. While Seregal's loath to see his savings go, his driving passion to find the city is a greater concern. He thinks to himself about all of the wonders and treasures he'll find there, providing the expedition is successful. He chats with the merchant a bit longer and then drives the aneen and cart back to the market place.

Mox honks and shakes his neck aggressively.

Seregal tries to pat the beast, but realises he's going about it the wrong way. There's a little flick at the back of his mind and suddenly he knows. How to approach the beast, how to handle the cart properly, how to get everything underway. With the strange knowledge comes a small prickle of alien memories - dusty streets and ancient, plodding gigantic lizards hitched to great bone carts, all moving under a bloated, blood-red sun. This is normal for Seregal when he reaches for knowledge. He wonders where the memories come from and shrugs. It's never really been a going concern for him.

[sblock]Changing flex-skill to Caravaneering; something to cover animal handling, cart driving and so forth. [/sblock]

Seregal leans against the cart and sips on a flask of purple wine he stole from Jastor, enjoying the fresh, fruity taste. Hopefully it won't be too long before the others arrive; and then they can be on their way.

 

[iamrpgdm]

Antor wanders around the market a bit, but nothing really catches his eye. He's ready to get back on the road. All this waiting is making him anxious.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

OOC: I was hoping doghead would get a chance to post, but Wisco will just have to catch up to us later...

----

Seregal, Kolos has slashed his price to the bone for you (a normal aneen is a hundred shins), but with your silvered tongue and honeyed words, he relents a little. "I can't lower my price... but I'll throw in some good rations, enough for a long trip, and one of Trim's shelters. Those should see you through wherever you end up going, Father."

----

Duncan's intimidating aspect keeps merchants respectful as Echo gathers up various traveling goods, rope, glowglobes, meal packets, and other assorted traveling goods.

OOC: You can use book prices for regular gear, and knock of 10% for Duncan being all, "You wouldn't cheat my friend, would you?"

----

Those wanting can find a place for the evening in Wislayn, or if they're wanting to save their shins, they can will themselves outside to camp in the pasture for free. Those saying indoors can find accommodations at Common Ground for a shin (a hostel that provides a cup of nutritious brew and a sonic grime-stripping in the price), The Floating Bed (a fine inn with luxurious rooms, smoke-food, and personal attendants, for a price of 6 shins a night), Velovee's (a merchant's inn with personalized sleep-care pods and good security for 4 shins), or Duul Waters (a traveler's inn with a well-known cook, decent common-room sleeping, and limitless fresh water for all, for 2 shins).

----

The next day, at highsun, you return to meet Jastor at his abode. He greets you with a small, uncertain smile, and is holding a peculiar device that looks like a rod with many golden balls of different sizes along its length. He speaks without preamble, in careful measured tones, like this is something he's memorized in a foreign language and is speaking without comprehension. "This will shift you through the arches of the waterways, bringing you closer in the blink of an eye. You touch here, here, here and raise it to the arch of braided waters. They're all connected, one to another, and I've set this to bring you closer to the city. It will shorten your journey... Get you there faster. Yes."

He holds it out in his hand, the other against his companion orb, breathing out slow. There are lines around his face that weren't there yesterday, and he looks fatigued.