I'd say I'm most interested in the Hallow Angel and Shugenja. The former since, man that seems like a real interesting template: what is his guarding/died to protect? The temple/its God? And the Shugenja since who Yellow Emperor is probably something we should at least know something about even if it's far down on the priority list.
[X] Make some passing conversation with the Astronomer regarding their studies after politely introducing yourself, of which you should more than hold your own in all but the most niche subject matters. If nothing else appearing knowledgeable and far-traveled will cause others to approach you in turn.
"A worthy effort, but I am not so foolish as to suspect the Lord of Heaven's Shore and the General of the Garrison would allow that which you pretend to show yourself as to walk the streets unchecked," you send back at last. No reason not to be known as competent under this guise.
"A word of advice," you add a moment later, quickening your pace even as you meet the disguised baatezu's golden gaze. "This almost certainly would have been a more productive conversation if you had actually approached with intent to negotiate. After determining the strength of another's wards, if your failed tactic to tease out information from a stranger goes sideways, you will have only signaled your unwillingness to view them as anything more than a threat, whereas you can always decide to change tactics in the middle of an offer made in good faith not being reciprocated similarly."
The temptor takes your words less well than you had anticipated them, incredulity and wounded pride bleeding into wrath over which a thin veneer of courtesy stretches. "How kind of you to pay such close attention to my work. I will be sure to pay you back in like coin, stone-born."
Although you cannot actually hear Ser Richard sigh in the depths of his helm behind the illusory veil, the gesture of adjusting his sword is as a familiar as it is comforting. Come what may, you will be ready.
Still, you would rather what comes be nothing more than purchasing unique lore, then vanishing out of the sight of Heaven's Shore and the devils who rule it.
***
The great dome must have once been a temple to some lost celestial power, the stones scarred with telltale grooves that mark a name expunged, while desecrated winged figures look down sadly from walls dripping with moisture like bitter tears. Here, unlike in other parts of Heaven's Shore, there is life of a sort, veins of mold sealing the cracks in ancient masonry, pulsing faintly with ward-light. Perhaps whatever power had once been worshiped here had been one of life? Whatever the case, the blessings that now hang upon it have little to do with life or nurturing, but are instead a veil against farsight and foresight, a spell of wakening linked to the headless statues that still stand mute vigil through the unhallowed hall, a small army of stone golems, and something else you can't quite identify. No wonder the powers of Heaven's Shore prefer to have their test out in the street and not within these walls. The master of this place holds no small power and thus must be assumed to have a worth to them whmuch justifies the obsession with secrecy.
A circle of crimson divans awaits, each enchanted to provide whatever refreshments the one laying upon them might desire, and in the center of the hall, illuminated by a ray of silver light spun from illusions that almost seems more blasphemous to the fallen temple than either ruin or decadence, there is a chest seemingly unguarded. Another test? you wonder, looking around instead at your fellow auction goers.
The first you notice is the envoy of Mammon, a gilded devil garbed in glittering yellow like the face of the sun, though he had chosen from some whim or hidden plot to seem almost human were it not for eyes of molten gold. He nods politely enough, eyes fixed upon the script of your false robes, you hope reading just what you mean him to. Flanking him are two figures of far less comely seeming, creatures of rage and crimson sinew girdled in black steel armor.
The second would be buyer present stands alone and as far from the devil as it can manage. The silver robes and and winged staff recalled an angelic form, but you could not say for certain of what kindred or from which cohort it may have sprang, for within the robes is nothing but coiling wisps of fog and twin points of of faded silver, like coins almost lost in the mist. No chill of unlife do you feel from it, but something rarer, a celestial spirit broken but unbowed, enduring in its charge beyond even the limitations of form. Though the being stirs slightly at your approach, it makes no move to approach.
The only other mortal present is a sorcereress garbed in robes of cerulean blue with markings of the heavens, of storm and thunder, and above all else of the moon shining over her brow. Some of the vortexes that shroud her are not of her own will you know, but beings of barely leashed lighting of a sort you had encountered but once before. Though her feet do not touch the ground she is by far the least aloof in manner, introducing herself as Kimu, a sage and wanderer from the realms of air and seeker of 'sky-fire omens'. "So what do you think we ought to do, wait with our hands behind our backs or try to open the chest?"
Before you can answer, one last figure enters the hall behind you, the sound of their steps like hollow steel on stone. You turn, noting a feeling or presence at once familiar and strange. The air seems more alive and attentive than you have ever felt it in Heaven's Shore, the feeling of watchers just out of sight one you had many times in the east, but the scent of blood and incense is not one you had associated with the servants and companions of the kami.
There stands a mage hidden behind a mask of steel in the garb of Yi Ti, but not as you had seen it in Yin or Trader Town. They wear bright crimson, the color of ill-omen, and crimson are the razor-sharp claws at the end of their fingers. No attendants does this mage have, but the crystal shard hovering above one hand pulses with strange awareness. Was this a servant of the Yellow Emperor of Accursed Carcosa of which you had heard much yet know little?
Judging from the way naught but silence answers the Astronomer's first question it seems you have some time to find out, or perhaps speak to some of the others in attendance. Who knows, the contacts could prove more valuable than anything you buy here.
Do you speak to any of your fellow auction-goers?
[] Yes (Choose up to Two)
-[] The Gilded Devil
-[] The Hollow Angel
-[] The Astronomer
-[] The Shugenja
[] No, wait to see if any approach you
OOC: You can include a write in for what you want to say, but its not mandatory. Not yet edited.
Here's an edited version of the chapter, @DragonParadox.
Very cool chapter, DP. The other auction attendees all look interesting, too.
So I think we should suppress our curiosity about Yellow Emps' dude unless he goes out of his way to talk to us. As for the angel and the devil, well, I won't suggest we be rude for no reason. Part of this was to try to figure out what Mammon's game is.
"A word of advice," you add a moment later, quickening your peace even as you meet the disguised baatezu's golden gaze. "This almost certainly would have been a more productive conversation if they had actually approached with intent to negotiate. After determining the strength of another's wards, if your failed tactic to tease out information from a stranger goes sideways, you will have only signaled your unwillingness to view them as anything more than a threat, whereas you can always decide to change tactics in the middle of an offer made in good faith not being reciprocated similarly."
The tempter takes your words less well than you had anticipated them, incredulity and wounded pride bleeding into wrath over which a thin veneer of courtesy stretches. "How kind of you to pay such close attention to my work, I will be sure to pay you back in like coin stone-born."
Yellow Emps is a guess at best.
This could be some Shugenja who has been out in the Planes for gods know how long, maybe one from the time of the early Yellow Emperors even.
We have little reason to suspect that he is connected to anything currently going on in Yi-Ti.
So I think we should suppress our curiosity about Yellow Emps' dude unless he goes out of his way to talk to us. As for the angel and the devil, well, I won't suggest we be rude for no reason. Part of this was to try to figure out what Mammon's game is.
I agree, not just about the Shugenja, but the Angel and Devil as well. We're here for an auction, so it might raise red flags if we appear to be overly curious.
Speaking with the Astronomer can more easily be seen as an attempt to pass the time while others gather before the auction starts.
If one of them decides to speak with us, however, I don't see the harm in engaging further.
The only other mortal present is a sorceress garbed in cerulean blue with markings of the heavens upon them of storm and thunder, above all else of the moon shinning above his brow. Some of the vortexes that shroud her are not of her own will you know but beings of barely leashed lighting of a sort you had encountered but once before. Though her feet do not touch the ground she is by far the least aloof in manner, introducing herself as Kimu, a sage and wanderer from the realms of air and seeker of 'sky-fire omens'. "So what do you think we caught to do wait with our hands behind out backs or try to open the chest?"
@Tomcost Shit good point. Man that bumps her up my "interesting" list.
[X] Make some passing conversation with the Astronomer regarding their studies after politely introducing yourself, of which you should more than hold your own in all but the most niche subject matters. If nothing else appearing knowledgeable and far-traveled will cause others to approach you in turn.
Rejuvenation (Su): In most cases, it's difficult to destroy a sacred watcher through simple combat: The "destroyed" spirit often restores itself in 2d4 days. Even the most powerful spells are often only temporary solutions. A sacred watcher that would otherwise be destroyed returns to its mission with a successful level check (1d20 + sacred watcher's level or HD) against DC 16. As a rule, the only way to conclusively end a sacred watcher's existence is to ensure it fulfills the purpose that sustains it.
I want to recruit that deathless angel. The manager of the Soul Recovery Division of our Imperial Deity.
Adhoc vote count started by Goldfish on Jun 8, 2020 at 3:06 PM, finished with 21 posts and 5 votes.
[X] Make some passing conversation with the Astronomer regarding their studies after politely introducing yourself, of which you should more than hold your own in all but the most niche subject matters. If nothing else appearing knowledgeable and far-traveled will cause others to approach you in turn.
] Yes (Choose up to Two)
