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Post by Admin on Jun 6, 2014 1:42:16 GMT
The party awakens shortly before the break of dawn as Erik walks in. Behind him, soldiers lug bags of supplies. "Rise and shine. We'll be tending to the catacombs today. We'll be heading out in a few hours, so you will have some time on your own. Report back here by noon."
The other soldiers salute, and leave the party to their own devices.
"I'm heading to the markets," Jiao says. "I need to restock on supplies. Anyone who wants to come with me is welcome."
Jiao departs, taking anyone who'd go with him to the markets.
The city itself has a port, markets, slums by the wall, and arcane quarter home to Psychlis' Greater Order of the Empire and several libraries.
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Post by kooshster on Jun 6, 2014 1:57:21 GMT
Hans thinks it over, shrugging. "I might catch up with you later. I've heard good things of some additional...residences of maidens in this neighborhood that I could spend some coin on. Additional rest and recuperation and all that."
Psychlis rolls his eyes. "Jiao, I WILL actually catch up with you at the markets, but I have a few things I need to attend to at the Greater Order of the Empire first."
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Post by Admin on Jun 7, 2014 2:20:45 GMT
"How about you, Leath?" Erik asks.
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Post by Admin on Jun 9, 2014 6:57:06 GMT
Hans enters the market to see Jiao purchasing what looks like a box of small leaves mounted on badges.
[Knowledge (alchemy) check=15]
Hans recalls those are snapleaves, an alchemical item that grants invisibility and 'feather fall' for a short time when used. Perfect for moving around and escaping unseen. The merchant stall still seems to have some nearby. Jiao is also purchasing various sunrods and torches for the trek underground.
---
Psychlis notices something interesting about the spell book. It details a blend of spells, mostly low level ones, but there's something in particular he spots. There's refers to spreading the madness of Hastur, the King in Yellow, by means of public massacres. The cultist scrawls a half rambling manifesto about how his actions will inspire others to horrifying deeds, blood sacrifices will eventually bring Hastur to claim the city as his own. There's repeated praise for a single name, the Herostratus the Defiler. There's also diagrams appearing to be some kind of map, stretching from the docks to Hagia Sophia, the Hippodrome, and Palace. In the center of the tunnels, there's a place marked "Ritual Chamber" with a question mark after it.
There's a note about how "Gaius received a machine from the Benefactor, one that cause enough chaos to cause Hastur himself to take note." Towards the end, there's also a ritual that allows a man to assume the body of a dragon, but it seems wildly expensive and requires red dragon eggs on top of blood sacrifice.
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Post by henwen88 on Jun 9, 2014 15:41:26 GMT
Riding Flann, Leath follows Hans to the market in search of an enchanted weapon that will improve upon his +1 ironwood scimitar, some kind of new ranged ammunition for his sling, or a better sling altogether. He feels wary engaging in commerce, but figures he may as well spend some of the gold he has earned. He'd like to pick up a treat for Flann, as well, as a gesture of appreciation for his heroic performance against the cultist and his troops.
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Post by kooshster on Jun 9, 2014 18:43:00 GMT
After Psychlis finishes his research, he heads to meet his other party members at the market. With Constantinople being the origin of Greek Fire, he wonders if he can find anything to improve the power or reliability of his homemade flamethrower. He'll also be on the lookout for any other spellbooks for purchase (particularly those about combating the undead and / or curative spells), and a possible upgrade to his light crossbow, perhaps one of the infamous 'auto-crossbows' that fire more quickly and can do more damage without weighing down the wielder.
Hans heads over to the merchant stall and orders some snapleaves on his own; as the most perceptive trap-finder of the group, those little leaves could come in handy. He's also doing what he can find to restock his ammunition supply, perhaps with a little more variety to give him a bigger edge against specialized foes.
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Post by Admin on Jun 9, 2014 23:31:56 GMT
Hans finds the box of 10 snapleaves is worth 7500 gold, but he might just purchase a few or try to haggle.
"Hans," Jiao says, giving Hans a pair. "I'm going to give everyone in the party 2 of them. You're welcome to by any more, if you want."
He also finds some adamantine bullets, able to bypass damage reduction, and pitted ones, able to carry poisons to a target. He is able to by 10 of each for 100 gp, given the blacksmith must customize them for an unfamiliar weapon. He could probably do it himself for half the price.
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Leath spies a merchant with a leather vest adorned with druidic symbols. A songbird is perched on his shoulder, which sings when it notices Leath. Leath notices various herbal potions and alchemical regents at his stall, as well as various sickles and two slings with arcane symbols. "Ah, rare to see one of our order here," he says to Leath in Druidic. "How might I help you?"
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Psychlis realizes a custom valve would steady his homemade flamethrower, and he can purchase some additional Greek fire for it. The problem with the weapon is even with such modification, it gets in the way of casting spells. There are various spell scrolls, magical trinkets, and robes around. He spies a stall called "Raj's Imports" with a repeating crossbow, but the weapon seems unwieldy and overpriced.
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Post by henwen88 on Jun 10, 2014 2:14:03 GMT
Leath clasps the druid's hand and claps him on the shoulder. "Rare indeed, I'm sure, in this place. It's good to see one of my own." Leath scans the weapons, then nods in their direction. "Can you show me those slings, and the better blades you have back there?" he asks.
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Post by kooshster on Jun 10, 2014 18:57:15 GMT
[OOC: Wouldn't feel right spending Hans's money when the goods on sale don't seem like good value]
Psychlis recognizes the cumbersome nature of the Greek fire thrower, but views the weapon as too essential a staple to not purchase the custom valve. After exchanging the coin for that, he moves on from Raj's imports (a repeating crossbow doesn't seem worth it at that price) and starts investigating the spell scrolls to see if any would do in a pinch.
Hans makes a mental note of future possible bullets - adamantine and poison-based seem ripe for future missions, but neither seem likely to work against the undead, if that's what they're going up against soon.
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Post by Admin on Jun 11, 2014 21:12:46 GMT
Psychlis finds a few spell scrolls at a nearby stall: Mad Monkeys (which conjures a swarm of monkeys), Spider Climb (allowing the target to climb up walls), a low level necromancy spell called Restore Corpse (used during funerals with a public viewing), Tongues (allowing the target to speak and understand any language), and Gaseous Form (which turns the user into a cloud that can fly and slip through all but airtight rooms). He can either record and prepare the spells, or he can cast them and use the scroll, depleting the magic on it in the process.
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"Ah, I see you've got an ironwood blade," the Leandros says to Leath. "I can offer a scimitar with a a greater magical aura, which deals fire damage. It was captured during a war with the Arabs, and takes some heat with the desert with it. There's an ironwood sickle here which wounds unnatural creatures like undead and outsiders, but less than your scimitar does. As for the slings, this first one simply has a basic enchantment on it, equivalent to your ironwood blade's in magnitude. This last sling, however, can generates its own bullets magically. They explode in a shower of ice shards, but the weapon is quite expensive."
[Flaming Scimitar is 1000 gp, iron wood sickle is 900 gp, +1 sling is 500 gp, and Snowball Sling is 3000 gp.]
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Post by henwen88 on Jun 12, 2014 17:33:38 GMT
Since he's been sitting on a pile of gold for quite a while, Leath figures upgrading his armament is worth it. "I'll take the Flaming Scimitar and the Snowball Sling," he says. "Can you tell me a little about the potions, while I'm here?"
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Post by kooshster on Jun 12, 2014 17:55:30 GMT
Psychlis remembers the water scroll that was so effective against that mechanized monster and how effective it might be in the future, should they meet anything else of that ilk. He makes a mental note to record and prepare that spell if he still has access to it, as well as all the other scrolls. One can never have too many options, especially given his lack of general adventuring experience.
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Post by Admin on Jun 13, 2014 2:53:06 GMT
"I have two potions of cure moderate wounds, three of cure light wounds, one that can neutralize poison, and several blend of decomposed herbs to help gardeners and farmers. The last category is the most profitable one, as a handful of our kind found a comfortable niche keeping the old traditions alive," Leandros says. "Can I help you with anything else?"
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Psychlis purchases the spell scrolls and transcribes them. He is unsure if he'll need any spells. He also purchases more fuel for his flamethrower, giving him a total of six shots before reloading.
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"Well, Hans," Jiao says. "If that's it, I saw the others in the marketplace. I was going to gather them and bring them back, since it's almost time to meet with Erik. Ready?"
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Post by kooshster on Jun 13, 2014 13:29:56 GMT
Hans shrugs and nods. "I suppose, if we must. I was hoping to meet a fine lady or three, but business before pleasure."
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Post by henwen88 on Jun 15, 2014 2:03:54 GMT
"I'll take the two potions of cure moderate wounds," says Leath. "And two to help gardeners and farmers, in case I meet any along the way. How do they work, exactly? Will they cause plants to spring from the ground?"
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