BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

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steveflam
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Re: BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

Post by steveflam »

ewancummins wrote:A THIEF'S OATH


The Orb glow shifts from green to blue, and then dims to a faint coppery color.


The Mummers nod, murmuring among themselves for a short time.

Then the one who had handed Gertie the Orb reaches out to take it back.

"We can indeed do business, Burglar Gertie. Provide us with a description of the items you need and we will name our price."


Gertie nods and recites what she would like to purchase.
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Re: BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

Post by ewancummins »

THE MUMMERS SECRET CHAMBER


While the Mummer's confer in whispered, coded speech and with hand signs, Gertie has a chance to look about their room.
It's bigger than it had seemed at first glance, with large , curtained alcoves and with a wide corridor in the rear of the room opening into another, entirely dark, space.

Gem sniffs about. He avoids getting near any of the Mummers. When the dog reaches the corridor, it jerks away, tail,between its legs, whining.

"We have a price."
The Mummer who spoke draws near to Gertie.
"Not in there, unless you decide to join us..."
The Mummer gesture to the black corridor.
"But we will discuss that possibility later, if ever."
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

Post by alhoon »

ewancummins wrote:In GNOMISH, the reply comes from up high,

"Did you bring the ducks? We need MORE DUCKS!"

Looking up, Fild sees a distinctly gnomish nose sticking over the lip of the roof. The bulbous snout wiggles and scoots farther out and a whole face appears.
The gnome on the roof blinks, squinting in the daylight.A smile spreads on his nutbrown, wizened face.
"Oh! ahhahhaa! You're a customer, right. You said that. I heard our language and thought you'd come with--- No matter. Climb on up."

A rope drops down, dangling over the roof edge.

"You didn't happen to see any loose ducks wandering about, did you?"

Western Slums

"Ahh, that feels oddly comforting" Fild said as he experienced the peculiarity of this gnome. He grabs the rope and puts a leg on the wall to climb but then looks up and says in gnomish with a suspicious tone "You don't plan to drop me halfway up, do you? Do that and not only you'll not see my coin, but I'll have my retainers hunt down and eat your ducks." He starts climbing with the help of the rope, never questioning why the squatter needs ducks or the entry is from the roof.
"The name is Fild by the way. Fild Boomstick Tazeloff. Which clan are you from?" he says as he climbs the rope and as having polite conversation while climbing the face of a ruin is something ordinary.
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Re: BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

Post by ewancummins »

IN SEARCH OF GNOMISH ARMOR

''I'm Yelijd of Clan Glorfungel.'' The nut-brown gnome helps Fild up and over onto the flat rooftop.
He gestures toward a an open hatchway set in the middle of the roof, saying ''Please be careful, Fild, the stairs might be wet in spots.''

Quacking and splashing sounds echo faintly up through the hatch.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

Post by ewancummins »

ON HIS WAY UP, FILD
may notice cleverly made slit vents in the upper wall, which can be sealed by some sort of shutter mechanism inside the building.
Some grated vents on the roof, these with hinged slate-tile covers. And a louver that could be a skylight.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

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In search of Gnomish armor

"You have added a pool in there, haven't you Yelijd?" Fild said once he inspects the place. "I am a mercenary and adventurer, here with friends. We had a successful paying job in far away Povero and I am now looking for Banded Armor for my size. Folks directed me to your place. As a hobby, I'm also a plumber if you need any work done. I have my tools in the ship that brought us here."

After a minute, Fild asks "So, how are things for gnomes in Crabclaw? How many of us are there compared to the big folk? How many clans aside of Glorfungel?"
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Re: BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

Post by ewancummins »

alhoon wrote:In search of Gnomish armor

"You have added a pool in there, haven't you Yelijd?" Fild said once he inspects the place. "I am a mercenary and adventurer, here with friends. We had a successful paying job in far away Povero and I am now looking for Banded Armor for my size. Folks directed me to your place. As a hobby, I'm also a plumber if you need any work done. I have my tools in the ship that brought us here."

After a minute, Fild asks "So, how are things for gnomes in Crabclaw? How many of us are there compared to the big folk? How many clans aside of Glorfungel?"
Fild finds the interior of the house damp and dirty, with sundry items heaped on shelves and stuffed into niches.
Three ducks swim in a circle in a muddy pool the covers the southern, lower side of the room.


"Pool? Accidental. I was trying to repair the drains and pumps, fix a leak in the floor."


Yelijd shrugs.

"Water is high, here, and the ground soft. But I found one slime opal while repairing the floor, and...you know how it can be. Wipe off the muck, see the matrix glittering, dancing, almost alive..."
The gnome's eyes gleam in the shadows as he speaks of gemstones.
He walks to the northeast corner and grabs a ten foot pole. Thrusting up, he opens the louvers and vents one by one, till sunlight floods half the room.
"A duck ate my slime opal after I dropped it." He jerks a thumb at the waterfowl splashing in the flooded area.
" I'm not sure which one. Either that one on the left or the one next to it. They look too much alike.But I though more ducks-- more chance of finding opals! They dredge the mud with their bills. Oh, my, you look confused? Have you eaten? I have some crab cakes around here someplace. "
Yelijd lifts a mudspattered step ladder from floor, moves it against the west wall, and climbs up to retrieves a hanging basket.
As he descends, he says,
"You asked about my clan? We do okay. It was better for all gnomes under the kings, of course. They appreciated us, our work."
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

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"I wouldn't mind in your shoes about the kings going. Human kingdoms raise and fall within a century. We will be still young when things change here again." Fild says as he takes one of the offered crab cakes not minding the muddy surroundings.
"Is there a place, a nice watering hall for people like us here? Or we gather where the big folk do and hope they don't get too drunk to step over us?"
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
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Re: BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

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alhoon wrote:"I wouldn't mind in your shoes about the kings going. Human kingdoms raise and fall within a century. We will be still young when things change here again." Fild says as he takes one of the offered crab cakes not minding the muddy surroundings.
"Is there a place, a nice watering hall for people like us here? Or we gather where the big folk do and hope they don't get too drunk to step over us?"
"We are welcome at the little wine shops here in the slums, the Green Monkey Roadhouse, and the waterfront bars. Not East side and beyond Floodgate Wall. I don't say it's unsafe. More like most of the fancy, rich big folk just don't like or trust us, and some of that way's rubbed off on the servants and tradesmen. The poor people here on the west side don't care. They treat us the same as each other. Not always well. But not sneering.Same with the sailors"
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: BEYOND POVERO: CRABCLAW Prelude

Post by ewancummins »

Over the next week the party:

Secures lodgings

Pays for the appraisal of the jewelry and gemstones seized from Aldron Folbre

Sells part of its treasure, to dispose of extremely high value items of jewelry

Pays all necessary taxes, tariffs, surcharges, and fees

Divides the shares into stacks of coins, ingots, gemstones, and jewelry equal to about a hundred florins a share ( a thousand silver pence of Poveran money)!

purchases goods and commissions special items

And a good deal of sleep watching out for thieves! Several suspicious strangers seem to be tailing the group's members...and once someone tries to break into Alfonse's room at night.
But the party's vilgilance , and perhaps the favor of kindly gods, seems to have hindered the crooks.
Thus far...



END OF PRELUDE
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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