The Master Of Zooz

[Malchik]

The proprietor is pleased and returns with a sword (no scabbard) in a box. It is a lttle unwieldy but you can manage it until you return to your lodgings. Rawlpindi then sets off at a furious pace. You almost have to run to keep up. The youth is taciturn and will not get involved in conversation. As you arrive at your destination (somewhat relieved) he manages to say "Here."

 

A tattered wooden sign outside the shop announces ''Ishrat and Assoseeate, Deelers in used goods".

 

You enter into a small room that is completely empty. There is a door opposite, a staircase leading up and a trap door in the floor but nothing else.

 

Rawlpindi shouts 'Ishrat! Customers.' (This proves the youth can put two words together at least.)

 

The place has a rather pungent odour and as Ishrat comes down the stairs you discover the source of it. The word 'bath' is clearly not in his vocabulary. His clothes are shabby and dirty. He is perhaps 70 years old.

 

"What are you staring at? I spend nearly all day in the sewers. I'm not going to wear my best clothes now, am I? What is it you want?"

[phawk69]

T'skar looks at the 'man' before her, and assumes an air of disgust, "Information, but it appears all yours will be colored in brown." She wrinkles her nose, and then puts her hand in front of her mouth and nose.

[Malchik]

Ishrat smiles. "Well I can take you down below next time I go and see how you come back. But didn't you see the sign? We sell salvaged goods, not information. Of course it's been a while since the last flood so most of it's just junk but we occasionally get lucky. Gribka found a scarcely damaged set of false teeth last week. Were you after a particular item or just anything of one kind?"

 

He is not bothered by the tone of voice used.

[phawk69]

"Everything of one kind, in particular swords." T'skar watches his reaction.

[Malchik]

Ishrat beckons you forward and takes you down through a trap door into a room that can be sealed against the incursion of water. It is full of metal items that can be of no use other than for melting down - buckets with holes in, bent and broken posts, rusted farm machinery. It is all piled up in no apparent order and seems precarious in the extreme.

 

The man calls out 'Gribka! Gribka!'

 

There is a startled grunt as if the one called had been asleep and from under one pile of metal junk appears a small girl about nine years old. She is as pungent as Ishrat and at this moment appears to be wearing a colander as a hat.

 

"Wossit? I was 'avin' a kip." She eyes you curiously. On hearing you are interested in swords she produces a grimey notebook and finds a page headed SORDS.

 

"At the last count we 'ad free. One's broke."

 

She digs into the piles of metal sending one lot crashing down into your calves and then reappears clutching the three swords. One is simply a hilt, the whole blade snapped off and missing, one is plain and shiny from hilt to tip, one is scarcely recognisable as a sword at all except by its overall shape. It is all over lumps and bumps, even the hilt.

 

Ishrat says "You can have the shiny one for 1 nipin. Well, you can have the lot for 1 nipin."

[Abramul]

"May as well. They're probably junk, but who knows?"

 

"Do you have anything that would be of use to travellers?"

[Malchik]

Gribka hands you the three items. It is clear that the sword handle is neither use nor ornament. It is unadorned and cannot be part of a sword of the master. The shiny sword will be useful as a weapon although again it is plain, perhaps a practise sword. It could do with being oiled. The third feels like a sword and has the right shape but it is not at all clear what it actually is. Not one member of the party is skilled with this kind of identification.

 

"Help for travellers?" Ishrat sounds unsure. "We have lots of sticks. Maybe some old rope. If you want either you can have them for 20 Fenni. I don't usually take money for old rope."

 

Gribka buries herself in the heap of metal items again and appears with an assortment of knives, forks and spoons. They are mostly misshapen but you could put together a reasonable set of three - not matching, of course.

 

They wait to hear if you want any of them.

[phawk69]

"Take them if you want, but I think we have got what we came for." T'skar turns and heads out the door. "Lets get our purchases back to our rooms and see what we have. We may need to make another trip to the sword maker." She heads back toward the center of town, and the hotel.

[Malchik]

OOC> Well, two of the five plays I'm currently involved in are done, so I have a little more time but I am not sure I can respond to the post as worded. You go back to the lodging - nothing happens, nothing attacks.

 

So on topic>

 

As you arrive at the lodging, your host says. "Did you have a nice day?" She eyes your purchases. "What interesting items you have collected."

 

The tone of her voice suggests you are at least mildly insane.

[phawk69]

"Lets drop off our purchases before we proceed," T'skar suggests, and heads to her room. Once everyone is in, she pulls out the blob that resembles a sword, and proceeds to reveal the two swords of Zooz they have in their possession.

 

"We know that the tips of these swords are attracted to each other, so lets see if we have the eighth sword of Zooz." With that, she draws the two close to the tip of the new sword.