[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: The group galavanted around town for a little while, shopping, after finding out about possible destinations. They decided to head for Colorford, to the north. Alric begged Shiho not to go to Za'ha'dum, and as the group was about to leave, gave her a ring and kissed her.] [Oh, Daphne was turned into a plushie, and not even the town's priest of Selene could undo it.] [The scene opens where last episode left off, the group is marching off down the road. Daphne is still a plushie.] [Session Start] * Amy begins shining with a bright light. Eh? * Cara eeps. "Not again!" * The light begins to strobe, faster and faster. * Shiho blinks. Uh oh. * There is a bright flash of light, and then Amy disappears, leaving an Amy plushie, and right next to it, the Daphne plushie that she was holding. ... Great. * Cara picks up the plushies. That's not contagious is it? ... I hope not. I mean first Daphne...and then Amy... * Cara looks down at the plushies in her hands. "Well, we can't just leave them lying on the road. Someone has to carry them." True. I hope nothing happens to you. True. Maybe we'll find a cure for them in the next town You realy think so? * Cara squeezes the plushies. "And they're so cute!" Since the priest couldn't help? I doubt it. ... Oh... * Shiho prays silently that she is never turned into a plushie :P So, how far did sensei say that town was again? * Cara looks thoughtful. "I wonder what it's like for them..." * He didn't. Not precisely, anyway. At any rate, we'd better hurry. I don't want to think of what could happen if we all turn into plushies in the middle of nowhere. * Cara puts the plushies in her backpack. "Okay." Right. ::starts walking:: * Shiho continues walking. * Cara walks after Ichi and Shiho. * The day passes quickly on to highsun, and the three still are not out of the woods. This is a big forest, and I'm starting to get hungry...Does anybody have any food? * Around a bend in the road, the group spots a large wagon, laden with goods of all sorts. * Beside the wagon stands a man dressed in brightly colored clothing. Shouldn't be hard to... eh? What's that? * Peddler struggles with a makeshift jack, trying to lift his wagon's corner. It is obvious that the wagon has a badly broken wheel. Hi. Need a hand? Hello! Huh? * Peddler looks up. Looks like you could use some assistance. If yer wantin' to give it, sure. I hate it when wheels break out in the middle of nowhere. * Shiho inspects the wagon. "Hmm... Don't suppose you have a spare?" Yeah, it's right over there. * Peddler points back a ways, slightly behind the wagon. I gotta get this baby propped up first, though. * Now that you're closer, you can see that the peddler's ears are slighly pointed. * Ichi fails to notice this as he's buisy looking around for something to prop the wagon up with/onto. * Cara looks at the broken wheel thoughtfully. * Peddler _has_ a jack. He's just having trouble getting it into position. Hmm... Doesn't look like we can lift the thing easily... * The wagon is roughly equivalent in size to a small RV. * Cara takes her backpack off and starts fishing around inside it. * Shiho stares at the wagon, trying (and failing) to come up with an idea. This sort of reminds me of something that happend when my family went out for a drive once... Um. I think I could do it, but I don't know if you'd want me too. Eh? Why wouldn't I want you to? Well...it'd change the wagon a little. I'm not sure how. We lost a tire and the driver was having trouble getting the jack right, so he put some wood under the jack so it wouldn't sink any...Wha? * Peddler gives Cara a blank stare. Um. I could use a little magic... Well why didn't you say so? * Peddler stands up and backs away from the wagon. Go right ahead. Since when did you... nevermind. * Cara grabs a sheet of used notepaper from a binder, produces her homemade pencil, sits down, and starts to draw the wagon with a fixed wheel. Um. This shouldn't take too long. * Cara concentrates on her work. * Shiho sits down and watches. * A sort of tension begins to build around Cara, in the air. * Ichi sits against a tree and watches. * The feeling of tension builds as Cara progresses with the building, and then she finishes, and the tension releases. * The wagon is fixed, but looks... different, somehow. * Peddler peers at the wagon. ... Well. That's handy... There! * Ichi claps his hands. Is it okay? Something's... different. Hard to say what, though. * Shiho stands back up. Besides the wheel, anyway. Thanks muchly, missy. * Peddler tips an imaginary hat to Cara. You're welcome! *smiles brightly * Ichi stands back up and walks over to the others. * Cara puts her materials away, being careful not to damage the drawing. * Peddler hitches the horses back up. Have a nice day, y'hear? Uh... could I get something to eat before you go? You too! You want to do some trading, boy? * Shiho sighs, realizing that the only people who actually had money are plushified. Err, ::digs through pockets looking for something tradeworthy:: * Cara doesn't realize this, and turns to Shiho. "Do we have any money?" If we do, it's probably plush right now. ...oh. * Cara scratches her head. "Maybe...if we get them turned back, we should divide things like that in case this happens again." ^_^;; It's their money, though... All I've got are some coins from a far away contry, and Sensei told me they wern't any good around here. ^_^;; Eh? Lemme see. * Ichi hands a quarter and a dime to the Peddler. * Peddler eyes the coins. * Peddler turns the coins over, peering at them from different angles. * Cara watches Ichi and the peddler. How many of these do you have? They're not silver, exactly. A few.::digs through his pockets, and then his backpack:: * Ichi comes up with about a dollar fifty in change. ::holds it up:: I think this is all of it. * Peddler holds out his hands. * Ichi pours it in. Where'd you get these? The're from a country called America, see? ::points to the top of one of the quarters:: * From the backpack where she was placed, the Daphne plushie begins glowing. * Ichi is facing the wrong way to see. * Shiho is watching the peddler. * Cara is still watching the exchange, and doesn't notice. * The backpack itself begins strobing wildly, attracting everybody's attention. What in the world? * Cara blinks. * Shiho blinks. "Hmm?" * Cara runs over to her backpack and opens it. * Daphne emits a bright, plush glow. Eh? ::turns around:: * Cara picks the plushie up. "What's happening?" * Daphne turns back into a human in Cara's hands. Wah! * Shiho blinks. O_O Well that's different. --OODY HELL... Uhm. 'Lo, Cara? Umm...hi. Are you alright? * Shiho blinks again. You're back! Oh good, it's only temporary. How are you feeling, Daphne? Uh, I think so. Why are you holding me? Fine, I guess. * Daphne looks around. "Where are we?" * Cara lets go of Daphne with an eep. On the road. On our way to Colorford. I take it you don't remember anything since the time you became a plushie? * Daphne stands, brushes herself off, and makes sure she has all ehr belongings with her. * All of Daphne's belongings are safe. ...beg 'pardon? Since I became a *what*? * Cara produces the Amy plushie. "When you started glowing before, you turned into one of these." * Daphne blinks. "Oh. I ...see." ... Evidently, you don't remember *that*, either. * Ichi nods. Helluva strange magic, there. And Amy did too, this morning. * Peddler turns back to Ichi. * Daphne shrugs as she pulls a flask out. "I just remember glowing, and then appearing here." She takes a few drinks from the flask. Now, where'd you say this... America is? * Daphne turns and blinks at Ichi. * Ichi turns back around. "I'm sorry for ignoring you. And America is...well...it's kinda hard to explain..." Just spit it out, boy. * Daphne turns to Shiho. "Ey, Shiho. Could ye' fill me in on wha' I missed while I was a huggably soft toy?" Hm? Not much, really. Where we were before that happend? ::points at Amy and Daphne:: We left the town for Colorford, like we planned. We've basically been travelling all day. Nothing spectacular's happened yet. * Amy's plushie beginss coruscating with light. * Cara puts the plushie down somewhere safe. * A moment later, there is a bright flash, and Amy replaces the plushie. * Ichi stares at his finger. * Daphne looks down. "And is that a ring you have there, Shiho?" * Cara smiles. "Well, we're all back together now!" * Daphne blinks and turns. "H'lo, Amy." Eh? Gah! What happened? What's going on? How? Oh, hello Amy. * Daphne points. "There's something glinty on your left ring finger 'ere." * Amy blinks. Yeah. It's a ring. Err. Where are we? What happened? * Ichi turns away from the Pedler again "You're back too!" Hi Amy! You turned into a plushie like Daphne did! I did? I bet I was a cute plushie! ... * Cara nods. Why am I not plushie? Did you guys cure me? Dunno. It just sort of happend. * Shiho nods at Ichi You just...started glowing again, and turned back, right after Daphne did. I don't suppose you have any memories of it either, Amy? Nope! * Daphne nods. * Peddler speaks up. Oi, boy, you gonna answer my question? * Daphne turns back to Shiho. "So, wheredja' get the ring?" She grins. "Did that elfie guy give it to you?" Yeah! Right before he kissed her! * Shiho blushes. "S-So what?" Err...could sombody give me hand over here? ::To the peddler:: "Uhm, were we were before the magic took us here?" Magic again? Where was that? * Daphne grins wider. "Och, he did! I knew it! Ye' go, girl!" * Cara looks at Shiho and giggles. Bah. It's probably just some good luck charm. It's across the Pacific Ocean from Japan, and on the other side is the Atlantic.::tries to remember something from his history class:: I'm sure he's tried the same trick on hundreds of girls before. ...Never heard of any of those, and I've been all over, boy. Uh-huh. Suuuure. ... Besides, it's not like he meant anything by it. Just another prank, I bet. Yeah...excuse me for a bit? * Cara sighs and stares off into space. "It's so romantic..." * Ichi walks over to the girls, "Could one of you help me out with this?" * Shiho nods to Ichi. "Right. Sorry." Mmm? Oh, sure, I guess, Itchy. Whatcha' need? If he's itchy, maybe he needs a scratch? I'm tryin' to find out where these coins are from. * Ichi nodnods. The boy's bein less than helpful. What coins? * Cara doesn't notice Ichi's problem, as she's still staring wistfully off into space. * Amy looklooklooks. * Peddler holds up his handful of american coinage. * Ichi tineysweats. * Daphne blinks. "Itchy, were you trying to buy something with this stuff?" * Shiho glances back at Cara. "Hey. Quit it." * Cara blinks, snaps out of her little trance and looks at Shiho. "Huh? What was that?" Sort of. I thought maybe I could trade them, since Sensei said I wouldn't be able to spend them. Ah. ... Nevermind. Hmm. Those are not the right coins, remember Itchy? Here, I have some money. And I think Amy has some, too. We have to have these kind! * Amy pulls out a gold coin. * Peddler goes wide-eyed. ...which is why I was trying to trade the ones I have. ... Ah! Are you... adventurers? * Amy nods Yep! * Shiho nods Hai! Why didn't you say so? We are going to adventure to find a way home! And meet cute animals! I would have said so, but I was a plushie! ... * Shiho facepalms. * Daphne nods. "Aye, tha' we are." * Ichi sweatdrops. Eh heh he. * Daphne tries to keep the smirk off her face and fails. * Cara scratches her head. "Um. Yes." * Peddler disappears into his wagon. * Daphne blinks. * Amy blinks. I wonder what he's doing. * Cara blinks, too. Maybe he's getting the exchange rate for quarters to coppers! * Shiho does not give in! Muahahaha! * Peddler comes out with a large metal box with no fewer than ten locks on it. @_@ I bet they get this all the time! ... Whassat? Wow. * Amy looks at the box curiously. * Daphne hums. That's... a lot of locks. * Peddler pulls out a key ring and begins performing a strange ritual that involves opening certain locks and closing others simultaneously. * Shiho blinks. "What's he doing?" * Cara watches the peddler, confusion evident on her face. * Peddler finishes the short 'ritual' and hops over to the other side of the box, so that the opening faces the group. * Daphne raises an eyebrow. * Amy looks curiously. I've been looking for a group of adventurers to sell this to. I didn't think I'd find one here, of all places. What is it? * Cara looks over. * Amy looks curiously. * Peddler pulls open the box, revealing a strange looking belt. It's hard to tell what the belt is made of, it looks like a strange sort of leather, and is approximately four inches across. Equally spaced across its length are eight pockets. ... It's a belt. What does it do? It's a belt with pockets. Ah, this is no ordinary belt. This is what adventurers refer to as a belt of many pouches. * Peddler waggles his finger at the group. Watch and see. Well, yeah, it has many, I agree. * Ichi watches attentivly. * Peddler opens one of the pockets and pulls out a large coil of rope, obviously too large to fit in the pocket. Could be useful, but does it really need to be locked up so securely? I can't imagine.... Well I'll be. Wow! It's a magical belt. Neat! Yeah, Wow! Heeey. That's not bad. * Shiho nods. How much for that? There are eight pockets on this belt. Wow! Yeah, how much? How much can each hold? Each pocket has behind it, in magical space, seven more pockets. Each pocket can hold up to ten pounds of equipment. So... that's.. 56 pockets? That's...a lot of pockets Now you see why these are so popular with adventurers? Yeah! * Shiho nods. Could be quite handy. How much is it? Nice. I still wanna know how much it is. * Ichi nods. Unfortunately, the last band of adventurers I ran into didn't want it. Said they already had one. Why wouldn't they want two? Not that I doubt them, the Stone House company is legendary. Probably didn't need more than one. Probably only need the one. They can probably make more, if they need it. Oh. OK then. Stone House company? What's the Stone House company? Name of the group, obviously. * Daphne raises an eyebrow. "Make one? Who're these Stone House fellows?" They're a band of adventurers. They number ten people. Nine elven women and a human man. ... Ohh. @_@ Why do they call them the Stone House company? The man is scary, though. He wears these strange pink robes, and taunts people constantly. * Daphne blinks. The rest are pretty normal, though, even if they're hard to deal with. ... ... Dan! Yay! Well, except for that insane paladin girl with the purple hair and all the secrets. You know him? ... Who? Anyway, how much did you want for it? A hundred gold is a bargain for this valuable piece of equipment. ... Sorry. No thanks! * Cara boggles. That's a bit too much! * Peddler gapes at Amy. Okay, but you're going to give us a better bargain, aren't you? ...That's a lot... * Amy smiles sweetly at the Peddler. "Thanks for the offer though!" Wow. No wonder you keep it all locked up like that. * Ichi nods. Magic is valuable stuff! * Peddler recovers his composure. I don't doubt that. Yeah, it apparently is. Really? I never thought about that... Very expensive! Way more then candy! But money is valuable too. And the fact is, we don't have a hundred gold to spend. That must be worth more then a town! Remember, Lawrence said we could buy a whole town if we wanted! Magic this powerful is harder to find than most towns. * Ichi 's stomach rumbles reminding him of why he started this conversation. Now, I suppose I could take these 'america' coins for part of it, I know a guy who collects strange coinage. If it's fine with Ichi, then very well. But at best, I could give you... five gold for them. * Shiho frowns. Sure, I'd just like to get lunch out of this at some point. I don't think this is going to work out... No thanks! We need money for other stuff too! Sure, I guess. That and, say, twenty gold? These coins, ninety five gold, and I'll throw in enough food to get you to Colorford and back. There's no way we can afford that. Aside from these coins, we only HAVE about twenty five gold. No thanks. ^_^ We do? * Shiho nods. Hmmm... okay, I can cut you a break... These coins, twenty five gold, plus at least 20 gold more of other barter items? You've got to have more things you can trade. Not really. Aside from my bow, I have nothing, and I don't intend to trade that. * Amy pulls out a healthy tofu snack. "I have this! It's yummy and good for you!" What about that ring? Umm...I have some paper. How much is that worth? No. Paper? You have actual paper? * Ichi digs through his bag. Let me see how much you have, missy. * Daphne raises an eyebrow. * Cara reaches into her backpack and produces her school notes. "These have stuff written on one side, but not on the other." Hmmm... that's less useful... But it IS actual paper. * Peddler eyes the stack of notes. I suppose I could count that for say... ten gold. It _is_ a lot of paper, I'll grant you that. ... We were told that actual paper is fairly hard to find. Even partially used pieces ought to be worth more than a mere ten gold. * Daphne reaches into her backpack and pulls out a sheaf of notebook paper, still in it's plastic wrapping. "Here is two-hundered sheets, not written on, and in a water-proof wrapping. How much is that worth to you?" ... ... * Daphne smiles. * Cara blinks. * Ichi looks up "would that be enough?" * Shiho facepalms. Twenty five gold, plus the used paper, and what she just brought out. * Peddler points at Daphne. You've got to be kidding. But.. Isn't non-used paper worth more? That alone should be worth MUCH more than one hundred gold. Uh? But you said these were worth 10 gold... Not only is it unused, but it's protected, and there's 200 sheets! * Ichi looks at the Peddler, but doesn't say anything. Ah, but I have to trust your word that the covering is waterproof. Paper is easy to destroy. It should be fine in the rain. 'should be' If you chuck it in the river, it probably won't. We could pour water on it and find out. But the rain isn't enough to damage it. mmmmhmmm. Still, dealing in goods is harder than dealing in money. I have to find a buyer who can afford actual paper. But now your wagon works, so you'll actually be ABLE to travel to a town to find these buyers. And I'm sure a scholar or wizard would readily accept it. Okay, okay, I suppose I can give you a small discount for services rendered. Twenty five gold, plus the waterproof casing with the unused paper. Yay! See, that isn't so bad! I still think that's too much. .. Err, Mr. Peddler? How many silver coins equal the same amount as a gold coin? The waterproof casing with the unused paper, and the sheets that are already used should be more than enough. It depends on the weight of the coins, generally. You'll average about a hundred silvers to a gold, though. Ah. Thanks! * Cara looks at the paper. "I could do so much magic with that..." All the paper, plus twenty gold, then, and I'm being robbed. Frankly, I'd go as far as to say we should get two weeks worth of rations AND the belt for the protected paper, but I'm willing to make the sacrifice if the others are. ... What about my coins? But you said the paper was worth ten gold. That doesn't make sense! * Daphne casually fans herself with the paper. You said 25 gold and the unused paper. But then you said 20 gold and both paper. But you said the used paper was worth 10! * Peddler glares at Amy. ... Stay out of the bargaining, young lady. Amy, shaddap. * Peddler turns back to Shiho. ;_; Fine. You spend your own money on it then. * Amy pouts. Now, back to business. All the paper, and twenty gold, for the belt and enough rations to get you to Colorford and back. Give me a minute to talk it over with the others. As you like. * Shiho motions the group to follow her a bit away from the peddler, in hopes that he won't be able to hear. * Ichi walks over. * Daphne follows. * Amy walks over, frowning. * Cara walks over to Shiho. I still think we're getting ripped off here. What about you guys? That wasn't nice. I agree. I was trying to help and you yelled at me. ... Hey, don't take it so hard, Amy. * Cara frowns. "Marta said that I shouldn't waste paper..." I'm not the best with numbers...but even I add better than he does... I'm trying to make sure we get through this without going broke. Hmm... I need something to draw on to do my magic, so... Well, theoretically, we don't need the belt at all, if you'd rather keep the paper. But he knows we have it. True. So bargaining's not going to be very easy. * Daphne nods and frowns. But even twenty gold is a lot! That's half my gold! At this point, if we want the belt, we almost have to give him the paper, but we might be able to lower the price. He doesn't know that. And I think we can get him down to ten. Or even five. So...we don't want him to know how much we have? So, it comes down to this: How much do we want the belt? At least I'm getting a good price for my coins. ...Of course not. If he knows how much we have, he can ask for more. The belt would be nice to have, but is not essential by any means. The belt would be nice, but we don't really need it. * Shiho nods. So we don't go for it? Not unless he makes the money less. Could be useful, but how much do we want it? I still have paper left over if we give him this, but... I dunno. Do we really need it? * Daphne shakes her head. "I'm way to use to sticker-price purchasing." Nothing personal, Daphne, but this would've been easier if you didn't show him that so soon. I'd guessed that, actually. Too bad I didn't figure it out before I acted. ::chuckles:; Must still have some plush stuck in my head. Heh Still... We can always trade the belt for something else later. It IS a magic item, after all. And I can't imagine those are easy to come by. * Daphne says, in a lower voice. "I have paper left after this, and I bought it for a buck fifty, so I won't miss it terrible. However, if paper's all that valuable here, we can probably get a *much* better price for it somewhere else." So we move on? True, but that "somewhere else" probably won't have a magic belt. A point. But that guy is a meanie. We should just let him keep his stupid magic belt. I don't like him. *frowns* * Shiho starts glowing. Oh, hell. * Cara blinks at Shiho. "Again?" * Shiho strobes brightly, flashes, and is replaced by a plushie. Uh-oh! ...This just isn't our day is it? Yay! * Daphne sighs. * Amy picks up the cute plushie and hugs it. * Daphne does something she hasn't tried in a long while; she thinks about her situation. *think* ... Uh-oh. She knew all about trading and stuff. We are in trouble, are we not. Well, if we don't know what to do, we can just leave, and it won't matter. ^_^ Why don't we try to get a lower price? from him? I mean, someone here has to know how to deal with this guy, right? * Cara looks at Daphne. Well, I guess we can try for it. * Peddler eyes the group. So, shall we give it a go? * Amy waves at the Peddler! Sure! Okay. * Daphne walks over to the peddler. Good luck. It looks like your friend had a little accident, or something. Yeah. We have a bit of that going around, it seems. Yes! She turned into a plushie! Now, to buisness. * Amy follows after Daphne. To business, then. * Cara walks over. Well? Are you prepared to give up twenty gold and all the paper? * Cara bites her lip. * Amy looks through her bag for anything else to trade.. * Daphne holds up the paper. "I offer this and ten gold for the belt." You're not an adventurer! You're a highway robber! Twenty three gold, and the unused paper. * Cara blinks. "We're not making you give us the belt." * Amy pulls out her Big Book of Animals. ".. Hmm. How about this?" Twenty two gold, the unused paper, and that book. What about the coins? Nah! My book is nice! See, it has all sorts of facts about animals! * Daphne chuckles. "Oh, come now. If we were robbers we'd have the belt now. The paper, the odd coins, and fourteen gold." * Amy shows the Peddler the page about penguins. Okay, eighteen gold, the coins, the unused paper, and the book. Why are the coins worth more then my book. ;_;. I paid ten dollars for this! * Cara thinks hard. "But you said the coins were worth five gold before?" Hush, girl. Let your elders do the bargaining. Hey! I'm the same age as at least some of them! * Daphne tilts her head thoughtfully. "Hum. Amy, do you really wanna give up that book? I mean, it must mean a lot to you." * Cara blinks, then looks at Daphne. Nah! I have another copy at home! Are you older than we are? * Ichi sits back and wonders if he's still geting lunch out of this * Daphne gives Amy a helpless look and turns back to the peddler. "Fifteen gold, plus the rapidly growing pile of odds and ends that we are practically throwing at your feet." Done, and just because I'm so nice, I'll throw in the rations. * Peddler spits in his palm and holds it out. Ewww! * Daphne spits on hers as well and shakes. * Cara makes a face, even though she understands the gesture. Lunch! And done. I'll have your money and goods now, please. Amy? You wanna help pay for this? Sure I guess. I'm not spitting on my hand tho'. * Daphne chuckles. "Don't have to. How much gold are you willing to donate to our cause?" * Amy hands Daphne 7 gold and the book. Here you go. * Daphne nods, pulls out eight gold, and places it all on her sheaf of paper. "Here you go, sir. And the belt, please." * Peddler reaches into the case with both hands and pulls out the belt with both hands, handing it to Daphne. Don't forget Ichi's coins! Wear it in good health. * Peddler puts away the various loot in the secure case and performs a similar ritual to before. * Peddler locks up his new loot securely. Nice dealing with you. * Peddler starts his wagon back on the way to Greengaard. ... Hey. * Ichi walks over to Daph and his stomach rumbles pitifuly. What about our food! * Peddler yells back "It's in the belt!" Ah, good! * Daphne takes the belt and opens up a pouch, reaching inside and feeling around for something foodlike. So... should we eat now, or keep going? We can probably eat as we go. * There is nothing in that pouch. * Cara nods. * Daphne tries another pouch. * That pouch has a few ration packages in it. * Daphne pulls them out. * Daphne pulls out about ten pounds worth of trail food. I wonder if Shiho gets hungry while she's like that? If so, we should buy a plushie sandwich and feed it to her! Not too shabby. Wow! That's cool! Could I have some of that now? Okay, help me split this up, folks. Sure, Itchy. Domo ariga...er Thank you very much. * Cara eyes the belt. "How do you find the extra pockets? And is it heavy with stuff in there?" I dunno. I just kinda' fished around. By the way, who wants to carry the belt? I will, if nobody else does. I wanna! Well, I didn't give up anything for it, so one of you guys should. I don't mind who wears it. Okay. Here ya' go, Amy. Er, don't put Shiho in it. Just in case. * Daphne munches on some rations. O-kay! * Amy puts on the fun-fun belt, and puts Shiho in her backpack. * Cara laughs. "We probably shouldn't keep the plushies in anything, now that we know what happens." * Ichi takes a bit of his. * Cara gets a bit of food from Daphne. * And so the group continues onward. [End Session]