H131, Day 38, 2 AP (John)

[john]

John slogs into the massive Armory, his battered armor, and worn chiv strapped across his back, the blood from his most recent brawl in the Blood Pit only now dried on his armor, Sigil's rains and wet having wet and moved the drying, blackish-brown blood scum that makes him appear the lowest of the low. He removes his helmet, after a moment, exposing a homely face, and looks for the magical weapons section, ambling by each part of the Armory in turn, trying to find something that catches the eye of a skilled swordsman, like himself.

[Stix]

In one corner of the selling floor sits a trio of tables, each boasting a small selection of enchanted weapons hanging on the wall behind it. (I'll only bother listing the weapons with which John is proficient for now; let me know if you want to take a look at others.)

Table 1

• a polished club set with iron studs, which sheds a fine mist (like dry ice)

Table 2

• a two-handed scimitar with a gold-tinted blade, studded with emerald and onyx along the inside curve
  
• a handsomely-made longsword wrought from a matte, silvery-blue steel, set with two black oblong-cut jewels in the crossguard and a third in the pommel

Table 3

• an unassuming dagger, the tip of which appears to still have fresh blood on it
  
• a dagger set with a large blue topaz, trailing a golden ribbon from the ring on its pommel
  
• a pattern-welded falchion, crude and savage-looking; its weld marks appear like pained, screaming faces
  
• a highly reflective greatsword with a grooved blade
  
• a bastard sword that appears to be made of glass

[john]

John beelines for table 3, pointing in turn to the Falcion, the Greatsword, and the Bastard sword, saying to the nearest man who appears to be selling them. Or.... woman. Or thing.

"Those 3. What are their histories, their properties, and their price?"

[Stix]

The fine-featured aasimar Sinker manning the table gestures first to the falchion. "This chiv was brought to us secondhand. We know that it was forged on Pandemonium, and that it's a minor frostbrand enchanted to the third degree, but its history is dark to us. Eighteen thousand gold pieces."

He moves to the next blade, the grooved greatsword. "This one came to us from the renowned planewalker Tarsheva Longreach, who sold it from her private collection. It's made from steel alloyed with a metal that only occurs on the prime world of its origin, hence its unusual luster. It was enchanted to the second degree, and to hear Tarsheva tell it, it struck the final blow in a coup against a fiend who had usurped the local throne. Ten thousand gold pieces."

Lastly, he points to the bastard sword. "The clearsteel blade was forged on Acheron and enchanted to the second degree; it saw use in the hands of a Mercykiller swordsman who defended the outpost at Vorkehan. When he came through the Cage, he traded it in for a chiv that would serve better in his pursuit of a criminal across the Inner Planes. The asking price is 7,250 gold pieces."

[john]

"Hmm, interesting... let me think a moment." He then begins his bargaining routine, doing his best to get a decent price on the greatsword and the bastard sword without seeming too rude. "Well, that grooved blade there... it felled a fiend, eh? So it could carry old debts, old dangers with it. A fiend might recognize it, and attack the bearer on sight, no?"

John continues, pointing to the clearsteel blade, "And this.... chiv" he pronounces with some distaste, "It was traded away before it's owner came to the inner planes. Does it have some shortcoming that must be compensated for, if it's brought to the inner planes? I'd rather not buy a length of war-ice that is only good for spilling blood in certain locales."

(using my expert haggling thing, not sure how that applies, do I need a diplomacy check as well? Or maybe a bluff or intimidate check? Also, if you could tell me how much Jink he's got in PmS i'd be grateful to no end.)

[Stix]

(No roll needed, you'll talk him down 10% at the point of sale. I'll update your sheet with the appropriate funds.)


"An enchantment is tied to the plane of its origin. This one carries a second-degree enchantment on Acheron, a first-degree enchantment on the planes that border it, and no magic whatsoever beyond that. That's why everybody wants an Astral chiv."

[john]

"So what about the blade there that was enchanted on the prime world? Where does it enchantment tell upon the foe?"

[Stix]

"The prime chiv holds an enchantment on the Astral and the Ethereal, but loses everything outside that. Where do you do most of your planewalking?"

[john]

"I'm headed out Acheron way.... that blade will be handy. And I like a shield, so a bastard sword will do nicely." He nods in it's direction, and says, "Does it have a name yet?"

[john]

John, for reference, at this point, begins to reach for his coin purse.

[Stix]

"If it was given a name, it's dark to me," the Sinker says with a helpless shrug.

After several minutes of haggling, John has talked the price down to 6,670 GP, and drawn a small crowd of Doomguard onlookers who like to watch anyone turn hard-won jink into implements of destruction. "It's agreeable to me, cutter," the salesman finally concedes. "The blade's yours."

[john]

John takes up the sword, and puts it in his sheath, replacing the old bastard sword. He looks at it for a moment, the notched, blood-rimed blade still faintly stinking of the Blood Pit, and wonders what to do with it, then carries it with him, unsheathed but held point down. Looking at it for a moment, outside, he considers finding a place to lay it to rest.... his eyes closing.

"A chapter has ended, I guess."

He brings the blade down against the pavement, brutally hard, doing his best to shatter it entirely.

[Stix]

Some of the Sinkers milling about outside the Armory laugh and applaud as John's blade hits the cobblestone, splintering into a half-dozen fragments.

(Close this thread?)

[john]

(Yeah.)