Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on May 5, 2019 6:53:22 GMT
Taking the wallet from Solstice, Kara can feel it lightly vibrate in her hand as she attempts to will its pocket dimension open. Or, more specifically, as she attempts to get it to "reveal its contents". Soon, the wallet visibly begins to bulge and grows considerably heavier. And then heavier. And then heavier still. The edge of Gold Dragons peek out from the wallet's fold and, as its pouch rapidly becomes filled, they start to spill up and out, tumbling through the evening air with a sparkle of moonlight, and clatter across the cobblestone below. The glowing numbers on the side of the wallet spin lower and lower in a blur of white as more and more coins fall out of the wallet. 0-9-8-0. 0-9-6-0. 0-9-4-0. 0-9-2-0...
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Post by moralhazard on May 5, 2019 13:36:11 GMT
“Stop stop stop!” Kara said the thought aloud and in her head as quickly as she could, eyes wide and panicked. She did her best to think other ways of commanding the wallet to stop as well, her muscles bulging beneath the sleeves of her coat as she tried to keep hold of the suddenly heavy wallet.
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on May 5, 2019 17:19:50 GMT
Kara's frantic shouting and thoughts seemed to do the trick as the trickle of coins stopped. A small pile of gold Dragons now lay on the ground, faintly visible in the shadowed alleyway, while a fair amount still sat heaped in the wallet itself. The numbers on the side read 0-9-1-6.
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Post by moralhazard on May 5, 2019 17:23:38 GMT
Kara was shaking a little now, staring in a panicked way at the wallet. She looked down at it, then up at Dhaunmyr and Solstice, a desperate plea for help written across her face.
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Jarovbees
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Playing: Solstice (Paladin 6)/Umbrae (Sorcerer 1/Warlock 4)/Avren Wands (Rogue 2/Sorcerer 1)
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Post by Jarovbees on May 5, 2019 17:37:02 GMT
Solstice just stared in amazement when the wallet produced such abundance, wondering just how much was truly within the item. When Kara glanced over to her, she shrugged and offered a comforting smile. "You made it stop, lass. Let's leave it be instead of trying to take more from it, unless we're in need. I can hold onto it, if you like."
She eyes the coin, trying to tell if it's enchanted or a good illusion. Her foster mother had told her of archfey who offered gold, only for them to be revealed as leaves or dirt the next morning. So, she didn't automatically trust coin that magically appeared, even if it seemed mundane.
Arcana check: 9sFsITxa1d201d20
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on May 6, 2019 6:36:17 GMT
Tapping into her fey ancestry, using what magical knowledge she has, and physically inspecting one of the coins, Solstice can be quite confident that the coins are, at the very least, not enchanted or the product of an illusory spell. Each one of the many Gold Dragons is the real deal. With Merret Halfman's reputation as a successful collector, such wealth coming from him as a benefactor may in fact not be quite so surprising. Especially given the kind of ritzy event the Demitasse is at.
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Post by moralhazard on May 9, 2019 16:34:10 GMT
Kara looked down at the wallet, and up at Solstice. Her offer to take it was deeply, deeply appreciated and there was little in the world that Kara wanted more, at just that moment, then to hand the wallet off and never look at it again.
But she had caused this mess; she could try to fix it. Then she would hand the wallet over to Solstice.
Cautiously, Kara picked up a gold coin and held it over the wallet. She made a mental request to the effect of putting the coin back where it had come from, and dropped it, feeling a faint spark of hope.
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on May 10, 2019 17:02:34 GMT
Whoever had originally placed the enchantment on the wallet, it seemed, had valued the literal definition and technicality behind every word and sentence - disregarding all those pesky little things like context, tone, and societal construction of meaning. A true scholar of their time. As Kara dropped the coin a small portal, swirling with a maelstrom of white energy, appeared within the fold of the wallet and swallowed it up. The wallet vibrated. Then, a moment later, a second portal appeared, sparked, and spit the coin back out directly into Kara's forehead. It clinked back onto the cobblestone.
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Jarovbees
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Playing: Solstice (Paladin 6)/Umbrae (Sorcerer 1/Warlock 4)/Avren Wands (Rogue 2/Sorcerer 1)
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Post by Jarovbees on May 10, 2019 17:53:37 GMT
"Tch, now that was uncalled for!" Solstice shook her head at the wallet as though it was a pup that had peed on the carpet. She crouched and scooped up the coin, inspecting it with a thoughtful noise. A moment later, she just shrugs and held it back out to Kara if she wanted it back. Otherwise, she would pocket it since force-feeding the wallet seemed a bad idea. "Well, it's not an illusion or other trick of magic. The coins are exactly what they seem to be; useful if we need to bribe anyone, I suppose. With that, you might not even need to sneak in. Servants always appreciate a bit of coin, aye?"
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Post by moralhazard on May 10, 2019 19:07:59 GMT
Kara looked at the coin in Solstice's hand, rubbed her head with a grumble, and thrust the wallet at Solstice very, very grumpily, standing there and scowling until Solstice took it from her.
With that, still grumbling softly and incoherently under her breath, Kara scooped up the remaining coins from the ground and shoved what she could fit into her pockets, crossing her arms over her chest in what, in someone less martial, might have been called a sulk.
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Post by enchilada on May 10, 2019 19:26:13 GMT
“Kaaaraaaa?”
Dhaunmyr had really rather found the whole thing amusing, but he daren’t make it obvious. At least not to Solstice. The sparkle in his eyes and his stupid grin were more than obvious to Kara by now, and if they weren’t — they should have been.
That said, he knew he probably would have had the exact same issues with the wallet, probably worse, actually, it was Dhaunmyr, and Dhaunmyr had notoriously bad luck. But that didn’t really matter. What did, was that he could have just a tiny-little laugh at her, well, not Kara’s, more the wallet’s, expense, and then jump to best friend duty, as he always tried to do.
His hands hovered, he never touched unless he was told he was allowed, but his face turned soft and caring all at once.
“I’m glad it was you, if it was me, I’d have gotten knocked out.” He laughed, quietly, to himself.
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Post by moralhazard on May 12, 2019 0:28:15 GMT
Kara turned her attention to Dhaunmyr and scowled at him, well aware of the amusement on his face. He stretched out his hands as if to hug her. Kara knew well enough that he wouldn’t, and it meant she didn’t flinch or stiffen. The expression on her face softened a little, and she rubbed the spot where the coin had hit her forehead, still a little sulky about it.
It was hard to be grumpy when Dhaunmyr looked at her like that.
Kara sighed, giving up the fit of bad temper and shook her head. The coin hadn’t really hit her that hard.
“Let’s go.” Kara turned, expecting the other two to follow without needing any other instructions, and made her way out of the alley. They had wasted enough time on stupid magical kettles and wallets that opened portals to evil magical dimensions.
Maybe the rest of the night would be easier. Kara knew it to be a foolish hope, but she held onto it tightly nonetheless.
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Jarovbees
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Post by Jarovbees on May 12, 2019 1:08:44 GMT
Solstice, taking the wallet, tried her best not to let her lips twitch in amusement for the sake of Kara's pride. Just because she didn't quite understand the sulking didn't mean she was going to press on about it. Besides, they had a mission and that wouldn't be accomplished by standing around in an alley all night. The firbolg nodded and follow Kara, eager to continue.
"But of course. We can't allow playing dress-up to go to waste, can we?" She flashed a grin at them both, rather enjoying the spectacle they were able to create by stepping out of the alley in such garb. The lords and ladies of the Summer Court would surely enjoy the show, and she wondered if the mortals of the Material Plane would react in a similar fashion. There was only one way to find out....
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on May 12, 2019 4:31:57 GMT
A chorus of ghostly chatters, whoops, and cheers bid Kara, Solstice, and Dhaunmyr farewell as they ventured out from Seawind Alley. Their night of fun, it seemed, had begun.
In the time it had taken for the party to orient themselves with Merret’s gifts, darkness had fully descended upon the city. Shadows lay deep across the cobblestone road and most of the Street of Lances sat dark, quiet, and abandoned. Most of it. Though the crowd of revelers streaming down the road earlier had since thinned out, a long line of people still stretched from the entrance of the Aureate Beholder all the way down and around to a far street corner. The end to it was nowhere in sight. Those in line, some dressed in fancy suits and dresses, some in practical streetwear, and some near naked, were illuminated by a dotting of held lanterns and candles as they milled about. Some chatted. Some stood with arms crossed. Most had a frown or scowl on their face. The line, it looked like, was quiet long, and it was entirely still and unmoving.
At the end of the line, past an erected barrier of gold chain between two metal stands holding red-tinted glass lanterns, was the entrance to the cabaret. Nearly lost in the darkness between two great houses, only a set of stone steps leading downward and a canopy of scarlet fabric on top marked it as anything more than just another alleyway. The door itself appeared shut. Standing nearby was also possibly the largest half-orc any in the party had ever seen. Easily close if not over 7 feet tall, thick corded muscles bulged from underneath his black and white suit, the fabric taut in an almost uncomfortable way, and two thick hands continually cracked their knuckles with a snap that could even be heard from across the road. His black hair was shaved into a short mohawk, his face was scarred from innumerable fights, and his black eyes flitted between the line at his side and a couple of half-elves who stood alone and arguing quietly to themselves close by.
As the party got closer, he shot a glare and a scowl as the man at the head of the line whined loudly. His knuckles cracked harder.
“Shut your damn mouth, freeloader. You lot all know the drill by now: no ticket – no entrance – no party.”
Crack.
“So, either stay quiet or piss off. Before I find a damn excuse.”
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Jarovbees
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Playing: Solstice (Paladin 6)/Umbrae (Sorcerer 1/Warlock 4)/Avren Wands (Rogue 2/Sorcerer 1)
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Post by Jarovbees on May 14, 2019 21:35:05 GMT
Solstice was fell silent as she took in all the sights and sounds of the area--and this was just the entrance! What wonders must be inside, to generate this level of interest? She peered around at everything with an almost childlike sense of wonder, though that smile faded a bit at seeing the length of the line for the affair. As interesting as it was to people-watch, and she did appreciate the wide variety of attire, they were here for a mission. Said mission could hardly be completed if their evening consisted solely of waiting outside.
The firbolg glanced to the others, as the half-orc bouncer (only half a foot shorter than her or just about) seemed rather firm on the point of that ticket. Given the long line of people, how many had already attempted to bribe him? Perhaps the wallet's contents weren't as useful as she'd hoped. Getting her ticket out, she leaned in to whisper to her companions. "Are we to give him the coin and see what happens? He seems less likely to be persuaded than I thought...."
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