The Mana-Verse

[Sakura Leic]

".....What's plumbing?" Sakura asked.

[Quickman]

The monk's eyes widened.

"A glorious thing!  A wondrous, glorious thing!  Only our inn has it!  The others, the others... they doubt my theories and they doubt my inventions!  That's why, that's why they won't let me clean up."

[Blue Valkyrie]

"Is there some where to sit down in this "inn"?" Aya inquired yawning slightly, still exhausted from the previous encounters. "Between fighting that sky pirate, falling from the city the wolves AND the breach I'm feeling quite tired."

[Sakura Leic]

"How come you didn't go with Dad?" Sakura asked her.

[Blue Valkyrie]

"Oh--uh I was kinda distracted by all the stalls, theres so much here!" Aya giggles trying to laugh it off.

[Fxeni]

"Well, it won't be too long until we're done here anyways, I'd reckon," Fxeni said as he examines the stalls. "Especially with our monk friend here... umm... what is your name good sir?"

[Quickman]

The monk blinked in confusion and rubbed more soot from his face.

"Oh!  Oh!  Oh, well, my master calls me Professor.  Much learned, I am." He motioned to the stalls and started limping toward them.  "What you need?  What you need?  We have food, medicines, armorers, blacksmiths, the finest peddlers of leather goods, brews, blessed and sacred objects..."

He kept his hood pulled over his head in an attempt to conceal his face, though the soot did help with that.

[Blue Valkyrie]

"Well--we need food and a map to Skull Cove right?" Aya nibbles on her index finger as she ponders any thing else the group mentioned they might require.

((Faster way to Skull Cove is through the Jagged Peaks. Other wise you'd need to find a port city/town and go by ship.))

[Sakura Leic]

(Okay here we go.)

Sakura looked around as she didn't recognize most of the things around.  It was so strange yet exciting for her and she was glad that Fxeni and Professor could explain what they were.  Eventually something interrupted her thoughts and caught her interest.

"CHICKENS!"  A woman with green hair styled in 2 small buns and a long green bandana yelled at the top of her lungs "Get your Chickens here!  The most energetic, affectionate, and adorable chickens that lay the most delicious and nutrious eggs.  Get yours before they're gone!"

Sakura's eyes widen as she remembered her dad wanted to get a chicken.

"Mr. Fxeni, Mr. Fxeni, look!  Chickens!" Sakura cried as she pulled his sleeve.

[Fxeni]

"Your dad wanted to bring one along, right?" Fxeni said as he went up to the stall. He examined the chickens, then looked up at the woman. "How much is it?"

[Sakura Leic]

"Well normally I sell them for about 1000 gold....but to be honest I haven't been selling them well lately." The woman admitted "For some reason people have been spreading these nasty rumors that they brutally attack people but it's honestly not true!  As long as you take good care of them they won't hurt a fly or my name isn't Farah!

But anyway like I said, not doing good business lately so I'm willing to give you folks a discount."

[Quickman]

The Professor gave a shrug, as he hadn't heard anything.  Then again, he only really ventured into the market for supplies for his various experiments and projects.

Digging through his bag, he produced a rag and a vial, dabbed some of the vial's contents onto the rag, and vigorously rubbed his face to remove the soot.  After a moment's rubbing, his pink skin began to show through the black smudges.

[Fxeni]

"Well, if it really were true chances are you wouldn't try to bring it up..." Fxeni said as he looked at the chickens again. "Is there any other reason they would be spreading rumours?"

[Sakura Leic]

"For the record this is the first time I brought it up to anyone." Farah pointed out "I don't know why rumors like that would spread, I really hope this isn't true but I get the feeling the monastery has something to do with it.  Unfortunately when I first came here some of the friars gave me and my chickens some nasty looks for some reason, quite unnerving I say.  I get the feeling they might think I'm crazy for some weird reason I don't get.

I really don't want to think that's the case but I really can't think of anything else."

"They said bad things about Yin too." Sakura said sadly "I don't think they knew I heard them but they did."

"Yin?" Farah said as she noticed Sakura and her Absol "You mean that Absol?"

"Yeah." Sakura nodded.

"Wow it's rare to see anyone be friends with an Absol." Farah whispered "Can I pet her?"

"Well....Yin would that be okay?" Sakura asked.

Yin looked at Farah's eyes for a while and nodded.

"I guess she thinks your nice." Sakura smiled.

"At least someone does." Farah smiled back as she petted her.

[Phi]

(So... we're doing our own thing, right now?)

[Sakura Leic]

(Everyone is shopping and Calien is in the Inn.  Currently the group are looking at Chickens and talking to this strange girl with green hair and a bandanna.  So Pema is either with us or with Calien.)

[Mr. Haxwell]

(I think I'll leave Toshi with the Professor, although I'm out of time for the night to even continue.)

[Phi]

Pema paced around impatiently, while the grown-ups were speaking amongst themselves.

"Ugh, I'm so booooored," She groaned out, lightly kicking a piece of bread that was lying on the ground.

"Bored this quickly? Why, I do believe this is a new record for you," Salem replied nonchalantly, "Pema, you need to learn to be patient, else you may find yourself in real trouble, one day."

Pema distanced herself from the group as she was speaking with Salem. She raised the staff in the air dramatically, "I can be patient later. Right now, let's have some REAL fun!"

"I sometimes worry about what your definition of 'fun' entails..." He sighed.

She spun around in place and giggled, "Let's go see what they have here! First, though, I'm gonna find something to eat. I'm STARVING!"

"Says the girl who ate nine pieces of fruit, only a few hours ago."

Pema wandered off through the bustling crowd, though no one in the group noticed her departure until it was too late.

[Quickman]

The Professor didn't pay much mind as he was too busy scrubbing soot off his face.  He removed his hood, took off his monocle, and rubbed around his brow and pointed ears.  Cleaning his temples, he scrubbed at his chin and ran his sooty mane through the rag, until he finally tucked it back into his bag and stuffed his mane back into his robe. 

Looking around to make sure no one had seen him, he covered his ears with his hood and tossed his monocle in his bag.

Finally, he approached Farah and lifted his hood enough for her to actually see his face. "Miss, Miss, Miss, m-might I inquire as to from whom you've heard these rumors?  I don't come out here very often, my work, my work, you see.  Though, if I'm correct, you-you said you heard it from the m-monastery?"

((I was out all day.  Just got home.))

[Sakura Leic]

"Well not from their mouths, but from some would be customers and kids roaming the streets, so I can't prove whether or not the monastery did spread those rumors.  I only have the treatment I received from them when I first came here and those rumors of them not exactly being nice to everyone for theories but I know that's not exactly enough proof." Farah sighed.

[Quickman]

The short monk shook his hooded pink head. "Shame, such a shame.  If my master were here, he would help.  He was a good man."

He limped over to one of the cages and stooped to examine the hen inside. "Yes, yes, good condition, fully fledged... Quite plump, quite plump."  He poked his finger into the cage and managed to pet the hen on the beak. "And social!  Not skittish.  You raise lovely hens, Ma'am!"

[Sakura Leic]

"Thank you!" Farah smiled....but then noticed something was amiss "......Hey wasn't there a little girl with you?"

"What?!" Sakura shouted as she turned around frantically looking for Pema "Pema, Pema!  Oh no, she's gone!"

[Quickman]

"Peam?" The Professor looked around for their missing member, but he didn't readily recall what she looked like. "Could, could, could Peam have gone off to the inn, to find your friend?"

[Sakura Leic]

"I don't know." Sakura said as rummaged through her bag and pulled out a rock with string attached to it "I can contact my dad with this though to find out."

[Quickman]

The Professor immediately pointed at the rock. "You, you, you have a krell stone?!"

Dropping to his knees and unshouldering his bag, he began to dig through it with both hands.  "How many bars does it have?  The divining bars?  I've only four bars.  Six are optimal!  They are hard to come by!"

Eventually, he fished out a shiny stone with a flat surface, along with a wrapped satchel containing the four divining bars.  He stuck the stone into the ground and placed the bars in a square around it. "These, these objects, these objects... Only certain people have them!  Mine was passed down from my master."

((That alchemy tech was from a Dungeon Plungin' campaign.  Never thought I'd get a chance to bring it up, and i was sitting on it for a while!))