The City of the Specter, Atem's Palace

[metagame]

The corpse sinks to the floor
Even the brightest gold, even the sharpest blade
Becomes sand, becomes dust

Comments

[beautifulknight]

[ Oh wait. He turns to look at Sou at this. ]

...Where?

[pointzeropercent]

There's a merchant named Shebsti, apparently even priests buy linens from them. I traded my coat for one, so they're not too difficult to get.

[privatedomicile]

Hell yeah, Sou-man! Infiltration mission is a go!

[Jesse will miss this particular jacket if he has to exchange something, but hey, it's for a good cause.]

[pointzeropercent]

[Maybe he can exchange his beanie instead.]

Glad to be of help.

[strawsandals]

I'll help! Let's try it.

[metagame]

The group has decided then! They'll find Shebsti tending to his stall and marveling at the fabric of Sou's former jacket. It's not wool, and it's not linen... What is it? How is it even this color?

When he notices everyone approaching along with Sou, he hails them with a large grin. Aren't you lucky that he has quite a lot of linen to trade?

"Hello and well met, travelers! The Great Lord Sutekh blesses me today to bring you all to my humble stall."

[townmusician]

Hi.

[He waves and bows, politely.]

I'm looking for some new clothes, since mine aren't good for the weather.

[He's just... trying to act natural...]

[metagame]

"I see... I see... And they're quite unsanitary too. How do you keep clean with what you're wearing on your legs?"

[townmusician]

[don't be mean about his pants!!!]

I bathe!

[Obviously!! But getting too mad won't help... Just think of this like talking to a quest NPC, Haru... You can do it!!]

They're more suited to where I come from, as it gets pretty cold, but I could let them go in exchange for something better...

[metagame]

"What if they get wet? How are you to keep your legs dry during the floods? No, no. I can't take them. Do you have anything else to offer?"

[moodwrecker]

I hear we can trade for clothes?

[Cutting right to the chase.]

[metagame]

"Indeed! What do you have to offer, my fair lady?"

[moodwrecker]

...Can I trade my jacket for something a priestess would wear?

[It's a cropped jacket, for the record.]

[privatedomicile]

Yo, hear you like cool fabric, shop guy? Why don't we trade some swag? I gotta get more up on the culture of a brand new city so I don't look like a lame-ass tourist.

[Jesse holds up his patterned jacket.]

[metagame]

"I'm... sorry. What is swag? And how much does it weigh?"

He holds his hands for Jesse's jacket.

[privatedomicile]

Oh, it's like...what we call cool clothes in the kingdom of Albuquerque. I think this is like 3 pounds?

[Jesse gives the shopkeep the jacket.] What's the most priest-like outfit you got? I'm looking to get back in touch with my spiritual side.

[strawsandals]

Hello, I'm here to trade...this.

[ He really doesn't want to give this up, but he gives the shopkeeper his blue shawl. It's got a lot of memories associated with it, and it's rather worn, so it may not work...but he'll do it. ]

[metagame]

"This color... This green... ah, it's beautiful. Yes, this is a fine trade. Here you go, child. Stay cool."

Congratulations, Yoon. You've received one (1) linen tunic in exchange for your shawl!

[strawsandals]

Thank you so much!

[ He'll go ahead and put it on! Yippeeeee ]

[emptyself]

Hello sir.

[ he'll give the merchant a quick bow. taking into account what the others are doing and used to trading in the mountains, he'll unfurl his turtleneck that he took off earlier. ]

Is there anything that I could trade for this? You can repurpose this into something like a blanket with just a bit of work.

[metagame]

"Oh? How is it dyed so black? Yes. I'll gladly take this off your hands, good sir. Here you go."

And so Shebsti trades for another tunic. He has so much to brag about with his drinking buddies tonight. Congratulations, Soujuurou!

[emptyself]

Fascinating, isn't it? I also don't know, but it's very good on the cold nights.

[ after a short bow, he leaves with his tunic, very pleased! ]

🧍‍♂️

[prozaic]

[Shalem is Thinking. He sees everyone struggle to negotiate with the merchant, and he thinks he may have to part with one of his precious gold jewelry-- the other Phidia at home must never know-- before he remembers, he may just have an advantage.

He's going to remove his shirt-- sorry to everyone who had trouble with him earlier, but he needs to do this-- because there are a collection of scales on his body. They're sporadic until they get lower on him... until the his tail begins. And then there's a lot of them, iridescent under the sun. Then he wraps the end of his tail around a wrist-- anyone looking may note that it's a little see-through?

And, what's that on his chest? Not scales, but a small collection of crystals. He's also quite scarred, is the thing. It's clear he hasn't had an easy life.

It's like this that he wanders off to the merchant, and then he flicks his tongue out to really drive home his serpentine nature. When he's managed to capture the merchant's attention, he gives a nod.]

How have your fortunes been, recently? [Even his voice has changed-- the tone and volume aren't any different, but the accent? Yes. He switched back to his old one, Bri'ish Victorian, just for this one ruse.]

[metagame]

The forked tongue and the scales and the gold and those scars... An omen? Or has a god decided to visit him? With how well things have been going for good Shebsti today and the mass of riches he has obtained, he decides Shalem couldn't possibly be a bad sign.

"Quite fair! Are you interested in my linens? Many travelers such as yourself have said unto me that they are finest they've ever laid their eyes on."

[prozaic]

I am interested. How may I show myself to the people as I am now? [Implying that he's here for something important!

Which he is, but not in the ways people might expect.]

Dear merchant, what are you willing to give as an offering to me?