[IC] New Years Festival: Arm Wrestling Aftermath

[Linwelin]

[spoiler]I never intended for Kin and Vladimir to talk...so they both had black text. Gonna change Vlad's, and may stick with it, just in case.[/spoiler]

Kin was completely uninterested in the robe adorned with needles. Well, it actually seemed intriguing, but he personally had no use for such an item. What DID pique his interest were the rewards of the winners. The goblin got a falchion, but the aura it off-putting, so Kin avoided inspecting it. Isaak seemed to have obtained an intricate crossbow, and though it certainly seemed well-made Kin had no interest in ranged weapons. Still, kudos to the craftsperson, whoever made it. He said as he passed by Isaak.

The final piece, however, was something to behold. Vladimir had acquired a sleek, artfully-made rapier. Kin had only spoken to the man a couple times, but he'd seen him fight as well as met him in the training grounds of the Guild of Galas'nor. Thus, the halfling knew that the prize suited him perfectly, as the roguish swordsman was a rapier user. Even the look of it matched him well. However, Kin knew the rogue also used a kukri for striking exposed areas in his opponents' defense, as a follow up to his rapier. The weapon-maniac inside Kin began to stir. "No no no, I can't let go of the thought that he would be fighting with a lesser kukri while wielding a blade like that...!" He muttered aloud to himself as he approached the man. "Oi, Vladimir! Lemme see that blade of yours."

"Huh?" the rogue responded, pulling his gaze from his prize to look at the halfling in bewilderment. "Why?" He'd only just gotten to see it himself, to hand it to someone else so soon was...

"Just do it." Kin said simply, holding out his hand expectantly. After a moment, Vladimir resigned to the fate of being Kin's target on interest and handed over the rapier. Kin immediately began to study it, sweeping his finger along the surface, memorizing its intricate patterns, noting the adorned gems. "Hmm, definitely a good blade. Good!" He hands Vladimir the blade back carefully, then begins to walk off. "I'll swing by your quarters in a couple weeks." Kin was so focused, he forgot to mention that he was making Vladimir a new kukri.

"What just happened...?" Vladimir said to himself aloud, looking between the new rapier and the halfing a couple times. He was very confused, but still happy. He'd certainly put the sword to good use.

Kin is crafting Vladimir a masterwork kukri of the same style as the new rapier. DC is 15 for a martial weapon, and the DC for the masterwork component is 20.

However, I won't be rolling now, because I'd like the discuss crafting rules. It seems I misunderstood them, and have been doing it wrong all along. The base rules would take Kin half a year to make this weapon, which I don't think fits this style of game well. I'm posting a homebrew idea I found for discussion. I like it overall, but want to change the time it take to craft (I still think crafting should take more than a week if it's a mundane item, just not half a year >.>)

Discussion: [Variant Rule/Discussion] Craft Skill

[Ella]

Maeve Gallagher

"Ha!" Maeve laughed. "And I was going easy on you, too!" She told the strongman, then turned to the suit of armor who called himself Lord Circus. "You really should be more thorough during your interviews."

After receiving her prize, even though Vlad had been the won to win the actual third place, she decided to seek out said man before he disappeared into the crowd. When she found him, he kept looking back and forth, from his sword to a spot in the crowd, and back to his sword. Perhaps he was debating whether he should seek her out to show off his prize or not. Maybe he was watching out for her.

"Vladimyar!" The tigress called. She would have pounced him, too, but he had a sharp weapon in his hands. Instead, she walked up to him, grinning. "Congrrratulations on winning third place! Is that your prize?" She peered at the rapier before holding up the robe she had just received. "I got a consolation prize for making it late to the contest. Too bad I missed your round! I bet you were amazing!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Callista Fae

Upon seeing the contents within the bag, Callista could only stare. Was this a joke? Did they think that just because she was a little person that her winning was a joke and so decided to give her a joke for a prize? The normally easy-going faerie did not see the humor in the prank at all.

With all her might, the faerie slung the bag towards the armored man's head. "Gross! Creep! Face stealer!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. "What kind of prize is that?! Its not even shiny like prizes should be!"

[spoiler=Callista attempts to hit Lord Circus in the head with her prize.][blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 16, total 16[/blockquote][/spoiler]

[Linwelin]

Vladimir Ludwik

That halfling...it's my first time having any sort of conversation with him. So the rumors of his spontaneity are true. Vladimir thought to himself as he looked at the sword one last time, then shrugged to himself. Well, I guess I'll see what happens in a few weeks.

"Vladimyar!"

Hmm? Maeve!? Well I guess she was just on stage...but that's pretty far from where I was. Did she seek me out just to congratulate me? As Vladimir was still in a slight state of confusion from Kin, Maeve's appearance was hard for him to wrap his head around for a moment. But the gesture was not lost on him. In fact, it might've been the sweetest thing she'd said to him yet. Or at least the most genuine, considering the usual flattery.

He smiled warmly back at her, "Thank you, Maeve! Yes, this is what I ended up receiving." He unsheathed and showed her the blade before sliding it back into the scabbard and stowing it away. "It's quite a beautiful piece, that even had Kin Sheel praising it. And I wouldn't call my performance amazing! I lost my first attempt, after all." He said with a disappointed, but still joyful laugh.

Vladimir inspected the robe casually when Maeve held it up, "That's quite a strange item of clothing. Its texture doesn't match how it actually feels. I could have sworn it was stone for a moment." He looked back to her, "I would imagine it is magical in nature. You should definitely get it identified by Cayne in the market. I was going to head there myself in a little while before he becomes too busy, so you're welcome to join me if you don't know the way."

[Ella]

Maeve Gallagher

Kin Sheel? She was not quite sure who that was, but she guessed he had high expectations with swords for Vladimyar to be surprised at his praise of his new rapier. Although she preferred fighting with her own body as her weapon, she did sometimes have a need for a weapon. Anyone who knew a quality weapon when he saw one must be a good person to go to if she ever wanted to know where to find such a weapon.

What? He lost in his first attempt? That made Maeve a little sad... But that was okay, because she beat the guy in her first try. Now Vladimyar had seen first hand her amazing tigerfolk strength and would know he could rely on her in battle.

"I'm not sure what use I have for a magical rock cloak, but I guess I should get it identified before I pass it off as something useless." Maeve replied, poking at the cloak and finding it highly amusing that stone could be so distorted by a mere poke. "Oh? You're not going to participate in the eating contest or other contests they'll have tonight?" She was going to ask if he would be her date for the evening and go with her to the rest of said contests... But he had just invited her to come along with him to some identification shop. She could consider that a date, right? "Either way, I would love to spend my evening with you." The tigress winked, then proceeded to link her arm with his. "Lead the way!"

[Linwelin]

Vladimir Ludwik

"Oh it won't be long. I believe he set up a stall here. With all the prizes, I'm sure business is going quite well for him! We'll be back in time for the other contests, whether as a spectator or participant."

At that moment, she managed to link her arm with his before he could react. He knew by now this sealed his fate as her partner for the evening, at least for some time. Well, not that he especially minded. She was cheerful enough that the company was enjoyable, and there were definitely worse people to walk around with. And so they began to walk.

"As for the eating contest, I'm not certain. I could probably hold my own, but I'm not that heavy an eater. Were you planning to enter?" He figured striking up SOME sort of conversation would make the ordeal less awkward as they ventured through the crowd. There were plenty of side game and shop stalls spread throughout, so it was difficult to spot any particular stall. At least, that's what he had expected. After only 10 minutes of walking, the came across a stall that, well, just felt different; the aura was even from a good distance away. Upon approaching, he realized it was Cayne's stall. He still has that creepy aura about him...so strange for such a kind, proper man.

"Good evening, Cayne! We've some prizes that we wish to know the details of, if you're not too busy. Would you mind taking a look?"

[Throndir]

Callista

The piece of flesh that was the mask hit the target precisely, making a satisfying plopping noise as splat on Lord Circus' helmet, and sliding down to the floor.

The armored man stood there, his face unreadable (because he had a helmet on), but he spoke soon after, aiming his words directly at the fairy.

"Mark my words fairy. You will regret that." He snapped his fingers, and soon enough had his circus troupe preparing to  head out.

[Ella]

Callista Fae

Shaking her fist at the armored man, Callista shouted back. "Give less creepy prizes next time or everyone will think you're just a joke!" The faerie would know, she had plenty of experience with such jokes and pranks.

Later, she returned to find the creepy thing still there. Oh well, she might as well see if that old guy knew anything about. Maybe she could sell it to him. It would probably make the perfect decor for his creepy shop!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maeve Gallagher

There was no resistance to her actions. Vladimyar did not move away or try to push her away. This was excellent. She was now close enough to properly catch his natural scent. And an interesting scent it was. Sort of sweet, but with the unmistakable metallic tang of iron. It really made her crave a good, juicy steak, cooked medium rare or even rare... What was not excellent, however, was that her evening companion had just admitted that he was not a "heavy eater". From the sounds of it, he had not planned on going to the contest at all. This summed it all up to one thing in her mind. Tigerfolk were ferocious people, and they ate a lot. She did not have any doubt that she could have a good chance at winning. But if she went and entered, and Vladimyar saw her, would he be disgusted by her? Tigerfolk in eating contests was very different from tigerfolk doing everyday casual eating. Of course, the man knew that she was a fighter, which was already very unladylike compared to his gentle-manliness. Perhaps he could guess that tigerfolk would be scary eaters? The question was, would he be okay with it, or would it bother him?

"Oh, well, you know. Its free food, and I could probably handle it pretty well, but I had not actually planned on going." All of this was indeed true, considering she had originally planned on spending the day on the prowl for a date. She had only begun to consider it when she had gone for the arm wrestling to get her mind off of the jerks... And just now, the idea had grown on her even more when she realized that her date reminded her of steak. But, she had met her actual goal for the day, so she could let go of the contests. Especially since her date was now Vladimyar, which was much better than some stranger anyways. "We can do something you are interested in, or explore the festival together, or... something." She winked at him.

Maeve enjoyed the conversation as they wandered the stalls, looking for the magical identification stall. A few looked interesting, but most looked like what you would find at any other festival. She had traveled with a group that went around to various places to participate in festivals and such for a brief period of time when she first left her village. It had grown old quick when she realized they only really did the same things everywhere they went.

Then, it seemed they had come across the stall Vladimyar was looking for. The tigress was not sure she actually wanted to go near it, having felt the creepy aura before she even realized it was their destination. Even so, she allowed the white-haired man to lead her to the stall. When he mentioned the prizes they had won, she released his arm so that she could hold up the strange robe and so Vladimyar could pull out his new rapier. She was not sure how much it would cost, so she would just follow her companion's lead for now. Maeve could not help but find herself staring at the old man as he looked over the items. Although she respected old people whose hair had grown white or grey from hard lives and old age, his aura was creepy enough to make her suspect that he might be either an undead or a necromancer. He did not look like he had come back from the dead, so if he was one of the two, then he would probably be a necromancer. Rather than bring anything up, she decided that she would keep watch on the old man to make sure sure. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

[Fellow Rabbit]

Gandin, son of Gehin

Gandin's fierce determination flared on his face like a red-hot sword ready to be forged into the greatest arm-wrestling machine ever created. Impatiently he waited three very long seconds as Vladimir finished up a showdown against the painful failure of a strong man that had been the host's choice for this event. Then, at long last, came the time to test Gandin's new fiercely fire-forged flare against a fallible fool forcibly favoring a floundering fray.

The armored man before him gripped Gandin's hand with a mighty squeeze and almost immediately attempted to test his acclaimedly limitless strength against Gandin's raw muscle, much to his frivolity. The dwarf didn't allow the comparatively weak "strong man" to gain even an inch on him and, after a moment, put a great deal more strength into his arm, slamming the strong man's knuckles into the table with a great THUD and splintering the wood beneath it. The dwarf had won this painfully easy competition without even putting effort into it. What a joke.

"Ha!" Gandin spat half-playfully, half-spitefully, as his reward was dropped in front of him. Hastily, the dwarf sat crisscross on the floor and ripped open the bag to see what was inside. A mask!

"Ahahahaha!" the dwarf cackled as if to continue his arrogant taunt from before, "Ahahahaha!" The mask appeared to resemble that weird tigress lady that had recently come bursting into the guild hall demanding something about wanting to join, if only for the fact that the mask was catlike (which was all Gandin really noticed). It also had no ears for some reason and that, combined with the mask's already-eerie appearance, made the mask quite a creepy mask indeed.

But, scary or not, Gandin had a guildmate to belittle by rubbing his winnings in their face. He hopped to his feet like a Pogo-stick and darted out the door after a certain halfling who seemed to have left in quite a hurry. That halfling Kin Sheel was probably afraid to face Gandin after getting a prize without even really winning an arm wrestle. Undoubtedly he was overcome with such shame that he was preparing to leave the guild altogether after such a humiliating defeat, which meant Gandin had to hurry if he wanted to see him this one last time before he was gone forever.

It didn't take long, of course, for the stubby-legged dwarf to find the halfling hurriedly hurdling away, not even looking back to see if anyone wanted to congratulate him for whatever reason. Gandin obviously didn't have any intention of sparing the halfling any good feelings. He caught up to him quickly and immediately bellowed loudly for the guild to hear, "How does it feel to have lost to your arch-rival, Kin? Do you like my clearly-superior prize?" Gandin held the ugly-creepy mask high above his head for everyone around to see. "I bet you're terribly jealous! Ahahahahaha!"

[Throndir]

"What secrets do I have to reveal today? Ones of great worth? Or perhaps.... those of great peril!" He exclaimed. As the two of you presented the items. One a rapier and the other a cloak, Cayne the Elder looked at them with great interest. It looks he immediately recognized it.

"This sword... I know this sword! But... are you worthy?" He said as he traced his fingers down the rapier's blade as he pulled the cloak around him. A moment after that he crouched down, pulling the cloak even closer still, and as he did so, it looked as if became a large piece of rock, jutting out in the middle of his store. The old man held the rapier aloft, holding the bladed tip with the handle in the air. It looked as if the blade was stuck in the 'stone'.

A mist started forming then, giving the area immediately around him have an almost mysterious aura. In a quiet but undeniably marveling voice Cayne spoke from within the folds of the cloak that now covered his body.

[spoiler]

"The sword... in the stone..."

[/spoiler]

Vladimir receives:

Rapier +1 (100 gold embellishment)

Maeve receives:

Stonemist Cloak
Aura faint conjuration and illusion; CL 3rd
Slot shoulders; Price 3,500 gp; Weight 1 lb.

DESCRIPTION

In rocky or mountainous areas, when this stone-gray cloak is worn with the hood drawn up around the head, the wearer gains a +5 competence bonus on Stealth checks. Once per day, the wearer can create an area of fog equivalent to obscuring mist.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS

Craft Wondrous Item, invisibility, obscuring mist; Cost 1,750 gp

Please update your inventories and subtract 100 gp for using his services.

[Linwelin]

Vladimir Ludvik

Vladimir couldn't help chuckling at her response of 'not planning on going'. It doesn't seem to be a lie. But you're obvious quiet hungry, young tigress. He had seen the look in her eyes at the mention of food, and could have sworn she nearly drooled. Well, that could've been his eyes playing tricks on him. But it was apparent the plans had changed. "Well, I think I know what we should check out first. But first let's take a look at our prizes!"

The rogue stepped up to the old man excitedly, and carefully handed over the two items to him. However, it seems the atmosphere of the festival had gotten to the old man in more ways than one, as he spoke a slight amount of nonsense, took both items, and proceeded to show off their abilities by...pretending to become a rock. A rock surrounded by fog and with a sword wedged into it. He was a little taken aback. Am I supposed to take it? The man wasn't moving from under the robe, and he'd questioned his 'worthiness', whatever that meant. Might as well. He thought with a slight shrug. Vladimir then placed 100 gold pieces onto the counter as payment, covering Maeve's fee, and approached the 'rock'. I was a winner, after all. The least I can do is cover her expenses after dragging her here...but now for the matter at hand.

Vldimir placed his hand on the hilt of the blade, drawing it from its place in the 'stone'. After a bit of insistence from the nearby crowd, the methuselan raised the rapier over his head triumphantly, pointing it to the sky. The 'rock' suddenly exploded in a whirl of stone-textured cloth, which was thrown right back toward its owner, Maeve. As the last of the fog dispersed from the motion, old man Cayne began to cheer. "He's pulled the sword from the stone! It's destiny! Hail, king of the Britons! Go for and may the world bear witness to your royal right!" No one knew what was going on, but the show got a few people applauding in confusion. Vladimir quickly lowered the weapon, sheathing it and placing it at his waist.

His face was stiff with embarrassment. Why did I do that...? Why, oh why, did I DO that... Vladimir made it back to Maeve, quickly trying to change the subject, "Shall we be on our way? If we don't hurry, we might be late."

Kin Sheel

The halfling was excited. Yes, he'd forced Vladimir to accept a kukri to match his new rapier, and it was going to be a net loss for Kin. But how often did he get to craft a custom order piece to match another? And kukri were not a common choice of weapon. The opportunity to craft such an intricate thing did not come often. But his good mood was soon ruined as shouts from a particular gruff dwarf invaded his thoughts, grating on his mental images and sounds.

"Ugh" He turned to see the spitting image of the dwarf Gandin. No, really, he was spitting. It was weird. And he was spouting all sorts of prideful nonsense while toting an odd mask. After hearing the dwarf's bragging words, he felt...nothing. He wasn't interested in the least. There was forging to be done! He was surprised by one thing, though, to which he immediately responded. "I have an arch-rival? Bull. Oh, wait, are you referring to the fact that you won in arm wrestling. Congratulations on overcoming the strength of a physically drained and mentally harassed 'strongman'. You know, the same one that a SMALL CHILD beat. At least I fought him while he was fresh. I did all the work for you, draining him." Kin then noticed that the mask was particularly ugly. Why not prod at this pain in the arse further? It'll brighten my mood again so I can get back to the forge!

"Wow, that's impressive! How'd they get such a perfect replica of your face!" He remarked in his continued rant. "Though I don't think there's much use for disguising yourself AS yourself. Useless, if ya ask me." Kin began walking once more, with more pressing matters to attend to. "Now go pretend to be yourself somewhere else, I've got a job to do and no time to waste."

And just like that, the halfling marched off.

[Throndir]

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

[Linwelin]

[spoiler]Also, I'm using the decided crafting rules. Kin is out of commission for a month to craft the masterwork kukri. Taking 10 makes it an autosuccess ^_^[/spoiler]

[Fellow Rabbit]

[spoiler=I want Gandin to roll Appraise on his mask before I write a response.][blockquote]Appraise: 1d20+11 : 5 + 11, total 16[/blockquote][/spoiler]

[Throndir]

Gandin
You had no idea what the worth of the mask was. The craftsmanship was exquisite although the item did indeed look somewhat creepy. By your estimate, it was probably worth 100,000 gold coins at least!

[Fellow Rabbit]

Gandin, son of Gehin

Just like that, an elated and victorious smile quickly faded. The dwarf hadn't exactly tipped to the point of fury just yet, seeing as he had a beautiful (...ish) mask in his hands that had some kind of mystery value, but Kin's nonchalant insults were certainly enough to dim his mood. He looked down at the mask, in all it's ear-less Maeve-like-ness. It looked just like her, didn't it? Did that mean that Kin was trying to say he looked like Maeve? Was that bad?

He didn't care to respond to Kin's other "insults". Gandin knew far better than to let himself think that Kin had "softened the strong man up". Besides, didn't Kin lo.... Wait a minute. A smile formed on Gandin's face once again.

"'Softened him up'? Is that what you think being one of the first to lose that contest really is? You must be terribly embarrassed knowing that a mere child is more capable of taking down a strong man than you are!" It was in that realization that Gandin knew none of Kin's insults even held any weight. Gandin had defeated the strong man in a fair challenge whereas this pitiful halfling hadn't been able to do the same under identical conditions. As for that bit about peeling Zultar off the man's arm... That was a whole different story. It wasn't in any way related to their arm wrestles. And in any case, Gandin could very well say all the same things Kin said and apply them to that challenge as well. 'I softened him up for you.' he would say. 'You only did it because I helped!'

But Gandin had an unidentified prize, didn't he? That mask that looked like Maeve. There was something about it that Gandin knew he had to take a look at. And that's what he did. He examined it quite closely, paying careful attention to all the intricate details. It was so expertly crafted, so filled with skilled workmanship. It had to have been made by a true master of the arts. There was no doubt about it. This mask had to be the most valuable item in the guild.

A look of awe formed on his face. It was suddenly almost as if the mask were glowing. He was absolutely rich! Surely anyone would die to get this mask in their possession. He would be the talk of the guild! He could see it now... A pedestal, and atop it... a statue erected in Gandin's honor, showing him holding the mask above his head, sunbeams reflecting off him to show once and for all how truly glorious his treasure was. Why, he could buy the entire guild with the kind of money he'd get selling this!

"Haha!" he cackled arrogantly, holding the mask above his head just like in his vision of the statue of him, "Joke's on you, Kin! This thing is worth more than your very life! You definitely got the shallow end of the deal!"