Nue Quest 7 - Serpent Isle: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod to him
> Enter!

[Hello Purvis]

> Nod to him
> Enter!

>You nod to Sir Kay, then enter the shop.
>The store front is rather expansive, not nearly as cramped as Ichiro's shop back in Gensokyo. Pieces are set onto pillows, and cover with what seem to be glass lids that are free of fingerprints or any other stains. Windows allow for light to come inside, and brass sconces on the wall hold presently unlit candles. The shop owner, a tall and portly man, glances over as you come inside and say, "Good day, good day, milord, milady. What can I help you with?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Give a meaningful glance in Kay's direction and inwardly pray he gives a good cover story.
> Take a look around. Anything stand out as particularly stellar work that we could use to identify whether or not the code expands as far as wherever the hell this is?

[Hello Purvis]

> Give a meaningful glance in Kay's direction and inwardly pray he gives a good cover story.
> Take a look around. Anything stand out as particularly stellar work that we could use to identify whether or not the code expands as far as wherever the hell this is?

>You start to look around, while Sir Kay says, "You'll excuse my companion, she is under a glamour, of sorts."
>"Ah..." says the Jeweler, glancing toward you and making some gesture you are certain is designed to ward off evil.
>"Rather why I'm here. She seems to have indicated there might be something here to help out. Don't be alarmed if she pulls out a broken sword, it lets her negate the babbling curse she seems to labor under."
>Looking at the pieces here, some of them are really quite good. There seem to be a lot of clasps, as well. And some are just odd; like this silver bracelet thing. Does that go around one's forearm? Neck? Whatever it is, it would be a pain to take off.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Identify one particular outstanding piece. Preferably one not under glass, but we'll take whatever we can get.

[Hello Purvis]

> Identify one particular outstanding piece. Preferably one not under glass, but we'll take whatever we can get.

>You look for a particular piece, and settle on a pair of gold earrings, with small beads of gold dangling from them. They are rather simple, but nicely made, and not in a case.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Let our eyes light up a little bit and make our way to the gold earrings.
> Take a closer look at them.
> "Yes, I expect-"
> Cut ourselves off with a look of slight shock, then morph it into a look of mild irritation.
> Carefully pull out the sword pieces, trying to grab the blade so our hand obscures the writing, and put them together as per the usual. Obviously, don't bump into any thing or knock anything over whilst doing so.
> "Ugh, so aggravating. Anyway, yes, I expect this place will do nicely, if it has exquisite works such as these earrings here."
> Take note of any physical reaction from the shopkeeper, in addition to any verbal reaction.

[Hello Purvis]

> Let our eyes light up a little bit and make our way to the gold earrings.
> Take a closer look at them.
> "Yes, I expect-"
> Cut ourselves off with a look of slight shock, then morph it into a look of mild irritation.
> Carefully pull out the sword pieces, trying to grab the blade so our hand obscures the writing, and put them together as per the usual. Obviously, don't bump into any thing or knock anything over whilst doing so.
> "Ugh, so aggravating. Anyway, yes, I expect this place will do nicely, if it has exquisite works such as these earrings here."
> Take note of any physical reaction from the shopkeeper, in addition to any verbal reaction.

>You go through the motions of displaying your "affliction", and taking out the sword pieces. The jeweler looks at you curiously at first. Then he raises his eyebrows as you compliment the earrings. He rubs his chin for a moment, and says, "Thank you, it's always nice to hear such words about my humble work."
>Unless that is a hell of a coincidence, you are quite certain this man is also a practitioner of the craft.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Ha ha! Fuck everything else ever, ours is the one true universal beauty.
> Give a small smile and a small nod.
> "Beauty to be appreciated whenever possible. Anyway, I'm here because I think I've found something odd. It's...not something I think I've ever seen before. I have with me some jewelry of my own, but...well, perhaps it would be best if you saw for yourself."

[Hello Purvis]

> Ha ha! Fuck everything else ever, ours is the one true universal beauty.
> Give a small smile and a small nod.
> "Beauty to be appreciated whenever possible. Anyway, I'm here because I think I've found something odd. It's...not something I think I've ever seen before. I have with me some jewelry of my own, but...well, perhaps it would be best if you saw for yourself."

>Truly, the craft is has spread far and wide. One wonders how old it truly is?
>He nods. "Show me, by all means."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Which gems do we have that are light-colored and translucent?

[Hello Purvis]

> Which gems do we have that are light-colored and translucent?

>The Green Glass Beads probably fit this the best. After that, the Rose Quartz and the Red Spinels are probably next.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Disconnect the sword by putting the handle away.
> Take out the Rose Quartz and hand it over to the jeweler.
> Once he has taken it, pull the handle back out and reconnect it.
> "Take a look at that, and tell me if you see anything unusual. It's a bit hard to see, I'll admit, but I think you'll be able to spot it."

[Hello Purvis]

> Disconnect the sword by putting the handle away.
> Take out the Rose Quartz and hand it over to the jeweler.
> Once he has taken it, pull the handle back out and reconnect it.
> "Take a look at that, and tell me if you see anything unusual. It's a bit hard to see, I'll admit, but I think you'll be able to spot it."

>You hand the jeweler the rose quartz. He looks at it, turning it over in his hands and frowning. "It seems to be an ordinary stone, milady," he says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Frown.
> "Really? Hmm. Please give me a moment."
> Put the blade back in our purse and fish out the Red Spinet.
> Tuck the broken handle into an armpit like before and use the newly-free hand to retrieve our scope.
> Examine the Red Spinet for the marks we could see previously.

[Hello Purvis]

> Frown.
> "Really? Hmm. Please give me a moment."
> Put the blade back in our purse and fish out the Red Spinet.
> Tuck the broken handle into an armpit like before and use the newly-free hand to retrieve our scope.
> Examine the Red Spinet for the marks we could see previously.

>You juggle your blade back into your purse, taking care not to cut it open, and retrieve a Red Spinel and your Jeweler's scope.
>"Ah, you should have said it would be that small," says the jeweler, as he walks over to the counter, opens a drawer, and pulls out a scope of his own.
>You both examine your respective stones; you are quickly able to find the blemish in question in the Spinel. "I don't see anything strange," says the jeweler, "Just a few little blemishes. Nothing that would ruin the value of the piece."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Are the blemishes patterned at all?

[Hello Purvis]

> Are the blemishes patterned at all?

>What do you mean by patterned?

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is there any consistency to their distribution throughout the gem?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is there any consistency to their distribution throughout the gem?

>There is only one that's especially notable. The other blemishes that the gem possesses do not seem to have any patterns or anything odd about them.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Are there an inordinate number of them?
> Could we pick Japan out on a map of Asia?

[Hello Purvis]

> Are there an inordinate number of them?
> Could we pick Japan out on a map of Asia?

>You don't think so.
>Maybe. It depends on the map. You'd probably have to figure out where the Tang Dynasty is first, but that shouldn't be too hard, there can't be that many coastlines that long...

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> How common would it be to have as many gems as we have with as many blemishes as they do without having a single unblemished stone?

[Hello Purvis]

> How common would it be to have as many gems as we have with as many blemishes as they do without having a single unblemished stone?

>That's hard to pin down, but you don't think you'd get as many as you do without having one without any real blemishes at all. Then again, most of them tend to be imperceptible to the naked eye anyways...

>_

[Kilgamayan]

No service on the plane, so no plane posts. Sorry.

> How does the blemish count compare to the gems we looked at yesterday? Roughly the same?

[Hello Purvis]

> How does the blemish count compare to the gems we looked at yesterday? Roughly the same?

>They are roughly the same. You have noted no discrepancies in that regard.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Reverse our previous actions to put the spinet and scope away and pull the blade back out, reconnecting it with the handle.
> "Yeah, it's true that blemishes aren't uncommon, but every single stone I have is afflicted, with roughly the same number of blemishes on each one, from what I've been able to see."

[Hello Purvis]

> Reverse our previous actions to put the spinet and scope away and pull the blade back out, reconnecting it with the handle.
> "Yeah, it's true that blemishes aren't uncommon, but every single stone I have is afflicted, with roughly the same number of blemishes on each one, from what I've been able to see."

>"That is unusual," says the jeweler. "This one has kind of a neat flaw in it. Looks kind of like a little pile of toenails."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I think they may all look like that. Want to take a look at the spinet I just had out?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "I think they may all look like that. Want to take a look at the spinet I just had out?"

>He holds his hand out for it.
>"May I ask the point of this?" says Sir Kay.

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