(Heart of the Dragon) Blood

[Cayce]

At first, a flurry of whispers and hushed exclamations swept across the outdoor tavern, yet a few words could be heard, repeated again and again:

"A Queen?"

"The runaways..."

"...Freehold..."

Finally, however, the hob had stood up and spoke, turned back towards Mhairi and Morgan, and his face grew dark with anger.

"You came to the Market, here, asking questions," he growled out, "yet you offer nothing to trade?"

"Cheapskate!" someone in the crowd yelled.

"CHEAT!" another bellowed.

"You're just merchandise that got away!" a third exclaimed, and roars of approval followed in its wake.

  2 successes, they no afraid

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-07 22:36:23		Hobs rolls 4 to We ain't skurred (res+comp) (10 Again)		6, 7, 10, 9, 7		2 successes

[Mhairi Ankaa]

This. This is why she didn't like to deal with hobs.

"Yes, a Queen. Not a run away, I was escorted out of a party and told to find my way home." just exchange 'escorted' with 'thrown' and everything between 'told to' and 'way home' with 'aaaaand get out!' and that's how it happened. "Yes the Freehold. Yes, I asked a question. The same one, twice. But you good fellows, failed to name anything you wished to trade. If you don't name anything to trade, how am I supposed to know you're not going to give it away for free? This is my first time to the Market. How do I know it runs like a proper Market? It was a test. Yes. A test to see if it is, and now I see it is truly a Market. A proper Market. Now, I want Information about the Unicorn girl; Jenny and her Blackhats. And in trade, I offer something from my companion's bag." remembering what Morgan said she'd brought with her, "A flare. For the road. To make it flaming, and fabulous."

  2 suxx It's the Truth Mister I swear!

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-07 23:10:27		Mhairi Ankaa rolls 5 to It's the truth Mister! (Wits 2 + Subterfuge 2 + Spec) (10 Again)		7, 3, 6, 2, 10, 8		2 successes

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-07 23:13:24		Mhairi Ankaa rolls 6 to It's totes awesome. (Manip 2 + Persuasion 1 + WP) (WillPower)		5, 2, 6, 6, 4, 2		failure

Lying to the Hobs and failing to persuade them!

[Cayce]

A cup full of...fluids...was sent sailing past Mhairi's head, and that crowd began to shout louder, the hobs growing rowdy and even more boisterous, before the spokesperson for the tavern silenced one of the crowd with a swift punch. Silence soon descended once again, and the spokesperson turned a cruel smile in Mhairi's direction.

"All right, then, Queen of Castaways! I'll name a price!" He declared stepping forward. "Flesh Market is for Flesh, so loan me your servant for the span between sunrise and sunset, and I'll tell ye all you wish to know!"

The others roared in approval, and soon the chant of "Flesh! Flesh! Flesh! Flesh!" rose into the air!

[Morgan Bellanar]

At the "offer" from the hobgoblin, the ninja's eyes bugged out. Then the flames within caused them to glow a hateful red as her dagger was drawn half out of its sheath. Focusing on the spokesmen her eyes narrowed to slits, "I shalt kill him," Morgan growled out as her eyes burned bright enough to give off light. She'd no desire to be someone's property again, even temporarily.

After a deep breath the dagger was sheathed and her eyes dimmed but remained red in hate. She leaned in to whisper to Mhairi, "Truth, I shalt kill heh him. I'd violate bargain lest tis good loopholes. Lo the bargain might violate the Oath of the 'hold. Tis technically sale of a member. Mayhaps he tis trying to trap ye. Oh, heh, he nary have to even say much to fulfill is end as said."

Made sense to Morgan: never trust a hobgoblin. With the exception of sprites they will always try to screw you over. Sprites are trouble by accident. Besides that, "He probably knows naught more then common knowledge." again the slow speech was back. Yet now it seemed very condescending. So did the look she shot him: "A fool that thought ye a Keeper. And such a simple deception too. For one that resides in a Market, it is the work of an amateur. Ye likely don't even know more then her name, do ye?"

  Poor showing

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-08 16:44:12		Morgan Bellanar rolls 7 to Goad the hobgoblin to talk manip + persuade + WP (10 Again, WillPower)		5, 5, 2, 4, 9, 3, 4		1 success

The hobgoblin didn't have to give information to "fulfill" his side of the bargain to have Morgan as a temp-slave. Quantity and quality weren't specified. And this trick worked in movies all the time.

OOC I know this is a plausible bargain...IC Morgan is VERY against the idea. Fetch quest maybe, being property again however guarantees she kills the hobgoblin.

[Mhairi Ankaa]

That was a rather nebulous definition of time, Mhairi thinks as Morgan growls. She really should have let her Paladin go to that hobtown, being in the Market wasn't good for the raccoon.

"She's not a servant, and you'll not have her." Says the Wisp, fire crackling under her voice.

"No." she says shaking her head, "No. If you want flesh, you'll have mine." pulling a fan out from where it rests, Mhairi brings it to life with a spark of glamour. It's frozen edge sharper then steal, so sharp in fact that as she cuts into arm to draw a strip of flesh away, she didn't feel it. It was only when she hold the meat to the spokesperson that she beings to feel more then a sting.

With gritted teeth, "Since it's the middle of the day. It would be rude to make a deal over today's sun yes?" a shallow breath, and then another. Her blood's dripping, the meat, and muscle of her arm exposed to this fetid air, "So I propose to you hours, a full turn of the day, and not the movement of the sun or the moon. From when the bargain's struck, this" she holds her bloody flesh in the air, "Is yours, for a full twenty-four mortal house...as long as you tell me what I wish to know." She feels the rise of the wyrd, and the press of her will as she invokes the simple pledge. She hopes that offering more time, will have the hob accept, since neither she, or Morgan were for sale.

If Autumn's Queen feels the spokesperson accept the Pledge, she'll toss him the strip of her flesh, and continue. "First, Jenny and her Blackhats."

Mhairi gets at least a Lethal for stabbing herself, but I don't know how much more she's getting for shaving off a strip of flesh....

Pledge

Type: Vow
Tasks: Endeavor, Lesser (-1)
Boons: Favor, Lesser (+1)
Sanction: Poisoning of Boons (-1)
Duration: Day (+1)

[Mhairi Ankaa]

WP to seal a Pledge, if there's a Pledge to be sealed....

[Cayce]

"Kill me?" the spokesman barked out, his eyes bulging as his hand groped for the handle of the knife he wore on his belt.

The crowd behind him swelled with sympathetic fury, and steel flashed lavender and emerald in the stained lantern light.

But then there was another flash, the flash of a fan fashioned from ice, and the blood of a Queen rained upon the ground. The spokesman spread his arms wide, holding back the tide of angry hobs, and raised his voice to shout above the rising clamor.

"Give me the flesh and I'll tell you all I know!" he countered. "I've fought against them, I have, so I know more than anyone else you'll find, Sal aside."

"No!" another Hob in the crowd roared. "The sneakthief laid a challenge! It must be settled in the Pit!"

"Pit, Pit, Pit, Pit!"

And, for once, it was clear what had happened. By promising to end the Hob's life, Morgan had challenged him to fight in the Pit, the gladiatorial ring that sat in the center of the Flesh Market. And, per the laws that Sal had laid down, the challenge had to be answered, or those involved would have to leave the Market. And, soon, one of Sal's goons would be drawn by the braying of the hobs to enforce that very rule...

Mhairi has dealt herself 1 Lethal

[Morgan Bellanar]

"What?!" Morgan turned on Mhairi after she just offered herself as the flesh. "That tis not--what?!" And before she managed to process that the hobgoblin was agreeing, the crowd disagreed. Loudly. "What?!"

Morgan froze in place as her brain tried to catch up with the situation. Challenge, duel, Thunderdome. Two man enter one leave. I not dood so no worries. Not literal, fuck! She got the idea. Only one thing came to mind and quickly exited her mouth: "Whoops."

She had no problem with running if it meant being banned from the Market. She'd not care. If it meant mob violence however, that'd be trouble. Mhairi might not be able to keep up with her. Could she kneecap a few leaders? Wait, she can't just kill the hobgoblin either: corpses can't talk! So roasting him was out unless she was desperate. Blade to the knee or hand might do it, she had plenty to throw. Hopefully this pit thing allowed weapons. Or contracts if not. Was running out? How fast is Mhairi? Where do they post these rules? Why didn't I keep my mouth shut?! Are duels to death? Other option?

The Paladin of shadow's mind was going into high gear. The cloth mask was now a good thing: it was hiding the panic on her face. "Uh...pit?" Her brain was still rebooting. "Request, rules explanation." Brain reboot: scary bodyguard voice mode activated: "Nary to death. Ye can't talk if dead." she points at the hobgoblin spokesman.

[Mhairi Ankaa]

This wasn't going according to plan. She trusted in Morgan's Fear to keep her tongue still, she loved the Raccoon to death, but she didn't want the hobs to think her Paladin was mocking them with the away she spoke. This anger...it showed just how little she really knew the Steepscrambler.

They'd found the one hob that's fought and escaped Jenny and her minions....it was either a scam, as Her Pledge hadn't taken hold, or the will of the Wyrd.

The Spokesperson makes his counter, and Mhairi shakes her head, "I've made my offer. Lengthened the time, and offered you Queen-flesh in place of my companion...someone who's not even a servent. Take her to the pits, and it'll eat into your time with my flesh."

One of the hobs cuts through their negotiations, and rallies the crowd. If they hadn't drawn notice before, they certainly were now.

Maybe she should just...meet Sal. See the face of the monster who made this cesspool.

[Cayce]

"I'll not take that deal!" the spokesperson shouted over the growing roar of the crowd, hobs from other stalls soon gathering to join in the vicious, bloodthirsty throng in their call for violence and gore.

"Pit! Pit! Pit! Pit!"

"And it was you that named the terms when you threatened my life!" the hob yelled when Morgan protested her surprise.

And those were the last words that could be heard, as the crowd soon pressed forward, herding the Lost and the Hob into the center of a seething, shouting circle of ruthless hobs.

And then there was a sudden, sharp whistle, and the crowd parted to reveal a hulking brute, with four hulking arms, a spear held in its two left hands, and two swords hanging on the right side of its belt.

"WHAT HAVE WE HERE?" the massive chunk of walking muscle bellowed. "BUT TWO CHALLENGERS FOR THE PIT!"

The crowd roared in approval, only quieting when the brute waved it's two free hands to quell the noise.

"WHEN THREATS ARE GIVEN, IT THREATENS TRADE!" the enforcer explained, "SO WE MAKE EVERYONE WORK THEIR MORE PROFOUND DISAGREEMENTS OUT IN PERSON...IN THE PIT!"

The Hobs roared again, and soon everyone was moving in one writhing, screaming mass toward the Pit, a massive crater that had been hacked into the bedrock of the hedge. Bleachers carved from the trees and thorns were set up all around it, and tattered, blood stained banners hung from massive poles above the pit, twisting in the breeze.

"RULES ARE SIMPLE!" the enforcer roared once they'd reached the edge of the arena. "ANY COMBATANT THAT ENTER MUST FIGHT TILL DEATH OR SURRENDER! BUT SURRENDER, AND THE WILL OF THE CROWD SHALL RULE YOU! ONLY MERCY OR VICTORY WILL SET YOU FREE FROM THE PIT!"

So, unless y'all want to flee, you are brought to the Pit! Morgan is set to fight inside the pit (add init to the end of your next post if you do not flee), and Mhairi is free to work the crowd and I'll accepts wits+streetwise, socialize, investigation, or politics.