Little Stone:


Little Stone's face grew perplexed this time.

"But why?" Little Stone asked. "Rufus seems happy hear. He no longer has to worry about wandering alone out past the Krinner. He has a crate and is well fed. If you bring him back to the waking world, he might not understand."

The stack of letters that Shawn had already placed in the Dream shoot began to hop along the counter, depositing themselves and then disappearing with a 'whoosh!' sound one they were completely inside.

Little Stone gave a glance at the sound and then back at Shawn. "Do not pay that any mind. Actions of time and do not necessarily apply in the same ratio here as in the waking world, see?" He jutted his paw out at the jar of eyeballs. Several eyeballs hopped out of the jar and into the witches brew just as they had several moments ago, in a strange, echoing repetition of something that had already happened.

"Sometimes I have to remind myself." Little Stone acknowledged.

"Isn't there a way to bring his mind back? I know you said it got broken when it came here, but wouldn't that go away if he got sent back? And even if it did...you said time and actions are different here - couldn't you just put him back to the way he was before?" Shawn had seen the cat perform enough magic in front of him that he assumed the issue was more of willingness than capability.

The cat turned his head towards the entrance of the tent. Shawn watched as a ghostly figure peeled back the flap and entered the tent:

It was Shawn. Or some kind of ether-ghostly form of Shawn. It moved with transparent, other-wordly grace, floating across the floor with panic spread across its face. The form was blurry around the edges. Ghostly Shawn ran up alongside Shawn, its voice thin and distant as it spoke

"Do you know where Mr. Clayton is now?" Ghostly Shawn asked, using the same voice that Shawn had used just moments earlier. It sounded distant and somehow caught in the past. Then the ghostly apparition disappeared, just as it had appeared, vanishing into nothingness right in front of Shawn.

Little Stone:


Little Stone didn't seem phased by the apparition, just as he wasn't phased by the stack of papers near the dream shoot that had already been placed inside.

"Maybe" Little Stone said. "You can take Rufus if you like to trade." Little Stone agreed. "But it isn't obvious that anything resembling your mind would fit in his. Whatever happened to Rufus, happened to him beyond the Krinner where he was sent and where he was wandering. You have to understand: The Krinner, what this mountain is called where we stand, is at the very edge of The Underworld. Who knows what is out there and what things he may have encountered? What parts of him he may have lost? Whatever he lost is out there. We sit at the very edge of the Krinner. This is the end point. I wouldn't recommend going past the interior of the cave. And certainly you do not want to go too far out into the cave itself in your meeting with Mr. Clayton. You might wander beyond this mountain, beyond the Krinner."

"The cave takes you beyond the Krinner?" Shawn furrowed his brow - it didn't seem to make sense that going into a cave inside a mountain would take him outside of the place where the mountain was. But then again, nothing much about this place made any sense. "Even if I found whatever he lost, how would I even put it back there? And what would you take in trade?"

Little Stone:


"The cave will take you beyond the Krinner, yes." Little Stone confirmed.

Little Stone pondered the trade and thought a bit about what it might mean. "I like to eat dead things. Perhaps if you brought me a dead mouse or two, I would be able to part with Rufus." He looked over at Eddy-Rufus

Shawn looked around the shop like he was expecting to see a mouse scurrying around here somewhere. He hadn't seen much in the way of native life here in the Krinner that wasn't quite large and trying to kill him. "Umm, do you accept payment from the waking world? I don't think there's many mice here, but I bet I could find some there." He gave the cat his most trustworthy smile.

"no, that won't do." Little Stone said. "You can offer a promise if you like. If you promise to bring me the mice later, that will suffice"

"You'll have to tell me how to get them to you, but that sounds reasonable." Shawn nodded a little vaguely, a little distracted by a potential impending confrontation with Mr. Clayton. But he dragged himself back to reality when he realised he might get ripped off. "But if I bring you two mice, I should probably get two things in exchange, right? That's nice and fair. If you've got something in your shop I can use, that'd be nice, but maybe you could give me some knowledge instead?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:24, Tue 13 Nov 2018.

Little Stone:


"Wait a second...." Little Stone said, thinking things over. "Are you....trying to negotiate?"

Little Stone said the words as if he was surprised. It was more than surprise. It was astonishment. The cat raised its eyebrows. "So?....are you?"

Shawn cocked his head to one side, a little confused at the reaction he got. "Weren't you doing that too? You made an offer with mice for Rufus, I thought that's what you wanted me to do?"

Little Stone:


Little Stone himself looked confused. Then he nodded. Then he shook himself like a cat trying to get water out after being in the rain. The fabric of his bathrobe flapped and then settled. Then the cat looked at the hour glass.

The sand in it had almost run out.

"Yes...." Little Stone acknowledged. "But we must hurry. Time is running out. If you don't get back to the waking world soon, then you'll be herethe Underworld forever. Already our conversation is being interrupted. You feel it don't you? The idea that things are making less and less sense."

"I'm not sure about two things.." Little Stone said, buckling down to negotiate

OOC: Shawn Rolls Wits + Socialize + striking Looks + This Threads Bonus with the following results

0 Successes: Shawn agrees to the deal, lost in the hard negotiations, he gets nothing further out of Little Stone. Further, he looses the Rabbits Foot in the deal

1-3 Success: Shawn gets something out of Little Stone: He Keeps the Rabbit's Foot and then Little Stone gives him the opportunity to pick one thing from the wares

4+ Successes: Shawn gets something out of Little Stone: He Keeps the Rabbit's Foot and then Little Stone gives him the opportunity to pick two things from the wares

OOC: 07:54, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 3 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 9,9,1,7,1,1,8,3. Wits + Socialize + Striking Looks + 3.

Little Stone:


Little Stone said "Fine, the deal is done. But you should pick out something and in a hurry. You would need to hurry anyhow and trust that I will send Rufus to you. He is in no condition to go through the cave. Nor can he scale down the mountain and ask Crowley where your friends have gone. Truly, I will send him to you, on this you can rely."

"Now, best you pick something out. And if you have any questions, please ask now. Oh, and I can send what you want through the dream shoot at a time of your choosing so you do not have to carry it with you" He added.


This left Shawn in a state of hurried pause. It was as if he was running in place. The kind of moment where an adults says, 'Pick out a toy before I get to the front door of Toys R' Us and leave.' It was a feeling that all kids had faced at one time or another.

Shawn glanced around the mountains of objects while Eddie-Rufus barked a yippy bark. A tall, clay jar stood out above the rest. Then there was a series of small, empty frames. Amid the pile, a crooked frame was filled with a painting made of acrylic brush strokes, purple, orange and pink. There were amulets and jewels on an adjacent table. The whole thing was almost overwhelming to look through.

Shawn looked around the shop, but since he didn't know what these things did, he didn't really have much to go on. He'd just have to ask and hope it worked out... "If I'm hurrying, maybe you can help me? I think I'm going to need to make someone a promise, and even if they don't trust me, I need them to know I'm telling the truth. Do you have something that does that?"

Little Stone:


Little Stone hopped down onto the ground and walked with a saunter towards a wide, oak table with ornate legs dashed with hand carved flowers winding their way up towards skulls at the base where the table met with the legs.

"The closest thing that I have is The Liar's Goblet" Little Stone said. He pushed aside a small pile of gems underneath the table, paws fishing for something. Then he pulled out a Goblet:

Shawn looked at the goblet carefully, not wanting to even touch it before he understood what the item did. “How does it work?”

Little Stone:

"Dont be afraid" Little Stone said. "I'll speak softly. It's not for the world's ears but for yours only. Let me see you. Dont you know that I'd only trade you what you wanted? Or as close to what you want as what I have to offer?"

"The Liar's Cup is something that works only when used in concert with a liquid and immediately before a lie is to be told. You must fill it with a liquid and then wait for the planned lie. Then you drink the whole of the Cup's contents. Once that is complete you tell the lie as you intended."

"It does not work all of the time. Some have said the hardest part is getting the liquid down and keeping it down. If you fill it with water, it may taste of bitterness. This is the lie that forms upon the drinker's mouth."

"Others say that the hardest part of using the Liar's Cup is speaking the lie. It is said that sometimes the user speaks something else entirely than was intended."

"But if it does work, then those who hear the lie are completely convinced."

Shawn took the cup and turned it over in his hand, getting a close look at it. "What happens if you drink it when you're going to tell the truth? Or you're making a promise you intend to keep?" Ironically, he hadn't been intending to lie - he just wanted the listener to have a reason to believe he was speaking in good faith.

"I do not know." Little Stone replied. "They call it a Liar's Cup because it is supposed to help liars. There's nothing that I've heard of that would indicate anything about telling the truth. I am not sure that anyone has ever done anything to figure that possibility out."

"The Liar's Cup come from Mr. Toad's Dining Room. Few know of him, for he is not of this realm. He is not from the Underworld."

Shawn nodded and tried not to show his concern. He'd have to use the Liar's Goblet carefully, if at all. Though even if it didn't help with Mr. Clayton, if Shawn got out of this intact, he could probably find a use for the cup. "All right, I understand." He glanced at the tent flap. "I should probably get moving. Is there anything else I should know before I try to find Bradford and Mr. Clayton?"

"The object you have, the Liar's Chalice, is very unpredictable." Little Stone answered. "Use it sparingly, if at all. It is alive, in its own way. It is imbued with a powerful lie, and therefore does not like to be definted."

"I wish you the best of luck with your endeavor with Bradford, whatever it is that you choose to do." Little Stone said.

"We will not see each other again, unless you come to deliver the mice, or if you find yourself at a crossroads in your life in the waking world. Or you are with someone who is in the same predicament."

Shawn tucked the goblet away, and unsure of the etiquette here, gave the cat a grateful bow. "If I'm in another situation like this, I hope I do see you. You've been really nice to me, and I appreciate it." Negotiations aside, he was telling the truth - the cat had been very nearly kind to him. With one last glance at Eddy, he headed out of the tent, trying to resolve himself for meeting Mr. Clayton and Bradford, and whatever decision he was supposed to make. He had a feeling he knew what it was, but that feeling made him more nervous, not less.

Little Stone simply nodded. Then he jumped onto the stool next to the piano where Shawn had found him."Persevere." Little Stone uttered. <Blue> Then he turned his back and focused on the short glass of whiskey, just as Shawn had found him.

OOC: Shawn Joins Thread

Shawn: Bradford's Resentment