Roman still feels the need to answer.  "Have" "done" "nothing."  "Wait" "for" "deal."  "Is" "deal" "done ?"

"No, curse you!" Daennar Gef practically spits the words at the storm creature.

Haria Nex looks through the door, taking in the scene in a series of darting glances, "We are too early!  The trade has not been completed!"

"Haria Nex!  So you betrayed me in more ways than simple desertion." the older woman says, pointing at the younger, "Before these witnesses, I declare you Outcast!"

There is a low rumble, deep in the Rokt's throat, then he throws back his head and roars with laughter, "You accuse me of treachery, when all along it was one of your own.  Chanactarsa will become a byword for duplicity and deceit among dhe Rokt!"

Desperate to save face now, Daennar Gef's face falls as the Rokt speaks.  She looks to Tahirah and Morgan, the two who might be able to provide a way out.  The latter speaks of an unusual creature, and there is one here, sure enough.  The former offers a way to save the bargain.

"Speak."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:50, Wed 08 Aug 2007.

 

As the woman looked at the creature, it appeared to somehow look back, despite the lack of eyes as it would seem to have.

It also had observed and heard Morgan, but shown no sign thereof, as it waited, watched and kept alert.

As the Rokt let out his roaring laughter, though, the sharp tail of the creature whipped up and close to him, as if giving a warning, and the head turned to face the man-demon, as if giving its full attention to him now.

A deep, low hiss started, first faint then growing in intensity, but never ceasing to catch a new breath.

It would seem that sudden and loud noises evidently did not sit well with the creature.


                                                                                _{At least such a notion was what it tried to sell.}

 

Morgan's face falls slightly. "I'm terribly sorry, but I really can't stand as your witness in this. We aren't interfering with your bargain, and none here were guided by your lady. The Rokt here has been followed from his ship by a rather dangerous creature I have an interest in. We had, as I said, been waiting paitently for your business to complete."

He turns and bows, slightly, to the Rokt. "You, I and others may have matters to discuss, but it can wait. "


His amused thought chuckles through the bridging, though he keeps his face straight.  This time, too, I do not speak of you Banglen-Yp, though a rather different creature. 

Tahirah gives a small bow of thanks, stepping closer in to the group, still moving slowly.  "Haria Nex has cautioned us, many times, to not interrupt until after your deal was complete," she begins.  "But I did not have time to explain to her the full implications.  I think that when I am done, you will agree this is a trade that should not be made."  She turns fully towards Daennar Gef, trusting Morgan and the hissing black creature to keep the Rokt at bay while she talks.

"These Cubes, such as you have found, were crafted and cast into many worlds, by beings called the Archons, that come from a place beyond the worlds we know.  They seek to destroy everything; all life, all worlds.  Rokt, Chanactarsa, hunters and seers alike; children, creatures, even the very stones upon which we walk.  Their plan requires a Key that will unlock for them a seam, from which to unravel our existance."

"That Key is a Cube, but for the Cube to become the Key, it must travel from one boundary of the worlds to the other; end to end, creating an axis upon which their destruction can pivot, sundering the worlds and casting all to chaos.  The Cube you were sent to find - the particular and specific Cube required of your bargain - lay at one end of the worlds."  She holds a hand out, palm up.  "The chosen place to complete your Bargain and deliver the Cube, lay at the other."  She holds out her other hand, and then clenches both into fists.  "And the Key has been born.  You were not sent to find a Cube, but rather, to draw a Line; an act not of Seeking, but of Creation."  She's very good at pronouncing capitalizations.

"Hidden motives and false pretense, I am sure, are no strangers to you, and doubtless no cause in themselves to end a bargain.  But I see in your sister, as in you, the honor of the Chanactarsa, and I think it is not an honor that will contribute knowingly to such destruction.  I would not ask of you to withdraw your pledge, but I fear that for a Key such as you have wrought them, provisions will be in place when the Rokt comes to contact the Cube - to call his Masters here, or to call him to them.  This must not happen."

"I know nothing of dhis!" the Rokt protests.  "Rokt have no masters.  We are simply traders.  We do not... "

Daennar Gef interrupts, "This is true.  The Rokt are known for serving only themselves.  They are also known for regarding those they deal with as fools.  They will cheat, lie, and steal, at every opportunity.  No master could trust them."

"And dhe Rokt hold your people in equally high esteem." replies the horned man, his voice dripping with acidic sarcasm.  "I bought dhe location of dhis device from a man who had heard of it.  He told me dhat it was a way to travel instantly to many worlds.  As a trader in dhuqhat root, dhe ability to find new markets for my stock, and get to dhose markets before the roots spoiled, would give me an advantage over my rivals."

"Dhat is my sole reason for wanting dhe device!  Now you tell me it holds danger?"

"No danger at present."

A tiny flame ignited in a dark corner of the room, and Luke cupped his hands around a cigarette.  The tip flared.  "I've cut off this area from...well, from what the Cube uses to empower itself."  He gestured with the flame toward the Rokt.  "He might be able to leave another way, but he won't be using the Cube.  Nobody will, not here."

Luke shook his hand and the flame died, the corner darkening again.

Morgan groans, hand wiping expression from his face. His fleeting annoyance fades, as Tahirah's words prove better than his. Still, he'd prefer to salvage some dignity. Sometimes.

"I guess I can play it out another night, it isn't that important. Those things are supposed to help destroy all worlds, like she said. Get you killed by all sides of the war, keeping one. I'll be outside while you folks talk."

With that, he steps back into the storm.

James slid off his mount's back as soon as they arrived in the yard before the shop.  Riding bareback was a completely difference experience to riding in a saddle and James wasn't sure he appreciated the difference.  The panther's agility largely compensated for James' precarious balance, but the cat seemed obsessed with catching up with Morgan and there had been a couple of close calls.  James only hoped he had not bruised his ride with his grip.

Turning his attention to the current situation, James notices that many of the others have already gone inside.  Trusting them to secure the situation, James looks to the deployment of the panthers guarding the perimeter - and finds it quite satisfactory.  Deprived of anything to do he moves under the eaves of a nearby building, more for the limited shelter it offers than out of any desire for concealment, and waits.

The Rokt's face grows thoughtful, as he ponders what he has been told.

Finally he speaks slowly, carefully.  "I have no choice dhen.  If dhis cube is dangerous, to me or to my family, dhen I must cancel my agreement.  I will take my money, Chanactarsa, and leave."

"No, you will not!" Daennar Gef snarls at him, "You agreed to pay us half the fee, just for finding the device.  The second half was for delivering it to you.  We found it, but we cannot deliver it, because you would refuse it.  The coin, there, is forfeit, and the Chanactarsa have not broken the deal!"

"This is acceotable to me.  We keep our bargains."

"What?  Dhat purse holds half a year's profit from my ventures!"

 

Having remained unmoving and silent since Morgan left, the creature now hissed quietly, and its head turned as if to regard the Rokt once more.  Perhaps it was his loud voice, perhaps something else, but something evidently bothered the creature.

The sharp-ended tail slowly, slowly crept over the shoulder, with the tip drooping down as it lifted into the air as the tail moved.

The creature sank down into a four-legged stance again, even as the hissing and moving of the tail continued.  Beyond the very appearance of the creature there was nothing directly threatening about its moves, at least not too direct and open.

 

Tahirah is, for perhaps the hundredth time since meeting these people, very glad of her overhanging hood.  She developed a very good poker face in dealing with the Lords of Charyk, but not enough to handle all of the surprises that come out of them.

She bows slightly to the Rokt.  "You show great wisdom," she offers.  "Enough to know the value of time, over mere money," she clarifies, in her own way adding subtly to the threat the strange creature in the middle of the room isn't quite making...and the one that Daennar Gef surely will be making in another moment.

"Well, they did find it for you," Chance says. "But as for delivery, what if someone else were to pay for delivery on his behalf?" Wouldn't that still satisfy the deal, and save the Rokt considerable coin?"

OOC: Last post here was eaten by RPoL or something.

There is a long silence, and the Rokt and Daennar Gef both speak at once...

"Dhat is - " "We have - "... they both stop, and study each other.  Finally the Rokt bows, and turns away.

"We have spent many years," Daennar Gef starts again, "searching for the cube.  The Rokt promised us that, since it would tie up many of the clan's seekers, for so long, he would still pay us half the agreed price, even if we were unable to deliver it.  Just as long as we made an honest try."

"We have tried, and only fail because the Rokt has declined the delivery.  But the second part of the bargain remains.  The Rokt must pay... that was the word of the bargain.  We can not take payment from somebody who was not part of the bargain."

The Rokt whirls, "Dhat is preposterous!  Does it make difference where coin comes from, as long as it arrives in your hand?"

"The first part of the bargain may be gone, but the bargain itself remains.  And the bargain was with you, Rokt.  Not with the strangers."

"Of course," Tahirah says promptly, still quite calmly.  "It is Honor, not Coin; if the Chanactarsa accepted payment from us to complete your bargain, word would spread that they can be bought.  How would you have felt, had one of your competitors offered, to them, to purchase your item for the same price?  Or even more?  It would have been travesty had they accepted."

"I believe," a flat hand waves lazily before her, "That what my friend proposes was a simplified phrasing of a more complicated arrangement.  You, Rokt, must pay the half that you promised; but perhaps for an equal amount, we might purchase from you your rights to the second half of the bargain?  Then," she bows her head again to Daennar Gef, "We would have honestly procured the right to complete your bargain in the Rokt's place, before witnesses; thus, we could pay to you the second sum, to have the item delivered to us."

Chance speaks casually of this deal, and she has seen these Strangers draw all manner of miracles from the air.  She hopes he can provide the kind of money that's being discussed here, if they all agree.

Chance shrugs. "Details, details," he says. "There's nothing to be concerned with, so long as you'll delay the arrangement a few moments longer--or do you charge for that, too. There's a wide chasm between the Spirit of the Law and the Letter of the Law, and it's easy to fall into that chasm. By seeing how hastily you jump to conclusions for fear of your laws, I feel you've dishonored yourself this day. At least, I know I'll never be doing business with your kind. And I'm tempted to spread word that others should avoid business with you, too. This inflexibility is not always good business. We're dealing with an object that threatens many lives, and that should be what is important in your mind. Yet, despite our efforts to reach an agreement all sides can swallow, you fight us at each and every turn. For what? Money? Honor? What good will your honor do you when we're all dead? If you want to redeem yourself in our eyes, you'll take Haria Nex back without any punishment or censure. She made no agreement that would interfere with your first agreement, she was very careful in that. And your dishonor is in judging her so quickly without being wise enough to hear the facts."

Harsh words, Chance knew, but he senses that such harshness was necessary in dealing with this kind of person. He had met her kind a dozen times before. Only a harsh stand would shake her from her law-abiding stupor--if even that.

Turning to the Rokt, he says, "As for the first half ... well, you agreed to pay even for the attempt, so I can't help you there. But this dhuqhat root... you have some with you? Perhaps we could buy the minimal amount for say... the other half of what she says you owe? Then it would be your money and she can accept it as payment without complaint."

He tilts his head toward Daennar Gef again, raising an eyebrow. "Right?"

In the privacy of her hood, Tahirah closes her eyes and holds her breath.

Of course, it's certainly possible that what she thought Chance meant wasn't what he meant at all...but at least he didn't seem concerned about the amount of money involved.  She'd read that part right, anyway.

"Haria Nex is forgiven." states Daennar Gef.  "She was led astray, but that ended with her finding important news about our mission, which might have saved us some trouble."

"As for the Rokt... he owes us half the fee.  That is all.  We will just leave it where it lays, as it is now worthless to us.  Worse than worthless, we find that it is cursed.  Of course, if somebody picks it up after we leave... well, then, that is their bad luck.  I will be glad to be rid of it."

"All we require is half the agreed coin.  No more, no less."

The Rokt sighs, "Very well.  Dhat was dhe agreement I made.  Dhe coin is dheirs."

He looks to Chance, I have a little of dhe dhuqhat root, aboard my ship, if you are interested?"

 

Crouching down low, the creature leapt up into the darkness even as the Rokt spoke, blending with the darkness above, and then it was gone, silently, in a matter of seconds.


A few moments later it appeared on the roof of the same building where it sat down, unmoving, the rain running over its black shell like water of an oiled surface.

 
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Sat 11 Aug 2007.

"Well, that's settled, then," Chance grins. "And you have a ship? And yes, I think I would like to look at your stock, still. Perhaps, when the current bargains are settled, you could tell me a little more about this dhuqhat root ... and your ship ... ."

The Rokt bows to Chance, "I satisfied widh dhis new bargain.  Widh dhe permission of your people, and dhat of dhe Chanactarsa, I will return to my ship."

Daennar Gef nods, "I am... not happy with this, really, but it is the best possible result, since the original deal has been broken.  We will accept the half fee, as agreed, and we will abandon the device.  I have believed it cursed, since first I laid eyes on it, and want nothing more to do with it."

"If the Rokt does not want the thing, then nor do we."

She glances at Haria Nex, and the other Chanactarsa woman.  "We will take the purse, and leave now.  You are welcome to that." a dismissive gesture towards the head-sixed bundle laying on the floor near the purse.

Thunder rumbles.  "No" "feud."  "Go" "in" "peace"

Tahirah does her best to ignore the talking thundercloud, on the grounds that she has too many strange things to get used to, and perhaps some prioritizing is in order.  Open sky first; talking sky can come later.

Instead, she makes a small bow to Daennar Gef, and then a deeper one to Haria Nex.  "It has been an honor, and a pleasure, to meet you."  Then she smoothly sits down, cross-legged, on the floor, her box of cards sliding out into her hand, and lays out a small series of cards...

The Chanactarsa prepare to leave, but Haria Nex is drawn to Tahirah as she starts dealing cards out on to the floor...

Tahirah regathers her cards and rises again, smiling to herself as she sees that Haria Nex, as she hoped, saw and waited.

She follows the others out, softly speaking a single word as she passes the curious chanactarsa.  "Homecoming."