Shopping for Answers

[Tom Troughton]

[ModNote: Continued from Home! Sweet Home!]

*Tom and Raven apper in the Market place which is so busy (as normal) that few if any one notices them arrive. Tom quickly guides Raven threw the crowds and market stalls towardsa one of the permenat establishements.*

"There Raven Is Catherine Barter's shop. Catherine is a nutral in the Dungon poletics sceen but she will help you I assure you just show her that you do have meens to pay."

*indicating the gold she is till holding.*

"You'll need to ring the bell though it dosen't look like she's open just yet."

*Tom notices a portable stall set up just outside Catherine's shop. He thinks thi odd since Shops and stalls are normal kept away from each other for resson of safty and fair copation. The stall is unmaned so Tom assumes it's just atempory stop as the owner deal;s with some buissnes and dismissis it from his mind.*

"Once you have the stuff you need The Dungeon Sickness Pills and Magical detect Powder. Just hold this up in front of you and say TOM clearly 3 times."

*Holds out a red rubby pendant and offers it to Raven.*

"It's a Teleport controle and will take you strait to me. But for now Miss Raven I must bid you adue there are some other....matters I must look into."

"Fairwell and Fairchance for now."

*With that Tom vanishies. Raven now has 2 choices Ring the Bell and see if Catherine ansrews or maby try the myseeriois stall that is stationed neer by.*

[ModNote: Tom is next seen in Slightly Off Course.]

[Raven]

*Raven opens her mouth to call after Tom, but closes her mouth before the words can form. She takes a breath and tries to steel her resolve once again. She moves over to Catherine's shop and rings the bell. She stands there for a while, and impatiently rings the bell again*

I have Gold!

*Raven says toward the closed door*

[Raven]

*In the interest of progressing the story, I shall continue*


*Raven waits patiently for a few minutes, but when not even a mouse is heard within the store, Raven trys elsewhere. She notices the stall Tom looked at earlier and walks over to it. A man dressed in robes walks over, as he notices Raven approaching.* [ModNote: Last seen in Drinking.]

"Ah Heero Herro! You ah velly welcome customer! I cut you good deal o..."

*Suh Wok pauses and looks at Raven closer*

"Haff we met befoe? I sold you something?"

*Raven returns the look of familiarity."

"You - YOU! I know you!"

*Flashes of Raven's life within the book startle her*

(Within The Book, about five years ago)
*Raven was about to break the code and finally bust into Lord Fear's castle. She had been training ten long years for this. Her and her Bear companoin would put an end to Fear's domain. Just as Raven is about to finsih the code, a bright light eminates fromt he sky, causing Raven and he Bear to face it with weapons drawn. Int he sky is a chinese man in what looks like a giant marketplace in the sky. Raven is offput by this - what sort of illusion is going on here! Has Lord Fear drugged her into seeing A giant Chinese man in the sky? No.. her bear can see it too. A horn sounds within the castle. So much for surprise thought Raven. Suddenly, a great torrent of water rushed from the sky. The chinese man has been replaced by a burly Nord, and he has spilt something smelly. A massive torrent of beer quickly floods the causeway to Lord Fear's castle. Raven is now trapped by incoming Goblins and a river of Beer. The gates swings open, and the Goblins are coming. There is little time and...

(Current Time)
*Raven snaps out of the memory*

You! YOU! I saw you in the sky.. in the book.

"No.. it is not pohsible, you cannot.. be... from the luned rook!?"

*Raven is now quite angry but she doesnt remember why. Something that Suh Wok has done or caused, but what? Raven graps Suh Wok, seething with a mixture of confusion and rage. She lifts him by his collar, somehow defying the bounds of her teenage body*

YOU DID THIS! YOU DID THIS ALL!

*Raven is now causing quite a scene, and people are looking from all over the street*

[Young Grimwold]

[OOC: Sorry you've had to continue this alone. Marcus Brinkatore, Catherine Barter or Salamanda (whom I believe was the intended owner of the stall) should have posted. Hopefully they'll turn up soon. In the meantime, I'll make a short contribution, as long as you don't mind me briefly 'controlling' what happens to Suh Wok.]

*Suh Wok is either light-headed from his last visit to the Crazed Heifer, or truly terrified of Raven, or both, because he passes out. Until he comes round, Raven will get no answers from him. A few of the townspeople look accusingly at Raven, but ultimately decide to return to their own affairs and ignore her. With any luck, no one has gone off to the guardhouse to fetch help.

It turns out that the portable stall in front of Catherine Barter's shop does not belong to Suh Wok: his stall is close by, and he was merely pursuing a potential customer. Suh Wok's stall is rather untidy, and has clearly not been 'feng shuied' in quite a while. It's not obvious whether Suh Wok's stall has the pills and powder that Raven seeks, but two intriguing items are visible amongst the jumble: a potion bottle labelled 'Lockpicker', and an object that could easily be mistaken for a magnifying glass...*

[Raven]

*Raven snaps back to reality. Dropping Suh Wok in a heap onthe floor she stumbles backward, dazed*

Wha..

*She feels the aftertaste of the strange power she had been harnessing, and it scared her (Although not as much as it scared Suh Wok i'm sure). Raven notices that she has obviously been casuing a ruckass, and decides to move on as fast as possible. Moving to the table the "Magnifying Glass" catches her eye*

A Spy glass? I thought Tom said that...

*Raven shakes her head in disbeleif and raises the Eyeglass to her face*

[Young Grimwold]

*Nothing happens. It really is a magnifying glass. At the moment. Maybe if it has other functions, then some special means - magic dust, a spell, a codeword, a particular location or a certain time - are needed to activate them.*

[Raven]

*Raven laughs. Not becuase anything was particuarly funny about the Magnifying Glass, but because it was what she was expecting. She wipes a tear of laughter from her eye and grabs the potion. Laughing again is uplifting for Raven, and she moves into the crowd in search of the "Dungeon Sickness" pills.*

[Young Grimwold]

*Several of the townsfolk notice what Raven has just done.*

"Oi! That lass just robbed the Chinaman's stall!"

"Yeah, I saw it too! Half-inched his stock and didn't leave any of that gold she was carrying."

"What the deuce? Who does she think she is, a dungeoneer? It's a market stall, not a bloomin' clue table!"

"Where's she gone?"

"Stop! Thief!"

*The crowd is turning into a mob. As the loud protests continue, eyes and hands are looking for Raven.*

[Raven]

*Raven hears the shouting and looks around for the theif. Seeing nothing she continues to walk round behind a nearby building. She sits against the wall and looks at the bottle of 'Lockpicker'. The bottle itself is quite plain, and has but a simple cork in the top to stop it leaking. The liquid inside is a strange blue colour, and Raven decides that drinking it would probably be a last resort for her. The ruckass gets worse and she hears people bellowing across the market. Poking her head around the corner she sees groups of men searching women up and down the market place.*

"Wierd..."

*Raven brings her head back round, and decides that it might be safer to stay put for a while*

[Shadow Voice]

*However Raven is not quite alone in this side street as she thinks and she may not be as safe as she thinks. From a darkend door way just a across the street 2 quick steps away from where she is hidden someone is watching her.* [ModNote: Last seen in Entrance.]

*Freind or foe, Allie or adversery, benefactor or not is unclear as is this watchers agender.*

*Raven is startled by the suden and sound of something scraping against stone and then the smell of burning, out the corner of her eye she see's a flame flickering into life and traval upwards illuminating very breifly the faces of her observer.*

*And its none to comfroting to see his face as there is something more unerveing about it then just seeing a black sillowet. Ravens not sure if its his dagger slash of a mouth or his cold black almost lifeless eyes but there is something about this man that sets her teeth on edge.*

"Hmmmmm never wise to hide in plain view you know girl."

*The man sneers his voice is gravaly and as cold as a grave he lights the cigeret dangaling from his mouth and exstigushes the match and once again blackness envelops his face. he blows out a cloud of smoke and speaks again.*

"Whats your name?"

[Raven]

*Raven stands up and looks at the newcomer*

"Here, take the gold, just leave me alone."

*Raven throws the gold at his feet and turns to leave. If there's one thing she brought from the 'Real' world, its never talk to shifty looking strangers*

[Young Grimwold]

*The mob begins to tire of its hunt, with several of the townspeople voicing doubts that there was ever a thief at all. Some decide to decamp to various taverns, others break off to chase a wild goose that is rumoured to be flapping around near the church, and the rest return to marketplace activities. It seems that no one is likely to complain if Raven re-enters the marketplace - except perhaps Suh Wok, if he has come round. Then again, Raven has just parted with her spending power...*

[Shadow Voice]

*Shadow Voice smiles and looks down at the gold and picks it up he laughs quietly to himself then tosses it back at Raven.*

"Gold is not the object in your possesion I'm intrested in."

"Its that Bottle of LOCKPICK that intrests me.....and in return for it I'm sure I can afford you a little information you might find usefull."

"What do you say my dear?"

*He says in a more velveted tone of voice then he normaly uses.*

[Raven]

*An old instinct of dungeoneering passes over Raven, and Treguards advices echos in her mind: 'Trust, until given reason not to'. Raven turns again and picks up the gold.*

"Alright, you want the LOCKPICK potion?"

*Raven finds herself stumbling over the last word as the hairs on the back of her kneck rise. She always got this in the dungeon.*

"What information can you give me that would be so useful? What about?"

*She holds the bottle in her hand next to her head*

[Shadow Voice]

*Shadow Voice pondered for a moment then responded.*

"I can tell you how to get into that Shop you where just at a moment ago. Plus I can also give you information that your freind Tom Troughton might find usefull."

"All in return for the LOCKPICK potion. hows that sound to you??"