Heroica RPG - Quest#148: Once Upon a Time in Goetia

[JimBee]

Hybros rolled his eyes and instead stepped over to the stand where Namyrra was. He tried to sneak up on the cat helping itself to the fish in the crate and catch it.

"Any leads?" He asked the necromancer.

[K-Nut]

Althior releases the bird. "He wouldn't tell me where Gaunt was headed. Only that Gaunt is apparently King of the Birds and wanted to know about our mission,"

[Quarryman]

"Any leads?" He asked the necromancer.

"Actually, yes, this nice lady here says she knows our friend and will give him a message from us, so hopefully we'll get in touch with him soon."

And then, lowering her voice. "But seriously master Hybros, what is master Emorith doing with that bird? And it looks like he's attracting even more birds, this can't possibly end well.."

[JimBee]

"Actually, yes, this nice lady here says she knows our friend and will give him a message from us, so hopefully we'll get in touch with him soon."

And then, lowering her voice. "But seriously master Hybros, what is master Emorith doing with that bird? And it looks like he's attracting even more birds, this can't possibly end well.."

"I have a feeling we will have to go out and find him ourselves if we are to advance at all with this mission."

Hybros also lowered his voice. "It has something to do with the witch named Baba. She was involved with the Wolfgang before, apparently. The bird was working for one of her lackeys. I think the birds are the least of our concerns, heheh."

[Palathadric]

"By the way, is there any shop that you frequent to keep your equipment in fine order? I have some friends, I suppose hired hands like you to a certain extent, who would certainly be interested in upgrading some of their weapons and armour.

[Sandy]

Hybros rolled his eyes and instead stepped over to the stand where Namyrra was. He tried to sneak up on the cat helping itself to the fish in the crate and catch it.

The cat sensed Hybros' intentions and quickly fled. It wouldn't have survived the alleys of Miranda for as long as it had if it was trusting of total strangers.

"By the way, is there any shop that you frequent to keep your equipment in fine order? I have some friends, I suppose hired hands like you to a certain extent, who would certainly be interested in upgrading some of their weapons and armour.

The werebear shrugged drowzily.


"Beats me. Not locals, remember?"

At that moment someone cried "Watch out!" on the street, and a gaudily painted wagon rolled into sight rapidly and noisily. All the birds that had gathered flew back into the skies, scared away by the ruckus. As the wagon came to a halt in front of the party, they realized it wasn't pulled by any animals. In fact, they recognized the wagon as the very same that had been used by the witch Elphaba during her visits to the Eubric Marketplace twice a year.

"There you are! Sorry to have kept you waiting, I just had some... erhm, business to finish here in Miranda. But now I'm here, as soon as I heard you summon me! Sham Poo, the Travelling Merchant, at your service, gentlemen!" The half-orc glanced at Namyrra and grimaced. "And uh, lady? Anyway, check out this ride I got from the Decamon Tournament! Just had to talk to a few key people and pull some right strings, and here I am as the proud owner of The Shammobile! Now I can travel anywhere I want with luxury and style."

Byblos cleared his throat.


"Yes yes, that's all well and good, but what about that business in Goetia? Isn't that why you called us here?"


"Oh, yes! There's something nasty brewing down there, let me tell you! That sky... It looks like someone tore a hole in it! And not a soul has come out of that town ever since. Bad for business, I tell you - veeery bad. Of course you will make it all better, like mommy said. Won't you? The Shammobile will take you there in no time!"

[JimBee]

"Hello, Sham. Your mother sends her best wishes and hopes your are safe." Hybros examined the cart. "We should not waste time. You can sell us your wares on the way, heheh."

[Quarryman]

"Indeed, let's go, unless any of you other gentlemen have business you need to finish here? And Sham, I'm sure our very own dual-champion of Decamon master Gibbin would love to hear about how you won this wagon, and perhaps even challenge you to a game?"

[Palathadric]

"Beats me. Not locals, remember?"

"Well, it appears the orc is around. Good luck with your endeavours."

I approach Sham and wonder why his wagon looks so familiar, and yet not.

[Sandy]

"Hello, Sham. Your mother sends her best wishes and hopes your are safe." Hybros examined the cart. "We should not waste time. You can sell us your wares on the way, heheh."

Sham blushes upon the mention of his mother.


"Thanks! My mommy can be overbearing, but I know she loves me unconditionally. I only want the best for her, that's why I'm on this never-ending quest to find my fortune. This wagon certainly gets me much further to my goal! Indeed, I have loaded the wagon with stuff to sell. Just ask what you would like to buy and I will see if I can provide it."

~SHAM POO'S WAGON OF WONDERS~

Sham has gathered all sorts of items to the Shammobile. The heroes may request any existing item and Sham will tell if he has it in stock and how much he charges for it. He does not have an unlimited stock of any item, though, and does not have items that have not been featured in a quest before at all.

"And Sham, I'm sure our very own dual-champion of Decamon master Gibbin would love to hear about how you won this wagon, and perhaps even challenge you to a game?"

"Oh, I've had quite enough of playing with the cards - I was never very good with them, anyway - but I actually got this wagon as a reward for becoming an official Decamon Trader. If you want to trade your Decamon cards in for prizes, let me know!

~DECAMON PRIZES~

The following prizes can be exchanged for a Decamon card (besides Ethereal) of the corresponding number:
1. Potion
2. Grand Potion
3. Remedy
4. Elixir
5. Health Core
6. Phoenix Essence
7. Aeolus/Agni/Baldur/Demeter/Gaia/Neptune/Rudra/Seth/Skadi Bomb (Depends on the type)
8. Amethyst/Aquamarine/Diamond/Emerald/Garnet/Opal/Ruby/Sapphire/Topaz (Depends on the type)
9. (Depends on the type):
Aquatic Axe (WP:9, triple damage against fiery and luminous enemies, no damage against electric and flying enemies; axe)
Dark Lance (WP:9, triple damage against plants and flying enemies, no damage against fiery and luminous enemies; lance)
Electric Rod (WP:9, triple damage against aquatic and flying enemies, no damage against rock and icy enemies; staff)
Icy Halberd (WP:9, triple damage against plants and electric enemies, no damage against fiery and rock enemies; halberd)
Fiery Sword (WP:9, triple damage against icy and dark enemies, no damage against aquatic and luminous enemies; longsword)
Flying Boomerang (WP:9, triple damage against rock and aquatic enemies, no damage against electric and dark enemies; throwing weapon)
Luminous Bow (WP:9, triple damage against dark and fiery enemies, no damage against plants and aquatic enemies; bow)
Plant Whip (WP:9, triple damage against rock and luminous enemies, no damage against icy and dark enemies; whip)
Rock Club (WP:9, triple damage against electric and icy enemies, no damage against plants and flying enemies; club)
10. Mystery Prize (???)

The following prizes can be exchanged for an Ethereal card of the corresponding number:
1. Tonic
2. Grand Tonic
3. Neutralizer
4. Tiger Balm
5. Ether Core
6. Fenghuang Essence (After being consumed, automatically revives the target with full health once when knocked out; cannot revive targets that are already knocked out)
7. Pumpkin Bomb (Causes stunned-, poisoned-, asleep-, blinded-, sealed- and confused-effects to all opponents when used.)
8. Scroll of Antimagic (Makes the target immune to magic for one battle; has 1/2 chance of success and costs 1 ether)
9.
Ethereal Shield (SP:9, the wearer is immune to magic; shield)
10. Mystery Prize (???)


"But we must not dawdle! Get in, everyone! We still have a long drive ahead of us before Goetia, so we will have plenty of time to sort out any businesses you might want to entangle with."

The heroes embarked the Shammobile and it started rolling down the street. Soon Miranda was left behind, and verdant, rolling hills surrounded them on both sides.

[CMP]

Atramor sat in a corner of the wagon not looking particularly pleased. He'd sailed on the sea. He'd sailed in the sky. He had sailed underground. Sailing in a rickety magical wagon was not something he had ever imagined doing and not something he was enjoying at this very moment. He grumbled as the Shammobile hits a few more rocks on its way.

"Ya've done well for yourself ever since our last meetin' in Xu, Sham. Got any Cloaks of the Grand Vizier (SP:1 multiplied by the number of party members; backwear) back there?"

[JimBee]

"Hm, would you happen to have a Toxic Hood: (Headwear, converts poison to blessed effect)?"

[K-Nut]

"Any Crystal Shoes?" ​Althior asks, mischievously.

[Sandy]

QM Note: You guys really think you need more overpowered artifacts?

"Ya've done well for yourself ever since our last meetin' in Xu, Sham. Got any Cloaks of the Grand Vizier (SP:1 multiplied by the number of party members; backwear) back there?"

"Hm, would you happen to have a Toxic Hood: (Headwear, converts poison to blessed effect)?"

"Any Crystal Shoes?" Althior asks, mischievously.

Sham shook off the inquiries.


"What do I look like, some sort of fashion guru? If I had super rare stuff like that to sell, I wouldn't be travelling dusty roads in a wagon! So the answer is that I unfortunately have none of those to sell."

[CMP]

"Well, what do ya' have?"

[JimBee]

"Hm, alright then... perhaps some Ancient Amber (Makes a weapon deal double damage to Ancient-type enemies when merged into a weapon at a smithy; can only be merged once per weapon, and never into shields; the weapon must be renamed to include "ancient" and "amber" in the name.) or a Blue Hand Shield (SP:5, grants immunity to five effects of the user’s choice; these immunities cannot be changed once selected; shield)? Neither of those are artifacts... heh."

QM Note: You guys really think you need more overpowered artifacts?

OOC: You did say we could ask for anything.

[Palathadric]

"Do you have any of these?" I query, holding up a list:

Dualis Sceptre (WP: 8, Dual-Striking; Staff) I'm not sure where they first came from. Haldor had them in his inventory.

Pheles Rod (WP: 20, user generates an Aura, doubling health but drawing all attacks to them) (Quest #44)

Quarterstaff (WP:4/8 against humanoids, staff) (Quest #43)

Healing Staff (WP:5, healing effect)

Crimson Haze (Causes a weapon to deal the Poisoned by 7 and Cursed effects permanently) (CMP Quests)

Health Core

Ether Core

Pumkin Bomb

Scroll of Arc Sealing (Quest #85)

Scroll of Love (Quest #125)

[Quarryman]

"Hmm, but how about a small Sigil of the Cold Circle?" (raising undead costs double ether, but undead are three times as powerful)

"Or failing that, just some adamantite or mythril, or perhaps some bright polishes?"

[CMP]

Pheles Rod (WP: 20, user generates an Aura, doubling health but drawing all attacks to them) (Quest #44)

"I can just about promise he don't have that, mate."

[Sandy]

"Well, what do ya' have?"

"Well, I have gadgets and gizmos a-plenty. I've got whoosits and whatsits galore. You want thingamabobs? I've got twenty!"

"Hm, alright then... perhaps some Ancient Amber (Makes a weapon deal double damage to Ancient-type enemies when merged into a weapon at a smithy; can only be merged once per weapon, and never into shields; the weapon must be renamed to include "ancient" and "amber" in the name.) or a Blue Hand Shield (SP:5, grants immunity to five effects of the user’s choice; these immunities cannot be changed once selected; shield)? Neither of those are artifacts... heh."

"Let's see... Yes, I do have one Ancient Amber on the top of that shelf! I would be willing to part with it for 200 gold. Deal?"

"Do you have any of these?" I query, holding up a list:

Dualis Sceptre (WP: 8, Dual-Striking; Staff) I'm not sure where they first came from. Haldor had them in his inventory.
Pheles Rod (WP: 20, user generates an Aura, doubling health but drawing all attacks to them) (Quest #44)
Quarterstaff (WP:4/8 against humanoids, staff) (Quest #43)
Healing Staff (WP:5, healing effect)
Crimson Haze (Causes a weapon to deal the Poisoned by 7 and Cursed effects permanently) (CMP Quests)
Health Core
Ether Core
Pumkin Bomb
Scroll of Arc Sealing (Quest #85)
Scroll of Love (Quest #125)

"I have a Quarterstaff that I could sell for 50 gold. I also have six Health Cores and four Ether Cores, prized 50 gold and 100 gold, respectively. The rest of those, I don't possess."

"Hmm, but how about a small Sigil of the Cold Circle?" (raising undead costs double ether, but undead are three times as powerful)
"Or failing that, just some adamantite or mythril, or perhaps some bright polishes?"

"Oh, I have held onto a Mythril Ore for years now. I'm willing to sell it for 1000 gold. What comes to the sigil, I would never dare to carry something ominous like that in my belongings!"

[CMP]

"Got any Everlastin' Venom (Causes a weapon to deal the poisoned by 10 effect), or any kinda Sharpened Fangs? (Causes a weapon to deal the bleeding by 3 effect) Doubt you keep any Level-Up Mushrooms in here. Demon Repellent could also help us out here."

"And I s'pose I might not be shufflin' these cards around again, so...may as well trade in this Archangel (Luminous 10) Decamon card. Better not be a trash prize, mate."

Edited May 22, 2016 by CallMePie

[K-Nut]

"What about some Raw Meat, a Grating Stone, a Spyglass, Hydra Skin, or some Prayer Beads?"

[JimBee]

"Deal." Hybros exchanged 200 gold for the item and sat down at the side of the cart, satisfied with with his purchase.

[Quarryman]

"100 gold for an ether core sounds outrageous, Elphaba used to sell them for 60, so how about 250 for all four, that's more than Elphaba charged."

"Oh, and since this is Elphaba's old wagon that means it's a magic shop, doubt even you could take the magic out of this place, so here's some bones I wish to sell."

[Palathadric]

"Althior, do you mind handing me 50 of my gold for the Quarterstaff?

"Do you have any Strong Wasabi (-2 Poisoned when applied to a weapon, permanently) (Quest #127)? What about gems? I guess you don't have any scrolls?"

How much are the bones sold for in the magic shops? I wouldn't mind buying a few. I'm sort of collector I guess.

Edited May 22, 2016 by Palathadric