It's a con!

Subject: It's a con! Sun Jul 08, 2012 3:51 pm

Pang walked off the boat in his usual fashion. He held his hands behind his back, a pleasant smile on his face, and was carrying on a conversation with Sym the Rabbit-Mouse like it was a perfectly normal thing to be debating the various advantages and disadvantages to using platinum alloy over aluminium alloy in weapon construction with an animal. It certainly earned him a look or two from the dock-workers as he went. Of course, Sym was being stubborn about it as usual.

"No, no, no." Pang was saying to the little creature as she jabbered at him. He was completely ignoring the strange looks he was drawing. They weren't without reason. An old man talking to a rabbit-mouse, walking along in warm clothing in one of the hottest cities in the world without so much as a bead of sweat. It defied convention in all it's forms. "You and I both know that an alloy made from steel and platinum is much more resistant to bending than that! OH! Well, now you're just being unreasonable!"

He walked through the city at a leisurely pace, headed for the forge of Lung Bai Li, an old colleague who had been teasing him with a method of creating unbendable jade glass for months. He'd finally won a bet with him and was coming to collect the secret as payment. It wasn't like they were competitors or anything. On the contrary, they didn't even sell to the same people. However, they'd been sharing their techniques for so long that the only way they got any fun out of it anymore was to make bets for it. Thankfully for Pang, Lung was about as lucky as road-kill.

Subject: Re: It's a con! Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:41 pm

That day she was in for some exhibitions. It was fun, actually. Besides, she had a lot of useless stuff she needed to sell off for unreasonable prices. Why? Because she could and because she wanted a few new pieces of clothing… and needed to pay rent.

This time, dressed in a long, loose black dress and a few silk shawls, not to mention jewelry that seemed to end nowhere, she made her way to the busy streets, finding a nice place near the harbor. She set up a table which was nothing more than a box and would from there on begin to draw attention. She’d prove that with a magical paw as a talisman that she owned, she could never lose a game. Yet, she’d claim she’d sell it to the highest bidder. Of course, at first, not many were expected to believe her. Well, she’d just prove she couldn’t lose. Of course, having the nimble hands that she did, she probably wouldn’t lose to anyone. She’d even let them pick a game or shuffle anything. It was just a matter of time until they tell her the right answer with their body language. She just had to wait and observe.

”Come one, come all! An opportunity of a life time has been placed before you! They say there is no price for the luck of a man, but today – I stand before you with just that – the most powerful talisman of luck there is! Whoever wants it the most, will have it. State your bid now!” She spoke out loud, since there was a pretty neat crowd around her by now. She even felt the need to get on the very box she had used as a table. ”So far, the highest bid is five thousand. Will no one say more? No? Then so shall it b-“ [b]”Five thousand and five hundred!” one yelled. “Six thousand!” Came another voice. Good thing most of her facial features were hidden by the silk or she’d give away a big cheesy smile.

*Too easy…*

Subject: Re: It's a con! Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:51 pm

Pang entered the throng headed into the city from the docks, still arguing with Sym. But then something interesting caught his attention -- a young woman with one hell of a trinket. He joined the crowd gathered around the girl, already bidding on her lucky charm. It was interesting the numbers that were being thrown around. It was a lot of money they were talking about. Standing patiently at the back of the crowd, he waited patiently for the different bidders to reach their limits.

"10,000!"

"13,000!"

"30,000!"

This last one shocked most in the crowd into total silence.

"Mm." Pang muttered under his breath. "High roller!"

Sym chirped agreement. Pang slipped a hand into his uwagi and withdrew a small plate of solid gold. He weighed it in his hands for a second and then, just as Mr. 30,000 was gloating over his seemingly invincible bid, he called out with his own offer.

"Seventeen ounces of gold!" he called, brandishing the plate.

There was a collective gasp in the crowd as it parted so that everyone could get a good look at the little old man who had just offered enough gold to buy a small house in Caldera City. That much gold was worth almost 150,000 coppers. The offer pretty much blasted all others out of the water. He leisurely approached the girl on her box in all his sooty glory, making sure the gold was in plain view.

"Assuming, of course, you're willing to prove just how lucky that little bauble really is." he said as he came to a standstill right in front of her. All eyes turned to the girl, awaiting her answer to this challenge.

Subject: Re: It's a con! Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:27 am

Oh, everything was going according to plan. Just to think someone actually was willing to give thirty thousand. ”So be it! The paw is given to this young ma-“ ”Seventeen ounces of gold!” By those words she sort of froze and glanced in the direction of the voice. That old man was not thinking straight, right? Seventeen ounces of gold? With that she could forget about rent and just buy an apartment in the capital. What was it? About five times more than the last bid? She had to think carefully about it. It was a bit suspicious. Unless someone was truly desperate, why spend so much on a supposedly lucky trinket? Well, there were just people who had tons of money and didn’t think much of spending such an amount, but didn’t those people usually have guards near them? She just couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad might happen.

”The exhibitions have already ended. I assumed that after thirty games I’d prove my point… However, if you still doubt the power of this talisman, then so be it. I shall grant your wish, sir.” she gave out, before hopping off the box. ”So, what sort of game do you wish to play?” she asked in a calm manner. The girl was dressed like some mysterious gypsy or seer you read about in fairy tales, so she sort of had to stay in character. Besides, this get-up gave her a bigger chance of selling off stuff at high prices.

Sitting down, she crossed her legs under the long, big robe-like dress and waited for the man to sit as well. It was just a matter of time. She’d win, he’d lose. They would still believe her and she’d go off with a good amount of gold.

”May I know where the wealthy sir is from?”

Subject: Re: It's a con! Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:55 pm

"How about we make that part of the payment... if you win my game, of course." Pang smiled. This was what he was really paying for. He didn't believe it was a lucky charm any more than he believed the sky was made of blue silk. However, good entertainment was priceless. And Lung Bai could stand to wait a week or two more while a messenger hawk brought some new gold. It wasn't like he was taking off right away...

"Now, then." he said, leaning down and placing the gold on the girl's little table before straightening up with a mischievous smile, holding his arms behind his back. "I think I want to see what that trinket is really capable of. We've seen you excel in games of chance, sure! But those can be... arranged. So, let's look at a real challenge."

There was a fair amount of chatter in the crowd now. Most were hypothesizing about what his challenge would entail. His smile widened as he looked out of the corner of his eye at Sym, who was doing the same.

"You know," he said finally. "They say that only the luck of a god can give you the ability to catch a rabbit-mouse."

Looking down at the girl, his smile became somewhat maniacal.

"I'd start stretching if I were you." he chuckled. At that precise moment, Sym darted off his shoulder and disappeared into the crowd. "Too late."

Subject: Re: It's a con! Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:10 am

He’d tell her where he was from only if she won? Well, not like she really was that curious, but this man had proven to be a little entertaining. Looking at the man from underneath the shadow of the hood of her robe, she tried to pinpoint what exactly was his goal. Why so set on paying so much where the objective was to catch his pet? Well, quite honestly, she didn’t want to. ”I don’t really want to run after it…” she said in a calm manner, crossing her hands and taking a more stern position. Come to think of it – yes, she still had many buyers… even if they didn’t offer as much. This was just a choice between getting a lot of money or risking her comfort.

The young woman only sighed as the small rodent took off. ”I see your faith in this charm is weak… Fine, I shall give it a try. You need it back in-tact, yes?” she made sure, while forcing herself up to her feet, taking the charm and calmly walking off in the direction that rodent ran off to.

*Man, I don’t wanna do this. How the hell am I supposed to find that little thing here? Where would a rat go…?* she thought while cutting a corner and disappearing from the view of all the potential buyers. At that moment she started to run.
*That damn old man! He’s some sort of a sadist!*

”Aaaaaah! A mouse!!!” came a scream from further away. Yosko just assumed it was her little target. Besides, what was the chance of another rodent crawling out just when Yosko needed to hunt one down? That’s right – close to none… unless the charm worked but just brought incredibly bad luck.

Running after it, she could only think about why she was doing it… and how she’d much rather watch the little thing fall in some trap than happily skip around town.

Subject: Re: It's a con! Thu Jul 12, 2012 7:19 am

Pang smiled as she gave chase and picked up the girl's little wooden box, carrying it over to a short stone wall and planting it atop it. He then climbed up and planted himself atop the box. His balance was perfect on his little stool as he watched the girl run this way and that, chasing Sym. She didn't have a chance in hell of catching her either. He was taking bets with himself on how long she'd keep at it before she'd throw in the towel and give up on catching the little runt.

"So, hey." said a voice, making him look around. "Is that really a lucky charm?"

It was one of the men from the crowd. Everyone save Pang and this man, who looked thoroughly shabby, had left as soon as the girl had given in to the challenge. Pang chuckled.

"Tell you what, friend," he said, clapping the man on the shoulder. "If she wins, you can have the thing."

The man just stared at Pang like he was staring into the eyes of something so unbelievable he couldn't even move.