Research costs money
Shimoje stood amongst the group and listened tentatively to Arch describe a decent start to a plan. Shimoje didn’t like the sound of himself being actually part of the hunt, but he did figure he could somehow help from within the safety of the city, or be able to report somehow to the group of new information found about these birds. He does know a thing or two about crafting certain devices that would be able to help in the capture or killing of the beast, but for now he figured he would listen to Arch’s advice and search for information.
“Fairly well, It’s Shimoje (Shee-Mo-Jee) by the way.” Shimoje looked over to the leader of the group with a smile. The little squirrel seemed to have taken charge of things fairly fast. He couldn’t help but to think that a bird would just swoop in and carry him away like a rodent. It wouldn’t be long for things to take an unexpected turn for the worst during this hunt, but somehow Shimoje was positive that the group couldn’t fail, not with the as much experienced people who had gathered to take on this task.
“I will look around the city and search for a variety of information on the bird. You said it is carnivorous, dangerous, it can instantly kill a deer, had a skull on its head, the wings were huge, and the feathers like coal. Got it.” Shimoje took a mental note of all the descriptions he had heard and overheard Irathia describe to Archailist.
“We need a way to figure out how to communicate while I stay in the city. As soon as I figure out information I will somehow send this information to you, and should I need to. For today I will report back to the stone garden and should this take longer than I would expect I will spend my nights devoted to this cause while I continue the days of my normal tasks. If you need to reach me I will be at the stone gardens just before dusk every night if it takes a long time. I will report back here in two bells time to present any information I can gather now.” Whew Shimoje’s long breathed speech talking to the group made him seem like he had great initiative. Though he could not officially be part of the hunt he would do his best to find research on it and help the group in whatever way he could.
Shimoje stood up from the bench and headed out to search the Bazaar for information, but he had another place in mind, amongst all the others. He had been afraid to enter the shop because he had always hated clutter and nasty looking places. Though, just this once Shimoje figured he would make an exception. He left the Stone Gardens and waved goodbye charismatically at the group, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time that he would come across them.
“To that nasty shop, I guess then.” Shimoje whispered to himself.
While walking around Syliras he kept a keen eye about for any miscreants that might cross his way. He didn’t want to let down his guard at all, and in the observation he would usually always note something new anyways that would give him inspiration. This time he spotted a knight carrying a spearhead like a spade. It would deliver a heck of a blow if driven into something and twisted. Twisting force, Shimoje had experimented with it before, and it proved to have quite an effect. As he neared the shop Shimoje noticed the sign of the little shop with a few cobwebs on it from neglect. It read “The Undeniable Interests.” For some reason he was very nervous upon entering the shop. Once he entered he saw shelves upon shelves of cluttered vials filled with unknown liquids, as well as collections of book stacked in the corners, tools that looked like they hadn’t been used in a while, and a variety of other strange and unusual artifacts. He was greeted by an old man who looked like every breath he took let out a bit of dust from his old beard.
“Hello, I am Dominac Ariva.” He stated
“What oddities do you seek today?” The man continued on while fiddling with a quill and notebook, most likely going over numbers to a ledger of his business as Shimoje noticed the numbers on the page. He was totally overwhelmed but knew that he must gather some stuff to continue his research. It would probably prove to be costly, and Shimoje didn’t have much money, but he figured it would be worth it.
“Might you have any journals or books on the beasts of this world?” Shimoje asked politely. He was greeted by a raised brow and the man responded by turning around and picking up a book which seemed to be barely used. It was under a few other books and looked like it hadn’t been opened in ages. He held the book in his hands and said
“This book might be what you are looking for. It has a bestiary section and accounts of an adventurer who had encountered various monsters and things along his travels.” Shimoje didn’t want to purchase it without knowing that it was exactly what he needed.
“Might I see it, sir?” Shimoje asked kindly. He got a stiff and firm answer
“No” by the old man. Shimoje’s face went down to his feet and he was a bit disappointed. His face got a bit red as well, and clearly haggling with the man would be proven to be a difficult thing to do.
“Well I do need more than just the book, sir. I also might need some things to draw and parchment, along with other tools to help with it.” He had asked. The man browsed around while taking the journal with him and gathered together a blank book, a quill, some paper sheets, and ink of different varieties and brought them to Shimoje. With a look of frustration Shimoje knew he didn’t want to spend a lot of money here, but he knew he needed the supplies.
“I would like 5 pieces of paper, two vials of ink, one blank book, and the quill please. Also, how much would that come to with and without the journal?” He asked once again trying to remain polite. The man tallied up everything together
“let’s see here, the journal is kind of hard to understand so 10gm, and the blank book 3gm...” he paused as if doing his math was fairly slow “the ink 2gm, the quill 5cm, the 5 sheets of paper 2gm… the total is 17gm 5cm” he had stated.
“You’ve got to be petching me” Shimoje thought. “Hmm, if I buy something else will you make it even?” Shimoje asked reluctantly
“What did you have in mind young man?” The older man raised his eyebrow at him curiously.
“How about a crafter’s toolkit?” Shimoje responded.
“Well that would be 25gm bringing your total to 43gm.” The old man quirked out a smile. Something seemed off to Shimoje, and he went over the numbers once again.
“Hey old man, I think you rounded up not down.” Shimoje said a bit annoyingly.
ledger2 ink vials 2gm,
Quill 5cm
5 sheets of paper 2gm
Blank book 3gm
Journal: A hunter’s experience
Crafter’s toolkit 25gm
Total is 42gm 5 cm
“Oh you are right. That makes it 42gm and 5cm.” He let out with a chuckle of his own. This man was not easy to deal with in the least, and Shimoje gave in. At least he caught him in his math. Shimoje handed the man his coins and stuffed everything except the journal into his pack. He examined the book a little bit closer and noticed how sloppy some of the writing was. As he was flipping through the pages he saw drawings of various creatures he had never seen before. Only one looked like it had wings. It was written as a Kriital. The writing was done so very rapidly but remarked on the charcoal black like what Irathia had stated before. It showed a drawing of a cave or den on a mountain below it. Maybe this meant that the bird was cave dwelling? Shimoje didn’t know for sure and there was more to try to decipher but he thought that maybe this would be good enough for now. He headed back the stone garden to tell them that the bird was called a Kriital and it might be located in a cave on a mountain.
Shimoje was surprised by the sheer amount of time he spent in that shop, but was proud that he found something so fast. He finally made it back to the garden and looked to share whatever information he had with the others should they still remain there after a bell had passed.
oocAssume Shimoje would share the information