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[Sutoratosu Akira]

Aurora's eyes narrowed as she realized that the woman was likely a prisoner of some kind. Though for what reason she could not hope to deduce, there was no doubt some insidious undertone to it. Such was the nature of the Portal of Evil, to bring them to such places where it flourished so that they may cultivate their own strength. Which meant that here, likely, that cultivation would not come from vanquishing it, but from bargaining with it. She filed away the Caveman's proposal for now and let her life sense retreat, while her broader, albeit far less acute ones expand. She focused on the one called 'Newt', trying to study whatever supernatural power might lie within him, or he might be serving as a conduit for.

[Devastator]

Newton flies in at this point, more than a little curious about what "Life Force" means to an undead.

Remembering that Utzi cannot read, Newton simply lands near him, looks up, and gives a caw.

While waiting for Utzi's response, Newton glances at the bubbling bowls.  Do they smell of anything?

[StormLord]

Aurora finds the Newt to be almost perfectly attuned to the area, whether this is a personal realm or a realm carved out personally she couldn't tell.  He obviously had some control over the barriers and both the crystal and the statues resonated similar energies.  This blue magic also permeated the small buds and the tablet on and near the counters.

At this point Newt seems to take notice of Aurora's staring and raises his gaze to meet hers.
"Found."
He claps a hand against the block of crystal.
"Drifting.  In Lifestream beyond.  Useful?"

Newton finds the cauldrons smell sour and bitter, like magic and chemicals.
[Yellow Cauldron: Offer tribute for reward.  Trade a boss-loot item for a special artifact.]
[Grey Cauldron: Offer tribute for reward.  Trade three item levels and/or Lunar for a weak artifact.]
[Green Cauldron: Offer tribute for reward.  Trade five item levels and/or Lunar for a moderate artifact.]
[Red Cauldron: Offer tribute for reward.  Trade seven item levels and/or Lunar for a powerful artifact.]

[nuclearwhale]

Utzi nods as Newton lands next to him, and he points at the tablet and the frozen figure as he explains what is going on.
"This tablet can explain what's going on better than I can. But... it feels like we can offer up some... energy? And gain things that we can trade to free this person." Utzi closes his eyes. "I think I can get 4 of the 10 things we need comfortably, but I'd need everyone else's help to free them. Being stuck frozen is very unpleasant, and we should do what we can to help."

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Well... whatever his true nature might be, I don't think we're under much threat here so long as no one starts trouble. so...

"Hmmm..." She finally decided to relax a little and approached the lizard and the crystal prison he gestured to, looking closely at the woman she knew to be inside. At least that somewhat cleared up whether he'd had any involvement in it. Still it was even more strange if he found her adrift in a life stream. She knew from experience that it wasn't impossible for lifeforce to crystalize into physical form when it was dense enough and the conditions were just right, but it was nonetheless rare for both of those conditions to be met at once. Even more rare for a mortal to survive being trapped inside of said condensing. Though perhaps the lifestuff of whatever world she hailed from was far less harsh than her own.

 "Well, I suppose new blood never really hurts, so long as they have some sense." She thought it over for a bit and then turned her attention to Utzi "you suggested everyone pitching in a bit to free her, yes? I guess I wouldn't be terribly adverse to the idea. Let's just hope she's thankful for it..."

[nuclearwhale]

Utzi frowns, as he considers Aurora's question. "Yes. We need Ten, and I feel like I can pitch in four comfortably. How many do you think you can spend for her?"

[AzyWng]

Lyra nodded as she heard Utzi's proposal.

"Utzi's got a point. We can hardly just... let her be. But something about this..." Turning now to the lizard person, Lyra asked, "Is there any other way to acquire Lunar Coins? Without giving up our life force?" Now facing the lizard person, Lyra sized him up, trying to determine how easy or hard it would be to take him down - if things came to that, of course. Though if what he had said was true, she doubted violence would bring the trapped woman any closer to freedom.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

"Hmmm..." yet another thing for Aurora to consider. If she recalled correctly from what she'd heard a few minutes ago though...  "I could probably exchange for between six or ten coins without weakening myself to the point it gets someone killed. however many I decide to trade for though, I'll match your four towards her freedom."

[StormLord]

Examining the crystal up close Aurora determines it isn't simply crystalized life, but life and order stitched together with the seeming express function of acting as a prison.  The work of a being well beyond this shop keeper, something more akin to the work of another deity.


Newt shifts at Lyra's comment.
"Care not.  Who's life."

[AzyWng]

Lyra held back a sigh. Of course he wasn't open to alternative methods of payment.

"I think I could exchange for... four or five coins, perhaps. But only to get that lady out of there. That way one of you doesn't have to surrender as much." Lyra would've offered more... but she had a goddess she needed to serve. She couldn't do that if she'd offered up too much of her life force.

That was one of her... less selfish reasons, anyway.

[nuclearwhale]

"We only need to offer up ten. Since..." Utzi glances over at Aurora. "You have the most you can safely offer, I propose that we do three from Lyra, three from me, and four from you, that way everyone's giving a little bit less than than their limit. Unless either of you have any objections."

[Shadestyle]

Mar, who had been following quietly, approaches the lunar tablet.


"The old should pave the way for the young.  I'll volunteer two of my own for their freedom."

"As for the cauldrons... Well, it never hurt one to gamble a bit."

And he had so very, very much to gamble away.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mar will trade

Reaper grog: 1 Level
Invisible Glaive: 2 Levels
Enchanted Boomerang: 6 Levels
Bulky Blast Shield: 4 Levels
Core of Stupefaction: 1 Level
Craft Tokens: 3 Levels
Mar's Stats: -4
Total: 21 Tokens


For three Red Items
He'll also pay 2 stats into the "save NPC fund"

[nuclearwhale]

Utzi's eyes widen as Mar approaches. "Of course, Honored elder. With your contribution in mind, and if Newton chips in, we can all give up two of our points to free her. That shouldn't hurt us very much at all. Would everyone be okay with that?" He asks, as he feels his spirit slipping away, leaving four circular coins in his inventory. (Utzi trades away 2 intelligence and 1 level of "Flash Freeze" for 4 Spirit Coins.)

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Aurora considered Lyra's offer. And what she had felt when she had looked closer at the crystal. The woman inside surely had a story to tell, one that probably involved angering a god. One she couldn't help but find herself quite interested in hearing. Before she could even formulate her thoughts however, the cave man had already spoken them. And then an old face finally spoke up too.

"I have no objections to that split." she nodded "Two per every person present here sounds perfectly reasonable."

[AzyWng]

Lyra hadn't seen Mar - at all, rather embarrassing for someone who thought she was decent at being sneaky. Shaking off the brief surprise, Lyra said, "All right. I'm on board with that plan."

The contractor half-considered preaching about Mitsurugi, but thought better of it. For all she knew, a sermon would just make the rescued victim wish for the crystal again.