Padisha's Dance (Moore, Tryll; 85 days left)

[Nephrite]

Then it's back into the Oceanus they go!

[Anastasia]

Waiting on Yuth here, mentioning it since I know you can't be on IRC today.

[Nephrite]

No problem

[Yuthirin]

ONWARD

[Anastasia]

> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=11 ]{11}
> roll 1d100
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=92 ]{92}
> roll 1d100 subtable
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d100 subtable --> [ 1d100=91 ]{91}

The party wanders for a few hours, going deeper and deeper. Yet even as the seabed deepens, it grows no darker. In fact, the waters stay a deep, rich wine-dark purple, suffused with ample light to allow easy vision.

It is perhaps two and a half hours in that Tryll is the one to notice it. The muddy seabed has occasional bits of things that glitter. Some are a rich gold color, other a shiny silver or smooth, gray metallic shade.

[Yuthirin]

'Oh look, everyone. There's-' Tryll is cut off.

"SHINY!" Calleigh dives for the riverbed.

[Anastasia]

"Is that what I think it might be?" Bubbles says, "How fortunate!"

Calleigh goes down. It's surely gold! Gold! Silver! Platinum! Solid, unrusted iron!  Nuggets and hunks of it peek out through the mud, as if just waiting for someone to grab them.

"Princess Calleigh," Westwind calls in Aquan, carrying in the strange waters, "Exercise wisdom. Does greed profit any in Celestia?"

[Nephrite]

Moore can't help but laugh. "You're not wrong, Westwind -- at the same time, the fact that we're finding this means we're meant to find it. I don't think it's greed to take what has been lost and discarded and put it to a truly good cause."

[Anastasia]

"I'll pass on it," Westwind gestures below, "But if you want to, that's your choice. Besides, I have more at home than this. Much more."

[Nephrite]

Moore nods and will fly down... actually, maybe he can get an idea of why this stuff IS here. Is it intended as donations to deities? Hmm...

He's going to cast Hindsight and see if he can ascertain if this stuff maybe just got pushed here by the river itself or maybe came down from above -- He's using the 'weeks' version, which will go back 27 Weeks. If that doesn't turn up anything he'll go Years and then Centuries if needed.

Exact specifications of the spell: http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20030103a

[Anastasia]

Moore looks back in time. You see it happen over the years and centuries. Occasional nuggets of precious metals rise up or sink down, the movement of silt, mud and seabed doing so naturally. Every once in awhile you see and occasional passerby harvest some. One or two things happen:

In some cases, those who gather them store them away, only to become increasingly encumbered. They sink into the mud and silt, never to be seen again by your eyes.

In other cases, those who gather take some, store them away and leave.

Interestingly, your spell seems to consider those to be noteworthy events, even in the view of centuries.

[Nephrite]

Moore nods after a moment. "It is as Westwind says. Take what we need and not more than that." He advises as he flies down. it isn't really about the value, but more about the lesson of greed. At the same time, none of them are taking any of this out of greed... Maybe this would be a good donation for the Aurora fund.

He shakes his head. He'll pick up some and put them in his bag.

He's going just pick 21 random things and put them away. He doesn't really care about the value of any of this so isn't trying to appraise them as he grabs them.

[Anastasia]

Cool. Waiting on Yuth here and will resolve both at once, since what happens here matters big time.

[Nephrite]

OK

[Yuthirin]

"But...we need a LOT! The more money we have, the better we can equip our soldiers and the more likely they are to survive the retaking of Lifasa! They're good people who deserve to get their home back! From devils!" Calleigh protests.

'She's right. It's rare we take things out of greed, and this is especially true since we joined the Aurora. Any gold that does not get used to build our project will be funneled into outfitting our rank and file.' Tryll says, 'It's something we've been thinking on a great deal as of late. Our personal needs are very small. Calleigh and I often lived at the sufferance of others in Brightwater. We were essentially homeless, though that has different meaning for those like us. The simple accumulation of wealth is something for mortals and dragons. We recognize the need for money on behalf of others, though. Frankly, the better equipped our soldiers are, the more likely they are to survive when we invade. Soldiers that live longer can kill more devils.'