voice: old dog turning new tricks | set after everyone's things have been secreted back to them

[weifinder]

( this, sadly, starts with a moan. a very protracted one, where someone starts to speak when the moan seems done, and then: nope. onward it goes. there's an audible sigh, tapping of something against wood, and when the interference finally ends, Wei Wuxian speaks. )

Aside from a few voices advertising one means of obtaining coin, here's my question for the rest of us on this voice communication: who has anything they're willing to part with or make to sell at auction? For exaggerated stories about their origins, of course. I have somewhere lined up to store things leading up to, and there are people to try and talk with if we want to get anything into an exclusive auction. If we can invent a convincing enough background for something to make it.

( he pauses for long enough it seems like he might just have ended his talking there, before waiting for anyone to speak back. instead, he eventually adds: )

Is there, ah. Hmm. Anyone willing to help with posing for a few paintings? I'm a decent enough artist, but I've never been great at drawing from imagination, which is that or memory, really old memory, not going to cut it for what I'm thinking!

( what he's thinking: sex sells. can a guy get some clothed models for unclothed artwork, thanks? also he's not painting Lan Zhan for this, he would rather walk out into a blizzard filled with undead, thanks. )

( ooc: this is all optional for responses, but here's an ooc thread for anyone wanting to submit something for auction! i'm collecting a possible donation list (things characters can make count as donations!) so i can get it submitted for an idea of what might get bankrolled out of playing the auctions in the end! )

Comments

[bearshermark]

[Eleven can be found easily, settled on one of the cots and surrounded by a full set of metal armor, a pair of swords, and a glint of a few of the orbs he mentioned from beneath a sheet. He looks up from examining a pink twig to find a searching face and offers a smile]

Are you looking for me?

[weifinder]

( He blinks, then smiles, slipping close to Eleven's cot. He's not seen armour like this before, and the swords are a different make than he's used to, but the fact the voice matches and this person'd been on the lookout is a positive indication for him.

Lifting his hands to cup them around each other, he nods his head. )

Yes, I think so! Wei Ying, courtesy name Wuxian, here to talk about how to play our bets at the auction house. You are...?

[bearshermark]

[Eleven turns thoughtful a moment as the name rings vaguely familiar until his eyes brighten]

Eleven. I think we might have spoken before about my healing magic..?

[weifinder]

( He claps his hands, though not hard, so the sound of it is muffled. )

Ah, yes! How's that been going, by the by?

( He looks for anywhere to sit and... ends up picking up something or another to perch himself precariously, uninvited. If they're conversing, better look like they're conversing instead of just staring at each other talking in anything above a murmur. )

[bearshermark]

[Eleven smiles, a touch apologetic for the stuff littered about his cot. He sets a few moments aside to straighten it and make an acceptable bit of room for his er, 'guest' of sorts in the small stretch of space he can call his own for the time being]

Well enough. I can't hide the glow entirely, but with lesser wounds, I can ensure it isn't visible for long. I receive food in exchange for the most part, but that serves me just as well in saving coin, as that's all I'm truly tempted to spend it on.

[weifinder]

Growing tired of the millet?

( asked with a wry while, given it's what can be expected here, and he's thankful if bleak on its flavour profile. still, it is what it is, and he's survived on less, and worse. )

There's those who thrall here, and I suspect users of magics are throughout the realms we may see. On the road, being willing to barter is wise, but... don't sell your skills short to the ones who can afford them, ah?

( helping those is need is important. defending the weak, healing the sick, things like this are things he believes in.

so is surviving, so when people can afford something, in his eyes, let them purchase what they need. that's fair, without being profiteering.

even if he sighs and shakes his head for the moment. )

These are the eyes you mentioned? And the... sticks?

[bearshermark]

[It's good advice, only.. difficult to enact in practice. Still, he nods understanding and reaches to draw the sheet off of the eyes]

I think these could get a good price. They're worth a thousand gold pieces each in my world, so I'd hope we can get at least that here. Hopefully more for being unique though.

[Eleven retrieves one of the pink pine twigs, then hands it over for inspection] Less than a hundred for one of these, though. It's just... a bit of pink wood.

[weifinder]

( He nods, lifting an eyebrow at the less than a hundred. )

Is all your currency in gold?

( That said, he reaches for a pink twig, looking at it in speculation. Turning it this way and that. )

Other than the colour, there's no property to this wood? The eyes shouldn't be a problem, and this... how would you feel about these twigs being carved into something like hair pins?

[bearshermark]

Mostly.

[Everything is traded for gold, anyway- though some may prefer jewels or magical treasures, ultimately they're bought or sold for gold.

He shrugs]

It doesn't have any magical properties, but it's a soft, supple wood. If you know someone that can carve more value from them, then I'm willing to part with them.

[weifinder]

Huh.

( For a man from a world of coppers, silvers, and golds, with silver probably most common after copper-like coinage, it's a very odd thought. Still, shaking his head, he grins. )

Myself and my good friend are capable carvers, and his eye for detail can expand on my eye for practicality. Enough hear wear hair long, so wooden pins with delicate carving in the wood may in fact sell well. More than a twig would, unless we have a better story for what it might mean to be such a lovely colour.

( That said, he cants his head and looks back to Eleven, quirking up his brow. )

Seem like a chance worth taking?

[bearshermark]

[He turns over one of the other twogs with a hapless shrug. He'd thought of keeping them to possibly trade for pocket money, but he's not certain how to sell them as worth much]

A rare tree. [That's all he's got. Eleven shuffles to gather up the collection of pink twigs and offers them]

I'm not good at lying, so it's better someone else handle these anyway.

[weifinder]

( He accepts all the twigs, mentally going, they probably could have been kindling... in other circumstances. Where they weren't trying to raise funds fast, to get out of town similarly quickly. Without drawing attention.

He offers a lopsided smile, holding all these twigs. )

You weren't even lying. This is a rare tree to this world, as far as we can assume right now, it doesn't even exist. So, say, hand-carved hairpins from two foreign masters made from the wood of an impossible to find tree is all true. Does it matter what kind of masters? Why the tree is impossible to find?

( He lifts his shoulders up a touch, shaking his head and sighing. )

The best lies are true, with enough said to let people draw their own conclusions.

[bearshermark]

[He tips his head, giving his acquaintance a long look as he considers that.

Finally, he smiles, then shifts to sort out how best to wrap up the eyes for easy transport]

You seem quite wise. This isn't the first time you've given me something to think about.

[weifinder]

( Wei Wuxian breathes out in a laugh that trails off, smiling for a moment. )

I'm older, I've lived through more, I should be wiser, right? That's part of why we respect each elder generation. Anyway, everyone has their own wisdom, I can tell you have yours, too. It's listening to each other that helps figure out what we might not see on our own, and working together that's going to get us through all this.

[bearshermark]

[It's a familiar refrain, and one that leaves him keenly missing his companions all over again. Though not certain what sort of wisdom he can offer anyone, Eleven nods]

It's good we all have a common goal to work toward together.

[After a few moments, Eleven simply ties up the eyes inside a sheet. He lifts them up to offer over]

It's important that we can trust each other.

[weifinder]

( He nods his head to Eleven, accepting the sheet; )

Thank you, I'll have this back to you later this day.

( Though now he holds pink twigs and sheet-encased eyes, still sitting for the moment. )

Trust is something given and somethin earned. Trusting people here is a choice, and I believe it's the right one. And that's not limited to those of us abducted, just as betrayals aren't limited to those native to this realm.

( He stands with that, though, and smiles at Eleven. )

Still, if we don't give that trust, we can't ask for it. Like right now, trusting each other trying to get the funds we need to more safely exit this citadel. Thank you for your trust, Eleven. It's something I hope to continue to merit.