Sea of Stars - IC II

[Leon]

++Well i did not expect to win that on my final bid++

[PotatoGolem]

Two ninety. He looks back at his crew. Nothing like the unknown, what?

[Destro_Yersul]

"I quite agree, Captain," Aoife said. It hadn't been directed at her, but she was close enough to overhear. "Nothing quite like the unknown to make a day interesting, right? Three twenty!"

[PotatoGolem]

Three thirty.

[Destro_Yersul]

The next bids were from Sun Lee, for three fifty, and Quinn, for three sixty. Hadarak Fel hrmed and stroked his chin and glanced at Macharius, trying to decide how high he was prepared to go.

[Blarghy]

Bidding against the Captain seemed like a bad idea, and in any case, Echo was more interested in answers than ownership. So long as he got to see the contents of the locker, he'd be satisfied. He sipped his drink and watched. If Macharius backed down--unlikely, Kennoch figured, with Quinn as a rival; that made the lot a matter of pride--he could step in then. He still had plenty of money and not much to else to spend it on. Maybe that orrery would make a beautiful trophy after all, even if he never found the system it represented.

[PotatoGolem]

Three seventy.

[Destro_Yersul]

Fel decided to give it a little more, and went to three-ninety, but Sun Lee wasn't prepared to give up just yet, and at an even four hundred, Fel backed down.

[PotatoGolem]

Macharius shrugs. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Four ten.

[Destro_Yersul]

"Too much for me, I think," Aoife said, with a smile. "Tell me what's in it if you win, Macharius? I'm curious, but there's still a few things I've my eye on, and I don't want to stretch too thin, in case Calligos has any surprises up his sleeve. See him up there, grinning to himself, not saying anything? He's up to something."

On the other side of the room, Quinn and Sun Lee were glaring at each other. She had bid four twenty, and Quinn had immediately jumped to four thirty.

[Haval]

'I feel like everyone whose interested ought to pool our resources. Just in case it's full of old clothes or something. Though I suppose that would spoil Winterscale's fun.' Anika is mostly watching the other bidders. To Macharius, 'If this goes any higher I can always make a contribution. Presuming I can get away with that?'

Winterscale's behaviour made her suspicious, 'He's having fun isn't he. Either he's easily amused or he has a surprise for someone.'

[rax]

Winterscale's behaviour made her suspicious, 'He's having fun isn't he. Either he's easily amused or he has a surprise for someone.'

"I'll bet the storage locker is just full of his old socks. Unwashed and unwanted for decades, the poor things. But who knows what wonders and terrors they've witnessed before they ended up on the cast off pile!" Hannabel muses, tapping her chin as if in deep thought.

[Destro_Yersul]

"Even if it were just his socks," Aoife said, "You'd be able to make a fortune selling them in Calixis. Just auction them one at a time, and see how many rich idiots want a piece of celebrity. Calligos Winterscale's cast-off socks." She shook her head. "People will pay for the strangest things."

[Leon]

++Do you get to keep the storage space after?++

[PotatoGolem]

Macharius chuckles. One hopes that's not the case. I feel our reputation would take a hit from peddling used socks. He raises his voice. Four Forty.

[Destro_Yersul]

Quinn called four fifty right away, and Sun Lee grumbled and subsided. Now it was just between Macharius and Quinn.

[Leon]

Macharius chuckles. One hopes that's not the case. I feel our reputation would take a hit from peddling used socks.

++Time to corner the sock market++

[rax]

"It's a big market," Hannabel replies sagely. "Everyone needs socks."

[PotatoGolem]

And I suppose we could sell them one at a time to keep supply low. Sock them away for later, one might say.

Four sixty.

[Destro_Yersul]

Aoife laughed, and Quinn fumed. He waited until the auctioneer had started calling going once, before making up his mind and placing a bid for four-ninety.

[PotatoGolem]

Seems someone doesn't like it when the sock is on the other foot.

Five hundred.

[Destro_Yersul]

"Bah. Take it, Absalom, I hope it's useless trash!" Quinn shouted from across the room, as the auctioneer's hammer fell. Sold, to Macharius.

Up next was lot 13, the Prognosticator set. This took the form of a small brass device, formed of concentric rings, with a miniature cogitator at its core. The rings had slots for various circuit runes, and the device plugged in to a board of coloured lights. "This form of divination," the auctioneer assured the assembled crowd, "is based entirely on logical principles, and does not rely on occult ritual or esoteric knowledge. The more complete the information you provide, the better the device's predictions will be. The Mechanicus guards the secrets of this device's construction carefully, and they are difficult to find outside of the Lathes, but we have one here for you today, starting at the low, low price of two hundred fifty thousand."

[Haval]

Anika wandered if anything that required esoteric knowledge would actually be up for sale here, but is still curious about the machine all the same. She'll raise her hand.

[Leon]

++Now if it was a Procrastinator, that would be worth it++

[Destro_Yersul]

There were quite a few takers, for this lot. Predicting the future, it seemed, was always of interest. Saul notably abstained from bidding, but just about everyone else was in. The initial flurry of bids pushed the price up to three ten.

[Haval]

'Anything can be a Procrastinator is you want it enough.' The Prognosticator was already over what she paid for the Eldar wargear. 'Three ten.'

[Leon]

++Hook the Procrastinator up to the Prognosticator and predict that you will be wasting a lot of time++

[Haval]

'Only if it doesn't work.'

[rax]

"Pfft, to a procrastinator time is never wasted," Hannabel interjects. "Or else they wouldn't be procrastinating, would they?"

[Destro_Yersul]

The set got three thirty from Kros, and three fifty from Lionus. Sun Lee withdrew.