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<Narrator> ::According from the information Dawn gave her, Jade's other Guild contact on the South Docks is a tobacconist named Rong Wei. He is known to do a side trade in medicines and, ahem, other smoking materials, as well as a small numbers racket.:: <Narrator> ::Rong Wei's shop is a crowded little open-front stall on Three Dragons Lane. Rong Wei, a skinny, bald man of about 90 with a long white moustache and droopy eyebrows, shuffles in with his walking staff and pack, opens the shop around dawn, perches on his stool behind the counter, and-- according to local rumor-- does not stir from that spot until the lanterns are lit at night. A young street urchin named Hei Bai runs his messages and deliveries, and brings him food and tea.:: <Jade> ::After thoroughly bathing, purifying, and getting some sanitizing and curative spells thrown on her Jade makes her way to Rong Wei's shop. It also appears she may have raided Deanna's closet, as street walker is not a normal look for Jade. A silk bag swings from Jade's wrist and she holds a long pipe in the same hand.:: * Jade stops in front of Rong Wei's shop, apparently surveying his goods. * Rong Wei launches into praises of his wares in a high, slightly scratchy sing-song that falls pleasantly on the ear. "Tobacco! Come and buy, come and buy! Fill your bowl with the finest tobaccos east of the Dragon Wall! Perhaps a fine, sweet smoke scented with loquat for the fine, sweet lady?" He waggles his eyebrows at her, dark eyes gleaming in nests of smile-wrinkles as he surveys *her* goods in turn. * Jade smiles back, looking demurely at Rong Wei through her lashes. "I heard a rumor that you might have something for pain." Jade makes the guild sign on her thigh. "I took a bit of a nasty fall the other day." <Rong Wei> ::both eyebrows fly up, fluttering like little white wings as his hand moves to his thigh to scratch an itch (and coincidentally, return the Guild sign):: Ah, so! Medicines I have also, potent and sure, but easy on the stomach! And smoke that will wrap you in ease and make the pain vanish. How might I serve the lady today? <Jade> Do you have anything for the disease that's going around? <Rong Wei> ::his brows dive down again, covering his eyes:: Ahh! There are many pestilences abroad these days. Very nasty. Would the lady care to step around the counter, where she could describe her symptoms to me in comfort? ::he leers a little:: And perhaps we could have a look at that thigh. * Rong Wei indicates a heavy curtain on one side of the booth for her to step through to the crowded interior. * Jade nods hesitantly, then moves behind the indicated curtain. <Rong Wei> ::Fragrant from the outside, the interior of Rong Wei's stall is enough to make the senses reel. What seem like thousands of scents assail Jade's nose, from aromatic tobacco and the flower and fruit essences used to scent it to pungent and musky herbs of unknowable origin. A chart of pressure points on one wall is nearly obscured by hanging bundles of herbs, and tags of brightly-colored paper bearing printed Kara-Turian characters are nailed over the window.:: * Jade takes a seat on a convenient stool, crossing her legs in a manner designed to expose them and waits for Rong Wei to join her. "So what can you tell me?" * Rong Wei pulls a shade down over the counter area and turns on his stool to face her, taking a moment to admire her shapely legs since she's so kind as to offer up the view. "Wei Cheng came yesterday for something that would calm his spirit. It seems some crazy woman snatched away his nephew, Little Dong the carpet dealer, in broad daylight. Even now he is in his offices, sending flunkies everywhere to call in notes so that he can pay the ransom in full as soon as the demand comes." * Jade nods, "Anything else?" * Rong Wei's eyebrows lift a little as he glances up at the little bright tags of paper. "Odds are strong on two thousand gold. His scrawny hide may be worthless, but his uncle is rich. Would the lady care to place a wager?" He grins, showing what few teeth he has left. * Jade grins, "No thank you. How much do you think he's worth?" * Rong Wei's beady gaze is shrewd. "He is a useless sack of excrement. For himself? Not much. But for *information* ...ah! Now *that* sort of thing has value. ::his smile is teasing and slightly crafty as his eyes slide up to the printed slips again. "As is the amount of his ransom. The lady should place a wager. I give good payout!" * Jade smile and reaches into her silk bag, producing a smaller pouch that jingles. Jade places it in easy reach of Rong Wei. "I'm thinking twenty five hundred gold sounds more likely." <Rong Wei> Ahhh! ::his eyes light, and he weighs the pouch in his hand for a moment before half-turning and reaching up to snag ten red tickets off their nail over his head. He hands her the tickets. "You see! Good value! You come cash those when Wei Cheng gets the ransom note. <Rong Wei> Now then... as to your other matter... ::he reaches into a pouch at his side and starts filling a long, clay pipe similar to the one Jade carries with a sharp-scented, nearly black tobacco:: It is not healthy to live so close to stagnant water... any number of diseases can creep in on the night mists. In addition to the perils that come of living close to a sea with many borders. * Jade smiles and slips the tickets into her bag. * Rong Wei takes a moment to attend to his pipe, tamping down the tobacco, lighting it, and getting a good draw going, puffing out a ring of fragrant smoke that surrounds his head like an unlikely halo. "I think I know which one pains you so, however. She will not like this thing you have done, and she will come to see for herself, I am sure. She is not one to trust others to see all that she might see." He puffs out another cloud of smoke. <Jade> Come where to see what for herself? <Rong Wei> ::eyebrows flying up again:: Why, here to the South Docks, to see to her business. To Little Dong's warehouse first, I imagine, if she has not been already. ::he looks stern:: I hope that kidnapper knows what he is about. That skinny rat has a fat uncle, but the string on his tail leads back to some very nasty tigers, indeed. * Jade grins, "Good. I was thinking of going to my next fancy dress party as an oni." <Rong Wei> ::cackling:: You will need an oni for that one, I think! ::sucking on his pipe again contemplatively:: She has been here, you know. To my shop. It was... ::he thinks a moment:: nearly six weeks past, now. She requested a balm for troubled sleep, but that was not what she truly sought. ::he gestures with his pipe stem:: Look around you. What do you see? * Jade looks around and points out the herbs and other "medicinal" ingredients she recognizes on sight. * Rong Wei narrows his eyes thoughtfully, nodding as she points out the more popular medicinals and more than a few of the more dangerous ingredients. "You look with eyes like hers. I know what it is you see, and how you would use these things." His expression is shrewd, and faintly sad, and he takes another puff of his pipe before continuing. "That one saw all that you saw, and more. She knew *everything* here." * Jade tilts her head, her green eyes locked on Rong Wei waiting for him to continue. <Rong Wei> Her eyes tallied up my stock, and what uses she could make of these things, should she need them. Uses such as I could not even contemplate. ::he snorts:: I believe she was pleased at my variety. She is well-named, that one. I heard what her companion called her, which I am too wise to repeat where it might be overheard. The round-eyes would say, though, "the Blossom which kills." A most unlucky name... but the luck is not for *her,* I think. * Jade nods, "I have heard similar tales. Is there anything else you can tell me?" <Rong Wei> She and the man with her wore a most unusual sort of pendant, something I have not heard of since... oh, when I was very small, in the old country. Of hers, the side I saw bore her name. His bore a short saying-- something about the character of fire. Had I not seen them together, I would not have remembered. They could just as easily have been luck-pieces, or a fond gift from a lover. * Rong Wei puffs again thoughtfully, surrounding himself with sinuous, curling tendrils of white-blue smoke. "I have heard rumors of things, and there is an old classic of the warrior art which, perhaps, bears some relation... hm. There is an old grandmother who tells fortunes in the square, near the fountain. Yin Ko. You should speak with her. She knows more than I on this, I think." He grins. "At least, her hair is whiter." * Jade looks questioningly at Rong Wei "Jin Hu?" * Rong Wei shakes his head. "I did not hear his name. Only hers, as he called her away from my shop." He frowns a moment longer, thinking. "There was something else about them..." He puffs on his pipe a bit more, thinking. "Ah, of course. Her amulet was silver, but his looked to be of iron. Or perhaps it was simply tarnished. Men sometimes have little care for such things." He smiles a little. * Jade nods, "Good, that means there's only one tiger left." * Rong Wei's express eyebrows fly up again. "If your hand took away her companion, she will have even less reason to love you. They were close, that I could see." <Rong Wei> ::thoughtfully, around his pipe:: But it is true, that one has not been seen in these parts since the first few weeks. <Jade> I touched neither of her companions, but I know for certain that one of them is dead, and the absence of the other is enough for me at the moment. <Rong Wei> ::brooding:: He carried himself as a warrior, and would not come near my shop. She had no such qualms. Of the two... I think it is the deadlier one that you set your hand against now. * Jade nods, "That is why she is the one who still plagues us." * Rong Wei considers Jade again, his eyes making another scenic detour up her exposed thigh before returning to her face. "I am a powerful believer in preventatives." He smiles and points with his pipe again towards a string of things that look like warty, dried cucumbers. "Kugua, bitter melon, for strong yin." His eyes twinkle, and the stem of the pipe turns to point to a net bag of some shrivelled round things. "Yak ball, good to keep the yang up." * Rong Wei grins wider and leans over to pull open a few drawers of a medicine chest, dipping his fingers into one after the other for various bits of dried matter and wrapping the whole bunch into a bit of paper, handing it to Jade. "And these, my special tonic for purging many subtle poisons from the body, and some not so subtle. You know how to prepare a dose? This packet will make several for you. Use it wisely, and do not waste it. It will not take away all the effects, but it might keep her from felling you out of hand." <Rong Wei> ::he leers at her:: For I cannot allow such lovely thighs to be laid in a cold grave before I have talked myself between them, yes? * Jade takes the paper, examines its contents for a moment, the puts it into her bag. "I thank you, honored elder. Tell me, do you know of anyone trustworthy who sells rockets?" <Rong Wei> ::his eyebrows fly up again:: You wish to celebrate already? ::he considers:: Yao Fei, perhaps, on the east side, makes the best fireworks. The Street of Flowers. * Jade gives Rong Wei a brief bow and a "coincidental" shot of cleavage before standing, "A thousand thanks to you. I hope I will have the pleasure of visiting with you once more." * Rong Wei enjoys the little "tip" she offers as she leaves. "If you visit me again, beautiful lady, it will be a thousand thousand pleasures for me, and I will die a happy man." * Jade grins and leans over to kiss his cheek, "Ai Lo at the Blushing Maiden can bring you far more happiness than I can, but I thank you for the thought all the same." Jade leaves before Rong Wei can flatter her further. |
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