SaintAjora: Why did Rachel have the Jade Egg, and if you skip the quest "Lost Princess", how does Diana get it?
Rachel had searched everywhere, but to no avail. The small jade egg she had bought from the overweight travelling merchant was nowhere to be found. He had come through town just the other day, all smiles and handshakes, selling rather odd things for exorbitant prices. Who'd want an old wagon wheel, iron pots, or greenball buns? One of his items had caught her eye, however. A small jade egg lay nestled in with the rest of his wares. He must have a thing for wings, as he actually gave it to her for a reasonable price... After she got him tipsy on Sacred Malt Elixers. It seems everyone had their weaknesses...
There seemed to be more to the egg than met the eye, as well. MeiMei, the town fortune teller, had said something about depths unexplored in the egg. A strange, grumpy swordsman with rocky bits had insisted that it smelled like his lost dog or something earlier the very same day. "If it smelled so much like her, perhaps she needed a bath," mused Rachel. A slurred voice snapped her back to the present.
"Barrtenner'! *hic!* Gimme more boosh!" It was that strange woman with the diamond embedded in her chest that had been coming so often recently. How it got there was none of Rachel's business, she knew, but she couldn't help but imagine gemcutting experiments gone horribly wrong, or an explosion in a jeweler's workshop. Or maybe she just got so drunk that one night she fell on a giant diamond, and it got stuck. She *did* seem to get drunk quite frequently, after all. Sometimes more than once in one night, though how she managed that, Rachel would never know. The diamond flickered as the woman banged her hand on the bar, then noticed that wasn't working, and began using her head.
"Calm down, calm down, I'll be right there!" Rachel called. She checked under the counter one last time, then sighed and went out front, where the Jumi was sampling beer nuts from a dish near the bar. Wait a second-That's where the egg was! In the beer nut dish! Rachel watched in horror as Diana picked up the egg, not noticing that it wasn't a beer nut in her stupor, and held it up to her lips. A resounding crunch filled the bar. Diana looked up at Rachel blankly.
"Hey, this nut'sh hard ash a rock... HEY! I'll be buggr'd, it ISH a rock! Dat'sh funny... You wannit?" said Diana, sucking on it thoughtfully.
Rachel stared at the now slobber-coated egg, her features wrinkling in disgust. "Um, ew. Uh, no thanks, you just... Keep that for now, okay? I don't think I want it any more."
The inebriated woman started singing "Yay me, I godda purdy rock-ey!" to herself as another Jumi entered, this one with flame-red hair and a ruby embedded in his chest. "Odd," thought Rachel, "They seem to be multiplying."
Diana giggled as she saw Rubens enter, trying to sit up but failing, instead falling onto the floor. "Dun be so stiff! Ya're gonna turn to stone onna these days, ya know..."
Rubens apologized to the moth-winged girl profusely, slinging a still singing Diana over his shoulder and exiting the building, muttering something about how he'd like to turn HER to stone. Rachel watched them leave, wondering if perhaps there weren't rocks in their heads, as well as their chests.
Rachel had searched everywhere, but to no avail. The small jade egg she had bought from the overweight travelling merchant was nowhere to be found. He had come through town just the other day, all smiles and handshakes, selling rather odd things for exorbitant prices. Who'd want an old wagon wheel, iron pots, or greenball buns? One of his items had caught her eye, however. A small jade egg lay nestled in with the rest of his wares. He must have a thing for wings, as he actually gave it to her for a reasonable price... After she got him tipsy on Sacred Malt Elixers. It seems everyone had their weaknesses...
There seemed to be more to the egg than met the eye, as well. MeiMei, the town fortune teller, had said something about depths unexplored in the egg. A strange, grumpy swordsman with rocky bits had insisted that it smelled like his lost dog or something earlier the very same day. "If it smelled so much like her, perhaps she needed a bath," mused Rachel. A slurred voice snapped her back to the present.
"Barrtenner'! *hic!* Gimme more boosh!" It was that strange woman with the diamond embedded in her chest that had been coming so often recently. How it got there was none of Rachel's business, she knew, but she couldn't help but imagine gemcutting experiments gone horribly wrong, or an explosion in a jeweler's workshop. Or maybe she just got so drunk that one night she fell on a giant diamond, and it got stuck. She *did* seem to get drunk quite frequently, after all. Sometimes more than once in one night, though how she managed that, Rachel would never know. The diamond flickered as the woman banged her hand on the bar, then noticed that wasn't working, and began using her head.
"Calm down, calm down, I'll be right there!" Rachel called. She checked under the counter one last time, then sighed and went out front, where the Jumi was sampling beer nuts from a dish near the bar. Wait a second-That's where the egg was! In the beer nut dish! Rachel watched in horror as Diana picked up the egg, not noticing that it wasn't a beer nut in her stupor, and held it up to her lips. A resounding crunch filled the bar. Diana looked up at Rachel blankly.
"Hey, this nut'sh hard ash a rock... HEY! I'll be buggr'd, it ISH a rock! Dat'sh funny... You wannit?" said Diana, sucking on it thoughtfully.
Rachel stared at the now slobber-coated egg, her features wrinkling in disgust. "Um, ew. Uh, no thanks, you just... Keep that for now, okay? I don't think I want it any more."
The inebriated woman started singing "Yay me, I godda purdy rock-ey!" to herself as another Jumi entered, this one with flame-red hair and a ruby embedded in his chest. "Odd," thought Rachel, "They seem to be multiplying."
Diana giggled as she saw Rubens enter, trying to sit up but failing, instead falling onto the floor. "Dun be so stiff! Ya're gonna turn to stone onna these days, ya know..."
Rubens apologized to the moth-winged girl profusely, slinging a still singing Diana over his shoulder and exiting the building, muttering something about how he'd like to turn HER to stone. Rachel watched them leave, wondering if perhaps there weren't rocks in their heads, as well as their chests.