It seemed as though they had a plan now, and as Yuwen rambled off about someone with Chi Based Smelling Powers, Ren looked back to Xanth. "If you need any help tonight Xanth, you shouldn't have any trouble finding me. Though I warn you; I will be ill equipped for anything requiring secrecy." He chuckled in that low voice he'd constructed. "Other than that, I'll soon be prepared with everything I need, just have one more thing to work on."
With that, he nodded to be Suiken and Xanth (Yuwen having already run off to set up the ticket booth) before heading back into town. He needed to find some kind of craftsman...
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'Old Man Ren' was back in town a short while later, and had already picked up a few things. Some small metal parts and pieces from a local tinkerer, a strange resin like substance from a carpenter, and bits and pieces of fire starting materials, such as a flint. He'd made his way over to a small workshop, finding a woman inside fast at work on designing what looked like a rather ornate birdhouse. "Excuse me miss." His voice bellowed. "Can I trouble you? I'd appreciate a few hours to work with some of your tools, if you wouldn't mind." The woman jolted slightly, turning around to peer at the strange figure.
"Uhh, sorry. I'm in the middle of another project for someone. You'll have to come back another time." She turned back to her work, expecting the man to leave.
Ren shifted uncomfortably. He'd expected she'd just... Stop doing that job and do his instead. That was, in hindsight, a poor assumption. Reaching into his cloak, he produced a small, hefty bag, opening it to pour a dozen gold coins onto the counter. "Surely you can spare even a few moment of your time to assist me." He pressed on.
She looked at the gold and almost immediately shook her head. "I'm sorry, that's not how I operate here. You can't pay to skip ahead, you'll just have to wait."
A heavy, agitated sigh emanated from the man, who slammed a hand down on the counter. Her eyes lingered over to it.
It was red. And covered in unholy black markings. Wait... Did they move?
"Where I come from, they have a saying about thrice denying the request of someone in need. Would you like to hear how it goes, or would you rather take the gold?"
The woman's eyes were widened in horror as she looked up to the figure. She wanted to scream or something, but realized what a mistake that could be. Instead, she acquiesced. "A-alright. But- But at least let me do some of the work. Forgive me I just... I want to make sure my tools are used correctly."
The figure nodded their veiled head slowly and let out a content sigh. "That will be acceptable. Shall we begin?"
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Hours later, Ren stepped back out onto the streets of the village, the craftswoman standing in the doorway behind him. Ren produced the bag once more, and handed her six more coins. "Your assistance is greatly appreciated miss. Thank you again." He gave a slight bow as he prepared to leave, but stopped short and turned back to the woman for a moment. "You know miss, there's another performance in town tonight. Not that Mr. Makoko's, a new one. Perhaps you'll come watch, should you have time. It will be a show to remember forever, I can promise you that much."
The frightful figure left, heading back towards another encampment. The craftswoman was, at this moment, preoccupied with trying to figure out whether or not she was invited to watch this performance, or if she'd been threatened to go. She was also trying to figure out whether or not that just made her more interested in going.
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Ren continued down the street towards their tent, his staff carrying a little more weight in it now that before, landing with a slightly heavier thud. It was a bit unbalanced now, but Ren was skilled enough to continue to wield it, and in exactly the way he had intended to. Anyone that ended up near to him seemed to naturally veer away, making pathways open up quite easily for the man as he wove his way through the crowd to the tent.
He'd arrived shortly before Fortune, neither too early, nor too late, but precisely when he intended to arrive. Ren caught immediate sight of the necromancer tossing dirt on the ground for reasons that were almost certainly a crass perversion of nature, life, death, and everything one should hold as sacred. But he was also covered in curse words now, so this probably wouldn't make things any worse than they already were for him.
Yuwen entered shortly after, giving everyone a rundown on the situation, then asking if everyone was ready. "Should be good to go. Only thing I'm lacking is Master Wang, assuming you can spare him for a short while during the performances."
Suiken briefly addressed the plans he'd come up with, and indicated he'd go get his instruments before telling them to give it their all. "If all else fails Suiken, we can always host an impromptu concert."
He turned his gaze back to Yuwen, as he'd not had time to spy what Suiken had shown him. "So, what IS the order we're going in?"