Sprig watched Last Legs with great curiosity. How did all those legs coordinate themselves so the wagon didn't fall over? Or were there simply so many of them that it didn't matter what order the walked in, the wagon wouldn't fall anyways? Was it alive? He had never seen flesh on wood. Maybe harvested from a special tree? But luckily, Scorch asked the questions he was thinking of for him.

It was a coincidence too, that the previous owner of the item was Aristotle, his father. The very item that the lion had traded for several living stones and caused an entire series of events. But Sprig did not know any of these things. In fact, he could very possibly be falling into the same trap that Aristotle did.

"I'm wondering those things too about Last Legs. But also, where does Last Legs come from? Is there a tree that grows such things?" He shook his head at the last part, Scorch's ideas were all he could come up with too. It seemed like the Collector had a lot of limitations.

The Collector smiled, at last, at Scorch.

"A scientist, then. One who cannot be deterred. Very well... I will note that I trade only one item at a time. It is not Last Legs and... but Last Legs or. And no," he added, glancing at Sprig, "It does not grow on trees."

He didn't elaborate. "However, perhaps you'll find this other concept more interesting..? I do have a particularly... rare, object. It would tell you the properties of herbs, before their use, and accurately too. I had a little fox who came to me: he sought something similar. I offered him, metaphorically, a map or a cane; a way to navigate all those tricky toxins, or a support when performing his experiments. He chose the map. I offer still the cane, should you wish it, but it will come at a steep cost. To... be a little more open with you, this is an item into which you can place herbs; and the reaction of the object will allow you to discern if they are helpful, harmful, and so forth. You could even offer mixtures, once you have mixed them. But it would be up to you to remember what you've made," the Collector warned. "Of course, that or Last Legs would come at a cost; and so I ask, what have you to offer-? I am a tradesman, after all, and nothing pleases me more than a fine business deal."

There was the sound of a smile behind his hood.

@Scorch

A steep cost, huh? That did make sense; what the Collector was offering sounded powerful. It would basically be doing part of the taste-testing for him, before Scorch ever had to risk a plant's effects on his own body. And it would basically be as good as an anti-poison, if he considered prevention as or more important than the cure. "Would it show me the strength of something's effects?" he asked. "The difference between something mildly harmful, and something deadly?"

"What about things that are helpful in certain amounts, but harmful in larger doses?" Even ordinary prey followed these rules. If you ate as much as you needed, it would sate your hunger, but if you gorged yourself, you would get a stomachache. "Would this... metaphorical cane - what's a cane, by the way? - have a way to find out the safe and harmful amounts of something?"

Scorch thought for a while, considering the advantages of each option. It might be possible to achieve what he wanted without the cane, but it would be a slow process. He would have to observe what the herbivores that lived in the caves ate, and stick to the plants he knew were safe. But that could be unreliable, too. Perhaps they had their own defenses against toxins, like the rat packs that didn't seem to be bothered by their filthy state.

On the other talon, if he chose the cane and not Last Legs, there would be no way to grow things outside of Eridanus and a few other spots with soil. Eridanus was an enormous place, so he could still get pretty far with his project, but Gembound lived in all parts of the cave system. Scorch wanted to spread the joy of plants to the rest of the rooms, too.

"... What would 'taking good care' of Last Legs involve?" he wondered, remembering what the Collector had said about the cart-creature. "I hope I'm not being rude, asking all these questions," he added. "I just want to know more about your offers, so I can make a better decision."

@Game Master Dark (got permission from Comet to skip Sprig's post this turn)

"Oh, not at all; not at all," the Collector crooned, shaking his head and waving the apology away with one clawed hand. "Of course it is always wise to ask specifics: to get as many details as you can, lest you wind up with something that you did not--quite literally--bargain for."

The Collector turned, pacing to a pile of bones, and tested it with one hand before turning back. He leaned his weight on it, a casual pose, a thoughtful one: arms folded across a broad chest, head slightly tilted and one leg crossed over the other. "Now, as to your questions: this prize would indeed help you with doses, and specifics. It would react in many of the same ways your own body would, in fact, but that does have a caveat--a caveat which is both drawback and bonus. That is, you would need to consider these dosages, when measured against size. Let us say, for example, that you have a medicine which is a poison with a doubled dose. But you would need a great deal of experimentation, then, to find where that threshold is crossed for different sizes of creatures, do you see? This object cannot truly give you the breadth of that, but it is a starting point. And that is why it is a 'cane'--a stick that we upright creatures, when wounded, lean on to help to support our weight. In that way, this reward is quite the help: it cannot do your work for you, but it can help you to perform a task that otherwise would be very difficult indeed." He gestured out toward the sled, which waited, fidgeting uncertainly.

"Last Legs requires reassurance. A careful hand. Every now and then it will bolt, and I tend to find that it dumps its cargo when it does so--I never do seem to be able to find it again. But it always comes back, in the end." He shrugged gently, crimson pinprick eyes unblinking as he studied Scorch.

@Scorch

SCORCH

Scorch swiveled his head, following the Collector's gesture to look at Last Legs again. It was kind of... cute, in a way. "There, there," he crooned at the fidgeting creature, reaching out a gentle wing to brush a leg. But now that he thought about it more, he wasn't sure how he was going to get dirt into it. It would be hard to transfer it with talons alone... Sprig could help with that, he supposed, but how were they meant to know what to grow in the dirt unless they knew what was edible and what was poison?

Yes, he decided. Last Legs would come after the cane, not before. "Well! I think I'm going to go with the cane!" It did sound very powerful, but what could he give the Collector in return? He didn't own any artifacts of his own.

"For payment, I could bring you back all the helpful plants I find!" he suggested. "I have plant magic, too, so I can grow more for you. You could use the plants yourself, or trade them to other people. Or name some things that you need help with, and I'll see what I can do!"

The Collector considered, but only briefly.

"Ahh, you flatter me, Scorch. I am no herbalist, no; the uses of plants--in their many and varied miraculousness--are, I fear, quite beyond me."

It was rather a polite way of saying, "I don't want your plants," but then, the Collector was nothing if not polite. Well--he was many things, but that was neither here nor there-

"...However, there is one that could be of interest to me, if you are willing. Or rather, it is not a plant, per se, but-... Well, allow me to backtrack. There was... something, lost to me." Clawed hands raised up, steepled idly, claws tapped against one another with a rapid series of very soft clicks, then settled there. "It is certainly to do with plants, and you may find it interesting in its own right. Retrieving it would require wings, and the ability to fit into rather smaller spaces than I can manage. But, if not approached with caution, it could prove somewhat dangerous. Would you be willing-?"

He didn't make it sound all that dangerous--mildly so, at the most; but he seemed to be waiting for approval before hashing out details.

@Scorch

SCORCH

The more the Collector talked, the less weight Scorch gave to the memory of Giggle's suspicions. Those were already pretty much buried at the back of his mind, anyway. The Collector was nice! He'd warned Scorch about the tunnel so the plants wouldn't get hurt, and all he wanted for the task was to find something he'd lost! Nothing wrong with that.

"I'm always careful," he declared, puffing out his chest. "So yeah, I'll do it! What am I looking for?"

"Thanks for coming with me," Scorch added, turning to Sprig. "But of course I wouldn't ask you to do my work for me! Or do anything that might be dangerous! I'm all grown up already, see, but you're still young. Stay safe, 'kay? I can take you back to Eridanus! And I'll bring you all sorts of cool plants, too, when I figure out what they do!"

@Game Master Dark @Sprig

He smiled beneath the hood.

"Good," he crooned. "Very good."

Hands clasped before him, and he went into explanation. "There is a cave known as Gemini. It is full of crystals--some hollow, others just grown up from the floor in clusters. The place is a maze, even from the ground--but above, there is a series of very small, narrow passageways, similarly-formed from the tops of these crystals. It is nothing deliberate... just the labyrinth of natural crystal growth, for the most part. But there is something that escaped up there--something quite unique."

He tilted his head, thinking. "You can get there quickly enough from here: that tunnel, there," and he gestured off gently in the direction of Tunnel L. "Through that tunnel and to the crystal cave. Once you are in the ceiling, look for a hole--a very small hole--at the top, somewhere, heading sideways rather than farther up. You should find a small tunnel bored in the crystal. You... should be able to fit; if not, come and inform me and I will find another suitable payment. But you will need to successfully navigate this maze, and find the plant-creature that I would see delivered to me. It is sadly quite endangered--it may be the last of its kind, and I would rather that not happen. It is likely a very small one. Bring it here, and I will give you what you seek."

From his cloak he drew a roll of parchment, and unfurled it; black scribbles covered the page, and there was an empty space at the bottom. The Collector laid this out, gesturing for Scorch to touch the paper. "Do we have a deal-? If so, just sign here," he said, a smile in his words.

@Scorch

SCORCH

Scorch swiveled his head toward the tunnel. There'd been a way to get here from that cave? Well, if he'd known that, he never would've gone through the creepy tunnel that connected to Orion! "Yeah, I know that place!" he hooted enthusiastically. "Thanks for showing me that tunnel, man!"

He paused for a second. "Oh! Do you know what the swirly magic thing there is? It shimmers a lot and makes whirling noises, but I have no idea what it's made of. Doesn't seem like rock, like the Spire."

But his attention was quickly diverted by the sheet of black scribbles the Collector held out. Gemini's magic thing didn't do anything, after all, and the promise of plants was far more interesting. "Sign away-? Does that mean make more curvy lines like you did? I don't know how to do that. What's this for?"

"Ahh, it is a contract. This is writing. You need only place a foot, or a beak or the like, here," and he tapped the blank portion of the scroll.

"A contract lays out the terms, so that in the event that one of us fails to deliver on a promise, another creature may be chosen as arbiter to decide the outcome."

He sounded so very patient. So very sincere.

@Scorch