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Lost Antiquities

by Jiba

"Ah, come in, come in, young fellow. Take a look at the most precious, the most wondrous marvels in all Creation. Oh wait, don’t touch that! It breaks so easily, y’know."

-Cao Jing Yu, shopkeeper of the Lost Antiquities

"I don’t believe I have bought this. I should have known better."

- Casukon of the Tower, wondering how Cao sold him this unsightly and completely useless talisman

In the Underworld of the Nexus, a strange little shop can be found. It is called “Lost Antiquities” and offers curious visitors all kinds of magical junk. It is kept by Cao Jing Yu, a small, witty man with gray-blonde hair and a scrubby goatee, who was interested in the history of the River Province since he was young. The old shopkeeper opened his small business 29 years ago, after trying his luck as a scavenger lord, though he never was quite successful and never did fully understand the nature of Essence or magic. When he found out that he was no match for other scavenger lords, he chose to set up a shop for antiquities and minor magical wonders and to a lot of money by selling trash to inattentive people.

The shop is small and cozy, but nonetheless, it is ample. A lot of shelves and lockers, filled with a great variety of unimposing talismans, small parcels, old books, useless trinkets, tiny sacs and ornate chests, along with some more odd curiosities, are mounted on the cave like walls, leaving no space for further decorations. The entrance door and the curtained passage behind the shelf, that leads to the private rooms of Cao Jing Yu, the shopkeeper are the only openings in the petty room. The shop has no windows and lighted by colourful candles, that are arrayed, where is enough space to allow it. The light of the candles gives the room a somehow otherworldly touch, reflecting on the various surfaces of Cao’s little wonders. Every time a customer enters the shop, countless little bells, hanging from strings threaded through eaves in the ceiling, herald him. When he leaves, it’s the same, but the bells seem to sound a little quieter and have a more comfortable tune.

Cao Jing Yu has an admirable collection of old rarities. Through his good connections to various scavenger lords, he was able to get some antiquities with real magical power. This, however, is the exception – most of his commodities are exactly what the shop’s name they are… old, dusty testimonials of a long forgotten time and only of interest if one is a sucker for these things. Despite this, Cao Jing Yu can make his living through keeping his shop, which could be due to his capability to sell a lawnmower to a Wood-aspected Dragon-blooded. A lot of customers bought something in his shop, realizing later, that they absolutely have no use for it.

Rumours

• Some regular customers say, that a young man named Crystal Waterfall visits Cao Jing Yu every three days and tries to convince him to sell him a simple, empty wooden chest without any obvious value. Cao refuses every time, no matter how much Crystal Waterfall is willing to pay.
• Some say, the bells and candles have the function of keeping a deity named God of Books and Primates away from Cao Jing Yu. If it’s true or not, Cao gets nervous when someone mentions the name of this god.

Secret

• Actually, not everything in Cao Jing Yu’s large assortment is worthless carding or talismans with little power. In fact, Cao is in the possession of a piece of a mighty artifact, that could probably change the whole face of Creation if used wise. In one of his dusty shelves lies a tiny piece of golden, shimmering metal with fine letters in a language long forgotten craved on it. This piece of shining steel is a shard of the daiklaive with which the Deathlord Mask of Winters killed Walker in Darkness, when both were Solar Exalted in the First Age. Ignorant of that fact, Cao hopes, that someday somebody will come and buy the shard, not knowing that this tiny golden piece could be the key to new information about Mask of Winters and his true nature.

Comments

So, I hope it fits the theme intended for the shop… Jiba

Hope you don’t mind, but I edited for spelling issues. Otherwise, quite interesting. – Moxiane

Thanks for your help, Moxiane. :)Jiba