<div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/aa/2e/09/aa2e09c1dc99202c97abee1c587f48aa.jpg)</div>Zimora's question drew a small smile from Canica's pale lips.<strong>"A cunning one, too, I see."</strong>She folded her hands together and seemed to be gathering her thoughts, when Rala piped up. One white eyebrow arched upward.<strong>"She's not wrong, sadly; you <em>are</em> volunteering to go into a city-sized tomb no one has opened in, Gods, three thousand years?"</strong>She sniffs, then leans back into some cushions.<strong>"I am not <em>completely</em> mercenary though."</strong>She snaps her fingers and gestures, calling out,<strong>"Quill, ink, paper."</strong>And... all three items saunter over, seemingly of their own accord, settling gently on the table. Canica pushes her sleeves up her arms and begins to write, reading it out for those who have... difficulty.<br/><br/><strong>"Should any of the undersigned, while <em>actively</em> under my employ suffer an injury too grievous for their pay to provide for at one of the places of healing in Wati, I will offer from my coffers up to five hundred Absalom measures to provide towards the difference."</strong>She looked to them each in turn,<strong>"<em>Actively</em> meaning I will not be covering if you get your brains smashed in in a bar fight. Unless that bar fight serves my interests. My discretion."</strong>She smirks a little and continues her script. "<strong>On the event that one of the undersigned should perish and funds are unavailable to secure their return, a monthly stipend of ten Absalom measures will be awarded to their nearest of kin for a period of..."</strong>she considers for a moment,<strong>"Five years? Not covering intentional suicide, of course."</strong>She puts all this forward with the air of someone for whom gold is more like a pretty decoration than a necessity for life, it seems. Perhaps Rala is right, they should have just asked for more gold. At any rate, she scatters some dust on the ink, lets it soak off the excess, then carefully blots  the sheet and puts it on the table for them to sign, if they wish.<br/><br/>She seems to take it on assumption that Zimora will sign on to the group, and so she continues.<strong>"The particular item I want is an... opal, of sorts. Roughly the size and shape of, oh, one of your lovely breasts,"</strong>she nodded towards Rala with a little smirk.<strong>"So you can imagine, it's quite valuable... and would be... very hard to pawn to another buyer without word of it getting around."</strong>She laces her fingers together and leans towards the group a little, her pink eyes having an intensity to them.<strong>"I am unconcerned with <em>how</em> you retrieve it. Pull it from where it's hidden, deal for it from another group, hell, rob them if that's how you do things. I'm not a squeamish woman."</strong>She chuckled softly,<strong>"Sadly, I can't tell you where it is; I don't know, and it has defied my attempts to scry for it, else this would be easier and cheaper for me, you see."</strong>She smiles slowly,<strong>"So, we have an accord? I will need a name for the temple to put on your token for the drawing."</strong><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">In the interests of moving ahead, I'm going to say that unless you guys have more questions for Canica, we can call this bit of business concluded.</div></div>