AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Without giving me a definite bet, I'll just assume you outbid Houton by 1 copper, for 800 gold and 1 copper. You have won the Lightning Blade, able to summon lightning upon foes merely by pointing it skyward. Other than raining death on your foes, it is +2.
No one else bid on the egg so the top hat man wins it. He promptly leaves.
If no one bids for the ring, the guards will win it and we can move on to the short break before the mystery item is shown.

Would you also like to investigate the box, Shinsa?

And be sure to subtract all you've spent from your sheets.

Blanche attempts to identify the vials of orange and crimson red liquid. First he checks the bottles for any markings or labels, then he examines the contents (what check is that? I rolled a 5 and a nat20).

Well that was completely unexpected. Um, I guess after a second of surprise I open and close the box like he did trying to find the gopher man. If I do I yell at the man to get out of my box and prop it open, and if I can't find him I sit on the box and await the mystery item.

And about the shared price. We could go Me 300, Shinsa 300, Krom 200 for an even-ish amount where we don't leave one of us broke. Thoughts?

Sounds good to me. What are the specifics of the lightning? As in damage, casts per day, etc.

Shinsa does not investigate the box, since Koeq seems to have it under control.

The damage is something I will keep secret, it has no limits on use but has failure rates during clear sunny-skied days, but oddly enough not indoors.

Quepp, you open the box again and see a flat, featureless plain. You see like maybe one or two trees, some grass here and there, but otherwise it's an empty dusty plain.

Okay, one last question. Will I be hit if I summon forth the lightning? After seeing how the Ring of Invisibility is designed to fuck its wearer I want to know if I should use my original sword for any victory poses.

Only on a nat1. It's a ranged touch-attack to hit with the lightning. Go ahead, try it out!

Not inside I'm not. Getting stuck in a sandpile is one thing. Zapping some random person from on high is another.

Working on adding the level-up stuff to my sheet right now.

I'd like to keep an eye on the guard that got the ring. Is he sticking close to his fellows?

You'd love to keep an eye on him but he's invisible right now. He talks with the others and then leaves for a while since it's the break time. He returns with the 5 that ran off for the final auction.
"And now to reveal the final item for today," he throws the curtain off the item, "A scepter, but not just any ordinary scepter! Forged by expert mages long ago for a prince of days long past, able to create whatever the wielder desires, and even bring it to life. I start the bidding at 3000 gold!" The Guards whisper between each other, count up their cheddar, and accept the bid. But then their hopes are crushed as the pipe gentleman goes for 3200. The guards give up at this point, but wouldn't have had they not bought the ring for 400.

I know you are going to ask, since it is way out of price range, you can always sell stuff. So long as you can bring the cheddar before the end of the day the item will be yours.

...Do the guards still have bounties? Or is the rich guy simply unaware of that little trifle? Because kingdom law supersedes city, and judging from the bounty poster Shinsa already has, I'd think that bounties are issued by the kingdom since it gives the reason of "treason" among other things.

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you just what went down...

See, the guards died in the attack last night, which is how the slime & those 4 guys got in, so there was recruitment for new ones. The people with bounties decided they'd join, since there are no guards to say "Hey crook you're going away for a long time" if the guards were all crooks themselves. At least, all the bounties that were still in the city, some left or got burned, no one really cares, but these 15 guys made it. They then decided, turn each other in one at a time, collect the bounties, release each other, repeat. Some will leave before an official comes to the city to collect the captured bounty-heads, and some will pretend they are completely different people and live as normal guards, with varying degrees of success.
Besides, there weren't many others willing to take the job, and there wasn't time for background checks before hiring them since they don't want another attack while still recovering from the last, and really it's better to keep a low profile while you're hiding as a guard.
Had they got the sprayer they would have made duplicates and things would go to hell here. Since the ring was cursed their plans with that are pretty useless. Should they get the scepter, which they won't, it doesn't matter since they won't get it.
Only one guy had treason, and he left the city. But if he were here, he'd be in the group that leaves before officials come. You'll have left town by the time the official comes and won't see the chaos/law that goes down.

Okay. Shinsa approaches the rich guy to talk with him.

I'll assume you mention the subject of today's auction and the item he just bid on. "Oh my yes, it would be an amazing item to use. A horseless carriage, loyal servants that don't whine, so many possibilities." You don't detect evil from him, which I don't just assume, I know you would do.

Er, I meant the one who hired the guards. I want to try and persuade him to meet me afterwards alone.

Roll = 20+6 for Diplomacy = 26