Katsu Skill Training

[Deleted]

Katsu has Able Learner (+2 Dice rolls per time trained) and he also has a
Book: Textbook: Herbivore: Cooking/Baking For Your Region [FOREST] (Granting a +1 competance bonus to all dice rolls.)

For every time learned, Katsu gains 7 dice rolls, starting at d12, with every roll given a +1 Bonus to the roll.

[0/5]

SPOILER: Click to show

Cooking
Rank: "E" (5 TP at all times)
Skill: Skill
Effect: Cooking and Baking allows the user to create superb dishes.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: With a successful Cooking/Baking check, a cook can make nutritious meals out of just about any edible substance and can create hot meals even in the wilderness. Failure means that the food is disgusting and inedible. Cooking a meal generally takes no more than an hour, although the preparation of ingredients and dishes may take several. When choosing this skill the user must choose either Cooking or Baking. Baking is the ability to cook by dry heat without direct exposure to a flame, typically in an oven or on a hot surface. Look in Task Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

[FLASHBACK] Katsu was four years old, barely tall enough to see over the edge of the kitchen counter, but his mother had him in the kitchen, getting ready to help her cook a simple meal for the family. So he stood on a stool next to the stove, another stool next to the sink, and a pot in his hands. Katsu was going to help make macaroni and cheese.

Katsu's mother Satomi stood near him, instructing him on what to do and making sure he didn't hurt himself. "Alright dear, go and fill up the pot for the macaroni for me. Just at half-full like I showed before."

"Yes, Mommy!" Katsu grinned innocently as he slowly picked the macaroni pot off of the stove, which was off, and stepped down from the stool to go over to the stool next to the sink. He filled it as his mother requested and placed it on the counter, stepping down from the stool before picking it up again (he wasn't confident he wouldn't spill it trying to step down). The process was reversed when he got to the stove, and when the pot was on the stove he looked back to his mother, wondering what was next.

Satomi smiled, "Now, remember what I told you about water and salt?"

Nodding, Katsu grabbed for the salt shaker, gives it a few hearty shakes into the water as he recited what he had been told, "Salt makes ice melt faster and makes water boil faster, and it helps make water soft... Mommy... how can water be hard?" Katsu inquired innocently, slowing his shaking and placing the shaker to the side for now. He knew this next part, he'd watched Satomi do this a lot. You turn the funny knob on the front of the stove to make it get hot! Hotter was better, so Katsu turned it to the far left, where the picture of fire was the biggest. The electric stove began to heat the coils, but it'd be a bit before they turned red hot, and it'd be around ten minutes before the water boiled.

As he was about to step down Katsu's mother scolded him with a gentle knuckle to the head, just enough to know he did bad without hurting him. "No leaving when you're cooking something Katsu. You should always pay attention to what you're cooking no matter how long it takes to complete. Else you could easily start a kitchen fire, or ruin your food."

Chagrined, Katsu nodded and watched the water, waiting for the water to boil and feeling immensely bored. When finally it was ready Katsu alerted his mother, who handed him a medium bowl of uncooked elbow macaroni. He poured it in, and watched the macaroni for a bit as he tried to remember how to have the microwave time something without cooking. Once he had that set he looked at the macaroni, noticing it all seemed to be stuck at the bottom. He asked his mother for a wooden spoon and broke up the clumps of macaroni, stirring everything up. Hopefully he'd be able to keep watch on the macaroni well enough that they'd turn out good to eat... [/Flashback]

Katsu thumbed through the cookbook he had in his hands, remembering the very first time his mother had let him help with the cooking. There was a lot he learned that day. The macaroni was just the start. He also learned how much was a "pinch" of spice, how you were not supposed to keep the lid on top of cooking noodles or you made them gummy, and how a simple meal like Mac and Cheese and Beef could really sustain you. Katsu turned another page, beginning to think of another time his mother had taught him how to cook...

[~Emi~]

Well done cooking katsu

+5

5/5

43/125sp in cooking

Here's the rolls

[Deleted]

Katsu has Able Learner (+2 Dice rolls per time trained) and he also has a
Book: Textbook: Herbivore: Cooking/Baking For Your Region [FOREST] (Granting a +1 competence bonus to all dice rolls.)

For every time learned, Katsu gains 7 dice rolls, with every roll given a +1 Bonus to the roll.

Current Cooking Skill: 43

[0/5]

SPOILER: Click to show

Cooking
Rank: "E" (5 TP at all times)
Skill: Skill
Effect: Cooking and Baking allows the user to create superb dishes.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: With a successful Cooking/Baking check, a cook can make nutritious meals out of just about any edible substance and can create hot meals even in the wilderness. Failure means that the food is disgusting and inedible. Cooking a meal generally takes no more than an hour, although the preparation of ingredients and dishes may take several. When choosing this skill the user must choose either Cooking or Baking. Baking is the ability to cook by dry heat without direct exposure to a flame, typically in an oven or on a hot surface. Look in Task Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

Continuing to think back Katsu began to remember the first time that he had completed a full eight course meal on his own. He was ten, incredibly young for anyone to try and cook a normal meal let alone an eight course meal for near fifty people. Luckily his “customers” were his own family members. It was a family reunion, and Katsu's mother was supposed to be in charge of the cooking, but Katsu had begged her to give him the chance to prepare the meal on his own, with her watching over him as he did so. It had taken a while, but finally she had relented and Katsu started planning.

Having planned out his entire meal plan and having all the ingredients purchased by the night before the meal, Katsu had a big job ahead of him. The first things he'd have to cook would be both the first and last things served at the Family Reunion. A Shrimp cocktail for the hors d'oeuvre, and some homemade dark chocolate ice cream for the dessert.

The more difficult thing to make was the Shrimp cocktail, so Katsu decided to perform that first. The recipe was more complex than one might originally think, as it involved carrots, celery, onions, garlic, lemon, parsley, thyme, and a couple bay leaves. All for just the Shrimp, let alone the cocktail sauce. Getting to work Katsu quickly quartered the carrots, celery, and the onion and then set them aside to move on to halving the garlic and lemon. A pot filled with a measured amount of water was set on the stove, a rather big pot considering he was making enough shrimp to whet the appetites of fifty people, and all the vegetable ingredients were thrown into the water and set to boil. Which left Katsu with a little over twenty minutes to prepare the cocktail sauce.

The first thing was the horseradish, and for this Katsu decided to stay on the safe side and just placed on a little set of goggles. Horse radish burned much worse than onion, and Katsu didn't feel like being blinded. Taking fresh horse radish, the dirt and all still covering it, Katsu promptly washed and peeled it, finally chopping it into fine pieces before throwing the stuff into a food processor. Just a bit of water, and then Katsu turned the processor on until the horse radish was reduced to something like a chunky paste. A couple teaspoons of vinegar, to help stabilize the flavor, and a bit of salt. Turn the processor back on in small bursts until the ingredients blended, and done. Homemade Ketchup, mixed from tomato paste, honey, vinegar, water, sugar, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder went into the processor as well. As did some Worcestershire sauce and some freshly zested and juiced lemon. Another round of mixing, and the cocktail sauce was ready to be refrigerated for the night.

The cocktail sauce was put into a large bowl and stowed away, Katsu cleaned up the little mess in the kitchen he had made to that point, and off came the goggles. Just in time for the shrimp to be thrown into the pot of boiling bouillon, the heat turned off, and watched over for a few minutes. It was easy enough after that to simply drain and cool the shrimp, and after taste testing one of the shrimp for taste Katsu grinned and prepared for the hard part. De-shelling the shrimp one by one by hand, and then removing the mud-vein. Once done Katsu placed the shrimp to cool for the rest of the night. When they started their meal tomorrow the shrimp would be placed on fancy cups designed with a wavy rim to help hold the shrimp in place while the cocktail sauce and a tiny umbrella were placed in the cup itself. Twenty of these cups would be placed at the ten tables set for the meal, five to a table, and there would be plenty for all, but not to plenty as to ruin their appetites. Katsu grinned as he moved on, getting ready to prepare his chocolate ice cream...

[~Emi~]

5/5 Tp, Learned~

You went from 43/125 SP to 83/125 SP

Here's the rolls

[Deleted]

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Katsu has Able Learner (+2 Dice rolls per time trained) and he also has a
Book: Textbook: Herbivore: Cooking/Baking For Your Region [FOREST] (Granting a +1 competence bonus to all dice rolls.)

For every time learned, Katsu gains 7 dice rolls, with every roll given a +1 Bonus to the roll.

Current Cooking Skill: 83

[0/5]

SPOILER: Click to show

Cooking
Rank: "E" (5 TP at all times)
Skill: Skill
Effect: Cooking and Baking allows the user to create superb dishes.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: With a successful Cooking/Baking check, a cook can make nutritious meals out of just about any edible substance and can create hot meals even in the wilderness. Failure means that the food is disgusting and inedible. Cooking a meal generally takes no more than an hour, although the preparation of ingredients and dishes may take several. When choosing this skill the user must choose either Cooking or Baking. Baking is the ability to cook by dry heat without direct exposure to a flame, typically in an oven or on a hot surface. Look in Task Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

Katsu was nine, and had learned quite a lot about cooking for someone his age, but it was something that you could always improve upon. Today Katsu was focusing on trying to learn how to make a thick hearty meal from limited resources, while still keeping it tasty. Katsu had focused on ingredients likely to be scavenged during foraging in a forest, and so he had planned for Apples, Neep, and Sweetberry to be his base ingredients. Apples were an obvious staple the world over, Sweetberries were just what they sounded although they tended to cause nausea, and Neep was a bland sort of root but it stopped nausea in its tracks and was a great addition for the Sweetberries. In addition Katsu had gotten Juniper and some Cornish hens, a replacement for birds normally used with Juniper, Thrushes.

With his basic ingredients set out Katsu got to work, beginning with starting a fire (He was at a campground, and using a simple firepit, to simulate conditions of simply foraging in the wild) in the pit. Taking the juniper berries Katsu would crush them, sprinkling their juices over the raw Cornish hens before skewering the hens and placing them over the fire he had made, adding common spices like a hint of black pepper and salt.

Once that was done Katsu took the Neep and crushed it into a thick pulp with a mortar and pestle before adding in freshly cleaned sweetberries and a bit of water. Mashing that up into a sweet paste, Katsu set it aside to focus on his apples, licking the paste off of the pestle. Taking his trusty knife Katsu would section the apple and then peel off the skins, taking as little of the fruit meat as possible, and placed the skins red-side down on rocks near the fire to roast. The skins would make some crispy chips, while the apple slices would be eaten raw as an appetizer before the meat and bread was done.

Moving on, Katsu brought out something you could find practically anywhere; flour. Whether it was wheat, barley, potatoes, corn, or something even more exotic one could make flour out of anything that was a starch, meaning if one just looked around in any environ they could make flour. Katsu was going to use this flour, which was made from potatoes, to make unleavened bread. Potato bred was really soft and stayed moist longer than most other breads, making it great for long trips and the like. It also tended to absorb other flavors easily, so it'd lock in sweetberry nicely. Mixing the flour with water, kneading it on a flat rock, then laying it near the fire was simple, so Katsu opted to take the roasting apple skins and crumbled them up into a near powder before spreading them across the top of the dough. Cooking was really part alchemy part imagination, after all, and adjusting your plan on the fly was almost expected when trying something new.

Now it was just a waiting game, keeping an eye on the roasting hens, turning the spit constantly while also noting the progress of the unleavened potato bread, making sure to flip it before it burnt on one side. It was a concentration intensive process, but eventually Katsu's meal was done. Roasted Cornish Hen seasoned with juniper, salt, and pepper on unleavened apple-potato bread with a sweetberry paste that was sure to settle one's stomach. Roasting on a spit sealed in all the flavor of the meat, and the sweet bread, paste, and apple slices made it a good meal to keep your energy up. Protein, Grain, Fruit. Serve with a skin of milk and you had a balanced meal that would keep you going all day. Katsu nommed happily as he packed up his cooking gear, viewing his little experiment a tasty success. Nom nom.

[Draven]

+5tp, cooking 83-103sp

[Deleted]

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Katsu has Able Learner (+2 Dice rolls per time trained) and he also has a
Book: Textbook: Herbivore: Cooking/Baking For Your Region [FOREST] (Granting a +1 competence bonus to all dice rolls.)

For every time learned, Katsu gains 7 dice rolls, with every roll given a +1 Bonus to the roll.

Current Cooking Skill: 103

[0/5]

SPOILER: Click to show

Cooking
Rank: "E" (5 TP at all times)
Skill: Skill
Effect: Cooking and Baking allows the user to create superb dishes.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: With a successful Cooking/Baking check, a cook can make nutritious meals out of just about any edible substance and can create hot meals even in the wilderness. Failure means that the food is disgusting and inedible. Cooking a meal generally takes no more than an hour, although the preparation of ingredients and dishes may take several. When choosing this skill the user must choose either Cooking or Baking. Baking is the ability to cook by dry heat without direct exposure to a flame, typically in an oven or on a hot surface. Look in Task Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

Katsu had reached the point where he was considered almost a genius when it came to preparing and cooking meals. Such praise, while nice, wasn't really what Katsu wanted out of cooking. He wanted to be able to provide a service to people. It was for that reason that Katsu decided to donate his time to a large restaurant as a line cook.

Unlike most people Katsu knew the difficulty of being a cook for a lot of people at once. Even if one were simply making hamburgers and frying fish when one tossed in fifty people asking for food one could get confused pretty easily.

So the next day Katsu turned up at the restaurant at seven in the morning, waving sleepily to the other cooks and workers at the restaurant. Most were shocked to see such a small child in a kitchen, but a couple knew why Katsu were there and warned the rest of them off. Going to the station behind the main cooking grill Katsu would look over the ingredients that he was going to be working with, seeing how the cooks had organized them. The refrigerator, freezer, counters, and every surface would be inspected to make sure Katsu had the right flow in mind. Every kitchen was different. Ruining the flow of a kitchen could stop it dead, and if they were busy at the time it could mean customers walking out. That was bad.

With his inspection complete and the opening time approaching Katsu got into position, talking with the other cook who was at his station to help guide him. Breakfast was going to involve a lot of omelets, scrambles, sausage, pancakes, and toast. The doors opened, allowing the early-birds to finally get in and take their seats; and soon after the orders started rushing in.

Within the first fifteen minutes Katsu had been ordered to make five steak and egg breakfasts, sixteen scrambles with onions, peppers, and cheese, and three dozen pumpkin flavored pancakes (House Specialty). The amount of food that Katsu needed to make was almost staggering, and he had to laugh nervously as he poured another pancake onto the grill surface, eying the two steaks he was cooking. One had to be medium-well, the other medium-rare, and both had been thrown on at the same time. Katsu had made a small incision on the edge of one to help him remember which one was which, although his Perfect Memory made it only a formality, a good cooking tip to use whenever possible. The eggs were easier though. Just throw them on, cook until semi-solid yet still very moist, then throw in the vegetables.

The heat of the grill was the most grueling thing, Katsu found. Katsu was sweating in minutes as he prepared meal after meal; trying his best not to confuse orders and get everything ready at a steady rate. It was certainly difficult to keep everything set so that nothing was overcooked or undercooked! There was a simple trick though. Red Meat first, then Fish, then eggs and veggies, then pancakes and toast. Everything tended to cook slowest to fastest in that order; so if someone put in an order for steak and eggs with a side of toast you put the steak down first, waited for it to be about five minutes out from done then put down the eggs, and immediately after get the toast started. By the time the steak was done so was the eggs and toast, and they could all be put on a plate in a aesthetically pleasing formation (Or at least in a silly smily face) and sent across to the waitstaff to end up in a customer's stomach.

The breakfast rush never really died down either, it just morphed into the lunch rush, meaning that for a solid seven hours Katsu was beseiged by dozens upon dozens of orders of the exact same meals in a half-dozen variants. When finally Three P.M. rolled around Katsu felt like his brain had turned to jelly, and he knew with some dread that he'd messed up at least a few meals so bad the customer couldn't eat them as they were and they needed sent back. At least none of the customers had walked out. Wiping his brow Katsu put the last touches on hopefully the last steak and egg breakfast of the day (A late riser still wants breakfast to) and leaned against the refrigerator door, enjoying the cool metal against his skin.

"How do you do this day in and day out?!" Katsu inquired of his partner, who didn't seem nearly as tired as Katsu was, and was finishing a burger for someone's lunch. He laughed and replied with a cliche "you get used to it, kid."

Dear lord, Katsu got the feeling that'd be a horrible thing to get used to. All well. Katsu had at least picked up a few useful tips on how to cook for a LOT of people at once. Of course, the dinner rush was going to start somewhere just past Five P.M...

[Draven]

+5tp, Cooking 103-123sp

[Deleted]

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Katsu has Able Learner (+2 Dice rolls per time trained) and he also has a
Book: Textbook: Herbivore: Cooking/Baking For Your Region [FOREST] (Granting a +1 competence bonus to all dice rolls.)

For every time learned, Katsu gains 7 dice rolls, with every roll given a +1 Bonus to the roll.

Current Cooking Skill: 103

[0/5]

SPOILER: Click to show

Cooking
Rank: "E" (5 TP at all times)
Skill: Skill
Effect: Cooking and Baking allows the user to create superb dishes.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: With a successful Cooking/Baking check, a cook can make nutritious meals out of just about any edible substance and can create hot meals even in the wilderness. Failure means that the food is disgusting and inedible. Cooking a meal generally takes no more than an hour, although the preparation of ingredients and dishes may take several. When choosing this skill the user must choose either Cooking or Baking. Baking is the ability to cook by dry heat without direct exposure to a flame, typically in an oven or on a hot surface. Look in Task Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

The dinner rush was going to be a pain, Katsu knew it already. Luckily the restaurant wasn't the type that served breakfast all day, meaning that the easy to mess up egg dishes were leaving, to be replaced by the overcritical angry-walking-in-the-door customers who couldn't be satisfied by perfection. After placing all the breakfast ingredients away in their proper places and giving his grill a good cleaning during the three P.M. lull in business Katsu started to prepare burgers, steaks, noodles, and a large assortment of other foods no one would order during breakfast or lunch.

It wasn't very long before the orders began to rush in one after another. Pasta Primavera, T-bone Steaks, Lobster Tails, Clam Chowder, Chimichanga (deep-fried burritos), Hoagies, and dozens of others. The Restaurant boasted being able to cook iconic foods from every country; whether it was western or eastern culture, and Katsu found himself challenged just to be able to prepare this many different kinds of food so rapidly behind one another.

Working on a Sticky Pluvian Pork dish, which was a difficult meal to make involving frying vegetables in a melted sugar glaze before adding in the pork belly and making sure none of it burned, Katsu felt his mouth watering at the delicious scent wafting from his frying pan, but had to immediately clean the pan thoroughly in order to prepare it for a Chinook Lamb Biryani, a dish from Wind Country involving pan fried lamb, spiced rice, and a special-made sauce all layered together. The orderer of the Biryani was from a religious sect that forbid the consumption of pork of any kind, stating it was an inherently unclean animal, and so not a single bit of pork fat from the Sticky Pluvian Pork was to touch the Lamb Biryani.

There was also Plank Grilled Salmon, which was exactly as it sounded, Fresh-caught Salmon spiced and slapped on a fresh cedar plank then grilled over an open flame, the cedar lending the Salmon a rich smoky flavour. It was tough to cook, but the trick was to keep the cedar plank high enough so that it wouldn't catch fire but that it would steadily blacken and smoke just a hair. Keeping an eye on that while at the same time preparing the Biryani as well as four other more simple orders including a pair of burgers, a thick stew that simply needed reheating, and a cheesesteak was difficult, to say the least. Katsu just hoped he could keep things going long enough to get through the dinner rush.

[Draven]

btw your current cooking skill is 123

Not doing rolls because its impossible not to max out.

Sooooo,

+5tp Cooking 123-125

[Deleted]

[Katsu has the Able Learner trait, meaning he is granted an additional 2 dice rolls per time learned for a total of 7 with Haggle

Current SP: 0

TP: 0/10]

SPOILER: Click to show

Haggle
Rank: "D"
Skill: Skill
Effect: Characters with the haggle skill know how to get the best deals.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Characters are well versed in the subtle art of obtaining the best quality items for the least amount of money, and how to sell what they have at the biggest profits. There are two ways to handle haggling in Naruto Forum Role-play. There is a fast way and a slower way. Look in Task Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

[FLASHBACK]

When Katsu was a small child, and his family still lived in the harsh desert lands of Kaze no Kuni, it was a monthly ritual for his father Masao to travel from their small village not found on any map, to the Capital of Kaze in order to purchase and sell goods for the continued health of the village. Many times Katsu would accompany his father, and he would learn many things about the world. One such thing he learned over the course of his time following his father to market was a bit of how to haggle...

"Haggling.." Masao said, "..is more of less arguing with someone else on the price of something you want to buy or sell, Katsu." This was said as they crossed the desert towards the capital, a cart laden with goods from their village being pulled by a stout camel across the sands.

"For example, say that we need to buy seeds to plant our crops, which the shops ask for 100 Ryo a small bag, but we only have enough Ryo to buy 80 percent of what we need at that price. What are we to do to make sure we get all the seed bags we need?" Katsu's father posed to the little boy stumbling at his side, trudging through the sand.

It was a little pause before Katsu replied hesitantly, "Ask them to sell the bags for 80 Ryo each instead?"

"Exactly son, but there's a special way to go about it. You see, the first thing you want to do is to ask for a price much lower. Now tell me, what price would you ask for first?"

"W-wouldn't it be best to try and get the lowest price possible? What would be the lowest price we could ask that wouldn't offend the merchant?"

"Good. You're already grasping the basics. Yes, you don't want to offend the merchant you're dealing with, not only just because it's rude but because if you offend them they may not give you the deal you want, or may even refuse to sell or buy from you!" Katsu's father held a finger up as he spoke, then pointed it as he finished his sentence to emphasize his point, at which point the young Katsu's eyes bulged and he gasped. That was frightful. Merchants were the only way their small village could continue to exist, if no one sold to them their village would die. "Now, to answer your question. It's generally accepted that initially asking for half their listed price is the lowest you can ask for without upsetting someone."

Katsu thought for a long moment before he replied, again with hesitance, unused to this type of thinking,  "Then I'd want to ask to buy the seed bags for 60 Ryo a bag. If 50 percent is the lowest acceptable number then you should go a little higher in case you have someone who's easily offended... right, Dad?"

Masao nodded, pleased that his son was picking this information up quickly, yet also at his sense of honor towards others as well, "Very good. Now, once you've made your first offer they won't accept it unless one of two things is going on. One, they weren't very honest with their stated price, and what they're selling isn't worth nearly as much as what they want. In this case you should just walk away if you can son, it's never good to deal with a dishonest merchant. The other thing is they're desperate to get anything for their product. This might be a sign that they need help, and you might be able to help them solve a problem in order to get what you want from them for free, essentially trading labor for their product instead of Ryo."

Listening silently Katsu tried to take in all the information he was being given, and continued to do so as Masao moved back to their original lesson, "So, expect them not to take your first offer. It won't insult them, but they'll want to try and get as much as they can for their product. After all they're thinking the same way we are. Instead they'll probably offer something closer to 90%. In that case you'll have to make another offer. What do you think now?"

Katsu had the answer for this one, immediately spouting out with, "70 percent! They went down 10%, so if we want to get to 80% we shouldn't go up more than 10% in return. If we follow that pattern they'll offer 80% next and we can get all the seeds we need, right?" Katsu looked at his father expectantly, wanting to know if he was right or not...

[Father 'Suke]

+10 TP
+27 SP

27|125

[Deleted]

[Katsu has the Able Learner trait, meaning he is granted an additional 2 dice rolls per time learned for a total of 7 with Haggle

Current SP: 27

TP: 0/10]

SPOILER: Click to show

Haggle
Rank: "D"
Skill: Skill
Effect: Characters with the haggle skill know how to get the best deals.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Characters are well versed in the subtle art of obtaining the best quality items for the least amount of money, and how to sell what they have at the biggest profits. There are two ways to handle haggling in Naruto Forum Role-play. There is a fast way and a slower way. Look in Task Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

[Continued FLASHBACK]

Masao smiled down at his sun as they continued to cross the desert towards Hitofuki. "Yes Katsu. 70% is the best answer there in most cases. However once you start getting close towards a final price they, and you as well, will want to give less and less ground. In all likelihood you should only expect them to respond with a price at 85% listed in this scenario. Now, I'm going to teach you another potential part of haggling that might help you get better prices. It's a simple concept. Tell the merchant you are willing to buy or sell a large amount of the product.

Katsu looked a bit confused at that, thinking hard on how that would make the merchant want to accept a worse deal. He couldn't think of a good reason as young as he was and looked to his father confusedly. "Why would we do that? If the merchant doesn't want to sell one thing at a lower price, why would he want to sell a lot at a lower price?"

"Do you remember the old saying 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'? This is the same concept. A merchant might be willing to make a deal with you over a large amount of product because you're gauranteeing that he'll be able to sell that product, whereas without the deal he might not sell nearly as much. It is a bit of a gamble tactic, but as long as your offer still results in the merchant gaining profit they'll likely take it because the results aren't up to chance for them anymore. Knowing you can make a 50% profit instead of having a chance at 100% profit is often preferable for a sustainable business, and you can take advantage of that fact for a better deal." Masao answered Katsu's query chuckling somewhat, but when Katsu's eyes became full of understanding he moved on to the next subject he wanted to teach, "Now. If you're going to offer to buy a lot of product you'll need a number in mind. What number would you offer to buy?

Thinking for a short moment Katsu shook his head, "I'm not sure...but... something between what we need and what we can afford to lose Ryo on. Right? We still need what we need at the least, so that might be a good number to go with, but if they don't think that's enough for the deal to be appealing then you'd have to try and offer more, right?

A quick nod from Masao as he began to continue, "In this scenario lets say we need 100 seed bags, so that's how many you offer to sell. Now, what price percentage do you make this offer at?"

"Well... we still want to get the best deal possible, and since the merchant went with a 5% change from last time we should do so as well. So I'd uhm.. yeah, I'd offer to buy 100 seed bags provided it was at 75% the normal price. Err, wait, that's kinda like cheating though isn't it Dad? If we were gonna buy 100 seed bags anyway isn't it kinda cheating to hold that back until it's advantageous to us?"

"Not at all Katsu. You have to think of haggling sort of like you would a fight. Holding back how much you plan on buying is like a Feint. You start to use one attack, that is to say you try normal bargaining, and when your opponent, or in this case the merchant, thinks they know the attack you change it up on them to win the fight in a decisive blow, which in this case is getting the better deal. As long as the merchant doesn't know you wanted to buy that much in the first place they won't know what's gone on and will think they're getting the better deal from you. It'll be your complete victory"

Katsu blinked, understanding the logic behind the maneuver, and remembering that in a fight the only thing that mattered in the end was who won, because everything hinged on who came out as the victor. In this case it meant that his village would continue to thrive if he won, and it would suffer if he lost. It was then that Katsu began to understand the importance of Haggling, and he looked to his father, "Could you teach me more, Dad? This seems like something I should learn a lot about 'cause it's important, right?"

[Draven]

+10tp Haggle 27-52sp

[Deleted]

[Katsu has the Able Learner trait, meaning he is granted an additional 2 dice rolls per time learned for a total of 7 with Haggle

Current SP: 52

TP: 0/10]

SPOILER: Click to show

Haggle
Rank: "D"
Skill: Skill
Effect: Characters with the haggle skill know how to get the best deals.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Characters are well versed in the subtle art of obtaining the best quality items for the least amount of money, and how to sell what they have at the biggest profits. There are two ways to handle haggling in Naruto Forum Role-play. There is a fast way and a slower way. Look in Task Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

[Continued FLASHBACK]

Masao gave a smile to his inquisitive son, and quickly continued the lesson, "Alright. First thing. The next thing I want to teach you about is something I've already prepared and is clearly visible. So, tell me, what do we do on these trips that we often do not do otherwise, Katsu?"

Katsu blinked at his father before turning his eyes to glance at the rest of their little "caravan". In reality it simply consisted of an old shabby camel to haul the cart, which was shabby in its own way, being constructed somewhat poorly by appearance. The goods on the cart were of no mind, for they were different each time they went to market, and could consist of anything from sacks of pink sand to rare looking herbs and even a weapon or two. The only other thing Katsu could think of, excluding the obvious answer of leaving the village, was... clothing.

"We always go to the Capital wearing these sets of clothing..." Katsu wondered aloud as he grabbed at the hem of his shirt. The clothing that he and his father Masao were wearing was one of their most plain and simple clothing they owned. Katsu wore a simple pair of rugged denim jeans, a comfortably T-shirt, and a patched traveler's cloak to keep the sand and wind from his eyes. His father Masao wore something similar but with a slightly more patched cloak and a heavier shirt, although Katsu knew the only reason for that was to conceal some weaponry that could be loosed on any predator at a moment's notice. So their clothes were shabby... in fact everything about them seemed shabby. Katsu knew for a fact that they could make themselves look better if they wanted. Katsu had much better clothing in his wardrobe, his mother made the stuff herself.

"...and then there's always.... our oldest camel and the slow cart..." Continuing to think to himself, Katsu recalled how they had several other camels in the village, most of them in much better shape than this one as well. At first glance the camel seemed downright sickly, with patches of fur missing and bare skin showing in places. The cart they used was also the one with misshapen wheels, causing it to be harder to pull and force their pace to a crawl. They had a better cart, with proper wheels and made just a year ago, while this one was older than Katsu himself was..

Looking up at his father Katsu tilted his head to the side, "Our appearance is always so... shabby. It makes us look like we don't have much coin to spend... that's why? We're making other people think that we're on our last coin, to make them... pity us, maybe? Dad... that's got to be cheating..."

With another chuckle Masao scruffed Katsu's cloak hood and his hair beneath, "Like I said. Think of it like a fight, son. But you have the right of it. We dress the way we do and bring the old camel and cart to make people think we're desperate, and they're willing to be more generous in their dealings with us out of that pity for the unfortunate. You're not wrong in that it can be considered somewhat underhanded, but we do not appear quite as desperate as you might think, Katsu.

"You see, the trick is to appear as if you have not a lot of coin to spend, but a lot more than nothing to spend, see? If we look too poor to actually buy anything the merchants will quickly lose interest in dealing with us, and will likely just try to get us to leave. Keep in mind this only works in the kind of market we travel to regularly. If we wanted to buy something from one of the luxury shops or from an Art Store we would want to appear as if we belonged there. Our finest set of clothes with our Horse and the covered Wagon kept in storage would be a better choice of appearance for that sale. This is because those things are so expensive in the first place, and the merchants there want to know you're capable of paying what you offer." Masao stopped for breath, as well as the camel and Katsu. The city was finally starting to solidify out of the heat haze across the desert, only the highest peaks of the domed buildings shimmering in the heat now.

Katsu had to take a long moment to think on what his father had been telling him, and even then it still seemed like it was a form of trickery in order to get an unfair advantage out of other people, until he realized that Masao had said earlier that merchants thought the same way he did, meaning... they to knew of these techniques, and had their own techniques in order to try and keep their profit high... Shaking his head a bit, "Dad, do the merchants start their prices overly high, because they know that we're going to haggle with them?"

Masao winked, "That's a good thought, son. Keep that in mind and look at the prices as we start our trade tomorrow, alright?"

"Yes, Dad. I'll keep that in mind." Katsu replied cheerfully, thinking ahead to the things they were going to buy tomorrow...

[Nira]

Aw, Daddy dearest ^_^

Way back, whenever I had an especially bad day, he'd...

Uh... wait, getting off topic.

Anyway.

+10, Learned.

76sp

[Deleted]

[Katsu has the Able Learner trait; meaning he gets an extra 2 rolls for Ritual Lore, for a total of 7 per time learned.

Ritual Lore (Restoration) SP: 0/125
0/5]

SPOILER: Click to show

Ritualist Lore
Rank: "E"
Skill: Skill
Effect: A basic skill to identify everything of Ritualist understanding.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A person versed in Ritualist Lore knows the basic principles behind Rituals. They are tuned in to secrets about the rites and ways of Rituals around them that most others do not and know how to read Writings pertaining to Rituals. They may not be able to perform Rituals, but they can read Ritualist Writings and generally tell what it is all about. Some practical applications of Ritualist Lore follow: Identify Components, Identifying Ritualist Icons, Identifying Jutsus, Identifying Chakra Items, and Deciphering Scrolls. Look in Jutsu Lore Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

Katsu was worried. It had been several days since he had returned from his missions way down in the Land of Tea. He had left Seishin back with his teammates to help, but their delay was worrying. To pass the time, and perhaps prepare for something beyond his control, to bring it back unto his control, Katsu cracked open a tome that he had borrowed from somewhere or other. It was a tome describing Restoration Rituals; powerful knowledge on how to restore the health and well being of creatures without relying on normal chakra.

The tome was titled as "Spirits of Healing; A study on the rituals that call them up", and as Katsu read further into its depths he found it to be most helpful to bind his attention and to calm his mind. Restoration Rituals, Katsu read, were more than just jutsu that shaped chakra into a healing force, they were ceremonies that tapped into the powers of the world itself. By following precise instructions involving dozens of different components and actions one could call forth a Spirit of Healing, near primal forces of the universe that were capable of restoring flesh and infusing it with positive energy; which was somehow equivalent to Life Energy itself.

Marveling at the ramifications of this Katsu placed the book down, thinking. Katsu knew of chakra, that divine gift that everyone could learn if they reached out for the knowledge. It was made up of both mental and physical energies, of which only humans had a refined enough consciousness to mix the two together and create true chakra. Every human could learn to use chakra if they desired it; like a gift from the world. Katsu also knew of Soul Energy, which he called Vitae. All beings had Soul energy, but only a very few were granted the ability to mold it into anything, and they were called by a dozen different names. Another source of power that was simply given to those who the universe found worthy. However the spirits and energies that these Rituals seemed to harness were something else altogether. Hidden from the majority of the world these energies had to be pleaded with, commanded, subdued, or otherwise compelled to lend out their power to a beseeching being. One could say that Ritual chakra (which is how the book described the energies, even if it didn't fit very well) was the power without, while chakra and Vitae was the power within.

Picking the book back up Katsu continued to read onward, trying to figure out if there was some other great difference between Restoration rituals and normal jutsu. He quickly found it; noting the complexity of the rituals and all of the Components that had to be precisely presented and performed during the rituals. Also was the difference in time consumption. Chakra based jutsu and Soulcaster technqiues were fast. Sure you had a beginning training time, but once you had properly learned a technique it took just a few moments of concentration and effort and the effect manifested. Rituals however took hours to complete. That was a huge amount of effort, and Katsu immediately realized why most rituals were so unknown. Nobody wanted to spend that much time performing a single technqiue when most jutsu took seconds to perform. Still, the power that could be wielded was massive...

Katsu slowly continued reading the book, wondering what else he might find...

[Father 'Suke]

+5 TP
+42 SP
42|125

[Deleted]

[Katsu has the Able Learner trait; meaning he gets an extra 2 rolls for Ritual Lore, for a total of 7 per time learned.

Ritual Lore (Restoration) SP: 42/125
0/5]

SPOILER: Click to show

Ritualist Lore
Rank: "E"
Skill: Skill
Effect: A basic skill to identify everything of Ritualist understanding.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A person versed in Ritualist Lore knows the basic principles behind Rituals. They are tuned in to secrets about the rites and ways of Rituals around them that most others do not and know how to read Writings pertaining to Rituals. They may not be able to perform Rituals, but they can read Ritualist Writings and generally tell what it is all about. Some practical applications of Ritualist Lore follow: Identify Components, Identifying Ritualist Icons, Identifying Jutsus, Identifying Chakra Items, and Deciphering Scrolls. Look in Jutsu Lore Skills thread found in the Skills and Traits Index for more information. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.
Limit: ---

Restoration rituals were really fascinating, Katsu had decided. The method in which they drew their power was as far as Katsu knew unique. The basic premise of restoration rituals were to create the proper situation to call forth a healing force of the Universe, which was sometimes named Spirits of Healing, although the author of the tome Katsu read preferred the term Jishinmei, a portmanteau of Jishin meaning mercy and Shinmei meaning a god. Anyway these “spirits” were essentially always willing to give their power to anyone who sought to use them, for they had great joy in using their abilities for any reason whatsoever, but they were unfortunately unable to affect the world on their own. They were somehow bound outside the world, and could only interact with it under certain circumstances that was different for each spirit. This was where a Restoration ritual came into play.

The ritualist, following the specific procedures of the ritual, would create the circumstances that let the Jishinmei use their ability on the world, granting a specific effect in the area depending on which spirit was called forth. Restoration rituals came down to three steps. The first step was to call forth the attention of the specific Jishinmei to your location. Jishinmei were immensely powerful forces, but they were not omniscient beings, and had to be alerted of the opportunity to use their abilities. This was done by creating an arcane array created with specific salts and powders. Normally these arrays would be aligned into an outer circle with various runes and arcane symbols placed on the inside edge of the circle, with a smaller circle inside that to create a vacant space.

These arcane arrays, at least for Restoration rituals, were called Coronas, both for their appearance to the human eye as well as their purpose. The Coronas essentially acted like great bright beacons; emitting an energy that would resonate particularly well with the specific Jishinmei that you were attempting to get the attention of. The Jishinmei would be drawn to the Corona at this point, curious and a bit excited, for the Coronas that humans have managed to learn were all originally given by the Jishinmei themselves. They were the evidence of ancient pacts made between human and spirit; humans seeking the power of the spirits, and the spirits only too willing to give this power in their ecstasy of using them. Each different spirit had in fact taken a specific Corona as their own, to better assist the humans willing to ask their aid. Like the best lover, the Jishinmei were very accommodating to their “partners”, making it the best they could for them so that they would be willing to return for more.

Katsu chuckled at the words the author had put down. Jishinmei were like the best lovers, eh? For some reason images of a beautiful angelic woman filled Katsu's mind for a moment, smiling down at him... Could it be?... Nah, that'd be way too convenient! Katsu read on...

[Father 'Suke]

+5 TP
+41 SP
83|125

Note: Dang you have some good charma, I nearly doubled your first roll.