Fredrick's Journey: The Gig
Book 4
By: Carlyn (Lord Carledo) Stuart Brooks
Fredrick woke up late the next morning to the sound of brunchers
and the smell of omelets and fish... a very strange fish dish. He
plucked a spider off of his sheets as he got up. The only two still
sleeping were Pinnaugh, who was was still holding his axe in his sleep,
and Jose, who had fallen out of his bed and hadn't succeded in getting
back into his bed as his head was resting on the side of the mattress.
As he opened the door and started walking down the second story
hallway, the smell of brunch was becoming stronger. Fredrick's stomach
began to hiss strongly. Yes, hiss. You see, unlike humans, when goblins
become hungry, their stomachs hiss instead of growling.
As he opened the door into the cafe/bar, the smell completely
overwhelmed him and his fingers groped over his belt for his money
pouch to order breakfast. He asked the stunned waitress what the
bizarre fish smell was. She said the only thing out of the ordinary on
the menu was the breakfast fish burrito. Fredrick thought for a second
and came to the conclusion that to understand another race, you have to
understand everything from the language, to the food. So he ordered the
burrito and seated himself. It was only after he got his plate that he
realized that Drake and Yoshi were across the room playing cards.
Fredrick didn't quite understand the concept of cards. Trau was
standing behind them watching intently.
Fredrick left this sight and looked down at his breakfast. It was
wrapped in a grain and flour wrap with bits of cheese, fish, lettuce,
and olives pretruding out of each end. With stares from curious
onlookers, Fredrick unsurely took a bite. He chewed it intently...After
the third bite, he was thoroughly amazed. Though as strange as it
tasted, the amount of different ingredients contributed to the varied
taste. The cheese was enough to weaken the strong bitter taste of the
local fish while the olives complimented the spices and grilled taste
immensly. He quickly gobbled (goblin, gobbled; yuck yuck yuck, humor)
down the rest of his food to the surprise of the curious people
watching. Realizing this, Fredrick smiled and announced with glee,
"Very good!" A few people smiled and laughed while others merely shook
their heads. The cook looked thoroughly happy with himself from behind
the counter. He had been on his break and was easily as interested as
everyone else that had been watching.
Yoshi, Drake, and Trau walked over to his table and seated
themselves. The waitress walked back over.
"May I get you boys something?" She said this a warmer much more
appeasing voice than she did with Fredrick.
"Sure, by the way, do you work the night-shift?" Drake smirked
and winked. Fredrick didn't quite understand why...
"I get that a lot and yeah, on the weekends," replied the
waitress in a silky voice.
"Well, how long we stayin' boss?" asked Drake intently.
"Long enough!" said Yoshi in an upbeat mood. Trau looked on
curiously, scratched his head, and looked to Fredrick who merely
shrugged. Even if he could understand Humans, he didn't understand
Humans in general. Seeing the bewildered look on Fredrick's face after
the waitress had taken their orders and left, Yoshi explained what the
conversation was about and explained the concept of it. By the end,
Fredrick's eyes were wide and Drake was pounding his fist on the table
laughing at the look on Fredrick's face. Fredrick turned to face Trau
and explained the conversation. Trau too, was laughing histerically by
the end and kept repeating such things as, "Are you serious?" and
"You're kidding!".
Pinnaugh had come down from the room saying that Jose was still
snoring incredibly loud and that his head to the floor by now. Fredrick
relayed this on to Yoshi and Drake who laughed heartily.
"Yeah," Yoshi said, "He usually does sleep late, even if he
hadn't driven mules through the night the day before." Fredrick
chuckled, left a tip(Jose explained the concept last night at dinner),
and left for the library. He ran down to the library not wanting to
cause people to stare. A goblin down a busy street made them wonder
even harder however. After a ten minute jog, Fredrick reached the
library.
Fredrick opened the door and called in,
"Hello, it is Fredrick!" The old man that was the bookkeeper,
Christopher Wilkins, showed up from the back room.
"Oh hello there Freddy, you're friend Damien's already 'ere. So,
anything you're looking for today?"
"No," replied Fredrick in a warm voice, he had become quite
friendly with this old man, "Same thing," So, Fredrick walked back to
the area where the wind magic book had been, found it, and yanked it
out of the dusty shelves causing a dust chain reaction which made him
go into a horrible sneezing fit. After he had gotten over this, he sat
at the table with a friendly "hello" to Damien who was reading "A
Beginner's Guide to Paladin Techniques".
They continued reading for at least another two hours before they
heard Yoshi's whistle. This was clearly a unique tecnique that he Yoshi
must have had training in. How a human could produce such a powerful,
shrill whistle was beyond him. Damien and Fredrick kindly thanked
Christopher, placed their books back on the shelf, and started at a jog
back to the Salty Snapper Inn. When they got their, the rest of the
party were sitting at the bar while Yoshi waited for everyone to sit
down. He was holding a large piece of paper with writing and several
signatures. To add to the situation, Drake was laughing extremely hard
with a glass of mead in one hand and the edge of the counter in the
other.
"Alright," Announced Yoshi who was trying to speak as if this was
imporatant, but he couldn't hold back his smile. "I've signed our
entourage up to be the entertainment for tonight's show. I myself can
play several instruments, but you guys will have to think up something
for it." Eventually, after several hours and several drinks, they
decided that Drake would be playing the mandolin, Damien would be
playing the piano, Yoshi would be playing harp, and Jose would be
singing in Elvish. Fredrick was eventually convinced to play flute as
it was the only instrument he knew how to play(Besides the larxac, a
form of Goblin drum made from gurrey hide and harpy bone). Trau and
Pinnaugh were convinced(after a few drinks) to do dancing in purple
nightgowns inbetween the tables. Sure, this would make it hard to take
them seriously, but it would make things entertaining.
It was a while 'til the performance. In that time ,however,
Fredrick lost about half his money playing cards and was actually happy
to have this job tonight. He did not know ,however, how this was going
to turn out. Maybe it would have been better if it never happened at
all...It would pay off in the end however. To be continued...
Book 4
By: Carlyn (Lord Carledo) Stuart Brooks
Fredrick woke up late the next morning to the sound of brunchers
and the smell of omelets and fish... a very strange fish dish. He
plucked a spider off of his sheets as he got up. The only two still
sleeping were Pinnaugh, who was was still holding his axe in his sleep,
and Jose, who had fallen out of his bed and hadn't succeded in getting
back into his bed as his head was resting on the side of the mattress.
As he opened the door and started walking down the second story
hallway, the smell of brunch was becoming stronger. Fredrick's stomach
began to hiss strongly. Yes, hiss. You see, unlike humans, when goblins
become hungry, their stomachs hiss instead of growling.
As he opened the door into the cafe/bar, the smell completely
overwhelmed him and his fingers groped over his belt for his money
pouch to order breakfast. He asked the stunned waitress what the
bizarre fish smell was. She said the only thing out of the ordinary on
the menu was the breakfast fish burrito. Fredrick thought for a second
and came to the conclusion that to understand another race, you have to
understand everything from the language, to the food. So he ordered the
burrito and seated himself. It was only after he got his plate that he
realized that Drake and Yoshi were across the room playing cards.
Fredrick didn't quite understand the concept of cards. Trau was
standing behind them watching intently.
Fredrick left this sight and looked down at his breakfast. It was
wrapped in a grain and flour wrap with bits of cheese, fish, lettuce,
and olives pretruding out of each end. With stares from curious
onlookers, Fredrick unsurely took a bite. He chewed it intently...After
the third bite, he was thoroughly amazed. Though as strange as it
tasted, the amount of different ingredients contributed to the varied
taste. The cheese was enough to weaken the strong bitter taste of the
local fish while the olives complimented the spices and grilled taste
immensly. He quickly gobbled (goblin, gobbled; yuck yuck yuck, humor)
down the rest of his food to the surprise of the curious people
watching. Realizing this, Fredrick smiled and announced with glee,
"Very good!" A few people smiled and laughed while others merely shook
their heads. The cook looked thoroughly happy with himself from behind
the counter. He had been on his break and was easily as interested as
everyone else that had been watching.
Yoshi, Drake, and Trau walked over to his table and seated
themselves. The waitress walked back over.
"May I get you boys something?" She said this a warmer much more
appeasing voice than she did with Fredrick.
"Sure, by the way, do you work the night-shift?" Drake smirked
and winked. Fredrick didn't quite understand why...
"I get that a lot and yeah, on the weekends," replied the
waitress in a silky voice.
"Well, how long we stayin' boss?" asked Drake intently.
"Long enough!" said Yoshi in an upbeat mood. Trau looked on
curiously, scratched his head, and looked to Fredrick who merely
shrugged. Even if he could understand Humans, he didn't understand
Humans in general. Seeing the bewildered look on Fredrick's face after
the waitress had taken their orders and left, Yoshi explained what the
conversation was about and explained the concept of it. By the end,
Fredrick's eyes were wide and Drake was pounding his fist on the table
laughing at the look on Fredrick's face. Fredrick turned to face Trau
and explained the conversation. Trau too, was laughing histerically by
the end and kept repeating such things as, "Are you serious?" and
"You're kidding!".
Pinnaugh had come down from the room saying that Jose was still
snoring incredibly loud and that his head to the floor by now. Fredrick
relayed this on to Yoshi and Drake who laughed heartily.
"Yeah," Yoshi said, "He usually does sleep late, even if he
hadn't driven mules through the night the day before." Fredrick
chuckled, left a tip(Jose explained the concept last night at dinner),
and left for the library. He ran down to the library not wanting to
cause people to stare. A goblin down a busy street made them wonder
even harder however. After a ten minute jog, Fredrick reached the
library.
Fredrick opened the door and called in,
"Hello, it is Fredrick!" The old man that was the bookkeeper,
Christopher Wilkins, showed up from the back room.
"Oh hello there Freddy, you're friend Damien's already 'ere. So,
anything you're looking for today?"
"No," replied Fredrick in a warm voice, he had become quite
friendly with this old man, "Same thing," So, Fredrick walked back to
the area where the wind magic book had been, found it, and yanked it
out of the dusty shelves causing a dust chain reaction which made him
go into a horrible sneezing fit. After he had gotten over this, he sat
at the table with a friendly "hello" to Damien who was reading "A
Beginner's Guide to Paladin Techniques".
They continued reading for at least another two hours before they
heard Yoshi's whistle. This was clearly a unique tecnique that he Yoshi
must have had training in. How a human could produce such a powerful,
shrill whistle was beyond him. Damien and Fredrick kindly thanked
Christopher, placed their books back on the shelf, and started at a jog
back to the Salty Snapper Inn. When they got their, the rest of the
party were sitting at the bar while Yoshi waited for everyone to sit
down. He was holding a large piece of paper with writing and several
signatures. To add to the situation, Drake was laughing extremely hard
with a glass of mead in one hand and the edge of the counter in the
other.
"Alright," Announced Yoshi who was trying to speak as if this was
imporatant, but he couldn't hold back his smile. "I've signed our
entourage up to be the entertainment for tonight's show. I myself can
play several instruments, but you guys will have to think up something
for it." Eventually, after several hours and several drinks, they
decided that Drake would be playing the mandolin, Damien would be
playing the piano, Yoshi would be playing harp, and Jose would be
singing in Elvish. Fredrick was eventually convinced to play flute as
it was the only instrument he knew how to play(Besides the larxac, a
form of Goblin drum made from gurrey hide and harpy bone). Trau and
Pinnaugh were convinced(after a few drinks) to do dancing in purple
nightgowns inbetween the tables. Sure, this would make it hard to take
them seriously, but it would make things entertaining.
It was a while 'til the performance. In that time ,however,
Fredrick lost about half his money playing cards and was actually happy
to have this job tonight. He did not know ,however, how this was going
to turn out. Maybe it would have been better if it never happened at
all...It would pay off in the end however. To be continued...