Rise of The Runelords - David Drake's Saga

by Raulfur

This is the Rise of the Runelords series as told by of David Drake, an American pagan who got tricked into the adventure. This series shows how he comes to understand the world and his journeys through it. The first three posts detail his companions, Faunra: a time displaced elven Magus, Dame Rebekah: a child of crusaders, and Jonathan: a skinwalker monk/kineticist. Still ongoing.

15. Day 11 or Moving into the Glassworks

Day 11: Hurray Starday the 29th Rova, 4707

So, I woke up this morning in a little bit of a state. I was still fully dressed and felt better than ever. That usually happens after a strong night of drinking. I'll have to relay the events of the last night as best I can, but there might be some missing time or events. If I can, I'll get confirmation from someone else that was there that might know what all had happened. Again, this is for a confirmation of the events.

After I had finished getting dressed, I went downstairs to meet up with the rest of the group. There were all impressive in their attire, including Ameiko and Shalelu, who were both looking fabulous in what they were wearing. Ameiko was giggling with the rest of the group about something as I walked down the stairs. I hope to never figure out what, unless it is just that I looked very out of place with my attire. I know that it looked nothing like the current wear that Courtiers or Nobles wear, but I had fine clothing and damn it I was going to wear them unless I was banned from it. Then I noticed that Dame Rebekah had her longsword strapped on her hip, and Faunra had her gladius. Even Ameiko had her Mithril rapier and Shalelu had a fine shortsword on her hip. Hell, even Jonathan had a dagger on his hip. I asked them if it would be bad if I wasn't visibly armed. They asked what I mean, and I undid the suitcoat of the suit and showed them the holster and pistol on the side of my chest. They laughed a bit more and there was a knock at the door.

There were two carriages, apparently Ameiko had arranged this. Faunra, Ameiko, Shalelu, and Dame Rebekah got in the first one and as they left Ameiko yelled out that the carriage driver knows where to go. They took off before we could respond. Jonathan and I entered into the second one, and the carriage took off. I didn't dare look out the side to see where we were going. The carriage went for a bit and then stopped. I opened the door to see Ven waiting outside. He took one look at me and led his daughter Shayliss up to the carriage. I was at a loss for words, but sputtered out that I would make sure nothing untoward happened. He looked at me and nodded. We shut the door and went off. I could swear that Shayliss and Jonathan actually looked the part of being infatuated with each other. The carriage went off and I hoped that our next stop was the theater. No such luck. Jonathan had opened the door this time. I swear I saw Shayliss grab his ass as he stood up.

We were at the Armory, and Savah got in. She was a bit nervous apparently and I would guess wearing her best. I didn't know what to say. There was an awkward silence so I told her that she looked gorgeous and she blushed. Jonathan and Shayliss both smiled at that and I figured that I was just digging myself deeper. Our next stop was of course the Theater, and the group, with the Vinders, Cyrdak and Jaspar were already waiting there. I asked Dame Rebekah who she had invited, and she told me that she had thought to invite Nisk, since she thought that I could talk shop, but that she invited Father Zantus instead, since it would be good to have the Father here if anything unfortunate happened. Unfortunately, Father Zantus couldn't make it, so Chelger, the Shelynite acolyte arrived in his place. I hoped that she didn't always think of the need for safety at all times.

We all got to the balcony and were seated. We had plush leather chairs, all facing the stage. We were seated in two rows, with the order being Jonathan, Ven, Solsta, Shayliss, Dame Rebekah, Chelger, Katherine and her beau Banny Harker were in the first row. The second row was Faunra, Shalelu, Jaspar, Cyrdak, myself, Savah, and Ameiko. Mayor Deverin came in and got seated next to Ameiko and they started up a quiet conversation. I only caught the mayor saying that she was sorry for Ameiko's loss before an attendant asked if there was anything we needed. I was obviously confused, and Cyrdak told us that there was an arrangement with the Cracktooth's Tavern, that the balcony was served by his establishment. I looked to the rest of the group, having never been to this tavern, and asked what they served. The attendant told us what was available and I looked around the group. No one was making any recommendations or requests, I asked for a dozen settings of drunkfish vittles, a bottle of Director's Choice, and a dozen bottles of Turandarok Reserve. I handed the attendant twenty gold coins and thanked them. The young woman tried to tell me that this was too much, and I just told them that if a few extra bottles of Turandarok Reserve and a couple of plates of drunkfish vittles were ordered and did not happen to make it up here, I might understand since so much was being ordered.

The attendant ran off and we all settled into our chairs to make some light conversation. Cyrdak instantly hit upon what I was wearing. I stood up and did a slow circle. Cyrdak made some brief comments about different aspects of my clothes. I told him that there were different variants back home, and that this was a mid-range outfit. It certainly was dressier than what I normally wore. I added that a lot of the differences were based off of the material that the suit might be made from or the individual tailor of the suit itself. I told him that if he wanted to get a version of this made, I could possibly lend my spare to Rynshinn for her to get the measures of it to make a pattern. I added that I would have to talk to her about some modifications that would have to be made, because this world doesn't have a certain bit of technology that has been incorporated into almost all clothing in my home-world. Cyrdak was intrigued, and I told him that it wasn't something to show in polite company. He winked and got the hint.

We started having some light conversations with each other, with Savah gathering most of my attention. She wanted to know a lot about the home-world that I was from. I gave her some basic information, tailoring it more to things she asked about but not bringing up any personal details. That would likely bring up questions that I didn't want to deal with at this point. She was polite in her questions, and some of the others would bring up follow-up questions after I had answered Savah's. It didn't take too long before the attendant came back with some help, carrying plates and bottles among them. The attendants asked who was getting the Raspberry Mead, and I said that this was going to be for a toast, and apologized that we might need glasses. The attendant that I had tipped nodded and rushed off while the rest of the attendants passed out the plates. We were eating from our laps, and I told Cyrdak that I had an idea that would make things even better for his theater. Ameiko perked up at that and looked at me like I was going to offer up her video with asking her, and quietly listened as I told Cyrdak of an innovation from my elementary school days, a table that is connected to the chair, that folds out of the way. It can hold a decent amount and be out of the way when needed.

Cyrdak listened, and I added that this could be an innovation that would allow for people to eat or drink and not have the food on their laps. He nodded and caught a bit of innuendo there. He seemed the sort to appreciate that. I also added that I might want to talk to both him and the owner of the Cracktooth, because there were other things offered at theaters in my home-world that could possibly go over well here, and were fairly cheap besides. Cheap enough to be offered to more than just the Balcony, likely making it a larger draw. He was intrigued and he said that we could talk about it more after the showing. I agreed and got comfortable. I glanced over to Savah and saw that she was smiling at me. I smiled back and glanced briefly at Ameiko. She looked relieved.

The show started and was performed excellently by the actors and actresses. Allishanda performed beautifully as a Harpy Queen that sought the affections of a Human prince, but was rebuffed. She cursed the prince with an inability to ever be loved. There was a brief dancing interlude during the curse where other actresses were playing the role of harpies, and even a couple of sad songs sung out into the audience about loneliness and despair at never being loved. It ended in tragedy, as the one woman to love the prince was hideously scarred by the Harpy Queen's actions and ended up dying. The prince took his own life at the end. I stood and applauded at the end, being the only one at first. Dame Rebekah saved me, with Savah rising as well. Cyrdak and Jaspar jumped up quickly and started applauding and soon the entire theater was doing so. I asked Cyrdak who wrote this play, and he told me a pair of talented playwrights from Magnimar by the names of Threek and Steel-rose.

After the applause died down and people started filing out from the show, I asked if applause was considered a sign of disrespect here. They told me that it wasn't but that usually paid clappers would start the applause. I was a bit confused, and said that I had hoped that I didn't mess anything up. Cyrdak said that he would make sure that everything was smoothed out. He asked if I had thought at all about being in one of his plays. I told him that I was absolute crap at singing, and the only role I could probably do was that of a narrator. Cyrdak said that he would look at any of his scripts and see if any could be adapted. I told him that I might be able to show him something called a movie later that he could use for an adaptation later if he desired. He said he'd consider it. I asked everyone what was normally done after a performance on this world. Cyrdak said that the people usually all go to Cracktooth's Tavern to discuss things and get snacks. I asked if it would be full at this point. Cyrdak said yes, but that he had a private booth that could accommodate most of us.

Ven, Solsta, Katherine, Banny, and Chelger had all planned to head to their various homes after the show, but I convinced them to stay here for just one drink. I whispered to Faunra, asking her if she could chill the wine, and she acknowledged that she could. She cast a spell that I now know as Prestidigitation and chilled the mead and the glasses. I went to pour the mead but the attendant rushed forward and got the bottle and poured the glasses. I handed them out to everyone that was in our little party, and raised them for a toast. "For the engagement and upcoming nuptials of Shayliss and Jonathan." Ven looked a little less hostile as Shayliss and Jonathan smiled while holding hands and looking at each other. I saw Katherine and Banny looking a little miffed at this, but they held it in well. I'm guessing that they were planning on having a similar announcement and that it would be downplayed by this. Oh well. Maybe we can get it set up so that both pairs are married at the same time.

Everyone drank, and enjoyed the cooled mead. Not so much Ven, but I wandered over to him as everyone else was giving their congratulations to the newly engaged couple. I sneakily pulled out a flask that I had kept for just such circumstances and tippled a little Old-Law into his glass. He noticed and gave it a brief smell before smiling at me and throwing it back. His wife was with her daughter, soaking in the well wishes, so I only think Dame Rebekah, Shalelu, who both happened to be looking this way at that moment, and Jonathan, who notices EVERYTHING, saw that I had given Ven something. Dame Rebekah seemed to be at least okay with it. I asked Ven if I could ask Shayliss something off to the side. He looked at me a bit disturbed. I just pointed to over there, and noted that it would be in everyone's view. He cautiously agreed, and went over and asked Jonathan if I could borrow his beloved for just a minute.

Jonathan agreed and I took Shayliss to the side and quietly told her that I would understand that things had progressed rapidly and that if she wasn't really interested, I could work to get all of this undone. I told her that I didn't want her forced into this. She told me that Jonathan did make her happy, even if he was a bit of a beast sometimes. She smiled with that. I guess that she learned that before I did. I congratulated her for finding someone that she can be with and she thanked me. I gave my congrats to Jonathan as well, and walked back over to Savah. I asked if she would be willing to join those of us who were going to Cracktooth's after the play. She nodded eagerly, and said that she would love to.

Ven said that he and his clan (indicating Shayliss as well) should all be heading home, and said their goodbyes. Ven even permitted a quick kiss between Shayliss and Jonathan before breaking it up. I wished them all well, and told Ven that I might have news to discuss with him in a few days if all goes well, and that he should get what we had talked about earlier done. He nodded and gathered up his group to head home. Chelger was also heading out to head back to the Cathedral. He seemed to hit it off with Dame Rebekah, and she seemed to be slightly interested in him. I hope things go well here. The rest of us all went off to Cracktooth's. The Mayor even accompanied us. When we got there, someone in the crowd saw us and motioned to other people. Cyrdak yelled out as he came in, "Excellent show everyone.", and everyone cheered and more drinks were gotten by the Tavern goers. Cyrdak looked to the bar, and saw a thick-necked man. The man nodded his head and motioned it to the right. We made our way through the crowd and to the private booth.

We got set up and the same attendant as before was quick to rush up and ask if we needed anything. I asked if anyone wanted anything, and there was a dearth of answers again, so I asked if we could get five loaves of bread, two pounds of cheese, a tiny bit of garlic and salt, a small iron skillet, and a heat source. Also, some more Turandarok ciders. I passed the guy two gold and he ran off.

I told the group that I was going to have Jonathan make something that I remembered from my home-world that would be completely appropriate for a meeting like this. I pulled out my phone and found the recipe from my recipe program. He looked it over and said that it would look easy enough. I thanked him for his efforts to make this. I noticed then that Savah and the others how had not seen it were looking at my phone. I put it down on the table and told them that this item contained hundreds of books, recordings of songs, and other media, including a few movies. Cyrdak asked if these were the movies that I was referring to earlier. I told him that these were not the specific movies, but that I could show him one from my home-world that was very short. I had longer ones on my other device at the Rusty Dragon. I pulled up a short video I had where a guy was showboating in a fight and got knocked out because of it.

I played it a couple of times, so everyone could see. Cyrdak said that he had never seen a magic item like this, and Faunra stated that this wasn't a magic item. Ameiko backed her up. Shalelu told Cyrdak that she had seen a movie of a person field dressing an animal after hunting it. He was confused, and I told him that some of the videos I had were instructional, others were for entertainment value. Out of the corner of my eye, I swear that I saw Jonathan blush a bit. Oh god, I hope he hadn't found THOSE videos on my phone. Cyrdak nodded in disbelieving acceptance. Then there was a knock on the door. The attendant had come back with Jesk "Cracktooth" Berinni, the owner. He had apparently wanted to know what the deal was with our particular group asking for the items we did. I asked Jonathan to show him what we were having. Jonathan made a perfectly serviceable fondue, substituting some of the Turandarok cider for the wine that the recipe called for. I have to say it came out perfectly. Even Jesk was impressed with this innovation. Cyrdak asked if this was what I was thinking about when I said that I had an idea that would be cheap and easy for the Cracktooth's staff to make that would be useful in the Theater.

I had forgotten that this was the reason why I had asked to meet up with both of them. That was probably what the head nodding was about earlier. I asked Jesk if he could sit down, and everyone else dug into the fondue, tearing up the bread and dipping it into the cheese. I told Jesk that this was a freebie, that he could add this to his served dishes if he wanted. I would ask that he credit Jonathan for the idea though, since he was the one who worked in the cider. He said that he would think about it. Between bits, Jonathan told him that he would gladly teach his cooks to make this if that was the issue. Jesk just shrugged and said that he would still have to think it over. Jonathan nodded and went back to digging in to the fondue. Jesk looked back to me, waiting for me to continue.

I asked him how much it cost for him to get a pound of corn. He said that it wasn't that expensive. I told him that if he got the corn seeds dried out, he could put them in a covered pot, with a little oil, and pop them into a light snack, that was easily eaten by people. He could set this up so that he would have enough to serve dozens of people, get cheap containers, and have an attendant hawk them to not only the people on the balcony, but the people down in the cheap seats. If Cyrdak didn't want them to be walking around during the show, that they could set up a booth either in the theater or just outside of it, and during intermissions people could go out and get these. If they were priced right, he could make lots of money on the sales by volume sold. I added that honestly, he would probably be better off getting his attendants to just make the food and serve the tavern here, and hiring Jaspar's messengers to transport the food. Add the cost into the price for the food if needed. Jesk thought about this and had a brief side discussion with Cyrdak and Jaspar.

The Mayor asked why I had wanted her here. I remembered that I had specifically invited her to join. I added that this might require further buildings, so I wanted her to have a heads up on that, but that I wanted her to be made aware of the tests that we had completed on the armors that were made. Faunra and Jonathan both vouched for the toughness of the composite material, and Dame Rebekah told the Mayor how the material fit and moved like much lighter armor. Ameiko and Savah added that they had witnessed all of this after the Mayor had left. Mayor Deverin acknowledged as much and asked why it was important that she was here. I told her that she could get the armors from Ameiko and Savah for whatever price they agreed upon with her, that I was giving the secrets to them. I added that I had other thoughts and notions that might help this town strengthen itself but I needed to work out the details first. I needed to make sure that I could make it work before getting the other things into the hands of other people.

The Mayor asked why I wasn't as concerned about the armor, and I told her it was because the technology had been tested several times back on my home-world and was sufficiently explainable that I could get things done here by making sure that the same rules worked. She kind of understood that but looked to have a worried look in her eyes. Savah was absolutely beaming however, since I had just basically announced that she would be given half ownership to a new type of armor craft that could be made in less than a day once everything was gathered. Even leather armor took longer than that. Ameiko was more reserved, but apparently optimistic of the possibilities as well. I added that Father Zantus had even expressed interest in the armor for his acolytes already. The Mayor was a bit skeptical, but I told her that we would make sure to run the armor through a good series of further tests before we make any further recommendations, but that from what we saw, it was very strong against the whole "slings and arrows" bit. I had added that if the material matched what my people had developed it would be proof against fire and absorb radiation.

Dame Rebekah and Faunra were a bit astounded by this, given that the material was produced at such a low temperature, but I told them that we didn't burn the material, but had a chemical reaction occur. The one thing that I might be worried about is how the armor reacts to electricity, as the silver substrate was a very good conductor of electricity. The one way it might help is that if the material worked correctly, it could route some of the electricity to ground. By this time, I could tell that most of their eyes were glazing over from me talking shop, so I trailed off of that line of talk and left the conversation on to the others. Jesk and Cyrdak were both having a conversation with Jonathan at this point, asking about any other ideas that he might have for theater food. He had apparently gone through my phone's food app one night and seen some things, no wonder he didn't have a problem with making the fondue. I'm glad that I can trust that he knows how to access stuff if I need him to, but it is unlikely that I would need him to call anywhere.

Faunra looked to be having a good conversation with Shalelu, I hoped that whatever was hurting her would be less painful as we went on. I just noticed that I must have been really into the conversations and explanations because the ciders had been replaced once or twice each when they got empty. I must have emptied a few of them myself, because I definitely wasn't worrying about tests or procedures or the next day when I had a glass of dark liquid placed in front of me by Jesk. He smiled and raised his as Cyrdak, Jaspar, Savah, and Jonathan did the same. I looked around quick, and by this time Ameiko and the Mayor had both left. That left Savah, who was almost attached to me at the hip, Faunra and Shalelu were both in deep conversation, and Dame Rebekah was looking over everyone like a hawk, trying to make sure that nothing bad happened. I raised the glass to match and threw it back when they did. It was a dark rum, pure and simple. It wasn't the strongest rum I had ever had, that would be the Bacardi 151, it wasn't even as strong as my favorite, Admiral Nelson's Black Patch. It was however, a welcome return to what I used to drink.

I think I might have confused Jesk a bit with what I said next, as instead of being impressed with the bite, I just said that this hits the spot. I saw the confusion and tried to tell him that I would drink rum like this all the time back home. I wasn't nearly that eloquent with what I said however, and might have gotten into a drinking match with him. Savah was right beside me, cheering me on. I wasn't the best person for this task, that would have been Jonathan, but I think that I acquitted myself well. I certainly hope that I did. The rest of the night was kind of a blur after the fourth drink. I can't really say how many I actually had after that point. All I can say is that Jesk was kind of impressed and had slapped me on the shoulder in admiration, telling me that we could drink here with him anytime. I thanked him and told him that he was a good man. Cyrdak whispered something in my ear, and I couldn't quite make it out so Savah repeated it for him. He wanted to know what about my suit was special.

I'm kind of ashamed to say that I showed them how my zipper worked right then and there. I'm glad my boxers were buttoned. I zipped back up and said that I didn't need to unlace a codpiece to get it out. Most everyone laughed, except Dame Rebekah. I noticed the look on her face, and told everyone that I think that I had partied enough for the night. I think Cyrdak told me he'd talk to me tomorrow about another play. I told him that I don't care what other people might think in this time, Him and Jaspar would fit right in back home, and that they were a couple of great guys. Faunra and Shalelu had wandered off by themselves, probably because I had embarrassed them. All that was left for the return to the Rusty Dragon was Dame Rebekah, Jonathan, Savah, and myself. Dame Rebekah seemed to be the one who was looking out for us three drunks. Apparently Dame Rebekah led us North to Savah's shop and house. She told me that she'd hope to see me tomorrow, and I apparently said that I'd love to see her tomorrow. She then kissed me on the cheek and Dame Rebekah made sure that we got back to our rooms.

That was the extent of my night, from what I was able to make out and what others would tell me. I'm sure that I might have made further mistakes and that Jonathan and Dame Rebekah are just trying to be nice. I'm pretty sure that I will need to talk to Ameiko this morning to make sure that she knows that I'm not ever going to show what we made to anyone on this world without her consent, and that the only person that I would show it to on my home-world is my wife, to prove that I did end up somewhere else and that I didn't just run off. Also, some recommendations on how to deal with the whole Savah situation gracefully. That would definitely be a good thing to ask about. I think I'll close this out for now and head downstairs.

When I got downstairs, everyone had packed all of their stuff up and were waiting for me. I don't know how bad I must have screwed up for this to happen. I apologized profusely for my behavior last night, and I told them that I would talk to Ameiko, and try to make things right. I would voluntarily leave the Inn and head back to the White Deer if necessary. I can't remember everything that I told the group, but they started to smile a bit and I KNOW I ended with, "And, she's standing right behind me, isn't she?" They all broke out laughing as I turned around to see Ameiko standing there in her normal work attire, with flour on her apron and a rolling pin in her hand. I know that she wasn't making anything requiring a rolling pin, or at least I hope that she wasn't. If she knew how to make biscuits and gravy I might have to rethink my plans.

I started to apologize for my behavior last night, and that I wasn't going to just give the video she had made to Cyrdak without asking her first, and that I was sorry for offering her glassworks up without discussing it with her first. She stopped me with her free hand and put the rolling pin down. She told me that she had discussed it with the group, and that they had agreed that we should use the glassworks since it needed some positive energy to offset the negativity of what had come from the goblins, that there was the possibility of a menace coming up from below that would be good to have some adventurers looking after it while they were in town, and we had something that we could use it for, since it would just be sitting idle without us using it. I took all of that in and added, with a smile, that this would also mean freeing up her rooms for good, paying customers, instead of filthy adventurers. She thought at first that I was being a bit mean, but saw the smile and I think that she realized that it was all in good humor. I thanked her for her generosity, and went to collect all of my stuff. On the way back down I realized that I still had to ask her for advice.

The group were all out front waiting on me, getting a little impatient. I told them that I needed to get some advice from Ameiko before we left. Dame Rebekah yelled after me that we would still be in the same town, but I said that after last night, it shouldn't wait. Dame Rebekah seemed to understand what I was inferring to and must have let it pass, or just didn't reply quick enough before I got back inside to talk to Ameiko. She was already at the door, apparently waiting for me to ask the questions that I knew I would need to ask. I asked her what I should do about Savah. She asked me what my intentions were with her. I told her that I was married back on my home-world, and that I didn't want to be unfaithful. She said that she can understand that, but that wasn't the answer to her question. I reflected that I had not actually answered her question, and thanked her for calling me out on it. I told Ameiko that I really didn't mind being good friends with Savah, and that I enjoyed working with her, but that I really wasn't looking to have anything more of a relationship with her than friendship and working together.

Ameiko claimed to understand, and that I should probably be very careful, to make sure that I don't give her the wrong idea. She cautioned me that I should be very careful, but that we could probably make this work. If I made sure to play up the fact that I wasn't planning on staying in this world, and that I was working to make the money to get home, it would definitely help, from what Ameiko understood with Savah's background and what she was looking for. I thanked her again, and told her that we would still be here to help her and the town as long as it was in danger. Before I left, Ameiko cautioned me that Sandpoint is always in danger, but that we should do what we feel is proper.

I got back outside and the group were all waiting with the wagon. I was right, it was a wagon, not a cart anymore. Apparently Daviren Hosk was very impressed with the Goblin head that we had taken down in the catacombs. He offered Dame Rebekah a lot of money, but she simply asked for free stabling while we were in town. He couldn't accept just that as a reward, so he threw in giving us a wagon that another group of adventurers had left behind in exchange for the cart that we carried the goblins in. He said that he was going to paint it red and say that it was stained with the blood of the goblin raiders. Dame Rebekah asked about the adventurers who had left it, and Daviren told her that they had spent their time doing various vile and hurtful things, damaging a lot of members of the community. The town council had ruled that after the damage had been done to my building and others, that we could keep the things left here.

Huh, well at least the adventurers who lost their stuff were apparently a bunch of dicks. I hope that we are not in any way similar to those assholes. I was so absorbed in thought that I had not even noticed that we had arrived at the glassworks. I immediately got off of the wagon (heh) and started to move our stuff into the former Glassworks. I'm glad to note that apparently Faunra had come through and used her Prestidigitation ability to clean out the bloodstains and broken glass. Someone also had apparently used magic to repair a lot of the damage to the furniture. I don't know when she managed to get the time to do it, but I'm glad that she did.

The rooms were fairly well cleaned, without any traces of the carnage that had occurred less than a week ago. I know that I always said that I wouldn't be worried about staying in a haunted house over night, but that was before the likelihood of multiple poltergeists arriving from the acts of sadistic goblins. Joy. Well, I can only hope that putting the bodies to rest and praying for them will help the souls to transit to their ultimate destination. We unloaded all of our stuff off into the display room and got to work relocating everything valuable to the lower area storage units and locked them securely. We wanted to make sure that nothing would bother them while we were here. I'm certain that Ameiko will want to offload the remaining items to those who ordered them, and clear up that aspect of the business. There was also a side benefit that if we were here, it wouldn't be taken over by more nefarious elements. Since we would all be working in different areas, I passed out the radios and showed everyone how to work them. I had everyone try them twice each, to ensure that they knew that pushing the button down sent a message to everyone, and that they could not get a response unless they let the button up after talking. I'd worry about radio discipline later.

As it stands, we decided that we didn't want to do many changes to the place, at least until we got the place up and running. I headed outside to see if there were any of Jaspar's messengers around. Just as luck would have it, there was one. I offered the child the standard fee to take a message to Jaspar, after he had delivered his current message. He agreed and I wrote up something quick while he delivered his current message. He came back and I gave him the message which was wrapped around a gold coin. He ran off in the direction of the Merchantile, I hope take the message directly to Jaspar.

I went back to work with the rest of the group, and we were getting a lot done. We were moving things downstairs, ensuring that the furnaces are clear of any human remains, and working to make the place ready for production tomorrow. As we were working, the messenger from before came back in. He told me that Jaspar gave him this letter and sent him back, the letter, which was a response to mine, basically said that he was doing well, and that he wasn't feeling too much of an issue from last night. Neither he nor Cyrdak felt any resentment or anger with me for last night, in fact they were looking into my proposals for last night and wanted to talk to both Jonathan and I again later. Cyrdak also wanted to know a bit more about the fashions of my home-world. He also included that I my proposal for renting the services of a messenger for a day for a silver coin were far more than sufficient. For the gold, he'd send us a different messenger a day for a total of two ten days, whenever we were in town.

I finished the letter and thanked the kid for his messenger services this day. The kid shrugged, and acknowledged that Jaspar would be covering his message deliveries for today. I thanked him again and said that he can sit down here, in the redone breakroom, until we need you. If you want, I can leave you with a book. He accepted the book, and I gave him my copy of the Tome of Epics, while I wrote out a few different messages. The first one was to Ven at his general store. I would be sending a platinum coin with the child for the delivery of some needed supplies. The second one would be to Alma at her savories store, with a pair of gold coins, for a load of breads and goodies to stock up the pantry of the Glassworks. The third one will be without any coins, but a will be a message to Savah, telling her that the group has relocated to the Glassworks full time for now, to help protect the town from what might be underneath. She was more than welcome to come join us all later in the afternoon when her work day was over. The fourth was to go to Olmur with a request to deliver another two gold coins worth of provisions to the Glassworks. The fifth will go to Chod Bevuk, with yet another six gold coins, and a request for a selection of meats to be delivered to the Glassworks. The sixth and final will go to Two Knight Brewery, to Gaven Deverin, with a platinum coin, and a request for a fair amount of Turandarok Cider and Flaggin' Dragon Ale.

The kid took the sealed messages and ran off. I didn't tell him which order to take them, but that these where his deliveries for the day. I might have one other for him, but this would be later in the day, but I might hold off on those until tomorrow. I told him that if he was really quick about it, I might sign a note saying that he delivered ten messages today, and he can hang out in the break room until the end of his day. He took off like a shot. I'm guessing that the first message to be received was Alma, who had another cart of supplies for us, this time at the new location. I head the knock at the door and opened it up to see the smiling faces of her and one of her daughters. I gladly started unloading all of the bread and goodies from their cart into the reception area. Alma and her daughter came inside and watched as both me and Dame Rebekah did the heavy lifting, her much more than me. I thanked them both for the speedy delivery, and offered them an extra tip. Alma declined, saying that it was good to get the business. She hinted that she was being approached by Jesk about ordering even more than normal. I told her that I had another idea that might take off well, but I needed to know if she could make extremely flat bread that didn't rise at all. She said that whenever we got a favorite and it was announced, that one always sold out the next day.

I told her that I was glad for her rise in business. She did ask if I could say what had happened to poor Lonjiku. I told her without being descriptive that a bunch of goblins had gotten in to the building from some areas below and attacked his workers in their sleep. They also killed him after that. She sighed that it was such a bad end, and I agreed. They both thanked us and went back to their cart. I asked them if the messenger was polite, and Alma told me that he was in a bit of a rush, but not impolite. I thanked them again and bid them good wishes.

Olmur was the next to arrive, and apologized that he would have been here earlier, but he had another two customers in the shop before he could head out. I told him that he shouldn't have just locked up if he was going to have more business. He said that it was good to get a stretch of his legs. Dame Rebekah was there again to help me offload all of the sacks of fruits, citrus, beans, roots, and tubers. Olmur asked while we were offloading his cart if he could help us. I told him that the doorways were kind of awkward to have multiple people go through. He understood, and asked me what we were setting up here, now that the unfortunate things happened to Lonjiku. I asked him if he noticed Dame Rebekah's new armor, just as she walked out. I said this as she was coming in and I was heading out. I swear she did a twirl, but later claimed that she was just getting out of my way. When I got back, she was still there, showing him how strong it was, and how it recovered from damage. She told him that I had developed the armor right here in the glassworks and that we might be making more of it, if the materials and the time availed itself. He thought about that and told me that it is good that we are working to get this set up for the people in this town. I told him that it would be substantially quicker to make than leather armor and can even be as protective or more than a chain shirt. He was a bit amused by that, and that we could make it quick was a nice thing as well. He thanked us for our patronage after Dame Rebekah got the last bag and headed off before I could even get back to offer him a tip.

I noticed that our next visitor was Chod Bevuk, from the Meat Market was passing Olmur on his way over. He seemed to want to stop to talk, but it looked like Olmur excused himself and went on. Chod shrugged, and seeing that I was waiting, nodded to me and stepped up his pace. Dame Rebekah was there besides me in her new armor. I swear that she was showing it off. Chod pulled up and immediately told us what all he had for us, salted bacon, beef cuts, some fowls, and a ham. All okay cuts, about eighteen pounds of beef and ham in all, with quite a few chickens to round it out. Both Dame Rebekah and I were quickly unloading the cart, as we were planning on getting back to work to finish up the upper level before we broke for lunch. We gave terse answers to Chod's ample questions, because by this point we had unloaded several hundred pounds of food to load up the pantry. Chod's questions seemed to get more and more intrusive every time we came through. It was the last load when there was another knock at the door. It was Gaven. Chod excused himself and went back to his store.

Dame Rebekah thanked Gaven for his promptness, and he replied that the messenger had told him that Chod was the previous recipient, so he rushed back from the Rusty Dragon to load up a cart to get it over here. He had a quite a few hand kegs each of Turandarok Cider and Old Murder Maw, and a two hand kegs of Flaggin' Dragon Ale. I couldn't easily lift any of the hand kegs, so Dame Rebekah showed off her strength in carrying them. Gaven asked if it was true that there were catacombs discovered under the Glassworks. I asked where he heard that, and he me told that Ameiko had talked to him about it, and that he should tell me that I had some deep things to think about earlier in the day. I acknowledged that yes, there were a set of catacombs under the Glassworks, and that this was part of the reason why we were staying here. He acknowledged that this was about as much as Ameiko had told him. He told me that Dame Rebekah's new armor (said as she entered) was another part of the reason. She showed him the armor, and he noted that it seemed as strong as steel, but obviously wasn't entirely steel. I told him that this was partially a material from my home-world, and that we had made it yesterday morning. He was a bit surprised at that, but took it in stride. He thanked us for everything that we were doing for the town and headed off.

By this time, it was close to lunch. We were just about to take a break when there was another knock at the door of the reception area. I had figured that it would be Ven, and so went to open the door to get what I would need to write down the procedure and make sure that this would out last me. When I opened the door, I was hugged by Savah, who had just rushed over here to meet up for her lunch. Since Jonathan was doing much more work than I at the moment, I decided that I would set up food for all of us. I took some of the bacon, and fried it up in a skillet that was in the kitchen. I took a tomato that Olmur had delivered and sliced that up as well. I didn't have mayo, or even oil, vinegar, and eggs to make it, but it turns out that Savah had brought us some cheese as a home warming gift. I thanked her for it and gladly took some of the cheese that we had left over and sliced that up. I took one of the loaves of bread and put everything into a sandwich. I made some for everyone and set each one up with a mug of Turandarok Cider, including Savah. I told Savah to watch this, and called everyone over the radios, to tell them that food and drink was ready in the break room and that everyone should stop to eat.

One by one they all answered that they heard and were on their way. Savah was a bit impressed with it, and I promised her that once I figured out how to get more of them, I would try to get her one. She was seated next to me at the table when rest of the group made their way in. Everyone ended up sitting down at the table and grabbing some sandwiches. These were not my best quality, but at least they were hardy and the salt from the bacon was helpful for tying it all together. Savah tried to make small talk with the group, asking about what everyone was doing. Dame Rebekah answered her that she was doing most of the heavy labor of the group, Faunra was doing magical cleaning with her spells, and Jonathan was doing what he could to make sure that there was nothing left to uncover. He was also spending time breaking up that rock pile that needed to be broken up. Savah asked me what I was doing, and I told her that I was mostly dealing with the people arriving to drop off supplies and trying to box up all of the papers from Lonjiku's business dealings. I said that once we were set up, and everything was up and running, we could look into getting more people trained to up the rate of fabrication. Savah seemed fascinated by the plans that I had for this place and this town.

It wasn't long until everyone had eaten their fill and were hinting that they were getting ready to get back to work. I caught their hint and thanked Savah for helping to make this place homier. She thanked all of us for welcoming her in, and said that she might try to drop by later if she was welcome. Faunra said that she was always welcome here. Savah smiled, hugged me, and went off to open her shop back up. She certainly seemed to have a spring in her step. I turned to see them all smiling at me. There was a knock at the door and I kind of expected it to be Savah coming to give me a goodbye kiss. Nope, it was Ven. Got to say that it is a bit odd to be glad about that.

Ven's cart was full of a pound each of garlic, mint, mustard, and oregano; eight pounds each of sugar, coffee beans, and cheese; sixteen pounds of flour and wheat; several gallons of cooking oil and a gross of eggs. We all moved everything to the pantry and Ven was still waiting for me. He asked me if there was anything more to discuss about last night. I told him that if he can get a good amount of dehydrated foods set up, I might be able to make in-roads with Jesk Cracktooth and Cyrdak to have your jerkies and fruit strips available for sale at the Theater and the Tavern. He nodded and said that progress was slow. I told him that if I had time later I would drop by to check everything out, but that it took a few days to dry things with just the sun. I told him that he might have to offer them up a slight discount, but not enough to cut into his profits, to make it easier to sell. He nodded, muttering about scale. I added that he might want to look into making different flavors for the jerky. He said that he was wondering about that. I told him that either myself or Jonathan would be by later to discuss that with him, and that he should try to think up some good flavors on his own. With that Ven left, and we got together to discuss what was left to do for the day.

Dame Rebekah brought up that the wagon can remain here, in the loading room, but that the horse should be taken back to the stables. Jonathan mentioned that we will probably be able to reassign the use of rooms later, but since everything was done at the moment, we should probably set up our sleeping areas. Faunra mentioned that she would probably like an area for to practice her archery, and a place to store all of the arcane materials that we might come across. I mentioned that it would be a good idea to have a designated place for those experiments. I mentioned that it would be good to get a place for all of the books that we collect or write. We tabled all of these things, except for Dame Rebekah and Jonathan's individual wisdom. Dame Rebekah took her horse and cart to The Goblin Squash stables, and Faunra went with her. Jonathan filled me in on what him and Faunra were doing in the catacombs wile Dame Rebekah were unloading the carts while we set up the beds in the servants' quarters.

Jonathan and Faunra had loosely re-bricked up the blockages for the tunnels after Jonathan had smashed rock against rock to powder up the former altar. They also filled in the runewell, as Faunra told him what it was, with stone from the blocked off stairwell going up and some left over cement to prevent others from accessing the power of it by making it impossible to drop blood into it. He added that Faunra mentioned that we would have to figure out how to permanently destroy it later. They had double checked every room to ensure that was nothing dangerous was left. Apparently, Jonathan was assaulted by some kind of diminutive evil bird. He handled it with a few launched rocks. Faunra guesses that it was likely a familiar of some sort. I can only expect that we made some new enemy. Apparently the loss of a familiar causes severe effects to an arcane spell-caster. I mentioned that with a lot of the extra rooms in the catacombs, that we might be able to repurpose a lot of them for whatever we needed. It would be probably be a good idea to put some kind of good aligned deity's altar where the previous Lamashtu altar was Father Zantus had told them who it was dedicated to. Apparently she was the goddess of monsters. That was who our enemy was worshiping and drawing power from. Joy.

For the moment, we decided on everyone sleeping in the same room, the former servant's room, and since there were eight beds available, we all got our pick. Since all of the bedding had been used to transport the unfortunate bodies of the dead servants, we had to use our own bedrolls and blankets, and use our leftover hammocks as base sheets. I figured that I would end up springing for pillows if we stayed here long enough, and idly mentioned it to Jonathan. Jonathan picked up on that, and asked me frankly if I was really trying to get home. I thought about it and I told Jonathan what I had been told about by the Masked Abbess. She had told me that it would cost at least sixty-five pounds of gold, if I can ever find someone that can cast the spell. I added that if I was going to ever have a chance of making that level of money, and finding a person who would be able cast the spell, one that I actually trusted to cast the spell and not worry about the possibility of them being let loose on my home-world, I was going to have to find a group of people and make friends with them, in the hopes that by working with them, I can earn enough to make it back, and bring my car back as well. I still owed a lot of money on that car, and having to pay for something and not having the use of it would really suck. Jonathan acknowledged that and asked if he thought that the rest of the group were friends with me. I thought about it as we finished up setting up the beds, and told him that I hoped that I had made good inroads with them. If they all had things that they needed to do, that would take them away, I would understand, but that I hoped that they would consider me at least a good ally.

Jonathan said that he could understand that and told me about his true experience from before he arrived at the abbey. He has been sent on this path by the Masked Abbess as well, because of the connection to "The Old Light". Seeing that it is destroyed means that it likely wasn't something that was connected to Sandpoint. He had, however, gotten very well connected to Sandpoint and wanted to ensure that his newly adopted town would stay safe, no matter what that took. He was still going to look out for his chance for revenge, but that his focus was now on keeping his family safe. I was glad that I understood Jonathan's goals and motivations now. I told him that if he encountered his foe, that I would be glad to help in whatever ways I could. I told him that I was also working to get this town more defended. Jonathan asked if I had done anything like this back home, and I acknowledged that no, I had not, since this wasn't something that could even consider being done on my home world. I worked every day for making what I guessed was the equivalent of three gold pieces, just getting by. One of the things that I did have paid time off for the work that I had already done. It was previously arranged and I'm sure entirely coincidental. That would ensure that at least my family was taken care of for the next two and a half weeks. I was certain that this would take much longer than I the three weeks that I had for vacation. I also knew that my wife was probably worried about me, having not come home.

This caused Jonathan to think for a minute, and he asked what my intentions were with Savah if I was married. I thought about it, and admitted that she was very pretty, and that if I wasn't attached back home that I would probably look to court her, and maybe even stay here on this world. But I wanted to stay faithful to my wife and not cheat on her. I was having a good time being friends with Savah, and I didn't want to hurt her with the fact that I was unavailable to a romantic relationship. He nodded to that and replied that I had a tough needle to thread there. I thanked him for his insight and mentioned that I knew that I was going to have to bring this to a head sooner rather than later, and that I wasn't trying to screw over the rest of the group by making an enemy of one of the few people who were friendly to the group. He sympathized, and thanked me for what I had done with Ven. I told him no problem, and that I hoped it would not be the same way with Savah. He laughed at that heartily. We were done with the sleeping chambers, and Jonathan was just getting ready to set up dinner when we received a crackling voice over the radio.

It was Dame Rebekah, and she was telling us that we would be having some guests over, and that if we were making dinner, that we should make extra. Jonathan, quick as a whip, chirped up on the radio asking how many. After a few seconds, Dame Rebekah responded back that it would be four more people than just us. I heard Jonathan swear a little, and responded that he would get it done. I ran over to the kitchen and asked if there was anything that I could do to help. Jonathan put me to work slicing up bread and chopping up the cheese for a quick fondue and asked if I had any other ideas. I told him that we could make "fries" fairly quickly. If we do that and some other quick things, we can whip something together.

In the end, we settled on sliced bread, fried potatoes and turnips, friend chicken strips, and some boiled green beans. At my urging, we made some home-made ketchup and mustard to go along with the fondue cheese sauce as options for dipping. We had just gotten eight chairs set up in the break room and gotten mugs set out when the radio crackled again with Faunra this time saying that everyone was outside. I rushed over to the reception door and opened it. I was rushed and almost leap upon by Shayliss, until she realized who I was, and everyone else filed in. It was Shayliss, Savah, Faunra, Shalelu, Dame Rebekah, and Ameiko. She shrugged and said that she was taking the night off and letting Bethana handle it when I looked at her a bit odd. She also added that Savah had come to her to ask her about me and that she had talked with her about… something. Savah didn't look upset, so I hoped it was all good. I would have to corner Ameiko later and find out what she had said. I gathered up all of the radios and set them up to charge. I was going to have to set this place up with electricity if we were going to use all of it so frequently here in the future. Shouldn't be too big of a deal, I mean they have coper wire here, once I make some homemade solar cells or a generator, and a battery bank, we should be all good. Now that I have a way to isolate Argon, I might even be able to make this place illuminated. Or there is a spell that can do it easier and cheaper.

Everyone sat down at the table and started digging in to the provided food and drink. It was a very relaxed, chill time. We all talked about different things we were dealing with, Ameiko noted that the pompous noble Aldern had packed up and left today. Apparently he had made it to the theater last night and didn't like something about it. Savah perked up and said that she didn't understand what wasn't to like about it, smiling at me. Apparently he was kind of upset about how he had received a bill for the hunt celebration, but didn't dispute it because he was a noble. He even ended up dismissing someone from his service, an older man named Victor. I interjected that if he was still around, I'd like to make it known that we could use someone like that here. Don't know if I can afford to hire him though. Ameiko added that she had already hired him on at the Rusty Dragon, apparently he knew a fair amount about exotic dishes from far off lands, giving me a wink. I felt Savah move a little closer to me. Just what had Ameiko told her.

Shayliss was the next one to talk about her day, being that she was the one who her father had entrusted her with a secret project, but that it was not working out right. It took a second to know that she was pointedly saying this directly to me. After I realized it, I asked if anyone had a piece of paper. Faunra grabbed one, it looked like a blank piece remaining from the stationary supplies for the office area. I quickly drew out a sketch of a rotating base, while asking her if she had painted the box yet. Nope she had not. I told her that it would work best if she painted the box dark black, used two layers of glass to let the sunlight in, and place it on a mount, like the one pictured. If she rotates the box to face the glass into the sunlight every hour or so, then it will come to fruition quicker. Shayliss smiled and thanked me. She moved closer to Jonathan and he put his arm around her. Dame Rebekah was watching him like a hawk.

Shalelu mentioned that she was only in town for one more day, but that she had gotten all of the information to the parties that she felt needed it. She was intrigued about how Daviren Hosk had gotten the head of Koruvus in a jar. Faunra pointed out that we had slain him in the catacombs below. Shalelu thanked us for that and noted that she would have to update her information. If Koruvus was dead, his tribe might have fallen under the sway of another goblin, or even joined another tribe. She said that we should definitely check into Thistletop if Tsuto's journal was true.

Dame Rebekah responded that she was indeed planning on doing that, but that we had to wait until the 3rd, when Sheriff Hemlock had returned. We had promised to act as a supplementary defense force while we he was out trying to get help from Magnimar. Shalelu nodded and added that she would keep a look on the surrounding areas. She just hoped that she could get word back to the town quickly if there were any issues. I said that I would have a solution for that come morning. As long as she took a radio with her and kept its volume quiet she could probably get ahold of someone in the town or one of us to give a heads up before the war band arrives. She had seen Faunra and Dame Rebekah use them on the way over. I told her that these were non-magical items that were based around my home-world's understanding of how things worked. I pointed out that in optimal conditions that would reach about thirty-five miles, but could generally reach six miles easily on open terrain and two miles inside a town. I told her that I had not tried it out in a forest, but that it would likely be similar to a forest. Shalelu told me that her animal messenger spell could reach farther than that. I said that might be, but this was instantly, not over minutes or hours. She said that she would take one, and that if she needed to warn the town before we were heading out, that she would try calling us over the radio first.

I don't know if Savah was as appreciative of me handing out a radio to someone other than her that quickly, but I hope she knew that it was for the town's good only. Savah had been fairly silent this whole time, but I when I asked her what her day was like, she perked up. She told me that she had great news, that her contacts in Magnimar had sold all of the things that we had given to her and were returning with the money and materials to make more, and get her a nice sum. I told her that this was great news and she smiled. She also added that Father Zantus had approached her with a request for a few sets of armor for his acolytes and maybe himself. He was intrigued by this divine miracle from my home-world, in his terms, and that we might be able to use it to help the forces of good here in Varisia. I congratulated her on her sales and her fortune and she hugged me. She asked us all what we were getting done today, or maybe just me.

Dame Rebekah answered that we were getting this place set up to have a new function and moving everything in the building connected to the glassworks to storage. Ameiko thanked us for that, and Dame Rebekah had said that it was my idea. Savah had by this point gotten so close to me as to be "accidentally" brushing against me when she reached over to dip her fried chicken strips or turnips. I had offered to get it closer to her, but she declined saying others might want it too. We had also ensured that we had gotten all of the remains cleaned out from the furnaces and any ashes were sent out at sea, a common practice where I was from. Faunra added that they had did a full complete sweep of the catacombs below and bricked up and sealed the secret passage to the cave that the goblins had used to enter in from below. Jonathan pointed out that the catacombs below would need to be reconsecrated to a good group of deities to try to offset the negative that had been there for a long time. Dame Rebekah agreed, and said that this was something that we would have to work on. Savah asked what I was doing during all of this. I joked and told her that I was mostly being a bum and offloading the carts of supplies that came in, except when it came to the heavy stuff. Dame Rebekah laughed a bit, and everyone else joined in. I think Savah caught on that it was a joke because she joined in the laughing a little.

I asked Jonathan and Faunra if they had left the access to the cathedral open. They said yes, so I told them that everyone should go down to see the round room. Jonathan thought that this was a fantastic idea, and backed me up. We managed to convince everyone that they should head down there to at least see what we were talking about. I went to the reception area to lock up before we went downstairs and followed everyone to the round room. When we made our way there, and everyone saw the spherical room. When no one else was willing to try it, I jumped in. Everyone saw that I was floating in midair, and relaxed a bit. Savah jumped in fairly quickly and floated over to me. Jonathan pulled Shayliss in and Faunra jumped in with Shalelu. Ameiko jumped in finally, and Dame Rebekah was the only one left outside of the room. We were all floating and laying down in different orientations, with Savah always being next to me. Dame Rebekah noticed that when Savah looked away, that I looked at her with pleading eyes, and she hammered a piton into the wall, attached a rope through the eye, and leapt in. She actually started to enjoy the freedom and mobility.

I explained to everyone that back on my home-world people would set themselves up in a tank with ear plugs and a blindfold for sensory deprivation treatment. That it could help calm the mind. I told them that back home, we didn't have levitation so the best that someone could do would be tanks of water. They nodded and noted that this room would be good for mediation. It was then that Ameiko realized how late it was getting. She said that she was going to have to get back to the Inn, and that she liked that we were getting this place sorted out right. She wished us luck in our future endeavors as she pulled herself along the rope to get out. She deftly oriented herself along the right plane to not fall, and I told everyone that I would be back, that I had locked up the front door and wanted to unlock it for Ameiko. Savah was a bit hesitant, but I said that I would be right back. Dame Rebekah actually looked to be enjoying herself with this pseudo-flight, and everyone else was talked and jesting with everyone else, so Savah went to talk to the rest of the group while I pulled myself out of the room.

I was not quite as deft as Ameiko at getting myself aligned and ended up looking rather silly. The only thing bruised was my pride though. I made sure that there was no appearance of over familiarity between the two of us as I led her back out to the tunnel, passed the defaced statue of the Runelord Alaznist. Apparently it had been even more defaced than before. Not any concern of mine, but an interesting thing to note. As we got out of that room and into the tunnel I spared a quick glance back and looked to see if anyone had followed us. No one that I saw anyway. I asked Ameiko quietly what she had told Savah. She told me that Savah had come to talk to her after she left our lunch. She wanted to know what Ameiko thought about me. Ameiko told me she told Savah that I seemed like a generous guy, who liked to help people. I might have some problems with control sometimes, but that she had not really gotten to know me well during the time the group was at the Rusty Dragon. She told Savah that I mostly spent a lot of time alone in my room, and that I might be a bit shy. I was inwardly fuming. I whispered to her that this was the least helpful thing she could have said. She smiled and said that it was payback for making her fret over the movie twice. By then we were at the reception area. She smiled and said that she really did have a good feeling about what I was trying to do for this town. I thanked her for her good thoughts about the group and she headed out the door to go back to her Inn.

I locked up quick and started back down toward the round room. I looked around on my way back and was idly thinking about my life, and how I had gotten here and what I could expect to plan for. Scratch that, there was no non-fiction reference for someone dealing with this kind of circumstance. I made my way back down to the round room, lost in my thoughts but not dallying at all, except for a brief detour to get everyone more mugs of cider. About halfway down, I almost tripped over something but caught myself before committing a most heinous party foul. When I first looked at where I stumbled I could swear that there was a goblin body, but when I blinked there was nothing there. I think that I'll end up seeing a lot of that in the coming days. I was a little shaken up by the amount of casual death that I had personally been witness to over the past week or so. I'm pretty sure that I'll need to work on this once I get home, but for now I have to compartmentalize. I made it back without any other problems, other than to stop to look at the Runelord. Still the same amount of damage as last time, but I had to wonder who was doing it. I don't recall seeing anyone with a chisel or a rotary tool here, but the person who was working away at it was slowly reshaping the form of the sculpture to be more elven in nature, after the phallus that was carved into it first was worn away.

I would guess that it is Faunra who is doing this behind our backs, and I have NO problem with that whatsoever. I just don't know how she is keeping up with everything that we are doing and taking time out to engage in a little guerilla sculpture. Maybe they just sleep less time than the rest of us. I must have been standing there for a minute because I was woken out of my reverie by Savah asking what I was thinking about. I told her honestly, that it looked like the statue was slowly being changed, day by day, from the form it was to an elf. I was just wondering how someone could do that without making enough noise to for us to notice. Savah said that if the person was going slow, and was using something with an adamantine edge, they could shave small layers off without that much noise. I nodded, started to head back to the round room, and told her that I was glad that she knew as much as she did. I didn't make any comment about it but I swore she blushed about that. I do know for a fact that she tried to be as close as she could without messing up my carrying of the platter full of the mugs of cider.

It was Jonathan's silver platter that had the seven mugs of cider, and I didn't know that it was apparently magical. Jonathan told me that this platter can make anything that is placed upon it taste like anything else that you have already tasted. It wouldn't improve the quality of the food or make it safer to eat, but you could make it taste however you wanted. And it only worked once a day. I smiled at that and asked if I could use it for today. He said that it was late enough, but that it better be good, with a wink. I told him with a smile that I would save the Jägermeister for another day. I added that after our meal, we could all use something sweat. I asked Faunra if she could make all of the drinks almost as warm as tea levels. She cast her prestidigitation cantrip with an almost flippant gesture, and the mugs were now just warm enough. I concentrated on the platter and changed the look, smell, and taste of hot chocolate. I cautioned everyone that this was still alcohol, it just tasted different.

I told everyone that this was a traditional cold weather drink from my homeland, and we would drink it cooled off with milk. I added that we had marshmallows normally, but that this place didn't so I didn't want to bring everyone's hopes up on a part of this that I couldn't find a way to remake here. Savah was the first brave one to try a one hundred percent from memory Godiva Hot Cocoa, with a touch of cinnamon and chili. I know that this world has chocolate and cinnamon, but I don't know if anyone has ever combined it in this way before. She tried a sip at first and then started drinking the whole thing down as fast as the temperature would allow. Everyone else thought that she was faking enjoying it just for me, but Jonathan grabbed a mug for Shayliss and himself both to try it. His eyes went wide and he pulled out a journal, flipped to a blank page, and started to write something down in it. Using one of the pens that I had given him when I was writing things earlier. It does seem to be a lot easier than buying ink and ink quills separate. I hope that's a cookbook that he is writing. Shayliss cautiously drank some and immediately drank more if it. Not to be outdone, Faunra grabbed two for herself and Shalelu. She took a sip and eyed me suspiciously. She did something with her magic and then slammed the whole thing back. I'm guessing that she cooled it off. She did the same to Shalelu's and gave it to her to taste. Shalelu, looked like she was remembering home when she drank it.

Dame Rebekah was the last one to try it, and was finally guilted into it. She put the mug to her lips and sipped it. Hers was still warm so she could not drink it fast. In between sips she asked if everyone had access to this. I told her that not everyone had access to this quality of it, but even those who begged on the street in my home country could make enough to have some daily, if that was what they wanted to spend what money they had earned on it. Some people even go out of their way to just give those who are begging this for free on the colder days. I think that helped to change the view that she had of my country at least a little. I didn't continue that the reason why most didn't was because there was a large aspect of my home country that left behind those who either were too sick or too broken to work consistently. That would be another conversation.

I'm glad that I managed to bring a taste of something from home to everyone here. I would have loved for Ameiko to have tried it, but I'm sure that there will be another time. Savah was comfortably sitting next to me, as I let my legs rest into the room and float gently. She was doing the same. I noticed that it was getting late by this time because the humans (or half humans as the case may be) were all getting sleepy. I think that Dame Rebekah caught it too, because she made her way over to the rope and pulled herself back to the entrance. When she did, she looked at Shayliss with a matronly look. Shayliss was getting a little bit more familiar with Jonathan that Ven would have liked. We are currently on less than hostile terms, so I think that it would be good to keep it that way. They had a brief, but a little overly touchy kiss that was broken up by an "ahem" from Dame Rebekah. Shalelu kind of got the hint too, and said that she had to go as well. I realized that I had remembered to do something and that I had to bring it up. I told her that if she was on her way out, I would have to head up and get her a radio. I had promised myself earlier to grab her one before she left and put three of them on charge. Dame Rebekah mentioned that we needed to lock up the building, and that it would probably be best for us to get everyone home. Faunra seconded and Jonathan thirded the motion, thankfully.

I got up playing up a bit of resignation, and held out my hand to help Savah up. She took my hand and got up. She either got up and briefly lost her balance, or purposefully lost her balance, because she fell against me and was laying against me with her head against my chest. She looked up at me with a somewhat amorous look on her face as Dame Rebekah cleared her throat even louder. I was internally thankful that Dame Rebekah was keeping us on the straight and narrow right now. I helped Savah get stood upright, and helped haul everyone in from the round room. When Shalelu was back in the hallway, she helped get everyone settled and upright when they made it to the end of the room's effects. This made this go a lot more efficiently. When we got the last person in, Shayliss as a matter of fact, we all started up to the reception area.

Jonathan was about to decide that it would be best for him to stay, but I recommended that he go with us to drop off Shayliss, because it would be best for him to talk to Ven, as there were some details about the plan that I had given Ven that he would be the best person to talk to about it. He was a bit confused, but agreed. I told him that I would tell him what he needed to think on before we fully headed out. I headed back to the filing room where I had set up my charging stations. I noticed that there was a bit of a noise when things were charging, and decided that it would be best if I left everything elsewhere so everyone can get rest. I went into my charging room and got one of the radios, the mic, and two spare batteries. I noted the number on the sheet I had set up. The mayor had gotten number 9, and its battery was probably dead at this point. Just as well, because we didn't need to have her have access to us unless it is vital. I'll get hers and replace the batteries tomorrow. Mine was number 7, because why not? I had handed Dame Rebekah number 1, Jonathan number 3, and Faunra number 5. I figured that Shalelu could have number 6. She was most connected to Faunra anyway. I made a snap decision and grabbed a spare set to put into my pocket.

Before we left, I ran Shalelu through the functionality of the radios. I told her that I was giving her two sets of extra batteries. I set Shalelu's radio to broadcast all, and showed her how she could specifically broadcast to a certain channel. I told her to watch the location where it shows a battery, that it was full now. I showed her what a half full battery looked like. I showed her how to change out the batteries, and gave her the extra batteries. I showed her the way that the batteries go in, and checked her on all of it. She was getting a little annoyed by the end of it, but I told her that the radio can be on for a full ten hours with the original batteries and up to twenty-nine hours with each set of the replacement batteries. That seemed to impress her. I also noted that all of the radios will pick up on what she calls away, so if any of us are in disposed, the mayor will have a radio as well, so she might be able to pick someone up. I told her that the easiest way to get a specific person is to hold down the button, wait a second, and then say that you are looking for that person's name. If their radio is on, they will be able to respond. I purposefully went through all of this in front of everyone, just to reiterate everything to everyone.

When she understood that she could really be hold a conversation with someone who might be as far away as 20 miles, she understood that this was a fairly useful item. Especially for coordinating events at distances in relative quiet. I locked the front panel to prevent changes and made sure she was set up. I showed her how the knob at the top controlled the volume, and that if you turned it too far it turned the radio off. She was picking up fairly quickly, even with all of the alcohol in our systems. Then the bomb got dropped on me, that Faunra and Shalelu would be staying here until Jonathan, Dame Rebekah, or I had returned, to keep control over the facility. Dame Rebekah nodded, and note that we would not be that long.

Off we went, me with two radios, one secret, one open, Jonathan with his secret mission to Ven Vinder, and Dame Rebekah guarding us against our worse natures. I swear she deserves a cape or something. We got to the end of Sand Alley, and by this time Dame Rebekah had noted that Jonathan and Shayliss needed to be escorted fully to the General Store. I suggested that we all go along, since it would be safest. Dame Rebekah noted that we had surely taken care of all of the goblins in town, smiled and added, but there might be brigands, and that I wasn't armed or armored for an encounter today. I never realized that I wasn't. I was wearing my regular work clothes. I only had a multi-tool on me, and I doubted that this would really worry someone attacking us with anything longer than a dagger.

I think that Savah wanted us to have a nice moonlit stroll, but I definitely wasn't equipped to protect her should anything happen. We turned right on Main Street and headed down to the General Store, and Ven was already standing outside. He was a bit upset when he saw Jonathan and Shayliss stumbling together, but then relaxed a bit when he saw Dame Rebekah round the corner after them, keeping a watchful eye. He gave Shayliss a look and she ran off to her room. He was about to say something to Jonathan, when Jonathan brought up the idea of different flavors for the jerky. Ven's face lit up when he realized that Jonathan was coming through on something. I told Ven that I had drawn out an upgrade for the box, and that Shayliss had it. I also told him, like I had told her, that they were going to have to use double the glass, to increase the thermal efficiency. I think drunk me doesn't care about making sure that people understand what I am saying. Ven just nodded along and said that he would talk to Ameiko tomorrow about it. Looking to Savah, who was hanging off my arm, I told her that Ven was the source for one of the components of the project. Savah smiled, clearly understanding what I was saying, but she was choosing not to bring it up anymore. Ven was too busy talking to Jonathan to hear what I said to Savah.

Dame Rebekah checked with Ven and Jonathan, to make sure that everything was good. They could barely break away from the conversation to mutter oh, yeah, fine, or something similar. Dame Rebekah pulled out her radio and reported back to Faunra that we had dropped off the first group and would be on route to the second location. Faunra replied that it was understood. I barely managed to turn the volume on the radio down to keep a squawk effect from going on. Dame Rebekah looked at me for a second, and her look let me know that we would be talking about this later. Off we headed north, leaving Jonathan behind. Savah asked if that was wise to leave Jonathan alone. Dame Rebekah said that Jonathan was safe enough, and that he could see in the dark better than any of us, if he wanted too. She added that she was there to protect Shayliss' reputation, and to protect Jonathan from Ven, if needed. Jonathan could easily defend himself from normal robbers, but a vengeful father, maybe not.

Savah took all of that in with a bit more seriousness than I would have expected, but I was glad it was Dame Rebekah that was explaining everything. We walked up Main Street for quite a while, until we came to Tanglefoot Alley. I remembered that this was where the Pillbug shop was. I think the owner or someone that looked like him was trying to sneak in his shop or something I don't remember too well, but he ran off to behind his shop when he saw/hear us. We made our way to Savah's Armory, where Savah's rooms were above her work place. We got to her door, and She invite us (I guess me mainly) in for a drink or something. Dame Rebekah cleared her throat, yet again, and I told her that we likely had something important to do in the morning. I apologized that I would have to take a raincheck. She was disheartened, and I felt something tap the spare radio set up that I had brought along for her. I stopped her as she turned around and showed her that I was pulling a radio out of my pocket for her. Her eyes lit up, and she gladly grabbed it. I think the number was number 8. I started to go through everything with her, but she shushed me and went to kiss me. I leaned down and swerved to the side a bit drunk and she kissed my cheek, a bit forcefully. I apologized for being drunk and she just smiled. She hugged me and I hugged her back. Another clearing of the throat from Dame Rebekah and we separated and she went into her building. I heard her call over the radio to Faunra that the second location was delivered and good night.

There wasn't an answer from Faunra, but Dame Rebekah responded with "Thank you and good night." We were walking back and she was leading me through the town. I think that we were heading the long way, maybe to try to pick up Jonathan on our way back. We took High Street South East to cut across Festival Street to Crab Street. We went down River Street to pass all of the businesses that we first saw on that first trip with Sheriff Hemlock. As we passed the Lumber Mill, Dame Rebekah asked me why I was resisting Savah's intentions. I told her that back on my home-world I was married. I was very much in love with her, and I wouldn't want to hurt her by cheating on her with someone, even if it was on another world. She asked why I had invited Savah to the Theater the first time then. I told her that Business Dinners were a thing on my home-world, and that co-workers sometimes went out to eat together from time to time. She thought on that as we passed the Scarnetti Mill, we clammed up as we saw that there was some kind of activity going on, even at this time of night. It was an odd thing and Dame Rebekah looked at me, silently asking if I thought that we should look into this.

I did my best to sober myself up and look imposing. I didn't have my armor on, but I did have my gun. I didn't want to just draw that in public, but if I had to, I had to. We moved over to the Mill, and I asked if there was some kind of problem here. The person who was doing the digging was the manager of the mill, Courrin Whesterwill. He was skittish when we confronted him about what he was doing, but with Dame Rebekah's naturally intimidating demeanor and my clearly confusing nature, he broke down and told us the whole story. He had heard that there were some shady things that had occurred with the Scarnettis and the fires that had destroyed all of the other mills. He knew that he could never provide evidence, but that he would be blamed if the word got out, and his parents still worked in the Scarnetti's manor. They would be destitute without that job. It was all just one run on sentence. I asked him what he was doing out here this late at night. He said that he was burying his savings to try to keep it safe so that he can get his parents safe and far away from here when he earns enough. I ask him how far off he is. He says that he is trying to save up three hundred gold. I looked to Dame Rebekah, and she shook her head. I told him that we did not have that much money at the moment, but would he promise to testify to Mayor Deverin and Sheriff Belor Hemlock when he did secure their freedom, we would not turn him in to anyone. He thanked us and started to head back into the building. I told him that he really should not bury his salary near his place of business. I told him that if he needed to, we could find a way to have it secured at somewhere safer.

Courrin thanked us profusely and took his money back inside. I looked at Dame Rebekah, and said to her that if I was to give him any further advice, it would be that he should be "seen" to be having some vice that would blow all of his money. Him being an obvious pauper might become obvious to his employer that he is looking to split. She looked at me with some strange kind of fascination. She asked if I was inclined to be duplicitous. I told her that on my home-world, if you were looking for employment with another person, you couldn't tell the person you were working for, because they would likely fire you before you found someplace else to work. Then you would be without a job, and looking for a job when you don't have one is much harder, because although almost every employer knows that they would do the same thing, they never acknowledge that they do it and believe that the reason you got fired is because you did something wrong.

She looked somewhat aghast at that. I told her that this was the normal for my country on my home-world. Without magic, everyone was scrambling to try to make enough money to survive. The government takes a share of what you make, and that share gets larger faster than the money you make goes up. There might be some tricks and schemes that allow you to keep more of your money, but those are normally only available to those who are super well off. She looked even more aghast at all of this. She repeated the oh so frequently asked question that I had been asked a couple of times since I got here, "Are you sure that you want to head back? You could make an excellent life here." I told her that it wasn't fair that I leave my wife because I found some circumstance that was better. She wouldn't leave her family, especially her son. Her son wouldn't leave without his boyfriend and his boyfriend wouldn't leave without his family, and his son wouldn't leave without his music bands and performances. That would leave an increasing number of people coming over here, and each one brings a greater chance of bringing over something that would destroy this world. I can't do that.

She looked at me with some sad eyes, and asked if I was ever happy. I told her that I did my duty, I did what was needed and what was required of me. Happiness didn't matter as long as I was taking care of my family, my country, and my home-world. I added that if the circumstance happened that the only way I can get back is to put my family, country, and home-world at risk, then it would be better that my home-world think I am dead. She asked if that was what my faith taught us. I told her that no, that was what serving in the military that enhanced that feeling in me. She asked if when I was working for the military if I was involved with those bombs that she remembered hearing about. I told her that just like fire can be constructive or destructive, so can atomic energy. I used to work in a Nuclear reactor on a ship, a big machine that takes the constant tiny explosions and converts them to electricity via a few different processes. I worked to keep those processes under control, for about two years.

This was all a bit much for Dame Rebekah and she was quiet for a long time as we walked on. I tried to apologize to her for putting all of this stuff on her. I told her that I tended to get a maudlin after enough time and alcohol. She waved me off, stopping me from talking more, and just asking to walk in silence for a bit. I complied and we walked the rest of the way to Ven's General Store. Ven and Jonathan were just getting done with their conversation when we arrived. Ven seemed to be in a very good mood. Jonathan was as well. Dame Rebekah was a little bit confused by this but we picked up Jonathan and were about to move on. Ven asked pulled me aside and asked me if anything had happened when we were all in the round room. I told him that not much happened, other than that I found a way to recreate the experience of something from back home using a simple prestidigitation spell. A type of drink, is all, and we drank it and had a decent time. I told him that Dame Rebekah had ensured that nothing untoward happened.

Ven listened to what I had to say and was apparently satisfied with what he had heard. He told me to have a good night and get some rest. I wished him good luck and good night. The three of us got together again and walked back to the former Glassworks. There wasn't much conversation between us on the way back, Jonathan was too over the moon about the evening that he had with Shayliss. Dame Rebekah was too absorbed with everything that I had told her, and I was too busy trying to figure out what the hell the future held for me. I'm pretty sure that there was no good way out of this, but that it was going to be bad one way or another. As we turned to get on Salt Road, Dame Rebekah called back to Faunra over the radio to let her know that we were on our way. I didn't hear what the response was, but I did catch that there was some kind of a response.

We made it back to the Glassworks, I unlocked the door, and we all filed in. We were not really up to talking or conversing much. We all ended up just going to separate areas, changing, and heading for bed. Before I headed back to the sleeping quarters, I put all of the radios that I had been given back to charge. All of them except the ones for the Mayor's, Savah's, Shalelu's, and Faunra's anyway. These battery backups will have to be set up and recharged with the solar panels tomorrow. I really need to look into making a better power bank. Maybe I could start with making a windmill and attaching it to some kind of generator. It does have a fairly low level of constant wind since it is a coastal village. After that, I can work on building some batteries to store the power. Then I can make the building illuminated and keep the batteries powered. I hope that I'm not trying to do too much here. I don't know how long I will have to be here, and keeping myself safe and protected. Maybe once I can get this set up, I can get little generators set up in certain areas and have the radios placed in key areas to improve response times and capabilities.

After a bit of musing, I finished up on catching up all of my notes in the .doc file that I have started. At least this will be something easy to search through in case I need to go back over my notes. Maybe it will hold a key to the future problem that I might encounter, who knows. At least I'll be able to reread this and stop hopefully stop myself from going crazy. Hopefully, anyway. Time to go to bed, I guess.