Day 27: Moonday the 15th Lamashan, 4707
The morning started off great. I woke up to Savah snuggling up to me. We both woke up around the same time, slowly waking up to the new day. She looked up to me and told me that she was happy when she saw that I was awake. I told her that I was as well. We laid together for a good amount of time just enjoying each other's company.
We finally got up and got dressed. I did my start of the day prestidigitation clean up, and did the same for Savah. She giggled as I did up her hair. She gave me a kiss after that and we exited the room. As we headed out the room, Oren was there, waiting for us. Savah asked him if anything was wrong. Oren told us that he had thought a lot about the future.
Oren told us that he should be heading back to Riddleport to deal with the things left undone there. Not to seek revenge, but to see his family and let them know that he was moving here permanently. I told him that I heard that we could send someone to tell them if he wanted, we could even invite them here. He shook his head and said that he didn't think that his family was ready to leave the city. He said that he might take Arika with him to show her off to the family if she was willing to go with him when his debt was paid and he had saved up enough for the ship travel for both of them.
I told him that he might want to change up his look a little for the trip, but that I could definitely support that. He asked me if we could train Arika to be a better "rogue", as she didn't have the experience that we did. Savah shrugged and said that she would love to. I told him that we would have to work it out with Alma, but that I would go to bat for them. Oren thanked us, and said that there was a lot of work required for the town to be safe before he could go. I nodded with a smile and noted that this was before he even considered having to deal with things other than Goblins.
A look of recognition grazed Oren's face like a lightbulb lit. I had just given him a really good reason to stay for a long time. Savah picked up on it and mentioned that there were dragons nearby that might decide to raid the town any day now. I added that we had seen aberrations and Demons in this town too, and that it might need to be protected from them as well. He asked how we might be able to do that. I told him that we could help him with finding out information about all of them, but fire seemed to be a safe thing to protect against right now, since the goblins seem keen on it too.
Oren said that he would have to consider all of this. I told him to think everything through, and that I would help with anything I could. Oren nodded and said that he would be asking me more questions about how things were handled back where I was from. I told him that I would let him know everything I could. Oren thanked us and headed out to the Garrison to get his assignment. I looked to Savah and told her that I may have had an idea on how to reduce her costs even further. She told me to hold off on that unless I wanted to do a smaller run in one of the smaller ovens, because we were going to have visitors later today.
I asked if this was related to the deal with the Mayor. Savah smiled in a mockingly coy manner and said that she had no idea what I was talking about. I just smiled and shook my head. She told me that I should go get the ovens up to temperature and prepare everything. I started to head to the workshop and I felt her slap my ass as I left. I turned and she was deliberately looking in the opposite direction. I just shook my head and headed into the workshop.
The ovens were just up to temperature when the first two guard members came in. They both held what looked to be a pile of cotton fabric. I took each set from them and got them coated. While they were waiting I offered to have them test the material that was on the roll in the back area of the workshop. They wailed away on it, hacking with their swords. It ended up only requiring one tank, so I told them to come back in five hours and told them tell Sheriff Hemlock that I had underestimated how quickly I could get people through this. He can send another two people in two hours. Before they left, I quickly apologized to them and asked for their names. The guy told me that his name is Jubai Nakrimor, and the woman told me that her name is Nilly Ancera. I thanked them for their time and they headed off.
I realized that if they were only going to do a jerkin instead of a full suit that my estimation of the time required would be a long way off. I could technically get four guard members done at a time. Talking with Oren this morning and Savah made me realize that this place was a deathtrap for fires. I had not even thought about dragons existing. If they were anything like that Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale movie about dragons, then I really needed to look into more wide scale measures.
I took a walk outside while the material was getting up to temperature and looked at the buildings of the town. Wood buildings, Wood shingle roofs, stone foundations. I don't know that I could make the kind of change to make everything in this town into fire resistant materials, and just doing the roofs didn't make much sense. There goes the fireproof shingles thought. They wouldn't burn but they would conduct the heat almost as well as steel or any other metal. I mean to deal with dragon fire, even stone would only be so safe. I mean that if fiction is any guide to what dragons can do, they can melt stone. Even if it is only with repeated blasts, they can melt stone and no human can withstand that.
I made my way back in and there were two more guards waiting for me. One of them I recognized from before. The one I recognized was Merin Vargil, and she was the one who was monitoring us at the trial. The younger guard was Kilana Hamdelba. Merin was telling Kilana about how she had met me and what she thought of the armor. Kilana wasn't convinced, and I asked her to try to cut the fabric on the roll on the far side of the workshop while I got the materials prepared and into the tank.
Kilana went over and tried to hack it with her sword. Naturally, the fabric didn't cut, the steel roll that was under it dented slightly. I told her that the material itself was only slightly less hard than Adamantine. She would have scoffed, but she had just tried the material herself. I told her that I didn't know what kind of deal was made, but that I imagined that if this didn't provide the same degree of protection as her regular chain shirt, that she would be allowed to wear her old armor. I told her that the main benefit of this material was that it was about one third the weight of steel.
Kilana asked if the armor would come out similar to mine. I told her that what they were getting was the under-layer of my armor. The hardened portions were add-ons. I told her that the material that they had brought was enough to do a chain shirt's equivalent, but not anything else. Kilana nodded and said that she might want to seek out additions at a later date. I told her that I would love to just donate the stuff to the people, but there was definitive cost associated with all of this, and even just the materials alone had a cost.
Merin asked what Savah might normally charge a person for this armor. I told her that just a chain shirt was probably in the neighborhood of eight hundred and fifty gold pieces before any watch or guard member discount. She kind of blanched at that and looked over at the roll that I had done up. There was at least enough to make a couple of sets of the chain shirt under-layers on that roll, and she realized it. Merin asked what we were looking at doing with all of that material. I told her that as of right now, it was reserved for the people who might make orders for it, but that if it comes to it, I can convert it into the harder material in a little under seven hours.
Merin asked me what the cost was for a full suit of what I had on. I told her that it would likely be twenty-seven hundred without the bells and whistles that I have added on to it. Kilana asked what bells and whistles did I have added to it. I showed them the armored pockets, back sheath for my tablet, the filter hood, and the flashlight loops. I added that the emblem was of course an add on, but that I would imagine that the town would have some kind of livery that they wanted the watch to wear.
Merin thanked me for being so polite to them, and I told her that it was only right to treat people politely until they give reason to not. I told them to be back in six hours, and that if Sheriff Hemlock wants to send another set, he will have to wait until when the first set comes back, and that if he talks to me, I can tell him the best way to send them to maximize the amount that I can get done. Merin and Kilana both thanked me and headed out.
I turned as they went to see Savah standing there watching me. She came up and told me that sometimes she forgets how different I am from everyone else in this town. I smiled and told her that I might be different but that I was all hers. I think she really liked that because I almost ruined the first pair of armors by not keeping close enough track of the temperatures. I managed to get it back up to temperature and not ruin it. Savah smiled after we figured out that we had saved everything. Before she left the workshop I asked her if she would be willing to go over what I was going to be performing tonight, and she agreed once the second batch of people came through.
With the remaining time left until the first group got back, I continued my work on copying the books for everyone that I needed to get them done for. I made my personal copy of the combined philosophy book that I had made for Mayor Deverin and Chask Haladan. I figured that even if I didn't have time to get any of the previous books to their new owners from before, I could at least be ready at a moment's notice. I had enough time so I made picture copies of the Tome of Epics that I had previously acquired from Chask. Once I made another hard copy I would get it back to him, even if I only got a "Used" price for it, I could trade for blank books at least.
I had just finished up with that when my timer went off. The first set was done, and I got it out of the tank. Jubai and Nilly were escorted back to the workshop as I was using some B4C thread to stitch everything together. They both tried the armor on and saw that it was well fitting and very light weight. They each looked like they want to try to cut it, and I told them to go ahead and do so. They were fairly impressed that they could not cut thru it. I warned them that it doesn't do much against blunt force trauma, and that they might want to make sure that they are wearing padding for that.
Nilly said that it was much the same for a chain shirt, so that wasn't much of a change. They were all set up and I asked if they knew when the next batch would get here. It was just then that two other guard members were escorted in by Savah. It was that guard that I had met at when we were leaving to head to Thistletop, Rhian Sawan, and another woman, Quera Yngar. Rhian came right up with her set, Quera was a bit less trusting. I got to work coating Rhian's material while Quera came up. She asked what it was that I was doing.
I told her that back where I was from, we developed a method to, for lack of a better term, coat material with a super-hard substance that weighs one third the weight of steel. She scoffed and said that it was probably Dwarven trickery or some nonsense to Rhian. I looked over at Quera and told her that there were no dwarves on my old-world as there are here. At least not for centuries. My society discovered this unique aspect of the two materials I am using. Another two societies tested it and ensured that it functioned the same every time.
Quera seemed a bit mollified by that, and I suggested that if she desired, she could go test the roll of material over there, and pointed to the roll of finished fabric. She dropped her garment off and headed over to the rack to try her best. Rhian's was in the tank, and I was coating Quera's when she exclaimed that she had cut it. Rhian went over to look and I finished up with the coating. I went over after the tank was fully set up and in the oven. I looked at what she said that she had cut and unrolled the fabric from the steel rod. The fabric wasn't cut, but the steel rod was bent and gouged to such a degree that it could have looked like it was. I handed the material to them to inspect and whipped up a mending effect on the steel rod.
The steel rod was as good as new, and I asked for the material back. Quera was a bit incredulous when she gave it back. I rolled the fabric back up and told them that since I had an engagement tonight, I would have to see them tomorrow for the fittings. Rhian was fairly understanding, but Quera left in a huff, I guess that she was trying to figure out what kind of game I was playing. I realized that I needed to talk to Sheriff Hemlock to get the rotation correct for people showing up, if I was ever going to have time to study for and of the plays or readings that I was obligated to perform.
I wrote up a brief schedule on a piece of paper and figured that I could give it to the next batch of guard members to show up. Merin and Kilana came back in almost as soon as I had gotten the material out of the tanks. They saw that the material was now black, but still as flexible as it was before. Kilana tried a simple cut on it and the material held. I used more of the boron thread to stitch their individual pieces together, and had them try it out. They both got it them on and without warning, Merin tried a draw cut on Kilana's armor. There was no cut, but I was worried for just a second that it might progress. Kilana tried the same for Merin's new armor. They both laughed and said that it felt like they were wearing nothing at all. I told them that I hoped that it served them well. Kilana was the first one to ever ask about repairs. I told them that unlike a chain shirt, it wasn't repairable without magic, but that a simple cantrip could repair it over repeated uses. Merin nodded to that. I told them that it would be a good idea to hire on an apprentice spellcaster of some kind for the Garrison. They both laughed and said that they would pass that on. I also gave them the schedule to give to Sheriff Hemlock.
Savah was escorting in the last pair when Merin and Kilana were heading out. It was Jaren, who we had met back at Thistletop and Ileana Magravi, a niece to Risa, the owner of Risa's Place. Jaren walked up and shook my hand and thanked us for this upgrade to all of the Sandpoint guard's armor. I said that it wasn't anything for me to make the stuff and that it was Savah who brokered the deal. Jaren looked back at Savah and she smiled. Ileana said that she was interested to see what all of this was about. I took the fabric from both of them and told her that if she wanted she could check out what the fabric would become.
Jaren and Ileana both walked over to the B4C cloth and gave it some attempts at draw cuts and a couple of hacks while I prepped the jerkin parts and got them into the tanks. I filled the tanks up with Argon, and got the tanks into the oven. I watch the candle flame go out as the Argon replaces all of the oxygen and shut the access ports. I turn around to see Jaren and Ileana watching me. Jaren asked what it was that I was putting into the tank.
I told him that it was a part of the air around us that was not burnable. I told him that it was a natural part of the environment that I knew how to collect, and that I used it to prevent the cotton from catching fire. I told him that it was colorless, odorless, and tasteless, that it wasn't toxic, but will kill people via asphyxiation. Jaren looked a bit taken aback by this, and asked how I knew about this. I told him that in my home land there are people who use this gas every to do their jobs, and in fact, I used to use it when I would make or repair things back home. Jaren told me that he might want his son to learn about this, and I told him to enroll the child in the Turandarok Academy. If everything pans out and I get myself comfortable here, I might volunteer some of my time as a teacher there.
Ileana asked if I was the same person that her Aunt was talking about. I said that I likely was, but I didn't know what it was that she would be talking to me about. Ileana told me that she was serving those "floats" to people now, especially since she found a way to make ice cream quickly and easily. I told Ileana that I was the one that she would have been talking about. Ileana asked if I had any other surprises like that and the meal that I had made while I was there. Jaren looked a bit oddly at that, and I explained that I took the wild boar and peppers skewers that Risa's is famous for and added onions and mustard and put it in a small loaf of bread, so that it can be held and eaten while carried. I told him that he really should try it.
Jaren said that he would think about it. The two of them headed out and Savah came in. She looked at me and asked if I was getting hungry at all. I slapped my forehead with my palm and told her that I had completely forgotten to eat all day, and it was probably why I was in a cranky mood. Savah said that she would go get us something if I liked. I told her thank you, that I didn't think that I could leave the tanks with them both at different points in their heating. Savah smiled and said that she would be back soon.
I got back to making sure that the temperatures were good and instantly felt bad about Savah heading out to get me something to eat. They looked to be going good, so I got the facts for my rendition of the second half of the Iliad straight. Then I decided to ramp up the action and excitement. I figured that I needed to get some things more aligned with the movie Troy than the drier version that I had to read for high school. I was just gotten some notes sketched out for what I would need to put on the screens when Savah came back.
She had a pair of ciders and a canvas back. She reached into the bag and pulled out something that I was willing to kill for. She must have noticed the look on my face, because she mockingly said that it wasn't that long ago that she had seen me want something that bad. I asked her where she could have gotten this. She smiled and told me that they were making them at The Bolting Barghest. Apparently Jonathan had listened to me when I ranted about my desire to have a bacon cheeseburger back on the original trek from Windsong Abbey to here, when he heard the song Cheeseburger in Paradise.
She smiled and pulled out a burger for herself as well. I quickly looked over the ovens and sat down with her. She asked if I could make the ciders taste like that Dr. Pepper drink. I did my little tricks to pull out all the stops. Savah smiled and drank her drink with me as we ate our burgers and fries. I thanked her throughout the whole meal, as I ate the burger that I had been craving for this long. I know it's just junk food, but it's a piece of home. No, this was different. The meat was different, the cheese was different, and the lettuce was different. It wasn't the same, but it was just as good. This could be my new home after all.
Savah must be a mind reader because she smiled at me and got up close while we shared the bag of fries. I seasoned them for us and she said that she appreciated that. I told her that I would let Jonathan know what they taste like so he can try to reproduce them. Savah asked if we could keep this between ourselves. I told her of course and we finished off the bag together. I got up and made sure that the ovens were still in good shape and I noticed Savah coming up behind me with the bag, grabbing the last few fries.
I had a brainstorm and I asked her if I could see the bag after she was done with it, and she confusedly handed it to me. I looked at it and gave it a quick clean with my prestidigitation powers. It looked like this was Hemp fabric instead of the cotton I was used to. I started to run numbers inside my head and I asked her if the material that this bag was made of was cheaper than cotton. Savah looked at me like I was stupid and said that it was like one silver a yard, whereas the cotton was eight gold a yard. I blanched a little at that and told her that I would like to see if this material would work for making the material as well as the cotton does.
Savah asked why I didn't try it before. I told her that on my old world, cotton fabric was exceedingly cheap, whereas due to regulation, hemp fabric was fairly expensive. The original experiments were also done with cotton, so until I managed to nail down the specifics of the experiment to be repeatable here, I wanted to stick as close as I could to what was known to work. Savah thought for a moment and asked if the results could change a lot. I told her that the molecular structure was vastly different between hemp and cotton. It might cause changes or not even bond as well or at all.
Savah acknowledge that and asked if I wanted to try it out after we got our current order done. I told her of course, if we can drop the ingredients price, we can charge even less for the material, and make it even more available to people. I told her that I did worry that it might only be suitable for the harder materials, as there were less locations for the bonds to form. Savah seemed a bit confused, so I made a quick check of the ovens and took her into the break room. There was a blackboard there, and some chalk, so I drew out the molecular structures for cotton and hemp.
No, I don't have them memorized. The experiment for both the cotton molecule and the flexible boron carbide molecular and "A Study in Physical and Mechanical Properties of Hemp Fibres" and the textile studies for both. I gave her a brief description of how all of the world around us was all built up of molecules. I showed how the bonds for cotton might lend themselves to bonding with the carbon in it by displacing the hydrogen and oxygen molecules. I told her that we needed to make sure that the materials didn't burst into flames because the temperatures that we operated at were enough to burn the fabric.
I told her to take a look at what I have written up while I went and checked the ovens. Savah said that she would and I did a quick check. I added some more coal onto the fires and checked to make sure all of the signs for temperature were good. When I came back, Savah had a few questions for me. Some good and insightful, others not so good, and things I would have asked if I was just finding out these things. I don't fault her these questions, and answered as best I could. I flat out told her that I didn't know what magic meant to all of this, but that I believed that it was one of the things that I did need to figure out here.
Savah nodded and asked me if I still thought that I needed to know how to deal with magic if I wasn't going back. I smiled and told Savah that I'd still like to find a way to get back eventually. I paused for a minute while she looked kind of horrified, but then I continued with my thoughts that I believed that I would like to take her to see it all one day, and that if I found someone who could get us there and back again that I could trust, we could all go and see some of the sights of my world, provided I gave everyone a crash course on what not to do before heading over there. I added that I would love to be able to bring enough stuff back to be able to truly make this town a pinnacle of what it could be. Savah smiled and said that she might like seeing where I was from. I remembered that I had a picture of the area that I grew up in, and showed it to her from my phone. She was mystified when I showed her that I could zoom in to certain areas on the same picture and show her what it all was.
Savah asked if I would ever take a picture of her. She saw the look on my face that said that I had already and asked to see it. I showed her and told her that I could explain. Savah looked at it for a good long time, and asked me to explain. I told her that I took the pictures when we were in her store they day we took Oren to Cracktooth's for drinks and he met Arika. I told her that I just wanted to something to remind me of how I felt that moment, should I ever forget. Savah asked how I felt when I took those pictures. I told her that I felt like I was truly home. She smiled and said that she might be willing for me to take more pictures of her, but that I should tell her so that she could look her best. I told her that I always thought that she looked her best, but that I would honor that request.
We went back to the workshop to make sure that the materials were being processed correctly. They were and we sat back and enjoyed each other's company until both tanks had their allotted time in the ovens. I had spent the last hour going through my Tome of Epics while Savah was reading through our copy of the Children's Science Manual. I appreciated that she wanted to know more about how my culture discovered how the world worked. Neither of the pairs of guard members were due to come back tonight, but I used a quick tailoring effect of prestidigitation use a regular hemp thread to stitch each set together so that the pieces wouldn't be mixed up.
We got ready and during the last few minutes, I used my copy/paste power to put up the information that I needed after doing a quick sketch of the information on the blackboard. By using the two powers in concert, I had managed to put information that I had in an easy format, even though it wasn't in that format in the it was originally in. Savah smiled when she saw that I was happy with something and asked what it was I was pleased about. I told her what I had managed to do, and she said that it went a little over her head but she was glad for me that I made an achievement like that.
I thanked her for that and we got everything ready to head to The Rusty Dragon. I gathered up the books that I needed to make drop offs for, and we headed out. Since The Curious Goblin and the Turandarok Academy were both fairly close to being on the way, it wouldn't hold us up too much. We made sure that everything was locked up and locked the roll of material and the guard members' armors in our bedroom. We headed out through the office door and locked it behind us.
Oren was just getting back to The Armory and we told him to come with us to The Rusty Dragon. He was a bit confused, but agreed to do so. He told us that he had some interesting news for us when we had a minute. Savah told him that we would love to listen to him while we walked, if he was willing to tell us as we travelled, but if not, we could talk when we got back home after my performance. Oren said that it was information that required a celebration. I piped in that we could all use a drink at The Rusty Dragon if that would help.
Oren said that he would tell us once we got to The Dragon, and got a drink or two. I cautioned him that Ameiko didn't like people shortening the name. Savah laughed and I asked her what was funny. She just shook her head and said nothing. We first went to The Curious Goblin. Chask was there seemingly all by himself. He looked very happy to see me when I opened the door. I pulled out The Philosophies of Terra book that I had set up for him. He looked through it and said that it was more than he could have hoped for. He told me that with this format there was so much information that it would take him a fairly long time to digest everything. I thanked him for the complement. I asked him what he might be willing to trade for it.
Chask asked what I might want or need. I whispered to him what I was planning on doing for Crystalhue, and he grabbed me eight! journals, asking me to make him a copy for his shop. I smiled and told him I would. I also showed him the First Aid book that I was getting ready to give to The Turandarok Academy. He told me that he would like a copy of it if possible. I told him that it would take a few hours to make, and that I might be busy for the next few days.
He said that the good thing about books is that they lasted for a long time. I smiled and told him that I could only agree with that. He asked me to just keep him in mind for the next few days. I had a brainstorm and asked him if he wanted to head to The Rusty Dragon to watch the second part of a play from my Old World, the Iliad. He thought for a second, looked around his store, and immediately said that he would shut down the shop and head over. Savah smiled and said that we would welcome him there. Oren asked if he had any books on engineering and fortifications.
Chask looked quickly over to a shelf and said that they had one, but that it was fifty gold pieces. Oren looked a little upset at that, but I asked Chask if he would be willing to offer to loan me the book for a week or so as part of the deal when I bring the first aid book in? Chask said that we could work out something. Oren looked a little brighter when he heard that we might be able to get him the thing he needs. We left the store while Chask locked up. We went to the Turandarok Academy next door and Mayor Deverin was giving speech about town loyalty and ethics to the class. This was a useful turn of events, I had a book for her too.
Ilsoari saw me and came over quickly. I could see that he was hopeful for what I might have for him. I reached into my bag and pulled out a pair of books, the part one and two of the first aid manual. Ilsoari came over and grabbed them, flipping one open and then the other. He noted that they were two different volumes, and I told him that it was just as he had requested. He thanked me for the books and offered to get me another two for some other subjects.
I told him that it would probably be good to do math. I added that I would include art and music in the other of the two books, but I was fairly certain that the art from my old world would be different than this world. I asked if he had any ideas. Ilsoari asked what else I would have learned when I was young. I told him that we focused on reading, spelling, and writing while I was young. We also learned some of the history of our country and other things like that. Ilsoari asked if I would be willing to outline what my schooling was like so that they could draw up a similar system.
I told Ilsoari that I would be glad to, and that I actually was considering being a teacher in the school after I was fully settled in to town and everything was sorted out. Ilsoari asked if I had a recommendation for the town for this, and I told him that I would recommend that they get people together that can teach various subjects and get them to teach the children. I told him that my people had found that having early childhood education resulted in a tenfold increase over what was put into it. He was a bit incredulous about that, but I pointed out that by having all of the kids in town in school, the adults can be more free to do things than to focus on keeping the kids controlled while doing their jobs.
Ilsoari said that he would think about it and that he might proposes it to the town council. I told him that since they already had the building, they could make it happen for fairly cheaply. I added that this was especially true since we could get the people to only spend some time teaching the students and work on their own things otherwise. Ilsoari said that he would come back to me to bounce some ideas off of me before heading to the council for it. I thanked him and said that I had a book for the mayor as well. Ilsoari told me that she was just about done with her speech. I thanked him and Savah said that he should bring the students to The Rusty Dragon tonight, because I was giving a dramatic reading of a play from my Old World.
Ilsoari said that he would consider it. Savah noted that I had started this last night, and this was part two, but it should be much more action packed than the night before. Ilsoari noted that he might be willing to do so, so that he could get a better view on a prospective tutor to the town's students, and to see how the students might interact with said possible tutor. Savah grinned at me, and I just thought to myself that it was a good thing, no pressure, right? The Mayor finished up and walked over to us while Ilsoari got all of the kids hyped for going to listen to something at the Rusty Dragon.
Mayor Deverin asked us how we were doing and settling in. I told her that a new business in town had managed to make something from my old home and although it had a Sandpoint spin on it, it was still very welcoming. Mayor Deverin asked us where it was and what the item was. Savah spoke up and said that it was at the Bolting Barghest and the meal was just called the "Sandpoint's Best Burger". I smiled when I realized that Jonathan remembered my story even more than I had expected. The Mayor said that she would have to try it. I told her to be ready for a full stomach, and Savah agreed with me.
The Mayor was about to say goodbye when I remembered that I had a book for her. I pulled the book out and asked the Mayor to stop for a second. The Mayor turned and saw that I had a book out. She looked confused for a second and then took the book. She looked at the title that the book had and I told her that it was a copy of what I had wanted to give to her from a few days ago. I told her that I thought that she could use the information in this book when dealing with the council members. The Mayor looked a little confused but said thanks. I told her to have a good night.
The Mayor started to head out to of the Academy and Savah ran off to talk to her about something. I would have paid more attention but I got leapt on by a couple of the kids that had liked my presentations more than the other kids had. I looked down and the younger of the kids were grappled around my legs. They asked if I had any other books for them. I told them that I had given a pair of books to Ilsoari, but I had to give a performance at The Rusty Dragon, so it might be a few more days to get them another new book, but that I would work on something especially for the younger kids.
All of the young kids were cheering when Savah came back. She was smiling when she how the kids were interacting with me. I asked what she was talking to the Mayor about, and she tried her innocent look and asked me whatever I could mean. Ilsoari came up and distracted me by saying that the kids will be going to The Rusty Dragon to see the performance tonight. I cautioned him that it would be in the middle of the story, and he said that as long as the kids were entertained, it wouldn't really matter. Ilsoari said that he would get the kids rounded up and heading to The Rusty Dragon shortly.
Savah, Oren, and myself all left the Academy to head to The Rusty Dragon. Savah was cuddled up next to me as we walked and Oren was looking fairly proud of himself. We got there and the stool was set up with four screens around it. Already there was a crowd of people in the area. Ameiko came up to us and noted that there was a decent sized crowd tonight. Savah whispered something to her and Ameiko kind of balked a bit. She made an announcement to everyone that we were going to have to reorganize where everyone was sitting, due to a large number of people coming in. Ameiko told us that this would take a few minutes, and offered us a few drinks in one of the private rooms while we wait.
Savah thanked her for us and we all headed to one of the private rooms. Victor had come in shortly thereafter with a few tankards of cider and some of Ameiko's Cheese Blossoms. Oren dug right in and grabbed a tankard. Savah followed suit and I took mine and made it taste like Lurgashall mead. Because, why not? After a few mouthfuls of both, Oren broke the news to us. He told us that he had proposed training the guard members to be better warriors, and Sheriff Hemlock accepted. I congratulated him, and Savah did as well. Oren said that once he had asked if we could train Arika to be a better rogue, he wondered to himself why we couldn't just retrain all of the guard as well, to make them better combatants to protect this town better.
I told him that this was great forward thinking and that I knew he could do it. Oren noted that he was going to start doing one on one classes with the group starting next week, after all of the armor situation was sorted out. Oren noted that he was going to be dropping by during the work day tomorrow for his fittings, after heading to Rynshinn's to get the cotton fabric done up. I told him that we would love to see him get his armor done up right. Oren told us that this wasn't all, and added that he had also talked to Sheriff Hemlock and the Sheriff had agreed that the town should have a response team on hand that can handle various odd crisis' like the Swallowtail incident, and not rely on the luck of having a party of adventurers here.
Savah looked a bit askance and I told her that this was indeed a good thing. I added that it would mean that other people would be safe, and that issues that were more related to the town could be dealt with quicker and better, and that a sponsored "strategic response team" could be able to answer things while adventurers were heading off to fight distant dangers to the town. Savah asked how distant, and I told her not so far that we couldn't get home within a week or so, provided that I made what I was planning on making. IF my car wasn't still at Windsong Abbey. Oren looked like he was about to wet himself with excitement, so I apologized and asked him to please continue, yet again. He told us that Arika had been accepted into the guard, in one of these new roles, pending her retraining by Savah and myself.
I looked to Savah and told her that I didn't know that I would be the best trainer, as I didn't know magic or anything. Savah noted that we would both be helping her, and that if we needed anything else, we could check with someone else in town who could help. I said that I had already agreed to help train people, but that it would have to wait until the armor was completed and the new trial material was tested. Oren and Savah both agreed to that, with Oren not even knowing what we were talking about when I mentioned the new trial material.
It was right about then that there was a knock at the door and Ameiko entered. She noted that her Tavern was PACKED tonight, and that I better hope this was a good performance. Keeping up the charade a little, I told her that I always gave good performances. Savah added something a little too loudly, about that especially being true in the bedroom. I blushed and she giggled a little. We all headed out with Oren and Savah taking seats that were reserved for them next to Chask and Ilsoari. Dozens of the children from the Academy were sitting down, cross legged waiting. They all clapped when they saw me walking to the stage. NO pressure right?
I roll out all of the materials that I had prepared on one of the stands, and started to set up the scene, including putting the depiction of the walls of Troy and the ships. I turned and faced the crowd as I looked them over. I started with my storytelling of one of the greatest storytellers of my old world. The children were all enjoying the tales of Ajax and Achilles and how the fights raged on and on. I told them how the gods had placed their own heroes on either side, and how when one of their heroes fell, they gave a different hero some key information or guided a strike.
I told them how Achilles was killed due to the poison of the arrow that had been directed towards his one weak point, and how Ajax had killed himself in disgust of his disloyalty. I illuminated the screens with colors as a telling blow was struck, or a blow was parried. I finished off with the Trojan Horse, and how it was due to the town's unwillingness to listen to someone warning about the dangers that it fell. Oren seemed bolstered, and I noticed that the Mayor had joined us after all and was listening intently. I finished by thanking everyone for being here to listen to the tale of the Trojan war, and that tomorrow we would be continuing with the story of how one of the combatants, the designer of the Trojan Horse, was cursed by the god of sea travel Poseidon to wander the waves for a decade before returning home to his family.
The children all clapped and were asking Ilsoari to come back tomorrow night for the next chapter. All of the children filed out to head either back to the Academy or their homes, and some of the patrons of the bar went over to get drinks or meals. Chask came up to me and thanked me for this. He asked if I had other performances that I could give like that, and I told him that I had a few plays from my home world that I might have access to. Chask told me that he might like this in a written format for his store, and I told him that we can work something out.
Savah came up and was congratulating me and asked if Helen would have a part to play in the next portion of the story. I told her that sadly, no, Helen's role was done, that she headed back to Sparta with her husband after her lover died. She looked a little sad, and I told her that I might try to work in another cameo of her portrait in the second story. Oren told me that I had done as well as any Bard that he remembered seeing in his travels. I thanked them both and Ameiko came over and brought me the take from the house. Another six gold. I thanked her profusely for giving me this and told her that I would be back tomorrow to start the tale of Odysseus, and his journey. I told her that there were a lot more fantastical elements in it than the first half of the story so people might take better to it.
Ameiko nodded and said that she hoped that people did, that she at least felt that it was a good story. The Mayor piped up and noted that there were a lot of parallels to some of the situations that we were going through here. She had apparently snuck up when I was busy being congratulated by the others and didn't notice. I thanked the Mayor for her astute observation, but added that these are themes that resonate throughout time because they are so commonplace. The Mayor asked me frankly if I had picked this play on purpose. I told her that I picked it because I could make it, and the follow up happen in four nights without too much effort. I told her that it was a classic where I was from, that it was over two thousand years old.
Mayor Deverin nodded and said that I had a very odd history where I was from. I told the Mayor that I agreed with that statement, but that we did the best with what we had. Ameiko said that she had to deal with her paying customers, but that she welcomed the Mayor back anytime. The Mayor just shrugged and wished us well. Savah and Oren both noted that they were ready to head back to the Armory, so we finished off our goodbyes and headed home. We headed back to the Armory and got everything closed down for the night.
Oren said that he wasn't going out tonight, but that he'd like some reading material if we had anything that could help him in his endeavors. I told him that he should read The Philosophies of Terra book, as there were portions of it that dealt with learning to be an efficient warrior and leader. Oren nodded and took the book with him into his room. Savah pulled me into the bedroom and we got ready for bed. I asked her if I could update my journal before we went to sleep, and she accepted as long as I did the massage oil trick.