Day 31: Fireday the 19th, Lamashan, 4707
The day started out just great. Savah was up and out of the break room already. I could smell the cooking ham through the door. I leapt out of bed to get dressed. I did my standard prestidigitation cleaning routine for everything and did a quick check for anything that needed to be mended. Everything looked okay at the moment, but I would probably need to do a better evaluation tomorrow.
I left the bedroom and Arika, Oren and Savah were all around the table. There was a little bit of an awkward silence in the air that started when I walked into the room. I took up a seat and looked for the food that had been made. I grabbed some of it and said good morning to everyone before I started eating. Arika and Oren noted that they had to go out to training and get to their shift. I wished them good day before they left.
Savah asked me why I had Oren and Arika follow her when she left the show the night before last. I told her that the only reason why I did that was because I didn't know that I was worried about her since she wasn't feeling well. I told her that I would have been willing to walk her home, but that she didn't want me to. Savah asked if I gave any thought to the fact that she might want to be alone. I apologized and told her that I was only trying to make sure she was safe. I added that after the undead was in the house, I didn't want anyone to be unsafe when they were unwell.
She threw her hands up in exasperation, and says that I didn't know anything. I apologized as she left to head into the Armory. I get my stuff ready and head into the workshop. I didn't really know what to do, so I figured that I should go ahead and give that hemp canvas a try. Maybe I can get the material to work and decrease the overall cost of the material.
I head out and go to the general store. Ven is there and he welcomes me. Katrine is there behind the counter and Ven's wife is stocking one of the shelves. I ask Ven how things are going, and he notes that since the evaporator has been updated, he has been able to keep up with the orders that he has for the sea salt, and even put a little extra back. I nodded and said that I was glad that he could keep up with his orders. I asked him if he had figured out anything to do with the water that he was getting. He told me that Daviren Hosk has been buying it for his stables, as it is a lot easier for him to get a cart of water already clean than him trying to clean out water from the river.
I nod and tell him that if the next part of my plan works, he might get a lot more orders for the pure water that he is making. He asked if I could tell him any about this. I shook my head, but said that if everything worked out, I would be greatly changing the people of Sandpoint's lives. Ven nodded and said that I was already changing Sandpoint a lot. He added that the Lumber mill was running almost all day and night to keep up with the demand for making the upgrades for The new Thistletop outpost. He whispered to me that the fact that the Sawmill was running so much was nice because Banny was too busy to mess around with Katrine. I just shrugged to that.
I asked him if he had access to the canvas that I needed, and he asked how much I needed. I told him that I would need about two yards, and he went to get the material. I went to talk to Solsta and asked her how things were going. She told me that the sea salt was selling well, but that the jerky wasn't selling as well. I told her that I hoped that this would change soon. She nodded but said that the good thing was that since it was jerky, it could last for a while. I asked her how much they were charging for it.
Solsta told me that they were looking to get a gold a pound, no matter the flavor. I shrugged and figured that if meat was regularly three silver a half pound, doubling it and adding a little for the spices was a fair amount. I told her that I would take a pound of the jerky in assorted flavors along with the canvas that I was having Ven get for me. She counted out a pound worth and I went over to the counter. Katrine was there and her smile was the most plastic thing I had seen since I left my car's interior. She told me hello and asked how she could help me.
I apologized to Katrine that things related to me were causing Banny to be super busy. She shrugged and said that it was good for him to get this kind of work. She told me that Titus was a bit of an ass as a boss, and that he was keeping Banny way over the hours that he wanted, but was paying him extra for it. I shrugged, and said that a little overtime was good to be able to afford all of the things that one might want in the future. I added especially a house and some property to start out a good life with someone. She smiled and said that it might be a long way off, especially since Shayliss was going out and living a life with Jonathan now. I asked her if Ven had given any thought to Banny coming to work for him here at the store.
Katrine told me that this wasn't really an option until Ven was ready to retire, which wouldn't be until he died basically. I shrugged and said that I might end up making him too busy to be able to do all of this alone if I end up succeeding on my plans. Katrine said that it might definitely make things better for her and Banny. I told her that I was still working on it, but that things would be more solid once I figured out a few things. She told me to keep her up to date on things, and I told her I would.
Ven came back with the canvas and Solsta had the jerky all wrapped up. I paid for everything and I thanked all of the Vinders for everything. Ven told me that I might be an outsider, but I was a helpful one. I thanked him for that, and told them that I hoped that they had not disrupted their family too much. Solsta said that she appreciated that I stood up to Titus Scarnetti. I looked around the shop and saw that it was only the four of us and I confided in them that I had even forced him to laugh at a closed council meeting.
Katrine blurted out that he never laughed. I smiled and said that he looked kind of foolish when he did, too. I added that I can't reveal many details about why I made him laugh, but that it was because I was being questioned under a truth telling spell and I told him something that he probably didn't like, but had to laugh because everyone else was. I thought to myself that it was a bit of an exaggeration, but it wasn't a lie. Titus seemed way to set in the law and order under all circumstances to be willing to allow any chaos or confusion.
I left with everyone smiling and headed back to the Armory. I was going to try this experiment fairly quickly to make sure that I could cut the costs on what I was trying to do. I got back to the Armory and Savah was talking with someone about crossbow bolts. She seemed to see that I came in but was mostly ignoring me. Wow, I really think that I fucked up here. I have a horse and my stuff would probably all fit in to the saddlebags and my backpack, so I could relocate to another city if she wants me to leave. It definitely would be easy on me, but it would be better than her being upset by my presence.
I went back to the workshop and fired up the oven. I got the hemp canvas cut into strips and prepared while the oven was heating up. I placed it in the tank and purged the air from the tank with the Argon. I checked for flame from the exhaust of the tank and the candle went out. I really needed to find a way to mechanize this process to make it easier on everyone, and increase the possibility of getting locals to run the operation. Maybe after I start teaching at the Academy?
Everything was set up and I got the tank into the oven to heat up. I started making a copy of A Practical Heathen's Guide and Thorson's Futhark. There was a lot of information on rituals and such from the two of them combined. It took me about two hours to transcribe all of the information. There was likely a fair amount that was repeated between the two books and the Poetic Edda that I had previously done.
After I had made the first copy Savah came in to check in on me. I saw that she seemed irate and I asked her if she had a headache. She looked at me oddly and told me that she in fact did. I ran back to my medical kit and got out a Tylenol. I gave her it and told her to take the pill with something to drink. She took the pill with some cider and asked how long it might take to take effect. I told her that it might take as long as an hour, but that it would be slow. I apologized that it wouldn't act quicker. She shrugged and told me thank you before heading back to her shop.
I decided to make a second copy of it for Father Zantus so that he can get his assessment of my faith. I kept an eye on the oven while I was making the copy and took a look in at the material after the four hours of operation. The material looked like it had not changed, so I checked the made sure that the temperature was okay before I figured that I would head out. I dropped by the Armory where Savah was. She was talking to someone else about a dagger and I told her that I was heading out to get her some food for us. She gave me a faint acknowledgement that I was leaving and went back to talking to the customer. I headed to the Hagfish to try to get Savah's favorite.
I walked in and Jargie looked like he wanted to kick me out immediately. I told him that I was only looking to get Savah and my lunch. He asked what we wanted and I told him. He told me that it would be about twenty minutes or so and that I should come back when it is ready. I thanked him and paid him in advance. I headed out to the Sandpoint Cathedral to catch up with Father Zantus. I made my way up there and waved to people as I passed. I got there in just under five minutes, even accounting for the rise in elevation.
Father Zantus was there talking to a parishioner, I guess of Desna. He noticed that I was there and wrapped up the conversation they were having. He came over and I pulled out the copy of the book that I had just made. I handed it to him and he said that he thought that the person who had written the first book was very knowledgeable. I told him that I definitely agreed with his assessment as the person had made it his life study to look into the history of this. He nodded and asked what these books were. I told him that these were more about the ritualistic and mystical aspects of the faith.
Father Zantus thanked me and asked if I had made a copy for my own library of the first book. I told him that I had, and he nodded. He told me that he would like to keep these copies for his interfaith library. I told him of course, and that if anyone had any questions, including himself, that they could just come to me. He nodded and said that he would take his time to read through these.
I nodded and told Father Zantus that I'd try to drop by again sometime later, and asked if Dame Rebekah and Chelger were going transferred off of Thistletop duty anytime soon. Father Zantus told me that they were due to end their rotation Sunday, and that they should be back in town then. I asked him to let them know that I would be in a play on that night at Cyrdak's theater and that I might appreciate them to be there. Father Zantus told me that he would and we said our goodbyes. On my way back to The Hagfish, I thought about stopping by Jonathan's tavern but realized that I had to get back to work. I decided that I would stop by tomorrow.
I made it to The Hagfish and Jargie was there with the two bags right outside of the building. I didn't think that I was late, but he just shoved the bags in my direction. I told him that I really didn't want to cause problems. If he needed me to refund all of the money that Jonathan had gotten from the Hagfish Challenge, I'd gladly do that. I stressed that he had not done anything magical though, and was just using his natural form. He shook his head and looked around.
Jargie told me that he wasn't pissed. He wasn't even certain that the regulars were pissed. He was just a bit upset that I had been giving people different things in town and that he hadn't thought to give him any hints to make his place better. I smacked my hand against my head and whipped out my tablet. I looked through my book of copycat restaurant recipes and found the holy grail. I got out a piece of paper and copied the recipe for the Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits recipe. He took a look over it and I made the suggestion that bits of clam or crab could be added if he thought it would be a good idea.
Jargie said that he would try it out and that if it worked, he might consider formally removing the party's no return status. I thanked him for the opportunity and said that if he needed me to drop off orders in some other manner for Savah and myself, to minimize the problems, I'd be glad to do so. He just shook his head and said that since I was welcome in Risa's as a local, that I shouldn't really have a problem. I thanked him and wished him good day and good luck.
I made my way back to the Armory with our lunches. Savah was just about to lock up the door when I got back. She frowned at first but I showed her that I had gotten food. She asked what it was, and I told her that I tried to get her favorite from The Hagfish. She took her bag and went back into the Armory. She tried some of her food and smiled weakly at me. I was starting to think that she may have caught something from my old world that I had been subjected to but was a carrier. Could the Remove Disease spell eliminate that? I really hope that she didn't catch mono or something from me. I really didn't want this to happen.
While we were eating I heard an explosion coming from the workshop. I asked Savah to excuse me while I checked it out. I rushed into the room and saw that the site glass from the tank had exploded outwards and that smoke was filling the top of the room. I stopped Savah from entering the room and told her that the fumes might be toxic. I fastened the filter hood attachment for my armor and went in. I got my chemical goggles on as well and went in. I took a look in the tank and it seemed like that the fabric was now burning. I gathered up all of the glass for repairing it all later.
I left the workshop and told Savah that I think that the hemp canvas is a failure. She asked when the workshop should be safe. I told her that it should be okay after a couple of hours, and that I would be heading back in shortly to help get the smoke and everything else cleared out. She went back to the Armory and waited for other customers. I waited a few more minutes before checking everything and heading back in.
The oven was still heating the tank when I got in and the hemp had all carbonized. The boron paste seemed to have reacted with the burnt carbon to for a lot of powdered B4C. I guess that it will be at least useful for the boron cement. I use my prestidigitation power to get the room cleared out and the oven cooled off. I collect everything and got the tank repaired. I'm not certain what happened, but I don't think that I will be able to use the hemp canvas at all really, except to maybe burn it before using it so that I can just get the material for the boron-crete.
Savah checked in with me and asked when I was going to head out to theater. I looked at the time and slammed my forehead with my hand. I asked her if she was going to go with me, and she said that she wasn't feeling well. I told her that I hoped that she would feel better, and told her that I would be home as soon as I can after show. She just shrugged and told me to be safe. I rushed to the theater and Cyrdak wasn't happy. He threw me a mask and told me to get changed quick.
The other actors were not that happy that I didn't make it to the rehearsal last night and were not shy about telling me such. I got into costume and skimmed the script one last time. The play started and I can't say that I did my best. I know that I tried but I definitely wasn't an actor and it showed. The show ended and there was a little bit of clapping. I told them all that I apologized that I wasn't at my best. The actors were all congratulated by Cyrdak and he came to me and said that he hoped that I would have more dedication to the role tomorrow night.
I thanked him for his assessment and said that I would try to be better tomorrow night. He asked if I was planning on getting her earlier tomorrow, and I told him that I would definitely be doing so. He asked why Savah had not shown up, and I told him that she wasn't feeling well and decided to stay home. He nodded and said that I should probably focus more on the oratory aspects of the role over the acting. I said I would try to blend them tomorrow night.
I got changed and got home to the Armory. I could have sworn that I had seen someone standing around the Armory but when I got to the office, there wasn't anyone there. I unlocked the door and made my way back to the break room. I decided to get all of this typed up after checking in on Savah to see that she was already asleep. I really hope that I didn't bring some kind of superbug here with me. I don't know if any of the vaccinations that I received may cause problems for other people later on either.