Day 62: Moonday the 19th, Neth, 4707
Grand Re-Opening Day! I woke up early and set up food and coffee for everyone. I got Bailey outside and they trotted off to their dog house. I got up and got Savah breakfast in bed before continuing on to get dressed and ready for this new day. Veronica noted that she only had a few more things to do to finish up with the antenna rig and the station. She noted that everything was working currently, and that she would further ensure that everything was operational before everything went fully online. I thanked her and noted that we might get someone from the group's armor to upgrade today and Veronica thought to me that she would be ready.
I figured that Veronica would have that under wraps for now so I worked on helping Savah out wherever I could. Honestly she had the whole thing in the bag. She was a natural merchant, explaining everything in detail. Some of the items that Veronica had made for the sale were even picked up by the people who came to shop. I was very amazed with how well this was going together.
I decided that I would hang out in the workshop until I was needed. I decided that since I had the time, I would start reading that short folio that the half-orc sage Tark had left. It seemed to be a primer on the subject of small scale conflicts and how to make the most out of different proclivities and abilities that people might have. It certainly wasn't in depth about every possible persons' skills or habits, but it was a good starting point. I noticed a few things about myself and how I might be better able to contribute to the combat efforts of my group.
That was the biggest thing, that there were things that would help all of us fight together better. I couldn't throw off the feel that we were going to need that in the future, even though we had already stopped an invasion force, a deranged undead serial killer, and even a murder cult. That was a lot more action than I had ever thought that I would see in my life. Granted, I never thought that I would end up in a place with monsters and dragons (even though I had yet to see one of those). Still, I'm going to keep looking to make myself and my friends more capable.
It only took an hour or so to read so after I was done, I got up and went into the store to see Savah making a sale to Gaven Deverin for a brand new longsword and a sturdy heavy shield. I waited until the sale was finished before asking what she would like for lunch. Savah said that she would like Risa's and I told her that I would head right out. I went back to the garage and pulled my bike out for the first time. Bailey looked up at me from their doghouse and nodded before lowering their head back down for a mid-day nap.
I got on my bike and rode over to Risa's. It wasn't a long ride, so that part of it was nice. I went in and talked for a bit with Risa about other ideas that she could do for other desserts and meals while Savah and my lunch was being made. Risa asked me to give them all a good story about where I was from. I scratched my head for a minute before coming up with a decent story.
I set myself up and told them the story about the one hundred and eighty-nine Swiss guard and their stand alongside the five-thousand-man militia against the twenty-thousand-man force of knights, fighters, and mercenaries. I told them how militia was lost almost immediately to the much more trained aggressors, and how the Swiss guard fought until there were only forty-two of them left. I told them how the Swiss guard worked to keep the religious leader safe from the marauding horde and got him to safety with their sacrifice.
The patrons all listened intently and the food was done just about when my story was done. I thanked them all for listening, and went to pay for the meal. Ibor Thorne spoke up and said that he'd cover my meal. I thanked him, picked up the meals, and walked over to him. I quietly asked him why he'd pay for the meals. Ibor quietly told me that he was grateful that he had put him in contact with the Sheriff and that he felt safe for the first time in a long time. I told him that I was thankful for him getting our lunch, and that we'd be glad to have him over some time to talk, if he ever wanted to look for work elsewhere. Ibor told me that he would think about it.
I took the meals and headed back to the store. Savah was busy talking with people and making deals so I waited until there was a lull in the clientele. Savah walked up to me and noted to me that while she was making a lot of sales today, they were all for less profit than normal. I shrugged and noted that the places that did something like this were usually focused around selling large amounts of items at a smaller profit, than fewer items at a larger profit. I followed up with asking her if this would cut into what she needed to stay profitable.
Savah smiled and noted that since her time frame for receiving orders had decreased dramatically, and that since we were both working together to keep the place running, she assured me that we would be just fine. I thanked her and asked how the items that Veronica had made were selling. Savah told me that the items that Veronica had made were selling really good, especially the upgraded weapon maintenance tools and the armor maintenance tools. I told Savah that Veronica was working on getting an antenna set up to work as a repeater so that we could talk with any of the others who have such a radio. Savah asked me how far this would reach.
I thought for a minute before telling her that it should easily reach to either Foxglove Manor or Thistletop, and probably an arc of distance based on that. Savah thought about that and noted that we would at least be able to get in touch with everyone from the group. I agreed with her and noted that even Shalelu and Faunra in the Ashen Rise should be in range. Savah asked if that was where they were, and I told her that they didn't tell me exactly where, but that they went in that direction when they went off the last time.
Savah ate her meal and we talked a bit more about how the shop was doing and some changes that Savah had thought about that might make things more profitable. I offered my advice on which things might be the quickest to get done, and what things I could easily help with. We quickly finished off our lunch and Savah went back to her bustling shop. I went back to the workshop to find that Veronica was just getting done pulling the wiring down for the transmitter/receiver. Veronica looked to me and before she could ask, I told her that we were going to work on the stun baton together.
We tinkered around for a bit with the design for the stun batons. It took the rest of the day to get it done, and wiped out the charge on almost all of the special batteries that we had found/made, but it was fully functional. This wasn't going to be a cheap item to make, but the Mayor of Magnimar would have access to these kinds of funds. I certainly wouldn't be able to make more than one of these day, and even then only with Veronica's assistance.
The amount that the battery of batteries was drained means that Veronica and I definitely need to focus on getting the Solar and Steam Generation systems fixed. If we get some assistants eventually, it will make even more sense to get a lot more power generation and retention capabilities. As it stands right now, I'm going to have to wait until we can get the power recovered to make more of these, and that takes priority.
Savah was ready and waiting when we were finished with the stun baton. She took it and gave it a good heft before handing it back to me. She asked if we could stock something like this in the store. I told her that we could but that I would have to find a way to generate power to recharge all of the batteries first. Savah nodded and asked what that would take, and I told her that I would need to make something similar to the bikes, but stationary, and have to create a larger solar cell rig.
Savah smiled and said that it looked like I would be very busy for quite some time, and suggested that we spend a night out. I wholeheartedly agreed and told her to pick where we go, and she said Cracktooth's. I looked to Veronica and told her to start making the copper wire for the windings for the generators. She acknowledged the order and got to work.
Savah and I went upstairs and got dressed in our going out attire and went down to the garage. Oren's bike was blocking Savah's in, and I offered to go get him, but Savah said that we would just take mine. We got on the bike, put our helmets on (because I wouldn't want to ride without one) and headed over to Cracktooth's.
By now, Cracktooth had upped his game in making the refreshments for the Sandpoint Theatre, and people were going to see whatever Cyrdak had arranged for this night. Jesk was more than happy to seat the two of us in our favorite booth. Jesk came right over and asked us how the first day went for the reopening. Savah told him that we had a lot of sales, and a lot of interest in the new things that I had made. Jesk said that he would drop by tomorrow afternoon, but was too busy to do so today. Savah told him that it wasn't an issue at all, and that it would likely be a little less cramped tomorrow.
Jesk nodded to the bar and a new server brought out a trio of ciders for us. I stopped Jesk before he could drink his and asked if he was willing to get in on a slightly different version of the same game that I had set Jonathan up with. Jesk looked at me curiously, and I used my prestidigitation power to make the cider taste (and look) like his tooth-cracker. Jesk tried it and asked if I had changed it to his rum. I told him that I had only altered the taste and look, and that if he hired someone like Jonathan had, I could teach the person all of the tastes of the alcohols that I had ever tasted, and I could give him a list of recipes for different mixed drinks, allowing him to expand his sales basis. Jesk asked if it changed out the alcohol content of the drink, and Savah told him that it did not.
Jesk asked if this was a moral thing to do. I told him that as long as it was just a small upcharge from the cider, all he was doing was allowing for customization of the cider, rather than making forgeries of actual liquor. I added that it would be good to let people know that the item is just flavored cider, but that as long as he wasn't selling Toothcracker Rum flavored cider as actual rum, I wouldn't think too badly about it. Jesk said that he would give it some thoughts, and get back to me.
Jesk got up to go back behind the bar, but asked if I would be willing to tell a story tonight, for the patrons. I looked to Savah, and she nodded, so I told him that I would. He went back to go tend the bar, and I asked Savah what kind of story I should tell. Savah told me that she would like to hear a story from my personal life, from back in the old world. I told her that I wasn't really that interesting, and Savah shushed me before saying that I had a lot of stories to tell and she knew it.
I resolved to tell the fine folks about some of the weirder aspects of where I was from, and the things that I had seen. Stories of the Cherry Tree Buck, Rip Van Winkle, Tories Swamp, and the multitude of fires that seemed to afflict the great hotels and resorts of the area. Then I started to pepper in all of the odd or unique things that I had seen in those woods, things that I had not seen anywhere else. Everyone seemed to take the stories fairly well, but when you are living in a world with goblins and ghouls, what is an errant wolf or a ghostly disappearing house?
We finished off our meals and got up to leave, just as Cyrdak and his posse had arrived. Cyrdak immediately spotted us and greeted the both of us by name, before making a beeline straight for us. Cyrdak hugged both of us before sitting all of us down at the booth. He ordered a bottle of Director's Choice for the table and asked us how things had been since we had last talked. I looked to Savah and she told him that we had been very busy with the building of the new store/house and apologized for us not visiting him more recently.
Cyrdak brushed that aside and said that he had heard an interesting rumor about that very house. I asked him what the rumor was. Cyrdak lowered his voice to conspiratorial tones and told us that he had heard that I had out maneuvered the clerk, a known sympathizer of Titus Scarnetti, at every juncture. I resisted the urge to repeat my Bane voice, but I confirmed that I had received some small amount of push back from the clerk, who was obviously just doing their job, but that I had ensured that all of my documents were in proper order. Cyrdak laughed out loud and said that he would have to learn how I did that, because he was stopping Cyrdak from expanding his theater for years now.
I looked to Savah, and told him that I would be glad to take a look over his requests, but that I did have a LOT of help from other people in town. Cyrdak nodded and said that he would be glad to listen to everything that I had to say, as long as it happened when he was getting his betrothal gift made for Jasper. Savah smiled and said that Wealday would be a good day to get that done. I confirmed that I would probably be more available then, as tomorrow I would be working on other things. Cyrdak thanked us and rushed off to visit other, more interesting people. Savah and I took our opportunity and got out of the Tavern. We slowly headed back to the house. I pulled the bike into the garage, and Oren's was parked in line with Savah's, in a regular spot. I parked mine in my spot and I locked up before following Savah into the house. Bailey was apparently already inside.
We did quick walkthrough of the lower level and Veronica was working on making a set of coils for the generator that we would have to be making. It would ensure that we had sufficient electrical power to run all of the things that I needed to run, including a battery charging system. It was going to take a long time to do this, but it would be worth it. We checked out the shop and found that everything was still locked up and good, so we went upstairs to the bedroom and changed into more comfortable clothes.
Savah and I went to the common room to check on everything and the lights were all out. I was just about to head back to the bedroom to get my flashlight when someone yelled surprise. The lights came on and all of the group was there, Jonathan and Shayliss, Faunra and Shalelu, Dame Rebekah and Chelger, even Oren and Arika. Savah smiled and we went in to the common room. Everyone told us in time that they were congratulating us on the home, and me on putting down roots here.
It certainly felt good to have people want me to be around. It barely felt that way back before I came to this world. Of all the things I was trying to prepare for, this place was the last on my list. I'll just have to figure out what I need to do to prepare for all of this. I owe it to the ones who are close to me to prepare as best as I can for them as well as I was before I got here. The party was a real nice touch, and everyone was in a good mood. Jonathan and Shayliss made their way home after a bit, as did Faunra and Shalelu, riding on Faunra's bike (which had been hidden in the woods). Oren and Arika went off to have some more drinks at Cracktooth's as Dame Rebekah and Chelger opted to stay the night, since we had a guest bedroom and they were a few hours ride away.
Savah and I retired after quite a few drinks, and we helped each other into bed, after kicking Bailey off of it. Bailey looked back at us sullenly before trotting off downstairs.