Day 99: Wealday the 26th, Kuthona, 4707
I woke up to an insistent knocking on the door, with Niddler letting me know that it was some person in Sandpoint official attire. I guess I was going to have to make a door-bell of something. Maybe Jonathan will let Faunra study that monkey head thing and we can ask her to enchant something similar. I summoned my clothes and armor onto me and conjured up an unseen servant to make breakfast. I headed down to the door and opened it up after the second set of knocks. It was that bureaucrat from before who had hit Jonathan up for some fees or something. They told me that there were rules against operating a teaching facility outside of one that had been previously approved, and since my workshop wasn't approved, I needed to pay a fine until it got approval.
I looked at them with an "are you serious" look before asking them how much we were talking about. He smiled and said that it was thirty-six hundred gold pieces. I looked at him aghast, and sent a thought to Niddler that I would like him to go visit Mayor Deverin and check with her about this fine. Niddler agreed and sneakily flew off while I invited the person in to the common room while I sent Bailey to wake up Savah, and the metal canid went up the stairs. The tax assessor asked why I wanted Savah awake, and I told her that this was part of her shop, so that she should know if there was something that was done that was illegal, also, that an allay of that amount would require budgeting.
As we waited for Savah to get dressed and come downstairs, I received a thought back from Niddler that he had made it to the Mayor's office, and that they were not letting him in yet. I sent back to him that if needed, we could have him come back and I would try to write up a note for him to present to the Mayor. Savah came downstairs and addressed the fine assessor. She asked to see the specific rule and any addendums to the rule that has come up since its institution. The assessor seemed to be more prepared than the last time that I had dealt with him.
While the two were bickering back and forth, about changes and modifications, and legalities, Niddler responded back to me that the Mayor had just gotten in and was curious about why he was there. I sent to him exactly what to say, and that he needed to tell them that he would instantly relay back to me whatever was found. Niddler said that he would and I paid less attention to the squabble between Savah and the pest. Niddler came back with the Mayor saying that she was sorry, but that rule was indeed put into the books a few years ago, but that the fine wasn't anywhere near the thirty-six hundred gold pieces. I asked her how much it should be, and she told me that the fine itself was only thirty, with a tack on of two gold per day that I had been teaching.
I did the math and sent back that would be thirty-four, no, thirty-six gold pieces, including today. The Mayor noted that even if she gave the approval today, it would only be effective starting tomorrow. I sent back that I'd pay the fine today, but that I'd appreciate an indefinite approval starting tomorrow. The Mayor apologized for it, and I sent back that it wasn't a huge issue, just that I'd like for the person who pushed this to be on latrine cleaning duty or something similar, since we are in the ramp up for the upcoming raid. The Mayor noted that the person who probably pushed the assessor was too high up to be cleaning latrines. I told her that if he keeps up this shit, the Lord-Mayor might change that and make him the Mayor chief of the groom. Niddler told me that the Mayor stifled a laugh, poorly.
Before the end of the conversation, I asked the Mayor when they would be making the public know about the upcoming raid. The Mayor responded back that this was planned for today, after the class was completed. I thanked her and reiterated that I would be available if they wanted, or if it would help. They Mayor said that it would be a good idea for me to be available to explain what the town guard was learning, and how it would help. I told her that I would be glad to, and that I would have Savah come along. Niddler sent back that the Mayor said that this was a good idea. I thanked her again for supporting me in this, and told her that I would be ready for the announcement immediately after the class.
Before I ordered Niddler to leave, I asked him to relay a message to the Mayor, asking if she could send something annotating the proper fine for Niddler to bring back with him, so I could get rid of this assessor. The Mayor agreed and said that she would write it right up. I had Niddler tell her thanks again, and that the Sheriff can drop by any time to start the final day of training. Niddler said that she agreed, and that he was coming back with a rolled up parchment.
I faded back into the present to see that Savah and the assessor arguing over the minor details. They were at an impasse about how this should be charged per day. The assessor was declaring that the fine was repeated every day and increased by the new amount (the assessor was reduced to only one hundred and thirty-two gold from their original assessment by Savah's astute evaluations). Savah was saying that it should only be a base of thirty gold with an additional two per day, or the thirty-six that the Mayor and I had also reached.
Savah looked to me, almost pleadingly, while the assessor was getting even more irate. I noted that I believed that Savah was correct, that the principal of a penalty was never compounded with the continual fine in bureaucracy, especially in circumstances where the initial meeting is the first time where the fine is presented. I added that increasing the principal was generally relegated to when the party is contacted and is recalcitrant, rather than just looking to verify that the proposed fine is correctly applied. I added that we definitely could not fight the fact that we have been providing instruction without a pre-approved writ for three days, including today, even though we are providing this training for free or even with us paying for the training ourselves.
The assessor was a bit taken aback by the bureaucratic lingo that I dropped without warning. He was pissed and looked like he was about to leave. I tried to calm him down because I knew that Niddler was on the way back. I told him that I was only trying to verify exactly how much more I owed the town after the free labor and expertise that I was providing. That might have been a little bit catty, but this guy being Scarnetti's pawn is starting to piss me off. I told him that once we reached the proper amount that we owed, we would pay him immediately.
The assessor scoffed, noting that he didn't think that we had that kind of money on hand. I asked Savah if she had enough to cover the level that the fine was, in theory, at right now. Savah noted that we had at least that much in the petty cash box, and we had more than that if we dip into our personal reserves or the till. We could easily raise more than the original amount within a few hours if truly needed, and if we were extremely hard up, we could probably get a fair bit of help from our friends. The assessor balked at this and there was a knock at the door.
I got up and told the assessor that I'd be right back. The assessor looked perplexed while Savah looked smug. I went to the door and Niddler was there, with the scroll. I silently thanked him, before aloud thanking the courier for delivering this missive from the Mayor. I shut the door and brought the sealed scroll into the common room where Savah and the assessor were waiting. I took the scroll to the table in front of both of them and showed them both the seal before breaking it.
I unrolled the scroll and read it aloud to everyone there. It was a pronouncement of the fine that was allayed, and the total. It read that it was thirty-six gold, along with an apology for not processing my request earlier in the week. I told Sandpoint that I believe that the Mayor has ruled us in delinquency for these fees, and that the sum total is thirty-six gold, along with a filing fee of one gold for the approval and delivery. I asked Savah if we had forty gold in the petty cash, and she gladly exclaimed that we did, and went to go get it.
I smiled to the assessor and Savah came back with a hefty sack of coins. I asked her how much was in there, and she told me three platinum pieces, seven gold pieces, and thirty silver pieces. I blanched a bit at the number and handed it to the assessor. He grabbed the bag and went to make off. I asked him if he could sign off on receipt of the fine, for budgeting purposes. He scrawled a signature and rushed out of the house.
When he was gone I asked Savah why she chose to put the extra three gold in silver. Savah shrugged and said that it just seemed like something to do to punish him, to make him carry the weight. She asked me why it was important. I told her that back where I was from, thirty pieces of silver was the price that was paid for the betrayal of a representative of a faith in olden times. It was so famous that even those of other faiths knew the story.
Savah shrugged and said that it seemed like something that wouldn't be bad to bring over to this world. I collected myself and got myself ready for today's training. Savah asked where we would be doing the firearm shooting training. I told her that we could utilize the wall in the back yard, so as to collect the lead. Savah agreed and we got the range set up.
After a few minutes, Sheriff Hemlock and his crew showed up, all with the required hearing protection. I got all the firearms that had been made and got the benches set up with people shooting at the targets. True to percentages, about half of the people were better suited to the revolver and half were more inclined towards the rifle. The rifle range was much farther away than the revolver, but those who did better with the rifle were still more accurate. The patterns followed mostly what the people themselves seemed to have desired with the exception being Naru, who was much better with the rifle than the revolver, as opposed to his expressed desire at the start, and Paltero who contrary to his expressed wishes of being a rifle wielder was much more suited to the revolver.
After some hours of practicing the rifle, revolver, and throwing practice grenades, everything was going swimmingly. Sheriff Hemlock came up to me in between me answering questions about different aspects of firearm fabrication and lore, and asked if he could talk to me for a minute. I gladly went with him and asked him what the issue was. He looked at me and told me that he was glad that I was going through all of this, really, but that he didn't think that the town guard would really be able to make that much of a difference against stone giants.
I confided in the Sheriff that his people were getting the best training that they could, and that we would be providing further training in the specialized fields after the preliminary training was accomplished, but that I wasn't expecting his crew to face down a giant, man to man so to speak. I told him that my true goal in this was to have the people be ready to protect this town from any other threats that might have been dragged along with the giants, and to be able to protect this town for long after, in case something happens to my group. I added that it was likely that we would have to go take out the head of the invading giant army, and that I wanted to make sure that the town was safe while we went to go deal with this threat.
The Sheriff looked a little conflicted before hashing it out, asking me if I was really expecting that we would be heading out to deal with this so shortly after the raid. I nodded and said that if we tarried too long, the remnants of the invading force could make it back and we might have to deal with a second force that is better prepared. The Sheriff nodded and asked if I was certain that the town would be safe. I told him that I trusted him entirely, and that I was trusting him to keep Savah safe. Sheriff Hemlock looked over at Savah and noted that he would probably be relying on her more than her relying on him. I smiled and said that must have at least managed to bring some chaos to the town. Sheriff Hemlock nodded and said that it would be a while before the town got more changes.
Food today was more sandwiches from the Barghest. He delivered the sandwiches to each person and came over to me last. He handed me a roast beef with horseradish and asked me if I had an update for when the town would be doing the announcement. I told him that the Mayor confirmed that there would be a town announcement tonight, after my training session was done. Jonathan asked if we needed to be there, and I told him that I was asked to be there, but that his name wasn't mentioned at all. Jonathan thanked me and said that he and Shayliss would be there, and that Shayliss had told him of the plan that they had developed about protecting the townsfolk in the tunnels. He added that it was a good idea, and that they can help to keep the people safe. I agreed and said that I was glad that they had come up with it.
Jonathan nodded and said that he had to go get his crew ready. I asked him if we could talk a bit after the town meeting, because I had an idea that I had to run past him and the rest of the group. He said that he could make himself available some time tonight or early tomorrow morning. I thanked him, and said that it might help the town as a whole. Jonathan smiled and went on his way. Savah came up and asked me what I was talking to him about. I told her that Sandpoint was about to have its first high volume concert while the attack was happening. Savah seemed confused but probably chalked it up to my usual odd nature.
I asked her if she could keep them busy for just a minute while I went to go ask Chask a quick question. Savah said that she would do her best, and she went to go let the Sheriff know that I had to head out to check with Chask. I thanked her, gave her a kiss, and got to my bike. I jumped on and headed out quickly to The Curious Goblin. I quickly zipped through the streets of town and got to the bookstore. When I got there Chask was there talking with Sabyl Sorn. As I busted through the door, Chask and Sabyl's conversation stopped. Chask asked me what was so important. I told him that I only had a few minutes before I had to go back to the noise making that I was engaged in across town, and I needed to know if he had any sheet music that would work with a set of drums, some varieties of strings, and a person singing.
Chask smiled and said that he had just the thing. It was almost like he knew exactly what I would be looking for. He pulled out a set of sheet music, and I asked him if he had four blank sheets of vellum and he produced them as well. He told me that the total was nine gold, and I dropped a platinum on his counter, thanked him, and rushed out to jump on my bike and head back. Chask yelled after me that he would talk to me again after the town meeting. I didn't pay it any mind, and rushed back to the house.
After all of that test shooting, I had everyone go through disassembling the firearms to see where any possible jams were, and see how to quickly clear the firearms, how to avoid hits, and how to aim up on targets much easier. By this time, the town guards were all paying more attention to me, and seemed to really be grasping the concepts put forward to them. I got a message sent to me from Veronica saying that something I had requested was complete. I excused myself and asked Savah and Sheriff Hemlock to fill in on continuing the demonstrations while I went to check what was up.
When I got into the workshop, Veronica had a box that was filled up with copper coins that had been modified to be stars that had the insignia of Sandpoint and a number. I thanked her and Igor, and took the box to go show Sheriff Hemlock. When I got out there, Sheriff Hemlock was getting everyone together to head over to the market for the announcement. I rushed over and showed him the box quick. Sheriff Hemlock gave me a raised eyebrow and nodded. He started calling the various guard members over and we presented them each with the badge, which was made so that it can attach to their armor.
When all of the town guard was badged, the Sheriff told me that he was going to take them over to the festival grounds now. I told him that Savah and I would be heading over soon. Sheriff Hemlock nodded and asked me one more time if I thought that the town would be able to weather this fight. I told him that I was certain that the town would be in the best position it could possibly be in. Sheriff Hemlock thanked me for that and headed off with his newly titled deputies. Savah asked me what was up, and I told her that we were specifically asked to be there by the Mayor, and so we needed to look our most capable.
We took a few minutes to get fully armed and armored, and made ourselves look as professional as possible. Savah got on her bike and I got on mine. We rode to the market and saw the crowd that was building. The townspeople were milling about and looked a bit confused. Vaeren and Erika saw us both and nodded. I walked up to the Mayor and shook her hand. The Mayor shook Savah's hand as well, and told us both that she was glad that we were all here, nodding to Dame Rebekah, Chelger, Faunra, Shalelu, Shayliss, and Jonathan. We went over to talk to all of them.
Everyone was happy that this was going down, and that the announcement was finally going to happen. Dame Rebekah and Chelger admitted that they were going to be doing more work on the walls of the town. Faunra and Shalelu noted that they were working on trying to get a more accurate assessment of when the attack might happen. Jonathan noted that he was going to be helping out with the perimeter searches when time got closer, but that he and his restaurant were working on making longer lasting meals with the people who would be in the tunnels.
The Mayor called a summon the attention of the crowd, and started her announcement. She started her announcement with beseeching all of the fine people of Sandpoint and how they are stronger than any other people in Varisia. She went on to gild the lily a bit more than her speech at the Swallowtail Festival. After the required pleasantries, the Mayor announced that the town had received word from three different sources that there would be a raid in four days, that it would not be goblins, or ghouls, but stone giants. The townsfolk started an uproar about all of this. The Sheriff silenced the crowd with a shot into the air. The Sheriff proclaimed that there were further announcements, and that everyone should just give a listen. He was starting to sound more and more like a western sheriff from the old westerns.
The Mayor continued with telling the crowd that "The Saviors of Sandpoint" had already been working hard on trying to help the town out and upgrade it since the goblin attacks. She announced that each of us were going to explain what we had been doing to help out the town. Jonathan walked up immediately and addressed the crowd. He announced that he had been working on setting up the tunnels that had been discovered under the town into a defensive area where all of the townsfolk who sought safety could wait out the raid until it was dealt with and over. The crowd was mostly nonplussed by that, and Jonathan continued that his restaurant was working overtime on setting up durable meals to be stored in the tunnels for several days as well.
The crowd seemed a bit better with that. Jonathan stepped back to our group and Faunra stepped up next. Faunra addressed the crowd, saying that Shalelu and her had been working on the warning system for the town to get a better idea of when the attack might happen, and they had been working on an alarm system for this to let everyone could have the time to get to shelter. The crowd didn't move much in the way of positive or negative reaction. Faunra gave a slight bow and stepped back to our little group. I was starting to notice that the people of the town were starting to latch onto us individually, as some of those who were more impressed by Jonathan's statements were less impressed by Faunra and vice versa.
Dame Rebekah moved forward next to address the people. She addressed the people with much more tact than either of the other two, when she talked about how Chelger and her had been working on improving the town defenses, and would continue to do so. She talked about how the paladins of Iomedae and Shelyn from Magnimar had been messaged and responded that they will answer the call. The crowd seemed to eat this up. She finished up with telling everyone that her hostel would be available for the more inclined people, and that the people underneath the town would be defended as well. This seemed to get the crowd a little more in favor than they were at start.
It was left to me to get the crowd more at ease, I thought. I stepped forward and there were a bit grumbles from what I expected were plants of the Scarnettis. I greeted the town and thanked them for their time. I started out with telling them that they likely had noticed that the town guard had received upgraded armor, that would help to defend them. I continued with telling the town that we have been working on improving the town guard's weapons, as evidenced by the Sheriff's new weapons, and fully training them in the usage of these items. I added that we were also working on getting the town guard improvements in their mobility by getting them more of the bikes that they used to deliver messages to the outlying farms and areas. I ended with telling everyone that we were all committed to working with the Mayor, the Sheriff, and the Town Council in working to ensure that this town is as safe as it can be, and that we couldn't have done what we had to protect the town and it in the best shape without the personal help of Titus Scarnetti.
I think that I had name dropped enough people in my speeches to get most of the crowd in some degree of positivity towards the end, and since I had praised the Scarnettis at the end, it confused those who were in the tank for him, as they couldn't really boo Titus' name. Sure enough, Chask came up to talk to me after the meeting. He asked me if there was anything he could do to help. I noted that I had heard that bardic performances can improve the battle capabilities, and that we needed to get as much help as we could in that regard, to uplift morale throughout the town. Chask said that he had a grandnephew that had been in Magnimar that was supposed to be coming in to town to learn his book shop so that he could take a vacation, and that his grandnephew would likely love the opportunity.
Chask told me that his grandnephew had a bit of a biting tongue, so I should be wary around him. I smiled and said that I knew the type, and that he should send his nephew over to Savah's Armory when he gets in town. He told me that he would and said that his shop would still be open to us if we needed information, but that he would be closing it to the general public until after the raid was over. I told him that I could understand that, but that I hope it didn't hurt his business' performance. Chask laughed and shook his head, saying he didn't need to worry about that at all.
Ameiko came up and addressed all of us after the meeting with a question of what she can do to help us. I asked her if she would be willing to utilize her bardic abilities during the fight to help with the bravery of the town guard. Ameiko said that she would be glad to, but that she worried about the fact that she couldn't help many of the guard. Faunra spoke up and said that she was enchanting something to increase the volume of their performance so that it can be heard throughout the town. I told Faunra that we could utilize Niddler to hold my phone in the air up high, and have the tablet sending the sound to the phone if we could use what she was doing with that. Faunra said that she could, and I pointed out that by doing this, we could keep her and the other bards safe.
Ameiko looked at me oddly and asked what I meant about other bards. I told her that I was going to get every bard I could to be performing so that we can have the most inspiration that we could possibly get. Ameiko started to say that it doesn't work like that, and Faunra whispered something to her. Ameiko's eyes got wide and said that this might actually work, and that she would try to find one or two other bards to help. Jonathan noted that his managers were both musically inclined, and that they might be willing to help as well. Ameiko said that she would take over this aspect of the defense. I thanked her, and said that it really could make all the difference.
Ameiko asked if I had any ideas about what they should play, and I told her that I had asked Chask for something and he pulled this out quickly, like he knew in advance that this was going to be needed. Ameiko read the sheet music and lyrics a little before noting that she felt that this could really work. I told her that I was certain that she had the capability to pull this off. Ameiko nodded and walked off working her fingers like she was playing her sitar. Jonathan told me that he'd send his managers to go talk to Ameiko. Savah asked if I thought that this would really help. I told her that I didn't know where I knew it, but I knew that bardic music was enchanted to have real effects on the field of battle, and that we could use every advantage we could get.
We all split up, and Savah and I headed home. I still needed to finish more firearms for the deputies, but luckily, the twins had the components ready for me to just assemble. It didn't take me long at all before I was done and had another three up on the rack. I headed up to the common room and summoned an unseen servant to get us some simple food for dinner. Savah seemed a bit nervous, but I told her that I was certain that we would get through this, I just wanted to make sure that we had every benefit so that we could minimize the cost to the town. Savah said that this made sense, and we headed to bed to watch a movie and get ready for tomorrow.