Well, here I go, time to get a job or two as I am standing at the large building that looks like it's made out of stone and wood with a large iron door with a wooden sign that says: "Bailiff's Hall".
Sheesh, totally unoriginal name for this hall.
I opened the door, revealing the interior, as you can see large room with several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling followed by one massive fireplace giving off warmth and the floor is covered by fur packs arranged in random directions leading to the large half table with several workers standing behind the table and there is a large wood background with numerous parchments of drawn faces with names, location, amount of coins and requirements scattered across.
Interesting, so it appears that they have a fairly sophisticated bounty system. Honestly, I'm not surprised considering that where I am is in fact, a fantasy world, so pretty much anything goes since GRRM is shite at world building in general. Still a neat detail to learn about, although.
I casually walked to the top counter, giving the worker a friendly nod.
"Well met, good man." The official politely greeted me. "I am Ser Mortien Sargen, the ordained knight under service by Lord Mallister, I am charged with performing bailiff duties. What can I do for you?"
"Greetings to you, Ser Sargen. I am Ser Gaemon Waters, formerly Dragonstone, I'm here to look for some work to make some coins." I respectfully introduced myself.
Ser Sargen raised his eyebrows. "Oh? 'tis fairly rare to see a noble Valyrian bastard, no less, knighted recently based on your youngish face, especially coming from Dragonstone as we don't get many people with your looks like that, ser."
Makes sense considering that not many people with Valyrian features are seen outside of Dragonstone and its vassal lands.
"Aye, I was recently ordained, ser." I finally admitted, shrugging my shoulders. "In fact, it was only mere moons ago."
Ser Sergan nodded, then grunted, "Aye, not surprising to see young knights like you come here to seek for any form of work to make any coins as we usually get plenty of them. Come, look at the board to see what we offer." he pointed his finger at the board for me to look at.
I closely looked at the board as I am not exactly familiar with how the bounty system works in general, not even what this body's memories helped much aside it only offered a tidbit of information that it simply exists. Great, time to ask for tips.
"Can you recommend any good bounty for lone wolf work, preferably close to this town?" I asked nicely, figuring that being polite would 'encourage' them to open up a bit more to me.
"That is your first time, hmm?" Sergan knowingly asked.
"Aye." I nodded in agreement as Sergan sighed then walked to the board, squinting his eyes to search for something then he exclaimed, grabbing the parchment off from the board.
"There you go, ser. This bounty calls for a leader of a small-time gang that was situated north-west in two leagues away from the Seagard; they were responsible for terrorizing the caravans coming from the North. The gang leader is called Jares the Foul and we want him dead, so we would like his head as proof and I'll pay you 200 silver stags for his head plus 150 more if you wipe his gang out to make the roads safer." Sergan finally explained in great detail, taking a small breather as he wetted his mouth with a sip of wine from his cup.
Hmmm not bad, 350 silver stags for the destruction of an entire small time gang. Although I'll need more information, it's better to be prepared for unexpected things in case. Maybe I can get more rewards via the quest as I think that by accepting this bounty, it would be added to my quest system. The only way to find out is when I accept it.
"Do you have any additional information on the gang? Like numbers and what equipment they were carrying?" I calmly asked, fishing for more information.
Sergan had an approving glint in his eyes, liking how I asked for more information. "Aye, based on what I learnt from raided caravan members, they reported that there are no more than five or six men along with their leader that focused on small caravan trails at night time." he paused. "And their equipment, I believe that they were only wearing boiled leather, iron swords and dikes at that time."
I suspected that they must be using small hidden spots like caves or something to set up their camps to allow them to ambush the people on the road without having to travel great distances.
"Normally, I thought that Lord Mallister's men-at-arms would have taken care of that gang since they're so close to the town, no?" I confusedly asked.
Sergan sighed then looked at me with his tired eyes. "Aye, you'd be right on that but due to increased raids by Hoares from south, Lord Mallister is forced to divert most of his forces in south, making it easy for gangs and bandits to show up in the north from here."
I conceded to that point and promptly accepted the bounty mission, causing me to hear a silent notification of a quest popping up in my pipboy. Good, I will check it out privately later.
"Any time limit for this?" I quickly asked before leaving.
Sergan shook his head. "No time limit, as it would take time to finish your mission as two leagues is only a few hours via walking then you'll most likely spend a few days in the forest to search for signs of them. Be cautious, Ser Waters." he warns me.
"Much appreciated and thank you for warning." I gratefully told him who nodded at me.
Well, time to get ready for my first bounty mission, so I'll need to head out for a tavern room to plan accordingly then rest to prepare myself for a few days trip in the forest in the north. I walked back on the same path where I originally went from the marketplace to the tavern and entered the tavern, nodding to the bartender who grunted at me, obviously busy at his work as I walked up the stairs to get to my rented room.
I quickly closed the door and locked it there to allow me some privacy, as I have an hour or so before the night time falls, so time to browse my pipboy again and sit down at the table to think more about the bounty mission.
I clicked on my bracelet's node as the model of pipboy flashed to life then I swiped to quest sections, ah, there are three more along one given quest from bounty. Let's see…
Okay, so the bounty mission is the same as before, killing the leader gets me 250 silver stags with the bonus objective of wiping the gang out for 150 silver stags. Damn, no extra rewards offered by the system. Let's have a look at the other three quests, so one asks me to search around the camp set by the gang for possible loot as it will reward me 100 bottle caps if I find it. Okay, no problem. I accepted that quest.
Another one seems to be a very basic one, asking me to cook something from purchased foods from the marketplace for 100 bottle caps. Sounds easy work to do for a quick buck. Okay, I accepted it too, I figure that I'll be camping on the way.
Last one, huh. So it is asking me to kill the gang leader and his men with a sword only for 400 bottle caps. Hmmm, bit risky to do because it would be a bad idea to fight multiple people at once by being alone, as my skills as swordplay is only average for a knight. Best to turn that down.
So it leaves me with two quests from System and one from bounty hall to do for tomorrow. Great! Now, let's go to the shop to get a camping kit that I will need plus maybe a cheap scoped rifle with a little ammo to snipe them to whittle their numbers down. I was about to access the shop until I heard knocking on the door, causing me to sigh in annoyance, then turned my bracelet off and walked to the door, unlocking it and opening the door, revealing the bartender itself.
"What can I do for you, good man?" I politely asked.
"Beg my forgiveness, ser but there is a guardsman named Jors, asking for you." Bartender spoke with a tinge of nervousness.
Ahh, I see. It must be about that merchant wanting to reward me properly after saving them? Okay, let's see what they can offer. I walked back to grab my discarded sword that was laying on the bed and tied it to my belt, then picked my pistol on the table and holstered it then turned around to follow the bartender down to the tavern's first floor.
I can see Jors sitting at the table in his calm demeanor, sipping on his black beer then giving a genuine smile when he sees me as he stood up and grasped my hand to give me a firm handshake.
"Good to see you, friend." Jors warmly commented as I nodded to him.
"Aye, you too." I responded back and sat down at the table. "May I ask why you are here, calling for me?"
Jors grabbed his medium sized leather pouch and placed it on the table. "Your payment for saving us from those bandits, as the merchant insisted on it."
I raised my eyebrows, not expecting a generous reward from him as I grabbed the pouch and opened it to see astonishing 10 gold dragons followed by 300 silver stags and a smattering amount of copper stars. This is… amazing reward! It will help me immensely!
"Tell that merchant that he has my thanks, Jors. It will help me with my future." I widely smiled at the old man who snorted in amusement then finished his black beer off, staining his beard with blackish liquid seeping through.
I stood up as I tied a new pouch to my belt and looked at Jors. "Have a good rest, Jors." as Jors nodded at me as I left for my room again. It took mere moments to arrive at my room and lock it again.
Emptying the medium sized pouch on the table, scattering gold dragons, silver stags and copper stars around. This is extremely good, I'll be converting 8 gold dragons to bottle caps which will net me around 1,680 bottle caps while putting 2 gold dragon, 150 and handful to my inventory while most of them go to my personal leather pouch. My pipboy dinged as my monetary balance raised from 260 to 1,940 bottle caps. Very good, I'll be able to get one or two perk then camping kit and a good rifle with a handful of ammo for long distance.
Clicking on the shop section once again, now let's see… hmm, basic military camping kit comes with one green camouflage basha tent with a military cot and tin-made cooking kit, that will do. Huh, not bad price, it only costs 150 bottle caps and its weight seems to be reasonable enough, around 10 lbs in total. Done, bought it and dumped it in the inventory, reducing my overall balance to 1,790 while inventory free weight dropped to 126.25 lbs.
Now, for perks…
Holy shit, some perks are insanely expensive for good benefits, such as the Monocyte Breeder perk that grants you to heal moderate injuries within ten seconds for 10,000 bottle caps?!
Forget that, how about perk magazines? I'm sure there is something that I can get at a reasonable price. I looked through magazine list again, interesting, there is few magazine based on ASOIAF like one called as 'The Unburnt" about Valyrian racial bonus giving me immunity against fire for 500 bottle caps or another one called as 'Dragon Dreams' where it grants me the ability to see future via Dreams for staggering 1,500 bottle caps. Well, damn.
Wait a minute, I found one good magazine that grants me low tier regeneration ability, it would be useful to heal scrapes, cuts and minor injuries within a minute without wasting stimpaks for it. So, it's part of Astoundingly Awesome tales, to be specific, 'My Brain and I…' for 300 bottle caps. I suppose I'll have to bite the bullet and get this because low tier regeneration ability is insanely useful.
There, I bought it as the book appeared from nowhere and landed on the table as my monetary balance dropped to 1,490 bottle caps.
Well, time to grab the magazine and open it, I'm not sure how it will affect me if I open it, so best to get over with it. Soon as I grabbed the magazine and opened it up while the magazine became light particles flowed into me, I instantly felt like I was burning up as if I was set on fire as my cells screamed in protest as a new ability was forcibly added to my body as I gritted my teeth in sheer pain. Felt like it took so long for the pain to go away as I was panting pretty heavily and sweating like a pig as I noticed that somehow I am feeling better than before as if some burden has lifted off from me as if I feel lighter and more graceful or something? Could that regeneration 'improved' my body to a minor degree?
I shuddered at thoughts of accepting more perks in future, fearing that I may have to go through a bout of pain like that.
Okay, let's go back to the shop to grab the last item I need then eat something then off to bed to sleep it off. So, I checked the shop again to find a decent rifle with scope. So a hunting rifle with long barrel, 8x scope, suppressor and proper stack followed by standard receiver which it'd be in .308 and it weights at 14.25 lbs for 300 bottle caps plus 3 bottle caps for each .308 box that holds 20 .308 bullets. Okay. I'll grab two boxes with that rifle and be done, dumped to my inventory while my balance dropped to 1,184 bottle caps while my inventory free weight dropped to 112 lbs. That's enough for now.
My stomach growls at me, reminding me that I need to eat, damn. Okay. time to head down to grab a grub then. Locked the door again then moved to the first floor where I sat down at an empty table and called for a nearby tavern wench to order food.
A homely gal came to me, as she seemed to be on the overweight side followed by black eyes, tiny mustache on her upper thin lips, large nose, thick black unibrow and her messy black hair tied up in a ponytail.
"What can I get for you, ser?" She roughly rasped, she sounded like someone poured sand through her throat.
"A plate of roasted beef with onions and parsnips with half black beard plus good ale, if you don't mind." I politely asked as the ugly tavern pursued her lips.
"It'll cost ya two copper stars, ser." She flatly replied that I idly flipped two copper stars to her hand then she nodded in thanks, leaving me alone to grab my orders. I fiddled my fingers to wait for my order, watching everyone do their thing in the tavern. It might be useful to learn something or not.
So far, nothing useful, all I can see is many people drinking or eating their usual food. Maybe something to do with my low perception attribute?
"Here's your food and drink, ser." The same ugly gal that just appeared from nowhere, startling me a little bit as I hastily nodded in thanks as the plate of steaming hot food and a mug with foamy bubbling, trying to get out of the mug. Well, time to eat!
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