AAR:[2M] Big Man In A Small Business (2020-10-15@23:00GMT)

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Sinless
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Re: LFG:[2M] Big Man In A Small Business (2020-10-15@23:00GMT)

Post by Sinless » Sun Oct 11, 2020 8:15 pm

Name: T'Slon Vlatar
Date of Last Game Played: I am brand new
Circle: 1
Discipline: Swordmaster
Unique: You have not heard of me? Well I can tell you that my sword is quick and true, and my bravery is beyond question.
Downtime: Nothing as of yet.

predajey
Posts:344
Joined:Mon Jun 15, 2020 9:27 am

Calina's New Career

Post by predajey » Fri Oct 16, 2020 5:01 am

An extravagant white leather bound journal contains several chapters detailing Calina Ravanqnerosicor’s journeys. It is written in a rich blue ink and the pages have a gold trim. It is written in Sperethiel.

Chapter 68: A New Career

It has been a couple years since I left home, and I have had to find employment pretty much wherever I could. My latest job was as a waitress in a Dahnat Tavern, but it became apparent that writing in Throalic or speaking is necessary when providing customer orders to the cooks. Having lost my employment, I turned around to find a small group planning a journey. The troll owner of the tavern, Malak Wonjin, was selling this dining establishment and planning to move. His daughter, an adopted dwarf named Nergae, was making recommendations to move to Sosanopa. Along with the company was another troll-adopted namegiver, an elf named Keel. She was rough looking, but I’ve definitely seen worse hanging around the Dahnat. She might be adept at sword play. A very talkative windling name Amhran was flitting about with puerile comments about anything that came up. What really caught my attention was a rather disgusting and disturbing Vorst human named Taras. Nevertheless, he was my ticket into this journey, and I understand that adventuring adepts get paid in excess.

Taras had assembled this massive 24-page application to help him filter through potential hires, so while he wasn’t paying attention, I took his single and only copy and completed it. I was certain he did not understood Sperethiel, evident by his response after reading my resolutions to questions about camping and dealing with the wilderness, my answers to which were quoting a couple passages I read from my daughter’s journals, complete with where they could be found in the Great Library, the journal volume number, and page number. I was hesitant to submit to him my application, but he accepted me for the job. He introduced me as Jordan, so obviously he could not read Sperethiel. Luckily, I had purchased a ribbon with my name embroidered that I kept tied to my wrist. I extended my hand in friendship, and I granted him that courtesy gratuitously, and drew his attention to the makeshift nametag. He corrected his introduction. Unexpectedly and unlike the majority of those involved, a greeting ritual was not requested.

Keel did conduct some semblance of an interview. She asked me what I was capable of, and I cast mage armor on Amhran to demonstrate my aptitude for wizardry. She then tested my knowledge on languages, speaking in Sperethiel and a language I was not familiar with. It was probably a troll language, given that she was raised by a troll. Accepted as hired, I waited by the door until they concluded their conversation and were ready to leave. As we departed, a large obsidiman nicknamed Strats followed us. I guess he was also accompanying us. We departed through the Grand Bazaar and followed the road north towards Sosanopa.

We arrived at a large location, which had been avoided by investors for some reason. I ignored the cause of this avoidance, and we started clearing the building and establishing the new restaurant. We heard some squeaking coming from behind the door leading to the cellar. Following the sounds, we encroached the territory of a pack of overgrown rats. I know I am not the toughest adept, elf, or wizard. I am certain that Amhran would be a difficult physical fight for me, but I did so well in the ensuing battle! All those years of dancing lessons when I was younger instilled a level of grace that protected me from injury. Unfortunately, my companions were not as fortunate. I did my best to bolster their armor with magic, and it seemed to be effective protection. Once Strats grew his wood skin, the momentum started to shift in our favor, and we dispatched the rats. Afterwards, Strats collected barrels to barricade a hole in the back wall of the cellar, and we relaxed for a couple days, allowing Keel and Nergae’s pet wolf to recover from their wounds. Two days later, we ventured down the hallways and found a placard that described a safe passage down the halls. I was certain that this structure may not have been included in the property sold, given that we entered this part of the structure through a broken wall, but we continued onward anyway. The placard was written in a language that Nergae and Keel could read, so probably troll? I will have to learn to read that language. Around the corner, a tiled mosaic was beautifully crafted onto the floor. There was even a dead rat on it. Looks like an incision killed it. I used my magic to bolster Strats armor. He attached a 3-yard rope to his leg and started walking across the mosaic. I am not sure what the rope would have done, considering he weighed at least a quarter ton. We did not have much muscle to pull him if he activated any security measures. Amhran attempted to volunteer to go first, but he did not wait for a decision before heading down the hallway.

After the mosaic, there was a kitchen-oriented room on the left. We all entered, completely oblivious to the Fire Spider lurking above. Once Amhran took flight, it dropped from the ceiling and we engaged in another battle. The spider nearly landed on me, so naturally, I threw a mind dagger and ran away. Both Keel and Nergae got decent hits on it, but it was that disgustingly obnoxious human that killed it. Opposite the entrance to the kitchen-space, which might have been designed for alchemical purposes, was a storage area where we discovered broken vials and possible healing agents. Again, Nergae and Keel’s troll literacy helped in identifying the broken vials as the reason for the spider being flaming. They joked about using the mixture on Amhran to increase her combat capabilities. She flew away, obviously against the option, not that any of the concoction remained.

As we continued through the underground, the final room looked to be a sort of washroom. In the middle was a well, a fortunate and unexpected addition to the transaction Malak had completed. Strats destroyed a nearby crate, set it ablaze, and dropped it down the well. Shortly after, several more rats emerged and attacked us. Nergae took the worst of the assault. Again, I bolstered hers and Strats’ armor, then retreated to the door. That human fired a single bolt then bolted. It was not a bad thought, to lead the group down a bottleneck, but they wounded Nergae in the leg and I was uncertain that she would have made it to the door. Between Strats, Nergae, Keel, and myself, we diminished their numbers quickly. Taras returned to assist. One of the rats even tried to bulldoze its way through me, as I was standing in the doorway it was trying to escape through. Again, my dancing days have assisted in my safety. After a couple of mind daggers, Strats came to finish this last rat. His strike caused it to explode. I tried to take cover around the doorway leading to the kitchen, but I still got one of my pants legs covered in gore! These are genuine elven silk leggings! I do not make enough money to replace them!

When I got back into the washroom, desiring to clean my pants before the blood set in, Nergae was almost completely covered in blood. Even Amhran had some splattered on her. Strats pulled up a bucket of water and we cleaned up Nergae. The disgusting human suggested we collect the meaty portions for later. Even worse, Strats handed him a splinter to skewer them! This must be the behavior expected from the denizens of the Dahnat. At least Amhran was civilized enough to clean the chunks the water did not wash off. She even used a beautifully embroidered kerchief to clean up Nergae. I stayed behind to attempt cleaning off my leggings. Before I realized, everyone had departed. At least I was able to get the blood stains out. It required much effort and scrubbing to remove it, though. The compensation for these occurrences was exceptional compared to my earnings in other occupations.
Last edited by predajey on Sun Jul 18, 2021 5:20 pm, edited 5 times in total.

rosinavs
Posts:119
Joined:Tue Nov 28, 2017 3:35 pm

Re: AAR:[2M] Big Man In A Small Business (2020-10-15@23:00GMT)

Post by rosinavs » Fri Oct 16, 2020 5:16 am

[a copy of the original letter from Nergae Hilldigger to Malak Wonjin, translated into Throalic from the original Trollish]

Hi Dad,

I just got home from escorting you to Sosonopa, and like you asked, I am writing you a letter after each of my adventures outside Throal. Yes, I will also let you know if anything exciting happens in Throal, too. True to her word, Mrs. Mudgrubber gave me a room for cheap in exchange for Wiz and Dumpling killing the mice and rats in her boarding house. I am picking up a few silvers here and there to pay for it by training stray cats to watch over particular homes or businesses. So, I am able to save up most of my adventure earnings to pay for healing items to keep me alive like I promised. I bought a Physician Kit like I told you I would. So don't worry, Dad, I will be fine.

So here's a full account of what happened in your basement in writing, so you can have it to explain to that Elementalist you need to hire to clean out the well, or the Thief you need to hire to take out that trap, or any other folks you need to hire to help you clean that place up. I think you should turn that alchemy room into a private dining parlor, and use the closet off of it as a butler's pantry for the serving ware, and the well room as a kitchen for the fancy schmancy gatherings down there. You will definitely want to clean out the alternate entrance so the fancy schmancy private dining people don't have to rub elbows with the lower classes in the lunch counter.

Anyway, as soon as we went to store staples and supplies in your basement, we ran into a bunch of really big rats, like 3-4 feet long. We fought them and killed them all off. I think I did pretty well in that one; I jumped to fight the one attacking the wizard, and Dumpling went right in to help. I helped kill a couple more of the vermin too.

Then we noticed that there were more critters of some sort through the hold in the back of the storeroom. Since we were a bit banged up (no, I was not really hurt, just strained a muscle or two fighting, that's all!) we blocked up the hole in the wall. After taking the next day off to heal up ( we really needed that for Dumpling and one of my friends, but not me, I promise!) we headed into the blocked up area behind the storeroom. We figured out how to get around the trap (PLEASE get the thief to disable it before going down there, you keep repeating the way to get past it wrong, you'll definitely get sliced up by whatever killed that rat. PLEASE, dad!)

Past the trap on the left is the alchemy room (at least what we think they did there, and we found potions in the closet beyond.). We think some of the poisons were used to enhance animals, and a giant flaming spider attacked us in that room. It was super hot to be close to, but we killed it pretty quick. Get someone to check that room out with good light, no spiders for you!

Last we went into the well room at the back. We think it was used as a kitchen, but having that well once it's cleaned out will be super useful. You won't have to send a buskid out to haul water from the river or another well, and it'll be better water than that river, given how close you are to the docks. In there the rats were in the well, so you really do need an expensive professional to clean it out. DO NOT CHEAP OUT ON THIS! I know you, you want to cut any corners that aren't ingredients or portion sizes, but please, Dad, listen to me. Get an Elementalist in, one that knows Purify Water and can speak to elemental spirits so the spirit can maybe stay and make sure the well is clean. Maybe hire a few guys, those rats came out of the well so fast I couldn't get a hit in before they knocked me down and gave me that limp. Yes, Dad, that's when I got hurt. But I am all better now.

The trip back to Throal was as uneventful as the trip out, but I missed your cooking. Living in a dwarf dwelling again means I have to get used to the low ceilings. The old neighborhood is getting really posh with all those traders there gutting houses and making them into warehouses and trader homes and such. I am glad they haven't found Mrs. Mudgrubber's street yet.

Once I have a chance to head back up your way, I will bring you a couple of kittens to keep the rats out of that basement. Just keep any fancy people from kicking them, okay?

Your little adopted dwarf,

Nergae

PS, when my friends stop by in the future, make sure to feed them, okay? I know you are bad with non-troll Names, so they are Calina, Keel, Amhran, Strata, and Taras.

bronzemountain
Posts:606
Joined:Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:02 pm

Journal of Taras Vanko

Post by bronzemountain » Fri Oct 16, 2020 3:13 pm

The Dirty Basement

I follow Nergae, Amhran, Strata. Not for long. Only two weeks. I am quiet; not polite to intrude.
They seem okay.

Nergae is to help her father move shop from Throal to Sosanopa.
While staking out new friends I have written twenty four page employment questionnaire in preparation. Did not have time to finish it. We use abbreviated form to recruit new help. Keel and Calina. Calina fills out form, is very polite and thorough. Do not understand what she wrote but am sure is quality stuff. Has identifying ribbon, very good idea. Tell friends they should have ribbons too.

No one wears ribbon.

We go to Sosanopa, help Nergae's father clean up building. Building full of rats, good eating. Giant rats. Even better eating.
Oh. Please take note: Do not store fire and growth alchemy juice where spiders and rats can drink. Because they drink. And grow big. And spider catches on fire.

Unless you want giant fire spider. They yes, please do this.

Attached is a folder of drawings of the various rats, as well as the inferno spider. Dimensions are clearly indicated, as are potential subspecies, mating rates, and other data regarding the rats. Also attached, an entirely unnecessary history of rats in kaers, as well as seven different recipes that use rat as a primary ingredient.

Serespar
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Re: AAR:[2M] Big Man In A Small Business (2020-10-15@23:00GMT)

Post by Serespar » Sun Oct 18, 2020 6:19 pm

<Throalic Year>

I indulged the cat again.

It had heard that there was a ready supply of fresh seafood in the territory of Prince Mittens of River Bend, and made arrangements for its servants to move its den so that it might enjoy the delicacies of the river. Negotiations had been going on for many months, and the household was finally preparing to depart.

The cat was concerned however that Staff would be so distracted by their duties to its comfort that they would pay insufficient attention to security, and ordered me to take care of the issue. The Cat seemed vexed and fussy, as Staff had taken an undue amount of time to read the clues the cat had been leaving about changing dens and the location of the new one.


I had been enjoying the way the light crosses over the mountaintops for several days and thought a little movement might be in order, so agreed to assist. The walk was wonderful.

The cat’s primary servant, Nergae was there along with her adopted father, a Troll. Other assorted household members included the scarred human Taras, the chattering windling Amharan, the silent wizard Calina, and an elf named Keel.


The ambassador of Prince Mittens, the saucy Lady Fluffy von Fish Market greeted us and guided us to the agreed new den. The cat snorted at the feeble nature of this test of feline prowess, and graciously agreed to the challenge to begin the elaborate dance for placement in the pecking order at this new court. Lady Fluffy and other observers from the court took their places on fences, ledges and rooftops, and the Test of Placement began as we entered the building.

Image

The R.O.U.S were larger than the usual sort. I punched them.

There was also a large spider on fire. I punched it.


The cat sampled the fish the court provided, and decided it liked the food in Throal better, but that it might be nice once in a while for variety. The Troll cook stayed behind to provide for the cat’s needs and we returned to Throal.

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm

Keel's Letter

Post by Anoush » Mon Oct 19, 2020 12:21 am

[A letter from Kun'da'lin Iceclaw, found among her parents' effects at the troll moot; written in Sperethiel.]

Dear Mom & Dad,

So far, Throal’s been pretty boring. Haven’t found much in the way of work, but am continuing to look. Not many new friends, either.

But, I finally did connect with a group of adepts and got a short-term job. The job was guarding a small caravan heading up to Sosonopa. The employer was a troll, Malak Wonjin, a local cook and businessman who was moving his food stall up there.

The other guards were: Nergae, a dwarf beastmaster, Malak’s step-daughter; Strats, a huge obsidiman gauntlet; Calina, an elf wizard who didn’t talk, at all — strange that, but she turned out to be effective anyway; Anhran, a troubadour windling; and Taras, a human scout, who had an opinion on everything — guess he made up for Calina not talking.

We had no problems getting there. Malak chose a building that had been abandoned a few months ago. It seemed like a good spot, where he’d get lots of business. So we began clearing out the building. Turns out it was infested with rats, lots of them, giant ones. Disgusting and nasty. First, know that I’m fine, no permanent harm done. The upstairs was just dirty with the usual mess of an abandoned building. The cellar was another thing.

The first cellar room we entered, one of the rats attacked me and knocked me down with a big bite in my side. I retreated and the rest finished them up. We took a couple of days to recover and then continued clearing the cellar. The rest of the place was easier.

There was a corridor with an inscription on the wall, and peaking around the corner we say a pretty mosaic on the floor. Together we puzzled out that the inscription told us what part of the mosaic to walk on as we went down the hallway so as to not be skewered with knives. Cool, and we figured it out correctly so no one was hurt. Even so, Strats was very protective of the rest of us and insisted on going first.

Then we found a room that looked like an alchemist’s lab. While we were checking it out, a giant burning spider — yes, burning — dropped down on us. It bit and poisoned some of us, including me. Luckily the poison was only a temporary paralyzing one, so we recovered. I told you, I’m fine! We did find a bunch of healing and booster potions, and the like, in the lab. So most of us took some.

The final room had a whole bunch of rats that spilled out of a well. Nasty, dirty creatures. We killed them all.

Now that the cellar is cleared out, Malak is setting up his food stall in this new location.

We returned to Throal — a very pleasant trip — safe and sound.

Hope you’re doing well.


Love,
Kun’dal'in

Lashana
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Re: AAR:[2M] Big Man In A Small Business (2020-10-15@23:00GMT)

Post by Lashana » Fri Jan 29, 2021 4:38 am

Dearest Mishpokhe,

I accompanied Nergae and Strats back to Throal where we will assist her adoptive father, a troll named Malak Wonjin. He had sold his current establishment and purchased a new bigger one in Sosanopa. We would be his guards there and assist clearing out whatever might have moved in. So it would be Nergae, Taras, Strats and I along w/two new traveling companions. There are two elves - both VERY different, one very down to earth, kind of like Nergae but approachable named Keel. The other, named Calina, I’m still trying to figure out since she doesn’t say much. Well, she doesn’t say anything, ever. I can’t tell if it’s because she can’t or by choice. Taras and Keel did an interview of the other elf Calina, Taras asked lots of insane questions and tried to drag the interview on and on and on. Keel asked much more pertinent questions (or at least they appeared so to me). These questions got me involved with a random mage armor on me. Then they lapsed into another language and I lost the flow of the language.
We then departed the old restaurant, the Bazaar and then Throal and towards kind Mr. Wonjin’s new home and Sosanopa. The new place was HUGE and it was kind of weird that it had not already been snapped up. But that was their loss and a huge gain for Nergae and her father. We had just really gotten started clearing out the new restaurant space when we heard some squeaking, and it seemed to be coming from the cellar. When we followed the sound we stumbled upon a pack of enormous rats. They were bigger than me, no lie! We managed to dispatch the rats but it was a rough fight. And the rats were tougher opponents then one would have thought. Afterwards, Strats blocked off the cavity the rats appeared to have been using as an entrypoint. We then took a couple of days to recover, Keel and Nergae’s wolf really needed the time.
Once we were recovered we removed the blockade and headed down into the warrens of this (much bigger than it seemed) property. They found a sign with instructions on how to proceed down the halls, but only Nergae and Keel could read it (so one would assume it was in troll). As we continued on we saw the most beautiful tiled floor, with a dead sliced up rat. I offered to fly across and check it out but Strats (remember the obsidiperson?) tied a rope around himself handed it off to Taras and started walking out. Like what did he think we would have been able to do if he had fallen or been hurt? He’s like a ¼ ton, who did he think would be able to pull his weight? Luckily, that was not an issue and we managed to find my favorite room in ANY house, the kitchen!! As I was fluttering about, checking as I do for snacks I was set upon and seized by a ginormous spider of fire red. Luckily, my new friends were able to rid the world of this vicious beast, with Taras getting the killing bow. Remember him, he’s the one who likes to shoot things in their tokhes? This was apparently an alchemical lab as there were empty vials and potion bottles. These two must have been written in troll as Nergae and Keel were the only ones able to read them. It was suggested that one of those vials be used on me, I didn’t stick around to find out what the vial contained or to allow them to use it on me.
Strats once again made short work of bringing the fight to us by launching a flaming crate down the well in the middle of the room. That caused several rats to dart out of the well and attack. Taras was pretty smart to take the opening shot and then make for the door to funnel traffic and limit the points of attack. And it would have been an excellent idea if one of those rats had not landed a lucky blow and wounded my Nergae by biting her leg. Strats, Keel, Calina and yes Nergae managed to whittle their numbers down. And Calina even managed to keep her feet when an obviously blood mad rat tried to bull rush her. And once again Taras made an amazing shot and struck the remaining rat and I swear the poor thing exploded, there was blood everywhere. We were all pretty gory but we were able to get cleaned up. And one of the handkerchiefs you embroidered for me came in handy here as I helped clean delicate faces. The elven Calina was most impressed with your embroidery. Perhaps for Earthtime we could gift her one.

With Love,
Amhran

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