After several minutes lurking outside the Hammer and Ale, eyes out for any unsavory sorts following the group and ears in for rough treatment of her current employer or any of his compatriots, Tarian was satisfied that the situation was stable enough for her to enter. There was a tense moment when the steady din within the bar mellowed—Tarian guessed it might have something to do with a Cannith, looking very much a Cannith, walking into a workers’ bar—but the noise level grew slowly but steadily back to just below what it had been to start.
Tarian entered just as a pair of orcs shoved past her to leave, grumbling to each other something about management, strikes, and drinking in peace. Tarian softly nodded to herself. I completely understand, friend.
She squeezed past a group of dwarves around a table laden with empty and mostly emptied tankards, taking care not to elbow anyone in the face. She edged around a mixed group of tipsy orcs and half-orcs, and steadied one who nearly fell on top of her. Gradually she made her way to the bar. She spotted Milo a good distance from her, past several dwarves with beards thick with froth, and a couple goblins taking turns at a pint as though drinking from a pitcher.
When she could make a moment of eye contact with her halfling employer, Tarian quickly looked to the door and back to Milo, then showed her open hands and shook her head. I didn’t see anything out there.
Catching a slight whiff of spiced meats over the smells of stale sweat and spilled beer, Tarian caught the attention of one of the staff and asked for “whatever’s ready,” and pulled a silver from her coin purse. Tarian noticed the chain of the locket start to come out with the silver, but she dropped the chain back in before anyone noticed. I need to do something about this. Find a better place for it. Something.
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"On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy." --Kevin Flynn, Tron (1982)
Out of context, also applicable to Dungeons & Dragons.
After a short while, the stout dwarven barkeeper arrives with several copper cups of ale and a large pot of stew with a couple of slices of bread on the side, and places it square onto the table, in between the different guests. With a look to Milo, he adds: “If ye wanna play, I’m sure the band would be up for a lil’ competition, slammers like.”
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Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
Thia narrows her eyes with suspicion when Arc stiffens, but she’d relax them when he’d give his explanation. She’d just nod politely, accepting his reason.
Thia would chuckle a little as he leaned in to inspect her. Is this how Corti felt the first time I met her? Inspecting her hand and how she was built? “I did introduce myself as an Artificer. You are correct that I dabble more on the alchemic side of things.” She’d playfully sniff around trying to smell herself, “I did shower today. Is it that obvious?” She’d wink at him before picking up her ale to take a sip, relaxing back in her seat. “I’m a medic with the Veiled Valour.” Thia would hold up her arm with the ale to flash the golden crest on her sleeve. “My practical experience revolved around soldier rehabilitation. My research extends from my time with them.”
After a pause Thia would continue. “I suppose my desire to pick your family’s brain would be about the structure of warforged. How their parts are engineered and put together. Though I realize that could be invasive to any family secrets surrounding your warforged.” She’d pause again with a sigh, “But our prosthetics suck...” she’d mumble off, realizing she could be just rambling. She’d take a long sip of her ale and put it back down on the table.
”And yourself? I thought I saw some tinker tools on you as well.” It was her turn to look Arc up and down to inspect him.
Arc nods, ignoring the playful wink, "Yes, I'm more on the weaponry side however. It's admirable that you can help those in need, though it's funny you mentioned prosthetics, I actually have one I've been working on." Arc, slowly getting more an more immersed into this conversation pulls out of his bag a wooden, with metal joints, hand. "One of the strike leader's wife was involved in some nasty business, so I offered to replace what she'd lost as she was a weaver. Fundamentally, it could work just as well as an ordinary limb, with the connection of nerves via magic. Though we've yet to try such a method as it'd likely be quiet painful." Arc takes a moment to pause, realizing he was about to start rambling himself, then thinks before staring at Thia a little harder, "You're more likely to be versed with the ins and outs of the mortal body, what are your thoughts?"
Thia would politely nod, accepting the compliment before getting completely distracted by the hand Arc just pulled out of his bag. Immediately her eyes would be darting, scanning the design and craftsmanship of it. "You're joking..." she'd mutter under her breath, not expecting to see a prototype this far along, or even finished? She'd tilt her head to the side in curiosity before leaning in closer to inspect it. Thia had to fight the urge to just take it from his hands to inspect the joints and range of motion it could have. Her eyes would snap up to look at Arc "I've studied to theorize the connection of nerves via magic for this exact purpose..." she'd blink to look back down to the wooden hand with metal joints, "Though you're right to figure this method could be painful... ghost pains of a missing limb can be challenging enough for some... never mind reattaching a new one..." Thia would finally, but gently reach to the hand to position it palm up, fingers spread. She was trying to mentally map out the nerves of a human hand on the prosthetic. She'd start chewing on her lip. "As you stated, fundamentally, it could work... but it would be far from easy..." After a pause, she'd exhale deeply "and of course, I imagine a hand would be like one of the most complicated limbs to do... that's a lot of range of motion and muscle memory to map out..." She'd open her hand palm up beside the prosthetic prototype and begin flexing it and wiggling her fingers as she thought aloud.
Arc nods, "Like I stated, it's only a prototype. Ideally, we'd be able to use the foundation for a Warforged like Corti here, who was provided a full range of dexterous control over their hand. The prosthetic part is easy, but as we've both now said. It's connecting it to a person that things become less concrete." Sighs and counts of all the things that could throw off or make calculations vary, "Pain tolerance, physical ability, phantom limbs, fresh nerve vulnerability. That's just the short list. Not even trying to think about the circulation or synchronization problems that's throw off the hand-eye coordination between the new limb and any healthy one left there..." Arc's mind already has numerous small factors playing through his mind that could cause a variation or slight deviation from the original concept. Again, he sighs, "I wouldn't suppose those in the medical field have some way of working around those things yet do they?"
As Thia and Arc dive deeper and deeper into their discussion, a courier suddenly bursts through the doors, sweaty and huffing, probably from running here. He heads straight for Milo, who recognises him as one of the farm hands. "Mr Spudser, I'm so sorry to disrupt your business, but there is urgent need of you at the family farm. When I left, they had been threatened by a local band, who was besieging them. After sneaking through their lines, it took me three days to get here, with instructions to inform you of what's going on, and to tell you that you should come back to help us in dealing with the bandits." Milo looks bewildered at the farm hand, and then, intent on hushing him, gives an apologetic glance to the rest of the group, before heading outside to discuss the details, away from earshot.
After a while, he returns, a crestfallen expression on his face. "I'm sorry to leave you here like this, but there is some urgent family business I need to attend to. Assure Mr Sparks that he will have his food, even if he might not hear from me for a month. And Tarian, for now, I have no more needs of your services. The payment you received already, you can keep, and any services that you have not yet received payment for, please let me know how much I owe you, I don't want to remain in your debt when I don't know how long this thing will keep me from the city. Anyway, to you all, I will be back, once my affairs are in order. Again, I apologise."
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Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
Thia's mind raced and her brow would furrow, following Arc through his list of challenges, thinking of others has he went along. She'd ball her hand up into a fist, her frustration bubbling up with how little advancements there are in the medical field. She'd open her mouth to respond to Arc, but then is interrupted by a courier.
Thia's eyebrows would furrow in concern for Milo and his family. She had gotten so distracted with Arc, they hadn't even brought up the reason for the meeting yet. She'd stand up from her seat, "Are you sure this is something you must do alone? I understand it's family business... most certainly none of my business I suppose..." Could this be related to anything? This can't simply be coincidence? Thia really didn't know what to say. Sure Milo rubbed her the wrong way some times, but he sure doesn't deserve all of this mess.
"I won't say no, if you wanted to come along. But Mr Sparks is expecting an answer to the proposal I made to you, and even if I am off on business, I still think it's a great opportunity to set things right and make sure that the right negotiator makes it to the conference in Duskrock. Now, if you don't mind, I need to make arrangements." With that, Milo got up, paid his tab and headed out of the tavern.
The dwarven barkeep rolled his eyes as Milo left, leaving far more than the necessary amount of coin on the counter.
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Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
Arc watches and listens silently to the courtier, and as Milo leaves. He had no say in this matter, and even if he did, he understood the need for family matters to be kept private.
Thia would sit back down in her seat, in a slouch. She'd blankly stare at her mug, pushing it around a little between both hands while she pondered in silence.
Corti looks at her companions sitting around the table and then sighs, she had really been starting to like Milo, I hope nothing's too wrong, I'll miss the guy. Rapping her wooden knuckles on the table. "Well... I hate to move on too abruptly from that, but we do still need to catch up. I still don't know about this business with Mr. Sparks, and Thia and I have discovered a link to the conflict up north that could potentially be a problem."
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Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
Thia would look up from her mug to Corti. She’d nod in agreement, “You’re right Corti.” She’d then shift to look at Tarian, “Miss Tarian, unfortunately I do not have the gold to offer you like Milo has, but you’re the only other person I’d know who’d have the same information given to Milo. At minimum, you’d remember it better. As Corti mentioned, we have suspicions and think we may have made a link. Would you be willing to brain storm with us?”
Tarian raised a hand. “Don't worry about the money. Mister Spudsder paid for my services in advance, and the contract with Mister Sparks is to be paid by Mister Sparks, to my understanding.”
“If we’re going to brainstorm, let’s review what we know.” Tarian cut up the sausage she ordered and started moving the medallions of meat around her plate. “From what I understand, we’re to run interference on some military types. There’s a Grimme, a Cimber, and an Arceneaux.” Tarian slid three slices together, then pushed two of them off to the side. “Grimme and Cimber aren’t the ones we need to worry about immediately.” She pointed at the solitary sausage with the tip of her knife. “Arceneaux is. She’s a Marshal with power and ambition. She was involved in the Thelamyria attacks—”
Tarian paused, looked down at her plate, and moved a couple of sausage pieces together next to a chunk of boiled potato. She tapped her knife on the plate next to them before slowly continuing.
“—And currently has an army of eight… hundred…” She moved the sausage pieces of ‘the Thelamyria attack’ next to the Arceneaux sausage. Tarian’s brow knotted and she shook her head. Her speech grew slower. “Heading to Duskrock.” She pointed at the pile of sausage pieces where she originally cut up her sausage.
Tarian stabbed a sausage piece from the Duskrock pile with her knife, and another, and another, each with some quiet utterance that steadily grew to audible levels. “…Humphries… Blake… Ornell…” Tarian’s eyes grew wider as she stabbed the last bit of sausage and raised the knife, impaled with a number of sausage pieces, toward her face. “…Riley.”
Tarian leveled her gaze at Corti and Thia in turn, and she set down her knife, burdened with the bulk of the sausage she had just cut up.
“Look, this might just be me being paranoid—I’ve been through a lot these last few days, and I know I’m a bit paranoid at the moment—but hear me out.” Tarian pointed at the sausage impaled on her knife. “Maybe you’ve heard, maybe you haven’t, but a bunch of the Duskrock Dragoons have been found dead recently. I’ve been investigating those deaths. All this talk has got me thinking: Arceneaux was in charge of the troops at Thelamyria after General Viktor died. The two were close enough that there’s rumor of them being lovers. The Dragoons’ third column wasn’t where they were supposed to be during the Vulture Valley conflict, when Thelamyria was attacked. If the third column was around Thelamyria instead of Vulture Valley…” Tarian shook her head. “These deaths could be some sort of vendetta. Even if it isn't, if you add all that to the theory I heard that someone’s cleaning out the Dragoons to soften Duskrock up for an invasion, it’s starting to look like this Arceneaux is truly bad news.”
Tarian bit a couple pieces of sausage off her knife. “That’s all I’ve got so far. Paranoid theories. What links have you made?”
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"On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy." --Kevin Flynn, Tron (1982)
Out of context, also applicable to Dungeons & Dragons.
Corti leans forward on the table, bracing herself on her elbows, and does her best to use her experience to keep up with Tarian's sausage diagrams. She nods as Tarian finishes, frowning at the news.
Leaning back again, and wringing and fidgeting her hands in her lap, she glances at Thia before starting. "Okay... well, ours has to do with Marshal Grimmes. Word is he's been causing a stir up north, and I've just heard about various Imperial sieges of factories up there, which I think we can safely say Grimmes has played some sort of part in. We think that two students who assisted in the strike here have a deal with the Duskrock factory heads, I heard them mention some kind of alliance. 'We help your factories, you help ours.' That kind of thing. The student's names are Carlo Merrix and Leo, and they disappeared after being waved off by one of the delegators. They seemed angry. If we could use them to get information on Grimmes or what's going on with the conflict up north that would be helpful, and we can't do that if they're hiding. I think we should find them and see what they have to say."
As Corti finishes, she looks at Thia again, silently asking if she missed anything, and giving Thia a chance to share her thoughts.
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Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
Thia would let out a sigh of relief when Tarian would start reviewing her knowledge out loud with everyone. She knew Tarian would know lots, but she was impressed at the speed and ease it which it rolled off her tongue. Tarian even used her meal to help everyone follow, which Thia appreciated, and definitely needed when it came to this kind of talk.
When Tarian was finished, Thia was still trying to process the information, hoping something, anything sticks. She’d look to Corti encouraging her to share the connections she made with Tarian. Thia would nod along with Corti’s explanation to Tarian of their earlier conversation.
”Those are pretty much the important bits. I don’t really have much to add to that. Maybe useless details?” Thia would look from Corti to Tarian, “Leo was my neighbour. He warned me the morning of the rally not to go. He expected danger. After spotting him at the rally we watched him leave in a huff and a hurry. I haven’t seen him since. He’s since moved, as I have a new neighbour. It’s raised a lot of suspicion.” She’d shrug.
“Hmm. Well that’s a bad bit of news for an investigation, then. Sounds to me like your friends are involved in something big.” When Thia and Corti did not immediately respond, Tarian explained her reasoning. “Your friends aren’t just students. ‘Just’ students aren’t worth the personal notice of factory heads and delegates, even if they support strikers. Furthermore, even if there is a lengthy waiting list for a room in your dormitories—and I’m sure there is—well, it’s not like it would be normal for someone to be able to move out and someone else able to move in that quickly, right? This sounds like your friend Leo was already prepared to leave, regardless of what happened.”
Tarian shoved a bit of sausage in her mouth and spoke around it while chewing. “If I was going to investigate a disappearance like this, the first people I would ask for information are the vanished’s neighbors.” She swallowed. “Since you’re the one looking for him, Miss Thia, I have to assume asking the neighbors is out. And the one who’s replaced him either knows nothing, or will be under orders not to say anything. Odds are good it’s the former.” Tarian tapped the back of the knife on her plate. “The dorm registrar, though, now there’s a possibility. Less likely to be on anyone else’s payroll, and, since the change was made so quickly, they probably knew in advance of the change and they might have information on where he’s moved to. Getting that info out of the registrar, now there’s another matter. Outsiders like myself would typically need some sort of insider to get something out of them.” Tarian looked pointedly at Thia…
…Then shrugged. “Of course, there’s no guarantee your Leo left anything of the sort if he didn’twant to be found. Failing that, I’d look into the specific factory heads they spoke with next, and the delegate last, if I could. Maybe do a check on where he spends his time, and with whom.”
Tarian frowned. “But if the timing is all just coincidence, and Leo left for reasons unrelated to the events you saw, well, that would make investigating the disappearance a bit harder. I’d have to find new leads, investigate those…” Tarian spared the silent Arc a brief glance. “And that’s if I was working this case. Which currently I’m not. I’m being paid to help Mister Spudsder find Mister Brandt, then report to Mister Sparks of those who choose to be part of the team taking up his offer. In absence of Mister Spudsder, assembling a team… is now… up to me.” Tarian’s forehead slipped into her palm.
Tarian’s eyes closed and she quietly muttered to herself, “Ahlweys th’ reight pehrson fehr th’ job, yeh? An’ talkin’ t’others ‘s what I do behst, reight?”
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"On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy." --Kevin Flynn, Tron (1982)
Out of context, also applicable to Dungeons & Dragons.
Corti listens to Tarian, smiling a little as she finishes. “That all sounds about right. I was planing on talking to Bellows, the foreman Leo and Merrix worked with, when I got the chance.”
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Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
“Corti and I had come to similar conclusions regarding Leo and his friend.” Thia would nod in agreement with Tarian’s assumptions and suggestions. “A dorm registrar would be worth inquiring with, but I was thinking about trying someone else first. I’m familiar with a librarian and I wanted to try picking his brain to see if he’s noticed anything. Some times students stick out... sometimes non students are easy to pick out... librarians have opportunities to be a ‘master of whispers’ ” she’d shrug. Thia would make a mental note to stop by the registrars office after she visits Thaddeus.
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just an unstable unicorn.
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After several minutes lurking outside the Hammer and Ale, eyes out for any unsavory sorts following the group and ears in for rough treatment of her current employer or any of his compatriots, Tarian was satisfied that the situation was stable enough for her to enter. There was a tense moment when the steady din within the bar mellowed—Tarian guessed it might have something to do with a Cannith, looking very much a Cannith, walking into a workers’ bar—but the noise level grew slowly but steadily back to just below what it had been to start.
Tarian entered just as a pair of orcs shoved past her to leave, grumbling to each other something about management, strikes, and drinking in peace. Tarian softly nodded to herself. I completely understand, friend.
She squeezed past a group of dwarves around a table laden with empty and mostly emptied tankards, taking care not to elbow anyone in the face. She edged around a mixed group of tipsy orcs and half-orcs, and steadied one who nearly fell on top of her. Gradually she made her way to the bar. She spotted Milo a good distance from her, past several dwarves with beards thick with froth, and a couple goblins taking turns at a pint as though drinking from a pitcher.
When she could make a moment of eye contact with her halfling employer, Tarian quickly looked to the door and back to Milo, then showed her open hands and shook her head. I didn’t see anything out there.
Catching a slight whiff of spiced meats over the smells of stale sweat and spilled beer, Tarian caught the attention of one of the staff and asked for “whatever’s ready,” and pulled a silver from her coin purse. Tarian noticed the chain of the locket start to come out with the silver, but she dropped the chain back in before anyone noticed. I need to do something about this. Find a better place for it. Something.
"On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy." --Kevin Flynn, Tron (1982)
Out of context, also applicable to Dungeons & Dragons.
After a short while, the stout dwarven barkeeper arrives with several copper cups of ale and a large pot of stew with a couple of slices of bread on the side, and places it square onto the table, in between the different guests. With a look to Milo, he adds: “If ye wanna play, I’m sure the band would be up for a lil’ competition, slammers like.”
Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms
Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms
Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
Thia narrows her eyes with suspicion when Arc stiffens, but she’d relax them when he’d give his explanation. She’d just nod politely, accepting his reason.
Thia would chuckle a little as he leaned in to inspect her. Is this how Corti felt the first time I met her? Inspecting her hand and how she was built? “I did introduce myself as an Artificer. You are correct that I dabble more on the alchemic side of things.” She’d playfully sniff around trying to smell herself, “I did shower today. Is it that obvious?” She’d wink at him before picking up her ale to take a sip, relaxing back in her seat. “I’m a medic with the Veiled Valour.” Thia would hold up her arm with the ale to flash the golden crest on her sleeve. “My practical experience revolved around soldier rehabilitation. My research extends from my time with them.”
After a pause Thia would continue. “I suppose my desire to pick your family’s brain would be about the structure of warforged. How their parts are engineered and put together. Though I realize that could be invasive to any family secrets surrounding your warforged.” She’d pause again with a sigh, “But our prosthetics suck...” she’d mumble off, realizing she could be just rambling. She’d take a long sip of her ale and put it back down on the table.
”And yourself? I thought I saw some tinker tools on you as well.” It was her turn to look Arc up and down to inspect him.
just an unstable unicorn.
Arc nods, ignoring the playful wink, "Yes, I'm more on the weaponry side however. It's admirable that you can help those in need, though it's funny you mentioned prosthetics, I actually have one I've been working on." Arc, slowly getting more an more immersed into this conversation pulls out of his bag a wooden, with metal joints, hand. "One of the strike leader's wife was involved in some nasty business, so I offered to replace what she'd lost as she was a weaver. Fundamentally, it could work just as well as an ordinary limb, with the connection of nerves via magic. Though we've yet to try such a method as it'd likely be quiet painful." Arc takes a moment to pause, realizing he was about to start rambling himself, then thinks before staring at Thia a little harder, "You're more likely to be versed with the ins and outs of the mortal body, what are your thoughts?"
Thia would politely nod, accepting the compliment before getting completely distracted by the hand Arc just pulled out of his bag. Immediately her eyes would be darting, scanning the design and craftsmanship of it. "You're joking..." she'd mutter under her breath, not expecting to see a prototype this far along, or even finished? She'd tilt her head to the side in curiosity before leaning in closer to inspect it. Thia had to fight the urge to just take it from his hands to inspect the joints and range of motion it could have. Her eyes would snap up to look at Arc "I've studied to theorize the connection of nerves via magic for this exact purpose..." she'd blink to look back down to the wooden hand with metal joints, "Though you're right to figure this method could be painful... ghost pains of a missing limb can be challenging enough for some... never mind reattaching a new one..." Thia would finally, but gently reach to the hand to position it palm up, fingers spread. She was trying to mentally map out the nerves of a human hand on the prosthetic. She'd start chewing on her lip. "As you stated, fundamentally, it could work... but it would be far from easy..." After a pause, she'd exhale deeply "and of course, I imagine a hand would be like one of the most complicated limbs to do... that's a lot of range of motion and muscle memory to map out..." She'd open her hand palm up beside the prosthetic prototype and begin flexing it and wiggling her fingers as she thought aloud.
just an unstable unicorn.
Arc nods, "Like I stated, it's only a prototype. Ideally, we'd be able to use the foundation for a Warforged like Corti here, who was provided a full range of dexterous control over their hand. The prosthetic part is easy, but as we've both now said. It's connecting it to a person that things become less concrete." Sighs and counts of all the things that could throw off or make calculations vary, "Pain tolerance, physical ability, phantom limbs, fresh nerve vulnerability. That's just the short list. Not even trying to think about the circulation or synchronization problems that's throw off the hand-eye coordination between the new limb and any healthy one left there..." Arc's mind already has numerous small factors playing through his mind that could cause a variation or slight deviation from the original concept. Again, he sighs, "I wouldn't suppose those in the medical field have some way of working around those things yet do they?"
As Thia and Arc dive deeper and deeper into their discussion, a courier suddenly bursts through the doors, sweaty and huffing, probably from running here. He heads straight for Milo, who recognises him as one of the farm hands. "Mr Spudser, I'm so sorry to disrupt your business, but there is urgent need of you at the family farm. When I left, they had been threatened by a local band, who was besieging them. After sneaking through their lines, it took me three days to get here, with instructions to inform you of what's going on, and to tell you that you should come back to help us in dealing with the bandits." Milo looks bewildered at the farm hand, and then, intent on hushing him, gives an apologetic glance to the rest of the group, before heading outside to discuss the details, away from earshot.
After a while, he returns, a crestfallen expression on his face. "I'm sorry to leave you here like this, but there is some urgent family business I need to attend to. Assure Mr Sparks that he will have his food, even if he might not hear from me for a month. And Tarian, for now, I have no more needs of your services. The payment you received already, you can keep, and any services that you have not yet received payment for, please let me know how much I owe you, I don't want to remain in your debt when I don't know how long this thing will keep me from the city. Anyway, to you all, I will be back, once my affairs are in order. Again, I apologise."
Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms
Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms
Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
Thia's mind raced and her brow would furrow, following Arc through his list of challenges, thinking of others has he went along. She'd ball her hand up into a fist, her frustration bubbling up with how little advancements there are in the medical field. She'd open her mouth to respond to Arc, but then is interrupted by a courier.
Thia's eyebrows would furrow in concern for Milo and his family. She had gotten so distracted with Arc, they hadn't even brought up the reason for the meeting yet. She'd stand up from her seat, "Are you sure this is something you must do alone? I understand it's family business... most certainly none of my business I suppose..." Could this be related to anything? This can't simply be coincidence? Thia really didn't know what to say. Sure Milo rubbed her the wrong way some times, but he sure doesn't deserve all of this mess.
just an unstable unicorn.
"I won't say no, if you wanted to come along. But Mr Sparks is expecting an answer to the proposal I made to you, and even if I am off on business, I still think it's a great opportunity to set things right and make sure that the right negotiator makes it to the conference in Duskrock. Now, if you don't mind, I need to make arrangements." With that, Milo got up, paid his tab and headed out of the tavern.
The dwarven barkeep rolled his eyes as Milo left, leaving far more than the necessary amount of coin on the counter.
Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms
Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms
Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
Corti had been intently listening to the arcanists’ discussion, and she starts up when the courtier comes in.
She sees Milo out and wishes him the best of luck, then sits back down at their table.
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Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
Arc watches and listens silently to the courtier, and as Milo leaves. He had no say in this matter, and even if he did, he understood the need for family matters to be kept private.
Thia would sit back down in her seat, in a slouch. She'd blankly stare at her mug, pushing it around a little between both hands while she pondered in silence.
just an unstable unicorn.
Corti looks at her companions sitting around the table and then sighs, she had really been starting to like Milo, I hope nothing's too wrong, I'll miss the guy. Rapping her wooden knuckles on the table. "Well... I hate to move on too abruptly from that, but we do still need to catch up. I still don't know about this business with Mr. Sparks, and Thia and I have discovered a link to the conflict up north that could potentially be a problem."
I do both party and individual character commissions. PM me for info.
Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
Thia would look up from her mug to Corti. She’d nod in agreement, “You’re right Corti.” She’d then shift to look at Tarian, “Miss Tarian, unfortunately I do not have the gold to offer you like Milo has, but you’re the only other person I’d know who’d have the same information given to Milo. At minimum, you’d remember it better. As Corti mentioned, we have suspicions and think we may have made a link. Would you be willing to brain storm with us?”
just an unstable unicorn.
Tarian raised a hand. “Don't worry about the money. Mister Spudsder paid for my services in advance, and the contract with Mister Sparks is to be paid by Mister Sparks, to my understanding.”
“If we’re going to brainstorm, let’s review what we know.” Tarian cut up the sausage she ordered and started moving the medallions of meat around her plate. “From what I understand, we’re to run interference on some military types. There’s a Grimme, a Cimber, and an Arceneaux.” Tarian slid three slices together, then pushed two of them off to the side. “Grimme and Cimber aren’t the ones we need to worry about immediately.” She pointed at the solitary sausage with the tip of her knife. “Arceneaux is. She’s a Marshal with power and ambition. She was involved in the Thelamyria attacks—”
Tarian paused, looked down at her plate, and moved a couple of sausage pieces together next to a chunk of boiled potato. She tapped her knife on the plate next to them before slowly continuing.
“—And currently has an army of eight… hundred…” She moved the sausage pieces of ‘the Thelamyria attack’ next to the Arceneaux sausage. Tarian’s brow knotted and she shook her head. Her speech grew slower. “Heading to Duskrock.” She pointed at the pile of sausage pieces where she originally cut up her sausage.
Tarian stabbed a sausage piece from the Duskrock pile with her knife, and another, and another, each with some quiet utterance that steadily grew to audible levels. “…Humphries… Blake… Ornell…” Tarian’s eyes grew wider as she stabbed the last bit of sausage and raised the knife, impaled with a number of sausage pieces, toward her face. “…Riley.”
Tarian leveled her gaze at Corti and Thia in turn, and she set down her knife, burdened with the bulk of the sausage she had just cut up.
“Look, this might just be me being paranoid—I’ve been through a lot these last few days, and I know I’m a bit paranoid at the moment—but hear me out.” Tarian pointed at the sausage impaled on her knife. “Maybe you’ve heard, maybe you haven’t, but a bunch of the Duskrock Dragoons have been found dead recently. I’ve been investigating those deaths. All this talk has got me thinking: Arceneaux was in charge of the troops at Thelamyria after General Viktor died. The two were close enough that there’s rumor of them being lovers. The Dragoons’ third column wasn’t where they were supposed to be during the Vulture Valley conflict, when Thelamyria was attacked. If the third column was around Thelamyria instead of Vulture Valley…” Tarian shook her head. “These deaths could be some sort of vendetta. Even if it isn't, if you add all that to the theory I heard that someone’s cleaning out the Dragoons to soften Duskrock up for an invasion, it’s starting to look like this Arceneaux is truly bad news.”
Tarian bit a couple pieces of sausage off her knife. “That’s all I’ve got so far. Paranoid theories. What links have you made?”
"On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy." --Kevin Flynn, Tron (1982)
Out of context, also applicable to Dungeons & Dragons.
Corti leans forward on the table, bracing herself on her elbows, and does her best to use her experience to keep up with Tarian's sausage diagrams. She nods as Tarian finishes, frowning at the news.
Leaning back again, and wringing and fidgeting her hands in her lap, she glances at Thia before starting. "Okay... well, ours has to do with Marshal Grimmes. Word is he's been causing a stir up north, and I've just heard about various Imperial sieges of factories up there, which I think we can safely say Grimmes has played some sort of part in. We think that two students who assisted in the strike here have a deal with the Duskrock factory heads, I heard them mention some kind of alliance. 'We help your factories, you help ours.' That kind of thing. The student's names are Carlo Merrix and Leo, and they disappeared after being waved off by one of the delegators. They seemed angry. If we could use them to get information on Grimmes or what's going on with the conflict up north that would be helpful, and we can't do that if they're hiding. I think we should find them and see what they have to say."
As Corti finishes, she looks at Thia again, silently asking if she missed anything, and giving Thia a chance to share her thoughts.
I do both party and individual character commissions. PM me for info.
Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
Thia would let out a sigh of relief when Tarian would start reviewing her knowledge out loud with everyone. She knew Tarian would know lots, but she was impressed at the speed and ease it which it rolled off her tongue. Tarian even used her meal to help everyone follow, which Thia appreciated, and definitely needed when it came to this kind of talk.
When Tarian was finished, Thia was still trying to process the information, hoping something, anything sticks. She’d look to Corti encouraging her to share the connections she made with Tarian. Thia would nod along with Corti’s explanation to Tarian of their earlier conversation.
”Those are pretty much the important bits. I don’t really have much to add to that. Maybe useless details?” Thia would look from Corti to Tarian, “Leo was my neighbour. He warned me the morning of the rally not to go. He expected danger. After spotting him at the rally we watched him leave in a huff and a hurry. I haven’t seen him since. He’s since moved, as I have a new neighbour. It’s raised a lot of suspicion.” She’d shrug.
just an unstable unicorn.
“Hmm. Well that’s a bad bit of news for an investigation, then. Sounds to me like your friends are involved in something big.” When Thia and Corti did not immediately respond, Tarian explained her reasoning. “Your friends aren’t just students. ‘Just’ students aren’t worth the personal notice of factory heads and delegates, even if they support strikers. Furthermore, even if there is a lengthy waiting list for a room in your dormitories—and I’m sure there is—well, it’s not like it would be normal for someone to be able to move out and someone else able to move in that quickly, right? This sounds like your friend Leo was already prepared to leave, regardless of what happened.”
Tarian shoved a bit of sausage in her mouth and spoke around it while chewing. “If I was going to investigate a disappearance like this, the first people I would ask for information are the vanished’s neighbors.” She swallowed. “Since you’re the one looking for him, Miss Thia, I have to assume asking the neighbors is out. And the one who’s replaced him either knows nothing, or will be under orders not to say anything. Odds are good it’s the former.” Tarian tapped the back of the knife on her plate. “The dorm registrar, though, now there’s a possibility. Less likely to be on anyone else’s payroll, and, since the change was made so quickly, they probably knew in advance of the change and they might have information on where he’s moved to. Getting that info out of the registrar, now there’s another matter. Outsiders like myself would typically need some sort of insider to get something out of them.” Tarian looked pointedly at Thia…
…Then shrugged. “Of course, there’s no guarantee your Leo left anything of the sort if he didn’t want to be found. Failing that, I’d look into the specific factory heads they spoke with next, and the delegate last, if I could. Maybe do a check on where he spends his time, and with whom.”
Tarian frowned. “But if the timing is all just coincidence, and Leo left for reasons unrelated to the events you saw, well, that would make investigating the disappearance a bit harder. I’d have to find new leads, investigate those…” Tarian spared the silent Arc a brief glance. “And that’s if I was working this case. Which currently I’m not. I’m being paid to help Mister Spudsder find Mister Brandt, then report to Mister Sparks of those who choose to be part of the team taking up his offer. In absence of Mister Spudsder, assembling a team… is now… up to me.” Tarian’s forehead slipped into her palm.
Tarian’s eyes closed and she quietly muttered to herself, “Ahlweys th’ reight pehrson fehr th’ job, yeh? An’ talkin’ t’others ‘s what I do behst, reight?”
"On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy." --Kevin Flynn, Tron (1982)
Out of context, also applicable to Dungeons & Dragons.
Corti listens to Tarian, smiling a little as she finishes. “That all sounds about right. I was planing on talking to Bellows, the foreman Leo and Merrix worked with, when I got the chance.”
I do both party and individual character commissions. PM me for info.
Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
“Corti and I had come to similar conclusions regarding Leo and his friend.” Thia would nod in agreement with Tarian’s assumptions and suggestions. “A dorm registrar would be worth inquiring with, but I was thinking about trying someone else first. I’m familiar with a librarian and I wanted to try picking his brain to see if he’s noticed anything. Some times students stick out... sometimes non students are easy to pick out... librarians have opportunities to be a ‘master of whispers’ ” she’d shrug. Thia would make a mental note to stop by the registrars office after she visits Thaddeus.
just an unstable unicorn.