Wil bows his head as Labelas points out the downfalls of a holy warrior and nods quietly in agreement. "Sometimes we must choose the path that benefits all and abandon ourselves in the process. To maintain ones honor despite adversity is the greatest of feats and requires the greatest of costs as well."
He follows quietly, contemplating the possible abandonment of the commission and easily catches the keys Labelas tosses at him. He then marvels at the sudden construction occurring all around them, awestruck by how easily everything rises and changes with the wave of a divine hand. Once the new shrine was finished he turned and looked to Labelas. "Is there a certain priest among the faithful in the city who should have a set of these keys? If there Is I shall see it delivered to them personally. I ask only because we will not always be here Great One and it would be a shame to leave this place sealed." He bows his head in respect to the divine figure before him but is caught off guard by Talons words.
Even before a god Wil's single eye locks onto his brother, who was acting quite oddly. "If we leave these sewers we will need to return some of the items as I promised to do so, that is if we don't plan on helping Spider. I'd rather not see you break your oath in aiding the Coastal Kingdom." He kept quiet about his unease of leaving behind the lands he knew for places unknown...
Elven lands... Who knew he'd see them so soon?
It is possible to head overland to the sea from here. Are there any stops before you go or items you wish to purchase (many things required a few days to get, the magic shoppe is mostly a magic item brokerage house)? As of yet, you have not ordered any items from the shoppe as they were asking annoying questions.
Returning to your comfortable rooms in the inn set aside for your use, a note is waiting.
--Needed to get some serious scratch together, so I put together a crew and went ahead without you. I did not want Sir Wil to have to be involved.-- A dried spider is included in the envelope with the note, which is dated the previous day.
Elorin was enjoying being out of the sewers and glad that everyone is well. She takes a few minutes to talk to Talon."Talon perhaps the being we met is right, I might be better to take the bow. I know you crave to be the best archer, but for now the bow may be best in my care."
Yes, that's a good idea. We should seek out Spider before we leave. For all we know, he may yet know a way to help us get what we want. If not, I'd share a drink just to thank him for the aid he's given us. We can use all the friends we can get, even if they're not up to everyone's "standards."
Besides, we owe Flambeaux a bit of relaxation before we resume our work, and I think we all could use a breather.
Suny and Elorin as bards that have asked around inform you that Spider hangs out at an inn in the shadier portion of town where he took Wil shopping. He earlier made mention when he left to get in touch with him there.
"Thank you Talon." She takes the bow and places it where her bow normally lays. "here, take my bow, it is a good weapon. Its not as good as this one I fear but it is the only trade I have to give."she pauses for a moment. "well that and this..." She says as she leans in and gives Talon a soft kind kiss on his cheek.
She then turns to Seltyn and the others. "relaxation is a good idea for us all and keeping friends is always more lucrative than making enemy's."
She then turns to Seltyn and the others. "relaxation is a good idea for us all and keeping friends is always more lucrative than making enemy's."
I dare say, I think I've been charmed! Lead on, mistress!
Seltyn bows obsequiously to the lady bards, ready to slake his thirst and relax a bit.
Elorin bows back in the same way to Seltyn. "After you fearless leader. It is good to see us in high spirits. You are quiet the charmer yourself."
She smiles and heads towards the door, keeping pace with Seltyn. Turning her head to Talon for a moment. "My debt is not to you tall one. but it was the price we agreed on, even if it was in jest." she laughs and continues on her way, ensuring everyone is invited to join.
To the "Handsome Stranger Inn," then. Let's have some cheer, but be wary. We'll look for Spider and meet him on his terms, open or discreet.
We are still strangers here, and some of us aren't all that handsome. Our ladies are, though, and might attract unwarranted attention. Diplomacy before conflict, as they say.
The journey to the Handsome Stranger takes you through the less savory part of town. Here large packing containers used to carry items on long sea journeys have been converted to small houses. The city guard is not keen to patrol this part of town, and many look carefully at each other as they pass.
A well armed party such as yours does not run into any trouble. As you open into a large square, you see a large warehouse that has been converted into a dye and linen factory. Children between the ages of eight and fourteen seem to doing the majority of work. Much of the work is moved out into the courtyard where dyes are being mixed in large vats as materials are crushed, boiled in water, and stirred. Through the open double doors, in the dimly lit factory children work on looms and presses to make the cloth that will be dyed outside.
Four large men seem to be overseers. Their job is to put shirkers and malingerers back to work. They seem to take this duty very seriously as they react to just the slightest pause or work stoppage to heap verbal abuse upon the workers. Some of the children have burns from scalding water and corrosive chemicals.
Back at thier lodgings, Suny's spirits brighten again and she scampers about helping where she can with whatever she can.
Upon hearing/being told of the note from Spider, Suny claps her hands and bounces with exuberance at going to see their Human friend. All along the journey between this 'darker' part of town all Suny can do is skip and bounce about.
Chattering away in a mix of her 'Common' tongue and her native Elven about things...pretty much anything that seems to come to her mind/head at the instant.
Upon coming to the large Tannery and the scene playing out their-in, Suny pauses with the rest of the group and stills as what she's witnessing sinks in.......
Eventually, to her companions, she asks.
"Here, how much shine d'ye think we have? All put t'gether, like?"
Agreed. Sad as it is, we won't make anything better by trying to intervene now. Let's stick to our task as best we can.
Suny looks to Talon and Setyn,
"Is right clever, hey?" Suny finishes in her Human brough. (^_^)
"T'is somat my kin do when certain types o'...um....." She is obviously searching for the right word in her second language. "Boats people come in't harbor."
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." Azlain says as though thinking about something.
Azlain seemed at a loss for a moment, then approached the overseers. "I will speak with the person who runs this business."
Suny grins, thinking that her words have had an effect. (^_^)
The overseers seem surprised to see Azlain approach them. Two of them leave their duties to talk to him. "The manager is in his office--we will have a boy fetch him."
Calling to one of the boys working at the barrels, the overseer sends the boy to get Sir James from his office.
A foppishly dressed man in burgundy and rose comes to speak to Azlain. "What can I do for you? Come to buy some cloth for your lady friend at discount prices from the source. Good idea."
Suny looks to Elorin, obviously the over dressed fellow is calling her a 'Lady'.
"No. I've come to tell you that you are going to start doing more to ensure the safety of the people who work for you." Azlain says matter-of-factly. "It will help your business a great deal."
Wil pulls out one of his kits and starts counting up supplies, with a sigh he raises his head and glares at the four men as he searches his knowledge of laws in the human kingdoms.
(posting from phone till monday,please forgive formating)
Elorin walks up behind Azlain and smiles at the manager,offering her hand."My name is Miss Silentall,what may we call you? My partners and I are interested in more than your fine produce,we would like to know how you treat your workers compared to your compe itors."
(she emphasizes the word competitors.hoping to see if this is common practice with these humans.or just this human.)
Seltyn will hope against hope that Elorin will smooth things out before a party of nothing but elves causes a ruckus before they achieve their objective, and ruin any chance of making it happen.
Discretion, as the ancient bard once said, is the better part...
Wil knows that child labor is legal in human lands.
The human director speaks to Elorin,
"Our business is a tough business. We do what is necessary to keep it going. I do not think we have the necessary resources to make many improvements. Our work is much safer than the mines. They employ much more than we do and make more money than we do."
Wil finds the most injured among the children workers that he can see. When the handlers try to intervene he gives them a cold glare. Some of the laws within the human lands made him sick, especially because many of these children wouldn't survive to adulthood and if they did they would suffer chronic disabilities because of the mistreatment."Injured workers are fatigued workers, especially children. So you will stand aside and allow me to treat them or do you want business to suffer?"
Will continues with what he had planned, setting the kit on the ground and beckoning the first child over to be healed. He used the kit on those that had minor injuries and called on the strength of his god to heal those who suffered the most severe injuries.
Each child touched is restored to better condition then before, there aches and pains are removed and the worst of the injuries are either bandaged or wiped away by Wil's healing hand. He shows his true skill at dealing with injuries and how quickly he mends wounds in general.
"By the looks of you, your business is doing fine. Your clothing alone is worth more than one of them likely makes in a year. Or is velvet a cheaper commodity here than I am used to? My companions think that investing in your business would save these children from the mercy of your four enforcers. They do not understand the situation here, but I do. We do not need to do business with you, or even threaten you in order to change things. All we need to do is pay the children to stop working and go home. How much time would even a single gold coin buy? A week? A month? How far behind schedule would you be if you suddenly had to replace your entire work force? Could you recover? What if we did it again next week? How long before your competitors fill the gap in production and put you out of business? I'd guess no longer than a month. You may have noticed that we are elves. Are you willing to bet your business against our patience?"
Suny watches, listens and learns as her more knowledgeable friends interact with the Owner and the children.
The human manager watches as Wil heals the children and listens carefully to Azlain's words before replying. "For a few gold pieces I would repair the furnaces we used to use for heating the warehouse. The children have a rough time in the winter and have caught severe colds. My next priority would be to replace the cloth insulators on the metal equipment. Sometimes the children get burned by touching bare metal or corrosive spills and splashes."
The children are grateful for the help and for the first time smiles are seen on the work site.
He looks at Azlain, "I do not want to be on the wrong side of you, and I do not want to miss my quota and get in trouble with the owner. What would you like me to do?"
At something the well dressed man says, Suny's ears pick up.
"This...Owner..." She rolls the word around her mouth, as if working it out for the first time. Bringing her most cheerful smile to bear upon the gentleman.
"Where'd they be about, then?"
"Among soldiers, there is a saying. "A good leader asks nothing of his men that he would not do himself". It is that simple. If you would not want to work in those conditions, neither should you ask them to."
"Another thing." he continues, looking at the four overseers. "If you want to ensure your quotas are met, fire the thugs, hire nurses and give incentives to push efficiency."
"Suny would like to meet with the owner. If you arrange that for her, I will give you money for your repairs."
"No Talon. Your zeal to do right by these children will actually be rewarding their tormentors. We will give them only enough to cover the costs of necessary repairs. If they are not made, we will put them out of business as efficiently as possible. No more or less."
While awaiting the gentleman's reply, Suny sidles up to Azlain,
"Well, t'is either that. Or we jus' throw rocks at 'em till they go away." (^_^)
Despite it being a [legal operation, Wil wasn't in the mood for any of the overseers to counter him and continued working steadily. Never asking for thanks and smiling when the children moved on looking healthier then before. Despite using up all of his healing he didn't feel that it had been wasted and as his last patient headed off, with a strong skip in their step, he rearranged his healing kit and closed it up. "I won't dictate how you run your business, but Azlain has a point and you've seen what a little bit of care can do for these Workers. Their morale and the remaining hours they have to work. If I had the gold to spare I would chip in for the repairs as well but today's treatment is on me."
The manager looks around as if he is looking for listeners, and leans in and speaks in a quiet voice,
"Owning an operation like this does not make you popular with some of the locals. That is why you don't see him come around. For five gold I could probably do the repairs to the furnace and the insulators. The acid burns through insulators and I would like to have the budget to replace them more ofen."
Looking at Azlain, "We have soldiers in town. I have yet to see the noble officers on the front lines in any action. Maybe officers behave different where you are from."
Wil looks at the man hard for a moment and then realized that gold wasn't easy for laborers to come by, unlike soldiers, laborers were paid upwards of maybe a silver a day. More then likely though they were handed a few copper for their hardship, while soldiers such as himself saw a gold coin or more depending on if they were marching or fighting.
He pulls out his pouch and looks into it, he had been saving for another kit but this situation was far more important. Nodding to Azlain he spoke, emphasizing his coin purse. "I have some money to pitch in Azlain, enough to cover these expenses moderately." Wil looks at the Manager with his one good eye before looking back at the abusive overseers.
"I have said my peice and given coin. That is enough for now. We will check back on this place tomorrow morning. If the owner is here, that would be good. Tell him we are potential clients."
Moving back toward the road, he waits for the others.
Detect evil shows one overseer as evil.
The manager reaffirms, "The owner enjoys being out of the public eye. I think this is not the only enterprise he owns. But if you like, you can help me pick up the items tomorrow."
Suny nods, seeming happy that things have moved to a sort of resolution.
Wil nods to the manager and regards the one overseer with a hard stare. He mumbles to himself quietly, low enough though for the manager to hear him. "I'd keep my eye on that one if I was you." He turned back to the manager and bowed. "I will stop in tomorrow and recheck their bandages once more, good day to you." With that he turned smartly on his foot and rejoined the others in a soldier like fashion.
On the way to the Handsome Stranger Inn you also see a few children begging in the street. You also see that some of the houses have set out small items for sale: trinkets, cookware, embroidery, and many more labor intensive crafts. As you approach the Handsome Stranger Inn it has taken advantage of an outdoor setting. Their is a covered porch all the way around the inn. Much of the ordering is done through windows at each of the cardinal directions.
Outside tasty meats are being turned on skewers over a firepit by a one armed man. He has to stop turning to ladle the sauce over the meats.
Their is a single large indoor common room though the crowd seems to be outside. Women and small children seem to make up the majority of the customers, and the mood seems quite somber today.
At a large table three women talk while ten small children play in the area. Four old men are gambling coppers at a tiles game. One very young woman seems to be quite upset and is being consoled by a much older woman.