”Above ground, you are free to ignore me all you like. I don’t mind; I’m used to it. But down the shaft, until you’ve got experience, you should listen to folks with more.”
Xira does listen, giving the kobold her full attention. Her lips tighten briefly at Brimble's description of GMC's less than ideal concern for worker safety, but she doesn't look shocked. She nods at his list of potential hazards. Her friends had described those and a dozen more, which tells her that Brimble both knows what he's talking about and takes his job seriously. Good.
If I had hatchlings, I’d ask them the same question I’m asking you now… Are you sure you don’t have a better option?”
Brimble's question draws a gusty sigh from the young woman. "I wish I did," Xira admits, her voice low. "If GMC was hiring scribes or accountants, I'd try for those jobs instead. But either they're not, or they just don't want someone of traveler stock anywhere near their record-keeping, let alone their lockboxes." She scowls outright. "Given the looks my tattoos have earned me, I suspect the latter."
She nods back at the half elf. Then walks over to the small group that looks more capable then the others, and slams her Great Axe down. With a thud, then introduces herself
"Miss Abigale Brook, a pleasure to meet you"
Doing a custicy in her maids dress.
You can see at 6', white hair and eyes redish eyes, there is some drow in her. Her body seems more toned and more muscular that than may be expected of just a maid. The way she hefts the Great Axe around may also point to the fact, this is more than just a maid.
Brimble's question draws a gusty sigh from the young woman. "I wish I did," Xira admits, her voice low. "If GMC was hiring scribes or accountants, I'd try for those jobs instead. But either they're not, or they just don't want someone of traveler stock anywhere near their record-keeping, let alone their lockboxes." She scowls outright. "Given the looks my tattoos have earned me, I suspect the latter."
The kobold mulls on her response then nods; Xira’s perspective was oddly reassuring. At least she wasn’t starry-eyed about the work. ”Try not to take it personally. I’ve been watching the GMC brass for a few years and they wouldn’t trust their own mothers with the ledgers. There’s a rumour they aren’t people at all. Some sort of deep-earth Daemon created them by cross-breeding vicious cave badgers with a soulless fungus from the depths. It’s why they’ve got no compassion.” He smiles as best he can with a mouth not designed for that level of articulation, then stage-whispers, ”I may have started that rumour myself.”
Brimble casts his eyes again on the fellow with the pick. ”OK, now he’s waving.” The kobold wonders how to react. Avoiding attention usually served him well. But a wave didn’t generally precede a fight. In fact, he’s not sure if any tall has ever waved at him before. Or maybe the man was waving at Xira, which made far more sense. Unsure what to do, Brimble tentatively raises a claw offering a brief, half-hearted wave back.
Brimble casts his eyes again on the fellow with the pick. ”OK, now he’s waving.” The kobold wonders how to react. Avoiding attention usually served him well. But a wave didn’t generally precede a fight. In fact, he’s not sure if any tall has ever waved at him before. Or maybe the man was waving at Xira, which made far more sense. Unsure what to do, Brimble tentatively raises a claw offering a brief, half-hearted wave back.
Argatha sees the waive, and walks over to the boss-kobold.
”Hi. I’m Argatha.” He holds out his hand to shake as he adds, ”What can I do for you?”
He nods politely to Xiramona before turning back to Brimble.
Stood there she listens to what kobold is saying. He seems to be an old hand down the mine.
Joking about her maid outfit aside, this is what she looks like when working
”Is that fella courting you, Miss? He’s staring hard enough that a proposal or a fight for your hand seem imminent ... OK, now he’s waving.”
Xira follows Brimble's chin gesture to find an unfamiliar male hefting a pick and looking at them both. Lowering her own volume, she replies,
”No, I've never met him before. You should be safe.” Hopefully.In the interests of defusing a possible Situation, Xira adds her own small wave to Brimble's, along with a reassuring smile.
”Hi. I’m Argatha.” He holds out his hand to shake as he adds, ”What can I do for you?”
He nods politely to Xiramona before turning back to Brimble.
Oh good, no Situation to diffuse after all. Xira returns Argatha's polite nod, then offers another to the dark-skinned half-elf hefting a huge ax like she knows how to use it. ”A pleasure for me as well, Miss Brook. I'm Xiramona Salpashti.”
Having being stood close, she now takes a step toward the Goblin and woman walking.
Too Xiramona, she says now, worried the woman may be in danger.
"Nice to meet you, Xiramona Salpashti"
She nods at the kobold. Then in a low voice says.
"Sorry to intrude, look if that male is a problem, please let me handle him for you"
She still has her greataxe in front of her now, and the dark-skinned half-elf who calls herself a maid, looks like she could. Having just sent one young male yahoo home holding his manhood in pain.
---
Then as Argatha comes over she places her hands on the Axe, ready again for action. But when he introduces himself with good manners she relaxes a little. And waits to see how this pans out.
"Miss Abigale Brook, a pleasure to meet you"
”Hi. I’m Argatha.” He holds out his hand to shake as he adds, ”What can I do for you?”
The kobold isn’t sure how he ended up in this curious circle of people. But seeing it through is the only choice, and being friendly couldn’t hurt. ”How do! How do! I’m Brimble, nice to meet you both.” He shakes the man’s hand and admires the strength of it even while he is somewhat confused by his question. ”Do? For me? Umm… nothing leaps to mind but thank you for asking. I do have a question. Why are you lugging a pick to this shindig?”
"Nice to meet you Master Brimble"
She seems relaxed now, and drops her backpack, and sitting cross legged takes out from her backpack a small cooking stove, and spice coffee set.
Sitting it up, she starts a brow.
"Anyone want to a spice coffee?"
A small set up a line of small cups while she waits. She could be telling the truth about being a maid.
"Sorry to intrude, look if that male is a problem, please let me handle him for you"
"No, no problem," Xira murmured back. In fact the man seems far more interested in Brimble than in her.
"Anyone want to a spice coffee?"
Surprised by the offer, Xira blinks a few times to stem a slight sting of tears. Spice coffee was a ritual in her family before--well. Before. Her mother always offered a cup to the seeker before performing a harrowing. Some of her fondest memories were of sitting next to Mam, watching, learning the cards and sneaking sips from Mam's cup, until she'd graduated to having her own....
The memories flash by in an instant, and Xira recovers as quickly. "Thank you, I'd love one." Smiling, she joins Abigail in sitting cross-legged on the floor.
”Do? For me? Umm… nothing leaps to mind but thank you for asking.’
”You waived me over.” Argatha says. And then he thinks a long moment, ”Oh, you were just waiving back to me. I get it now. Sorry for the intrusion. I didn’t mean to crash your conversation.” He blushes a bit, embarrassed for what he has done.
”I do have a question. Why are you lugging a pick to this shindig?”
”Oh this?” he holds up his shiny new pick with pride. ”We’re miners, and I was told we’d need to dig in earth and rock - and that I should have a pick for that kind of work. So here’s my pick! It’s not top of the line mind you, but it’s very good.”
"Anyone want to a spice coffee?"
”Hi. I’m Argatha.” He looks intrigued. ”What spices do you put into coffee? That sounds interesting.”
... Smiling, she joins Abigail in sitting cross-legged on the floor.
He feels a little awkward just standing there, hovering over the women, so he sits quietly with the others.
"Arr that is the secret, they say spice coffee comes from the beans being eaten by a kind of wild cat, some say its roasted with shavings from sapient paerwood. Others that way to the east, lotus nuts are used in the roasting. The truth is I think that every trader has their own blend and roasting secrets. That result is a tangenuss after every sip. This is my own secret blend and roast. Try and tell me what you think."
She says handing out the small cups of hot sweet black spiced coffee.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Nah. It’s just some light RP while folks wait for the due date and decisions to happen.
Ayep, what Brimble said. People just having a bit of fun.
People still have three more days to submit any applications they want to (June 4 deadline), and then I will decide and clearly state who is in the game. Thanks!
”Oh this?” he holds up his shiny new pick with pride. ”We’re miners, and I was told we’d need to dig in earth and rock - and that I should have a pick for that kind of work. So, here’s my pick! It’s not top of the line mind you, but it’s very good.”
Brimble absorbs the new information with a quizzical expression. You never win fighting the tide. ”That’s a fine pick, to be sure. And it’s a good idea to have a back-up… Just so you know, they will be supplying us with picks and such-like when we get to the dig. An’ if anyone tries to sell you ‘necessary’ equipment again, maybe have a word with me first?” He reaches up to clap the fellow on his brawny elbow.
"Anyone want to a spice coffee?"
Brimble waves off the offered beverage, ”No, thank you. Coffee puts me on edge… and nothing good comes from kobolds being on edge.”
"Try and tell me what you think."
"I think you should stay in town," Em says, holding her steaming cup close. She had been preparing to leave, but it wasn't every day that a group of exotic visitors congregated in the Salt Cellar. As the free coffee had come out and the wine had gone to Em's head, she found the necessary pretext for an introduction. "Another month, at least," she adds, taking another sip. "Tell me, does one such as yourself find the lodgings on offer at all tolerable?"
"Arr that is the secret, they say spice coffee comes from the beans being eaten by a kind of wild cat, some say its roasted with shavings from sapient paerwood. Others that way to the east, lotus nuts are used in the roasting. The truth is I think that every trader has their own blend and roasting secrets. That result is a tangenuss after every sip. This is my own secret blend and roast. Try and tell me what you think."
She says handing out the small cups of hot sweet black spiced coffee.
Xira bows her head briefly over the cup (another part of the ritual), blows gently on the dark brew, and sips. Eyes closed, she savors the sweetness, the slight background tang, the warmth of the spices, and the rich flavor of the coffee itself.
Lowering her cup and opening her eyes, she smiles at Abigale and Em. "It's delicious. Perhaps I should make my mother's version sometime, so we can compare."
"Tell me, does one such as yourself find the lodgings on offer at all tolerable?"
She looks a little sad,
"I was in service, so my lodgings was in with my wages. They were good, but my master was demoted and lost his mance. I did not like the new master, he was a pig, so I had to leave service and they shipped me here."It is often the case the company men like chaotic servants. But such chaotic servants don't tend to 'leave' service. So you may get the feeling there is more to her leaving than that, but she is not saying. Also the way she handles her axe, she is more than just a servant.
"It's delicious. Perhaps I should make my mother's version sometime, so we can compare."
She smiles
"You should, I would love to try it, your mother sounds a fine person."
She looks at the human and the kobold and with a twinkle in her eye says
"Its seems the boys are campearing tools"
"Arr that is the secret, they say spice coffee comes from the beans being eaten by a kind of wild cat, some say its roasted with shavings from sapient paerwood. Others that way to the east, lotus nuts are used in the roasting. The truth is I think that every trader has their own blend and roasting secrets. That result is a tangenuss after every sip. This is my own secret blend and roast. Try and tell me what you think."
She says handing out the small cups of hot sweet black spiced coffee.
Argatha sips the hot drink, and a look of wonder crosses his face, ”Oh. Spicy!” He grins and keeps sipping.
Brimble absorbs the new information with a quizzical expression. You never win fighting the tide. ”That’s a fine pick, to be sure. And it’s a good idea to have a back-up… Just so you know, they will be supplying us with picks and such-like when we get to the dig. An’ if anyone tries to sell you ‘necessary’ equipment again, maybe have a word with me first?” He reaches up to clap the fellow on his brawny elbow.
Argatha grins again, a fine pick!, and nods. ”Sure, you’re the lead after all. I heard the half elf say so.”
Barney does this several times with several glasses of wine. The young sailor soon slips into a sea shanty.
He, almost, claps along as the half-orc sings his shanty. The lilting tune sticks in his head for a while, rattling around while Argatha hums quietly to himself.
"I was in service, so my lodgings was in with my wages. They were good, but my master was demoted and lost his mance. I did not like the new master, he was a pig, so I had to leave service and they shipped me here."
"A shame, that a person might lose everything so suddenly." Em watches Xira thoughtfully. She enjoys the coffee herself, but for the Varisian traveler, it seems to be a much more meditative experience. "Especially when the world can be so cruel." Em sets her cup on the dirt floor. She will need to clean her dress later, but now is no time for such pesky thoughts. "Despite everything," eying the axe in the half-drow's hands, "your own spirit still seems well intact. That's always good to see."
Em watches Xira again as she says those last words. "I for one would love to taste your mother's recipe," Em tells her. "I'd even save some wages for any familiar ingredients you need."
"your own spirit still seems well intact. That's always good to see."
She smiles when she hears that,
"If it was easy it would not be fun, that is what my father used to say"
Sitting she seems to then leans back, spin her legs and ends up standing in one move, her coffee set in her hands, rock steady.
As other finishes she collects the small cups
"You should, I would love to try it, your mother sounds a fine person."
"Yes ... she is." Fate has taken Papa away, but Xira refuses to refer to Mam in the past tense. Not before she finds out what really happened.
"I for one would love to taste your mother's recipe," Em tells her. "I'd even save some wages for any familiar ingredients you need."
"That's kind of you, Em, but there's no need. I still have a decent supply." She smiles at her fellow villager.
A bored looking half-elf in city clothes is sitting at a table in the common room of the Salt Cellar, a stack of papers in front of him. Villagers shuffle forward in a loose queue. The half-elf pushes a pair of spectacles up his nose as he finishes up with Brosger, a burly fisherman, and then looks around for who is next. That’s you.
”Next! he calls, gesturing you forward with a twitch of his quill.
As you step up to the table, he proffers a document at you. The script is small and cramped but oddly regular, like it was made by a machine rather than by a scribe. ”Please answer the questions,” the half-elf rattles off in a brusque monotone. ”If you don’t have your letters, let me know and I’ll read them to you and transcribe your answers. Illiteracy does not disqualify you from gainful employment and an upwardly-mobile career with the global family of the Goldscale Mining Consortium.”
Phantrel meets the eye of the fellow half-elf, a rarity in this small corner of Varisia. From his dress and demeanour he puts aside any thoughts of an easy ally here. The mention of illiteracy makes him wince. Most folk, even in a place like Salt Spire, can read and write to a rudimentary level. If they are having to mention it without being asked it doesn’t exactly bode well for the quality of the workers the Goldenscale Mining Consortium employs - the poor, the desperate, the hungry. The easily exploited. And there’s no shortage of them in Salt Spire right now. Nor does it suggest an employer who is particularly careful with their workers. He sighs inwardly. This was never likely to be easy - Celys told him it was a fool’s errand, not that Phantrel exactly disagreed - and it feels particularly daunting right now.
He looks over the form, reading it through once before starting to fill it in.
Goldenscale Mining Consortium Intake Form
1) State your name, race, and age for company records.
Phantrel Springleaf. Half-elf. 81.
2) Are you able-bodied and capable of lifting, hauling, and moving without assistance?
Yes. I am used to manual work outside digging, sowing and harvesting.
3) Do you have any special skills that might be useful in the mines?
Possibly. It depends what you consider to be special skills.
The half-elf sucks briefly on the end of the pen, debating how to answer the next question. Eventually he settles for something that alludes to the past but without fully explaining, hoping that it might serve as an opening.
4) Do you have any past experience working in mines or in similar situations? Please elaborate if so.
No. But I am willing to put aside past differences and to highlight past mistakes that were detrimental to the village for the sake of the community and its future.
5) Do you have any phobias of darkness, enclosed spaces, insects, or other possible hazards of underground labor? Please elaborate if so.
Darkness is as natural as light, space is a relative concept and insects are a crucial part of - and crucial to - life.
6) Can you read, write, and do basic sums?
Yes.
7) Are you under four feet of height?
No.
Presumably this will spare me being forced down some particularly tight holes, he thinks, looking around the room for the presence of gnomes, halflings or any other races of smaller stature.
8) Do you have any crisis experience, such as medical or combat experience?
I have knowledge of medicinal plants, herblore and treatments for ailments from nature’s bounty. I can track and catch game.
9) What is your current trade?
I grow things and sell them.
Help us get to know you better to decide where you fit in the GMC family! Please answer the following questions.
10) My friends and family say I am (SELECT TWO):
SMART STRONG CARING RESOURCEFUL HARD-WORKING LOYAL FUNNY A LEADER HELPFUL CAREFUL OBSERVANT
11) My biggest flaw is that I am (SELECT ONE):
IMPULSIVE DISOBEDIENT LAZY SELFISH NAIVE CARELESS
Phantrel looks at the options. None of them seem quite right. He strikes them all through and writes “INDEPENDENT” below. As far as he is concerned that isn’t a flaw but he’s not convinced it will be regarded positively by the Consortium and he leaves it to them to parse it for any subtext.
12) If money were no object, I would spend my life…
growing things - much as I do now.
13) In my free time, I like to…
walk in the woods and watch the sea.
14) I can’t stand it when people…
don’t learn from their mistakes and don’t look at the bigger picture or the longer term.
He’s not unhappy with the last answer, again potentially giving himself the opportunity to explain the situation in Salt Spire and how things could work to everyone’s benefit.
Phantrel reads through the rest of the terms. There’s little good that he can see in it and a lot of passing of liabilities. Which he’s not surprised about, but it doesn’t fill him with confidence for getting much of a hearing. Still, provided he is accepted, maybe he can work on getting some support. A lone voice is easy to ignore or dismiss but there is strength in numbers. Maybe then they will have a voice and can persuade the GMC to make some sensible concessions such as replanting felled trees or investing in the village itself in the name of future prosperity. He pauses for a while before writing Celys’ name in as his next of kin, listing her simply as a friend and neglecting to mention the fact that she’s a dryad. He then signs his name and passes the completed form back to the clerk.
As the applicants appreciably loosen up, Brimble makes his way over to the sideboard to sniff the ‘wine’, trying to determine how much grain alcohol was used to spike it. He takes a cup to appear social then promptly recedes into the background – to watch. It was a curious mix of folk… from rough as a fresh sawn plank to refined as milled salt. It seemed like there were at least a few people who knew one end of a pick from the other which gave him hope there wouldn’t be a lot of babysitting to do down-shaft.
Phantrel!
The half-elf takes the application a touch gingerly, regarding the man before him, and reads through it with his eyebrows jumping several times.
"Interesting," he says at last. "Oh, while I think of it- GMC security detail will be on the lookout for potential saboteurs with agendas. Not, of course, that that would have anything to do with you. Just making conversation, Mr. Springleaf."
He offers a brittle smile up at the other half-elf, then sets the application to the side. "Do stick around for the hiring announcement, which should be rather soon. There's wine if you like."
As Brimble is discovering, the wine isn't awful, though it may not taste much like wine he's had the chance to try elsewhere. It has a bit of a smoky, sweet-sour flavor. The woman who's pouring it at the bar, a local, offers him a hesitant smile-- he might be the first kobold she's ever seen. Probably the first she's ever poured wine for.
"Er, you like it, Mr. Lizard? It's local. Seagrape wine. We age it in the ocean," the proprietress explains, rather proudly.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Brimble wasn’t going to drink the wine, but then the local woman looked curious and a bit proud. He didn’t want to seem unfriendly since he was going to be in town for quite some time. The kobold is pleasantly surprised by his first sip.
”Er, you like it, Mr. Lizard? It's local. Seagrape wine. We age it in the ocean,”
Lizard wasn’t a new slur… and at least he got a ‘Mister’ in front of it. It could be worse, in Feldspar they called him ‘Geico’, no, ‘gecko’… that was it. In this case, he assumed the woman wasn’t trying to be rude. Better to build bridges than fences. He offers her an understated salute with the glass. ”I don’t know much about wine, but it is tasty! I like the smokiness. I’ve never heard of seagrapes or such a clever way to age them. When I have a day off, I’d like to see how you make it, ma’am, if you'll allow it. And please just call me Brimble. I’m not fancy so I don’t need a ‘mister’ in front of it.”
His smooth repartee is almost ruined when he nearly does a spit-take at hearing the GMC lackey mention saboteurs. NOT good.
The woman-- a heavyset older lady with black hair streaked gray and a number of crowsfeet at the corner of her eyes-- smiles back, still awkwardly. "Oh-- oh you speak Taldane awfully well for a... ah... whatever you are. Brimble. Well, I'm Eska, this is my place. Must say, been a good long time since I've had business like this, Mister Brazali over there paid for ten bottles, can you reckon it? Goodness, I hope you miners don't wipe out the whole year's supply, though I'm not going to complain about the business. Now you have experience as a miner? My boy Gunder, he's applying, I'll tell him to listen to you experienced folks, I suppose small as you are that must be handy getting in and out over the rocks and such, see that's Gunder over there, the strong-looking lad signing his application just now, he's a good boy and you'll not find a harder worker in all of Salt Spire, actually he helps manage the grapes, learned the best ways to grow them from Mr. Springleaf, who's quite a savvy fellow, you know, and..."
Brimble might need to roll an escape artist to get out of this conversation, but at least she seems oblivious to his near spit-take.
Eska’s voice washes over him like an unrelenting tide… threatening to drown him in a sea of trivial talk. Brimble attempts to verbally tread water until he can rescue himself. ”When we’re on the same shift, I’ll certainly look out for your son… Yes, I have some experience… Oh, he also manages the grapes, too? Gunder is a boy of many talents… You know, perhaps I should have a word with Mr. Brazali to see if Gunder and I will be on the same shift, thankyouverymuchforthedeliciouswineand delightfulconversation!”
Brimble manages to extract himself, though Eska seems disappointed. A few minutes later he can see the woman talking to her son, and pointing in Brimble's direction. Oh dear.