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Post by moralhazard on Mar 2, 2019 0:35:15 GMT
Thea attempts to persuade an old man to do what she wants!
Persuasion roll: hplsi61Bd20+4d20+4
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 2, 2019 0:44:26 GMT
The man squinted her way, if it was due to his growing eyesight problems or his considering of the points Thea was handing out no one could have known.
"Lady"
He said then, as he pursed his lips together and slowly brough one of his rugged wet hands up to brush his eyes and caress his beard and the sides of his mouth in a downwards slide before licking his lips trying to look up for the words to tell her what he was about to say.
"I appreciate the offer, but I don't have the kind of money to go buying that sort of things on a whim, you know what I'm saying? And I mean no disrespect to Arioch either but no ammounts of beaten up fishes is going to change how I feel on the subject. I feel bad for the poor bugger I do, but maybe you can still eat him or something so he doesn't go to waste. I just can't buy him as is."
Said in his raspy voice but without stuttering one bit.
Arioch just sighed in his place, he had already given up on convincing the man on taking the fish and didn't want Thea to feel beaten up about it, it had been a fair trade to him. He had already accepted that the fish would probably be tonight's dinner and maybe tomorrows breakfast... All in all tonight's dinner was more than likely. Knowing how much he ate, there wouldn't be leftovers except for the bones, that depending on the quality could be turned into other tools.
"It's alright" He said then "Don't worry about it" He reassured her "I'll eat this one for dinner, I got some fire ready to go back at the camp"
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 2, 2019 1:37:38 GMT
Thea winced, internally. She could tell the pitch wasn’t going very well, and she felt thoroughly guilty about it; she could only hope that she wasn’t doing any damage to Arioch’s relationship with him. She thought, probably, she should let it go, thank him for his time, and move on; Arioch would eat the fish, he clearly didn’t blame her for its current, er, state. Hopefully it was still edible? Thea hadn’t done a lot of fishing where one kept the fish a long time; usually on the ship, they’d cook it immediately.
Except – except –
“It wouldn’t cost anything more than the fish,” Thea promised, unable to quite resist making one last attempt at a pitch. “I promise.” She straightened up, looking directly at the old man, and meaning every word. “I’m new to Waterdeep; no one here has heard of me, and it’s a city full of glassblowers.” None of which were as good as she was, but that wasn’t really the point. “I need a sign as much as anyone, and here – people will see it who wouldn’t in the trade wards. As long as you point anyone who asks about the sign to me, that’s enough. I don’t need any more payment.”
Thea almost held her breath, hoping against hope that - maybe - maybe - the old man would agree. It wasn't only about Arioch now; Thea really did want to make a fish sign, really did want to get her name and her work into the public eye. If only people saw what she could do, they would want to buy what she made! She was sure of it. This would be a good foothold into Waterdeep - if only.
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 2, 2019 14:09:48 GMT
The man squinted yet again at her and gave her words some thought, moving his mouth as if he was chewing something invisible as he did so, or maybe even muttering something incomprehensible or too low to be heard.
"Free you say?"
"What?" Added Arioch similarly confused at the generous offer. He didn't know if glassblowing was an expensive job but it sure looked like it, at least like with any smithing job.
"Well I mean if you put it like that... sure! Hand me over that fish here boy"
"Hey, no, wait a second" Said Arioch with a rather growing smile on his face "I'm afraid this fish' price just went up sir"
"What are you talking about, that fish is useless, a second ago you were having trouble even getting me to look at it"
"No it ain't, now it's worth a glass sign, circumstances change"
"Are you trying to hustle me up" Said the man looking at them both, specially at Thea with an accusatory glance
"Not at all" Defended Arioch "I just met her and I can't let you rip her off like that, a fish for a glass sign? I want double the price at least"
"Pfbawh, double the price for a broken fish?"
"It's not a broken fish, it's a sign-post trade in and you ain't gonna get any better, get on with the times old man"
The man mumbled under his breath as his eyes opened wide, chewing on the barbarity of the issue he was being presented. The audacity!
In the meantime Arioch smiled under his mask but thanks to it appeared to remain stoic as usual, though it wouldn't be hard to realise what was going under.
"Fine, then..." The old man grumbled and reached inside a small leather bag that was attatched to the side of his pants by a tightened string, and after reaching inside handed over two copper pieces for the fish. Arioch eagerly took it from his hands, and in turn placed the fish unceremoniously onto the mans hand.
"But it better be a good sign!" The fisherman complained, grumbling further before inspecting the fish like he was already regretting making such deal.
The barbarian turned his head slightly towards Thea and showing off the two copper, having it dance between his fingers before closing his hand into a fist. And winked at her gently.
"When will you have it done, you say...?" Said then rising his gaze from the fish.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 2, 2019 15:58:51 GMT
Unlike Arioch, Thea had nothing to cover her mouth with. It was one of the hardest things she had ever done to keep from smiling as Arioch jumped in and took advantage of her offer to double the price of the fish. She focused all her attention on keeping her expression serious, maybe with a faint edge of innocent surprise - but absolutely no hint of a smile, no slight upward curving of the sheets or glimmer in the eyes.
She was also thoroughly impressed; it showed a much shrewder side to the man from the far north than Thea had expected, and one, in all honesty, that she was very relieved to see. She wasn’t sure how well she had thought Arioch would survive in a city like Waterdeep; he was certainly physically strong, and from what they’d discussed about interpersonal relationships, she had doubted any one would bully him. But - Thea supposed it was her own ignorance and bias, growing up in a city, even a small one, to think someone from the far north wouldn’t be able to be shrewd.
“I’ll bring it to you in five days,” Thea promised. “That’s the time I need to make it thick enough not to break.” The design part was fairly trivial, but what Thea imagined was a hollow oval fish, and that would take some work. “And it will be a good sign,” she grinned, finally able to let it out, broad and enthusiastic. “A great one!”
Slowly, Thea extended her hands for the fish, waiting with a smile.
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 2, 2019 17:31:23 GMT
The man showed a bit of surprise when Thea extended her hands, like if he had just forgotten about what was going on there. And after a few seconds he extended the fish out to her and placed it on her hands. And just like that everyone there had touched the fish. It had gone all around from the face for a would be robber, to Arioch's hands, to the fisherman's hands, to Thea's hands. The ritual was complete. Soon the great glassthulu would be summoned, asuming the visage of a one-eyed fish that had definitely seen better days and sure as heck was not expecting to be used as a blunt weapon when he'd been fished.
Arioch let out a small chuckle, like a heavier sigh when Thea finally had the thing. Cold and wet to the touch it would be uncomfortably slippery and sticky in all the wrong places, not to mention the smell that fishes out of water had. Also there was the topic of the missing bits, the eye thing and the broken scales exposing part of it's not-quite-flesh to the exterior and the touch. It kind of felt like you could just accidentally end up tearing all the scales as it slipped from your hand. It was deceitful like that, the fish. If you pressed it with a strong grip because you felt it was slipping away, it would actually be launched forward with the strength of your clenching fist. They were tricky things, fishes. Maybe that was why bears usually finished their business in a single bite or two.
"Vell that vas..."
He was searching for the words
"Quite something"
Said finally barely holding back his laugh. He invited her to walk alongside him, to get away from the fisherman at least.
"Are you really going to make a glass sign, actually modeled after this here fish?"
If it were a weapon it would definitely be called something like banditslapper though
"Oh... With all this and that I forgot... Vhere Vere you going before all of this happened?"
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 2, 2019 17:55:29 GMT
Thea kept both her hands out, a polite, patient smile on her face, as the fisherman stared at her. Slowly, slowly, he reached out and set the fish in them. It was heavy, wet, and slime-y; honestly, it was quite gross. Thea made a mental note to scrub her hands clean later, and perhaps apply some scented lotion afterwards, certainly before she handled any glass or food. The worst part was that it was quite slippery; after all their bargaining and negotiating, Thea thought it would be remarkably embarrassing if the fish slipped from her grasp and flopped on the floor, so she concentrated fiercely on keeping hold of it.
Arioch turned to walk away, and with a last, cheerful smile at the fisherman, Thea followed him, still gingerly holding the fish.
“Of course!” Thea’s eyes widened. “I thought I might make it one-eyed, just for that touch of authenticity,” she grinned at Arioch. “I’d never make a promise like that if I didn’t mean to follow through,” Thea added, after a moment of introspection on the question. “Your word is what you have.” She was quiet, for a moment, thinking of – Urmlaspyr, of lies she’d been told there that she had swallowed whole-heartedly, without a second’s hesitation. “And anyway, it will be an interesting project!” Thea’s eyes lit up. “A hollow glass sign – big enough to be visible, thick enough not to break, but light enough that it can fit on the stall! It will really take some work. Modeling the scales and the color shouldn’t be too difficult,” Very, very, carefully, Thea lifted the fish, tilting it back and forth and squinting. “… Maybe I’ll make it a bit shinier,” she concluded.
Arioch’s question brought Thea to a complete stop, and her eyes widened. “Oh. Oh! I’m supposed to be – ” Her cheeks flamed deep blue. “I’m supposed to be running an errand,” Thea said, thoroughly sheepish. In all honesty, since their little escapade in the alley, her promise to visit Helmstar Warehouse had totally slipped Thea’s mind. “Er. Um. It’s… ah… right on the docks, near – near the Shipwrights’ House, their guildhall,” Thea glanced back and forth, as if somehow doing so would make the warehouse appear.
“I don’t suppose… you know where…” Thea turned to Arioch, looking confused and vaguely helpless, still holding the fish.
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 2, 2019 18:15:38 GMT
His laugh was genuine, it started to build up like a fire. Like those first embers when no one knows if it's actually catching fire or not, and you're just between blowing harder or not, except in this case it was a laughter that came every time stronger until it just bursted out at the third cackle. He wouldn't even know where to begin to explain the whole thing, the bandits, the fish, the negotiations for a sign in exchange for a destroyed fish, the haggle for said destroyed fish, and in the end it was like "Oh right, I forgot I was a normal person". Arioch just laughed there and shook his head.
"I have absolutely no clue vhere that is" He admitted with absolute honesty, as the laugh passed into a lower chuckle. He didn't meant to laugh at her but it was just too much, the whole thing it dawned on him and he wasn't so good at holding it in like Thea was. "But hey" he added then "I'll go vith you and ve'll find out together, alright? Can't be that far, really" proposed. He was wondering if anyone would ask her why was she carrying a mangled fish around. Even back where he was from curiosity was always in full swing.
He brought one hand to his waist and deeper look at her and her shape of white and flushing blues. It was a shameless look, he was having fun.
"That way looks just as good" Proposed pointing into a random direction. He'd use the opportunity to get to know the area a little bit better or at least learn to put the name to places and know what they were about. Getting lost was no fun, getting lost with someone was much more manageable, and in any case, he knew where the entrances were. He would walk her to the Shipwright's House, if that was the place where she had to go before going on his way, it really wasn't that big of a deal since they were already pretty much where it was supposed to be.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 2, 2019 18:22:16 GMT
Arioch began to laugh, and Thea’s eyes went wide. For a moment, she was offended – and then the ridiculousness of the situation hit her as well, and Thea joined him, giggling a little, and then laughing almost as hard as he was, laughing until her stomach hurt. Had she been anything but a genasi, she might well have been out of breath; luckily for Thea, that wasn’t really possible for her.
Thea giggled, lifting one shoulder to wipe her eyes against it. She sighed at Arioch’s admission that he didn’t know where the warehouse was either, letting out a last giggle. “That figures,” Thea sighed again. Arioch offered to escort him, and Thea smiled at him, a fullblown, genuine smile, with no ulterior motive except a cheerful appreciation of the offer. “That’s very nice of you. Thanks,” Thea sighed, looking down at the fish.
“If we just stay on the docks, we’ll find it eventually,” Thea said, nodding. She glanced around; it seemed like they were close to the southern edge of the docks. Arioch was suggesting north, up towards the other end of the city, and – well, since the shipwright’s house and helmstar warehouse didn’t seem to be here, Thea thought heading along the docks was as good of a guess as any.
She and Arioch set off along the docks, Thea still carefully juggling the fish, a cheerful smile on her face. This was undeniably the strangest day she’d had in Waterdeep so far, but also probably the best one. “So where will you go after the warehouse?” Thea asked, curious about what Arioch’s days were like.
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 2, 2019 18:36:05 GMT
Soon enough they were on their way, and Arioch wasn't really sure where they were even going but if anyone were to guess he sure looked like he knew, because he wasn't looking around like he was lost. Carefree would be a good way to describe him, just there living in the moment, doing exactly what he wanted to do and going where he pleased.
"I'm going to catch some dinner back at camp, I should get a fire going before it gets too dark. I should have enough vood so it can last through the night and some part of the morning, it can get cold during vinter here. Not as cold as up in the north, but that only means I won't die if I stay outside, probably. Fire helps, and to cook too. I have to be in good shape for vhats coming."
He swung one coin upwards and catched it briefly before examining it like it was the first time he had seen one, he wasn't looking at her as he talked, still inquisitive about the copper piece.
"Vhat about you?"
Finally inquired
"Do you vork during the daylight hours or... during the night, how does that work? Vat vill you do now?"
He imagined people in the city lived to work in whatever crafts occupied them and had little freedoms outside of it, and by the looks of it Thea had to run some kind of an errand for this shop as well. He had seen what some apprenticeships were like, some were more brutal than others, some were more time-consuming than others.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 2, 2019 19:09:35 GMT
Arioch seemed so cheerful about his plans for the evening. He had said, earlier, that he didn’t mind at all sleeping on the ground – but, in all honesty, it sounded like a sad and lonely life to Thea. She had, she was sure, slept a night or two alone outside. She couldn’t think of when, at the moment; the three months from Urmlaspyr to Waterdeep she had spent almost entirely in the company of merchant caravans. There had been a few days, in different towns, when she’d been by herself, but not outside of the city.
Were there bears this close to Waterdeep, or other creatures? Perhaps the fire kept them at bay; that made sense to Thea. She supposed for Arioch it was almost the opposite, that Waterdeep was unfamiliar and sleeping in the words comforting.
“I’ll go back to the workshop, I think,” Thea said, cheerfully. “With the package from the warehouse,” she smiled. “I have a commission of glassware to work on. Nothing too fancy, that will be using molds. I’ll probably start planning the fish sign as well,” she grinned at Arioch.
“I work… both during the day and at night,” Thea giggled. “My first few weeks in Waterdeep, I was trying to make a number of pieces for an exhibition, and I pretty much slept in the workshop. I have a room, but it’s a bit far, so - I just set up a cot in the corner of the workroom. It’s warm there, they keep the fires for the glass going most of the time, so when I got too tired I just slept there, rather than having to walk home.”
“… Most of the time it isn’t that bad, though,” Thea skipped to avoid a pile of garbage on the wharf, nearly dropped the fish, squeaked, and carefully adjusted her hold on it, and resumed her chatter. “But – yes, the workshop is well lit, so I can work whenever I want, or as much as I need to. I should be able to go home tonight, I don't have that much to do. Planning the fish I can do as well at home anyway."
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 2, 2019 21:25:24 GMT
Working both day and night sounded right to him. He didn't know that much of the daily duties other than what was focused on survival and warrior's life, in his tribe most of that was handled by other people that for some reason or another weren't really fit for combat and hunting in the harsh environment. It was still quite a job, but it was more thrilling and exciting that knitting and making nets or weapons all day. And by thrilling he meant frightening most of the times, it was a hard thing to stare at death in the face and watch the people you knew die in an instant right next to him. He could definitely understand the allure of a quiet life, he just didn't share it, he looked down on it for the most part, but had learned to accept that was just how the world worked.
"You work day and night in the workshop?" He seeked her confirmation on this. He had no grasp on the legality of the issue either. "So what do you fancy the most, a pair of shackles or a collar?" He tossed her way with a chuckle.
And his chuckle turned into a laugh when he watched her fiddle with the fish when she almost dropped the fish, it was mostly the squeaking sound that came out of her, like some kind of chink in his armor made him laugh straight away at the sight of her. He decided it was a kind of pleasant clumsiness, on the cute side. He wondered then if the shop owner would feel the same way about that, if that happened with glasses in hand. He figured those were pretty fragile and, or, expensive.
"Complete with a bed and all, that doesn't sound so bad. Are you the only apprentice there?"
On the off chance that there were more people chained up to a wall working night and day in order to fulfill a city's entire need of glasswork.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 2, 2019 22:39:22 GMT
Thea giggled. “Oh, a collar, absolutely,” she said, cheerfully. “Shackles would make glassblowing hard.” He wasn’t the first to tease her about the hours artisans worked; in Urmlaspyr, most of her crowd hadn’t been glassblowers, and hadn’t exactly appreciated why Thea would choose a profession that kept her so busy, especially during her apprenticeship years.
The fish was remarkably hard to carry! Thea was excellent at carrying glass; her hands were perfect and steady, no matter how complicated or heavy the project – but something about the slipperiness of the fish was very close to defeating her. She hadn’t realized how impressive it was that Arioch had carried it so effortlessly for so long; it wasn’t strength so much as strength and dexterity, combined in a very weird and particular way.
“I finished my apprenticeship last summer, actually,” Thea grinned at Arioch. “Before I came to Waterdeep.” In Urmlaspyr, she thought, it might have been a harder transition; going from apprentice to master in the same shop could be a little weird. Here in Waterdeep, she had arrived as a master in her own right, so far Jhalassan had treated her with all the courtesy and respect she could have imagined; more, given Jhalassan’s own position in the guild.
“But I work out of a pretty large shop, and I trade some of what I earn for use and materials,” Thea explained. “The shop has… at least a dozen apprentices, I would say? I believe I’ve met all of them by now. Their hours are as bad as mine, except they wouldn't be allowed to do their own projects, not for several years. It's a tough shop."
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Arioch
Approved
Level 6 — Barbarian
Posts: 333
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Post by Arioch on Mar 2, 2019 22:58:16 GMT
Arioch snorted, she had a point, it would be hard to craft anything with your hands tied up like that, specially carrying glass around.
"I'll remember that"
He countered with another one of those invisible smirks, but a very visible wink. His gaze lingered on hers for a couple more seconds before turning ahead and checking just where were they really headed towards. He hadn't been much on the dock district except for two distinct ocassions. Well, three. One was when he arrived just as lost as anyone could possibly be, that one time that he actually challenged a huge blue furry woman to a fight and got beaten up a minute into the fight. Thinking about that made him want a rematch, he was sure to be much stronger now that he had been then. The second one was when he met with a rather strange girl filled with holes in her face and other places and some questionable decorations. Made him think the people of the city were degenerates or simply hideous with no sense of fashion whatsoever. The third one was when he met the fisherman, exploring the docks on his own terms, and ever since he really hadn't feel it was a necessary thing to keep on exploring the place around. It felt... pretty dull. Like he had already seen all that there was worth seeing around there.
"So if you finished your apprenticeship..." He started to say, starting to put one and one together "Vhat vould that make you? A fully fledged glassblower? Or vhat are the ranks? There are ranks? I mean as far as I could tell for instance there are no supreme smiths unless they are really good. Like master smiths. And you don't really study for being one, you just turn up being one after vorking a lot, everyone else is a smith, or an apprentice."
It was pretty much his train of thought but explained out loud
"So you teach them?"
He looked at her with a side glance. It was a legitimate question, in her mind Thea had been an overexploited apprentice working all night and day for what was her passion, now she wasn't so much of an apprentice as an actual glassblower on her own, that was working on someone else's shop while saving up enough to open up her own. And as of a few seconds ago now she was teaching herself... Or checking the manacles, whichever one was.
"Hey, this is out of the blue but you wouldn't happen to know a good smith, would you?"
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 2, 2019 23:09:22 GMT
Arioch winked at her – winked – and Thea felt herself blush again, a little scandalized and desperately wishing she could control herself a little better. In retrospect, Thea had to admit, it was pretty obvious; Thea just wished she’d seen it early enough to avoid the trap. Actually, Arioch wasn’t so unattractive, or so Thea thought. Honestly, it was pretty hard to tell beneath the mask. She thought he was young, based on his voice, but – again – hard to tell. He was certainly confident, at least in some areas, and – well – Thea wasn’t sure what to make of him.
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been flirted with before. Except, well, up until a little more than three months ago, Thea had been in a fairly serious relationship for five years, so… the pool of people flirting with her had been fairly limited. Since, yes, there had been a few people who she thought, perhaps, had been interested, but Arioch was just a bit – well – brazen about it. It made Thea a little uncomfortable, but not nearly enough for her to leave.
If only she could stop blushing.
Thea giggled. “It’s pretty much the same. Master is the term that the guild uses, but there aren’t really distinctions above apprentice. Actually, it’s more like apprentice, journeyman, then master. If you have a big enough shop, at least, that you have more than one or two apprentice, usually at some point you start to call some of them journeymen. They have a bit more responsibility, a bit more autonomy.”
“I – ” Thea blinked. “It’s a little complicated,” Thea shrugged. “They’re not my apprentices, and so – if I started trying to teach them, it’d be taking them away from their duties, and I don’t think Master Thond would be very pleased. But I’d be happy to teach them a little bit about freeblowing – the style of glassmaking I like best – if Master Thond was comfortable with it.”
So far, Thea’s interactions with the apprentices had been fairly limited. She was largely working in the same space as they were, so they inevitably met, and – particularly while Thea had worked on her more complicated pieces, the freeblown glass that would make her as an artist, she had attracted a lot of attention from the apprentices. While she’d been working on her storm orb, there had been a large group of them clustered around, watching, wide-eyed, as she breathed the storm into the glass. Thea couldn’t help but smile to think of it.
“A smith…” Thea wrinkled her nose, adjusting the fish again. “I don’t think so. There are shops for armor and weapons in the trades ward – I’ve seen them – but no one I know personally. What are you looking for?”
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