Chapter 8 - The Early Bird
[*]
When: 03.14.993 A.C. - 0611 hours F.C.T.
Where: driving slowly up Capital Trail into the Low Town district of Morinrayne Village.
Who: Our lovable protagonist and his 6 new friends

The hearse engine rumbled gently as magejosh was only letting it idle power into moving forward as he took note of the buildings he was seeing this time while making sure to keep checking on Lia's navigation spell. They were pulling towards an intersection with the pointer leading us forward up a ramp made of cobblestone. The ramp went up the side of a short plateau at a severe angle. 'Nope, not even gonna try that in this thing, it's way too long to try that.' And he looked around for somewhere to park it. "Anywhere I can safely park this that isn't on soft grass?" he asked the others in the group.

Lia said, "Anywhere along the side of the road is fine I'm sure since you don't have horses that need tending."

"Where would I go if I did have horses?" magejosh asked her.

"To the right there at the intersection, on the other side of the windmill is the village stables. You could park your carriage there somewhere with the other carriages and wagons if you like." Lia told him.

"That works for me," he said, making the turn and looking for a spot that didn't look like he might sink his tires into soft earth. He pulled into a spot next to the fence that looked pretty solid and turned the engine off before pocketing the keys and opening the door. He looked around at the already active villagers across the street and at the nearby mill and another group over inside the fence for the village stables he's parked outside of that looked to be offloading hay for the stable workers.

He stood stupidly for a moment before realising the ones piled into the back probably don't know how to open the back door from the inside and he rushes to open the door for them. Lia joins him by now and helps the others out of the back.

Everyone began saying their goodbyes and splitting up to do their own things, leaving Lia and magejosh standing behind his vehicle. He went to lock the doors, and turned to Lia, "What should we do first? I have no money right now, so maybe go collect the reward?"

"I will loan you some money until you can repay me, we need to go make the declaration paperwork and file it for your Ambassador status, in order to give you the legal protections you need. Then you will need an adventurers guild license, so you can collect your reward from the village's Trade Authority." Lia explained to him.

"Eww, this sounds way too much like renewing my license at the DMV." magejosh said as he grimaced at the memory.

"I have no idea what that is, but if it is a monotony of tedious paperwork and waiting and fees, then you have a good idea of what our next couple hours look like." Lia replied.

Twenty minutes later he was filling out paperwork handed to him by a clerk in the Morinrayne Council Hall. He looked at the stack of papers and couple scrolls and the quill and inkwell he was given. Then he pulled a bic pen from his pack he'd brought with him and used it instead as he thought to himself, 'If I'd packed that portable printer and some paper, I could have just dictated this whole thing after taking pictures of these forms with the Adobe Scan app on my phone. Wait, that wouldn't work would it? I bet that app needs the Adobe servers, hmm. Need to look into seeing if I can use one of those vision models I have to perform that task now. And write the app to do it. Uggh. I don't want to think about that right now.' And with that he quickly bullshitted his way through answering everything as truthfully as he could while not revealing any true information about himself beyond his alias and the name of his home estate, 'Raivenstede', which is from America.  

As he wrapped it up, he'd noticed a couple of important looking people arguing louder and louder back behind the counter with each other. He handed in his paperwork and paid the filing fee before leaning close to Lia and whispering, "Who are they?"

"A pair of Counselors arguing about a permit." Lia told him.

"I'd gathered the argument, though I'd wager the permit is what they are talking about rather than what the argument is about," he replied as they moved back to wait for their clerk to finish filing his paperwork. It didn't look like it was going to be quick. He kept paying attention to the Counselors as he asked, "What is a Counselor in this village, what powers do they have, are they voted in or appointed, that kind of thing."

Lia looked him over again, impressed he'd picked up on those details while working on the paperwork and talking to the clerk. 'Worldwalkers are often rumored to have a hard time adapting to the new world, yet he seems like a fish in water,' she thought before answering him, "A counselor is an elected official, they work with the Mayor's office to govern the village and enforce the Governor's will, though they do need to pay attention to the people they represent or they may not be re-elected the following term."

"That's the secret to their problem with each other right there. If you listen to them, they are both more worried about what someone else will think of them if they give in to the other's side on the issue on the table between them." He explained as the realization hit from her explanation of the socio-political dynamics relevant here. He moved back over to the counter as he listened to their argument heating up.

Magejosh leaned forward, resting his elbows on the council's weathered oak table they were using to section off the waiting area from the workers area, his eyes shifting between the contending counselors arguing in each other's faces. "Excuse me," he interjected, his voice carrying a confident yet respectful tone, "I couldn't help but overhear your debate. May I offer a third perspective?"

Counselor Blake, with a brow furrowed from concern for the village's aesthetics, nodded tersely. Counselor Ainsley, her stance softened by an inclination towards preservation, gestured for him to continue.

"The building you speak of," Magejosh began, gesturing towards the three keys icon on the map that was mounted on the wall between them, "is both a treasure and a tribulation. What if it could be both preserved and revitalized, contributing to the village's charm and its coffers?"

He painted them a picture with words, of a stone and plaster building, not an eyesore but an attraction: the Fancy Inn. "Imagine a place where travelers can rest their heads, enveloped in the rich tapestry of our history," he said, his gaze now holding a hint of the dreamer's glint. "A living museum where each stone tells a story of the village's thousand-year legacy, where we can display the works of our local artists alongside murals of the village history."

Counselor Ainsley's eyes lit up, the flame of heritage and tradition flickering within. Counselor Blake, however, remained cautiously optimistic, arms crossed, as if guarding the village's future.

"And here's the key," Magejosh continued, aware he was on the cusp of winning over both hearts and minds. "We find someone passionate about restoration, someone willing to exchange their skill for accommodation. They live there, work on it, make their stay completely free and include meals as they renew it. And a caretaker, perhaps from among our own villagers, to oversee the operations and implement initiatives to earn a profit for the village's coffers."

The room fell silent, the counselors contemplating the woven tale of the future Fancy Inn. "It would become more than just a place to stay. Over time, it would grow to become an anchor of the economy and a beacon for tourism. The income it generates could fund other enrichment projects. The Fancy Inn will be self-sustaining, profitable, and most importantly, a celebration of Morinrayne's history and progress."

Magejosh stood up, his voice now a firm declaration, "And to show my commitment to this vision, I volunteer to assist in its repair, to the best of my abilities. After all, it is in our collective hands to shape the legacy of this village, and to put my money where my mouth is, I will invest 25 gold pieces into the project before the end of day today if you will agree to work together on the project and find the funding for this project going forward."

Both counselors, now swayed by the unity of past and future in Magejosh's vision, began to nod. It was a solution that not only mended the old with the new but also tied together the frayed ends of their perspectives, binding them in a common goal. With the Fancy Inn, they could honor the past while writing a new chapter for Morinrayne Village—one of prosperity, unity, and enduring legacy.

They were thoroughly impressed with his swift responses as they pressed him with concerns and questions they were sure the other counselors would ask them if they presented this idea together. Before long they had both agreed only if he would let them hire him as an advisor to assist them in presenting the project to the council in a couple days. They each gave him the minimum require Advisor retainer, which was as much as he would allow them to pay. Each had given him 50 gold pieces in a coin purse. He used one to pay the 25 gold he'd agreed to invest in the project as well as repay Lia as they were leaving.

But that was after they discovered he was waiting on his Ambassadorship paperwork and they helped him get that moved along quickly so he didn't have to wait all morning. He'd invited them both to visit his Embassy, known as Raivenstede, on the west coast of the ElderWild lake for dinner sometime and they both agreed they would be in touch to set that up.

[*]
When: 03.14.993 A.C. - 0723 hours F.C.T.
Where: On the front steps of the Council Hall in High-Town district of Morinrayne Village.
Who: Our lovable protagonist and his new friend Lia, the Half-orc, a member of the Morinrayne Guard

Lia looked at her companion with a look of wonder as they stepped outside the Morinrayne Council Hall. After having finished filing for his Ambassador status, he had somehow lucked into hearing a counselor arguing with another, and was able to charm them both into a mutually beneficial agreement. That lead to them fast-tracking his paperwork and offering him a mutual benefit pact on the terms he would make himself available to help resolve other disputes in the future. Now he had a retainer fee from each counselor in his coin purse and had already repaid her loan for the fee to file his paperwork. He continued to surprise her, "Well, that went better than expected. We should get down to Midtown to get your Adventurer's License and then we can get back up here to High-town and stop by the Trade Authority and pick-up your reward. Then it should be time to grab some lunch before we head to meet Tomas, unless you want to do anything else before that."

"And I need that license in order to collect monster bounties in this area, right?" magejosh asked.

"Unless you are a member of the Guard, which you are not, so yes." Lia answered.

"After you then, my fair Guard," he tried to charm her as he gave a little bow and gesture to lead on with his hands.

She rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Just Lia will do." And she marched ahead towards the gate to Midtown, looking over her shoulders and shaking her head at where he was looking as he followed behind her. 'It should be easy to keep his attention if he keeps this up,' she thought as she made sure to slightly accentuate her hips movement while leading him through the gate and down the ramp to Midtown.

They approached the stone and mortar building with glazed red clay tile roof that housed the Morinrayne Chapter of the Adventurer's Guild. A group of adventurers were milling about arguing about the payout split for their quest reward just outside the doors. Lia told them, "Clear the doorway with your business."

One of the more surly looking humans that had been arguing the loudest in the group spit back, "Or what tusk face?"

"Or I'll give each of you the Adventurer Public Nuisances Fine, that should help resolve your argument as well." Lia said flatly as she looked him in the eyes.

Magejosh stepped in, "We don't need to escalate things, right Lia? I don't want to waste our day filling out more paperwork when you kick their butts. We do have state business to attend to before the afternoon arrives."

The group looked between us, most of them had been a little emotional before, but they trembled a little thinking they might have bothered a noble they didn't know about as they looked at the unknown human male with a rosy cheeked smile and disinterested look in his eyes.

One of the others spoke up as the others begun to drag the loud one away, "Many pardons we beg you Noble Sir, we meant no disrespect to your servant or you." And with that he fled to follow the others swift retreat down the street.

Lia and magejosh laughed as they ran away. She spoke first, "You played that quite well for someone who doesn't know our world or systems."

He smiled as disarmingly as he could, "I've got a knack for improv social engineering. You don't have to know the specifics if you know the same base instincts exist, you can usually wing it I think. It worked against them at least."

"It surely did, and not only that, it was all technically true given your Ambassador status." Lia remarked.

"So what do we do in here," magejosh asked as he pointed at the now cleared doorway.

"We go inside and you wait for a clerk to be free to help you, and they will register your License." Lia explained to him, then opened the door and followed him inside.

They sat inside waiting for an opening for almost an hour before she suggested to him he should possibly be a little more aggressive about getting a spot when one of the clerks opens up. He replied, "Why doesn't this place use a que system?"

"What is that?" Lia asked him.

"A set of tickets are numbered, you take one when you arrive to show what order you got in line. The clerks then call on the next number in order as they work through people, so that instead of people fighting for space to be helped, every gets helped first come first served," magejosh explains.

He'd done so just loud enough for one of the clerks nearby to hear him. She wrapped up her work with the couple of adventurers she had been helping just after that and looked over to him as she said, "You there, you are next."

"Wonderful news," he beamed with a smile in her direction as he moved into one of the chairs in front of her desk, with Lia saying she would be outside when he was done if that was okay. He said, "Not a problem, I think this nice lady can help me with what I need to take care of today. I'll see you outside." Then turned back to the clerk, "I'm magejosh, Ambassador of America, and I need a license to Adventure I'm told. What's your name?"

She blinked, 'What's an America? Never heard of that nation, must be really far away.' No visible expression betrayed her inner dialogue as she began aloud, "I'm Sherly Church, nice to meet you. An adventurer's license will run you 25 Gold for a party or 15 for an individual."

Magejosh blinked, 'Wait, Lia didn't mention different kinds of licenses.' His thoughts clearly showing on his face as he opened his mouth, "I'm not sure what the difference is? Aside from the 10 extra gold that is."

She smiled, "Well, you have a friend with you so probably the party license is best, unless she has her own. The difference is whether you are empowered to subcontract out Adventurer's Guild contracts. Parties have a higher chance of succeeding and completing quests, which helps the guild and the economy, so they are therefore granted permission to hire and/or license members under their license." 

Before she'd even finished that last sentence I was counting out twenty five gold pieces from my coin purse that Counselor Blake had given me when hiring me as his political advisor earlier. I didn't have a party, but I definitely think having more authority is better than less for such a small difference in price. I said, "Party License it is."

"Very good, what is the Party Name?" She asked me.

"Name? Hmm.. I hadn't thought about that." I said. My mind whirling through options as best it could. "It's just a business name really right? Can you give me an example or two to help inspire me?"

"Well, yes it is a business name in essence, it's the name you will be known by to the people and the guilds. If you do something noteworthy at least." She said cheekily before taking a breath and continuing, "As for examples, That last group I was helping are registered as 'The Koehlanna Silver Company' and before you ask, that was Lady Koehlanna with them. Another I registered yesterday was called 'Razorbacks Folly' so it's really whatever you want as long as it's not already registered and in use."

"Okay, how is Mageworks for a name?" magejosh asked a little nervously.

"Unusual sounding for sure, one moment while I check if it is in use." she says before she flips open a book and flips to an empty page and writes the name on the page with a quill made from some kind of blue feather. The ink turns red and then disappears followed by a description:

Registered and Active License, location of registry: Skyreach Pala

She frowns as she says, "I'm sorry but that name is registered and active, what else have you got for me to try?"

"Of course it is, how about Destiny's Children?" He tried, trying not to snicker at the name.

"Nope, I have met that group myself. Came through just a few years ago to do a semester of training at the officers academy in High-Town." She said matter of factly.

"Well, I'm quite good at a lot of things, but coming up with a name on the spot is like my achilles heel," he mused aloud, "What about Nobles of Titan?"

"Religious are you? Let me check," she commented as she began scribing the name on the magical book's page. It did not turn red, instead it added a line below it:

List Founding Members:

"Looks like it is available, is it just magejosh as the only founding member," She asked him.

"Yes, unless there's no limit on party size or higher taxes for more members," magejosh says, an idea coming to him.

"Adventuring Parties can be as large as you like. This question is about founding members, as they will have authority to negotiate with the guild on your parties behalf, as opposed to members of the party which do not have that right until they can show proof all founding members are dead." Sherly explained.

"Oh then yes, add in Raiven, Arder, Redda, Treesus Murphy, Alley Kat, Wilbo T. Baggins, Moku, Bunny, The Traveler, The Lantern, The Architect, The Captain, Nabroc, Johnny Law, reznik, Shorty, StarDancer, Gabriel Hurst, Ezekiel Hurst, Buck Monster Killer, KKG or Kage, notDocWho, Char, Blackwolf, Magnanimous Jack, Bob Slayer, Charles Drakeson, Jackson Magnus, sirdiealot, Razor Rex, The Distro Kid, Riot, Sir Jason of Gamerton, madmole, Richard Huenick, Lathan Prime, alloc, Guppycur, Sphereii, Xyth, The Wizard Laydor, Actiniumtiger, Ragsy, Captain Whiskerbiscuits, Mentalninja33, Briston574, camoesgamer, emponeway, FuzzyPurpleMonkey77, Hoopty, Kamilla L, Stallionsden, Yubinashi, Teelady, Aesirkin, MorbidlyMorose, Mullenuff, mrbeard111, Retsel, Spectral Force, Pipermac, Darkstardragon, Prime, Zilox, Aviose, oakraven, arramus, bdubyah, and Mama Fields. Any of these should be able to negotiate on my behalf if I'm unavailable. This is a 'In case of death' feature isn't it?" magejosh rattles off to her, slowing so she can keep up writing the names in the book. He thinks to himself, 'If I wound up here, maybe one of them will and they will use a title for a name same as me I think. This way maybe they find out I'm here if they go to register at an adventurer guild hall.'

"You're not wrong," she says without missing a beat as she finishes the last name. "There we go, just needs your mark here on the x." Sheryl pointed to a spot in the book and said, "Place your thumb on the x and say I agree."

Magejosh looked at her to make sure he wasn't missing something, then shrugged and stuck his thumb on the x and said the words, then shrieked as he felt something pierce his thumb and a drop of blood mark the page. "You could warn someone before you're gonna suck blood out of them you know," he said crossly.

Sherly looks a little confused but continues on, "My apologies, you are all sorted now. Here are your Guild Guide Book and License Seal," as she places them on the desk in front of me then pulls a bowl from inside her desk with some berries of all colors, maybe a dozen of them, and offers the bowl my direction, "Eat a berry and it will heal your thumb and stop the bleeding."

He quickly grabs a berry and tosses it in his mouth before chewing with gusto. Then he wipes the blood away from his thumb to see it sealing before his eyes. "Very cool, how much for berries?"

"They sell for one gold piece each. But I need to keep these. They don't last long unless you have a magical preservative of some sort, and these are for services rendered by the guild. You could try getting some from an alchemist or enchanter in town, or maybe go find one of the druids that works the orchards and farms." She answers informatively, "If there's no other business? Would you like to look at available Tin-tier quests?"

"Oh, that does sound interesting. Is there a breakdown of the tiers and all that in the guide book?" He asked the clerk girl. He'd thought her a human up to this point, but then her face wrinkled and shimmered to reveal cat-like eyes for just a moment. He blinked and they looked like the normal round pupils of a human again. 'It's probably rude to ask about that.'

"Yes, the guide book goes over those things, as for available quests at your current guild tier rating. We have a few herb collection quests, Lady Walpole needs someone to fetch her cat from her basement again, as well as a handful of cheap courier quests the messengers guild subcontracted out to us, and a bodyguard contract for a caravan looking to make a trip to Moxie Glenn that is still looking for a couple more bodies to fill out their crew. Each of these pays between 1-4 silver." She informs him.

"Umm, can I take more than one at a time?" magejosh wonders out loud.

"At your rank that is not approved. You will need to rank up to Bronze at least for that," she explains.

"Okay, I'd still like to know the details of each of the herb quests. Then I'm going to have to go do the cat quest. I once knew a Mrs Walpole and she might have well as have been a noble of Memphis. And I just have to know if this woman is anything like her. Besides, how hard can it be to catch a cat in a basement," he asked her.

She chuckled in that way that was clear as she tried to stifle it that she might know something he didn't about this particular situation, "Sure, that sound reasonable. Good luck to you on that. As for the herb quests, they are for different herb collection lists for different shops in town. I went ahead and wrote down their details, so in case you decide to change your mind about the cat quest you can go ahead and collect the herbs to save yourself some time." And with that she winked and slid him a scrap of parchment with a list of herbs and minimum amounts to be paid upon delivery to which shop by weight. "Now, before you go, do you think you could tell me more about that Que System you were talking about earlier?" 

He smiled as he started breaking the idea down and answering her questions about how to use it and why it helps both fairness and efficiency to follow a set order of operations.

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When: 03.14.993 A.C. - 0901 hours F.C.T.
Where: At the service counter in the Trade Authority building in High-Town district of Morinrayne Village.
Who: Our lovable protagonist and his new friend Lia, the Half-orc, a member of the Morinrayne Guard

Ring Ring went the sound of the little service bell as magejosh tapped it twice. There wasn't anyone else in the area when they had entered. Lia had reassured him the clerk was likely working in the back somewhere and now they stood waiting at the counter for someone to notice the sound of the bell.

Magejosh looked around the room, taking in the different sets of scales they had at different points along the counter. Noticing different decrees on the walls, including going rates for different minerals and major trade goods. He studied the notices and pulled out his phone to start taking pictures of everything to look at later for easier recall. Lia looked at him questioningly as she heard the shutter sound.

"It's recording the image of these signs so I can read them later if I need to," magejosh explained to her look. 

"Oh, that sounds impressively useful. How much does such a magic item cost?" She asks as he shows her one of the pictures he took and how he can zoom into the picture.

"Oh this one cost me about three hundred dollars. I'm still working it out, but I think that would be like 3 gold here if I understand the rates for goods. Basically a week's worth of work's minimum wages after taxes in my world," magejosh explained, "This is a cellphone, a Ulefone Power Armor 12, which runs on the android platform. Not that any of that matters. I do have an extra one, well more than one I bet given how everything is repaired at my house now since I never throw away old tech devices. I suppose I could sell you one maybe, but I don't know if I can let it go that cheaply since I can't buy any more."

"I couldn't let you sell one that cheaply no matter what. That's cheaper than the cheapest magic potions and scrolls. I'd charge ten or even a hundred times more for such an item. I'm just a guard though, so my understanding of the economy might not be best, you might be better served having it appraised by a tinkersmith or wizard, maybe more than one," Lia said to him, then nodded over his shoulder as an old dwarven lady with dark chocolate skin and freckles on her cheeks with silver locks framing a big smile on her face came into view. He turned her direction as she shuffled slowly towards the counter from behind a wheeled cart with some files and a leather bag on it that she pushed to a stop beside her workstation in front of the two of them. Lia smiled seeing the old woman, "Lula Belle, what have you been up to Ma'am? No more trouble I hope?"

"Well if it ain't Lia Lenore, Chile what happened? You didn't quit the guard now did you?" The woman spoke like she was larger than life, and her accent in this strange language just reminded him of one of the sweet old ladies he met while working in Malvern Arkansas' Taco Bell in his youth. She'd been really sweet to him, but a firecracker to anyone who ran their mouth. This Lula Belle sounded just like her, in another language. 'So weird,' he thought as he replayed that memory.

Lia laughed as she said, "No I'm just off work today, had two days in a row off because Captain Thornwood says I've been outworking the rest of the Guard combined and I had to take some off time. I think it's really because the commander doesn't like a female orc stealth specialist outperforming all his precious human arcane knights he's been training, but what do I know."

Lula laughed at that, put her finger to her lips and sshh'd at Lia then whispered, "Girl the walls have ears around here, best to keep such opinions on the inside up here in High-town." Then in a normal tone she continues in an informal variant of High Orcish with all it's musical rhythms, wrongly assuming he couldn't understand what she said to Lia, "So what's got you in here on your day off, with such a thick human boy as that?" 

Lia smirked at Lula's forwardness, it was one of her more interesting qualities that always made her laugh at one of her first allies when she'd been assigned to this village. Lula knew all the best gossip in town, and would keep your confidence no matter what. That quality is one of the reasons she's held her position as long as she has. She responded in common tongue, "This is a new friend named magejosh and Sir Aliester told him to come to collect his reward today for helping with the flying fish attack."

Lula checked her notes, and said, "Says here magejosh is a female elf, and he doesn't look like a female elf to me honey." Her glasses slipping down her nose as she looked over the tops of them at Lia and the man.

"That was a temporary polymorph effect from the same wild storm that caused the fish to mutate and fly to attack the village. Me and Roscoe both witnessed the effect end and checked him for infernal nature," Lia assured her.

"Oh, in that case then, I just need your identity seal on a form. Let me grab that real quick," she says as she pushes her glasses up and then shuffles off heading into the back room again. 

"I'm assuming this seal I got earlier is what she's talking about with the Ambassador papers right?" magejosh asked Lia.

"That's the one," Lia said and her stomach grumbled a little.

magejosh: "I agree, I'm getting pretty peckish myself at this point. And I need to smoke when we get out of here. This has been far and above my normal level of socializing already today and I know I need to make some more stops after this." 

Lia: "That should be fine, where are you thinking about stopping? We still have a few hours until Jasper will be free to leave his Master's Laboratory at the Cowled Academy."

magejosh: "I picked up some herbs quests but have to do a cat rescue from a basement first, so I figured go do that then see Mirelle and see if she can show me what these herbs I need to find look like. And if I have some time, I'd like to figure out who I can hire to help me out as a handy-man. Preferably someone who can tinkersmith I think, or use magic. And maybe a farmer to help with my animals and land. How much might I expect to spend on such a thing?"

Lia: "Well, that's a busy day you filled out for yourself, where's lunch time in there?" she chuckled as she said that.

magejosh: "I was thinking we could grab a snack after this on our way to doing one of those other things. I'd be happy to pay for your lunch and for your time as a guide today.."

Lia: "I can take us to the Ivory Bard, we passed it earlier, next to the Adventurer's Guild. It's a bit ritzy but they have great food and there's supposed to be a good group of people in there today, they meet on this day every week. I'll take you there, we can eat and ask the bartender if he knows of anyone looking for work or where we might find someone in your price range. A handyman can range from a copper to a gold a day, depending on skill level. A tinkersmith or spellcaster is more likely around a silver to a platinum a day depending on skill level. A farmer is more likely to be about 4 copper to 6 silver depending on how much work you have for them to do and how skilled they need to be, I think."

magejosh: "That works for me, I'll work the math out while we eat, after we see what your friend the bartender says about people available to hire. I probably want to consider how trustworthy the people are as well. I don't want to bring people to live on my property who will rob me or help others steal from me."

Lia: "You could take out a guild contract to hire them as long as they have their adventurer's license, and that would allow you a built in magical and legal recourse if they were to do so. Or you could find a Bard of the college of courts to casting a Binding Contract spell."

magejosh: "Tell me you did not just say there are magic lawyers here that can magically bind you to a contract."

Lia: "What do you think that contract you put your mark on at the adventurers guild was?"

magejosh: "Of course it was," he said as he shook his head slowly back and forth.

Around that time the sound of shuffling feet came from the doorway to the backroom and Lula appeared a moment later with a scroll in hand. She looks to be moving as fast as she can with maximum effort, but the effect is still the slowest journey back to the counter one could possibly imagine being real. Lula smiled as she got to the counter again and began to unroll it and point to a spot at the bottom of the page, "Here you go, just put your mark right there," she says in her no nonsense manner. 

Magejosh grabs his seal from his pocket, and awkwardly just presses it to the scroll. Lula frowns and says, "Maybe put the wax down first sir?" And she rolls her eyes at Lia.

Lia leans in and grabs the candle on the counter beside them, runs some wax on the spot Lula pointed to and tells him to try again. This time the magic in the form he's marked activates and a bag with twenty five gold pieces appears on the counter as the form disappears. Lula gestures towards it as she says, "There you go honey, that's all yours. Don't spend it all at the tavern, none of them are worth that."

Lia laughs at that, magejosh joins her as Lula does too. Lia says, "Thank you miss Lula, we'll see you later now."

"Yes thank you very much for your help today," magejosh tells her in fairly formal sounding High Orcish. He still had no clue how he understood it exactly, just that it was on his character information screen and it was supposed to be a dead language according to the lore he'd gotten from the player's handbook he'd found on the magic table in the panic room under his house. He smiled at the raised eyebrows of the two ladies as they realized he had understood Lula earlier. He continued with a smirk, "Lia lets go get that bite to eat together, I'm famished after all this paper pushing this morning." And with that comment he headed to the door, sliding a preroll into the corner of his mouth as he strutted, he used his new spark spell to light it and take a deep drag before stepping out of the doorway as Lia moved to follow.

[**]
When: 03.14.993 A.C. - 0948 hours F.C.T.
Where: At the doors of the Trade Authority building in High-Town district of Morinrayne Village.
Who: Our lovable protagonist and his friend Lia

Ring "It's 9:48, It is 9:48"

Came the alarm from magejosh's phone, as he scrambled to get it from his pocket and not burn himself with the flaming tip of his preroll when it fell from his lips in the struggle to juggle. His brain did this to him sometimes, he'd always been this way, though he'd chalked it up to possible birth defects from alcohol and drug use by his mother in that first month of her pregnancy as the source his whole life. But he's in a new body, so that can't be the case. 

He observes all that in a moment that seems to stretch towards infinity, seeing the joint dropping he grabs it with the hand not holding the phone just before it hits the ground and wobbles his way back upright as he tries to keep stepping forward like he'd meant to do that. No one looking would believe that if he said it aloud though.

"You okay magejosh?" Lia asks him as she moves beside him to help support his unsteady gait.

"Yeah, sometimes my brain and body miscommunicate. Been happening my whole life, of course moving to a new world in a new body didn't help that," he said wistfully while trying to raise his tone at the end like it might have been a sardonic joke.

"Have you asked a cleric to perform a healing? Or a paladin? I hear they can cure just about any disease except some rare magical ones," Lia asks, sounding more practical than anything else in her tone. "I know the clerics strong enough to do so are not common but they are out there. And most paladins who have joined an order can do it, as long as they don't think you have violated their divine oaths."

"Wait," magejosh said as he took another toke from his preroll after relighting it, "you all have people who can cure any disease? Like, really?" His tone honestly displaying how unbelievable he thought that was.

"Yes, do you mean you haven't tried? As wealthy as you are with your estate?" Lia asked mirroring his tone.

"I was actually lower class until the week before I wound up here. And I was only just starting my plans to do something to really make me worthy of all that opportunity I'd been given. So, I might as well do it here if I can. Even though I'm nowhere near as rich as I was in my world when I traveled here," magejosh explains freely.

"You definitely seem to take to status and power easily," Lia says in response.

"Eww, such gross, not wow," magejosh said with a sick look on his face. "I definitively hate the idea of seeking status or power, yet I'm pragmatic enough to understand the world doesn't operate based on my ideals and if I want the ability to enforce my ideas I do have to use the means available."

"I mean no offense, simply that you do have a title and your own sovereign lands even if that is due to a technicality in how our laws work and the truth of your claim. And you have so far shown good judgement in how to use that position." Lia shrugged as she explained her perspective before coming to a stop and opening the door she had been leading magejosh towards on their trek to Midtown.

"Oh, we're here already? What do you recommend? Is five gold pieces enough to get food and a drink here for both of us?" He asked his companion as they entered the large stone and fresco building through the front saloon style double doors.

"That's five times the cost of a meal and drink for two here," she said and pointed to a chalkboard with a list of specials and prices on it.

He looked at the menu and read the different specials, only three items listed on the board today it seems. 'Whatever a beetroot sandwich is I don't think I want that,' magejosh thought as he continued reading, "Wait, they have bacon cheeseburgers here?" 

Lia smiled, "Yeah it's one of the specialties here, the owner found a case of them in a dungeon once and had it enchanted to refill itself with manastones. It's one of their specialties this place is known for." And she leads him over to the bar, where a large man who looked every bit the part of manly man of the decade, but with orc features and mixed color skin from green to the pinks of light colored human skin tones. It was a pattern where the green was somewhat like the stripes patterns of some big cats and really accented his powerful musculature and frame. At a little over seven feet tall, his shoulders looked like they were easily four feet across. Lia spoke to him, "Druuk Rutland, what are you doing here today?"

"Miss Lia, always a pleasure to see my favorite local hero. Lord Rutland is off investigating rumors of a new dungeon discovered out west. Which leaves me here to take care of his holdings and keep things running," Druuk says to her with a tone making it sound like its a normal occurrence. Then his tone lightens as he follows with, "What can I get for the two of you this morning?"

"Well, my friend here is a new Ambassador, from the Nation of America. And I'm doing my civic duty to help impress the benefits of a nation joining the Accord. He's said he was a little hungry and wanted to taste something that people all talk about as being the best in the area. Of course you know I thought of your bacon cheeseburgers, since they are known all around the county." Lia explained.

Druuk said, "And of course you figured it was still early enough in the day for us to still have Box Burgers left."

Lia laughed, "Guilty as Charged Barkeep!"

Magejosh chimed in, "Box Burger? That doesn't sound ominous at all."

"Box Burgers are the magically replenished ones. Only so many of those a day. The rest are just fresh ridgeback auroch burgers with thick cut bacon slices. They aren't bad, but they aren't Box Burgers." Lia told him.

Druuk looked offended as he said cattily, "My cooking is easily the equal of those things, but people do seem to love them."

"I'm sold, I'll take one of each please, and whatever Lia wants. Do you have any tea or juice to drink?" 

Druuk grinned at that, "I do have some spring cider that is fresh if that works for you."

"Sounds lovely, I look forward to it." Magejosh told him.

"I want a box burger and ale," Lia said to Druuk. "And my friend is looking for some information when you get a chance as well."

"What kind of information?" Druuk asked, looking between the two.

"People I could hire that might be old or a college student seeking light work looking after some animals and gardening on my estate, and an offer to live there as part of their payment. Maybe someone to handle that kind of thing and someone who can handle odd tasks and repairs would be nice as well. I wouldn't expect either to need to do more than two to four hours of work a day maybe. That should be enough to help me sort out basic needs. My biggest concern is security, and trustworthiness of the people I let live on the property." Magejosh quickly detailed his thoughts on what he was looking for.

Druuk blinked, "That was a lot, but you painted a pretty clear picture. What kind of term are you seeking?"

Magejosh looked confused, "Term? I'm not sure I understand how you are using the word."

Lia rephrased it, "He means how long would the job contract be for?"

Druuk confirmed, "Precisely, I can give you a few minutes to think about that while I prepare your meals." 

"Lets just say a month by month basis," magejosh said as Druuk was about to step away towards the kitchen. 

Druuk looks back over his shoulder at magejosh, "I'll get a list of people to talk to together for you while I make your meals, this will run you eleven silver total as well. I'll collect it when I bring the drinks after I start the burgers cooking." And with that he ducks through a door into a back room.

Magejosh turns his back to the bar as he looks around the room, "I love the ambiance to this place." And then he notices Lia isn't standing beside him, she was over at a table with a dozen people sitting around it talking to someone. "Oh, guess I'm talking to myself then," he said quietly then pulled his phone out to start trying to figure out costs based on what Lia had mentioned earlier for two people for a month. 'If I expect around a silver a day for a month that's like 60 silver for two people, which is only six gold. I have fifty left right now, and need to spend two to cover meal and tip. So that should leave me forty-two gold to shop with if I need to. Surely I will find a good way to make money by the time I need to renew contracts or hire new people.'

Lia was waving magejosh over as he looked up from his calculations and planning. He slid his phone back into his pocket while he walked that way, looking over the group as only a scorpio could. 'What a group, that's like.. yeah eight of the orc type people, a male and female elf, and three short people with different body shapes and features,' he thought to himself as he counted them out. It was an old trick he'd learned to help him defuse his social anxiety some, by counting things he can prevent himself from spiraling down into anxiety driven panic attacks. Usually.

Reaching into his pack he grabs another preroll tube and lights it as he hears Lia telling them all his name and that he's an ambassador of America and he showed her a new story called 'The Wizard of Oz' the night before that was like a play in a box. They erupted into questions about the story, america, and for explanation on the play in a box idea, with only a couple of them actually stopping to say hello first. Lia raises her hands and says, "Whoa everyone, not all at once. And he's looking for someone down on their luck, in college, and looking for living quarters for work. They need handyman skills or animal handling and farming skills. I thought of you all and had to introduce him to you."

"You thought of cheap labor and thought of us?" Said a strong shouldered woman with reddish tinted skin and a nose more piglike than the other orcs at the table. She looked with indignation at Lia, like she was truly angry at the implications.

Lia's face got serious as she said to them, "Why wouldn't I? Your poor ass specifically needs work, and we both know it. I'd like to see you all succeed, but if you stay too hungry all sharing the same cheap tavern room on the west side. You won't make it through to graduation. All of you are struggling. You should all be looking for work, regardless of what other plans you are working on. You know I believe in your cause of changing the way people treat nonhumans, so don't get mad at me before you honestly entertain the idea. Besides I think this human could help you."

Magejosh's face betrays his panic as he looks at the more than dozen people in front of him, all entertaining Lia's extension of his offer. 'I can't afford to hire all of them,' he thinks in a panic and then plasters a fake smile on his face before saying, "I cannot afford to hire all of you I do not believe, not and pay you what you are surely worth. But I would like to have time to interview you all and show you around the property to see who is still interested and negotiate rates, or terms as I think they are called here. To that end, I'm having a barbecue at my house this evening. So please come out to.. What's that Lake next to my property called again Lia?" He paused after asking, and relit his preroll joint that had gone out while they had been chatting. He took a big hit and the aroma filled the space of the table.

Lia replied, "Lake ElderWild, on the western shore is a property with many buildings. You can see his outdoor cooking stove in his front yard easily."

"Yeah, anytime after about midafternoon I think, that's when we are meeting Jasper right?" magejosh asked looking to Lia.

Lia nodded, "Yes, we'll meet him midafternoon and head back to your home."

The group nodded noncommittally, and a few said if there's food they will be there. Magejosh chuckled at that, and pulled another preroll out, "Do any of you have any tests between now and then, or anything important to do?"

The majority said no, and one, the reddish orc woman asked, "Why?"

"I think you all will like this then," he said and handed her the already lit preroll he'd been toking on before explaining, "Take two tokes and pass it on the left hand side in a circle. Some of my people call this a Prayer Circle, some call it a Safety Meeting, no matter what you call it, this is what you put in the peace pipe to be able to talk to anyone. It's good medicine, it's called marijuana. Mary Jane, pot, reefer, or weed. Has a lot of other names as well, but those are the main ones it's known by where I'm from." 

She looked at the burning brown paper wrapped stick like thing he had handed to her, seeing the smoke slowly rise from the burning ember, and she had to ask, "Why doesn't it just burn up instantly, it is wrapped in parchment isn't it?"

"Go ahead and just put the end to your lips and take two short breaths in with it, then pass it along. It's safe because of the way the herbs within are compressed just enough to slow the burn rate but allow air through still. Now was Lia saying you are all some kind of student union for nonhuman rights? If so, how can I help, I can't stand prejudice. Like that archdouche yesterday talking down to us, I thought it was because we were women and Roscoe was a man. Well, I was a woman, glad my body came back though, that was strange to suddenly be a different person." Magejosh rambled and the reddish woman just looked at him sheepishly, then took a big breath in with the preroll to her lips. It barely lit up, as it had nearly gone out, but it did, and she let out a small amount of smoke. Then tried again, but the cherry had lit back up fully now, and this time she got a lung full of the pot smoke. She hacked and coughed, nearly throwing the joint in the process, magejosh deftly retrieved it from her grasp before it went flying as he said to her, "Take a drink, it'll help."

The rest of the group looked wearily at the half a preroll joint magejosh was holding, none reaching out to take it before Lia said, "Really, it is quite a nice flavor and is like a beer that doesn't make you heavy in your belly but does make you thirsty." 

With that description from Lia, the rest of them relaxed, and then the first girl that had tried it looked up and said, "Whoa, that is weird." Then she looked at her hands, and slowly grabbed her ale tankard before taking a drink in slow motion, causing her to spill some down her chest before laughing and setting it back onto the table. 

The others laughed as well, and magejosh lit the other preroll and started it passing at the other end of the table as well. Lia pulled another table and pair of chairs over so they could sit next to the group while they waited. As they sat down, Druuk returned from the kitchen area, carrying a platter with two glasses and a pitcher on it as well as two cardboard boxes, that were covered in english writing and branding. 'Those are frozen bacon cheeseburgers, like the microwavable precooked single serving ones you find in the frozen foods section in your local grocery store back home,' magejosh thought as he looked at them. "Wait, where did you get those?" he asked Druuk.

"My brother and I found the magic cold box filled with these little boxed burgers in a dungeon to the north. It took us a lot of effort to lift it out of that dungeon but it was pretty easy to pull when we got it up after that. We brought it to a wizard my brother knew and he helped us make it replenish itself every day as long as we keep a charged manastone attached to the top. It's not cheap to run, but worth it with the way these things sell. And when it empties, we can use it for cold storage and for drink chilling during the afternoon and evening." Druuk explained as he finished filling their cups from the pitcher then said to Lia and magejosh, "I'll get that Ale for you in a moment, that will be eleven silver."

Magejosh hands him two gold pieces and says, "Keep the change."

Druuk smiles and slides the coins into the pocket on his apron front. Then pulls a parchment from it and slides it onto the table between the two of them, "The list of people I might recommend for the jobs you mentioned, sir. I'll be back with your cooked fresh burger shortly if you'll excuse me."

With that he bowed slightly and turned to go back into the kitchen. Magejosh looked at his box burger, his stomach grumbled. "A dry bacon cheeseburger is really a popular dish here?" He asked her as he noticed the college students eyeing their meal as the students ate what looked like some kind of roasted nuts in one bowl and maybe a thick chip with dip in the other. Not much of their bowls were still full. He also noticed they were all drinking slowly. Well, except for the reddish girl, Ilga one of them had called her, who had drank her whole ale after another pair of big tokes when the preroll had been passed her way again. Magejosh grabbed the pitcher that Druuk had left on his table and offered to refill her cup, "Care for a refill miss Ilga?"

"Umm, yeah.. Yes, yes please," she started slowly then realizing what he was saying as she focused on what he was holding, picked up her cup and held it towards the pitcher eagerly. 

He chuckled as he refilled her cup, "There you go, juice or tea or water is probably a better pair with weed than alcohol. But to each their own."

She gulped a drink in as soon as he stopped pouring, licked her lips, and said, "Thank You kindly, Sir."

"Happy to help a new friend, I do hope we'll see you at the barbecue," he said in his most post tone he could muster.

"I'll be there, is this herb native to America? I've never had it but I do think I like it," she said and giggled a little.

"You could say that, yeah. And it is one of the things that will need tending to on my property, the care of crops like this herb and others," he answered.

Druuk returned at that time with a sizzling hot burger on what looked like a sourdough bun with fat bacon strips and melted cheese on piece of butcher paper. Magejosh pushed the unopened box burger aside for the big fresh burger, "This looks fantastic! Do you have any mustard?"

"Um, mustard?" Druuk asks.

"Oh, yeah, probably don't have that here. No worries. Thank you very much for this burger, it looks very good!" magejosh tells him.

"If it's something I can import and you think it goes with burgers, I'm interested in learning more about this Mustard though good Sir," Druuk continues.

"Well, I have a couple suggestions there, but I think I'll need an alchemist or wizard and a farmer to make them useful for you or me," magejosh explained to him, "It's a condiment, which is basically a class of food item used to dress other foods. Other options for burgers are mayonaise, ketsup, ranch dressing, diced or rings of onions, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, some people even use cole-slaw and peanut butter."

His eyes go wide as he takes in all the items listed, "I'm not sure what some of those are but I do have lettuce and onions."

Magejosh's eyes light up at that, "Onions are great because you can make them as sliced rings or diced chunks and they taste good with the cheese and meat either way. But you can also use the grease from cooking the burgers as well as some steak seasoning like worcestershire sauce or the like in a sauce pan on low heat with some sliced rings of onions to make something called grilled onions. You don't want to drown them in oil, just simmer them in it on low heat until they caramelize."

"Are you a professional gourmand or something Sir?" Asked one of the students at the other table nearby, a pudgy purplish orc man named Norûk according to what a couple others have called him. His silver hair fell in full locks framing his face making him seem like he could have been a hair model on earth.

"Ha, not at all, just a child of a foodie with a passion for tasty treats and a particular set of opinionated tastes. Doesn't hurt to have a memory I can walk through in my mind," he said like it was a normal thing to say or way to speak. All of them looked at him a little strangely, "Um.. I mean, I remember things well."

The students nod at that and begin getting up, "Hey it was nice to meet you, we need to get to a class. We'll see you at the lake this afternoon." Said Ilga.

"Sounds great, I look forward to it," magejosh said waving to them as they left the tavern.

Lia points to the list of names Druuk had left with them. Only three people listed. One was a gold a day. 'Probably not hiring Sparks at those rates. What kind of name is that anyways?' he thinks before saying to Lia, "Yeah I'm not thinking I have anything in the one gold per day range of work to do, do you think I do?"

"Really depends on how many things from your world you plan to keep introducing here in my world." Lia says in a neutral tone, such that magejosh is unsure what she means one way or another.

"Well, I need to find a way to make money, that doesn't rely on adventuring. Since I doubt any of you here have anything like copyright or patents, even if you have contract mages, I'm betting I need to find a way to leverage what I know into social capital that allows me to springboard into something else. As soon as Mirelle starts selling my weed, other people will be able to grow it as well from the seeds in the flowers. That makes that a limited time market for high profitability. And people need to try it out first to start telling other people about it." Magejosh explains his thinking to her as she finishes her box burger and stares at the one he ignored in favor of the fresh burger.

"That's why you shared it with the students then?" she asked him.

"And because I'm a nice person who wants people to have fun. But mostly yeah, youth talk a lot and will tell their friends. Hopefully it turns a profit for me since I have the only supply of ready to use pot in the world it seems. At least til Mirelle gets her crops first harvest. By then the market should be healthy enough for both of us to grow and her to do the selling for me," he explained.

"You definitely think like an archwizard, everything is an angle to navigate with you isn't it?" Lia asked him honestly.

"That's a good way to put it, but thanks for the compliment. It's more like my mind is a constant whir of activity and I do my best to juggle the flying bits and keep the plates spinning til they are ready to serve. Sometimes I get it backwards and send the plates flying while trying to spin odds and ends," he said before taking a big drink of his cider. 'Not exactly apple cider from home, but not too bad either. Kinda like the tart bit the more I drink it. But no way I can finish this big burger,' he thought to himself and then wrapped it in the butchers parchment it was served on. "I'll save the rest for later."

Lia looked at him silently as she finished her drink and stood up, "I'm going to use the outhouse, I'll meet you out front if you get tired of sitting in here."

"Sounds good, I'm ready to head over to find that cat then when you're done. Unless the names on the list are on the way," he replied.

"Just the expensive one is, the other two are in Low-town staying at a hostel bungalow," she told him then headed off towards the outhouse out the side door.

Magejosh walked over to Druuk and said with a smile, "I will be back for more of that good cooking you have there. And I will bring condiment recipes for you to try to make if you want. I guarantee you can make those a bigger draw than those Box Burgers." He shook his unopened Box Burger to punctuate what he'd said and slid it into his pack.

"Really? You think so?" Druuk said to him sounding hopeful, "My brother says the Box Burgers are what keep the doors open, but I keep telling him our doors stay open the rest of the night either way."

"Exactly, you got this. And have you heard of French Fries?" magejosh asked Druuk.

"No I have not, what are they?" Druuk looked intrigued.

"They are a thin to thick cut strips of a tuber plant called potatoes that have been fried in animal fat or plant oil. Plant oil usually tastes better," magejosh commented.

"I'm not sure what a tuber plant is, I've never heard of potatoes. We grow mostly beans and greens here as well as a few herbs that are fairly popular," Druuk responded. 

"Oh wow, really? No potatoes? I have a treat for you, I'll bring some by next time I come into the village," magejosh said to him, then started for the door. "Nice to meet you Sir Druuk, I'll come again soon!"

[***]
When: 03.14.993 A.C. - 1051 hours F.C.T.
Where: At the iron gates of Lady Walpole's home in Midtown district of Morinrayne Village.
Who: Our lovable protagonist and his new friend Lia, the off-duty Guard with the best arrest record in the village.

"So this is the house of the cat lady?" Magejosh said to Lia as he eyed the four-story stone and mortar manor house with a mixture between medieval european architecture elements blended with what looks like an american colonial period framework. He looked at the narrow passage between the perimeter stone and iron walls and the main house on each side of the house. Smallish front yard as well, mostly covered in a few short-ish trees. 

"The estate of Lady Sharon Walpole, one of the oldest noble families in the village. And the only member of the family still living in the village." She told him, "She's still one of the most wealthy and influential people in the area, so politeness is paramount when conducting yourself in her presence."

"Great, another person who thinks they are better than others," magejosh said without any enthusiasm. He shrugged at the look Lia gave him and headed through the gate and up the walkway to the front porch. The door was one of those arched double doors, made of thick stained wood with an engraved mural of fey on one side and animals on the other. The mural representing the connection between the wilds and the fey. The door knocker was a dragon with a bronze ring gripped in it's mouth. He reached out and rung the ring against the doorplate four times and then stood to wait.

Lia stepped up beside him as the door began to open. An older woman in a maid's uniform opened the door and lifted an eyebrow as she looked between the two standing there in front of her, "May I help you?"

"Yes I hope so, I am called magejosh. I have a contract from the Adventurers Guild to help you find your cat," he told her.

"Excellent, Lady Walpole will be quite excited about that news! Right this way then, no need to waste time." She said as she ushered the two of us inside. Lia begged off and said she needed to run an errand, asking if I would be able to find the cat myself. 

"Of course, I've got this, meet you out front in twenty or so," magejosh said to Lia before following the maid inside the house.

The maid closed and locked the door once he was inside and said, "This way," as she lead him out of the lobby and through a hallway. They turned down another hall, and then another passing doors and rooms along the way to their destination, the back patio where the Lady of the house was having lunch it seemed. Magejosh noted her array of statues and the fountain were the most interesting features of the back yard, but the view was still nice thanks to the well manicured garden and hedges filling the empty spaces. The maid announced him as they entered the patio, "Lady Walpole I present The Mage Josh, here from the Adventurer's Guild to fetch Mr. Fuzzbut."

He looked like he wanted to correct her but just plastered a smile on instead, "A pleasure to meet you Lady Walpole," he said as he flourished his hand into a deep bow to her and holding it.

"Rise young mage, no one bows that deeply to me." She said and chuckled at him as he rose upright. 

"Then they should all be ashamed of themselves, as it is our capacity to show respect which shows our character to the world," magejosh replied.

She laughed at that, "Ha, I think I like you young man! Do you think you can catch Mr. Fuzzbut? He is quite wily and quick." Her hand motioning to a sculpture of a fat orange tabby cat sitting by a nearby potted plant, her eyes appraising the mage and then lingering at his own eyes. Her look staring deeply into his soul, reading his measure as easily as a librarian reads a work of fiction. 

"I've had cats my whole life, in fact I have a half dozen at home myself. Even have some cat carriers I could have used as a safe trap if I'd known I was going to be catching cats today. No bother though, I can help," magejosh told her.

"You speak the truth it seems, very well then. Clarissa, please ask Gerrald to escort the Mage Josh down to the basements to look for Mr. Fuzzbut."

"Right away my lady," Clarissa the maid said before heading back inside.

Magejosh stood there awkwardly as he looked at her lunch spread. It looks like soup with some kind of breadstick looking things in a dish beside the soup that she was dipping into the soup and then chewing on. "Was I supposed to follow her, or..?"

"Oh heavens no, let her find Gerrald first. Come, Sit, tell me what made you decide to be an adventurer?" Lady Walpole told him, more instruction than question in her tone.

He smiled as he pulled up a seat to her side, "It was necessary really, I had to help with those flying fish attacking the village and Sir Fordham instructed me to retrieve my reward this morning. Luckily for me, Roscoe and Lia were around to help me learn what I needed to do or I'd be lost in this new world."

"Had to help you say... Who or what compelled you to join in the village's defense?" She asked with curiosity clear in her tone and eyes.

He looked at her for a moment, then said, "It was the right thing to do. The golden rule and all. I was at least responsible to clean up the mess I could see. Something I call common decency. Besides, if some child had been killed by them, I'd never forgive myself for not trying to stop them."

"Common Decency, now that sounds like a concept I can chew on for a few. It doesn't seem to be common though does it? An impulse to clean a mess you can see, that is, sounds foreign to the people I've met in the course of my long life," Lady Walpole comments before dipping another breadstick into the strange soup with it's pale yellow-orange color. The smell was somewhat earthy and slightly acidic to magejosh's nose. The aroma having notes both rich and savory, with a depth of bouquet that's both familiar and comforting.

"Sadly, Common Decency is much like Common Sense, not terribly common among people, especially in groups. I've oft wondered if the name isn't an intentional hope that if you name it such it will become such," magejosh pontificated to her.

The lady laughed at his reply, "Ha! Now that is as true a statement as I have ever heard if I've ever heard a true thing said. But, you still expertly navigated around the answer I was really looking for. Why did you feel the need to risk your life?"

"To be honest, I died the day I was born, and again when I was nearly an adult. But I got better. I've nearly died many times since then, but what that taught me was any time can be the end, and you can't live your life while trying to prevent your end. Every day is a risk, if you look at life as a risk management scenario. If you only have a hammer, all your problems look like nails as they say," he replied.

Her eyes look alarmed at that statement somewhat, she picks up a fork on the table and strikes it on the iron of the table. It resonates, the tone filling the area as the metal tines themselves begun to glow. It sheds a silvery white light and flashes filling the area with light so bright nothing else can be seen. Magejosh blinks in surprise, "What's that?"

She looks at him, blinking her own eyes as well, "It would have banished you if you were a demon or otherworldly spirit or being. Since you are still standing here, I can assume you are not one of those or if you are you are more powerful than I could deal with either way. You're not are you?"

"Um.. No?" magejosh says as he pulls a preroll out and lights it, "You don't mind if I smoke do you?"

She nods her head, "Just put it out before you go inside the manor. Wait, that smells sweet, what is it?"

"It's a popular medicine in my home country. It's got many names, but one of them is Sweet Leaf. This particular one is called Point Break, a hybrid strain with indica and sativa properties. Has a particularly mellow effect that calms nerves without giving you couchlock. It helps with my social anxiety and chronic inflammation in my joints and muscles," he revealed to her.

"What is social anxiety? I recognize the words, but not together like that. What do you mean? You take a medicine for it like it is a sickness?" She asks him as she reasons through what he'd revealed.

"Yeah, like a mental health aid kind of tonic medicine. You can cook with it too, but I prefer to smoke it. Would you like to try it?" He said before offering it her direction. She took it and he cautioned her, "Take a gentle breath in, hold it for a second and let it out. Then repeat and pass it back."

She follows his instruction, taking the smallest hit from the joint, coughing a little, then letting it out. Then tries again, and her eyes bulge as she holds the smoke in for a second, then blows it out and starts waving the joint in his direction as she begins to cough heartily. 

Magejosh deftly catches the joint from her flailing hand as she coughs, and then offers her cup to her, "Take a drink, it helps."

She does so, her hands wrapping around the cup as she sips then swallows and tries another breath. Her eyes look a little red already as she takes another breath and then smiles at him, "It does taste sweet if a little pungent too." And she picks up another of her breadsticks and starts dipping it and taking bites of the soup covered tip. Magejosh takes another toke before he is startled by a cough from behind him.

Lady Walpole looks over towards the source of the noise, "Oh Gerrald, there you are, come take this Mage Adventurer to the basements to find Mr. Fuzzbut for me."

Magejosh turned to see this Gerrald only to find his eyes filled with a tiny dinosaur man in a victorian looking button up suit. He was maybe four feet tall if he stood up fully, but his stance was more like that of a velociraptor, so he was a little under four feet tall from the ground. Magejosh however was more than a little startled and instinct kicked in, he stepped back unconsciously, tripping over the chair he had been sitting in before standing to turn around. He tumbled over it, smacking his head on the stone in the process. And in an instant he was unconscious.