Edwin jolted awake as the shouting penetrated his unconscious state, yanking him to wakefulness. At first, he panicked, thinking he was about to be attacked or shipped back to Clan Blackstone, but as the initial scare faded and his rational mind asserted itself, he realized it sounded more like celebration than an attack or anything negative. It didnt rule out the dwarves coming through, though, so he stayed wary as he got up, preemptively wincing as he put weight on his left arm, then relieved as the expected jolt of pain never ca. The bandage on his forearm had been removed at so point, and inspecting it and his shoulder showed that the swelling was completely gone and was apparently completely healed. He had a fairly nasty scar on his shoulder from so combination of the bolt-wound and his subsequent cauterization, but it didnt seem to impair his flexibility at all.
Edwin stretched gratefully at his newfound health, and casting his gaze around showed that he was alone in the healers building, but his shirt, repaired and cleaned to such an extent it looked brand-new, was lying on the tiny bed next to him. Another few seconds of searching unveiled his backpack at the foot of the bed, but his coat was nowhere to be seen. Ah well, not like it was going to do anything for him.
As Edwin got to his feet, his stomach rumbled, which made him wonder how long he must have been asleep. It had to have been at least a day, given the light coming in through the leafy roof. Interestingly, the light coming through the canopy wasnt strongly tinted green, just the normal warm glow of sunlight, which made him suspect magical shenanigans. As though the whole trees-woven-into-houses wasnt a giveaway on its own, anyway.
Ducking under the low doorfra, Edwin peeked outside to see the commotion. To his relief, he didnt see a battalion of armor-clad dwarves waiting for him. Instead, he saw what looked to be a caravan of sorts, a train of covered wagons hooked together just outside the town, and a flood of intermingling halflings greeting one another and embracing as though they hadnt seen each other in so ti. Standing on the outside, milling around the caravan was a group of humans and what looked to be humanoid birdfolk, with talons in place of feet and seemingly prehensile wings in place of arms. Most of the talking was utterly unintelligible even with Polyglot, a thousand different conversations happening all over one another, but Edwin caught vague snippets of sothing that sounded like English. Soone with Polyglot, perhaps? He saw one of the bird-people talking to the village elder from yesterday, which seed to be the only place a non-halfling was talking to a halfling and seed like a decent place to start.
Edwin waded his way through the crowds of tiny people, reminding him of a sea of children. By the ti he arrived at the discussion between uh what was her na again? Did he ever know? It was probably lost in the flood of incomprehensible halfling jibber-jabber. By the ti he arrived at the discussion between the two of them, they had taken note of his approach and seed to be waiting for him.
Can we help you? the bird- a Caravan rchant Leader- asked. It was weird seeing Polyglot in action, so to speak. Edwin had never been able to see Rashins mouth, if he even had one, as he had spoken, but now that he was able to see the birds beak, it looked like a bad dubbing job in real life, as the sounds which Edwin heard didnt correspond to the motions made while speaking in the slightest.
Sorry, didnt an to intrude- Edwin started, only to be cut off.
Well, you are. So spit it out and get it over with, adventurer.
Edwins expression soured, I just heard speech in my native language, and-
Its a skill. Polyglot. Get it yourself and stop bothering us. The bird was clearly not in a good mood, but the halfling said sothing which got him to roll his eyes, Fine. What do you want? Get on with it.
and as I was saying, I thought that soone with Polyglot might be able to help understand whats happening. You see, I-
Look, Ritian and I-
Oh, Ritian. Lets just mark that with Almanac
-are discussing paynt, which is a private matter and of no concern to your type, so if you could just dive off, that would be appreciated. When Edwin didnt move, the bird flicked one of his feather-fingers at him, Shoo.
Ritan said sothing, which caused the bird to grumble in a manner which Edwin couldnt quite catch.
Fine. Go bother Forala, hes got Polyglot, he can help you.
Though he wasnt normally inclined to listen to such a dismissal, Edwin figured he probably would be more likely to get his questions answered by soone inclined to actually listen to what he was saying. Actually, what even was he wondering? He just had a vague idea about wanting answers, but no concrete questions. He should probably figure that out. It was probably a safe assumption that the bird was talking about one of the non-halflings milling around by the caravan, so he headed that way.
Now that Edwin was outside of the crowd, it was a lot easier moving around, and as he approached the small group, he drew a few curious gazes but most simply didnt appear to care. One person, a bird with brownish-bronze plumage similar to the rchant leaders and leaning with his eyes closed against the side of the wagon, spoke up, No, yicant climb on ta wagons. Unlike his previous experiences with Polyglot, there was a distinct accent associated with the newcor, but Edwin could still tell it was the Skill at work.
Forala? Edwin guessed. At his words, Forala jerked into attention, standing up straight and looking at Edwin with a sharp gaze.
Whatdya want? Who sentya?
Your, your uh. Edwin gestured vaguely in the direction he had co from, Your leader sent ?
Mum? What for, ten?
Well, she didnt want to be bothered and I had so questions.
Forala- Edwin made sure to tag the Junior Caravanner with his na- looked to the sky and muttered sothing Polyglot didnt translate, Fine. Just get it over wit, wouldya?
Whats going on? Who are you guys and where are you from? Where are you going, and can I co along? Edwin inquired.
Were traders, yaknow. We give rides at tis ta those witout a Build ta defend temselves, and so we took allta loggers back ta ho. He yawned, or at least did the avian equivalent of a yawn, before continuing, We ca from Port Torveil, and are on our trade route. Drop off ta loggers, pick up so wood fer inland, caryon as always. Wishah could be in ta wagon, but mum always says, nah, Forala! Yagotta make sure te kids dont climb on ta outside. Wouldnt want tem to break! Not tat tey could anyway. Wha wasyer oter question?
Edwin wasnt sure if Foralas accent was sohow getting worse as ti went on or if he was just saying more words affected by it, but he was getting harder and harder to understand despite Polyglot presumably leveling. Edwin was able to manage, but it wasnt easy.
If I could co along? I wound up around here through what I can only assu is so kind of powerful magic shenanigans and Im kind of interested in not spending the rest of my life-
In ta middle o nowhere? Ahgetya. Ya can talk ta mum about it, but we dont do charity. Itd never be allowed, yaknow? Whatsyer Build, anyway? Forala cocked an eye open, looking at Edwin, Pah. Adventurers. Well, good luck wityer try, not sure whya tink anywhere elsell be better forya.
What do you an by that? Why am I an adventurer and why does it seem like thats a bad thing?
Forala gave him a side glance, Ya arent from around here, areya?
Edwin shook his head, Thats what I said.
Well its easy ta tell tat youre an adventurer, what kinda Class is Foreign Alchemist, anyway? It sure as hells aint a proper alchemist Build, too unfocused, anta Foreign part is a dead giveaway, yaknow? But who would ever wantan Adventurer ta work for tem anyway? Cripplin their Build just cause tey dont wanta play by da rules. Really, tey should be punished way harder if yeask my mum, but eh. If ye want ta wreck yer life, I aint gonna stop ye, yeknow?
Edwin blinked, trying to process that influx of information, So an adventurer is soone with an unusual Build? Like class? And thats bad because they arent effective?
Are ya daft? Yeah. What even gotya ta do such a stupid build anyway?
Edwin shrugged, Getting dropped in the middle of a forest. Needed every bit of help I could get. Took Skills and Paths which seed like theyd help.
Eh, yer funeral. Looks like mum is near done wit her trade, ye can asker what ye can do ta get passage once she cos over.
With that, Forala returned to his relaxed lean against the wagon, leaving Edwin to awkwardly stand around while he waited for whatever was next. He needed to get away from here, but all the attention his conversation had drawn from the other mbers of the caravan made Edwin want to shrink away and run off from the caravan, nevermind that it would be needed to actually leave. He Identified the closest mbers, finding there to be three Hired Guards (two birds, one human) and two Quarry Couriers (both birds). The rest of the twenty-one mbers were out of his 4ish ter range so he couldnt tell what they were, but the birds did outnumber the humans, with only eight featherless mbers.
Level Up!
Identify Level 2829
Polyglot Level 56
After what seed like ages, but was probably only about five minutes, Foralas mum returned to the caravan, fluttering down from the sky, Okay, you lazy lot! Lumbers by the river, go earn your keep! the small crowd dispersed quickly, the bird-folk doing an odd sort of skipping jump or flying instead of walking. She turned to Edwin, What are you doing hanging around, adventurer? Get.
I was hoping I could tag along as you headed to a bigger city. I got stranded out here and I-
Dont need your kind helping. I got my guards already, and Im not risking my license for you. You want a position as a guard, find soone with bluer feathers. I dont want you.
I just want a ride, Ill work doing whatever if I can get so or offer what I have in trade, but its not much. Look, I just want to get out of here, and fast. Im not good in a fight anyway, so no worries there.
She assessed him with an appraising eye, You arent to quarrel with any of my crew. You do, youre gone. Dont care if were on a bridge over the Rhothos, youre out. Can you set up a camp, start a fire? Cure a wound? Fix a broken wheel? Make a Cure? What do you have to offer?
Understood, Edwin shrugged, I can set a fire with the snap of my fingers, have a Skill for wound tending, but Im a bit of a miserable alchemist unless you want to know how to make a Black- As soon as the last words left his mouth, Edwin instantly clamped down on his tongue, glaring at the bird. What the heck was that? He wasnt about to say anything about that, not after last ti, Are you using a Skill on ? he asked accusingly.
Birds couldnt smile, but she certainly seed to give a predatory grin, Just a bit of Honest Negotiation. Leads you to being open with what you have to offer and keeps you from lying. You must have your head in the clouds to cut off where you did. She stroked the top of her beak with a feather, I dont suppose you were about to say you know how to make Blackstone, do you? Ha! No wonder youre in such a hurry to get away from here. Those dwarves refuse to give anyone even a hint of the stuff. She clicked her talons against the ground, an action which surprised Edwin. He didnt know you could make that sound against dirt and grass, Tell you what. You give the formula for Blackstone and help around the caravan as we travel, setting up the fire at night and so on, and well give you a ride to Vinstead, next big city over, couple weeks away and give you food and such on the trip. If you want to go further than that, we can renegotiate then, deal?
Edwin cast a wary gaze on the rchant. He couldnt help but feel like he was being taken advantage of, but he didnt really have any other options at hand, I dont know how to make Blackstone.
What do you know how to make, then? Its gotta be sothing good if you want to keep it so secret.
Edwin warily eyed her, sizing up how much he trusted her. He didnt have much of a choice, but that was how he ended up in the last fiasco, and he was not letting sothing like that happen again, Its a sort of liquid stone. Once it dries, its as hard as rock.
Her posture instantly shifted, Im interested. Tell how to make it and youve got a deal.
Ill tell you how to make it after we arrive, not before. And if you so much as try to pull any sort of trick to keep from leaving, deals off entirely and Ill Ill see if I can get your licence revoked. Hiring an adventurer, or sothing, you said?
She shrugged, We have a deal. If you behave, Ill even see about getting you so practice for your Polyglot skill.
Edwin was taken aback, How could you tell?
Once you get good enough at the skill, you can tell when youre talking to soone with it as well. Hells, youre speaking a language Ive never even heard of yet I could understand you better than Ritian herself. Thats a sure sign that youve got so translation Skill, and your reaction told the rest of the story. It can be a lot easier to level when speaking with soone else with the skill themselves. Forala could use the practice, anyway. Hes gotten a bit brown-clawed as of late. She started fiddling around with sothing invisible, presumably sothing System-related.
Edwin scowled, then was taken aback as an unexpected notification popped up.
A Contract has been extended!
Aerfa Tallfjaer offers: passage to Vinstead, and accompanying anities
Edwin Maxlin offers: Aid setting up nightly camp, instructions for the creation of liquid stone, not to cause any trouble
Accept Contract? Y/N
Whats this?
Youve never seen a Contract before? Where are you even from?
What does it-
Just accept it.
Tell what it does, first.
Aerfa looked to the sky, Heavens help , she looked at Edwin, who had just been proven wrong about birds being capable of looking exasperated, All it does is let the other know if the terms have been breached. Its not an Unbreakable or Punitive, dont worry. Just accept it so I can go yell at my IDIOT SON, who DOESNT KNOW HOW TO CARRY A LOG!
Edwin winced at the volu, and tentatively accepted. It was a bit of a risk, but he figured the System probably wouldnt lie to him. Aerfa nodded and jumped into the air, soaring over Edwins head, displaying a capability for flight which shouldnt have worked with the length of her wings. What was going on there? Probably magic, Edwin grumbled to himself. She reached where the caravan crew was returning, carrying comically massive stacks of lumber on one shoulder from around the village and started yelling at how incompetent they all were, focusing specifically on a few key individuals.
Edwin sighed. Great, loud people. Just what he wanted. Still, at least now he had a ride.
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