(IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"I thought I was supposed to stay here for ten days on <fancy name in something that is very much not riask>'s orders."

Julian can remember the fancy name now, he thinks... "A'Qemril la'yu"


"We're here on the orders of "A'Qemril la'yu", to pick you up. You were ordered to stay so that we could reach you."

"Can I not say goodbye?"

"You may say short goodbyes."

In any case, I go to fetch my journal and wave goodbye to anyone I recognize on the way.

anyone in particular he will visit?


The soldier who has been speaking grabs the book and looks through it. Then he hands it back.



"You're not from around here, are you."


He seems to have only lingered on the pictures. and the Riask symbol drawing.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Julian can remember the fancy name now, he thinks... "A'Qemril la'yu"

"We're here on the orders of "A'Qemril la'yu", to pick you up. You were ordered to stay so that we could reach you."

"Seems like you were faster than the flying warrior thought."

Originally Posted by ericthered

anyone in particular he will visit?

Balla, the boys.

Originally Posted by ericthered

The soldier who has been speaking grabs the book and looks through it. Then he hands it back.

"Hey! Be careful with that!"

Originally Posted by ericthered

"You're not from around here, are you."

Is he being kept out of the loop deliberately? "No, I'm not. What were you told about me?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

He seems to have only lingered on the pictures. and the Riask symbol drawing.

Well, I'd be surprised if he could read English.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"Seems like you were faster than the flying warrior thought."

"You are suspicious. The Captain agreed"
The man's mastery of Riask is not what it could be.

Balla, the boys.

Balla waves goodbye shortly. The boys are more enthusiastic and make a few silly dance moves. And then its time to go.

"Hey! Be careful with that!"

Is he being kept out of the loop deliberately? "No, I'm not. What were you told about me?"

"You speak Riask. You do not speak Telgris. You are here. We not know how you go to here."


"Book has many strange pictures. You are good artist. But not spy pictures"


They take him to three horses.



"Can you ride?"


It seems to not matter if he can ride or not, he's lifted onto the saddle, and the horse's leader tied to the saddle of the soldier who doesn't speak Riask.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"You are suspicious. The Captain agreed"

Well, I guess it's better to be suspicious for things I didn't do, instead of things I did.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Balla waves goodbye shortly. The boys are more enthusiastic and make a few silly dance moves. And then its time to go.

*sigh* Always coming and going these days. Better than how I left Royal I suppose.

Originally Posted by ericthered

"You speak Riask. You do not speak Telgris. You are here. We not know how you go to here."

"That makes two of us."

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Book has many strange pictures. You are good artist. But not spy pictures"

He must just think some of the things I draw are imaginary.

Originally Posted by ericthered

They take him to three horses.

"Can you ride?"

"No. Where're we going?"

[ericthered]

He must just think some of the things I draw are imaginary.

But which ones? That's the hard part.

"No. Where're we going?"

"Kasib. A city with walls.


Julian's first experience riding a horse is rough. They move quickly, with his horse just following the ones in front of him. And yet his muscles get sore quickly from the bouncing and the sitting. And its a pretty far ways down.

As they ride, they go through more desert, following a road, and passing through another village, very similar. As they ride, Julian spots a tall wooden tower ahead. Suddenly they go over a hill and see a green expanse of fields. Its still limited in size, but its much bigger than the village he was in before, and there are walls around the community in the center. Julian isn't just how big the community is, but he's pretty sure he could run from one wall to the other in under a minute or two. The tower is by far the most impressive structure. Its not the city that had its wall's attacked before by the ship.

The soldiers ride right through the fields and to the gate. The walls are maybe 15 feet tall, and seem to be earth faced with bricks. The soldiers exchange some words with those at the gate. They give the men at the gate some firm instructions.

The soldier who speaks Riask turns to Julian. "Don't leave the walls. They will not let you." he points to the soldiers at the gates.


He takes Julian to building in the town that has been decorated more than the others. A man steps out looks at Julian, and nods.


The escort tells Julian "You are now free to walk to the city. check back here each morning. And don't try to leave the gates."

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Kasib. A city with walls.

Walled city... I wonder if it's cramped.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Julian's first experience riding a horse is rough. They move quickly, with his horse just following the ones in front of him. And yet his muscles get sore quickly from the bouncing and the sitting. And its a pretty far ways down.

"Woah, Woah, Woah!" I'm dizzy. How do people get used to this?

Originally Posted by ericthered

As they ride, they go through more desert, following a road, and passing through another village, very similar. As they ride, Julian spots a tall wooden tower ahead. Suddenly they go over a hill and see a green expanse of fields. Its still limited in size, but its much bigger than the village he was in before, and there are walls around the community in the center. Julian isn't just how big the community is, but he's pretty sure he could run from one wall to the other in under a minute or two. The tower is by far the most impressive structure. Its not the city that had its wall's attacked before by the ship.

The soldiers ride right through the fields and to the gate. The walls are maybe 15 feet tall, and seem to be earth faced with bricks. The soldiers exchange some words with those at the gate. They give the men at the gate some firm instructions.

The soldier who speaks Riask turns to Julian. "Don't leave the walls. They will not let you." he points to the soldiers at the gates.

"OK, how about getting on top of the wall?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

He takes Julian to building in the town that has been decorated more than the others. A man steps out looks at Julian, and nods.

The escort tells Julian "You are now free to walk to the city. check back here each morning. And don't try to leave the gates."

"So what do I do about food and shelter?"

I assume the answer is 'figure it out yourself'
Well, I guess it's time to look for odd jobs.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Walled city... I wonder if it's cramped.

On the one hand, most (but not all) the houses are only a single story, or maybe a story and a half. On the other hand, no one has a yard and you can jump from one roof to the other... and people are very much on top of their roofs, growing small gardens and doing laundry and talking to their neighbors and very much using the space.

"OK, how about getting on top of the wall?"

"Use the public lookout" he points to a spot on the wall convenient for watching the road.

"So what do I do about food and shelter?"

I assume the answer is 'figure it out yourself'
Well, I guess it's time to look for odd jobs.

You've read the situation correctly!


How will he go about looking for work at a tech level were he doesn't have a lot of experience and where he doesn't speak the language?



OCC: I don't know if you like this stuff, but I converted a scholarly paper on medieval city size to a convenient format for gaming back during Covid.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Use the public lookout" he points to a spot on the wall convenient for watching the road.

I remember to go look up there later.

Originally Posted by ericthered

You've read the situation correctly!

How will he go about looking for work at a tech level were he doesn't have a lot of experience and where he doesn't speak the language?.

I start wandering around the city, making gestures offering to help people with chores I can see their doing for food. While I do this "will work for food" I keep my eyes peeled for useful things and spaces: discarded but still edible food, areas where I could rest without getting stepped on, sources of water, and inattentive shopkeepers.

[219] 24-09-23 21:22:49 CEST

Observation

3d6 <= 12
2 + 1 + 2 = 5 ... success
w ddd

[218] 24-09-23 21:22:28 CEST

Scrounging

3d6 <= 13
5 + 1 + 3 = 9 ... success

[217] 24-09-23 21:21:49 CEST

Gesture

3d6 <= 12 (technically should be 13)
3 + 3 + 2 = 8 ... success

[216] 24-09-23 21:21:24 CEST

Urban Survival

3d6 <= 12
1 + 3 + 6 = 10 ... success

Originally Posted by ericthered

OCC: I don't know if you like this stuff, but I converted a scholarly paper on medieval city size to a convenient format for gaming back during Covid.

Neat. Helps visualize how big this place is.

[ericthered]

People seem to mostly do their work on roofs rather than on front porches or in the road. Excess food seems to be given to beggars. All the beggars seem to sport some malady or injury. He finds an alley that seems to serve as a sort of sleeping area for them.

There are at least four wells in the city, all of them busy hotspots of work, transit, and gossip.


He finds a market square, and in it a vendor or two who might qualify as inattentive, if he wants to go that way.



Before he has to resort to stealing though, he notices a smith shop where everyone looks very tired. It appears they need someone tending the fire, shoveling some black fuel (coal? charcoal?), and pumping the bellows. He can negotiate for work here.

If he continues on, his next opportunity will be a very similar job, but this time for a potter. Both seem very overworked.



(why is the gesture skill complicated here?)

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

People seem to mostly do their work on roofs rather than on front porches or in the road. Excess food seems to be given to beggars. All the beggars seem to sport some malady or injury.

Well, I haven't begged before and if Bumundo is any indication, "missing big people" isn't a malady.

Originally Posted by ericthered

He finds an alley that seems to serve as a sort of sleeping area for them.

There are at least four wells in the city, all of them busy hotspots of work, transit, and gossip.

Well that covers the other two, I suppose.

Originally Posted by ericthered

He finds a market square, and in it a vendor or two who might qualify as inattentive, if he wants to go that way.

Before he has to resort to stealing though, he notices a smith shop where everyone looks very tired. It appears they need someone tending the fire, shoveling some black fuel (coal? charcoal?), and pumping the bellows. He can negotiate for work here.

As I'm working myself towards slipping off with a loaf of bread, I pause. I might as well take a more legitimate approach first.

I approach the blacksmith, and mime out working and eating, and hope they get the message.

[220] 24-09-24 21:39:54 CEST
Gesture
3d6 <= 0 (13 not 0 but still a failure)
4 + 6 + 4 = 14 ... failure

[221] 24-09-24 21:40:55 CEST
Diplomacy
3d6 <= 12
3 + 4 + 4 = 11 ... success

Originally Posted by ericthered

(why is the gesture skill complicated here?)

I futzed up the to succeed value on the log, so I made a note on what it's actual value was.