nagpurpolice Chapter 24: Birds of a Feather
Chapter 24: Birds of a Feather
Chapter 24: Birds of a Feather
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 came. The bandage on his forearm had been removed at some 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 some 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 doorframe, 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 some time. 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 something that sounded like English. Someone with Polyglot, perhaps? He saw one of the bird-people talking to the village elder from yesterday, which seemed to be the only place a non-halfling was talking to a halfling and seemed 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 time he arrived at the discussion between uh what was her name again? Did he ever know? It was probably lost in the flood of incomprehensible halfling jibber-jabber. By the time he arrived at the discussion between the two of them, they had taken note of his approach and seemed to be waiting for him.
Can we help you? the bird- a Caravan Merchant 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 mean 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 something which got him to roll his eyes, Fine. What do you want? Get on with it.
and as I was saying, I thought that someone with Polyglot might be able to help me understand whats happening. You see, I-
Look, Ritian and I-
Oh, Ritian. Lets just mark that with Almanac
-are discussing payment, 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 something, 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 someone 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 merchant 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 newcomer, 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 come from, Your leader sent me?
Mum? What for, ten?
Well, she didnt want to be bothered and I had some questions.
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 time, Are you using a Skill on me? he asked accusingly.
Birds couldnt smile, but she certainly seemed 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 me 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 merchant. 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 something 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 something 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 me 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 me from leaving, deals off entirely and Ill Ill see if I can get your licence revoked. Hiring an adventurer, or something, you said?
She shrugged, We have a deal. If you behave, Ill even see about getting you some 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 someone 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 some translation Skill, and your reaction told me the rest of the story. It can be a lot easier to level when speaking with someone 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 something invisible, presumably something 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 amenities
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 me what it does, first.
Aerfa looked to the sky, Heavens help me, 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 volume, 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.