Tallius Urist

Barter: 2/5
Streetsmarts: 1/5
Strength: 1/5
Cunning: 3/5
Charisma: 4/5
Business 2/5
Marksmanship 2/5
Barkeeping 2/5

Inventory:

Senatorial Signet Ring (Currently hidden on the Automata in the tower.)

Concealed Dagger, Inscription reads "Imperator" (Buried by Miaya, location unknown.)

Two Iron Daggers.

Crossbow, 49 bolts.

Dignity

2,870 Gold

Holdings:

Fine horse-drawn cart, valued at 500 gold.

The Clock Tower Tavern, standard configuration, capacity of 50 souls. Advanced Brewery on site. Estimated sale value 25,000 gold.

Deactivated Automata, type unknown, properties unknown, sale price unknown.


Employees:

Sif: Barmaid with unusual strength and little tact. Weekly Wage of 30. Insurance pool deposit of 10.

Martellus: Burly academic with brewing and barman skills. Weekly wage of 30. Insurance pool deposit of 10. Contracted for Barkeeping lessons.

Miaya: Eccentric Painter, Cook, and Huntress, in that order. Knows Tallius is actually Marcus Sertorius, seems willing to keep this to herself. For now. Weekly wage of 30. Insurance pool deposit of 10. Contracted for Hunting lessons.


You have close cropped brown hair, and are clean shaven. You will remain so, lest someone recognize your once distinctive facial hair. Your wife used to call your eyes liar's blue. You and Lucretia were not on the best of terms at the time, but she has a point there. You are currently wearing traveling clothes. More than a little smelly.

“ Tallius.”

A voice, female, it's sound somewhat musical with a hidden undertone of iron anchoring it, the kind that is both pleasant to listen to and almost certainly painful to ignore. Not Lucretia, whose words were sweetness behind steel, a different subtlety entirely and only the outer shell visible to most. Who, then? As so often happens, you find your mind without a sense of time and place. Consider it a side effect of dwelling so much on the past, of fearing for your future, that the present becomes muddled and indistinct. It's hard to open your eyes, are you not on vacation, or something? May as well sleep.

A sigh. “Tallius. Last warning. You gave your word.”

Your word is your bond. Father used to say that. If asked your opinion, not that anyone has, you'd say the association kind of undercuts the intention. May as well sleep.

“ Very well. I shall not apologize.”

Pain spiderwebs across your face, and your eyes fly open, to reveal the face of Nero Sertorius. Your stomach drops past your knees. You manage not to shout your shock, barely, but you do scramble back, hitting your head on the wood board wall of the little room in which you and Miaya had been sleeping.

Miaya removes the mask, placing it back on the table where you had left it the night before, beside the now familiar Boar and Plague Doctor visages. You attempt to control your ragged breathing, and pointedly ignore the tightness in your chest. “ We said no more sleeping in, no? Get dressed, your travel clothes stink of the road and we have business to attend.” She throws a pile of clothing at you, and you just barely manage to catch it in your half-awake state. You've never seen them before, but they seem to be your size. “ I'll be downstairs, having breakfast. Join me when you are, well, decent seems a poor fit. But at the least acceptable.” A head tilt, a wink, and Miaya leaves the room without another word.

>>25587517

You don the fresh clothes, a bright assortment of a short-sleeved shirt and purple jacket, with matching troussers. You would be embarrassed by the lack of subtlety any other time, but it is a festival, so it's not Miaya messing you. Or, at least, not only that.

The festival lasts another two days, and you do plan to blow off some steam. But that's no excuse to not do the work that's right in front of you. Miaya is waiting downstairs, but you take a moment to consider where to start...

>>25587524
Well we still need to iron out the deal with our musicians. We could look into cultivated connections with local business owners, and perhaps a few of the less savory types. Never hurts to know a guy.

Since Reggie said the Nero Sertorius sent him North to find automata we should look into that too. If he wants it we do too.

>>25587524
Let's grab breakfast first.

"You almost gave me a heart attack there, but I suppose I do deserve it after yesterday. Now that you've had time to think it through, what is your opinion of the bards, Miaya?"

>>25587524
We should plan to visit all of the local taverns and sample the culture and atmosphere, what music is most played, what people enjoy, etc.

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>>25587524
Scout local businesses, look for information brokers and adventuring types. Take note of any potential partners.

>>25587808
>>25587687
>>25587676

You decide that, first things first, you need to go over the deal from the night before. You find Miaya in the busy common room. Apparently even a relative hole like the Driftwood does great business during Jesterfell. You will almost certainly do well to get a foot in this town's business, you put aside the thought for later exploration.

As for Miaya, she has yet to touch her food, in this case a bowl of simple, if appetizing porridge. Likely cooked in a vat by the tired old woman who seems to do everything around the Driftwood. She even got you a bowl, her earlier impatience must have not gone too deep, then.

"Good morning, Miaya." You say, sitting down. Perhaps best to simply ignore your previous greeting. She does not say anything, nor take a bite of food, until you do so. Then she goes at the bowl with the same ravenous intensity you remember from the Bard's College the night before.

"You almost gave me a heart attack there, but I suppose I do deserve it after yesterday. Now that you've had time to think it through, what is your opinion of the bards, Miaya?" You say between mouthfuls.

She looks up, and you note she has emptied her bowl entirely in the time it took you to speak. " Nontraditional, for certain, but the singers have obvious classical training and talent, and Crese is unlike anything I have heard. I used to live in Oara, and we had every Musician on the continent come play for the First, but never anything like that. I must admit, it was refreshing. May even draw in it's own audience. I approve, especially since it seems he can play more, er, well known fare if required.

You nod your agreement. Whatever you thought you would find in patch, Crese, Ela, and Haro were certainly not it. And yet, you have to admit a certain satisfaction that the world can still surprise you. Staves off boredom, that's for sure.

>>25588143

You finish your own porridge minutes later, placing it aside and speaking once again. " So, I was thinking we forge some business connections in Patch, spread our tendrils, if you will. Any idea where to start?"

She thinks for a moment, then brings out a simple map she must have bought from some vendor or another. " Most of the Taverns and eateries are in the northern sector, around the College. Some smaller Inns, like the Driftwood, over on the riverfront. I hear the underworld is also active around the docks, if you wish to take that road. Government offices are in the city center, but good luck getting there in festival traffic. We could head to any one of those and look for opportunity, or just wander. It seemed to work last time, stampede aside."

>>25588155
Let's just wander for now and enjoy the festival, we've still got another day in the town.

Is there anything specific we're looking for as well?

>>25588155
Riverfront first I say. The water is naturally going to be where travelers congregate so we should too. We want work on getting information coming in from around the kingdom, as well perhaps as some goods we might be able to sell to adventurers

>>25588208
We were looking for a bard, which we got. More generally we are looking for ways to spread our influence and stay on top of the numerous groups of people who want to murder us.

This reminds me, we should probably talk to Miaya more about the rebel army that apparently lives next door to us. They might be of use, or at least we could convince them not to burn our tavern down again.

>>25588143
So, we've got today and tomorrow before the festival ends, correct? I'd say take care of business today and enjoy the finale or whatever tomorrow with our new friends. Partially to better solidify our relationship with them.

My vote is for the riverfront.

>>25588345
>>25588208

You stroke your chin, a habit left over from when you had any facial hair to speak of, rather than the stubble you currently sport from a few days of lax grooming. You'll be wearing a mask once you leave in any case, so you find it hard to care overmuch. " The waterfront sounds nice. We're hear anyway, and I could use with hearing some news from the interior. We've been more than a little isolated the last few months, and our clientele aren't the types to worry too much about the vagaries of the politics."

She nods, and stands. " Go get the masks, then. No need to stick out."

You return momentarily, and you both once again joining the city wide masquerade. Visages made appropriate, you leave together.

The street is busy, but not the constant press it was at the heights of the day just past. After all, it is only mid morning.

You nudge Miaya to get her attention. The Plague Doctor mask doesn't really have good peripherals. " So, hear anything good about the waterfront?"

She shrugs. " Old Francesca is trying to find a partner for the Driftwood. It would be dirt cheap, but it's an iffy investment. She does poor business most of the year from what I hear. Something would have to change. Beyond that, well, you have been with me most of the time. I have not really had time of advanced inquiry."

You continue along the waterfront. Miaya points at the pier, and you both have a quick laugh at a street performer miming having caught a gigantic fish. Just as pulls mightily on the rod, he flies into the water as if dragged, to the delight of a small crowd of onlookers. Not much further on, a fresh ship is offloading passengers. Its contents are families and travelers, in for the festival no doubt. As they came from further towards the continental center, and therefore the capitol, you decide to ask one of the sailors for news.

>>25588739

According to the stocky Meridian, by the name of Marko, there is a stirring in the capitol. Attacks from automata on the road are both spreading in area and becoming more common in frequency. Calls from senators with constituents further north for military aid are being quashed by the Sertorius-led Novus Tutela faction. They argue the need to save men for the similarly increased partisan attacks on Meridia and the central territories. Apparently Lucretia has been tasked to that. You tense at her name, but cannot deny your relief that she remains in the midlands. You thank the man for the news with some change, which he gladly accepts.

Before too long you come to an area near the docks, where revelers are less common than sailors and longshoremen. Rough looking folks, all. A bar called the Siren stands vigil over the street, two toughs standing out front of it's wind-worn boards. The building itself recalls the old river vessels it services. Obvious security presence. A dive, through and through.

" You want the underworld, that's as good a place to start as any. Up to you, Tallius. I will have your back, as always. Try not to need it, this time."

>>25588758
Nero is playing some game with the automata, probably the endgame is robot death squads but we can't be sure. I think if we could get adventurers selling that stuff to us for research it might prove helpful. As for the driftwood, it might be worth eating the loss we'd take propping it up to incorporate it into our network. Especially if we later get into smuggling. I say we check out the Siren for now and figure out what the locals are engaged in here. We can decide where to go from there.

Since it's kind of slow I'm going to run to the store quick. Running during Shadow Quest is suffering huh?

>>25588758
Lets see if we can get into the Siren.

>>25588982
>>25588925

Well, no one ever made any progress by being shy or intimidated. You walk right up to the door, Miaya trailing behind, and attempt to open the door like you own the place, or at least drink there on weekends.

You almost make it, before a thick, tanned arm shoots out to bar your passage.

" Whoah there, friend. The festivals the other way, you don't look like you belong here. Best back up before you get hurt, there's plenty of other places to get a drink."

What to say?

>>25589079
Signal to Miaya to start moving into his blind spot and distract him as best you can.

"There must be some mistake good sir. The Siren is known for miles around for the high moral quality of it's patrons. Surely an... enterprising businessman... such as myself would be welcome."

I'm going to call it here due to both low attendance and a myriad of things I need to do tonight. Next week we will try starting a few hours later. Check the Twitter or a QTG for updates.

Oh, and the Archive Troll was kind enough to take care of us. Thanks archive troll. http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/25587475/

Thanks for reading and I will see you next week.

>>25589416

Gotta hand it to him, he sure is enterprising.

>>25589416
I was reading, but I have no idea what this is. Now that it has stopped, I feel I can ask without intruding, "What is this?"

>>25589543

It's Tavern Quest, a quest thread in which the players are Tallius Urist, a disgraced noble who starts a new life running a Tavern in a fantasy setting. Sessions usually include failing at doing anything useful, flashbacks, and even the occasional bout of Tavern running.

8/10 its okay.

>>25589575
Basically we got framed up for our father in law's murder and now we're trying to run a tavern while the whole world and our psychotic paladin ex-wife try to kill us.