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Your name is Chlotsuintha, and for once, everything seems to be going your way. You are wearing the first of your three new dresses from Hortingea’s, you managed to weasel out of … whatever the Hell was going on at Festive Fabricians without causing more trouble for yourself, and now you have a few hours to spend shopping for supplies. You are already out on Spinster’s Street, so you are close to most of the stores that you would go to. On top of that, you have quite a lot of money with you at the moment. Now, you are going to need some of that to purchase a carriage or coach from the Liveries, but unless you go completely hog wild with your spending, there should be enough left after you are done. And even if there wasn’t, then you could just arrange to pay the rest when you finally do pick it up.

What is limiting you is time – you are going to have to prioritize here, as you might not be able to get to everything before the fourteenth hour.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]
>Find a cobbler [boots, shoes, slippers]
>Find a grocer [fresh food, preserved food, salt]
>Find a bookstore [books*]
>Find a public house [hot meal, news and information]

*Note: wherever Chlotsuintha ends up, it is almost a certainty that she is not going to have the kind of selection that she is going to get in the Mount.

Previous thread: >>https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2022/5232198/

Archive of all threads: >>https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Eternal%20Rome

Also, please note that this is only the seventh thread if you count the intermission, which I am not in the archive, but I have to on 4chan because thread six is still in the catalog. It really doesn’t matter, but it bugs me.

The actual Tragical Ballad broadside: >>https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Tragical_Ballad_18th_century.png

>>5289210
>>Find a cobbler [boots, shoes, slippers]

>>5289210
>Find a cobbler [boots, shoes, slippers]

>>5289210
>>Find a cobbler [boots, shoes, slippers]

>>5289210
>Find a cobbler [boots, shoes, slippers]

>>5289210
>>Find a cobbler [boots, shoes, slippers]

>>5289210
>>Find a cobbler [boots, shoes, slippers]

>>5289210
>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]

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As you are walking nowhere in particular while you consider your options, you almost twist your ankle when the heel of your left boot breaks off unexpectedly. Now settled on a course of action, you spend the new ten minutes or so hobbling around, looking for a cobbler until you finally find a small outfit in the shadow of the Cavity's lower entrance. From what you can see outside, it has boots in your size already made - though they are men's boots. Buying men's clothing might be difficult, but if push comes to shove, hopefully you will be able to swing it. The real issue is that doing so is going to guarantee that you are remembered. Then again, you are probably going to be remembered regardless, especially if you spend a lot of money in one place.

Boots:

Standard Boot (M). There is really very little to say about this - these are perfectly typical leather boots, decently made, and reasonably priced. Perhaps a little nicer than the ones you ruined last night. They provide basic protection to the foot . 80 to 100 eighth-talents.

Oiler's Boot (M). Like the Standard boot, but the cuff is a little higher and tighter, and it has been coated with waterproofing tar instead of the usual wax. As with the standard, these provide basic protection to the foot, as well as some protection from pooled acids and the like. 140 to 180 eighth-talents.

Auxiliaries Boot (M). This boot is a thicker, heavier version of the Standard boot, complete with hobnails for traction. It provides superior protection to the foot, and the steel toe allows your kicks to pack more of punch (or kick), Weight will make it harder to run or climb though. 220 to 250 eighth-talents.

Winter Boot (M). Like the Oiler's boot, but heavy waxing instead of tar for waterproofing, and lined with fur. As with the standard, these provide basic protection to the foot, as well as protection against frostbite and marginal protection from pooled acids and the like. 200 to 230 eighth-talents.

Commissions:

Commission Boot Repair: These were nice boots once. It is possible that they might be nice boots again. 60 eighth-talents.

Commission Cotton Gloves: They will look nice, and they should be enough to stop the spread of Strangeness through your hands. 40 to 50 eighth-talents.

Commission Canvas Gloves: They will be fairly sturdy, and in addition to protecting against the Strangeness, they should provide some protection to your hands. Some loss of dexterity. 30 to 40 eighth-talents.

Commission Lined Leather Gloves: The will look really nice, and in addition to protecting against the Strangeness and providing some protection to your hands, they should protect against frostbite as well. Some loss of dexterity. 60 to 80 eighth-talents.

>>5290545
Buy
>Winter Boot (M). Like the Oiler's boot, but heavy waxing instead of tar for waterproofing, and lined with fur. As with the standard, these provide basic protection to the foot, as well as protection against frostbite and marginal protection from pooled acids and the like. 200 to 230 eighth-talents

Commission
Commission Lined Leather Gloves: The will look really nice, and in addition to protecting against the Strangeness and providing some protection to your hands, they should protect against frostbite as well. Some loss of dexterity. 60 to 80 eighth-talents.

>>5290545
>>Standard Boot (M). There is really very little to say about this - these are perfectly typical leather boots, decently made, and reasonably priced. Perhaps a little nicer than the ones you ruined last night. They provide basic protection to the foot . 80 to 100 eighth-talents.
I don't see Chlot needing any special footwear or gloves. I'm under the impression this region of the world and elsewhere in the Principalities are mostly temperate, and not too much of a frostbite risk

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Misc:

Knit cap: A tight fitting cap that a peasant might wear during the colder months. Provides marginal protection to the head and if pulled down to the ears as well, in addition to protection against frostbite. 20 to 30 eighth-talents. .

Knit mittens: Large enough to fit even you, these are standard mitts and offer marginal protection for your hands, letting you punch with a little more confidence on account of the padding, in addition to the protection against frostbite. Dramatically reduces dexterity. 20 to 30 eighth-talents.

Cotton Stockings (M): Large enough to fit your legs, these are standard stockings, to be worn as undergarments day to day. 45 to 55 eighth-talents for one pair, six available.

Woolen Stockings (M): Large enough to fit your legs, these warm stockings provide protection against the cold, though some wear them year round. 25 to 35 eighth-talents, six available.

You could spend the time looking for another cobbler - one who caters to a female clientele - or you could try your luck with this one. You should not expect to find a store that has woman's boots and shoes already made up in your size, however, and you should do everything that you can to remain as unsuspicious as possible.

>>5290563
>Woolen Stockings (M): Large enough to fit your legs, these warm stockings provide protection against the cold, though some wear them year round. 25 to 35 eighth-talents, six available.
three pairs ought to be enough?
>>5290564
woops, stockings would also be appreciated.
IMO a woman buying oiler gear is rather odd, and most people have most of a wardrobe already, so Chlot shouldn't be buying a full ensemble, only some odds and ends that might have worn out

>>5290564
As far as the weather is concerned, you are pretty spot on. I envisioned Outremer to have weather similar to the Pacific Northwest - basically a slightly colder version of the Mediterranean climate.One of the first things I mentioned about the setting is that olives and grapes are grown domestically here.

>>5290568
Are there breast wrappers or primitive bras for sale?

>>5290587
stays are structured clothing, so they have to be made to fit exactly. having ready-made boots is a relative stretch already, ready-made stays are impossible, especially for Chlot's measurements

>>5289203
Sorry to bug you about this Trash, but are you going to run Collapsing again? I really loved it, this quest is great too you have a wonderful style to your writing

>>5290545
>Oiler's Boot (M). Like the Standard boot, but the cuff is a little higher and tighter, and it has been coated with waterproofing tar instead of the usual wax. As with the standard, these provide basic protection to the foot, as well as some protection from pooled acids and the like. 140 to 180 eighth-talents.

>>Standard Boot (M). There is really very little to say about this - these are perfectly typical leather boots, decently made, and reasonably priced. Perhaps a little nicer than the ones you ruined last night. They provide basic protection to the foot . 80 to 100 eighth-talents.

>Woolen Stockings (M): Large enough to fit your legs, these warm stockings provide protection against the cold, though some wear them year round. 25 to 35 eighth-talents, six available.

from what I remember our ruined boots are actually ill-fitting, right? Not much sense in fixing them then, but it might be worthwhile to buy a spare pair.

>>5290545
>Standard Boot (M). There is really very little to say about this - these are perfectly typical leather boots, decently made, and reasonably priced. Perhaps a little nicer than the ones you ruined last night. They provide basic protection to the foot . 80 to 100 eighth-talents.

Perfectly typical, you say? Perfect for our mission of passing inspection when leaving this place. No time for commissions and it'll make us more forgettable.

>>5290686
Yes, I do intend to return to Reggie, Debouche and Collapsing. My idea is once we get to a good spot in this quest to do a small time skip (like after finding some relatively safe spot for Chlotsuintha to rest up for a day or so) I will switch back.

>>5290695
Actually, we got acid on both sets of boots - the ill-fitting men's ones we plucked off of the Comptroller and the ones that we were issued with the Spotted Cloak.

>>5290587
Nothing like that at a Cobbler whose customers are almost all men.

Anyway, I am going to leave this up a little longer to make sure that everyone can get some input in, then I will close the vote and write the scene. Assuming that any men's clothing is being purchased, there is going to have to be a Convince test, though.

>>5290545
Winter Boot (M). Like the Oiler's boot, but heavy waxing instead of tar for waterproofing, and lined with fur. As with the standard, these provide basic protection to the foot, as well as protection against frostbite and marginal protection from pooled acids and the like. 200 to 230 eighth-talents.
Commission Boot Repair: These were nice boots once. It is possible that they might be nice boots again. 60 eighth-talents.
Commission Lined Leather Gloves: The will look really nice, and in addition to protecting against the Strangeness and providing some protection to your hands, they should protect against frostbite as well. Some loss of dexterity. 60 to 80 eighth-talents.
Knit cap: A tight fitting cap that a peasant might wear during the colder months. Provides marginal protection to the head and if pulled down to the ears as well, in addition to protection against frostbite. 20 to 30 eighth-talents.
Cotton Stockings (M): Large enough to fit your legs, these are standard stockings, to be worn as undergarments day to day. 45 to 55 eighth-talents for one pair, six available.
Woolen Stockings (M): Large enough to fit your legs, these warm stockings provide protection against the cold, though some wear them year round. 25 to 35 eighth-talents, six available.

>>5290545
>Oiler's Boot (M). Like the Standard boot, but the cuff is a little higher and tighter, and it has been coated with waterproofing tar instead of the usual wax. As with the standard, these provide basic protection to the foot, as well as some protection from pooled acids and the like. 140 to 180 eighth-talents.

>Commission Boot Repair: These were nice boots once. It is possible that they might be nice boots again. 60 eighth-talents.

>Buy 2 of Cotton Stockings (M): Large enough to fit your legs, these are standard stockings, to be worn as undergarments day to day. 45 to 55 eighth-talents for one pair, six available.

>>5290985
Supporting

>>5290695
I'm switching the second boot purchase to boot repair (repair the fitting pair obviously)

>>5290695
>>5291334
ID changed. I am this anon.

Alright, lets see if there is some sort of consensus here.

>>5290556
Wants to buy the Winter Boot (M) and to commission the Lined Leather Gloves (M)

>>5290564
Wants to buy the Standard Boot (M) and three pairs of the Woolen Stockings (M)

>>5290695
Wants to buy the Oiler's Boot (M), the Standard Boot (M) and x pairs of the Woolen Stockings (M)

>>5290802
Wants to buy the Standard Boot (M)

>>5290973
Wants to buy the Winter Boot (M), the Knit Cap, x pairs of the Cotton Stockings (M), x pairs of the Woolen Stockings (M) and to Commission Lined Leather Gloves and Boot Repair.

>>5290985
Wants to buy the Oiler's Boot (M), two pairs of Cotton Stockings (M), and to Commission Boot Repair.

>>5291251
Supports >>5290985

>>5291334
Changes >>5291336, now wants to Commission Boot Repair instead of
>the second boot purchase
Which I am going to assume means the Standard Boot (M)

Now, there were seven votes cast, but as no one plan got a majority, I am going to have to break down the votes individually.

For the Boot Purchase:
>>5290556 >>5290973 Winter (2/7)
>>5290564 >>5290802 Standard (2/7)
>>5290695 >>5290985 >>5291251 Oiler's (3/7)

For the Stocking Purchase:
>>5290564 >>5290695 >>5290973 Woolen Stockings (3/7)
>>5290973 >>5290985 >>5291251 Cotton Stockings (3/7)
>>5290802 Neither (1/7)

For the Commissions:
>>5290556 >>5290973 Lined Leather Gloves (2/7)
>>5290973 >>5290985 >>5291251 >>5291334 Boot Repair (4/7)
>>5290802 Neither (1/7)

So, Commissioning the Boot Repair is an obvious winner, receiving a majority of the votes. None of the Boot options received a majority, but Buying the Oiler's Boot (M) did get a plurality. Things are a little more complicated with Buying the Stockings, as while neither of them got a majority, both of them managed to get the plurality. In this case, and going forward, I am going to say that means that both win.

In conclusion, the purchase is going to be one pair of Oiler's Boots (M), three pairs of Woolen Stockings (M), two pairs of Cotton Stockings (M) and Commissioning a Boot Repair. We are going with those quantities of Stockings because those anons were the only ones who actually specified.

>>5290857
Awesome, I read a few different apocalyptic stuff (Alas, Babylon specifically, among one or two others) and it really made me hanker for Collapsing.

>>5291595
Weird results but okay lol. We have the funds to splurge.

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From the hanging shingles on the outside of the shop, you can see that this establishment sells Oiler’s Boots, popular with Fishermen, Whalers, and of course, Oilers. Apparently, the tarring that they get doesn’t just waterproof the boot, it provides protection against chemicals and whatnot. Which would have been a really great thing to have had last night. Just a little bit of acid or whatever the Hell did a serious number on these boots. You hate to think what would have happened if the puddles you stepped in just happened to be a little bit deeper. After you actually involuntarily shudder at the thought, you decide that you should buy a pair if there is one already made in your size. And while you are here, you should ask about getting these boots repaired.

Clutching your bundled spare dress, hobble your way inside the small shop, where your entrance is announced by a chiming bell on the door. The place somehow manages to look smaller from the inside than it does on the outside, and the ceiling is low enough that you actually have to stoop, or the crown of your head would be touching the planks of the ceiling, but there are even more boots than you thought already made, just sitting on display here, waiting to be sold. Further into the shop, there are other things for sale as well, like stockings and hats and some really nice-looking gloves that would have fit you great about four or five years ago. The smell of leather is thick in the air, and as you walk into the center of the room waiting to be served, you find yourself wondering just how closely the man works with the Leper leatherworkers in the Tanneries. An older, kindly looking man walks out of the back of the store, though the look of confusion on his face over your presence here gives you a little bit of pause. After eight years in the Midden, wearing breeches under your Spotted Cloak, you are fairly comfortable wearing either men’s or women’s clothing – even though crossdressing is sinful, being both venereal and contrary.

You have never actually tried to purchase men’s clothing before, but you are not looking to buy breeches and a codpiece, all you want are just boots … oh, and maybe a few pairs of those stockings. Not wanting to start out on the backfoot here, you abruptly begin – making a point to start with the non-objectionable part of your order, the repair.

“I was wondering if you did same day repairs?”

“I can – though of course, I charge more for that. Not to mention, most of the custom I get through here have work boots, but I am sure I can manage a more delicate touch. Do ya have them with you?”

“Actually, I am wearing – “

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>>5291700
It is at this moment that you realize that you have your stilettoes in your boots. If you take your boots off while he is looking at you, then he will see them, or at the very least, you taking something out of your boots. You could ask him to go get you a pair of Oilers or some of the stockings that you were looking at, but you didn’t want to attempt to buy men’s clothing from him until you closed the deal on this commission, because you wanted to use the fact that you didn’t have any other footwear on you as leverage to convince him to sell. If you ask for them now, then you lose that angle.

>Please choose ONE of the following
>Ask for him about purchasing the Oilers, and hope that turns around long enough.
>Take the boots off in front of him, doing your best to conceal the stilettoes and hope he doesn't ask about them.
>Take the boots off in front of him, not bothering to conceal the stilettoes and hope that he does not make a big deal of it.

>>5291690
I know, but unless everyone gets behind one slate, then that is the only way that I could do it. Actually, now that I say that, I suppose I could have given it to >>5290985 on the basis that it got two votes out of seven and all of the other slates only got one vote, but that seems kinda ridiculous.

>>5291703
>>Take the boots off in front of him, doing your best to conceal the stilettoes and hope he doesn't ask about them.

>>5291703
>>Ask for him about purchasing the Oilers, and hope that turns around long enough.

>>5291703
>Ask for him about purchasing the Oilers, and hope that turns around long enough.

What's that behind you?!

>>5291703
>Take the boots off in front of him, not bothering to conceal the stilettoes and hope that he does not make a big deal of it.

>>5291703
>>Take the boots off in front of him, doing your best to conceal the stilettoes and hope he doesn't ask about them.
A girl's gotta protect herself, what's wrong with it?

>>5292072
>what's wrong with it

we are a wanted criminal and these are the weapons we used in our armed robbery.

>>5291703
>>Ask for him about purchasing the Oilers, and hope that turns around long enough.

>>5291703
>Take the boots off in front of him, doing your best to conceal the stilettoes and hope he doesn't ask about them.

Well, I don't feel comfortable rolling for this, so I guess this is going to have to wait overnight. For anyone who is still around in the thread, if they have any quick questions about the setting, I'd be happy to answer them.

>>5292822
How are wedding ceremonies conducted?

>>5291703
>>Ask for him about purchasing the Oilers, and hope that turns around long enough.

>>5292839
>How are wedding ceremonies conducted?

In the Empire, they are relatively straightforward affairs. After some pertinent passages have been read from the Compendium, the bride and groom exchange oaths (and if they can afford them, rings) in the presence of a Priest, with friends and family to witness. If the bride and groom are getting married somewhere with a Temple, then the ceremony will be conducted on Titheday, during the day. However, if the bride and groom live somewhere without a Temple, then they will wait for a traveling Priest (or more likely, a Lay Brother with sufficient authority to perform weddings), and then they will conduct the ceremony for them outside, under the stars on a clear night.

Oh! That's four votes for asking about the Oilers to distract him, against three votes for just trying to remove the blades with a bit of slight of hand, and one vote for simply hauling them out of my boots.

>>5292188
I should point out that we only used one of the blades to saw through the bar on the door to the captain's cabin. We actually used that sword we stole from the captain's armory for the actual robbery part.

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Pattern’s Perdition! If you had just remembered that you had those damned knives in there … no, you cannot afford to work yourself up over this, not now! You are going to have to get his attention off of you, which means –

“Ah, before I forget, I wanted to know how much those kind of boots over there cost?”
You gesture in the direction of the Oiler’s as you bend down to let go of your bundled spare dress.

As the Cobbler turns to look, you are able to position yourself well enough to palm the blade in the right boot and slip it out and then securely into one of the pockets of your spare without him noticing anything unusual. Unfortunately, you do not have enough time to get the other one out before he starts to turn back around, and you have to busy yourself with unlacing the boot to maintain the deception.

“Child, those are working boots – a man’s boot. I … what would you even need one of those for?”

>Please choose ONE of the following cover stories:
>You are working as a maid for room and board, and one of the children of in the household has taken to stealing and burning your boots (explaining the damage to the sole and heel). Instead of teaching her spawn some manners with a cane, your mistress has sent you here to buy more fire-resistant boots (explaining the money).
>You are the wife of a Refinery worker – whose imaginary husband blessedly survived the disaster last night – tried to help looking for survivors last night under the piles of the wharf, where you ended up stepping in something (explaining the damage to the sole and heel) and finding a small purse (explaining the money). You want to continue searching down there, and for that, you need proper footwear.
>You are the daughter of an Oiler – whose imaginary father blessedly was not in port during the disaster last night. Still, you made a point of going down to the wharves to see what was going on, but all you ended up doing was ruining your boots (explaining the damage to sole and heel). Father sends you money regularly (explaining the money) and after the scare last night, you want something to remind you of him around the house – so you want to buy boots, just like his. You wouldn’t wear them really – at least not outside.
>Write-ins (or alterations to existing options) are allowed with QM approval.

>>5293393
>>You are working as a maid for room and board, and one of the children of in the household has taken to stealing and burning your boots (explaining the damage to the sole and heel). Instead of teaching her spawn some manners with a cane, your mistress has sent you here to buy more fire-resistant boots (explaining the money).

Chlot's conscience wouldn't let her pretend to be someone upstanding like the wife option, and the daughter option seems quite farfetched as a way to get the boots.
The problem with the maid option is that acid and fire burns are quite different visually, even to an inexperienced eye, so she shouldn't specify fire-resistance, and instead if pressed could offer up a persnickety mistress who insists on the use of particularly caustic and somewhat dubious cleaning supplies due to a fear of illness or something

>>5293393
>>You are the wife of a Refinery worker – whose imaginary husband blessedly survived the disaster last night – tried to help looking for survivors last night under the piles of the wharf, where you ended up stepping in something (explaining the damage to the sole and heel) and finding a small purse (explaining the money). You want to continue searching down there, and for that, you need proper footwear.
At least this cover story makes sense

>>5293393
>You are the wife of a Refinery worker – whose imaginary husband blessedly survived the disaster last night – tried to help looking for survivors last night under the piles of the wharf, where you ended up stepping in something (explaining the damage to the sole and heel) and finding a small purse (explaining the money). You want to continue searching down there, and for that, you need proper footwear.

>>5293393
>You are the wife of a Refinery worker – whose imaginary husband blessedly survived the disaster last night – tried to help looking for survivors last night under the piles of the wharf, where you ended up stepping in something (explaining the damage to the sole and heel) and finding a small purse (explaining the money). You want to continue searching down there, and for that, you need proper footwear.

>>5293393
>You are the SISTER of a Refinery worker – whose imaginary husband blessedly survived the disaster last night – tried to help looking for survivors last night under the piles of the wharf, where you ended up stepping in something (explaining the damage to the sole and heel) and finding a small purse (explaining the money). You want to continue searching down there FOR A LOST FAMILY HEIRLOOM, and for that, you need proper footwear. You and your brother have the same size feet and he needs a pair too because his boots also got ruined.

There is a pretty strong lead, with three votes for the wife backstory without any alterations, and a fourth vote for an alternate version where Chlotsuintha claims to be a sister of a Refinery worker ... though I am not sure what the anon was driving at with the end, were you asking for a second set of Oilers or were you saying that Chlotsuintha should attempt to pass of her purchase as getting something for her brother who happens to have the same size foot as her?

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> Deception Test Part I: Backstory

> DC 30: Witchlet Chlotsuintha is a Born and Bred Liar, making a Simple Deception like this [Easy]
> + DC 10 Witchlet Chlotsuintha is making up her story as she goes.
> + DC 5 Witchlet Chlotsuintha matches the description of a wanted criminal.
> + DC 2 Witchlet Chlotsuintha is odd looking, given her height.
> + DC 4 Witchlet Chlotsuintha is currently Drained II, and is not thinking as quickly as she normally does.
> - DC 15 Cobbler [Name Unknown] has no reason to believe that Chlotsuintha is lying to him yet.
> - DC 10 Witchlet Chlotsuintha looks to be Gently Bred; most male characters are more inclined to listen to her because of this (benefit doubles from – DC 5 to – DC 10)
> - DC 10 Witchlet Chlotsuintha was actually on Oiler’s wharf during the disaster, and knows things that a bystander would know, strengthening the deception.
> - DC 3 Witchlet Chlotsuintha is dressed as the wife of a Refinery worker might be, strengthening the deception.

>DC 13 Anything lower is a failure. [One auto-pass(es) available. Two re-roll(s) available. No hostile re-roll(s)]

>No Passes: No boots for you! Maybe it was when you trailed off as you snuck the second blade out of your left boot, or maybe you said something that just didn’t sit right with the Cobbler, but he just does not want to hear it. He will not sell you any men’s clothes.
>One Pass: Tred Carefully. The Cobbler is still listening to you, but you can tell that you have aroused some suspicion – he does not look confused any more, just suspicious. You need to push past this!
>Two Passes: One Step at a Time: The Cobbler seems to be going along with your story so far, but things are only going to get harder to swallow from here on out. You cannot let up!
>Three Passes: Leaps and Strides. The Cobbler is nodding along as you weave yourself a backstory. You have this – more importantly, you have him! So long as you don’t blow it, of course …

>If ONE of the THREE rolls comes up as a Critical or Near Critical Failure (Roll of 1 or 2) then the Cobbler is not just unwilling to sell you any men’s clothing, but he is furious … at your ‘husband’ for allowing you to attempt to buy men’s clothing! As he shoos you from his shop, he says that he has half a mind to go to the Refinery Tenements and give him a piece of his mind when he closes shop for the day.
>If ONE of the THREE rolls comes up as a Critical or Near Critical Success (Roll of 100 or 99) then the Cobbler relents sooner than expected. You will be allowed to purchase men’s clothing from this shop without issue going forward, so long as your cover story holds.

>Standard rules in effect - so if you want to use the auto-pass, then you need to speak up before a Critical or Near Critical is rolled.

I’m testing out a new way of doing deception-tests; lower DCs but with multiple stages that you have to pass through. If this works well, then I might change up how all tests work going forward.

>>5294127
How many rounds for a regular deception test?

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>5294127
Forgot roll

>>5294158
I'm thinking two or three. I don't know though. This is a bit of a trial run.

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>5294127
I was going for calling the purchase as for the brother. Sorry for being unclear.

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>5294127

>>5294127
>If this works well, then I might change up how all tests work going forward.
One thing to note is that the more rolls that we make, the more critical will appear so it might be worth also adjusting (either by reducing their range, or their impact) if things transition to "stages" before things get out of hand.

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As he waits for your answer, you shift yourself into a position where you can palm the second blade with your hand concealed well enough by the apron.

“Well, my husband is a Refinery worker –”

“By the Piece, is he alright?”

“Oh, oh! Yes, yes, he is fine. He works in the one operated by Ulteria, so he was at the other end of Oiler’s Wharf when Gothorum-One went to Hell in a handbasket.”

“Do they know what happened?”

Figuring the best time to palm the blade would be while he was distracted listening you decide to give him a pretty thorough accounting of the disaster.

“Well, there was an Oiler that lifted itself out of the harbor, the main pump exploded, and one of the … uh, well, there are three of these great big columns that the lifting oil goes up and down – or rather, the Ichor, as it had not been refined yet – one of those got knocked askew.”

With his attention now fully on you, and your fingers already around the knife, you employ an old pickpocket’s trick that father taught you back when you were living in the Old World. You look to the side, where some more typical boots are on display, and when the Cobbler turns to see what you are looking at, you pluck the pin-stiletto out of your boot and stuff it into another pocket in the bundled spare dress at your feet. Not wanting to give him a moment to think about just happened, you abruptly and loudly resume with your story, noticeably startling the Cobbler.

“Or if you meant what went wrong, then no, they don’t. Or if they do, then no one has told us anything. But the Inquisition is already there, and the Imperial Arms is not going to be put off either. And I’d trust their account of what happened more than whatever fable the Gothorum family is eventually going to put out.”

“Wait, why would the Arms get involved?”

“Hm? Oh, the highest grades of lifting oil are all earmarked to make Wandering Whistlers – you know, dragon-killers. If –”

“Oh, of course, I knew that.”

“Anyway, after I realized that my Ossavian was safe, I …”

You trail off, and you can feel your face starting to get a little warm. Out of all of the names that you could have chosen for your fictitious husband, why would you choose that one! Shit, you need to move past this! Pretending to be overcome by emotion, you cover your face, careful to keep your hands and arms out of Hide-Eyes envelope.

“I’m sorry. I was just … before I knew that he was alright, I was out of my mind with worry, just waiting hear that he safe."

Luckily, the Cobbler seems to have bought it. You sigh dramatically, then drop your hands and continue your tale.

"Anyway, once I got the news that he was fine, that the disaster was only at Gothorum-One, I needed something to do to occupy myself – he was going to be working the night through, and I knew I was not going to get any sleep after all of this. I got it in my head to go down beneath the Boardwalk –”

File: Pier.jpg (100 KB, 753x1024)

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“Beneath the Boardwalk! With a Refinery falling to pieces right above you?! Whatever for?”

“I figured that someone might have fallen into the water, and gotten swept under the piles. The idea was that I could rescue them. I already knew my way around down there, Ossavian showed me where you could find mussels in the little tidewater pools down there once.”

“But I didn’t find anyone – living or dead. I guess it hadn’t been long enough for anyone to wash ashore. And down there I stepped in … something. Its what did my boots in. But it wasn’t all bad. I found a lot of odds and ends – and talents. A lot of talents. I … That’s why I want the boots. If I had some tougher boots, then I –”

While the Cobbler has clearly been taken in by your story, it is just as clear that he does not approve of your escapades. But before he raises any objections, he glances down and finally gets a good look at the remains of the boots that you were issued with your Spotted Cloak.

“You wear men’s boots.”

It is not a question, and even if it was, you would not know how to answer it satisfactorily. So instead, you just keep quiet. A moment or two passes, before the Cobbler speaks again – quieter than before, but with a noticeable edge in his voice.

“Who gave them to you?”

>Please choose ONE of the following explanations:
>Your husband, who has been dreaming of getting out of the Mount for years now, has gotten serious about buying a small farm in the Interior. When you outgrew your last pair of sandals, he found an old pair of work boots for you to wear instead.
>Your father gave you these boots as part of your dowry, presumably intending for your husband to wear them. But when your better half got serious about buying a small farm in the Interior, he decided to cut spending back drastically. When you outgrew your last pair of sandals, he gave you these to wear instead of buying you a new pair.
>Your master gave you these boots as part of your uniform. Apparently, they belonged to a footman previously in their employ. You do not dare say anything about it, as it is, their family business is not doing well, and you fear that they might fire you and hire someone willing to work for room and board instead, which would throw a wrench into your husband’s plans to buy a small farm in the Interior soon.

>>5294704
>Your husband, who has been dreaming of getting out of the Mount for years now, has gotten serious about buying a small farm in the Interior. When you outgrew your last pair of sandals, he found an old pair of work boots for you to wear instead.

>>5294704
>Your husband, who has been dreaming of getting out of the Mount for years now, has gotten serious about buying a small farm in the Interior. When you outgrew your last pair of sandals, he found an old pair of work boots for you to wear instead.

>>5294704
>Your father gave you these boots as part of your dowry, presumably intending for your husband to wear them. But when your better half got serious about buying a small farm in the Interior, he decided to cut spending back drastically. When you outgrew your last pair of sandals, he gave you these to wear instead of buying you a new pair.

>>5294704
>>Your husband, who has been dreaming of getting out of the Mount for years now, has gotten serious about buying a small farm in the Interior. When you outgrew your last pair of sandals, he found an old pair of work boots for you to wear instead.
Chlot is a cute. A cute!

>>5294704
“Anyway, after I realized that my Ossavian was safe, I …”
...K-I-S-S-I-N-G...

>>5294704
>>Your husband, who has been dreaming of getting out of the Mount for years now, has gotten serious about buying a small farm in the Interior. When you outgrew your last pair of sandals, he found an old pair of work boots for you to wear instead.
Lol. Imagine if Chlot fell in love with a man of her imagination

>>5294704
>Your father gave you these boots as part of your dowry, presumably intending for your husband to wear them. But when your better half got serious about buying a small farm in the Interior, he decided to cut spending back drastically. When you outgrew your last pair of sandals, he gave you these to wear instead of buying you a new pair.

File: Born and Bred Liar II.jpg (1.25 MB, 3052x2034)

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> Deception Test Part II: Elaboration

> DC 30: Witchlet Chlotsuintha is a Born and Bred Liar, making a Simple Deception like this [Easy]
> + DC 15 Witchlet Chlotsuintha is making up her story as she goes along.
> + DC 5 Witchlet Chlotsuintha matches the description of a wanted criminal.
> + DC 2 Witchlet Chlotsuintha is odd looking, given her height.
> + DC 4 Witchlet Chlotsuintha is currently Drained II, and is not thinking as quickly as she normally does.
> - DC 15 Cobbler [Name Unknown] has no reason to believe that Chlotsuintha is lying to him yet.
> - DC 7 Cobbler [Name Unknown] believes Chlotsuintha’s story completely.
> - DC 10 Witchlet Chlotsuintha looks to be Gently Bred; most male characters are more inclined to listen to her because of this (benefit doubles from – DC 5 to – DC 10)
> - DC 10 Witchlet Chlotsuintha was actually on Oiler’s wharf during the disaster, and knows things that a bystander would know, strengthening the deception.
> - DC 3 Witchlet Chlotsuintha is dressed as the wife of a Refinery worker might be, strengthening the deception.

>DC 6 Anything lower is a failure. [One auto-pass(es) available. Two re-roll(s) available. No hostile re-roll(s)]

>No Passes: Falling Apart. Something you said must have tipped him off, because suddenly he went from upset at your husband back to being suspicious of you. You are going to have think quick to save your story! [+1 Hard Deception Test]
>One Pass: Still Treading Carefully. The Cobbler has picked up on the weakest point of your story – that you found your talents underneath the piers in the middle of the night during all of this unfolding chaos, and that there is apparently enough stuff down there that it warrants buying expensive boots. You are going to have to elaborate here if you want to finish reeling him in. [+1 Easy Deception Test]
>Two Passes: Toeing the Line. The Cobbler has swallowed your story, warts and all. The only issue is that he still is clearly uncomfortable about selling you those boots. You are going to have to persuade him. [+ 1 Convince Test]
>Three Passes: Boots Are Made for Walking. Not only has the Cobbler bought your story, but it was sufficiently moving that he is willing to sell you the boots (and do the repair and sell you the stockings). Additionally, as long as your cover story holds, you will be allowed to purchase men’s clothing from this shop.

> If ONE of the THREE rolls comes up as a Critical or Near Critical Failure (Roll of 1 or 2) then the Cobbler makes up his mind about not selling you any men’s clothing. While he will remember you, at least he will not plan on confronting your “husband”.
> If ONE of the THREE rolls comes up as a Critical or Near Critical Success (Roll of 100 or 99) then the Cobbler – as an out for himself – gives you your requested boots, stocking and repair job instead of charging you for them.

>Standard rules in effect. Auto-pass must be called for before a Critical or Near Critical is rolled.

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>5295341
Piece of cake. Maximum hubris now.

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>5295341

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>5295341

>>5295397
>only two away

The agony!

Okay, I will outline the update tonight, and then try to finish it up early tomorrow ... hopefully.

In the mean time, feel free to choose the next stop on the shopping trip.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]
>Find a grocer [fresh food, preserved food, salt]
>Find a bookstore [books*]
>Find a public house [hot meal, news and information]
>Write-ins allowed with QM approval

>>5295469
>Find a bookstore [books*]

>>5295469
>Find a public house [hot meal, news and information]
Keeping apprised of the general situation will help inform our preperations.

>>5295469
>>Find a grocer [fresh food, preserved food, salt]

>>5295469
>Find a bookstore [books*]

Is it possible to buy a library? I will buy a wagon or two beforehand for this just on principle.

Also, I think we should consider knocking off another rich business or two before we cut and run, just to secure more funds while we’re concentrated in an rich, urban environment so as to avoid stealing on the road.

>>5295469
>>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]

>>5295489
It would be a good way to disguise some of our riches... maybe later.

>>5295489
Chlotsuintha can buy whatever is for sale - but you need to remember that multiple wagons will need multiple teams - and other drivers. Also, if someone dressed as a maid walks into a bookstore, and attempts to buy a library worth of books, people are naturally going to talk about it.

File: Talent Pinching.jpg (17 KB, 600x400)

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“It … my husband. Even back when we were just courting, he was always talking about pulling together enough money to get out of the Mount and buy a small farm somewhere. He was born back in the Old World, you see, on a farm, and does not have … the highest opinion of city living. But about … a year ago now, he had a close call at work one night. He walked away with some scrapes and bruises, but … well, suffice to say, things could have gone differently.”

You allow yourself a moment to compose your thoughts. All the while, the Cobbler is looking at you intently, and it is all you can do to not advert your eyes.

“After that night, getting out of the Mount wasn’t just a dream any more to him, it was … it was his mission in life. And I – of course, I supported him, but … I just didn’t think he was being reasonable with how quickly he wanted out, that’s all. He didn’t just want a parcel of land, he wanted an entire established farm. And he didn’t want to live on the Frontier either, he wanted somewhere in one of the Interior Provinces. Of course, there would have to be money set aside too, to cover us while we established ourselves, and on top of that, he was still paying back the fare and transit fees from when he came to the Principalities.”

“He became a miser. He would stay in darkness rather than burn any oil, we would skip meals, and when we would eat, he would rather go beneath the Boardwalk to harvest mussels, clams and periwinkles rather than buy anything. When my sandals finally wore out, instead of spending money on a new pair, he … I don’t even know how he found these boots, but this is what he gave me.”

The Cobbler looks like he is going to speak up at that, but you aren’t done.

“And … rather than … starting a family, he had me go out take employment. A married maid! Now I – I am supportive. I am! I bring home every talent I can because the thought that one day, my husband will own land, a farm – it fills me with pride. So many of the other men in the Tenement are willing to just live hand to mouth, but not my Ossavian. It is just … I am not some, some nag, some unsatisfiable shrew. I am no whobody to tight purse strings. And I never said a word against this. Against any of this! But … I … I wasn’t happy. Those words were never spoken, but … he saw, he knew. And eventually, he began to relent on small things. Then bigger things. To be sure, he was still saving money, but not like had been in the first few months. He would still have his farm, just … not as quickly.”

“When he first started to seriously save, he figured that he could have paid back the fare and transit fees, and hired a Solicitor by now, to start the search. And just maybe, if somewhere cheap and safe enough on the Frontier turned up, he might have relented, and we might have been living there right now. Instead, at this point, all he has managed to do is cover his fare.”

>>5295469
>Find a public house [hot meal, news and information]

File: Wedding Bands.jpg (85 KB, 872x876)

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“And he was happy with that – as was I. But then this happened. Maker’s Mercy, if it had been the Ulteria Refinery that blew instead of Gothorum-One, and there had been a chance that we might have already left the Mount but for my … selfishness, then … I don’t know how I would be able to live with myself.”

To your embarrassment, you are getting teary-eyed over your own lies. Making a point of keeping your hands folded in front of you, you swallow to take another moment to collect yourself. The Cobbler is still looking at you intently, but his expression has softened considerably.

“So, I am going to save every eighth-talent I can. I’ll be an even bigger miser than he was. And whatever time I have to myself, I am going to be spending underneath the Boardwalk scrounging. Besides all of the odds and ends that fall down there usually, there are a lot of bits and pieces from Gothorum-One washed ashore. Bits of steel, and copper and lead. Lots of bits. Loads of bits. I could make more money collecting scrap in an hour than I could in a week as a maid. And I intend to make as much as I can.”

You are just guessing about the presence of scrap metals under the Boardwalk, but it seems like something that would happen. And you do know for a fact that scrapping can pay very well. And when the Cobbler sighs, you take it to mean that he knows this as well.

“Your husband does not know how lucky he is. Truly. But setting aside the fact they are men’s boots, how can I possibly sell you them, now that I know what you intend to do? Picking through trash, that … that is a Leper’s job. Not to mention that only the Maker knows what that refuse has been exposed to, and that it is under the Boardwalk. If I was to sell to you, then every time I would see one of those boots, I’d worry that you had gotten yourself hurt down there – killed even!”

“Those are Legionnaires boots back there?”

“Auxiliaries boots, actually, but they – ”

“Well, either way, you must not sell any, because if you did, then you would just worry that your customer would go off and get themselves killed in some battle somewhere then, right?”

“No, I – ”

“And these Oiler boots, you must never have sold any of them either, because you would just be worried that someone would go out on an expedition and get themselves drowned or something, right?”

“That is different. Completely different. You are a woman. You are not supposed to be an Oiler or an Auxiliary.”

“You are right. I am a woman. I am supposed to be a wife. A supportive, obedient wife. And I haven’t been. If things had gone differently … Listen, I – I get that you are trying to protect me, but I am going to do everything that I can to get us out of this city as soon as possible. So if you think you can keep me out of there by not selling me those boots, you have another thing coming. If I have to, I’ll go down there in these.”

>>5295469
>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]

we're stocking up for travel

>>5296068
What is it with you and scrapping Trash?

File: Silver Spoon Citizen.jpg (207 KB, 834x1024)

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You push the damaged boots towards the Cobbler, so he can get a good look at them. As you do, you realize that you have been squeezing your bundled spare dress tight to your chest, and out of equal parts concern for your wand and self-consciousness you force yourself to relax a little.

“And if you don’t repair them, then I will go down there with them as they are right now. I’ll go down there walking on my hands if I have to, but I am going down there.”

“It – it is wrong. Contrary!”

“You don’t think I know that? You think I want to wear men’s clothes? You think I want to be even more of – of a freak than I already am?”

The Cobbler tries to interject again, but getting all emotional again, you bull right over him.

“You think I want to have to pick through garbage – in Stinkport of all places? Or that I want to have to tell everyone all of our problems like this? No. All I want … all I want is to be a good wife. A better wife then I have been. I have enough to cover it, just please, fix these boots and let me buy those Oilers … and a few pairs of those stockings.”

“What?!”

“I need those – if my Mistress found out that I wasn’t wearing stockings, then I don’t even know what she would do to me. And do you have any idea how much woman’s stockings cost – in my size?”

“And she wouldn’t care about her maid wearing men’s boots?”

Shit, he has you there. You shift back and forth on your feet, feeling the threadbare carpet beneath your toes as you formulate a response.

“…ah, well … you see … uh, Master and Mistress, they are just silver spoon Citizens. The only thing they know is how to spend talents! If either of them saw my boots, they probably would not be able to tell that these were men’s work boots. It’s … you know how Citizens are …”

You are fervently hoping that this Cobbler does not know how Citizens are. Blessedly, he seems to be as ignorant as you are, and regaining your momentum, you continue slandering your fictitious employers.

“But even they’d be able to figure out something was amiss if they were to somehow see me without stockings when I was working in the garden, or dusting the chandler, or … you know … uh, cleaning.”

“Wait … if you can make so much more selling scrap, then why are you worried about what your Master and Mistress thinks?”

He’s got you again, damn it all. You got sloppy with your story, and it has immediately bit you on your ass.

“…uh, what, you think – think that I could just walk out on them? On Citizens? You think it works like that?”

You have no idea if it does in fact not work like that, but you hope you sound confident enough to sell it.

File: The Farm.jpg (661 KB, 1920x1218)

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“Listen, when we do leave the Mount, we are going to have to get new transit papers, which are hard enough to come by. The last thing we need is a couple of Citizens with an axe to grind. Please … look, I know that crossdressing like this is wrong – a sin – but surely, some crossdressing is worse than others. These are just boots! Boots and stockings! I’ve been wearing these things for half a year now, and the only people who have been in a position to notice, my Master and my Mistress, are too oblivious to. I know I have to square things with … the Maker, and I promise you, I will. As soon as I can.”

“Saying that you are going to stop sinning ‘as soon as you can’ – that is a very dangerous way of thinking, isn’t it?”

“When I can afford them, I’ll buy proper shoes, I – I’m telling you.”

Before you caught yourself, you were about to say, ‘I swear’. Now, lying is bad enough, but forswearing is a much, much blacker sin – and you are going to have enough on your head as it is.

“On farms, wives typically go barefoot. Mostly because their husbands won’t buy them shoes or sandals – or men’s work boots for that matter. Keeps them close to home, so he does not have to worry.”

You had never heard of such a thing … but then again, you have never lived on a farm before, or in any real bucolic setting. It has always been cities and large towns, or traveling between cities and large towns. Do farmer’s wives really just walk off like that? It is odd, you would have figured rustic women to be more loyal than their urban counterparts, not less.

“Well, if that is how things are done, then that is what I will do. As soon as we get there, I’ll burn those boots in the hearth, and I will never wear anything on my feet again.”

The Cobbler’s gaze drops, and he takes a long hard look at your feet. Long enough that you get self-conscious and shift your stance so they are covered up by your dress. He then looks up at you.

“Don’t burn them.”

“What?”

“Obviously, you should do what ever your confessor tells you to– and if he says to burn them as a Vanity, then of course, burn them. But if he doesn’t, then sell them, or donate them as an Oblation. It is important that you get rid of them … but these are good boots. Don’t waste them like that.”

“Oh, Pattern Preserve you. Bless you, bless you.”

While this Cobbler genuinely seems to mean well, this whole process was like pulling teeth. You hope that you never have to buy another piece of men’s clothing again … but then again, while men’s clothing is probably going to be one of the most difficult things for you to buy as a woman, you should probably expect some pushback whenever you try to buy something that is not a basic, domestic good. Like that wagon or coach and team of horses that you are going to need to get out of the Mount …

>>5295469
>Find a public house [hot meal, news and information]

Hearing about the latest news can't hurt when deciding where to run to.

>>5296122
It has been close to four years since I took this handle, and you are the first anon to pick up that all of my quests have had to do with trash or salvage in some way.

Dumpster Diver Quest: making ends meet by going around and picking through dumpsters, the quest. It was an interesting first outing, to say the least.
Bone-in-Autism Quest: messing around with chicken bones accidentally unleashes some Strange powers. Had two anons, lasted two threads. My intent was just to use it for practice for Scrimshaw Mount Quest.
Scrimshaw Mount Quest: First attempt at Graverobber's Daughter, similar focus on salvaging body parts. Terrible failure. Attempted to introduce too many mechanics up front and scared off the two or three anons I had. At one point, I was just rolling in lieu of votes, and updating it that way. Didn't last a thread.
Space Derelict Quest (under the name Space Scrapper) The first quest that got any real traction. As soon as it stopped bumping, I made a new thread so it had four threads, even though it did not even last a month. Was torpedoed (figuratively and literally) by what in retrospect probably was a malicious write-in.
Collapsing (on hiatus): My second strongest showing. The main character is a junk collector/peddler who worked as a dog catcher in a remote lakeside community in a vaguely diesel-punk 2020. 8 threads, over the course of a year.
The Graverobber's Daughter: well, you are here, reading this right now, aren't you?

>>5296273
Okay, so that is 8 votes, with going to the public house winning. I will get to writing this up.

File: Oiler's Boots.jpg (4 KB, 216x148)

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With the commissioned repair, your total order came to four hundred and fifty-five eighth talents. That works out to just a hair more than fifteen weeks of salary as a gravedigger … maybe ten weeks, if you were counting tips too. Up until two days ago, that was more money than you had ever had at one single time. But now, it is barely even a dent. You had to fish around in your dress across a couple of pockets for the twenty-talents; they were the smallest denomination that you brought with you. There are two or three more twenty-talents left, but after that, everything else is bigger. Most of them are really bigger. And while that will not be a problem for a bigger purchase, like the one that you intend to make from a Livery operator, for just shopping around town, it could easily become a genuine issue. Setting aside that a maid with twenty-talents to spend is already suspicious, it is possible that shopkeepers simply will not have enough coins on hand to make change for your purchases.

As Giotto and his brothers ring in the tenth hour, you consider that it might not be that much of a problem, as you only have another four hours until your dresses should be ready to be picked up, both at Hortingea’s and the Cunt’s. Your internal seething is intruded upon by the Cobbler bringing you your pair of Oilers. The boots are surprisingly comfortable, but after considering it for a moment, you realize that a good boot really wouldn’t be a good boot if it was not comfortable. There is just one, unforeseen and thoroughly unfortunate issue when you try to walk around in them.

squeak squeak squeak squawk squeak squawk squeak squeak

“Oh, don’t worry about that – it is just the tar. Once you break them in a little bit, they will quiet down.”

“...I certainly hope so. And what of the repair job? Do I need a slip or something?”

“Ha! Nay, I don’t mess around with receipts. But I think I will be able to tell you apart from all of the other maids I get in here. Heh heh he. Anyway, I should be done with the repair by the sixteenth hour. I close up at the eighteenth hour, sharp. And I don’t open on Titheday.”

Your business here concluded, you thank the Cobbler once more, tuck the stockings into your burgeoning bundle, then you squeak your way over to the door. Pattern’s Perdition, these boots better quiet down soon. How could you possibly hope to sneak anywhere with these making all of this noise?

> Lost three Twenty-Talents
> Gained 25 Eighth-Talents
> Gained two Cotton Stockings (Mens)
> Gained three Woolen Stockings (Mens)
> Gained Oiler’s Boots (Mens)
> Commissioned Standard Boot (Mens) repair

Time and streets pass squeakily as you try to get away from the main streets, but these boots are not relenting. Maybe it is just you getting frustrated, but it almost sounds like the damned things are getting louder.

squeak squawk squAWK squeak squeak squawk squeak squeak swqEAK

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This cannot be happening! Several people have actually looked at you as you passed them by, and you are seriously starting to consider going around in your stocking feet when you pass by a public house, ‘The Blue Boy’, and you get a good whiff of what they’re cooking. Your stomach growls loudly, and recalling that you did not eat anything for breakfast, you decide to head inside to buy a hot meal – and hopefully the latest news.

However, as you squeak through the doors, you do realize that your desire for news might be at odds with your desire to remain inconspicuous. If you go around asking everyone for information, then you are exponentially increasing the odds that someone remembers you, you know, really remembers you, beyond just ‘a freakishly tall maid was here’. And anyone who is open enough to share any news that they might have with you, well, odds are that they were ask about you by a third party, they would probably be perfectly happy telling them everything they remembered about you. This is a real delicate situation that you have found yourself in, but the potential value of information is simply too great for you to just walk away … isn’t it?

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Beyond buying a hot meal (5 eighth talents), you will not speak to anyone. Instead, you will try to position yourself in the room so that you can hear potentially interesting stories.
>You will try to talk to who you figure to be the proprietor first, a well-dressed man, slumped down hard on a three-legged stool by the entrance.
>You will try to talk to who you figure to be a bard, a colorfully dressed man, taking his meal by the cold hearth, sitting within arm’s reach of a chordophone.
>You will try to talk to who you figure to be a foreign merchant, an oddly dressed man, mechanically eating his meal as he watches the door.

Thread VI and I finally figured out inventory for the quest. (Q) indicates that something is questionable, and could cause trouble if it was found in your possession. (C) indicates that something is contraband, and will cause trouble if it was found in your possession. There are two considerations for inventory. Volume and Mass. Volume is first, and is not cumulative. Mass is second, and it is cumulative. What this means that volume held by a container does not need to be held by Chlotsuintha, all she needs to do is hold the container. Mass on the other hand needs to be held by both the container and Chlotsuintha. Chlotsuintha has 800 pips of Volume and 400 pips of Mass before she is over-encumbered, and starts to take maluses. Going a little over the Mass limit is not that big of a deal, but going over the Volume limit will seriously reduce her coordination and speed. In cases where she - or articles of clothing or storage - are overencumbered, and she attempts to do more than simply walk around with them, she is risking damaging or losing her items.

>>5296640
>>You will try to talk to who you figure to be a bard, a colorfully dressed man, taking his meal by the cold hearth, sitting within arm’s reach of a chordophone

>>5296640
>You will try to talk to who you figure to be a foreign merchant, an oddly dressed man, mechanically eating his meal as he watches the door.

This guy could potentially be an alternate way out of the city, or we might bump into him on the way out so we need to get our leaving the city story straight.

>>5296640
>>You will try to talk to who you figure to be a foreign merchant, an oddly dressed man, mechanically eating his meal as he watches the door.

>>5296640
>Beyond buying a hot meal (5 eighth talents), you will not speak to anyone. Instead, you will try to position yourself in the room so that you can hear potentially interesting stories.

>>5296640
>You will try to talk to who you figure to be the proprietor first, a well-dressed man, slumped down hard on a three-legged stool by the entrance.

>>5296640
>>You will try to talk to who you figure to be the proprietor first, a well-dressed man, slumped down hard on a three-legged stool by the entrance.

>>5296640
>>You will try to talk to who you figure to be a foreign merchant, an oddly dressed man, mechanically eating his meal as he watches the door.

Consider this vote closed. I will get to writing it up.

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As you are trying to figure out your next move, you notice that one of the patrons might be looking at you. A shorter man, wearing a style of clothes that you have never seen before, is staring – at you, or perhaps just the door. He was hunched over his trencher, mindlessly, mechanically eating, but as soon as you made eye contact with him, he stops, straightens a little … then looks down at his food, hunches over once more, and resumes working away at his meal. Curious. Very curious.

Figuring that this is a good as place as any to start working the room, you head straight over, trying to come up with a solid opening before you get to his booth. You settle on claiming to have thought to have recognized him, and trying to get a conversation going that way, but before you can even try, he gets the first word in, gesturing at the opposite side of bench with his spoon.

“Sit.”

Despite his almost certainly foreign dress, he speaks Reichtongue without a hint of an accent. However, what you really are noticing as you stand uncertainly by his corner booth is that has only been eating with one of his hands this entire time. The other, his left, is at his side, hidden underneath the table. And now that you are in front of him, he is not taking his eyes off of you.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
> Sit down and listen to what he has to say.
> Excuse yourself and try to speak with someone else.
> Excuse yourself and leave the public house.

> Sit down and listen to what he has to say.
May as well.

>>5297717
>Sit down and listen to what he has to say.

>>5297717
> Sit down and listen to what he has to say.

OK

>>5297717
>Sit down and listen to what he has to say

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>>5297717
>> Sit down and listen to what he has to say.

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You look at him, still eating, still staring at you, then you look at the booth. Surprised at how smoothly this went, you slide into the booth, keeping your arm around your bundled spared dress. Once you are situated, he starts the conversation.

“Do you know why I eat here?”

“Uh … as I said, I’m not even sure if I know you.”

“There are a lot of kitchens in this city, but ‘The Blue Boy’ has the only one that knows how to properly cook with saffron. Admittedly, it would be better if they stocked their own spice closet, instead of relying on me to bring them the saffron to use in my meals, but that is a small inconvenience. And I have found that the small inconveniences in life are almost never worth getting upset over. Would you agree?”

“… aye, I suppose …”

“That is good. That is very good. Because if you are smart, then I will see that this conversation will only be a small inconvenience to you. If you aren’t however … then the pistol I have under the table will see to it that this is your last inconvenience."

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Pistol or no pistol, you need to get away from this mad man!
>Tell the other patrons that this man has threatened your life with a firearm, try to get them to restrain him!
>You have no idea what the Hell he is getting at, but you are not going to take any risks that you don’t have to. Listen to what he has to say.

>You have no idea what the Hell he is getting at, but you are not going to take any risks that you don’t have to. Listen to what he has to say.

>>5298124
>You have no idea what the Hell he is getting at, but you are not going to take any risks that you don’t have to. Listen to what he has to say.
You fucking dumbasses, we just knocked off a foreigner merchant not even a day ago! Are you all being intentionally thick, or is this the disarming torpedo retardation all over again?

>>5298124
>Pistol or no pistol, you need to get away from this mad man!

>>5298124
>>You have no idea what the Hell he is getting at, but you are not going to take any risks that you don’t have to. Listen to what he has to say.
Oh no. We'll just have to lie our way through this as always

>>5298124
>>Tell the other patrons that this man has threatened your life with a firearm, try to get them to restrain him!

>>5298124
>You have no idea what the Hell he is getting at, but you are not going to take any risks that you don’t have to. Listen to what he has to say.

but also ready our head knocking wand.

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Take it all to the Pits! This man must have recognized you from the description from the bounty on your head! Considering the obviously foreign cut and style of his clothes, it is possible that he might be Tartessian himself – in fact, he could be a member of the Euthyphro’s crew. The room spins, and you feel as if you have been struck dumb. Doing your best to maintain composure as your heart rises into your throat and your stomach plummets into your ass, you are struggling to think of something to say to deflect. Anything, anything at all to get yourself out of this. But you simply cannot speak, Pattern’s Perdition, you cannot even think! How the Hell did this happen? You know that the longer you go without denying it, the guiltier you are going to look, so you start to stammer something out – you don’t even know what exactly – however before you can, the man speaks again.

“You know, you are in a very perverse situation. It is guilt, not innocence, that is going to save you here.”

The foreigner finally puts down his spoon and leans back from his trencher.

“I suppose I should explain myself a bit more. Now, someone robbed the Euthyphro. This not an opinion, this is a fact. Likewise, it is also a fact that you match the definition of the thief. You match the definition well enough that if I was so inclined, I could haul you to the Belly and have you thrown in a cell. More than that, if you were to make any sudden moves, I am sure that the Port Authority and their Justiciars would understand that I was simply defending myself from someone that any reasonable person would believe to be a dangerous criminal. Absolute worst case? I would have to give up the pistol under the table to the Guard, and then buy a brace of new ones with the reward money that the Embassy has dumped on your head.”

“You should know that regardless of your guilt or your innocence, if you are interned in the Belly, then you are going to the winches, sooner rather than later. I was at an emergency meeting in the Tartessian Embassy last night on the topic, and there were a lot of men in the gardens who were thoroughly spooked by the idea of pirates robbing their ships at anchor in the harbor. They are desperate to not look weak, but more than that, they want to put a stop to this before it catches on. If it becomes known that there is someone in custody that matches the description so well, then they are going to call in every favor they can to expedite an execution. They don’t care about the money that was stolen; they just don’t want imitators popping up. And I should point out, that it will not only by my countrymen calling for a winching, but captains and merchants from other nations, as well as their Imperial counterparts are going to want an example made as soon as possible. None of them would think that you are innocent, and few would care … though if they were to see you in person, they might find it harder to condemn you.”

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“Now, being executed if you are taken into custody, regardless of if you did the crime you were arrested for – that is patently unfair, but it is not quite perverse. However – well, suffice to say, you match the description so perfectly, that I have to assume that you are the thief, and even if you were to claim otherwise, I would still be obligated to call the Guard, as anyone would be for a suspected criminal. The Guards would take you to the Belly … and whatever happens after that, unfortunate and unfair as it may be, it would simply be out of my hands. But … it just so happens that I have some questions, questions that only the woman who single-handedly robbed the Euthyphro would be able to answer. About the robbery.”

“If you were to admit your guilt, and answer these questions to the best of your ability, before the man I was actually looking for joins me here, then I will let you go. What answers I get from you, I want to act on – and you don’t need to worry about me going back on my word, because if I am involved in any way with your capture, then later I try to use the information I get from you, someone clever might figure out that I pumped you for information, and I wouldn’t want that to happen. So – if I have to chose between the answers and getting justice for that gargoyle, I am going to choose the answers. Every time. I will say this, this is a question of trust. Are you as smart as I think you might be, and trust that I am telling the truth? Or are you stupid, and trust that everyone else will think you are innocent, and care that you are.”

“… Or, perhaps you are simply insane, and trust that you can outrun my pistol.”

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>You are “smart” as he thinks you are. You will tell the truth.
>You are “smart” but not like he thinks you are. You will tell the truth, but at the same time attempt to get the wand of Head Knocking ready. If he catches you in the process, he will assume that you are reaching for a weapon and respond accordingly. [Stealth-Test]
>You are “stupid”. You might not be able to convince him, but maybe you can convince the Justiciars and the Bailiffs and the Guards. Deny absolutely everything.
>You are “stupid”. You might not be able to convince him, but maybe you will not need to. Deny absolutely everything, but at the same time attempt to get the wand of Head Knocking ready. If he catches you in the process, he will assume that you are reaching for a weapon and respond accordingly. [Stealth-Test]
>He is the one who is insane if he thinks you are just going to sit around after all of this. Chance the pistol and make a break for it!

>>5298563
>>You are “smart” as he thinks you are. You will tell the truth.
Interesting, he seems to have a thing against the guy we robbed, which isn't unimaginable, so I wonder what information he requires of us.

>He is the one who is insane if he thinks you are just going to sit around after all of this. Chance the pistol and make a break for it!

>>5298563
Y'know im just a lurker and all so I can't say much but why did anons vote for Chlot to get into this situation in the first place? What benefit was expected to come out of this?

>>5298596
Death to lurkers

Has a man *really* been sitting in here accosting every single tall woman he sees for days?
If he was serious with the pistol I'd bet on half a dozen shot or shook down for fake information by now.

>>5298563
>Call him a drunk and walk away looking offended. He won't a woman in the back. If he tries to grab us,grab for his face and use the only spell we know... that freezing one.

>>5298624
chlot is not just tall, she is freakishly tall. her height is taller than almost every MAN in the Mount, let alone how women compare. she would be 99.99th percentile in the modern United States compared to men.
this guy was waiting to talk to someone else, and happened to spot Chlot and is taking the chance he sees to get some kind of edge over his apparent rival.
>You are “smart” as he thinks you are. You will tell the truth.
what information could Chlot possibly provide? most likely, he wants to know how she did it, so that he could do something similar. otherwise he wouldn't specify he wants information about the robbery.

>>5298563
>but at the same time attempt to get the wand of Head Knocking ready. If he catches you in the process, he will assume that you are reaching for a weapon and respond accordingly. [Stealth-Test]
I don’t really care what wins, motherfucker really should’ve asked his questions instead of wasting our fucking time.

>>5298596
I don’t know what these retards were thinking, I was catching up on the previous thread, but clearly this motherfucker pulled a gun on us before we even sat down. Frankly this whole experience was bizarre, I really don’t think Chlot would’ve put herself in such a situation given her characterization for paranoia and anxiety.

>>5298765
I agree, to an extent. If I was writing this as a story, instead of a quest, all Chlotsuintha would have done here was order a meal, and eat it somewhere where she could overhear, which was one of the options. As for why she decided to start putting herself out there a little more in what has turned out to be the worst possible way, I would point out that she has had two fairly significant success talking herself out of problems - whatever was going on at Festive Fabricans and with convincing the Cobbler to sell her men's clothing, and maybe at the moment she was a little overconfident (though I did not really convey that in the updates). I suppose it is an idiosyncrasy of quests - there are times where no matter what you do, there is going to be only one reasonable option for a character, but you need to provide other choices, else it will not be interactive.

That said though, the staring at the door, the mechanical eating and the foreign clothes. I thought that I was being fairly obvious. I thought that the hand under the table would really alarm anons, but it didn't. I suppose I could have had written it so Chlotsuintha had a bad feeling as she approached the booth, but that is a bit too much hand-holding for me, and from a character perspective, if she was comfortable enough to decide to talk to this perfect whobody, then why would she have a bad feeling approaching the guy? I don't know. I agree with you though, this is a bizarre encounter.

>>5298799
It isn’t handholding if it’s IC characterization, because this does come off as OOC as all hell. If I wasn’t stuck catching up, I probably would’ve caught the hints and sounded the alarm instead of silently walking into OC trap. Really, the unusual short update without Chlot’s inner monologue should’ve tipped anons off.

>>5298563
>You are “smart” but not like he thinks you are. You will tell the truth, but at the same time attempt to get the wand of Head Knocking ready. If he catches you in the process, he will assume that you are reaching for a weapon and respond accordingly. [Stealth-Test]

come on guys we are stealthy, we can pass a test. Time to knock this verbose MoFos head while he's busy rambling.

Question about the Wand of Head Knocking- if we do get a cast off, will our eyes start glowing in front of everyone?

>>5298799
Just reread it, it honestly seems like Jane Doe walked in and decided to sit down next to the merchant instead of Chlot. My suspension of disbelief is straining under these last couple of votes. Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have provided the options (even though it would entirely be IC for Chlot to just sit in the corner and listen in while a different choice gets presented), but I think having Chlot sit down and order the food, listening in to other’s conversations, then being startled by whatever choice get presented make it much more IC and less like Jane Doe has a death-wish, and this is ignoring the sheer serendipity that the foreign merchants literally had the freakish thief he was interested in just walk right up to him and sit down for a conversation (I’ll just chalk serendipity up to the Pattermaker’s meddling and leave it at another trial).

I hope you take this criticism as constructive, I love your writing, I just hate this situation from a narrative standpoint.

>>5298563
>You are “smart” but not like he thinks you are. You will tell the truth, but at the same time attempt to get the wand of Head Knocking ready. If he catches you in the process, he will assume that you are reaching for a weapon and respond accordingly. [Stealth-Test]

>>5298936
Yes, but you can counter that by keeping your eyes closed.

>>5299144
For how long?

>>5299310
Several minutes for each cast. I'll get to writing the update soon.

>>5299144
>>5299332
Actually, had I known this I wouldn’t have pulled out the wand in the first place. This is really quite the clusterfuck Chlot waltzed straight into.

>>5298563
>>You are “smart” as he thinks you are. You will tell the truth.

Let's not make this bad situation worse and listen to what this crank has to say for a bit.

>>5299417
How do we know this isn’t a thief-taker in disguise, just pointing a gun (whether real or fake) at every tall person just to shock them enough to get a confession. A foreign merchants speaking perfect Reichtongue and holding an illegal firearm?

This situation is starting to give me a bad migraine just thinking about it. Maybe we should just take our chances and run, because this is starting to get real convoluted.

>>5299395
I too screwed to pooch going to a pub and ignoring all the warning signs

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It occurs to you that this whole thing is like some out of body experience in a nightmare. Setting aside all of the painfully obvious tells that you failed to pick up on, what the Hell were you thinking just walking up to someone like this? To anyone? You should have grabbed the meal, sat down, and spent some time eavesdropping – only actually approaching someone for conversation if you felt that the information they would have would be worth the risk, not just to talk for the sake of talking. You’re slipping – no, no, you have fraying slipped! Maker’s Mercy, you are closer to being taken into custody and killed then you were when you had to go pass that note to the Inquisitors. You promise yourself that if you get out of this, you are never going to let your guard down in public ever again, and then you rack your brain, and start desperately planning your next move.

As always, you should start with the assumptions. The first assumption at play here is that the man sitting across from you does in fact have a pistol under the table. It is certainly possible. You don’t doubt for a moment that he has enough wealth to afford one, and more than that, you are almost certain that his arm was already under the table when you walked in. If he was expecting someone else – and you believe that, considering how intently he was watching the door – and if he did not trust this person – and you can buy that to, again, considering how intently he was staring at the doorway – it would make sense for him to be prepared for this meeting with some manner of weapon. And while using a pistol, even in defense, might open him up to some legal issues, the presence of the pistol itself is a strong deterrent.

But then why is he not showing you the pistol? Well, there are the legal issues again, and considering how cautious he is – unlike you, you fraying idiot! – he is probably aware that flashing it would inevitably mean that for several crucial moments that it would not be pointed at you. Of course, there is the chance that there is in fact no pistol … but you do not favor those odds, and after this boneheaded fray up, you are going to err on the side of caution here. Even though it is far from certain, you cannot count on that pistol not existing.

So, he has a pistol, he is willing to use it, and he would be celebrated for shooting you, not censured. Now for the big one – that he is telling the truth when he says that he will let you go, assuming that you tell the truth, answer some questions, and are done before his lunch date shows up. Can you trust him? Hmm … what if he was a Thief-Taker, or even just someone out for the bounty, and this was all some elaborate ruse to get you to confess?

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Actually, you are thinking about this all wrong. You need to stop worrying about the confession, and start worrying about getting taken into custody. Because right now, in your possession, sitting pretty somewhere in that jumbled bundle is a wand, and fuel nodules for that wand. If those get found, and they would, even in the most cursory of searches, then the confession, the robbery, the pressure from the Tartessian Embassy, all of it becomes a moot point. So, how do you get out of this, without getting taken into custody. Well, obviously, running away … but the presence of the pistol complicates that, so it might be best to consider that as a second option.

Setting aside making a break for it, it seems to you that there are four possible outcomes from any conversation that you have here. The first is the most straight forward, you tell the truth, and he honors his word, allowing you to walk out of here. The second is the one that you are the most worried about, that you tell the truth, but he goes back on his word, and tries to take you in. The third outcome is that you lie, and then he follows through on his threat, and tries to take you in. The final one is the tricky one out, where you lie and deny it … and then it turns out that he was lying about taking you in if you denied it, and he lets you walk. Two outcomes where you have to run for your life, and two outcomes where you get to walk out the door. Shit, you might as well flip a –

Wait a minute! You are actually on to something here!

You don’t know this man, his character, or his trustworthiness. Nothing that he has said indicates one way or another that he is going to break or keep his word, so in absence of actual odds, there is no reason to not hold the chances of each of the four outcomes as equal – except perhaps for the fourth outcome! If the man is who he presents himself to be, then the fourth outcome makes some sense – it would be him trying and failing to trick you to get you to confess to a crime. But if this man is a Thief-Taker, or someone trying to collect the bounty, which is entirely possible, then the fourth outcome does not make sense. Because if he was then considering how closely you match the description – and how rare women who match that description are – there is no reason to him to not to drag you to the Belly and gamble on you being convicted. Unless he was concerned if you actually were guilty or innocent, but if he was, and even if all of his talk about pressure on the Justiciars to get a conviction is actually true, if you had a genuinely exonerating story, then you doubt that a Justiciar would send a woman to her death. Then if this man was in fact a Thief-Taker or unaffiliated bounty seeker, he could sleep with a white conscience ‘gambling’ on a conviction by taking you in, which means that the odds of the fourth outcome have to be significantly lower than the other three.

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Are any of the other outcomes that are nonsensical like that, if it turns out that the man is a Thief-Taker? Two and three remain solid either way. Outcome one might be less likely if the man is with the Guild, but it still makes sense, unlike four. A Thief-Taker might want to cultivate you for information, or to turncloak. In fact, if he is aware that you took off many, many more talents out of the Euthyphro than are being offered for your capture, then it is possible that all he wants is to be cut in. So, outcome one is still reasonably possible, though admittedly less likely if it turns out that the man is in fact a Thief-Taker.

What this all works out to mean is that with everything else held equal, the odds of you walking out of here peacefully are greater if you tell the truth than if you lie – at least, as best as you can figure. You realize that your mouth has gone bone dry, as your stomach starts tumbling like an acrobat. You swallow, and try to sit up a little straighter as you compose yourself. It is at this point that you realize that you have been trembling, and you sit up even more, hoping that the tension will hold you steady. You reiterate your promise to yourself once more – that if you manage to get out of this, then you will never let your guard down in public, ever again. You take one last deep breath, and then there is nothing left to do – but hope that the truth really will set you free.

“W-what are – I … what do y-you want to know?”

The Tartessian looks at you for a moment.

“You know, that is not exactly an admission of guilt, is it?”

After a moment of staring, you realize that he expects you to answer. You lick your lips, thinking of what to say, but in the end, you just decide to shake your head no.

“So then, did you do it?”

You are trembling again, and once more you feel as if you are on the verge of tears. This is it. If this is some manner of Trial, then you hope you have it figured out correctly, because if you haven’t then … you are going to be running for your life, and in the process you are probably going to lose out on the chance to exfiltrate father’s equipment and notes out of the Midden. You offer up a quick silent prayer, and then, even though your neck feels as if it as stiff as steel, you force yourself to nod in the affirmative.

“Finally, we are getting somewhere. Why?”

For a split second, your heart soars at how disaffected he sounds after hearing your confession, thinking that he genuinely does not care … then you realize that if this a trap it is only going to spring once you try to leave, and once more you are a bundle of cringing nerves. Just wanting to get this over with, you compel yourself to answer, shifting uncomfortably on the booth all the while.

“Money.”

He snorts at that.

“Well, I could figure that out on my own. But why the Euthyphro?”

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“I … I didn’t want to … mess around with trying to sell swag, so I needed somewhere with talents on hand. If there were any monies on board a ship, then they would be in a strongbox, either in the captain’s cabin or in the stateroom, both of which would be accessible from the aft of –”

“By why the Euthyphro specifically?”

“Oh … I figured that a ship from a foreign port would have to carry talents to buy anything here, while an Imperial ship would either belong to a trading house or keep their money in a bank.”

“That … that makes a great deal of sense, actually. So then you just … what, you walked down the harbor until you found a foreign merchantman that you liked?”

You nod slowly. Where moments ago your mouth was dry, now it is clammy, so you try to swallow as discretely as you possibly can.

“Did you do this alone?”

You nod again, a little faster this time.

“So then, by yourself, you just climbed on to the ship using the stay-ropes, got onto the aft deck, sawed through the drop bar on the doors … with what?”

“A chipped pin-stiletto.”

The man snorts derisively at that. You can see that he is getting a little more comfortable as the conversation here progresses – but his eyes are still on you, and his left hand is still under the table.

“With a pin-stiletto. Then you were inside, and you just … threatened Pharnaces to open the strongbox with the same blade?”

“No … there was a weapon rack nearby. I grabbed a smallsword off of it, used that instead.”

“And that was all there was to it?”

“Aye.”

“That gutless coward. So, then where did you find the rope?”

“What rope?”

“The one you used to tie him up.”

“There was no rope, I used sheets from his bed to – ”

The foreigner laughs rather hard at that.

“Sheets! Heh heh heh! Stars above, I would have loved to have seen that, Pharnaces trussed like a pig with his own bedding. How that must have positively boiled him!”

He takes a moment to regain his composure.

“So, then you take the money, his precious snuff-box, and – did you take the sword too?”

You nod.

“Alright. Then you take the money, the famous snuff-box, and his sword, then you just retrace your steps off of the ship? Seeing no one else but him?”

“Aye. If there was anyone else on that ship, I didn’t see them, and they certainly did not see me.”

“That easy, huh?”

You nod again.

“Was that snuff-box in the strongbox? Because apparently, the thing is worth as much as you are.”

“No, it was just out in the open. And I checked it over once I heard how badly he wanted it back – as far as I can tell it is just a regular silver snuff-box.”

“Hmm. Never really took him for the sentimental type … alright then, just two more questions. How much did you make off with?”

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“I … I honestly don’t know. A goodly portion of the coins are foreign, and I haven’t had a chance to sit down and count the talents yet.”

“He said something in the range of a thousand talents. Does that sound about right?”

“What? No, more.”

“More?”

“Aye, a lot more.”

“More.”

For once, you can tell exactly what he is thinking. He is contemplating all of the reasons that someone might underreport the amount of money that was stolen from them. Eventually he moves on, though you can tell that he is still wrestling with it.

“Alright then, last question. Was there anything else in his strongbox?”

“Uh … yes, papers. Correspondence, and a lot of it. Looked like most of it was in Reichtongue, surprisingly enough.”

“You can read?”

Fray it all to the Pits and back! How many times are you going to keep making this fraying mistake! Quick, deflect!

“I – I can recognize Reichtongue.”

That is true. You can also read it. But it is true that you can recognize it. Blessedly the same ploy that got you out of trouble with the Master Abbot gets you out of trouble with this bastard as well. Just like the Master Abbot, this man clearly has other things on his mind. He leans in to ask the next question.

“Did you take any?”

“No. Just the coins.”

He slumps back, and you can plainly see his face fall. But shortly, he sighs straightens back up.

“Well, my mother always said to me, ‘Eupator, no good ever came from greed’.”

He looks at you with a much gentler expression than before.

“You have done me a great service here, and I find myself not able to do much in return. But at least I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to see that once the bounty on your head – and that snuff-box – expires, it will not be renewed.”

Once again, your heart is soaring, and you have to force yourself calm – this could still be part of the trap.

“You can – “

“Yes, I can. Those bounties were placed by the Embassy, and the Embassy is not just a political mission, it is loose fraternity of Tartessian merchants who are licensed to trade in Scrimshaw Mount. All of us pay into the collective coffer. And I can tell you, as much they would all like to see you on the winch-gallows, and any idea of imitation put to bed, one hundred and twenty talents is excessive for one thief … and beyond assine for a snuff-box. Not to mention the costs of the criers. I am known to be no friend of his, so I can call for the bounty to remain unrenewed without attracting undue suspicion, by claiming that spending money to advertise that we were so brazenly stolen from is not in the best interests of any member of the mission, except Pharnaces.”

“H-how soon?”

“Sixty days.”

Before you can object, the Tartessian talks right over you, and you have to bite your tongue, fuming.

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“You have to understand, the bounties have been placed in escrow. They cannot be reduced or canceled by anyone until the period concludes … and on top of that, I cannot do anything about whatever bounties the Port Authority has placed on you. Or the warrant itself, for that matter. I’m sorry.”

As upset as you are about his non-help, you are about ready to burst. If he is done with you, then that means either the trap is about to snap shut or the door out is about to open. Trying to remain collected, you quietly ask him another question of your own.

“May I leave, sir?”

“Wait. Have you ever had saffron before?”

You are thrown for a loop by his question, but it seems that he was not actually expecting you to answer. Is he trying to stall you until his lunch date shows up, so he can renege on his deal without actually going back on his word?

“When I first started out as a merchant, I wanted to get into spices. And after a little bit of dabbling, what appeared to be the deal of the century on a load of saffron fell right into my lap. Well, turned out that it was full of filler. The spicers who made it used all six of the stamen from the saffron flower instead of just the three red ones, like you are supposed to. If I sold it, I’d lose my reputation, so I ended up having to eat the purchase. Figuratively and physically.”

This is his little game, isn’t it? Fray him, fray him to pieces! You are seriously starting to consider just making a dash for it. To make things worse, all of this tension is starting to give you a headache, a real splitting heading, and you notice that the spot on your back where the Hide-Eyes Scarification Glyph is hidden is starting to heat up again.

“What the kitchen here at The Blue Boy knows is that the ‘secret’ to cooking with saffron is to actually use enough. A pinch of salt and a pinch of saffron should work out to be the same size, but most cooks will skimp, or worse, they substitute. As this batch has a lot of filler you should use two, no, closer to three wherever one is called for.”

His right hand dips into a pocket and pulls out a small silk pouch, which he tosses right in front of you. Through the material you can smell the spice. If this is what saffron cut with filler smells like, you can only imagine how strong the pure stuff actually is.

“I would advise against trying to sell it. Anyone who knows anything would be able to tell that it has filler.”

He pauses for a moment, then he picks his spoon back up. You are at a loss here. You really cannot read this man. Is he letting you go, or …

“I am sorry I can’t do more for you. Truly.”

The two of you look at each other for a moment, all the while you don’t dare to breathe. Then –

File: Respice post te; hominem (...).jpg (495 KB, 1186x780)

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“You can go."

>Please choose ONE of the following.
>Leave The Blue Boy and return to the Midden to regroup.
>Leave The Blue Boy and spend what time remains before your clothes are ready in hiding.
>Leave The Blue Boy and spend what time remains before your clothes are ready shopping.
>Leave The Blue Boy, find another entrance, sneak in range of Eupator, and fatally scramble his brains with the Wand of Head Knocking.
>Write-ins allowed with QM approval

>>5300494
All right folks. I have a crazy idea I want to pitch. We ask this guy what those papers are worth to him. Our price is transportation out of the city to a destination of our desiring for ourselves and our load.

Is this a dumb idea?

>>5300463
>Leave The Blue Boy and spend what time remains before your clothes are ready shopping.
as we were

>>5300506
Yes, hitting the same guy twice is a dumb idea. I am rather tempted to hang around and find out about the mysterious lunch date he is expecting with his Han Solo gun though...

>>5300506
I mean, I like the idea of negotiating for passage but trying to steal from the same guy again is stupid. I guess we could just try to bribe the guy? He probably has use for the foreign coins as well.

>>5300518
This might work. Throw in the snuff box as a bonus.

>>5300520
On second thought, forget about it. We can't expect anyone to help us smuggle a wagonload of witches stuff (except for maybe another witch).

>>5300494
>>Leave The Blue Boy and spend what time remains before your clothes are ready shopping.

>>5300506
Tempting, and the guy's crazy enough to allow it. But Chlot can not really too much on another person's word.

>>5300494
>Leave The Blue Boy and spend what time remains before your clothes are ready shopping.
I just want to finish our purchases and get the fuck outta here, this entire encounter is giving me a headache with how OOC it started as. We’re going to need to check out that snuff box again, there must be something more significant and secret if there is such on overinflated bounty on both ours and the box’s head.

>>5300506
On one hand, knocking off the same victim that just got all his loot stolen public would lower the guard. On the other, do you really want to risk it? I known I’m the anon advocating for stealing more talents to shore up our funds, but it probably would be better to just knock off another rich industry.

The sea transportation thing is utterly retarded, and not just because it may damage father’s equipment. You’re suggesting we use the same foreign merchants who countrymen we just robbed and who commissioned an enormously bounty on our head. We’ll be caught waltzing around the port, let alone this guy’s underpaid crew.

>>5300494
>>Leave The Blue Boy and spend what time remains before your clothes are ready shopping.
That went better than I expected

>>5300494
>>Write-ins
Talk to the bard

>>5300494
>>Leave The Blue Boy and spend what time remains before your clothes are ready shopping.

File: Thumb-Pouch.jpg (118 KB, 800x800)

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Delicately, you pick up the silk pouch, and after making sure that the little tie on top of it is strong enough, you drop it into the front pocket of your apron.

> Gained Thumb-Pouch of Saffron with Filler

You rise to your feet to leave, but just before you can collect your bundled spare dress and leave, out of the Black a crazy idea strikes you - asking this man to help get you out of the Mount. On a certain level, there is some sense to it, as that he already knows who you are, and he has said that he feels bad about not being able to do more for you. You could return this saffron, which is probably way too rich for your tastes anyway, filler or no, and ask him to scrounge up a wagon for you. If nessisary, you could pay him with some of the foreign coins that you took off of the Euthyphro, or the silver snuff box ... or even a promise to knock the Euthyphro over again, to take some of those papers that so clearly interested him.

But the more you think about it, the worse the idea seems. First off, you need to get out of here as soon as possible before his lunch date makes his appearance, and sticking around to negotiate passage ... well that is the exact opposite of getting out of here as soon as possible. Secondly, you have promised yourself that if you got out of this situation, that you would never let your guard down in public, ever again. He has let you go here, but if you think about it, does that really mean that you can trust him? Well ... you don't know. You barely know anything about the man.

Okay, maybe not 'barely anything'. You know that he is a Tartessian merchant, he is involved with the Tartessian Embassy, he appreciates saffron and once tried to deal in spices, his rival's name is Pharnaces, and his given name is Eupator. But wait, now that you say it ... for a lot of that stuff - actually for everything that you just mentioned - you only know it because this man told you.

And you have no real sense if he is trustworthy or not.

No, this would be a big enough risk if you were just trying to get out of the Mount on your own. You factor in the equipment that you would be carrying, then ... no. This is a bad idea.

"Thank you, sir."

He nods politely at you, and resumes mechanically eating out of his trencher, but as you make your way back to the front door, you can feel his eyes still on your back. You get a couple of odd looks as you squeak out to the street, but these are inconsequential. Picking a direction at random, you strive to put as much distance between you and The Blue Boy as quickly as you can without drawing more attention to yourself than you do normally.

squeak squAWK squeak squeak squawk squawk squeak squeak swqEAK

As frustrating as these Oilers are proving to be, you are much more concerned that your Hide-Eyes Scarification Glyph is still noticeably hot. Hopefully it will cool down a bit now that you are out of there.

File: Working Inventory Thread (...).jpg (76 KB, 506x597)

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You still have ... some time left for shopping. Definitely enough for three more stops, maybe three before your clothes are finished, and there is nothing stopping you from putting off heading to the Liveries after you take delivery of your riding dr - your riding habit. Of course, eventually, you are going to have too much to carry comfortably - three dresses, whatever additional purchases, everything you have right now. You might have to make your way back to the Midden to drop stuff off - or at the very least, you might have to stash the stuff somewhere safe for when you are trying to buy the coach or wagon or carriage. And of course, there is still Aldoin's House - eventually you are going to run out of time if you keep pushing it off.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]
>Find a grocer [fresh food, preserved food, salt]
>Find a bookstore [books*]
>Find a different public house [hot meal, news and information]
>Write-ins allowed with QM approval

>>5301393
>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]
A backpack might help. Visibly carrying all this around is a terrible idea.

>>5301393
>Find a bookstore [books*]

>>5301393
>>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]

>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]

>>5301393
>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]

>>5301393
>Find a hardware [sundries, tools, mundane equipment]

did we finish our meal?

>>5301628
We never even ordered food.

>>5301726
Made her look like even more of a sperge than she already is. Kek.

>>5301726
grab something on the way?

>>5301729
Cute though

>>5301726
Can't hurt to order a takeaway?

At least that bounty will expire.
Absolute win.

Seems that Chlotsuintha will be going to a hardware next.

>>5301836
>>5301848

The Blue Boy is a public house, not a fast food joint. Meals prepared there are to be eaten inside the establishment. But in the interest of moving things along, someone can roll a 1d4 right now. If you get at 4, we can say that Chlotsuintha stumbles across a food cart worth buying something from.

Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>5301855

>>5301856
Yasss! Munchies!

>>5301856
Cheers! Good job anon. Maybe Chlot will be able to relax a little while eating after all.

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It has been ten minutes, maybe more, since you left The Blue Boy, and you are still looking over your shoulder and taking streets at random, hoping to confound anyone that might be trying to follow you. In fact, you have to keep yourself from constantly looking back, lest you be too obvious. And then there is the trembling. Once you had gotten several blocks from the public house, just how close you had been to blowing it really settled in. There has been no exultation in escape – if anything you are more scared now then you were when you were inside. You have been doing your best to keep your breathing even, and you have clasped your hands together to help with the shaking but … suffice to say, you are an absolute bundle of nerves. Making matters worse, the Hide-Eyes glyph has continued to get warmer and warmer.

A scarification glyph can have situational performance issues – some caused by its bearer’s mental state – but what has you concerned is that any situational performance issues should not get worse over time.

When you were younger, before you came to Outremer and lived in the Midden as a Leper, you had to use Hide-Eyes a lot more, as your face could not be hidden by a mask constantly. Back then, you had your share of close calls and scares as well, and you cannot remember it ever getting warm like this under duress. It looks like the glyph has degraded, probably because you got the glyph as a child and father was not able to adequately account for the position change and stretching the glyph went through as you grew. No doubt he never expected you to be six foot four and still growing. Hopefully the degradation is not degenerative, and it will stop getting worse when you stop growing … whenever that will be. If it is not, then you might have to attempt to edit it, or risk the glyph failing on you – which could be dangerous, beyond just not being able to use Hide-Eyes.

Father had edited it once, right before you came into the Midden, but that was to add on an alternate glamor, the Sty variant, not to account for your growth. You were sedated, and unconscious for most of it, but what little you remember was excruciatingly painful.

Now that you think about it, the Sty variant of Hide-Eyes was originally going to be its own glyph, on your lower back, but at some point, after flensing you open down there – which was when you fell unconscious – he decided to edit the existing glyph instead. You try to remember what the reasoning was for that, but you cannot remember. Well, it was what, eight years ago? Not to mention, that was before father was comfortable discussing the Many Mysteries with you at all – it is entirely possible that he never told you why. Your back aches just thinking about it. And the thought of having to do that to yourself it makes your stomach –

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Actually, your stomach feels less upset than it does hungry. In your eminent wisdom, you managed to get yourself in a life-and-death situation before you had an opportunity to eat anything … though you suppose that this might have been for the best. What if whoever Eupator was waiting for showed up, and they recognized you? What if another one of the visitors to The Blue Boy recognized you? Perhaps taking meals in a public house is not a good idea if you are trying to hide from the public whenever possible.

Maker’s Mercy, it is a miracle that you have managed to last this long …

Funnily enough, in a turn of white luck, on the very next street you turn down, there happens to be a food cart, and after your stomach growls loud enough for you to hear it over the squeaking of your boots, you decide that you should buy something, no matter whatever they have. Well, that happens to be your best decision so far today – it is Weißwuascht cart! He has a small fire going in a brazier, so you assume that must mean he still has some sausage left to sell.

It turns out that he sells more than just sausage, he sells Laugenbrezeln too, and he even has one left. It is not warm, none of them are, but this is a cart, not a bakery – and wishing for this to be any better than it already is would be unseemly, if not sinful. The Pattern Provides, after all. And right now, It has provided you with a much-needed hot meal.

Of course, Weißwuascht and Laugenbrezeln are a lot more than just a hot meal to you. Of the few memories that you have of your mother, a good portion of them are of her bringing food back and eating with you. Apparently, on the rare occasions that she stepped out of wherever the three of you were hiding at the time, she always made a point of finding something for you, whether it was food or some trinket. Whenever she found food from the Old Hinterland, the region where she and father were both from, that is what would come back with her. And though you don’t remember her doing it, at some point she must have even taught you how to eat Weißwuascht like a Hinterlander, by biting the ends of the sausage off, then sucking the meat out. Later, after she left, father put an end to you doing that – he considered it to be crude, and a bad idea, as it indicated where you were from. Good girl that you are, once you buy those sausage off of the cart, you follow his instructions all these years later.

> Lose 3 Eighth-Talents
> Gain 6 Weißwuascht
> Gain 1 Laugenbrezeln

It is an awkward business, eating while walking with your bundle, but you manage well enough, and practically before you know it, you have finished off the last of the Weißwuascht. The warm feeling that they leave you with is not just from the heat of the food in your stomach. And even if it was, it is still much more pleasant than the aching tender warmth from the Hide-Eyes glyph, which is finally starting to noticeably cool, just a little.

> Lose 6 Weißwuascht

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By the time that you have started to work on eating the Laugenbrezeln, you find yourself at the foot of the Chip, which makes you think of the hardware store that you bought the oilcloth and whetstones from two days ago. Obviously, you know better than to go back to a store you just visited as a Leper, but after thinking about it, you decide that it would be a good idea to visit a hardware next. Of course, there are several kinds of hardware stores. There are hardwares that focus on domestic goods and sundries, which might be worth visiting, because you really do not have much more than the absolute basics back at the Belfry, and once you are on the road, you should not count on being able to buy or replace anything. There are also hardwares that are more focused on tools and equipment. As far as you know, you already have everything that you are going to need to pack up the place, but having some backups, or better, more specialized versions of some tools might be a good idea. There are also ‘Hinterland Banks’ – these outfits offer small, short-term loans in exchange for some sort of collateral. If the loan is not paid as per the agreement, they take the collateral and sell it to cover their losses. A Hinterland Bank could have just about anything, including books and clothing, maybe even a few weapons, but just about everything there will be second-hand, and provenance of a lot of the stuff is questionable … though you would be hard pressed to find a store that would accept obviously stolen goods.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Look for a Domestic Hardware
>Look for an Equipment Hardware
>Look for a Hinterland Bank

>>5302279
>>Look for a Domestic Hardware

>>5302279
>Look for a Domestic Hardware
pots and dried goods and the like.

>>5302279
>>Look for a Domestic Hardware

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You will worry about equipment or miscellania later. Right now, you should focus on domestic goods.

To this end, you spend what had to be twenty minutes walking around, looking for the right kind of Hardware. You were seriously starting to reconsider your decision to avoid the store you went to two days ago when you finally stumble across somewhere that looks promising.

In addition to the typical casks and barrels, they actually have some clothes on racks outside of the store too, attended by a fresh faced boy, probably a child or grandchild of the owners. All of the clothes are second-hand, no doubt, and at first, you suspect that not even the men's clothes here would fit you ... but as you get closer, you notice two different riding cloaks that you could make work, and some of the mittens that they have on display look as if they could fit. And as far as you know, riding cloaks and mittens are neither male or female clothes, so you shouldn't have the kind of problems that you had with the boots.

However, even more intriguing then the clothes are some scrap fabrics that you are certain you could find a good use for. After checking over your shoulder to make sure that no one followed you down this street, and swallowing the last morsel of your Laugenbrezeln, you head over to the racks take a closer look at the wares.

> Lose 1 Laugenbrezeln

Second-Hand Clothing:

Hooded Black Riding Cloak: A standard wool cloak that has gotten a little threadbare. The hem has been redone, and there is a small patch near the left shoulder. No pockets. Wear has reduced its durability. It provides basic protection from the elements, marginal protection from fire, and optional concealment with the hood. 50 to 65 Eighth-Talents.

Hooded Red Riding Cloak: A bright red wool cloak that is still in very good condition. The hem has been touched up here and there, but beyond that there are no obvious repairs. Interior and exterior pockets. It provides basic protection from the elements, marginal protection from fire, and optional concealment with the hood. 80 to 105 Eighth-Talents.

Mittens: While these are large enough that they were probably intended for a man, you hope that you will be able to buy these without the sob-storytelling that you needed to get the Oilers. Provides marginal physical protection to your hands, as well as protection against the elements and specifically frostbite. 10 to 15 Eighth-Talents.

Used Footwraps: While stockings are preferable to just about everyone, not everyone can afford them. You probably would not actually wear these, instead using them as dressings (after washing, of course), for crafting, or for blinds, binds, and gags. Wear may have reduced its durability. When used as intended, provides marginal physical protection to your feet, as well as marginal protection against the elements. No specific protection against frostbite. 8 to 10 Eighth-Talents for set of two.

File: Small Bundle of Small Rags.jpg (119 KB, 1024x768)

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Second-Hand Clothing Continued:

Small Bundle of Small Rags: Very useful for cleaning, and if necessary, can be considered disposable, which is useful when dealing with dangerous materials, the Strangeness, or blood. Also can be used in crafting, especially for mending clothing. 1 to 2 Eighth-Talents for a bundle.

I am going to do this 'department' by 'department', starting with the second-hand clothes, in the hopes that we get more of a consensus this way. Hopefully this does not grind everything to a halt.

>>5302829
>Hooded Red Riding Cloak
>6 bundles of Small Bundle of Small Rags

>>5302829
Hooded Black Riding Cloak
Mittens
Used Footwraps
Small Bundle of Small Rags

Hate to drop so much cash in one spot... was hemming and hawing on those footwraps but if we can tie people up instead of killing them, it'll be worth. Mittens to hide our freaky fingers. Hood to obscure our face. Rags good for hiding stuff in. Not bad.

Question, Trash, how would these new boots hold up against fire?

>>5302825
Hooded Black Riding Cloak
Hooded Red Riding Cloak
4 Mittens
4 Used Footwraps
4 Small Bundle of Small Rags

>>5302933
They would be fairly resilient, all things considered, so long as the fire doesn't melt off the protective coating ... which would take some doing. She would either need to be basically standing in a flame for a minute or so, or she would need to try to walk into a stoked furnace. Oilers are really tough boots, but they are not particularly well suited for stealth (given their squeaking) and eventually the protective coating will wear off - potentially sooner or later if she pushes them to their limits, or uses them frequently in activities that would scuff the coating, like climbing.They also don't provide any more physical protection than the Standard Boot.

>>5302967
For clarification, when you say 4 Mittens and 4 Used Footwraps, does that means 4 pairs, or 2 pairs, totaling 4?

>>5302933

We can get multiples. Tempting. Revising to...

Hooded Black Riding Cloak
2 pair Mittens
3 pair Used Footwraps
Small Bundle of Small Rags

Thanks for the boot info, Trash.

>>5302825
Red Cloak
1 Mittens
1 Footwraps
2 Rags

Pockets and a long life are a must for outerwear, we gotta protect and cover Chlot's hands somehow, and rags/dressings are always good to have around.

>>5303043
4 pairs, going by the last couple of days, we’ll need the spares.

>>5302967
Support, but with 6 bundles of rags instead.

>>5302829
Hooded Red Riding Cloak
2 Mittens
3 Used Footwraps
4 Small Bundle of Small Rags

Rolled 1, 2, 2, 1 = 6 (4d2)

Alright, lets see the tally.

>>5302885
Hooded Red Riding Cloak
6 Small Bundles of Small Rags

>>5302967
Hooded Black Riding Cloak
Hooded Red Riding Cloak
4 Pairs of Mittens
4 Sets of Used Footwraps
4 Small Bundles of Small Rags

>>5303057
Hooded Black Riding Cloak
2 Pairs of Mittens
3 Sets of Used Footwraps
Small Bundle of Small Rags

>>5303064
Hooded Red Cloak
Pair of Mittens
Set of Used Footwraps
2 Small Bundles of Small Rags

>>5303174
Hooded Black Riding Cloak
Hooded Red Riding Cloak
4 Pairs of Mittens
4 Sets of Used Footwraps
6 Small Bundles of Small Rags

>>5303262
Hooded Red Riding Cloak
2 Pairs of Mittens
3 Sets of Used Footwraps
4 Small Bundles of Small Rags

-----------------------------------------------

Purchasing the Hooded Black Cloak
>>5302967 >>5303057 >>5303174 For (3/6)
>>5302885 >>5303064 >>5303262 Against (3/6)

Purchasing the Hooded Red Cloak
>>5302885 >>5302967 >>5303064 >>5303174 >>5303262 For (5/6)
>>5303057 Against (1/6)

Purchasing Pairs of Used Mittens
>>5302967 >>5303174 For 4 Pairs (2/6)
>>5303057 >>5303262 For 2 Pairs (2/6)
>>5303064 For 1 Pair (1/6)
>>5302885 Against (1/6)

Purchasing Sets of Used Footwraps
>>5302967 >>5302967 For 4 Sets (2/6)
>>5303057 >>5303262 For 3 Sets (2/6)
>>5303064 For 1 Set (1/6)
>>5302885 Against (1/6)

Purchasing Small Bundles of Small Rags
>>5302885 >>5303174 For 6 Bundles (2/6)
>>5302967 >>5303262 For 4 Bundles (2/6)
>>5303064 For 2 Bundles (1/6)
>>5303057 For 1 Bundle (1/6)

So, no slate got more than one vote - which I suppose is probably going to be the way things work with these votes. And once the slates were broken down, there was only one decision that got a majority of the votes - buying the Hooded Red Riding Cloak. Additionally, things are further complicated here (compared to last time) because there are an even number of votes, and on top of that awarding victory to tied pluralities here does not make sense as it did last time, because none of the choices are really alternatives for another (as they were for the Cotton Stockings and Wool Stockings). So, that means rolling:

Majority-Maker 1:
With a roll of 1, the Hooded Black Riding Cloak is purchased.
With a roll of 2, the Hooded Black Riding Cloak is not purchased.

Plurality-Maker 1:
With a roll of 1, 4 Pairs of Mittens are purchased.
With a roll of 2, 2 Pairs of Mittens are purchased.

Plurality-Maker 2:
With a roll of 1, 4 Sets of Used Footwraps are purchased.
With a roll of 2, 3 Sets of Used Footwraps are purchased.

Plurality-Maker 3:
With a roll of 1, 6 Bundles of Rags are purchased.
With a roll of 2, 4 Bundles of Rags are purchased.

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Okay, from this 'department' of the Hardware, Chlotsuintha is going to purchase the Hooded Black Riding Cloak, the Hooded Red Riding Cloak, two Pairs of Mittens, three Sets of Used Footwraps, and six Small Bundles of Small Rags.

For used clothes, a lot of this stuff looks really good still. Even the rags have very little fraying, and nearly all of them seem to have held most of their original color. It is possible that these rags were not just salvaged from ruined clothes, they could be cast offs from a fabricians. You would like to pick one of the bundles up, to feel the fabrics, but as you have your bundled dress in your arms at the moment, you are worried that someone might think you are trying to steal from this place. The kid who is out here with the rest of the wares has stopped paying any attention to you, but you can see through the open doors of the establishment a clerk inside behind some sort of counter that keeps looking in your direction. There is a real chance that if you act too suspiciously, they might ask you to let them see everything in your spare dress ... which, considering that you have the Wand of Head Knocking in there, as well as the fuel nodules, that would be a bit of problem. As you try to figure out a way to preempt that from happening, a display in the stores windows catches your eyes. Supplies for a kitchen! The earthenware that you have at the Belfry is all mix-matched, no doubt stolen from different public houses, and you have always thought that you should have a few more pots - simply so you can keep some exclusively for cooking and others for magicking. A skillet would be nice too ... and while you are not seeing dining utensils - beyond the Earthenware spoons - you do see cooking utensils. They would be nice to have around if you were going to have to start cooking all of your meals soon - and more than that, some of them could work as weapons in a pinch ...

Kitchen Essentials:

Cast Iron Skillet: It is an average sized skillet with a wrapped handle. Can be used for cooking, water purification as needed. In a pinch, can easily be weaponized. 40 to 65 Eighth-Talents.

Small Cast Iron Pot: It is a small cast iron pot with wrapped handles. Can be used for cooking, water purification, or casting as needed. 40 to 65 Eighth-Talents.

Large Cast Iron Pot: It is a large cast iron pot with wrapped handles. Can be used for cooking, water purification, or casting as needed. 85 to 110 Eighth-Talents.

Pot Stand: It is a cast iron stand that keeps pots and skillets off of the flames. 20 to 35 Eighth-Talents.

Miniature Cauldron [one available]: It is a very large cast iron pot with unwrapped handles and feet long enough to keep the bottom out of most flames. Can be used for cooking, water purification, or casting as needed. 200 to 245 Eighth-Talents.

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Kitchen Essentials Continued:

Earthenware Set: A full set of plates, spoons and cups made out of baked but unglazed pottery. Comes in a canvas sack for storage and transport. Somewhat fragile. 50 to 70 Eighth-Talents.

Roasting Spit: A cast iron spit that large pieces of meat – or in some cases, whole animals – are suspended over an open fire on and rotated with. Comes with brackets. In a pinch, the spit itself can easily be weaponized, though without a proper handle fighting with it would be awkward. 45 to 65 Eighth-Talents.

Serving Fork: A steel two-pronged fork with a stout wooden handle, used for serving meat carved from a larger piece of meat. In a pinch, the serving fork can easily be weaponized, though the handle is awkward for fighting and it does not have a hilt. 20 to 30 Eighth-Talents.

Carving Knife: A slightly curved, serrated blade with a rounded tip and stout wooden handle used for cutting slices of meat for serving. In a pinch, the carving knife can be weaponized, though it does not have a hilt, though the handle is awkward for fighting and it does not have a hilt. 20 to 30 Eighth-Talents.

Cleaver: A heavy square chopper, with a stout wooden handle, used for butchering larger pieces of meat for cooking. In a pinch, the cleaver can be weaponized, though the handle is awkward for fighting. 30 to 45 Eighth-Talents.

Gutting Blade: A thin, sharp, and tapered blade, with a stout wooden handle, used for butchering – this one is designed for fish and small game, though it could be used on a larger animal. In a pinch, the gutting blade can be weaponized, though the handle and its size make it awkward for fighting and it does not have a hilt. 15 to 25 Eighth-Talents.

Meat Mallet: A heavy wooden mallet with two grooved strike faces, with a stout wooden handle, used for tenderizing meat. In a pinch, the meat mallet can be weaponized, though the handle is awkward for fighting. 15 to 30 Eighth-Talents.

A word to the wise; buying multiples of weaponizable implements is suspicious, and carrying them around the Mount in a manner where they can be seen and could be used as a weapon or for intimidation could be considered illegal. Proceed with caution!

1 Small Cast Iron Pot

This is capable of cooking everything. It may not be as tasty but our arms are getting full here.

We should get a lighter weight container for magicing like a wooden bowl. No point in humping around a bunch of iron if we don't have to.

Chlot is going crazy here with a ton of money for the first time in her life, isn't she?

1 Pot Stand

Normally I'd say just use rocks but Chlot is... kind of a ditz sometimes.

1 Gutting Blade

Essential for harvesting meat from fish and game.

Oh, and in case it was not obvious, you do not need to buy anything.

>>5303343
Cast Iron Skillet
Small Cast Iron Pot
2 Pot Stand
Earthenware Set

>>5303411
Supporting this but changing pot to skillet and adding
>Roasting spit

1 spit and 1 knife is not suspicious as they have completely different purposes and you would need both inadwoods.

>>5303337
Cast Iron Skillet
Small Cast Iron Pot
Large Cast Iron Pot
Pot Stand
Miniature Cauldron

>>5303343
Earthenware Set
Serving Fork
Cleaver
Gutting Blade

>>5303412
Actually, I was a bit busy. I’m also concerned about our inventory capacity, as well as where we will store all these goods before we buy a wagon, not to mention getting soft-locked out of investigating Aldoin's House by anons getting overly focused on buying shit we don’t even know where to store. Can we actually plan on where we’re storing all of this before we start buying all the inventory heavy stuff, and can we just by some shit tomorrow?

>>5303763
I can say right now that once you get inside the store, you will see that they sell small handcarts for relatively cheap, so you do not need to worry too much about overloading.

As far as stashing things, there are several options that come to mind. You could store the goods in the buried basements of the egress tunnel, you could ask to leave the non-incriminating stuff with Hortingea once you go back for your other two dresses, then pick them up before closing today, you could spend some time looking for a safe enough spot to stash the stuff temporarily (with no guarantee that you find anything).

As far as buying things tomorrow - do not count on being able to buy anything on Titheday. The day supposed to be spent worshiping, and then relaxing with family and friends. It is similar to the Sabbath, except that instead of working being prohibited, on Titheday, all work belongs to the Patternmaker (hence the name). In practice, business that want to open on Titheday must apply to do so, then they pay a fee for the month. The fee is determined by clerks in the employ of the Priests, and is a rough estimation of an average days income, multiplied by four. It is a very primitive income tax. Because sales on Titheday in almost all industries are almost always lower than an average day (because most people are either at temples or at home) very, very few business actually request this permission from the Priests. Some people will donate their wares or their labor on Titheday in lieu of an Oblation; a cobbler might remain open to repair shoes of the deserving poor, or a grocer might fill a cart with some of his older wares and bring them to mendicants.On the other end of the spectrum, you can sort of get around this restriction by making sure that all money changes hands before Titheday (this is frowned upon, and outright illegal in some places for some businesses). And while some employers might take the day off, they might not extend the courtesy to their employees. For example, as a Leper, you are expected to work on Titheday, you just don't get paid for it, because your work is considered an Oblation to the Priests.

However, after today, once Chlotsuintha manages to leave the Mount, there will be time to buy things in other cities and towns, before you leave the Coastal Provinces and get to the sparsely populated Interior Provinces, or the barely populated Frontier Provinces.

And as far as Aldoin's House is concerned, once Chlotsuintha has secured her carriage later today, she will have the option of heading right to Aldoin's House.

>>5303763
To better explain my purchases, I believe having a variety of pots would help keep us from eating from magiked pots, and the cauldron would hide the weaponized utensils at the bottom as well as being useful for storing other things. Plus, are we truly a witch without a cauldron?

>>5303870
Thank you for the explanation. I hope we get to Aldoin's House right after we get the carriage, I think the ball may have been a gift rather than a killing instrument.

>>5303343
Cast Iron Skillet
Small Cast Iron Pot
Miniature Cauldron
3 sets of Pot Stand

Earthenware Set
Gutting Blade

Now lets look at this new tally.

>>5303411
Small Cast Iron Pot
Pot Stand
Gutting Blade

>>5303681
Cast Iron Skillet
Small Cast Iron Pot
2 Pot Stands
Earthenware Set

>>5303755
Cast Iron Skillet
Pot Stand
Roasting Spit
Gutting Blade

>>5303763
Cast Iron Skillet
Small Cast Iron Pot
Large Cast Iron Pot
Pot Stand
Miniature Cauldron
Earthenware Set
Serving Fork
Cleaver
Gutting Blade

>>5304257
Cast Iron Skillet
Small Cast Iron Pot
Miniature Cauldron
3 Pot Stands
Earthenware Set
Gutting Blade

--------------------------------------

Purchasing the Cast Iron Skillet
>>5303681 >>5303755 >>5303763 >>5304257 For (4/5)
>>5303411 Against (1/5)

Purchasing Small Cast Iron Pot
>>5303411 >>5303681 >>5303763 >>5304257 For (4/5)
>>5303755 Against (1/5)

Purchasing Large Cast Iron Pot
>>5303763 For (1/5)
>>5303411 >>5303681 >>5303755 >>5304257 Against (4/5)

Purchasing Pot Stand
>>5303411 >>5303755 >>5303763 For 1 (3/5)
>>5303681 For 2 (1/5)
>>5304257 For 3 (1/5)

Purchasing Miniature Cauldron
>>5303763>>5304257 For (2/5)
>>5303411 >>5303681 >>5303755 Against (3/5)

Purchasing Earthenware Set
>>5303681 >>5303763 >>5304257 For (3/5)
>>5303411 >>5303755 Against (2/5)

Purchasing Roasting Spit
>>5303755 For (1/5)
>>5303411 >>5303681 >>5303763 >>5304257 Against (4/5)

Purchasing Serving Fork
>>5303763 For (1/5)
>>5303411 >>5303681 >>5303755 >>5304257 Against (4/5)

Purchasing Carving Knife
>>5303411 >>5303681 >>5303755 >>5303763 >>5304257 Against (5/5)

Purchasing Cleaver
>>5303763 For (1/5)
>>5303411 >>5303681 >>5303755 >>5304257 Against (4/5)

Purchasing Gutting Blade
>>5303411 >>5303755 >>5303763 >>5304257 For (4/5)
>>5303681 Against (1/5)

Purchasing Meat Mallet
>>5303411 >>5303681 >>5303755 >>5303763 >>5304257 Against (5/5)

As there was an odd number of votes cast, there is no need for any tie-breaking. From this 'department' of the Hardware, Chlotsuintha will be purchasing the Cast Iron Skillet, the Small Cast Iron Pot, a single Pot Stand, an Earthenware Set, and the Gutting Blade.

Writing the next update now.

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>>5304484
Let's goooooooo!

>>5304503
>beautiful happy girl with credit
is that what we are?

>>5304512
Im phoneposting and have no clue how to change file names but... it is how we're acting.

>>5304683
Not that that's a bad thing :)

>>5304484
>missed the kitchen vote

Damn, I would’ve really have loved to have gotten that cauldron.

File: Skillet.jpg (67 KB, 680x575)

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Even though you have still not set foot into the store, you can clearly see all of the kitchen sundries that the store has on display in the window. The very first thing that catches your eye is the cast iron skillet. When you and father are not going to eat the cafeteria’s offerings for the day, the responsibility of cooking has fallen on you – pretty much ever since you came to the Midden, eight years ago. You don’t mind, not really, but what has always irritated you is what little you have to work with. And of the limitations, the most egregious in your mind is the lack of a skillet. For years, you have had to make do, using a battered and almost perpetually rusting pot in place of one. It works well enough … actually, to be honest, it works fine, it is just … it size makes it annoying to clean, and the walls of the pot make it awkward to flip meat.

Obviously, you knew better than to pester father about buying you one, as there really was no need for one … but now, now that you have your own money … why shouldn’t you buy one for yourself? It is really so frivolous, so indolent to want to have the proper tools for a task? Of course it isn’t! Father couldn’t possibly fault you over this, surely not. No one could.

As you try to puzzle out how many gull breasts or rat hindquarters you could fit on the skillet at once, you notice the small cast iron pot next to it. It is a good-looking piece of metalwork– it makes the ones back in the kitchen look like they were pulled out of a refuse pile … which, for all you know, they could have been. It is smaller too … would a smaller pot get up to temperature quicker? It should, shouldn’t it …

By the time that you tear your eyes away from the display, you have not only decided to buy the skillet and the small pot, but you also have settled on picking up the stand for the pot, some new crockery, and a gutting knife. The stand makes sense, because sooner or later, you are going to end up wanting to cook with the pot or skillet somewhere without a stove or an oven. You are getting the gutting knife, because you do not want to be dressing animals with the pin-stilettoes. And the earthenware … well, you are getting that because as far as you can figure, it is a good buy for the price, and it just looks so crisp, and clean, and white.

There were other things that you were considering as well, chief among them that baby cauldron … but you reigned yourself in. None of the stuff was necessary like the stuff you have committed to purchasing … or in the case of the crockery, as good of a buy and as appealing. Besides, a Witches’ cauldron should be a full-sized cauldron. Actually, now that you think about it, a Witch should really have two cauldrons, one for magicking and one for cooking.

With this stop already off to a great start, you crane your neck a little bit to see if you can see anything else from where you stand on the sidewalk, but you cannot.

File: Doorbell.jpg (165 KB, 900x900)

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You are going to have to enter the store … which might present a bit of a problem. Right now, you are carrying around a lot of stuff in your bundled spare dress. If you go into the store, walking around with a bundle like that in your arms, you are going to look very suspicious. A proprietor might think that you are going to try to shoplift, making off with his wares stuffed inside of bundle, which has a noticeable bulge to it already. You can think of several ways around this, but none of them are without drawbacks.

The safest of the three ways would be to leave the store for now, and go look for somewhere where you could stash the dress and most of its contents – you are going to need at least some of the money – then return to the store to make your purchases, and then retrieve the dress once you are done. The problem with that is that there is no guarantee that you are going to be able to find such a place nearby. You could end up spending a great deal of time looking, or just having to go all the way back to the egress tunnel outside of the Midden. Spending that time means that you might lose out on an opportunity to go to another store before the fourteenth hour. Your second option is to ask the proprietor if you could put the dress down somewhere. If it was not in your arms, then obviously, no one could think that you were using it hide shoplifted items. While it would drastically reduce how suspicious you were, it would also mean that the dress – and its contents – would be out of your hands, if not out of your sight for a time, which is not optimal. The third way is the easiest, but also in its way, the most risky. Continue to hold on to the dress during your shopping, and hope that if confronted, you can talk your way out of opening up your spare dress. The issue is that if it gets to a point where you are asked to show him the contents of the dress, and you cannot talk your way out of it, your refusal might be seen as an admission of guilt …

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Leave and stash the spare dress somewhere safe
>Ask the proprietor to hold the dress for you where you can see it
>Do nothing, and hope you can talk yourself out of this

>>5305352
>Ask the proprietor to hold the dress for you where you can see it
Just buy a small cart and put it in there, and never leave it out of our sight, obsessively. I’m hoping that this won’t spiral into a bigger issue, I just want one shopping session without problems after the retardation with the foreign merchant.

>>5305455
+1

>>5305352
>>Do nothing, and hope you can talk yourself out of this

>>5305352
Pay an urchin boy to accompany and hold stuff for us.

>>5305455
+1

File: Wooden Handcart.jpg (108 KB, 824x824)

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After a moment or so of mulling, you decide to head into the store, and ask the proprietor if it is alright to put your bundle down somewhere while you shop. It is not a perfect solution – none of them are – but you don’t think you can afford the time to go looking for a place to stash the supplies, and you definitely do not want another confrontation here. Not like the one with the Cobbler, and definitely not like the one with Eupator.

The door to the store has been propped open, so your entrance is not announced by the bell. However, it did not need to be. The three men in the store, only one of whom appears to be a customer, all are looking at you – much the same way that Bertrada was looking at you in the fitting room, as if you were some sort of freak in a menagerie. Before you can lose your nerve, you step forward … and notice a neat little handcart. Well, that would take care of your carrying issues nicely, and you might find it helpful once you are ready to start moving house. You turn to the man you figure to be the owner, and open your mouth to speak, but when you see that he is still looking at you like that, you find yourself stumbling over your words.

“Uh … pardon the um, intrusion – but that cart, is that cart for sale?”

Under the scrutiny of the three men, you find yourself starting to blush with embarrassment. This kind of attention – you are not used to. Swears and jeers, shouts and hasty wards, not to mention the occasional rock … you are used to those, you get them often enough as a Leper. And you get stares too, plenty of stares … but nothing like the stares you are getting right now from the three men. There is this deeply uncomfortable leering quality to them that just … you cannot even articulate it; you just know that you don’t like it.

There is a moment of silence in the shop, then as if belatedly realizing that you were talking to him, the man you addressed answers you.

“Aye, aye. Of course. Everything on display.”

“I’d think I’d like to buy it. Would it be alright if I put my bundle down in it while I finished shopping?”

“Oh, definitely. No problem. None, none at all.”

Oddly enough, he seems to be having a hard time articulating himself too. Confused and still on edge, you put your bundle in the cart, then keeping your eye on it, you turn your attention to the section of the floor where they have the bedroom things. Most of what they have is cut for a full-size bed, but they do have somethings that you could use.

Bedroom Essentials:

Bedroll: While it is about a foot to short for you as is, you should be able to modify it easily enough using materials from your current bedroll, which has been falling apart for a few years now, despite your best efforts to repair it. 200 to 240 Eighth-Talents.

File: Wrought Iron Fireplace Tools.jpg (295 KB, 1910x1910)

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Bedroom Essentials Continued:

Wool Sheet: Like the bedroll for sale here, this wool sheet is also about a foot too short for you, but it could be extended to the proper length using your current sheet, which is a scratchy, patched, and threadbare affair. 100 to 115 Eighth-Talents.

Wool Blanket: You actually do not have a proper blanket – during the Sleep Season, you have to go to bed wearing the heavier version of the Spotted Cloak to keep warm. If you lied down with this one at an angle, then it should cover just about everything. 150 to 185 Eighth-Talents.

Set of Two Pillows: These are actual feather pillows, which look to be about a thousand times more comfortable than the wadded-up canvas sack you are currently resting your head on. You don’t know what bird the feathers are from, and you also doubt that it is only down in there, but at least the pillowcase itself looks like it is good linen. 150 to 185 Eighth-Talents.

And right next to that section is where they have all of the lights.

Lighting:

Bronzed Brazier: A brazier, intended to burn incense, but capable of being used as a cooking implement when coal or wood is burned inside. 280 to 320 Eighth-Talents.

Set of Four Olive Oil Lamps: Small lamps, made out of dried clay. Intended for olive oil only. 40 to 55 Eighth-Talents.

Whale Oil Lamp with handle: A larger lamp, complete with a blown glass bulb to protect the flame. Intended for whale oil only but can work with some other oils at reduced efficiency. 260 to 290 Eighth-Talents.

Wrought Cast Iron Fireplace Tools: A set of tools necessary to get the most of out a fireplace – tongs, brush, ash pan and poker. The tongs, brush and ash pan with some shielding could easily double as tools for magicking when components of a cast get too large to comfortably work with your existing implements. 60 to 75 Eighth-Talents.

Whale Oil: A gallon of whale oil, fresh from the vats of one of Scrimshaw Mount’s Whaleries. Respective to the amount of soot that it puts off, it has an exceptionally strong flame. Will work very well in your pocket-lantern. Can be used as fuel for magicking. 20 to 35 Eighth-Talents.

Olive Oil: A gallon of olive oil, fresh from the presses of one of the orchards around Scrimshaw Mount. Will put off very little soot, but at the cost of having a weak flame. Relatively expensive, compared to similar product grown in the Old World, due to colder climate and fewer orchards in operation. Will work passably in your pocket lantern. Can be used as fuel for magicking. 10 to 15 Eighth-Talents

Three Dozen Full Wicks: Cut long enough to fit a typical candle, these wicks are also compatible with all Imperial lamps, unless otherwise specified. In addition to being required for crafting candles and burning oil in lamps, they could also be used for other sorts of crafting, possibly as a delayed-start component in a construct. 30 to 45 Eighth-Talents.

File: Candelabra.jpg (164 KB, 800x800)

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Lighting Continued:

Dozen Candles: These wax candles are a more stable alternative to oil and lamps, though they do not put off too much light, and without something to catch the wax, they can make a mess – as well as pose as a fire hazard. 60 to 80 Eighth-Talents.

Pair of Candlesticks: These cast iron candlesticks are substantial enough that they could be used as a weapon in a pinch, though the lack of a proper handle would mean that fighting with them would be really awkward. 60 to 80 Eighth-Talents.

Candelabra: This single cast iron candlestick has slots for five candles, more than enough to account for the comparatively lackluster flame that they put off, when held against a proper whale oil lamp. It is more than substantial enough that it could be used as a weapon in a pinch, though the lack of a proper handle would mean that fighting with it would be really awkward, and you would be liable to break off the auxiliary candle slots. 65 to 80 Eighth-Talents.

>>5306023
>Bedroom
Bedroll
2 Wool Sheet
Wool Blanket
Set of Two Pillows

>Lighting
Bronzed Brazier
Whale Oil Lamp with handle
Wrought Cast Iron Fireplace Tools
2 gallons of Whale Oil
Three Dozen Full Wicks

>>5306023
Bedroll

>>5306038
2 Wool Sheets
Wool Blanket
Set of Two Pillows

Bronzed Brazier
Set of Four Olive Oil Lamps
Whale Oil Lamp with handle; tempted to get a spare one, but I’ll refrain.
Wrought Cast Iron Fireplace Tools
Whale Oil; want 5 gallons, will settle for 3.
Olive Oil; want 5 gallons, will settle for 3.
Three Dozen Full Wicks; want 2 (6 Dozen), settle for 1 (3 Dozen)

>>5306041
2 Dozen Candles
Pair of Candlesticks
Candelabra

>>5306041
>Bedroll
>pillows
>whale oil*3
cmon guys let's not get crazy here

>>5306041
Bedroll
2 Sheets
2 Blankets

Great for hiding stuff under.


Wrought Cast Iron Fireplace Tools
Set of Four Olive Oil Lamps
1 Olive Oil
1 Whale Oil
Three Dozen Full Wicks
Dozen Candles

Fire poker for the win and versitile fire.

>>5306339
Sensible about the blankets and sheets, supporting. But again, please guys remember that we are basically going camping. Who takes a candelabra camping? You can put candles on any rock. Who takes a fire poker? You can use a stick. Let's try to not overencumber ourselves with too much shit.

>>5306476
A lamp with a handle and protected flame would be more handy than 4 handleless lamps without flame protection.

>>5306518
use a rock or a piece of wood. If you want to carry it around use a rag or just our leather gloves.

>>5306038
Bedroll
2 Wool Sheet
2 Wool Blanket
Set of Two Pillows

Bronzed Brazier
Whale Oil Lamp with handle
Wrought Cast Iron Fireplace Tools
Set of Four Olive Oil Lamps
1 Olive Oil
1 Whale Oil
Three Dozen Full Wicks

>>5306339
I wish to alter my vote to remove the fireplace set.

>>5306476
I essentially wanted one good weapon for dealing with wolves or their analogs. A shovel might be better and more familiar in our hands, though.

File: eirasaid.jpg (208 KB, 800x1078)

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>>5306038
1 Bedroll
1 Wool Sheet
2 Blankets

A large wool blanket has a lot of uses while camping, including being used for shelter from the rain after being waxed. You can also wear the blankets, as a kilt or earasaid, folding it around yourself to create outerwear. Most people in this period only had 1 sheet anyway

2 Dozen Candles
Wow, look, wax. And lighting to boot.
1 Olive Oil
1 Three Dozen Full Wicks
Chlot could easily render fat and wax and make her own candles from materials. But she can't press her own oil, that's a much more difficult process. Olive Oil is useful stuff for Chlot and isn't incongruous when paired with candles as cooking oil rather than lighting.
1 Pair of Candlesticks
1 Set Wrought Cast Iron Fireplace Tools

I continue to ask anons not to buy everything needed for an entire household! It looks weird because most people have most stuff already.
I also think glass is a bit too delicate and expensive. Certainly it's nice but Chlot needs to establish herself and who knows how long her current 'windfall' will last?

We aren't bringing all this stuff back to the Not Temple, are we?

>>5306698
You can bring it with you when you go back to pick up the rest of your commissions, and even when you go to the Liveries, but I will say that pushing around a handcart does sort of undermine the image of being the daughter of a wealthy Citizen. You might have an easier time of it if you stashed the cart somewhere - but hiding something that big is a bit harder than just hiding a bundled cloak or dress. You know that the Egress tunnel is going to be a safe spot ... but if you wanted to save time, you could look for other spots closer to where you are right now. There is of course, no guarantee that you are going to find any.

To actually answer your question, no, no you do not. All you have to is get your purchases stashed away somewhere safe, then pick it up on your way out of the Mount.

>>5306476
Camping could certainly be in the cards, but it is not necessarily a certainty. There will be public houses and coaching inns available on the main roads all the way to the Frontier, and setting up in an existing settlement or village is an option.

Looking at the tally:

>>5306068
Bedroll
2 Wool Sheets
Wool Blanket
Set of Two Pillows
Bronzed Brazier
Whale Oil Lamp with handle
Wrought Cast Iron Fireplace Tools
2 Gallons of Whale Oil
Three Dozen Full Wicks

>>5306076
Bedroll
2 Wool Sheets
Wool Blanket
Set of Two Pillows
Bronzed Brazier
Set of Four Olive Oil Lamps
Whale Oil Lamp with handle
Wrought Cast Iron Fireplace Tools
3 Gallons of Whale Oil
3 Gallons of Olive Oil
Three Dozen Full Wicks
2 Dozen Candles
Pair of Candlesticks
Candelabra

>>5306215
Bedroll
2 Wool Sheets
2 Wool Blankets
Set of Two Pillows
3 Gallons of Whale Oil

>>5306339
Bedroll
2 Wool Sheets
2 Wool Blankets
Set of Four Olive Oil Lamps
Gallon of Whale Oil
Gallon of Olive Oil
Three Dozen Full Wicks
Dozen Candles

>>5306605
Bedroll
2 Wool Sheet
2 Wool Blanket
Set of Two Pillows
Bronzed Brazier
Whale Oil Lamp with handle
Wrought Cast Iron Fireplace Tools
Set of Four Olive Oil Lamps
Gallon of Whale Oil
Gallon of Olive Oil

>>5306636
Bedroll
Wool Sheet
2 Wool Blankets
Set Wrought Cast Iron Fireplace Tools
Gallon of Olive Oil
Three Dozen Full Wicks
2 Dozen Candles
Pair of Candlesticks

----------------------------------------

Purchasing the Bedroll
>>5306068 >>5306076 >>5306215 >>5306339 >>5306605 >>5306636 For (6/6)

Purchasing the Wool Sheets
>>5306068 >>5306076 >>5306339 >>5306215 >>5306605 For 2 (5/6)
>>5306636 For 1 (1/6)

Purchasing the Wool Blanket
>>5306339 >>5306215 >>5306605 >>5306636 For 2 (4/6)
>>5306068 >>5306076 For 1

Purchasing Set of Two Pillows
>>5306068 >>5306076 >>5306215 >>5306605 For (4/6)
>>5306339 >>5306636 Against (2/6)

Purchasing Bronzed Brazier
>>5306068 >>5306076 >>5306605 For (3/6)
>>5306215 >>5306339 >>5306636 Against (3/6)

Purchasing Set of Four Olive Oil Lamps
>>5306076 >>5306339 >>5306605 For (3/6)
>>5306068 >>5306215 >>5306636 Against (3/6)

Rolled 1, 1, 1, 2 = 5 (4d2)

Purchasing Whale Oil Lamp with Handle
>>5306068 >>5306076 >>5306605 For (3/6)
>>5306215 >>5306339 >>5306636 Against (3/6)[/b

Purchasing Wrought Iron Fireplace Tools
>>5306068 >>5306605 >>5306636 For (3/6)
>>5306076 >>5306215 >>5306339 Against (3/6)

Purchasing Gallons of Whale Oil
>>5306076 >>5306215 For 3 (2/6)
>>5306068 For 2
>>5306339 >>5306605 For 1 (2/6)
>>5306636 Against

Purchasing Gallons of Olive Oil
>>5306076 For 3 (1/6)
>>5306339 >>5306605 >>5306636 For 1 (3/6)
>>5306068 >>5306215 Against (2/6)

Purchasing Sets of Three Dozen Full Wicks
>>5306068 >>5306076 >>5306339 >>5306605 >>5306636 For 1 (5/6)
>>5306215 Against (1/6)

Purchasing Sets of a Dozen Candles
>>5306076 >>5306636 For 2 (2/6)
>>5306339 For 1 (1/6)
>>5306068 >>5306215 >>5306605 Against (3/6)

Purchasing Pair of Candlesticks
>>5306076 >>5306636 For (2/6)
>>5306068 >>5306215 >>5306339 >>5306605 Against (4/6)

Purchasing Candelabra
>>5306076 For (1/6)
>>5306068 >>5306215 >>5306339 >>5306605 >>5306636 Against (5/6)

----------------------------------------

Majority-Maker 1:
With roll of 1, Bronzed Brazier is purchased.
With roll of 2, Bronzed Brazier is not purchased.

Majority-Maker 2:
With roll of 1, Olive Oil Lamps are purchased.
With roll of 2, Olive Oil Lamps are not purchased.

Majority-Maker 3:
With roll of 1, Whale Oil Lamp is purchased.
With roll of 2, Whale Oil Lamp is not purchased.

Majority-Maker 4:
With roll of 1, Fireplace Tools are purchased.
With roll of 2, Fireplace Tools are not purchased.