Charley
Antlers
Shu
Marik
Shoopuf
LimeTime966
Archazen
Cyrania
ClocktowerEchos
TrippyNightmare
[X] - Can it even be called armor anymore? The inch-thick pauldrons have been shaved down to a thin wisp. The plating around your gorget has been crumpled. The only thing that’s usable is the cuirass and even then, the holes peppered throughout are big enough to fit your pinky through.
“ Sorry,” The boy trembles as he notices the frown on your face, aghast with shame. “ If I could, I - “
“ No need for apologies.” You wave your hand nonchalantly, even trying to put up a smile to reassure the boy, though it shakes. “ You saved my life. What could be more important than that?”
Your confident expression then falls dour as your eyes stare at the tattered, shredded remains of paper in your hands. You barely hear the door opening and closing, your eyes blurry and wet as your heart pounds. Centuries of history and craftsmanship undone by your own actions. The success of your journey to the Bargain Bin is now tarnished by the loss of your paper mantle.
Did bringing the package back to your clan really matter?
Your head jolts up in realisation. You were an idiot, how could you forget about the package?
As if answering your question, the door opened and the same man who you woke to, half-blind and injured, strides in. His cheeks grow a dull red as frustration scrunches up his white brow.
“ You shouldn’t be up.” Now at your side, he tries to gently ease you back into your bed. “ It takes more than a few days to heal your broken ribs, and we don’t even known whether or not there’s any complications- “
You slap his hand away and speak curtly. “ I feel well. Thank you.” Your ribs swell in pain with each word you say. Your next words come out a little more drily. “ Who are you and why did you help me?”
“ I go by many names but for now, I would prefer to just be known as a simple Pharmacist.“ He rubs his right hand as though it aches, staring “ As for why I sheltered your broken corpse away from the Smilers, would you believe me if I said it was out of the goodness of my heart?”
You don’t reply back and just merely glare at him. The Pharmacist takes a good long look at you, leaning close enough that you can see the flecks of white in his black eye. He then shakes his head sadly.
“ No, you’re far too cynical for that. Your eyes look as though you’ve been forced to sleep your entire life. I wonder what happened to you at such a young age...”
You hate the pity. Fists tightened, you sigh at this noble charade he was putting on.
“ What do I owe you?”
He looks at you as though you’ve claimed to have found the Gates of Sliding. His chest heaves in silent laughter before he replies.
“ Nothing. Everything’s over the counter.”
“ You must be a fool to think that I’m that naive.”
“ And you must be a pessimist to see the worse in what I say.”
Your eyebrows arches in disbelief. “ What? Am I just supposed to believe that I walk out of here with no debts?” The notion of charity in a locale such as this is enough to make you sputter. “ I- I - is this some Dorfen joke I’m not getting?”
“ Like I said before, everything’s over the counter.”
Alright, enough’s enough. In a blink of an eye, you pull out Ivory Crane from its scabbard and stop a hair’s length away from turning the pharmacist’s beard into a carpet.
“ Say that phrase again and I will gut you like a sea monkey from head to toe.” You punctuate each word with growing impatience. “ What does it even mean?”
“ An old saying from my Department.” The pharmacist looked at the sword as if it was an errant cockroach and pressed it down with a finger. “ It means no prescriptions on part of the patient, no questions asked and privacy observed. Well, until some members reinterpreted that as having the liberty to experiment on any aisler desperate enough to come to them. I didn’t agree with them and they didn’t agree with me. At least, they allowed me to leave with my dignity. ”
A sliver of regret flashed over his face, mouth curling downwards like a creased corner before smiling yet again, this time with less levity. He clears his throat and continues on.
“ Anyway, if I need to make it more clear to you, you’re free to go now. My assistants made sure to return everything that belonged to you. ”
“ Not everything!,” you blurt out hurriedly “ There was a-”
“ Ah, right.” He pinches his nose in embarassment. “ That box you were found with. Just wait here for me to bring it back.”
He snaps his fingers nad hollers something intelligible to several of the assistants in the hallway. Scurrying back through the doors, it takes only a few seconds before they come rushing back through,the same square package you nearly sacrificed your life for carried by several of them. The pharmacist takes it from their hands, nodding his head in thanks, and then, looks at it with admiration that makes your stomach turn.
“ Here we go. Strange little thing. Haven’t seen Wal-Tech like that since my 42nd Christmas Sale.”
“ Wal-Tech?”
“ Mhm.” He turns the box around and taps a side where strange blocks of white and black assembled into a square have been stamped on. “ Those hieroglyphs for one. I’ve only seen these on rare artifacts and the like. I can’t make head or tails of them but if you find…….Well, I’ve intruded enough in your affairs as I have already.”
He then places the package onto the bed, frame creaking under its weight, before looking at you.
“ So, where will you go now, Samurai?”
Your mind wanders briefly about your plan.
[X] - Stick with your original plan. Go back to the Stationary Shogunate and give the package to your clan elders.
[X] - Seek help from another more technologically advanced Department more familiar with the intricacies of Wal-Tech to learn about the package.
[X] - Get rid of the damn thing and find a way to destroy it. It’s caused more than enough trouble as it has.
As you decide on your plan, you turn your eyes to the Pharmacist and decide what to tell him.
[X] - Let him in on your plan.
[X] - Ask him if he can help identify the package. (Optional)
[X] - Lie.
[X] - Kill him. No one can know about this package except you.
“ Sorry,” The boy trembles as he notices the frown on your face, aghast with shame. “ If I could, I - “
“ No need for apologies.” You wave your hand nonchalantly, even trying to put up a smile to reassure the boy, though it shakes. “ You saved my life. What could be more important than that?”
Your confident expression then falls dour as your eyes stare at the tattered, shredded remains of paper in your hands. You barely hear the door opening and closing, your eyes blurry and wet as your heart pounds. Centuries of history and craftsmanship undone by your own actions. The success of your journey to the Bargain Bin is now tarnished by the loss of your paper mantle.
Did bringing the package back to your clan really matter?
Your head jolts up in realisation. You were an idiot, how could you forget about the package?
As if answering your question, the door opened and the same man who you woke to, half-blind and injured, strides in. His cheeks grow a dull red as frustration scrunches up his white brow.
“ You shouldn’t be up.” Now at your side, he tries to gently ease you back into your bed. “ It takes more than a few days to heal your broken ribs, and we don’t even known whether or not there’s any complications- “
You slap his hand away and speak curtly. “ I feel well. Thank you.” Your ribs swell in pain with each word you say. Your next words come out a little more drily. “ Who are you and why did you help me?”
“ I go by many names but for now, I would prefer to just be known as a simple Pharmacist.“ He rubs his right hand as though it aches, staring “ As for why I sheltered your broken corpse away from the Smilers, would you believe me if I said it was out of the goodness of my heart?”
You don’t reply back and just merely glare at him. The Pharmacist takes a good long look at you, leaning close enough that you can see the flecks of white in his black eye. He then shakes his head sadly.
“ No, you’re far too cynical for that. Your eyes look as though you’ve been forced to sleep your entire life. I wonder what happened to you at such a young age...”
You hate the pity. Fists tightened, you sigh at this noble charade he was putting on.
“ What do I owe you?”
He looks at you as though you’ve claimed to have found the Gates of Sliding. His chest heaves in silent laughter before he replies.
“ Nothing. Everything’s over the counter.”
“ You must be a fool to think that I’m that naive.”
“ And you must be a pessimist to see the worse in what I say.”
Your eyebrows arches in disbelief. “ What? Am I just supposed to believe that I walk out of here with no debts?” The notion of charity in a locale such as this is enough to make you sputter. “ I- I - is this some Dorfen joke I’m not getting?”
“ Like I said before, everything’s over the counter.”
Alright, enough’s enough. In a blink of an eye, you pull out Ivory Crane from its scabbard and stop a hair’s length away from turning the pharmacist’s beard into a carpet.
“ Say that phrase again and I will gut you like a sea monkey from head to toe.” You punctuate each word with growing impatience. “ What does it even mean?”
“ An old saying from my Department.” The pharmacist looked at the sword as if it was an errant cockroach and pressed it down with a finger. “ It means no prescriptions on part of the patient, no questions asked and privacy observed. Well, until some members reinterpreted that as having the liberty to experiment on any aisler desperate enough to come to them. I didn’t agree with them and they didn’t agree with me. At least, they allowed me to leave with my dignity. ”
A sliver of regret flashed over his face, mouth curling downwards like a creased corner before smiling yet again, this time with less levity. He clears his throat and continues on.
“ Anyway, if I need to make it more clear to you, you’re free to go now. My assistants made sure to return everything that belonged to you. ”
“ Not everything!,” you blurt out hurriedly “ There was a-”
“ Ah, right.” He pinches his nose in embarassment. “ That box you were found with. Just wait here for me to bring it back.”
He snaps his fingers nad hollers something intelligible to several of the assistants in the hallway. Scurrying back through the doors, it takes only a few seconds before they come rushing back through,the same square package you nearly sacrificed your life for carried by several of them. The pharmacist takes it from their hands, nodding his head in thanks, and then, looks at it with admiration that makes your stomach turn.
“ Here we go. Strange little thing. Haven’t seen Wal-Tech like that since my 42nd Christmas Sale.”
“ Wal-Tech?”
“ Mhm.” He turns the box around and taps a side where strange blocks of white and black assembled into a square have been stamped on. “ Those hieroglyphs for one. I’ve only seen these on rare artifacts and the like. I can’t make head or tails of them but if you find…….Well, I’ve intruded enough in your affairs as I have already.”
He then places the package onto the bed, frame creaking under its weight, before looking at you.
“ So, where will you go now, Samurai?”
Your mind wanders briefly about your plan.
[X] - Stick with your original plan. Go back to the Stationary Shogunate and give the package to your clan elders.
[X] - Seek help from another more technologically advanced Department more familiar with the intricacies of Wal-Tech to learn about the package.
[X] - Get rid of the damn thing and find a way to destroy it. It’s caused more than enough trouble as it has.
As you decide on your plan, you turn your eyes to the Pharmacist and decide what to tell him.
[X] - Let him in on your plan.
[X] - Ask him if he can help identify the package. (Optional)
[X] - Lie.
[X] - Kill him. No one can know about this package except you.
