LupusIntus

A New Day; Cozy Fantasy Village Life

--- Center of Town ---

Rinn Arniman

Interactions: @xaltwind

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Rinn simply sighed as pickaxe-girl scampered off without so much as a word, leaving him to slowly rise and dust off his vibrant blue and white shirt in front of the freshly ruined smithy. In the sunlight, he could see the book clutched in his hands was nearing complete destruction, but with a little care he was able to peel open the cover and scan the first few rotted pages. It was a diary, that much was plain, but little else could be learned from the small, carefully-written words. Pushing the barrel with a foot, he read as he walked towards the town center.

"-harvest was good, at least according to Fredrick. He's been known to exaggerate-... -fifteen iron nails for Mr. Ludwig's new chicken coop-... -met with Simone last night. She was stunning in the moonlight as we lay beneath the willow tree and I took her hand and-" The bard's cheek's flushed as he quickly turned a few more pages of personal musings and private thoughts, not wanting to violate the privacy of whoever had left this account more than was necessary. Buying Bread. Fishing in the southern cove. Foraging for berries. The trivialities and mundane tasks of life were documented on the crumbling pages and for all Rinn could tell things were going well for the village...

Until they weren't.

The final few pages with writting were much more segmented than the flow-of-thought style of the early pages. "The offering didn't work. The Goddess is clearly still displeased. Mr. Ludwig says the village will fail by end of season. Not sure what else can be done but we must find a way." The barrel clunked against the side of the well as Rinn read the final words with a bit of a twist in his stomach. This was certainly not the sort of omen he wanted to find on his first day. He sat heavily upon the wooden barrel, one leg crossed over the other, while rubbing his chin in thought. The 'Goddess'...? A local diety? The bard wasn't exactly the most spiritual person but he knew enough tales about angered gods, curses and plagues and the like, to know it was something he'd rather avoid. Rinn hadn't recalled seeing any shrines around town but he hadn't exactly been looking. He'd have to ask pickaxe-girl when she returned.

A New Day; Cozy Fantasy Village Life

Getting my post up today!

A New Day; Cozy Fantasy Village Life

Well... At least Rinn can avoid taking responsability when Akitsugu returns. Can just claim that nobody was in the area when it all happened~

And no, the medallion isn't actually cursed. :P
... But the pedestal is! >:D

@Xaltwind

Rinn like-

A New Day; Cozy Fantasy Village Life

--- Eastern Part of Town ---

Rinn Arniman

Interactions: @xaltwind, @ERode

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Rinn let out a sighed chuckle as his handkerchief was refused and he tucked the article back into his pocket. He watched the strange treasure hunter for a few minutes as she practically rolled through the dirtiest corners she could find in her search for... anything? She was certainly a strange one, though he couldn't fault her enthusiasm for the task. As she crashed her way through yet another derelict shop, Rinn occupied himself by looking further around the forge. As with the other locals, not one hint of what might have happened to the previous residents remained with broken dishware and rusted tools still in their cabinets and drawers. He carefully inspected what remained with a layman's eye but was no closer to unraveling the mystery when he spotted the wooden pedestal tucked away in one corner of the room, half obscured by a ragged sheet.

Pulling it away he coughed and waved a hand against the dust cloud he had generated but as it cleared he let out a thoughtful hum. The piece was rather brilliantly crafted, with delicate engravings hand carved along its wooden length. His finger traced the odd symbol on its face but there was no indication of what might have once been displayed. It must have been something rather marvelous to outshine the pedestal itself.

After carefully placing the pedestal just outside the front door, he made a mental note to retrieve it later as it seemed a worthy place to display his vielle, Rinn walked around the proper home attached to the smithy. It was a simple residence, or had once been before dereliction, but now wind whistled through the wall's many holes and cracks and a better portion of the roof had completely collapsed. There was little to see and Pickaxe-Girl had indicated nothing left to scavange, but Rinn still busied himself with a careful walk along the rotted floor boards. He came upon a bookcase in an old bedroom, stripped but for a hand full of volumes that simply crumbled to ash when he tried to pick them up. He could not even identify their titles, let alone what knowledge they might have once contained. Though he had never been a book worm, it made him a little sad to think someone had once cherrished the books yet had chosen, or been forced, to leave them behind.

So lost in thought he was that Rinn couldn't help but start at the sudden gleeful shout of triumph from next door as Pickaxe-Girl found something of note. His sudden step back landed square on a particularly weak board and as it cracked he pitched sideways with a yelp of surprise. One hand instinctively grabbed the bookshelf for support but that too simply splintered apart at his sudden application of weight. Rinn went down hard as the bookshelf toppled though he managed to twist himself out of the way of the solid wood furniture piece as it crashed into the floor and broke apart.

The bard lay on the floor coughing for a moment, suddenly worried such a disturbance might bring the rest of the house down around him but after a few heartbeats it seemed things had settled. He sat up with a groan, rubbing his now-bruised shoulder, but spotted something that had been concealed beneath the bookshelf. Unlike the other books he had found, this leather-bound tome didnt immediately fall apart as he picked it up off the floor. An ominous creak from above gave him all the warning he needed to quickly struggle to his feet and make his way out the door and back out into the street. Pickaxe-Girl was walking towards him from up the road, looking just as dishelved as he though her face sported a triumphant grin. "I take it you found something more interesting than a barrel, my lady?" He coughed again, clutching the book at his side as the entire roof of the smithy suddenly collapsed inward with a thunderous crash.

A New Day; Cozy Fantasy Village Life

@ERode

Well, in addition to the old blacksmith's house and the tools and stuff there-within, which Akitsugu already found when he arrived in town but didn't tella nyone about...

McNugget can find the following things:

- An old empty wooden water barrel
- Several broken, cracked or chipped dull, old brown clay plates, covered and caked in dust (Not really usable...)
- A really fancy display pedestal, made from laquered wood, with ornate engravings and carvings. Standing alone in a dark corner of a building. Oddly not dusty or weatherworn. Has an odd symbol on the display-surface on top of it carved in.
- A small, ratty, dirty rug/mat
- A semi-intact kitchen drawer with some pewter eating utensils, two of each spoon, fork and knife
- An old, leather-bound book, underneath an old, crumbled bookcase (rare loot)
- A four-pointed silver star medallion, with a silver string/chain. (Very rare loot). Located on top of a ceiling beam in one of the buildings

@Xaltwind

How large is the pedestal? Any indication of what type of item it might have displayed? (books, weapons, jewelry, ect ect)

I do have my eyes on the prize (four pointed silver star medallion) so I'll probs post again after Lupus responds.

But forge successfully robbed!

@ERode

Done and done!

A New Day; Cozy Fantasy Village Life

--- Eastern Part of Town ---

Rinn Arniman

Interactions: @xaltwind, @ERode

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"A lady of few words... She'll fit right in." Rinn muttered, bemused as he watched the girl practically spring from one structure to the next. He walked calmly down the street as she crashed her way through yet another splintered door, his eyes tracing sagging gables, darkened doorframes, and crumbling walls. This had once been a thriving settlement, by his estimation, for the sheer number of large workshops spoke of a demanding populace. And yet, not one hint of recent occupation remained and all the buildings were in the same decaying state. There were no noticable signs of conflict or attack or starvation or plague.

It's as if every citizen just decided one day to pack up and leave.

He took up to humming a quiet tune, Love Lost in Landover, about a farmer who leaves his land chasing a wandering maid who ends up being a goddess of wind and fortune. Though not exactly a somber song, it ends with the man realizing he'll never settle again because such a goddess cannot be tied down: her direction is too fickle and bound to change at a moment's notice.

Rinn finally strolled over to what once might have been a large smithy as the pickaxe-girl climbed out of a large, solid-wood barrel. With a small grimace, he casually flicked a large spider off her shoulder before inspecting the sides of the barrel, running one finger around the iron-wrapped rim. He grimaced again at the thick layer of dust before pulling out a well-dirtied handkerchief which he used to grab the barrel and tip it onto its side. The bard was not particularly averse to filth, like so many nobles he had known, but he certainly wasn't as comfortable in it as this strange explorer. "You've got some dirt... well... everywhere." He said, offering the cloth to her with a faint smirk before using a booted foot to roll the barrel into the street.

Umbra Rose Condos

I apologize for my absence, @dragonydas. Had a big cross-country move dominate most of my life the past month and didnt pull the motivation towards keeping up with the story here. Not dead, not gone, just distracted. Will read up and try to get Max going again tonight/tomorrow!

A New Day; Cozy Fantasy Village Life

@ERode
I'll be fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine~
Im the protagonist, after all. Got that sweet, sweet plot armor.

*Contiues to brag and raise Death Flags*

@Zeroth

Imagening Akitsugu as a baby monkey was quite fun. Especially when I pullec up a pic of Shantae's monkey form and imagined that, but with red fur instead. xD

But yes, Aki is displaced at the moment, until Dragonydas and Remram catch up with his action so far.

Speaking of...

Paging:

@Lupusintus, @CitrusArms, @Remram, @Dragonydas and @BunniesOfDoom.

Are any of you going to post today, or tomorrow? If so, I can hold off on my own GM post. But otherwise, I'll have to issue a warning to each of you, since none of you have contacted me via PM, or mentioned in the OOC, that you've been unable to post. That is, unless you post in like.... The next 5 hours from this post going up.

@Xaltwind

I HAS POSTED

I HAS ALSO FINISHED MOVING ACROSS COUNTRY (and should thus be more prompt with future replies)

HUZZAH

A New Day; Cozy Fantasy Village Life

--- Center of Town ---

Rinn Arniman

Interactions: @xaltwind, @ERode

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TRIGGER WARNING - Parental abuse in the second paragraph.

"I can... assure you... m'lady..." Rinn panted through the bitter ache in joints he didnt even know he had. "My stamina... is far better suited... for other tasks." He might have even put a wink on the statement if he wasn't too tired to blink. When the rather fiery wife departed and the oxen husband stepped outside, the foppish bard let out a long, agonized groan while the wooden table left deep (and rather comical) furrows in his forehead. For the briefest moment, in the near-ruins of a long forgotten home, the charade slipped and Rinn was forced to wonder what the hell he was doing here at the edge of the world surrounded by a rag-tag bunch of strangers and outcasts. He wasn't a settler, certainly not a homesteader, yet his blasted feet had brought him all this way for... something?

"Your mother and I have given you EVERYTHING, you ungrateful worm!" Spittle flew from his fathers mouth as he struck him again, the ornate ring on his hand leaving a bloody gash on the side of the boy's face. "We ask only that you REPAY our kindness by marrying the youngest De'Torant and yet you have the AUDACITY to balk at such fortune!" Rinn looked up at his father from where he lay sprawled on the wooden floor. These had been the most words his father had spoken to him in neary 5 years yet the sheer magnitude of contempt in that cold gaze still managed to cut something deep inside. "You will do as I say or I will see you in the gutter by sundown, mark my words boy." For a moment, Rinn thought he might be struck again but his father simply turned back to the desk and waved a dismissive hand. "Now you will thank me for dedicating such efforts to you and then... you will get out of my sight."

Rinn replayed the memory for the umpteeth time, one delicate hand tracing the cheek where the wound had been. In his mind's eye he tried out a new reply, this time a string of colorful curses that exposed his father for the hypocrite that he was while drawing a rather apt comparison to the rear end of a boar. It was, of course, just a hollow fantasy as the words 'Thank you, father' still burned on his lips all these weeks later.

The couple swept back into the room and Rinn folded the memory back into the recesses of his mind. The box of dishware was safe and sound and a surely terrifying Sheryl had been narrowly avoided by the cowed husband whose honest and timid smile somehow made him even more attractive in comparison to his massive frame. A third individual nearly sprinted past, a human girl who appeared to be a few years younger than he was, and Rinn summoned what little energy he had and forced himself to only slightly-shaking feet. His brilliant smile betrayed not the hint of weariness or distress as he slung the vielle over his shoulder. "Your hospitality has been a ray of sunlight on a dreary day, but I'm afraid I simply must step out and stretch these aching muscles!" He walked quickly to the door and was out, taking only a moment to close his eyes and feel the sunlight on his face before speeding after the girl who was already several meters ahead. He came up beside her, narrowly ducking beneath the swinging pickaxe head as she seemed to observe the nearby structures. "Have you, by chance, found any clues as to what happened to the... previous residents of this fine village?"

A New Day; Cozy Fantasy Village Life

--- Center of Town ---

Rinn Arniman

Interactions: @xaltwind, @BunniesOfDoom

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Rinn's legs shook with each blow from the hand as he was forced slightly lower with each clap, though he somehow maintained his friendly smile while his teeth rattled in his skull. "O-of course, good ser." He finally managed to squeak as Daryl wrapped him around the shoulders and practically carried him outside like he had the barrel of tools just minutes ago. "Y-You're lovely wife-" the bard said as Daryl set him down and began pulling things from the cart bed seemingly at random. "How- *oof* -did you- *uff* -meet?" The 'small' bags were piled into his arms like he was a packhorse and it took all his strength and will just to make his words intelligable as he turned and began inching back towards the house. "Quite... a ways... to go... for a home?"

Despite Rinn's fopish appearance, he was in relatively good shape but just two trips with Daryl had him dripping sweat and breathing heavily. Not a drop of sweat stained the other man's head, however, even after carrying the brunt of the materials and his delightfully cheery attitude never wavered. Sharyl, for her credit, never ceased in her own work and every time Rinn came back into the house another blanket was well on its way to completion.

On the fifth trip, just before Rinn's body gave out to exhaustion, he was finally allowed to fall into an old chair that thankfully held despite creaking ominously. He slumped forward onto the table, his sweat-covered cheek picking up more than a little dust, though he was too tired to care. Within an instant Sheryl had a cup of tea set before him. "Thank... you..." Was all he managed to choke out.