to: the free cities

[godshattering]

𝘞𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘢𝘨’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩? 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵-𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘦, 𝘚𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘹𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.-- 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

I’m not sure they have a name for the aftermath of a dragon having a bbq, Hilda. But that’s probably close enough. I know the Inn renovations have been keeping a lot of us busy, but the devastation from the aftermath of the monster attacks left a lot of places either completely destroyed or close to it.

The Red Path was important for a lot of reasons to the natives here and if they want to get some vegetation and seedlings replanted there so it’s not a wasteland come spring. That means we’re a little limited on time to get things transferred and planted before winter officially hits. At least what the desert calls winter, anyway...

Anyway indeed and before we get too far into Sylvain’s thoughts on the weather - we’ve come up with an idea on what to do. It involved a little fundraising and some talking here and there, but we’ve found those willing to donate funds to purchase some supplies to make this happen or the supplies themselves from merchants around Cadens. Some of the soil we brought back from the Nether will also be going to good use here in hopes of making sure everything planted does as well as it can, and hopefully it’ll be good as new soon. Or, well, as close to it as we can get, considering.

While we’ll be out there working on this regardless, we wanted to extend the invitation to anyone else who might be willing to join in. It shouldn’t take up too much of your time, and any help would be greatly appreciated to help the Red Path recover a little quicker. Promise there’s also a round of drinks back at the Sarstina for anyone who stops by.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦!

( ooc: Similar to the repair efforts of Libertas, feel free to use the above as a backdrop for whatever your characters might get up to the rest of the month! )

Comments

[recklessenough]

[ He doesn't know any of these people, or what exactly this Red Path entails, but Lockwood is using just about any excuse he can find to avoid sitting and dwelling over the execution. ]

Relatively new I'm afraid, so I cannot contribute any monetary funds, but I have two good hands and an able body ready to lift and carry if nothing else.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘢 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

[recklessenough]

A pleasure to meet you, Hilda, and it is my pleasure to help preserve your manicure.

Anthony Lockwood, please call me Lockwood. Can you tell me where I should report? I'm afraid I arrived only to immediately end up in the Nether, so I'm still trying to learn my way around.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥.

𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯!

[recklessenough]

I would not say no to a tour guide. I didn't have much of an opportunity to get my bearings before we all ended up in the 'Nether'. [ Something he's still trying to get his head around. ]

Trying to get my feet under me, so to speak, in hopes of not as overwhelmed the next time. I expect that knowing more about where I live is a good place to start.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘦𝘴, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵.

[recklessenough]

Start with what I know. That will be a short list. When I arrived, I was assigned to the Barracks. Then we went almost immediately to the Nether. Most recently I have respectfully resigned my position with the military, moved out of the barracks and have taken up residence at the Inn.

[ No need to discuss the why he walked away from the Free Cities government, yeah? Also that really does encapsulate his movements. He hasn't done nearly the amount of exploring that one might expect. There hasn't been time.

[theidlemaiden]

[ He really doesn't have to explain why he resigned. The corpse swinging in the city is enough of an explanation. ]

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴? 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦.

[ Because what's a city tour without learning what else the city has to offer? ]

[recklessenough]

I am a bit of a walking stereotype; I adore a good tea and the sweeter the snacks, the better.

[ He's an old soul in a lot of ways, but when it comes to diet he has a teenager's ability to live on sugar. ]

[philancer]

To be honest, I'm pretty sure we need the hands and bodies more than the funds at this point, so we'll be happy for any help we can get.

I'm Sylvain, new guy. I'd say welcome to Cadens, but this.... is probably a terrible welcome party. Sorry?

[recklessenough]

It's a pleasure to meet you, Sylvain. Please, call me Lockwood.

As welcome parties go it's a step up from the past few days. [ No need to elaborate, he hopes at least. ] I'm happy to be able to help.

[philancer]

Well, you have a point. I guess restoring a dragon-devastated swath of land is a big step up in comparison...

Man, we really need to work on our parties around here.

[recklessenough]

Restoring a dragon-devastated swath of land is a step up on most of the parties people have back 'home'. At least we're not locking ourselves behind iron doors and dancing the night away while spirits swarm outside, wanting to kill us?

[ Restoration party, involving manual labor, is sounding better and better. ]

[philancer]

[ ... ]

That seems like a pretty inefficient way of dealing with murderous spirits, yeah.

[recklessenough]

[ Lockwood starts to type of an explanation. When he's about a quarter of the way done, he stops and reads what he's written and then erases the lot of it. It's too much to dump on someone you've just met. ]

Over all, the opportunity to rebuild something like this 'Red Path' is a much better prospect.

Do we know why it's called the Red Path?

[philancer]

It's very red?

[ Somewhere he is shrugging because he doesn't have the first clue, but that would be his first guess. ]

They don't have the most creative naming systems around here. I hope they just mean the rocks and sand, though, and not that a lot of people got slaughtered there once.

[ Or maybe that's just how Faerghus names things... ]

[recklessenough]

That would be unfortunate. [ Though after the way they executed Wain ... ] In my experience, oddly enough the places where mass deaths occur are usually called 'greens'.

Regardless. Let's just hope our efforts bring some positive changes to this Red Path.

[godshattering]

Don't worry about the funds part, we've got that covered. Any help you can offer with the planting will be more than appreciated and make the job go a little faster, or so I'm hoping. I'm Claude, by the way. How long since you got here?

[recklessenough]

It is a pleasure to meet you, Claude. I'm Anthony Lockwood, answer readily to Lockwood.

I arrived very shortly before we all went to the 'Nether', I believe it was called?

[godshattering]

Good to meet you, Lockwood, both now and for when we're out there for this.

The Nether it is, and so that's very recent. Is your home world anything like the one here or were you as baffled by various things as I was way back when I first arrived?

[recklessenough]

My home world has it's fair share of the inexplicable, but I think we'd best just say that I've been feeling quite baffled since I first arrived.

I don't suppose there is a primer I could pick up at the local library? Or ... a local library?

[ George would have fainted dead away had he heard Lockwood actually ask after anything resembling research. ]

[godshattering]

If it helps any - though admittedly this might just be a little bit of reassurance - that's a relatable feeling. I promise it does get better with time as you settle in and you're definitely not alone there.

And no primers that I know of aside from the other Summoned here, but I can point you towards all of the libraries here after spending several hours in them myself. That or the museums since those are worth a trip or two all in themselves.

[recklessenough]

I appreciate the encouragement. [ It may be hard to convey that appreciation across text, but it is genuine. ]

I'd appreciate being pointed towards both, and any other tips you might have on the best ways to go about settling in?

[godshattering]

Of course. We've all been there, so if you have any questions always feel free to ask away since someone's bound to know the answer or know someone else who does. And as for settling in, back when I arrived I spent a lot of time walking everywhere. To the libraries, to the museums, around the markets - it felt like a good way to observe everything I could in between research, and I made a few friends with the merchants that way. Same for helping out Mag with the jobs she offered.

Mind if I ask what you did back home? If there's a chance I can offer something more specific, I'd be glad to.

[recklessenough]

[ It is encouraging to hear that his instincts, getting out and helping Mags, offering labor to local merchants and other business owners, was a good route to take in order to establish himself. Now, he just needs to expand his social connections among other Summoned. ]

I don't mind you asking, but I'm not sure if my answer will make much sense. I'm an agent battling against the infestation of deadly ghosts; we call them Visitors. I own and operate my own agency, along with my friends Lucy and George.