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

[assembles]

Well, if I get a button for my trouble, then I'm going to have to swing by and help.

[ He's pretty sure all three of them know him well enough to realize that this is a Joke. ]

This is a great idea, you three. Thanks for doing all the hard work with figuring out the logistics.

[godshattering]

It's the least we can do after everything. Hopefully it'll help make the Path be in a little better shape even if it takes some more time for everything planted to flourish, but I think with your help to move everything out there we'll be in great shape.

[ Teamwork!! ]

[assembles]

Yeah, this sort of thing doesn't happen overnight, but I bet the people who make use of that path will really appreciate it.

It wasn't your fault that you were attacked there, but I also get wanting to make things right. There used to be way more property damage than we could keep up with back home, when things ramped up.

[godshattering]

I'm hoping so. From what I heard it was rather beautiful before... well, everything. If we can help it get back to even a fraction of what it was that'll be a good start.

[ The last part gives him some pause, though, and there's a couple seconds where Claude considers it and the outlines of what Steve's told him in other conversations before he responds. ]

This is the sort of thing you've also dealt with at home, then?

[assembles]

Yeah. I think we've already seen how hardy the people of Libertas can be. This is a drop in the bucket, really. But making the effort is important.

[ He can't blame Claude for being curious, based on his previous words. Steve doesn't really mind talking about it either. ]

Sort of. I mean, a dragon was actually a first, but having to protect a city from an army of monsters or aliens or robots was a fairly common event for us.
Our team, that is.

[godshattering]

You're certainly not wrong about that. I'm hoping the effort will go a long way towards the restoration.

And - wait a minute. Fairly common?

[ That takes him a minute to process since Steve's rattled that off as casual as anything, and even after dealing with the Agarthans - Claude's surprised. ]

When you say common, how often exactly were any of those showing up for you?

[assembles]

Large-scale, city-level threats? Every couple of years, I'd say. But then there were the lower level bad guys who we didn't need to rally the whole team together to fight.

[godshattering]

[ If there was a long pause before, there's a longer one now. ]

Wait. I think I need you to define city level threats first before I ask my other approximately 34 follow up questions since we might have... differing scales there.

[ ???? ]

[assembles]

Yeah, we probably do. Although if you're going to ask 34 questions, we might want to do this in person.

[ It just seems easier than thinking back and forth. ]

Are you asking about population? Well, our first big battle was in New York, which has a population of about 8 million.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘔𝘳. 𝘗𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘺! 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘈 𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘩? 𝘈 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯? 𝘖𝘩, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥!

[ Or something equally stupid and embarrassing? ]

[assembles]

Wait, I said I wanted the button—

[theidlemaiden]

𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯? 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴.

[assembles]

I think I'm good with just the button. You could give the crown and sash to Sam, though. He deserves it, with all the help he's given you guys.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵, "#1 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘬 𝘑𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘺"? 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘖𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦, "𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰"?

[assembles]

Oh man, he's gonna love that.

[ Read: the opposite of that, actually. ]

Paperwork Hero has a nice ring to it, I think.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴!

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘰.

[assembles]

Sure thing. Though you're the one who came up with it, I just gave my seal of approval.

[ Did she think he would balk? No, he's ready to give Sam a hard time at any opportunity. ]

[philancer]

It's only fair, I think, that we help clean up our mess, considering. The dragon sure isn't gonna be of much assistance here.

But I was hoping you'd show up. It will give them someone else to ogle for a while.

[assembles]

Not everyone would bother to do it, though, so don't sell yourself short.

[ But then Sylvain's next statement is... an interesting one. Steve would like to say it takes him by surprise, but he's started to get used to this. ]

And just who do you mean when you say "them"?

[philancer]

Whoever Hilda recruits for her ogling party, probably.

[ Hell, if Jesper has his say, Sylvain might be among them.

Fair warning, Steve. ]

[assembles]

I should have guessed she'd be the one spearheading this.

[philancer]

It's a convenient excuse for her to avoid getting dirty. Or sweaty.

[assembles]

Right. By the way, do you have any tips for how to get her to do something she doesn't really want to do? I had her on a good schedule before the dragon attack, but now...

[ Well, it's harder to guilt her back into their training schedule after she got injured. ]

[philancer]

Ha. If you figure out a working method, please feel free to share. Hilda's hard to budge when she doesn't want to do something. Bribery works sometimes, though. But it's gotta be a really good bribe.

[assembles]

Bribery, huh. And what would she consider a really good bribe, do you think?