by Pash'nar on May 25th, 2012, 8:25 pm
So, I've kind of been agonizing about employment for Pash. Like, a lot. It's mostly in my head but a select few of you (a founder included) have had to put up with my whining. You know, because some of you people have jobs for your characters that are easily definable and put into Storyteller Secrets very nicely. Monty is a blower of ... glass. Yes. Nira and Eru are those nice kind of Konti that dress up in hot nurse outfits and bandage you up when you're bleeding all over the place. Vic & Seven have a tavern and each other and may eventually have Alvadas in their pockets if that's what they put their minds together to do. Sariana looks really good on a horse in minimal clothing and is good with sharp objects. Tock makes amazing things with magic and stuff, but is also a student. Eri claims to be a simple sort of guy who likes magic, but we all know he's a crazy dude underneath the calm exterior. There are people I'm forgetting in my list of awesomeness, but you get the picture. I am good at rambling, so let's just stop there ... yes. You have jobs. Huzzah!
Maybe the reason I haven't received any responses to my PMs about employment ideas is that they just haven't really fit with my character yet. DS busy-ness has given me time to reflect on what exactly I want to be doing IC.
Besides more of the same.
This has kind of led me to lay around on the couch or go off on bunny trails in the shower or stare out the window when driving places (okay, hubby is driving while I'm daydreaming, don't panic), and consider WTF Pash'nar has been up to for the past 116 years to not starve and have a decent boat and own some things. I mean, really. What has he been doing? He certainly hasn't been pimping himself out for coins—as far as I know. He may not be telling me everything ...... Ahem.
Anyway, in my mind, Pash was first and foremost into the stars. I skilled him out to be a navigator and a cartographer, so most of my past imaginations of his life pre-creation has been as a hired hand on a ship for a season or possibly two, navigating long trips and drawing charts'n'maps of things. Somehow along the way (I actually have some of a story for this in my head ripe for a flashback), he inherited/purchased/was gifted his old casinor, but he's okay leaving it docked somewhere while hired out on a larger vessel or bringing it along to scout and navigate with if that's a possibility, too. I wouldn't mind continuing to do more of the same, expanding on that somehow (HOW? I have no idea).
Which leads me to the employment I have been considering since creation, which was suggested by Trident IIRC and that was starting a trade route from Alvadas to Syliras and possibly including Riverfall. However, it's also been pointed out by area DSes that the whole djed storm really wiped out trade (and docks and ships and such), devastating economies for the season and beyond. Gossamer was kind enough to also point out that PC-run businesses to interact with and form trade connections with in those three cities are slim to completely absent, which would make managing what goods are ferried by casinor across the Suvan a difficult thing to determine. So, at the moment, it's not really a good plan A. However, Gossamer was also awesome enough to offer some ideas starting in Riverfall, so I'm happy to consider that.
Is running a trade route something Pash would end up doing?
I'm stuck there. Maybe. I'm trying to decide if he'd rather ferry goods (mostly inanimate objects that won't strike up random conversations on a 10+ day journey) or people (animate, talking things that could possibly be interesting or annoying or attractive on a 10+ day journey). Both appeal to me. So, the ferrying of people and goods seems like a fun niche to fill (let's play 6 degrees of Pash, people! it's a fun game), and it still gives me a chance to work on his navigating/cartography skills while cruising around the Suvan with junk in his boat for cash.
So, I like this idea. Do I want to call it a trade route? Maybe not. Does Pash want an empire of trade? No. He just wants food and random stuff and to fix any holes in his boat. Sometimes he wants to get drunk or go whoring or gamble a bit. Sometimes, he wouldn't mind something nice for himself. But wealthy? No, time is too vast for him, I think, to want to accumulate too much stuff.
Did I just solve my own problem?
I'm not sure. I'm stuck envisioning a Suvan version of Drive, to be honest. (Wait, I just got distracted thinking about that Gosling fella ... mmmm ... stoic. Okay, back again. What was I saying?) Yeah. So, that's what I see in my head: "I'll sail you and/or your stuff with no questions asked from point A to point B for whatever coins you have in your pocket. It will be fast and quiet." Legality is not really an issue for Pash, either, in my opinion, though I don't think he'll get into the slave trade business any time soon. He may draw a line there, or he may occasionally get himself in trouble drawing lines when things don't go his way. This would make for good stories.
Is this a possibility?
Thoughts? Suggestions? Cookies?