Solo [Job Thread] Running Errands

Being the errand boy can have its downsides...

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Built into the cliffs overlooking the Suvan Sea, Riverfall resides on the edge of grasslands of Cyphrus where the Bluevein River plunges off the plain and cascades down to the inland sea below. Home of the Akalak, Riverfall is a self-supporting city populated by devoted warriors. [Riverfall Codex]

[Job Thread] Running Errands

Postby Stefan on January 20th, 2014, 7:07 pm

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41th of Winter, 513 AV.
8th Bell, 20th Chime.


“And here they are...” Stefan said to himself, whipping the sweat from his brown, while he contemplated ten crates full of bottles of wine that he had left along the bartender’s area.

After stretching his back, he pulled a note from his pocket; an errand checklist from Silka that Kiki delivered to Stefan. There were a lot of errands, and Stefan just completed the first one: bring some wine boxes from the Bluevein Winery to the Velvet Curtain. Fortunately, some Akalak bouncers helped him, probably for pity, and that would be a good guess, because while Stefan could barely carry one box, the bouncers could carry two or three at the same time without much problem, not to mention that Stefan could become lost in the city.

With a quill, he marked the first errand of the list, but there were many others... and all must be finished by the end of the day, just as Kiki said. Right now, Stefan couldn’t do anything more that lament the fact that he offered to do anything they would ask him. He was a musician, after all, and not a strong one for that matter, but at that point, he didn’t have any other choice. At least, if his friend Kiki was to be trusted, Silka would pay him well once he finished...

“Let’s see...” he murmured, looking at the checklist. “Done... clean the curtains and arrange the chairs. Of course.” Cursing under his breath, Stefan put away the list in his pocket and went to do the easiest thing: arrange the chairs. Fortunately, he didn’t have to clean and polish them, as that was done earlier that day by someone in that line of job. Still, they needed to be arranged properly. Evidently, the sensation of privacy was one of the most important things in the area, so the chairs had to be arranged in a specific way.

The chairs were already in the entrance, polished, completely clean, and even the cushions at the seats looked like new. Taking air deeply, Stefan managed to lift one of the chairs, and while holding his breath, he managed to walk toward one of the tables on the far side, with great effort, leaving it along one of the tables. There was one, and there only were many more left.

“You can give me a hand, you know!” he yelled at the Akalak bouncers near the entrance, who simply laughed and ignored him. It was really amusing to them to see Stefan struggling, evidently.

Anyway, there wasn’t much else to do. After cracking his knuckles and taking air, Stefan went for the second chair. Lifting it and carrying it was as hard as the first one, but Stefan gave up his complains at this point. After five tortuous minutes, the young bard arranged the second chair, trying to catch his breath.

After the fourth chair, his fingers and arms had gone numb. He went to the bartender’s area, poured himself a drink, and sat down for a while. If somebody told him something, he would say something rude, as he could do little more. He had just enough breath to curse all the gods, and their mothers, while he drank the wine.

After he drank quickly three glasses, Stefan was dizzy enough to continue his job. Surely, the bouncers felt pity for their colleagues that weren’t working that day, because the sight of weak, dizzy human carrying chairs from a place to another, tumbling, could cheer the day of anybody. A hour and a half later, all the chairs were arranged properly.

“Perfect...” and with the quill and a trembling hand, he marked that part of the list. “Now I must clean the... curtains.” Rising his head, Stefan could see the enormous velvet curtains that gave the name to the establishment, especially on top of the stage. This time, however, it was not something glamorous.

There are actions that, just by seeing them, you can know are really bad ideas. For examples, using some ropes for balance and cling the curtains was a really, really bad idea.

Meanwhile, the young bard thought to himself that it wasn’t that hard, because it was like walking on the masts of a ship, all while carrying a duster in his hand, and while the bouncers and some prostitutes watched him. Some of them were honestly concerned; others though he was insane, and a few of them could barely contain their laughter.

“Like a mast, like a mast, like a mast...” Stefan repeated to himself under his breath, while he moved, holding himself to the curtain. It was no surprise when he slipped, and screaming loudly, he fell right to the floor, just to be saved by Morgal Trokas, the Akalak bouncer, that managed to catch him. Stefan’s face was, to put it simply, like a poem.

"Stefan." he said casually, as he did with him.

"Morgal." Stefan replied, trying to remain calm.

“You know that you could take off the curtains to clean them, right?” the Akalak said to him, leaving Stefan on the floor, looking at him like if was looking at a small child.

“...Of course I could.” Said Stefan, notably exasperated. This was going to be a long day.
Last edited by Stefan on February 27th, 2014, 7:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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[Job Thread] Running Errands

Postby Stefan on February 19th, 2014, 10:39 pm

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Stefan took a half hour break to sober up and continue with his chores. At least the following where easier to do: clean the stage, and send some sealed letters. The former was really easy, the other was somewhat more unusual, to say at least.

Now, cleaning the stage where the girls danced was no problem at all. Taking a rag and getting on his knees, Stefan sang a shanty that he remembered from some time ago. Without a doubt, that helped him to work, as it gave him a rhythm to work with.

A poor old man came riding by.
And we say so, and we know so.
Oh, poor old man came riding by,
Oh, poor old man.

Says I, "Old man, your horse will die."
And we say so, and we know so.
And if he dies we'll tan his hide.
Oh, poor old man.

And if he don't, I'll ride him again.
And we say so, and we know so.
And I'll ride him 'til the gods knows when,
Oh, poor old man.

He's dead as a nail in the lamp room door,
And we say so, and we know so.
And he won't come worrying us no more
Oh, poor old man.

We'll use the hair of his tail to sew our sails
And we say so, and we know so.
And the iron of his shoes to make deck nails,
Oh, poor old man.

Drop him down with a long long rope
And we say so, and we hope so.
Where the sharks have his body and the Lhex takes his soul!
Oh, poor old man.


Stefan sang under his breath, so only he heard himself and he didn’t bother anybody else. Singing the song really helped him to make the chore less tedious.

Of course, it came the time when he had to clean the dancer’s pole. He snickered, and didn’t have a better idea than to sing a spicier song, with an even lower volume.

When I was apprenticed in Syrlias, I went to see my dear
The candles all were burning, the moon shone bright and clear
I knocked upon her window to ease her out of her pain
She rose up to let me in, then barred the door again

I like well your behavior and this I often say
I cannot rest contented when I am far away
The roads they are so muddy, we cannot walk about
So roll me in your arms, Love, and blow the candles out!

I pray thee speak more softly of what we have to do
Lest that our noise of talking should make our pleasure rue
The streets they are so nigh, Love, the people walk about.
They may peep in and spy, Love, so blow the candles out!


In the end of the song, Stefan whipped the sweat of his brown, having finished cleaning the stage and the dancer’s pole, the latter just requiring some oiling for it to be perfect. He thought, though, that it was odd that the stage was actually clean when he got to work, but orders where orders and he wanted that extra coin, and also he wanted to please Silka. Again, she could convince Stefan to jump off the waterfall is she wanted.

Still, he still thought this was absurd. He was a musician, not a worker, so he would be thankful when he went back behind the stage with his mandolin; only that now, that part was also a little cleaner. That was just a bonus, of course.
Greasing the pole was easy enough, and it took Stefan just a couple of minutes. It was noon when he finished, which was good, considering that the next part of the job was to deliver some letter... in the city. Stefan knew that, without a doubt, he was going to get lost. He always did, and he wasn’t good with maps, either. Still, he only allowed himself to sigh, took his cloak, the three sealed letters, and went to deliver them.

“Morgal...” he said as he exited the premises.

“Stefan...” the bouncer replied back.

Indeed, after a ridiculous short amount of time, he got lost on the cold city.

“This must be a petching joke...” he uttered under his breath. He then looked at the addresses on the letters: one of them was fairly near, the second was at the other side of the Bluevein River, and the last one was near the docks. He would have gone to his house if he hadn’t gotten lost so soon.
Fortunately, Stefan found the first one soon enough. Unsurprisingly, the one addressed to the letter was an Akalak. Stefan knocked at his door, gave him the letter, and the Akalak thanked him without saying almost anything, then closing the door. Quick, easy and simple, this was going well.

Stefan continued to walk towards where he thought was the port, but it was hard to follow the roads, and before he could notice, while going up and down on the city of the Akalaks, he ended up on the other side of the Bluevein River.

“How it is even possible?” he thought, completely baffled. However, at least the sight was pretty, and that was one of the reasons for Stefan to like Riverfall: it didn’t matter if he got lost, he could always have a beautiful view. It was no fun the fact that nobody was trying to rob him or murder him, though; as he believed that these things helped him to get on the edge.

The reaction for letter at the other side of the Bluevein wasn’t really different of the other, beign similar for the human that stayed there, except he actually said “thanks”, and then closed the door. He started to wonder what these letters were about, but it was easy to guess. Still, the curiosity got the better of him, and carefully, with his nail, he unsealed it without breaking the paper.

He looked at the card discretely and snickered. Stefan didn’t knew that one could ask in advance for a girl, and that you could specify what was going to happen, but it was amusing to see nonetheless. To avoid trouble, he put the card inside the envelope and sealed it as best as he could. Hopefully, nobody would notice.

It took him nearly two hours to reach his destination, on the house near the docks, but he finally did, and he delivered the letter. Of course, when he was about to leave, the Akalak called him out...

“You piece of shyke, you opened this!” the Akalak said to him, angrily.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, sir...” he said feigning ignorance as best as he could, but cursing on the inside.

The Akalak’s reply didn’t consist of any word, but with the swing of a knife. Stefan dodged rapidly the knife and started to run as fast as he could on the docks. At least, since the docks was the only part that the young bard knew well, he didn’t got lost there and instead managed to hide behind some fish barrels. The Akalak that pursued him was choleric, but after nearly half an hour, he gave up and returned.

For Stefan, that was incredibly odd. The Akalaks he knew where usually polite and calm, but this one got angry surprisingly easy. There was something weird with the Akalaks, he was sure, but instead of thinking about it, he thanked the fact that he wasn’t killed that day, but smiled nonetheless, because he almost got killed, and that’s what he needed: something exciting like that!
He got up, dusting off his cloak and returned to work. Thankfully, he finished everything before the deadline.
Last edited by Stefan on February 27th, 2014, 7:40 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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[Job Thread] Running Errands

Postby Stefan on February 20th, 2014, 12:25 am

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Stefan arrived at night, exhausted, just in time for the Velvet Curtain open her doors. As usual, the premises where full of men with their pockets full of mizas, looking for some entertainment or a wild night. Just as Stefan readied his mandolin to play, Silka appeared to him, with a wide smile on her face, which gave Stefan a feeling of warmth on the inside.

“Madame, I’m glad to see you, as always...” he said, kissing Silka’s middle, left hand as he always did. She wore her usual gem-encrusted bustier, and this time her hair was of a soft aquamarine colour.

“Stefan, I can say the same, specially today... I see you did the job, and better than expected, may I add.” Truly, she seemed actually impressed.

“Of course Madame, just the better for the girls and the clients, of course.” He said smiling, knowing that he pleased Silka, and that’s what he truly wanted.

“I’m actually impressed, and that’s saying something. You brought all the wine...” she began to say, with Stefan speaking in a lower tone, commenting on everything.

“Well, I actually needed some help for that...”

“Organized the chairs...”

“Oh, that was nothing, Madame.”

“Cleaned everything well enough...”

“Heh, it was really easy, I’m actually used to it.”

“Greased the dancer’s pole...”

He snickered softly “I actually enjoyed that...”

“And delivered the letters...”

“I needed to get out anyway...”

“...And did it all today, even though it wasn’t necessary until tomorrow”
Stefan paused for a moment. On the inside, he cursed with words he knew, didn’t knew, and some of the he made up, insulting everything that existed, currently existed and was going to exist eventually, swearing by the gods that he was going to kill Kiki once he found her.

Of course, on the inside, he just smiled calmly and spoke to his boss “Oh, don’t worry about that, I just wanted to make sure it was well done, as quick as possible.”

“I can see...” Silka said softly, smiling and Stefan, with a gaze in her eyes that had a meaning “You know, my dear, I first thought about paying you with some gold mizas when you’re done, but as you did such a good job... I have a better idea, darling.”

And as the Bells passed, it was clear for Stefan that it was a good reward, but with an unexpected consequence...

A couple of Bells later, a girl approached Silka; she was a human, dressed in light lingerine, but with an embarrassed look on her face.

“My girls, what happened? I thought I left you with the young Stefan... don’t tell me he finished already...” she said somewhat concerned.

“Is not that, Madame... it began well enough, but almost immediately... he fell asleep, just like that.”

Silka watched her in disbelief, rubbing the bridge of her nose and murmuring some curses in Arumenic under his breath. Finally, she spoke again. “I see..-when he wakes up, just tell him that he got the day off tomorrow, please...”
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[Job Thread] Running Errands

Postby Caelum on March 14th, 2014, 9:03 pm

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Thread Award




Stefan



Skills

- Bodybuilding + 1
- Organization +2
- Acrobatics +1
- Singing +1
- Running +1
- Stealth +1
- Subterfuge +1
- Flirting +1

Lores

- The Velvet Curtain: Equipment Set Up
- The Velvet Curtain: Secret Liasons




Notes


Thoroughly enjoyed it. :) Please edit your post in the grade request thraed and don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
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