Sale (Tock)

[Nai'shee]

PermissionI have permission from Echelon to purchase rowboat in the thread Timestamp: 19th of Summer, 512AV, Morning Few visitors came into Zeltiva last night. There was crowd on The Docks, and if you looked better, a little Svefran family was in the middle. Actually, those were only few Svefran mans, not older than 20. Docks were pretty busy thanks to their ships. They came by casinor and four little rowboats. It seemed that they also brought few passengers. It was always pleasing to have new people in Zeltiva. However, what gathered the crowd around them wasn't bare curiosity. Two young human womans stood a little further, knowing that they were promised their chance after gathered people go away. Nai'shee met Svefran people when they arrived to the city. They were pretty nice. They told her they just parted from their pod and had to sell their casinor and rowboats to buy something bigger. She knew it was her chance. She remembered Tock promised her to animate her boat, so she decided to drag her here, so she could choose which rowboat was the best for reconstruction, out of three those offered. Nai'shee actually had little knowledge of sailing, but she could identify which one was best for speed, direction etc. by the shape of a boat. However, she had no idea which would fit for adding wheels, so she brought Tock along this morning. Gathered people were soon gone to their daily activities. Most hoped Svefra would find customers or go away soon, since they blocked a fair part of The Docks. Fisherman sailed their boats in fear, hoping they'll have space when they come back. Nai'shee hurried towards four Svefran man. "Come on, Tock!", she added cheerfully to her friend.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock knew a little bit about boats. It certainly wasn't her area of expertise, but she understood the basic principles. She studied them each time she was on one, starting with the first time she'd sailed, and continuing on each ship she'd taken in her travels over the years. Animating one seemed like a simple enough task to her. She knew enough about the principles of water flow from her Gadgeteering studies. Four water wheels, smaller versions of the types used on a mill, should be perfect for moving a small boat through the water. The trick would be coordinating all four wheels to work in unison, but she had some ideas on how to do that. When Nai led her up to the Svefra men, Tock walked right past them and over to the boats. She didn't care much about the people; Nai could surely negotiate a fair price, and Tock would only need to get involved in the negotiations if she thought they were trying to rip her friend off. Instead, her main job here was to check on the quality of the purchase. While boats weren't her main area, she knew woodworking quite well. She immediately set to checking the four small boats, running her hands across the seams to check how solid they were, pressing boards to see if they were loose or had any give, and checking for signs of cracks, rot, or shoddy workmanship. She also checked the coloration of the boards; you could often tell where a repair had been done based on one board being lighter and less weathered than the others, indicating it was a replacement. She completely ignored the protests of the Svefra and their demands to know what she was doing to their boats. It should have been obvious what she was doing, and it wasn't like she was hurting anything. She especially hated being asked, "What are you doing?" which one of the Svefra men kept repeating over and over. Her wooden third hand, Handy, just waved the man off dismissively, the same way Tock would have, if her hands weren't busy.

[Nai'shee]

"Hello!", she greeted sailors, while Tock just passed besides them. She should expect that from her anyways. They all responded in Fratava, which began to annoy her. They were all fluent in Common, but since they found out she's able to communicate in Fratava yesterday they wouldn't change back to Common. They demanded it was empty language. However, one of them now yelled in Common at Tock, who already examined the boats. "No, no, calm down! I wanted to make minor changes to the boat I buy and she'll do that, so she checks quality of-" "She can't touch our boats!" "She didn't ask anybody!" "Thinking that you can just go around messing with Svefran-" "Tock!", Nai'shee yelled out, approaching her. She knew girl is annoyed by unnecessary things, like asking for permission, but she also knew Svefra won't accept this easily. "Please, could you just apologize and ask for permission? To Svefra ships are very important and they won't just let you mess with them without permission..." She just hoped this won't result with explosion. Both Tock's and Svefran temper were too much for her to control and she really needed this rowboat. She looked at Tock imploringly.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock didn't even notice that half the conversation going on behind her was in another language, because frankly, she wasn't listening. She was focused on her task, and would ignore any distraction that didn't reach the point that she couldn't tune it out anymore. When she first heard the word 'apologize,' she assumed someone was apologizing to her, and started to say, "Well 'ey should 'pologize! Piece o' crud like 'is is an insult ta..." Then the rest of what was being said sunk in, and she realized Nai wanted HER to apologize. Tock laughed. She laughed so hard her ribs ached, and stood up to pat Nai on the shoulder. "Good one, Conch!" she said, snickering. She had only apologized for her behavior once in recent memory, and that had been to her boyfriend. There was slim chance that she would start apologizing to these sailors today; they were overly demanding, and didn't take good enough care of their boats. "Oy, Conch, don't let 'ese blokes pull no crap wit'cha, aye?" she said. "We's customers, aye? An' ain't like 'ese bludgers done gots a long line o' folks done been wantin' 'ese boats, aye? Done gots a 'ole dockyard full o' boats what if'n we wants ta go elsewhere, aye? So's as 'ey's gotta done caters ta our needs, an' I needs ta make sure what as 'is's quality merchandise, which it ain't," she kicked the first boat, which didn't meet her standards, and moved down the dock towards the second to start inspecting it. One of the Svefra men tried to stop her from getting to the boat, but she just sidestepped around him, which he clearly hadn't been expecting. For most people, when you planted yourself in their path and tried to get them to stop, they would at least stop and argue with you. Tock just went around, pretending he wasn't there. While the man was turning around and trying to figure out what to do, she just hopped down into the boat. When he reached out to grab her, Tock's wooden third hand, Handy, swatted him away. The Svefra was so taken aback by the moving, wooden hand strapped to her wrist that he backed away, unsure what to do. Tock just continued her inspections.

[Nai'shee]

Nai'shee just stood and watched the horror before her. She knew very little about Svefra, only what she learned from those coming to Zeltiva, which happened once in a while, but she knew their ships were sacred to them. Mans got really frustrated, yelling both at her and Tock and she couldn't even understand most of it under the pressure. It got even worse when Tock insulted their boats and when Handy moved, since this little pod seemingly wasn't so open towards magic. Or they were only afraid. Either way, things weren't going so well. Thinking about that, they didn't even have the Lia and didn't deserve title of pod. "Tock, you're right", she mumbled half in anger, half in fear, holding to her hidden finger razors in case of fight, "maybe we should find another boat!" Her statement calmed things down a bit, but Svefra man were still angry. One of them demanded apology from Tock and told her to get away from his rowboat otherwise. The second one was still stunned by Handy, one was telling Nai'shee in Fratava how she shouldn't have brought that friend and the other one, perhaps the youngest, was just standing behind, unsure what to do. It was total disaster. It should be for the best to head to someone else. She thought Svefran boats would be better than just any boat, even in Zeltiva, but Tock said that they didn't care well enough about them. Of course, she meant about wood they were made of. It probably wasn't one of highest quality, since they were actually still poor and looking to form a pod, so water ruined it. "How much would you ask for a boat?", she asked stubbornly, in Common. "Around 160 mizas, but we can-", the one swatted by animaton tried to respond, but he was quickly interrupted. "Alright, that's enough! Tock, let's go somewhere else!", she was still ready to unleash the razors if they were to protest violently. She looked at her friend, waiting for her to exit the boat.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

While the arguing continued, Tock kept checking the boats. The second one wasn't up to her standards either. She ignored the protests from the docks that she exit the boat and climb back up, and instead hopped from the second boat straight into the third. This one was more promising. It could use a bit of sanding here and there, but the construction was solid. It wouldn't need any boards replaced, and only some minor touch ups here and there. When Nai told her it was time to go, Tock grinned and winked at her. "Aye, yer right Conch," she said, giving the girl a conspiratorial look. "'Ese ain't worth less'n 'alf what 'ey's askin'. I think I done saw another one down the ways what were cheaper, an' better built, too..." This was a lie, of course. She didn't know if anyone else on the docks even HAD another rowboat for sale. But she wanted the Svefra men to think they were ready to walk away. She climbed out of the boat and started to lead Nail away. She muttered under her breath to the other girl, "Don't look back." The third boat was good, but she didn't want to let on about that. She felt the men's eyes on her back. Pride wouldn't feed them, or fund their pod. "Wait," one of them finally called out, his voice tense. "Maybe we can come down a little... 140?" Tock grinned, her back still to the men. Speaking low enough that only Mail could hear, she said, "Offer 'em 80... but we can go up ta 100, aye? Jus' dun let 'em know we really wants 'er, aye?" She wiped the grin from her face so the Svefra wouldn't know it was all a game to her. She shrugged as if it didn't matter to her and said out loud, "I dunno Conch, whaddya think?"

[Nai'shee]

Nai'shee could barely suppress smile when she realized that her little anger ejaculation could be turned to perfect play. She followed Tock's example walking away and her advice not to look back. Edge of her lips slanted in joy when she heard new offer. She paused, turning to Tock, pretending to think. "Nah, I don't know. Judging by your check up, that isn't worth more than 80, let alone 140 mizas, is it?" Her words came out slowly, as if she was trying to decide something. She cast a sight at Svefra, to see their reaction. "What? Eighty for our rowboat?! Do you know how much is it worth?" He seemed surprised, but also a bit stunned, as if he was considering how much could he raise the price. They might even get away with this. "No more than 80, is it, Tock? And I'm talking about the closest one, of course, I doubt that you'll sell other two to anyone experienced..." She wasn't sure if insulting other rowboats will motivate them to try and sell this one or just piss them off, but it was worth a try. "I'm not giving this baby away for eighty worthless golden rimmed mizas! It is fine crafted rowboat, easy for sailing, eighty is too low?" "And what, it is supposed to be worth 140?", she tried, turning to leave again. "You ain't gonna trick this girl!" She waited, expecting him to offer lower price now. It would be realistic to take 100 for it, but her mind was struggling, thinking about accepting a little higher offer, but certainly not 140 mizas. She exchanged sight with Tock, waiting for them to call back.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"120. I have a family to feed, yes?" the man offered, his tone tense and irritated. Tock suppressed a grin. Just the fact that he was willing to lower his price showed they were getting somewhere. She really WOULD have walked away, if the man had really refused to budge. She looked over at Nai, pretending like it was a really tough choice. She sucked on her teeth and said, "I dunno... I mean, she still needs some repairs. We's gonna 'as ta 'ire a professional. 'At's gonna cost us..." This was a total bluff, of course. Tock was going to do it all herself, and she already had the wood, so the repairs and modifications wouldn't cost her a miza. "110?" the man offered. "She is in good shape. I promise you won't find a higher quality vessel anywhere." Tock snorted. Zeltiva made the best ships. This guy was pushing his luck. "A 'undred, an' 'at's my final offer," Tock told him. When he still hesitated, Tock started to turn around, and she was dead serious about walking away. It wasn't even a bluff this time. Before she could leave, the man said, "Fine! ...one hundred..." He was gritting his teeth, and clearly not happy about it. Tock smirked at Nai and gave her a nod. It looked like they had a deal.

[Nai'shee]

The girl almost rolled her eyes on statement about family. It was obvious they were alone and that they're going to spend all of the money on purchasing a new boat and she couldn't imagine Svefra lacking something. They were probably fishermans, judging by the fact they had three rowboats there, and they could trade fish for anything within their people. Nai'shee was pretty amazed by how Tock managed to negotiate the price they wanted from the beginning. Sure she did her part, but she was mostly led by young woman. She decided she would learn to do such a things. She took acting classes this semester and she made mental note to make sure to pay more attention. "Hundred sounds fine", she said with an unsure nod, turning back towards the man. It took them a while to do actual purchase, since Svefra counted every miza, obviously angry at the price they gave boat away for. Nai'shee was extremely happy, both for getting her first boat and lowering the price so much, but it was still hard for her to watch her mizas go away one by one. After fair amount of time boat was Nai'shee's. She proudly looked at the first boat she ever had. It was rather small, good enough to carry four persons and food supplies. It was a bit shorter and wider, extremely pointy at the end. That will lack her a lot of possible trouble with navigation, counting in Trente's help with cartography. She couldn't believe it was hers. She was free to use it however she wants and to sail whenever she wants. And counting in Tock's animation that will probably be the best and most expensive rowboat in Zeltiva from there on. Nice beginning for future sailor. "So, any idea how to carry this to your house? We could just carry it or try and sail it to nearby beach, I think it's closer to your house. I could easily carry it with Flux, but I need some assistance because of balance..." She maybe should have called someone to help. Or rented few casters. Ledger-100GM

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock really needed to get around to building and Animating her own wagon. This sort of situation would have been perfect for it. Unfortunately, it would take her more time to build a wagon from scratch than it would to get the boat back to her place. She thought about asking her boss to borrow one again, buuuuuut he was kinda pissed at her when she brought the wagon back a bit banged up last time. So it didn't seem likely he would lend her another one any time soon. The boat no doubt weighed hundreds of pounds. Nai seemed confident she could carry it, but the bulk of it would be quite awkward to keep balanced, and Tock wouldn't be much help. She could build some wheels for it, but that would mean getting it back home first. She could dig a trench to let the water flow back up to her house, but... well, that would take months. Tock frowned, tapping her chin, thinking the project over. She had to think small... but Tock wasn't very good at that. She looked the boat over, estimated its dimensions in her head, and did a quick calculation on how much wood was used in its construction. She guessed at a total weight of just under 200 lbs. Tock herself could carry maybe fifty pounds across a moderate distance. She guessed it would normally take four people to carry it. Nai's Flux magic would make up for that quite a bit, but she couldn't balance the boat over her head or anything like that. They'd need to be holding it by each end. They needed at least one other person. Tock could build people. "Awright, be back in a tick," she said, heading off at a trot and leaving Nai to guard the boat until she got back. A short time later, she returned with Choppy, her Animated axe in tow. She had wrapped a blanket around his blade to keep him from damaging the boat. "Awright, Conch," she said, gesturing to the boat, "yer done gonna 'as ta 'as the most o' the weight, aye? So's as I figure, ya lift the front up, an' me an' Choppy can does the back. Jus' pull 'er out, flip 'er over what with the topside down, an' we gets goin', aye?" It would be difficult and take a bit of coordination, but it was doable. With Nai's enhanced strength, they could get the boat out of the water. With her using her Flux to support the bulk of the weight, Tock and Choppy could stand at the back. Tock would hold the back edge of the boat, and Choppy's spring-loaded axle gave him the equivalent strength to a human. She could brace his padded axe against the boat for more support, and his legs were solid pieces of iron, so he wouldn't have any trouble. As long as Nai handled most of the weight, they could manage with the three of them. OOCBoat weight estimated by Google, wooden 4-person boat shouldn't be over 200 lbs. as near as I could figure.