One thing was not being hired. He could live with that, there were plenty of people better than him on the market.. though not many cheaper.
One thing was a snarky remark at the end of a job, followed by a promise to never, ever hire him again. He could live with that, too: people rarely actually meant it. More often than not, he had discovered, it was simply a ploy to get a discount. Even when they were sincere, however.. well, plenty of people in the world, and they all need to eat.
Besides, lately it didn't happen nearly as often as when he had just started.
Another thing was.. this.
He sighed, munching thoughtfully on a long and thin blade of grass.
He was sitting on an acceptably comfortable flat rock, in a clearing not far from the road.
Despite his best efforts, his tent was actually standing. It had taken him a good three hours and half a dozen of tries, but in the end he had obtained a measure of success.
Of course, it was leaning all on the left and had the apparent stability of a castle of rotten cards, but it was still better than nothing; he even managed to light a campfire without setting himself on aflame, and was moderately proud of that accomplishment.
Something unidentifiable was boiling in the pot over the fire, suspended by a shaky wooden contraption.
A bit farther away his small cart, jam packed with weird oddities and carefully stocked glassware, was resting on the ground, and tied to a close tree his yet-unnamed chestnut brown horse, staring and, he was sure, looking down upon him.
Fired before the end of the journey, in the damn geometric middle of the road between Syliras and Zeltiva, with no pay and the threat to shoot him if he dared follow.
That was a new low.
And all because of a small, innocent mistake.
He had no way of knowing that the purple-spotted plant, added to the stew, would have that sort of reaction.
It wasn't poisonous on its own, he was.. moderately.. sure of that, so it had to be some sort of reaction to one of the other ingredients. Perhaps a spice?
Lost in the new train of thought, he pulled out his diary, still keeping an occasional eye on the soup. A quick dip of the quill in ink and another page was started.
| 3rd day of Summer, 510AV The first thing was a small sketch of the plant. It was shaky at best, but with the proper captions good enough to help him identify the offending herb. Note to self: don't use that (speaking of which, how the hell is it called again? I'm sure I studied it, and I vaguely remember some properties, but can't remember the name. Double check.) as savoring before deeper studies. Apparently, it can have.. interesting.. reactions with some other commonly used spices and ingredients. Possible effects vary from subject to subject and include, but are not limited to: dizziness, headaches, large, itchy rashes over large parts of the body, and explosive diarrhea. |
..now that he thought about it, the stomach cramps probably were the only reason why they simply left him there instead of skinning him alive.
