Everyday Life in Beachtown

[OGRE MAGE]

"Names Corneallus, or Corneal, if ya prefer."

The old farmer scratches his grey stubbled chin.

"Ya know, we tried cutting that black wood with saws, and ya cant keep the blades sharp enough to get through it.

"Axes do work, but it takes a lot a choppin, an ya need to sharpen yer blade constantly."

"I heard talk of someone starting up a sawmill, which might help ya, but I aint seen no action on that one yet."

"It'll be a lota work to get through logs this thick, but it could be done. Shure would make em easier to move."

[Jernau35]

Maag

"Right den Corneal. Der good news is dat if we cut dem shorter, we won't need as many blokes to shift dem."

"From wot yer tellin' me, der first fing we need is some blokes wiv axes. 'ow many do yer reckon we can get? At least two we need for sure. Four would be better."

Hearing about the sawmill, Maag thinks for a while, then says to Corneal: "So are yer tellin' me dat we 'ave der stuff to build a sawmill, but nobody 'as built it?"

"Why don't we just go an' build der fing? Look at dis place" Maag sweeps his arm around. "We 'aven't got der luxury of lettin' good stuff just sit der. Is der anybody in town dat knows 'ow to work a sawmill? We can just build der fing an' if der owner ever shows up, we can pay dem rent." Maag grins. "Minus buildin' an' labor costs of course".

[OGRE MAGE]

The old farmer listens to the half-orc intently.

"4 men'd be a good start, but it'll still take some time ta get through em, even with that many."

"Yep. Rumor has it that there's a bunch of pulleys an tools and big blades and such just sittin in a crate at the Hi-Lo, but the one who ordered em aint around no more. Musta went out in the jungle an got hiself kilt er something."

"I aint heard much bitchin about it though, so maybe no one here knows anything about settin up a mill."

"Do you?"

[Jernau35]

Maag

Maag snaps out of whatever daydream he was in. "Wot was dat mate?" he says to Corneal. "Do I know 'ow to run a sawmill? Nah. I do not even know 'ow to spell der word." He scratches his chin. "We are gonna 'ave to fink about dis."

Maag paces up and down for a few moments. "Der important fing is gettin' der first logs cut. Once dey are done, der ball starts rollin'. So we cut dem wiv axes. Captain Quark is gonna bring tools an' stuff in payment for der logs. We make sure dat der are plenty of axes in der shipment. Dat way we can 'ave plenty of dem in rotation".

He claps Corneal on the shoulder. "So den...Do yer reckon yer can round up some blokes to start cuttin' dese fings? Quark is gonna be 'ere in a few days. Tell dem all about 'ow we're gonna get lots of new stuff when we sell dese logs to Quark. Der pay is five silver a day...But offer dem seven if yer need to".

[OGRE MAGE]

I guess I was under the impression that this endeavor was on hold since Maag is back out in the jungle at this point. Since I haven't really allowed others to act in town while their character was absent, with the intentions of avoiding any confusion it might cause, I will respond this one last time.

"I'll ask around, but choppin's hard work. Especially in this heat. I doubt ye'll get many takers at that price, even with the promise of new tools. No offense, but I think ye'd better loosen them purse strings a bit more."

You can reply if you like, so I know what direction to go in the meantime, and then we will put this on hold till Maag returns.

[Jernau35]

Sorry. Since the previous post ended in a question I thought I should reply to that at least. And with Quark due soon I wanted to have something ready to go.

I'm on the bus so I'll type Maag s answer when I've stopped bouncing up and down.

[OGRE MAGE]

No problem. You should have a few months before Maag is back in town again.

[Jernau35]

Maag

"Yeah", admits Maag. "Yer prob'ly right about der money. Tell yer what, 'ow's dis for a deal? Get four blokes wiv axes. I'll give dem two gold each to cut through two logs. So dat's four gold each. I'll leave der money wiv Mr. Bigsby in der tower. If 'e is satisfied wiv der work, 'e pays out der money. After all 'e is der customer".

"An' I will give you der same amount too. 'ere is one gold now for roundin' up der blokes. I'll leave yer in charge of everyfink. Yer get anuvver three when der work is done. Deal?'

To save time, if Corneal is happy with the offer, Maag will head to the tower to deposit the money with Bigsby

[OGRE MAGE]

Once the much more lucrative offer is made, the farmer spits into his hands and rubs them together vigorously, smiling at the new gold deal.

“Now, that’s more like it, son. Hells, if’n I can’t find any help, I’ll cut through em myself, fer that price.”

[Bluehorse]

Coming from here: viewtopic.php?p=534581#p534581

Liam jogs into the north side of town and stops, taking long enough to suck in some wind and then heads over to the water where he drinks and splashes his face briefly before moving out of Jaxsen's way. Once his lung are no longer burning and his mouth is moist again he looks around for the nearest faces he recognizes. Now... Jaxsen my friend... we can be the literal bearers of bad news... Lets get somewhere where everyone can see and hear... He then eyes the Treehouse and points to it. What do you think? Worked well for Daisy...

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

"Indeed," says Jaxsen. "It did, indeed." As the duo walks to the Treehouse, Jaxsen adds in a low voice. "I think sticking to the pertinent facts will do us he most good. We went to parlay with the Dwarves. They pretended to welcome us. We heard them plan our enslavement and we had to fight our way free, and there was a fight. Now we expect them to attack."

[Bluehorse]

Liam nods. I agree completely. Jaxsen, I need you to be frank with me. When you look around this town, do you see any chance of defense against armed and armored dwarves? He moved to the ladder but waited for his answer before ascending.

OM, is there a roll I can make to see if Liam sees any way to defend the area effectively in short notice?

[OGRE MAGE]

You don't need to roll to see that it is a pretty desperate situation here.

Glansandi and his men have started to construct things like watch platforms in trees at the edge of town, but with only a couple of guys, they haven't gotten very far with that project yet.

If there was a full on attack from the dwarves, the town as it is now would be pretty much screwed.

[OGRE MAGE]

The out of breath duo look around, deciding their best approach to warning the town as cautiously as they can.

Jaxsen 10/19
Liam 4/9

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen shakes his head slowly. "No, not yet," the Monk says. "If the Dwarves attack now, our hive would probably be destroyed." He turns to face Liam directly. "The problem I see is that, if we run, there is nothing stopping them from following us, and we would be even weaker if they catch us on the move. If they attack us, we are in dire straits."

[Bluehorse]

Liam sighs and shakes his head before climbing to the top of the treehouse to stand no the platform overlooking the town. BEACHTOWN!
CITIZENS OF BEACHTOWN! YOU'RE ATTENTION PLEASE! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY! GATHER AROUND, CALL TO YOUR NEIGHBORS!

Giving them a moment to do that he then continues. EVERYONE. WE MAY ONLY HAVE A SHORT TIME, BUT WE SHOULD EXPECT THE DWARVES TO ATTACK BEACHTOWN. SISTER DAISY LED A GROUP ON A DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO SPEAK WITH THE STONEGUTS UP THE TRAIL. WE WERE ESCORTED BUT CAUGHT WIND OF THEM SAYING THEY WERE GOING TO ENSLAVE US TO WORK IN THEIR MINES INSTEAD OF SPEAK WITH US. WHEN WE TRIED TO LEAVE, THERE WAS A FIGHT, AND NOW THERE ARE DEAD DWARVES WHOM THEY WILL CERTAINLY WISH TO AVENGE. JAXSEN AND MYSELF SPLIT OFF TO WARN YOU WHILE DAISY WITH A COUPLE OTHERS SEEK TO RESCUE THE PRINCESS AND SIR NARRAMORE. I KNOW WE HAVE WORKED HARD FOR THIS PLOT OF LAND, BUT WE CAN NOT DEFEND OURSELVES HERE. WE NEED TO PULL UP EVERYTHING WE CAN CARRY AND MOVE TO THE RIVER RIGHT AWAY AHEAD OF THEIR ATTACK. WE MOVE FOR THE RIVER. CARRY WHAT YOU CAN AND PRIORITIZE FOOD AND TOOLS. HOPEFULLY WE CAN COME BACK AND CLAIM MORE LATER, BUT FOR NOW, WE ARE FLEEING FOR OUR LIVES.

He has to take a moment to catch his breath and turns to Jaxsen. Anything to add?

[OGRE MAGE]

A small group of bystanders assembles for a moment to hear what Liam is shouting about. They treat the friendly farmer with respect, but none of them seem any too worried about his proclamation. Marge comes by as well, with a rather twisted look on her face. A few people shout back up to the platform.

"Sister Daisy? Ya mean Mayor Daisy? Why would she go off and do something like that?"

"Attacked by the dwarves? Oh my stars!!!"

"How we spoused ta pick up buildings an such? That much work'll take a week er two at least!"

"I dont see no dwarfs. Ya sure ya aint just overreactin?"

Marge walks through the small crowd, trying to calm any who seem frightened by the prospect of being massacred. She looks up at Liam often, possibly waiting for more information or some kind of game plan.

[Bluehorse]

I would like to think that I am smart but I think Liam has more experience at this sort of thing than I do. What with rallying men etc to a cause or task since he is a life long trouble maker. Is there a roll I can make to help him out a little?

Liam holds up his hands. Yes, the Mayor myself and others went to speak with the dwarves. They were going to enslave us, said so openly when they thought we could not understand them, we fought to escape and now there are dead dwarves on the trail from the Logger's Road to their compound. I do not know how our other companions have faired, but we were sent to warn you of the very likely oncoming revenge of the Stoneguts.

I am not asking you to move buildings... We need to move People. Grab whatever food and tools you can carry. We need to head to the river.
If we are lucky, we can take shelter with the natives that have built huts there. Everyone should take a blanket or something to cover with when night approaches against the bugs in case we can find no better shelter. The Sooner we start moving, the more distance we put between ourselves and the attack.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sure. Give me a Hard Charisma roll.

The gathered townies look up at the darkening, post sundown sky.

"You mean fer us ta move yet tonight? In the dark? That dont sound too safe, mister Liam!"

"Are you sure them natives'll want us interfering in their areas? If'n they dont, that dont sound too safe fer us neither!"

"What if I aint got no blankets?"

"Cant ya just go talk ta em again? Explain the situation to em an say yer sorry fer killing a few of em? It'll be plum dark out afore any of us reach the river."

"What about the sea monster? I though it wernt safe ta travel the beach thata way?"

Marge listens to all of the mounting questions, smiling up at the nobleman and wondering how he is going to convince 100 or so people to suffer through the night when they have perfectly good resources and shelters right here. She almost looks like she is about to say something, but stops herself last second.

[Bluehorse]

Well Crap on a cracker... he is about as good at this as I am

CHA v 11 [4d6]=15