They got home in time for Cerise to help with a few finishing touches for Matais's classing feast. She repressed the grief the occasion stirred in her for the feast neither Mykhal, she, nor the other youths of Trall got to enjoy. This was Matais's long delayed day.
The [Farmer] tenants and their families were invited to join the celebration, and they brought food, beverages, and music. The party grew. It took on a life of its own. People Cerise -- or Matais -- had never seen before showed up, soon followed by Free Lancers she had barely seen. She didn't understand what was happening until one of the strangers grabbed her up to dance, shouting in a drunken slur, "Hazzah! The dungeon's open! The dungeon's open once again!"
Matais didn't care. he loved that everyone came to celebrate his first class.
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Delving teams trekked past the newly opened Bergin's Food Hall the next day, and a few stopped in for breakfast pies to take on their way to the dungeon. More came back for a filling lunch on finding out the inspection delve was still on-going. Still more came for dinner.
Cerise's mother had wisely realized that while Cerise and Mykhal would help out if needed at the hall, it would not be done happily if for no other reason than that they had training for delving to do. Thus, she had already hired two of the older unclassed [Farmers'] children to help her.
Tatara turned out to be a trap laying savant. When Cerise took him to buy materials with which to make non-lethal traps, he vowed, "Had I tear ducts to weep with, my joy would fill rivers!"
The rules she placed on him were: 1. all traps had to be non-lethal. 2. any traps outside of the cordoned off training zone had to leave no lasting physical effects. 3. traps could be left with impunity for Mykhal and Cerise only if Tatara could ensure no one else would trigger the trap. 4. Tatara had to get Cerise's permission for traps aimed at the obnoxious people who annoyed him.
For the second rule, "physical effects" included property damage, food spoilage, and vandalism. Itching powders, food that Tatara had wild gathered, and light bruising were not restricted.
Half the time, Cerise managed to talk Tatara out of his upset with "obnoxious people", but the other half so far mostly involved the stick-poking youths. After a few talks with their parents, Tatara had the same okay to lay traps for them as for Cerise and Mykhal. If they couldn't learn proper respect from lectures, they could learn from the consequences of their actions.
With the construction, Tatara had had a lot of time to prepare the training field. Anything to do with the construction itself was deemed too likely to violate all of the rules, but Tatara still swore he "learned things" from watching them at work, his tone slyly suggestive.
Mykhal had already gained a mutation for his Trap skill to detect mundane traps just from the ones Tatara laid for them, and Cerise felt like she was on the cusp of gaining some kind of observation skill herself.
The day after Matais's party, Cerise, Mykhal, and Tatara spent most of the morning cleaning up. Bergin sold out of hangover remedy before the delvers began to walk by, and most of that came from the Delving Lights duo, acting as a clean up crew, rousing the passed out drunks to send them on their way. Random possessions they found scattered about went into crates, one for utensils and water bags, one for clothing, another for weapons, and a last one for everything else.
Jaxin found them finishing up for the moment near to lunch time, and they ate together before heading over to the training area.
Where they found more drunkards from the prior night's festivities, some tangled up in snares, others trying to help them, and most in that irritable stage of sobering up where they're still a bit drunk but already feeling the hangover. Cerise Appraised them all, finding them all to be Free Lancers. She sent Tatara to check his traps, then she, loudly, asked, "What are you doing in our training field?"
"Training? Who the hell are you?" the largest of the unentangled Free Lancers growled back.
"Tenants! And you are trespassing! You think we put up a fence to look pretty?" Mykhal snapped.
Jaxin said, "Hey, hey! I know you guys have been kicking drunks off your land all morning, and having to clean up all the debris and all that! But yelling at guys who can't even figure out how to get out of a foot snare isn't going to get them gone any faster."
The growly Free Lancer asked, "So you guys put up all these traps? What the Abyss? Huh?"
Cerise barely held back from laying a Paralyze on the man. "No! You don't get to complain about what's in the fenced off area when you trespassed! If you can't get your friend down without damaging our property any further, get out of the way and keep your mouth shut. You are this close to me lodging formal complaint with the Free Lancers Guild!"
"What makes you think we're Free Lancers?" growly man asked.
Cerise didn't dignify that with a verbal reply, merely arched an eyebrow and stared while she waited.
Tatara winged in at that point. "These are the only idiots," he said, alighting on her shoulder, his tail curling around her neck.
"That's a faerie dragon," one of the men behind Growly said, blinking bleary eyes at them.
"And you need water. What other obvious things do you want to say?" Tatara asked, cheerful.
The tone stopped Cerise's grump. "You like him?"
"Oh, stop! You're going to make me blush!" Tatara said, ending with a coy giggle.
Cerise rubbed her face. In a kinder tone, she said, "Tats, all the traps you laid can be reused, right?"
"Nope. Most. Not all. You want me to get the trespassers down, don't you?" he asked.
"In a way that doesn't kill or cripple them, yes," Cerise agreed.
"Their friends are going to have to catch them if you want that," Tatara's enjoyment in the mischief came clearly through the way he said that sentence.
"Listen, you rude little brats, what the Abyss are you doing with a faerie dragon? They are a pestilence--."
Jaxin sighed. "Chais! Code of Conduct, page one. If you can't figure out what I'm talking about, then your Copper butt needs to stop blowing hot air."
Cerise felt three of the five men finally wise up enough to use their Inspect skills. Mister Growly Chais was not one of them.
The fella Tatara liked stepped in front of his party member. "My apologies, Miss ban Silverwood. I'll get my friends out of your way."
"What the Abyss, Vavi!" Chais turned on his friend.
"Chais, when you sober up, you're going to owe me for this," Tatara's Vavi said.
With some of the team members helping them, they got the pair of [Scouts] down. The man who had stepped up was an [Entertainer], and the first such class Cerise ever came across. He was also their [Healer] and watching him fumble about offended Cerise's class.
That was an odd distinction, and one that Cerise wasn't sure she could have recognized if she hadn't been piecing bits of her soul together since classing. Cerise hadn't lost any of herself, of the person who spent thirteen years growing up in a loving, if low strata, home. She just was uncovering these bits of otherness that were also her. That sense of connected otherness that was her class acted in a similar fashion.
"Do you prefer to be called Vavais or Vavi?" Cerise asked when the healing [Entertainer] stepped back from checking over the two [Scouts].
"Vavi, Miss," he answered, looking a little uncertain.
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"So, Mister Vavi, what swelling stoppers do you have on you? Better yet, what do you need?" Cerise asked.
"Um." He looked totally taken aback by her questions, his gaze darting around his party members.
Cerise rubbed her forehead, noting how Jaxin and Mykhal were doing their best looming-but-not-threatening impressions behind her. To Vavi, she said, more than asked, "You don't have any sort of anything to keep the swelling down or to mitigate the rope bruises on these guys, do you?"
"No?" Vavi answered.
Cerise asked, "How do you handle the [Healer] role?" as she pulled out a wooden hand jar of Healing Salve. "Tell me while you apply that, please."
Vavi's Identify skill flared and then his eyes rounded. "Oh, we can't afford that!"
Cerise raised an eyebrow, put her empty hand on her hip and said, "Did I charge you or did I tell you to treat the bruises? You're handing the jar back when you're done. If you're going to be your team's [Healer], do the job!"
"Yes, Miss," Vavi said, his protests silenced by her gimlet stare.
She waited until he was actually applying the salve before asking again, "How do you handle the [Healer] role?"
"I'm just here to keep everyone together long enough to get to a fully classed [Healer]," Vavi admitted.
"Well, at least you know your limits. How often do you all need a [Healer]?" she asked.
"That's rude!" Chais said.
Vavi said, "That's reality, and if she's not going to charge us for the salve, I'll say 'thank you' to her saying a lot worse things than the simple truth!"
Chais opened his mouth, then closed it, his Inspect skill finally rolling around them. "Oh, hawk spit! She's a [Healer]!"
"Yes, Chais," Vavi said, his lips twitching even as he gave Cerise some nervous side eye.
"And a Free Lancer!" Chais added.
"Yes, Chais," another member of their team said.
"Is she the one who stone cold dropped the ox-end that's always so rude?" Chais asked in the tone of drunks everywhere who don't know how loud they really are.
Cerise asked, "What's the ox-end's name?"
"Hildai, I think," Vavi answered.
"That would be a yes, then," Cerise admitted.
Chais spread his arms wide and yelled, "I love you!"
Vavi finished seeing to his [Scouts] and then made a point to return Cerise's salve to her before he and the other mostly sober members of his team herded their more drunken team members off the property.
Their trio then spent the rest of the afternoon spotting and setting off traps. One of the traps splashed her with a foul reeking liquid that stained her skin and rough training clothes. She liked the blue look, as did her mother, and the two got the staining recipe from Tatara in exchange for a pie and some scale polishing.
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The next day, more delvers went up to check whether the dungeon was open for normal business. Cerise, Mykhal, Jaxin, and Tatara went off in a different direction, taking Daisy with them, and hunted for commissions. They were also looking for Winter Bonnies, a type of thistle. The flowery petals in between the spikes were white, and the thistle bloomed around the Winter Solstice, hence the name. The sap in their stalks was the real goal, and the only ingredient for the blue stain they could not get easily in town.
Their quartet returned in the early afternoon. Cerise and Mykhal dismembered their kills, turning the meat over to Mama Bergin while Jaxin relaxed at the Food Hall's counter. When they were done, they washed up and joined him.
Onais, one of the helpers Mama Bergin had hired, brought them a bowl of pottage and a cup of small beer without being asked. As Onais turned to see to another customer, the man sitting on the other side of Jaxin protested, "Hey! Why didn't they have to pay first?"
"They are Bergin's children, and they hunt a lot of the meat she serves, so they're paid ahead for life," Onais answered while continuing to walk away.
"You're real uppity, you know that?" the man said.
Cerise Appraised the man to get his name, strata, and classes: Kafrais, Honorable, and Intermediate [Merchant].
His eyes flickered around the room. When his head turned in their direction, he asked, "Did you just use an Identify on me?"
Cerise had barely opened her mouth to say, "Yes," when Mykhal beat her to it.
"Absolutely I did. If you were a [Warrior] being that aggressively rude, I'd expect you to start swinging at any moment. I needed to know whether I needed to preemptively break your kneecaps."
"Are you threatening me?" Kafrais asked, puffing up.
"No, Mister. This is a reality check, given freely: when you offer up rudeness you invite it in return," Mykhal answered.
Kafrais rose and, sneering, said, "The food here isn't worth the service," before dramatically stomping out.
Cerise's Diplomacy skill prevented her from clapping at the excellent acting. "That was someone looking for a fight," she said instead.
A man at a nearby table jumped up and made to snatch up the bowl Kafrais left behind. "He doesn't want it, I'll-- Aw, ox-tails! He licked the bowl clean!"
The people in the room laughed and returned to their meals.
After eating, Jaxin, Cerise, and Mykhal headed off to the Free Lancers Compound. They found Kafrais in the Consortium, bombastically speaking with the Trade Master. "I want them blacklisted! Those rude--! And there's the man who threatened me!" he yelled, pointing at Mykhal as soon as he caught sight of them.
This time, Cerise did clap, sarcasm in every motion. "Mister, you may Inspect me," she said, pulling on her Diplomacy skill to convey utter disdain. To the Trade Master, she conveyed by body language and tone a professional courtesy as she asked, "Was this [Merchant] attempting to coerce you into blacklisting Bergin's Food Hall and Bergin's family?"
"Yes, Miss ban Silverwood," the Trade Master said, with an obvious show of obsequious respect, though the corners of his mouth twitched and belied his own acting.
Cerise nodded, ignoring Kafrais's skill use. "The Compound Master, did she tell you what the response would be if the Free Lancers involved my non-Free Lancer family members in challenges and disputes?"
The smile dropped. "No, Miss ban Silverwood."
"Internal matters will be handled internally and, with the Lady of the Silverwood Grove's permission, without undue consideration for my strata as her authority bearer. As soon as it ceases to be an internal matter, well, I bear her authority; I do not dictate it." Cerise kept her expression severe, knowing that this gossip would be all over the guild before night fell.
Kafrais, to his credit, slid into a neutral expression. Cerise could practically taste the way he was reassessing. She decided to throw him a bone. "You are related to Hildai, aren't you? I suggest you read the publicly available Free Lancers Code of Conduct. Our Code is essentially on par with Lady Resalas' Book of Manner, and includes such wisdoms as 'Inspect everyone. Do not trust to introductions for they either come too late, lack essential threat assessments, or are outright lies.' Obviously, these are not the manners you are used to.
"Free Lancer Guild members are also, in my experience, far more like bucks in mating season in terms of aggression than, say, villagers or townsfolk. It's the combat classes, in my opinion. [Warriors] especially seem to benefit from a rigid hierarchy, though knowing who gives the orders during combat, who executes those orders, and who will never listen to whatever is being said is essential information for any team.
"With no prior contact, Hildai tried to set herself up as a queen hen by blatantly disrespecting me and my team. She failed miserably, and started working herself up to brawling in the Guild hall. I dropped her with a Slumber, and made it clear she earned her team a place on my blacklist. They got her to apologize, but she chose to 'make her apology' with a doubling down on her double-down of disrespect. I spelled out her shame to her and let her walk away. My Diplomacy skill says I was too nice.
"Now, if she tried to drag you into the dispute she started, then I was far too lenient. If, however, as someone ill versed in the ways of Free Lancers, you misunderstood the consequences of meddling, and decided to pressure my family to help yours, well, you will stop right now. You will apologize. I do no require sincerity, but I do require respect. Then, you will take the least third of your current inventory up to the dungeon and unload that inventory into the entrance hall and declare, I quote, 'This is an offering of atonement for I have bared my teeth at the innocent family members of the authority bearer of the Lady of the Silverwood Grove, and I shall not do this again.'"
Cerise looked at Kafrais expectantly.
He flushed red and didn't quite manage to get volume behind his protest. "That's preposterous!"
She assumed a sad face. "I realize you don't really understand the magnitude of your lapse in judgment, so while you're coming to terms with it," she reached out and tapped her finger on his nose. "[Healer's Curse]" she intoned, activating her Diagnose skill to see what would happen.
Kafrais swung at her, but Cerise swayed out of the way before gracefully gaining distance. When she heard the division increase notice for Natural Weapon Combat, she absently thought about training that skill.
"Take it back!" Kafrais shouted.
"A [Healer's Curse] can only be broken, not dispelled," Cerise said. "If you want to be rid of it, you will have to complete the terms of your atonement."
He devolved to screaming obscenities at her, to which Cerise merely plastered an obviously patient pleasant expression on her face and waited with an air of boredom.
When he finally stormed off, Cerise called after him, "Your actions will affect how the curse grows!" He kept going, so she turned to the Trade Master. "How much of a problem can he make for you?"
The Trade Master shrugged. "Not enough to risk angering the Silverwood Grove's Lady, or any of her sisters."
"Does he buy from or sell to the Consortium?" she pressed.
"Mister [Trader] buys general materials from us, Miss."
"Mama wants to see how she likes living the reality of her Food Hall dream. If she's as happy next month as she is now, she's mentioned reaching out to local [Merchants] and seeing if any general goods [Traders] would be interested in setting up a shop on the lot. The recommendations of the local Factors will, of course, be most appreciated."
"I haven't been to the new restaurant yet, but I'm told it's on the way to the dungeon," the Trade Master responded, his eyes brightening.
"That's quite true. Mama closes up at sundown and charges a small copper for small beer and pot luck stew. We came here to turn in commissions, and we turned the meat over to Mama, so there should be roasts to go with rice and whatever vegetables she pairs tonight. Mama likes to call it Freeman Fare, but her Cooking is at Expert level and she traded labor for spices with the Nykimopia Consortium, which she adores using." Cerise added the last with a conspiratorial smile.
They settled their business and went around to record their receipts. While waiting for their turn in the queue, a Free Lancer rushed in. "Inspectors are back! The dungeon's open!"
Everyone present yelled and applauded, and a celebratory round of small beer went around. People were just calming down when Hildai stormed in. She spotted Cerise, drew her sword, and charged.