The Tavern was quite full as the taxmen entered. Their guards each got a beer and went to sit in the stables with the horses. One scribe named Kenneth Higgins ventured to the bar at the order of Theordis, ordered three glasses of small beer and three Blud Dark for their table, and inquired about the Mayor. No one seated at any of the tables stood out. The barmaid, however, stood out quite a bit. The scribe had suddenly found himself staring and unable to speak as the half-elven girl stared at him with large eyes. She smiled and toyed with a lock of his hair. "And what do those scary-looking tax people want with our mayor? Nothing bad, I hope?" It took a few breaths until he found his voice. "Oh, no. Nothing bad at all. They want to offer the Mayor a bribe to work with them against the Baron. All for the best, really."
"Oh, that sounds wonderful. I'm glad that the empire sent such helpful people. Maybe you could tell me a little about each one?" Kenny saw nothing wrong with that, and as the barmaid slowly got his order ready, he gave her a brief description of each of the three men's goals.
The barmaid took the scribe's money, handed him mugs of Blud Dark, and poured three beers. "Thanks for your honesty, Kenny. Don't worry; I'll keep it between the two of us." She walked behind Kenneth, swaying between tables, greeting people, and stopping to talk. Getting to the tax men, she put a mug in front of each. "If you are looking for the Mayor, they will be in the meeting room on the third floor in ten minutes. It's traditional here in Sedgewick to offer refreshments. Please help yourself to a glass of wine while you are waiting."
Theordis was looking at her strangely. "Have we met before?" Suzette seemed to think about the question. "Sorry, I don't remember so well. I'm sure you'd remember me if you had entered my tavern before. Then again, they do say all barmaids look alike." She walked away laughing.
Kenny took a long drink of his water. "I wished they all looked like that."
Manfred agreed but tried to remain unaffected by her charm. She was part fae, after all, and could no more stop attracting the looks of weak-willed young men than she could stop breathing . "She's a level 10 barmaid, and despite looking like that, quite lonely with a crush on a local boy too shy to talk to her. She also has several interesting quests dealing with the local dungeons. That is quite high a level for a tavern wench, isn't it? How many beers a day would you have to serve to gain that much experience? Whoever owns this tavern is doing quite well."
Geoffrey laughed. "Not surprising since everyone goes to a tavern looking for quests, and one of the dungeons is located beneath the tavern. The Baron obviously controls the bar and the dungeon. Only a fool would let an underling control a dungeon." He pointed around the room at glowing swords, shields, tridents, and loin clothes. "Notice all the low-level magical items for sale. Adventurers probably trade them to her for beer and food. Someone could make good money buying them from her cheap and selling them elsewhere."
Theordis stood. "Something else to talk about after we are done with our chat with the mayor."
The six of them trooped up the stairs and found a large meeting room. On a small side table were several bottles of wine, one already opened. A dozen simple goblets were next to the bottles, and each took the opportunity to try the local vintage. One of the scribes, Vincent, offered his opinion. His family owned a small vineyard. But a 3rd son doesn't inherit, so he left the family grapes to become a scribe. He still missed it sometimes. "It's not bad. Very sweet, fermented from apples and other fruit. Blackberry? Slightly carbonated and with a good sparkle. The vintner didn't skimp on the mana. The barrel this came from must have spent months sitting in a sunny meadow. The high proof is balanced by some zing." He took a sip, then another.
Theordis downed half of his at a gulp. "I'm not interested in your opinions on wine, Vincent. Perhaps your father still needs your help back on the farm?" He sniffed the glass. "Not up to my usual quality, I'm afraid, too sweet." He drank the rest of the glass. "But I'm warming to it. Open another bottle, Vincent, and refill my glass."
Geoffrey laughed. "Just like a bar to have roasted peanuts on the table." He ate a handful. "Quite salty, but I like the flavor." A half-hour passed, and another bottle was opened. The peanuts disappeared. Imperial functionaries were used to waiting for appointments. Sometimes for hours. They all agreed that it would be a welcome improvement if all of their meetings had wine and snacks.
What they hoped to accomplish here and in other villages nearby was discussed, sometimes loudly, and more wine was drunk. While Sedgewick offered more opportunities for profit than the average village out in the boondocks, such dealings were becoming more common. Programs were set up to help the locals, and the taxmen found ways to enrich the empire and themselves. Agreements were made with local mayors or land owners. It kept things orderly and under control. In this case, if they could gain some control of Sedgewick, they could use it to negotiate easier with the Baron.
Finally, an hour after they began drinking, the door opened, and the barmaid from below entered the room, taking a seat on the other side of the table.
"My apologies. Things are just so busy today. What do we have to talk about?"
Manfred was looking at his paperwork and trying to use his Identify skill. His notes said the mayor's name was Suzette, and this woman was Identified as 'Suzette, Mayor of Sedgewick' but was obviously the barmaid from downstairs. Twin sisters? His head was a little light and it was hard to concentrate.
Theordis took the lead in the discussions. "Greetings, young lady. We are here, representing the emperor, to assist you in your duties to the larger empire. But first, I have to ask: How did you become the mayor? You seem quite young for such a responsibility."
The mayor smiled. "I'm a little older than I look. I'm sure you've noticed my ears. Baron William is so very busy with things up in the city. It's almost like an obsession with him, and he hardly ever leaves. He was getting so annoyed with all the little things that had to be done down here that one day, he made me Mayor and told me to take care of the village. It's not that hard, but I wish he would give me more advice on how to do things."
The three taxmen shared a look. Theordis continued. "How fortunate for us to come here. That's our main job, offering advice. Can we talk about your bank? Does the Baron control it, or do you?"
She thought for a moment. "Well, the nice little gnome showed up and talked to me first and had me open accounts for the town, and the bank is part of the town, and Baron Billy is so busy at the city and wants me to run the town, so I think I'm in charge of the bank? Does that make sense? Things are so confusing around me at times."
"It's a good thing then that we are here to help. Does the Baron offer you a salary for all of your hard work?"
Suzette became sad and clutched her hands in front of her. "Not yet, sir. I have to work for him for five long years, and then I'll be paid at the end if I do a good job. My family was impoverished, so I signed his contract. But it's better here than where I grew up. All of us signed those contracts with the Baron."
"Well, your new friends sent here by the emperor aren't nearly so stingy. What would you say to working for us as well? We would pay you five gold a month plus bonuses. There's a small contract to sign that makes sure you get your gold each month, and it also lets us help you run the town and deal with the bank. As long as you don't say anything to Baron William, he won't be angry."
The Barmaid considered that and grinned. "I'm good at keeping secrets! And that much money would let me buy a new dress. And with friends like you, the job will be so much easier. Why, I bet I wouldn't have to handle any of that paperwork, one of your cute scribes like Kenneth could do that." She paused and looked at their glasses. "Oh, you finished your wine. I'm being a poor host. Let me refill those!" She pulled a cork from a new bottle and filled each glass almost to the brim. Vincent was convinced the wine was more potent than usual and started to say something, then thought better of it. He'd voiced opinions before and was usually told to be quiet and mind his tongue.
"Well, here is our advice for you, and I think we can help each other. Geoffrey is here to offer you an Imperial Storehouse for your town. This will bring in goods from far away for your townsfolk and buy up the local excess. He'll even help with your inventory. Manfred will help you pay your taxes and keep your town's books. He'll take over the town's bank account and control of the town's building interface. Have you tried to use that yet?"
Suzette nodded. "It was very complex and hard to figure out, but the town had some points sitting there, so I bought some sparkly lights and fun stuff while I figured out how things worked. The Baron didn't know. But later, he wanted me to use more points on all the storehouses. Oh, and we bought that big set of storehouses for merchant Kallvek. The Baron said he was a nice man and here to help. It used up most of our points, but we have so much more now! The Baron got 50,000 building points for making some good deals, and I got a quarter of them. That's, um..."
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Geoffrey spit out his wine: "12,500 Building Points!" The others looked shocked as well. The news that the Kallvek trading house also had some connection with the Baron only added to their anxiety. But that amount of building points was unheard of. It must have been a reward for Gadobhra's rumored trade route to the plane of smoke. The validity of that rumor had been proven by the presence of a flaming ship visiting Sedgewick.
The Barmaid laughed a little. "That's the number! Thank you."
Theordis spoke quickly. "We mentioned bonuses. I think that many building points and signing over control of the interface would give you a big bonus. How does 500 gold sound?"
Suzette smiled at each in turn, which seemed to add to the effects of the alcohol they were all feeling. "That's a lot of gold! Do you have this paper I have to sign? And the bag of gold?" That galvanized the tax men. Scribes pulled out sheets of parchment. Such a critical contract couldn't be put on normal paper! The wording was discussed, and a document was quickly put together. Their regular contracts just didn't fit the details of this unique village. Suzette insisted on counting the gold to make sure they didn't give her extra. She had Kenneth and Vincent help. Eventually, the taxmen were satisfied with their paper and pushed it toward her, along with pen and ink. Suzette glanced at it.
"I sign here at the bottom?" They all nodded, nearly drooling. She frowned. "Oh, then you all have to sign first. Your names are higher up than mine because you're more important. That seems right, doesn't it? Of course, it does."
They nodded. That was how things worked. Theordis grabbed the pen and signed. "As the leader of this group, I sign first. Then Manfred and finally Geoffrey." The quill and ink were passed around, with each accountant signing his name. Then it was passed back to Suzette.
"Let me blow on this a little to dry the ink." She inhaled several times, blowing on the paper. All six men stared at her as she took those deep breaths. Then she reached for the pen.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
The door slammed open. The Baron and Baroness of Gadobhra entered the room. They were accompanied by a strange man in a pin-striped suit, an Imperial Courier, and a small, nondescript man in a mouse-grey tunic and tights who bore a large journal with him. The pin-striped man moved before anyone else could act, picking up the contract. "Your instincts were correct, your excellency. We got here just in time!"
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Earlier in the morning...
Ozzy always wondered why the world needed so many middle managers, tax people, accountants, bureaucrats, and government minions. He'd dealt with so many of them in his life, in-game and out. It didn't seem to matter if he was working for a corporation or some imaginary king. There was just a feel to them. The bunch that he'd talked to outside his pit weren't as high-ranking as the crew that had come to talk to Billy before. Those guys had been professionals and specialists. Which made Ozzy wonder why the new batch was here. Other people would wonder as well. He dropped off one smoke-cured hell pig ham at the inn and spoke to the Elder Kallvek while he was having his tea. The merchant nodded and thanked him. As Ozzy left, the merchant sent a message to his son. Suzette wasn't in the tavern when Ozzy got there, she and Ben were carving runes up at the keep. He'd be putting in some hours there every night, himself. Jorges had a lot of heavy lifting he needed to do. But first, Ozzy had a few things to take care of. He left a message for Suzette with Zephyr about their visitors.
The road up to Gadobhra showed many wagon tracks and footprints. It must have been raining a lot lately if there was that much mud. It was strange to think of rain as just normal weather again. In the Smoke, it had been a terrible thing. He crossed into the city through new gates. The towers on either side of the road were larger and more imposing, with square crenellations that matched the top of the ACME headquarters. The ACME logo was on each one. Wrought iron gates with inch-thick bars were open wide enough for a wagon to move through them. Billy must be using some of his windfall of building points.
The city beyond looked the same. Hungrytown stank of mud and dead things, and from the Beastwoods came the howls of wild creatures. The castle loomed behind the ACME headquarters. To the left of it were the noble's quarter and the home of an undiscovered dungeon. A couple of adventuring parties had gone in and been totally wiped out. They had no memory of what they had encountered. The stockyards and Pit of the Butcher were on the other side of the castle.
Butchering was another job he needed to get back to, and he needed to talk to the Guild Master about upgrading the Butcher's guild. But not today. Today, Ozzy wanted his bag and had come to dig it out of the hole where his friends had hidden it. The road had been paved over, but he knew the spot. Two hard stomps loosened the paving stones. He'd brought a shovel, barely needed it to clear the two feet of rubble and pull out his Hefty Bag of Large Capacity. The mundane outer wrapping and the magical bag inside were both untouched, as were the contents. As he was looking in the bag, he heard the sound of claws scraping on rocks and turned to see a half dozen ghouls rushing in.
"You bastards again?! Good, I didn't have to come looking for you." The ghouls howled and charged. Ozzy inhaled and then let loose with Butcher's Breath. Intense heat and flames raced at the undead, who started screaming as their flesh cooked and bubbled.
Butcher's Breath
Base Damage: 150 plus 5xRAD = 300 damage
Mana Cost: 300 -40% (Aspect of Heat rank 8) =180.
You may increase the damage by +300 points for an additional 360 mana.
The fire in your belly needs to get out! Flames burst from your mouth in cone with a 45-degree arc and 30' in length. Anyone within the area must attempt to avoid or block the flames. A successful save will mean the target takes half damage.
When the flames subsided, only two were still moving, slowly crawling at the Butcher. Ozzy killed them by stomping on their heads. He leaped down from the embankment, two heavy flensing hatchets appearing in his hands. He kicked at the sealed crypts and yelled into the mists. "Anyone hungry? Fresh meat, right here. Come and get it!" The wind grabbed the smell of cooked meat and moved it across the crypts, tempting the undead to come out in the day. Another dozen ghouls rushed at the Butcher. Ozzy brought the hatchets around in long arcs, heat trailing from them as he fed the heat from his furnace into his weapons. The undead exploded and came apart as he hit them, the combination of Strike Undead, Hack Undead and the added heat overwhelming them.
You have struck a Carrion Ghoul. Carrion Ghoul has been flensed into very tiny pieces.
Heavy Flensing Hatchet base damage = 200
Bonus for STR of 36 = 180
Bonus for Hack Undead = 270 (Skill: Butcher rank 12 + Skill: Hack Undead rank 15)
Bonus for perk: Powerful =20
Bonus for Strike Undead = 300 (10 points per rank of Strike Undead + 5 points per point of RAD.)
Bonus for Heated Weapon = 10
Bonus for Increased Weapon Damage =10
Total Damage = 990
But Wait! There's More! These are level 6 to level 8 and below your Tier. You gain a bonus of 20% to your chance to hit and your avoidance. You have gained 0 experience.
Dear lord, what sort of monster are they breeding in the Pit of the Butcher?
The ghouls were out of their league. Weeks and months spent killing undead in the smoke, especially the final battle where Ozzy had killed thousands of charred, had given him new skills and honed old ones. One hit was all it took as the two large weapons chopped back and forth into the mass of ghouls swarming him. Their claws couldn't penetrate his hull, and their poison was useless if they couldn't break his skin.
Ozzy was breathing hard as he finished killing the dozen undead. Strike Undead drained 300 stamina with each swing. He had burned 20% of his stamina and 10% of his mana by going all out and testing his new abilities. It was something he had to be careful with in a long battle. But not here, and not today. Nothing else stirred in Hungrytown.
Mama Laveau invites you to come sit with her and enjoy a cup of coffee some morning. She'd like to meet you.
That message surprised him. Coffee? And then he could smell it. A rich, dark roasted blend with a hint of chicory. He'd missed the smell of coffee, and wouldn't that would taste good on a foggy morning?
"I'll be by some morning, soon. I have to welcome some new people to the town today." He couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard soft laughter on the wind.