[Vanguard] Book 1 - Chapter 4.6: Other Travelers

[Linwelin]

Eydis takes a deep breath, then clenches her teeth, a vein popping as she assumes a persona familiar to some of the group.

"OI! YA RUNTS! QUIT YER WRESTLIN'!" Eydis shouted out in fury, fed up with the infantile handling of the situation, so much so that she slipped into the dwarven accent .

"Yuki! We're already getting a generous offer to help, demanding 50 percent more just because the situation's changed...you're practically blackmailing. Do you think Thalia would be proud right now!?" Eydis scolded.

"And you! -Stay where you are, sunshine." Eydis motions to Lars, before quickly pointing and shouting to Rota to cause her to pause, then goes back to shouting at the merchant. "You! We would have appreciated mention of this disease earlier. Hiding this information has endangered all of us! Does it look like we're prepared to enter into a contaminated area!? I hope you're prepared to use some of those potions for us to survive with due to your greed-inspired incompetence. No need to increase pay, just treat us like a team instead of using us for your profit. If you don't agree to that, then I hope you fancy going in alone, because our lives aren't worth that risk." Eydis ranted on.

Intimidate for the stopping the fight, diplomacy for speaking reason.

Intimidate:  1d20 : 13, total 13

Diplomacy:  1d20+1 : 20 + 1, total 21

[Throndir]

Eydis' Intimidate (influence attitude): 13 & Diplomacy (make request): 21
Rota seemed cowed a bit, perhaps partly due to the fact that she had lost her weapon just moments ago, but she seemed to cower almost instinctively when you spoke, maybe due to the fact of your heritage as a dark elf. As for Jars, he wasn't as swayed as much, who still glared at Yuki, even though both were prone.

However, they both at least stopped trying to actively pull out anymore weapons, and at least for the moment were at a stalemate.

72 miles from Pyletus Village
Day 4 - Early Afternoon

"Reports are sometimes exaggerated, especially for claims from Rakia! There was no sense to cause undue worry for something that might not have been verified!" Jars said angrily back. "For all we truly know, perhaps they wanted to amass potions for other reasons. Next, the potions we brought with us are the goods, we can't simply sell or use parts of it it will be a breach of the original sale! Lastly, disease removal potions are quite expensive, so we only brought the basic healing potions with us. Rota may be able to make more with enough time, but not to quality and rank to our most skilled mixers in Orario. It's not likely we'll be using them, anyways!"

"10 million is a large sum, with only a few hours left in the journey, I'm almost inclined to take your offer! Then wait for the next set of travelers! Do you really not want to be paid for perhaps the easiest job you'll ever encounter in your life?" Jars said evenly.

Assuming out of combat, unless anyone plans to keep doing actions, then I'll need to break up the dialogue above.

[pringerbeam]

     Yuki laid on her back huffing from the tussle for a second before pulling her kimono back on.  "I would like to remind my familia members that we have an actual mission that requires we don't die of dysentery so whatever we get paid has to be worth it if we're going out on an increasingly treacherous limb just so some other familia can make some cash off our efforts."  She said as she sat up and crossed her legs into a relaxed sitting position.

[Linwelin]

"As Yuki says. Well, almost." Eydis says, calming her rage a little now that combat seemed to no longer be a threat. "We have a mission of our own, and the most important thing is not that we make a profit, but that we not take a loss from our current situation. And most importantly, that we don't die!"

"Jars, you're too excited by profit to start considering that maybe this won't be so easy. I'm not asking that we ruin our venture, but that we approach it safely, and not at this break-neck pace. Especially when we're so close. You've already explored the 'what if' for those...things not being related to Rakia. But have you truly prepared yourself for the case that we walk right into a town full of them? What if that's the disease they needed the potions for? What if the closer we get to town, the denser the packs of those things get?" Eydis said, posing her argument for caution to the group in a genuine tone.

"As you said, the money we gain from this, even our part, is huge. Let's make sure we live to make it. Or in the case that it can no longer be made when we arrive, let's make sure that we can get out safely. Agreed?"

[Mysticsage]

Taiga does his best to shrink away at the front of the cart as the giant man had his tail floofed out to double its size as an involuntary reaction to his sister's yelling. It was an old habit ever since he was a child but hearing her yell like that always put him on edge as if he had been caught doing something wrong. He was glad that he had an excuse to be looking forward and to stay out of the conversation.

He did his best to keep his back still so that if anyone looked in his direction they would hopefully look past him. Taiga then took a moment to slip off his shoes so that he could scrunch his toes against the grain of the wood in the flooring of the driver seat. He needed to calm his nerves if anything was to come at them again before this was over.

[Throndir]

 

 

72 miles from Pyletus Village
Day 4 - Early Afternoon

"Of course. It's a simple a town, a few hours left, we'll drop off the goods, take our pay and call it good. We'll probably split at that point as well." Jars said. He eventually made his way back towards his corner, along with Rota who had since collected her weapon.

"There is one more thing then." Jars said cautiously. "It's about the horses and what we've been feeding them to keep them going."

At this Rota stared at Jars, then glanced again at everyone else in the Thalia familia worriedly.

"Wait... wait wait Jars! Before that." Rota said. "How about we first share what we got with them all? So each of us have 2 Rank C healing potions, and 6 Rank E Healing potions for the journey." Rota said as she pulled out a bag, containing some vials.

She proceeded to hand two potions to Yuki, both labeled the same 'Rank E Healing Potion'. "That's for the wound earlier, yeah?"

She handed Eydis a potion next, though a bit hesitantly, and wasn't seem to be willing to meet her eyes. It was also a Rank E Healing potion.

She then handed Sotu a Rank C Healing Potion, and Mimsy a Rank E Healing potion. Lastly, she gave two more Rank E Healing potion to Taiga, leaving her with a single potion herself.

Rota gives:
2 Rank E Healing Potions to Yuki
1 Rank E Healing Potion to Eydis
1 Rank E Healing Potion to Mimsy
1 Rank C Healing Potion to Sotu
2 Rank E Healing Potion to Taiga

Update your own inventories

With that done, Rota went back into her spot, and looked at Jars hopefully, to which Jars eventually pulled out his own bag. But he didn't quite hand them out, only looked at them thoughtfully. Finally he spoke.

"Back to the horses then. I will be paying you all an extra 400,000 vals in total for both of your horses at the arrival of the town." Jars said slowly, as kept an eye on everyone.

[pringerbeam]

     "And what about our final pay for this job?"  Asked Yuki as she pocketed the potions.

[Mysticsage]

"Yuki, sometimes it's best to not push your luck further. Having him pay for the horses in addition to what he has already offered us is enough," Taiga called to the back not wanting this to escalate again to risk it all. "We need friends when we get to the city not a bad reputation."

[Throndir]

 

 

72 miles from Pyletus Village
Day 4 - Early Afternoon

"10 million vals for the safe delivery of the potions, that has not changed." Jars replied steely. "An extra 400,000 vals for both of your horses. It is a given that you will need to buy new horses once we reach town though, thus why the extra 400,000 vals." Jars repeated, ensuring the group understood.

That seemed to be enough of an explanation from Jars, until Rota elbowed him slightly.

"The horses traveling with us now are... they are pretty much already dead." Jars finally admitted. Both members from Dian Cecht familia were tense, and kept a close eye on everyone.

[Linwelin]

Eydis noticed the hesitation, but at this point it was nothing new. Both racial bias and a bit of fear from her outburst a moment ago were at play; the hesitation was expected enough. She simply smiled, took the potion, and replied genuinely. "Thank you, Rota. It's appreciated. Really." Eydis gently deposited the vials into a belt pouch.

"And thank you, Lars. That consideration was all I was looking for. I still have a bad feeling about the town, but no matter the situation, we'll still need to head there."

[pringerbeam]

     "Uh huh, friends. Exactly what I thought when someone kills your horses and risks your life sending you to a plague town without telling you. Friends."  She said with a look at Jars. "Kiss and make up?" Asked Yuki before not even bothering to wait for an answer and pulling Jars's head in for a very long kiss. "Don't worry Jarsy, I know it's just business. You can't fault a girl for trying her best though can you?" She said with a pouty look and arms draped around his shoulders.

[Throndir]

 

 

72 miles from Pyletus Village
Day 4 - Early Afternoon

Jars didn't quite know how to respond, but he couldn't quite look at Yuki in the eye at all. Rota on the other hand gave Yuki a disapproving look, though the elf remained quiet.

"Yes. It's just business." Jars finally said.

RP Excelia
2 steps, Yuki, on increasing rewards
+2 steps, Eydis, in attempted calm
+1 step, Yuki, "just business"
1 -> 3 -> 4

CR 4 split between 5 (Taiga, Mimsy, Yuki, Sotu, Eydis)

[pringerbeam]

     Yuki craned her neck to look at Rota, still hanging onto Jars. "Jealous?" She turned and stepped up to the elf, putting an arm around her waist and bringing her face in close. "There's plenty to go around." Then whispering into her ear.

Spoiler

"I'm sure Jars would like it. Don't worry, I'm not as callous and rough as the dark one over there."

[close]

[Throndir]

72 miles from Pyletus Village
Day 4 - Early Afternoon

"N-no thank you..." Rota said. Just like Jars, she was at a loss of what to say. But she cleared her throat a moment later. "I don't really swing that way..."

[pringerbeam]

     "Well let me know if you change your mind."  Said Yuki with a wink before returning to her seat.