(This is a continuation of this post.)
As the sun rises over Jastrey, The Shady Corner now stands completed and a bit larger than before. Sturdy wooden walls standing upon a stone base hold the establishment and flower boxes are placed beneath every window. The door handles have been replaced by faucets. The kitchen is much larger, cleaner, and very metallic in appearance. A warm fire glows and crackles in the fireplace. The benches and tables that were lost in the fire are now firmly planted in organized rows along a pristine wooden floor. A welcome mat is displayed in the entrance of the doorway.
Across the path, two very large buildings stand where there was once an open ground. Both wooden with stone foundations, two signs stand outside the entrances. They read "Hopsicle" and "In." There are welcome mats in both entrances, faucets for door handles, and flower boxes at each window. The doors both stand open.
"Evening Madam Navarian," Galdor called to the warlock as he approached the tavern. The elf walked through the door and made a beeline to the back corner where he could site with his back to the wall. From his cloak he produced a flask of his muscadine juice and sat in content silence.
Riddles can be seen sprinting up to the "Hopsicle" with his leather doctor's bag, wrench, and hammer in hand. He takes out a few metal letters from his bag, as more jingle in his doctor's bag. He quickly scampers up to the sign and changes the title "Hopsicle" to "Jasterian Hospital of Istensia". He runs through the door, and hangs a sign in the window: 'The Doctor is In'. He then proceeds to run around the newly reclaimed Hospital of Istensia, and makes little burrows outside, in an attempt to mark his territory. A new gleaming top hat can be seen on his head. He scampers back into JHI (Jasterian Hospital of Istensia) and looks for an office for himself. He finds the largest office, sees it furnished and empty, and jumps, explaining "Horray! I have a Hospital to run again!" he starts etching little letters into a piece of metal. When he finishes, he nails it to the wall of the office. The sign says "CEO Mr. Dr. Riddles Shadowlark Sir Esquire, Tinkering Knight of the Seelie Courts, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jasterian Hospital of Istensia". He immediately sits down at the wooden desk in the office, and starts drafting JHI Charity projects, and billing reports. He drafts hiring policies, and wanted ads. He would need more healers to be able to successfully run a hospital.
Having been notified of the developments going on in town, Gaius flies into the new, stylish part of town. "An inn, eh? Sounds like someone needs to take care of people. No one ever stops by the monastery for a good ol' dose of hospitality, so maybe I can do a better job of helping people here. But first..."
Gaius corrects the sign to read "Inn" and heads inside. Looking around, he claims an empty office near the entrance and heads inside. He hangs a little sign on the door that reads, Sir Gaius, Knight of the Winged Fist, Manager. He gets to work, drafting up various papers, then flies across the road to the hospital, where he searches for his business partner, to begin discussions on their new businesses.
The sound of 1,000 tiny hammers can be quietly heard on the rush of the winds. The sign in the window for the Doctor has crashed to the floor and shattered into tiny kindling pieces. The sign in front of the hospital now reads H-O-S-P-I-T-A-L!" and the sign hanging in the office drops suddenly to the floor; the words "NAGNOMES CONSTRUCTION OFFICES" can be seen firmly engraved in the wall in quite large lettering.
In the office of the inn, the sign crashes to the floor in the same fashion as the words "NAGNOMES CONSTRUCTION OFFICES" appears.
The sound of water can be heard from the tavern. There now stands a very large tap in the center of the roof. From the tap, an everflowing stream of ale billows into a pooled fountain to the side of The Shady Corner.
Zwey grabs the tongue of the his wagon, and starts to push it back to the Crimson Quarter. "No need for this now."
He returns some time later, to inspect the buildings. The fountain of ale brings him some small measure of dismay, for now he will have no test subjects. Zwey sits at a vacant table, pulls out his sword, and proceeds to sharpen it. His generally conteneted face is twised with a frown that starts on his brow and continues to his frustrated frown. At one point, he stands, rips a disembodied head from his belt, and slams it to the ground. He then impales the head with the tip of his bastard sword, and flings it out a window. He sits again looking even more discontented than before.
Riddles picks up his weaponsmiths hammer, and the engraved metal sign, and hammers it back up to the wall on the door outside of 'his' office. He picks up his wrench, and starts using it to slather some spare spackle and paint into the engraved words on the walls. "Damn Nagnomes" he says loudly. He paints some of the wall a bit extra, and then thinks to himself "These dang little twerps keep messing things up. Beautiful Hospital, but terrible spelling. Who do they think will be running this Hospital?"
He goes back outside and puts back up the sign: "Jasterian Hospital of Istensia"
He adds another sign next to the first. It reads as such:
"Ground Floor: Emergency Tinkering and Reception.
Second Floor: Surgery, Cardiotinkering, Neurotinkering.
Third Floor: Healing and The School of Prime Healing
Top Floor: Offices."
A slight bit of space can be seen at the bottom of the sign.
He stomps back into the Hospital, cursing about cogs and malfunctioning twerpish Nagnomes, and ignores the shattered "Doctor is IN" sign. He curses and says something about "they will figure it out on their own". He goes back to sit down at 'his' desk.
Cail removes his hood as he comes within visual range of the newly resurrected Tavern and it's counterparts. He pauses a moment before walking onwards toward the buildings as he sees the Warlock. He passes by her relatively closely, about an arms length, but says nothing.
Entering the Tavern, he see's Zwey toss a head out of the window and shakes his head with a slight smirk on his face.
"Such a temper you have, Zwey. It might be best for someone of your... large stature to throw your fits OUTside of this brand new establishment."
Cail looks around, up to the rafters, to the fireplace, and towards the kitchen, and spoke again. "Very nice work, men," he said to both the Angori and the Elf. "It looks quite sturdy and cozy, if I might add."
"The head had it coming, and I didnt break anything," Zwey looks at the table, "or make a mess." Zwey starts to grin, but his eyes flick in the direction in which he threw the head, and the look of irritation returns. "Laugh while you can, you'll be proven wrong yet." says Zwey to no one in particular. A great sigh escapes the bellows that are the large angori's lungs, as he sheathes his weapon and goes to retrieve the head.
Akon stood just as calm and still in the center of the new buildings and the hustle and bustle that seemed to come along with them. She nodded slightly as Galdor passed, her sensative ears finding the sound of tiny harmers harsh as it met them repeatedly. Only her eyes shifted slightly towards where Cail walked as his foot steps neared her, but she did not turn to face him. "Mn...." She barely made a sound as she continued to quietly observe the changes in town, before turning to take her silent leave once more, eyeballing the head as it flew out of the tavern. Her eyes settled on it a moment, and a slight movement of her fingers and lips issued at its sight, as she continued her walk out of the town's boundaries once more.
As Zwey steps out of the tavern, and his his head snaps towards the head, and a mask of fear sticks to his face. "Dont you dar...." is all that is heard before Zwey sprints to the head, grabs it in one hand, and starts after Akon briskly, fury all but apparent in his posture.
Akon continued on her way out of town, eyes catching the word "Morgue" suddenly appear, ears still harassed by the sound of small hammers, and eyes looking for its source. She mumbled to herself, rubbing at her temples as she made her way to the outskirts, not seeming to pay Zwey any mind.
Slipping through the side door of the tavern, Katerina Cassitran picks a shaded, quiet corner to sit down. She pulls out a small leather bound book and a quill and ink and begins to write, occasionally glancing up to observe the new building's inhabitants. She had taken brief note of the two new buildings before she had entered, but had expressed little interest in much more than coming to the rebuilt Shady Corners and setting about to scribbling in her book while drinking a cool mug of water.
Delvin wandered out of the woods with a bit of a skip to his step, a jaunty little tune being whistled as he walked. He eyed Akon, who at this point was walking towards him on her way out of town, and offered a slight "Tsk tsk" as she walked near him. "Either you've gotten into Jael's secret stash of hard liquor or you're comming down with something my somewhat decrepit and far too morbid friend". He offered her that warm smile of his, " A little hair of the dog?" he'd ask, offering up the wineskin that hung at his side.
Delvin offered a passing glance towards Zwey as he charged in a rage towards the two of them, and in response his head tilted slightly to the side in obvious confusion. It was only then that he noticed the new buildings that had sprouted up around town, curious quirk of the brow being offered. "my my, seems Jastrey has gotten fancy in my absence!" a subtle laugh escaped his lips before he turned once more towards Akon, his gaze carried with it a hint of concern though he'd speak no more on the subject.
Delvin's attention turned once more to the new buildings, watching as the words "THE MORGUE" carved themselves into the sign. He wracked his brain trying to place that unfamiliar word, "Morgue". He rapped a finger against his chin and tapped his foot as he slipped into thought, "ah yes, a place for the dead!" he exclaimed to no one in particular, "Perhaps whatever built these buildings are issuing warnings, have any similar instances of this sprung up?" he'd inquire of both Akon and Zwey, despite Zwey's obvious fury.
As the words "The Morgue" are inspected closser, what appears to be a swarm of tiny, insect sized gnomes in hard pointy hats can be seen zipping through the wood. There are well over one thousand of them. They each carry a hammer in one hand and a wrench in the other.
At the gates leading into the center of town, the statues of Haven Melrose and Thalenir Lestral are standing where they once stood. Haven is posed beautifully with a flowing gown and detailed feathers. Thalenir is naked, save for a daydrinker leaf, and appears to be running from something unknown.
Akon took the offered wine skin, placing it to her lips before returning it to him. "Thank you." She added with a nod.
As her eyes caught the small figures she frowned in a studious manner, choosing then to divert her course out of town towards them. "Mn... tiny creatures... how curious. Definitely gnomish." She remarked to no one in particular. At that she gently raised a hand towards them, offering a place to perhaps land. "Greetings fair hat wearers. And thank you for your aid in rebuilding our town. I dare say you've made quite a few improvements. Some of the best I've seen in the years I have resided here..." She seemed more curious than anything as she attempted conversation, batlike ears tuned in attempt to pick up any response.
As Akon continues speaking to the nagnomes, a very sturdy, stone-like flower pot develops with lightning speed around her feet and shins. Tulips, roses, and daisies sprout from the earth within the pot. The words "Pit Pot! Welcome Home!" can be read on the outside edges of the flower pot.
Katri pauses in her writings and returns Cael's nod, before peering curiously out open doors of the tavern just in time to see the appearance of a stone pot and flowers around Akon. She gave a slight shake of her head. It was just better not to ask, she had decided, when it came to Jastrey.
The immense irritation that Zwey had been experiencing evaporated. This laugh, it started in his belly and built with such force that when it left his mouth he felt the need to bend over and brace himself on his knees. He makes his way (as best he can) laughing over to the head, picks it up, and crams it into a burlap sack. Zwey walks over to Akon, to see if she needs help escaping the flowers.
Akon smirked and chuffed a bit, the tips of her lips smirking in amusement as she looked down to the flowers now up to her shins. "That is one of the most pleasant experiences I have had of late...." She smirked again slightly, hints of amusement spread across her gaunt features as she looked to those around her.
Riddles looked out his window to see a Uordeq stuck in a flower pot, smiling. He shakes his head. Drills and Cogs and Hospitals had been driven out of his mind by something else. Riddles may have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the avalancher outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting, still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of the gravel road, watching all these events unfold, meowing.
"Funny stuff on the post" Mr. Riddles mumbled to himself. "Nagnomes, mysterious buildings ... and there were a lot of funny looking people in town today" he says, as he motions towards the Uordeq. He pauses for a moment, and realized he was talking to himself. He really would need to get more people to help run the hospital. Maybe a nice apothecary, alchemist, and maybe a few other types of healers, magical and mug-hic- non magical alike.
Delvin eyed the flower pot with a curious little smirk, "Hrm, never quite pictured you as a day lilly, Akon, though I do recall Jael mentioning something about your tulips. Not sure he had this in mind though". He knelt low to investigate the Nagnomes himself, curious little buggers they were. "Far be it from me to go looking a gift horse in the mouth, or building in this case, but be ye friend or foe?". He'd addressed them softly as to not hurt their tiny little ears if indeed that would be an issue.
Zwey had been coming out of his laughing fit, but the elf's comment. "Oh by the Immortals, what is air?" Zwey has to take a knee, to balance, so that he does not fall over with laughter. He stands, and drapes a heavy arm of the shoulder of the elf, "Thank you sir, I needed a good laugh. Tulips, I will never look at them innocently again." He snorts as he thinks about it again, holding the laughter back. "If you will excuse me, I think this," He holds up the burlap sack with the head in it, "has caused business to attend to."
Akon looked at the merriment about her, smirking as well, seeming all in all good humored herself, despite the always present drape over her emotions. "Either I'm missing something or that was a very bad pun, sir." She smirked, looking over Delvin, then chuckled. In a moment, her figure was gone...and then appeared right beside of Delvin, now quite firmly out of her flower-pot. "They are curious creatures. I'm fairly well versed in the inhabitants of our planes, but have scarce but heard mention of these diminutive gnomes. They seem helpful enough." She said, looking around at all of the improvements in town. "More infastructure than I had hoped would be imaginable for this place in quite sometime..." Akon seemed to ponder over her own thoughts for a moment at that. "Perhaps they coudl make this place more defensible?" She knelt down to the flowers then. "What say you? Do you think it possible for your fine hatted folk to build defenses around the city wall?"
As Akon finishes speaking, a somewhat loud buzzing can be heard. Bits of dirt and chunks of flower fly out of the pot loosely, covering Akon as a swarm of nagnomes zip in different directions.
In a swarm of colors and to the sound of tiny hammers and chants, a completed row of cannons stands outside each wall. There are two cannons pointing into Jastrey from every wall.
Outside every cabin, there is a stone plate at the steps leading into each cabin, and several more of these stone plates can be seen by venturing down any of the paths into town.
Galdor walks out of the tavern to see what everyone was laughing about and notices the walls now surrounding the city. Shortly after, he notices the cannons, and a slightly irritated look spreads across his face. "How is that supposed to defend Jastrey?" the elf said.
Cail follows Galdor out of the building at the sound of all the commotion outside just in time to see the latest product of the Nagnomes. He stops short of the group and looks onward to the cannons with a furrowed brow and a frown on his face.
"Far be it from me to even touch upon gnome craftsmanship, or whatever you call it, but perhaps those aren't meant to protect us. Who is to say that these little... gnomes are here to help at all? Has anyone ever seen one of their kind before?"
Akon rose from her bent posture, watching the proceedings take place. "Mn....they can still be used to our benefit. You are right however, we do not know if they are friend or foe. But I think observation first always serves well before action. Besides, even if they are foe, at least we now have some nice infastructure left behind once we obliterate every last one of them should they choose to be hostile..." She shot a wry smirk towards Cail at that, cool red eyes flickering slightly with hellfire's heat.
Katerina rose and closed her book, stowing it, the ink and her quill. She strode out the door of the tavern and leaned on the rail outside. She observed all the signs, as well as the cannons and plates that had appeared and sighed a little. She spoke quietly, sounding as if she half spoke to herself,"Well, this is lovely. Nothing here ever will come around easily will it? I wonder... if they can even speak at all..."
Her dark eyes, now shot through with violet even more, followed the little gnomish creatures- once she looked hard enough to see what was creating the commotion. Her attention briefly turned to the pot that had held Akon and the flowers as she took a better look at the work she had scarcely given a glance before. She couldn't help but smirk a little as she read the words "Pit Pot." At least the little gnomeling things had a sense of humor.
Delvin clucked his tongue at the site of the inward facing cannons and slowly shook his head. Off he wandered towards a more isolated portion of town, careful of those stone plates that had emerged. When he'd found a plate in a position where no one else would be endangered he slammed his foot down hard atop it. This action was swift and he ran behind a nearby tree to avoid what he feared would happen, closing his eyes and listening for an explosion and the distinct whistle of a falling cannonball.
Lots of chatter can be heard but mostly from Sciten's ranting about lots of hammers hurting her ears and 1 like me in a flower pot. As i get closer into town i do notice the sound of an army of hammers and Sheriff lady with a flower pot. I look around and notice 2 new buildings, a wall, lots and lots of stones, and cannons. 1 in particular following a rather horny fellow as if it was targeting him. Looks toward his furry companion "See. This is why I don't touch stuff that looks odd and possibly bad for your health." He heads inside the tavern to see who all is in there and to get something for him and her.
Akon rose a brow, watching as the cannon followed the Angori around like a lost puppy....or a hawk..which ever suits your fancy. "Mn...that could be..problematic..." She said under her breath, narrowing her eyes on the cannon and its movements, walking towards Zwey, but staying at a slight distance.
Chataya walks into town, notices all the changes, and drops her basket in shock. If anyone were standing near her, they would hear mumbled, confused rhetorical questions. "A hospital? That makes no sense. An inn? What in the name of Istensia? Cannons? What?" After getting over her initial shock, she picks up her basket, and walks closer to the people standing around. Addressing no one in particular, she loudly asks, "What in the world is going on here? Who is attacking us? Who did this?"
Akon looked to Chataya, answering calmly. "Diminutive gnomes it appears. My memory seems to believe there is a technical term for them, but never had much reason to study such creatures. Small, productive, and gnat like would be the best description I could provide." She smirked a bit. "Friend or foe...or perhaps confused? That is the question that we are determining. I think the larger question is why are they suddenly here? And suddenly building things? However, I must admit the infrastructure should deem useful to us." She got that dark glint in her eye again. "One way or another."
Chataya acknowledged Akon's response with a nod. "I don't trust this. I don't understand what is going on. Why are the cannons pointed in? To help kill monsters that are attacking our town? Wouldn't it be better to use them to keep monsters out? I can't think of any good these can bring, built the way they are." She clutched her basket, and looked around anxiously.
Galdor stood back and leaned against the side of the tavern. "Somebody should probably get that angori down before he gets himself or somebody else hurt." Even though one could not see his eyes, they were carefully scanning the area, noting all the stone slabs in front of the cabins and watching the cannons trained on the angori.
Once inside the Tavern he scans the inside and in awe at he remodel done since he was last here. after a few mins he heads back out with some water for him and Sciten and begins to joke about the new *defense system* "I've seen defense systems before but this is ridicously over kill. What do you think Sciten hun? Ever seen this much ammo and odd looking things to *protect* such a small town?" He finds a spot outside the tavern and sits down against the wall. Hood down as he watches the townies go about.
A bucket of water appears to pour out of the side wall of the tavern directly in to Morzoth's hands.
As this happens, the following statement can be read, as it's been etched into the wall:
We, the Nagnomes, hereby mentioned as the party of the first party, wish to inhabit the town known as Jastrey, hereby known as the town occupied by the party of the second party, that you currently inhabit. You adventurers, hereby known as squatters, are welcome to stay pending you meet the following demands:
The party of the first party demands recompense for the continued restoration and beautification efforts due to the neglect and malignant nature of the squatters to the sum of 3 silver each.
Furthermore the party of the first party wishes the squatters of the town of the party of the second party offer tribute to the party of the first party in the form of a party in which the party of the first party can party. The squatters must accept responsibility of the party, and the party of the second party, namely the squatters must clean up after the party.
The party of the first party also politely suggests that the party of the second party please place a daily allotment of 1 silver each on all collection plates seen through the town now inhabited by the party of the first party as payment for the defense of the party of the first party now inhabiting the party of the second party.
Lastly, the party of the first party requests that the party of the second party please be silent between the hours of sun-up to sun-up. The party of the first party requires absolute concentration to maintain the party of the first party’s master craftsmen level.
…And a helicopter.
Katri gave an indignant snort as she read the message etching itself into the wall, "What in the Pit is this double talking drivel? A helicopter? The fuck is that?"
She stared at the message from the shade of her hood, eyes glinting deep brown and violet behind her mask. Her gaze followed several of these Nagnome creatures and narrowed. "Anyone have a repellent potion of some kind for these insects? I'd hate to have to step on the lot of them one by one. It might get dull rather quickly... Excellent architecture and and infrastructure aside, I don't believe I'll be part of paying tribute to, throwing parties for, or remaining silent by the demands of a bunch of gnats."
Galdor pushed himself off the wall to read the message the nagnomes had left. "I refuse to be enslaved by termites," the elf said as he spit on the ground in the messages direction. "And what exsctly is going to make us pay these vermin in the first place?" Galdor turned away, heading towards the town gate, heading back to his tree home.
Akon smirked, reading the text. 'I haven't seen that much legalese since I read over the marriage document of an Uordeq lord...." She seemed to be up to a bit of mischief..but then again, when didn't she seem so? She walked casually up to the wall, calling to the nanognomes as they finished their work on the script. Yet sincerely and calmly she spoke now. "I would like to start my payment early. However, I am incredibly impressed with the work you have done, and would like to thank the mastermind behind all of this personally. I have never seen such a level of craftsmanship, and would like to give him both my verbal praise, and a gift.." She flickers a golden coin up between her fingertips. "Of gratitude." She then quickly flickered said coin to hide once again in the fold of her robes. "Where might this aweworthy fellow be located?"
Richter takes a look at the construction newly lying in the city. He kicks a building or two, shakes the panels of each building a couple times and hits the floorboards hard with his shield. Looking at the surrounding walls and cannons atop, he calmly starts to head back into the forest, muttering, "This all could have been engineered and designed a lot more efficiently... Serious quality was sacrificed for their speed."
As Galdor begins to walk away, a loud clanking sound of metal can be heard. A large jail cell erects from the ground, completely encasing him. A large stone and a pickaxe sit in the cell, along with a note reading:
"We, the party of the first party will be called no such thing as vermin and termite. We shall release the squatter of the party of the second party after this stone has been broken into teensy-tinsy pieces. Be warned that the party of the first party are watching the squatter of the party of the second party as he detracts attention away from the party of the party of the first party's party being thrown by the party of the second party. Good day, squatter."
Katerina chuckled quietly at the spontaneous jail cell around Galdor, hopping up to sit on the rail she had been leaning on. She let the leg on the outside dangle and tucked the other one close to her body, resting her arms around it and her chin on her knee. "Interesting development. Forceful little bugs, aren't they?"
Galdor stood in place, eyeing the cage that seemed to almost appear around him. Without saying a word, the elf promptly sits on the rock and makes himself comfortable. "As I said. I will not be made a slave." He pulled his bottle from his cloak and took a small sip of his blackberry juice. An idea crossed Galdor's mind. He reached in his pouch, pulling his lucky coin and setting it in his hand. As he whispered his request, he watches the coin spin in the air, and hitting the ground with negative results.
Raktilvenaesiix walks up to the newly built Shady Corner. All of the commotion had woken him from and he was curious to see what was going on.
The sight of it all surprised him. Though, he was glad to see the charred remains gone. It was a rather morbid place to awaken and he definitely did not want to see it everyday. Regardless, the general area of the tavern still reminded him of his past, or rather lack of a memory thereof. He quickly shook off the thought and proceeded to further inspect everything.
The two new buildings were a nice addition to what he imagined the tavern looked like before, but the canons made him feel a bit uneasy. Why put down defenses but then point them in? Did the master mind of this plan to blow intruders away after they had breached?
Walking around a tad more, he saw the message on the wall. All of it was just Ixifar scratch as far as he was concerned. Unable to decipher it, he walked away without caring to ask anyone. He already knew how it would most likely turn out.
He then proceeded to walk up to the tavern, ready to drown out the day.
Tregard Maynard enters town through the gate closest to the mines. The gnome absently walks around, head buried in a book. The bard stops abruptly and looks up.
"What is that incessant noise" he says and gasps as a nagnome flutters in his face. "Tensia's tits!Nagnomes!" Seeing the note on the tavern wall, Tregard hurries over.
"Hmmm, they left some loopholes to be exploited. No mention of a third party to witness contract.. As long as no one has paid them...." Tregard trails off as he sees the nagnome grab the coin from Akon's hands and the celebration that succeeds it.
"Merde," the gnome whimpers
Sightings of the warlock had been sparce of late, rarely seen in the woods around the town, or occasionally amongst the dead in the graveyard on the outter skirts of town. Having heard the ceasing of labor in the center of town, she ventured towards the center where the Shady Corners now stood once again. "...ever the pheonix..." She said quietly to herself, hood drawn up against the sun's rays.
She looked then towards the two new buildings, eyeing the curious spellings of the words upon their entrance signs. As her visage raised, the harsh light of the sun caught the almost sickly white color of her flesh, in her hand she rubbed stalks of fresh picked herbs between her fingers and thumb, thinking quiely to herself as she viewed the new surroundings. "Mn..."