The reaction made Jack feel bad. He did not like the way this poor girl had responded.
Listen-- uh... Yeah, he dropped a few hints.. But hear an ol' man out 'ere... he said, leaning gently on the counter, and giving Mama a head rub. Silk ain't cheap. Uh Knows it ain't free ta just give the stuff away-- Uh, I means-- It's expensive in o'ter ways; Spiders'es eats all 'er webs af'er they get too ragged ta use no more- Hard on em ta lose the silk-- But ye gots a village making food an' such 'ere. Dont rightly need the silk. So, just sell it-- Spin it up inta fine thread, put it on bobbins an' such-- Dye it purdy colors. When de peddlers show up, sell em some spools. If dere's a weaver in town, sell em a few too-- Ain't no finer thread an' silk, an' spider silk's strong'r 'an that o'ter stuff. Hell--- If ye just in a bind, sell it as rope! Cain't get better cordage. Lots a adventurers aroun' right now-- If ye caint make rope, jus' ask--- It's makin the cordage as takes forever, not the twistin.
Jack knelt down to the floor, and burried half his face in mama's neck, nuzzled on her and did his best to make the purring sound at her, then stood back up again and faced the woman behind the desk once more.
.... An' don' let nobody tell ye, ye ain't purdy. No man as caint see it, ain't worth ya time. Ne'er forget it.
Jack fumbled in his bag, and pulled out 15 gold pieces, and sat it on the counter.
It ain't much, but is' what I keen afford. Let muh know ifn' ye need anythin. Mama an Me's gonna set up as best we can, far side a town-- passed de inn. Ain't gonna be no fancy house, but it'll do. Stop in an' say ello some time. I'll twist some fine rope fer ye.
And with that, the old man and the bear waddle out the door, books in tow.
---
He cursed himself a little for his shameless charity, but it wasn't like books --and the materials to keep them whole-- were cheap. He could totally understand why she needed to try and get money whenever and wherever she could-- but he needed his money too, and for the same reasons. Everyone's got to eat.
He stopped by the apothecary, which seemed to serve as the general goods store as well, and picked up the rest of his purchase from the day before, then headed back toward the spot he had selected to make his temporary lodging on. As he passed the inn along the way, mama grabbed him by the seat of his trousers, and agitatedly nudged on him to get his attention. Apparently, a scent not unlike advanced decay-- human decay-- was coming from there. Jack did not like the implications, worried that maybe one of the plant-creatures had come to town while he was out shopping and was causing chaos for the inn keeper. Man was actually allright, once you got past his endless reserves of worry and fixation with keeping his establishment in top shape.
Cautiously, he headed for the front door and gave it a knock. He hoped it wasn't what he thought it was, though what else could produce a reek of advanced human decay he could not fathom-- Not from an Inn anyhow. He hoped the knock would get answered.
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Topic: Mystville [Game Thread] (Read 120327 times)