[LPF]A Merchant in Need of Assistance

[Mahorfeus]

OOC: Ouch, nasty looking Diplomacy roll! I think I'll stay out of that one. Let's see where this goes...

Amongst the noisy banter typical of any social dwelling place, Bozzago heard a single remark that seemed surprisingly relevant, instantly piquing his interest. Spotting the one that had spoke, the Tengu realized that two of his companions had heard him as well, and that they were now speaking to him. Preferring to avoid social confrontations, Bozzago opted to stay out of the way, watching the two men from afar. He would watch the way they responded to his allies' words, seeing if perhaps their actions betrayed what their words would not.

 

[sunshadow21]

The younger man, the gentleman who made the comment, scowls at you as you walk up and address him, "What do you care? You can dry off, continue on, and forget about this god forsaken road. Meanwhile, there will be those of us left behind to tend the grave." He clearly is rather disillusioned about his lot in life, and continues on to complain about everything from the weather to the authorities in Venza who refuse to maintain the road or encourage trade to his neighbor's cow who keeps breaking into his field and eating the wheat. He continues on for about 5 minutes on this vein until his father finally chimes in, "Quit your bellyaching; neither these travelers, nor any of the other travelers here want to hear your complaints. For that matter, I doubt many of the locals do either. Old Man Johnson's son took the easy way out 25 years ago, and last we heard about him was that he was a drunken sot relying on the mercy of those who take care of him in order to prevent his father's memory any further disgrace. If you want to end up like that, be my guest, but don't expect any handouts from me or my friends; my memory will do just fine irregardless of what you do." Having thoroughly chastised his grown son in public, something that didn't seem to phase him a bit, he turns to you, "You'll have to forgive my son and his fellow complainers. They know nothing about what this road once was and could easily be again, so they whine and moan at the slightest setback, forgetting that this road has seen worse and recovered time and time again." At this rebuke, the son recovers his backbone and proceeds to light up an argument with his father that quickly spreads to all of the locals as all of them seem to vent a lot of pent up frustration at once. Git Git, sitting at the bar, you see Eldrick sigh as he is subjected to yet another local tirade about local affairs. The travelers all gather together in a corner, trying to use each other as shields as they are both terrified and morbidly curious as to the conditions that could set off an entire room so quickly. Only the older man, and a few others, stay quiet during the whole thing. It is clear to all that life in this region is not going well. The argument only ends when Shortbottom stands up and says, "I am in agreement with Tamric; there is enough hot air in this place to keep everyone's homes warm the entire winter. How about all you whiners get off your butts, and do something productive with your energy?" With those words and solid "You will rebuild and move on, and you will like it" looks from the old timers in the room, about a dozen men, including Tamric's son, finally get up and follow Shortbottom out the door to begin rebuilding the bridge. Those who remain fall silent as they lose themselves in their thoughts. Eldrick looks up briefly as they leave, plainly relieved at the diversion of their energies.

OOC: You may attempt Diplomacy rolls again if you wish, though the DC will be higher this time to reflect the moods of the locals.

 

[galahad0430]

Gregori turns to Tamric and says,

"I do not wish to cause trouble, but I still would like to know about the merchant that preceded us. We are very interested in reopening this route and would be willing to invest some resources towards such if it turns out to be profitable. I am also sure that the dam could have an 'accident' if it is a problem."

Just this amount of diplomacy seems to tax Gregori's patience and abilities.

OOC: I was going to hope for any extra bonus for offering to expend resources and get rid of the dam, but with that roll i guess it doesn't matter

 

[sunshadow21]

Tamric seems completely lost in his thoughts, and doesn't hear a word of what Gregori says.

OOC: Nice attempt with the dam thing, it might work better on someone else who hasn't just had his grown son start a tavern wide argument. It's a creative enough idea, that I'll just pretend that roll never happened, at least as far as anybody other than Tamric is concerned.

 

[galahad0430]

Gregori whispers to the others, "Maybe one of you should approach the innkeeper and make the same offer. I tend to annoy people more often than not."

 

[Vistarius]

Git git will stay out of the argument for the moment and request a mug of ale with a small bit of gold. Hell offer the barkwep a sympathetic look and shake his head slowly.

"i cant pretend to know your troubles here. But ive seen some things on my travels that have caused me concern, and it seems like this is another place of such trouble. Men like these are good men, but life hasnt always shown them mercy. My friends are not clever nor eloquent speakers, neither am i. I however speak with truth when i say we wish to help for no profit from your pockets. We have interest in knowing what happened to the previous merchant and what could be done to reopen the road."
hell pause for a moment and take a drink from the mug.
"no man works for free, but our cost comes from others who would benefit from the road opening, just as you would".

[sblock=ooc]ill make a diplomacy roll, and request he make a sense motive to know im telling the truth since i am. [/sblock]

 

[sunshadow21]

Between your coin and your sympathetic ear, he is willing to look up and see where conversation goes, though he probably isn't completely ready to open up just yet.

 

[sunshadow21]

"The locals just be blowing off steam, as is their want every now and again. If your friends hadn't set it off, one of the other travelers would have. The trouble here are deep, but not as deep as some would make them; it's just hard for many of these folks to see the silver lining when all they have ever seen is the bottom of the cloud." He speaks quietly, but behind the tired face, it is possible to see a spark of life that refuses to quit, "The nobles and the rich with their country enclaves just pass over the road, never leaving their carriages to see what this road is becoming, and thus their hunting grounds and manor houses become even more isolated with each passing trip they make. From what I have been told, the last major land owner to care died a quarter century ago; from the stories I have heard, it is too bad, this road needs a good guardian."

 

[Bertious]

"This one would honestly like to know if he could help. He likes to travel and clear roads make for good journeys. This one also has a merchant friend who had trouble on this road and he would like to help him too! Awwk!"

OOC: Cethyn will attempt to convey honesty here (he is being honest look at his domain ) but his grasp of common probably doesn't help.

 

[Bertious]

OOC: Wow we are terrible at diplomacy!