The Manchurian Missive

[Saskia]

HP 100% | MP 100%

Guardian - Cavalier - Brewer

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  Saskia interlocked her fingers as she rested her elbows on the polished cherry wood table. The edges of her soft hair cascades down her neck like a vibrant pink waterfall as she sat, cloaked in a shroud of silver metal. The metal that coated her armor had been finely tempered to resist all manner of damage, which made her the ideal champion for escorting convoys and protecting emissaries from the predators that lurked alongside the coastline and deep within the forest .

This played a useful role in her attracting quality customers for small unit operations that would be worthy of a higher payout. Over time, her capabilities as a swordsman had traveled from ear to ear in whispers and murmurs of good service from the common men and nobles alike. She earned a subtle degree of rapport among the lander citizens and eventually accumulated enough income from guild contracts to the community to expand their reach and renovate a highly secure military establishment known as the Royal Naval Academy.

Having ownership of such a stronghold occupied her mind of opening up an area to invite commerce and trade from the areas nearby and expanding the academy into a more vibrant city-state. It still had quite a long ways to go. Saskia wasn’t sure exactly how she was going to pull all the strings together to make such a large scale operation work, however, she was confident that taking care of things inch by inch was the best way to go.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the subtle creek of a door opened and several nobleman walked out in hushed murmurs. They were like a secret fraternity uphel in a higher echelon society. The way they reacted to each other and engaged in political conversations and snobby banter reminded Saskia so much of home. Her polished family would always indulge in such convoluted fantasies of an elitist mentality.

An uneasy twist of her lips welcomed the man that approached her, adorned in a royal blue garment with a beige plume drifting down from his neck. His eloquent demeanor was complemented by his degree of sophistication as he approached the patient Knight.

“Well, I see you are moving up in this world milady. You surely are far from a untrained squire. To think, a woman of your stature would be off playing the knight in shining armor, rather than enjoying the leisure comforts of enjoying herself as a lady of the land in the comfort of some lord’s home.” He smiled pleasantly as he attempted to make a flattering introduction.

He was a handsome gentleman with rich honey-like hazel hair and emerald jewels for eyes. Whereas Saskia silently enjoyed the eye candy, she decided to keep the meeting strictly professional, especially given that she was already taken.

“Well, I certainly have more ambitious desires than lounging around on a king size bed and being somebodies trophy wife. I suppose you can say I did not really envy those who lived that lifestyle. I’d rather be enjoying the outdoors and having a sense of adventure.” She replied as she reclined back and gazed out the window at the crowd of pedestrians.

It was a busy hour and a lot of people were visiting the lounge they were meeting at to enjoy a warm meal during the lunch hours where a moderate discount was offered on their signature dish.

“Right then, so let’s get down to business shall we?” The alluring man spoke as he retrieved a letter from the inside of his jacket and waved a servant over that came forth with a a cache of goods concealed within a crate.

“Inside this crate is some of the most vintage wine from the vineyards of Lauberge. A nice slice of mediterrean agriculture that is famous for the grandeur of their grapes and the essence of flavor that accompanies their signature taste. It is of utmost importance that this reach the Villa of Marseille further down the Thames Coastline. My daughter is to be married to another lord from the town of Bordeaux. This is to be delivered to her as a token of my blessing to her and her husband, Lord Michael Chevalier. My daughter, Beatrice, will be getting married off tomorrow morning at noon, so it is extremely imperative that the shipment of these goods be expedited to arrive no later than one hour before the wedding banquet. It is up to your discretion whether you wish to move during the day or if you wish to wait until nightfall. It matters not to me as long as the job gets done. ”

Saskia’s eyes fluttered up towards the crate. She frowned at the rather large size of the shipment. She shook her head in disappointment.

“You are aware that the Academy does not yet have a caravan to offer to move these goods. Nor do I have the capabilities of carrying a load like that due to a lack of inventory space. I’m afraid I don’t think I will be of service.”

“But you must! We don’t know anyone else that can handle the woods at night, and we would be mad to trust some common mercenaries to take care of this themselves. The wine itself is valued more than the money we’re offering to ship it. Certainly there must be another way, milady...”

INVENTORY

EQUIPMENT: Valkyria Empress Armor (Lvl. 64)
ABILITIES USED: Quick Swap
Words: 892
Post Theme Song: Jini



TAGS: @rook

template by caesar

[Rook]

A caravan of common mercenaries, and the merchants who hire them was busily unloading vittles. Under the close watch of the quartermasters. Granted, it wasn’t likely they’d make of with the turnips and onions…

Rook examined each crate and recorded it’s transferal in a big caravan ledger. The goods were heavy and while valuable where hardly exciting enough to lure the mercenaries away from their paycheck. Indeed, they became less and less appetizing as the days of turnip and onion soup stacked up. Some of the guards had already become tired of the work and used ‘Call of Home’. That was fine, the caravan leader knew that working with adventurers was like herding cats. As long as he had his stalwarts, his allies he could lose a few without risk.

He wasn’t sure about this new scribe though, there was some… extra strangeness about her. Specifically directed at the onions… but at least she knew her job, and did it well enough.

Rook watched another crate of onions leave the caravan for the mess hall. Another fine batch lost to some unknown hunger, she at least hoped they wouldn’t mince the flavour out of them with the game’s crafting system.

This was the last stop on the journey for most of the cargo, beyond this the caravan would travel down the Thames coast collecting what goods the farmers wished to sell and selling the few tools and luxuries it had for that purpose.

Rook somewhat enjoyed this work... and soup.

---

Skill Used: Scribe*: Transcription
Word Count: 250
Tagged: Saskia

[Saskia]

Saskia strummed on the edge of the pristine wooden table like a virtuoso plucking away at paino keys. She bit the bottom of her lip nervously and heaved a sigh. Her eyes flickered out like a hollow shell of dissapointment.

There were many renovations needed to be made and the loan she received from the bank to be able to afford the guild hall had a fixed interest rate that was growing like a snowball tumbling downhill.

She wasn't even certain if the investment would be worth the funs she allocated to the project of renovating the retired Royal Naval Academy. After reviewing the flood damage and debris and the wreckage of the interior, Saskia was stressed out about the fact that the building might tumble and crack under it's own weight.

Upon reflection, she began to wish she didn't cut corners and hired a professional team of carpenters and master Artisans to inspect the expensive piece of real estate before she tapped into the guild coffers to confirm the purchase.

With great remorse, she shook her head.

"I don't think I'll be able to take up this job with what I currently have access too...I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. "

The lavish looking gentleman paused for a moment before furrowing his brow in an unamused manner.

"How on earth to you run an organization like Vylbrand and not have a proper logistics department ma'dam...do you not realize how much money is in the mass movement of shipment? There is plenty of coin to be made is importing and exporting precious cargo..."

Saskia grimaced as she was being cut by the sharp criticism of a client. She knew she would have to improvise somehow in order to save face.

She wrinkled her nose as she titled her head to gaze out the window. She could hear the bustling streets outside become a lot noise all of a sudden, which made since after all the hearty diligent workers made their stop in town to either go on a lunch break or go home for the day.

Saskia didn't know what they were doing or if they would be to busy to assist, but she decided to muster the courage to go over and approach them.

"Hey...would you excuse me a moment please..?" She asked politely before rising from her seat.

"Certainly...but please, don't keep me waiting too long." The prestigious gentleman replied.

As Saskia walked swiftly outside, she peeked around the corner to gauge anyone of significance standing outside the caravan. She noticed what seemed to be a quartermaster answering questions and complaints from members of his crew.

Apart from the quarter master, another distinguishable individual stood out to her, a brunette woman of small stature. She bore an uncanny resemblance to another client Saskia once had before.

Perhaps she could pull some strings and get a favor for a favor. If the quartermaster trusted her with a bit of light bookkeeping, perhaps she had some rapport with him to get him to help with this job.

Saskia skulked over to the girl and spoke softly with a graceful grin.

"Fancy seeing you here...I'm surprised you'really not out excavating ancient forbidden ruins..." She smirked as she inspected the woman'should gear.

"You must have seen some crazy fights since last we met, you're a bit stronger now. " She looked around at the caravan.

"So this is way you do now, eh? Trying to make the big bucks?"

After her attempt at making small talk with the woman, she dove right in to what she wanted to discuss.

"Hey you think your guy might be willing to help deliver a pretty expensive shipment of wine for some rich asshole? Pretty good money in it. I could be the protection. I just need something big enough to carry it."

[Rook]

Rook had just been counting empty crates and sacks when Saskia approached. She wasn’t the kind to multitask easily.

“Hello Saskia, please pardon me for a moment.” Rook replied as she completed counting the empty vessels. The workers began loading them onto the wagons.

“I’d hardly call it big bucks, but I like work like this.” Rook said, ledger and quill still in hand.
“Life requires money, going places requires more.”

She listened to Saskia’s request.
“So, a crate about yay-big?” She gestured in the air to suggest the size of the crate and started examining a map on the ledger. “To where?” She’d learned a lot on the trip so far and was fairly confident the caravan master wouldn’t turn down the work. It was just a matter of how well it fit his schedule, it was business after all.
“Alright, I’ll speak…ah”

The caravan master approaching fastened Rook’s lips. She was working at the moment after all and didn’t want to delay things or receive a stern word.
The mature lander had recognized Saskia as the leader of a guild that traded with him.

The caravan master nodded to Saskia and took Rook aside for a moment, they spoke in conspiratorial tones. Rook pointed to the ledger, a calendar, the map. She made a case for the job while the caravaneer adjusted his mustache.
He nodded, tipped his hat to Saskia and was about his business again.

“Well, that’s settled. Can you bring the crate down?” Rook asked.

---

Word Count: 250
Tagged: Saskia

[Vitae]

 "Hi Boss you want me to help you two on whatever it is that the snob inside is hiring us to do?" Walking with a small limp a mud covered Vitae made his way over to his guild boss and the other guild member he hadn't met yet with a smile, but his eyes told others that Vitae was not very happy. "If you want I could get rid of him for you, my father taught me some tricks on how to handle the likes of him so it would be no big deal." When his family had been nomadic in the real world Vitae's sister was almost kidnapped by people like the one he had just seen, and each time Vitae saw a person like him Vitae would remember that incident and want to kill the person that triggered it. Focussing himself on different things Vitae looked at the other guild member and said, "Nice to meet you miss, the name is Vitae and I hope we can get along." Vitae then turned over to the woman named Saskia, who Vitae called Boss, and asked a rather simple question, "By the way Boss what is it the snob is asking us to do and for exactly how much, I wouldn't trust him for more than 1,000,000 gold but that's just me." After saying that Vitae started to mess around with his red edged black hair because he had nothing else to do at the moment while waiting for an answer from the other two people in front of him.

WC: 262
Tags: Saskia, Rook