Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

It was another tiresome trial Foster's at least it was also another successful trial, maybe. Promoting the establishment was not something he was familiar with especially in the aggressive manner he did it but, it was a lot easier and fulfilling than the other aggressive practice he was trained for. The best part of the venture at least, it was not for some bigoted immortal. Faldrun and his goals, wherever and whatever they were, are long since beneath the concerns of F'mos. The past arc without either to contend with was a significant improvement in his life.

And there were no accomplishments more important than a job well done to draw success closer to the most important person, himself. With only two noteworthy jobs completed in Foster's, one which should not be known to anyone except those who employed him, he thought nothing of the lout who dropped in on him. F'mos had served plenty of sailors at the port over the trials, some which enjoyed his food and some which did not. There was no such thing as bad publicity as far as he was concerned as long as they knew of him. A complete success.

However the manner the man plopped himself on the chair had the aukari feel the reason for the visit was more because of the latter. 'Ugh' he thought to himself at the idea it was going to be another one of those people to deal with. It normally never ended well for the nonhuman. The tattoo was nice and all and F'mos got a little more worried that it might be one of the pirates of an upper tier but no, not really, not after the way the man referred to the rest of the humans in Etzos. It got F'mos a little interested to not immediately bolt out of the door and Chrien?

It only got a lot more interesting...

He was not going to question the man on how he found out about the entire business with the pirates, Sintra's own agents in the last arc had proven to the aukari these people had a way of finding out whatever they wanted. F'mos only nodded and in a hushed tone affirmed the man's claim with a "I'm trying to not let anyone know about that if you don't mind" before he looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear to admit that "you're right" and, that "I'm fine with taking you to where the ship sank."

His agreement sounded easy and maybe it was, but F'mos was quick because he wanted to divert the man's attention from the barrel he had. If it was of value to an immortal, surely it would have value to him and she would not miss one, hopefully. He thought for a moment before he said "if you know that much, you know where survivor's landed, correct?" and if not, F'mos knew where and told the man to meet him there the next trial. Granted they could have went immediately but preparations and precautions had to be made and, F'mos knew work in the dark with a stranger was a bad idea. The night he reserved for himself to determine the location of the barrels first so he could let the man be sure the aukari's cooperation is worth his while.

Which unless the man, "Mr... uhhhh..." whoever was opposed to it, "if we're gonna be lifting barrels, I'm going to need to rest. So, tomorrow?" he asked before he prepared to finish off the rest of his meal to retire for the night.

An odd result from his own findings but the man certainly would not have needed the aukari if those barrels were so easy to find. Still the assertions of Agronel were strange and only made F'mos more determined to check on his own barrel once he had the chance, on his own of course. However any such study would have to wait until the current task was complete, which would hopefully help him obtain a little more information on the items which were so important to both an immortal and her servant. His Queen's favour would only be a bonus and one which would hopefully be adequate to keep the aukari away from the fiend he fled from should Etzos prove not up to the task.

As such there was no reason for F'mos to be suspicious of Agronel's demeanour, moreso than any other person in any case. It also meant there was no reason for the aukari to give Agronel a much more preferential treatment to any other person to approach him with a task, as F'mos shook the man's hand to seal the deal in agreement, along with the reminder along with "her favor, and the stuff in the barrels." Even with whatever reward he suggested from the good luck from Chrien, working for free is probably the worst business practice even the dumbest of people should be able to identify. A label the aukari would prefer to not be associated with him although working with the servant of an immortal, Chrien especially, should been enough already.

But at least she was no Faldrun.

F'mos did not follow the man or at least, saw no reason to as they had to work together anyway and regaining his vigour for the job or any potential treachery after it was completed was to him, the more productive. However he had one more thing to do before he could retire. With the darkness of the night to hide him, he too left although nowhere close to Agronel. The aukari headed to where the faced the pirates on that eventful night and through the same means he reached their ship, the weight against him included, reached where he believed it sank to make a quick survey. Though it has been trials, he had hoped it would be an easy job as some of them should have sunk but the damned water was too obstructive. He just could not hear anything beneath it which meant he had no choice but to wait until Agronel was there with him to investigate...

And it was that very spot where F'mos led Agronel to the next trial aboard the sloop, his directions full of surety though no explanation of his confidence would be given other than the fact the aukari had been there. "Maybe some in water or at shore?" he suggested as he remembered how he got his but as the man had only asked the aukari to lead him to the barrels, where he last knew they were was the best F'mos could do. Unless Agronel had more details to give him of the sought after alchemical reagents inside, or had a much more specific method he wanted to use to conduct their search. The aukari was far from a seaman unlike the man whose lead he followed.

Though that did not mean the aukari was not interested in the man's ship or his methods. While Agronel was distracted with navigating through the waters, F'mos would walk throughout the ship at least as much as Agronel would allow him. "Get used to shaky feely" he said which may be true, although the strange manner F'mos roamed the sloop was more to detect if there were any hidden surprises, other than what he already found or expected when he embarked on this enterprise. That and the small talk he had with the man and his crew to learn more about Agronel would have to be enough for now, to keep his mind off the fact he was stuck in foreign realm and had to take better care of where he thread to avoid going overboard...

There was nothing to be found, save the treasure of alchemical reagents on the ship which Agronel revealed was for the use of the alchemist anyway. It had to be said though F'mos displayed obvious interest, the reagents were not the subject the aukari had on his mind as his host explained each. Attention was given, though not entirely as F'mos was more interested in who the they were which Agronel referred to. Had it been his Queen, he knew even with his poor command of Common the man would have referred to Chrien as at least a she if not whatever title he had reserved for her.

Perhaps they were Chrien's other servants or agents of an entirely different agenda. The supplier of the contents of the barrels perhaps though Agronel never specified unless F'mos was to take the only city mentioned as a hint. Nevertheless he heard their sales pitch through Agronel, as best as the man was expected to communicate it from memory anyway. Only one of the samples, the alchemist was familiar with although he was less afraid and more amused by the man's fear of it. "We won't need that one" F'mos said to reassure the man and there was nothing more to be said about the recipe for disaster if these things made their way into the water.

A repeat of Padfoot's Freakshows. It was lucky someone had the foresight to seal the reagents inside at all as Etzos did not need another incident.

With a hope and a prayer that none of the barrels was breached already, F'mos would not even try to detect the reagents. The aukari asked Agronel for a barrel to test its seal as he assumed the man would have to receive his samples somehow. Hopefully it was by the same means the others were transported before he stored them in his hidden corner F'mos now knew of, hah! "I hope I can make something work before dark" the aukari commented as a search would be troublesome without the light and F'mos did not want to stay on the boat overnight if he could help it. There was nothing more... uncomfortable he could think of, now that he was exposed to the conditions he would have to put up with.

This was an important consideration especially with the rocking which was more dangerous than troublesome for work which needed accuracy like alchemy. Fortunately he was not to work with the still-moka. Unfortunately the poor conditions added to his time but with the materials already provided and their use explained to him, the aukari supposed it evened out somehow. The barrel he got he tested for reagents absorbed and then tested the sealant itself for a reaction with seawater. After that he tested the wood of the barrel laden with both reagents and sealant itself. The reaction was promising but still not quite there yet. He needed something else to work with the water itself as the sloop made its way to their prize.

He needed something which the sloop already had in abundance and something Agronel could spare. Cloth and wood were out as he found they interfered with the reaction he needed but rope? It was perfect. The rope had to be mixed with the most important item for his tracker, the Salt Buoy powder but that was not even the compound's final form. First the powder had to have its effectiveness increased with the Swiftweb which F'mos used as much needed without a care for Agronel's desire to use it sparingly. If his creation failed to find the barrels, it would be all for naught so he reasoned there was no point in keeping the little at the expanse of their bounty.

After the compound bonded with the rope, it was further treated with Naf-Rush; he had no intention to spend trials at sea. Once sure the rope was applied fully with his creation he had a little test and refined it further. Only after the alchemist could consider his work truly complete, he handed it over to Agronel with the instruction to "put rope in water. Will filter sea water and eat sealant. Float towards more sealant like snake, towards barrels." After a few moments to think on it and with no desire to make another, he added "maybe keep it floating above net. Pull back if it gets too far. Don't want to waste your Swiftweb. If snake stop moving, retrieve, dry and put back in." If nothing else that may be a reason to convince Agronel since the man already expressed the importance of the material.

By his expression, F'mos seemed a little... uneasy. He already did the job to the best of his abilities despite the limited resources he was given rather quickly and yet, Agronel seemed difficult. In fact while the attitude was something the aukari would tolerate, as if the sailor was like some of the more rowdy customers he had to serve in Etzos- not the ones in the Kettle Black as they are much more community minded but the sailors in Foster's only just a few trials ago; it was something the man said which added just a little bit more into the already explosive alchemist. It may have been some sort of sailor slang or term used in Etzos which F'mos had yet to get used to but ''Thelle' reminded him too much of his origin.

And he really did not need the reminder.

Especially as aukari always though themselves superior to the other races, it was only inevitable that the idea would come in a rather condescending tone as F'mos pointed out "got you to place ship sink, got you easy tool. You're the seaman, finding out best place to use tool from is yours." It was inconceivable to F'mos that the two failed attempts was somehow his fault; especially when he had painstakingly worked on the rope to be more effective at its task. The alchemist did not go further than that however as the last thing he needed was to be thrown overboard by the captain but maybe his motivational speech actually worked, because something different actually happened.

Effectively a tourist to the sea compared to Agronel, F'mos did not actually consider the speed of the turtle to be anything out of the ordinary. As far as he was concerned, turtles were something for the fisherman to capture and their speed or lack of, was their problem. As a chef, the aukari's only job and required knowledge of the creatures were how to best prepare them for consumption. However the reaction of the rest of the seasoned seamen were a good enough indicator for him to realize the turtles were a sign they were close and he too picked up on their enthusiasm. In agreement he only yelled excitedly, go! Go! Go!!" as he pointed towards the direction he assumed the creature came from.

It was not like a hammock sounded bad to him as he had experienced worse back in the service but a night out in the sea sounded uncomfortable to the fireman, even if the seamen have no trouble with it. The shiptalk used by Agronel too, was something which was troublesome as F'mos had no idea what it meant. Were there even stars at that time of the day? Nevertheless, the instruction which was specifically directed to him by Agronel was something the aukari could understand and despite his apprehension towards the possibility of losing his head, the alchemist was not about to get down below deck. He would lose out on the opportunity to observe the effects of the mutagen, something which would prove to be useful in his own work.

And so F'mos took his position at the forward rail, making sure to get some additional safety instructions by whichever member of the crew looked free so he would not go overboard and be lost, forever. At the very least no one could say he was not thorough in whatever he needed to do, unlike the alchemist who worked on the original barrels which had their prize as if it was F'mos, he could safely boast any sealant he made would not have failed. He had too much confidence in his peers as if he had worked with the expectation they failed, he could have saved himself a lot of trouble by making a tool to track the mutagens instead.

Nevertheless he soon regretted the idea of not going below deck as sickness soon took him from the violent zig-zagging of Agronel. Watch for more turtles? He could barely even be sure if the sloop was in the water, or in the air. He would not even be surprised if the rest of the crew thought his pointing out of directions to be the sounds of him losing the contents of his own stomach.

In his weakness, it was a surprise F'mos was able to pick out the important bits of Agronel's lecture but then again, he would not be much of an alchemist if he lacked the ability to retain knowledge of all the things he encountered. As much as he knew about Chrien- though her creations and how to best them in battle on behalf of Sirothelle's warmonger, he was confounded that the blessing bestowed on Agronel was only so useful for their voyage. The man was only human and would have more difficulty in her domain compared to the Mer. That was already an impediment to his chosen vocation.

Though somehow, they got through; F'mos would have to chalk that up to Agronel's ability as a seaman. As sick as he was however, he could not but wonder if he would be a lot more... well, well if Agronel was better sailor but there was no baseline for the aukari to measure the other man to. His own contribution to the conversation were the first things which came to mind; something about getting more of a lift for a better speed in their overall journey if the wind was such an important consideration. Definitely not something an aukari should know enough to talk about. Perhaps the sickness was already settling in this particular aukari as he agreed with the need to zigzag to remain aloft while making good time.

F'mos would wonder at how he knew these things had he been well enough to notice although it was just his mind, vacated from sickness, processing his own experience in the air. Maybe he would remember enough to refine his own methods later on but there was something more important to him.

Being so close to their destination and with a moment's peace, the aukari went on to replenish the lost contents of his stomach- it felt as though something important may have even went overboard. He was on the third of some weird dried and salted biscuit Agronel had, his delicate tastebuds shrieked in distress but beggars could not be choosers. Anything would do to keep his mind off that tasteless, bland pastry and as it so happened to be, anything also included the ineffectively concealed approach by the sailors. Not everyone in Idalos could be of the glorious master race of Sirothelle.

It is not a sure thing F'mos would not have made the same mistakes- he was not that used to ships after all but at least, now he knew. To one trained to slink around unseen and unheard, the attempts of the men to approach him quietly were much more louder than if they had just stomped on as usual to reach him and would at least, not have given their intents away if the floorboards which bowed at the weight of the sailors as they came from behind had not done so already. Perhaps F'mos could take them on. Unlike them, he actually had the element of surprise but his in earlier survey of the unfamiliar ship, he knew he would still have to contend with Agronel.

The same person he actually put his safety on when he agreed to the voyage that he even left his more dangerous and destructive tools behind. A mistake he will not repeat the next time, if there ever was one...

Even if it was only a little bit, the slow approach of the two men gave F'mos some time to consider his options. He definitely could not fight them all off but could he hide? He did explore the ship a little bit but the only place which may seem suitable is the room he made the rope-tool. The most obvious place to the people familiar enough with the ship and even if the aukari could barricade the door, it would only be a matter of time before they got in or, until he had to go out. Then he got the most ridiculous idea...

...could he maybe beat Agronel to the island first?

There would be no point to that but there was nowhere else to go. Under the most favorable circumstances he might be able to beat the man to their prize and use it to treat his return home and if not, he could just mix up some terrible mutative cocktail to inflict on him and his crew. Let them all kill each other and then figure if he could sail the ship back to Etzos. A bit of wishful thinking, but... The island then would be his destination and as the two men approached him, F'mos took out one of his defensive tools threw it at his feet which released a smoke to screen him from everyone else for a while.

It was all he could do to make a grab at the other two while they were still disoriented. His feet planted firmly on the ground, as firmly as the jerky ship would allow him, his hands went straight for their arms as he tried to throw them towards the rails- his burning blood might even help to distract them even more. There may be splashy sounds if they went over, hopefully they would believe the aukari to be among them after he quickly stripped down to secure his belongings and shift. F'mos would follow over the rails although he would never touch the water. If it went as planned, his newly grown wings would keep him aloft while his strange method of hearing would navigate him to one of the ships blindspot where he could lie in wait.

After that it would only be a matter of waiting for his opportunity to head to the island himself once Agronel and his crew were done with his search for him or, wait until they made landfall for their search for the barrels where he could return to the ship for preparations for some delicious payback.