Dungeons Are Bad Business

Vee looked down at his list and crossed off another name. No, he hadn’t been hired to “take care of” the people on it by a shadowy group with a name that sounded like something out of one of Alforde’s books. He was trying to do something much more challenging: get them to agree to come and help out with his upcoming special event: Crestheart Day.

Vee sighed as he headed to his next destination.

“Don’t take it so hard, boss,” Reginald said. “It’s not like she said no because she just doesn’t like you. This whole thing is pretty short notice.”

“I know, I know,” Vee said as he checked the street signs to make sure that he was heading the right way. “It just sucks because she seemed really interested? She asked all these questions, said it sounded great, and then just shrugged and said she couldn’t participate because she’s already busy with other orders. Like, I don’t mind if someone isn’t interested, but why waste my time, you know?”

“Some people just don’t think about that kind of stuff,” the hat answered. “Chin up, though. We’ve got a lot of names left on that list of yours. Even if we only get a few of them to sign on, we’ll have plenty of vendors. Besides, Joleimna agreed and he’s probably the most important one.”

That was true. The salamander [Candy Man] had agreed to set up his stall next to the dungeon and make some special batches of his hat candies. That alone would probably bring plenty of people to Crestheart Day, but Vee still couldn’t help but be a bit nervous all the same.

“It’s going to be fine, boss.”

Vee sincerely hoped his [Majordomo] was right.

He hadn’t given himself much time for all the planning and preparation that needed to be done, and he was rather worried that he’d bitten off more than he could chew with this venture. He’d originally envisioned Crestheart Day as nothing more than a gimmick to try and attract adventurers to the dungeon. A little race across the dungeon’s pair of open floors. A way for the adventurers to have some fun and compete against each other a little bit for nothing more than bragging rights.

When that was all it’d been, success meant clawing back some of the income lost due to Alforde’s absence and testing out his ideas for collecting stats about the various adventurers. However, as is often the case when it comes to small, simple things, the plan changed as ambition overwhelmed pragmatism.

Now, a simple dungeon race wasn’t enough. He needed a street fair. Vee wasn’t entirely sure why he felt so strongly about this, but when he’d mentioned it to Alforde and Reginald, they’d both been enthusiastic about the prospect and that had bolstered his own peculiar instinct.

Unfortunately, Alforde hadn’t been able to come along and help recruit vendors, as his practice with Shadowforde was apparently close to a skill breakthrough of some sort. Based on the excitement in his friend's eyes, Vee suspected it was a new hammer technique. Thus, Vee had no company but Reginald as he walked up and down the streets of Northtown trying to convince shopkeepers and citizens alike in spending the upcoming Saintsday in Westown. It wasn’t terrible, by any means, but the hat’s voice was grating in large doses, and Vee could already tell that he’d have a headache by the end of the day.

At least the weather was nice. It was a cool, clear day, and Vee looked up at the sky. A few birds floated past overhead, and there were a couple chubby clouds on the horizon. The [Dungeon Master]’s thoughts drifted as he walked.

He had fond memories of street fairs back in Bardis. As soon as the spring chased away the last hints of winter, the people of the city collectively crowded into the streets to eat fried food, drink alcoholic beverages, and buy all manner of knickknacks that they didn’t need but liked the look of. During his childhood, Vee loved exploring the stalls with his brother and Alforde, snacking on sweets until they got sick.

Even better were the times when his mother convinced his father that work could wait, and they’d go to the Central Bazaar – the weekly street market – as a family. His father would scowl and grumble about how expensive everything was as they walked by, but he always bought the boys more toys than they could carry.

Those had been good times. Vee missed them.

Wiping something out of his eye, Vee entered the next place on his list. It was a small, bright [Soapmaker]’s shop. Smells of honeysuckle, lilac, and apple pie filled Vee’s nostrils. The owner was a stout woman with gray hair and small rectangular spectacles. She was dressed in a very sensible green sweater and reading a magazine about gardening. The shelves behind her were filled with simple, yet beautiful bars of soap.

“Hello, can I help you?” she asked as Vee approached the counter.

Smiling as wide as he could, Vee launched into his pitch.

“I’d like to invite you to participate in the first annual Crestheart Day! It’s a street fair that’s going to be taking place over in Westown this upcoming Saintsday. We have plenty of space for vendors, and there will be several food stalls to enjoy. Having a product related to Crestheart isn't mandatory, but is certainly appreciated.”

The woman put down her magazine and pushed up her glasses.

“A street fair? That sounds like a lot of fun. Gawain knows we could all use a bit of a celebration after these last few awful weeks. What are the vendor fees?”

Reginald answered the question smoothly, as he'd been expecting it.

“Since this is our first event, we’re offering a discount. Vendor fees are only forty silver fleurs for the day. That's a price you're not going to beat easily!”

After the hat's voice faded came the hard part. Vee did his best to watch the woman’s face closely without looking like that's what he was doing. He wanted to see how she’d handle the price. Some of the shopkeepers seemed happy and accepted right away – making him think that he’d underpriced himself yet again – but others winced and asked if there was any way they could pay a little less.

Though he'd worried that he was making a mistake, Vee hadn’t given anyone a break on the price of vendor fees. Instead, he’d offered those struggling to come up with the money other non-monetary benefits and agreed to work out payment plans with those who absolutely couldn’t come up with forty silver fleurs up front under any circumstances.

After considering the offer for a few moments, the woman nodded and agreed to join the list of vendors. She signed the form Vee handed her, which stated that he’d be back that coming Friarsday to collect the fee. Additionally, as they discussed the details, she took Vee up on his offer to help move her goods over to Westown for an additional fifteen silver fleurs.

[Charisma +1]

As they discussed the specifics, Vee summoned Cecil to update the amount of space left in the transportation cart. If all his math worked out – and nothing took up more room than it was supposed to – he had a little less than a third of the cart’s capacity left to work with after adding the woman’s four boxes of soap. Seeing as he still had a dozen names left on his list to visit, the odds were good that he’d run out of cargo room before talking to all his potential vendors.

That left him with the somewhat challenging decision of whether or not he should incur the additional fixed cost of hiring a second cart if he ended up needing more space but wasn’t able to fill it entirely. Based on his calculations, renting a cart for anything less than half a load was a waste of money. However, that loss would be offset by some amount of positive publicity and reputation he’d earn by offering help to all his vendors. Would that be enough? Vee had no idea, but he shook his head and left the matter alone for the moment. He didn’t even know how many more vendors he’d be getting, let alone how many of them would want or need help carting their goods to Westown on Saintsday. There wasn’t much of a point in worrying about something that had yet to pass.

Thanking the woman for her willingness to participate in Crestheart Day, Vee left the soap store and started walking towards the next place on his list. Along the way, he kept an eye out for the flyers he and Juniper had put up while cleaning up with the slimes. He was pleasantly surprised to see that most of them were still intact, and that they hadn’t all been vandalized.

Vee walked into a bakery at the end of the street. The [Baker] at the counter was a thin, bald man with extra thick eyebrows. He was covered in flour, but he grinned at Vee all the same.

“Hey there, [Dungeon Master]! What brings you by?”

Vee made his pitch again, inwardly pleased at how much better it went each time he made it. He already had a two other bakers lined up, but the people he talked to all claimed that this guy had the best doughnuts in the city.

The man agreed to join the ranks of vendors, but wasn’t interested in the additional transportation help.

“Fifteen silver fleurs for a couple baskets of bread? No thanks, I’ll carry them over myself, or I’ll have my boys help me. They need some toughening up as it is.”

Vee grinned as he said he understood, and had the man sign his form. Another forty fleurs in the coffers!

[Public Relations +1]

Before leaving, Vee decided to buy some treats for the slimes. He was curious to see if he could get any others to transform into Royal Slimes by feeding them baked goods. Perhaps that was the secret catalyst Roosgerald had mentioned!

Since it was so late in the day, the shelves were all basically empty, and the pastries and loaves of bread that were left didn’t look particularly appetizing. As Vee wasn’t going to be the one eating them, he didn’t particularly care. Happy to be making something for the remnants of the day’s stock instead of having to throw everything away, the [Baker] gave Vee a hefty discount.

The rest of the afternoon passed with Vee trudging from one shop to the next, crossing names off his list as he went. It was tiring, thirsty work. As the number of remaining names grew smaller and smaller, Vee fended off his urge to simply abandon the rest and call it a day. He had plenty of vendors, and more would be sure to try and sneak in once the event started, hoping to hawk their wares without paying the vendors fee. It was an iron rule of street fairs: there was always someone with a trench coat on the side of the road offering you goods of questionable provenance that certainly wasn’t affiliated with the organizers.

Regardless of how tempting it was to skive off most of the names on his list, there was one that he had to visit. It was the name he’d been dreading, and the one that he honestly probably should have visited first: City Council (Gate/Gathering Permit).

Crossing three streets and almost ten blocks, Vee stopped in front of the massive building where city business was conducted. It was far nicer than the rest of the buildings around it, adorned with stained glass murals and surrounded by statues that were in far better repair than the rest of those in the cities.

Vee couldn’t help but notice the conspicuous lack of bug carcasses around the building, either.

He really didn’t like the council, but he’d keep his feelings to himself as best he could.

He reached up and tugged on Reginald’s brim.

“I sure hope you’re right about that whole forgiveness and permission thing,” Vee said.

Taking a deep breath, Vee opened the door to the council office and stepped inside.

Main Character Sheets:

Vee Vales:

Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 23

Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 14

Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 4

Might: 10

Wit: 26

Faith: 18

Adventurousness: 6

Ambition: 11

Plotting: 13

Charisma: 8 (+1)

Devious Mind: 14

Leadership: 14

Guts: 11

Intimidating Presence: 7

Citizenship: 11

Public Relations: 3 (+1)

Alforde Armorsoul:

Primary Class: Hammer Afficionado (Self), Level 19

Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 11

Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 11

Additional Class: Clunker (Vee Vales), Level 2

Might: 28 (+2)

Wit: 11 (+1)

Faith: 24

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Endurance: 13

Intimidating Presence: 9

Heart of a Champion: 3

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 5

Vigilance: 4

Reginald:

Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ???

--~H@r%$@ &% T*$ B&#e !#$g (#$%#$%#$@!)~--, L$#@& ????

Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 37 (+1)

Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 9 (+1)

Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 4

Might: 1

Wit: 27

Faith: 10

Ambition: 25

Greed: 21

Deceptiveness: 29

Manipulativeness: 34

F^#$#$%@#

Loyalty: 41

^^^^^^^^^^^

[*--__#4%_--------]

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 3