I went back to the Pickled Ear yesterday to see Roxie. Not because I expected us to become friends overnight, but because I wanted to repair some of the damage we’d done.<\/span><\/p>\n Looking back, I think we put her in an impossible position. All she really did was mind her own business. And, at the time, there was nothing to find. The worst Voz was doing at that time was entering the ossuary of an abandoned citadel and speaking with the dead. Suspicious? Yes. Criminal? Not as far as I know.<\/span><\/p>\n While I wouldn\u2019t go so far as to say that we scared Roxie when we confronted her, we certainly put her on edge. Tossing around the involvement of the Town Council didn\u2019t help, and it surely didn\u2019t do us any favors. As I said, we met with her afterwards and made sure she knew we weren\u2019t throwing her to the wolves, but I didn\u2019t feel like it was enough.<\/span><\/p>\n I wanted to reset our relationship with her and hopefully earn her trust.<\/span><\/p>\n Once we got the awkwardness out of the way, she and I started talking shop. The Pickled Ear is, as I\u2019ve said before, the kind of tavern I try to avoid because it\u2019s a little seedy and a lot rough. But Roxie doesn\u2019t just <\/span>like<\/span><\/i> that reputation; she <\/span>cultivates<\/span><\/i> it. It\u2019s a place for \u201cregular folk,\u201d as she puts it. The problem is, \u201crough\u201d can get out of hand, and lately it\u2019s been getting worse. People need to be able to go in with the reasonable expectation of not being stabbed.<\/span><\/p>\n Roxie sees this as a clientele problem. And, yeah, it’s a self-feeding cycle. The people who aren’t bothered by the atmosphere are the ones who make the atmosphere worse. She knows she needs to attract new clients, or at least bring back the ones who stopped coming. What she needed help with was getting her ideas past the idea stage.<\/span><\/p>\n “If people only come to fight, then we need to give them another reason to come,\u201d I said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was thinkin’ about a contest of some sort. Just don’t know how to make it happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It was a brilliant idea, actually, and I latched on to it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy not host a darts tournament?\u201d I said. I have yet to see a tavern that didn\u2019t have dart boards. \u201cEven people who\u2019d never thrown one might be willing to try.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n From there, I got a little carried away. Qualifying rounds. Multiple divisions. Sponsorship for a prize worth competing for\u2014not just prize money. Food specials. Music between rounds to keep spectators from wandering off. The Drake used to do this sort of thing.<\/span><\/p>\n Somewhere around my description of non-elimination tournament formats, I realized Roxie had stopped asking for advice and started assigning me responsibilities. I walked in expecting to repair a friendship, and walked out with a gig.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Offering music between rounds suddenly meant I needed musicians. Fortunately, I knew exactly where to start.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d been meaning to visit Shelyn\u2019s Smile, the local artisan guild and temple to Shelyn, since I first arrived in Breachill, but too many things kept getting in the way. Being burned alive in the town hall. Getting nearly eaten by grauladons. Unlocking the secrets of ancient elf gates. You know, stuff like that.<\/span><\/p>\n I brought Iskaryn along. While Shelynites aren\u2019t generally preoccupied with appearances, there are times when you need to make a good first impression. Iskaryn excels at first impressions. Aside from her striking coloration, we’ve been practicing our duets. She enjoys performing every bit as much as I do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And while Shelynites aren’t generally vain, they do appreciate beauty. Bringing Iskaryn into their temple almost felt like cheating.<\/span><\/p>\n It worked.<\/span><\/p>\n Tarindlara greeted us with all the poise I would expect from the head of an artisan guild and a prominent Shelynite. She was so immaculate that she made standing still look graceful. In Druma, I saw no shortage of people who mistook ostentation for class. Tarindlara wasn\u2019t one of them.<\/span><\/p>\n She asked if Iskaryn and I would play something. We obliged. Then one piece became two, and by the end, people had stopped what they were doing to listen.<\/span><\/p>\n She invited us into the music hall, and the afternoon quickly turned into an exchange of songs. They wanted to hear the music I\u2019d collected during my travels. In return, they taught me some of their own.<\/span><\/p>\n I also found the musicians I was looking for.<\/span><\/p>\n This tournament will be the end of me.<\/span><\/p>\n It starts in three days, and I still don\u2019t have the first prize dart sets. They are beautiful, or would be if they existed, and wonderfully balanced according to people who know more about this than I do. Great. Crink <\/span>swears<\/span><\/i> to me that they will be ready tomorrow. Which sounds <\/span>fantastic<\/span><\/i>, except that\u2019s what he said yesterday. And the day before. But don\u2019t worry: they\u2019ll <\/span>really<\/span><\/i> be done tomorrow. Apparently, when we set this up, I forgot to ask for the adverb service.<\/span><\/p>\n On top of that, I\u2019m supposed to have a basket of preserves and smoked meats. But someone messed up the order, and two days ago, I got nothing but preserves. I pointed out the mistake. The next day? A basket of cured meats.<\/span><\/p>\n Fuck it. I combined them, and we now have <\/span>two<\/span><\/i> prize baskets with both. I somehow forgot to tell them they accidentally doubled the order.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re also short two dart boards, which is kind of important since it will take twice as long for this thing to run with only half the boards. They are supposed to arrive from Elidir\u2026lessee\u2026yesterday. So, sure, we\u2019ll add that to the list.<\/span><\/p>\n On the upside, the notices have been posted. I\u2019m fortunate to live in a town where most people are literate, so I didn\u2019t have to hire someone from Shelyn\u2019s Smile to decorate them with little pictures.<\/span><\/p>\n As for the\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I just realized I wrote that I live here.<\/span><\/p>\n All in all, the tournament went pretty well.<\/span><\/p>\n The start was admittedly rough. I announce I\u2019ll be tallying scores and posting the pairings after each round, and there\u2019s two guys just staring at me. So I ask, \u201cWhat?\u201d And I\u2019m trying to keep my voice cool and level because I\u2019ve been getting questions and weird looks all morning, as it seems like nobody is reading anything.<\/span><\/p>\n The first guy says, \u201cWhy not just rotate boards? Go counter-clockwise.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And I just stare at him because, um, yeah. Why <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> just go counter-clockwise?<\/span><\/p>\n Then the other guy interjects and says, \u201cNo! Use the Old Brewery format.\u201d And I\u2019m thinking, <\/span>What in the Nine Hells is the \u2018Old Brewery\u2019 format<\/span><\/i>?<\/span><\/p>\n But it\u2019s obvious I am missing something here, because a bunch of people are nodding their heads enthusiastically, so I just say, \u201cExplain it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFour to a board. Everyone throws everyone. Board winners advance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The name apparently comes from this tavern a couple of miles west of town that does regular dart tournaments. And I look down at my sheets and realize, yeah, that is <\/span>way<\/span><\/i> better than what I was doing. And it occurs to me that <\/span>these people have actually been in dart tournaments before and I haven\u2019t<\/span><\/i>, so <\/span>of course<\/span><\/i> they know this stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOK!\u201d I say. \u201cWe\u2019ll do the \u2018Old Brewery\u2019 format!\u201d and a couple of people cheer and lots more look relieved, and I am just grateful no one is looking at me like I\u2019m an idiot anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n And the format is pretty efficient, which is probably why that other tavern uses it. On top of that, it exposes a pair of sandbaggers right away. One woman in the \u201cApprentice\u201d division and one man in \u201cJourneyman\u201d just dominate their matches, and lots of people notice they have suspiciously good form. And it\u2019s really easy to spot with the matches arranged like they are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I hear, \u201cOh, they are one of <\/span>those<\/span><\/i> assholes\u201d when the woman is in her third match. She\u2019s just claiming she hasn\u2019t played in years, but no one buys it. Someone commented that she\u2019s trying to hide it but occasionally slipping up, throwing darts without really studying the board. Another sees her keeping score on her fingers while waiting. That settles it for the regulars, so she\u2019s disqualified, and we go to the standby list.<\/span><\/p>\n The other guy is worse. He is <\/span>recognized<\/span><\/i>. Someone says, \u201cDidn\u2019t you win the Iswell last summer?\u201d And, again, I\u2019m thinking to myself, <\/span>What in Magdh\u2019s name is the \u2018Iswell\u2019?<\/span><\/i> But I don\u2019t need to know that, because <\/span>four other people do<\/span><\/i>, and Roxie\u2019s bouncer has to get involved before a fight breaks out. He\u2019s tossed, and again, we go to the standby list.<\/span><\/p>\n There are other bumps. People ask me the same five questions dozens of times. And the Masters division gets <\/span>way <\/span><\/i>more spectators than I\u2019d planned on, and Roxie actually has to rearrange tables to fit everyone inside. In fact, everyone <\/span>doesn\u2019t<\/span><\/i> fit inside. But that\u2019s fine, because at least no one is punching anyone, which is kind of a first for the Pickled Ear when it\u2019s even <\/span>half <\/span><\/i>this crowded. She shoves a table aside, and she and her bouncer overturn another to stack them on top of one another. I catch her eye, and she winks at me, showing a big grin as more people flood in to fill the space.<\/span><\/p>\n When it was all over, Roxie said she grossed about 50gp, though net was just shy of 15 after expenses. Many of those were one-time, though, and she figured she could get another 10, maybe more, next time. The real win was having a packed house with no fights, a few more people coming back, and maybe some opportunities for some live music.<\/span><\/p>\n Sitting in her office, she said, \u201cFair is fair,\u201d and passed 3gp over to me. A pretty good sum for a few days\u2019 work that was mostly organizing. \u201cYou seem to have a bigger dose of \u2018street smarts\u2019 than you look like you ought to\u201d, she added with a bit of a lingering look.<\/span><\/p>\n I shrugged. \u201cI spent plenty of time on them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou sure don\u2019t look it, but ain\u2019t my business, I guess.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I don’t know what to make of that. By the time I got back to the citadel, I’d mostly stopped trying.<\/span><\/p>\n The place is clean, and the outer walls are patched. Work has shifted to rebuilding the stairs down to the basement, and digging out the rubble. It\u2019s starting to feel like a home. A big, spacious, drafty home with some complicated history, but home.<\/span><\/p>\n And I\u2019m tired.<\/span><\/p>\n On the way back, I commented to Iskaryn, \u201cWe haven\u2019t been arguing much lately.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She flitted to a branch, looked at me, and said, \u201cYou haven\u2019t asked me to.\u201d Then she took off and disappeared into the woods.<\/span><\/p>\n I am too tired to figure out what that\u2019s supposed to mean.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Arodus 24, 4719 Citadel Altaerein Night I went back to the Pickled Ear yesterday to see Roxie. Not because I expected us to become friends overnight, but because I wanted to repair some of the damage we’d done. Looking back, I think we put her in an impossible position. All she really did was mind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_import_markdown_pro_load_document_selector":0,"_import_markdown_pro_submit_text_textarea":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[88],"class_list":["post-5533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aoa-journal","tag-aemi"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5533"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5537,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5533\/revisions\/5537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Arodus 31, 4719<\/h1>\n
Breachill<\/h2>\n
Afternoon<\/h3>\n
Rova 3, 4719<\/h1>\n
Castle Altaerein<\/h2>\n
Night<\/h3>\n