The Royal Artificery Society - IC

[Prehysterical]

Finally shutting his book with a satisfied pinch of his fingers, Bolten replies, "No, not really. Did you have something in mind?"

[WindStruck]

Shandara shakes her head. "I didn't think I had anything in mind. Though.. perhaps we could try asking someone about that contest that was supposed to be tomorrow. And I don't particularly feel like doing much tonight, except perhaps paying a visit to that Xlotl's Nest..."

[Prehysterical]

"Well, I suppose that we could at least check what the rules are, if nothing else." Bolten shrugs, not very hopeful but with no good excuse not to go. "And, well, this is none of my business, but would you want some company going to this place of yours? That clansdwarf did recommend not going on our own for a while."

[WindStruck]

Shandara nods and says, "Certainly. I wasn't planning on going by myself. So you are more than welcome to come along." There's another hint of a smile.

[DeTess]

Finding someone to tell them more about the competition isn't all the difficult. There are plenty of posters on the campus of the artificery society about the event, and they all mention an artificer with the department of engineering named Glenn Brus as the person to contact if anyone has questions. Finding him wasn't particularly difficult either. The posters gave the location of his office, and that's where Shandara and Bolten find him. Glenn is a tall and willowy human with ginger hair and a short beard. His office is fairly small, leaving just enough room for a large desk, a chair and two bookcases.

"What can I help you with?" Glenna asks as he notices the dwarf and the drow through the open door of his office.

[WindStruck]

Shandara nods a bit to the man and says, "Hello. My friend and I were interested in participating in the competition that will be held tomorrow. We just had some questions about it."

Spoiler: ooc

Show

On the posters, were any obvious things already printed? Such as.. details we may be interested in? How to sign up? Where/when it will be held? etc

I hope so, or they aren't very effective posters.

"We, erm, were intrigued, really. I have not seen such a competition before, and I don't believe my companion here has been to one recently.." She glances sideways at Bolten again. He seemed an odd one, much like her. Probably hadn't seen too much of the festivals prior.

"We were wondering, perhaps you could give us an example of how it went last year?"

[DeTess]

Spoiler: Regarding the posters

Show

The posters indicate that the competition will be held at the grand central plaza of the campus. The competition starts at 10 in the morning, and sign-ups happen in the run-up tot eh start, with the poster mentioning that participants should ideally turn up to sign up no later than 9. The posters don't really give any indication of what this year's theme will be.

"Ah the competition. Yes, I can give you a general overview." Glenn leans back in his chair. "The premise is really quite simple. You'll be given a goal, and from 10 in the morning till 6 in the evening to make something that achieves that goal. Afterwards your creation will be judged based on a couple of criteria, which differ based on the goal of the competition. You can work alone, or in teams of up to five people." He pauses a moment to let all that sink in, then continues. "To give you a more concrete example, last year the goal was to distill brandy. We provided the contestants With a couple bottles of extremely cheap wine, bulk crates of 'mystery spices and herbs' I'd bought at an auction a couple months before and what remained of the Bottler and Sons distillery after their main distillation vat blew up." Glenn smiles. "Not exactly ideal ingredients, I'm sure you can agree. The point of the competition isn't to create something perfect, but to make something that works despite the awfulness of the ingredients we provide."

"I think that's more or less it?" The red-haired man takes a moment to think. "Oh, before I forget. You can bring your own tools, but they need to be completely mundane. No enchanted tools allowed, I'm afraid."

[WindStruck]

Shandara nodded along to the explanation. It seemed like a simple concept on the outset, although she really doubted that when it came down to their task, trying to do something with a bunch of inappropriate tools or materials would be anything but simple. Her main concern was the time.. in which the event was going to start pretty much right when she would be at home resting...

She supposed she could try to rest earlier, but it probably wouldn't be as enjoyable or effective.

Shandara looked over at Bolten and asked, "Well what do you think? Are you still up for the task?"

[Prehysterical]

Bolten is caught between nodding and shaking his head to confirm Shandara's assumption. Every year before this, he had been a passive participant, an audience member.

Glenn's description of the event does worry the dwarf a little. If one year's contest was distilling alcohol, this year could be anything! His own field of expertise was admittedly rather limited. On any other day, that self-doubt would have made him step down. Today, though, Shandara looks at him expectantly and the thought of being seen as timid turns his stomach more than the prospect of failure.

Bolten nods. "Call me a braggart, but this would not be the first time that I have had to improvise. I'll still give it a shot. It would be nice if I had a partner helping me out." He smiles encouragingly at her.

[WindStruck]

Shandara sighs. Looks like she's going to be lacking sleep (or transing time) over the next day. "Alright, alright," she says.

"So since teams of up to five are allowed, it might be a good idea to.." Then she remembered exactly how anti-social she was. "Uh, well. Perhaps some others to broaden our expertise would be helpful? We could probably make do, though."

Turning back to Glenn she asks, "Are we allowed to leave the area or bring in other tools we don't have? I assume any tool or object we use is fair game, as long as it is not a physical part of the final product?"

This was, of course, assuming the goal was to make something, but she still wasn't sure how broad their goal would be.

[DeTess]

Glenn nods. "You're allowed to leave after things start to get some more equipment or look up something in the archives, but we do ask contestants to formally check out and check in again when they do. All actual crafting needs to happen on the plaza though, so no taking home some materials to work on in your personal workshop. Also, if you're thinking about looking for some extra members for your team, you can always turn up a couple hours early. There'll be a lot of on-the-spot team-building if previous years are anything to go by."

[WindStruck]

Shandara silently nods along to that explanation. It seemed she was satisfied with what she had heard.

[Prehysterical]

Glenn's explanation causes Bolten to brighten up. At the very least, they would not be required to work solely with whatever they arrived with. "I think that might be a wise choice," he agrees. "There's one fellow who I hope will show up, but he seems to have become a celebrity overnight... In any case, thank you for the advice. It has been very helpful."

[DeTess]

After thanking Glenn for his time, Bolten and Shandara left and parted ways, but not before agreeing to meet that evening at the 'Xlotl's Nest'.

***

By the time Bolten and Shandara meet up at the Xlotl's Nest, dusk has already arrived, and that evening's festivities are in full swing. The elf and the dwarf can hear music drifting out through the door of the Nest, though the door itself is closed and the bar has no outside terrace. The door itself is also somewhat odd, consisting of three nested doors, the largest of which is easily 10 foot tall, while the smallest is barely 4 foot. The doors are made from solid wood with bands of iron keeping the three different doors in place. The two larger portions of the door are closed, but the smallest is slightly open. On the top portion of the largest door a wooden plaque shows a large lizard-like creature, it's skin a dusky blue-grey and with strange frills extending from the back of it's head.

[WindStruck]

Shandara peers at the overall structure of the doors and then up at the plaque.

"Well, I think that is supposed to be a Xlotl," she remarks.

"..and I guess for whatever reason, they made the same door in three sizes. Must be a diverse and welcoming lot," she says dryly.

Despite such feigned confidence, she was actually starting to feel a bit nervous now. Just who or what was in there? Seemed like it could be anything from half-giants to goblins. Gingerly, she approaches the set of doors and sees if the middle door might open.

[DeTess]

The mid-sized door easily swung open at Shandara's touch, allowing access to the Xlotl's Nest. A large open room stretched out before her, with a large bar occupying the opposite wall. The room itself is filled with tables of many different sizes and heights, and a section of the room is split in two horizontally by a second floor, leaving two sections with a ceiling that would be uncomfortably low for the average human, but is just fine for a dwarf, gnome or halfling.

Or for that matter, the small party of goblins occupying a second-floor table there. The other unusual things is the extreme diversity of people occupying the bar. Though there are a few dwarfs, humans, half-elves and the like, most of the beings occupying the Nest are far more unusual. A party of Goliaths are sitting at the bar itself, on large stools clearly made for their large frames. A small party consisting of a variety of planetouched (a tiefling, an Aasimar and three that clearly have some elemental ancestry) are having a toast at a table near the entrance, while a group of human-sized creature's with fins and gills clad in the garb of sailors seem to be celebrating a party of in another corner. Even the representatives of the races commonly seen in the city tend to have slightly exotic features or unusual tattoos, suggesting they might be members of tribes from the far-flung corners of the empire, or even beyond.

In this mixed company, Shandara, whose appearance would normally attract at least some curiosity, barely gets a second glance. If anything, Bolten attracts more curiosity.

[WindStruck]

Shandara takes all the sights in, the layout of the place, artwork and decorations, and the other people too, though without staring too much of course.

Then she spares a curious glance at Bolten. "For once, you may be the odd one out. What do you think?" she asks.

Shandara takes some special interest in the party of Goliaths. She was expecting the one named Vaigr might be here? Aside from some curiosity due to the name being brought up multiple times, one of the main reasons she came here was perhaps to speak with him again.

[Prehysterical]

The establishment does prove to be a fascinating mix of different races that Bolten is not used to seeing, but now he gets a taste of what being a zoo animal feels like. With his modest and clean-cut appearance, he sticks out like a sore thumb. Bolten tries to smile pleasantly, but is clearly nervous at being the center of attention for the moment.

Shandara's question finally gives him something to latch onto. "Errr, I think you're right. Maybe we should find a table so we're not so... conspicuous?"

[WindStruck]

Shandara shrugs and says, "I suppose so. I hope they have some good food and drink here, at least..."

She quietly moves over to a table. Being only 4' 9" tall, she would probably fit in that one area that was split into an upper and lower area. But either way, a regular-sized table would also work for her.

[DeTess]

The Xlotl nest is already fairly full, but there's still a couple tables free. Each table has a pair of menus, one listing the drinks available, and the other the food available. Both lists are as diverse as the bar's clientele. Shandara would recognize a couple dishes and drinks with their origins in the underdark, but many other items on the menus sound as exotic to her as they do to Bolten.

While looking for a table, Shandara had the time to look over the group of Goliaths, but it seems Vaigr isn't among them. Still, the evening is still young, so he might turn up later.

[WindStruck]

Though the menu is smaller than that of the Mushroom Garden, Shandara is even less able to make a decision. Lots of exotic things that she had never heard of to try.. Sticking with something safe and familiar was probably a better idea, seeing as this was also the first time she had been here.

"Hm. I don't think Vaigr is here yet. And I'm not sure what to get..."

She tries to carefully read over the menu...

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Well, I am tired at the moment, and I'm kinda burnt out from making stuff up from the last restaurant scene, and I don't feel like researching and fleshing out a menu, 95% of which Shandara probably would not buy.

So perhaps we can just be vague about this and say we eventually just order some food. lol

[Prehysterical]

The menu show this place to be more of a bar than a full restaurant. Most of the items on display are more for nibbling and enjoying with a drink than constituting a filling meal. It feels a waste not to try something new at a place like this, so Bolten decides to try the "xorn cake" and emerald wine.

"So, why did you want to meet Vaigr here? I'm guessing that it's nothing too personal or else you wouldn't have let me come along."

[WindStruck]

"Oh, this isn't where I picked. This is just where he said he would be," Shandara says.

She shrugs and adds, "I thought you were really curious about the nature of those crystals that controlled the clockwork menagerie. If we can meet him here, we can probably ask all about that, and anything else, like what his people used to be like and such.."

"Well anyway, the festival didn't seem to interest me too much, and this seemed more interesting than staying home..."

Eventually Shandara settles on tuber crisps and some sort of fish wrap.

[DeTess]

Shortly after Bolten and Shadnara's orders had been taken taken by one of the bar's staff, a Tiefling who had introduced herself as Misty, a large shadow falls over their table. "Shandara, Bolten, it's nice to see you again." Vaigr's deep voice comes from somewhere wall above Shandara's head. "May I join you?" he asks.

[WindStruck]

Shandara turns around, a little startled at first, but that relaxes into awkwardness.

"Oh! Certainly.." she says. But she looks down at her table and then around.

"Um. I think perhaps we should find a larger table."

[DeTess]

"Oh, it's no issue. One moment." Vaigr walks over to an odd low empty table a short distance away, and picks up one of the chairs that go with it. The chair itself is low but very wide, seemingly meant for a creature that's short, but very broad, like a frog or similar. He places it next to the table Shandara and Bolten are sitting at, and sit's down on it, crossing his leg in a meditative pose. The low chair means his head is now at about the same height as Shandara's.

"So, what do you think of the Xlotl's Nest?" He asks. "It's a place quite unlike any other in this city."

[WindStruck]

"Mm.. indeed. It seems to attract all manner of exotic people," Shandara remarks.

"Anyway, it's hard to say. We only just arrived, and this is our first time, after all..."

[Prehysterical]

That was true... Bolten would like some more insight into how those soul crystals worked. Perhaps their new goliath friend could put it into plain Common for them. He nods as he recalls their conversation from yesterday.

The dwarf's head whips around as well when Vaigr makes his presence known, but his shoulders relax when he recognizes the goliath's stony features. Bolten responds honestly to Vaigr's question. "It's a bit different than what I am used to, but the folk here seem friendly enough. It's nice to see establishments that are willing to accommodate clientele of different sizes."

[DeTess]

"There's a place or two that caters to halflings and gnomes, but this is the only establishment that caters to Goliaths, as far as I know anyway." Vaigr responds. After taking a moment to catch Misty's attention to order some food and drink, he turns back to Bolten and Shadnara. "Did you happen to see Banbas' creations come by yesterday?" He asks. "Despite the incident it was probably the best parade we'd put on so far."

[WindStruck]

Shandara shakes her head. "Oh, I'm not sure. There were a few times I saw clockwork animals, but I don't think I saw you or Banbas. It's possible they weren't even yours."

She shrugs. "Too bad, I suppose. But I'm sure you did quite well."