• Closed • Plucking the Strings

Faith.

25th of Ashan 718

Once an isolated and dying township, an influx of academics, adventurers and thrill seekers have made Scalvoris Town their home. From scholars' tea shops to a new satellite campus for Viden Academy, this is an exciting place to visit or make your home!

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Devin
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Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:25 am
Race: Mortal Born
Profession: Baron Smooglethorn
Renown: 1145
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Plucking the Strings

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25th of Ashan, Arc 718

On the 25th of Ashan, Devin Thorn, thief, false fortune teller and self-proclaimed member of one of the Eastern Settlement’s richest families decided to visit Cally’s. He was looking for another source of income besides swindling people. He couldn’t swindle people every trial lest the guards got wind of his activities. Cally’s seemed like the best place to start his second career due to the fact that he had met the owner and hadn’t managed to alienate her (yet). Besides, he had heard that they regularly hired.

The restaurant was a little more exclusive than the places that he usually frequented, but he didn’t care, and he didn’t particularly feel out of place either. He had more than enough confidence for ten noble lords, and he was dressed the part as well, in black pants, a black coat and a fine red shirt, with a hat with a bright red feather on his head and his beloved lute slung across his back. He walked in with a swagger in his step, sat down at an empty table and placed his lute on his lap in order to tune it while he waited for a waitress to arrive.

He did so carefully so that the strings wouldn’t break. His lute was an old lute, with eight pairs of strings rather than the six pairs that his neighbour’s lute that he had learned to play on had had, and it was a bit fickle as far as lutes went. He plucked each string and turned the peg in small increments until he got close to what he thought was the correct pitch.

He was just about to start playing a fast-paced little melody, the kind that people commonly loved to dance to, when a woman with red hair and bright blue eyes walked over to him, a menu in her hand, and said to him in a tone that that seemed quite flirtatious to him, “I’m Trudi, and I’ll be your waitress to-trial. May I take your order?”

“I’d like a mug of ale”,
he proclaimed, smirked and added, “Oh, and Faith. I’d also like Faith. Can you tell her that Devin, the lutist is here, and that he wants to inquire about a job? She knows me”, he informed her, wisely keeping the fact that they had only met once to himself. As he said that, he dropped a golden nel into her palm so that she wouldn’t forget to inform Faith of his arrival and hopefully also take her to him faster.
word count: 444

Appearance

  • Due to an encounter with a magical tree Devin has bright violet eyes.
  • Devin has fancy black claw-like nails. The Grafter Rakvald made them from the spines that grow on the dubaebo's back and attached them to Devin's hands.

Items

Devin owns a Ring of Reversal. He's always wearing it, unless stated otherwise.

Potions

N/A
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Faith Augustin Champion
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Posts: 4809
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:12 pm
Race: Human
Profession: Fanatical Philanthropist
Renown: 2250
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Wealth Tier: Tier 10

Plucking the Strings

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25th Ashan 718
Cally's




"Well," Trudi said as she walked into the kitchen and looked at Faith with a raised eyebrow. "I've had a lot of men order a lot of things since we opened. But not a one of them has added 'and Faith. I'd like Faith' at the end of their menu choices. Should I be warning Padraig about the handsome young man ordering Faith on a plate?" Faith looked at Trudi with a complete lack of comprehension on her face and the biqaj waitress sighed. "Faith. There's a customer who'd like to see you. His name is Devin and he'd like a job. Says you know him." Understanding and comprehension dawned on Faith's face and she shook her head at Trudi, as she considered that the woman was completely irrepressible.

"Thank you Trudi. I'll pop out and see him. I met him during the relief effort," she explained and Trudi nodded. "Course you did. All that dark and dust. Two pairs of eyes met over the rubble and Padraig just became available." Faith snorted and shook her head. "You only want him so much because he is so very unavailable, you know." Trudi smiled enigmatically and Faith left the kitchen to go and speak to Devin.

Before Trudi had gone to get Faith, she'd brought Devin his drink and so, as Faith moved out to go and speak to him, she spotted him there and she smiled. He was well presented, sitting and waiting and she moved over to speak to him. "Good trial again, Devin. It's nice to see you in better circumstances," she said with a smile. Pulling out a chair and sitting down, she asked him politely. "So, how have you been?"

Nothing if not polite. When he had answered, because really she didn't understand small talk and didn't do it particularly well, she looked at him and smiled. "So, Trudi tells me you want a job? Playing the lute? That sounds interesting and we do have an opening for a bard." Sitting back she looked at him and motioned over to where there was a chair, by the window and with a small table next to it. Pash's chair. "Would you like to play a little? Or discuss terms before you decide if you're still interested in working here?" She was calm, friendly and polite as she always was. It was strange - on the one hand she was much more relaxed than she had been in the rubble - in another way, though, she was exactly the same and her serious silver eyes watched him, to see what he would rather do.
word count: 452
This PC is dead. See this thread for details.
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Devin
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Posts: 1644
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:25 am
Race: Mortal Born
Profession: Baron Smooglethorn
Renown: 1145
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The thief took a large gulp from his ale because he was quite thirsty, and it tasted good, and then he raised his arm in order to simply wipe his mouth with the back of his sleeve before he remembered that he was in an upscale restaurant and playing the part of a gentleman. For that reason, he took a napkin and daintily dabbed at the corners of his mouth with it as he imagined a noble lord would, grinning because he found the gesture quite amusing. It was just then that the second part of his order arrived, and he immediately sat up straighter because he really wanted to make a good impression on her.

“Hello, Faith!” he greeted her cheerfully as he tried to remember what exactly he had told her when they had last met. Unlike her, he didn’t have a perfect memory (and truth to be told, he didn’t want to have one either – because there were a few things that he really wanted to forget). “I’ve been good. Busy, but good! I helped a lot of people, and I even reunited a parrot that had escaped after the collapse with his owner”, he informed her, hoping that hearing about his partially non-existent good deeds would make her more likely to hire him – because he really wanted more money and get rich faster.

“And you?” he asked because she seemed like the kind of woman that had a lot of interesting stories to tell. “What have you been up to?”

“Anyway, Trudi’s right. I’ve come to ask you for a job”,
he said and briefly looked over to Pash’s chair before he turned to face her again. “I don’t mind playing something for you first. It wouldn’t be right if we talked about payment before you know if I’m any good”, he said because it seemed to him as if that was what she wanted to hear. “Although I’m quite good, I assure you”, he continued, smiling confidently. In truth, he was far from the best lutist, but if he played the right melodies she would never know!

“So what do you want to hear? Shall I play something fast that makes people forget their troubles for a while?” he asked and played a few more notes of the little dance melody that he had been playing when he had first come in. “Or something sad and slow in order to remember all the unfortunate people that lost their lives recently?” He moved his hands slightly and coaxed a few short, mournful notes out of his instrument.

“What happened to your old bard, by the way?” he asked as he looked up from his instrument again. “Did he die?”
word count: 464

Appearance

  • Due to an encounter with a magical tree Devin has bright violet eyes.
  • Devin has fancy black claw-like nails. The Grafter Rakvald made them from the spines that grow on the dubaebo's back and attached them to Devin's hands.

Items

Devin owns a Ring of Reversal. He's always wearing it, unless stated otherwise.

Potions

N/A
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Faith Augustin Champion
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Posts: 4809
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:12 pm
Race: Human
Profession: Fanatical Philanthropist
Renown: 2250
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Wealth Tier: Tier 10

Plucking the Strings

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25th Ashan 718
Cally's




He'd saved a parrot? Faith looked at him and the slightest twitch of her lips told of her amusement at that statement. "Your help was invaluable. I'm sure Councillor Amaris will be pleased to know about the parrot, too. Natural affairs." Faith smiled slightly. What had she been up? Faith considered, "Not anything unusual, really." There'd been the attack on the University, a number of unique and specific diseases brought in to the Order of the Adunih, where she had a new mentee. But there it was, that was all strange and yet usual. There was also the new house her husband had bought, Faith considered. Some women might be a little annoyed that he'd bought a new house without her seeing it; but her Padraig had gone one better and bought it without him seeing it. She couldn't be annoyed at that, not at all.

But it transpired that Devin had come for a job and Faith looked pleased at the prospect. It had been good having a bard here, it must be said. It had added to the ambience. Devin asked if he should play and Faith nodded. But when he asked what, she considered. "Not fast, no. What I'd be looking for is quiet, background, ambient music. I don't want people to feel rushed," did people eat in time with the music they heard? She believed so. It was certainly an interesting question, but as she considered it she knew that slower, uplifting music was the way to go. "How about something gentle and yet uplifting?" Was she being demanding and asking too much? Faith wasn't sure and so she added, "If you don't mind."

When he asked if her bard had died, though, Faith's eyes widened in surprise. If she'd been taking a drink, she thought, Devin would be wearing it as she splattered all over him. "No!" Why on Idalos would he think that!? "Pash was the original bard here and he left to go travelling. Then, he was replaced by Arlo. His partner was injured in the docks explosion, badly. He's with her." They'd gone off on their boat too, Faith considered. Travellers, wanderers all - was that the nature of bards?

However, she gestured to the chair and smiled. "Feel free." She had to admit, she was interested to hear what he could play like.
word count: 409
This PC is dead. See this thread for details.
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Devin
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Posts: 1644
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:25 am
Race: Mortal Born
Profession: Baron Smooglethorn
Renown: 1145
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Plucking the Strings

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“So just healing the sick, bringing back the dead, managing a restaurant and about half a dozen other businesses and serving at least three Immortals at the same time?” Devin asked with a grin as Faith claimed that she hadn’t been up to anything unusual. To be honest, he found her quite impressive – although he hated to admit it because he wanted to be the most talented and the most famous person on Scalvoris – and the best looking one of course (although he was already pretty good looking in his opinion).

“Background music?” he asked and made a face because he didn’t want to be part of the background, and he wasn’t sure if he was capable of the extraordinary amount of self-restraint that such required either. He craved attention, he wanted to be in the spotlight and not be part of the inventory. He wanted everybody to admire him, his music and his beautiful voice (he planned on learning to sing properly one of these trials).

But at the same time, he wanted nels – as many as he could get, so many that he would be able to fill a pool with them and take a bath in them, although that would probably be pretty unpleasant, come to think of it. For that reason, he nodded curtly, sat down on Pash's chair, shifted the lute in his lap and strummed a few gentle chords before he started to play in earnest. As he moved his hands across the strings of his lute, he briefly closed his eyes and tried to imagine that he was sitting on a meadow, next to a little stream. It was spring, the flowers were blooming, the sun was shining, and there were birds chirping in the trees. It was quiet and peaceful.

The notes that he played were light and cheerful, like a gentle breeze on a warm spring trial and soft so that they could be heard, but weren’t overwhelming and wouldn’t disturb any conversations that might going on in the restaurant. He played for several bits before he slowed down and finally stopped completely, and then he looked at Faith, smiling slightly because he had been enjoying himself, against his expectations.

“Was that what you had in mind?” he wanted to know.
word count: 387

Appearance

  • Due to an encounter with a magical tree Devin has bright violet eyes.
  • Devin has fancy black claw-like nails. The Grafter Rakvald made them from the spines that grow on the dubaebo's back and attached them to Devin's hands.

Items

Devin owns a Ring of Reversal. He's always wearing it, unless stated otherwise.

Potions

N/A
[/list]
User avatar
Faith Augustin Champion
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Posts: 4809
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:12 pm
Race: Human
Profession: Fanatical Philanthropist
Renown: 2250
Character Sheet
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Point Bank Thread
Wealth Tier: Tier 10

Plucking the Strings

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25th Ashan 718
Cally's




When he defined what she meant by 'nothing unusual' Faith grinned at him. "Whereas you are brave, willing to help others, multi-talented and cheeky too. What a wonderful combination." She felt surprisingly relaxed around Devin, but then it was hard not to; he was friendly and funny and when you had shared the sort of experience they had shared, it was hard to be formal and serious with one another. She was impressed with him, it had to be said, in so far as she could be with someone she'd met so few times. Still, he seemed to be very personable, very friendly and more than willing to help others. All of these were good things as far as Faith was concerned.

He didn't look like he liked the idea of being background music and Faith smiled slightly. "The focus should be on the food, I'm afraid. It being a place where people come to eat and all." Was he something of a glory hound, Faith wondered? Maybe. But then, that was often the case with musicians; she'd had two of them working in the restaurant since she opened it and neither of them had been natural introverts. But then, it probably came with the territory of being a performer.

So, Devin went and played and Faith had to admit, he was good. She enjoyed hearing it, his playing was pleasant and fitted in with the ambience of the place. He looked pleased when he finished and the expression was mirrored on her face. "That was excellent, yes. If you're interested, after I've told you the way we work, here, you've got a job if you want it." That said, she spoke to him about what she wanted and needed out of him. Turning up regularly, she had no issue with him taking time off, but if he knew that something was coming up, the more notice she had the better. Then, throughout the night he'd have a break with a meal provided by her. She'd find out anything he didn't like or was allergic to, but other than that, he got what they could prepare. Judging by the food that was going past, to different tables, that was a very high standard.

In terms of tips, she said, all the tips received were put into a pot and shared between all staff. So, whilst his tips were shared, so were the waitresses, and they usually got the most. The only person who didn't share in those tips was her. If business was good, there was a seasonal bonus and if there were any problems, he should speak to her and she'd try and solve them. While he played, there would be a table next to him with a non-alcoholic drink.

It had to be said, Faith very much hoped that he was interested in the job. There was something nice about live music in a place, the customers liked it and it added to the ambience of the whole place. More than that, though, she wanted everything to be seamless here at Cally's, ensuring that the customer had the best possible experience they could have and every small detail was attended to. That was doubly important considering the prices they charged and, Faith knew, simply having excellent food wasn't enough. It had to be the whole package and Cally's very much was. Devin's music would be a very welcome addition.

She wondered whether she should warn him about Trudi flirting with him, but she figured that he was more than able to ensure that he looked after himself. Trudi would flirt with him, there was no doubt. He was alive, male and in her vicinity. Those were pretty much the only criteria that Trudi had. Whether she ever followed through on that flirtation, Faith didn't know, didn't ask and didn't want to know. Some things, Faith considered most seriously, she was simply happier in ignorance about. That was definitely one of them. With a slight smile she asked, tilting her head to the side as she did. "What do you say? Interested?"
Last edited by Faith Augustin Champion on Sun Jun 03, 2018 1:38 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 709
This PC is dead. See this thread for details.
User avatar
Devin
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Posts: 1644
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:25 am
Race: Mortal Born
Profession: Baron Smooglethorn
Renown: 1145
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Wealth Tier: Tier 10

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Plucking the Strings

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“It is, isn’t it?“ Devin said and grinned at Faith as she talked about how it was a wonderful combination. If there was one thing that he definitely wasn’t, then it was humble. He basked in her praise, he lived for moments like these, and he didn’t feel particularly bad about the fact that he had kept a few important things from her and part of his great personality was just a façade either. This, he decided, would be the beginning of something great!

“Thank you!” he said as she told him that the song he had played had been excellent and beamed at her – even though he hadn’t expected anything else. He was good, and in time he would be even better. One trial he would be so good that the Immortals would start to weep upon hearing his music, and he was about to tell her that he did of course want the job when she insisted on telling him more about the way they worked at the restaurant.

He opened his mouth and then closed it again abruptly and furrowed his brow. Apparently, he realized, there would be rules. He didn’t like following rules. He broke them. But the rules she listed didn’t sound too bad. He could turn up regularly, he decided. Fortunately, he didn’t have to follow a strict schedule when doing his second job that she would hopefully never find out about. He could impersonate a fortune teller and swindle people in his spare time.

And a free meal and free drinks sounded absolutely awesome! When he’d walked in, he’d taken a look at what the patrons had been eating even though it was kind of impolite to stare at other people’s plates, and it had looked delicious. He didn’t even mind the fact that the drinks would be non-alcoholic. He would just get drunk when he was done playing for the trial!

“This sounds great!” he told her and resisted the urge to jump with joy because he hadn’t expected such a fantastic deal. He’d get his salary, free food, free drinks and tips. He’d just have to persuade Faith to change the way the tips were handled sometime because he absolutely didn’t like sharing! “In fact it sounds more than just great! When can I start? I can start right now!” he proclaimed. “I don’t have anything to do for the rest of the trial!”
word count: 421

Appearance

  • Due to an encounter with a magical tree Devin has bright violet eyes.
  • Devin has fancy black claw-like nails. The Grafter Rakvald made them from the spines that grow on the dubaebo's back and attached them to Devin's hands.

Items

Devin owns a Ring of Reversal. He's always wearing it, unless stated otherwise.

Potions

N/A
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User avatar
Doran Cooney
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Posts: 461
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 8:10 am
Race: Human
Profession: Performer
Renown: 40
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Plucking the Strings

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Devin Thorn
Knowledges
Etiquette: Use a napkin instead of your sleeve
Etiquette: Sitting up straight helps you make a good impression
Musical Instrument (Lute): Tuning a lute
Musical Instrument (Lute): Playing a dance melody
Musical Instrument (Lute): Playing background music
Musical Instrument (Lute): Translating the images you see in your mind into music
Musical Instrument (Lute): Not all lutes have the same number of strings
Musical Instrument (Lute): Old lutes need to be handled with care
Persuasion: Giving people money helps you get what you want faster
Note: Devin definitely overplayed his Musical Instrument skill here. I'm going to award the lores this time, but please in the future try to play the correct level of skill. A gentle ambient piece, on the spot, is going to be competent at least - at which point it should be alluded to that it's been practiced before and not played out of his mind's eye. Not that the writing itself wasn't good, just that the skill itself is a bit low for what you put into your post.
Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Renown: 5 - people are chatting about Cally's new bard, though no one can remember his name... yet.

Points 15
Faith Augustin
Knowledges
Business Management: Ensuring that everyone is clear on what the rules are
Business Management: Create an ambience
Negotiation: Negotiating terms with an employee
Negotiation: Maybe don't mention the flirty waitress.


Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Renown: N/A

Points 15
---
Oh man, Devin is a hoot. What a weirdo. Faith is, as always, straightforward and always down to business. Good thread overall; new jobs are always exciting and it's a little more money coming in for charity. Woo, charity.
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