Everybody laughed but you

[Faith Augustin]

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3rd Ashan, 718

Sometimes, Faith didn't quite believe how things had come to be where they were. A slave from birth, she had only recently stopped waking up at night having to wake Padraig and check that it was real, that it was all true. Or, more precisely, she hadn't done it for a while. Whether it would ever stop, Faith didn't know but she did know that the vast majority of her time was spent happy, healthy and not worrying about things. Alexander, the necromancer who had been plaguing her for however long it was, was finally dead. Before that Aelig had tortured them with an illusionary pregnancy but now, here she was with beautiful twin infants, a husband who adored her as she did him and she felt that what she was doing was really making a difference to the world. A small one, so far, as far as Faith was concerned, but still each step on the road was a step in the right direction.

So, on this particular trial she was going to look at opening a soup kitchen.

Housing for another ten people, twenty if they could. They could do that, then buy a larger house which was where the kitchen itself lived. That, in total, would be affordable. Then, the remainder of the money could go to land, with an additional 3 acres. That would be enough for what she needed, so Faith made her way to the real estate office.

"Are you sure it's good to expand so much, so quickly?" Alissa asked and Faith glanced at her and smiled."What would you suggest we do?" There was no accusation to Faith's tone, just a question being asked. Alissa considered and then answered. "I would keep the money, make sure that you have sufficient to cover any eventuality and focus on helping those you are helping." Faith nodded and tried to think about how to explain it. "But then, there will be twenty people in poverty that I could help. Could have helped. And as much as we're doing good, until every person who falls asleep does so with food and warmth and safety, I can't rest." She couldn't. It was something which drove her and Faith knew that there were a number of people who wished that she would, that she could.

But for her, there was no choice.

Faith had been born a slave, after all, and she had been chosen to be sold into slavery over her twin because she had been the one on the left. From that moment, her fate had been decided, determined and she had believed it. That was what drove her, that she had believed without question that she was where she was supposed to be. Her acceptance of her role, her argument that she was a thing, not a person - likening herself to a teapot to the man who loved her, all of those things which she saw, now. There were people out there like her, and maybe there were people out there like him too. That was what drove her.

So, she smiled at Alissa and shrugged. "I can't rest. Miles to go." With a smile, Faith shrugged and carried on their way to the offices where they could buy the buildings needed for the next stage.

[Faith Augustin]

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Once they had been to the offices they needed to go to - and there were a number of them, they started to make their way back to what was becoming referred to as "Cally's Village". Not by Faith, but certainly by those around the area. It was something Nir'wei had said to her a long time ago, that this was how communities started and it was, indeed, a growing one. The set up costs for the soup kitchen, she explained, would be more than a building. There was the equipment needed, all of the furniture and crockery, pots and pans. All sorts. But then, she'd done this with the restaurant and she'd planned it all meticulously. So, walking with Alissa, Faith made her way to the offices where they would hash out all the details.

What was good, these trials, was that the faction, and she, were so well known that it impacted costs. This was great as it gave her more for less and, in charity work that was always a good thing. "Reputation," she said to Alissa. "It's a fickle friend, but at the end of the trial, I think really all that matters in terms of it is to always do what you would always do. It's when you try and be someone other than who you are that people see you as a fraud." Alissa looked at her and frowned slightly. "Do you really not care what other people think of you?" The biqaj woman asked and Faith smiled. That was a complicated answer, in one way. Incredibly simple in another. "There are some people whose opinion matter to me very much, but they accept me for who I am." She smiled slightly and explained, "And they would be quick to tell me what they thing. But as for others, no. I can't imagine they spend any time thinking about me at all." Alissa shook her head, looking at the woman almost incredulously. She had known Faith for some time now, and the earnest young human seemed to be always busy, always thinking.

"We are meeting the others there," Faith said, with a smile at the couple who they walked past. Faith's eyes glanced back and frowned slightly, but she said nothing. However, later that trial, she popped by their house to talk to the man. He didn't look well, Faith thought and she committed it to memory for later. Then, she glanced again at Alissa and considered. "Will you help with the soup kitchen?" Faith asked and Alissa shook her head. "No," she said, calmly and then explained. "What you're doing, it changes peoples' lives. It's changed mine. And there are those who won't and don't like that. I can't do what you're doing, I can't. But what I can do, what I will do, is make sure to the very best of my ability, that you are alive to do it."

Faith looked at her and she smiled. "I appreciate that Alissa. I wish I believed that it wasn't necessary, but I don't. I can only apologise to you, for any time that my actions put you in danger." The biqaj woman smiled and shook her head. The work that Isonomia did, that Cally's did, that Faith did had saved her life and it was as simple, and as complicated, as that. And so, she would do what she did best and she would work to keep the fanatic next to her alive.

[Faith Augustin]

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"Right," said Faith to the others and the Cally's staff looked at her with shared expression of despair. "I know, on the surface it looks bad, but it's entirely cosmetic. So, we have cleaning products, we have brushes for scrubbing, we have scrapers to get the old paint and we have paint and brushes. What more do we need?" Collectively, they groaned and Faith smiled, then handed out lemon-soaked water and vinegar on rags for cleaning windows. There was a lot to do, in order to get the place ready, but they could work together and Faith didn't doubt that for a moment. "So, if there's one thing that I understand, it is cleaning. It is where my one and only true talent lies. Paul and Taylor, stepladders and the ceiling, please. Trudi and Jo'qet, you two on the walls, and Alissa and I will get on the floors." Handing out the tools and equipment, that was what happened. Whilst Paul and Taylor were working on the ceilings, she and Alissa worked on cleaning everything away, getting the floors cleared of the existing debris and then keeping the place clean as the others worked on the walls and ceiling.

Once everything was cleaned, from top to bottom, Faith looked at the room they had. This was going to be the kitchen, where the soup was created and prepared. Out there was going to be the dining hall and that, too, was being worked on and cleaned, but by the volunteers from the faction. In here, once everything was done, they had just begun the job, she knew. "So, now we need to get everything painted. I've got measurements for the curtains, so I'll get started there. Those of us with the skills, lets get making cupboards and surfaces, yes?" The staff here had skills in construction, woodworking and so on, and so did the faction members who had come to help. It meant that the costs were reduced, that they were able to work together as a team and that they could make the place what they wanted.

So, they worked. "So, we're going to see how many people through these doors, Faith?" Trudi asked and Faith shrugged slightly. "I suppose to a large extent that's an unknown until we find out. I want to start with enough food for six hundred and see from there," Trudi nodded thoughtfully, considering it. "There was a time when I'd have said you couldn't do it, you know." Faith smiled. "I couldn't," she replied. "Not on my own. I need you all." Trudi grinned and got back to what she was doing.

Faith moved over to speak to Paul, then, and Taylor who was working with him. "In this, feeding these people, we have another patch of land here. Can we make this soup kitchen self sufficient in its own right?" Faith looked at the two of them and they nodded. "We've been discussing just that," Taylor said and Paul gestured around. "The thing is," Paul said, "if you're happy to have a rotation list of ingredients, then we can do that. Vegetables, of course, not meat." Faith nodded. Meat would have to come from their suppliers. But as the place grew, she would put more money into that, and then eventually they would be fully self sufficient even here. Paul and Taylor were working out how to rotate the crops and ensure that they maximised the yield while not compromising on quality.

Looking around, Faith smiled. It was coming together and it would happen. Another step was being taken here and that was what was important. One step at a time and change would happen. It had to.

[Tristan Venora]

Name: Faith

Knowledge:
Leadership: Assign tasks and work together
Leadership: Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty
Logistics: Considering self sufficiency
Logistics: Give people jobs suited to their skills

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Renown: Normally this kind of thread would earn you quite a bit of renown, but you already have 1.000 renown, so you won't receive anything but the gratitude of the people that visit your soup kitchen.
Magic XP: N/A

Points: 10

- - -

Comments: Faith is such a good person, and she's changed so much since she was Tristan's slave. I hope she'll survive so that she can help more people.

I didn't find this thread dull, by the way.