Duty Session 407: Grunty Drive

The villagers have gathered the grunties they want taken to market in a large open field outside of town. The area is covered by grunting grunties, cropping grass, wandering aimlessly, and making a mess. Young Landers have been given the task of preventing any grunties from wandering off, but once underway, it will be one of the adventurers' tasks to keep the herd together. There are perhaps 2,000 grunties in this herd, and nearly all of them must make it to market in order for the adventurers to make a profit.

Ayame stood, acting as a beacon for the adventurers, a prim little Sylph with the wand in her hair glowing a vibrant lilac, and a heavy round shield slung onto her back. She waves a gloved hand, bouncing on the toes of her heeled boots to make herself more noticable, and smiling cheerfully "Hi! I don't think I know you all. Ayame, and it's nice to meet you" She dips a small curtsy. How one does this in a fitted pencil skirt is an exercise in Etiquette, but there you are. "Eas is a new town under construction, so they need supplies there. It will hopefully be quiet" She says with a tiny roll of her eyes over her half-moon glasses.

It's never quiet.

The Were Fang lion gives Ayame a wave, acknowledging her beacon. "Gallant, and likewise, nice to meet you." Grunties- this /has/ to be a quieter duty than the rollercoaster of undead fighting that he was involved in yesterday, right? He could use a breather before plunging back into the more intense quests.

"Yeah, this should be a piece of cake." Gallant gives a wide grin, as if he actually believes this.

Scarily, he just might.

    Inrit headed towards beacon, and he could easily be mistaken for a child with how short he is, and a girl with how girly he is. He was using his wooden staff as a walking stick as he approached, smiling brightly at the other Sylph and giving a respectful bow after the introduction. "I'm uhm, Inrit. Inrit Candlebell. Nice to meet you too!" He would flutter his oversized wings slightly after saying that. He'd also add, "even if it's not quiet I'll make sure no one gets hurt."

The first thing that must be done is the herd must be roused and convinced to move, and in the correct direction. This is more easily said than done. Grunties are sometimes uncooperative or contrary, and sometimes wander off when no one is looking. One imagines a larger party of Landers would be needed to control and direct a herd of this size over any distance!

Ayame smiles and tugs the wand from her hair, the tip glowing as it is, and she twirls it in her fingers before gently bopping Inrit on the head "Well, aren't you adorable" she grins down "Try to keep up, and stay out of the way of them!" She tells the little Sylph, before nodding up to Gallant. "You'd think so! They're pretty strong, for all they're big and dumb. Just don't get in front of them!" She holds up her wand, changing the color to a flash of pink, and then back to violet as the herd begins to lumber along.

"I'll stay out front" She says cheerfully "You keep an out out for the stragglers and anything attacking! If we make quick time, this should only be an overnight trip" And she laughs as she moves off, a swaying secretartial sylph sniggering "I hope you remembered your camping gear!"

    Inrit would seem confused by the boop but otherwise keep his smile, and when the group started moving forward, he'd walk forward, closing his eyes and holding his staff with both hands as he begins, "Spirits of Air, grant me your aid." The tip of the staff would glow with a green light and a ball of swirling wind appears. "Send me soaring high so I can search from above." And then he'd open his eyes, take one hand off his staff, and then take a few running steps before aiming his staff at the ground and unleashing a surprisingly powerful burst of wind that bounces off the ground and catches his wings as it takes him high into the air, where he would use his wings to slow his fall, taking a look around from above. He's still coming back down but he can repeat that process as needed to keep looking from above.

Gallant smiles at Ayame. "You are right about that, he's definitely very charming-" and he watches as the sylph takes to the air, letting a low whistle out of his muzzle.

"... you know, I should've gone for Air. Flight seems so much more useful than fire and wate-"

But then he is interrupted as one of the Grunties starts to wander off. Gallant to the rescue! "Hey now- don't you just-" he's a monster handler. How different can that be from simple animal handling, right? Piece of cake!

As it turns out: very different. Even with his sturdy frame, he can't quite get the animal back on track, and soon his heels are trailing on the ground as he tries to get a good handhold and veer the best.

"No, bad Grunty, back, back!"

Ayame, meanwhile, scurries about at the front. Her wand sends out flashes as she tries to direct the herd - but mostly, by the time they're all moving at any sort of pace, she's flushed, her wings buzzing frantically as she scurries around, scouring for hoofprints and then scooting grunties back into place. Easy, sure!

The party can hear the howls off in the distance. The grunties are nervous, but stupid, and keep moving regardless.

"Don't like the sound of that" Ayame says, dropping back, her cheeks red, her glasses slipping from her nose and pushed back up with her wand, to chatter to the other two "But looking good so far!" With a little note of relief, though she chuckles to Inrit "careful, highjumps in a robe!" She winks. For Gallant, her comment is a little more serious "I don't know. I like a little of everything - it seems to let me manage. Just, uh, don't try to force them. Prod their backs. It works better than the horns" She offers, before heading back up

A bit later, the alert party can see a fairly substantial pack of wolves lope closer, though still a fair distance out, covering the ground in a furry swarm, hoping to add some grunty to their own diet.

"Prod their backs. Right!" He reaches for the small riding crop he had hooked to one of the holsters on the side of his loincloth, but stops midway as his sensitive ears catch the distant howling. He uses the crop to prod the Grunty back to formation and then advances himself, to get a better look of the incoming threat.

"Well, it looks like someone got lost on the way to grandmother's house. Let's convince them that this is not the snacks they are looking for."

Hands held high, he mutters an incantation to the forces of fire, and with a wave of his hands, unleashes a pillar of fire to fall in the distance. Not directly /onto/ the wolves, per se, but to trace a fiery swath ahead of them and, hopefully, send them away in search of an alternate food source.

    Inrit was focused on keeping an eye out, so he does end up spotting the distant wolves doing the howling, but is a bit distracted as Ayame points out his attire isn't exactly perfectly suited for this task, suddenly focused on looking at his robe and making sure no one has any embarrassing angles on him but in doing so he throws himself off course and tumbles out of control, and ends up hitting the ground belly down and sliding, but he pops up to his feet again fine enough. And is quick to defend himself, "Hey! I wear shorts under this and you couldn't see anyways, but more importantly, wolves ahead."

Ayame wrinkles her nose and deliberately pushes the glasses up her nose, before unslinging her shield and calling back "Keep them off the herd! Engage from range!" Right before she ignores her own advice and advances on the pack. The howlers strike at her - the teeth grappling against the metal rim of her shield - before the sassily shielded sylph strikes smartly, shooting stars straight at the scary scavengers! Soon, combined with the efforts of the other two, they flee, howling in shock and pain.

The party has driven off the wolves, but a few of the grunties got spooked and have wandered off. The initial inclination may be to write them off, but each grunty brought to market is a bit more cash, and of course grunty burgers at the end of the trail. So, the party is obligated to gather in as many of the strays as they can find before proceeding onward. Recapturing the grunties and returning them to the herd is pretty straightforward, and is not unlike captuing monsters. A tracker may be able to find grunties that have wandered farther afield.

Ayame has slung her shield, halting the herd to try to calm them after the assault, and moves back again to mutter with her colleagues "We could just go on, but I saw a few of them scatter. Anyone think they can track them?" She asks wiuth a little hope. One advantage of the shield on her back is it lets her lean against anything, and a grunty obliges as she folds her arms, taking in them both "Wolves all over. The areas around the towns aren't exactly safe for anyone - it's why we get hired instead of Landers" She chuckles weakly "And shorts are sensible. Have you met Uta? She does something similar. This skirt's long enough I don't have that problem, anyway."

The wolves having scattered, the Adventurers turn their attention back to the herd... and their missing Grunties. "... you know, I should probably wear shorts," he joins in, as he tries to catch on the track of some of the scattered grunties, "Except I don't fly. I don't have the graceful way of the sylphs, I'm mostly a land cat through and through," he grins, and sets out to try to track some beasties.

Eventually, though, he has to double back and return to the rendezvous point, looking crestfallen and shaking his head, "Sorry... I couldn't find 'em... any luck on your end?"

    Inrit was a healer first and foremost, so when the wolf battle started, he was mostly staying back and throwing out Light shields and healing spells. occasionally he'd use Air magic to relocate if needed. And soon the battle is won! But then the bad news comes and Inrit is... Not really sure what to do! But he'd try to capture the grunties! And by that he means grab them and try to convince them to go towards the herd via pulling and begging. It worked better than you might expect!

    As for Ayame talking to him, Inrit would nod. "Yeah! Uta's super nice and told me she would teach me more about Pharmacy. I know the basics and all but I want to be the best healer I can."

Perhaps Inrit inspired Ayame, but she went a little further; dropping her shield to the ground and stepping atop it. Balancing carefully in the heeled boots and pencil skirt, she pointed her wand to the shield and incanted, ending with "LIGHTNING!" before the rune-edged metal edging of the shield flares into violet light and hover her from the ground. A ball of crackling energy keeps it just above the ground as she zips about, herding the grunties back who practically flee to return to the herd as the sylph cackles gently.

Soon, with the combined efforts of the trio, the herd is back together, but Ayame is flushed again, grumbling as she looks up at the darkening sky. "Don't worry about it" She tells Gallant "I think we got most of them. And hey, the wolves deserve a snack as well. Means they're less likely to come after us in the night" She reassures him warmly, and smiles to Inrit "She's a good nurse. I know the basics, but it's certainly not my best thing. I know just enough to help her out" She grins

The party realizes that is too much distance to cover in one day. Grunties like these are not fast, and need considerable rest. So, the party must set up camp, get some food and rest for themselves, and maybe a song or two to lighten everyone's spirits and keep them positive.

As they work, Ayame chuckles tiredly to the two. She brought a tent, dropping it from her menu and trying to settle the grunties down "Two of us rest, one of us watch, and just rotate it?" She suggests tiredly "It's been a day and a half already, it feels like" She smiles a little

"I have met Uta but once, but she seems like a very nice person. I almost accidentally drank one of her slimes- long story," he says, holding up a hand, "But it totally makes sense when you hear it in context."

Once the tent has been dropped from the menu, the lion stretches and sits on his haunches to stretch muscles there. "You two can go and nod off, I volunteer to start the first watch. I won't let the beasties wander off."

    One thing Inrit has is spirit! It's hard to tell if he's tired usually. But he doesn't seem to have any desire to argue when Gallant volunteers for first shift. Instead offering, "I could do second. I'm a light sleeper anyways so something will probably wake me up." He did try to think of a song he could sing but nothing was coming to mind. And he likely would fall asleep still trying to think of a good one to raise spirits. Unfortunately it seems the group would be deprived of hearing a song tonight.

Ayame actually gets the tent up. She even sets up a crude fence with stakes and rope, humming as she works and using a rock to bash the stakes into the ground. That done, she props her shield outside, props a small suitcase in front of that, and happily crawls into the tent to sleep. Because she. Is. Exhausted.

Come the morning? Well. The camp is in disarray, the breakfast is awful; but the fence and tent held! Ayame took the last watch, and by the time the others are up, she's pristine and neat again, smiling at them "Not too far to go. We should be there by midday" She offers "Sleep well?"

The grunties got a good night's sleep, even if the party did not. Driving them to the market town is straightforward, and a fenced-in stockyard is available for the grunties to be herded into. The head Lander comes out to haggle with the party over the amount of money he's willing to pay for so many grunties. After all, they're so skinny, and a few were bitten by wolves. There's the mileage and demurrage, of course, and so many other details.

Ayame makes a little face once there, and sighs, taking out the scrolls of paper from one of the grunty-packs "Going to and check some local prices" She says cheerfully "You two see what you can get!"

Gallant wakes easily enough- catnapping being a thing he does. He does his best to comb down the disarray of his mane, as he also does have a tendency to not so much move in his sleep but basically do calisthenics. Eventually he gives up for the moment and ties as much of it back into a ponytail. "Right, leave it to us, we'll get a good exchange."

When the Lander arrives, The Haggling begins, Gallant flashes his best Used Car Salesman smile and says, in a mellifluous voice:

"Now just wait right here, my good man. It is true that some of the merchandise has suffered some... /transitional trauma/, but that is only to be expected when displacing such a large amount of merchandise over such a significant tract of land. And, while, that does diminish some of the worth of the product itself, you also must account for the expenses incurred by the handlers themselves!"

He gestures to the team, "Their- that is to say our- effort and expenditure of resources, energy, vigilance, and their own safety when confronted with voracious wolves and other such threats simply /must/ be paid for. After all, without it there would be no merchandise, and that is, therefore, why the price you are offering is simply not satisfactory. In fact, some adventurers might feel downright mortally offended that their services are seen as so non-essential..." and then his grin widens. It is a very friendly grin. But it is also a lion grinning, which has an effect in and of itself, "But we are patient and understanding, and we know that different regions consider different exchange rates, and thus we are not offended. Merely pointing out that your proposed price means that we are being underpaid in proportion to the effort expended. Now..." he claps his hands, "... shall we negotiate for a more... equitable remuneration?"

    Inrit didn't seem bothered by a bad night's rest for some reason, still smiling and in high spirits anyways! And telling obvious lies as he answers Ayame with a "Yep!" When it came time to negotiate... Inrit is the worst at negotiations and would just take whatever the first offer is, so he'd keep his mouth shut. Let the others handle that.

    But then he gets dragged along anyways and ends up smiling next to Gallant as he... Uh... Yeah. Inrit kinda stares at him blankly as he just lets him actually do the negotiations, before looking between Gallant and the Lander, before saying, "Uh yeah. That." And pointing up at Gallant. He didn't know how to negotiate.

When Ayame swishes back, heels sounding on stone before she's seen, she has a long list of pricessliding them to Gallant and Inrit to let them compare - some of them are ringed, some underlined, but mostly? It's Helpful Information. She lets them chatter as they sell, and she laughs at the tail end of Gallant's chatter.

With a successful Grunty drive well behind them now, the party takes a moment to reflect what they?ve just gone through. No doubt there will be a monetary reward for this. And of course there will be meat in everyone's cookpots.

"That was a good run" She nods, relaxing back, a burger in one hand and a bag of coins in the other. Her wand is back in her hair, her shield and case on her back, and the professional edge is dropped for a bouncy, cheerful smile "Thank you both. That was well worth the trip. Maybe even the camp." She winks

After a successful haggling, burgers are for celebrating, especially when you're a carnivore.

Even if everything ends up tasting like stale crackers. It's the intention that counts.

"Oh, I'd say it was worth it. I always love an adventure, and meeting new people. I think we worked rathed well as a team," he says, giving Ayame and Infrit a grin before chomping down on his hamburger. "We should do this again!"

    Inrit didn't mind a burger so would join in. And would store the pouch of gold on a pouch on his robe. He gives a nod to Ayame. "Yeah. It was fun! I'm sorry I couldn't think of a good song though. I was trying to but couldn't think of one and ended up falling asleep." He admits. "It was very nice meeting you both."

"And both of you" Ayame nods happily "I'm always happy to do stuff that lets me get paid. Eas really needed this bunch - if you've not, you should look it over. The town's under construction under the Baroness Wake, and she's good to talk to" She offers both a handshake, though she doesn't remove her gloves "Safe travels. And careful when jumping" With just a bit of a teasing grin