Peek: It's a Living

In the hours before dawn, the tabby catkin enjoys a bit of quiet with a pipe and a book.  Berdol feels he has a pretty good gig, especially now that Fourdock has a proper dungeon for people to gather in, rather than having to make long trips out to the Southwood, or try to nab a few scraps from Hullbreak before fleeing.

Thedeim has definitely made his job a lot easier, and a lot more profitable, too.  It's strange the dungeon decided to name itself, instead of just staying as Fourdock Dungeon.  Then again, Thedeim is a strange dungeon, so it probably shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

He sets his book aside as he starts preparing for the day's delving, hooking his various hilt-less knives to his leather armor.  He wonders if he should invest in something heavier, now that he doesn't need to hike for a week or more to get to a job, but he pushes the idea aside.  He's used to the lighter weight, so he'd have to change too much to adjust to something like scale mail.

The solo adventurer snuffs his pipe, dumps the embers, and crushes them underfoot at the room's hearth before heading down to the guild board.  He had tried to get into a more permanent party, but most adventurers around here have a lot more ambition than he does.  He doesn't need to avenge some tragedy, or pay off some loan shark, or even try to support some lifestyle beyond his means.  He just likes delving, and he's pretty good at it.

As usual, his focus is on the daily hiring of escorts for gatherers.  They don't pay the most, but they're quick and easy.  It even lets him make friends and professional acquaintances and get small discounts for various things.  He scans to see if any of the smiths have quests, but has no luck today.  While he might not want to get new armor, a couple of his knives are getting a bit dull.  He's got a decent bit saved, but a few quests to get him a discount might let him get something truly special.

Today, he decides to start simple, and takes a quest to escort an herbalist.  Looks like they just want a trip around the yard and into the house, shouldn't take more than a hour, two at most.  They don't want to visit the bellfry/garden, so this should be a great way to warm up for the day.  Maybe he'll be able to get a quest from the dungeon itself, too.  He's had a few clients stop to see if the aranea want anything in specific to be gathered, so it's a good chance to get his own quest.  He doesn't even need to do it just around that one client.  They're not tied to the quest, so he can take his time and kill a dozen rats over several clients, or whatever quest looks convenient.

He actually got a sock to match one he got a week ago.  When he was younger, he never appreciated good socks, but now?  The pair is some of his favorite loot he's gotten.  Maybe he'll try a harder quest.  He's seen a few people with the silk shirts around town, and they look very comfortable.  He can imagine himself with his pipe and a book, relaxing with a silk shirt in front of a fire.  Yes, he'll keep an eye out for a harder quest.

At the dungeon's gates, he meets his client: a featherkin who's clothing looks to be more for pockets than for modesty.  His modesty is well and truly covered, though, and Berdol thinks the featherkin could give most bags of holding a run for their money for storage space.  He meets the bird's eyes and nods from across the way, and offers his hand to shake once he gets closer.

"Please to meet ya.  I'm Berdol.  You left this quest at the guild?" he asks, holding up the notice.  The featherkin nods and speaks, his voice a bit high and full of nervous energy.

"Yes!  I've been hearing of this new dungeon, and I wanted to get as much as I could before winter sets in!"

"You from a bit more to the south?"

The bird shakes his head.  "Almost due east, actually.  My village is by lake Gofnar.  Oh, uh... I'm Hijyn."

The cat nods and starts towards the gates.  "I've been past that area a few times.  The local dungeons don't have much for herbalism?"

"Oh, they do!  It's just that there are ingredients here that we can't get back home," he reasons, his voice getting more quiet as they get closer to the gates.  "Is the dungeon dangerous?  I mean, I got the basic information from the Dungeoneers, but..."

The cat smiles and nods as he opens the gate.  "But you're hardly an adventurer, so you don't know how dangerous it can still be, yeah?"

The client sheepishly nods, and the cat waves it off.  "Nothing to be ashamed of.  We adventurers appreciate the work of alchemists as much, if not more than the work of smiths and enchanters.  It takes just as much dedication as Adventuring does, just a different kind," he says, giving a short little speech he gives to a lot of his new clients.  Not only does it make them feel better about hiring people like him, it's even true.  Delving would be a lot more dangerous if not for the various crafters.

"As for the dungeon, it's pretty safe, but you're going to pick up at least a little bit of fighting experience.  You have a dagger?"  The featherkin nods and shows the simple weapon.  "That should be fine for the yard and manor.  I'll point out the things you should be able to handle, and I'll deal with the rest.  The most dangerous thing we should encounter are a couple vipers, maybe a small spider swarm if the dungeon is feeling rambunctious."

The client looks nervous at that.  "I'll have to do some fighting?  Isn't that what you're for?"

Berdol laughs at that.  "I can, but you'll get a lot more herbs if you contribute.  That's how this dungeon works: the more effort you put in, the more reward you get.  If we actually do end up fighting a spider swarm, there's a good chance something will just happen to fall out of the garden up in the bellfry for you.  But you'll have to contribute to the fighting for that."

Hijyn still looks uncertain, so Berdol decides to just guide him towards the patches in the back yard, not bothering with the quests on the porch for now.  He'll let the new guy deal with an encounter or two just to ease him into what it's like, before showing him more of the wierdness of Thedeim.  And, thinking of encounters, he spots what's practically the traditional probing encounter of the dungeon: two rats and a viper.

"Here we are, looks like the dungeon is ready to see what we're made of.  Thedeim's cooperative, so he's not going to just kill us, but he's also no toybox that will just hand over the loot."  Berdol draws two daggers, and lets his metal affinity draw two more for him, the floating blades taking a defensive position before his client.

"To start, just don't get hit.  I'll deal with the viper, and then show you how to handle a rat, ok?"

"Uh... ok?" comes the nervous reply.  Berdol smiles at the answer and prepares to get down to business.  The new guy will be fine.  He's had clients flee, and clients demand he just keep them safe, but Hijyn here is willing to pull his weight.  Depending on how he does, they might even be able to go after the attic boss and get him into that garden after all.  Going above and beyond the letter of a quest makes for a happy client, and happy clients are repeat clients.

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Inspired by Zachary T Pruckowski, who wanted to see a random delver's perspective.