money moves

turns out i jus needed ta sleep it off, n i felt lots better in da morning~ i was woken up by da sweet smells of breakfass, a reward fer fighting so bravely no doubt! da spread came in a fancy box, wif a note. bricky is da only one who can read dat language, so he opens it. i already shmash a couple helpings before he tells us dis is all a gift from mathias.. rrrggh i stew on how i hate hims guts …while we finish breakfas..
of course da group are interested in what da letter says, but also for if bricky tells us himself. he wantsta say moar, but he can only stutter some general details. i jump fer it, but bwicky is way too tall. drexla helps, swiping da papers from bricky wif her grappley hook. once reeled in, she tries her best ta copy it all in her notes. tobias steps in front of bricky, n i hold down one of hims legs ta give drexla all da time she needed. it was really fun teamwerk, i just hope bricky doesn’t mind. we helped him give us a whole map of fort irrigan, which is awesomeeee. but no one else reads inarian, so we dunno quite what da note says (besides what bricky told us, something about learnin lessons n contrats).
drexla is quick ta zip off ta her new job. tobicat n luna decide dhey wanna visit da church, but not before a back n forth about an updated buddy system fer bricky – one person besides bogbean hasta be wif him.
i tink about where i wanna go today.. i am paranoy about money. in da city everything costs shiny coins, not liek in da swamp where you trade goods or favors. i hear mr v(ARANUS hueheheh) talkin wif golkir about two bullitens dat offer moneys, n i sign me n bricky up fer a share. golkir grumbles privately wif mr v while bricky n i follow dhem towards da dark iron n stone part of da barracks. bricky said it wasnt a good idea ta go inside yesterday, but mr v assures us its otay..
-splash!- we are all greeted wif a sprinkle of water at da threshold. from on bricky’s shoulders i notice da water steams offa him, and (oh shid) parta hims face is melted! deez people must be attacking us, n now dhey’re all yelling: “hes one of dhem!” “undabarian scum!”
v quickly maneuvers himself in front of us, cutting off one of da soldier’s hands (wow dis really is serious). i unsheathed saturn, aiming down ready ta jump offa bricky’s shoulders while v blocked any moar holy water from burning him. but liek as soon as it started, it all stopped. da commander lady marched in demanding explanation, n v somehow talked himself out of any fault (but? dere’s so much blood on da floor??). commander highbloom explains how dhey believe bricky’s kind is some “unholy, profaned combination of undead n machine.” everyone seemed so scared of him, hands on weapons n eyes fixed wide.. maybe others are scary-liek but no, not brickyfriend! (cept... when his body oozes black. or when hims eye floats outta hims head.. or when he steals essence from pepol… ah stahp! nevermind.)
we opted ta go outside wif golkir while v got da info we needed from da commander. when v returns, seeing bricky in pain he supports him while we walk away. bwicky’s eye made blue at dis helpful gesture. by dis time drexla is off werk, n joins us shortly before we run into luna n tobias at a cross street. we catch dem up, bricky is allergic ta holy water as well as fire now. while da others visit a nearby rock store, i lead bwicky into a smaller side street where i can patch hims face up in private.
i didnt see how bad before, but up close i can see all kindsa metal under bricky’s melted patches. sorry but i hadta poke my fingies in dere. but anyway, if pepol already look at him scary-liek dey definitely wont like dis.. lucky i took da opportunity ta skin dat hume before heheh~ i measure n trim da hide ta fit before carefully stitching all da patches in place. (hmm how will i source moar leather is gonna be impotant soon..)
afterwards, da whole group follows tobias n luna ta someplace called “da senile maple” where da outside was carved ta look liek a silly tree face (creepy moar liek). my friends talk wif da barkeep about helping her sick husband, n she leads us upstairs ta deir room. i dont pay many attention, but i gather dat dis guy has moar demon aura dhan we’ve seen before. all cuz “good dr. mathias” gave him lots of nasty potions ta drink for medicine. it makes him not eat or bathe, n even rejects tobicat’s magik healing. (dat must mean something real real bad..) n cuz everyone tinks mathias is just sooo cool, its hard ta convince mrs. thornswick ta stop letting her husband drink da potions. but in da end she said she’d try.
next, about a block away is a place called birch fruit stand. dhey were da last shop ta get robbed by da “masque” guy mr v n us need ta catch fer coin. mr v learned from highbloom dat dis thief strikes two nights at a time, so we gotta think where hes gonna hit next.
we all approach da fruit stand, n i point out da one v needs ta talk to. she was real hard ta see bent down behind da counter past da smol crowd of pepol, so i helped~ da owner shows us where masque came up through floor boards, even tho underneath is hard packed dirt. (has pipp run away n turned ta life of crime?! dat is kinda cool.. but my friend wouldnt be dumb enough ta get caught!)
we visit da neighboring shops, asking ta help protec dem from da burglar. i use dis opportunity ta buy some buckles n metal chunks fer future projects at da obsidian seeker leather shop . da shopkeepers were netherfelians liek at da iron barracks. dey wanted ta charge me moar just cuz i was wif bricky, cuz someone named “embargo” dont liek his kind or somethin. well i guess moar just means i can show off my maths skills, so i start ta count my moneys (ein, two, dree..). oh– hey! tobicat dealt wif da shopkeep before i finish. gee, i can keep my shinys aaaand da goodies heheheh~
da other shop was a smol building, made fer dimin, called puddyhole yarn. dey weren’t worried about deir store at all, n laughed at da idea of a thief getting in through metal. when i seen how drexla had all deir attention tryin ta sell her some wire, i took da opportunity ta carve my initial into dat cold metal dey’re so proud of. (witness meeeeee (later, when im long gone heheh))
each shop ensured we would have emergency access. da obsidian seeker left da door unlocked n an employee on duty, n da puddyhole left a robot in charge ta unlock da door if need be. in da few hours before dark, luna tried ta borrow grindlethorp’s tools again only ta find his group has left town already. but he left a package for her – her own mini lab! what a useful gift. tobias went inquiring fer new armor, but its a lotta money.
when we all meet back fer da stakeout, we split up: drexla n mr.v at da leather shop, bricky n me at da yarn store, n luna n tobias outside in da middle. the outside group is actin natural, making conbersation. i hear a whirring sound coming from da puddyhole, n i peek through da dimin sized window – ugh its just da poopy robot making its rounds, no thief yet.
a while passes n we notice dat drexla n her captain have been inside da obsidian seeker without any signal or communication wif us, liek dis whole time. maybe we should check on dem..
luna n tobias are closer, n we can hear a growing commotion as bricky n me make our way. we see a masked kenku run past, on da other side of da street. we cut through ta head him off, bracing fer a long chase, when hims whole body suddenly goes limp. we reach our mark n i can hear him.. snoring? definitely tobias’ handiwerk. so fast, n much less clean up dhan how i woulda done it. tobias restrained da kenku, carrying him by da feets as we all made our merry way ta turn him in. he woked up n haggled wif fer his freedom da whole way, but no one listened. once we arrived back at da barracks, bricky n i made sure ta stay outside n let everyone else handle da tradestuffs.
upon return, mr v tries ta divvy out da moneys liek a pirate would. luna hasta remind him most of us aren't his crew, n its divided equally. luna had a good idea ta celebrate n all pitch in fer da nicest room at da inn tonight! we get ta take another bath n everything~! we still have time ta relax befoar bed, so i put on da thief’s mask (drexla asked highbloom if we could keep it), n i chase cassiopeia n jenks around our suite wif it. its not long til im asked ta “chill da fuck out,” so it sounds liek bedtime soon~