LAZ(y)

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

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Notes linkback

~~~

Counting cards is not illegal, but apparently whipping Wyatt's rear on the regs has him pretending it is. Little richie just wants to keep his cash.

Met something looked like a goblin today - obviously isn't, as it's good but ain't dead.

Here goes for a bunch of junk, paid in junk and used for stabbin' bad guys. Note: Reversed curve on the downblade makes fleshwounds deeper, doesn't hinder defense.

Gotta kill faster, but I gotta get stabbed less. Guess I'm spending more money on shiny pennymail.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

New junk's great - the straight upblade makes the twist easier. Melting rocks is hilarious.

Lots of women in Center. Not complaining, but one wants me to meet her in Vehl. I think she's a dragon.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

My buttons tell me it was the dragon. She smells better than the smart ogre.

I'm starting to think I'm crazy, with the good goblins and smart ogres. I should ask the dragon what she thinks.

Note: Less wrist, more elbow - more leverage, less wear - therefore less pain for me, more cutty for them.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Ninja following me around - purple eyes. Calls herself Stalker.

Steel called her Tyra. Dragonheart?

Anyway, gotta remember Saira vs. Sarah.

Roaming the countryside, battling beasts and collecting for an orphanage - woo!

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

She's playing at the cloaked crusader bit. Heh.

For an old lady, she sure loves macking on that red guy.

Back to making stuff now.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

She might just be more legitimate than I thought. Good.

Meanwhile, still nothing worthwhile. Ambitionless? Nah. Just got standards.

Since there's time to kill, make more stuff. Now a real-live tanner, spinner, weaver, cook, brewer, tobacconist, metallurgist, potter, glazier, coppersmith, fisherman, carpenter, pipemaker, fletcher, alchemist, miner, jeweler, and alcoholic.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Helped save Hlint with a timely bucket. It's true! Also, came in second in the Leringard Demon Card Tournament.

Whirlwind technique - excellent kata, good demonstration of skill, useless in a real fight. Like all kata! Hah!

Enchanting is expensive.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

She'll be safe with me.

[Ahem] bindchasers been getting closer to Center - attacked a homestead within a few minutes' jog. Killed the girl's parents, slaughtered everyone, stabbed her to try and set a trap for us.

We killed them to the last man. Wish THEY were soulbound, so I could do it again.

Guess I'm a hero, now. Tyra's got her answer.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Old thoughts keep coming back - stuff feels like a dream. Loving, laughing, having all the rocks in my head.

My buttons don't talk so much anymore. I don't know if they're angry, or if I just don't listen so well these days.

One day, when things die down... I think I'll try and answer some questions. Hope the answers ain't boring.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Orphanage and shelter bought and paid for - reconstruction starts immediately. Love the new duds.

Drachs bringing an all-out war to the boil... That orphanage'll be too full, too soon.

Snip snip, soul's a-wasting. Gotta get things done.

P.S. Practiced with twinned blades. Offers more flexibility. See about altering a few things.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Tyra tells me she hopes I'm always this noble. I say to her, so do I.

Been feeling stranger around her. Can't put my finger on it. Hope it ain't anything bad.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

So... This is what it's like. When I hold the sword in my hand, I can feel the wind across the tip of the blade, taste the frost falling from the edge...

Hoo! What a rush!

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Whirlwind's more useful than I thought. Wish I could do the same for all my problems.

Couple years laid up with a broken back and no healer around left problems abounding. My head's started to settle since that priest finally did come through - my buttons don't talk to me, anymore. I miss them.

What I miss more, though, is when things worked. Coalition's crashed, and the wagon's on fire. I'm putting out the flames and trying to fix the axle with a shovel-handle.

Shelter's not being taken. Maybe start teaching people new skills - really solve the homelessness problem, start trade booming if I teach enough people. Give 'em tools and materials, sell their products, split the profits.

Might have to buy the orphanage back from Cor'ys. Tower's seized; no idea what I can do about it. I need to talk to Reus, but my formal requests still ain't been answered.

Need to talk to Alazira, Omer, Timulty Keel, Steel, maybe Fehriel. SehKy tells me bad things are happening with the Cailomel group, but won't tell me what. I need all the friends I can get, if I'm going to make this work.

Karn's helping out. Old adventuring blood's always good.

NEED to get hold of the Salvorre. Got a "soon" out of him; no idea what that means.

Tr20g stashed away, Tyra says she has Tr250g somewhere. Her execution's soon. I miss her, too.

Need to cover the skill gaps. Karn's taking instruments, Jeb's taking spell-stuff. I can still brew ink, infuse bullets, enchant gems.

Aaron - potential, seems a little scummy. Got him on a patience test; he wants weapons training. We'll see.

Gotta stop rambling and get back to work.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Everything's... Stalling. Got a letter from the Guild Oversight Committee out of Blackford that the Coalition doesn't have enough members to qualify as a guild. The taxman cometh, maybe making all my efforts 'till now-

No. Can't think like that. If I gotta do this alone, I will. And it ain't really alone - I'm workin' with Cailomel directly enough I have a shelf in their hall. I have plenty of resources to get this moving, and keep it that way.

Distractions lately've been nice, too. Two wemics in town, one of 'em I'm gettin' to know pretty well. Ikaika. Teaching him Common and learning little bits and pieces of Wemic along the way, too. Transliterating it's gonna be fun - maybe I'll be the first bloke to ever write it down.

If I write a book on it, is signing it L.A.Z. really good enough?

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Ikaika and Feana are learning well - though very differently. I should have figured, with them being different genders.

Speaking of the fairer sex, Breanna Shadowraven seems to think I'm some fantastic fella. Here's hoping she's right.

Laurence... Laurence what? Builder, creator, maker, carpenter, smith, alchemist, tinker... Cooper, for that matter.

Laurence Ascendant. Out of the ashes, into the light.

I've got people to feed.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

I swear there must be a mad wizard someplace, conjuring up characters from story-books. Jebediah Kolvorwhatever, ag'ed mystic theurge and dispenser of wisdom and the occasional quest... Tyillaan whatever-means-Misery-in-elvish, scantily-clad and buxom dark elf turned from evil to the arts of love - of other scantily-clad and buxom women (obviously a different kind of story-book! Hah!)... Even Tyra was guilty of the dark-avenger-in-the-night, fighting-for-the-good-of-the-downtrodden bit.

If I meet even one foppish swashbuckle- Oh, right. Karn.

I am in the wrong line of work to have a sense of humor. Or maybe I'm the crazy one, seeing threads of a plot where there is only coincidence, and the numbered product of too many tragedies.

Let's not forget - I woke up outside town with a bump on my head. I don't remember anything.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Tyra took the execution well. She seems to be alright, though I haven't gotten to talk to her much.

I have a tentative court date for all of this legal tomfoolery. I need to track down Tyra to find out where that quarter-million is, and see if I can appropriate it.

The cards I play with tell me nothing. They go down in predictable patterns, and win nearly every game they see. Rose's cards, though... I didn't think too carefully, as the night started, but she says there's a clarity about me that was lacking, before. That's probably true.

Three swords, two coins, the Weaver, and the Wheel. Trouble ahead, and tangled, but everything comes around. Trouble in Vehl.

The Lord and the World Tree. The Salvorre and a Druid.

I'll use them for what I need - for what the people need - but never trust.

My greatest friend is a selfish man, possessed of the nature to need control, or feel like he has none. My greatest enemy is a driven man of great dedication and purpose. Down this road, they'll always come against each other, neither gaining the upper hand.

That's what the cards, the bones, and a pretty lady tell me.

My swords and my heart tell me not to doubt myself.

I think the story has a long way to go.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Chapter one.

In which our hero crosses pens with an endless mountain of paperwork, and garners the friendship of a few of the downtrodden. The displaced find what may be shelter, and predators lurk out in the night.

But a phoenix burns brightly, up from the ashes.

---

Sam's a blessing. He's had a hard life - no work, wife left him, guards spend a good part of the day trying to get him to off himself... Running from crooked guards, Dockside Dragons, and the Seaside Squad. He's an honest guy, thankful for a chance at something better. He's the first.

Seth was staying in the Shelter with his mother and son. A ruined left hand, but I'll see if Jeb can help, or any of the other priests or priestesses I know. The mother's blind, and the son is young... But Seth strikes me as a man with work ethic. As long as there's honest work for him, he'll do it.

Ned's not too bright. Let's be honest. But he'll work if I pay him. I imagine there are a lot like him. They'll see just another job, at first, but eventually, they'll see what they've gotten out of it.

Zashi and the Dockside Dragons are crooks, plain and simple. Zashi's pretty sharp, though. I surprised him by not playing ball, and not backing down. He says (and Sam agrees) that the Seaside Squad is a bunch of rougheads with a crazy leader... And we'll see. They tell me they're arranging a meeting. I hope Zashi's curious enough about me to follow his side of the bargain.

I have three rules.
 - Respect your tools.
 - Respect yourself.
 - Finish what you start.

Anyone willing to work will be put to work and paid a fair wage. Anyone incapable of working will be fed, clothed, and directed to the closest charitable temple I can get 'em to. Anyone capable of working, but not willing, will be thrown out.

Literally, if I have to.

Alazira and Chakar have pledged support. Chakar should be down here in a day or two, to help with security... And he'll teach, too.

I have an opportunity to shape the future of hundreds of people. To create something meaningful from what others have discarded. Where there is ability, there is responsibility.

This is going to be wild.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

"I had to make sure you were worth it, first."

If I've made myself worthy of her, I can accomplish anything.

Fan the flames. We'll light up the night.