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edonil Grand Master

edonil

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Hmm... I'm missing the Preview Post button right about now. We'll see how well this works the first time and how much formatting I have to do once it posts... Anyway, for anyone interested, this the writing assignment I just finished up for setting.

 

 

Assignment 1- Setting

The solar flare erupting from its parent star beneath Kate's feet made her mouth drop open. The brilliant string of plasma danced and spun playfully, spiraling out hundreds of kilometers from the roiling mass that had contained it. Kate knelt down and pressed her hand on the windowed floor to keep her balance, marveling at the red dwarf that Fire Reef Station orbited around. Bright patches of heat and light were interwoven with the cooler parts of the surface, which were a deep orange hue nearing to black.

 

<Magnificent, isn't it?> Tchak commented, his mental voice a drifting gust of wind across grassy plains in her mind. The Jesrune shifted his weight on her shoulder and she could hear him ruffling his quartet of wings. <I never grow tired of this sight. The majesty of the universe is humbling.>

 

“Not to mention the fact that we're closer than Mercury is to Sol. This station shouldn't even be here,” Kate said. She grinned and glanced at Tchak as he leaned forward into her view. The light from the star below them created odd colors on his glossy black chest. “The Ancients like showing off, it seems.”

 

<It is impolite to comment on the hubris of those thousands of years older than your race, Apprentice Sanger,> Tchak chided, focusing the full attention of his six crimson eyes on her. After a moment, he clacked his beak in a laugh. <But yes, they do enjoy their own superiority a bit.>

 

“Excuse us,” a tinny voice said behind them. Kate leapt to her feet and spun, suppressing the flush that came to her cheeks. Tchak squawked indignantly and flew off her, landing on a perch set in the ceiling. A small tank of water on a pair of tracks sat patiently next to the small pile of luggage Kate had set on the floor when she was distracted by the view.

 

“I'm so sorry,” Kate said, grabbing the two bags quickly, throwing the smaller one up onto her shoulder.

 

“It is quite alright, we are not offended,” the Naloth replied. The plankton inside the water swirled, then the alien hive mind rolled away humming to itself. The steel tracks echoed dully as the creature transferred from the armored glass of Fire Reef's outer terminal for arrivals to the unfamiliar metal tube that led to the station proper.

 

Kate followed the Naloth down the long hallway, Tchak flying overhead in smooth circles. She was almost...disappointed. After the spectacle of the red dwarf star through the floor, this section of Fire Reef Station was mundane. The corridor she walked in was maybe five meters wide and equal that tall, a pale metal rectangle with soft lights at regular intervals along the wall at chest height. She and the two aliens were alone in the corridor, which was a surprise considering the trade festival that she and Tchak were here to attend. The air had the usual artificial feel that she associated with space constructs, stations and ships alike.

 

Tchak flew down by her head, his wing pairs alternating their timing as he kept pace with her. <Explain to me what you're here to do,> he said after a moment.

 

Kate groaned. “Again? We've been over this a dozen times!”

 

<Then once more will do no harm, Apprentice,> he replied. The grass field in her mind was perfectly still despite the quiet breeze. She shook her head and heaved a sigh. There was no shifting him away from teacher mode once he got on it. Well, at least it would keep her mind occupied while they walked.

 

“I'm looking to sell unclaimed cargo,” Kate said once she had gathered her thoughts. “Any specialty items that have a shelf life are the most urgent, after that, anything I can find interest in. Purchasing cargo or making long term contracts is to be left with you and the other traders, although I can make verbal contracts, pending approval. I'm allowed to make trades of cargo for cargo.”

 

<Correct. Remember, you have access to any data that we do. However, as this is your Apprenticeship test, you may not ask us for advice. What are you forgetting?>

 

“Trade in advanced weapons is prohibited on Fire Reef Station,” she replied promptly. “Primitive weaponry is allowed only in small quantities, for the purpose of collectors. A full list of what is considered advanced weaponry under these terms is available on any public network.”

 

<Good. Do keep in mind this is a competition. There will only be a hundred new traders with licenses from Fire Reef Station and her owners this season. They are looking for the best young ones and while I certainly expect you amongst that number, do not become complacent. As all trades go through the station's network they will be keeping an eye on things.>

 

“And I'm not allowed to ask you for advice?” Kate asked. Her pleasure at his rare compliment was run off by the realization of just how far over her head she could be during the next days. “Great. That's ever so helpful.”

 

<Who said your elders should be helpful? One thing I will say is to keep in mind that per subjective, you are older than many of your competitors for the licenses...>

 

“Gee, thanks,” Kate said wryly. She was only thirty five years old, nowhere near the two centuries that the Jesrune boasted.

 

<But that is to your advantage,> he continued, ignoring her comment. <You understand the real world better than other Apprentices who will be at the festival, even if some of the finer elements of negotiations aren't yours quite yet.> Tchak landed on her shoulder and ran his beak through her hair affectionately. <You will do fine. Enjoy it!>

 

They reached the end of the corridor, stopping inside an airlock. Kate shifted from one foot to the other, trying to fight off a developing ache in her lower spine while the door closed behind them. She needed to get back to exercising again. Traveling in space had cost her more muscle than she'd like compared to her time in Special Forces. Not that Tchak and his mass was helping her back any at the moment.

 

The second door in the airlock opened in front of them, and Kate forgot the ache in her back. She was thrust into the middle of a world of unfamiliar smells, sights and sounds. The massive room had a layout she found baffling in a space station. It was wide and open, with multiple floors around the outside walls. Each floor radiated a different color, with silhouettes of alien species she didn't even recognize standing out starkly against them. The crowd on the floor that she walked on was made up of more kinds of aliens than she even knew existed. Stranger yet, some of those aliens glowed with the same soft colors as the other floors. Clouds of light swirled around them, following them as they moved. Kate looked up and saw people walking on the ceiling of the massive room, as if gravity had switched directions. Beneath the chatter of dozens of languages, she could hear soft music playing from somewhere in the room.

 

Booths lined the edge of this bottom floor. It was the usual open air marketplace layout she'd seen back home on the colony, but here it had been expanded to more variety than she was used to. Near the airlock she could see what looked like cafes. Aliens of all kinds sat, stood or perched around tables of various heights filled with, she assumed, food. Most of the noise came from them. Based on information Tchak had given her earlier, this seemed to be the start of the trade sessions, even if only informally. She watched a pair of spider-like aliens stalk away from a finished conversation towards a nearby wall. The wall was heavily textured, covered in sculpted vines for species that preferred traveling along them instead of other methods. She recognized the design feature from her months on the Je'geth, whose crew used a similar layout in the zero-g corridors.

 

Kate was surprised at the neutral quality of the air here. With so many different species, she would have expected a bouquet that could only have been politely described as 'interesting'. Instead she seemed to smell... vanilla? That couldn't be right. Granted, the last time she had been around the scent was as a child, in the kitchen with her mother burning a scented candle, an extravagant thing back home, to clear out the odor of a ruined meal. But she wouldn't expect to find that here of all places.

 

<That's an unusual scent,> Tchak commented from her shoulder. He resettled himself on his perch, gripping the thick cloth of her vest tighter. <Not unpleasant, though. Sweet, in a subtle way. Something from your home?>

 

Kate nearly dropped what she was carrying. “How the hell would you know that? What's going on?”

 

The Jesrune clacked his beak. <They're showing off again, Apprentice. You probably can't see it, but we are in our own private pocket of air. The station determined that we breathe a different atmosphere than what is on this floor. That's what the clouds of colors are for- marking out what atmosphere is normal for the guest. It's also why this place is quieter than you'd expect, sound waves only carry clear a few meters and then the station artificially lowers them. Our hosts want to make sure everyone is comfortable.>

 

She mulled this over for a few steps. “Impressive,” she finally said. “Seems like this whole place is designed solely to impress. 'Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair,' kind of thing. I almost wish they had just used fancy weapons, this kind of humbled awe is going to get old after a while.” She ignored the sounds of amusement coming from the alien. “I have to wonder, why vanilla, of all things?”

 

<You'd have to ask them yourself. Conveniently, one of them is here to talk to us.> Tchak nudged her, pointing with a forewing. A tall, thin alien wearing iridescent armor walked out of the crowd, a slim hand sitting on a sword at its waist. It stopped in front of Kate and Tchak and bowed. Its lupine head was covered in dark blue fur, with a geometric purple pattern standing out around silver eyes.

 

“Trader Tchak,” it growled, staring down at them from half again Kate's own height. The creature spoke Drestel, one of the many trade languages Kate had struggled to learn during her apprenticeship. “I wondered if we would ever see you again, much less with a prospect. Welcome, both of you, to Fire Reef.”

 

<Guardian Rhasha, it is a privilege as always to be welcomed into your home.> Tchak rested a wing on Kate's head for a moment. <This is my apprentice, Kate Sanger.>

 

Rhasha focused its gaze on Kate's face. There was something unnerving about those glowing eyes. A length of shining cable flicked back and forth from the back of its head like a prehensile ponytail. “Human?” Rhasha asked.

 

“Yes, Guardian,” Kate said. She held out her hand without thinking and flushed once she realized it. Before she could pull it back, Rhasha took the limb and gently shook it. The fur was coarse against her skin, covering the first two joints of each finger. They ended in smooth, cyan skin tipped with a rounded black fingernail. Kate noticed for the first time that the alien's limbs seemed too long in proportion to its torso. All of the limbs, including the four fingers which almost managed to circle Kate's wrist twice over. What kind of planet would result in a creature like this? she wondered.

 

“We've never had a human here before. I hope we will eventually see more of your kind in the future. Again, welcome.” Rhasha pulled back its hand, the ponytail twitching some more. “I trust you are aware of our rules regarding weapons and sales? Tchak has never failed to inform a prospect of that.”

 

“Yes,” Kate replied.

 

“Good. Keep the pistol you have in your boot where it is. The station itself will defend anyone aboard, along with the Guardians.” Rhasha gestured to its sword. “This is to remind people there are consequences, not an encouragement to do things needing them.”

 

<Pistol?> Tchak turned narrowed eyes to Kate who blushed.

 

“Old habits,” she said. “I feel naked without one, after so many years with the thing.”

 

“Unnecessary, but allowed, Trader,” Rhasha said. “Don't lecture her too harshly. She's done her research and discovered that provision, after all.” The alien blinked and stared into the distance for a moment. “I'm needed elsewhere. Shall we meet up at the usual place Tchak? Say, twelve hours?”

 

<Yes, that would be possible.>

 

“Good.” Rhasha nodded to them both. “Luck to you both in your endeavors this festival. Especially you, prospect Sanger. We will be watching your dealings with great interest.”

 

“No pressure,” Kate muttered under her breath as the Guardian walked away.

 

<Tell me you knew you could bring a weapon on board.> Tchak said after a moment. A storm cloud accompanied the words in her mind, peals of thunder echoing across the green field.

 

“Like I would bring one otherwise. I'm not stupid, Tchak.”

 

<You are, however, young. And youth breeds recklessness. You are lucky that they didn't take offense. Do not do something like this again. If you do, you will need to find another Trader to partner with. What you do reflects on others, Apprentice. It would be ill advised to forget that.> He shook himself, feathers ruffling then laying flat. <Now, we'll leave that alone. I can see some old contacts I need to talk to. I'll meet with you later tonight. Go explore and have fun. Honored Captain Jendaiya tells me that the Je'geth is unloaded, so she will begin letting crew members aboard. If you wait here, I'm sure you'll see the others shortly. Don't get too extravagant tonight, your work starts in earnest tomorrow.>

 

Edited by edonil
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PraetorDragoon Grand Master

PraetorDragoon

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At least you are getting some painting in!  We are starting a Malifaux campaign tomorrow which will conveniently coincide with the world event!

My itty bitty crew will being started out led by McTavish!  And then... PIGGIES!!!

Ode to Pork

 

Oh, delicous, sizzeling bacon

You always warm my heart

For I am not mistaken

baking you, can be quite an art

 

Oh, so simple and clear

Alive or in the pan

you always bring us a cheer

 

Oh, cute, snuggable pig

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come, and take another swig

and then, we shall be content.

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Dirial Grand Master

Dirial

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Oh, it's been an interesting night... Somehow the program I'm testing with got massively corrupted and it took a while to figure out what part of the backup would actually fix the problem...

And that's why we need humans in those computerized experiments.

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