RP:Racing Golems and Bards
Part of the Agitation Arc
Summary: Linn and Josleen catch up in Xalious Village Square. Linn tells Josleen she has his vote in the mayoral race. Josleen tells Linn he's a candidate in the race! He had no idea. The enchanter is barefoot and without armor as he recovers after a battle with some rocks and a golem. Josleen offers him a job as a Xalious Militia member, paid, or to support him in setting up an enchanter's workshop in Xalious should she win the nomination. Linn's service to Xalious has earned that much.
Xalious Village
Linn was still out of his armor since his run-in with Mr. Rock, wearing loose simple clothing in place of the well-fitted gear he usually carried. Around his exposed elbows and feet were a few linen bandages, at this point more to keep his wounds protected rather than keeping them from bleeding all over the place. Without his boots and extra weight on his back his bare footsteps proved surprisingly quiet as he came to Josleen’s house, knocking on her door a couple times to see if she was there to catch up on what else might have been happening in the meantime considering they hadn’t really seen each other since his near-death experience with the lich. “Josleen?” he called through the door in greeting before waiting for a response.
Josleen isn't home and no one answers the door. The bard moved out about a month ago, but there is no way Linn would know that, though perhaps he could have predicted it after visiting a couple times and bearing witness to an unhappy marriage. When Linn gives up and rejoins the village square he'll run into Josleen coincidentally. She doesn't see him leaving her old apartment building, and thus is oblivious to the fact he came looking for her. All the same when she spies him she calls over cheerfully, waving a hand over head. "Linn!" She crosses to him. "Fancy seeing you here, and without your armor." She gives him a once over to assess his condition. "I thought you were still in Frostmaw." The town around them has been rebuilding since those calamitous events of the autumn and early winter. Political talk still courses through the hearts and minds of the villagers. A sign posted outside The Dancing Destrier announces that elections will still be held February 9th.
Linn shrugged with a brief sigh as no one answered, guessing Josleen wasn’t in and indeed heading back outside, his path taking him through the village square and right into the bard. Her recognition was enough to bring a cheerful smile and wave of his own in geeting, “Josleen!” he mirrored back before smirking at his own condition. “I’ll probably be back in it in a couple days once I’m good to go again. Just need something that isn’t so stuffy right now.” When she mentioned him still being in Frostmaw he quickly shook his head, “Noo…. Not after everything that’s been going on up there. So now I’m hanging around here when I’m not out doing anything.” He tossed a quick look around the square before shrugging, everyone would know at this point anyway. “You know Hildegarde’s alive again right?” Of all people Josleen was probably the first, but he just wanted to make sure.
Josleen nods at 'everything going on up there.' She's informed, but hasn't gone up to Frostmaw to see it for herself. "I've heard. Balgruuf. Not surprised it would be him to make the most aggressive charge for the throne." Her brow levels at his final question, more of a statement really. "Yes, of course, but I was under the impression she wants to keep a low profile." Gentle chastising aside, she chirps up again, her face bright though tired. It's been a difficult winter. "Where are you staying in Xalious? With the rebuilding efforts we keep discovering more mutated beasts. With the remaining necromancers gone by all accounts, the volunteer militia is less motivated. No clear enemy in band the village together. But we still need a militia. I'm trying to establish a fund to pay for a militia, a militia tax to be levied. If I get that funded soon, and you need a paying job, I'd be happy to put your name in."
Linn breathed out a disappointed sigh at the situation up in Frostmaw. “And I wasn’t exactly trying to avoid attention or conflict with the people following him.” Her chastising was met with a small nod, “She’s walking around here every now and then, but I’m not going telling the world.” When she asked about where he was staying he pursed his lips, generally preferring to keep the matter a private affair. “I have a camp set up in the mountains for now. Just for some privacy really.” He decided to stay quiet on the whole part where he’s staying with Talyara given her relationship to Josleen, or at least the feelings kept between the two. As far as being paid for his work in the militia he shrugged, “I’ve been keeping watch, though some of the things I’ve been running into have been much stranger than just mutated animals.” He held his bandaged elbow out to show off the injury, “Got attacked by rocks a few days ago. Wasn’t able to find a source. Apparently this has happened a few times before too. As far as being paid I don’t know. My time is so scattered all over the place I definitely wouldn’t be able to make it a full job.
"...A rock?" This is the first Josleen has heard of the rock. Even a gossip queen like Josleen can't keep her finger on every pulse -- besides, rocks don't have pulses. Not the point! The point is, "Like a stone? Like..." She bends down and picks up a harmless, fist-sized rock. "One of these?" She blinks incredulously. "Did you kill it? Can a rock die? Where is the rock now?" On the inside she wonders if his brain has been scrambled by all those magic crystals he carries around.
Linn shook his head when Josleen talked about it being *a* rock. “Lots of rocks. I was on one of the cliffs when the ground suddenly began shaking and reshaping itself into spikes and such all around me, others were getting hurled at me, eventually some big golem tried to attack me. There didn’t seem to be any big focus or source for all of it. But once I left the area it started the attack stopped. If you don’t believe me I can show you what happened to my feet.” He nodded downwards towards his bare, if bandaged feet. “It’s something I’ll have to figure out later. It was… one of the stranger things out there.”
Josleen, somewhat counterintuitively, exhales with relief when Linn mentions a golem. A golem makes sense. An army of sentient rocks begets a letter written and sent to the Cenril mental asylum a.s.a.p. Still, she searches his pupils for tell-tale dilation, just in case. "...Your feet?" She looks down at his shoes. "What happened? And out where exactly?"
Linn had reasons to believe that golem wasn’t exactly living either, though those reasons were something he preferred people not to know about. Josleen wouldn’t find anything out of the ordinary with his condition, his pupils being the appropriate size for the amount of light around. He wasn’t wearing any shoes, though his feet were thickly callused enough that such a thing didn’t matter for most terrain and he preferred to avoid the stuffiness of boots right now. When she queries about what happened he pointed off to the east towards one of the cliffs that overlooked the park. “Right out there. The ground just began making spikes and magically began throwing rocks at me. The golem came *after* all that. Maybe it was hiding?” Another shrug, he’s had crazier speculations about other things.
"Did the golem escape? I should ask the militia to go after him. All the more reason I need to create this fund..." This last statement she murmurs to herself more so than Linn. The trouble with the necromancers lit a flame of community activism in the bard which refuses to extinguish. The problem of the necromancers is seemingly gone, but her need to find solutions didn't go with them. "I'm glad you'll be alright, Linn. Golems are nasty." Josleen knows first hand but she keeps this story tucked away for now.
Linn furrowed his brows when Josleen questioned the golem escaping. “Probably. I was too busy trying to make some distance myself to keep a good eye on it.” Her statement about golems was met with a nod, “Tough things as well. Maybe I should do a bit more work on figuring out how to pick them apart. Either way, there’s been enough going on that I’ll keep going on my patrols, though I’m going to be doing whatever Hildegarde needs of me first.” He had enough of the whole rocks topic, wanting to leave explaining it behind more than anything. “So, elections are soon as well huh? You at least have my vote, you work to get stuff done and that’s more than can be said for a good deal of people.” Linn in fact had no idea that he was supposedly nominated. Then again, getting almost killed by a lich during the event that happened would do that.
Regarding Linn serving Hildegarde, "Of course." Josleen smiles so hard at his compliment that her nose wrinkles. "I appreciate the vote of confidence! But there's no rule against voting for yourself. Though you may need to do more campaigning to get more votes." She laughs softly, realizing it's an awkward thing to say as his 'competitor'.
Linn couldn’t help a smile in return to Josleen’s, though his eyes suddenly went wide when she mentioned campaigning before his brows furrowed again. “Wait, what? Me getting votes? How in the world did I get into this race?”
Josleen blinks several times at Linn's surprise. "...What? I thought you knew. Someone nominated you. I have no clue who, but I assumed you would know..." A bit of the devil sparks in her eye. "Say, if you don't want the job, perhaps you can support someone else."
Linn had to bury his face in his hands for a couple seconds as he sighed to recompose himself. “Nope. Was kind of almost-dead and then too busy doing things to even notice.” At Josleen’s suggestion he just rolled his eyes, “I don’t spend enough time here to stand a chance at winning anyway. The only people who would vote against you would be the ones in the mages’ guild.” He finished with a halfhearted snicker, knowing her own animosity towards the mages. “I don’t want anything in politics, if I get anything out of this it would just be some kind of opportunity to do some more work of my own. As fun as making stuff is, I need requests to know what to make. And people willing to deal with me having to learn it as I go if it’s something I don’t know.”
"Oh they have propped up a mage's guild candidate now." Josleen is about to roll her eyes, remembers she is in public, refrains. To enter the life of a politician is to become repressed in expression. The generous thing to call it is self-possessed. "You could always open a workshop here. The proximity to the Tower's library would be a benefit to your work, and the village attracts though interested in arcane artifacts and crafts.
Linn returned an even “Of course” at Josleen’s explanation of the mages’ guild candidate. When she spoke of the idea of opening a shop he released another halfhearted chuckle. “Maybe. It’d be interesting to see what they think of me doing that considering I’m not a part of the guild. Dunno, if I get lucky we might even strike a deal. As far as me joining…” a shrug, “I’ve got enough on my plate already without being a part of a guild. At least I can have control of my own business.”
Josleen smiles and bows her head in that way that suggests she wishes to depart soon. "Well, if I win, I'll be sure to open whatever doors I can for you. You've done a lot for the village and have earned it. Take care, and rest."
Linn smiled and nodded at Josleen’s stated plans. “Thanks. We’ll see when the time comes.” Seeing her nod his gaze wandered to the road out to the mountains as well. “Yeah, I need to be ready for whatever comes next soon as I can. I’ll see you later. Good luck in the race.” With that he began to walk his way out of the square, his footsteps a little ginger for the wounds still on the soles of his feet.