Chapter 326: Deals while Drying Dishes
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Chapter 326: Deals while Drying Dishes
Whatever Billy and Layla were arguing about became moot as Suzette and Ozzy walked into the kitchen with half of a pecan pie. "Sit and eat, Ozzy, and I can finish drying." The two nobles didn't have to be told twice to abandon the job. Billy looked at the gooey brown pie, took a tentative bite, and then a larger one. "Damn, this looks horrible, but it's pretty good. What's in it?"
Suzette tried to remember the recipe, "Sugar, pecans, eggs, butter, a little flour, molasses, more sugar, a little bourbon. There are enough calories in a couple of slices to keep you going for a day. Consider it a reward for an hour's hard work cleaning up a kitchen."
Billy finished his pie, sat back, and asked the question on his mind. "Pie is good, but what's the deal with the dungeon? Is the scary lady going to let us into the crypts? It doesn't escape me at all that my two little deal-makers were deep in discussion with her."
"Which is about the only reason the two of us kept washing dishes. Shouldn't there be a spell for this?" Layla looked disgustedly at the large pots and pans they still had to do. Ozzy walked over, picked up a pan with layers of baked-on grease, and wiggled his fingers at it. The pan glowed, and a layer of grease fell off into the sink.
The Butcher grinned at her, "You just have to be pure of heart to get the spiffy magic." He cast it again, but the spell sputtered and failed to remove any baked-on layers. "Of course, being good only gets you so far." He picked up a rag and began scrubbing hard, careful not to punch through the pan.
Suzette sat down at the table. "There are some problems that date back a few hundred years, maybe longer. In the past, the people in charge have used Hungry Town as a place to throw the inconvenient people who don't fit in elsewhere: the sick, the old, runaway servants, and minions. She's holding a pretty big grudge. And she has a big dislike for magical colleges. There used to be quite a few in Gadobhra. They would hire people from Hungry Town and come back a few years later, broken and twisted."
Billy nodded. "Shit. And here I just promised to rebuild one of those for our professors."
"And she already knows that. And isn't happy." Ozzy picked up a heavy cast iron skillet and made it his next victim. Cleanse did little to nothing on the baked-on layers, so he used a rock chisel from his bag to clean off the worst of the grime. Then he heated it and re-oiled the metal. It was going to take some time to rejuvenate the pots and pans in this kitchen. They'd seen heavy use for a long time.
"We have an idea that got a little interest and a compromise from her, but it's tricky. We had to find something she wanted, and what she wants is for the people here to have a better life. That isn't going to happen in a ghoul-infested hell, and she refuses to deal with you directly. We came up with a plan for gaining control of the dungeon."
Layla looked at Billy, who nodded. "Let's hear the deal you worked out."
Suzette started laying out the details. "She has a couple of things to offer: Control of the dungeon and a way to get rid of the ghouls outside the crypts. It's tricky; we have to clear the tombstones and crypts, take the stones somewhere and consecrate them, and then she can claim the ground for Hungry Town and keep them from coming back. She can't get rid of the dungeon, but we don't actually want that."
"Damned right. Dungeons are cash cows. Entry fees and a steady flow of gold and magic items that we can skim off the adventurers. If she won't let me claim the dungeon, what about you? You know how these things work."
Ozzy finished the last of the pots and pans and sat down. "Yeah, that was a thought we had. That woman is damned powerful and not something you want to mess with. Scary. But she'll cede control of the dungeon to Suzette. The entry fees stay with you and half of the magic items that Suzette earns. The other half stays in Hungry Town. But we worked out a way to profit from that and draw more people to the dungeon."
Billy was listening but wondering what this deal was going to cost him. "I'm listening."
Ozzy ticked off some of the details. "They need more food in town. We can set up trade with the hamlets where they can buy what they need of grains and vegetables. It will bring in some cash for the farmers. But the deliveries will have to have guards once they hit Gadobhra or ghouls will ambush them. So, I think that weekly caravans of a few wagons will work with some guards until we clear the ghouls out and move the graveyard. Meat is no issue. We just butcher a few extra critters and drop off some barrels now and then, which they pay for as well, but we can give them the 'friends and family' discount."
"I like that. Trade that profits our people, we take the credit and goodwill, but don't have to actually do something." Layla found the day-to-day duties of running the city tiring and was happy to automate it or leave it to others.
Baron William, Head of the Northern Division of ACME, has entered into an agreement with one of the Old Powers. He has graciously agreed to protect the population of Hungry Town from the rest of his city.
ACME, Northern Division is awarded 3000 Building Points.
Mama's Brew House has opened in the City of Gadobhra.
ACME, Northern Division is awarded 1000 Building Points.
The Village of Sedgewick has been awarded 2000 Building Points.
Three women stared into a crystal ball in a small keep hidden on a rocky outcropping in the middle of a dark forest. "These damned things never work! Why didn't we hire couriers like any other corporation?"
"Because we are Alchemarx, and we do things better!"
"Better being defined as a murky crystal with a bad speaker? I swear the board of directors are brain dead."
"Be thankful the microphone sucks, too; this is a two-way connection."
All three went silent as an announcement appeared in the crystal. Shocked yells were heard from the other division heads. One of the women picked up the crystal and tossed it against the wall. "Oops, it malfunctioned. Time to get to work. You know they are going to blame us. We were supposed to hamstring Billy, and somehow he's still scoring points."
"I'll light a fire under PinchPenny; he's been too quiet lately."
"More money down the drain hiring mercenaries to screw up Rowan Keep. I say we quit suffering small defeats. Let's gather a larger force and throw a 'Bandit Attack' at the half-finished fortress. We can always blame it on the miser baron and his horrible starving of his people."
They nodded and agreement before heading to the tower where they kept the carrier pigeons.
Vernon Throckmorton, Head of the ACME Southern Division, spit out the grape he was eating and coughed heavily as he heard of Billy's latest victory.
"And I bet that little bastard won't share any of it. I need to talk to the Board of Directors and straighten this out. We should be working together like a well-oiled team, am I not right?
Good, I'm glad we're all in agreement about this."
Both of his servants nodded and smiled. Neither the saurian fanning him with a large fern nor the one bringing him food spoke a word of the human language.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 326: Deals while Drying Dishes
Whatever Billy and Layla were arguing about became moot as Suzette and Ozzy walked into the kitchen with half of a pecan pie. "Sit and eat, Ozzy, and I can finish drying." The two nobles didn't have to be told twice to abandon the job. Billy looked at the gooey brown pie, took a tentative bite, and then a larger one. "Damn, this looks horrible, but it's pretty good. What's in it?"
Suzette tried to remember the recipe, "Sugar, pecans, eggs, butter, a little flour, molasses, more sugar, a little bourbon. There are enough calories in a couple of slices to keep you going for a day. Consider it a reward for an hour's hard work cleaning up a kitchen."
Billy finished his pie, sat back, and asked the question on his mind. "Pie is good, but what's the deal with the dungeon? Is the scary lady going to let us into the crypts? It doesn't escape me at all that my two little deal-makers were deep in discussion with her."
"Which is about the only reason the two of us kept washing dishes. Shouldn't there be a spell for this?" Layla looked disgustedly at the large pots and pans they still had to do. Ozzy walked over, picked up a pan with layers of baked-on grease, and wiggled his fingers at it. The pan glowed, and a layer of grease fell off into the sink.
The Butcher grinned at her, "You just have to be pure of heart to get the spiffy magic." He cast it again, but the spell sputtered and failed to remove any baked-on layers. "Of course, being good only gets you so far." He picked up a rag and began scrubbing hard, careful not to punch through the pan.
Suzette sat down at the table. "There are some problems that date back a few hundred years, maybe longer. In the past, the people in charge have used Hungry Town as a place to throw the inconvenient people who don't fit in elsewhere: the sick, the old, runaway servants, and minions. She's holding a pretty big grudge. And she has a big dislike for magical colleges. There used to be quite a few in Gadobhra. They would hire people from Hungry Town and come back a few years later, broken and twisted."
Billy nodded. "Shit. And here I just promised to rebuild one of those for our professors."
"And she already knows that. And isn't happy." Ozzy picked up a heavy cast iron skillet and made it his next victim. Cleanse did little to nothing on the baked-on layers, so he used a rock chisel from his bag to clean off the worst of the grime. Then he heated it and re-oiled the metal. It was going to take some time to rejuvenate the pots and pans in this kitchen. They'd seen heavy use for a long time.
"We have an idea that got a little interest and a compromise from her, but it's tricky. We had to find something she wanted, and what she wants is for the people here to have a better life. That isn't going to happen in a ghoul-infested hell, and she refuses to deal with you directly. We came up with a plan for gaining control of the dungeon."
Layla looked at Billy, who nodded. "Let's hear the deal you worked out."
Suzette started laying out the details. "She has a couple of things to offer: Control of the dungeon and a way to get rid of the ghouls outside the crypts. It's tricky; we have to clear the tombstones and crypts, take the stones somewhere and consecrate them, and then she can claim the ground for Hungry Town and keep them from coming back. She can't get rid of the dungeon, but we don't actually want that."
"Damned right. Dungeons are cash cows. Entry fees and a steady flow of gold and magic items that we can skim off the adventurers. If she won't let me claim the dungeon, what about you? You know how these things work."
Ozzy finished the last of the pots and pans and sat down. "Yeah, that was a thought we had. That woman is damned powerful and not something you want to mess with. Scary. But she'll cede control of the dungeon to Suzette. The entry fees stay with you and half of the magic items that Suzette earns. The other half stays in Hungry Town. But we worked out a way to profit from that and draw more people to the dungeon."
Billy was listening but wondering what this deal was going to cost him. "I'm listening."
Ozzy ticked off some of the details. "They need more food in town. We can set up trade with the hamlets where they can buy what they need of grains and vegetables. It will bring in some cash for the farmers. But the deliveries will have to have guards once they hit Gadobhra or ghouls will ambush them. So, I think that weekly caravans of a few wagons will work with some guards until we clear the ghouls out and move the graveyard. Meat is no issue. We just butcher a few extra critters and drop off some barrels now and then, which they pay for as well, but we can give them the 'friends and family' discount."
"I like that. Trade that profits our people, we take the credit and goodwill, but don't have to actually do something." Layla found the day-to-day duties of running the city tiring and was happy to automate it or leave it to others.
Baron William, Head of the Northern Division of ACME, has entered into an agreement with one of the Old Powers. He has graciously agreed to protect the population of Hungry Town from the rest of his city.
ACME, Northern Division is awarded 3000 Building Points.
Mama's Brew House has opened in the City of Gadobhra.
ACME, Northern Division is awarded 1000 Building Points.
The Village of Sedgewick has been awarded 2000 Building Points.
Three women stared into a crystal ball in a small keep hidden on a rocky outcropping in the middle of a dark forest. "These damned things never work! Why didn't we hire couriers like any other corporation?"
"Because we are Alchemarx, and we do things better!"
"Better being defined as a murky crystal with a bad speaker? I swear the board of directors are brain dead."
"Be thankful the microphone sucks, too; this is a two-way connection."
All three went silent as an announcement appeared in the crystal. Shocked yells were heard from the other division heads. One of the women picked up the crystal and tossed it against the wall. "Oops, it malfunctioned. Time to get to work. You know they are going to blame us. We were supposed to hamstring Billy, and somehow he's still scoring points."
"I'll light a fire under PinchPenny; he's been too quiet lately."
"More money down the drain hiring mercenaries to screw up Rowan Keep. I say we quit suffering small defeats. Let's gather a larger force and throw a 'Bandit Attack' at the half-finished fortress. We can always blame it on the miser baron and his horrible starving of his people."
They nodded and agreement before heading to the tower where they kept the carrier pigeons.
Vernon Throckmorton, Head of the ACME Southern Division, spit out the grape he was eating and coughed heavily as he heard of Billy's latest victory.
"And I bet that little bastard won't share any of it. I need to talk to the Board of Directors and straighten this out. We should be working together like a well-oiled team, am I not right?
Good, I'm glad we're all in agreement about this."
Both of his servants nodded and smiled. Neither the saurian fanning him with a large fern nor the one bringing him food spoke a word of the human language.
Chapter 326: Deals while Drying DishesWhatever Billy and Layla were arguing about became moot as Suzette and Ozzy walked into the kitchen with half of a pecan pie. "Sit and eat, Ozzy, and I can finish drying." The two nobles didn't have to be told twice to abandon the job. Billy looked at the gooey brown pie, took a tentative bite, and then a larger one. "Damn, this looks horrible, but it's pretty good. What's in it?"Suzette tried to remember the recipe, "Sugar, pecans, eggs, butter, a little flour, molasses, more sugar, a little bourbon. There are enough calories in a couple of slices to keep you going for a day. Consider it a reward for an hour's hard work cleaning up a kitchen."Billy finished his pie, sat back, and asked the question on his mind. "Pie is good, but what's the deal with the dungeon? Is the scary lady going to let us into the crypts? It doesn't escape me at all that my two little deal-makers were deep in discussion with her.""Which is about the only reason the two of us kept washing dishes. Shouldn't there be a spell for this?" Layla looked disgustedly at the large pots and pans they still had to do. Ozzy walked over, picked up a pan with layers of baked-on grease, and wiggled his fingers at it. The pan glowed, and a layer of grease fell off into the sink.The Butcher grinned at her, "You just have to be pure of heart to get the spiffy magic." He cast it again, but the spell sputtered and failed to remove any baked-on layers. "Of course, being good only gets you so far." He picked up a rag and began scrubbing hard, careful not to punch through the pan.Suzette sat down at the table. "There are some problems that date back a few hundred years, maybe longer. In the past, the people in charge have used Hungry Town as a place to throw the inconvenient people who don't fit in elsewhere: the sick, the old, runaway servants, and minions. She's holding a pretty big grudge. And she has a big dislike for magical colleges. There used to be quite a few in Gadobhra. They would hire people from Hungry Town and come back a few years later, broken and twisted."Billy nodded. "Shit. And here I just promised to rebuild one of those for our professors.""And she already knows that. And isn't happy." Ozzy picked up a heavy cast iron skillet and made it his next victim. Cleanse did little to nothing on the baked-on layers, so he used a rock chisel from his bag to clean off the worst of the grime. Then he heated it and re-oiled the metal. It was going to take some time to rejuvenate the pots and pans in this kitchen. They'd seen heavy use for a long time. "We have an idea that got a little interest and a compromise from her, but it's tricky. We had to find something she wanted, and what she wants is for the people here to have a better life. That isn't going to happen in a ghoul-infested hell, and she refuses to deal with you directly. We came up with a plan for gaining control of the dungeon."Layla looked at Billy, who nodded. "Let's hear the deal you worked out."Suzette started laying out the details. "She has a couple of things to offer: Control of the dungeon and a way to get rid of the ghouls outside the crypts. It's tricky; we have to clear the tombstones and crypts, take the stones somewhere and consecrate them, and then she can claim the ground for Hungry Town and keep them from coming back. She can't get rid of the dungeon, but we don't actually want that.""Damned right. Dungeons are cash cows. Entry fees and a steady flow of gold and magic items that we can skim off the adventurers. If she won't let me claim the dungeon, what about you? You know how these things work."Ozzy finished the last of the pots and pans and sat down. "Yeah, that was a thought we had. That woman is damned powerful and not something you want to mess with. Scary. But she'll cede control of the dungeon to Suzette. The entry fees stay with you and half of the magic items that Suzette earns. The other half stays in Hungry Town. But we worked out a way to profit from that and draw more people to the dungeon."Billy was listening but wondering what this deal was going to cost him. "I'm listening."Ozzy ticked off some of the details. "They need more food in town. We can set up trade with the hamlets where they can buy what they need of grains and vegetables. It will bring in some cash for the farmers. But the deliveries will have to have guards once they hit Gadobhra or ghouls will ambush them. So, I think that weekly caravans of a few wagons will work with some guards until we clear the ghouls out and move the graveyard. Meat is no issue. We just butcher a few extra critters and drop off some barrels now and then, which they pay for as well, but we can give them the 'friends and family' discount.""I like that. Trade that profits our people, we take the credit and goodwill, but don't have to actually do something." Layla found the day-to-day duties of running the city tiring and was happy to automate it or leave it to others.Baron William, Head of the Northern Division of ACME, has entered into an agreement with one of the Old Powers. He has graciously agreed to protect the population of Hungry Town from the rest of his city. ACME, Northern Division is awarded 3000 Building Points.Mama's Brew House has opened in the City of Gadobhra. ACME, Northern Division is awarded 1000 Building Points.The Village of Sedgewick has been awarded 2000 Building Points. Three women stared into a crystal ball in a small keep hidden on a rocky outcropping in the middle of a dark forest. "These damned things never work! Why didn't we hire couriers like any other corporation?""Because we are Alchemarx, and we do things better!""Better being defined as a murky crystal with a bad speaker? I swear the board of directors are brain dead.""Be thankful the microphone sucks, too; this is a two-way connection."All three went silent as an announcement appeared in the crystal. Shocked yells were heard from the other division heads. One of the women picked up the crystal and tossed it against the wall. "Oops, it malfunctioned. Time to get to work. You know they are going to blame us. We were supposed to hamstring Billy, and somehow he's still scoring points.""I'll light a fire under PinchPenny; he's been too quiet lately.""More money down the drain hiring mercenaries to screw up Rowan Keep. I say we quit suffering small defeats. Let's gather a larger force and throw a 'Bandit Attack' at the half-finished fortress. We can always blame it on the miser baron and his horrible starving of his people."They nodded and agreement before heading to the tower where they kept the carrier pigeons.Vernon Throckmorton, Head of the ACME Southern Division, spit out the grape he was eating and coughed heavily as he heard of Billy's latest victory. "And I bet that little bastard won't share any of it. I need to talk to the Board of Directors and straighten this out. We should be working together like a well-oiled team, am I not right?Good, I'm glad we're all in agreement about this."Both of his servants nodded and smiled. Neither the saurian fanning him with a large fern nor the one bringing him food spoke a word of the human language.
