TDM #5 - Paradesium [REPRINT]

[pumpkinhollow]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette April Issue

[Find our plain text version here!] MOD NOTE: April's event for members will take place between April 12-25 and will impact the whole island. As such, any tags taking place here over that time will need to be back- or future-dated unless an alternative is discussed with a mod. Don't worry over the details of this too much--- time is soup, after all. Just something to be aware of. Thanks!

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette

4/2/24 | TDM #5 - Paradesium [REPRINT]
Content Warnings: individual CWs found per prompt in "Further Details"
Forecast: Very rainy! Chance of severe storms.

WELCOME TO PUMPKIN HOLLOW!

By Yorick Aberdeen

Apparently the ferryman needed a bigger boat!

ACROSS TOWN - Since June of 16:53, a steady stream of new arrivals to our sleepy little town has flowed in by ferry, emerging from the fog. And it seems this trend is due to continue, as this past March is on record the highest number of new residents in a single month!

We are incredibly grateful for all of you coming to our home and filling it with life once more, even though the dangers of our local curse have significantly increased since all of you began arriving. This reporter isn’t complaining--- additional harm to my own person notwithstanding!

If you are a new arrival, please report to Town Hall at your leisure so that we can help you find work and permanent lodging. Or don’t! The Oak & Iron is happy to rent you a room for as long as you need. Best of luck to all of you, and as we say in Pumpkin Hollow, may your lanterns always be lit!

CHARITY DRIVE ENCOURAGES CULTURAL EXCHANGE

By Cecil Gershwin Palmer

One of the charming toys created during last year's Doll Picnic.

FESTIVAL GREEN - Preparations are underway for the upcoming annual Doll Picnic. A charity event sponsored by the Artisan’s Guild, this picnic is an Anwyllic tradition that was brought to the island and continued with love. The first Doll Picnic was organized by Dame Meredith Idlewild of the town of Glyn Rhuthun on Kora’s Haven, with the toys being donated to the local children’s hospital after a massive landslide engulfed a local school.

The Artisan’s Guild has baskets of material available for making dolls, including fabric, yarn, stuffing, buttons, and the like. However, tradition states that sourcing materials from the natural world (for example, acorn husks to use as buttons or deadwood to carve for doll arms and legs) results in the toys being blessed by Serrenai, who will watch over the children who play with them. The toys will be donated to local children after the picnic, including those who are ill or whose families can only afford necessities.

Newcomers are explicitly invited to join in the making of toys, and the resulting picnic. As a personal note: the locals have never heard of a teddy bear before. This reporter expects to see several, as we introduce our traditions to their traditions.

PLANTING SEASON BEGINS!

By Yorick Aberdeen

After a difficult winter, the appearance of spring's sprouts lifts our spirits.

NORTHWEST HOLLOW - The spring thaw is in full swing! That means it’s time for our local farmers to begin planting. Town Hall is offering a small reward to any of our newest arrivals who would be interested in assisting with planting season for farms less than a year old.

Anyone fresh off the boat interested in making 100 Brass should seek out Eddie and Angel Kasbrak, Arthur Morgan, Cèsar Salazar, Mairi Miann, Ylva Wolfsdottir, or Muriel and offer assistance with tilling and planting. We look forward to rewarding you for your contributions!

HOT SPRINGS OPEN FOR RELAXATION

By Yorick Aberdeen

Photograph provided by the Safety Board!

CRANE'S RIDGE - After a recent earthquake opened up a hot spring on the lower portion of Crane’s Ridge, a small portion of the Pumpkin Hollow Damage Claims Assessment Corps has been working to get the area cleaned up and safe for use by the general public.

Following its recent approval for compliance by the Safety Board, we are pleased to announce that Porter’s Spring is now available for public enjoyment! It can be accessed by taking the train to the North Station or by following the central trail out of Northwest Hollow, though the Safety Board does not recommend making this journey on foot due to its proximity to Lake Sal-Co-Penn. Enjoy!

STRANGE CAVERNS DISCOVERED BENEATH CRANE’S RIDGE

By Yorick Aberdeen

A small glimpse into this world beneath our own.

CRANE RIDGE - In addition to the hot springs, the earthquake can also be credited for a major cave-in in our Crane’s Ridge mines. A large tunnel was completely buried in rubble by the inexplicable natural occurrence. For the past several months, our mining team has been chipping away at the cave-in to try and regain access to the blocked tunnels in the lower area of the mountain.

In one of these tunnels, however, the team discovered a shocking surprise as the rubble was removed! Apparently, just beyond the mine walls, there has been an entrance to Hepogaia--- a subterranean nation running below our own fair country and many others. It seems that this particular portion of Hepogaian territory is also trapped within the barrier. Brief attempts at scouting by the Safety Board have noted a plethora of subterranean wildlife, both familiar and unfamiliar. This incredible new environment, hiding just out of sight beneath our island, is so full of wonder and splendor that it has earned a fitting name--- “Paradesium.”

A recent ecology study and expedition run by Pumpkin Hollow’s own Dr. Elias Coldwood has redirected their efforts to this new location, but those interested in exploring and scouting out this fantastical new discovery independently are encouraged to pack thoughtfully and travel in groups of two or more! Any information obtained during excursions into Paradesium would be appreciated by the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety.

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Further Details...

Charity Drive

The Doll Picnic Charity Drive will run throughout the next two months during our TDM, and there will be an event later on involving posing the dolls for a picnic. Once a photo is taken, the children will be allowed to come picnic with their new toys and take them home after!

There is absolutely no way this could possibly go wrong. Absolutely no dollmakers will be jumpscared or attacked by possessed dolls. None at all. (Okay, maybe some of them. But it’s fine. It’s for a good cause.)

[Mod Note: you can just make a doll without it coming to life and trying to kick your ass, that part is optional. Also the dolls will be blessed at the picnic and rendered unable to attack children.]

Planting Season

Any brand-new characters will get 100B extra on their stipend if they submit an AC-length thread with one of the existing farmers on their first Activity Check! This will be available regardless of whether the character qualifies for normal bonuses, but can only be redeemed by those who app in.

For reference for new players, threads are considered AC-length if they are ten tags in length (meaning 5 of your own tags and 5 from your partner.)

Hot Springs

Porter’s Spring is a perfectly normal and safe hot spring! However, you can encounter any number of perils on your way there if you decide to travel on foot, allowing new players to revisit some of our earlier events.

Check out our bestiary (pending update to new format) for more information on creatures such as Brutoks, the River Walker, and the Pine Devil, or stumble on Lake Sal-Co-Penn for a nasty surprise! Brutoks may also steal personal items from spring-goers on occasion. Don’t chase after them alone unless you want to be turned into a tree!

The Tristitia

In addition to the creatures in the wild, in town after dark characters may also encounter the Tristitia, Pumpkin Hollow’s newest cryptid.

She is a wraith-like spirit which haunts the island. Wearing tattered black clothes and colored all in shades of gray, she appears as a woman who walks around weeping with a caved-in chest, covering her face with her hands. Harmless if given a wide berth, but if she is set off, she will take out her desire for empathy for her grief on her target. She does this by embracing them and drawing out their own grief and trauma, leaving the target catatonic before she fades away, temporarily assuaged.

Into Paradesium

Crystals, golden with light and raw magical energy, cast what looks like sunlight down into the cascading cave. For every foot lower that the ground curls down from the entrance, the trees stretch ever-higher, carrying the raucous cries of animals unlike the surface of Marrow Isle had ever heard.

A jungle, so lush with life, sprawls ahead of any brave enough to venture into it. But what is there to see?

For Paradesium specifically, the bestiary has received a significant update. Creatures featured in prompts have their links to the accounts by Dr. Coldwood and his team marked with stars for easy location.

Below are multiple prompts for some encounters to be had in the jungle, but feel free to create any of your own encounters with any of the creatures listed! If the descriptions are short, feel free to write the creatures' behaviors however makes sense.

Welcome to the Jungle

Swallowed by dense canopies and noise, the jungle is quick to swallow any who travel within it whole.

Eyes are quick to find you, however. Perching in the treetops are a variety of small wyverns in vibrant colors, heads tilting as they try to comprehend what you could be. They squawk, chatter, and some of the bolder ones draw closer - if you sit anything aside and leave it unattended for too long, some even bolder than that will pilfer it, taking the object into the trees to admire with its companions.

Reptilian hunters with bright, keen eyes, the Plommon, consider you with much of the same interest. This interest increases tenfold if you happen to feed them.

If the prying eyes are no bother, then the forest's bounty is ripe for tending and taking. Bananas hang off trees, colorful citrus fruits catch light on their waxy peels, and bulky cocoa beans are jostled by movement in the branches above them. Even the broad leaves of the plants prove extraordinarily useful, whether you're looking to come in and quickly leave, or intend to push further within.

Wherever you go, those curious eyes follow you. Perhaps even out of the cave, should your attempts to shoo an adventurous creature away. What an odd way to gain a new team member.

Down a Few Notches on the Food Chain

(CWs: Potential for death, gore, or animal death)

Unfortunately, not all can be pure bounty and new friends in a place like this.

With the cavern sprawling widely and massively, there are many significantly larger creatures in this space, and some seem to be keen to take up opportunity for new prey. As you explore, there's a new feeling of eyes upon you, and the silence that overtakes the surrounding trees spells nothing good to come.

Any one of the massive predators in the wood has you in it's sights.

Escape is difficult, but manageable, as is fighting back. Creatures can be challenged, and hides, bones, and other spoils can be claimed from them, should there be success! If not, this is a good opportunity for familiarization with the Death page.

The silkhide chimera specializes in persistence. The longer and further you go, the more exhausted you'll get. A break is an opportunity that it will be keen to take.

The greenstalker excels at ambushing and high-speed pursuit. At top speeds of 30MPH, your party will need strategy and skill on their side to keep this beast at bay. (Or, alternatively, a source of fire.)

The elephant raptor does neither of these - the beast's sheer length of reach does all it needs to. Water and mud soften the sounds of the gargantuan creature's approach. Stay alert, and be sure that you hear it before it's upon you.

Safe travels become more difficult to manage, the further in you go. Deep, rumbling snores tell you that there's a chance you're just getting to the greater threats this paradise has to offer...

Fragments of the Past

Through great distances traveled, this "uninhabited" cavern begins to show signs that may speak to that not having always been the case.

Ruins of homes, crumbled bricks and tiles, can be found at the deepest reaches of the cavern. These dilapidated buildings, though worn with time, tell a story: the people who left his place, one that could be identified as a stenholm to any familiar with dwarvish culture, did not leave it on good terms.

Essentials were clearly taken with them, as the ruins of this place lack tools or clothing. Valuables are still scattered throughout, however. Large objects with too much history to have been left behind by indifference dot the collapsing homes. Ritual circles still waft radiant energy from them.

In the remains of a temple, an altar stands, cracking with age and covered in plants as the cavern reclaims it. Old candle-stands have rusted with age, but still stand, undisturbed.

Just before the altar, folded onto its side (as best as one can be, when only pieces remain), lies a skeleton. The clothes are tattered remains of stained whites and dulled blues, and the wildlife have cleaned flesh from bones, but it's remained undisturbed by time.

There's a quiet sadness to this place that lingers, even with the people who inhabited it so long since lost.

Should you linger too long, however, there comes the distinct feeling of not being alone.

Clair de Lune

(CWs: Long-term isolation, extinction)

Golden eyes of a human face follow your every moment, and the moment you lock your gaze onto them, the face emerges from the darkness, partially covered by spilling dark hair.

What follows this face, however, is not a human face - but, rather, a feline body with sprawling, grey-flecked wings.

There's a long, tense silence, as it emerges fully. Standing easily at eight feet tall while on all fours, the size of this creature becomes more and more apparent as it emerges from the dark of the collapsed wind.

Unlike the other animals of the cavern, though, there seems to be an anxiousness to its look. The lion's chest rises and falls with short, nervous breaths.

And then, in a hushed, woman's voice, hoarse from disuse, it speaks.

"Who are you? Why have you come here?"

-------------------

The Sphinx is a new NPC available for characters to interact with, should they delve deep enough into the caverns to find the stenholm. She's wary of all the new faces, and tends to be somewhat flighty, but seems cautiously interested in what new humans being in Hepogaia have to offer. For the sort looking to understand this place, it's people, or intend to trade, she can be communed with.

To interact with her, comment on the TL provided from beastsofthehollow with her icon, and if the initial introduction isn't your speed, feel free to encounter her however you like!

IMPORTANT MOD NOTE

As of April 8th we are allowing characters under the age of 18 to apply to Pumpkin Hollow. As we begin to navigate how to approach the change, we ask that anyone posting a TDM toplevel after this date include their character's numerical age (or a general idea of their age) in the title of the comment. We may not stick with this strategy permanently, but for the time being it allows players to quickly gauge what interactions and relationship dynamics are appropriate to pursue with unfamiliar characters! Please bear with us while we experiment!

Comments

Felix Gaeta | existing player/character | OTA

[not_a_traitor]

when we arrive, sons and daughters [library]

Gaeta made the nugget mistake every non-librarian makes: he looked at the town library and thought, what a great place to work, it'll be so quiet and I'll get to read all day!

Granted, it's still Pumpkin Hollow, so it's not that rambunctious by library standards. He still has time to select a few books on local history and astronomy, take them to the circulation desk, and read a page or two at a time before he's interrupted by a patron. Mostly, they're looking to check out books; occasionally, he has to heft himself out of his chair to locate something in the stacks for them; sometimes, apologetically, he has to direct them toward the head librarian if they have a question he can't answer.

But if you're one of those patrons, Pumpkin Hollow's new circulation clerk will greet you with a professional, practiced smile as soon as you get within a yard of the desk.

"Can I help you?"


making this cold harbor now home [around town]

After poker night at Dr. Pierce's clinic, though, it's even odds whether he has a book with him or a small sheaf of paper.

The top page is covered with row after row of neatly-drawn hexagons. With care, Gaeta's penciling in the design for what looks like a deck of cards: there's a clear pattern to the symbols on each hexagon, as well as the narrow series of lines around each border. He's added equally tidy notes here and there denoting what colors should be used during printing.

Recreating a Triad deck from scratch requires enough attention to detail that he works on it outside his library shift, too. You might catch him at the Oak & Iron, one of the other cafes around town, sitting on a bench, or even lounging in the grass as he picks away at his new project. (Never too far afield, though; his limited mobility keeps him close to the apartment he's started renting downtown.)


Wildcard

[Hit me up if you've got other ideas! This is basically his catch-all for the month around event-related things.]

making this cold harbor now home (Oak and Iron)

[saltwaterlungs]

There's a particular cadence of crutches when someone's missing a leg that Darcy picks up like a shark scents blood, all the way from the kitchen. They ask Max to cover them, hurrying out, equal parts dead terror and hope-

And they find theirself standing in front of someone who is distinctly not their mother. Their eyes dart over the crutches, then at Gaeta, looking for just a moment like they've seen a ghost... but it fades quickly, and Darcy lets a little breath escape.

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

[not_a_traitor]

"It's, ah. It's all right," says Gaeta, bemused. He drew himself to a halt quick enough to avoid a collision, but continues to blink at the stranger for another second, trying to parse what might have caused such a reaction. "Is it... someone I should keep an eye out for?"

It's on the tip of his tongue to ask, much like he asked Edgar, are you from the Colonies? He can recognize it's an absurd question; he swallows it back.

[saltwaterlungs]

"I mean. If you see an older woman who looks kind of like me who's also missing a leg, I'd appreciate it if you acted like you don't know me."

...

"Which should be easy because you don't."

........... To stop being rude, they back up a little, and ask- "do you need any of the chairs moved or are you good? I know it's not super accessible here because some people keep forgetting to tuck their fucking chairs in, like animals."

[not_a_traitor]

Gaeta snorts the smallest laugh. "I never saw you," he says, solemn. "...Does that mean I shouldn't introduce myself? And actually if you could get -- "

He uses the toe of one crutch to nudge the closest chair.

"Just, um, pull that one out for me so I can sit?"

If they're offering. It's hard for Gaeta not to cringe inwardly, as he asks for something he could probably do fine on his own with a little wrangling, but the stranger isn't wrong: the Oak & Iron is a minefield of accessibility violations and some days it's frustrating as frak.

[saltwaterlungs]

Darcy pulls the chair out with one hand, barely even looking from the practice they've had doing it.

"If I'm already bothering you I guess it'd be kind of a dick move to just fuck off."

And going directly back into the kitchen to say 'I thought my mum was out there but it's just some guy' will be embarrassing, so.

"Darcy. I uh. Work here." No prize for guessing due to the apron and all. "I'm new."

[not_a_traitor]

"Thank you," he says, sinking into the chair with a small grunt of relief. He shucks off his crutches to set them aside before extending a hand to Darcy. "Felix Gaeta. Pleasure. Fairly new myself, but, ah, I wasn't on that cruise other people have mentioned."

Which, considering just how many people arrived from said cruise -- and Gaeta's coincidental arrival only a week or two later -- seems important to clarify.

[saltwaterlungs]

Gives him a kind of sideways high five.

"Uh- yeah I know. There were like... maybe thirty of us by the end stuck on one ship, I knew everyone's face even if I didn't know their name."

Did- nope, they forgot to mention.

"I was, I mean. It sucked as bad as everyone says."

[not_a_traitor]

Gaeta blinks at the kinda-sorta high five, withdraws his hand, and winces at the rest.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I probably should've -- " A wry noise that isn't quite a laugh. "Assumed you were, if I'm at the point where I have to tell people I'm not from there. I'm glad you're not there anymore."

Spoken like someone who knows from being stuck on one ship, in shitty circumstances, for an extended period of time. Even if it wasn't the Serena Eterna.

[saltwaterlungs]

"You and me both. Do you know how wild it is being able to walk for an hour and not just end up overboard after ten minutes? Insane."

Anyway-

"Did you want something to eat? This place hasn't invented p.o.s. systems yet so we just kind of get orders. It's kind of a nightmare."

[not_a_traitor]

"Complete lunacy," he agrees with a crooked smile. "Or not see the same fifteen hallways. Let alone all the plants around here, and sunlight."

Every ship fine-tuned its lighting centuries ago so the passengers and crew wouldn't lose their minds, but the longer he spends on Marrow Isle, the more Gaeta remembers there's no substitute for the real thing.

"And uh -- " Yeah, he should probably eat something, he decides ruefully; he's pretty sure he skipped lunch now that he's thinking about it. "I guess a sandwich? Anything that doesn't taste like algae. I'm not picky."

[saltwaterlungs]

"We had sunlight, but no plants. Distinctly no plants. It was a whole thing."

Flatly,

"Sorry we're running an algae-only special today. We have like twenty litres of algae in a bucket we need to get through. Comes in a bread bowl."

[not_a_traitor]

Gaeta manages not to snort. "Well, damn," he says solemn. "If there's a bread bowl, how can I say no?"

It's the only thing worth eating algae in!

Galactica's crew probably played eight rounds a day of if you could be eating literally anything else right now, what would you eat? -- so Gaeta finally picks an answer from one of the simpler days and adds, "I'm fine with a turkey sandwich."

when we arrive, sons and daughters

[astrogator]

Today, Arilanna Tayrey is visiting the library for the first time. After a systematic investigation of the shelves, she approaches the desk carrying a stack of thick books.

She's not expecting to see Lieutenant Gaeta, but it's a pleasant surprise, and she greets him with a cheery peace-and-prosperity before closing the distance and setting the books on the desk. There's one about astronomy, but the others are all technical. Communications technology, engineering, construction methods. Books full of small print and diagrams.

'It's good to see you here! Maybe you can help. Is it you that I pay for renting these books?' she asks.

Look, she's never seen this much paper in one place before.

[not_a_traitor]

"Liuetenant! Peace and prosperity," Gaeta answers, equally cheerful. He starts to pull out one of the hefty ledgers used to track circulating books, then pauses, his cheer shading to faint puzzlement at the mention of a monetary exchange.

"Oh, ah, there's no charge." He waves his hand, offering a brief, reassuring smile. "Not as long as you return it on time. All check-outs are free for a period of three weeks; we make a note of the due date in here -- " he taps the ledger -- "and in the back of the book."

[astrogator]

'I see.' She says it slowly, and doesn't quite manage to conceal the look of disappointment in her eyes.

'I didn't realise. I don't need charity. There's probably a bookstore somewhere in town.' Now there's a quiet but very firm undercurrent of pride. She won't take handouts. She won't rely on other people to just give her things, as if she's worthless and can't offer anything of value in return.

Tayrey glances back over her shoulder at the shelves. 'I'll put them back,' she decides swiftly. 'In the correct places!'

[not_a_traitor]

To say Gaeta -- born and raised on Picon, who provided for her citizens even better than most of the other Colonies -- is taken aback would be an understatement. There's a mix of emotions on his face Tayrey's probably seen from other non-Tradeliners before: confusion, a touch of hurt, something that can't decide between outrage and pity over something as basic as a library book being dismissed as unnecessary charity.

"You don't have to do -- it's not charity," he says, as the confusion wins out, and is rapidly replaced by an almost professorial earnestness. (It's not the first time Gaeta has believed that if he just explained things well enough, it would fix the argument at hand.) "It's a public good. It's -- it's like access to basic utilities. It's open sharing of knowledge."

[astrogator]

She'd thought he'd appreciate her consideration for the very orderly filing of the books, but the look on his face doesn't seem to reflect that in the slightest. She stares back at him, unsure, and for the first time it occurs to her that treating him as if he's practically one of her Tradeline comrades simply because it's so very long since she's seen another spacer might be a big mistake.

'It's charity,' she repeats. 'Among my people. Handing out something and asking no fair contract in return is charity - and there's nothing wrong with charity for those who truly need it, mind. I'm not here to criticise anyone else. Only I'm in a position where I can pay for my own reading material, Lieutenant, so I'll do it, if not by renting these books then by purchasing what I can elsewhere. Fair and honest trade, by Tradeline code.'

She hopes he'll understand that much, that even if his ship operates along lines a Tradeliner wouldn't recognise, that principle and honor still count for something where he's from. Tayrey's sticking to hers.

[not_a_traitor]

"Oh," he says, slower. The creases along his brow deepen; uncertain, still, but more like someone trying to parse a complicated equation than the blank confusion of before.

Not only Tradeline code, but among my people. For all the talk of a united Colonial society, it was still twelve planets' worth of humans that unified so recently Gaeta's grandmother could tell him stories of the once-sovereign, independent Colonies. Gaeta might find plenty of traditional beliefs ridiculous. Crammed side-by-side with humanity's remnants for four years, though, and -- as long as those beliefs weren't hurting anyone -- you learned to tolerate them. Mostly.

Being so strict in your ideas of fairness and trade that you can't even accept a library book? Ridiculous. But ultimately, he supposes, it's a pretty harmless eccentricity compared to other things he's witnessed.

(It also brings new light to why Tayrey's always talking about fair contracts.)

"Okay." Still feeling his way through the conversation, Gaeta says, cautious, "Is there... any form of trade or contract besides money that would let you accept the books? There's probably more here than you'd find in a bookstore. Rarer books, stuff that hasn't been printed in a while..."

[astrogator]

She stresses that it's cultural because she's had such negative reactions in the past, complete out-of-sector outsiders reacting with hostility to her way of doing things. Culture is safe, it means others don't have to agree with it any more than she does with their customs, and it's a sound reason to push away others who try to make her conform to their ways instead. Tayrey will walk away before accepting anything other than fair contract, but if people are polite, she'll walk away with no hard feelings at all.

Gaeta is being very polite, and thoughtful into the bargain. It's only right that she considers what amounts to the beginnings of a counter-offer.

'Back home,' she tells him, 'we didn't have books like these. Technical and instructional manuals printed on flexible plastic, sure. Textbooks - but everything else was all datanet. Which leaves me unsure of the value. I'm willing to barter, but I don't know that I have much that would be more use to you than currency. I've got food supplies? A few hand tools, or firewood for burning? Or I could trade star charts, or technical drawings, or maps, but I'd need time to make copies.'

[not_a_traitor]

Gaeta makes a faint noise of consideration, curling his fist in front of his mouth as he thinks.

Starting with the math will be simplest: "It depends on the quality of the book, but something like these -- I don't know, ten or twenty cubits each if they were new? But that's mass-produced, not handmade like everything here; handmade'd be more like seventy-five to a hundred cubits and it's maybe two or three cubits to a brass. So twenty-five, thirty brass each?"

Which feels like a whole lot to ask of Tayrey, even if the library wasn't meant to be free, but if he wants her to respect the deal, it needs to be a fair one.

"I've got some cabinets in my apartment that need adjusting, though, so I wouldn't say no to the hand tools. What if you borrowed the books for as long as I borrowed the tools?"

[astrogator]

Her instinct is to stop him and ask him to convert his cubits to commodity prices, but she catches the error in time, since there's no guarantee that any precious or useful metal would carry the same value in his sector as in hers. It's not as simple as comparing one local currency with another. She seizes on a solution just as he starts converting to brass, and of course that works just as well.

If it's accurate. Those books seem overvalued, by comparison to her salary. Much more expensive than her printed-on-plastic equivalent. Less expensive than the rare antiques that were paper books in her own sector, but that's not difficult.

Faced with the knowledge that at best she'd be negotiating down to twenty brass a book, his barter option suddenly doesn't seem so outrageous. She nods, emphatically. 'Yes. Fair contract, the books in temporary trade for the tools, and we'll each give the other two days' notice when we need to trade back?'

[not_a_traitor]

"Fair contract," agrees Gaeta, relieved. "That sounds good."

He's going to be so embarrassed if he walks into the local bookshop and discovers he frakked up the math. Oh, well, it's a moot point anyway.

"Do we, uh, shake on it, or sign anything, or...?"

[astrogator]

'We can put it in writing if you'd like,' says Tayrey, relaxed now that the deal is done. 'But informal contract is fine by me; I trust to your word as an officer.' To deal honestly and fairly, not to search for contract loopholes to disadvantage her. It's what she expects. Tradeliners had a reputation for integrity and dependability. She'd found it so difficult to have that called into question after her arrival on the prison ship, by a couple of people who wanted to assume the worst of her. She'll treat him how she'd want to be treated.

She does extend her hand to shake his. A Tradeline handshake, with her left hand coming over to clasp his forearm briefly.

[not_a_traitor]

"I'm good with informal, too," he agrees, and meets the handshake. When she clasps his forearm, he looks briefly surprised, but adjusts quickly to match the gesture.

There's a small flicker of dread he feels every so often around Tayrey, as they've become friends. Your word as an officer. Sometimes she doesn't remind him of the Colonies so much as she reminds him of him, in all her earnestness and good faith; the Lieutenant Gaeta who believed in the institution of the Fleet for years, only to learn too late that the only oaths worth following were the ones you swore to your own conscience.

Would she still trust his word as an officer if she knew how -- and why -- he died?

By now, though, he's gotten pretty good at squashing the flicker before it can grow to a conflagration. He quirks a smile and says, "You can take the books now if you want. I trust you to drop off the tools here. Or at my apartment, if that's easier -- I'm in one of the downtown complexes."