“Would you remind me at some point when I don't have twenty-seven things going on that I want to make copies of the rest of the blueprints I have and add them to that pile?” Eddie said, pointing to the shelf that held the blueprints.
“Twenty-seven things exactly?”
There I go again, not all the NPCs get colloquialisms yet. But I thought Griff did.
“It's just a saying Griff. It means when I'm not really busy remind me to do that, if you would.”
“Ah, okay. I can do that, just don't get mad at me when I do, alright?”
“Why would I get mad?” Eddie asked.
“Well, sometimes you're rather enamored of your downtime as you call it. If I interrupt it, just remember that you asked me to do so.”
“Don't worry, I won't snap at you when you do. Now, I need to get to work. I've got to get the furnishings for the courtroom built before tonight. That's the soonest we might get a Justiciar, and I want it ready for them when we do.”
“You could always draft some carpenters on your building crews to help. There are more of them than are needed working on the general store.”
“That's a capital idea, Griff. Thank you again.”
“Just doing my job, si— um, Eddie.”
Eddie grimaced for a moment, but let it turn into a grin.
“That's why I picked you for the position, Griff.”
He headed out to the general store. Griff had been right. There weren't enough discrete sections for all the carpenters to be working, so a number of them were just performing fetch and carry duties.
“Hey,” Eddie called out. “Griff recommended I grab a few of the excess carpenters to help me build some furnishings. Anyone willing to churn out a few benches? Plus I'll need one person to haul materials.”
Eddie got more takers than he needed. He selected three carpenters from the volunteers, men he recognized from the earlier house building crews he'd used, then led them back to the area behind the Town Hall.
“Alright, first thing we need is materials. Here's the blueprints. You can all look at this one and decide what we'll need for say... fourteen of these benches. I've got another project I'll be working on and I'll add the materials for that into the total. Then we'll go get the materials and get to work.”
“Yes, sir,” the carpenters said, not in unison, but still with a fair amount of enthusiasm.
~ ~ ~
In the end, they made quite a few more furnishings than they'd planned. Erik came out of the patrol station while they were working. Seeing what they were doing, he casually asked.
“You finally furnishing the station then?”
At that point Eddie turned to the hauler.
“Would you make another run? Just bring down another whole load of rough planks, would you?”
“Sure thing, sir,” the younger man answered.
The first completed projects were hauled up to the courtroom. Eddie needed to do a little work on the room itself, but he estimated he could get it done in half an hour. So he helped the other carpenters as they made some furnishings for the patrol station as well. Benches, a few chairs, a desk, and a large set of shelves were all churned out after the courtroom furnishings. With all that, they still finished in time for a late lunch.
Jern and Tiana had come out of the patrol station as well, and they waited for Eddie and his crew to finish.
“Lunch?” Tiana asked.
Eddie nodded, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. The weather had stayed hot and while he was getting used to it, it still left him sweating sometimes. Mainly when he was really focused on some sort of project and not paying attention to anything else.
“Yeah, sounds great. I could use the time just sitting in the inn where it's a little cooler.”
“We have all the stonework we can get done without the metal fittings completed,” Jern said. “But no points in masonry for me yet today.”
“Well, we'll have the metal fittings before dinner and can put those in then. That'll be something new masonry-wise for you, right? Better chance to get an increase doing something new,” Eddie said.
Jern nodded happily.
“Aye, there is that. We'll have to see.”
The three of them retired to the inn for a leisurely lunch. While they were in there, Karl and Allie showed up.
“Hey Karl, over here,” Eddie called.
“What am I, chopped liver?” Allie asked, as she approached the table.
“Sorry Allie, I've got a job for Karl if he wants it,” Eddie replied.
“Just him?”
“Unless your Stealth is as good in town as his is then yes, just him.”
“Wait, you want me to actually use my Stealth?” Karl asked, rubbing his hands together gleefully like a gloating villain.
“Yeah Karl, do you want a chance to practice your Stealth?”
The scout shimmered out of existence.
“Not on me you idiot,” Eddie said. “I mean for real. Practice by using.”
“What do you think I'm doing?” Karl asked, fading back into view.
“Using it non-productively. What I'd like you to do, if you're willing, is keep an eye, and an ear, on someone. They indirectly sent someone to burn down the general store last night, and I want to find enough evidence on him to get charges to stick.”
“You're the mayor, Eddie, you don't need to get charges to stick if you know they're guilty,” Karl said.
“Well, about that...”
Eddie explained about the Justiciar, the attempted arson, and his suspicions of Arvid.
“So, you're getting an actual judge type? Not going to do justice yourself?” Karl said. “I can see that, it's too much like work.”
“Hey, trust me, masonry and carpentry is work,” Eddie replied.
“Yeah, yeah, but you want me to find something to nail Arvid with? From hanging around him while using my Stealth, right?”
“Yeah, and it has to be true. I'm guessing the Justiciar will have a way to detect truth, so whatever info you get has to be true and stand up in court for a judge to use.”
“Handy ability for a judge, that,” Karl said.
“Actually, they're kind of a combined judge, jury, and executioner,” Eddie said. “At least in the fact that they execute whatever punishment they determine is appropriate.”
Karl shuddered for a moment.
“You sure you want one of those around here?” he asked. “Sounds dangerous to me.”
“Well, not if you aren't doing anything you shouldn't be,” Allie said, nudging Karl with her elbow.
“Anyhow, are you willing to do that? Plus you get to use your Stealth skill for real,” Eddie said.
“Sure thing. I'll probably wait until after dinner though. See if he goes to the tavern. If he does, maybe a few drinks will loosen his tongue some.”
“Just, please don't wait too long. I want to nip this in the bud, before he actually manages to seriously damage or destroy something,” Eddie said.
“Don't worry, I'll take care of it,” Karl said.
“And on that note, lunch break is over for me,” Eddie said. “I need to go see how they're doing on the store. Maybe swing by the castle site also.”
“I'll head up there for you if you like,” Jern said. “See how they're doing on that tower and make sure they know I'll be a crew of my own working on one of the later ones, or, you know, working with you and Tiana if you like.”
“Thanks Jern. I trust you to know how well they're doing on it so that'll save me a trip,” Eddie said.
He stood and extended a hand to Tiana.
“I don't know if you've got temple stuff to do today, but I'll happily walk you there if you do. Plus I'm sure Lucky will want to visit the pond again.”
“Again? Try still. I think she's already there today,” Tiana said. “At least I saw her on the road when I took a break from the stonework earlier on.”
“Is she? Damn it, I should've talked to her more this morning,
but the whole attempted arson thing threw me off. I lost track of her after she came back from the smithy with me.”
“Well, let's go check. Then you can head to the general store from there since it's in sight of the temple even.”
The two walked out of the inn, Jern following along behind.
~ ~ ~
Eddie and the carpenters managed to finish the general store before dinner. He immediately unloaded a bunch of items he'd been saving for it, racking them on the shelves. Then he headed over to the Town Hall, finding Griff just about ready to leave for the day.
“We had someone lined up for the general store, right?” Eddie asked.
“Yes, we do. Why?”
“It's all finished. I thought they might like to have a look. Also, I unloaded a few items in there that they can sell. We've got more elsewhere for it, but those are things that some of the lower level adventurers might like.”
“Well then, I'll let him know on my way home. I'm sure he'll be there first thing tomorrow, if not this evening.”
“Works for me,” Eddie said. “Now I've got to run up to the smithy and back down to the patrol station before dinner still.”
“Better you than me,” Griff said with a grin. “I'm sure Runa has a meal ready for me at home, either now or ready shortly.”
“Enjoy it, Griff,” Eddie said. “You're certainly earning your keep.”
Eddie was slightly relieved when Griff seemed to understand that saying. He turned and headed out, whistling for Lucky as he turned east on the road. The cat had been down at the pond already when they'd checked earlier on so he knew she'd be in earshot. Tiana and Jern were supposed to meet him at the patrol station in just a few more minutes, so he wanted to pick up the metal fittings as quickly as he could.
Delgar had them all ready and, as usual, was grumpy about it.
“Two more sets of this stuff in the next couple of weeks?” he asked.
“Please,” Eddie said. “I hope we don't need three jail cells, but I didn't think we'd need one anytime soon. For that matter, I'd hoped we'd never need them.”
“Yeah, I can do it. I'll let you know when they're finished,” Delgar said.
The dwarf had already banked the coals and he helped Eddie load the bars, lock, and door into a cart. Then Delgar headed towards the spur of the Hammertop mountains that jutted into the Meadowlands here.
I guess he's bunking in that room I made for the goblins too, Eddie thought.
Eddie called out his thanks again, then got the cart moving back towards the road. Lucky wasn't helping, coming by to rub against his legs repeatedly as he pushed the cart.
“When I get this where it's going, I promise I'll take a few minutes to just pet you, Lucky,” Eddie said.
When he got the cart to the door leading to the Town Hall basement where the patrol station was. He just dropped it, then turned and rubbed Lucky's head.
“Let me tell them it's here, then I'm all yours for a bit,” Eddie said.
He called down into the patrol station and a minute later Tiana and Jern were standing at the cart.
“You should've asked for help, lad. We could've split this into two carts.”
“I managed. It's just that I told Lucky I'd play with her when we got here. Otherwise she wouldn't stop trying to trip me up,” Eddie said.
“Well a promise is a promise,” Tiana said. “I think Jern and I can handle it from here.”
Eddie turned and got tackled by a cat as Tiana and Jern carried fittings into the station.
A few minutes later, as he was struggling to get out from where Lucky had pinned him down he heard Jern's voice from inside the station.
“That did it, increased my masonry again.”
~ ~ ~
Eddie leaned back in his chair, having eaten more than he should have.
“Well, a couple of minutes and I have to head down to the temple. Need to see who thinks they're qualified to be a Justiciar. Tiana, do you need to be there too?”
“I don't need to, but I think I should be,” she said.
“Yup, no rest for the wicked,” Eddie said.
“You ought to be well rested then,” Karl said.
“Oh, really? There are those who might disagree with you,” Eddie said, looking at Tiana.
Tiana blushed but didn't say a word.
Karl burst out laughing.
“Alright, I stand corrected. As a matter of fact...”
He stood up and headed for the door. When Eddie took his eyes off of him for a moment, then looked back, all he saw was a shimmer similar to a heat haze.
“I hate it when he does that,” Allie said. “He's started using it to sneak up on me at home.”
“Oh, is that why he had the black eye the other day?” Tiana asked.
Allie nodded.
“Unfortunately, he's right. There's work to be done,” Eddie said, standing and waiting for Tiana.
Once she was on her feet, the two of them headed for the door.
“That's fine, I'll just stay here and run a tab,” Allie said.
“Sorry, you're welcome to come with us if you want. I just didn't think you did,” Eddie said.
“Oh, I don't, but it is nice to be asked,” Allie replied.
When Eddie and Tiana made it to the temple there were nine people standing outside of it. Eddie winced when he saw one of them. It was another one of Arvid's friends, or at least someone Eddie had seen with Arvid more than once.
Tiana took charge, explaining that Tyr would be handling the selection himself, not Freyja, but that it would occur in Freyja's temple. Then she led them into the building. Eddie stepped in for a moment and saw the postulants spreading out across the front of the temple and kneeling.
A few moments later, two of them snapped back to their feet.
“I'm not praying all bloody night just to try to become a Justiciar,” Arvid's friend exclaimed before storming towards the door.
The second person who'd stood made their way to the door more quietly and, if Eddie read their face correctly, had a much different reason for leaving. They looked guilty and Eddie assumed that they'd done things in their past that Tyr wouldn't stand for in one of his Justiciars.
The others seemed to be happy kneeling and praying or mediating or whatever it was they were doing. Eddie waited and a few minutes later Tiana moved towards the door.
“They'll be like that all night, at least any that want the position will. My acolytes are going to keep an eye on them to make sure nothing amiss happens, but we can go.”
“That's it?” Eddie asked.
“Yes, in the morning some of them will hopefully be priests or priestesses of Tyr, and one of them a Justiciar. We'll have to wait and see how many, if any, manage that. I have no idea what the selection process is like so I don't know how likely they are to succeed at it.”
“Alright then. In that case, I think it's time for an early night. I want to be here in the morning and see who makes it, see if we actually have a Justiciar.”
“You said Freyja claimed that three people around here could qualify. I'm sure at least one of them is here,” Tiana said. “I agree though, an early night is in order.”
“Maybe not that early,” Eddie said. “I'd like to spend some time with you and maybe play with Lucky just a little bit more first. She thinks she's getting ignored a lot, even if I don't.”
Tiana smiled at him.
“I know how she feels, or at least I did. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much of your time you spend with people, or cats, they just want more of it.”
~ ~ ~
Chapter Twenty-Four
Freyja watched as Tyr's postulants entered her temple.
This is all such a waste of time, they're all NPCs so why is Tyr going through this pageant? I know, I know, he loves his pomp and ostentation, so of course he's going to go through all of this.
Tyr was placing each of the postulants in a vision and examining their reactions. The first time he did that the man st
ood indignantly and stormed out of the temple, muttering about not wanting to be praying on his knees all night. The second time, the visions sparked a memory in the postulant and he rapidly paled, then stood and left as Tyr revealed to the man just what he thought of actions taken earlier in the man's life.
The other seven postulants weathered the first of the visions fine. From what Freyja could see of them they were based on memories from the postulants themselves. Then the second vision began.
This one placed each postulant in a situation and gauged their reactions. Of the seven remaining, two shakily stood and left the temple when the vision was completed. They'd reacted with cowardice to a situation that was well within what a Justiciar would be expected to handle and as such, Tyr had sent them on their way.
The third vision was another hypothetical situation, one in which the remaining five postulants were required to act as a literal executioner. Taking the life of a prisoner was beyond one of the remaining five individuals, and he left the temple as well, head hung low.
The process sped up then and Freyja stopped paying attention as closely. Two more visions passed by before one more of the postulants left the temple, seemingly exhausted and barely able to move.
At that point, the remaining three postulants simply stayed in place, no longer experiencing visions, although Freyja could tell that Tyr was still there, observing them. Shortly after dawn, the three of them rose, each of them now wearing a necklace. Two of them had one with a charm that was a gloved hand holding a spear, but the third was different.
The third one is, I believe, just what Eddie was looking for. I cannot help but think that a set of scales that have a sword as their support would be anything but the symbol of a Justiciar.
A moment of searching in the database proved her to be correct. As the three remaining postulants, or more appropriately priests and priestess of Tyr, moved towards the exit of the temple, the Justiciar took the lead with the other two falling in behind her, one to either side.
Eddie, Tiana, and several others were waiting outside the temple and when the Justiciar and priests exited the temple, those waiting burst into a flood of questions.
Defender Light Online Four Page 30
