[Random Event[New NPC Shifts Narrative[Indulge, Safety]
“Hi, welcome to Enigmatic Parchments, my names’ Rose, can I help you with anything?”
“That’s my line, I’m Ruby from Ar Tech Magical, is Grandmaster Brightspark available?”
“I’m afraid he’s not here right now, I can sign for something if you have a delivery to make.”
“I do he ordered five cases of magical paper.”
“What’s magical paper do?”
“It automatically saves a copy of anything written on it to another piece of magical paper on the moon. If your copy is destroyed, stolen, seized as evidence, no longer in your possession no matter the reason. We can retrieve your copy from the moon. No more lost words. Did you know that three authors committed suicide last year after their drafts of completed novels were accidentally destroyed.”
“No I didn’t know that, that’s terrible.”
“Yes, magic paper can save lives. That’s not all it can do, it’s perfect for letter writing. Just take two pieces of paper. Say pair paper, mail one piece to whoever. Now as you write your letter they can see what you're writing. Flip it over and you can see their reply instantly. Couples use it to send naughty messages to each other when they’re at work. But wait, there’s more. Make a mistake, erase the mistake. The whole page is bad, erase the whole page with just a couple taps.”
“Wow, that sounds very useful, especially for a writer.”
“I know right, and it gets even better if you pair it with our magical typemaker.”
“What’s that do?”
“Let’s say you write a scene and you love what you wrote, but it’d be even better if you rearranged the sentences in a different order, giving it a more dramatic impact. The machine can erase everything you want to rearrange then copy it back to the paper in the new order you’ve decided on. It works great for descriptions as well. Let’s say you write a scene about the beauty of your main character, and you're very specific about how that long, long blonde hair, hour glass body, frilly dress, bonnet, slippers and an apron. As you type that the magic paper is creating a portrait of the character, letting you know how your reader will perceive the character based on the description that you’ve provided. Maybe your description isn’t strong enough, so you wind up with a generic looking character. You know that right now, you’re not waiting for a beta reader or an editor to tell you. Of course the opposite is also possible, over describing, the story never seems to move forward because you’re too bogged down in unnecessary description. Then the portrait produced by the typemaker looks too sharp, too precise. It’s hard to describe but you’d notice it immediately.”
“Wow, that sounds like a very useful product for an author. I’m terrible at producing outlines, so I go through regular paper by the ream. Do you sell anything else for authors?”
“Yes we do mainly for genre authors. We have for horror and gothic fiction writers the author light. What it does is as you describe the lengthening shadows of the night, or the pitch black of the crypt, the room you are writing in takes on the exact same lighting, except for the page which is perfectly well lit, really puts the author in the mood they’re trying to create. For science fiction we have a machine that projects the universe on your ceiling like a map, making space travel easier to visualize. Also for Science fiction author a sound effect / olfactory machine anything you describe can be heard or smelt. The olfactory may be turned off by command if your describing something you’d rather not be smelling. For romance authors we have two products that have similar functions both deal with feelings. The more generic of the offerings takes whatever feeling the author is ascribing to a character, grief, joy, lust, despair lets the author feel the same emotion, but the author has a sliding lever, that can increase or decrease the feeling so the emotion itself doesn’t overwhelm the writer. The other machine for romance authors is basically the same machine but it’s more finely tuned to lust. If an author is trying to write a spicy novel they get to feel all the emotions and the physical sensations they are writing on the page. This is especially useful for authors trying to describe an act that they themselves have never experienced. It can be somewhat dangerous however and any purchaser must sign waiver’s saying that Ar Tech is not responsible for any changes in the writers style or genre.”
“How can the machine change your style or chosen genre?”
“Well apparently some writers who started using it that were previously closed door only, changed to open door, some open door changed to extra spicy, and some abandoned romance entirely focusing instead on pornography. It also caused some issues with the writers significant others who claimed the author suddenly ignored them, blaming excessive use of the machine.”
“Wow that’s horrible, why does your company still sell such a dangerous machine?”
“Well according to my boss it’s our bestseller, and according to the writers guild it’s caused record numbers of new writers to enter the field and start paying guild fees. With both the company and guild racking in the cash, I don’t think the machine is going away anytime soon. Well I better get your paper.”
“I’ll give you a hand.”
“That’s really not necessary, I’ve got it.”
“Don’t be silly, I’m not going to sit here and just watch you do all the work. I’ll help.”
“Ah, ok but you can’t step into the wagon the company has strict rules, I could be fired and I very much need the job.”
“I understand, You just hand it out to me, alright, just you on the wagon.”
“Thank you Rose.”
Wow I don’t know if boxes of regular paper are this heavy but I thought I’d carry a couple of boxes at once, and I could barely carry one. When I got back to the wagon I heard coughing and crying.
Ruby says. “I’m sorry Opal, I know that you are sick, but you can’t get out of the wagon while we’re in town. It isn’t safe. I can’t let them take you away from me, don’t you understand. Once you’re safely hidden, I’ll come back for a doctor or alchemist. For now just stay hidden. I’ll have you in the woods soon, I know you are cold and I’ll build a nice big fire.”
“No you won’t.”
Ruby swung around and saw me directly behind her. “You promised to stay outside.”
“That’s before I knew you had a sick young girl in this drafty wagon. Get in the driver’s seat, you’re coming home with me. I don’t know what you’ve done to be on the run but I’m not letting you risk this girl's life hiding in the woods. An army couldn't breach our tower”
“What, are you Grandmaster Brightspark’s wife?”
“Good Gods, no, I’m his apprentice. Who’d ever marry that old loon. Come on just move it the faster we get this child into a proper bed the faster she can start getting better. You're far too young to be her mother, you haven’t kidnapped her have you?”
“No I’m her older sister, our parents are dead, are those guards going to search us?”
“Nope, Hey Dogberry, are you enjoying the day shift?”
“Yes, ma’am the Burgomaster said you put in a word, thank you ma’am you drive straight through.”
“Ok, pull up right in front of the door and we’ll get a chair she can sit in, so we can quickly and easily carry her in. If you don’t want her seen, wrap her in a blanket head and face and no one will be any the wiser.”
We grabbed a chair with wheels from the ‘elevator’ and brought it back to the wagon, between the three of us we got her off the wagon into the chair and the tower. Then in the ‘elevator’ with ports to the third level.
“Would you like one bedroom, or would you prefer two?”
“Just one please, I want to be with Opal. Ok, no problem, this room here should do it’s close to us if you need us we can hear you shout.”
I opened the door to the empty room.
“Room, I need two medium size beds, an extra set of sheets and blankets, a side board, add a side room with a full bath and privy. Please put three comfortable chairs by the window. Nightstands with lamps by each of the beds. Desk on the far wall with paper, pens, and stamps. Thank you. Now Ruby, let’s get Opal to bed. Room, I need one small nightgown, one medium nightgown, 2 pairs of slippers. Thank You.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Juliet, Juliet”
“What is it Rose, I don’t have time to chat, adult literacy is about to start and I swamped.”
“Juliet, I have a sick child here I need a doctor or alchemist, who do you use?”
“At the farm we just use the vet, he’s a real wiz but we have an alchemist in town.”
“Ok let me ask the girls sister and I’ll get right back to you.”
“Ruby, by friend owns a farm, they use the vet when they're sick, they claim he’s terrific, or they have an alchemist in the village I can get either, which do you prefer?”
“The vet, I think, if that’s who your friend recommends.”
“Juliet, what’s the vet’s name.”
“Dr. Denton, he’s probably doing rounds I..”
“It’s OK , Juliet I can use a locate spell. Thanks for your help.”
I cast a locate spell then jumped. Dr Denton had his entire arm shoved into the backside of a cow, and a farmer stood next to him.
Dr Denton said, “Harvey it’s going to be another three or four hours before the birth, go get something warm to eat it’s going to be a long night. What can I do for you Authoress.”
“First call me Rose, second I have a very sick girl, could you have a quick look?”
“Certainly Rose.”
I jumped us back, Ruby gave a little scream, at the surprise entrance.
“Dr Denton, there is a bathroom through that door with soap and hot water. Can I get something for you to drink?”
“Not yet Rose let me wash up and examine the patient.”
“Ruby how about you, would you like a cup of tea? You won’t be able to do anything else while the doctor looks her over.”
“I just want to stay here with her. You will, I promise I walked to the side board, two plain Jasmine Tea hot.”
“You have a remarkable home.”
“Well, it’s not really mine, it’s Sparkys. I’m just living here with my girlfriend while I’m his apprentice.”
By then Dr. Denton was back with much cleaner hands and had already started examining Opal.
“Rose we need a cold bath with ice, as soon as possible”
I walked into the bathroom and said, “tub fill cold water, twenty percent ice.”
Dr Denton was already carrying Opal into the bathroom and gently put her in the tub.
“Dr Denton, should I go to the human world and get some antibiotics?”
“No Rose, they don’t work on viruses. But aspirin would bring down her fever. You get it in a drug store.”
“I can just write it once I get there and be right back.”
I jumped, wrote, jumped back. Handed the aspirin bottle to the vet.
“I need a glass of water please, Rose”
I got him the water, went over and put an arm around Ruby,said. ”Don’t worry it’ll be all right.”
We all stood around for about fifteen minutes, then Dr Denton went over and checked her forehead again. Murmured, “that’s better. Ok let’ get her dried off and back into bed”
I had the room make a couple more nightgowns, while Ruby stripped her out of the wet one, dried her well and put her in the new nightgown then straight into bed. She slept through it all.
“Rose, wake her in a couple of hours and give her two more aspirin, then again four hours later. By then I should be done delivering the twin calves. If she gets very hot again use the same ice bath treatment but I doubt very much you’ll need to. You have a very sick girl there, the humans call it the flu. She was malnourished before getting sick, so getting well is going to take time. At least a week in bed resting, then maybe another week between the bed and the chair by the window. Could you come and get tomorrow at dawn?”
“Certainly Dr Denton, thank you so much. Shall I jump you to Harvey’s or would you like to go somewhere else?”
“Harvey’s please.”
“Ruby, I’ll be right back.” Then I jumped.
And Back again. I always seem to startle her when I pop in.
“I’m sorry I don’t mean to startle you, it’s just the quickest way.”
“No, no, don’t apologize, I owe you everything.”
“You owe me nothing.”
“I was going to take her into the woods, build a fire, that might have killed her. If you hadn't brought us to your home, I don’t know how I can ever repay you. She is the only family I have left.”
“Hello, Rose, are you home, there’s a strange wagon blocking ou..”
“In here Lu.”
Lu came into the bedroom and I introduced her to Ruby.
“Shall I bring the wagon around back of the tower and let the horse graze on the first level”
Ruby said. “I should bring her to a stable, I don’t want you paying to feed my horse.”
“Lu, she didn’t see the forest, we took the ‘Elevator’ up, Opal couldn’t walk. Ruby there is a whole forest on the first level to feed your horse. No is paying. Would you mind Lu, it’d be a big help, thanks.”
“I’ll be happy to.”
“Why are you being so nice to us? You don’t even know us.”
“I know you, you’re Ruby and that’s Opal. If we didn’t help a sweet little girl like her, we’d be monsters.”
Then Paula came in and I introduced her to Ruby. I suggested we all eat next door in the dining room leaving Opal to sleep. Her forehead was a little warm but much better than before. I showed Ruby how to work the sideboard, we all sat down to our meal.
“Rose, Lu, I want to thank you for letting me stay here for so long but today I got an apprenticeship at Lily’s and it includes a room, so I’m going to move in with Lily and Salome.”
“That’s great, I'm just glad you’re staying here in Wyldwood. Is working in a Magical Bakery going to be exciting enough for our spy / master thief?”
“Yes, Rose, it'll be plenty exciting. Besides I’m sure you’ll be roping me into more adventures, at least I hope you will.”
“Did you tell Talbert, yet?”
“No, I’m really dreading that conversation.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No, I think I need to do it on my own.”
“If I know Talbert she’s going to support any decision that you make.”
“I just don’t want to disappoint her.”
“There’s no chance of that happening.”
After dinner Lu helped Paula move her stuff to Lily's. I introduced Ruby to Doug and Daisy, we got Ruby a book for herself to read. When I told her about Paula being a spy in a thriller that’s what she wanted to read. We woke up Opal and gave her two more aspirin, her forehead much cooler now. She rapidly fell back to sleep. I joined Lu in our bedroom for the night.
