1 Chirreb 4385: A Minor Escapade

[boomstarter.livejournal.com]

To My Most Adventurous Delight-in-Justice:

Goodness, my dear, but you've had a busy few days! I am most impressed that you've found the time to chronicle all your doings. In truth, I am impressed you've fit so many doings into just two days, much less to record them for our reading enjoyment. Have you become a master of Tempador and taken to manufacturing extra hours to squeeze into your days?

However you did it, I am glad you located the time to see your fathers. It's a pleasure to hear from them, even secondhand. As happy as I am to make my home in Daukrhame, dear coz, I cannot help but miss the little visits with your parents and siblings. Do give Dad-Dad and Quick-splash my love the next time you see them. And give my regards to Void-Dancer as well, and any of the others you might chance to see.

Though I fear you will not have many opportunities to see them in the next few days, given your newly-obtained employment. I am relieved that your monetary distress has been alleviated; I shall endeavor not to concern myself as regards what other forms of distress might be precipitated by your present occupation. Your companions seem worthy sorts and I am confident all will be well. Nonetheless ... do be careful, coz. I am sure Trust will be just as happy if his services prove wholly unnecessary after all. I note you've declined to take your brother's advice as regards to refraining from airing your current whereabouts in your scroll when traveling. But as Kijji has only left a single comment and no other hostiles have made themselves apparent, I see no pressing cause for concern in this matter myself.

But speaking of your companions -- I am as shocked as you by Nightbloom's dismissal! I cannot conceive of what might have occasioned it. Mask of Infinity is hardly known for rash judgments -- but Nightbloom is scarcely known for rash actions, herself. Quite the mystery! I cannot help but wonder if there is some truth behind Sythyry's speculation that the whole is instead some conspiracy betwixt Nightbloom and the hierophant, though I've no inkling what need there would be for such a thing.

Your friend Mr. Gavinfox is, incidentally, quite right to suggest that you could establish a remunerative career matching the services of individuals to the needs of others. I daresay it is that very skill for which your esteemed Sleeth acquaintance chose to retain you; you had even demonstrated your aptitude in that arena on the very afternoon when first you met. Still, I am not sure such a profession would suit you. While certainly you have a talent for it, and you enjoy exercising that talent on behalf of your friends, you have always seemed a more hands-on person to me, the sort that prefers doing to asking another to do for you. I cannot picture you as content to sit in some office, matching people with people, and not making anything with your own paws, as it were. It is most assuredly work to do the former, but it is not the sort of work that you, personally, find great personal satisfaction in doing.

Not that all occupations need bring great personal satisfaction! I confess that my days as dock-laborer bring me something less than complete spiritual fulfillment. Sometimes monetary satisfaction must suffice.

My own life has been considerably less interesting than yours, coz, although the engagement for my pentet yestereve provided a spot of unwelcome excitement.

The evening began well enough. We opened with The Ronde of Hizzernawn Grimblesmash, which was quite well-received. Indeed, we had the attention of the entire establishment by the time the last beat sounded, and you know how difficult that is at a place like Two Tent Tango. During our first break, Orziman went outside to get a spot of fresh air. A handful of other patrons were doing likewise. I was not amongst them, so I did not witness personally what happened next. According to those who did, a Khtsoyis woman by the name of Pinsitter expressed her approval of our performance in general and Orziman's part in it in particular. For this, Orziman thanked her politely. Pinsitter thence continued by noting her admiration for the way Orziman employed his mouth and hands in playing the tandem nadaswaram. Orziman responded by thanking her nervously and attempting to return to the interior of Two Tent Tango. Pinsiter drifted between him and the door, and suggested that she would be pleased to evaluate Orziman's skill in playing some other instrument of an unspecified but non-musical nature. Orziman answered by panicking, screaming, and fleeing. Accounts after this point are somewhat unclear. Orziman says that Pinsitter tried to grab him and that all he did was attempt to escape. Two other Khtsoyis present say that he hurled a racial epithet at Pinsitter before striking her violently and then trying to run. Pinsitter says Orziman yelled something incoherent and thrashed around a bit, incidentally striking two of her tentacles.

The two bystanders intervened by seizing Orziman with -- according to them -- the intent of extracting from him a verbal apology to Pinsitter.

Having heard Orziman's distressed cries, the rest of the pentet was en route at this point. River-Aria was the swiftest of us, and saw Orziman borne aloft in the tentacles of two Khtsoyis. She ordered them, perhaps unwisely, to release him, and attempted to spont The Slippery Orren on Orziman. It is probably as well that she did not succeed. A moment thereafter Wingle emerged and upbraided the kidnappers in her own inimitable style, floating after them. Orziman's captors responded with epithets, but were not well-coordinated and tried to move in opposite directions, without either one of them actually releasing our nadaswaram player. This gave Wingle and myself opportunity to draw level with them. I offered to give them a personal demonstration of my finest drumming techniques, using their heads in lieu of drums as those organs appeared suitably hollow, if they did not release Orziman immediately. Alas, the offer alone was not adequate inducement. Fortunately, the demonstration itself was. Wingle caught Orziman when they dropped him to free their tentacles to defend themselves.

At this point, Two Tent Tango's bouncers emerged to seek the cause of the commotion. They requested that we desist and explain ourselves, which I did gladly. My drum-partners required more persuasion but were ultimately convinced that their obstinacy in this matter was not in their own best interest.

I fear that no one was particularly pleased by nor perhaps even persuaded of the truth of any of the ensuing explanations. Orziman did offer an apology of sorts to Pinsiter -- for shouting near her, since he maintains that he uttered no imprecations and indeed was not shouting at her at all, and certainly did not strike her.

As no significant damage was done, we were permitted to return inside. Orziman was rather shaken by the whole ordeal, but he is a Rassimel whose passion is performance and he refused to be deterred from completing the show.

I confess that this last detail is the one bright light from the whole ordeal. I thought after this ill experience we might lose both Rassimel, but neither Orziman nor Ioste said aught of leaving the group. So perhaps we shall emerge unscathed from it.

Still, I hope your own adventures bring you even less trouble, Delight.

Your devoted cousin,
Boomstarter Sevendrums

Comments

[zeeth_kyrah]

Boomstarter -

I suppose you won't be surprised that we outsiders are now writing our own replies to you on this particular Scroll of Echoes. I would note that your group of players should expect more incidents like this first, especially as your fame grows; and expecting them, perhaps you each will be more prepared to receive them with something other than panic (I suggest a polite refusal in the case of those who wish not to be so engaged, but my knowledge of fandoms suggests that there may appear a very few whose obsession carries further).

Fame, its pleasures and its pitfalls, is one of the obsessions of the society in which I live; many people love to gossip about celebrities, but few wish to discuss the nature of celebrity itself. My observation of this ongoing chatter has provided small but vital insight into how one maintains one's integrity in the face of celebrity lures.

I don't see a need at this time to dispense lots of advice, but if you need it I would be willing to share some of my observations with you.

Best of luck with your musical career!

[boomstarter.livejournal.com]

Thank you, good sir! In fact, it had not occurred to me to take the evening's troubles as evidence of our growing success -- I did not think that our little pentet was yet possessed of enough success to have troubles from it. But I take your meaning! Indeed, I now can take some fondness in the memory as a sign of something more than merely the clash between Khtsoyis and Rassimel sensibilities

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

And this is why I don't go to concerts!

Well, okay, it's not. I'm lazy and don't like standing up for hours on end and it's usually too loud. q:3

[boomstarter.livejournal.com]

You have my sympathies, sir, if not my empathy, as standing for hours is not a phenomenon I've ever experienced personally. Perhaps someday I shall buy a bound copy of Cloak of Another God so that I may see what this standing and walking thing is all about. It looks deuced awkward and uncomfortable to me.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

*Totally*.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Wow, Mr. Boomstarter, thank you for the vote of confidence! Terrycloth also helped in suggesting the 'concierge' version of the idea. And to be sure, if Delight does decide to do something like this, she can definitely be part in developing and defining the nature of the job! Whether she wants to connect employers with prospective employees, bored wealthy people with interesting things to do, vendors with buyers, merchants and traders with with producers of goods, unmarried people with people to marry, people with rassimel style interests with likeminded people, adventurers with other adventurers or people with problems that need adventuring solutions, or anything you can think of that isn't linked that needs to be linked!

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

I dunno I think Boomsy's right about me even if I could find work doing that sort of thing it doesn't sound as satisfying as y'know styling someone's fur or making an enchantment or getting back someone's stuff. Things where I can see and touch what I did myself!

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Well, that could have gone much worse than it did. Still, even a Zi Ri must be prepared for alarmed exclamations or worse when flirting too hard with a mammal, and a Khtsoyis ...