Failure to Launch

Intern Rep! : 12 Location : The Living Room Couch

Failure to Launch

'Pathetic' was the word that best described the ramshackle house Alicia had attempted to build. 'Useless' and 'Hovel' also fit the bill rather nicely.

What had started out as an endeavor to strike out on her own had ended in relative failure as the Knight slowly began to realize that carpentry was far more difficult than she had ever imagined it being. Alongside not having all of the tools she needed to build a house- Alicia lacked the wherewithal required to effectively put pieces of lumber together and the ability to hold up several hundred pounds of wood whilst hammering a nail into a separate piece of wood. Gaarm was of no help to her either- refusing to do anything other than keep watch, hunt for his own meals and piss all over the nearby trees.

Frankly, all of this was beginning to piss her right the hell off.

After spending nearly an hour contemplating how best to set fire to the place and simply find a house that was still standing, a knock came at her makeshift door. Moving to answer it, the piece-of-shit portal simply instead opted to fall over and shatter into it's core components, spreading splinters of wood and clouds of dust flying about the room. Cursing the Fates, the Sun and all things holy, Alicia kicked the door angrily- turning to what she assumed was going to be Gaarm simply knocking over shit because he felt like it. Instead, she was greeted by a forty-year old gentleman with a thick beard and a large amount of ginger-colored hair covering most of his body.

For a moment, Alicia didn't move, dumbfounded at the prospect of having company over- especially company she didn't know. It was only after the strange bearded man shifted uncomfortably in the doorway and, in a quiet, somewhat scared voice said, "I can just come back tomorrow..." that Alicia broke out of her trance- shaking her head and approaching the stranger.

"Wasn't expecting company. If I had known you were coming, I'd have waited outside so you wouldn't have to knock down a door to get my attention." She chuckled slightly at her own joke, apparently not noticing how uncomfortable the burly individual was on her doorstep. Noting that the man hadn't laughed alongside her, the Knight cleared her throat and cocked her head to the side. "I take it you're here because of something...?"

With a nod and a quick glance to either side of the room, the man took a step forward and took off his hat, fidgeting with the fabric in his hands, "Tarim said you were buildin' a place nearby... I figured I would help ya do so. It's the least I could do to thank you for getting rid of those braggarts last week- since they were staying at my inn and all." He gently prodded one of the walls, which immediately collapsed to his touch. If the ceiling hadn't already been there when Alicia first moved in, it would have most likely fallen on the unfortunate duo. "Seems ya could use it, I reckon."

A grin slowly spread across Alicia's features as the man spoke, eventually ending in a genuine smile as he finished, despite the collapsed wall. "You'd reckon right, my friend. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing when it comes to building a house... hopefully you can salvage what I've already destroyed..." Suddenly, her grin disappeared and she brought a hand up to her face, palming her forehead with a loud smack and cursing lightly under her breath.

"I swear, that damn dog... GAARM!" she shouted- taking the bearded man by surprise again. The wolf/dog hybrid trotted up after a brief moment, still carrying the remains of a rabbit in it's oversized muzzle as it approached. "Some watchdog you are... Didn't even come to warm me we had a visitor coming..." In response to this, the beast eyed Alicia with a dull, bored gaze before proceeding to vomit entrails and fur onto her floor. Not entirely sure how to handle this particular situation, Alicia simply threw up her hands and turned back to the man as her huge pet left the house to continue his meal.

The stranger simply watched the huge animal leave the building, waving the smell of bile away from his face. After a brief moment, he sighed and attempted to force a slight grin. "Looks like you could use all of the help you can get..." Reaching out to the Knight with a large, hairy hand he said, "Name's Gorrell. And we've got a lot of work to do, Lady Knight."

xp: 868 # 868 xp
+1 TEXP (250 EXP post)

Intern Rep! : 12 Location : The Living Room Couch

Failure to Launch

Over the course of the next few days, Gorrell gathered the other builders to head over to Alicia's land and help her with the construction of her house. It was hard, laborious work- but they did their jobs happily and with gusto- quickly fixing and laying additional foundation for Alicia, as well as stripping the various parts of the house that were beyond repair. Even Gaarm helped, albeit begrudgingly, allowing for heavier equipment to be tied to his collar and then pulling it to wherever the men needed said tool. Alicia herself learned a rather large amount about building in a short amount of time- like where to place support beams, how to build a wall that wouldn't collapse at the slightest touch, how exactly to hammer a nail into place without bending it or warping the wood, and other carpentry associated feats.

Alicia herself thought that she may have been being given the royal treatment, and had insisted that the men needn't actually build her house, but simply show her how to do thus. She also argued against having so many of them helping her-but the men assured her that with less people it would take more time- and that it would be easier to teach her how to do such things on her own by showing her. Her trepidation was, luckily, quickly forgotten once the work began and Alicia more than enjoyed all of the company she got from the village- seeing as they were rather homely and accepting of her despite the fact that she was a relative stranger. Tarim and Gorrell must have talked her up a rather lot to have these men be so willing to help.

The house grew quickly, having a few of the walls and most of the foundation set within the first three days. Alicia was rather amazed at the speed in which it took to build a small house- rather pleased at the fact that she should have a place to live in by the end of the week. She simply hoped she could repay the men for their kindness in some way or another for all the work they were doing.

xp: 394 # 1262 xp
BP Gain: 36 BP (3 Days 12 workers -using the BP I would have gotten for these last two days as well)
BP Spent: 36 - 30 = 6 BP (25 ft section of wall x2, 500 ft foundation)