You have 16 Days Until Your Place of Business is Shut Down

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Hey Xin. Thought I might catch your attention. I've had an extended break from forums since EOFD was one update away from finishing, haha, but I thought I may as well check out this Eagle Time thing.

> Say hello, quietly. If she doesn't respond, she's probably asleep.

> Do knights have, like, an ID card or something that makes them a 'knight'? If so, why not borrow it for a little while?

> If there is no knightly ID you can take, just leave the room and keep searching.

>Use alchemy to whip up super-charged caffeine drink for sleepy knight!

>Recall how uninterested/bored/half-asleep she was when you first met her. Perhaps she suffers from depression and/or insomnia! Waking her up could mean trouble for you...

>Go check in with your partner in crime first. If he is through the line, great! If not, mention about the sleeping knight and ask what he thinks you should do.

You try your quietest "Hello?" first, in an effort to test whether she's actually asleep on her feet. There's no response, but you can't be entirely sure if she's awake but just didn't hear you. Well, whatever her problem is she's apparently supposed to be the one you talk to about this 'closing down your home' thing...right? You think maybe you can double-check back in the main room, and head there to check on Dave's progress in line.

He's already at the front! Man, that guy behind the counter works fast. Also, said guy doesn't look too happy, and something about his manner is making even Dave a bit nervous. "For the last time, I can't tell what you're talking about without the appropriate paperwork," he seethes.
"Uh, this is the only paperwork we've got," you interject, offering the order to close the shop.
He takes less than half of a look at it and says "Oh, that. I assume you're the representative, then."
"Y-yeah." He seems less angry, but somehow not any less scary.
"In the future, please don't waste everyone's time by having someone irrelevant hold the line for you," he says sternly. "Miranda should be waiting for you over that way, fifth room on the right." He points at the hallway you just came from.
"O-okay, thanks." You head into the hallway to escape the scary man's stare, Dave close behind you.

As soon as he thinks he's out of earshot, Dave says, "Did you hear that guy? He called me 'irrelevant'."
"I didn't hear you complain to his face," you shoot back.
"Well, he was..you know. Do you think that guy's a racist?"
"I dunno, maybe? But he deals with beastfolk all day, in that job..."

Having reached the door 'Miranda' is in again, you motion Dave for quiet and then both poke your heads in. "Is she...asleep?" he whispers.
"I don't know, maybe?"
Dave pulls you back out fully into the hallway again. "Hey, you should totally steal her...crest or something, and pose as a knight! Maybe we can bluff our way into fixing this whole mess right now."
"Um..the only thing that identifies a knight is their uniform," you say. "I don't think she's that asleep, and anyway I'm not wearing someone else's clothes."
"Fine, fine. So are you gonna wake her up, or me?"

"I'm not asleep, you know." Both of you jump at the lady knight's voice; she's come out to the doorway since the last time you looked to see where she was (which can't have been more than a few seconds ago). She looks at Dave, and then at you again. "You wanna come in or have the whole meeting out here?"
You both head inside.

"...Right, so we should prolly introduce ourselves first. I'm Miranda."
"Um, Sarah Kennigan. Like I said before, Marie's apprentice."
"Dave. What's this about, anyway?" he points to the paper still in your hand.
"Well, it's not really, like...they didn't really need to use that many words for it? Basically the building you're living in is supposed to be an alchemy workshop, it's zoned for businesses and storefronts and stuff, and...it hasn't been acting like a store at all, nor doing any alchemy, for years.

"So, either you leave the place so an actual business can move in, or you do some assignments for the crown for the next few years to prove you're actually doing business, or at least capable of it."
"What do you mean, assignments?" you say.
"Just, you know...Alchemists make stuff, right?"
"I think so?"
"So we'll try asking you to make some stuff every month, and if the stuff is good enough you'll get paid and get to keep the workshop."
"Every month?" says Dave. "So, if she doesn't make enough by the end of the month, or it's not good enough, you close the place down?"
Miranda shrugs. "Pretty much."
"No pressure, then," you say sarcastically.
"It sounds pretty harsh, I know, but I'm just the go-between. You bring your work to me anytime during the month and I turn it in for review, and then I tell you how you did at the end of the month.

"Anyway, you seem pretty motivated to stick around even if the actual owner of the shop doesn't, so I'll go ahead and give you your first assignment."

Assignment 1: Year 1/Month 1
Make Healing Items. Judgement based on quantity and effectiveness.

"So, you just want me to make medicine and stuff?" you say.
"Yeah. The monster problem's getting pretty big lately, and not all of the knights are super competent about actually fighting, so we're running low on medical supplies. If you do a good job with this, you'll be helping protect the town, too. You have any other questions about all this?"

>

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Long post, getting close to where commands will actually be meaningful and I'm very eager to get there. At least we get some of the 'rules of the game' so to speak here.