RE: The Ballad of Adler Young, Canto 2.5
12-05-2020, 10:43 PM
>An Audience Member on his phone in the other room: "Yeah, he's here. That's right, hiding in a cedar chest. I know; go figure, right? Anyway, he's ready for pickup. The front door's unlocked, or you can come down the chimney if you prefer. About my payment... Yeah, an original Oscar Meyer Wiener Whistle. Of course, Merry Christmas to you too." *an excuse for the artist to take a few weeks off, if he'd like*
>Adler: His insistence on you teleporting him directly to your position is raising some red flags. It's not like he couldn't just approach the stone circle. He knows the secret phrase to force all of your trees to obey him. Which still alarms you by the way. The blatant secrecy that surrounds him and the fear his underlings show when asked about him does not speak well of his character. Ask him questions, keep him talking before you do anything for him. Start with his history with the Marten family. Maybe you can extract why he can't approach the stone circle too.
>Ash: You knew the patriarch of the Marten family when he was still a young man. The youngest of many brothers. As thick as thieves and the best of friends, all of them. They jointly ran a struggling family lumber mill. One by one, his siblings succumbed to tragic and completely unforeseen accidents: crushed by trees, mauled by wild animals, one even managed to split himself in half head-to-groin with his own axe. He was so deep in his grief, he was on the verge of taking his own life. You were there to console him and help him save his family business by showing him the tricks of the trade. Your tricks specifically, though not all of them, naturally. In return for his gratitude, he gave you a percentage of his profits and an honorary position in the family. The Marten siblings, the ones that work for Adler, used to have another brother. Drowned in the river one day. Such a tragedy. You were there to console them too.
>Adler: Not once during that story did Ash stop smiling... Ash is an Unseelie, Murderous Bastard! What possible reason would you ever have for dealing with him?!
>Ash: It would behoove Adler to hear you out as the reason he would have for dealing with you is that you have so much dirt on him, it's not even funny. Even though it is, to you, very much. It was very clumsy of Adler to spill his entire life story like that. Especially considering that flower you gave Vernier that she wore in her hair then used as pocket potpourri was a magic listening device. Also, not too mention that he spilled his guts in front of a forest of trees that you can compel to do your bidding with a passphrase. So, before Adler does anything stupid like shut you out and go into hiding, if he wants to be able to have any influence in the world and not have every single one of his enemies pounding on his front door, you suggest he listens to what you have to offer.
>Adler: His insistence on you teleporting him directly to your position is raising some red flags. It's not like he couldn't just approach the stone circle. He knows the secret phrase to force all of your trees to obey him. Which still alarms you by the way. The blatant secrecy that surrounds him and the fear his underlings show when asked about him does not speak well of his character. Ask him questions, keep him talking before you do anything for him. Start with his history with the Marten family. Maybe you can extract why he can't approach the stone circle too.
>Ash: You knew the patriarch of the Marten family when he was still a young man. The youngest of many brothers. As thick as thieves and the best of friends, all of them. They jointly ran a struggling family lumber mill. One by one, his siblings succumbed to tragic and completely unforeseen accidents: crushed by trees, mauled by wild animals, one even managed to split himself in half head-to-groin with his own axe. He was so deep in his grief, he was on the verge of taking his own life. You were there to console him and help him save his family business by showing him the tricks of the trade. Your tricks specifically, though not all of them, naturally. In return for his gratitude, he gave you a percentage of his profits and an honorary position in the family. The Marten siblings, the ones that work for Adler, used to have another brother. Drowned in the river one day. Such a tragedy. You were there to console them too.
>Adler: Not once during that story did Ash stop smiling... Ash is an Unseelie, Murderous Bastard! What possible reason would you ever have for dealing with him?!
>Ash: It would behoove Adler to hear you out as the reason he would have for dealing with you is that you have so much dirt on him, it's not even funny. Even though it is, to you, very much. It was very clumsy of Adler to spill his entire life story like that. Especially considering that flower you gave Vernier that she wore in her hair then used as pocket potpourri was a magic listening device. Also, not too mention that he spilled his guts in front of a forest of trees that you can compel to do your bidding with a passphrase. So, before Adler does anything stupid like shut you out and go into hiding, if he wants to be able to have any influence in the world and not have every single one of his enemies pounding on his front door, you suggest he listens to what you have to offer.