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Post by Trebias on May 17, 2008 3:22:59 GMT -5
El snorted. “I don’t remember lying to you about the moonshine, kid. I do remember you knocking it all back, though. Either way, I’m not sure what it is, but when I’ve got a bad hangover, a little something helps first thing in the morning. You’ll have to ask Doc about that if you want to know why, I just know it works.”
He led the way back into the hut. He took in the worn down places, and wished that he had some hands to make the repairs right. Well, maybe he could use some of the money for that.
“So, you want to get public opinion on our side. Well, on Josiggy’s side. Any ideas on how to do that? It’s kind of hard to be really fond of a place you’re not from if it’s underwater part of the year and in the middle of a downpour the rest of the year, eh?” He mused for a minute. “It’s not all bad. I’ve never explored Golfam Marsh, but I’ve heard it’s got worse creepy crawlies than that snake that grabbed you, by a long shot. I don’t know how much is true and how much is tall tales.” He chewed absentmindedly on the inside of his cheek while he thought.
“The biggest problem I’ve ever had with people trying really hard to convince people that their whatever really is nice and cuddly is that I believe those people even less. If they have to try so hard to prove something, I’m inclined to think they’re lying. What about you, Whip?” Of course, there were ways to show people how nice something was without getting them consciously thinking about it.
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Post by seraaches on May 17, 2008 3:47:00 GMT -5
Still young, Rai also did not realize that El was already treating him more like an adult than a child. It helped him feel important, however, and like his opinion really and truly mattered. Therefore, he would give El the same regard and thoughtful responses that the canine offered to him.
He didn't outright snort at El's excuse about his moonshine explanation, but the colt's expression fully gave away his thoughts on El's response. The other Marshdweller gave him something much more interesting to think on, though, so he paused to think about it as the man continued talking.
"I don't know," he finally admitted. "I haven't really been too many places yet." The boy was beginning to realize that he would need to travel a lot in order to help fully develop his plans on public opinion.
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Post by Trebias on May 18, 2008 1:02:59 GMT -5
“Well, I don’t plan on taking any tours myself. We can try to get some papers or something, and books on the other Regions.” Tours? Tours. “You know, kid, one of the best ways to convince somebody that a place is really great is to have a hotel or something, a resort, and charge a lot to stay there. We have plenty of water, but no beaches.” Hmm. Vacation getaway wouldn’t really work. Too much mud.
“There’s got to be something we can offer. Snakes. Cards like to get eaten by snakes, right? Okay, skip the snakes. They can get eaten by something else. That will take care of those annoying repeat customers, too. No, I don’t think inviting people to die is a good way to convince them that we’re a nice place to be. How about, “Come to the Josiggy Marsh! At least we’re not the Lowlands!” That might work better, I don’t know. Any ideas, kid?”
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Post by seraaches on May 18, 2008 1:08:11 GMT -5
Rai leveled El a rather exasperated look, his ears cocking backwards in a mild show of annoyance. "If you'd give me some quiet time to think," he stated archly with sharp enunciation. "I might be able to give you an answer."
Actually, the resort idea wasn't half bad. It was only just barely over half good, but that was still better than nothing. He let his eyes drift partially closed and his mind wander over the idea for a bit. Shin used to laugh at him for this pose, saying he looked more like he wanted to take a dump than to think. Still, Rai always did better if he cut out the distractions.
"Not a resort," he finally murmured thoughtfully. "But a wildlife adventure; get away from the humdrum of the Capital and the safe regions and come to Josiggy Marsh for the excitement your life is missing."
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Post by Trebias on May 21, 2008 21:28:19 GMT -5
Elias nodded. “Good thinking, smart-%&#,” he said after a minute. “Let me get you something for your gut, it looked like you were trying to pass a melon for a minute there.” He didn’t move to grab anything, however, and just let the sarcasm saturate the room. “What we’ll need to do is learn the Marsh backward and forward, and have different plans and routes depending on what people want. If they want danger, we’ll lead ‘em into the middle of some nasties. If they want a camping trip with the kiddies, we’ll keep them away from that and tell ‘em spooky campfire stories and roast fluffy sugar treats. And if they’re not from here, then we can bring out any number of herbs, grasses, whatever, as remedies and vaccines against the ‘encroaching florae and fauna of the Marsh.’” He chuckled. “You’d be surprised the things people from the Capital City will pay for. So what we do is we build up a little war chest while we’re at it, so that if we need to hire some mercenaries or bribe someone, the expense won’t bankrupt us.
“Rest up, kid. Tomorrow you’ll have some homework.”
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Post by seraaches on May 21, 2008 21:52:56 GMT -5
Rai stuck out his tongue at the man, and twitched his tail as he headed towards his little cot. "I always have homework," he answered saucily. "The very least of which is putting up with your mouth." Still, there was a warmth to his tart words that suggested this wasn't the ordeal he tried to make it out to be.
He quickly went to settle down in his bed, letting the herbs sink into his body and ease the headache. He would take a little nap and hopefully start working on other plans for this random idea they had worked out.
When Rai woke up about an hour later, he felt better, but still dried out. No new ideas, but he rose with a springier step and trotted out to get some more water. He took a long, refreshing drink, then looked around for Elias. The world only swam slightly.
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Post by Trebias on May 22, 2008 10:24:57 GMT -5
“Yeah, yeah. Smart-%&#.” Elias watched the kid move over to his sleeping mat and drift into whatever quality sleep the kid was having these days. After Rai was soundly asleep, Elias went outside to gather a few lesson items.
Later, when Elias noticed Rai was awake, he called him over. “What we’re doing today is teaching you as much about the Marsh as possible. Not all at once. But, if we’re going to have this tour business, we should be able to rattle off any number of random facts about the place. We might have to make some of the facts up, but we’ll cross that bridge later. So, what we have here is some books of history, and some botany and zoology. We’ll find stuff on whatever plants and animals are native to the Marsh. It wouldn’t hurt to know other stuff, so that we can rattle off a fact or two, and then say, ‘It’s alright, but I have yet to find the whatever that made me want to leave this place just to see it. It’s just so great here.’ Thumbs up, all that good stuff.”
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Post by seraaches on May 22, 2008 14:17:27 GMT -5
Rai took in this part of their new plan and nodded in agreement. Evidently Elias had been thinking a lot while the colt had been sleeping. He got a slight queasiness as he began to move around more, but he could easily ignore it as his ears tilted backwards and he had to make a rather embarrassing admission to the older Card.
"I can't read well." There, it was out and in the open. Rai sullenly continued, feeling obligated to explain so that the man wouldn't perhaps think poorly of his late brother. "Our parents started us out on learning, but decided it was too much of a hassle for children they weren't going to keep, so they just. . . stopped." Shame still covered his tone, but he seemed more bothered by the fact that he couldn't read well than that his parents had decided early on to sell them off.
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Post by Trebias on May 22, 2008 14:50:00 GMT -5
Elias opened his mouth to ask what Rai meant by "children they weren't going to keep" but then closed it again. The kid would tell him when he was ready. He only sent Rai a questioning glance.
"There's a lot of Cards can't read. So, we'll remedy that, and that can be another advantage you have over some Cards. Besides, it can be a good way to pass the time when there's nothing else to do, or nobody else around."
He went to one of his books with larger print. It looked like there were less words, which made the book less intimidating, and the bigger words were easy to read. "Let's see where we stand with this, kid. Start here, and read what you can. We'll start from there."
He sat there benignly, uncharacteristically silent and almost pleasant seeming. No good intimidating or embarassing the kid.
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Post by seraaches on May 22, 2008 21:19:23 GMT -5
Rai was still nervous, especially when Elias plopped a book down in front of him right then and there. He cleared his throat uneasily and looked down at the large print. He stared at it mutel for a moment, then cleared his throat once more and licked his lips before making his first attempt.
"'Fu. . . furst of all, tell me how you are, dear. . . " his eyes squinted and he mouthed the strange letters mixed in the middle of that word. "Fry-end. Fry end. Friend?" He made a slight face as he contemplated that, before pushing on. "Re. . . Relive a fry. . . friend. . . s. . . an. . . anxe tee?" He was growing flustered with each new word. ""'he said, with no change of his voice and tone, in which in. . . indie. . . fur. . . ns, and even. .. urohnie was. . ." Rai flattened his ears and sent El a hard look. "This is oddly hard, El."
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