Martin and Reller (Stik and Kafen) private thread

[Stik]

[OOC]Time warp in 3...2...1...[/OOC]
"Now, now, don't get flustered. Even three by tomorrow will be fine, if they work well and sound good. You can order more tin sheet, and build more when it arrives, or I can look into alternate sources of metal for you. Of course, my percentage goes up if I have to find your materials for you, but fair's fair.
"Be of good cheer, my friend. You are about to make a lot of children very happy," Martin adds, while leaving out: 'and a make lot of parents miserable.'
If all goes to plan, every child in town will want one. And at such a low cost, they'll be within reach of all but the poorest, to whom Martin will supply the whistles for free, in an act of conspicuous altruism.
That the cacophany resulting from numerous children playing with slide whistles will rattle the whole town and irritate parents, while being musical to Martin's ears, is just frosting on the cake.
[OOC]Normal time progression returns in 3...2...1...[/OOC]

Martin accepts the talking owl as if he sees such things daily (and at times, with the correct herbal supplements, one might). "You've gotta know how these things think, friend. You gotta get into their pelt and crawl around a bit. Or feathers. And fly. Or hop, if you can't fly. Which you can't. Can you? Didn't think so.
"Master Hootie believes humans to be storing mice and rats in our barns. And why would he not, there being mice and rats in most barns? I do believe by 'others' he meant the bats. And he had to fight them."
'But what about the hole,' he wonders, curious without wanting his curiousity to show.

[Kafen]

Grinning, Reller says. "Perhaps. I think the hole is the important part of this mystery. You think that a normal hole in the roof would be simply eaten or material pushed aside." He inspects the hole and asks. "What do you think happened? Is it acid?"

[Stik]

"I know not. Perhaps quicklime? Or perhaps the shite that looks like shite is actually shite, left by some foul and nasty beast with inconsiderate potty habits.
He calls over to Kristina, the intonation in his voice recalling a confused teenager on a sock hunt: "Hey, Mom? Are you aware of any local beast that climbs walls, eats holes through thatching, and might have left something like this?"

[Kafen]

Reller holds back a laugh. "Something besides a talking owl, of course." He looks at Kristina with a grin.

[Breila]

Kristina comes back again. First she looks Martin over, then declares "I've raised my bunch of children, but I don't remember anyone even remotely like you" and turns away. Then she bends over the tatters of thatching lying on the ground. The men hear a sharp intake of breath, then she turns to the men. "Have any of you touched that stuff with your bare hands? perhaps wiped your hands off on your pants afterwards?" Not really waiting for an answer, she turns to the harbourmaster. "We need a pyre on the fairground, burning hot. And people with protecive clothing, preferably of wool, to tear down the thatching of that roof. It's caught acid rot from somewhere. The thatching has to be torn down and burned, or it will infect all the roofs. It eats away all plant-based material less hard than wood."

The harbourmaster looks at Kristina with consternation. "Now, it can't be all that bad, can it?"
Kristina shrugs. "It's your choice. But I don't want to be in your shoes when the council asks you why you haven't acted on my advice. Ask these twho gentlemen, they will probably confirm that the bits of thatching lying here were less, but longer when they first looked at them."
The harbourmaster looks at Martin and Reller and asks: "Is that true?"

[Kafen]

Looking to see if it is true, Reller replies. "I've known for her a while, and I daresay that she is correct on instinct alone. It is her trade and craft to know these things." Looking at the rot, he tells them. "I did not touch it."

[Breila]

"Did you?" Kristina asks Martin. "If anything you wear is made of plant fiber, you should then discard it."

Turning to the harbourmaster, she tells him: "Gather people here to tear down at least half the roof, and make a brazier of charcoal. We must make sure everything burns slowly, so that the spores of the rot are not transported by flame and wind."

While the harbormaster walks off, she goes to the tree the talking owl has perched on and talks with him for a while. Martin and Reller see the owl take wing after that. Reller notices it flies in the direction of Kristina's house.

When the help crew is assembled, Kristina instructs them in a authoritative voice.
"Acid rot is a dangerous thing that affects dead plant matter. The dried reed of our roofs is its prime »food«, but it also eats linen or hemp. So you better all wear wool clothes and gloves. Head scarves are a good idea too, so you won't spread the spores. If you have old linen cloth that you want to get rid of, you can fashion it into head scarves that will be burned afterwards" she says with a wink.

The rot can only be destroyed by fire. Its spores are quite small and resistant, so we must be careful not to spread them. DON'T make a roaring fire, because they will ride the flames and wind and spread everywhere. I'm sorry we must give up some of our best firewood and charcoal to make hot embers.

Carefully gather the affected reeds from the ground once the embers glow brightly and bring them here. Best use old bags for that that can be burned afterwards. We must gather the affected bundles of reed first, moving them as little as possible, and burn them. To be sure we get everything, we should then generously remove more reed. The more thorough we are today, the less is the chance that we'll have to do that again soon.

Oh yes, and everybody who works has to take a bath and wash their clothes in the bay afterwards. Any spores will then be washed down to the salt water of the sea, where there isn't much that they will be able to infect."

Then she looks into everybody's faces. "Any questions or suggestions?"


(OOC: Drat, you folks chose to ask the expert. I would have loved to let you find out what the rot is the hard way )

[Stik]

At Kristina's question, Martin replies: "I took care not to touch the offensive material, good lady. I frequently I do not touch shite, or things that look like shite, and with good reason. As to my own apparel," he looks down at his clothes, "Silk. Which I am given to understand comes out of worms of some sort. Not a plant product."

He then waits around, watching the proceedings, and occasionally juggling when the mood takes him. When the owl wings away towards Kristina's dwelling, he mutters something along the lines of: "Witch stole our talking owl," but takes no other action.

He does perk up at Kristina's briefing about the rot. If nothing else, the gathered workforce represents an opportunity to meet more of the townsfolk. When she asks: "Any questions or suggestions?" he is quick to reply: "Would it perhaps be beneficial for everyone to work naked? At least from the waist up? I mean, just in the interest of avoiding contamination. I can stand nearby and sing pious and solemn hymns, so as to banish any prurient thoughts among those assembled whilst the work is underway. No? Nevermind, then."

Moving in closer, then, he says to Kristina: "Some of that rot landed on some crates inside the warehouse. The crates are made of wood, and tied shut with rope secured with knots bearing wax seals. Best we remove the rope and burn that, and perhaps the crates as well, them being made of plant material, and move the contents to new crates, neh?"

[Kafen]

"Right, I can supply the fire. We can control the burn. It should not be too hard. I stage controlled burns for a living, after all." Reller looks at his companion and asks. "If you think it can be salvaged, would it be wise to dispose of the contents?"

Pausing, he admits. "The owl is very interesting. I would not mind getting time to talk to it, later."

[Breila]

"Really?" Kristina looks at Martin. "The rot went through the floor? Yes of course, there are gaps. Hmmm... your idea is not bad. Wood is not easily affected by the rot, thankfully. I think if we wash it down with a slurry of burned chalk, or mortar water, we can save the roof beams, the floorboards and the crates. Yes we should do that, thanks for your thoughts."

Kristina walks over to the harbourmaster and has a discussion with him, which is quite animated. (Martin can eavesdrop if he wishes.)

Reller builds his fire, and soon the assembled workforce begins to bring the rotted reeds. They give off a sharp but not too unpleasant smell, a little reminiscent of strong alcohol. It is quite clear that the people fear the rot, they are very careful not to let anything touch it, except their gloved hands.

[Stik]

Matin will, indeed, eavesdrop on the conversation with the Harbormaster, but will make no effort to hide his efforts, instead placing himself in the conversation, although not speaking much. He only occasionally offers input with respect to 'chains of custody' and 'bills of lading' and such. He's never been in the freight business, but in his line of work, it pays to know a little bit about a lot.

When the flow of the conversation allows, he will say, earnestly: "My good man: it is incumbent upon the owners of this facility to keep such freight as is stored here in good condition. Alas, that ship has sunk. Now it remains to salvage what may be salvaged. In a short time from now, the very seals you are so hesitant to breach will be breached without your assistance, leaving you liable for the contents of the crates in question whether or not you yourself open said crates.

"Better for you to proactively intercede, and ensure that no damage comes to the contents of the crates, neh?"

[Breila]

The harbourmaster scratches his head. "I don't know. I am responsible for the safety of the crates and its content, that's true. My seal guarantees that no one unauthorized can get at the contents. I think we should move the crates and barrels outside now, yes, especially since the boards above have to be washed with lime. Let's do that first, and I'll check the books. Maybe the owners of these things can be contacted quickly, then they should decide. But we surely have to fill the contents of the barrels into other ones, washing them with lime could spoil their contents."

He walks over to his office, telling Martin to organize the removal of the crates and barrels "But make sure the seals stay intact, Sir, they may only be broken in my presence!"

[Stik]

"Right you are, sir. Move the barrels and crates outside. See to it the seals remain intact. I shall organize a detail for the purpose." Martin replies, without adding: 'provided I do not, myself, have to get dirty, that is.'

He toys briefly with ignoring the spirit of his instructions to get a look inside the packages - after all, he was told not to damage the wax seals - but the ropes weren't mentioned at all. He could play dumb, and cut and remove the ropes without damaging the seals. But that would be too obvious, and nobody would believe he was that stupid. Or, worse, they might, and if they did, nobody would ever trust him again.

It has been said that smart people make the most costly and disastrous mistakes. This is true, but only because nobody trusts stupid people with really important decisions.

[Kafen]

Reller suggests to Martin as the crates are moved. "The owners should be interested, too. I would think they show up at some point."

He sticks with the fire and controls the flames while the crates are moved. After all, he is the brush fire expert. It is his repuation on the line.

[Breila]

The harbourmaster chooses a few people that seem particularly afraid of the acid rot to move out the crates and barrels. Only their tops are slightly dusted, and most , perhaps all, of it is bat droppings anyway, so they can be moved without touching the rot. They are brought down to the beach, and someone brings a large vat and lime to make a lime slurry. Tel the innkeeper arrives with a few barrels. The council arrives as well to decide what to do with the crates.

After about an hour, the bundles of thatch that are brought to the fire look normal, and Kristina decides it's safe now to use a more normal fire to burn them "just to be sure", so Reller is free to join the discussion at the crates and barrels.

"We definitely should transfer the liquid to new barrels before we wash these down" Tel says, pointing to the empty barrels he has brought.
"What do the papers say about the contents of these barrels and crates, Harbourmaster?" Bryce Cousland asks.

"The barrels are listed as fine vinegar" the harbourmaster replies. "The list for the crates says »smithing supplies«"
"They're certainly heavy enough for that!" one of the bystanders remarks, who had helped carrying them.