Closed [The Drunken Fish]A Tour a Town[Caspian]

[Moritz Craven]

As Moritz listened to Caspian, at that point he did finally notice something. Not the secret he was hiding, though a similar one had been told to him before and he had not divulged in... No he simply realized Caspian was lost in thought as he talked about his childhood. Perhaps then the man had a bad childhood? Or at least an interesting one, if he was so lost in thought just by stepping into it... Moritz was unsure which, but it seemed to reason one or the other was the case.

Waiting patiently Moritz let the man get back on track, not in that moment pressing him for details, but filing a note to himself for later to ask him about his childhood when they were in private... When he did finally speak it was in his normal jokey manner, though his response about mice and lice being in a house was not one he had experienced.

"As far as I know we never had mice, or lice. Perhaps the ghosts ate them... Or maybe the house did."

He said this last part somewhat deadpan, only to a moment after then grin while looking over at Caspian, hopefully making it seem he was joking. But honestly, knowing Infinity, he would not be too surprised if he were to find out the house had eaten pests or did something or other with them... It was an odd bit of subterfuge Moritz was trying of late, saying something he actually thought might be true, but by the nature of how ridiculous it was and how he delivered it the other person was likely to think he was joking. Of course, he had to accept to himself, part of why this worked was because of how ridiculous to most people his own life was.

"I know for a fact ghosts eat, in a sense, though not normal food... I've even made some of it. Though in terms of being a ghost chef, I'm pretty basic level. Barely passable, if my former partakers are to be a measure."

When the man suddenly turned to concern though, Moritz replied with a confused frown. What was he talking about? And when did he say he wanted to build his house in the middle of a cemetery?

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm not going to build my place in the middle of a cemetery. Don't be silly, there are clearly people - not - living here. I'm not going to just go around digging up a bunch of graves to build a place now am I? That would be rude. I would not mind being next to such a place, but I'm not building it atop one! I need a nice open space not in use, not one clearly owned and being used. I'm probably going to end up haunted either way, with my family being what it is... But I'm not gonna go and dig up a bunch of graves, that'd be a good way to tick off some ghosts. Now who's being silly..."

Looking over towards the shore and out across the cemetery Moritz sighed, before returning his gaze to Caspian.

"I'm neutral to being near a cemetery. Unlike most people, who would likely be against it, which is why I mentioned it. Its not particularly a plus or a minus in my book. But that doesn't mean I'm going to build on top of one. Nor am I actively looking to build there for it alone. I just need a nice open space not in use, with some room to grow if needed. Okay? If you know of a good place somewhere else that fits my needs, fine enough. Something near the shore would be nice, and away from people would be nice.... As a Kelvic, living in the city proper with all its smells, not the easiest... And I'm not against cemeteries or ghosts and I'm used to rocky terrain. But the main thing is an open space with room to grow, and not in the middle of a ton of people."

Shaking his head Moritz focused on the man for a few moments, before sighing to himself and speaking quite seriously if a bit ironically unintentionally..

"You know, sometimes I wonder how you end up with the assumptions you make."

WC: 720

[Caspian]

x

Caspian mulls over the idea of a house in the vicinity of a cemetery. As he does this, his eyes drift past the Dust Bed, to the stretch of land just before the water. It’s empty, and mostly rocky cliff-like terrain, though some of it, from his distant memory, slopes gently enough down. As a child he had gone looking for shells, once, because of an old biddy with a market stall full of necklaces strung with them. He at the time had been terrified of the fact that she only had one eye – rumor had it that it had been pecked out by a vengeful Kelvic Crow - and had not dared to pinch one off her, no matter how much Taalviel sneered and called him a coward. The biddy claimed to have collected them from the shores of Baroque Bay, at the bottom of these very cliffsides he and Moritz are strolling towards now. Anything further south by the docks would already be picked clean, she’d said, and that did make sense, even to a child. How she’d gotten down the slopes safely, though, with that painful looking hump of a back –

A few steps from the edge of the cliff now, Caspian pauses. Takes a bit of a step forward and peers over the side. He can see, north of them, a path down the side of the cliff. Was that the one he had taken? Miraculously, he hadn’t broken anything on the way down, as a child, nor on the way up, though all he had to show for his efforts was the broken tip of a conch and a few shreds of nacre, and plenty of sand in his boots. His stepfather had gone into an angry fit when he saw the sand strewn across the parlor, up the stairs. As if sand was what counted as messy in their home, and not the broken glass and half-gnawed chicken bones his stepfather’s cronies left carelessly on the carpet.

Lost in thought, Caspian takes in Moritz’s words a beat or two behind their actual moment of utterance, but he catches them nevertheless. “Not half as much as I wonder about you, I’d wager,” he says genially, clapping Moritz on the back. What sort of Kelvic must he be if his olfactory acuity could be an issue? It seems to rule out his being a Bird, though Caspian might have guessed that from Moritz’s appearance alone.

“Well. It seems there’s plenty of land here,” he says, glancing around. The Dust Bed is just south of them. “You let me know what looks right to you. I wonder how breezy it’ll be, the closer you build to the water. But I’d rather take the weather than – “ He glances to the west. “Daggerhand Land.” Something occurs to him. “I don’t know how much experience you have with the building aspect. I think I saw a few cases in Zeltiva where people ran into a bit of a problem. Some people had built their houses right up on the very edge of the cliff. Over time the cliff eroded, and those houses started to crumble into the sea. I don’t think it would happen overnight, but I expect you want whatever you build to perhaps outlive you.”

x

[Moritz Craven]

As the two walk onward Moritz begins to notice more and more how lost in thought Caspian was becoming. Seeing it he was reminded of his own visit back to Infinity Manor, his first home and were he grew up. Perhaps then Caspian had similar memories from his own childhood or at least the past which coming here brought up? Were they good, or bad? Considering it was Sunberth, the more likley outcome seemed bad, but he was not fully certain on that fact... Though logic and his own understanding of the city and the man seemed to indicate it was likely...

When he does finally respond it is with his normal witty retort, though somehow Moritz feels the mans energy is just not behind it... Perhaps still focused on other things? Or perhaps its just the odd delay even he could notice, which seems to bring credence to this.

After that the man seemed ready to move on to other things and more important less quippy topics as he arrowed in on the Kelvic. In the end Moritz simply shrugged at the mans words, unsure what to say as he did not really know much about land, and settled for responding to each comment or question in turn.

"I don't know really... I have some vague needs like the ones I said before, but honestly I do not know much about what makes land good or would be good for what I am making... I certainly don't want bad land, or anything that is going to fall into the sea, but other than that I am not really sure. Honestly I've never really looked at or considered land before this, so I don't know much about it or building. I wasn't planning to build any main structures up against a cliff, though with an acre or so sized plot, surely there would be room to position things near and away from... And yes, if I can be away from other peoples territories, that would be ideal... "

Frowning as he thought things over Moritz considered the mans words, before simply shrugging again.

"It doesn't have to be perfect, but I would at least like some decent land that won't cause problems... And that I can build on. My main focus has just been on... Other things... Leading up to this. Not so much on the actual doing of this part. But I would like to get it sorted and built sooner rather than later, if possible early this season. The longer I wait to do that, the longer it will be before my other... Aid... Will be available. And I can always have things added later. In the end I need to find some decent land for sale... Purchase it... Find someone who I can trust to build on it, possibly partly facilitated by trips to the Outpost... And then get at least a starter place built... All this season if possible, and the earlier the better... Any aid in that regard would be greatly appreciated, since I honestly don't even know who owns all this land currently or what parts would be for sale. Or who or where to go to... Yeah, there is a lot I don't know."

The more Moritz explained things to Caspian, the more he found it tricky to avoid certain topics in his explanation. He was not entirely sure how Caspian felt about magic in others, but he was also somewhat sure it was better to just avoid it entirely... And he was even less sure how others would feel about him building a soon to be sentient building in or near Sunberth,,, But from what Infinity had said it would take time and aid for his place to become aware and awaken fully was infected with Arch magic, which really did mean the sooner he got started the better...

WC: 647

[Caspian]

x

As Caspian listens to Moritz’s explanation, he notices it’s a bit of a meander. Like the Kelvic has strolled into a garden and careened off into the rose bushes, and perhaps rolled into an onion bed. Is Moritz hiding something? It seems unlikely that the young man hasn’t considered the challenges and hurdles that are certain to be involved when building a home from the ground up. Given that he’s only four years of age, how deep does that naivety – no matter how charming Caspian might at times find it – run?

But perhaps it’s not naivety as much as a bit of a fumbling attempt to conceal the full truth.

It doesn’t bother Caspian at all, though. He knows this whole thing has got nothing to do with him, and he thinks the Kelvic keeping some cards closer to the chest is perhaps a sign that he’s growing and wising up.

This stubbornness, though, that Moritz has. This bullheadedness, more like. No matter the uphill climb building this house might be, perhaps that’s enough to see the job through.

Speaking of bullheadedness.

He glances surreptitiously up and down Moritz’s form again. That physique is the most telling clue he has as to the type of Kelvic Mortiz might be. That physique, along with that very forward-shoving personality. Is Moritz a young bull, perhaps?

They’ve continued heading north. To their west is still the city of Sunberth. After nearly a kilometer, the signs of Daggerhand territory – pennants and certain graffitied symbols, and clumsily painted daggers on the sides of houses – lessen, then disappear. It’s turned again into unclaimed territory, and they’ve got a vast tract of land ahead of them, and still, to their right, the sea. The shanty houses and muddied shacks aren’t very flattering to the eye, but there’s not much they can do about that.

At Caspian’s feet is a bit of wood. It’s an odd size and shape and very out of place, as there aren’t any trees around. He bends over, picks it up. As he turns it over in his hands, he realizes it’s a crude carving of a dog. Or – maybe it’s a cat? The ears are kind of floppy, though, not pricked up and alert the way most people tend to draw cats. Whoever carved it also made an attempt to paint it, and the color was – reddish brown, maybe, but it’s faded from being left out in the elements.

He looks around.

No one in sight but he and Moritz.

The wind ruffles Caspian’s hair. Playfully, as if a friend has reached over and mussed it for him.

“What about here?” The abandoned wooden carving feels like as good a sign as any.

It’s a few yards from the cliff, and being around an unaffiliated part of town – a bit off in the distance, and still affording Moritz some privacy - doesn’t hurt.

He turns to Moritz. “What do we do now? I would guess no one at present has the same idea as you, but maybe it might be good to, ah, mark that it’s yours?”

x

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz pauses, only to look over and see Caspian eyeing Moritz closely and scanning him side eyed. Unsure what the man was doing, or if perhaps he had something crawling up his leg or back Moritz glanced around, but confirmed there was not anything crawling up his body. It had been unlikely in the Kelvics mind, seeing as the man was not glaring directly at him but seemed to be doing so a bit more subtly, but by chance and his good peripheral vision he had managed to pick up on it. Or perhaps the man was just not very good at being stealthy...

Having spent so much time in Sunberth, even if it was a bit limited, Moritz knew of the man things a person might do to him this one was not so bad. Thinking on that Moritz wondered if he should also in turn look at the man a bit more closely, namely with his Pathfinding Djed Vision. Even since the first time he had met Caspian Moritz skills in Pathfinding had increased a good bit, and he was much better at doing various things with it. If he wanted now he could activate his Iraso sight just by willing it, and if he did so he could then inspect Caspian as well... And if he really concentrated and spent some time on it, he could perhaps memorize Caspian's unique Djed Signature. If he needed to find the man, or say he went missing, having memorized it might be of use... Though he felt he should at least ask before doing so, and so he would try to bring it up if he could.

After Caspian finished ogling Moritz the pair finally made it to some spot Caspian seemed to see, which admittedly was a bit away from most other things and not right in the middle of some gangs clearly marked territory. He also was unsure what the thing the man had dug up was, simply shrugging as he gave up on figuring it out. Looking around there are some buildings that apparently the locals called a house, though Moritz was unsure if the term building even applied let alone house...

"Are those supposed to be... Houses?... I should find out who built those... To make sure I don't have them do my place."

While Moritz words might have been seen as comical, it would likely be clear from the mans expression he was serious in what he said and had just been speaking freely from his mind. Looking at the piece of wood and the spot Caspian mentioned it did seem the check the boxes he wanted. Looking around he tried to vaguely outline a one acre plot of land around on touching the spot, though as he did he realized he did not really have a mental frame of reference of how big a one acre plot was. But if it was vaguely around... Here... Then surely it would include some spots nearer to the cliffs and sea, and some further inland, and overall a decent space without running into any existing structures...

"I think it could work. I'm not really sure how to mark it, but I think I could recall this place if needed... Just look over here... And then there... And over there... And remember those places should be in the site line... And that would mean we are here."

As he spoke and pointed out places Moritz literally pointed, indicating various things that did not seem likely to move in the distance and could be used for spotting a place. And since he had used several at once from one spot, the place where most or all could be seen in more or less the same way as he saw them now should be a unique enough spot.

"Land seems decent... Its a bit away from stuff... And could probably include the cliff. Like if at some point I want to build up agians the the cliff or shore, or something leading down to the coast or water... Then I could... Although even if its empty, I imagine someone considers this place their property, so I'm sure I'll need to pay someone to buy it or to make it clear its money. Either way, I'm sure money will need to change hands to get it settled... Either way, if its stayed empty this long, chances are no one is going to suddenly pop up on it now and have plans to build here... "

Looking around Moritz settled his vision and ended by eyeing the man, literally looking into his eyes with his odd Kelvic Iraso eyes unlikely to be seen on anyone else.

"I don't really have anything to mark it, but maybe we can pile some rocks or something to make it a... Marker... Of sorts. Then I guess I need to go and find out if anyone considers this owned, and if so buy it... And get the plot clearly lined out... And if not, find out who I need to pay to make it clear I do in fact own it now before I start pouring money into it by building here. I have a feeling in Sunberth both probably cost about the same... But uh... Also... On an unrelated note... Have you ever been in danger of being... Uh, snatched or something? I'm not sure how common it is, but I do have a trick for finding you if you do, if I take some steps to prepare beforehand... I can't recall if I told you about it before."

WC: 933