((We'll have a generic wagon driver, too.))
Theraposa eventually gathers all the covenfolk who are going to Autun, however, the fact that she must travel in a covered wagon, and the inability of those who are in her expedition seem to have trouble listening to her, by the time they leave Mons Electi, they all realize that they won't get to Autun until nearly dark and will need to get a room at an inn for the night and do their shopping the next day...
Mélanie will walk/trot/run alongside/behind/in front of the wagon. "I have to constantly practice to be the covenant's Cursor. Can't let up for a single day." (forsooth, she has Motion Sickness, but she doesn't want to let on that she's not perfect.)
Gaston decides at the last minute to bring his son Guilheum with him. "Now you watch your papa go to work when we talk to these merchants; you'll learn a thing or two about how to get a good deal!" he beams.
Guilheum nods slowly, his attention mostly on the trees to the side. "But not the pie merchants, right? Ma told you to stay away from that city pie, right?"
Gaston clears his throat and gets off the wagon to walk for a bit.
((I know Guilheum's color is annoyingly light; he does have Prs -6 ... !))
Rashid can drive the wagon/carriage -- I dunno if Ride 2 (wagon) is exactly legitimate, but maybe them crazy foreigners do it by sitting on the horse instead of the carriage.
I suppose I should advance him through 1222, since he arrive with Viscaria. That'd give him 4 seasons of French Exposure, bringing him up to French 2 (commerce). While everyone else is speaking in French, he mostly just nods amiably and repeats whatever word someone else says that he recognizes.
[color=brown]"Rubble, yes. Faith, yes. Faith is good. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes! Yes. Constant practice! Yes. Constant....constant practice, yes. Pie! Pie good. Pie tasty. Malaqah pie is best pie! Is delicious pie like no other. Is....how do you say? Not a tart. But....um....is....rounder. Fuller. Delicate! Is....um....how do you.....is completely nuts. Nuts all over. Nuts with every bite."
((did this thread get Call to Slumbered?))
((The problem facing the party is that they are now in the city or close to it, and it's getting dark. I presented that situation to the players and no one bit on it. I have no idea how the party intends to resolve that. Players should play their characters in a way that challenges or misunderstand's Theraposa's orders. For now, unless amul reappears and countermands my handling of Theraposa, we'll go forward with the following.))
Theraposa says, "Find an inexpensive inn, and a place where the wagon can stay unmolested."
"Inexpensive inn, my ass," Mélanie mutters to Gaston. "We're the pride of the covenant, we should be housed in an inn befitting our station, right?."
She then starts looking around for an inn more suitable. Not the Ritz, but not a Motel 6, either. Maybe more along the lines of a Holiday Inn or a Marriott, in modern-world terms.
Coincidentally, Gaston was looking at Mélanie's ass when she brought it up. "Ah, yes, something ample," he agrees. "A place that would be ... impressive, to anyone we meet." He waggles an eyebrow, then looks around for someplace just outside the city to park the wagon overnight. He's extremely confident that whatever he comes up with will be fine. ((Survival roll perhaps? Per 0 + Survival (near cities) 3 + stress die 6 = 9.))
"When it's time to negotiate a price with the innkeeper, let me do the talking," he announces to pretty much everyone as he starts unloading the wagon.
Adeline agrees, especially as, well, she's got her own vision of what her life should be.
Oooh yes.
Listen, I like theraphosa, she's got a keen mind and is interesting, but, well, she's a freakin spider, she can hang out anywhere and be fine!
I'll tell you, there's no way I'm gonna sleep in a slum.
Also, her ignorance about human society betrays her: she doesn't realizes it, but it'll be easier to make sure the wagon is safe if we're in a place where such things are watched instead of in the seediest places of town.
Gaston starts to quarrel with Adeline, taking the view that the farther away from the crime-ridden parts of a bustling town they keep the wagon, the better off it will be. His side of the argument seems to be about one-half debating and one-half chest-puffing for Adeline's benefit.
((If you want to roll for it, here's Gaston's: Pre 2 + Leadership 2 + stress die 8 = 12.))
Guilheum did manage to pack about an armful of stuff off the wagon before the quarrel started, but soon he is distracted by some interesting tracks on the dirt road leading into town. He slowly begins to follow them, idly dragging a long twig on the ground as he ambles along.
((Erm...why are we unloading the wagon if we haven't figured out where to stay yet?))
"You're both saying the same thing!" Mélanie says. "Let's leave the stuff on the wagon until we find a place to stay, then, if we need to, we can unload it there. Or we can have the spider watch it. I guarantee no one's going to try anything if they have to get past a ten foot spider to do it."
((Mélanie's Awareness roll: Per 0 + Awareness 3 + (die roll of 1, followed by a die roll of 8) 16 = 19.))
Melanie spots Guilheum before he gets very far, and lopes off after him. "No, Guilheum, stay with us," she chides as she brings him back to the wagon.
((Gaston didn't know it hadn't been decided yet! 
))
"Eh-em, yes, Guilheum, what did I tell you about wandering off on your own here," Gaston recites unconvincingly. The boy shrugs and accompanies Mélanie back to the wagon, the tracks already forgotton. Gaston, his argument with Adeline defused, mutters to himself as he replaces the few unloaded items on the wagon.
((Sorry, missed where Gaston was wanting to park the wagon outside the city overnight while the people went to an inn. Mélanie is of the opinion that it's best to have the wagon close by where we can keep an eye on it.))
Unless Mélanie has been to Autun enough to know where stuff is (doubtful), she will hail one of the locals in the area. "Excuse me, where is there a good inn hereabouts?"
Adeline is first surprised, then angered by this moron*: This is exactly what she meant!!!
This will probably degenerate into some kind of stupid conflict
Pre 2 + Leadership 5 + 1d10=2 = 9
After a while, she throws out in disgust. This man is impossible!
Having Melanie support her is kind of a relief, but she will be quite sulking afterwards whenever gaston is concerned
Great idea! I love it!
(As a player, too. Having the grogs turn the table and try to relegate the powerful Familiar to the role of wagon guard is fun!)
For his part, Rashid is trying to remember what that guy back at the covenant said about Apollodorus having a place here in Autun, and if such a place, if it existed, would have enough space for all of us. However, his knowledge of French is completely unsuitable to express such complexity, so instead he ends up saying something like, [color=brown]"The living dead do/did/will-have-done dwell in Autun. Why stay in a hotel where you stay for the artist? " with a very cautious expression on his face.
Theraphosa hisses her annoyance at the humans. "Just take a room at the first inn through the gate! The first one that has a stable, at any rate!"
"Okay, okay," Mélanie says as she looks at whoever's controlling the purse (Gaston?) and rolls her eyes.
She all but grabs Gaston by the hand and leads him off through the gate, looking for "the first inn through the gate that has a stable", muttering "She should web up her mouth," under her breath as she wanders off.
She will try to follow Theraphosa's instructions to the letter, and try to convince whomever to take the very first inn they come across, no matter how opulent or flea-infested it may be.
They find an inn with a stable, The Lion Inn. There isn't any room to bring the wagon inside, though. It's only large enough for a few horses. Mélanie finds and pays for the rooms for the people and livery for the horses before anyone realizes.
When Gaston hears what Mélanie paid for the facilities, he is far from impressed. "Damn it, woman, I told you to let me handle the haggling," he scolds her. "I don't try to sprint down the road for you, do I?!"
"Now where is that boy of mine," he mutters, looking around. After a minute, he finds Guilheum towards the back of the inn idly looking at the various doors, about to decide which one to open. ((Just in case our SG wants to play with his Intuition Virtue.))
Mélanie looks at Gaston, more annoyed at herself than anything else. "Go get the boy so we can remedy this whole cart situation."
She then waits a moment or two for Gaston, then goes back to the proprietor of the inn. "Hey, you told me that we'd be able to store* our wagon here!"
((* I wanted to say "park," but that's probably not the right word for what I'm looking for.))