Episode One: Carp on the Wall
Tessa took her place in front of her audience, and began narrating:
It was a cool spring morning.
Andulon Trader, the founder of Carp on the Wall, was raising the walls of this very inn.
He was steadily hammering away, whistling a merry tune, the walls slowly rising, the sun was getting higher and higher in the sky.
Just before noon, he heard a girl's voice addressing him.
What are you doing there human?
He turned around, and found a golden fish staring at him from atop the wall behind him.
"Holy carp!" He exclaimed in surprise.
Well, yes. Replied the fish: Indeed, I am a carp, although technically my powers are arcane in nature, so 'magic carp' would be more appropriate. But still, very perceptive of you.
Andulon opened and closed his mouth a few times, at which point the fish said with mild disapproval: Hey, there is no need to be rude, you know, I did not insult your family.
Utterly nonplussed, Andulon could only say: "I'm... Sorry?"
Forgiven, forgiven. Replied the golden carp magnanimously. So... What are you doing?
"I am... Building a wall?" At this point, as you might well imagine, Andulon was beginning to wonder if the sun was strong enough to cause hallucinations. He didn't feel especially hot, but who knew.
A wall? What for? Asked the carp.
"I... Am going to build an inn. See, they are going to build a bridge here, something to do with trade routes to the north, and all the weary travelers will stop at my inn, have some food, spend the night, and I will make a lot of money." The subject of making a lot of money was particularly dear to Andulon. It's still very close to the heart of the Trader family, in fact: if you ever visit Mandala's store, try not to get her started: she can keep going on for hours on the subject.
An inn, you say? How bothersome... That's how villages start, isn't it? And a village next to my river means humans will be pooping in my river. I don't want humans pooping in my river! I live in my river! Would you want to live in a place full of human poop? Go build your inn somewhere else! The carp demanded.
"But... I... I can't... I mean... Even if i built my inn somewhere else, the bridge will be built by royal decree, I can't change that. And there will be a toll booth, and a trading post, and humans will come. There's nothing I can do." At this point, Andulon was more and more convinced that he was having a heat-induced hallucination, regardless of the fact that he did not feel hot at all.
Well, what am I supposed to do then? I can't live in a river full of human poop! The carp replied - quite understandably, if you ask me.
"You could... I don't know... You could come live with me at the inn? I'll build you a nest or something."
A nest? You do realize I'm not a bird, right? A nest for a carp! That sounds... Well, that sounds like the name of one of you inns, doesn't it? The fish raised an inn to her... Chin, for lack of a better word.
There was a bright flash of light, and there she was, sitting atop the wall, just where the carp had been a moment earlier: a beautiful blonde girl, with bright blue eyes, a lithe figure, and completely naked.
"The carp's nest. Doesn't sound that bad, does it, human? I suppose I could adapt to living with you... What do you think, human? Human? Human?! Human! My eyes are up here, you know?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:47, Fri 09 Dec 2016.