Chapter 23: Organization, Introductions, and Information

Ann closed the door as the father and daughter pair got further away. Once shut she let out a sigh laced with a hint of a groan. “Thank you Monday March, that went far better than I could have expected.”

Thinking of the 50 dollars I’d made from the bet, I mean I only made 90 from saving Buckle’s life and the taz corpse, I smiled. “I’m glad, Ann. And thank you for playing along about the amount. I have the extra, just not with me. And it really is okay if you want to simply call me Monday. Anyhow, what else did you need help with?”

For the next hour or so, we put away the items from the delivery, and I helped lift things as she had us reorganize the pantry and storage. During this process there were only a couple incidents of note.

One came as a pair of people walking down the stairs into the kitchen. Billie and Bernie were a pair of similar looking people in aprons with dark hair, light blue eyes and nearly identical smiles.

“Billie, Bernie - this is Monday March. She’s staying for at least a day or two, and helping us with a few chores when she has a chance. Say hi and get to work, you can chat later if you’ve an interest.” Ann wasn’t quite dismissive of them, but certainly seemed to be minimizing a long introduction.

“I’m Billie, and I’m afraid it’s Tuesday Em, so just not your day I guess?” There was a wink and I detected a quick glance at my hands. While generally similar in appearance, Billie was distinctly more female with wider hips and more… curvy. Her own hands were free of rings aside from a pair of thin rings on the left thumb.

Bernie had a matching pair of rings on his left thumb, one brass or gold, the other a silvery metal. He simply nodded at me with a smile and headed off into the main part of the kitchen.

Billie shrugged, and turned to the kitchen as well. “Yeah, that’s Bernie. Talk to you later, Monday March.”

“Nice to meet you Billie, Bernie.” I replied as I returned to moving a few more heavy things. It was still a little perplexing that nothing had felt overly burdening yet. While Bluebird hadn’t specifically mentioned anything about my stats, this did have me wondering if my Physical Power was truly extraordinary.

The other interesting occurrence took place while Bernie was coming back into the kitchen with some fresh vegetables he'd returned with from outside. Right behind him was a youngster with a buzz cut and floppy ears atop their head. The kid looked around and walked over after he spotted me.

“Monday March, right? I got somethin’ for you from the guild, an’ I need yer initials.” Holding out a clipboard with a fat pencil on it in his right hand, he gestured towards it with a small notebook in his left hand.

Setting down the bag of dried beans I’d been moving, I looked at the paper on the clipboard. It indicated receipt of a note with information for Monday March. “It says here that it requires my signature. And you are Kip?”

With a roll of brown eyes, “Yes Em, I’m Kip, and most folks just initial upon receipt. Sign if you want to.” He said while handing me the notebook that was tied shut with a small cord. I scrawled off a hasty rendition of my name, realizing that it probably wasn’t much of a signature unless I practiced it more.

“Thanks Kip, see you around.” The kid squinted at me for about 5 seconds before sighing and turning to leave. Witnessing this Ann called out and told him to wait a moment.

Grabbing something from a jar on one counter she went over and held it out for the boy to take. “Kip, she’s new to God’s Bath, and you should know better than to expect anything for general delivery. It is a part of your job, you know.”

Kip blushed as he grabbed what looked like a small cookie from Ann’s hand. “Sorry Em, I’ll try to remember.” And he left after making a small nod to both of us.

I snorted at the exiting Kip and pulled my pack off so I could slide the notebook inside. “Thanks Ann, are extra payments expected for deliveries and when other people do things for you?”

“Tips or gratuities? Nah, not really the culture in God’s Bath unless people really go above or beyond expected performance, people should charge what they want to get paid. But kids like Kip get spoiled sometimes and get used to it.” Ann chuckled and that tickle in my ears caused the skin on the back of my skull and neck to tighten. “About 5 more minutes and we will be at a fine point for stopping. Dinner will start serving in a touch over an hour, but if you are hungry I can get you some stew and bread now.”

I just shook my head, and we dove back into wrapping up the reorganization. Then Ann handed me a small cookie and told me that she would see me for dinner.

By this point I knew that the stairs by the kitchen went to the space where Ann, Bernie and Billie lived, so I went out through the double door to the area with the tables, couches and fireplace.

Rather than sit alone in my room and read, the couches looked welcoming and I allowed myself to be welcomed after slipping the pack off my back. Placing the pack in my lap, I untied the cord from the notebook and opened it to a handwritten note on the first page.

Monday March -

Taking inspiration from a desire to get to bed sometime before tomorrow, I jotted down a few key things and sent them over earlier, rather than later. We can always provide you with more, but hopefully what I’ve included will sooth some of your worries, and smooth some of your interactions.

-God’s Bath GM Bluebird

Pretty straight forward, though I am not sure if their speed was intended to my benefit, or their own sleep schedule.

Guild Rules:

No destroying the System No destroying the planet No genocide

Yes, those are the only guild rules. I went through it all and these are the only System issued rules. Everything else is procedures created by the Guild after inception and the consequences for not following those procedures. I’m only including a few regulations and benefits that might assist in any relationships and understanding guild member behavior.

Guild Regulations for affiliated members:

Standard Guild fee is one experience per week - payable when checking in Failure to pay on check in necessitates dictated quest / task participation until paid Deficits of 52 experience or more will trigger an affiliated member status removal, including loss of benefits retroactive to the first date where any deficit was detected Accepting a posted request and failing to complete that posting within the designated time will have a mark added to your member history and may necessitate a penalty depending on the circumstances Conflict with fellow Guild members will be resolved peacefully on your own, in Guild arbitration or mutually agreed and Guild monitored contest Violation of conflict resolution procedure will be penalized as dictated by first representative to which failed resolution is reported Damage to the Guild Hall is entirely the responsibility of the one that caused the damage Obey local laws

Guild Benefits for affiliated members:

10% discount in System Store 20% higher pay for materials Priority for job and contract listings Complimentary position requests, resume, and reference services Recruitment listings Legal assistance Training areas available at no fee, trainer’s fees are reduced by 50%

As you can see, the Guild generally behaves as a full employment and task spot for System Users of all sorts and Adventurers, Merchants, and Professionals. Non system users get fewer benefits, and cannot pay in experience, however they are often employed and employers, trainers and trainees. There are also banking options, skill and combat training, often consumables, information and some guilds even have lodging.

Information about the system is best discussed after some of the history you asked about, and as that would also help to inform about life in God’s Bath and elsewhere, we can start with what Buckle called the Hammering.

Some call it the Chaos or the Catastrophe, others the Great Catastrophe or the Hammering. What I know from the information in your status is that you existed before it occurred, and you should awaken memories of that time eventually, unless you were a newborn then. Over 200 years ago, the planet Earth was a mess, and humans had made it so.

So by the old marking of the time it was the middle of the 21st century and things were well and truly a mess. Resources were present, but the damage to the environment had slipped past the point of a quick fix (any new plans had an estimation of centuries rather than decades to have an impact) and people were starting to crave the energy that had once been so inexpensive and plentiful.

I settled in for what looked like a depressing read.