[Obscurity, Critique]
I hoped to catch Dogberry at the guard house but he wasn’t there. Two of the guards thought he might have gone for soup before his shift started, another guard thought maybe the front gate.
So I portaled to the pub, waved to Lu as she sang a song on stage, while ducking my head in looking for Dogberry. He wasn’t in the pub so I jumped to the tower, then quickly walked to the front gate. No sign of Dogberry, neither of the gate guards had seen him today. I jumped to city hall, then walked to the library.
“Rose, thank you so much for that portal paper, it’s so convenient.
“It’s about to get more convenient, I’d like to hang some oil paintings that are actually portal jump locations just like the paper I gave you. I also want to create a point to jump to right in front of the library. I’d like to hang the paintings close to the desk so they don’t get stolen or defaced. I did the same thing at town hall. We hung them in the lobby in front of the information desk, with the target right outside the door. Then if I get permission from Dogberry I’ll do the same at the guardhouse.”
“How about putting the paintings in between the two job boards.”
“That sounds perfect and I hope it increases the number of patrons for the library, people who at first are just trying to get around, think to themselves as long as I’m here I might as well borrow a book.”
“Or get spicy in the cooking section.”
“Very funny, Eldara, does that couple still come in?”
“Yes but I don’t let them in the library at the same time.”
“That’s good, at least they are still reading. I'll be back tomorrow with an artist to create the portal, and any oil paintings that are already done. I’m headed back to the guard house to find Dogberry.
Nora was working the desk at the guard house when I arrived.
“Hi Nora, I haven’t heard back from you after we discussed that problem you were having. Did it sort itself out?”
“Possibly, we haven’t had any complaints in a very long time, at least not like the ones we spoke about. What are you doing up here, nothing is wrong is it?”
“No nothing wrong, I just need to talk to Dogberry if he is around.”
“Yeah he’s in the back, I’ll get him for you.”
“Thanks, Nora.”
“Hello ma’am, how can I help you?”
“Dogberry, we are putting in a set of portals around town, one for each of the four quadrants of the town, one for the clinic, one at town hall, one at the library and I’d like to put another a meter from the front door. Then on the walls I’d mount paintings so if you want to get somewhere fast you’d just touch it and you’d be there instantly. I have a little miniature version here. If you have a second I could demonstrate it for you.”
“Certainly ma’am.”
“Great, just grab my left arm.”
“That wouldn’t be proper ma’am. I’m married and your girlfriend is a friend of mine, sorry.”
“Would it be alright if I stepped lightly on your foot?”
“Yes, ma’am but I don’t know why you’d want to do that.”
“For the demo we need to be in contact.”
I stepped lightly on his left foot and jumped to the pub, then to the clinic, then to the bookstore, and finally to town hall.
“We’ll need to walk back from here, because the guard doesn’t have a portal yet. But I very much would like to put one in, so people can portal to the guard house if they need help or are in trouble. Then inside the station we'd hang oil paintings and anyone who touches them can portal to the spot in the painting.”
“Yes I think that sounds like a good idea, could you also make a portal to the front gate.”
“Sure but it’d be one way you could jump to the gate then walk back to the nearest public portal and that quadrant’s portal that’s right outside the bookstore. Would that be alright?”
“Yes Ma’am, it’s only a five minute walk from the gate to the bookstore, it’ll still save us loads of time.”
“Great we will get started here, tomorrow just give us a few days and we’ll get it all sorted out.”
So that’s what we all did over the course of the next few days, Mossbeard incredible speed oil painting really helped. I jumped the paintings to Juliet’s world and dry them then Opal would activate them. Mossbeard took time off of painting to draw portals at both the library and the guard house where I created magical fields.
Meanwhile Mastat was copying drawings fitting them in the wallets that I’d purchased and Opal was activating them. We now had portals at the library, town hall, the guard house, the clinic, the pub, the bookstore and private portals inside the bakery and bookstore and my library and Sparky’s library.
Lu suggested a portal to the last quadrant with no portal at the Journey’s End Inn. I jumped to the Guard House then walked to the Journey’s End inn. I asked for the owner at the desk and the clerk went to find them. An older man well dressed came out of the back.
“Hi I’m Blake Hoffmann the owner, how can I help you?”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Hi Blake, I’m Rose and I have a proposition for you. I’ve been setting up a public portal network. I’ve divided the town into quadrants and each quadrant has at least one public portal. What I’d do is put a portal out front of your inn and inside we’d hang oil paintings of the other six public portal sites. If you touch the painting you are portaled to the site. I can give you a demonstration if you’d care for one.”
“Do I get to charge people to use the portals?”
“No, the portals are free.” I was beginning to not like this guy.
“Do you charge me for the portals?”
“No, the portals are completely free.”
“What’s in it for you?”
“The satisfaction that I made my neighbors' lives a little easier.” Forget this guy I’d find another place.
“You actually mean that don’t you?”
“Yes I actually do, to be completely honest however, I work at the bookstore where I installed the first portal and my girlfriend is part owner of the pub where the second portal is located. I’m also looking for a portal landing area in the town square but haven’t found anywhere suitable yet.”
“Alright, I’d like a demonstration, I’m sorry if I was abrupt. I’ve had some grifters coming around making big promises. Then they take off with the guests' money, it’s bad for business.”
“There is no way to charge for the portal unless you restrict access to the paintings. If any of our partners did that I’d just remove the portal to their location then one by one I’d alter the landing site until whoever was charging none of their paintings worked anymore. Just grab my arm and I’ll give you the tour.”
Then I jumped him to every stop on the tour starting with the clinic.
“This one stop alone, makes the entire set of paintings worth hanging on your wall. If you have a sick or injured guest, just touch the guest and the painting and you’ll get medical care. On the other hand if a grifter comes back lure him to the paintings and touch the guard house and you and he are right outside the guard house. If a guest wants a book, you can direct them my way or to the library. If they’re looking for real dwarven ale, send them to Hot & Cold Magical Soup & Ale.”
We walked into the pub and touched the Guard House painting.
“So that’s the whole of it. The paintings belong to the town, they are being loaned to you. So they can demand them back if by chance you were charging or letting someone else profit from them. But the flipside is they’ve never pulled paintings and you’ll see more people coming in to touch the paintings. You can make a profit from the increased foot traffic. Put out a chalk board with specials or something like that. We put all the books we want to sell close to the paintings, so more people see them. One last thing, you need to put up a sign outside that states Portal Paintings inside with your hours underneath. Take your time and think about it, but if you could let us know in a few days, I’d appreciate it, I’d need to find some other place in this quadrant to offer it to. Lastly you can talk to the Burgomaster or Council Orin Underhill and they’ll attest that I’m not trying to get any money from you.”
“Okay, I’m in and I promise that I won’t charge. Like I said I was just wary because of things that have happened in the past. I’ll get a sign painter working on the sign tomorrow morning. I guess I’ll see you when you are ready to install.”
“Thank’s Blake, we'll be here tomorrow morning to get you started. If you change your mind about it in the future, just take the paintings to city hall.”
The next morning Mossbeard and I walked from the Guard House to the inn with the six paintings, hammer and nails. Blake wanted to hang the paintings himself which I appreciated. I created a magical field, which only took me two trips to Juliet’s world to recover from. Meanwhile Mossbeard made the drawing then we portaled back to the store. I waited for Mossbeard to paint the Journey’s End Portal.
Then we walked to the gate, we brought a painting of the guard house for the gate guards to use if they needed help. Bob and Mike were on the gate so I explained how to use the painting and created another magical field, while Mossbeard drew the portal. Then we portaled back to the bookstore. Mossbeard got to work on the paintings.
I portaled to town hall and then walked to the gnome colony. Two gnomes were lounging out front when I walked up the path to their colony. The guards looked apprehensive, but it didn’t look like they had any weapons.
“Halt.”
I halted.
“I’m here to see one of the Elders please. You can ask Mrs Ironhide about me, I work with her son Mossbeard.”
One of the guards disappeared inside and shortly after that Zanna appeared.
“Is everything alright Rose, nothing's wrong with my kids is it?”
“No, nothing is wrong. I wanted to speak to an Elder, about installing a portal so the gnome community has easier access to the town. Is there any possibility you could sit in if an Elder will speak to me?”
“I’d be happy to, Rose, come into the meeting room, and I’ll find an Elder for you.”
I went and sat in the same chair I used when Mossbeard and I came to speak to his parents after he’d been injured and we hired him for the bookstore.
Soon a very young gnome entered along with Zanna. I stood up.
“Hello Rose my name is Elder Alvyn Glimmerdus, I know you’re surprised. Please sit down, call me Alvyn and tell me what I can help you with.”
“Alvyn we have been constructing a free portal network so far we have connected Enigmatic Parchments Bookstore where Mossbeard and I work, Hot & Cold Magical Soup & Ale where Whizzie works, the Clinic the gnomes built right next to the theater that the gnomes built, City Hall, Library, Guard House, Journey's End Inn. If your community would like me to, I can add you to the network. I can give you a demonstration but the closest portal to your colony is a twenty minute walk away at the town hall. So after the tour, you’d have to walk home.”
“I see that’s a very fine offer Rose, but why are you being nice to gnomes.”
“I try to be nice to everyone, Alvyn, not just gnomes. At present I live with a gnome, a dragon, a talking chimpanzee, a ghost, a fey witch and her sister and three humans and a supernatural creature that I’m not at liberty to reveal.”
He laughed.
“You won’t out the werewolf girlfriend and you left out Doug or should I say Zenodotus.”
“Well Alvyn, you seem to know quite a lot about me, so you should know that I’m not here to trick you or to get anything from you. The gnome workers are almost done at the clinic but this portal will save them a one hour walk to work and a one hour walk home. That only leaves the workers four hours to sleep, if they don’t bathe, eat or spend time with their families.”
“Yes it is a hard life that those workers have chosen. Please allow me to speak to the council and I’ll come to Enigmatic Parchments tomorrow to let you know our decision. If the council decides yes, perhaps you’ll give me that demonstration tomorrow.”
“Yes Alvyn, I’d be happy to, even if the council decides against it.”
