B.C.A. [26/01/17: Where The Interview Is Not About Her Job]

You are now the small lizard lady.

These last two days have kept you busy with making reed mats. Finding materials has been easy - reeds are plentiful in the city’s waterworks and you habitually harvest them to sleep on, to light a fire, and to eat in the worst of times. From the banquet earlier you got pomegranates and made red ink from their seeds to draw pretty patterns on the mats. You delivered the initial bunch to Timothy the rat and he was kind enough to pay you a small advance (in exchange for a larger cut of the eventual profits) while he arranges the proper permits to sell them. It was not much but enough to cover your rent for the time being, and for a small treat for the twins. He could not say when the sale goes through, so you need to come up with something else to keep you and yours fed until then. You also scavenged some silvery apricot pits and carved silly faces on them, but the rat was not very enthusiastic about selling those to tourists. They simply are not tacky enough in his opinion.




The weird elven crystal you hid under your bed was cold and lifeless the following morning, and has stayed a silent lump of glass ever since.



At the same time you have started glowing in the dark and you keep seeing the same repeating, nonsensical dream of wanting to see the sun. You hope that these things are not related.


Later tonight you have a meeting with Janice. She heard of a job opening at Biscuit Joe’s, a seaside tavern, and she promised to introduce you to someone over there. But first…



“Viv, what is that human doing in our house?”

How are you going to explain to your angry little sister that Cherise is your brother’s...friend and invited to dinner with you?

>Well she's a lady that likes the noise your brother calls 'music'.

>And even though she's one of those... humans, she's a guest and still owed proper hospitality.

You have to come up with names for the apricot pits and promote them as whimsical beastfolklore characters in order to make them tacky enough to sell. They're actually pretty hella sweet, and Timothy knows it!


Glowing in the dark is a disadvantage for a scavenger. Let's hope this condition is not persistent.

Here's hoping you get on at Biscuit Joe's. Word is, they have a great Employee "Health Plan" with an "actual" "doctor" on staff ... though you aren't sure why everyone uses so many air-quotes whenever they talk about it ..

>She convinced your brother to show you his latest music piece!

Let’s call that the plan B and hope it never comes to that.





Haha you think you might be pregnant with the magical laser crystal dragon messiah? What a silly thought!







You have no intention to sneak around in the foreseeable future, but getting some less revealing clothes would still be a good idea. You have a sinking feeling that Janice is not going to be able to help with that...


The crystal itself you have wily hidden in the plain sight. Initially you thought to bury it, but knowing how many scavengers dig and root through the trash around here it would not stay in the ground for long. Instead you painted over it and put it on display as a tacky conversation piece that no-one in their right mind would want to steal. Clever girl!








You turn to Ina and clasp her snout gently but firmly. “She’s the nice lady who’s paying for the dinner, so we treat her as a honored guest! Besides your brother likes her.”
Celeste interrupts you, shooing away your fears with her graceful hand and smiles. “Ahaha, don’t mind me, the little one is in right to be suspicious of humans. We conquered your land and enslaved your people, it is such a terrible thing to do!” Her voice is light yet sonorous, like a stringed instrument played by nimble fingers.
“Actually no one has ever bothered to conquer us… Most people don’t even know anyone lives in the swamp.”
“Cultural subjugation then. You have been forced to abandon your ancestral ways and adopt our strange human customs instead.”
“Oh no, no, our ways were horrible enough on their own, I like it better here. It’s much more orderly and tidier and there’s no poop on the streets and less plague-”
Celeste grasps your shoulder, clearly moved to the brink of tears. “You brave little thing! So determined to keep your dignity and to not ask for pity! So uplifting!” She dabs her eyes with an embroidered silk handkerchief that costs more than you have ever had.


Ada stops clutching the doorway and sidles next to you. She has always been a timid girl, especially around strangers. “Does that mean you’re going to give us money, lady?”
Celeste is genuinely baffled, like the thought had not even occurred to her. “Oh heavens no, I wouldn’t dream of cheapening the validity of your struggle!” She laughs her off and continues with a compassionate tone. “Unlike us bourgeoisie mired in cynicism and crass materialism you people live genuine and vivid (albeit short) lives. Truly an inspiration for us all!”
Ina squirms loose from your grip. “Viv says that you’re dumb enough to think our brother’s music sounds good. What’s with that?”
You blush and try to hush her, but again Celeste interrupts you. “Little one, let me tell you a story.”
“Stories are stupid and for babies.” she replies and makes a sour face.
“I love stories, please tell us one!” Ada says and clasps Ina’s snout firmly but gently.


Celeste tries to look far away in the distance, as is proper when one is lost in their memories, but the cramped foyer you are standing in ruins the effect.


“My grandfather’s father was a penniless sailor from the Southern Seas, stranded here after they lost the war. He got a job at the saltworks and learned the language, but kept his Southerner ways. My grandfather was the first Elsingian born of our line. He became a merchant, starting by buying herring fresh off the docks, cured it with leftover salt his father brought home, and sold it for double the price at the Low Market. To this day we keep a stall at the same spot, by the arch and across the pond. We make jokes that it is our family shrine, but maybe there is a little bit of truth to that too?”


“My father is born and bred Elsingian. He used his life savings to buy a share of a fishing trawler, one of those which sail to the high seas and return with salted cod and it can be sold for triple the price to ships bound for the colonies. Today he owns two ships of his own and has shares on seven more. This has made our family affluent and my life one of ease - but not free from sadness. We’re still not accepted by the high society. My family gets invited to social events and grand balls because they have a grudging respect of our wealth, but everywhere I go I have to endure snide comments about herring smell and walls of cold shoulder as the well-to-do tighten their ranks at the first sight.”


“And this is where your brother comes in! Authentic beastfolk culture is all the rage among the fashionable and the luminaries, and when I introduce Kleeko’s act the next month at madame Bovineary's salon they will finally accept me as one of the cool girls! Of course he’ll make a name for himself and gets the recognition he deserves, so everybody benefits. I have to admit that while I don’t really understand his...unique brand of music I recognize that he tries in earnest and that’s what matters in the end. With me as his benefactor he’ll become famous!”


You do not know what to think and can come up with just a non-committal uhm. Ada breaks the silence. “Is benefactor a fancy word for a wife?”





Celeste blushes but before she can answer Kleeko comes back from a street kitchen with a pot of steaming salmon fish stew. “Let’s eat, everybody!”

Mmm, salmon! What a refreshing change of pace from herring.

Vivian: Roll the dinner mat and grab your eating implements. You've heard in some human cultures, they use a couple of sticks to eat their food!

>There be safety renovations in the house, so you might have to spend a day or two some place else

She needs you to babysit while she goes out to run some very important errands. Oh, you have company? So sorry, but this can't wait. They'll be good, promise. Okay thanks bye!

> She is here to give you her leftover Naga curry, which is made using venomous fish to add flavour to the spice. And that's the way-uhuh-uhuh you like it uhuh-uhuh.

Is the winery a-rockin'? Knock anyway. You had arranged this ahead of time. Janice seems like a person who keeps her appointments.

As far as you know the winery has not been in use in decades, after it was brought to ruin when the rot struck the local vineyards. It is being used mostly for storage now because it is rumored to be haunted - the previous owner’s ghost is said to walk its empty halls during the night, uttering frightening moans. Janice must be very brave to live in there! You should compliment her on that when you see her... but then again maybe she just is not superstitious and would be insulted for if you thought she believes in spooks? Perhaps the regular ‘you look good today’ would be better - but then again that would imply she does not look good on other days!

You hem and haw until settling for a safe ‘hi’. That has to do for now!




You peek into Janice’s home. The room is dimly lit by lamps burning with fragrant oils, but she is nowhere in sight. The place is decorated with rich fabrics and exotic items, but they are all crammed into the small space without much consideration for color matching or even good taste. Several velvet curtains partition the room and tapestries on the wall muffle outside sounds - it strikes you that this is less a home but more a nest made for hiding from the harsh world.

Further back, perhaps from the kitchen, you can hear a soft voice talking to someone. The words are barely audible to you and you are not sure who it is: “...yes she seems suitable for our needs, we should proceed with our plan for her…”