jumped without a jump drive

[rockeye_stonetoe]

Nick, in a full environment suit like any sensible person would wear in untamed wilderness, is overseeing a small swarm of robots harvesting various useful plantlife from the uninhabited parts of a sparsely settled planet, when something suddenly comes tearing through the undergrowth towards him and it's not showing up on scanners-

He raises his hand-phaser, notices it has a mirror for a face and hesitates a little too long. And then he is in a clearing, cut off from his ship and 'bots, with all available sources of data telling him he just went through a jump.

What.

Comments

[segreant]

"Yes. Rope from grass would definitely be useful if it were any good."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"It usually turns out slightly green and shiny, but is not necessarily weak... What's rope made of, normally? Hemp and tar? For that matter I can probably make polyester, which makes for durable and comfortable garments if you blend-weave it with cotton. Of course, rope and garments will be my industry only if I don't get a loan sufficient to make other things."

[segreant]

"I am not actually sure how rope is usually made. But you could probably make a decent living and set some aside with the rope and the polyester."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"Or medicine! Can the winter's light heal people who aren't paladins? Do paladins get sick? Do you have access to antibiotics and antivirals?"

[segreant]

"Paladins can only heal ourselves and our mounts, but we don't get sick. I'm not sure what those things are. ...And it's 'Winter Light', you've made that mistake twice now."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"Winter light. Got it. And you're Kaja?" He lapses into his original language. "I'm a bit terrible with names if I'm not actively reminding myself of them, apologies. So, medicine is not my specialty, but most diseases are caused by tiny creatures called bacteria or viruses. Or sometimes protists or fungi or parasites that are technically animals."

"At any rate, most of them are as small compared to a gnat as a gnat is to a griffon, maybe smaller. These things like to live inside humans because we're nice and warm and moist. The human body fights the ones that would do us harm if allowed to multiply. Sometimes, it stops winning, and that's when people get sick. Antibiotics and antivirals help the body fight the things. All of this is a vast oversimplification, of course."

[segreant]

"I see. And yes, you have my name right."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"...Where's this moneylender, anyway? We've been walking for a while."

[segreant]

"Another block, if I recall right."

And after another block there is a sign for a moneylender. In they go.

"What the blazes are you wearing?" asks a lady who is presumably the moneylender. The question is aimed at Nick, still tromping around in most of his suit.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

Back to Cirth. "It's foreign armor. I arrived here suddenly and cannot return home, but I know various crafts and I would like a little loan to get them started."

He proceeds to briefly describe a few of his ideas- polyester, mechanical water pump, non-candle light, cold-making machines. "I can provide a demonstration with the tools I have on me, if you would like."

[alicornucopia]

"Let's see it," agrees the moneylender.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He pulls out a flashlight and turns it on, then hands it over.

[alicornucopia]

She looks at it, lights up various objects in her dim little shop, says, "You can make more of these?"

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"Not immediately. I'm cut off from most of my tools. And they need some infrastructure, that one is using stored energy that will last a few days at best. I'm not familiar with the markets here, but I would guess that a month's wage's worth of materials and a week or so of effort would be enough for me to start making more."

[alicornucopia]

"Have you got any business sense or are you one of those head-in-the-clouds inventor types?"

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"Er, sorry, I'm still learning Cirth. I'm not sure what you're asking."

[segreant]

Kaja repeats the question, voice overlaid.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"Thank you, Kaja. I think I know business well enough. I was a trader of sorts before I ended up here by mistake."

[alicornucopia]

"At this point you are only affecting your interest rate, not whether you get money at all," says the moneylender, "so take the high rate if you prefer, but would you tell me about your trading?"

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"I owned a ship, and I traveled between places exchanging commodities along the way. I didn't settle into one particular route because the ship was specially designed for long range and low maintenance. Most often I would carry things like furs, food, lumber, other raw materials. Many businesses in my homeland are very particular about the way they distribute finished goods, so I didn't even bother with those most of the time."

[alicornucopia]

"Particular?"

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"I'm not quite sure why, but few places are willing to sell or buy finished goods in any kind of bulk outside of a long-term contract. It'd be too much hassle to be a travelling supermarket, keeping track of every little thing and where I bought it and what it does, so I just stick to commodities and tinkering."

[alicornucopia]

"Are you going to operate your own storefront or sell through third parties here?"

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"Ideally the latter, so I have more time to focus on actually making the things. And other devices, many of which you would find equally useful. I would like to point out that the application I'm thinking of is installing fixed lights in a building, not necessarily making more portable lights. That's going to be easier to scale up because I don't think lithium is for sale around here, and lithium is a critical component of any reasonably efficient power-storage device."

[alicornucopia]

"I can't understand your jargon," says the moneylender.