Deidra & Snackers Expedition Opportunity

Deidra sat idly thumbing the small passport book with one claw as she sipped her coffee and contemplated her options for the day. There was a document folded and tucked within the little booklet showing her citizenship of Ynnis. A young currier had dropped off the official version of the documents she had signed the night before, and she was pleased to have something that made her feel like she really belonged in the strange new country. It would also make traveling easier since she could prove she was a citizen of one of the towns at least.

Snackers lounged lazily by Deidra's hooved feet, eyes closed but not fully asleep. He was always on alert for any crumbs to fall or morsels to be slipped his way. It was, in his opinion, too early to be up but the nice food person was up drinking her stink drink so that meant they were getting ready for the day. It was a slow process for them both. He hoped they would explore again, that was always fun, and she was always pleased when he sniffed up something interesting for them to investigate.

The sound of a loud object crashing to the ground startled both the girl and hound from their thoughts. A harried-looking mouseish man had dropped a rather large crate from the top of the carriage across the lane. Deidra tried not to chuckle at the comical sight of the very short character trying desperately to keep another box from falling as he teetered on the narrow coach ladder. Snackers had sat up abruptly, and seeing the opportunity, immediately trotted over to sniff at the busted crate on the cobbled road.

Sighing, Deidra got up and took the last sip of her coffee before tucking the small passport into a pouch on her belt. There was no avoiding social scenarios with Snackers around. If the hound could find trouble, he would, and then make it worse if possible. She straightened her bag and strode across the lane, calling a greeting to the coachman as she drew closer.

"Snackers, no!" She said sternly to the hound who had started nudging the crate boards to poke inside the damaged box. He wagged happily in acknowledgment but ignored her command as he sniffed loudly. There was no time to scold the hound though. Just as she was within reach the tiny man turned to look down at them and lost his battle with balancing the crate. It tumbled off the roof of the coach and over the side - right into Deidra's quickly raised hands. The man was as startled as she was but then grinned widely.

"Those are great reflexes you have there lass! " He cried joyfully and slapped his hands together. "Alright, you hold that a moment let me just rearrange the others..." He was climbing up the stack of boxes before Dee could respond, or even try to hand the crate back to him. Bewildered, she watched as he pulled and pushed the crates and items into place and strapped them down with rope that seemed to just materialize out of thin air. It was clearly something he did often as he expertly secured the items and boxes.

"Ok, up we go then!" He leaned down and Deidra handed him the crate she had caught. While the coachman was arranging it, she looked down to find Snackers had started gnawing on one of the broken splinters of wood. Groaning she took the chunk from him, scolding him like a child. The hound grinned a toothy grin, bits of wood dotting his tongue. "You're hopeless!" she admonished as she picked up the damaged crate to hand up.

"Wonderful, thank you! It's not too damaged I think... we can say we found it that way!" The little man added conspiratorially as he wedged it into place. "With your help, we'll have this loaded in two shakes of a beep's tail!" He was very cheerful, and she couldn't help but smile back as she handed up another of the boxes.

They made short work of loading the remaining items, just as the man had promised. Deidra dusted off her hands on her pant legs as the little fellow climbed down the ladder. "Thank you so much miss! I'm Dan by the way, of...Danny's Day & Night Deliveries!" He gestured grandly at the scripty writing on the sign hanging from the carriage. It had some small script about Merchant guild and professional Expeditioneer. That was interesting. She reached down and shook the small offered hand, returning his contagious smile. "I'm Deidra... and this pest is Sir Snackers." She nodded toward her hound companion.

"You know... I could really use a tall able body gal like you on this transport actually. It's quite a bit more than I usually accept." He looked up at the loaded carriage racks, then hopefully back at Deidra. "What do you say? You got any plans for the next few days?" Deidra was surprised by the sudden offer. She glanced at the inn across the way, and down at Snackers who was still investigating for any missed edibles on the street. "Well...I ...guess I didn't have anything planned," she admitted and shrugged. "Sure why not?" It sounded like a great opportunity really.

"Perfect, I'll make it worth your while, and your ticket is on the house of course! All aboard!" He said enthusiastically, already climbing up the steps of the steam carriage. There was no time to hesitate now she realized. "C'mon Snackers, let's go!" She called the hound and they lept up onto the steam coach.