The third roleplay of this mission harkens back to the third roleplay of the sample mission, way back when. Both have Sebsatian Dash meeting Prince Blahking as a bar in South Degrassi.

The last time, Blahking had sent for Sebastian Dash, a south of the border hero, hoping to convince Dash to help the Kingdom of KOL out in trying times.
This story has Sebastian, now firmly entrenched in the KOKOL camp, coming to try to get Blahking to help out with the KOKOL troubles.

Read on; I liked the interaction with Dash and the Prince here.

Note: This is a proper co write. In other words, I didn't use Blahking as an NPC. He did the parts himself.

 
Nursing his cup of grog, Blahking pondered the events of the tough week.

Tough, because nothing was going on. Progress towards meeting the Council's ridiculous demands had gone swimming with the sharks. The rising internal problems were even more worrying, clasping cement boots onto Blahking's mood.

So much troubles, so little time, and declining clan spirit for the cherry on top.

The cold night winds of Degrassi blew into the ramshackle bar, sending a chill down Blahking's spine. The wind had the scent of moist earth, trampled grass, pollen grains and the unmistakable scent of someone familiar. Or rather, of his steed. He knew it was pointless, but Blahking slouched further into his big coat. Escapism was not for someone of his place, no matter how much he wished for it.

"I heard you were down here, Osbron. You remember me, right? Swift?"

It was clearly Dash's voice. He didn't bother disguising it, but he must have figured the name Sebastian Dash would raise too many eyebrows in Degrassi South. Attention neither man wanted.

"Aye, my good man," Blahking swiveled and put his hand out, a mask of chatty amicability overlaying his troubled emotions. "How long has it been, a few months?"

"Seems like a while," Dash said, sitting down besides him. Barkeep was busy- but Dash wasn't here to drink, anyway. "I hear you've been spending a lot of time down here lately?"

"Enough for you to find me, apparently. What's cooking?"

Dash paused, obviously uncomfortable. Blahking could tell that much without even having to pay attention. "You've changed, sir. And not for the better."

The mask melted away, bringing back the somber mood once again. "Care to elaborate? Carry on with why you came out to look for me too, while you are at that."

Dash shrugged in response. "Like I said.. you've been skipping the last few 'meetings' out, which is fine. I'm sure you've got more than a few other obligations." Dash paused, leaning in closer, dropping his voice. "I don't think you can afford to skip this one, however."

"So have we gotten a plan fleshed out?" Blahking asked, realizing Dash was probably right. Maybe.

"Sure," Dash said. "I'm going to focus on the 'other' mission.. the non meat car mission. But let's be honest here. I've been out of the town too long. Kitty's new. So are most of my friends. The only people who seem interested in this thing and have any legitimate experience in the Kingdom over the last few years are R.H.. And I think we both know exactly how much we can trust him... And Shamus.. need I say more?"

Apparently, Shamus's name wasn't considered important enough for Dash to try to hide. Blahking found that worth a half chuckle. (Rounded down.)

"You're a smart guy," Dash suggested, playing to his ego ever so slightly. "Surely, you must have some idea to impress the stiffs in charge of the guilds?"

"I do, although it's a little out of the way from what we would normally do. How do you like your carnivals?"

Dash tilted his head a bit, sipping on a drink that had obviously been ordered for him. "Let me guess.. you're going to clown's rock to defeat some big boss and impress Jarlsberg?"

Blahking chuckled to that. "I was thinking something rather more mundane. I really meant a carnival, something you might expect growing out around the fountain in town."

Dash was definitely intrigued by it. "Hm. Promising, if you could get permission to rent it out, we could use that very spot, if we wanted. To what end, though? A public event for charity, or is there more to it than even that?"

"Perhaps that could be how it is packaged, but my vision of this event is somewhat more simple. What I want the most out of this is to bring back our member's spirits, reunite everyone to a common goal and get some constructive bonding. We could catch the attention of some people high up, but that's really secondary and should not be hard if everyone is motivated."

"And just offer an invite to the guild leaders to attend, right? I like that; we should be able to get at least one of them to attend.. hm.. if we have an event to get their attention. Any suggestions, Mr. magic?"

"I'm still a little fuzzy on that," Blahking confessed with a shrug. "It might be something that could entice all three big men to come over, actually. We need something common to everyone..."

"Well, we could leverage food or booze crafting, right? We know you're good at both," Dash said with a smile. "That'd take care of two of them."

"Not bad, besides that your bartending is probably better than mine. Perhaps the strongmen might enjoy a little challenge in pigging out on what everyone else has made... Really not bad at all!"

"I'll attend if I can," Dash said. "Eating contest? Perfect third event! But I've an appointment to make here in South Degrassi. Turns out there's a bit of a problem with an intelligent hybrid yeti down there. I'd like to handle it myself to one, send a message to our 'good friends' down there.. You know the ones, Osbron. And two, I'm sure Boris and possibly Jarlsberg will eat it up- or drink it down, if you prefer." Dash smiled broadly. "Plus, it seems like the noble thing to do."

"Ah, now to the best part of this job. Any suggestions on who I could delegate work to? Its time for the clansmen to have more active participation," winked Blahking.

"Shamus and Raw Hide," Dash suggested dryly.

"We wouldn't happen to have only two members, would we? How about this: we set up a notice regarding this event and ask for willing leaders to step up to organize each of the three sectors of entertainment. Any objections?"

"Alright, but like I said," Dash answered, "I'll be busy with the giant yeti situation down in Degrassi. I could ask Catrina and Vixen, if the two can stand to work together. Vixen, especially, could use something to get her involved with other clan members. And it would be a good gesture to show Catrina that you're not suspicious of her. Oh.. those contests you mentioned?"

"What of them?"

"Are they going to be open to the public?"

"Why not? It helps to beef up the scale of things and help make us more noticeable.. What's your concern?"

"Ah- what if someone else wins it?"

Blahking chuckled. "I'd wager my next drink that the guildsmen probably could. Just let them, I say. Pumps up their ego and probably improves their disposition."

"It's a thought. But we still need to ensure that it's one of our members who earns the 'most impressive' award at the Council meeting after. Otherwise, the whole 'war on the Knob Goblins' could go straight to Hey Daze.. er.. in a less literal way this time. Hopefully. Besides, what if someone enters to sabotage us?"

"Well, throw in more events, perhaps? It's a thought.." Face hardening, Blahking continued, "And if anyone tries to sabotage this, we'll have to be a few steps ahead to sabotage them back. We need good intelligence to pull this off too."

Dash smiled. "I'm sure you can handle things in that area.. I'd suggest a hamster spy might help things, though. I bet we could get some good tips on impressing Boris from Chili Willi, but I've never met him. Think he'd be willing to help?"

"Let everyone sort it out first, I suppose. We'll step in later if things don't seem to go right. For now, lets just say I'm finding my grog rather compelling." Blahking raised his glass towards Dash. "To better times ahead!"

"I'll drink to that," Dash said, offering his bottle for a toast. Better times ahead? Maybe- but both men knew, in the back of their minds, the darkest clouds had yet to be cleared.