Norm, the Blue Ember's comedian, lost his notebook. He knows his set-ups, but the punchlines are on four pages he lent out around Rimeholt: Ulf the trapper, Halvard the smith, Sid at the fish shed and Greta at the inn. Get them back to him, then stand by the stage while he does the set, and feed him his punchlines.
Steps
- Get Norm's four pages back from Ulf the trapper, Halvard the smith, Sid at the fish shed and Greta at the inn, all in Rimeholt · Rimeholt
- Bring Norm his four pages, at the bar in the Blue Ember · the Blue Ember
- Stand by the stage in the Blue Ember and feed Norm his punchlines · the Blue Ember
- Talk to Norm after the show · the Blue Ember
Reward
450 gold, XP, and a drink on the house at the Blue Ember once a day
Dialogue
Starting it
- “I lost my notebook. I remember every set-up. The punchlines I wrote down, so I wouldn't have to remember them. That's what writing's for.”
- “I lent the pages out around town. Everybody read one and didn't laugh. You can't go back and ask a man for a joke he didn't laugh at. So you send a stranger.”
- “Get the four pages back to me. They'll be a mess. Up here everything gets wet, sat on, or burned. Whatever's left, that's my act.”
- “Here's the trick. The punchline's always hiding in the set-up. And folks always say it when they hand you the page. They just don't know it.”
- “Ulf the trapper has one. Halvard at the forge. Sid at the fish shed. And Greta at the inn. Hers is under a table leg. Best review I ever got.”
- “They're all here in Rimeholt. I'll be at the bar. Not drinking. Standing near drinks. It's different. Ask Aksel.”
Talking to them again
- “Four pages. Ulf, Halvard, Sid, Greta. Then come find me at the bar. I'll be the one not drinking, near the drinks.”
- “Listen to them when they hand the pages over. Folks always tell you the punchline. They just don't know it's one.”
Handing it in
- “They laughed. At my jokes. With your punchlines. Which were my punchlines. I'm going to stop thinking about it right there.”
- “Here. Your cut. In comedy the cut's usually nothing, so this is a lot.”
- “I told Aksel to pour you one on the house. Once a day. That's not a perk. That's an apology for the beer.”
- “And I'm back on the bill. Every night. I've even got a new bit.”
- “It's about a stranger who knew my jokes better than I did. It's mostly about you. Don't come.”
After it is done
- “I'm working on the new bit. The one about you. So far it's mostly the part where I look at you. It's a long look.”
aksel pour
- “Norm says you're funny. I've never seen it. But he says. This one's on the house.”
- “Your usual. You don't have a usual. This is it now. On the house.”
- “On the house. The house is Norm. He doesn't know yet.”
bombed
- “Well. We bombed. Don't feel bad. I've bombed in every town on this island. Some of them twice, to make sure.”
- “Come back tomorrow and we'll do it again. Same jokes. A joke doesn't get worse. Only the man telling it.”
closer bombed
- “Well. That's my time. It was also my time eleven years ago. I'll be at the bar.”
closer killed
- “That's my time. Thank you, Rimeholt. You've been a room. A warm one. For up here.”
greta
- “Norm's page? Hon, that's been under my table leg four years. That table's never been so level. Best thing he ever wrote.”
- “Take it. People pay extra here for a room with a view. I tell them the view's mostly weather. They pay anyway. They like to watch it come in.”
greta again
- “The table wobbles again. I put a tax letter under it. Sid's idea. Not as level. Not as funny.”
halvard
- “One ore. Beautiful. Now I'm ahead. Here's his page. How long does it take to make a sword. I get that one all day.”
- “How long, how long. Nobody ever asks me how wide. A sword's got feelings in two directions. Nobody cares about the other one.”
halvard again
- “Still one ore ahead. Haven't counted since. That's the secret to staying ahead. You stop looking.”
halvard wants
- “Norm's page? I been keeping my ore count on the back of it. You take it, I lose count. A smith who can't count is just a guy who hits things.”
- “Bring me one iron ore. Then I'm one ahead, and I don't gotta count. That's how a smith does math. Very loud math.”
mic busy
- “One at a time. I can only look at one person like a drowning man.”
mic tomorrow
- “Not again today. They've heard us. Come back tomorrow. A crowd forgets. That's the one thing you can count on with people.”
on now
- “I'm on. Go stand by the stage, off to the side. If I look over and you're not there, I'm just a man staring at a corner.”
pages back
- “My pages. Ulf's smells like smoke. Halvard's has sums on it. Sid's was a herring's. And Greta's is perfectly flat. The punchlines are a mess. Like I said.”
- “And Aksel's already put my name up. I'm on right now. No time to learn them. You hang on to the pages. You're the notebook now.”
- “Stand by the stage, off to the side, where I can see you. I'll do the set-up, then I'll look at you. That's your cue. Don't wave. It's not a parade.”
- “If it's good, they'll laugh. If it's bad, they'll tell us. Up here they don't boo. They just say what they think. Which is worse.”
setup 0
- “So I asked Ulf, the trapper. Forty years he's been at it. I said, Ulf, what's the hardest animal to catch?”
setup 1
- “Then I asked Halvard, the smith. I said, Halvard, how long does it take you to make a sword?”
setup 2
- “Sid, down at the fish shed, tells me herring are the smartest fish in the sea.”
setup 3
- “And Greta's inn. She's got a sign out front. Rooms with a view. So I paid extra.”
sid
- “Good fish. I'll wrap it in something less funny. Here's his page. Herring are the smartest fish in the sea. I said that.”
- “He wrote it down. Nobody ever wrote down anything I said. My wife didn't. And she was keeping a list.”
- “They go everywhere in schools, herring. Thousands of them. Their whole lives. You'd think by now one of them would've finished.”
sid again
- “The herring's wrapped in a tax letter now. It's not as funny. Neither was the tax.”
sid wants
- “Norm's page? It's wrapped around a herring. Best paper I've had all year. Soaks up the oil. And the jokes.”
- “Bring me a fish. Any fish. Something to wrap instead. Then the page is yours. Smells like herring now. So does the joke. So do I. It's a whole thing.”
ulf
- “Norm's page? I got it. Been saving it to start the fire. You save the funny paper for a real cold night.”
- “I read it. Hardest animal to catch. Forty years I been trapping. You know what I caught the most? A cold. And my own foot. Twice. Same foot. It's slow.”
ulf again
- “Gave away the only funny paper I had. Now I start the fire with my mail. Nobody writes me. Burns quick.”