Earning a learning the only way I know how

Gurkirat's ten days by himself is be best summarized by a timeline starting at the first tavern he entered and ending as he staggered out of the last just prior to the party.

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As he split from the rest of the group, Gurkirat gave himself an experimental sniff. Pffeew! The mixture of sweat, sewer, and rat blood was not a pleasant pheremone. He looked at his clarinet and decided against sticking it into his mouth for a whole evening. Guess I'll be dancing and juggling the night away.

The nearest tavern was only a block from the sewer exit and it would have been right at home in the sewer itself. The whitewash was faded where it existed at all, and the door was jammed open and rusted to the point of being frozen in place. The steps leading up to the door were so filled in with dirt from shoes that they were more of a slide that stairs. As a consolation, the sounds coming from within had the universal sound of coarse cheeriness and excess consumption. Entering the bar, he flourished with his cape that wasn't there, and gave a bow to the bartender, a large man with a face ... Gurkirat tried not to look at his face too closely. To this end, he suggested they negotiate reibursement after the performance. Naturally, this wasn't a spoken agreement but rather implied as he marched to the center of the room and began his performance. At least he assumed payment was in the bargain, but perhaps it wasn't considering how the night turned out.

Perform (comedy): 12+7=19

It went well, considering the activities earlier in the day. It appeared the crowd and bartender enjoyed the show too, but had probably been years since they had seen a bard if ever. However, as he returned to the bartender to negotiate a bit of recompense, he was given a large glass of something foul and shoved up the stairs to a room on the upper floor. Inside was the spitting image of the bartender, but in woman form. .... and naked! He looked at the bartenders grinning face, the naked form in the bed. I've had worse ... I think. He chugged the foul beverage and acted as grateful as he could manage.

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After the debacle that was the first night Gurkirat decided he would stick to the clarinet for a while. Although he was forced to admit that the shemale was quite amazing in the bed. How could she have enough practice to get that good, he was forced to wonder before he could dash the image of where she had been from his mind. Yech.

Leaving the place as early as could be managed he decided to bath himself in the ocean and then find a more reputable establishment. And negotiate the terms before the night, no matter how the bartender may appear, he reminded himself. A physical and mental cleaning proved to be the medicine he needed and his musicality in the middle class establishment that night was very good although it did take a turn for the worse near the end as the number of drinks caught up with his fingers. He noted mentally that getting paid in drinks probably wasn't the best idea from now on.

Perform (wind): 14+7=21

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The following two nights were a blur of drunkeness, sex, and fantastic music. Probably the best nights of his life, truth be told.

Perform (wind): 18+7=25

Perform (wind): 15+7=22

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The middle nights were more a blur than anything else. The success of the previous nights encouraged Gurkirat to move up into the higher end districts of town, but these failed to match the two nights of revelry leading up. Sure, these ladies might look nice on the outside, and smell good too, but they just didn't have the fire of spirit that the workin ladies had. Too much blushy blushy, not enough sucky fucky. Sure there was one great night where he was able to prove that his dexterity was equal on the dance floor and in the sack. But all the skill demonstrated that night was his while the woman could have been replaced by a sack of potatoes. A beautiful sack of potatoes, admittedly, but seriously!

Perform (comedy): 8+7=15

Perform (comedy): 13+7=20

Perform (wind): 10+7=17

Perform (comedy): 18+7=25

Perform (wind): 12+7=19

Perform (comedy): 10+7=17

The last two nights lacked any spirit on his part and the audience seemed to sense it. The applause was polite, and the payment was decent, but he went to bed alone and barely inebriated. He had to admit that he was starting to get the adventuring bug again and could hardly wait to begin killing rats again. As he began making his way across Baldur's Gate to the celebratory party, he began to feel a giddiness inside. Who knows what the future will hold, but tonight there will be one last grand hurrah where I can show my skills to this crowd of socialites.