Day 1 – Afternoon
Aetharbor
Asithi left the Hairy Bear the same way she came in, only with two silver coins weighing down her pocket. It seemed the man running the establishment had been so shocked by her appearing in his office that he hadn’t been prepared to argue for his right to keep his money. Asithi briefly wondered what the man would say to the bouncer who had let her in so easily. Certainly she shouldn’t have been allowed to waltz into his office armed, or at least conspicuously armed.
Leaving the inn, and its abysmal security, behind her, Asithi returned to the docks which she had arrived at earlier today. The throng was as alive as it had been earlier; it seemed Aetharbor was constantly active, as the largest trading port in the region. She found a pier upon which no ships docked, which struck her as odd given every other length of wood stretching into the water had been claimed by as many captains as could reach them. There seemed no obvious flaws in the pier which would prevent the loading and unloading of goods off of it, but it was conspicuously empty except for three men fishing off of the end of it. As she watched a fourth joined them. Though the eleven had not gathered yet she had no doubt this was where they would. This was a bustling port of trade; if fishing took place it would surely be out at sea on large ships, not in the port, disrupting the flow of goods. Only seven members of the group were missing, then, and it looked to be time for them to begin gathering.
Seawall
Meyath walked into the tent and found it filled with people recovering from wounds of every sort. Every bed was full, and there were even some patients laying on bedrolls on the ground. Meyath stared at the scene for a brief while, dumbfounded by the sheer number of people injured. Soon she shook herself into action, however, and began getting to work. She walked to the nearest bed and found a carpenter. He had been performing repairs on a damaged building when a beam broke, sending wood into his leg. He had a long cut which had been sewn up, along with a number of smaller cuts and holes from smaller sections of the wood. Meyath pulled up a small wooden chair and sat down next to his cot. She sat still for a moment, her hands hovering over his damaged leg. They shook slightly, unsteady. Then, after a deep breath, she set into action. Her fingers danced in the air above the wound as her hands floated across his leg. The man gave her an odd look, confused by this serpen and her hand-waving, but he did not interrupt; the people here were plenty desperate for relief from their wounds that they would tolerate any manner of odd healer. After sustained gesturing over his leg, Meyath sat back in her chair and looked at the leg. Some of the smaller wounds were beginning to close, and the large wound which had been sewn looked less angry, as if the dance of her fingers had calmed it.
Meyath saw two more patients shortly thereafter. The next one was another carpenter, caught in the same collapse. He had his shoulder crushed by the falling beam. There were only very small cuts on his skin, but it was clear his bone had been nearly shattered. As she sat down to work this time her hand only shook briefly before performing its strange act over the man’s shoulder. He too gave her an odd look, but again tolerated the gesturing. Her hands coasted over his unbroken skin for a long time before she brought them to a halt. They seemed to fidget a little of their accord, as though they were becoming more accustomed to casting their spell than sitting still. As she looked at the shoulder it seemed to her that it may have become slightly less distorted over the course of her healing. The final patient had been burned on their back by the fire on the dock early this morning. They were stable but unconscious, and their back was a mess of burned skin. Meyath swallowed hard, trying to contain her revulsion; she could
smell it. But as she sat down her hands began gliding along the air above the seared flesh almost on their own accord. This man could not look at her in suspicion; he was securely unconscious, presumably knocked out by some medicine or magic while he healed. The only sign he was still alive was a slight rising and falling of this back as he breathed. Meyath’s hands easily caught this rhythm and maintained their close proximity to the skin. The serpent lost track of time on this patient, there was so much area to cover, and the wound was so bad. Eventually, though, she felt her arms begin to sag under their own weight, and she knew she had to stop. When she looked down she felt immense pride; peeking out from under the burn was fresh pink skin.
Will spent 5 coppers on some fresh herb bread, since he knew he would not need his money for much while in the employ of the guard. He collected a few very interesting rumors as he munched happily on his loaf.
Gossip 1: “Did you hear there’s a swamp serpen in town? Don’t get those often ‘round here…”
Gossip 2: “Oh Milda, I think everyone’s heard that by now!” The gossip laughed lightly. “I do wonder what she’s doing here though. I heard she and Jaren have a thing.”
Gossip 1: “Bah, to hear you tell it every man and woman who have spoken to each other ‘have a thing’. Way I heard it she was helping out with the fire, and Jaren simply gave her some advice on what to do with herself while she’s in town. And that’s from my husband. He was there.”
Gossip 3: “What do you think of the fire this morning? A bit suspicious wasn’t it…”
Gossip 4: “I’d say! Why, I know the wife of one of the men on watch last night, and he didn’t see any ships. Not a one, before or after the blaze…”
Gossip 5: “Are you talking about Tym? Ha! I bet the bloke didn’t see anything other than the inside of his eyelids all night. A fire without a ship, sounds downright unbelievable.”
Gossip 3: “But the fire last night, they didn’t take anything from the docks. Just doesn’t add up…”
Gossip 6: “There’s more fighting between Captain Scor’s lovers again…”
Gossip 7: “Really? That man needs to stop talking on mistresses from amongst the trainees, it’s a bad practice I tell you…”
Gossip 6: “Yes, well this time instead of just beating each other with sticks till one of them leaves the guard, one of them is attempting to curse the other…”
Iseaya
Traversing the tunnel was painfully slow, mostly because the mole was not fast. It was a wonder these herbivores survived, though it probably mostly had to do with never coming aboveground. Unexposed, under the earth, they could lumber along at whatever pace they wanted and gorge themselves upon all manner of plant. Varkhal passed the time by laying an Oik rune on one of the straps of leather in his possession.
This brief bit of enchantment done, and another chunk of time elapsed while traipsing down the tunnel, the group finally came to a hub, which appeared to connect the tunnel they had just traversed to several others. If they collapsed the tunnel here they could probably delay the animals returning to the healer’s hut, but it would only delay them.
Spirarbor
Cara read quickly over the descriptions of the Korchaal Mountains, focusing on descriptions of the wolfkin’s territory and habits. Because He’vu was interested in the natures of particular traditions, rather than whole races, the information left a lot to be desired, but it gave Cara a good idea of the area. The Korchaal Mountains were divided into the Greater Korchaals and the Lesser Korchaals. The Greater lay further inland, to the west, and consisted of much higher peaks, sparse vegetation, and immense cave systems. Most of the Greater region was claimed by the korsha, though both the northern and southern slopes were inhabited by wolfkin as the altitude decreased. The northern slope was drier, and bordered the desert, while the southern slope was rather lush. The Lesser Korchaals were lower in elevation, and generally had more vegetation. The cave systems there were smaller, and inhabited mostly by wolfkin, with few korsha drifting so far east. Apparently further north the mountains actually bordered the sea, creating cliffs marked with caves that accessed the waters directly. This area was generally considered a separate range however, and was generally thought of as providing the northern limit on this coastal region. It was only worth noting because here the wolfkin would frequently have very different habits, as they mainly found their food in the ocean. Along the rest of the range the wolfin would hunt, and supplement their diet with vegetation if it was available. They were heavily tribal, and there was frequent fighting. Some tribes were very welcoming to outsiders, while others were deeply suspicious. Much seemed to depend upon which tribe was encountered. (Ta’veren will continue providing the botanical illustrations from this book)
Interested now with the actual nature of magic, Cara found a wizened looking old man, and struck up a conversation with him. He claimed to have studied the various forms of magic, and their underlying similarities extensively, and offered to answer any questions she had.
Maps
If he has nothing more to say, to the docks! See if the fishermen I'm looking for are there.
Luck: 16 vs 5
Meyath heads into the first Tent and starts invoking the blessing of restoration on the wounded
INTu: 19 vs 10
Will buys himself a bit of bread, and listens to nearby conversations as he eats.
Luck: 10 vs 5
In case either the negotiation or the trip takes too long/goes too slowly, try to apply the Oik rune to one of the strips of leather.
INTu: 14 vs 5
She tried to memorize the ideas and notes regarding the Wolfkin and their environment,
Proceed to the lighthouse and ask around for the general definition of magic--the context which is known by most.
~
Mention as an aside, the idea of the Korsha as an idea to relate to (as hopefully stated in the book...or from memory, if they were ever mentioned; if not, discard this line of action.)
INTe: 11 vs 10
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Topic: [IC Thread] Kurchil's Children - Day 1 - Introduction (Read 17386 times)