!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Great Haven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JWatch]

At your request, Maya sets you on the desk. You start by telling him how it has followed you your entire life, from birth, bringing bad luck to not only yourself, but all those around you. But before you can even get into the details, he interrupts you. "You should know, there is no such thing as 'luck,' right? At least not in the truest sense. No such thing as fate, no such thing as luck! Only good or bad circumstances!"

...Well, then you begin to tell him about your old family, and how they learned to never trust you with anything important, and how you eventually had to remove yourself, for your own sake. Hearing it makes Maya more than a little uncomfortable, but fortunately, this Aloysius finds the perfect place to interject. "Well, that's unfortunate and all, but I am a magician scholar, not a therapist! I wish you well with that, but nothing you've said so far screams 'curse' to me, don't you know? If there is one thing more curse-ly about a curse than magic, then we would all be in the dark about curses, yes? You would say a curse is inherently magic above all else, yes?" ...You slowly nod your head. "Then, tell me about your experiences with magic! Tell me, tell me please!"

[quote='tronn' pid='168808' dateline='1484567373']You generate sparks of electricity spontaneously[/quote]

In that case... you tell him about your unusual ability to throw sparks, and immediately he is intrigued. "Sparks, you say? I've never heard of a hiir that could throw sparks. But do go on."

So you tell him how it often gets the better of you, as was the case with Mort and before that, several... family members.

"Is that all?" He asks.

"I guess so," you reply.



"Good." He grabs what you can only assume is one of those counting devices from the desk, and begins twisting it in various ways. "Now, I have a good suspicion on what this ailment of your might be, but in the name of EMPIRICISM, I can't exactly confirm it until we can test it."

The rozo secretary expresses her concern that she was still writing the previous numbers down. "Mochi's results aren't all that important, they were rather mundane," he says. "This is going to be far more interesting. That is, if you would give me the pleasure of testing your abilities, mister... what was your name again?"

You almost give him your old name, but remember to correct yourself and say Raoul.

"Raoul! I'm not certain I can rid you entirely of this 'curse' of yours, but I can almost certainly help you learn more about it! I might not even charge you; I only welcome the opportunity to see your potential."

You're not sure you trust this guy. A lot of his... demeanor certainly rings true for what you hear about Hawrens, but... a free examination of your curse is better than none.

[JWatch]

[quote='Wheat' pid='169673' dateline='1485153167']
Sure why not. I mean there are many reasons why not but go with it anyway
[/quote]



"Alright, then. This first test probably isn't going to result in much, but considering the strange stories you've told me so far, this will give us a better understanding of what we should be expecting to see." From his sleeve, the pink Hawren produces an odd looking pendulum. "I need you to focus on this, here. Just relax, and watch it. I'm not going to hurt you."



Slowly, the disk swings back and forth. You're not really sure what he's intending to happen here.

"Sit down and watch it swing," he says. You do so.

"Fold your hands together, and relax," he says. You do so. The air moves very slowly around you.



"Look at my feathers, and tell me the number I hold in front of you." The pendulum swings, and you do so. You don't know how, but you count... one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. "Eight," you say.

"And now," he says...

"Think fast."



You do so.

There is a small ringing in your ears from something loud, but you don't remember what it was.

...



You can see the pendulum hanging unassisted in the air in front of you, before it clatters to the ground. And so does the book that Aloysius threw at the wall. "Well," he remarks, "That went a lot better than it usually does."

The assistant looks quite distraught. "Weeellll, I was going to mention, you never got that far before, but you also never threw the damn record book at the wall."

Otherwise, everyone in the room looks moderately impressed, but you don't even know what happened. Before you can ask, the strange expert walks into the other room, telling you to direct any questions toward his assistant while he sets up the other tests.

[JWatch]

[quote='Schazer' pid='170543' dateline='1485868452']
"Um,'
[/quote]



The secretary grumbles under her breath. "Ugh. Why, why would he do this... That's just... Oooooghh, I was almost done with the last block, too..."

[quote='tronn' pid='170587' dateline='1485965630']
>Ask the secretary what that was about
[/quote]

Meekly, you sit up and ask the busy lady what in the world just happened. "You mean you don't... Oh, who am I kidding, you're a Hiir."

She explains, "What you just did was a very exceptional display of innate magic. This isn't all that common in Hiiri, that we know of, and I suppose Aloysius is pretty excited because that was also a particular type of magic that he's been trying to legitimize for a while, from the school of Time."

[quote='Thegreath3rpa' pid='170591' dateline='1485984752']
>Ask what it was for as you have seem to have not noticed and/or forgotten.
[/quote]

You tell her your ears ring, and ask why that experience was so confusing as a whole. So she tells you, "When that pendulum was held in front of you, he only let it wave once or twice before he let go. For the rest of the test, it was simply swinging in the empty air, and how long it does is usually a good measure of how willing you are to focus on your own Force magics. And... you did really well with that. Most people drop it when he asks them to count his feathers, and they realize he isn't holding it any longer. But for you, he realized that he could do something extra... if he clearly wasn't prepared for it."

"And what was that?" you ask.

"By startling you with the book," she explains, "He managed to get you to slow down time itself. The pendulum stopped swinging, and that was your doing whether you knew it or not. That's never really happened before, but.. again, neither has this." She refers to the mess of papers she had began to clean up.



You look at the other two. Maya looks ecstatic. "Gosh, I didn't know you had that sort of thing in you!"

But... Deline's expression is difficult to parse, as usual.

There's clearly a lot you don't know about magic.

[JWatch]

[quote='Wheat' pid='171023' dateline='1486364225']
I'm sorry for messing up your papers.
[/quote]



"Ack. No, I'm not mad at you, you don't have to do a thing. This is just what I get for wanting a so-called quiet office job."

She mutters under her breath, her voice barely audible. "...You wouldn't know what to do with this anyways."

[quote='Schazer' pid='171018' dateline='1486362725']
is time magic a crime?"
[/quote]

It seems to you that time magic might be illegal... it would make sense. Tentatively, you ask the secretary about it.

"...Not really. I don't think there's any known kind of magic that has the potential to be illegal, actually. Time magic simply isn't recognized by the scientific community at large, since most of what happened could just as easily be explained by force magic. Though, Aloysius says he can use that same sort of criticism against the school of healing, since that can just as easily be explained by time magic. I have no idea how he intends to prove that, especially with how he's just so-"



The esteemed scholar enters the room again, carrying what appears to be a small ward.

"...Reckless." She quickly gets out of his way.



With a small amount of stumbling, the hawren manages to set the ward down on the desk without breaking it, or you. He looks at you in anticipation. "Try to lift this please," he requests.

[quote='tronn' pid='171027' dateline='1486366765']
>Ask Maya what she thinks of the doctor.
[/quote]

You only have to look at her. She mouths to you, "I have no idea what he's doing."

[JWatch]

[quote='Wheat' pid='172170' dateline='1487627219']
remember to stretch before lifting or you might pull something
[/quote]



Alright. There's no sense in not trying, you suppose. You pull on your shoulders and give yourself a good stretch.



Anything could happen, but you'll be damned if you break your back from straining.

[quote='Dragon Fogel' pid='172164' dateline='1487610385']
Think real hard about lifting it
[/quote]



You suppose the real problem is, how do you even begin? A ward like this is made from solid mithral stone, the properties of which you can only guess at, aside from being very, very heavy. In fact, you're not quire sure how that scrawny looking hawren managed to get it in here. Maybe it has something to do with how you focus on it mentally? To be fair, that seems to be your only lead on the task.

Tentatively, you place your paws on the base of the blue stone, feeling the natural bumps and curves on your digits. It makes your fur stand on end. After a bit of feeling around, you manage to find a workable grip (as far as one exists on the clunky thing), and you take a breath as deep as your hiiri lungs can handle...



...And as you lift, to your surprise, you need to exert yourself for only a moment. Before your eyes, the ward rises up and off of the table in your very hands, balancing against the bridge of your nose if you lean back too far. You swear your fingers slip, but they stick to the surface like magnets.



It's buoyant. It's unreal. Between your shoulders and your spine, you don't feel a lick of pressure, not even on your feet or the ground beneath them. Completely weightless.



...Although, now that you think about it, you can't even feel ground under your feet at all.



...It takes you a bit to realize it, but you've had a bit of help. How the physics of this works, you think you'll never know.

The sound of Aloysius's voice interrupts the thoughts trying to fit themselves together in your head. "Yes, yes... your body appears to be incredibly conductive, Raoul. You're doing very well. Now... if the two of you would very gently set the ward back down, please?"

[quote='a52' pid='172165' dateline='1487611993']
knock it off the table.
[/quote]



Instead, you do the first thing that comes naturally in wild, unfamiliar situations like this: you panic. The static grip discharging from your fingertips is released, and you all watch in horror as the ward tumbles downward...



...Well, downward at a leisurely pace. Maya manages to take several strides backwards before it even makes contact with the table.



The ward casually rips through the unfortunate furniture, sculpting it to the uncomfortable sounds of creaking and splintering wood.



As everyone stares, bits of the table fly out, and make very graceful arcs in the air before settling on the ground.

The secretary is meanwhile screaming some words you didn't even know existed about how this room is becoming a nightmare.

[JWatch]

[quote='K25fF' pid='172728' dateline='1488408542']
>Apologise profusely.[/quote]



You've really done it this time, haven't you? Just as the surreality of the situation became less of a focus, you turn your tail and scurry into the nearest and safest spot you can find, all while chanting "I'm sorry" over and over. Your hear his voice, and go silent, bracing yourself for the worst...



...but he's laughing. You expected him to be fuming. "Eeehehee, you silly thing! You've done a lot more good here for me than you've done bad! It's clear you're not feeling your best, though, so I'm not going to ask you to do much more. I think I have a fair diagnosis, either way."

Deline pipes up from the back of the room. "What is it?"

"Oh, firstly, you should know that curses don't exist, yes? So certainly, Raoul isn't cursed - I should even call him blessed, for having such a strong connection with the forces of magic." He turns to you, still hiding in Maya's scarf. "That would explain most of what you've told me, after all. Uncontrollable bursts of thunder? Inexplicable events causing mayhem in your home life? You should be working on how to control these things, and I think you'll find your luck turning around. Perhaps your friends can help you with some basic force magic, if you haven't learned as much already. You can have my word that Magdeline is a very powerful magic user!"

Powerful or not, Deline only seems intent on giving you weird looks.

[quote='K25fF' pid='172728' dateline='1488408542']
Ask how much a replacement table will be.
[/quote]



You bring up the topic of payment, particularly for his table, and he quiets down a little bit. "...Ah, yes. Well, that sort of thing was going to happen eventually, so I don't expect you to pay one spice, for that. In fact, that whole experience has given me a few more ideas for experiments I could try for my line of work. And then, the Grand Athenaeum will be giving me enough grant money to buy hundreds upon hundreds of desks!"

There's an awkward pause, before the secretary decides to close things off. "...But before he can buy a new desk, Aloysius and I will need to buy food. So that will be 3800 spice for the session."



You're not quite sure if that helped or not.

At least you can ask Deline or Maya what they think while you're on your way to the arms market.

[JWatch]

Maya seems to know where to go. The only issue as of now. You made a mental list in your head earlier of things to buy. You thought of weapons, extra clothes... perhaps training on some sort of trade that could allow you to find a job. Though, you're not sure if you want to start investing years of training into something you're probably too small for, right now, and in this city. But it wouldn't be unwise to invest in a bank account. You tell Maya of your plans.

She tells you, "It might be a bit difficult to find someone who makes weapons your size, but Arioch is the largest city in the world; there's bound to be someone."

Deline interjects, "I would be surprised if you did; Hiiri have a vastly different body type from the rest of the six races, so anyone making swords or bucklers that small would have to be quite eccentric. If not more eccentric than Aloysius was."

"Raoul, how much money do you have now?"

"You count the coins in your bag all over again... after the first time, and counting Aloysius's payment, you're getting faster at counting by units of 500.... plus the four 50 spice coins you received in change. After after a short while, you reply, "There's still just about 8,700 spice in here," and otherwise you have just two parala fruits in your bag. Maya must have put them there for you.

"A good weapon your size will eat up more than half of that," Deline adds, "and you still need to think about paying for a place to stay. That is, unless you're okay with sleeping on the streets."

Before you can say that you probably would be, Maya offers a solution: "I wouldn't mind if he simply stayed with me, as long as he wanted, even - I room to spare at my permanent residence."

There's a brief pause. You don't know what to say; you suppose you can never get used to such generosity.

Eventually, the conversation turns to how maya prefers not to have a weapon, to the versatility of her magic. Maya and Deline both agree that force magic makes a fine substitution for a weapon, but it can still be quite exhausting switching to other magics, like the school of healing. Deline says she needs to be working on her skills with power magic, since it makes the light shows in her line of work more impressive; Maya says she never really saw the appeal of using power magic. Too dangerous, she says; force is much more useful, anyways. Though she wonders if there is anything worth looking into space. Nobody really uses it for anything other than storage. Deline complains that her bag is too clumsy to carry around, and that she should probably invest in a saddlebag like yours or Maya's. She wished she had invested in spacebending thread early on, like Maya did. Now, it's just too expensive. Maya does say it made saving for moving away a lot easier. Then, everybody stops talking, and there's silence.



Before you know it, a corner is turned, and then the usual stalls on the sides of the road multiply into a full-blown marketplace. Places like this seem so much more alive under the daylight. Maya turns to the nearest vendor to ask about hiir-sized weapons and armor, and she'd told there's a shop down the way a bit that has a small selection... but then, there's so much stuff around, you could start almost anywhere.

[JWatch]

[quote='tronn' pid='175131' dateline='1491338502']
>Pants would be nice
[/quote]



Some kind of defensive garments would be a priority, you think, but you're not sure if pants would be well suited for your body type. Being a Hiir, your legs are short and your hips are quite... round. Your limbs would get tangled up in the cloth too easily. Perhaps you would have better luck with...



A tunic? At the bare minimum, it gets the job done. Touring some of the stalls, you manage to find this one, and it doesn't look too bad... and it even has a matching hat for you to buy separately. Beyond being protective and upping your Defenses from all sources, the seller also claims it to have ward-like properties - meaning if someone particularly nasty were to try using offensive magic against you, most of it would be absorbed by the suit. So that means it would add a nice Will bonus as well. ...It sounds nice, but you also have doubts that it would be useful to you; Who would try using magic against someone small and fast enough to outrun it to begin with?

[quote='a52' pid='168021' dateline='1483976937']
>Buy a tiny buckler shield
[/quote]



You also manage to find someone who sells hiir-sized bucklers. It's pretty lightweight, so there are no complaints there... it should give you a moderate Defense boost. The curious thing about it is, there appears to be a small button on the inside... and when you press it...



...A force field pops up and surrounds you, and begins to roll freely around you like a ball. The seller claims that it's indestructible. Not only does that sound too good to be true, but it feels very claustrophobic to be trapped in a sphere like someone's pet. Your Agility would be noticeably reduced in this state.

[quote='Zephyr Nepres' pid='168120' dateline='1484024119']
> Maybe a blade of a highly conductive metal
[/quote]



After browsing through armor, you decide to look at the available weaponry. It turns out that the shop that Maya asked about earlier only had one real weapon your size - a rapier. It's fine iron-based metal, which would prove useful for practicing magic (should you try to do so), and it gives you quite a bit of reach... but as a weapon, you can only really see it as being truly useful in combat with other Hiir. Against any other race... it's basically a glorified needle. Still, something is better than nothing, and it should raise your Attack. You'll need to practice with it no matter what you do.

[quote='tronn' pid='168158' dateline='1484069614']
>Buy a GUN
[/quote]



And finally... the three of you manage to find a vendor that sells firearms. This one is designed to be held in one hand by a Rozo, but you can hold it in two just fine, if it's a little cumbersome. All firearms that you've seen in your lifetime generate their own bullets with force magic, though those only travel for a few meters before disappearing into thin air. They have quite the knockback... at least, the one your old clan had did. It was much bigger than this, and never really left the den. With your spacebending bag, you could carry this just about everywhere, and it would be invaluable defense against anyone or anything who meant you harm.

The biggest issue, you suppose, is the price. You have 8,700 spice.

The tunic costs 2000 spice, and 3800 with the ward upgrade.
The buckler is 500 alone, but with the bubble, it costs 5000, ten times the original price.
The rapier will fetch 3550 spice.
...And last but not least, the rozo pistol, a cannon in your hands, will drain you of almost all your money - a whopping 7500 spice.

Maya also suggests it would be a good idea to look at some potions as well - they hover around 1000 spice per bottle, but you haven't really looked at them in detail. Depending on their effects, they could cost less, or much, much more than that.

Oh, and the hat was 200 spice, if you wanted to grab that.

Of course, you don't want to be too hasty in these sorts of decisions; it would be wise to keep some money in a savings account, where it could gain interest, and you could always do a little more browsing...

[JWatch]

Buckler 2/8
Rapier +1 -1

Potions ||||
Save 2000 ||

Guaranteed - Ward tunic and hat
Thrown out - Pistol, bubble

[quote='Wheat' pid='175527' dateline='1491930553']
ask if the bubble can be tested by dropping a really heavy thing on it.
[/quote]



Feeling skeptical, you ask the bubble vendor to demonstrate the indestructibility of his product. There's no real way to turn it on without wielding it, so... your turn it on, trapping yourself within it as per design. The vendor begins to lift up a large crate, preparing to drop it on top of you.

Maya quickly comes to stop this nonsense. "Noooo, please, that won't be necessary, thank you very much! Y'know, that's actually a very bad idea if it does happen to break." Slightly offended, the vendor puts his crate back down, and you unbubble, preferring not to think of the possible outcomes of that scenario.

[quote='Smurfton' pid='175531' dateline='1491935935']
So what potions are there?
[/quote]



Deciding to browse around a little more, you have a look at the potion stall. These flasks are huge! You think you could make two or three servings for yourself just from these alone. You eye a few of them...

There's a potion of haste, which should make you run very, very fast. They say it's a relatively new recipe, and it's in high demand. A potion of invisibility would be useful for escapes, but they're somewhat expensive compared to the rest. Healing potions seem common and quite cheap, though you have doubt that you'll need one of those with Maya around - after all, hypothermia doesn't sound all that easy an ailment to cure with magic, and she fixed you up pretty well. She must have felt pretty fatigued after using that much magic... or perhaps she used some kind of restorative. It turns out that these sorts of rejuvenating potions are quite cheap and readily made, but come in smaller servings. Unlike the rest, you think you could only get one good charge out of these.



And then, you see a love potion. You were interested at first, but it looks awfully sleazy on closer inspection. That bottle must have been used over half a dozen times... and even on this use, It's so old and musty looking, that you're not entirely sure the contents are still completely liquid. You have a hard time believing that anyone would be desperate enough to buy that thing, but then again... it's on sale for a reason.

You make note of the prices of each of these potions. They all have three hiir-sized servings in them, and you could easily store them in your bag, which Maya took again while you were changing in and out of that tunic.



You turn to maya to see if you can get your bag back, but before you can say anything, Deline pushes her aside. You hear her say something about wanting to talk "in private," but as they walk away, their voices are quickly drowned out in the crowd.

You have 8700 Spice.
Tunic - 2000 Sp
Ward tunic - 3800 Sp
Buckler - 500 Sp
Bubble buckler - 5000 Sp
Rapier - 3550 Sp
Pistol - 7500 Sp
Hat - 200 Sp

Potion of Haste - 1100 Sp
Potion of Invisibility - 1800 Sp
Potion of Healing - 800 Sp
Potion of Rejuvination - 500 Sp
Potion of Love - 1500 Sp

Your current plan is to buy the ward tunic and the hat (of course), while putting aside 2000 for a bank account. This would leave you with 2700 Sp to do anything else with. You think you'll finalize your budget plan when Maya gives you back your bag, again.

[JWatch]

You mull it over for a bit, doing the arithmetic with pebbles on the ground - you feel like you have a pretty good handle on working with larger numbers now. If you take the haste potion, the health potion, and a single rejuvenation potion, you should have 2300 spice left... which is a decent amount to go to the bank, you think. Now, if only Maya would come back with your money.



...Huh. They sure are taking a long time, and you can't see them anywhere nearby. People are starting to stare at you. You really want to get that tunic... but you're a patient Hiir, and that can wait for Maya to come back. She has the saddle bag you grew up with, so she's bound to come give it back to you.

...Right?

[JWatch]

Wheat wrote:

Just focus very hard on your math.

For just a while longer, you wait. You figure you can practice counting. You just wish the rocks had more variance; it's hard to remember which ones represent hundreds, and you're less than confident in knowing which one is bigger. At least you're being consistent.



Suddenly, a feather prods at your back,interrupting your thoughts and nearly sending you thirty feet into the air. "Hey, buddy." It's the potion stall owner, no doubt unamused by your loitering. "Are you going to buy something, or just sit there playing with rocks all day? If you understand, my other customers don't appreciate the likes of you being around."

[quote='tronn' pid='177752' dateline='1493694198']>Climb on top of something tall so you're out of sight.[/quote]



Despite the circumstances of your inability to pay, you decide it's time to make yourself scarce, and zip up the nearest climbable object, which in your experience would usually lead you to a rooftop or something where you could hide. Instead, it leads you to the center of attention; the faces turned toward you are growing in number, and you can hear them mumbling amongst themselves.

Thankfully, there are only a handful of people around this particular area, and they look more confused than anything else - but you aren't taking any chances, especially since some of the voices you hear are quite angry. Unfortunately, you still don't see Maya or Deline anywhere nearby; this is getting worrisome.

Though... the more you think about it, something here doesn't quite add up. You only see about three to four faces in front of you, but you hear maybe half a dozen voices. And only see two people are talking.

What's more, they sound like they're coming from behind you... but your back is to a wall.

[JWatch]

[quote='Schazer' pid='178716' dateline='1494743323']
Get down on that platform with the jug.
[/quote]



Okay. This situation isn't as unmanageable as you think it is... You're not very used to being out in the daylight, and they're probably not used to seeing Hiiri at this time of day, either. You figure that jug platform is a more natural place to sit, so you step down.

[quote='Wheat' pid='178750' dateline='1494793663']
Tell them you're a customer.
[/quote]

You also try not to be so awkwardly silent, like you have been for the majority of this exchange. "...I'm not here to cause trouble, I swear," you reason. "I'm just... trying to count my money."

The peddler looks puzzled. "...I'm sorry, but I don't accept payment in rocks."

"S-someone else is holding it for me," you say, hoping that that would be enough. "I hope... I hope you don't treat your other customers like this."

He ruminates on that for a bit, before giving you a warning. "...Alright, listen. I'll be happy to accept payment for whatever when you show me some real money. But I've got my eye on you until you do." He then turns to the other peddlers, to talk about something too quiet for you to listen to.

[quote='Wheat' pid='178750' dateline='1494793663']
Try to separate each voice and pinpoint where each voice is coming from.
[/quote]



But there's still one thing ringing loud and clear in your ears - those voices. You count four, distinctly; every once in a while there is a fifth. Two of them are awfully close in the wall behind you, and the other three are quite far off, at least one street away. But you can hear them clear as day, and they're communicating. You haven't really started to listen until that hawren ceased to harangue you, but you can tell there is some sort of organized event going on.

Suddenly, it hits you. It's a Hiiri raid group.

You recognize that someone must be waiting in the jug beside you. And you're calling a lot of attention toward this area. The hiir inside the jug doesn't sound too happy. "Can someone figure out what's making this platform move so much?" Her voice cuts the air around your ears; it sounds like she doesn't like having to interrupt her conversation, but she continues, "The vendors around here don't sound happy, and it's getting me anxious."

She's clearly not the only one getting anxious. You're conflicted; would you say anything back, or just keep yourself quiet?

[JWatch]

[quote='Schazer' pid='180097' dateline='1496157767']
Tell them that the merchants are too suspicious.
[/quote]



You close your eyes. A tinge of panic strikes your heart.

Like this, you can pinpoint almost exactly where the other Hiiri are - but, as you've been silent, they would have no idea that you were even there. So, in your attempt to be as helpful as possible, you speak up. Your ears twitch and turn just so... and your voice rings as clearly as those around you.

"It's not safe." you rehearse in your head. "You guys need to go home. If you try anything, the merchants are definitely going to catch you."



There's silence, and then a commotion as the others try to figure out who this new voice is, and why they're apparently out in the open. You try to quell their frustration with a sheepish apology. You're sorry. ...Maybe you don't sound sincere enough. You're really sorry.

You would offer them your money to make up for it, but what's the point of that if the one person you thought you trusted ran away with it? You didn't want to give it credence until now, but Maya has been gone for hours. She walked away, and you barely gave it a second thought. You just sat there and fantasized about all the armor and food that money could buy you. If you weren't such a clumsy idiot, you would have followed her, taken the money and ran away while you still could. But instead, you counted your rocks until sundown, and told yourself she would be back. And now it's gone forever.

And now these people get to starve, just like your clan did.



There is a rustling from the pot.

"Who the hell are you?"

[quote='Schazer' pid='180097' dateline='1496157767']
It's not your fault.
[/quote]



"I-I didn't mean to..."

[JWatch]

[quote='Zephyr Nepres' pid='182957' dateline='1498660845']
> Just be a bawling mess.
[/quote]



You turn away, tail still tucked between your legs. Hell, you can't even bear to look up to her. You can feel the weight of disappointment pounding in the form of a stare against your back. And in time, you're sure, the weight of dozens more.

But, you've been through this feeling many times before. As much as you'd like to, you can't simply stay silent. Silence is just as bad as saying the wrong things. But, anything you could say would be the wrong thing. You don't even know who this Hiir is, and already it's ruined. Ruined. The seconds between seeing her face and now felt like hours, as if you were making up for the lost time waiting for Maya to come back.

You want to tell her your name, or at least what you're doing there, but you choke on your tears. If you managed to open your mouth at all, you fear the only noise you could make is a low, warbled -



"AAUUgghh, dammit, dammit!!"



There's a shattering of clay behind you, and you turn back around to see the culprit: and arrow had itself buried into the hip of your new acquaintance. Grain spills out onto the platform and onto the ground below as she struggles to escape from the shattered pot - and she's swearing up a storm. She must be gathering all kinds of attention - and that arrow means that somebody was already watching her.

And you.

...You feel like you might faint.

[JWatch]

Your heart pounds as a whirlwind of emotions washes over you, yet you somehow manage to step up and help the injured hiir free herself from the shattered pot. She can stand on her forepaws, but the weight of the round itself applies enough leverage to keep her off balance. Not to mention, it looks incredibly painful.

In between the sounds of each of your labored breaths, she speaks to you a second time. "...Kid, I don't know what possessed you to leave the tower, but if you want to go out with your elders, you're gonna have to play by the rules." She pauses for a second, biting her lip. "...I need you to break the arrow so I can move, but don't pull it out. And be quick, before the archer reloads."

Anonymous wrote:

Break the arrow near the base.

Your arms shake as you take the arrow between your teeth, careful not to make the wound worse - it's too thick to break right now, but hiiri have a knack for breaking things. The wood splinters easily as you gnaw, and it's rough on your dry mouth - but in seconds, the fibers are thin enough for you to bend with your arms, and it snaps in two; the lurching motion causes her some visible pain, but she shrugs it off. You barely have time to be impressed. Just then, you hear the heavy thunk of another arrow hitting against stone, missing you both by a generous margin before clattering to the paved ground below. A gust of winter's chilling wind just moments before must have knocked it off course.

[quote="Smurfton" pid='187275' dateline='1502506656']
See where the archer is.
[/quote]



You look toward the arrow's source, and spot a pair of silhouettes standing guard on the tallest nearby building, though you think only one is an archer. They'll be able to see you on the rooftops... and the ground won't be much help either, as the shopkeepers are doubtlessly well aware of the situation by now, packing up their things as they prepare to defend their product. You're wide open; all you can do is run and hope they don't hit their mark.



Suddenly, your thoughts are interrupted by a snap of the fingers. "You twit, are you even listening to me?" The lump in your throat keeps you from speaking; her voice must have faded into the radio chatter of hiiri talking through the air. "Go to the roof and get inside. Listen to your clanmates - they'll tell you how to get in. And for sky's sake, keep your ears up so you can hear them."

You stare at her blankly, like an untrained pup to its owner. It hurts to keep your eyes open.

"You can't stay here. You need to leave. Now."

You choke. She's frustrated.



She slaps you. "Go home to your mother."


____





The chieftains in Arioch are a lot scarier than the ones back home. But at least they're nicer... sort of.

[JWatch]

Wheat wrote:

have a look around here and immediately outside.

Through this hole in the wall, you can see that you're quite a ways up. There are lots of cool lights, and from the sounds of things, lots of people too. You wonder what's going on.



But you also wonder what's higher up. The air resonates with deep and regular regular clunks of metal, the spaces between which are filled with silent Hiiri chatter. The smell of oil and wet hay is overwhelming - it's a familiar scent, but somehow distinct from the den in Loroni. This place has magic-based heating, or you assume so, because even with an open window behind you, you're not standing in freezing night winter air.

You can sense that the size of this clan is over twice that of your old one, but most of them appear to sleep at this time; you can hear snippets of their dreams. You would join them, but you can't stand the noisiness yourself.

a52 wrote:

What are those green things?

You've already had your fill of food after the local chieftains made a scene out of bringing you here. There's still a lot of melon bread left over, and all those dried fruits and meats - it makes for excellent comfort food, but you're mostly over what happened earlier today. You've been through worse. Probably.

They sure have a lot of food, though. You'll be damned if these guys aren't sitting on something good.

...You miss your bandanna.

Anonymous wrote:

Look around and see if you can find the leaders

Well, you were going to sulk for a few days, but you suppose now is as good a time as any to start moving again - it felt like you were here just last week, but you know that's not true. You call the attention of someone listlessly hanging out, much like you are, and climb up next to them.

"...Pardon me," you ask. "Do you know where I can f-"

"Whutzat? Speak up, I can't hear ya, son."

The interruption reminds you of the bad taste you've had in your mouth since a few hours ago. But you were raised to be patient. "...Do you know where I can find the chieftains? I wanna know how to get out of this place."

"What?" His face twists in confusion until it looks like he realizes something. "Ooh, heck, you're that kid what stole a shawl to join the market raid. You've got guts."

"No," you say. "That isn't what happened. Where can I find the chieftains?" you ask again.

"The usual place. Why, are y'gonna take back that apology?"

You shudder, but somehow keep your composure. The worst is over now, and you tell yourself it's time to bounce back. "Where is the usual place? I'm... I'm not really from around here."

"Uh. They're down below, then, with Farragus and them. T'see about Felna's wound. I doubt they'll let you near her right now." He shifts his weight to begin standing up. "I can't sleep with the show going on tonight, so I figured I would go up top to watch it. It looks like you can't sleep neither, so I'd let you join me if you like."

You tell him you'll have to think about it.

"...Well, you've seen enough blood today, any which way. But if you're new here, I'll show you around - 'nless you really wanna see how Felna was doing. Up to you."

Hearing that makes you think sulking wasn't a bad idea after all.

[JWatch]

[quote="SeaWyrm" pid='198103' dateline='1514859366']
Get him to show you where Felna is
[/quote]



You convince him to take you to Felna, though he says you won't be able to get very far before you're stopped. It sounds like the chieftains are all meeting with this Hawren called Farragus, who seems responsible for the clan's location. The massive food stockpile is only due to their size, not their wealth. "If it weren't for Farragus," he adds, "we'd all be stuck back at the old den, outside the city. That old place just working out, t'say the least."

"I can relate," you tell him.

He continues. "If I'm bein' honest, this place ain't gonna work out for too much longer neither. Especially at the rate we're picking up outsiders... no offense."

"I don't want to stay anyways," you say, waiting for a chance to interject. "Do you know how I can get my bandanna back? It was a gift from a friend."

He doesn't get what you mean at first. "Your what? You mean that blue shawl you were wearin' when you ran into Felna? Pretty sure they took that back to Farragus so they could see if it were one of theirs; non-scouting members aren't allowed to have neckwear or magical items. Maybe you ought to see them after all, but..."



"...You're gonna have to get past Rye first."

You can sense that Felna and the rest of the chieftains are a short walk through a tunnel past that door.

"She'll put up one helluva fight, too. And I'd much rather watch the fights outside." The rumbling of the audience outside is louder down here. You thank him, and he begins to head up top, saying that you can meet him again by climbing until there's nothing left to climb. Though you can't say you're too excited about rubbing elbows with the locals just yet.

[JWatch]

[quote="Wheat" pid='200527' dateline='1516569782']
Try to sneak past them.
[/quote]



You wave you new acquaintance goodbye, and wait for him to be out of sight before you do anything else. First, you throw a few rocks at the wall behind the guard - it seems pretty clear that she's asleep, so sneaking past should be easy. Shouldn't it?

Standing up tall on your hindlegs, you start to sidle on past her... until you need to think about the different routes you need to take. Above all else, you need to avoid the risk of touching her. Maybe it would be easier if you snuck underneath the wooden cover, but there's not very much space behind that and the bin of dried mortar either. The sound of it clattering to the ground would be disastrous. By now, you'd be thinking of ways you could snag the sword before she could...



...But as you plan, the sight of Rye waking up sets a flutter of panic in your heart. "Hmnn," she yawns. "...What exactly are you doing over here, kid?"

You hold your position, until you decide that you've already seen the worst today. You couldn't have less respect for an authority that takes away your belongings. "I have a message for the chieftains," you tell her. "And it's for their ears only." You thought it up on the spot, but it wasn't entirely false.

Unfortunately, Rye is much more informed than you are. "The chieftains are already discussing matters known only to them. You may as well tell me, so I can go tell them myself. Weren't they talking with you earlier?"

"Well," you think aloud, wracking your mind for another convenient excuse. "It's important that I tell them myself, because..."

[quote="Wheat" pid='200527' dateline='1516569782']
Volunteer as a scouting member.
[/quote]



"...I want to be a scouting member!" You put on the most comfortable face you can, something you are well practiced in. "Honestly didn't get a good chance to say it, but I always wanted to be with you guys and help provide for the clan. And, get some fresh air and... all that."

"We could all use the fresh air here," she replies.



She also points her sword at your chest; it wouldn't be the first time this happened to you in the last 24 hours. "I sure hope you're willing to stick to that story. So tell me, why should we let you be a scouting member?" You will is visibly faltering. "You look a little young to me. What can you do that the others can't?"

[JWatch]

[quote="Schazer" pid='202797' dateline='1519162990']
Magic.
[/quote]



You don't know how to answer that. It's not that you don't know the obvious answer - it's how you fear she would react. Who knows what the people here think of magic? If anything was a curse at your old den, it was the stigma... and you're still not sure what to think of it yourself. So you decide to start with the smaller stuff, and take a step backward from the sword's tip. "...I'll be honest," you say, "I don't have a lot of experience, but... I was always real good at hide and seek, and I can make a good snowhiir."

Rye looks unimpressed, and lowers her sword to see if there were others waiting for her to be distracted. She doesn't bother to stand up. You didn't come all this way to be trapped in a place like this, so you brace yourself and add, "I can use magic pretty well, too."

She sighs. "That doesn't sound particularly special. Anyone can throw sparks, you know." She demonstrates by snapping little arcs of electricity between her digits.

Now comes the moment of truth. "Just yesterday," you continue, "I took down a rozo by myself. One zap, and he was out."

"Please. You're a bad liar." She swishes her tail behind her and yawns, eyes heavy as though she wanted to go back to sleep. "Hmm. But at least you're not cocky about it." She scratched her chin in thought. "...I'll tell you what. If you can show me you're as powerful as you say, then I'll let you down to see the chieftains with Farragus."

You choke a little as you speak. "...I don't actually have a lot of control over it. And I don't want to hurt you."

"So what I'm hearing is, you don't have any evidence for it?"

[quote="Smurfton" pid='202807' dateline='1519171415']
Try not to exaggerate.
[/quote]



Beating around the bush doesn't seem to help your case, and you're getting tired of not being taken seriously. At least, being a magic user doesn't seem to hold the same weight here as it did back home. It's at this moment that you realize you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. So you tell her everything.

"...Okay. I don't even want to be a scout." You note the change of tone in your voice. "I was about to buy a tunic earlier today, with money that I got for knocking out that rozo. I had... I had over ten thousand spice given to me, and then taken away, today. And now I'm here. ...I just wanna find the toril who still has it, before they leave town."

You pause, feeling a familiar dryness in your throat. "...I'd do anything," you say, "to find her."

She did save your life, after all.



Rye stands up with a look of grim curiosity. "...Okay. Let's say what you're telling me is true, and let's say we find that torill. What are you going to do after?"

Her stance reminds you of your small stature. "...I'll give the clan some of the money, and then I'll be on my way."

"...And how much money did you say you had?"

"I had eighty-seven hundred spice, when I lost it," you say.



Suddenly, a there is a familiar ringing in your ears. The source is obvious this time; Rye is talking to the chieftains.

"Ahem. Rohan, this is Rye. You guys happened to find a small bag while you were out there, didn't you?"

There is a delay, until another voice comes from somewhere far beneath you. "Yeees, yes, this is Rohan. We have the one. This had better be good, Rye."

"I have an important question," she responds. "Did you find it in the sea?"

"Yes, we did," came the other voice again.

"And just about how many guards did you kill to get it?"

There is another delay, about ten seconds long - and a slight stirring in the air as the other hiiri start to wake up. The crowd outside was one thing, but this was kind of hard to ignore. Finally, a third voice pierces the darkness. "This is Moe. I counted there to be seven yellow ones, and eight purple ones."

Rye takes a deep breath, and sighs. "...It appears that bag belongs to the young one you found wandering outside, and he wants to be a scout to get it back."

"What?" says a voice, which you recognize as Felna's. And then there is a long, long silence.



Growing impatient, she steps aside. "Just go down, already," she says out loud, preparing herself to fend off the small crowd gathering nearby. "The rest of you can back off."

You just follow your orders.


____





The way down is pretty straightforward, although it's dark, even for a hiir. But at least you can catch the bends in the path before you run into them. Sometimes the floor gets steeper, or a wooden frame lines the walls... and you only seem to take left turns. The voices of chieftains arguing about you bounce around in your head, and you are tempted to tell them all to shut up - but you know better, and instead flatten your ears to try and quiet them.

You are really glad telling the truth seemed to work; you aren't particularly proud of some of the things you would have tried otherwise.

Eventually, you see a light...



...And find yourself in a quaint little room.

Upon seeing you, the Hawren standing over the group shakes his head. "What on earth is going on? Why won't you guys tell me anything?"

You definitely recognize the rest, but you don't know their names. Someone who looks like Felna is sitting in the back, but you can tell it isn't her. The first one to speak among them, the grey one, must be Moe. "...Hello again," he says, pulling on his scarf.

Everyone else just stares at you, like they don't know what to say. ...You don't really know what to say, either.

[JWatch]

[quote="Wheat" pid='204756' dateline='1522220407']
>sup
[/quote]

[Raoul flashes a peace sign]

"...What's uuuuuup?"

Certainly, something is better than nothing. You'll have to swallow your contempt for now.

Moe and Rodell

Moe opens his mouth to speak, but he can hardly get a word in before he's rudely interrupted by the hiir to his right. "We were just deciding what to do with all the money we got from the raid today. Eight thousand and seven hundred, would you believe it?" He talks as if he's never seen you before, though you remember he was the one doing most of the yelling when you met earlier. He continues, "It sure beats having any dumb potions or food or anything."

Frustrated, Moe speaks up again. "Y-yes, it does, because we have plenty of food right now, don't we? ...Listen, let's not stress the kid out more than he is already."

"Moe," the first one says, pushing a pile of sorted coins. "If you haven't noticed, I'm feeling quite stressed myself."

"Then you probably shouldn't be talking right now, if I'm being honest."

Rodell glares at Moe

There's another awkward silence.

[quote="Robottobt" pid='204738' dateline='1522178387']
>Introduce yourself politely and tell them what you are here for.
[/quote]

Raoul is anxious

"...U-uuhhm. Well, I actually came down here because... a-a friend of mine was supposed to- well, Rye probably told you all that already. Uh... My name is C... er, R-Raoul, which... d-did you guys have my name? Already...?"