Journey Well Earned; II (The Ruins)

[Dula]

2nd Vhalar 719¤

“You said we’re going into The Ruins more right? Would be nice. It’s my first time here actually. My father used to promise that we would come here for my first hunt… but.”
She shook her head.
“Of course that never happened. The man was a specter to me, as was my own mother. I feel like I was raised by wolves, those wolves being myself.”
Hygge turned an eye to her, he had been meditating,
“Hmmm. Some people who are abandoned early on just learn how to fend for themselves. There’s scars left behind, surely. But it’s a rare breed who comes out without bitterness or being self centered.”

But Dula felt like she was bitter and was definitely self centered. She was a coward when it came down to it. Had spent her life lying and hiding from people. In a way it was as if she was also trying to hide from herself, and that was the exact dialectical reason she knew that being here just felt right. Didn’t Hygge call it destiny? Or was that fate? She couldn’t remember. Whatever it was, she was sure that her life was changing. Trying to fit in with the townies never worked, never would. She had a flashback to Rakvald, the man she trained staff with, who was just as odd as her, if not more so-- but happened to be the only person that day who took her seriously. Ugh what did it all mean? The throbbing behind her eye came back.

Yet here she was, learning about how to become a mage from a real, live wizard who also seemed to take her seriously. It was as if her luck for once in her life was turning; the little girl deep inside Dula who would play mock treasure hunter sat at a fabled spot in Desnind townie folklore, known for hiding secrets. Still, why did she feel so empty? So empty and so restless. It had to be that she just couldn’t believe herself to be standing here; on that train of thought she half expected Hygge to change into the man with the jingling bag and start cackling at her. She must be dreaming.... The truth was, she wasn’t, the pain was real behind her eye and the danger of the Lori was all around her.

Her Spark was hungry. Just as restless as she was. They made a good match.
“I’m ready for the second part now Hygge.”
Came her remark.
“Good. Next up is dowsing, man. This is a bit more difficult, in fact compass should be next, but I want to push you man, I think ya need it. Dowsing is when you try to find something you haven’t already attuned to. What I want to focus on is desire, man. So desire isn’t just the carnal impulse of sex or lust, but a deeper emotion. Ha! Such as the desire to win or the desire to kill. Desire is an intense emotion and will be easy to dowse, but the process of stepping into dowsing’s shoes won’t be easy. And like I said before. Just be careful. Don’t overstep. Let’s go in, have your staff ready.”

[Dula]

¤

They walked into The Ruins; carefully stepping around the wall that had the tree growing out of it, which had separated them from The Ruins threshold. The leaves crunched underfoot, the first few down in Vhalar. Inside The Ruins they found themselves surrounded by dilapidated stone buildings. The architecture was unique while giving the area an otherworldly feel. In fact trees grew out of the top of some of the structures with their roots hanging down the side, wrapping through the ancient gutters and windows, until eventually reaching the ground. The cobbled roads through this area of the city were still well put together even after all this time. To her the air smelled like old books, stale and dry, but that only reaffirmed to her that this area was certainly one of mythos. Leaves of reds, orange, and yellow dusted the ground lightly. It was clear they were in a residential area of The Ruins.

For Dula it felt like stepping into a new world. While the need to perform more of her magic was still forefront in her mind she was also taken aback with awe at her surroundings. With Hygge leading the way they weaved in and out of the neglected neighborhood until finally coming to a crumbling home of course made out of the same dark grey stone as all else in this part of The Ruins. Hanging from the run-down clay shingled roof were a four different wind chimes, old and dirty, creating a song in the air that was beautiful. They stepped inside.

It was clear immediately that this is where Hygge was staying. Inside this building the roof had a large blanket patching a hole in the ceiling and there was a bed roll by the hearth. Tree roots jutted out of the ceiling in a helter-skelter way seeming to claw into the air below them. The conditions were spartan, with little in the room other than a table with alchemy equipment. It was basic but clearly in good condition. A djembe was placed on a dingy rug in the middle of the room.

“Welcome to my temporary abode, man. The rug, it really ties the room together, right? It can be dangerous here but so far I’ve met with no trouble I couldn’t get away from. As long as I eat and dispose of my food far away I get no trouble from creatures either. Ha! Let’s get started on your training.”

They settled down on the rug sitting in a similar fashion as they did when she was initiated, cross legged and facing each other.
“Open yourself up to the whims of desire… Today I will tell you about dowsing.”
Hygge said as he smoked a pipe, the smoke smelling of sweet tobacco.

She did as she was told and began to get comfortable.

[Dula]

¤

As Dula sat there focusing on what desire meant to her, Hygge explained the process a little bit more.
“Dowsing is finding a note or frequency you haven’t yet attunted to. Like shuffling around in the dark looking for a spot to piss after a night out. You do this by focusing on a vibration that you would associate with, in this case, we are talking about desire. Feeling it in motion in your body until you center yourself on the note, then we would go out and find it."
Absorbing the information. Hygge continued on with this lesson.
"I will show you how it's done after I'm done talking, this time, consider it a field lesson. Dowsing could be used for finding things in a city. Say you need a place to rest and dowse the note of sleep, you might end up in a back alley with a bum. Or you could end up at an inn. Dowsing has its own whim truly and you can be surprised what you find. In this next example I'm going to dowse desire. Desire can be many things, not just sex or lust. You could dowse and find someone staring longingly into a store window, wishing they could buy a beautiful dress. You could also possibly find a starving man, wishing for a piece of bread. It's very open to your sparks interpretation, or so I think. Also what might be closest, resonating loudest, or who-knows-what. It can be unreliable with predictability, but the more notes and frequencies you learn the more accurate of a dowse you can follow."

He began humming to himself, mustache twitching. It took only moments before he was up and beckoning her to follow him. Weaving in and out deep into the Ruins the two made their way through the run down streets. They were at a good pace but trying to be as quiet as the crunching leaves would allow.
"It's like, moving man. I can't pin it down."

They got turned around twice and at one point froze, ducking behind a shabby cobbled wall. They heard chittering and ruckus down the way, coming straight for them. Hidden behind the low wall they couldn’t see what was going on but after a rush of commotion going by. It sounded as if creatures were fighting over something. She looked at Hygge confusedly and he returned the look back even more flabbergasted.
“What?”
He mouthed, before a look of recognition swept of his face. Out loud he said in a whisper,
“That was the desire? What on Idalos could that be? We can check it out for studies sake, but let’s stick close together. I did hear the beat in my head telling me that could be it, but I didn't want to believe it. Ready your staff, man, it’s about to get wild.”

They popped their head out from behind the wall as the noise was dying down, headed south, and deeper into The Ruins. The only part of the commotion makers that was able to be seen was a trio of monkey-like tails disappearing into The Ruins.

[Dula]

¤

Traveler’s pack secure, gripping her staff tightly and with purpose, she got up and headed after them. Hygge stayed behind her at a distance as they trailed behind the creatures. The chittering was like a monkey mixed with a cat. All they could see as they ran between alleys in the dilapidated streets were the tails. Hot on their heels the pair tore through The Ruins after the chittering creatures. As they weaved in and out of the ramshackle streets they were slipping on wet leaves and making quite the ruckus. Only if the creatures were stupid would they not know that they were being followed.

Hygge motioned for her to halt and she ran headlong into his outstretched arm. He began walking slowly and went around a corner. She was disoriented at first as she turned the corner and saw that what they were looking for was right in front of her. Well, sort of. A cloud of dust and leaves was being kicked up all around and all she could see were a few monkey like hands, feet, and tails.
"Think you can beat them, novice? Let's see what it is."
He asked her.

Widening her stance while preparing Mercury she held it at her midsection with both hands, front towards the writhing dust mote, and motioned for Hygge to stay back. Not knowing what she could be facing she summoned up her courage and took a stupid, not brave but stupid, leap of faith. Knowing that she and Hygge were outnumbered she still cried out,
“What’s that you got, bozos?”

The pile froze, dust and leaves settling to the ground. About eight little faces stared at her, a mix of confused horror. They looked to be cats with monkey bodies, but with ears as large as a rabbits. Their bodies were twisted in a heap and the ones in the middle most portion were still struggling slightly with something in their grip. Skadal. Little cowardly, thieving imps. She took her chance and gave them a wild look, throwing her arms up with the staff above her like a primitive being and roared,
“KISS MY ASS! BEGONE!”

The little, cat-like faces twisted into utter terror as they fled the scene, leaping into the air and taking off with a shot while screaming. Dula was surely the most shocking thing they had seen in a long time. But two still remained. They were larger and didn’t look amused by her at all. In fact they still both held in their hands the object, a large blue rock she could now see, neither letting it go at first. Until they both dropped it in unison and came closer to her squared up in their stance.
“Hey man, those look like Alpha’s Dula. Be mindful of your fingers and toes.”
Came Hygge, slightly stressed.

But she was ready. She had been waiting for this her whole life. Without pausing she readied her overhead swing and with a cacophonous kai she brought Mercury down on one of their heads. Knocking it right out, it crumpled to the ground. The other became enraged and leapt upon Dula but she blocked with her staff, it clung to Mercury screaming in her face and she did the only thing she knew how to do. She screamed back and head butted it. The headbutt was solid, she made contact with her frontal bone, incurring a light headache though. They were both disoriented, the thing clearly hissing and spitting, and that’s when she took her shot with another overhead swing and bopped the large, angry skadal on the head. It didn’t go down nearly as easily as its predecessors and in fact although it was injured it still had the gumption to bum rush her legs, grabbing them and taking them out with full force. She collapsed on the leaves with the thing twisting and clawing at her legs, Mercury scattered just out of reach. It climbed up her body with her screaming,
“No! NO! Get er’ off me!”
The thing giving her the most evil grin, its cat-like eyes looking woozy and full of triumph.

That was when Hygge stepped in and brandished his arms above her and the struggling creature, yelling incoherently at it to begone. It stopped in its tracks to gape at the wizard and Dula took the moment to reclaim Mercury, bashing it over the side of the creatures head.

[Dula]

¤

The creature twisted on its two legs, seeing stars, and fell back with a dramatic fwump to the ground. Hygge stared at the skadal, then her, then back again for a moment before helping her up.
“Well that whole thing seemed a tiddly winkle bit unnecessary, HA! But man you showed them. Like a right hook in a left handed boxing match on that first one. K.O.! Skadals always have good stuff. Let’s see what they found.”
Dula’s legs burned from the scratches and her head pounded, not just from the headbutt but also from falling to the ground. As well as the annoying urge to cast her attunement again, it was like a vibration from her chest cavity. With all of the skadal gone she made her way over to the blue stone and picked it up.

Oblong, it was semi see through like glass. The rest was a rough blue. It was about as big as her palm lengthwise and almost as wide. Roughly four inches long and three and a half inches wide. It was mostly flat and didn’t weight much considering its size. “Aquamarine. A worthy stone.”
Came Hygge.

”It’s beautiful. I can see why they were fighting over it. It reminds me of the waters in the gwalos at night, with a bright harvest moon shining.”
She mulled it over in her palm, considering leaving it for the poor beasts she scared off and beat up. But decided in the end that she wouldn’t, she had scratches on her legs and wanted to prove them to others around Desnind. This would be her proof that she fought off wild beasts! Clutching it in her hand she grinned at Hygge.
“I can’t believe I just did that!”

And they walked back to his home, triumphantly, he told her story from his late childhood about his first fight. Something about fighting over a wine bottle behind a dumpster in Rharne. When they got back to his place they sat down and broke bread for lunch. Again just simple rye bread and cheese, this time with a gulp or two of water. They relaxed here and played cards, talking about the simplicities of life. Until he asked,
“Shall we give Attunement another try?”

to be continued!

[Abra]

Dula

Rewards

Knowledges:

Skill:

Attunement: Dowsing; Finding a frequency or note that you haven’t attuned to yet
Attunement: Dowsing; Has its own whim
Attunement: Dowsing; Reaching for that feeling or concept inside of yourself
Staff: Whacking someone small over the head
Staff: Knocking someone out
Staff: Mostly used as a non-lethal weapon

Loot: aquamarine stone
Injuries: Scratches on legs for 14 trials and head ache from crashing to the ground for one trial
Wealth:
Renown:

EXP: 10 can be used on attunement, approved for rank up to competent

Feedback

Oh joy, I finally get to review one of your threads. You played a newbie mage very well, complete with intrigue and an eagerness to push your limits. Attunement is very much about concentrating on the world around you and you did that very well. Enjoy your rewards!

Insert Player 2

Rewards

Knowledges:

Skill:

Loot:
Injuries:
Wealth:
Renown:

EXP:

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