Of Gemstones and Rivers (Tristan Venora)

[Dula]

¤

When he yelled for her to stop she turned around, frowning. Tristan looked quite bewildered as he explained that he wanted to use, what she discerned, was a real dog's hair.
"Could use. Smells bad, dogs."
She scratched her head as she tried to describe the plant.
"Cani'silwa Hot Cycle plant. Grow up rivers. Like dan-de-cat. Weed. Pink, glows. Annoys, beautiful. Uhhhh.... poofy seeds? Fly through sky Hot Cycle."
Using her hands to mime something floating through the air.

They continued on and he began rambling about his cat. She looked over her shoulder at him as he spoke, he was quite animated and whimsical. She shrugged her shoulders at her own thoughts, it didn't bother her too much at his ramblings. At least he was taking her seriously despite the verbal handicap. Wondering if she was making any sense she lost track of his rambling at first, but did hear him say his cat could walk on "two legs".
"Tristan. Pulling my foot. Cats no walk two legs. What Misty My-ass-muh? Stop tease."
Her voice didn't sound serious, just curious and dubious. Was that a place? Must be. With a start of recognition her honey puzzle eyes got wide thinking about how much he must have traveled. She was impressed.

In truth she wasn't sure, in common, what he meant about his statement about "attracting the immortals attention". What he seemed to be implying was something about immortals, but that was all she could define. Desperately she wished her common was better! They would have great conversations, she was sure, Dula also suspected they could teach each other a lot. She was hardy and strong, while he was well traveled and knowledgeable. That was when she got the inkling that this wouldn't be the last time she saw Tristan Venora.

"Vhalar artist? Hmph. Not fall on-lee? Ahhhhh. Sense. Paint trees, death, kind sleep. Beauty. Uhhh... Fall. Leaves fall, color."
She was getting frustrated with the language barrier. What she wanted to describe was that despite being born in Ashan, she loved the coolness of fall. While Ashan marked everything a born anew, the colors pink and green coming from the snow; Vhalar was the catalyst, the earthy colored thing that made Ashan possible. The beginning of the cycle of death, which was necessary for life. Her own life, being an Ashan baby, testament to that. Only an artist could orchestrate such a miraculous change. She left a dead silence after her words as she chided herself on the inside for her lack of common. Dula looked pensive with a crease in her brow.

~~~

While eyeing him picking up the stone she had smacked out of his hand, she also shrugged and snickered a bit. If he wanted it so bad, fine then. He was right though, maybe river stones would be good for something. Trying to be sneaky she picked a few up, pretended like she was appraising them, and stuck a few of the river rocks in her bag as well. Throwing Tristan a glance she hoped she looked like she knew what she was doing. That was when a the falling whistle came back into her head, and the BOOM rang out in her skull. She had nearly forgotten about her affliction. With a wince Dula threw a hand up to her temple, letting out a hiss.

There was no way she was going to hide this from him again, he was going to ask and she wasn't sure if she could keep lying. Before he could even say anything she told him,
"Attunen-enment. Broke brain. Scared. Mentor sucks. Dirty wizard. Fod-sack!"
Taking the chance to cuss Hygge out in her newly learned word. Her lips pressed to a hard line, hating to admit her weaknesses. It was a hard lesson to learn, but she wouldn't do it again. At least this affliction had taught her something, magic was something to be taken seriously. Not to be abused or trifled with. Thoughts raced through her head that it was Hygge's fault for pushing her so.

Hammer! That was the word she was looking for. She was planning on just using a rock at home and going to town. She nodded at him thankfully for the idea and in fact had planned on her own potion for them, though what for she wasn't sure yet.
"We cross by legs. Take away shoes. Cold. Uhhh. Un-fun."

Watching him test the water he, in fact, didn't look brave. She snickered at him and gave him a knowing look. Then her honey eyes rolled up into her head and she was sent laughing from her belly. In the back of her mind she wanted to push him in but it was too cold, they also didn't know each other enough for that yet. It was just a ludicrous sight, as if Tristan couldn't be any more out of his element. Taking off her shoes as well she didn't need to roll anything up, she was wearing her brown, cold-weather dress and brown half-cloak. All she would have to do is hike up her hem when they crossed.

It was true her demeanor had changed after confessing her over-stepping to him. She was sour, despite having laughed a moment ago, only registering by the hard look on her face. It came from embarrassment, she thought maybe he would think she was weak or stupid. At his offer though, she took one of his pastries. Sniffing it at first and a moment of a question raised on her face, before she bit into the confection and another BOOM ran out in her head. It was sticky and sweet, but not enough to take her mind off of the "illness" she was going through.

[Tristan Venora]

“I’m not teasing you!“ Tristan insisted as Dula doubted his story. He wasn’t mad at her, of course. He was still smiling and quite excited to tell her more in order to hopefully change her mind. “The Misty Miasma is a really strange and dangerous place. There’s so much mist there that you can’t see your feet, and it’s full of strange creatures. The bipedal cats are actually among the most harmless ones. They have a village in the Misty Miasma. There are also those weird bugs. When they sting you, you change bodies with someone else, so my friend Aeodan became …”

He stopped abruptly, realizing that he’d been rambling, and that he had been talking so fast that she’d probably been unable to follow him, which was rather rude, everything considered. He didn’t want to be rude to the acquaintance he’d just made. He looked at her apologetically for a moment, and then he offered, “If you don’t believe me, I could drink a truth serum. I have one at home. It tastes kind of nasty, but it works!”

He wasn’t sure what exactly she said next, but he nodded anyway, as if he understood because she seemed pretty frustrated at that point. A moment later, she winced again, and he looked at her sympathetically. “Maybe I could brew an anti-headache potion for you”, he offered because he didn’t like seeing people in pain, even people he barely knew. “I don’t know much about medicine, but I’m a pretty good alchemist!”

“So it’s not really a headache, but the result of magic gone wrong?” he asked, furrowing his brow. He hoped that he had understood her this time. “Can’t you just go to another mage and tell them to fix your brain? I’m not a mage, but that would make sense to me.”

Unlike most people in Idalos, Tristan had absolutely no problem with mages. He didn’t hate them, he wasn’t afraid of them, on the contrary, he was quite curious about them. Some mages, like the Becomer who’d tried to kill the king by throwing a door at him (and who’d later proceeded to marry his cousin for some reason) were idiots, but Dula seemed pretty nice!

When Dula snickered at him, he shrugged his shoulders and made another step in order to let her know that he could be even braver, and then he informed her, “You can have a second pastry if you want. I’ve packed enough. I could also try to brew a potion that enables you to speak Common perfectly”, he offered because she seemed to be in a bad mood all of a sudden, and he thought that might cheer her up. “I managed to make a cat-speak potion, so such a potion should be relatively easy.”

At least he hoped that it would be easy. For the first time, he had no idea what would go into the potion. Maybe the saliva of someone that spoke Common fluently? Still thinking about it, he made another step into the water, as if he were suddenly quite eager to confront the cold and dangerous river and gestured for Dula to follow him. He was such a brave man!

[Dula]

¤

“Truth see-rum?”
It sounded like some kind of alcoholic beverage to her. She licked her lips thinking about rum, the good kind.
“Taste bad, rum? Makes drunk and tell truths?”
His rambling previously wasn’t quite wasted on her but she still didn’t quite know what Misty My-ass-muh was. It sounded like a weird place, as he kept calling it “strange” and she picked out the word “dangerous”. Weird bugs as well? It sounded like somewhere she wanted to go. Well… maybe after she grew up a little bit more, she thought as she shuddered against the memory of her fight in the Lori. Those fod-sacking vines were disgusting.

“No, not headache. More noise. BOOOM!”
She tried to mimic the resounding bass noise albeit poorly. A dark skinned finger pointed to her head,
“In brain, Tristan. Boom in my brain. They call… over jump? Stepping over?”
A scowl rested on her face now.
“No other mages. Just Dula.”
Or if there were she didn’t know them, she tended to stick to herself in Desnind as she constantly felt like a stranger in her hometown. People may know her by face or name but she was just an oddball townie, not well known by any means and if known not particularly well liked due to her “strange” antics. The one person that did love her, the half-sev’ryn knew for sure, was her Great Grandmother Tey’droa, but it had been a long time since Dula had seen her. And while Tey’droa was a healer she wasn’t a mage, it wouldn’t do to worry her grandmother.
“Am going wait out, it will pass. For now? Terrfiying. Have been...”
She struggled with a lump in her throat admitting to him where she had been. But they had been talking so much it all just started spilling out. She grit her teeth as she finished her thought.
"Have been bed for days. Laying, shivers. Came here for.... change. See some-things other den hole in Dula's roof. Fear shakes. Doesn't hurt, thankful."

Dula took another pastry from the box and chowed down, she was still in a sour mood but had to admit they were good. While she did this she appraised Tristan as subtly as possible, thinking to herself that an arc ago she would have never guessed what her life would be like in these recent trials.
“Tristan makes common speak potion for Dula? Really? Uhm. Yes! It will hurt?”
He was right after all, if he could make cat’s speak he surely could do the same for her. But what would she say after she drank it? Who knew, but she was willing to be his guinea pig and learn maybe, that was for sure! What great luck in meeting another alchemist-- who wasn’t farking Hygge!

The prospect of being able to speak common due to an alchemed potion was enough to make Dula feel a bit better, she gave him a slight smile and a thumbs up. It wasn’t long before Tristan steered their attention back to the problem at hand and began making his way across the shallow river. Grabbing her things she swung her travelers pack over her shoulder and followed suit.

The river was cold, chilling her feet and making them numb. Her teeth chattered, she was thankful the Tosibeere was not only shallow but calm. Which reminded her of the legend surrounding the place.
“Stories say,”
She began through chattering teeth.
“Desnind young, ocean too salty. Only river was this.”
She swept her hands around her, she was now in the middle of the river and making her way across behind Tristan, being careful not to slip on the rocks.
“River was angry. Rushed and killed. Desnind needed water. People needed water. Little boy came drink his family some water. Fell in. But…”
She paused, holding up her finger.
“His… giving life made Toṣïbẹẹrẹ Whakamātao. ‘Little Water Child’. Calming waters. Make safe. Rest of arcs. We are walk Tosibeere now.”

Once the blonde made it across she sat on the ground and rubbed her feet vigorously with her hands, trying to warm them. Once satisfied she got up and made her way to the exposed bank, she was sure there would be geodes here. Running her hands along the side of the bank she could see other spots where people must have pulled out crystals as deep indentations could be found here and there in the hard dirt.

[Tristan Venora]

“No, unfortunately the truth serum doesn’t taste like rum”, Tristan replied before he offered, “I could modify it so that it tastes like rum though. Do you think a potion that makes you tell the truth and tastes like rum would sell well?” he wanted to know. From what he knew, torturers, guards, interrogators and other unpleasant people often used truth serums on their victims. The victims, he thought, would probably prefer to be forced to drink something that actually tasted nice, but he wasn’t so sure about the other party. He needed to ponder the matter further, he decided.

“Oh”, he made as Dula tried to explain her condition to him again. “Oh”, he repeated before his eyes lit up. “I think I get it now! You have that noise in your head because you used too much magic! Is there really nothing you can do?” he wanted to know. He didn’t really like seeing her in pain. She was nice. He also didn’t like the fact that he didn’t know how to fix a problem that was caused by magic. Did potions even work on medical conditions that were caused by magic? Maybe he ought to ask a more experienced alchemist … except that he was one of the most experienced alchemists out there!

Fek!

“Of course, I’ll make a Common speak potion for Dula!” he assured her. “It won’t hurt … much. In fact, it won’t hurt at all because I don’t see a point in making potions that hurt people. Nobody would want to drink them, don’t you think? The effect will only be temporary though”, he added. “Potions are always temporary. I hope you don’t mind. I could brew a hundred doses or so at the same time!” he offered.

He winced as he walked a bit further into the river. The water was cold! His teeth started to chatter, his feet hurt from the cold, and they felt a bit stiff and heavy for some reason. For a moment, as he wondered whether it would be possible to brew an anti-freeze potion as well, he stood there, and then he realized that the water was even colder when you were standing and walked on.

“So the river is like that because a child fell in and died?” he asked and furrowed his brow. “Do you think the effect is permanent or will another child have to drown sometime?” he asked, secretly deciding that he didn’t like the river particularly because it demanded the lives of innocent children. In fact, he didn’t like the river at all!

Once he had warmed his feet and put his boots back on, he followed Dula to where the geodes were supposed to be. “Look!” he told her and pointed where something seemed to stick out of the dirt. Apparently, the people that had been there before them had overlooked one geode. “Do you think we can just grab it and pull it out?” he wanted to know. “If not, I have these here!” He opened his bag and pulled out a hammer, chisels and what looked like a miniature pickaxe in short order. He’d come prepared!

[Dula]

¤

Dula held her head in her hands, rubbing her temples idly. Having learned her lesson, she vowed never to overstep again.At least Tristan seemed more concerned than anything, showing her weakness made her ill and a lump grew in her stomach despite his kindness.
"No methinks. No soul tell Dula about..."
She struggled with the word for effect but found no suitable substitute,
"strong, evil wind."
Shifting uncomfortably she added,
"Dula strong. Will come and pass."
Or so she hoped.

A small light at the end of the tunnel showed itself as Tristan told her that he could brew her a potion to let her speak common. It was enough to make her smile. "Temp-or-airy?"
She shrugged. Despite him being a total stranger who could cause harm to her with some sort of weird potion, she had an idea that he was telling the truth.
"Thank Tristan!"
Dula beamed at him.

At Tristan's question she merely nodded gravely at first, taking her time to reply. She was pensive and thinking about the day, eager to get home where she could be alone with her thoughts. Finally she told him.
"River take no life. Not again. One soul. Enough."

"Good eye Tristan!"
Thankful he had the tools they needed, else she was going to just use her knife and a rock to pry it free, she took the chisel and hammer. As gently as possible she tried to wedge the chisel between the rock and the dirt, then tap on the egg shaped stone. It was painstaking for her as she wished to be home, a solid BOOM! ringing through her mind then making her disoriented, but finally it popped out. Taking the small pickaxe from his hands she tried finding the center on the geode and began to tap on the pickaxe with the hammer. While she had never done this before herself she had seen it done and hoped the crack would come out clean.

Finally after a big tap the geode cracked, though one side was bigger then the other indeed. Inside the hollow egg was Grossularite Garnet, a common stone to this region. Handing Tristan the bigger half she also gave him a half of her crystals she had found on the bank earlier.
"These be Tristan shiny gems. Will see Dula again soon! Thank. Nice meet. Dula live Ivyside Hideout. Tree home covered dead ivy vine. Find Dula there! Goodbye!"
And with that she scampered off back across the shallow river, up the bank, and to Desnind. Mind swimming with foreign tongues and bag filled with stones, she would be glad to hide in her bed again.

[Octopie]

Unlocking Your Rewards!

Dula

Dula is a very believable PC, her inability to speak was nicely done. The causal discussion of the cannibals to her cursing were nice touches of humor that made the dialogue flow well, overall her interactions with Tristan were well written, especially since they can't really understand each other. You have a good grasp of your character and it shows in your writing! The descriptions and your use of onimonipia 's was fun, it's a nice touch to break up the action scenes. Good job!

Points

15

Can be use for magic? Yesor No

Knowledge

Skill
Linguistics: Common; Swears
Linguistics: Common; “Cannibal”
Linguistics: Listening closely before speaking
Linguistics: Paying attention to your inflection
Linguistics: Common; Spoken in a "proper" fashion
Linguistics: Finding common ground
Mining: Finding a geodes center to crack it open
Mining: Finding rocks left behind by previous miners
Mining: Using tools to pull out a geode from dirt
Mining: An eye for the shine
Mining: Plenty around rivers
Alchemy: Using crystals and stones
Endurance: Walking through cold water

Non
General: Mining area for crystals off of the Tosibeere River, Desnind
General: Tosibeere River, Makubwa Lori
General: Tosibeere River legend
General: Tristan is an alchemist, kind, and a weirdo

Loot

Smooth river rocks
6 small clear quartz crystals
Half of a Grossularite Garnet geode

Wealth

NA

Renown

NA

Injuries

NA

Tristan

Tristan is so laid back, and teaching Dula more swears was entertaining to read. He's just so casual about everything it's a little funny, and your style of writing really puts you in his shoes (I am a big fan of limited 3rd as opposed to omniscient). You have a knack for describing things through his eyes so descriptions flow really well. Good job overall!

Points

15

Can be use for magic? Yes or No

Knowledge

Skill
Alchemy: Alchemy isn't alchemy without explosions
Alchemy: How to turn yourself blue
Alchemy: Reagent: Dog's hair
Alchemy: You never know if something is a reagent until you test it
Alchemy: Harvesting crystals for alchemy
Alchemy: A potion that enables you to speak Common fluently?
Alchemy: Potions are always temporary
Endurance: Walking through cold water
Ranged Weapon (Crossbow): Good for shooting things from a distance
Storytelling: How I met a cannibal
Storytelling: What cats talk about
Storytelling: What the Misty Miasma is like

Non
Dula: Alchemist
Dula: Mage
Dula: Doesn't speak Common fluently

Loot

Smooth river rocks
6 small clear quartz crystals
Half of a Grossularite Garnet geode

Wealth

NA

Renown

NA

Injuries

NA