Call to Misadventure (blaccbeans)

[Whim]

@blaccbeans

Kai had never been so glad to see Gawain's Fork. It was a cute little village nestled between two hills. It had a tavern and miles of wheat and barley. Really it was just a collection of tiny delapidated cottages, but the road was a lonely place, and Kai never had to travel alone before. Not that the young knight had much choice, of course, no one from home could know about the tail.

The boy sauntered lazily down the dirt road, stopping to return a shy smile with a peasant girl he thought was staring. Hopefully at his pretty face and lithe form, which his embroidered blue duster fit so well. He did love to preen. Soon enough the tavern came into view. "The Plowman's Paddock" - it summed up the town alright. Kai nudged the door open and approached the weatherbeaten barman. "Hi there!" he gave a cheery smile and climbed atop a stool. "I suppose I'll have..."

Well there was mead. One sort. It wasn't bad so Kai dropped a few golden coins on the counter, not really paying attention. Gods the stupid tail was itching now. "Hm. Don't suppose you've got an apothecary or hedge with or anything out here? Feeling a bit off.

"Not that its your mead anything! Just been walking a while in the sun is all."

[blaccbeans]

"You sure sound off," said the barman under his breath and behind squinted eyes. He lugged up a wooden jar of brown liquid and set it down strongly onto the oak counter with a loud thud. "This ought to settle your sorrows. It's mullberry. We's got mullberry and regalur, if you prefer yourself a farmer's beverage." He scratched his head and then wiped his hand off on a tattered brown apron.
"As for witches and themfolk, we's got one of those too. An 'orkle' or what's it be. He's an old fellow up near Togart's hill I think, in a wooden house. 'Mr. Ocks'—can't miss him."

---

Cord bounced in his wagon as it rolled down the hill, trundling along his dirt path towards town square. The hard wood underneath him struck his underside every time the wagon hit one of the multitudes of stones under its wheels but the thrill of rolling down the hill—the brisk wind fluttering at his face and whistling past his ears—left him grinning widely. As he neared the scumble of cottages he quickly gripped onto the wooden break rod and pulled sharply. The wagon came to a messy halt.
"Hey orkle boy," called an old woman—Rumhild Alder—from behind her cottage. She was tilling in the garden, hair covered in a cotton bonnet and hunched over with a hoe.in her hands. "Has you got any word on my herbs yet? They all finished?"
"I don't believe so," Cord called back as he climbed out of the wagon. His bare feet planted into the packed earth.
He rounded to the front if the cart and grabbed hold of the rope lead.
"Uhh," she began with a croaky frog voice, "You wouldn't have any finished herbs like mine in that there cart, would ya boy?" A bony finger pointed at his cart from inside a faded green dress.
"No miss," Cord replied. "These're just some sleeping potions for the Paddock. They placed an order for a refill a while back so—" he paused, "—they were priority. Rumhild opened her mouth as if she were about to crow some more, so he quickly added, "But I'll make sure he finishes yours first when I get back." The old woman smiled toothily and went back to work.
Cord shook his head and continued his trip to the tavern. The heavy wagon followed his pull reluctantly.

[Whim]

"What do you mean off?" Kai twisted to look beneath the bar stool. No way the man would've noticed anything wrong, right? It was hidden nicely beneath his cloak of course. The boy took a swig of the 'mullberry' without thinking. It burned on the way down. He sputtered and gave the barman a rueful look "And What's an orkle?"

The barman chortled. "Easy lad. And a witch, yeah?"

"You mean... sort of an orc-witch?"

"Or-ick-ull!"

Kai hid a smirk, "Oh... oh. Well thanks. Guess I'll go see Mister Ocks then!" No cures worked so far. There was a certain witch-hazel tincture that could clear up transformations though. The youth slid from his bar-stool and made for the door.

***

Kai stepped out into the street as a thickly muscled youth pulled a cart up to the inn. God's that looked like an annoying job.

As the youth approached a gaggle of children paused to watch the farmboy, full of whispers and giggles. "Put another chicken in an egg again!" a ginger boy called out. "Yeah!" came more cheers and laughter.

Kai cracked a smile in passing. "All that talent and still stuck doing chores, huh?"

[blaccbeans]

Cord's​ face flushed beet red and he looked down. His head shrunk into his shoulders, drawing away from the small crowd, and he quickly slipped into the shop's large solid wood door. The burlap sack of potions rested in his cradled arms, and he barely saw in the corner of his eyes a short man in strange clothes.
"Here's your order, mister," he called to the barman as the door creaked close behind him. The warm sun outside that had been beating down on his shoulders hid behind drawn wooden shudders, and the delightful smell of dust on sunlight floorboards helped to lessen the redness of his face. The bulky man behind the counter clapped his hands together once and boomed heartily. "Terrific, absolutely terrific," he roared. His fat cheeks were rosy red. "Why don't you come round back here and place that there sack on this here cupboard, woul' ya."
Cord nodded and walked up to the front desk, carefully setting the sack on to its polished face.
The man stared blankly at the bag for a moment, eyes unfocused.
"Oh," he snapped as he perked back into alertness. "I've got some gold for ya, right one sec..." he wandered off into a room behind the desk. The delicate 'dinks' of thin coins falling onto wood decorated the semi-empty tavern, which was only filled with two old souls sitting off in the corner.
The barman waddled back into the main room with a handful of copper.
"Here ya go, son." He said as he placed it into Cord's outstretched fingers. His large meaty hands were calloused and dry. "Now, could I interest ya in some mulberry, boy? I's got a half a bottle here for just a couple o' those coins right back."
Cord stifled a shy smile and shook his head, muttering "No, thank you." He turned towards the door.
"Hey, uh,... orkle boy," the barman called. Cord turned around.
"There's a fresh prim foreignman out front whose is looking for some witch's fixings. I sent him off over to your orkleman. Since you're here, ya wouldn't mind takin him up withya, would ya son?"
Cord shook his head and smiled behind a nibbled lip. "No, yeah, I can. Is he the one out front?"
The barman nodded deeply, a full arc of the head.
"Alright, yeah, I can. I'll go do that."
He nodded a few times before turning and exiting the front door with a hesitant push.

[Whim]

Kai didn't press he issue after the poor guy blushed. Rough going getting jeered by packs of muddy children. The young man took his time traveling the dirt road. Togart's Hill? Where was that? They didn't exactly have streets signs here. He turned around, to go and get proper directions, when he nearly walked head first into the farm-boy from before.

"Whoa!" he yelped in surprise, turning faintly red "Uh. Sorry. Didn't see you there! I don't suppose you know where Toggart's hill is?"

He averted his eyes. "And sorry about before. Hadn't meant anything by it."

[blaccbeans]

"What?" Cord asked. His eyebrows were screwed. He let go of the rope lead in his hand.
"I-It's all fine," he said, hoping it amassed to cover whatever the man was apologizing for. "You're the one looking for Togart's Hill?"
The expression in the man's face almost made Cord slap himself. "Well of course, you just said so. Sorry, I—" he paused.
"Yeah, follow me right this way."
He grabbed hold of the cart and began down the packed earth road.
"Where are you from?"

[Whim]

"Long day, huh?" Kai cracked a smile at Cord's rather redundant question. "And no I'm not. My family's estate is in Mistlevale. That's up north in Darken Vei. And I'm Kai by the way. Kai Wilding." The older boy extended a hand. He bore a few scratches from swordplay. Quite soft comparison to Cord's calloused grip.

Their path took them out of the village proper and into rolling hills and fields. It smelled like cows. Lots of cows.

[blaccbeans]

Cord pulled his hand away from the shake with a timid smile. He grasped onto the rope lead with both.
"Darken Vei," he said. "That's, uh,..." he droned off. "Far away," he chirped with mustered finality.
He looked off at the fields around them, and the rippling thickets of grass scattered throughout, and took a deep breath. The gravel crunched under their feet.
"What're you here for?—I mean, what brings you here. Are you just passing through?"

[Whim]

((Had a little free time at lunch!))

Just a little far..." Kai replied. He didn't think it was far at all. Just a bit north really. But for a farmhand it surely was! "And  yup. I'm want to go to Arca. I'm trying to find a proper wizard to help me figure something out..." the boy blushed, trailing off with embarrassment. Stupid tail was itchy too!

"You lived here all your life?" he nodded to the jangling bottles in the back of the cart. "Dairy, huh?"

[blaccbeans]

"Nah," Cord said. "Well yeah, and uh, no. Yeah, I've lived here my whole life and no, I work for the Oracle. He's up on the hill over there." He pointed up a shallow ridge overlooking a few fields, at a wooden and clay house. Loose cobblestone from it's foundation dotted the surrounding grass. "We—well, he—does mostly just herb mixing and potions I guess. To sell around town and to people whenever they pass through like you."
His mouth cracked open to continue, but the words stopped before the could even come out. Biting his lip he asked, "wWhat are you looking for?"

[Whim]

"Uh! Well-I'm-going-to-Arca-to-get-a-family-curse-cured! And uh, thought the witch here might have something for it..." Kai blurted out, looking like a child made to swallow some awful vegetable. The youth ran a hand through his bird's nest of hair, and cleared his throat after a pregnant pause, "So that's why they called you oracle-boy? Are you learning from him?" His traveling companion was rather striking for an ordinary farmhand.

The footpath up to the cottage was gnarled and jagged with old stones and severed tree-roots. Flowery symbols were painted on some of the retaining walls in faded blue paint. Kai suddenly felt a whinge of guilt. "I didn't take you out of your way did I? You want me to take your cart for a bit?" He didn't want to be the sort to strut around in a fancy coat while Cord did all the work.

[blaccbeans]

"Oh no, you don't have to; you'll ruin your coat," Cord said dismissively. "And well, this is what I'm paid to do, anyway." He looked away to the crumbling walls of the handful of cottages lining the path, sparing a passing glance at his last week with Allen fading away on their white faces. After a few moments of silence, the only sound being the trundling of the wooden wagon and the crunching of the gravel underfoot, they passed the dissipating memories on the walls and were approaching brisk reality atop the gentle hill.
With a final tug on his wagon, the two boys crested the last wooden step, reaching—with a surpressed pant—the measly front door to the Oracle's shack.
It was a larger cottage, made of white clay, toothy oak planks, and mottled cobble at the base. Cord could see the window to his room widely opened in the second floor.
"You can head on inside," he said as he exhaled against his wagon. "I'm going to bring this out behind back."
He leaned forward and outstretched his hand, gesturing into the building. "The sitting room is right at the entrance—well, right to the left—so you can wait there. I, will be in in a second."

(OOC: during your next turn please don't introduce Mr. Ocks into the story; I have kinda a storyline thing in mind, so i have a certain way I wanna introduce them. But other than that Kai can do whatever; go inside, follow cord, jump down the hill because he's been filled with the holy ghost hallelujah, etc. And once you get a feel for Mr. Ocks then you can control them too if you'd like.
Also, apologies for the weird grammar in Cord's dialogue. I don't read much honestly, so I don't really know how to replicate different speech pattern into written words. It's all just me reaching out blindly hoping I get it right. I hope you can understand it! Every time I reread it it makes no sense jfkdkdmf. Also sorry if this post sounded pretty bland and/or low quality. I'm really tiresd rn haha.
Oh also cord forgot to reply to Kai's question about if he works for the Oracle so maybe Kai can ask him again if he's curious about it.)

[Whim]

"Well if you don't need the help..." Kai called after Cord. The farmboy seemed lost in thought, so he didn't push the issue. Three knocks and he entered. "Hello?" Someone was definitely home. The cottage was filled with cooking smells, but it was hard to see much of anything. Bushels of dried herbs hung from the ceiling, and untidy bookshelves lined the hallways. Kai nearly bumped his head on a trio of enormous, violet onions, and had to leap over a bookstack. Was the sitting room to the left or the right again?

Kai made a right. This was not a sitting room. Or if it was it wasn't very welcoming. It looked like a small, cramped library with an old mirror at the very center. The boy lingered in the doorway, pausing to straighten his hair.

***

It perhaps took Cord a bit of time to navigate the yard. A patch of giant pumpkins left it very difficult to tidy. The boy had just dropped off the wagon when he felt...  a freezing sensation atop his scalp? A quick glance in a nearby water trough would reveal his black curls had turned... white. White and rimed with frost!


(OOC: Sure thing. I hope my embellishments on the cottage are in line.)

[blaccbeans]

Cord's eyes widened like owls as he began to hyperventilate. His rapid breaths wheezed in and out of his clenched teeth and he scrambled to put his hands in the water. Quickly, while spitting an infantile assortment to curses, he ran his wet hands through his frostbit hair. It poked at him and was stiff like spines, the curls snapping in half when he pushed at them. The lukewarm water stung at his scalp as it turned freezing cold upon contact. But despite all this, when he checked back into the trough, his hair was still a frozen as before.
He'd been gone for a while already, having left the abandoned visitor probably lost in the confusing maze of messy corridors inside.
He wiped his frosted hands off on the back of his britches and spotted his farming hat hanging on the wall. He reached out and snatched it off it's wooden rack, and he fit it over his silverstreaked curls hastily. They were stiff against his head.
Taking a deep breath, he paced into the house through the back door. As he veneered towards Othneilia's room, however, he slammed directly into the taut back of the visitor with full force. A yelp escaped his lips, and he stood dumbfounded at the scene he had drawn himself into.

[Whim]

In front of the mirror stood a frowning boy. Behind it was the image of a mule in a coat... it's face vaguely reminiscent of Kai's. That wasn't good!

"Gah!" Kai yelped in surprise as something slammed into him. The youth pitched forward and spun around. It was Cord. Kai's gaze lingered on the boy as there was something unusual about him. He was wearing a hat indoors for one. And the hat seemed to not so much cover his hair, his silver hair, but sit atop it.

"Oh hey! And sorry I got... turned around. Nice mirror you've got." he cracked a nervous smile. "So you just throw that hat in and call yourself the wise oracle?"

[blaccbeans]

Cord stared at him.
"What?" He asked. He paused a moment, thick eyebrows skewed, before a shallow grin spread across his face.
"Oh," he said as he looked down at Kane's chest with a florid smile. "Nah, it's just my gardening hat. I left it outdoors so I was taking it in. I, uh,..." he craned his neck to look down the narrow hall, at the wooden steps at the end, "will go get Mr. Ocks for you."
He started off down the hall before stopping midstep and slowly turning around. "Actually, let me show you the waiting room first," he said with a waning laugh. He walked down the hall past Kane, reaching his hand out and gesturing to follow.
"Right here," he said once he reached the end of the hall. To the left was a small room of wooden benches and an empty fireplace.
"I'll be right back."
He spun down the hall and vanished up the staircase with heavy thumps on the old stairs.

He reappeared in the hallway a few minutes later, preceding a cloaked figure in faded brown robes. The Oracle, Mr. Ocks, stood three inches taller than the boy beside, covered from head to toe in plain garments and face hidden behind a foreign, ominous mask. Cord himself still felt as if it were the face of an ancient dread god, staring him down from the evil, ravenous depths of the earth underground.
It's hollow black eyes stared emptily ahead at the visitor before them.
"Hello," said a worn voice from behind the mask, sinking down into the stomachs of both Cord and Kane and deeply rooting itself in their cores. "Tell me,...." it croaked, "what brings you here?"

(OOC: BTW, me calling him "Kane" is on purpose)

[Whim]

Kai trotted after Cord... giving his frosted hair another strange look but keeping quiet. Oh. It was just to the left. The parlour itself sported a bench and pair of rocking chairs by the hearth. Ordinary Serenian woodwork. But the rug was Essrynni, there was a cactus in a pot carved from dragonbone, and an assortment of Yoreiqi masks hung on the wall. Mr. Ocks was not some farmer who mixed potions.

Kai stood up with the farmboy returned with the masked figure. "Hullo Mister Ocks. I'm Kai wilding, of Mistlevale." He looked between the pair. Ordinarily he might've been more at ease if Cord had left the room. Last thing he wanted was a boy his own age snickering over the hex. Mr. Ocks' rasping whisper and otherworldly mask made him think twice.

"Um, well... I'm trying to get a curse broken. It was cast by some... local  god you see. All for an accident. My family's wizard couldn't manage so I'm on my way to Arca to find another. Thought you might be able to help. Or, uh, witch hazel also keeps it at Bay..." he rambled, speaking in vagaries. Of course any proper wizard knew there wasn't some singular charm that could break any and all curses. They were awfully specific.


(OOC: Hah. Sure. Cord not paying attention or is something else afoot?)

[blaccbeans]

The Oracle approached the young man standing before him, waving a hand behind his back at Cord.
"Leave us," he said. The black haired boy nodded and, after lingering a moment, left the room.
The Oracle walked forward slowly, his stare unwavering.
"What, exactly, was this curse," he asked, a dry, sandy hiss escaping from his lips as he uttered the final syllable.
"Of what nature was the god , you say, who placed...it"

(OOC: just Cord being dafty haha)

[Whim]

Kai gulped, trying to look the oracle in the eye as he spoke. The masks vacant, painted gaze was not reassuring. With a sigh the boy took off his jacket. Beneath he  wore a silken tunic tucked into dyed linen britches. He was the picture of a pretty young hero but for one detail. A ropey donkey's tail poked through a hole in his pants.

"When I got made a mage-squire they asked me to help clear evil spirits from an old Barrow. Wanted to put fields by it..." he explained his journey through the barrow. The walking dead inside. How an old man came to court three times begging the old tombs be left be. Of course who would remember the dead if everyone starved?

"Do on the third day he showed himself to be a faun. Thornycrown. He gave me a whole lecture on how I'd be of more help if I worked the land like a mule..." Kai gave a heavy sigh, more of a childish pout really. "And that was that. I did what I could to make amends. Court wizard tried to break the hex but it just grew back at dawn. Even tried to call him back and apologize.

"We think we was some old god of harvests. Or justice. Or maybe orchards?" the youth gave a shrug... watching the mask for any he might be helpful.

As Kai was a rather loud talker, if a certain farmboy was feeling curious, he could surely eavesdrop...

[blaccbeans]

"Thorncrown," the Oracle murmured. He rounded the young man to stand behind him.
The donkey tail hung right out in the open.
"I must say," the Oracle said as he bent over to closely observe the foreign body party, "this is rather strange. Have you noticed any signs of the growthage...spreading?"

---

Cord had scampered up the staircase to the attic, ready to turn a few drying pieces of leatherroot and roll some hazelweed into thin, birch tissue. At the top of the stairs stood the wooden ladder leading up to the storage and drying chambers.
He took a worn rung in his hands, feeling the polished surfaces where he often gripped.
He pictured the boy alone with Othnielia, probably uneased in the greatest. A blip of sympathy rose in his heart.
Cord stuck a hand under his hat idly, massaging his thawing scalp, and stared off at a cloud of dust trapped in a sunbeam, swirling and dancing so slightly it probably never would have been noticed. It was a tiny hint of beauty so oddly endearing once beheld that he found himself staring into it inexplicably.
It was so mundane, yet so charming. He couldnt understand why.
He let go of the ladder and walked back down the stairs to the mirror in the wall, which hung just outside the closed doors to the sitting room. He found his face sitting in the glass, staring back at him with his deep brown eyes, water droplets hanging over his thick eyebrows, his black curls damp and shiny.
"...old god of hard vests,..." the visitor's voice said from behind the doors. Cord leaned back and hung by the door.
"...Torn clown, I must stay,..." Othnielia croaked through the wall.
"...signs of the growthage spreading?"
Cord drew his brows, his ears perking to the muffled words. He scooted closer to the door.

(OOC: what if, perhaps, Cord's magic flares again? I would write it up but my phone is at 3% and the charger won't work so I'll post it unfinished for convenience sake. You can just add that in at your own desire)