Harvest's End

[Raydo]

Jalik's Crossing

Spoiler: Map

The last of the harvest had been brought in earlier in the week and the town and quickly shifted its focus to the Harvest Festival. It was the highlight of the year for the otherwise rather sleepy and boring village Jalik's Crossing. Farmers and those from around the region would come and have one last celebration before everyone hunkered down for winter.

The Influx of people had kept Relin busy as those came to the church to pay homage to Pelor or seek medical attention of some type. While Relin had been taught how to use divine magic for healing, they still relied mostly upon natural remedies for sickness, only calling on their god when absolutely necessary. With their supplies drained, Relin had been sent to the local apothecary to fetch supplies they had ordered several days ago before he was free for the day.

He stepped into the small shop and waited to get the attention of Jacquelyn, who lived here with her father. While they rarely interacted outside of business, Relin had always felt similar to her in many ways. She had been withdrawn, robbed early of he childhood after a mob had accused and hung her mother of witchcraft. Relin, with his parents gone as well, had never enjoyed much of a childhood either, his time spent studying or duties at the church. "Hi Jacquelyn" he said somewhat awkwardly. (@Herrith) "I see you are busy as well." he said noting the somewhat emptier shelves.

"Are you coming out for the festival today?" he asked as his order was fetched.

Spoiler: OOC Note and Tags

So this thread probably has too many people but at the very least it can let characters get introduced to one another and if it gets bogged down we can split off from there. We don't all have to be congregated together at the start. I plan on events pulling them together as the thread progresses in a few posts.

@Taz @Die Shize @Herrith @Aurius @Sreeya

 

[Herrith]

The apothecary's house was as boring as ever.

Mix this root with that powder, then toss it into a boiling pot of water for three hours...after that, check the books again, make another worthless potion, and hope that someone would purchase it with good intent in mind. As for now, the shelves lay mostly empty, save for the more niche interests of the alchemical. Right now she was just trying to restock enough to allow for the sick and lacking of fortune to be able to buy something, keep the apothecary in business, and stay alive in general. The door opened with a loud creak, and she turned around from the pot to see who had entered, finding a familiar figure entering the room. Ah, right. The order. Jacquelyn let the pot mix as she reached under the tall table to drag out a crate of medicine, most aimed for healing and knight-related tasks. Nothing different from what they usually ordered. Her father was out and about, probably drunk in a tavern or causing a scene at the festival.

Ever since her mother had died, she had had to tend to most of the chemical processes here, while her father went off to try and forget his own name. Though he did sometimes lend a hand with the more difficult to reproduce experiments. She lifted up the crate to the table with a strained grunt and slid it to the other side while Relin continued his banter. She had a very clear sense of urgency in her voice. It was best to get back to work soon.

"Hello, Relin. Everything you need is in this crate. My father isn't here, so I can handle the payment, unless there's some kind of other deal I haven't heard about?"

She nodded before ducking under the table again, retrieving a couple rolls of paper and setting them down next to the large book that she used for all the new mixtures that had to be made at times. It didn't contain all the information required, though, so some experimentation was at times necessary. Evident by the recent charred wood on top of the table.

"As for the festival, I'm quite busy here, so perhaps not. But then again, it all depends on how many people happen to be sick."

She turned arpund to face the fire again, making sure nothing was about to explode. They seemed to be fine for now.

(@Raydo )

 

[Raydo]

She seemed disinterestedly busy as she went about her work and Relin didn't want to burden her further. "Just gold for supplies." he said, smiling as he dug out the coin pouch he had been given at the church for the order. He slid across the counter as the coins inside jingled against one another.

He hefted the box of supplies. It was not light and Relin was already not looking forward the walk back across town to the church. "I can definitely understand that. It would be a shame if the rest of the village got to enjoy themselves and you were stuck here." he said as he turned to leave. His father had tried more than once to show Relin how to make basic medicines from the plants around the area, but he had no knack for it. It was costing the church more money for him to do the work than it was just to pay Jacquelyn and her father.

"If you run out sick people and decide to be a glutton for more work, there have been more than a few that stop by the church." he said on his way out. Many people didn't worship Pelor, but most did in the village. His was the only church to establish a presence this far out, but more than a few worshiped the old gods of the forest as well.

"Let us know if we can do anything to help you, we definitely owe for getting this so quickly." he said holding up the box."Hopefully I'll see you around sometime today." he said before reaching the door. If she didn't say anything else he would exit and make the short trek back across town.

@Herrith

 

[Die Shize]

The Driftwood Knight

Spoiler

Spoiler

Name: Ser Cadrian the Driven, the Driftwood Knight

Age: 23

Occupation: Hedge knight (or knight-errant)

Hometown: Vineswick

Abilities: Adept swordsman, uses sword and shield combination or two-handed grip, skilled in survival in and out of combat

Equipment: Longsword (or “bastard sword”), heater shield, dagger x2

Backstory: Cadrian is from the town of Vineswick located about fifty miles west of Jalik’s Crossing. An orphan, he was trained as a knight in the castle Oakenhall, the seat of House Bronzewood over Vineswick. Bereft of surname, he decided to make a name for himself by becoming a hedge knight. No mere mercenary, Cadrian began forging a circuit of service to lords and lessers as he wandered the lands, letting his sword lead the way.​

​

Ambience

Spoiler

https://tabletopaudio.com/
"Mill Town"

​

Jalik’s Crossing. It had been as simple a village as the simplest child might imagine, with mornings risen with a farmer’s sun and evenings fallen with a moon above a tavern. A quaint little settlement, quiet and out of the way, with the kind of tranquility that a person was unlikely to find in a bustling city. Cadrian had seen his fair share of both, but this would be his first time at the Crossing, with the Harvest Festival an all too timely occasion.

Hooves clicked off of the wooden bridge as the chestnut mare trotted onward. The day’s sunlight sent a warmth that wrapped around the man’s features beside a breeze that tickled his beard. It was hard not to smile, more so when a huddle of giggling girls had caught his arrival and imagined what that could lead to. He might have pinched his hood if it were up but settled for a wink in greeting. The women dispersed and the man trotted onward.

This was no knight in shining armor who sat in saddle with a squire following behind but, in steel more difficult to maintain on one’s lonesome, he was a knight nonetheless. A hedge knight; a wandering knight without a master, either out of poverty or preference. For this one, it was the latter. Ser Cadrian the Driven had been at his profession for a handful of years now, touring the lands in search of service and employment, and so far things had gone well enough.

It was a good life, traveling the grounds without having to worry about returning to a lord, exploring the wake of the world on offer. Much like Jalik’s Crossing, it had been an overall casual enough existence that he had even come to don a fiddle over one side of his saddle where a longsword did not hang. Hopefully, only one of those instruments would need to come out today, ideally the one with strings.

Traversing the path into the Crossing proper, the songs of birds seemed to fill the village amid a mingled chorus of conversations, with residents and strangers like Cadrian sporting smiles of their own and taking to activity. Whether one was setting up for the festivities or already taken to them, there was plenty to go around. The short street was lined with vendors and laborers, with calls of lemon cakes and salt pork exchanged between the thuds of wood axes and the creaking of a mill. There was nothing quite like it.

As convenient as ever, the stables was stationed beside the tavern. A black iron sign in the shape of a tortoise swayed lazily beneath a wooden board that read “Inn at the Crossing”. Unsurprisingly, the place was teeming with life, with mugs colliding and laughter emanating from all manner of folk. Cadrian caught how contagious that was as the thought of meat and mead filled his belly. He halted his mare and dismounted, patting her on the neck and paying the stableboy a few extra coins to feed and groom his friend while he sought the same sustenance for himself.

With that, the hedge knight strolled toward the inn’s entrance, offering the odd nod and wave to whoever met his gaze. The weight of his armor was a foreign thing, though he did look forward to sinking his travel-worn body in a chair, retrieving his fiddle and letting music and a mug of ale entertain him—just in case no one else might.

 

[Herrith]

Jacquelyn gladly took the gold pouch and stuck it into a drawer as Relin picked up the box of medicine, knowing just how much strain he was going to be putting himself through if he kept waiting and trying to make friends. She had a load more potions to complete, and even then there was always stocking up for the next week or day...sometimes this field of study was just so stressful. Especially when Dad was off looking for trouble. Or worse, a woman that'd be willing to earn a few extra coins...he just hadn't been the same once Mum had died and been left to rot.

She nodded, coming back into focus as Relin expressed his two cents before offering extra work at his place of worship as well as a favor. He walked out, and she let herself sigh before turning back to the pot. Probably another two hours, or more, until this would be done. And then there was more work..but then again, her father wasn't doing a damn thing to help her, so she could complain to him about that if he got angry. The girl let out an explosive sigh and went back to her work, wondering how she could manage even making it to the festival in the first place. Or what to wear.