Wild Wild Woods

Rance hummed thoughtfully before answering. “I was happy. I traveled back and forth between home and the towns that bordered the Aurangwy Forest. Did a lot of odd jobs, met a lot of people, human and Hidden.” He hesitated for a moment, then, in a quieter voice added, “There’s a few I’m definitely going to miss.” Not just his family, though he was away from them often enough that any longing for the home nest was mostly worn away by time. But the relationships he’d built, the friendships… the loss of those was only beginning to ache.

“So, yeah. I guess it’s almost a little relieving’ that they’ll never know I’m gone. Or… that I’m not gone.” He made a face, discomfited all over again by the concept that he was some sort of a doppleganger. He glanced over at her, expression still caught mid-wince. “Shit, sorry. Said I wasn’t goin’ to bother with names and then I do anyway.”

MAEA

She shook her head when he apologized, waving it off with a gentle smile. "Don't apologize. I don't need to know where it is to understand that it meant much to you. I am sorry for the connections you've lost. I hope that, in time, you will find others to make up for the pain of it all." Not to replace them, because nothing could do that, but perhaps offer some solace in a strange new world.

"If you need guidance and information, the Loreseeker's Guild will offer you what help they can," Maea went on. "If you need a place to stay while you get your bearings, I know the VlamVloed - the local tavern - has a few spare rooms to offer. You might be asked to work some for the keep, but it's not a bad place. I know the owner well, he is a good man and will not leave you on the street if you ask for help." This time, her smile was warm and affectionate, hinting at some closer relationship than perhaps mere friendship might explain.

"Of course, you are free to come and go as you wish. There is a Queen ruling the Hollowed Grounds, Rexanna, but she and her council don't generally get involved with people's everyday lives."

I'm an angel bored like hell
And you're a devil meaning well

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

He wasn’t quite sure what to do with her sympathy. It almost would have been easier if she’d told him to ‘suck it up’, or something equally as blunt. She couldn’t really understand what he’d lost — he wasn’t sure he understood it yet — but she had obviously dealt with people in similar situations often enough to know what words of comfort to offer. He grunted a nonverbal response that might have been agreement or gratitude. His free hand briefly tightened into a fist.

Again she offered the services of the Loreseeker’s Guild and Rance was tempted by the offer. While there hadn’t been any such guild in his homeland, he’d always been ready and eager to listen to local tales from bards and old farmers alike. This guild sounded much more official than any place he’d been before, certainly more so than a few folktales at a table in the pub. Of course, when Maea actually mentioned the tavern he perked up, turning more of his attention to her. The woods around him might be strange, but taverns were familiar ground. Hearing that there might be room, board, and work available gave him something to cling to, even more so than the promise of information. Rance could sleep outside as a raven if he had to, but he’d learned to enjoy the comforts of a bed and tended fire. He caught her soft expression as she described the tavern owner and filed it away, though more for what it told him about her than for any ulterior motive.  “Work and a place to sleep would be welcome, yeah. I have coin, but I’m assuming it wouldn’t do me much good here?” They were probably nothing more than shiny trinkets now, unless they could be made into something worthwhile melted down.  

“I don’t plan on getting near damned royalty anytime soon, if I can help it.” Human or fae, catching the attention for persons with rank was never a good idea. “Is this tavern near your guild?”

MAEA

Indeed, his currency would not get him far. "Coin?" she asked, and sounded like she had never even heard the term before. "I'm... not sure I know what you mean. But don't worry, I'm sure you will be able to make arrangements to both your liking." Maea rubbed her hand over the back of her neck, under the long, white hair, and glanced at Rance. A surreptitious look, that seemed to try and weigh his character more than appearances or mood. But whatever she might have thought to say, was left unsaid. There were other guilds that might have room for newcomers... but it was not her place to offer them up.

It was a secret she kept for someone else, after all.

"Yes, quite close," she just answered instead. Turning to look ahead, she found that the trees were growing more sparsely up ahead. Perhaps the Greatwood sensed the urgency, or was just keen to spit them back out again, but it appeared to have eased the path for them. Turned their feet about to shorten the road. Beyond the dense woodlands lay an area that was free from all vegetation. A wide scar had been carved through the earth and spread out wide in a line of barren soil. It stretched for miles in every direction, and the ground, the trees, the shrubs on the other side looked somehow grayer than the rest. Faded, as if the soil was somehow poorer, less rich in nutrients.

"Beyond here lies the Hollowed Grounds," Maea said, and pointed to the strip of bare soil. "This line marks where the Barrier used to be. When it still was active, you couldn't get near it... but these days it's very safe. This region is called the Outskirts. In the distance, you should be able to see a black tower; that's the Spire, where The Voice was trapped. The Settlement, where most people live, lies close to the Spire."

There was more to say, of course. There always was, but these were the most basic landmarks to know about.

I'm an angel bored like hell
And you're a devil meaning well

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

Rance’s brows rose at her confusion. “You — don’t have money here?” He huffed what might have been a laugh. “If you have a barterin' system that doesn’t involve random bits of stamped metal, whatever arrangements can be made are already better than anythin' I dealt with when dealin' with humans back home.” No Hidden used coins for trading unless they had to deal with humans on a regular basis. To hear that Caido’s bartering system might not involve a crown-issued currency at all was… actually a bit of a relief.

He tried not to let the small bit of good news go to his head. Maea, for all her friendliness, was obviously still wary of him. Especially, perhaps, when it came to the tavern and its owner. He gave her a crooked smile.

Rance nodded in response to hearing the proximity of the tavern to the guild. If he stayed at the former, then at least it should be, in theory, easy to visit the latter. Any other question he might have had were set aside as the forest ahead of them opened up. What appeared to be a road could be seen past the suddenly vanishing treeline, as if it had been there all along, just out of sight. The transition from verdant greens to a more faded color was a bit jarring to say the least, but Maea was explaining before he had a chance to get alarmed. And as she defined what lay ahead, Rance realized that ‘road’ wasn’t anything nearly so prosaic.

His eyes widened and he stared at the greyer landscape, the dark shadow of the Spire he could see in the distance. “Shit…. When you said your homeland was surrounded by a barrier — well, fuck.” Rance most definitely had not been able to envision the scope of what that had meant. He turned his wide, blue eyes to her. “These Woods really are pretty new to you, huh?”

MAEA

Her smile was almost impish as she nodded, confirming that this 'money' of his indeed was not needed. "You will feel right at home, then. Labor for food, favor for favor, whatever you can spare for anything you might need... that's the way of life in Caido. Just remember that everything comes with a price, and you'll be fine."

Leading the way across the barren soil, she listened to Rance's musings, and nodded absently at his question. "Yes. I never knew there was anything at all outside until half a..  I mean, a year ago. It's... a bit of an adjustment to make. Like something out of a dream."

Maea sighed, looking a little uncomfortable as she reached the other side of the barrier scar, and looked back the way they'd come. Like she was afraid that the green forest would disappear again. But with a shift of the jaw, she straightened and forced the smile back on.

"It will take us the rest of the day to get to the Settlement. Once there, go talk to Sunjata Senzaok, the bar won't be hard to find. I'll fill you in on the necessary things you need to know along the way... and if you ever need help with anything in the future, come seek me out. I'll do what I can." She looked like she meant it, too.

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This might be a good place to wrap up? feel free to finish with your post, and archive ^^

I'm an angel bored like hell
And you're a devil meaning well

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

Her confirmation and advice on how to approach his new life gave him hope for a better start than he would have thought possible after being told that he could never go home. That he didn’t really have a home to go back to. Finding out that the people here traded on the currency of skills and favors was a drop of familiarity in the flood of strange. Even the fact that Maea — and so many others from there, Rance could assume — had been traveling beyond the barriers of her homeland for such a short time was reassuring. Not to mention, there were most certainly others who were new to Caido. Maybe even people from his world?  

”Thanks, Maea. Truly. You could’ve let a feathered bastard keep wanderin’ until the woods decided to dump him in the river, but you didn’t.” He smiled and shifted his pack. He might be a stranger in a strange land, but it was nice to know that he wasn’t alone.

~fin~