Clovius and beyond

[Alberich]

"Careful!" said Tim, discouraging the kobold from waving by gestures. (He didn't grab her arms as he might've done otherwise, not after he'd been so stern with Therese on the same point.)

"If Therese is right, these ignorant people believe in scary wolf monsters that don't exist. They might think you're a monster, which is totally stupid and untrue, and start shooting at you. Better for us to stay out of their sight."

Despite her previous effort to kill him, Tim admired the kobold's courage, sensibility, and loyalty to the team. He would be glad to fight with her, back to back, against anyone in Clovius if he had to. He just didn't want to have to.

[Drusia]

"Asher! Come quickly!" As if spring-loaded, the face of what appeared to be about a 10-year-old boy poked around the door at the back of the room. "We have an emergency trip to Clovius to make," Jeri commanded. "Go prepare the wagon and hook up the reindeer right away." "Yes, mama," the boy answered, and darted through the door.
"You've come to the right place," Dvorah consoled Desiree while Jeri busied herself brewing a hot beverage that might or might not have been tea. "We're well connected in Clovius, we can get there yet tonight if we hurry, our reindeer are fast ..." And Jeri joined the conversation.
"We'll find you a husband before the night is through."

Oh crap. This is getting rapidly out of hand. How can I politely refuse?

"Oh, um, thank you," I say, "But I'm actually promised to someone. That's actually why we're heading to Clovius."

I pause and smile. "But my companions and I would love an escort. There's no hurry, though - tomorrow would be fine. We don't want to put anyone out."

There. Hopefully that will prevent them from attempting to sell me into marriage.

-- Desiree

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Awww ... just think of the fun Desiree could have had on a husband-huntingmeat-market expedition to Clovius. But yes, this response was more in character, so ...]

The two villagers' faces went from horrified sympathy to delight almost instantaneously. "Wonderful!" Jeri exclaimed. "I'd think a beautiful young thing like you should have quite the dowry coming! I --"

Dvorah nudged her friend in the ribs. "A little personal there. Anyway, no trouble at all: we need to run a wagon into the city for supplies anyway." She turned and yelled out the window in a voice no less stentorian than Jeri's. "Ebenezer! Come in here, please!"

Some seconds later, a very tall, very old man hobbled through the front door on a cane. "Yes'm?" he said, quietly checking out the newcomer in the process.

"This girl is betrothed, bless the Holy One," Dvorah said. "She and her friends want to go to Clovius tonight. See to it, please."

"Yes'm," the old man repeated, and hobbled out the door.

------------

Sister Rose and Therese took all this in from their cover (at least the parts of it happening outside the house), and watched the old man make his laborious way to where the wagon was getting hitched up. "Well," Rose said, "this feels a lot better than I thought it was going to. I think we're good to make contact. Best manners, everybody." The group started to move out.

[Alberich]

Seeing that Rose and Therese had not gone far forward, so that Rose could address everyone at once, Tim asked the question that was on his mind: "What about Tamina? If these people believe in werewolves and attack them on sight, are they going to be spooked when they see her?" Since Therese seemed to have an intimate knowledge of these Clovians' culture and mythology, he figured she would give the definitive answer.

[Drusia]

OOC: I think Desiree is just going to smile and try not to upset anyone. And she's really hoping the others show up soon (or she's taken to go meet them or something).

[Jack Rothwell]

"We're... wolves?" Tamina queried at Tim's words. "... but we're not wolves. You're yoo-...ahh, hu-mans, Dezzy's a half-elf n' I'm a Killikah gah!"

[Graybeard]

"... but we're not wolves. You're yoo-...ahh, hu-mans, Dezzy's a half-elf n' I'm a Killikah gah!"

"We know that," Therese said as the group started forward, "but they may not. Low profile here." Or: back, back, you waves.

Dvorah, Jeri and Desiree were emerging from the house, the latter with a look on her face that suggested to Sister Rose that many unsaid things had transpired in the brief conversation. I'll have to ask her about that later. For the moment, she simply listened politely as the two villagers repeated their introduction. The cue was easy enough to pick up; she responded, "I am Rose, wife of Argus." (Well, that was close enough to true, and by the standards of the Confederacy, might even be true. Besides, Argus was far enough in the background that his blush wouldn't be obvious. The "Rosa" alias seemed unnecessary now.)

Therese nodded, shook out her hair. "I am Therese. My mate died prematurely some years ago, unfortunately."

Dvorah's and Jeri's facial expressions dimmed a bit. "Oh, that's so sad. But don't worry, you can find another one in Clovius, there are many good men there. Ebenezer?" She didn't wait for Tim, Argus and Tamina to introduce themselves, which was probably just as well.

The tall man had the wagon ready to go, and young Asher was now hauling piles of beaver pelts out of a storage shed and putting them in back, some to make the wooden benches easier to sit on, most destined for trade, apparently. Not sure Harker's going to like that, Rose thought, but then she caught herself; according to both Argus and Miguel, Harker hadn't been particularly affected by accounts of the weird death of the giant swamp beaver in Heamish, and he'd tangled with another beaver or two as well. No, it shouldn't be a problem. "Well, thank you so much for your kindness," she told the two women. Then to the others: "Let's go." Before they ask too many questions about a Veracian priest, a Tsuirakuan mage who I may not be as married to as I suggested, and not least, a kobold.

[Alberich]

Tim, like Rose, had the idea that drawing attention to himself or Tamina could do no good at all. So he said and did as little as possible.

[Graybeard]

With passengers and furs loaded onto the wagon, old Ebenezer hobbled to the seat at the front -- is he just old and lame, or is that a partially withered leg that I detect? Sister Rose wondered -- and the group set off.

The reindeer, she was surprised and pleased to note, powered the wagon along at a fairly fast clip. The wagon and the road itself were both in surprisingly good shape, considering the reputation of the northern tier of the Confederacy. With the long hours of daylight up here, they might easily make thirty miles today, or even more. She had no way of knowing how far ahead of them Clovius was, but making it there tonight seemed entirely realistic. Even better, they were clearly losing elevation, and the forest was thinning and turning to scrub. It should be possible to see hazards -- like, say, a band of trolls -- far enough away to make preparations.

Buoyed by these observations, Rose relaxed for the first time in several days, and lay her head softly on Argus' shoulder, the one that had been calcifying until not very long ago. For a good while, neither of them spoke, although Rose was considering breaking the silence, at least mentally. Would this be a good time to tell him? she wondered. He's going to be surprised -- pleased, I think, but still surprised. No, probably not yet. I'm still not completely sure myself. Better wait until --

A soft but sudden whisper from Therese interrupted her reveries.

"Uh, don't stare," the tall woman said almost too softly to hear, "but have you noticed that our driver here has curiously long and pointed ears? Half elf or elf, I can't be sure which, but just the fact that I can't be sure -- well, it bothers me."

----------------

Up front, Ebenezer was chatting up Desiree, whom Dvorah and Jeri had carefully installed in the right-hand seat -- the place of honor for one betrothed, they'd said.

"So," the old man said, "I can see that you're not from around here." He smiled. "I'm not either." He smoothed back his long, gray, but surprisingly luxuriant hair, and revealed to Desiree those selfsame pointed ears.

[Drusia]

As we're loading up, I give Rose a quick mental update. <"These women seem to be very intent on marriage. I've claimed to have a fiancee, and that our journey to Clovius relates to meeting him, but I've been careful not to specify if he is located there or south of there."> There, that should do it. If Rose has any other questions for me, I'm sure she can ask in the same way.

"So," the old man said, "I can see that you're not from around here." He smiled. "I'm not either." He smoothed back his long, gray, but surprisingly luxuriant hair, and revealed to Desiree those selfsame pointed ears.

I blink in surprise, then smile in true, relieved pleasure for the first time since... a while now, actually. Another half-elf. It's been so long... since Lillith left.

"No, I'm from quite a bit south of here," I reply. Considering our location, I could easily mean Santuriel, and I have no problem if he assumes that. From the look of his leg, he isn't from Snamish. Unless that was caused by an injury.

"I wasn't expecting to see anyone like me around here," I add, brushing some hair away from my eyes in such a fashion as to indicate my ear to him but not to anyone else who might be watching or listening.

I start to ask if there are others - perhaps a northern colony of half-elves, one my mother might not even know about - but I stop myself before I do so. This isn't home, I remind myself. As pleasant as another half-elf colony might be, it won't be Snamish. They won't have any room for a Priestess of an elven god anymore than they would in Santuriel. And they'll have sick - lots of sick, most of them plagued with illnesses from birth. I'm not sure I could deal with something that heartbreaking just now. No - better to enjoy a pleasant conversation in pleasant company, and then continue on my way home.

Instead, I ask "How is it you came to be living out here?" I am careful to keep my tone curious and not accusatory or scornful - I want to make sure there's no implication that I find anything objectionable about living here.

-- Desiree