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Post by Circe on Feb 19, 2021 20:02:49 GMT -6
"So you're naming the horse Nobody?" Catherine asked, suddenly even more confused by this human turned fledgling vampire. Names for animals in her experience were generally chosen based on nebulous qualities and a bond experienced between the two; owner and animal. Though granted she really had no idea how Pyrebone had gotten his name, her father had never really explained that one and she had never thought to ask. "Interesting choice for a horse." She added before clucking at her horse and tugging gently on its reins, who was currently more interested in roadside weeds than anything else.
"Better than the last one by far." Catherine would soon admit that it was better than the first name he had come up with for the horse. The mage didn't seem to have much of a knack for anything beyond magic and battles, and that worried her. The current landscape they were in would sooner be more inhospitable than anything else. They were far from the comfortable rooms of the estate, and even further from the lush oppulence of the Queen's palace. This was truly wild territory.
"If you want to stop, we'll stop. Just be prepared." She added.
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Post by demikara on Feb 19, 2021 20:08:15 GMT -6
"You're right. It's a terrible name. I'll think of something, Horse." He assured the horse as he sought out the tavern. "We can keep going of course, if there's farther to go. I'm not sure if this is the town you intended on us stopping in after all." There would be more than one town he was sure of it. It was a nice enough town. Picturesque. Most of the fae realm was that way. It was all nice enough, but he admitted to rather preferring Dallas to the quiet of the fae realm. He still had trouble sleeping nights because of how different everything else sounded out here.
He slept best at the ranch, which didn't have the sound of traffic, but it did have the comforting feel of his own magic spread far and wide, so it felt most like home. "I admit, I'm not sure how much farther we'll be going. And the food in this realm is always so delicious."
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Post by Circe on Feb 19, 2021 20:25:52 GMT -6
"And that mage, is an equally terrible name." Catherine stated. The man was absentminded at best, and often as far as she could tell still thought of himself as human. "Where do you even come up with these things?" She asked as they slowly crested the next hill. The horses were tired after a long day, and it would likely do to rest them and see to them before anything else.
Below them lay a small village, nestled snugly into the valley between two mountains. The smell of woodsmoke drifted up on a cool breeze that bore the promise of an even colder night to come. No doubt that by the next morning there would be a heavy frost, leading an even more etherial look to everything.
"This is our last stop. We'll stay at the Inn in town tonight before going just a bit further out towards the northern edge of the settlement where our hosts are."
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Post by demikara on Feb 19, 2021 20:32:50 GMT -6
"I've never named so much as a gold fish before." He protested. "I just don't have any practice at it." Naming the horse was a big decision. Not in the scheme of things of course, and he rather doubted Catherine would even keep the horse around once he was gone, but names were important things and the horse would have this one at least as long as he was in the fae realm.
"That not too bad in terms of travel." He could do without the saddle sores he basically permanently had, but he had gotten used to those at least. It wasn't ideal, but it was what it was. He admired the town as he pinpointed the inn easily enough. He had gotten used to the looks of buildings on this trip at least. It was definitely different than his last foray into the fae realm. "I think this is it?" He wasn't 100% sure, but it looked like an inn at least and that was something.
"There's a stable attached at least, and it's big enough." In comparison to the other buildings of course. Everything here was much smaller than it was back in Texas.
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Post by Circe on Feb 19, 2021 20:43:15 GMT -6
"Yes, this is it." Catherine answered as she signaled to her horse to stop. The inn was a medium sized stone building, with a thickly thatched roof, shuttered windows that held panes of glass comprised of small circles and diamonds.
Dismounting from her own horse, she said nothing to Tyrus's protests against his ineptitude when it came to naming things. Her concern was more on keeping her own shields up and intact as tired as she was. The journey had been long, several days if not nearly a week long. With only Tyrus and two horses for company, she had quickly found herself retreating into her mind and own thoughts. But despite this, there was still an ever present anxiety that what if they were found out and any other manner of what ifs.
"Keep your shields up the best you can, they will likely be curious.. but also will test you."
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Post by demikara on Feb 19, 2021 20:48:39 GMT -6
He nodded and dismounted, leading his horse to the stable and finding a stall for her to wait in. They'd have to pay for that as well, of course, but it wasn't that big of a deal, and the horse needed somewhere safe to spend the night. "I'll do my best." And his best was pretty good. At least, it worked against Grigore's surface probes, and that was the worst he had ever really dealt with. Catherine had been downright gentle when she had taught him the basics after all. "I suppose we do stick out though. It makes sense they'd test us some."
The coloration alone marked them as different. He still wasn't used to having white hair, but he knew his skin color at least was brown and not an particular shade of blue and he wasn't covered in curious marking like everyone here was. "Two rooms or one?" He didn't mind sharing, but it would be good to know if they were going to need to share.
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Post by Circe on Feb 19, 2021 21:00:16 GMT -6
"Oh, I think you'll find we stick out less than you think and a room depends on what they have." Catherine commented as she pushed the door of the inn open. The inside of the inn was decorated with wood panels and exposed beams running across the ceiling. A few tables were scattered about, with more people similar to the child seated about them and conversing among themselves. Some of the patrons had white hair like Catherine and Tyrus did, and some even had a human skin tone. It seemed that for the Novori, that their coloring had a rather mixed range, much like humans did. But instead of browns and pinks, they seemed to shift more towards blues and greys.
It didn't take long before the curious probes began though, assaulting the pair. Outsiders were unusual things and often travelers didn't stop in the village for fear of the strangeness that resided in the town amongst its residents.
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Post by demikara on Feb 19, 2021 21:04:52 GMT -6
Well they certainly hadn't taken long to begin testing his shield had they? Tyrus focused on keeping his shields up, letting Catherine handle the details of their stay. They were polite probes and responded kindly when he mentally shooed them off, but it still wasn't something he was used to. The only other telepaths he had dealt with were Catherine and Grigore and neither were quite this gentle. Oh Catherine was close enough, but he knew he had frustrated her and that tended to bleed through. Grigore was not remotely gentle though and didn't appreciate Tyrus maintaining his shields at all.
They didn't stick out as much as Tyrus had feared though and he relaxed a bit on realizing that. He was used to standing out. Most men in the human realm didn't wear their hair anywhere near as long as he wore his. But it felt different now, with white hair like this.
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Post by Circe on Feb 20, 2021 15:27:56 GMT -6
While Tyrus focused on keeping his shields up and also fending of the curious inquiries of others in the Inn, Catherine secured them a room for the night. "Good news, they have a room. But... only one." She told him once she rejoined him. It had been a laborious process sorting everything out, and there had been a good deal of gesturing and pointing. This far out in the realm the language had moved at a glacial pace and the words used tended to be more obscure and old fashioned. They were using a dialect that had forked from the original fae some time ago, and while she could communicate and get a point across, it wasn't easy. The language elsewhere had drifted overtime to something a bit more modern, but isolated areas like this had yet to experience it.
More than likely this had to do with the fact that day to day she spoke plain English, and anything else was a rarity it seemed.
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Post by demikara on Feb 20, 2021 15:58:24 GMT -6
"That's fine." He had shared rooms before, during college and during their last stay in the fae realm. It would hardly be the first time. And this one, hopefully, would have enough room to move around in. It certainly wouldn't be as bad as sharing a room with Pwyll had been at least. "I'm just glad they have a room." It could have been a lot worse after all. They could have ended up camping outside of town for another night. That was definitely something he didn't want to end up doing.
"Let's get some food. Preferably before I get a headache by fending off probes." Though surely their curiosity would be sated soon enough.
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Post by Circe on Feb 20, 2021 16:16:35 GMT -6
"You're going to have to get used to it, Tyrus." Catherine commented. She was just as tired herself, likely due to what she wasn't getting in her diet versus what she was. But she had been there before and would likely be there again given the strange circumstances she constantly found herself in. "But in the meantime, I'll order us something to eat." She said and montioned for one of the staff to come over.
A woman with dark hair and eyes, that contrasted with her pale blue skin approached and gave the pair a smile. "Two of whatever is on the menu for today, if you could." Catherine asked her politely. What followed was yet another difficult conversation back and forth, with both parties trying their hardest to understand the other. Common English was fragmented and little known outside of a few words and phrases on the part of the other woman, and while Catherine spoke the fae language as a native, but not much of whatever this dialect was.
"Well that should get us something to eat, I'm not sure what though."
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Post by demikara on Feb 20, 2021 19:23:43 GMT -6
"I could probably cast a translation spell so we have a better idea fo what they're saying." He offered. It looked like it was a different dialect than what Catherine was used to. He could only catch the occasional word himself. They seemed friendly at least. He found them a place to sit down and wait and straightened out his clothes. At least he was dressed for the weather. It was warmer in here than it had been outside, but they didn't exactly have central heating. There was a fire place though and it was going merrily about it's business.
Much better inside for the night than outside. "And I'm sure the food will be fine." It would probably be bread and some type of stew. That seemed to be the standard meal in taverns here. It was a stew kind of day outside. "I'm just glad to be off my horse for now. I'm a city boy. I'm not made for riding horses."
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Post by Circe on Feb 20, 2021 19:41:40 GMT -6
"Not everyone is." Catherine conceeded as she sat down and started removing her gloves. The weather had been cold for most of their trip, and at times unhospitable even. But warm, fur lined cloaks, boots, and gloves had helped; as well as sturdy, thick woolen clothes to keep out any additional chill. "Frankly, I'm amazed you didn't have a repeat of the last time you got on a horse." Pyrebone had seen an opening and took it, much to his mistress's chagrin.
"A translation spell might help eventually.. but not in here. Discretion is the better part of valor and all that. Something I would hope you knew better." She stated bluntly.
It didn't take long before their meal arrived, a thick creamy stew with what looked like bits of ham and vegetables floating in the rich liquid. A loaf of bread and butter accompanied it, along with two large wedges of pie for later.
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Post by demikara on Feb 20, 2021 19:55:07 GMT -6
"There is a reason I checked first. You know the lay of the land better than I do." Had they been back in the unseen, he would have simply cast it after all. But people here were, despite being more innately magical, curiously less okay with magic than they had been in the unseen back home. They didn't decry it, but they tended to seek other methods. He took a bite of the stew and he lit up. "Oh this is delicious. I'm glad we stopped." Not only did it mean they didn't have a night in the cold, it meant that they would have an excellent meal as well. People in the fae realm knew how to cook. No wonder Monmack could cook as well. He broke off a bit of the bread and dipped it in the stew before taking a bite.
He ate well on this trip. He honestly probably ate better in the fae realms than he did back home. After all, back home, the most he had to remind him was a PA who was easily distracted and would lose track of time as well. He was rather used to being on his own. The mage mage took another bite of the stew, clearly pleased, but still trying to use his best manners and not look like a complete pig.
It was delicious, but there was no reason to eat too quickly.
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Post by Circe on Feb 20, 2021 20:45:39 GMT -6
"Well, at least you're learning." Catherine remarked as she paused for a moment and then dug in herself. She was still fending off the constant curious probes, and found it difficult to carry on a conversation at the same time. Catherine never had been terribly well practiced in that regard, and often defaulted to any mental shields totally down.
The realm wasn't without magic and even had a population of psionics, an ability that was few and far between in the unseen. But most of what it came down to was mundane daily tasks were improved upon by magic, and other things as well. To say everything was steeped in magic was an understatement, but the novelty of such had long since worn off. To most it was simply accepted as something that was part of life, and the Novori weren't any different from the fae in this regard. Magic was a tool, and some specialized in one version or another according to their status and life circumstances.
"You say that about everything. I'm not quite convinced you don't just live to eat." She commented before spreading a small bit of butter onto her bread. Everything had been carefully thought out not to feed a hungry mage, but a weary traveler in from the cold, one who likely hadn't seen a hot meal in some time. The food was hearty and filling, but like most things lately, far from fancy. Fancier and more delicate fare was the domain of the nobles generally, as they could afford the exotic ingredients.
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