Fable - Ask Ink to quill, quill to parchment

[Elowyn Hemlock]

Elowyn brings her hand to her face as the gentle breeze kisses her cheek. Flocks of green hair speckled with flowing moss and flowers. She squeezes her bare feet into the soft, deep soil of the dense forest edge. The woods were always her home, surrounded by the creatures and its flora. Hesitant, anxiety ridden first step upon a dusty dirt road, taken.

"Ugh gross." Feels so lifeless and dry. Elowyn presses her finger against the road, gathering dust on it. She sticks out her tongue and presses her dusted finger against it. "Humans are weird, walking on this stuff." She picks up her foot and looks at the dirt underneath, a small grin. A small patch of green begins to appear, growing taller into blades of grasses and mosses with small flowers, greens and oranges, poking there form out. Elowyn puts her foot back down on the new patch of life.

She sighs and closes her eyes. Much... Much better.

As her feet leave the ground, the patch slowly fades in color, and molts away into dust, reappearing anew just before her foot touches the ground again. Naive and not paying attention to her surroundings, a large muscular human carrying a cart full of hay nearly runs her over.

"HEY watch out!" - The man yells.

"Eek" - Elowyn barely squeaks out.

A few moments later, a few yards away from where he startled her, he takes a glimpse back toward where she was. He finds nothing but a strange fading patch of moss.

"Huh.."

A brown and white mouse hops down from the side of the man's cart, and nuzzles safely into the itchy hay. Her Whiskers twitch.

That was close..

(Be gentle this is my first post and I'm new here)

 

[Aderyn Verchtegid]

The northern Falwood was not normally a place Aderyn would find herself, but having run dangerously low on her collections of moonstone and lapis, never mind the various herbs that were expensive in Alliria, and unable to find competent sellers dealing in quality goods, she had taken matters into her own hands. Abandoning the shop for a month or two wasn't by any means a desired outcome but serving her community well would have been an impossibility under the current circumstances.

She wasn't that far from Vel Anir, though had little desire to wander closer. They were a warlike people, after all, and she couldn't abide that. It would have been easier to try to buy there but their quality was worse than Alliria's. Fal'Addas was an option, but she always felt like she wasn't trusted there.

And so she was in the woods and walking trails between villages harvesting what she could herself or buying from a closer source. She had several full bags tied to a good stick, resting it across her shoulders to better carry the load. Goddess was it heavy, though.

As she trudged down the lane, she heard a shout of alarm behind her, though couldn't make out what it was. Soon enough, though, she saw a big man with a cart of hay coming up the path toward her. He was moving quickly, but definitely looked to be the helpful type; most people were, after all. She waved at him and stepped slightly into his path to convince him to slow down.

"What do you want?" he asked. Terse, but not unfair.

She smiled at him, blinking quickly once or twice before tipping her head toward her hanging sacks of herbs. "This is just so heavy and it looks like we're going the same way," she said.

She let the stick slip down as she freed a hand and reached for a peridot hanging on a leather string from her belt. She gripped it firmly in her fingers as she tapped into her well of stored Disgust; she did her best to put aside the sudden deep feeling of repulsion from the man... or maybe the woods itself? It was impossible to say. Something's aura was off and making her nauseated. It was best to get this over with quick.

"I just could really use some help carrying this to town. Could you let me ride your cart for a few minutes and then I can walk while keeping the bags here?" She bit her lip and did her best to look helpless, though the churning in her stomach made it quite difficult to manage.

But the emotive manipulation did its work as her words echoed in his head, forming new thoughts and memories and a desire to help her whatever the cost. His immediate rejection of the idea - made evident from the look on his face - melted away within moments and he motioned back to cart.

"Of course!" he said, now jovial and welcoming. "Take whatever time off your feet that you need. We'll get to town and I'll buy you a nice meal."

She laughed. "That won't be necessary, sir, but thank you so much."

Aderyn tossed the sacks onto the cart and hopped on to the back board. "Ready, let's go!"

As the cart began moving again - the man was insanely strong, she had to admit - she noticed a mouse passenger beside her. "Oh," she said. "It looks like I'm not the only one. How are you, little guy?"

She fished through a pouch on her belt for a piece of the hard bread that remained from her breakfast and held it out to the mouse. "Hungry?"

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Elowyn Hemlock