Collab with Naval Monte and Menschenfleisch
Robaiziche Commonwealth, Raven's Ash- Northern Vesperia, 2520 PE
You are entering Raven's Ash; the frontier town of the Commonwealth.Enjoy your visit
Dried paint crossed out the final words of the rickety sign. The paint might have been red once, maybe a decade or two ago, but like old blood exposed to the air for so long and with all blood cells now deceased it had a rustic brown color. The sign in general had seen better days. The wooden pole was badly rotten and was only being held in place on the moist ground due to divine intervention. The sign itself had many splinters coming off as pieces of it had fallen off or were eaten away.
As Alex looked behind the sign she would find rows of buildings made with the traditional timber framing that was popular throughout Vesperia. White walls interlaced with brown and black woods in straight patterns with some bending into slight curves. With some buildings that go above two storey she saw the upper halves extend outward to overhang from the lower half and from the narrow streets of the town. The tile roofs also overhanged as well, some sagging due to years of accumulation of water from the constant rain that shower the town. Even some of the little homes appear to be crooked as the wet ground was making the foundation of some homes sink into the ground.
The gray sky cast a dim and gloomy atmosphere in the dingy and rustic town. As the woman crossed through the open iron gates past the stone gatehouse she would catch the glimpse of the volunteer guards looking at her, giving her a disapproving glare. The woman simply rolled her eyes as she walked down the narrow and windy streets of the town.
Alex would hear merchants from stalls by the streets calling out for customers to buy their wares. She heard the clanging of a blacksmith's hammer hitting against metal as he tempered the steel, she would smell the conflicting aroma of fresh baked goods from the bakery close by and the smell of liquid feces sledging down the street.
The streets themselves were crowded as most who walk down were visitors like herself simply paying the small town a visit before they make their way on their journey to parts unknown. Most were merchants trying to make a sale before they moved on to the next market in the nearest town. Others were religious pilgrimages going through a spiritual journey and others were scholars searching for more knowledge. A few she saw were mercenaries and hunters looking for clients who would hire them. The plates of armor and the weapons strapped around belts on their person gave them away to her.
A few Alex wasn't entirely sure on what they were. She suspects that they were most likely farmers, artisans, and other people who lost their livelihood due to the golem workforce and are now searching for a new place to live and work. Their clothing told her the story of their hardship as dirt and grime coated them as much as their sweat. The clothing that wasn't obviously sewn shut to close up tears made in their trip still had holes open to expose their skin for the world to see.
"What does that damn sow think she's playing? Does she want someone to burn her alive?" Alex heard a voice from the crowd say. She can see the suspicious glares she was getting as she continues on within the town. She knew that her chosen attire would draw controversy in most parts in Vesperia and she knew that in this town all her dress and hat would draw immense ire from the residents.
"Where are those damn inquisitors and woodsmen when you need them. That harlot is asking for those lunatics to come down and take her away." the woman shrugged at the responses she was getting from the people. She didn't care for what others in the previous towns thought about her so why should she care now in this place?
Alex would brush aside a lock of her hair as she moved onward. "Keep cursing me you ingrates. I'm getting more amusement from your reactions than fear." Alex chuckled to herself as one woman turned her head up away from the woman. Alex would ignore the gesture and other less flattery ones thrown at her by a few people that decided that glaring at her wasn't enough.
"Where is that tavern? I have a few coins I'm willing to spend so I can get something to eat and to rest up for the day." she muttered as she tapped her chin with her finger to recall where the tavern once was. This wasn't her first time visiting this particular town but she will admit that she doesn't often come inside the town due to always walking past it to try and reach her actual destination.
Alex would let out a long sigh as her shoulders sagged. "Great job Alex. You forgot where the tavern was. Nice to know all of that education was well spent." The arcanist was feeling reluctant to ask anyone for directions for the tavern since she knew that she was more likely going to be pointed to the gate house or jail to the town than the tavern.
"You’re not lost are you?" A young woman approached Alex from behind. Not the best conversational tactic by the girl's own admission, but it caught her attention quite neatly. She witch turned to see a woman whose youth poured from all her orifices. Figuratively. Black hair, ponytail, green eyes, easy smile; her coat and green scarf made her look all the less formal and fuzzy around the edges, like a slightly overripe peach. She gave Alex an easy smile which conveyed so much apathy, so much casualness that it could've only been rehearsed.
The arcanist turned around and looked up to see the maiden who approached her. Alex wondered if perhaps the young woman before her just entered adulthood because she was a reservoir of youthful energy. It almost made her feel jealous. However something about the maiden was off as the smile she gave her didn't feel genuine. "I'm looking for the nearest tavern but I got myself lost." she replied back. She would look at the scarf. "I take it you are from out of town such as me?"
"'Course not. Haven't found a person in this town who looks like they've formed a happy memory since birth. Now, I'm not the best judge of character, but do I look like I’ve had chronic depression before the second trimester?" She gave a short flourish with her hand to punctuate the sentence. It dislodged the musket on her back, previously hidden behind her head, revealing the end of the barrel to Alex. It swayed hypnotically, an instrument of death not too far off. "You look like you need a stiff drink. Lots, judging by how much of a tolerance for alcohol someone of your age and demographic must've built up by now. That being said, I'd like to buy you some wine. (not gay, just so you know). It's not necessarily a social calling - I'm heading to the Shadowlands, you see, and you look like you know your way around."
If the young woman was expecting Alex to react to fear when she put the barrel of the musket on her face she would find the woman giving her a blank look. "Do you even know how to use that thing properly?" the exasperated woman uttered as she placed her hand on her forehead.
"Don't answer that." she quickly said as she placed her hand off her forehead and moved it to her hip. "I don't know how you found out but you guessed correctly. I know my way to the tavern. I was doing the whole clueless tourist act to get some people to come by and see if maybe I can have them join me in my journey. I rather have some company for my next journey and it seems my wish has been granted since we're both going to the same place." The way the woman was speaking to her was soothing, very so. Her tired mind and aching body was starting to feel the effects as she let out a yawn, covering her mouth. "So what's your name? I'd rather get to know who my drinking buddy is today?" she asked her as she began to lead the young woman to the tavern.
"Jacquelyn Vanth," the woman whistled, ducking under the doorway to accommodate a weapon almost as tall as she was. The stench of malt and aged wood buffeted them as soon as the door opened. The interior was at once suffocating and too cold. Drinkers of all demographics and ages were packed at their tables like sardines, enjoying... well, cautiously imbibing cups of mead. Most were not local, the town was a bit of a jumping off point for all sorts of journeys. Expeditions into the Shadowlands, for one thing, but also archaeological operations in a site on a foothill not four miles from the heart of the town. Soldiers tended to pass through too. Something about a campaign in the South.
The two sat down at a table designed for five. Their dramatic underuse of space was exacerbated by the dramatic overuse of it all throughout the room: some benches had ten or more people gathered around them. Jacquelyn didn't wait to get an order from the counter, she withdrew a long bottle of absinthe from a pouch at her hip and placed it on the table alongside a few glass decanters that were most certainly not designed to contain healthy amounts of liquor. The liquid within the bottle didn't slosh or lap against the edges of its container, it just sat there rather impassively. "Hm. Some of the alcohol must've dropped out. Sorry, you're meant to keep these warm so that doesn't happen."
It was a simple chemical property. Solvents would dissolve more solute when they were warmer. In this case, there was so much bloody alcohol in the drink that it'd precipitated out just from being exposed to cold air. There was sediment at the bottom. At least a fistful of solid ethanol! "You're looking a little bit pale. You drink, don't you?" Jackie asked with far too much innocence as she poured out a full glass of absinthe - good lord did it smell strong - and downed it in a single gulp. She even licked her lips afterward, tongue darting out like that of a serpent. "Come on. Don't be shy. It's genuinely good stuff, and I received it as a gift from my workmates. A little easy on the taste buds if you ask me, though."
Alex looked at the concoction before her dubiously. "I think I will take my chances with the mead in this place, no offense." The arcanists waited for a bar maid to arrive so she could make her order. "My name is Alexandria Ashwood. I almost forgot to introduce myself on the count of you pointing a musket on my face. It isn't the first time that has happened unfortunately." the woman shrugged as she placed her hat down at the table. "I enjoy a good drink but I rather not trust my life with a drink I'm not too familiar with." she would let a small smile grace her visage. "I have a daughter waiting for me back home and I want to see her again. You have kids Ms Vanth?"
Jacquelyn tched at Alex’s refusal to drink. “Your loss. And nope, I don’t have kids. Never plan on having them either. Besides, unless I had a child when I was fifteen, they’d be less than eight years old right now. I’d hardly head to the Shadowlands while they were that young, would I? I might be a colossal disappointment but I'm not a neglectful disappointment at the very least." She patted down her rifle to keep it steady. Sitting with it on her back was a chore to say the least. "Besides, I hardly pointed it at your face - it came loose is all. Now, you mentioned you were going to the Shadowlands and that you were hoping for travel companions. I have no friends (obviously), so I'm willing to be your plus one."
Alex chuckled. "I will humor you by allowing you to accompany me. Just keep any musket related incidents to a minimum around me. I want the Shadowlands to be the final stretch for my journey and return back home alive thank you very much." The women would see a barmaid arrive at their table. The maid looked tired as she looked at the two strangers. "What do you two want?" she asked them.
“The most aromatic meat you have and some whisky, if you don’t mind.” Alex voiced. Jacquelyn was uncharacteristically solemn as she made her own order; “Just biscuits, please. Anything will do.” Their orders were short to come out. Alex was the recipient of a spiced tartare and a short glass of orange liquor while Jacquelyn got a slightly torn paper parcel of hardtack. There were a few faded words on the back: “n vy comm ssi n, eat by” and the rest was cut off.
“What’re you heading over for anyway? Not much money to be made from the venture, and if it’s stories to tell your kids that you want then just read a few penny dreadfuls and pull the tales from those. Shadowlands is a piss poor place to earn a tale, if you make it back alive.” And there was that silky voice again. She switched between cadences as quickly and as smoothly as blinking. It was like two personalities were sharing the same body and taking turns to talk.
Alex gave Jackie a smile. “It’s simple, my siren voiced friend. I’m not searching for gold, I’m looking for knowledge.” A glint appeared in her eyes when she mentioned knowledge. “The Shadowland witches have access to Old Magic, a lost art in thaumaturgy. I wish to find out some of their secrets and use it for my own research. Perhaps there are spells and rituals that were lost to us when Modern Magic was made. I wish to discover those lost secrets and bring them back.”
She would grab the knife and begin to cut her meat. “Plus I want to bring back something for my little girl because she loves it when I bring her things from my journeys.” the woman stabbed the blade into the piece of meat she cut off.
“Her smile just warms my heart and brings joy to my tired old heart. I’m willing to risk life and limb for that.” she would bring the piece of meat to her mouth and bit down on it.
“That’s heartwarming and all,” Jacquelyn began, squinting, “But siren voiced? I’m… I don’t know how to tell you this but I’m not gay.” she glanced around. “Like really, I’m not. Why does everyone I meet think I’m gay?” Alex sighed slightly. ”Maybe they’re saying it pejoratively,” she thought. “Whatever,” Jacquelyn shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Search for knowledge. Not a rare ambition, I’ll admit. Thaumatology is one of the worst things to be interested in, though. Bet you wish your interest lay with something easier to investigate, like herpetology. Me, myself, I’m not sure what I want. Following in someone else’s footsteps, I guess.”
Alex was now intrigued by the woman she was sitting with. “Interesting. Did they enter the Shadowlands and never came out?” she asked as she cut another piece of meat and ate it.
“Not at all,” Jack responded. “They sailed into a weft in reality in the sea. The person I’m talking about was a Frontier Captain, you see. Sayuri Kataigida. I served aboard her ship, saw things that’d put The Shadowlands to shame, or so sailors would have you believe. I’m sure thaumatologists would say that the things prowling in The Shadowlands would drive the most hardened sailor mental. It’s a dick measuring competition, it is. Anyway long story short: they disappeared, I woke up on a beach in the middle of nowhere and now I’m stuck having to scrape by on land. I feel like I should live up to The Captain’s exploratory legacy. Except I can’t afford a boat nor do I have the charisma to pull together a crew, so The Shadowlands will have to do.”
“Interesting. Did your captain sail to one of those areas at sea that sailors say that should be avoided at all costs because those waters were haunted or cursed?” Alex asked as she grabbed her glass of whiskey and began to drink from it.
“Nope,” Jacquelyn scoffed. “Because the places we sailed had never been heard of before so there was nobody to tell us to avoid them. Theoretically we were just exploring but it didn’t feel like an aimless expedition: it felt more like a continuous journey down a… tunnel, of some sort. At first all we had to contend with was the storms and pirates. Later we started finding sea monsters, then illogical weather patterns, issues with time, our skin turning to glass, et cetera. And when I say issues with time, I do mean it. On my first trip I kept a journal. I measured the passing of at least seventy days. To the outside world we were only gone for two. Had to replace the whole hull of the ship, too; about half of the planks had been replaced with frozen corpses during the trip. Wasn’t even the weirdest thing we saw. But enough about me and what may or may not have been a series of eidetic hallucinations that occurred within the bounds of a five year long continuous schizophrenic break; you’re not going into the Shadowlands alone, are you?”
Alex was silent after hearing Jacquelyn’s story. She was mesmerized by the anomalies she heard from the woman and wished she was around to witness them with her own eyes so she could record her findings. For now second hand sources will have to do since Jacquelyn most likely can’t remember where she went to find that area.
“No, I’m not. Going in there alone is a terrible idea.” she replied back as she put down the glass of half finished whiskey. “My idea is to find the right amount of people and hire them to join me in entering the Shadowlands.”
“Well good luck with that,” Jacquelyn tilted her head and lifted one corner of her mouth into a smile to blow anyone’s socks off with the sheer concentration of smug. “Looks like you’ve got your first partner. Cheers.” And she spilled her drink when she tried to raise it to Alex’s glass. The witch giggled at the small mistake as she tapped her glass against Jacquelyn, bringing her glass back on the table as she returned to her meal.
