Adventure Role Play

"Thanks for telling me, and good luck with your war. Well since it's a peaceful time now, I think I have some important news" She said to him. The lady was planning on travelling to the capital. She's been travelling for weeks, coming from the north-west. Her journey was more for business and But her previous imprisonment showed to her that she may not be able to just step inside cities. "There's a shipment, it's at the eastern coast. It couldn't be brought down because of the war, so the deliveries just travelled through a large river and stopped at Abertaberg. It's waiting for someone to take them."
 
SIgvald gave her a confused look through his visor "I'm not sure I follow... What are you suggesting?" he asked plainly. The rabble around them slowly falling silent.
 
"Sorry, your kingdom had made a purchase and it's waiting for someone to take it. I thought it might be a good time to go see it's contents," She told Slgvald immediately.
 
Sigvald stood there absorbing the information - she was right. He briskly turned around to inform his commander, but the sight of him arguing with a pheasant and one of the guards made him rethink his approach. "You know, that is not a bad idea. Whatever the contents are, they should be useful." he stated "Only problem is, I don't know where it is - this place you speak of. Could you come with me and be my guide?" he asked the girl.
 
"Sure, it's not far, just south of this city pretty deep in your country's territory at least for now." She said, and she pointe to the general direction. She went into her bag again and took out a small map of the area. It was crumpled up, slightly torn but readable. It showed the region. There was the Innercy, and directly below was the destination, Abebubin. That city was right beside a major river. It had a route to the capital. But the war meant that there was no one to take the goods.

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(It's Abebubin, not Abertaberg, I go the two cities confused.)
 
Sigvald paid close attention to what the lady was saying. Yet the only real thought going through his head was if commander Vorsen would approve of this. "Blazes..." he thought to himself "I really should ask for approval from the commander. If something goes wrong whilst I'm out there, they will need to why." the thought finished, a strange sense of responsibility slapped him in the face as he snapped back to reality. Not even hearing the last words of the shaman. He tried to focus his ears for only a moment on the conversation happening behind him. A commander, guard and a pheasant, it sounded almost like a joke.

"Why won't you give us weapons!" spoke the pheasant, his face contorted into a strange expression of complete bafflement and anger.

"We simply don't have enough swords and maces to go around! Besides, you already have weapons." the guard stated, sounding as if it wasn't his first time saying it.

"Pitchforks and axes meant for cutting firewood aren't weapons!"

"Enough, both of you!" Vorsen stated firmly, his gaze shifting towards the guard "To me, it seems very strange that the armory has nearly no weapons in reserve. A city as big as this has no excuse for such a thing." he barked out, Sigvald half-expected the guard to whimper back.

The thought of interrupting that conversation made his feel dirty. But it wasn't like he had a choice. Well, he did -- but he didn't like the alternative. "All of this sounds good, but I must ask permission from Vorsen. It will take but a moment." he said as he walked out on her, in an almost rude manner, but not quite.
Sigvald slowly approached the three as they argued, stopping right next to Vorsen. "Sir, I come to you asking permission to retrieve supplies near Abebubin. I believe these supplies will aid us in this fight, or even help the sick and hungry. If possible, I will also be taking the shaman as a guide."
 
"Abebubin?" Vorsen immediately asked he turned to Sigvald for a second. The man took out a map of the region, so he could make sure his memory was right. From the looks of it, Abebubin was located just next to a major river. "I believe you, this city is the centre for trading because of the river. Take a few farmers with you, they could help make the delivery faster." He said to him, "Try to see if some more volunteers can come as well, anyone would do."

Vorsen had really hoped to get rid of the peasants for at least a few days. Sending some of them to get some supplies can really help with some stress.
Moonfall nodded, "That's great, the resources is being kept by the 1st fleet." she added
 
"Traveling to Abebubin, are we?" interjected the pheasant that spent the last several minutes of his fleeting life arguing about pitchforks and reserved weapons, his accent thick but also clear "I'd be more than happy to send a few of my lads with you -- hardy boys, you know? Ones that could carry a sleeping cow if need be." before Sigvald could even reply - the old man placed two wrinkly fingers into his thin mouth and let out a sharp whistle. Seemingly, from out of nowhere -- ten young men came running towards them.
As they ran, Sigvald inspected every one of them. Which he felt to be pointless since they hardly looked any different from one another. Not to mention the fact that they looked like knights that were stripped of they plate armor. "Alright lads, you ten will be this knight's company."

"What are we doing exactly?" one of them asked.

Sigvald -- not wanting to waste any more time -- spoke without hesitation "You will be helping me and Ms. Moonfall bring back supplies from Abebubin. She will serve as out guide, though I cannot say with certainty how long it will take us to complete this task."

The young men seemed almost eager to accompany a knight, but there seemed to be slight hesitation as their gaze shifted towards the dark skinned shaman. "Who is Ms. Moonfall?" one of them asked.
 
Moonfall awkwardly rose her arm, "I'm Ms Moonfall." She said to the group and sighed. She looked at the map, the town is right next to the largest river in the kingdom. She sighed a little bit then looked at the group. There were enough guys to help carry all of the stuff. She smiles lightly and looked at the map again. "Okay, so we're heading south, just through the forest until we're at the river. We'll need horses to get there as quickly as possible."

A few knights brought out a couple of horses for them to take. But, Moonfall has never ridden on a horse before, she mostly just walks. While everyone else seems to be able to get on them without a problem, she was just awkwardly treating her horse like it was about to bit arm off. She sighed a little bit but managed to climb on. But, she wasn't very sure if she could control the beast. A cart was put on one of the horses just encase it would be needed.
 
The image of twelve people on horseback -with the exception of one barely hanging on- seemed like something out of a fairytale, or maybe a tavern tale. A knight, a shaman and ten young farmhands - that sounded abought right. Or at least one of the farmhands thought as he kept glancing at the unbalanced shaman trying to ride the horse -strangling seemed more fitting. "Ms, not to poke fun, but I think walking on foot would be less exhausting for you. The way you handle that horse would make a drunkard cringe." he said with a rather straight face.

"Don't give her any ideas, or she just might - like in one of their jungles." one of the other ones laughed out.

While that one was laughing, a third one spoke out "Laugh all you want, but it's downright painful to watch."

"Then the solution is simple, don't look at her." Sigvald said to the man, who lowered his head and focused on the road. His reaction seemed more like that of obedience rather than shame. While it was funny, Sigvald also found it concerning seeing her not be able to handle a horse. Making him wonder if they even had any where she came from. Thinking about this, he shifted and guided his steed near the shaman. In just a moment he was right next to her. "Is everything all right?" he asked, despite already seeing the answer before him.
 
"Sorry but they're right. I'm not really used to horse riding, I usually rode in carriages, or just walked," she commented. The lady looked at the horse then looked at everyone else. She eventually sat up straight and attempted to copy how everyone else was doing. The girl calmed down a little and decided to just let the horse do it's the thing, walking within the group. She sighed lightly then looked at the group of men.

"You're right, where I'm from there are large jungles. Huge, hot jungles with the trees towering sky high. Taller than the largest buildings even." She said to the guys. Moonfall just decided to make small talk. She assumed they may be curious and it wouldn't hurt to just describe home for a little bit
 
"A traveling merchant once told me the same thing." one of the men said.

"The one in the tavern? I was there too." another one added.

"We were all there, you bucket-heads." a third one said with a rather quick intensity "He also talked an awful lot about magic herbs and spells, but mostly herbs."

Sigvald paid close attention to the road as well as to the conversation, he found the small talk interesting, yet his thoughts would occasionally shift back to Gin and his injuries. "That sounds quite interesting." Sigvald commented "Did he tell you about anything specific."

"Indeed, Sir Sigvald. If I remember correctly, one of the things he told us about was some kind of flower that allowed anyone who ate it's petals-" the young lad gave a dramatic pause "-to see the dead. Nothing more, nothing less - he said. So he did."
 
"That's called Roho ya Maua. Soul Flowers is the closest translation. They tend to grow on fertile soil that has the essence of decayed souls. Usually, if the dirt is cursed or enchanted and the dead's spirit cannot escape. The person's soul usually decays into the soil, making the soil very potent. Roho ya Maua grows in the soil, and it absorbs the magic. That gives the petals the properties...It also has a sweet spiciness to it that's great in stews." She explained to the group a bit casually, the girl sighed a bit then paused. She then remembered she doesn't have a lot of herbs in her bag. She'll need to find more eventually.

"So, any of you boys curious to learn about magic?" she then asked. That was her basic assumption on the matter.
 
The young lad's eyes lit up like torches "Aye, t'would be great. Might even make this trip quicker." he spoke up with a rich accent. The other lads nodded their heads in approval. Yet even with this anticipation, their gaze hovered over to Sigvald. For it was his word that mattered the most, it seemed.

Sigvald turned his head towards the shaman "As long as it doesn't harm anyone or slow us down. We have places to be at." he said in an oddly uncaring tone. Even though he himself was slightly interested.
 
"Okay, well first lessons is that magic is like farming, anyone can do it if they practice." Moonfall stood on top of the horse while it still walked. She seemed to be able to balance rather effortlessly. Moonfall had just wanted to get a good look at everyone and have them notice her for this demonstration. She went into her bag and took out a simple green sheet of paper with some markings on it.

"This demonstration is simple, the paper is enchanted and draws on people's souls. What you can simply do is use your fingers to draw a general shape on the paper. Then the paper folds itself." she placed her finger on the paper for everyone to see. She made a tree shape on the paper, and a while line followed. Then, she paper crumbled into a paper tree.
 
The shaman's demonstration was quickly met with a collective gasp of wonder. It even intrigued the black knight who was now paying full attention. There was no doubt in his mind that the farm hands had seen this trick before -- but simply could not help being impressed. Then again, magic is a wonderful thing. "What else can you show us? You wouldn't happen to know any other more challenging feats." he spoke out -- hoping she might catch on to his challenge. "I once met a wizard who could make paper animals move. Can you?" this was a lie, hopefully enough to make it believable.

The farm hands could hardly contain their excitement now -- they knew that what was about to come would be very entertaining.
 
"Moving paper huh. Let me try something." the witchdoctor got another piece of paper. She drew a picture of a bird, then drew the next picture on the other side, but this time the bird was in a slightly different position. The paper folded itself into a bold of course. But now to make it move. The sorceress got a knife and poked her fingers, a drop of blood got on the paper bird at around the wings. Then she dusted the bird with some weird herb things. The similar method used for making dolls. But then she whispered to the paper bird. The sorceress tossed it and watched. The paper began to flap its wings a bit, sort of managing to fly a distance. But after about a minute, it engulfed in a blue flame and turned into useless ash. So it worked. But, she couldn't get it to be stable for long.
 
SIgvald was impressed, as were the farm hands. He had never really seen anything like it. Though they did lecture them a few times regarding the dangers of magic -- though now, those lectures seem more akin to warnings than anything else. Though he never viewed them as a bad thing, magic is a dangerous threat to any knight. One that they were forced to acknowledge weather they liked it or not. "That was quite something." he said, crossing his arms.

"It was, wasn't it?" one of the farm hands stated, the others humbly nodding their heads. "How did you come to know all of these tricks?"
 
"Well, a lot of studying and research, magic is 70% looking through old boring books and 30% actually doing magic. It's important to understand how magic works and why it works, instead of just learning some spells," she said to the group, "It can get very boring and very tiring. That's why magic use is often reserved for religious leaders. Reciting religious text isn't too different from learning spells, and blessings aren't different from magic. It's often aesthetic," she told the farm guys. Then she proceeded to ride her house like a normal person again.
 
"Studying, you say?" one of the men asked "I was never really good with that. Nor was I ever fond of books." he said flatly.

"You never liked books because you never learned to read! -- you blubbering idiot!" another one of them said. And at that moment they slowly started to make a fuss about how none of them had any form of education. Or at least that's what it sounded like to Sigvald. While it was certainly entertaining to observe, it actually made him feel guilty. Almost like he took his own knightly education for granted. One that many would kill for, or at least that's what he thought.

Letting out a feint sigh, Sigvald spoke up. His voice not stern, but loud enough to get everyone's attention "How long till we're there?" even though he was curious and somewhat impatient at the moment, he knew that they couldn't have been that close. They were hardly on the road for more than hour.
 
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