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Post by Eric on Jun 13, 2008 3:36:14 GMT 9.5
"I might know a place," Boren said and beckoned for the kids to follow him. He led them through alleys until they came to a rather large house that was clearly owned by someone rich. Eric looked up at its white washed walls and decorative windows. He never imagined a place so big that it could have two levels. It amazed him, but seemed to touch a memory that made his amazement die down a little.
"Don't people live here?" he asked.
"Not now. They left for a trip a day ago. The house is empty and I've managed to obtain a key. Not legally, but I've had to go to some desperate measures in winter. Come and we can have the house to ourselves for a short time. Clean up after yourselves however, we will act as guests would." He led the kids to a side door and opened it to let them in.
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Post by Treijim on Jun 19, 2008 8:45:36 GMT 9.5
Cole was quite taken back. The interior was whiter than the outside. Even in the darkness, this was evident. Cole lit an oil lantern and took it to search for some bedrooms. He assumed Eric was following him.
The whole house seemed excessively furnished. Each room had a small chandelier and many unneeded pieces of furniture, such as chairs along a wall or three empty desks. Most of it seemed for show. He had seen rich homes in Elcheane, but nothing like what he was seeing around him. He wondered who could live there. Perhaps, he thought, it was the owner of one of the silver mines up north. It seems that all the rich houses belong to mine owners.
After proceeding down a hallway lined with paintings, he discovered some rooms that were presumably for guests, because there was no sign that anyone had slept in them before. He lit the lantern in the room and went to find a place to wash himself.
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Post by Eric on Jul 2, 2008 16:58:35 GMT 9.5
Eric followed Boren around the house as he lit a couple lanterns and started a fire. "This is all indoors?" he asked as he looked around the hallways and rooms.
"Yes indeed. Now there's a bathroom around here somewhere. You can go wash yourself and then we'll get some food in you and get you and Cole a room. We'll sort out that issue with your inheritance somehow."
Eric shrugged and left the man to search for a room like Boren briefly described. He got sidetracked however just exploring the manor. There were rooms galore and none of which he could really figure out what they were for. He found several bedrooms, which he recognized easily having slept in a couple by now.
He climbed the stairs and found Cole doing a little exploring as well. "This place is big," he said to him, jumping out right in front of him. "Ever seen a place this big?"
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Post by Treijim on Jul 12, 2008 19:55:20 GMT 9.5
"Yeah," Cole said. He was admiring the carvings around a main doorway that lead to a long passageway.
"I've seen manors. They're nice, I guess." He looked at Eric and paused before settling himself into the doorway. "You should wash yourself up a bit," he said. "Here, there's a bathroom over here." He showed Eric how to use the basin, tap, and towels, but didn't use them himself. "Where did that man go?"
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Post by Eric on Sept 14, 2008 0:23:05 GMT 9.5
It didn't take Eric long to bathe and he learned quickly how to use everything. When he'd washed and dried he pulled his clothes back on and found Cole. The violet haired boy seemed to be searching for someone.
"Why don't you like Mr. Boren?" Eric asked. "He's nice enough."
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Post by Treijim on Sept 17, 2008 14:24:50 GMT 9.5
Cole seemed genuinely surprised by the question. He spent a moment with his mouth hanging open, wondering what had prompted it.
"I don't have a reason to trust him," said Cole. "I want to, for your sake, but I don't just yet. I'm cautious because there are lots of people who will do stupid things for money. It's not about liking or hating." He rubbed his head and sighed. "Boren can wait. I'm going to bed..."
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Post by Eric on Sept 18, 2008 15:05:00 GMT 9.5
Eric groaned and leaned against a banister as Cole wandered off to some room in the house. Soon the entire place silent and Eric, not yet tired and too full of wonder to want to sleep, was left somewhat alone. He pondered what Cole had said, but he couldn't agree with it. Something in Eric's mind told him that Boren could be trusted, and so he did.
Many of the rooms were extremely boring. Beds and bookcases and rooms he didn't even know the point of. He found a room with bottles in slots along one wall. He pulled a bottle out and looked it over. He couldn't read so it didn't make much sense to him. He pulled out the cork at the top and sniffed. It smelled like grapes, but also something much stinkier and nastier.
He tipped it back and let a couple drops of some liquid fall onto his tongue. It was sweet, but bitter and he spat it out. He stoppered the bottle and put it back. Finding nothing else of interest he kept on searching.
Eric's next interesting room was the kitchen, or it was interesting to his still empty stomach. He'd learned a little how to use stoves and he himself had cooked for many years. However he only ended up frying a few strips of bacon and found that sufficient.
However things could only get more interesting. Eric found a stairway that led down and down. It would lead to one small room, than another and than another. Finally after what must've been ten rooms he found something. Down there in the dusty, ancient cellar. A room that was perhaps older than the mansion above it. There on a small pedestal rested a very large gem. A gem that seemed to change colour as he looked at it.
What he did next he wasn't sure why he did it. Perhaps it was just his simple curiosity, or perhaps it was the strange way it seemed to almost beckon to him. Whatever the case he reached out and grabbed it and was suddenly engulfed in swirling energy.
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Post by Treijim on Sept 24, 2008 13:39:30 GMT 9.5
Had Eric tried to turn around, he would have been unable to. The energy took its hold on the boy and acted like an energy prison as it settled on his form and froze him in place. From behind him came the sound of a door opening, and a figure emerged from Eric's right. This figure, at first, appeared like a large bird, but on second glance it would be known that it was in fact an old man. His hair was long and pale and appeared as silvery feathers of the crest of some tropical species. His robe was patterned in an expensive and complicated way, and it caught the light like the rainbow eye of a peacock's tail feather.
"What in udum is this?" he said, turning and looking Eric in the eyes. The old man's eyes were squinty and old, and had clearly been used for reading books for many years. "A young human male? And now my gem has frozen you. How very wonderful a discovery this is. But why are you unable to move? Is it, perhaps, that the channel is too strong, and your mind is consumed with trying to process it? Too busy to tell your body to do anything? It seems likely. It's not my intention to kill you, so I suppose I shall release you."
He drew a hand from under his coat with a leathery glove and took the gem from Eric's grasp. He placed it in a red pouch and hid it in some unseen pocket. The channel released its hold on Eric and the old man watched as the boy recovered.
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Post by Eric on Sept 30, 2008 14:05:11 GMT 9.5
Eric shook his head as he came out of a sort of chance. Of course his unlearned mind had no idea what had happened at all. He'd just felt suddenly frozen and not known why. His limbs had all stiffened and he was frozen by the gem. Even now he had to move each limb to get rid of the stiffness that had occupied them only moments before.
Then he noticed the man standing there. He appeared to have just come out of the wall and he was holding the gem. However he had gloves on and thus it seemed he was unaffected by the strange mineral. All he could say was simply "Who are you?"
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Post by Treijim on Oct 18, 2008 9:22:05 GMT 9.5
The man ignored him completely. He scrawled something in a small worn book and proceeded to prod Eric here and there with his writing tool for some reason. Then he wrote some more things and looked Eric in the eye.
"Are you cold?" He spoke slowly and clearly now, as though holding a serious conversation with a child.
The room was unusually cold, and the man nodded before waiting for Eric's answer. With one final flick in his notebook, he put it away and walked around behind Eric before stopping.
"Did you say something?"
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Post by Eric on Oct 20, 2008 15:56:20 GMT 9.5
Eric followed him with suspicion and caution. The man had ignored or not heard his question and responded inexplicably with 'are you cold'. Confused at being answered with a question Eric drew his spear and held it in a semi-threatening way. He had to admit he was kind of cold, but it didn't really register through his curiosity and caution.
Furthermore the man's actions made no sense. he was scribbling in a book and looking at everything very closely. Eric was confused evermore. "Not cold," Eric muttered. "But tell me who you are."
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Post by Treijim on Oct 27, 2008 12:34:04 GMT 9.5
The man looked at the spear and smiled, completely unfazed by the primitive response. He turned to face Eric directly and looked the boy up and down. Somehow, now, the man seemed slightly taller.
"What are you asking? If you ask my name, I shant tell it, for it will not cure your rabid curiosity to the slightest degree. If you ask my origin, I shant tell it, for you won't be able to fathom it. So what is it you ask? Do you ask an animal "who are you?"? Will you be able to interpret what it tells you? Will its answer inform you of what you want to know? No. It will not, you do not, and you will not, so you should not. That's how things should be."
Still smiling, he walked around Eric and headed to the door of the cellar.
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Post by Eric on Oct 27, 2008 13:06:02 GMT 9.5
"I ask animals lots of stuff," Eric piped up. "Though those big things pulling the huge wagons are grouchy. You're kind of like them" He lowered his spear, but kept it at the ready just in case. He ran after the man and towards the same door. There was no way he was giving up now that his question had been asked. He also noticed the man seemed kind of similar to some of the stuff Cole's mom had told him. "Are you an alchemist? You seem like one to me, but I don't know much. Do you know Jaron Carson? He makes potions for soldiers and me and Cole are going to visit him to bring him stuff."
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Post by Treijim on Nov 2, 2008 21:56:29 GMT 9.5
"An alchemist? Toromi, child! Toro! No! Never would I be able to fathom such a science! No indeed there is only one man who can do that, and that's the very man you mentioned."
The man headed back, seemingly approving of Eric's company and questions as he headed to wherever it was he was heading. Though the senior seemed to take the same route Eric had taken down there, it somehow seemed different.
"I hope you don't mind waiting, if you're going to have Jaron make you a potion," he said as he climbed some stairs. "He has a long list right now. Well, hopefully this will speed things up a bit, anyway..." He patted part of his coat -- possibly where he stashed the gem. "What are you going to bring Jaron, err... I'm sorry, what was your name again? Edgar?"
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Post by Eric on Nov 3, 2008 12:37:44 GMT 9.5
"Oh! My name's Eric Lirasson, nice to meet you Mr. Not-Alchemist," Eric said brightly as they came towards the top of the steps. "Do you own this mansion?" He was looking at the back of the bookcase that he'd used to get into the place. Was it the bookcase? He didn't know and now he thought about it the whole place was strange. Plus there wasn't the right scent around.
"Oh I dunno what we're bringing, Cole just said he had something for Jaron. Do you have something for him too? Why do you want a potion?"
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