The sound of the woman's antique music lacrima was grating to his ears. The orb of magic spun around as a needle traced its grooved surface. Such an antique thing produced violin sounds rife with static and vintage note cracks. It was almost unsettling, if not for the cheery demeanor of the shopkeeper woman. Her cart was red and gold, with royal purple fabric awnings trimmed with golden lace. Various trinkets and oddities were displayed upon older tea mats and what Arthur assumed to be a patterned bandanna. Definitely not the ordinary type of souvenir shop one would find in a tourist attraction. Not that there were really that many tourists on amber island, but the old shriveled woman had set up shop next to the public beach, forcing those beachgoers to listen to her grating music whether they liked it or not. They probably didn't like it, Arthur told himself as he checked out what the woman had on display. There were multiple sets of magic cards alongside various keys of different use. He wasn't particularly interested in them, nor in the elemental lacrima displayed and perched upon satin pillows. This woman, dressed in long flowing patterns that definitely clashed, was definitely not a native of Amber Island, and that much was clear to Arthur. There was nothing about her that blended in, so the speak, her entire getup was out of touch with her surroundings. The woman's face was youthful and yet aged at the same time. She had wrinkles across her face, but youthful and energetic eyes. Her skin did not bag, nor did her skin sport any imperfection. The old granny wore her age well, he'd give her that. That being said, it didn't make her current disposition any less disconcerting in his presence. Arthur was admittedly stronger than average, and even then he could feel that there was something off about her magical signature in his senses. It put him on edge, while her mannerisms and behaviour sought to do the exact opposite.
Her words were sooth, encouraging even in their elegant nature. Her voice was smooth, feminine, and yet weathered. "Welcome to Madam Nazaar's emporium of mysteries, what interests you on this fine day?" Her words sent goosebumps rising along his skin. There was something just grating about the way she spoke, almost like those dogs from the woods. Her words probed at him, picked at him in a way that went unspoken. She could see things, he realized, could feel the magical signature gathering in her eyes. It was unlike anything he had ever seen or experienced before. And for a moment, Arthur was completely still. This woman wasn't a threat, no, but she was triggering everything in his body that indicated him to that fact. Heart pounding, he watched as she turned her back to him in order to retrieved something from one of her displays. It was a bottle of glass bottles and general sea trash. Trinkets at best, filth at worse. Her display went from sea glass necklaces to old rotting driftwood. The woman returned with what appeared to be a mini glass bottle with a blackened cork. The glass was scuffed, foggy, and chipped, not the best quality of product. There was a note within the glass, one she attempted to see for herself by moving the bottle around above her. Her performance was strange in a way, and he felt her magical signature flaring as if she was using magic, it made him uneasy to say the very least. He knew it was some type of fortune telling mechanic, as he was familiar with the message in a bottle trope, but that didn't particularly mean he wanted anything to do with it. Messing with fate wasn't something he liked to do regularly, it was bad luck and even worse juju. She tried to hand it to him, but Arthur avoided her hands and stuck them into his pockets.
"What even are those?" Arthur asked, his voiced only slightly tinged with annoyance. At his question, the woman twirled the bottle around in her hand as she flared her magic once more. She was making an awful show of things, Arthur thought as he patted his pockets down to see if he still had everything on his person. It seemed so, and his valuables were mostly back at his guild room anyway. He knew that's what tended to happen at these things, from his experience in bigger cities of course. There'd be one person distracting while their lackeys approached from behind, and it usually worked on tourists or anyone dumb enough to let their guard down. Seeing that he still had everything though, he decided to just tell her to stop. "Just stop, I'm not interested in-" The woman pressed a wrinkly finger to her mouth while speaking. "I'm not giving you a fortune, this scroll will guide you to something you value the most." Arthur thought about her words momentarily before it clicked and suddenly clarified in his mind. It was a treasure map in a bottle, not some type of magical fortune telling device. It had been so long since he had heard of one of these, the last time being in one of the books he had read at the monastery. It wasn't something that he actually thought existed, that people would spend the time to write a message and stuff it into a bottle to be cast out upon the ocean. Would it even reach Boscow? Arthur wasn't sure if the tides would have permitted it, but the thought of reading something from Boscow intrigued him. Arthur briefly wondered what the treasure could have been, maybe gold, a weapon, a lacrima? The possibilities were almost endless now that he considered it. Since it wasn't even related to telling fortunes, Arthur was a lot more receptive to the idea of making spending a few jewels on the trinket to give him something to do for the day.
"Take it, child of the sun god, for I have no need of such things. I have given up my previous habit of exploring to collect that which has gone previously forgotten. Now, I get other people to do my finding for me. You are going to be one of those people, alright? Thank you, thank you, for we have much to discuss. Within the vial is a treasure map that will lead you to a cave. I have been saving this task for a capable mage, as any regular collector would probably die to what guards the treasure. And the treasure? It's an old chest of gold, but I'm not interested in petty gold, I'm interested in the magic pins and accessories within the chest. Our deal is that if you can liberate the accessories and bring them to me, you can keep the gold."
Arthur nodded, this seemed about what he was expecting from the woman. She seemed like the type of person to send him on some type of journey or quest. It wasn't an unreasonable offer either, letting him potentially keep the contents of a gold-stuffed chest in return for a few trinkets that the woman wanted for herself. It would be a fun use of his free time, as he was used to doing these types of things anyway. Such an adventure was nothing something he was new to, nor would he have any anxiety towards getting the job done. If anything, he was glad to be the one helping the older woman instead of some milksop that would probably get themselves killed at the cost of whoever would be the one tasked with retrieving their body. Arthur was fine doing this, it was a bit of charity work anyway. It was work to make him feel good about himself, nothing wrong with that. "Yeah sure thing, I can do that for ya. Just so we're clear though, I get to keep any of the gold found? Also, what did you say was the thing that guards the treasure, I just wanna know what I'm getting myself into." Considering all that Arthur had to say, the woman floundered around with the drapery of her outfit catching gusts of wind. It was very spectacular to watch the woman in all of her theatrics. Seemingly satisfied by his response, she gave him a smile as she began rearranging her trinkets and setting out new ones in display. Coming back to him, she held out her old wrinkled palm. Sat within, cushioned by her palm, the bottle's dull glass reflected light from the sun, suddenly reminding of his pact with Helios. Doing this was a good deed for the woman, and so he'd oblige her for now. Nothing bad would probably come from helping her, but even then he had yet to see what the creature guarding the treasure even was. "Ah yes, the might paladin full of benevolence and grace wants to know the cut he's going to get of the gold, can't do anything without payment, huh? And don't worry about what's guarding the treasure, just a few lesser undead you should be able to handle with ease. I'm sure you've handled wraiths and skeletons before, no?"
The way the woman spoke yet again set him on edge. She spoke as if she knew exactly what had happened at the graveyard that one time, without even saying as much. She made it clear through implication that she knew a lot more about him than he knew about her. It was getting easier for her to reject her offer the more he thought about it. This was probably, no- likely- a bad idea. For all he knew, this woman was trying to get him to do something bad. It was a headache. But he could feel it through, the thrumming in his magical bond when he considered rejecting the woman. This thrumming, then, from Helios, was considered to be a negative sign. He would have to take the instruction then, otherwise risk annoying or displeasing the god he served so dearly. Arthur was genuinley surprised by this turn of events, as his god never usually reacted or communicated with him so clearly direct in what he intended. It was normally the type of thing that he would have to reflect on, such as a feeling of unease after a generally immoral act, or a good feeling after something moral. Never this clear, never with such vigor. It made Arthur somewhat nervous to know that this woman had something important that his god wanted him to accomplish. It's not as if his god's guidance made him less anxious, because it didn't, it just reassured him that this was something he couldn't miss out on and that he'd have to give it his all. "Yes, I have experiencing slaying such foul creatures, it should not pose a problem to me in the slightest. In fact, the mere presence of such abominations is enough to convince me to take this request let alone any monetary regard. I don't need really need the gold, so I'll let you have it when I clear the treasure chest. It's funny though, to question my honor when you are requesting something from me in such a way, isn't it?"
The woman clapped as she twirled around herself, draped clothing spinning out with the forced of her motion. He didn't mean to be rude to the girl, it was just that she was really starting to test his patience with the probing quality and invasive nature of her questions and statements. It was getting to the point where he had to put his foot down regardless of how nice it ended up being in the long-run. And then, the old woman responded to his statement. "Ah yes, such a valiant knight will take care of me I'm sure. I only question your honor as it would be unwise to trust a random stranger, would you expect anything else from the people you protect yourself? Thought so, now I'd get going if I were you before the sun sets. It will make things easier on you if you're able to get into the cave and out before night falls. Make sure you bring a source of light- oh wait. Thank you, holy-man, time for you to get going and stop talking to this boring old hag. Git. Go. Sceedaddle." Arthur attempted to contest her decision, but was met with a series of repeated interruptions that prevented his own participation in the conversation. Eventually finished with their little talk, the paladin gathered his wits and took the message in a bottle from her hands. Uncorking the bottle, a strange miasma filtered out into the air. It smelled like rotting sea, to be honest, nothing he wanted to ever take a whiff of again, but Arthur knew better. He'd need the map on his journey, especially where the cave apparently had been mapped out by previous mages through some sort of mass surveillance program.
Arthur began walking away from the woman with the bottle in his hand. Shimmying the message out through the narrow opening, he made sure to not rip the little piece of ancient parchment. While he was putting distance between him and the creepy old witch, he wasn't exactly sure what she'd do if he accidentally ripped it or anything of the sort. Now that the parchment slid out into his own warm hands, Arthur slipped the small glass vial into his backpack, he could do something with it later, namely throw it into the trash. But he wasn't just going to toss it on the side of the ground, no, he knew better than to litter with glass like that. If his trip to the beach for patrol had taught him anything, was that there was always wildlife around him, other non-human lives that he could affect as much as he could for that of a human. Holding the parchment up to the light, the paladin squinted his eyes to see the faded image of a map. It was definitely amber island, if his geography memory was anything to go by. Comparing it to the map he had seen in the guild headquarter offices, this was an older version of the island before it was settled or anything of the sort. With that in mind, it had a trail leading towards an X along the beachside. Fortunately for him, it wasn't too far from his current location, probably an hour-long walk at most, maybe half that if he decided to fly. Making sure there was nobody behind him to knock over with his wings, angelic appendages grew from his back as he activated his magic. Flapping them steadily, Arthur took flight into the air as he held the map out in his hands. He didn't have a compass, but he was familiar enough with the island from his own exploration to understand the landmarks it detailed. The island was spread out before him as he rose into the sky. Civilians were watching him with fascination as he took flight, however they weren't particularly phased due to living on the island housing a mage guild. Regardless, Arthur took off into the setting sun on his way to his destination.
WC: 2555 TWC: 2555
Her words were sooth, encouraging even in their elegant nature. Her voice was smooth, feminine, and yet weathered. "Welcome to Madam Nazaar's emporium of mysteries, what interests you on this fine day?" Her words sent goosebumps rising along his skin. There was something just grating about the way she spoke, almost like those dogs from the woods. Her words probed at him, picked at him in a way that went unspoken. She could see things, he realized, could feel the magical signature gathering in her eyes. It was unlike anything he had ever seen or experienced before. And for a moment, Arthur was completely still. This woman wasn't a threat, no, but she was triggering everything in his body that indicated him to that fact. Heart pounding, he watched as she turned her back to him in order to retrieved something from one of her displays. It was a bottle of glass bottles and general sea trash. Trinkets at best, filth at worse. Her display went from sea glass necklaces to old rotting driftwood. The woman returned with what appeared to be a mini glass bottle with a blackened cork. The glass was scuffed, foggy, and chipped, not the best quality of product. There was a note within the glass, one she attempted to see for herself by moving the bottle around above her. Her performance was strange in a way, and he felt her magical signature flaring as if she was using magic, it made him uneasy to say the very least. He knew it was some type of fortune telling mechanic, as he was familiar with the message in a bottle trope, but that didn't particularly mean he wanted anything to do with it. Messing with fate wasn't something he liked to do regularly, it was bad luck and even worse juju. She tried to hand it to him, but Arthur avoided her hands and stuck them into his pockets.
"What even are those?" Arthur asked, his voiced only slightly tinged with annoyance. At his question, the woman twirled the bottle around in her hand as she flared her magic once more. She was making an awful show of things, Arthur thought as he patted his pockets down to see if he still had everything on his person. It seemed so, and his valuables were mostly back at his guild room anyway. He knew that's what tended to happen at these things, from his experience in bigger cities of course. There'd be one person distracting while their lackeys approached from behind, and it usually worked on tourists or anyone dumb enough to let their guard down. Seeing that he still had everything though, he decided to just tell her to stop. "Just stop, I'm not interested in-" The woman pressed a wrinkly finger to her mouth while speaking. "I'm not giving you a fortune, this scroll will guide you to something you value the most." Arthur thought about her words momentarily before it clicked and suddenly clarified in his mind. It was a treasure map in a bottle, not some type of magical fortune telling device. It had been so long since he had heard of one of these, the last time being in one of the books he had read at the monastery. It wasn't something that he actually thought existed, that people would spend the time to write a message and stuff it into a bottle to be cast out upon the ocean. Would it even reach Boscow? Arthur wasn't sure if the tides would have permitted it, but the thought of reading something from Boscow intrigued him. Arthur briefly wondered what the treasure could have been, maybe gold, a weapon, a lacrima? The possibilities were almost endless now that he considered it. Since it wasn't even related to telling fortunes, Arthur was a lot more receptive to the idea of making spending a few jewels on the trinket to give him something to do for the day.
"Take it, child of the sun god, for I have no need of such things. I have given up my previous habit of exploring to collect that which has gone previously forgotten. Now, I get other people to do my finding for me. You are going to be one of those people, alright? Thank you, thank you, for we have much to discuss. Within the vial is a treasure map that will lead you to a cave. I have been saving this task for a capable mage, as any regular collector would probably die to what guards the treasure. And the treasure? It's an old chest of gold, but I'm not interested in petty gold, I'm interested in the magic pins and accessories within the chest. Our deal is that if you can liberate the accessories and bring them to me, you can keep the gold."
Arthur nodded, this seemed about what he was expecting from the woman. She seemed like the type of person to send him on some type of journey or quest. It wasn't an unreasonable offer either, letting him potentially keep the contents of a gold-stuffed chest in return for a few trinkets that the woman wanted for herself. It would be a fun use of his free time, as he was used to doing these types of things anyway. Such an adventure was nothing something he was new to, nor would he have any anxiety towards getting the job done. If anything, he was glad to be the one helping the older woman instead of some milksop that would probably get themselves killed at the cost of whoever would be the one tasked with retrieving their body. Arthur was fine doing this, it was a bit of charity work anyway. It was work to make him feel good about himself, nothing wrong with that. "Yeah sure thing, I can do that for ya. Just so we're clear though, I get to keep any of the gold found? Also, what did you say was the thing that guards the treasure, I just wanna know what I'm getting myself into." Considering all that Arthur had to say, the woman floundered around with the drapery of her outfit catching gusts of wind. It was very spectacular to watch the woman in all of her theatrics. Seemingly satisfied by his response, she gave him a smile as she began rearranging her trinkets and setting out new ones in display. Coming back to him, she held out her old wrinkled palm. Sat within, cushioned by her palm, the bottle's dull glass reflected light from the sun, suddenly reminding of his pact with Helios. Doing this was a good deed for the woman, and so he'd oblige her for now. Nothing bad would probably come from helping her, but even then he had yet to see what the creature guarding the treasure even was. "Ah yes, the might paladin full of benevolence and grace wants to know the cut he's going to get of the gold, can't do anything without payment, huh? And don't worry about what's guarding the treasure, just a few lesser undead you should be able to handle with ease. I'm sure you've handled wraiths and skeletons before, no?"
The way the woman spoke yet again set him on edge. She spoke as if she knew exactly what had happened at the graveyard that one time, without even saying as much. She made it clear through implication that she knew a lot more about him than he knew about her. It was getting easier for her to reject her offer the more he thought about it. This was probably, no- likely- a bad idea. For all he knew, this woman was trying to get him to do something bad. It was a headache. But he could feel it through, the thrumming in his magical bond when he considered rejecting the woman. This thrumming, then, from Helios, was considered to be a negative sign. He would have to take the instruction then, otherwise risk annoying or displeasing the god he served so dearly. Arthur was genuinley surprised by this turn of events, as his god never usually reacted or communicated with him so clearly direct in what he intended. It was normally the type of thing that he would have to reflect on, such as a feeling of unease after a generally immoral act, or a good feeling after something moral. Never this clear, never with such vigor. It made Arthur somewhat nervous to know that this woman had something important that his god wanted him to accomplish. It's not as if his god's guidance made him less anxious, because it didn't, it just reassured him that this was something he couldn't miss out on and that he'd have to give it his all. "Yes, I have experiencing slaying such foul creatures, it should not pose a problem to me in the slightest. In fact, the mere presence of such abominations is enough to convince me to take this request let alone any monetary regard. I don't need really need the gold, so I'll let you have it when I clear the treasure chest. It's funny though, to question my honor when you are requesting something from me in such a way, isn't it?"
The woman clapped as she twirled around herself, draped clothing spinning out with the forced of her motion. He didn't mean to be rude to the girl, it was just that she was really starting to test his patience with the probing quality and invasive nature of her questions and statements. It was getting to the point where he had to put his foot down regardless of how nice it ended up being in the long-run. And then, the old woman responded to his statement. "Ah yes, such a valiant knight will take care of me I'm sure. I only question your honor as it would be unwise to trust a random stranger, would you expect anything else from the people you protect yourself? Thought so, now I'd get going if I were you before the sun sets. It will make things easier on you if you're able to get into the cave and out before night falls. Make sure you bring a source of light- oh wait. Thank you, holy-man, time for you to get going and stop talking to this boring old hag. Git. Go. Sceedaddle." Arthur attempted to contest her decision, but was met with a series of repeated interruptions that prevented his own participation in the conversation. Eventually finished with their little talk, the paladin gathered his wits and took the message in a bottle from her hands. Uncorking the bottle, a strange miasma filtered out into the air. It smelled like rotting sea, to be honest, nothing he wanted to ever take a whiff of again, but Arthur knew better. He'd need the map on his journey, especially where the cave apparently had been mapped out by previous mages through some sort of mass surveillance program.
Arthur began walking away from the woman with the bottle in his hand. Shimmying the message out through the narrow opening, he made sure to not rip the little piece of ancient parchment. While he was putting distance between him and the creepy old witch, he wasn't exactly sure what she'd do if he accidentally ripped it or anything of the sort. Now that the parchment slid out into his own warm hands, Arthur slipped the small glass vial into his backpack, he could do something with it later, namely throw it into the trash. But he wasn't just going to toss it on the side of the ground, no, he knew better than to litter with glass like that. If his trip to the beach for patrol had taught him anything, was that there was always wildlife around him, other non-human lives that he could affect as much as he could for that of a human. Holding the parchment up to the light, the paladin squinted his eyes to see the faded image of a map. It was definitely amber island, if his geography memory was anything to go by. Comparing it to the map he had seen in the guild headquarter offices, this was an older version of the island before it was settled or anything of the sort. With that in mind, it had a trail leading towards an X along the beachside. Fortunately for him, it wasn't too far from his current location, probably an hour-long walk at most, maybe half that if he decided to fly. Making sure there was nobody behind him to knock over with his wings, angelic appendages grew from his back as he activated his magic. Flapping them steadily, Arthur took flight into the air as he held the map out in his hands. He didn't have a compass, but he was familiar enough with the island from his own exploration to understand the landmarks it detailed. The island was spread out before him as he rose into the sky. Civilians were watching him with fascination as he took flight, however they weren't particularly phased due to living on the island housing a mage guild. Regardless, Arthur took off into the setting sun on his way to his destination.
WC: 2555 TWC: 2555
