Great Haven - sup

>Ask her name. What show is she talking about?

Oh hey this continues again!

>Ask her name. What show is she talking about?

You ask the woman (her name turns out to be Magdeline, shortened to Deline) what kind of show she works on. She looks surprised for a split second, but then she looks at you, and remembers something. "...Ah. It's a tournament. Every week, there's a fight underneath the clock tower - scripted and choreographed, of course. A lot of rich folks come from all over the world to see it. My character is known as 'Cyclops,' and I'm featured tonight." Knowing enough about the real Cyclopes that roam the deeper forests, the name certainly sounds intimidating enough. Deline shows off the black fabric mask that gives her the appearance of having one large eye. "It's too early in the day for it, but I still like wearing this cloak part of the costume; it's nice in this chilly weather we've been having. Wearing the whole thing just makes me... stand out. I enjoy recognition, but not crowds. ...Either way, it's good advertisement when people see me with my hood up."

The three of you talk for a while, discussing the show and the town's various attractions. It turns out that the show starts at sundown; sunrise was only a few hours ago, so you have some time to kill.



After a bit, the driver arrives... and with a huge sack of money. You've never seen anything like it. It's larger than you!

"Well," he explains, "I was feeling generous, since I know Maya will need a lot of money to raise her family. That, and Mort happens to be a wanted con man, so there's no way I'm going to pay him. We found the burn marks under his visor so he must have been smuggling it under there. He wasn't even using space magic. For a recognized criminal, that seems... pretty stupid."

Maya concurs. "...You're probably right about that."

The driver goes on. "Either way... the caravan is in the lot now, and you can go grab your things. You can split that between Raoul and yourself however you decide, since I can't think of anyone in more need of it. And Raoul..." He turns to you.



"I wish you only the best on your travels, and I hope to never meet you again."

With that, he disappears into the crowd behind him.



"...Huh," Deline says, standing behind you. "That was pretty neat."

>Haha money! Gamble it all on the tournament, that's a solid investment.

>Bite a single gold coin like it's chocolate,It's been a long time since you've seen money!

>Bite a single gold coin like it's chocolate,It's been a long time since you've seen money!

Maya and Deline make their way for the caravan, and you ride along. You ask Maya for one of the coins in the bag, and you and give it a testing bite... It doesn't bend, or anything of the sort. You don't think you've even seen this denomination before, either.



You've only ever seen brown and white coins. These ones are very colorful. You're not even sure what this is supposed to depict. Maya tells you that all these colors are worth 500 spice each, but of course, the writing is as intricate and indecipherable as ever; you couldn't possibly have figured that out yourself. This coin alone is more money than you've seen in your entire life, and it may as well be - its gigantic enough that you have to hold it with both hands.



Maya explains how she wants to split it up. "There's a lot more in here than I expected, so I deposited what I needed to my account already. The rest... I'll let you have. And we can spend the day here figuring out how you want to spend that, or save it, or, whatever you want. I guess.. I should get that "curse" situation squared away, as soon as possible. A magic analysis will only be a couple thousand spice," she suggests, rather causally. You can barely hear her over the sound of clinking coins underneath your paws; you've taken to counting it all as the confused Hawren guard watches the other two allow you to do this.

Deline stands outside as Maya enters the cart, putting away her things and fiddling with papers. She ponders your future plans. "...What exactly do you plan on doing with him, Maya? He can't stick around with you forever, and I don't think he knows what to do with that amount of money. No realtor is going to accept him as a client, either."

The Torill sighs, and sets down the note she was reading.

"...I don't really know."

"Is he just going to tag along with you until you go back to your family in Truce?"

"...Well, I guess if he wants to, he can. It's not like one more mouth to feed will make a difference, heh.."

The clinking of coins stops as you sit back to take a break. You think you're about halfway done counting, but you're not used to these kinds of numbers. You're hovering around twenty-four... no, five thousand spice so far.

Deline continues. "Well, if he has other plans, I at least suggest you figure him out a way to defend himself, and some food. He seems honest enough to, you know, not rob somebody, and there are some good weapon shops in town. At least one of them has to have something Hiir-sized."

>Gamble it all on the tournament, that's a solid investment.

You can feel Deline wince behind your back as you say that. Her response is flat. "...Don't."

Otherwise, these all sound pretty good to you, but you're not sure what you want to do first.

that driver character sure is a card, ain't he

>Buy a tiny buckler shield and a tiny rapier

> Go with Maya's suggestion before anything else. She hasn't lead you astray yet, and you trust her.
> Buy some equipment that can improve your natural magic abilities. Maybe a blade of a highly conductive metal (that way you can channel your sparks into it). I think a shield isn't that vital for a Hiir - they seem like more of an avoid rather than confront kind of people.
If you happen to have any spice left over:
> See if there are any hat shops here. You gotta get a cool hat to go with your scarf.

Remove yon curse

>Buy a GUN
>You probably should hide that money before it gets stolen from you. Is it enough to buy a house? If you had a house you could bury it in the basement!

>Buy a fake coin
>Because why not?

Maya mentioned an account, is there some sort of banking system you can store some of your newfound money in? Probably better than carrying it around, what with all the danger.

Get the whole curse thing sussed out first though, you don't want to bring ill fortune down on the place that'll be handling your savings.

>You probably should hide that money before it gets stolen from you.

As you finish counting up your coins, you stuff them into your bag - the amount totalling to about 12,500 spice. Maya says that it's reasonable for a month's pay, and can cover for a couple months of living expenses, at least for a Torill. She says she doesn't need it, though; she already has a few hundred thousand in savings from the last year or so of work. You make note of wanting to open a bank account soon, since it's probably not safe to be walking around with this much on your person.

But then again, it isn't exactly common for a Hiir such as yourself to have this much wealth to begin with, and in a spacebending bag no less.

Remove yon curse

Maya's advice seems the most sound. There's no need to trouble yourself or your future endeavors with whatever more this curse will bring, so you tell the other two once they have finished their business, and Deline guides you to a local magic expert she knows. It's only a short ride on maya's back before you arrive.



As you enter, you are immediately greeted with the sight of hundreds of books and various accouterments lining the walls. And a Rozo sitting behind a desk. "Hello, hello," she says, without lifting her eyes from the book splayed out in front of her. "How may we help you?"

Deline speaks for both you and Maya, as you're too unprepared to say anything yourselves. "I've brought someone here that may interest Aloysius..." She doesn't skip a beat. "Apparently there is a 'curse' that needs to be made sense of."

The woman finishes writing something, and then slithers into a neighboring room. "I will fetch him. It may be a moment."



The three of you take some chairs, and there is silence for a few minutes.

...

...And then someone emerges from the door.



"Hello to you both, ladies! I understand there is a curse here that I need to dispel? Oh..." He closes his book. "Magdeline, It's good to see you. How can I help you folks?"

Maya hesitantly motions to yourself, still situated and barely noticeable in her lap. "...Actually, it's the little one here."

"O-ohh, my goodness! A Hiir! You know, I never get to work with Hiiri! Well, don't just sit there, spit it out!" The Hawren is practically bouncing with excitement. "Tell me everything you know about this curse of yours."

Well, at least it's not the first time you've told anyone. How do you even begin to explain?

>Raoul: you generate sparks of electricity spontaneously
>Hawren: become obsessed with capturing this sensation

This expert doesn't fill me with confidence...

> Spew information about your curse, rapid fire.
> Aloysius: Actually just be really good at massages. Like, soul cleansing good.

At your request, Maya sets you on the desk. You start by telling him how it has followed you your entire life, from birth, bringing bad luck to not only yourself, but all those around you. But before you can even get into the details, he interrupts you. "You should know, there is no such thing as 'luck,' right? At least not in the truest sense. No such thing as fate, no such thing as luck! Only good or bad circumstances!"

...Well, then you begin to tell him about your old family, and how they learned to never trust you with anything important, and how you eventually had to remove yourself, for your own sake. Hearing it makes Maya more than a little uncomfortable, but fortunately, this Aloysius finds the perfect place to interject. "Well, that's unfortunate and all, but I am a magician scholar, not a therapist! I wish you well with that, but nothing you've said so far screams 'curse' to me, don't you know? If there is one thing more curse-ly about a curse than magic, then we would all be in the dark about curses, yes? You would say a curse is inherently magic above all else, yes?" ...You slowly nod your head. "Then, tell me about your experiences with magic! Tell me, tell me please!"

You generate sparks of electricity spontaneously

In that case... you tell him about your unusual ability to throw sparks, and immediately he is intrigued. "Sparks, you say? I've never heard of a hiir that could throw sparks. But do go on."

So you tell him how it often gets the better of you, as was the case with Mort and before that, several... family members.

"Is that all?" He asks.

"I guess so," you reply.



"Good." He grabs what you can only assume is one of those counting devices from the desk, and begins twisting it in various ways. "Now, I have a good suspicion on what this ailment of your might be, but in the name of EMPIRICISM, I can't exactly confirm it until we can test it."

The rozo secretary expresses her concern that she was still writing the previous numbers down. "Mochi's results aren't all that important, they were rather mundane," he says. "This is going to be far more interesting. That is, if you would give me the pleasure of testing your abilities, mister... what was your name again?"

You almost give him your old name, but remember to correct yourself and say Raoul.

"Raoul! I'm not certain I can rid you entirely of this 'curse' of yours, but I can almost certainly help you learn more about it! I might not even charge you; I only welcome the opportunity to see your potential."

You're not sure you trust this guy. A lot of his... demeanor certainly rings true for what you hear about Hawrens, but... a free examination of your curse is better than none.

>Raoul: Can't say no to free stuff, even if it's bad for you!
>Maya: Chat up the secretary while you wait. She's pretty!
>Tests: Somehow include a running wheel, lightbulb.

Sure why not. I mean there are many reasons why not but go with it anyway

"Alright, then. This first test probably isn't going to result in much, but considering the strange stories you've told me so far, this will give us a better understanding of what we should be expecting to see." From his sleeve, the pink Hawren produces an odd looking pendulum. "I need you to focus on this, here. Just relax, and watch it. I'm not going to hurt you."



Slowly, the disk swings back and forth. You're not really sure what he's intending to happen here.

"Sit down and watch it swing," he says. You do so.

"Fold your hands together, and relax," he says. You do so. The air moves very slowly around you.



"Look at my feathers, and tell me the number I hold in front of you." The pendulum swings, and you do so. You don't know how, but you count... one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. "Eight," you say.

"And now," he says...

"Think fast."



You do so.

There is a small ringing in your ears from something loud, but you don't remember what it was.

...



You can see the pendulum hanging unassisted in the air in front of you, before it clatters to the ground. And so does the book that Aloysius threw at the wall. "Well," he remarks, "That went a lot better than it usually does."

The assistant looks quite distraught. "Weeellll, I was going to mention, you never got that far before, but you also never threw the damn record book at the wall."

Otherwise, everyone in the room looks moderately impressed, but you don't even know what happened. Before you can ask, the strange expert walks into the other room, telling you to direct any questions toward his assistant while he sets up the other tests.

"Um,'

>Ask the secretary what that was about

This hawren seems competent and I have a good feeling about this!

>Ask the secretary as like the comment above,But also ask what it was for as you have seem to have not noticed and/or forgotten.

Because we need more info on why this pendulum disk thing was swung in front of us.

"Um,'

The secretary grumbles under her breath. "Ugh. Why, why would he do this... That's just... Oooooghh, I was almost done with the last block, too..."

>Ask the secretary what that was about

Meekly, you sit up and ask the busy lady what in the world just happened. "You mean you don't... Oh, who am I kidding, you're a Hiir."

She explains, "What you just did was a very exceptional display of innate magic. This isn't all that common in Hiiri, that we know of, and I suppose Aloysius is pretty excited because that was also a particular type of magic that he's been trying to legitimize for a while, from the school of Time."

>Ask what it was for as you have seem to have not noticed and/or forgotten.

You tell her your ears ring, and ask why that experience was so confusing as a whole. So she tells you, "When that pendulum was held in front of you, he only let it wave once or twice before he let go. For the rest of the test, it was simply swinging in the empty air, and how long it does is usually a good measure of how willing you are to focus on your own Force magics. And... you did really well with that. Most people drop it when he asks them to count his feathers, and they realize he isn't holding it any longer. But for you, he realized that he could do something extra... if he clearly wasn't prepared for it."

"And what was that?" you ask.

"By startling you with the book," she explains, "He managed to get you to slow down time itself. The pendulum stopped swinging, and that was your doing whether you knew it or not. That's never really happened before, but.. again, neither has this." She refers to the mess of papers she had begun to clean up.



You look at the other two. Maya looks ecstatic. "Gosh, I didn't know you had that sort of thing in you!"

But... Deline's expression is difficult to parse, as usual.

There's clearly a lot you don't know about magic.

"So uh just between you and me, strictly off the record, is time magic a crime"

>Help the secretary to get into her good graces. Being sociable like that is good for making friends!
>Ask Maya what she thinks of the doctor. Would he try to take advantage of you and your talents? Is it safe to stick around here?

I'm sorry for messing up your papers.

"Ack. No, I'm not mad at you, you don't have to do a thing. This is just what I get for wanting a so-called quiet office job."

She mutters under her breath, her voice barely audible. "...You wouldn't know what to do with this anyways."

"is time magic a crime?"

It seems to you that time magic might be illegal... it would make sense. Tentatively, you ask the secretary about it.

"...Not really. I don't think there's any known kind of magic that has the potential to be illegal, actually. Time magic simply isn't recognized by the scientific community at large, since most of what happened could just as easily be explained by force magic. Though, Aloysius says he can use that same sort of criticism against the school of healing, since that can just as easily be explained by time magic. I have no idea how he intends to prove that, especially with how he's just so-"



The esteemed scholar enters the room again, carrying what appears to be a small ward.

"...Reckless." She quickly gets out of his way.



With a small amount of stumbling, the hawren manages to set the ward down on the desk without breaking it, or you. He looks at you in anticipation. "Try to lift this please," he requests.

>Ask Maya what she thinks of the doctor.

You only have to look at her. She mouths to you, "I have no idea what he's doing."

Well, uh. Think real hard about lifting it, then?