Fait Accompli: An Unwilling Tutelage

[Seperallis]

Lesson 3: Conservation of Reality

The day continued onward, and the late-morning sun slipped and fell form the graces of the clear blue sky while the summer heat, continually stagnant, chased after to try and catch it as a thick but breathable mattress. Thankfully, travel all day fell mostly within the strands of trees beside the wide stream, though that small comfort didn't keep Nevina, pale cheeks turning as red as her hair, from shedding her robed layers down to her tunic and wrapping them as sashes around the cords of her pack. After a time, the stream the travelers followed rose back out of its self-imposed exile to the gully, leaping up from a step of small babbling waterfalls to return to a relaxed and shallow meandering through the trees and glades. Were one so inclined it might be possible to travel leagues hopping from one stone stone to another in a shallow branching of infinite pathways through the crystal waters that kept present company, had the air not sapped one of humor to do so.

Eventually, as always, the sun conceded its defeat to the darkening expanse above, painted now in gradients of pinks, yellows and purples as it graciously slid its way to rest beyond the great impossible expanse of an unfathomably distant "west," tugging at the edges of a heavy air blanket that resisted, snagged as it were upon an endless brush of branches and grasping reluctantly to every trunk. Shadows cast themselves longingly to some distant concert of the shapeless and macabre that welcomed them, though remained attached for now, hanging upon a solid sense of proud duty until the quitting light wrung them from their bondings in a muddled stampede across the landscape towards an otherworld of blue-grey shapelessness.

The two travelers and their crystal clear companion, under a royal sky of stars blinking themselves awake, came to another glade. This one though stood out from the grasses of the day as it bloomed forth in a brilliant array of shapes and supposed-colors, as if the heavens had presented a bouquet of love to its grounded companion. A sweet mingling of nectars fought for the right to beat down the slight-yet-unmistakable twinge of brimstone on whatever feeble attempt at a breeze passed by.

Nevina stopped short as the first whiff stung her nose. Peering into the darkness, she reached with practiced hand and unclasped the long container behind her hip.

If not for the window framed by a dull, popping glow of a fireplace, Elke would not have noticed the object of the elf's attention: a small cottage across the glade peeking itself sheepishly above the orgy of nature in which the girl stood. From this distance she couldn't make out details, though it seemed only large enough for a single room. Whoever lived there, away from the world and in such a small dwelling, must live an austere life.

Or maybe not. The people of the east were an odd sort...

"Miss Elke," Nevina murmured. By the tone of shortness and disappointment, she didn't seem particularly excited by this new discovery. "Please either wait here, or stay behind me and follow precisely in my footsteps."

---

1d20 rolled for a total of: 5 (5)