Through The Eyes Of A Child

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Open to one or two. I'll be using Celandine and Vaeron in this thread.

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She looked like a child because she was, in reality, a child. Her soft chestnut brown hair was picked up and played with by the soft wind like an excited dog, eager for attention. Standing on the walls of her castle she was a maiden no longer waiting for her knight in shining armour, because he had already come. Come in the form of her mother that the lady in the grass green dress had told her about.

Celandine leant over the edge of the battlements, peering straight down to the steadily dropping cliff edge. What had been carved out was a path that zig-zagged down the cliff edge with sharp lines, and showed anyone watching where Celandine was if people approached the fortress. Up the only path, hidden amongst the trees, lost in the vast, rugged, mountainous landscape of where the Concordia forest touched the Jagged Peaks. She knew that far above, where the cliff became firm, buildable land, there was a permanent camp of at least ten women.

Hrrmmmmm.

A low moan, calling out a noise that echoed off the stone walls of the cliff-side fortress. Immediately Celandine stood up tall and rushed to the other side of the battlements, looking down into the courtyard. Her tiny hooves balanced her growing body well. Growing so much that in the past month at being in the fortress she had gained a full inches in height and now knew around a quarter of her species' language.

She let out a cheer when she saw her four foot tall (to the shoulder) juvenile tera'k - a bovine musk-oxen like creature from the high mountains, that her mother said was a traditional mount of fauns.

"Erik!" she cried out in joy and launched for the steps.

Very quickly she thundered down them, hooves making a clippity-clop noise. Running into the courtyard she launched her little arms around the tera'k, a small version of his father - Philomel's, Celandine's mothers, own. On his back was a waiting leather saddle, made with straps that could be extended as the creature grew. Usually he was not here, usually he was left to roam the fields to the front of the cliff. It was only when there was a planned trip out that Celandine found him with his saddle.

Looking around she tried to find the person who she brought her animal here. Expecting to see Gosling, her governess, she did not see for the first instance the image of her very father striding over and leading his own huge horse. Megladon.

Celandine's jaw dropped. Vaeron - she was not allowed to call him 'father' - never spent time with her alone. Still hugging Erik she stared.

"Are - are we ... Going out together?"

"While your mother is out fighting vampires you're going to get some real world experience, little princess," he grunted, bringing Megladon up beisde Erik. Erik, despite his bulk, shied. Vaeron gave him, then Celandine, a long, meaningful look. "Just with me. We're going to a mining town called Stonevale. That's all."

There was silence, and a stunned little girl.

"That ... Okay?"

She shrieked and ran for him, arms out. Vaeron cringed and was forced to suffer the joys of a miniature excited faun.

"No screaming or I'm not taking you anywhere."

Celandine bit her lip but still hugged his leg, looking up with enormous, adorable eyes.

He groaned and gestured to Erik. "Get on him. It's a long ride."

The town of Stonevale sat perfectly and happily between the winding path of a river and the side of a vast hill. Part of the hill itself had been carved out, with holes dotted over its surface like indecent cheese. Suitably a mining town, with laden barges flowing up and down the water to connect to the other parts of Corone, it was a town which Vaeron deemed harmless enough for a young faun like Celandine to not make too much trouble in. And too small to get lost in.

Naturally, he vastly underestimated her. After all, an heiress in her prime, flowing with dreams of a glorious lady in grass green, and the ability to learn fast and precise could not be constrained to stay on one street. Even though they steadily walked into town side by side, coming down from the hills with the presence of two mighty warriors, the young faun was already thinking about what delights awaited her.

Peopls scattered like frightened doves before the juvenile, but still massive, tera'k and the plough horse that trodded beside him. Each of Megladon's hooves was the size of an ontate dinner place, capable of crushing any man's skull to dust. His rider, proud and unyielding watched the scurrying people before them with the unamusement of a priest of the Etheral Sway. In some ways he was a priest, but of Earlon, the Raiaeran star god of the sea. Not that he had any association with the Etheral Sway at all. Infact, he detested them, and all he had heard of them and their practises from Philomel's mouth.

"Stay close," he grumbled in a low voice, looking over to his daughter.

Erik and she were already over the other side fo the street, staring hungrily at a stall of fresh fruit. Already and only ten metres into the town.

Letting out a long sigh, Vaeron yanked Megladon's reigns. The horse snorted loudly with distate, and even though he followed his master's call it still frightened a few villagers, who scuttled past. Not even the mightiest of the miners seemed willing to bare up against the brown haired, well-toned mage and his steed.

"Not happening," Vaeron growled, reaching over to grab Erik's halter. Calmly the bovine beast followed where he was told and veered away from the apples he had been sniffing.

"Ohhh, but fath-" Celandine caught herself and looked ashamed. "Sorry Mr Vaeron," she said quietly. And she folded inwards and looked down to her lap.

Vaeron watched her for a moment, but said nothing. Guiding Erik back to the middle of the street, where people still gave them a wide berth, he settled them back into a leisurely pace. "We are here to do shopping. To get you a knife, and that is it."

Nevin blinked as people ran by his shop outside, sprinting past the glass windows. It wasn't quite the sheer terror that had accompanied the recent attack by Goblins, where utter panic had gripped the citizenry, but it was a bit more than the normal rush that normally happened at this time of day. The alchemist groaned and got up, Aphrael gliding to his shoulder as he made his way to the front door and opened it. Since everyone seemed to he fleeing from the same point he turned in that direction - and paused, eyebrows raising.

The two were quite clearly outsiders - not only by their garb, but also by their mounts. One was a truly enormous horse, while the other was some kind of cow offshoot, distantly related at best - and it was also quite large, large enough in fact to utterly dwarf the small figure riding on its back. Despite the fear and unease in the townsfolk, neither rider nor their mounts seemed at all interested in what was going on. Though the man did notice it, his eyes flicking across the crowd every so often, but they kept returning to the smaller figure riding the other beast. A guard perhaps? A parent taking a child out on a day trip?

Either way, they did not seem to be actively hostile, so Nevin didn't feel any particular ocular urgency in confronting them. He did remain outside though, and some of the people who were rushing by did seem to calm down as they passed him. Probably trusting the healer on his calm, he thought idly. Aphrael trilled a question to him, and he shrugged slightly.

"No, can't say that I do recognize either of them. Or what that bovine being is. I don't typically worry about animals unless it's a common pet people ask for medicine for, or I can use parts in Alchemy." This settled the bird, who joined her master in watching the strange duo from just outside of his shop.

Now very grumpy Celandine sulked in her saddle. She had come to Stonevale for fun, not to be shouted at. All she had wanted to do was look at the fruit and lovely vegetables - and Erik wanted some too, very much.

But Vaeron would not allow it. He kept his hand on Erik's halter for quite a while, and the big, but young creature followed like a well-behaved dog. The tera'k was so gentle and brave that would do as he was told, but also never run in a battle. It was natural for a tera'k to put up a fight against hunters - their huge horns were not useless after all - yet it was not entirely natural for them, when truly threatened, to stay. Erik seemed to be different. Different from his father.

"Vaeron," Celandine said after a while in a quiet voice. She was looking around and people were rather more relaxed now. Less eyes were watching their constant movements.

"Hmm?" the huge man looked at her, his hands intertwined into Megladon's reigns again. It was only then that she noticed he wasn't guiding Erik and her anymore.

"Um ... Can I get yummy things?"

He looked at her, frowning. For a brief moment he then looked over to see one person still staring at them - a crimson haired lad with a ... big crow by him. A rather unusual size, but if Vaeron had not been used to his massive horse, if he had never seen Philomel's pet rabbit, Mao, grow massive, or if he had never actually seen Delath the dragon, he might have been surprised.

Blinking, he looked back to his daughter. "We're getting you a knife, kid. Not sweets."

He said if getting a knife was far more reasonable a gift for a child than sugar.

"But ..." And she looked at him with adorable eyes. The ones that melted anyone else's heart in the fortress. But Vaeron ...

"Nope," he said, glancing back at the red-haired man. As Celandine fell into another grump he raised an eyebrow.

"And what do you want?" Vaeron asked Nevin.

Now that they were closer, Nevin had been able to watch them and actually know what he was looking at. The little girl was tiny, not quite human, and patently upset. Her little arms were folded across her chest in a pout, and she kept shooting little looks at the man who was riding the massive horse next to her. It was... A small child looking for reassurance, and not receiving it and being upset about it. Hm.

As the remaining people had calmed down, taking comfort in his own serene observation, the girl had seemed to perk up, looking around the street more energetically as it emptied. Going out was probably a rare occurrence for her. It was when her eyes slid over him, and over his shop, that she blinked and looked back, her gaze fixation on him. No, not on him. On the sign next to him - proclaiming that candy was sold in his store. Ah.

She twisted, asked for "yummy" treats, and was soundly rebuffed. The man had looked in his direction for a moment before responding - that they were there for one reason, and one reason only. Disappointing to the girl no doubt, but Nevin wasn't about to butt in.

"And what do you want?" at least, he wasn't going to butt in without being asked for his input. The man's tone was brusque, curt and stiff like he didn't see a reason to be talking with Nevin. That, or he didn't talk with people very often. He wasn't outright rude, but did seem to want to be on his way.

Nevin shrugged one shoulder - the one that Aphrael wasn't currently on - before replying. The man was at least being courteous enough to stop and wait for his answer, and not just continuing down the street.

"Just came out to see what the hullabaloo was about out here. The local guard isn't exactly the best, so people running in the streets could mean any number of things. That aside, my name is Nevin." He bowed, Aphrael flying off of his shoulder as he did so. The black-and-red corvid flew over to the girl, perching carefully on one of her mount's horns as she trilled a cheerfully greeting to the small child."And that is Aphrael. Not precisely my place sir, but isn't it a bit of a waste to have traveled as far as you obviously have, and only purchase on thing? Perhaps understandable if you were acquiring a rare item of some repute, but I don't think anything like that stands out here in our little mining village." He smiled, though a keen observer could likely tell that the expression was plastic, forced - something a shopkeeper was expected to do. The smile never reached his eyes, after all.

Vaeron just looked at the young man, both brows raised. If he could, were it not for the two dark scars across his cheeks, he would have smiled. Smirked, rather and perhaps even sneered at the obstinate red-head. For what it was, however, he only could stare, and grind his eyes into the skull of 'Nevin'. A man who said words like, 'hullabaloo,' and spoke of the town guard like it was worthless. Well, perhaps it was. After all they had not come to greet him and his small faun companion, despite the interference they were making. Vaeron blamed it entirely on the fact that Philomel had given Celandine the tera'k. The cow thing was honestly just a call for attention, not a real mount like a horse.

Of course the mage had never told Philomel of his opinion on tera'k's. It would never go down well. And even if he did manage to persuade her to stop riding the thing ... well she might just start riding Delath permanantly. And what a change that would make. For the worse.

Out of the corner of his eye Vaeron watched the large crow settle on one of Erik's massive horns. He ground his teeth together with unease and continued to glare.

"What is that any bother to you that I bring the girl here? I am providing your little town with some business. Is that not a good thing?"

"Eeeee!"

Quickly looking over in reaction - and in doing so freaked people out again by yanking Megladon's reigns and making the mighty horse snort noisily - Vaeron found himself facing a brave Celandine. She had leaned over to prod the crow's feathers and was currently squeeing because the crow had - well, unsurprisingly - moved. Rolling his eyes Vaeron leant over and began flapping at the thing.

"Oh come on, get off. You are getting her over excited. Shoo."

"Nooo, he is nice," Celandine moaned, shoving his huge hand away with her two tiny ones. "I want a crow. Mum has a dragon. Why can't I have a crow?"

"You have a cow," Vaeron replied. Then he paused and looked at Nevin once more. "Where is the best blacksmith in town?"

Aphrael trilled happily, shimmying out of the way of Vaeron's hands. She shuffled across the cow and behind Celandine, butting her head against the small child and piping amused flute notes as she stared at the man over the girl's shoulder. Nevin raised an eyebrow at this by-play. He tended to forget that the bird herself was still a youngling by her race's standards, so playing around with another small child seemed to amuse her greatly. He focused back onto the guardian.

"Oh, it's no concern of mine, as I said. Simply put you seem like a busy man, so traveling all this way for just one item seems wasteful. And while I might say business is always welcome, the town was recently attacked so someone coming in on what has to be the largest horse they've ever seen is a bit disruptive to most, unfortunately. No fault of yours, just bad timing on that. Aphrael - behave girl, or no candied insects for you tonight." An offering of amnesty - the man seemed to want Aphrael away from the girl, so he obliged him in that. The bird nudged the girl again and flapped her way back over to Nevin, trilling at him. The redhead rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know most of the town's kids give you a wide berth, but that doesn't mean you can attach yourself to the first traveling child that comes through. And that's not my business so don't tell me, I won't listen." With that admonishment he turned his gaze back to the mounted duo.

"As for the best smith in town, that is probably Yark. You'll find his place actually back a ways on the route that you came in - but he's on an off-street from this main road, about two streets down from where we are now. You'll know you've found it if you find a smithy proclaiming Elven-made goods can be found there; one of the Journeymen working in the shop is an Elf from a nearby tribe. If you have any alchemical needs - or if you decide to grant the child a boon - my store is probably your best option for those. Anything else sir?" Nevin didn't think the girl would know what a boon was - but the man might. Give him a chance to think about it perhaps, without the child realizing what Nevin had said. Aphrael sang out again, cheery flute notes, and began preening at Nevin's red hair.

As Vaeron began to curl his lip again Celandine decided it was time to be polite. She pushed Erik forwards, urging him with a firm kick of her hooves into his flanks. They were thick from the pounds of muscle and fur that were attached to the creature. Generations of hiking through cold mountain peaks had required them to be hardy. They were the perfect beasts for Salvar - but ones who lived outside of Salvar. Tough. Strong. Never failing.

She brought the tera'k around, making it very clear to the man that she was not human at all. To one casual observer she might seem human, with only tiny nubs for horns and tapered ears hidden beneath mounds of brown fluff hair. It was only when someone saw her legs that they properly realised.

"I'm Celandine, but everyone calls me Dine. That's Vaeron. He's my dad but he doesn't like being reminded of it," she thumbed the air towards the human, who immediately stiffened. "He rides Megladon, I ride Erik. Mostly because I'm a faun," she grinned a gorgeous smile.

Then she pointed at Aphrael. "I like your crow. She's big like my mum's dragon. Vaeron says that-"

"Right that's enough, you!"

Suddenly there was a big hand and this time Erik's reigns were wrenched from her hands entirely. Vaeron looked visibly annoyed and was glaring at Celandine. When she saw his expression she deflated somewhat and went utterly quiet.

"We're here for weapons, not to make friends, little princess. We can't afford that now." He paused, looking at the girl completely defeated and sorrowful and took in a long breath.

He looked at Nevin again. "Can you show is the blacksmith?"

Nevin blinked, a little taken aback by the girl's sudden forthrightness. It did make some of the interactions between the two of them more understandable - she was his daughter and sought his approval, and for some reason he didn't like to think about it? Odd. Though there was also the information of her race - Nevin hadn't been paying attention to the newscriers recently, but he thought he had heard something about Fauns in Stonevale recently, was this child here for the same reason? No, the man, Vaeron - now he had a name - was very much blatant about the fact that they were here for a weapon for the child. Still, the man seemed rather upset that Celandine had spilled that information, so Nevin was going to just file it away in the back of his head for now, paying it no heed for the time being. Though... a dragon? Maybe a child's imagination running rampant.

"Indeed, she is rather large, isn't she? Apparently she's not done growing yet though. Now then, Sir Vaeron - I can indeed show you the way to the blacksmith. Give me a moment to lock up my shop before I go." He ducked back into the store and grabbed his cloak, taking a moment to place a few candies wrapped in a cloth scrap into a pocket and walked back towards the front of the shop, pulling the dark brown hooded affair up and on in moments as he dragged the key out of the pocket. He stepped back outside, Aphrael resettling herself on his shoulder once more, and locked the door firmly shut. He started to walk in front of the man on his mount - and paused, tilting his head to one side.

"If the townsfolk causing noise is problematic, perhaps you at least should dismount sir? I understand your reason for not having the child do so." That was all Nevin would say about it though as he started walking down the street towards Yark's smithy.

Uncomfortably riding in silence, they followed Nevin at a slow and steady pace. Megladon kept snorting, and indeed eventually Vaeron did take Nevin's advice and came off the huge beast. Maybe it was something about the way the blood mage spoke that enticed him, or maybe it was that Vaeron actually realised that he had a point.

Celandine, on the other hand, refused to get off Erik. She protested loudly and clung to his saddle rather than the reigns, yelling she'd, "Rather die than be forced to dismount her devoted tera'k." Just how devoted Erik was to her was still to be seen - the two had not yet been in an actual battle.

But still, Celandine got her way. As she was apt to doing. Vaeron gave up when the moaning for too noisome and simply grabbed Erik's reigns to guide the two steeds by himself. Plod, plod, went the animals and he strode easily just behind Nevin, two humans in this world of strangers.

Soon enough they got to the blacksmiths. A great sign declaring, "Yark," proclaimed it enough. Vaeron looked at Nevin a while pausing with the reigns of the animals, then seemed to decide something else. Still without speaking he tied both leads to a rusted loop set in the wall, then gestured to Celandine.

"Come on, kid," he said.

She huffed stuffily, but undid her hooves from the stirrups and slid down to the ground. With a splash she landed in a puddle and sent a small wave of dirty water at Vaeron's trousers.

For a moment the fury was clear on his face ... Then it vanished as she snatched up her hand.

"Thank you ... Nevin," he said in a short, terse tone. "We will ... Thank you. We may come by your store."

"I want to go," Celandine mumbled.

Vaeron lifted his chin and nodded once to the other human. "Thank you again."

He did not move.

Awkwardness reigned as he tried to remember how to be polite to a shopkeeper.

Nevin had to bite back a frown as the small girl began yelling as they walked down the street. He had gotten used to the village children who, for the most part, behaved well for him. Wouldn't do to make the man who sold candy upset with you after all. So the little girl raising a fuss until she got her way irritated him a trace, but he was well versed in not letting that show.

So down the streets they went, the girl seeming a bit pleased with herself as Vaeron behind Nevin. He had glanced back a couple times to make sure the child hadn't slipped off her mount and run off to get into trouble, but thankfully she wasn't that misbehaved.

Nevin saw that she aimed for the water puddle as she slid off her bovine mount, probably just intending to splash - he doubted she knew it would reach her escort. Nevin turned back in time to see the other human schooling his features back into a blank, impassive slate - he had missed whatever emotion had run across the massive man's face there.

When the large man thanked him, Nevin could tell that he was having trouble getting the words out. He spoke in short, clipped words, forcing them out through his teeth almost. Nevin ignored the pouting, grumpy girl - he had already made the offer to Vaeron, and encouraging her more would just serve to irritate the large human needlessly.

Instead he bowed politely, a smile on his face. "No trouble at all Sir Vaeron. I'm happy to help travelers - I do enough of that myself to appreciate it. I hope Master Yark has something suitable for what you're looking for. Adieu, for now." With that, the redhead began the trek back to his shop, giving a smile to Celandine before he left the two to their business.

It was around an hour later when the little tingle bell of Nevin's shop rang. The door itself opened just a peek, before a small pale creature with brown hair and cloppity feet ran in, making quiet, "Arrgghhh," noises.

For anyone watching, they would be confused. After all the being's appearance had been brief, and the door really had been ajar for less than a matter of two seconds. Now there was barely the sound of feet moving, and it seemed the small beast had basically vanished into thin air. Silence reigned for a single moment, until an excited squeal could be heard behind a very large set of shelves that the child may or may not have intentionally ran behind.

"Mine!" A fist appeared around the side of the bookshelf, holding up a handful of yummy-looking treats.

Outside of the shop a tall, grumpy man stood, arms crossed over his bare chest. Behind him a massive horse and a slightly smaller bovine creature stood, their faces hidden in a trough of water. People still avoided the man, despite him having got off his horse now, and he supposed it was because he was a stranger. Definitely it was nothing to do with the look of unamusement that was on his face as he stared into the alchemist's window, his eyes watching his daughter claim her prizes.

"Mine!" Celandine ran from behind the shelf, back into the main area of the shop. Grinning, she brandished a lovely new and shiny weapon in her hand - a scimitar with a silver edge and a bejewelled handle. In the other hand she held up the supposed sweets she had found, that she had been promised were here.

Tiny hooves carried her over to the worktop desk where she shoved the sweets down. Looking back she spied Vaeron in the window and threw him a happy wave.

Vaeron grunted but did nothing. He remained where he was and kept watching her, carefully. After their visit to the blacksmith's he had realised he was not going to be able to leave the town without allowing her one boon - unless he wanted a future Matriarch of the Gilded Lily who hated his guts for that one time he didn't buy her what she wanted. Therefore he had followed the alchemist's instruction and brought her here.

Turning back, Celandine waited to be noticed.

The shop had been remarkably quiet after Nevin's return from guiding the unexpected guests to Yark's shop. It probably had to do with the fact that many people were still uncomfortable with the rather intimidating stranger and the two mounts - from what he had heard, few people actually noticed the fact that there was a girl riding the bovine beast, far more distracted by the massive man guarding her.

So when Nevin heard the chime of the small doorbell, he looked up from the text he was studying and frowned as he looked around. There was the sound of hooves clopping on wood, but - wait, there, a child's voice, from over behind one of the shelves. His dark eyes swept in that direction in time to catch Celandine come around the corner.

Nevin's internal alarm went up about five levels when he saw that the small child, who looked to be no more than a few old at most, was waving a scimitar in one hand. While he didn't know how quickly Faun aged or matured, surely she was too young? He thought that Vaeron had mentioned she was getting a dagger, not a blasted full weapon! Even if it had been scaled down for her size. He shot a quick glance at the man outside of his window, who looked large and imposing, a dour, unamused expression on his face.

Hm. Problematic. Nevin cleared his throat as the Faun-child slammed some candies down on his counter and looked up at him with big, doe-like eyes, demandingly waiting for his attention. "Young miss,
please don't wave a blade around in my store. Some of the potions on the shelves do not mix well with each other, and damaging them would cause both of us problems. Now then, what candies are you wanting here. Just these ones?"

Celandine pouted ridiculously before lowering the blade slowly. She pushed her hoof along the floor, making little scraping sounds. As she huffed and then set the scimitar down on the ground she looked back up to the red-haired man and decided something.

"You're weird," she told him. "Like mother."

She she twisted around and gestured to Vaeron. That tiny tail tucked at the bottom of her spine twitched as she waved her hand at him.

"Sorry Mr Nevin sir," she said, "I don't have money."

Vaeron utterly sighed, hugely and exhausted, lifting a hand to run it through his hair. Annoyance came into him, and he thought about just remaining where he was. As his hand fell he turned around, eyeing the beasts behind him. Megladon lifted his massive head and huffed at his master at the same time as allowing a fine length of man to fall across half of his face. Vaeron grunted a laugh, the corners of his mouth never turning but the noise still there. If he could he would have smiled at his very old friend.

Thump thump.

He turned back around.

And now she was banging on the glass. Letting out a sigh Vaeron decided he was never going to go out with Celandine alone. Yes he felt sorry for the girl, a little, stuck in the fortress with her lessons for days on end. When he had been the same age all he had wanted to do was adventure too. Though the forest surrounding the fortress gave some sort of ability to have fun, Celandine was never allowed to go far. She was the Lilies princess after all.

Rolling his great eyes Vaeron shifted and began to move. He shoved his hands into his pockets as he shouldered open the door and came into the room, huge knife at his waist. Seeing the scimitar on the floor he nodded at it and spoke.

"Pick up the weapon. You don't leave weapons lying around."

Celandine giggled and ran over to get the sharp thing as Vaeron strode further in. He blinked at the sweets on the counter.

"How much is that currently she has collected?"

Nevin had watched the girl, cringing internally when she set the blade on the ground. When she said he was like her mother, it took the alchemist a solid few moments of thinking before he eventually decided to take the statement as a compliment. He smiled at her politely.

"It sounds like your mother is a smart woman." Considering she was probably gently chiding the girl, as he had done, it seemed like her mother normally did a good job of parenting. He wasn't quite sure why the guard - her father- was with her instead of her mother, though.

Then she had apologized and run off to the window - OK, thank crimson the small child hadn't been trusted with the money. He could easily see a youngling like that spending all of their money at once on candy and treats. He waited as Vaeron shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way inside, his bulky frame barely fitting through the door.

Hmm, a side note, need to expand that doorway. Need to make sure people of other races can get inside without hassle. Nevin filed the thought away for later, and smil d genially at the large man. When he had finished asking, Nevin glanced down and tallied up the quantity of candy that the child had dropped on the counter.

'This all would only be about twenty copper. Though, I should ask since it looks like she grabbed a mixture of what I have available - do you know if numbing agents have any kind of adverse affects on Fauns?" He separated a few out from the rest, his practiced eyes picking out which ones would make the consumer's mouth go numb.

"I ask only because a Fae child came in the other day and took some, and it had a radically different effect on him than on a human child." No need for Celandine's guardian to think he was plotting against the girl.

Celandine immediately found herself nodding and kept on doing so as Vaeron handed over, with a great big sigh, a small handful of coppers. They fell with a chink into the man Nevin's hand, making a music that she often heard from the Treasury back at the fortress. She opened her mouth to say so, then remembered that very important day, right after mother had taken her home.

"My dear," she said, placing one hand on either side of her body. And holding her.

Celandine had been very excited. After all, she had been taken from her home that she really knew had never been hers, with a faun called Anthea Rose that she really knew wasn't her mother, and brought to a castle in the woods. A castle ruled by a powerful faun, who was her mum, and had a huge cow to ride on. So it had taken mother-faun to catch Celandine in her game of 'chase me' to be able to talk to her.

'Chase me' was a very active game.

"Mother!" Celandine had squeaked excitedly in response.

Philomel had taken a slow breath and looked at her right in the eyes. "There is something very serious I need to talk to you about," she had said. "You have to promise never to tell anyone about this place. This castle."

"Why?" Celandine had asked. It was one of her favourite words at the moment, and usually got a response from the women warriors who really liked her here.

"Because there are not very nice people who want to hurt you and me," Philomel had explained, outright. "And if they knew of this place our world would be gone. You do not tell them ... ever. Nobody about this fortress okay?"

That same night Celandine had been visited by the woman in the grass green dress, the one who told her about things that will happen. She had said that mother was right - that if Celandine ever told anyone about the fortress then she would have to go back to live with Ennis and Etna. But Celandine did not want that - she had just got her mother and her father, even though he was grumpy. She would not give up her new life for the world. Not if her secret green lady told her not too.

She had even told her to come to an alchemist's shop last night. Celandine did not know why, but here she was now, and her father - Mr. Vaeron, was answering a question about 'ad-verz fauns'. She was a faun.

Popping her chin on the edge of the counter she grinned at the Nevin man.

"My mother has an army of warrior women," she grinned, "And I am going to inherit."

Well it wasn't talking about the fortress.

Vaeron let out a groan.

Nevin sorted the candies together - thankfully the numbing agent wouldn't harm the child. He did warn Vaeron while Celandine wasn't paying attention that some of the candies would make the girl's mouth go numb, but that it was a temporary thing that was just to entertain kids with their mouth going wonky for a bit.

He turned to look at the small girl propped her chin on the counter and smiled big at him. She seemed happy - and then she spouted off about warrior women and inheritance. It was an odd statement, normal people didn't really consider inheritance as an important issue, not enough to talk to their children about. Nobles did though... Nevin would have discarded it as the fancies of a Child if it wasn't for Vaeron's groan - the groan of a guard whose charge had let slip something they shouldn't have.

"Well then. You'd better grow up big and strong, and be responsible. Having people work for you is a big duty. So make sure you listen to Sir Vaeron, and your mother." He smiled at her, then raised one eyebrow at Vaeron, shaking his head. He wouldn't spread the information. The alchemist doubted anyone would ask in the first place, but still.

Vaeron looked down at his daughter who huffed a little and looked from man to man. The mage shrugged and pointed to the door.

"Go outside and see to the animals," he said with a grunt. "Practise with your new sword but don't bleed, or cut off your hand or anything."

Celandine pattered from side to side, looking a little confused, as Vaeron glanced back to the alchemist. There was a moment of contention before she stuck out her tongue, reached forwards and grabbed the sweets. Sweeping them into her hands she deposited the whole thing into a pouch at her belt. This was all before turning around, scimitar in hand and running to the door.

As Nevin likely looked on in horror, Vaeron's own eyes quirked in interest. He saw her carefully balance the sword in a light, meaningful manner at her shoulder, then reach up and unlatch the door. Just before she did she turned around and fixed Nevin with a stare:

"You'll meet my mother soon!" she declared in a certain voice and then was off, bell tinkling behind her.

As the words fell to nothing, Vaeron turned back to the slightly stunned alchemist, without any change to his expression, aside from an ounce of pride.

"She has a small prophetic gift. You may meet the mother. You will know it when you do.

He shrugged, then lowered his body onto the counter until he was eye to eye with Nevin. His own blue eyes pierced like the depths of the sea he knew so well and the deep scars on his cheeks burned like brands. .

"Anyway," he lowered his voice. "Question: as an alchemist, do you have ... Poisons?"

The child was outside now, swinging her scimitar back and forth through the air - and keeping everyone on the street well away as the two mounts stood beside her stoically. She seemed to have some idea of what it was that she was doing - her stance wasn't completely horrible. Still, it was disconcerting to see a small one swing a weapon about through the air.

But then the man leaned over the counter and spoke quietly, conspiratorally, asking if Nevin had poisons, and the Alchemist tilted his head to one side, examining the man for a moment. Finally he nodded slowly, pulling up his notebook and grabbing a pencil. "I do not tend to keep a ready stock of those substances in the storefront, however I do indeed possess the capabilities of crafting them. Now, because I do not keep them in stock, I will have to custom make it. However, that does tend to be a good thing, as it means that you can request it to react in certain ways instead of purchasing a pre-made poison. Now then. What is it you need this for? Is it meant to be a lethal serum, or merely a debilitating one And is this intended for use on a human biology, or some kind of humanoid? I will need to know that, as some of the races can process substances humans cannot, and vice-versa."

Nevin's tone had lost most of the warmth that it had while Celandine was in the shop - but it was not to the point of rudeness, rather that he had become brisk and businesslike as his dark red eyes fastened on to Vaeron's as he spoke. His pencil was poised above the paper, and on it the Alchemist had already jotted down several bullets, but the lines after them were blank. His gaze was calm and focused as he waited for the information that the man had.

As Celandine grumbled and splashed her scimitar into the water, Vaeron kept his eager eye on the alchemist. A small shimmer appeared in the mage's eye, a glisten of a smile that he could not reflect on his true face. The long, savage but shallow scars on his cheeks were a testiment to them. Only a small quirk of the muscle there hinted at the attempt of the ragged, but handsome man to show happiness, and perhaps Nevin caught a clue about that. If the red-haired man were to be thinking about why Vearon seemed to be in a permanant grumpy state then he was being given his response now. A truth of a savage backstory, and a childhood that had the promise of a holy monk but produced a wickedly unfortunate magician.

That was, until he met Philomel. In the strange world of her being his prisoner aboard the ship the Feisty Fish, when she was weak and he was her equal in talent. Admiration had been born in him for her, and they had taken the boat over together, only for it to later on become the Feisty Fox and be her champion, her first owned brothel, the beginning of the Gilded Lily's home ...

And then she had gradually become more powerful whilst he remained just as poor in ability. A mage by limited means, still worshipping his own god but suffocated by the rampant praise of Drys. A goddess so powerful that the idea had been instilled inside of him by her, he was sure now the idea had to have come from her, to produce a child with the faun and create the gifted child that he had ordered outside.

Once Nevin had finished speaking about the different types of poisons - so easily and openly, Vaeron was surprised to find - the mage gave a long, thoughtful look and then nodded, grunting and his eyes still gleaming with pleasure.

"Seeing as you seem very willing to talk about this ..." Vearon answered. "The poison would be for unsavoury people, as well as animals. I am not going to lie, we have our enemies, the girl's mother and I, and you seem the sort that is capable."

He fixed Nevin with a stare. "Are you going to call the city watch on me and the girl now? Though I doubt that this town really has a guard ... mining is it?" He blinked. "If you are, I would rather have a warning but the chance is here and I will take it to find us a discrete poison maker. You will be paid well, of course and depending on your ability your services may in fact be used later."

He paused. "Poisons that give just pain and hallucinations will be useful also. We don't have our own alchemist you see, not even a herbologist."

There was ... a flash there, a spark of happiness or something similar to it. It was the opposite of Nevin's own normal smiles - his were merely on the face and rarely reached his eyes, while Vaeron seemed amused or happy, but his face didn't show it beyond a tightening of the muscles around the lips. The scars, then, and they looked like they pained him even now. Which made sense - the facial muscles were normally extremely mobile, so it was likely that, without proper treatment for the wounds that had given the large man the scars, the muscles there had been damaged and never given a proper chance to heal. Nevin thought for a moment of offering him one of the salves he had in the store - but he didn't know if he had any that would be effective enough to help. Perhaps he could raise the subject at a later date, after finding more potent formula. For now though, he cleared his throat and shook his head with a raised eyebrow.

"I am hardly going to call the limited guard of the area on you. Discounting the fact that they have enough on their hands with the agitated Goblins nearby, I am the one who placed the offer and asked for information. No, calling the guard on a customer would be rather stupid. Now then. You say unsavoury individuals, and animals. Do you have any specific races in mind at the moment, or would you just like something that can affect humans for the time being?" The offer of a job was.... interesting, to say the least. From the comments that Celandine had made, her mother was a rather important individual. Having a 'sponsor', or a wealthy buyer.... it was an intriguing prospect. He drummed his fingers on the counter as he thought.

"I cannot say I'd be adverse to having a regular client who needs something other than Miner's Delight. Poison making is something that, while I can do, I have not had as much chance to practice. I'd be grateful to do so.
Hmm. Yes. I'm thinking of opening a shop in Radasanth in the future, that location might be easier to reach than this here out in Stonevale. And I can certainly achieve non-lethal poisons as well. Pain, hallucinations, fever, things that can mimic illnesses... Yes, I think I could be of service to you in the future." Nevin's tone had grown thoughtful as he tapped his pencil against his notepad. He had jotted down 'humanoid' and 'animal' on the page , and circled both lethal and non-lethal as Vaeron spoke - reminders to himself that the man would be interested in both kinds of product in the future.

A regular client?

Vaeron found himself amused at the thought of it. Naturally, the Nevin alchemist would never be given Philomel's name. Perhaps asked to pass it on to a brothel in Radasanth, the route to the Matriarch faun would be long and complicated for him. He would never hear of her name - or if she were to, that would come under the general description of 'Lacey'. Lacey was Philomel's now deceased mother, who the faun used as a cover when she was not wanting undue attention.

But that was all Nevin would ever know. He would not discover the fact that he was working for a warrior. Now yet, Vaeron was certain. Perhaps the name 'Gilded Lily' would eventually be come to the alchemist's ears, and the idea of a faun aside from Celandine would be made, but not soon if Vaeron was to help it. Poison was, after all, a dangerous thing to speak of. He was just lucky that his suspicions had become confirmed.

This Nevin was not an innocent man, wrapped up in the morals of rules. Instead he was willing to walk the line between danger and peace.

"Then we have an agreement," the older man said, straightening again, "Somewhere to begin. You will be paid well, do not worry."

He glanced back again, to beyond the window. Celandine was speaking to and petting her beast. Erik was between chewing her blouse and eating hay, trying to steal some from Megladon's mouth the giant horse snorted, and stamped a foot loudly, causing the tera'k to shy away.

Stopping people from even passing by just now.

The mage nodded once and stuck out a callused hand. "Let's say two vials of the item made for humans. We'll start with that, then if it suits, then you'll have a customer. A shop in Radasanth will be very much better for us."

Nevin took the hand and shook it firmly before folding his hands together on the counter and speaking. "In the future you'll likely be able to find me there. The shop here is running quite smoothly at this point." With a nod he looked out the window, to where the child was playing with her mount. "I will have to brew these up and deliver them after they're finished. Here, I don't carry most poisons in stock. Not enough call for them in this town for it to be cost effective. Do you have an address where you will be able to receive them, or would you like to come back later? And these potions - are you wanting lethal serums, hallucinogenics, or just pain serums? If you have to wait, I'd rather have you get the proper product the first time instead of having to come back to me to get the right thing." Nevin removed a page from his notepad and set it on the counter in front of Vaeron, leaving a pencil beside it as well.

It looked like he would have to accelerate his plans to move to Radasanth. The town was rapidly becoming a place where many of his goals and objectives could be found - and Stonevale, now that the major immediate issue of the Miner's Lung had been cleared up, was becoming alchemically boring. And the red-haired man absolutely detested being bored. A new town, with new opportunities to find things, and new products that he would need to make? Oh yes, that sounded like it would be far more inspiring to him. The problem would be, running the shop here, and there. He would need to hire someone to work with him or for him, someone to man the counter here while he was in Radasanth. The question was, who could he trust?

Vaeron took a moment to observe the man with a single, raised eyebrow, before he answered.

Behind him Celandine squealed as Megaldon shoved his wet nose to her shoulder. The great horse snorted, sending a shower of droplets over her clothes and she ended up laughing, her hands going high. That also meant that the scimitar in her hand went wildly high also and those who had begun to brave coming closer began to scatter again. Leaving the strangers with the strange steeds alone.

"Can you make sleeping draughts?" the mage asked, his voice still low, and his hands gripping the counter before him. "Draughts that would send a being into a stupor? They would be a good first investment. If yours works then we will come back for more."

He thought for a while, tilting his head to glance out the window again. He snorted in amusement as he saw the residents scatter before the wide arm movements of a child. There were various places in Radasanth itself that he could ask the alchemist to send the potions. From the many brothels that were associated with Philomel, to the fortress itself, there were various addresses that he could think of. Naturally the fortress was out of the question - it was secret after all, and the alchemist would likely never be able to find it, even on the long single path that wound its way through the woods and eventually got to somewhere near it. The brothels, though, were something to consider. And perhaps a few pubs that were associated.

"There is a place called The Rabbit's Paw," he said in a gruff voice, "An ... inn right near the old castle of the Ixian Knights. If you go there and say you are leaving a delivery for the faun and the fox, it will get to us. You will be paid on delivery." He took a moment. "I will set that up when we get back to the city. You will not be asked questions."

[[ last post from you and we can finish?]]

"Inn near the Ixian castle, Faun and the Fox. Alright." Nevin memorized the information with a sharp nod - decidedly trying to ignore the child waving a sword around in the street. Thankfully she didn't seem likely to hurt herself, but at the same time he couldn't help but keep one eye on her as she played around. "And yes. A soporific or sedative is easily enough managed. I'll make a couple that can last varying lengths of time and note which ones they are in the delivery." Already in his mind he was turning over what ingredients would be necessary for this kind of potion. He could think of a few sedative herbs and mixtures, the trick would be making some that could survive the journey.

Or, he could 'cheat' and dose the potions with a bit of blood, allowing him to imbue them with magic. That might work better for this - it would ensure the efficacy of the products... no. That would be foolish. Vaeron and his employer might have another alchemist already in their employ, or in their acquaintance, and have the person check the potions to make sure they were working as intended. And while most wouldn't recognize the blood or the magic, he didn't care to run the risk of revealing himself to who knows how many people. No, standard potions it was.

That decided, he pushed a small bottle of the syrup on the counter over to Vaeron. "A gift, to a future partnership. It's a mild sedative, in a honey syrup - it should be sweet enough for young Celandine there to enjoy it, but the sedative will counter the sugar rush I'm sure she's going to be experiencing. With her small frame it shouldn't take long to take effect. Use it, or not, but it is yours either way." He smiled politely and bowed his head to Vaeron. This would be... an interesting endeavour, to be sure. He relished the challenge, truth be told.


~Fin~

Thread Name: Through the Eyes of a Child
Judgment Type: No Judgment

Celandine receives 615 EXP and a steel scimitar
Nevin receives 1320 EXP and 132 GP
Vaeron receives 968 EXP and 1 GP (his GP went toward the scimitar as requested)

Congratulations!

Rewards include a 1.5 EXPx bonus for Celandine and Vaeron for participating in Stonevale.

All rewards added.

Vaeron reaches level 2!