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Post by Euanthe on Jan 4, 2024 0:07:15 GMT -5
Lilicors Village had its share of what outsiders would call 'strange inhabitants'. The sun elves were significantly less common a sighting as something like a minotaur, or something humanoid and covered in lichen, to say nothing of the odd fishman and other amphibious resident. So it was that when Euanthe happened upon the outer borders of town, outside of a few looks at a stranger so near their houses, the hydragorgon went largely unbothered. The people of the Marsh Flats had seen weirder things, or at least things that gave them greater pause. She had taken weeks of slowly testing the proverbial waters, letting herself linger longer on the outskirts where she could be seen, first by residents, then by people on the road, until she was finally bold enough to move to the more populated fringes of the village proper. Hearing travelers come and go and watching the people interact had made her learning the language that much faster than it had been overhearing bandits out in the bog. Still some things one could not as easily teach themselves. That was how one thing had lead to another enough that she now found herself in attendance in her regular weekly appointment with Renda, the older half-orc woman that ran the Lilicors Village Lending Library. The Lilicors Village Lending Library was a project of Renda's own doing. A roof over the top of the hollowed out stump of some giant tree served as the meager source of higher learning. The old woman had managed to very slowly amass a few shelves of books and a few cozy tables to fit inside and protect what little she had gathered from the rain and the damp of the Marsh Flats. Though today, she had moved all the tables to one side to make room for her regular guest. Euanthe stood before the table two heads with unveiled eyes squinting at the lines on the parchment, one in concentration, the other in frustration. "I sh-shall meet you s-seven days he-hence from the date this letter was sent." Her left head, the more focused of the two read out from the parchment in broken, uncertain sentences. "Ivy? Eeve?" she stumbles at the contraction. "I've, dearey, its I short for I have." Renda explained without looking up from her knitting. "Right, sorry.... I've a small task to wrap up in the no-nnnor-nooorrrtherer""Northerly!" Euanthe's right head, the scowling one, snapped at her opposite. irritated by her own struggles. She shied away from herself and lowered the parchment some before a warm hand rested on the impatient head's shoulder, one that was not one of their own. "Now now dear, don't be impatient with yourself. You're doing very well. Keep going." Renda gently urged as she went back to her knitting. "R-right." the kinder one hesitated as her opposite fumed. She returned to her reading. "I've a small task to wrap up in the northerly realm of Frost Gale, but rest as-assured that despite the great dis-tance between us I shall be more than cap-cap...""Capable!" "Capable of arriving in the Mrash Flats imm-mmmm""Why do they insist on so many large words!" the impatient head snapped again growling at herself and the parchment. "Sometimes a big word is needed. Or one likes to use them to display how smart they are, or at least how many big words they know." The kindly half-orc offered without stopping the steady rhythmic motions of her knitting needles. "Immediately, dears, it means right away." "Immediately...upon conc-" this time the more patient of Euanthe's three parts put down the paper and huffed. Her impatience and irritation had worn through all of herself or so it seemed until the middle head put her hands on the other two's shoulders and hesitantly they both took up the paper. "I shall be more than capable of arriving in the Marsh Flats immediately upon the conclusion of my task. I look forward to our study, and I can only imagine it will be a most me-memorable eskapaday." her tone was more even and monotone than the missed punctuation the original author may have intended. Renda chuckled just slightly but stopped it quickly. "Escapade, dear, but close enough. It means an adventure or outing, but in a tone more comedic and light hearted, less serious and more fun and amusing." she explained as she put her project away. "But you did very well, you should be proud of yourself." "We are not a child! We do not need your hollow platitudes!" the right head snapped in irritable retort. "Thats a shame, the hollow platitudes come with cookies." Renda explained as she fished out the little bundle out of her project back and unfurled it to the smell of baked goodies. The left head eagerly took hers while the right hesitated. "Our pride can not be bought with baked confections." she harumphed, despite taking and proceeding to grumpily nibble on one of the light brown disks of sugary joy. The middle head, with her writhing serpentine Locks continued to linger. Her talloned fingers were steepled under her chin for a moment before she voiced her thoughts. "Then.... she has agreed to meet us, and will be here soon?" "Today, actually. I expect. I would not be surprised if she arrived soon, if not hear then in town, most likely. Very nice, very smart girl, that Tatalia." Renda answered as she continued to patiently hold out the third cookie. "I got the letter not a day after I sent it, I didn't expect a response so soon so there wasn't a way to warn you sooner. Do you think you have time to help today?" After a moments contemplation, the middle head nodded and took the cookie. "We do." she answered simply as he took the last cookie and began to nibble.
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Post by Tatalia on Jan 4, 2024 6:19:43 GMT -5
"Foolish mortal!" hissed the lich as he rounded the corner, the wicked, violet gleam from his staff casting the room in a gloomy, ethereal light. "Did you truly think you could escape punishment so easily?"
"I did indeed, sir!" replied the goblin in cheerful defiance as she darted down the cobwebbed halls of the tomb, a sack of loot bouncing up and down upon her shoulder. "And I still do!"
The lich screamed in anger, then channeled a vicious hail of ice to kill the invader in his sanctum. But just before the vicious shards could hit, the goblin thrust her hands into the wall - yes, inside the very stones themselves! - and whipped her hand behind her, dragging the stone with it!1 The deadly ice shattered against the sheet of warped rock, and the goblin rushed down the corridor and around another corner.
The lich howled, then thrust his other hand out, blasting the offending stone out of the way with a fiery wave of magic. He slammed the butt of his staff upon the floor angrily.
"You can't hide forever, wretched thief!" the lich roared.
"All evidence points to the contrary!" the goblin called back in her smug voice.
Tatalia's latest escapade was going very smoothly. She'd heard a rumor about an increasing presence of undead near a small Frost Gale town, and it had been enough to draw her attention away from her archaeological quest. She had thought perhaps some necromancer was rallying bandits around him, but it turned out to be a lich! An honest to the Gods lich was performing profane acts to build a small army from a tomb!
Well, Tatalia wasn't going to have any of that, so she decided to solve that problem by stealing as much of the lich's magical equipment as she could. It wasn't as effective as killing him, but she knew her limits!
Unfortunately, while actually grabbing the loot had been easy, escaping with it was proving a little more difficult. The lich had blocked off the exit with a magical barrier, so the goblin had to improvise... and she did have a plan! Tatalia had run through at least twenty different rooms trying to find a suitable place for her scheme. Thus far, however, all efforts had been in vain. She'd found hallways, ritual chambers, a prison, a torture chamber, a latrine (why would a lich OR a tomb need one of those?!), a library... The lich had clearly made this place his home. But not one of those rooms had a door with an appropriate lock! The ice that had seeped into the ancient tomb had ruined the only locks that would have fit the bill in the first place!
Nevertheless, there was one last wing of the tomb to try! There was one more place to search!
The little burglar dashed through a circular antechamber that had been converted into a throne room, and with her X-Ray goggles2 spotted a secret room behind the throne! Grinning, she darted over to the wall and easily found the trigger mechanism thanks to her enhanced senses.3 She was so close to escape; she could feel it!
The secret door slid open. Tatalia scrambled inside and closed it from the other end, then took a quick look around.
It was the lich's personal quarters, that much was certain. Where the rest of the tomb was covered in frost and cobwebs, this part of the tomb was completely undamaged, even warm. There was a personal book collection atop a mahogany desk as well as an opulent red rug on the floor etched with arcane runes. A shrine to some forgotten deity was set up in the corner, and the bloodstains on it suggested there had been a recent sacrifice. Maps and old scrolls lined the walls, as did trophies from victories past. Weapons, mostly, as well as the broken staves of defeated mages.
But for all the personal effects in the room, there wasn't a bed, nightstand, or anything of the sort. And while a lich certainly didn't need a bed, Tatalia had a feeling this one was vain enough to demand one. And after a quick look around...
"Aha!" Tatalia whispered, grinning from ear to ear. "There you are!"
There was a door leading to the lich's bedroom, and that door met Tatalia's specifications precisely. Tatalia hopped over to the door, set the bag of loot down, and quickly slipped a little key out of her pocket.
Just as the goblin was inserting the key, the secret door behind her flew open, and the billowing black robes of the lich were unveiled. The terrible presence of the lich was like a fog in Tatalia's mind. He stared balefully down at the thief.
"You made a poor decision coming here," the lich cooed, raising a bony hand and touching the crystal head of his staff. "You did well enough for an amateur. I would promise to make a useful minion out of your corpse, but... goblin flesh is such a worthless material to work with."
"Well, that's just rude," Tatalia remarked, huffing indignantly.
The lich glowered, the violet lights in his skull gleaming with a deep hatred as he regarded his captured foe. "Why so defiant, little goblin?" he asked curiously. "Do you not realize this is where the road ends? You will die here."
Tatalia grinned.
"I don't know about all that!" the adventurer replied, turning her magical key in the lock.4 "There's always a way out! You just have to open the door when opportunity knocks!"
The door flew open, revealing a magical portal. The lich let out an irritated shriek and began channeling black magic to blast the annoying little gremlin to smithereens, but she bolted through the open portal with great haste! And as she crossed the other side, the goblin grabbed the door handle and slammed the door shut.
The portal's light faded, leaving the lich standing in his bedroom, bristling with fury and confusion.
Tatalia stepped through the door of her bedroom at the Sit Learn Lots Place with her bag of ill-gotten treasures in hand. Finally out of danger, she dropped the bag she was carrying onto the floor and stumbled to her personal restroom, feeling sick to her stomach from all the pent up panic and adrenaline she'd been holding back.
After a good five minutes of expelling the contents her stomach into the chamber pot and washing up afterwards, Tatalia stumbled back out into her bedroom, half crying and half laughing in disbelief. She had actually made it out alive! She had survived... well, a very harrowing encounter! She had survived that alone! And it felt good! Besides the constant terror, the omnipresent sense of doom she had experienced, the absurd amount of cardio necessary, and her abilities having been pushed to the limit, she had made it out alive in one piece!
"Too close, though," Tatalia whispered to herself, shaking her head. She wiped her wrist across her wet, sweaty brow. "Far too close. Need to develop new strategies. Maybe advance magical capabilities beyond the rudimentary level...?"
Well, no matter. Tatalia looked outside and saw it was morning in the Marsh Flats. Time for breakfast!
A couple of hours went by without much of note happening. Tatalia cooked herself some breakfast in a pot, throwing pretty much whatever she could scrape together into a pungent little stew. It suited her goblin stomach well enough, however, especially with the beetles and mushrooms cooked to perfection. She sat herself on down at the rickety wooden desk of her personal study with just her bowl, a book, and her calendar to keep her company.
Prominent Mages of Charon was not a light read, but it was definitely an insightful one. It was the most recent edition - an excellent find, Tatalia knew, especially in the Marsh Flats - and it had precisely the sort of information she was looking for. If she wanted to expand her magical abilities, there was that school in the Capitol, but... that probably wasn't an option in her case. She needed a mentor, and there were plenty of possible teachers to be found inside the book. Maybe...
Glancing at her calendar, Tatalia was about to check her schedule for a good time to meet with one of the mages from the book when she spotted something else. She had a meeting. More specifically, she had a meeting about history!
Panicking, the little goblin shoveled the rest of her food down her throat like a child late for school. As soon as the majority of soup was gone, she hopped up to her feet, rushed back to her kitchen, tossed the bowl into the washing basin, and sprinted for the door. The goblin made sure to grab her spare cloak from the hanger by the door as she ran out into the marsh outside her home.
Tatalia's house was on school grounds, but not actually connected to the school building itself. That was because, of course, the school was built in a marsh. Large structures just weren't very possible in such terrain; and so, instead, Tatalia had directed the builders to connect the different structures together with bridges and walkways, making it seem more like a collection of cabins than a single school. As she skidded down the hill she'd chosen for her home, the goblin couldn't help but cast a quick glance inside the classroom itself as she passed it by, checking to see how things had progressed in her absence.
Well, they had progressed decently enough! There were only six students inside today, about half children and half adults, but their lizardly teacher (whom Tatalia had explicitly chosen for his expertise in language and writing) was giving them all equal attention, explaining the Common alphabet in detail. Seeing goblins, orcs, and humans sitting in the same space, all holding little notebooks with charcoal to practice writing with, was very heartwarming. Tatalia was proud.
Sure, the Sit Learn Lots Place wasn't the Academy or one of the universities in the Capitol, but it was a step in the right direction! It was a step toward bringing positive change to the Marsh Flats, to equipping its residents to deal with the world beyond! That was very important.
There wasn't much more time to dwell on such thoughts, though. Tatalia left the school grounds and started bouncing through the swamp, maneuvering between bent old willows, sharp rocks, and bubbling pools of water as she made her way down to Lilicors village.
It wasn't a particularly long trip. Tatalia had set up her school just two miles outside of town - far enough to get a little privacy but close enough to get help in a pinch. Sure, the swamp made the getting a little rough, usually, but Tatalia was an experienced tracker. She'd been through far worse terrain than the swamp around the village. She had more than good enough footing to dance around the little friendly jaws of alligators, skirt the edges of sinkholes, and leap across the wettest, filthiest parts of the bog.
It wasn't long before Tatalia arrived at her destination: the lending library! It wasn't a very impressive structure to look at - anything but, really - but most things in Lilicors Village weren't, Tatalia had to admit. The building had clearly seen better days, and if one squinted at it there was clearly just the slightest bit of a lean to the structure. Nevertheless, it was the best library in all of the Marsh Flats, and that... that was actually a bit depressing, and Tatalia tried not to think about it.
Still, the woman who worked there did her best to share knowledge with everyone she could! She was a lovely person, and she really put her heart and soul into educating others. If she believed there was someone Tatalia needed to meet, then Tatalia would meet them!
Without further ado, Tatalia marched up to the old wooden door of the lending library and pushed it open, ringing a little bell above the doorway as she went. As soon as she entered, she held a small satchel up in the air.
"I have donations, Renda!" Tatalia called out, not seeing the half-orc or her mystery guest just yet. "Two copies of Ulgrim's Unguents and Tonics, one copy of The Little Fox That Could, and a single slightly used second edition textbook of Practical Applications of Fire Magic! I know it's not exactly a treasure trove," she added off-handedly, setting the satchel down onto the counter, "but I pray they shall serve as sufficient compensation for that one misplaced tome you're always reminding me about!"
Tatalia wiped her hands together and peered around the old, musty library. She sniffed a few times, then asked curiously, "Do I smell snakes? Are you making your famous snake stew again, Renda? I just ate, so I apologize for the inconvenience..."
1. Miner's Friends; 2. X-Ray Vision; 3. Tracker Extraordinaire; 4. House Key
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Post by Euanthe on Jan 6, 2024 17:45:14 GMT -5
The Lilicors Village Lending Library was not overly big but the table to the side not far past the entrance did have a shelf beside it at an angle to act as a sound dampener and shield against any rain blown through the door in the rare instance of a visitor to the library. So it was that Tatalia was unable to immediately see the residents from her spot at the counter as she looked inside. But who could blame her, the one room library rarely had much going on inside to see save Renda puttering about dusting the shelves, recounting the books as if they might have magically multiplied in the night, and sitting by the stove doing her knitting. (Though once Tatalia had spied her oiling a rather intimidatingly sized battle axe). As she called out to Renda with her chipper greeting and polite questions, the sound of movement inside the room that was distinctly un-Renda-like could easily be heard. Thankfully while part of Euanthe had snakes for hair, none of her had qualms about eating snakes that were not her hair. As for what they snakes thought of the statements, well, they were hair-snakes, they bothered not with the languages of men, there were busy noodling and booping about atop Euanthe's middle head. The more cordial part of herself was nearest the shelf, her serpentine trunk twisted and allowed her to peer her humanoid head around the corner to peek at who the visitor might be. "Hello." she meekly greeted. While the head on the other side instead rose up and peered arms and shoulders above the shelf looking down at the little green visitor. "Is that her?" she asked in a tone that while not-derisive, was certainly not polite either. "Manners, dear, manners." Renda chided as she emerged around the opposite side of the solid-backed shelf to her official place behind the counter. "Hello, Tatalia, dearie! Nothing to apologize about, no stew today actually but I have some cookies if you like." she chuckled. "But first lets have a look at these books, hm?" She beamed at the little pile as she looked at them. "The little fox that could, this is lovely, I was starting to run out of stories from the big book of tales, I was worried if I started repeating them the children might get bored of story circle and stop coming." she praised as she inspected the condition of the book in question with her pale green hands. "Oh and Practical Applications even appears to have all its pages! This is wonderful Tatalia! I wonder if I should file this under reference, or instructional.... or perhaps restricted because of its potential hazards? Oh dear our first moral quandary!" She laughed a delighted laugh swept up in the acquisition that significantly increased the meager offerings of the only public library in Lilicors Village. All the while Euanthe peered at Tatalia from two angles around a bookshelf that obscured the majority of her from the new arrival's sight.
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Post by Tatalia on Jan 7, 2024 2:18:25 GMT -5
Tatalia heard the unusual movement in the library, but she didn't think much of it. She was supposed to be meeting someone, right? That was why she had been sent a letter in the first place! She was there to meet someone.
"If I could make a suggestion," Tatalia piped up, gesturing to the book on fire magic, "I would say you can fairly safely rule out the restricted section for this one! It's actually more about the mundane, utilitarian applications of fire magic," the goblin explained, opening the book briefly to show off its table of contents. "It's a general guide for novices, see? And the spells it teaches are actually mostly variations of the same few basic spells! Making campfires, burning waste, controlled burns, safely clearing out brush, fighting fire with fire... It's all very practical! Hence the name!"
The little scholar was more than happy to show off her find. She was, in fact, very proud to have procured it. She was immediately side tracked when the librarian offered her some cookies, though.
"Oh, I really shouldn't allow myself to indulge in anything sweet! I just ate!"
Then Tatalia sniffed. Her keen nostrils picked up the scent of those warm, freshly baked cookies, and she couldn't help but shiver.
"Ah... maybe I'll just have one," she decided, cracking a nervous grin that she couldn't quite repress. It made her look quite sheepish, actually. "Or- well, maybe two. Yes, two at most!"
Tatalia was about to debate whether three cookies might be perfectly fine to add to her diet - she'd had a lot of exercise today already! - when she spotted the two women staring out at her from around either side of a bookcase. She blinked.
"Oh, my! Have I been rude?" she asked suddenly, smacking herself in the forehead. "Yes, you even said hello, and here I was fawning over the prospect of stuffing myself full of treats that I completely forgot to actually return your greeting! Hello, miss and miss! My name is-"
Tatalia was about to bow, but then she realized that the two women she was talking to were, well... leaning out from around the sides of the bookshelf before her. She thought that was curious, and suddenly her senses kicked into overdrive.1 She heard the sound of many, many scales rubbing against wood, of breathing sounds of many smaller animals that all combined suggested...
"Oh," Tatalia mused, her eyes going wide. She didn't see the main body of the hydragorgon, but she didn't need to. "You're someone very special, aren't you...? Would you mind coming out where I can see you better? If that's quite alright.
"Oh, and, erm... Is this a singular you or a plural you?" the goblin asked curiously, rubbing the back of her neck. "That is to say: are you three people or one person? Do you have three minds attached to one body, or are you one mind displaced across three separate heads? Or... is it something in between?
"Oh, wait! My manners! Again, I have lost all sense of decorum!" The goblin took a deep breath, and then she bowed to the hydragorgon.
"My name is Tatalia. I'm a scholar, historian, and adventurer extraordinaire! Might I ask your name, please?"
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Post by Euanthe on Jan 7, 2024 15:49:09 GMT -5
Renda smiled at Tatalia's enthusiasm. "Fair enough... besides if I start saying there's a book people cant have without asking some of our less... literary minded villagers might start getting the wrong idea about what the library is supposed to be for." As Tatalia mused and hemmed and hummed about the number of cookies, Renda shuffled back to her seat and brought out the plate where there were only two left rendering the decision making process moot. However rather than speak up right away she decided instead to watch the events transpire, let the young folk meet eachother. She busied herself by sorting the books on the counter into a few piles and deciding what shelf she would put them on while they spoke. Euanthe's two faces watched the little green woman prattle excitedly, and struggled to keep up. She was still learning the language. She understood that an introduction was coming, and then silenced. Words were still difficult but those widening eyes spoke volumes more and both of her faces that could be seen set their expressions, bracing themselves. What she was braced for, wasn't quite what came. Special. That word caught them off guard the high up head's eyes widened some and then she glowered more intensely. The head to the side instead let out a small gasp and her cheeks faintly darkened. Both receded ever so slightly. She knew! Already!? But how? Reflexively the bulk of her body behind the shelf shifted more as if to hide better and thus undo what could not be undone. Special....No perhaps they did not understand that word correctly. Yes, that was it. And so Euanthe dismissed the notion entirely. She was not special, just another monster. The flood of questions that followed were more difficult to follow than the earlier chatter but from the words she did know they were able to pick together the meaning well enough. Something like a sigh escaped one set of lips. Slowly they began to recede behind the shelf even as the little green stranger gave her name, Tatalia, and introduced herself. For a moment she was quiet. "Just give her a moment, dear, she's a bit shy." Renda said as she picked up one of the little stacks of books and started moving out from behind the counter to put them on the shelf she had picked out. "We are not shy! We are.... merely cautious!" a certain head snapped peeking out from the far side of the shelf rather than the top this time to glare at Renda as she passed and then huffing and crossing her arms beneath her bust, indignantly. The other head was first to emerge around from behind the shelf as she peered at Tatalia and affected something akin to a greeting bow as her serpentine lower from began to extend further and the sound of slowly moving clawed feet followed as she gave a hesitant, well mannered greeting. "Hello... Tatalia"That head was followed by another that had not revealed herself. A dark cloth wrapped around her eyes, tusks protruding from her lips, the bronze claws on her hands more prominent and imposing than the others, and perhaps most noteably her tangled mane of snakes that had begun to hiss in their own sense of nervous agitation, slithering more actively around her head. That one initially said nothing and was followed by the indignant side-eyeing third head until all of her stood in a more visible space. Her heads rose to something closer to her true resting height as the small library would allow and those twin barbed tails swayed behind her in an active state. Even in the dimmer light of the library her pale and mottled skin stood out. Amidst the warm tones and woods and textured rugs something akin to palid flesh married with the dust of thousands of years of stone was a stark contrast. The two with hair that was not snakes had their tresses stained by the earth of similar time and so was a muddy dark against their mottled skin as their body was still on its long road to recovering what it had once been. The middle head imitated something affection a bow from her serpentine waist and the third after a small elbow jab offered a curt bob of the head in acknowledgement. "We are Euanthe." The middle head spoke in a more cold and reserved tone than the other two heads. Something about her sounded both authoritative but also muted a voice sifted through a damper. "She, and she, and I are we. We three together are she.... We are Euanthe." Despite her muted nature there was the barest flicker of a frustrated frown at her own words. The barest crease to her placid brow. "Th-there are no easy words in your tongue to explain. There were not such words in ours either." As Renda returned to the counter for the other little stack of books she offered a helping hand. "She prefers she, but also only ever says we... and sometimes she is they.... its tricky but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Keeps me on my toes at least." she chuckled as she moved away again. A flicker of something like relief went across the central face, was more visible on the left face who curiously watched Tatalia, and the right head huffed and looked away, arms still folded.
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Post by Tatalia on Jan 8, 2024 1:59:08 GMT -5
"Euanthe!" repeated Tatalia, snapping her fingers. "What a peculiar name! Or perhaps not peculiar, but old in its origin; perhaps the sort of name I would have suspected to hear out of the Age of Wonders rather than in our present era. Very old fashioned!"
The truth was, despite how incredibly intimidating the thrice-bodied woman was in size, Tatalia couldn't help but be fascinated. At first it was simply because she'd never seen anyone quite like her before, but it was also because she hadn't seen anyone like them before. They - she, she - she was some sort... humanoid hydra? But with torsos rather than heads. And each part of the body seemed to express different thoughts, seemed to possess different traits as if they were unique people each and every one. But they all considered themselves one person as a whole...?
It was a lot of information to absorb. Tatalia, nevertheless, felt up to the challenge as she regarded the pallid thrice-headed woman before her.
"I can only assume you have good reason to be cautious given what little information I have now," Tatalia mused with a tap of her chin. "The texture upon your skin... I can only assume this is the result of some enchantment or curse? Some lingering but now fading effect? Hm..."
The little scholar stepped over to the side to grab one of the few chairs in the library and drag it to where she had just been standing. She twisted it about so its back faced Euanthe, then clambered onto the seat and threw her arms over the top, giving her a better perch from which to eye the other women. Woman. She was still figuring out how to think about Euanthe.
"How old are you, I wonder?" Tatalia thought aloud, slowly folding her hands together. "Or where might you be from? Your accent is difficult to place... Wait!"
The goblin snapped her fingers yet again, a wild grin appearing on her face. She stood properly on the chair, held up her hand in a 'wait' sign, and then quickly chanted a few words, closing her eyes. There was a soft thrum of magic in the air, and the goblin's wild black hair lifted for a moment as if from an arcane wind. Then she lowered her hand, her hair fell back into place, and her yellow eyes opened with a glow they hadn't had before.
"Ah! That is much better!" said the goblin, her voice crisp and easily understood, supernaturally so. "You should be hearing me speak in your language now. I mean, anyone listening to me should! It's a useful spell for increasing the ease of communication.1
"Now, I'm sure you have lots of questions you were having trouble communicating before," the goblin continued, hopping off the chair and carrying it along with her to open one of the library's only windows. "And I'm sure everyone has been very busy either getting you up to speed on the Common tongue or asking you questions themselves! So..."
She set the chair down near the window and took a seat, quietly twiddling with the small, bejeweled and enchanted earring she wore2... not that anyone knew it was enchanted, of course. She cast a quick glance outside, peering around the village very briefly. Was she, herself, being cautious? Whatever the case, she seemed to relax afterwards, satisfied with whatever she had learned. She glanced back over toward Euanthe, two cookies in her hand. When she had taken them from the cookie dish was anyone's guess.
"So!" the goblin asked, pointing across at Euanthe with a cookie. "Why don't we begin by letting you ask me questions? I'll answer to the best of my ability, and then we can go over the reason Renda brought us both here! Besides the lovely treats, that is," she added with a big, sharp toothed grin. The little goblin snapped the cookie in half with one bite.
1. Fluency; 2. Earring of Secrets
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Post by Euanthe on Jan 27, 2024 17:35:22 GMT -5
Euanthe did her best to keep up with the excited goblin, as she processed the questions coming in and tried to filter them against what she felt comfortable sharing and what she had answers to. All three heads bristling slightly about their skin but none quite meeting Tatalia's gaze under the accusations of curses and enchantments. That answer rolled into the next as she was asked her age and tried to participate in the conversation with a response. "Why's that matter?" "It's complicated." "We don't know."The trio of answers tumbled one after the other in quick succession as the first huffed, the second folded her arms and the third bit her lip and fidgeted with a strand of her hair. Before they could try to fumble through another explanation the little green woman asked them to halt and the two that could look at her did so with a mixture of confusion and surprise while the middle head simply frowned slightly. When she spoke again, it was in a tongue that caused her body to take a half step back in surprise as all three heads were visibly startled. The right head followed her surprise with further glowering, the left head squeaked in surprise and then paired it with a delighted grin so much so that a ghost of that smile lingered on the neutral expression of the middle face. As Tatalia went on to explain herself the left head's giddy grin did not fade in fact she squirmed with some excitement but the right head was the first to speak. "Why? What do you get out of this? Why did Renda want you to meet us? What do you know?" She challenged and her almost accusing tone finally deflated the left face's smile as she realized their rudeness and wrung her hands. "Forgive our caution, its all just.... very unexpected. "
she offered meekly. Still she could not resist her own question with a flicker of her smile returning. "How can you speak our language, is it magic?"The middle head remained quiet for the moment seemingly fine with letting the more warry part of herself be satisfied first.
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Post by Tatalia on Jan 31, 2024 2:44:02 GMT -5
Tatalia couldn't help but smile as she watched the trio interact with herself and one another. It was curious, indeed. They were three minds of one body, or was it one mind of three bodies? The more she watched them, the more Tatalia thought she understood of how they existed and what their purposes were. Euanthe was truly a unique individual.
But Tatalia didn't have time to hypothesize. She promised to answer questions, and she meant to do exactly that.
Then came the first question. Tatalia raised a finger as the most cautious of the three bodies spoke.
"'Why' is just a little too broad for me to answer!" the goblin replied, raising her eyebrow. "I honestly don't know what it is you ask. Why should you ask me questions? Why should you trust me? Why doth the sun shine so gaily upon the fields?" Tatalia laughed, then threw her hands up in helpless confusion. "I would appreciate a touch more specificity if you can provide it, please!
"Your other questions are simple enough to answer, though. I gain understanding by helping you: an understanding of who you are, of what your priorities are, and what it is you don't know." Tatalia idly removed a ball of putty from a bottle at her waist, played with it idly, and slowly molded it in her hands as she spoke.1 "In short, I gain knowledge. And you'd be surprised to know that I consider knowledge the finest currency of all! And one which should be shared. I can only assume that Renda wanted us to meet because I can help you and you can help me, as we both know something the other doesn't.
"As for what I know... not much, actually!" replied Tatalia cheerily, finally finished with her molding of the small ball of putty. She'd somehow turned it into a whole stool in her hands, but it seemed weightless as she set it down upon the floor in front of her seat. It nevertheless held strong without a problem as she propped her feet upon it, clearly intent on settling in for a while. "I know you're either not of this time or not of this place, and my gut instinct says both of those things are true. There are no legends about you, so I know not your nature nor inclinations, save that Renda believes you are a trustworthy person. I also know you need help, and that's reason enough for me to help, isn't it?"
The green skinned scholar was verbose, that much was certain. Maybe she just liked hearing herself talk, but she was happy to be thorough with her answers. Her big mouth was equally good at eating things, however, as she proved when she finished devouring the cookies in her hand. She managed to not even leave any crumbs on her clothes!
"As for how I'm communicating with you now: yes, it's magic! A simple spell, really, but a rare and incredibly useful one." Tatalia rubbed her chin. "It's a bit complex to teach, and to be honest, I am a horrible teacher of magic. I just sort of... pick up an understanding of spells now and then. It's hard to explain. Call it a knack?"
The goblin fidgeted in place, then put her hands on her lap and leaned forward, cracking a nervous smile across at Euanthe.
"Look, I... understand it's probably difficult to trust me, being a mysterious stranger and all that," she began slowly, rubbing at the back of her neck. "And I can't help but imagine that you've probably heard people espouse a love of knowledge when what they really wanted was power. But let me promise you now: I just want to know more about you." Tatalia's smile brightened, and she threw her hand up. "I mean, goodness! There is nobody like you in our time! Your very existence defies all preconceptions we've had about history. It proves there are wonders in this world yet undiscovered, that secrets are hidden which could redefine how we think of Charon! And you must have a perspective that is so unique as to be incomprehensible to my own thoughts, and I can only marvel in curiosity at what sort of person you will prove to be."
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