A lone man covered in robes that seems to be strung together by vines and moss quietly wanders into a garden. Drawn by the scent of herbs and other exotic plants he smells a bit home here. Yet he stops just at the border pausing to take in the small village.

"I do not know this place yet... I feel like I should."

He takes a pipe out from his robes and stuff a bunch of colorful herbs in the bowl as he takes a long drag. He exhales smoke that for a brief moment seems to take the shape of judgmental female figure.

"I guess you never did really approve of my habit did you, my love."

As the words leave his lips, his hands clench in a flash of rage the slowly dies down.

"No, not my love anymore. Come let us see where this world takes us."

Having finished his bowl is step in the garden proper.

The day was noisy yet quiet, as it almost always was for the old soul who had long since learned how to filter the sounds that mattered and those that did not.
"Uh, ma'am?" The sound of a boy would halt her footsteps, and she turned her head around to see its source. "Mind helping us out on something?" The woman did not move away, which the child took to be enough of a yes to continue.
"There's a weirdo squatting and stealing herbs in the garden and... uh... we were wondering if you could help get rid of-" Ambika's irises narrowed just so slightly before she caught herself and reverted back to neutral, but to the child it might as well be the most lethal gaze he had ever seen. "Ahhhh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"I will." She turned around and headed towards the garden, reminding herself the boy likely did not intend to use a double entendre and just wanted whoever it was out of their collective property. Her mental state was really beginning to deteriorate now that she had been putting herself in more life-and-death situations which forced her to take up her methods of old, and the murderous assassin was inching back into her psyche bit by bloody bit.

So it was that Ambika walked up to the man with dusty blonde hair with glowing rings in his eyes and a robe bound to his person through vines, and spoke quite simply. "You should not be here. The plants here belong to the village."

The long figure stood up with one of the stolen herbs in hand.

"Oh my, forgive me, it has been some time since I have been in this place. I have lost track of such things forgive me. I was caught for a long while in a place where such plants belonged to everyone."

He does his best to put the plants back in the ground in a failed attempt to replant them. He dusts his hands off on his robes that seems rustle under his touch. For a moment you swear you could see the vines pull the last flecks of dirt before he offers a handshake.

"Where are my manners, forgive me again. I am kulgor druid and wanderer of these parts. Do you happen to know where and when we are I seem to be lost. If you would gladly share any information you may have. I would offer you some of my pipe weed. It is the finest in all the wilds."

His eyes are clam and caring a mix of the innocence of youth and the sadness of age. Yet his hands are worn and calloused hovering before you.

The old soul's mind veered to that of a madman she was acquainted with in the Marsh Flats, though that one was likely stranger still with his own driving logic, even as he carried the common senses required to understand his actions. This one... was different, clearly. Perhaps from somewhere of a different communal, judging by his statement.

Ambika would give no response even as she observed the vines pulling the last flecks of dirt while he tried his best to salvage whatever appropriated plants by returning them to the earth. The mother had little in the way of understanding the intricacies of botany - such flowery fancies were reserved wholly for her partner Florentio, and her daughter Cordelia - so it was not in her position to determine whether the stranger in front of her had done right by them.

"Ambika. This is the Herbal Garden in Moonveil Village." She does a quick scan of the hand before reciprocating, her words terse with no real hint of emotion to them. 

"I will have to refuse your offer." Old as she was, she could no longer handle poisons the way she used to, nor did she even want to open herself up to such vulnerabilities.

"This way." The old soul released her hand and beckoned Kulgor towards a large tree at the edge of the village to fulfill her end of the deal to the boy.

The druid rested his hands at his side and shrugged. Perhaps that notion of hand shaking has fallen out of fashion he noted in his mind. With out much thought slowly followed but stayed a safe distance back. He was lost but he was wise enough to read people.

"I take it you have suffered greatly in your life. Such is the ways of the world I suppose. If it is any help I too have lost much. Yet... I must ask, you have an air of danger about you. If you mean to do me harm, I must protest for I am ignorant of the land I find myself in and certainly the crime of one lost plant doesn't warrant death."

He reflexively took out another batch of his pipe weed striking a bit of flint with a dagger.

"I can assure you this weed will do your body no harm. However, I have known a few whose minds cannot cope. But tell me strange where do I find myself in this brave new world. Say in fact what year is it?"

His eyes shifted in the light with the mention of time. As if each was a small mirror-way into another world.

Wearing a veil of danger was a natural instinct to the old soul - striking the correct balance, though, was an eternal struggle. Some times it was too much, other times too little, though nowadays it leaned more towards the lesser side as her old age granted her other defenses against unwanted attention. That the stranger saw her curtness as an air of danger, however, made her wonder if perhaps she was slipping further along into her worst self than she had previously thought.

"I have no intention of harming you. This is simply who I am." If Kulgor saw fit to make Ambika elaborate on who she was in this context, however, then the already suffocating air might begin choking lives. "The villagers wanted you out of their garden, but none of them dared approach you. So the task fell to me, a fellow stranger."

"Regardless, I must refuse. What you might find comfortable may not necessarily be the case to others." Even without her paranoia, there was the real possibility of physical allergies and unexpected side effects that he was not experiencing. 

The query about the year would have her raise her hidden eyebrow, but only very slightly. Too much strangeness in the world she had already seen to question such trivialities. "The year is 15250. Might I ask why?"

Kuglor stopped dead in his tracks at the mention of the year. His pipe tumbled to the ground as his hands froze.

"Say that last part again but let me take a seat before you do. If what you say is true, I lost more than 200 years."

He rests on a nearby log as his hands pull across his face in frustration and fear. A few drops run down his chin. Before they take their final drive into oblivion you see hits of iridescent hues dance in the light as each drop dies its final death on the ground. They land in tiny crashes much likes the lost bits of his life.

"Well then, if I am not wanted here, I should be off. I would hate to spread my suffering to other unduly. Point me in the direction of the next largest town and I shall be off. I must discover what has become of the world in my absence."

He regains his composure and stands yet with slightly slumped shoulders.

"The year is 15250." Ambika repeated, as she wondered what might have happened to Kulgor for him to lose 200 years if what he proclaimed was true, and the quickest answer she could reach was the Fae. There have been mysterious portals appearing as of late, one she herself entered and unleashed the deathly wails of her countless victims upon her ears... and her son. Why he was even there she could not reason. Her mind would refuse to conjure any possibilities in the slightest. Perhaps he had found his way out through one of those rifts?

The old soul solemnly watched as tears escaped his eyes. Then, the man would ask for directions. If it were a more ordinary occasion, she would have simply given directions and left it at that. However, as the situation stood in front of her, she had little faith that Kulgor would fare well in his journey to civilization with how broken he must be feeling from such a life-shattering revelation. Helping others makes the world go round, was it, Florentio?

"The largest city in the vicinity is Eclipse City, in that direction. I shall guide you there, if you wish." Ambika had no real business in the village, anyway. Her son did not want to be found for the time being, and her presence here was simply a mix of her being too stubborn to give up on her search, and having literally nothing else to dedicate her time to for the time being.

Kulgor composed nodded in agreement. Knowing nothing at the moment any help offered should be taken.

"Well then my lady please lead the way, say are you hungry? I learned a few tricks from my... ex love."

Kulgor walks over to a nearby bush and then presses his hands together and mutters words in a strange tongue. After a few seconds the bush started to vibrate ever so slightly as you can see two large berries form where none were before. Each berry swells to massive proportions and shimmers with a faint iridescent light. Kulgor plucks each with an audible pop and then hold one out to the lady. While the plops the other into his mouth.

"Each one of these should keep us going for a least a day. Rather that is how it worked in the wilds."

Ex-love. The old soul saw fit not to ask any questions in that direction, for she was far from a conversationalist, and farther still from a prier of secrets. She would listen if Kulgor was open to divulging his undoubtedly sordid tale, but otherwise the old woman would leave it unexplored. They were but mere acquaintances at the moment, anyway.

"Thank you." Ambika took the magically borne fruit and finished it, if simply as a gesture of trust and that she did not believe it would keep her sated for that long. The man was in need of compassion, of purpose. The latter she could not possibly give, but the former she could offer, even if the only forms she were capable of shaping were unwieldy with a chilly sheen to it.

So it was that the two set forth on their journey to Eclipse City, though it did not take long for Ambika to notice^[1] possible trouble ahead. A quintet of small Avianbears stood in the path ahead of them, and while the old adventurer would have no qualms fighting or have any problems sneaking through, she could not assume the same of Kulgor. As such, it was time for a query.

"There are five Avianbears in the path ahead. I do not know enough of them to determine whether they would be hostile. Do you prefer to fight, sneak past them or take a detour?" Option 1 would have her prepare her crossbow and shoot to kill one of them from her current distance without hesitation. Option 2 would have her leading the way in weaving a path for Kulgor to follow, fraught with autumn leaves threatening to give away their position, though it would not betray hers^[2]. Option 3 would send them into a more shaded path with higher tree density, where other dangers worse than the beasts they were attempting to avoid might lie in wait.

---

[1]Sharpshooter - Far Sight

SPOILER: Click to show

Your aim and range as a marksman has increased, making you even deadlier at long ranges while using a range weapon. You can see just as clear as normal but now at twice the distance, letting you track and see targets even at incredibly long distances. Your reach with a weapon has also increased, letting you fire a weapon twice as far as you normally would be able to.

[2]Stealth Skill - Silent Step

SPOILER: Click to show

You have trained and honed your body to be as quiet as it can be. Your foot steps now make no noise when stepping, walking or moving across surfaces. Your foot steps are muffled and silent, allowing you to move without being heard. This does not work if you are running however and can still be heard when moving at quicker speeds.

Kulgor shook and frowned at the question.

"I would hate to attack noble beast such as they without provocation. I am a druid of the wilds after I was taught to be one in the natural world by my lady herself. As such I must protest senseless violence upon the bears."

His face twisted into a slight grimace at his second line of thinking.

"Sadly, I have never been one for such sneaky strategies. I fear I will simply snap a twig or bump into a bush at a critical moment forcing us to run."

Then with a snap of his fingers he conjures a ball of fire in his hand and tosses it from left to right like a child would a ball.

"However, I am able to defend myself if the need arises. Tell me do you have any need to crop cultivation. I have other skills with plants perhaps I could make it up to the towns folk by fixing their garden.... that I MIDLY disturbed."

A tinge of blush comes to his face as remembers his awkward first impression.

"Or maybe we should leave I know little of such thing please guide me out of this place perhaps a change of tune will lighten my mood."

A ball of fire. In the middle of a forest. Were Ambika less controlled with her emotions she would have her palm over her face right now. The former assassin was a consummate professional, however, and would not let her personal grievances get in the way of this self-assigned job.

"Give me a moment." The old soul beckoned Kulgor take a seat as she removed her travel cloak^[1] and set upon applying some camouflage^[2] to the clothing as expediently as she could while keeping her senses sharp for possible danger. Once that was done, she would hand over the cloak, now covered in warm tones and interspersed with autumn leaves. "Here. This should help you from being spotted."

With that, Ambika would lead the self-proclaimed druid through a denser part of the forest, halting him whenever appropriate, then guide him out into the open once more when she was certain the Avianbears were a good distance away. The autumn season was unkind to the amount of daytime available, however, and it would soon be too dark for the two to continue travel. Or, rather, too unsafe for her to consider that option when there existed the unknown variable that is Kulgor.

"The sun will be setting soon. Let us find a place to rest for the night." There were no inns or taverns in the vicinity, however, since that role was largely fulfilled by the very village the two had just left, and as such, they would have little choice but to settle for a shaded clearing in the middle of nowhere.

---

[1]The Cloak

SPOILER: Click to show

A full body cloak with long wide sleeves and a hood, made of canvas and often comes in a flat, matte color, such as grey, tan or cream. The cloak is large enough to fully cover the users body, and then some, able to hide the users arm and leg movement while under the cloak. Internally it has a wealth of pockets which hold your various equipment and has a storage value of 8 item points. Is largely rain proof.

[2]Camouflage Kit

SPOILER: Click to show

Much like the Investigation Kit, this too has the necessary tools for its purpose. This camouflage paint allows the user to blend into any environment that they find themselves in and can be applied to any of their gear, clothing or items. Once applied, it significantly reduces your visibility while on the move, and when remaining still, the user becomes effectively invisible to traditional non-magical means of detection. Requires one post to apply to a single item.

"Ambika, you seem like a mother. I have been thinking what is a mother doing wondering these woods alone?"

Kulgor made ready a little sleeping pile for himself. With a wave of his hand the grass beneath his feet grew several inches until a nice soft bed formed.

"I can't think it was to find lost travelers like me. That would just be silly. If you don't want to talk about it never you bother. We could of course talk about this eclipse uh place town thing?"

His smile was warm and nonjudgmental. As he sat his hand instinctively formed as small figure out of twigs leaves and other plant matter. Before he knew it a small female form could be seen in his hands.

"Seems I am still in love with her... well then I guess she really did a number on me."

A single drop fell from his face before he looked over at this guide.

"So then how did you become so good at... well all of this? I am sure you must have some amazing stories to tell."

His gazed fixed on the woman, yet his eye held some minor magic. To stare into them was like looking through a window into one's past. Nothing prophetic or life alter but small fleeting moments of things gone by.

If looks could kill, Ambika's expression would be a murder weapon of its own. What was a mother to do without any children to look after? Though to be fair, that may not have been a question had she not been cursed with a child possessing of an illness that left her feeling deathly without regular sustenance. The parents had been so painfully dedicated to their youngest daughter, giving up so much for her sake, even when it bought their second child's anger, only for everything to be ripped away from the poor mother in one fell swoop that abhorrent night.

"Looking for my son." The reply was short, covered with serrated edges that threatened to harm everyone and everything who heard it including herself. The old soul was never a conversationalist, but now she hadn't the capacity to eke out any semblance of courtesy towards Kulgor's inquiries in the slightest, even if she would not press him about the mysterious feminine figure on his hands he had formed purely on instinct.

The woman simply pulled out her dreamcatcher and stared at it mournfully, hoping that it will hold today's nightmares.

Kulgor knew when to fold em. And this was the time.

"Well, if it helps at all my family is dead now, all of them. So perhaps we do have that in common if what I feel is true. Mine stolen by chaotic whims of the wilds. I now know why they warned be of being lured by such things. Mortal men are not meant for such a world. Perhaps it is best we rest and pick this up in the morning as we will be in better spirits."

Kulgor tucked his little statue into his robes and then closed his eyes.

"For what it is worth thank you. I would never have made it out alive with out. So, for the sake of our record please don't do away with me in the night."

The druid's eye closed as he drifted off to sleep.