<span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Courier;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 16pt;"><strong>S T O R Y T E L L E R</strong></span></span><hr/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1a/4a/45/1a4a4505137f26bf4be77e9845d13ced.jpg)</div><div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1d/81/5b/1d815b4e6f54762b80c9852229ac7298.jpg)(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/45/fd/83/45fd837de75c9249a1eafcd08bc314f0.jpg)</div><strong>Dramatis Personae:</strong>Alice, Aurelia, Alethea<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong>As Pictured<br/><br/><strong>Time:</strong><em>8&gt;9:00 AM XST</em><br/><strong>Location:</strong><em></em>Triumvirat Villa, Echeveau<br/><strong>Tagging | Mentioning:</strong>Crystelia Coven Members |<br/><strong>Notes:</strong>You have about a round of posts or so before they head out, so make it count :)<br/><hr/><br/>The night passes relatively uneventfully, unlike the day. The night sky, for those prone to looking at such things, are easy to see; hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lights painting myriad portraits upon the canvas of night. As if they need any more confirmation they’re not in Kansas anymore, although they might pick out constellations, they are simply not the constellations of Earth. The major planets that one might see on a clear night on Earth are not present.<br/><br/>Instead, far ‘above’ the moon (which is whitish-orange tonight), there is a vaguely ominous red star, dully pulsing.<br/><br/>The night otherwise passes eventlessly. Aurelia makes no more explosions (that the party is aware of). At the rising of the sun, Melody can feel a rhythmic tapping on her forehead. Tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap. Tap! A set of scaly claws, gently poking at her and encouraging wakefulness. For Alexis and Bridgette, they are awakened by the sound of furious scratching at the door.<br/><br/>A certain nightmarish stallion glowers at Bridgette from outside, through the window. And for those who choose to ignore their animal companions trying to rouse the group into the waking world, pretty soon, there is a smell not unlike maple syrup filling up the villa.<br/><br/>In turns, the young wicces (once awake and downstairs) are encouraged to wash up in a basin of warm water that has a light, rose-tinged sweetness to it (running water, sadly, is not a thing in Gelegenheit, so they’ll need to adapt to these cruder sanitation methods). And, once cleaned up, they are encouraged to join the trio of mages for some breakfast.<br/><br/>Breakfast will surely be a welcome bit of normalcy for them all. Fried fresh chicken eggs, slices of cured crocswine (a gamier version of bacon). Aurelia even made waffles with maple syrup. There’s even a small hash made from potatoes, sweet onions, and sweet peppers. Alice has also made tea (both a strong, bitter English breakfast type tea with citrusy notes, as well as a cooled and sweetened peppermint tea).<br/><br/>Alice seems content to mostly sip on tea; Alethea eats in a more primal manner, getting right at the food with her hands, and with hunched up posture; and Aurelia, despite her obsessions, proves herself to have actual table manners and a normal appetite.<br/><br/>As the girls eat, Alice speaks. “So, once you’ve all had time to let breakfast settle, I was hoping you would run a few errands in town for us. I thought it would be nice for you to get a sense of the world you now find yourselves in.” A pause; a sip of tea. “It should only take a few hours. And then, this afternoon, we can work on training your magical skills.”<br/><br/>Alice produces a small, neatly folded piece of vellum to Melody, which seems to contain a shopping list. Nothing too fancy. Some candles, some crystals, imported spices, a jug of whale oil. There are also shop names to help them find the materials. “There’s a town called Mincult near us. A bit to the west, and north. There’s a footpath from our villa out to one of the main trade roads, so as long as you stick to the roads, you should be fine.”<br/><br/>At which point, Alethea interjects. “The spirits have been quiet lately. It’d be faster to go through the woods.” Alice shakes her head, “You’re the only one of us that doesn’t get lost out there.” Alethea cants her head to the side, like a crow watching something that’s got its curiosity. “Oh.” She seems slightly disappointed to not be able to send the wicces off into the woods, but lets it go.<br/><br/>“You’ll know you’re going in the right direction when you see the farms.” Alice continues her explanation as she fetches a small cloth pouch, and sets it on the table, near to Melody (but does not hand it directly to her). It jingles and is heavy. “There’s enough coins here for everything on the list, and also a little extra spending money for you all to share.”<br/><br/>“Do they even have Rings in their home dimension though?” Aurelia was quick to point out that their currencies might in fact be different. She then fetched a piece of metal from her pocket that seemed to look closest to a Chinese Yuan (https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/eS4AAOSw6GJcdxpk/s-l500.jpg) of all the currencies back on Earth. “We call these Rings because you can practically wear them on your fingers.” Aurelia said, already fidgeting with the coin as she looped it about on her pinkie. “Just so you don’t get confused, even though it should be fine if Melody somehow gets how bullshit bread is, we call five of them a “finger” and twenty-five of ‘em a “hand”.” She was quick to add, abruptly tossing the Ring their way and seeing for her own amusement if anyone tried to catch it on their finger. Hopefully Bridgette wasn’t because then she tossed her a pair of black hiking boots with an abrupt call of "Catch!".<br/><br/>“Would any of you like to ask any questions before setting out?” Alice poses, as Alethea wordlessly gets up and metaphorically glides out of the room.