Heraldic Mage
Disclaimer: I will never own it, so STOP BUGGING ME!!!
We enter the cave with caution. Although we think we packed enough supplies, we have no idea how far we will need to go. I look around as we walk. This place is full of herbs. We have to be careful here. Further back, there seem to be less and less vegetation. We search hard, but we are still finding the common herbs that we always see. Claude is asking every two minutes if 'this is it'. Rena tells us that before she met him, he had never heard of herbs. I can't believe it. Well, he is definitely learning something now.
A bit later, we have to take a break. My feet are killing me. I am not the only one who needs to relax. The armor that Claude, Ashton, and Opera are wearing is beginning to wear them down. We find a place to sit and rest.
"So where next?" Rena asks. I look around. There are three paths. The others also look around.
"No clue." Claude says.
"Then why don't we just go up the middle." Opera asks. We all agree to that. Sounds as good as anything right now. We rest a moment more, then head up the chosen path. Then..it branches off again. This is getting annoying. We head off to the right. After a bit, we come to an area with very little plant-life. In the center of it all is something I have never seen in my life. Rena goes up to look at it.
"This may be what we have been looking for!" she exclaims. Claude brings out the bag Bowman gave us to put it in. Rena carefully cuts the stem and puts it in. Then we head back. Only now....the monsters who lived here are not happy. We have to fight every step of the way. By the time we finally reach the entrance, I am exhausted. But we are all alive. We slowly go back to Linga. But instead of hitting the inn, we go straight to Bowman's. This had better be worth it. We go in, and Bowman is helping a woman. We wait for her to leave, but she doesn't seem to be going anywhere. She looks up, then gently tugs Bowman's sleeve. He looks at us.
"Oh! Did you bring it?" he asks. Claude brings him the bag.
"Is this it?" He asks. Bowman takes the plant out of the bag and carefully inspects it. Then his eyes widen.
"How far in did you go?!" he says. "This is a completely new species!!!" he puts it back into the bag, and carefully stores it. Then he turns to the woman. "Nineh, I'll be back in a few." She nods.
"OK, darling. I'll watch the store." She says as we walk out. Once outside, Bowman turns to us.
"Why didn't you say something when you came in?" he asks.
"We thought you were helping that customer." Ashton replies. Bowman is confused a moment, then laughs.
"That isn't a customer, that's my wife." He says. Everyone of us turns red. Bowman goes a bit in front of us. "You needed to speak to Keith, right?" We nod. "Then let's go." We walk up to Keith's house.
"Every time we try to see him, we get kicked out." Claude explains. Bowman seems lost in thought a moment. We arrive at Keith's house. Bowman looks up.
"I have an idea." He says. Then he goes up to the door. "HEY KEITH!!!!!! YOU UP THERE!?!! HHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHH!!!!" He steps away from the door. "What in the world is he doing up there?" As he is wondering this, the assistant who kicked us out comes and opens the door.
"What is all the noise out here?!" he demands. Bowman turns around.
"Sorry. It's me." The assistant looks embarrassed.
"Professor!!" he says. Bowman's a professor?
"I'm not a professor...." Bowman says. "Where's Keith?"
"I'll inform him immediately." The assistant goes inside. Well, at least this time we are getting some results. Although I am not really sure about the method. The assistant comes back and gestures for us to come in. We do, and go up the stairs. In the small room, we see a huge pile of books, and a young man.
"Excuse me.." Claude says. The young man looks up. We enter the room, and Bowman steps up.
"You too good for visitors, Keith?" he asks. Keith looks at us.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asks. Bowman gestures to us.
"These kids have been trying to see you, but they are getting the brush-off at the door." Keith seems to understand now.
"Oh, that. The palace gave me tons of work on some stupid writings, so I told my assistants to keep people out of my hair." Claude starts fuming.
"Us?!" he says. Bowman turns to us.
"Look, spare the bruised ego routine. What did you want?" Rena steps up.
"We found some Ancient Writings in Cross Cave. We were hoping you could read them. She puts the writings on the desk in front of Keith. He looks at them a moment, then turns to us.
"Hmm.. I think I can get it if I had some time. Could you leave them with me? I want to give it some time." We nod.
"Of course, Professor." I say. He smiles.
"This is much better than a job from some desk jockey. And I owe it to Bowman here." Bowman cracks a huge smile.
"Now this is rare. Did ya hear that one? Keith thanked ME!" We all start laughing, while Keith turns an interesting shade of red.
**that evening**
It is so nice of Bowman and Nineh to let us stay the night. We finally get a chance to rest. Claude went up to talk to Bowman. We should turn in soon. Claude comes back down with Bowman.
"Bowman has offered to come with us." Claude says. We all look at him. Bowman is over with Nineh.
"Are you sure that's wise?" I ask. I don't like the idea of breaking up a couple.
"He makes some good points." Claude says. Nineh looks up at us, then smiles.
"You don't let anything happen to my Bowman here." She calls. I am surprised she can be so chipper about the whole thing. We all nod. Then we go up to bed.
**next morning**
We are standing outside, waiting for Bowman. He comes out with some supplies. Most of it is different kinds of herbs. Well, that will be handy. At least we have someone who can use them.
"Everyone ready to go?" he asks. Rena looks at him.
"Did you say good-bye to Nineh?" she asks. Bowman looks at Nineh, then back at us.
"Look, I am not the kind of person who gets all mushy in front of people." We all sweatdrop, and Nineh laughs. "Young people today, they have to have a scene about everything. Nineh, I'm going!"
Nineh smiles. "Have a safe trip!" Bowman nods, then we head for the gates of town.
"So where should we go?" Opera asks. Bowman thinks a moment.
"The first place we should go is Lacour itself. They will have the latest news, and some fresh weapons." We all head for Lacour!
To be continued...
Disclaimer: I will never own it, so STOP BUGGING ME!!!
We enter the cave with caution. Although we think we packed enough supplies, we have no idea how far we will need to go. I look around as we walk. This place is full of herbs. We have to be careful here. Further back, there seem to be less and less vegetation. We search hard, but we are still finding the common herbs that we always see. Claude is asking every two minutes if 'this is it'. Rena tells us that before she met him, he had never heard of herbs. I can't believe it. Well, he is definitely learning something now.
A bit later, we have to take a break. My feet are killing me. I am not the only one who needs to relax. The armor that Claude, Ashton, and Opera are wearing is beginning to wear them down. We find a place to sit and rest.
"So where next?" Rena asks. I look around. There are three paths. The others also look around.
"No clue." Claude says.
"Then why don't we just go up the middle." Opera asks. We all agree to that. Sounds as good as anything right now. We rest a moment more, then head up the chosen path. Then..it branches off again. This is getting annoying. We head off to the right. After a bit, we come to an area with very little plant-life. In the center of it all is something I have never seen in my life. Rena goes up to look at it.
"This may be what we have been looking for!" she exclaims. Claude brings out the bag Bowman gave us to put it in. Rena carefully cuts the stem and puts it in. Then we head back. Only now....the monsters who lived here are not happy. We have to fight every step of the way. By the time we finally reach the entrance, I am exhausted. But we are all alive. We slowly go back to Linga. But instead of hitting the inn, we go straight to Bowman's. This had better be worth it. We go in, and Bowman is helping a woman. We wait for her to leave, but she doesn't seem to be going anywhere. She looks up, then gently tugs Bowman's sleeve. He looks at us.
"Oh! Did you bring it?" he asks. Claude brings him the bag.
"Is this it?" He asks. Bowman takes the plant out of the bag and carefully inspects it. Then his eyes widen.
"How far in did you go?!" he says. "This is a completely new species!!!" he puts it back into the bag, and carefully stores it. Then he turns to the woman. "Nineh, I'll be back in a few." She nods.
"OK, darling. I'll watch the store." She says as we walk out. Once outside, Bowman turns to us.
"Why didn't you say something when you came in?" he asks.
"We thought you were helping that customer." Ashton replies. Bowman is confused a moment, then laughs.
"That isn't a customer, that's my wife." He says. Everyone of us turns red. Bowman goes a bit in front of us. "You needed to speak to Keith, right?" We nod. "Then let's go." We walk up to Keith's house.
"Every time we try to see him, we get kicked out." Claude explains. Bowman seems lost in thought a moment. We arrive at Keith's house. Bowman looks up.
"I have an idea." He says. Then he goes up to the door. "HEY KEITH!!!!!! YOU UP THERE!?!! HHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHH!!!!" He steps away from the door. "What in the world is he doing up there?" As he is wondering this, the assistant who kicked us out comes and opens the door.
"What is all the noise out here?!" he demands. Bowman turns around.
"Sorry. It's me." The assistant looks embarrassed.
"Professor!!" he says. Bowman's a professor?
"I'm not a professor...." Bowman says. "Where's Keith?"
"I'll inform him immediately." The assistant goes inside. Well, at least this time we are getting some results. Although I am not really sure about the method. The assistant comes back and gestures for us to come in. We do, and go up the stairs. In the small room, we see a huge pile of books, and a young man.
"Excuse me.." Claude says. The young man looks up. We enter the room, and Bowman steps up.
"You too good for visitors, Keith?" he asks. Keith looks at us.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asks. Bowman gestures to us.
"These kids have been trying to see you, but they are getting the brush-off at the door." Keith seems to understand now.
"Oh, that. The palace gave me tons of work on some stupid writings, so I told my assistants to keep people out of my hair." Claude starts fuming.
"Us?!" he says. Bowman turns to us.
"Look, spare the bruised ego routine. What did you want?" Rena steps up.
"We found some Ancient Writings in Cross Cave. We were hoping you could read them. She puts the writings on the desk in front of Keith. He looks at them a moment, then turns to us.
"Hmm.. I think I can get it if I had some time. Could you leave them with me? I want to give it some time." We nod.
"Of course, Professor." I say. He smiles.
"This is much better than a job from some desk jockey. And I owe it to Bowman here." Bowman cracks a huge smile.
"Now this is rare. Did ya hear that one? Keith thanked ME!" We all start laughing, while Keith turns an interesting shade of red.
**that evening**
It is so nice of Bowman and Nineh to let us stay the night. We finally get a chance to rest. Claude went up to talk to Bowman. We should turn in soon. Claude comes back down with Bowman.
"Bowman has offered to come with us." Claude says. We all look at him. Bowman is over with Nineh.
"Are you sure that's wise?" I ask. I don't like the idea of breaking up a couple.
"He makes some good points." Claude says. Nineh looks up at us, then smiles.
"You don't let anything happen to my Bowman here." She calls. I am surprised she can be so chipper about the whole thing. We all nod. Then we go up to bed.
**next morning**
We are standing outside, waiting for Bowman. He comes out with some supplies. Most of it is different kinds of herbs. Well, that will be handy. At least we have someone who can use them.
"Everyone ready to go?" he asks. Rena looks at him.
"Did you say good-bye to Nineh?" she asks. Bowman looks at Nineh, then back at us.
"Look, I am not the kind of person who gets all mushy in front of people." We all sweatdrop, and Nineh laughs. "Young people today, they have to have a scene about everything. Nineh, I'm going!"
Nineh smiles. "Have a safe trip!" Bowman nods, then we head for the gates of town.
"So where should we go?" Opera asks. Bowman thinks a moment.
"The first place we should go is Lacour itself. They will have the latest news, and some fresh weapons." We all head for Lacour!
To be continued...