RP:Tour of Xalious + Suspicions

Part of the Agitation Arc

Summary: After receiving a letter from Josleen detailing the weird events plaguing the village, Krice pays Xalious a visit. He and Josleen discuss recent events and Josleen invites him to inspect a strange bonfire she chanced upon just off the mountain path that connects the village to Craughmoyle's Southern Gate. Along the way, Josleen shares an encyclopedic knowledge of Xalious trivia. Josleen also explains Xalious politics, and her anxieties over how it fails the local residents.

When they arrive they find painted in black ink on the fire pit's stone floor is a symbol which jogs Krice's memory, but he can't quite place where he has seen the symbol before. He agrees to go home, do a little research, then report back with his findings. In their walk back to town, they discuss Linn and Krice plants a seed of suspicion in Josleen's mind about her co-investigator. He isn't a local, and he appeared just as things started to take a turn for the strange. Suspicious.

Rough Range

Krice left Frostmaw and ventured south through Xalious mountains, en route to the adjacent city. Dressed in his usual garb, sans the robes that sometimes warmed him in the harshest colds of the north, the warrior walked without haste, his gaze ahead, seeking a specifically familiar face from afar.

Josleen returns to Xalious from the east dressed for the fall: a light jacket, a sweater, a dress and stockings. She wears considerably less layers than she did in Frostmaw. It’s possible to make out her figure in this attire whereas in Frostmaw she resembled a plum. Her pace is slow and meandering, her gaze on the ground. A private smile and small amused sounds suggest that some pleasant memory plays in her head. She carries only her purse and not a care in the world, despite the fact that Xalious is currently troubled. Though no one have been gravely injured or killed. There’s that at least. That and whatever has Josleen so besotted.

Krice noticed Josleen at first in the periphery of his left eye. Turning his head, he matched her vision with the amused cacophony that simmered around the woman and slowed his gait. Reluctant to disturb her pleasant mood, the man waited a moment before opting to interrupt her for the sake of assisting her with Xalious issues. Still a few metres away, he lifted his chin to call for her attention with a polite, " Hey." Perhaps in response to her lighthearted disposition, the silver-haired man wore an expression that was amicable and pleasant, in its own way.

Josleen looks up from her waking reverie without any hint of alarm, largely thanks to Krice’s pleasant tone. “Oh hey.” She waves quickly then changes course to meet him. Long gone is the veil and the hideous hex. Her face has been restored to its youthful glow. She smiles wide and confident once more. “Fancy seeing you here.” She leans forward to air kiss his cheek without contact. Returning to Xalious has re-instilled in her Xalious customs. “Did you receive my letter and cakelog?”

Krice couldn't really help himself. Through lack of self-control, or because of Josleen's infectious self-confidence and happiness, he indulged in a small, lopsided smile that expressed his intrigue in kind. He turned to approach her, slowing once near enough, and halted altogether as the woman rose to air-kiss his cheek. The warrior tilted his head away subtly, not in conscious decline of the non-touching affection but in bemusement because of it. Was he unfamiliar with Xalious' customs? Whatever the case, soon enough the silver-haired man engaged his companion in conversation. " I did, yeah. Thanks," he said, acknowledging the package she had sent. Nodding to the southern city, he asked, " What's going on here?"

Josleen inspects Krice’s expression very carefully for a culinary review of her cakelog. Was it the most delicious thing ever? He doesn’t say so outright, and she tries her best to gleam it off his face to little success. The conversation moves on and the mystery of Krice-and-the-cakelog remains unsolved. Her gaze follows his to the city and his meaning dawns on her quickly. Her smile fades and she slowly returns her stare to him as she shrugs. “That’s what I am trying to solve. There’s been three events so far.” She starts to walk towards the village, her body language suggesting he should follow. If he doesn’t, she’ll linger for a bit here. If he does follow, she’ll walk and talk. “The third was the most dangerous, or potentially dangerous. I suffered a few mild burns.” She rubs her hand and shows him a faint burn scar that won’t endure for long. “But everyone’s fine. All three events has one thing in common: a strange, small storm with no rain. Dark clouds, and black lightning, but no thunder. And plants that die and turn to a black sludge. Linn and I— Linn’s a magical investigator of sorts — are giving samples to alchemists to see what they can tell us about all this.” When she mentions Linn her tone remains neutral. The source of her happiness isn’t him, but he brings her no sadness either.

Krice did indeed follow Josleen, but only after a moment's hesitation. He stepped up to her right and maintained a steady pace slightly behind her, though not so much that she would find difficulty looking at him through their conversation. At the conclusion of her words, the man seemed perplexed and thoughtful. His gaze dropped to the burn marring her hand as he said, " Sounds like some kind of wizardry. Or... Necromantic event." Nodding at the healer's hand, Krice asked, " How'd you get burnt?" If he harboured any particular interest in her mention of Linn, the silver-haired man didn't express as much. Once they were on the verge of the border that separated the path from Xalious City, he slowed to a halt and rooted himself there.

Josleen agrees with Krice’s first guess. “Mhmmm. Three mages claiming to be new acolytes at the Mage’s Guild seem to be involved, but I don’t know who they are or whether or not all of this is intentional or accidental. At any rate, they arrive at the scene of each occurrence and cover it up.” She glances at her hand when he nods at it and says, “The black ooze I mentioned earlier. It has some strange properties. I’ve been exposed to it twice. The first time it caused me no harm. The second time, it burned me. Do you remember Ansel Anesko from the Frostmaw Clinic? He moved to Xalious after the war as well.” The ghost of her smile returns, but she’s too focused on discussing the village’s afflictions to let it manifest completely. “He has also been exposed to it twice, and had the same experience. The same ooze that touched Ansel and I for the second time also touched Linn, but did not burn him. It was his first exposure.” Without realizing it, she’s stopped on the border of the village as well. Only once she has completed her thought does she notice his strange behavior. “...I can show you where these storms have taken place is you like?” He head nods towards the southwest suggestively.

Krice was indeed highly intrigued by Josleen's reply and showed as much in his expression, those gilded eyes deepened in colour and intensity. The oddity of Xalious' strange weather events did not escape him. " No, I don't need to see that." He seemed distracted by a distant thought, which soon manifested itself in the form of a murmured theory: " So it seems like the first exposure does nothing, whilst the second exposure leaves burns. What about a third? You'd expect it to be worse than burns if the exposure episodes are sequential." He was frowning thoughtfully at Josleen and diverted his gaze, belatedly remembering his manners. Staring past her into Xalious, the man pressed his lips into a thin line before speaking again. " And the three mages who are covering up the incidences. What can be done about them?"

Josleen nods emphatically with Krice’s line of thinking. “Yes! And thus I am not keen on a third exposure. Haha!” She laughs the way people do when they enter a haunted house. When he asks after the mages, she glances furtively at the Guild tower then drops her voice to a whisper. “I’m not sure what to do about the mages just yet. I don’t know if the Guild is or is not involved. If they are, I’m afraid of tipping my hand too soon. I don’t want them to scatter before I can get to the bottom of this.” She tries to lead him into the village again, her head already canting southward. “Come. If you’ve a minute to spare, I’ll show you the ooze. I have a sample in a glass vial.”

Krice smirked wryly at Josleen's nervous-mirth, but the expression faded naturally with the words she spoke thereafter. He agreed with her desire to wait a little longer regarding actions against the three suspicious mages, as conveyed with a small nod of his head. Upon the healer's reiteration that he follow her into Xalious, the man gazed southward at the city itself for just a moment longer before stepping forward to follow her in. Keeping focus on the conversation, he asked, " Has the ooze morphed or degraded in the time you've had it stored?"

Josleen squints at Krice’s odd behavior while his gaze drifts south. She’s about the ask after his history with the village, but he gets his question out first. She shrugs and holds her shoulders high as she tries to find the right answer. “Possibly? As far as I can see, no, but at the alchemical level, perhaps. That is why the alchemists are so important — if the sample retains its value.” They pass a family and Josleen waves hello. Just before they enter the town square she asks, “Have you visited Xalious before?” She expects he has, but can’t find a direct way to ask why he hesitated at the border. And so, she must take indirect paths to satisfy her curiosity.

Xalious Village

Krice walked alongside Josleen and was looking away from that family as they crossed paths, his attention on other aspects of Xalious during approach; signs of that strange rain-free storm, or ooze bubbling out of cracks in the road or seeking through the bark of surrounding trees - anything that looked suspicious. Following Josleen's query, the warrior redirected his gilded gaze to her face briefly, his attention swinging southward to the city entrance as he answered. " I think only once - during my first year here." With a wry smirk, he mused, " I didn't think to try the cakelog back then."

Josleen leans way into Krice’s personal space and looks warily at The Dancing Destrier. She whispers just barely audibly (good thing Krice has keen hearing!), “The Destrier’s cakelog is a bit dry.” She meets his gaze meaningfully as she pulls away to a more respectable distance. Her lips are pursed in the wake of that truth bomb and her hands lift to absolve herself of guilt: he didn’t hear it from her, ok? She sweeps her impossibly shiny hair over one shoulder and resumes a natural gait and expression. No signs of dark magic plague the quaint village at the moment. The storms come and go, and the mages clean up after their destruction. Outside the ceramic shop, she says, “Wait here a moment, please.” She disappears up a side-alley entrance and five minutes later reappears with a leather pouch in hand which she hands off to Krice. Inside the pouch is a glass vial filled with inert black liquid that looks like ink. She gives him a moment to inspect it before asking yet something else of him. “Say, I found something not far from here in the mountains. It’s a short hike, just under an hour each way. I don’t know what to call it, some sort of sorcerer’s circle perhaps. You seem like you’ve seen so much through your travels and adventures. I was wondering if you could accompany me there now and have a look? See if something jogs your memory? It may be related to the mages.” The last statement she whispers, just in case the Guild is involved and has planted ears throughout the village.

Krice lifted his chin ever so slightly, body language marginally tense following Josleen's decision to encroach on his personal space. Her conspiratorial murmur of the Drestrier's failing cakelog earned her a wry half-smirk, which faded naturally by the time she had leaned away. Space - better. Left at the ceramic shop, the warrior nodded his intention to wait for Josleen's return, as requested, and busied himself in the interim with people-watching. He had only visited Xalious on one other occasion, so almost everything here was new to him. When Josleen returned, Krice pivoted to face her in approach and gazed down at the outstretched pouch. He hesitated a moment before reaching out to take hold of the pouch. Turning it in both hands, the warrior revealed the vial within and tilted it to watch the odd ooze in motion, sliding freely from one end of the vial to the other. His expression told of bemusement; the ooze didn't -look- evil or potent. He was halfway through registering Josleen's next course of action when he returned the vial to her, via the bag's sinched top. Narrowing one eye very slightly in something akin to suspicion, the warrior asked, " Jog my memory of what? I don't know much about magic. I won't be useful to you in investigating a sorcerer circle." His words were not spoken in criticism but in genuine confusion; the warrior could not understand why his presence would be needed there.

Josleen pantomimes grasping at nothing. “I don’t know exactly. I’m trying to find clues. Maybe there is some symbol or color or something you’ve seen before. It’s occurred to me that there is a chance this is related to what’s been going on in Frostmaw, west of the city in the ruins. Perhaps not, but at this stage I am just turning over every stone.” The scale of how little she knows suddenly overwhelms her and she has to take a deep, slow breath to ground herself. She forces a smile again. “But this isn’t your problem, of course. I understand if you don’t want to look closer. I’m just throwing everything I have at this, and unfortunately for my friends that includes them.” She grins impishly, in one expression acknowledging it isn’t polite of her, but she isn’t backing down without a firm ‘no’ in hand — just in case.

Krice arched a brow early in Josleen's reply. Given her mention of a possible connection between these incidents in Xalious, and the variety of issues up in Frostmaw's western wildlands, the silver-haired man was almost-instantly engaged in the idea of going to see the 'sorcerer circle'. Dismissing her gentle attempt to persuade him the warrior nodded and clarified his stance. " If it's possibly connected to what's happening up in Frostmaw, which I'm already partly involved in, then maybe the two cities can help each other." Nodding away from the woman to indicate that she get moving, the warrior asked, " Shall we head to the circle?"

Path in the Mountains

Josleen notices that Krice perks up at the mention of a possible connection with Frostmaw’s troubles. As a Xalious native absolutely in love with her hometown (Xalious >>>> Frostmaw), it rubs her fur the wrong way to think of Frostmaw as somehow more deserving than Xalious, but she’ll take the help however it may come. “Yes! If we both have the time.” She leads him along the mountain path that connects the village to Craughmoyle’s southern gate. With time, Krice will come to see that Xalious is Hollow’s true gem. Josleen starts his education right now, by filling up their one hour hike with fun Xalious facts and historical minutiae. Steward Hildegarde is a Xalious native and lover of cakelog. Xalious has remained neutral through many recent wars that have plagued the land. Did he know that the Hobbits are considered a part of Xalious society? The heavy plough with detachable blade was invented on Xalious farms and revolutionized agricultural across the continent. The famous actress and singer Beyonse was born and raised in (will Krice guess it?) Xalious. A small rocky island off the coast of Chartsend was discovered by a farmer during an expedition to find the best guano islands, guano being the world’s best fertilizer. He now sells the guano he excavates there at a premium price. And so on and so forth. Her knowledge of Xalious trivia is inexhaustible.

Krice hadn't meant to compare Frostmaw and Xalious, merely to acknowledge that since he had experience with issues in Frostmaw, then perhaps - assuming the issues -here- were similar - he could help Josleen, after all. If he knew of her displeasure, he might have clarified. Moving northward to indicate that he -did- have the time to spare--after all, he had travelled a long way just to hear some details about Xalious' woes; he could travel a little more--the warrior followed his escort and listened attentively, without clear exasperation or any other negative reaction, as she rattled off her knowledge of Xalious and its surrounding mountains. Truly, she could be a scholar somewhere, teaching the next generation of the benefits of Xalious to the overall society of Hollow's many lands. When there was a break in her words enough for him to speak, he glanced at Josleen kindly and observed, " You're clearly passionate about Xalious. I don't think even Her leaders would know as much as you do."

Josleen smiles at the compliment, but the expression is short lived. "I don't think Her leaders care very much about her. The Guild," presumably the Mage's guild for few others carry clout in the village that could rival it, "is the authority in Xalious, in a way. It was never something that was agreed upon. The tower was built here, then the village sprang up around it to sustain the needs of the tower and Guild. No formal government came into power, and so the Guild is the de-facto power. Which... I was never too troubled by that arrangement until now. If the Guild is involved in these calamitous events, then... well... We have no recourse. There is no authority that represents us, the villagers. What more, investigating this has been difficult because most of my resources are also Guild resources. I must work around them, but they occupy such a big seat here, literally and figuratively. The more I think about it, the more outraged I become that an institution in which the villagers have no representation should rule us." Her route takes them off the main road through foot paths carved by mountaineers. The trails aren't well marked, but Josleen knows them well. She leads them to a massive boulder than juts out to provide a roof for a very shallow cave open on three sides. On the floor sits a bonfire circle filled with ash. "Oh that's strange... I was here a few days ago..." With a twig she sweeps the ash and embers away from the pit. Beneath the soot is a symbol Krice may recognize. The ornate hematite of the brooch he recovered from the yuan-ti is roughly hewn to resemble this same symbol. The brooch has some ornamental flourishes, but the skeleton of its design is this same symbol.

Krice listened attentively to Josleen's answer, though he hadn't expected one, whilst following her through Xalious. At some point, his mind drifted from her words and fogged up beneath the glowing branches of the mighty Xalious Tree, which drew his gaze. Cobalt light flickered across the gilded depths of his eyes, turning aspects of each red iris into oddly-purpled striations that unwittingly acknowledged the beauty of the tree itself. At some point, without fully realizing it, the man found himself walking with Josleen far beyond the tree and into less built-up country pathways and through beautiful valleys. Indeed, by refraining from visiting Xalious, he had deprived himself of the evidence of -why- Josleen loved her home city so much; it was beautiful, and peaceful, and harboured aspects of tranquillity that he had not seen in months. Once they arrived at the site to which she led him, the warrior halted back from the woman and watched her clear away the ashes that concealed the mark of which she spoke. Once the mark was revealed, Krice stepped closer, regarding it from Josleen's left side - before he could better see it. It took just a moment, but ultimately, he reacted in such a way that the woman would easily be able to see recognition in him. Stepping forward, the silver-haired man reached the edge of the little cave and crouched, gazing into the outline of the emblem.

Jolseen doesn't notice Krice's purple-streaked stare as they pass The Tree, for her gaze is on the road ahead. However, the socially- and emotionally-attuned bard picks up on a shift in the mood around them. Is it Krice, or is it the reverence and awe The Xalious Tree commands? She decides on the latter. Krice's lack of attention to the political is noticed, but doesn't offend. At this point, the woman speaks as a method to work through her own anxieties about the future of her village. Poor Krice is an imposed-upon party to that, but Josleen's passion for Xalious is unapologetic. At the cave, having swept the pit, she watches Krice so carefully that she jumps in her skin when he reacts with recognition. "W-whhat? What is it?" She's whispering. It's unclear why.

Krice remained crouched in front of the little cave, staring at that symbol in the ground, for a few seconds after Josleen's expressed anxiety. Shaking his head but keeping his gaze fixed, the warrior mused, " It looks familiar. I'm tryin' to..." He fell silent, trailing off to consider the shape. " What did this look like when you first found it?"

"Just this bonfire pit, but with no ash. It looked unused or recently cleaned. The symbol you see there on the stone floor was painted black just like that. ...Strange that the paint didn't burn... " She pulls out her vial and eyes the inky substance and the symbol. Could it be the same ink? She'll need to get an alchemist over here. She crosses to where the roof meets the back wall. "And over here there were three dead squirrels, throats slashed." The bodies are gone now. "Aside from the slash throats, there was nothing remarkable about the squirrels."

Krice mused. " Painted black..." The dead squirrels were not relevation information to him at the moment. What was intriguing was the mark on the ground. Twisting to glance over a shoulder at Josleen, he asked, " Painted black with -paint-, or with -ink-?" He asked, nodding to the vial in her hands. " Like -that- ink, maybe?"

Josleen's head bobs side to side as if weighing the theory. "Maybe." She kneels near the edge of the fire pit and rummages through her too-big purse. "Where have you seen this symbol before?" After a bit of searching she locate a graphite and small notepad and begins to sketch several copies of the symbol.

Krice watched Josleen sketch out the symbol as he answered her question. " I'm not completely sure, yet. It looks very familiar but I'd have to go back and check." Lifting his chin, the warrior redirected his gaze to the healer's face. " I -think- it's on some kind of enchanted item."

Josleen tears out one of the sketches, folds it, and slips it into her coin purse. She looks up at the mention of an enchanted item. "What item? Where is it? That is, where do you have to check?"

Krice said, " It's somewhere safe." A nod furthered this. Returning his attention to the etching in the ground, he said, " I'm pretty sure they match, but I need to check before I get your hopes up." Cue a wry smirk. " Is anyone else helping you with this?"

Town Well

Josleen pulls her lips to one side in mild disappoint that Krice won't divulge anymore details, but she trusts his reasons for doing so and doesn't press the issue further. Once she has her copies of the sketch, she rises and starts to lead them back the way they came. "Yea, someone is. Are you ready to head back?" Whether they head back or not, she explains her earlier affirmation. "There is a man named Linn who is helping me. He's one of those warrior-mage types. He likes to investigate magical anomalies. He isn't a local; staying at the tavern. Seems nice enough. ...Strange in a harmless way."

Krice did rise to walk alongside Josleen once more, his pace even and unhurried. He looked more thoughtful on the way back than he had done on the way in, likely due to the new information of the strange symbol in the dirt. If it -did- match up to the symbol on the enchanted item of which he spoke, what would that mean? He responded to the healer's mention of Linn with a nod. " Linn - the man you mentioned before. He's not a local but he wants to help?"

Josleen laughs lightly at the phrasing of Krice's question. "Is that so hard to believe? But I suspect his interest is more academic than heroic. He seems fascinated by all these magical events. He isn't scared in the slightest as far as I can tell." From this height in the mountains they have a clear view of the tiny village and Josleen takes it all in, through her eyes and breath. "Mm, well, I suppose he has less at stake than I do. My home is at stake. He is free to go whenever he wishes."

Krice shook his head. " Not hard to believe, but if he's a mage, caution should be exercised in case he is somehow connected to the events happening in Xalious. Did you know him before the incidents started?" The warrior turned with Josleen, walking at her left side. Though his attention was mostly on the woman herself, during their conversation, he took time to scrutinize their surroundings, always looking for clues or things that appeared out of place.

Josleen's eyes widen as she follows Krice's skeptical train of thought. "I hadn't even considered...I met him a few days prior to the events, which isn't very many at all. Steward Hildegarde also knows of Linn, though she admits not very well, but... Neither of us have reason to suspect..." She rubs at her collarbone nervously. "Then again, you're not wrong to be skeptical." The possibility that she's been duped -- maybe -- is enough to clip her sentences. Nothing seems out of place in Xalious, save for a sign posted near the merchant's corner on which a doomsday prophet warns that these strange events are the wrath of the gods, punishing the villagers for their sins. Sins are not specified. Fill in the blanks, sinner. "You're leaving then coming back, yes? Perhaps if it's possible you could meet Linn and get an impression of him."

Krice focused on that sign, but not long enough to intimate that he was giving it any true weight. Turning his attention to Josleen once more, the man engaged her in conversation first with answers to her questions. " I'll come back once I've confirmed the design on the brooch." A beat. " If Linn's with you, I'll meet him then." The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't put a face to it. Regardless, the warrior said thereafter, " He could be completely innocent, or he could be guilty. I'm not accusing him either way - all I'm saying is that you need to be cautious of who you talk to, -especially- people who you didn't know before these incidents started occuring." Lowering his voice, Krice offered, " Whoever's behind it all, they'll no doubt send out feelers to root out people trying to stop them. That includes you. You need to be careful."

Slows as they reach the busy village square. "Right, he could be innocent. Or... who knows." Josleen nods several times with Krice's line of reasoning then stops altogether to rub her brows and eyes, palms bracing her cheeks as she take a deep breath. Her hands fall away from her face as she exhales the stress of it all slowly. "I'm too trusting. This just..." Her hand waves vaguely towards the tower. "I'm out of my element, Krice. But this task has fallen on me and I must do it. I need to get to the bottom of this." She forces a smile that refuses to fully bloom. "At least I know who my friends are. Thank you for looking into the symbol. I'm turning off here to visit the Delicates Farm." Her head nods south along a road that leads to the Hobbit Burrows and eventually Enchantment. "Give me a warning before you return and I'll see if I can arrange an introduction between you and Linn."

Krice listened attentively to Josleen, taking note of her distress over the situation in Frostmaw, and the lack of knowing whether or not Linn could be trusted. When she paused at the crossroads where they'd part ways, the warrior halted as well and turned to face her, his expression neutral though his eyes harboured distant compassion. " I'll try to be back within the week. Depends what happens when get to Frostmaw." If he could get back sooner, then he would. " Take care of yourself." His expression said what -he- did not; she could trust him, rely on him to help her to the best of his ability, -know- that he had no ulterior motives tucked away.

Josleen's smile deepens as Krice reaffirms his commitment to come back sooner rather than later, schedule permitting. She does trust him, completely. And his concern over whether or not Linn could be trusted warms her heart. It's nice to be looked after. First Hildegarde, now Krice. If anything bad should happen to the bard it isn't because she's been neglected, that's for sure. "You too. Thank you again for everything." She waves, waits for him to turn away first, then turns south.

Krice smirked gently following Josleen's little farewell gesture, which inspired him to take a step backward before she moved. He dipped his head, responded to her gratitude with an earnest, " No problem," and then he turned to proceed northward, along the path down which she had led him, en route to Xalious' northern exit.