As we exit the building, I note the differences between this cloak and the last. The hood before was a little restrictive, It didn’t fit as well. But this new cloak is amazing, it fits my body perfectly.
Me and Malfer start walking around the plaza, so I decide to ask him a question, “Why don’t I have to wear the hood on the cloak, Is it something to do with magic?”
He answers me with a “Yes, indeed.”
So this cloak is magic, good to know. I wonder if it’s some type of spell/enchantment, one that either makes me unnoticeable, or one that casts an illusion. It is strange that he didn’t elaborate much.
I decide to ask him what exactly it does, “What exactly does the cloak do?”
He answers once again, but this time with a more in depth answer, “It nullifies curses, and it’s a good I idea to wear it whether or not you are cursed. If you are cursed, then it will slowly nullify it, and if you aren’t then this is good cover. We can still tell people that you are cursed!”
I don’t really want people to think I’m cursed, If curses are viewed as diseases or something similar here, then I fear exile or worse.
“Hey Malfer?” I ask with a teeny tiny bit of worry in my voice, and he responds in a calming but curious voice, “Yes?”
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I start with my questions, “What exactly are curses, how do you get them, and also how do you get rid of them? If I do have one, or even if I don’t, what will people think of me?”
He answers my question with a couple questions, “should you judge someone for being cursed? Does it even matter if you are or aren’t?”
That’s vaguely inspirational almost, like something you say to someone to help their view of themselves. I think he’s getting the idea that I’m scared of what society will think of me, I mean I am, but not in that way. My questions are analytical, and there isn’t much beyond that.
So I respond to his questions with “can you give me a more direct answer? I truly know little about curses, and I feel that knowing what people will think will help me understand how to act.”
He sighs and looks at me as we stop in a corner near some barrels, “In general, you get curses in one of 3 ways, by someone who specializes in curses, by angering a god, or by making a deal with a demon. Curses tend to be stigmatized due to the fact that you had either done something bad, or in the case of curses placed by a wizard, you usually had to have been involved in dark arts. Most view cursed people as bad luck, and a lot of the time they are.”
He pauses and gestures for me to continue walking.
As we walk a bit farther I notice some people staring at my ears, but eventually that stops when we start walking out of the plaza and in an area I don’t recognize. He smiles before saying, “We’re going to meet up with Eleanor and Alver, there’s some big news, but before that let me show you some useful things with your cloak!”
He spends the next few minutes showing me several features of the cloak, like how it’s self fitting, mildly self-repairing, and most importantly has something like a bag of holding for the pockets.
There also are some things in the pockets already, some books, some jerky, and even some pouches of water. There is also a letter, but Malfer is quite adamant that I not open it now, and despite my curiosity I didn’t.
Eventually we make it to some strange type of structure, it reminds me of a church, but it seems more like a town hall. Outside there is a man with a bell yelling something, I think they are called something like a town-crier?
The town-crier is busy yelling something about a grand quest and something about someone named Donna.
Malfer tells me that we need to hurry to get to something, and we walk into the church like town-hall like building.