When Lasutro awoke the following morning, they fought through a light grogginess before preparing themselves for the day ahead. Having packed all their things once more, Lasutro made their way to the main floor of the Leaky Roof, finding it similarly as the night before with only less drink and more food at the tables. Sitting down by one of the more secluded tables, Lasutro singled for Dortha, who wore a similar outfit as she did previously, her hair up in a messy bun. She smiled in acknowledgement, setting down a few plates of food at one of the larger tables before heading over. Lasutro ordered breakfast, returned the room key and paid Dortha the asked price of their meal of a single large copper piece. After she finished eating, Lasutro asked where she might get some provisions in town and was directed to Yaeriq’s general store, a building marked by its third floor, not far from the tavern and the edge of town.
The general store exterior was surprisingly well kept when one considered the interior. Inside various shelves of junk varying from potentially useful to the most certainly not, lined the walls and occasionally the floor. After several minutes of careful maneuvering Lasutro managed to find a few additional items of interest: a dull hatchet, several meters of rope and an unmarked red leather bound book. Having found some additional things outside their intended purchase Lasutro began searching for Yaeriq or at least some sort of clerk to help them. She wandered around the first floor for another minute passing two separate barrels of arrows; one filled with the ammunition the other with the signage. That's when she saw a younger half orc man making his way down the stairs, their arms haphazardly carrying several unmarked crates.
“Um excuse me Yaeriq?” Lasutro asked cautiously, not entirely sure the half orc was Yaeriq or just an employee. Despite their caution, the man was not expecting the call for his attention and missed their following step tumbling down along with their crates.
He let out a yelp before he replied, unable to completely hide the embarrassment in his voice “Yes! How can I help ya friend!” Dusting himself off as he made his way over to a tall desk not far from the stairs he descended, he sent a short smile Lasutro’s way as he situated himself, fighting through the embarrassment of his fall.
Hoping to ease the embarrassment of the man, Lasutro made their way over as fast as they could without tripping in a similar manner and placed the additional items she had found on the desk. Having been unable to locate the general supplies she was hoping for themselves she spoke again, “I was looking for a week or so of rations and if you have any clean water too”
“Of course I can get ya the rations, some spices and all these, for about two large and seven small silver pieces,” He gestured at the three items on the desk, “As for the water ya best try one of the alchemist shops, I’d recommend Waelim’s store, he’s always experimenting so he tends to gather barrels at a time.” He looked expectantly at Lasutro, “So we gotta deal, yes?”
Fetching the coins from their coin purse, “Deal.” She handed over the requested amount, which the man quickly pocketed before turning around and maneuvering to another part of the store before returning with a small satchel and handing it to Lasutro. As they made their way out the man called out “Sorry about the mess! Yaeriq always had no sense of organization!”
Recalling their journey into town, Lasutro sought out Waelim’s discount concoctions following the young general store worker’s advice. Sticking a little closer to the buildings as it seemed that more than a few caravans had begun their travel out of or through the town, and in nearly no time at all she found themself in front of the Waelim’s store.
In the morning light Lasutro got a better look at the building then she had the night before, its sign hung roughly a meter above the door, the display windows inside painted from the inside, the simple stone chimney pumping out the darkest smoke she had ever seen and pinned on the front door a parchment note with a just legible message: PLEASE KNOCK BEFORE ENTRY. Upon reading the note, Lasutro noticed the discoloration of the door frame in addition to clear scorch marks, feeding their growing feeling of hesitancy. Yet she couldn’t help but knock. Lasutro waited for a moment before she entered and became overwhelmed with a wave of various acrid scents, some which burned both their eyes and nostrils. She moved to cover their nose as she stepped forward, further into the store proper taking a brief moment to aclament themselves to the various smells. With their focus returned Lasutro began to take in the interior of the store, the sparse shelves followed by an almost ‘L’ shaped counter that faced the entrance and about a meter or so from a staircase that led down as well as up. All of which was rather well lit considering the blackened windows, which was when Lasutro noticed the absence of torches, the room lit by several well placed orbs. The orbs held Lasutro’s attention for a brief moment, far shorter a period then it would have just a few days ago, but she quickly pulled themselves back to their task at hand. She was making their way over to the counter when she heard a voice call down to them.
“J-Just a moment! I will be right down!” Which was quickly followed by a series of loud thumps some of which shifted several pieces of the glassware in plain view, instilling a minute amount of anxiety within Lasutro.
Not long after a rather disheveled half giant came into view, their large frame was an unexpected sight when compared to their somewhat quiet voice. The half giant that Lasutro assumed to be Waelim messily dressed in a simple long sleeved tunic, breaches and over it all a leather apron, he stepped over to behind the desk before he addressed Lasutro, unable to hide the excitement in his voice. “How can I help you?”
“Um, I was told you have some fresh water I could buy,” she paused, watching a faint bit of disappointment flash on his face, “I just need some for my travels.”
“Oh, sure, I have some, how much did you need?” he asked, his disappointment leaking into his words as his shoulders slackened, his posture weakening.
“About a week if you could?” Lasutro answered, making their way directly in front of the counter, trying to keep focus on their goal inside the shop, hoping the close proximity would prevent them from wandering about and bombarding the half giant with questions about the lights, as well as the array of, presumably discount, concoctions that sat on shelves. Each one’s contents differed slightly to the ones close to it, with more drastic differences between those on other shelves. As Waelim moved toward the stairs heading down, he turned back as if reconsidering the action and addressed Lasutro once more.
“If it is not too inconvenient,may I ask where your odyssey takes you?” The previously quiet paranoia in the back of Lasutro’s mind screamed at them to run, but she stood still, frozen in place by question, as their mind began moving at speeds it hadn’t run before and she felt a wave of energy begin to creep through their body, then in matter of seconds she saw confusion in the eyes of the half giant in front of them, and watched as it turned to realization, before he spoke once more.
“I do not mean to pry, simply some of the roads from here are often harsher on the traveler then they might expect.” The words eased Lasutro more than they had expected, and she felt the growing tide of energy fade along with the loudest mumbles of their paranoia.
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“A-ah, no inconvenience,” she paused a tinge of their remaining paranoia convincing them to mull over their next words carefully. “I’m just going to visit some family in the Empire, I was thinking I’d take the long road.” Even as the lie fell from their lips, she could see the disbelief on Waelim’s face, yet he went along with the lie.
“I see…Up by Esktrope Bay then, I will grab that for you.” His voice gradually moving from its quiet and somewhat timid tone to that of a gentle yet firm mentor. Waelim made his way down the stairs, and within a few minutes he returned with four large waterskins each appearing to carry , to Lasutro’s approximations, nearly five liters of water. He placed them gently upon the counter, before he fumbled for something under the counter, pulling a rather rudimentary yet sturdy bag and began moving the waterskins inside. The silence between them was rather loud, the wisps of Lasutro’s worries and anxieties pushing back against their insatiable curiosity of nearly everything within the shop, including the man in front of them. She felt it build as it always did, its questions squirming in the front of their mind.
“I would part with this for five gold, and I will even throw in one of my concoctions, as a sort of complimentary gift of sorts, if you just heed my advice,” Waelim paused, waiting for a response from the young half elf. Then he turned around, not to the stairs but the shelves just behind the counter mumbled to himself some words as he dragged his fingers about them as if unsure which one to grab before settling on an acorn sized spherical vial, then turning back to face Lasutro, expectantly.
“Y-yes, deal!” Failing to contain their own surprise and excitement in their voice as she fumbled through their coin purse for the gold before recalling she had placed it in a separate pouch, distracted by the idea of a potion in their possession and the magical effects it may create. She quickly fetched the higher value coin purse from its place in their bag, its value forcing a return to a more focused state of mind, at least upon outside observation and handed over the agreed upon five gold coins. Waelim took them and slipped them into one of his aprons pockets.
“Now for my piece,” The half giant began, his eyes meeting Lasutro’s, clear contemplation on the words he would speak on his face. “If you are going to take the long but singular trek to your “family” in the Empire,” his words underlining his clear disbelief in Lasutro’s reason for travel to the Empire. “Please consider traveling with one of the many caravans that head that way. I am sure that they will let you travel among them as long as you keep up, though some may ask for some coin in return, it would be wise to do so, as you approach the borders of the Empire and beyond some of the roads are not unfamiliar with less than noble individuals.”
Lasutro returned their travel bag to their back as she let Waelim’s advice set in. She held it in the front of their mind, contemplating so deeply on it that she almost forgot to thank the man, only shaken from their contemplations when Waelim let out a slight chuckle.
“No need to think about it too hard, young friend, just consider it. After all, traveling alone for too long can be draining on the soul.” He said through an almost nostalgic smile. “But if you do wish to catch a caravan heading your way, I know of one that must have left an hour or so ago, it is a small enough group I am sure they would be happy to have you. The Caravan is led by a older human fellow, Fyair Quil tell him Waelim recommended you join them, should you choose to do so.”
His eyes moved toward the potion on the table, inside a storm of gray, occasional streaks of orange crossing them. “Now as for this,” he gestured at the vial, “This will help you on your path, not the physical one but it will help you nonetheless. When you take it, do so in a space you are willing to stay relatively put in for about an hour, a dark place is preferable.” Waelim handed over the bag of water skins, which had now become the heaviest item in Lasutro’s possession before placing the vial in a separate leather sack that obscured it completely then after she had recovered and acclimated somewhat to the new weight, placed it in Lasutro's hand. His voice changed once more, though mostly in tone, becoming serious, not unlike the instruction of a guard.
“Keep it out of light best you can, otherwise it will lose its potency and you will be left with a strange tasting concoction that will not help you realize the thing it can help enlighten you to.” With the significance of the instruction clear in their mind Lasutro nodded and gave their thanks to Waelim before turning to leave the shop. When she opened the door to make their way out she heard Waelim wish them luck on the rest of their journey as it closed behind them. Now with the supplies she needed as well as some items to help alleviate their boredom during their trek,Lasutro made their way out of town to Traclins.
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As Lasutro followed the main road out of Kadmique, she reflected upon the Waelim’s words, the way he phrased the potions use, how it held some parallels to the way the Judge and Gorv talked about magic. The thought of which made them even more eager to use the concoction but, she reminded themself of the advice he gave on taking it, keeping their gnawing curiosity at bay. Though she managed to control the impulse to down the potion right away, the thoughts that accompanied it pulled them back into the frustrating cycle of when they had done magic,and how, only now with a new series of thoughts that wondered how Waelim could have known what she needed to “discover” their magic within a few minutes of meeting them. The familiar cycle of ideas kept Lasutro occupied as she made their way along the road.
It was a little after midday when she spotted the tail ends of a caravan ahead of them, the sight far more comforting than she had expected. At that moment Lasutro decided that maybe it was for the best that she joined a caravan at least as far as their paths were aligned. Lasutro changed their pace to a slight jog and managed to catch up to the caravan in just over an hour, although the added weight of their waterskins did make them feel as if they had run far harder than they did.
When she arrived at the back of the caravan she made a silent wish that it was the very same one Waelim had been referring to, before she began seeking the leader of the caravan. At a glance the caravan appeared to be made up of several canvas covered carts, a few carts and about seven armed guards on horseback, wandering its perimeter. Moving alongside the carts, between and occasionally just sitting on, Lasutro saw a range of individuals,from resting drivers, young merchants, off duty guard, to cargo workers and even some travelers not unlike Lasutro themself. From a brief look the group appeared to be no more then maybe fifty people, and the group appeared to be traveling at good pace so Lasutro pushed past the people at the end of the caravan, heading toward the front thinking it the best place to find the caravan’s leader.
As she made their way further into the middle of the traveling caravan group, she was approached by one of the guards traveling on foot. After a quick exchange of words, the guard who was clearly not surprised by the new traveler or their desire to travel with the caravan, led them to one of the leading carts, signaled the driver who slowed the cart down before handing the reins over to the man beside him and hopping off.
The former driver landed gracefully to the side of the cart and made their way over to Lasutro and the guard. As he made his way over Lasutro took him in, the simple brown breeches covered by near excessive rusty red robe over a linen tunic, a small, almost cylindrical flat top hat covering a portion of the man’s graying brown hair, and a smile of merchant.
Before Lasutro or the driver could speak, the guard quickly conveyed the situation as Lasutro had presented it, then took their leave, although they moved only a meter or so away and kept an eye on the two, or rather Lasutro. With the most small talk out of the way, the driver spoke up first as they followed along with the rest of the caravan.
“So you’re heading up to Traclins as well?” Lasutro nodded in response, and was about to expand on their answer when the driver spoke again. “Well, as long as you cause no trouble I’d be happy to have you along.” The man pause for second before speaking again with even more of a merchant tone, “Where are my manners, allow me to introduce myself, Fyair Quil of the Geryphmra Merchant Company,” Fyair gave a small bow to Lasutro, hat in hand, then asked “And you Traveler?”
“I’m Izora Norkra,” Lasutro replied, their mind settling on going by the name until she knew those who sought the silver bracelet that now hung from their left wrist and she could avenge Gorv and the others who perished in the Impaled Lupine not three days ago. With that she chatted with Fyair for a few minutes, remembering to tell him of their meeting with Waelim before she moved back in the group, becoming another one of the many travelers with the caravan until it pulled from the road to make camp for the night.