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"Nah. Fin has a nice woodsy stink. Like a peat moss fire. It's sorta cozy." says Quasit. "But the point is, we could probably all use a bath, except maybe Saki, who is of course utterly amazing and magical and probably still fresh as a daisy." She steps over to Bulvi and gives him a pat on the back. "You and me Bull? We're full-on man-bear-pig funk-stink. Which is totally not our fault. Actually I'm almost used to it. It's the itching that's really driving me nuts."
She reaches over to Findurel and grabs back the jug. "Gimme." After another slug, she stifles a burp and looks back at Maka. "So is meditating hard? It doesn't look that hard."
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Sakitu makes a show of scrunching up her nose and smelling the air like only a fox could do. "Whew! You all stink and it's awful!" She breaks into a giggle then slowly steps behind Quasit. With a pounce she lunges at her and starts to tickle her at the nape of her neck.
"Itchy you say? How's this?" Sakitu laughs loudly as she continues dancing her fingers on Quasit's neck.
She reaches over to Findurel and grabs back the jug. "Gimme." After another slug, she stifles a burp and looks back at Maka. "So is meditating hard? It doesn't look that hard."
Maka was silent for a moment, the turning of her mental gears visible on her face. "Well the part where you center yourself to become both nothing and everything isn't too hard, but the not falling asleep part is pretty tough."
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"Itchy you say? How's this?" Sakitu laughs loudly as she continues dancing her fingers on Quasit's neck.
Caught off guard, Quasit hunches her shoulders and gives a guttering scream of involuntary laughter. "Aarrghha heeeee ah! Quit it! Don't make me drop the magic booze mug!" She tries to wriggle away, using Bulvi as cover from the fiendish assault.
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USHANKA OF THE NORTHLANDS:
This large, furry hat is sewn from the thick pelt of an animal native to the frozen north, and has earflaps that can be pulled down or folded up over the crown of the hat. When worn, an ushanka of the northlands grants its wearer a +2 resistance bonus on saving throws against cold effects and a +5 competence bonus on Survival checks. When the earflaps are pulled down, the wearer gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against sonic effects, but also takes a –2 penalty on Perception checks made to hear. Pulling the earflaps down is a move action.
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A small river cuts across the path, heading south toward the cliffs that overlook Glacier Lake. A stone bridge crosses the river, seemingly constructed with horse, wagon, and caravan traffic in mind. The bridge is well maintained, and the snow has been cleared from its span. Four-foot-high stone railings run along both sides of the bridge, topped at either end by iron spikes upon which clean and meticulously polished skulls have been carefully impaled and turned as if to observe the traffic. A white-painted signpost greets travelers approaching from the east.
The sign on the bridge, written in Common, Hallit, and Skald, advises foreign merchants headed to Whitethrone that they require licenses to do business in the city and that they may be stopped for inspection without
cause. Those seeking licenses should apply at the city gates.
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"I'm guessing that we don't want to walk up to the front gates of Whitethrone and ask pretty please for a merchant's license." says Quasit after reading the sign. "For one thing, we have no wares. And for another, we've been involved in enough interactions with probable spies of the snow queen that we should assume they're going to be looking for people like us. I can only assume that Nazhena alone is on the warpath for our heads, and has sent plenty of bulletins up the chain of authorities."
"And by the way, who puts skulls on their bridges? Ruling by fear is one thing. But that's just gross."
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~~~Before Traveling~~~
The mother declines taking her children along with, she feels that all things considered staying here is the better option, though she does offer to watch Nadya's twins while she sees you to White Throne, and can find a place to settle in, in town. Garen himself doesn't take up direct Residence with his mother, but does take one up nearby to watch both families and learn to guard them.
as for the gold, it wasn't theirs, and they may could use it, but the mother shakes her head and declines. the gold itself was pickpocketed from random travelers, and passerby-rs.
the mother can offer a place to clean up, but its only the size for 1 or 2, but suggests the town should have a little more, and as for drinks and food, she will gladly offer what she can.
In response to the mother's explanation of the gold, "Well, you can't possibly give it back to those that it rightfully belongs to, so do the next best thing. Use it to feed and board travelers instead. The land here is harsh, but you could help future travelers to make up for having stolen from them."
"That's true since I don't know how to do that." he replies to Quasit before turning back to the mother, "Well, that's another option. We are fighting to free this land from tyrannical control, so donating the gold to removing a curse on one of us would probably be a nice gesture towards stealing it in the first place. However, the money is still sort of yours, so I'll leave that choice up to you."
Bulvi holds out his hand flat with fingers splayed and wobbles it from side to side. "Eeeeh, I wouldn't say weren't freeing the land from Tyranny. I'm all from it but oddly this time... saving the world is higher on my to do list."
Looking into the distance "You know if it wasn't for a desperate dying demigod telling me us to basically do it or we all die... I'd be thinking it's someone elses."
Maka looked back and forth between Hace and Quasit, once again the turning of her mental gears visible on her face. "Those both sound good, grrr doing the right thing isn't supposed to be confusing. I'm just going to agree with whatever Hace decides, he usually knows best."
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Maka jumps at the mother's offer of food, ravenously devouring the meal in her usual manor. "Ohh this is so good! Even if saving people wasn't the right thing to do it would still be worth it for the food."
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"I think I'm going to head into the village and look for that bath and a room for the night." announces Quasit suddenly. "If I try taking a bath here, Maka will just peek."
As she turns for the door, she pinches Sakitu's shirtsleeve and whispers to her. "Come talk to me later. I have something I want to talk to you about in private."
Quasit makes her way into the village alone, her pack hanging off one shoulder jauntily and whistling cheerfully in the darkening evening air. Upon reaching the inn mentioned by Maret, she pushes inside, lays a couple of gold coins on the bar, and asks the proprietor for dinner, a private room and a hot bath.
While the hot water is prepared, she settles down to her meal near the fireplace, mostly ignoring the suspicious looks from the locals. The beet soup wasn't bad, as beet soups went. The salt pork was more salt than pork, but at least it wasn't rancid. But the brown bread was quite good. She helped herself to three thick, warm slices.
Upon finishing, she went upstairs to find a simple room with a short narrow wooden cot covered with a straw mattress and 3 thick skin blankets, a chair, a small table with a wash basin and a pitcher, and in the middle of the floor, a large copper tub with about 10 gallons of water poured into it, and an extra iron pitcher of steaming water, along with a woven linen rag and a rough scrubbing brush, probably for use on floors. Three thick candles burned in a three-armed holder on the little table and provided a dim, warm light.
Simple as it was, it suited her. In fact it looked like heaven. Dropping her pack on the bed, then stripping off her armor and her sword belt was the most pleasant feeling she'd had in days. It felt even better to actually pull the elven riding boots off her feet. For a moment, she simply laid back on the lumpy bed and moved her toes, and rubbed her bruised, swollen feet against one another. As she lay there, she took another moment to examine the many holes and tears in her shirt and breeches, clicking her tongue in mild dismay, especially at the accompanying blood stains. After wasting a few minutes this way, she sat up abruptly, stripped to the skin, and slid herself down into the tub. The water was perhaps a foot deep, but was actually quite a pleasant temperature, just hot enough to make the skin redden and tingle and relax and stop trying to feel anything besides warm. Using her own soap and the linen rag, she rubbed herself down, brisk and businesslike. She did this in ritual order, starting at her neck and working her way down, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg... and finished by dunking her head between her legs into the water, then coming up and rubbing the soap through her hair, rubbing her scalp with soapy fingers for a good long time before dunking down again and rinsing her dark hair until it squeaked. Feeling now suddenly to have crossed some mythical threshold to 'pink and clean', she allowed herself to relax and slid down onto her back, mouth and chin under water, her nose just above it, her legs hanging over the far edge of the tub, dandling just off the floor, dripping casually into a small, accumulating puddle. At that moment, she found herself humming from pure contentment.
Fifteen minutes later, she was out, and had slipped into a thin blue wool peasant dress that hung to her ankles. The warm wet air and the smell of damp wool as the water soaked off her skin made her think of all her many homes, and all the people she'd loved. Her mind lingered on the halfling cleric woman who'd been kind to her and combed her hair while she cried one night. She took a handful of her short hair and gave it a slow twist, squeezing out the water. Then she just shook her head like a dog, picked up her shirt and breeches and underclothes and dumped them into the tub. She let the things soak for a while, picking at and pulling off her excess lengths of fingernails and toenails, both of which had grown uncomfortably long in the last few weeks. She wished momentarily for a mirror -- she had a feeling she'd lost weight too, which was not a pleasant thought to girl already as skinny as a sickly boy. Plus it comforted her to be able to see her own eyes, which she considered her best feature. She pulled out a dagger, laved it quickly in the tub, then took hanks of her hair in her hands and began to saw them off, a couple inches all the way around, in a quick, practiced way. She collected the cuttings in the wash basin, and rinsed the residual cuttings from her hands.
The next half hour she spent rubbing and scrubbing her filthy clothing, using the rough brush on the blood and dirt, with middling success. The smell in the room had turned decidedly musky as the soup of sweat and dirt from the clothing mixed with the water and soap and wafted about on the wet air, steaming up the single small window. As she worked, she sang a dumb song to herself, half-remembered from days on the road.
"Run away little girls, take all that you got
And save it from the clutch of Anastarchis Dot
He's thin as a stick and his blood is hot
He's mean as a goat and and his teeth have rot
He'll sit up a tree and plot and plot
And whistle ninner-ninnery blinkety-blot
At least that's the story I was taught
About wicked and tricky Anastarchis Dot."
Rinsing the washed clothes in the extra hot water, she then wrung them out, pulled a couple of little pins out of her pack, stood on the chair, and pinned the damp clothes to the rafters to let them hang dry overnight. She sighed deeply in contentment, and opened the window a crack and looked out into the cold night, enjoying for once seeing her breath fog up as it left her nose, and enjoying for once the chilly wind running over her warm languid face, cooling the clean beads of perspiration on her forehead and neck.
It felt odd being in a dress and barefoot again. But sort of nice. For a little bit, she could forget she was Quasit. She was just a girl, alone in a strange place, far from home, looking up at the stars, the limned sheen of bathwater soaking into her dress, the first crystals of ice forming in her dripping hair, one hand idly rubbing her narrow shoulder and neck. She was nobody.
What a glorious feeling...
"Oh, okay." Maka said as Quasit left. The need for privacy was an aspect of the greater Inner Sea that Maka was still getting accustomed to. She had grown up bathing, eating, sleeping, and most everything else with groups of people. Everything was so isolated outside of Jalmeray. Even in the crowds of Absalom Maka felt as if she was alone at times. All those people being all by themselves. It made her sad to think that people could only be comfortable when alone. Maka shook her head in an attempt to physically remove the sad thoughts. Different people have different ways she reminded herself.
"Well, I'll take first watch so I'll get the first bath. Izzy and I will keep things nice and warm if anyone wants to join." Maka said as she rose and picked up the large reptile.
The family's bathing area was sparse, having little more than the essentials for cleanliness. Maka set about filling the large wooden tub with water. Once done, she got out of the itchy cold weather clothing that she hated so. Undoing her long braid, she sank in to the water with a sigh. The water was cold enough to be painful for most, but for Maka it was brisk and refreshing. Steam quickly began to rise from the water as Maka heated it. Soon enough, the room was as hot and humid as a sauna. Izzy bellowed happily at the change in condition, the heat causing the reptile to become more active.
Maka took her time and enjoyed herself, making sure to thoroughly wash her long hair. It was only after Izzy made it clear he wasn't interested in a tub swimming contest that Maka came out. Steam billowed out as Maka opened the door. "AHHHH that's better. If you give me your clothes when you are done washing them I'll dry them for you." She said to the remaining members of the group.
Finding a nice spot to keep watch, Maka began to comb her wet hair. Keeping her eyes peeled for footsteps in the snow, still not convinced that the treat of the fae had passed.
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Issalissk enjoys the nice hot bath to warm up his doubly cold blood. You're not sure if crocodiles normally like to lick people like a dog, but Issy seems to have picked up the trait for Maka.
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After the meal and sitting in the comfort of the cabin, Sakitu feels herself growing drowsy. All of the stress and anxiety of the last few weeks seems to be getting to her and she feels like she's losing the ability to control her emotions. One moment everything is in control, the next, feelings of despair and sadness threaten to overwhelm her.
Quasit's light pinch brings her out of her reverie. "Oh. Sure." she says back quietly. "I'll find you. Where are you going now?" Quasit explains that she's going into the village to find a place. It's clear to Sakitu that her friend just needs a bit of time alone. Come to think of it, she might enjoy that herself. After a few moments Sakitu excuses herself and makes her way into the village.
With a few questions, it isn't hard to find where Quasit went. Sakitu takes a room at the same inn. After getting settled in, she goes back out to the common room. A welcoming fire burns in the hearth at one end of the great room. A few rough, wooden tables, surfaces blacked with use, are scattered around without any real organization. A small round table, just big enough for two, sits in the far corner of the room and that's where Sakitu sits. She orders a small plate of roast meat and a tankard of cold water.
She takes her time eating the food, lost in her thoughts.
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A small round table, just big enough for two, sits in the far corner of the room and that's where Sakitu sits. She orders a small plate of roast meat and a tankard of cold water.
She takes her time eating the food, lost in her thoughts.
About half an hour after Sakitu arrives, the kitsune's reverie is disrupted when Quasit is slipping into the second chair at her corner table. She's wearing a cheap woolen peasant dress, she's barefoot, she's damp and her hair looks a bit shorter (and also is even more wild and messy than usual).
"Did you try the bread? They make some really good brown bread." she says, as if they were already in the middle of a conversation. "Wait... are you drinking water? You're going to insult these nice people. Stay here."
She bounces up, makes her way to the bar, orders a pair of ales, and brings them back to the corner table. On the way there and back, the room of men watches her darkly, and pointedly looks away whenever she glances toward one of them. Quasit settles back into her chair cheerfully, as if she doesn't notice.
"There. You don't have to drink it. But in places like this, innkeepers get really huffy if they think you don't like their beer. At least if this place is anything like home. Which Selena would probably say it isn't. Cripes, I don't miss her at all."
She takes up her tankard, clunks it against the other one and then holds it up. "Yu Khan and Alleria." she says, then takes a drink. Once this is done, she puts down the mug and leans forward, speaking very quietly about what's actually on her mind.
"Do you still have that sapphire? The one we took from the creepy guardian doll?"
Maka put the finishing touches on the snowman she was working on before stepping back to admire her work. She gave it her approval with a satisfied nod. A small army of snowmen stood in the area, Maka having skipped her morning meditation to work on them. Garen yawned beside her, Maka having roused him from his sleep before dawn. The young man had been given a quick rundown on the tenants Irori and self-defense. Confusion, grief, and sleep were heavy on his eyes but Maka paid that no attention. "Okay, now that we've covered meditation, exercise, and diet, it's time for practical demonstrations." Maka say before throwing a quick strike across Garen's chin. The blow took the young man by surprise and sent him crumpling to the ground.
"Lesson 1, don't get hit on the chin. Not only does it hurt but it rattles your brain around and makes it hard to think." Without missing a beat, Maka picked Garen up, locked his arm, then sent him flying in to the freshly built snowman. "If it's hard for you to think, it's easy for me to do stuff like that. Lesson 2 is realizing that in a fight your brain is probably going to get rattled. You need to be prepared so you aren't defenseless when it happens. Now show me a punch."
Garen rose unsteadily, still dizzy from Maka's attacks. He hadn't even fully extended his arm before Maka interrupted it with a blow to his shoulder. "Lesson 3, punching isn't just done with your arms. You generate the most force with your feet and hips, your arm is what delivers the force, like the end of a whip." Anger rose in Garen as he swung hard and wide at Maka, who again easily countered then followed through with a grapple. "Lesson 4, Anger is fire; a powerful ally or a dangerous foe. If you use it, it will give you strength." A snowman exploded as Maka sent a blast of fire at it to emphasis her point. "If you are careless, if you let it use you, it will consume and destroy. Now let's try another punch."
The training session went on like that for some time, leaving Garen bloody, bruised, and exhausted. At some point Maka had lost track of the lesson numbering, leaving them a confused mess in Garen's mind. The majority of the snowmen had been destroyed, either by Garen's flung body or Maka's elemental examples. Maka looked quick pleased with herself and a wide grin rested on her face. "Okay, that was several years worth of theory but I feel like we covered it pretty well. Plus you are just conscious enough for a meditation lesson." with a blast of fire, Maka cleared away a section of the snow.
Sitting in a seven-point posture, Maka motioned for Garen to copy her. "Close your eyes, and take calm, deep breaths. Focus entirely on your breathing. The sound, the rhythm. Feel how it goes through your entire body. From your head to your toes. Focus on that feeling." As Maka guided Garen, she occasionally opened an eye to observe him. "Good, now just expand that focus out. To the ground beneath you, the cold air on your skin, the movement of the trees. Don't concentration, just focus, observe. Take it in and be one with it. Just...exist." The pair set there for a time, being one with their surroundings.
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Sakitu smiles as Quasit enters the room. She knew it would only be a matter of time. When Quasit hints that Sakitu may have offended the host she blushes slightly. "Oh no! I didn't mean anything." She looks anxiously up at the bar. "Do you think I need to go talk with them and apologize?"
Sakitu is still concerned with her gaffe when Quasit asks her about the sapphire.
"Uh. I'm sure I do. Let me look." She digs in her bag for a few moments and then finds the red gem. "Yep. Here it is." She hands it over to Quasit.
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Sakitu smiles as Quasit enters the room. She knew it would only be a matter of time. When Quasit hints that Sakitu may have offended the host she blushes slightly. "Oh no! I didn't mean anything." She looks anxiously up at the bar. "Do you think I need to go talk with them and apologize?"
Quasit smiles comfortingly at the kitsune and actually pats her hand. "Relax, it's ok. No harm done. Innkeepers expect travelers to be a trifle gauche. It helps them feel superior. And it gives them something to talk about with their regulars. That's as good as gold royals to them."
*****
"Uh. I'm sure I do. Let me look." She digs in her bag for a few moments and then finds the red gem. "Yep. Here it is." She hands it over to Quasit.
Quasit quickly palms the gem and looks around warily. "Jeepers, don't wave it around." she whispers a trifle sharply. Then she immediately regrets her tone. "Sorry. But we do have to be careful. We're already interesting enough to these locals, we don't need to add 'big jewels' to the rumors."
She takes a moment to collect her thoughts, then looks Sakitu in the eyes, dead serious.
"I think this thing still has the soul of that little girl, Thora, stuck inside it. I think that's how the gem powered the doll. I think we need to destroy this sapphire and set her free."
She looks around warily again, just to make sure no one is listening. "I can't get it out of my head. And when Maka and Hace were asking about it the other day... well, it just felt too much like lying when I said we'd taken care of it. I mean... I don't know for a fact that it's in there. I don't think even Selena knew for sure. But if there's even a chance, you know? It's just too horrible to imagine. That little girl needs to find her rest with Pharasma."
"What do you think?"
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Sakitu's eyes grow wide as Quasit talks. "You mean I've been carrying around that soul this whole time?"
She leans over the table towards Quasit. "So how would we destroy it? I mean, why didn't we already?"
"Because maybe it's just a sapphire. And sapphires are worth a ton of gold. Especially a big one like this. And none of us was quite sure why a valuable sapphire was just jammed into the chest of a doll. But the more I think about it, the more sure I am."
"As to the how... I mean, I guess we just smash it. It'll be tough, sapphires are almost as hard as diamonds. But if we bash it enough, it should eventually shatter."
She reaches over and takes Sakitu's hand. "I knew you'd feel this way. You're too good not to. I think the others will understand too. But without any proof, it might just turn into a whole argument. It's a lot of money to just throw away. And it would make Hace and Maka wonder why we hadn't destroyed it yet. But sometimes, it's easier to apologize than to ask permission, you know?"
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"I'm beginning to wonder if there *are* any priests in this miserable country." says Quasit. "And I'm hesitant to trust anyone outside our group about this."
She pauses, thinking, then starts again. "Look, we know this thing is magical. Like, very magical. So it has some sort of purpose. And above and beyond the question of whether that little girl's soul is in there, we know that the witches here are very fond of their scrying devices. What if the witch is tracking us with this thing? It might help explain why we keep getting jumped. That would be another reason to get rid of it."
Then her shoulders sag and she lets out a deep sigh. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid." she says, running her fingers through her messy damp hair. "Sometimes my imagination gets the better of me. If you think we should wait, we can wait. But I still think we should destroy it."
She slumps back and takes a deep drink of ale.
The smell of food roused Maka from her meditation. A small layer of snow had formed on her and Garen. Garen's meditation attempts had near instantly given way to sleep, but he certainly deserved some after Maka's training. Flames licked off of Maka as she took a deep breath, turning the light dusting of snow to steam. Slinging Garen over her shoulder, she went inside to enjoy a freshly cooked breakfast. "That smells really good." Maka said as she slunk the still sleeping Garen in to a chair. "Hace, could you heal Garen? His eye is really starting to swell."
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Sakitu reaches out for Quasit's hands and gently rubs them. "Sometimes Quasit, you just get too worried about what other people think. I know, strange coming from me, right? So you see, we just have to do what we think is right. I don't really care about the value of the gem. What good is all the gold if you're dead. You know?" She offers a nervous giggle.
"So if your only reason to not destroy it is because you want the money, I think we should destroy it."
She looks around the room. No one seems to be noticing them. "Come on. Let's go now." She stands and pulls Quasit to her feet. "Let's find a big rock out behind the inn and smash this thing."
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Quasit nods solemnly in agreement. She stands up, then looks down at her feet.
"Crap. I'm barefoot. Hang on a minute while I get my boots on."
She scuttles upstairs to her room, throws on her boots and the strange wolf pelt cloak (and after a moment's hesitation, her sword belt), then returns downstairs again.
"K. Let's do this."
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USHANKA OF THE NORTHLANDS:
Someone take this magical fuzzy Elmer Fudd hat. Fin? It helps Survival checks!
A small river cuts across the path, heading south toward the cliffs that overlook Glacier Lake. A stone bridge crosses the river, seemingly constructed with horse, wagon, and caravan traffic in mind.
Quasit gestures with her head to her companions to press on and starts over the bridge expecting that nothing strange at all could possibly happen.
Maka briefly paused to read the sign, her common still not the sharpest. "Hace, whats a licenses?" She asked as she began to cross the bridge.
"A bit of paper saying you're allowed to do something that's regulated. If you're caught doing it without the licence then you're breaking the law... and things get complicated." Bulvi explains as he trudges after Maka across the bridge.
"A bit of paper saying you're allowed to do something that's regulated. If you're caught doing it without the licence then you're breaking the law... and things get complicated." Bulvi explains as he trudges after Maka across the bridge.
"Gah trading is already complicated enough with all the counting. The witches want to make it worse with needing specific bits of paper? Everything I learn makes me hate them more." Maka grumpily replied.
"Well I never did much trading in Jalmeray, but I can see Taldor needing all kinds of bits of paper. Things were way too complicated there and the nobles are almost as bad as the witches."
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Since there's obviously nothing dangerous about to happen, Quasit seems happy to get drawn into a light conversation. She immediately slips into what is obviously devil's advocate mode, just to give the day a little dialectic hum.
"I don't know... in a way it makes things less complicated. If trade is a big game, it's better for the game to have some rules than for it to be a big free-for-all. Licenses are kind of like the rules. The problem is that the umpires who are supposed to be administering the rules are invariably a bunch of corrupt and selfish creeps."
"But I knew some people who were trying to do honest business in places like Riddleport and the Shackles, where nobody pays any attention to any sorts of rules or agreements, and it is invariably just expensive and dangerous. Just plain piracy really. And you might find that a deal to buy a couple tons of sugar might lead to your ship being burned and half your crew slaughtered the next day."
"But don't get me wrong. Scheming arrogant nobles and tyrannical mad witches are totally the worst. And I'm sure this 'license to do business in Whitecrown' thing is just a means to maintaining iron control over the people, and especially foreigners like us. Which is why I'm not immediately keen to play along."
As she walks past a skull, she pulls it off its bridge post and idly tosses it into the stream. "Boop."
Maka's eyes glass over slightly as she attempted to process Quasit's argument. "...I guess that makes sense, but it seems things would be a lot less complicated if people just stopped being mean and looked out for each other."
"Pa...pers......Pl...ea...se"
"We don't need papers, those are for merchants." Maka responded as she kept walking.
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Maka's eyes glass over slightly as she attempted to process Quasit's argument. "...I guess that makes sense, but it seems things would be a lot less complicated if people just stopped being mean and looked out for each other."
Quasit glances over at Maka to see if she's being serious, then smiles warmly. "True enough." she agrees, then decides to let it drop.
"We don't need papers, those are for merchants." Maka responded as she kept walking.
Quasit looks at the strange water creatures that emerged from under the bridge with an extremely doubtful cast to her face. She decides to follow Maka's lead.
"My friend is of course 100% correct." she says breezily to the erstwhile bridge wardens. "You may not have heard since you've been stuck under the bridge here. Travelers are no longer required to show papers on the public byways or pay tolls of any kind. Apparently too many road and bridge wardens were actually just bandits trying to bully people. Can you imagine that? Now the witches just watch everyone all the time. It makes things simpler."
She reaches over and turns another of the skulls so that it faces the water creatures, just for a little emphasis.
= 34 total
Hace smiles at Quasit, "Yes, that is correct, we are just visiting, not merchants. May I ask who you are?" he says to the water creatures.