Shalelu seeks out Ahreni the next day when they depart from the rain asking her if she would like to go hunting with her when they stopped to camp. Whether she agrees or not Shalelu will go out hunting to help provide food for the group as they travel.
The first night she ends up tracking and killing a boar that was large enough to feed four people for a day, but she gives it to Than to decide how to divvy it up whether for one meal for the whole caravan or something else. The next day as they move further into the wild she doesn't have as much luck only tracking down a few small animals, enough to feed herself for the day. . The final day she does a little better, finding enough food to last two people a day but still not as good as she had been hoping.
Each night Shalelu specifically watches to make sure Rel doesn't sneak away from camp and each night she goes to see the tiefling to strip down and let her tend to her wounds. She is happy to stand their and let the healer do her thing, but if Rel engages her in any conversation she starts to warm up to her a bit and actually talk with her some.
By the forth day, Shalelu starts to get antsy about Ameiko still not having told her about their new elf friend and decides she is going to approach Ameiko about it again, before she gets the chance though, they roll into town.
When they arrive at Galduria she knows all to well about the town and its strange academy. However, since they are there anyway she decides this may be a good opportunity to look more into her curse. When Rel is settling in to read Shalelu comes to find her and she notes "Put your book down and come with me. Let's see if we can't track down anymore information about this damn curse and how to fix it. They have an arcane college here, maybe someone can provide some insight to you on the best ways to treat this."
During her ministrations to the elf, Relisha discretely makes it known that she has brought along supplies of Night Tea. She's heard stories of what happens on caravans and she came prepared.
"Umm... I'll go with you if you want, but I don't think they'll want to see someone like me," she says to Shalelu, reflexively pulling her hair over to cover her eye. She stows her holy book in her bag and after securing the contents, climbs out of the wagon.
"In any case, If there's an answer for you, it's in that book rather than some arcane college," she adds.
In spite of her protestations, Relisha spends the majority of their walk rubber-necking at everything that's different than Sandpoint.
Shalelu rolls her eyes when Rel protests. Oblivious to Rels self deprecation she grabs hold of the tieflings hand once she puts her book away to gently lead her toward the Academy. Maybe Rel is right and the academy won't prove useful but its worth a shot and since they are already in town anyway she doesn't see the harm in trying.
As Olaff walks with Koya and is asked about what he hoped to achieve, he gave her the answer most Ulfen of his age would give. "Hah, rriches... vomen... fame... and me name bein' sung by skald in the halls o' grreat lorrds!"
In truth, his words were empty. He was forced to abandon his brothers in Blackraven Hall and even if he knew it was not the case, Olaff could not stop himself from thinking he deserted them. He longed his home, but there was no home for him to return... he longed his companions, but he would never meet them again... he longed for his land, but that land would not welcome him like it did before. He felt like a fish in a desert.
As most ulfen, Olaff always believed his fate was not in his hands and only the Norns would decide what he would become. He still desires riches, women and fame, but the path towards this dream is now hidden in a fog...
---
As the arrive in Galduria, Sandru and the others invite him to join them in The Pixie, but Olaff declines the offer. For the last two days, there was no river for Olaff to bath and now that they were close to the Ember Lake, he decided to take the opportunity. The varisians make jokes about him and insist for him to follow them, but after a couple minutes they give up and leave him behind. Once they are gone, Olaff passes by Thanara. "Hey Thanarra... I'm going forr the lake to bath, svim and rrelax... therre is some grrime in yer elbow... perrhaps ye might vant to vash it as vell!" Olaff laughs as he moves towards the lake. There is no grime in Thanara's elbow, however.
Moving through the town, Relisha only offers resistance once. She pulls back on Shalelu's hand, planting her feet. She points to a small shop fronting the main street where the distinctive scent of baked goods wafts outwards.
"Muffins!" she says by way of explanation. The elf has never seen the girl this animated. "Can we get some?" She's almost bouncing on her feet.
Ahreni releases the flail without comment but she's made her feelings clear to Relisha about that before.
"Will help." She says, "But you promise to come to me first. Don't go off alone. Ever."
----------------
As the caravan's general troubleshooter/wolf's-body Ahreni is only too pleased to join Shalelu on some hunting and release her own predatory instincts.
This is clearly more her home turf than Shalelu's and she is able to lead the archer to some rabbit warrens where the hunting is good.
----------------
Ahreni watches the rest of the caravan head off with a dismissive sniff for those people relying on the softness of indoor living.
She's about to join Relisha in the wagon for a chat when Shalelu commandeers her and leaves Ahreni with the company of the horses - which she doesn't mind in the least.
Shalelu feels Rel tug back on her arm causing her to stop and she quickly looks around for trouble until the tiefling exclaims muffins. Seeing Rels excitement she nods "Ok" and lets go of her hand to follow the girl into the shop.
The delicious smell of baked goods was almost overwhelming and while Shalelu had no qualms about subsisting on hard tack and dried meat, she wasn't above indulging on a baked good if she had to stop anyway.
When Olaff offer's Thanara a chance to accompany him to the lake, Savah jumps in and comments "Since I've been sleeping next to her these last few nights, the smells coming from her side of the wagon have grown increasingly strong. I highly recommend you go get a wash girl."
While Thanara decides, Savah hooks her arm between Olaff's and Thanara's and pulls her along. "Come now, all three of us will go get clean." she says as she forces the sorceress to come.
Her mouth filled with the remains of a currant muffin and three more in her hands, Relisha now seems content to follow Shalelu wherever she leads.
By the time they reach the college, her supply of treats is down to one and she's reconsidering her efforts as her stomach begins to protest.
Shalelu pays for Rels muffins and gets one of her own, the freshest one made with wild blueberries. She walks beside Rel enjoying her muffin and letting the tiefling eat as she continues to lead her toward the academy.
While everyone departs, Ahreni stays with the horses and oversees the caravan. Fifteen minutes after the group has left she is sitting on the ground near the horses on the third wagon when she hears a soft sound which sounds like leather being sliced.
Rising to her feet to investigate, she finds a boy no more than eleven with a dagger in his hand sitting on one of their horses, cutting the harness free from the horses. As she draws closer she recognized the horse as Patches, definitely their horse. As she rounds the corner he spurs Patches into action the boy begins to gallop away with their horse!
Shalelu and Relisha ask for directions and eventually make their way to the tower Twilight Academy. From the outside this massive stone structure looks more like a fortress than a magical learning center. Dozens of rather intelligent looking individuals flit about on the gardens outside of the building and they can tell it is a rather busy and popular attraction of this town.
Making their way through the main doors they push into a large brown-tiled chamber lit by numerous magical lights of varying colors and sizes. At the far end of the room is a long table with three older men, each with their own messy beards, talking to various individuals. You get the sense that this is a line of sorts and you wait in line until you are called.
It takes fifteen minutes for a spot to open and te brown-bearded man in the shouts "NEXT!" and waves you forward. Once you move up to the table he pushes his glasses further up his nose and pulls out a scroll full of what looks like names and times. Scanning the list he asks "Name?" he asks looking at the paper and not you.
Shalelu is about to march up to the people talking until she sees Rel take a spot in what appears to be lines. She lets out a sigh and goes to stand next to Rel, looking at her last muffin wondering if the girl can fit another one in her belly. When they finally reach the end of the line Shalelu speaks up, not sure why they need her name but happy to give it if it stops the waiting "Shalelu Andosana"
Thanara started to say something in embarrassment, but then Savah hooks their arms and basically forces the issue. She allows herself to follow along, and tries to find a secluded spot to undress before slipping into the water and moving to join the pair.
Ahreni puts on a sudden burst of speed, racing up to Patches and grabbing the horse by the remnants of the tack.
"Get. Off. My. Horse!" She growls.
Olaff wasn't sure of Sevah's intention, but he knew she was in the way of what he really wanted to do. Trying to embarrass and potentially scare Sevah away, Olaff undresses himself completely without modesty and in plain view of Sevah before entering the lake.
The water was cold, but Olaff was used to water far colder than that. He then watches curiously the two girls. "Come, the vaterr is good!"
The man at the desk pushes his glasses further up his noses and scans his paper. "Andosana. Ando-sana. Annnndoooo. No. No Andosana's." Sitting the scroll down on the desk, he looks up at you for the first time he adds "I'm sorry, I don't see your name. Do you have an appointment?"
* * *
Savah doesn't need a secluded spot and strips her clothes off in a neat pile on the shore of the lake. She doesn't wait for either Olaff or Thanara and strides into the cool water.
She saddles up to Olaff in the water, seemingly unaffected by his nudity. While they wait for Thanara to arrive, she makes small talk with him. She doesn't smile but asks in all seriousness "So big guy, you often bathe in lakes?"
* * *
The boy on the horse looks over at Ahreni when Ahreni grabs a hold of the tack. Looking a little worried, he spurs Pathches faster, turning the trot into a gallop as he tries to get Ahreni to drop off. "Yah! Yah!" he shouts, leaning forward and forcing the horse faster and faster. Ahreni loses her feet as the horse begins to reach top speed, still holding onto the tack but dragging on the side of the horse. Looking back at Ahreni the kid shouts "Just let go lady! You'll get hurt!"
Shalelu notes bluntly "No! But we damn well stood in line, if we needed an appointment after standing in line there should be signs up or something!"
She puts her hands down on the desk heavily "Look, we just need to talk to someone about curses and then we will be on our way."
As her anxiousness at entering the fortified building begins to climb, Relisha considers that, perhaps, gorging on sweets might not have been the best way to prepare for this meeting. She looks up a the elf next to her, waiting for the acknowledgement that, of course, they have an appointment.
Her stomach makes a gurgling sound.
Without looking, the bearded man simply raises his right hand to a sign on the far wall that reads Appointments required.
When the elf slams her hands down on the desk, the man jumps in his seat and his glasses bounce on his boney nose. He reaches up to grab his glasses and mutters "Oh dear." as the other two bearded men on both sides of him stop talking and the room grows eerily quiet as all eyes fall to the tall, blond elf.
"Uhmmm..." the bearded man says, unsure how to proceed.
Shalelu looks up at the sign "Really! That's not in plain sight, how is someone to know to look behind where the line is to know that an appointment is needed?"
She takes a deep breath and eases up a bit lifting her hands from the desk as she notes "Look, we just need some help." She pulls up her shirt and points to the bloodied bandages around her abdomen for emphasis. Still holding up her shirt she points to Rel "This is my doc... uhm she is helping to treat this and we need some guidance... you aren't going to let me just suffer and die are you?"
Ahreni purses her lips and whistles sharply to Patches before letting go and rolling off in a ball. The whistle is her sign for him to rear back on his hind legs - he didn't always manage the trick but Ahreni is really hoping he gets it right this time.
Olaff curses in his mind as apparently this new girl has ruined the first opportunity in days for him to be alone with Thanara. Nevertheless, he was a man, and not a pimple covered boy, so he calmed himself... another opportunity would eventually come.
"I prreferr rriverrs to lakes, but vhen ve arre on the rroad, ve can not be peaky." Olaff answers as he starts to wash himself. "Ve Ulfen use to bath every day in rriverrs, lakes orr ponds vhen the veatherr is good. In the vinterr, therre arre some hot sprrings... ve use tubs only vhen therre is no otherr vay."
"I find it funny that most o' ye, southerrnerrs, do not bath as much, even considerrin' yer vaterrs arre much varrmerr and yerr vinterrs less harrsh..."
"Someone here has to know something about curses. All she wants is a few minutes of their time." Relisha interjects. Her complexion is looking a little green and one hand moves to her belly.
Her stomach gurgles again.
Ahreni's whistle is muffled do to the fact that Ahreni is being bounced around and can barely hold on. It's not loud and it's by far the best whistle she's executed, but it does the trick.
As Ahreni let's go and tumbles and rolls, Patches puts on the breaks and rears up, neighing loudly. The unexpected change in direction completely catches the boy of guard and he is thrown backwards from the horse, dumped in the dirt behind Patches. Groaning and coughing, he rolls around and is slow to get to his feet.
* * *
Savah shrugs as she tries to understand what the Ulfen is saying. Grasping approximately two-thirds of the context, she replies "Perhaps given my occupation requires me to get filthy and sweaty so often I tend to bathe more frequently than most. Sandpoint is surrounded by water on nearly ninety percent of the town you know, we are in no shortage for waters."
Turning to face Olaff she asks "So, before this, when was your last bath? Did you test the waters in Sandpoint?"
* * *
The other two men on either side of their bearded man continue to observe the conversation as their bearded man looks down at his list, relenting. "Ah, I'm sorry Ms. Andosana. I must have missed it the first time. Here it is right here. Andosana, Curse-related guidance." He taps the scroll where it clearly says Smith - Orchard diseases. Rising from his seat he says, "Please, follow me."
Leading them out of the large hall he walks them down four corridors before knocking on a large oak door. From inside a deep voice responds "Enter."
Pushing inside the room you find an academic’s office, albeit the office of a very messy professor. Tattered books and scrolls line the desks, floor and shelves of this room. Sitting behind a large stack of books is a blue-haired gnome with wild eyebrows and pale skin. Somehow the voice of his three and a half foot creature is three times as deep as Olaff's. "Welcome! Welcome! I was not expecting visitors today?" he asks looking to the brown bearded man who whispers in the gnomes ear before hastily departing. The gnome asks Shalelu and Relisha "Curses, eh? Take a seat. Tell me what is going on."
Thanara inhaled sharply as her feet and legs entered the icy water. She was actively shivering by the time the waters reached her stomach. She took a deep breath to settle her nerves, the only person she had actually bathed with in the water before being Ameiko. She stayed low in the water, her neck and head the only things she kept above the surface as she made her to the pair, catching the end of their conversation.
”Hey...I b-b-bathe every d-d-day if I c-c-can! And use m-m-my magic if I c-can’t!”
Ahreni has the boy pinned in the mud before he can get to his feet. She glowers at him and lets her muzzle and sharp teeth form slowly in his face.
"Why. Did. You. Steal. My. Horse?!"
The boy fights and squirms against Ahreni, but his isn't even close to a match for her. He doesn't ask her to get off her or try to injure her, instead recognizing that this is a lost cause. He relaxes his muscles just as she lets her muzzle and sharp teeth become exposed.
The boy doesn't scream, but his eyes go wide with fear and he starts fighting again, this time stating "Don't hurt me! I was just gonna sell 'em off and get a few coin! I'm sorry! I didn't hurt nobody! Don't eat me!"
* * *
Savah looks over at Thanara, nodding. As she turns to face Thanara with her back to Olaff she whispers Dirty Girl before stating loudly "You've always smelled clean to me Thanara." she remarks before turning back to Olaff, awaiting his answer to her previous question.
"In Sandpoint I alvays bathed in the morrnin'... in the rriverr vith the longerr name, the Turrandarrok." He then counts the days before answering to Sevah's last question. "Two days ago, beforre that rrain... since then, ve could only find a small crreek vith barrely enough vaterr to fill the pots forr dinnerr."
As Thanara defends herself and Savah comments on it, Olaff agrees with her. "I also have no complaints to yer smell, Thanarra." He then laughs again as Thanara shivers. "Do ye vant me to varrm ye, Thanarra? I can do that." He then smiles, with obvious innuendo.
Savah nods to Olaff's answering, calculating something in her head and looking up towards the sky for a moment. "Mmmhmmm."
The smith turns to Thanara, wading in the water with her hands and feet as she awaits her reply. "Thanara, are you cold? It didn't look that way to me."
Thanara would likely blush if her body wasn’t freezing. ”Thanks,” she says to the pairs compliments before Olaff says his last jest. ”Olaff!” she says instead as she playfully splashed a handful of water at him.
Unsure if Olaff correctly understood Sevah's comment, he comes closer to the pair. With equal measures of confusion, curiosity, and mischievouness, he asks the pair. "Do ye sleep togetherr?"
Savah doesn’t answer the question, only turning to stare at Thanara to see how she replies.
Shalelu nods, pulls up her shirt and shows the gnome her wounds then asks ”You know curses?” She then looks to Rel and nods toward the gnome not wanting to mess this up.
Absolutely mortified, Thanara’s head just sinks beneath the surface to hide her face.
As soon as Thanara goes under water Savah turns to Olaff and says ”Yes. She’s mine.” before turning back to Thanara’s submerged body.
Thanara heads Savah’s muffled voice above the water, but couldn’t make out what she said. She comes back up and with absolute panic she asks ”What? What’d you say?” she says as she wipes water from her eyes.
"All the time?" He asks, still smiling.
To Thanara, he clarified. "Sevah said ye arre herrs." There is no anger or disapproval in his voice, only fun.
The gnome is mortified when the elf starts undressing, wondering if this was a prank of some kind from his colleagues. Hiding behind his hands, he eventually sneaks a peak and sees the discoloration on her skin. He slides his hand away as a fascination takes hold of him and he moves closer and begins to study Shalelu’s body without touching it.
After several minutes of silent observation he turns to ask ”May I touch it?”
”Are you asking me to share?” she asks with a look of curiosity.
”I’m not some thing to be owned!” Thanara said, mustering as much bravado as she can in this humiliating situation.
Savah turns to face Thanara, her face a mask now and void of expression. ”Alright then. Are you mine? Am I yours?”
Thanara’s mouth gapped open, but she was getting very frustrated at being put in this position. ”I have feelings for both of you!” she says before turning the her back to the pair and moving away a few feet in the water, trying to figure out how she had gotten into this mess and what she could do to salvage it.
Savah shakes her head no. ”That’s not going to cut it, Thanara. A simple yes or no will suffice. We talked about you stating what you want, didn’t we? I need an answer. Yes or no?”
Since Olaff had already finished his bath, he swims back to the shore to get his clothes. "No, Savah, I'm not askin' ye. I have no rright to ask forr this if ye arre a couple... it is somethin' ye need to offerr."
"Ve have many taboos frrom vherre I come frrom. Sex is not one o' them. Ve make it simple. I like Thanarra, she knows it. Vhat she does vith this, is up to herr, not me... and not ye." Believing his little speech could be seen as provocative, he tries to clear this suspicion with an apology. "I mean no disrrespect, I vas just sayin' the vay I think."
It wasn’t surprising that Thanara wasn’t answering, she had a hard time with this topic when she and Savah discussed it privately. Now in front of Olaff, it had to be even more difficult.
So Savah answers for her.
Nodding to his statement she agrees with the Ulfen. She explains ”She is in love with me. She’s having a hard time understanding feelings. I’m trying to help her by getting her to say them out loud.”
Shalelu looks to Rel briefly and then shrugs "If it helps get this fixed..."
As Olaff finishes to dress himself, he eyes Savah with true sorrow in his face. "I advice ye against it Savah. Do not forrce herr. Not now, not everr. If I understood it rright, she spent herr life being forrced to do things she did not vanted to... she is frree now... do not shackle herr again, forr ye von't be able to forrge one strrong enough to hold herr."
"Love is frree. It is given, but not taken."
Relisha hovers protectively as the gnome examines Shalelu, but doesn't say anything immediately. Once he's finished, she can't help but speak.
"I've attempted divine healing, but it had no effect," she says defensively. "I've healed other wounds of hers, so it's something specific to this particular injury," she adds, pointing out the original wound without touching it. "It hasn't worsened in the limited time that I've been treating it, but it hasn't progressed either."
She looks up at the elf.
"She has no trace indicators of poison or disease, so the only thing I could think of would be a curse of some sort."
The gnome pulls out a pair of spectacles off his desk with overlapping lenses. He flips three lenses and studies some of the areas closely. He mutters "Hmmm." and "Interesting!" and "Oh. Oh dear. Oh dear." before sliding back.
Looking at Relisha he says "You are a healer? Good. I will need to cut away a piece of her skin here to look underneath. I fear a secret may be laying just under the surface and it is the only way to be sure."
Turning to Shalelu he takes off his spectacles, folding them and holding them in his hand. "This will be extremely painful. I will need to cut open your back to see underneath of your skin. Can you handle this?"