fairyland fun! (your levels of fun may vary)

[fair_trouble]

[New day, new town, and hopefully new opportunities. Specifically opportunities to make some money because Zel and Emery’s funds have been running kind of low after their most recent misadventure. This has meant a temporary separation while Zelgadis goes to look for merc-type work and potential cure leads and Emery goes around chatting up the locals without terrifying them.

Or at least that was the plan, until Calanthe showed up.

By the time Zel gets back to the inn, Emery’s still busy talking to Calanthe in their inn room, although the conversation’s just about wrapping up. If he’s perceptive he might even catch a bit of Emery’s words.

“...some funds this time? ...Seriously, is that it? He’s always such a cheapskate. …Okay I got it. I’ll see you later.”

A few moments later a woman wearing a green cloak exits their inn room. Her hood is up, partly obscuring a pale face and hair, and she barely spares anyone a passing glance as she drifts down the hallway.

Emery is still standing inside the inn room looking pensive, but when Zel enters he’ll give him a bright smile.]

Oh! Hey, Zel. Did you manage to find anything?

Comments

[chimerad]

...

[Zel's expression falters a bit. you don't...want me to go?

he recovers quickly enough, though his voice is a bit wary.]

...Sure. I'll be here.

[though he feels he shouldn't be.]

Unless you take too long.

whoops this turned into another Character Ruminating Post

[fair_trouble]

Thanks~ I appreciate it.

[Emery didn’t have pets growing up, but Zel’s demeanor right now kind of makes him imagine a dog being left behind at home. Emery’s not dead set on leaving Zel behind for this errand and when Zel droops like that he’s a little tempted to say that Oh, but of course I meant to take you along! But Zel isn’t pushing the point, so Emery breezes on as cheerily as ever-]

Maybe when I get back we can go for a second round.

[-though not without trying to make Zel sputter at least once before he heads out.

Doing the scout work alone gives him a chance to brood about his situation properly, even if he doesn’t exactly need to and probably shouldn’t be. But his feelings about the fae realm are complex- he was technically a prisoner there for about a year and he'd naturally been homesick during that time. So his feelings about going back there would logically involve fear and apprehension and all that fun stuff.

But when he was actually talking about the place to Zel, his enthusiasm was genuine. Emery thinks… he might actually miss the place. He’d always had the sense that there was something not quite right with himself when he was young, and finding out about the entire mess with the Field Lord filled in a lot of gaps, good or bad.

…He really hopes Zel has a good time while they’re there.

Cordial Hill is a steep place but the path that winds between the thickets of trees is walkable enough. A few abandoned cottages in various states of disrepair can be found just off the road, in the process of being reclaimed by the trees. It’s a curious sight, one that makes Emery wish he’d gotten a chance to chat with the locals about the area.

The entrance to the fae realm is also just off the road, albeit protected by brambles and branches that make it hard for the unwitting to spot and even harder for the unwitting to just stumble through. Emery examines it for a while, gazing at the fae version of Cordial Hill just beyond, but not going through yet. Just in case.

He’s… fairly confident he can get Zel through tomorrow night. Fairly confident.

Scouting done, Emery marks the rough position of the entrance on the map and heads back. Hopefully Zel has found some way to occupy that time that doesn’t involve staring at the door, waiting for Emery to get back.]

its good food for me!!!!!!!!

[chimerad]

[he should've gone with him. it's not even that it would be dangerous alone in the early dawn - hardly, bandits prefer to sleep in - it's more that...he wanted to know how it works! but Emery's never let him look when he shapeshifts, he seemed a bit surprised by the want to join him on the expedition at all...what if pushing too much would push him entirely away?

all questions easily answered if he had just...you know...asked them aloud, but come on.

being the guy left behind is weird. he's usually the one who just up and leaves on a whim or when nonsense gets too untenable. what to do...

clean? sure. sort loot and rearrange? ok, fine, that needs to happen anyway.

...hang on. does he need to leave iron things behind? he can't remember if Emery mentioned that, or if he's just misremembering old superstition. either way, he'll sort those things separately too. just in case.

needless to say: Emery can be proud to discover Zel wasn't sitting on the floor like a forlorn dog waiting for him to return!

...he's sitting on the floor rearranging all his stuff instead. dogs don't have these skills.]

[fair_trouble]

[Emery returns to the inn with his head hopefully somewhat more in order. He politely brushes off a few attempts from other guests at making conversation, and heads back to the room he’s sharing with Zel. He opens the door, and announces his presence:]

Honey, I’m home~!

[Emery intends to show Zel the map, but he’s distracted when he notices what Zel is doing. Sort of. More specifically he notices that Zel’s stuff is in piles on the floor.

Emery shuts the door and moves closer to lean in and examine the piles.]

Hm? What’s going on here?

[He is, of course, proud that Zel has found something to occupy his time.]

[chimerad]

[all the unease and second-guessing that was clawing at the edge of his mind is shoved aside as he hears the door pull open; Zel perks up just as he's finished wrapping up his charcoal sticks (because this artsy nerd carries some for sketching when the mood hits him) and set them next to the thieves' kit he'd already finished up.]

Organizing. I realized I forgot to ask: Is iron poisonous to the fey realm?

[fair_trouble]

[Emery hmms a little at the question. He’s also heard that superstition before.]

I don’t think so? The Field Lord keeps farm tools and stuff on display in his manor and some of those have iron parts. But fairies are a pretty varied bunch, it might be a situation where it’s true for some kinds but not all. I never actually asked about it before.

[He’d just taken note of the farm tools and not thought much about it beyond that, and most fairies aren’t inclined to share tales of their weaknesses unprompted.]

I’ve also heard iron can repel ghosts so if that’s true maybe someone got the two confused at some point.

[chimerad]

Mn. [fair enough. good, too: he'd hate to have to leave some of this stuff behind.

while stowing tools away:] Did you find it, then?

[fair_trouble]

Yup. It's got some trees protecting it, and it's part of the way up the hill- here, I made a mark on the map.

[And Emery goes ahead and profers the map in question.]

I saw some abandoned buildings in the area as well. But there was nothing magical about them as far as I could tell.

[So, probably irrelevant, but neat info, right?]

[chimerad]

[Zel chews on that for a bit.]

What kind of condition were they in? If they're still mostly intact, then they're abandoned for a reason... [sickness? murder? magic curse stuff?]

[fair_trouble]

I dunno, I guess they'd been abandoned for a while? One of them was kind of... [Emery makes a gesture with his hands like he's trying to squish something between them and downwards.] You know. All rotten and looked like it was going to collapse in on itself. But you could tell they used to be cottages.

[chimerad]

Mn...

[and they'll be dropping in at night. possibility of an ambush or encounter with some nefarious sorts... he files that away.]

Right. We can fly there, then, to avoid attracting attention from the locals.

[fair_trouble]

I’m not sure if that’ll work if anyone happens to decide to glance up, but I have no objections to being carried.

[One day Emery will learn to do a proper levitation or ray wing spell, but he has no inclination to make that day today.]

[chimerad]

Far as I've experienced, most people are too caught up in their lives to look up. Except kids. [and what kid's going to be out after bedtime to tattle?]

[fair_trouble]

[Emery laughs.]

You have a point there~! And who's going to listen to a kid?

[chimerad]

Right. So it's nothing to worry about. [he stuffs art and thief supplies into his satchel.] Go ahead and wind down; we gotta rest up before nightfall.

[fair_trouble]

Got it~

[And Emery plops down on the floor next to Zel so he can lean in and give him a kiss.]

You too. Don't stay up all night- all day- packing or whatever.

[chimerad]

[he can't help but smile a little, his face heating up. he rolls his shoulders a little.]

It'll be fine, don't worry. [he'll make sure to not be too meticulous as to require the daylight to do it, giving Emery the opportunity to sleep without the sun poking in through the drapes. as far as a proper rest for himself, it...might be tough. the prospect of a new realm, even with Emery's talk grounding it in reality, still has his wanderlust abuzz. how similar will it look and feel to this land? to the continent beyond the broken barrier? how will his magic-infused body react?

...will there be clues to a cure?

he tries to tamp down his expectations on that one, because if there was something to that, Emery would've suggested it already. so...

yeah...

yeah....................]

[fair_trouble]

[Rest assured, if Emery had heard about anything in the fae realm that had to do with reversing transformations, Zelgadis would certainly be the first person to know. But most of what he’d heard about transformation was “Oh, you’re a shapeshifter? How unusual! Most of us have to use illusion magic.”

Not very useful to Zel’s condition, and he doesn’t want to raise Zel’s hopes without a good reason, not with how obviously important the matter of Zel’s body is.

Before bed Emery goes down to have some dinner and pick up more gossip from the locals. An offhand comment about Cordial Hill gets him two different accounts of why people gave up living on the hill itself- account no. 1 is that the place is probably haunted and that people have seen strange lights and heard distorted laughter at odd hours.

Account no. 2 is that the soil on Cordial Hill is rocky, and rather acidic from the cedars, so that it’s a pain in the ass to do any gardening as well as a nuisance to haul water up the hill.

Emery is careful not to favor any one side in the debate and dutifully relays both theories to Zel before turning in.

He sleeps lightly despite the fatigue from staying up all night, and it’s rather a good thing that Zel is considerate enough to keep the curtains closed and generally let Emery snooze the snooze of the innocent.]

[chimerad]

[the day crawls by with that anticipation set on his shoulders, but this isn't Zel's first rodeo in this regard.

that said...the sun can barely finish sinking into the horizon before he's stirred, having slept sitting upright (mistake: he's sore now) and needing to slowly climb to his feet, crack his shoulders, and step over to lay a careful hand on Emery's shoulder to wake him.]

Time to go.

[time for Emery to take the lead.]

[fair_trouble]

[Emery’s first order as the fearless leader?]

Nnh.

[Charisma at its finest.

But yes, he is waking up now. Sitting up and yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes and all that.]

Mm. Morning Zel~ Let me get ready, alright?

[This is unfortunately not going to be one of those mornings where Emery just happily throws on whatever and follows Zel out the door- he’s got a meeting with Calanthe scheduled and for that he’d rather be as put together as possible. Thus, Zel will have to endure Emery taking his time getting dressed, dithering between this shirt and that shirt, working to put together something that’s simultaneously pretty and reasonably practical for hiking around a hill.

Whether Zel decides to endure this inside the same room as Emery or standing around outside in the hallway is immaterial to Emery, who is taking the task of assembling today’s outfit very seriously. The upshot is that Emery at least won’t be fussing too much over his hair- since they’re going to be flying out there his hair’s going to get mussed up along the way anyway.

And eventually Emery is satisfied so after one last glance in the mirror, it’s finally time to leave the inn.]

Thanks for waiting~

[chimerad]

[letting himself watch Emery primp and preen as he does in such a way is something Zel ought to do more of, he thinks. was he always this concerned with his attire? surely not, but he can't be a hundred percent certain...

still, he makes note of the choices made and discarded, the particular order of things tucked or buttoned...should that be the order in reverse for it all to be undone?

thoughts for later.

for now, Zel gets to his feet, rolling his shoulders until he hears a bit of a crack (he needs to stop sleeping upright), and nods, following after him to pay for the days stayed. he shrugs mildly at the confusion from the innkeeper (it's night, why are they leaving now) and proceeds after Emery out into the early evening.

after a few blinks, his eyes adjust to the darkness and, when Emery is ready, takes hold of him by the waist and casts Ray Wing, raising the both of them up and away in the direction of the doorway Emery had found just hours prior.]

[fair_trouble]

[Emery is growing quite accustomed to being carried around by Zel all Superman’s-Girlfriend style, although doing this at night is a bit of a novelty.

Zel probably remembers the moment from when they visited the temple of desires where Emery looked for a second way in, a.k.a. Did Some Weird Fae Shit that made it hard to look at Emery. Emery starts doing it again as they approach the hill, which probably feels very weird when Zel’s still holding onto him.

Emery tightens his grip on Zel (perhaps unnecessary with it being a Ray Wing but nevertheless) and reaches out with a free hand to point at the trees below.]

The light’s different here. Can you see it? The space between planes is thinner here.

[chimerad]

[is it different? Zel's gaze sharpens as he looks around in the direction Emery's pointing, slowing their pace. he could lie and say he's certain, but he can't just assume he can even glean what Emery sees.

'space between planes'...reminds him of his astral studies. of pocket dimensions. in that sense, he wonders if he were to cast something like Ferrious Breed, would something happen?

thoughts for later. for now, he slowly brings them down.]

I can't really see it. [though he wishes he could.] Light? Like a natural source or a magic one?

[fair_trouble]

[Emery hums.]

It’s sunlight, I think. But it’s not very bright on this end.

[Once they’re near enough to the ground to be safe Emery slips out of Zel’s grip and scurries forward, sticking along the side of the path.]



It’s just up ahead… Ah-ha! Here it is.

[Emery calls up a lighting spell because even with the sunlight that’s leaking through the entrance it’s quite dark out here, and it doesn’t seem like Zel can see that sunlight.

The glowing ball floats above Emery’s hand and shines forth on… A short stone wall, barely more than a foot and a half wide, partly blocked by branches. The wall stands on a slope and if one squints around the sides one can see a few stone steps embedded in the slope behind it, timeworn and sunken into the ground.]

How’s it look to you?

[chimerad]

[Zel follows a few paces behind, head on a swivel to detect not just signs of this mysterious entryway, but any interlopers or signs of danger. the houses are defunct and abandoned, but that would just make them handy for ne'er-do-wells...

Emery's call draws his attention, prompting him to move closer to blink at the wall.

how's it look? at first glance, pretty nondescript, but Zel holds back on judgment to give it a more careful look-over.]

...It's strange that it's standing on its own in this mess of branches. [he tilts his head to try and peer past it.] Like it was specifically left this way.