Zorlon - Levdia

[Emry]

Lisette shrugged as she continues to walk beside Malika. "We're doing a bit of traveling and camping and thought it better to stock up on our supplies. Padden suggested we buy the goods from Konnell, so here we are."

 

She continues to walk towards Malika's farm. "It's so pretty out here. And the sea isn't that far. Have you ever been there?" Lisette asks innocently.

[Switch]

"That wound salve sounds good too. How much?"

 

Ford looks at Konnell.

[Malchik]

Lisette

 

Malika raises an eyebrow.

 

"The sea? Oh, that accounts for it. Yes, as it happens I and two friend went to the sea about five years ago. It was our second attempt. But we never talk about it. Girls aren't supposed to be able to do what the boys can't do and if we'd said, all the boys have tried to get there and who knows what damage they might have suffered."

 

She falls silent. The memory of the trip is clearly not pleasant.

 

"Do you know how we did it? We did not stop singing. All the way at the top of our voices. When we got back home none of us could speak for over a week."

 

You see the farm a little way ahead.

 

Ford, Lurel and Midge

 

Konnell glances up. "If you want a whole pot it'll cost six gold. That's what I pay for it. I've a bit left in a used pot you can have for nothing."

[Switch]

Ford looks at the used pot and thinks. He decides a full pot of untouched salve would probably be a better idea.

 

"I guess I'll go for the full pot... thanks."

 

He hands over the 6 gold necessary.

[ThetaOrionis01]

It is cooler outside in the yard now, and the water from the pump is refreshingly cold. Lurel is grateful for the opportunity to wash away the sweat and the dust of the exhausting march. At first he welcomes the chill of the water, but soon he begins to shiver in the evening air. Once he is clean, and has put on the fresh garments he took from his pack, he realizes how tired he is, and can't help yawning.

 

Hastily he washes out the discarded clothes he had been wearing, hoping that he can get them dry for the morning, and heads back indoors.

 

"I could go to sleep right now," he mumbles. "Must be in worse shape than I thought."

[Switch]

Once Lurel is finished, Ford heads out and washes also, before putting on new clothes. He stuffs his old dirty ones in his pack, not wanting to stay out in the cold any longer than he has to. He heads back inside, shivering.

 

"G-geez you could c-catch neumonia from using that thing..."

 

He heads further inside and tries to warm up.

[Emry]

Lisette looks with sympathy over to Malika but her mind is spinning like a top, trying to piece together what she heard. She stops walking and looks directly at her companion.

 

"I'm sorry this brought up painful memories for you, Malika, but I need to ask you a few more questions. The safety of my companions may depend upon it." Lisette takes a deep breath before pushing on. "From what it sounds like, you and your friends... I assume they were girl friends?.... decided to take a trip to the sea to discover if you could do what the boys could not. And you made two attempts. What happened when you went? And why were you singing? We're you trying to drown out something else that you heard?"

 

Lisette listens intently to Malika response - seeing if the woman makes a reference to something she thought was a legend. For as far as she could tell, it almost sounded as if Malika, and those who attempted to traveled to the sea before her, encountered a siren and heard it's beautiful but deadly song.

[Malchik]

Malika shrugs. "I can't say what it was. When we set out the first time we knew to be careful. So many came back damaged. But it took so much attention it tired us out and we lost heart. The second time we sang to keep up morale and would let any negative thoughts get through to us. It wasn't easy but we didn't stop to rest and suddenly we were there."

 

She closes her eyes. "There wasn't much to see. A stony shore, sand and mud. There were a lot of birds. We though we saw something silver glinting in the distance but..."

 

Malika has taken you to a water pump in the shelter of a barn. There are towels and soap to hand.

 

"When we reached the sea we stopped singing. It had served its purpose we thought. But we then felt desperate to get back to our homes. As if there were something in the atmosphere. We never investigated anything."

 

She walks away from Lisette. "Funnily enough it only took a day to get back. I've never understood that. I'll fetch the eggs you wanted."

 

Lisette is left to shower and make what she can of Malika's story.

 

Not long afterwards the girls return to Konnell's farm. Malika refuses to talk about the trip she made again, going instead into lengthy detail of the meal she plans to cook for them.

 

Lisette gets the others together and gives them detils of Malika's story.

 

It seems only moments later that you are all seated at the huge farm table.

 

Konnell smiles. "You'll want to be off at dawn to make the most of the light. If there is anything else you need to ask Malika, Padden or me, you'd better do it now."

[ThetaOrionis01]

Lurel is enjoying the warmth of the farmhouse, and looking forward to a hot meal.

 

"This looks like a nice place," he says. "Do you ever get any problems here? I've heard that things get a bit strange near the sea - lots of rain, and people having accidents and such. I just wondered where that kind of thing starts - when should we start to be on our guard? I mean - does this kind of thing ever happen as far inland as this? And I wonder," he adds after a short pause, "has it always been like that? I mean, people don't seem to be very interested in the sea, and I just wondered when that started."

 

He listens eagerly for any information their hosts might reveal - even the smallest snippet of information, unimportant though it may seem to Konnell and the others, may hold a vital clue for them - such as the information Lisette has received from Malika.

[Switch]

Ford just sits on his seat quietly, listening in to the conversation and slowly warming up.