Benn finds the wagon slowing a block down at the edge of a vacant lot.Benn, upon seeing the vardo and its driver, quietly moves to investigate...
As he draws near, the wagon turns into the lot.
The driver calls softly, bringing his horses to a halt.
Two other wagons, also bearing colorful signs, rest parked with their teams unhitched and grazing in the grassy lot.
Other men, dressed in sheepskin jackets like the driver Benn has tailed, busy themselves building a campfire in a circle of loose building stones.
A young woman in multicolored skirts lugs a big, bulging water-skin toward the men.
Two yellow dogs skulk about the camp, sniffing at the earth.
The wagon driver Benn followed finishes unhitching his beasts as he answers.Adam wrote:Bennedict carefully tucks his crossbow over his shoulder, ensuring it is unloaded, and takes whatever other step to appear harmless.
This done, he approaches with his free hand shown, the other gripping his walking stick. "Hello," he says, "It has been some time since I saw some of your people. I would have words with your troupe leader, if allowed."
"You are welcome to join us by the fire. Go, sit, make yourself known to the others."
The men by the fire welcome Benn with ''Well met'' and make room for him to sit on a big flat stone.
One offers him some sharp-smelling liquor from a clay jug. It's strong stuff with a taste like licorice or aniseed.
They don't talk much. It's plain they are studying Benn. Apart from belt knives and curled whips, they don't appear to be armed.
The young woman seems not even to see that Benn is present, as she goes about camp chores; watering the animals and gathering sticks and stones to improve the site and collect fuel.
Soon, the driver has finished his tasks and joined Benn and the other men.
''I am Raaj. I am Leader of the troupe. You said you know the Gurs. We do not travel in this region often, though our fathers once took the old roads from the East...Have you had dealings with our people in the Western lands, then? Or...but I prattle on like an old woman. Tell us your tale, friend, and your needs. There is no hurry and we have a campfire. Also tabac and zambook."
Raaj listens intently, showing little reaction until near the end.Adam wrote:Bennedict at first curls his nose at the potent liquor. However, when the flask is offered again, he finds himself eagerly reaching for more.
"I come from a city far from here named Pont au Museau. I am an investigator there, trying to root out the creatures of the night that prey on the innocent. While on one of these ventures, a group of travellers and I experienced a...mishap. We were cast into the Mists, wandering for some time before arriving..." he gestures. "Well, not here exactly, but in this land, this world. I seek now a route home to my family. There were always tales that your people could travel the mists. I normally dismissed them as at best superstitious and probably racist musings but," he shrugs, "desperate times lead to desperate bedfellows, as they say."
''The Mists? Travelling to other worlds through mist...this reminds me of an old story, something we Gurs do not often speak of with outsiders, if ever. But I am not sure...It is better I do not mislead you with false hopes or half-knowing. No, you must speak with the Seeress. Savras has blessed her with Sight. She may see, know, something to help you."
Raaj leads Benn to the wagon he had parked.
The Leader knocks three times, and calls softly,
"Seeress, may an outsider speak with you now? He has a strange tale I think you'll want to hear.''
A reedy voice from behind the green-paneled door,
"Yes. Let him enter."
Raaj opens the door and helps Benn into the wagon interior.
Within, an old woman swathed in blankets rests on a bench at the far wall. Candles flicker from a niche above her head.
The dim, warm air smells of incense and spices and beeswax.
The crone motions for Benn to sit down on one of the cushions heaped against the walls to either side of the door.
'Welcome, wanderer."
Raaj sticks his head in the open door, looks at Benn and then at the Seeress, and then swings the door closed without a word.
The ancient woman reaches into her robes and withdraws a silver ball. Tossing the ball onto the floor, she whispers something Benn doesn't quite catch. The sphere grows to the size of a man's head. Its metallic luster shifts to a milky translucency and blue motes of light appear within it, dancing in slow circling patterns.
"The sphere will aid me in discerning the truth. Speak and I will listen."
Adam wrote:Bennedict at first looks dubious at all the trappings of the Seeress, but seeing an actual application of magic, he puts his skepticism away, for now at least.
He sits comfortably and relates the same tale he told at the campfire. "We're travelling, looking for a way home, but I feel we are chasing little more than rumor. If you are descended of the Vistani, I hoped perhaps you may know something more solid."
''Vistani...''
The Seeress gestures and the pale orb pulses with blue light, making a noise like a chime. She stares into the glow, silent for a few minutes.
''You seek a sphere of divination. Not this lesser sort you see before you, but the master-pattern, the Orb of Savras! It is sacred to the Gurs. Our meeting must be no accident... Bring me the Orb and if my people can help you, they will. The Gurs have roamed Faerun and lands to the East for centuries and learned of many lost trails and hidden ways. And with the Orb of Savras, my Sight would be far more potent..."
Adam wrote:
Benn does a poor job of containing his reaction to this news. He fumbles in a coat pocket for a business card before stopping himself, remembering that the addresses would be meaningless.
"My name is Bennedict Gehrman," he says, "I'm being terribly rude, and forgot to ask for yours. Also, how should I find you, once the orb is recovered?"
The Seeress replies, "Call me Magdara. And I think..."
She stares into the sphere set between the two of them for a long moment before continuing,
'...yes, we will meet again. I see us together, standing in a foggy place... Signs and portents guided me here to Yulash--it lies far off the Gurs' usual routes and we dislike the evil ways of this city. I trust I will be shown the road to meet you again when the time is right. The moon guides...The Orb itself I cannot see in my vision. I do not know if you will succeed in your quest. That is the Orb's nature. It reveals much but hides itself. "