Wag-on, Wag-off

TEN MINUTES LATER:

The crew sit on the wagon as the beasts of labour pull it further and further down the road.

As they move along, John asks, "Hey Lani, what are those things pulling the wagon?".

Lani perks up, "Oh, those are Gurogans, they are offspring of horses and orcish centaurs, unfortunately the latter are now extinct but the Gurogans prosper thankfully, they are usually peaceful creatures but if their owner is attacked, they will ferociously protect them until their last breath".

John then continues to be inquisitive as he asks, "Wait, orcish centaurs? How were those even a thing?".

Lani giggles to herself which confuses John, she then sees his emotion and explains, "I'm sorry, it's just-, it's amusing to know that you don't know anything about this world".

Lani stops her giggle before giving the explanation, "Well, back in the days where towns pretty much didn't exist and everything was green, witches were a lot more common, so one day, a coven got a little creative so they magically implanted an orcs, seed, into a female centaur in heat and created a new race".

"As easy as that?" John asks, not really believing at Lani's answer.

"Yep, pretty much, witches can be decently powerful on their own but a coven is a whole new level of dangerous" Lani says almost causally, like John should have known that fact already.

Meanwhile, at the front of the wagon, Kyuala is keeping a key eye out, scanning the treeline for any potential threats to Daffodil and her cargo.

Her focusing gaze is interrupted as Daffodil asks, "Hey, so, you said yous were adventurers right?".

"Uhh yeah, well, technically I think, this is actually our first adventure together, we're doing it to help Amilia" Kyuala explains but keeps her eyes on the treeline.

"Ahh, roight, so, she looking for a someone or summit?" Daffodil asks, trying to make conversation with the orc.

Kyuala takes a moment, "She's, got a problem with debt, so we're going to help her with that".

"Ohh, roight, well, guess she's got some real good friends with her if they're willing to go on an adventure to get her outta debt" Daffodil remarks as she spurs the Gurogans to go a little faster.

"Well, she doesn't make it easy, that's for sure" Kyuala says, getting a laugh from the two.

They calm down a little as Daffodil has another question in mind and so to pass some more time, she decides to ask, "So what's the deal with the male?".

Kyuala freezes up a little, wondering what Daffodil could possibly mean but quickly hides her shocked expression before asking, "What do you mean?".

"Ahh well" Daffodil takes a moment before continuing, "He seems a little, out of it, I see he's got a fairy with him so I know he's a drop-in but is he a freshie?".

Kyuala takes an internal sigh of relief as Daffodil finishes her question so she then responds, "Ahh, right, yeah, he hasn't been here for too long, less than a week".

"Only a week and he's already going on an adventure? Must 'ave some bloody big bollocks on him, or a big summit else" Daffodil says before letting out a laugh from her gut which Kyuala joins in with, albeit with a lot less passion in her laugh than Daffodil.

A little later down the road, John has his sword in his hand and is practicing his footwork with the steel with Amilia simply watching on while casually eating an apple which she took from Daffodils cargo.

Back up front, Kyuala is talking with Daffodil about their respective businesses with Kyuala asking, "So, do you run your own store?".

"Ah no, it's my da's, I usually do local deliveries and such to other stores but when I heard him talking about getting some supplies up to Wyverns Port, I took the job, which he didn't like but luckily me ma managed to convince him, like she always does" Daffodil explains, adding a chuckle at the end.

The dwarven woman then asks, "What about you? You said you ran a tavern?".

"Yep! The Kreaky Kauldron down in Reduna'z Gaze! Best grog and grub for the hungry hunter!" Kyuala proudly says with a smile on her face.

"Think I remember passin' by it a few times with me uncle when we went on hunts but never had the chance to come in" Daffodil says, hinting at a fond memory as she does.

Kyuala has a smile on her face as she says, "I used to go on hunts with my father and uncle, my mother would be worried sick cause we'd spend almost full days hunting the biggest beast we could find for our camp".

Daffodil laughs, "Ahh, mother's, always worrying for their wee ones, it's like mine, always wondering if i've found a bloke to wed yet, always bugs me about it but if i'm bein' honest 'ere-" Daffodil leans over, "I enjoy her bugging me 'bout it".

The two laugh as they begin to reminisce about their mothers and their similarities despite the differences in race.

Back at the back of the wagon however, John finishes up his movement training and takes a seat while taking a breath, he then looks to Lani who seems to be writing in a small fairy-sized journal, John is interested as he asks,

"Hey Lani, what're you doing?".

Lani jumps a little, not expecting John's question, she then scrambles as she hides what appears to be her journal in her bag before hiding said bag again.

She then looks up and says, "Huh? What?".

John laughs a little before saying, "I was asking what you were doing, it looked like you were writing something".

Lani splutters, making a *psssht* noise with her mouth before saying, "Me?! Writing?! Nope, nope, not me, I wouldn't write, heck, I can't even write!".

The fairy follows with a nervous chuckle, hoping that John bought it however, it's obvious from his facial expression that he didn't.

But, not wanting to distress his guide anymore he simply says, "Oh, okay, looked like it for a moment but, must've been my mind playing tricks".

"Yep, that must've been it!" Lani lets out a little sigh of relief as in her mind, her lie seemingly worked on John.

John then decides to change the subject by asking, "Hey, Lani, theoretically, if I wanted to say, learn magic, how would I do that?".

Lani is a little surprised by the sudden question but then remembers back to what John told them about his mark and so she replies to his question with a question of her own,

"Is this about, the mark?" Lani whispers the last part of the question, trying to keep Daffodil from overhearing.

"Yeah, ever since she told me about it, i've been wondering about it, just figured that since you know a lot, I hoped that you would know where to start".

Lani is a little flattered that John wants her help even if it is her duty, that's when she says, "Well, to best learn would be the High University of Magical Scholarship in the city of Mulvenscroll, problem is, Mulvenscroll is two continents away".

"What about in this continent? Speaking of, which continent are we in anyway?" John asks in succession.

"Well, first, we are in Reduna'zriam, Orc Goddess of the Nature, first settled by orcs in the early days of unified civilization and secondly, this isn't a great continent for magic learning, there may be a few places but it would be rare, if we ever cross paths with an elf, we could potentially barter for a lesson but that's if we come across one" Lani explains, with a somewhat apologetic tone creeping in at the end.

"Oh, well, who knows, maybe one day we'll somehow end up at that university" John says with a hopeful tone which makes Lani perk up as she responds, "Maybe, fate often works in many, many mysterious ways".

The two smile at one another, seemingly hopeful for the future but they're interrupted as they hear Kyuala's voice call out, "We're here!".