Mallory's giving dirty looks again.

Poppa and Ralph aren't here.  There was a lot of fighting and the big church in Lincoln got banged up.  Or so Hugh says.  So Poppa and Ralph got work making it better, like when they rethatch the roof or put a board up over the holes the weasels make chewing through the walls of the chicken coop.

So the shearing is getting done by Hugh and Cousin Randall.  Momma is too busy to be around.  Momma is always too busy.

Gran just acts like you aren't there.  Not in the same way other people act like you aren't there.  You don't think anyone "is there" as far as Gran is concerned.  She just sits on her stool in the corner and hums old songs.

So right now it's just you and Mallory out in the garden, pulling at the weeds.  Out of everyone, Mallory likes you least.  She's as tall as Hugh even though she's not as old as him.  And her punches are like if the mule kicks at you.  So her giving you dirty looks is never a good thing.

She hasn't started grunting.  She usually grunts before she starts hitting.

"If you don't start pulling these weeds faster, we're not going to get done," she mutters at you.

So you are in the garden in back of the family cottage with your older sister who has a tendency to beat you up.  Her name is Mallory.

The other members of the family around are Momma who is probably inside the cottage cooking.  Gran or Grandma, who has dementia.  An older brother Hugh and older cousin Randall who are out in the paddock, shearing the sheep.  There is a younger sister, Muriel. But she is just a baby and is inside with Momma.

Your father and eldest brother are away in Lincoln, working on repairs of the church there after some fighting damaged the town last year.

You may add any other family members you care to.  Your uncle's name is Uncle Dolph.  He is not around at the moment.

You sleep in the stables, in an upper loft away from the animals.

“I’m pulling fast as I can, Mallowy!” And he is.  His little hands are black from pulling roots out of the dirt.  “Why are we doing this?  It’s stupid.”

He wonders if his overgrown sister will beat him again.  If she did, he’d get away from her and run away into the woods again, if he could.  Thinking of doing that made him smile.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:58, Tue 17 May 2022.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 2):

Mallory rears back, putting a hand on her hip, just like Mother does before she gets cross.

"You're stupid!  We have ta eat, don't we?  You think we can eat weeds?"

She throws a handful of weeds at you, grunting as she does so.  She also is starting to smile.  Not the nice kind either.

"You're so ugly and smelly Tristan.  Lazy too.  Stupid boy.  Should I beat some smarts into you?"

Feel free to try an ability or make a run for it.  You can shoot towards the woods or the stables.  Or what have you.

Thanks
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:21, Wed 18 May 2022.

Tristan briefly considers running.  Instead, he rolls his eyes, sighs, and continues yanking weeds out of the ground.  Mallory’s insult against his intelligence doesn’t phase him at all, of course… he knows he’s as far above her intellectually as she is above these weeds.

He keeps working as he waits to get hit.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 4):

You don't have to wait too long.  Mallory goes quiet.  Then you hear a grunt behind you.

There's the usual sharp moment of pain through your backside.  She's kicked you this time it seems.

You land on your face.  The garden is full of soft dirt.  So it doesn't hurt.  Much.  But you have that soft dirt all up your nose and in your mouth.

You hear her braying away, like she always does.

And then she's quiet.

When you look, she's gone.  If she ran inside to tattle to Mother on you about something, she really ran fast.  Much faster than her pudgy legs can usually move.  But there's not many places she can hide here.  You don't see her in any of those places.

Although he’s sorely tempted to run off into the woods where his stupid relatives would be hard-pressed to find him, this time Tristan chooses to simply get back up, dust himself off, clear the dirt from his sinuses as best he can and continue yanking weeds out of the earth.  He does this knowing full well that his good behavior will merit no reward, but it seems the best play at this time.

And Mallory has to sleep some time.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 6):

You finish your section of the garden.  It's the hottest part of the afternoon and you've probably built up a good sweat.

Still no sign of Mallory. Her section of the garden is still unfinished.

The rain barrel by the side of the house should still be full of water.  But if you go to the well and draw up a bucket, the water will be cooler.  But that damn bucket is soooooo heavy.

Or you could go find some shade.  You don't have any more chores right now.  Though you could ask Mother.

Mallory is AWOL.  You are hot, sweaty, and maybe thirsty.  Could be hungry too.  Your call.

Where does Tristan want to go now?

Tristan heads to the well.  Even at his age, he understands that he must be willing to suffer to get what he wants.  If that means pulling up a heavy bucket, so be it.

A funny thought crosses his mind then.  Mallory, clinging to the edge of the well by her fingertips, crying for help.  Begging him to help her up, because only he can.  But he doesn’t.  Then one after another, her fingers give way.

It’s a bad thought, but he giggles anyway, as he runs to the well.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 8):

The well is around on the other side of the family house from the garden, between the front door and the stables.

You happily bounce along the wall of the house, coming from out of the sunshine and into the shade as you round the corner.

Your thumbs feel prickly.  Like an ant is crawling across each one.

Standing by the wall is a tall, lanky man.  He has thick brown hair spliced with wide streaks of gray that hangs down to his shoulders.  He has no beard, but from the blanket of coarse stubble that lines his jaw, it is not for lack of trying.  His shirt is a patchwork of squares of red cloth and strips of silvery cloth.  His breechs are plain, tan linen.  Over one shoulder, hanging by a worn but stout coil of rope, is a large sack.  It's seamless from what you can tell. A grayish burlap.  It's large enough to cover his back.

The man has pulled up the bucket and is hoisting it up to his chin as you arrive.  He puts the lip of the bucket to his mouth and begins to chug. Glug, glug, glug.  He seems intent of draining the whole thing.

He puts it down, balancing it on the edge of the well wall, and smacks his lips with a loud "POP" sound.

He looks over at you as you stare at him.  His wide mouth arcs upwards in a grin, but he doesn't say anything.

You do not know who this is.

Tristan keeps a safe distant and simply asks, “Who are you?”

He prepares to run, if necessary.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 10):

The grin gets grinnier.

"Well aren't you a cautious one.  But I'm just Good Simon.  Hello.  It's a hot day so I helped myself to your well.  You wouldn't begrudge a taste of water, would ya?"

“It isn’t up to me,” The boy replies.  “It’s not my well.”

He then leaves in a hurry, back to the house, where he plans to check that rain barrel for water.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 12):

Writing up a post doesn't do us any good if I don't post it, does it?  Sorry.  Thought I had posted this previously.

You rush around the side of the house.

The water in the barrel is cool.  The barrel is made out of a plum tree.  Though there's no scent of plums to the water, you recall your older brothers used to joke that it always made the water from this barrel tastier.


Inside, Mother is leaning over the fire pit, stirring a kettle full of soup.  Gran is in the corner, humming one of her old songs and spinning thread.  The baby is asleep in it's crib.

Mother glances your way and flinches.  She always flinches when you come inside.

"Where's Mallory?  Did you two finish the garden?"

“I don’t know if she finished her part yet,” He says sheepishly, realizing he has no way to win by answering this question.  So, he tries changing the subject.  “There’s this weird man by the well. Do you know who he is?”

The baby wakes up, crying.  It seems to do that a lot when it hears you.

Mother shoots a look at you, clearly annoyed.  She sets the ladle aside and tromps over to the baby.  "What man?  What are you talking about?  You better not be lying about it."

She picks up the baby and starts to coddle him.  Without looking back at you, she says, "Go see if your "man" is still there.  And while you're at it, find your sister.  Tell her to come here."

---

Assuming you head outside...you find...

The man is no longer by the well.  Mallory is nowhere in sight.

“Oh great,” He mutters, wondering how he could have been so stupid as to tell his mother about the strange man.

Since he’s here anyway, before setting off again in search of the old cow, he takes another look around to make sure that guy is really gone, and then tries to haul some good water out of the well.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 16):

You stand at the corner of the house, scanning the yard and well and the fields you can see. No sign of either the man or mallory, though you can find his boot prints by the soft mud near the well.

The stable door is ajar, which it shouldn't be.  Your brothers will have the sheep out in the field with them.  And the two cows are in the pasture.  But a weasel could get in.

You drag the bucket up.  The water is clear and cold.  It tastes clean.  There's no real way to describe it other than that.  It's fresh and it makes the inside of your mouth a little numb and takes the bad taste away.

Couple of things.

You may call for a skill roll when you believe one is appropriate.  Magic Sensitivity for example is something you can trigger.

Also, did you read the section in Apprentices on Turbulences?  Not saying one is about to happen, but with a child character, one occurring would not be surprising. Call for one if you feel the situation may be appropriate.

Where do you want to look for Mallory? Or do you want to do something else?