Annie had taken her leave of Bear's company for the day. It had been a long long while since she had been anywhere near Dorhaven, and although she'd not actually lived in the city, she still claimed it as home, primarily because her real home wan't anywhere people would know--or acknowledge. Somewhere on the outskirts of town, down a broken trail and hidden behind a copse of short-growing trees, was an old house whats porch and steps were adorned with windchimes and light catchers, bottles of unknown liquids, and practically oozing with mystic aprehension. Sitting inside in a squeaky rocking chair was an old blind woman, waiting, knowing who you were before you walked through the door.

They called her the Seer. It was the only name Annie had ever heard her to respond to, except for the name she had given Annie to call her. Old Nata, usually dressed in a long tunic dress tied about the waist with a braided cord, only seemed imposing to those who felt her connection with the Mona was stronger than it should be for a...y'know, I don't think I ever found out what she was, to be honest. Nata treated all races with the same respect, so it had never occured to Annie that she might be a lesser species.

Nata's house was far enough away to give Annie regrets for not having a cart of her own, but she was enjoying the walk. It wasn't that bad of a day, and maybe if she was lucky enough, she'd meet up with somebody willing to give her a ride...or some information. Right about then, either would be plenty good.


*(Note: if it's a problem I 'created' the Seer, I appologise. She most certainly may be taken over by any and all Mods who wish to do so. I just thought it'd be good for Annie to get back to her roots, all things considered.)*

Nora had parked her cart on a small green overnight. She had just arisen and was making a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast in her kiln as well as a bit of cheese. She used glass rods as long chopsticks to turn the toast and realized breakfast was almost ready and turned to the cart to wake Tonan. He had seemed so tired last night that she had resolved to let him sleep as long as possible. But in a few hours she would pack up and steer the cart to Brunnhold. She had direction now- more so than she had in coming to Dorhaven in the first place- and about time, too, she thought, and many thanks I met Tonan.

Annie hummed a tune as she walked, not exactly knowing why but not knowing a reason to stop. For all the damages done in recent days, Annie was in a curiously good mood. Prolly cuz I've met some good folk and managed to have my belly filled more than once.

She passed a small open field and the smell of breakfast caught her nose. She turned to see a small cart stopped in the middle, with a fire blazing and a figure bustling about. Avast! Civilization! she thought. Well, you know...sort of.

Veering from her path, Annie started towards the camp. She held up her hand and waved, calling "Haloo the wagon!" Hopefully that wouldn't scare anybody.

Nora started a moment-there was someone else in town? Or, rather, someone gregarious and not gloomy, grave or guileful. "Hesta," she waved, "And who might you be, wandering about so early in the morn, And in such times as these?"

Annie reached the wagon and held out her hand. "Name's November. Annie November. Pleased ter meetcha. And you are?"

Glancing over the campsite, Annie stuffed her hands in her coat pockets. "I could almost ask you the same question, seein as to how most errybody in town's vacated. Seems like anybody what's around now's lookin fer folks who've left." She laughed. "Take me, for example. I came to visit an old friend and got sidetracked by a mini mission to find an Uncle for somebody back home." Annie shrugged. "So far no luck, but what can ye do? He's prolly gone like all the rest of everybody."

Annie noticed the food the girl had been preparing, and how there was quite a bit for one person. "You ain't on the road alone, are ye? That's a tad dangerous, yeah? I mean, I know I ain't one to talk, but...you never know sometimes."

"Nora Baranchi," she shook Annie's hand warmly,"same to you."



"Oh, no," Nora started, and turned to her cart. She opened the door and reached in, grabbing the sleeping Tonan's ankle, jiggling it,"Up, up, up! Breakfast is ready and we have a guest!"

Turning to Annie she continued, "He's with me for a time. Just passing through, an'all that. But I've never had trouble before... well, I have, but it was never too bad. If I couldn't help myself, there was someone there for me," she paused, remembering Khymarah, "Yeah. I came up here from Vienda, lookin' to do some good. Found nobody and nothing to do. Did find Tonan, here, and we're headed off to Brunnhold- lookin' to do some good. We just camped for the night. Don't want another galdor run-in. I seem to be making a habit of it lately..."

Tonan woke up quickly. "Huh-buh-wha'?" He mumbled. He blinked rapidly and remembered where he was. "Oh, Mornin' Nora" he said sleepily, he rubbed his eyes.
He poked his head out of the cart and strained his eyes. "Ow. Light." he grunted. His hair was all over his face again and was slightly raised at the fringe.

Tonan hated the sudden change from light to dark when he slept in late. It hurt his eyes. Obsidia usually had the same reaction too.

"Hey there, Mornin' to 'ya.." He held the "'ya" to let Annie fill in, He extended his arm out of the cart. "I'm Tonan."
Obsidia poked her head out under his.
"And this is Obsidia, my Osta"

Annie laughed. She remembered the days when she used to sleep in. If only...

"It'd be nice to have somebody around every so often. I can usually talk my way outta most anything. That or run. Ha! Headed to Brunnhold, eh? I've never been m'self. Wouldn't mind seein it someday, to be truth. Maybe once I've visited Nata." She shrugged. "A habitual golly runner-intoer, eh? That might need some 'splainin."


Annie smirked. "Nice hair."


Annie shook his hand. "Nice to meet ye, Tonan. I'm Annie." She nodded exageratedly to Obsidia. "And tis a pleasure to meet you, madam!"

"Oes, I've had some run-ins. Had some trouble with the Seventen back in Vienda a bit back, but I was rescued by a galdor, of all people. She's become a very dear friend, and if it hadn't been for her I would have been chroven chow," Nora was allotting breakfast into three portions on glass plates and setting out glass cutlery, "And then last night, we bumped into about a dozen galdori whose greatest desire seemed to be melting our faces off. Managed to get out of that fairly smoothly, but some of the things they said..." she shrugged,"they blamed a passive for what happened, that's one thing, but the things they said when they thought no one was listening was another."

Annie snorted, closed her eyes and put a hand to her head. "Hang onna tic. I'm gettin somethin. This galdor you speak of...she is tall, stunningly beautiful, flame colored hair adorned with trinkets, one eye the color of sky, one the color of grass."


A passive?! How...? "Ifn ye don't mind me askin, what'd they say? I'm somethin of a student of current events. This stuff's sorta right up my alley."

"Yes! Khymarah, do you know her? Well, that's rather silly to ask, of course you must," Nora laughed,"She's truly the only one of her kind."



Student of current events, eh? Nora heard a twinge of deception in Annie's wording, but detected no ill will, so she felt no need to deceive her in return.

"Last night we were in search of Tonan's family and we ran into a good dozen galdori. Before they noticed us I heard them sayin' summat about fleeing to Servalis, and something about being refugees. But how they were going to be 'crucified,' and that they were scapegoats. I think one of them said 'this is only going to destabilize the core.' An' that's what worried me.

"They clammed up as soon as I said anything, though. An' then they started blaming some passive for the damage. Calling 'him' a 'walking time bomb,' and generalizing in the worst way. Said all passives were ticking time-bombs, ready to clocking explode if you look at them funny," she let out a skeptical noise,"Ridiculous. One of them started fuming that they'd get the blame for it," Nora put on a high, mocking voice,"we got the bloody blame for it, so go tell your snoopin' reporters the truth. Then they started coming after us, juggling sparks and such... Mangy empty bucket-heads." She sighed, "just them, though, not the lot of them. I just wish..." she stopped.

She was about to sound very childish, wishing for things that just couldn't be. But then, if she didn't want them that way, then why was she heading off to the resistance? "I just wish that things could be better for the lot of us."

Tonan retreated back into the cart and fumbled around trying to find the rope that usually held back his hair.
After a few minutes of scrabbling around, Obsidia nudged his hand and held the rope between her teeth.
Tonan chuckled lighty, rubbed her behind the ear and began tying his hair up.

He exited the cart just in time to hear Nora say;


"Ah, Talking about what happened last night?" he chipped in. "Yeah, they were kinda overreacting, but I still.. lets say.. pushed them."
He started recalling his outburst at the female galdori last night.
"I challenged her to prove it was a passive who caused the Dorhaven explosion. Then she started juggling fire."

"Dze, you didn't push them, just called them out." Nora said, handing him a plate and a fork.



Nora shook her head, remembering, "And don't you forget that. The galdori are not to be trifled with. They are a powerful group. They raise their children to be obedient to the traditions, and to revere power and authority. Even if those traditions involve quashing humans, passives, and wicks. Or if that power and authority is used to do such a thing.... If you mess with either of those, you're liable to set them off on you." Nora stopped speaking to take a bite, and to think a moment.

She remembered growing up a galdor, only for everything to change. Those traditions and ideas had been ingrained in her upbringing, and it affected the way she thought about the galdor race. She could never bring herself to call them "gollies," or even really say or think too harshly of them; even after her experiences with the seventen and last night's group, she found it difficult to do so.

She looked up, "Anything else you'd like to know, Miss November?"

Annie looked back and forth between Tonan and Nora. "You said they blamed a passive for the explosion? I mean, I've heard tales of passives havin a sort of latent ability, but it's always been said they have to be stressed, scared or both to use it. These galdori, talkin of refugees and scapegoats...what's the wager they're what set off the poor guy in the first place? Sounds to me they gone and made themselves pretty guilty. Gettin defensive over someone askin fer proof don't help matters none, neither."

Annie found a bare patch of grass and took a seat. It didn't seem like too far a stretch for a group of galdor being the cause of the explosion at the boarding house, intentional or otherwise. But to say a passive was to blame...it took a lot to set one off, for one thing. The amount of damage done, it didn't take much thought to determine how frightened or hurt he must have been. "They musta tortured the passive somethin fierce. An explosion like that could only come from a lot of pain. How terrible!" She shook her head. "I have to go see Nata, now. She's the only one who can make any sense outta all this."

Nora snorted derisively.



"If there was a passive at all," Nora added, "They could just be covering up their own attack with it. There could'a been, but you never know."



"Who's Nata?" The name sounded familiar, but she could have just heard it in passing.

Annie laughed. "Sorry, I keep forgettin not everybody knows everybody. I am, I'd like to think, the only wick alive who ain't been part of a tribe or travelin wagon 'cept in gainin passage. 'Nata' is the name what I gave to the old Seer woman who raised me. I've never met my parents; Nata says my mother is some high class golly and my dad was some rovin' wick who took off after playin house. She lives in an old shack not too far from here," Annie pointed off down the road. "She's wiser than anybody I know, and if anybody can give insight to anything, she can. That's where I was headin 'fore I met you guys, actually." Annie shrugged. "You're welcome to join, ifn ye want. I'm sure ye have questions of your own what need answerin, and gods know I could use some company. Walkin's a pain, 'specially ifn yer walkin by yerself."

"Well, if you'll wait till I'm done with this," she indicated the last of her bacon,"and pack up the kiln, there, we can give you a lift. Is it far?"

Annie shook her head. "Nah, it's not far. Maybe ten minutes ride? It's hard to find if you don't know what yer lookin fer, but I can spot it easy. I'd be much obliged to ye."

"Sure," Nora replied. She finished the last bite of breakfast and laid the dishes in the back of the cart to take care of later. She turned to the kiln and opened out the bottom, sweeping dirt over the embers that fell out, then folding the legs of the apparatus and sliding it in place on the cart. It took all of two minutes, and when she finished she turned back, dusting her hands off, "that's done, then. You ready?"

Tonan finished the egg on his plate, and placed it on the ground in front of him. "Thanks, That's probably the best breakfast I've ever eaten!" he said with a smile
Obsidia was laying next to him, still chewing a small peice of bacon Tonan had given to her earlier.


Tonan wiped his face, trying to fully wake himself, he was still slightly "Morning Tired" as he puts it.
"Yeah, I'm ready" he said. "To.. Nata's?" Tonan tried placing the name in his head, it sounded familar. He shrugged it off, after all, he'd lived in Dorhaven for 16 years, he probably overheard someone talking about her, seeing as she lived so close.

Annie nodded, boarding the wagon. "You don't have to call her Nata ifn ye don't want to. That's just a name I gave her when I was young. Come to think of it, I don't know that I ever heard her real name. She just sorta responded to Nata whenever I called." She laughed. "Seems like everywhere I go I can't do nothin without somebody talkin bout it to somebody else. I guess I'm a natural born trend setter."

Annie pointed down the road. "The house is that way, half hidden behind some trees. It's the only liveable structure out this ways, so ye can't really miss it. I'll know when we're close." She nodded to Nora. "Again, I thank ye for the ride."

"Boemo, you're welcome," Nora said. She followed Annie's directions until they found the place. Annie was right: it wasn't far, five minutes by cart at most, but it was tucked in a bower of willows and she would have missed it if it weren't for Annie. "Shall we?"

Annie hopped down from cart. Looking around, she saw the exact same things she'd seen when she left. The same trees, the same grass, the same paint, the same jars, the same windchimes. A chill ran down Annie's spine. It felt like she'd stepped back through the years and brought Nora and Tonan with her.

Shaking her head, she turned to Nora. "Might as well, since we're here and all."

She stepped up onto the porch and pushed through the door. "Nata? I'm home."

There was silence in the house. Then a sort of slow, muffled walk. From the inner darkness a figure began to form. She was very frail, dressed in a grey dress. Her hair was as white as fresh snow and it was pinned into a loose bun. She was wiping her hands on a dishcloth as she walked. As she came closer, the milky blue of her eyes came into view to show her blindness.

"Annie? Little Annie? I was wondering when you would show up." Her voice was almost as frail as she was. Coming closer, she threw the cloth over her shoulder and reached out to take Annie's hand.

"Come in dear, and bring your friends with you."

Annie smiled. Same old Nata. "I'm not so little anymore, Nata," she said as she took the blind old seer's hand. "I stand taller than you now."

The group shuffled into the small house. Annie gestured at Nora and Tonan to come closer. "These are my friends, Nora and Tonan. They were nice enough to give me a ride out here."

She turned, taking both of Nata's hands in her own. "Nata, we came for answers. There's so much happening we don't understand. We thought maybe you could help clear up the details."