The next day was boring, to say the least. The three of us rangers had to follow Mr. Crane around while he got more acquainted with the townspeople of Sleepy Hollow. Lloyd and I almost never talked to them, and Valen never even made the attempt. It wasn’t part of the assignment, I guess. But all of this running around just to have Mr. Crane get to know the people of the town.
The highlights of the day were few and seldom. The only thing I really can recall was stopping at the Van Tassel house, which was the home to the biggest farm in the tiny town. A young woman answered the door, who had some kind of effect on Mr. Crane. We were allowed into the house and waited in one of the rooms.
The house was as big as the Daunderfell manor in Crossroads, at least if it was still standing. While we waited for the man of the house to come meet us, the young woman, whose name revealed to be Katrina, served us tea. Mr. Crane seemed far to interested with Katrina Van Tassel than his own tea. Lloyd and I didn’t care much for tea, and I swore I saw Valen pour in some liquid into his. It was hard to tell with his dexterous ranger hands.
After a couple of minutes, the man of the house came to meet us. He had his eyes on Mr. Crane and Valen most of the time, probably because they were adults. That, and Valen didn’t want Lloyd and I to talk. I wasn’t exactly complaining. Baltus Van Tassel reminded me of a combination of Orin and Caroline. He meant well, but his approach and demeanor weren’t all that admirable. I was glad that I didn’t have to have conversation with him.
I noticed that Mr. Van Tassel dressed similarly to Mr. Crane, minus the differences in color. I had heard that parts of Andurovia were influenced in the culture of Mentings, before the war. Sleepy Hollow must have been one of those places. I had also been told, from Charleston, that other big towns and cities in the pastoral regions, which comprised the Durovian League, were also influenced by Mentings. Hurstings was often referred to as the second Mentings, just a century behind. I would have to visit those places.
Hurstings was a place I had a better chance of visiting, being a ranger. But Mentings was locked down. No going in or out. Thomas and Caroline were supposedly in there now, doing who knows what. If Orin’s token could show me what Elena was doing, then maybe it would work for them. I would need to be by myself if I wanted to try it.
The rest of the day was pretty boring. We stopped by the Van Brunt residence. Baltus Van Tassel had spoken highly of an Abraham that lived there. My opinion may have been a little different. Mr. Crane knocked on the door, but as soon as it was open and he introduced himself, it got slammed. The Van Brunt’s must have not been very social people.
At the end of the day, we had learned that there was to be a harvest festival soon. It was that time of the year when the harvest would come and winter would soon follow, forcing people into their homes to wait out their cold war. The winters in Andurovia brought in a considerable amount of snow. It was worse in the Andoan mountains. Mentings was sometimes referred to as the “city of ice” during the winter season. The marshlands was relatively unaffected by winter, except for an increase in fog. Strange, it was already bad enough. I would hate to imagine what it would be like during winter.
“The people are quite simple here in Sleepy Hollow,” Mr. Crane noted. He was right. The Van Tassels, among others lived in a simple agrarian lifestyle. The only thing they had to do was farming, which kept them busy for most of the year. Crossroads was partly agrarian, but had enough variety in the economy to provide other businesses, like shops. I wasn’t sure how Mentings or Hurstings worked, especially with their size, but I could imagine they had the means to provide armies with weapons and armor. “A school is just the thing for this quiet little town.”
“Fine by me,” Valen said as we headed for the tavern. It would serve as a base of operations and safe house while we watched over Mr. Crane and the establishment of his school. “Just as long as it gets done.”
