The Believer

Chapter Four: The Ballroom

That evening, the three companions stopped in a Cordian border town, at an inn called 'The Wooden Leg'.  Casey was familiar with the town, which was nothing more than a couple of streets, an inn, one or two shops selling local goods, some small trader businesses selling obscure objects, and a few obligatory shady alleyways. After booking a room for the night, Casey and Wilky went out for a bit of shopping, while Thea remained in the room, saying she'd consider going out later.

Their first stop was a seamstress, to buy Wilky an outfit other than her nightgown and Casey's tattered navy jacket (which was too big for her and only made her outfit that much stranger, but she appreciated the gesture). She ended up with a long-sleeved pink dress, about knee length, and brown leather ankle boots.

"So what's the deal with Thea?" Wilky asked Casey, as they waited at the butcher's to receive a few cuts of meat, to be wrapped in paper and packed for later in their journey. "I mean, you said she was grouchy, but... is she ever... happy?"

"Not that I know," Casey replied. "Maybe just when I'm not looking. Hey, don't worry about it, it's not you, and it's not me. It's just the way she is. I'll bet something hurt her, and she hasn't learned to put her guard down." Casey shook his head sadly.

"But is there anything we can do to help? I mean, what exactly happened to her?"

Casey shrugged. "I don't know, and I certainly don't recommend asking. She doesn't talk about herself. Her name is Thea, and she's travelling to Lorea. That's basically all I know."

The butcher dropped the cuts of meat onto the counter, and Wilky and Casey busied themselves wrapping them up and stowing them carefully in their packs (speaking of which, Wilky had bought herself a pack while out shopping with Casey, that was a reasonable size to carry and had lots of miscellaneous pockets, which is always fun, except when you forget where you put something and aren't even sure if it's in one of those pouches at all or if you put it somewhere else. It's especially annoying if that thing is important. Even so, pockets are fun.).

"Hey, so we were talking about magic earlier," Wilky said, as they left the butcher's and began travelling down one of the few streets of the town. "And I was wondering,"

"Careful," Casey remarked. "That can be dangerous."

Wilky rolled her eyes. "So... I know you said magic uses a slightly different dialect of Orian... but other than that, I'm pretty good at Orian, and so... do you think I could do magic? It's just so cool, the way you can do just about anything- within reason of course, but it's just... well, it's magical."

Casey beamed. "Sure you can do magic! You're older than most start their training, but that's no problem! You've learned the basic dialect of Orian, so all you need now is someone to guide you in turning the language into magic! Oh, and a channel point, but I can probably help you with that..."

"Channel point?"

"Yeah, a channel point. Something to channel your magic through. It's the reason we don't speak Orian and just tear the universe apart with our words! Handy, huh?"

Wilky nodded, eyes wide. "Could that really happen? The universe tearing apart?"

Casey laughed. "I don't know... might be difficult, and it would take a lot of magicians who really hated the world. Anyway, a channel point is usually a wand, but it can be something else, usually something wooden. Magic likes wood, it seeps into it like snow on a hot coal. Except the coal wouldn't absorb the snow, it would just melt it...so more like... like..."

"I get it," Wilky said, smiling, but Casey was determined to find a simile that fit.

"Like butter on warm bread! Yes, perfect. Well, you get it anyway. Don't know why that happens, but it does! So wands, yes, wands are made of wood. Also staffs. Those are the two most common, though you do see other things sometimes. One woman I saw once turned a wooden shoe into her channel point. I don't know that there was a point to that other than proving she could. It was actually interesting, because she didn't hold it like a wand or a staff, she just wore it, and had to point at people with her feet. Clever, huh? Sorry! I'm rambling again. It's just that I don't get a chance to tell people about magic very much! Usually I only meet other magicians who already know all of this, and Thea clearly doesn't give a fig whittle when it comes to magic."