#vesperradiance

ACHIEVEMENT GET !

Yestermonth — First month in yesteryear!

Nick's got to hand it to the place, it's damn consistent in its inconsistency. It's the textbook definition of anachronism - flying cars and horse-drawn carriages and steam trains - and the only things from home that seem to carry over are the fucking annoying ones, like pushy shopkeepers (he comes to loathe walking through the markets) and goddamn public transportation.

The little train that takes you out of Old Yesteryear is, in a word, obnoxious. The fucking Magicman or whatever the hell he calls himself regurgitates some prerecorded spiel over tinny speakers, and it's slow as sin, and on busy days ( whatever constitutes a busy day around here, hell if he knows ) there's denizens shoving into you from all sides. It's not so bad on that front today, but it's still busy enough that the chattering and the narration and the everything just fazes into a dull buzz in his ears.

It takes three times for him to realize that somebody is repeating something near him. A question, maybe, or perhaps they're telling off one of the denizens who can't mind their space well enough. He glances over his shoulder and has to scan for several seconds before finally looking down at the... horse. The... baby horse? Miniature unicorn. Thing.

It's one thing to lose the dagger - and, don't get Rook wrong, she is pissed about losing the dagger, but at least that was... confiscated? Wherever it is, she can find it, that's what she means. 'Stealing it back' doesn't count as stealing, not really, cause she was the original owner and all that ( an argument that only holds up if you choose not to get into technicalities, in this case, but an argument nonetheless ).

But magic? How do you lose magic? It's a part of her, this... thing she was born with, an instinct. You can't steal that. ...Can you? Maybe if she were Bellara ( with her carefully crafted spells woven like intricate machinery ) or Emmrich ( who definitely paid attention during school ) she could explain why she feels no pull in her blood when she lifts a hand to the sky, why no sparks jump to her fingertips when she wills it ( and, boy, does she try to will it ), but she can't. She just knows that, too, is gone.

And yeah, she's also pretty pissed about that.

It's not as if it's just a matter of not trying hard enough to make it work again. Presently Rook stands in the meager front yard of the townhome she's been assigned to, lashing out with a... well, a stick, because she doesn't exactly have the dagger to channel her spells with, but she's always felt it was more about the action itself than the object. Maybe she was wrong? Because all the slashing and spinning and flinging she's doing isn't working one bit, and she's only aware of how stupid she must look ( it's a cooler display on a battlefield when there's lightning to go with it, okay, she swears ) when she realizes one of her... neighbors? Maybe? Has emerged from the house next door.

Her neighbor who kind of looks like a tiny horse. So that's cool.

STANLEY REALLY THOUGHT HE HAD SEEN IT ALL. A man the size of a thimble , a vampire ( ? ) that looked like he was the felt aisle that had walked out of a craft store . . But this might just have taken the cake. As he was making his way to the nearest train station to get to where he was supposed to live , he passed by someone who had also been brought here. At least , he assumed as much. She looked just as confused as he was - only . . she was a horse. An unnaturally colored one , sure , but he was certain he remembered what a horse looked like.

Thank you for completing your paperwork in a timely manner! Now, let's see here…

The eccentric figure takes back the clipboard and reads through your answers carefully, polite interest in his expression as he nods.

"Wow! It's a little funny, actually, you look more like a horse than the horses we have now. I hope that doesn't sound insensitive - you'll see what I mean eventually, it's a compliment. Horses aside, you'll be going to GLACIER'S PEAK, where oddities are as many as the snowflakes falling from the ice-blue sky. The ethereal landscapes almost distract you from the terrifying creatures lurking around the snow. I'm sure you'll do just fine - just watch your step!"

With that, they hand you a gift bag containing the following items:

A house key for EQUINOX AVENUE 102

A palm-sized cellular device, complete with access to the internet!

A singular wrapped butterscotch. Enjoy!