March Catch All, open

[kiss_it_better]

🧙 WHO: Chang Geng and you
⚔️️ WHAT: Quests and other open stuff
🕒 WHEN: Throughout March
🗺️ WHERE: Around the town
⚠️ WARNINGS: None so far



i: Run Snagglefoot Run

[A thief, though his magic isn't so suited to this he has other skills at his disposal. He pulls out a map from (a magical hammer space) pouch. He pointed at a spot on it after a quick glance.]

We can head him off here and set up an ambush.



ii: Farmer-R-Us

[He'd helped out on a farm or two during his four years travels so this was a little familiar.

At some point, when his sleeves and the heat had gotten to be too much, he'd stripped off the top part of his robes to tie around his waist as he worked on getting the hay into bales.

Though when it came time to casting magic on the hay he'd dressed properly and looked incredibly interested as he watched the hay's colour turn into a clean, golden colour.]

I wonder if this magic can be used on other things?

[Like water, for example.]


iii: some shopping is in order

[At some point, he needed to get more clothes. Ready made fashion isn't something he's used to so he browses a store with interest...though the styles were all a little strange to him.]

Surely not everyone fits into a standard size... [He looks thoughtful as he rubs a bit of fabric between his fingers.] Though I suppose it is easier to modify an outfit than to make one from scratch. [He lets go with a thoughtful sort of sound. Perhaps you're a stranger and maybe he's talking to himself but he does turn to you as if looking for a reply.

But he can also be found later on, in a different store just looking at fabric, asking questions about the ones he doesn't recognize the material of. One such question that might get directed your way is:]

Would this be a good fabric for summer?

Comments

ii

[ladyemperor]

[Farming was something Meiniang has never done which is exactly why she'd gone to go and take a look. This is the first time in a very long while that she's put down her all white clothing to wear something else. Plain, light colours with not much adornment but even then it feels like a betrayal, somehow. So she keeps a knot of white cord in her hair as she brushes the back of one hand across her forehead, leaving a streak of dirt behind as she straightens up to look at the hay that is now bright and clean.]

...Have you not tried to use it on other things? [Because she feels like that should be the first thing to try?

Meiniang's dragon, "Little One" for lack of a name that wouldn't somehow be seen as disrespectful, is happily nosing at the hay and ready to dive into the depths of it.]

[kiss_it_better]

I have only read about this magic a little. It's advanced magic that I am nowhere near being able to perform yet. [Hence why he hasn't spent as much time reading up on the details of its use.] Even now, I think I can only perform it with help from others.

[ladyemperor]

[There's a lot she still needs to wrap her head around with what he says but what catches her attention first is obvious:]

There... is somewhere to read about magic? [That's news to her. But then again anything is news when you've just been at home.]

[kiss_it_better]

Yes, at the library. [And public libraries are such a novel thing. Perhaps they should make one in Great Liang.] Anyone can go there to read books. You can also take classes about magic.

[ladyemperor]

A library-

[The only library she's ever seen was the one in the Imperial palace and to think that all that knowledge could now be at the fingertips of anyone who wanted it. She smiles a little for what feels like the first time in a long while.]

That sounds wonderful. Where is it?

[kiss_it_better]

[He offers the directions to the building.]

It's free to go there to read...but if you become a full-time student you will be paid for doing so. It's a very generous offer, in my opinion.

[ladyemperor]

Generous, maybe. But surely it's best for everyone when those who seek knowledge are able to obtain it. Are you a full-time student, then?

[Because she's kind of considering it herself. It's not jovial or jolly, fitting for a widow. And she's always liked being at the library.]

[kiss_it_better]

That seems to be the same stance this place has taken.

[To encourage learning and mastery, that is.]

I was but I've been working at a clinic to learn more hands on healing skills and lately it's been difficult to balance both.

[So he's only a student part-time now.]

[ladyemperor]

It is a good stance. [And one she wished were taken back home too. The Tang Dynasty could use more people who wished to seek knowledge and who were encouraged to do so.]

Learning healing is also a good idea. Is it because of the type of magic you have?

[kiss_it_better]

I did arrive with healing magic but I have also studied medicine before I got here. It's good to be able to continue with that.

[ladyemperor]

So you are a doctor? [How serendipitous that he'd also gotten healing magic.]

[kiss_it_better]

Only half a doctor. My teacher said she hasn't yet mastered the craft as such I cannot call myself a doctor yet.

[ladyemperor]

Healer, then. [Perhaps not as official a title, but if he's helping others he deserves to have his efforts recognized, right?]

[kiss_it_better]

Healer-in-training.

[Because he isn't that good with healing magic just yet.]

[ladyemperor]

At the very least there's nothing stopping me from calling you "sir", right? [especially in the absence of a name.]

Though you must pardon me for my rudeness. [With that said she clasps her hands and does an elegant court bow to him.]

I am Wu Meiniang.

[kiss_it_better]

Wu Meiniang?

[...wasn't that the name of the woman who would go on to become Empress Wu? Perhaps it's just a coincidence.

His surprise showed only as a brief flicker in his expression lasting no more than a heart beat.

Then he also returned her courtly bow.]

I am Li Min. Miss Wu, if it's not too bold of me to ask, where are you from?

[ladyemperor]

[She tenses when she sees that look of surprise, brief as it might be. He knows her and it's happened often enough that her first thought is that he has also heard of the prophecy.

Especially when he introduces himself as Li Min. Is he a relative of the Emperor? She forces herself to still, to let nothing show on her face.]

I am from the Greater Tang, and my birthplace is in the Wenshui County. And yourself, Mister Li?

[kiss_it_better]

[Greater Tang? Not Great Liang? But Wenshui County...

Perhaps she is from another world, one similar but different from his own.

He sees the change in her expression and the way she holds herself. In response, he smiles gently.]

I grew up in Yanhui Town, a little place near the Northern Border of Great Liang.

[ladyemperor]

[Great Liang? That's a country she isn't familiar with.

The smile, at least, seems kind.]

...Great Liang... of the Central Plains?

[kiss_it_better]

Yes. Is Great Tang also known as the Central Plains?

[ladyemperor]

It is. But I have never heard of a Great Liang.

[kiss_it_better]

Then perhaps the places we come from are not the same, merely similar.

[ladyemperor]

[She can't hide the way she relaxes a little upon hearing that. Merely similar, he says.]

...then why did it seem like you recognized my name?

[kiss_it_better]

[He could lie. But lying didn't seem like the right choice here.

So he doesn't.]

There is a historical figure with a similar name in Great Liang. She also came from the same region as you.

[ladyemperor]

[She isn't sure she wants to know why that figure was considered important enough to be written about. Besides, she knows better than anyone that you can write anything... that doesn't make any of it true.]

...What... did that person do?