Adventuring 101: Preperations [Calvin/Tara]

[Calvin Toros]

((OOC: This support takes place right after Order of Execution. Calvin is preparing at the town before they set out.))

Calvin was excited to set out on his first big adventure with all his new friends. Valorian had just told them to prepare for their mission. Calvin separated from the group to spend the vast riches he had earned while playing today. He was surprised on how much money he had earned from just two donors, but at the same time he was disappointed to have to spend some when he was saving up. Calvin didn’t let his thoughts bother him; he just stayed positive and thought about his big adventure. Unfortunately Calvin had NO idea how to shop, but he thought he did.

He skipped back towards the main section of town where he was playing earlier. There were lots of stalls of different sizes selling different sparkling objects. All of which Calvin was attracted to, he zoomed from stall to stall commenting and laughing like in a cartoon, buying a few pointless bits and pieces before stopping and thinking aloud.

“Hmm what can someone like me buy for a big adventure!”

[Tara]

Tara had gone off on her own, not feeling up to talking to so many people at once. She felt so alone now... All her life, she had the company of family, or, later on, at least the serving staff. Always someone to worry to... But no longer. She doubted her family would take her back, they hadn't spoken in ages. The men who killed her husband probably went after the rest of her family next, anyway...

So she wandered through the streets, close to no one, and not wanting to become so. It would be better that way; there would be no one for her enemies to target. No one for her to worry about. She met none of the shopkeeper's eyes, not even wanting to make a primal, physical connection with them. From across the crowd, she could pick out a lute-playing child. She listened to his music, and for a while, she forgot about her worries.

When Calvin had finished, Tara followed him around the market. She watched him, wondering how so little a child could make such music. When he had stopped a thought out aloud, she felt a strange need, a need to talk. "Calvin," she said, "I couldn't help but hear your songs. They were lovely." She smiled at him, a small, fleeting expression, and added, "I can help you get ready for the trip, if you like."

[Calvin Toros]

Suddenly Calvin was approached by a familiar face. It was Tara, the girl they had met just yesterday. Calvin had completely forgotten they saved her from an assassin, he was just happy to see his new friend. Calvin’s face blushed a light pink as he received a compliment for his music, he sure was lucky that everyone seemed to like it, it made him wonder why people on the streets just ignore him. None the less, a compliment is better than none. His face lit up when she offered to help him prepare, finally someone could help to teach him about things.

“Really? Thank you! Oh I can’t wait; I’m so excited I just want to spend all my money! But I’ve never done something like this? What am I supposed to bring?”

[Tara]

Tara smiled at the child. She was pretty sheltered herself, but he seemed to not know the first thing about adventuring. Which she did not see as a bad thing... Children did not belong out in the wild. She wanted to know why he was not at home, under the protection of his parents, but... Such a thought was very tender, Tara knew that not all people came from the sort of family she had.

"I can help you. First off, it is best to not spend all of your money. One a journey with no foreseeable end, there will be many shopping trips. That's something the legends don't tell you about. Anyway, we should head over to the food vendors first. We will want to look for preserved foods. They may not taste the best, but they will keep on a long journey. Meat is easiest to find in a persevered or dried form, but I do recommend trying your hardest to find a wide and colorful selection of dried fruits and vegetables if you can."

Tara took Calvin's hand and the pair walked through the crowd to a group of stalls who's owners were shouting about the quality of their foods and the pedigree of their family recipes. "Here we are, then. Remember, we will be travelling for a few days each way, so try to buy in standard meal sizes."

[Calvin Toros]

Calvin received a gentle smile from Tara; this would be the first time someone showed him what to do, he was anxious to get started. He pulled out a notebook and pencil from his bag and quickly jotted notes, nodding rapidly as Tara spoke, showing that he was absorbing all this new information. When Tara had finished speaking Calvin repeated the facts back to her.

“Save money! Food for length, not for taste, and variety. Ok! I think I understand!”

She took his hand and talked him towards the food stands. It had very contradicting odors, some stands smelled fresh while others were stale. Calvin’s eyes darted from stand to stand as he admired all the different shapes, sizes and colors of the foods available. Tara told him what to do but he was still a little nervous. He pulled out his note book and his eyes sprawled across the pages as he quickly revised. Thankfully working on a farm had given him good enough knowledge of food, so something like this was a good first lesson, working with something easy and familiar is a good start. Biting his tongue in concentration he picked up different types of food. After a few minutes of mumbling and smelling, Calvin’s hands were full. Held in his hand were some carrots, apples and a small ham. It wasn’t a lot, even though Calvin thought it to be so.

“How’s this!? I tried to pick things that could be enjoyed or eaten cold aswell as hot! That way, if we can’t cook them we can still eat them, right?”

[Tara]

Tara smiled at Calvin, saying, "you're very right. Now, once you have experienced more kinds of food, or have more money, you can basically choose whichever you like." While he had been choosing his food, she had been doing some shopping of her own. She had very little money, being unable to taken some from her family's treasury before she had to run.

She choose basic travelling food, mostly hard tack and dried jerky, but she did happen across a rather affordable assortment of dried fruits, including apples, her favorite. She looked back at Calvin and added, "now you should keep an eye out for any wild vegetation on your travels. Even the most prepared traveler can be stuck and run out of food, so know how to scavenge. I traveled a bit with my late husband, so I do know what sort of wild berries can be eaten, as well as how to clean a fresh kill. I can teach you on the road, if you'd like."

[Calvin Toros]

Calvin smiled, he was overcome with pride in himself as he picked the right foods. Paying for the groceries he wrapped them in the paper bag he was given to keep them clean, and then stored them in his bag. His bag was huge and could hold a vast amount of things; unfortunately it was the reason for Calvin’s lack of agility, and even with its large size a bag can only carry so much. Taking out his notepad he continued jotting down notes as Tara taught him the ways of the adventurer! Frankly it fascinated him to find out one could prepare so well and still run out of supplies! Adventuring sure sounded intense. Then Tara offered to show him something out of his knowledge, Calvin had never picked berries or cleaned fresh kills or anything like that, his food was homegrown so he knew it was safe, and his animals were taken away from the farm before they were killed, and even then Calvin didn’t know why they were taken.

“There’s so much to learn! I’ll make sure to pay attention to everything you have to teach me!”

Calvin spoke in an anxious tone.

“So now we have food! What’s next!?”

[Tara]

Tara looked around the town. She ran through a list of supplies they might need through her head... A cape for sleeping on, she had one in her bag, and could see that Calvin was wearing his. Extra clothes... She looked over at a small stall sandwiched between two others. It was selling all kinds of trinkets, though it looked like there were not many people buying. She turned to Calvin and said, "If you have clothes and a canteen of water, you should be all set. Many people travel with luck charms, so there is that to buy if you feel the need. There is a small stall selling what looked like charms over there." she pointed to the stall, but did not walk over.

She has Luth's headband tied around her upper thigh, where it had been since the night of the attack, and that was all she needed. "Though I suppose if you are finished, we could grab something at the inn and talk, Calvin,' she added, almost whispering.

[Calvin Toros]

Calvin waited anxiously for Tara’s response. If preparing for an adventure was this exciting, he couldn’t wait to actually do the adventure! Tara told him to make sure he had clothes and a canteen of water. Calvin’s glorious bag carried his instruments, a canteen of water, a spare change of clothes and as of recently some food aswell. Calvin had been carrying the bag most his life so he was oblivious to the weight of it, even though it slowed him down. It was getting pretty full and it made him wonder with a bag his size, how other people carry supplies and battle at the same time.

“A lucky charm! Cool, if we have luck AND we work together as friends, there’s no way we can fail!”

Calvin turned towards the stall to go buy a charm and took one step forward before coming to a halt. Humming to himself as he thought for a minute, he turned back to Tara with a look of determination

“Luck can’t just be bought! Luck is something you have to earn, I want to find my own luck with my friends!”

His face lit up as Tara offered to eat and talk, if they bought food before they left Calvin could keep his supplies for travelling, such a good idea! This would also be the very first time he talked to Tara on an informal basis.

“Good Idea! I can’t wait to hear all about Tara!”

Calvin grinned childishly before taking he hand and walking towards the Inn.

[Tara]

The pair walked over to an inn and sat by an open bay window. Tara smiled, looked at the people passing by, then looked over to Calvin. Such a young boy, already out in the world. She could hardly believe it. She didn't think she could do such a thing when she was his age. She could hardly take the pressure now! Luth had taught her much about the outside world, including how to take care of one's self. She and Bryan would often to traveling, but... He never let her do the buying or labor, seeing those as a husband's job.

Her smile faded as she thought about the dead men of her past. Father and son, they had both known her too well. Now they were dead because of her. She steadied herself, put her smiled back on, and asked "So, Cal... Is Cal ok, I mean, do you mind me calling you that? I can call you anything you like, Calvin... I wonder, if it is not prying, where are you from?"

[Calvin Toros]

Tara and Calvin returned the blue heron and sat down. Unlike last time they didn’t sit in a shadowed corner of the room, but rather a small table by an open bay window. It was a rather nice spot, the sun from outside shone through giving a gentle warmth and pleasant light. Calvin sat with Tara and stared out the window for a moment as she thought to herself. He didn’t notice her smile changing back and forth, but turned his attention to her when she called him. Her voice put a gentle smile on Calvin’s face. There was something about the woman that Calvin enjoyed. She just seemed to have a pleasant atmosphere around her, she was kind, sweet, caring.

“Oh I’ve never had a nickname before! How exciting! I’m from Sagay… I think or wait, I think it’s called Sakay!”

[Tara]

Traa threw Calvin a curious glance. She thought it strange that he fumbled with the name of the place he grow up. That is, if he did grow up there. Perhaps he was born there, and his parents died, dislocating the poor child... She knew if was not polite to jump to conclusions, but she could not help but to picture the worse these days.

"Forgive me if I am out of my position, but you do not remember your hometown's name? Sakay... I've not heard of it. Did you live there long?" Tara asked quickly. She glanced the the inn's menu while awaiting an answer.

[Calvin Toros]

Calvin was thrown a curious glance. He noticed as she spoke that Tara had a very formal vocabulary list.
Calvin thought to himself for a minute. He was trying to remember the actual name, growing up there all his life why didn’t he know this! All of a sudden it finally popped into his head.

“I remember now! I grew up in Sacae, well that was the name of the big country. I didn’t grow up in a town, I lived on a farm with my parents, near the very very very edge of Sacae! We sold our produce to travelling nomads, but few ever passed. I lived on the farm all my life! In fact only a few weeks ago did I leave home for the very first time, and that’s when I met Isabel! We’ve been best friends ever since then! Sorry… I never went to school… everything I know was taught to me by my parents.”

Calvin glanced at the menu. He wondered what he would order, maybe he would order the same as Tara since she seemed to know a lot more than him about everything.

[Tara]

Tara smiled at Clavin. She looked down at her menu again, and made a decision. "I can go give the barkeep our orders when you are ready," she told the bard. She hoped he would not feel rushed, so she leaned back in her seat and continued, "a farm, huh? I never had such an experience. My family... I suppose it was just the way my parents were raised and married, but my sister and I were only taught skills needed for keeping a home or rearing children. I would have loved to go out in the air and do a day's of good labor before bed..."

[Calvin Toros]

Tara made a decision but didn’t tell Calvin what it was. He took another glance at the menu to try and pick for himself. His eyes scanned the printed paper, nothing particularly interested him, but he knew he needed to eat to keep his strength up before the big journey, especially after what happened at the church. Thinking to himself for a moment, he came to the conclusion that a toasted sandwich worked well.

“Yea, I’ll just have a toasted sandwich please, anything is fine I’m not particularly hungry right now, but I should eat.”

Calvin then listened to Tara’s story. It was very different to Calvin. In fact, this was the first story Calvin had ever heard. He never thought about it before, but he had no idea how normal kids grew up, in fact he didn’t even know he was different.

“Oh you have a sister! I wish I had a brother or sister, we could have plaid music together! Ohh…. HEY! I have an idea! Tara let’s play music together sometime!”