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---//setting

Recovery was always the hardest thing, Crev recalled once being told, when it came to any sort of adverse magical influence.

The mage had made his way quietly into the town only a week prior; pale-skinned, with his front an ugly mess of putrified blood. Despite his appearence, which must have made those who had seen him think they'd seen the dead walking the earth, he had felt perfectly healthy. Wondering, uncertain, and in no small amount of shock, of course. But there had been none of the sharp pains that had began to arise in the days to follow, nor the nightmares that plagues his waking mind. Simply... confusion.

He had been fortunate. Upon seeing his ruined self wandering lost and sheep-like down the wandering roads of the town, the owner of the local inn, a man by the name of Prachen, had been good enough to give him a room- and, when he tried to pay with a strange, foreign coin, the innkeep had not only been good enough to take the worthless money, but gave him back some local currency as change. A good man, to be sure.

And now, time had passed. He couldn't properly recall most of the days he'd spent, since his arrival at the inn; if the concerned looks that the locals gave him every time he passed signified anything, Crev most likely didn't want to. He could remember the pain well enough, and his mind sought no further details than that.

There was a new scar that sliced across his chest, unsurprisingly; one that ached and stung and never stopped. The heavy silver cross around his neck, one of the few artifacts he had come into the town with, had managed a strange numbing effect on the pain- but it still couldn't banish it altogether. Crev wasn't fully sure that anything would ever be able to cure him of it... it was merely a symptom, after all, and no amount of treatment would cure himself of the source.

He had awoken early that morning- he couldn't manage to sleep once the sun had risen. For some reason, it seemed so much brighter here, and all of the people so much darker than he was used to. His own skin, naturally a faded peach tone, made him feel even more awkward and out of place than his alien accent and mannerisms did. He ought to just be grateful, he figured, that he had found himself someplace with other humans, and a remarkably similar culture to his own... but it was those details, those little details, that irritated him and made life impossible. He didn't like to stand out.

Crev had adapted quickly to the local clothing style, at the very least; since his own outfit had been soiled and torn, Prachen had seen to replacing it. He had even gotten the color scheme right, based on his old clothing; dark blues and blacks, the blue matching his eyes perfectly while the black blended to his hair, with the occasional thread of silver to complement the cross that, unsurprisingly, was something of a permanent accessory for the pain-haunted young man. The tunic was a bit ill-fitting, somewhat large; but at least it did him a good turn in covering up his thin-set frame, so perhaps that wasn't such a problem. The breeches and boots fit perfectly, though they were both a bit worn- not that Crev especially cared about his appearence, mind, but he did like to think he didn't look like he had picked his pants up in a pile of unwanted things in an alleyway.

All things considered, though... everything had gone remarkably well. He was in one piece, for all intents and purposes; his spellbook, a heavy black tome that refused to open for any hands other than its master's, and his white oak crossbow, given to him by a one-time friend before they'd all abandoned him, had somehow found their way to this place with him. He had been certain that they'd been left behind on that battlefield... he'd seen them there, himself.

But there was no use to question his good fortune. The crossbow was slung on his back, his wild black hair pulled out of the way; the book tucked under his arm, as was the simplest and most proper way of carrying it. No matter how quietly he closed the door of his room behind him, he couldn't avoid tipping Prachen off to his movement; the innkeeper shouted a cheery greeting to him, which was returned with a small smile and nod as Crev took his leave of the room, stepping out into the sun-singed afternoon.

Finally being well enough to get around had its price, and that was the fact that if he did not take advantage of his health in order to wander the town and look at least remotely productive, people began to express concern over him. Though that was a strange and rather satisfying concept for Crev, - people being worried for him, instead of about him, - it was also extremely uncomfortable. And, given that he had nothing else to do, anyway... well, at least if he took himself around the town, he might learn a little bit more about the nuances of this new place he had come to, right? It seemed reasonable enough, anyway....

Crev, of course, was having nowhere near the good fortune that Candence managed, when it come to blending into the surroundings.

With every few steps, another person would greet him - "'Ey, there, stranger! Yer looking healthier... still a couple shades from good-lookin', though!" - then chuckle at their supposed wit in referencing the mage's naturally paler looks with his passing illness. And Crev, of course, could do nothing more than smile and give a hollow laugh, exchanging in brain-numbing banter for a few seconds before making an excuse to move. And meet with the next townsfolk.

It wasn't that they were bad people, of course. The young man might well owe his life to the nuturing of the denizens of this town- no doubt, that accounted a fair amount for why he was so willing to humor them. But, even though he'd scarcely had any time at all with which to deal with these people... he was already baffled by their simplicity. Were they stupid? He didn't really think so... they were just... villagers. None too different from the yokels back at his own home, save that they didn't have the same history with him that had caused so many troubles in his hometown. Crev was sure that, if he were to get to know each one person here individually, he'd see some redeeming trait in each of them... but as for the moment, the greater number of the town's population were stereotyped as a general amorphous blob in his head, speaking with the local nigh-incomprehensible accent and making stale jokes whenever they saw him.

Still... he was grateful, for their kindness and their graciousness. And, because he was grateful, he would bear them with an honest-looking smile. If nothing else, it was a distraction, and he was happy for any bit of attention that could be drawn away from the questions weighing so heavily on his mind.

Tediously working his way through the town, doing his best to dedicate the streets and buildings to memory even as the locals got their fill of the stranger that had caused so much fuss in their midst, Crev was searching quietly for the one thing he desired beyond all else. Where in this little town could he find a library?; he needed a place of texts, filled with the history of this place and the culture and the customs, and above all, the magic that he so deperately needed to find, now. The answers he now needed... why couldn't he find them? Even the tiny village he had come from had maintained a small library, his secret retreat. He couldn't imagine a proper town without one... it would be like a drink without any buzz to it, little more than stale and discolored water. What was the heart of a town, if not in the lore it kept?

This wasn't working. He didn't know where the library was; and failing to seek it out on his own meant he had only one option left, that of asking a local for directions.

Hiding a grimace, Crev quickly scanned the people in the immediate area, searching for a likely-looking face. No, none of those people openly staring would be the sort to spend their time in the pursuit of knowledge; nor the ones that spoke loudly out to him, surely laughing with him and not at him as they delivered their latest version of the tired old lines. But then....

Tanless skin. That signified a large amount of time spent indoors... reading, perhaps?

Crev approached the red-headed woman quietly, nodding his head in greetings. "Excuse me... perhaps you would be able to help me," he spoke, his heavy accent distorting his words curiously into something icy and luxorious. "I don't properly know my way around here, and I was hoping that you might do me the favor of directing me to your town's library?" He brought his eyes to meet hers inquisitively, with a small, almost embarrassed smile. Having to ask directions to a library... it seemed like he ought to be able to just naturally detect any concentration of books within a quarter-mile, given his love of them. But still... whatever got fresh research material between his hands the fastest was acceptable, even if he felt that it meant he had to sacrifice a bit of his book-lover's pride for it.

Crev somewhat doubted that this girl could be from somewhere quite as far away as he was. Then again... he wasn't quite sure as of yet, precisely how far away from home he was. Hence why he needed to seek out answers, as soon as possible.

"Ah, is that so?" he replied musingly, his voice untouched by whatever stirrings that might have arisen from the eye contact with this woman. His own eyes mirrored hers, but in a world of shadows; midnight blue, one might lose themselves in them, not by any virtue or beauty, but simply for lack of finding an exit in those deep shadows.

His fingers grazed the ebony book in his arms, almost longingly so, as he considered his options. He felt no particular need to meet with the mayor of this town... survival instincts were rooted too deeply to ignore, and any sort of official figure had meant unpleasant things for him in the past. Though he was certain that the man would stock quite the interesting set of books, they were almost certain to be nothing that Crev would be interested in; he would be better off going to the second library that this woman had mentioned.

"How far downriver is the proper library? Will I know it, if I see it?" He did his best to exude charm and kindness, as if worried that speaking too harshly might scare this fragile girl before him away. He was not particularly good at it, mind... Crev lacked somewhat in any social skills that didn't involve reasoning and martyrism. But he still gave his best effort to inflect his tone in a harmless and friendly manner, and keep his smiling expression from slipping into its usual expressionless stare.

No matter how hard he tried, however, the gentleness simply could not enter his eyes. It was perhaps for that reason that he broke away from her gaze, focusing his attention a moment to the side before reorienting his vision blankly on her, making no true eye contact with this second attempt at politeness.

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

(I''m not exactly sure how to get in here either... I expressed that in the general OOC thread, but nobody saw, I suppose... ah well, maybe me and Annie''s characters can come into together xd )

The mage had moved no further than a few steps from where he and Cadence had spoken, to a place clothed in the shadow of a nearby building. There was no use, after all, in waiting until his skin might burn in the sunlight to start taking preventative measures; though he thought he might one day achieve the same protective tan as the others in this area (if, of course, he should linger in this place long enough), he was as of yet inclined to had difficulty coping with the intense daylight.

Awaiting the return of his guide, Crev reflected a moment upon the one he had just met. She seemed quiet... shy, perhaps. He was reminded strangely of a porcelain doll, something delicate and lovely. She was lovely, he supposed; not to his own tastes, which leaned more towards those of a more subtle appearence than the brilliantly red-haired woman, but if one were to look beyond the plain and modest clothing, they would be likely to enjoy what they saw there.

Despite her apparent shyness, however, the woman had seemed fairly straightforward. After all, she didn't so much as know his name, and still had offered to lead him to the library. No... offered was too gentle a word for it, he realized. She'd assumed he'd come along; no offer had been made, she had simply told him what would happen and set things in motion. He had not objected, true - he had no reason to, as this served his current purposes nicely. But it was still worth noting... though she had appeared to be deferential, submissive even, she certainly had her ways to do as she pleased.

It took Crev a moment to shake away from his thoughts upon the approach of the blue-eyed woman. Bringing a polite smile back on his solemn face, he nodded to her in rewelcoming. "I'm afraid that I forgot my manners, before," he spoke instanteously, not giving the woman a chance to speak before continuing on to say, "My name is Crev. I don't believe that I got your name, miss...?"