Welcome to Gaia! ::

Though the solitude and quiet of the forest was infinitely more appealing to the reclusive hedge witch than the bustling city, Allison did occasionally have business in town. This time, it was a house call. An old acquaintance had wanted her home charmed against wolves - oh, and since you are here, won't you charm my daughter's new home as well. So it had gone until Alice had been obliged to stay the night in Oldcastle.

Hecate had not been pleased.

Thankfully, her business had been concluded, her purse was heavier, and she was nearly home. She was dearly looking forward to sitting back and relaxing in her own home for a while. Or at least, she had been until she spotted a superior-looking Guardian and a young man sprawled on the ground. Bleeding.

With a wistful sigh, Alice bid her peaceful afternoon farewell and approached the unusual pair. "Not much of a Chosen, are you? Can't even sit your Guardian."

Upon closer inspection, Alice frowned. Whoever he was, the man was in no shape to look after himself...which may have something to do with why he was still flat on his back. Deciding that she was going to get no lucid answer from him, she turned to the Guardian. At least he did not look as though he had crawled out of a gutter.

"Never you worry. I'll get him fixed up in no time," she assured him. "I could use your help carrying him home, though. 'Tisn't far." She eyed the arm the man was waving about. It could keep. "Unless you'd rather I left him here where anything could happen."

If Dardanos were willing, she would help the man onto the Guardian's back and lead them to her cottage - it was only a short walk into the wood.

Glad that she would not have to argue with a distrusting Guardian, Allison simply helped get the man mounted and led them to her cottage. It was a decent sized place for someone who lived alone - there was plenty of room for guests - but it was also simple in its make and perhaps all the more charming for it. If he insisted, then Dardanos could squeeze himself inside, but there were no large, open spaces so he would have to weave around furniture. For Edgar, Alice placed him in the guest bed to rest while she busied herself stoking the fire, heating water, and mixing various herbs.

It did not take too terribly long for her to return to her guest with a tray laden with various objects. First, she gave Edgar a tea to drink - it would help restore some of his energy and sooth the pain. Next, she carefully cleaned his wound, applied a paste to ward off infection and speed the healing process, and bandaged it. The entire process was done quickly, with the ease of long practice.

"Your names?" she asked.

"Allison Driscoll," she said after nodding briskly at Edgar and his Dardanos. It made her wonder what his history was that he would be so amazed at her hospitality. For her, at least, it was only common courtesy. That, or a professional hazard. "You can't have come across many hedge witches, then," was all she said instead.

Satisfied that he was settled for the time, she returned to the kitchen to fix up a meal for the both of them - or the four of them if she counted Hecate and Dardanos as she was wont to do.

"You looked half-dead when I scraped you off the side of the way," she observed, not one to soften her words. What she did not do, however, was ask why that was. Personal histories were the business of those who owned them. If he wanted to share, then he could tell her of his own volition. "You ought to take better care of yourself."

Alice snorted. "Sounds right stupid to me. If we weren't meant to sleep, then we wouldn't feel the need." Honestly. The daft notions some people got into their heads. Even if it were possible for someone to survive without sleep, that did not mean that it was healthy. After all, one could survive without greens, but those that ate them were the healthier for it. She ought to know. After all, "Herb lore. My gift in healing seems to be called upon the most. There are always sick or injured."

Somehow, most of them seemed to wind up on her doorstep. She had lost count of the number of newly Chosen who had stumbled bleary-eyed and half-starved out of the Wood, only to wind up sitting in her living room dazed and confused, sipping a restorative tea and getting patched up and recuperated before returning to the world. It was as though her home had become a way house for the newly Chosen. A place for them to get their bearings before returning to the world with a whole new life. About the only thing Alice seemed to have gotten out of it were several favors owed and a great deal of practice with her healing gift. Enough to turn it from a modest gift into a formidable skill.

"My specialty, however, is charms and wards. Particularly those of the protective nature," she said. It was actually rather rare for anyone to ask. Most were too worried about their own problems to have any real interest in a solitary woman they assumed must be a healer.

She scowled dubiously at his poor excuse and chopped the vegetables a little more vigorously than before. "And if science suggested that the human body could survive for hours out of doors in the winter without proper protection, would you investigate that for yourself as well? Perhaps contract pneumonia and put yourself out of your own misery while you were at it?" Clearly, the man lacked common sense. She could only pray that his particular brand of insanity was restricted solely to himself.

...perhaps he was dropped on his head as a child.

Ah. A topic that was not liable to leave her scolding someone for whom her words were liable to go in one ear and out of the other. At least he seemed willing to properly listen to this topic. "I've warded more houses than anything. Or barns and stables and the like. People are trickier. They move about. For them, you need a talisman of sorts to be worn. Buildings take more power - particularly for quality work - but talismans require more subtlety and finesse." Were he to ask, she would inform him that magic could most certainly not make something out of nothing.

"There are limits, of course, but I can ward against most anything within reason," she told him. "My home, for instance, is protected against danger. Anyone or thing that intends harm against those who dwell here cannot approach." The protection was strong. Very strong. Of course, she could not claim full credit. Generations of her ancestors had labored to make this place a safe haven. Wards, charms, protections, and enchantments were layered thick on this place. The cottage and a fair bit of the surrounding land was essentially impregnable.

"Such protection has become rather popular of late," she continued. "Considering the wolves." Oh, she may not have seen them herself, and they may have retreated to the north for now, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were there. Oh, yes. Them, and their Spirit master. Her face darkened as she recalled his appearance at the Queen's masque. Of all the ill fortune, he had to choose to return in her lifetime. Alice did not look forward to the coming days.