Wayfaring Stranger (ATTN: Anybody)

2 days after

Rodrick was staying in a little camp outside Kallos, he didn't know where to go and where to stay, no clue where to even start with his mission which is the main reason he's there in the first place. It's night and the campfire is lit with the fire made with Rodrick's fire. He's trying to fix his "Focus" device to see if he can even contact with his family, but no luck, he needs the materials that this world doesn't have...

Rodrick: "Goddammit..." He says as he puts his device back in his pocket and stares at the bonfire.

It's only been 2 days since he got here, and his first interaction in this village didn't go exactly well... If only he could go back and fix that misunderstanding...
Rodrick tries not to think to much about it and he looks at the sky, at all the constellations in the night... This is the perfect ambience to play some guitar, so he makes one with his fire powers and tunes it, making sure that all the strings sound perfect.
And then, he starts playing one of his favorite: "Wayfaring Stranger"

OOC: The song he's playing is this one:
And the "Focus" device is like the Focus from the Horizon Zero Dawn saga but as a Sheikah device.

Days had passed since that night when Ozzy had come to him with the death brand. That had left him exhausted, and he had neglected his study at the offering cave in the forested foothills beyond Kallos’s west end.

This evening he wouldn’t let his study fall short. Taking up his shade-stone, and Eluthanai lamp he set off for the woods.

Through the rise and fall of the hilled land and the twisting forest trail he could smell the fire well before he could see it. Camping in these woods wasn’t so uncommon but the sent that came with it was. The stranger who’d stumbled into Iris’s back room.

His fur bristled. By the little shade’s power he could feel the presence of… an alien magic. Something unfamiliar to these lands. He didn’t know of any magic like the feeling this goat charred, not even from beyond the Sea Wall.

Before long a song rose in the cool night air. Erchon turned from his planned route to the cave and followed the song to the camp of the uncanny stranger.

“Nice evening for a camp,” Erchon said as he came into the the light of the fire.

???: “Nice evening for a camp.”

Once he heard a sound coming from behind, he got startled and made a sword with his magic, which he pointed at him. Once he took a closer look he realized who was talking to him.

Rodrick: *Relieved sigh.* "It's you..." He faded the sword away and sat back on the log, watching the fire. "So, what brings you to my... 'home'?"

OOC: The sword that he creates with the fire magic is the Master Sword from The Legend of Zelda (because he comes from Hyrule)

Erchon didn’t bother hiding the little shade the way he might when approaching a stranger. The heightened sense his familiar gave him was too much to ignore when approaching someone like this.

He raised his hands when a sword which shone a faint blue light yet vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

“It’s you,” the stranger said. “So what brings you to my… ‘home’?”

Erchon frowned, they may not have had the best of introductions, but xenia demanded hospitality offered to strangers by custom.

“You're not far from one of my people’s sacred sites. I’d planned to go there to make an offering to the Old Powers, but perhaps you’re in more need of it than they are?”

He opened his pack and withdrew a small loaf of bread and a salted fish. “I have a little wine too if you’d share a meal with me?”

Rodrick was offered wine from that stranger he saw a few days ago. He doesn't drink much, but this could be an excellent opportunity to fix things and reconcile...

Rodrick: "Well, I'm not much of a drinker but... Fuck it, I could use some right now." He accepted his offer and let the stranger sit on one of the logs next to the fire.

They were a bit silent for a few seconds, but Rodrick decided to break the silence to apologize. He needed to do it...

Rodrick: Sigh."Listen, I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened a few days ago... It's not the kind of things I use to do... And I hope that your friend is doing better, he seemed like he was having a tough time."

Erchon handed the wine to the stranger, and broke the bread and fish as the goat drank.

The wayfarer sighed before speaking again, "Listen, I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened a few days ago... It's not the kind of things I use to do... And I hope that your friend is doing better, he seemed like he was having a tough time."

Ozzy’s situation on the night he had first met this traveler had been dire, though now the scars on the wolf’s mind were more concerning than the scar of the death mark.

“My friend’s recovering,” Erchon said, his voice low and warm, “Given time he’ll be fine.”

He hesitated, not sure what to say about Ozzy’s situation, at least to this stranger. If anyone were to share what happened it should be Ozzy.

“He’d had a terrifying encounter with a human magician, and rightly panicked. Still he’ll be fine, now at least.”

“My name’s Erchon by the way,” he said, realizing he hadn’t introduced himself to the stranger. “You seem to be a long way from home. I’m afraid I forgot your name in the chaos of the other night. What brings you to Kallos?” Erchon asked.

???: “He’d had a terrifying encounter with a human magician, and rightly panicked. Still he’ll be fine, now at least.”

"So that's why he panicked..." He thought to himself.

Erchon: “My name’s Erchon by the way, you seem to be a long way from home. I’m afraid I forgot your name in the chaos of the other night. What brings you to Kallos?”

Rodrick: "Well, first of all, my name is Rodrick Dreemurr, prince and Hero of Hyrule. It's a long story. And secondly, I was in a mission to find an ancient relic called 'Apple of Eden' that is known to be in this world. It has some fragments of history that maybe could reveal something about other worlds."

So Rodrick was his name. Erchon vaguely remembered him saying that the other night, but of all the details the price had mentioned the phrase, “in this world,”

It struck him as odd enough that he almost forgot the rest of what Rodrick had said. He let his mind relisten to the goat’s story.

“I’ve never heard of the ‘Apple of Eden’,” Erchon said, “Not this side of the Sea Wall at least… but other worlds? You’re not from the Green Moon are you?”

Erchon: “I’ve never heard of the ‘Apple of Eden’, not this side of the Sea Wall at least… but other worlds? You’re not from the Green Moon are you?”

"Green Moon? What is he talking about? Maybe he meant the planet Earth??"

Rodrick: "I... don't even know what are those things. But to be clear, when I'm talking about 'another world' I mean as another dimension. Basically, a copy of this world but with substantial changes; the further the gap between dimensions, the bigger the changes." Rodrick tried to explain how dimensions worked as well as he could. "Does it make sense to you?"

“Hmm…” Erchon hummed trying to make sense what Rodrick was saying. His usage of the word ‘dimension’ was utterly different from how Erchon understood it. Metron was the infernal word; it meant length or height.

There were folk tales of people who bridged the distance between the world and one moon or the other, but those stories were only stories.

“The only ‘gap’ between worlds I know of is the distance between the moons above and the lands below. Or perhaps you mean one wandering stars? There are travelers who believe those are worlds like this one.”

“Wait? What do you mean you don’t know what the Green Moon or Sea Wall are?” Of course someone from a wandering star wouldn’t know the Sea Wall nor the Green and Silver moons. Still what were those notions but travelers tales.


He knew there was something alien about the magic Rodrick used but his story made even less sense.

OOC: So Erchon’s culture doesn’t have a name for the planet he lives on. He simply calls it “The World.” When he says “Powers of the Earth,” he really means earth as in dry land. I capitalize Powers of the Earth because they are divine powers. If he were speaking his native language he might say either kosmos meaning world, or ge meaning land. (You may have noticed that the Infernal language is just Greek)

Erchon: “The only ‘gap’ between worlds I know of is the distance between the moons above and the lands below. Or perhaps you mean one wandering stars? There are travelers who believe those are worlds like this one.”

Rodrick: "I think it's more like the second thing you said, at least is as far as I know..."
"Still, I'm very intrigued to know what the 'Green Moon' or 'Sea Wall' are."

Erchon: “Wait? What do you mean you don’t know what the Green Moon or Sea Wall are?”

Rodrick: "I mean that I came here only a few days ago and the very little I know is from the quick jobs I've been doing to gain some money. Is it something I should be concerned about?" He said with curiousity, it looked like Erchon was a bit confused about Rodrick not knowing that.

The Little Shade bobbed and chartered curiously around Rodrick. Feeling the facets foreign magics the goat carried with him.

“Hmmm…” Erchon hummed listening to Rodrick speak as the feeling of the Shade’s utter bewilderment filled him. “Gods you really are another world aren’t you? Not even a Power of the Earth knows what you are.” he said gesturing to the Little Shade borne from the very stone of Kallos.

Erchon looked up. A few stars and a fraction of the Silver Moon could be just seen through the treetops. “The Green moon will be entering its ‘new’ phase soon and sets early in the evening.” Erchon said. “Bluegreen moon would be a better way to describe it, its face changes as it turns, unlike the silver one that shows us one. In a few days it will rise again and hang like a crystal orb in the sky, bright with its oceans and forests.

“A lot of stories claim the first home of the elves was up there. Though if it was ever possible to travel between the world and moon it hasn’t been done since before the days of the Empire.

“As for the Sea Wall, it's a long narrow band of mountains that divides the north and south oceans. Protected by dragons it must be crossed to trade or travel between the halves of the world.”

A little black orb started rotating with curiousity around Rodrick, and he really seem to like it.

Rodrick: "Oh! Hey there little buddy!" He chuckled.

Erchon: “Gods you really are another world aren’t you? Not even a Power of the Earth knows what you are.”

"So that's what this is..." He thought with curiousity.

Erchon: He looked up and pointed to the moon. “The Green moon will be entering its ‘new’ phase soon and sets early in the evening. Bluegreen moon would be a better way to describe it, its face changes as it turns, unlike the silver one that shows us one. In a few days it will rise again and hang like a crystal orb in the sky, bright with its oceans and forests."

Rodrick: "I see... So the Green Moon is just a phase of the moon rotation, that makes much more sense that I thought." He chuckles again.

Erchon: “A lot of stories claim the first home of the elves was up there. Though if it was ever possible to travel between the world and moon it hasn’t been done since before the days of the Empire. As for the Sea Wall, it's a long narrow band of mountains that divides the north and south oceans. Protected by dragons it must be crossed to trade or travel between the halves of the world.”

Rodrick: "Woah... All of this sounds like something taken from a fantasy novel, it all sounds amazing." He says, thrilled by all the things Erchon is telling him about this world. "If only I could save all this information in my Focus..."

"I see... So the Green Moon is just a phase of the moon rotation, that makes much more sense that I thought." Rodrick chuckled.

“What? No,” Erchon responded, “There are two moons, the Silver Moon which is in the sky now, and the Green Moon, which set at dusk at dusk so I can’t show it to you now. When it’s close to full it will rise in the sky at night and you’ll see it. It's thought to be green because it’s covered in vegetation like the world. It even appears to go through seasons like the forests here.”

Comparing his world to a fantasy novel made Erchon laugh, but there was was something he mentioned that caught Erchon’s interest. “What’s your focus?”


OOC: So a new moon is up during the day time which is why solar eclipses happen during a new moon. A waning crescent moon is up for most of the day and sets just after dusk. This is why Erchon says you can’t see the Green Moon at night right now because it is waning and set near sunset.

Anyhow, to be clear, there are two moons. One rocky and dead like our moon, and another with an atmosphere, water and plant life. The Silver moon is smaller and orbits closer, and is tidally locked, while the Green Moon is a little larger but orbits further out and has a normal day/night rotation so the side pointing toward the planet changes as well as normal lunar phases.

Erchon: “What’s your focus?”

Rodrick: "Oh, it's a little device from my world." He takes a triangle shaped object out of his pocket. "It has multiple functions, like a communication system or an scanner to say a few. Or at least it had, because right now it's broken and I don't know how I can fix it, and I've tried almost everything at this point..."

The word device made Erchon think of clockwork, or a saw mill, but the triangle Rodrick produced looked nothing like he’d expected, and again he knew the meaning of the words the goat used but in the context he was lost. ‘Scanner’ could have meant a sentry or lookout. Though as a communication tool Erchon wondered if it was a sendingstone like human wizards were said to carry.

“Is it magic?” Erchon asked, and for once he wasn’t sure. He got no sense from the Shade that it was yet the otherworldliness of this being had him doubting if he could tell for sure. “I wonder if my people's magic could fix it?”

Erchon: “Is it magic?” The gnoll said with confusion, he didn't understand some of the things that Rodrick was saying.

Rodrick: "Well... Sort of??" He said unsure how to respond to that. "The technology used is very very ancient, but I don't know if it has some magic in it. Maybe it could have..." He scratched his chin with curiousity.

The technology he had back in his world was found millennia ago, and he designed his Focus with that same technology and some mix of manual coding. As far as he read in the history books, it could have magic, but that was just an unproven theory.

Erchon: “I wonder if my people's magic could fix it?” He asked, wondering if he could help with his problem.

Rodrick: "Actually, that's something I haven't tried yet... Do you know someone who could fix it with the magic from here?" Rodrick said with hope that he could get it fixed, as that was the only way he had to repair it.

‘Technology’ Rodrick had said. The word meant something both similar in both the Common tongue and something somewhat different in the Infernal ‘τεχνολόγος’ it was seen in the magic lore books his mother kept. At its core the word meant a well studied art or skill, like something crafted. The makers of clockworks had started using the word to describe the skill used to build their machines, though Infernal used the word for anything from basket weaving to rhetoric.

“Our magic is very different from the kind I feel present with you, though practiced technique in any art can produce magic.” The magic of skilled crafting was one thing though without the right skill the results could be dodgy.

“That being said,” He continued, “I don’t think anyone in this world will know enough about your focus to fix it.”

He sighed. Magic was deeply useful, but without practice and knowledge it was worse than useless.

He looked again at the focus and up at Rodrick “Still maybe, if you were to study our magic you might learn enough to make it work with your technology.”

Rodrick seemed very interested in what Erchon proposed, maybe learning magic from this world would help him adapt to it in a quicker way.

Rodrick: "I doubt that I could mix my Focus with this magic, but still I find very interesting all of this and I think it could be useful... I'll try to give it a chance someday if I can." He took a sip of the wine that Erchon gave him, with all this chitchat he forgot to even touch the drink. After taking a short gulp he spoke again. "I hope it doesn't cost much though, I barely can support myself economically."

For the past days, Rodrick had to make some quick jobs around the village for a few coins, even if the jobs were a bit weird. With that little money he was able to buy some food for himself and nothing much.

“Cost?” Erchon was caught off guard by the idea. “Our study of magic is more of a family tradition here. There are schools in distant lands for wizards and such, but here? How did Kestrel put it…” He trailed off trying to remember what the human wizard had called the magics found among the Kalloi. “rural witchcraft.” He said when he remembered the wording.


“My ma’s a witch,” he continued, “I’ve learned a little from observing but normally a man wouldn’t be allowed to study magic here. But my sister has been willing to teach me in secret… my ma found out, but so far she hasn’t stopped me. I could probably talk Kalliope into teaching you too.”

When Erchon told him that learning magic here didn't cost anything, Rodrick sighed relieved. What were the odds of ending up in a place with free education in magic?

When Erchon offered to let her sister teach him magic he got really impressed, he didn't expect him to give an opportunity like this to Rodrick.

Rodrick: "Wait, really?? T-Thank you, I... I don't know how to repay you for this." He stuttered a bit, shocked and not knowing what to say. "I mean, we've only met like 2 few days and you are treating me like we've known each other for years, and I appreciate it a lot."

Erchon smiled, “It doesn’t hurt that you’re an interesting enough person to talk to. Still the gnolls here follow the old traditions of xenia, offering hospitality to strangers.”

He stopped and considered the humble camp Rodrick had been staying in. And though the weather around Kallos was mild into the early winter it wouldn’t be well to leave the stranger without shelter.

“Speaking of, you should pack up and bring your belongings to my place, you’ll be able to stay there as long as you need.”

Hearing Erchon words comforted him, even if he couldn't get his mission done at least he had someone who found him interesting in this world. He then took a sip of his glass of wine with a smile.

Erchon: “Speaking of, you should pack up and bring your belongings to my place, you’ll be able to stay there as long as you need.”

Out of surprise, he choked a bit when he said he could stay at his place.

Rodrick: He laughed a bit before speaking. "Alright, there's gotta be a catch in this, right? No one let's a stranger stay at someone's house just because 'they are interesting', there's always a catch." He chuckled.

“Catch?” Erchon asked, surprised at the possibility of extorting a stranger, such things were more taboo than a man practicing gnoll magic.

“Think of it as my obligation to offer shelter. It’s the way of my people, a sacred offering both to a guest, and the Powers of the Earth the hyena folk venerate. My ma might be away but she'd have my head if she knew I left you without shelter.”

Erchon: “Think of it as my obligation to offer shelter. It’s the way of my people, a sacred offering both to a guest, and the Powers of the Earth the hyena folk venerate. My ma might be away but she'd have my head if she knew I left you without shelter.”

Rodrick: "Well then..." He stands up and puts the glass of wine down. "...if it's your obligation as you say, I'm not going to decline. In fact, I'm not going to miss this little camp a single bit." He stretches a bit as he tells that. "My body was craving for a real bed these past 2 days, you just offered me heaven right now. Let me pick up the fire and then we can go to your place whenever you want."