Having worked as a ranger for over a decade, Finn had no trouble getting up early. In fact, he was quite used to it and preferred being up before the rest of the world, to watch the Sun rise from the balcony of his watchtower. This morning was no exception. Another day had passed and still no news of Morgia had been found; she was out there, gone, without a trace left behind. After she had gone missing, the whole Valley seemed to be perturbed by her sudden disappearance, and everyone -- from little school children to the elderly -- was doing their best to find her, or help in the search as best as they could, as was the custom in the Valley; but even the most persistent of men falter eventually. Now, only the most stubborn ones were still searching.

Finn himself had scouted the woods multiple times, both alone and with his great wolfhound Tooth, but still no evidence of Morgia's presence could be found. He would try again, of course. Finn had never been the man who stays idle when his folk are in trouble. He would cross every stream, flip every stone and climb every tree, but he would find Morgia, dead or alive.

He pulled on his boots, put on mail his shirt and his scouting leather armour, took his cloak from the chair, fastened his dagger, ax and quiver and was on his way, riding to the square, hoping to hear at least some rumours about the poor missing soul. It takes some time to reach the town from his home at the edge of the woods; so he rode slowly, chewing some long-forgotten herb and ruminating on the possible reasons for Morgia's disappearance. Tooth followed, that grey sullen-eyed beast.

"What's the matter, boy?" asked Finn, looking at the sad animal.
Tooth replied with a sad bark.
"Oh, c'mon now," Finn said; "Don't do that!" The breeze was getting stronger now, and the path went slightly uphill. "We'll get you something nice to eat when we reach the town."
Tooth squealed and then barked again, but this time more joyfully.
"Silly thing," Finn told him. "You were better when you were a pup, you know that? Less grumpy. You're like an old man now. I might as well get myself a grandpa to keep me company!"
"Woof! Woof!" Tooth's melancholy vanished in this banter.
"Alright! Alright!" Finn shouted. "Calm down. You're so sensitive sometimes..."

They reached the top of the hill and in front of them lay the town, shrouded in the morning mists that carried the morning calls of the roosters.
"Just in time," Finn said to himself, and their descend began.

Amaeda Pleasant awoke to the roosters being obnoxious. The townspeople often paid her in whatever they had. Most of the time it was money or herbs, but sometimes she was paid in livestock meat or in the more rare occasions, livestock itself. The rooster and chickens were the only case of that so far and she impressed upon not being paid with animals. Food was fine, but if she had to deal with one more animal...

As she pulled her face from her desk, a leaf fell from her cheek, and landed softly on her lap. Right, she'd been trying to set up spells for scanning where Thatch had vanished not that long ago. She rose from her seat and quickly moved everything to its hiding spot. Her hiding spots were mostly just moving them onto higher shelves and hoping that no one knew what they did. Thank goodness no one had yet, but she needed to tend to the chickens before the rooster busted in through her window again.

She hated animals. However, she didn't have the stomach to behead the beasts so she took care of them instead. She grabbed her bag of birdseed and exited the store, preparing to walk around to feed the demon poultry. The rooster, which she called Buck out of sheer amusement, tried to peck at her feet.

"Buck, no. I'll kick you this time I swear," Amaeda threatened as she crossed the small area to the trough to pour the birdseed in. "Ugh, why couldn't you two have been lovebirds or parrots. You would have been less annoying."

Buck was strangely insistent this morning, abandoning the birdseed for continuing to peck Amaeda's ankles.

"Stop! That hurts you chicken prince!" Amaeda yelled, throwing a handful of seed at him. She often wondered if he was cursed to be this way, but she didn't have much headway, so all she had was that the stupid bird was smarter than she'd prefer her eventual dinner to be. He seemed to abandon his task and retreated back by the area where Amelia was resting. The hen herself was always sickly, and even though Amaeda ensured that she got better, Amelia the hen was slow and seemed to have issues being mobile. Buck apparently was her defense against their 'cruel' owner. Amaeda wished she could transmute the pair into something more easily taken care of, but so far she was also striking out at that.

Of course it didn't help that even her chickens had more of a life than she did. Amaeda sighed and crossed back to shut the gate and start with her morning errands. She'd have to go into the forest to find certain herbs and also check the market for anything she could use. Since it was still obscenely early -Buck apparently was the type to yell at the sun when it came up- Amaeda opted to go to the forest.

The smell of sausages woke Zix up. His father had the habit of getting up earlier than him and already cooking breakfast. Zix knew that if he wasn't out of bed by the time the wooden plates had hit the table his dad was going to give him a hard time. He heard a sigh and quickly sat up straight in his bed. He put on his shirt as he walked over to the small table. Two wooden blocks were used as stools and the table was low, functional and simple. The two men ate, not uttering a single word. After the sausage, an apple and a lump of bread the men got up grabbed their axes and marched out the door.

The air was fresh and clean, Zix took a deep breath and let the air flow in. His dad nodded at him, which he did every morning to indicate that the day and thus the work had started. Lach walked over to the small yard next to the shack. His dad would tend to the vegatables in the garden and afterwards would start cutting the wood into either firewood or rough planks. Zix job was to find good trees, big ones, cut them down and take parts of them over to his dad. Zix nodded back and wanted to take off in the opposite direction. His dad however had different plans and called his name.

"Cut some firewood," he spoke, "the folks in town need it." The old man was still strong as a bear, but he rarely spoke. Zix followed suit nodded again and started cleaving some wood. He packed the wood on a simple stick pack, which he slung over his shoulder, he also filled a wheelbarrow with firewood and made for the town. The small, dirt road would lead him to the village as he heard a dog barking in the distance.

The speed at which the town woke up was fascinating. No sooner had Finn reached the town square than townsfolk went about their business. The the smell of mists and the morning dew was gone and noises came from all around: issued commands, shouts, laughter, whistling, the rustling of tools and items for sale... Finn left his horse at the inn, tossed a coin to the stable boy and told him to have some breakfast ready for him in about an hour.

Walking around, Finn reached the apothecary.
"There must be a lot of animals around here, Tooth," said Finn, listening to the ruckus that came from beyond the building. "Listen to all that noise."
He approached the door and reluctantly knocked on it a couple of times.
"Now, don't do anything stupid, alright?"
"Woof!"

Low murmurs and chanting from a woman filled the cabin, and a shadow of a personage wavered against the warmly lit wooden walls accompanied by the smaller moving shadow of feline. A circle of chalk surrounded by burning candles glowed dimly, barely illuminating a couple items that were pilfered from the schoolhouse. Nobody would notice a bauble or two missing, and certainly no one would bat an eyelash at a cat running off with them.

A quiet energy swelled within the circle as words and symbols translated to power and meaning. The air felt thick, and the chanting grew in volume. Torena's expression intensified as her whispering turned to words of commanding, demanding action from the ritual she began. The etched markings under her left eye began to brighten from fresh blood red to glowing crimson. The chanting ended with a final few shouted words, and magical energy coalesced into a bright mist over the circle. Torena furrowed her brow and looked about the circle. Everything was set perfectly for a scrying ritual, and all the objects were in place; why was it taking so long? Why wasn't it working?

The mist hummed with power, grow brighter and brighter to overpower the light of the candles. Torena flicked her eyes to the side as she heard a scratching sound. Her cat had skittered across the floor and dove behind a counter, cowering under a shelf. The truth was clear as her eyes darted back to the glowing ball hovering over the circle, wide as her cat's. The spell was going to backfire.

Torena yelped and threw her hands up over her face as a burst of energy boomed throughout her home and out of the open windows, annihilating the chalk circle and blasting the objects within to smithereens. After the smoke cleared and the dust settled, Torena lowered her hands and looked upon the fruits of her labors... and lamented. She sighed exasperatedly and wearily shuffled over to the remains of her most reliable spell, which somehow managed to completely fizzle. There was a look of confusion at first as she sifted through the charred dust with her boots. That spell never fizzles. It doesn't, unless... it can't find what is demanded of it. Her eyes narrowed with a new realization.

"You can come out now, Jansen," she said, eying the counter with a raised brow.

Her black cat slipped out from the shelf and cantered over to Torena's ankles. He gave the circle a cursory glance, then looked up at her. Torena just sighed again and crouched next to her cat, giving him reassuring head scritching. "This... tells us more than you think," she said, then lifted him up in her arms. "Come, we will go back the schoolhouse. I have quite a feeling about this."

Torena pushed her door out with her foot, and off she and her cat went in search of (hopefully) more complete answers.

As Amaeda began gathering her bags she heard a knock at the door. She looked outside and saw that her time had been eaten up by feeding the chickens. It was already time to open again, so she put down her bags and opened the door for the stranger. From how he was dressed he looked like he was from the guard. It didn't make her at ease like the rest of the villagers. If anything she worried that what had brought him there could be her magic. Still, he could be there for other reasons.

"Sir," Amaeda said, "before you enter please be aware that if your animal breaks anything inside the store you will have to pay for it." Not to mention, Amaeda had some of her witchcraft gear hidden within the shelves. Those alone could be costly, but to someone with his eye the guard might be able to identify what it could be used for.

Iridessa's family was full of early risers. Farmers are like that. They want to be outside working as the sun comes up. "Early to bed, early to rise," they say. Too bad Iridessa didn't exactly follow that regimen. How could she? Her job didn't let her go to bed at eight and plough the fields at five; she'd been out long past midnight yesterday performing for an enthusiastic - and charitable - crowd. Her pockets were lined with so much coin that she had to leave some of it at the tavern.

There was a knock at the door. "Iridessa."

She grumbled and turned over in her bed. "Go away Richard. It's too early."

He knocked again, harder this time. "You have to get up right now, it's a school day."

Iridessa tensed. Had she been mistaken? The gears in her mind creaked into motion. No, of course not, she thought. It's only Saturday. He's fooling with me. "I said go away."

He laughed - she was right. "Whatever you say. It is noon though," he replied, and she heard him walk away.

Another hour of sleep wouldn't hurt...

"Iridessa!" snapped her mother.

In a flurry of white sheets and pink nightgown, she flew to her spot at the kitchen table. “Good morning Mother,” she said with a smile.

Her mother chuckled and kissed her on the forehead. “Just making sure you got up before noon today. Go wash up, breakfast will be ready soon.”

As soon as the owner of the apothecary opened the door Tooth started barking maniacally and running in circles around Finn as if mad.
"Oh, this guy?" said Finn as the hound went on like a hurricane; "He wouldn't break a thing! Is that right, Tooth?"
Tooth kept circling and the dust from the ground rose around them all like a cloud of golden dust. His behaviour wasn't working in Finn's favour at all.
"That's his way of saying he likes you, never mind him," said Finn, trying to somehow excuse his pet's misconduct and rudeness. "Anyway," Finn went o, "I am looking for some medicine that works as the common antidote for snake venom. Do you have anything of that sort? I can't find anything in the forest nowadays and it's their time of the year now, I don't wanna risk not having the cure in case I get bit, you know--"
Then disaster struck. Finn never found out what Tooth had seen, but the animal dashed straight into the shop and before they could blink the sound of shattering pottery came from the inside.
"And calculate the damage too..."

The iron sizzled at Angelika as she brought her hammer up for another swing down at its red-hot surface. One, two, three hits and she flipped the iron with her tongs, feeling its heat radiating through her thick work gloves and onto her exposed arms. Smithing was hard work, but she liked the labor. It kept her strong and healthy, and warm. One, two, three hits once again on the iron to flatten it more. To squash out the impurities and make the product strong and reliable.

She wiped the sweat from her brow with one arm, placing the iron back in the forge with the other. The apron was hot on her chest and stomach, but there was no time to take a break, save to swing some water and take a bite of bread. She returned to the anvil, grabbing the iron again and setting to work on it with light taps this time. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

No customers today. That was alright. She enjoyed the quiet. The sound of the crackling flame and the protest of the iron as she battered it. She didn't feel the need to talk much, so days when she didn't have to were a blessing. Angelika flicker her hair from her eyes before bringing the hammer up so get back to the heavy hits. Her muscles tensed as she brought it down. One, two, three. One, two, three. Flip. One, two, snap. One-

Wait a moment, that didn't sound right. Or feel right. It took a moment for her to realize that her hammer had actually splintered and snapped just before the head.For a moment, she was quiet. And in the next, she was throwing the newly headless shaft across her shop with a scream of rage.

Now she had to find another hammer. But later. For now, she needed food. And that meant it was time to head into town. She stripped herself of her apron and gloves, put on her usual simple dress and boots, locked her shop up and began her morning walk. Who knows who she would see on the way?

"Hmm... I've found that there are few herbs that he-" Amaeda began before the dog darted into the store before she could stop him. The sound of shattering pottery came from inside and she could almost feel her cool slipping away. "H-how about we go inside and you tame your beast while I assess the damage done. While I don't practice witchcraft, I've found that sometimes combining certain things tend to end badly. Especially when they're mixed through an animal running through my store."

Hopefully, Amaeda's ingredients for a scrying spell were still intact. If she could find Morgia Thatch then that would be best. Of course, if the dog knocked over all of the ingredients... she just hoped that nothing too important had gotten knocked over. Wait... were the bay leaves in the pots and the viperweed in glass or was it the other way around? Either way, the dog left her a mess to sort out, and hopefully this ruckus wouldn't reveal her as a witch to the nice guardsman. She didn't really want to go out of business due to her habits.

"Are you sure that he's not always like," Amaeda said and waved her hand at the damaged store, "this?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" Finn said, embarrassed and sorry for what Tooth had done. "He's...heh, better. Something's gotten in him this morning, he's been acting strangely."
Finn made his way through shards and pieces of broken bowls on the floor. Tooth sat in the middle, breathing heavily with his eyes wide open. There were a lot of strange bags, pouches, vases, eprouvettes and other peculiar objects all over the place. What a strange apothecary... Finn though, scanning the shelves. "Get out of here, Tooth, you wild animal! You've mad a mess!"

"What the...?" said Finn, puzzled, looking and poking at a jar with some weird inscriptions on it. "I cannot read this." The jar was empty. "I am sorry, I shouldn't be poking around. You have a rather interesting place here, is all," Finn said with a smile. "How much do you reckon I owe? And forget the antidote, I probably won't have enough money for both now."

"Maybe it's the herbs, some of them do drive an animal mad...?" Amaeda said nervously as she carefully grabbed the things that marked her as a clear witch and moved them out of sight again. Lost amongst the common items. She was safe again, until that animal went and ruined yet more things in this store.

She nearly breathed a sigh of relief until she heard Finn say, "What the...?"

Her reaction was near comical, her whole body seemed to tense up in terror. She also noted that the animal had not only taken out most of her usual stock, but it had knocked loose all of her witchcraft supplies. The guard was poking at a jar made to contain certain potions and poultices, mainly of the deadly sort, and Amaeda would have died on the spot if not for the seeming inattention of the guard. She had to contain this, fast.

"How about we cut a deal, twenty for everything and you don't really talk about most of the stuff you saw. I often get strange artefacts from travelers and don't know what to do with them. The rumor that I have such things could very well cost me my business," Amaeda lied, "so not letting people know I have strange things in my shop is a primary concern of mine."

As Zix appoached the town the sounds of the market came out, louder and louder. People were buzzing around. The market place had shops around it as well. People were shopping, bartering and chatting. Zix made for a small spot next to one of the entrance ways. A small stall with fruit and berries was next to him. He nodded at the merchant girl as he made for the spot. He put his pack and the wheelbarrow down and waited for people to come. Most times the firewood would sell out relatively fast. His father would probably join him with the second load of firewood after he was done with the garden. Afterwards his dad would trade some more and then they would go home back to the silence and the work.

Zix liked the work and the town well enough. Life was easy and life was quiet. Only sometimes he wished there would happen something, anything really. In his dreams he was the hero. He did things, went places. But as soon as Zix started drifting off back to the fantasyland the folks on the market woke him straight back up and he started selling the firewood. If only something woke him up from his actual life, he thought as the day began.

The schoolhouse has stood since before you were born, since before even the oldest person in the village was born, and it's here in its single room that every child allowed by their parents has learned about the history and scientific knowledge of The Valley. The room itself is quaint, to say the least, little more than desks and shelves of books, though a curtain in the back leads to the small room where Morgia Thatch, and other teachers before her, would stay overnight in the event of a storm or similar danger.

The entire place is surrounded by an old fence (best not to lean on it -- the wood has gone soft and wouldn't support a bird) and all is bare except for the dust road leading to the backyard, where grass no longer grows after generations of play. Behind that, across the fence, are The Big Rocks, a group of large toppled stones, some placed precariously on top of one another. A deathly chill is in the air around it, felt even from across the fence if you're close enough, and in the mornings there is even frost clinging to them.

"That is a fair price," Finn said and reached for this money-pouch, glad that he the damage caused was not more serious. "And don't let any militiamen or elderly townsfolk see your...goods, lest you want to get in trouble. You know how people are, they might even think you a witch!" Finn said; "How silly and superstitious are they, no?" He smiled and placed the money on the desk. "And I apologise once again, for the ruckus."

Before he left the store, he suddenly halted, turned around and shouted: "Miss! Do you happen to know if there are any news concerning Morgia's disappearance?"
A group of children burst into babble and laughter outside. Who's gonna teach them now? Finn thought. A substitute teacher?

As Finn grabbed his money-pouch, Amaeda began to gather up the herbs needed and sort through some of the mess the dog had caused. Nothing too bad, nothing was broken beyond slight repair at least. "It's part of why they're usually hidden," she said as she took the money from the counter. "It's not too bad, as long as we keep it between ourselves."

She'd been content to start cleaning up when he suddenly stopped and turned around. Her blood turned to ice. Had he figured out her stupid, on the spot lie? No, he couldn't have. Maybe he'd been playing with her all along and was now going for the kill. However, he asked instead about news on Thatch's disappearance. "I'm sorry, I don't. I'll try to keep asking around though, it's a small town and news spreads quickly through it."