Train - 5th car

Mandi had tilted the head to the left and right as Misaya began to address the mage from out of nowhere, the words spoken were met with a blank facial expression before Mandi's hands began to clap. "Oh! That kind of rhymed, I think. What did you say again?" The hydromancer had tapped it's chin with a single finger, looking Misaya over momentarily as Alberta didn't seem willing to answer the questions posed.

"Oh nevermind~." The hydromancer waved one of it's hands in a dismissive manner before having gotten seated at one of the remaining spots, remaining quiet for the remainder of the train-trip.

Genelogia - Outskirts

Mandi had chosen to remain silent even as the class and the professor got off the train. But the young mage was making good use of it's eyes and ears, making sure to hear out what the professor was saying and secondly the other students. When it came to sights, there were the strange autumn coloured trees, a desolate looking village and lastly a villager which seemed to be afflicted by something. Mandi had some suspiciouns of what it possibly could be, but what use would there be in telling the others about it all? The trip through the forest had been just like any other stroll for Mandi who happened to do plenty of wandering about. Whereof it were indoors, in a forest or a road didn't matter much. There were after all plenty of things to think about while walking, while at the same time looking for things of interest. As it were now however, Mandi's classmates were delving into such matters.

'If they need something they will ask, though the likelihood of that is far lower now...' The mage thought, with a slight exhale, blowing some strands of hair away from it's face.

After that little embarrassing train conversation with Ty, she left him once the train arrived at their destinations. Still a little red, she sighed before taking a deep breath. Note to self, practice tolerance. She felt a little inflicting pain onto her classmate just because she was embarrassed, so she needed to work on that later. For now, she would have to stay vigilant as they made their way to a village. Staying close to Yvaine, she remembered the young girl talking to Sekhandur earlier. While she didn't talk to Sekhandur that much, he was a possible bad influence by the way he carried himself. Standing boldly like a king with no land to call a kingdom.

While she couldn't tell the mana any different like her classmates, she did notice their attentiveness towards their surroundings. Looking at it now, she understood why. The leaves were out of the season. Currently, it was spring yet the leafs were colored as if it was fall. "How strange," She muttered to herself as they made their way towards the village. For her first time visiting a village, she doubted that she was going to see a thriving community that Ty would have told her it would be.

When they arrived at the village, her suspicions were confirmed as it looked like the village was quarantining itself. Some houses boarded up, the village itself seemingly thrived on silence, and there was an ill villager on the grounds of the village. His skin was had become bark like and had a vacant expression. Alberta was right, though she could have put it a little more politely, they shouldn't try to talk to the villager. Who knows what might happen. "Yvaine, stay close to one of us." Sophiel said. Knowing Yvaine, she'd probably attempt to heal the villager in order to cure him or relieve him in whatever pain was he in.

She agreed to what Kiara had to say, however she felt a little angry when she did, they should gather as much as intel before taking action. "Agreed, hopefully there are some who are left unaffected by whatever is happening here." There was also one more thing she wanted to know. How long has this affliction been happening? Looking at the man it may have been recent but looking up at the boarded houses, she would have to beg to differ. "What kind of artifact did the thieves steal from the archives?" She muttered to herself. Her classmates were most likely thinking the same. It seemed their professor was just a clueless as they were. Was it truly the artifact, or was it something else entirely?

@Chezka

Yvaine was all ears as Sekhandur shared some information about his fascinating heritage, and had even hurriedly rummaged through her pack for her journal. Eagerly, she jotted down notes as thoroughly as though she were listening to one of Professor Nyx's lectures, writing questions in the margins and circling the things she was particularly interested in. Like the Judges of Duat! She practiced the proper pronunciation of Shan'iatu under her breath and spent the next couple of moments imagining an ancient desert ruled over by kings that transcended life and death.

_{Genelogia outskirts → The Village}
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As they trekked through outskirts of Genelogia, Yvaine was wide eyed and awestruck at every little thing. The green of the forests seemed richer up close than it had been through the smudged lens of her telescope. The babbling and burbling of the river were like music to her, and she trailed close to the bank to watch the little frogs and fish go about their day. She took joy in Sophiel's company, pointing out dozens and dozens of curiosities that caught her attention as they passed by. Eventually, her eagerness took its toll. Despite having built stamina from years of grueling chores, Yvaine had yet to be accustomed to long stretches of walk, and soon after their hallway point, she had started lagging behind along with Alberta.

To remedy this, she manifested her wings and flitted by Caelum, who had been acting as rearguard. The rest of the trip became easier now that she was off her feet, and twice she soared up high to better appreciate the landscape. She didn't think she would ever tire of such a view, especially an outlandish one like this, where autumnal trees grew happily beside springtime ones. From what she read in books, such a thing could have only happened inside magical greenhouses, yet here it was.

Yvaine thought nothing of it until Professor Nyx pointed it out. How curious! She was normally sensitive to mana, but this had completely escaped her notice. It must have been very unusual magic indeed.

It wasn't until they arrived at the village that Yvaine understood the levity of the situation. Her smile faltered at the solemn sight as an unsettling chill ran down her spine. It was obvious something was amiss; but beyond strong sentiments that the village was sick, Yvaine couldn't tell what was causing it. Ankaa was first to spring into action, and Yvaine heeded her call immediately, unceremoniously dropping her baggage to rush in and help. Her hands had already unfurled her scroll instinctively, needing no guidance to find the exact verse she wanted, and the melody half out of her lips when Sophiel's warning reached her.

Yvaine stopped in her track, hesitantly halting the magic. The others were correct. They didn't know what ailed this man—what if her magic only made his condition worse? She studied the growths on the man's skin with uncertainty, her brows furrowing in apprehension as she failed to come up with a diagnosis. When she helped out at the priory's sanatorium, Yvaine became exposed to a number of ailments she hadn't known existed, both of the magical and non-magical variety. Even with that knowledge, she drew a blank now.

"Professor," Yvaine turned to him helplessly. It didn't sit well with her to ignore someone in need of aid. She was relieved when Kiara at least acknowledged tending to him, even if the others seemed hesitant. "Please, there must be something we can do for him!"

Sanhan's time on the train car was much different to the rest of the class. She didn't exactly interact with those who she sat with, though it wasn't out of her typical lack of interest or self-isolating tendencies. No, this time it was because she was absolutely destroyed by the carriage. While the rest seemed to enjoy using new technology reserved for elites, having staff wait on them for food, or more, Sanhan sad sunken into her uncomfortable seat and gripped whatever stable surface she could. The rattle of the rails and every shake made her sick to her stomach. This wasn't like riding a horse at all. On any glance, someone could tell that she looked sick as a dog.

Then they finally reached their destination.

---

The walk to the village wasn't the best for Sanhan. Her nomadic lifestyle made walking long distances such as this like a way of life. She may not have been strong or durable, but she could at least endure long walks. No, the issue was that she was still reeling from the train. After riding it, the earth no longer felt as stable as it once was. She stumbled every few minutes, only to pick herself back up. Thankfully, the symptoms of her sickness ended by the time they reached the village.

But in comparison to the villagers, Sanhan's sickness was nothing. They seemed to be afflicted by something horrible. She couldn't help but remain silent. Sekhandur's response, like always, was that of a disgusting human being. The others shared similar reactions of wishing to help, scholarly pursuits, or curious bewilderment. Really, Sanhan just had no idea what was going on.

The trek to the village had been a mix of riding his bicycle, pushing it as he walked, and outright carrying it on his back through the more precarious parts of the trail. It was a pain, as all physical activities were, but nowhere near the headache that was awaiting the class in the village itself.

It… wasn’t the first time Misaiya had ever heard of such symptoms. There had been sketches of a man, not too unlike the one before Camellia now, in some magazine. It had been a particularly disfiguring condition of the skin, characterised by the striking size and appearance of the warts found on sufferers, and fortunately one that was not known to be transmittable. But Misaiya was no physician. A proper, expert diagnosis would be needed to confirm anything. For now, he thought it best to play safe.

“I agree with Alberta on that count. Ankaa, please wait. Disease or curse, if it is a contagion, it will do no-one any good to have more infected. We can speak to him from right here.”

Misaiya kept his distance, gripping his pole as if ready to use it. Since it was a rural area, the local dialect would probably be more conservative, right? So a more old-fashioned way of speaking…

“Hail fellow, well met! We come from the city. What manner of ill fortune has befallen you and your village?”

Was Misaiya expecting a response? Perhaps. Would it be a verbal response? There was cause for doubt. If magic was involved, for all he knew the whole class could already have fallen into a trap. Call it solipsistic, but perhaps this was all an illusion and he was actually already dying, living out his last moments in total psychosis. It certainly didn’t seem impossible. Oh well.

His classmates were bringing up all sort of suggestions. Yvaine could heal wounds, yes, he knew that first-hand. But disease was a different manner, and healing one as unknown as this would be risky at best, even if she were able. As for investigating the village… he had a couple reservations.

“Just my two cents: this is beyond our scope and ability. We came to arrest two fugitives, but are now faced with a major unknown. A possible epidemic. There are only fourteen of us, and none familiar with this place or its people. Heading in blind will expose ourselves to any potential pathogens, and leave us open to ambush in unfavourable terrain, be it from Sice and Pictor or some third party.”

It didn’t sound very courageous. ‘Cowardly’ may not have been an entirely wrong way of describing Misaiya right now, although he would rather go with ‘cautious’.

“I think it would be best to hunker down in a defensible position, and contact the guard and the academy, call for back-up. The situation has escalated. So too should the response.”