Closed Grant's Fortune

[Lucas Arias]

Summer 48, 513 AV

Lucas hadn’t been sure if anybody in Riverfall would accept his offer of a free fortune telling, to be honest, so he was quite happy when somebody came to his room. He was even happier that it wasn’t one of those colourful Akalak that were twice his size and could probably crush him with their bare hands. The man looked … normal, calm and confident and not in the least bit insane. He also had a dog which made the former squire even more inclined to like him.

As Lucy sniffed at his shoes (that were a bit dirty since he had worn them during the journey from Zeltiva to Riverfall), he stroke her and smiled at her before he turned to face Grant. „Syka’s some kind of lost city in the jungle“, he informed him. „There’s a guy who is also named Syka and he’s taking a huge expedition there. I’ve decided to join it, since I didn’t have anything better to do. And of course I’ll still give you a reading. Being part of the expedition isn’t a prerequisite. What do you want to know?“

He paused to rummage through his pack. In short order he placed a crystal ball, a a few bones and a pack of cards onto the table that stood in the small room in Atri’s place. „Do you want me to ask the crystal ball, the bones, the cards or do you want me to just read your palm? Master Anselm preferred the bones“, he remarked to make the decision a little easier for Grant. „He always claimed to be a human or something similar, but he was really a freaky male Konti in disguise.“

[Grant Reynolds]

He hadn't caught wind of this expedition yet, so it was quite a bit of news for him. He didn't know anything of the going-ons across the Suvan, so this was interesting. Maybe he could learn more later. "It sounds like quite the venture. Maybe one day I can visit this Syka, if you all find it." But on with the reading, because that was likely not to happen, at least him going there. Grant scratched his goatee absently, speculatively giving all the tools a once over. Crystal balls, palmistry, and tarot were famous forms of "divining". The bones, that was something he was far less familiar with. Not that he was really familiar with any of it. He looked back at the young redhead, chewing the inside of his cheek in thought, the beginnings of a grin on his lips. "A freaky male Konti? I'd like to see that. Would make for a good anatomical examination." The things that sometimes came out of the mouths of Mizaharian youth. He shook his head, now smiling. They were entertaining the say the least. It made him sometimes regret never having children of his own. Not that it was too late. "How about we take this Master Anselm's advice, shall we? But I'm also curious what my palm has to say, also. Is both alright?" Grant couldn't help but look down at his hands. Long fingers, steady as rocks, and with too many crisscrossing lines to count. The least he could do was humor the boy. He was already refreshing company. Plus Lucy clearly seemed to have taken a shining to him. She sat at the young man's feet, panting contently, wagging her tail slowly across the floor. Now, what did he want to know? He assumed first he could ask a very generic question, one that got asked so many times that it probably got old. "We start off with... Is there any love in my future?" Grant's eyes crinkled with amusement. He was married to his work, and it was unlikely that a woman could find a way to wiggle into his workaholic lifestyle. None had thus far, and he'd traveled quite a bit in his 38 years.

[Lucas Arias]

„Maybe“, Lucas agreed. „It’s probably hard to find though. I still don’t know where exactly we are going, even after talking to this Syka guy.“ He shrugged his shoulders. It was not a big issue. Somebody would probably know the way. And if they got lost, well, he had Kelwyn’s mark. Maybe his gods would save them all and take them back home.

„Master Anselm was a male Konti!“ he insisted. „He always wore a hood too so that people couldn’t see his face. I’m not sure if he would have reacted well to an examination though.“ Lucas sighed a little as he said that. He would have loved to find out what exactly Master Anselm hid under his robes.

„I can do both!“ Lucas grinned and stroke the dog again. He wished he had something he could give to her. „Let’s start with the bones.“ He took said bones into his hand, shook them a little and then threw them onto the table again. „Hmm ...“ he made. „Hmmm …“

He felt as if he should give this man something resembling a real fortune telling and not just tell him that he would fall in love with a goat or something similar, but he didn’t know all the oracles by heart.

He pulled out Master Anselm’s oracle book and leafed through it, and then he smiled all over his face.

„Ah yes! This is what the oracle book says about your question:
A Thunderous Cloudburst shatters the oppressive humidity:
The Superior Person knows the release in forgiveness, pardoning the faults of others and dealing gently with those who sin against him.

It pays to accept things as they are for now.
If there is nothing else to be gained, a return brings good fortune.
If there is something yet to be gained, act on it at once.“

„It’s all pretty mysterious, isn’t it? I was always annoyed when Master Anselm started talking nonsense. I think it means something like you should loosen up a little, forgive people their mistakes and accept them the way they are, and then love will come.“

„You like women, right? I’m not sure if the oracle works the same for men who like men or men who are into Kelvic and Jamoura.“
OOCMaster Anselm’s oracle book is in essence the I Ching.

[Grant Reynolds]

Grant threw his head back and laughed, it was impossible not to, with this boy's energy and imagination. "Don't worry, son, I like women, so your Master Anselm's book should work just fine on me. I really don't think a relationship between myself and a Jamoura would work, do you?" His eyes danced with amusement, and he rubbed a hand across his prickly jaw. "The loosening up bit, I can understand that much. I can be a stick in the mud," he admitted good-naturedly. The part about forgiving mistakes automatically made him think of his mother, which always put him in a melancholy mood. Grant didn't really know her all that well, since he'd only met her a few times. She was far too busy sailing the seas to visit, and hadn't visited him in Zeltiva for nearly fifteen years. Now he was in Riverfall, and neither of them had any idea where the other one was. Perhaps he could forgive her lack of being around, but anymore it didn't upset him all that much. He was starting to get along in years, and holding a childhood grudge wasn't healthy. "Can you ask the bones if there's anything specific I'm supposed to forgive?" he ventured, seeing if that might provide a little insight.

[Lucas Arias]

„Son?“ Lucas exclaimed. „How old are you? Or better yet, how old do you think I am?“ He narrowed his eyes and looked at Grant. He’d never been particularly good at guessing people’s age, but he didn’t think that the man was fourty yet. In order to call him son, he would have had to start fathering children as a teenager. That made Lucas jealous to be honest, not the part about the children, but the part that involved the women that were necessary to make a baby. Lucas had never done more than kiss a woman so far.

„Who knows?“ he asked as Grant told him that he didn’t think a relationship with a Jamoura would work. „You’d have to be on top of course, otherwise she’d crush you. But I’m pretty sure that there are some Jamoura that are into transracial relationships. Every race has its freaks.“ He wasn’t sure what being „a stick in the mud“ meant, but he didn’t feel like asking, so he just nodded as if everything were perfectly clear.

„Sure!“ he replied as Grant wanted to know the answer to another question and threw the bones again before he tried to find the correct page in his oracle book. Frowning a little, he read the relevant passage out loud:

„Wind carries the Mists aloft:
Sage rulers dedicated their lives to serving a Higher Power and built temples that still endure.

The King approaches his temple.
Success if you stay on course.
You may cross to the far shore.“

„Even more cryptic than before“, he murmurred. „Maybe I’ll write my own oracle books with oracles that people actually understand sometimes. But then fortune tellers would become superfluous, wouldn’t they?“

„Anyway, if I have interpreted the oracle correctly, you aren’t supposed to forgive anything specific. You are just supposed to forgive. Does that help?“

[Grant Reynolds]

Grant smiled, and eyed the boy speculative. "I don't know, aren't you... what, fifteen? Sixteen? I'm pushing forty, afraid to say. I'll be an old man soon enough." He laughed again, at the comic imagery this boy provided. Never in his life had he imagined something like that with a Jamoura. He'd never seen one, but knew they were an ape race. He actually shuddered at the thought. It would be like dropping trousers and going after a sheep. Though, he knew some men who'd done just that. Talk about desperation, or just sick fetishes. "Well, I like to think I'm one of the normal ones. I don't think I'll be having a relationship with any woman that isn't plain old, nice, run of the mill human. I like my women not to be covered in fur, and under 200 pounds." He watched with genuine interest now when the bones were thrown once more. He leaned in a little closer, eyebrows raised, trying to see how the boy even knew what to look for. "Very cryptic indeed." Grant didn't understand a thing it was talking about. Kings and temples? Far shores? He crossed his arms and rubbed his bristly chin. "You're the fortune teller here. I'll just take your word for it." Smiling, he looked up at the ceiling. "Hear that? I forgive whatever it is I'm supposed to forgive! Now give the boy something that makes sense." Chuckling to himself, he rubbed his hands together. "How about we see what my palm says? Do I ask you something to ask it, or is it pretty straightforward?" He looked at his hands then, thoroughly amused. They were clean, with groomed nails, and too many crisscrossing lines to count. Looked like a normal pair to him. Steady doctoring hands, but still just hands. How could they divine any sort of meaning about his life? Grant flexed his fingers a few times, and wiggled them, then looked back to Lucas. "Maybe they'll tell me I'm destined to cure some spectacular disease. Or that I'll be able to retire in luxury after marrying a very rich woman. Is that how it even works?"

[Magpie]

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Lucas :

Let me know if you come back, and I'll add your grade here.

Grant :

XP:
Observation +2
Socialization +3

Lores:
The Syka Expedition
Getting One's Fortune Told in Bones

Notes :

Not much to award here, but we hope to see you again soon, Grant!

If you have any questions or concerns about what was awarded, please don't hesitate to PM me.
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