Penny's Questions

Vedagaisic started to rise. He needed to relieve himself, but did not wish to offend his hosts. He knew things were different out in the country, where a tall patch of weeds or underbrush worked just fine. He looked around, and noticed that a girl dressed in a dull brown that was trimmed with dark green, was looking straight at him, and started to approach him.

He met her halfway, and said, "Excuse me, miss. I need to find a place to relieve myself of the water that I have been drinking, and do not know where you go to do that."

The girl did not seem embarassed by his question. She replied, "Sir, that is a good question. We have special places for that. Let me show you."

She took him to a one-story building of white brick. The girl pointed to the opening leading inside.

The trip inside was more of adventure than he had hoped, as he was unaccustomed to the concept of tipping the attendent of the public latrine, and at first thought that the long white tub looked and smelled like a shrine to a sea god, but with patience, he managed to complete his mission, and experience yet another manifestation of how rich Aqualaria was.

When he had finished, the girl was still there. She did not have the affable but unrevealing manner of the others in the college. He could tell that she was eager to talk to him. But she did not start the conversation.

So Vedagaisic started. "Thank you, miss. Very interesting. I suppose that we need to go back before we are missed. What is your name?"

"Penelope," she replied. "Although most people call me Penny. And I have heard of you. Vedagaisic, all the way from the Dunchovian Plains. We don't get many of your people down here."

"Right. I have to admit that I am a little lost here. This is the first time I have been to Themyscira. Big, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes. I am not a native. I come from down south, near the Styrgia River. Everyone in my family has been farming, going back for at least two hundred years. Corn, greens, some peaches and apples. It is good land. I am the second person from the farm to come to Themyscira, and it took me a while to get used to how many people there are and how busy everything is here!"

Vedagaisic laughed gently. "Yes. I hope to get a chance to visit and go to the market tomorrow, but honestly, I would like to go back north. I do feel like a child again, always making mistakes and not sure how to do things. But these are strange times. You have heard about the steingeweser, right?"

"A little. I would like to know more. It all sounds very interesting."

"Well, you are the first person to ask since Gloria left! I am surprised that you are the first to ask me about such a marvel today."

"I do want to hear about it."

Vedagaisic described Astra's appearance, the mysterious visions that she induced among the men and women of his tribe, and their quest to cleanse the caves of the dragon's minions.

Penny interjected excitedly, "So the dragon is dead!"

"Astra has implied as much."

He could tell Penny wanted to say something, but had checked herself. Vedagaisic changed the topic of conversation. "What is your connection with this group? You seem to be very young, and not dressed as flashy as most of the others."

"I am a student in the college. I am a candidate to become a master of farming and agriculture. I have a garden outside of town, and I have been testing a number of different types of soils, and seeing what effect they have on some things that I planted. Probably boring to you. It is to most people. But I hope that it will allow us to grow more food and better food. I am going to talk about it more in depth in the spring."

"I think that is a very good thing to do. We sometimes will trade antelope jerky and leather for corn and greens. So you don't do magic?"

"Most people in the college do not. That is not what I came to do."

Vedagaisic started to move and said, "I suppose that we must be getting back."

Penny stopped smiling. She appeared to be very nervous. Vedagaisic did not know why. He was doing his best to make her comfortable, and up to this point, thought of her as a nice and straightforward, if awkward, girl. But she appeared to have a secret. He had no way of knowing that Penny had some unusual magic knowledge - tangentially related to her practical interest in soils. She knew of some of the folk tradition of her native region of Styrgia, and the legends of the steingeweser. After some investigation, while she had stopped short of creating one herself, she was sure that she knew how to do it. Nobody suspected that. Vedagaisic also could not know that she had the insight to deduce how to set off a spark from a distance by silently observing some students being trained in the art. And Vedagaisic could not know, how she disobeyed an order known to everyone in the college, and shared magical knowledge with a man who was chosen for a dangerous mission specifically because that man had no magical training.

But Vedagaisic knew that something was odd. He stopped moving, turned, and stared at her.

Penny blurted out, "Did the steingeweser tell you about, or give you visions about, a man named Simon?" Vedagaisic said nothing, as the question was completely unexpected, and Astra had not conveyed a vision [88754] about the end of the dragon and Simon's mysterious behavior [starting at 86933]. Penny did not let him explain, but described how Simon looked and noted that he was a painter - one of the best in Aqualaria.

Vedagaisic countered with a question. "Did you know Simon? And what would he have to do with Astra?"

Obviously she did know him, and clearly Simon had a special importance to her. Penny was still nervous, but Vedagaisic now felt that he was not the one making her nervous. He was just a spectator.

Penny said, "Yes, Vedagaisic. I would be grateful if you keep this private, and not tell anyone that I talked to you about this, although they know the story. They would not think it appropriate for me to ask you about it. Simon was sent to rescue Princess Astra within the year. And Simon is "

1. my brother.
2. my fiancee.

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