#mythcare

[blacksheep28]

Jackalope Hunt

It's summer, and there's a western camp opened up down at Sunshine Ranch. I didn't waste any time getting me and Mythcare registered for it. It's different than stable care, or working with the druids, or any of the other various things I do around Jorvik. It's herding animals and helping with repairs and doing deliveries.

There's something sweetly wild about the mountains and hilly forest around Firgrove where the ranch lays. The wolves here are still wild enough and uncowed enough to be willing to hunt farm animals without fear, and a large enough pack will certainly go after a horse. There's no hunting the wolves, of course. This is Jorvik. There's beast repellant, sold by the man who works with the wild horses in the wild woods. It works better than it should for repelling the wolves, I think he uses some magic in it.

Scott Buttergood has his own camp of "outlaws" that are roughing it. They're not far from the ranch, and are set up in wagons instead of the cabins the ranch offers. I've joined them camping out there a few times, it feels good to have the campfire out and spend it telling wild stories. Scott knows a lot of old tall tales that were told by cowboys back when cattle used to be driven across the land instead of loaded up in trains and trailers.

The story he picked to tell this time was different. It wasn't a story he'd heard, but one he'd experienced himself. A jackalope! It'd be easy to shrug off as Scott being wild eyed and spooking at nothing. He's a bit of a gullible conspiracy theorist after all. But this is Jorvik. Magic bleeds through everywhere. There's every chance there's jackalopes running around the area. I'm more than happy to join in the hunt.

Scott speaks of the jackalope as a giant terrifying creature that's oversized with ferocious antlers and eager to tear someone apart. When I went out looking for jackalopes, I first found nothing but bunnies and shadows to jump at that looked like what Scott had described. I couldn't say if that was just me being too vulnerable to imagining his tall tales or being tired with how early I set off on this exploration.

I had to have gone halfway up the hills where it was getting too rocky for rabbits before I found anything. A young jackalope, happy as could be, loping across. It was so cute! It certainly wasn't anything like what Scott had described. It was perhaps twice as big as the regular rabbits, and had a small set of antlers still growing in.

I lured it in with some carrots and apples I had packed for Mythcare, and got to cuddle it for a bit. It really was a sweet little thing. I got to go back and show Scott evidence jackalopes were real - and they weren't the monsters he'd imagined.

I haven't found the jackalope again since, but perhaps I'll manage to catch another glimpse of the magical jackalope. A little summertime western miracle.

[blacksheep28]

Star Stable Halloween Trail Ride

Halloween has always been special. My first one in Jorvik though, where magic is so open and yet so easily brushed away with other explanations? It's incredible. There's a being called Galloper Thompson that comes in the month of October to collect souls to trap in his domain. I don't know what he is. I want to say he's a ghost, but I don't think a ghost would live in its own separate domain, or have the power to harvest other souls.

I managed to sneak into his domain to look around. It's wonderfully spooky. The souls there are shockingly friendly, more focused on finding ways to entertain themselves than escape or harm. Perhaps because they tired of trying to escape ages ago. Either way, I can talk to the souls there and they'll lie about my presence to the master of the domain.

I found a portal in his domain guarded by a crow spirit who told me it lead to a Halloween Night trail ride. I love trail rides, and I love Halloween, so of course I'm going to go through it.

It was night on the other side of the portal, despite it being day when I went through. Ghostly torches light the path, and I'm starting to think that the crow was being literal about this being a Halloween Night trail ride. I might in fact be on the day of Halloween. Is time travel possible? Is this a facet of another world? A glimpse into a possibility? A dream? It feels surreal to ride through.

There's a ghost pig on the trail just waiting for attention. It's so cute to pet. And I found Emma and Luciana further up around a campfire trading stories. They were surprised and relieved by my presence. I wasn't as scary as they feared. Only, I shouldn't have been here, and neither should they. I sat down and listened as Emma retold a classic Jorvik ghost story of the Glue Man. I'm hoping this one is just a story, I would hate to think of Mythcare being stolen away to be killed for glue.

Further up the trail I can see what looks like an echo of a memory like what Linda brings forward when revealing the past with her moon magic. It's a circle of what seems to be druids around a horse laying on the ground. I hurry forward, but they vanish, and a tendril of Garnok pushes forward. It's aware that this time and place isn't quite right, but It is very much Garnok, and promises that soon It will come through. It's terrifying to have Garnok's attention so directly on me in a place so foggy in reality. And what does it have to do with the druids? They weren't sacrificing the horse, right? I want to believe they wouldn't do that.

There's Halloween masks on the trees up ahead, cute and funny. They've been animated somehow to turn and watch me. I suspect the trees are more awake and aware here on this trail in this time than they normally are. I thought I saw a wagon up ahead set for a rest break, but it vanished as I approached. I can see what might be stone, fossil, or illusion forming a giant rib cage through the ravine I ride down.

There's crows flying overhead here. They're calling to each other and watching from the trees as I ride past, lifting once I pass to settle on another nearby tree and continue watching. The path splits up ahead. I don't know which is the right path to take. I hope I'm taking the right one as I continue down. The crows at least approve. And there's a ghost cow I can take a moment to pet.

The ravine really narrows ahead, and there's thick giant webs crossing through it. There's actually a giant spider, large enough to eat Mythcare, resting at the entrance. It almost looks cute. I dropped my guard too much. Everything on this trail ride so far has been eerie but harmless. This wasn't. The spider dropped down and chased after us for a meal. I pushed Mythcare to race down. There was another spider down there, and I think I spotted eggs. Mythcare was more graceful than I could have hoped for in dodging the webbing so we didn't get tangled up.

Somehow we got out. The crow spirit greeted us there, and asked if we'd enjoyed ourselves before leaving. The rest of the trail ride was, somehow, mundane. There were just pop out wooden cutouts of Halloween monsters with spooky noises from a recorder. James was wearing a mask of his own face running it, asking for a donation if I'd enjoyed the ride. I reached the portal and passed back into Galloper Thompson's domain.

All I can think now that I am through to the other side, is was it really James at the end among what seemed so mundane? Or was that last stretch still a mockery of the norm, simply placed there to calm those who rode through with a doppleganger in a mask?

[blacksheep28]

Star Stable Drabble

There's a friesian I haven't seen before in the mansion's stables. He's handsome, and severe in the way his mane is styled. A true parade horse. He feels compelling, and at the same time he is the quietest stillest horse I've ever seen. Mythcare seems a bit uneasy around him, perhaps because of that stillness. She's so alive in comparison, even with her steady patience. 

Judy told me that the friesian, Khaan, belongs to Sabine, a rich girl who convinced the baroness that she deserved a slot boarding her horse here. No one really knew much about Sabine. I watched her a few times. The girl was snappy and rude, if good with her horse. Seeing her and Khaan together nagged at something at me. Had I seen her before? Maybe a performance? Sabine laughed at me when I suggested it, saying that someone as lowborn as I couldn't possibly run in circles close to hers. 

An article jumped out at me from a newspaper at the stable. I don't look at newspapers, but the picture of a girl with her horse on the front cover drew me right in. I thought it would be an announcement of a competition winner, celebrating a star of Jorvik or some such. The girl is a star of Jorvik, but the girl's been missing for over a year. It was a one year anniversary mourning the loss of Jorvik's dressage star. It's sad to think how she just vanished. A little chilling too. People in the spotlight are supposed to be harder to vanish, and yet she did. 

Judy's friend Tyra got me to test out a new track for the horses. It was so much fun. I love how Mythcare really just opens up like she's racing with the wind as we go. Sabine must have seen us, as she conceded that I perhaps wasn't as hopeless as she'd first thought. Truly a backhanded compliment. She certainly wasn't impressing me at all. Her snobbish request that I deliver a note to Justin at Moorland Stables only made me uneasy. She's a rich snob looking down on others, and now she just recruits me for her errand? Why doesn't she want to deliver this note herself? Is she trying to set up some romance? Or possible blackmail that she doesn't want to be caught delivering? 

Agnetha recruited me to help her in the garden while I thought about it. In the end I decided to deliver the note. I'd be there when Justin received it, so I could figure out what was needed when he got it. Whatever Sabine was up to, I'd be there to make sure Justin didn't get hurt from it. I headed back to Moorland and told Justin that I'd been given the note to give to him. He was pretty curious about it. As soon as he finished reading it though, he said he had to go see his grandpa. He didn't even give me a chance to warn him that whatever was in there needed to be treated with caution! He just up and ran! What did Sabine write that was so dire it got that response from him? I wish I had read the note before delivering it. 

I was honestly feeling pretty guilty and worried about what had happened when I'd delivered the note when I wandered over to Conrad. He looked at me, and told me he knew what I needed. He just needed me to get some material for him. It was a way to get things off my mind, so I was fine with fetching some iron from the local mine, some old nails from the beach, and what Conrad called ghost ore from the old Jarl's tomb. I'm not sure how respectful mining in the entrance was, but I did it. Conrad thanked me gravely, and I watched him create a set of horseshoes for Mythcare. He said they would carry the blessings of Aideen and speed our path. He sounded so serious. And the horseshoes did look extra nice, as far as horseshoes go. It was cool. 

It gave me an extra boost in going to see Old Jasper, maybe Justin really had just run off to see him. He hadn't. I had to tell Mr Moorland what had happened. I faced Mr Moorland and told him that Sabine from Silverglade Manor had given me a note to give to Justin, causing him to rush off claiming to need to see his grandfather. Mr Moorland was very concerned about that. Apparently Sabine had been harrassing his family for months, even trying to get them to sell. And I'd just helped Sabine along with whatever her plan was!

Maybe I could find Sabine, get her to tell me what the plan was. I headed back to Silverglade Manor feeling almost sick. Mythcare was as comforting and assuring as she could be for the ride there, but it didn't help when I found Khaan and Sabine gone. Alex, the girl I'd met when chasing the ghost rabbit, ran into me then and asked what was up. I explained, hoping more eyes could help. Alex was even more upset. Sabine apparently wasn't just a conniving blackmailer who harrassed the Moorlands. She was a Dark Rider, and gained power when she actively harmed others. Alex had apparently fought her before. Partnered up we found a trail of flaming hoofprints. Apparently that was something Khaan did, leave behind flaming tracks. At least that was help here. I raced with Alex as fast as possible to try and catch up with Sabine. We hit the beach only to see Justin and Sabine on a barge going...somewhere. There was a DC logo on the barge, but that's the only clue to where they could have gone. We can't track them over water. 

I told Mr Moorland what I managed to find. The poor man's deeply distraught. He's holding out hope his son will return on his own. Knowing what Alex said, that Sabine feeds off suffering to grow stronger? I'm not holding out so much hope. It feels terrible. 

It's not the same around the stables with Justin gone. Everyone's a little quieter, a little more tense. Mr Moorland doesn't have the same spirit as normal. I'm spending as much time as possible up in Silverglade. I can't face everyone there. At least in Silverglade I can find ways to help instead of hurt.

[blacksheep28]

Star Stable Trail Ride

I did a trail ride today! Not just any trail ride. The Red String trail ride, for the Equine Festival. The trail ride is gorgeous, riding along the mountains up to the top where you are supposed to tie a ribbon. If you go with someone and tie a ribbon together you're supposed to be bonded together forever. Of course I had to do that with Mythcare. We'll be together forever anyways, but I want to do the ribbon to show how much I care. And of course, going on a beautiful trail ride with her is absolutely a delight.

They say strange things happen on the Red String Trail, and they weren't wrong. I've gotten a little too used to how unusual and friendly the wildlife in Jorvik were. When I saw a wolf my first thought was "new friend". Mythcare wasn't so foolish, and when the wolf snapped and growled at us she kicked at it, just like that. That gave us distance. We ran into what I thought was a ranger next, who said strange things happen on the trail, and asked if we wanted an escort. The more the merrier in my opinion, so I agreed. Only he vanished after a short distance. I would have thought he'd gotten lost or changed his mind, if I hadn't kept hearing his voice giving occasional advice on the dangers of a mountain trail. A spirit guide of some sort?

I ran into a pretty black sheep too. It seemed very friendly, and persistently baaed at me and Mythcare. I have no idea where it came from or how it got up there. Maybe it's wild, but with how crazy Jorvik is, it could also just be a very smart/dumb sheep who managed to find its way up there and is now stuck. Either way, we reached the top of the trail at last, and tied the ribbon. It felt so good. Mythcare celebrated by blowing in my face and nuzzling me.

[blacksheep28]

I think I'm going to move to Jorvik. There's boarding schools here I can go to. Mr Moorland offered me Mythcare's papers as thanks for helping him get the land deed to save the stables. If I get in, I can stay here and keep riding. I love exploring the land here, riding through Silverglade and watching people. The baker asked if I'd bring some cookies up to the castle. Apparently he regularly makes a batch for the baroness. It's so sweet that this is a regular exchange. No money or anything, just caring with cookies. I rode up to the castle, but it was closed. I think I heard sobbing inside it. I headed to the manor instead and handed it over to the butler. It turns out that the baroness is having some problems. GED has oil fields nearby, and they think there might be practices being done that's poisoning the vine fields. The baroness makes wine, and apparently is well known for it. 

I play courier with samples to find evidence to bring to the baroness and show her the poisoning. The baroness is stressed when confronted, revealing that she already knew that GED was poisoning her fields, but felt powerless to act on it. Facing her when she snapped like that was honestly a little intimidating. The baroness is old, but she has an elegance and sense of power to her like one would imagine a king would carry. She's ruled these lands well, and now they are suffering because of decisions made by the government letting GED come in and follow sloppy barely legal guidelines in their exploitation of the land's resources.

I found out the stable manager for the baroness, a woman named Judy, used to ride Mythcare when she was part of Moorland Stables. She had loved Mythcare, and shared about what a disappointment it was that Mythcare was part of the stable and not for sale. I honestly felt a little guilty hearing her talk about that. Mythcare was permanently mine, if I managed to shift over to the boarding school here. I would have her deed. And Judy, who had ridden her and loved her like I did, didn't even get the option to buy her.

It's a funny thing, being reminded that Mythcare wasn't mine first. She had a lot of riders. They probably loved her like I do. Judy certainly still loves Mythcare, and would have taken her if given the chance. And yet Mythcare is here with me. I'm grateful for it, I can't imagine not having Mythcare. She's so gentle, and inquisitive, and playful. And yet here I am facing someone who could have been me. Someone that loved Mythcare, and Mythcare probably loved back, who didn't receive her. 

I'm glad that there's the distraction of caring for the wild foal at Hugh's rescue ranch. It gives me time to think, and try to figure out what to do about meeting someone who loved Mythcare like I do. Hugh named the foal Baldr. On one hand, the foal's coat is bright enough to suit the name. On the other, I can't help but think of the bad luck the god Baldr had, dying at the hand of mistletoe arrow. I hope any such bad luck from there isn't carried by this tiny colt.

I want to keep dropping by Silverglade Manor to let Judy spend some time visiting with Mythcare. She always seems to pleased to see us. I don't know if it's me, Mythcare, or the fact that I'm trying to help out with the problems the estate is currently suffering. It feels good though, to give her a chance to see Mythcare. If it was me, I would hope Mythcare's rider would do the same for me. At least until I found my own horse. I hope Judy finds a new horse to love.

[blacksheep28]

Star Stable Drabble

A drabble based on questlines for SSO

Justin tracks me down after a few days and tells me that his father wants to meet me and give me the proper welcome he hadn't been able to give before. I meet up with Mr Moorland walking through the stables. He gives me a big smile. His hands are calloused and his eyes are warm. As he greets me and wishes me a great time at the stables it's easy to see who he is. He's a hard working man who cares far more than used to be alright to admit to. He would give everything for his horses and family, and genuinely does his best to make sure that everything here goes smoothly. It's a delight to be somewhere with such a man in charge.

Then he finds a piece of paper and curses. The company, GED, is sending surveyors onto his land to start preparing for building. It's not legal, they don't have Mr Moorland's permission, but they're doing it anyway claiming that the land belongs to Silverglade and that they're in negotiations to purchase the land. Mr Moorland owns the land, he bought it himself, but he can't find the deed.

He asks for volunteers to find the surveyors and get them off his land. It doesn't take even a moment before I'm volunteering to help get rid of the surveyors and mess up anything they might have done. I am not going to lose this place to company greed, not when I have my horse and can see this place as somewhere I can fit into.

It's nerve wracking riding out there with Mythcare. The hills are soft around here and I love it. At the same time I can't stop thinking about the surveyors I'm looking for and what I'm going to do. It's a jolt through me as I find them and get rid of their stuff. They aren't impressed by a little girl on her horse, but I manage to stand my ground and make sure that the survey equipment is taken. They aren't happy with me, but they can't do anything. Not with Moorland Stables in the legal grey area it is. It's a rush like nothing else as I see them off muttering in frustration. I'm going to make sure they can't come back! I'll help Mr Moorland find that land deed!

He finally decides to ask his old accountant. She retired a decade ago, and just from being around Mr Moorland I'm positive she's what kept this entire stable running. Mr Moorland's a hard worker with a lot of heart, but he doesn't seem to have any head for the necessary paperwork. He probably has been getting by brute forcing it.

Mr Moorland's pretty sheepish about the entire thing, so he asks if I'd be willing to go ask Mrs Holdsworth about it. Her home is a cozy little thing tucked near the stables, looking plucked right out of a cottage core story. It's beautiful, the kind of home I would love to have for myself. Mrs Holdsworth herself manages to simultaneously come across as a doting grandmother wanting to share tales and fresh baked cookies, and competent enough to run the entire county by herself. She doesn't, but she definitely has that air to her. She probably knows everything about everything around here.

"The land deed? Old Jasper has it. Catherine and Thomas gave it to him to hold onto when they first started the stable." Mrs Holdsworth shook her head. "He's bitter now. But perhaps he will listen to you if you ask him.”

 "Bitter?" 

 Mrs Holdsworth smiled sadly. "He never did get over Catherine's death." I try to prompt for more, but she says my best bet of getting the deed is to be as distanced from what happened as possible. I'm full of questions as I head up to an old house on the boundary.

The old man walking around outside does not look welcoming. The scowl on his face only deepens as I approach. "This is private property. Buzz off," he growled.”

Are you Jasper?" 

 "Yeah? And what if I am?" 

 "I was told you have the land deed for Moorland Stables. The stables are in a legal battle right now, and the land deed's needed to resolve it."

Jasper cracked a smile at that. It wasn't a pleasant one. "So he needs help, huh? From me." Jasper gave a raspy unfunny laugh. "No. I've wanted to see him destroyed for years. Seeing his stable torn down by GED? It's just what he deserves."

"What about everyone else?" 

 Jasper turned away. "Not my concern. Not after that man let my daughter die."

I couldn't believe that Jasper was going to let his bitterness destroy the stable. I had to find a way to get him to turn it around. Since most of Jasper's problems were with Mr Moorland, I figured I could hash out a way to persuade Jasper with Justin. Justin was his grandson, surely he could help melt his heart. Justin was honestly hesitant to get near Jasper, which told me that Justin had either heard too much or had a bad enough brush with Jasper to not want to repeat it.

Justin suggests that sharing old letters his mom wrote with Jasper might work. I agree, and we work to pick out letters talking about how happy Catherine was when alive and how much she was looking forward to her baby. I take the letters with me up to Jasper and give them to him.

He's not happy I've returned, and at first I'm afraid he'll destroy the letters without even reading them. He stops though, recognizing the writing. I stand there as he silently starts reading through them. It feels like it's ages before he looks up. At some point he started crying as he read. "I've...I've been such a fool. I've lost so many years of being part of my grandson's life, because I was too bitter to realize what I still had."

He turned around and dug out an old key bringing it back to me. "Here. The land deed's in a safebox in Fort Pinta. Give it to Thomas." I go to thank him, but he waves me off. It was only his duty to his family, even if he had made a mess of things for so long.

[blacksheep28]

Star Stable Drabble

A drabble based on the questlines for SSO

I love horses. Moving to Jorvik and getting to join the Moorland Stables summer camp then was perfection. It was the best thing I could have asked for. I felt like I was going to explode as I followed Justin Moorland, the son of the owner of the stables, in to where the horses were assigned to riders for the camp. He apologized to me, as usually his father would be the one showing me around, but was rather busy thanks to clashing with a big company that was trying to buy the area to build real estate. Old story, new players. Places like Moorland Stables often struggled with not being bought out. Part of what made Jorvik unique was how so much of the island was artisan and family run instead of big companies. I hoped that the big company trying to buy out Moorland Stables failed.

"This'll be your horse while you're with us," Justin said cheerfully stopping outside a stall with a pale grey horse. She looked almost white, save for her black mane and tail and the dark coloring of her muzzle. Her ears flicked attentively towards me and I gazed into soft brown eyes. I fell instantly in love. I reached forward stroking her muzzle gently. "Hi," I breathed. 

 "Her name's Mythcare. She'll be your responsibility this summer. That means feeding her, grooming her, and mucking out her stall," Justin told me. It took a moment for me to wrench myself away from Mythcare so Justin could show me where the tack and grooming supplies were kept. He patiently talked me through tacking Mythcare up and showing him that I could do the different paces with Mythcare. Riding her was magical. Every time I ride it feels like it's better than the last, and the feeling is even stronger here, on the back of the horse that is mine. For now at least. I'm free to spend the summer dreaming that she is truly mine.

Justin excuses himself to go help others and directs me to Loretta at the ring, the one in charge of the Bobcat Girls riding club. Loretta has a sharpness to her. She's looking at me for weakness. It's not malicious. She could easily take me apart with her words, but I can tell the sharp edge she carries is from life as a competitive rider and her pride, not out of a desire to cut into others. That sharpness would serve her well in competitions. I'm glad I'm not part of that world myself. I've never enjoyed such edges.

Loretta passed me on to her friend Tan to run me through the paddock rules, booking it for training for competition training, and the riding trails. She was a lot nicer, even with the same pride and standards as Loretta. It was great actually getting to take Mythcare out on the trails. I'm still getting used to it, it always takes a bit to readjust to riding, and Mythcare feels different somehow than other horses. Smoother. There's mistakes made, but Mythcare's good at correcting for them. And she seems so delighted to be getting out and moving. It's great.

[blacksheep28]

Meteor, TinCan, Mythcare, and Elli hang out close by

[blacksheep28]

Alex and Linda noticed Ydris. They're really suspicious of him. I guess they haven't had a lot of experience with powerful magic users outside the druids and Dark Core, so Ydris would look suspicious to them. It was nice to have a reason to visit Ydris again, even if I don't think he's anything to be wary of. I headed to the spot where he'd decided to set up his circus and start building it up.

Ydris was pleased to see me and invited me to look around at the wonderous creatures he had in his circus. Only his cages looked empty to me. Ydris was surprised I didn't see anything, and noted it was likely a form of Sight. I guess he was using illusions to create his wonderous creatures. It worked on the average citizen, but not on me. My connection with Mythcare in action? Or part of what drew Mythcare to bond with me in the first place.

Ydris asked if I'd find some five leaf clovers. I'd never heard of such a thing before, and he said it took special sight to see them, and they could only be gifted, not taken. I found some and picked them. Ydris was very pleased, and asked if I'd give them to an acquaintance of his, a witch named Pi.

It was a simple enough request to fulfill, and I trust Ydris. Which may not have been the wisest choice considering what the witch was like. I'm pretty sure I just gave something powerful to someone wicked. I don't know why Ydris would ask me to do that, or what connection he had to Pi. Alex and Linda weren't pleased to hear it either. They've fought with Pi before, and she tried to drown them in her swamp. If Ydris hadn't realized I had a form of Sight, I wonder what would have been different.

[blacksheep28]

Star Stable: Mistfall

A riderless horse burst into Firgrove while I was there. His name's Dellingr, and he was extremely distraught. Granny Rose said that he belongs to her granddaughter, and was extremely worried to see him without her, especially as Dellingr works as a seeing eye guide for her. I was quick to mount Mythcare and ride out following him to see what had happened.

Dellingr kept getting more and more nervous as we headed down into the forest, and so did Mythcare, which isn't normal. We found Rania, but there were wolves hunting for her. That's not normal. Not in Jorvik, and not in other places either. We had to race back to Firgrove for safety. We made it back alright, but a very suspicious doctor showed up to drag Rania back to her town for a "quarantine". Quarantines happen, but the doctor was off. He seemed far more concerned with taking Rania back to the quarantine than explaining anything. He didn't want anyone talking to or approaching Rania. He even claimed she was extremely sick, despite a doctor just declaring her healthy moments before during a check after the run to safety.

Rania's granny and the doctor managed to keep Rania from being dragged back off, but the doctor did leave with the worrying words that they were almost finished anyway. Finished with what? Rania said that she doesn't know what's going on, just that this creepy Doctor Oplet and a bunch of others turned up claiming the water wasn't safe, which struck Rania as wrong since Dundull prides itself on having the most pure refreshing water from its stream. And if it is contaminants in the water, it wouldn't be a sickness that needs a quarantine either. 

Rania's heading back to Dundull, and I've already solved a big part of the mystery. GED is at it again, trying to take advantage of things. This is perhaps the biggest project I've seen them do personally. It's terrifying to think this company is managing to hold an entire town hostage. The faster we can reveal what's really going on the better. 

We got back to Dundull alright, but only because Rania's mother rescued us when wolves attacked. Rania wasn't able to hide that this time. Something's really wrong with them. And Sigry seems to buy into the phony quarantine, so it'll just be us kids working to solve the problem adults caused. Ugh. I know Sigry cares, but she really isn't looking at what's going on. How does she not notice that things are off? 

We slipped off to start investigating and writing down what we find to prove the quarantine's being faked by GED. We just don't know why yet. We did find out GED is paying the councilman for whatever they're doing. GED hates letting money escape them. Whatever he did to get money from them is going to hit him hard. 

We found out what GED is doing. They're selling the spring water, and we have recorded evidence of it. We were found out, but luckily not caught. With evidence this strong we should be able to force people into action and get this fixed. We even found out that GED is likely why the wolves are so aggressive, they're feeding them something. 

Of course it couldn't go smoothly. We brought the evidence back, but Rania's mom was so angry and scared that Rania had run off that she didn't listen, and Rania rode off to confront GED alone. Sigry was immediately sorry, but I don't think she realized Rania was serious about confronting GED. Rania's been fighting all alone here, with no one listening to her, and even now that her mom is listening she's not realizing how serious Rania is about this fight. I caught Rania confronting Dr Oplet with the evidence we gathered, and the slimy guy tried to destroy it. I managed to distract them so Rania could escape. Rania's next plan is the councilman. I just don't know how well that will work when he's making money off this. At least she also decided to ask her mom to meet us there when we showed the evidence. 

Mrs Drake, the cold snake whose the GED CEO, turned up when we confronted Skoll with our evidence. He broke down, explaining the contract he'd signed with GED to try and bring more money into Dundull. Only he badly misread the contract. No wonder GED was so happy to give him money. He signed over control of the entire town's water supply, and land for a golf and county club. The town will be reduced to little more than almost free labor under GED's control in order to survive! Worse yet, with the ruse discovered Doctor Oplet was conveniently fired as a scape goat for setting up an illegal quarantine. Mrs Drake is coming in hard with legal rights now. At least Dundull is aware now that there is something to fight, but even with Sigry's support and the community rallying, it promises to be a tough battle!

There's one thing we can do to fight what GED has done at least. Doctor Eiren identified the taint in the meat GED was feeding the wolves as wolfsbane, and made a remedy using herbs local to Jorvik. We gave it to them, and it wasn't long before they were feeling better. It was such a relief to see the wolves dropping out of that pained maddened state the poison had put them in.

It also gave Doctor Eiren an idea. GED hired a Jorvik celebrity, T Raptor, to advertise the water they're selling from Dundull. If we could go to one of T Raptor's public appearances and reveal what was happening, he would want to distance himself from it, and likely use his popularity to lash back out at GED for using his brand with such a disaster. The attention and reveal of Councillor Skoll's corruption should be enough to get GED to give the water rights back!

We found one of his performances scheduled at Jorvik City Mall, and went as a group. I managed to get T Raptor's perission to play the video, and when he saw what happened he was really upset, and reversed his support for GED just like we had hoped. It turns out he's a fan of wolves, and GED's actions of poisoning them had him fired up at tearing down the water company he had advertised for.

  It took a few days, but GED pulled out of Mistfall. They wanted to cut themselves off from the mess we made of their operation as soon as possible. They couldn't afford too much attention with their shady deeds after all. We'd done it. Stubbornness, guts, and an unwillingness to let injustice stand got us through. The quarantine's gone, the water's free, and we have a happy ending.

[blacksheep28]

Star Stable Drabble

The Sunfield Farm is absolutely gorgeous. It's everything you would imagine for a small family homestead farm, with pigs and chickens and a field of wheat. The only problem is that the chickens seem to have gone missing. Not broken out, just straight up gone from the area with no evidence of how it happened. The family really relies on those chickens, this isn't a loss they can just swallow. So I volunteered to help search for them.

I found a button on the ground near the chicken coop. I started asking around, but no one seemed to know anything. The one kid, Loke, was in fact a bit of a brat about the fact he didn't know anything. Nothing so terrible as to explain why his father seemed to feel a need to warn me about the kid's behavior, but annoying. I can only guess that Loke used to be a lot better behaved if something like this is enough to make his dad try and excuse him. I did find a clue from the toddler. She told me that the button was from Isolde's coat. She knew cause she loved looking at the buttons and admiring them when Isolde came by.

I found out why Loke is in such a snit too. Apparently he used to be really close with Isolde, until Isolde's mom decided out of nowhere that Loke was a bad influence and banned the pair from spending time together. What a completely overdramatic response. I'd be pretty bitter too if I got cut off from my friend. I wonder if Isolde took the chickens to try and prove that she was worse without being allowed around Loke? That would mean the chickens will be easier to retrieve, even if she will get in trouble.

I rode Mythcare down to the Goldspur farm. It's larger than the Sunfield farm. They have two mills, and breed and sell arabians. They're beautiful to watch. I asked around for Isolde and found her. She claimed she hadn't been down to the Sunfield farm in ages, but I could tell she was trying to hide something. Which doesn't match up with my idea that she would want to be caught to punish her family for calling Loke a bad influence. She was happy to get her button back, but snapped that I couldn't prove she'd gone to the Sunfield farm, and was genuinely offended at being asked if she stole the chickens. So she's up to something, but it's not about the chickens.

I don't like Isolde's brother Tristan. He is completely sold on the idea of Loke being a terrible person, and claimed that if the chickens had gone missing Loke had done it himself to mess with his family or try to frame the Goldspurs. Just talking to Tristan was far more unpleasant than the bitterness that Loke had, and Loke had good reason to be in such a terrible mood!

I talked to Grandpa Goldspur, and he told me that Isolde had gone riding on a horse with a broken shoe extremely early in the morning. Down to the Sunfield farm, I wouldn't doubt. I tried asking Angus Goldspur about it too, but he was far too prideful and angry to even listen to why I was asking about this. His wife was more willing to talk to me about it at least. And I found out why the Goldspurs think Loke is a bad influence. It seems Tristan was spinning tales about the awful things Loke did. Which seems really weird for him to do, and definitely makes things uncomfortable. Idun was more upset about me asking if Tristan could have possibly lied about Loke being bad than about me asking about Isolde having possibly been to the Sunfield farm.

The Goldspurs have twins, young kids just leaving behind being toddlers but not quite old enough to grasp secrets. They told me they have a secret about Isolde, but promised not to tell anyone. I did convince them to tell me if I beat them in a game of hide and seek, and they revealed that Isolde has been sneaking out of the house at night for a while. So she has definitely been visiting the Sunfield farm in secret, but she doesn't want anyone to know, and stealing the chickens would only make her sneaking around more difficult. Then where do the chickens come into all this, and how did Isolde's button get down there? Did it fall off when she was sneaking down to see Loke?

Oh, Loke and Isolde aren't friends. They're boyfriend and girlfriend. I can't believe I didn't realize, that's awkward. It's a good thing that Isolde's too wrapped up in her little romance to realize that I was surprised to learn that. Tristan butted in to claim that Loke stole Isolde's button to frame her for stealing the chickens and and to forget about Loke. But I know that's not right. Loke didn't recognize the button when I showed it to him earlier, and framing Isolde like this when they're secretly dating just doesn't make sense.

Wait. Tristan hates Loke being around Isolde. What if he found out about Isolde sneaking around and took the chickens to frame Loke as hurting his sister, in order to split them up? He is awfully determined to have Isolde to himself. Isolde rode off to confront Loke about what happened. Tristan's desperate to keep them from speaking to each other, which only makes it more clear that something's up. Only Isolde didn't speak to Loke, she spoke to Loke's sister instead, and now they're split up just like Tristan wanted. I confirmed that Loke really didn't know anything about the button. He was probably trying to cover up Isolde possibly being behind the chickens going missing, and it's all a mess.

I rode back to the Goldspurs to try and figure out where Tristan could have hidden the chickens. Luckily the twins had managed to stumble across where they had been hidden. His parents are furious to find out that Tristan's a thief and a liar, causing all this trouble. Which is good, and we can solve things with Loke and Isolde now.

Only they've both run off. I don't know if they figured out what was up with the chickens, or just independently decided to run. Either way I need to try and figure out where they've gone. They need to know that the true culprit has been caught, and he's gonna pay for everything he put them through. They need to know the truth is known, and they don't have to run.

I found a scribbled note from Loke asking Isolde to meet him at their special place. Thankfully I recognize the description of the place, leading to a treehouse deep in the Greenwoods. It took yelling, since they had the rope ladder pulled up and hadn't wanted to admit they were in there, but I told them everything. Isolde's furious with her brother. I think Loke's just relieved that he's not being blamed for everything now. The guy's had a wretched time of things.

It's gonna take time for the two families to reconcile, even with Isolde and Loke dating. Tristan's chicken theft is serious, and the bad blood between them won't be easily quelled even with Tristan slaving away with the pigs on the Sunfield farm to make up for everything. Isolde gave me a big hug for helping though, and Loke even said that I was alright. Another day in Jorvik, another day saved.

[blacksheep28]

Star Stable Drabble

I got an exciting surprise today! Marley was given the job to help train and rehabilitate one of the baroness' race horses after he injured his ankle. I'm really glad Butterfly didn't completely break his ankle. He'll even be good enough to do races again! Well, in theory at least. And I get to help! It's more that Mythcare is helping. She's going to be modeling good behavior and so on for Butterfly. The baroness' horse is surprisingly skittish and bad at following after Marley. Race horses do tend to be high strung from all their energy. Perhaps Butterfly is just worked up from not being able to push himself while his ankle heals.

Mythcare kept looking at Butterfly while I tried to demonstrate for Butterfly. It was weird, she's such an easy going horse that anything that gets her attention like that automatically gets mine. I was a little less caught off guard when Butterfly bolted thanks to that, but it still took a moment for it to sink in what had happened. Mythcare was really gentle approaching Butterfly, just quietly breathing and standing nearby while Butterfly calmed down. This really wasn't right.

And I was right. This wasn't Butterfly. When I touched him on the way back some kind of paint came off on my hand. We cleaned the horse down, and the unique markings that showed it was Butterfly washed right off. Marley even checked the back ankle, and this horse had never been injured there. No wonder the horse had been having so much trouble with the training! We were doing simple things for rehabilitation, but for a horse with no training the entire thing had to be very confusing and scary! It explained why Mythcare had been watching him too. She'd known he didn't know what was going on.

The theft of one of the baroness' horses is a serious matter. I went with Marley to tell Carney about it. Carney was furious and blamed Marley for the entire thing, which was really unfair. Marley had kept a very close eye on the horse, he had already been swapped with Butterfly when he arrived! Carney insisted the guy who had brought the fake Butterfly to Marley was above reproach, but I knew it was wrong. Carney's kinda judgmental and too hard on Marley. He's missing what's going on in favor of what's familiar.

I went to check out this Mr Anwir myself. It gave me chills as soon as I saw him. When I'd tried to help Marley look for who Valiant, the replacement Butterfly, really belonged to, I'd been told that Valiant had belonged to a horse abuser who looked a lot like Mr Anwir. A coincidence maybe, but the evidence didn't look good. I looked closer, and I found Butterfly's papers. Proof! He shouldn't have still had the papers after a simple delivery! Not that detailed, not the registration papers necessary for ownership!

Valiant hated Mr Anwir. He chased after the man when he drove off. I followed him with Mythcare. Valiant lead us to a paddock, and we found the real Butterfly there! Even better, we were able to force Mr Anwir into a crash. We had the evidence, and he was going away. Butterfly was saved, and Valiant had a chance at a new better life with Marley's help. A day well spent! Valiant was so brave helping us find Butterfly so we could stop Mr Anwir.

[blacksheep28]

Star Stable Drabble

Felicity's horse Summerbreeze is sick. It's bad enough she needs a vet to come in too. I don't know what I'd do if Mythcare was that sick. Well, I'd get a vet like Felicity is, but seeing someone's beloved horse so ill hurts. Summerbreeze is barely eating or drinking, and only because Felicity is painstakingly coaching him through it.

The vet's really concerned about Summerbreeze, and had me go talk to the druids to get a healing elixir from them. I managed to convince the druid I was trustworthy enough to help prep everything so it could go as fast as possible. I was really concerned we weren't going to make it in time, not with the prognosis the vet gave. Somehow we managed to make it in time and Felicity talked Summerbreeze through taking it.

He didn't seem better right away, but he did start improving. A few more days and he was back up to speed. It's such a relief to see him ok. Even better to see just how happy Felicity is having him back to himself. Summerbreeze is lucky to have such a devoted owner.

[blacksheep28]

The temporary mayor of Jarlaheim? Yeah, he cannot drive. He has absolutely no impulse control, and decided to take the trailer he'd been hired to drive down to the baroness' riding arena off roading. He even tried to jump the river! Luckily I did manage to talk him out of that, even if the trip was still much longer than something so simple should have been. I'm glad I rode Mythcare, if I'd been in the car I'm sure I would have been sick.

[blacksheep28]

I met Alex's druid mentor, a woman named Elizabeth. She asked me to take Mythcare up to a stone circle with glowing runes and tell her about it. I'm not really sure what she got out of it, but she seemed intrigued. She did help me get in contact with the Firgrove councilman to ask about Mr Sandman. It turned out he'd been on the council in Firgrove once. He had had a picture, but someone had just taken it moments before I arrived. I hoped to catch up to whoever it was and ask if they'd let me see it before they left. It turned out to be Sabine, and I definitely couldn't just let her get away then! I ran her down with Mythcare and managed to get her to drop the photo. She got away, but I got the evidence that Mr Sandman and Mr Sands are the same person.

Working with Baldr is a nice break from dealing with trying to find Justin. It's stressful worrying about what's happened with him. Baldr may be recovering from poisoning, but at least I know that Baldr is getting help and I can see for myself how he's doing. Plus the little foal is absolutely adorable, and a lot more playful now that he's feeling better.

Alex sent a letter to the post box we found out Mr Sands is renting, so now we just need to wait for him to come pick up his mail to track down where Justin might be. In the meantime, there's supposedly a ghost haunting the baroness' shelter. I don't know if I should hope that it's a real ghost or not. Even if it is something normal it promises to be interesting.

[blacksheep28]

Construction finally finished on the bridge to the Harvest Country. Donald's such a bumbling nervous little fellow, it's a real joy to see it completed. Racing Mythcare across the completed bridge felt fantastic! And the Jorvik Stables are supposed to be a real sight to see, the best in the country!

The innkeeper across the bridge was absolutely ecstatic to see me. He's been pretty desperate for company since the route to Jarlaheim became overgrown and the bridge collapsed. He had me doing all kinds of errands to help him reopen before he finally gave me directions to Jarlaheim. And I had to bushwhack my way along the route, conveniently opening up the path for others to head to the inn. Ugh, what a nuisance. The stables really were amazing though. The horses were just magnificent. And the riders really knew what they were doing. So cool to watch.