A Garwood Welcome
[The veil of the life has lifted.]
[Lore Mistyr you have died and your soul has been abandoned and sold to the Garwood.]
[Welcome to the Garwood, Realm of Abandoned]
Lore Mistyr was a subpar human in nearly every respect. He had neither talent nor character that could make him stand out. He was not handsome nor respected in any way during his life on earth. He squandered the opportunities life presented him and lived a mediocre life. All in all, he was not one to encounter anything magical or fantastical for he did not live a fantastical life. And that's why, he was surprised to find these blood-red letters appearing in his vision when he awoke.
He blinked and forced himself to sit up from his position, pushing the blanket that was covering him off of him and sitting up against the wall of a rickety wagon under him. He was confused for a short moment, wondering how he had ended up here when he had just died in an earthquake a few minutes ago. He noticed there were 3 other humans other than him who were wrapped in blankets.
Perhaps... they were in a similar situation as him?
[The Garwood is passing along your [Compensense], the price paid for your soul. Rejoice, Ye Abandoned, receive your price. ]
{Branding soul circuit... branding complete.}
{View your Branding by calling 'Brand'.}
Confused but focusing on the important information he had received, Lore stood up and began to inspect the wagon. He stepped over three other sleeping bodies and pulled back the wagon's curtain at the front to see the wagon's driver. Only for him to be taken aback at the sight of a gruesome-looking wooden puppet, holding reigns that didn't connect to any horses. The reigns simply dangled down and the wooden wagon was somehow propelled forward along a path of thick dense darkness. A bright green lantern filled with an eerie glow was hung like a fishing rod, towards the front, illuminating the way ahead.
Lore gulped silently as he took in the supernatural things in front of him, while he avoided the wooden puppet's gaze. Its eyes glowed with a blood-red aura. It turned its head to look at him as he had pulled back the curtain.
*Thud*
"What is that? Where am I?" A woman demanded as she awoke, seeing the eyes of the puppet wagon driver staring at Lore from the side.
Lore pulled the curtain back where it was and looked intently at the woman. She was a pretty woman, but not beyond any models he saw on magazine covers. She had auburn hair and brown eyes with an image of exactly what you might imagine a countryside sweetheart would look like. However, the look in her eyes spoke more to Lore than anything else. Her eyes were calm, too clear despite her body language. It made him automatically raise his guard as if he was facing something not entirely empathetic in those eyes.
"Gah, be quiet woman! I'm trying to... wait. Where am I?" A balding man said, sitting up in confusion next to the woman.
"That's what I want to know!" The woman said while pointing her finger at Lore accusingly.
"I just woke up here and saw this man staring at a wooden puppet." The woman stated, probing for information.
"What really? Do you know what happened to us?" The bald man asked, rubbing his head.
"You should know soon enough." Lore said, before ignoring his 'fellows' in favor of searching for any more clues inside the wagon.
And it seemed to work too because both the woman and the man quieted down while their eyes darted back and forth, reading the messages the Garwood left them. Lore traced the corners of the wagon with his fingers purposefully and searched in between the floorboards along the way. This was how he found semi-crumpled and torn pieces of aged parchment that had fallen between the cracks.
It read:
======
Take care of your wagon, do not enter the darkness.
======
By this time, the third person who was asleep had woken up and he was staring at everyone silently. It was a boy, perhaps no older than 11, but his eyes had no light in them and it seemed as if he was already longing for death.
"That's what I'm saying, woman. Your Branding is significant, but it doesn't make you our leader. I'm not following some woman's lead." The man said, scoffing lightly with a smile of disdain.
"You misogynistic asshole. I can't believe there are still people like you who exist." The woman responded.
"Yeah baby, that's me. One in a million." The man smirked.
The boy with dull eyes said nothing in the background as all this happened, just watching on.
*Ahem*
Lore cleared his throat loudly, pulling the attention to himself.
"It would be best if we each explain a bit about ourselves and the last thing we each remember." He stated.
"I found something that is of interest as well." He continued, waving the worn paper note in his hand.
The woman arrived first and snatched the paper from Lore's grasp and read it quickly, before 'accidentally' dropping it as the balding man reached for his turn to read.
"Damn it, woman!" The man cursed as he picked up the paper note.
"Take care of the wagon and don't enter the dark. This advice seems important." The woman analyzed while speaking aloud.
"Indeed, from what we both saw of our 'driver' outside, this place should be the supernatural." Lore nodded.
"So what role does your Branding fit, handsome?" The woman said, with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Branding?" Lore questioned aloud.
"Did you not even check?" the woman asked slightly dumbfounded.
"I was more concerned about my current surroundings," Lore answered.
He focused inside him until he found a small runic image engraved in the core of his mind. He focused on it and information was pushed into his mental sight like reading a book.
{
Name: [Lore Mistyr]
Abandonment Defect: [Excessive Sloth, abandonment of duties, and responsibilities. ]
Brand Name: [Wagoneer]
Branding: [Wagon Bond] - Metaphysically bond with a 'Wagon' to permanently gain a connection to it, allowing for a variety of effects including 'knowing' the 'desires' of the wagon for its extraordinary ascension as well as knowing the 'passengers' that it allows inside it.
Rating: [Wagon Master 2, Loremaster 1, Alchemist 1]
}
'Interesting,' he thought to himself.
It seemed that he fit the role of {Wagon Master} the most, but he also had some sub-roles attached to his Branding: {Loremaster} and {Alchemist}. Though they were targeted at specific things, mainly the passengers and the wagon. He instinctively moved his hand and placed it on the wagon's floor underneath him, before tugging on the Brand in his mind to activate [Wagon Bond].
[Are you sure you want to {Bond} with this Wagon? It cannot be undone and destruction of the wagon may result in your death.]
[Yes/No]
He selected yes without hesitation and instantly felt a connection to the wagon under him. It felt like the surroundings had gotten more welcoming, like a home warming him up from the cold.
He stood back up and saw the woman looking at him questioningly after seeing his actions.
"It seems, my Branding is suitable for the {Wagon Master} role," Lore explained blandly.
"Oh~? Well, what is it?" The woman asked with expectation.
"[Wagon Bond], I am bonded with the wagon we are in. It lets me have a connection to it and through this connection, I have access to some {Alchemist} role features to ascend the wagon with extraordinary materials." Lore elaborated further.
"Oh, that's... boring" The woman pouted slightly but then recovered a second later.
"Well, let's introduce ourselves then." The balding man said smiling.
"I'll go first then, and I am Lore Mistyr, nice to meet you, everyone," Lore spoke thoughtfully.
"My name is Olaf, and my Branding is [Lantern Up]. If I am carrying a light source, the fuel will last twice as long and the light will be twice as bright." Olaf said while shaking his head.
"My name is Catherine and my Branding is [Danger Detect]. I can instinctively feel danger, the more extreme, the clearer it feels." Catherine said with a proud look on her face.
"What do you think? Isn't my ability suitable to be a leader of this group?" Catherine asked Lore smugly.
"As I said before woman, I'm not taking orders from you," Olaf spoke back.
"And what about you? Who are you?" Lore asked the silent boy behind them.
The boy only looked up at him blankly, before looking back down at the ground silently.
"Great, we have a defective child," Olaf grumbled.
Lore focused on Olaf thinking about this man's character, when he felt a pull from the wagon he bonded with. He followed it and suddenly he was able to see some of Olaf's Brand information in his mind.
{
Name: [Olaf Matador]
Abandonment Defect: [Abnormally Violent, misogynist, abusive]
Brand Name: [Living Lantern]
Branding: [Lantern Up]
Rating: [Light Keeper 3, Scout 1]
}
'Interesting, so this was why my Branding was {Loremaster 1}' Lore thought, looking at the roof of the wagon with a thankful gaze.
Lore quickly focused on the two remaining passengers within the wagon to get their information from his Branding.
{
Name: [Catherine Delune]
Abandonment Defect: [Medium Psychopathy, excessive fornication and prostitution]
Brand Name: [Mystic Delver]
Branding: [Danger Detect]
Rating: [Captain Explorer 2, Scout 2]
}
{
Name: [Ben Falay]
Abandonment Defect: [Trauma, excessively abused, abnormally terrified to perform basic duties.]
Brand Name: [Curiousity]
Branding: [Lore Book]
Rating: [Loremaster 4]
}
For a moment, Lore paused in surprise seeing the eleven-year-old's brand rating. It was Loremaster 4. The Branding had to be one of the best they could get in terms of learning information about things.
Also... it seems he was right to be wary of Catherine. From the information about her Defect, it seems she has mild psychopathy.
Suddenly, the rocking of the wagon slowed down and came to a halt, interrupting the chatter in the wagon.