IC - Axis Umbra Malthus

[Curren]

Choosing the largest house out of them all, but first checking to see that it wasn't a house of worship; he stepped up onto a roofed porch and tapped the large brass knocker fashioned in the image of a regal lions head on a sturdy varnished oak door.

He waited patiently, admiring the mass of ivy plants that wound up the beige painted stone walls on all sides. The ivy had been pruned and managed so it didn't reach the thatched roof or cover the metal rimmed glass windows. He had noticed that most of the other houses although not as grand as this one seemed to have been designed the same way and decked out with the same floral arrangements. There was not much evidence of gardens near any of the houses Curren noticed, and he presumed there must be allotments for them nearby.

'Very nice, if a little too uniform' he muttered with as he turned around an looked again at the rest of the hamlet which centred around a little grassed rise where a large chalk white stone roughly five feet high and four foot width stood. He was sure there was some sort of inscription on it but had yet to investigate it.

The pebbled path that ran from the heights of the cliff where he had come from wound completely around the rise; and many smaller paths like the suns rays bisected from this ‘roundabout’ and must lead he assumed to each of the individual houses.

‘Pretty bloody quiet though.’ He thought as he consulted his wrist full of many watches. ‘It must be ‘tiffin’ time’' his face broke ito a grin.

He turned back to the door and knocked the door itself loudly.

‘Ello? Any one 'ome?’ his voice broke the quiet as he peered through the window nearest to the porch looking for any movement inside.

[arcanus]

"Well hello" comes a voice from around the side of the cottage, amiably peering around he see's a man in his thirties.
Thick set through years of hard work, farmers denin dungerees.
Around the side of the cottage, a plot of land was laid out in neat squares, vegetable patches laid out in neats rows, small white bricks creating the rows.
From the look of things the man had been working all morning, toiling.
There was something that Curren found refreshing, clean air, hard work, simpler times, a reminder of older days.
"Hi, can I help?" he says smiling
Currens face furrowed, the man seemed familiar in a perplexing way.

Make a Logic+Essence test?

[Curren]

Logic+Essence: 11 8 7 5 5 5 4 3 2 1 1 6 Hits

[arcanus]

Logic+Essence: 11 8 7 5 5 5 4 3 2 1 1 6 Hits

A smile crossing Curren's face hiding his perplexity, he analysed the young man, although the man had shown nothing but friendship, something niggled at the magician.
"Are you okay?" asked the man, as he straightened up, stretching his back and then leaning forwards on his hoe.
Curren noticed that other villagers had started to appear, a girl in her early twenties, old rural clothing carrying pales of milk, followed by a little girl, again something about both girls puzzled him.

[Curren]

Curren blushed in embarassment at his visible confusion and the sudden appearance of more of the townspeople.

'Er, its nothing Sir. Just the heat of this fine day I'm sure; I've walked some way to see you all and I'm not as fit as I should be!' he smiled as he removed his bowler hat that he had worn for this venture; he felt that the bowler went well with his white light ruffled shirt and a pair of dark green slacks, the matching suit jacket was draped over his left shoulder. A heavy set of sturdy laced boots completed the ensemble.

'May I introduce myself? I'm Malthalamus Curren, and I'm here regarding the dam.' He produced his hand to the man.

[arcanus]

The man smiled and shook the offered hand vigorously.
The little girl had come over to him to find out what he was all about.
Then it struck Malthalamus Curren, he looked from the man to the little girl, both bore a resemblance to him, not identical but as if they were his descendants.

[Curren]

'Have I met you somewhere before Sir?' he enquired as he wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. 'You seem familiar to me, pray tell me your name.' he explained.

[arcanus]

The man smiles "Pleased to meet you, my names 'Toblin Blake'"
"Welcome to the village of Hopeshead" he adds, "Your here about the dam, is there a problem with the dam?" he enquires

[Curren]

'Not in the slightest Mr Blake, the dam is in good working order. However there are tests and routine works that need to be made on it; and therefore a large amount of water will need to flow from the lake behind it and down its original natural course.' He said with an easy smile.

'Now theres no cause for alarm as there is no danger to your lovely hamlet. I have come down here to survey the original river bed and to speak to you over how the river ran originally. Could you show me?' he enquired.

'I will not threaten their lives for my own selfish gain.' he thought to himself. 'This needs to be planned meticulously.'

[arcanus]

Blake looks a little taken aback "Of course, PAM I'M TAKING THIS HERE GENTLEMAN DOWN TO THE RIVERBED!" he shouts
The little girl skips with excitement
He grabs his worn hessian satchel, smiles at you and heads out, leading you down a mud path leading down into the woods.
Woods that thicken into the deeper forest.
Blake chats amiably with Curren, until they reach the valley floor and the moist leaf mulch trail, indicating the remnants of a river bed.
The riverbed had long since grown over, young trees had spouted up, the canopies of the older trees had now sheltered the course, saplings and shoots everywhere.