The Toxic Tea Shop

They crested over a hill and below them a small mining town was spread out within the canyon, but instead of driving into the town, Seth bared right and went around the top of the canyon in which the town was sitting in. Seth stopped the cart to a point level with the town, he got down from the control seat, searched through one of the crates, and pulled out a mass of rope and clips. He threw them off the back of the cart and jumped down off the cart. Seth then proceeded to activate each of the mechanical braces from the carts underside. Ellyn then spoke up “What are you doing?” she said, disembarking from the cart herself. Seth walked around to the side facing the edge of the canyon, Ellyn met him there. “Just wait, you’ll see” Seth said starting to tie some of the rope to the cart. Seth then found the other end of the rope and clipped it to something under his jumper. Ellyn just looked at him quizzically. He gave her a wink and jumped off the edge. “Seth!” Ellyn called after him,

The dust in this area tends to be mostly sand and mud, which causes havoc for unprotected mechanisms or machines. The plains are littered with debris from an older world, with the wrecks having been scraped clean of anything useful long ago. Not much grows in the plains but the area provides the quickest route between the two nearest cities. As Ellyn groggily opened her eyes and yawned. She sat up in the hammock and saw Seth wasn’t there, she assumed he was out laying traps or something. She looked around and saw Seth had left his arm again, as she approached she saw that it was holding a note, it read: Gone to scavenge, will be back with breakfast! His handwriting was smooth but uneven and was written on the paper at an angle. Ellyn then studied the arm, it was the first time she’d ever had a good look at it, and while she felt a little uncomfortable with it she still wanted to see it. As she looked at it in the morning light and she saw it was a pretty accurate match

They braved the storm with the cart tethered to the ground behind a big rock, shielding it from the winds somewhat. They sat there in Seths cart, with large canvas flaps covering the openings. Most the time was spent with Seth teaching Ellyn how to deal with Acorn, and learning the commands for him. “Come on Acorn! Now, NOSE!” Ellyn said sternly to Acorn who was being quite stubborn. “Ellyn, look, like this” Seth said as he demonstrated the `proper` way to do it. “Acorn, Nose” he commanded holding his hand out in a fist. Acorn then touched his fist with his nose. “See? Easy!” “Fine, let me try again” said Ellyn. She held out her hand in the same way Seth did and calmly said “Acorn, Nose” and he bumped her fist with his nose, slower than he did with Seth but still he did it. Ellyn made some sort of squeak with happiness as Acorn returned to Seth. “I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!” Ellyn exclaimed, showing her excitement by clapping …..a lot…. “…..Anywa

It was mid-afternoon when they arrived in Macewood, the fumes and steam of the various stands mixing into a pillar of white, towering above the market town, acting as a signal beacon that can be seen for miles. “So, you hungry?” asked Seth as he caught Ellyn staring at a heavy laden food cart that they passed. Ellyn nodded furiously. Seth found a gap in the stalls and expertly maneuvered the cart into the space; it was outside the ruins of an old-world restaurant called M-Dons, and had a big ‘M’ outside. It seemed that the food it sold had an extremely good sell-by-date and was still edible so someone had continued the business. Seth went in and bought them a sandwich each. It came wrapped in paper, and Ellyn un-wrapped it, then bit her sandwich, she looked around while she was chewing, and looked at Seth. He saw her looking at him and raised an eyebrow back at her; “Mmmph?” asked Seth with his mouth full “Hmmmm, Hmf, Huhmf.” “You did what!?” questioned Ellyn, smirking Seth

This section of the forest was close to the main route so was busier with traders and merchants, but also those who do not mean others well. The trees here were the same height but had little branches until the top which spawned very large and broad canopies, which cause the area beneath them to be in the shade, dotted with specks of sunlight making its way to the ground. When Ellyn woke the following morning, Seth was gone and so was Acorn. But she didn’t mind, in fact it helped as she lay in her hammock, gently swaying herself, and thought on what Seth had told her. The way he said “which they used to blow up the major cities and population hubs.” Got to her, he said it so casually as if it didn’t matter that almost the entirety of the world’s population was killed in a couple of days. As she lay there Ellyn started listening to the sounds of the world, the animals skittering around in the undergrowth  and in the trees, the “birds” , if you could call them that, circled in high

Seth led Ellyn down the path to the lake where his cart was tied, the rope still leading to the lake. As they approached Ellyn stopped short. “So this is your cart?” “Yes? What of it?!” “Well I saw it earlier…” “And?” “Well I wondered who’s it was” “So now you know, do you not like it?” “Um, well it’s uh….. Charming” said Ellyn as she looked at the cart. Seths cart was made of a dark metal frame; it was loaded with an assortment of chests and boxes, with larger objects tied onto the side with bits of rope. A worn leather chair sat the front behind a colourful control panel. Seth climbed aboard his cart by standing on a wheel, climbed to the front then pressed a button on the panel and a small set of stairs slipped down allowing Ellyn to also climb aboard. Seth went to the back and found a small wooden chair; he then proceeded to tie the chair on the front next to the leather one. Whilst he was doing this, Ellyn busied herself with finding a place to put her stuff, and

“You should take that,” “Why?” “You’ll never know when you might need it!” “When would I ever use it?” “in case of….stuff…. and things….” “Oh really?” Ellyn said, easily bending it in two. “Ah, perhaps not then?” “Yes, perhaps. Not.” There was another silence whilst they both routed around Ellyn’s room. Ellyn gathered a few supplies from the manors stores as well as a couple of items Seth told her she’d need or he likes. “Oooo this is nice...” murmured Seth under his breath picking up an ornate matchbox. "You can have it if you want, Seth" "Really!?" Seth Gasped pocketing the matchbox "Thanks!"  After many minutes sorting, Ellyn finally decided she had all she needed which she placed in a small shoulder bag. As they were walking the manors corridors for the finally time, Ellyn remembered the first time she travelled these corridors as a child, first finding them daunting, then as she grew older they became more of a prison to b

The forest that Seth had made camp in that night also happened to contain the Barons place of residence, so both parties used the area to their advantage by hunting and trapping the creatures that also resided there. This forest was coated in tall thin pine trees, but occasionally, areas were punctuated with the odd looking Kamra trees, their Prussian blue bark and bright red and yellow flowers making them popular among artists, while their toxic fruit making them popular among poets. Seth woke early the next morning and just lay in his hammock for a while listening to the “birds” calling, well what we call birds now anyway Seth thought as he rolled off his hammock, he stretched his arm and groped around in the half-light until he found what he was looking for. He reattached his left arm and switched it on; a soft whirring noise was now being produced by the little box between his shoulder blades as the byronium crystal was set spinning. He sat and considered his situation then p

After finding a suitable spot in the forest, Seth parked the cart and turned the engine off, pressed a button on the panel next to the steering wheel, and a layer of canvas sprung up creating a roof and walls for him to sleep in, he untied his hammock and climbed in. He replaced his filter and with a quick look around, he pulled his hat down low over his eyes. As the evening drew to a close and Valther got drunker and less coherent Ellyn’s job ended as Valther was handed over to the night maids. Ellyn went down to the basement where the servant quarters are, and the familiar journey to her room never seemed more comforting. As she entered her room she smelled that familiar scent and saw the familiar scene, of her posters that adorn the walls, her random artefacts that litter the shelves and her bed, still unmade from when she rushed out of it that morning. Ellyn pulled off her uniform and changed into her nightdress. She took down her hair so it hung about her shoulders. Ellyn

Macewood, a small village, that would be more aptly called a trading camp, is a small selection of make-shift houses and tents, it boasts the biggest market for miles and for this reason it finds home to many travellers. Macewood sits nearby a set of sprawling forests, while being contained in the area known as the plains, it is frequented by dust storms which give anything and everything that doesn’t move a red-brown shade. Seth was selling his wares at the Macewood market and was currently bartering with a portly blue skinned bar man over a large gold flagon. “Ten gold pieces!”  Seth Declared, beaming, “Picked this beauty up in a tomb of a lost king!” Explained Seth, covering up this blatant lie with a cheery smile. “Hmmmm…..I’ll give you 7” replied the bar man “I said ten!” Said Seth “What makes you think I’ll give it to you for 7?” “Well, it’s a bit battered isn’t it?” said the barman This was a complete understatement; the flagon was covered in dents and scratches