Kerii shook her head as she gathered her things from the inn she was staying at. Dahlia gave her the chills, and it wasn't just due to the winter. From what she had heard and experienced in the woods, the town was filled with the supernatural, even more so than other areas in Fiore. It wasn't like Kerii had anything against beings such as vampires and werewolves, but Dahlia was rumored to have so many, she didn't quite feel comfortable. So of course, it was only natural for Guildmaster Shahrbaraz to have them survive a night in the woods, which was ridden with creatures Kerii had never encountered in Orchidia's forests. Buttoning her knapsack, Kerii was more than ready to ditch that town. Sadly, as far as she could tell, it didn't have a train station though. She decided she would hop on over to Magnolia and take a train ride there over to Orchidia. That would be quicker.

The elf looked out of her window, just to see what it was like before she left the inn. Some of the fog had lifted, and the streets were eerily barren. Well, save for an old man who seemed to be struggling, carrying a heavy looking sack on his back. "Damn it." Kerii wanted to leave, but she couldn't now. She needed to help that poor man. Besides, she still had some time to check out of the inn. Locking her room and putting the key in her coat pocket, the elf went out of the inn and hurried over to the old man, who hadn't made much progress since she saw him out her window. "Would you like some help with that?" she offered. The man looked to her and smiled. "Yes, please. That would be much appreciated." Kerii took the bag off his back and held it in her arms. "Gosh, what's in this?" It was rather heavy, and the contents sounded rather grainy. "Salt," he simply replied. "Salt?" she asked, wondering if she heard him correctly. "Yes, salt. Haha, and I thought I had bad hearing," the man said chuckling. "No, I mean why do you have this much salt in the first place?" Surely, it wasn't for cooking... unless he owned a restaurant maybe, or just liked to have a large reserve of salt for some odd reason. "Oh, don't you know?" he started, sounding rather surprised. "Salt wards off the supernatural. It's common knowledge here in Dahlia... You're not from around here, are you." Kerii shook her head. "Nope, this is the first time I've come here." He laughed and said, "Well, I'm sure you didn't come for vacation. Outsiders don't stop by very often. Oh, I'm Eowin, by the way." "Kerii. You said salt wards off creatures?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. She was rather skeptical of that. In all her years of being a mage, she had never heard about that. How could something so simple as the most common seasoning most people had in their house be used to keep the supernatural at bay?

WC: 511/1000

Eowin sagely nodded his head and replied, "Of course. I've been studying the arcane for a long time, and teach others in Dahlia about them as well. Without salting the roads, windows, and doors in this town, Dahlia would be even more overrun with creatures than it already is." Kerii did not know much about the supernatural. It had never been a passion of hers, so she honestly had no way to either refute or agree with his claims, so she would just take his word for it and play along. Even if Eowin was completely full of it, she still wanted to help the man. She would hate to leave him to do all this work on his own.

Periodically, they would stop in the middle of the street, and Eowin would toss some salt onto the floor. He would then make symbols out of it using his staff. "Won't people mess it up?" she asked curiously. He shook his head. "Most people are aware of these symbols and avoid messing them up. The supernatural wouldn't dare touch it. Usually, the weather makes it go away, which is why others and I tend to relay the salt as often as we can." Kerii wouldn't try to argue. Clearly, this man and evidently others have been doing this for a while and were rather certain in their beliefs. The gods knew how long they had been doing it. Nothing Kerii could say or do would deter them. Still... she wondered if there was any merit to this superstition. It seemed rather controversial to Kerii, but who knew. Perhaps this salt thing actually worked. There was still so much about magic she had yet know.

Aside from drawing protective symbols with salt on the street, Eowin would also sprinkle some salt on the doors and windows of practically every building they stopped by, mumbling something under his breath and making gestures as he did so. "Is that enough?" Kerii asked, wondering how only those few grains could possibly protect against supernatural creatures. "Oh, it won't prevent anything from getting in, but it will more discourage them. It will definitely prevent lesser monsters from getting in. That much I can definitively say. These lesser creatures have the capability of killing others, but it rarely happens. They're more of a nuisance than anything for the residents," Eowin explained. Kerii nodded her head in understanding. "Of course, so this is more of pest control?" The sage man shrugged. "You could say that, though I don't think the supernatural would like being referred to as 'pests,' as you put it." Kerii didn't think the "lesser creatures" could even understand Fiorian, but she would just take the man's word for it, as she did most things that came out of his mouth that day. Eventually, all the salt from the bag was used. Though they didn't cover all of Dahlia, they did a good portion of it. "Thank you for your assistance," he said, taking the empty burlap bag from Kerii. He reached into his pockets and rewarded her with Jewels. "Take this, as a thank you." Kerii wasn't expecting to get paid, but she happily took the reward. "You're welcome. Take care!" The elf waved to the old man as she walked back towards the inn. Now she could get out of Dahlia.

WC: 511+558=1069/1000