FreeHolds Adventure, Cycle 3 Part 8a

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Mokha

Mokha exhaled slowly. The smoke rose above he and his companions, hanging in the still air under the ancient dulmak, thick and fragrant. Chance Delight smiled as they observed the ritual, Sefla watched with open curiosity. Mokha ran his tongue across his lips, appreciating the apple flavoured residue from the tobacco and the quality hashish.

He felt his tired body relax and gave a pleased sigh. It had been too long since he had taken any drugs, other than a bit of alcohol and tobacco during the first few days back in Lekas. He had brought some supplies as a gift for Lef. Mokha had been dedicated to not being high while he was teaching Sefla the foundational ruddahs. His intent of avoiding such until reaching Kaymere had been worth it, his awareness of the sun coming through the old tree’s branches and the simple earthy smells around them took on a mystical quality.

He placed the wand in his mouth and inhaled. The beautiful water pipe he had bought in GreensBridge’s North Market bubbled, the coals in the pipe’s bowl burned bright in the muted light under the tree. Again he held the smoke in for a long while, before slowly exhaling. Excellent hashish. He felt calm. Smiling, he passed the wand to Chance.

Sefla, with tentative hesitation, asked, “Is it alright?”

Chance pointed to Mokha with the wand, “See that face? That is the face of a happy, high man. Not a high-man mind you, but a high man.”

Sefla looked a bit confused, Mokha giggled and winked at Chance, who made the pipe bubble as they inhaled. Chance held the smoke in then exhaled, “Ah… Oh. That is very nice.”

Mokha smiled, “Indeed.”

Sefla added, “It smells nice. Reminds me of when my father would entertain his business associates.”

Chance took another long drag on the pipe, perhaps a bit too long as they choked, but still managed to hold in most of the smoke. Sefla carefully took the wand, she looked at Mokha then set it between her lips. Inhaling slightly, the pipe made a bloop-pop sound and she started to cough. When she had recovered Mokha suggested, “A long steady inhalation works better.”

“Okay.” She tried again and the water in the pipe bubbled for a brief moment, she was overcome with coughing and shakily held out the wand for Mokha to take.

Mokha took his time with the pipe, demonstrating the proper technique. He passed it to Chance again, who took another huge drag before giving it back to Sefla. She spent a moment concentrating, made the pipe bubble and took in a fair amount of smoke before being overcome. Mokha carefully collected the pipe and placed it near the trunk of the dulmak, between two gnarled roots. “Let’s play.”

Sefla took the hand drum he offered her, Chance and he spent some time tuning their lutes. He kept half an eye on his apprentice, she tapped the small drum with the fingers of one hand as she waited for them to harmonize. She looked around questioningly, “Am I supposed to feel something? Did I do it right? I don’t think I’m high.”

Chance laughed and Mokha assured her, “I’m sure you did it right. Maybe next time, try and hold it in a bit longer.”

She nodded as Chance started FreeHolds Ramble, a song they were particularly fond of. Mokha joined and a moment later Sefla joined in as well. The music flowed over and through them, timelessness settled. The three of them beamed bright smiles at each other as they felt the moment. Sefla stood, without missing a beat and began to move and sway with the rhythm.

Round and round they went, playing Mokha’s song through a few times. He and Chance took turns as lead, adding flourishes up and down the scale. Eventually Chance’s lute slipped out of tune, when they stopped playing there was a moment of fading resonance, then as one they all drew in a deep breath and laughed together.

Sefla looked pleased, “That was really good.”

“Indeed,” Chance agreed as they re-tuned their instrument, “I’m afraid this lute is used to a damper environment. Ever since coming north I’ve had to fight with it to keep it in tune for more than a couple songs.”

Mokha nodded sympathetically, instruments and travelling were always a bit of a challenge. He was very happy for the travel cases he had purchased in GreensBridge. Good luggage was important. Gently he rolled out his shoulders, they were sore from the day’s labours. He put his lute in its case, but did not shut it, “I’m glad Tipper only put us on a labour shift every other day.”

“Me too.” Chance agreed, holding up a hand and inspecting it, “I never thought I’d be lugging stone and dirt around.”

“I don’t mind so much. Tipper said it will help me build up my strength.” Sefla added as she sat down, “I don’t think I’m high. Maybe I didn’t get enough?”

Chance said, “It took me a while before smoking the herb really had a noticeable effect on me. Though that hashish is much better than the stinky hemp I was smoking as a youth. You’ll likely notice it the next time.”

Mokha nodded, “It’s not unusual the first couple times for someone not to really feel it. Or, perhaps more accurately, until someone has had some comparative experiences, they may be unaware of what being high feels like.”

“What other drugs did you bring with you?” Sefla asked, curious.

“A few others, and enough to share. Until you’ve gained more of an appreciation for the hashish, I don’t think we’ll rush into anything stronger.”

Sefla gave an agreeable shrug. Chance eyed the rather large box that Mokha kept his drugs in, “It seems to me you are well stocked for any contingency.”

“You’d be surprised. My buddy Shak and I had started out from GreensBridge with almost as much last year. We lost most of it to some bandits before even reaching Lekas, while we’d thought to make it all the way to Elquin, sadly enough.”

Chance looked surprised, “Shak? As in Shak, the Aggedrah, trained by Harrahk of the Mountain Leaf?”

Mokha beheld Chance with hopeful wonderment, “How do you know Shak?”

Chance laughed, “Well, I met him in Janderton last summer, towards the end of the season. This was before I came up to Aramy.”

“Janderton? It’s real? Shak’s there? How far away is it?” Mokha was nearly beside himself, this was the first he had heard of Shak since they had been separated.

“Certainly Janderton is real. As I said, I was there for a while last summer,” They pointed southward, “It’s only a couple eight-days, or so, south of here.”

“Do you know what his plans were?”

“No, not specifically. But he did seem rather… comfortable where he was.”

Mokha’s thoughts circled rapidly; Shak was maybe just two eight days to the south, living in a mage-built city. Such happy news, his first impulse had been to head out the next morning to see if he was still there but he knew that Setta should be arriving any day now. As well, he had promised Tipper to help her find what she was looking for here, and Adwin was expecting him to travel onward to Willik’s Hold and then Darner’s. Maybe Whyse could take a message to him? Mokha was pretty sure the wild-elves’ migratory path was between here and there… That might complicate things.

Both his companions regarded him with bemused expressions, Sefla asked, “Are you okay Mokha?”

“Wonderful actually, I had almost given up hope of ever finding him again.”

Chance cautioned him, “It is possible that he has gone elsewhere. Though, as I said, he was rather comfortably set up. Working and living at the Janderton Tavern, it’s called the Papple. The place was well stocked with cider and opium, they had a diverse collection of whores and Shak seemed well acquainted with the powers-that-be.”

“He’s an associate of Jander?”

“Not that I know of, but he does know the local baron and the marshal, they seemed to get along rather well.”

Mokha was going to ask further questions but Tal called out, “Anyone who wants to eat, come and get it!”

Sefla said, “Oh, good. I’m famished.”

The three of them left the tree, stepping out into the camp. Most of the others were gathering around the fire, except Calathy who was still ill. Mokha had thought Calathy’s illness was likely due to eating something she should not have, to him she appeared to have been poisoned. Tipper was looking after her, and she said that Calathy would be fine in a couple of days.

One thing he found odd about the Kaymere ruins was the bounty of old pots, pans, dishes and utensils. Tipper had stashed a fair amount of such after her previous efforts here and had been able to direct them to where more could be found. The metal had not corroded, despite having been under the ruins of the old castle for a century or two, maybe longer. Mokha knew that the ancients had devised, through magic, many wonderful alloys. Other than a few tools around Aramy, and a couple of small bowls Tipper and Adwin used in their travel gear, he had not seen this one before.

After Kolti filled their bowls the three of them sat with Adwin and Whyse. Adwin looked exhausted, he had been working alongside Tipper and a couple of the more robust volunteers throughout the day. They had been delving into an area that Tipper had previously avoided working in, due to the instability of the debris. Support beams had been put up and a lot of heavy stone had been shifted. Mokha asked him, “How was your day?”

“Alright I guess. I haven’t been this sore since I was a kid, back during the first few days after Breggan and I started living with Crinokk.”

“I imagine most of us are pretty sore. How was your day, Whyse?”

“Not so sore, but I’ll be in the ruins tomorrow. Lilly and I were patrolling today. We found some more goats, a dead dulmak and another spring over on the far side of the hill. Nothing threatening though.”

Conversation died off, everyone was hungry and the food was tasty. Towards the end of the meal Tipper stood up, “Before the sun sets I just want to thank everyone for helping. We made good progress today. We are shy on fire wood and I need three volunteers to take a couple horses and go to the wooded area we passed by two days ago. Morp, Paldy, thanks. Anyone else? Retha, good. For those so inclined, we should go sing the setting of the sun.”

Tipper and the women from Predost headed off to the west. With a groan Adwin stood, “I guess I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

“Goodnight then.”

“Night.”

After he was gone, Chance commented, “I think that lad is going to be very tired over the next couple of weeks.”

Mokha chuckled, but on seeing the looks Chance received from Whyse and Sefla he decided not to add the glib comment that had been on the tip of his tongue.

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