Charming is a Victorian Era Harry Potter roleplay set primarily in the village of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the non-canon village of Irvingly. Characters of all classes, both magical and muggle — and even non-human! — are welcome.
With a member driven story line, monthly games and events, and a friendly and drama-free community focused on quality over quantity, the only thing you can be sure of is fun!
"Are you always this forward?" He asked teasingly since it would be a very short thread if he just ignored her entirely. — Tobin Cartwright in Take A Peek
Did you know? Churchgoers and worshippers had to endure a foul stench during prayers due to the amount of bodies often stored within the vaults of churches and chapels.
We have been feeding Paul different things for the past three days but we often can't get him to eat and we aren't at all sure what effect the things he does swallow are having. Ringo is sure we could see him through this if we knew what it was that had stung him and wants to cut open the wound on his ankle to see whether there is a stinger or something embedded in it, but I am not sure that is wise. Open wounds are so prone to infection, although I am not sure an infection would be any worse for him at this point.
We heard natives today. It was not even a question to keep ourselves hidden, but we immediately ran out and began attempting to converse with them in hopes that they could recognize what is happening to Paul and help us to recover him. He has gotten paler over the last two days, I think because it is so difficult to get him to eat anything when he is awake (his delirium has worsened).
The dialect is different here but they understood enough of what we'd picked up before to get our meaning. They have gone now but say they will return. I would have liked to have gone with them but moving Paul is very difficult at present and I was not in a position to argue.
They have returned with an old woman, dressed very strangely, like one of the witch doctors of Feegee, and she worked some magic on Paul. I mean this literally, not figuratively, although the magic she used was not like anything I had been exposed to before; she has no wand and had no spell, just a sort of chanting and some gestures. The swelling went down almost immediately, though, in a way no Muggle superstition could have achieved. They recognize the symptoms & know what stung him & say they will be able to cure him, though it will take time for him to recover. I don't believe I've felt such relief this entire journey.
Paul is much improved and was awake for a portion of the day today, and lucid, a bit. I really do think he will recover.
We showed the natives our wand and Ringo did a spell. They seem to understand but think it very strange. They have asked us many questions about who we are and where we've come from and although I am picking up their dialect slowly but surely I do not have the vocabulary to answer all their questions. At least they do not seem very inclined to murder or eat us. Silver linings.
Paul still on bedrest but recovering. The swelling has gone down very much. The old woman who tended to him has started to try and teach me some of the way she does her magic, with her hands and with chanting, but it's quite strange and I don't understand it much.
A funny thing happened today... Ringo and I had not had proper baths in a good long while (I think the last was nearly two months ago and it was ocean water at that), and they showed us to a pool of fresh water today where all the men bathed. When we undressed what little things we still had on they were quite amazed at the difference between our exposed skin and the rest of it. I admit that I had not realized how much the sun had changed our color, but the natives said we were Winakk (their word for the men of the village) on the outsides and sakk in the center. I didn't know what sakk was and they said it was the color of bones, so I suppose it is the word for 'white.'
I suppose between the tan and the dirt we did look a little Winakk when they found us.
[other entries abound; I'm only doing highlights from here on out]
18 March 1885
I managed some of their magic, today. I can't do much of it but if I concentrate very hard, I can knit together something that was torn with gestures and words like they do. The magic here is so strange--they'd never seen a wand, it seems, before we showed them ours, and not everyone in the tribe seems to use magic. It's not that the rest of them are Muggles, though, I don't think, only that only certain people need to learn it--just like only some people hunt, and only some fish. And their spells are very basic, although they take so much effort to perform without a wand!
Paul has decided to get himself a set of tattoos! I shouldn't ever get them myself but I'll admit to being fascinated by the way they put them on. It's part magic and part... well, it involves some ruddy stuff they get out of a plant being painted on where the tattoo is supposed to go and then being struck at over and over again with a very small, sharp quill. It didn't look at all enjoyable, but they gave Paul something beforehand that made him rather out of sorts and he didn't seem to mind, so much.
The tattoos here all mean something--and everyone has them, even the women and sometimes the children, too, though not as extensively--but Paul just wanted those symbols from the old temple put on. He was worried he would forget them, and though I let him use some paper to write them down I don't think he has much faith in my ability to keep track of a log... At least, he still wanted the tattoos.
Paul is healed up now; he says he doesn't regret getting them and that I ought to let someone put something on me, too. Ha! I think he just wants company, but I couldn't ever do that!
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