Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
The holiday rush was starting to get to the shop. It wasn’t something Phryne had thought would happen, but maybe it was the new crystal interest. Social media had brought some people to the shop. While her mother loved the new attention, Phryne wasn’t prepared for it all. It had come to the point that most of the family had to come out and help with the lines.
Thankfully, things calmed down in the later hours. Phryne let out a soft breath and sat down in the chair behind the counter. She popped open her water bottle and drank half. It wasn’t something she was expecting, but it was refreshing. After a few minutes, Phryne stood up and went to refill her bottle. She was almost full when she heard the doorbell go off. So much for a small break.
Phryne capped her water bottle and walked back out to the front. “Hello, welcome to Blackthorn Soapery and Supply Co. Can I help you find anything?” she asked. Her face and words were polite, despite her tiredness.
When Molly Mac'Intosh over heard some of her fellow classmates discussing in the dorm about some 'Witches of Hickstead', she had stopped dead. While she refused to let herself be known, since it was Donna La'Carrano and her crew of Plastic, the young girl could not deny herself such a story as the girls talked in the common space with Molly hiding just beyond the door frame. Apparently, in Willow Bridge City, there was a store called Black Thorn Soapry and Supply Co. where it housed a bunch of 'witches'. Their evidence, besides the soaps apparently, was that there was a murder of crows hanging about it. And how maybe that place should be shut down since everything was cursed for witchcraft. Chewing her lip, Molly thought over this logic and then rolled her eyes. She bet if that placed sold love potions, it would be a completely different story.
Still, it was a curious story to be heard and especially coming out of the lips of Donna, who ruled Willow Brook with an iron fist, at leas their grade, and wasn't afraid of anything and yet here she was spouting off about witches when she rolled her eyes at anything than came out of Molly's mouth. It was a curious sign indeed. Glancing at her smart watch, and noting that it was only late afternoon, she had plenty of time to head into Willow Bridge to investigate this matter before having to return to Campus for dinner and curfew. Worse case scenario, she'd just have an emergency microwave mac & cheese if it really came down to it. Scurrying by the door quickly now to not catch the attention of the other girls, Molly ran to her room, grabbed her purse and her phone and left. Hailing an uber, she went to Willow Bridge City.
Arriving outside of Black Throne, Molly couldn't help but to note that it did have a sort of atmosphere from the outside that may or may not suggest something magical and not quite ordinary. Stepping out of the car now, she also made note of the crows resting on the trees outside. On occasion, a caw would escape one. Well, I suppose Donna got one thing right, she thought to herself. Heading inside now, the door bell alerted her presence to what looked like an empty shop. Dark brown eyes looked around curiously, taking in everything she saw. Truthfully, nothing looked suspicious to her. Everything smelled great, it looked like it dropped out of an IG and onto the display. Then, a young woman appeared behind the counter, "Hello, welcome to Blackthorn Soapery and Supply Co. Can I help you find anything?” Funny, Molly didn't know what to say. The young woman was beautiful though, despite her tired look. It made the teenager feel a little guilty, knowing that she may just add onto that tiredness, "Uh, I am looking for the cure to dry skin and a love potion." Really Molly?
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
A love potion? So this means that this girl that walked in was part of the social media trend or whatever. “Ah skin I can help you with...love potion is a bit fickler,” she responded with a smile. If someone was wanting to spend their money here, Phryne wasn’t about to push them away.
“I’ll take it this is your first time here?” she prodded. Phryne knew that the shop could be a bit overwhelming to new people. Sometimes even the regulars could get lost. While she did her best to help navigate people, sometimes they needed a personal tour guide. While the skincare and candles were scented, the makes did their best to make things overwhelming – as sensitivities were considered.
Given Molly's puttering words, the young woman behind the counter had a great and kind poker face. She didn't laugh at her, she didn't make a face, she simply smiled and then replied, “Ah skin I can help you with...love potion is a bit fickler." An eyebrow quirked at that response, "A bit fickler you say? Do you mind me asking why? Ingredient shortage? Or is it more like Harry Potter because it's insanely complex?" Or, more logically Molly Mac'Intosh, this girl and this shop was perfectly normal, which meant that Queen Bee Donna was being overly dramatic as usual. The teenager couldn't help but to wonder if she had been denied something or something angered that stupid perfect skin of hers and so she wanted to give them a bad review.
However, that didn't explain the fact that there was in fact, a fucking murder of crows, chilling outside giving an eerie look to the shop. Given that she had just waltzed in her and started asking about Harry Potter spells, the teenager thought best to hold off on asking any questions about the crows. Not to mention, the pretty girl behind the counter was also asking her another question, "I’ll take it this is your first time here?” A sheepish grin escaped the teenager, unable to hide that fact. After all, she was a blogger, not an investigate reporter, she wasn't exactly subtle when it came to asking about things - she believed in Ghost Ponies and Maiden Legends for heaven's sake, "Uh, guilty as charged. I overheard my classmate Donna La'Carrano talk about you guys and it colored me incredibly curious. I am not lying about my skin though, its awfully dry." After a beat, she then decided to add, "I'm Molly by the way, just so you don't think I am just an incredibly crazy sixteen year old."
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
“I mean, do you want to have to travel to India for a specific flower?” Phryne asked, with a deadpan expression and tone. If the young woman wanted to joke around a bit, she would. It was always intriguing, to hear why someone wanted something. Harry Potter definitely had brought people in, mainly for the cute apothecary kits or even the fancy driftwood. But nevertheless, the conversation moved forward and that was fine.
“Well, the winter does make things a bit worse, now, doesn’t it? It’s a pleasure to meet you, Molly. I’m Phryne. Now, why don’t you tell me what you use for your skin now?” Phryne, despite not doing any trends, knew of a few trends.
Especially, the whole ten-step Korean skin care. There was something about people overloading their skin because their favorite Idol was doing it. But she knew people would do what they want, and Phryne would offer something – but would always suggest talking to a Doctor as well. That wasn’t a line she wanted to cross.
Molly nearly cringed at the young woman's reply and deadpan expression - knowing that perhaps she had been asking for that considering that she had brought up Harry Potter and the Hogwarts logic of all things. Still, she wouldn't let such responses get the best of her, not while she was on the hunt! So, Molly just delivered back her own response, feigning innocence, "India? I'll be honest, I thought the rarest of ingredients came from the Amazon Rain Forest." She also could not help but to add on a cheeky and beaming smile. Maybe it would get her out of trouble.
At least she also had another reason for being here, besides love potions that is. Truth be told, even if the love potion was such a thing, the teenager wasn't even sure who she would use it on. Out of her three crushes, two of them were appropriate and the other most certainly was not. Maybe she wanted to discover love on her own accord? Molly then decided that if she did end up with a love potion, the teenager would bequeath it to someone more in need. Perhaps Oliver or his sister. Heck, maybe Tiana if it meant getting her foul mood off of her back whenever she hung out with Oliver. Earth to Molly. Why don't you pay attention.
The sales woman introduced herself as Phryne and soon turned the tables on her by asking her about her skin care regiment. Okay, now Molly knew she was about to embarrass herself, "Uh, Neutrogena Face Wash...and...that's it." All of the sudden, the teenager could not help but to to wonder if she could just melt into a puddle and disappear. This was hardly going the way she thought for an investigative piece, "In my defense, I am adopted and my mom has a different skin type then me." And while Molly was great at booksmarts for researching, or even researching for ghost stories, local legends, and mysteries, skin scare and makeup were a different sort of beast since everyone had an opinion on what was 'the best'.
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
“So you’re not using a moisturizer afterward then? Are you acne-prone or just drier skin?” Maybe she was interrogating a bit too much. Despite standing a shop for well, witches, and warlocks, Phryne knew a bit about the skin from her midwife career. Pregnancy wreaked havoc on those going through it. Hormones, especially. Also, the care skin after birth in that region was tender.
“Of course, I don’t think skin issues travel that badly through genetics. Sometimes it’s just the world around us and sometimes the things we put into ourselves. But it sounds like you need something to moisturize if you’re having dry skin. What about your body wash? Do you feel really dry after using it?” cross.
Was it just her or was this lady very intense about skin care? Molly couldn't help but to arch an eyebrow at the barrage of questions, "I mean...I guess just abnormally dry skin? I just use witch hazel to clean..." And for some reason, admitting that to this apparent skin care guru felt like she just admitted to murdering a classmate and burying them under the football field. And then, more questions were peppering her. Did she wash with anything? Body wash?
"I don't know, whatever Dove is and I can get it at the drug store?" Okay, perhaps not the best answer to give her either. At least it was a brand that was good for the skin, or at least, her sixteen year old body, "Wait, I thought I came here to ask you questions about...investigative journaling stuff." This lady was good, she totally blindsided her with all of this skin stuff and Molly had totally forgotten why she had come in. Her dark brown eyes glanced past Phryne now and looked to all of the things behind her on shelves and behind the counter, "Besides, I'm sixteen. Aren't I already youthful enough? What does dry skin matter?" That was also probably a can of worms and pop rocks she just tossed into a dumpster fire.
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
Phryne just continued to nod. “So Witch Hazel to clean, then? It’s a good toner, but not as an everyday use kind of thing. It can dry your skin out further. Kind of like when you do an exfoliant all the time. It can strip your skin. I’m not an esthetician or a dermatologist, of course – so you can totally ignore all of what I’m saying!”
“Dove’s not bad! We have Goat’s Milk, Oat, and Castille bars that offer a different type of experience, if you’re interested.” Honestly, Phryne wasn’t that surprised when the young girl mentioned something about investigative journaling. Maybe it was because it happened so much now. Granted, most people left buying something as proof that they weren’t dead. Their friends may be thought that the item was cursed, but what kind of curse would some lotion hold?
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to take care of your skin,” Phryne commented, ignoring the statement completely about the investigation. “Skin cancer, especially, can hit anyone at any age.”
"No no, I don't ignore it. It's just...a firehose of information, that's all," Molly replied. The teenager could not help but to feel a little exasperated by this whole situation. This was not how she had imagined her afternoon going down. She had been expecting witchcraft! Covens! Black cats and chocolate frogs! Yet here she was being lectured about drying out her skin. What made matters worse, well in her mind, was that Phryne was not budging on anything. No nugget of hints would pennate the older woman into giving Molly something to nibble on. This was, in fact, the complete opposite of dealing with Olympia Blanchet.
She supposed that she shouldn't be too shocked by it all though. Maybe this was sensitive information. Maybe Phryne and her family were worried about Hickstead becoming the next Salem - even though that happened in America. Either way, Molly knew a blockade when she ran into one, and decided it was best to just back off and perhaps come back another time when a more humorous Lovecraft family member was around, "Yeah. I spend a lot of time out in the sun when not in school, so the skin cancer is a little worrying. My ride a lot and my parents own a orchard up in Scotland." A small thought crossed her mind before laughing, "Actually, my mom might be pleased that I'm here given we have such different skin types...and hair types now that I think about it. She's always been at a loss with me"
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
Phryne wasn’t dumb and was picking up on the girl’s disappointment, which made Phryne give a slight eye roll. “Let me guess, you’re here because someone told you we were haunted, right? That we conjure spirits and sacrifice a chicken to get the skin care secrets?” Maybe it wasn’t the right way to go about things, but Phryne was just annoyed with people flocking in just to hope they would see a ghost or something. It didn’t help that she had been tired the last few days from her hospital job.
But she simmered herself down. “Of course, sometimes it is like that. How about you take some time to browse, and if you have any questions about a product – you can ask. We have plenty of other things like crystals and sage, too. If the beauty products are too overwhelming.”
Molly knew she had struck a nerve when the older woman gave her a snappish response paired with a low key eyeroll: “Let me guess, you’re here because someone told you we were haunted, right? That we conjure spirits and sacrifice a chicken to get the skin care secrets?" Well, she wasn't entirely wrong. But it was more that she was trying to prove Donna wrong about witchcraft, granted, ghosts were an entirely different situation to her - and hearing the place might be haunted come out of Phryne mouth shot up her curiosity a bit - neverminded it was laced with frustration and sarcasm, "Uh, well-" but before the teenager could even launch into her explanation, the older woman seemed to have simmered down a little bit.
Although it looked like she was about to shake Molly loose, which truthfully told, the teenager could understand her desires to do so. But it also made her feel a bit bad that this whole situation might have come off as harassment, "Okay, so, one of my classmates was claiming that you all were witches and dishing up curses, but quite frankly, I am here to prove her wrong since I think she was being a tad dramatic." And while she believed in ghosts and the afterlife, witches and other fantasy like elements were a completely different situation - and it didn't matter if episodes of Supernatural had covered it, "However, if you're saying that there is a haunt...I am curious in ghosts." Her brown eyes cast glance to the beauty products now, "And if you do hold the secret to the perfect cat eyeliner - I am willing to hear that too." Brown eyes looked at her earnestly, "I'm sorry if I angered you or made you uncomfortable...sometimes, my hunt in scienetific and ghost research gets the best of me. Which isn't fair to you."
