Harrentown Apothecary

[Almia Storm]

"Yes," She replied directly.

[Maester Percival]

Percival looked like he didn't believe her but to find some one to do all his shit work. He nodded suddenly. "Well then that seems like an absolutely acceptable way to do this."

[Almia Storm]

"How supremely satisfactory," she replied, not excited to be at the bottom again. "Is there something that requires immediate attention, or shall I be left to my own devices?"

[Maester Percival]

Percival looked back down toward his ledger and studied what he had written in his cypher. He ran a hand down his chin and then stretched his arms out to either side. "You can gather together my gear. If there is no one else waiting for my services I shall be departing for noble Harrenhal, and it's incompetent leadership."

[Almia Storm]

"It is as bad as they say then?" She asked, already moving to collect his things. "The festivities would be enough to fool me, had I not heard so many stories on the road."

[Maester Percival]

Percival looked up and raised a single eyebrow. "I do not know what they are saying so I can not answer your questions. What do the rumors say?"

[Almia Storm]

She shrugged, not sure how much she should say to the Lord's own Maester. "They are only stories. But from what I've heard, he's an uneducated brute." She finished sorting Percival's personal affects, moving to the stores to grab vinegar and firemilk incase the Maester was forced to clean any open wounds. "One man told me that he killed a servant with his bare hands, just for looking at him improperly. I try not to lend faith to such stories, but you cannot un-hear something once it's been said."

[Maester Percival]

"That last one is true certainly. I saw it happen. He ripped the man's arm from his socket, and then let him bleed out before my eyes. If you ever are in his presence you should watch your tongue." Percival looked back at his ledger and studied the writing he had done today. "I think when he battled the Bloodraven he was cursed. His rage has only grown exponentially since the day I met him."

[Almia Storm]

Almia tried to hide her excitement over hearing such a thing. She had been around enough death and violence that she had developed an affinity for it. Nevertheless, she heeded the Maester's words, motivated by self preservation. "Surely he is in over his head and just grows more frustrated as the days go by. Men do not need to be cursed to be stupid or angry."

[Maester Percival]

"I used to think the same thing. You do not know how often I though him a fool. I used to curse his name daily. I called him every word I knew that meant stupid or rage-filled. Did Maester Creswell have this ring on his necklace?" Percival reached up and touched the Valryian Steel ring he wore on his chain.

[Almia Storm]

The sight of a Valaryian Steel ring was enough to make Almia forget the way Percival had butchered her former teacher's name. "No Maester, he did not. As so few do anymore."

[Maester Percival]

Percival nodded slowly, "Like I said before... when I first arrived here I thought that Belric was merely an ass and that Harrenhal was simply a keep with a black history. I used some of the rituals I learned in the Citadel. There is no doubt both are cursed. The keep and it's lord." He placed a hand on the large ledger. "I have been studying them intently since the first day I arrived. This ledger as all my notes."

[Almia Storm]

She had heard stories of Harrenhal's curse since the days she was young enough to listen. However, to hear a reputable Maester confirm these suspicions was something else entirely. Almia was not sure how she felt about curses and the supernatural, though the inclination made her palms sweat.

"Will you help him?" She asked, more out of personal curiosity than sympathy.

[Maester Percival]

Percival raised a finger to his chin where Lord Belric had broken it before. "This is what happened the last time I offered to help the lout." He sighed and gave a small, helpless shrug, "I suppose it is still my duty to help him, but to be honest breaking a curse is no easy matter. The only curses that I have heard of ending are when the cursed individual dies... usually by throwing themselves off a cliff into the stormy sea below." He raised his hand to stroke his chin in thought.

[Almia Storm]

Almia took in the scaring she had been attempting not to stare at outright. "The Ravensbane did that to you?  For only trying to help?"  She could hardly believe it.  This new Lord of Harrenhal must be even worse than she allowed herself to believe.

She perked up at the mention of breaking curses and men jumping from cliffs.  "If he is going mad like King Harren, you may not have a lot of time."