Private Quest High March [Reaping Season I] Dark Wings, Darker Omens

[Ludmilla Orphys]

"Caw."
"Caw. Caw!"
"Caw, caw caw."
"Caaaaaw..."

Circling above the desolate fields lining a village called Aurora, a black cloud hovers and caws in syncopated symphony. Below, among the sickly and damaged crops, an ashen-faced farmer throws down their hoe and rushes to the town center. There are already many others there, the same concern welling in their chests like a persistent case of heartburn as they stamp about and thump the hafts of their tools upon the ground in restlessness.

Why are there so many damn birds?

---

...

On a stony hillock overlooking the settlement she had been dispatched to, as per an irregular request, Ludmilla smiles vacantly at the hovering corvids. That was the concern here - an unusual, frankly unsettling concentration of crows and ravens that were wrecking the village's autumn harvest and striking the fear of the gods into the hearts of the village-folk.

Of course, Ludmilla didn't care. The only reason she had come out here was because Aurora, plainly speaking, was in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. In a frontier town like this, news of disaster would only reach civilisation if the entire village knew of it and decided to send an express request, much like this incident. The perfect locale for some ethically questionable experimentation, as it were...

Her thoughts scatter, interrupted. Someone was approaching the hillock. She knew exactly who it was before they even crested the hill; who else but a contracted adventurer would come out to this vantage point, all the way out here in this backwater? The village only had enough funds to pay two amateur travelers, so here they both were.

Hi! You're here! You must be the other Traveler; I'm...

Should she give a false name? After all, the request form never had her state it, and from this point it would be advantageous to conceal her identity. For certain reasons.

...I'm Lilian! Nice to meet you!

She lied as easily as breathing, standing aside to let @Jin survey the scene. Not that he couldn't already see over Ludmilla's head, being more than half a foot taller than her.

 

[Jin]

The jobs that took him to the fringes of society were the best. They kept him by and large away from other people, and he was able to act without much worry of being monitored. The few exceptions to that rule allowed him to have some degree of control over what exactly he allowed to be monitored. For a paranoid man like him, it was the ideal scenario. The people of Aurora gave him a wide berth not only because he was a Traveler- they disliked them on principle, he was given to understand- but because as far as Travelers go, he was among the least inviting aesthetically.

Dark robes, pale skin, and eerie crimson eyes made him seem almost inhuman even in the most cordial and civil of interactions. They left the disclosure of information to the Village Chief, and even he was quick to dismiss and be rid of the Bloodsworn.

Ideal.

In this scenario, he was grouped together with one (1) other Traveler, and if the situation called for it, that person could be sent quickly to a Chapel elsewhere. If it did come to that, it became their word against his- and ultimately, that kind of thing was more divisive than most people wanted to be.

No, he decided. No one will want to put themselves in that situation. That makes it much easier to manipulate someone into silence, with only the vague threat of force.

Absolutely ideal.

Hi! You're here! You must be the other Traveler; I'm...

His sharp gaze moved quickly to the woman and pierced her, assessing. Quick to identify herself, he noted. She had no intention of hiding her presence. However...

...I'm Lilian! Nice to meet you!

It was little more than a heartbeat's pause, but he picked up on it. Distrustful, perhaps? Warranted. A false name? Perhaps. Of little consequence. With enough time to give courteous answer, but not seem rude, he responded. "Yes, of course," he greeted with a tight-lipped smile, "Call me Yu," he gave an abbreviated version of Ari's in-game name without even hesitating to consider the implications of what might fall on the other man if something did happen.

It wouldn't come to that.

Probably.

"The pleasure is mine, Miss Lilian," he said as he stepped past her, eyes fixated on the scene beyond. It was a veritable feast for crows beneath them; as the carrion birds swooped low and gorged themselves on dead and decaying plant matter, worms alone picked at the earth. He could smell the frayed flora from his position on high, wrinkling his nose slightly at the stench.

Jin was no farmer, and he had lived in the city all his life; but during his tenure at the supermarket, Theo had smelled the Produce department's trash many times. The plant-life was rotten- and for a lengthy amount of time, at that. This smelled more like Produce that had been exposed to heat rather than the refuse that sat in the cooler, waiting to be tossed in the compactor.

It seemed strange, then, that these crops were still in the soil. Without much knowledge of how vegetation became sickly, he had very little knowledge to go forward. "Interesting," he mused aloud.

He reached up to stroke his chin. "The season is at the peak, just before harvest time," he said, restating the obvious. "The land should have been perfect, and conditions just right to keep it alive well into the Autumn months."

Jin glanced sidelong toward 'Lilian.' His Investigation mode toggled on, he watched the heat inside her body undulate in a pulsating rhythm, aware of every last drop of blood. It wasn't her, in reality, that interested him; the flow of energy around them was erratic, and she was not the source.

I see.

"What do you make of the situation?" he asked. It would be prudent to gauge her capabilities and deductive reasoning outright.

@Ludmilla Orphys

 

[Ludmilla Orphys]

Ludmilla's breathing slows imperceptibly as she feels a piercing gaze upon her; was it Yu? This one was observant, but unlike most casters, Ludmilla didn't cast using foci or tools. Her attacks couldn't be anticipated so easily, nor could she be disarmed. Though she could instinctually tell that Yu would overwhelm her in a out and out brawl, it would only take him being off his guard for a single moment for a nasty upset...unless, on the off chance, he employed a similar technique.

Two wolves in sheepskin prowl the fields, circling each other in conspiracy.

Sure, something about this one rubbed Ludmilla the wrong way too, though that feeling of wrongness was not so steeped in judgement of appearances or superstition. After all, she had no room to speak in that matter, her own appearance crafted to invite preconceptions.
Something about...'call me Yu'. Something was off about that diction.
But maybe she was just being paranoid?

Genuinely lost in thought for a moment, Ludmilla only barely hears the question posed to her.

Oh...mmm, well...

Toggling her own Investigation Mode, Ludmilla squints down towards the withered heaths that had evidently been headed towards a bountiful harvest not so long ago. Of course, her Beast Arts view highlighted the widespread scavenging inflicted by the hovering corvids, but a harvest of this village-sized volume couldn't possibly have been wiped out instantly, even by an unusually large flock of birds. Had the farming community not even attempted to rescue their invaluable produce, leaving the moldering remains where they stood?

Consulting Astramancy pinged nothing; but it was silly to even consider that. To Jin, it would seem like Ludmilla was simply squinting really hard at the fields, straining her eyes for nothing.

I guess it smells bad even from here...I don't know. What do you see, Yu? Hehe.

She let a chuckle through coolly, taking care to not be intentionally disarming albeit somewhat childish. With this type, the sort that would be right to hound her every suspicious movement, Ludmilla was obliged to summon the fruits of her experience; an ambush predator's education.

However she tried, though, the narrowing of her multicoloured pupils could not be concealed as she led the way off from the hillock, moving towards the scene of the crime.

It's Animancy.
...no, it's not possible.
Is it?

Through her eyes, Ludmilla's Animancy mastery faithfully relayed a very different scene. The necromantic energy lingering over the crops twisted vividly, even the ploughed furrows where the rotted produce lay became shrouded in its miasma. Her steps falter, tottering over the sloping land.
Tuning her Investigation Mode one last time, Ludmilla's steps slow even further. Indeed, Corrupt revealed to her an irregular flow of the local arcane field that pointed to a recent work of unnatural magic. Very recent.

Stopping at the foot of the hillock and waiting for Yu to catch up, Ludmilla's tone shifts towards the pensive as she nudges a rotting pumpkin with the heel of her boots. They weren't exactly fieldwork footwear, but they'd keep the mud off all the same.

Yes...What do you see?

@Jin

 

[Jin]

He paid careful attention as they moved through the wilting crops and the stench of rot wafted across his senses again. This time it was offense to the point where anyone with a weak stomach might have voided; but instead of recoiling or backing down, he leaned closer to one of the many stalks and assessed it. His fingers moved across the slimy surface of the plant, slick and simultaneously dried out. Like the life-giving water within the plant no longer knew how to find its way inside, and instead, congealed like a sticky dew across the surface.

At a closer glance now, he nodded slowly. "A plant virus," he observed. "Not imminently lethal, but the plants had zero nutritional value long before this killed them. If they were ingested by some unlucky villager, they would have a stomachache for several days."

He tossed the un-threshed wheat aside callously, no longer interested. It was not something that could be induced by magic in the traditional sense. That did not stop the prominent mana from saturating the area, and indeed, pique Jin's curiousity. "The parasites and insects that regularly spread this type of thing are carefully kept away from the crops with primitive yet effective methods. In short, it's not possible that they could have contracted it through natural means."

He was the type to engage in a great deal of research before taking on a job, and when it came to a job involving farmland and crops, the information regarding those things could prove vital to his cause. Tiresome and boring though it was, the only greater authority on the subject matter might be the village farmers themselves. This information, though, took the case to another layer of depth.

But magic that can alter the nature of a creature or even plant-life?

He found the edges of his lips curling upward at the sheer excitement of such a prospect. Was there a form of power that could manipulate or vastly alter the very essence of a living being? If so, he was most intrigued. This world truly did open the floodgates of the imagination.

...yet there was no reason to let on that he was aware of that magical flow.

With a shrug, Jin turned his gaze back to regard the girl. The smile on his face went from wicked and cruel in one instant to relaxed and carefree in the next.

A trick of the light, certainly.

It was clear that, if she was more than a child, she was seasoned in the game of cat and mouse. For Jin, that was a minor inconvenience. It meant that the verbal traps and mind games would not trip her up so easily. However, if she insisted on maintaining that façade...

"If it is in fact something more dangerous, then it may be prudent for me to reach out to the Guild for a more qualified adventurer to act as my partner," he said, pointedly flashing his Platinum tag. "No offense intended, of course, but I would prefer not to needlessly endanger a child."

He watched her expression with great interest.

@Ludmilla Orphys

 

[Ludmilla Orphys]

Impassively watching Yu examine the slimy remnants of various crops, Ludmilla had to silently admire the man's constitution. With her...unique physiology, Ludmilla could effortlessly withstand the stench of death without so much as a twinge of the brow. Of course, these were but mundane plants; she had seen worse with her own eyes, and perpetrated such too. Any adventurer worth their salt should have, by the level of experience needed to take on such a job.

Virus? Ah, like the flu, but for plants? So everyone would get really sick if they ate this...

Stating the obvious, Ludmilla stalled for time briefly as she mulled over the idea of this incident being caused by magically-driven biocontamination, as Yu seemed to be implying. Yes...

Given the context of Aurora's (necessarily) agriculturally literate farming community, there was no other explanation for the onset and timing of this blight. With the chill of the High March's elevation closing in on the narrow harvest season, and in an isolated settlement like this, there was no reason for anybody in a region so reliant on subsistence farming during the cold seasons to perpetrate such a thing.

Thus, this preliminary examination pointed to only one purpose: sabotage.

But for what reason? Scavenging birds such as corvids naturally had hardened digestive systems, given their diets and habitats, so it was mere unexpected and not surprising to Ludmilla that most enthusiastic towards the rotting produce were the local ravens and crows. Perhaps a rodent and vermin presence may have been attracted too, but she couldn't be sure with her Beast Arts Investigation Mode so obscured by the thick miasma coating the fields. Perhaps after nightfall.

Ludmilla's gaze followed the ear of wheat to the ground, still steeped in that almost glutinous aura of rot. Whatever had brought ruin to these fields still lingered upon the dying crops, so the safest thing to do for the community would likely be to dump and burn the ruined harvest far away from here. Even that may not ensure the removal of whatever affliction this was supposed to be, such was the visible severity.

Either way, this incident had been carefully calculated in order to starve the village. Whether or not the level of fear and trepidation caused with the loss of the harvest had been calculated or not remained a different matter, one that bore further investigation within Aurora itself.

With all the facts in line, Ludmilla's cracks ever so slightly as she comes to the same conclusion - this could not be the work of one font of magic alone, at least not any she knew. The chances of this being a Traveler were slim but not zero, since there was little cause for a player to be running about in a deserted backwater like this, but if this were the work of a Lander...
Ludmilla's vaguely concerned expression grows to become a hollow mirror of that which she spots for but a second on the face of her companion.

Ah, I see. So you understand the implications, too.

The flaunting of a metal tag meant nothing to her. Ludmilla stares blankly at Yu, letting him finish before gesturing behind them, towards the depressingly grey and stony plains of the High March.

How far do you think we are from the nearest Guild branch? Do you think you could make it there? Before nightfall? All on your own, in the scary, scary dark? I don't know, Yu, mhm-hmhmm...I hear there are lots of creepy-crawly 'Dissonance' things around here.

Looking across the wide expanse with a vacant grin, Ludmilla hums her dissent and shakes her head, watching the shuffling figures of farmers hard at work. Across the field, they hoe out the rotting crops, thick cloths protectively tied around their faces. It seems like they have something of an understanding that this vile stench arises from more than mundane decomposition.

I mean...we're both here for the same reason, right? I can take care of myself, I prommy!

Thrusting a balled and gloved fist into the air energetically, the bright red-on-turquoise duotone of Ludmilla's eyes conveys a silent pressure.
The shadow of a crow passes overhead. Her grin remains unchanged.

So let's go visit the village, okay? We can't waste any more time, I think this is a sign of something really bad...!

@Jin

 

[Jin]

A crimson gaze settled on the girl, cold, calculating, considering.

In stark contrast to the smile he wore previously, the expression was jeering now, amused. The way she asked the question, it felt like she was trying to convince him of the danger, and of the importance of expedience in their current task.

Or was it, perhaps, a veiled threat? "Oh?"

"Are you afraid of the dark?" he asked, so suddenly, so chillingly that for a moment, the illusory warmth and kindness he portrayed broke; he seemed more amused now, more sinisterly fascinated.

Then, he turned his gaze from her. "I'm not. I rather enjoy it," he admitted mirthfully. Jin had found the initial request tedious, but this newfound thrill? This was worth abandoning the mission over to investigate further, even if it meant letting every single villager die in the process. His smile faded when she insinuated that they were there for the same reason- were they?

I can take care of myself, I prommy!

In the distance, the crows flocked on a barren tree, presumably another victim of the fell magics that settled here. The girl said that she would take care of herself. If that meant she would fend for herself, and that she did not expect for him to step in on her behalf, then he was amenable to that.

She seemed excited, all things considered. With the possibility of death on the table?

Yes, that's what I thought. You're not just some little girl.

So let's go visit the village, okay? We can't waste any more time.

Jin looked back at the girl smiling the original, gentle smile again. "The village it is, then," he agreed. "Shall we?"

As they walked past the group, he noted tears in the eyes of the farmers working hard at removal of the dead plants. It must have been hard to breathe, the stench burning at them and the cloth limiting clean air that they could breathe. "Tell me," he asked. "What do you mean by 'bad'?"

@Ludmilla Orphys

 

[Ludmilla Orphys]

Unflinching, Ludmilla let her sunny disposition do the talking as Yu similarly dropped his pleasantries and responded with a glimpse under his mask. Something about the way her gaze bore through eye contact conveyed a simple response; sure, take what I said as a threat, but only if you want it that way.

There were worse things to fear than what lurked under the cover of darkness. Some horrors walked in broad daylight, those who look upon them none the wiser to their nature. Fear was subjective, after all, but danger was not.

No matter. They had reached an agreement. For now. It would do the both of them well to simply work together and hold up the appearance of amiable cooperation, at least until more about the situation was revealed, more cards in this game laid bare.

Bad, um, like, SUPER bad!

Nodding and continuing to put on her show, despite knowing how she had flashed her hand at the proverbial table, Ludmilla's strides fit two-to-one with the gait of the taller man beside her. The two made a strange pair as they passed through the fields.

Her hand propping her head up as she rubs her chin in mock thought, Ludmilla knows well that this Yu is no fool. Disclosing obvious information, though useless in terms of progressing the investigation, was a token of trust. Gabbing as such provided rapport, if only temporary.

I think someone is trying to starve out the village, but why? Everyone here needs to eat, so it doesn't make sense if someone from the village did this, unless they have food hidden away...or maybe if they're a Magia? I don't understand why there are so many crows and ravens, either.

Oh!

Pouting as if frustrated by the lack of information, the distress of the farmers removing the tainted crops does not escape Ludmilla. She cuts off her guesswork and trudges over the cleaned furrows, waving to show her friendly intent.
The farmers respond with only a look up and a quick nod back. In fact, they seem to be working faster than before, as if actively expressing the desire to be left alone to do their job.

Ludmilla doesn't relent though, skipping over and greeting the weary villagers. The conversation is terse and brief.

Hi! I'm here to solve the bird problem! Can I help with anything here?

"Yes, we know who you are. No, we have this covered. Thanks for coming all this way."​

One of the weather-beaten farmers responds, but they evidently don't mean what they say. It's merely a formality. Another speaks up, gesturing towards the village.

"We'll have the field clear soon. Go to the village if the smell bothers you."​

It's clear that they don't like having Travelers around, especially not while they have to work in such a state. Ludmilla ignores the blatant dismissal and clasps a palm each on two of the farmers' heavy hoes.

"What the-? Don't touch-"​

Remaining firm, Ludmilla mouths a few words soundlessly as a momentary glow envelopes the tools in her hands before she releases the hafts from her grasp. The farmers naturally pull away from her, but are surprised by the weight they pull back. Or rather, the lack of weight. Some muttering ensues among the group as the unperturbed Faerin continues to enchant each of the heavy tools with a small measure of gravity-reduction, eventually earning her some reluctant praise.

"...hmm. Thanks. Will get things done faster."​

That's good! The spell works for about an hour, make good use of it!

Bounding back to Yu's side, Ludmilla looks quite happy with herself as they continue towards the thatch-topped rooves and quiet bustle of the village. Civilisation, such as it is out here in the grey wastes.

We should ask around to see if anyone has seen anything weird lately. Maybe something suspicious happened before the harvest was ruined, or someone has a grudge against the village at large?

@Jin

 

[Jin]

"That doesn't track," he shook his head. "Small community, very specific work hours, cooperative farming. Someone would notice if there was a person in the field who shouldn't be, especially after hours." Now this was something Jin uniquely understood. The idea of security for assets in a given area, and how communities policed the most precious aspects of their community. Where he came from, the Neighborhood Watch was vigilant because of gang violence. People were constantly looking over their shoulders and peeping out their windows after dark, just to be sure no one was trying to break into a home.

To her point about the birds, he gestured noncommittally toward the murder of black birds with a roll of his wrist. "Carrion birds," he explained. "Scavengers who pick at the leavings of higher predators on the food chain, or watch intently as their food source dies so that they can have at its carcass. Their immune systems are at a contrast with that of most mammalian and reptile species, in that they are uniquely able to ingest and process decaying matter."

Jin blinked. The longer winded explanation would not go over her head, but its morbid nature certainly dragged down the mood of the farmers. He felt their disapproving gaze fix on him as the girl wove her magic spell over the farming tools and granted the workers in the field a boon. If it were a game of good cop bad cop, the younger Traveler was decidedly the good cop.

She was good at padding her image to those on the outside. If it came down to a death game between the two of them, this girl could probably count on the villagers for help. He smiled faintly. A devious play from an unexpected player.

"I think that would be prudent," he agreed. "The more information that we can gather, the better picture we can paint of what actually transpired here." In reality, Jin had a pretty good idea of what was going on, but he needed to confirm the presence of an able entity before he was willing to commit to any kind of Witch Hunt. The people would be reasonably hesitant and more than likely resistant if they insisted on taking anyone in for questioning or started to interrogate members of the community.

Mmmm... yes. Jin needed to take some precautions of his own.

@Ludmilla Orphys

 

[Ludmilla Orphys]

It didn't please Ludmilla to play dumb, but it wasn't offensive to her either. If it conferred her an advantage, then sure, why not play dumb to gain an edge? These farmers' intrinsic distrust of her were predicated not just upon the fact that she was a Traveler, but also upon her nature as a Faerin; even out here in the boonies, people who knew of the gods knew of Rhiannon and the fate of her cursed spawn. This act was a means to an end.

Actually, that was partially a lie. Sometimes the act almost grew on her. It was nice to be treated on contact like a brainless child, if only for the thrill of dropping the facade when they least expect it and watching their faces twist in horror as-

Realising that she was probably grinning too enthusiastically as Yu agreed to investigate the village in situ, Ludmilla tempers her reminiscing. It's not like she would ever spring that on someone who the world would mind missing. For now, her company was more than acceptable and her curiosity piqued. A good state to be in.

Okay! Let's go then!
Information, information, information gathering~!

Skipping her way through the withered crops towards the sullen settlement beyond the fields, Ludmilla stops each time she spins about to check whether her companion is following along. It wouldn't be too long before the pair reached the township of Aurora.

All around, there was an air of trepidation. Even along the main street leading to the town square, voices of passing townsfolk were hushed and muted by the uncertainty of whether they would survive this winter or if they'd have to abandon hope of farming in pursuit of more dangerous pursuits.

There were not many avenues to survival on the High March. Wild beasts with edible flesh were not exactly plentiful, but the Guild and sometimes even the Institute paid reasonable sums for the spoils of hunts that brought in all manner of Dissonance-twisted monsters and curios.
This relationship presumably formed a lifeline for most settlements out here, but naturally was a dangerous endeavour that some communities like this one would understandably try to phase out for subsistence farming. It must have taken a long time to develop plowable fields at all in such gravelly stone-riddled soil.

Everyone is so quiet here...we want people to talk to us more, right? Hmm, maybe we could ask around for someone in charge?

Whispering loudly, Ludmilla was well aware that they two Travelers were drawing attention from every direction, a generating a proximity of silent observers and gossip sparking as soon as anyone moved away from that radius.

We should probably hurry and make sure people know we're here to help! I-I can probably-!

Brightly fluffing herself out like a rooster about to crow, Ludmilla gathers even more stares from onlookers. This was not a suggestion; it was an invitation. My cards are on the table, are yours?

Or do I have to force you to show me?

@Jin

 

[Jin]

"Now, now, what's all this then?"

Before Jin had time to give the girl a proper response or sift through the myriad gazes, an older man hobbled out of the riffraff and made his voice heard. The wizened elder was shorter by a head than even some of the women, and his bushy brows eclipsed his eyes. Jin could feel his gaze nonetheless. It was like someone staring straight through him.

The Bloodsworn's lazy gaze moved straight toward the new offender, a creature that was not what it seemed. "I take it you two are the ones who came to help determine the fate of our cropland?" he wasted no time on pleasantries, a fact which Jin noted immediately.

Under most circumstances- all circumstances, really- Landers loved their pleasantries. His lips drew a tight smile as he glanced toward the little girl who seemed to pour more pressure on with each word she spoke. Perhaps the new addition to their board would give her pause as well.

"Whatever the case may be, it is true that several people in the village sought help from outside, and out of respect for their wishes, the rest of us have decided to allow your investigation to proceed unobstructed, but it is my duty to inform you that this matter is very delicate. These crops were the lifeblood of our people. Fact is, most people won't take kindly to you digging around."

He clenched his hand around his walking stick tightly. "I'm using my authority to keep people who would get in your way out of it, but you should be warned, I can't keep them from doing anything if you don't stick to the fields. Kindly heed this warning, and don't go bothering the villagers."

Jin glanced across the faces of those gathered and took a moment to read the room. Most of them were docile, not angry. They snapped silent, interestingly, when he appeared and stopped even the slightest whisper of gossip. Fear, it seemed, ruled this village with an iron fist.

Fear, and perhaps something else.

"On behalf of the Guild," Jin gave a slight, stiff bow, "allow me to thank you for your cooperation."

"I don't give a whit about that, son," the man replied tersely. "People from this village asked for help, and they've gotten it. Kindly do as asked and leave, the quicker the better."

Jin blinked slowly.

"Of course." With his eyes still closed, he allowed himself a smile once more. "However, our investigation hinges on the cooperation of the villagefolk. Without more information, it may be impossible to divine the nature of the affliction..."

"If you're saying that you cant do it with the conditions I've given you, then I'm afraid you have already done all you can." The Elder was unflinching. "Is that what I'm to understand?"

"Not at all," Jin mused. "In fact, you've given me a great deal already. We will leave your villagefolk in peace and do the job we've been paid to do," he said with another bow as he turned on his heel.

I wonder...

Once his back was turned, Jin seized the opportunity to activate his investigation mode. Just as I thought, he glanced to @Ludmilla Orphys who no doubt saw what he was seeing. Magical power surged here, away from the fields.

Someone did not want them interfering.

Suddenly, it wasn't the danger of the people around them turning on him that seemed most pressing. If the fluctuation of energy was to be believed, both of them had that much to worry about. "But you don't mind if I ask you a question, do you sir?" Jin asked, without bothering to look back. "You did say not to upset or bother the townspeople, but I'm given to understand we have your cooperation."

"Aye, make your point, young man. And do it quickly."

"What do you know about what happened?" he asked, "and do you know of anyone who might want the harvest to fail, or the village to suffer?"

 

[Ludmilla Orphys]

Anything, even the hardest of diamonds, would crack under enough duress. Ludmilla meant absolutely no harm, provided that Yu was competent; she merely intended to test him. But before she could carry that out-

"Now, now, what's all this then?"​

Interrupted, she deflates and listens carefully to this Lander elder who approached them so directly. It wasn’t hard to discern with the first conversational back-and-forth that this individual was someone of considerable influence in Aurora, perhaps even some kind of formal leader considering his referring to the village in the collective and the caution against operating out of the bounds of his ‘authority’.

Of course, Ludmilla also saw that thin smile, digging into her side like a knowing thorn. She had been interrupted in the middle of playing her first pressure card, a severe sidelong blow that she couldn’t have foreseen. Her exterior betraying nothing, Ludmilla stifled her simmering irritation and unease beneath a light greeting bow of her head.

As Yu engaged the elder with formalities and was promptly rebuffed, Ludmilla did not miss the change in atmosphere, the terse silence that now entrapped the two outsiders. Passing townsfolk now stopped to silently watch on as the conversation continued, like civilians would covertly gawp at police pulling someone on the street over for a ‘quick chat’.

The lack of eyes on herself allowed Ludmilla some liberty; looking over her shoulder subtly, she could tell that there were now onlookers encircling them. It was only a loose ring of unarmed villagers, which would be barely an issue should this somehow turn violent, but it was as though the mere presence of the elderly Lander had marshaled their presence. Something even more sinister than the trace of magic in the fields had its foothold in remote Aurora, and a look over with her Investigation Mode all but confirmed that.

Snaking along the ground and almost clawing idly at the heels of the villagefolk, shadowy tendrils of something terrible nesting in this town pawed about blindly from cracks in the earth and doors left ajar. This scale of magic…someone had definitely fled into the village after having done whatever it was that caused the crop blight and, like a dog tracking mud all over a pristine marble floor, these were the traces they had left behind.
Actually, if she could get a closer look…

Hrm. Well, the blight happened overnight, some half-week ago. Sent word the next day, now you’re here. As for your other question; are you saying that someone in this very village is some kind of…harvest saboteur?​

The elder huffed a mirthless chuckle and the townsfolk began to murmur in hushed and scandalized tones. Nobody had yet noticed what Ludmilla was doing.

We take care of our own in this town. If someone had a problem with the way we run things, I’d have heard about it. You’d do best to not accuse good folk here without a shred of evidence. ‘Specially when you’re the outsiders.​

At this, the townsfolk become more vocal, nudging each other and nodding their assent. The murmurs take a turn for the defensive, stares turning to glares and some louder phrases becoming audible from this distance - ‘...walkin’ bad luck…’; ‘...won’t do us no good…’; ‘...hired a fuckin’ kid…’

Seemingly satisfied with having asserted his authority, the Elder relaxes one hand from his walking stick and waves it about as if warding off a fly. The crowd quietens immediately, and some of the less vocal clear off to return to their business.

I hope that’s as much as you wanted to know. Now, are you going to keep making baseless accusations or are y- what is she doing?​

Pointing the end of his walking stick at Ludmilla, one of the Elder’s thick eyebrows curls upwards at the Faerin’s…interesting behaviour.
Squatting down and shuffling her bare palms against the ground, Ludmilla’s ungloved hands are already covered in a layer of grime by the time attention is drawn to her. Looking up at the address, Ludmilla waves cheerily up at the congregation with a dirty palm.

Hi! I was just looking at the ground! The person who blighted the field was here just yesterday!

The sheer conviction of Ludmilla’s words sends another ripple through the small crowd. How could she possibly know? Was she bluffing? Who even is this…unusually cheery lost child?

Leaving those questions all unanswered, Ludmilla dusts off her hands as best she can, looking towards the Elder with a tilt of her head.

Eh? Is something wrong? Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Lilian, everyone! Nice to meet you all!

@Jin