Character Sheet
The Mysterious Orphan

Name: Lotte, daughter of Henrik and Anelie
Sexuality: Pansexual
Age: 18
Species: Lamia, Central Lands Human Culture
Level: 3
Class: Hunter
Weapons: Bow, Knife

XP: 2/18

Description: A tall lamia, with short blond hair, and blue eyes, dressed in a protective vest and a noble's hunting shirt. They are muscular, well-formed and handsome, and have slightly yellowish eyes and a forked tongue. Their snake-half is in a forest pattern that helps for blending in, except for the occasional splash of Tyrian purple.

Traits:

Just Devotions (Racial--Human, Central, Cultural)(Level 0): Humans in some parts of the world worship the Gods, vast and sometimes unknowable beings that do grant blessings to those that believe in them, magical blessings. But even the lowliest of the pious knows how to pray to them, how to do the right supplications, how to act in the proper ways. This knowledge can sometimes be put to good use, though the Gods rarely turn their eyes to every little prayer.

Wholesome Farm Looks (Human, Central, Physical, Level 1): Though most of the people of the Central lands, that mass of Kingdoms, Princedoms, Dukedoms, Duchess States, and more, are of course quite poor, they are a hardy, hard-working people, and sometimes this life less beats a person down and more hones them. They have reasonably good looks, and even more importantly, look trustworthy, clean-cut, and otherwise like the kind of person who'd never lied a day in their life or slacked off a single hour, either. This remains even after becoming a lamia, though it is... tempered, obviously.

Snake Eyes (Level 1, Physical, Lamia): You can see in the dark pretty well. It isn't perfect, but the night is not nearly so dark and full of dangers as you expected it would be, for whatever reason.


Forest Wanderer (0, Pre-Class): The forest is a fascinating place for a child, as long as they don't go too far. As one gets used to it, one learns more about its ins and outs, and while some of it only applies to the forest that such a child lived in at first, much of it is quite helpful later.

Forest Eyes (Level 1. Class): As one could have eyes that pick out every tiny detail of the tundra, so can one be used to seeing in the dark forest tracks, possibilities, old growth, traps, and anything else, especially when one knows how to use your ears and nose to aid it. It is remarkable how much you can see, when you see what is actually there.

Hunter's Mettle (Level 1, Class): To hunt, one needs a bow, an arrow, and perhaps a knife for self-defense. Having some skill at them is inevitable, having solid skill at them is admirable, and quite useful.

Steady Arm (Level 2, Class): You have a strong, consistent aim. You're not a superlative archer, at least by the standards of adventurers, but you don't have off moments, and you don't waver from being able to hit your target, even if you're not doing the fancier tricks.

Leave Few Traces (Level 2, Class): The experience of being on one side of the hunt makes you wonder how you'd hide your tracks if you were being hunted, or tracked by hostile enemies, as sometimes does happen in adventures. You've begun to practice how not to be followed in the woods, and perhaps elsewhere.


Mending Knowledge, Basic (Level 0, Pre-Class, Healing Priest): You know how to apply poultrices, and you know the basic ingredients of a number of potions that cure headaches, deal with common pains, put someone into a gentle sleep, and other minor things. You can also bandage someone properly. You are not very good at this, merely adequate... but that's more than what most people are.


Whitlin' Ways (Level 1, Common): A man or woman who knows how to whittle will never want for whistles, or spoons, or any number of goods. It's a useful, solid sort of skill, and one that could be made into a trade. It also makes a pretty decent way to pass the time, and the person who whittles never lacks for a knife in sticky situations.

Penny Pincher (Level 1, General): You know the value of a Pfin, and how to keep from wasting all of your money, even if you're far from a merchant. Money is something you're familiar with.

Steel Nerves (General, Level 3): You've seen enough strange places and done enough fantastic things that you are less likely to panic in terrible situations, and more likely to think things through, however difficult. This doesn't mean you can't panic at all, but you have a grip on those nerves. In battle and danger only, this unfortunately doesn't help at all with social anxiety.


Divine Sense (Level 0, Divine): You can sense when someone is a Demigod, and there's at least the potential ability--though you have not figured it out yet--to try to track people through their divine 'scent.' A person's 'scent' gets stronger as they get more magically and divinely powerful... but on the other hand, you now have a 'scent' of your own, that will allow other demigods to know you for what you are, increasingly as you grow more powerful yourself.

Captivating Eyes (Level 2, Divine): You can sometimes 'catch' people with your eyes. If you're concentrating, they'll find it slightly more difficult to look away, though any sense of threat or danger breaks it immediately, and they'll hear your words clearly, actually listening… or at least hearing them. There's no requirement to listen to them, nor does it seem as if anyone's mind is being altered in any way, but it's an interesting, if bizarre, power, and certainly is a new take on 'lost in their eyes.'

Slithering Shadows (Level 3, Divine): You can blend into the shadows better than you should be able to. At night, and in darker areas, you can seem to shift away from sight. It doesn't work well in a wide-open space, but that little bit of extra secrecy can be very useful as a hunter, and as someone who might need to sneak through various areas.
 
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@The Laurent what level does professionalism start at? Like, an average full-time army archer, what level would they be? What level of doctor is enough to stop being an apprentice?

It depends on the Profession, but somewhere between 3-5, generally speaking. Though "army archer" is kind of complicated, because this is a world where relatively smallish armies or groups of mercenaries/adventurers predominate, at least for all but the most extreme conflict.
 
[X] Karle, somewhat-brother of Naja. He is an experienced man, and even more than that has ties to Universities. Surely he knows something, and if he doesn't, he might be able to get access to some libraries that do know something. On the other hand, he and Naja don't get along well, even though he clearly cares about her despite his words. There's also the fact that Lotte lied about the curse, and that will complicate things.

[X] Taste Of The Air (Level 2, Physical, Lamia): You have quite an ability, though one still being drawn upon, to 'taste' the air in order to smell things that are more difficult to smell. Being a hunter, you have figured out immediately just how useful this could be to track animals or foes.
 
[X] Karle, somewhat-brother of Naja. He is an experienced man, and even more than that has ties to Universities. Surely he knows something, and if he doesn't, he might be able to get access to some libraries that do know something. On the other hand, he and Naja don't get along well, even though he clearly cares about her despite his words. There's also the fact that Lotte lied about the curse, and that will complicate things.

[X] Snake Eyes (Level 1, Physical, Lamia): You can see in the dark pretty well. It isn't perfect, but the night is not nearly so dark and full of dangers as you expected it would be, for whatever reason.

As an archer, always being able to see is massively important. Because if you can't see you can't use your bow.
 
[X] Karle, somewhat-brother of Naja. He is an experienced man, and even more than that has ties to Universities. Surely he knows something, and if he doesn't, he might be able to get access to some libraries that do know something. On the other hand, he and Naja don't get along well, even though he clearly cares about her despite his words. There's also the fact that Lotte lied about the curse, and that will complicate things.

[X] Snake Eyes (Level 1, Physical, Lamia): You can see in the dark pretty well. It isn't perfect, but the night is not nearly so dark and full of dangers as you expected it would be, for whatever reason.
 
So.

I know this is abrupt, but I can't hold it in anymore, so I was going to ask: when can we get to making jokes about Lotte skipping the leg day?

Or better yet, since he's a lamia now, and snakes eat rodents, when does he get to "eat" Lisbeth? :ogles:

Where are my snake puns dammit
 
[X] Karle, somewhat-brother of Naja. He is an experienced man, and even more than that has ties to Universities. Surely he knows something, and if he doesn't, he might be able to get access to some libraries that do know something. On the other hand, he and Naja don't get along well, even though he clearly cares about her despite his words. There's also the fact that Lotte lied about the curse, and that will complicate things.
[X] Taste Of The Air (Level 2, Physical, Lamia): You have quite an ability, though one still being drawn upon, to 'taste' the air in order to smell things that are more difficult to smell. Being a hunter, you have figured out immediately just how useful this could be to track animals or foes.
 
So.

I know this is abrupt, but I can't hold it in anymore, so I was going to ask: when can we get to making jokes about Lotte skipping the leg day?

Or better yet, since he's a lamia now, and snakes eat rodents, when does he get to "eat" Lisbeth? :ogles:

Where are my snake puns dammit
I will have you know I had been sitting on eating mouse for a while.

Was hoping to use it during reunion...
 
[X] Karle, somewhat-brother of Naja. He is an experienced man, and even more than that has ties to Universities. Surely he knows something, and if he doesn't, he might be able to get access to some libraries that do know something. On the other hand, he and Naja don't get along well, even though he clearly cares about her despite his words. There's also the fact that Lotte lied about the curse, and that will complicate things.

[X] Taste Of The Air (Level 2, Physical, Lamia): You have quite an ability, though one still being drawn upon, to 'taste' the air in order to smell things that are more difficult to smell. Being a hunter, you have figured out immediately just how useful this could be to track animals or foes.
 
[X] Karle, somewhat-brother of Naja. He is an experienced man, and even more than that has ties to Universities. Surely he knows something, and if he doesn't, he might be able to get access to some libraries that do know something. On the other hand, he and Naja don't get along well, even though he clearly cares about her despite his words. There's also the fact that Lotte lied about the curse, and that will complicate things.
[X] Taste Of The Air (Level 2, Physical, Lamia): You have quite an ability, though one still being drawn upon, to 'taste' the air in order to smell things that are more difficult to smell. Being a hunter, you have figured out immediately just how useful this could be to track animals or foes.

Man, RIP relationship with ratgirl, I think. Snakes and rats? *Sigh*

Liked the way they reacted. Really curious about how many other lamia are about, given the reactions.
 
1:3
1:3

Despite all their fears, leaving the prison was easier than expected. Nothing attacked them, now, and while Aisling was unwell, if wrapped up well enough she could walk for short periods. They would not be winning any speed records. But Lotte didn't think there was any rush at all, especially considering the risk that they'd learn she was lying.

Because Lotte was lying to people who cared about her, and this was a terrible feeling, especially when they kept on bringing it up.

"We'll have to avoid the villages," Aisling said once they were out in the good, clean woods air.

"I'm sorry." Lotte flushed. She was still working on how to move, and the other two were giving her a wide berth, perhaps afraid of tripping over her. That was a problem she'd have to work out, sooner or later.

"Don't apologize for not being human." Aisling sniffed. "If you turn out to be secretly infected with some sort of spell of the Forgotten God, you can apologize then. But for being yourself?"

Lotte nodded, trying not to look as ill as she felt. The sun felt good against her skin, though, and so she allowed her thoughts to drift a little as they moved. They'd have to keep off the main roads, and of course she'd have to figure out how to move more carefully. She was still learning how to move at all, but eventually she'd have to figure out how to hide her tracks. There were simple techniques that'd still apply. She was larger, but it was still just a matter of moving on hard ground or stone, right?

Beyond that? She'd have to think.

Meanwhile, she wondered whether the pleasure she felt at sunlight was the result of being a snake, or of having been in a prison for far too long. Lotte smiled and hummed to herself as they moved through the forest, slowly but surely.

"This is so strange," Lotte said, as they passed a tree that she now knew was special. She looked at it. "We're back here already." She stuck her tongue out, trying to get used to tasting the air. There had been… animals here, at least somewhat recently. She could smell their scat, ever so faintly, in a way she couldn't quite do with her nose.

"Is that a smell thing?" Aisling guessed.

"Yes. I thought I'd at least learn how all this works." Lotte didn't know whether that was okay.

"You know, this is all really interesting, even if it makes me sweat a little," Naja admitted. "We should stop for dinner here."

"Interesting?" Lotte asked.

"Well, you look good, dressed how you are. There are pluses and minuses here."

"Pluses and minuses?" Lotte had been reduced to a Liar Bird, parroting the words.

"You look more handsome, but you don't have as much of a posterior now."

Lotte blushed as hard as she ever had. "D-do you… I…"

"If you're asking if I'm still attracted to you, probably yes. The offer still stands."

"No!" Lotte couldn't imagine it, didn't want to look, had closed her eyes when going. All she can tell is that it seems to be about the same as before, but more hidden. "I… but thank you." She wasn't sure she meant it. But she did like being treated like normal, like not that much has changed. Maybe she'll hate that eventually, but right now she needs something to cling to, somewhere to sink her roots into.

"So, are you going to do the hunting?" Aisling asked. "We do have enough food, but we could use some variety."

"I only have one arrow."

"Two. I kept one of the gunky ones that didn't break." Naja pointed that out absent-mindedly as she began to clear out a patch in the dirt.

"Oh. Good. I suppose I could do something." Lotte could probably find some small critter to add a little meat to their meal, if she was lucky and careful. "But, whatever village we visit next, I'll need more arrows." Lotte winced. "I'll have to stay outside the town."

"You know, sooner or later, we're going to have to just admit that you're with us and take whatever hatred comes with it." Aisling had found a tree nearby and was resting against it. She wasn't bleeding, but she was still weak.

"That's only if we can't just solve the problem in the next few weeks," Naja said.

"If it was easy to fix, then surely we'd have heard of an easy solution before." Lotte straightened herself up, 'standing' a little taller as her tail shifted. "What about the stories of the Fae, Aisling?"

"There are stories, but being turned into an ass until the coming of the full moon, or being transformed into a rabbit to be hunted by a Wild Hunt only lasts until you escape. If it were a Fae, you'd know full well, even if it was in a rhyming riddle, what would turn you back." Aisling's voice had a musical tone to it as she continued to speak. "Instead you have been cursed, apparently without a word, into a form that seems to come with at least some familiarity."

"Comes with some familiarity?" Lotte asked.

"You're already… slithering, I suppose it'd be called, as skillfully as we are walking. Well, as Naja is walking. There's a little clumsiness, but I bet if a lamia was given legs they'd still be crawling. Even without any weakness to newfound limbs, it's still very different."

Lotte wondered whether a part of herself somehow knew how to slither. It wasn't a curse, which meant it might simply be something about her soul, or body, or how all of it worked. "You're right." Lotte shook her head. "But I can't really regret it that much. If I didn't know how to move around, this would be a lot harder."

"That's fair enough." Naja looked Lotte over, eyeing her up and down. "Y'know, we never did find a treasure of any kind. Well, unless you count friendship as a treasure."

"I do," Lotte said. She wasn't going to talk about the blessings and the curses that came along with the revelation. Even if it wasn't a curse, it was a sign that she'd never quite fit in again. She'd been cast out of the world.

Lotte tried to ignore the feeling, ignore the simple facts that even an idiot like her could notice. She wasn't going to be standing in an alehouse anytime soon--or ever again, if it came to standing--among her fellow humans, drinking down beers and smiling and laughing and--

If she arrived in that alehouse where she first met Naja, and Karle, she'd terrify everyone there, and probably start a fight.

"You really are something, Lotte." Naja was looking at her with a soft smile. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Yes. I'm surprised you were singled out for a curse, actually." Aisling had that same look that combined suspicion and trust. It was a strange look, eyebrows narrowed, but ears not quite as sharp as they might be.

"They didn't try to grab you as well?" Lotte asked. She knew they hadn't, but she wanted to be sure. Plus, wouldn't she ask that if she was really just a random victim?

"No, but we cannot tell whether this is because you were closest or they only wanted one person." Naja then added, after a moment's thought. "Or they targeted you specifically."

"Why would they?" Lotte asked. Then she added the truth, "I'm just the daughter of farmers from a small village. I'm a hunter who has been on a few adventures. There's not really a reason to grab me, is there?"

"Not that we know. But there are any number of reasons why you could be taken. It could be something about your humours balance, or your hair color, or even the emotions you were feeling at the time." Naja looked Lotte over, considered her with a rather different eye than before. She wasn't looking at her with a leer. No, Naja had a ready mind, one more flexible than Lotte's own.

If she thought about it too much, she'd figure it out.

Lotte shrugged. "I don't know. I should go and hunt, see what I can bring in. Aisling, you should rest."

"You giving me orders?" Aisling smirked at Lotte.

"No, I'm just--"

"Same ol' Lotte." Naja waved. "I'll need time to put together my speech."

"Speech?"

"Don't ask. She has a dramatic speech about Karle she's preparing, and she'll make us all listen again and again and again. So, in the interests of saving yourself one go-through, leave now.

******

Some things hadn't changed. There was a grace, a divine sort of feeling, to lining up a perfect shot. You couldn't shoot with just your arms, you had to shoot with your eyes, your chest, your fingers, your brain, and your legs… or your tail, for that matter. If there was something about you that was not just right, what you would do would be less than ideal.

Lotte had loosed plenty of arrows she was ashamed of, had known they would miss, or known they could have hit more cleanly. There were misses she respected more than hits, and even with the new tail, it worked.

Her stance was perfect, and the arrow slid through the deer's eye as carefully as someone slipping between two men with a whispered apology. The deer reeled, and collapsed. Lotte slithered over towards it, her heart singing holy hymns. The Forgotten God could steal everything from her, but it couldn't touch this moment. She was a liar, a fool, and now an outcast, but she was still a hunter.

This meant life just as much as it meant death. She went over to the body, knife in hand, to carve out what she wanted and leave the rest for any animals who wished it. She removed the guts first, took care to remove what hair she could early on as she unrolled her game bag, recently washed, and began to section out the deer.

She needed only so much, and when she was done she had to pray. She prayed to Wilfhuld out of habit, and the Waldherz for having been allowed to be a part of the forest, and Geweian, the antler'd God of competition and struggle for having taken one of his does. Lotte wondered at this, the way so many Gods were animal-like, and yet beastfolk were so hated. She knew the excuses, that their very existence was hubris, that they didn't worship the same Gods, and all sorts of words she could no longer credit.

But she had nothing new to replace it with, especially since the Forgotten God themselves might be evil. Certainly, they could be cruel, and Lotte couldn't imagine praying to Imnash right now. Still, she said in her quietest whisper, "Imnash, I know you're listening. We can't talk now, but in a few days, in a week or two, we need to discuss what all of this is. Y-you're a God. Y… you'll keep."

Lotte couldn't imagine saying that to any other God, eternal and immortal as they were. Wait--was that why the Nachtmater was sorry? Had she somehow helped the Forgotten God? She hadn't thought about the words as deeply as she should, but if that's what they meant, then she had another God to talk to.

She hoped she would keep as well, long enough to understand what had happened.

******

"So, knowing Karle, he's going to try Baddings." Naja said.

"Ah, right," Lotte said, nodding as she worked on the food. She'd never been the greatest cook in the village, but her Mom had taught her enough to get by, and she certainly knew how meat was to be treated. She had put all of it in an iron pot they had, and she'd boiled it. That and the bread they still had would be enough. Whatever meat was left would probably just be thrown away, since there didn't seem to be much enthusiasm for such lengths.

Luckily she'd figured rightly enough as to how much meat everyone would want.

"You don't know what Baddings is, at all?" Aisling was looking around at the fire, looking at the wind to calculate the breeze, and otherwise getting underfoot by simply looking at everything.

"...No," Lotte mumbled. She felt her cheeks heating up as she continued to work on the food.

"Huh. I thought everyone had heard of it," Naja said, getting a voice a little like the priest before he started an hour long rambling lecture. "It's a town that discovered a very powerful Sepult ruin a century ago. It's long since been ransacked, there's no wealth to be found there, but it was a powerful ritual site, and a place of… sacrifice, among other things. There's rumors of ghosts, cults that haunt the place… all sorts of nonsense, considering it has become an attraction for pilgrims and rich, bored, nobles--"

"Such as yourself," Aisling chimed in.

"Yes, such as--wait!" Naja blinked, and turned to glare at Aisling.

"I met Karle, he doesn't seem like either." Lotte looked from one of them to the other. "What am I missing?"

"There haven't been many university-trained scholars with his sort of experience checking it out, with a set of incredibly expensive instruments and no desire more than knowledge." Naja sniffed. "He thinks himself an altruist, finding knowledge and truth for later generations. If he found anything as dull as a pile of gold coins, he'd be in a terrible mood for months."

"He's not always in a terrible mood?" Aisling asked.

Naja frowned. "Maybe? But whenever I'm not around him for a bit I start to get fond. Better meet him again so we can go back to hating each other. Badding is just four or five days away, if we can get a mount. There should be one in the next village over we can borrow."

Their horses had, surprising nobody involved who'd thought about it--so surprising everyone but Aisling--had run away after they'd decided to not turn back at the end of the first day in the ruins. Lotte hoped they were still alive. She hadn't thought about the horses much, not knowing how to ride one with any real skill. Now she'd never learn. It didn't feel like she was missing all that much. It would mean she'd have to deal with being slower than those with a horse. But she had already expected to spend much of her time walking.

She'd just have to learn to build up her endurance even more to keep going for longer. She'd figure it all out.

"I can't, though," Lotte pointed out. "So it might take longer."

"We can afford the time. You walk--walked, pretty fast, Lotte." Naja nodded to herself, as if that was settled. "We will have to be careful about where we ride. Could we take a side-path some of the way?"

"Some of the way, but unless we go off road entirely, you're going to be seen with a lamia and an elf," Aisling pointed out.

"I know. There's a reason I decided against my father." Naja bit her lip and said. "Either way, once we reach the town, it shouldn't be too hard to find Karle. Then we can dump the problem in his lap."

"Sounds like a plan."

******

That night, after first sleep, Lotte went to use the facilities, and heard what sounded like a hiss saying, "Understood."

Well, so at least she wouldn't be bothered with any strange dreams.

******

Aisling was doing better the next day, though also acting very oddly. The wry-as-bread (Lotte was pretty sure they were spelled the same way, anyways) elf was now chipper.

"She gets like this, at the start of anything," Naja muttered, chewing on a little more of the bread they had. "She quickly falls into the bad habit of sarcasm and disillusionment when--"

"I heard you! But I do not care." Aisling grinned and said. "So, at the start of this adventure, let me pray. Fae, this is an ever-changing world we live in, where all that is true fades into lies, and all that is a lie can become true again. Protect the liars, and the true, and defend us if you will it. We shall defend ourselves, and by iron, blood, salt and bone, we shall come to some sort of truth. We seek Karle, and we seek knowledge of a curse. May we find it."

Lotte bowed her head, though she hadn't known anything about Fae before and did not afterwards. So she had no reason to suspect what came next.

"Now, if we're about it, we need a traveling song." Aisling nodded to herself. "And you're singing it too, Lotte. You can sing, can't you? And if not, you can whistle I'm sure."

Lotte looked over to Naja, who just shrugged, but with a glint in her eyes as if today was her nameday.

"Ahhh," Lotte sang out, a single pure note. Her voice was clean and crisp, on tune but untrained, a little higher than she was used to speaking, as if she were trying to escape some cage.

"You don't have to sing higher, you don't have to sing sweeter, you just have to…"

Sing a song of traveling friends
Round these corners and round these bends
Sing it low and sing it sweet,
Sing it fast and high and neat
Sing off key.
Just follow my voice.

The Fae have found a world of plenty
Yet who knows it? Not one in twenty
We rest as eggs in our pitiful shells
We tell each other ambition never sells
But take a step outside your home,
And keep on walking, dare to roam.

An Adventurer knows what to sing
We adventure, and we find,
Truth and lies and our own kind,
Wanderers, liars, heroes, more
Waiting to see what the world has in store

Lotte tried to sing the song, and tried to make it hers. She liked her voice when she let it be a little rough, when she let it be a little tired, because she was tired. She slithered through the forest, and her eyes darted at every bird call, in stretched, uncertain wonder.

It was not that long before she stopped outside of a village, and waited there. Lotte handed over an arrow for the fletcher to use as a model, though no doubt he had adequate arrows enough. The village was small, but well made, and the people must have been happy with the business, because it was not long before Naja and Aisling returned with the arrows and two horses.

The horses, big, brown ones, edged away from her. But eventually they got used to her, and if she moved at a decent enough pace, the horses could trot and she could keep up. All through the first day, and the first night, there was song after song.

Lotte could see that Aisling was slipping away from the optimistic start, could see the way Naja watched her with pursed lips and narrowed eyes, could see darting eyes and suspicions.

Lotte wondered what caused Aisling to be like this, when it was so clear she was loved.

Lotte knew she might not be loved, not if her parents heard; they could have been kind and generous and amazing if Lotte had gone back to them, but this possibility helped less than the pain of them not being so would hurt.

Roads lead to rivers, and rivers to sea
Oceans lead to the ends of the sea
That to the end of the world
So it is told, so fate unfurled
But we can never find that place

Yet onward we go!
Adventure, ho!
To the far horizon,
Bards and druids, thieves and warriors
Singing this song until it grows hoarier
All songs grow old like elves,
Slow and then fast

The races of the world all join in this:
War, death, hate, love, a kiss
And adventure, dear adventure!
Bound together like a promise kept
Adventure, dear adventure!

The sun was beautiful, the moon was shining, and Lotte was tired but not without hope. She couldn't be uncursed because she was not cursed, but she could learn something about Imnash from Karle. She could figure out what was wrong with her, and then hopefully find a way to keep the truth away from Aisling and Naja. She knew--not suspected, but knew--that they would have abandoned her if she had revealed the truth. They'd abandon her now if she told the truth, and that meant that she had to hope that nobody ever learned the truth.

It was a sickening feeling.

It was on the third day of travel that someone finally saw Lotte on the road.

They'd slowed down because Naja, noting Aisling's grim sarcasm and downtrodden arrogance, had insisted on trying to solve it. Lotte had left so that she didn't have to hear the results of that. So they were behind schedule, but it should be fine. "Karle," Naja said, "Is meticulous."

A carriage kicked up dust as they walked, in the distance, big and black and supremely ugly to Lotte's practical eye. The driver's eyes went wide, and the horse skidded to a clumsy start. The driver--a thickset man with greying hair-- knocked on the door of the carriage.

"What is it?" a woman's voice called.

"Highway bandits. One of them's nicely dressed, but one of them's a damn snake." He made no attempt to keep his voice lower.

"Highway bandits?" Naja snifted, looking angrily at them. Then she yelled out, "My good man, I am Naja von Siebert, heir to the Siebert estates, and I am horsed as well! What bandit would have horses? Aren't they called footmen?"

Aisling, on the other hand, just sighed.

She was still sighing when a man came out wielding a crossbow. His black beard was like the tangle of a forest at night, and his clothes were dark, trimmed with gold. "Are you now? Well, I am Humboldt von Konik, Lord of Isse and Baron of Barewore. And I never saw a noble with a snake on the retinue. Is it a prisoner?"

"She is a friend, and I will have you put away that crossbow or you shall taste my steel in a gentlewomanly duel," Naja insisted, riding forward despite the crossbow pointed in his direction. "If a Konik even knows the meaning of such a thing."

"What do you mean by that?" Humboldt said.

"Everyone knows the Konik were in trade two-hundred years ago, and still have family so burdened by such… peculiar monetary ambitions." Naja sniffed, and in that moment was perhaps the most obnoxious person alive. "Now do you believe who I say I am? Or do I have to mention having met your wife, hidden away in there, once at a party."

"That doesn't explain the snake, it--"

"She."

"Are you sure it's a she, perhaps snakes--"

"Humboldt, if that is your name. Speak again and you have two challenges," Aisling said.

"If that is my name?"

"Can you merely sling but not face silly accusations, short-lived fool?" Aisling had swung herself off the horse, and glared at them. "Now move out of our way."

"Fine. It is no problem, but that Naja von Siebert consorts with lamia will be known!"

"Let it be known. No fool would believe your stories," Naja said. "Now, let us pass."

"I shall, then."

Humboldt was perhaps many sorts of cad, but he did not fire on her retreating back, and soon enough they were past.

"You didn't have to do that," Lotte said.

"Do what?"

"Hurt your reputation on my behalf."

"Lotte, I would do far more than that on your behalf," Naja said. "You don't deserve to be treated this way."

Lotte felt sick, thinking of how much she was lying to those so kind to her. She opened her mouth to speak, but in that moment a bird cried out and Aisling's shifty gaze looked up. Her moment of suspicion, as if this was some unusual sound, broke the moment, and Lotte resolved that she should tell them… some day.

And should the road finally end
Should I find some suitable friend
Should I settle like a rock in place
Look at my eyes, look at my face
Am I still alive at all?!

Sing it high and sing it low
Sing it fast, sing it slow
Sing it deep, it is no holy psalm
Sing it angry, sing it calm
We are adventurers! The road is our way
Today is our day!

On the fifth day, they reached the sign. It was an absurd thing, a sign outside of the valley a village rested in. Why would you need a sign? Why wouldn't you just know what the village was called, or go into the village to ask?

But it was stuck in the ground, held up by two poles, and painted white, with the words in blue.

'Badding, Home of Ruines, Misteries, and Sekrets.'

Naja snorted at that. "Really?"

"Secrets is spelt kind of funny," Lotte said. "Though, the Priest told me that there wasn't a set spelling."

"Sure, but… Ruines?" Naja asked.

"Doesn't that about sound how it's said?" Aisling asked. "I don't see the--"

"Come on, you can't really…"

The bickering lasted the rest of the journey.

But where are they going?

[] They could wait outside the town, and have Naja go in and send a message for Karle. This would be the most discreet, but might take some time until he arrives. Then, it's a matter of whether he'll go to meet her or not.
[] They could journey into the ruins to meet him. It would be faster, and in some ways more private… but there would be the risk of assistants or other explorers being around to see Lotte, unlike with having Lotte wait out of the way for Karle to be led to her.
[] Write-in.

******

A/N: And so it goes!
 
[X] They could wait outside the town, and have Naja go in and send a message for Karle. This would be the most discreet, but might take some time until he arrives. Then, it's a matter of whether he'll go to meet her or not.

Discretion is the better part of valor.
 
[X] They could wait outside the town, and have Naja go in and send a message for Karle. This would be the most discreet, but might take some time until he arrives. Then, it's a matter of whether he'll go to meet her or not.
 
[X] They could wait outside the town, and have Naja go in and send a message for Karle. This would be the most discreet, but might take some time until he arrives. Then, it's a matter of whether he'll go to meet her or not.
 
[X] They could wait outside the town, and have Naja go in and send a message for Karle. This would be the most discreet, but might take some time until he arrives. Then, it's a matter of whether he'll go to meet her or not.
 
"Are you sure it's a she, perhaps snakes--"

How is that surprisingly perceptive and incredibly specieist at the same time?

[X] They could journey into the ruins to meet him. It would be faster, and in some ways more private… but there would be the risk of assistants or other explorers being around to see Lotte, unlike with having Lotte wait out of the way for Karle to be led to her.

Fun. Fun. Fun.
 
[X] They could journey into the ruins to meet him. It would be faster, and in some ways more private… but there would be the risk of assistants or other explorers being around to see Lotte, unlike with having Lotte wait out of the way for Karle to be led to her.
 
[X] They could journey into the ruins to meet him. It would be faster, and in some ways more private… but there would be the risk of assistants or other explorers being around to see Lotte, unlike with having Lotte wait out of the way for Karle to be led to her.

We need, soon, to find a way to not be a complete social outcast. Illusion would be fine, big reputation with distinctive markings, well-timed word of respectable prophet, something. I really don't like the idea of leaving our friends or being left and more than Lotte does. :(
 
Vote closed. This is why you should vote. It was really close and you could have tipped the balance one way or another.
Adhoc vote count started by The Laurent on Jan 1, 2020 at 12:28 AM, finished with 8 posts and 7 votes.

  • [X] They could wait outside the town, and have Naja go in and send a message for Karle. This would be the most discreet, but might take some time until he arrives. Then, it's a matter of whether he'll go to meet her or not.
    [X] They could journey into the ruins to meet him. It would be faster, and in some ways more private… but there would be the risk of assistants or other explorers being around to see Lotte, unlike with having Lotte wait out of the way for Karle to be led to her.
 
1:4
1:4

Lotte had to wait in the trees nearby while they went down to the town to talk. It was a town, or at least a large enough village that Lotte wished she could visit. But she didn't need to be told how dangerous visiting the village could be. She wasn't secure in her own form, at least not entirely, and she would be expected to defend herself against dark accusations, glares, and perhaps worse?

Lotte had seen none of the cruelty that Naja's haunted, dark stare promised. She never wanted to. But eventually she'd have to either live entirely in the wilderness without others around, or trust people to see who she was. But who was that? If she didn't know that answer, then what was she doing here?

When Lotte thought that she'd have to wait with the trees, it was what she meant. Not the woods, and certainly not the forest. Most of the trees of the valley had long since been stripped out in order to better see the scar upon the earth, and the piles of stones that rested upon it, visible and glowing at night. The building wasn't all that large, but it stood out now as it had not before.

It seemed a mockery to Lotte, but one that she couldn't exactly criticize. After all, they were just doing what they could to survive. It did seem as if they must have trouble getting enough wood to survive without importing it. But it wasn't Lotte's business. People far wiser and smarter than her had no doubt thought through all the consequences long before she was born.

In Lotte's experience, it was a mistake to assume one's elders were fools. Lotte knew plenty of young men and women her age who acted the fool, who drank too much and called their parents village idiot and otherwise behaved terribly. Lotte had left, but she would no more act to dishonor them, then…

But then what was her lying? What was her transformation. It wasn't her choice, but you could dishonor from lack of choice. She was no noble, to hold her honor dearer than anything else. But a person's word was supposed to mean something. A person who didn't keep their word was like a bow too rotted to loose an arrow, a shirt too tattered to keep out the chill.

If a person could not say what they were going to do, and then do it, then where was anyone in this world? Oh, sure, the nobles lied and schemed, but the people who made the world work were supposed to be different.

Nobody could get away with more than the pettiest dishonesties in a village as small as Lotte's. At least, not professional ones. In their personal lives… Lotte thought of the fights spouses could have, and shuddered.

As it was, Lotte couldn't ramble and walk with so little space to walk, so instead she found a clearing in the woods that there was, a ways away from the village-facing side, and lay on a rock. It was enjoyable to soak up the sun, and she wanted to think. She indeed did, thinking circles around her like a dog that had caught the wrong scent.

Shouldn't she be pursuing the truth? Instead, here she was, lying to those she cared for, in order to get answers she hadn't needed. What would she learn that was new from all of this? The curse didn't exist. She'd learned more in the last hour, such as that the sun could make her sleepy in a pleasant way, and that her body was all but made for reclining now. The lower half, at least, could coil in itself to take up only a little more space than she would have sitting as a human. It wasn't uncomfortable at all, and it was remarkable how much her body, if not her mind, took these changes in stride. Of course it would, if this was the true her.

All the same, she still allowed herself to relax. She even learned, after getting bored enough, that she could sleep on her own coils. They were not soft, because even her snake half was strongly muscled, thankfully enough. But there was a give to them, and it was a little like how sometimes heroes would sleep on the lap of their beloved.

Now, Lotte was no fool, and had managed to guess that there was, on top of anything intimate and romantic, perhaps some…

Well, perhaps she was supposed to assume that 'sleeping on the lap' implied sex. But it was just such a romantic picture all on its own, wasn't it? The closeness, the care, the trust. There was none of that here, but it was still impressive. That at least inspired Lotte to wonder whether there were any magical powers that came with the form. Lotte wasn't all that interested, but she did spend a few minutes straining her eyes to try to make something happy, biting at her hand as if it would turn into a giant pair of venomous fangs, and otherwise messing around. She felt something that might be eyestrain, and at the end a fluttering in her stomach, but nothing more than that.

Eventually Lotte gave up, and decided that she should practice her archery. She'd been hunting a little to help feed them over the journey there, but she hadn't done the sort of focused practice that you were supposed to do if you wanted to get better. She'd made her way to a likely spot in the pitiful clump of trees when she heard rustling. She slithered back, and then relaxed when she saw Naja and Aisling.

"Well, they've been bribed to tell Karle that Naja von Siebert desperately needs to talk to him, and will be waiting in the forest for his arrival, and that it is a matter of life and death," Naja said.

"This isn't a forest," Lotte said, with all the stubbornness of someone who had actually ever gone into a forest of her own volition, and thus knew what a forest actually was. Lotte was rather determined to press this very essential fact.

"Well, whatever it is. I'm sure Karle would call it a forest."

"Or would he point out that in a book there was a size definition of forest, and this did not count," Aisling pointed out, fetching up a devious smile.

"Forests aren't about that either," Lotte said. "Not… entirely."

"Then what?" Naja asked.

"The Waldherz. His presence makes a place a forest or not." Lotte frowned. This wasn't obscure theology that she'd read in a dusty book, but the common knowledge that anyone should have.

"That is very pious of you," Aisling pointed out. "But then what about all of the wooded areas of my homeland. There is not, as far as I can tell, the Waldherz in any of those."

"Perhaps some Fae serve that purpose?" Naja asked, with a playful look on her face.

"Fae are not Gods," Aisling said, as if she'd said this a thousand times before. "However, this is all besides the point."

Lotte, who thought it was in fact the exact point, resolved to whittle some tokens to thank the Waldherz and other Gods for all they'd done for the world. Lotte could not know whether any of the Gods would even accept her efforts anymore. If she really was a demi-God of some manner, and to a God opposed to at least some of their principles, then were her prayers really meaningful?

Well, even if they weren't, she was going to pray. If you prayed only to get results, only to obtain things from a God, what sort of worshipper were you? She only hoped the Gods would hear and then ignore her prayers, rather than seeing her as something worthy of opposition or attack.

Still, she would keep faith. It was not their fault she had been as she was. If she had not visited a temple, how long might she have not known what she was?

"Are you okay, Lotte? You look rather distant," Naja said.

"Just enjoying the sun," Lotte said, and laughed to make the lie more convincing.

They all stared at her. "Well?" Aisling asked.

"What if it is, uh. What if it can't be undone?" Lotte asked.

"Then you live your life." Aisling shook her head. "There isn't really any other option. You're still an adventurer, aren't you?"

"Yes," Lotte said slowly, without enthusiasm. How could she help people when she couldn't help herself?

"You want to help people, you want to make money, you're still a good archer, and you're still attractive and wholesome looking, I mean, at least your face is." Naja said it all in good cheer, though she flushed a little at the end, wiping her brows. "I mean, I have offered plenty of times if you wanted to join in. Do you think that's because being temporarily transformed into a lamia made me pity you?"

"I, er." Lotte coughed. "I'm not sure if I want to have… sex with anyone I don't love."

"Oh. You're the marrying type?" Aisling asked, frowning thoughtfully.

"I guess?" Where she came from, basically everyone got married if they lived long enough and could afford it. Even the drunken layabouts usually managed it, though pity their husbands or wives. "I also, I dunno, feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of it."

Now Naja was frowning, all of the serious, important talk forgotten to gossip about Lotte's love life. "If we were making you uncomfortable we--"

"Do not apologize, but perhaps we might have been softer. I could have put a gag in Naja's mouth." Aisling interrupted smoothly, glaring at Naja.

Lotte couldn't help but laugh at that, the sound forcing itself out of a throat which had had very little to laugh about these past few days. "No, no, it's not that. I've even kissed someone before. Two someone's." Though only one was worth remembering, only one brought a feeling of warmth to her stomach now, after all that had happened.

"So?" Aisling asked. "What's…"

"I'm in a new body, of course I'm uncomfortable."

"That makes sense." Naja nodded, having apparently realized that Lotte almost felt hunted by some of the words, especially since what if she revealed she'd be stuck like this, and already knew it. "All of it?"

"What?" Lotte asked.

"Do you hate all the changes? Including." She gestured towards her own modest, attractive bustline.

Lotte stammered, "Of course!"

"Naja, could you go gather wood for our fire?" Aisling asked.

"What would I know about--oh. Of course." Naja bit her lip, eyes darting over to Lotte. "Are you sure--"

"I am sure."

Naja left, no doubt to find the wrong kinds of sticks. But Lotte had a feeling she wasn't getting away."

*****

"Do you really not want to tell me the truth? If you just calmly say it and mean it, I'll stop asking. But I'm trying to figure all of this out," Aisling said, with a nod.

"I… well, they did get in the way a little. It's just practical. I'm sure any woman who was an archer would agree."

"Or a warrior?" Aisling asked, her tone light and understanding.

"Yes, see."

"Except… no. I've met women who wished they had smaller than a solid handful, and certainly you were not, er, poorly endowed. But I doubt any of them would want to lose it all."

Lotte blinked at her. It didn't make any sense. Why not? Sure, she understood if one was someone… well, she could at least understand how giving a babe suck might be difficult. But if one was an adventurer--

Then again, she wanted to get married, right? But the idea of suckling a babe didn't seem pleasant. Surely she wasn't like the nobles who had a wetnurse? Though, perhaps…

"You're worrying, now." Aisling frowned, looking Lotte over. "So, you don't miss having breasts?"

Lotte hesitated and then shook her head. "I'm fine without." This was a lie: she felt more than fine. At the thought of getting breasts back, something inside her whined like a dying animal. "I don't, I mean. It's not that unusual. You said some would prefer smaller, I just prefer a little smaller than others."

She still had breasts, after all! Well, sort of.

Aisling looked at her dryly. "Is there anything else? Do you like looking like a lamia?"

"No," Lotte said. Lotte looked her in the eye and said it simply and honestly.

"Okay, I believe that. But there were two reasons why I was asking, Lotte. Well, three. First, I was just curious and if curiosity does kill the cat like they say--"

Lotte had never heard that saying.

"Well, at the moment death wouldn't be so bad, really." Aisling shrugged as if she had not said something incredibly distressing with a wry smile on her face. "Second, I have a suspicion I'll not voice until I'm sure. Third, I think this may be part of the curse."

"What?"

"If there are parts of your appearance now you like better, and you had to get rid of them to go back to being human, would you?"

Lotte stared at Aisling as the wind whistled through the trees above. And what if… what if continuing to serve Imnash led to more transformations? What if she was enough of a freak, not normal enough, that she liked some of those as well? How had Imnash known she would have liked a smaller bust? It made her wonder. "I think so, but I'd rather not. Can a curse be reversed in part?"

"I dunno. That's why we're getting Karle to help us. Just think about it."

Lotte did, even after Naja stumbled back with dew-damp sticks of green wood.

She thought the next day, as she began to carve some totems as she waited. First, she carved a Waldherz to dedicate, and then what were known as prayer-sticks. It was difficult to carve the likeness of some Gods without being far better than Lotte was. But the Gods would accept sticks with their symbols on them for the purpose of praying. Lotte used tree branches to carve the full and crescent moons, as well as the wings, for the Nachtmater, and a far smaller one for Mite, the God of desperate causes.

(He aided the poor and the meek, and spread himself so thin that his help was always small, but the fact that he helped anyone was infamous. It was said of someone terrible that "Even Mite would not aid them." Lotte hoped that Mite would aid her.)

There were a few others, carefully made over a day of waiting, and then that night before her second sleep she prayed to the Nachtmater. The next morning she was praying to Mite when Karle and his guard finally arrived.

They made noise enough that Lotte heard them coming a long way off. Aisling's ears swiveled to hear them, and Naja slowly got the picture and stood up, smoothing down her trousers and looking around as if hoping for a mirror or some present for her guest.

"So, Naja, what is this about? There's no way you'd contact me unless your request was… Lotte?"

Lotte was rather stunned that he'd recognized her, considering she was coiled up against a rock.

"Is that you? You seem to have changed rather drastically since we last met. However, the hair seems familiar, and so does the bow."

"Yup. That's Lotte. He got hit by a--"

"She," Naja corrected, helpfully.

Lotte blushed, but didn't say anything about the exchange. She still didn't understand what Aisling was arguing.

"So, she was transformed by a curse?" Karle asked. He was covered in dust and looked as if he'd slept in a tomb, but his eyes were bright. His guard, still in her chainmail, gave a friendly wave to everyone, though her eyes were hard. "And you want my help?"

"I know that you don't want to help," Naja began grandly. "But I am calling in the favor I have--"

"Oh, of course I will help. This is fascinating, truly it is, and I feel for Lotte. Certainly you will find no errant bigotries in a university trained man, unlike others." He glanced over at Naja, who hadn't seemed to realize he said yes.

"I know you deny any familial sentiment, but surely you cannot deny a favor, not when--"

"As well, there is something to be said for understanding more of this curse. Especially since it must be of great import. To have been cursed by the one whose agent you exposed mere weeks before? It is the start of something that I wish to understand."

"Oh. That's a yes?"

"Yes it is, you fool." Karle shook his head. "We'll be going to a hidden library I know. There is a group I am part of that maintains them, and this particular one is not that far from here."

"Oh! I know what you're talking about. But really?" Naja made a face.

"It is not as if the nuns and monks of the Nachtmater mind a secret hidden library beneath them," Aisling muttered.

"You told her?"

"It's pillow talk, sir," the guard said. "If it were wise, it would not be spoken of so. It does no harm."

"Does it?" he asked.

"Everyone on the road's heard of the Secret Libraries of the Corner Club."

...actually, it did sound familiar. Vaguely. She'd heard a story of it, once. A club of nobles and non-nobles dedicated to knowledge, who swore to honor all Gods therein. She hadn't heard anything about the secret libraries, but in truth she'd been more interested in the idea of them adventuring to recover lost knowledge. Libraries, as far as Lotte could tell, were entirely useless to a dullard like her.

...except now they weren't.

"Yes. You'll each have to have some piece of knowledge, or wisdom, to share in order to enter," Karle said. "At least, if you haven't shared anything this year. You all agree to go, right?"

"O-oh. I thought this would be harder," Naja admitted.

"Are you kidding me? This will be a most excellent adventure, especially compared to the disappointments of my own trip."

"You know what. Tell me about them," Naja said, and for a moment it was almost like they were family.

Then they started arguing about translations.

During the Trek, What Does Lotte do? (Choose 1)

[] Karle's instant, if brusque and wordy, acceptance of Lotte was… bizarre and baffling. Perhaps Karle knew something about lamias or lamia culture?
[] His guard seems a friendly enough sort, and the type who wouldn't press Lotte too much, if asked not to.
[] What did Aisling mean about the… everything.
[] Sometimes isolation can be a good thing. Perhaps she could train her archery on her own, and try to improve herself while she's at it.


What knowledge or Wisdom does Lotte *try* to use? (Choose 1)

[] Try to think of some folk saying they haven't heard before, some piece of wise story or cant.
[] Carve an image of the Nachtmater from memory and personal experience: surely not everyone has seen Her in person.
[] ...one of the names of the Forgotten God would certainly count, though it'd certainly be revealing to at least whoever she was telling it to.
[] Write-in.

******

A/N: So, there we go.
 
[X] Karle's instant, if brusque and wordy, acceptance of Lotte was… bizarre and baffling. Perhaps Karle knew something about lamias or lamia culture?

I'd want to write in to try the image first and tell them the name if that's not good enough, but maybe we should just go tell them he actually spoke to us, get ahead of it.

[] Admit that she actually spoke to the Forgotten for a bit, but was worried that they would reject her out of hand at first. He didn't seem entirely all there, and Lotte is still pretty sure her parents weren't lying to her. They had a deal after all.

What do you guys think of that write-in guys?
 
Oooh, the plot thickens! Why are there reactions so strange? When will Lotte admit to himself that he doesn't want to be a girl? Secret libraries and glowing ruins are cool backdrops.

But I worry we have not seen any sign of antagonists, beyond the petty. Who are the enemies of the forgotten god?

[X] What did Aisling mean about the… everything.

Figure out who you are, Lotte!

[X] ...one of the names of the Forgotten God would certainly count, though it'd certainly be revealing to at least whoever she was telling it to.

And this is a way to start filtering this information out, and get a sense from how the reaction how bad it is to know the stuff we know.
 
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