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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[X] Nothing except perhaps a square meal and room while and immediately after dealing with this. Bullies are despicable, and stopping them is the right thing to do.
[X] The rat girl is apparently his apprentice, at least according to Freidrich and 'His Wife'. But she seemed a little startled and apologetic for what he did. What if Lotte talked to her while he wasn't around, tried to get her on Lotte's side. She might know important things about what's causing all of this.
 
[X] Some token amount of coin on top of that. Not much, but something to jangle around in her hands. Proof that she had completed her first adventure.
[x] Try to find a way to steal the pipe. No pipe, no controlling of the rats, right? Now, if Lotte were he, they would be very careful not to set it aside, but it's possible. Lotte knows the man has to sleep, and they're pretty sneaky when they want to be.

Lotte is dirt poor as fas as I understand and doesn't have a safety net of the whole village to help them. Some money would be nice, plus, work should be paid for, always. And considering that Lotte knows village life and doesn't know adventure life she's likely to grossly undersale her services anyway.
 
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Lotte is dirt poor as fas as I understand and doesn't have a safety net of the whole village to help them. Some money would be nice, plus, work should be paid for, always. And considering that Lotte knows village life and doesn't know adventure life she's likely to grossly undersale her services anyway.
No, she isn't. He left home with a purse of coin. We don't know exactly how much he has but it's more than likely that he'll be able to survive.

Also, I don't think having coin matters too much? Like, Lot is more than capable of going out into the woods and catching his own food, he has traits for that any everything.

As for the work being "paid for", the second vote is specifically about payment. Each of the options is the price Lot is setting himself.

Besides, a lot about adventuring, at least from my perspective, is about doing good things for people. Getting rich off it is a tertiary concern, at best.
 
Also, I don't think having coin matters too much? Like, Lot is more than capable of going out into the woods and catching his own food, he has traits for that any everything.

Well, there's more to life than just surviving, isn't there? Lotte needs better equipment eventually, safety net for injury treatment and recovery period and other such stuff; plus experiencing something more luxurious once in a while won't hurt either.

Besides, a lot about adventuring, at least from my perspective, is about doing good things for people. Getting rich off it is a tertiary concern, at best.

Well, I disagree. Unless you're a Chosen One, adventuring is mercenary work imo. Doind good things for random strangers tend to get people used.
 
Money wise, I still haven't decided how that will go. Having an exact count of coins with an exchange rate and etc goes against the spirit of mechanics-light RPGing, and yet some idea of where you are in terms of currency might be valuable. No clue how to square all that, will think on it.

Also, adventuring is often sorta mercenary work, but there's a cachet and a feeling, at least in the stories Lotte's been told, that comes with being an adventurer. So it's sorta related to being a mercenary, but there are differences.
 
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As for the work being "paid for", the second vote is specifically about payment. Each of the options is the price Lot is setting himself.

Besides, a lot about adventuring, at least from my perspective, is about doing good things for people. Getting rich off it is a tertiary concern, at best.

Well, I disagree. Unless you're a Chosen One, adventuring is mercenary work imo. Doind good things for random strangers tend to get people used.
There's also the aspect of how Lotte views adventuring, imo. While she's definitely going in with good intentions, seems to me like it's also asking how much she expects to receive in doing what she sees as charitable deeds.
 
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[X] Nothing except perhaps a square meal and room while and immediately after dealing with this. Bullies are despicable, and stopping them is the right thing to do.
[X] The rat girl is apparently his apprentice, at least according to Freidrich and 'His Wife'. But she seemed a little startled and apologetic for what he did. What if Lotte talked to her while he wasn't around, tried to get her on Lotte's side. She might know important things about what's causing all of this.
 
Money wise, I still haven't decided how that will go. Having an exact count of coins with an exchange rate and etc goes against the spirit of mechanics-light RPGing, and yet some idea of where you are in terms of currency might be valuable. No clue how to square all that, will think on it.

Also, adventuring is often sorta mercenary work, but there's a cachet and a feeling, at least in the stories Lotte's been told, that comes with being an adventurer. So it's sorta related to being a mercenary, but there are differences.

Could just do descriptive quantities of wealth. Something along the lines of: "A Few Meager Coins" -> "A Handful of Silver" -> "A Half-Full Purse" -> "A Coin Purse Bulging With Gold" -> "Saddlebags Weighed Down With Coin" .... -> "A Massive Vault of Wealth Beyond Measure" etc.
 
Inserted tally
Adhoc vote count started by NemoMarx on Jun 10, 2019 at 11:50 PM, finished with 26 posts and 17 votes.
 
Crack theory:
The farmer's wife is named Mai Weif; we just think he says "my wife" because her parents were from a distant land and gave her a foreign-sounding name! Surely, Lotte needs to learn about foreign cultures before we truly have an adventurer!
 
This isn't that close, so let's say closed! You'll go after our long tailed friend and you'll accept a single coin as payment.

To inspire discussion, any thoughts on what Lotte is going to do after the end of this first adventuring job? Right into another quest, a night of carousing, peaceful meditation in a temple?
Adhoc vote count started by NemoMarx on Jun 13, 2019 at 8:26 AM, finished with 28 posts and 17 votes.
 
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This isn't that close, so let's say closed! You'll go after our long tailed friend and you'll accept a single coin as payment.

To inspire discussion, any thoughts on what Lotte is going to do after the end of this first adventuring job? Right into another quest, a night of carousing, peaceful meditation in a temple?

Carousing.
As much carousing as you'd be able to get on a single coin. :p
 
Carousing.
As much carousing as you'd be able to get on a single coin. :p
Uhm, people don't actually expect to get the extorsion money back, do they? Because looting is a time-honored adventurer tradition, and once we murder the Rat Piper (that's how confident I feel on Lotte's plan of friending the extorsion artist into giving up his evil ways), all his stuff is legally ours. That's how this works.
 
Uhm, people don't actually expect to get the extorsion money back, do they? Because looting is a time-honored adventurer tradition, and once we murder the Rat Piper (that's how confident I feel on Lotte's plan of friending the extorsion artist into giving up his evil ways), all his stuff is legally ours. That's how this works.

Err.

No. For a Neutral Good it works like this: you get the extortion money, possibly convince the Rat Piper not to do that again and then return the money to its rightful owners.

What you describe is a Chaotic Neutral playthrough by, say, a thief who was born among the poor and misbegotten of a large metropolis. Nope, I'm not bitter, why do you ask? :V
 
This isn't that close, so let's say closed! You'll go after our long tailed friend and you'll accept a single coin as payment.

To inspire discussion, any thoughts on what Lotte is going to do after the end of this first adventuring job? Right into another quest, a night of carousing, peaceful meditation in a temple?
Destroy any clay pots in the poor farmer's home to find loot, of course!
 
Would be great if there some kind of an intermission / doing other things before continue on to another quest.

So, maybe partying, get info or doing some good deed by help the villager fix whatever damage done on the village by rat piper?
 
Would be great if there some kind of an intermission / doing other things before continue on to another quest.

So, maybe partying, get info or doing some good deed by help the villager fix whatever damage done on the village by rat piper?
My headcanon of Lotte is her eating dinner at the tavern and whittling while people looking. Maybe do some chatting with the folks, make some friends? I can tell the rat girl is gonna be an adorable friend for us!
 
My headcanon of Lotte is her eating dinner at the tavern and whittling while people looking. Maybe do some chatting with the folks, make some friends? I can tell the rat girl is gonna be an adorable friend for us!

Not getting my hopes up because of the possibility that she's secretly the mastermind and just acts super-nervous because all rat-people are fidgety all the time, since we were promised plot twists.

Still, the potential byplay between brash, brave but naive Lotte and socially-aware but timid (one might even say mousy) Ratgirl would be amusing:

- "Lotte, I-I don't think that man by the roadside was telling the truth. Maybe this is a bad idea?"
- "Nonsense, why would a honest, down-on-his-luck woodsman like that lead us into a trap? He said innocents might be in danger, FORWARDS!"
"O-okay, then."

Spoiler: it was a trap.
 
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So, fun fact!

Article:
But now, for the first time, scientists have spotted the rat equivalent of a smile—and it's all in the ears.

They found that happy laboratory rats not only can be literally tickled pink, but they relax their ears so that they hang loosely to the side.

The study is the first to look for signs of positive emotions on rats' faces, such as pleasure or happiness. Other research on rat facial expressions has focused mainly on pain, showing that suffering rats narrow their eyes or squeeze them shut, flatten their nose and cheeks, and curl their ears forward. There's even a rat "grimace scale" to measure pain levels.


Rat facial expressions are actually fairly well understood!
 
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The forest that she plunged into was different than the one she knew. The differences were small, and yet she couldn't help but notice every single one of them. The shortcut past the hive of bees she'd taken didn't exist, early on in the woods, and neither did the nettles along her most usual path.

The air felt as clean, the animals as lively, they certainly didn't note any differences in living from the area around one village and another. Why should they? The lines people drew weren't always real.

That was about as philosophical as Lotte had ever gotten about anything, perhaps in her entire life. Lotte, however, didn't know the word philosophical, and so she decided that her 'ponderings' were a result of leaving home, and discarded them as quite unimportant in the face of tracking to be done.

If it were a hard task, it'd be more interesting. Few people went deep into the woods, and even Lotte had only occasionally gone towards the dark heart of the forest around her home, where there were hints, mere hints, of strange monsters and stranger people. No, the Rat Piper left a clear trail through the parts of the woods that had been, at places, cut back by fire and axe.

Lotte could see the places where the cutting stopped, could even see where some enthusiastic fool had left a grove of stumps. It was hard, pulling up stumps, and easier to let them rot, if you were lazy.

It couldn't have been that long ago, if the stumps were still there. Not compared to the age of the forest.

Either way, the Rat Piper left footprints in the damper ground, and he moved, it was clear, with the grace and subtlety of a novice. It was a winding trail, enough so that Lotte understood why nobody had followed him before. He doubled back, which was a good move to hide your tracks, actually, except he left such clear indications that he might as well not have bothered.

Lotte was enjoying the sun on her face when she walked in clearings, and she almost didn't want to reach the Rat Piper and his apprentice, since talking to her would no doubt be difficult, and even dangerous. Lotte had no idea how she was supposed to fight a swarm of rats, if it came down to that. She was a good enough shot that she could probably hit them, but if there was a swarm, than the only proper tactic would be retreat.She knew that some rats could climb trees, and others couldn't, or at least not well.

The other proper tactic, of course, was stopping the music by any means necessary, but the thought of killing a human being was disturbing. It would be killing, in that she had no way to control how bodies reacted to her shots. She had to assume that anyone she shot with a well-placed arrow might die, so that she'd feel lucky if they didn't.

It was something Lotte would have to get over. But she still thought that killing the Piper, Aldrich, would be a bad idea.

Of course, not everyone agreed.

"If'n you can kill him," Freidrich said as he let Lotte step into the house. "I'll pay double whatever you're charging."

Lotte looked around. It was shabby, of course, but his wife, whose name Lotte still hadn't learned, clearly had put labor and effort in trying to make it the best shabbiness she could. She'd swept up, though the straw on the floor meant that it'd catch some of the refuse. His wife also had food cooking already, and she offered a chipped, half-broken bowl of stew for Lotte, and gestured towards the seat. She sat down, saying, "What he's done is cruel, but I don't know if I can kill him for it unless I have no choice." She began eating the stew, never one to pass up a meal. She was eighteen, and her father had joked with watery eyes that now that she was gone, there'd actually be food that lasted for more than an afternoon before it was all eaten up.

It was thin and watery, but there was a slight flavor of certain plants that some people used to add a sort of spice to the dish. Not real spice, which was expensive and only for the merchants and nobles, but enough to help its taste.

"We don't need womanish doubts about violence. You're an adventurer!" Freidrich pointed out, bellowing loud enough that it was followed by a coughing fit.

"Dear, as long as she deals with the problem that's enough, right?"


"I… suppose," he said, after he'd finished coughing so hard his whole body had shaken with each cough, as if he were about to collapse.

"What's your name?" Lotte asked 'his wife.'

"Hilda," the woman said. It was a common name, and Lotte knew three Hildas and a Hildegard.

"Do you have somewhere I can stay? If I don't drive him off today."

"Of course! Just as long as you don't take too long. What's your price?"

"A single black Pfin," Lotte said, without even a moment's hesitation. She wasn't sure she liked the man, but it would be cruel to ask an actual price.

"What can you buy with that? Not even a white Pfin?" Freidrich asked.

"I'm not planning on buying anything with it. It's a token," Lotte said.

There were black Pfin, made with whatever metal was lying around, and there were White Pfin, like the ones she had in some quantity in her coin purse. They were not all silver, or else they would have been far beyond most people, but they had silver in them. This gave them a steady value, whereas the black Pfin were what you traded for apples, or a dog's breakfast, or the right to bed down in someone's filthy hay.

She thought she might whittle a religious charm and find some string, and make a medallion of sorts of it.

It'd be nice to have something to remind her of her first mission.

They were camped in a small clearing, with two tents set up, and a fire in-between them. There were rats swarming around the main path, closed in by what looked to be a circle of blood. Lotte knew far too little about Rat Piping, but she knew that it was more than just controlling rats with an instrument. It was hard, though, to tell the stories from the reality.

Lotte snuck up carefully. She watched out for twigs, she tried to step where she wouldn't leave tracks in the dirt, and she kept towards the dark edges of the trees as she moved closer, until at last she was only a dozen feet from the camp.

Alddrich and his Beast-person apprentice were standing there, talking.

"I'm going to go back to town, go around the long way. We need more food, and I need time to think about how we're going to deal with the farmer, Lisbeth."

"Deal with? He's… just a farmer," the rat-girl, Lisbeth, argued. "He doesn't have anything to really steal, and if we hurt him too bad we'll turn the village against us."

"You're right, girl." Aldrich shrugged, though he was hunching up a little as if he were an animal about to spring. "But you can't have people thinkin' that a Rat Piper does anything for free. The rest of the village, and the Headman, agreed to pay me, but--"

"I understand, sir. But didn't the headman pay for him?" Lisbeth asked. "Hardship, or somethin'?" The Rat-Girl spoke with a faint accent that Lotte couldn't quite place.

"That old bastard is just too cheap. Well, we'll show him. I just have to figure out how." He paced around a little and then said. "Watch things while I'm gone. Practice your notes, girl." His face grew darker for a moment and he reached a hand out to grab her shoulder. "Careful that mouth of yours. Don't question, and don't be soft. If anyone crosses you, you hurt them twice as bad back. That farmer hasn't tried to kill me, or I'd do it right back."

Lotte decided that he should never learn of what Freidrich had asked about.

Lisbeth was staring at him. "Do you understand?" he asked, in a voice low enough that Lotte barely heard it.

"Y-yes sir," she said, sounding shaken, and her whiskers were stiffening in an odd way Lotte couldn't place.

"Good girl," he said. "Mind this place. Perhaps I'll see if there is fire oil for sale. Burn out any food they have stored. Let them go begging for it."

Lotte thought that this was not so different from murdering them, even with the most generous sort of village. Besides which, Freidrich had pride as heavy and hard to shift as a tree blocking any such path of retreat.

Lisbeth nodded, though uncertainly.

"Remind me to talk to you about killing later," he said, giving her a glare that told her he meant it.

"Yes, sir," Lisbeth said.

She stood stock still, her tail stiff, her ears raised, until he was long gone. Then Lisbeth slumped down, shaking her head a little sadly.

Lotte chose that moment to step out, with her hands raised. Lisbeth didn't have any weapons, or else Lotte would have been even more careful.

Lisbeth turned, staring at Lotte as she approached. Her face was blank, as if she was somewhere far away, but her tail was swishing back and forth rapidly.

"You," Lisbeth said, quietly. "You're that adventurer I saw approach the hut as we were leaving."

"I am."

"Then I suppose you've been listening in?" Lisbeth asked.

"I have been. I wished to talk to you," Lotte said.

"I'm Lisbeth, but you know that too, right?" Lisbeth asked, taking a step back. "If you were planning on attacking me, I can scream loud enough to call him back."

"I don't want to do that," Lotte said. "All I want is to do is help someone. You don't gain anything from hurting them, do you?"

"No, but my Master said we should do it." Her body seemed to twitch a little as she said the next bit. "I owe him a lot. If you try to hurt him, I'll stop you, no matter what it took." Lisbeth's voice was low, but filled with the sort of threat that seemed like the shifting of the air right before an animal attacked. It wasn't helped by the way her features were just a little different than Lotte expected, up close.

Lotte smiled, raising her hands up a little farther, trying to think about what she could say. "You owe him a lot?"

"Yes. The specifics are none of your business, but if you want to know how unlikely it is I'll betray him: he saved me when he could have killed me. And he's training me." Lisbeth's ears were curled forward oddly, and Lotte couldn't be sure what that meant.

"How long have you been his apprentice?" Lotte asked. "I've never met a Rat Piper."

"Eight years. Now, you should go," Lisbeth said. "If he finds you…"

Lotte noted the worry on the girl's face, the concern. "Why are you so worried? You shouldn't be afraid of him."

She hadn't been afraid of her parents, had been a good child in that respect.

"Maybe I shouldn't, but I just… owe him so much." She got a far off look for a moment, before shaking her head.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen summers," Lisbeth said, her cool smile wobbling. "Not sure how long that is."

"Can… can I ask something of you?" Lotte asked.

"No, you should--"

"If he is planning on burning the field or their house or hurting someone, could you tell me? I know we just met, but." Lotte gave her best smile. "They should at least know to be able to flee, or… or to find a way to convince him to stop."

Lotte would have offered her own money as a portion, except she'd heard what the piper had said. The debt had already been paid, he was just vengeful. Besides, Lotte feared it would just encourage him to do it again.

"Only if you tell me if you plan on attacking him."

Lotte shouldn't promise that. She'd tell him, and then…

But she nodded. "Agreed." She held out her hand, and they shook on it.

There was very little to say, then. But Lotte decided to say it. "I haven't told you my name."

Lisbeth looked startled. "You… huh, that is some smile. Then what is it?"

"I am Lotte, of the next village over. I'm a hunter."

"Ah, hunting!" Lisbeth said, her ears perking up a bit. "I've done a bit of trapping, lean days. Though just for spice. You never starve as a rat piper, not if you're desperate enough."

Lotte considered all of the layers of meaning behind these words and nodded. She wasn't sentimental about survival, and she wasn't proud, not in ways that would prevent her from surviving. But she couldn't imagine the taste of rat. "Seems practical."

"That's Aldrich for you," Lisbeth said, the fondness like a brush of dew on grass, making her face entirely transformed. "He's the sort who always has an answer, always knows what to do. Not like me." Lisbeth shrugged. "I guess I must be lonely, to talk to some enemy who came out of the forest." She shook her head, her tail twitching in what Lotte guessed was worry.

"I've never met a beast-woman before," Lotte said.

"Well, here I am. And there you are." Lisbeth sighed and pointed in a random direction. "There's time before he gets back, but I don't want to risk it." Lisbeth curled in on herself, in a way that made her wonder what Aldrich was to her, that he could inspire such fondness and yet also such fear. Lotte turned to leave. "Oh, and, nice hat."

Lotte, feeling more pleased by that compliment than the comparative trust she'd been given so far, grinned from ear to ear, and felt cheerful enough to try something. She had her equipment with her, so it shouldn't be so hard to…

*******

Freidrich stomped into the house, exhausted after a long day of work. Spring days were backbreaking work, as hard as winters were sickly. The broths were thin this early in Spring, but lively, and he hoped his wife had done her best to make it tasteful. The woman was a good cook, and kept house well, though he had to wonder about her sometimes. Did she regret not having children? Everyone said that a woman needed a child or two, and regular sex, or they burned up inside as with a fever.

Freidrich never forewent the duty he owed to her, nor her to him. But there was something wrong with him, something that made him curl up at the thought of more than what was needed. In his drunk moments he wondered what sort of man he was, that he couldn't have children and didn't feel the spark of lust that others did. All he'd have to show for this life when he died was the work of his hands, the crops he'd planted.

What little coin he'd saved up, since with the way he was declining, she would be his widow as well as his wife. If that time came, he was not going to have anyone saying he was a failure of a man.

His wife wouldn't understand that, the pride a man had, or perhaps she would, in some odd way. She took pride in her housework, so…

He smelled something unexpected when he trudged in, hands still damp from washing away all the mud and grime of the day's work. It smelled like meat.

Inside, near the fireplace, there was a second pot, the stew already scooped out to eat, and inside it came the smell of… birds?

"I had time, so I caught three birds," Lotte said. She was sitting at the kitchen, still with that mannish hat on. She was an odd girl, but she was an adventurer, and what could you do about that?

Hopefully she'd save them all a lot of time and trouble.

"Three?" he asked. "We can't eat three. And woman, you can't pluck birds well." It was the simple truth. She had no practice.

"So we took them over to Goodwife Hulda, and she plucked them--"

"You accepted charity from that--"

"We plucked them," Lotte continued, speaking quite out of turn. "With her help, in exchange for one of the birds. Two was enough."

"Lotte convinced her to eat the Maiden's Scream," Hilda said, her voice oddly gleeful.

"The… what?"

"Bird you find out here. It has a scream like a woman dying," Lotte said. "Or what they say that sounds like. It's not supernatural, or at least it's as easy to kill as any bird, but they say eating it's bad luck."

"Ah, and Hulda, that witch, doesn't believe in luck," Freidrich said, realizing it was quite true. For someone who knew a little of the old magic from down south, perhaps bad luck meant nothing.

"Maybe not," Hilda said. "Sit down, dinner will be ready soon, and some meat to go after it."

He didn't have a seat. Instead he walked over to smell the birds. He glanced over at Lotte: she was a good hunter if nothing else, and a single black Pfin and a place to stay was no real cost at all. Certainly not enough of a cost to ask hard questions, just yet.

Still, it had been so long since there'd been much meat.

The cauldron smelled a little something like hope.

What does Lotte do next?

[] Go to the village headman, whom she has seen before, though never spoken to. Surely he might have some power to talk to the Rat Piper and warn him off of anything too drastic. At the very least, it'll be a help for later.
[] Aldrich is a proud man too. He wants revenge. So deny him it. Hunt food for the family so they eat better than they did before he started cursing them. Trade some of it with others for things for the family. Make him mad, and make it seem pointless.
[] Confront him non-violently if and when he comes back to talk to Freidrich and Hilda. There are those that might view him as someone who can't be challenged, can't be questioned. Being able to do so and get away with it would perhaps show them otherwise.

*******

A/N: So it goes.
 
[x] Aldrich is a proud man too. He wants revenge. So deny him it. Hunt food for the family so they eat better than they did before he started cursing them. Trade some of it with others for things for the family. Make him mad, and make it seem pointless.
 
[X] Go to the village headman, whom she has seen before, though never spoken to. Surely he might have some power to talk to the Rat Piper and warn him off of anything too drastic. At the very least, it'll be a help for later.

figure this is as good a place as ever to sound out who the village sympathizes with and build a case against Aldrich's brand of vengeance within the relevant structures of justice and cooperation, such as they are. Any Rat Piper worth their salt should know that they can't burn out the whole community and when they unite it's them at risk. If Aldrich won't listen to reason he'll listen to his senses of self-preservation and cynicism.
 
[x] Go to the village headman, whom she has seen before, though never spoken to. Surely he might have some power to talk to the Rat Piper and warn him off of anything too drastic. At the very least, it'll be a help for later.

I think the Rat Piper might pursue his little vendetta in ways that'll hurt even with us helping the family out, and I think the headman will have an easier time talking him down than we will. I'm not sure we can get him on-side, but it's worth a shot.
 
[X] Aldrich is a proud man too. He wants revenge. So deny him it. Hunt food for the family so they eat better than they did before he started cursing them. Trade some of it with others for things for the family. Make him mad, and make it seem pointless.

This. Can't articulate why, but it feels right.
 
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