Private Tales Such a Witch

[Acteon Cass]

A man ran through the woods. Clothes in tatters, blood oozing out of both tree scratches and blade cuts, and boots entirely lacking from feet he just ran and ran and ran without a seeming end point. Behind him he could hear the crunching of armor against twigs. The closer the sound became the closer death would be upon him, so he made sure it never got the chance. But soon enough he burst forth into a small clearing and tripped. As they hurried to back onto their feet they felt it. A blade run straight through their chest from behind. How long it took for the darkness to take him was unknown. It was his end and that was all that mattered....

Acteon pulled his blade out of the wanted man. A good cash of gold for a man who had cheated the merchant lords. It would make for a good increase to his reputation as well as put more coin in his pocket. A wonderful victory towards his goal. A smile was upon his face as he cleaned off his blade on the wanted man's dirty rags. As his more heavily armored "companions" finally made their way into the clearing he slide his blade into its sheathe. The smile on his face was twisted from its self satisfaction to friendliness as he turned to greet them. " Good news. We get paid today."

=======

Acteon was pissed despite the friendly, casual grin upon his face. The captain of the bounty hunters he had joined was pretending to be a king right now with the bounty gold firmly in his pocket. The one eyed, bald scum looked to Acteon after a point and got a smug smirk on his face. "I know you said you aren't mad Acteon, but are you sure about that? You did run your blade through the man and was the one who found him for us after all. Course it was my coin that paid for our travels so I'm just taking what you owed me back. But you aren't mad right?"

Acteon just willed his grin into more of a smile as he said in a far too carefree voice, "Whatever do you mean? You were the one who got the killing blow and your boys were the ones who did all of the work tracking him. At least that was what you told the sheriff. Remember?"

"Oh right. Right. Silly me. I must be getting a tad drunk celebrating my victory." The captain replied with a wicked smile baring all of his yellowing teeth. "You know what? I'm feeling so good about this whole thing that I think I will give you your share with a little extra right now."

The living pond scum tossed a few coins across the table to Acteon. None of it was even gold. It would barely be enough to make it back to Alliria from this out in the middle of nowhere transition zone of the Reach to the Spine he found himself at. And this trip back would only be possible on the reward if he used the cheapest, shadiest taverns he could find along the way. But he bite his lip and just smiled as he took the coins then excused himself to go take a piss.

=======

Acteon wanted the man dead, but he couldn't afford to do so directly. It would hurt his reputation. Who wanted to work with a sellsword who might turn on you after a job is over? Especially one who "didn't do much of the work." It was the kind of lie that made him want to spit every time thinking about it. Bunch of lazy good for nothings. He was never much of one for working hard but at least he made sure to secure his profit with the least effort possible rather than let it slip through his fingers from slothfulness. So he couldn't be tied to the man's death. He needed another solution. Maybe one that wouldn't even require the man to die. Well not so quickly after. There was a lot of possible solutions but he had settled on an alternative. Rumors of a witch in the local area had reached his ears, from much further away than the locals would ever have suspected. The young woman was far too plain to be aiming for such a rich merchant's son, but a love potion is a love potion and he couldn't blame her for trying.

Following the instructions given to the young woman, Acteon found himself deep in the unfamiliar woods. As dark and thick as they were, he was glad the full moon had already come and past by now. I mean what if this woman was attractive? His more primal instincts were so hard to control.... But he was distracting himself. He needed something that would allow him to get his revenge and possibly profit from it. So he walked his way up to her hut when it finally came into view ready to knock the moment he was upon her door.

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

Nothing came from the door but hush silence.
Acteon had quite a wait for a good while before the door swung wide open. Perhaps just in the nick of time as boredom could begin to fester.
»COME IN COME IN, HOWEVER, THE MISTRESS IS NOT AT HOME. « A voice rather hellish in nature donned across the room.

The inside of the house rattled with a demonic kind of magic. Plenty of wards, poppets and fetishes hung from the ceiling beams and the walls were cluttered in bushels of herbs and pickled lizards.
Some of hte wards shook in the werewolf's presence.

Yet if Acteon would happen to try to enter the building.
The wolfsbane talisman barrier would have prevented him from doing so.

 

[Acteon Cass]

Some weird smells had begun to flow through the tiny openings that existed in all buildings towards Acteon's nose as he stood at the door. It was too unfamiliar to him. It was too unsettling. Something in the wolven part of his blood was telling him this place was dangerous. The human part of his blood just told him of course it was. He was standing in front of a witch's hut after all. Well a rumored witch's hut. His time in the guard and his own experiences had taught him rumors were often more real than people liked to believe.

A strange voice suddenly called out from the hut. It said the mistress was not home. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. It sounded too off to be human or elven or any other kind of being Acteon knew of. Maybe that gut feeling of danger was not to be ignored this time around. Magic was a foreign and mysterious thing. His knowledge of it extended to knowing sparky hands made big balls of fire explode in people's faces. What sort of things could this witch do? She might be able to kill him instantly with but a word....

Acteon was smiling. That ever present mask of friendliness had always been a shield for him. It was as instinctive for him as running was for the wolf. A nervous shift in weight that might seem more for physical comfort than emotional, although an observant eye could always spot it wasn't, before he responded.

"Well I pardon the intrusion then. May I inquire when the Mistress of this home will be back? I would like to conduct some business with her." Acteon replied as he stood before the door. His senses were on full alert now. Had he made a terrible decision? No. No of course not. He was too clever for that.

Asuego 'Susanna'

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

»You may not need to wait at all,« came a hushed voice, seemingly appearing out of nowhere behind Acteon.
She was the witch, as bizarre and unique as the legends told.
Her hair was long and wavy, her eyes black like tar, glimmering red like those of the woodland beast.

»A werewolf, quite an uncommon sight, do you com to try cure your affliction?«

 

[Acteon Cass]

A voice behind Acteon and it sent a chill down his spine. How had she gotten around his senses? That was about the only good thing being a lycanthrope got him. He should have been able to hear or smell her.... Well he should have if he was human. She was a witch. He had to remember she was a witch. What worried him more right now than how she sneaked up on him was how she could tell he was a werewolf. But again the answer was simple: she was a witch. He wanted to sigh but that would be breaking his mask. For now he had to just hope this didn't end badly.

With that smile still on his face Acteon turned to face Asuego 'Susanna' . "Greetings Mistress of the House." He offered her a little bow. That was polite and respectful here right? He could never remember with these backwood pitholes.

Acteon rubbed his chin after rising up. Too bad. This witch wasn't very attractive. Probably made it hard for her to meet someone, although also made sure no one got overly attached too. His smile remained. "If you can tell what I am then you must be a witch as they claim. I am not here for a cure. Not this time at least. I am here for some help with a bit of an issue. Someone owes me coin yet feels they can keep it from me. I would like to show them some manners, but doing so too directly would not end well. Could you help me with that Mistress?"

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

The witch moved past him and into her home. There were a few selects fetishes rattling, all decorated with wolf's bane. One by one, a touch from her fingers silenced the fetishes.
»It is proper, you may enter, but be wary wolf, this house possesses more inherent magic than an entire cohort of mages.«
With the hissing of the fetishes gone, the barrier that kept the lycanthrope out dissipated.
»Take a seat, state your business,« the eventuallyy turned towards him.

There weren't many chairs in the house, only around an ominous looking table, the most clutter-free was a bench by the wall, with susan comfortably rested against her rocking chair across the room.

 

[Acteon Cass]

"Don't worry Mistress. I won't bite." Acteon said as he watched Asuego 'Susanna' finish disarming her wards and then take a seat. He stepped in and looked around the place. Not the most inviting place yet still held a highly level of homeyness about it. He felt like he was visiting an aunt who didn't get many visits from her family.

Where Acteon chose to sit was the bench. Something about that table and chair just bothered him. They just seemed to purposefully ominous to him as if she was getting people to just dare themselves to sit at it and prove they were brave. The bench might have stuff on it but it also would be easier to leave from, so the clearly best choice for him.

After getting himself comfortable, Acteon looked over at the witch. "As I said, someone owes me coin but getting them to pay me would cause problems. I have a father sitting back in Alliria who needs my support and as a sellsword my reputation is important. This, colleague, is the type to lie about me out of spite. He is already cheating me so what would it matter if he makes false claims?"

The reachman felt like gritting his teeth when he had said colleague. The pig couldn't sniff out a truffle if it was in front of him and yet just because he had a few people following him felt like he owned the world. A cretin multiple ladders below him in society didn't deserve to feel so smug. But he had to endure it right now and coming to this witch was how he was going to resolve things. So he just took a deep breath and went on.

"I was hoping you might have something that could help me teach him a lesson subtly. I am not magical so they would never expect a magical lesson." Acteon said as he looked over at the woman.

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

Susan rocked on her chair nonchalantly.
»Ah yes. Natural magic. Perhaps they indeed won't suspect a thing, but witchcraft is often linked with the curses of lycanthropy. Occasionally that is.« It was not uncommon for the two to work in tandem, or of some strains be borne of certain deities they commune with. But there were too many to make general sweeping assumptions at least.
She shrugged.

The witch brushed her thick curly hair behind her head before sending the werewolf a strict stare.
»Tell me, child, what bothers you.«

 

[Acteon Cass]

Acteon raised a brow at Asuego 'Susanna' as she rocked in her chair. Why was she so focused on him being a werewolf? He was talking business right now and it was not a factor in it. It was not such a big deal that he turned into a fur covered mass of muscles, claw, and teeth ready and willing to rip someone's throat out. He was a sellsword. Half the people he worked with on a regular basis were like that and none of them were werewolves, he didn't think.

After a bit of a sigh Acteon just stared at the witch. It was hard to say for how long he just sat there doing so. Time was strange around witches, and just people with a lot of their magical bobbles in general. Eventually he said, "I want the man dead for taking what is mine. As I said, I have a father who depends on coin coming in from me. Our family has suffered enough from others taking what is ours. And we are not the types to just let that slide. This pig of a man wants to threaten my family's livelihood after already cheating me? I will see to it that he learns his place. He is no king or god that gets to dictate high on their throne. He is a sellsword the same as me and did not even do his job. None of them did. I did it and by right all of the pay should be mine, but we made a deal on what my cut would be. Backing out of even that more than fair deal is sin in Alliria. Business is never personal in Alliria, but he made it so. And I personally plan to deal with him one way or another. I figured a witch would have ways of teaching someone a lesson that do not have to involve ending his life, even if he more than deserves death for what he has done by this point in his life."

Acteon sat back as best as he could on the bench. His eyes were still locked onto the woman rocking in her chair. "Are you interested in helping me or is my pleasant visit already over and it is time for me to leave?"

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

The witch chuckled lightly, gently, her hands caressing a skull fetish at her side.
Her many trinkets told her many things, and many wards sang their screeching songs.
Asuego's void black eyes glimmered red as she gazed upon Acteon and her lips pursed as she spoke as if to a mistaken child.
» You chose the outcome of this conversation even before you began to speak of it «

She rocked her chair lightly, giving the werewolf a sweet smile as she leaned her chin on her fist. Her tone went serious, but not monotone.
» I commend the resolve of your body, but not your mind, usually, one thinks they're brave but their body will freeze still. «

» I sense, you want to kill him cold, wolf. Is this a mere flaunt at a higher moral authority?« The witch shook her head as she leaned forward.
» I can give you what you want, but is it truly what you...desire.«

 

[Acteon Cass]

The Reachman was confused by Asuego 'Susanna' questions. Seemed like she hadn't heard him properly earlier. Was it because she was old or were witches just bad listeners? Likely both. No matter. He just needed to repeat himself it seemed and hopefully this time around she listened.

"I desire what is rightfully mine. I desire my family be cared for. I want the man dead but I want a lesson to be learned by his men even more. Death is quick and simple. It is a part of our profession. Just killing the man would do little to sway their tiny little brains towards understanding they do not take what is mine." Acteon responded with utmost seriousness. No need for lies when speaking with a witch. "If they want to cheat a peer and threaten his livelihood they should expect consequences. Business should not be personal. They should stick to the deal they made in the beginning. Those are laws core to Allirian belief. Breaking those laws demands judgement and punishment. What they did was in the shadows so by the shadows shall their punishment come."

Acteon leaned forward in his seat once more. He stared straight at the witch before him. "Now are you willing to aid me in this matter Mistress or shall I make my departure?"

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

» You want him to suffer. Now now, no need to repeat yourself, I heard your request,« she chuckled calmly.

Asuego then shook her head briefly. » Perhaps you'd make a great witch with all this talk about making one learn instead of killing them. But it's not your nature, is it? You're a werewolf, you can make something up,« she rocked in her chair.
» Why do you need a witch, why do you need such an elaborate way? I cannot help you with a problem you can solve on your own.«

 

[Acteon Cass]

Acteon frowned at being called a werewolf. The comment about making a great witch did not even seem to be noticed. All of his attention was on that one word. And it was not just what she called him but her odd focus on not saying yes or no to his request for help. She was waiting for him to say something in particular to her and he did not care for that. So he made up his mind.

"I am not a werewolf. I am an Allirian. You speak of nature but I assure you that my nature is not what you think it is witch." Acteon said before standing up. He dusted himself off not looking at the woman the whole time. After taking his time to do that he looked directly at her.

"I will be taking my leave now. May the rest of your evening be fruitful for you have seen to it that mine is not." Acteon responded then went to leave.

Asuego 'Susanna'