Chapter Text
Arc 1: Humble beginnings (life)
Your legs are pricked by thorns as you shimmy through the bushes. There’s only a narrow path left which is largely overgrown, indicating the way to the next town. You’ve been a wanderer for a while now, going from town to town to provide healing. Both the mundane and magical kind.
It’s a rewarding job, but often thankless, as some towns are superstitious enough to throw people out or try burning them at the stake at the merest hint of magic. So you keep it hidden, you do what you can to subtly help people out, then move on to the next town when they start becoming suspicious.
The last town you were in was one such case, which necessitated a move to somewhere else. Again.
The only upside of this is that you’ve always felt at home in nature, walks like this between towns offering peace despite the fairly hard conditions. Even in winter when food is scarce and finding your way becomes more difficult. There’s a sort of ethereal beauty that falls over everything when it’s covered in snow.
You’re so lost in your thoughts that you almost miss an old sign on the half overgrown road, pointing you towards the nearest village. The writing has mostly withered away but you can barely make out “Crow’s Creek” on the sign.
With renewed vigor you continue your journey. Half a day of walking later you finally reach it. The town itself is nothing special, a collection of houses built with some semblance of order. There’s small town square in the middle with a few wooden stalls set up which lead a bit further in towards the somewhat wealthier part of the town. Where there’s a tavern, some bigger houses and what looks like a church even further off. The town’s name becomes clear fairly quickly as well, as there’s a small river running through and around the town, the surrounding forest practically swarming with crows.
Entering the town itself isn’t the most friendly experience you’ve had but not the worst either. The townsfolk seem distrustful of new faces, or maybe something about you just sets them off. For now you make your way to the tavern as it’s getting dark fast. Spending the night on the streets is something you want to avoid if you can.
The tavern, at least, seems much friendlier than the surrounding landscape. The innkeeper is a kind old lady going by Luiza who welcomes you in and gets you settled at the bar, some of the other patrons give you the side-eye but she just waves them off.
“Oh come in dear, come in and have a seat. It’s been quite a while since we saw a new face around here. Would you like something to drink? Maybe a room?”
“Ah, um, how much are those? I’m not exactly rich…”
A wry chuckle escapes as you admit it but Luiza just smiles at you and waves her hand a bit.
“Not to worry deary, it’s two coppers for a drink, five for a night. I’ve found that that’s more than enough to keep this place afloat.”
You smile and hand over seven small coins, receiving a mug with some light, mostly tasteless beer.
“Your room is up the stairs, first door to the right, if you can’t find it just come back down here and I’ll show you.”
With those parting words she walks off to some other tables, where you assume the regulars sit. While asking around for some work opportunities seems appealing it’s outweighed by your need to rest after travelling for so long.
You finish your drink and make your way up to the room, like Luiza said it was easy enough to find. The room itself is small but still leagues above sleeping on the street, or even in the forest. With a small smile you undress down to your underwear and get on the bed, settling in for a good night’s rest for the first time in a while.
About a week has passed since you’ve arrived at the village. You’re still staying at the inn, Luiza letting you stay there at a bit of a reduced rate since you’ve established yourself as a healer. The villagers don’t have much money to pay you with but they seem happy enough to give you food and other necessities instead. Despite the initial hostile atmosphere it’s starting to feel homey here for you.
The first bump in the road of your stay comes up fairly soon after that. One of the villagers goes missing and returns another three days later. Stumbling out of the woods without any knowledge of what transpired in those three days. You run whatever checks and diagnostics you can on them but it doesn’t seem to be enough for their family, who kick you out with anger in their eyes.
Luiza comforts you back at the inn with a pat on the back and a meal, it’s during this time that she also tells you of the troubles they’ve been having.
“Oh it started years ago dear, long before I was a young girl. Monsters from the woods they would say.
Strange magics playing over your skin and taking away your thoughts, turning you into a beast where you stand. Now I’m not sure about monsters, but I do know that something out there has claimed the forest for it’s own.
My best guess would be that… ‘apothecary’ at the edge of the forest. At least that’s what the lady in there calls it. I’d say it’s more of a manor of sorts.”
She lets out a sigh and pats your shoulder again, turning away to wash some plates.
“If I were you I’d stay well away from that place. The things they sell there do just as much harm as good I say. I can’t prove it, but I don’t trust them either! Witches, the both of them.”
You’d been listening to her rant with half an ear, focused on your food as you were. This talk of magic and witches peaks your interest though. Could you have finally found someone like you? While you try to squash it down the hope remains. The hope of being your full self, without hiding away such a big part all the time.
“Say… Luiza? Where would this apothecary be? So I know how to avoid it of course. I wasn’t exactly planning to go beyond the village for now.”
You send her a sweet smile and hope to whatever gods remain that she doesn’t see through your lies.
A raised eyebrow tells you quite differently, but she seems to play along for now.
“I know how it is with you young folk, always thinking about adventures and such. Curiosity killed the cat my dear, you’d do well to remember that. Either way, it’s about half an hour’s walk to the east. about halfway through you should see a little creek, just follow that and you’ll get there. But please, do heed an old woman’s advice would you? I’d hate to lose a sweetheart such as yourself so soon.”
At the end of her explanation she actually reaches out to pinch your cheek. The gesture leaves you sputtering, your cheeks bright red. Nevertheless it also ignites a warm comfortable feeling in your chest.
“F-fine yes! I’ve got it, I won’t visit these ‘witches’ alright?”
She gives you a satisfied nod and sends you off to bed, you only put up a token protest.
It’s another week before your curiosity gets the better of you, leading you to break your promise to Luiza.
In that time another villager went missing and turned back up, once again without any memory of where he’d been. This time however, you were able to pick up some slight traces of leftover magic. While this doesn’t really help to cure anything it does give some additional insight into what’s happening, and confirms Luiza’s claims that magic is doing this.
As such, you find yourself wandering the forest on one of your lazier days. Just as she said, after about fifteen minutes of walking you find a little creek leading further east. Following it for a while leads you to a large manor close to a cliffside. The creek veering off towards it and turning into a small waterfall streaming down.
The manor itself both looks grand and strangely… lifeless. As if it’s supposed to be used for more than it currently is. Even so, there’s a peculiar aura around it that draws you in like a moth to a flame.
A small sign greets you at the door, reading “Beneviento Apothecary”. A half sun half moon symbol standing proudly above it, looking strangely clean next to the weathered sign.
You knock on the door three times to no response, lightly testing the handle lets you know that it’s opened. Chancing the potential problems it may bring you just enter, you’re met by a sizeable room, a large counter taking in most of the space. Any employees or store keepers seem to be absent though.
“Hello? Is this a bad time?”
The house stays deathly silent, there’s no creaking or ticking, even the gentle noises of the waterfall don’t seem to get through. You walk forward a little to inspect the counter, leaning over it a little shows you that it’s well stocked. Various bottles of differing colors, shapes and sizes standing below you on shelves.
You decide to take a look around and slowly walk over behind the counter. Once you’re certain that nothing bad is going to happen you kneel down to look at the… medicine you suppose? Though they don’t look like any medicine you’ve seen before. Upon closer inspection there appear to be little labels hanging on the bottles, denoting what they’re for.
“Nirnroot essence… burn salve… waning moon liquid? What?”
Even if you don’t understand what any of these things are, they look and feel fascinating, enough to capture your attention completely.
“Who are-”
“Holy mother of-!”
You jump up, almost knocking over the potions with your startled movement. It seems that during your inspection a woman has appeared. She’s dressed in all black, though the clothes are of high quality and paired with some peculiar jewelry. Particularly ones themed after moons and stars. One half of her face is hidden behind some sort of metal mask, though you can make out a faint blue-gray glow that matches her other eye. Her jet black hair is tied up in a neat bun with some strands framing her handsome face, some gray streaks making her even more attractive. To top it all off she also stands taller than average, making for an impressive image. Unfortunately for you she doesn’t look all that impressed with you at the moment.
“Oh! I-I’m sorry! It’s just, there was no-one here, and I thought it was a shop you know! So I was just… looking…”
You trail off when she doesn’t move, just keeping that same expression on her face. She closes her eyes and lets out a slight, exasperated sigh.
“So you’re a customer?”
Her voice is soft, almost raspy, as if it doesn’t get much use, despite that you think it’s easily one of the prettiest sounds you’ve ever heard. A light blush appearing on your cheeks.
“I, um, yes, that’s right. And um, sorry again.”
“Indeed, what are you here for?”
That… is a good question. After walking all the way here you didn’t even think up a reason beyond being curious. The woman, who is possibly named Beneviento according to the sign up front, seems to sense your hesitation and walks a bit closer with another small sigh.
When there’s about a quarter of the room left she suddenly freezes up, causing you to do the same. Her eyes gaining an intense sharpness to them, if you didn’t know any better you’d say they were positively glowing. Her movement change now, less stilted and more like a predator stalking it’s prey as she moves closer. A feeling of dread creeping up your spine, mixed with… something else. Excitement perhaps.
She stops a scant few steps away from you, easily close enough to intimidate you into compliance. The aura around her has changed as well. Where before it was slightly awkward and aloof, now it’s screaming with dark interest. As if she wishes to cut you open and study your insides.
“Did the magic call you here, little lucciola? Is that what you seek?”
Your eyes flick around the room, looking anywhere besides the woman, even if it’s just to search for an escape. She’s not even blocking the door yet you feel trapped.
“Trying to leave so soon? Did you not come here with a purpose?”
You push your dread down best you can and quickly stick a hand out, since flight doesn’t seem much of an option you decide to go to attack.
“I-I haven’t even introduced myself, how rude of me!”
You tell the woman your name, stubbornly leaving your hand up for her. The change in manners seems to amuse her, the aura of dread receding slightly.
“But of course lucciola, I am Donna Beneviento, the Lady of this manor. As well as the owner of the apothecary.”
You relax marginally, her handshake is a bit strange, a bit of a light grip while turning her hand on top, as if she’s not used to the regular gesture. Still, it’s a large improvement over whatever she was doing before.
“I’m… a healer! Yes, a healer, one of the villagers mentioned you and I was wondering if you’d like to… compare notes? Since you do something somewhat similar and all.”
“I suppose… do you have any knowledge of plants, maybe animal ingredients? I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you much besides that. Unless you wish to speak of your… condition?”
The end of her sentence is more of a purr than an actual sentence and it sends shivers down your spine. Something about her tone of voice coupled with that accent… You shake your head in an attempt to clear it, only marginally succeeding.
“I, yes, plants. I do. Know about them that is.”
Despite cringing internally you push on, if nothing else you’ve learned to think on your feet over the years.
“Would you maybe be able to show me some you recommend? If that’s not too much trouble of course. I’d be happy to share what I know in turn.”
She merely hums in response, the feeling of dread returning slightly as her eyes light up once more. There’s a different flavor to it this time, however strange that sounds, the fascination is still there but it feels less… murderous somehow, more human.
After an agonizing minute which feels much longer, she finally turns around and starts walking towards the door she came from.
“Very well, come along then.”
Despite the dread, you still feel a smile light your face up, seems like your trip might be worth it after all.