This place used to be called Ragtown. A godforsaken raggedy town that no one wanted to live in. People starved. People fought. And people left.
But Annabella still liked it. Simply because it was where she had been living all her life.
She was an orphan. One of the very many in the North. They survived on the streets and in the woods.
Most of the ti, they begged for food. Sotis, they stole them. Sotis, they robbed.
Annabella wasn’t the na her parents gave her. It was the na given by a nun in the old church. It was nad after a very powerful and legendary High Lady in the past.
Everyone thought the North would just be exactly as it was, a living cold hell that never changed.
That was because they did not have their own lord yet.
But then. The story spread.
Snow of Mucktown. A low-born commoner that was frad by the Bailiff and his employer. They killed his mother and accused him of the cri.
He did not yield. Instead, he killed them all and beca the rightful lord of a new Barony, Snowfell. One of a very few baronies existed in the North, along with Jude Fisher, Baron of Scalize.
Things changed when he beca a lord. All the rulers were replaced with new and different people. All the rules were also replaced.
Taxes ca down and slaves were prohibited.
Under Lord Snow’s leadership, Snowfell began to build what was called Quest Offices, where everyone could choose to do anything and beco anything.
Ragtown changed. Both from the inside and outside. It was renad as Wood’s End, the last area of the Rottin Woods.
Annabella had also joined the Quest Office and accepted missions from it. She didn’t need an introduction or requirents. They just allowed her to do the task and the only thing they cared about was her result.
Low-born or high-born. Both were the sa in front of Baron Snow.
Wood’s End slowly gained more population. A few were immigrants from nearby towns. A few were people from the South, looking for a new place to set up.
Annabella had a roommate. She was called Penny.
Penny was also an orphan and had been with Annabella for quite a long ti. The two of them gained confidence in the future since the new Lord arrived. They spent their ti mapped out what they wanted to do, their hopes and dreams for the future.
Everything seed to be going perfectly. But then Penny fell sick.
Her body was fine but her mind was not. She would walk around at night aimlessly, mumbling words that no one could understand.
Then it happened. She hurt another friend of Annabella. Penny began her spiral down to madness.
She couldn’t recognize anyone and spoke a language that no one could understand. It was as if she had turned into a completely different person.
Present ti.
Annabella sat next to the bed where Penny was lying. Penny’s four limbs were tied to the bed fra, limiting her movents.
She couldn’t hurt anyone else this way. But she didn’t eat or drink either. They forced her to do it but without her cooperation, Penny would sooner or later die due to her madness.
She was no longer the cheerful Penny that Annabella knew so well. What was lying on the bed was a skinny figure with barely any at. She squird even in sleep and spoke that demonic language again.
Annabella let out a huge breath. She couldn’t do this anymore.
And she knew Penny couldn’t do it as well. She really thought about ending it all.
The orange sunlight of the late afternoon pierced into the room via the small gap between the door. A man pushed the door open and walked inside.
He wore gray armor and black clothes. He had white hair and an intimidated Iron Mask on his face.
Annabella stood up imdiately.
"You are?!" She widened her eyes.
"I ca to save her." Siderius pointed his finger to Penny.
"We don’t have any coins..." Annabella said.
"I don’t need your coins. I only want to know what kind of creature is possessing her."
Siderius climbed up on the bed and sat on top of Annabella’s belly.
"What are you doing?" Annabella shouted.
"Shhhh. Keep quiet. Let deal with this."
Siderius flexed his left arm, summoning the silver bracer. He called forth the Sulfur Extract and drew a seal in the air.
A sulfur seal in bright orange was quickly ford. Siderius closed his eyes and then shot them opened.
All of the different visions flashed in his eyes. True Vision. Karmic Vision. Mystic Vision.
He scanned the girl from head to toe and quickly found a Fate link going from her to sowhere outside.
"This is no creature. This is a witch."
Siderius got off Penny.
"Keep a close eye on her. Find so help as well. I will be dealing with the culprit now. The girl might try to break free. You will need more n."
Annabella nodded.
Siderius didn’t explain further and walked out of the door.
Annabella grabbed Siderius’ cloak mid-motion.
"What is your na, kind sir? How can we repay you?" Annabella said.
"I am Siderius Snow Satterblade, Baron of Snowfell. I need no repaynt from you. It is my duty to take care of anything that dares to bother my subjects."
Annabella let go of Siderius in a shock. He observed the large man disappear.
"He is our lord. I understand now..."
Siderius followed the Fate link to a small shed outside of Wood’s End. One simple look and he knew that it was the ho of a witch.
"Why do these witches keep picking a shed in the woods as a hideout? Can’t they be more unique?"
Siderius approached the door and kicked that thing down in one-motion. There was no one inside. All the shelves were filled with potions and cursed materials.
There was still a bubbling bowl on the table with so kind of blue liquid.
Siderius picked up the bowl and sniffed briefly.
"Night’s Kiss. A ntal curse. This matches that girl’s symptoms. But the witch has run away."
Siderius laughed and summoned his silver bracer. He drew another seal into the air.
"No witch can run from ."
The seal illuminated in the air, showing a visible line leading deeper into the woods. Whoever the culprit was, they were in that direction.
Siderius darted out of the house and followed the string.
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