Strangers in a strange land

Timestamp: Plains North of Ostiarium

“We don’t, quite obviously.”

Alexis calmly answers, meeting the old woman’s hollow gaze head on.

“So the question is - do you plan to share? If you carry so many names, I can only assume that mystery is integral to who and what you are.”

"Mystery is integral to all life clanswoman." The old woman said. "Sharing has a price. Are you willing to pay it?" She asked pulling a small leather bag from her waist and shaking it. A small rattling sound pierced the drumming.

“That depends on the price, doesn’t it?” came the reply.

“Then what’s so important about our mission?” Chiming in, Tarmen was unsure about the hag. He had seen plenty of fortune tellers and other ‘mystics’ and had become quite skeptical as a result.
Necromancy was one thing, he still believed she had some sort of power over the unnerving men, but all of this vague nonsense she was spouting was getting on his nerves.

"Is that a question jungle man? Are you willing to pay the price?" She asked Tarmen and looked over her shoulder at her servant. "They are not dead in case you are wondering."

“Prices can be negotiated, besides, it’s not up to me to decide how we all get along.”
He couldn’t tell if she had seen his unease at them, but he didn’t doubt his staring had been subtle.

She smiled at Tarmen and opened the small leather pouch, tipping its content in front of her. An assortment of what looked like small charred bones spilled in a pattern.
"The strands of fate that pulled you here are tied to another. Another group far to the south." She murmured with her eyes closed. The banging of the drums continued, sounding more and more like the beating of one's own heart.
"The nights are getting colder this far north. I like nothing more than a warm fire and good memories during cold nights." She told them running are calloused hands over the bones. "The price tonight will be, a past memory for a future one..." She offered...

Alexis frowned. That woman could not be more obscure if she tried.
“And what, exactly, does that entail?”

The old woman eyes glittered. "I give you a memory from your future. You give me a memory from your past. And once you do you can never recall it again."

The Knight of Salos stepped in. "Maybe we will just accept you hospitality." He said picking up a sliced of the roasted horse and taking it to his lips. The old woman nodded. "Remember it." She advised. "I might need yours one day."

Alexis blinked. Zane ending that bizarre conversation almost felt like a spell being broken.

A bit of tension left her, but certainly not all of it - never all of it.
Glancing at the meat, she decided that she still wasn’t hungry and left it for one of her companions to take.

She found herself circling around the question… had Zane not stepped in, would she have taken the deal? It wasn’t even about believing wether that old crone was even capable of delivering or not.

Maybe she was just that good at mind games, or maybe there was something inside Alexis much older than herself that recognised this ‘Omen’ as something her conscious mind couldn’t fathom.
Alexis was willing to believe her.

But even with the opportunity passed, the mercenary felt that the answer to that question held significance in itself.

~Would I have taken that deal?~
So she gave that question some earnest thought and found an answer for herself.

The old woman looked at her guests around the fire spending several heartbeats looking at each in turn. As if glimpsing more than just their features. She picked her bones from the floor and returned them tote small pouch by her side.

Tarmen still refused the meat, glad to see Zane testing it for him. He found himself rather peeved that the others hadn’t taken up the hag’s offer, but found no place for it to fester. He wasn’t going to try it either.
Already tired and now somewhat fed up with the hag’s “mumbo jumbo”, Tarmen looked to her with a slight smirk.
“So then, what happens since it seems we find your price too high?”

She smiled at his bluntness "Nothing happens now, son of the dark lands." She told him.
"I have taken your measure and we have broken bread. Sometimes that is enough." She said getting up. "Stay in the circle's light tonight. Sleep, be safe. You have much to do in the coming days."

And without any further explanation or words she turned away from the group and walked into the night, followed by her three servants...