The Seer

JP with Winteroak, Omni, and Jaxx

As Voah approached the fire with Hunter taking up the rear, they saw what appeared to be a small camp. Three strange looking men were playing the drums, while an older woman sat close to the large fire. A large piece of meat was roasting over the open flames. As the two companions drew closer to the edge of the camp the old woman looked up into the night directly at them.

Voah slowed to a halt. That was strange. They were still several yards out from the light but one of the figures, an old woman, stared right in their direction. She couldn’t possibly see them yet… Voah didn’t intend to approach head on just yet, so she backed up a little and started strafing to the side and around.

Hunter followed Voah towards the fire and drumming. He had a bad feeling about this. It was a similar feeling he had when facing the red cap, so he spoke up to Voah, “This place kind of reminds me of Sentinel Island. Are you sure about this?”

As if in answer to Voah's musings the old woman with gray long hair looked directly at the Arbiter and beckoned her forward.

"Join me by the fire, Child of Destiny. The night grows cold." Her voices echoed through the night."Leave your sword outside of the light's circle...." She asked

So it WAS magik.

Voah looked at Hunter with a smirk. “I do not fear them… do not feel like you have to join me. If I go to my fate, then so be it.”

Voah put her hand on the hilt of the sword and pulled it from its sheath watching the woman for a second. She the stabbed it a few inches into the ground and marched forward.

Hunter knew this was a bad idea but he was betting on Voah knowing what she was doing. So he sighed as he spoke softly to her, “I am with you for better and for worse.” Then he stepped up next to Voah as he remained calm for anything that might happen.

As Voah and Hunter walked into the circle of light, the drumming stopped. They could see that the three men all appeared to be blind, their eye sockets empty and black. Thin and bare chested with blue lips. The woman motioned them towards a wide carpet made of tanned hides where she sat and they could join her. Her grey, shoulder-length hair clumsily hanged over her craggy, wrinkled face.

"I offer you the protection of my fire. Come, eat and drink." She said and one of the blind men moved to the roasting meat to cut some slices for you both.

This time it was no surprise to Voah that the old woman spoke the common tongue of Helias.

"Thank you, Majana." she used the Mizaran word for grandmother or elder woman. Voah gave a respectful bow to her and knelt on the fur carpet with her hands on her lap.

Looking directly at the witch she said, "You see much."

The two were impressed as the blind man navigated the camp to serve them with some cooked meat on wooden slates and how dexterously he moved to the old woman, picking a jug and pouring a cup of water.

The old woman looked just past Voah's shoulder to where she had dropped her sword. "In that case it's more what I can't see." She chuckled. "I wonder if you would still carry it around if you knew its secrets." She said enigmatically.

Hunter remained silent as he sat next to Voah. This group put him on alert. He watched everything and everyone nearby in case he had to open up some throats. He thought the blind men were not human and were probably being controlled by the old lady.

The old woman’s milky eyes turned to an anxious looking Hunter. "Relax assassin. I offered you the safety of my fire. Best you still your hands, dear."

Voah looked into the darkness where she had planted her sword. She couldn’t see it. So many questions were already racing through her head and now more.

“There seems to be no end to your sight… or knowledge. What do you know of it? And do you plan to share those secrets?”

"That depends. All secrets have prices." grinned the woman, drinking her water.

Voah sighed, "Don't they though..."

She took a small bite of the meat that was offered to her and she waited to finish chewing and swallowing the morsel before speaking again.

"What does it cost you to know so much about us, I wonder... And what did it cost these men to lose their eyes?"

"Peculiar questions..." the woman replied, looking at the men. "Their eyes were the price." She smiled at the Arbiter. "As for what it costs me to know what I do...Well the land speaks. And I hear and I help shape its paths." She answered truthfully. She seemed curious about the Arbiter and her companion.

'The land speaks...' Voah thought to herself.

"Erewhon." it was more of a discernment than a question.

The old woman smiled.

Hunter listened to the old lady and Voah converse. It was obvious that this conversation could derail rather quickly. However he was curious why the old lady would willingly converse with an Arbiter.

Voah was genuinely intrigued, "Does Erewhon not warn you that danger is upon your doorstep? Why do you not fight? Why not run? I don’t mean myself or my companion, because undoubtedly you already know about us. I speak of the Duke. The city. The Empire. They care nothing for your people and will take what they can."

Hunter was surprised by this conversation and curious what Voah’s plan was, but had no desire to mess up her train of thought so he remained silent and listened to all that was around him in case it was a trap.