Not wanting to spook the fugitive sorceress you leave your men at arms camped well back from the cave, and approach on foot with only Dita as a companion
As you reach the cave mouth a female voice echoes out of the dark tunnel. "Stay out!"
"We don't mean you-" you being.
"Go away! I'm not hurting anyone! Why won't you stupid witch hunters leave me alone?"
"I can't answer if you keep shouting," you observe mildly.
"...sorry."
"We're not witch hunters, Kat," Dita puts in. "Look."
She lights up with her usual golden glow, and gingerly takes a step into the cave mouth. You see a flash of movement in the darkness. A human shape backing out of the light?
"See?" Dita calls. "Would that backwoods baron work with someone who has magic?"
"What about him?"
You hold out your hand, and conjure a candle-flame on one fingertip. "Also not a witch hunter. I just want to talk with you, miss. May we come in?"
There's a long pause.
"Fine. But if you attack me you won't like what happens."
The 'cave' turns out to me more like a tunnel, leading thirty feet or so into the hillside before making an abrupt turn and opening out into a small room. The construction is all smooth, flat stone, with a tile floor and mosaics inlaid in the walls. A stone fireplace with a chimney provides heat and light, although the pile of wood stacked neatly next to it is rather small.
A raised stone platform covered with moss and leaves apparently serves as a bed, and there are a couple of other stones shaped into a small table and chair. But aside from stonework the possessions in the room are pretty damned meager. A tattered blanket, a few wooden utensils, a worn-looking hatchet, and a dented tin pot seems to be the sum of her worldly goods.
You find the sorceress waiting in the dim light beside the fire:
You try not to stare, but good god. You might have seen a woman who can match her looks once or twice, but never dressed like that.
She nods warily. "Alright, strangers. I'm Katinka Nevyana, Seeker of Distant Truths. Who are you, and what do you want with me?"
Oh, right, talking. What were you doing here again?
"Ahem. Yes, I'm Dominic Petran, the new Lord of Corzu. This is my cousin Lady Dita Petran, Heiress Verzi. We're here because I heard about your altercation with Atalaya Bartok, and I was hoping to get to the truth of what happened."
"Oh! That bitch! Is she still telling stories about me? I can't believe the nerve of her!"
"So you didn't enchant anyone?" You probe, watching her reactions.
Her eyes flash. "Bast's tits, do I look like I need magic to get a bunch of old farmers to pay attention to me? All I did was smile and bounce a little. She's the one who came stomping in with her creepy swarm of bound spirits and terrified the village council into submission. Stupid me, I thought she was just feeling threatened and tried to reason with her. Then she has them tie me up and drag me back to her house, so she can try to steal my power."
"Ah. And her house?"
"When her quick-and-dirty necromancy couldn't penetrate my wards she started summoning her master. I… well, I'm no battle mage, but I have a few last-ditch tricks up my sleeve for getting out of bad spots. Fortunately one of them worked, or there's no telling what they would have done with me."
"I couldn't tell if she'd finished her summoning before the house collapsed, so I ran instead of confronting her. I've been hiding out here ever since, waiting for the heat to die down."
"I'm surprised you're still in the country," you observe. "You seem resourceful enough to find some way back to Egypt."
She sighs. "I… don't really have a home to go back to. Dad never mentioned any relatives, and mom… well, that definitely wouldn't work out. I grew up on the road, wandering all over Europe visiting strange people and looking for wonders. I suppose I thought I'd carry on alone when dad died, but that hasn't worked out very well."
"Britannia would probably be a better place for me, since I get along with faerie folk pretty well. But that's a long walk that I'm not equipped for, and there's no way I'd make it unarmed. Maybe if Baron Timis hadn't stolen my father's effects. At least then I wouldn't look like a vagabond, and I could try to pull the mysterious woman of magic routine."
Hmm. If you're going to make her an offer, this would be a good time to do it.
-----
Well, it looks like you need to decide who to believe. Choose an option:
[ ] Obviously Kat is lying. Figure out a way to capture her for that reward.
[ ] This requires more investigation. (Specify details)
[ ] Obviously Atalaya is lying. Make Kat a job offer, and then start planning how to take out the witch.
[ ] There's nothing to gain from getting in between two feuding sorceresses. Stay out of it.
[ ] Write-In
If you do decide to hire Kat, what kind of offer do you make?
[ ] Hire her short-term to help with the haunts.
[ ] Hire her short-term to do some construction with that earth magic.
[ ] Offer her a permanent position as your court mage
- With bonus pay if she'll add mistress to the job description
[ ] Marry those boobs - um, I mean, that girl!
