cult-ural differences » deirdre & hilda
The residents of Rusalka do not mind you staying, in fact they even welcome you into their commune and share their beliefs and traditions with you. There are two rules of their society that you must follow: The first is that every able-bodied individual is expected to contribute to the village. The second is to never, and they mean never, enter the forests without a friend and a blessing from the village leader. You’re tasked with gathering firewood for tonight, but you must keep an eye out for the “fair folk” that steal people off into the night… [Grants Axe +1]
Something isn’t right here.
Alarm bells rang continuously in Hilda’s head from the second that she and the professor located the village and embraced as if they are old friends. The people carried a somewhat uncanny aura with them; it wasn’t something that she could quite put her finger on or explain, but her instincts were generally sound, and as it stood, they were telling her to turn heel and run as fast as she could in the opposite direction.
But, Deirdre seemed content enough to be taken on a tour of their facilities and had accepted their offer of a place to rest for a few nights, so Hilda had no choice but to trail along after her sullenly. Every time she thought that they might have a moment alone to raise her concerns, another resident would appear from seemingly nowhere and offer some conversation or hospitality. A little voice in the back of her head told her that this was no accident.
Finally, evening fell, and the village chief introduced them to their rules and set them their task for the night. The stern tone used when outlining this was the closest that any of the residents had been to explicit negativity, but once the explanation concluded, the empty smile returned. Armed with chopping axes and the permission of their leader, the pair entered the forest, the noise of the commune fading behind them.
When Hilda was certain that they were alone, she wheeled on the professor, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “Professor! You cannot be serious! We can’t stay here!”
@nagaficat