The staring wasn’t an abnormal happenstance—the townspeople gave her uneasy looks and children pointed, confused by her presence. Despite her discomfort, Grun didn’t falter, she walked gracefully and unaffected on the surface with every bit of experience she had in the past as a clergywoman of particular acclaim. Of course the townsfolk wouldn’t know that, she was only relatively recognized among her own kind and even then, her reputation had been dragged through the mud several times over at the church’s hand making the few interactions she had with her vagabond kinsman a tense one. Not only was she Divined but she didn’t hide herself behind cloth and robes or slip through the shadows as expected from her kind and it was this that must have made her look all the more foreign in the small settlement.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have ventured into such a small village. Although the people less confrontational in general when compared to the city, and envoys of the church more scarce, small settlements such as these didn’t tend to provide her with much help or information. People were more inclined to ignore her or spread dishonesty she had learned. Whenever she entered a village like this one, rumors were quick to spread—her presence was a disruptive one. And it was on that, she was here for; a rumor. Supposedly, some Divined had taken up residence nearby in a small group and she needed evidence. However unlikely, if there were other wandering Divined close by then she wanted to know. Their numbers as a species were trifling and the lack of unity didn’t help much in that regard. She was looking to unite her people and convince them to stand as one.

She had little to no success so far.

She needed to find someone who could, who would be willing to, aid her in her endeavor. Whether that present itself in useful information or someone simply [i]willing[/i] to talk to her in the first place even if they had nothing of significance to say.

More importantly however were the group of five following behind her at a safe distance. They had been stalking after Grun since she entered the village and while unassuming in their appearances, there was an edge in the way they focused on her like she didn’t know they were there. Most likely, a fight was inevitable. She didn’t care for combat, preferring words over fighting but not from lack of ability. However fighting wasn’t an option this time, Divined were already stigmatized, Magi even more so, fighting in a public place where passersby’s gave her cold stares and fearful glances wouldn’t help the reputation of either. Best case scenario they’d lose interest once they realized she meant no harm. Worst case scenario they would confront her themselves. Apparently luck wasn’t on her side when they suddenly split into two groups and followed her on both sides at an uncomfortable distance. 

The tallest one spoke up, “So tell us, what’s someone like [i]you[/i] doing [b]here[/b]?” there was an idle threat in the way he spoke that made Grun stop in her tracks. Making eye contact with the man who spoke to her and despite meaning no ill-will (quite the contrary), the man flinched under her gaze, “I have heard rumor that other Divined have passed through this settlement, perhaps you could tell me the truth or falsehood of these rumors,” when the thugs faces twisted into fear and then anger, Grun realized a little too late that they took her enquiring as a threat. Presumably believing her words to mean she had every intention of bringing her kind to the village to cause harm. They didn’t attack immediately, instead the tallest one narrowing his eyes at her, “What’s the supposed to mean?” the atmosphere had turned tense and the townsfolk in the immediate vicinity were quick to clear out.


She sometimes regretted her conviction to not hide herself, it had a habit of causing more problems then solving them.