[center][color=FFCE00][h2][u]The Snakeburrow Woods[/u][/h2][/color][/center]
[center][sub][@Hero][@Trainerblue192][/sub][/center]

[center][sub]14th of the Full Autumn Moon, 1698 P.A.
Early Morning - Partially Cloudy Skies[/sub][/center]

At the sound of voices on the trail, the woman frowned at the sky before turning her attention to Eila and Ermes. She made no effort to hide how she sized them up, body language deceptively open and face blank as her attention bounced from weapons to bags to clothes to the skeletal cat curled up in Ermes’ jacket. What she found was enough to appease her apparently, tension draining from her shoulders and a toothy grin nearly splitting her face in half as she approached them. 

[color=palegreen]“Morning, folks! Not too often we find a pair of little ‘uns wandering around at this time.”[/color] She greeted them, her booming voice coming from deep in her chest. [color=palegreen]“Are y’all lookin’ for town? Took a bit of a wrong turn here, just go right back ‘round and take a left at the crooked oak, can’t miss the towering walls. Only thing down this here path is the House and trust me, wander too close and we’ll put you to work quicker than a starving wolf eats a horse!”[/color] 

[hr]

[center][sub][@Obscene Symphony][@Scribe of Thoth][@McMolly][/sub][/center]

It wasn’t long before the trio was safely tucked away among the woods, the prying eyes of the clergy no longer a threat. The chill of night still clung to the early morning air, the sun’s warmth not yet fully breaking through the canopy, and animals scurried around the woods with little interest in the passersby. Amongst it all, the faint sound of music plucked on the strings of a harp trickled through the woods with no easily identifiable source. The woodland creatures took no notice of it but it was there, coming from seemingly everywhere. 

As the main road approached and the creaking of wheels and the steady clomp of hooves suggested a cart may soon pass them, the music disappeared as the booming voice of a woman took its place, only snatches of her conversation breaking through the trees. [color=palegreen]"...little ‘uns wandering… left at the crooked oak… here path is the House… starving wolf eats a horse!”[/color]