AREA 1: THE OLD WORLD

Trekking along what she assumed to be the main road, Dawn tried to wave down a vehicle, which in this case was a horse-drawn carriage, only to be yelled at the Denizen driving it. “Get out of the way, harlot!”

It takes her a few seconds to process that, suppressing the urge to unleash the powers of her orb on the carriage, mainly because the Denizen’s weren’t worth any form of points, as she had recently learned when a bandit tried to mug her. One would think they would know better, but considering this layer or realm was some sort of hyper-intense ren faire, perhaps that was the point.

Instead of attacking, Dawn just grumbled to herself, adjusting her loose shirt.

Continuing the trek, she eventually found her way to a village, she walked into a pub. The Denizens within paying her no mind, other than the owner. Dawn gave him a quick nod before noticing something in a back corner, another human.

The woman had dark skin and was about Dawn’s age, wearing glasses, she was pretty but nothing groundbreaking, and just quietly eating. Dawn didn’t remember her from the group she started with, but she had been distracted.

Walking over to the barkeep, she ordered a drink, surprised that there was no money requested of her, walking over to the other humans table, sitting across from her.

A long moment as the other woman quietly ate, before speaking. “Amelia.”

“I’m Dawn.” The orb floated close, keeping a soft hum.

“A pleasure, I’m sure… Your friend have a name?”

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“If it does, its never told me.” Dawn slipped her tome from her pack, resting it on her lap and thinking of the woman in front her. A quick flicker in Amelia’s eyes showed that she was doing the same.

The book opened

Amelia VonDari

Title: No Title Earned

Overall Score: 60

That was a bit more than Dawn’s, she sipped the beer she ordered, it wasn’t bad. Bit of an aftertaste, but it was cheap middle of nowhere beer she expected worse- The barkeep had approached the table “Could I get you anything else?”

“Just more water would be lovely, thank you.”

Water… She wasn’t drinking the… Dawn placed her cup down. “Shit.”

“Figured it out then?”

Dawn’s sight began to lose focus, she hadn’t even had that much. Amelia continued. “It shouldn’t take all that much longer… Denizens are immune to poison so I was able to set up this little trap in case anyone found me.”

The world was starting to spin.

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you an antidote… If we make a deal.” Amelia smiled, a mix between predatory grin, and stepford wife polite smile.

“Fucking.. Spider… Bitch..” Was all Dawn could slur out, her stomach soon felt like it was burning.

“Now, now, hear me out. I give you this, and you’ll live… Still will need to let your body flush out the poison, so that’ll still suck.. Oh! Not the time for rambling! Sorry,” She laughed “Okay, I give you the antidote, and you agree to a minor allegiance. Not like working together, but a binding agreement of non-violence.”

Amelia placed her tome on the table, sliding it toward Dawn, who could barely see the words.

Binding Contract

“Why?” Dawn croaked out through the froth building in her mouth.

“I don’t need anymore kills in this area, it’s just luck of the draw for you, Ms.Blair, that I’m a professional. Oh, and it’s signed in blood.”

There was another long moment, for Dawn it felt like an eternity, but she grabbed a knife and sliced the tip of her thumb, tracing the blood haphazardly onto the contract page. It melded into as the words faded with it.

Amelia placed a vial on the table, which Dawn downed immediately before her body began to shake. “What… You said…”

“That you’ll live. So instead of shitting yourself to death, you’ll just suffer through the worst 3 hours of your life… Probably. I’m not your biographer so maybe you’ve been through worse.”

Dawn tried to stand, but collapsed to her hands and knees, she slurred out something to the orb that just kept watching, seemingly disinterested.

Meanwhile, Amelia finished her meal, and enjoyed the life-giving water. Nectar of the gods.