The Witch stands shivering in the mud, just as her faltering composure has always promised. Her glow is gone now, stripped bare by the river’s judgment.
She lifts her hands in plain fear, not power, and the truth lands hard. She was never the master here. She was bait, and worse, a servant.
The Witch
Please. I fed it because I had to. If I stop, it takes me next.
Harlan
You lied to us... all this time?
The Witch
I kept it from the river, or it kept me alive. There was no other bargain.
The water below pulses with that gold again, steady and cold. The Deep Serpent is still listening.
The Witch
Let me come with you. I know what calms its hunger now, and I swear I can keep it from blood.
The Traveler hangs back on the churned bank, staring between Emma, the witch, and the shining river as the choice sharpens.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure safe passage for the traveler
✓ Quest Accepted
Decide the witch's fate
“" You have denied this being it's promised food I will not bargain for your life" turning to the creature and nodding to the water serpentine figure. A silent assurance that it can eat the witch. Then she turns towards the traveler and asks clearly."what is your name traveler, so my new god does not hinder your travels and so I know who I have protected"”
FAILURE (Fair Willpower, rolled -2)
Emma tips her axe toward the river, then away from the Witch, making the choice plain without softening it. The gold beneath the silt answers with a slow, watchful pulse.
The Witch
Then let it judge me. I have already been judged by worse than you.
She flinches as the current stirs at her ankles, not from impact, but from the river’s attention. Whatever spell once clung to her is gone, and she knows it.
The Deep Serpent
...Offerings are owed. The river remembers.
Emma turns to the Traveler and speaks his question cleanly, the bank quiet except for the water below.
Harlan
Harlan. My name is Harlan.
The name settles between them like a coin in a palm. Harlan eases one step back from the edge, but his eyes stay on Emma, waiting to know whether he may go, or whether the river still claims a toll.
Quest Complete
Decide the witch's fate