Story: River Musings - Village Witch #4

[nsfwords]

Second official game session playing the solo TTRPG Village Witch, this story was inspired by my game prompt and the incredible photomanipulation by Umut Reçber at the bottom of the post. 562 words, this is the fourth story I've wrote so far for the Village Witch Game, which has a landing page HERE. My goal is to write at least 2 sessions of Village Witch each month! 

River Musings

Her legs dangled over the side of the metal bridge, kicking lazily as she marveled at the sight below. Edwina had been living at Llyne of Mossly Woods for five weeks when she'd discovered the most fabulous place in town; the Telvere Bridge spanning the River Hae, where she could watch the spring migration of the Nishikigoi  Whales. She marveled as the giant koi traveled below her and compared their annual journey from the warm waters of the Southern Ocean to the rivers where they would mate in the spring to her own journey. She had been safe and comfortable with her parents in Port Haemouth, but she'd needed to leave in order to grow, had to move on to the potential risks and rewards of study with the Arcane Order. And now, having survived that experience but feeling unsettled by how poorly she'd fit in with other Witches, she only had a year to find a place to settle herself as a Witch-In-Residence. She needed to find a town where she fit, where she belonged, and where her differences were viewed as an asset instead of a constant barrier to connection.

 

She wasn't sure that Llyne of Mossly Woods could be that place. After the successful discovery of Mrs. Fluery's lost coin purse Edwina had been requested for several other minor tasks around the town, but she'd also faced uncomfortable censure for the way she'd been sharp with Scout. He'd apparently reported her "unladylike demeanor" to Ky Telvere and continued to espouse his negative opinions about her fashion of dress. Ky had met with Edwina the next morning in her cozy cottage and requested that she be more gracious to the townsfolk assigned to assist her and then made unsubtle hints that perhaps she'd be more comfortable in the Llyne if she choose more feminine attire as appropriate to her station. Edwina had been mortified.

 

Her initial foray into investigating the mysterious letter she'd found below the town had also been met with unexpected resistance and resentment. She'd started by asking a few shop keeper's if they knew anyone by the name Rowen or Engel. The Chandler had pursed his lips and brow when asked, abruptly changing the subject. One of the ladies at the clothier had responded with a disgusted look and would only say that they were gone, left over a year ago. And the final inquiry, with a metal smith who'd requested a small enchantment on a commissioned piece of harness tack had only garnered a darkly muttered, "Perverts got discovered and made off before they got the justice they deserved." Edwina had the ugly suspicion Rowen and Engel had been run out of town, but she hadn't decided if she wanted to ask a Council member to confirm her concerns.

 

Releasing a gusty sigh, she continued to watch the slow progress of the whales below the fragile crust of ice that remained atop the cold river. Five weeks into spring and Edwina didn't feel the sense of renewal and hope she'd expected to find at her first Residence. She felt bitter and misunderstood, again. Mulling it over in her favorite place in the Mossly Woods she decided she'd give the town until the turning of the season, and if she still felt unwelcome, she'd consider the other options on her list of towns waiting for their Witch.