>>5279304>>5279306>>5279312>>5279314>>5279317>>5279322>>5279328>>5279397>"I thought you sounded like a vampire.">Ask about ‘Avalsidal.’>Ask what happened to her father, and to their family, to make it the way it is... perhaps, most pressingly, why he passed on the secret of true immortality only to Ava“Hmph. Thought those were the words of a vampire.” You lower your voice and glance back to your escort–she seems unaware of the hag, so a disguise, perhaps..? “Would you care to tell me about your daughter, then?”
“Ah, dear.. my little girl seems so cold now..” The hag sighs. “..But that is no more than a front. Because she sees it more easy to part when she keeps distant. For her, humans’ lives pass as you see seasons. And like you, she recalls them all.”
“And your husband? His whereabouts?” You continue. “What took place to make your family the way it is now?”
“My husband? Well.. where do you think you will be 200 years from now?” The crone smiles melancholically. “Morne saw fit to leave us–to live among humans and raise a daughter, to make his mark on the world. Ingrid thought it suitable to make more monsters–those that could not fade so fast from her. And Ava would wander the land in search of distractions, brief respites from her cruel oath.”
“So, then, she was the sole steward of the secret to true immortality. Why?” You press on.
“My time is near up. My magic fades, my body withers. I’ll leave her soon, too, as sad it is to admit. But she has my blood. She, uniquely, will continue on for another thousand years. And it’s by that virtue she bears the secret alone.” The hag bows her head. “..I’ll leave you be for now. But if you persist, we might see each other again.”
The hag steps back into the crook of the stone wall, fading into it and dissipating right alongside her cloak.
>Progress onto the block ahead.>Speak to the merchant.>Write-In. 