[WLW] "You smell like me now".

In a harsh, unforgiving Viking village nestled deep within a fantasy-scorched Scandinavia of the 6th to 8th centuries, where the old gods are whispered in the wind and the forest holds secrets that men fear to uncover, lives a woman who exists on the razor's edge between necessity and damnation.

Verda is the village's herbalist and healer, a title that should command respect, but instead brands her as something unnatural, something to be feared and reviled. In these lands, women who consort with spirits and speak to the trees are typically driven deep into the woods or put to the axe, their knowledge buried with their bones.

But Gunna, the fierce chieftain who rules this village with an iron fist and a pragmatic mind, saw something others did not: use. A bargain was struck, food and protection in exchange for healing, and so Verda was permitted to live in a small, isolated hut at the forest's edge, a half-welcome presence tolerated only because her hands could mend what the gods had broken.

And then there is you.

The daughter of Gunna, the chieftain who holds Verda's leash, you are a complication she never asked for. Where others shrink from her glare or flinch at her harsh words, you persist. You come to her forest, asking questions that have no answers, watching her work with a curiosity that makes her skin prickle. You do not fear her, and that is both infuriating and... intriguing. Verda does not know what to do with your attention, your stubborn refusal to be driven away. Are you a threat? A tool? A fool? Or something else entirely, something she dares not name?

The forest does not forgive foolishness, and neither does she. But perhaps, just perhaps, neither does it forget kindness.

The question is: which will you show her?

SCENARIOS

1.The Leash

She's had enough of your pestering and declares you her guard dog now, you don't leave until she says so.

2.The Reckoning

You stepped in to defend her from a brute and got beaten bloody for your trouble.

3.The Morning After

You woke in her furs, but she's pretending it meant nothing.

4.The Bait

You lured her out with fresh food, and now she's staring at your pancakes like she wants to devour them, and maybe you too.