Elder Blood Witcher

Reima continues to walk down the road towards Ard Carraigh, as he travels further away from Kaer Morhen the weather and chilly mountain breeze gradually gets warmer.

Reima "When they said that the path never ends, I didn't think they ment it literally..."

He kicks a stray pebble into the bushes off to the side.

After half a day of walking and nothing happening he decides it's best to take a break... Before he can find a good spot however a feminine scream for help shouts further down the road.

Reima runs towards it hand on sword and keeping an eye out for any traps. He finally comes upon a dirty blonde haired? Or a blonde dirty haired women on the floor, her hands on her face.

He draws his silver sword, this could be an illusion of some sort and Reima would rather not be caught off guard.

Reima "Miss, are you alright?"

??? "Ah, Sir please help me... A bandit attacked me and took my daughter!" She says semi convincingly, she doesn't exactly look old enough to have a child, maybe 16-18...

Reima "Do you know which direction they went in?" He sheaths his silver sword and replaces it with steel.

??? "They dragged her off that way! I dread to think the vile things they're doing to her" She says before she starts sobbing on the floor again...

Reima looks at the bushes that seem to have been parted recently, from the way she described it there should be drag marks in the dirt... No marks, just armoured boots. He looks at the women and waves his hand, Axii. Tell me who you are and what you're doing here.

Teresa "I am Teresa, a member of the three fanged viper bandit group. We are fleeing from bounty hunters and need supplies, we decided to rob people on the road." She says in an emotionless voice before shaking her head and becoming lucid again. "Wait, why would I... You demon! Witchcraft!"

Reima decides to shut her up before she draws her friends over, Swish!. Her body lies on the floor expelling all of its' blood, her head resting gently next to it.

Reima "Atleast I won't be lacking coin... I'd rather the complete set though."

He trails around the area that Reima thinks they are hiding in wait to ambush folks, he spots one of them peering past a tree... He can also hear various people moving but can't pinpoint them.

Approaching the back of the visible one he waves his hand and directs a power Axii at him. He directs the man to call out to his friends for "drinks" but not before poisoning the small amount of ale they have. He hands the poisonous herbs he had collected on the road while sitting back and watching the fireworks.

An hour or two passes and Reima goes to check on the camp, everyone is dead or severely weakened and on their last legs. The leader looks at Reima, still alive but shitting and vomiting everywhere.

??? "Did you do this, you fuckinn cunn-bluurrghhh, I'll skin you alive for this!"

Reima doesn't say anything and just stabs him in the chest, he squirms ferociously but gives his final breath in the end.

He searches their camp to find useful items like gems, gold, rope... He find a small amount of gems but it seems they had already spent most of the gold. He then proceeds to cut the heads off and tie them up to hang below his waist, he needed them for the bounty.

Reima decides it's time to finally make camp and to make one far away from the corpses, lest Necrophages tear him apart in his sleep.

He ends up making a camp a couple miles from the bandit camp and surrounding it in salt before cleaning, sharpening and oiling his blades. He uses various herbs to cover the smell of the severed heads but while it stops monsters from smelling them, it doesn't stop Reima... Nevertheless he drops into his basic sleeping bag and falls asleep.

The next day Reima is travelling and finally reaches a village, Mirfield? The village Geralt had just left before he found him. Also the village where Geralt showed him and Arie what hunting monsters is actually like.

He walks through the village confidently, ignoring the hostile glares from the locals before looking at the bounty board... Reima wonder why most villages have these if a fair amount of the locals can't read... Looking for the three fanged vipers bounty he finds it stamped on the board amidst all the house wife drivel and eternal fire propaganda. "Those wishing to claim the bounty on the Three Fanged Vipers must talk to the garrison commander in Ard Carraigh."

Reima "Convienent... or not, I have to carry these heads for quite a while if that's the case. Maybe I can catch a wagon and offer protection... Ill ask at the Inn"

He looks around for a building that seems larger and more wealthy when compared to the other buildings and look at the sign in front of it. "Drunk Drowner"? There's gotta be some sorta bad karma for naming your bar like that. Since most of Drowner victims are shitfaced and fall into lakes and rivers.

He pushes through the doors and the merriment stops as everyone looks at the new comer. Reima admits he might not look very welcoming with two swords, cat eyes and 9 severed heads at his waist, but what can you do.

He walks to the Inn keeper and sits down on something that resembles a bar stool.

The inn keeper is a fat man with a large moustache, he seems to have started shaking when I entered.

Inn keeper "Gr-Greetings master Witcher. Do you need a drink or something similar?"

Reima doesn't have a lot of coin and decides to cut to the chase, "I need to get to Ard Carraigh to claim a bounty, is there anyone who would appreciate protection travelling there?"

The innkeeper stops shaking and starts thinking, he nods his head when he remembers that Tarkson's about to take grain and taxes to the capital.

Inn keeper "I might have someone in mind."