The Strangers Chronicles Part 1 Chapter 3

 Chapter III: Aged By Decades

Twas twilight when the stranger returned to the tavern he had once been, however it was now decades later, no longer did he resemble a viking but now he resembled that of a young wizard. His face now began to develop a small but growing beard of dark hair, and his fingers now bejeweled by rings collected on his journeys throughout the land. He had hobbled recognizable only by the green wooden cup that he carried and the celtic knot that was still engraved upon his scarron. This time when he ordered his cider he drunk it quickly as it splashed and littered his beard instead of his bare faced skin. The bar matron was flirtatious, remembering him from years earlier, and noticing that he hasn't aged a bit since his last visit to the village. He didn't give her any of his time and returned to his beverage, this time listening in to the adventurers and hunters who had infested the tavern. Legends had sprung up around the village of a witch who threatened their village, living in the outskirts in a hovel. The stranger merely listened to how she was stealing and eating children and plaguing the village. The stranger laughed, as he knew that this was no ordinary witch, but a hag. He agreed to go and defeat the witch, in exchange the village would grant him labor to build him his estate, in the mountains. The villagers agreed to his terms and the stranger left the village to find this witch.

The forest outside of Havel Reach had changed since his defeat of the dragon, the ogres and orcs had left and the spiders now waged war against the goblins and fairies for dominance. He walked through the woods alone feeling the aura as it changed, when last he was here, he was a light magician, an avatar and elemental, now he had become something more dark and sinister, no longer a mage of the light but and almighty sorcerer of the darkest variety. He soon stumbled upon the hobble of the witch,as described it was a hovel of sorts in the forests, but it wasnt a man made home or cabin, it more resembled that of a beavers dam, with animal bones draped from the trees on the outside, and  a moot of runes engraved on stones next to a creek that water was mysteriously moving through. The stranger approached the witches den, when he heard something move behind him, it was beastly and inhuman sounding. He pointed his staff in the direction of the movement but didnt see anything, he turned around again hearing the same sounds on the other side,but the witch once again was not in sight. He then turned around coming face to face with a ghastly thin gaunt female creature with long fingers that pointed at their tips her clothing torn made of the creatures that her ornaments were made of, her hair patchy thin and greying blonde extending down her back and front torso. Her eyes however were what intrigued the stranger. One eye was a glowing yellow like transforming between that of a cat, lizard, human and wolfs eye, the other was pale and made of glass.  This was no Witch, but rather a Hag.

The stranger showed no fear and began to speak to the ravenous creature, her tallon like bare feet approaching him. She screeched like a banshee at him, but the screech was her way of communicating with him. The Stranger asked what had happened to her. She screeched again in a broken set of choking and gagging sounds. He was intrigued and soon knew what needed to be done. He walked slowly to the moot outside the witches hovel and plucked a a reed from the side of it and shaped it into a thin but sturdy wand, he looked to the hag and asked her for her stash, the hag pointed to her hovel and the stranger entered finding hairs and feathers of all kinds. He took the reed wand and the feather of a raven and combined them with magic, before healing it. He proceeded to hand it to the hang who gripped it in her hand gratuitously. The hag soon transformed from a sinister creature into a more beautiful enchantress, she was tall and robust with long flowing blonde hair. The witch was pleased that the stranger had healed her. Her home soon transformed as did the land around her, a garden of life and light far from a hovel of a hag. The enchantress was very grateful and begged the stranger to allow her to return the favor, the stranger only asked for proof that he had slain the witch that terrorized the village. The enchantress cleverly crafted a pointed hat out of the leather of a giant spider’s carcass and handed it to the sorcerer. The two smiled and parted ways, as the enchantresses home disappeared into the realm of enchantments.

The stranger returned from the forest with the hat of a witch, the villagers amazed by this agreed to build the strangers estate, for seven days and seven nights the laborers of the Havel Reach followed the stranger, up into the mountains of Fijorn, when they soon found a large clearing at one of the peaks. It was here that they worked building the estate for the stranger, a massive castle with plenty of rooms and a grand dungeon, as well as a library and a keep where the stranger kept trophies of his exploits including treasures and iconography. It was only fitting though that the villagers had no need for the witches leather hat and gifted it to the stranger, who from that day forward wore it as a sign of his saving of not only the village of Havel Reach, but of the enchantress of havel reach forest.