Lost in The Witcher

The town wasn't that far away from the lake, but it wasn't near it either. After twenty minutes of walking, Caspar began to suspect Darik had lied to him. Just as the doubt settled in, the forest started to thin, and he saw the first signs of civilization: farm crops.

As he stepped out of the forest, rows of cultivated land stretched before him. He didn't recognize the crops just from the stems, He couldn't identify the crops from just the stems, but the neatly plowed soil and careful spacing made it obvious these weren't wild plants. A beaten dirt path ran alongside the farmland, so Caspar made his way toward it, cautious not to damage anything.

Following the path, he soon began to see farmers working in the fields. When they looked at him, he nodded and continued toward the houses. The walls were made of wood, and the roofs were thatched. As he approached the settlement, he noticed that some houses were bigger than others, but most were quite small.

'Looks like hunter cabins,' Caspar thought while walking through the village. 'Do all settlements look like this, or is this one the odd one out? The villages in reincarnation anime looked more modern with glass windows and stone walls. This looks like it could fall apart in a heavy rain.' He eyed the flimsy roofs, unimpressed.

After a few minutes of quiet observation, he shrugged. 'It is what it is. If this world doesn't have stone houses yet, I'll have to introduce them.'

Caspar approached the first person he saw walking his way. "Excuse me, can I ask you a couple of questions?"

The man stopped and looked at him. His rough appearance, with a bushy black beard and hair, a red nose, and veiny eyes immediately gave Caspar second thoughts.

'I probably should've picked someone else...' he thought, but it was too late now. He waited for the man to respond, but he simply stared at him, swaying slightly, then slurred a few incomprehensible words under his breath.

'Yeah, I don't want to deal with this,' Caspar thought and forced a polite smile. "I see you're tired. I won't keep you occupied, then. Bye," he walked away quickly. A glance over his shoulder confirmed the drunk had already staggered on.

'At least he isn't one of these aggressive drunkards,' he sighed. Then he glanced at the building the man had come from. It was larger than the other houses, at least a few times bigger. A rough wooden sign hung above the doors, marked with a plate and utensils.

'Is this an inn?' Caspar wondered.

He approached and slowly opened the door when he heard a bunch of voices inside. When he entered the first thing he noticed were people, some playing cards, some drinking and watching, others just talking. Everyone looked up briefly when he entered, but quickly lost interest and returned to what they were doing.

Caspar scanned the room and found the counter. Behind it stood a plump woman filling cups from a barrel.

'Probably beer. I remember something about alcohol being safer than water in medieval times. Maybe it's the same here,' he thought.

He came closer and asked "Excuse me, can I ask you a couple of questions?"

The woman turned to him. She had strong arms, rosy cheeks, and wore a flour-dusted apron. Her brown hair was tied back. She looked him over and shrugged.

"Sure, but I'm busy, so you'll have to wait."

Caspar nodded and waited patiently as she filled the cups and walked around the counter to deliver them to a table with three men drinking and playing cards. She exchanged the full cups for their empty ones, then returned to the counter and looked at him.

"Ask away," she said and sat down.

"So... what is your name? I'm Caspar," he asked a bit awkwardly.

The older woman smiled. "Mary."

He nodded. "What is the name of this village?"

"Burdorff."

Right as she replied, the familiar voice appeared in his head again.

Perk forfeited due to inaction, rerolling.

Free - Halfling Traits - Warhammer Fantasy: Halflings - Transformation - When man first came over to the World's Edge Mountains, the halflings followed. The dwarves recorded them as "beardless manlings we first thought to be children." That description is not far off. As a halfling, you are only about three- to four-feet-tall, with the proportions to match. Most halflings, both male and female, often have a beer gut to match their desire for both good food and a comfortable life. I'll leave that particular detail up to you. Their feet, large and hairy on the tops, are naturally thick-skinned and leathery - rendering boots and other forms of footwear redundant as they can even walk on broken glass or jagged mountainous trails without damage. This and their naturally quick fingers and quiet movement lend halflings a natural intuition at stealth and sneaking about - fitting with their lack of physical strength.

Lastly, halflings have a native resistance to magic, both beneficial and harmful. It is not to the same extent as dwarven near-immunity, but a fireball that would severely burn a human soldier will leave a halfling singed and momentarily blinded.

Accept? Current CP - 200

'So I can't not accept a perk infinitely. The cooldown is more or less twelve hours,' Caspar thought, then noticed the innkeeper, who now stared at him oddly for suddenly spacing out.

'Right, I'll think about it later.'

"Burdorff, huh... Never heard of it," he said aloud, trying to play off his pause as him thinking deeply.

"It's not the biggest village, so it's no wonder you haven't heard of it unless you're traveling here on purpose," she replied, making him nod.

"Do you know if I can sell this somewhere?" he asked, showing her the deer antlers. "Or if there's anyone looking for able hands to work?"

Mary glanced at the antlers and grew thoughtful. "Hmm... Deer antlers usually serve as trophies, so you could try selling them to someone wealthy in the village. If they're not interested, maybe the herbalist or a wandering merchant would take them."

She continued, "And regarding a job, I'm currently hiring. The previous serving girl got married and moved out, so if you're interested, the job's yours."

Caspar smiled. "If you'll have me, I'll start whenever you need."

Mary nodded. "One oren a day for starters, with meals and a place to sleep. If you do well, the pay goes up. Plus tips, if you're lucky."

Caspar nodded. 'Is this good?' he thought, but didn't ask out loud.

"You can start right now," Mary added.

And so began his shift. For the next six hours, Caspar was kept busy, and by the time he finally stopped, the sky outside had turned pitch black.