1268
Outside Stygga Castle
The job had been done. Stygga Castle no longer existed. Indeed the explosion had been a bit larger then Keira, Triss and Sabrina had intended, but that was not the point. Not a trace of information was left for anyone to use. Everything had either been taken or annihilated. All recovered from Vilgefortz's fortress had been carefully cataloged and sent back to the lodge. Everything save one little bobble.
Before the Nilfguardian soldiers occupying the fortress had left, they had (of course) stripped the castle bare of perceived valuables. One particular man had acquired an intricately carved jade figurine. Several weeks later while feeling like he'd die without a drop of drink the soldier traded his souvenir for a half empty wine skin. The soldier who had made the trade then had the figurine nicked from him by a peasant who was assisting the army break camp. The peasant sold the statue to a traveling merchant, who in turn sold it another traveling merchant. The second merchant traveled a great deal before ending up the marshy lands of Velen. He had trouble selling the figurine (mainly due to the fact that he charged fifty crowns for it). One day he traveled to the village of Miscopse. He haggled with several members of the village before selling many of his wares. One of them happened to be the overpriced figurine.
1272
Temeria
Miscopse was a small, out of the way town. No witch hunters, no Nilfguardians and no notice. Not many people considered the small settlement to be worth their time or attention. That was just how Keira Metz wanted it.
Over the past few weeks Keira had acted as the local "witch or wise woman" for the local yokels. No one could suspect that she was once a member of the Lodge of Sorceresses (nor would they likely know just what that was). Everything was fine for the moment.
If you could ignore the lice, rain, pesky villagers and the ever present smell of shit that is.
The situation was driving Keira mad. The thought of being impaled or burned to death by Radovid was bad...but living without the comforts usually afforded to her was a much worse issue. One of the few things that she appreciated was that she never had to risk giving herself away by shopping in the village. The villagers dropped of baskets of bread or dried fruit by her doorway. After all being uncomfortable was one thing...but starving was admittedly worse.
There had been lees in the way to eat lately. Food was becoming quite scarce due to the war. The villagers had taken to leaving little bobbles and charms. Most of them had been worthless trash as far as Keira was concerned.
Today it seemed to be no different. Just more junk. That is, until she noticed the compacted jade figurine.