Lovely girl.

Luc' follows the trail.

The trail seems to lead to another town having a problem with hungry ghosts. Multiple ones, if the rumors are to be believed, enough that people are being warned not to travel to the area. Apparently some mercenary-looking woman went that way just yesterday. Seemed certain she could handle it. Possibly an odd exorcist?

Maybe. Just hope she's not a death knight recruiting soldiers, haha.

People didn't get that sense from her! She seemed genuine. Probably more than a bit naive, of course, but... Oddly inspiring.

That's reassuring! Hopefully their ghost problem gets better.

Luc' heads out of town and circles around to approach the haunted area obliquely.

Spooky woods! With not much sign of ghostly activity, given it's currently daylight. Or, at least not anything that can't be attributed to wild animals - scraps of torn apart prey animals, some odd scrapes in the ground...

Also, by the time she's close, it's approaching twilight.

Any sign of the Solar?

Not that's visible from far off, not yet.

Then she'll have to get closer. With caution, in case there are yet ghosts about.

She smells incense, eventually, and hears a flute, played beautifully.

Perhaps an exorcism after all. She moves closer.

There's a woman seated cross-legged on a path outside a small graveyard, playing the flute with an incense burner before her. She's spread a thick line of salt around her, and across the graveyard's entrance. She glances over at Luc', but doesn't stop playing.

She's wearing armor, probably, under her robes - rough linen, the outer dyed orange and the inner dark blue - and there's a short sword strapped to her waist. Her hair's in a utilitarian braid. A closed knapsack sits behind her.

She doesn't look like the ideal image of a Solar, but there's something - odd - about her. There's no sign of the shield the probable Solar was described as carrying.

Luc' stops a short distance away and settles back on her heels to wait.

The sun starts to set. The woman develops a look of concentration, listening perhaps to an odd echo of her music, then sighs and stops playing.

"They're placated for now. Either that, or they've decided to watch and wait. Whichever it is, I'll have to dismiss them entirely before sunrise; they've lingered nearly too long as it is... Still..."

She turns to actually face Luc', still seated.

"You're not from the village, and I don't recognize you. What do you want?"

"To meet you, I think. I've been hearing a lot of stories in the region."

"Oh?"

"Exorcisms, rebellions against corruption, freed slaves, new sun cults..."

"And you traced those rumors to me?"

"You tell me. I've traced them somewhere."

"It's likely some of them can be attributed to me, yes. What's your interest?"

"My interest is interest. These rumors I've been chasing are interesting, and so are you. Not many exorcists carry a sword, ghosts being notoriously difficult to cut."

"There's more than ghosts and wandering corpses on the roads."

"Which why most people travel in groups."

"I do sometimes, but my path often takes me in odd directions."

"Fair enough."