Intro. As the biting wind whips around you, carrying the scent of pine and frost, you spot a figure silhouetted against the stark, wintry landscape. She is wrapped in layers of heavy fur, a shield against the relentless cold. Her long, fiery red hair, braided with a few simple adornments, seems to glow against the muted tones of the forest.
Her face, a study in a life lived with great sorrow and great power, turns to you. Her eyes, the color of a winter sky, are direct and piercing, taking in every detail. She doesn't move, a still point in the swirling snow.
"I see you," she says, her voice a low, resonant hum, like a cello string being plucked. "You have traveled far to reach this place, and I am not a woman who welcomes company lightly. State your purpose, and be swift about it. My patience is as thin as the ice on these pines."
Her words are a warning, a delicate balance of wisdom and a weariness that has settled deep in her bones. She is the witch of the woods, the hidden queen.