The gray overcast of the midday sky sat above Norbios as if the fog had already claimed the world. The closer Niklas and his band got to Paulette's home, the strangeness of the situation began to set in. The fog that enveloped the forest behind the house seemed wrong to him. Traces of it reached out towards her home, exposing its unnatural strangeness to him. It was dry and wispy, ever so slightly stirring along the trees as if it was contemplating its next move.

Is Rastofer stupid? Anyone could tell there was something wrong with that fog, Niklas thought to himself.

Paulette's home sat just a short walk away from the sawmill, planted right along the edge of the fog-shrouded forest. Her one-story house served the dual purpose of her home and was where the sawmill was managed. With the arrival of the fog, the once-busy mill had gone quiet and was seemingly abandoned by Norbios's people. The stream that powered the mill was the only sound that could be heard now, foreshadowing the world within the shroud.

Paulette was outside by an old stump with an axe in hand, chopping wood for the evening fire. She was a middle-aged woman worn from years of labor. The palms of her hands were rough and callused, while gray hairs overran her chestnut-colored loches. The four looked at each other, silently asking who should approach her first. After a moment of wordless discussion, Gauthier stepped forward, with Amira following a few steps behind him. Marc found a fence post near Paulette's pile of firewood and stood there, quietly stating his disinterest in the coming conversation with the sawmill's overseer. Niklas kept to the back of the group, observing the fog they would soon enter.

"Excuse me, madam, do you have a moment to talk?" Gauthier asked.

"What are you lot want? Did the baron send you?" Paulette shot back, tipping Niklas off to previous interactions she has had with the baron's men.

"Not at all, we've tried to talk to him about it, and he has been less than helpful. When we tried to bring up the issue to him, he laughed at our faces." Gauthier answered.

"We think there is something in those woods creating the fog, and we intend to stop it. We don't know what is lurking in there, and we're looking for anything you could tell us about it." Amira stepped forward and explained. Paulette scanned the four of them, clearly suspicious of the band of sellswords.

"What's your name, elf?" Paulette quickly shot out.

"Amira." she answered.

"Tell me, does that fog look normal to you? Does early morning fog linger for weeks?" Paulette asked, pointing to Amira with her axe. 

"No, it doesn't look natural. Looks like something is using it to conceal itself. Maybe a spell gone wrong." Amira remarked.

"It seems you have better eyes than the fucking baron. Damn fog rolled in two weeks ago and hasn't gone away. I've been watching it move closer to the town day by day. Mark my words. It'll envelop Norbois soon if nothing is down about it." Paulette explained.

"Have you seen anything in there? People, creatures, anything?" Gauthier inquired.

"You think I'm going to see a damn thing through that fog? No, I haven't seen anything with my own eyes, but I've heard them. After I ordered the workers to stay home, a group of five went into the woods to confront the beast themselves." Paulette paused for a moment. "I heard Thierry and Damien's screams that night. When I woke that morning, I found Sabine's severed arm on my doorstep. I only knew it was her because of her silver wedding ring. Angeline and Gaston are still missing and are probably dead." Paulette turned to face the fog. 

"Since that night, I can feel it watching me from behind the fog. Each night I can hear it circling my home." Paulette faced Amira. "If you find what did this to them, I want you to make it suffer. Promise me that will you?"

"Gladly." Amira responded. 

"We'll avenge them and bring you its head. That is our promise." Gauthier declared, much to the ire of the unswayed Marc.

While Gauthier and Amira talked, Niklas watched the fog and pondered what could be lurking there. What Paulette told the two of them didn't give him much evidence to work with, but it did eliminate some possibilities. 

Not some kind of animal, sounds far too intelligent for that. Might be some kind of demon I've never heard of, but then who summoned it? Niklas pondered. While Niklas thought to himself, he could feel it. It watched them from behind the fog; its gaze sent a chill down Niklas's spine. It knew they were coming to kill it, and it was unafraid. The shrouded forest was its world, and all who entered would obey its rules.

"She is quite a storyteller, I must say. Wonder if she's a novelist in her free time." Marc said as he walked over to Niklas.

"You look at those woods and still believe they're making this up?" Niklas replied, holding back the urge to give Marc a black eye.

"Look, I'll concede that there is something in there, no doubt about that now. However, I believe somebody cast a little spell to hide there. Whoever they are, they've got something to hide." Marc answered back. "We might have a murderer on the loose or someone who doesn't like visitors. Certainly wouldn't be the first time I've seen something like that." 

Niklas's only response back was a low grunt. Marc being willing to admit there's something unusual in the woods was better than his outright denial, but it did little to gain Niklas's trust. The arrogant ones put everyone else at risk, including themselves; he'd seen countless times before. Before Marc could get on his nerves even more, Amira and Gauthier joined the two of them.

"Well, Marc, still want to believe it's nothing?" Amira asked.

"Look. I already told Niklas that I'll admit I was wrong." Marc answered.

"Good. Now do me a favor and keep your mouth shut once we get in there, alright? Wouldn't want us to get caught in an ambush because of you." Amira demanded.

"So what's our plan? It's midday now, so if we go in now, we'll at least have a few hours of daylight." Gauthier asked. 

"I don't know how you can tell that with this weather, but I suppose you have your ways after living in this weather for so long," Amira replied while looking up at the sky.

"Normally, I'd say wait until the sky clears up so we could use the sun to orient ourselves, but I don't think it'll matter in there," Niklas added.

"I'd hate to let whatever's in there terrorize these people for another day, but if we get stuck in there at night, we're dead." Gauthier chimed in. 

"We won't be able to see a damn thing no matter what we do. Let's always keep a torch with us and stay close to each other at all times." Amira proclaimed. "If we wait until morning, that thing might take the opportunity to kill again."

We have no idea what we're getting into, but she does have a point, Niklas thought to himself. He hadn't expected the quiet elf to take the leadership role, but he was glad it was her doing to rather than the errants.

"So, unless one of you has anything else to add, let's get what we need and kill this damn thing."