It had all gone very wrong, very fast for Jacinthe.

The errant adventurer had rolled into the small frontier hamlet of Southkeep, longbow on her back, looking for information she could use for her next gig–an old ruin to loot, a pack of mangy wolves to drive off. Just enough to pay the bills until she could get into another proper adventuring party. But Southkeep had bigger problems. A pair of young adults–brother and sister, Kevyn and Amelia–sought Jacinthe out immediately, begging for her assistance.

Southkeep, they explained, was being extorted by a sorceress who lived past the edge of the kingdom. Every month she barged in to demand "taxes"–an exorbitant tribute from the townsfolk. This was illegal, but Southkeep was too remote and too small for the government to intervene. When the citizens of Southkeep couldn't pay, which was frequently, the sorceress arbitrarily chose a citizen and turned them to stone–leaving them as a statue as a warning to the others.

The siblings had begged Jacinthe to help them fight off the sorceress. They offered the town's tribute for the month for her assistance, and a sizable cut of the recovered tribute from the sorceress's estate besides. They took her to the town square, where about a dozen villagers, both men and women, stood petrified on pedestals. Some looked terrified; others despondent. Another pedestal–a roughly hewn piece of rectangular marble–was ominously vacant. That would be the new home of this month's victim, since the village couldn't afford its tribute. Jacinthe, swayed by both pity and what promised to be a reasonable payout, agreed.

The plan they had settled on was a simple ambush. The sorceress was scheduled to arrive the next day; the mayor would meet her with the town's (insufficient) tribute in a cart; while the sorceress was counting it, Jacinthe, Kevyn, and Amelia would spring out and attack. Kevyn had militia training in the spear and shortsword, and Amelia knew a couple of hedge magic cantrips to harry the sorceress with magical attacks. The trio hoped to catch her off-guard and incapacitate her before she could use any powerful magic.

It wasn't a bad plan, but it had fallen apart before it got going. Kevyn had hidden too far away, and as the sorceress began to count the town's tribute in front of the nervous mayor, he leapt out and tried to charge across the too-large distance with a desperate, high-pitched battle cry. The sorceress had plenty of time to step back and begin winding up a spell. To distract her, Amelia had to come out of hiding herself and lobbed a small volley of fiery darts at the sorceress. The sorceress paused her spell, but had no problem brushing aside the attack with a magical shield while keeping her distance from Kevyn.

Jacinthe didn't like where this was going, since the element of surprise was lost, but her instincts led her to fight rather than running to save her hide. She sprang up from her own hiding place, loosing an arrow at the sorceress. Unfortunately, the shot was wide, only grazing the woman's cloak. The sorceress snarled and her expression grew dark, as she backed up and began a series of gestures and incantations. With one gesture, she shoved the charging Kevyn back, and another, she conjured a barrier that blocked a follow-up shot from Jacinthe and another fiery bolt from Amelia.

Jacinthe circled round, and the sorceress seemed to be on the defensive, using all her energy to deflect the ranged attacks and stay away from the spear-wielding Kevyn. Her own attacks were just small bolts of energy that stung when they hit, but weren't enough to take down the three allies. Until she managed to get a moment's room to breathe, and cast another spell...

And then, it was over. The spell was an enchantment that had taken hold of Kevyn. He repositioned himself behind Amelia and grabbed her with both arms. Now he was holding her tight, staring ahead with glassy eyes. Amelia tried to struggle, or to speak to Kevyn, but he was unresponsive. Jacinthe fired another arrow, but with her attention now fully focused on Jacinthe, she easily swatted it aside. Jacinthe nocked another arrow, and the sorceress spoke.

"Stop, girl. You lose."

Jacinthe loosed the arrow anyway. With a contemptuous expression, the sorceress halted it midflight with a gesture and let it fall to the ground. She then fired an arc of electricity that struck Jacinthe, knocking her to her knees.

"I don't recognize you. You _almost_ look like you know what you're doing. These dirt farmers suckered you into trying to help them, didn't they?" Jacinthe only grunted in acknowledgement.

"You've got spirit, I guess, for all the good that does you. And I guess you did help after all. You get to be my tribute for today, and the villagers get another month to get their gold together. Get up there."

"What if I say no?" Jacinthe spat.

The sorceress snorted a laugh, her voice dripping with derision. "If you say no? After that ambush and how you lost anyway? If you say no, then I have him break her neck," she said, motioning to Kevyn and the restrained Amelia. "Then I kill you while he watches. Then I kill him. Then, after I've killed everyone who tried to kill me, I turn another villager to my statue as a tribute. So really, I'm being very generous with all of you here."

Amelia was quivering out of fear and frustration, still held fast by her ensorcelled brother. Kevin remained unaware, staring straight ahead with empty eyes. Jacinthe felt the adrenaline from the fight draining out of her system... replaced only with cold despair. This was the end.

Jacinthe met the sorceress's eyes, smoldering with frustration, but acknowledging her defeat. The sorceress smirked. "Now take off your shoes and get up on that pedestal. You get to join all those townsfolk you couldn't save."

Jacinthe's breath caught. Nobody spoke as she slowly walked over to the pedestal. By the pedestal she dropped her bow and unstrapped her daggers, letting them all fall to the dirt. With her weapons gone, she took off her boots and then stepped up with bare feet onto the pedestal. She could feel some kind of tingling sensation in her soles–this was no mere slab of rock, but held an enchantment waiting to be unleashed.

"Very good, little adventurer. Take any pose you want. Maybe a nice heroic one–to remind these serfs that even a big, tough champion with a sneaky ambush is no match for their rightful ruler," the sorceress gloated. Jacinthe scowled. She stood with her arms at her sides, doing her best to look resolute and dignified even in defeat, and locked eyes with the sorceress. "Very well. Enjoy your new existence as my trophy."

The sorceress gestured, and Jacinthe's body locked in place–from unmoving to completely immobile. Her breath caught, and Jacinthe found that she couldn't even change her expression. The tingling in her bare feet intensified–then a shock flew up from the pedestal through her entire body, accompanied by a blinding flash of light. It stung, but only briefly, leaving only numbness in its wake. When the flash of light subsided... it didn't. Jacinthe tried to look around, but had only the faintest impression of the town square around her, the people and noises reduced to a muffled blur. This was the end, Jacinthe realized. Her senses were deadened by stone, and she felt her mind fading away too, as the thoughts and emotions of her fight, defeat, and humiliation all blurred into the same empty void. Jacinthe was just a decoration now, and she would stay that way forever, a barefoot trophy of a reckless adventurer who started a fight she couldn't win.

The townsfolk who had been watching stared in sullen, despondent silence for a minute or two after watching Jacinthe's transformation. The sorceress grinned and released the spell that had been enthralling Kevyn. It was all he could do to keep standing as he realized what had happened, as Amelia quietly sobbed in his arms. The sorceress spoke. "All right, Southkeep! Thank you for your 'generous contribution'! Be sure to have your tribute ready for next month!" Using a gesture for telekinesis, she lifted another pedestal off her cart, moved it through the air, and set it at Jacinthe's side.