Joanna Weatherby

“They do?” Raising a brow as she finishes up.

“…yes. Why?”

"If you're going from your hometown, then let's keep going ahead." She doesn't want to interrupt Maggie's journey, of course.

"Highbridge Court should work." The little slip of her tongue wasn't missed, though. "Feeling homesick, I'm guessing?"

-Not very scientific, but it's what she's got. "Always keep your weapon within reach, too. Danger can strike anytime, anywhere." Another common sense thing, but it's something still.

Stopping to see Maggie pull out a map, she leans over her shoulder to peek. "Where's the closest town again?"

One look at her, everyone can probably tell she's very formally trained. Someone who should be in a city, holding high office or commanding battles. And yet here she is, in the ass end of nowhere. But she's embraced being out here.

"Mmm...stay alive, that's a good one. And trust your gut."-

-duties as a champion is that...the lack of direction is sometimes frustrating. But at least the rewards usually keep her afloat, and the battles are plentiful. "I usually go from town to town to rearm, resupply, and what have you."

-metal cuirass. And of course, there's the rapier at her hip and the rifle she carries over her shoulder. Definitely a seasoned adventurer, even at first glance.

"Me neither. I just walk the roads until something inevitably goes awry, and then I swoop in to help." The frustrating part about her-

She reaches a gloved hand out to shake the offered one. Seems like she's pretty new on the road. Lacks that...bit of emptiness in the eyes she sees on many of them.

Jo, meanwhile, is pretty decked out. There's plate armor over her coat's shoulders and elbows, and the coat itself hides a dark-

-"Name's Joanna. Thought this road's absolutely devoid of life." But of course, she's been wrong before. The other didn't seem a threat at the moment, but it pays to be a little careful.

"That's the thing about dying to be remembered, isn't it? You only get one shot. If I'm memorialized into song, I bloody well want to hear it."

And there she is. Tall, blonde, resting a rifle on her shoulder. Jo tips her hat at the stranger, flashing a smile.-

"Most people get to be remembered in song and story if they either do something very impressive, or very stupid. I'd say go for the former."

-as much as I do now.” She was a city girl through and through before all this, after all.

“But it’s a rewarding life. Rarely gets boring, either.”

“It’s a privilege, having a friend like that. My old squad was…quite the assortment of people. All of us would definitely block a bullet for each other, though.” Great, she’s getting a bit sappy now.

“Quite the life, indeed. When I first started, I didn’t know I’d enjoy sleeping under the stars-

-"Not to mention the people I see along the way, too." Even if she did end up here on the road alone, she does have some...contacts she could link up with every now and then.

"Freedom's one hell of a drug, yeah?" Pun very much intended.

Jo smiles and digs into her pack to get a bite to eat. "I highly recommend exploring, yeah. Ever since I struck out myself, I've seen so many things I would've never seen otherwise." Some good, some bad, all interesting.-

-skills she uses to this day.

"That's life, though. I found myself a cause that's not just coin, and that's what powers me. I think I turned out quite alright," she says, scooting to sit on the ground and lean agains the log.

She listens as Karlach just waxes poetic over her youth. "Honestly, I'm quite the opposite. Being an adult is the most freeing thing I've ever experienced. Back then it was just study, training, study, training, and...it was dull. I was good, but it got boring." Still, they did give her a lot of-

-reasonable, for once.

"There was a time I hated camping out in the sticks like this. Probably remnants of my old city girl life." She does drop by cities once in a while to rearm and resupply, but most of her days are spent out here now.

"Pleasure's all mine." Strong grip. Big muscles. Surely a formidable presence in the field, she figures.

Jo opts for some water herself. She usually only drinks for special occasions. "Quite the beautiful evening we've got tonight, yeah?" The stars are out in full force, the weather's-

"I see no reason to." She shrugs, taking a seat on the log in front of the campfire. "You seem quite interesting, after all. "Joanna," she says, offering a gloved hand from her spot. "Friends call me Jo, if you're so inclined."

Not enough eyes, then?

The smile in her face is just way too big and way too satisfied. "Thank you kindly," she says as she accepts the gold, putting her rifle away.

"You get used to it eventually. Not the best when you need to be quiet, but that's what this is for," she says, tapping on the rapier on her hip.

-three shots to chew through the wood, letting it fall to the ground, apples intact.

A proud grin at Karlach, and she's cycling out the final round, spewing the empty brass to the ground. "I believe that's a win for me," she says, holding her hand out. "Never said I had to hit the apples."

"You're going to be short twenty, so just be prepared." Joanna grins and loads exactly three rounds into the rifle, working the handle to prep for firing.

She takes aim at the first apple, but instead of hitting the apple on the stalk, Jo shoots the branch holding the three apples aloft, using all-

-a tree.

“How much do you wanna bet I can shoot at least three down from the tree without exploding the fruit?”

-nothing. “If this was loaded, it would strike the cartridge here,” she says, showing the end of the brass casing, “and explode the ‘firework’, propelling this end,” the bullet, “into whatever you want dead or incapacitated. But that’s theory. Want a show?” Jo stands and spots apples hanging from-

“Mechanics, mostly.” Jo works the lever to spit out the last cartridge, which she catches handily.

“You know fireworks, yeah? Imagine if you cram a firework in a casing, and put a metal spike on the end, that’s basically a cartridge.” She cocks again and fires the rifle dry, and the hammer strikes-

Oh, she’d be more than happy to show.

“I see your eyes wandering,” she says with a chuckle. “I’m guessing you’re curious, then?” Of course Jo is more than happy to show.

👀👀👀

Only a couple of times. She’d rather shoot them than whack it with this.

For close combat, she’s got the rapier so there’s that too.