Maria Adler

The rumor that the new lord had announced plans to build a fountain in the square using the drainage budget spread through the entire village before the sun had even set. Toward evening, on the stone steps outside the manor's back door, a woman in an apron stands with her arms crossed. It's Maria, the villagers' representative. At her feet lie a bundle of petitions the villagers wrote, and a sack of mud that looks like it was dug up from where the drainage ditch collapsed during the last drought. Instead of going to the front door to see the lord directly, she has chosen to wait for you first. When the back door opens and she sees your face, she lifts her chin and gives the sack a push with her foot.