So, somehow, from my first draft to my third draft, this is what happened to the mysterious sorceress' abode:
First Draft
It was a cold room, the crumbling stones of the walls seemingly untouched by the heat of the brazier. Milos fidgeted on the wooden stool, hooking and unhooking his ankles around its rungs. He rested his elbow briefly atop a stack of books, but jerked it back at the thought of their delicate pages crumbling. He strained his eyes to see as far back as he could into the shadows that cloaked the room’s corners.
The flayed hide of some unknown beast was tacked out on a table against the opposite wall. He squinted at it, trying to decide what sort of animal it could have been. Its skin was both scaly and hairy, its limbs long in proportion to its body. Something about it seemed bizarrely wrong; scrutinizing it again, he realized it had six legs. He turned away, feeling a little sick, and tried to find something more mundane on which to rest his eyes.
Current Draft
The room was small but not unpleasant. A rug of plaited and green-dyed straw covered the pitted floorboards, and framed engravings illustrating the monuments of the Old Empire hung in neat rows on the walls. The fat-bellied woodstove, unused at this time of year, stood open with a spray of dried herbs and flowers resting on its grate. A flowered curtain divided a sleeping alcove from the rest of the room; it was pushed back just far enough that he could see the heaps of embroidered cushions littering the netting-draped bed.
Vive le difference... also, watch for an exciting announcement probably later on today.
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