Your character has just arrived in a swampy, dim town. As they look around, their gaze is met with shacks and cabins. It smells of rotted wood and wet moss. They duck and step into a tattered tent, illuminated by a series of candles suspended in the air. At the back of the tent, an old hag raises her head, “What brings you to this dingy town? She begins, then pauses to study your face—”Ah, it’s you. I’ve been expecting you. Sit,” she gestures at a cushion, “Tell me your story.”
((How do you respond?))
"If you've been expecting me, then you should know why I've come," Lee responds stiffly, though softens her posture, almost as if reminding herself of her manners.
"Humor me anyways," the hag motions to the seat again.
Lee nods, acquiescing to the request, adjusting her sword as she finally sits.
"So... You asked for my story? You should know, that's the very reason why I'm here," she starts slowly. "You understand, right? The issue lies in that I have none. No history, no tradition, not even a family name to speak of. My mother, my father, they thought no need for these things, yet it didn't stop them from facing whatever consequences the world had planned for them..." she steadies her voice, briefly tearing her gaze away to stare into the flame of a nearby candle.
"I returned to our forest cabin one day as a child of fourteen and found them dead. A day later, there was a man at the door. I nearly tried to kill him," she chuckled. "Obviously, the attempt didn't go far. Thankfully, he didn't take it personally. He introduced himself as an uncle that I had only ever heard of by name, and explained he had received a letter from my father, begging him for aid. Obviously, he had been late. It was no fake... He had the same gray eyes as my father... and the letter bore his stamp. But the contents? Just the desperate plea, and the request that I be taken care of, in the case of the worst. Well, the worst happened. My uncle raised me, taught me skills my father couldn't- or wouldn't. But yet, here I am. Still a bare slate."
She furrowed her heavy brows, finally meeting the eyes of the old hag again. "I don't know why they were killed, but I know that they shielded me. From my heritage---from everything. I desire knowledge. I desire purpose. I desire a story. I desire a place in the known world."
"Knowledge and purpose, hmm?" The hag slowly lifts her head, with a weathered, cracked smile.
"We can arrange that, Lee."
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