Gnomzy

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?))
 

Gordrim hesitated for a moment, fingers brushing over the three silver rings woven into his long, braided red beard. His chest heaved with memories that were both painful and proud.

His gaze hardened, his mind drifting back to a past he had hoped to forget but could never escape.

“My name’s Gordrim ... Gordrim Stonebear, one from the Agnarum Dwedmar... Ah, Mountain Dwarfs it means. Ye’ve likely heard about our race.” He paused, his gaze narrowing as he adjusted his posture. "I come from faraway land... A city where blood and honor run as deep as the veins in the mountain’s heart.” He lifted a hand and tugged at the silver rings in his beard. “These rings... I forged them myself, back when life still had meaning.” He hesitated. “They are the last thing I have left of me past.”

The hag said nothing, her eyes glinting as she watched him carefully.

“My father was a warrior, as was his father before him, and his father before that. Our line’s full of warriors, fierce and proud. We’ve always fought for the stone, for our honor, for the land that holds us. The legend say Thorin Grandaxe, the great dwarf famous as resepcted king and fierce warrior with unmatched fighting skills and unsurpassed war tactics, was our ancestor. His blood runs through my veins.”

Gordrim's voice cracked slightly, his pride swelling in his chest, but the grief quickly followed.

“But none of that matters now,” he continued, his tone hardening. “The orcs came. A horde, like a plague on the land. They swept through the city like a wave of destruction, leaving nothin’ but blood and ashes. My brother, my friends —none of them made it. Many great warriors died...My Father... He too. Glorious dead they have. I killed a hundred orcs that day, but we wasn't able to hold more. The city fell. Our home... burned. In the chaos, I lost track of my sisters and my mother. I searched for them in the flames, but the city was too far gone.”

He paused, clenching his fists, his knuckles white.

“I couldn’t save them. I barely made it out myself, leaping onto the last rescue ship as the gates crumbled. Six months I’ve spent wandering the seas, always with the hope that maybe... just maybe... they’re alive. If they are, I’ll find them. No matter how far I have to travel.”

Gordrim’s shoulders sagged slightly, the weight of his grief pressing down on him. But the fire in his eyes remained.

"I came to this forsaken place, not by choice, but because I’ve no more ties to where I came from. There’s nothin’ left but the open road, and if fate has any sense, it will lead me to answers... or to vengeance.”

He leaned back slightly, a faint smile tugging at his lips, though it was brief.

“I’m not all war and blood, though. I’ve got my vices. A good mug of ale is hard to turn down, especially after a long day of work. There’s nothin’ quite like the taste of strong ale in my belly as I sit by the fire, reliving tales of my ancestors. It helps ease the weight of the world,but only for a moment.” He paused again, his gaze turning thoughtful. “And I’ve always had an interest in stonework. My father taught me a bit, but I’ve never had the chance to really learn the craft, focus on it. I love the forge also. there’s somethin’ great about shaping stone into somethin’ beautiful, somethin’ that lasts...” His voice trailed off, as if imagining it. “Maybe that’s somethin’ I’ll turn to again in these strange lands. Who knows what I’ll find here?”

He looked up at the hag, his gaze steady.

“Ye say you’ve been expectin’ me. How you can help me here...