Judge_Trudy

You’ve just arrived in a swampy, dim town. As you look around, your gaze is met with shacks and cabins. It smells of rotted wood and wet moss. You 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?))

Erik blinks rapidly as he enters the surprisingly warmly lit tent. He squints as the hag speaks to him, and a harsh breath is lost as he finally takes in her visage. He stumbles as he moves for the cushion, his gaze never breaking that of the woman, and he sits cross-legged. "S'pose Ah shouldn't be surprised yeh expected me. Da warned me of yer magiks. But Ah'm bein' mighty rude aren't I?" Erik shakes his head at that and scoffs. "Maybe Ah don't know what Ah'm doin'..." He pauses, momentarily forgetting not to break eye contact as he gazes down at the pouch sat in his lap. Looking back up, seeing the hag smiling now, he tenses and clutches the leather closer to his chest. "S-sorry..." He gulps. "Ah'm Erik, an'.." He pauses as the woman leans forward just a bit too close. He stammers a second, and then feels a surge of fearful courage gets him to jump to his feet. "Mah name is Erik. Ah was told yeh can get me away from this 'eap-o-nothin' village an' somewhere worth settlin'." His voice raises and he puffs his chest out as he continues to speak. 

"Ah've grown tired of tendin' tha fields of folk who would never defend 'em. My own Da refuses ta teach me 'is ways of mead-makin'." He says that as he clenches his free fist, and tosses the leather pouch onto a small table besides the hag. Its shiny gold innards begin to spill onto its surface. "Ah know ye can get me passage. Ah was told yeh'd 'ave a ship's ride down tha coast fer less than what Ah've got in there. Ah'm asumin' tha what's in there should be enough to get me as far as Ah can get from this place. So take me somewhere tha Ah can finally start my life with purpose an' 'onour." He finishes speaking and crosses his arms. He stares down the hag as he waits for her answer.