JustSkelly_

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.”

He mutters a few words to himself... the elderly woman hears something said under his breath about a stench in the air, before he finally addresses her. His short stature forces him to look up at her. "Expectin' me, eh? Can' say I ever seen ya, let alone know who ya are." He chuckles, then looks around the tent. He doesn't sit down, though, due to not quite trusting the old lady fully. "I was just lookin' round for a place to rest my eyes. 'S pretty bright around these lands. That's all ya's gonna get from me. Alright, my turn to ask a question: what's with the floatin' candles?" His accent, despite his being a high elf, might remind one of a highlander human.

((Okay, just for the sake of being able to write down the backstory, I'm gonna skip to a point in the conversation where the old lady gained Aria's trust and she asks the same question. I'd never do this in actual roleplay, so... Here's his response now.))

He sighs, making it clear that the past brings back some less-than-nice memories. "Look, ya see the ears 'n stuff, ya can put two 'n two together and figure I'm a high elf. 'Course, I don't sound like one, I'm not as tall as one, my hair's weird, my eyes are creepy, I've been through the questions a million times." He looks down to the floor, trying to hide the water building on top of his lower eyelids. "And the questions always led to a beatin'. Kids my age, they used to- they used to beat me up 'cause I was 'different'. I was 'other'. I was 'the freak'. I didn't talk to many people, and only spoke when spoken to. Eventually, it just got to be too much for me. So I packed my bags and left. Ran away, like I was never there. 'S pretty bad memories, those. But then- then I found a nice lil' group of humans." He looks back up, giving her a solemn smile, a smile that screams for a return to that moment, the moment he met those people. Yet, it's also a smile that weeps. "They didn't care 'bout my... being a freak and all. They helped me learn everyone's a freak, in some way or another. And I s'pose that when everyone's a freak, nobody is. Eventually, though, it got to the point where I didn't need them anymore... so I up and left. 'S my biggest regret in life. Now, I've just been wandering the lands, trying to set up a place I can call home." He breathes a deep sigh of hope, yet with a hint of despair. "Maybe... maybe I'll find those humans again."