Maidame

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.”

Catria sits as instructed, "Why would you wish to know about me, ma'am? I am but a lowly maid..." She shifts nervously, unsure what to tell the woman, "Um... My Mistress is a kind woman, she took me in when I was young, maybe since I was... 8? She provided me food and shelter, but in exchange I had to work for her." She doesn't notice the smile on her face as she talks about her Mistress, it's clear she admires her more than anything, "She's like the mother I never had..." Silence hangs thick in the air after she says that. Once the akward moment passes, she begins to speak again, "Um, but, anyway! I never had an education, so I can't read or write or do anything the nobles do. Mistress is wealthy, but she had more important things to do than buy me schooling. It's not like a maid would have any use for such high-class things anyway!" Catria sits in silence for a bit, thinking if there's anything else to tell the elderly woman. "The other maids always made fun of me for being so short, but I did more work than any of them! Sure I can't reach up high from the ground, but I'll have you know that I'm quite acrobatic!" She's clearly very proud of herself as she says that. "I still work for Mistress, and I'd happily do that forever, but, she told me to go out and explore the world for myself, that she's held me in the Holy Empire for too long." She pulls out a necklace hidden under her dress, it's clearly expensive, made of pure gold and with a small bell attached. She looks at it fondly, as if it's more important than her own life. "Mistress gave this to me right before she sent me on my way." She sways the bell on the necklace, letting it ring. "It makes the most beautiful sound, don't you think?" She says that with a smile so wholesome it would melt anyone's heart. After looking at the necklace for a while, Catria tucks the necklace back under her dress before speaking again. "I think... I think that's everything about me that could be of value, ma'am. I know almost nothing of the world, even of the Holy Empire, which I've spent my entire life in."