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.”
For a brief moment after the invitation, dwarf girl stared at old woman with suspicion. Then shifted her gaze to the tent, taking in the various trinkets and plants drying on racks, and as something caught her attention, she sighed and jumped on a stool.
“My name's Ard. I’m on an adventure to find and collect the finest treasures. You never know what you might discover, after all. My father, Sethbeard, told me that you can never let opportunities slip away when it comes to acquiring more riches.” - You pause, reflecting on your journey. - “I've had so many adventures — some were rich with bounty, while others... others were memorable. And you are one of those memorable encounters!”
With newfound energy, Ard jumped off the stool and dashed toward a shelf with various gemstones. - “Not bad, not bad…” - she murmured, evaluating each of the pieces. Choosing the desired one, she turn to the woman - “Hey, hag, do you accept barter?”.
The old woman opened her mouth, about to express her disdain, but Ard quickly presented a truly ornate, magical amulet that shimmered with an otherworldly light. “I’ll trade this”, you nod toward a small, moldy rock on the shelf, “for that!”
The old woman was left speechless, studying the bright amulet as though it were a treasure from the gods themselves.
Backstory itself:
Whole life Ard lived in the small dwarf village deep in the forests where everyone was familiar to each other. Dwarves in that village were living simple life, without knowing of the rest of the world for millennials. Rare travelers or Minstrels would visit this place, and it would be written into history and remembered for decades.
There were little things each and every dwarf pursue in collecting to satiate their unconfined greed, but by living in lost place they would each have their own unique collections, for outsider each equally meaningless. Of course, with such a divide in interest short tempered dwarves would still find ways to banter and fight with each other, even if not because of greed.
Ard's father was a hunter, and mother was sewing clothes. Both had really peculiar collections of bow strings and cloths of various colors and textures.
One day, somewhere around Ard's 13th birthday an adventurer visited the village. He was given place to sleep, and quite a celebration had been organized at that day. Kids were gathering around, as adventurer was telling various stories of the outside world. Of castles in the air, beautiful marble walls of elven kingdoms, and various treasures he found and shared with his crew.
No one knows if all these stories were truthful, many older dwarves would openly share their disdain about ridiculous human's stories.
But Ard was inspired, she never seen those so called treasures but she wanted to find them. This desire only grew stronger with years, and at the age of 20 she left her homeland, going out on adventures.
Main characteristics
-Dwarf-like grumpy/direct/rude, doesn't care about other people unless their problems shove into her face
-If something interests her "treasure" wise becomes really naive and gullible, tries to be opportunistic when she could actually be the one taken advantage of.
-Doesn't understand real value of items/weapons
-knows how to use bow, yet not really a combatant
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