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?))
He kneels cautiously, eyeing the crone as she leans forward. Flames flicker around them, pulling inward then racing back, as if repelled by something in the air. The shadows they cast danced across the tent's walls, throwing shapes of violence and tragedy, suggesting what words could only hope to convey.
Shifting his weight, Elric meets the old woman's greyed eyes. His voice scratches in his throat,
"That's what I'm here to find out."
Intrigued, she tilted her head, and gestured for him to continue.
"I started in a town, like this one, with nothing to offer but its children. The new generation. A supposed wave of hope. Then a wave of something else hit. Wiped out most of us. The few left struggled with dwindling supplies and no fertile soil for miles." The lights dimmed further and a few snuffed out. "So we ran; took to the road with nothing but the clothes on our backs and whatever we could carry." The air stilled, as if holding its breath. "But we brought the disease with us."
The remaining flames extinguished, dropping a heavy darkness over the tent. Elric pushed a breath out and stood to re-light them. Before returning to his seat, he gave the space another glance over. It was small, but not cluttered. Lived in, but not untidy.
"I'm the only one left now," he muttered, turning to the old woman again. "And I don't intend to let the memory of my people die with me."
"So what are you going to do?" she cooed, revelling in the fact that she already knew the answer.
Elric paused, thinking through his words and knowing they wouldn't matter to anyone but a sparse few.
"I'm going to hunt down the deity that destroyed my people."
"And?" she cawed.
"And," he breathed, "I'm going to wreak my revenge."
Recommended Comments