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?))
Nervously, she responds, "uh, h..hiya. I'm Teysa, at least thas what me mum called me". She moves to sit in the chair but stumbles, tearing the sleeve of her already ragged dress. It might've been a fine evening gown once, but now it's covered in dirt and holes. "Shit!" she mutters, pulling herself up onto the chair. "'nother hole in me dress. Me sis is pro'lly rollin' in 'er grave." She looks up at the hag, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "S-sorry. This dress... it was me mum's. Me sis gave it to me when... well, she died. Says it was from when mum was a lady in the court. I didn' know me mum much, though. She left when I was three. Me sis raised me. She’s been takin' care of me since... but, uh..." Teysa trails off, her eyes fixating on a small cut on her arm. "You got any bandages?"
Without waiting for a reply, she rips a tattered piece of her dress and wraps her arm. "I bleed too much. Always 'ave, even for the smallest cuts. It's a blood... thing. Me sis would always nik bandages for me when we got food. Miss her... I really do. She died 'bout six months ago. We was hiding in this shack and she left to get food. but she didn' come back with food. She came back with this dress and this here book instead." Teysa digs through her sack, pulling out a worn tome labeled 'Dark Elf Jokes Through The Ages'. "Don' know what it says, though. Never learned to read. Me sis said she would teach me, but we was always on the move. She told me mum left with me dad. Sis weren’t his though, so he didn’t much like her. Left us to fend for ourselves."
Her voice falters as she looks down at the book in her hands. "Been tryin' to find me way since sis died. We was runnin' from someone... someone bad, but I don’t know who. Last I saw her, she was layin' face down in a puddle. Worst day of me life." Tears trickle down her face as her voice trembles. Wiping her eyes, she quickly shakes her head, trying to regain her composure. "I still don' know how she died. I don' even know who we was runnin' from. Been on me own ever since, tryin' to survive."
She falls silent for a moment, glancing up at the hag. "Dunno if I got much of a story. But that’s it. That’s all I got."
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