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?))
Ker'Athri looks around the tent, her dark brows knitted together. "How did you...nevermind." She takes the offered seat, smoothing out her skirts as they bunch around her on the earthen floor. She nods to the hag as she sits, her hand starting to reach for her long hair before she settles it into her lap, holding the fabric of her dress instead.
"My parents once lived in Amathine, both prolific hunters and herb gatherers. They met each other wandering far from their homes as children, both scurrying as fast as they could from the forest before their parents could find out how far they strayed. They never lost that sense of curiosity, wanting to go out and see what the rest of the continent was like, together. But their parents didn't approve, especially since they were unmarried and didn't seem inclined to do so before they left. Their families agreed to separate the two of them for their own good, hoping that they would find someone else to settle down with and discourage their recklessness. Instead, they ran away with each other in the dead of the night. They were both only 17 and only able to bring what they could quickly carry. They told me many stories of their near brushes with death, but they never faltered. Even when my mother was finally pregnant with me, they only stopped long enough for her to recover. I've moved with them ever since, my schooling coming from learning the ways of the land where we happened to wander and books I got my hands on in our few trips into cities and towns. They never did end up marrying, even each finding another partner from time to time, but none of them lasted long. They loved each other, but they loved their freedom more." Ker'Athri fiddles with her belt, wrapping and unwrapping the loose end around her fist as she tells her parents' tale.
"But once I was old enough and skilled enough, they encouraged me to go out on my own. Encourage is a slight understatement, to be honest. They couldn't comprehend that I would want to stay with them, to cling to the little bit of familiarity I have ever known. They'd probably had enough of having to take care of me, wanting their only real burden gone." Ker'Athri's green eyes grow shiny in the candlelight as she admits this, quickly brushing away any tears that start to fall with her long sleeve. "So, I'm on my way back to Amathine. I don't know if their family will have any interest in me, or if they're even still there. But it's worth trying, to see if the place of my parents' birth feels more like home. I don't want to be an endless wanderer, I want to see where my roots can grow."
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