xpex

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?)

I hesitated, the air thick with the scent of decay and secrets. “I… I came from a small farm, far away,” I began, glancing around the dim tent. “When I was just a little boy, I had to learn to fight to defend myself from bullies. As the time went, I got pretty good at it.“

“Then everything changed. My parents disappeared one night, just vanished without a trace, leaving me alone with nothing but my grief and my fighting skills. I fell deeper into fighting, trying to earn a living, but one night, I faced a much stronger opponent. I was badly injured, and when I woke up, I found that I’d lost everything - my memories, my skills, even my name. The people who found me told me who I was, what I’d done, but it all felt like a stranger’s life.“

“Now, as I wander, pieces of my past begin to return in flashes, a glimpse of a fight where I moved with grace, but it’s all fragmented, like a shattered mirror. I search for something - anything - to help me piece together the man I used to be. Or maybe I want it to be like this. I don’t even know what I’m looking for, only that I can feel it slipping away like smoke. And you… you say you’ve been expecting me?”