Frode Wulff doesn’t know a soul he can call kin. Abandoned as a kid, he’s got zero memory of ever having a family. He grew up in the thick of the Störheim forests, scraping by in damp caves and hollowed-out trees. Living out there meant Frode had to raise himself. It was a life of trial and error—eating whatever he could catch and learning the hard way how to survive. But as he got older, the woods started feeling small. He realized he wanted more out of life than just surviving, so he packed up and headed out in search of real adventure.
The traveller has just arrived in a small town. As they look around, their gaze is met with run down houses and shops. They duck into one of the shacks, illuminated by a series of candles suspended in the air. At the back of the small room, an old hag raises her head, “What brings you to this dingy town?" She begins, then pauses to study their face—”Ah, it’s you. I’ve been expecting you. Sit,” she gestures at a chair, “Where do you come from? What do you hope to make of yourself?”
Frode makes no effort to mask his suspicion, his eyes squinting as he searches for any sign of deception among the drifting candles. The wood chair creaks loudly as Frode drags it slowly out, yet he refuses to lift his feet from the floor. "If you've truly been expecting me, then you should know that Störheim doesn't hold people. All it does is try to devour them," Frode states, the dryness in his voice a testament to his lifetime of speaking to almost nobody. His body slouches forward as he leans his rough hands onto the table, allowing the candlelight to reflect off the filth beneath his nails. "Every day of my life was a fight for survival, living on the edge and eating off scraps, but now that I've made it out of the forest, I won't settle for dying alone in some prison. I don't want charity or some great destiny. All I want is a way to live beyond the hollow trees and empty stomachs. I've come here to learn whether there really is a world as large as the tales tell, and I'll march straight through anyone who wants to lock me up in darkness forever."
Recommended Comments