staleytheman

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.”

 

Gustave Riverhold hesitates for just a moment at the hag’s words, caught between suspicion and a sense of familiarity. Then, with a flick of a grin that never quite reaches his tired eyes, he steps forward and lowers himself onto the cushion like he’s settling into an old role. The swamp-light flickers against the worn leather of his coat. “Trouble has a way of finding me, lady,” he begins, his voice smooth but sanded down by smoke and insomnia. “Doesn’t matter if it’s a Cainite blade in the woods, a jealous lord in his manor, or a priest with too many questions somehow I always end up at the sharp end of things. Grew up in Norland, where the Red Faith preaches loud but forgets the names of the poor. Learned early that a fist and a smile will get you farther than a sermon ever will.” He pauses, letting the tent settle around him, then leans forward slightly. “Norland’s a place that carves its laws in stone and its justice in blood. The nobles get their titles, the Church gets its saints, and the rest of us” he gestures lazily to himself, “well we get by. I’ve stolen from raiders and slept beside holy relics. I’ve lied straight to the face to some of the most terrifying people you will ever see and saved children from a burning chapel on the same damn day. Folks like me don’t get statues, and most would say we don't deserve them either. He laughs for a moment then tilts his head, studying the hag now with a glint of curiosity, like someone used to being the one asking the questions. “So if you’ve really been expecting me, then you already know the truth. I’ve sinned more than I’ve prayed. I’ve kissed more than I’ve bled. And when the gods come calling… I tend to answer last but damn me if I don't always show up when I'm needed the most.”