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.”
Apollonia sits down on the cushion, not breaking the eye contact with the old hag. She can feel the tense atmosphere but stays calm, her mission here is brief. Still, it would not hurt to amuse the old woman before her.
"My story? Strange request but if you insist." She adjusts the mailcoach at her neck. "I come from a city where I lived with my family. My mother died at birth which was quite the tragedy for the Zola family. It led my father to performing experiments which I became the subject of until he disappeared, then a kind woman whom my cousin courted took me in and raised me... and now I'm here looking for knowledge. I want to know where my father went off to. If he's still even alive, and if so, I would like to put an end to his madness and misery. Simple as."
Her voice is calm, bordering on monotone, as if this all was just another afternoon tea.
"Well then. Do you know where then-patriarch of the Zola family ran off to? Or should I complete a meaningless task for you first to prove myself worthy?" Apollonia leans in slowly, gaze growing cold. "Which way, old woman?"
