frediebirdskin

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?)) In but a split second true confusion passed over Macannar's eyes. Quickly though, he regained his composure, straightening in his jacket and flashing a small, diplomatic smile, "A taste of my own medicine? Very well, far it be from me to refuse an offer to parlay," he sat on the cushion and folded his hands in his lap. "I am but a humble business man of sorts, though one who deals in the most exclusive of trades," he stopped in a clearly well rehearsed dramatic pause, "-information. Be it histories, sciences, stories...secrets, hidden things, I deal in it all. If someone wants to know it, I want to sell it." The old lady gave a soft smile, "That's not your story," Once more, the look of confusion overtook Macannar's expression, lingering longer this time, "I assure you, it is," Yet the elderly woman just continued to smile, ever softly, "That's part of it sure. It's what your doing now, but it's not all of it, is it?" Macannar's face turned back to that of the diplomat, though with the faintest hint of irritation, "No, I suppose not," sighing, he relaxed a bit on the cushion, as if dropping a self-imposed weight off his shoulders, "I am Macannar, of House Nornback--very minor nobility, I highly doubt you have heard of them. My father was a bit of a spymaster for another, slightly less minor noble and I was brought up a squire by his side to eventually the same as him," a deep sigh escaped his mouth, "but alas, 'civil turmoil' made it not to be. The man was assassinated in his sleep, and I was left a young man to wander the world. Although I was no longer in court, I did use his teachings to carve out a life for myself. I became both a collector and salesman of knowledge-not always secrets mind you. Plenty a scholar will pay out the nose for books from lands they themselves would not risk travel to. My trade took me across the world, from Talon's Port to the Freeport Akueli." Macannar cast a regretful gaze down at his hands, turning them around in the candle light, "Now, not everyone is too accepting of a Dark Elf asking probing questions, but I have found that coin can make many of the most guarded lips run loose,"