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?))
Aster fumbled for words near the tent's entrance for a few tense moments before settling gingerly atop the cushion. "Me? Well, ah-I... I must say, I don' consider mah story ta be one of grea' note, 'm afraid." Their eyes cast about the musty tent, desperate for any hint of context for this mysterious crone's apparent familiarity. When their silence began to thicken in the air, they rubbed their palm against the back of their neck, fingers mindlessly fiddling with the braids they'd done up in their walk. "Mah youth was pleasan'ly uneventful; grew up on a small farm, li'l ways North o' Bywater, wi' me Mas an' Granpappy. It was a rowdy neck o' tha woods come festive times, mind - always some cousins or other hangin' abou', you know how it is..."
Aster cleared their throat, chewing their lip and undoing their braids just to have something to do with their hands. They tried not to stare, but given the circumstances, found it difficult; and kept catching themself lingering moments too long on the back of the tent. "Truth be told, I miss 'em, mos' days. Bu', well... We all have ta find our own paths, eventually, or so I hear. Anyhow, to put it plainly, I wandered off some years ago in search of some spice, some color, and hopefully... Mah hope is, all this wanderin' - that one day it'll find me a home of my own. Then, it'll be mah turn to hos' tha festivities!" Aster finished their tale with flushed cheeks and a wide grin. Their nervous chuckling was soon covered with a blatantly faked cough, and they wiped the back of their wrist across their mouth before clearing their throat again.
"Sorry, you said you'd been... expecting me?"
