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.” Without a moment to actually think, Corvus sits on the cushion crisscross, shifting slightly to get comfortable. Pointing outside to the dull town just outside the tent, his arm suddenly drops. He faces the woman once more, eyes darting around in thought.
Producing a small, somewhat wet, pocket journal from his satchel, he begins to flip through the pages. Stopping near the final page of the journal, he reaches for a pen in his back pocket to scribble something onto the paper, taking some time. Once finished, he flips the journal around for it to face the hag. In messy, yet still legible handwriting, it reads: 'My name is Corvus. I came here recently, and I remember being on some sand near water so I think I got beached. You said that you've been expecting me, but I don't recognize you.'
He flips the journal back to himself, unsatisfied with what he wrote. Ripping out the paper, crumpling it into a messy ball, and throwing it behind him, he starts on a fresh page. By the speed he scribbles down his words, it can only mean the handwriting will be worse than before. Minutes pass, several minutes, before he flips the journal back again to the woman. Two full pages of writing, even less legible.
'My name is Corvus. I came from an island far away, but it was very tiny. It was home to humans only, because they didn't really like other races being on their land. They said it's because they had more than enough mouths to feed. I was an explorer on the island, but my brother was a hunter. Our jobs were really easy though; I'd go out on my own to search for any new land for us to conquer while my brother would go after the livestock to feed our mamma and the rest of our faction, though he'd sometimes have to hurt people if they weren't our faction. I remember we were called nomads because there wasn't a big group of us, maybe only 15 or 20.'
'I was exploring a few days ago, because we were planning to expand our territory even if it meant conflict. They told me to go out into this bushy area, where there were a lot of trees around and many hazards. I was subject to a hazard when I got caught in a vine that was touching the ground, and when I struggled to get out of it I lost my footing. I slipped and fell into a river. I thought it was okay at first, because I commonly get into accidents and can usually get myself out of it. The current was going to fast though, and there weren't any rocks to slow me down, so I just kept moving. I called for help even though I knew nobody could hear me, but I was scared and wanted to get out. I went downstream until the river started to expand, which was even scarier. I remember that as the river started to expand, it also became less shallow, which also made it harder for me to keep myself afloat since I'm not a good swimmer. I remember bobbing up and down into the water as my island looked even tinier than it already was. I can't remember much else of what happened after.'
'I woke up here, on some sand near water, and I think I was beached. My clothes were soaking and it was cold, but when I tried to yell for help it hurt me. These clothes aren't mine, I stole them from a house, and the satchel too, which I know was horrible but I didn't know what else to do. I threw out my wet clothes, because I wasn't sure what else to do with them. I don't know what to do now.'
Corvus frowns, staring down at the floor. He sat there for a few minutes to let her read before he caves into his emotions when he inhales sharply, stumbling to stand back up. He forcefully shoves the journal back into the satchel, worsening the condition of the book. Corvus wipes away some tears and fights others as he pivots to exit the tent, uncomfortable with the situation he had put himself into. An audible yet small mutter escapes him as he leaves.
