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 know me frump?" Maleon replied, staring into the eyes of the figure in the tent with a look of astonishment on his face. No one in this accursed part of the kingdom knew of his presence, and yet some old hag was waiting for his arrival? "I read your presence from the cards, death is coming for you boy, see the truth or die of fear..." muttered the old woman as she reached for the old pack of cards. Maleon stood up as high as he could in the tent and exclaimed in a hurt and haughty tone, "How dare you talk to me about fear you maggot?! I am Maleon of th...", he suddenly stopped his aggrandizement when he noticed that the old woman had no interest in his interpretation of power. Maleon quickly realized that these people recognized no authority in this world and so without further hesitation he took the candle that was placed on the small table in front of him and said, "I do not care about my fate or anyone else's, I came to this land only recently after fierce fights near my homeland, The Sanctum, to avenge my brothers and sisters who gave their lives to protect others from these damn bandits. I swore I would find their leader and slay him. I am the architect of my own destiny and you play no part in it, so if you stand in my way and try to thwart my plans I will have no mercy ." She looked blankly at the raging elf and muttered, "Will you have some tea young man?" "Then you choose death..." Maleon said, dropping the candle, the flame of which immediately spread across the tattered canvas of the tent. He came out of the tent unsheathing his dark sword, in case of resistance from the locals. Nothing... The entire village was completely silent except for the crackling of rotten, burning wood and the screams of the burning witch. "What kind of cursed place is this" he thought and slowly, disbelieving the deadness of the city, he stepped forward. Even when he was young, the bandits from these swamps suppressed and tried to hunt down any dark elves that wandered outside their territory. How can such weak creatures as these humans oppose elves with such power? At that moment, he realized that he needed to get closer to humas in general but he would not force people into submission, they were too weak for that and would die before he could achieve anything. He will have to use the power of words. So he sheathed his sword and with a firm, determined step made his way out of the already burning ghost village. He let go of the fact that the hag in the village recognized him and hoped it was just a coincidence. However, at that time he underestimated the magical abilities of some people and later he also paid for it with a price that was more expensive than anything he had ever had...
