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?)
"Ah, hello! Are you sure you mean myself?" I say, confused. She assures she means me, and again gestures towards the cushion.
"No matter, always glad to have some company as I rest!" I say, smiling towards her.
I sit down as gently as I could on the cushion, taking care not to topple any of the clay vases in the tent.
"Really, my story? I've not much interesting to say, I'm afraid. My name is Anchovy - ironic for such a large man, eh?! I come from a land many, many miles from here. Up North in the grassy mountains and valleys lay my homeland, Catarina. It's a glorious place of close-knit communities forming one massive kingdom." I gesture with my hands, spreading them out wide.
I think of my home and family, wandering for a moment.
"It's a beautiful place, really. Grassy hills turn into forested mountains with lakes and rivers, and the air is amazingly fresh. Wildflowers grow everywhere, you've really got to see it in the Spring." She asks me if I have family.
"Of course! Not only my own parents, but I have a wife and children. They really mean the world to me, you know. My two daughters, Gwynevere and Gwyndolin are everything I could've ever asked for. They're strong and good-mannered, and are not afraid to speak their mind!" I sit proudly on the cushion.
"We aren't an especially rich kingdom, though I really don't mind. I never liked the corrupt royalty of our neighbors past the mountains. I myself grew up working a small farm. The smell of freshly turned earth is unmatched. Though, as I grew older, I began working as a novice blacksmith."
I laugh, thinking of my wife. "I met my wife while making tools for her father." The old woman asks me a question, to which I must think for a moment before answering.
"I am on an adventure of my own, seeking fulfilment. You know, the world is so vast, and life is ever fleeting. I want to see all this beauty before my time is up," I gesture again with my hands around me. "There is so much I will never see, but at least I can see some of it, while I'm here." The now tired looking woman asks me again about my family.
I respond whole-heartedly, "Yes, my wife and daughters await me eagerly, I presume. They are extremely capable, and I could not be more proud of them. My daughters are sure to take care of my wife while I am away, and I will return to them all after some time, though I myself cannot know for how long I will be on my adventure." I see the light dimming outside. Perhaps a cloud is passing over the sun, though more likely it is the onset of night.
"I should continue. You've been kind to me, I must thank you," I say as I hand her a single coin of silver I picked up off the gravel road in the previous town.
"Please, do not hesitate to ask anything of me, should we meet again," I say while beginning to stand up and don my cloak.
I wave gently and step out of the tent, eyeing up my surroundings. As I thought, the sun was falling behind the mountains, signaling night was soon to be upon us.
I look the other way and start to walk, hoping to get through this swamp soon.
"Just need to keep my head," I say to myself.
<-- (Not sure if an image here is required or not. I decided to add one anyways, my character's homeland).
