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?))
As Aelin steps into the tent, she sweeps a cautious gaze around. She halts at the sight of the old hag, momentarily caught off guard. "Expecting me?" she murmurs, her voice both wary and intrigued. Despite her hesitation, she lowers herself gracefully onto the offered cushion, remnants of the noble court she left behind. Taking a slow breath, she meets the hags eyes, a flicker of that youthful hope still alight within her despite the weariness shes gathered on her travels. "I am Aelin..." she begins "I left my home to explore this world... to seek beauty and peace beyond the gilded halls where I was raised. "A brief, smile tugs at her lips. "But the road has been... different from what I imagined."Her gaze drifts as memories surface, of dangers she narrowly escaped and kindnesses that surprised her. "Even so," she continues, her voice quiet, "I hold onto my dreams, though I walk carefully now. I seek not just to see the world, but to understand it... to find my place within it." She falls silent for a moment "Perhaps you can tell me why you expected me" she asks, her curiosity overcoming her caution. "What do you know of my path that I have not yet discovered?"
