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.” “What’s it to ya crone?” He spat at the floor as he replied to the old women, slugging back half his mug of ale in one swallow. “Oh, just curiosity my wayward traveller; no foul designs do I have.” “Fine.” He huffed. “I’m am Hyspian, Si?” “Come now, surely there is more to your.. story.” “If you insist…” He’d hum, staring at the wall, failing to meet her gaze. “I was a petty thief, ran from the law with nary 10 years to my name. Found my way upstream, in Nau Valdev.. “ He paused. “That’s where I found the Holy Mother Church and Dios.” He would hold up the Lorraine cross on his chest. “His Grace, Alaric- Bishop Andrikev (@lortime) he might be better known as. Course’ he wasn’t Bishop back then, but he was still on his holy path…I worked as his house servant for some time, in the Valkonen household.. best years o’ my life at that point. Ended up as a guard for those folks for some time. Was able to train my sword at the household, and my mind in the Basilica. He treated me right’-- first damn one to do so, and taught me more in a few years than anyone else taught me in my damn life.” “And what brings you homeward, lad?” “Atonement, repentance. I… know I’ve sinned, but I can fix it..no matter the damned cost. Dios hath called me back to repay the debt I owe to him and society; through holy service and battle. I seek a Holy Knighthood or failing that maybe just as laymen for the Order of the Grail. This land is forsaken by Dios--” He glanced upward, as if looking directly. “And I’ll set it straight, or die trying.” He pounded his chest lightly, and finished his ale without a word, tossing a few Minae on the counter and marched his way out.
