Your character has just arrived in a swampy, dim town. As they look around, their gaze is met with shacks and cabins. It smells of rotted wood and wet moss. They 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?))
"Me? Well it's not a particularly thrilling story miss." Rita takes another look around her and then back at the woman- no threats that she can see and rather she's been on the road alone for too long to not take the chance to talk to another and sits down in the tent, "I'm a bit of a adventurer I suppose, I left home about two years ago. The isles of Nevaehlen, I lived in a little house not too far from the beaches. Not the best place for a storm but nothing beats the early morning sun hitting the waves." Despite her fondness there is a tinge of sadness in her tone. "My daughter would wake me up at dawn, always so full of energy. I had her when I was 19 which was too young but there was a boy and well he wasn't the one for me but he's-he was a good father to her. Chiara was her name.'
She took a deep breath and looked down at the ground"I don't know why I'm telling you this, maybe I've been holding it in for too long... She had her father's eyes this blue that reminded me of the early evening sky and her hair was just like mine. 8 years, that's all we had together." Her palm held a now faded tattoo of the vines of Cerridwen as she caressed it while looking down at her . In contrast her opposing wrist was encased by an ouroboros-like symbol "She got sick three years ago and I tried everything I could and it still wasn't enough. I got mean, not initially it didn't hit me until the funeral, I think I was numb and then sad and then I saw her laid out on that raft and it took all my effort to push it into the water because that meant well and truly she wasn't gonna pop up that next morning and wake me up."
"I turned my back on the gods when she didn't, I got so angry. Eight years was all I got when it was supposed to be hundreds. I didn't understand what I'd done wrong." She clenched her hands together it looked like she was crushing the branches inked into her palm. "I tucked myself away in that house until her father came to talk to me, I was so wrapped up in losing her I forgot I wasn't the only one who was grieving."
Shame colored her voice as she spoke "I hurled insults at him, I wanted to be left alone and in return he went silent. Ciarán always managed to get under my skin with just a disappointed look but he just looked exhausted that day. He waited until I ran out of breath and told me 'If our daughter saw you now she'd turn away and run' then he left." Rita finally looked up at the woman who'd been listening to her "When everyone was asleep I stepped out onto the beach and looked at the water where my daughter returned to earth and I swear I could feel her disappointment, I lost my path and I let my grief consume me and I couldn't-I can't live like that anymore." She unclasped her hands and presented her tattooed wrist to the woman "I asked for it to be done, I think regardless If I asked it would've been done, i've failed not only her but everyone around me and myself and for a little bit I tried to atone for that there but- It was hard and I recall she use to ask about far off lands away from the isle and so I left, packed what I needed, decided that I can do a lot of good out here and find my balance again."
"Sorry that was rather depressing wasn't it? I promise my stories are not just all doom and gloom but I figured when you meant 'tell me your story' you'd want the why it's even started. How about I tell you when I finally was off the boat from home I kept tripping for days." She tried to smile as she spoke of happier memories.
