G1NG3X

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?)) Zarvok let out a low hum, squintin’ at the old crone with one brow raised afore he gave a shrug and eased himself down onto the cushion. His purple eyes roamed the room slow-like. “Waitin’ on me, huh? Well, that sure ain’t no coincidence,” he said with a crooked grin, tiltin’ his head a bit as his gaze landed square on the crone. “Name’s Zarvok,” he went on, tappin’ his chest with a calloused thumb. “I hail from a ways off-real far place, not even sure it’s on most maps no more. Ma and Pa, they were miners, same as me… ‘least they were, till that cave-in took ‘em.” His voice dipped a touch, but stayed steady. “Weren’t nothin’ I could do. Lost ‘em both that day.” He shifted a bit, rubbin’ his hands together slow. “But afore they passed, Ma told me a thing I ain’t never forgotten. Said I had a brother out there older’n me, taken away when he was still a babe. Some hush-hush business, nothin’ they ever talked about till the end. Told me if I ever got the chance, I oughta find him. Said it like it mattered more than anything.” He looked up then, somber-like. “So now I carry that with me.” “Figured I’d best try and make a new life for myself, y’know? So I came out here, to Aevos. I’m headin’ toward Norland, truth be told. Heard of a place called House Paravel out that way. Got me a benefactor, Siofra, or Sofie, somethin’ soft-soundin’ like that. She’s a teacher, I reckon. Said she’d take me in a while, help me get my boots under me.” Zarvok scratched at his jaw, chucklin’ under his breath. “Was hopin’ to find some place called Nor’valeth, but turns out that’s all dust and stories now. So, reckon I’ll try my hand at learnin’ a thing or two. Academy life, who woulda guessed?”