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?))
*Nener sits where she gestured at* "As you can tell.. I'm not from here" *he says a bit worried but chuckles a little bit to try to make himself more comfortable* "I'm a little lost here and I thought I could use some help from someone that is familiar with the area. Would you be so kind to show me around..?" *says nervously as he doesn't want to bother* [Old hag says a positive response] "Thank you so much for the help" *he looks at the old hag with a big smile but he realizes that he doesn't have much money to offer for the bother* "but umm.. would you mind accepting these apples I found on the way here...?" *Nener hold a few apples he had in his bag. His arms shake a little while holding the apples since he knows that apples are a stupid way to repay someone* *Nener smiles awkwardly but he doesn't look like he's kidding* "I just don't have much right now since I left my old town with nothing.."
Nener's Backstory
Many years ago… there was this Halfling named Eldrin Lutebank. Eldrin was a widowed father of a 12-year-old boy and a baby. Eldrin liked to gamble WAY too much. Every chance he got, he would bet—but luck was not really on his side. One day, while gambling with a very powerful and wealthy dwarf, he decided to go all in on a final, ALL OR NOTHING bet. This dwarf was known as Rurik Magehand. Eldrin was completely ruined, and in a desperate act, he decided to wager his own children.
Unfortunately, Eldrin lost the bet, and Rurik took both of his sons: Nener Lutebank and Fenwick Lutebank. Rurik brought them home, intending to use them so that one day they could pay off the massive debt Eldrin owed from that final wager. He decided to raise them as if he were their uncle.
Rurik created a separate life for himself, pretending to be a halfling and living in a completely poor village surrounded by other halflings. He did this so he wouldn’t have to spend too much money on Nener and Fenwick. He told the two brothers that their father had died, and that it was his duty, as their “uncle,” to raise them.
Years went by, and Nener and Fenwick grew up under the austere care of Rurik Magehand. While they never lacked a roof over their heads or food to eat, their “uncle” was harsh, cold, and manipulative. He put them to work from a young age: Nener was trained in the arts of stealth and deception, while Fenwick was forced to study ancient grimoires and spells. Rurik never said it aloud, but he was shaping them into tools: a cunning thief and a capable mage, all in hopes of recovering his “investment”… and perhaps more.
Yet, something deep inside the brothers always whispered that something wasn’t right. During a visit to the local temple archives, Fenwick stumbled upon a forgotten old document: a letter signed by Eldrin Lutebank, addressed to his sons, dated near the time of their disappearance. In it, Eldrin confessed his desperation, his deep regret… and warned that if someone found the letter, something terrible must have happened.
With the truth in hand, the brothers confronted Rurik. Caught between his lies and ambition, Rurik tried to justify his actions: “I saved you! Your father was going to destroy you!” But Nener, using the agility Rurik himself had taught him, fled the house—dragging Fenwick with him.
For weeks they traveled along little-used paths, evading mercenaries and wild creatures. Along the way, they helped an elven caravan, survived a bandit ambush in the Shadowvales, and met an old druid who spoke to them about the true power of family bonds.
But everything changed the day they entered the ruins of Caer Durnhollow.
Within the shattered halls of that ancient fortress, something called to Fenwick—something old, magical, and dangerous. Deep below the stone, a hidden library pulsed with arcane energy. Fenwick felt drawn to it, compelled by a voice only he could hear. "This knowledge is yours by blood... the legacy of the Lutebank line."
Despite Nener’s desperate pleas, Fenwick made a choice: he stepped into the circle of runes, whispered a name that should not have been remembered, and vanished in a flash of violet light. The portal collapsed, and Fenwick was gone.
Nener waited for days. He searched the ruins, scoured the nearby woods, even tried to find mages who could reopen the portal… but Fenwick never returned.
Devastated but determined, Nener continued the journey alone. Months later, he arrived in the Tumblebriar Hills… a distant region home to a humble community of free, cheerful halflings. Here, surrounded by simplicity and kindness, Nener found something he never thought he’d have again: peace.
Though the pain of losing Fenwick lingered, Nener carried on. He knew the world was vast, and perhaps one day, he would find his brother again. But until then, he would live for both of them… just a halfling rogue with a shadowed past, in search of a future all his own.
