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?))
Gadriel Sterling slowly sat without a word escaping his tongue, eyeing the woman in front of him. He took out the costrel from his pouch and sipped a mouthful of water before he began speaking.
"I came from a town a few days from here seeking for work and a better life than the one I have back home." He muttered as he capped his drinking pouch.
The woman continued to stare at Gadriel, expecting more answers than questions. Trying hard to withhold information, he finally gave up a sigh of defeat as he couldn't hold out much longer.
"My mother and father were loving towards me and my brother, and I have no shortage of gratitude towards them. However, they take things a bit too far, a bit controlling perhaps." He said as he stared blankly towards her eyes, not wanting to feel any sort of sympathy from the stranger, before looking down at the ground.
"They want me to be something I never wanted, and I escaped from my home before they can even force my hand to do so." He muttered with anger but with a very subtle hint of regret and loneliness.
The old hag eyed him cautiously. "What do you want to be?" She asked as he quickly lifted his head up. This is the one of the few moments when someone asked him what he actually wants, not what they wanted for him. His surprised look garnered a light snicker from the woman.
Deep in thought, he really had not thought about it deeply. He was too fixated on what his parents wanted for him he lost the sight of what he wanted to become.
"I- I do not actually know yet" He stuttered as he tried to think past beyond his conscious self. "I set out not knowing what I truly wanted for myself, but I intend to find my answers here." He added as he reminisced everything he went through. He is finally starting to have an idea of what he would want to do for himself and for everyone.
"I do not have any answers yet, but all I want is to be able to help someone in any way I am capable of. That's why I am here." He said with a newfound resolve on his face.
The hag smiled inside. He is but a speck of dust in the bigger picture of life, amongst other countless souls in this grim reality. Yet she saw a flicker in his eyes that may or may not provide a pivotal change in the world. Who knows what his story beholds for all of them?
"Interesting" The hag mumbled as she watched Gadriel exit the tent after excusing himself.
