itzmintii

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?)) Example: Taking in the scenery, Linnea looks around unsure whether she should leave or commit to the current conversation once having locked eyes with said hag. "To this town...? uh... great question, well you see my father committed a heinous crime while being mayor... I lost my home, and the village was burned to the ground. Does that answer your question...?" She said, now glancing away half regrettably. BACKSTORY: The daughter of a medium sized town mayor, the only child of the family, she was a girl with striking red hair. Her mother wasn't in the picture. Her father, Mayor Edric Rousseu was respected and feared in equal measure. The town prospered under his rule—trade routes stayed open, crops flourished, and bandits never reached the gates. No one questioned how such fortune lasted so long. No one except those who disappeared. The truth came out one day when a mass grave was uncovered beneath the old water channel. Dozens of bodies were found, marked with runes carved into bone and flesh. The investigation revealed something far worse than corruption: Edric had been kidnapping people from the poorest districts—orphans, debtors, travelers with no family—and sacrificing them in secret rituals. He believed the city itself was alive and hungry, and that feeding it blood would ensure the town's continued success. For years, he had performed these rites beneath the streets, hiding murder behind prosperity. When the crimes were revealed, the city erupted. Edric was dragged from his office, stripped of his title, and publicly executed. His name was cursed in the streets where statues of him once stood. The Rousseu estate was seized, its banners burned, and everything tied to the family was declared tainted. Linnea was sixteen. She had known nothing of the rituals, the tunnels, or the screams beneath the city she loved. None of that mattered. To the people, she carried her father’s face, his eyes, and therefore his guilt. Former friends crossed the street to avoid her. Others shouted insults, calling her “little butcher.” and other such foul names. Guards escorted her to the city gates and told her never to return. With no money and no protection, Linnea was forced into the wider world. She learned hunger, cold, and fear quickly. Inns turned her away once her name was known. Some people recognized her eyes and whispered. Others tried to use her, believing a fallen noble girl had no worth left to defend. Soon, she arrived in Azura's. Praying no one knew who she was, in hopes of starting a new life.