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.”
The candles flicker violently at my hesitation.
The old hag does not blink.
A slow smile splits her cracked lips.
“Infernis Horde…” she repeats, tasting my name like bitter wine. “An assassin who stutters. How delightfully human.”
The tent grows colder. The suspended candles tilt inward, their flames bending toward me as if drawn by something unseen.
“You smell of iron and smoke,” she murmurs. “Not just blood — but purpose.”
She leans forward, bones creaking beneath layers of tattered shawls.
“Assassins come here for three reasons,” she says, raising a crooked finger. “Revenge. Redemption. Or a contract too cursed to refuse.”
Her eyes narrow, swallowing what little light the candles give.
I don’t sit.
My fingers hover near the blade hidden beneath my cloak. Old habits. Necessary habits.
The swamp outside groans — water shifting, wood cracking, something unseen dragging itself through the reeds.
“So tell me, Infernis Horde… which is it?”
My jaw tightens.
“I don’t believe in redemption,” I say at last, my voice steadier now. “And revenge is messy.”
I step closer, boots silent on the damp earth floor.
“This is business.”
The cushion she gestures to twitches — no, breathes — and I ignore it.
“You said you were expecting me,” I continue, eyes locked on hers. “That means you know why I’m here.”
A faint heat curls in my chest — not fear.
Anticipation.
“So let’s skip the riddles, crone.”
My hand settles on the hilt of my blade.
“Who’s the target?”
I yapped but still you get the point
"Oh, I just, uh…" you stutter, tensing up. You eye the crone, then back outside the tent. For a moment, the air thickens with anticipation, until…
