You’ve just arrived in a swampy, dim town. As you look around, your gaze is met with shacks and cabins. It smells of rotted wood and wet moss. You 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?))
“Madam, I’ve been travelling far to find a place where I won’t be ridiculed or hunted,” the short High Elf nods and sits across from the hag. “My mother’s just been killed by her family, and I’m running from them. I’ve never had a safe place to live; even being sent away for sixty-five years to a school didn’t necessarily mean no one would try to harm me.” She settles down in an angled position, having quick access to her weapons if needed.
“May I ask your name, Madam? Mine is Nedonia.” Nedonia offers a small smile to the old woman.
After the woman indicates whether she will tell the elf her name, Nedonia nods.
“I’ve not known my father nor where he went after having relations with my mother, and frankly, I don’t care what happened to him. He left my mother to deal with her family once they found that she was pregnant, that she fell pregnant by another breed of elf,” she gives a huff of air that could be construed as disgust. “He left me-” her eyes raise to meet the woman, “- to deal with people that starved and mistreated me for thirty years until they sent me away. I’m pretty lucky I managed to teach myself to read and write in one of the Common tongues before I was sent.” Nedonia gives a rueful smile, both hands resting on the table between them. She waits for the old woman to reply, or ten seconds if she doesn’t.
“I was there until I turned ninety-five; I’ve no idea why they kept me for so long or even why I was there in the first place. When I returned to my mother and her family, my mother was incredibly sick,” she took a deep breath. “It was very odd until I saw her family getting excited as she got sicker. They poisoned her while I was gone. They wanted the disgraceful daughter and her child gone. So I left; I had to leave my mother there since she was too weak to travel far. She gave me her old dagger and an old suit of armour. I’ve lost the armour. That much is quite obvious.” She casts a cursory glance at her outfit, the chiffon worn from the weeks in the elements. She sighs.
“I’m looking for a new home and some new clothes. Do you know anywhere I might be welcome?”
