Entering Adulthood

You slowly close the diary you were looking at. The hustle and bustle of the city outside shakes you from your thoughts. Memories of a childhood fade from your mind as you glance out the window as horses and carts fill the street and children filter in and out of the stalls. Today marks the Nation's annual festival, honouring the gods and the harvest of the year, which coincidentally lies on your birthday.

"John are you awake?"

A voice rings out from the kitchen the small house carrying the sound down the short hallway and through the curtain that separates your room from the rest of the house. That wonderfully harsh voice ringing out belongs to your mother Alana. At just 40 years old she had you when she was just 22 and the man who she thought would be the love of her life vanished before you were even born.

Sliding the curtain open you make your way down to the kitchen, the wooden floorboards creaking with each step, your {if game:strength <= 3}gentle{elseif game:strength <= 5}light{else}moderate{endif} frame still bending the wooden boards, you've been thinking of replacing them but money's just been too tight to spend on things like creaky boards. As you arrive at the kitchen your nose is affronted by the strong earthy tones of leather. gauntlets, shinguards, helmets and other adventuring armour lays strewn around the kitchen, which doubles as a working space for the family business.

Leather Working was a humble profession people from all walks of life would stumble through the city in need of new armour, long hours working away at the leather has turned the house into a mess of tools and parts. Alana sits by the edge of one of these tools carefully punching holes into what will soon become a leather chestplate. Her flowing blonde hair pools around her shoulders and her pale skin almost glistens in the morning sunlight that streams through the house's one and only window.

"John finally you're up, Jess was just here earlier. She wants to go to the market with you. I think she already left, maybe you can catch up if you're quick."

Jess was your best friend through all of your childhood, when her parents passed away during your mother took her in under her wing, Jess was unlike any other girl you'd met and you quickly became inseperabl. long days and nights exploring the city and the secrets it had to tell.