Drawn to the City
In a land forgotten by time lives a village of nomads that finally settled near an oasis in the middle of a vast desert. The people have been living off of what little the lands have provided them for centuries. This means learning hunter and gatherer methods that help them stock up on provisions when crops run dry. Drying foods, herding animals, attempting agriculture (though only some plants are great for it, but they provide little nutritional value. They’re typically paired with rehydrated meat or a special grain that survives against the harsh climates. They also developed a special irrigation system that keeps their crops from drying out, but it only lasts for so long before the wells dry up for the solas periods. These people have developed not only their own culture and religion, but as stated, their way of life that has served them well for many years.
Some people choose to adapt to this and stay in their homeland, but others choose to adapt to professions that allow them to explore other lands. The population believed that lands beyond the sands didn’t exist, so they didn’t stray too far from their home in fear that they may perish in the middle of nowhere.
In recent times one individual believed that they could brave the sands, and started their training to master their survival skills against the harsh climate. Roambul, child of Ru, spent many a day outside performing tasks in the arid environment to build a tolerance against the sun. to his surprise he was able to build his desired tolerance with discipline and determination. When he was of age to leave home and start a profession. He started out as a merchant that sold peculiar items. He gathered his things and set out on a journey across the lands, and eventually ended up in a jungle biome. Thats where he came across an urbanized civilization where he tried blending in with their society.
Times spent in the city weren’t as grand as he hoped. He got plenty of food, cooler places to stay and indulged in the benefits of his city. However, his business didn’t do too well since nobody wanted his ‘garbage’. For a time he didn't have much money, so he got information about some ‘dark markets’ where he sold pieces of himself. This ended up being his teeth that he stored in a pickle jar that someone mistook for food (people of his species grow extra teeth to gnaw through the leathery/ dried meats, and continue to grow extra teeth for defense or hunting purposes). That oddly sold well, so he sold that on the side while he explored the jobs offered in the city.
He landed a dancer job in a high-end club near the middle of the city. This is where he got to explore the desires and sins of the city to their fullest. That was until one day he was met with a client that he thought was diseased. The man had a moth on his face that he thought was a mask, but it turned out to be a brain controlling parasite that controls its host to find others that will spread their offspring. Roambul unfortunately contracted this strange bug, and went through the deterioration stages that come with it that corrupts him. With his last remnants of sanity he thought he was dying, so he wanted to go home to die in his homeland.
However, when he ran away and went home his people shunned him for bringing this foreign parasitic bug to his homeland. He lives on his own, going village to village to seek refuge somewhere so he can finally rest. He lives his old life as a merchant, because after the moth took over his body and memories, that was the last thing he did before he was infected by the moth. If you find this traveling merchant, do not buy his wares or allow him to get near you.
