[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.cdn.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjY2LjFlODU0ZC5RVzVrY21WaElGQmxiR0Z6LjAAAAAA/andrade.swash.png[/img][/center]
[hr][hr]

[center][b][u]A Long Way From Home[/u][/b][/center]

Ardent’s Fall, the crown jewel of Astoria, was a beautiful sight to behold with the Ardent Festival coming into full swing, though that is if one ignores the slums. However, the sight of the grand gates of the city brought back sad memories to Andrea for it was through Ardent’s Fall that she came to Carthus nearly a year ago to pursue her trade. The city reminded her of how she yearned for her home and, at the back of her mind, a small bit of her wished to simply charter a boat and head back to see her aging father and mother. But she had more pressing matters to attend to, especially with the appearance of the glyph on her hand and risk of death.

Thus, Andrea pressed through the main gate of Astoria, though with many odd looks from the guards and checking that she wouldn’t cause any trouble. She had grown used to the strange glances, the stares and glares that some people gave her. It was only natural after all, she was taller than most people and had the typical traits of other tieflings, few commoners in Carthus had ever even heard of her kind let alone actually seen one. However, that only made her bids for contracts hunting mages or criminals all the more impressive. After all, hiring a ‘demon’ to hunt a mage seems all the more effective than hiring a regular person.

However, Andrea was soon distracted from her train of thought as she came into the plaza of Astoria. Having only arrived a year ago, not long after the last festival, she had never gotten to experience it, though she did hear of what a wonder it was. Yet the tales told by the common folk didn’t match up to what she saw before her, the sheer number of different kinds of people all packed into the plaza, the options presented before her much more numerous than she had first believed. Andrea looked around in wonder, silently taking in everything before her before she snapped to her senses. 

The letter had told her to come to the festival, enjoy it, and wait for the right time to open the letter that came with it. As mysterious as the statement was, she was not one to question a mysterious stranger who had branded her with something that would cause her death. With this in mind, she began to look through the myriad of stalls which lined the plaza. She was heavily tempted to buy something from them, though the costs were a bit steep for her tastes.