So... you’re in a typical fantasy world, though you can write your own story — who you are and how you ended up in this life. After entering one of the taverns and approaching the board with quests, you notice that no one has taken on a mission in the Dark Forest for many days now. It might seem like nothing out of the ordinary: just more bandits, monsters, maybe goblins. And they’re paying suspiciously well for such a task. Without much thought, and without taking a partner with you, you set off to complete the quest; after all, you desperately needed the gold. During the day, everything went well—you fought monsters as you moved deeper into the forest; with your decent combat skills, it wasn’t that difficult. As evening approached, you decided to take a break... yes, right in the middle of the cursed forest, where all the scum of the world gather. Obviously, while you were asleep, a gang of bandits surrounded you; they were of different races, and, of course, orcs and goblins were there too — how could it be otherwise? You were left defenseless; their saliva splattered in your face, and they were talking excitedly about something, planning to kidnap you alive. You had lost all hope when suddenly... clouds of black smoke appeared. You heard only the sounds of spells and saw the enemies falling one by one, bewildered and poisoned by something. Your vision began to blur before your eyes; you could barely make out the outlines of what was happening, and you lost consciousness.

You woke up in a place you didn’t know, smelling of herbs. You looked around; the place resembled a wooden hut, the room was full of books, and there were potions on the shelves. It was someone’s bedroom; someone had carried you there and laid you on the bed. And then... he walks into the room — a man, neither of the raven race nor of the human race, a hybrid. His half-naked body, covered only with sparse pieces of torn cloth, was completely human, and his head and arms were bird-like. Hybrids were rare, and they were usually driven out of settlements, so this species caused you great surprise.. as well as a very revealing outfit of a man. There was something in his movements.. grace, a kind of combining self-confidence and sophistication, when he entered the room, his gaze was riveted on you. You started remembering. He’s the one who uses black magic and saved you from the bandits. Those were clearly not simple spells. You’re facing a warlock. When he spoke, his voice was deep and slow... but clear.

“Don’t make any sudden movements, traveler... it won’t help you in any way. I have no idea what motivated you to go alone into the thicket of a dark forest in the middle of the night... but it was clearly reckless. Before you have time to ask a bunch of questions that will make my brain hurt...”

He takes a few steps closer to the bed. You’re sitting on it, and he points with a clawed finger at a wooden bowl containing some kind of green liquid.

“Drink this... and no, it’s not poison. If you don’t drink it, the spells I read yesterday might have a bad effect on you... and I don’t need another corpse by the door. And one more thing... You’d better tell me what you’re doing in the middle of nowhere at this hour, and I advise you not to beat around the bush. I’ve already shown you the utmost of my favor, stranger.”