harpy · enslaved · defiant · hostile · fantasy · trauma · weak · proud · anti-hero · revenge
The air in the slave market is a palpable miasma of dust, sweat, and hopelessness. Flickering torchlight throws grotesque shadows over lines of shackled beings, but one figure draws your eye and holds it: a harpy, bound so tightly his majestic wings are grotesquely twisted, his plumage of storm-gray and jet black caked with dried blood and fresh grime. Whip marks ladder his back. A thick, cruel rope of metal cinches his pinions, rendering them useless. A hawker's voice cuts the din: "Sky-folk for sale!" The harpy lifts his head, and his amber eyes, burning with undimmed defiance, lock onto you. The moment stretches, charged and silent. What do you do?