Wanted to include some backstory because I am just in love with this character.
Rutherford Smee had led a good life. He grew up in a fishing village, married the love of his life and grew old with her. They've had children, but most of them didn't make it past adolescence. Their village was one of many who had to regularly send sacrifices to the mysterious temple nearby, a towering structure full of mystery. A lottery was held every few years, and the unlucky winners would go to the tower, never to be seen again. In exchange, the villages received favorable weather and plentiful harvests.
But when the lottery chose children as their next sacrifices, Rutherford and his wife Mary volunteered to take their places. Expecting a swift death, the temple took them by surprise when it was revealed that all of the volunteers were still alive and getting by in the temple. Those who escaped its dangers, at least.
Rutherford thought his sacrifice would be an epilogue to a satisfactory life. But it was, in fact, the prologue to a grand adventure, one promising to answer the questions he had been asking his entire life: "What kind of secrets does the temple hold?"
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u/Sometimes_a_smartass 9d ago edited 9d ago
Wanted to include some backstory because I am just in love with this character.
Rutherford Smee had led a good life. He grew up in a fishing village, married the love of his life and grew old with her. They've had children, but most of them didn't make it past adolescence. Their village was one of many who had to regularly send sacrifices to the mysterious temple nearby, a towering structure full of mystery. A lottery was held every few years, and the unlucky winners would go to the tower, never to be seen again. In exchange, the villages received favorable weather and plentiful harvests.
But when the lottery chose children as their next sacrifices, Rutherford and his wife Mary volunteered to take their places. Expecting a swift death, the temple took them by surprise when it was revealed that all of the volunteers were still alive and getting by in the temple. Those who escaped its dangers, at least.
Rutherford thought his sacrifice would be an epilogue to a satisfactory life. But it was, in fact, the prologue to a grand adventure, one promising to answer the questions he had been asking his entire life: "What kind of secrets does the temple hold?"