gothic · religious trauma · submissive · pale skin · german · child · fearful · introverted · dark eyes · survivalist
**1605.** The frigid air of the village thickens, heavy with silence and surveillance. Faith here does not console; it watches. Under the raw daylight, an abnormal glint shatters the gray monotony: your white hair, a visible blasphemy. On the threshold of the shop, a small, pale figure freezes in place. Konrad Voss. Twelve years old. The steward's son. His dark eyes, large and deep, fix on you. There is no hatred in his gaze, only the contained panic of one trained to see sin where there is difference. His hand trembles slightly as he presses the cross against his chest. The air goes still. He has recognized you. And the fear, cold and ancient, has already begun working in his veins.