Comment by eoforyth

I am very concerned about the way Xira has been in the last couple of pages. He has been adept at distracting people, even without his powers and despite his relatively young age, but after a relatively minor assault (Jonan only grabs the headdress, never lays a finger on Xira or restricts him) he falls to pieces; he is cowering, he appears to be hyperventalating, he is begging with tears in his eyes for the people who have been relatively friendly to him not to reveal him, not to reject him (or worse). Just what has he gone through to make him react like this? It is typical of people who have been deeply abused at some point :(

Reply by Firebee

I mean, I feel it's safe to assume that being a witch, its par for the course to expect violent reactions. There's a lot of hatred and mistrust towards witches, so its probably really scary for some one to grab him and expose him like that. He only kind of knows these people, and while he might know enough to know they won't attack him further, he probably can't be sure they won't report him, which could lead to more violence from others.

Reply by Threnodi

If he's turned in he'll be forced to get that witch tattoo on his face too, so even if the party isn't likely to outright attack him, he's facing the very real possibility of being permanently marked, and losing any chance of a life as a merchant. He said something like that in the side material I think, about who's going to trust a person trying to sell you something that can nudge your mind?

I don't know if he's had bad experiences in the past, but it seems like there's a lot worth being terrified of already.

Reply by Shweta Narayan

Agreed but his reaction seems traumatized to me 😞

Terror doesn't always go with this kind of helplessness. Though, he is v young; maybe he just doesn't have coping strategies for things going wrong yet?