He was seated on a bench in a backwater tavern that smelled of cheap booze, bodily fluids, burnt meat, and acrid piss.
Wearing a grey tunic with sandals and a scarf around his neck, he spoke eloquently, entrancing all those who dared to listen to him speak.
With a head full of gray hairs and a beard of similar shade, one would think him old but the lack of wrinkles said otherwise.
He was a healthy young man, but most importantly, he was wise.
His brown eyes, though basic, seemed to hide great truths.
It caused many to believe he was cursed by knowledge during the event known as the Baptism.
Some thought him to be a prophet to some newborn deity, but the vast majority saw him simply as a man on a mission to spread hope, hence the reason they called him Elpis.
It was perhaps the first time Alex didn't need to give himself a name.
