I walked in and a small man pointed me towards the back of the room. Upon approaching the bed I saw my father laying,
quiet. I touched him tentatively and said, "father?" Nothing. "Father?" I said again. His eyes fluttered a little, then opened
themselves and fixed on me. I looked down at his chest where a large bandage had been wrapped around. The thing was
absolutely soaked through in blood. He winced, then spoke softly to me, "Whereís Sestus?" I told him that Sestus was
currently out at the barracks in Sevame training to join in the Black Wolves as I had a few years back. After I said that, he
looked up towards the ceiling and sighed. I knew he was upset but Sestus couldnít help being so many miles away. My father
sighed again and said to me "You know this is the way I told you it would end." I nodded and began to swell up with emotion.
"Leave, anywhere but here; I donít want this to happen to you." I nodded again. "Take my quarterstave, find Sestus and get
outÖ" he was beginning to trail off. His eyes closed and I was pushed away from his bed as men began to feed him some sort
of herb. I walked out frustrated and distraught.
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"Sestus, this if for you," the messenger said. I grabbed the letter and opened it anxious to hear what my brother had sent me. It read:
Sestus, our father has passed away. It was as he feared and he wants us to leave soon. Hurry back from Servame to home.
We have to packÖ.
In a way I expected this letter, but I couldnít read anymore of it. I grabbed my bags and told my commanding officer the news
of my father. After being excused I started to walk back to home.
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"Sestus!" I exclaimed.
"Amose," he replied with as much enthusiasm. We hadnít seen each other for six months and the fact of our father
passing away made the reunion less than spectacular. With as much gear as we could carry we set out towards Vetallun. After
a long, arduous journey we reached the small town. Our father had married an Iridinian woman and with no family existing in
Altene anymore we had originally set out for Iridine, in search of a remnant of our motherís family. Since a young age our father
had been training us, instead of attending a camp, in the ways of staves. Our father had led the Black Wolves for 4 years before
he was finally invited to serve for the current Tuchean king. As we quietly headed towards Iridine we walked through a
seemingly still forest. Suddenly, eight of the ugliest men jumped from hiding out of the tree ahead of us. "Your goods, now!" the
leader exclaimed. Already infuriated my brother drew his stave. I raised my hand at him. "Let us pass," I said to the man. After
that the man whistled and his men approached us. Drawing my stave I swung it around at one manís head. It hit him on the side
of the face knocking his neck around, breaking it. Sestus aimed his stave at another manís legs, knocking him down. When the
man fell Sestus was on him with a dagger which he used to slice the manís throat. I kicked the next man in the gut and snapped
down at him with my stave, knocking him to the ground, incapacitated. The rest of the band fled as we were left with the
leader. "Good fighters" he said and ran off.
==========================================================================
Throwing the bodies in the river, Amose and I walked off towards Iridine, now only a few miles away. Having reached the famous Stone
Toga Inn, we asked around if any jobs were open. A man who had been tortured what seemed like a thousand times
whispered to me that a certain Leda was in need of staves trainers for her new customers. Now setting out for this Leda we
met her not far from the Toga. "Amose, Amose! Where are you going??" I said. He replied "I wonít trade my fatherís secrets
for money!" and stormed off. Apologizing to Leda for my brotherís behavior I worked out a schedule of when I would help
Leda train new staves hopefuls. Surprisingly, Leda who is not Altene, was a very well experienced staveswoman.
==========================================================================
Stumbling off furious at my brother, I fell into a bar with a funny person named Pego. Ordered a beer and sat back, wondering why I had left
my Altene. Sestus walked in covered in sweat. "Give you a run around eh?" I said sarcastically to him. He just grunted and sat
in the seat next to me. "Letís head towards the baths, I hear they are nicer than Vetallunís," I smirked at him. After a nice long
hot bath we headed towards the Toga inn in search of a place to stay. "Sorry I am all full up," was what the man said and we
walked off a little depressed into the common room. There was a slender looking man with a funny mustache sitting across the
bar talking to a group of girls. He looked up and said something I couldnít understand. I blinked at him and he said it again in
common tongue, "What happened to your forehead?" I replied that we had been attacked in a forest at which point he grunted.
"Cursed bandits are always attacking our town. They are working for the damned Cinners now!" I told him we killed them in
self-defense and he cut into my excuse, "You can kill em all you want. They are outside of the walls and are a nuisance to the
Republic."
==========================================================================
"Guess he wonít need this then," I said to Amose. I produced a chest and tore the lock off with my hands. Upon opening the
chest I saw some shiny stones and a few gold coins. Just then, a man ran through and grabbed the chest from my hands! A tall
man walked through wearing a bronze medallion and yelled something at the thief. The thief disregarded it and ran towards the
door where he was met with a well-placed swing from Amoseís stave. The man fell backwards into the constableís arm
incapacitated. The mustached man said to both of us "You can kill bandits, but not thieves." Then through his arms up in
despair. "I suggest you donít do that anymore and let the constables take care of them." I replied "Alright, as long as they donít
mess with us."
==========================================================================
Having nothing more to talk about we headed out the door and towards the forest. "Why we headed back Amose?" I replied,
"Those bandits are pretty wealthy, letís make a few coins." And we walked towards a forest some distance offÖÖ