Heh. Why hello there. Glad to see you made it to the shop. Not a theif are ya? *Laughs* Glad to hear it, have a seat.
Know anything about the art of 'smithing? Ah.. then yer better off then I thought. If ya need training or advice, just let me know.
I'm always around, even if it's not in here with ole Apula.
So, where ya from? Tha safelands? Not many of yer type in here. I've been through there some, not a bad place. Sorta dry for
my taste but not bad.
Me? *Grins broadly* I proudly hail myself from Gadaene. You probably don't know much about the place. Nat many did.
*Chuckles*
How old is a fella like you that wants to spend all their time here with Apula?
Eighteen eh? Not bad, my grandaughter Falinia is only seventeen. *Winks*
How old am I? *Roars with laughter* Older den tha hills I'm afraid.
So, tell me son, what brings you here to Iridine?
*Nods as he listens to the young boy finish up his story* Many people feel the same way.
*Stops suddenly at the young boy's question and considers for a second* Ahh.. Nat many people know my story son. I
suppose... *gazes about* If you can keep a secret I'll tell ya.
*Clears his throat* Now.. Don't go sqealin' on me.. My wife doesn't even know this story. *Sighs ruefully*
Anyhow, I was born to a fairly normal family, and I had one brother. He's about six years older than me. Anyhow, well, wait. I
suppose my family wasn't so ordinary. You see, son, my father was a Cineran... He had met a girl and had had a child with her
in Cinera. Thing is though, that when he went to test his skills in the fighting dirk contest, he lost! Well, of course he couldn't
stay with all the gruff he would get for losing the fight so he wandered off and finally settled in Gadaene with his son. Well,
needless to say he met a younger girl who soon became his wife. About 5 years later, I was born.
Now, my father wasn't always a mean man. Heck, I remember lots of times when I would go out and play fight with him as a
young child. My father fought in the Gadaene army you see... He was fairly high in rank too. Near the end... *sighs wistfully*
Anyhow, I'll come to that later. Now ya see, my older brother, Odioes, was a pretty kean gladsman. He could wallop just
about any boy in our neighborhood. When I turned eight I learned how he had become so good, and so rich.
On my birthday he lead me to a small store which had been abandoned by it's owner. He handed me the a lit lantern and
pushed me through the door.
As I watched, he quickly tapped a drover on the shoulder and pointed to the room in which I was standing. The drover smiled
at my brother and came into the room to see what was the matter. With a sick grin on his face, my brother leaped into the room
and slammed the door shut.
"Grab your Glad Will," He ordered me. I had always respected my brother and, never wishing to disobey him, I wielded the
fine alanti Glad in my right hand. Nervously, I watched as my brother approached the man with deadly intent in his eyes.
Gazing in my direction he ordered that I follow suit.
Gulping, I did as I was told. He began his attack, slowly slashing at the legs and thighs, hoping to keep him alive as long as
possible for the practice. Sickened as I was, I did as I was ordered and, after a while, the poor man fell dead to the floor.
Sobbing quietly I asked my brother why we had done such a horrible thing.
Snarling, he stared at me and replied, "It's good practice kid, and that's the way we do things here."
Quickly he grabbed the dead man's pouch and emptied it's contents into his backpack.
Finally softening he gazed at me and said, "Listen Will, times are rough. You gotta work hard at what you do, and this is how
you can become a good fighter. That's only one part of it though. Soon I'll teach you how to slit peoples pouches without them
noticing. It'll take work but it pays off in the end." With that, he reached down, and removing the boots from the drover's body,
tossed them to me. "Here," He said with a sigh, "Go sell these to the leather lady down the street. She pays a cent for each
pair."
From then on my life was nothing but training with my brother. I soon too became one of the best fighters in our area. I became
hard. Too hard. But not hard enough to ignore my father.
At this time he had become well attached to the drink. Ale was his love, and his life. Often he would beat my mother.
Something that drove me and my brother closer and closer to the brink of insanity. Then one night, it happened.
He was drunk, again, and me and my brother had just gotten back from our daily routine. Steal some from the workers, attack
and kill the drovers and patties, then sell our goods at the days end. We both sighed at the smell of ale that was still thick in the
air. The pig was asleep near the mantle, as was custom by now. But this time somethign was different, something was horribly
wrong.
My mother, my poor innocent mother was lying a few feet away, unconscious and bleeding. I screamed at the sight and went to
see what was wrong. Blinded with tears I dragged her out and to the nearest healer. Since we lived in such a small area it
wasn't hard to find one out and about, doing their rounds.
"WILL! WILL COME HERE NOW, BOY!"
My brother was yelling at me. At all times I thought and I silently cursed his rotten hide. Angrily I ran inside our house to see
what was the matter.
My brother began to shower me with questions concerning our mother. Something though drew my attention away from his
angry words.
HIM. His stinky form lying there next to the mantle, breathing heavily with that cursed bottle of ale in his hands. I couldn't stand
him, or what he was doing to my mother. I HATED him. I wanted him dead, I thought to myself. But then, I wasn't innocent
anymore. I had killed, and killed plenty, why should this night be any different.
Determined I turned and said to my brother, "We can stop him. We can stop this from ever happening again. He is in a drunken
sleep and won't wake until the morning. Everyone esle is concerned with our mother. Let us stop this bastard while we have the
chance, brother. Are you with me?"
An evil grin slid over his face as I drew my speech to a close. Nodding he grabbed onto his Glad. I did the same and we both
approached.
*Wipes tears from his eyes briefly* You see son, I was overcome with anger and pent up anger and hate for this man... To
make a long story short, me and my brother both took our anger out on him that night.
We dragged him to a near-by invex and threw his dead body in. Approaching the town, we hid our glad's and went to see our
mother.
She was now awake, and looked much better.
"Mother," Spoke my brother, "I swear to you that this will never happen again."
She smiled her sweet smile and beckoned us forward. As we leaned down to comply with her demands she kissed us both on
the cheek. "I love you boys, My sweet innocent boys."
Needless to say we both wept mightly then. Sadly, this was the last night that I would ever see my mother.
My brother went to tend to supper as me and my mother sat in the family room and chatted. Suddenly there was a burst of
noise and the shouts came clearly through the night.
"THE SOSTAERANS ARE COMING!! THE RAIDING PARTIES ARE BACK! EVERYONE CLEAR OUT!!"
Another raiding party had come. This time though, they caught us at just the wrong moment. Everyone was worrying over my
mother and no one had even thought to be on guard. The raiding party was too close to our town to even begin to run.
I choked on my emotions but quickly spit out the the story of my days to my mother. She listened, and forgave me and my
brother for all the awful things that we had done.
"No matter what," She said with her soft sweet smile, "You are still my little boy, and one day you will be a strong Gadaene
soldier and you will take over your fathers place in the army."
She was perfect to the end.. She never blamed my father for what he had done, or me and my brother for all of our sins.
*Chuckles softly* She was the most wonderful woman alive. She did so much, and gave so much for the most horrible people
in Midlight. *Rests his head in his hands and sighs*
After she said that the raiding party broke into our house. She screamed for us to run, and told us to stay together. I never
wanted to see Odioes' stupid face again though, so I ran through the back door.
I heard him call for me all night long, as I hid in the forest. But he never found me, and he never will.Sobbing in the cold
Gadaene air I swore that I would never pick up a glad again. Nor would I steal for the rest of my days.
When day broke I walked back inside our house. My mother's body was there, so I gave her a proper burial, as I saw best. I
placed flowers onear her grave and walked back into my house. I took what I needed, a backpack, a few sacks, a sagum, and
some food rations. I had no idea where to go, or what to do. So, I wandered.
For most of my life I wandered around Midlight. I found enough jobs to keep me from starving and I learned all I could. One
day though, as I searched for a place to sleep in a town called Iridine, something stopped me from ever leaving again.
*Smiles briefly at the memory* Her name, was Pulchra. As I look for a bed I slowly walked into Apula's Riverside Lock Shop
where I knew that I wouldn't be turned down to rest my head there. And there she was, the most beautiful woman alive, along
with Corran and Ruttinger.
Pulchra smiled at me and taught me a little about locksmithing. Then, Corran took notice of me and asked me if I wanted some
footwear. I said sure, I had left my last pair of sandals near the bank of the river while I took a bath.
"Boots, or sandals?" He asked. I told him that boots would be great if he could spare them. I told him that I would pay him
back for his donation and he said that it wasn't needed. Being the man I am, I couldn't just let him give me something for nothing
in return but he refused. Then the oh so beautiful Pulchra had to sleep. Shortly after, Ruttinger left and Corran went to sleep
also.
Thus began my life in Iridine. A kind sould gave me two lockpicks and I worked my way up to practiced. Then late one night,
she walked in again.
Well, needless to say I fell in love with this wonderful woman, and to make another long story short, she is now my wife. ;)
Anyhow, throughout my travels of Iridine I became an outstanding locksmith with hopes of soon becoming outstanding in
Unjamming.
Heh. Anyhow, son. Just remember who to call when you need training or advice. I'll be around.
*Stretches lazily* Oh, and one other thing. All I ask of yas is that you stay outta my window. I think I earned me seat. ;)
*Stands ups, waves, and heads for the door.*