A Land Far Away

I was angry, I admit. Angry at myself for getting caught. Angry at Thengdel for catching me. Angry at my family for rejecting me. Angry at the whole damn, lousy little orc-turd of a village for giving me the boot.

Looking back now it seems that I was reckless in those days, but perhaps the Dark Queen was even then pulling my strings and driving me to this recklessness and all the way to where I am now.

After I was shunned by the families in the Redleaf village, I wandered about a bit. I had no idea where to go and the familiar forest I'd grown up in suddenly seemed colder and less friendly than it had just days before.

So I wandered. Eventually I made it to the edge of the forest near a farmstead. A human farmstead. I summoned up my courage and as much of the human tongue as I remembered and went to the front door. The knock was answered by an elderly woman who seemed slightly agast at seeing an elf on her porch. I began weaving a dramatic tale about how I'd been robbed by bandits on the road and needed food and shelter for the night...

As I left in the morning I felt refreshed. A feeling of hope rushed through me as I looked through the valuables I had helped myself to in the old folks' residence. Not a bad harvest at all. I flicked the Tymoran coin I'd stolen into the air and it came up heads - South it was.

Towards the human town of Loudwater.

So I came to Loudwater. The place is bustling with activity and promise of fortunes to be made. I shed my family name and took on the surname "Sevell" instead. It's easier on the clumsy tongues of the humans.

I can hardly remember all the names and faces I saw in this place. It seemed that more adventurers were passing through there than the dripping dagger on the busiest day of the year. Most were dead within a week of arriving, but some remained and prospered. Gabriel, Dawn, Meriagrin, Marrak, Hoet and Locke names I recall, but there were countless others. Also I met a fellow by the name of Jarlen, whom I will return to later.

The whole area around Loudwater and Zelbross was plagued by bandits and I plied my woodslore and stealth to my advantage as a scout for many of the adventurous people traversing the area. Fighting came as a required skill when stealth failed my noisier companions in whatever group I was with at the time. My skill with the bow and light blades grew almost by the day as orcs, goblins and bandits all fell with increasing ease to me.

The general ineptitude of the bandits in the area begain digging at my mind as I saw how their business could be made so much more profitable with the right planning and guidance. And so I began to formulate a plan. A plan to take over the outlaw presence in The Vale Tower - just across from the Nighthunt Tavern - and with the blessing of Commander Kalahar run a mercenary service from there - keeping the roads safe and bandits and monsters in check.

The plan was of course to use the above as a front for the real illegal activities and to make some excellent coin from both the government in Llorkh and in Loudwater at the same time.

All I needed was some help and some trustworthy partners...

So it happend that I ran into an aquaintance I made on a brief trip to Waterdeep. A beautiful and mysterious woman known as Lady De Winter. We spoke a bit at the Nighthunt Tavern and during the conversation she revealed to me that the soft-spoken man named Jarlen De Rose, that I had met several times, was not as innocent in spirit as he was in demeanor.

I made up my mind to contact him for support when I next met him.

This happened not a week later. In Loudwater on a rainy night, I met Jarlen and his companion, Devin, at an inn. We discussed business matters, and I hinted at my scheme to take over the "gentleman racket" in the area. Jarlen was not uninterested in my scheme and we agreed to meet later at the Nighthunt.

My surprise was not slight when I found that Jarlen had a private room under guard at the Nighthunt tavern. I was invited in and we spoke of the business at hand. Never had I met a person whose mind so equalled my own in devious and meticulous thinking. He promised me the forces necessary to conduct my eradication of the bandit threat in the area as well as the manpower to keep a presence as we took over the various hideouts.

I then took him to The Vale Tower, which I had my mind set on making the home base of the operation. We killed the thugs inhabiting it presently and went to the very top to survey what we thought would be our dominion before long. The view from the top was magnificent. I could see all the way past Loudwater to the Delimbiyr Vale and all the way to the Graypeak Mountains on to the east. It would make a grand fortress indeed.

However things would not go as I had planned.

On a scouting trip I had found a relatively safe passage through the Graypeaks into the desert, and I returned to The Nighthunt tavern to record my findings for future reference when I learned two things: Disease had struck the area. Highly contagious and deadly and the local priests were fighting to keep it under control. And there was a letter for me - from Jarlen.

"Cael, my friend" he wrote. "I have a proposition for you. I need an extra man in my organization and would be glad if you would consider it. You will retain the rank of my lieutenant. Come to Waterdeep and we will discuss matters in detain. Your friend, Jarlen"

In light of the trouble with the illness in the area, I packed up my gear and headed to Waterdeep, The City of Splendors.