( First off, writing this story together with you all is great!   Second, as I am a Mac Panther user that means I cannot visit the game for now it seems. I will do my best to continue here anyway, although I might be lacking specific area or NPC knowledge from time to time. )


"Uhm..." Gorwen felt his face starting to blush for some reason, which annoyed him. "I don’t think she is... We have been to the sewers and are in need of a bath. Or so they tell us." The boy made a short pause before continuing. "Nice to meet you, sir. Is it ok that we wash ourselves here?"

Gorwen felt more insecure the more he spoke and decided to be quiet instead. He never was that great with speaking, especially not around strangers. At first he would be rather quiet, not knowing what to say. Then when he finally came up with something it usually sounded quite pointless as in not going anywhere so he would go back to being quiet again.

Looking at the boy, few would guess that Gorwen was the son a talented weaponsmith and a respected commander of animals. That his grandfather was a renowned fighter, or had been, a master of both sword and axe but even more skilled with the more difficult but also very powerful flail. Gorwen’s father’s father used to say, that what Sasheena couldn’t tame, simply wasn’t born yet.

The boy himself had never been that physically strong. His childhood had for several reasons turned out to be one of much reading and studying. His parents had wanted him to become more than they were, they said. Gorwen had never really understood what they meant, his mother and father were the best people he could ever imagine. He had picked up on some of their more practical skills too over the years though, perhaps more than his parents realized.

The dermorian wondered if this librarian Jayose could answer what the symbols engraved on the leather meant. Gorwen looked briefly at Aerianna, who seemed to be such a nice person. He was starting to think that he had been lucky to happen to meet her. Then and there, he decided that he would ask her about the symbols even before showing them to this Jayose or anyone else.

All of a sudden, noises were heard from some sort of commotion downstairs. Gorwen froze as his first thought was of the man in black from the tavern.

A black magic assassin! It had to be something like that! Just his luck, odd people everywhere and now they were after him.

Gorwen came out on the second story balcony - and continuing up the outside stairs to the roof he looked inside the leather he had received. He didn’t know what he would have thought it to contain, yet what he found surprised him.

It was a small, polished, very detailed metal... rat, with curved tail clinging around it and all. The dermorian almost stopped dead in his tracks. He also noticed that the inside of the leather wore letters - or symbols - but rushing onward he didn’t have the time nor the concentration needed to even try to figure out their meaning right now.

As the boy made it up to the roof he looked around. Over at the other end of the building he could see a woman seemingly admiring the city. Gorwen ran over to her, to ask her for aid, when he looked to his sides. On the right his keen eyes detected stairs leading down into the ground. That could be the sewers then, a place to flee for safety! If only he could get back down. Gorwen looked around - and saw the wooden elevator to his other side.

The boy jumped onto the platform, almost tipping over the edge from the speed and force, and in a state of panic he tried to figure out how the thing worked. Platform, ropes, pulleys, schackles - but no movement despite his efforts.

There was only one thing to do. The man of oncoming doom could be up here any moment. Without looking down, the dermorian quickly produced his father’s sword and cut the ropes! The platform plunged to the ground and Gorwen braced himself for the impact that was to come.

( Please join in. The more the better as to make an interesting and hopefully dynamic story! )


"Thank you", Gorwen smiled as he left the nice enkidukai woman. They had crossed the plaza together and for that he was grateful. This big area and all the people made him feel insecure.

As the dermorian made it up the stairs he intensly looked for the next set of stairs that was supposed to be there. And they were. Great, he wouldn’t have to ask for directions again right now, he hoped. Gorwen’s fingers ran through the black hair. His mother had wanted him to cut it shorter before he left, but he liked it at this shoulder length. As the stairs made a turn he looked out over the city, not noticing the oncoming group of people.

All of a sudden, humans, dwarves and diaboli rushed past him and around him. The clinging of metal, the harsh voices, the muscular bodies and scarred faces - Gorwen almost fell over from being startled. His hand immediately went for the hilt of the sword, knuckles turning white from the grip.

Just as sudden as they had appeared, just as sudden they were gone down the stairs. Gorwen remained frozen where he stood, still shaking. So many people, he thought. Why am I even here? But he knew why. He slowly continued on legs he almost couldn’t feel now.

"You can do anything that you set your mind on", Gorwen heard his grandfather’s voice in his head. The boy wished that the reassuring old man had still been alive. But he had fallen in battle.

As Gorwen passed by two armored guards, they eyed him closely. Apparently everyone could tell that he was lost. But the boy wouldn’t be discouraged. He would honor his grandfather and he would make his parents proud of him. He would make something of himself! With new found courage Gorwen entered the tavern, quickly looking around and setting aim for the bar.

"There is no need for them pointy things in here", someone said.

Gorwen looked in the direction of the voice. A dwarf sat on a bench, back against the wall, and held a large mug in one hand and seemed to be trimming his beard with the other. The boy realized that he had actually drawn his father’s shortsword, and that he was still holding it as if expecting a fight. No wonder the guards had watched him! Gorwen quickly sheathed the sword again, feeling utterly stupid and blushing.

"My apologies", he said, wanting to sink through the wooden floor.

"There is no need for apologies either", smiled the dwarf and went back to focusing on the drinking.

Gorwen could hear a woman’s voice from the other end of the room asking the dwarf if he had had a rough day.

"No rougher than usual", the dwarf replied.

Gorwen went over to the barkeep, greeted her and asked for a drink. A not so strong drink.

"The name’s Allelia", the woman said. "If you happen to use that sword to clear out the sewers sometime, I would be interested in buying what you might get from the beasts down there. Hmm, no hides though, can’t do much with those."

Gorwen found the joke kind of funny and laughed. It did relieve his tension some and made him feel better. When he looked back at the barkeep, he realized by the frowning look on her face that... But why would a tavern need pieces from rats and things he thought?!

"Well now, wouldn’t you like to know?" Allelia winked at the boy as if she had read his mind.

Gorwen looked down into the mug. What was he drinking? He decided he had to sit down for a bit.

New in town. No friends by his side. No family there to support him. He knew no one here. For the first time in his life, he was on his own.

Gorwen looked around. People were hurrying past him as he stood in the shade under the trees, observing everyone and wondering where to start. He knew why he was here, but that didn’t mean that he knew where to go. The dermorian was small and looked weak, he was not physically strong. The heritage from his ancestors was of another nature.

The boy amazed before the grandness of this city, was a boy also strong of will and determination. Because of his gentle build he could move fast with good reflexes. He could only hope that would help him here just as it had in the past. He was thinking that he would need all the abilties nature had put within him to make anything of himself in this busy place.

Hydlaa. He had heard about her all his life. The city was so big, he never imagined that its magnitude would be so overwhelming. He could see the great plaza and the enormous temple on the other side. People everywhere. He had never been that good with crowds and gatherings.


"Take this steel with you, my son", his father Bodarc had said before he left home. "It is one of the best swords I have made, but don’t let your pride get you like it got your grandfather. Steel is grand, it can be great. But so can your foe be. Never underestimate what you face."

Gorwen’s sister had teased him during the whole time of preparations for his leaving, telling Gorwen he would be eaten by this and that and never return since he would be at the end of Gobbler claws and Tefusang teeth. Until the day he left. On that day, she cried so much she couldn’t even speak. Gorwen’s mother had to tear her daughter away from him so he could go.

"You will always know someone’s true nature by looking them in the eyes", his mother Sasheena said. "Be it animal or a person, it is the eyes that tell who is true and who is false, who commands and who follows."


Gorwen hesitated but finally left the safety of the trees. He stepped out into the street and wondered where to go. He slowly started off down the wide stone stairs towards the plaza. He almost couldn’t breathe.