Sarid

(Here goes the improvisation.)

*In a nearby town a few days before the event that nearly cost Giselle her life*

I walked into the tavern as all good adventurers do when looking for work. The Retiray bartender scoffed when he saw me.

"Aren't you a bit young to be wandering about alone?" He asked.

I glanced at him from under my hood and shook my head, "I'm not as young as my height would suggest."

He obviously didn't believe me but if I was going to buy something he didn't care. There had been many scarred by the war and if I had been pure Retiray I still would have been a child, by height and birth age, as it was I was on the cusp of adulthood. I wandered to the job board they had posted up and pointed at one of them.

"What's that one say?" I asked curiously.

"You can't read?" The bartender asked, not very surprised.

"I just can't read nimfurrian," I countered. "I can speak it just fine, and speak Retiran and common and a few other languages, but I only learned to read and write common and Retiran."

"Well ok," The bartender shrugged. "But I can't read that either. The person who brought it in hasn't left town just yet. If you hurry you can probably catch him."

"Which direction?" I asked.

"Towards the nimfurry border," He said. "Good luck kid."

I nodded and swiftly turned to the door and stepped outside. Instead of being outside the tavern I was on the edge of town. I saw a nimfurrian walking alone with a pack of supplies. He was quite startled to see me appear in front of him.

I heard a noise and dropped to the ground and disappeared in the knee tall grass, that's my knees. I could see the nimfurrian was surrounded by bandits, a mix of races.

"We know you have money nimfurry," One of them spoke. It looks like a Retiray. "We don't have much love for your kind so you'd best just give us the money and we'll let you walk away."

I crawled closer and sprang to my feet in the midst of them. I didn't want a fight. They laughed at me for a few moments.

"This isn't any of your concern boy," The leader said. "Stand aside or be destroyed."

"Give it your best shot," I tempted. "However, I doubt you could take Creeltak Firsome in a fight even if you had one arm tied behind his back."

"I don't know that name," He spit on the ground. "You don't even have a weapon."

"I guess I should translate that name into his common tongue name and introduce myself," I stood up straighter and lift my hood down off my head. "My name is Sarid Steelclaws. My father was Uther Steelclaws, I was trained by the legendary Kindra in her tower of magic. Still want to fight?"

The entire group took a step back when I said his name. They turned and started to leave. The leader glanced back, "This isn't over."

"Thank you for saving me," He stammered. "How can I repay you?"

"That job you posted in the tavern. What was it?" I asked.

"Lord Stout was looking for a new property manager," He answered. "It pays well and you'll be given other luxuri..." He stopped mid sentence as he realized what he was saying.

"What kind of luxuries?" I asked.

"Uh, you probably aren't interested," He answered.

I grinned and put my hood back up, "It's funny, you probably are trying to figure out how something lower than the scum of the earth can save your life and ask for nothing in return, but I do ask for one thing."

He gulped, "What's that?"

"Silence." The word was poignant enough for him to understand my meaning. "Now then let's get you safely home and you can introduce me to Lord Stout. I'll be interested in meeting him, I've heard good things about him and I want to know for myself if it's true."