The Blade Brothers

[Ataro]

Life wasn't always swinging swords, and collecting coin...

"Come on, hurry up, they're coming." Briar said, grabbing the boys hand. "This may be our only chance to get out...in one piece."

Briar, one of the many slaves in the Calimshan, always knew this day would come, the day he would escape from this hell hole. If escaping wasn't enough though, he had had to watch over this kid, time and again, and as much as he normally didn't care about anyone else, this kid had grown on him.

Briar was strong, agile, and ever vigilant, which made him a perfect taskmaster in the slave camps. While he had almost no more authority than the other slaves by the genasis standards, he was the one that would feel the wrath, if the work wasn't done. As such, he put extra effort into making sure all the work was done, and correctly. Now Briar wasn't foolish though, he kept those 'under' him in as good a health as a slave could be of no use if he couldn't work.

"Where...are we....going?" he asked with heavy breathing, having now thrown the boy over his shoulder, as a halfling, the one who had provided them with a way out, traveled ahead of them.

"Zazesspur, now quiet until we get there, no need to draw an more attention." the diminutive assistant of our said.

After much traveling, we finally arrive at our destination, to be greeted by a whole gambit of different halflings, with a few of the other races here or there. The place we were at was barren, almost as if the place had only recently been claimed for our...gathering I suppose.

"Now, while some of you may already know me, there are new faces here I see. You all, can call me Bigglebock, and I run 'The Guild'." the halfling said. This was the same man that had helped us to escape, and now, it seemed, he was far more important that I could have originally imagined.

The boy, who had come to call himself 'Kelsho Darlen' was standing beside me now, seemingly confused as to the details of what was going on, but I couldn't blame him, for I myself had very little to go on. Regardless, it seemed our best bet was to continue with this group, and simply do what needed to be done.

We spent about a year traveling from place to place, mostly within the surrounding areas, but occasional we would travel further. I had made it a point to keep a watch over the boy now, as he and myself didn't much fit in with the other halflings, and the races present otherwise, seemed all but devoid of emotion.

The money wasn't bad, but the work we were given was lackluster at best, and I was certain that that leader halfling of ours had noticed. It was only a week later that my theory was confirmed.



"Thank you for coming." Bigglebock said with a slight smile. He had his feet up on a desk, which as usual, sat in an all but empty room, in a warehouse in a place called 'Balders Gate'. "Normally I wouldn't have asked you to come so far away. Especially with your charge there." he stated, motioning to Kelsho. "I've found somewhere for the two of you to learn, there is a gentleman I know that owes me a favor, and he is in need of an apprentice...or two I suppose, and as you have no formal training, it would be for the best. Bigglebock said with a snap of his fingers, a female halfling walking into the room. "Show them to Lord Fiytorin, he will be expecting them." and with a nod, she was leading us out, I, having not gotten a word in edgewise.

We were directed to the port, where an older man lived on the outskirts. Approaching him, he didn't seem to so much as move, so I approached, assuming to find a body, void of a soul. It was to my, and I can only assume Kelsho's, as in but the blink of an eye, I now standing, a longsword held against my throat, in the hands of man, the body that was sitting there, obviously now holding this weapon.

"Who are you, and what are you doing bothering me?" the man said, easing up ever so slightly on the weapon, giving me leeway to answer.

"I am Briar, Briar Comhghan, I was sent by Bigglebock, to find Lord Fiytorin." I said, holding back a cough, as such might very well end my life.

"Hmm, well then your training begins now." the man said returning his weapon to its sheath. "You will call me Lord, that is all, as I prefer my name not float around the winds, and draw attention to myself." he said walking off, beckoning us in.


Years have passed now, twelve years under Lord Fiytorin's watchful eye, ever pushing us toward our perfection. We had learned a lot in our time, and we had trained hard, and worked even harder toward obtaining our goal. Kelsho, had grow to be a strong gentleman in the care of our Lord, it seemed having had a father-like figure had been a good influence on him. I would say it help me, but I think all my years in that slave camp had shown me the true colors of the world, where it survive, by any means necessary.

It had been any usual day, as our Lord had been off to collect more work for us at the merchants halls. After a while though, it had been getting unusually late, for he would always tell us not to be out after the hours of sun, so it was hard to believe that he could not have been back. Getting Kelsho, we ventured off to find him. Our Lord had followed his usual path there, as the information from the guard told us, but he had never pasted back by. Eventually we had made it toward the merchants guild, only to catch the clanging of sword in the distance, which was all but unheard of in town. Running to the way, the last thing we saw was a small cloaked figure, one that seemed almost familiar, as there on the ground laid our Lord, his body being eaten away by the acids that had been used. We knew his time had finally come, and we knew it wasn't a fair fight, so that day we vowed to avenge our fallen Lord, having learn most of what he knew.

It had been three years now, that we've traveled the lands, and all we've found out is one thing...those who had killed our Lord, were none other than 'The Guild', the same one that had supported us so long ago. We've deemed to find all of its members, and make them pay for the crimes they committed, for we knew the mark they all shared, for we ourself carried that same mark, a pair of daggers, crossed over a gold coin.