I lost all my friends on a mission 5 years ago. Cynda, Earl, and Tommy. We were mercenaries for the queen sent on a quest to recover a stolen scepter. It was simple enough, it was stolen by bandits and we knew where their base was, a cave by a cliff on Hob’s landing. Cynda was in charge of lookout so she stayed by the entrance. We had been scouting the location for a while, enough to know that the bandits were out at the time. Me, Earl and Tommy snuck in as quietly as we could. The scepter wasn’t anywhere easy to see so we spent several minutes scouring all their belongings. Thankfully, the bandits still hadn’t arrived. Earl decided to look for loose rocks on the wall that could serve as a hiding place and wouldn’t you know it, he found one. The scepter was lodged inside a concave formation alongside other precious gems and metals (we left those other things alone). Mission accomplished we thought. Cynda caught our attention with a bird whistle, the bandits were coming back. I put the scepter in my rucksack for safe keeping but it was a little too long, it stuck out. The start of the end. We hastily made our way to the mouth of the cave and skirted the ledge around the cliff to escape. That’s when things went south. Thanks to the moon’s reflection on the scepter, we were spotted. They were enraged at our reverse theft and shot paralyzing darts at us. Tommy was hit first, then Earl, then Cynda. They all fell backward into the ravine below, leaving me alone with this scepter that I will always regret agreeing to save. I try not to think about that day.

 

Unfortunately, I had to continue doing mercenary work for the queen. I took 2 weeks off to grieve my friends but I was hard on coin by the tail end of it so I went back to accepting quests. I always took them alone. I didn’t want to get close to anyone, I didn’t want to risk anyone else’s life, not again. I went on quests for an entire year on my own. Sure, I made some acquaintances, but I always backed off when things were getting too real. Eventually the queen had a mission I couldn’t do alone, she insisted I take someone with me and she suggested this old man, Henry. I was up in arms; he looked far off from the age of an active adventurer. That was, until I saw him kill a fly with his dagger with the dexterity of a much younger man. Color me impressed. This mission was to rescue two little girls from the ransom of the rival kingdom. Our kingdom had fallen on hard times and the queen could not pay the sum. She needed us to take them home safely. This mission took 2 whole months to complete, the rival kingdom was on the other side of the country. During the time we spent travelling, I found myself growing attached to Henry. He became sort of a father figure to me. Just my luck, I built all these walls around me only to have to spend 2 entire months with someone as endearing as Henry. The mission went off without a hitch, and I got myself a new friend. I would protect him with my life. Henry and I had just finished another mission and we decided to celebrate with a drink at Cooper’s tavern. It was a lively night of drunken sing-alongs and that’s where we both met Obi. After letting down my walls for Henry, and realizing how lonely I’d been, I befriended Obi almost immediately. I didn’t realize how much I missed having people around me. I was ready to face that danger again, and I knew that I would do anything for them.