Darkfall: A Shift in Life.

Aiden, Entry 1

At the request of my current tutor, Oliver, I am recording the events up to my encounter with what they call "Rockbangers" and their "Stone Lord"

We lived a bit west of Sandbrook; until the old man spent all the coin on a ship of his own and never came back. I was so young when it happened, we moved into the actual town and people called us "Westbrook's". I don't remember our real name, and Mama passed away before I was old enough to ask. 

Luckily, a love of the Sea was passed on to me and I was able to catch a few fish a day to live on. Eventually, I got good enough to catch more than I needed and could sell them. Never made enough to get my own ship though, so I was limited in how much I could snag. Early morning outings, afternoon market excursions. 

And that's how life went on for several years. Ships always coming and going from Sandbrook, yet none wanting a recruit as young as myself. "Experienced only", they told me; as if to say people were born with such experience. Wasn't everyone new at some day in their lives? Apparently not.

Finally, on my 17th birthday, I convinced guard to teach me some things. Being a guard, he was pretty limited in his skill set. A rusty old sword he pulled out from a pile near the blacksmiths place is what I got to learn with. He then went over and snatched up an old bow I've seen in the same spot for ages. Adding in a pair of full quivers, he instructed me in their use. Sword, hold not sharp end, sharp end hits target. Bow, arrow, pull back, aim, release, hits target.

Told me to hit that training dummy until he came back. And so I did, but he didn't come back for a good many hours and I was becoming extremely worn out. I had emptied the quivers thrice, and almost cut the dummy in half hitting it in the same spots repeatedly for hours on end. "I just don't have the stamina yet," I told myself, "Yet!" And so I emptied the quiver three more times, and still no return of my tutor.

I decided to go look for this "guard", only to wander all over town, finding him carousing with the alchemist's apprentice outside the northern gate guardhouse. She was an extremely attractive woman, for her age. Who knows how old she actually was, all her potions and extracts can do strange things to a person. As I approached to interrupt their conversation, she abruptly pushed him away and gave me a "hither to" nod of her head. 

Obviously, she had not wanted to be found out in such a circumstance. She hastily whispered what it would take for me to forget such things happened. Scared that she might poison me, or worse, I blurted out the first thing I saw: her staff behind her in the corner. Grinning, she asked "And do you know how to use such artifacts?" 

"Well, no," I said, "but mayhaps you could teach me a little something too so I could forget whats happening here?" This bargaining, however, could be a bad idea. What if she blasted me to bits with it, only to use my ashes in one her potions? What if she had her guard friend toss me in the jail indefinitely? WHAT IF...And as all these horrible thoughts are running through my head, "Sure, OK", she says casually, "Its not like you'll be able to do anything more, little fisher." And so I spent the rest of the night practicing with her the motions and secrets of a single magic spell: Light. Why, yes, I can produce a magical light. That's convenient! Also pretty tiresome. I can only produce it for a few moments at a time and even then, only a couple of times before I need to rest for a few minutes more. This magic thing is difficult!

After a few weeks of practicing what I was taught that evening, I was gettign bored hitting these dummies. Maybe I could go find one of those giant spiders nearby? Getting adventurous, I traveled outside of town, further than Ive gone ever before. Up the hills, the mountains and into the rocky corridors where I hear people have been attacked by spiders. As I stroll on through, I notice its getting dark, so I pull out my staff and produce a light source. This was a bad idea, as some rocks came flying in my direction! I'm not quick enough to dodge them, but I got lucky and only one had it hit my arm. This time, another comes, and I dodge it. Where are they coming from!? Looking around, I see no torches, no indication of what or who is throwing rocks at me. 

I hear a loud, crashing thunder. And then, I fall to the ground, a rock hitting me in the back of the skull. As I collapse, the darkness closing in, I hear people shouting and metal hitting rock. 

Then nothing.