Letter Number One

A letter from my heart to my beloved

Dearest Rebecca,

I can’t believe my luck. Not only am I no longer in the Wolfen Empire, something for which I am grateful, but I’m a member of CrIsis. Yes, *The* CrIsis. It seems that the gods have forgiven me the past I can’t remember.

Were you to be here with me, I think that my joy might actually be complete.

I told you of my wish to try my skills against Cava? I did so today. As usual, it was my inconsistent performance that even made it close. A couple of my shots were dead center of the target, and a couple missed the target entirely. In the end we tied and it required a tie breaker shot. I won that one.

I hope that Overkill doesn’t hold it against me, as I lost him money in a bet that he wagered after borrowing it from Cava. I should have told him not to bet on Cava, but that would have been telling.

Talking about telling, we met up with some Bandits shortly after I arrived in the group. Through a mixture of displays of magic and the silver tongues of the members of CrIsis we talked them into joining us for a meal that they provided.

I tried to get myself a second battle axe, but my offer of 2 knives wasn’t enough. Well, mostly it was that they didn’t have a one handed battle axe for me to trade.

I’m forgetting Thoth. No one should forget Thoth, least of all me. Thoth was the god who thrust me into the midst of the rest of CrIsis. While he is not the god that I have given my devotion to, he is worthy of praise. Before he left, I asked him for a deck of cards. I left my Cups deck at home, I was in such a rush to get out of the house that I left it behind.

The deck he gave me said that it was from somewhere called Las Vegas, Nevada, which must be a palace of some sort. The cards are strange. They’re not parchment, even wax sealed parchment, although they almost feel the same. I assume that they must have been intended to be the plaything of a rich noble, or even a king, so fine is the artwork upon them. I can’t even see the brush strokes. Were there to be gold leaf embossed upon each of the cards I would not be surprised. Even so, the quality of the inks would put gold leaf to shame.

Were these cards not given to me by a god for my use I would lock them away and never use them. Even so, I worry to use them for it almost seems to be sacrilege of some sort.

I think the quality of the cards scared the bandit I offered to play with. He offered his own cards to play with, I gladly accepted. He’d neglected to mark his cards, so I helped him in that regard. You know me though. While I might just cheat you blind, at the end of the night everyone walks away with what they had when they sat down at the table.

I won five gems, and returned them to the bandit that I’d stolen them from. He looked at me strangely when I did so. It seems he wasn’t as good at the play as I was.

It seems that the stories haven’t truly done justice to this group. I thought Cava to be as dour as a dwarf, Overkill excepted of course, but I find him to be a pleasant individual, much given to jest. He spent most of the evening smiling, even after our archery contest. I think he could be a truly pleasant companion.

The short one, whom I can only assume is Gavin even though he never formally introduced himself to me, and his wife have a child now. She was recently born, and taken as a postulate by Thoth. That a child is married to a fully grown woman is not as strange as it would seem to people not part of CrIsis. Though Gavin looks young, he assures me that he is an adult among his clan, and I have no reason to doubt him.

More than this I can’t say, as they tell me lives could be jeopardized should I let slip more information.

I have told them as much of my past as I remember, and they accept me, although I sense that there is some trepidation at having an assassin in their group. I hope it doesn’t grow to be a problem.

I send you my love, hoping that you receive this soon. I don’t yet know when I can send this, so I will number my letters to let you know the order I wrote them in.

Yours forever, Alric

P.S. In case you haven’t realized it yet, the gods have granted me the knowledge of writing in Elvish. I plan on making good use of this to let you know where I am. These letters will likely be out of date before you receive them, but at least I will be able to get you news.

P.P.S. If I figure out some way for you to return letters to me, I will let you know. I would love to hear word of you, and how you fare in my absence. You are everything to me.

Written by Alric Treadstone on the 9th day of Thoth, in the 3rd year of his rebirth, also known as the 68th year of the Wolfen Empire.

Image from transitionculture.org