Sonja's Tale

Hello. I am Sonja, I was an orphan before Father Timothy found me, he thinks I am about twelve years old. We are stuck in the port city of Cawold until his leg heals up. He has been teaching me my letters since we met about a year ago.

Before Father Timothy found me I was part of Wulfa’s gang because I am small and can fit into spots where him and his boys can’t fit. Ander did teach me how to open locks, I filched his tools before I left Tamor with Father Timothy, and his crew.

Vlad is a magician and can cast all kinds of spells, he don’t like me very much though. Then there is Marc, how to explain Marc, he is big and stupid, but he knows how to use a sword. The four of us were supposed to find this old temple and go in to get rid of the monsters that had taken it over.

When we got to the temple we met Roland, he was following the tracks of the thing that had taken a little boy from his village. Roland’s village is near a forest and Roland was teached to hunt by his father, so Roland knows how to track.

As luck would have it, the tracks led to the temple we were supposed to clean out, so we joined together to find the boy as well. Things were going pretty good, we did find the little boy but we ran into two ogres.

With Vlad throwing spells at them and Marc fighting them with his sword, we thought we were going to win, but one of them tripped, and his club broke Father Timothy’s leg. We barely got out of the temple alive!

Roland helped Marc get Father Timothy into our cart before he left us to take the boy back to his village, but said he would meet us in Cawold. It took us two days to get here, we took Father Timothy to his church.

Marc and Vlad found an inn to stay in, but the church let me stay with Father Timothy. Vlad is smart, but Marc is pretty dumb, he is going to get himself in trouble again, I just know it. When he does he is going to say it wasn’t his fault, he uses that excuse a lot.

You should hear what he did three days ago. As it was starting to get dark he was out walking around when a voice from down an alley said “Psst, hey, you wanna buy an amulet?” Marc stopped, walked down the alley and asked, “What kind of amulet?”

The voice in the shadows answered him, “Protection from thieves.” Did I mention Marc isn’t too smart? He’s not, but I like him anyway. So Marc asks, “How much does it cost?” I bet you know where this is going, don’t you?

The voice tells Marc, “All of your coins.” That was when Marc got attacked from someone hiding behind the pile of junk he had passed to get to the voice. The man that attacked Marc shoved him towards the voice.

Marc tried to wrassle with the man who shoved him. The man who had gotten Marc to go down the alley came out from behind another pile of rubble and managed to steal Marc’s sword. I’m not joking, he reached out, took the sword from Marc and ran away.

The man wrassling with Marc shoved him to the ground and ran off after his friend, he really did. Now Marc doesn’t have a sword, and he doesn’t have coins to buy one. Marc is out on the streets with Vlad, Marc is doing a strong man show to make coins to buy a new sword.

Marc came to Father Timothy’s church yesterday to tell about what happened. When he finished his story do you know what he said? Marc said, “But it wasn’t my fault, they tricked me.” Can you believe it?

While Marc is a good fighter, and a nice person, he needs someone smart like Vlad, or Father Timothy, or even me to keep him out of trouble, but he never listens to me. I went with Marc the next day so he could show me the alley, but he told me they all look alike.

Father Timothy fell asleep after the midday meal the next day, so I changed into my most tattered clothes to go explore the part of town decent people avoid. I am so not a decent person though, I am right at home in that part of town.

Did I mention I am small? I also keep my head shaved because living with Wulfa’s gang I got lice, those are no fun, they make you itch like mad. Most people think I am a boy because I dress like one, it just makes sneaking easier.

Finding what I was looking for took a while, but find it I did. A fight started outside a tavern close to the dock district. Everyone runned out of the bar and started placing bets on the fight, I looked around but the city watch was no where in sight.

Ducking into the bar was easy, nobody was paying attention to me, I guess the fight was more interesting. I took a few drinks from a mug of ale, it reminded me of the stuff I drinked with Wulfa and Ander. I bet they don’t even remember me.

Behind the bar I finded a goodly size knife in a scabbard, I filched it and slipped out the back door as the fight outside was finishing. Privies outside of taverns always smell the worst, have you ever noticed that? It doesn’t matter how good the tavern is either.

Walking out of the alley I seed two bigger boys walking in the direction of the docks. They did not even notice me following them. The nearer we got to the docks the more crowded it got. The boys stopped at the edge of a crowd, the smaller boy almost got caught trying to filch a coin purse.

Shaking my head, I managed to track the boys as they darted through the crowd to get away from the man trying to catch them. I followed along on the outside of the crowd waiting for them to break free. When the boys leave the crowd I follow them.

To keep them from noticing me I use the crowd for cover. The boys look around before they turn into an alley. Glancing down the alley, I walk past it. At the edge, I stop, peek around the corner and look for the boys. It looks like they crawled under a pile of junk, but I know better.

When I get to the pile of junk I find the door they went in, it is a piece of wood hiding a short passage leading to a tunnel going down. Wulfa had one of these. I yell into the passage, “Hey boys, I seed you, come out so we can talk.”

From down the passage I hear boys talking, one yells back, “Wait outside, we will be out soon.” I scoot back out of the passage and hide in some junk across the alley. Three boys come out some time later. I watch them look up and down the alley for me.

Slipping out of my hiding place I sneak up on the smallest boy and tap him on the shoulder. When he starts turning around I take four steps backwards, smile at him and tell him, “That was sloppy, Wulfa would beat you for being that loud and easy to follow.”

The silly boy stares at me opening and closing his mouth, I turn to the biggest of the three, “Are you the boss here?” Big boy finds his words and tells me, “Yes, I am Beldo, the boss of my gang, who are you, and what do you have for me?”

“My name is Stiny, I have advice for you, practice more before you try stealing a purse, and look behind you to see if you are being followed. I could have brought in the City Guard to capture you.” I pull out my new knife, “Being new to the city I need to find a buyer for this.”

Beldo’s eyes go wide as he sees my knife. “Where did you get that?” I give him a grin, “I found it. Who can I sell this to?” Beldo stares at my knife, “Athew buys and sells almost anything.” I give Beldo another grin, “Introduce me to the Athew then.”

Beldo starts leading me through the maze of streets and alleys to a bar near the outside wall of the city. We go into a tavern where Beldo introduces me to a man with a scarred face and an eye patch. Athew stares at me and asks “What are you selling boy?”

I show him the knife, “Something I found, I need coins more than I need a knife.” Athew takes the knife, looks it over, and silently hands me four silver coins. I buy ale for me and Beldo. When we finish our ales Beldo asks if I want to join his crew, I laugh and turn him down.

I go back in the tavern to watch Athew from a dark corner. Athew finally gets up and leaves through the back door. I wait a little and follow him out. I find a spot where I can see the privies, where I wait for him to finish.

I follow Athew to his home, take note of where it is, and make my way back to the church where Father Timothy is healing. Vlad and Marc are with him, they were wondering where I had been all day. I smile at Father Timothy, “I was looking for Marc’s sword.”

Marc jumps up, “Well? Did you find it?” I tell them “I have not found the sword yet, do you have enough to buy a new one yet?” Mark looks at his boots, “I do not, but it wasn’t my fault, nobody wants to wrestle with me, except bigger men, I lost to three of them.”

I shake my head at Marc, “Maybe you will have better luck tomorrow? I am going to get some sleep. Good night Father Timothy, good night Marc, good night Vlad.” They wish Father Timothy and me a good night and leave. I curl up on the thin mattress the other priests lat me use and fall asleep.

One of the priests wakes me and Father Timothy just as the sun is coming up, I head out to Athew’s home and watch for him to leave. There is no alley behind his house, I have to boldly go in the front door.

I manage to pick his lock with little trouble. Slipping inside I stop and listen to make sure I am alone. Not hearing any voices I explore the house looking for Marc’s sword, and my knife. I find a locked door, and pick the lock.

Inside the room I see swords and knives piled on a table, shelves filled with expensive looking household goods like pitchers, goblets, and tankards. Shelves holding boxes, I look in one and it is full of rings, brooches, and chains with a variety of pendants.

At the weapon table I find my knife on top of the pile, and shove it into my bag. At last I find Marc’s sword. Taking off my cloak I wrap the sword as best as I can before I sneak out of the house and back to the church.

After I drop the sword and my bag with Father Timothy I head over to the kitchen to beg for food. For some reason the cook likes to see me beg. If begging from her gets me food, I don’t care, it puts food in my belly.

Marc and Vlad show up in time for the evening meal, I join them in the room where the priests gather to eat. The food here is not that good, but it beats fighting dogs for scraps that got thrown out. We eat in silence because the priests don’t like idle talk at meal times.

With our evening meal eaten we all head to Father Timothy’s room, Marc sees his sword when he enters Father Timothy’s room. With a smile on his face Marc picks up his sword, “Sonja, how much do I owe you?”

I think for a minute before I answer, “How does five silver sound Marc?” Vlad and Father Timothy chuckle as Marc replies, “Vlad found me something else to do, I was picking up heavy things and bending metal rods, and they gave me coins!”

Marc passes me six silver coins, which disappear in my pouch. After Vlad and Marc leave I talk to Father Timothy and ask him if I should go out on the morrow to try to make us some few coins in my own way? Father Timothy doesn’t answer either way. I go to bed thinking about finding treasure to sell.