The sound of her voice made you shiver, as she spoke the last sentence. You could not believe what you heard already, but somehow you knew, that this was not the end of her story…
But one day my life – again – took an unexpected turn.
Mallak came to suffer from an unknown illness and became stranger and stranger.
One day, he ordered me and a small team to assassinate a high-ranked noble woman, while she would be alone in her residence at Waskengale.
Until that moment, I never killed anyone, but Mallak told me, that this would be my last test to reign over the Vices at his side – as his equal. He told me, the person we should kill is an evil and exploitative being without respect and/or dignity.
Thinking it would be just to extinguish her petty life, I set off with the rest of the team – just to find out, that our target was a 14-year old girl.
Balthasar, I was shocked to the extreme.
A child! Mallak wanted me to kill a child!
That could not be true. This little girl was far from being anything, but a young human on its way to become something – something, Balthasar, she had every choice.
I could not kill her. As I refused to obey the command of our leader by any means, the rest of the team decided to teach me, that one does not work against the Vices in any way.
In the following fight, I was nearly killed and left behind – together with the dead girl and a knife in my hand.
I guess, the parents must have found us and as I woke up, I found myself to be a guest of a small prison cell. They thought me guilty of killing the young girl, as the guard said.
At the court hearing, it was clear, that I should be hanged. Luckily destiny had other things in mind…
The abbot of the nearby cloister came to my aid, offering the council a new idea. Instead of hanging me, I should be commanded to leave the town forever and spend my life by serving the monks of Waskengale for the rest of my life.
Since I swore that I am not guilty and that I would love to pay for whatever lawless deed I had done, the judges finally agreed and exiled me.
By that, my time at the monastery and with father Hedwin, the abbot began.
It was a harsh and hard life there. The monks live from what their own garden gives them and they work hard every day .
But through their work, they showed something I had forgotten a long time ago – their unutterable faith into their god.
The strength, power and sense of onward impressed me beyond measure, Balthasar.
I soon became a zealot in learning their ways and habits, hoping to find redemption through it.
I attended church every morning and helped Hedwin preparing for it in the early morning times.
After my first year, it came to pass, that Hedwin took me into a secret room in the monastery. He told me, that I would have shown my faith and dignity to their goddess, the loving and merciful lady of the roses.
He also told me, that beside the things I did for the cloister through helping in the garden or attending for morning services, he could feel that there was something greater in me. He said, that he had a vision last evening and know would fully believe that I could never kill a young girl.
Thus being freed from that dark image, I was overly happy. Hedwin further believed, that I’d gained the chance to prove that I could serve the merciful lady otherwise.
He introduced me to padre Viduron. He was a very harsh and introverted person, Balthasar and a monk I despised for he never seemed to work in the garden or do anything to help his brothers.
But I soon changed my mind about him…
He was a battle monk, a protector of his brothers and the innocent, a seeker of guidance and faith – not only in the cloister, but the whole country. He wanted to find himself – as I wanted to.
I became his apprentice and learned the secret of the entity of body and mind – the most important thing you have to know, if you are willing to serve the cause of the merciful lady. I was eager to demonstrate my faith in outward strength, but had to learn, that the inner willpower is much more of what a monk uses to become one with himself.
Through the rigid training and by unbroken zeal to become a faithful follower of Galthea, sister Melain. I soon became experienced enough, so that padre Viduron took me out with him.
We marched to the border at the great mountains, the wall of stones, where the orcs had settled in the last century.
The blessed man showed me the small villages and the unbelievable poverty of the people there.
We had donkeys with us, their saddle bags filled with food for the winter. The people cheered wherever we travelled. It was a stunning experience.
There I also saw what faith can do… The last village we visited was under siege by some orcish bandits and the militias could barely make their stand against the green bastards.
Padre Viduron made the foul scum run for their lives, as he joined the people in their struggle.
But as we returned to the monastery, the thought of those poor people refused to leave my mind…
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Melain:
Gender: Female
Race: elf
Class & Level: Ex-Druid L4, Rogue L3, Fighter L1, Monk L2
Height: 1,69m
Weight: 48kg
Age: 110 years
Eye colour: blue
Hair colour: blonde
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Hit Points: 70/12
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 feet
Armour Class: 12; touch: 12, flat-fooded: 10
Base Attack: +7
Melee Attack:. +9 (1d6+2, unarmed strike), +5/+1 (1d6+2/1d6+1, unarmed strike & unarmed strike)
Special Attacks: sneak attack 2d6, flurry of blows at -1/-1
Special Qualities: elven traits, trapfinding, evasion, additional feat, unarmed strike, 2x bonus feat
Alignment: neutral neutral
Saving throws: Fort +11, Ref +11, Will +11
Stats: Strength 14 (+2), Dexterity 14 (+2), Constitution 12 (+1), Intelligence 12 (+1), Wisdom 13 (+1), Charisma 14 (+2).
Skills: survival: +9, spot: +6, listen: +6, heal: +9, knowledge (nature): +5, handle animal: +4, appraise: +5, escape artist: +5, sleight of hand: +5, hide: +5, move silently: +5, disable device: +5, open lock: +4, bluff: +4, jump: +4, climb: +3, knowledge (religion): +6, sense motive: +2, profession: (cloister monk): +3
Feats: self-sufficient, track, improved initiative, lightning reflexes, dodge, iron will, stunning fist, deflect arrows
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Possessions: wide monks outfit
Languages spoken: common, elvish
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