3-wanderer_strings-(Bannerlord) -

![[misc_banner_2.webp]] `Apr. 2, 2025` · [[Horseapple]] · #Fragment #Misc #XML > [!location]- File Location > Mount & Blade II Bannerlord > Modules > SandBox > ModuleData ``` <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <strings>  <string id="spc_prebackstory_generic" text="{=!}(prebackstory generic remark for outside taverns)" />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_0" text="{=jPGOlC7O}I don't mind talking about it." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_0" text="{=3yK4uXyt}I'm an engineer. Most of us learned our trade and got our contacts through the army. It was a good system: it was the emperor's money, so the emperor's servants kept a close eye on us. But as everyone knows, the emperor ran out of money. The lords are in charge of fortifications now, and all they have to go on is the say-so of other engineers." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_0" text="{=OYOwasMe}You can imagine - it's a bit of a racket. People build arches that fall down, and his colleagues go on recommending him because he's someone's brother or old apprentice. The greatest sin in our brotherhood is criticizing the work of other engineers. " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_0" text="{=JfTTbPag}Well, I don't play that game. If something's going to fall down and kill someone, I'll point that out. So, naturally, all my 'brothers' cut me out of contracts." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_0" text="{=R36Bl55h}Most noble of you, sir." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_0" text="{=oXnqNsvz}A man of integrity, or simply one who backbites his peers? I have no idea, and wouldn't want to take the risk of hiring you." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_0" text="{=b1sCl4SI}So, anyway, I am forced to spend my time in taverns, taking whatever work can be found. I can oversee the building of most structures, or, if the need is there, I am also adept at knocking them down with catapults, rams, and mines." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_0" text="{=RZizPvaI}I'm an engineer, with imperial army training. I'm sure by now you've met a few of us around, and know a bit about what we can do." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_1" text="{=836klxRM}You want to know about me? Well, that's a story, that's a story." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_1" text="{=ivz2U3e2}See, there's a lot of tales about me, and only some of them are true. The Khuzaits call me by one name, the Aserai by another." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_1" text="{=0ty7hiZI}I've been in a lot of fights and I've killed a lot of people. Ask you around - you shouldn't just take my word for it. But never one who didn't deserve it, and never once outside a fair fight." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_1" text="{=waUxgr5b}Let me tell you something else - war is not a game. It's not a game. Play by the rules and you die. The streets aren't the arena. If you think someone's your enemy, you take them down - don't wait for a polite challenge." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_1" text="{=8duSHfDa}Ah, yes. Wise words. Do go on." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_1" text="{=oyHzM0jb}You've said nothing about yourself, and your one word contradicts the other. I have better things to do." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_1" text="{=1ubcomnD}I don't like to brag about my own deeds, so I'll leave it at that. I do a lot of work for the merchants around here, but they don't own me. I'm my own man. I just take their money. It's not like I'm a mercenary or something like that." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_1" text="{=zXJvWvD5}I'm a warrior. A soldier of fortune, you might say. A damn good one, too, as my enemies would tell you if they could speak from the other world." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_2" text="{=AT7pJ6Rm}It is not without some reluctance that I tell this story, for it hardly does honor to my name." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_2" text="{=3J76GzZh}My father was a cataphract in the east. We had a small estate to pay for his horse and armor. I was raised to take his place on the imperial troop rosters when he came of age." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_2" text="{=fwYGme3B}But the Khuzaits overran us, and he was slain, and our land was taken. Its revenues now belong to some tarkhan. Alas, the empire has little land to grant today, even to trained cavalrymen like myself who wish to serve. And horses are expensive." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_2" text="{=4UMf7HDe}You may call it pride, but I do not wish to enlist as a foot soldier. So I work here in town, for merchants, for pay, a hired sword. All I can say is that I hope one day to purchase the land I need to serve our emperor, whoever sits in the throne, as my father did." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_2" text="{=KtN79I0H}That's it? The dishonorable part? That you work for merchants? I'd thought it would be a lot worse." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_2" text="{=902xqUja}A cavalier of the empire doing errands for traders! The shame of it!" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_2" text="{=wiR9bSfw}I try at least to pick and choose my master, and hope at least that some of our equestrian honor rubs off on the men of commerce." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_2" text="{=ammEPFoq}I'm a former imperial cataphract. Our skills, and our honor, needs no further introduction. But I was unable to afford my horse and armor, so I took work with merchants, as a hired sword." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_3" text="{=B3UQTCRE}Refill my glass and I'll tell you." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_3" text="{=H7tFXLVN}I'm a soldier by trade. I've served in the empire's legions for 20 years. Once upon a time they were worthy of being called 'legions.' We served together for years, and we'd die rather than see our standards falter or fall." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_3" text="{=DzyAgYIX}But Drosios Neretzes led the pick of the legions into an ambush in the Battanian woods. You may have heard that story. I was laid up sick at the time. But a lot of my comrades didn't come back, and things were never the same afterward." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_3" text="{=6OF0vjQV}After Arenicos's so-called reforms, they try to maintain an army on the cheap, letting the rich run the show out of their own pocket. No wonder the whole thing's collapsed into a bunch of squabbling factions and we're mocked by the barbarians we used to rule." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_3" text="{=0SnKUaex}No doubt a sad state of affairs. So what do you do?" /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_3" text="{=WQCAanal}Ah, the old days. And no doubt back then they complained about the older days. I've heard enough." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_3" text="{=yx5yqDby}Well, I can't just sit around and drink myself to death, so I sell my sword to anyone worth following. I'm a good trainer - I don't bother with horsemen or archers, but if you've got good steady footmen I can do a lot with them. I know a bit about siege machinery too." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_3" text="{=GLXrkZbW}I'm a soldier of the imperial legions. How we came to this sorry state is a sad tale that you've no doubt heard already from my comrades. But I'm sure you're familiar with our mettle in battle, and our skill at turning youths into soldiers." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_4" text="{=22ajCymb}Oh, I suppose I can tell you. Nothing that no one doesn't already know, no how." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_4" text="{=RaqBSakL}Me and some lads from my village, we thought we'd run away, join some other lads up there who make their living on the highways, if you know what I mean. Didn't much want to go scratching a plow across the dry fields all year every year like my father did." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_4" text="{=xZuqLfE7}But I was young and foolish. Bandits - well, who'd have thought? They're real animals. Always drunk and stabbing each other, or too drunk to feel cold so they catch the plague and end up coughing up blood, or drunk and asleep when the patrol comes around so they end up on the gallows - I suspect you get the idea." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_4" text="{=qgmt8aPz}So that was no kind of life, neither. I left the woods, paid a little money to friends who got my name off the outlaw list, and now I'm a regular law-abiding citizen. Officially, that is." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_4" text="{=QIrR9NhL}A wise decision." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_4" text="{=xzLIIPjB}A knave who could not abide other men's knavery! May such wonders never cease." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_4" text="{=hinn6pmX}Life's better here in the city. More 'civilized,' you could say. Oh, the work can be a bit rough and tumble, but I feel I can relax after a long day with more refined company, like your good self." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_4" text="{=suf4hUxN}When I was a lad, I dabbled in crime and banditry a bit, but am now seeking more honest work. I still like the fighting and killing part, though. Anyway, I'm sure you've met a fair amount of men like me on your journeys." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_5" text="{=56VPnxQd}You're a nosy one, I see." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_5" text="{=qlAW1aTi}What do you want to know about? My family? Piss on them. I left home as a child and never had cause to regret it. My brothers can take my inheritance, and I hope they choke on it." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_5" text="{=ikVu2vQU}I've fought in a few wars, for one side or the other. You want to know about my-comrades-in-arms? Piss on them too. They all turn on you in the end." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_5" text="{=iWe4KrSO}About my past, that's all I have to say." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_5" text="{=AX7gvmaj}So... What are you good at?" /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_5" text="{=Aj9ulUly}You're a cheerful one. Good day to you." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_5" text="{=X9zcXYPa}I can fight. And I don't mind doing work that others would shirk." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_5" text="{=Ycc0gsX9}I kill for a living. You don't look too wet behind the ears, so I'm sure I don't need to tell you any more about myself than that." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_6" text="{=VILYhtjW}I'll tell you my story." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_6" text="{=R9KivNZ6}You may have heard of Ladimos the Red. He preached that the Heavens were getting ready to unload their wrath on landowners and merchant, that we had to drive them out and live pure lives and we'd be rewarded with a Pure Emperor, come down from the skies. This was some 10 years ago. Well, a lot of us ran off to follow him, some of us believed him and some of us had debts and some just wanted to take a lick at those that oppressed us." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_6" text="{=7JMaPpkN}We built a great temple in the back country, out in the bush, called it the Kingdom of Truth. We whipped two imperial detachments sent to track us down. But Ladimos died, 'Called up to Heaven' he said on his deathbed, and then we lost our way a bit. We needed food and we needed money, so our chiefs started collecting 'taxes' from the villages below. Some started taking money from lords and merchants for protection of caravans. And those who grumbled - well, they started turning up dead in the dry streambeds." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_6" text="{=7caHipXX}So I left. And a short while later the emperor sent a third detachment, bigger than the others, and that was the end of the Kingdom of Truth. My old comrades - I see them sometimes from time to time, some in a lord's retinue, others in a cage with R for 'robber' branded on their forehead." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_6" text="{=wk1jPh1S}A sad tale." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_6" text="{=OsWmIhds}Heresy, rebellion, and looting are three intertwined serpents. You should bear that brand yourself, knave." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_6" text="{=HcMbaZn4}I learned a few skills up in the hills, how to follow a trail and spot an ambush, most useful to caravaneers. So I reckon I can probably stay ahead of the hangman. A regular job wouldn't hurt, though." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_6" text="{=DIaT6pXi}Aye, well, once I was a rebel up in the back country, but rebels never last too long. Now I just want to serve and get paid. You've been around. You've met men like me before, I'm sure." />   <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_7" text="{=eeEra0bI}Yeah, I'll tell you my story. Pass the wine and listen close." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_7" text="{=Ed3XsQhN}My family had debts, so I signed up to be a soldier under one of Old Neretzes's kinsmen. I guess I always liked men's work more than women's work. The legions took hill women as scouts but I was never the hidey-sneaky type. So I did what I did to be in the spear line." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_7" text="{=yPRaUTwX}Dressed as a man, of course. Weren't difficult to do. Not hard to fool men. Bound my breasts and watched where I pissed. It was easy." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_7" text="{=iBwF0NxU}Then one day our commander led us into an ambush. The apple doesn't far fall from the tree, you could say. I didn't see the battle but was part of the rout. That was the end of army life for me. Don't care for glory-hounding lords leading me to my death. But I still like to fight." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_7" text="{=8CixQpyO}Well, there's always work for the brave and the resourceful." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_7" text="{=bhvZuX1m}A rather sad tale of deceit and disgrace." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_7" text="{=TzOdlTeb}Yeah.. The merchants give me jobs. But I'm not sure I care much for guarding caravans. A lot of sitting around listening to boring talk about prices. Look, I can wield a sword or spear and I can also repair them. Wouldn't mind trying my hand them at making them too. If you've know a captain with a good company, a fighting company, maybe he'd be interested." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_7" text="{=Jv85koU3}I dressed as a man to serve in the legions. There are many of us who've done that, believe it or not. You've probably met one of us before, even if you didn't know it." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_8" text="{=KNCnJN4n}I'll tell you my story. If it bothers you, I'd prefer you keep it to yourself - unless you've lived months on crusts of bread and chaff of grain, that is." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_8" text="{=pD92hewA}My father was a merchant in {IMPERIALCAPITAL}. We lived in a rich house, with many servants. I wanted for nothing. Our neighbor was a moneylender, who specialized in loans to the imperial guard. That turned out to be a bad neighborhood in which to live, when the riots came. " /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_8" text="{=OGyYFIEA}The guardsmen came to burn our neighbor's house, so their debts would be forgotten. The flames spread to our house, and it was destroyed. My father tried to save his strongbox, and that was his undoing. A riot is a holiday for thieves and robbers, and some saw him dragging it through the streets, so they knifed him and took it. We tried to find shelter with my uncle, but there was no food in the city, and he turned us out. So we joined the refugees in the country, living on what we could steal from the fields. " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_8" text="{=aNSIajhR}I found a guardsman, alone and drunk. I have no idea whether he was one of the ones that set fire to our neighborhood. Maybe I should not have done to him what I did to him. But now I have his sword. It's been very useful." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_8" text="{=cGr6RvX7}The starving do what they must." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_8" text="{=iaagSMEa}And to think you had all the advantages of an educated childhood." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_8" text="{=RZglJSZ3}I think my story shows that I am adaptable, at least. If there was room for me in a warlord's retinue, say, I imagine I could quickly learn whatever skills were needed." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_8" text="{=QUamabEa}I was a merchant's daughter. There was a bout of unrest in our home city, and our home and warehouses were burned and our family made penniless. I shall spare you the details. I am sure you've heard plenty of similar tales in these times." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_9" text="{=ZhZlhNfn}Aye, so you want my story then?" /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_9" text="{=Aqbu1o9v}Far back as I remember, I was living on the streets of {IMPERIALCAPITAL} with a bunch of other dirty, barefoot scrogs. A group of men in our alley, they called themselves the Centaurs, I guess they took a liking to me. Gave me special errands to run from them - started with picking pockets, ended with sticking knives into their enemies. Back then I'd do anything for a handful of figs and cheese and a pat on the head." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_9" text="{=imBWFomj}Got a bit older though, and their interest in me changed. Filthy drunken louts pressing themselves against me, grabbing at me - I wasn't having that. Made up my mind to leave, but wasn't sure where to go." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_9" text="{=axnObjSY}Then came the day that {IMPERIALCAPITAL} burned, and everyone was out looting and robbing, and that was my chance. Lifted a bag of silver from the Centaurs' stash and lit out on the road." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_9" text="{=LIYZlInR}A hard life, but I must admire your fortitude, at least." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_9" text="{=haiCZjua}You truly are the dregs of the street, my lady." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_9" text="{=aULjoDXL}Anyway, I wandered about a bit, but now I think it's time I found steady work. You wouldn't need someone to stick a knife in those that need sticking, do you?" /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_9" text="{=L7tJUtlN}I was an orphan, you see. Worked for a gang, as our kind must so often do. Did their foul work for them. But they perished in a siege, and I decided to strike out on my own, see what this fine land of Calradia could offer me." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_10" text="{=rOUaG9iG}I can tell you my story, though it is painful to recall." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_10" text="{=0FHF0OXK}I'm a surgeon. I trained at the imperial academy in {IMPERIALCAPITAL}. I had many rich and influential patients in the town. I thought I was well shielded from the intrigues and dangers of the Empire. " /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_10" text="{=pzK7TN05}But one day I was contacted by an agent of the Bureau of Barbarian Affairs. I do not know how well you know them. Their original mission was to keep the foreign tribes divided and weak, but they expanded their remit into all the affairs of the empire, anything that might be deemed a threat. At first they wanted small harmless details about my patients. To do so was a violation of my oath, but I was anxious to have the favor of the Bureau. But soon they began to call on me for more and more." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_10" text="{=sfFLudTM}One time they came at midnight - they had a man who plotted against the Emperor, they said, and they needed a confession, and wished me to use my art to elicit that confession. If I refused, they said, they would disclose our relationship to my patients - I would be ruined. I went with them, to my shame, and what I was asked to do to that man's body -- I shall not repeat it." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_10" text="{=BIsvfC0x}You too are a victim of the hideous power of the state." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_10" text="{=hikXX6zE}You broke your oath. It is not surprising that you fell further." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_10" text="{=x50bW6NF}I should have refused - my practice was ruined anyway. To blot out the memory of that night, I took opium, until my pallid face so alarmed my patients that they no longer called on me. So I fled the city, and have wandered from town to town ever since. I would welcome steady work, if I could find it." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_10" text="{=pya1JSNe}I was a surgeon, trained at the imperial academy. But my home and infirmary were burned in a bout of unrest, and now I must wander the world a bit. There are many of us out there, you know, forced to make what living we can." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_empire_11" text="{=CAiFXWEf}Yes... I can tell you my tale..." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_empire_11" text="{=FybsZ7yK}My father was an imperial cataphract. Alas, he died in battle against the Aserai, and I was placed under the local archon's guardianship. He had eyes for my father's estate, modest as it was, so he arranged for me to be married to his cousin." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_empire_11" text="{=omEoa2q7}But this cousin... I would not marry that man! He was a boor, a drunk - never there was a night that he did not reek of wine, never a morning that he did not reek of vomit! But a cataphract's daughter is not some chit you can marry against her will. I took a horse from my father's estate - my horse, legally - his old sword, and rode off." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_empire_11" text="{=j7cE9DTZ}So, here I am. Perhaps I am not the most experienced of warriors, but I can learn. I cannot go back - I learned that the archon filed suit that I stole a horse - my own horse, by right! - which shows you what a cad he is." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_empire_11" text="{=tx6L29wu}You've got spirit, I'll give you that." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_empire_11" text="{=O3Pkql2y}Takes more to being a warrior than a horse and a sword, young one." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_empire_11" text="{=UWWgML2g}So, here I am, looking for a captain under whom to serve. I know the ways of an archon's court, and I know how to ride, but I am looking to master the ways of the sword. And if I learn my trade well, perhaps I shall one day reclaim my birthright!" /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_empire_11" text="{=wRS9yqyx}I fled a bad marriage. There are many like me; I meet them in every tavern in Calradia. I am lucky in that my father was a cataphract, and taught me to ride and fight before he died, and I suppose that's how I must make a living." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_0" text="{=xSbEUPK4}You know, we women suffer greatly when you warriors have your sport..." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_sturgia_0" text="{=ifBURmmv}I lived in a village to the north of here, across the gulf. It is a cruel land; there is no strong king, and lords think nothing of ravaging their neighbor's lands. My mother was skilled in the use of herbs to treat disease and wounds. I had a happy peaceful childhood - until one day, a month before I was to be married." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_sturgia_0" text="{=WBE6MeCl}That was the day my life changed. A band from a nearby village came and attacked us. We had done them no harm; we had never even thought of them as our enemies. But they wanted our cattle. They killed my mother and the youth who I was to marry, and burned our village. Everything gone. Those who lived fled into the woods." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_sturgia_0" text="{=hOsJjMZ8}I expect that my kin will soon return to their homes, but I will not. I cannot... I cannot be in a place where I am at the mercy of any beast on the rampage. I will ply my trade among warriors. I will learn to harm as well as to heal. And if the time comes for me to marry, I will live in a land where there is a king, even a tyrant, rather than raising a family amid the war of all against all." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_sturgia_0" text="{=31XTldnZ}I am sorry for your fate, my lady." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_sturgia_0" text="{=l4A16aGs}It's a cruel world, and if you think a warrior's life is any easier, you have a painful lesson in store." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_sturgia_0" text="{=iYbBHXNA}At any rate, if you know of a warband who is looking for someone who knows how to treat wounds, I would be grateful." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_0" text="{=N0yE1Ptz}I was an herbalist in a village in the north. But our home was raided, and I've been forced to wander in search of work. There are many like me on the roads of Calradia." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_1" text="{=BuamWVTp}Yes.. My story... Jealousy, envy of my talents. That's always been my undoing." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_sturgia_1" text="{=L14od7cC}When I was a boy, I was the best fighter in my village. 'You're stronger as a boy than a full-grown warrior,' people would say. I'm not boasting here - that's what they'd tell me. So when I came of age I went off to make my fortune." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_sturgia_1" text="{=zb6VN6rr}Started in the Vaegir guard. I found that I was the only real warrior among them. They were all about marching here and there in their pretty uniforms, not pulling sword from scabbard for months on end. I told them what I thought, and my captain told me to keep my mouth shut or leave. So I left." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_sturgia_1" text="{=iAmsyL01}Then I joined the Skolderbroda. The 'Shield Brothers.' It's a good name, you know? They spent most of their time hunkering behind their shields. Ha! Me, I'd wade into the midst of the enemy, dealing out death right and left - and, well, all they had to say afterward was 'Why didn't you keep ranks?'" /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_sturgia_1" text="{=4ee0aofe}Hmm... Strange response." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_sturgia_1" text="{=FNuxKNBi}Has no one told you that leaving a gap in a shield wall is as good as treason?" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_sturgia_1" text="{=qbYupvSJ}So I'm having no more of that. I'm on the look-out for an outfit that employs real fighters." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_1" text="{=gnLnZuAH}Let me tell you friend, I'm hard. I've fought with the Skolderbroda, the Vaegirs, any mercenaries worth their salt, I've been with them. Others may tell you've they've done what I've done, but I'm the real thing." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_2" text="{=RObjObjy}Certainly - I make no secret of my ambitions." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_sturgia_2" text="{=NKLS5mN1}My father was one of the leading warriors of our clan, but in his last battle his hamstring was cut. We've lived well off the wealth he brought home from his raids, buying land and thralls, but now I feel it's time that I bring home some silver of my own." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_sturgia_2" text="{=jaLrENzo}I need to buy a ship, and hire men to row it. But I do not wish to sell our land to outfit a risky voyage, to risk depriving my father and mother of their comforts in old age, and my brothers of their hopes for a good marriage." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_sturgia_2" text="{=TxwPTwvh}So I have resolved to hire out my sword and make enough money for such a ship. Having done so, I shall take it to faraway shores and bring home silver and slaves so that we may buy land enough for all. In this way I will do my duty to my family." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_sturgia_2" text="{=3QxjeC94}You are a most dutiful son and brother." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_sturgia_2" text="{=nqLiWPR7}Such pieties from a man who intends to pillage the labor of others." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_sturgia_2" text="{=3W1H83WZ}At any rate, if you know the leader of warband who's generous and honorable, he'll find no braver warrior to follow him than me." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_2" text="{=QJCieDQ9}My father sent me off into the world, to build our fortune with my sword. This is a common story among the sons of our people." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_3" text="{=gysOh3M5}Aye - you've heard about the death of the last Emperor?" /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_sturgia_3" text="{=DFW5i63X}I'll tell you - what most people believe is a pack of lies. I was in the Vaegir guard in the time of Arenicos. We took our discipline seriously; we were proud of it. Then the riots happened. What I saw in {IMPERIALCAPITAL}.. Even now it makes me feel ashamed." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_sturgia_3" text="{=mGTuBDtF}It wasn't easy for the men. They felt the city turn against them, blame them for killing the emperor. Whereas we were sure that we were innocent of his blood, that there was some sort of trick. But even so, there was no excuse." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_sturgia_3" text="{=SwwXXPNe}We could have marched out in battle array. No one would have stood against us. If we couldn't restore order, at least we could have gone home with honor. But instead, we turned our anger against the city. My comrades looted, set fires, even murdered those who we were supposed to protect. It was a disgrace." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_sturgia_3" text="{=HiJTqUPJ}I have heard about the riots in {IMPERIALCAPITAL}. It was an ugly thing all round." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_sturgia_3" text="{=JHduQdEb}The Guard didn't kill the Emperor? Funny, that's not what the witnesses said." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_sturgia_3" text="{=ZoxPPYLX}I thought of going home. But I lost what denars I had saved during the riots. If there is a warband looking for good men, I would like to earn it back." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_3" text="{=7tCl75xJ}I was part of the old Emperor Arenicos's Vaegir Guard. But the people turned on us after his death, and attacked us. Maybe you've heard the story before. There's a whole lot of us, spat out into the world by the ungrateful Calradians." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_4" text="{=1Slubhxc}It's not many who ask that question." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_sturgia_4" text="{=Csokpo5C}I was a farmer. But I split a man's head open with a hoe. He was also a farmer. It was a dispute over a broken fence, between my pasture and his. I had no intention of killing him." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_sturgia_4" text="{=JLHhV1ta}His cousins came for me, to take me to judgment. I would have gone willingly; I would have paid blood-money. Gladly. But one of them laid hands on me, and a black rage came over me, and I killed two of them, too. I didn't want to kill them either. " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_sturgia_4" text="{=W2Jhsc2X}That was that. I could pay blood money for one man but not three. I fled. I cannot return." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_sturgia_4" text="{=zX3hVUKI}It sounds like you had no choice." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_sturgia_4" text="{=K9ig7Mst}A man who cannot master his rage is a greater threat then the man who murders with intent." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_sturgia_4" text="{=1gXv1YlG}If the choice I had been mine, I would have never hurt anyone. I would live on my land, eat what I had grown, marry and have children. But the Heavens have decreed that I should eat by shedding other men's blood. In the city, rich men pay me well for that." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_4" text="{=b1Ucozvw}I was a farmer once. I killed a man in a fight and could not pay the blood money, so I had to flee. It's a common enough tale in the northlands. I accept that my destiny will be blood and hardship, rather than the simple life on the land I once craved." />   <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_5" text="{=E7z7aoQo}Look, friend, I'm here to drink, not talk. But if you really want to know, I'll give it to you in brief." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_sturgia_5" text="{=Zu4uBSxk}We Sturgians have a tradition. If two people have a dispute, and there's no witnesses, so it all comes down to one man's word against another's, then we let them settle it with swords. If one man doesn't like to fight, he can hire someone else to do the fighting. That's how it works with us. Probably other people do the same, because it's a good tradition." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_sturgia_5" text="{=r8ga8i93}I like to fight, so I made it known that I'd fight for anyone if the price is right. Shed a little blood, make a little coin, drink it away, make a little more, all in the cause of justice. Not a bad life, eh?" /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_sturgia_5" text="{=ExBNUPTm}Well, I guess I showed myself a bit too eager. The councils stopped accepting me as champion. Told me I sold my sword too cheaply, they said. What can I say? I have to look for other work now. It's a damn shame. I like duels - you don't worry about arrows, or someone coming up from behind. No need to stay sober for hours on end waiting for a fight that never comes. Just a few minutes of trouble, a bit of blood, and then usually a good meal afterwards." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_sturgia_5" text="{=AlZlPv4b}Councils these days. Always making changes..." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_sturgia_5" text="{=Fgsd3jBn}You call that the cause of justice?" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_sturgia_5" text="{=2UEpvIIV} But look - I'd still be a fine addition to a fighting company. I know how to swing a sword and an axe, and know a thing or two about forging them and keeping them sharp as well." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_5" text="{=IVIIkCaY}I was a sword for hire. Specialized in duels - you know, when there's a trial, and you can't work it out any other way. But you can run that racket too long - eventually the councils start banning you from fighting - so now here I am." />   <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_6" text="{=x9l3KCvQ}I'll tell you, but I don't know why you'd be interested." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_sturgia_6" text="{=OuUzIkaK}My parents died when I was young. My sister married. Her husband wanted my parents' farm. So he hired a devious man, a fast-talker, who knew the law well. He said... I don't even remember what he said, in court, before the council. But the council awarded both of them the farm." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_sturgia_6" text="{=9bezXRLp}It did not matter much. I always preferred the woods. I made a better living shooting squirrels and rabbits and selling fur. " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_sturgia_6" text="{=gqWMrx3S}But I've been thinking.. Maybe I want to marry. And I guess I need more silver for that, probably more than I can get from the squirrels. So... People tell me that warleaders will pay for a good scout. And I know the woods well." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_sturgia_6" text="{=Vs428XEb}That seems a reasonable ambition. A good scout can command a high price." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_sturgia_6" text="{=FMnIiXge}What woman wouldn't relish a husband smelling of half-cured skins, slept in for the whole winter?" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_sturgia_6" text="{=gSXfbTn5}I know the woods well. I can move quickly in them. I'll tell you all about a war party from the branches it broke marching through." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_6" text="{=UydGgLl9}I'm a trapper, a hunter. Used to be I could make a good living through furs... But with all these bandits about.... I'd rather be part of an army, I think. Spent my whole life in the woods and I reckon I could do well as a scout." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_7" text="{=2rX8VwCj}I'll tell you my story. Why not?" /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_sturgia_7" text="{=7qlJdbtC}My father was a draftsman. He helped build towers and walls for the boyars. I used to help him in his work, drawing up his plans. I had a good hand for that. We went from town to town, employer to employer, just the two of us. It was a wonderful time, until he dropped dead, just before I entered my twelfth year." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_sturgia_7" text="{=z2Vv7D3b}My mother had already died, so I was taken in by my uncle. But he didn't really want me. See, I had a birthmark on my shoulder, the kind that some people means the bearer can cast the Evil Eye. Whenever there was sickness in the streets of my uncles' village, the people would mutter and curse at me. Eventually they demanded my uncle drive me out of the village. It was no great loss for him to comply. Probably saved him worry over where he was going to find the money to marry me off." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_sturgia_7" text="{=gLaZnLBe}I wandered from village to village, begging and stealing. You may imagine how I fared at the mercy of the robbers of the road, who had no more fear of sorcery then they did of man's laws. But eventually I learned to protect myself, and the body of one careless bandit afforded me with my first sword and leather jerkin." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_sturgia_7" text="{=BVQ075W6}A sad tale. Please continue." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_sturgia_7" text="{=aIPLCDp7}Heavens protect us from evil! Away! Away!" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_sturgia_7" text="{=CEb36UEm}That is all there is to say, really. I still have the sword, and it is for hire, to those who pay well. I still remember a bit of my father's trade, too. I'll do most whatever is needed. The world had no mercy on me, so I feel no need to show any." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_7" text="{=bNUxoLhP}I don't know where I came from. First thing I remember is wandering the roads with a bunch of other orphans, going from village to village begging and stealing. But now, you see, I've stolen a sword from a group of bandits we found sleeping off a drunken night, and I figure maybe I can be something different." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_8" text="{=rKeqsRyj}I'll tell you my tale. But I will warn you in advance: It is of no concern to me whether you approve or disapprove of what I did." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_sturgia_8" text="{=o6ugLOZi}I came from a good family, with much land. Since I was a girl, I wished to be a shield-maiden. I practiced fighting with the village boys and the old warriors. But it is a strange thing - while some families in our lands take pride in a daughter who takes up arms, others accord it a great shame, and my father was of the latter type." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_sturgia_8" text="{=R2haBQK7}I had no special desire to be married but my family found me a groom anyway. I consented, but my husband and I detested each other from the first. Once he insulted me in the marketplace, I cursed his manhood, he struck me, and I pulled a knife and he pulled his. I won." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_sturgia_8" text="{=SfmWAuv3}The elders sat in judgment on our case. As it turned out, they had plenty of precedent. They accorded our fight a fair duel, and thus I was innocent of murder. On the other hand, I was excluded from his inheritance. I suppose that was fair, although I would have enjoyed wearing his jewels and riding his horse in front of his family." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_sturgia_8" text="{=DhQ7lgNr}Indeed. No doubt such traditions encourages husbands to behave better than they might do otherwise." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_sturgia_8" text="{=tbbQ3PZH}You slew your husband in a duel? Get away!" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_sturgia_8" text="{=5mUCH99p}Suffice to say, I could not return to my father's house. I went on my way, happy to live the life of a warrior I had always dreamed of living. But soon I found out - the tales I loved as a girl, of shield-maidens who fought for honor, do not pertain to a woman with no family or land. One cannot fight for honor when one doesn't know where the next meal comes from. So I fight for pay." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_8" text="{=UCpJEIE3}I am a warrior. A shield-maiden, as the Nords say. It is not uncommon in the northern lands. Perhaps you have met some of us before." />   <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_9" text="{=Wzl0V95v}Pour yourself a drink stranger. I'll tell you all you need to know." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_sturgia_9" text="{=agmuAXJc}How would I put it? I guess I'd say I'm a lady who's gotten a reputation for doing a man's work better then the men. I guess I'm a bit of a rarity. Although that's a bit of a surprise to me." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_sturgia_9" text="{=ELLbiNDu}You won't find me passed out in the straw in my own vomit when needed for a task. You won't have to bribe the guard to get me out of a cell because I got on a fight on my way to work." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_sturgia_9" text="{=F81bgvec}Instead, for my fee, I'll make sure that those who need protecting are protected, and those who need to die are dead." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_sturgia_9" text="{=TwbAHDDJ}Yes... So hard to find a dependable fighter these days." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_sturgia_9" text="{=4rC9tzki}I don't begrudge a warrior a few drinks and a fight from time to time." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_sturgia_9" text="{=wxSiMjJ0}Anyway, you come across a chief who needs a reliable sword in his warband, you let me know." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_sturgia_9" text="{=kQO0wZLj}I guess I'd say that I'm just a lady who didn't care for her distaff, and took up a spear instead. If you want to know more, hire me, point me at your enemies, and I'll show you rather than tell you." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_battania_0" text="{=mFiGSOSm}Certainly. The more who know about my skills, the better." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_battania_0" text="{=8lQ9IM8N}The women in our family passed down the art of healing from generation to generation, and other... em... services, that can be accomplished with herbs. But for all our skill we remained poor, while richly robed, well-fed men with half our skill walked about the towns tending to the lords and ladies." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_battania_0" text="{=dKAun6OE}By the time I became a woman I was sick of filthy huts and puking babies. I came to the towns and inquired after which households, among those who had wealth, might have a patient for me. Of course when I showed up at the door in my torn, stained dress they slammed it in my face. " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_battania_0" text="{=WvLK5myZ}So I acquired some denars - I will not say how - and with it bought a silk robe and some jewelry. This got me inside the doors of rich men's houses, and the cures I worked, and the reputation I earned, have done the rest. " /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_battania_0" text="{=Zb6ObDEB}Sounds like you have a good head for business." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_battania_0" text="{=C19gsGFY}Yes - many is the healer who has come to specialize in the diseases of the rich." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_battania_0" text="{=jcrmV9Lg}But I've noticed something - more denars is spent on war than on anything else. So, if someone's raised an army, and doesn't want to lose their investment to infected wounds and fevers, well, it might be worthwhile to employ me." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_battania_0" text="{=qyvj53mi}Once I was just another back-country healer, attending to squalling babies and superstitious villagers. But now I'm trying to make the money that my skill with medicine deserves." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_battania_1" text="{=lGSH1wsv}Pull up a chair, friend - you'll be glad you asked!" /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_battania_1" text="{=7TbLW9lr}I could tell you of all my deeds, and you'd never believe me. But you know, if you'd met me a year back, I could have taken you to my hall some time and shown you them. Shown you my deeds! You heard that! " /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_battania_1" text="{=yj3nO24m}I do things in the old way, and so whenever an enemy falls to my spear, I take their head! Let's see - I have Brechtan the Old, Lamaich the Lame -- don't let the names fool you, these were great warriors - Archan the Bull, so many others! A true Battanian never boasts, because his deeds are hung over the hearth for all to see. At least that's the way it used to be." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_battania_1" text="{=mPLvjSiB}A lot of heads... You can imagine, a lot of other warriors were envious of me. Some in my village even conspired against me, had me expelled. I lost my hall, and I had to bury the heads. I doubt you could recognize them any more. What a pity, eh? A collection like that will never be seen again." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_battania_1" text="{=ZqWHeJ9B}Envy, yes, the only possible explanation for why your clan drove you out. Such a terrible sin!" /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_battania_1" text="{=tRgVxROs}I doubt you have such a collection, and if you did, it would be the last thing I'd like to see." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_battania_1" text="{=OESUaPeh}So anyway, I need money to build a new hall, and start a new collection. So if someone wants to pay me my worth as a warrior, my spear is theirs!" /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_battania_1" text="{=LDlFgmIs}Well now, I am a warrior of the Battanians. There is no greater boast than that, I will tell you! But perhaps if you hire me, I can tell you more later about the great names I have slain and the heads I have taken." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_battania_2" text="{=APcr8rgq}I'll tell you. You may wish to get yourself a drink." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_battania_2" text="{=t0VGwvPo}You may have heard of my father - Cynan fen Aedeg. Many called him Cynan the Brave. It's my life's goal to be his worthy son, though he died when I was a baby. My stepfather, though rich in land and cows, does not have the same reputation, although I resolved early in my life that duty to my mother necessitated that I serve him as loyally as I would my natural father." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_battania_2" text="{=a1FYCbdy}Soon after I came of age, we got wind that our neighbors would raid us for cattle. We did not know by which road they would come. I was sent with a few of our tenants to hold a ford that was far out of the way." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_battania_2" text="{=iGH88WOz}At first I was angered, because I believed that I was being kept away from battle and glory. But as it turned out, that's the way the enemy army came. When I saw them at the ford, I challenged their leaders to single combat, as that was our way. They accepted, and sent forth a champion. To make a long story short, I slew him, and then two more who came after him. The rest graciously admitted that my victories meant they were obliged to retreat. " /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_battania_2" text="{=QRgltY66}May all of us have such honorable foes!" /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_battania_2" text="{=egZ6P7sq}A boy like you killed three champions, eh? Well, all things are possible, I suppose." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_battania_2" text="{=d8aCwUJj}When I returned to my stepfather's hall, my mother met me outside, in tears. She had given me up for dead - my stepfather knew the direction from which the enemy clan would come, and had intended for me to die. She did nothing to stop him, but since I had survived, she bid me flee - for if not, she feared, it was inevitable that our clan should sink into the abyss of kinslaying. So here I am, looking for a worthy lord for whom to fight." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_battania_2" text="{=7bX48G5w}I was raised in a well-known clan, but my father died and my stepfather cast me out. It is a common enough story among our people. You may find many of us wandering the roads, our swords our only inheritance." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_battania_3" text="{=4qqsndje}One moment. I need a drink." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_battania_3" text="{=wH5GepOD}I am Battanian. But for 20 years, I fought for the Empire. Indeed, most Battanians my age learned their trade in the legions. We saw no dishonor in it. They fed us well, they paid us well, they respected our courage." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_battania_3" text="{=WmGxA0P1}But there's no legions any more. And since Caladog became king, well, he's gotten the young to think that to fight for the Empire is treason. Treason to what? 'Battania'? There is no Battania. Never has been. Just a bunch of quarreling warlords, who'll steal your cows as soon as you turn your back on them." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_battania_3" text="{=7QFCINsI}Every time I've fought with a band of my 'countrymen,' I've told them: 'Hold your lines. Stay firm. Fight as the Empires does: as a solid hammer, not a gaggle of goats.' And every time I have seen them disintegrate into a screaming rush as soon as the arrows start flying, to dash themselves on the enemy's shields or be cut down by cavalry coming in on the sides." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_battania_3" text="{=VnfPb4ji}Indeed. There's much to be learned from the foreigner, whoever the foreigner is to you." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_battania_3" text="{=F9dSDE2k}A man should fight for his hearth and his kin, however much they disappoint him." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_battania_3" text="{=HREVUExb}Anyway, well, I've had it with narrow escapes from charging cataphracts, and I'm going to seek work in a more professional force." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_battania_3" text="{=kqbifZIo}I am Battanian by birth but I served with the Empire. Many of us did. A brave lord, a captain who cares for his men... What does it matter in which language your oath of fealty is given, as long as you honor it? " />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_battania_4" text="{=OxBmSnh0}I shall tell you. Is there a bard in the house? He may wish to take notes. I believe this is fine material for a song." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_battania_4" text="{=9vt4wew9}I am a connoisseur of horseflesh, my friend. No one knows horses better than I. But I find, alas, that often the best horses are wasted on unworthy owners, so I try to rectify that." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_battania_4" text="{=VUbklG5U}I was raised as a stableboy. But I had a gift for breaking horses, and for my hard work, and the risks I took to my neck taming young stallions, the old lord promised me that on my fifteenth birthday I should have a horse of my own." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_battania_4" text="{=zwKDTWd5}But the old lord died, alas, and when my birthday came, his heir laughed at me. He told me that a fine horse would be wasted on me; perhaps I would like a goat. So that night I took the best animal in the stable, and rode off." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_battania_4" text="{=bagbVij6}So, what you're saying is that you're a horsethief." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_battania_4" text="{=ysfnd0id}Of course. Every felon is just an honest man wronged. I've heard a hundred such tales and I've no wish to hear another." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_battania_4" text="{=KHq1bUOa}I am the prince of horsethieves! I have stolen Aserai mares from amid the tents and ridden them across the desert under the moon, I have taken Vlandian stallions from their paddocks, the sturdy ponies of the Khuzaits, and the steady geldings of the imperial lancers. But, I'll be the first to admit, it is risky work, so sometimes I do other jobs." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_battania_4" text="{=ZRQIdapZ}I am a horsethief. I come from a region where to be a horsethief is an honorable profession, and I am very good at it. But it is dangerous work, as owners can be vindictive people, and I am seeking safer work - as a mercenary, perhaps." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_battania_5" text="{=LzlRFPrj}Give me a minute. It has been a long time since I spoke more than a few words at a time to others." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_battania_5" text="{=84coQmIJ}My family was not one of the greatest clans of the Battanians, but neither are we among the poorest. When I came of age, my family sent me to join the Wolfskins. You may have heard of this tradition - for three years we live in the woods and do not eat cooked meat, wear spun cloth, or sleep under a roof, and according to the law we are beasts, not bound by the laws of men." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_battania_5" text="{=re1jRErx}Some speak well of their time in the Wolfskins. It is intended to teach you the ways of the woods. But the 'pack' I joined were all rich feral children, playing at being animals." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_battania_5" text="{=U6GQq4Id}They would sit around the fire at night and belittle each other. I was never quick with my tongue and the others learned to gang up on me. At one point I could take it no longer - I stabbed one in a fight. No one knew how to treat the wound, so he bled to death. And then I fled." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_battania_5" text="{=HtbAEEcR}Good thing you were exempt from the laws of man, eh?" /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_battania_5" text="{=fynTmZiX}Barbarians. Just when you think you've heard it all... Good day to you." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_battania_5" text="{=jp9iAxab}I saw how much tradition was worth. I was not answerable to the law, but I heard soon enough that the family of the youth I'd stabbed hired men to kill me. I stayed in the woods, living alone. I am happy there, most of the time. But sometimes I yearn to be among other men, and come to the city to look for work." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_battania_5" text="{=bZ1qYeIa}I'm a former Wolfskin. No doubt you have heard of us. I am not proud of what I did as a Wolfskin. But I am proud of the woodcraft I learned." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_battania_6" text="{=rriedqBz}Oh, I'll tell you. It's a fine tale, full of adventure and romance, but tragic too." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_battania_6" text="{=IRTr1FXk}Aye, once I made a fine living, in the Empire, stopping merchants on the roads and asking 'em for a bit of change. But there was a lass there, beautiful as the moon and just as cold, and she was my undoing. Courted by an imperial prefect but I thought, I can do better than that, with my takings, and I brought her the pick of the rings and finery and asked her to pass the evening with me. " /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_battania_6" text="{=oAyYQazn}She agreed, eagerly enough! There was wine and talk, but too much wine, and I slept off. Then woke in the morning, I did, and hooves were clattering outside and up comes the prefect and a file of horsemen, and away they took me to the town to be hanged." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_battania_6" text="{=oqWFzmkN}Blessed be the Gods, happened that my cousin Aed was in the guard. He sprung me that night from the prison, and together we went roaming round the country. But a passing magistrate decided he weren't parting with his purse, and pulled his blade rather than handing it over like a sensible lad. I took him down, but now before my poor Aed was butchered. See now the price of woman's ingratitude?" /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_battania_6" text="{=hGL3LHSN}Most unlucky you were." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_battania_6" text="{=GCd02obf}Perhaps one should not press a courtship too far, when one is a bandit." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_battania_6" text="{=tqdwOLPg}So here I am now, drinking to my poor cousin's memory, and looking for a bit of honest work. Well, it needn't be too honest, I suppose. I have a few skills that might be of use - among other things, if you ever happen to acquire any contraband you wish to sell, I reckon I can spot you a good price in the markets." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_battania_6" text="{=TD3babBS}I was a robber on the highways, in the Empire, making a fine living from the merchants on the roads. But I loved a girl in town, and snuck in to visit her from time to time. Then I got caught, and had to reveal the hiding place all my hard-earned loot to the guards to escape the noose. So here I am now." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_battania_7" text="{=yHWwzEZQ}Aye, I can tell you my story." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_battania_7" text="{=0reAi03W}I was a cowherd. In most villages, this is a boy's job, because one must be alone in the hills. In our village there were few boys, and I was a good shot with a sling, good at keeping the wolves away." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_battania_7" text="{=12lOrxfb}The boys of the neighboring village would pester me. One of them, the chief's son, would not leave me alone. They wanted from me what all boys want. One day he came up behind me and tried to take me by force. But I had a knife... " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_battania_7" text="{=EtfElSU3}I did not know what to do with his body. I buried it up in the hills, then told my parents. For fear of bloodshed, they told me to leave, to find my way in the world some other way." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_battania_7" text="{=bYrgTQ3s}It sounds as though you had no choice." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_battania_7" text="{=OUTjQlW1}There are customs for that sort of thing, trials, blood money, you know." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_battania_7" text="{=mxK0bSmE}I am no warrior, not yet - but I could be one. I am good with a sling, and a knife. I can run fast. I can bear hardship. I would stand my ground, because I have nowhere to run." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_battania_7" text="{=pabl5PiA}I was a shepherd. Normally the job is given to boys, but I always had a knack for bows and slings, which we use to keep the wolves away. The trouble with being a shepherd, though, is that there's always the chance of quarrels with the herders of the neighboring village over disputed pastures or missing sheep. Perhaps I was too good with a bow - I killed a neighbor. My parents were poor and could not afford the blood money, so I fled." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_battania_8" text="{=ZOVdtwbw}So, you want to know about the games that Fate has played with me?" /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_battania_8" text="{=qFU6cYSe}When I was just a baby, a woman said to have the Sight came to my father's hall. When she saw me, she told him that she saw the mark of the faeries upon me. She performed a divination, and said she had learned that I was to be a prank played on mankind: I should grow up to be a great beauty, but that any man who proposes to marry me shall die." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_battania_8" text="{=aZOuFJ6H}Well, he did not believe in such things, so he laughed, tossed her a few coins, and sent her on her way. I grew up. When my first suitor was skewered by a spear in battle, I grieved, but thought little of it." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_battania_8" text="{=P1EHkSAx}When my second suitor passed of a fever, I was unnerved. When my third suitor was thrown from his horse on a hunt, I knew I must do something.." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_battania_8" text="{=KbdCL6nK}Very responsible of you. Can't go killing off the whole village, now." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_battania_8" text="{=7RyQGcbI}The trouble with prophecies... People remember the one that came true, never the ten that were false." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_battania_8" text="{=gPN2xlx1}I resolved to take up the profession of arms, so that all men know that I am not the marrying type. I forge my own weapons, to avoid going into town whenever possible. And I tell all others of the curse upon me, as soon as I meet them. And I am far from my family, so no man will go to my father to ask for my hand." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_battania_8" text="{=bhVekK9J}I come from the highlands. My people were suspicious folk. It is easy to them to get into their heads that a child, especially a girl, practices witchcraft. I had two neighbors die of fevers within the same season, and so I was chased from my home and driven to fend for myself. Which I can, and did. I forge my own weapons and can wield them as well, but now I'm looking for steady work." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_battania_9" text="{=l01koCnM}My story? This is my tale in a nutshell - men's greed for cattle cost me my home and my kin." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_battania_9" text="{=DZTOovh6}My uncle - he had a great herd of cows, and in the Battanian upcountry that is only kind of wealth we value. But they were taken by his chief herdsman, a man we trusted. So we took up spears to get them back, but my uncle was now poor, but the thief had many kinsmen. Having nothing else to lose, my uncle ordered that even the women of our family take up spears and ride out to fight, and so we did." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_battania_9" text="{=RBwhiMkD}We came down on the thief's village one day at dawn. They were too many, and we were beaten. My brothers and most of my kin were all slain. I had nowhere to go." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_battania_9" text="{=ECaJe7d8}But I had killed three men with a spear that day, and found I had a taste for it. And I learned that thieves grow rich, while honest men die. So I lived in the hills, and took the cows of families more fortunate then my own. But I sold the cows I took, and kept the denars close to my chest." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_battania_9" text="{=4u5YQtKn}Hard to blame you for that, I suppose." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_battania_9" text="{=8U01rj5f}When a victim turns thief, that does not right the world." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_battania_9" text="{=fkbaYOGt}But I don't intend to live this way forever. There are a thousand paths to turning outlaw, you see, but they mostly come to a single end. So I'm here, in the town, looking for other work." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_battania_9" text="{=0ttlPDSr}My family was in a feud. Over stolen cattle, as is often the case in the upcountry. Well, the family we fought turned out to be rather stronger than us, and most of us were killed. The rest were scattered. I lived for a while as a thief, stealing to eat, but that is a bitter path, and now I am looking for something better." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_0" text="{=6NorKoWz}Well, before we begin, here's a flagon of ale to your health - both physical and spiritual." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_0" text="{=ruX5vDpE}I fancy myself a philosopher of medicine, you see. My parents sent me to a monastery when I was young, to study both the healing power of the Heavens and the healing powers of man - the science of herbs, that is to say." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_0" text="{=JrnXaI9i}But the monasteries, you know. The gardens are lovely, the libraries rich... But getting up at dawn to pray for the health of the king and benefactors - I don't know if it was doing his Majesty's health much good, but it certainly wasn't doing me any favors. So I left." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_0" text="{=vhQVhYFV}I started following the armies around. Always work for a herbalist, and while I don't care much for dawn marches, they're infrequent enough, and often there's a spare cart to sleep on. And warriors too - wounds of the body and wounds of the soul. I do far more good there then I ever did among my fellow monks, I can tell you." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_0" text="{=hGYQ0mxR}Yes, yes. The healer must go to where there is need of healing." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_0" text="{=astXdbzl}The monastic calling is supposed to inspire us to live pure lives. It doesn't look good when people abandon it." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_0" text="{=ataDrzt7}At any rate, I'm looking around to see if there's any campaign I might join." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_0" text="{=BFVlgN2S}I was a monk. But I, like many others, wasn't especially suited to monastery life, and was expelled. No complaints there. The one good thing about monasteries, though - you learn a fair deal about herbs and medicine. So that's how I intend to make my income." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_1" text="{=U0zuHtwa}Of course - and I'm sure you'll agree it's a tale worth of the telling!" /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_1" text="{=ELXn5Nv5}My lineage is as ancient as it is noble, so of course when King Derthert called the muster of the vassals, I took my father's horse and mail and rode off to join it. This was in our war against the Empire, you see." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_1" text="{=nI3aJA8u}There was a great deal of marching to and fro, in the mud, and I shan't bore you with that. But you must have heard of what happened when we caught them. We were forming our ranks to charge when another knight - if indeed he is worthy of the name - told me that I had no place in the front and I must join the second rank of horses." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_1" text="{=qMPY1rUo}Well, you know what a man of honor does when he is insulted like that -- I struck him down, and then his friends came against me, and I struck them down too! I laid a full dozen of them down before they finally overbore me. Have you ever heard of a more glorious stand against such odds in the name of honor?" /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_1" text="{=OgdD6bs9}If you really took down a dozen men fighting single-handed, that is quite impressive." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_1" text="{=26RU4ZRj}Wait... This famous stand you're describing. It was against your own side?" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_1" text="{=FqW4dBTS}At any rate the enemy came down upon us, and the Vlandian host was scattered. I do not care to rejoin such miscreants, but if another captain were gracious enough to take me on, I would be pleased to add to my glory in his service." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_1" text="{=kSJEjvHm}I am a knight of the Vlandians. I am a man of honor. Honor, of course, dictates that one avenges all insults, regardless of the consequences. I shall say no more, only that I am in need of a new captain to follow due to complications in my previous circumstances." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_2" text="{=D7IINWEl}I can tell you my story, but I don't know how interesting you will find it." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_2" text="{=QlWhygXi}I was born out of wedlock. My father took me in, but of course there was no question of me inheriting anything. I did not wish to be a burden on my brothers, so I decided to go to war." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_2" text="{=2VTD9b4L}As it happened, my neighbors needed to supply an armed man for the king's levy. None of them wished to go, so I offered to stand in for them. They bought me a sword, jerkin and horse, and thus I became a warrior." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_2" text="{=8xrIamsU}My first foray into war, we were pursued by a force of imperial cavalry twice our number. One man was needed to stay behind and hold a ford, so that the rest could escape. The others had families, so I chose to be that one, as I could think of none who would mourn me. " /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_2" text="{=faDAEda5}I commend your love for your fellow man." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_2" text="{=9YDjFZIU}Mmm... I do appreciate virtue, but villainy makes for a much spicier tale." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_2" text="{=4mgqRx6a}I fought as best I could, but the imperial forces took me prisoner. When they found that there was no one to ransom me, they let me go on my pledge that I would pay them later. It was a most noble gesture of them. So, I feel that I have no choice but to earn the money." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_2" text="{=qE4rBOI7}I am the son of a knight, but not a son born in wedlock. I was raised in my father's house, but when he was taken prisoner and ransomed, he had to sell much of what he owned, and therefore could no longer support me. I decided to set out to make my own name, if my family could not give me one. It is a common tale." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_3" text="{=D6Xd5ZrT}I'm drunk, so I'll tell you." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_3" text="{=xl6SnA6n}I was a soldier. It was my father's profession. I thought it would be easy for me. I wasn't scared of death or hardship. But things happen in war - not the deaths, the wounds, the screaming - but terrible things. It's difficult to explain." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_3" text="{=xSKbicft}Let's say there's a man. He saves your life. He takes a blow for you. And he doesn't boast about it, he doesn't tell anyone else - he just grins at you. Because he knows you'd do the same for him. He's your brother. Every man who fights with him is his brother." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_3" text="{=4MJsYhys}But everyone else - they're beasts to him. And he's a beast to them. And maybe a day comes that he's gone too far, and the lord is wondering whether to hang him, and a word from you determines whether he lives or dies. And if he lives, that means more peasant women will be raped and old men cut open to look for jewels in their bellies." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_3" text="{=g1sQna0D}A terrible dilemma." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_3" text="{=nmtbhSbc}A warrior stands beside his comrades like a man stands beside his brothers. Whatever their crimes may be." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_3" text="{=spHoDrGN}I said nothing. I let my brother hang. I thought I did the right thing, but every night thereafter I saw accusation in the eyes of my fellows. I could not face them. I fled. And here I am now." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_3" text="{=bxKXHPp1}I served in the free companies. When I was young and foolish I loved it - the danger, the comraderie. But sometimes something you see turns your stomach. Something you saw a friend of yours do in a looted city. I will not speak of it. I need a new road to follow." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_4" text="{=q977EaUU}You ask a lot of questions, friend. So I'll tell you what you need to know, and no more." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_4" text="{=I9FWCRtO}You look like someone who's been around a bit, so I probably don't have to tell you about how this faithless world of ours works. Sometimes it needs a man who's not afraid to get his hands dirty to make sure there's a bit of order." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_4" text="{=5Z9SNzQw}The lords and the merchants, they sit in their lofty towers making grand decisions, but they don't see into the back alleys to know what plots are going on. They don't know where to find the debtor who won't pay his debt. They don't know where to find the wagging tongues starting rumors. So that's where I come in." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_4" text="{=aTGl3b1G}Anyway, that's all I'll say about my line of work - unless, of course, you'd care to make a down payment on my services. Then we can talk more." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_4" text="{=RsE01mvh}Ah, yes, you do sound like a useful type." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_4" text="{=bDidH1Pu}It takes a vile man to do that work, and an even worse one to boast about it." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_4" text="{=dJxHX9si}The way I look at it, we all fulfil the will of the Heavens in our own way. So I do what I'm good at." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_4" text="{=ohA8pdlS}I kill for a living. I've killed a lot, and if you want me to kill for you, you'll hire me. You seem to have been around a bit. I don't think I need to tell you any more. I'm sure you can reckon if I'm worth my price." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_5" text="{=ZN3QD4Ks}I'll tell you. I'll tell anyone who listens." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_5" text="{=8Caa7QPs}My father had five sons. That wasn't unusual, but what was unusual is that we all made it to adulthood. There wasn't enough land for all of us, so the two youngest of us moved to Charas. Found work on the wharves, hauling in cargos from all the ships coming in. For a few years, it was good work." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_5" text="{=fGhNWKgK}But with the wars, and a lot of people losing their land, things changed on the docks. Too many hands, and not enough cargos. Gangs from the back alleys started getting involved. If you didn't hire their people, maybe your ship would go up in flames." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_5" text="{=ddQAXhd6}One night I was walking home with my brother when we ran into a group working for one boss they called Big Tuna. Told us our crew had killed one of theirs, and they were going to kill one of ours in return. Took my brother, wrapped a heavy chain around his legs, and threw him into the water. I don't know why they let me live. " /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_5" text="{=JsP90A6a}I am sorry for your loss." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_5" text="{=9KJdwiWV}Aye, well, that shows how far honest work gets you." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_5" text="{=FbVJrA77}So I ran. I left Charas. Look, I know about shipping, cargos, inventories. I'm not a violent man. But I will learn to fight. And then I'll return. I'll show them that there's a price to be paid for killing my brother." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_5" text="{=KAK7DLTq}My family were farmers, but we were driven off of our land. We tried to make a new home in Charas, but the people weren't too keen on newcomers, and one of the gangs ran us out. Now I don't know what to do to myself, but whatever it is, I reckon I'll have to learn how to fight." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_6" text="{=UnNwWJT2}I don't mind telling." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_6" text="{=W2x5Z40R}Up in the northwest, when we go to bed each night we make sure we can find our spears in the dark, because you never know if that night's going to to be the one that a Sturgian or Battanian warband is going to pay a visit. We're proud men up there, and we expect the lords to understand that their lackeys can't treat us like serfs in some safe southern estate." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_6" text="{=fGTeaCVU}My father was even a little prouder than most, I suppose. One day he was insulted by the lord's bailiff and he upped and left, moved us higher in the hills to be away from all other men. " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_6" text="{=q3ZXATdq}We burned away some of the forest and planted barley. My mother died of a fever, but me and my sister and my father, we lived up there 10 lean and lonely years, all so my father didn't have to doff his hat to any other man. Then he vanished in a blizzard." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_6" text="{=WZyybR2g}A tragic tale. My condolences." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_6" text="{=f4kz9PyG}A fitting reward for a man who defied the order that the Heavens instituted on earth for our own good." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_6" text="{=b0zmbTPQ}When all was done I'd have killed for an hour of another man's company, or a sip of wine, or a glimpse of a girl. So my sister and I, we came down to the valleys. She found a husband. I can get good work as a tracker. And that's all there is to it." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_6" text="{=sfgZhUgT}I grew up in the north of the Vlandian lands. Sometimes men up there take their families far up in the hills, to live without any master or lord. But it's a hard life, cold and lonely. I want something better. I know the wilds well. I figure I can be of good use to a lord or lady, as a scout, and can at least choose my master." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_7" text="{=6KUJ7cYt}Sure, I'll tell you my tale. Don't expect a happy one." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_7" text="{=iPCX96mA}My father was a tenant farmer from near Usanc. By law, so long as he paid a third of his crop in tax, he couldn't be kicked off the land. But the landlord wanted to raise sheep, so he had a document forged that said my family moved here a generation ago and therefore wasn't covered by the law... It's a bit complicated, this part, but the end is that they cheated my family of its rights and we were cast into poverty." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_7" text="{=xB6zj8ei}I wasn't the type to take that meekly. My cousin, he'd lost his land too some years before, and he'd run off to join the Brotherhood of the Woods. People said that they stood up for the poor. Took money from those who did injustice, and gave it to those who were wronged. So I went to join them too." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_7" text="{=3AbNYbOo}Maybe they were like that once, but they'd changed. They robbed, forced people to give them food, called poor farmers 'spies' and killed them just to strike fear in the others. So I said one day, 'You're all a bunch of common bandits.' They came to kill me, my cousin stood up for me, and they knifed him." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_7" text="{=1paC3mV1}Yes. Too many men on both sides of the law prey on the weak." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_7" text="{=VLIz9b7u}You thought there was such a thing as noble bandits? Perhaps you went in search of fairies next?" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_7" text="{=b2UpIO43}I left the woods, but I spent enough time with the bandits to learn a bit of woodcraft. Now I help lords hunt them. If I must choose between two evils, I will work for the one that pays better. But I also have an outstanding debt with the landlord. Perhaps some day I will be able to settle it." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_7" text="{=WtNQGw3o}My family were tenant farmers. But that life was rubbish, and our lord was rubbish too. So I fled to the woods, where there were rebels, called themselves the 'Brotherhood of the Woods.' Rubbish of the woods, more like it. Puffed-up bandits. So now I'm looking for a boss who's not rubbish. Does such a thing exist? I guess I'll find out." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_8" text="{=JFdjrbAF}Huh? Well, okay. Why not?" /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_8" text="{=1Gr3wo1m}I was a smith. As you can see I'm a big fellow, strong... I was good at my job. Had a nice shop on the high street through my town. Saved a bit of money and thought about finding a girl to wed." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_8" text="{=jsuOEu3a}There was a woman who lived out on the street. Refugee from the wars. Had a small child, a baby really. It was all she had. She'd make small cakes of wheat over a fire. Then one day a young man from the palace came down the street in his horse. Wasn't looking where he was going, didn't care, and his horse crushed that baby's head." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_8" text="{=rpOla1Vp}I saw her nurse that babe through two fevers. The patience, the sacrifice, of that mother - to see all for which she suffered snatched away like that from her, by some young drunk's carelessness... There was a crowd around them, he was yelling. I just walked over with my hammer and struck him dead.... That was the end of my life in the city. I think back, though, and can't imagine doing different." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_8" text="{=bwthhDSN}Right or wrong, I cannot blame you for your anger." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_8" text="{=hpKAp2ZW}The law is the law, and murder is murder." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_8" text="{=DHCTLcp1}So here I am. I know men like me can make money guarding merchants, doing other tasks such as that. As long as no one wants me to hurt the innocent... Some day, I hope to find a new place to set up a smithy and start again." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_8" text="{=XEsq2Gd6}I was a smith, but I had a problem with gambling. I borrowed from an alley gang, I couldn't pay back, and, well, you probably know what comes next. A smith just can't pack up and go to another place. There's guilds that make that difficult. But I'm a big fellow, I figure I can swing a weapon as well as my tools, and there might be work for me in the wars." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_9" text="{=LTvInwfa}I have a cup of wine before me. The room is nice and warm. Why not?" /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_9" text="{=P1fLl2KS}See, some girls are attracted to bad boys. My mother was one of those. Bandits came to her village one day and she made up her mind. Ran off with them. 'Married' the leader. But he was killed soon, so she married the one who replaced him. And so forth and so on." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_9" text="{=PIu7b9wO}I was born around the time she married her fourth husband. My father, well, he was hanged a few months before that. A couple others were hanged, but mostly they were killed by their own followers. You see, the trick to leading bandits is that you can't value your life very much. Never back down from a fight or an insult. Sooner or later your luck will run out. Usually sooner." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_9" text="{=LVkWjJgD}I had a wild childhood, you can imagine. Living in the woods, never doing much work. But the winters were cruel. Ma died when I was twelve. And I knew I wanted something different. So I came to the town. Plenty of work for a girl who knows how to use a blade, and at least here there's a fire at night and a roof over my head. " /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_9" text="{=JJqwFLjR}That's a start, I suppose. Have you ever considered an honest trade?" /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_9" text="{=587q6IS6}Very nice. You sound destined for the scaffold, so you might as well enjoy a hot meal or two." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_9" text="{=aOSiXn2O}Well, I'm not averse to less dangerous work, if it pays well. No sense going to my grave too quickly, now that I've discovered the finer things in life. I do like the wine you get in the city, especially with a bit of bread and anchovy sauce." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_9" text="{=SmWz2t65}I'm a bandit, love. I like bad men and dangerous deeds. Got it from my mother, I suppose. But banditry - you earn your silver, you spend it, you never spend long in the same place. There have to be more stable ways to kill, loot and roam." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_10" text="{=bE3LXxhw}Yeah... I can tell you all that." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_10" text="{=PGa4Ehaa}My father was a wheelwright. Everyone knew that the best work was in {IMPERIALCAPITAL}, in the streets around the hippodrome fixing chariots. So we sold our shop and went there, he and I - my mother was dead. The rumors weren't wrong, the work was good, but then you know what happened. The riots, the hippodrome burned, and my father killed for being a foreigner." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_10" text="{=21QinZCq}Well, now there's a war on, and few are bothering with racing chariots. I went to find work with the armies. At first they had me fixing carts, but it turns out my skill with wheels came useful in making a catapult torsion twist. So I learned a bit about that. A lot about that, actually. " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_10" text="{=b3IzpFH2}Now, I'm looking around to see if there's anyone who might want to take me on. Especially if I might one day have a chance to rain rocks on the good people of {IMPERIALCAPITAL}, who killed my da." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_10" text="{=W5OECu87}A good engineer is always in demand." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_10" text="{=YgZJYYds}Few war leaders have the patience for followers with private vendettas." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_10" text="{=IX7IpWAm}Anyway, you hear of someone who might have work for me, you let me know." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_10" text="{=qFLZGWHj}My father was a wheelwright but there's more money in catapults than in carts these days. I did a bit of work repairing the mangonels round the walls of my hometown, and I reckon I can build some as well." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_11" text="{=anGYtcYU}Yeah... Right, so here it is..." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_11" text="{=kBFbivPP}I fought with the Company of the Boar. I was their armorer - kept their blades sharp, and patched the holes in the mail they took off corpses. Good lads, some of them, but others... Let's just say that it's the kind of outfit that attracts men born to trouble." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_11" text="{=U0tO8xtz}I made an enemy there, Alric his name was. I don't even remember why he decided to hate me, but he did. Never could leave me alone. I had to sleep with one eye open." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_11" text="{=u6mV420C}One day, right before a siege, he took me aside and told me that he'd put a crossbow bolt in my back. Thing is, he went up the ladder first, so I put the bolt into his. Dropped him onto the rocky ground and split his head open." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_11" text="{=QrFrfN44}I suppose that is self-defense, in a way." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_11" text="{=xOSV0qT8}Shooting a man in the back is murder, whatever the circumstances." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_11" text="{=l8Xo44xM}Anyway, I couldn't quite go back to the Company after that. His mess-mates knew well enough what happened. So I need work somewhere else. I suppose I could look for work at a smithy, but I don't think I'm cut out for peace. I just want to fight against an enemy in front of me without worrying about the one behind me as well." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_11" text="{=7RyuT39x}I fought with the Company of the Boar. I was an armorer, a smith. They're a hard lot, though. I think you'll find a lot of us who've left them and gone looking for other work." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_12" text="{=cvGrEGoT}Ah... I suppose I can tell you." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_vlandia_12" text="{=5xVPlyeI}I was a gamekeeper near here. For a lord whose name I will not mention. I was taught to track deer and boars. But my master wanted me to go after other game." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_vlandia_12" text="{=PTc6N9tC}He had me find a group of outlaws, Brothers of the Woods, they called them. Oh, we knew of their crimes well enough, the robbing, the murder. I managed to find their lair in the hills. They had no chance against knights, and gave up." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_vlandia_12" text="{=3ArVOTld}I don't know what I thought would happen... A good clean fight? The leaders executed, the rest let go? No, they took all 20 of that gang, including some who were barely old enough to grow a beard, and left them hanging to die outside the castle. I'd see those bodies twisting and think, 'This is my work,' and that was something I want no part of." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_vlandia_12" text="{=QSogTAKq}That sounds terrible indeed." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_vlandia_12" text="{=hxPlbuMf}These are hard times. Don't worry about the fate of outlaws." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_vlandia_12" text="{=IIaMv3C5}At any rate... I'm willing to work as a tracker or scout. I know this is wartime, there will be fights and deaths. But... If you must kill an enemy, do so as you'd kill a stag. Without cruelty. That's all I ask." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_vlandia_12" text="{=sr5qg0s1}I'm a gamekeeper by trade, but I haven't found a master I care to work for. I expect there are many of us around, these days." />   <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_0" text="{=EMkaeD9M}Hmm. Many men would begin their story by reciting their ancestry. I will not do this. A man should be judged on his own deeds, and a long list of ancestors does him no credit. Also, my family does not acknowledge me, so why should I acknowledge them?" /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_0" text="{=RaSZtTqh}I was the son of a slave. My master, a judge, raised me in his house, but it was clear that he would never spend much time to ensure my success in the world. Still, I was tutored with his other sons, and chose to study medicine as a young man. I thought I could perhaps be a physician." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_0" text="{=9AIyvTmF}Well... I was soon disabused of this idea. A doctor starting out in the world must either have a great deal of money, or family that ensures him a long list of clients. I had neither. Instead of working in the city, I took service aboard a ship." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_0" text="{=ZuHolx2r}Professionally, it was perhaps the best thing I could have done. Fevers, injuries, festering sores - the seaman has in greater number and variety than any manner of land-dweller, I imagine. But I have little patience for life aboard, the monotony, the tyranny of captains, the lack of any space to oneself, the groaning of timbers, the constant smell of rotting bilge..." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_0" text="{=A9r6SnWx}Yes, it must be trying." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_0" text="{=B7cMisFf}Weren't handed life on a silver platter, were you? Such a tragedy." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_0" text="{=HaQlEZPq}At any rate, I have a bit of money to my name, and the leisure to wait a few weeks before choosing my next employer." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_0" text="{=vgcTdEvc}I was the son of a slave, but my father bought me my freedom and an apprenticeship with a healer. I could make a lot of money as a doctor if I came from a well-known family that would attract patients. But I don't, so I offer my skills to war-leaders, who cannot afford to be so picky." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_1" text="{=d9qUbj3I}I shall tell you... Ahem..." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_1" text="{=xNPAZdtX}My father is Aytham, son of Thamuq, who was son of Munbilas - the elder son, mind you, not the younger - and he was son of Numayn - Numayn of the Mountain, that is, not the less illustrious ones of that name - and he was son of Zais." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_1" text="{=ikWAfIHX}Now some people will tell you that Zais was born of out wedlock, but those are lies. He was the legitimate son of Ghutan, and Rasad 'Ban Ghutan' doesn't deserve that name, he should be called the 'Bastard,' not Zais. Anyway, as for Ghutan's father... Well, not everyone knows this, but..." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_1" text="{=Wz71n66t}I'm sorry. Are you not paying attention?" /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_1" text="{=N9rVRfaW}Oh.. Of course I am! This is fascinating. But tell me about your own deeds." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_1" text="{=SYBe3aIC}Do you have a trade? Any skills? Or just a string of ancestors?" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_1" text="{=KGa4gmDW}Ah, yes - well, it would be beneath someone with a lineage like mine to pledge allegiance to the current parvenus who call themselves the emirs of the Aserai. So, I fight for those who pay me my value in denars, good noble denars." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_1" text="{=vKSGJNxT}I am a warrior. I would recite to you my lineage, but that would take an hour. I would tell you my deeds, but that would take two. So, instead - if you pay me - I shall come with you and fight your enemies, and that will be the best demonstration of my mettle." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_2" text="{=AVqbfwrh}I will tell you. Perhaps you will think I am petty-minded, but a man's reputation is a valuable thing..." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_2" text="{=TNOM6nuo}I am from one of the lesser known clans of the Aserai. We take the name of an undistinguished younger son of the Qildi line from five generations back. We have never held fiefs or won much wealth, but when the Qild called out their kinfolk, or the tribes were summoned by the Sultan, we took our place in the battle line." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_2" text="{=H8wpFACA}The great names in our great clans - some of them are brave, and generous with the loot, but don't they like to take their names bandied out after every battle? Poets know there's silver in it if they sing the praises of the Banu Qild, the Banu Sarran - but those of us who are Banu Nobody, well, we deserve a bit of time in the sun too, don't you think?" /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_2" text="{=2BKMNXE7}I fought three battles under the banner of the Sultan, and two more under the banners of the Qild. No more." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_2" text="{=AMMXrcC9}Indeed. Glory is as much a spoil of war as any, and should be shared." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_2" text="{=iztRBaaF}Frankly, I have little time for glory-hounds of any sort. Men who do their job is what I want." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_2" text="{=lQ4PPsnT}At any rate, I will find a master who allows me to win fame for myself. Or barring that, land and silver, so that I can buy a poet or two." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_2" text="{=q71Cbib7}I am a warrior, but I am not from one of the greater clans. After a battle, I may get a bloodstained weapon pried from the enemy's hand or a pat on the head from my emir, but no song of my deeds. No robe of honor. I intend to fight for someone who see in people more than their name." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_3" text="{=2PZsQPty}I will tell you my story. I haven't... I haven't spoken of this before, to anyone. Perhaps it's the wine here. But know that if you speak of this to anyone else, I'll cut your tongue out." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_3" text="{=Agbh1AmR}I have a gift... From the Heavens, perhaps, or perhaps from somewhere else. I have never met anyone I could not kill in a fair fight. But I do not like wars. Armies are full of crude men, boasters, drunks, rapists. I have another speciality." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_3" text="{=33Dzgon7}Say you had a man you wanted killed. Who you would pay to kill. I could find him, bump into him, mutter an insult. He would pull out his blade. And that would be the last mistake he would ever make. But as I said, it would be a fair fight. I do not kill from behind. It is dishonorable." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_3" text="{=PHVJ9fOm}But there was a lord, a customer of mine, who had no honor. And he refused to pay me. And having no honor, he laughed at my insults. He did not pull his blade. He had his men drive me away. I can kill one man but not three at once. So here I am." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_3" text="{=mijieuku}You know, I'm sure you could put your gift to better use." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_3" text="{=0dQLkzEw}What you call 'honor'... I'm not sure that's the best word for it." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_3" text="{=OHFZ9EAk}Mmm.... Well, for now, I do not know what to do with myself. Perhaps I could consider joining a warband, if the commander was well-bred and kept his word." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_3" text="{=KNQCoxIJ}I am a sword for hire. Some think us scum but I have my own code of honor. If I kill a man, it must be in a fair fight. My last employer asked me to do something dishonorable, so now I am looking for a new employer." />   <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_4" text="{=XVZGCB0a}Yeah, sure." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_4" text="{=LjkQ4fYp}I come from a town where every alley has its 'protector.' These are men with some strength but also a lot of respect, who stand up for the rights of the people there. My father was our alley's protector, and so it fell on me to take his job after he grew too old to do it himself." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_4" text="{=Z8TfQDSV}A few years after he retired, we had a new guard captain. We protectors, we serve the state, but we're not its tool. This new captain didn't understand. He'd come to me and say, 'One of my lads took this man's daughter - see that he doesn't make a fuss,' or, 'Let's have little private meetings, so you can tell us what your people are up to.' " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_4" text="{=PWpTT0NM}I told the captain that I couldn't do these things. The alley people - they had to trust me. The captain didn't take 'no' for an answer. He pressured me. He threatened my father. What could I do? I couldn't betray my people but I couldn't betray my father either. I took my family and left." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_4" text="{=yXhf3AJk}A hard choice." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_4" text="{=nlRg040C}Better to have properly constituted authority than that of some back-alley tough." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_4" text="{=Vwhnrf66}So here I am. I have mouths to feed, and the thing I know best is to fight." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_4" text="{=zTNhw5T6}I'm from a town near here. I won't say which one... Our family were protectors of our alley, and by that I mean that I thumped the head of anyone who tried to take away our rights. But the guard captain, he kept coming around demanding money and favors, and I couldn't thump his head. So now I'm looking for new work." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_5" text="{=41Et3Siz}You want a story? Then go toss a copper to a fellow who knows the song of Kais and Layali, because you won't get one from me." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_5" text="{=DRv6hB6p}Here's what you need to know about me - I can take a man down with a single blow, or maybe two if he's got armor, and I have expensive tastes in wine and women. So I don't work for free." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_5" text="{=37d1A0AM}I kill for a living. Some men, in my line of work, will spin a tale of how they were forced into it, orphans of war or some-such. Piss on that." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_5" text="{=osaIOFNx}I like to fight, I'm good at it, and in my opinion, the Heavens smile on a man who loves his job." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_5" text="{=iZPiYDbj}Can't fault you for enthusiasm, I suppose." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_5" text="{=kzvTFUbj}That's a rather unique theology." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_5" text="{=r8vQ3KpJ}You want me to kill for you? Then make me an offer. If not, piss off." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_5" text="{=wGyCPQwG}I kill for a living. If you want me to kill for you, pay me what I'm worth. If you don't, then don't waste my time." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_6" text="{=5QpIypgB}Since you ask who I am, stranger, I will tell you." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_6" text="{=Ke9L8QbX}The searing gravel plain knows me, as do the rippling sands and the shadowed canyon. The hidden spring whispers to me, 'Come hither and drink,' and the high outcrop unveils to me the horizons." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_6" text="{=fELWdbuL}The viper does not trouble me, nor does the scorpion. I have faced the scouring sandstorm, the rushing flood, the killing heat of noontime, and they have all said to me, 'Pass safely, brother.'" /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_6" text="{=rP2EVSvT}I am {MET_WANDERER.FIRSTNAME}, prince of the wastelands, lord of solitude, master of emptiness. If you wish to know my other names, you may ask my kinsmen, the leopard, the hyena and the gazelle.." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_6" text="{=xagl8d4w}{MET_WANDERER.FIRSTNAME} is fine. No need to bother the hyenas. So, what can you do?" /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_6" text="{=5d6Xifm1}Master of empty talk, rather." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_6" text="{=C5pqZtNs}I roam the desert. I learn its secret ways, its gifts, as a lover learns the secrets and gifts of his beloved. But though the desert is bountiful, horses and steel must be bought with silver. So, I must sell my services from time to time." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_6" text="{=V6boHnpo}I am of the desert. I know its ways. The wind guides me. The scorpion comes into my camp at night and tells me its secrets. The howls of the jackal bring me news of the hunt." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_7" text="{=AH4ell4y}Hmf. Very well. I'll tell you - and you can decide for yourself whether my family should be ashamed of me." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_7" text="{=KbP87Fzv}I was part of a clan that lived beyond the mountains to the south. We came under pressure from our neighbors, who wanted to take our lush grazing grounds in the foothills. We were an ancient clan, that valued its name, but in this generation we have been short of men, so I fought alongside my brothers - indeed, I slew our enemies' champion in single combat. That stopped the pressure on our lands, but not the violence. " /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_7" text="{=lwvQCrG2}We kept our grazing grounds. But my brothers and cousins found that, when they mingled with other clans during the holy months of truce, that they were mocked. 'You let your women do your fighting!'" /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_7" text="{=X8Zkp0Ut}The insults were many, and they had no choice but to respond. One cousin was slain in a duel, one cousin killed his opponent, so we had two new bloodfeuds on our hands. I chose to leave home before it got any worse." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_7" text="{=VJDZp4rM}An impossible situation..." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_7" text="{=zZfHxtS5}Honor must come first!" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_7" text="{=2ZiWirPM}I find that I like to fight, and the pay is good. But I will do my fighting far from home, so that no shame attaches itself to my family's name." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_7" text="{=8TabS6RW}I was a daughter of a wealthy clan. But our rivals drove us from our grazing grounds. We had to sell our herds. We were mocked in towns when we went to trade in the marketplace. Luckily my father was one of those wise enough to teach his daughters to fight. With the Heavens' help I will become wealthy and famous, and restore our family name." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_8" text="{=1ssGvu9j}I can tell you my story. If you spend time among merchants, I suppose you will hear it anyway, told as a cautionary tale, complete with a great deal of moralizing and tut-tutting." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_8" text="{=Gepa1szA}My father was a merchant. When he died, he left his children a small inheritance. Most went to my brothers. They headed east, to the lands of the Padishah, leaving me in charge of our interests in Calradia. For me to step into my father's shoes, and be treated as an equal by other merchants, I knew I had to make a lot of money in a short time or they would elbow me out of the market." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_8" text="{=jnbQL2ta}I had an opportunity to buy pepper from another trader who was selling at a discount, and needed cash. I of course inspected the pepper and its storage. I interviewed the watchmen at the warehouse. You can trust us madame,' they said. 'Rest assured your pepper is in good hands.'" /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_8" text="{=YOzdVTeS}But one of them kept a brazier lit at night, for the warmth, and a camel kicked it into a bed of straw when he was off relieving himself. When he returned, the warehouse was in flames. And so became penniless." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_8" text="{=EB6RcaTF}Merchants take risks. I am sorry it turned out so badly for you." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_8" text="{=Nz0iyKaM}All one's pepper in one warehouse. A cautionary tale indeed." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_8" text="{=bk3Ir2uC}Well... Even now I feel I made a wise choice to buy the pepper -- wise, but unlucky. Such is fortune! Had I not seized this opportunity, other merchants would have mocked me, a woman who lacked the daring to succeed in a man's trade. Instead they mock a rash woman who lacked a man's judgment. And here I am, looking for work." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_8" text="{=OohIyeJo}My parents were merchants, and I inherited a share of their workshops and camels. But banditry and the fortunes of trade ruined me, which is also common, and now I must make my money some other way." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_9" text="{=CE8we5VF}Oh, I'll tell you my story. I don't mind who knows." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_9" text="{=OcCLz4je}When I was a child, my mother sent me out on the streets to beg and pick pockets. And the big man of our quarter took a cut of that. I got a little older and my mother taught me how to rob drunken travellers, and the big man took a cut of that." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_9" text="{=NDR2Xcoq}But you see, for a big man, it's not all sitting in the shade and counting your money. A big man must beat and he must kill, or people will not fear you. And one day, as I watched, he beat my mother to death over the share of his cut." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_9" text="{=G7ZQb9tQ}Now some would say I should have avenged my mother. But there was a wrinkle, you see - we didn't talk about it much, but he was my father, as he was the father of so many other children of our alley. So I fled our town, and now work here, using the skills my dear parents taught me." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_9" text="{=qxBbhtLH}Perhaps you can rise above the sorry circumstances of your birth." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_9" text="{=pKMVhx2v}They never cease to shock me, the sordid tales you hear from the dregs of the alleys." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_9" text="{=x6acpIw7}So... Anyway, if you've got an enterprise or two that might not be entirely legal, and need a sharp eye on the villains you've got running it, you may find that my skills are of use to you." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_9" text="{=bRE8iZqE}I had no father, see. None that I knew. There are scores of us in every town, begging and stealing and working for the gangs. But I was always the type of girl who wanted something more, and I got ahold of this sword, you see, and now I intend to turn other people's blood into silver." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_10" text="{=rgSWtZ0w}I'll tell you my story. I suppose it is a fine lesson in how destiny makes mock of our intentions." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_aserai_10" text="{=ZSaGzgmN}My father was a judge, and I had intended to study the legal rulings of the past, so I could follow in his footsteps. But when I went to study, my master told me that only two kinds of scholars were needed these days: those who knew how to build and knock down walls, and those who knew how to stem the epidemics that spread from unburied bodies." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_aserai_10" text="{=cyjb9lmm}I had no talent for medicine, it turned out, so I chose to be an engineer. I had one final flight of folly - a local academy was crumbling, so I submitted a sketch for a new one to the emir. He laughed and told me to come back with a schematic of siege engines. " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_aserai_10" text="{=PKzUUVKC}So go on - ask me how thick a mangonel's struts must be to withstand the torsion to throw a five-istar ball. Ask me how heavy a ram's head must be, compared to its total weight, so that it does not rebound from the gate and strike the men who wield it. I never imagined I would know such things, when I dreamed of making men's lives better through the dispensing of justice." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_aserai_10" text="{=gMiceyRl}Well, some day there may be peace, and money to build again." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_aserai_10" text="{=KrXlrnsg}The quarries are hiring. You could always haul rocks for a living, if you're so averse to launching them." />  <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_aserai_10" text="{=XKsjweaA}Unfortunately, I've found that siegework pays irregularly. My contracts are usually honored if the city falls and is looted. But if dysentery breaks out in the siege camp and the army must march away, well, you may find that you submit your receipts in vain." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_aserai_10" text="{=wQRSM1lz}My father was a judge, and as such, I was educated to be a judge. That is usually the case with us. But I was always better at mathematics than letters. So I took mercenary work, making catapults. My father cast me out of his home in disgust. He once told me that the greatest privilege on earth is to dispense justice, but he will never know the joy of firing a mine and seeing the walls of a tyrannical baron or cruel archon crumble, so what does he know?" />   <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_0" text="{=OqzUb0E6}My story? Certainly I can tell you, if it interests you." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_0" text="{=axVcadKQ}My father learned his trade in the time of the old Urkhun Khan. Back then, the Khuzaits were invincible in battle, but had little knowledge of rams, catapults or even ladders, and even the most humble fortress defied them. " /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_0" text="{=Kaz4NbDN}So Urkhun, a man of vision, offered to pay the weight in silver of any imperial engineer captured alive. These captives were forced to teach men like my father the art of siegecraft. My father, in turn, taught me." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_0" text="{=uSYQb9KY}Now, in Urkhun's day, if a Khuzait apprenticed in siegecraft went to work for another master, it meant a very painful death if he was recaptured. But times have changed. The richest plums of the empire's cities have fallen, and they build their walls higher than they once did. The Khuzait lords pay less for a siegemaster, and that pay is often late. So I am up to taking other employment, if it is offered." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_0" text="{=HSHRP59J}Of course, of course. A good engineer deserves his pay." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_0" text="{=cPpWwCU9}How virtue has crumbled since the old days." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_0" text="{=l0OCTrl9}Indeed... Well, at any rate, if you find there is an inconvenient wall between you and the object of your desire, and you wish it reduced to rubble, you know where to find me." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_0" text="{=9cFEa5EB}My father was one of the men that Urkhun Khan had trained by captured imperial engineers. Our people knew little of siegecraft in those days. Well, he was not allowed to work for anyone but the Khan, or he would be killed in a very unpleasant way. But he taught me, his son, what he knew, and in this generation things are a little more lenient. So I can work for whom I please. " />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_1" text="{=VHyXsXu7}You know, you'd think this place could serve proper kumis, instead of this piss they call wine... Sorry, where were we? Ah yes, my story." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_1" text="{=vney5HbZ}I rode for years behind Monchug Khan, even before he was khan. I had good name and a good sum of money. There was a girl in a neighboring village, quiet thing but good childbearing hips, who I thought would make a good bride. " /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_1" text="{=cX7q60eg}So I went to her brother, and offered him 50 sheep - a good price. But he said he wasn't giving his sister to a 'man like me.' Asked him what he meant by that, and he didn't answer, so I gave him a good punch. Maybe a couple punches - no more. Shouldn't have hurt a real man, but this little whelp died on me." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_1" text="{=jwGsuWlN}Well, you know how these things go - his kin came to our village looking for my blood. They didn't find me, but wounded one of my cousins. It was time to teach them a lesson, but my brothers had a fit of cowardice. So they brokered a deal, and I was forced to leave. How do you like that?" /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_1" text="{=bMHFQgVE}Aye, real honor is as scarce as hen's teeth these days." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_1" text="{=xpENowWf}Strange thing, how people don't wish to die in someone else's quarrel." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_1" text="{=rSwj5KBb}Let me tell you something - I'm sick of cowardice, sick of those who don't stand by their comrades and their kin." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_1" text="{=dKiy6V83}I rode behind the banner of the Khuzait khan for years. I should have had a place of honor in his hall. But I killed a man from a richer clan over an insult, and he had too many kinfolk for me to linger anymore." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_2" text="{=ErBHSq7A}I am from one of the highland clans, in the far east. I do not know if you are familiar with their ways. I will try to explain." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_2" text="{=IUbGYeJV}A man of another clan slew my father. My father had slain his uncle many years before. It was my job to avenge my father, but the plague carried off his killer first. So I would be expected to kill his brother instead. This is how it is with us." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_2" text="{=qRwX7d5K}I wanted to go to the other clan and negotiate a settlement. I had always had a talent for setting conflicts, and in this case it seemed to me clearly that fate had ended the feud. But my mother begged me not to; my cousins begged me not to. They said I should spill blood, not words." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_2" text="{=JAqysRea}MY family said others would mock my father's memory. They said no one would fear to steal our sheep and horses, to molest my sisters. They told me I had a choice: do my duty, or I would no longer be of their blood. So be it. I chose exile. Why should more men die? " /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_2" text="{=T07xEuQR}A noble decision!" /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_2" text="{=atWYxZBh}What? Does no one respect their parents anymore?" /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_2" text="{=B7iZITxb}If an enemy chooses to stand in a battle-line and face my arrows, I would not hesitate to kill him. But our feuds - I cannot accept that I have no choice but to kill a man who had no choice but to be my enemy. I left my people. Here I can choose what I do." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_2" text="{=7GpMPCMW}My clan was locked in a feud with another clan for years. One life of theirs, then one life of ours, year after year, decade after decade. But I chose to break the cycle. I left my family. I am not the first to do so. This happens among us, from time to time, though few speak of it." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_3" text="{=VgyWyNvL}Yeah... I'll tell you a tale of life in the great Khuzait hordes, terror of the world." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_3" text="{=8lGql3mA}I've fought for Ulus Khan, and for Monchug Khan, and even for the old Urkhun. But I fight on foot - my family's from the town, not the steppe. Life's a little different for us." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_3" text="{=dCHCb1hb}The horse lords, the men of the great tribes - well they gallop here, and they gallup there, shooting this and shooting that. They win battles, I'll give them that. But at the end of the day, if the enemy's still laughing at you behind their walls, all that galloping means nothing." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_3" text="{=DFaMQXWH}We foot-sloggers, we're the ones who go up the ladder and into the meat grinder. Did that for 15 years, and I'm still getting less pay than some boy fresh of his mother's tit who happens to own a horse. Piss on that, I said, and I went looking for other work." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_3" text="{=FjrLf4LE}Indeed. Good infantry is the backbone of an army." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_3" text="{=9jYj8jGg}Resentment is poison to an army. Men must learn to follow what orders they are given." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_3" text="{=EQzHDnlS}At any rate, I'll fight for any man willing to take the same risks that his men face." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_3" text="{=5hBuA8kd}I was an spearman. I fought on foot. That's usually what you do if you're not from a big clan. Twice the risk, half the pay and none of the glory. Anyway, I'm done with that for now, looking for other work." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_4" text="{=zdOaQbDp}I'll tell you my story. But if you would judge me for what I do, you're welcome to do so, but I do not care to hear it." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_4" text="{=JBW0WsH7}My clan was among the last of the Khuzaits to live out on the open steppe, moving from place to place in the old way. It was not a large clan; you would not have heard of it. It became even smaller when our encampment was surprised by an imperial patrol, and our flocks slain and scattered. Those of us who survived were forced to refuge in a village, under a larger clan, whose name you may know, but I shall not mention it." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_4" text="{=z9CN2ibp}They protected us, but they treated us with contempt. We were told to hew wood for them, to bring them water. We submitted. For the sake of our old, of our nursing mothers, we submitted. But it was hard for the young men to take." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_4" text="{=CxZWemhO}Perhaps I was prouder than most, or quicker to anger. One day one of them insulted my lineage, and I insulted his. I was angry but my words were ill-chosen. Our protectors said they would no longer protect us if I remained among them. So, my clan banished me." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_4" text="{=XRUotzSi}Indeed. Misfortune does not mean you must submit to humiliation." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_4" text="{=pQVFVqa9}As well they should have. Those who curse their protectors deserve no home." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_4" text="{=crRb9ZhF}A man must eat. It's easy to find traders on the steppe and take their horses. But a man, unless he wishes to live like a beast, must also have people to buy those wares and give him food and blankets. There are merchants here, in the towns, who will buy horses without asking too many questions, and sometimes have other work for me." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_4" text="{=RewhujIa}My family lost their herds and land in a dispute, and so we pledged ourself to another clan as our protectors. They treated us like servants. Once I stood up for myself, and ended up killing one of our 'protectors' in a fight. They say that is a great shame to do, but it seems that whatever happens to you, once you've tasted defeat, you encounter shame." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_5" text="{=DMQSb5MX}Ah... Very well, I can satisfy your curiosity." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_5" text="{=8zQ9UPvX}Some boys help their fathers sew crops. Some boys learn to herd sheep. Me, I spent my childhood learning to harvest the back alleys outside winehouses. My father taught me. He was a good teacher, if a cruel man." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_5" text="{=1qrysbeT}If a man was drunk enough, I could usually take their purse without them even knowing, although sometimes they required a small knock on the head. Only travellers, though - much less fuss afterwards. Every trade takes finesse, as my father said." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_5" text="{=9EQxlFGK}A wise man, my father. But proud, and that was his undoing. A thief cannot be proud. We do not survive long without protection from the guards, and a new captain wanted to double the 'tax' my father paid. He refused, so they hanged him." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_5" text="{=nHrF87Up}I guess there's something to be learned from those skilled at all trades." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_5" text="{=5Fp7d2cV}Sounds like justice served." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_5" text="{=gPpi8a8n}I too am proud. So, I cannot work as a thief. Now I am looking for work that doesn't require me to bend down to the whims of guards, dogs and turnkeys." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_5" text="{=2cdYmeeq}My father was a robber and a murderer. We preyed on drunks and travellers outside the caravanserais, mostly, only knifing them when we needed to. But the guards caught up with my father, eventually. He had enough silver stored away to pay the bribes to save one of us. He was hanged, I fled." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_6" text="{=8aEcRzM7}I will tell you. If you are a partisan of the Khan Urkhun and his brood, however, you may not like it." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_6" text="{=mSQSZyEF}You probably know that the Khuzaits once lived out on the open grass. But our khans became used to luxuries. They lived in cities, and wished to trade with and make war upon other kings. Khan Urkhun, whom some call the Great and others call the Cruel, decided the clans must live in fixed places, so he could count their warriors and levy them, and count their flocks and tax them. Thirty years ago Khan Urkhun ordered all the clans of the Khuzaits to claim land and live upon it, and the noyans to build castles. Most complied, for they had come to value their comforts more than their freedom." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_6" text="{=phhXgKRm}Some resisted. The Karakhergit - you may have heard of them. They still dwell in the steppes but they are outcaste, raided for slaves by the others. My people were the Uvait. We were broken up - some bands were lured into the villages with silver, others were hunted down, defeated, and their sons taken as hostages. " /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_6" text="{=TxQztLfy}I am one of those whose clan was hunted down a generation ago when they refused the decree of Urkhun Khan, that they must settle and be taxed. They took our flocks, and we have since lived like beggars on the edge of the towns. The far grass teases us with its beauty, but if we went there with no sheep, we would soon starve." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_6" text="{=TVQEb0MJ}Such a cruel decree..." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_6" text="{=YDPpShfF}Sensible man, that Urkhun. Nomads are the enemy of order." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_6" text="{=sbK6AEjB}I have scraped together a few coins. I will not say how, but they were enough to buy a sword. I am determined to earn enough to buy my people what was taken away from them - herds. I am sad to say I know little of the steppe, but I know much of the towns, of the back streets, of how to live in the gutters and shadows and grow strong." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_6" text="{=BxJA6fS5}Urkhun Khan decreed a generation ago that all the Khuzaits must settle, to be conscripted and taxed. We refused. His men took our flocks, and we have since lived like beggars on the edge of the towns. I have resolved to go out and earn the money we need to buy new flocks, and then we shall go again into the great grass, beyond the reach of any tyrant or khan." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_7" text="{=g3BssthL}Oh yes. I do indeed have a story to tell you." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_7" text="{=TgN0DvXA}Slavers took me when I was a girl. The Empire tell legends of warrior-women out in the deep steppe, and when I was sold, they claimed I was one of these - to fight other slaves, to entertain them by making their legends come true." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_7" text="{=3Yax10rQ}Well, perhaps there is something to those legends, because I did very well for myself, and made my master very rich. Imperial law now decrees that men are not allowed to kill in the arena, but no one pries into what happens at the private entertainments of the rich, and over a score of my fellow slaves must have felt my blade in their chest." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_7" text="{=Gnczyx1v}I feel no guilt - they were trying to kill me, and some came very close. I did what I needed to do." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_7" text="{=CQq51L8J}Yes, I suppose you did what you had to do." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_7" text="{=rZs4HKkc}Necessity or not, you seem to take pride in what you did." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_7" text="{=tpPE2Ert}There's not much more to say. My master was a sadistic animal but he let me keep my winnings, and eventually buy my freedom. I think he may also have realized that eventually, had he kept me against my will, he'd have ended up with a severed neck vein. So here I am, looking to make a living through the only means I know - shedding other people's blood. Got work?" /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_7" text="{=ifkJcbZu}I was enslaved by imperial raiders and taken to the city. I was bought by a nobleman, who had me fight other slaves for his personal amusement. But I purchased my freedom, eventually, and now intend to enjoy it." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_8" text="{=iK5Kaa7M}Well, if you wish to know how cruel a pack can be to one of its own, I could enlighten you." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_8" text="{=lbLBkvoe}My father died shortly after my mother became pregnant with me. I was her only child. Like most of our people, she had wanted sons. So she raised me as a son, and boasted of me like she would boast about a son. When I was a baby, she boasted of how swiftly I emptied her breast of milk. When I was a girl, she boasted of how I killed steppe ducks with my bow. When I became a woman, she boasted that soon I would be the first of my age-set to bring home the head of an enemy slain in battle." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_8" text="{=piHbGBbA}Because I loved my mother, and because I was faster and stronger than the boys, I did all that she said I would do. Of those born in my year, I was the first to kill an enemy. My mother boasted even more, so that the other women came to hate her. They turned us all out of our encampment. We were forced to sell our lands and our slaves, as we could not take them with us, and we were given but a fraction of the price. All we had was our sheep. Of course raiders found us soon enough, and killed my mother, and took our flock. I escaped." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_8" text="{=J7dPH9cj}I wandered a bit on the steppe. I starved a bit. But I followed the raiders and one, when he went beyond the campfire to empty his bladder, did not return. I now have his purse and his sword." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_8" text="{=IyGObqs1}I'm sorry for your loss. You drew a cruel lot in life." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_8" text="{=28RfiykG}Every day, I give thanks to the Heavens that I was not born a savage." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_8" text="{=548o0GKu}I could return to my people, I suppose, but I have no wish to do so. So I am here, in the towns, where I can make good money with my sword and care nothing about those who envy me." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_8" text="{=TIYbctCQ}My father died shortly after my birth. I was my mother's only child. Our clan was poor, and a woman with a baby - especially a girl-baby - was only a drain on what little they had. So we were sold to another clan, as servants. Some years later, when my mother died, I stole one of their swords and one of their horses and rode off into the grass." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_9" text="{=W5MlHm8t}Sure. You can't sell a horse if you don't shout its praises, as they say." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_9" text="{=Xe2pVmnX}I was the brat of a caravan guard. Never knew my mother, but my Da kept me close. I grew up running between the legs of camels on the steppe, eavesdropping on merchant gossip in the sarais, eating sesame cakes bought me by the other guards. A happier childhood you couldn't imagine." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_9" text="{=TAC5Tnx4}But when I got older, well, it wasn't so easy to take me on the road. Too many boys giving me funny looks. And my Da, he wanted a good husband for me, but the boys he knew weren't the marrying type. So I said to him, 'I'll be like you, Da, carry a sword and guard rich merchants. And maybe, with the money I earn, some decent boy will love me for my dowry, if not my family name.' He fussed a bit about that but he had no better ideas." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_9" text="{=KyiL4Hvs}So here I am. Guess I'm not so interested in the marriage part, but I like the denars and I like my freedom. Maybe some day I'll surprise my Da with a nice farm and a couple of slaves to keep him happy in his old age." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_9" text="{=bLZVseMd}I'm sure he'll be happy if you're happy." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_9" text="{=MlXbCLlO}You must have broken your poor father's heart." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_9" text="{=A6WrXPQ6}So like I said: I can ride, swing a sword, manage a caravan, and I have good idea how to turn a profit. You know anyone looking to hire someone like that?" /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_9" text="{=GT1ubyEr}I was the child of a caravan guard. I spent my babyhood swinging from a sling on the side of a camel, and my childhood chasing strays. But caravans are preyed upon by bandits and others, and I decided I don't like being prey. I reckon I have the skills to be a predator." />  <string id="prebackstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_10" text="{=tfEfmvBt}Mm. Oh yes, you may." /> <string id="backstory_a.spc_wanderer_khuzait_10" text="{=Iedpguoa}I grew up in a village not far from here. My father was a peddler, and I used to go around with him, buying broken goods, repairing them, making a denar here and a denar there. But you know how the tribes from the steppe look down on those who scrape and save for the pennies to pay our taxes. Trampling our crops, hauling us off to war, sitting their in the saddle looking pleased with themeselves as we grub in the mud." /> <string id="backstory_b.spc_wanderer_khuzait_10" text="{=wxfJIDtt}At any rate, that wasn't the life for me. So I made up my mind to run off to the grasses, find one of those tribes that doesn't answer to the khan and takes in fugitives. The Karakhuzaits, they call them. Problem is I first needed a horse." /> <string id="backstory_c.spc_wanderer_khuzait_10" text="{=EJKa1wQS}Anyway I hung around the marketplace in Chaikand, looking for a likely candidate. Eventually I found an animal whose owner hadn't tied up too well as he went off to get drunk. So I took it and ran. And you know what? The cursed beast threw me, not one league out of town, and ran back to his sodden master." /> <string id="response_1.spc_wanderer_khuzait_10" text="{=Xxu37bB8}Oh well. I guess you've got spirit." /> <string id="response_2.spc_wanderer_khuzait_10" text="{=MIBESua8}Hah! May all thieves fail as you did." /> <string id="backstory_d.spc_wanderer_khuzait_10" text="{=R6P8JauE}Anyway, I guess I need a new plan to make my way in the world. But I'm not going to be a peddlar like my dad, I'll tell you that much. Maybe I'll fight and ride, or maybe I'll be a rich merchant running caravans, but one way or the other, I intend to find my place among the hawks of the world rather than the pigeons." /> <string id="generic_backstory.spc_wanderer_khuzait_10" text="{=aCaH6sMX}I was the son of a village peddler but that's not the kind of life I want to live. I want to learn to fight and ride. There are a lot of us lads like that in the Khuzait lands, I think you'll find, even if the great horse lords think we're fit only to stitch sandals or push a plough." />    </strings> ``` > &emsp;&emsp; ![[encyclopedia_calradica.gif|center|300]] >*“A massive `Mount & Blade` wikipedia.”* About [Encyclopædia Calradica](About-the-Encyclopædia.md) About the [Project](Project-(Pillar).md) About the [Author](Horseapple.md) &emsp;&emsp;