Sword of Freedom - The thoughts of Sheridan Alyssa

[incahootz]

I just bought this book in a store in Port Hampshire. I never had paper before that I owned and bought myself. It seems such a luxury. One of many that I am getting used to. This place Mistone is rich and my skills are in high demand.

I never figured that when I left Hork and the pirates that my life would improve for the better! I heard recently that they had joined the self proclaimed Pirate lord The Red Bear. Now they run search and destroy missions for the pirate lord finding merchant vessels using slaves and attacking them. Seems Hork is enjoying the work a lot more. I considered rejoining him but he says that its still too dangerous there for me. Anyway I am finding plenty of work here in Mistone. My skills with the blade improve on a daily basis. I find that I look forward to my drills every day; after every battle I analyse what i did right and wrong and I practise to improve my technique. If I want to be the greatest female sword weilder that has ever lived I had to put in the time and effort.

One mission I was on recently that went badly was back to Hurm. An old man who calls himself a scholar of Aragen, Sipher asked me to protect him in a mission to the Moss Crypts. He was paying good gold so I figured why not. I could look up a few faces in Hurm I used to know and see if they were still alive. What a disaster! This guy never told me there was a dragon involved. It was all good initially but it went downhill fast. Once I realised they were up to something that I wanted no part in I wanted out. Luckily for me the Dragon flew me out of the place. Afterwards I considered that who in my position could have experienced that before!

Anyway I left that mad lot alone and headed into Hurm where I found my old mate Salis. He looked aweful, life on the streets had been hard for him. I booked a room at the inn, let him wash up, bought him some new clothes and fed the poor fellah. He told me that the streets in Hurm were not what they once were. Men loyal to the ruler there had taken over the underground the only action was their action in most cases. I enquired about Hork and Salis told me that he had been in Hurm recently flush with coin to spend. It seems working for the Red Bear is pretty profitable. After one time catching up I told him about how my skills with my blade had improved to the point I was getting calls to join companies and groups ranging through Mistone and further. I had reached the point that I felt a keen affiliation for the heavy blade I carried. Salis wasnt too interested, after he had eaten and drank his full he was so tired I took him to the room I had rented and left him there with a small pouch to get him by for a while. It was the least I could do for someone who had helped me out growing up. I figured I had payed my debt to him.

Everything else now is mine. True's, glory, you name it. I left Hurm feeling a freshness that I had not felt before. I had a good suit of armour, clean clothes, fresh outlook, a fine new heavy blade and a longing for adventure, combat and untold riches!

[incahootz]

Get more training? How can I when my skills with the heavy blade I have seem to be the only ones around in this place. There is plenty of opportunities to make coin and it helps to hone the skills that I currently have but how to get even better.I have been banding my head against a wall for the last week since I tried to join a jmerchant caravan as a senior guard. He told me to get more experience with my sword before I asked for that role. I'll show him what I am capable of.

Unfortunately after I stormed away in anger I decided to prove to myself just how good I am. I went into the outskirts around Krandor to seek out an ogre patrol seeking to vent my anger. I found them, and they beat me to within an inch of my life. It was then, lying there on the ground watching my blood seep into the earth that I realised the wagoneer had been right. I did need more practice, I needed to either find Hork and convince him to teach me more..or to find someone else.

It took me three weeks and considerable coin spent in Hurm to discover that Hork was away for at least several months running trade goods for the Red line Shipping company to the islands of Roldem and across to the east. No luck there. So I headed back to Hlint where tired and weary I stopped bythe inn to drink my sorrows into oblivion.

Amazing how fate can shine on you sometimes. I met a towering figure of a man, Lion. He picked me up as I stumbled to the floor having had too much to drink. A kind and gentle man I discovered, not at all my type but he weilded the same weapon that I did. It was only later once I had recovered from my drunken stupour that I realised that. I desperately sought him out the next day and it wasnt long before I managed to convince him to teach me what he knew of the heavy blade. He is a bit naive and I figured him for a dullard but I think he is really just a down to earth honest sort of a guy, his actual name is Nobelion but he prefers Lion to Nob, I guess I cant argue with him on that point. Not my type of guy at all. He is so polite it makes me retch sometimes, but I can take it for now...if it gets me ahead! Bring on the training!

[incahootz]

Did I say it was amazing how fate can shine on you sometimes? Yeah well at other times it just drops you right back down on your backside. After several training sessions with Lion, who I affectionately call Nob behind his back, he up and announces that he is going back home. Where does that leave me? Right in the sewerage! Yeah sure he showed me some of the techniques he employs, helped me fine tune some of my own but really. At least I learnt enough to get me further ahead in my training.

I must be a bit of a sucker or something I reckon. Yesterday I ran into some woman who had been squired to some fancy knight or something. Said she had been travelling and learning with him for over four years. Thats got to be downright boring! She hadnt even slept with him. Thats dedication for you. Anyway she seemed an alright sort and I let her travel with me for a while. Suprisingly she wasnt too bad. Her name was Sasha and I thought a lot of her techniques and stuff echoed my own. She kept watching my every move in battle which sort of freaked me out at first. I thought she was checking me out. Thankfully that wasnt the case. I'm strictly a man loving woman and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I showed her a few things then sent her packing. I had a hot date to get too and well you know how threes a crowd.

[incahootz]

Now we are getting somewhere. This Sasha woman I mentioned previously, shes turning out to be a good little warrioress. She promised me she would take me to a swamp she found that had the will o wisps I needed to collect. we hooked up with this guy called Eghaas. I have seen him around before, quiet sort that talks a lot and walks real slow. Anyhows he came with us to Hlint. Seems he was talking to Sasha when I rocked up and I interupted some boring conversation about magic. I wasnt too sorry I had and reckon I rescued Sasha from having to listen to all that drivel. Dont get me wrong, Eghaas is alright but man he can talk. I'm just an action sort of woman.

One thing I am glad about is Sasha's prior training in the heavy blade. Between the techniques she was shown by her knight mentor and with what I already know and have practiced its helping me a great deal. And that's what its all about!

Next step I need to get together some more true, seems I spend it as fast as it comes in and thats not good for my lifestyle. If anyone wonders why I need to go and sweep the countryside taking on bands of goblins, obolds and the like its simply a matter of necessity, nothing more, nothing less. Sasha has enough ideals and principles for a couple of people so she can have them for me. I simply need trues to support me and I make no apologies for that...

[incahootz]

More work...less True..how does that work? I ran into Sasha again..literally. She and a group were leaving Port Hempstead on some glorious rescue mission. It wasnt really my thing but Sasha dragged me along. Lucky she did. They tracked these lost young men to the goblin caves near Hlint. really the only reason I went was because Sasha said there were two young men who were lost. I figured if they were good looking there might be some reward at the end after all. Besides that it was a chance to get in some practice and maybe get some sort of reward.

Reward? Yeah right. It was all going well, we were cracking heads as we entered the goblin caves right up until we reached a real bottleneck and the goblins were as thick as off cream in the place. I saw Sasha take a glancing blow on her helmet and go down. Since I was hard pressed taking on five of the little buggers myself there was nothing I could do. Luckily she was alright just a bad headache and bruised ego I suspect.

Next step was confronting the goblin leader, ugly little fellah, Raken a big barbarian was yelling threats at the scrawny critters but amazingly they wante to give them stuff to get the prisoner back. I didnt put my hand up I am not going to give up anything I have worked hard to get. Thankfully they saw reason in the end and just killed them. Much easier and we can get their loot as well. A much better outcome. The only sour point was when the green skinned shaman threw a ball of fire into the mix. We have chargrilled goblin and for some stupid reason I am sure Sasha tried to jump in front of it to stop it hitting everyone. Silly woman! She got thrown across the room in a blackened heap, not pretty.

She was just damn lucky that Grohim was there. Some dwarf who was a cleric of Vorax that raised her and cured her burns. I know I hate it when I have a pimple that mars my good looks, it'd be aweful to live life with a burnt face. She was bloomin lucky is all I can say.

Anyway we hightailed it outta there, I made some true, we got one of the lads, we were all alive...again for one of us; life was good.

[incahootz]

I am convinced I am on the cusp of some greater understanding. Today what began as idle practice turned into a bringing together of all the skills and techniques I have learnt from different people over the last few months. Amazing as it seems I found that in shifting my balance just a touch, altering my grip on the hilt slightly and angling the blade a tuch more all things became possible. It felt odd at first but in practice I had better control of my movements and that of my blade. I learn fast and what I dont know I can generally improvise on.