Leucius

So you want to know my history, hmm? Well, it's nothing exciting, really, but all right. I was born in Ratha, second tier. My father was an assistant in a forge there, and my mother worked at home mostly. She had worked in a stitchery before, but my dad didn't like her working so she made quilts and fixed up things for folks at home. I've no idea on family history. My dad would tell me stories about big wars and great adventures of his father and grandfather, but usually my mom would pull me aside and tell me not to listen to him. "He comes from a long line of nobodys," she'd say, "and he's proudly carrying on the tradition." My mom did have a way with words sometimes. Well, my dad passed on when I was still pretty young. It seems he was killed in a bar fight. That was hard on my mom, not so much because of the loss of dad as much as the loss of income. We had to move to the first tier, and to my mom that was very embarrassing.

Since money was tight I had to start helping her with things (heh, yep, I can sew). That wasn't my main thing though; I mostly ran things around for her, delivering and picking up things that she'd work on. She had a setup with a couple shops that would sell the quilts she made, so I would run those on over and pick up the money they gave her for them.

One particular shop owner, an Elf named Estephan, always bought a big supply from my mom, and on top of it he paid more than folks normally did, not something my mom minded. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time running from his store and back. One day he offered me a job working as a clerk in his store, and for a lot more than clerks usually made. I went and told mom, and she immediately said yes, I should do it, and that she'd do her own deliveries from now on. She was pretty excited that we might be able to move back up a tier again. I worked there for prolly five years while my mom saved up the money we made toward the big move. Unfortunately she never made it; she was killed in an accident while delivering some blankets. I was told some nobles' carriage had run down some folk while careening through town and that the city was very sorry about it.

At that point I really didn't quite know what to do with myself; it had always been she and I working to get by. I never really gave a lot of thought to anything else. That was when Est sat me down and gave me a big ole speech. Seems he thought I had all this potential. He told me of his youth and of his time that he spent as a member of the Paladin Guild. He thought that I could prolly make it where he had been unsuccessful. Well, I was surprised. As far as I had figured, being a nicely paid store clerk was about the best I could do, and I was pretty sure they'd not want the likes of me. Est would have no part of that though, turns out he had already looked into it and he had some connections that would get me into the training right away. All I had to do was say yes, and that's pretty much it. I've been a Paladin for six years now, and I still enjoy hearing how danged right Est was every time I see him.

Last Revised: 4/14/01