A thief's reflections.

[Merenla]

After being told how life gets tougher as you grow older, I wonder if that doesn't hold true for those like me.

What, with the… ahem… "war". And the seemingly never-ending disputes that go on in Arkum'Sul, things couldn't be so easy. The royals seem to be embroiled in their own turmoils, the royal guards themselves are about as well-organised as some overgrown weeds, and nobody really seems to care.

Well, I care. I care because life is good right now, all thanks to the chaos gripping the lands with iron gauntlets.

Perhaps it's really nothing to do with ageing in that life gets tougher. Maybe its the politics and the meddling that goes on amongst those upturned-nosed twits that call themselves lords, ladies, whatever the hell they call themselves. I can't help but laugh at how pathetic they really are, for the only ones that have benefited are those they see as bottom-feeders, the lowest of the low.

Oh, the irony; it's as beautiful as an exotic flower!

For surely, if they weren't such a feeble bunch of insects, they wouldn't have allowed me the spoils. Or perhaps I'm just too cunning, too sneaky, too ingenious for them.

Life getting tougher as one ages? Dwarves really can be idiots, yet amusing, when they're drinking. I might have to venture out for more of their ramblings… and their money.

[Merenla]

Who do those amateurs think I am? If they think I'm going to fall for their "sell the thief a destroying angel" façade, then they're sorely mistaken. I like mushrooms, but not when they kill me.

That does give me an idea…

Yes, that red-haired human girl – I forget her name – did make me a tempting offer only yesterday. The idea of yet more gold in my stash is appealing, and does make me smile.

But why should I trust her? She's not offering me any real reward worth the trouble she demands I endure. A measly sum of 500 gold coins is not enough. If she wants my services, she should pay more, since she would be getting the best service in these lands.

Or she can buy one of those other sellswords willing to do the same work, while being pathetically inefficient compared to me. I'm not as desperate as them.

Maybe for now, I should sit back and let them fail miserably. I can always pick up the pieces after I'm done with some of the other idiots in charge here. I just hope they like mushrooms from the Amanita genus as much as that Claudius figure from some odd folklore I once came across seemed to.