Lialda Strongarm's page

About Lialda Strongarm

I was born in the city of Elidir, Isger. My father was an Elven trader's assistant and personal guard; my mother a simple peasant living in Elidir. My father's work brought him through Isger on numerous occasions, and over the many passings, he and my mother fell in love. On one fateful trip, my mother became pregnant, and on the return she asked my father to stay with her. He agreed, having grown weary of following his master through the world, and wanted to settle down to a life of his own. I was born a few months later, and my younger brother was born a few years later.

For a few years, we lived a simple, happy life. It didn't matter that we were peasants because we had each other. Then, everything changed when the goblins attacked. Rumors were spreading throughout the city that a massive army of goblins was marching throughout Isger, destroying everything in their path. As confirmation, able-bodied men were being conscripted into the army. My father, expecting his own conscription, taught me to fight with all manner of weapon, most notably though the Elven Curve Blade, the traditional family weapon. He knew that if he left, I was the only one who could defend our family, my brother being too young at the time.

My father was conscripted not long after finishing my training, and as with much of the Isger army, never returned. I was 17 when my father left, my brother was 13. The Goblinblood wars were won, but times were hard. My mother, brother, and I were barely able to keep up our small farm and make ends meet, so in my limited spare time, I turned to petty thievery.

I was never the best thief, but what I lacked in skill I made up for in strength. I could never master lock-picking, but my work on our farm and my father's combat training had made me very strong, and I would often simply break off the lock. I fell in with a small band of thieves in Elidir controlled by a mysterious figure known to us only as The Dark One. It called the shots, we followed his orders, and for our efforts he paid us well. (I say it because The Dark One was definitely not human, or even humanoid, and had no discernible gender.) I was accepted, which was very meaningful to a Half-Elf that had spent most of her life shunned by most, and for the first time I had friends. I even fell in love with one of my fellow thieves, a boy a year older than me named Kal.

I met The Dark One only once, after a particularly impressive job. Kal had gotten himself thrown in jail, and somebody needed to break him out before anything worse happened. I immediately requested the job. I single-handedly wrenched the jail door off its hinges, and brought Kal to freedom. The Dark One congratulated me personally, and offered me a very special, very important job for a very significant payout. It was an offer I could not refuse, for my family desperately needed the money, so I accepted. I was tasked to murder a judge, who had sentenced many of our band to jail, including the one I had just rescued. That night, I unhinged the man's back door, snuck inside his house, and slit his throat with my blade. Unfortunately, after the jail-break the previous day, the judge had requested extra security, rightfully expecting retribution, and unhinging a door is not as quiet an action as picking a lock. Three guards appeared moments later, and I had no choice but to go quietly.

I was taken to the jail and tortured. You see, our little gang had built up a reputation around town, and not only did the justice system want us eliminated, they also wanted the head—or whatever The Dark One had—of our leader. I bore the torture for a fortnight, but then they threatened to torture my family instead of me, and I could not bear to see anything happen to my family, or have them know what I had done. I spilled out all the details about our organization. I gave them all of our meeting places, all the information I knew of The Dark One, and all the names of the other members, save Kal. I never saw any of them again, and I can only hope that The Dark One was sent back to whatever hell he sprung from.

The torture was stopped thereafter, but I still had to stand trial. I pleaded guilty to all my crimes under two conditions. The first was that my family was never to know of my deeds, and the second was that I could send out two letters. The first was to my mother, saying that for reasons to complex to go into, I could not stay in Elidir, but had to set out on my own to explore the world. I promised her I would send home any money I could spare, as well as giving her all of my stashed savings, enough for her and my brother to get by for a few months. Due to my confession, my plea was accepted and I was sentenced to only a year in prison.

The second note was to Kal, apologizing for everything and begging him to forgive me. I also told him I was leaving Elidir, never to return, and that hopefully our paths might cross again in some distant land. I had the note delivered to his mother, whom I had met once, with explicit instructions that she must not read it, but deliver it to Kal as soon as possible. I do not know if he ever read the letter.

During my jail time, I privately repented for my many crimes, and found solace in the God Sarenrae. Perhaps it was the dove nesting in a tree outside my cell, or my repentance, but Sarenrae helped me pass the long days. I decided that I would put truth behind my letter to my mother, and leave Elidir in search of adventure when I got out of jail. I wanted to see the world as my father had on his many journeys, but I also wanted to spread Sarenrae's redemption, freeing those wrongfully imprisoned or enslaved.

Thus, at the age of 19, I set off in search of adventure, off to see the world my father had left to settle down with my mother. It was in a way fitting that I carried nothing but my father's Elven Curve Blade, my armor, and a small amount of necessities, as I set out along the trails he had once walked.