Keithisbored
New Member
This is a short story I wrote that serves as backstory for my first D&D character, Luth Riverwood. Here, it serves as an example of my writing and story-telling style.
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Chapter 1: Dying thief.
The dungeon was dark and quiet. Too quiet. The only thing that can be heard is the squeaking sounds of rats, the sounds of each and every water droplet, slowly but constantly dropping down from the ceiling above, and the weakened breath of the only captive there, Luth Riverwood; a young thief who was captured shortly after a bounty was placed on him. It has been a long time since such a high bounty was administrated in Baldur's gate they said. And all that just for a lowly thief.
With his back against the cold hard floor, Luth's tired eyes were fixed to the ceiling, struggling to stay open. How long has he been here? 514827 water droplets if that's an acceptable measure of time. At first, the plan was to count the water droplets and translate them into seconds. But now, he's just doing it to keep sane from the boredom of nothingness. Besides, what's the point? He's a dead man anyway, might as well stop breathing and stop this suffering for once he thought. After all, ever since he was born, his life has always been a struggle, a steady downward slope. And even when he thought that life was going to turn a new leaf for him, he got back-stabbed by some of his closes comrades, the ones he even considered friends. But still, he didn't blame them. They are just thieves, and the fragile honor among them can be easily broken with the right price.
But the sad thing is that he just couldn't bring himself to do it. His body and his mind had grown weak from starvation. Being left starving to death is one of the most horrific ways to go out. When you starving, time move slower, the feeling of impending doom is stretched out and magnified as your body starts to consume itself. For Luth, it's might be a more peaceful way to die as he is used to it. The trick is to just accept your fate and embrace the feeling of approaching death, don't try to struggle and soon you will just seep into a dream-like state, where your memories ooze out, memories from a happier day.
Chapter 2: Heaven and Hell.
Young Luth look up and was blinded for a moment by the strong sunlight of a summer day, but soon his eyes readjusted and the blue sky appeared before him. Nearly there, just a bit more, Luth thought to himself as he climbed the ladder to the top of the inner wall. Every time, Luth always reached the top as soon as his frail arms and legs started to give out. But every time, it was worth it. As soon as he reached the top, the intoxicating view of the upper city appears before him and for a brief moment, all of the fatigue from the long way up went away. Luth sit down at the very ledge of the wall and felt his blond hair fluttered as the updraft from below blows gently, bringing the smells of freshly baked pastries and nice smelling flowers.
Luth had never grown tired of this view, the upper city was magnificent as always. Massive mansions painted with vibrant colors, gardens filled with greens and flowers were a treat for the eyes, much different from the depressing crooked look of the lower city where he had lived his entire life in. Not only the upper city is beautiful but so did its’ people. They walked down the street elegantly in their fancy attires without a care in the world.
“Only if mom would take me there one day.” Luth sighed. Seeing is nice, but he had always dreamed of being able to walk down those streets one day, blending in with the people from down below, perhaps even living as one of them, that would be his only desire in life. His mother always said that when his father comes back, they would move to live in the upper city. Ever since he was born, he had never known the face of his father, and Luth would wait for him to come home every passing year, but no one ever came.
Suddenly, Luth's train of thought was interrupted as he saw a familiar figure appearing on the clock tower at the corner of his eyes. It's her again he thought. The distance between them was far enough that he couldn't make a lot out of what he saw, he only knew that it's was a she, and she was a citizen of the upper city.
From the clock tower, seemingly from thin air, a bright white spot appeared, and Luth waited patiently as it began flying closer to him, revealing itself as a white dove. After arriving it landed on Luth's shoulder and began chirping.
“How you doing, Ryr?” Luth hummed as he petted the friendly pigeon and take of the letter tied to one of its legs. He then moved his index along the length of the paper before opening it. The paper was pure white and has a smooth silky texture to it, not like the rough and yellowish paper he's familiar with. Not only that, the ink smelled good and the handwriting was perfect, each and every letter was written neatly and masterfully.
It reads.
It's been five months since Luth first exchange letters with the mysterious person from the upper city. At first, he hesitated when Ryr approached him with a letter basically asking what life was like in the lower city. But since he also wanted to know more about the upper city, he replied and they had been communicating since then. Luth sent out letters, describing the lower city in detail, from the crowded marketplace in Heapside, the busy Gray Harbor to the unremarkable Bramton where he lived. And he received back information about the upper city, its districts which all come with interesting lore and history. They never learned much about each other, not even a name. But they had learned that both have an equal interest in the other side of the city they're living in.
After reading the letter carefully, Luth turned to the back of the paper which was empty, and gently plucking one of Ryr the dove's feather. The tip of the feather oozes out black ink as soon as it was pulled out, effectively making it a quill and ink. Then he wrote back.
Shortly after the Ryr made its way back to its owner, it came back to Luth with another letter.
Luth hesitated for a moment, but he then accepted. Having a friend from higher places owing him one could be his ticket to the upper city. They then came up with a meetup time and place and bid each other goodbye for now. After having climbed back down from the wall, Luth's blended into the crowd of people, heading for the marketplace.
Since his mother got sick, Luth was the one who did the groceries and cooking. He bought a couple of potatoes and a carrot, a small fish which would be made into a hardy stew. When he got back to his home in Bramton, as always, he could feel the disgusting gaze from the neighbors, they're whispering between themselves, spewing out toxins. “It's the son of that crazy whore.” , “That cursed child is back again.” They thought he couldn't hear it, but he did, he just chose to ignore it, those things were just white noise to his ears by then. Before coming into the building where he lived, he encountered a group of neighbor children playing ball. As soon as they notice him, one of the kids kicked the ball as hard as he could at him. Luth the poor boy didn't even bother dodging because he knew that it would rile them up even more so he instead took the full blow of the ball to his head, his malnourished form jerked back from the impact, the bag of vegetables he brought dropped to the ground in the process. Luth didn't say anything, didn't express any pain or resentment, he just slowly reached down to pick the vegetables back up and went inside. Those kids, some of them were Luth's childhood friends, they used to be sweet and friendly. But one day they just turn bitter and hateful like their parents.
The small one-room apartment was dim, its only window was closed shut, its four walls were damp and moldy. Home sweet home Luth sighed. His dear mother was sitting on the bed, coughing as she was knitting, her eyes looked painfully tired. But the smile she made to greet him home was warm and more beautiful than anything in the lower city. Luth brought some water to her, putting his hand on her head, and asked. “Feeling better mom?”
She looked at him for a second, and gave him a gentle, assuring smile.
“I think so.”
“Luth, how has your day been?”
“I met a friend, It was fun.”
Chapter 3: They were kids, looking upon the stars.
In the evening, the well-lit street of the upper city was mostly deserted. The people who walk the street at this time are mostly law enforcers, and the people who aren't, are usually up to no good. A small robed figure hastily but cautiously sneaking down the road, avoiding contact with everyone. Soon, the figure reached the gate that gave the city its name, the Baldur's gate; the most ordinary passageways that connect the upper city to the lower city, but the most historically remarkable one. And unsurprisingly, it was heavily guarded.
A tall heavily armored guard stepped up to the figure as they approached the gate; clearly, he was the one in charge. “What are you doing here kid? You got lost?” The guard asked as he reached out his hand to unveil the figure. But before he could do so, he felt an invisible force stopping him. And before he could say anything, a paper was produced from the figure's hand and given to him. It was a passing permit but as an experienced guard, he spotted a lot of errors in the paper.
“Hey, this is...wro” But as soon as he could finish the sentence, his eyes laid upon the Family mark at the end of the permit and his attitude changed drastically. He bowed down to the figure and apologized profusely before telling the other guard from the back to make way.
With his back against a tree, Luth Riverwood was waiting on the other side of the gate, wondering if his friend from the upper city would actually show up or not. And, from above, Ryr the white dove landed softly on his head as if it was a bird’s nest. Luth looked up for a moment to gently take the dove down from his head as it rested on his hands and when he looked down, the white-robed figure had already appeared in front of him.
“Hi.” The figure’s voice was soft and feminine, slightly tilting her head slightly as she examined Luth a bit before continuing. “You must be the boy on the wall.”
“And you're the girl on the tower.” Luth finally accepted that this girl is truly the one who he had been exchanging letter with, he put on his robe and gestured her to follow him. “Let's go, we don't have all night.”
The two rush through the thick fog of night and stopped at what seems to be a huge ship stuck on land. And that is exactly what it was, The Low Lantern is a retired ship converted to be used as a tavern. Luth watched as the girl stood in awe before the bizarre view of the tavern. He whispered to her. “We're having dinner first, you're paying remember?” Before she could give him a confirming nod, Luth took her inside and they sat on a lone table.
The Low Lantern is the place for all kinds of patrons. Thugs, rogues, Pirates, or just citizens, most of the time you can't tell them apart. It was still early in the evening so the tavern isn't at its maximum capacity, but its chaotic atmosphere can still be felt fully as people were chugging ale, getting wasted, getting into brawls. Luth turned to the girl, expecting her to be overwhelmed but her blue eyes were filled with curiosity and excitement more than anything as she looked around the place. Her face was pretty, but it there was something else about her that differentiate her from a person from the lower city, something Luth just couldn't put a finger on.
“Keep your head down.” Luth whispered.
“Sorry.”
A halfling waitress approached the two, she had a feeling something fishy was going on but didn't think much about it as all patrons coming to this tavern have something to hide. “What do you two want?” She asked.
“Two Salmon Chowders and two mugs of ale. And one eels pie to go please.” Luth said.
Then food was served. It's been a while since Luth got to enjoy a full meal like this so he was in a pretty good mood after finishing his food. He looked to the girl who was less focused on the food and instead her eyes just wandering around the tavern.
“Hey, is the food not good?” He asked.
“No. It's good. Not what I'm used to eating, but it's good.” The girl replied and tried to prove it by having a spoonful of chowder, followed by a gulp of ale. From her expression, It's obvious that this was the first time she had Ale and didn't like it really much.
“What's your name?” The girl asked.
Luth was surprised and hesitated, but since he just got treated to a meal, he answered. “You can call me Luth. Luth Riverwood.”
“And you?” He added.
“It's...um...”
“You don't have to tell me your real name.” Luth said as he noticed her hesitation.
“No...It's fine...You can call me Eli ” She answered shyly.
“So Eli, what makes you want to go to this dump?”
“Well, I've seen everything there is to see in the upper city so I wanted to see what else is out there you know.”
“I'm really jealous of you you know that?” Luth exclaimed.
“Well, I'm jealous of you too.”
“No. You don't mean it.” Luth sighed, his face saddened.
Eli notices Luth's focus was shifted away from the conversation to a bearded old orc who just walked into the tavern and ordered a pint of Ale. The was man wore an eye patch and a hook on his right arm, he somehow looked dangerous but kind at the same time.
“Who's that?” Eli asked curiously.
“Someone we need. Come.” Luth stood up and walked to the old man, with Eli behind him.
The old man took a big chug out of his pint and said jokingly. “You lot want me to take you out of shore? What could I possibly gain out of that?”
“Uncle Rasef. How much do you want for the trip then?” Luth asked.
“For my time? 10 gold coin.” Without much thought, Rasef gave them a throat-cutting price so that they would stop bothering him, he knew that for a poor kid Luth was, he had never seen a gold coin in his life let alone five. But soon as he said it, Eli produced 10 gold coins from her hand and gave it to Luth.
Rasef the orc was taken aback, but he quickly snapped out it and quickly took the coins before they attracted greedy glances from the other patrons. He was getting some bad feeling from the creature in the white robe but since he's an Orc of his words, he felt like he had to follow through with the offer. And also, 10 gold coins is a lot for just a couple of hours of sailing
Rasef owned a moderate fishing ship. He was a pirate retiree who became a fisherman after his crew was disbanded. As an orc, he was rude and scary but his prices were really cheap and because he hated everyone all the same, he doesn't discriminate which was why Luth was a frequent customer of his.
Eli and Luth sat at the front of the ship as Rasef pulled the anchor up with his bare hand, this man was a one-man crew. The two stay in silence as the ship pierced the thick fog to get away from shore. Before long, they could see the magnificent Baldur's Gate in its entirety.
Eli teared up before the scenery, the moon was shining brightly upon them and the sky was clear and starry.
“Thank you for this. I owe you one.” She sniffed.
Luth nodded, clearly also enjoying the view.
“You lot be good alrite? Or off to the plank with ye” Rasef said as he rolled out the net, wanting to do some fishing while he's here, leaving the two alone.
“Luth. You wanna see something cool?” Eli said as they lay on their back on the ship's wooden floor, looking to the sky.
“Sure.” Luth replied.
Eli reached her hand up, with her index finger out, and began connecting the dots, as if she's drawing onto the sky itself.
“Wow...is that a rabbit?”
“Yeah.”
Luth had figured out that Eli was magical, but he didn't know she could do this. “Can you draw a duck?” he requested.
Eli's index finger moved again, and the sky was her canvas. “Like this?”
“It's beautiful!” Luth exclaimed, totally immersed in the sky.
“Tell me, Luth. What do you want to do when you're older?” Her blue eyes stared straight into his soul, expecting an answer.
“I want to be a knight and move to the upper city I guess.” Luth answered truthfully, he had not given it much thought before but it was what he truly wanted at the time. “And you? Eli, what do you want to do?”
“I just want to be free.” Eli answered bitterly.
“What do you mean?” Luth turned to Eli seeing her deep in thought.
“You know when I see Baldur's Gate from here. I see a cage, one I could never escape from.”
“But we are here aren't we?” said Luth.
“This is why I'm jealous of you Luth.” Eli gave Luth a gentle smile, the same smile his mother makes. That's how he knew they're both in pain, but there is nothing that he could do to help.
“How about this Luth? You can be my knight.” Eli put her head on Luth's lap, her hair was smooth and silky, good-smelling too he thought.
“And how does that work?” Chuckled Luth.
“I don't know. But I'll figure it out.”
“You're weird.” Luth commented.
“Right?” Eli smiled again.
Like all nice things, the night had to come to an end, Luth and Eli found themselves back at where they met. Before, heading into the gate, Eli yelled out to him. “Thank you for today, see you again soon.”
“Promise?” Luth yelled back.
“Promise.”
But little did he know, that was the first, and also the last time he saw her.
Chapter 4: To live or to survive.
Luth was by his mom's side at her last hours, holding her hand the entire time. She had been bedridden for over a year then. At first, it was just a cold but then it seemed like she had aged a decade, her brilliant jet black hair was replaced by an eerily white. She struggled to breathe and her voice was weak and shaky. But even then, she still gave him an assuring smile as if nothing had happened and that everything was fine. How dare she? Luth thought to himself as he broke down into tears.
“Don't cry, Luth. You're a good boy.” She said in a trance.
“But you're all I have.” Luth sniffed.
“My son. Even when I'm gone, I'm still with you.”
“But...”
“Do me this Luth. Don't just survive, live.”
And just like that, all of the remaining life inside her disappeared, and Beaux Riverwood faded away between her beloved son's arms.
Luth Riverwood ran out of the room as fast as he could. “Luth.” Uncle Reece, his mom's remaining friend had already waited outside called out his name as he ran by but Luth didn't stop, he kept on running. He ran across an entire district without even taking a breath, he began climbing the ladder to the top of the wall with all of his remaining strength. When he reached the top, he wanted to yell so badly, but couldn't utter a word. The view of the upper city was as breathtaking as always, and the people there were still out and about, doing their things, casually walking down the streets. The world didn't care if Luth's mom had died, it didn't care if he was in great pain, it went on.
After that night with faithful night with Eli, He never saw her on the clock tower again. And since then his appreciation towards the upper city had grown into a bitter resentment instead. A feeling of hatred against something he wanted badly but couldn't have. And on that day, the day when his dear mother passed away, he had sworn to not step on the top of the wall ever again.
So from that moment onward, Luth accepted the fact the he might actually be cursed, that people like him and his mother couldn't have nice things in life. But he had to live, he couldn't just survive like a cockroach under the sewer, he wanted to thrive. That was why he was determined to do what ever it took to benefit himself, even if others suffer because of it.
He asked Uncle Reece; who happened to be a seasoned thief, to teach him the Art of Thievery, and was eager to learn. Soon he could pick locks in seconds, sneaking into houses without even being seen and even knew how to drop a person before they could even realized what was going on . Then, he became a recruit of The Guild; Baldur's gate biggest criminal syndicate. There he got to meet other like-minded people, selfish people who would do anything for their personal gains. People who used bully him now cower in fears under him, he doesn't have to worry about putting food on the table anymore. Life was good. But he wanted more, much more.
Chapter 5: The great heist
Luth walked down the street with two other thugs; Lea and Zed. Lea was a short-tempered red head with an attitude problem but was a capable fighter. And Zed was a man of few words, he let usually let his fists do the talking. People avoided making eyes contract with them because clearly the gang were up to nothing good. And they were right, the three were tasked with collecting protection fees from a rather hard-headed vendor.
The man own a fruit stand and at first, the three approached him politely, asking him for the fees, but things got ugly when he refused to pay. Lea grabbed the man by the neck and punch him in the face repeatedly as he scream for help. But no one dared to intervene because they didn't want to mess with The Guild. Even after receiving multiple blows to the face by Lea and having his stand basically destroyed by Zed, he didn't gave in. Luth sighed and walk forward to him. Politely he asked.
“Mr. Avern. How your son, Kesz, been doing these day huh? I kind of want to met him, you know, catching up.”
He looked up and immediately realized Luth. And just from that, all of the fighting spirit disappeared from the old man, he felt silenced, and agreed to pay the amount in full while cursing under his breath.
“Nice work Luth.” Lea cheered, taking a sip out of her pint of ale. “By the way, who is Kesz?”
“Just a guy I used to play ball with.” Luth answered absent-mindedly before digging into his meal.
After finishing his meal, Luth excused himself. “I'm going. Remember the Plan..”
One of the many perk of working under The Guild is that they have total control of the sewer system, and since the sewer of the upper city and lower city were connected, Luth could sneak into the upper city whenever he wanted to, provided he had to withstand the foul smells under there. After navigating through the city's complex sewer system, Luth exited from a sewer trap door in an abandoned mansion which served as a hideout for member of The Guild. He nodded to the group of thugs that were in charge of operating the underground passageway and headed to the Hall of Wonder where he worked the afternoon shift as a janitor.
The Hall of Wonder, a museum that held "holy relics" of the church of Gond. It was considered a religious site to the Gondar faithful, both to Baldurian followers and those from far away. The paid here was minuscule but Luth didn't work here just for the money alone, he had been planing to steal from the museum for a while now, and the date of the heist was near. Most of the relics stored in the Hall of Wonder were unremarkable in term of value, but Luth was interested in one in particular, the red gem of Gond. This gem was the most valuable relic in the museum, it was said to be a drop of Gond blood himself and according to Luth sources, he could sell it for at least 20.000 GP on the black market. From what he had gathered, their security was really loose, the entire place was guarded by eight body guards in a given night. The reason they were loose on watching staffs was because they hired a high wizard to cast a spell on the museum's relics so that they became Immovable. If the system was perfect then Luth had already given up on the heist already, but there was a loop hole. The effect of the spell fades after three months which would requires the wizard to come a cast the spell again. The wizard luckily doesn't come immediately after the spell lose is effect, but were at least one day late. So if Luth plan worked, he would be able to steal the gem with little trouble.
And that night, the fruit of Luth's effort would be reaped. After finishing his shift, Luth didn't leave the museum as he normally does but instead hid in the lady bathroom instead and the guard never checked in their for some reasons. After readying his gears, he waited patiently for the night to come.
When the time was ready, he exited the bathroom and made his way to the back of the museum which was usually locked shut. The backdoor was guarded by an unsuspecting guard whose Luth's quickly killed with a dagger to the neck. He opened the backdoor and Lea and Zed were already waiting outside. The unprepared guards never saw what was coming that night, they were dropped one by one by the three criminals. Finally, they've made their way to the location of the gem. It sat behind extremely thick glass but they were prepared.
“Be careful. Don't break the gem ” Luth whispered to Zed as he struck the glass with a mighty sledge hammer, breaking it in two strikes.
Just as Luth planned, after the guards and the glass, nothing else could stop him from taking the gem. When he picked it up, he felt a warm feeling through out his body just by holding it, but there was no time for further examination. They had to bounce, and they had to do it quick.
Because they had made quick work of the guards, no alarm was rang so it would took quite sometime for someone to notice. By the time they realized what had happened then the three would have left Baldur's gate, looking to pawn of the gem.
Shortly after the three made their way back to the lower city, a ship was already waiting for them, the captain of the ship was a smuggler, no question were asked as long as you paid well. Luth, Lea and Zed had already began celebrating their success. The plan was to leave, sell of the gem and split the money. Then, they were free do you to wherever they wanted to be. For Luth, his plan was to lay low for a couple years for things to die down in Baldur's Gate. After that, he would go back and settle in the upper city under a new identity, finally achieving his dream.
“Lea, Zed. What is your plan after we split?” Luth asked as he chugged his mug of ale.
“I don't know. Settle down, buy a house, normal people stuff.” Lea replied absent-mindedly.
Zed didn't say anything, he just looked at Luth, as if waiting for something.
“Well, let me tell you what I would....Aghhrr.” Before he could finish his sentence, Luth found himself not able to move his lips. And not just his lips, he couldn't move a single muscle on her body. He was paralyzed.
“Nothing personal Luth. Sorry.” Lea said apologetically.
The last thing Luth remembered after that was Zed's grip on his body, throwing him off the boat. After that. Water.
When Luth woke up, he was contained 30 feet underground. Before he could even recollected what had happened, he was greeting by one of the warden with a kick to the stomach.
“Where is the gem? Tell me you little shit.” He yelled.
“I got so close too. Fate is a cruel mistress indeed.” Luth muttered to himself before smirking bitterly, bracing for consequences of his actions finally catching up to him.
A favor returned, A promise left broken.
Luth opened his eyes again to the view of the dungeon's ceiling. What a dream that was. He had withstood through all of the torturing so that now he can close his eyes and rest in peace. It was the end of the road he thought. It was a good run, he was so close to his goal, but even after all of that, he would die here, trapped, helpless because he had flew too close to the sun and got horribly scorched. What a shame, he wanted to go out with a bang at least, Luth thought to himself as he let out a painful smile.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps. A sounds he hadn't heard in quite a while. Luth eyes followed the figure as it got closer. A man in his forty, bearded and muscular walked up to Luth's cell, he then produced a key from his hand and opened it. He look down on Luth's terrible state, his face showing a sign of disgust. “Luth Riverwood?” He asked.
Luth didn't answer. The man continued. “Did you really stole the gem? How can someone pathetic like you do that?”
He reached down to Luth and pulled his arm firmly, Luth was too exhausted to do anything about it. When Luth realized, his handcuff had already been unlocked.
“Can you stand?” Asked the man.
Luth looked at the man cautiously, his eyes full of defiance but choose to comply. He slowly stood up, his legs barely able to work. For his compliance, Luth was given a ration. It had been forever since he last saw real food, so he gnawed on it like the hungry man he was. After eating, Luth got some of his strength back, the man gave him a robe and gestured him to follow.
“Why are you doing this?” Luth asked.
“Question later.”
They walk through the dungeon and got to the surface. On the way he saw all of the wardens, the guards had been dead. He had no clue what was happening but he was sure that they were killed by the man. The man let Luth stay at his place in the lower city for a couple day until he recovered. During that time, all of Luth's question was dismissed by the man. He can't tell what his motive was but at least he know that the man was on his side. When Luth decided to leave, The man didn't say anything, but didn't try to stop him either. But right before Luth left, the man finally said something.
“I don't know why she wanted me to save a scum bag like you...” The man sighed. “But do not to get caught again, if you do, it's on you.”
And it was at that moment all of the dot was connect, Luth finally understood everything. His eyes turned teary as he let out a bitter smile. Oh how fate can be such a cruel mistress, and a humorous one too.
Chapter 6: The departure.
Another bounty was placed on Luth after people realized he had escaped. This one was not as high as the first one since they have already extracted all information out of him. The main concern then were Lea and Zed had yet to be caught. But even that, Luth had to leave since it's just a matter of time before they got a trail on him. But before he left, he had to do one thing.
So there he was, standing where his decreased mother was buried, putting a branch of wild dandelion on her grave. Luth always pick this type of flower to give her on her birthday he remebered.
“It seems like you and me are fated to doom. But I'll do my best to fight it, to live like you want me to. So please, watch over me.”
As Luth was turning to leave, Uncle Reece was behind him. What an unfortunate timing. Uncle Reece run straight to Luth as soon as he realize it was him. Was he going to fight his uncle? Before Luth could even reach for his dagger, Uncle Reece had already close his distance to Luth, but his arms turned to a hug.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I thought so too”. Luth smiled.
“You gotta leave, they're looking for you.” said Uncle Reece.
“I'm leaving now actually.” Luth added.
“Take this with you then.” Uncle Reece said as he produced from his hand a pouch of gold coin and an silver ring the symbol of a two-headed wolf carved on it. “Your mom told me to give these to you when the time is right. Now this is the only time I can give it to you.” He laughed.
“Thank you.”
“Go my son. Go out there and live your best life. For yourself and for your mother too.”
“I will.”
With that, Luth left Baldur's Gate and was free to travel the realm. The gate to the city was closed behind him, signaling an end to his life there. But his story, it has only began.
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Chapter 1: Dying thief.
The dungeon was dark and quiet. Too quiet. The only thing that can be heard is the squeaking sounds of rats, the sounds of each and every water droplet, slowly but constantly dropping down from the ceiling above, and the weakened breath of the only captive there, Luth Riverwood; a young thief who was captured shortly after a bounty was placed on him. It has been a long time since such a high bounty was administrated in Baldur's gate they said. And all that just for a lowly thief.
With his back against the cold hard floor, Luth's tired eyes were fixed to the ceiling, struggling to stay open. How long has he been here? 514827 water droplets if that's an acceptable measure of time. At first, the plan was to count the water droplets and translate them into seconds. But now, he's just doing it to keep sane from the boredom of nothingness. Besides, what's the point? He's a dead man anyway, might as well stop breathing and stop this suffering for once he thought. After all, ever since he was born, his life has always been a struggle, a steady downward slope. And even when he thought that life was going to turn a new leaf for him, he got back-stabbed by some of his closes comrades, the ones he even considered friends. But still, he didn't blame them. They are just thieves, and the fragile honor among them can be easily broken with the right price.
But the sad thing is that he just couldn't bring himself to do it. His body and his mind had grown weak from starvation. Being left starving to death is one of the most horrific ways to go out. When you starving, time move slower, the feeling of impending doom is stretched out and magnified as your body starts to consume itself. For Luth, it's might be a more peaceful way to die as he is used to it. The trick is to just accept your fate and embrace the feeling of approaching death, don't try to struggle and soon you will just seep into a dream-like state, where your memories ooze out, memories from a happier day.
Chapter 2: Heaven and Hell.
Young Luth look up and was blinded for a moment by the strong sunlight of a summer day, but soon his eyes readjusted and the blue sky appeared before him. Nearly there, just a bit more, Luth thought to himself as he climbed the ladder to the top of the inner wall. Every time, Luth always reached the top as soon as his frail arms and legs started to give out. But every time, it was worth it. As soon as he reached the top, the intoxicating view of the upper city appears before him and for a brief moment, all of the fatigue from the long way up went away. Luth sit down at the very ledge of the wall and felt his blond hair fluttered as the updraft from below blows gently, bringing the smells of freshly baked pastries and nice smelling flowers.
Luth had never grown tired of this view, the upper city was magnificent as always. Massive mansions painted with vibrant colors, gardens filled with greens and flowers were a treat for the eyes, much different from the depressing crooked look of the lower city where he had lived his entire life in. Not only the upper city is beautiful but so did its’ people. They walked down the street elegantly in their fancy attires without a care in the world.
“Only if mom would take me there one day.” Luth sighed. Seeing is nice, but he had always dreamed of being able to walk down those streets one day, blending in with the people from down below, perhaps even living as one of them, that would be his only desire in life. His mother always said that when his father comes back, they would move to live in the upper city. Ever since he was born, he had never known the face of his father, and Luth would wait for him to come home every passing year, but no one ever came.
Suddenly, Luth's train of thought was interrupted as he saw a familiar figure appearing on the clock tower at the corner of his eyes. It's her again he thought. The distance between them was far enough that he couldn't make a lot out of what he saw, he only knew that it's was a she, and she was a citizen of the upper city.
From the clock tower, seemingly from thin air, a bright white spot appeared, and Luth waited patiently as it began flying closer to him, revealing itself as a white dove. After arriving it landed on Luth's shoulder and began chirping.
“How you doing, Ryr?” Luth hummed as he petted the friendly pigeon and take of the letter tied to one of its legs. He then moved his index along the length of the paper before opening it. The paper was pure white and has a smooth silky texture to it, not like the rough and yellowish paper he's familiar with. Not only that, the ink smelled good and the handwriting was perfect, each and every letter was written neatly and masterfully.
It reads.
It's been five months since Luth first exchange letters with the mysterious person from the upper city. At first, he hesitated when Ryr approached him with a letter basically asking what life was like in the lower city. But since he also wanted to know more about the upper city, he replied and they had been communicating since then. Luth sent out letters, describing the lower city in detail, from the crowded marketplace in Heapside, the busy Gray Harbor to the unremarkable Bramton where he lived. And he received back information about the upper city, its districts which all come with interesting lore and history. They never learned much about each other, not even a name. But they had learned that both have an equal interest in the other side of the city they're living in.
After reading the letter carefully, Luth turned to the back of the paper which was empty, and gently plucking one of Ryr the dove's feather. The tip of the feather oozes out black ink as soon as it was pulled out, effectively making it a quill and ink. Then he wrote back.
Shortly after the Ryr made its way back to its owner, it came back to Luth with another letter.
Luth hesitated for a moment, but he then accepted. Having a friend from higher places owing him one could be his ticket to the upper city. They then came up with a meetup time and place and bid each other goodbye for now. After having climbed back down from the wall, Luth's blended into the crowd of people, heading for the marketplace.
Since his mother got sick, Luth was the one who did the groceries and cooking. He bought a couple of potatoes and a carrot, a small fish which would be made into a hardy stew. When he got back to his home in Bramton, as always, he could feel the disgusting gaze from the neighbors, they're whispering between themselves, spewing out toxins. “It's the son of that crazy whore.” , “That cursed child is back again.” They thought he couldn't hear it, but he did, he just chose to ignore it, those things were just white noise to his ears by then. Before coming into the building where he lived, he encountered a group of neighbor children playing ball. As soon as they notice him, one of the kids kicked the ball as hard as he could at him. Luth the poor boy didn't even bother dodging because he knew that it would rile them up even more so he instead took the full blow of the ball to his head, his malnourished form jerked back from the impact, the bag of vegetables he brought dropped to the ground in the process. Luth didn't say anything, didn't express any pain or resentment, he just slowly reached down to pick the vegetables back up and went inside. Those kids, some of them were Luth's childhood friends, they used to be sweet and friendly. But one day they just turn bitter and hateful like their parents.
The small one-room apartment was dim, its only window was closed shut, its four walls were damp and moldy. Home sweet home Luth sighed. His dear mother was sitting on the bed, coughing as she was knitting, her eyes looked painfully tired. But the smile she made to greet him home was warm and more beautiful than anything in the lower city. Luth brought some water to her, putting his hand on her head, and asked. “Feeling better mom?”
She looked at him for a second, and gave him a gentle, assuring smile.
“I think so.”
“Luth, how has your day been?”
“I met a friend, It was fun.”
Chapter 3: They were kids, looking upon the stars.
In the evening, the well-lit street of the upper city was mostly deserted. The people who walk the street at this time are mostly law enforcers, and the people who aren't, are usually up to no good. A small robed figure hastily but cautiously sneaking down the road, avoiding contact with everyone. Soon, the figure reached the gate that gave the city its name, the Baldur's gate; the most ordinary passageways that connect the upper city to the lower city, but the most historically remarkable one. And unsurprisingly, it was heavily guarded.
A tall heavily armored guard stepped up to the figure as they approached the gate; clearly, he was the one in charge. “What are you doing here kid? You got lost?” The guard asked as he reached out his hand to unveil the figure. But before he could do so, he felt an invisible force stopping him. And before he could say anything, a paper was produced from the figure's hand and given to him. It was a passing permit but as an experienced guard, he spotted a lot of errors in the paper.
“Hey, this is...wro” But as soon as he could finish the sentence, his eyes laid upon the Family mark at the end of the permit and his attitude changed drastically. He bowed down to the figure and apologized profusely before telling the other guard from the back to make way.
With his back against a tree, Luth Riverwood was waiting on the other side of the gate, wondering if his friend from the upper city would actually show up or not. And, from above, Ryr the white dove landed softly on his head as if it was a bird’s nest. Luth looked up for a moment to gently take the dove down from his head as it rested on his hands and when he looked down, the white-robed figure had already appeared in front of him.
“Hi.” The figure’s voice was soft and feminine, slightly tilting her head slightly as she examined Luth a bit before continuing. “You must be the boy on the wall.”
“And you're the girl on the tower.” Luth finally accepted that this girl is truly the one who he had been exchanging letter with, he put on his robe and gestured her to follow him. “Let's go, we don't have all night.”
The two rush through the thick fog of night and stopped at what seems to be a huge ship stuck on land. And that is exactly what it was, The Low Lantern is a retired ship converted to be used as a tavern. Luth watched as the girl stood in awe before the bizarre view of the tavern. He whispered to her. “We're having dinner first, you're paying remember?” Before she could give him a confirming nod, Luth took her inside and they sat on a lone table.
The Low Lantern is the place for all kinds of patrons. Thugs, rogues, Pirates, or just citizens, most of the time you can't tell them apart. It was still early in the evening so the tavern isn't at its maximum capacity, but its chaotic atmosphere can still be felt fully as people were chugging ale, getting wasted, getting into brawls. Luth turned to the girl, expecting her to be overwhelmed but her blue eyes were filled with curiosity and excitement more than anything as she looked around the place. Her face was pretty, but it there was something else about her that differentiate her from a person from the lower city, something Luth just couldn't put a finger on.
“Keep your head down.” Luth whispered.
“Sorry.”
A halfling waitress approached the two, she had a feeling something fishy was going on but didn't think much about it as all patrons coming to this tavern have something to hide. “What do you two want?” She asked.
“Two Salmon Chowders and two mugs of ale. And one eels pie to go please.” Luth said.
Then food was served. It's been a while since Luth got to enjoy a full meal like this so he was in a pretty good mood after finishing his food. He looked to the girl who was less focused on the food and instead her eyes just wandering around the tavern.
“Hey, is the food not good?” He asked.
“No. It's good. Not what I'm used to eating, but it's good.” The girl replied and tried to prove it by having a spoonful of chowder, followed by a gulp of ale. From her expression, It's obvious that this was the first time she had Ale and didn't like it really much.
“What's your name?” The girl asked.
Luth was surprised and hesitated, but since he just got treated to a meal, he answered. “You can call me Luth. Luth Riverwood.”
“And you?” He added.
“It's...um...”
“You don't have to tell me your real name.” Luth said as he noticed her hesitation.
“No...It's fine...You can call me Eli ” She answered shyly.
“So Eli, what makes you want to go to this dump?”
“Well, I've seen everything there is to see in the upper city so I wanted to see what else is out there you know.”
“I'm really jealous of you you know that?” Luth exclaimed.
“Well, I'm jealous of you too.”
“No. You don't mean it.” Luth sighed, his face saddened.
Eli notices Luth's focus was shifted away from the conversation to a bearded old orc who just walked into the tavern and ordered a pint of Ale. The was man wore an eye patch and a hook on his right arm, he somehow looked dangerous but kind at the same time.
“Who's that?” Eli asked curiously.
“Someone we need. Come.” Luth stood up and walked to the old man, with Eli behind him.
The old man took a big chug out of his pint and said jokingly. “You lot want me to take you out of shore? What could I possibly gain out of that?”
“Uncle Rasef. How much do you want for the trip then?” Luth asked.
“For my time? 10 gold coin.” Without much thought, Rasef gave them a throat-cutting price so that they would stop bothering him, he knew that for a poor kid Luth was, he had never seen a gold coin in his life let alone five. But soon as he said it, Eli produced 10 gold coins from her hand and gave it to Luth.
Rasef the orc was taken aback, but he quickly snapped out it and quickly took the coins before they attracted greedy glances from the other patrons. He was getting some bad feeling from the creature in the white robe but since he's an Orc of his words, he felt like he had to follow through with the offer. And also, 10 gold coins is a lot for just a couple of hours of sailing
Rasef owned a moderate fishing ship. He was a pirate retiree who became a fisherman after his crew was disbanded. As an orc, he was rude and scary but his prices were really cheap and because he hated everyone all the same, he doesn't discriminate which was why Luth was a frequent customer of his.
Eli and Luth sat at the front of the ship as Rasef pulled the anchor up with his bare hand, this man was a one-man crew. The two stay in silence as the ship pierced the thick fog to get away from shore. Before long, they could see the magnificent Baldur's Gate in its entirety.
Eli teared up before the scenery, the moon was shining brightly upon them and the sky was clear and starry.
“Thank you for this. I owe you one.” She sniffed.
Luth nodded, clearly also enjoying the view.
“You lot be good alrite? Or off to the plank with ye” Rasef said as he rolled out the net, wanting to do some fishing while he's here, leaving the two alone.
“Luth. You wanna see something cool?” Eli said as they lay on their back on the ship's wooden floor, looking to the sky.
“Sure.” Luth replied.
Eli reached her hand up, with her index finger out, and began connecting the dots, as if she's drawing onto the sky itself.
“Wow...is that a rabbit?”
“Yeah.”
Luth had figured out that Eli was magical, but he didn't know she could do this. “Can you draw a duck?” he requested.
Eli's index finger moved again, and the sky was her canvas. “Like this?”
“It's beautiful!” Luth exclaimed, totally immersed in the sky.
“Tell me, Luth. What do you want to do when you're older?” Her blue eyes stared straight into his soul, expecting an answer.
“I want to be a knight and move to the upper city I guess.” Luth answered truthfully, he had not given it much thought before but it was what he truly wanted at the time. “And you? Eli, what do you want to do?”
“I just want to be free.” Eli answered bitterly.
“What do you mean?” Luth turned to Eli seeing her deep in thought.
“You know when I see Baldur's Gate from here. I see a cage, one I could never escape from.”
“But we are here aren't we?” said Luth.
“This is why I'm jealous of you Luth.” Eli gave Luth a gentle smile, the same smile his mother makes. That's how he knew they're both in pain, but there is nothing that he could do to help.
“How about this Luth? You can be my knight.” Eli put her head on Luth's lap, her hair was smooth and silky, good-smelling too he thought.
“And how does that work?” Chuckled Luth.
“I don't know. But I'll figure it out.”
“You're weird.” Luth commented.
“Right?” Eli smiled again.
Like all nice things, the night had to come to an end, Luth and Eli found themselves back at where they met. Before, heading into the gate, Eli yelled out to him. “Thank you for today, see you again soon.”
“Promise?” Luth yelled back.
“Promise.”
But little did he know, that was the first, and also the last time he saw her.
Chapter 4: To live or to survive.
Luth was by his mom's side at her last hours, holding her hand the entire time. She had been bedridden for over a year then. At first, it was just a cold but then it seemed like she had aged a decade, her brilliant jet black hair was replaced by an eerily white. She struggled to breathe and her voice was weak and shaky. But even then, she still gave him an assuring smile as if nothing had happened and that everything was fine. How dare she? Luth thought to himself as he broke down into tears.
“Don't cry, Luth. You're a good boy.” She said in a trance.
“But you're all I have.” Luth sniffed.
“My son. Even when I'm gone, I'm still with you.”
“But...”
“Do me this Luth. Don't just survive, live.”
And just like that, all of the remaining life inside her disappeared, and Beaux Riverwood faded away between her beloved son's arms.
Luth Riverwood ran out of the room as fast as he could. “Luth.” Uncle Reece, his mom's remaining friend had already waited outside called out his name as he ran by but Luth didn't stop, he kept on running. He ran across an entire district without even taking a breath, he began climbing the ladder to the top of the wall with all of his remaining strength. When he reached the top, he wanted to yell so badly, but couldn't utter a word. The view of the upper city was as breathtaking as always, and the people there were still out and about, doing their things, casually walking down the streets. The world didn't care if Luth's mom had died, it didn't care if he was in great pain, it went on.
After that night with faithful night with Eli, He never saw her on the clock tower again. And since then his appreciation towards the upper city had grown into a bitter resentment instead. A feeling of hatred against something he wanted badly but couldn't have. And on that day, the day when his dear mother passed away, he had sworn to not step on the top of the wall ever again.
So from that moment onward, Luth accepted the fact the he might actually be cursed, that people like him and his mother couldn't have nice things in life. But he had to live, he couldn't just survive like a cockroach under the sewer, he wanted to thrive. That was why he was determined to do what ever it took to benefit himself, even if others suffer because of it.
He asked Uncle Reece; who happened to be a seasoned thief, to teach him the Art of Thievery, and was eager to learn. Soon he could pick locks in seconds, sneaking into houses without even being seen and even knew how to drop a person before they could even realized what was going on . Then, he became a recruit of The Guild; Baldur's gate biggest criminal syndicate. There he got to meet other like-minded people, selfish people who would do anything for their personal gains. People who used bully him now cower in fears under him, he doesn't have to worry about putting food on the table anymore. Life was good. But he wanted more, much more.
Chapter 5: The great heist
Luth walked down the street with two other thugs; Lea and Zed. Lea was a short-tempered red head with an attitude problem but was a capable fighter. And Zed was a man of few words, he let usually let his fists do the talking. People avoided making eyes contract with them because clearly the gang were up to nothing good. And they were right, the three were tasked with collecting protection fees from a rather hard-headed vendor.
The man own a fruit stand and at first, the three approached him politely, asking him for the fees, but things got ugly when he refused to pay. Lea grabbed the man by the neck and punch him in the face repeatedly as he scream for help. But no one dared to intervene because they didn't want to mess with The Guild. Even after receiving multiple blows to the face by Lea and having his stand basically destroyed by Zed, he didn't gave in. Luth sighed and walk forward to him. Politely he asked.
“Mr. Avern. How your son, Kesz, been doing these day huh? I kind of want to met him, you know, catching up.”
He looked up and immediately realized Luth. And just from that, all of the fighting spirit disappeared from the old man, he felt silenced, and agreed to pay the amount in full while cursing under his breath.
“Nice work Luth.” Lea cheered, taking a sip out of her pint of ale. “By the way, who is Kesz?”
“Just a guy I used to play ball with.” Luth answered absent-mindedly before digging into his meal.
After finishing his meal, Luth excused himself. “I'm going. Remember the Plan..”
One of the many perk of working under The Guild is that they have total control of the sewer system, and since the sewer of the upper city and lower city were connected, Luth could sneak into the upper city whenever he wanted to, provided he had to withstand the foul smells under there. After navigating through the city's complex sewer system, Luth exited from a sewer trap door in an abandoned mansion which served as a hideout for member of The Guild. He nodded to the group of thugs that were in charge of operating the underground passageway and headed to the Hall of Wonder where he worked the afternoon shift as a janitor.
The Hall of Wonder, a museum that held "holy relics" of the church of Gond. It was considered a religious site to the Gondar faithful, both to Baldurian followers and those from far away. The paid here was minuscule but Luth didn't work here just for the money alone, he had been planing to steal from the museum for a while now, and the date of the heist was near. Most of the relics stored in the Hall of Wonder were unremarkable in term of value, but Luth was interested in one in particular, the red gem of Gond. This gem was the most valuable relic in the museum, it was said to be a drop of Gond blood himself and according to Luth sources, he could sell it for at least 20.000 GP on the black market. From what he had gathered, their security was really loose, the entire place was guarded by eight body guards in a given night. The reason they were loose on watching staffs was because they hired a high wizard to cast a spell on the museum's relics so that they became Immovable. If the system was perfect then Luth had already given up on the heist already, but there was a loop hole. The effect of the spell fades after three months which would requires the wizard to come a cast the spell again. The wizard luckily doesn't come immediately after the spell lose is effect, but were at least one day late. So if Luth plan worked, he would be able to steal the gem with little trouble.
And that night, the fruit of Luth's effort would be reaped. After finishing his shift, Luth didn't leave the museum as he normally does but instead hid in the lady bathroom instead and the guard never checked in their for some reasons. After readying his gears, he waited patiently for the night to come.
When the time was ready, he exited the bathroom and made his way to the back of the museum which was usually locked shut. The backdoor was guarded by an unsuspecting guard whose Luth's quickly killed with a dagger to the neck. He opened the backdoor and Lea and Zed were already waiting outside. The unprepared guards never saw what was coming that night, they were dropped one by one by the three criminals. Finally, they've made their way to the location of the gem. It sat behind extremely thick glass but they were prepared.
“Be careful. Don't break the gem ” Luth whispered to Zed as he struck the glass with a mighty sledge hammer, breaking it in two strikes.
Just as Luth planned, after the guards and the glass, nothing else could stop him from taking the gem. When he picked it up, he felt a warm feeling through out his body just by holding it, but there was no time for further examination. They had to bounce, and they had to do it quick.
Because they had made quick work of the guards, no alarm was rang so it would took quite sometime for someone to notice. By the time they realized what had happened then the three would have left Baldur's gate, looking to pawn of the gem.
Shortly after the three made their way back to the lower city, a ship was already waiting for them, the captain of the ship was a smuggler, no question were asked as long as you paid well. Luth, Lea and Zed had already began celebrating their success. The plan was to leave, sell of the gem and split the money. Then, they were free do you to wherever they wanted to be. For Luth, his plan was to lay low for a couple years for things to die down in Baldur's Gate. After that, he would go back and settle in the upper city under a new identity, finally achieving his dream.
“Lea, Zed. What is your plan after we split?” Luth asked as he chugged his mug of ale.
“I don't know. Settle down, buy a house, normal people stuff.” Lea replied absent-mindedly.
Zed didn't say anything, he just looked at Luth, as if waiting for something.
“Well, let me tell you what I would....Aghhrr.” Before he could finish his sentence, Luth found himself not able to move his lips. And not just his lips, he couldn't move a single muscle on her body. He was paralyzed.
“Nothing personal Luth. Sorry.” Lea said apologetically.
The last thing Luth remembered after that was Zed's grip on his body, throwing him off the boat. After that. Water.
When Luth woke up, he was contained 30 feet underground. Before he could even recollected what had happened, he was greeting by one of the warden with a kick to the stomach.
“Where is the gem? Tell me you little shit.” He yelled.
“I got so close too. Fate is a cruel mistress indeed.” Luth muttered to himself before smirking bitterly, bracing for consequences of his actions finally catching up to him.
A favor returned, A promise left broken.
Luth opened his eyes again to the view of the dungeon's ceiling. What a dream that was. He had withstood through all of the torturing so that now he can close his eyes and rest in peace. It was the end of the road he thought. It was a good run, he was so close to his goal, but even after all of that, he would die here, trapped, helpless because he had flew too close to the sun and got horribly scorched. What a shame, he wanted to go out with a bang at least, Luth thought to himself as he let out a painful smile.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps. A sounds he hadn't heard in quite a while. Luth eyes followed the figure as it got closer. A man in his forty, bearded and muscular walked up to Luth's cell, he then produced a key from his hand and opened it. He look down on Luth's terrible state, his face showing a sign of disgust. “Luth Riverwood?” He asked.
Luth didn't answer. The man continued. “Did you really stole the gem? How can someone pathetic like you do that?”
He reached down to Luth and pulled his arm firmly, Luth was too exhausted to do anything about it. When Luth realized, his handcuff had already been unlocked.
“Can you stand?” Asked the man.
Luth looked at the man cautiously, his eyes full of defiance but choose to comply. He slowly stood up, his legs barely able to work. For his compliance, Luth was given a ration. It had been forever since he last saw real food, so he gnawed on it like the hungry man he was. After eating, Luth got some of his strength back, the man gave him a robe and gestured him to follow.
“Why are you doing this?” Luth asked.
“Question later.”
They walk through the dungeon and got to the surface. On the way he saw all of the wardens, the guards had been dead. He had no clue what was happening but he was sure that they were killed by the man. The man let Luth stay at his place in the lower city for a couple day until he recovered. During that time, all of Luth's question was dismissed by the man. He can't tell what his motive was but at least he know that the man was on his side. When Luth decided to leave, The man didn't say anything, but didn't try to stop him either. But right before Luth left, the man finally said something.
“I don't know why she wanted me to save a scum bag like you...” The man sighed. “But do not to get caught again, if you do, it's on you.”
And it was at that moment all of the dot was connect, Luth finally understood everything. His eyes turned teary as he let out a bitter smile. Oh how fate can be such a cruel mistress, and a humorous one too.
Chapter 6: The departure.
Another bounty was placed on Luth after people realized he had escaped. This one was not as high as the first one since they have already extracted all information out of him. The main concern then were Lea and Zed had yet to be caught. But even that, Luth had to leave since it's just a matter of time before they got a trail on him. But before he left, he had to do one thing.
So there he was, standing where his decreased mother was buried, putting a branch of wild dandelion on her grave. Luth always pick this type of flower to give her on her birthday he remebered.
“It seems like you and me are fated to doom. But I'll do my best to fight it, to live like you want me to. So please, watch over me.”
As Luth was turning to leave, Uncle Reece was behind him. What an unfortunate timing. Uncle Reece run straight to Luth as soon as he realize it was him. Was he going to fight his uncle? Before Luth could even reach for his dagger, Uncle Reece had already close his distance to Luth, but his arms turned to a hug.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I thought so too”. Luth smiled.
“You gotta leave, they're looking for you.” said Uncle Reece.
“I'm leaving now actually.” Luth added.
“Take this with you then.” Uncle Reece said as he produced from his hand a pouch of gold coin and an silver ring the symbol of a two-headed wolf carved on it. “Your mom told me to give these to you when the time is right. Now this is the only time I can give it to you.” He laughed.
“Thank you.”
“Go my son. Go out there and live your best life. For yourself and for your mother too.”
“I will.”
With that, Luth left Baldur's Gate and was free to travel the realm. The gate to the city was closed behind him, signaling an end to his life there. But his story, it has only began.
