[b][center]Myrn Atisha - Denerim's Alienage[/b][/center]

It sadden Myrn to see the elves live in such a sorry state. The stench of rotted garbage wafted through the air, covered only by the scent of smoke as the elves did what they could to dispose of it. Everyone lived in cramp apartments, many who are expected to be able to house all their family and belongings in a single room. Some might be fortunate to either have large rooms or very little baggage. Worse was that it's not as though the elves had much other options; they wanted to expand the Alienage for the new tenants, but hardly ever would the human lords think to even allow such a thing. And if the living quality wasn't bad enough, there was the work. Others might dislike the elves complaints about work, citing that at least they had jobs, but that doesn't amount to much when a beggar could make more a week than an elf who works twenty hours a day. It was not an exaggeration, just an unfortunately apt comparison. And the last of the transgressions that Myrn couldn't bare to think of was the crime rate. Truth be told many elves have to resort to stealing and robbing just to pay rent. While the community does it's best to help one another, it isn't always enough. Many of the gangs in Denerium had elves in it, but never as anything more than grunts or scapegoats. And a gang of elves were often seen worse than a gang of humans. Or at least, the guards certainly won't be as merciful when they come across one. Worse still is that some of these elven gangs don't even do what they do for their people. Some might have been made to protect the Alienage, but more often than not they see their fellow elves as other potential targets for their stealing. A bad target, but also an easy one.

It was the cruel and honest truth about the Alienage. Sure at some times days would not be so bad, but generally the Alienage is not a pleasant place. And for the elves it's the only place they have to call home. Myrn arrived to a small family apartment building to find her friend Rena. Rena worked as a servant for a tolerable human noble and brings the most money to her family next to her father, who enlisted with the Blackstone Irregulars. More importantly, Rena has dabbled into the back alley trade of information brokering, and uses her lowly position as a servant to not only listen in on the various nobles, but to infiltrate their homes and houses unnoticed and map out routes and location of their homes. Who uses this information doesn't matter to her; as long as they pay their money they get to know what she knew. Myrn came to her home hoping to pay back her dept to her for helping Myrn out last time her clan passed by near Denerim. While the full story is a tale for another time, Myrn would never forget how quickly Rena managed to get her that purple nug.

When the two elves finally was face to face, they shared a brief embrace. Words were exchanged about one another lives and what they've done recently. They had their chat over a few cups of water, and after all the formality had finally been settled, Rena was quick to get to business. She told Myrn of a few things happening around the Alienage that Rena wants something to be done about. First was news of a lost child. The mother, a friend of Rena, had an argument with her husband about stealing supplies off the docks. It wasn't the first time and she constantly berates her man about risking himself and his family just for a bag of grains, which surely has made the child reach her limits. The mother and father are still warring with each other, but both want their child back. Between the arguments they've tried and tried to search for her to no anvil. Another thing happening in the Alienage was about some of the beggars that's been loitering the Alienage. While the elves have no real authority to expel them, they've formed up into a small gang and have been harassing the elves for what little money and possessions they have. So far no violence has occurred, but it was only a matter of time before the beggars got bold or for someone to stop tolerating their foolishness. Another job Rena wants done involved actual thieves. She heard from her own channel in the various Denerim gangs that some lowlives who are based in the downtown area had moved into the Alienage one night and stole something from one of the inhabitants. Normally such robberies were overlooked since not much of value is normally taken, but the victim was the Alienage's own herbalist, and what was stolen was a family heirloom. It's been bothering the herbalist constantly, affecting his ability to work. And lastly, there was one of the more harrowing job. A few days ago the Alienage took in an elvish mage who had fled the Circle. While most of the elves were Chantry believing people, they stilled housed and protected the elf, though they made it clear that they were only turning a blind eye to the runaway mage for a short while. Well they didn't need to worry about him staying for long, because that night he killed the family housing him with Blood magic. He has since left the Alienage, but not only does the community want revenge, but they also want to get rid of the threat. However another runaway mage, one who's more upstanding, wants to minimize outside involvement as much as possible. If word got around that there was a blood mage in the Alienage, the entire Templar Order was going to go through and purge the place for any and all mages, regardless of who they think is good, evil, or even a mage. To that end, Rena wanted Myrn to find the Blood Mage as soon as possible, however the choice of what jobs she does in what order is up to her.

After spending a short while longer talking to Rena about the jobs, Myrn left the house for her first quest. She was going to look for the child first. From what Rena told her, the child has been gone for two days. With everything going on Rena thought the worse, but Myrn held out the hope that the child would be clever enough to stay safe. Still Myrn would go find her, for her family's sake. The first place Myrn went to was to the child's home. The father was out but the mother was sitting in on a seat patching up some clothes. When Myrn entered the woman was initially fearful, but after Myrn told the woman her reasons for being there she settled down and looked sadden. She told Myrn about how much they've been struggling since the woman had lost her job as a seamstress. Her husband has been taking more and more hours at the docks, and the stress was building up on his body. He'd come home tired and exhausted, often covered in cuts and bruises or even injured. And when it still wasn't enough to put food on the table, he started to steal things from the packages he handled. So far he hasn't gotten caught, but when he told his wife where he got them, they've had arguments about it. The wife insists that despite how rough they're having it, they shouldn't resort to criminal acts just to support one another. It only takes one mistake to lose everything. After the woman told her side of the story, Myrn asked her a few questions about the daughter. She was only nine years old, but had a sort of perspective and wisdom of something three times her age. A quite and clever girl, she was quickly able to pick up her mother's ability sewing and before she was even seven was able to mend her own cloths and dolls. Because of how often their father had to work the girl spent most of her time with her daughter, though she did mention that the girl was friends with other children in the Alienage. When Myrn asked if she knew the children, the woman unfortunately did not know. She knew their parents and she knew they were good people, but she never really spend any time with them even after she lost her job. 

After leaving the mother's home Myrn went to go find where the children congregate. Since most businesses don't allow parents to bring their children, someone in the Alienage would be the designated babysitter. Though older children likely wandered around the Alienage or even the city on their own. Fortunately Myrn found a group of children soon enough. A mixed group of boys and girls playing some game with rocks and strings. Myrn approached them and the biggest of the children looked at her. The others stood up as well, but they seemed to be behind the biggest of the child, as though expecting Myrn to yell or try to harm them. She put on her friendliest smile and asked the larger child if he knew the girl who had ran away from her home. The boy feigned ignorance badly, so Myrn decided to work her charm on him. She asked again, mentioning how she wants to make sure the girl is safe. One of the children asked if she was a warrior, noting the large sword on her back. Myrn smiled and told them that she was actually a mage. To prove this, she used a fairly weak Stonefist spell to juggle rocks without even touching them. This amused the children. Once she was finished, they were a bit more willing to speak. One of the children was a personal friend of the missing girl, and she did see her leave the Alienage yesterday. She also mentioned that the girl had a "Boyfriend", a human child, who lives at the Market Place. Myrn was rather surprised at the information, but she thanked the children for what they knew. Promising to come back to show them more tricks, Myrn headed towards the Marketplace.

[b][center]Myrn Atisha - Market Place[/b][/center]

The aside from that the boy lived in the market place, they didn't know what his family did. They weren't even sure if they were merchants. The only hint she could get from the children about the boy was that when the missing girl came back from visiting him, she always had some sweet fruit pastries. So Myrn looked for bakeries, specifically, ones that can create sweet fruit pastries. She wasn't sure if the boy was the son of a baker or just had a sweet tooth, but surely someone would have seen a human boy come into their shops with an elvish girl. Turned out a lot of the bakeries in the Denerim didn't specialize in making fruit pastries. The problem was that both fruit and sweetener was two luxuries most bakeries can't turn into profit. It's not that they can't make sweet fruit pastries, but they have to be special ordered and it could take a few days to get the ingredients. And like when Myrn tried to talk to the merchants before, most of them wanted her out as soon as possible. While no one threaten to call the guards on her, no one told her anything about seeing a little elf girl. When Myrn was thinking about staking out the various bakeries to hopefully see the girl, one of the workers called out to her. He was a big human, at least two heads taller than Myrn with arms that could wrestle a bear. Myrn thought the man was going to do something stupid when he mentioned that he knows of a shop that specialized in sweet bread. He wasn't sure if they made sweet fruit bread, but he did know that they could make them on request. Myrn was delightfully surprised at how well mannered this large man was. He left after purchasing a basket of bread loafs as Myrn went to go look for that special bakery.

[b][center]Myrn Atisha - Palace District[/b][/center]

Her search took her out of the Market Place and into the Palace District. Here Myrn had to be very careful. She's already heard the local gossip questioning why she was there, and already she's been accused of being a criminal even though all she's done so far was show up. The guards still ignored her but the locals didn't, and now Myrn would have to be very careful with how she chooses her words. Eventually she found the Bakery, but she didn't enter. She saw a few elves getting chased out for "Loitering" and Myrn knew that going in was not going to help her. Still she couldn't wait around the bakery less someone call the guards on her, so Myrn ducked into an alley and formulated a plan.

Finding a place to hide her sword Myrn stole some laundry being hung to dry and dressed herself like a servant. As demeaning as it was, the only way Myrn could stick around without getting the guards on her was to look like she was suppose to be there. And for her that means looking like she was a servant there. Taking a broom from a storefront, Myrn began to sweep up and down the side of the road, patrolling in front of the shop. Her disguise was working so far; people stopped talking about her and went on with their lives, thinking nothing about the lowly street cleaner elf. She kept up the charade for some time before she saw her mark; the girl. She could tell it was the missing elf because of her dress and her doll; skillfully stitched despite the low quality material. And she was trailing behind a human boy. Fair skinned with red hair as bright as a bonfire. He held himself with an air of arrogance unsurprisingly common in upper-class children. The two entered the shop the girl seemingly there on behalf of the boy, and soon the two left with a large loaf of bread. From the smell, it was made with apple and cinnamon. [i]"Sweet Fruit Bread...[/i]

Myrn went back to the alley and ditched her disguise. She got her sword back and began to follow the two children until they stopped at a gazebo of sorts. Despite the boy's previous air of arrogance, now that he was not among the public eye his true colors showed. He took out a small knife, cutting bits of the bread for both him and the elf girl. The two seemed to enjoy both their snack and each others company, even if they didn't have much to talk about. The girl seemed relaxed, happy even, and didn't seem to have befriended the boy out of desperation. The two were friends, something that Myrn admired. Unfortunately, the girl had to come back to her family. Soon Myrn approached the two and made her presence known. The two look at her, the boy with a hint of anger, the girl with a hint of fear. The boy gripped his knife tightly, as though he was expected that he may need to use it. While Myrn had no doubts she could defeat the child, she wasn't trying to do this by force. Myrn called the girl's name and told her plainly that she needed to come back home. The girl was quiet and the boy spoke for her. The girl was sad that her family had to be so poor and constantly making bad decisions.

The boy told the girl's side of the story, of what she saw during the fight these past few days. Her mother, the seamstress, was quite the alcoholic. The reason she was fired was because she came to work drunk again, and the owner had enough of her mother's inability to stay sober for work. Her father was never home and when he was, all he had was bad new. He didn't make any money, he got mugged, he's hurt, he's tired of his wife yelling at him, he's lonely. Her family was always struggling, and not for entirely unreasonable causes. When her family wasn't home or, after her mother was fired, her mother was resting a hangover, the girl would explore the city. She met the boy at the Market Place when the boy got into a fight with some local youths. They were fighting because the boy was defending a elf beggar from the gang of bullies, who were stealing his change and throwing trash at him. Being that the boy was narrating it he claimed he won, but also noted that he tore his shirt, which his mother would have yelled at him for. That's when the girl showed up and offered to fix it for him, and did such an excellent job that his mother never even noticed. Since than the two have been keeping contact together in secret, pretending to be the arrogant noble boy with his servant elf girl. He said that when he got older he would marry the girl, and he didn't care what his family thought about elves. His sense of innocent nobility was admirable, and something that Myrn could take advantage of.

After the boy was finished talking Myrn countered that while it is very heroic of him to take care of the girl, she still has a family too. A family that needs her. Her parents are very sad now that she's gone, and without her they don't know what to do anymore. This made the girl start to cry and the boy called Myrn out for trying to guilt trip them into coming home. He was certainly perspective, but Myrn continued. She also said that the boy is very brave and kind, and mentioned that while the girl needs to go back to her home, that doesn't mean they should end their relationship. If anything, this friendship would be exactly what the girl's family needed. Myrn asked the boy if his family had a seamstress. He knew the world, but he told her that when he messes up his clothes, his mother would just buy him a new one and throw away the old one. Myrn convinced the boy that he should talk to his mother about hiring the missing girl's mom to fix his cloths, as well as other servant things she can do. The boy took some time to think about this and admitted that he wasn't sure if he could do something like that. Myrn continued to coax him, giving him words of encouragement about how much good he's already done for the girl, and how much more he can do for her. Myrn told them a story she made up about a how a normal knight became a king because he used his power and influence for good. Myrn was no bard, but she was only trying to impress children. Eventually the boy relented, and convinced the girl that she needed to go see her parents. To ensure that things worked out, the boy offered to take her there.

[b][center]Myrn Atisha - Denerim's Alienage[/b][/center]

Myrn, the human boy, and the missing girl went back to the Alienage. Just as the husband returned home, the Myrn arrived with the girl. The family came into one tearful embrace, but it wasn't over from there. The boy stepped forward, much to the shock of the parents, and started yelling at them about how badly they've been at parents. The mother and father were both confused and angry, and before they did anything they would regret Myrn stepped in to mediate the issue. She told them how the boy could get a job back for the mother, one that would allow the husband to work less hours. The boy confirmed what Myrn was saying, mentioning that his family were looking to get new servants since they had just added a new building to their estate. He also mentioned that he was doing this for the girl; so if the family doesn't shape up, he'll take her away. Rather ballsy, but it seemed to have sunk in with the parents. The mother wanted to know how soon she could get to work, and the boy said that when he returns home he'll talk to his bother (Who's in charge of hiring the new workers) who should send someone over. If things work out, they could even move out of the Alienage and into the servant's quarters at his family's estate. The family couldn't have been more happy with how things turned out, and their only regrets right now was that they had nothing to give to Myrn for what she's done. Trying to be humble, Myrn claimed that all she did was bring back their daughter.

Myrn left the family's home to escort the boy back to his estate when the girl came out. The first thing she did was hug the boy and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which Myrn found adorable, and handed Myrn an amulet. A ribbon of lyrium has been worked into the bronze, making odd patterns in the metal. The girl said that she found it one day while she was exploring the city, and wanted to give to Myrn for all she's done. She thanked the little girl for being generous, and told her kind words as they parted. As Myrn and the boy walked back towards the Palace district, Myrn mentioned that the boy found a good girl. He rebuked saying that he was just lucky that she found him first.