28th day of the 10th month of the year 718 KDC

That was probably the hardest 2 days I have had in a long time.

I have been wandering around the city pretty much since I got here. These bloody thieves woke me up in the middle of the night in the process of taking all my stuff. It probably didn’t help that I was sleeping in the open, on a bench, but still.

There were 3 of them. I was sound asleep, then all of a sudden I had this urge, woke up, and there was this guy trying to take my sword. Everything else was already gone. He seemed to be really struggling with it. But then they must have noticed I was awake and they left it and took off. But they had everything else.

I jumped up, grabbed the sword (was as light as I remembered it being, was weird thief was struggling with it so much…?) and gave chase. But they outpaced me pretty quickly, I was still sore and tired from the walking to the town. All I had left was the clothes on my back and the sword in my hand.

I ended up falling down beside a wall in a laneway, completely exhausted.

I woke with the sun, still sitting there, sword across my lap.

I tried to wander around that day and find somewhere to sell the sword, so I could at least buy something to eat. But I kept getting lost in thoughts and when I snapped back out I was always in areas with no shops. Back alleys and dirty neighbourhoods.

I started feeling sick by the afternoon. Probably from the lack of food. But I kept wandering around. By the evening I had started to feel dizzy and I just lay down in the street somewhere. Somehow I managed to keep the sword with me all the time.

I woke up again, still feeling sick. But I could feel something. Something was pulling at me. I followed the feeling. I wound through the lanes and eventually I broke into a building. I don’t know where I got the strength from, as the night before I had just collapses on the cobbles, but somehow I managed to bust the door down.

The room I went into was empty, thankfully. There was a heap of crap around everywhere, covering tables and over the floor. But I was drawn to a specific pile. Just there on the floor. I rummaged around and my journal was there. Obviously I must have found it, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this now.

As soon as I grabbed it a wave of relief flowed over me and I didn’t feel as sick anymore. Still felt queasy, but didn’t feel AS bad.

I grabbed it and left. I didn’t want to risk them coming back. I wandered again, holding the journal tightly to my chest. I didn’t really have a focus. I was still hungry.

I was sitting against a wall again when a person walked past me. They glanced at me, went past, then came back and crouched in front of me. It was a man, heavily cloaked, a couple of swords on his back. I was a bit concerned, but I was too hungry.

“I think you need something to eat,” he said to me. He sounded older and gruff. He had the look of a personal who had seen troubles.

He grabbed me by the arm. I just stood up. He led me throw the lanes and to a stall that had setup just off the main streets. He treated me to noodles. While I was eating his eyes seemed to be checking out my sword the whole time. I offered it to him, but he just shook his head and smiled.

After I had eaten I felt a lot better. I got a better look at him. His face was weathered and he had a couple of scars across his face, like the claws of a wild beast. His nose looked like it had been broken numerous. His smile made him look sinister, and I was worried.

“Look, you don’t seem to have a place to stay,” he was saying to me, “I can give you a bed for a few nights while you get on your feet…”

I waved my hands at him, and told him I was fine, worried about the ‘bed’ he was talking about. He just laughed, and I felt embarrassed about it all.

“I run a group of mercs in the region. We have lodgings here with spare beds. You are welcome to stay, but if you don’t want to, that’s your choice.”

And that is how I wound up where I am now. Sitting on a bed, one amongst many, in an empty room. Writing in the journal again, for reasons beyond my understanding. Feeling slightly better than half dead. But at least I can sleep now without fear of being robbed. Well, I hope I can. I might sleep with the journal and sword close, they are the only things I have left.

Tomorrow I can go and seek a blacksmi

By the seven hells. By the bloody seven hells. I just realised. This guy, his nose. He has a bloody hawk nose. He has a bloody hawk nose. Can’t believe I missed it before. Maybe he is Hawk. I need to go find out now.