Minq's story

   I was found as an infant by a forrester living in the woods southwest of Riversy. I used to think trolls or orcs killed my real parents, but who knows? Of course, the stories I heard from the wandering elves fuelled my imagination, so I thought that maybe I was one of them. I sure looked like an elf at that time...
   Well, times were dangerous then, as they are now. One day that forrester never returned. I headed for Riversy and got contacted by the guild of thieves. They taught me a lot of useful skills, as well as some really useless ones. After giving the gnolls south of Riversy a hard time, I thought I was ready for the trolls.
   I headed west along the river, seeking out the legendary elves. Their queen said she had lost her daughter to the trolls, which gave me a second reason to seek them out. I led a few warparties into the troll forest, but it didn’t work out very well. Some people even died.
   It was on one of those little expeditions that I met that warrior IceCube, and we became friends. Hehe...he changed careers a few times, inspired by my success. As you might know, he was once known as the infamous pirate Frost.

   But enough about that. I realised I had to practise more with my sword and dagger, so this nice Ranger called Mitch led me to the kobolds. I spent some time in those mountains before I returned to the troll forest. But I couldn’t find the elven queen’s daughter. She was supposed to be imprisioned by the trolls, but I couldn’t find their lair. Fortunately, Spothead and Musclehead (that’d be Manix and Kadrix of the IDW) helped me with that. I think they killed everyone inside as well, including the elven princess...
   Well, at least she looked pretty dead to me, but perhaps one should never underestimate the regenerative powers of neither elf not troll. Later I returned to the troll king’s lair, and sneaked inside. It was easy to pick the door to the prison, and I managed to sneak inside before the king noticed me. The very much alive princess was there, and together we ran to safety. I got a magic elven sword from the queen as a reward. Too bad she didn’t tell me how to use it. Oh well, she also let me enter the secret path to the healing pond. That was the real treasure. By drinking from it, I could heal all my wounds!
   I think it was at this time that I tried to join what I thought was sort of an explorer’s guild. The guild was called KTN, but their leader, Balo, didn’t seem to think neither the guild nor I was ready for it. Whatever that meant. Well, I could fend for myself. Besides, I figured out (for myself) that guilds were basically a bunch of mostly Evil people who banded together because they couldn’t hack it on their own. They usually ran around killing innocents and laughing about it. It goes without saying that I refused to become part of such vicious deeds. The path of Good was a lonely one, but I had power of my own.

   With the help of the healing pond, I began a regular one-man crusade against Evil. I killed countless trolls and even some zombies in the dark castle. One time I strayed from my path, and went with some SNG people into Doom. Not a good idea. It went so bad that I didn’t go there for ages...at least not without the protection of Mahavira of the Highlanders.
   At this time I had learned that many people in this world travelled in pairs. So I decided to get myself a companion to compensate for the areas in which I didn't possess much knowledge. I had always been fascinated by magic, and the next best thing to actually being a mage must be to know one. In the southern desert I found a young man called Azmar, who seemed to have a knack for the arcane. I managed to persuade his family that he would be much better off using his talents for gold and glory, and thus he followed me around for several years.
   I began to have my doubts about his abilities though, since he kept getting severly wounded at all times. Wherever I left him he would find danger, even in the usually peaceful elven forest. Later I realised that he was simply an Evil person, and such persons often find trouble where none is. He later joined the guild of SNG, and because of that he got into more trouble than he could handle. Eventually we had to go separate ways, but that happened much later, and is of no consequence at this moment in my tale.

   My crusade against Evil went on and on. I used to roam Nengtaroth when few others did. And if they did, I chased them away so that I could have all the blood to myself. Nengtaroth became my private hunting ground, and as such it stayed until I turned my attention towards Downtown. I had ventured there earlier, accompanied by a warrior-and-cleric couple. Having learned the lesson that clerical assistance is very important, I brought my protégé Glorius with me. He was young then, and not as cocky as he is now. Protected by his spells I slayed the Evil dwarves for a couple of weeks.
   Then one day I had a revelation. I had gotten as far as my mortal existance would carry me. In order to advance further, I would have to join the immortals. Imagine that. I disliked immortals even more than guilds. They were mostly just as Evil as the regular organized massmurderer (read: guild member), but in spite of their power they still banded together against mere mortals. They even had ways to become Good at a moments notice. Cheating I call it. Joining them was of course not an option.
   Instead I began to take advantage of the semi-immortality I had achieved. Combined with the healing pond and magic spells, hardly no Evil (or Good, or Neutral) could resist me. I killed and gathered equipment to be able to kill even more and gather more treasure. I became a hunter instead of a crusader.

   So it went on for a long period of time, until I got bored with it all and left. It was the troubled times that showed me that there were really no place for a thief in Austin. Arrogant mages spread their death around them, and the immortals did nothing but watch. And hardly anyone was interested in founding a Guild of Good either...
   After  contemplating my existance in the desert, I returned once again. The troubled times had ended with the immortals banishing the arrogant mage Clyde, who was generally hated by the other arrogant mages and their Evil friends. Well, a lot of good it did me, there were still too many of them around for my taste.
   But instead of letting their deadly spells rule my world, I aimed towards exploring the land of Austin. I mapped the entire Silver Forest while it was still the maze it started out as. I also visited the Onion Valley as well, finding out a most interesting little thing that is of no importance now. Due to significant changes in the flow of mana, Glorius grew in power. With his help I could see distant places and kill even greater foes. This led to boredom once again, and I’d rather not talk about it.
   As the years started to weigh down on my body, I had to let go of my dreams about elven blood in my veins. But life goes on, even at old age. I have now finally given in, and joined a newborn guild; the Dragons. Well, maybe it wasn’t exactly newborn, but at least it wasn’t large and established. Which made it possible for me to gain a lot of influence and shape the very foundation. Well, after me came Glorius, and he immediately took over. Who could've known that my little friend could harbour such an ambition? Because of him I lived a long time in the shadows of this sanctuary.

   Not too long after the Dragons had found their place in Austin I got involved with the WolfPack. They got a bit upset over something I said, and thus decided to have me killed. Their assassination attempt didn't quite succeed though. I went underground while consulting my guild, and after much talking and thinking, Glorius decided to call for a vote on whether or not the guild should go to war over this act of violence. The votes were cast, and the result became a war that no one wanted. Call it a failure of democracy if you will.
   During that war I learned of the Invisible People, and I subsequently gave up the hope of ever seeing my enemy before it was too late. Foolishly I held on to my rare yellow potions of see invisible, living in the delusion that they could be used for something better than pointless killing. So instead of pulling my weight in the war, I stayed in hiding. The war ended with a duel between me and Carlos, the thief who originally had tried to assassinate me. I don't know if it was luck or the fact that the duel was held on our turf, but I won that duel.
   The second war occurred while I was still dwelling on the Invisible People and the ways that immortals had ravaged the world beyond recognition. I didn't participate in this war either, but the guild seemed to do allright without me. My guild fought bravely against the united forces of Evil and Magic, and when that war finally ended the Evil had been dealt a devastating blow. The Dragons had once again shown themselves to be worthy opponents. I suppose you could call it good timing when I pick this precise moment to make my sudden reappearance in the world of Austin.
 

"Wheather you be Good or Evil is only a matter of who you are being Evil to."
 
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