I would track down my prey as I ventured out into the darkest parts of the forest, covering miles at day and resting in the flowering heather at night. I would hunt smaller defenseless animals for food when my stocks were running low and kill the larger animals for their hides to keep the people of my village and I clothed and warm.

My weapon of choice, the weapon I had killed more Balverines than any person could ever imagine was “Avo’s Tear”. Forged by the Norse god Thor. It was he that wedged it into solid rock only to be removed by the chosen hero or heroine. The Guild of Hero’s in Albion were always sending their hero’s to remove the sword from the rock. I had never really believed in the rumors. But I had to admit they intrigued me. I was sick of the Guild of Hero’s thinking only a hero could remove the sword from the rock.

The Hero’s Guild never thought woman should have the right to join. Apparently woman would never be able to kill anything bigger than a fly because they are weak. Even if they managed to kill something, they would weep for days over its death.

Thankfully the guild in my village is not so deluded. They don’t believe woman are weak. Or that they should stay in the kitchen all day and be treated like a wench. They believe that woman and men should be treated equally.

So I decided to go to the Guild of Hero’s and see if the rumors of the sword were true. I mean there must be something to them otherwise why would the guild be sending their strongest hero’s out into the middle of no where?

So I traveled for many days and many nights to get to the Hero’s Guild in Albion. I added at least 50 to the total of Balverines I’ve killed so far. Finally I reached Albion and found the guild I seeked. There are a lot of guilds in Albion. Cooking guilds, hunting guilds, house wives guilds, all types of guilds. Only 1 Guild of Hero’s though.

When I got to the guild a strange old man walked up to me and asked why I was here. I told him I was looking for the guild master. “Well you had better follow me then. This place isn’t for woman but I guess I could make an exception.” “Well then who are you?” I asked. “ My name is Scythe I am the oldest living member of the guild of heroes.”

The man looks about 200 years old. He looks as if what little blood that is left in his veins is all dried up. I wonder how he managed to stay alive this long. “ A hero can live at least twice as long as any other man.” Said Scythe as if he had read my mind like one of the books on the many book cases that filled the guild.

Finally we came to a big circular room with a table in the center. The table had lots of cards on it. Each one had its on quest on it. Some more difficult than others. One was a bandit attack at Orchard Farm. Another was to defeat Twin Blade, one of the most wanted bandits in the world. He started as a hero then grew tired of the guild and went to the forest to form his gang of bandits. Twin Blade was a giant of a man. 8 feet tall and weighed 250 pounds.

Next to the table was an old man. Not any where near as old as Scythe though. You could tell he was the guild master from the mark on his fore head. It was a yellowish guild seal shape. All the masters of the Guild of Heroes had this mark on their fore head. It is put on by a spell only the oldest and most respected spell warriors know. There is only one man alive at the now who knows the spell. The guild master. Only those who were to receive the mark were to learn the spell.