I recall little of my early years. My father, Whambhyrl (Wom-berl) and my mother, Jystara, raised me until I was seven years old. The Therans came then, searching for slaves. They took only the healthy young and they slaughtered all who stood in their way. My father hid my younger brother, Jamahl, and handed me over to the Therans so that they would kill no more of my tribe.

Over the next thirteen years, I was put to work in a number of places - mostly on farms. I have had many occupations, ranging from scullery maid to pig herder. My happiest times were in the hills when I was tending goats. Of course, my most important occupation of all was survival.

I did have some friends among the slaves, but lasting relationships of any kind were frowned on by our oppressors. Beatings, separations and even death were often the result of any displays of camaraderie between us. One friend I will always remember is Corradan, an elven boy I knew when I was eleven.

Corradan and I both worked in the kitchens of a farm. The masters of the farm were relatively lenient and allowed us one hour per week of relaxation if we worked well for the rest of the week. Corradan and I would spend these precious few minutes sitting in a tree by our dwellings, talking about our childhoods and how, when we were freed, we would free all the other slaves in the world and how we would also become great adventurers. We would open undiscovered kaers, and kill mighty Horrors... Oh, the fantasies of children. Of course, we would eventually marry and raise a family, but first we would become heroes. We enjoyed this relative happiness for about two months before Corradan was taken away to work in the mines.

In my years as a slave, I have seen the baser side of people of all races. Puberty was a trial for all slave-girls and I was no exception, except perhaps in the "extra" attention I received from the Theran dogs...

About two years ago, I was taken to Vivane. I was kept in a very comfortable cell for some weeks - I don't know how many. I was fed well and bathed often until I grew fit and healthy.

One night, I was taken from my cell. The slaves who tended me could not meet my eyes or even speak. They bathed me in perfumed water and dressed me in soft white cloth. My hair was brushed and braided with flowers and I was put in silver chains and manacles.

They led me to a bed chamber which was unlike anything I have ever seen before. A man entered, dressed in white clothing similar to those I wore and a gold mask. When the man had used me, I expected to be returned to my dungeon cell. Instead, I was kept in the bedchamber. I stayed there for some weeks. The man came back a couple of times, but I did not mind because I was being well fed and cared for.

I was lonely. There was no one to talk to except for an old rat who would occasionally peek at me from under furniture or through cracks in the wall. I had more food given to me than I needed, so I started feeding my little companion.

After a month or so, the man stopped visiting me. I had a new visitor. This time it was an old crone who poked and prodded at me for some time. After that, I only saw the slaves who brought me food or bath water and clothes and, of course, the rat. Rat became my sole companion.

Despite the kind treatment of the other slaves, I became anxious. I was not used to this sort of luxury and it seemed, in some way, to be weakening me. I was often nauseous and I was constantly tired. It did not take me long to realise that I was with child. My emotions were in turmoil and I had no one to discuss my state with.

Time passed and my belly began to swell. The Child moved within me and I became hopeful that things were looking up. I would tell Rat all the things we would do together when the Child was born and I was free to live as its mother.

Of course, my fantasies were soon shattered. I began to labour late one night and the midwife tended to me. After the pain and screaming subsided into the squalling of my newborn child, the midwife bundled it up and, ignoring my outstretched arms, she took the Child away from me. The ancient crone, who had seen me all those long months before, came in and drugged me and I slept...

I awoke in my old dungeon cell. I lost all track of time for a while. I was in pain, physically and emotionally, for what seemed an eternity. Somehow, Rat managed to find his way down to me. His small presence was comforting.

I slowly regained some strength and took stock of my surroundings. I was tended by an elderly guard, who spent most of his time asleep. I soon noticed that I could make a fair amount of noise and not wake him.

One evening, I was trying to ignore the hollow ache in my belly, which was half hunger and half loss. Rat was with me and I was stroking his grizzled head. The guard was asleep, as usual. He had dropped the keys to my cell on the floor by his sleeping pallet. If only I could reach the keys, maybe...

To my surprise, Rat sat up on his haunches, blinked at me twice and scurried off in the direction of the guard. He snatched up the keys and dragged them back to me. Without stopping to think, I grabbed the keys, unlocked the door to my cell and, after scooping Rat up, I tiptoed from my cell, past the guard and up the stairs.

The next few hours are a blur to me. I ran through darkened streets and ducked into alleys and corners at every sound. I knew I was running for my life. Eventually, I left the city, but I still kept on running. I was exhausted and weak, but the sweet taste of freedom spurred me deeper into the open countryside...

The obvious answer was: go home. I walked the rest of that day in the direction that I believed the Servos Jungle to be, but with each step my heart grew more unsettled. Even if I did find the Servos Jungle, what was there for me? A culture of which I have little memory? A family who had given me up to slavers? Would they want me back?

As I set up camp for the night, I voiced these fears to Rat.

An old man appeared around a bend, a little way down the road. He was walking in my direction. Wary of any strangers, I took Rat and tried to hide in some bushes, but the old man came to the campsite and stopped. He glanced in my direction and then proceeded to light my small fire and cook a meal.

Eventually, I approached him and he offered me a share of his meal. He was the first person I had spoken to since my flight from Vivane.

He told me of strange Namegiver races and of Beastmasters. He said that my communication with Rat is a Talent which those of the Beastmaster discipline learn. It seems that I may be inclined toward that discipline.

After the old man shared his meal with me, I slept more soundly than I have since escaping from Vivane. I had a dream in which the old man seemed to float above me.

"Go to Chiwarra", he told me. "Seek Ignatius Potts. He will aid you."

A beam of light appeared. It made a path in the air that led in the direction I had been travelling. The old man began to float along the beam. I watched him until he was out of sight, then I awoke. I looked around. The real old man had gone.

I broke camp and began to head in the direction the beam of light in my dream had indicated. I felt a strange sense of "rightness" in travelling that way. Curious, I experimented by walking in the opposite direction and I felt a sense of "wrongness". I turned back and continued on my way.

Travelling became surprisingly easy from then on, and hunting, too. I began to enjoy my freedom, especially now that I had some sense of a destination. I tried not to think beyond Chiwarra and Ignatius Potts.

Eventually I reached a river and turned towards the south in response to that curious sensation of "rightness". I came to a village which had docks for some ferries. It seemed that the boats regularly crossed the river. I knew I needed to cross the river and I also knew that I could not swim across. After battling with my fears, I decided to enter the village to see if I could secure passage on a boat.

As I entered the town, the children pointed and stared at me, so I stared back at them. Eventually, some adult villagers approached me and asked me what I wanted. I said that I was looking for passage over the river and that I was willing to work in return as payment for the service. They asked me to perform an artisan test so that they could ascertain whether or not I was Horror-marked.

I performed the test. When the villagers were satisfied that I was not Horror-marked, I was invited to eat with them.

After eating and helping the village girls to clear up (my task as payment), some of the girls invited me to go with them to bathe in the river. Bathing was never something that I had thought could be fun, but with these dwarven girls, it was. They splashed and squealed and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I felt quite out of place.

After we had all left the water, one of the girls came up to me and offered to comb out my hair. I still don't understand the fascination these people seem to have with hair, but I agreed to her offer. Her name is Dorigren and she spent a long time combing the tangles out for me. When she had finished, she gave me her comb. I was lost for words - no one had ever given me a gift before.

The next day, I was ferried across the river. Again, I easily found the "right" direction to go. That night, the stars were very bright to the north-east - the direction I was travelling in. I was reminded of the kind old man.

I set off again early the next morning and eventually I saw a village in the distance. I "knew" that this was my destination. As I got closer, I could see some figures waiting just outside the village gates. Closer still and I could make them out to be a young man and a young red-haired girl. As I neared the gate, they came towards me and introduced themselves as Ignatius Potts and his wife, Melissa.

I was surprised that Ignatius knew who I was, but he explained that he had a visitation from a Passion called Floraanus, who had told him that I had the blessing of another Passion - Jaspree. I was to journey to a place called Tardim, where I would meet up with a dwarf called Madoc. Madoc was part of a group called the Storm Wolves. The group is called that because one of them is a real Storm Wolf, who has been named Lucky. It is my destiny to help Lucky.

Ignatius gave me a map and some equipment. It would take me another two weeks' travel to reach Tardim.

Melissa invited me to their home for the night. There, I met their baby son, Daniel. For the first time since Vivane, I felt the pain of the loss of my own child. Perhaps it was this that led me to tell my life story to my new friends.

The next day, we spent most of the morning talking about babies, Storm Wolves and various other interesting things. Ignatius and Melissa were so kind, I found it very hard to travel on. Perhaps I would have stayed with them, if it wasn't for my curiosity about Lucky.

I headed off and spent many days travelling through an area which was marked on my map as the Badlands. The travelling was uneventful. Jaspree still appeared to be guiding my progress.

I crept closer and peeked over the crest of the hill. What I saw in the valley beyond took my breath away. There were people fighting with swords and magic - but what stunned me most, was that I had found LUCKY!