by Zorana » Tue Apr 08, 2003 6:36 pm
He sat, for a long moment, in silence, gazing down at the sheet of paper before him. "List my previous experience? Tell them why I would make a good captain?" he murmered, softly. Next, they'd be asking him to go in for personal interviews and to take pre-Captainship evaluations. He smirked, and leaned over his small desk, to reach for his quill. "If I have to do this, I might as well do it to impress. Thank the Cap.. the Prince for those... lessons." He rolled his eyes. Dealing with politicians would never be something that he relished. He dipped the quill carefully into the ink, and in a sloping, and distinctive, but easily readable hand, he penned a letter.
----
Lieutenant Matthew Duvall of the Order of Straka; to Gad Phuri, honorable Governor of Myrken Wood and presiding Justiciar:
Greetings, Your Honor.
You requested information about my background as a soldier, and a leader, and particularly as a member of the Order of Straka. A list of experiences follows.
- Eight years serving small merchant organizations, protecting caravans of goods during overland travel.
- Two years serving another small merchant organization, protecting ships transporting goods overseas.
- Ten years as head of security, Khalheem Spice Merchants, owned by Jahon Ibn Khalheem. Most of those years were spent arranging safer routes for caravans to travel, hiring and training new guards, and protecting the caravans personally.
- Fourteen months as a member of the Order of Straka, Myrken Guard, all spent as a Lieutenant.
I am certain that you will be curious why I left those various positions. For the first eight years, I shifted between small merchant organizations, moving to the job that paid better, or to a better run company. I got tired of protecting overland caravans, and decided to try protecting ships. The sea and I did not quite get along as I'd planned, and I met Khalheem on one of his ships, and accepted an offer to take the place of his head of security.
I very much enjoyed the ten years I spent working for Khalheem and his spice company. Unfortunately, a bad year of spice production, combined with Khalheem's best ship being overtaken by pirates, bankrupted his company and left me without caravans to protect. After leaving Khalheem's service, I traveled north, looking for something that felt less like I was protecting someone's monetary interests and more like I was protecting people. Hence, I discovered Myrken Wood, and the Order of Straka.
I have been with the Order of Straka since the elevation of Captain Taliaferro, about fourteen months ago. I helped with much of the recruitement. When I hired on, there couldn't have been more than ten guardsmen, and the Order was not supported monetarily by the Council, as far as I know. Captain Taliaferro built most of the new headquarters, and hired most of the current guardmembers, with the help of his first Lieutenants.
Besides helping with those endeavors, I have helped hunt down many a murderer, theif, demon, and vampire. Unfortunately, I cannot claim to have brought down any well-known murderers, vampires, etc, but I have killed over a dozen minor vampires, and brought in scores of criminals, from minor theives to murdering brigands. I also helped to kill a small, hostile dragon.
I am proud to be a member of the Order of Straka, and respect the Council for supporting Captain Taliaferro, and the Order. I would be honored to follow in that tradition.
I hope that this letter finds you in good health.
Respectfully, by my hand this 8th day of April,
Lt. Matthew Duvall
---
He tapped the tip of the pen against his blotter, restlessly, gazing down at the letter he'd written. It would have to do. He was certain that there had to be something arrogant, or that the letter had obviously been written by a peasant, and most definitely by a man not native to Myrken Wood. He decided not to bother explaining why he looked young, and had still spent perhaps twenty years serving various organizations. He was a half-elf, and assumed that the Governor would remember that. He shook his head, dragging a hand through his already-mussed hair. Yes, yes. It would have to do.
He carefully folded the letter, and dripped a blob of indigo wax onto the paper. While the wax was still hot, he pressed the emblem of the Order of Straka into the blob. Official. He nodded, and stood, to carry the letter to the nearest messenger. With a small tip, he persuaded the young man that the letter must go into the hands of the Governer Gad Phuri himself, or his bodyguard, a miss Ariane Carnath-Emory.
Did you ever wonder what happens when there's dirt on the "Bat Signal?" It wouldn't even look like a bat anymore. Maybe they'd accidentally summon a superhero named
"Misshapen Blob Man." I bet he weighs 900 lbs. and comes in the "Misshapen Blobmobile." And the cops go, "Aaah! Clean the lens!" And his theme could be the Batman song at about 10 R.P.M.
Shameless Art Promotion Starts Here.