The Plights of Wallace Noble: A Memoir Alkenstar's Most Wanted

Chapter 1- The Rookie

Before I go on my story, let me tell you something about the military force of Alkenstar- the Gunmarshals and their famous weapons- guns.

They said that when Alkenstar City was growing, the nearby Dwarven Sky Citadel of Dongun Hold brought to the residents their prized knowledge of gunpowder and gunsmithing (because magic doesn't exist, so we need a way to defend ourselves from whatever bizarre thing comes at us.) As time progressed, guns became a booming thing (no pun intended) to the point our government created a factory west of the metropolis called "the Gunworks" where they make five guns a day and one siege weapon a week (my apologies for the historical inaccuracy- I honestly don't know how many they make due to the fact they produce fast but in small numbers for the sake of regulation, I think.) They also created the Gunmarshals as a military force for good measure.

One thing I want to tell you about myself- my father Wilhelm Noble and his brother Martin are both Gunmarshals, with uncle Martin mostly stationed at Cloudreaver Keep at the northernmost border between the Mana Wastes and the Magic Nation of Nex. However, my mother and father were killed when I was a kid; the suspect is unknown, which led me to join the group when I came to age to investigate my parents' murder.

Their headquarters is in Martel, that city known for mining and banking, making it a financial city in the middle of the desert wasteland. There were four of us who planned to join, standing in an office. A smug-looking man came in, and he happened to be a sergeant of the Gunmarshals, introduced himself as Nadir Venkus. He began to ask us questions, one of them is "do you own a gun?" One of us brought out a pistol, and it's no ordinary pistol- it's an ivory-inlaid pistol. This guy began to pride his gun before the sergeant and the three of us, and the funny thing is that sergeant Nadir dismissed him because he did just that. Now take note: If you join the Gunmarshals, you are not supposed to own a gun; you earn it, but you earn a junk-quality gun from the Gunworks. The three of us were given the opportunity to ask questions before we were given an assignment. The first one had no questions, which led him to be dismissed quickly just because the sergeant wants a person who could ask questions. It was my turn to ask questions, all of them got one answer- "If I say so." It was the next person's turn to ask, but in his insight, he said to the sergeant that he had no questions to ask because he knows the answer that may be given to him. With the two of us remaining, we were given a test of endurance outside the city.

There was this one guard tower that rests upon a sandhill. Sergeant told us to make a race upward and then race down. There are some factors that made us exhausted in the end of the race- the desert sun, the uphill and downhill run and the difficult terrain of the sands. The other guy with me was foolish enough to rest his hand at the sergeant's shoulder, which led him to quick dismissal. As a result, I was the last man standing and the only man given the rookie mission.

Quick lesson on one of the Mana Wastes' bizarre fauna- the Diatryma, commonly known as "Axebeaks": Adults are big- so big you can ride on them- and their eggs fetch a high price at the market. As a mount, they are the suitable mount for the desert because of their fast movement in the sands. His mission for me is to fetch an egg, regardless of how many before sundown. I happen to find a nest along the dirty Ustradi River- four eggs to be specific. As I was about to get the eggs, Papa Bird and Mama Bird was behind me. I had that Rapier uncle Martin gave me, so I used it to fight them, but that weakened me a bit. Nevertheless, I came out alive with four eggs, fifty good-quality feathers and Papa and Mama Bird's beaks. Just in case I forgot to tell you, Axebeak meat is good meat, plus I didn't eat lunch. I roasted some of the meat and kept some, and my bag smells like dead birds. As I went back wounded, the guards on that watchtower I ran hours before found two things: I was wounded as hell and I had four Diatryma eggs with me. That one dude offered me the full price for one egg- 1,000 gold coins- and I said "deal." I went in the sergeant's office just in time and gave him an egg, plus he also found out I have two beaks with me. Now there is a good reason why I kept the beaks- they make good powder horns (the ones you fill with gunpowder.) He offered me a fixed price of 5 gold pieces for a beak, to which I agreed. I finished the mission, got in the Gunmarshals, and became a rich man in just one day.

Three days later, I took the train from Martel to Alkenstar and went home to our uncle's apartment unit. But before I went to his unit, I went to my best friend's unit. My best friend named Tordek Blackburne- a Dwarf belonging to House Blackburne, the pioneers of gunpowder. If you asked the question "Why is he living in an apartment unit and not at Dongun Hold," the answer is that his family dislikes him just because he is weak in Dwarf Standards. He sensed the scent of stinking Axebeak meat, bird feathers and two eggs. When he told me to empty my bag, he told me that: 

1. Axebeak Eggs fetch a good prize in the market (which I already know),

2. Axebeak meat yields a better price when it is stinky and somewhat slimy (which I never knew why) and,

3. He can make me good arrows with those feathers I brought.

When he knew that I was accepted in the Gunmarshals, he told me to give me whatever gun the Gunworks will give me and he will modify it for me. As always, he told me to leave because I might disrupt his study, research or whatever it is and I went to my uncle's unit. My uncle was there reading a book as always and when I told him I was successful in my rookie mission. As a result, he brought out our favorite Ice Wine (Alkenstar's Finest Wine) filled our cups and as I was to drink mine, uncle Martin emptied his to the ground and I was met by a look of slight disappointment. Why did I forget that our family revered Cayden Cailean, the Accidental Drunk? Nevertheless, we drank one cup again in celebration.

Iwent to sleep knowing that I am on my way to become a Gunmarshal in training, Ihave honored my father's memory, and that my bag still smells like dead birds.