The Life and Adventures of Benjamin Finn

Page 5

I shall, in time, expand on the many strange and incredible escapades that occupied me during the following years. For now I will simply remark that I hunted hidden treasures, set on dangerous quests in the very same manner the Heroes of legends once did, and in short, exhausted almost every legitimate means by which a young man may experience life at its fullest.

It must have been this exhaustion, coupled no doubt with the fact that I could never quite shake off my involvement, accidental or otherwise, with criminal behavior, that led me in the end to run with a band of smugglers operating out of the Bowerstone port.

After a few weeks of contrabanding, it was inevitable that I would wash up in the capital of such activities, Bloodstone. Its uncouth nature, colourful characters and almost daily bar room fist fights, fed a rather unhealthy, and until then quite hidden, appetite for the pleasures only the lowest of societies can provide.

I blush to recall those days of drinking, gambling and indulging in other unsavoury pastimes. I blush even harder as I bring to mind the succession of strong-willed and even stronger thighed women I fell in love with.

My only excuse is that such lack of restraint was latent in my blood, and while I had not followed my brothers' example while they lived, I celebrated their memories by following it now.