Edith Emberstar
The Lyverian Sheriffs of Anumun never forget a crook… or a grudge. This is the story of how a young woman stealing medicine turned into a massive inter-elemental fugitive hunt and brought two powerful civilizations to the brink of all-out war.
It all started at the Lyverian central marketplace one spring afternoon. Edith Emberstar had just finished setting up her stall where she sold exquisite handmade arrowheads. The young archer had only been in business for several months, but the incredible quality and craftsmanship of her arrowheads had already earned her a measure of local fame. She couldn't keep up with the demand because of the extreme popularity of competitive archery in Lyveria, so she only went to market twice a week. It usually only took thirty minutes or so to sell out of her entire stock. It was quite a walk from the simple woodland cottage where she lived with only her aging mother, and it took most of the morning to reach the walled city. She hoped that someday she would raise enough money to purchase a horse (or even a mule) to make the journey easier, but her own legs worked fine and it seemed there were always better things to do with seed coins.
After the first customer of the day bought out her supply (this was not uncommon), Edith delivered the unfortunate news to her line of potential customers and prepared to take down her stall. That's when she noticed a commotion at the apothecary across the street.
An old woman was roughly thrown into the dirt by a security guard as an irate apothecarist appeared in the doorway, shouting “Waste my time, will you! I said seven hundred seed coins!”
The old woman scrambled to her feet, pleading with the annoyed shopkeeper. “But it's all I have! My husband will die without this medicine!”
“Get her out of my sight,” the shopkeeper scoffed to the market security guard. Edith then watched as the guard dragged the crying woman away from the medicine that was needed to save her husband's life. The commotion faded away, but Edith kept watching the apothecary, becoming angrier with each passing minute at what she had witnessed. How could the shopkeeper be so heartless, she asked herself. How could the medicine be so expensive? From selling fourteen of her most special arrowheads, Edith had only produced 70 seed coins, and nearly half of those were needed to purchase more supplies.
Still watching the apothecary across the street, a strange mixture of compassion and rage was filling Edith's heart when the apothecarist stepped out the front door. He looked suspiciously from side to side, then locked the door behind him and quickly took off toward the food court, probably going for a late lunch. Without thinking, Edith sprung into action. Using the stealth and acrobatic techniques learned from her mother, she slipped into the alley beside the apothecary, promptly climbed a drainpipe and was on the roof. From there, she was able to access an upper back window to the shop, a window that was easily opened. Knowing there was not a moment to lose, Edith sneaked down the stairs to the apothecary's counter and located the only medicine with a price tag of 700 seed coins. After swiping one of the small bottles, she was back up the stairs, out the window and on the roof long before the apothecarist returned. He won't even realize it's gone, Edith thought proudly to herself.
Lars Carvingworth was nobody's favorite Lyverian Sheriff, but he was known by all nonetheless and commanded respect wherever he went. He first noticed something peculiar that day while ducking into a shady spot in the marketplace to enjoy a pipe and get off his feet for a few minutes. He watched with wonder as the thin young woman selling arrowheads suddenly turned into a master thief, climbing the apothecary wall as easily as a ladder. She was inside the building just long enough for an expert robbery, but Lars decided to keep watching silently. “Wait until they give themselves away,” his father (one of the founding Sheriffs) had always said, and Lars would do exactly that. He would learn not only what she had stolen, but why.
He continued watching the little thief from a distance as she made her way to the edge of town looking for a dropoff for her stolen goods. Finally she met up with an old woman, to whom she gave a small bottle. The old woman was ecstatic, but the young thief quickly ran away back to her market stall.
Lars Carvingworth continued following the young lady until the evening, when he was led to her secret hideout in the woods. He was caught entirely by surprise when he noticed the family crest carved on the frontmost gatepost of the little cottage. It was the mark of Emberstar, the infamous family of spies and outlaws with whom his father had battled for years. Carvingworth realized then and there that this feud had not died with his father but was alive and well. It was his duty alone to uncover the foul Emberstar plots afoot and bring this new generation of criminals to justice.
Two weeks later, Lars stood before the burning Emberstar hideout with a company of Lyverian troops to make sure that no one escaped from the blaze. He knew that Edith Emberstar had gotten away, but he was at least satisfied that her co-conspirators had suffered and perished in the fire. He would continue hunting the young thief until she too was finally brought down, and he had no doubt that he would find her. His latest lead placed her on a ship bound for the lawless ΛZMΛRÉ. If she thought that would stop his pursuit she was sadly mistaken.
Edith Emberstar was caught up in something much larger than she knew. Upon arriving in ΛZMΛRÉ, she was given refuge by one of the richest families of Anenon, the Ushers. Lord Usher knew of the maniacal Sheriff Carvingworth from whom she ran, so he immediately prepared the Anenon defenses and worked up a plan to send Edith to one of the safest places in the Splinterlands. It was a place where all grudges were forgotten whenever a good show was presented. She was to become a Gladiator champion for the Water element in Moxian combat, and she would be untouchable.