My dearest Tricia, I hate to open with a cliche but if you are reading this then I am most likely slain or fled Korvosa. First, beware the Tiefling Haer’vat and the hippogriff rider Ethan. Haer’vat cares not for the softer things and treads a dark path. Ethan is a ranger and I suspect he is also a spy sent to infiltrate our adventuring group and is in league with a noble house or some other faction in Korvosa. You can trust the dwarf named William; he is a steadfast and uncorrupt companion. You can also trust the half-elf Cayden; he is a decent – though decadent – man and knows how to keep a secret.

At the time of this writing you and the rest of the Monmouths have left Korvosa fleeing the plague while I have elected to stay and try to protect my adopted home with this adventuring group. Melodrama aside, I am writing this not only as an account of what may be my final days, but as practice for all the things that I have to tell you. You know that I’m an orphan and that my parents were traveling performers. What I’ve kept from everyone is that they were more than performers. They were mercenaries with a very specific skillset: clandestine information gathering, procuring valuables and assassination. And yes, they were raising me to follow in their footsteps.

Please believe me when I say that I was too young to be fully initiated and therefore I never fulfilled any of the darker contracts, but that was the path that I was on. Please don’t think too harshly of my mother and father. I’ve put those skills to genuine good use whilst adventuring, and I even used them a before that to keep little Tommy and Abby from getting into too much trouble by keeping an eye on them when I was out and performing.

I have to admit that one story in Korvosa that has inspired me is the tale of Black Jack; Hero of the people, bringer of Justice and scourge to the corrupt. I often wondered what I, as one man, could do until I saw him rescue that poor girl who was to be falsely executed. It was amazing to see him perform that feat. But what truly impressed me wasn’t his physicality, but the realization of his positioning and the planning necessary to pull it off! In order to better emulate Black Jack I have acquired a ring of sustenance, an item that will allow me to learn more about my city while maintaining my adventuring daylife with no one being the wiser.

And I must adventure for as Vin Carlo shows, it brings great wealth, and I do intend to ask for your hand in marriage when we are together again.

Ah well, I digress.

With love,

Norman