Uzmam

Uzmam
Status
Race	Gnome
Gender	Female
Guild	Commoner
Instance	Platinum

Appearance

Uzmam, Follower of Zoluren, a Gnome.
She has blue eyes. Her auburn hair is shoulder length and thick, and is worn coiled in an upswept twist. She has copper skin.
She is young.

She is wearing a bronzed balaclava molded into a Gnomish woman's smiling visage, some tiny crystal rose earrings, a thin silver necklace with a pendant displaying a stunning heartstone, a brazen sunstone suspended from a braided bronze and gold chain, a sleeveless floor-length longcoat of ebon silk, a tiny spidersilk haversack, a murky black snakeskin dress, a matte black chain shirt trimmed with bronze, a polished iron target shield with a tear-shaped blue diamond prominently set in its top edge, some matte black woven reed gauntlets, an Elven silver hip-chain inset at the center with a fiery rhodonite runestone, a polished leather belt with an ivory-hilted jambiya and a bastard sword hanging from it, a black lockpick ring, a dark steel belt knife, a fine mesh sling with braided spidersilk whipcords, some matte black woven reed greaves, and a pair of snakeskin boots with fangs set in the toes.

Background

Uzmam arrived in Zoluren from a small unknown Gnomish village to find some stable jobs that would help her support her aging parents (and to finally live independently). These jobs came mostly from Mags and Cormyn, fishing for Nahida and obtaining various pelts and skins for other adventurers. She also acted as an intermediary courier for a number of people during the Welkin Gift Exchange for Chris' Mass. Slowly becoming an avid hunter, she's shown a great interest in magical devices as a result of classes taught by the locals, but has yet to make a commitment to any particular guild. She worries that she may be working a bit too hard lately, as she's recently become prone to forgetting how long she's been out of town hunting.

Letters

Uzmam's internal dialogue has been presented through a series of letters she sends to her family.

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399.337.9

Hello from Crossing!

I know you're both still concerned about my trip to Crossing, but as I told you before, it is absolutely fine here. You have both worked way too much, and it was time for me to go out and get some wealth of my own to finally take care of you like you've taken care of me.

Finding work was even easier than I told you it would be. I'm currently employed to fish, catch rats, cull goblins, deliver letters, and look for missing jewelry! I tried my hand at stone carving, but it was absolutely disastrous so far. I'll try again later on after reading up a bit more on it. I'm supposed to collect some eel skins for a local Warrior Mage, too, but I'm not able to catch those eels just yet.

For some reason, some people here don't get that I really wanted to work in this city. They keep trying to encourage me to deliver letters to Qi. I came to Crossing to work in Crossing. If I wanted to travel to the Islands I would have went there in the first place! But they don't get how much I wanted to be here, so I just pass up those jobs. No big loss. There's always more local work right around the corner.

The people here are friendly, too. One S'kra joked about eating me, but I was told later on it was just a joke. I also briefly met a Gor'Tog who promised not to eat me, even though I don't know why I should have been concerned about that! There are plenty of Paladins and Empaths here, so don't worry about me ever getting hurt. One Empath I met I even work for, getting fish! She likes eating the whole thing but I don't want to make an issue about how eating every part is gross.

So, see, nothing to worry about. I'm making money on my own and it's enough to pay for a room at an inn in a safe part of town, and I'm learning a lot of things, and I'm making new friends, and I'm able to send you some money that I know the family needs. So stop worrying; I'll be fine.

--U

ps: did you know there's a great academy here, too? I plan to get some books and take some classes. Maybe I can try to learn how to be a doctor or herbalist like I always wanted! This is going to be great!

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399.356.9
Hi again.

First, the good news. I killed one hundred goblins, all by myself, and turned in the skins for a reward. Apparently the plan was to use the skins as food to a flaming horse but the horse didn't want them after all. I still got the reward, anyway, and I was able to take the money from that job and buy my very first book for my classes! I also bought a new curved dagger for myself, so I'll be even more effective at my next job: hunting grass eels.

I really try to focus on accomplishments like those after the last few days. But, I'm really writing to tell you about something that happened to me a few days later.

I was exploring the grasslands near Tiger Clan, and found an overturned wagon. I thought that I could find something inside of it that needed to be returned for a reward, or something. As I searched for something of value, I found a very deep hole underneath the wagon. I told myself that a valuable crate or two may have tumbled in there, so I went inside to look around. At the end of the tunnel, I found a giant toadstool and a curtain of slime. They seem to have been fighting each other (if you could call it that), and eventually the slime ran away. I figured that was the oddest thing I would run into, and there was now another path to take deeper into the tunnel, and I thought I saw something behind it, so I continued my way downward. I ended up in the back room of a giant mansion.

I don't expect to find people inside that House, but once they saw me they started advancing and screaming. This wasn't like those louts who tried to mug me outside of the east gate. These people weren't trying to hurt me because they're just bad people. Something was completely... wrong with them. Some of them carried this pale colored powder, and they tried to make me eat it. They wanted me to be like them. I still couldn't figure out why they wanted to do all this, though. But then I saw it.

There's a monster inside of that House. Something dark and terrifying and tentacled and a threat to us all. It tried grabbing me, and I was able to escape at the last moment. I'm not even sure how.

I ran back out of the tunnel, but I think it ended up following me. Even running as far as Crossing, it was still breathing down my neck and whispering to me. I kept getting a stabbing pain in my stomach and felt like I died. A very nice Empath I know at a hangout spot near the Northeast Gate tried to reassure me and tell me that she couldn't find anything wrong with me, but I know that there was something trying to harm me then. She was very concerned about me, and the Paladin with her ran to the grasslands to see if anything was different. The only proof I had to show them was a ratty tabard one of them wore, showing he at least knew about the Trader guild.

The voice I heard following me seems to have faded today, but I know it still lives in that House. I don't know what to do about it, but there is a serious problem there. I decided I should dedicate a day or two to just relaxing and swimming before really getting involved in anything too intense again. The city feels a lot safer now that the voices went away, and part of me feels like I could forget the whole thing if I just threw away that tabard I know carry with me. I'm very lucky that my friends were there for me, so I should be fine.

I'm sorry if this letter scared you, and I hope it doesn't make you worry once again. I don't want to scare you about me being here all over again. It's just that I would feel bad if I didn't write to you about my bad experiences as well as my good.

--U

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399.387.10

Hi again!

Sorry this letter was so late from the last one. I hope you weren't concerned about me after what I wrote. Things have been much better since my last letter. Work in general has been going great, and I even completed my task for a very impatient S'kra mage!

I've started to worship Albreda at a small chapel in Tiger Clan. That isn't meant to be ominous or anything: I know I'm no orphan or foster child! It just seems like a very peaceful church and that is who they happen to worship there. As much as I like the city, it's good to step outside of it every once and awhile and see one or two quieter clans now and then.

In other news, I have another very big job! Cormyn said that I should look into a job he heard about up north, in Riverhaven. Something about the mansion there and a missing item inside of it. He always wants me searching around for dolls, papers, jewelry, and the like. This is going to be just another situation like that, I'm sure of it. But it pays much better than his normal jobs, and I guess it's okay to leave this town every so often, right? I should explode more!

I'll let you know how everything goes. I miss you all, and hope that the money I am sending your way helps out with everything you need.

--U

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400.025.14

Cormyn's big job was a complete bust. The contact never showed up. On top of that, some bizarre mirror KIDNAPPED me and some of other people I know who happened to be in Riverhaven at the time. Some angry bird-woman tried to eat my face off while we were stuck inside an old mansion, but an Empath I know was nice enough to fix me. I was also able to figure out some puzzle that prevented that Empath from being decapitated, too! It turned out the bird-woman-monster-thing kidnapped a boy and his dog, and the parents were nice (and wealthy) enough to reward us for our troubles!

In other news, my classes have been going well. A fellow Albarian Paladin I've run into time to time has helped me get some books for my studies, which is rather nice of him. I've gotten my schedule stable enough so I can get some work from Mags done between classes, while trying to cull the beisswurms that infest a mine east of Kaerna. The local tanners pay well for their claws!

Anyway, I'm sorry to have heard that you weren't feeling to well as of late. I've included some extra coins to pay for an Empath and herbs to take care of things. See? Me working here has already paid off for you!

--U

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Tidbits

• Worships Albreda