One hot day, Larissa was walking along the main road home. She had just turned fourteen. Her keen ears heard something behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a carriage. She jumped aside off of the road. One of Q'rin's laws was that the upper class had the right of way on the roads; peasants were always to move to the side or face the consequences. If the guards (guards had begun accompanying the upper class since the resistance fighters had started attacking carriage) were in a good mood, you might get merely a warning, or a beating. If they weren't, you could end up in a dungeon. Standing about a yard ahead of Larissa was a hooded figure. Larissa recognized him as a local peddler.
The peddler had appeared one day in Larissa's village a few months ago. The peddler was a stooped figure in a huge hooded cloak; the hood covered most of his face. The peddler wold his ware among the stalls in town. Larissa realized that she did not even know the peddler's real name. Everyone just called him "the peddler." In fact, she did not even know if the peddler was male or female.
Larissa saw that the peddler did not get to the side of the road. The carriage passed Larissa and, as was law, stopped by the peddler. The carriage's escorting soldier dismounted from his horse and began speaking to the peddler. Unable to hear, but knowing what was about to happen, Larissa rushed up and stopped the guard's club just as it was about to come into contact with the peddler's head. Full of anger, the soldier turned his attention to Larissa, and hit her instead. As she fell, she noticed that the peddler was gone. At least one of them would survive. Although she was severely beaten, Larissa was not arrested or killed. After a few days of recovery, she went out to find the peddler. Though her efforts were noteworthy, as well as time consuming, she nor anyone else had seen him since the day of the attack.
Weeks later, Larissa was taking a walk among some green grassy hills when she saw the peddler standing atop an adjacent hill. Larissa realized he looked different somehow...and then it hit her: rather than standing stooped over, the peddler stood straight up. Overcome by suprise, Larissa stopped in her tracks. From beneath the ever-present hood, the peddler boomed, "For a good deed recieved, a good deed given." With that, the pedder pulled out a sword and shoved its tip in the ground so that it stood upright on its own. The peddler continued, "This is now yours. Treasure it and learn its secrets." Larissa blinked for a second and the peddler was gone. Today, Larissa still could not tell you whether the peddler was a male or female. After studying the sword for a few moments, Larissa pulled it from its earthy sheath and swung it a few times. It was a longsword that seemed to be made just for her. She took the sword, and treasured it.
Over the next year, Larissa learned the properties of the sword. It's blade was sharper than anything Larissa had ever seen, its cut more deadly than any other blade. It could not be harmed by any other sword, nor could its master. Due to its appearance and abilities, Larissa properly named it Nighthread.