Of Curiosity, Chaos, and a Woman Who Could Trigger the End of the World Just by Crossing the Street

From the Writings of Tarric Vethrin

If you ever spot an elf with long red hair and a blue tunic, run.

That is probably Naira.

And I mean that quite literally.

Not because she is dangerous. Or secretly a dragon. She is neither of those things. It is simply that… danger has an unfortunate habit of finding Naira. The poor girl cannot even buy an apple without somehow putting all of Elyndor at risk.

She possesses a remarkable talent. Or a terrible curse. Depends on where the sun happens to be that day. No matter how ordinary something seems, Naira somehow turns it into an adventure. Not because she goes looking for trouble, but because she has never once managed to walk past a mystery without investigating it.

Not long ago, I gave her an old tarnished pendant that one of my guests had forgotten in the tavern. Three days later she returned, dropped a pouch of gold into my hand and smiled.

“Your share.”

“My share of what?” I asked.

“The treasure, obviously. What else? My profits from selling old socks?” she replied with her usual sarcasm.

Apparently the pendant had been a treasure map. At some point I simply stopped asking how she keeps doing these things.

It is not just adventures, either. It is people. Remember what I said about running away if you see her? That part is important. Anyone who spends enough time around Naira eventually gets pulled into one of her adventures.

You only wanted to have tea with her? Congratulations. You are now helping to take down a group of slave traders while freeing half a dozen prisoners.

You decide to go for a walk together? Suddenly you are fighting a thieves’ guild that wants to steal your head. Without the rest of you.

You stroll through a marketplace? Next thing you know, you are searching for a merchant’s missing wife while standing in your underwear surrounded by demons… and the supposedly missing wife is laughing at you.

Naira is either the luckiest elf alive… or the unluckiest. Realistically, she is probably both. All I know is that Miriana and Lucryss spend an impressive amount of time trying to protect their youngest sister. Not that Naira actually needs protecting. More often than not, it ends up being the other way around.

Would I run if I saw Naira?

No.

The little troublemaker has become rather dear to me.

Even if I am far too old for this kind of nonsense.

And if you do happen to meet her…

Do not say I failed to warn you.

— Tarric Vethrin