Story for the day: Ladrei Maccadrin, guild lord of Lucentia

Ladrei Maccadrin – Guild Lord of Lucentia and Master Assassin

                Those who walked about in the streets of Lucentia, the elven capital on the eastern coast of the northern continent, were cautious of the many thieves’ guilds rampant in the underground of their city. The Lucentians were not wary of the business of the guilds, as it was proclivity of every association only to steal from those who could afford to lose some of their teeming wealth, but it was their object to be vigilant of those who wished to gain entrance into such affluent organizations. 

Totally awesome mural of Ladrei with the insignia of Lucentia by Twisk

                Behind every guild master and behind every covenant to be struck within the various leagues was Ladrei Maccadrin. He had once been one of those disreputable youths of whom the people of Lucentia were apprehensive. His thin frame and cunning intellect made it effortless for him to weave in and out of the narrow streets of the capital, picking the pockets of many unsuspecting citizens as he leapt away from the royal guard.

                He had given the prince of Lucentia much trouble in his formative years. So handsome a creature and so quick an adversary, the prince was only too delighted to uphold his venerable battle with the thief until one day in Ladrei’s youth, he had been careless in his execution of one of the guild missions tendered to him. He had followed the writ unerringly but where he had expected to find a large sum of elven gold awaiting him, he found the prince. The mission had been a trap, and a rather clever one to have fooled so cunning a rogue. The good prince had known of all the dealings throughout the guilds of the Lucentian underground and as long as there was no material comfort missing from the royal family, he was inclined to allow guild business to continue. He would turn aside at any mention of one of his rivals being ruined by a member of the thieves’ guilds with a smile on his face and a coin in the pocket of the one who had caused his enemies grief. The price soon realized he could make yield a large return from these less than upright organizations ad as long as the thievery and rogue’s dens were regulated, he was disposed to allow them to persist with their dealings throughout his lands.

                His capturing of Ladrei led to a new venture and he decided to use the infamous thief as an assassin. He believed that the ruination of a reputation would only result in death and therefore the murder of one who was at leisure to take his life could not be a great distance from elimination by another means. He would permit the killing of his adversaries with the stipulation that the wealth of the victim would be split, half for the crown and half for the guild to which the given assassin belonged. Thieves’ guilds of great consequence became lairs for unsavory conduct and those who wished entrance into these league of assassination and debauchery were to perform feats of immense ability, have their ears marked with studs and rings for each association they would frequent, and gain a tattoo for each successful mission completed.

                As Ladrei was the exemplary in his field, his body had been covered in colourful markings. Beginning from the nape of his neck and extending down to his wrists and the tips of his toes, the illustrious elven rogue was tattooed with his favourite Lucentian myths and tales. His fine garments covered the chief of his elaborate decoration but the edges of the Lucentian designs on his neck were ever visible. The numerous silver and golden pieces adorning his ears marked his rank in their society and there was soon no one who had not heard of Ladrei Maccadrin, hound of the Lucentian royal family. He had been given his own guild to lead and delegate missions as he chose, women to garnish his private residence, men to guard his post, and what was intended to be a lucrative endeavor for the prince was an even more profitable venture for Ladrei. The fortune he had accumulated from his ties with the Lucentian royal family and the added wealth of his portion from those in his guild whom he managed had transformed the assassin into a lord. Every crime committed in the capital was overseen and regulated by Ladrei and his organization. When the prosperous elf realized he had accumulated more riches than that of the royal family, he broke his ties with the prince and became a prince of his own design. He had purchased everything to keep every coin that changed hands in his city under his control. The marketplace, the traders, the shoppes and residences were all acquired. He became landlord, capitalist, trademaster, and left only the industry of slavery under the prince’s direction.

                Ladrei Maccadrin became the ruler of Lucentia city and had done so with the prince’s sanction, as it was easier to be sumptuous with little effort and consciousness toward the dealings of others than it was to be made opulent by someone’s else’s machinations. Ladrei had soon grown tired of being far too rich for his own delights, as the prince had hoped, and though he was the lord and master of every transaction taking place in the city below him, such omnipotence had bored him. He required a challenge to excite his arch interests. His women and guards, though close to him, paid gross inattention to his wants. They obeyed his every word without a notion of disagreement. They were too well-paid and lush to be dissatisfied and therefore there was no original conception between them. Every phrase was an affirmative and their eagerness to observe and perform any task given them soon became a trail to the crime lord. He began returning to his former profession, thieving for the mere diversion of it and performing assassinations under the cloak of disguise. He created scenarios for himself, pretending to be captured only to enjoy the means of escape, planting items to be stolen by him at a later time, and all in the hopes of rousing his curiosities.         

                His infamy, however, had not carried toward the southern continent much to Ladrei’s amusement. He enjoyed the anonymity the south afforded him, and when the appeal for an assassin of good character and depraved manner came to Lucentia capital from Frewyn, Ladrei was pleased to leave his affairs to the hands of his assistants and venture to Diras to meet with King Allande. He walked through the streets of the Frewyn capital and much to his gratification no one had recognized his face. There were no bows or entreaties of time to exhume payments to his empire abound, but he was rather greeted by the smiles of stunning young women who believed him to be a wealthy elven lord, judging his standing by his fine dress and intelligent person. His intricate tattoos and several piercings marked him as a striking creature for one so well situated and thought there were lords aplenty in the Diras castle keep, none of them had been so defined and significant as the visiting assassin. He walked with a straight yet fluid posture, the tips of his high ashen hair bounded up and down with each silent footfall he took, and he soon became the most discussed subject in the royal courts of Frewyn. Every word he spoke was polite and every phrase was cunning, gaining many admirers to his perch in the guest quarter of the keep.

                During any intended revelry with the multitude of women who sought his company, Ladrei was careful to conceal his two curved daggers on the undersides of his wrists and even more vigilant to hide his many vials of poison, utilizing them on the husbands of those whom he wished to persuade into his nest. He enjoyed terrorizing and pleasuring the jaded and fulsome women of Diras and was only too pleased to display his well-formed and painted body to them. He was a rarity among the ineffectual nobles and therefore a necessity to the improvement of any young mind. It became King Allande’s object to have him begin his mission as soon as possible lest he imbue every one of Frewyn’s women with his deviant wiles.  

                Ladrei had enjoyed his time immensely in the Galleisian War. Under King Allande’s command, he murdered an array of Galleisian nobles and generals, all of their deaths essential to Frewyn’s retaliation, but the period most agreeable was the time he spent beside the commander and the Den Asaan. His stay with their party had been short but the grimacing giant and his grinning mate had felt an impression with him he would not soon forget. The notion of the commander coming to work for him in Lucentian was a notion only contrived to examine the reactions of Alasdair and the Den Asaan, and when he observed that both the giant and the Frewyn future king showed interest, Ladrei left the matter aside and returned to his empire. Receiving the summons from the commander to assist in the battle over Varkne Plain was a call most welcomed by him. It gave him cause to gather the most abhorrent and fierce men of his caliber and join with them in battle. After the war was won, however, he recognized with himself the want to remain in the commander and Den Asaan’s company. Returning to Lucentia was always desirous but seeking out new ventures on a continent that was not well aquatinted with the name of Ladrei Maccadrin was ever enticing. He resolved to be more involved with Frewyn and King Alasdair and whenever any of his friends called, he was obliged to answer.  

                When Alasdair summoned him to the capital to discuss the boring matters of commerce between the Haanta, the Lucentians and his own kingdom, Ladrei was more than happy to attend. The business at Livanon had thrilled him excessively and he had waited for the next eventuality to arise as an excuse to leave his lavish haven for a more amusing endeavor.