*filling this rather plain journal is odd characters, definately another language. Even if you could read the characters you wouldnt understand them. But perfectly translated, they read:*

Darkness. The world of light could not exist without it, yet the darkness is known to be evil. I am a shadow, i am part of the darkness. I was born in Kara-Tur, in a village. I do not know how i survived, but i was abandoned at birth. Orphan girl-children are not often seen as a useful part of community, thus i was never helped. I spent the first years of my life picking pockets and begging on the sides of streets. Until i decided to pick the pocket of a midddle-aged man, i couldnt possibly know that this man was Genjitsu Master Kyame Hitomo. I went past him, and i had a good grip on his coins, the next thing i knew i was on the floor and my head hurt. I looked up to see a calm Master Hitomo. He offered me a hand in getting up, i ignored him and got up by myself. He seemed to like seeing that. He offered me a night in his house, and i, being as young as i was, didnt refuse.

*next page*

It was unbeliveable, he offered to let me stay with him, i didnt know for how long at the time, but the thought of spending every night in such a warm place, i COULDNT say "no". Then he started teaching me to read and write. Then, after i was around ten summers old, he offered to teach me Ninjitsu, and if i was good enough, Genjitsu. It was hard at first, he tought me with bamboo shafts, he explained them as two Ninja-Tu well, they were a little shorter, but i was only around three and a half feet tall. As time went on my prowless grew, and Master Hitomo took on two other students; Relimaru and Hiro, Relimaru is a bit of a fast-talker, but i really like Hiro...

*next page*

Unbeliveable, what a bastard. I told Hiro how i felt and he LAUGHED at me! It doesnt matter, because now that i dont have time for stupid emotions like love, i can focus more on my training.

*next page*

Well, i was just given my real Ninja-Tu blades. And now i actualy know what my grave stone has to say.

Many lives these blades have taken As many as they have saved My bloodstained lips make no sound As i look into the blades reflection

It's stupid, but it's not my choice.

*next page*

My fist assignment was so exciting. I heared there were hostile forgieners on the west border, and i was sent to inversigate. I saw a woman from the village in a cage surrounded by two men and a woman with a really wierd small bow. The two men had swords the likes of which i've never seen. I moved in carefuly. I actualy got right behind the first man, who had wondered off behind a tree, before i cut his throat. He went down silently. The i moved on the others. I took out that poisen throwing knife that i was given back at Master Hitomo's home. I threw it and got the female archer right in the arm! Then while the male was trying to help her i ran up and drove my blades into his spine. The three died silently and without warning. But they proved their intent by what the caged woman told me when i let her out. THe i did something Relimaru would have done, when she asked me who i was i used that dumb phrase of his: "i am a shadow, i have no name".

*next page*

Another assignment, this one all three of Master Hitomo's students are needed. This is ver seriouse and i have to leave in a matter of hours. A local merchant has been giving loans to villagers, then taking their daughters into slavery when the villagers can not pay him. Relimaru, Hiro and i arnt going to see eachother on this, at least, not unless we want to see eachother.

*next page*

Damnit! Right before the mechant could spit some useful infomation, some arse killed him with a throwing knife through the window! Well, the mission itself was fun, anway way. Out of twenty hired guards, i only needed to kill seven and i was only spotted when one turned around at the wrong time. The one who saw me was hard, he was about to shout out when Relimaru shoved his sword through the guard's neck.

*next page*

Thanks to my last assignment i have graduated and am no longer training to be a shadow, i AM a shadow. Born in darkness and destined to die in darkness. I have taken the Tai Watshai code too: Live by honnor, kill be stealth. So now i am free to leave whenever i want, but i wont leave my clan, nor my home, without good reason.

*next page*

Master Hitomo has been told to investigate a "great evil" in some bordering village. I am to go with him. I have spent most of my time trining in the bamboo forest next to the village, and i am there now, writing away as Master Hitomo taught me. I leave within the hour.

Well, i have no idea how long it's been. And i am kind of really scared and cold right now. Master Hitomo's dead, killed by those black-skinned people. I killed a few of them without being seen but they caught me and put me to sleep with a wierd dart thing. I esaped though and well... Now i have no idea where i am. Im in a cave somewhere...

No! My blades broke, i have to keep moving.

I dont know how long it's been, but i think i found somewhere to rest up.

After surviving a cave in i walked through a few more caves, i found a wierd short man with a beard who told me to keep going in the way i was going and i'd be brought to Sanctuary. I didnt want to be around the man much longer because well, he spoke wierdly and smelt like cheap booze.

I kept moving and eventualy i found city walls, i went into the city, and i found people, they wore wired armor instead of the robes guards usaly wear. I went down the stairs and honestly, even counting Timkoti Village, i have never seen a stranger place.

I met a few people already, the most memoable was a woman who called herself Ruby, but then said "call me captain cannonball" but then when i did she said she wasnt a captain yet, very strange, confusing people down here. Aparantly she's part of one of the three most prominante factions, the Seekers. I can already guess what the Watch does, the Spellguard i'm still not sure about. Maybe they need the help of a Tai Ninja? Guess i'll soon find out. Only, a Tai-style Genjitsu-ninjitsu figure helping people running around in big armor beating on criminal is so odd, obviously these people have no seanse of art. Maybe i should show them how it's done, years of training to be an assassin can't all be that bad.

This place has really poorly made weapons. Sure, i never bothered to lear how to use a Katana or anything, but still, the things in this place are useless.

The almost decent armor they called Chain Shirts clanks like you wouldnt belive! Maybe i should ask the smith here if he can forge something good.

The people here are little better then barbarians. They are so unartistic in their punishments. Traiters get stones thrown at them until they die, so pathetic, if they honestly wanted to show punishment, they'd get a good Ninja assassin. Surely the people here can not belive that they'd do any good on their own, hells, they are about as diciplined as a Ronin.

Stupid dwarves. I didn't even know what a dwarf was before coming here, they're the little hairy men that drink a lot. Most of the time they are really nice and kind of funny, but there are some of them you are total arses. Like this one, i got really bored because i couldn't find any work that i hadn't already done that day, and so i was an idiot and picked a fight with a dwarf. And not only did he have no seanse of tactics, using attacks that's hit a entire group if he was surrounded, i LET him WIN. It was the dumbest thing i ever did. Then his friend came up and said that because i lost i had to give them both a kiss! Well, i think he may have been joking, and if he was it would have been a good thing, i may have choked to death on beard. So i went into the tavern and found a dwarf being a major racist and picking fights with humans. I was still angery that i lost, so i tried to get this one to back down, and even though he did run away, i swear, dwarves are the most stubborn people i have ever met. Though i do kind of like them, most of the time they act the same, not like the dwarf i met on my first day here, Thoradin, he seemed really nice, even though i didnt know he was a dwarf at the time. I havent seen him since my first day here, i dont want to look, im too lazy i guess.

I also met a lady that seemed really nice too. Her name was Iria Fen, she was looking for someone she called Bern. I offered to help her look after she took me to a temple of Hoar, but she said she'd given up on finding Bern.

I've been thinking of joining the Seekers, now that i know what they do. I am skilled in stealth and im feeling stronger every day i spend here, so i'm sure i'd be alright. The Seekers look around the underdark trying to finda way out.

Well, i am thinking that i am the only one from Kara-Tur in this place. Hard to belive. I still cant belive i failed to stop the evil of the village, maybe this is my punsihment. In my training i tried so hard, and i got so far, i fell, and now im here. The sixth rule: To fall is to die, do not fall.

Actualy, this may be a good time to write all the rules incase i forget them... 1: Punish those deserving 2: You are a shadow, live in shadow 3: Live by honnor, kill be stealth 4: Your blades are your life, do not loose them 5: Your homeland comes before your own safety 6: To fall is to die, do not fall 7: Protect the innocent 8: Never give infomation that can help an enemy

Those are probably the most important, after all, there ARE more then three hundred.

It's boring here. I guess i'll just write what i've been thinking about recently.

My home, Hiro and Relimaru, expecialy Relimaru. They were like my brothers, they were already there when Master Hitomo took me in. I think i loved Hiro, before he died. Hiro was killed when he was sent alone on an assignment to rescue a few inslaved villagers, the bandits, they must have seen him coming. After Hiro died, Relimaru started asking me strange things, like if i wanted to go to get something to eat with him after i finnished the day's practice. I never really noticed it before Hiro died, but i think Relimaru liked me. Well, it was a long time before i started feeling the same way about him. It wasnt really fair, we are shadows, we arnt suppost to feel love, but, we are people, it's what we do. It's been about two weeks now, and i am utterly bored, theres nothing to do here whatsoever, i am getting better with stealth, it's been a great experiece regarding my training, but its so BORING.

Sitting here, on the roof of the inn, watching the people go by. Thinking about things i could do for entertainment. I could start a panic by throwing things at people then hiding when they looked around to see what did it, but that would just be stupid and annoying, but still my aim is getting rusty... It's so dark here, you think i'd be happy, no one would ever see me, but maybe i want to be seen, maybe, maybe i want to be heard.

If i go back home then that will never happen, i'll have to continue to be nothing more then a shadow, killing when need be. But maybe i dont want to go home. I'm, well, as close to happy as i've ever been here, but still, i'm alone. If i could just... Change, then i could, take back all the pain the worlds cause me. No, i am not to show feelings, feelings are weak, a true Ninja has no feelings. And thats what i am.

Stupid dwarves!!! I hate them all!!!

I went into the tavern, and there was this dwarf, bleeding through his own stubborn armor, i went up to offer him some healing herbs and the stubby bastard called me a whore! I hate all of those stupid dwarves!

I met a elf and a hin today. The elf seemed stuck up and like she didnt like normal people. But the hin was alright, in fact, she seemed very nice.

I also met with miss Iria Fen today, we spoke about law and paladins and she told me that paladins can see evil. I asked her if she could see evil in my heart and she said "no", dispite all the people i've killed.

Damn dwarves!

I met the first dwarf who didnt call me "Wench" or "Whore". Of corse, this was after another dwarf beat me into unconciousness and took all my money. I didnt get the nice dwarf's name, and he didnt seem to want to talk to me, but it meant a lot that he didnt call me a whore.

After i spent an hour trying to get some money to replace that which i had lost, i met a man who called himself "sort of a ranger", i have no idea what a ranger is though. We went out into the underdark and to a place called the Lost Shop. He was going to keep going and because i have really little combat experiance i was to turn back, so i stayed in the Lost Shop looking at all the nice things they had, (they even had some poisens) when the "sort of a ranger" came back in and said that there was a greater eyeball outside. He told me he wanted to kill it and asked for my help, i said that i wasnt very good at fighting but i'd help him anyway. So we went and i tried to shoot it with one of those aekward small bows, the "Sort of a ranger" fought it up close and we killed it. Then we went on to a small camp and then, well, we went back to Sanctuary. The "sort of a ranger" said his name was Tom Smith and that he was trying to get into some Society thing.

After that i still didnt have much gold so i decided to go with a group to kill some lizard men things. The group had two kobolds and a goblin in it, at first i didnt want to go with them but, well, i REALLY needed the gold. I guess it would have been wise to not have gone with them, or at least, not have tried to steal from them. *Ayame's hand shakes as she writes the next part, as if she's afraid just from the memory* the goblin hunted me down and found me in some abandond dwarf mines, i tried to run but i had nowhere to go, he beat me to the ground and kept on beating me, the smarter kobold showed up and laughed at me, i was absolutely helpless. I wanted to kill them, i really did, but, i dont know why, since i fought those black skinned things, and the woman one cast that spell on me, i've been so much weaker then i was. They took all my gold, the kobold and the goblin, and said i was lucky that they wernt hungery, i was still cowering next to the wall of the cave, the kobold ran a claw down my back and i didnt doubt him, i was lucky.

I really dont like kobolds or goblins, they are very scary. But i met one, the other one in the group, who seemed nice, cute even. He said his name was Gazzilak, the other kobold called him Gazz. Gazz didnt seem to like Gnomes very much, and a man in the group even told me what a Gnome was; "short fellows with too-long arms". Gazz did mention that he liked eating Gnomes, and i feel sorry for the poor Gnomes, if i find kobolds scary, and Gnomes are really as short as i think they are, kobolds must be terrifying to them.

I am staying in an ally in lower Sanctuary tonight, i dont have enough gold to stay in a inn. But it doesnt matter, i'll get some gold next time i feel up to some work, i could always sell some stuff, i have a magic Chain Shirt that i've been trying to sell, selling it should get me a week in the inn. And besides, if i could survive as a homeless child, i can survive this.

I learnt something yesterday. Seems the decent dwarves are all part of some clan called the Stouthearts, though dwarves are still kind of rude in the Stouthearts, they're the ones that dont call me a whore. They are still kind of unfriendly, though.

I met with Miss Iria again, and asked her if she could teach me to be a paladin, she said she was too tierd at the time and that she'd do it next time i saw her. I hope i can be just like miss Iria, she seems so strong and confidant, i guess im over confidant, and get my head beaten in a lot. I asked her in a letter if she could help me practice my fighting and she wrote back that she'd seen me fight, and that i wasnt that bad, i hope i can impress her next time i see her.

Oh, if only Relimaru could have seen this place...

I'm so excited! Captain Cannonball (or Seeker Ruby...) has put up posters saying she's looking for a crew to sail with her on her ship. I sent her a letter and she sent one back saying that she'd need to intrview me. I didnt mind the part where she said she didnt want to take someone as young as me on the darklake, sure i am young, but i'm not THAT young... Am i?

Anyway, if i get into the crew, Relimaru would be SO jelouse. Odd that i'm thinking about him so much, i never apreciated him that much back home, and now that he's not here, i kind of miss him...