Steel and Salt – Finn’s First Mission

For a month, Finn lingered at the fringes of the Marauder’s Guild — not quite a recruit, not quite an outsider. He said little, but showed up daily. Watched the drills. Studied the rhythm of swings and the controlled chaos of battle training.

Then, one morning, he stepped forward and joined the line.

At first, the exercises punished him. Weight lifting, endurance training, collision drills — the kind of training that wore down the body before it built it up. His frame wasn’t made for brute force, but he didn’t break. He adjusted. Quietly. Deliberately. He returned the next day, and the next, and the next.

Over time, something shifted. His stance became firmer. His balance more instinctive. Even when no one was looking, he noticed the change — subtle but unmistakable.

When he tossed a dagger into a tree stump out of idle habit one night, it flew straighter. Deeper.
It wasn’t power. It was core. Strength forged slowly, layered over intent.

The Sastasha Job Posting

Then came the notice.

Pinned to the board, between routine dispatches and fishing permits, was a request:
Recover stolen merchant goods from Sastasha Coves. Minimal resistance expected. Volunteers encouraged.

A simple mission, by guild standards. Straightforward. Necessary.

Finn read it once, then again. Not for the details — they didn’t matter much — but for what it represented. A line crossed, perhaps. From training into application. From watching to acting.

He signed his name.