When I was older - perhaps fourteen? I have never been certain of my age, and have no birthday - I left the Orphanage and looked for work, with a remarkable lack of success. I had been driven to the extremes of hunting the fat street rats of the Old Town section of town. I had... borrowed a brace of throwing daggers from the paladin armory, and used them to kill and skin the rodents for my daily meals. A shopkeeper saw me do so, and hired me to hunt near his shops; his name was Miles Sidney, the proprietor of the Five Deadly Venoms in the Old Town. He and his partner, Wright Williams, began to teach me the basics of the extermination of pests. I began a freelance relationship with them - they taught me the uses of various distillations and concoctions of deadly poisons and venoms, and I began to sell my services has an exterminator of rats, buying my poisons and venoms from their shop.
Before too long, my activities brought me to the attention of the gnome brothers Monty and Nipsy. The brothers were street vendors who made and sold Deeprun Rat Kabob in the Deepwater Tram. They made me a proposition; if I could kill the rats without poison nor venom, they would play me three coppers per body, plus all the Deeprun Rat Kababs I could consume.
They actually are quite tasty, and sure as Fel beat the pains of not being able to afford food.
In any case, they gave me the seedling of an idea. I paid a visit to the Stormwind Architect, a fine fellow named Baros Alexston. Baros Alexston had been a member of the Stonemasons Guild, working with Edwin VanCleef to rebuild Stormwind. Edwin VanCleef had been elected Guildmaster of the Stonemasons and demanding restitution for their work. The Stormwind House of Nobles ordered the Stonemasons' Guild disbanded, leading to a riot and the founding of the Defias Brotherhood. Alexston refused to join and was made the city architect.
"Master Alexston, my name is Jon, and I am an exterminator of rodents. I have a proposition for you..." Citing that rats were a public health problem, I proposed that the city pay a meager bounty of a single copper coin for every rat tail presented, regardless of who that was. Alexston agreed, establishing that for every rat carcass I handed to Nipsy and Monte I would hand the tails for an additional fee.
A 'street rat' was Stormwind slang for the youth of Stormwind without jobs, without prospects, without education, and without training. many of them would drift to street crime out of the desperation of poverty, with the lucky ones migrating out of the city and into the arms of the Defias bandits.
The unlucky ones became inmates of the Stormwind Stockades, and repeat offenders the gallows.
The next day, I killed rats, and engaged the ear of every hungry street rat I could find, and told them that they could trade rat tails for the bounty; with luck, that would save some of them from starvation or criminal activity. I did not fear that there would be too many people hunting rats, such that the market would impact my income.
I mean, have you ever seen the rat population of Old Town?
Before too long, my activities brought me to the attention of the gnome brothers Monty and Nipsy. The brothers were street vendors who made and sold Deeprun Rat Kabob in the Deepwater Tram. They made me a proposition; if I could kill the rats without poison nor venom, they would play me three coppers per body, plus all the Deeprun Rat Kababs I could consume.
They actually are quite tasty, and sure as Fel beat the pains of not being able to afford food.
In any case, they gave me the seedling of an idea. I paid a visit to the Stormwind Architect, a fine fellow named Baros Alexston. Baros Alexston had been a member of the Stonemasons Guild, working with Edwin VanCleef to rebuild Stormwind. Edwin VanCleef had been elected Guildmaster of the Stonemasons and demanding restitution for their work. The Stormwind House of Nobles ordered the Stonemasons' Guild disbanded, leading to a riot and the founding of the Defias Brotherhood. Alexston refused to join and was made the city architect.
"Master Alexston, my name is Jon, and I am an exterminator of rodents. I have a proposition for you..." Citing that rats were a public health problem, I proposed that the city pay a meager bounty of a single copper coin for every rat tail presented, regardless of who that was. Alexston agreed, establishing that for every rat carcass I handed to Nipsy and Monte I would hand the tails for an additional fee.
A 'street rat' was Stormwind slang for the youth of Stormwind without jobs, without prospects, without education, and without training. many of them would drift to street crime out of the desperation of poverty, with the lucky ones migrating out of the city and into the arms of the Defias bandits.
The unlucky ones became inmates of the Stormwind Stockades, and repeat offenders the gallows.
The next day, I killed rats, and engaged the ear of every hungry street rat I could find, and told them that they could trade rat tails for the bounty; with luck, that would save some of them from starvation or criminal activity. I did not fear that there would be too many people hunting rats, such that the market would impact my income.
I mean, have you ever seen the rat population of Old Town?
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