  <resources>
    <string name="05P003ev">When I was a girl, I chose to be a shieldmaiden, and accompanied my brothers on their raids. When I came of age, I was pursued by one of the finest warriors in our valley. All the girls dreamed of marrying him. I agreed to marry him on condition that he never tried to prevent me from going to war, and this pledge he made. </string>
    <string name="08SDOFly">Are you heading out of town? I've been here for three days waiting for my contact to show up, but I don't think he will. I suspect that I might have drawn a bit of attention to myself. </string>
    <string name="0b8vP1ba">You soiled the sacred tradition of marriage! You soiled it with blood!</string>
    <string name="1af4enJo">Mm... I agree with the lords who don't like to mess with the Otherworld.</string>
    <string name="1EKWnCBa">So, in time, I made contacts in towns up and down the western half of Calradia. Sometimes it's a guard who's not averse to a little extra cash. Sometimes there's a washerwoman who'll let down a rope over the walls at night. Is that the knowledge that's useful to you?</string>
    <string name="1KFSnLeb">Three years by yourself? You must have learned a great deal of woodcraft. I may have need of a scout.</string>
    <string name="22Wl39Zg">I merely meant to toast your health. As strangers sometimes do in taverns, without meaning any harm.</string>
    <string name="2fa1Ai55">Well, there was a time when I was less wary of strangers, but I've learned since that many of those who approach me in an inn or on the road have unworthy motives. It's a bit of a tale, but I will tell you if you're interested.</string>
    <string name="2JwZXgOZ">That's reasonable. Here's {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON} for you. Make yourself ready.</string>
    <string name="2MJElaJi">Well, the master of artillery here took the counterweight right on the skull. It was a 5-pound ball, so the counterweight weighed about as much as a small horse. You can imagine what that looked like. So they're not going to pay me - even though the ball, I'm proud to say, threw straight over 500 paces. Even with a bit of muck on it.</string>
    <string name="2oniHsNe">My late husband, the Heavens bless his memory, raised a force of his own to help guard the frontier. He ensured his men exhibited a proper sense of discipline, duty, basic personal hygiene, and respect for our moral traditions. Alas, his career was cut short by an Aserai javelin, but I intend to continue in his footsteps. </string>
    <string name="2pv2fc22">If you want to know more about me, I'll tell you this: I come from up north of here. I came down here to make my name, and to fight. I fought a bit for the skolderbrotva, but I grew tired of them, because they fight more than most but they don't fight enough for me. </string>
    <string name="30PC7qqc">I find it a good way of picking up useful information.</string>
    <string name="36X0Ptyo">How fascinating. Do tell me more.</string>
    <string name="37gFwKgg">I have a band of fighters, and I could use a man with some experience.</string>
    <string name="3tsuUf0H">And he was right to say that! Good day. sir.</string>
    <string name="3Yax10rQ">Well, perhaps there is something to those legends, because I did very well for myself, and made my master very rich. Imperial law now decrees that men are not allowed to kill in the arena, but no one pries into what happens at the private entertainments of the rich, and over a score of my fellow slaves must have felt my blade in their chest.</string>
    <string name="4dJ0KhjB">But maybe it's for the best. Whoever wins this war will at least be a worth leader of men.... Are you're looking for swords to hire? I'm bored and I'm ready to jump into the game again, and I doubt my wife will miss me much. </string>
    <string name="4m5w7HIP">If you have a company-in-arms, and you vow to honor your word and your debts, I am willing to serve in it. </string>
    <string name="5A0dXh2j">I don't really have work like that, if that's what you're asking.</string>
    <string name="5E6L8WcA">I might be able to hire someone like that.</string>
    <string name="5Y5mxebR">Well, it sounds like you can fight, at least. Do you need employment?</string>
    <string name="6EeM0jbm">I might be. What do you have to offer?</string>
    <string name="6Rqc8OOc">Heavens protect us from evil! Go away! Go away!</string>
    <string name="6Yy1KWgT">Mind your own business, mate.</string>
    <string name="77kuaIpz">When I was just a baby, a woman came to my father's hall, a woman who was said to be able to speak to the Otherworld. When she saw me, she told him that she saw the mark of the faeries upon me. She performed a divination, and said she had learned that I was to be a prank played on mankind: I should grow up to be a great beauty, but that any man who resolves to marry me shall die.</string>
    <string name="7BMEqR9P">Good. I would merely ask from you an advance of {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON}, to settle all affairs, and I shall join you.</string>
    <string name="7cVb7eda">It is hard to find a lord who will take me in his retinue, as men tend to fear me. So opportunities for work are few and far between.</string>
    <string name="7qfZbVii">I think I could use a man like you.</string>
    <string name="7WrfCwuL">Good. I'm going to want from you {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON} up front. Like I say, I'm a thirsty man.</string>
    <string name="8HKl3HNH">The one thing I ask - other than food, shelter, and a few denars for pocket expenses, of course - is that I am not party to pillage and slave-taking.</string>
    <string name="8O8jU9Jp">And to your health, both physical and spiritual! And always remember - spiritual health comes only from repentence, and for that you have need of something to repent.</string>
    <string name="8ya4JQyc">Greetings, stranger. You must be a stranger here, for few born here would speak to me.</string>
    <string name="9HTt6P0U">That is one solution to a bad marriage. Did you go through with this plan?</string>
    <string name="9vcC9WNE">Ah yes, I suppose it is. Well, if it interests you, my name is Haldaea, and I have resolved to become a warrior.</string>
    <string name="9w5W46E9">Greetings. I'm looking for warriors, and you look like you might fit the bill.</string>
    <string name="9yWwSi7g">You sound like trouble, sir. Good day.</string>
    <string name="a1qmkOxD">Who are you? What do you want?</string>
    <string name="a2rWCsZS">I hope you don't mind a little immodesty. If you're building, I'm one of the best you can fire. I can build any arch, any tower, any dome you might want. Every city around here has examples of my craft.</string>
    <string name="a4yeaMZq">Yes. Go on.</string>
    <string name="a6Yqb6nY">I am.  </string>
    <string name="A7ToDPfN">Splendid. That's the spirit. Gather your belongings.</string>
    <string name="Ac8dPtH8">I do not know, nor do I care to.</string>
    <string name="AGBkVF4G">No harm in that, I suppose. So. Tell me about yourself.</string>
    <string name="aGRXxufp">As you can guess, I'm a smuggler. And a good one, at that.</string>
    <string name="APKQ8HuA">No, I'm not, I'm afraid. Good day to you.</string>
    <string name="Auq79Hap">It is a polite saying among my people, but it is also truth. The world would be a finer place if men could travel at will, bringing wisdom and wealth from one faraway place to another.</string>
    <string name="awCIaqxG">Ho there. Will you join me in a cup of ale?</string>
    <string name="AXy281gD">What sort of curse?</string>
    <string name="BIXQz5yS">If that's your last 'last request,' I suppose I can. Here's {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON}.</string>
    <string name="bKFWqaxQ">I'm not sure I can pay you like he did...</string>
    <string name="blY5YhSL">Very well. That could come in handy. I can offer you a place in my company.</string>
    <string name="bmdw47FV"> Each kill won my master a chest of silver. I feel no guilt - my opponents were trying to kill me, and some came very close. Do you have anything to say to that?</string>
    <string name="BMKqMpQ7">I'm most interested in the barbarian virtue of sticking axes in skulls. You don't look the type.</string>
    <string name="bRRi5GiL">Here's my conditions: I expect to be paid well, and I don't kill men who don't fight back. </string>
    <string name="bsnUJ7Br">Those are useful skills. Are you looking for work?</string>
    <string name="bUZATRQM">Faeries? I have no time for such tales.</string>
    <string name="bwb4nB4m"> You invested your whole fortune in a single cargo of pepper?</string>
    <string name="bx0dzZTU">Ah. I am sorry. It has been long since I spoke with other men. And I am a bit drunk... Look, let me tell you my story.</string>
    <string name="bXfBBvzl">I'm from the fen Dairl. We're not one of the biggest clans of Battania, but we're good fighters. When I came of age, I left my father's home for some years to live in the woods, as a Wolfskin. It is a custom we have, for youths to run as Wolfskins. They don't eat cooked food or live in houses or wear spun cloth, and in turn are not answerable to the laws of men. </string>
    <string name="c1vQQwKv">Sure. I suppose we do.</string>
    <string name="C6GmacOA">I am otherwise occupied, sir.</string>
    <string name="cI8YERnL">If you do so, I promise to always be in the front rank of your battle line, to never shirk duty even in the face of death.</string>
    <string name="CKgC2JXg">You do not inspire me with confidence.</string>
    <string name="clatEXV2">I'm backing away now, lady. Good day to you.</string>
    <string name="cXKvmJGb">I'm sure it has not escaped you that this empire of ours is in a dreadful state. Men have lost all sense of duty and self-respect, and regularly turn their tail in the face of rebels, barbarians, and other such rabble.</string>
    <string name="d0K0iKV2">When I was a child, I was taken from my home in the deep steppe as a hostage to the Empire, and though it was bitter to leave my family, I count that the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.</string>
    <string name="D33fIGQe">Never mind.</string>
    <string name="D9hP21YA">Um, I might be. Do you have some relevant experience?</string>
    <string name="dagVYLDb">I spent a great deal of time in the barracks, and learned much of the knowledge that a soldier's woman should know. But I was foolish to think Aldric would never learn of our liaisons. He thought it no doubt a disgrace for his family, and perhaps he was jealous of my lover, for I had seen Aldric cast an eye my way himself. He had my lover accused of theft, and hanged, and dipped in tar. Every night I wake from a dream in which I see the body of my lover black and twisting in the wind as it hangs from the gate.</string>
    <string name="Db8cb8w6">Well, you have the right attitude. I might take you on.</string>
    <string name="dDt6c7kr">Oh, have no fear. I don't swat down armies like flies but I can probably take them down one or two villains at a time, if need be. There is, however, a small matter of asking you for - {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON}. I have run up a bit of a tab at this tavern, and I may need to use it again at some point.</string>
    <string name="DdYimYLm">I had a bit of a protected upbringing, you see. I am a great-niece of Aldric, lord of Sarghert. My father died in his wars, but I was considered a member of his household, and I was to be married to a horseman in his retinue. Alas, I fell in love with one of the common soldiers. He was high-spirited, handsome - the kind of boy who imagined the evils of this world could never touch him.</string>
    <string name="DLcjTWn7">Aye?</string>
    <string name="Dr6ZjtKR">Greetings, wanderer. Might I know where you are from?</string>
    <string name="dU3II3Lv">Why, just the other evening I was attending a soiree in this very town, and the host told me that I was truly an ornament among guests, who brought more light to his party than a hundred lanterns, more music than a hundred lutes. It was with great sorrow, he said, that he must call his guards on me, because by some oversight I had not been invited and thus in eating his food I was, by a legal technicality, a thief.</string>
    <string name="dZFO1esU">They must know something I do not. Good day, my lady.</string>
    <string name="EfbhgTy0">I drink when I am thirsty, and not when some lout forces a cup into my hand.</string>
    <string name="EFVmhsMC">  </string>
    <string name="EGchHvKa">I've been about, in halls and gers and tents, collecting some fascinating accounts. But I'd still be interested in accompanying you, if you'll have me.</string>
    <string name="EmTojvwy">Do you know who I am, traveler?</string>
    <string name="EPj9FwBy">Look, I'm very sorry to trouble you, but - I notice you seem to be a wanderer. A fighter, like - a mercenary or something. I'd like to join you.</string>
    <string name="EQSc8FxA">Splendid - about the money. Shall we say an advance of {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON}? That's enough for me to know you're serious.</string>
    <string name="eUkVaqJN">A colorful life, I suppose, but of little interest to me. Good day to you.</string>
    <string name="ff0uDowD">Soon into our marriage he lost his ardor for me, and began to regret his pledge. When I sought to go raiding, he scowled and demanded that I stay home and give him children. He became jealous. When I cursed him back, he struck me with the flat of his sword. One day, in the marketplace, before all the people of our village, he accused me of lying with anyone who crossed my path, man or woman. I struck him. By the laws of our people he had not given me any grounds for divorce, so I demanded a fight to the death instead.</string>
    <string name="FkhUMTpJ">I reckon I had a gift for a sermon. We'd wander into a village and I'd cut loose with a speech that would have the villagers selling their lands and joining us on our endless pilgrimage. But you know, I suppose the Perfect got a little jealous, started accusing me of deadly error here and the sin of pride there...</string>
    <string name="FKMaPDMy">You must have me confused with someone else.</string>
    <string name="fpQnbafH">This conversation got rather dangerous rather quickly.</string>
    <string name="fV5Icuc4">That is useful. Can you also fight?</string>
    <string name="fY7gnK3p">Greetings - hello - if you don't mind ... - got a minute?</string>
    <string name="g4cOvMnT">Just be sure you tell your men of the curse upon me, as I would not wish to take anyone else's life, if it can be avoided. </string>
    <string name="Gepa1szA">My father was a merchant. When he died, he left his children a small inheritance. Most went to my brothers. They headed east, to the lands of the Padishah, leaving me in charge of our interests in Calradia. For me to step into my father's shoes, and be treated as an equal by other merchants, I knew I had to make a lot of money in a short time or they would elbow me out of the market.</string>
    <string name="GhmTenPP">Why, I roam the desert. I learns its secret ways, its hidden gifts, as a lover learns the secrets and gifts of his beloved.</string>
    <string name="gI4xkaaR">I'll grant that's a bit of a heretical notion to the imperial priesthood, but then I was raised a heretic. Perhaps you've heard of the Embers of the Flame? Well, I was born into the retinue of a Perfect, back when the Embers were blazing fire and we wandered the countryside preaching faith and rebellion.</string>
    <string name="gkOfyxfd">Perhaps at a later date.</string>
    <string name="gMXTUU1O">Very well, I can offer you a place in my company.</string>
    <string name="gQa9XZfG">I can offer you my knowledge of the ancestries of the lords, chieftains, noyans, and other nobility of Calradia, both civilized and savage. You will find that it may please them if you claim to recognize, on first making their acquaintance, the name of their clan, and whether they are called 'The Boneless,' 'Nestbeard,' 'The Scratcher,' or some other charming sobriquet.</string>
    <string name="Gyslal3Y">Splendid! Ah, but before I sign on... A few of the girls working in this tavern... Well, on the off-chance I've left one or two of them with child, I should leave a bit of coin with them before I go. {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON} should cover it. Can you advance me that? </string>
    <string name="gzs2h4eS">Well, they thought that was very funny. But they didn't laugh so much when I clubbed the groom and took their finest horse, a flaxen yearling. I have concluded that those who own the finest horses are those who most deserve to be parted from them. </string>
    <string name="H1BjisqL">Good. I can agree to that.</string>
    <string name="H4fGpzOV">This is fascinating, but I'm a bit pressed for time. Good-day for now.</string>
    <string name="h4QlH7wG">If I did, I'd be inclined to seek the services of someone less foul-tempered.</string>
    <string name="h4rt3qUq">They asked me to erect a counterweight trebuchet on one of the towers. And it's elementary, right? 'Counterweight' - that means for the throwing arm to go up, something else has to come down, right? So if you're standing around the trebuchet watching, you should pay attention to where you're standing when I pull the lanyard, right?</string>
    <string name="H7Y4lTjl">I think I've heard of that custom. Don't the Battanians say it teaches them the ways of the woods?</string>
    <string name="hcMJen3F">No, can't say that I do. So who are you?</string>
    <string name="Ho8MFOOi"> I will ensure that your men fear my scorn more than they do the spears of the enemy.</string>
    <string name="hR7mKQPs">Scorn alone does not make men brave, madame. I think you'd best find another captain.</string>
    <string name="hyhYcrFp">Very well. Consider yourself hired.</string>
    <string name="i53bBgar">So, then... I've had odd jobs for the past few years. Mostly I stand in marketplaces shouting out the virtues of this one's saddles or that one's melons...</string>
    <string name="iBHDCIwV">I don't take recruits who impose conditions on me. Good day to you.</string>
    <string name="iBoVz4wv">I am Lath, prince of the wastelands, lord of solitude, master of emptiness. If you wish to know my other names, you may ask my kinsmen, the leopard, the hyena and the gazelle.</string>
    <string name="IcBPLx2R">Very well, here's {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON}.</string>
    <string name="IcD7bMKe">I was born out on the steppe, but imperial slavers took me when I was a girl. The Empire had legends of warrior-women out in the deep steppe, and when I was sold, they claimed I was one of these - to entertain them by making their legends come true. They taught be to use a sword, and I learned well.</string>
    <string name="IEO3gvnz">....</string>
    <string name="igGhbdFj">The Heavens lead us where they will. And how do you make your living?</string>
    <string name="IszNoAcX">Why, just a few hours ago, I stole my hundredth horse! And such a horse it was. I saw it in the train of a caravan coming into the city. It was as though the Heavens said to the four winds: 'Come together and form sinews and bone, and make its coat a shining grey, and a white blaze upon its nose! Alas, it was an unworthy animal. It threw me and returned to his owner. But still, a day worth remembering, is it not?</string>
    <string name="iVXlb8Lv">No, no. Do go on.</string>
    <string name="iwxJWG81">I can't pass up a bargain like that. I'd like to hire you.</string>
    <string name="j2auwAej">Above all, an engineer must be cautious. Good-day, sir.</string>
    <string name="j4MeTe5O">I know what a hired blade makes, and I expect no more payment than anyone else in your company. But I would ask you for a small fee in advance to ensure you're not thinking of cheating me. Shall we say {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON} denars?</string>
    <string name="jaLG4P9R">I might. What is it?</string>
    <string name="jb3TXFa9">A sad tale, my dear, but Calradia is full of them. Good day.</string>
    <string name="jEtASKar">If you carry many supplies, I can promise you -- as much as anyone can promise anything, in this uncertain world -- that I will repay my salary many times over.</string>
    <string name="jIC9xW8W">That's good to hear. Naturally I expect to be compensated in silver for my blood and sweat.</string>
    <string name="JIl4An61">Far more than a horsethief, my good man. I am the prince of horsethieves! I have stolen Aserai mares from amid the tents and ridden them across the desert plans under the moon, I have taken Vlandian stallions from their paddocks, the sturdy ponies of the Khuzaits, and the steady geldings of the imperial lancers. Is there a bard in the house? Are you getting all this down, or shall I start again?</string>
    <string name="Jk83lyZl">I fled Sarghert. In a tavern in Bostrum, I found myself a surgeon who agreed to take me on as apprentice. I followed the empire's armies, and I found that my knowledge learned in the barracks of Sarghert had a use. I became a surgeon's apprentice, removing arrows from ribcages or trepanning a skull.</string>
    <string name="JrHYSBL1"> So here I am, looking to make a living through the only means I know - shedding other people's blood. Got work?</string>
    <string name="jW6UlCAi">Talking with spirits, are we? I'll not interrupt your conversation.</string>
    <string name="jxZSkF76">You dueled your husband? Heavens avert all evil. I have heard enough.</string>
    <string name="JZU9vtFg">If you wish to pass swiftly through the desert, to find shelters to hide from your foes, to find water where others find only dust and death, then I am your man.</string>
    <string name="K0Eh3eYs">Splendid. I will need a small amount of money in advance - {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON}. I have several servants, who have been with our family for years, who cannot accompany me. Honor and basic humanity require that I give them a small amount of money to get on their feet. </string>
    <string name="k767XKYO">My family begged me not to. So did most others.. But the elders said that, while there was no precedent for husband and wife to duel, there was nothing in the law to stop it. I felt such rage. It was though there was another person, a demon, inhabiting my body in my place. I turned down all offers of mediation and demanded that the fight go forward.</string>
    <string name="kcQQS5OF">After my father died - of grief, I believe - I resolved to take up profession of arms, so that all men know that I am not the marrying type. And I tell all others of the curse upon me, as soon as I meet them.</string>
    <string name="kn76Y4yi">I have no golden plates for you to dine off. I doubt you'd last long with us. Good day to you.</string>
    <string name="KoetJ3P0">I confess I find the barbarians particularly interesting, for they have many virtues that we in the Empire have lost - a certain honesty of spirit, I should say, not our thick stew of civilized intrigues.</string>
    <string name="kpD07Ib2">There is only one thing that I want to hear from anyone right now: that the news I have heard is false. That the warehouse in Makeb which I stored my pepper did not catch fire, and that I have not lost my fortune.</string>
    <string name="KU1nXWTK">The searing gravel plain knows me, as do the rippling sands and the shadowed canyon. I have faced the scouring sandstorm, the rushing flood, the killing heat of noontime, and they have all said to me, 'Pass safely, brother.'</string>
    <string name="KUKuUJaL">You try too hard to sell yourself. I guess I'm going to have to say 'no.'.</string>
    <string name="KYPP1pKE">That's grand. That's most generous. But I hope you'll forgive me if, given the harsh lessons I've learned in the past, if I ask for a small advance - {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON}, if you don't mind.</string>
    <string name="LcihqCpu">My apologies, but that is not of interest to me.</string>
    <string name="lDVo9y0g">And why is that? What's your story?</string>
    <string name="lJkybj3d">Hello, wanderer. Care to join me for a cup of wine?</string>
    <string name="LnHkGgsd">That's kind of you to say.</string>
    <string name="M5mMHrDL">Hallo, stranger! Have a drink on me, for on a day such as today, it is not fitting for anyone to stand glum and sober in my presence!</string>
    <string name="m7KEC7wT">Good. Can you.. Can you give me {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON} in advance? I need better boots.</string>
    <string name="MigoHjvo">Our own world and the Otherworld are shadows of each other, you see. Every time I see the spirits, they tell me to follow someone - a caravan, a raiding party, a group of mercenaries. I join that party, and it leads me to another. In this way I have crossed Calradia and crossed it again. Now they are telling me to follow you.</string>
    <string name="mjiaqseL">I've heard bad luck is contagious. Good-bye.</string>
    <string name="MjSlFqAl">Yes? I'll have you know, I'm not normally in the habit of talking to strangers in taverns.</string>
    <string name="mk0l1BfB">You might say that. I've served in the empire's legions for two decades. Once upon a time they were worthy of being called 'legions.' We served together for years, the same group of men under a single standard, and we'd die rather than see those standards falter or fall. But Drosios Neretzes led the last of the real legions into an ambush in the Battanian woods. You may have heard that story.</string>
    <string name="MlzMSNkQ">Also, as I told you, as of this afternoon I'm a reformed horsethief. You won't find a better judge of horses than me.</string>
    <string name="n3IEXAGH">In return for that, I promise to do my best to whip whatever sorry rabble you recruit into soldiers. I don't bother with horsemen and I don't bother with bowmen. But give me footmen with a bit of guts, and I'll teach them to stand together in a rock-solid formation that will break any charge you care to throw at it.</string>
    <string name="n5y4faSu">Splendid! I must ask you, however, for a small downpayment of {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON}. I have a debt that I had hoped to repay with some silverware, but I encountered some difficulties with that.</string>
    <string name="N91Wnhht">There is only one thing I must ask. I would like to leave this town with clean balance books. I would like to settle all my debts. An advance of {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON} should be enough.</string>
    <string name="nagec3c3">Oh... Hm... Look, warriors can be a bit credulous... Maybe we should give this a pass.</string>
    <string name="nbbn0HaV">Why? I'll tell you why.</string>
    <string name="nEHOUdf8">I confess that this is not the first time something like this has happened to me. Hosts can be such sticklers about their guest lists. But it has left me at a bit of an impasse, as I should probably leave this town sooner rather than later.</string>
    <string name="NLLnv7WH">I've been around and about. I'm still bored. I'm still drinking more than I should. </string>
    <string name="NMTS37x2">I had an opportunity to buy pepper from another trader who was selling at a discount, and needed cash. I of course inspected the pepper and its storage. I interviewed the watchmen at the warehouse. You can trust us madame,' they said. 'Rest assured your pepper is in good hands.' But one of them kept a brazier lit at night, for the warmth, and a camel kicked it into a bed of straw when he was off relieving himself. When he returned, the warehouse was in flames.</string>
    <string name="nNFSLJ2A">That is too specialized a skill, my lady. Good-bye.</string>
    <string name="nYAU0zNC">A wise king once said: I ask only of my generals that they be lucky. Good day, madame.</string>
    <string name="o7gJN0Kk">You will not regret your decision. One thing I must ask - before riding out, I need a new bridle and saddle. An advance of {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON} should suffice.</string>
    <string name="odwyvxY1">Splendid. I have every confidence in you.</string>
    <string name="OGNIl4xM">I have no interest in your services.</string>
    <string name="OGqp7v0p">I see. What happened here?</string>
    <string name="on8y3fa6">But suppose I found an ambitious young captain - perhaps someone like your good self, someone who needed to sway a crowd or inspire soldiers at some point. I reckon I could travel with that captain - sharing all the battles and hardships of the road, of course - and perhaps teach them a bit of what I know.</string>
    <string name="ovC1Sdix">Very well. One thing I can promise you is a lot of fighting.</string>
    <string name="OVCdGjpT">Perhaps. What skills do you have to offer?</string>
    <string name="oxNAJ1Ha">In that case, I shall go bother someone else.</string>
    <string name="peDtXrrt">Pardon me for that. I see thing that others do not. Spirits of the Otherworld, who cross into our world for a brief flicker of time. I am sorry  - I know it is disturbing for those around me. But I must pay attention to them. </string>
    <string name="PeWH4UqF">If I can attach myself to a group, like yours, there probably won't be any trouble. I don't have anything with which to pay you, but if you'd let me work off any debt, I'd appreciate that.</string>
    <string name="pgoFlK3o">At any rate, I got out of there when they were still bumbling about with a bucket and mop. But if there's an inquiry and people start looking for someone to blame, well, they'll probably decide to point the finger at the external contractor. So I wouldn't mind getting out of town.</string>
    <string name="PktncYtr">I've met some who aren't, the ones who burn your village. Your type, from the look of you.</string>
    <string name="plzerw4U">If you're knocking down, I'm not just one of the best - I am the best. I do rams, mines, and of course catapults. Torsion and counterweight. You can ask any castellan in any town in Calradia... Well, maybe best not ask in this town, but any other town in Calradia.</string>
    <string name="pQfiRC55">I'll take anyone, faerie-marked or not, if they can hold a place in a battle-line.</string>
    <string name="pVSiRbni">I am sorry. It has been a long time since I spoke at such length to anyone. I think it is the wine. It has gone to my head. It has been three years that I have lived in the woods, with only the wolves for companions.</string>
    <string name="pyz3ruTU">Well, that's upfront of you to tell me that. What skills would you bring to my company?</string>
    <string name="pZhCmnEO">My father was a servant of the fen Uvain. By the age of 15, it was clear that as a trainer of horses, I had no equal. Melidir fen Uvain made me an offer. serve him for three years, and they'd give me the pick of the herd. At the end of the third year, when I was to claim my reward, Melidir's stablemaster told me that he'd just given every horse in his herd as a gift to his son. If I wanted, I could have a goat.</string>
    <string name="QAuX5fN4">Take me on now, and you can have my services for a fraction of what they're worth. Believe me, in your line of work, there's no bigger expense than a lengthy siege. Unless you like drinking dirty water and squatting in muddy ditches, hiring me is an opportunity you can't afford to miss.</string>
    <string name="qCdrnUWP">Well, I was forced to pull out my sword and cut up his men a bit before vanishing over a wall. But I left his guests with a truly memorable evening's entertainment, and him with a tale that will no doubt make him the toast of many soirees to come. </string>
    <string name="qEsEzBME">Hmm. I could be interested. What can you offer me?</string>
    <string name="QNVJgFbF">It got tiresome, I can tell you, being accused of heresy by a heretic while living on donations by day and hiding in the hedgerows at night lest the local nobility got tired of us coaxing their tenants into holy poverty. I told the Perfect I wished to bring our message to the towns, and he gave me leave to come here, but I reckon I've gone a little bit astray.</string>
    <string name="QQN2906x">Let me think about this a bit.</string>
    <string name="qrfeidLk">Very well. Here's to your health.</string>
    <string name="R0oKayMF">If you are a wanderer, as you say, perhaps it would be to my advantage to go along with you, to collect such stories as I can. I may indeed be able to assist you in some way.</string>
    <string name="r7P5d97H">Greetings, stranger. Looking for someone to shed blood for you?</string>
    <string name="rmX5ufHr">I might be heading out of town. Tell me a little more about yourself.</string>
    <string name="rNkwrwo4">I blame Arenicos and his so-called reforms. It saved him silver, but now our armies are just blown-up lords' retinues - toadies, farmers who have no business on the battlefield, a few good men but not enough. There's no pride and no discipline. No wonder that we're squabbling among ourselves these days, being mocked by the barbarians we used to rule. </string>
    <string name="RsCPQ167">My parents moved to Baravenus as refugees from Sturgian raids, and I started off doing errands for the merchants. Some of them like to get merchandise in or out of the city without going through the gate - they don't care for paying tariffs, perhaps, or maybe the item's original owner is out looking for it.</string>
    <string name="RTNL9zYa">On second thought, you've been a while by yourself. Maybe you shouldn't join a company just yet.</string>
    <string name="RUu7rzvX">Well. A man who knows horses is always welcome. I pay each week, not after every three years.</string>
    <string name="RZZXKFvd">Actually, I'm more interested in skirmishers.</string>
    <string name="s0TgECe7">Hello. Come any closer and I'll stick a knife in your belly, but if you remain where you are, I see no reason not to have a pleasant chat.</string>
    <string name="s0Yanm4a">Very good. I would ask for {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON} up front. I kill those who cheat me, and then afterwards it can be hard to collect payment.</string>
    <string name="s1cAUzB7">Alas, I have had better luck taking horses than keeping them. And sooner or later, if I keep this up, I suppose I must end up in a noose. One hundred horses is a good enough point at which to quit, is it not? I must look for honest work. I don't suppose you have any such work to offer?</string>
    <string name="scmsbgrX">Wait! Silence! You'll frighten it! Ah... Never mind. It is gone.</string>
    <string name="SjQiHp6W">I'm not sure you're quite what I'm looking for...</string>
    <string name="SPp4OsPO">Lath is fine. No need to speak to the hyenas. What do you do?</string>
    <string name="sQgZR0dA">My friend, why should a man not eat the finest food off of golden plates, if he has the wit to do so? Although I confess I am growing a bit jaded of it all, and perhaps would enjoy a change of pace.</string>
    <string name="sRxN3IyF">Know before you speak to me, that I am under a curse.</string>
    <string name="SVOylcqx">If you know your way around caravans, I may have some work for you.</string>
    <string name="swaLbjD1">More importantly, I really should be moving on. I don't suppose you might be in the market for my talents and knowledge? I know a back door into every city in the eastern half of Calradia, or the right guard to bribe.</string>
    <string name="T8egZl6T">Yes. Please continue.</string>
    <string name="TaDaCPb8">I did not ask to hear your story. I have other business.</string>
    <string name="teLnMBXG">I like my men to be aggressive, but there are limits. Good-day, sir.</string>
    <string name="tEw3TwnM">How blunt of him! What happened next?</string>
    <string name="TGYJUUn0">Go on.</string>
    <string name="TMLpc1mq">So you live by sneaking into other men's dinner parties, I see. But it sounds like you have a useful set of skills.</string>
    <string name="TnVIWrof">You sound like you have the right attitude. Tell me more about yourself.</string>
    <string name="u8N37fgb">A tragic story, my lady. Please continue.</string>
    <string name="UhEt737M">I did. Well, it was a risk - but a calculated one. If you are willing to listen to my story, I would welcome the chance to unburden my sorrows.</string>
    <string name="UlsvDHLV">Ah, a pity. If you were a native of Calradia, I would be most interested to know about your ancestry and some particulars of your place of birth. I am collecting notes on the lineages of this land, both of the great imperial families and of our barbarian brethren.</string>
    <string name="unbf7266">I'm here to drink, not to talk, so whatever it you have to say, I'd advise you to say it to someone else. Unless, that is, you have a fight that needs fighting.</string>
    <string name="UpEItRrJ">Hello? Hello? You look as though you are staring right through me.</string>
    <string name="Upr8OV6G">Sorry times indeed, madame. Pray continue.</string>
    <string name="UYmAp92Q">In return, I promise you I'll be first into every battle. I also yell a lot. You'll find it encourages the others. Do we have a deal?</string>
    <string name="v2664Qeo">...</string>
    <string name="v86ZaoFv">I think you are wasting your time, madame. Good day</string>
    <string name="VC5CkkUD">That's very impressive! From a technical standpoint, that is.</string>
    <string name="VDssJwd4">Nice try, stranger. That's not the other half of the callword. But you don't look like the city watch, so I'm going to take a little risk here and ask you something.</string>
    <string name="vGokzhrp">Oh yes. I do indeed.</string>
    <string name="vl7wgzIg">I am Tabur son of Alqan. You do not recognize the name? Well, perhaps we move in different circles. Any connoisseur of dinner parties, wine, courtesans, and poetry would doubtless have heard of me.</string>
    <string name="vm7V0Il5">Well, he did not believe in such things, so he laughed, tossed her a few coins, and sent her on her way. I grew up. When my first suitor was skewered by a spear in battle, I grieved, but thought little of it. When my second suitor passed of a fever, I was unnerved. When my third suitor was thrown from his horse on a hunt, I knew I must do something.</string>
    <string name="vp24haLz">Count yourself lucky I don't call the watch right now. Good day to you.</string>
    <string name="vqC3imQv">Rabble? Barbarians? These are my friends you're talking about!</string>
    <string name="vT1fdgss">Master of empty talk, rather. Good day, sir.</string>
    <string name="vuiCGQpZ">There's not much more to say. My master was a debauched animal but he let me keep a small share of my winnings, and eventually buy my freedom. I think he may also have realized that eventually, had he kept me against my will, he'd have ended up with a severed neck vein.</string>
    <string name="vXvsnePq">I see you, spirit! What have you come to tell me this time?</string>
    <string name="vYY87DK9">Fah. The Wolfskins are rich feral children, playing at being animals. There was one in my band, Deimul fen Gruffendoc, a cousin of the king. He had a quick tongue. He mocked me, every chance he had. I was slow and could never think how to answer. One night I couldn't take it any more. I pulled my knife, and we fought. I stabbed him in the thigh and no one knew how to staunch the bleeding so he bled to death.</string>
    <string name="vzfZyIfy">Certainly. A very sensible precaution.</string>
    <string name="wd4BBrTY">Because I've drunk my way through all the silver in my pocket, and I'm thirsty again. Because it's been a too long since I swung a sword, and my arm's a bit itchy. Because if you don't kill a man every few weeks, people forget what you're about. There. You need only one reason, and I just give you three.</string>
    <string name="Wnt5Ngzr">Greeting, {?PLAYER.GENDER}madame{?}sir{\?}. Are you by any chance in the market for an engineer?</string>
    <string name="WQCAanal">Ah, the old days. And no doubt back then they complained about the older days. I've heard enough.</string>
    <string name="WYri5sav">Hello, stranger. 'The cat walks on silent paws.'</string>
    <string name="WzyHzNW3">Splendid, {?PLAYER.GENDER}madame{?}sir{\?}! There is one other small favor. I have incurred a few debts in this town, mostly due to the spilling of wine upon books. I would ask for an advance of {NPCPAYMENT} on my pay.</string>
    <string name="XAbqJNk5">The emperor Arenicos was very open to my ideas, and gave me leave to accompany his armies. But since this civil war began, commanders have become very wary - fearing that I may be a spy for one side or the other. I have had to spend my time in the library and not in the field, which is very discouraging to me.</string>
    <string name="XHCxDciV">I hope I've made it clear to you what I'm about. </string>
    <string name="Xi0A9Bb8">However, although the desert is bountiful, horses and steel must be bought with silver. So, I wish to inform you, my services are for hire.</string>
    <string name="XJZ9XV1U">Not at present, madame. Good day to you.</string>
    <string name="xlJEkqH9">I intend to find the captain of a company who will take me on as an apprentice. I will thereupon master the arts of war, and raise a company of my own, and thus shame the males of the empire into recovering their lost manhood.</string>
    <string name="xpGLd7Co">I'm afraid not, my lady. You'd best leave now.</string>
    <string name="XUqko0Fo">[what he won't do]</string>
    <string name="xxaOegyt">Uh, 'but carries a large bird in its mouth'?</string>
    <string name="Xxmiytv0">Patrols and hunting parties would sometimes come into the woods. I could run circles around them, and they would never know I was there.</string>
    <string name="Y1R0x220">How droll of them...</string>
    <string name="Y7elloP2">Uh, well, I might. Why would you want to fight for me?</string>
    <string name="YBtDZuCL">Excellent. I'd like an advance payment, not least because I'm going to need to get my equipment cleanred. Shall we say {NPCPAYMENT}?</string>
    <string name="yczuEk0C"> He fought to kill, but I was faster, and I slew him. I feel no regret. Let any man who imagines he can treat a shieldmaiden like chattel consider his fate.</string>
    <string name="yjkGHRkA">All very interesting to a scholar, I suppose, but not to me. Good day.</string>
    <string name="ySwWQmYW">Then the last thing I want, my lady, is to be seen talking to you.</string>
    <string name="yTnm04Hh">I can afford to pay {NPCPAYMENT}{GOLD_ICON} denars. Make yourself ready.</string>
    <string name="YWQTQ5OH">You my hair on edge. Good day, sir.</string>
    <string name="yYHCwEeo">Even now I feel I made a wise choice to buy the pepper -- wise, but unlucky. Such is fortune! Had I not seized this opportunity, other merchants would have mocked me, a woman too timid to succeed in a man's trade. Now they tut-tut, a rash woman who lacked a man's judgment. </string>
    <string name="Z3b8jrxn">I began seeing them after my mother vanished. At first we thought that raiders had taken her, or wolves. That is life in the steppe, where we lived. But the spirits told me that my mother had not been taken, she had gone Below, to gather the spirits of other members of her family. I must be ready to conduct the ceremony for her return.</string>
    <string name="zbji14tF">I am a pathfinder and a scout.</string>
    <string name="ziu66P84">I'll stand where I am. So, why so friendly a greeting?</string>
    <string name="znWhtJxt">I do indeed. I pay attention to packing and loading in particular. It is a fine art, one which determines how fast a beast of burden can move, whether a caravan makes good time or is forever pausing to pick up a spilled load.</string>
    <string name="ZO6PptgQ">Oh, here and there. I'm a recent arrival in Calradia.</string>
    <string name="ZSR5CZxx">Very well. What makes today such a special day?</string>
    <string name="zsXbMbnc">I have one, and I can do that.</string>
    <string name="zyBXzKZ6">Hello, traveller. The wanderer is a blessing to the lands through which he passes.</string>
  </resources>
