SONJA

"Only the weak hesitate in the face of victory."

Sonja is an agility-based tank hero of the Lightbearer faction.

Sonja and I have known each other for years. Back then she was a wan, listless little thing, scurrying around with us in the dark, lawless alleys of the slums. She had long, flowing blonde hair - not that you'd know it under all the mud and fleas - which she still stubbornly spent ages braiding. She was one of us: another weak and downtrodden worm, mired in the silt of chaos and turmoil, all too often caught and beaten for her thievery. Now and then I would share with her some of the vegetables I'd managed to obtain and, maybe in response to such unexpected kindness, she in turn would tear off some of her stolen bread and return the favor. As the days, weeks, months dripped by, we inevitably got to know each other better.

Oh, Sonja was a clever one. She was in and out of the various traders all year long, and knew the black market better than anyone else. Am I the slightest bit surprised that she hit it off so well with Nara? Of course not. After all, Nara was the most agile and fierce of all our dank alley thieves. Ever since they started working together, the two of them complemented each other so well that they were never again caught, instead going on to make a killing with every single job. They made sure to share their profits and goods with us, yet we still remained the target of extortion and bullying by the various other gangs.

One evening, Sonja came looking for us. She and Nara, tired of the other gangs lording it over us, wanted to form their own group. This would give us orphans, the scurrying inhabitants of the alleys, a proper foothold in Rustport. Together with Nara, she told us of their vision, something we never would have countenanced in a million years: they wished for us to live well, able to eat and drink our fill, as one family. And so it was that the Whispers were born, and we felt we'd finally come home.

It didn't take long for the Whispers to earn a reputation for itself in Rustport. While Nara's obvious ruthlessness and brutality terrified the other gangs, they still hadn't realized Sonja's strategy, which aimed to elevate the Whispers head and shoulders above the other Rustport gangs. Blood and roses... These, to me,

perfectly symbolize Nara and Sonja. Nara's savagery stained the ground of this sinful land with the blood of countless opponents, while Sonja was more a gorgeous, mud-encrusted rose, tangled and bristling with the thorns of sin.

In order to make real money, we Whispers had to carve out our own unique niche. We gradually found an emerging market in the trade of... "Special" goods, which became our best chance to make it big. Nara bribed her way to ensure the sea routes were open for the Whispers to bring back our plunder, which she held at port for Sonja to dispose of. The excellent coordination between the two have allowed us to really profit from this emerging new industry.

As our business grew, Sonja discovered that smuggling was not without risk: while she had always respected and followed the unwritten code of smugglers, the expanding gang brought in more and more people, some of whom may not be so faithful to the criminal creed. There were those who were not above playing multiple sides for their own personal benefit. Once the smuggling lines were leaked, the Whispers had to contend not just with the threat of robbery, but also with the fact that the leaker may well be a member of our own little "family". Inevitably, this fear became reality. Our secret smuggling routes were leaked to rival gangs by those closest to us. Nara wiped out those who ambushed our goods, while the leaker defected to our rivals. Faced with those who had once shared bread and battle by our sides, and who now worked to harm the interests of our family, seeds of suspicion were sown and took root in the hearts of many of the Whispers.

This caused the very first argument to erupt between Nara and Sonja. Nara wanted to publicly execute those in the Whispers who were suspected of being traitors, to serve as a warning to others. She even thought to begin with the earliest members of the gang. Her rage and distress terrified me, yet I was also cognizant of the arrogant, entitled attitude amongst many of these old "veterans". They were no longer satisfied by the wealth the Whispers generated for them, desirous of ever more power, and secretly making moves within our own ranks by leaning on the newest members.

Sonja, however, was more hesitant to take such drastic measures. Perhaps she was reluctant to dig too deeply into the treachery of those with whom she had risen from the mud of the slums. Whatever her motive, she was unwilling to kill the traitors, preferring instead the "merciful" option of banishment.

Their quarrel ended as Nara slammed a door and stormed off. Sonja said not a word, perhaps in resentment of her own hesitation, as she had never before had such a major disagreement with Nara. My own conjecture is that Sonja still believed in the Whispers' original purpose: to provide a stable home for the worms struggling in the mud of the slums. Now that this dream was realized, how could she evict her own family"?

Nara vanished. One day she set sail on an ordinary voyage, and just never returned. Sonja exhorted all Whispers to search for them, but no trace was ever found. The other gangs felt that with Nara's disappearance we had lost our most powerful deterrent, and began eyeing what had previously been unequivocally under our command. Discontent inside the Whispers also surged, and even I could hear the tavern rumors that there were plans afoot to overthrow the Whispers from within.

Not everyone was rooting for Nara. Some of the veteran members secretly rejoiced, as they eyed Sonja's position as leader and dreamt of seizing power for themselves. For Sonja, these circumstances opened her eyes, stripping away her tolerance of and faith in the old guard. She abandoned her merciful approach, shook off the pain of Nara's disappearance, and began to ruthlessly screen all those around her. She discerns the traitors in her midst and, after a mental and physical flaying, rejects them back into the mud and slime of the slums, broken and dejected.

No one could have seen this coming. That the girl who used to cry because her moldy bread was stolen could make such a cruel decision. Sonja retaliated against the traitors even more than Nara, until no one even dared think of betrayal, and all of Rustport was in awe. Sonja no longer showed pity to those who shared her background, while those orphans she rescued from the slums had to pay everything for the privilege.

I almost do not recognize Sonja now. She has shaved off her long, golden hair, and carved roses into her temples. She no longer smiles at me, but beneath her ice-cold expression constantly wonders if I am tempted to betray her. She had trusted us, and we were unable to repay her with unerring loyalty. She can but watch over the Whispers and, even if she feels the task too heavy to bear alone, will never give up. She knows that only by making the Whispers even stronger, will Nara be able to find her way home.

Sonja is an iron rose blooming among thorns. She has trodden on the corpses of countless traitors, turned her back on the last vestiges of goodwill, and climbed step by step onto the throne of power. The Whispers is not just an empire she built with Nara, but also testament to her ambition and greed.

I am but a bystander to her life of sin, which one may call cruel, another great. She will never be satisfied with what she has and, while she used to be kind, she now wields total control over life and death in the Whispers, despite never needing to ever again dirty her own hands.

"Desire is the rose that cuts its way through the sinful soil which is covered in blood. That is my weapon"