Editing Paul Adler

[[File:Paul-Adler-Arms.jpg|thumb|Arms of Paul Adler from the Memorial Shield Project]]

=Persona=  

And so it came to pass that I elected soldiering, and survived, albeit as much by the grace of God as through any great skill on my own part. I survived long enough to gain a certain degree of wisdom as a solider, that wisdom being that a soldier's living is more easily made in less glorious ways than standing foremost in the line of battle. I survived my first harsh lessons in this school, rising to become a full man-at-arms in the Honorable Company of soldiers known as Moonwulf's Rangers in the Middle Kingdom, acquiring some skill with the glaive, hand-and-a-half sword, longbow, and armbrust (what the Engländer call "crossbow").

I came to realize there were easier ways to live longer, if not without risks of their own, and undertook more solitary work, for which the military adventures of my youth stood me well as foundation. This consisted of guarding valuables, courier work, teaching martial skills to others (and always alert to learn new ones myself, martial and otherwise), and similar work whose specifics are probably best left unrecorded (spying indeed, how dare those Mantuan dogs raise such accusations...).

These commissions took me the length and breadth of Europe, from the British Isles to far Jerusalem and even beyond, from the warm Greek seas to the land of the Ice-bear. Gifted -- or cursed -- with great curiosity and a mechanical turn of mind, I associated with many skilled artisans and educated patrons over the years, and, ironically, I gained a knowledge of arts and skills I would never have even been allowed to consider through the guilds in my native land.

I acquired some knowledge of letters from fellow travelers and patrons on my journeys, particularly from one churchman I was hired to escort and safeguard on pilgrimage, a trip that lasted far longer than...well, never mind, that is a story for another day. I'm no master of these arts or crafts, but I own a competent journeyman's skill in many, which, in two of the kingdoms where I have dwelt, has won me some small honor for illustration and bright-metal work.