This story is based on a live role playing of a home brew game, from the point of view of one characer.  The Way of the Ardent Rose is the biggest religion in Rosenheim, worshipping the legendary Leyenda who sacrificed herself to tame the wild magics wrought upon the world. Descendants of Leyenda are groomed to be used as a sacrifice every half century in order to keep the holy energies in check. The sacrifice for this latter half of the century fell upon Mara Roosa, the only living female heir to the bloodline of Layenda. However, during the famine two decades ago, she fell victim to the harsh conditions, leaving behind only three sons, one of which died of a sickness, and the other unable to provide heirs.   When Alanna Chessell married Ehren Roosa, last of the bloodline able to produce a sacrificial heir, she had no idea what she was in for. When Gilda, her fifth and final child was finally born, the leaders of the church were ecstatic. The deadline for a sacrifice was in thirteen years, and the eldest son was only 7 years old at the time.   A year before the sacrifice was to take place, Alanna, unable to bear the sacrifice of her only daughter, secretly arranged for Gilda to escape the confines of the church to be given safe passage through the seas by a Captain Delmore. However before Captain Delmore arrived at port, the church planned on isolating Gilda to ensure her safety for her sacrifice, so Alanna arranged for Gilda to escape home earlier than planned. In the process of escape, Gilda got separated from the hired “kidnapper” and was left lost in the streets of Rosenheim, left to fend for herself...