The First Scroll of Baan Dar ( Complete ) Content . What follows is a translation of the first fragment from a series of vellum scrolls found in 3 Alabaster jars sealed in a cave . The discoverer was a nomad wanderer somewhere on the shores of Lake Vread in the Province of Elswyer . I can neither vouch for nor deny its authenticity or veracity - only that the scrolls , as such , DO exist . Read and judge for yourself : Baan Dar , The Legend . . . Thief , Warlock , ShadowMaster , Ruthless Assassin , Undying Avenger , Dark God , Robber Baron , MasterMind of Nefarious Plots . All these things and more are the Legendary Baan Dar , he who is called The Bandit God . But what is the Truth ? Baan Dar , The Man is a much more simple and complex being . I pen this tale as I slowly die of old age and a mortifying arrow wound . I cannot decide if the truth will add to or subtract from the legend that is Baan Dar , nor if the original Baan Dar would want the truth to be known . Therefore , I will leave this tale hidden when I am done and gone , and let Fate ( which was ever Baan Dar ' s true master and motivator ) decide . I was a child of 12 Seasons when I first met Baan Dar . Orphan of a Slaver raid during one of the many inter - provincial border wars . Living by my quick wits , nimble fingers , and the grace of Lady Luck in the back alleys and byways of my birth city . I had just " liberated " a loaf of bread and a few small apples from a local street vendor in the Bazaar on the edge of the city near the tumbled outer wall , and had withdrawn down an ill - lit alley to feast on my bounty when I was beset by an older band of my ilk . The older and lazier variety which were want to engage in the easier and less dangerous art of stealing from the stealers . There were 5 of the bully boys who had decided they were more deserving of my booty than I , and they were beating me half to death with staves in between bites and laughter at the time . Lying on the ground curled up into as tight a ball as I could manage , trying to protect my head and groin , I heard a quiet voice ask if they were not " more suited to go down to the wharf and take food from your brother rats , or would you care to try your tricks on game a bit more your size and number ? " Since my " companions " had become otherwise engaged with the newcomer and had for the nonce ceased thumping , kicking and cuffing at me , I looked up to see a dark shadow of boots , cloak , and chainmail hood leaning against the wall at the end of the alleyway . The others , being what they were , took this as a challenge to their manhood - and easy prey to their superior number with a promise of coin of the realm as added reward ( else the first part would have been overlooked ) . The leader of my band of playmates suggested that the stranger take a leap off the mentioned wharf unless he wished to join me there when they were done with their evening meal . Having drawn chuckles and courage from his underlings , he then proceeded forward with staff at high port . I ' m not quite sure exactly what followed , but within a short space of time , Lead Bully was lying in the dirt with a thrown dagger in his chest , number two bully had lost three teeth to a boot ( I still carry them in a leather pouch as a keepsake ) , and number three bully was brought short by his own staff applied forcefully up between his toes ( the two big ones ! ) . Bullies four and five thought better of the entertainment and departed rapidly for parts unknown . Baan Dar picked me up , dusted me off , and dragged me round to a near tavern where we shared a meal and a mug . I attempted to thank him for saving my life . How can I ever repay this favor , I asked ? His reply was short , to the point , and has driven my actions in life ever since . . . " THE PROPER WAY TO REPAY A FAVOR , IS NOT TO - PASS IT ON INSTEAD . " Things having not progressed well along the lines of health , wealth and welfare for me until that point in my life came upon a sudden change that night . I later learned ( along with MANY other things ) that Baan Dar had decided to take a direct and immediate interest in me because my situation reminded him very much of the bad start his own life had taken , and the odds he had faced to survive it . On that night he took me under his wing as a kind of apprentice . He saw to it that I learned weaponcraft and stealth , that I learned to read and write ! He took me along when he traveled for the next year . I served as messenger , valet , packmule , lookout , cook - many things . I saw other towns , cities , races , provinces , and broadened my view and knowledge of the world far beyond belief . He taught me both morals and coldhearted ruthlessness - and when and how to apply each as the ethics of the situation required . At the end of the year , he gave me good dagger , and decent horse , the 3 teeth , and leave ( nay , Command ) to make my own way in the world from that day forward - but to remember all I had been given , and to attempt to pass such a gift to another when and where I should find need and opportunity . That I have done , several times . . . as I assume he has also , and as I hope my various charges have after me ( and they theirs ) . Thus has the Legendary Baan Dar been seen time and again in various lands of our world at numerous and the same times in days of need . Thus also is the description so very hard to obtain and track - for in truth , there have been , and continue to be , many Baan Dars in the world . The most valuable lesson he ever taught me was that " for Evil to triumph required not so much that many bad men to do wrong , as for One good man to fail to do what was right . " We only hope that our combined and concatenated efforts have produced enough single men and women that will not fail to do the right thing , regardless of current local , morals , laws , religion , creed , or lure of coin of the realm . The Legend grows still . Of the Dark Avenging Blade on the Wings of Night that make no sound . The Patron Saint of the Lone Wolf . The Thousand Eyes and Ears , the Hundred Arms direspectful of Time or Distance . Undying , Master of Disguise , Man of a Thousand Faces , Shapes and Sizes , Gentle , Rough - Edged , Gay , Stern . All the Mystery of the " Man Unknown and Undying " . . . not a single man nor God at all , but a string of seeds sown upon the land and left to grow into a forest . How to reconcile this truth with the tales of cruelty and the gangs of " Baan Dars " or " Bandits " ? Some are jealous Thieves who take the name only for the cloak of mystery and hope of hiding in it ' s Shadow . Others are tales twisted to reverse by those justly served by Baan Dar ' s unfettered by technicalities of law and custom . Some are backsliders drawn of the true path by temptation and returning to their old ways . Many are the things that any one Baan Dar cannot answer for , as others did the deeds in the same name . Some are tales of fishwives , made up to scare the child into doing what is wanted . Some are left as part of the " Mystery " that is both cloak and shield to the hidden purposes - a case where the fear of the tale serves to save the need of arms or action . But , by and large , the true Baan Dar is a string of beings taught to act upon what they believe in , and stand to take the yoke of needed action upon their own shoulders . Don ' t fight if you can avoid blood or war , But if you must make War , do so with all your Heart and Might . Leave it at Threats if Threats be enough - but never make threats you are unwilling to carry to conclusion if required . Use all the arts at hand . But ever keep the true purpose in mind . Stand Tall , but never forget how to bend your knee to help another . Note : The rest of the scrolls are tales and tellings of various parts of the Legend , some as passed from Bard to Bard , some as the true tales underlying the Ballads . These fragments are still to be translated and debated . This fragment , however , contains the kernel of the Revelation and the true source of the questions surrounding the Baan Dar Legend . What Say You , Reader ? For myself , I do not know . . . but God or unrelated string of linked souls as laid out here . . . I do know that Baan Dar IS a force in our Land and Lives , and one that gives Hope to many that need it , and pause to many I despise . - Arkan , Scribe of Daggerfall in the year 2E24