Meinolf Liess never knew his mother because she died in childbirth. His father, a poor cargo handler, looked out for him. His early childhood experiences hardened him, made him resistant to the suffering of others. As he grew, he, along with many other children in Taalagrad, was part of a gang, running the streets and ruling them. When he grew older, he ran an extortion racket for a time until he was eventually caught and thrown into the fighting pits, where he remained for two years. Though exposed to horrible violence, he learned his lesson there, and he has sworn off crime in the hopes of settling down and starting a family. Until then, he earns his coin in the weekly bouts in Taalagrad’s seediest rings.[1a]
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