from the introduction: Life is hard in the Old World, and it’s hardest on those least able to protect themselves – the old, the poor, the mentally feeble, and the young and naive. Without family or trusted friends to look after them, these people on society’s fringe are exposed to many, many dangers – as much from the cold bite of Winter or the lack of food as from a Chaos Warrior’s ax. Alone and frightened of the world around them, they are easy prey for criminals and worse. Charlatans, footpads, burglars, slavers...even things that should walk only in nightmares. The most vulnerable are the children on their own, the orphans and runaways found in every Old World city. Smart enough to see an opportunity and dumb enough to take it at face value, they’re like sheep among wolves. Some survive and harden themselves into an early adulthood, but others are simply never seen again. And there are so many loose children that, even when someone who cares does miss one, he hasn’t the time or the stamina to really look for him. To Love and Die in Marienburg tells the story of one such child, an orphan from St. Rutha’s, who thought he was ready for the adult world. Instead, he fell in with people for whom he was nothing but a commodity – a thing to be bought and sold. Lucky for him, there is someone who cares enough to find him.