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An ancient leather journal
Flipping briefly through the journal reveals several hundred pages filled mostly with research. The lettering starts off childish and blocky but matures, presumably as the writer does. Mixed in with the various research notes are many entries detailing the life of the writer. The very first page bears a some completely scribbled out text and a name in neatly flowing script below it:
Maejaes Aelondrael Faendryl
Koaratos 28, 4592
Today I begin my formal lessons and Mother thought it best for me to have a journal to help organize my thoughts. I am not quite certain what I should write about. Father seemed very excited today about the man he found to tutor me. It is odd for him to even notice me most days but still I am glad to make him happy. Apparently this man, Cyrdaed, thinks I have some sort of gift.
Jastatos 15, 4592
After months being tutored by Cyrdaed, I am convinced the only gift he was interested in was a clean laboratory. That is all he seems to want me to do is pick up after his experiments. He does let me watch the experiments if I show interest and answers my questions though. When there is no cleaning to do I am also allowed free use of his library. I have tried asking him to teach me things but he tells me that is a personal journey.
Fashanos 9, 4593
I think I may have surprised Cyrdaed today. After I finished my cleaning I asked if we might do an experiment to alleviate my boredom. He told me he was quite busy and suggested I go read one of his books. When I told him I’d finished all the books in his library he seemed shocked. He promised to restock the library so I can continue learning.
Eorgaen 13, 4593
Cyrdaed continues to bring in more books but he has been absent more often as well. I miss watching his experiments. He has given me permission to use his home for my studies whenever I wish. Even when I have no seen him for weeks or months, the tomes I finish are replaced by new and more challenging material.
Lumnea 19, 4595
My parents procured a rather interesting household servant today. She is a human and, by all appearances, about my age. Her skin in very fair and her hair is the color of fire. I find her quite pretty but Father became very upset when I told him so.
Charlatos 2, 4596
I have taken to having short conversations with the human girl, for research purposes. She seems quite bright for a human. Before now I had always assumed they were rather simple creatures, despite their budding empire. She informed me today that her name is Irias. I suppose I shall have to start calling her that now if I wish to glean anything else.
Koaratos 28, 4598
Most of my time now is spent in study. I thoroughly enjoy it but sometimes it is a bit lonely. It has been over a year since Cyrdaed last graced me with his presence. At the celebration of my birth I asked my parents if I might borrow Irias to clean Cyrdaed’s home when it needs it. It never really needs cleaning but I could use the company from time to time.
Lormesta 30, 4600
I wonder what Father would say if he knew that I had taken Irias for a lover? Worse, that before I did so I made sure she was willing. He would probably be appalled and insist I find myself a Faendryl mate. Of course I have never had trouble finding a dalliance with any female of my own race either. Everything about Irias is so different from a Faendryl woman; her smell, the shape of her body and even the way she makes love. I find the new experience intoxicating.
Ivastaen 6, 4602
I have stopped seeing Irias. She is quite obviously with child and I am sure Father will suspect me. For now she is going to tell them the child belongs to a male human indentured to another family in town. At some point before it is born I will have to spirit her away.
Eoantos 19, 4602
It seems I have been too wrapped up in my reading and research. I completely forgot to spirit Irias away and she gave birth to our child today. The only reason I even know now is word from my parent. Irias and the child were killed of course and my Father has disowned me. I felt a slight pang of guilt at hearing they were killed but really she was only human and that half-breed child had no future anywhere. As for my family, it was not as if I ever go home anymore.
Lormesta 27, 4603
Lately I have been thinking about traveling the world to broaden my studies. At this point I fear my lifestyle has not left me physically fit enough to do so. I have requested, and been granted permission, to train at the Palestra academy. The amount of dedication needed to become a full Palestra would draw me too far from my studies but physical conditioning and hand-to-hand combat training should ready me for my journey.
Phoenatos 15, 4606
Mother came to visit me today. We discussed briefly how life was going at home and chatted about the humans fighting with the Nalfien. It dawned on me that she seemed very sad. The realization that she was did not surprise me so much as the fact that she was no less happy than I ever remembered her. This was simply the first time I had actually noticed. She asked about Cyrdaed and seemed disappointed when I told her he had not been home in years.
Lumnea 21, 4608
The collection of books in the library has begun to dwindle. As I finish tomes they are no longer being replaced. I fear I might have been out of reading material over a year ago if I had not been training with the Palestra. It is almost as if the library senses I am leaving and whatever force was replacing the books agrees I should go. My training has dramatically improved my endurance and I think I should be ready to leave soon.
Fashanos 29, 4609
Cyrdaed returned today and was pleased to still find me here. I told him of my plans and he approved. He insisted before I go that we begin to harness my magical talents. Although I have dabbled with my talents it was never something I had taken the time to fully explore. The journey can wait another decade or so while I laid a solid foundation upon which I might build my mastery of the gift Cyrdaed has talked about when I was young, the gift of Amayla.
Olaesta 16, 4615
There was a breakthrough in my magical studies today. For the first time I have successfully combined elemental and spiritual energy. By combining my elemental manipulation of water with some energy from spirits of nature I was able to fully restore a wilted flower. The effect was short lived but could not be fully duplicated by one style of magic or the other alone.
Imaerasta 5, 4618
When I returned from the Palestra academy today Mother was here with Cyrdaed. They both looked very grave as they explained that they had a secret they wished to share with me. Mother told me that she had never been happy with Father. Their marriage was arranged and she had given up her own studies to become a proper matron for our household.
The only time she had found any enjoyment in those early years was her time studying with Cyrdaed, whom she had taken as a lover. Their affair was brief but passionate as they both shared a deep love of learning and, I blush to even write this of my own mother, very vivid imaginations. They had called it off when Mother found she was with child. She has never told Father that I was not his but both she and Cyrdaed felt it was time for me to know.
Ivastaen 9, 4620
I am setting out on my journey today. My first destination is Ta’Illistim, where I hope to study in the library there. The city is known for its love of knowledge and learning so I hope to make a good start there. Cyrdaed has supplied me with a less-than-modest sum of silver to help me along. He calls it my inheritance but I know he simply does not want me to refuse it.
Koaratos 31, 4620
The journey was long and tiring, but ultimately worth the effort. The Library of Ta’Illistim is immense and I can already tell I will spend a great deal of time here. Faendryl are not well received here but a bit of silver to the right guards got me in and I have a room at a seedy little inn. All those books make it worth the trouble though.
Charlatos 12, 4627
I have grown to see how ugly prejudice can be when you are on the wrong side of it. Were it not for the amazing collection at the library I would have left Ta’Illistim years ago. Even after the better part of a decade the guards still harass me to make sure I am not practicing what they call sorcery. I can hardly imagine how displeased they would be to know that I am. The locals still shy from me as well but I can always count on some lovely young lady wanting to more intimate experience with a Faendryl research subject.
The librarians seem to have developed at least a bit of respect for me. They know I handle their books with care and take interest in almost any subject. A brief affair with one of the prettier scholars has even gained me access to some collections of books that are normally off limits. I am amazed the normally cautious Illistim kept some of these tomes at all but I will be thrilled to read through them all.
Lumnea 25, 4629
My research in the Illistim library’s lesser-known sections has turned up my interesting finds. The latest appears to be some sort of summoning ritual, although it is beyond me. Very rarely in my life have I come upon any written work I could not decipher immediately. I am devoting a great deal of time to unraveling this mystery.
Fashanos 3, 4630
After months of study I believe I can properly perform the ritual. There was no containment circle included in the tome so I am adapting my own. At this point I am unsure what type of demon this ritual summons but I am confident I can manage it. Most of the required components should be easy enough to gather: shredded parchment, a broken blade, a lightning struck branch and an unused ritual dagger. Now I just need a child’s heart to plunge that dagger into.
Fashanos 19, 4630
Who would have thought it would be a ritual of communion. That would explain the lack of a circle. Mine was pitifully inadequate for containing the being known as Marlu. One day perhaps I can try this ritual again, once I can manage some level of control. For now I really must figure out how I survived.
More importantly why am I in this magnificent library? I have tried to determine the scope of the place but thus far I can only be certain that it makes the Illistim library seem like a book shelf by comparison. There are more tomes here than I think I could read in my lifetime and a great deal of them are hand written with the same meticulous style of writing. For some reason I feel strangely at home here.
Date Unknown
Time seems to have no meaning within this wonderful place. Where ever I look there are new tomes to read. I have found myself a bedroom but strangely it never seems to be in the same spot. If I go looking I find it, no matter how far I have wandered. A similar phenomenon finds me a dining room, with food prepared, when I am hungry. There are even laboratories, stocked with whatever I happen to need, should I wish to experiment.
Date Unknown
I have finally determined who owns this library. It can be none other than the Arkati Fash’lo’nae. Among some of the oldest tomes I have found are hand written journals that chronicle his early years, or perhaps early millennia is a better phrase. The stories he writes of his young life sound so much like my own. I feel as if I have found a kindred spirit.
Date Unknown
Some of Fash’lo’nae’s journals speak of his original teacher. It seems many arkati had patron drakes that they identified with or even learned from. Usually these drakes had some connection to the arkati’s creation. In the case of Fash’lo’nae this drake was Aelondraelaer.
According to the journals Aelondraelaer was a very solitary drake who delighted in learning. He had been researching and pondering, of all things, the creation of arkati. After a lengthy period of study on the subject Aelondraelaer had an epiphany. In that moment of pure insight, he understood the creation of arkati. In that moment of perfect clarity and understanding Fash’lo’nae was born.
Reading of his studies makes me remember my childhood fondly. Aelondraelaer’s teaching methods sound so similar to Cyrdaed’s. He provided Fash’lo’nae with the material to explore and a bit of teasing insight into experiements, then let his student drive his own studies. It is often forgotten that the greatest teachers show you the path and allow you to follow it to your own destination.
Date Unknown
I fear that my studies here have become an obsession. Without any way to determine the passage of time I am unable to set limits for myself. What I do know is that I have aged considerably in my time here. At times I wonder how long Fash’lo’nae will allow me to partake of his collection. Thus far it seems like he may leave me here the rest of my life.
Koaratos 28, 5092
I heard someone clearing their throat behind me as I studied yet another book today. When I turned I knew that I was meeting the owner of the library at long last. We studied one another for a moment and something familiar nagged at me. Finally I realized it was his eyes. I knew those eyes. They belonged to my father, Cyrdaed.
The first words he said to me left me in shock. He had come to wish me well on the five hundredth celebration of the day of my birth. It seemed impossible that I might have been in this library for over four hundred years. Yet as I thought back over all the tomes I had read and the research conducted, the reality set in. I was five hundred years old and most of them had been spent in quiet study.
Our conversation is too long to confine to these pages. We spoke of my life and studies, as well as his own. He talked about his time with my mother and her keen interest in learning that caught his eye. Most of all we talked about my future plans. I was welcome to stay in the library as long as I wished but he felt that soon I would tire of being alone.
My father left with me with two gifts. First, a gnomish clock he had recently procured to ensure I would not forget myself again. More importantly he told me the name he would have given me. As of today I am no longer Mastaer Byrdoloria Faendryl. My name is Maejaes Aelondrael Faendryl.
Eorgaen 19, 5109
I decided today that it was time to leave the library. Not only have I neglected my physical conditioning but also my studies in sorcery. I know that I could never truly improve either in this place. True to my father’s word, a door appeared as soon as I started looking for it. When I stepped through I found myself in a small town that the locals call Wehnimer’s Landing.