Published originally in the Raven's Herald in June 607 E.R.
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To the good people of Avalon and Evendarr,
To the Five Families of Evendarr,
To the Arch Wizards of the Spire Reflected,
To the many brave spirits who would defend their land against evil,
I bring you my greetings and goodbyes. These are the final public words of a son of Evendarr who has passed into oblivion.
It is incumbent upon me to explain who I am and what I have been for these centuries past. It is likely that a number of those listening to these words have seen, met, or heard of me as simply "Lawrence of Lake Hollym," while others have more directly witnessed feats of magic and power that transcend the normal human mastery of arcane art. The explanation for this is a story reaching back to the Founding of the great Kingdom of Evendarr.
As some already know, and I urge those with curiosity on the matter to seek out further knowledge readily available from their adventuring peers, at the beginning of this Kingdom there were three unicorns sought out and treated with. In the end, these three great creatures blessed the creation of a new Kingdom and gave five gifts to it, in honor of the Five Families of newly born Evendarr. One gift, however, was unlike the other four in that it was merely the opportunity to acquire the Light of Knowledge and not the Light itself. This gift was given in honor of the family Huntington, my family.
Time passed and the Founding occurred. The wars and struggles of Evendarr's early years are documented well enough. Suffice to say that it was my grandfather, Lord Lawrence Huntington, Crown Mage to the throne of Evendarr, who fought the traitor Valdric and so spoke the words "Non Me Prohibe" that would become our family's words ever after.
I was born in the year Fifty-Five, named after my father and grandfather before me. As is common in my family, I studied many scholarly arts and was tutored in magic from a young age. When I turned sixteen I was told about the Founding and the gift given in honor of our family. By then it was already becoming more of a legend then a real thing, and since no sign of this supposed gift had come to the attention of any in the Kingdom, there was doubt as to its validity. But I knew, instantly upon hearing the tale, that the gift must be real and that I would seek it out.
The next two years were filled with the sorts of adventures and research you might expect. From library searching to seeking out hidden unicorns, who I never did find, I delved as deep as I could in a search for this gift our family had inspired. Finally, on the day before my eighteenth birthday, as I was making ready to sleep a few hours before another long day of reading and walking and searchings, there came a being into my bedchamber. Dazzlingly bright, this creature drifting on columns of light and as it came closer I could feel my mind racing with questions and thoughts and then new perspectives on everything I had ever learned. Just from the creature's presence I could feel an inspiring intelligence suffuse me and I became dizzy with possibilities and cognition.
This was the Light that had been spoken about before, but it would require a sacrifice to remain within Evendarr and inspire our wizards to greatness. The Light needed form, an individual to inhabit and anchor its essence to this world. My family had the potential and I, it seemed, had other necessary factors that need not be elaborated upon here. And so it was, the next day at noon, Lawrence Huntington III became simply Lawrence and the gift of knowledge resided within Evendarr. In time Lawrence would come to stay at Lake Hollym and it is because of his presence there that the wizards of Hollym have been pushed to such degrees of excellence and knowledge. For the Light shines out to touch the minds and spirits of those nearby, making them see more clearly and look more keenly to decipher the mysteries of the world and invent the magics of the new day.
I am dead now, and the Light has left our world and everything has become a little darker. Evendarr faces a great challenge ahead and, so too, do the people of the world entire. An enemy looms, burning hot with passion and running cold with malice and with his coming will the crashing darkness of ignorance and fear swell over all. But this enemy will make a mistake, as all creatures in Existence do. The enemy will seek dominion, control, and destruction of destiny itself and having done so, the strands of fate unravel and lay loose for any to spin. Where once before tampering would be opposed, now the people of the world are free to act to change their fate and unmake the horror soon to visit upon them. It will not be easy, nor probable, but the possibility exists to diminish or defeat the coming threat, if there are those of sufficient Will and Purpose to do so.
My final lesson; Learn of the Deeper connections of the world you live in. Only then can you truly engage, without disadvantage, in Diplomacy.
I am lucky, I will not live to see the tragedy befall the ancient trees of Quentari, nor the Wasteland to come.
L.H. III