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[TheHopscotch]

"All we can see is a shadow,

Cast by that which we do not see."

2133 AC.

Esshar.

"I can still remember what the world was like before I truly began living.

Within Rhoynish lands my hands still shake at the idea of returning to their homes, to where I was born. The looks of vile hatred my mother received were unlike anything I have ever seen before, the contemptuous gazes of mankind acting as though a woman providing for her child? Was somehow an act against the heavens themselves.

I can still recall the stones both men and women threw at my mother and I, no care within their eyes. No more than a young child, yet they screamed for us to leave and insisted that I would bring ruin and rot to their village. That I would bring about punishment upon all of them, that my birth alone was an affront to everything they had ever held close.

People are... Quick to turn upon one another, I've quickly come to notice during my time alive. Just a single mistake can have you branded as a traitor, being hung by the very people you once called your friends. Even should you scream and shout, insisting that you have done no wrong? Even as a child cries and begs and pleads for the life of their mother?

Nothing changes.

I can barely put a name to the faces which have wronged me at this point. The lands which I once called my home ravaged and ransacked by war and famine. For quite some time I was blamed for these actions, chained to the outskirts of town and left as an offering for arriving forces. No more than a young boy at this point, without mother and father.

It was there I waited.

And waited.

And waited. . .

Until the sound of galloping war horses approached the only world I had ever known...

Ah...

Our ride to Aen has just arrived.

Let's continue this little story of mine another time, shall we?

Come, come! We have a ship to catch!"

[TheHopscotch]

"A man's own worth,

Should never exceed his ambition."

2133 AC.

The Kingdom of Aen.

"The Nation which conquered the sea...

You know, I heard not even a thousand years ago? This country was once nothing more than a city of scholars! Just humble men and women wanting to improve the world... All at the behest of their Queen! They had no vast army of Dorians or fleet of ships, no need for weapons that could wipe cities from the map, instead? You had the pursuit and knowledge of magic at the front of their minds.

The sole reason Aen exists as they do today? Was because Barsburg had insisted on rampant technological advancement and expansion. Their hands sought to conquer this continent whole! Now that nation is nothing more than a note in history books of which children are taught at schools. I suppose that's human nature though, never satisfied with what you have and all that.

Aha... Also-!

Oh? Right...

My story.

When I was found by our conquerors I was placed upon the footsteps of death. I can recall a boot being planted upon my head, my face buried within the mud as they believed the exact same as the villagers which I had called family. I was a... Curse placed upon my people, they were the divine mandate sent to bring ruin to my world. Sent by heaven above to assure I was not allowed to spread further ruin and misfortune to the people of Rhoyn.

In their eyes? I had been the reason for this siege upon my own. What followed seemed more like an act of Avalon than luck alone, a man who practically irradiated power and strength beyond all comprehension. I could hardly catch a glimpse of him through the mud upon my face, I can only recall a blade being raised to the heavens above...

Only for both my shackles and that man with his boot upon my head? To be cleaved in two.

"... A man's worth should never exceed his own ambition. We are leaving with our spoils, leave the Helspawn."

His voice was like hot iron upon my mind and his presence kept my face within the mud, I was trembling at the might of one who stood above all men around me. Even though he spoke of me as little more than some monster from Hel? That nameless man saved my life in a sense, the men which had conquered my village were gone and I was freed. Left alone and with nothing more than destruction of which had followed in their wake.

... From there? I wandered until I met 'The One' that would change my life forever.

But, we'll leave that bit of the story until tomorrow night.

Come, it's exhausting to hide these things, you know?

Let's find a place to rest for the night.

[TheHopscotch]

"You and I left a good life behind us,
There's no turning back from here."

2134 AC.

The Kingdom of Aen.

"Meranthe...

Once a land ruled by giants and at war against insects. You would be hard pressed to fine a country in this modern era with as much turmoil as Meranthe, many kingdoms have come and gone with attempts to siege and claim that land for their own. However, none have found themselves a successful footing against the vast expanse of this country.

I understand your disdain for them, though. These people were given a world that can pierce the heavens, a grand tower that stretches into Avalon itself and what do they do? They slaughter one another and focus more on petty squabbles than actual progress. Mankind is fickle like that, they have their minds set elsewhere as opposed to working in unison.

I learned that first-hand as I ran across Rhoyn.

I was alone for many months, surviving on what I could scavenge and hunt. I was little more than an animal at that point, my home now in ruins and not a single soul that would care for me. Had I sought out another village? Results would have been the same, stones thrown upon my body and warriors aiming to claim my head for the grand sake of their beliefs.

I was a Helspawn in their eyes, after all.

There was a moment as I roamed this continent that I felt drawn to a location. That no matter where I turned? My body would almost instinctively be driven towards as though bound by fate itself. It was there I found who would teach me of this world, of this magic I now wield. She spoke not her name yet in my soul I knew their presence familiar, they asked me but one question as I approached from the woods... Muddied and disgusting before power that could sink continents.

"... You've become quite lost in this world, haven't you?"

She had hair as black as night and eyes as blue as the deepest seas. In her hands a paint brush that etched upon life itself - Yet you will find that was the furthest detail I cared for at the time. She had wings that were unlike anything I had ever seen before, feathers of gray with a hint of black beginning to build upon the edges of divinity itself. Warmth and sadness all mixing into one, yet that sadness never turned to rage as she saw me for who I was.

Instead? She seemed only to pity my existence as she remained by my side. I was no more than nine years of age - Yet she guided me for another seven years within that simple forest of Rhoyn. Teaching me of magic and this world we inhabit, of Avalon and Hel, of mankind and their hundreds of wars raged over the course of the last thousand years. She wrapped me within those wings each and every night, she assured I could decide my own path as I push into this new world.

As for why we make way to Meranthe?

Because no Principality can repeat what occurred upon Rhoyn there. I was assured that so long as we manage to reach such a land? We will find what purpose I am truly meant to have.

Rest now, for tomorrow morning we continue gathering supplies for our expedition across The Silent Expanse.

I'll finish up this story for you then, alright?

[TheHopscotch]

"The only way you will ever have freedom or peace,
Now or ever,
Is in death."

2134 AC.

The Kingdom of Aen.

"Did you know even gods can not help but act like humans?

I spent years within those blackening wings, learning and understanding as much as I could about this world. Hearing stories of grand heroes who were blessed by Avalon, as well as those who drew power from the scorn and disdain of heaven. Mankind and even their gods all have a way of linking back to that same original point - To the divine which molded this world from nothing more than dust. Yet still, by some demand of their Archangel they chain and slaughter one another to no end.

The... One who had spent these years idle with me was soon met with that very same fate as my mother. I recall a sudden explosion of... I can hardly describe it, it was a mess of colors and light that hadn't seemed to quite fit within this world. Sounds which I couldn't quite place a finger on, exploding within my mind! A woman of hair as white as snow, a presence of authority that rang out as she spoke her name as clear as could be.

Elisheva.

She saw me as well, you know? I'm almost certain about that much. Her gaze met mine as I hid away as a scared child does, yet her fury was never directed towards me. Instead? I heard only a mumble as yet another flash of light and runic symbols enveloped both divine beings. I felt as the ground shook and the very earth split by their command alone. I watched as my mentor was returned to the heavens above - Bound in golden chains, no doubt to be forever sealed by the Seraphim of Avalon.

Alone.

I was alone once again.

I was spared by a being far stronger than I was, only to be returned to that same fate of loneliness.

... Since that event? I have been wandering in search of where she had been sealed. I've gone from the far reaches of Valmasia to the many islands scattered around Agartha. I've hunted and I've searched against all odds - Yet I have found nothing that would lead me to where she was taken. In a matter of minutes it had seemed as though this person that taught me of mankind and their many flaws - Was undone by the very same acts committed by the divine which created you all.

Those are my final memories before I began my search. It has been five years since her presence could be felt once more, I can feel myself drawn to that familiar sensation which I felt when I was young. You should understand that remaining with me, the only way you and I will ever have freedom or peace, now or ever? Is in death.

I'll allow you to decide whether or not you wish to remain with me as we cross The Silent Expanse. Should you decide that this path I walk is one you would see I push through alone? I'll allow you to leave without issue, you could sell my story across many continents for thousands of coin and live a life without struggle from here on out.

However, should you remain with me?

Should even one human protect the seal that binds my master?

I promise I will sink Meranthe into the ocean."

[TheHopscotch]

"I've grown so sick...

Of these walls."

2155 AC.

The Silent Expanse.

"I've become so numb these structures of man.

Walls which surround their civilizations as a means to protect those within. Walls which tower above their people who dwell in ignorance of how little it means to someone with real strength. These structures which are routinely built, these homes which are routinely conquered and filled with blood and carcasses. Does mankind know nothing more than a senseless slaughter of one another? Can they not realize...

What the real threats are, as opposed to each other?

As I wander across this vast expanse of land, I find myself wondering how long it will be until that vision of my master is realized. When mankind will finally come to understand what she had told me upon that fateful evening, when humanity as a whole will realize what it means to truly point their blades towards that which seeks to puppet and control them. The sounds of sand crunching beneath my feet, those sharp winds reminding me that I am still alive within this world.

Despite what Avalon may so desire.

I'll never stop wondering what I could have done to make them see my existence as sinful. I'll never stop pondering why mankind has come to fear those who carry the same blood as I. I sought to do nothing more than survive all this time, still I wish for nothing but to see mankind prosper and grow. . .

Yet, I find myself hiding these gifts which I have been born with. Hiding all that knowledge which she had taught me, which she had promised would one day be shown to the whole of Eternia.

Ah, well. . .

I can still sense her mana within Meranthe.
I'm so very close, all that remains is to. . .

Make my debut.