I write this story for my little son, Gonz, whom I hope will someday
understand all of the whys and hows about adventuring that I had to learn
on my own. He asks me now when he is little why I decided to become an
adventurer and my life before he was born and, while he cannot
understand now it is my hope that he will be able to read this if anything
should happen and I cannot tell him myself.
I don't remember my mother, I write this in my journal because I fear
the same will happen to my children, though I hope it never does. I grew
up only knowing her from the few portraits my father kept after her
death. As a child, I would sit and stare at them for hours. She was a
very beautiful woman, with soft brown eyes and long, smooth hair that was
black as night. I know that her name was Raizel, and I am named Velsie
after my mother's mother. More than that I do not know. It is somewhat
ironic that someone I knew so little of would have so much influence in
my life.
I stopped asking my father questions about my mother when I was young,
though I still wonder who she was, and what she was like. He never
talked about her, but I know he loved her very much. At night, when Father
thought I was asleep in bed, he would always sink into deep thoughts
and glared into the sky with sad eyes, holding Mother's locket. A
neighbor once told me that Mother had died defending our homeland against an
evil dragon's surprise attack. Father had nothing to say about it when I
asked him, only to tell me we would talk later. That later never came.
Father, my then ten-year-old brother Silguz, and I moved to the City of
Medievia, where we lived for almost twenty years. When I was five or
six I remember asking my father why the other adventurers would kill the
poor janitors. I would wake late at night to the sounds of battle and
the screams as they died, hugging Father and crying for Mother. I
remember him saying only, "Velsie, some day you will understand." When I
turned ten it came time for me to begin my studies and training as an
adventurer. Though my brother had chosen the path of the warrior, I
chose to become a healer. I vowed to do all I could to help good people,
and to always fight against evil dragons.
I knew I would probably never know if that was, indeed, how my mother
died, but I did know that it is how our homeland was destroyed. Much to
my surprise, my Father supported me and enrolled me immediately into a
cleric's guild to learn the art of healing. He forbade me from
fighting, though, and I was not allowed to leave the city walls or even to
venture into the poor quarter, where I thought I could do the most good.
When I was fourteen, my father bought a house near a large carnival.
It was the most beautiful place I had ever lived. The people in our
small community lived in peace and harmony, so different from the City of
Medievia. Here I heard the sound of children's laughter everywhere
instead of the poor janitors' death cries. My brother chose instead to
stay in the City of Medievia with our Grandfather to continue his
training. When we moved I met many of Father's friends, and made quite a few
of my own. My best friend was Rose-Say. She had a small booth where
she still works as a face painter in the carnival to this day. She was
never known for being an exceptional artist, nor very patient with her
subjects. Most of them were small children who she said do nothing but
squirm and wriggle when she is trying to paint. She was very creative,
though, and also very kind. One evening I will always remember is the
time I volunteered to let Rose-Say make my face into a "masterpiece."
When I went home that night, Father didn't recognize me at first and
almost had me killed, thinking I was some new breed of monster.
My favorite of my father's friends who came to town for meetings and
gatherings was Kyler. He always would bring me treats like shitaki
mushrooms and berries from Ruellia. I was also fond of Sashia and her
beloved husband, Skybolt, who lived two blocks down the road from us. Sashia
was a great cook. I loved her mushroom soup and would visit them in the
morning after dad left the house to fight the evil monsters in the
catacombs. One month after my sixteenth birthday, I met Karina when she and
her son, Vakarin, stopped by our house for dinner. When she learned
that I was studying to become a healer, she asked me if I wanted to join
her clan with my father. At the time, she was the Princess and leader
of the House of Swords and Magic Clan. I knew, that to become a
powerful healer as I had always dreamed, that joining the clan would help
since I already knew many of the members. My father, one of the senior members
of the clan, said only, "Perhaps when she is older." Karina nodded at my
father and gave me a knowing wink.
All that night I could not sleep. I lay awake the whole night thinking
of what it would be like to join the clan. I decided I would do
everything possible to realize my dream and that nothing would stop me. After
a bit of discussion that morning, my father gave his approval. I had
only to agree that I would be in the clan to further my studies as a
healer, and to never leave the town and go out adventuring. He made it
very clear he did not want me to ever even risk getting hurt or killed.
It was right then that I vowed to not be overly-protective of my
children or stifle them. I hope I will have made good on that promise by the
time my children are old enough to read and understand this. The next
day Karina came back to visit. It was almost as if she had known the
night before what was going to happen. When I was enrolled it was as if
I could feel every member of the clan sending their congratulations and
welcomes straight to my heart. Being a part of the clan was great. I
always had someone to talk to and new people to meet. Not much else had
changed, though, since my Father had given me such strict rules. The
other members of the clan were very helpful, but their teachings did not
do much good without a chance for me to practice them.
I had learned at least one thing that came in handy, however. Father
had taught me to use the portal and, on rare occasions, would let me
venture back to the City of Medievia to do our shopping. One day when I
was seventeen, I was home alone and very bored. Father was in the
catacombs, Kyler had gone trading, Karina was far away in the City of Trellor
on family business, and Sashia and Skybolt had gone to Mount Vryce.
Though I knew it was against my Father's wishes, I used the portal.
Instead of telling it to take me to the City of Medievia, as I usually
did, I entered it without saying anything. The portal did not take me to
a city, but instead flung me far out into the wilderness. I was
scared, and very worried that I might never see my father again. I remember I
surveyed the area and saw a town just off to the west surrounded by
rivers. I later knew this town to be Riverton. I entered the town and
learned of the plight of the dwarves, enslaved and made to work in the
mines by the evil wizard Malevich. I used some of my limited power to
heal those of them who had the courage to fight for freedom. Grateful
for my help, they taught me how to ask dragons for rides to the city, and
I vowed that I would someday help free them from their terrible fate. I
soon found I was not alone in fighting for the people of Riverton. The
priests and priestesses in the Temple of the Sun were trying their best
to use the power of Light of the Sun also to defeat Malevich. Many of
them were also healers and taught me a few spells that I found quite
useful.
One of my new clannies, also, would join me in fighting Malevich, a
warrior named Kalliste. She also quickly became a good friend and would
secretly join me each day. For weeks, each time my father left to fight
in the catacombs, I would sneak out of the house and fly back to
Riverton to help the dwarves. I made sure to return home before Father and
was very careful that he would never discover my secret. I did not want
my father to worry about me or worse, to tell me I could no longer go.
It was quite by accident that Father found out about my adventures.
Though Kalliste had promised never to tell my father, she could not help
it when he asked where she had been adventuring each day in order to
become such a skilled fighter. Kalliste was a good soul but could not lie
to my father, who outranked her in the clan, when he persisted with
many questions.
At first Father was furious that I had been disobeying him. He forbade
me from leaving even the house and threatened to make me leave the
clan. He said that I was not mature or responsible enough to be in a clan.
Two days later Father received a mysterious note that smelled faintly
of lavender and cinnamon. He would only tell me it was from a wise
friend. With tears filling his eyes my father asked me to sit and talk with
him. I was surprised to hear my father tell me that he had been wrong.
He understood, now, that I was a young woman ready to make my own
decisions. He said that in helping the people of Riverton that I was mature
and responsible and quite ready to be an adventurer. He kissed my
forehead and hugged me close.
The next morning when I woke, Father had already gone to fight in the
catacombs. On the table lay several packages and a card with my name on
it that I keep to this very day. I opened the packages first. There
were many pieces of beautiful armor that fit me perfectly and made me
feel as if I had the power to heal an entire army! There were also some
mysterious staves of oak. After admiring myself in the mirror, I opened
the card. It was written carefully in my father's handwriting and read:
Velsie, this was your mother's armor, she was a great
and wonderful healer just as I'm sure you will someday
be. I trust that you will make good use of them. The
staves will each cast powerful spells that will help
you with your fight. Your mother would have been very
proud of you and I know she would have loved you as
much as I do.
I remember very distinctly what happened right after receiving my
mother's armor. It is a tale I will hopefully live to tell my children and
my children's children in person and not just in this journal. I was so
excited to begin my adventuring again that I summoned a dragon
immediately and flew to Riverton, sure that this time I could defeat Malevich.
I met up with Kalliste at the entrance to the mines where the dwarves
were being kept and made to work. This time, instead of running through
the mines serving to heal only those dwarves who had risen up to try
and break free, we journeyed down into the depths of the mine in search
of the evil wizard himself.
We knew we had gotten close to Malevich because the area was full of
his servants, who were each very difficult to defeat. Somehow, Kalliste
and I battled our way through. We stopped to take a break. We were
both tired and very badly hurt. I healed Kalliste the best I could. Just
as I sat down with her to rest, a tall, twisted man walked in the room.
He sneered down at us and began to chant. In a single blast of his
magic Kalliste lay near death. He then turned to face me, laughing. I
summoned the last of my mana to transport us out of the mines and back to the
statue in the middle of Riverton park.
Kalliste and I were taken to the Temple of the Sun where we healed and
rested the night. I was determined that, although Malevich had won
that battle, he would not defeat us. Malevich was much harder than I had
thought and it nearly cost us our lives. We decided to leave Riverton
for a while to study more and become more powerful before we were to
come back and try to kill him again. The Riverton mines is also where I
met the father of my children and the greatest love of my life. I shall
leave him to write his own tale, though, and also save the tale of our
life together for another time, for this is only meant to be a short
story of why and how I became the adventurer I am today.
I became a great healer, but found that even the most powerful of
healers cannot defeat Malevich alone. And now, with children to think of, I
dare not risk my life in trying to do so. Perhaps when Gonz is older I
will try to kill Malevich again and free the people of Riverton once
and for all, unless I have the second child I am hoping for. It is a
great comfort to know that I am not alone, that there are a great many
adventurers that would help all of the people of Riverton be free.
In the meantime I continue to help the people of Riverton in any other
way that I can, including taking Gonz with me on healing missions. I
am happy to report he is growing up to be a fine healer, one that I hope
will understand and carry out his family's legacy well.
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