Iluris' Journal

[NineCoronas]

A Rude Awakening

It felt like being thrown against a rock wall with the force of a thousand hurricanes. First, it was a rush, and I could feel myself... moving, I think. This was accompanied by the sensation of passing through barriers, reminding me of a falling stone tearing through thin layers of tissue. Then, I had the use of my eyes, and they saw a wooden ceiling, rushing towards my face. The ceiling became a floor, and I stumbled onto my hands and knee's, and I had to relearn balance.

Out of the inn I fumbled, swaying from left to right; the light of the outside world was painful and blinding; as if I had spent thousands of years in darkness. The realization that I did not know where I was nowhere near as frightening as what followed: I knew not who I was.

I heard voices. They surrounded me, yet they seemed far away. I focused my vision through the pain and spotted a table away from the blurry silhouette's of people that plagued my vision. It took all of my energy to force myself over to it, and went into a fit of dry heaves; I could feel blood dripping down my face from my nostrils and out of my mouth. My head was pounding. It felt as if all of my senses had been raped, bloodied, and left to die. I doubt I will ever feel pain such as this again.

As much as I tried to isolate myself away in the manner of a scared child in the fetal position, I had stumbled my way into a town's center, and attracted the attention of some of the silhouette's I had spotted. I was soon bathed in a piercing blue light, and my eyes were wracked with pain for a split second. Then it all subsided; some kind stranger had abated my suffering. This woman identified herself as Catherine, and noticed the amulet of Sehanine Moonbow on my neck. An Elf who later named herself as Nakiasha spoke to me, taking note of the necklace and suggesting I fall into prayer. I took her suggestion, and divine words flowed from my tongue as if I had spoken them many times before. Two words entered my mind: "Iluris Car-Nuheniya". I recognized them as my name. This triggered something. My face felt warm. A bystander informed me a tattoo on my face was glowing. Several people tried to decipher the meaning behind it, but their observations were little more than guesses. When I hold my hand very close to my cheek, I can see the faint silver light glowing from it. The visual unsettles me.

With little else to go on, I followed Nakiasha and a Human companion of hers into a place called the Bramblewood, at the suggestion she could perhaps find someone to help me. She summoned an Elf by the name of Entori, who intensely studied the tattoo on my cheek. After a time, he told me that the style of the tattoo was reminiscent of artwork from the earliest days of an ancient Elven kingdom he named as 'Cormanthyr'. It struck me as strange, how easily that word rolled off his tongue, yet stranger still, was how familiar it felt to repeat it. Entori promised me a tome from the time period of Cormanthyr's birth, though I know not when I will cross his path again. Nor do I know what significance his observations have.

Nakiasha led me back through the Bramblewood to Greatgaunt, where we departed ways. I tiredly made my way to the town's inn and into its common room, where I sit here now, writing these words on a discarded bundle of papyrus' I found underneath my cot. I've made the discovery that the tattoo on my cheek is just one of many. I am covered in them, cheek-to-ankle. They all glow. They are all different. It is as if some entity decided to use my flesh as a storyboard. Or perhaps I am mistaking storyboard for practice dummy. A huge scar runs across my abdomen, a 1/4 inch thick and 6 inches long. A thinner, shorter one runs down my chest, just above my heart.

I am left in a strange land with no leads. I do not know how I got here, where I am from, or who I am. I know nothing of the lands I find myself in, or anything that has happened in this world. I have decided my first goal is to learn. Perhaps in forging onward into the future, I will find my past. Exhaustion overcomes me; now I sleep. Now I dream.

[NineCoronas]

A Dawn of Crimson...

I could feel the tattoo on my face get warmer under the icy stare of this towering figure of a man. His colors were Thayan, but his demeanor did not convey a sense of superiority. If he felt he was above those around him, he was skilled at hiding it. I have been told that other Sun Elves are quite haughty and also carry a similar sense of superiority about them, a trait I almost told to be missing in myself. Perhaps this common ground is what made me unafraid of his presence. The man, who identified himself to me as Kethoth, was a diplomat, an ambassador from the Thayan Enclave; he exuded an aura of knowledge and discipline. He later claimed to be an Archmage of enchantment, and I wonder if he worked any of his tricks upon me.

The tattoo's that cover me to do not cast a light that reflects. So it was most strange, then, to see the familiar silvery glow reflecting off the silky linen's of his robes, even if it was for but a moment. Curiosity won the better of me. Today was my first visit to the Enclave of the Thayan's; many a cold stare found itself directed at me as I trailed behind the Archmage, just as many questions brewed in my head. Someone with his level of intellect surely might have some answers to the questions that have been burning in my mind since I awoke on the floor of the Griffon.

I explained my story to him, hoping I would receive some answers. He compared my tattoos to information in a tome within his possession, but unfortunately all he could confirm was they were Elven in nature, in an unfamiliar, possibly ancient script. All I had managed to do was pique his curiosity at my situation; he did request that I update him, should I learn anything further.

A man such as he has much to learn from; though our magics are of two different breeds, I could definitely use the guidance he possesses, though it must be taken with a grain of salt. His own words may ring true: "Should your memories return, that pendant around your neck says that we may become enemies". But I feel as if that will not be the outcome. We have agreed to meet again, at some time in the future, to see where we stand.