Nymidron

[Tralken]

My Blood Parents

"...to be quite honest, I was too young to remember it...could not even walk yet. I'd barely seen my sixth moon by then…"

"I am told that my parents and I were living in Athkatla, in Amn, where I was born. It was very late...they were most certainly asleep. Nobody seems to know how or where the fire started that consumed that block of houses...perhaps the neighbor's kitchen? ...or maybe a torch?"

*slight shrug with a loose hand motion*

"...in any case, from what I am told, the fire burned quite fast and hot...they didn’t have a chance, really...I'm sure they didn’t know what happened...I would bet they didn't feel much at all..."

*trails off, pauses in thought, then gets a puzzled look on his face*

"The city records say that my blanket protected me, and that is how I survived. I once spoke to a man who fought that fire; he was nearby when I was rescued... He insisted that I was wrapped in a cloak, not a blanket, and that he found it strange that a baby's bedding would be a cloak. But what is more odd than that is that the building had nearly burnt to the ground by the time I was found!"

*nods in agreement with you*

"Aye, it doesn't make sense."

*pause*

"Either way, I suppose I should just be glad I am here today. And glad that the man I knew as my father happened upon the scene, was taken by my situation, and decided to take me as his son."

[Tralken]

The Path to Waukeen

"Maltar Seahven was a kind man, from what little I know. I remember he had a thick, wirey beard, a sizable mid-section, and a booming voice - the kind that would draw the attention of everyone in the room. He was a distinct, memorable fellow...the type of character that ye don't forget. Perhaps that is why he seemed to know everyone."

*leans in and whispers*

"Maltar is the one that gave me my name: Tralken Seahaven...but keep my name between ye and me. I'll explain later..."

*sits back and continues*

"So anyway, it's a bit unclear to me what Maltar did for his living. Whatever it was, it made him very wealthy, and kept him extremely busy. He'd leave town frequently, often for weeks at a time. Some have suggested to me that he worked for, or was involved with, the Council of Six...but, as ye know, everyone claims those sorts of things."

"I spent my first four years growing up in his home. Being away so much, Maltar brought in guardians to look after me. He also brought in tutors...I don't remember a time that I didn't have a tutor. People of all sorts would come and talk with me, teach me this or that...I liked the hins best...I remember them being the most fun."

"After my first four years, Maltar sent me to live with a friend of his, a young priest of Waukeen known as 'Gorian the Sharp'. They called him 'the Sharp' as a reference to his intelligence, as well as an ironic reference to his disdain for blades. It's with Gorian that I began studying the divine ways of Waukeen."

[Tralken]

A New Path

"Considering his youth, Gorian did a fine job of teaching. He taught that which I needed to learn about Waukeen, and I must say it benefits me quite well to this day. But I quickly came to realize that I was no holy man."

"Gorian also had his suspicions as to my devotion as a true follower of Waukeen. But, because Maltar had asked him to, he continued to teach me."

"Then one day, much to my surprise, Gorian came to the doorway of my room. I was reading. I turned up to see him there, with a grim and slightly nervous look on his face. He only said, 'Young Tralken, ye place is not with Waukeen. Pack ye things...in a fourday I will be taking ye to Darromar in Tethyr. This is where ye will find ye calling.' I did not speak with Gorian until we left four days later."

"On the road to Darromar, Gorian continued to be silent. As we arrived in Darromar, an elven fellow met us. At the time, I found it strange for this elf to know precisely when we would arrive...of course, I now understand."

"Lliath was his name. Gorian greeted him - it seemed they knew each other - and introduced me. Lliath said, 'I've awaited ye arrival, young Nymidron.', and then led us into town. This was the first I was called Nymidron, and so it is the origin of my name."

"Gorian left promptly the next morning, and I have not seen him since that day. I later learned that, in fact, Gorian and Lliath had never met nor been in contact before that meeting in the outskirts of Darromar. I still cannot say how they knew of each other, or arranged my situation as it unfolded..."

"Either way, Lliath took me under his wing. For five years, Lliath set me about to studies...various topics, often old and esoteric. As a young boy, I could not understand the reasons for what I studied, nor how such topics fit together. Everything I had studied before fit together quite well..."

"It was in that fifth year of studies that I discovered for myself what Lliath was doing. Ye see, as a boy from Amn, a place where the weave is viewed with suspicion and fear, it would have done no good for Lliath to set me on an obvious path of arcane study. I needed to discover this path myself, and it was Lliath's task to guide me - surreptitiously."

"And an artful guide he was. In retrospect, his skill nearly convinces me that, indeed, he was once a scribe for Elminster, as he would occasionally claim."

*chuckles*

"Nay, I doubt it very much. Lliath has a high opinion of himself, and methinks that sometimes he mixes his aspirations with his past..."

[Tralken]

Tethyr Politics

"For the next seventeen years, Lliath continued to guide and watch over my work."

*shifts in his chair, tone of his voice changing*

"It was during these times that I learned that the royal family Haedrak supported Lliath's work, in exchange for his arcane services. I also provided services for the Haedrak's as part of my duties with Lliath."

"These ties to the royal family were...educational. Privately, Lliath insisted that we maintain a sense of distance from the family - to them, we were only Lliath and Nymidron, and we shared little else about our past. While this mystique, in some real sense, kept us employed, it also served to keep my given name out of conversation amongst the elite, for surely my Maltar would have found out and come for me."

"I also had the...um...fortune, of being involved in the politics of the region, mostly as an advisor. It was an interesting dynamic, really. Most of the powerful were, of course, human, and many did not speak elven, so it was the natural course that the advisors of the powerful took to talking privately in elven. Except for the few hin advisors - they would talk their language among themselves, and so everyone would intermix a few words of hin, just to keep them happy." *chuckles*

"I hesitated in saying that I was fortunate for the experience, as I found the business of politics to be, for the most part, rather nauseating. It often attracts people with questionable character, and a lack for good sense, if not intelligence. While I became quite familiar with politics, I chose to avoid it when I could. I much preferred trips to the Edificant Library in the Snowflakes, than to the palace for a guilded event. Speaking of which, if ye have never seen the grounds of Spirit Soaring, ye should see it...magnificant place."

*listens*

"Why would I hide from Maltar? *nods* Keen of ye to pick up on that. The answer, of course, is Gorian. My path is with the weave, and in some way he knew to guide me to that path. His disobedience of Maltar would not only meet Maltar's disapproval - it would also threaten his reputation. An Amnian man in his position, having a son who's trade is the weave? *shakes his head* Something Maltar most certainly could not afford."

[Tralken]

Escape from Tethyr
"One day, not long before the beginning of my 28th year, I heard a rumor, through the circles of advisors in which I ran, that an Amnian named Seahaven was looking for his lost son. I feared for Gorian's safety, for surely Maltar must have gone to him and received answers that did not please him. I also feared Gorian may have told Maltar where I truly was.

I spoke to Lliath of the situation. He said nothing as I explained. When I finished, he only said, 'We surely could find an answer, but it may take too long. Speak with the gods. Go to ye chambers, Nymidron, and pray to Azuth for an answer. I will cover ye duties.'

After a fourday of constant prayer, I awoke from sleep abruptly. There, beside my bed, floated a shimmering blue light, the voice of which said, 'Nymidron...leave Tethyr. Speak not to anyone of ye journey, and break the path ye leave. Travel to a land deep in change and in constant flux, and ye will find safety from ye past.' The light vanished.

I then awoke abruptly, again. The light was gone. I searched for anything left to me by Azuth, but turned up nothing. Everything was in place and well-known to me, save the three gold coins, some plant soil I must have spilled, and a black hexagonal button that someone must have dropped on my floor, all of which had gathered in the dusty corners of my room. As fortune would have it, I was able to use the coins to pay my way out of Darromar...

That day I made for the library in search of a land suitable to what Azuth had told me, and came upon Cormyr as the most sensible choice. I left that night, without telling a soul.

That was scarcely over a year past..."